ã€ŠMartial King&#x27;s Retired Lifeã€‹


 Prologue

    <h4>Prologue</h4>

    I¡¯m a martial artist in the wulin. Well¡­ I was.

    The reason I say that is because I¡¯ve retired.

    After going through all those ups-and-downs and experiencing all that turbulence, I came to the realisation that the endless fighting in the pugilistic world wasn¡¯t for me.

    You can see my point through the rough things I experienced during my training.

    I remember my shifu admonished me when I started learning martial arts.

    ¡°You¡¯re my senior disciple, but your talent is mediocrepared to the other disciples. There will be limits to what you can achieveter on. You won¡¯t be able to keep up with your fellow disciples. I have some secret manuals that my friends in the Wulin gifted. Take them and practice ording to their instructions."

    "Okay! I won''t disappoint you shifu!"

    I was young and naive back then. I had no idea my shifu was mocking me with his spiteful smile when he handed me the books. I naively believed his bullsh*t. I couldn¡¯t read a word and just practiced ording to the images like an idiot.

    Following that, I trained ording to one of the books and ended up bed ridden for ten months after being so severely injured I spat blood. At that time, I thought it was because I wascking. I thought I disappointed my shifu since I couldn¡¯t even learn something simple. My guilt and self-depreciation motivated me, so I resumed my training as soon as I healed.

    I improved a little the second time through. I was only bed ridden for six months. So I spent more than a year of my youth unconscious in bed¡­

    During the time I was semi-conscious, I vaguely remember my shifu arguing with a monk.

    "You Stinking monk. How dare you use me of stealing Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing*? Do you people at the Shaolin Temple have anything worthwhile? Look at how badly my student got injured practicing your arts. Luckily for me, I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to practice your sh*tty martial arts.¡±

    ¡­¡­

    Shifu?! Wasn¡¯t this something one of your friends in the wulin gifted?! What¡¯s this style called?! Yijin Jing?!

    I basically got the first manual down pact three yearster and began the second manual.

    When I started the second manual, I expected it to be easier since I had the foundations down from the first manual, but I was wrong¡­

    I experienced qigong deviation while I was going through the second manual.

    My qi went out of control. My own qi bounced off the floor and threw me through more than twenty walls. While it¡¯s true that our worthless mud walls which have to be mended every month barely even keep the wind and rain out, I went through more than twenty of them! Twenty!

    I still remember now the terrorised look on my shishu¡¯s** look when his nephew came running in crying ¡°the walls broke down¡±, after he just got in bed with the girl from the vige next door who he was hooking up with. After that he became impotent and never had any more affairs. Recently he¡¯s be a full-fledged priest. Amitabha¡­

    As a result of that incident, my arms and legs were broken, leaving me crippled for more than two years. During those two years, I fought through the gut-wrenching pain andpleted the qi training, therebypleting the second manual.

    During that time, seven Taoists visited and shifu gave them one heck of a scolding.

    ¡°Hey, Seven Heroes of Wudang, do you people have any respect for the codes of the pugilistic world?! Didn¡¯t you people blow your trumpets iming that anyone can learn your yin yang blend of Tai Chi?! Howe my student ended up like this then?! If I were stupid enough to learn it, I''d be in his position right now!¡±

    I was so enraged I nearly vomited blood.

    Shifu?! What¡¯s this manual?! You can¡¯t train both the martial arts of monks and Taoists at the same time!!

    When I got started on the third book, I was extremely cautious. I swear I was like ten-thousand times more cautious.

    But the third manual only had one image.

    That shouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    However, reality had another story prepared for me.

    After training ording to that drawing, all the meridian points in my body were destroyed. Obliterated. Over the following year, shifu¡¯s wife brought me Lingzhi mushrooms. Thanks to her I was able to slowly regain my ability to walk.

    After that, thirty strange looking visitors came by and got into a huge fight with my shifu. In the end theypletely lost and got a scolding from my shifu.

    ¡°You Demon Sect bastards! Have you no shame?! Your leader himself said this Spring Wind and Rainy Night painting belongs to the mightiest and that the winner is the king. I drugged the lot of you scoundrels which knocked you all out and walked away with it after beating you lot fair-and-square. And now you¡¯re telling me you want it back?¡±

    So you lied? The Demon Sect¡¯s Spring Wind and Rainy Night painting?! Why don¡¯t you all go to hell?!

    ¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    I basically gave up at that point.

    I just practiced whatever he gave me. It¡¯s just me and my rotten life. If I don¡¯t die from practicing this stuff, then it¡¯s only a matter of time before I¡¯m hunted down by those sects anyway.

    Shifu continued to hand me secret manuals his friends ¡°gifted¡± him every day. I took them and continued to train diligently.

    But it was strange. Afterpleting the third manual, I never got injured again whilepleting any of the sessive manuals, and with each manual Ipleted, sessive ones became easier and easier. In the end, shifu asked me in a surprised tone: ¡°You¡¯re not dead yet?!¡±

    Hey!

    I''m alive and kicking! But you certainly can go die!

    In short, my body got stronger and stronger.

    I never even contracted any minor illnesses or suffered any minor pains.

    In the end, I left the mountain when I was twenty-two and realised¡­ I was invincible.

    Notes:

    *A manual containing a series of exercises, coordinated with breathing, believed to enhance physical health dramatically when practiced religiously

    **Shishu = A senior instructor who''s below the rank of your shifu

 Volume 1 1 The Imperial Court Enjoys as Many Benefits as the Turbulence Experienced in the Wulin

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 1 The Imperial Court Enjoys as Many Benefits as the Turbulence Experienced in the Wulin</h4>

    That¡¯s right. Even though I¡¯ve got good connections, possess great martial prowess, look handsome, and¡­

    In any case, I¡¯m sticking with my decision to retire.

    My reason?

    Simple, life in the pugilistic world is too boring and tough.

    What? You want to know why I don''t go and leisurely enjoy what the world has to offer when I''m such a skilled martial artist?

    You''re thinking too much.

    The prerequisite for enjoying what the world has to offer isn''t about how good your martial arts skills are. It''s about how much money you have!et¡¯s say you¡¯re so pathetic you can¡¯t kill an ant. As long as you¡¯re rich, you¡¯d still be able to leisurely enjoy what the world has to offer. Even if you go about your business free and unfettered, no one will say anything.

    Earn money in the pugilistic world?

    Keep dreaming.

    You think it''s easy to make money in the pugilistic world?

    Famous Sects are always fighting over fame and benefits. The burden I feel when dealing with them is a pain. The more famous they are, the heavier the burden. Altogether there are over one-hundred disciples, all gathered together on one mountain. You need money for amodation, money for weapons and money for clothes. And yet they try to feed that many people with a meagre ie.

    Big sects like Shaolin, Wudang and Emei get by with donations and by appointing the position of a poorndlord as thendlord to just barely get by on the daily. Other smaller sects live in poor conditions.

    My shifu had his own ways of making money, but it was nothingpared to what an elderly earned in the countryside. After he found about this, he got angry and went to steal the donations at the Shaolin temple. ording to the wulin rules, big sects are not allowed to bully smaller ones, so my shifu was always stealing from the bigger sects. Apparently, that didn¡¯t count as him breaking the wulin''s rules¡­ Unless he was caught.

    He really never got caught. In fact, he always brought back a bunch of who-knows-what secret manuals for me. As such, we¡¯ve been rejected by the bigger sects, and as a result, we¡¯ve never been allowed to attend any big wulin meetings, hero meetings and other simr money-making opportunities.

    What? You think we''re an evil sect?

    True, evil sects to make easy-money.

    But haven¡¯t you heard?

    A few years ago, Ximen ChuiDeng, the leader of the Demon Sect self-proimed that he was invincible and wanted to annihte the wulin, but he still wasn¡¯t satisfied with that. As a result, the imperial court dered that people could go after him.

    Both sides of the wulin responded to the call. The Seven Major Sects of Jiang Nan, the Thirteenth ck Wind Vige, the Twenty-eight Red mes of the Caves, Qinling of the Thirty-Six Holes, Shaolin, Wudang, Emei all banded together and went to purge the Demon Sect.

    Ximen ChuiDeng¡¯s boasting and lies didn¡¯t work, and they fucked him up. After the Demon Sect was destroyed, there was no news from them for a while. They might be running street stalls selling salted duck eggs now for all we know.

    Have you heard?ast month, the thirty-seven members of the murderous Blood Eagle n were ying mah-jong at home, when the imperial court sent over one-hundred and forty Qilin Guards in and massacred them. The Blood Eagle¡¯s n leader was still holding the Three Dragons* in his hands when his head was cut off as he yelled ¡°I won!¡± He didn¡¯t even get to collect the money from his win before he died.

    Now do you understand why I want to retire?

    I¡¯m thirty-eight years old this year, so I¡¯m not young anymore. My shifu is still alive and kicking, and teasing young maidens, but he is in his sixty¡¯s, so he¡¯s bound toe and ask me to be his sessor soon enough.

    When that timees, all the people he shamelessly owes, all the sects he stole from, all the young maidens and housewives he teased, all the kids he¡¯s got from his affairs¡­ All of them are going toe after me¡­

    The most embarrassing thing is having to disy the banners and ques that have things like ¡°Defeating the Scum of the Wulin¡±, ¡°Destroying the World¡±, ¡°The Precious Gem of Women¡± and the such, that were on disy that day outside the mountain doors. How am I supposed to live that down?

    Therefore, I¡¯ve decided to retire and ignore matters rted to the pugilistic world, otherwise the only thing I¡¯ll be doing for thetter half of my life is paying back that old-snake''s debts!

    I sat at home looked through the ¡®job search¡¯ section in my brand new copy of the number on gossip magazine in the pugilistic world hot off the press. At the top of the recruitment section it said:

    The Qilin guards are recruiting. The sry is good, you will be treated well and there are mary rewards.

    Qilin guards, huh?

    That''s serious business.

    The Qilin guards have basically taken over the job of the Wulin¡¯s white sect*, engaging in lively battles with the evil sects. Those unaware would misunderstand that the Qilin guards'' families were raped by the evil sects, and that their vicious attacks are their retaliation. It¡¯s fair to say that the Qilin guards are ruthless with their attacks against the evil sect.

    I feel as though the Qilin guards do a much better job of upholding justice and order than the Shaolin abbot that can¡¯t stop asking for donations, and the leader of Wudang who just has to read people¡¯s fortune whenever he meets them.

    However, the evil sects are strong. They¡¯re no pushovers. Especially since they¡¯ve changed the way they operate thesest few years. They''ve created connections with officials, and now that they''re backed by higher ranking officials, the Qilin guards dispatched by the imperial court those same officials serve have a hard time eradicating them.

    There''s more¡­iu Shan Men are also recruiting. They pay higher wages than the Qilin guards, they provide better treatment, there are beauties to apany you, and you even get paid when you go on holiday leave!

    They¡¯re tantlypeting with them!

    Just why do they insist onpeting with the Qilin guards?!iu Shan Men really are a sad bunch.

    If you¡¯re human, the first thought thates to mind when Liu Shan Men is mentioned are the famous constables, the Thirteen Constables!

    Ah, no, not the Thirteen Constables, but a constable called Yan Shi San**. He and Demon Sect leader Ximen ChuiDeng are the two clowns of the Wulin. They¡¯ve been at loggerheads with each other since they were kids. They fought until they both aged and were still at each other¡¯s throats. Two influential figures in the Wulin fighting is like burning money. Forget the Demon Sect, whose origins are shady to begin with. But why Liu Shan Men? They¡¯re notcking.

    Who would¡¯ve thought that Constable Shi San would use underhanded tactics to defeat Ximen ChuiDeng. He embezzled, opened gambling joints, brothels and even bought things for low prices only to sell them at higher prices. He then used that money generously to find new recruits. In the nk of an eye, Liu Shan Men became an unparalleled force to be reckoned with.

    But just as he was about to attack the Demon Sect, the old fe overdid it and screwed himself over.

    Apparently he was trying to get one of his prostitutes at his brothels to do some shameless things I can¡¯t describe, and got busted by the emperor who was out inspecting the city. The emperor ended up demoting Constable Shi San to some government office to hide the fact that he went there himself.

    I heard that the Wulin¡¯s White Sects ended up destroying the Demon Sect, while this old fe was still stuck sweeping the floors of the government office.

    After Yan Shi San was demoted, Liu Shan Men was never treated the same way again. Their great constables left and joined the Qilin guards. To make up for their loss of talent, they had no choice but to spend hefty amounts of money to attract more new talent.et''s have a look at their treatment again¡­

    What?

    The monthly sry is seventy silver ingots?! Holy sh*t! I used to get paid ten silvers ingots a month! The Qilin guards only paid forty.

    Even if they''re getting money from both the government and citizens, this difference is insane!

    What a bunch of corrupt scoundrels!

    I angrily stood up and went back to my room to pack.

    Alright, let''s go and apply for a position at Liu Shan Men.

    There¡¯s too much bullsh*t in the Wulin these days. If you¡¯re a skilled martial artist, you should answer the calls of the imperial court and try to get a position there. There¡¯s too much turbulence in the pugilistic world. Working for the imperial court is your best option.

    I made up my mind and headed for the door.

    I need to leave quietly; I can¡¯t let myself be discovered, especially by people from my sect.

    Suddenly, I heard the beautiful clear voice of a woman calling from outside.

    "Ming Feizhen, are you there?"

    Who''s this?

    Who dares say yours truly''s name like that?****

    "I''m your shiyi,e the hell out here, now!"

    My aura of dominance faded a little¡­

    Fuck!¡­ Speak of the devil.

    Note:

    *The red, green and white dragons in mah-jong tiles

    **White sect = refers to sects which consider themselves justice

    *** Shi San =Ê®Èý = thirteen in Chinese. So the joke is "there aren''t thirteen constables, but he''s called constable thirteen" (Ê®ÈýÃû²¶ = Thirteen Constables; Ê®ÈýÃû²¶ = Constable Thirteen)

    ****It was umon to call people by their full name like that in those days. You would usually go (Surname) + (Suffix which would be a title or position etc.)

 Volume 1 2 My Shijie, Shiyi, Tai Shishuâ€¦ Are All The Same Person

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 2 My Shijie, Shiyi, Tai Shishu¡­ Are All The Same Person</h4>

    It''s said that it¡¯s easy to tell whether or not someone is part of the pugilistic world. They say the way they knock on your door gives it away.

    Normal people knock by actually knocking on your door. If there¡¯s no response, they¡¯ll call for you. If you don¡¯t answer, then they¡¯ll open the door themselves and check things out. If no one is home, they¡¯ll leave. But those in the pugilistic world are all the same. They all stand outside and yell¡­

    They all yell: ¡°Come the hell out¡±. And should you note out, they might wait outside for an entire day.

    Just when I thought ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll be fine if I just stay at home for the day¡±, another female starts yelling.

    ¡°You not going toe out?¡±ike hell I¡¯ming out. You can¡¯t do anything about it unless you break the codes of the pugilistic world.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, what¡¯s the title of the book fourth from the left, on the second row shelf from the top of your bookshelf?¡±

    Pfft, are you trying to mess with me? I remember that it¡¯s the ¡°One-Hundred Flowers, Wrong Fist¡± manual. I live an honourable and upright life, I¡¯m impregnable.

    ¡°What¡¯s in the martial arts manual opposite to it?¡±

    Sh*t! I started breaking into a cold sweat¡­ Did she find out about my ¡®Wu Shan Yan''s History¡¯ book**?

    ¡°Oh yeah, I was going to invite your fellow disciples toe and enjoy that collection of paintings you have in the box under your bed. What do you think?¡±

    I shouted: ¡°I¡¯ming, I¡¯ming!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk this over. Please spare me, great hero¡±, as I put a smile on and went out to greet her.

    ¡°Wow~ Junior Shiyi, it¡¯s nice to have you.¡±

    To be honest, I¡¯d rather see anybody else from the sect but her¡­¡±

    Even if it was my shifu, I¡¯d have my ways of dealing with him, but her¡­

    As soon as I opened the door, I saw a suave and beautiful woman dressed in a snow-white robe standing outside.

    My god¡­

    She wore a popr white warrior¡¯s robe from outside the area. Clothing from outside the area is always sexy and tends to have the wearer bear their goods. Her robe made her god-gifted body lines so much more pronounced. Her cor was slightly undone, revealing her beautiful white swan-like neck, and a bit further down were her glorious hips. My eyes were glued to her mesmerizing body. I''m not afraid of high mountains, but I certainly am afraid of deep valleys¡­*

    If she were to walk the streets like this, so many guys would fall for her. Although, I do think a bunch already have fallen head over heels for her¡­ She doesn¡¯tb her hair, and leaves it down behind her. It looks beautiful, yet gives off azy vibe at the same time. This is her normal dress-up. She goes about her business alone and always does things in an unorthodox manner.

    To be honest, before I opened the door, I made a bet with myself. I bet I¡¯d be able to stop myself from checking her out. I proved that I could prevent myself from looking right away, but in the end, my eyes helplessly glued themselves to her.

    This is why I don''t like to see her. Whenever I see her, I have to fight this internal urge¡­

    I did my absolute best to put on a ¡°Looking at people¡¯s chest while talking to them is basic etiquette¡± expression, only to discover after a few steps that her skirt had a secret too.

    Her skirt was different to what people here in the maind wear. It doesn¡¯t fully cover up her legs, it¡¯s just long. Seeing her revealing white legs drove me crazy. To all you guys outside the area, I want this robe to¡­ ¡°cough, cough¡±, Amitabha, seniors of the sect must be respected. I mustn¡¯t look, I mustn¡¯t look¡­

    She stared at me unpleasantly, so I could only make my way to the front of her and force a smile that looked uglier than me crying.

    ¡°Sh-shiyi?¡±

    Her cold demeanour didn¡¯tst for long as she started giggling.

    ¡°What are you acting so scared for?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a while, so I am a bit excited.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What are you excited about?¡±

    She smiled seductively and folded her arms, pushing her twin valleys up, making them more revealing. I secretly did internal qi exercises three times to calm that internal urge down. I''ve to firmly believe that climbing ¡°valleys¡± is the most romantic activity for men.

    She looked at me silently. Then she pulled a funny face and revealed a gentle smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re as strange as always. How long have we not seen each other?¡±

    ¡°Over a year?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been one year, one-hundred and twenty-eight days. You¡¯ve holed up here and haven¡¯t return to Mount Daluo since my nephew, your master snuck away. I came to take you out for a bit.¡±

    Nope, you didn''t mishear that.

    The old fart I call shifu really is her nephew.

    Technically speaking, she''s not my junior shiyi. She''s my grand shiyi.

    To exin to you herplex identity, I need to start by telling you about my grandmaster first.

    My grandmaster is still alive.

    My master is in his sixty''s.

    I don¡¯t know exactly how old the grandmaster is. Some say he¡¯s one-hundred and twenty, other¡¯s say he¡¯s just turned one-hundred, and there are also people who say he¡¯s over one-hundred and forty. Based on my memory alone, the first time I saw him, his hair was already white, and looked roughly a hundred.

    He¡¯s a true hero unlike my unfettered and moral-when-it¡¯s-convenient shifu. He¡¯s heroic, and open-minded, which is why all of us disciples really respect him.

    It¡¯s rumoured that his cultivation level far surpasses humans and that he¡¯s reached divinity. But to me, he looks like he¡¯s suffering from Alzheimer''s and is slow with reactions¡­

    My junior shiyi here is said to be the daughter of his long-distant second uncle. In other words, she''s his younger cousin. Although they¡¯re like eight generations apart, the grandmaster was able to demonstrate his respectable morals on caring for rtives and brought her into the sect as his junior. So she¡¯s the second highest ranked person in the sect after the grandmaster.

    I¡¯m scared of running into her, but my shifu is even more scared of running into her¡­

    Can you imagine the scene of an old man in his sixty''s calling a young beautiful maiden shishu***? I¡¯d be scared of her even if I was diagnosed with some sort of disease.

    Technically, I should be calling her grand shishu, but she doesn¡¯t want anyone referring to her with a title higher than shijie****. I don¡¯t have the guts to challenge the rules of the sect, so I just call her junior shiyi as apromise.

    She nced at me and saw the bag I was carrying, and said in a reproaching tone: ¡°What? Are you moving just to avoid me?¡±

    Something felt wrong when I heard it, but I can¡¯t put my finger on what it was.

    ¡°No, no!¡±

    I shook my head in panic. I was struggling to stay calm.

    ¡°I was just going to make a trip to Nan Jing.¡±

    Notes:

    *Meaning he isn''t worried that a woman looks good, but he''s afraid of bing infatuated with her

    **A book from the Qing dynasty about a guy who had many affairs, and ended up with a harem and blissful life.

    ***Shishu = Ê¦Êå = Senior Uncle (In schools)

    **** Shijie =Ê¦½ã = Senior Sister (In schools)

 Volume 1 3 The Door Dividing Liu Shan Men and the People at the Centre

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 3 The Door Dividing Liu Shan Men and the People at the Centre</h4>

    After hearing my reason for taking my bag, she didn¡¯tment. Instead she opened her beautiful eyes wide, and asked: ¡°You want to go to Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°I just want to go and see what it¡¯s like.¡± I felt like that wasn¡¯t convincing enough, so I added: ¡°If it¡¯s boring, I¡¯lle right back.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you won¡¯te back if you find it interesting?¡±

    She scanned me from head to toe, and before I could say anything to break the awkward atmosphere, she narrowed her eyes, and said:

    ¡°Then I¡¯ming too.¡±

    ¡°I want to see if Liu Shan Men really is that interesting, so interesting that they managed to lure my sect''s next sessor in.¡±

    Hey! That topic is taboo!

    I never promised to be the sessor!!

    She wouldn¡¯t listen to me at all, so all I could do was keep silent and bring her with me to Nan Jing.uckily, my run-down house is only half-a-day away from Nan Jing, so we were able to enter the city before sunset with our speed.

    I intended to sneak out and go register, but instead saw my goddess -junior shiyi waiting for me at the lodging¡¯s door.

    ¡°I knew you would try and sneak away. Let¡¯s get going or we¡¯ll bete.¡±

    How are you so beautiful¡­?

    We talked andughed with each other along the way until we reached our destination. We saw the bigcquer red door with a sign that said ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s Nan Jing Headquarters¡± which was easy to understand and disyed facing the crowd.

    ¡°They really mean business. Look at the way they present themselves. Working for the government is the best choice you can make." I wasted no time trying to hypnotise my junior shiyi.

    She blinked a few times, and then asked: ¡°So you¡¯lle back and be the sect leader if I get people to re-paint our door?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, what use is a big door?¡±

    ¡°Then what does this door prove?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Howe I¡¯ve never won an argument since her since I was a kid?

    She stroked her smooth snow-white chin and put on a hesitant expression.

    ¡°Haa~ you¡¯re the only disciple of your master that can work independently. You¡¯ve never been at ease since there are so many disciples on the mountain. I don¡¯t understand why you aren¡¯t willing to be the sect leader. Without you, no one in the wulin would even know of Mount Daluo.¡±

    Oi, oi, that¡¯s because there¡¯s no one else who¡¯s willing to ept that position, isn¡¯t it? If someone was willing to take on that sh*tty job, I¡¯d have been thrown out moons ago. I never would¡¯ve even been offered a chance.

    Seeing her pretend to be pouting and sulking, I decided to tease her.

    "I¡¯ll ept the position on one condition.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Her eyes lit up, as she said: ¡°As long as it¡¯s reasonable, I¡¯ll agree to anything.¡±

    "Marry me."

    "Get lost!"

    Her small white face looked flustered, and she said: ¡°Hmph, I knew you were going to be a smartass. Listen, part of the reason I came looking for you was because your shifu asked me to. He told me to bring you back andplete the session ceremony if you weren¡¯t doing anything and just messing around.¡±

    He said that!? He definitely got some household name hero¡¯s daughter or a pair of sisters pregnant, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t call a loser like me back in such a hurry.

    ¡°I certainly am not messing around. I¡¯m looking for work right now, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    She smiled as though she knew what I was thinking.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. You just don¡¯t want to go back, am I right? In that case, enjoy your retirement here.¡±

    My entire heart was filled with warmth¡­ She treats me so well¡­ Better than my own shifu.

    ¡°However, if this ces turns out to be trash, I¡¯m going to drag you back. If you disobey me, I¡¯ll break your legs.¡±

    She definitely treats me better than my shifu. I remember thest time I refused to seed the position as sect leader, he threatened to break all three of my legs¡­*

    We spoke over each other as we entered the first examination location.

    ¡°Where¡¯re you from? Can¡¯t you see we¡¯re conducting examinations here? Go line up.¡±

    We were pointed to the line where the examinees wearing casual clothes were lined up. The line was long enough to go around the entire ce once.

    That long? Well, nothing we can do about it.

    This is work after all, so everyone is treated equally, and everyone will get a chance. I¡¯ll just see what everybody else is like then.

    Junior shiyi and I went and stood at the back of the line sharing the same thoughts, as we watched the examinees.

    A young man entered and formally greeted them.*

    ¡°My name is Su Xiao.¡±

    I looked and him and instinctively said: ¡°Oh? That guy doesn¡¯t look too bad.¡±

    Junior shiyi also looked in his direction, and whistled like a thug. She then said: ¡°I agree.¡±

    Together we added: ¡°He doesn''t look too shabby¡±***

    Notes:

    *In Chinese, your third leg is your ding-a-ling

    **He greeted them by forming a fist in one hand and wrapping it with his other palm I didn''t trante it like that because it''s essentially a greeting, and you as readers may not know what that means, plus it would be a literal trantion which is for amateurs.

    ***They''re referring to his appearance there

 Volume 1 4 Yi Ren is at Liu Shan Men

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 4 Yi Ren is at Liu Shan Men</h4>

    There''s a magazine which is widely circted in the pugilistic world. Everyone has a copy. The monthly magazine is called ¡°ck and White Reflection¡±.

    It records the events which happen in the martial world each month in great detail. They also create all sorts of polls ranking martial artists from different sects and styles, which be a weapon of sorts for them to unt for whatever reasons in the pugilistic world.

    It¡¯s not just limited to those belonging to different sects and schools in the martial world though. Even ordinary people are interested in the happenings of the pugilistic world, so it sells incredibly well and it continues to thrive. You could say that it¡¯s a noble contribution towards promoting the culture of the martial world.

    But today¡¯s topic is not about the ¡°ck and White Reflection¡±, but its sister magazine, the ¡°Pink Reflection¡±.

    It¡¯s said that the publisher of the ¡°ck and White Reflection¡± magazine got bored one time and released the ¡°Pink Reflection¡± as a sister magazine. He wrote about the story of a magnificent beauty in the pugilistic world at the time. Not only did he write about her everyday life, but he also described her spicy meeting with a swordsman in the middle of night in great detail. As a result, the sales of that month¡¯s issue of the ¡°ck and White Reflection¡± were off the charts. It still holds the record for the highest number of sales in history.

    That gave the publisher the confirmation that publishing the "Pink Reflection" was seble idea.

    Consequently, the two of them areparably popr. Like the ¡°ck and White Reflection¡±, the ¡°Pink Reflection¡± contains many polls for the beauties of the martial world making countless shameless scumbags in the martial world dribble like salivating dogs.

    Today¡¯s star is one of the beauties featured: Shen Yiren.

    She¡¯s from Nan Jing and is seventeen this year.

    She may not be the strongest female hero, or the most beautiful, but she certainly is the most stuck-up and violent female in the martial art.

    To this day, everybody still remembers the day she caught a disciple of one of the famous sects trying to grope her butt and gave him an explosive ball-shattering kick, right up the middle. All the guys present who saw it instinctively retreated. They probably felt the pain in their own nuts just seeing that¡­

    No one dared to cross her again after that fiasco, because not only is she a famous beauty, but she¡¯s also one of Liu Shan Men¡¯s A-ss fighters and the second inmand.

    And right now¡­ She''s really pissed off¡­ Real pissed off¡­

    "Sh*t! What did you say?!"

    She was dragging a constable over thirty and staring him down. She looked like she was ready to swallow him whole.

    ¡°The Qilin guards asked the emperor to remove us from the martial arts tournament in front of the pce? When was this?¡±

    ¡°Th-the day before.¡±

    ¡°You motherfucker! The day before? Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?!¡±

    ¡°I wanted to tell you, but you were arguing with the master, I mean, the governor, so I couldn¡¯t tell you in time.¡±

    Her eyes widened, as she asked: ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this is my fault?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all. The fault lies with me.¡±

    This is the Qing Long Compound; Liu Shan Men¡¯s workce.iu Shan Men has lost their standing in the imperial court for quite some time now.

    There are three groups in the martial world which work for the imperial court: Liu Shan Men, the Qilin guards and the emperor¡¯s entourage. The emperor¡¯s entourage are responsible for guarding him and don¡¯t participate in any internal power struggles. So there¡¯s only Liu Shan Men and the Qilin guards who¡¯re going at each other¡¯s throats.

    But after the incident with Yan Shisan a few years ago, the Qilin guards now wield more power than Liu Shan Men.

    The situation has remained like that for some years until now.

    But the emperor suddenly felt like seeing the skills of his amazing warriors and arranged for a martial arts tournament in front of Bai Guan* next month.

    The tournament itself is probably meaningless for the emperor¡¯s entourage and the Qilin guards. But for Liu Shan Men, it was an opportunity to prove themself. That¡¯s why they immediately started spending thriftily to find talent.

    And that''s how Ming Feizhen ended up looking for work there.

    "But I went to the Qilin guards ce to warn them already¡­"

    ¡°What good would that bloody do?! Do you actually engage your brain when you think? If you don¡¯t exin it properly, then it¡¯s the same as telling them that we really are weak right now. What happens if the emperor really asks us to pull out? You good-for-nothings¡­¡±

    The beautiful young maiden vulgarly scolded Constable Zhang terribly. Everyone else, both guys and girls put their head down to avoid further angering her.

    A young man came in from outside and tried to help out after seeing her scold him. ¡°Sis, d-don¡¯t be so violent.¡± The young man is her younger twin brother. His name is theplete opposite of his soft and weak nature ¨C Shen Kuang**. They arrived in this world only moments apart, yet their personalities are theplete opposite of each other. The sister is arrogant and violent, while the brother is meek and obedient. Yet funnily, the sister is called ¡°Yiren¡± while the brother is called ¡°Kuangren¡±¡­

    She red at her brother and said: ¡°I¡¯m violent? How?!¡±

    A yful female voice from behind Shen Kuang said: ¡°Of course you¡¯re violent. In fact, you¡¯re heaps violent~¡±

    Shen Yiren immediately recognised the owner of the voice, and puffed her chest out to unt her dominance.

    All the guys present couldn¡¯t help but look towards Shen Yiren''s chest region. But fearing the consequences, they quietly looked back down.

    ¡°What are you doing here, you witch?!¡±

    A peculiar behaving and dressed woman came out from behind Shen Kuang. She was perfect from head-to-toe and right-to-left. Every guy present ogled her.

    ¡°I¡¯m just seeing Master Kuang home, is there a problem? He''s a highly skilled martial artist,es from a reputable family and isn¡¯t favouring any one side. Is there a reason we Qilin guards can¡¯t try to recruit him?¡±

    Shen Yiren replied: ¡°Of course you can¡­ After I die! Kuang, get over here. Fucking bitch. This is Liu Shan Men¡¯s workce. You shouldn¡¯t be here, so take a hike.¡±

    Situo angrily replied: ¡°My name is Situo, not ¡®fucking bitch''!*** You second-rate trash, are you illiterate?¡±

    Shen Yiren red at her.

    ¡°Why the hell would people like us need to act like schrs? Only you Qilin guards are that cringeworthy. Throw her out of here!¡±

    Situo knows that Shen Yiren is the type that makes good on her word, so she left. When she left, she winked at Shen Kuang, basically saying ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting~¡±, and then slipped away.

    Shen Yiren red at Shen Kuang without uttering a word. Shen Kuang felt a cold chill run up his spine and started begging for forgiveness before she could say anything.

    ¡°Sis, I¡­. She clung to me right after I left the study. I didn¡¯t promise her anything. Believe me!¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯re kind. I¡¯m just worried that someone might lead you down the wrong path. The fucking bitch knows that we n to recover our reputation and standing at the uing tournament, that¡¯s why she wants to steal our people.¡±

    Out of the blue, Shen Kuang said: "No wonder why she acts so friendly with me. You''re a genius, sis."

    Shen Yiren had no time for her brother. She thought to herself: ¡°The Qilin guards are doing everything they can to stop us from rising to power again. They might try and pull something since we¡¯re publicly recruiting.¡±

    "I''m going to personally watch over the recruitment exams this time."

    Notes:

    *Bai Guan = The courtyard in directly in front of the main room where the emperor holds his meetings with his retainers

    ** Kuangren = ¿ñÈË = Crazy Person; Yiren = ÒÁÈË = This Person / That Person / Someone''s Love

    ***Ë¾¸§ (Situo) andËÀ¸¯ (Sifu). Yiren is subbing the two "si" characters, and changing the second character. ËÀ¸¯ technically means Fujioshi, but that wasn''t a derogatory term in ancient times, so I subbed it for ''Fucking bitch'' which matches Yiren''s vulgar cussing style of speech.

 Volume 1 5 The Root of Trouble (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 5 The Root of Trouble (Part 1)</h4>

    This young man named Su Xiao doesn¡¯t look too bad at all.

    His face looks handsome, his pearly whites look well-kept, his nose is tall and straight, and he¡¯s tall in stature. He¡¯s the kind of young pretty boy girls would fall head-over-heels over. It¡¯s just¡­ He¡¯s too thin for a man¡­ His shoulders aren¡¯t wide enough. They¡¯re narrow like ady¡¯s. And he looks a bit too feminine.

    Is he cross-dressing?

    Ptui.

    ¡°My name is Su Xiao, I¡¯m from Nanjing. I¡¯m sixteen this year and specialise in wielding broadswords.¡±

    Oh~ a sixteen year old flower. It¡¯d be a waste if he didn¡¯t cross-dress as a maiden.

    Sh*t! That was such a dirty thought¡­

    But what I¡¯m really interested in the young man who¡¯s his opponent.

    He looks theplete opposite of Su Xiao. His eyes are filled with fight, yet he¡¯s calm and collected. He¡¯s the kind that stands there and says nothing. Not many young people have that temperament.

    He said his name was Tang Ye.

    They began fighting after bowing to each other.

    Su Xiao definitely learnt his sword techniques from his family. I¡¯ve peek-¡­ ¡°cough, cough¡± seen all the broadsword techniques of famous sects already, but not this one. First, most family styles are only passed-down to their sons and not their daughters, so outsiders can forget about even catching a glimpse of it. Second¡­ If he learnt all that bull crap there from a famous sect, then that sect would undoubtedly be extinct by now.

    Tang Ye however isn¡¯t bad. He¡¯s dealing with a sword empty-handed without any problems. In fact, he¡¯s giving Su Xiao an opportunity, so that he leaves an impression on the examiners. But after twenty moves, he eloquently struck Su Xiao¡¯s wrist, took his sword off him, and used that same hand to knock him out by striking his pressure point.

    He beat Su Xiao with just one arm.

    That style is pretty overpowered.

    However, the examiners were quite impressed with Su Xiao as well, so they allowed them both to continue on to the next round.

    After pondering it silently for a while, Junior shiyi rubbed her chin and asked: ¡°Feizhen, what do you think?¡±

    Without a thought, I blurted: ¡°They¡¯re worlds apart. Tang Ye is young, but his martial arts skills are quite good. He could give a good number of top ranked fighters a run for their money. He¡¯s almost on your level.¡±

    Realizing that I said something I shouldn¡¯t have, I quickly added: ¡°However, hecks experience. He wouldn¡¯tst more than thirty moves against you.¡±

    She pouted a little before replying with a smile: ¡°Yeah, I agree. Be careful when you fight him.¡±

    ¡°Me fight him? Why would I have to fight him?¡±

    ¡°There are three parts to the exam: In the first part, you just have to disy your martial arts skills. Winning and losing isn¡¯t important, you¡¯ll pass the first round if the examiner is happy. The second part is a schstic test. The third part is where you¡¯ll face off against each other, which will be scored. Didn¡¯t you read the information on the examination process?

    Well, I came running when I noticed that the monthly sry was seventy silver ingots. I didn¡¯t pay attention to all those other details¡­

    If that¡¯s the way it¡¯s going to go, then I¡¯ll need to be wary of Tang Ye. Well, I¡¯ll just make a note for now.

    While I¡¯m at it, let me remind you that when I say ¡°be careful¡±, I don¡¯t mean that I¡¯m afraid of losing to him, but that I¡¯ll have to get serious.

    I specialise in all different styles. I¡¯m good at Shaolin, Wudang, Emei Huashan¡­ I could just choose one and pretend that¡¯s my style, but if I get serious, then I¡¯ll end up revealing everything.

    Forget the other school¡¯s techniques, if I use the Demon Sect¡¯s Spring Wind Rainy Night manual¡¯s techniques, they¡¯ll kill me. Nobody in the world hates the Demon Sect more than these guys. I¡¯ll bet anything that at least thirty armed guards wille out from all directions to hack me.

    This will be a bit difficult indeed.

    After all, I never followed a training system. I¡¯ll end up using whatever if I¡¯m not careful. After training for all these years, I¡¯vebined everything I¡¯ve learnt together. I don¡¯t think about it when I fight. What shall I do¡­?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, Ming Suwen, Ming Feizhen, Ming Suwen. You¡¯re together, right?¡±

    I was too busy enjoying myself, I forgot it was our turn.

    ¡°You two came together and share the same surname. So you two are¡­¡±

    Before she could say anything, I blurted: ¡°We¡¯re a married couple!¡±

    I turned to look at my surprised and blushing young shiyi, and pulled a smug ¡°no need to thank me¡± look.

    I never expected the guard to get angry and say: ¡°How dare you! Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re not allowed to marry someone with the same surname as yourself? Who are your parents, how did you get acquainted with this maiden and how did you two date? Exin yourself!¡±

    I became a mess after he gave me that earful.

    Meanwhile, my young shiyi was giggling behind me. She cheekily raised an eyebrow at me to say: ¡°That¡¯s what you get for getting stuck-up and trying to take advantage of me.¡±

 Volume 1 6 The Root of Trouble (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 6 The Root of Trouble (Part 2)</h4>

    "No one has done something so disgusting since the establishment of this dynasty. Exin yourself properly, or else I''ll punish you."

    I could sense his jealousy, hate and desire to take out his anger on me in the name of carrying out his official duty from his tone. I¡¯ve got proof. He never took his eyes off my junior shiyi as he spoke to me. Besides him, the two inspectors on the side both wore the same expression¡­

    Fuck you and your ¡°no same surname marriage¡±! The current emperor has eight wives, two of them share the same surname, Li, with him. Why don¡¯t you go punish him!?

    I can''t believe being a loud-mouth would have such repercussions.

    We share the same name because I was adopted, we¡¯re not blood rted. But there is the issue of seniority¡­

    Deciding that that was enough, she stepped in to exin: ¡°Sir, he¡¯s joking. We¡¯re rtives, I¡¯m his¡­ gugu*." I¡¯m not sure what she was thinking, but she looked a bit ufortable after saying that.

    Gugu? Guo''er is here!**

    Yeah right.

    ¡°Rtives! Ah, nephew, I mean, Fei Zhen, do your best, don¡¯t let me down.¡±

    After he heard that I was her nephew and realised I wasn¡¯t a threat, he smiled gently and brightly at me. I got goose bumps when he called my name.

    ¡°Alright, the first round of the examination is martial arts. Rx, and show us your best moves. Miss, please be careful not to let yourself get hurt.¡±

    Hey, hey, hey! I heard you were looking for skilled martial artists.

    Now you¡¯re worried about her getting a little hurt?

    "You two can start once you''re ready."

    She pulled a cheeky face at me as if she were trying to say: ¡°Are you going to go easy on me?¡±

    Yes. Yes, I will! I would dly die for you even!

    We stood apart on two sides and put our guard up using our sect''s style. She lives up to her title as the most senior female member of our sect. Her pose is both dignified and well-thought. None of my fellow disciples couldpare.

    She was trained by the grandmaster. She¡¯s not like me; she¡¯s one of those born with martial talent people. Although there¡¯s an age gap, based on what I¡¯ve seen, she is pretty much on shifu¡¯s level. I¡¯ll suffer if I¡¯m not careful. But since we¡¯re from the same sect, I know her moves like the back of my hand, so I shouldn¡¯t be at too much of a disadvantage even if I go easy on her.

    She flipped her wrist over and slowly struck with her palm. That¡¯s our sect¡¯s Xing Luo Palm.

    Ahem, I got a little too excited there¡­, I was taught to honour my teachers and respect their teachings.

    I began by defending with Tai Chi. It¡¯s not that I want to use the martial arts of other sects and schools, but that I can only use the martial arts of other sects and schools! Shifu only threw secret manuals from other sects and schools at me when I started training. He never taught me our sect''s techniques.

    Even ¡¯til today, I¡¯m only able to recognise the techniques of our sect at best.

    After I left the mountain, I went to great lengths to convince people that I was a disciple of Mount Daluo, but nobody would believe me, because I don¡¯t even know their basics¡­

    She saw me defend and giggled, before changing her move quickly, and unleashed thirteen palm strikes at varying speeds and intensities.

    The examiners eximed: ¡°Whoa~¡±; I could virtually see their perverted smiles and stares as junior shi yi¡¯s clothes fluttered as she moved¡­

    I was so enraged, I swear I was ready to murder them! Those son of a guns don¡¯t understand the beauty behind her palm strikes. They were just ogling at her coveted beauty.

    My anger came from deep down in my heart. I absorbed the power of each of her strikes with my hands using my Tai Chi skills, and directed the blows behind me, sshing those perverts with tornado-like winds, until they started crying from the wind hurting their eyes.

    Hahahahaha, well deserved.

    Shiyi looked at me strangely, and awkwardly asked: ¡°What are you doing? If they can¡¯t see properly, how are we supposed to pass?¡±ike I care! No one is allowed to steal looks at you.

    After that, we exchanged thirty moves each, thirty of her Xing Luo Palms, thirty of my Tai Chi techniques. The three examiners still couldn¡¯t open their eyes after we were done. When they finally recovered, they looked at each other awkwardly, because they didn¡¯t see our performance, the group next to ours or the one next to that group''s either.

    One examiner for our group cleared their throats, spoke to his two colleagues and said to us: ¡°The two of you weren¡¯t bad, But, uhh¡­ You didn''t manage to meet our expectations this time around.¡±

    Holy sh*t, I just witnessed Liu Shan Men''s corruption here first hand!

    Tell me, just what the hell did you see?!

    Suddenly, a servant came rushing over and whispered to the examiner. The examiner''s facial expression changed drastically after he heard it. Then he stood up and said: ¡°I have something to attend to, please wait a moment.¡± And then he left in a hurry.

    Everybody present started looking at each other, wondering what had happened.

    I tried to use Yi Jin Jing to enhance my listening and sight to try and hear what was happening at the back, but since it was too far away, I could only hear some faint sounds.

    It sounded like someone was cussing at someone, some pping sounds, and painful cries like someone was getting skewered.

    What were they doing back there? Interrogating a criminal?

    I got my answer a few secondster.

    The examiner came back miserably with his hands on his face as he tried to cover the big hand marks on his face, and said to us: ¡°You six have passed the first round of the examination, please head over to the venue for the second round and await further instructions.¡±

    Justice has been served!

    But I want to know who beat him up so badly.

    Notes:

    Gugu = aunt

    **A reference to Legend of the Condor Heroes from Jin Yong, where Guo''er and his Gugu (Xiao Long Nv) have a romantic rtionship.

 Volume 1 7 A Big Discovery

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 7 A Big Discovery</h4>

    It seemed the second examination took longer than the first examination, so we waited around in the yard.

    I suddenly heard people next door arguing but no one reacted. I concluded that I could hear it because my hearing and sight were enhanced. I tugged on Juinor Shi yi¡¯s sleeve, and said: ¡°There are people arguing next door, let¡¯s go see what all the fuss is about.¡±

    She thought it was funny and said: ¡°You¡¯ve always been a fun-seeker since you were young.¡± But she ended uping with me in the end anyway. This shows that does she dote on me.

    After making our way through a series of twists and turns, we reached the courtyard next door and saw two guys pushing and tugging each other.

    What are you two doing dressed like that in the middle of the day?! My nosy personality came out, so I hid with Junior shi yi to watch them. One of them was a familiar face. It was the handsome broadsword wielder, Su Xiao, and he was tugging and tangled with another young man who looked just as handsome.

    Su Xiao looked like he was ready to leave, but the other guy grabbed his hands, and said: ¡°Why? Why are you like this?! Am I not treating you well enough?¡±

    Su Xiao put on a cold face and said: ¡°Master Liu, I¡¯ve said nothing but good things about you, it¡¯s just that you don¡¯t understand. Don¡¯t push it!¡±

    This dialogue sounds like¡­

    Right, I got it¡­

    The young man grabbed his chest with one hand as if he were about to vomit blood, stepped back three steps as if the god of love possessed him, and said: ¡°Why are you so heartless? Why are you so unreasonable?¡±

    He flicked his hair, looked at Su Xiao with eyes filled with sincerity, and said: ¡°What more do you want, Su Xiao? You know how I feel about you, don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t!¡±

    Fuck!

    Fuck!!

    Fuck!!!

    They¡¯re gay?! They¡¯re Gay!?

    Brother Su, I had no idea you were this kind of young man.

    Nan Jing is a big ce with lots of second generation rich kids and gays, but I never thought I¡¯d run into one.ooking at him closely¡­ God, how did I not think of that? Su Xiao looks weak and his skin looks tender like a girl''s. Every legit- gay would treat him like a rare treasure.

    Su Xiao stamped his feet in disbelief, and said: ¡°I, Su Xiao, am a man¡­¡±

    Miss, I mean, brother, just speak if you¡¯re going to speak, could you please not stamp as your speak?

    ¡°I¡¯m a man. Don¡¯t even think about using this to insult me. Otherwise¡­ Don¡¯t me me for being merciless!¡± He then coldly snorted and walked away.

    Master Liu gloomily stumbled away after Su Xiao.

    I forced myself to calm down, but I carelessly let it slip¡­

    ¡°Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, junior shi yi, I have to go and tell them about this!¡±

    She sighed and said: ¡°I never thought that brat would be so good at hooking up with other guys. I can¡¯t believe he even managed to hook up with Nan Jing¡¯s Liu Family¡¯s master.¡±

    ¡°Liu Family? Which Liu Family? Liu Zongyuan?¡±

    ¡°Liu Qingquan, the one that offended Ximen Chuideng that year, was hunted by the Demon Sect and had to burn down his Qianliu Vi in Hang Zhou. Heter secluded himself in Nan Jing, and only resurfaced into the pugilistic world after the Demon Sect crumbled. He¡¯s made connections with many high ranking officials over thest few years. He¡¯s doing alright for himself now.¡±

    Oh! I remember Qianliu Vi!

    That year when I went to Hang Zhou with shifu, he went south of Hang Zhou, while I went North. He went looking for a den of women, while I went deep into the den of ruthless thieves. I had a big battle with them that night and was fairly tired. I subdued seventy thieves while he spent an entire day flirting with girls¡­

    After that, I went to Qianliu Vi to rest.iu Qingquan bows in respect towards my shifu, so I guess him and I share the same level of seniority. Back then, Old Liu treated us passionately with his riches earned from his corrupt deeds.

    I remember we drank five hundred cups together. Not long after, his family got caught up in trouble. I haven¡¯t seen him in a long time.

    I remember he only had one son, and since¡­ Well, that¡¯s the end of his family lineage now.

    I suddenly heard my name.

    "Is Ming Feizhen here yet?"ooks like its time. I dragged Junior shi yi back to the venue, and indeed, they were calling for me. I quickly entered the venue, bowed in four directions and said: ¡°Thank you for having me here, please look after me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not being asked to put on a martial arts demonstration, so there¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony. This round is an intellectual test.¡±

    What?

    Intellectual? So there are schstic elements?

    I know the ''Three Character ssic'', does that count?

    ¡°Although it¡¯s an intellectual test, we won¡¯t be testing your writing or poetry skills. We at Liu Shan Men value the ability to be adaptive and your ability to deal with a crisis. Alright, here are some questions we¡¯ll ask you, you just need to answer. Would you please do the honours, head examiner?¡±

    All that big talk and you''re just a shuttle-boy¡­?

    A young man dressed in the casual attire of a young master from a big family sat down. Eh? Isn¡¯t this guy¡­ The guy that unsessfully confessed just now? Master Liu?!

    ¡°Ming Feizhen is a rare name.¡± He scanned at me as though he was analysing me causing all the hairs on my body to stand up.

    ¡°Your body¡¯s not bad.¡±

    Not bad, my foot!!

    I squeezed my butt tightly after heplimented me.

    I can guarantee he wasn''t checking out my goods, that was the look of a predator! This guy wants me!

    He continued ogling me, but then sighed and said: "But you don''t look anything special."

    Why do I feel like I should run as fast as I can for dear life, but at the same time, feel like I just gotpletely destroyed¡­?

    Notes:

    *Three Character ssics = It¡¯s used as a child¡¯s first formal education at home. It taught childrenmon characters, grammar structures, elements of Chinese history and the basis of Confucian principles. Long story short, Ming Feizhen is borderline illiterate.

 Volume 1 8 Deal at the Examination Venue

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 8 Deal at the Examination Venue</h4>

    This round was the same as thest. The examination was to bepleted as a pair, but it seems the order was jumbled up, because I wasn¡¯t paired with my Junior shiyi. Instead, I was paired with another young maiden.

    She had her eyes stered on Master Liu and was flirting with her eyes non-stop ever since she set foot in.ass, let me give you a piece of advice: Ady''s beauty will never enter the line of sight of dedicated monks and gays¡­

    ¡°You will be tested on your intellect this round. Alright, listen in.¡± Master Liu was shaking his head the way people do when fortune tellers exin their fortune to them based on divination sticks at temples. He looked more like a nut-job than a respectable young man from a prestigious family.

    The examiner asked: ¡°Let¡¯s say the opponent was more skilled than you and skilled with hidden weapons while you were outssed in both. What should you do in this sort of situation?¡±

    The young maiden shyly raised her small hand and twist-and-turned her body as she shyly said: ¡°You could seduce him, try to make him think he won, and when he¡¯s distracted, castrate him! If you manage to cut off the root of a man¡¯s power, he¡¯s basically useless. After that, hehehe.¡±

    Holy fuck! I correctly guessed what her opening would be, but that second half¡­ I never imagined she''d say that¡­

    Aren¡¯t you too ruthless? Your enemy might not be a bad person, you know? I imagined the scene of a highly skilled marital artist who was also an elite hidden weapon user getting castrated by some girl of a prestigious family¡­ Damn¡­

    Master Liu displeasingly denounced: ¡°Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! Is that something a girl says? Girls are supposed to protect their chastity. All girls in the world do, so why are you trying to act like a slut, seducing people, stealing what people like and stealing their man?! Women shouldn''t get married!¡±

    Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don''t you think you''re too selfish?!

    I can¡¯t believe people can¡¯t tell you swing that way¡­ Liu Shan Men aren''t very sharp.

    He continued getting angrier as he spoke, and it wasn¡¯t long before he mmed hisrge hand on the table, and said: ¡°There are so many guys trapped by the charms of females precisely because of sluts like you. Get lost! I don¡¯t want to see you!¡±

    The young maiden looked like she got struck by lightning. She confidently tried to show off in front of the guy she liked and that was what she was rewarded with. He scolded her until she ran off crying¡­

    Master Liu seemed like he enjoyed it, like he managed to vent his anger over failing to keep his lover. He looked more alive than before. He helped himself to a cup of tea, and said: ¡°Ming Feizhen, it¡¯s your turn to answer.¡±

    I continued looking at him speechlessly. I suddenly didn¡¯t feel like answering anymore, but decided to answer anyway, and said: ¡°I¡¯ll nt a mine and blow him up.¡±

    He frowned and said: ¡°Answer properly!¡± You treat men and womenpletely differently! Even an idiot could tell that I was dissing you, and yet you¡¯re asking me to repeat myself? Is this like some new way of discriminating against women?

    But I must ask, what the hell is up with this topic?

    A highly skilled martial artist who¡¯s also skilled at using hidden weapons¡­

    No matter how hard I think about it, the only answer thates to mind is: ¡°Can¡¯t you just one-hit KO him?¡± Does the problem lie with me?

    Master Liu took a sip of tea and said with his eyes half-closed: ¡°You don¡¯t know how to answer? That¡¯s fine. Okay, next question.¡±

    What the hell?!

    There are two questions now?

    That girl ran off for nothing then¡­

    ¡°There are fourteen people in the hall, and the person you¡¯re charged with protecting has been captured by the enemy. How should you resolve the situation?¡±

    Well¡­

    Say, can¡¯t you ask simpler questions? Like how did the pig die when he ran into the tree?

    If you ask me these sorts of questions, the only answer I¡¯ll have for you is: ¡°Kill the guy on the left of the hostage first, then the one on the right, then rescue the hostage.¡±

    Master Liu let out a sigh and said: ¡°The correct answer is to feign surrender and deceive the enemy. Haa~ Ming Feizhen, your martial arts skills are whatever, and you¡¯re terrible at using your brain. Looks like I¡¯ll be continuing on to the next round without you.¡±

    Did he just say he was going to eliminate me and bury my dream to retire?

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    He stopped drinking as I signalled to stop with my hand. He looked at me surprised, and asked: ¡°What?¡±

    Now that it¡¯se to this, I can¡¯t hold back anymore. I have to put you in your ce. Old Liu, don¡¯t me me. It¡¯s your son¡¯s fault for disrespecting his seniors.

    I suppressed the sound around, and used Shu Yin Cheng Xian Arts to speak to him, by speaking directly into his ears so that others wouldn¡¯t hear. I said to him: Master Liu¡­ I know Su Xiao.¡±

    Master Liu¡¯s eyes opened wide before making a scornful expression and shouting: ¡°So what if you know him? Are you trying to leverage that to gain favour with me or something? This is Liu Shan Men! Listen carefully, Ming Feizhen¡­¡±

    His voice got louder and louder. Fine, if that¡¯s how you want to y it.

    "I said, I know about the secret between you and Su Xiao.¡±

    I saw a bead of sweat roll down his head as he said: ¡°H-how do you¡­? What else do you know?¡±

    I replied: ¡°You not only know him, but you¡¯re also very close to him. You¡¯re so close to each other that you''re ready to share a bed with him, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    He suddenly startedughing in a friendly way, so I yed along with him.

    ¡°Hahaha, Master Ming, you¡¯re so talented.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, not at all, not at all.¡±

    And that¡¯s how I managed to pass the second round without a hitch.

 Volume 1 9 IMPORTANT

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 9 IMPORTANT</h4>

    Getting Rid of the Root of Trouble

    The third round of exams¡­

    The most outstanding participant thus far is Tang Ye.

    He waspeting against a swordsman. The exam for this round wasbat. He didn¡¯t hold back likest time and defeated his opponent in five moves.

    After defeating his opponent he faintly said: "Thank you for taking it easy on me."

    He strikes like the wind, his execution is concise, and each technique is executed with the goal of defeating his opponent in one move and up until now has only used one hand. This is the reason my evaluation of him continues to improve. I now believe he''s an even match for my junior shiyi.

    Su Xiao stood to one side looking at Tang Ye with admiration as though he envied his martial arts. At the same time, Master Liu who was standing behind him looked at him with hatred at least ten-times Su Xiao¡¯s admiration. He looked like he was rip his head off!

    ¡°Tang Ye wins! Next is Ming Suwen and the Drunkard Wangqi, of Jiu Lian Vi.¡±

    It was junior shiyi¡¯s turn, so I cheered for her: ¡°Junior shiyi, I wish you a speedy win~¡±

    ¡°You sure have a way with words. I¡¯m off now.¡±

    A guy and girl appeared outside the door and looked on at Junior shiyi as well.

    Shen Yiren cheerfully shook Shen Kuang¡¯s arm and said: ¡°It¡¯s that girl¡¯s turn. How many moves do you think it¡¯ll take for her to defeat her opponent this time?¡±

    Shen Kuang wasn''t sure if he was meant to be happy or sad seeing his sister¡¯s childish reaction and said: ¡°You can tell with one nce, why are you even trying to make a bet with yourself?¡± Shen Yiren looked at him with spite like he was retarded, and said: ¡°What do you know? She''s highly skilled. I may not even be her match.¡±

    ¡°Is she that good?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see her in the first round when she used Mount Daluo¡¯s Xing Luo Palms against that guy? Every move was trained, sinct and beautiful. It¡¯s obvious she was trained by a reputable master. Those three examiners have sh*t for eyes! They were about to let talent like that go!¡±

    Shen Kuang, happy with what he just heard asked: ¡°So that means the guy she fought was pretty good too, right?¡± Shen Yiren replied with a mocking look: ¡°No. That guy is a waste of air. He used Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi which is taught by the old-fart. He even applied the techniques incorrectly several times. I heard she is his aunt. If his aunt wasn''t going easy on him, her first strike would¡¯ve been enough to take his life. Hey! There she goes again! That''s Tian Luo Weaving Palms! I can¡¯t believe she can use that technique too!¡±

    She really was using Tian Luo Weaving Palms.

    I thought Junior shiyi was just here to kill time, but it looks like she''s having fun.

    I don¡¯t me her. There''s no shortage of female warriors in the pugilistic world, but there are hardly any on Mount Daluo. There aren¡¯t many who could put up a fight against her either. I know of only three people who could go tit-for-tat with her. This meant that my martial arts-crazed junior shiyi had no opponents. At the same time, she can¡¯t just go find some stinking men to fight, right? I¡¯d be the first to object!

    Getting back on topic, she¡¯spletely destroying him.

    Drunkard Wangqi could be considered one of the skilled martial artists of Nan Jing, but his Drunken Fist ispletely useless against Junior shiyi¡¯s Tian Luo Weaving Palms. He doesn¡¯t even have the opportunity to show his skills. Junior shiyi decided she¡¯d had enough, so she used her sleeves to flick him in the face, and threw a kick from her left. Wangqi barely managed to step back to evade her sleeve flick, and was caught by her kick which hit his pressure point. In the end he was left lying on the floor cussing.

    "Marvellous!"

    Somebody blurted it before I could. I turned around and saw a very, very sweet looking beauty with ava-hot voluptuous body standing behind me pping. Her clothes weren¡¯t the tight-fit type, but it gave the impression that it was. The main reason for that was you know¡­ Certain ces protruded¡­

    It¡¯smonly said that there is a type of woman that is very hard to chance upon, and all men in the world wish to meet. I think I¡¯ve met her today. Big eyes and boobs! That face and body have got to be illegal! Who¡­

    I wiped my drool¡­

    Who is she? She ignored me and walked straight up to Junior shiyi and excitedly grabbed her hands like old people in a vige getting an award from the vige chief.

    "It''s been hard on you!"

    You really are a vige chief!

    All my fantasies of her crumbled at that sight¡­

    "Isn''t that the vice-captain of Liu Shan Men, Shen Yiren?"

    "Why is she here? It looks like Liu Shan Men are serious about this time''s recruits."

    What?!

    Vice-captain?! She''s my future boss?

    All of a sudden I joined the vigers and unconsciously praised the vice-captain.*

    Junior shiyi gently pushed her hands away and pursed her lips into a smile in my direction. I think she was trying to send me some sort of message, but I couldn¡¯t decipher it. Then she suddenly said: ¡°Ming Suwen shall now retire.¡±

    ¡°Say what?¡±

    I was a tad confused.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what do you mean?¡±

    Shen Yiren was more nervous than me. No, that¡¯s not right. I was just a little surprised, I wasn¡¯t nervous in the least. Shen Yiren on the other hand, was legitimately nervous. She kept pressing on with her question: ¡°What are you retiring from? What do you want to retire from?¡±

    Junior shiyi waved her hands and said: ¡°I didn¡¯te here with the intention of joining Liu Shan Men, so why should I bother fighting up to thest round? I don¡¯t want to waste my time on this. I¡¯m bored now. If you want something from me, ask for my nephew instead.¡±

    Hey!

    You¡¯re a pro at setting me up, aren¡¯t you?!

    I suddenly felt like my future boss was ring at me with bloodthirsty eyes.

    Notes:

    *A reference to MMOs where you''ve got NPCs standing there randomly cheering

 Volume 1 10 My Turn

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 10 My Turn</h4>

    I responded faster than the blink of an eye. I waved my hand to brush it off and said: ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I¡¯m not her eldest nephew.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t lying. Based on our seniority rankings, my shifu should be her eldest nephew¡­

    Shen Yiren looked at us with suspicion, and said: ¡°How many rtives do you have in your family? Did they alle here?

    Junior shiyi shrugged, pointed at me and said: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many rtives I have. The point is, he¡¯s in charge of handling my issues.¡± Her tone carried a hint of dependency, making my heart throb.

    Wait, wait, wait! This isn¡¯t the time for you to be throbbing! Come on, don¡¯t sell me out now!¡±

    Shen Yiren nced at me and said in an overbearing tone: ¡°You? You¡¯re going to meddle in my business?¡±

    What do you want me to do about it? You have to stand aside even if you¡¯re her future boss. It¡¯s my junior shiyi we¡¯re talking about here. I looked at the big-boobed beauty with a sad expression.

    I said in a serious, painful, brave and righteous tone: ¡°In any case, my aunt doesn¡¯t want to work for Liu Shan Men. This is our problem. I won¡¯t cause you any trouble. If you insist on making uspensate you, then¡­ I¡¯m willing to join Liu Shan Men and ve away for you to make it up to you!¡±

    Shen Yiren paused for a moment and then cussed: ¡°Get fucked! You came here to take the recruitment exams, and now you think you can talk your way in? You¡¯re slyer than a fox.¡±

    Damn it! At least I tried.

    Tch!

    ¡°What do you want me to do then? My aunt never signed anything, so it¡¯s not like you can stop her from leaving. Gugu, leave first, I¡¯ll handle things here. Worstes to worst, I¡¯ll work as a ve for you¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren looked like she lost it as she said: ¡°Shut up! Have you still not given up on trying to get in using backdoor methods?! Miss Ming, you¡¯re a rare talent that we would love to have. I can raise your sry ten-times if you like. If there are no problems, then could we sign an agreement now?¡±

    TEN-TIMES?! 700 SILVER INGOTS A MONTH?!

    Junior shiyiughed out loud and said: ¡°Forget ten-times, even if you were to pay me twenty-times¡­ Feizhen! What are you doing standing behind her?¡±

    Eh?

    Oh yeah, when did I get behind her?

    Hearing Junior shiyi¡¯s threatening tone, my legs automatically walked my back to her side. But seven hundred silver ingots plus the end of year bonus is tens of thousands silver ingots. I could build my extravagant-dream-estate with that!

    Right at that a moment, a clear voice said: ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, sis. Maybe she really has problems to deal with. Miss Ming, please don¡¯t hesitate to tell us why you want to quit. If there is an issue, we would be happy to help, and you can join Liu Shan Men afterwards. Wouldn¡¯t that be perfect?¡±

    The person who spoke out was a young maiden who was an absolute beauty. She looked like the spitting image of Shen Yiren. Are they sisters? The problem was, she was a disappointment below the neck¡­ Starting from below the neck, she was as t as a board. She hadrge eyes, but her chest region was non-existent. She spoke with a much softer tone than the domineering vice-captain. How could two sisters be so different?

    But I must say, having two beautiful sisters standing next to each other is very pleasing to the eye.

    Junior shiyi used the move I used before to speak directly to me without anyone else hearing: ¡°Fei Zhen, help me.¡± I looked at her with a confused look to say: ¡°Why should I?¡±

    She red back at me to say: ¡°If I get to the final round and then walk off, they¡¯ll take offence to it. Liu Shan Men aren¡¯t pushovers.¡±

    Why are you trying to reach the finals in the first ce¡­?

    And I don¡¯t want her to reach the finals either. If she did, we¡¯d have to face off against each other¡­

    I coughed, looked back at them and said with a tragic tone: ¡°We just received some sad news from home. My shifu, I mean my aunt¡¯s eldest nephew passed away.¡±

    Shifu, I swear I¡¯m not cursing you!

    I clenched my fists and said with all the sincerity I could muster: ¡°While he was on his death-bed, he said he wanted to see my aunt or else he wouldn¡¯t die in peace, so my aunt needs to head back to attend the funeral. At the very least, she needs to make the three bows at his grave and send him her final words.¡±

    ¡°He died? How old is your nephew? How did he die?¡±

    I answered frankly: ¡°Syphillis.¡±

    Shen Yiren took a big step back and said with disgust: ¡°Eeek! Stay away from me.¡±

    Shifu, I swear I¡¯m not cursing you.

    Shen Yiren quickly regained herposure and said: ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid? Would you be here taking part in the exams if he actually died?¡±

    ¡°A pigeon delivered the message to us just now.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the pigeon then?¡±

    ¡°I grilled it and ate it already.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the letter then?¡±

    ¡°The pigeon ate it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just going to y dumb with me, aren¡¯t you?!¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s beautiful eyes started to form tears of anger. Her eyes which were meant to be filled with love became filled with bloodthirst. I don¡¯t know why, but all the examiners took a big step back and covered their groins. What¡¯s going on¡­?

    ¡°Don¡¯t try and bullsh*t me. If you leave after passing two rounds, you¡¯re going to mess up our arrangements. You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. My aunt has to attend the funeral so she¡¯ll be leaving no matter what. Your arrangements are your problem.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s ¡°younger sister¡±ughed naively after hearing our conversation. It was like she lightened the heavy atmosphere a little. Those sick-perverted examiners took a deep breath as though they were trying to catch the air she breathed out¡­ Hey! Stop it already, you sickos!

    The younger ¡°sister¡± said with a smile: ¡°You heard her, sis. Miss Ming has an urgent matter to attend to. Miss Ming, go ahead and attend to your matters first. You cane back after, and the terms my sister promised you will remain effective.¡±

    ¡°Stay out of it, Kuang.¡± She looked at her ¡°sister¡± awkwardly with a hint of panic. Our crappy lie failed to work on her, but worked on her naive ¡°younger sister.¡± By the way, what was the ¡°younger sister¡¯s¡± name again? Kuang? Kuang? Kuang?* I¡¯m a little confused myself¡­

    I hit my chest with confidence, and said: ¡°My aunt isn¡¯t going to participate in the next round. Who¡¯s her opponent? I¡¯ll take them on!¡±

    ¡°You?!¡± Before I could finish what I wanted to say, a blue shadow appeared. Well look who it is. If it isn¡¯t Master Liu¡­

    ¡°Trash, how dare you disrespect the vice-captain like that? I Liu Yuan, will teach you a lesson to appease her on behalf of Liu Shan Men!¡±

    ¡­You just want to silence me, don¡¯t you?

    Notes:

    *Same pronunciation but different characters.

 Volume 1 11 Letâ€™s Fight

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 11 Let''s Fight</h4>

    Shen Yiren looked at Master Liu who forced his way through. She maintained her domineering presence and posture, red at him, and then said: ¡°Who¡¯s this? Why¡¯s he pretending that we¡¯re close?¡±

    Puhahaha! Your superior doesn''t even recognise you!

    Master Liu¡¯s face turned red and he loudly said: ¡°I¡¯ll arrest you if you don¡¯t stop, trash!¡± He attacked me with his palm strikes, leaving a number of shadows behind. He attacked me with seven palm strikes as soon as he arrived at the scene. Some master of a prestigious family he is¡­

    He¡¯s got talent. He advances and retreats like the wind. He''sparable to those guys performing on the streets¡­ Please excuse me, I got too caught up in my exnation. Stop frequenting so many tea houses. Those ces create a lot of Duan Zi¡¯s.*

    Alright, I''ll get serious too.

    It''s been a while since I''ve actually fought somebody.et''s identify his ws first.

    Hmm¡­¡­

    Crap. I can''t figure out his moves¡­

    His techniques don¡¯t look like they¡¯re from Qian Liu Vi¡¯s, nor do they resemble Old Liu¡¯s specialty. I remember Old Liu demonstrating it to me once. It was continually changing. It emphasised oveing brute force with technical manoeuvres and was difficult to counter. How the heck did Master Liu here, managed to turn Old Liu''s techniques into this sorry excuse for a martial art?

    Just what the heck is this?

    Screw it, I can''t be bothered thinking.et''s go.

    ********

    People in the martial world show respect based on martial prowess, but very few knew of the invincible Ming Feizhen.

    Most people think he doesn''t even know martial arts.

    Most martial artists these days prefer to ce more emphasis on the external aspects of martial arts. By that I mean hand-to-handbat, swordsmanship, and staff techniques. It¡¯s not that there aren¡¯t any internal style practitioners; it¡¯s just that very few actually master them.

    Everybody knows that practicing internal based martial arts will improve physical abilities. However, that only applies to the first few years of training. As the practitioner bes more and more advanced, progress bes slower and slower.et me make an example to clear it up. If one¡¯s internal strength was level 1 at ten-years of age, and then practised a top-notch internal based style, then their internal strength at age twenty would be roughly level 100. But even if they continue to train diligently after that, by age thirty, they¡¯d reach level 120 at best. And since progress slows down, by the time they reach sixty, they¡¯d just barely have reached level 150.

    In other words, if you were topare the internal strength level of a young man who invested ten years into internal strength, his internal strength levels wouldn¡¯t be that much different from an elder who spent their entire life focusing on training their internal strength.

    It¡¯smon knowledge that regardless of which internal style one chooses to practise, it¡¯s highly unlikely that one will be able to surpass other practitioners by a long-shot.

    The level one can achieve is limited by the time they have. The only way to improve infinitely is to be immortal. The slow progress is the reason most martial artists prefer styles which emphasise external aspects. Provided your internal strength level isn¡¯t too bad, you''d be considered a skilled martial artist if you knew a lot of techniques, and of course, rare techniques.

    For example, the Yi Jin Jing manual from Shaolin is a ssic which has been passed down since ancient times could easily be the internal style. However, the abbot of Shaolin temple¡¯s internal strength level is only slightly higher than someone as young as Shen Yiren. Subsequently, you can see that it¡¯s basically impossible to make a name for yourself by relying on just internal strength styles.

    This is precisely why people don¡¯t show any recognition for youngsters who may have a high level of internal strength but know little in terms of techniques.iu Yuan continued to let his palms fly with feints thrown in here-and-there. They¡¯d definitely confuse the enemy.

    Qian Liu¡¯s Style is all about changing and adapting. After he joined Liu Shan Men, hebined Liu Shan Men¡¯s Five Elements Palms with the essential parts of his Qian Liu Palms, so he increased his technique repertoire even further. However, the Five Elements Palms are only basic techniques taught at Liu Shan Men. They were intended to be practised for health benefits, so it wasn¡¯t really practical forbats. In this way, Liu Yuan took a fantastic style and transformed it into a style with no other function other than for show.

    His basics weren¡¯t bad, so normal people couldn¡¯t beat him, allowing him to get away with it. And that¡¯s how managed to survive at Liu Shan Men.

    Noticing that Feizhen wasn¡¯t moving, Liu Yuan saw an opening and struck his chest with a palm strike. Everyone in the venue went: ¡°Whoa~¡±. Most people who know Liu Yuan know that his techniques are only good for show. The only thing he had going for him was the fact that he learnt from a reputable master and had a solid foundation so his blows had some power behind them. Normally, a strike like that would¡¯ve destroyed someone¡¯s internal organs. People were wondering if Feizhen was retarded. Who stands there and takes hits like that?

    Just as everyone thought the victor had been decided, a cold smile crept up Liu Yuan¡¯s face, and he struck at Ming Feizhen¡¯s crown with a palm-strike without hesitation!

    That palm-strike was a heavy blow. Striking someone¡¯s Baihui point is the equivalent of killing them. Even a child who didn¡¯t know martial arts could severely injure a grown man by striking it, and here, Liu Yuan put everything he had behind the strike. If it were not for Ming Feizhen¡¯s profound abilities, that blow would¡¯ve severely injured him if not killed him.

    Ming Feizhen finally budged. The audience could now say with certainty that he wasn¡¯t retarded. He slightly tilted his head to evade the strike. Liu Yuan seemingly knew which direction Feizhen was going to move in. His palm strike hit Feizhen¡¯s leg and he followed up with a spin kick which struck the back of Ming Feizhen¡¯s head.

    The kick rocked Feizehn and send him backwards while Liu Yuan chased after him and used the same palm strike, again aiming for Feizhen¡¯s skull.

    Shen Yiren decided Liu Yuan was going too far and decided to reproach him.

    Ming Feizhen regained his bnce and looked extremely angry.

    ¡°Hey! Why do you keep trying to touch my head with your hand?! I don¡¯t even want to know where your hand has been and what it¡¯s been touching. Could you not touch me with your hands?!¡±iu Yuan was shocked. There was still a shadow on his hand as he asked: ¡°Did you learn Iron Body?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen replied: ¡°Piss off! You¡¯re the street busker here.¡±**

    He lightly tapped Liu Yuan on the face. His strike looked like he was caressing the air, but that one strike caused the shadow in Liu Yuan¡¯s hands to vanish¡­iu Yuan then fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth with stars floating around his head.

    He couldn''t get up.

    And the crowd went silent¡­

    Notes:

    *A reference to Duan Zi fromÌìÁú°Ë²¿ (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils). The guy was useless and pretty much a pretty boy who only had two moves at his disposal: one for running and one that only worked when plot-armour worked its magic. Tea houses were ces people frequented to socialise. So he''s basically saying "Spend more time training and less time ying because you suck."

    **Iron-body ismonly performed on streets (in ancient times of course), so he''s insulted that Liu Yuan suggested he learnt some shady low-level tricks street buskers use.

 Volume 1 12 Liu Shan VS Qilin

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 12 Liu Shan VS Qilin</h4>

    I put Master Liu¡¯s lights out with one palm strike. Everybody looked at me. I think they were surprised by my martial prowess. I saw something strange in their eyes. I saw their eyes filled with respect for me, eyes filled with awe of my prowess, eyes filled with¡­ Pardon me. Long story short, my image rose sky-high in an instant.

    Immediately after that-

    Shen Yiren took in a breath and shut her eyes as if she¡¯d just seen two dirty bugs and shouted: ¡°Hey! Could you two please not go around wasting time and making trouble when your martial arts suck? We can¡¯t ept this standard.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±ast year I bought a¡­ Sorry, I¡¯m off topic again.

    Could you please lump me in with this guy?! Didn¡¯t you see my awe-inspiring death-touch win?!

    Junior shiyi looked like she knew it¡¯d turn out this way and wasughing hard, and it was clear she had no intention of helping.

    I pointed to Master Liu who was lying on the floor with his eyes rolled back, and said: ¡°Hey, uhh¡­ This guy is your underling, right? Don¡¯t you think he makes you look bad?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who that guy is. Would you say you look bad if I find a speck of dust at your house? Do you even have a dick? What kind of man is so petty?¡±

    This just lost 100 HP to thisss''s mouth canon¡­

    Shen Yiren¡¯s younger ¡°sister¡± tugged her and said: ¡°Don¡¯t get angry, sis. I know Master Liu, his martial art skills aren¡¯t that bad. For this man to be able to knock him down proves that he uhh¡­. Is strong.¡±

    Are youplimenting a vir or a martial arts master here¡­?

    I rebutted: ¡°In any case, I beat your underling, so stop bothering my gugu.¡±

    Shen Yiren called my Junior shiyi by her name without paying me any heed and said: ¡°Ming Suwen, I won¡¯t stop you since you have matters to attend to. But I trust you won''t ditch your nephew here.¡±

    I frowned at her for addressing my Junior shiyi by her name. I¡¯ve only called her by her name a few times in my whole entire life!* Do you have to be so forward with her?!

    I don¡¯t angry and asked: ¡°What?! You¡¯re saying you¡¯ll be keeping me here?¡± So I¡¯m getting the monthly seventy silver ingots sry now?! I was filled with bliss~ ah~ the bliss of a retired life~

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m going to keep you here. I¡¯ll have you ve away for me from day-to-night, so that your gugues back for you out of pity.¡±

    I red at my violent superior and couldn¡¯t help but spit. Why does everything she says sound twisted?

    I looked to my Junior shiyi, ignored the situation and blinked at her to say: ¡°Gugu, Guo¡¯er can¡¯t stay by your side anymore!¡±

    Instead, Junior shiyi returned it with a cold smiled, that sent a chill up my spin, as she looked at me with a domineering gaze and said: ¡°Feizhen, aren¡¯t you d to have such a beautiful superior apany you? You are, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Oi, oi, oi! This wasn¡¯t what we promised! Didn¡¯t you promise to see me off?!

    "What are you talking about, gugu? Didn''t you have to return home?"

    Junior shiyi stopped smiling, stared at me with her domineering eyes and moved her lip quickly.

    Her lips read: This was your end goal, wasn¡¯t it? With arge-eyes, big boobs superior and naive younger sister by your side, you¡¯vepletely foregone any thoughts of bing the sect leader. You scum, I doted on you for nothing all these years!

    I¡¯m innocent!

    I gave her a reply expressing my devotion to the organisation with lip movements too: I swear to the heavens I had no idea of their existence beforeing here. This is a pure coincidence.

    Junior shiyi: I¡¯ve got to be brain-dead to believe you. Can you swear you didn¡¯t know you wouldn¡¯t have beauties apanying you here?

    Me: ¡­¡­.

    Well¡­ They did write that on the recruitment notice¡­

    ¡°Are you two done or what?¡±

    Shen Yiren stopped our conversation, but before she could continue, a pretty girl by the door cut us off.

    ¡°What happened? Who knocked Liu Yuan out and then threw outside by the door? That was no light beating.¡±

    An enchanting woman came in through the main doors. She didn¡¯t hesitate to help up Master Liu who I put out.

    In that moment, my eyes found their way to her.

    I saw Master Liu¡¯s chest jump as soon as she touched him. Then she swiftly pressed a hand on his back and helped him up. In just three moves, Master Liu who was supposed to be out for an entire day began to slowly open his eyes.

    She was a qi master.

    She shared her qi when she touched him. And for her to identify that he was knocked out using internal strength means she¡¯s skilled.

    Shen Yiren scanned her unhappily with an ¡°I knew it¡± look you see prophets make.

    ¡°What are you here for? It¡¯s toote for you Qilin Guards to try and stop our recruitment activities.¡±

    Oh~ she¡¯s from the Qilin Guards¡­ No wonder. I heard they were always bumping heads with Liu Shan Men. Perhaps I should consider joining the Qilin Guards. Who knows, I might be able to find a beauty there. Shen Yiren paused before saying: ¡°Fucking bitch, can¡¯t you tell we¡¯re working here? If you cause trouble again, I¡¯ll have you thrown out.¡±

    Now that I¡¯ve heard what she¡¯s called, I think it¡¯s better to stay at Liu Shan Men.

    Miss ¡®Fucking Bitch¡¯ pushed Master Liu aside, and covered her mouth as she said with a giggle: ¡°What are you saying now Vice-captain Shen? How would I dare cause you trouble? Yesterday, I met with his majesty¡­¡±

    ¡°And you talked more sh*t about us, and asked him to stop us from recruiting new members?¡±

    Miss ¡®Fucking Bitch¡¯ looked startled. It was obvious Shen Yiren hit the nail on the head. Shen Yiren proudly continued on: ¡°Do you people have anything new other than these childish tricks? His majesty didn¡¯t agree, did he? If he did, we¡¯d have received a royal decree already.¡±

    Now it was Miss ¡°Fucking Bitch¡¯s¡¯ turn. She smiled proudly and said: ¡°You¡¯re right. However, I managed to get another request approved. Liu Shan Men haven¡¯t recruited new members so I was worried that you wouldn¡¯t be able to carry out the task, so I asked for a supervisor position, to help you with quality checking.¡± Miss Bitch lifted an eyebrow in a flirtatious manner and said: ¡°All you new recruits,e here and let me check you all out once.¡±

    Notes:

    *Because of their seniority ranking, he shouldn''t be calling her by her name, so when he does it feels like he''s speaking to her as a woman and not as a senior, hence his jealousy.

    Side note: He thinks her name is "Fucking Bitch" because he''s illiterate.

 Volume 1 13 Fucking Bitch VS Horseshoe Triceps

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 13 Fucking Bitch VS Horseshoe Triceps</h4>

    Afterwards, I found out Miss ¡°Fucking Bitch¡± was actually called Si Tuo. She was a second ss warrior in the Qilin Guards squad, and held a high ranking position.iu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards have never gotten along.

    So she¡¯s here to cause trouble.

    And trouble we have.

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, you can¡¯t pass like this.¡± Si Tuo lifted an eyebrow at Shen Yiren to mock her, and kicked an examinee flying out. She tested the abilities of the examinees and failed a total of seventeen potential-recruits within half-an-hour. After she failed the eighteenth examinee, she didn¡¯t forget to rub it in and mock Shen Yiren: ¡°No wonder Liu Shan Men has been so quiet. Turns out all your recruits are retards. No wonder¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren picked up a chair, threw it her way violently, and added: ¡°No wonder you¡¯re brain-dead!¡±

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing?!¡± Si Tuo never imagined Miss Shen would attack for real. She easily evaded the chair but dodging Shen Yiren¡¯s palm strike wasn¡¯t so simple.

    Everyone present was surprised, including Junior shiyi and myself. We didn¡¯t expect Miss Shen to have such a fiery temper that even tigers would fear. She unleashed three punches and one palm strike which Si Tuo evaded, but the next move¡­

    Miss Shen surprised everybody when she nted her knee on Si Tuo¡¯s chest, grabbed her hair and pressed her head into the ground which was very un-feminine. She grunted under her breath and then proceeded to cuss Si Tuo: ¡°You fucking bitch! No wonder my foot! You¡¯re the retard! Quiet?!¡± She continued cussing and banging Si Tuo¡¯s head on the ground. That day, Si Tuo¡¯s head made a noble contribution to the hygiene of Liu Shan Men by leaving an inerasable mark on the floor!

    It was virtually a brawl between two thugs¡­

    ¡°You crazy bitch! How dare you hit me like this?! I¡¯m here as a supervisor on orders of his majesty! You¡¯re viting a royal decree¡­ Ow!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m viting a royal decree? His majesty is conducting the martial arts tournament to give us an opportunity and yet you insist on causing trouble. I warned you already that if you dared to mess around, I¡¯d kick you out! You want to report me? Do it! I entered the pce with Yan Shisan when I was seven. Prince Qing bows down to me and the princess is my best friend, so go ahead and report me! Try it!¡±

    I never knew my superior had such amazing people backing her.

    But even if he does bow down to her, that scene would just be too degrading. I mean, who could say with absolute confidence that they could ride on a tiger, I mean, a donkey¡­

    Si Tuo isn¡¯t a bad fighter, it¡¯s just that Shen Yiren caught her off guard. Her head had been smashed into the ground enough times to feel wheezy, so she better be ready to counter-attack soon. Shen Yiren really does have an explosive temper. She¡¯s beating her up despite knowing she¡¯s hear on orders from the emperor. When it just started, you could brush it off as letting off steam on impulse, but now that they¡¯re serious, things aren¡¯t looking good.

    My Junior shiyi standing beside me tightly clenched her fists, eagerly watching as she shuffled her feet in ce as though she was eager to join their fight.

    ¡°Junior shiyi¡­ Weren¡¯t you angry just a moment ago?¡±

    ¡°Angry about what? Feizhen, I like this girl¡¯s temperament! Can I give her a hand?¡±

    Oi, oi! Stop. Please. These two have created enough of a mess as is.

    ¡°Vice-captain Shen.¡±

    Said a cold voice from behind which broke up the fight.

    A tall young man walked out from amongst the crowd.

    I bow my head to any man who dares to step into this mess going on right now. You¡¯re a true hero!

    I looked at the tall young man with big hands and feet carefully. He was born to learn martial arts. His face was masculine and his overall body symmetry and proportions weren¡¯t bad. He was handsome but in a different way to Su Xiao. He didn¡¯t utter another word and proceeded to walk up to Shen Yiren and Si Tuo. He gave off the impression that he was a man of few words.

    I know this guy, it''s the fairly skilled guy, Tang Ye.

    Shen Yiren asked in an angry tone: "What''d you call me for?"

    ¡°Hmph, they¡¯re definitely trying to stop you after seeing your violent behaviour. No one could put up with it.¡± Si Tuo used the opportunity to retaliate, but caught Shen Yiren¡¯s watchful eyes and the two continued on.

    Tang Ye softly said: ¡°Vice-captain, I am next in line. Miss Si, please put me to the test.¡± He spoke to both of them in the same breath, but the meanings behind his words were very clear.

    Shen Yiren scrunched her face and said: ¡°I¡¯m beating this fucking bitch up because I''m looking out for you guys standing up for you guys, and you don¡¯t appreciate it?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s younger sister finally had the chance to intervene. She pulled her sister away and said: ¡°Sis! You''re being violent again! We can give those who failed another chance to retake the exam, but Miss Si is here on orders from the emperor. So hitting her is inappropriate no matter how you put it.¡±

    It seemed that the younger ¡°sister¡¯s¡± quiet voice calmed the violent woman down. She may not be afraid of getting reported, but if word of her beating an envoy from the Qilin Guards were to get out, then the rumours would be nasty.

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°My name is Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Since you volunteered, show me what you¡¯ve got. If youst thirty moves against this witch, I¡¯ll pass you on thest exam.¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t show any emotional responses and just said: ¡°Alright.¡± He then pulled up his sleeves, revealing his muscr arms.¡±

    My evaluation of him improved further.

    I wasn¡¯t wrong about him.

    His true talent is yet to be revealed.

    He had an impressive tattoo of the ws of a unicorn tattooed on his right arm which he kept hidden under his sleeve.

    "Fuck! That''s a muscr arm!"

    I looked at the man with the muscr arm in awe. Now this is a great man. A special and noble man. This man is an elegant philosopher¡­ Sh*t, I¡¯m off topic again.ong-story short, he''s an awe-inspiring man.

    Tang Ye took in a deep breath, turned to Si Tuo, extended one hand outwards as a form of invitation, and said: ¡°Miss Si, if you would please.¡±

    Notes:

    * After the introduction of the term, emperor (»ÊµÛ), by Qin Shi Huang, all non-independent Íõ became known as princes. Independent Íõ, such as rulers of China¡¯s tributary neighbours. Here it''s a prince''s title.

    When they''ve been referring to Shen Yiren and Si Tuo as ´óÈË in this chapter, I''ve substituted it with ''Miss'' because there''s no official position being attached to their name, and in Si Tuo''s case, we don''t even know her position yet, so she can''t be ''Vice-captain Si Tuo'' etc.

 Volume 1 14 Goodbye Shiyi

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 14 Goodbye Shiyi</h4>

    Si Tuo began Fighting Tang Ye and I was sure it wasn¡¯t going to be easy for her to win. I¡¯m not saying that because of the beating Shen Yiren gave her, but rather the fact that Tang Ye was very skilled.

    It was once said that the most important attribute for determining one¡¯s level of mastery was theirprehension abilities.

    I disagree with that view. My unscrupulous shifu also strongly disagrees with it.

    The most important attributes for martial art practitioners are their talent and disposition. Theirprehension skills aren¡¯t the most important.

    Through my many years of training, I¡¯d say that being blessed with luck is the most important attribute.

    Putting everything else aside, my sleazy shifu was able to make a name for himself in the martial world because he gifted my sect¡¯s founder Hero Shen Zhou some cornflour when he was in a pinch. Hero Shen Zhou was deeply impressed as a result and took him in as a private disciple.

    But to tell the truth, he didn¡¯t actually gift him cornflour. He was actually stealing the cornflour when Hero Shen Zhou passed by and he thought he got spotted. So he decided to shar a portion with him to keep him silent¡­

    Si Tuo is one of those people blessed with luck. She was using the Qilin Guards secret style, Qinlin¡¯s Nine Character Form. This was the first time Junior Shiyi and I saw this style, but it was well-known throughout the pugilistic world. We recognised it at first nce¡­ Well, to be fair, it was Junior shiyi who pointed it out to me. I felt it was very familiar but I didn¡¯t recognise the moves because I was never interested and it was my first time hearing of it.

    As for Tang Ye¡­

    This man was the real deal. His luck was superior to Si Tuo¡¯s.

    His twin palms style is remarkable. He countered all of Si Tuo¡¯s attacks with his continually adapting style and even managed to sneak in a few moves.

    Junior shiyi whispered to me the moves he was using: ¡°Shan Xi Eight Probing Hands, Kunlun¡¯s Three Gifted Palms, Tian Shan¡¯s Nine Cloud Tiger Fists, the Imperial Family from Hebei''s Pigua Quan. Incredible, that¡¯s Shaolin¡¯s Boluomi Finger Strike, Oh, and even Ming Jing Pce in Beihai''s Wheel Flower Finger Style."

    I felt stupid listening to her.

    What ¡®Secret Pineapple Juice¡¯?*

    I''ve never heard of these styles.

    Junior shiyi giggled and said: ¡°You only know those ridiculous styles that nobody¡¯s even heard of, so of course you don¡¯t know these reputable styles.¡±

    Hey! Are you saying shifu is some sort of dropout?!

    I just remembered¡­ He¡¯s her nephew, so of course she¡¯s able to talk down to him¡­

    Shen Yiren gave Junior shiyi a surprised looked and said: ¡°Not even I can recognise a single technique. That¡¯s Ming Jing Pce¡¯s Wheel Flower Finger Style?¡±

    Junior shiyi responded with a smile and said: ¡°His hand movements are really quick and the blend of martial arts is veryplex. However, each technique has a source which it originates and is well-structured which makes him much more admirable. This proves that he has a solid understanding of each technique.¡±

    A look of joy crept up Shen Yiren¡¯s face as she said: ¡°He knows so many styles¡­ I want him!¡±

    It¡¯s only right, after all, Tang Ye has horseshoe triceps and his martial arts talent is quite profound. I bet he has an unscrupulous shifu and his master taught him martial arts starting from age eight. I¡¯ll even bet the first manual he was taught was Yi Jin Jing¡­

    Keke, Si Tuo¡¯s Nine Character Formation is useless against Tang Ye. Forget thirty moves, fifty moves would still be a cake-walk for him. Not only is Si Tuo unable to take the lead, but she¡¯s also been in danger several times.

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t taken in by her beauty. Forget the old man that I am, he¡¯s just a twenty-two year old young man. I can¡¯t believe his ability to resist temptation is so strong.

    Miss ¡°Fucking Bitch¡¯s¡± clothes were in a mess since her tussle with Shen Yiren, so now that she¡¯s in another fight with Tang Ye, she had a fairly sexy appearance and her hair was in a mess. She liked to dress in loose-fitting clothes, which was now even looser¡­ Even her shoulders were revealed. There was plenty of eye-candy.

    Si Tuo recognised her predicament and decided to forfeit, resulting in a draw.

    ¡°Vice-captain Shen, I¡¯ve cross-examined your recruits, and this guy seems to be the only worthy one.¡±

    That¡¯s a line reserved for losers, Miss ¡°Fucking Bitch¡±.

    Shen Yiren paid no heed to Si Tuo and was upied with joyfully shaking the hands of her new subordinates. She looks surprisingly friendly when she¡¯s acting friendly.

    But just a heads up, I think you revealed your true nature when you dished out that beating¡­

    Si Tuo stomped her foot and said: ¡°We Qilin Guards won¡¯t let this go. I won¡¯t let your assault on me go just like that! You¡­ You said your name was, Tang Ye, right?¡±

    Tang Ye Bowed and said: ¡°That is correct.¡±

    Si Tuo held her eyes on Tang Ye¡¯s face for a while before said: ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll remember you.¡± Miss Si Tuo then left. She walked out in a very reserved and modest manner. Had her clothes not been torn in those three areas¡­

    Although it was officially dered a draw, no matter how you look at it, it was clearly the Qilin Guards¡¯ loss.

    First win¡­ Bashing her brain into retardation, courtesy of Miss Shen.

    Second win¡­ She got her momentum destroyed and her clothing ruined, courtesy of Miss Shen.

    Credits go to those unnamed.

    That¡¯s 2:1! Shen Yirenpletely owned.

    But since these people will be my future superior and colleagues, I¡¯ll stay silent. Amitabha, don¡¯t look for me¡­

    Shen Yiren sped her hands together while she surveyed us with a smile and nodded her head with satisfaction, and said: ¡°I¡¯ll ept all those whosted more than five moves against that fucking bitch. But you must all work hard. Will you agree to start working your way up from the bottom?¡± When they heard this, half of the people present reacted with surprise. Of those who fought with Si Tuo, over half of themsted more than five moves. They¡¯ll have to start from the bottom, but hey, it¡¯s basically the same as having set one foot into Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Miss Shen then used her finger wearing her transparent jade to point to a few people.

    "Su Xiao, Tang Ye, and you¡­ Ming Feizhen. I¡¯m recruiting all of you right here and now. You three are official constables of Liu Shan Men starting from today.¡±

    Huh? Wasn¡¯t I recruited by default? Are you telling me I have to go through the whole process? I don¡¯t want to be stuck with Su Xiao and Tang Ye. I stood between Su Xiao who was on my left, and Tang Ye to my right. An old man like myself was surrounded by two suave young men.

    I don¡¯t know why I suddenly felt a sense of indignation¡­

    Shen Yiren looked at the three of us standing by her side. She touched her chin and said: ¡°Not bad! We¡¯ll be counting on you three from now.¡± What did she mean by that? Before I could get a grasp on what she meant, she already began ordering around like underlings.

    ¡°What are you all standing there for? Sign the contract.¡±

    Without moving my body I turned my head around to look at Junior Shiyi, only to find that she was looking at me too. Her face went red when our eyes met and she looked down. I didn¡¯t know what that implied, but I felt a sense of pity. I silently muttered with my lips: ¡°Gu¡­ Junior shiyi, I¡¯ll be on my way now. I won¡¯t¡­being back.¡± It felt so hard to say those words to her. I¡¯m lucky I didn¡¯t say that aloud or my voice would¡¯ve sounded hoarse.

    "¡­¡­"

    Junior shiyi who loved to smile was silent. She knew I never liked Mount Daluo, don¡¯t like the responsibility of leading a sect and didn¡¯t like the life offered by the pugilistic world. This day was bound toe sooner orter, but I always brushed it off. Now that it¡¯se though, I really don¡¯t want to leave. Junior shiyi made some small movements with her lips and then quickly left. The view of her back looked small and thin, like she was sad after being abandoned.

    I wanted to give chase, but my legs felt so heavy. I knew that if I chased her, I¡¯d nevere back here. And if I did chase after her, what would I be able to do?

    Junior shiyi left me with one word upon her departure¡­ Traitor.

    I don''t have the guts to chase her, and I can¡¯t chase her. I had a vague idea about some things, and Junior shiyi was hiding some things, but we both pretended to be oblivious. We were afraid of tearing down that paper-wall between us. She¡¯s a senior. She¡¯s two levels higher than me in terms of seniority¡­ What can I do?

    Junior shiyi had left for a good while I was sighing pointlessly.

    Shen Yiren sighed and said as she watched Junior shiyi leave: ¡°Whoa, she¡¯s gone already? Her eldest nephew must¡¯ve died terribly.¡±

    I angrily shouted: "What the hell are you saying?!"

    Shen Yiren tilted her head in confusion and asked: "Isn''t that what you told me?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Okay, I did fucking say that¡­¡­

    Shen Yiren muttered to herself: ¡°Weirdo.¡± Then she said to the three of us: ¡°Follow my younger brother to get the contracts signed. Then get your uniforms sorted.¡±

    Then her younger ¡°sister¡± stepped out and said with a smile: ¡°Please follow me.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Wait.

    Even though my goodbye with Junior shiyi was filled with sadness, I still couldn¡¯t stop this strange omening on.

    What did I just hear?

    ¡°Younger brother?¡±

    Shen Yiren scanned me from head-to-toe before ring at me and asking: ¡°What else? You don''t have one?¡±

    Holy sh*t! She¡¯s a trap!

    ¡°No, I mean, where¡¯s your esteemed younger brother?¡±

    Her younger "sister" looked at me with her cuterge eyes and said: ¡°I¡¯m right here.¡±

    Who¡¯re you?

    Where?

    I looked at the cute girl in front of me and felt like I just walked into a forest of fog.

    ¡°This girl is your brother? She¡¯s¡­ Your younger brother?¡±

    I felt like a retard repeating myself, but seriously, I felt like my IQ hit a wall at that moment.

    Tang Ye asked me in a direct fashion: "What''s wrong? Did you mistake Master Kuang for a girl?"

    "Umm¡­."

    What he saidbined with my hesitation caused Shen Yiren¡¯s younger ¡°sister¡± to turn red right away. He looked down and mumbled under his breath: ¡°Did you mistake me¡­ did you¡­ mistake me for a¡­¡±

    Tang Ye said: ¡°He¡¯s a guy.¡± Then he took my hand and ced it on ¡°her¡¯ chest. I could feel the disappointing wall, ayer of luxurious clothing, ayer of soft muscle, a traps¡­ Fuck.

    "She''s" a guy?!

    Su Xiao looked at me as though he couldn¡¯tpare. What the hell are you looking at?! You¡¯re no better than him is! Before I could return to the present, the hall had exploded.

    ¡°Hmph! Beast!¡±

    ¡°If you dare touch my dick, I¡¯ll cut yours off!¡±

    ¡°You disgraceful excuse for a human being!¡±

    ¡°You sicko!¡±

    ¡°Holy sh*t, he''s after men too!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even pay him one-hundred silver ingots!¡±

    In a single instant, I became the target of all the hate, curses and the most despised person around.

    But whatpletely destroyed me, was when Shen Kuang went into a daze with his read face, grabbed his chest, shrieked and then ran off¡­ Yes, he ran off¡­

    My brain froze up from information-overload.

    The cause of all this, Tang Ye looked at me confused and asked: "Why do they hate you? Did you not clean your hands after using the bathroom?"

    Shut up man!

    As soon as his oblivious remark left his mouth, another negativement was attached to my list of negative reviews¡­

    Could someone please tell me how to correct this situation?!

    Notes:

    *²¨ÂÞÃÛÖ¸ VS²¤ÂÜÃÛÖ­ Same pronunciation, but different characters which givepletely different meanings.

 Volume 1 15 Liu Shan Men and the Three Swordsmen

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 15 Liu Shan Men and the Three Swordsmen</h4>

    ¡°You three ready? Hmm¡­ Not bad!¡±

    Shen Yiren looked at the Su Xiao, Tang Ye, and I standing at the front of the desk in our full gear and said: ¡°Good, good. You three can represent Liu Shan Men looking like this.¡±

    I stole a look at the two punks beside me.

    Tang Ye wore a purple robe with his cor up. His torso looked wide, but his lower body looked narrow, however he still managed to maintain a narrow waist. He looked like a true hero wearing the constable uniform. Every time he moved, he looked masculine. That¡¯s a man with horseshoe triceps for you¡­

    Su Xiao looked just as good. He wore a different uniform. He was dressed in blue and white. The colour scheme helped mask his narrow body. Thanks to his pretty face, people were bound to think of him as a beautiful *cough* trap *cough* swordsman.

    As for me¡­ I¡¯m not sure if the person who grabbed my uniform did it on purpose or not but I got handed the uniform a gate guard would wear. Yes, I¡¯m talking about the dress-up Yan Xiaoliu* wore in ¡®Wulin Waizhuan¡¯!! They¡¯re obviously messing with me!! They¡¯re giving me the role of an irrelevant NPC!

    I voiced my objection: ¡°I lookme!¡±

    Shen Yiren looked at me helplessly and said: ¡°Whatever, we don¡¯t have that much clothing avable. Just deal with it.¡±

    Aren''t I the face of Liu Shan Men?!

    ¡°I held the recruitment exams to find new-blood. I believe you¡¯re all aware that his majesty wants to start asking us to carry out duties again, so I want to earn an opportunity to show our prowess in front of him, and I¡¯ve ced my hope in you three.¡± Shen Yiren pulled her hair over her shoulder after she said that. Now that was feminine, although still a far cry from her brother ¡°Miss Kuang¡­ ¡±

    "From now on, you three will be my colleagues. Introduce yourselves again, so that you get to know each other. Tang Ye, you go first.¡±

    "I¡¯m Tang Ye, my courtesy name is Yan Ling. I¡¯m eighteen this year. Ie from Yan Jing. I¡¯m a student of the Tang family in the Ming Jing Pce in the Northern Seas, and I¡¯ve also studied martial arts under more than ten masters.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, you do use a variety of styles. Ming Jing Pce of the North Eastern Seas is one of the powerhouses of the martial world up North. You mentioned the Tang family¡­ Are you perhaps rted to thete Ming Jing swordsman Tang Nuan?¡±

    ¡°Tang Nuan is my father.¡±

    Tang Ye''s face was expressionless, but his tone got more serious as he continued: ¡°I learnt martial arts from him. The others only taught me a few techniques, I neverpleted any formal ceremonies with them, so you could say that I don¡¯t have a master.¡±

    Respecting your masters and teachers is a very important concept in the martial word, particrly when discussing which sect one is a student of. It influences businesses, marriages and even your travels. At Liu Shan Men, knowing your subordinates background and standings was important, as it could cause messes otherwise. For example, you can¡¯t send a Shaolin monk to Shaolin to investigate if they embezzled donations or scammed people, and the same applies for Wudang. Subsequently, the first thing Shen Yiren wanted to find out about was our backgrounds.

    ¡°I¡¯m Su Xiao, written with the Su character from in Su Zhou, and Xiao with character for ¡®know¡¯. My courtesy name is Xiao Han.¡± Su Xiao was very schstic and didn¡¯t have any hints of being someone in the pugilistic world. He continued: ¡°I¡¯m from Nan Jing, and I¡¯m sixteen this year. My broadsword techniques were passed down to me from my family.¡±

    Shen Yiren gave him a nod and called him by his courtesy name to show intimacy: ¡°Xiao Han, your family is a prominent martial arts style in Nan Jing, so your sword skills aren¡¯t simple. Make sure you train hard after joining us, understood?¡±

    Su Xiao turned red and said: ¡°Understood! I won¡¯t let you down.¡±

    The fact that Su Xiao even got epted bbergasts me, because to be honest, there are lots of people who have better martial arts skills than him out there. He doesn¡¯t even have one-tenth of Tang Ye¡¯s skills, yet he¡¯s among the three selected. I can¡¯t figure out what Shen Yiren¡¯s thinking.

    Shen Yiren red at me and said: ¡°What the hell are you looking at? It¡¯s your turn.¡±

    I¡¯ll bet she¡¯s giving me her attitude because she couldn¡¯t get my shiyi to stay. I mean, she originally didn¡¯t want me. ¡°Ahem. I¡¯m Ming Feizhen. I¡¯m twenty-eight and from Nan Jing. My master is uhh¡­ Daluo¡­Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Say it properly. Who¡¯s your master, what style do you use and what sect are you from? You said you¡¯re twenty-eight¡­ And you don¡¯t have a courtesy name?¡±

    It''s written Feizhen for god''s sake! I can''t tell you my name¡­

    I bit the bullet and said: ¡°I¡¯m a twenty-seventh generation disciple from Mount Daluo. My master is¡­ Priest Wu Shan. I don¡¯t have a courtesy name.¡±

    Priest Wu Shan is actually my shishu who¡¯s got a disease, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to use his name. First, he¡¯s unaware I¡¯m using his name, and even if he does find out, he¡¯s too busy finding a cure up in the mountains to bother with something else. I shouldn¡¯t run into him in the next decade¡­

    To my surprise, Shen Yiren nodded: ¡°Not bad. Since you¡¯re gugu is a high rank member, you should be too.¡± But after some pondering, she said: ¡°Hold on. Doesn¡¯t Mount Daluo have a twenty-eighth generation of disciples? You¡¯re saying you¡¯re from the same ss as the famous swordsman Lian Zhui Yue Jian?¡±

    He¡¯s my sixth brother** in the sect¡­

    ¡°I never thought you¡¯d have such a high level of seniority. Good, that¡¯s good.¡±

    I don''t know what Shen Yiren was recording but it looks like she was recording what we said.

    ¡°Now, weapons. You three are to use sabres.¡±

    This incurred the rejection of both Su Xiao and Tang Ye.

    ¡°I use my bare hands.¡±

    ¡°I use broadswords.¡±

    ¡°Give them to me then.¡±

    I¡¯ll go sell them off for money.

    Unfortunately, Miss Shen had to go and destroy our dreams: ¡°Don¡¯t back talk me. You¡¯re members of Liu Shan Men starting today. You may not have official posts, but you¡¯re still considered half-an-official. You can¡¯t just change the rules as you please.¡±

    Miss Shen is very domineering and persuasive when she handles business, but she¡¯s different to how she acted before. She¡¯s not as violent and more patient.

    ¡°Alright, onest thing. I want to know what your goals are. Men should work for their country. Women may hold up half the sky***, but I can¡¯t let my subordinates be cowards. Am I clear?¡±

    She sure knows how to say unexpected things and shock people¡­ Miss Shen didn¡¯t care about these things. She pointed at Su Xiao¡¯s nose and said: ¡°Alright, you three take turns in telling me what your goals are.¡±

    Notes:

    *For your visual reference:

    **As in seniority not actual blood brothers

    ***A promation by Mao Zedong

 Volume 1 16 Superior at Work

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 16 Superior at Work</h4>

    Su Xiao gave his speech on his ideals in a delighted tone, and repeatedly emphasised the importance of his father as well as his definition of justice: ¡°My father taught me to lead an honest life and uphold justice. As a result of my upbringing, I decided to uphold justice with my broadsword skills, and promote our Su family¡¯s sword style.¡±

    I bet he didn''t notice that Shen Yiren was starting to get irritated.

    She asked for his goals when joining Liu Shan Men yet he¡¯s been rambling on-and-on aboutpletely irrelevant stuff. Any superior would get irritated by this.

    SFX: Cough

    SFX: Cough

    SFX: Cough

    I coughed a few times to send him a hint, but instead, he looked at me with curiosity and asked: ¡°Brother Ming, are you sick?¡±

    Why? Do you have medication or something?!

    Man, this kid¡¯s IQ¡­ You know what? Just buy yourself a hammer.

    Whether I¡¯m sick or not is of no importance. Thest thing I want to see is one of us getting fired on the first day¡­

    We didn¡¯t get many new recruits in the first ce, so if we¡¯re one man down, then that means I¡¯ll be stuck doing everything with the block of wood better known as Tang Ye.

    I tried to save the situation by throwing him a highly intellectual line to help him get on topic: ¡°Brother Xiao Han, you joined Liu Shan Men to make a name for yourself as you had such aspirations since you were young, right?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Liu Shan Men? I just came to try out¡­¡± I gave him a death-stare, and he flinched. He saw Shen Yiren¡¯s expression and quickly added: ¡°I actually want to be a good constable too, hehe.¡±

    I now know first-hand what it means to have a goose-like teammate.*

    "¡­¡­"

    Shen Yiren was evidently pissed. She silently looked at me, and I think she was trying to say: ¡°Make sure to teach him how he should behave in future.¡±

    I silently gave her a nod to say: "I''ll try my best¡­"

    Ha! Thanks to the ordeal, I managed to win favour with Shen Yiren¡­

    Tang Ye then started speaking before he was asked: ¡°I didn¡¯t join Liu Shan Men to be a constable. My only goal is to kill a particr person.¡±

    Oh, fuck me! Dude! Are you trying to y bad-ass?!

    Shen Yiren unexpectedly didn¡¯t look surprised. She just sorrowfully sighed and said: ¡°Looks like my guess was right.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded and said: ¡°That is correct. I joined Liu Shan Men so that I could ess the records of all the cases Liu Shan Men investigated in the past. I want to find out the truth behind the Mei Xiang Li murder case.¡±

    Mei Xiang Li murder case?

    I dug around in my memories for information rted to the case. I easily recalled reading it in an issue of the ¡®ck and White Reflection¡¯. Looks like there''s some truth to the saying "the more you read, the more you know."

    An infamous incident took ce on New Year¡¯s Eve nine years ago, on a harmonious day where families enjoyed their reunions in a small vige in the Northern Seas. Three-hundred and thirteen people died overnight in the small vige. There were rumours iming that they were poisoned, murdered out of vengeance, while others imed there was an epidemic breakout. In a subscriber exclusive section of the ¡®ck and White Reflection¡¯, the author gave a very thought-provoking theory iming that a mass homicide was carried for unknown reasons.

    It¡¯s rumoured that among the victims were a number of martial artists from over ten different sects. It¡¯s strange because what reason would they have to be at some small vige on New Year¡¯s Eve in the Northern Seas? Based on this question, the writer for the ¡®ck and White Reflection¡¯ hypothesised that it had to do with vengeance. But the truth is still enshrouded in mystery.

    The vige the incident took ce at is called Mei Xiang Li.

    Tang Ye continued on faintly, but I could sense his anger and hatred: ¡°My father was among the victims. I don¡¯t like to tell lies. Vice-captain, if you feel I¡¯m not suitable, I can leave right away.¡± If you¡¯re going to quit then you need to show you''re insistent on quitting, so take off your hat.

    Aww Yeah, now I get to wear his uniform. I''d take his hat with a big smile.

    Instead, Shen Yiren gave him a weing smile and said: ¡°What are you saying, what¡¯s our job at Liu Sha Men? Our job is to investigate cases and reveal the truth to help the innocent and punish the evil-doers. Why would I expel you over that? Yan Ling, don¡¯t overthink it, just stay with us at Liu Shan Men.¡± Her smile was so beautiful it was like a pear-tree blooming in the night, a smile so beautiful it¡¯d illuminate the moon. It was a captivating and elegant smile. Tang Ye who was trying to take his hat off froze in ce.

    Damn! Now that¡¯s what I call smooth-talking!

    I guarantee this dense guy standing next to me would take on any tough opponent with a straight face, and would probably even take on a hammer with his bare fists. But a gentledy like that will soften up any man. Thisss is more violent than a grunt when she gets worked up. I never expected her to have such a gentle side.

    Our boss here sure knows how to handle her subordinates. We¡¯ve hardly said much to each other and yet she already has a good grasp on how to deal with us. Su Xiao needs to be treated strictly and Tang Ye needs to be encouraged. As for me¡­ It¡¯s called money, kekekeke.

    Shen Yiren continued: ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to ess the reports though. Most of Liu Shan Men¡¯s top secret documents are stored in the pce. Without the emperor¡¯s permission, you won¡¯t be able to enter therge file storage room.¡±

    Tang Ye seemed to be aware of the fact, and just silently nodded.

    Secret documents are in the pce, huh¡­?

    Hang on.

    I suddenly remembered a story my shifu told me.

    That year when Yan Shisan was in charge, he got so ticked off with Ximen Chuideng running amok in the pugilistic world that he challenged him to a duel at the Forbidden City on the 15th July, which my shifu was the witness for. However, it was actually a setup by Yan Shisan who had more than two-hundred elite archers on standby just waiting for Ximen Chuideng to rock up.

    And thus, on a night with a full-moon atop the Forbidden City, Shisanid in wait to spring on Ximen as soon as he came.

    Kekeke¡­ Okay, I¡¯ve digressed again.

    Anyway, the two of them did battle at the Forbidden City and when it was unclear who the winner would be, the elite archers went berserk with their firing, enraging my shifu in the process (because they almost shot him¡­). In the end, he teamed up with Ximen Chuideng and they were invincible. The more they fought, the more excited they got. They even set fire to the imperial pce! And if my memory does me justice, the first ce they burnt was¡­ Yeah¡­ The documents storage room¡­

    I looked at Tang Ye with pity and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

    I still didn¡¯t feel like that was enough, so I took out three silver ingots from my bag and handed them to him. I then gave him a firm handshake and said: ¡°Give it your best.¡±

    Tang Ye looked at me weirdly before changing his expression to look like he just got mugged and said: ¡°Thanks¡­¡±

    Notes:

    *Those kind of yers who ignore pings, casually watch you die instead of helping, grief and basically waste a yer slot.

 Volume 1 17 Big Boss Shen

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 17 "Big" Boss Shen</h4>

    "Ming Feizhen."

    Shen Yiren finally asked me,

    "What are your goals?"

    In one breath and without blinking I said: "To serve the country and be the vice-captain''s best subordinate!"

    Hearing this, the two kiddos standing next to me looked at me with contempt and a startled look.

    Pfft! Are you two losers in any position to be giving me looks of contempt?

    Your replies nearly jeopardized my life here! Hell, I probably wouldn''t havested till my retirement!

    Boss Shen looked at me topliment me by hinting: "I like what I heard," before saying: "Feizhen doesn''t have any strong points, but he''s got more experience in both the pugilistic world and in life than you two, so you two should learn from him. Look after each other from now on, okay?"

    Why do I feel like she wasn''t reallyplimenting me¡­?

    "Understood!"

    "Understood."

    The two nodded and then looked at me with contempt. I kissed her ass for your sakes!

    She pped her hands to break up our little battle-of-stares, stuck her chest out and said: "Alright, alright, you guys will have plenty of time to get to know each other in future." I''ll admit, when she stuck her chest out, I didn''t hesitate to steal a few looks¡­ You know, a few nces at her huge boobs¡­

    She continued: "As I mentioned before, my goal with recruiting new members was to increase Liu Shan Men''s forces, and re-establish our image in front of his majesty."

    Shen Yiren looked at the three of us with her beautiful eyes and said: "The emperor has three major powerhouses in terms of fighting power, namely: the Qilin Guards, his personal entourage and us at Liu Shan Men. We''ve always been engaged in a power struggle since Yan Shisan''s time, actually no, even long before that. We with each other to win the emperor''s favour, the support of the imperial court and resources in the martial world. But fight as we may, no side was ever truly defeated.

    During Yan Shisan''s time, Liu Shan Men was famous, feared and unparalleled. But even so, that didn''t remove the Qilin Guards and the emperor''s entourage from the picture. After Shisan left, Liu Shan Men was rtively quiet, allowing the Qilin Guards to shine. But even then, Liu Shan Men remained standing. In the end, it alles down to his majesty.

    His majesty understands the principle of bnce and without a doubt understands that if his servants get hold of too much power, they''ll overstep their boundaries, threatening his authority and power. When Shisan was around, his majesty maintained the power bnce, and continued maintaining it even after Shisan left. What this means is that Liu Shan Men will definitely be able to return to its former glory."

    She said a lot, but it left my right ear as it entered my left ear. My gaze was fixated on her glorious valleys¡­ Now that I''ve been looking at them for a while, I think,pared to Shiyi''s they''re even¡­

    "Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen. I''ve called you many times already!"

    "Huh?"

    "I just asked you, who holds higher seniority?"

    Without a thought, I blurted: "You of course."

    "What the hell are you talking about?"

    Boss Shen frowned and calmly said: "I asked you, based on the time you joined your sect, between you and Hero Lian Zhui Yue Jian, who''s the senior?"

    "Huh? Are you talking about Xiao Liu Zi (sixth little brother)**? He''s my shidi*"

    Crap!

    I just said something I shouldn''t have!

    Unsurprisingly, the two kids standing next to me gave me weird reactions. Su Xiao blinked several times at me.

    Tang Ye directly asked me curiously: "Lian Zhui Yue is in the seventeen dragons in the ''ck and White Reflection''. He''s considered one of the rarest young talents, and you call him¡­ Xiao Liu Zi?"ooks like Xiao Liu Zi made a name for himself while I was unaware, huh.

    The three of them evidently became curious as they stared at me.

    Iughed it off and said: "Have you forgotten? My shifu is Priest Wushan. My junior''s shifu is the leader of Mount Daluo, so how could Ipare? I just joined the sect a few years earlier than him." After seeing their suspicion disappear did I continue: "But why are you asking me this?"

    Shen Yiren red at me and said: "Did you hear what I said before? I said your martial arts skills are terrible, so ask your fellow disciples to teach you a few moves. That''s how we got to talking about Lian Zhui Yue Jian."

    Ooohh~ I see now.

    But did she just say my skills suck?

    I''m a bit¡­

    "That''s all for today. Yan Ling, Xiao Han, you two go on ahead. Ming Feizhen, you stay behind."

    Hmm? Just me? The two young men were slightly perplexed but left anyway.

    There was just Shen Yiren and I left in the room.

    There was no one around and the room was silent. There was only my big-boobed superior and I in the room¡­ If you want a book, I can write you a best-seller!

    Cough

    I''m off topic again, damn it.

    She probably has business for her subordinates to take care of, but couldn''t trust those two idiots with it.

    Kekeke, you two are still children.

    Being handsomees with its woes.

    I leaned over and quietly said: "What did you want to talk about, boss?"

    "You were checking out my breasts, weren''t you?"

    Fuck! I started sweating due to panic¡­

    I didn''t expect her to bring this up! I gave her the puppy eye look.

    Shen Yiren''s beautiful face carried a hint of yfulness as she smiled and said to me: "I''m listening. Did you check me out before?"

    What else could I do but grit my teeth and nod?

    But that wasn''t the end. Shen Yiren bit down on her red lips and seductively asked me: "What part of me were you checking out?"

    Oh, fuck!!

    IT''S A TRAP, IT''S A TRAP!!

    I''ll write my name backwards from now on if it''s not a trap! But what can I do¡­?

    While still gritting my teeth, I said: "Your boobs¡­"

    Shen Yirenughed elegantly and softly. Then she asked: "Do they look good?"

    Heavens, fuck, me! You''re teasing a dog in heat here¡­

    Don''t do this to me! You might as well crush my balls!

    I replied to her as though I was crying tears of blood: "They look great!" Immediately after I replied, I closed my eyes expecting a physical attack.

    To my surprise, Shen Yiren brushed her hand through her hair and casually said: "You''re a man, aren''t you? Just admit it if you did. What am I going to do, eat you or something?"

    Say What?!

    You''re not going to hit me?

    Please allow me to call you Boss Shen! You carry so much generosity in your "chest".

    Could this be the start of the romance of a superior and her subordinate?

    I put on a smile, looked at Shen Yiren''s mesmerising eyes and smiled again.

    Right then, I felt an ink-stone smack me in the face¡­

    "Unfortunately, you still need to get hit. I have to remind you who your superior is, and your position as a subordinate."

    She looked at me who was bent over from the pain with a smile and said: "But you''re quite honest. I''ll destroy the balls of those who take advantage of women and don''t have the guts to admit it. What''s the point of having balls if you can''t even man up. That''ll let him live a peaceful life."

    Well, thank you then¡­

    "You can go now. And stop having dirty thoughts all the time."

    "Understood, I''ve been smacked awake."

    "Good."

    She thumped her shoulders and said: "What a busy day. I''m so damn tired."

    I instinctively nodded and said: "It''s perfectly normal for you to be tired. Look at your ''burden''¡­"

    "Burden my ass, get out!"

    And another ink-stone smacked me in the face.

    Notes:

    ao Da = Boss. Here he''s giving another meaning to the character "´ó(Da)" which means big as you saw from the chapter content.

    *Ê¦µÜ = Younger Fellow Student/Disciple in the same school/sect

    **He uses an extremely casual way of referring to him, almost like a nickname for a child which sounds belittling.

 Volume 1 18 A Gloomy Place

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 18 A Gloomy ce</h4>

    In another one of the rooms at Liu Shan Men, the window was shut, the door was locked and the candle was out. There was only a trace of sunlight that''d shine through the door from time-to-time, changing the shape of the shadow on the floor.

    There were two people in the room, one standing and one seated.

    The one standing looked feminine, exuding a gentle beauty and was thin. Yes, it was Shen Yiren''s younger brother, Shen Kuang.

    Shen Kuang bowed to the man sitting and said: "Captain, the recruitment event is over. My sister, she¡­ *cough*, the vice-captain passed a total of twenty-seven people. Twenty-four of them are treated as freshman and treated the same way as the other normal members. The other three are different as they passed all parts of the exam and have been epted into Liu Shan Men."

    The captain sat steadily in his chair as he said to Shen Kuang in a very friendly tone: "Not bad, not bad. Those three aren''t bad."

    "You already know about them?"

    "I arrived early and saw them from the sidelines. The recruits aren''t bad, but your sister? Hmph!"

    Shen Kuang was sweating bullets. The captain and his sister had some issues between them to begin with, and Shen Yiren went and fought with Si Tuo in front of the masses today. It looks like another fight is brewing. Shen Kuang immediately changed the topic by saying: "Those three are great. Recruiting those three will be hugely beneficial for Liu Shan Men."

    The captain was relieved after hearing what Shen Kuang said and said: "Hahaha, true. Those three aren''t just mere talents. They''ll also be valuable assets at the uing tournament in two weeks. Your sister usually makes a mess of things, but I must say she made splendid choices this time."

    Shen Kuang didn''t understand what he meant by them being "assets", so he asked: "Oh? How might they be useful in the uing tournament?"

    A broken boat''s metal can still be put to good use. Liu Shan Men may not be as it once was, but there are still skilful fighters there. Based on that logic, it''s possible to find people with skills better than the three, and hence Shen Kuang''s question.

    "It looks like you haven''t figured out what your sister is thinking yet. Come here, I''ll tell you." The captain looked like he was in a good mood. After all, he evenplimented Shen Yiren. Shen Kuang expressed his interest.

    The captain said with a smile: "The emperor is holding the tournament to give Liu Shan Men an opportunity. Winning or losing isn''t the end goal. The emperor simply wants to be pleased. He knows full well how many people work at Liu Shan Men and their worth. Forget your sister who''s been here since Yan Shisan''s time. The emperor knows all about me and the other elites here like the back of his hand. Your sister is aware of this fact, and therefore recruited those few skilled ones."

    Shen Kuang recalled the idiot known as Ming Feizhen, who even mistook him for a girl. "So you''re saying, those three could please his majesty?"

    Shen Kuang thought to himself: "That idiot, Ming Feizhen can?"

    The captain cracked his fingers and said in a confident tone: "Of course. First, Tang Ye''s martial prowess is incredible. He''s no less than the elites at Liu Shan Men. For one to be able to learn a great style from a reputable master is rare, and yet he learnt from many. Just as importantly, he''s skilled in each style. He''s a highly gifted individual. If he was taught Liu Shan Men''s top skills, he''d be in among the best of the best in Liu Shan Men within months. He''ll easily win the emperor''s favour. His majesty likes talent, so he''s bound to like such young talent."

    Shen Kuang was worried because there was still Su Xiao, who although is young,cks in the martial prowess department¡­

    "But¡­"

    "Su Xiao? He''s built well and is quite smart. He''s bound to make a name for himself someday, but no, not at his current level."

    "That''s what I meant."

    The captain shook his head with a smile and said: "Kuang, you''re still too inexperienced. Don''t forget that winning isn''t the most important thing in the uing tournament, but rather the impression you give the emperor. As for how the emperor will see us, that''ll also depend on what his consorts and princesses think.

    Su Xiao is amazingly handsome and pretty. In fact he''s more pretty than girls by a long-shot. He''ll definitely win favour with thedies. What your sister sees in him is his handsome face."

    "Oh, I see¡­"

    Shen Kuang couldn''t help but admire Shen Yiren''s unique ability to spot talent. But then he suddenly thought of someone. The person he was thinking of wasn''t particrly skilled, wasn''t young, wasn''t particrly handsome, and was frankly, full of sh*t. But he was recruited nevertheless.

    When the captain saw the look on Shen Kuang''s face, he knew what he had to say.

    The captain faintly said: "Ming Feizhen is just like bait. That brat''s martial arts skills are so-so, and he''s fairly useless. But he has a good background. Mount Daluo was once one of the three big sects alongside Shaolin and Wudang, so they''re a potential powerhouse. Mount Daluo also has a lot of disciples who watch each other''s backs. If one of them meets with the trouble, they''ll be sure to help. Your sister recruited him when she considered that."

    "Hmm, I see."

    "The martial arts tournament is a big opportunity for us, hence why your sister is taking it very seriously. I myself also argued with her multiple times over the tournament matters, but it looks like her decision to conduct a public recruitment was the correct."

    "Yes, my sister has been running herself into the ground over this."

    They continued their business talk.

    Then the captain suddenlyughed and said: "Kuang, don''t be so formal with me. We''re done with business, so let''s go. Let''s go have some tea with your sister."

    Kuang froze in ce¡­ The captain had an argmuent with his sister not too long ago. If he were to go see her with the captain now¡­ Would that cause anyplications?

    "What''s wrong? Your sister doesn''t want me toe along?"

    Shen Kuang quickly busied himself with waving his hands as he added: "No, no. Why would she not want you toe along now? She''ll be fine with youing, brother-inw."

    The captain smiled and left the room with Shen Kuang.

 Volume 1 19 Conflict on the First Day

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 19 Conflict on the First Day</h4>

    It was day time and the sunshine was bright. I faintly heard the conversation between the two kids beside me as I got to the good part of my dream.

    Su Xiao said with admiration: "Brother Yan Ling, you rise very early. When I woke up, you had already packed away your nket and gone out to train."

    Tang Ye was putting on his robe to be worn when out and faintly replied: "I''m just used to it. The vice-captain wants us to gather at this time, so it''s time we head out."

    "I''m dressed and ready to leave."

    Tang Ye looked left and right. He frowned and asked: "Where''s Brother Ming?"

    Su Xiao awkwardly replied: "When I came out just before he was snoring in the room, so I think¡­"

    "I don''t understand how he got recruited."

    Tang Ye''s eyes looked serious as he shook his head and said with a sigh: "I''ll go wake him. Brother Xiao Han, please wait a bit."

    At the time, I was at the part of my dream where I was sharing poetry with Duke Zhou.

    All of a sudden I heard someone speak to me. "Brother Ming. Brother Ming, it''s time to wake up."

    "No, no¡­ You need to share a poem¡­"

    Tang Ye asked with a nk face: "What poem?"

    I replied in a daze: "Why is the moon full when we must separate?"*

    Tang Ye responded by said: "Why is the moon round when we must separate? This poem doesn''t have a continuation."

    "There is. The next line is¡­ I know the Pegasus Fist¡­" Tang Ye pulled my nket off without any hesitation, grabbed my arm with one arm and yelled: "Enough! If you don''t wake up, don''t me me for not being courteous."

    "Fuck off!"

    I just waved my hand with about twenty percent of my full power. My palm hit Tang Ye''s chest. He let out a muffed grunt as his body went up into the air and out the window, and before another peep came out of him, he passed out¡­ cold.

    I wasn''t yet fully awake so I went back to sleep.

    I felt someone pat me on my face a whileter.

    I opened my eyes with ease and saw a fair mesmerising face, but the person''s hair was done up as a manly bun. The body of said individual looked slender, but it was a pity that the chest region was t.

    "Poor evaluation. Poor evaluation¡­"

    The girl opened her withered eyes wide and asked: "Poor evaluation of what?"

    "Who are you miss? What would you be here in my run-down home for?" I wasn''t fully awake so not only was my pronunciation wonky, I also don''t remember very clearly the contents of what I mumbled.

    The girl sulkily said: "What girl? I''m Su Xiao. Why haven''t you woken up? We''re supposed to meet the vice-captain now."

    Su Xiao¡­ Who the heck is Su Xiao?

    Oh, the trap swordsman¡­ I mean, the pretty swordsman, Su Xiao.

    I massaged my aching temple, pulled the nket over myself and said: "What do want so early in the morning? Let them wait."

    I closed my eyes and returned to my conversation about constetions, palm reading, and sharing poems with Duke Zhou. But this bad-luck-inducing kid pulled my nket off again!

    Wait. Why did I say "again"?

    But before I could exin it to myself, Su Xiao poured a pot of tea on my face. He didn''t close the door so the cold winds in spring blew in, and I was pretty much awake from the shock. "

    I looked at him angrily and shouted: "What the hell?!"

    Su Xiao retorted: "You think you''re in the right?! We''re a team. If you don''t show up, you''ll affect us!"

    I can''t believe my teammate is so unreasonable. I gave up without a fight andined: "Fine! Since we both have our reasoning, let''s split up here! Leave!"

    Su Xiao was startled. He grabbed my cor and said: "That''d mean you''d get off scot-free! Stop causing trouble! Get up!!"

    I finally got out of bed after getting yelled at, my cor grabbed and having cold water poured on my face three more times by Su Xiao. I got dressed in a rush and ran towards the Vermillion hall.

    Su Xiao continued toin as we rain: "It''s all your fault we''re going to bete!"

    I cried out with vehemence: "What can we do about it now? And can you me me? Why didn''t you wake me up earlier?"

    "What do you mean? Brother Yan Ling went to wake you up unsessfully. I don''t know where he went after either. Didn''t you see him?" "He came to woke me up?"

    No he didn''t. I only remember sharing poetry with Duke Zhou. We even argued with each other, but I don''t recall Tang Yeing by. I firmly said: "He probably went ahead of us."

    We continued talking until we reached the Vermillion Hall. Su Xiao felt small and timid when he saw everyone in the Vermillion Hall dressed neatly and stood silently because he''s young after all. But me? I knew it was a great opportunity!

    I extended my long legs and dashed into the Vermillion Hall leaving Su Xiao behind. I copped a scolding as soon as I set foot through the door. Boss Shen sat in a chair and shouted in a domineering tone: "Ming Feizhen, how dare the three of you arrivete on your first day?!"

    I ran over to the desk with my head hanging down, made my way to Boss Shen''s side and quietly said: "Boss, it''s not like I wanted to bete. It was all because Su Xiao is still young. He was so excitedst night he couldn''t sleep so I struggled to wake him this today. I had to pour water on his face three times and drag him out of bed."

    "Really?"

    Su Xiao then calmly and slowly came through. I just finished carrying out a great and noble deed, so I gloriously stood to the side of our leader.

    Our captain said to me: "It''s good that know to look after those younger than you. Keep it up."

    "Understood, boss! I won''t let you down!"

    Boss Shen looked at Su Xiao and said with a sigh: "Xiao Han, learn from Feizhen. I understand that younger people like to sleep, but Liu Shan Men is different to a martial arts school. There are strict rules you must adhere to. Don''t make that mistake again."

    "HUH?" Su Xiao opened his eyes wide and looked back-and-forth between Boss Shen and I. I gave him a "how about them apples" look. He looked at me like I have no shame.

    Boss Shen got a little angry and asked: "What? You got a problem?"

    Su Xiao immediately lowered his head and said: "I dare not." But he kept his hateful and scornful eyes on me.

    Come on~ don''t look at me like that. We were allte. You suffering alone is better than both of us suffering.

    Boss Shen suddenly asked: "So where''s Tang Ye?"

    Su Xiao and I looked at each other , and asked in unison: "He''s not here?"

    Notes:

    *A phrase from a poem, ²»Ó¦ÓÐºÞ£¬ºÎÊÂ³¤Ïò±ðÊ±Ô². It holds no meaning for you as English readers so I''ve interpreted the meaning of the line instead.

 Volume 1 20 Liu Shan Menâ€™s Elite Rankings

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 20 Liu Shan Men''s Elite Rankings</h4>

    Boss Shen looked at us like: "Would I be asking you if I knew?" so I immediately obediently answered: "That naughty boy is probably training and lost track of time." That was the only excuse I could think of so that''s what I said. After I said that, I gave Su Xiao who was staring at mepletely astonished a little kick.

    Su Xiao forced himself to y along with my nonsense: "That''s right¡­ Brother Yan Ling is very focused on martial arts training so he might''ve forgotten about the meeting. I¡­ I''ll go get him now."

    Shen Yiren waved her hand and said: "Forget it. It''s good that he''s dedicated to his martial arts training. Just leave him to it. Just pass on to him my message."

    "Understood."

    Shen Yiren didn''t beat around the bush and got straight to the point in an orderly fashion, which was very characteristic of her: "You three are official members of Liu Shan Men starting today. Let me ask you, what is your evaluation of how our constables usually work?"

    The teacher''s pet, Su Xiao raised his hand to answer: "Arrest bad people, help good people, as well as helping the people."

    A vige chief basically does what you just mentioned, why would they need you for those jobs?

    Shen Yiren couldn''t help butugh: "We don''t need to do that sort of stuff, but generally speaking, you''re close. Our purpose is to punish evil on behalf of heaven and preserve the peace. We''re also tasked with upholding thew and traditions. The Qilin Guards and the royal family are already maintainingw and order. The Qilin Guards also contribute towards preserving the peace, but as for punishing evil¡­"

    Shen Yiren pointed at the shiny gue in front of the Vermillion hall with the phrase "Punish evil on behalf of heaven" written on it.

    "That que was gifted to us by the emperor whom founded the kingdom. It is the number one principle we abide to here at Liu Shan Men, so we must punish evil even if it conflicts with the other two goals, understood?"

    Su Xiao''s face turned red and got all giddy when he heard her as he excitedly said: "Yes ma''am!"

    How gullible. Do you have any sisters in your family who are slightly smarter than you? Give me three hours and I''ll trick them into bing my wives. I don''t want one as stupid as you because I''m afraid of the possibility that my offspring will turn out as stupid as you¡­

    "Good."

    Shen Yiren gave a satisfied nod.

    "That''s good. I won''t waste my breath on needless words. Go see Sir Sui for your mission. I hope to see you two listed on the Liu Shan Men''s Elites list."

    "Understood!"

    Su Xiao then timidly asked: "But uhh¡­ Vice-captain, what''s Liu Shan Men''s Elites ranking?"

    "You don''t know? Feizhen, do you know?"

    "I''m not too sure¡­"

    Boss Shen clearly didn''t have the patience to exin it, so she waved her hand and said: "Well, get one of the guards to exin it to you. After that, go see Sir Sui."

    I actually do know; that''s why I don''t want to hear it.iu Shan Men''s Elites ranking was a system created by the royal court to rank skilled fighters.iu Shan Men were the bodyguards of the dynasty''s founder during the founding days. They served him with their lives and offed countless tyrants. That is why he specially created the ranking system. He then had the top three fighters act as the leaders, and gave them the titles: Ying Long (Lit. Responsive Dragon), Qing Lin (Lit. Blue Unicorn), and Fei Yu (Lit. Flying Fish).

    These three creatures, I mean, elites hold influential positions in the royal court. But since there can only be one captain for Liu Shan Men, the three had to decide on the role byparing their martial skills. The three of them had an Earth-shattering battle in the Northern Seas whichsted for seven days and seven nights before there was a victor.

    Fei Yu defeated the other two and emerged as the victor, thereby bing the leader of Liu Shan Men. That''s why the uniforms of Liu Shan Men have a flying fish sewn onto it even now. Even Tang Ye''s purple constable uniform has it.

    The other two got mad after they lost and promptly left Liu Shan Men. They leveraged their previous impressive aplishments to ask the emperor at the time for two posts, thus creating the current system with emperor''s entourage and the Qilin Guards.

    Ying Long went on to found the groupprising of the emperor''s entourage, while Qing Lin went on to form the Qilin Guards. What was originally used to rank those in Liu Shan Men became a ranking system for all three squads.

    It''s said that the ranking lists the top fifty fighters across the three squads. Once you''re ranked in the top fifty, officials will be sure to ask you to deal with matters in the martial world. Just remember that it''s impossible for anyone topletely remove themselves from matters in the martial world.

    ording to a guard''s exnation, it sounded like it was quite easy to get ranked. All you had to do wasplete enough missions, arrest enough thieves, and beat up enough bandits in the pugilistic world. Martial prowess ranking my ass. More like the rankings for those who ved away the most.

    What should I do? I really don''t want to get ranked. There''s no benefit to getting ranked.

    What, you don''t believe me?

    There are plenty of these types of rankings in ''The ck and White Reflection''. The most famous rankings in it are the Martial Masters, and the Ultimate Beauties rankings. The Ultimate Beauties ranking ranks the beauties in the martial world, which are divided into two categories: (A) Beauty and (B) Fragrance. I think Boss Shen is ranked third in the Beauty category¡­ I only found that out yesterday.

    The Martial Masters ranking is as the name suggests a ranking for the most skilled martial artists, which employs a top 100 system. But since there are winners and losers in every fight, the rankings for it change daily.

    My shifu, the Demon Sect leader Ximen Chuideng and Liu Shan Men''s captain Yan Shisan took turnspeting with each other to get into the top ten, but it was all for naught. Ximen Chuideng had a terrible reputation for killing people like it was a necessity for him to live like oxygen is. My shifu¡­ His reputation is worse than he is as a person! And who knows whose toilet Yan Shisan is scrubbing these days.

    If those in the top ten of the Martial Masters ranking are leading sh*tty lives like that, what makes you think there''s any worth in making the rankings?

    I reluctantly went to Sir Sui''s office in a small courtyard with the little brat Su Xiao, whose eyes were gleaming with joy. Sir Sui is an official at Liu Shan Men''s own ministry of personnel, and is mainly responsible for regting Liu Shan Men''s Elites rankings.

    We saw a big fat eunuch sprinkling dirt onto the flowers in the courtyard as soon as we entered the courtyard.

    If my memory does me justice, Sir Sui is a eunuch¡­

    The current rules during this dynasty state that a eunuch can be an official if he is willing to study and take the exams, so Su Xiao and I weren''t surprised. The two of us stepped forward and courteously said: "Greetings, Sir Sui."

    Sir Sui turned around and said with a smile: "Please don''t stand on ceremony. I assume you two know who I am since you''re here. I''m Sui Tu Wan."

    What?

    Three, two, one?**

    Your father is a foreigner? I''m lost¡­

    Notes:

    *Ying Long = Responsive Dragon (A winged dragon and rain deity in Chinese mythology); Qing Lin = Blue Unicorn; Fei Yu = Flying Fish. I''m going with the Pinyin, because calling someone "Responsive Dragon" is¡­

    **Sui Tu Wan is pronounced: Sooee Too One, and hence 3, 2, 1 in English

 Volume 1 21 The One-of-a-kind Ruffian and The Worldâ€™s Number One Scumbag

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 21 The One-of-a-kind Ruffian and The World''s Number One Scumbag</h4>

    Sui Tu Wan.

    Three, two, one.

    No matter how you read it, his name is pretty Westernised¡­

    Su Xiao and I headed to the location of our first mission per Sir Sui''s instructions.

    It''s said that there was someone bullying the kind yet cowering from the bigger bullies here in this vige. The vigers cried saying that they reported the officials for ignoring the situation and reporting that person''s bullying knew no bounds. It''s also said that he''s a pervert. He goes after olddies up to seventy-eight, to as young as the hard worker next door from Uncle Niu''s family. As long as they''re a woman, he goes for them.

    After hearing that, I almost thought my shifu was there. I was contemting it was the right thing for me to do and go kill my own kin for the greater good.

    Not long after, Su Xiao and I arrived at said person''s little vige called Peach Vige. The vige is close to the outskirts of Nan Jing, but is still under the jurisdiction of Nan Jing. And since they reported the matter to Liu Shan Men, we had an obligation to resolve it.

    After listening to what Boss Shen said, Su Xiao''s head was filled with nothing but thoughts of how to get listed in Liu Shan Men''s Elites rankings. This troublesome kid just can''t let me live in peace. If we got ranked, do you think we''d even have off-days? I retired so I could earn money without lifting a finger, not to ve away into old age.

    I''m going to screw today''s mission up no matter what.

    After entering Peach Vige, we made contact with the vige chief who filed the report. The vige chief was around seventy, but still looked energetic and healthy nheless.

    "Greetings chief, we''re from Liu Shan Men. I''m Su Xiao, this here is Ming¡­"

    I waved my hand at him and said: "Whatever, cut to the chase. Gramps, we heard you were getting bullied by a bully around here."

    "Yes, that''s right!"

    Su Xiao was stunned as soon as the vige chief spoke. And he''s supposed to be a local. Shame on him. Don''t you know those from Peach Vige are considered heroic individuals? When I came here in the past, I mistook it for being the Northeast¡­

    The vige chief evidently hated the bully. He stamped his feet, thumped his chest and said: "That thug has no respects for anything. I''ve nevere across anybody so shameless. A few days ago, he messed with the daughter of the Wang family. When her family came knocking, he shamelessly apologised and even asked for her hand in marriage. The thug doesn''t have any money for a wedding, so he pawned an ox for twenty silvers at Aunt Li''s ce, saying it was to hold a wedding banquet. In the end, he ran off with the money and the girl. I reported him at your ce three times. You people came here three times and then told me you couldn''t do anything about it. So what do I do?"

    "Hmm, that''s¡­" Su Xiao waspletely lost. After juggling it in his head for a good while, he asked: "But why did he leave his ox behind?"

    "Huh? What do you know? That ox was mine! He stole my ox!"

    Now that is some fe. He''s a master con-man¡­

    "Old Wang has lost his daughter, Aunt Li has her lost money, and I lost my ox! What do you suggest we do?"

    It was Su Xiao''s first time dealing with a case, and he was at a loss for what to do, so he looked to me to ask for help. I put on a straight-face and said: "We will bring the girl and your ox and the money back." Is this a damn tongue twister?!*

    The vige chief''s eyebrows turned upwards forming a smile as he said with eyes gleaming with hope: "That''s great! I''ll take you to him. Young people are so much easier to work with, so much better than those old geezers!"

    I felt ashamed hearing him say that.

    I bet the constables that came here thest three times didn''t want to deal with it because it was troublesome. Liu Shan Men is responsible for monitoring the martial world and its influence onmoners in the first ce, so these sorts of quarrels should be reported to the magistrate. These sorts of issues shouldn''t be reported to Liu Shan Men.

    But thanks to that, I won''t have to screw the mission over.

    I wouldn''t make the elites ranking even if Ipleted three of these sorts of missions daily, so there''s nothing to worry about.

    "¡­¡­"

    I came to a sudden stop. Su Xiao almost bumped into me, and said in an annoyed tone: "Brother Ming, what''s the matter?"

    I focused on my listening. I could hear the sound of weapons nging against each other to the East of the vige. From the sounds I heard, I could discern that there were three swords, an iron rod and three single-edged swords. Why are there people fighting in this sort of ce? And by the sounds of it, they''re quite skilled¡­

    "Vige chief, are there martial artists in your vige?"

    "Huh?!"

    The vige chief blinked quickly several times.

    "They''re all people passing by. They said theye from Lan Zhu Tong or something. They get along quite well with that bully. They''re bad people."

    I listened in carefully to the sounds while mulling over what the vige chief said and came up with a guess.

    Su Xiao blinked and asked: "Lan Zhu Tong? What''s Lan Zhu Tong?"

    I helplessly exined: "It''s Lan Jun Zhu Kong."

    Isn''t that the group that''s ranked seventh in the Demon Sect?"

    He then looked at me with suspicion and asked: "How did you know martial artists are here?"

    I unleashed my talent for bullsh*tting and said: "Why else would the vige chief have reported it to Liu Shan Men? Do you think he''s an idiot or something?"

    The vige chief cooperated excellently. He puffed his chest out proudly, and I have to say, he did look pretty tough.

    After being rebutted by me, Su Xiao apologetically said: "I''m sorry, Brother Ming. I thought you were spouting nonsense again¡­"

    "I''m really hurt by the way you treat me as arade¡­ Ha¡­ I really miss the soy sauce pork from Dong Po Restaurant."

    "¡­I don''t think I''ve offended you that badly."

    I sighed and said: "You must be thinking I''m trying to take advantage of you again. What I was trying to say was¡­" I was trying to exploit Su Xiao into buying me some soy sauce pork while walking backwards. Consequently, I bumped into someone behind me. I didn''t feel any resistance.

    I turned around and saw that he was already lying on the ground as if he was sent flying by a bull or something.

    What the hell? Is he trying to scam me for money?

    "Are you alright?"

    "As if I''m alright!"

    The guy lying on the ground had curly hair that looked like the aftermath of an explosion. He got up and made a scene to get me topensate him. The brat had facial e. He was evidently the usually energetic type and leaving a mess in his wake wherever he went. It certainly looked like he was trying to scam me.

    Curly stared at me and shouted: "You tired of living? They call me the one-of-a-kind ruffian, and the world''s number one scumbag, and here you are crossing me!" His muscle-less frame quivered after he was done talking. It looked like he was dead-set on sizing me up.

    The vige chief widened his eyes, stared at him, pointed at him and said: "That''s him!"

    I widened my eyes too. This curly-haired brat is the big bully in the vige? I could sense the cunning aura exuding from him.

    Notes:

    * All the ''ands'' in there make it a pain to read or say in Chinese, and also why I wrote it like that.

 Volume 1 22 Young Man with a Sabre

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 22 Young Man with a Sabre</h4>

    "Su Xiao, go take a look over there. Let''s talk after we get some information on Lan Jun Zhu Kong."

    "Alright, but can you hold a proper conversation with¡­ Mr. Scum here?"

    Su Xiao blinked a few times and then said: "I''ll head over there and try to gather some information."

    "Yes, yes, yes. Let''s do that. Mr. Scum, let''s have a chat, shall we?"

    After I said three sentences, the self-proimed, one-of-a-kind ruffian and number one scum-bag curly-haired bloke rubbed his hands with a smile like a luscious chrysanthemum and said: "Hey bro, let''s just have a friendly chat. If you have a question, feel free to ask, there''s no need to be so reserved. I''ll tell you everything I know. What? A wife? I don''t have one. Hehe. I don''t want a wife. I was preparing to send Miss Wang back. Of course I''llpensate them. I shouldpensate them by all ounts. I''llpensate them even if it means I have to sell my pants. I''ll pay Aunt Li back too. I''ll pay her back twice the amount. Actually, make that three times the amount. The vige chief''s ox? Hmm¡­ As the representative and face of young people of this vige, I was going to swap his ox for a younger one because his hard-working ox was so old it was basically ready to die from illness. Actually, I was going to get him two oxen, I mean ten oxen to repay him for always looking out for me."

    I spent my breath teaching this g how he should live his life. He puffed up his cheeks while still keeping my waist de in check with the part between his legs, and had changed for the better.

    He really does live up to his nickname, scum. I haven''te across as many as bad as him.

    "I won''t make things hard for you since you''re so cooperative." I sheathed my sword back into my scabbard. The corner of the punk''s eyes lifted up as if he were about to cuss me.

    I gave him a soft pat on the shoulder causing his entire body to sink more than one-foot deep into the ground. His legs were fine thought so the tough ground surface was probably formed from mud. He was so surprised his face looked like an antelope face-to-face with a pride of lions, causing his entire body to quiver helplessly.

    I gave him a smile and said: "Answer whatever I ask you."

    Only then did Mr. Scume out honestly¡­

    Turns out his surname is Cha, and his first name is Pi. He may look like a fighting-chicken right now, but he''s the son of a prestigious family in Peach Vige. His father was involved with dealings with the emperor''s entourage in the past. He''s the descendent of a general. Histe father had wished for him to enter the pce and serve the kingdom, and hence the character ''Pi'' for his name*

    Who would''ve imagined that this punk could turn the "pi" character in "conquer and expand the kingdom''snds" and turn it into the "pi" character for ruffian? The bastard even turned his surname "Cha" into the character "zha" for scum. I better be careful when I''m around his ancestors'' cemetery. I don''t want to get a shock when his old man jumps out of his casket to strangle him¡­

    And now onto the main point¡­

    Three uninvited guests showed up at his ce a few days ago iming to be his father''s friends when he was still alive and said that they came from a ce called Lan Jun Zhu Kong. They asked to borrow some stuff from his ce and then turned his ce inside-out. They stayed for a few days and refused to leave. They even announced that they wouldn''t just let the matter go so easily.

    Okay, we can''t not mention Mr. g''s asshole-mentality. At first, he was really afraid of those three guests from the pugilistic world upying his ce, but then he came up with the idea to bully and con the vigers using their name as a form of backing. The bastard conned the Wang family''s daughter, conned Aunt Li of her money and the vige chief of his ox.

    This guy is the walking definition of the word shameless.

    But there was one thing that caught my attention.

    "You said that they imed to be people from Lan Jun Zhu Kong, right?"

    The g said with a crying face: "Yes¡­ I''m telling the truth. I wouldn''t dare lie to you!" I didn''t think he was lying.

    "Do you know what sort of ce Lan Jun Zhu Kong is?"

    "No."

    I don''t think he knows. If he did, he wouldn''t be stupid enough to bully girls under the name of the envoy of the Demon Sect.

    "So who are they fighting with?"

    "I think it was some Forest Guards." **

    Forest guards my ass! I''d be a metropolitan guard if that were the case!*** He must be talking about the Qilin Guards.

    The Qilin Guards have always been responsible for finding the whereabouts of the Demon Sect so that''s nothing strange. I listened in to the sound of weapons shing against one another in the distant suspiciously.

    The Demon Sect''s martial arts? I don''t know, I''m not familiar with it.

    However¡­

    "Energy Fusion is Hua Shan Sect''s technique. They''re fellow disciples and they''re unting their skills like they''re hot-shots." I''m very knowledgeable on the internal techniques taught by various prestigious sects, including the Demon Sect. The three who came iming to be members of Lan Jun Zhu Kong are using Hua Shan''s internal Energy Fusion. Once one has mastered Energy Fusion then the practitioner can imitate the techniques of even the Demon Sect as long as they have a good grasp on the actualised techniques that need to be executed.

    "Huh? What did you say?"

    "Nothing."

    If they really were from the Demon Sect, Su Xiao would need more than ten lives. Those guys kill people without batting an eye. But Hua Shan¡­

    Oh yeah, I''ve retired, so why do I have to concern myself with this crap?

    "g, bring me a pot of tea, my throat is dry."

    ******

    Su Xiao saw three people in blue shirts fighting with three men in brocade guard uniforms. Their weapons and agility clearly outssed Su Xiao.

    Ming Feizhen told him to just watch from afar, but one of the guys in blue looked like he was gaining the upper hand. Su Xiao couldn''t tell who was who, and was worried the Demon Sect would win, so he tried his best toe up with a n.

    To be frank, in such circumstances, new recruits would''ve run away with their tail between their legs and reported it to their superior. However, Su Xiao has a strong sense of justice, and after hearing Shen Yiren''s speech, his sense of justice gushed forth.

    Pretty Boy Su Xiao pulled out his trusty sabre he always had on him after shouting: "You demonic trash, how dare you behave so audaciously?!" His sabre was the Su family''s heirloom, the divine sabre called Ancient Cold.

    The fact that the de was revered by the heavens couldn''t be hidden despite the de looking rusty and the handle being old. The wielder was a young and elegant pretty boy. The sabre was like the crescent moon at night.

    The six were engaged in an intense battle, but were unconsciously drawn to one particr person. Someone among them blurted out: "What a handsome young man. What a sharp de."

    Su Xiao with his sabre in hand confidently yelled: "I''m Su Xiao from Liu Shan Men. Which one of you are the bastards from Lan Jun Zhu Kong?!"

    One of the guys with a blue shirt said: "Oh, so you''re from Liu Shan Men. Okay, fuck you. I wasted my breathplimenting you."

    Since that guy in the blue shirt dared to cuss at someone from Liu Shan Men, it went without saying that he was from the Demon Sect, and therefore meant that the three in brocade guard uniforms were allies.

    Right after Su Xiao formed his conclusion, the three guys in the brocade robe said: "Fuck you, Liu Shan Men. How dare youe in and try to kill-steal after all our effort? You want a piece of the pie? Not over our dead bodies."

    Those three were even ruder than the three in blue shirts.

    Just one line from Su Xiao incurred the verbal-wrath from both sides. Okay, so who''s with the Demon Sect?

    Su Xiao got confused¡­

    Notes:

    *Comes from the phrase¿ª½®±ÙÍÁ which depending on context can be tranted a number of ways, but in this particr scenario is like "conquer and expand the kingdom''snds (Lit. Cut open newnds)." The third character in (from the left) is "pi" which is the same character for his name which essentially means "break" in this context.

    **Forest is ''Lin'' which is the same pronunciation as the ''Lin'' in ''Qilin''.

    ***I changed it from "sanitation enforcer" to "metropolitan guard" otherwise the joke wouldn''t make sense in English.

 Volume 1 23 Picking on the Weakest

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 23 Picking on the Weakest</h4>

    It took a while before Su Xiao figured out that the guys in blue iming to be from Lan Jun Kong Zhu were members of the Demon Sect, and that the guys in brocade guard uniforms were the Qilin Guards who were in the middle of their investigation.

    Su Xiao said in a confused tone: "Sorryrades from Qilin, I didn''t mean to steal your credit but we can''t let anyone from the Demon Sect off either. Umm¡­ Uhh¡­ Can''t I take just one of them back?" Su Xiao was unable to continue in a regal tone. He does read, it''s just that he''s usually surrounding himself with those in the martial world so his usual speech tone had changed.

    The Qilin Guards shook their heads like epileptics and said: "You want to take one of them? Did you know we hung a que with ''The three great detestations'' inscribed on it in ourrge courtyard?"

    "The three great detestations?" Su Xiao was lost. He''s new to the world, how would he know the martial world''s ssics? He softly asked: "Pornography, gambling and illicit drugs?"

    "Fuck off! The que has what our captain hates the most inscribed in text on it." The guys in brocade guard uniforms grinded their teeth as though their superior was right beside them supervising and said: "The most detested thing in the world is that old fuck Ximen Chuideng. The second most detested thing is everyone else in the Demon Sect. The third most detested thing is you garbage bags from Liu Shan Men!"

    Su Xiao who was fairly clueless about their bad blood history casually waved his hand and brushed it off with: "Man, that''s all ancient history. Can''t you guys be more flexible? I''ll stand here and watch. Once you guys can''t handle it anymore more, let me have a go, deal?"

    He didn''t expect them to take that even more offensively. The guys in blue shirts didn''t pass up the opportunity to burst intoughter. The three brocade guards were fuming: "Piss off, trash! You''re the weakling here. This is a walk in the park for us!"

    The three charged forward after they were done talking. The three brocade guards weren''t the cream of the crop in the Qilin Guards squad, but they were still formidable nheless. They''re a small team who''ve learnt a formation called "The Ultimate Sabre and Rod Formation of Three". So there is one broadsword and two rods, or one rod and two broadswords, which are worked inbination, allowing them to defeat their opponents when the odds are against them.

    As you all know, if the weaker guy defeats the stronger guy, then picking on the weak as the stronger one is a cinch.

    The three of them initially weren''t scared of him because he looked young. However, upon seeing the sharpness of his divine de, the three thought it was best to take him on with their formation.

    The three in blue didn''t join the fray and instead discussed what to do amongst themselves.

    "So what shall we do now that they''re caught up in their own conflict?"

    "Let''s smash the younger guy and steal his sabre."

    "Sounds like a n, I''m with you!"

    Su Xiao was trapped inside their formation. Normally, when you''re surrounded, you''d retreat as fast as possible. The most he could do in that situation was to hold out painstakingly, but it all changed when the three in blue joined the fray.

    The three of them were sword wielders. They unleashed the "Selfless Sword Style", the basic style taught upon bing a member of the Demon Sect. What makes that style formidable is that it damages both the wielder and the enemy in exchange for dealing massive damage. However, the three of them weren''t using the mental cultivation methods taught by the Demon Sect. The executed techniques were right, but the internal arts they were using were Hua Shan''s Energy Fusion. Consequently, the damage dealt was reduced, but at the same time they reduced the damage they''d suffer. It''s still a worthy trade-off in the end.

    Su Xiao didn''t train in his family''s sabre style too diligently, hadn''t learnt Liu Shan Men''s martial arts, was young and had no experience withbating real enemies, so the six of them gave him a tough time. Two of the guys in blue stuck to both sides of his Ancient Cold sabre, with one on his left, and one to the right. The brocade guard wielding the rod grunted and put Su Xiao''s lights out.

    The brocade guard didn''t expect the guys dressed in blue to be waiting to steal Su Xiao''s treasured de as soon as he passed out. Unfortunately for them, it seemed that Su Xiao had such a tight grip on it the two of them couldn''t flog it. Instead, the brocade guards turned their attention to them.

    One of the guys in blue got annoyed, threw a fit and chopped off Su Xiao''s wrist.

    The captain of the brocade guards regretted his decision and was worried that they''d be too much to handle if they managed to get their hands on the sabre. He gathered up all his internal energy and struck Su Xiao''s back with a palm strike with everything he had, slinging Su Xiao like a weapon at them to at least deal them some damage.

    Six people surrounded a young man not yet seventeen, grunting and trying to pursue their own ends, with his unconscious body in the middle to separate them.

    "YAAAHH!"

    "KUGHHHAAA!!"

    The brocade guards palm strike was extremely sharp while the guy in blue swung his sword in a strangely rushed manner. The brocade guard struck one of the guys in blue with all his might behind his palm strike destroying his nerves and breaking his bones. The guy in blue also managed to neatly slice off the brocade guards left arm, causing blood to gush forth.

    After the exchange of blows, both sides were one man down, but because there weren''t mentally prepared, they were crying and shrieking from the pain.

    The brocade guard eximed: "You despicable bastard! You pretended to stab the punk from Liu Shan Men and then stabbed me instead."

    Another guy in blue angrily yelled: "You''re a slippery one too. You changed the direction of your attack part way through. You nearly took my brother''s life!"

    The two of them red at each other and suddenly regained theirposure.

    "Did you say I stabbed someone from your side?"

    "Did you say I changed the direction of my attack part way through?"

    The two of them acted weird and said: "I didn''t. I was aiming for the little punk. Huh? Where''s the punk?"

 Volume 1 24 If You Can Solve it With Brute Force, Try Not to Speak

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 24 If You Can Solve it With Brute Force, Try Not to Speak</h4>

    I took a sip of tea as I was carrying Su Xiao. I couldn''t help but cough. The g brought me some dodgy tea leaves. There are always remnants of tea leaves getting stuck in my throat.

    Su Xiao was asleep like a napping Persian cat. His white skin had a hint of pink, his limbs were beautiful, his teeth were white just like a girl¡­ If he didn''t need a bag over his head that is.

    "Boss, we found the punk!"

    A little henchman looking guy was excitedly yelling while pointing in my direction: "Over there, over there!!"

    The guys in blue and brocade guard uniforms finally noticed me. They quickly turned around and red at me.

    The guy from Hua Shan pretending to be an envoy from the Demon Sect shouted: "Who are you? Speak now or hold your peace forever."

    If you''re going to pretend to be an envoy of the Demon Sect at make the effort to make it convincing. No one in the Demon Sect would waste time getting the name out of their opponents. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

    The Qilin guard in the brocade uniformughed and said: "Ignorant Demon Sect disciple, can''t you tell? One look tells you he''s not a resident of this ce. Since he came to the aid of that punk from Liu Shan Men and is wearing a constable uniform, it''s a given that he''s from Liu Shan Men. Hahahaha."

    Pfft!! Stupid! You mistook Hua Shan disciples for being Demon Sect members and are trying to arrest them. You deserve to be an errand boy for eternity.

    Come to think of it, why are Hua Shan disciples pretending to be envoys of the Demon Sect? And why here in Nan Jing of all ces? Aren''t they aware they hate the Demon Sect here in Nan Jing more than anywhere else?

    I silently considered the questions in my head and didn''t speak to them. Instead I just signalled to them toe at me.

    The guy in blue chuckled and said: "Fine. If you want to die so badly, I''ll dly grant you your wish!"

    Me: "¡­¡­"

    The guy in the brocade guard uniform shouted: "Hey you, if you don''t run along, I won''t hesitate to attack."

    Me: "¡­¡­"

    The guy in blue gave a longugh and asked: "Are you mute? Did our swordsmanship shock you so much that you''re at a loss for words?"

    The brocade guard didn''t want to look like he was less of a man, so he said in a loud voice: "Get lost, demon-kind. He was scared by our formidable formation. It''s got jack sh*t to do with you."

    Me: "Are you guys done talking? Do you want to fight or not?"

    The two leaders acted like they were embarrassed and cleared their throats. They then surrounded me who tried to be friendly.

    *******************************

    The Guy in blue couldn''t keep his calm.

    He knew he was in a bad situation.

    He didn''t even catch a glimpse of the man standing in front of him when he saved the punk. He''d never met anybody like that in the twenty years he''d been in the pugilistic world. He only knew of two people who had that level of qinggong*, their school''s leader and their senior brother.

    But just because someone had a high level of proficiency with qinggong, that didn''t mean they were a good fighter. He thought that it was unlikely that he could beat the three of them together. However, he hesitated because he was afraid that going all out would reveal the true nature of his martial arts and thereby the school he truly belonged to. He was tasked with an important task this time which was part of a bigger plot, hence why he came to Peach Vige and pretended to be an envoy from the Demon Sect. He couldn''t let them get caught here so he hesitated.

    The Qilin Guards however were very level-headed.

    He felt it was best to attack together. He''d get rid of Liu Shan Men first and then the Demon Sect. If the Demon Sect members escaped, he''d still be aplished for taking out two of Liu Shan Men''s constables. It''s as Ximen Chuideng of the Demon Sect said back then, it''s faster to take care of them all at once!!

    They readied up. One of them was injured and couldn''t fight at his maximum capacity but they still used their "Ultimate Sabre and Rod of Three" formation topletely surround Ming Feizhen. Inside the formation were the guys in blue and Ming Feizhen who were to fight each other.

    The guys in blue realising the grim situation they were caught in decided to strike. They used a variety of moves to hide their true styles and thereby identities. They were busy sending a signal to their seniors.

    The three of them used the technique "Song of the Phoenix" together. That''s a powerful technique from Hua Shan sect and also the technique the three of them painstakingly trained. The three of them prepared their Energy Fusion technique before unleashing it. They unleashed the Song of the Phoenix attack with the purpose of severely injuring Ming Feizhen, but more so to escape their current predicament.

    As soon as the Song of the Phoenix was unleashed, the vibration of the sword tip sounded like birds chirping, while also creating the image of thousands of birds worshipping a phoenix. The three of them had rtively even power levels, so the power of the technique was multiplied when they executed it in unison. The song of the phoenix could be heard by the ear as their sword tips moved.

    Ming Feizhen held Su Xiao with his left arm while drinking tea with his right hand. He moved his arm in a circle without blinking.

    Be gentle.

    The continuous thought of being gentle, gentle without limits and execution of Tai Chi sent the three hundred birds flying towards the group in brocade guard uniforms. In the blink of an eye, three phoenixes were sent flying towards the Qilin Guards, sending them into a frenzy.

    Ming Feizhen pulled his arm back towards his body and the guys in blue found that they lost control of the sword in their hands before they knew it. The swords techniques didn''te to a halt though. Their executed moves carried through and continued being unleashed on the three Qilin Guards. He was just one man controlling three swords with one hand, and yet his executions of the techniques were much clearer. The three Qilin Guards were stabbed at their pressure points and died before the three hundred birds finished flying.

    The guys in blue came to the realisation that he borrowed their momentum to follow through, but how was such a gentle movement able to deliver such incredible impact?!

    The leader of the guys in blue was scared sh*tless. He said in a trembling voice: "W-wu Dang''s Tai Chi!! You''re Zhang Sanfeng!!"

    "Screw you, your mum is Zhang Sanfeng!!"

    Ming Feizhen angrily hurled their three swords back at them causing them to see stars. He then eximed: "Do I look that old?!"

    What he did next caused one of the guys in blue who still had his conscious to lose his mind.

    Ming Feizhen took a sip of tea. He took a sip of tea out of his cup with his right hand.

    This guy took their swords, defeated three Qilin Guards, and threw their swords back at them with his right hand too!

    "Gh-ghost!!"

    That Hua Shan disciple was so frightened he passed out.

    Ming Feizhen was befuddled and asked: "Why do people always say that same line after I have a fight with somebody¡­?"

    *******************************

    I looked at the six lying on the ground and then finished my tea.

    Why are these guys such chatterboxes? Do you have to talk when you could resolve the issue with brute force?

    Hmph, look at me.

    I''m overpowered, invincible and haven''t been surpassed in thirty years.

    I shouldn''t go about things in such a high-profile manner though. It''ll make it hard for me to run my provident fund scam. Luckily Su Xiao was out cold so nobody saw it.

    Huh? Why''s there the sound of extra person breathing?

    I quickly spun around and saw an astonished Tang Ye standing there. It looks like he came running over and was catching his breath. He looked at me with his eyes wide¡­ And the six on the ground.

    "¡­¡­"

    "¡­¡­"

    "Howe there are so many people lying on the ground? What happened?"

    "¡­¡­"

    The worthless actor Tang Ye looked at me without moving. He just silently looked at me without saying anything. His gaze started to get on my nerves.

    I easily came up with more bullsh*t.

    "I¡­¡­"

    "I saw you knock them out."

    I started sweating¡­

    Notes:

    *The ability to move swiftly and lightly at superhuman speed, and perform gravity-defying moves such as gliding on water surfaces, scaling high walls and mounting trees.

 Volume 1 25 Canâ€™t You Just Pretend You Didnâ€™t See Anything?

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 25 Can''t You Just Pretend You Didn''t See Anything?</h4>

    "Brother Yan Hua¡­"

    "My name''s Yan Ling."

    Tang Ye looked at me in silence and then pointed out the crux of his problem: "Your martial prowess is incredible. Why are you hiding your skills from everyone?"

    Fuck¡­ I can''t deal with this sort of pressure.

    Back then shifu once said he''d teach me the Heart and Soul Destroying Palm Strike, a palm strike where you hit so hard that your opponent would leave the world for three days. Back then, I decided not to learn such an evil style and let it disappear along with history to protect all the kind women he tarnished, the reputation of the beauties in the martial world, and the rights of women in the world.

    I didn''t think it''de back to bite me in the ass now. Man if I knew it I wouldn''t have to deal with this mess now. I could erase Tang Ye''s memories with a single palm strike.

    I wore a bitter look on my face, grit my teeth and said: "I''ll wake up on time every day from now on. Help me keep this a secret, deal?"

    Tang Ye had a cold look on his face like the stone lions, at the door of Liu Shan Men, no, make that the face of a pixiu.* and eximed: "Who do you take me for?"

    I grit my teeth and asked: "What do you want then?"

    "I went to wake you up this morning and got struck by your palm strike whichpletely obliterated my defence. I was out cold for several hours before I awoke."

    Uhh¡­ So why didn''t you take the opportunity to axe me on the head just now?

    "I''ve been practicing martial arts since I was young and don''t think I''m bad." Tang Ye lifted up his sleeve to sh his unicorn tattoo.

    "Do you know what this is?"

    I respectfully replied: "Horseshoe triceps!"**

    "¡­¡­"

    Tang Ye thought I misunderstood something he said and for an instant, was lost for words. After that he said: "I lost my father in the homicide in Meixiang five years ago. My mother passed away not long after due to illness after bing depressive over his death. After that, I made a vow to avenge their deaths. This unicorn head was the only clue left behind in Meixiang, so I got it tattooed onto my arm to remind myself to never forget the death of my parents."

    I listened to him in awe, and then gave him a thumbs up and said: "Your horseshoe triceps really are amazing!"

    "¡­In any case, I decided five years ago that I''d definitely get revenge, so I started learning from reputable masters all over the world. I dedicated myself to my martial arts training every day to get to where I am today. I''d say my skills are among the top in the pugilistic world. But you defeated me."

    Hey, hey hey! Damn, are you still holding a grudge? Man, I don''t even remember that happening!!

    "You''re extremely skilled. At the very least, you''re not as useless as you pretend to be. You did everything you could to get into Liu Shan Men. What are you after?"

    For the retirement concession, the medical concession, thepensation for losing a job, and the work injury insurance.*** And to put food on the table until I get those provident funds¡­ He wouldn''t believe me if I said this, would he?

    "I don''t care what you''re after but you defeated me and that''s an unarguable fact. Therefore, I need to get even."

    After he was done speaking, he extended both arms and the veins on his arm were suddenly visible. The unicorn on his right arm looked ferocious. His whole body exuded a very imposing aura.

    Tang Ye extended one hand towards me and said: "Let''s fight!" He must be using some special method of energy utilisation, which would exin that phenomenon.

    I''m having trouble believing he wants to fight me for real. What shall I do?

    Fight him?

    I can''t bloody fight! I''m still carrying sleeping beauty Su here.

    I scratched my head, and asked with augh: "Don''t you think I''m stronger than you? You still want to fight?"

    "Who says you''re stronger than me?!" The usually stone-faced Tang Ye suddenly got furious. "You caught me when I was off-guard this morning. I admit that your strength is quite incredible, but you probably can''t beat me if we fight fair-and-square, one-on-one right now."

    I said with a bitter look: "But I don''t have any reason to fight you, right?"

    Tang Ye''s posture didn''t change and he didn''t show any signs of backing down: "There is! If you don''t fight me, I''ll go to our vice-captain and spill the beans."

    Fine!

    If you want to get your ass kicked so badly, I''ll happily kick it for you. I specialise in subduing those who refuse to submit!

    I''ve had enough! This punk is trying to ruin my beautiful life-n. I can''t take his sh*t no more! I took one step forward towards Tang Ye who looked like he was getting more and more imposing. I took another step forward, and then another.

    This was my n.

    Walk over to him, smack his head in, the end.

    Simple.

    I bet I could drop him dead before Su Xiao regains conscious.

    Tang Ye looked very alert. Look at his stance. He''s courting death. I took my time walking forward nning to enact my "smack his head in" n, but then got stopped in my tracks when someone came running over from far away in the distance screaming.

    "Master! We''ve got a problem!"

    I looked and saw who it was. It was the g.

    That guy knows what panic is?

    I loudly shouted: "What''s the matter?"

    Tang Ye couldn''t hear the g''s voice which was three miles away and only turned around after hearing me shout. He couldn''t help but chuckle because he knew the g couldn''t hear my shout.

    But the g replied from afar: "There are people digging the mountain graves!"

    Tang Ye looked like he heard the two important words "mountain graves" and looked at me suspiciously.

    What are you looking at? It''s called the Thousand Mile Sound Travel technique. It''s an internal style technique. Spend another twenty years learning it and you''ll be able to do it too.

    But digging the mountain graves? That''ll incur a death penalty.

    "Brother Tang, we''re both members of Liu Shan Men, so we can''t prioritise our own matters over work, right? Digging graves will incur the death penalty, are you going to deal with it or not? If you''re not going to deal with it, I will."

    Tang Ye''s a reasonable person and seemed to understand that dealing with the issue couldn''t be dyed, so he rxed his stance. The overbearing aura dissipated as well. It was evident it was because he left fight-mode. I didn''t know this young guy had such powerful internal energy.

    "Alright, I''ll go with you. We''ll put our duel off for now."

    Notes:

    *Pixiu = A Chinese mythical hybrid creature,monly, but incorrectly referred to in the West by the Greek word "chimera".

    **Tang Ye was trying to show him the tattoo while Feizhen was focused on the triceps. To express "horseshoe triceps" as we do in the bodybuilding circle, you say "unicorn arm" in Chinese. So when Tang Ye showed him the unicorn tattoo and Feizhen talked about his triceps instead, Tang Ye basically had a "wtf" moment.

    ***He actually uses the phrase "The Five Concessions (Lit. trantion)," which includes: the retirement concession, the medical concession,pensation for losing a job, the work injury insurance, and maternity leave pay. But since he''s a guy¡­ I left out maternity leave pay.

 Volume 1 26 Master Behind the Scenes

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 26 Master "Behind" the Scenes</h4>

    "Grave robbers still exist?" I scanned my surrounding with my eyes. There were countless tombstones on the crooked hillside. It looks like that''s Peach Vige''s cemetery. There were two people hastily throwing the dirt on the surface aside and trying to continue digging.

    When I got closer I noticed something strange. The tombstone, I mean grave wasrger in dimensionspared to the surrounding ones. In a way it was lucky. It took a lot of effort from the two grave robbers because the tombstone was made from stone.

    "Zha Pi, who does thergest grave in the vige belong to?"

    Zha Pi and Tang Ye can''t see that far and definitely couldn''t see anything in detail, so they didn''t understand what I was talking about, but Zha Pi answered: "Of course my it''s my family''s. Did you forget my old man served as part of the emperor''s entourage? His grave was erected by officials, so it''s sumptuousness." It sounded to me like he''d be more than happy to migrate into the grave. I thought to myself: "Fuck!"

    I looked towards Zha Pi, made an apologetic expression and said: "Sorry in advance then. The grave those two are robbing¡­ Belongs to your family."

    "What?!"

    Zha Pi angrily jumped up-and-down. "I was nning to sell that tombstone when my financial situation was tight. Master Ming, please help me get rid of those two people!"

    "¡­¡­"

    This scoundrel¡­ Scumbag you are indeed.

    "Grave robbing will incur the death penalty. The emperor''s entourage is different to Liu Shan Men. They''re essentially officials in the royal court. Robbing their graves means decapitation, no ifs or buts." Tang Ye''s eyes showed a hint of murderous intent when he spoke. It''s more urate to say that he was trying to provide another excuse for beating up those two grave robbers than providing a judicial interpretation.

    I didn''t get him. It''s the pugilistic world we''re talking about here. Killing a grave robber is no big deal. What''s he acting all righteous for?

    I nodded and said: "You can go on ahead if you don''t like it."

    "I won''t want for you guys then."

    Tang Ye saw me carrying Su Xiao on my back so he didn''t force me toe with him. He took a big step forward and sted off. He incorporated his qi energy after a few steps, increasing his speed in the blink of an eye.

    Not only are his fighting skills good, his qinggong skills are great too.

    Young people certainly do have bright futures. Back when I was his age, I was lying sick in bed counting the stars.

    It didn''t take long for Tang Ye to arrive at the location of the grave robbers. He swept his leg outwards. It looked like a rushed and impulsive sweep, but was a very powerful leg sweep. One of the grave robbers couldn''t tell if it was a feint or a real attack and tried to guard with both of his arms. He was sent back five or six steps before he could stop himself.

    By the time that grave robber managed to stop himself, Tang Ye had already engaged the other.

    "Who are you?!"

    "Another clown from the Qilin Guards."

    Based on what they said, these two must be with the three from Hua Shan. I systematically analysed the scenario based on the information avable.

    They were after Zha Pi''s family''s grave, so they disguised themselves as friends of histe father and hid in Peach Vige. They were probably trying to rob the grave and leg it before anybody could figure out what happened, but ended up catching the attention of the Qilin Guards, and were therefore forced to split up with one team to stop the Qilin Guards while the other robbed.

    That sounds about right. Who would rob a grave in the middle of the day? You''d do it quietly and secretly even if it were at night, right?

    Wait, doesn''t that mean that there''s something coveted inside Zha Pi father''s tomb?

    What could it be?

    Millions of gold blocks! Gold asrge as eggs! Kekeke, there are definitely valuable treasures in there!

    I suddenly felt hot.

    I rushed over to the grave. When I arrived I saw Tang Ye''s exciting two-on-one fight. Zha Pi wasn''t fit, so he was way behind somewhere in the distance. I checked left and right, and didn''t detect anyone around. I also noticed that the tomb was slightly open.

    I quietly snuck over with my back facing the tomb. I checked again to make sure there was no one around.

    I pretended to look into the distance¡­

    I shifted my leg behind me and¡­ Kicked!

    I heard a crisp sound. I destroyed half of the diamond part at the top of the tomb, and split the tombstone in two with my kick.

    Keke. Mr. Cha, I''m just trying to help prevent people from bothering you in the future, so you can''t me me.

    My eyes scanned the inside of the tomb as fast as Er Lang*.

    Found Something!

    I saw three things inside.

    One book, an ash container and a box of gold.

    What do you guys think is the most suspicious thing among the three?

    I don''t know myself, but my hand instinctively reached towards the box of gold¡­

    Someone suddenly spoke out.

    "Don''t touch that!"

    Who''s there?! Who just spoke out during such an important moment?! I looked around but didn''t see anyone. The voice sounded really close. Whoever it is, is very proficient with the Thousand Miles Voice Transfer technique. Even shiyi couldn''t pull it off so well.

    But don''t you even dream of snatching it from me! I found the gold first!

    Who cares, I''m going to hurry and stash this money like a pirate who''s scared of losing his treasures.

    "Ming Feizhen! You''re stealing that which you''re supposed to guard! Aren''t you worried about the vice-captain punishing you?!"

    That voice not only mentioned my name, but also brought up my biggest fear!

    I couldn''t help but return the gold and then said: "Great hero, please spare me, we can talk this out."

    Unfortunately, my wicked thoughts didn''t stop. My evil eyes were inspecting my surroundings to try and drag the prick out of hiding.

    I heard the voice again: "Don''t bother looking, you won''t find me."

    What?! I can''t see him and yet he can see me searching for him? Surely he''s not irvoyant. Far out, there are so many masters in the world! I suddenly had a thought.

    If even I can''t find him, then I can''t let him escape!

    "I''ve met many people before, but I''ve never met someone with your level of qinggong. Pleasee out and meet me."

    "What good would meeting me do?"

    "Judging from your voice, you must be a girl. I''ve never married, hehe, we can be friends."

    My tone hinted: "Wanna go out?"

    The voice had trouble responding.

    "G-girl my foot. I''m a man!"

    "Huh? Your voice is quiet and gentle. Might you have learnt the Demon Sect''s Sunflower Baodian?" I was convinced. It must be the Sunflower Baodian. There''s no other way to exin his proficiency with qinggong.

    I scanned the area around me again, and said disappointingly: "I give up. Who are you? Where are you?"

    "You really want to know?"

    I sincerely said: "I hope to meet you and nothing more."

    "I can tell you, but you must promise not to bully me in the future."

    Huh? Bully? I couldn''t be more than happy to befriend such a skilled martial artist, why would I bully him?

    "Don''t kid me, I would not dare have such thoughts. Could you now tell me where you are?"

    "So you promise? I''ll tell you now."

    That voice said proudly: "Hehe, I''m right behind you. I''m Su Xiao."

    "¡­¡­"

    I turned my head around. Su Xiao gave me a smug funny face.

    Fuck! Both my colleagues are only good at trolling me. Don''t they have any other skills?!!

    Notes:

    *Er Land is a deity in Chinese mythology with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.

 Volume 1 27 Rain

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 27 Rain</h4>

    Su Xiao stared at me, eyes-wide with his almond eyes and menacingly said: "Ming Feizhen, why did you open somebody''s tomb? If I didn''t catch you, you would''ve stolen the box of gold. Hmph, how dare you steal somebody''s burial gold?"

    "For heaven''s sake, can''t you see I''m trying to conduct a thorough investigation here? If I don''t find out what exactly is hidden in this tomb, how are we supposed to solve the case?" With Su Xiao as the opposition, I was able to quickly sift through my thinking and figure out how to bullsh*t my way out. "Kid, what are you second-guessing an adult for? It''s far too dangerous for you to be here. Be a good boy, go home and sleep. I''lle wake you up next year."

    "Get lost! You just keep trying to act like an adult. Are there any hot-shots or adults out there that are as messy as you? And aren''t they members of the Demon Sect? What else could there be to it?" The little bastard looked at me with a suspicious expression and continued: "If you don''t exin yourself properly, I''m going to report you to the vice-captain."

    Vice-captain. Vice-captain. Vice-captain. You two are only good at using Boss Shen to push me around, huh?!

    But to be honest, I''m most afraid of her out of all those in Liu Shan Men¡­

    I looked far into the distance. Tang Ye was still engaged in a heated battle with the two poor Hua Shan disciples. Those two were worse than the three I beat up. Tang Ye should be able to beat them even though it''s two-on-one. He doesn''t need my help.

    I pursed my lips and then condescendingly said: "What Demon Sect Disciples? Those guys aren''t from the Demon Sect."

    "They''re not from the Demon Sect? Then why?" Su Xiao looked at me with his eyes wide, his red lips look charming and tender¡­ Is he really a guy?! I really worry that one day I''ll go examine his body¡­

    Keke, I need to be elegant, I can''t let myself get tainted.

    "Have you seen any Demon Sect disciplee within one hundred miles of the perimeter of Nan Jing, and have the guts to announce they''re from Lan Jun Zhu Kong? The three over there in blue and the two there are Hua Shan disciples. I don''t know who sent them, but they''re definitely not disciples from the Demon Sect." I didn''t need to go into detail, an inexperienced newbie like Su Xiao should be able to understand with that much. After all, the two powerhouses in the martial world who hate the Demon Sect most, namely Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards are both based in Nan Jing.iu Shan Men''s powerhouses may not be around, but the Qilin Guards best of the best are in the capital. The disciples of the Demon Sect would never have the guts to walk around in Nan Jing baring their face in public. As if they''d go around with a big sign on them like that. Look, the Qilin Guards were on their tails as soon as they appeared.

    "If you think about it, since they needed to disguise themselves as Demon Sect disciples to be able to lie that they''re old friends of Zha Pi''ste father, the answer is obvious as can be. It means that Zha Pi''ste father was acquainted with those in the Demon Sect and shared a secret. They therefore had to disguise themselves as Demon Sect disciples to get information." I made it sound logical and sound so Su Xiao just nodded non-stop.

    "It''s a pity that Old Cha probably knew what sort of person his son was, and didn''t tell him the secrets. I don''t think the Hua Shan disciples managed to get anything out of him and were forced to upy his ce for several days, turning it upside-down, and inside-out. And now they''re digging his ancestors'' graves."

    Sorry, heroes of Hua Shan. If Zha Pi didn''t waste several days of their time, they wouldn''t be stumbling around in a ce like the Peach Vige. If news of this gets out into the pugilistic world, the world will be less a few big names.

    "Impossible!"

    A sudden serious roar came from behind. The roar was filled with disbelief.

    I turned around to see the punk Zha Pi. He had finally arrived.

    Zha Pi''s face was red as he vehemently argued: "Master Ming, you''re going too far. My father was a government official. How could he possibly have been involved with the Demon Sect?!" He was making a big fuss as though he''d lunge at me and try to kill me if I didn''t agree with him.

    Su Xiao looked at me lost for words and quietly said: "Brother Ming, the things you said are your own arbitrary thoughts. Saying this in front of his son is¡­ And you pried open his father''s tomb too."

    Zha Pi with his eyes red said: "See, miss?! Master Ming, you''re making ims without any evidence, right? My father always led an upright life. He wasn''t greedy and never gambled, so how could he have done something like that?! If you say that again, sorry, but even if I can''t beat you, I''ll fight you to the death!!"

    "Piss off, I''m a guy!!"

    Zha Pi was shut up by Su Xiao''s retort.

    Su Xiao then continued: "Brother Ming, This¡­ Brother Cha may be a bad guy most of the time, but at the end of the day, he''s a filial son. Be careful, if he truly gets mad, he may actually fight you to the death."

    Fight me to the death?

    Him? He''s filial?

    I scanned Zha Pi carefully. Based on his unwillingness to give up and imposing gaze, I deduced the following: "If my old man gets deemed a criminal, I won''t receive a government pension anymore. This isn''t a joking matter."

    Oh, I see!

    I was suddenly enlightened. I certainly am not disappointed. This punk is definitely the number one scumbag.

    "Enough. This is a waste of time."

    Fucking retard!!et''s not bother with this guy and find some clues to resolve this case instead.

    As aforementioned, inside the tomb were three objects, a box of gold, a box of gold, and a box of gold¡­

    "Hey! Didn''t I tell you not to touch it?!"

    Tch¡­ It''s not even your gold.

    So as I said, there are three items, an ash container, a box of gold and a book.

    Do you even need to ask which item is the most suspicious?

    "Brother Ming, that ash container is definitely suspicious!"

    "¡­¡­"

    Are you seriously retarded?

    Su Xiao wasn''t asking for my opinion. He rushed to open the ash container.

    "Wow!"

    It was certainly worth of being surprised. There was a huge pile of ash inside.

    "Hu-uh¡­"

    The stench inside was vomit-inducing. Please close the box after you two are done puking. By the way, he opened your old man''s container of ashes like that and you''re fine with it, filial son?!

    I ignored those two idiots, grabbed the book and took a few steps backwards.

    By then, Tang Ye had finished off the two Hua Shan disciples, arrived at my side and asked: "This is¡­?"

    "I got it from inside the tomb. It must be what they were after."

    Tang Ye knows about my martial prowess now so there''s no point in hiding anything. I might as well flip through the book in front of him.

    We looked at a number of pages and immediately knew what the book was.

    We were speechless.

    "Brother Ming, Brother Yan Ling, what are you guys looking at?"

    "Uhm."

    "I''ve read it."

    Su Xiao anxiously asked: "What''s inside? Are there any clues?"

    I quietly said: "Yes. And it''s a big discovery."

    "What is it?"

    Tang Ye picked up and continued where I left off: "The book contains detailed records of someone in the royal court who received bribes six years ago untilst year, totalling, five years."

    Now Zha Pi was excited: "Wow! That''s a huge discovery! I can''t believe my father left me a huge secret to leverage to make a killing! Master Ming, who is it? Who''s the person who took the bribes?"

    I held my silence.

    Tang Ye softly said: "The Orange Prince."

    Zha Pi and Su Xiao now went quiet too. The hot atmosphere suddenly turned ice-cold.

    Yes, you readers read that correctly.

    Not Prince Cheng, not Prince Chen, Prince Cheng, Prince Cheng, Prince Cheng, or Prince Cheng, but Prince Cheng!!*

    This Orange Prince I''m referring to isn''t some Bai Yue Fruit Selling King. He''s the prince. The current emperor''s biological son.

    This thing I''m holding in my hand right now is a record of the bribes received by the prince.

    There was a sh of lightning in the sky. It was difficult to tell whether my face colour was dark or light due to the sh of light. My face was like Bao Gong and Cao Cao - A very grey area.

    I looked up at the clear sky. It looks like it''s going to rain.

    Notes:

    *First, the character for Cheng here is "orange" (the colour in this context). Second, he gave a whole bunch of homophones for "cheng"; the original in Chinese is²»ÊÇ³ÉÍõ¡¢³¾Íõ¡¢³ÇÍõ¡¢³ÌÍõ»òÕß³ËÍõÉõÖÁ³ÏÍõ£¬ÊÇ³ÈÍõ!!

    **Bao Gong = a government officer during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China''s Song Dynasty; Cao Cao = a Chinese warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty.

    We finally have some official art for this series!! Here''s Ming Suwen

    And her chibi form¡­

 Volume 1 28 Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purpleâ€¦ Prince

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 28 Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple¡­ Prince</h4>

    "The Orange Prince?"

    Shen Yiren red at me in a beautiful way. "Why do you have to be a damned trouble-ma?! Of all things you could do, you brought back this troublesome issue!"

    In the end, Tang Ye and I decided to hand the records to our Boss, and brought Zha Pi back to Liu Shan Men as a witness. We basically seeded on our first mission as a small team. But I think we over-delivered. Liu Shan Men is basically housing a timed bomb right now.

    But¡­ Hey, how do you know I was the one who brought on this problem?

    "Well, wasn''t it you?"

    Okay, it was me. But how did you know that¡­?

    Shen Yiren hugged her arms. Her firm bee hips and soft valleys were lifted upwards. She caught me off guard with that attack and I saw stars. Shen Yiren noticed I was acting weird, so she extended her feminine finger and pointed at my forehead.

    "What sort of stupid sh*t are you thinking about now?"

    Nothing¡­ By the way, does anybody have a tissue I could wipe my blood nose with?

    Shen Yiren waved her hand and let me off the hook.

    "Well, whatever. I don''t like the Orange Prince anyway. I''m going to pass this stuff on to the captain so he can bring it up in the royal court. That''ll teach that dog-faced-prince a lesson." Shen Yiren grabbed the record, pursed her lips, showing her dissatisfaction and continued: "Hmph, he gets all the love and doting, he''s the empress''s son and he''s also the one who disgraces the empress."

    "The Orange Prince is the empress''s son?"

    "Fuck~ he''s the empress''s son and he''s still so greedy?"

    Su Xiao and Zha Pi, two pointless existences didn''t let the Orange Prince off. Did they seriously think that the Orange Prince sells fruit?

    Tang Ye out of good will reminded them both: "You both should refer to him as his majesty. The Orange prince is the emperor''s second son, and is therefore a special person. He''s very intolerant and holds grudges. He''s recruited a lot of warriors in recent years. Offend him and your life will be miserable."

    Uhh¡­ Didn''t you just call him "Orange Prince"?

    I piggy-backed off what Tang Ye said: "It''s not limited to just the Orange Prince. The other princes are not to be trifled with either. Offend them and your life will be a disaster."

    I couldn''t exin what the princes are like any better, because it''s all recorded in my favourite gossip magazine, the ck and White Reflection.

    To speak about the topic, we have to go back a fair bit. Many years ago¡­ One day roughly twenty or so years ago, an infant''s cry from within the pce disturbed my peace when I was wandering the world.

    That infant is the emperor''s first son.

    He''s the Gracious Consort''s son.

    The emperor himself was overjoyed of course. He was in his early twenties at the time. He had a beautiful empress, pretty and smart concubines and consorts, and sexy maids around him all day for him to feast on. It''s a pity he got married with the empress at fifteen but never had any children.

    The son of an empress is by rights supposed to be the crowned prince! That''s a joyous asion for anybody, so the emperor was so overjoyed he ditched the court meeting and ran to the pce where the empress and his concubines and consorts resided.

    But after rushing over, the scene he witnessed caused him to break down.

    The traditions in the pce back then were that two string seven coloured dragon and phoenixnterns would be hung in the pce when a prince is born. It was done to wish good luck to the newborn, descendants, celebrate the emperor having children, and that a heir was conceived.

    That year, as soon as the Emperor entered the pce, shiiiit¡­ His eyes were littered withnterns.anterns were hung outside his Gracious Consort''s pce, the empress''s pce, and Consort Ling''s pce which gave the emperor a seizure-experience¡­ He was wondering what was going on.

    In those moments the emperor''s mind was overwhelmed. He almost forgot his Gracious Consort, Consort Ling and the empress were pregnant.

    But that day, the Gracious Consort gave birth, and then the empress gave birth too. She even had twins!!

    Not long after, the emperor''s most beloved Consort Ling also gave birth to a chubby boy.

    As soon as the emperor arrived, the cries of four infants rang through the air. The wise emperor stood in the courtyard with the cold winter wind blowing against him. He didn''t know which pce he should''ve entered.

    But that wasn''t the end.

    From then on, a pain-in-the-neck attached itself to him for twenty years.

    The four princes, now the Red, Orange, Yellow and Green princes, were born on the same day about half an hour apart.

    Who should the throne be passed down to?

    The empress''s two sons, the Orange Prince and the Yellow Prince are legitimate members of the royal family, or rather, the two most qualified to inherit the throne. Most people would be adamant on having the eldest inherit the throne, but since they were born so closely together, the question became "who should inherit the throne?"

    If they decided to go with the eldest, then the Red Prince would be crowned, but he''s only older by half an hour so it''s a bit¡­

    Further, the Green Prince is the fourth prince without question. But he has an unfortunate fate. He''s the son of Consort Ling whom the emperor loves most and he''s also his favourite son, so shouldn''t the emperor have him inherit the throne?

    This issue gave the emperor a headache, but the heavens weren''t letting him off easily.

    A few yearster another consort gave birth¡­ To another boy!

    He had son after son, so he now has seven sons, and therefore seven princes!

    The emperor still doesn''t know who to pass the throne to even up until today.

    I entered the imperial pce a few years ago. When I saw the emperor that time, he looked miserable and his eyebrows were turning white when he was only forty years old. It was obvious he was worried sick over the issue.

    He wasn''t just bothered by the issue of the inheritor because his sons are a handful.

    It''s rumoured that six of the seven princes are fighting each other over the throne. The retainers and officials all decided on the prince they wished to support, and formed six parties. I don''t know what they say in the pce, but in the ck and White Reflection, it says the six parties are called: The Six Princes'' Parties.

    The six princes'' parties have been gathering resources from the pugilistic world, and many from the evil sects have joined them.

    Why haven''t I joined them?

    Please, they''re so mboyant with their activities. It''s obvious they''re trying to stir something. Trying to join them in hopes of living an easy life is just idiotic.

    I gave them a rough exnation of the six princes'' parties. Su Xiao and Zha Pi, and even Tang Ye and Boss Shen were listening in attentively.

    By the way, didn''t you two know this? Go read some more gossip magazines.

    "Reporting in!!"

    A guard yelled "reporting in" and then came running inside looking panicked. He then acted calmly when he saw Shen Yiren before setting foot into the guest hall.

    "People from the Orange Prince''s residence have arrived and are looking for the captain."

    The guard bowed down and handed over the card. Shen Yiren slightly frowned and took the orange card. She then sped-read the text on it before asking in a surprised tone: "The Orange Prince ising himself?"

    "Yes. He will being himself and asked to see the captain."

    Notes:

    Cheng = Orange

    As promised, here is the divine Shen Yiren. May this artist be blessed! Archer, I still haven''t gotten a response from the author yet, he hasn''t been on yet. Other members of the group said Lee Tai Bai (author) has multiple artists. Hopefully he''lle on soon and answer, I haven''t forgotten.

 Volume 1 30 Incongruous Verbal Warfare

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 30 Incongruous Verbal Warfare</h4>

    Captain Song spoke in a stern tone: "What do you mean by that, your majesty?" Liu Shan Men is neutral and has never sided with any of the princes'' parties. Their rtionship with the princes isn''t exactly good. As soon as he noticed that the Orange Prince wasing on aggressively, Captain Song decided to be extra cautious. "Liu Shan Men and your circle have never crossed each other. You insist that Liu Shan Men is hiding a thief that stole your records, and are asking me to hand over said person. Don''t you think that''s nonsensical?"

    "Nonsensical? You mean to tell me the records aren''t here?"

    "Of course not."

    Captain Song then straightened up and sternly said: "Liu Shan Men is heavily guarded. All the thieves in the world run away the moment they see our doors. And yet you''re saying that a thief got in. Isn''t that nonsensical?"

    The Orange Prince''s expression changed. He was almost ready to flip out.

    I almostughed out loud seeing his face from the outside.

    Captain Song genuinely doesn''t know what happened. We handed the records to Boss Shen as soon as we got it. He came here looking for a head, or heads, before we even managed toe up with a n. Therefore, Captain Song didn''t know anything about the records.

    The Orange Prince however insisted that Captain Song had the records and was merely pretending otherwise to try and get something out of him. The so-called thief mentioned is nothing but another word he''s using to give Captain Song a graceful way out, but what he meant was very obvious. He was basically saying: "You''ve got my records. Don''t push your luck. Hurry up and hand it over or I''ll take action."

    But Captain Song waspletely clueless. He had no idea what retarded act the Orange Prince was pulling. Thief? Go look for him in the Ministry of Justice''s prison.

    The Orange Prince pointed at him with a disgusted look and said: "Hmph! Fine, you have the right to negotiate the conditions. Tell me what they are, but don''t push it."

    Captain Song didn''t understand¡­ He just felt that the Orange Prince was acting weird today.

    "What conditions? Pardon me, I don''t understand what you mean."

    Yeah, he genuinely doesn''t understand.

    The Orange Princeughed coldly and said: "If you don''t speak out now, then you''ll be passing up this great opportunity. Don''t me me for leaving."

    Captain Song looked at him like "This prince is retarded", waved his hand and said: "In that case, goodbye."

    "Your barbarian!" The Orange Prince got angry and got up. He rambled on-and-on while pointing at Captain Song''s nose. "How ignorant. How ignorant!!!"

    The Orange Prince had never encountered someone so headstrong before, but he couldn''t actually leave either. He hadn''t yet managed to get the record of his bribes. Captain Song however couldn''t be happier to send him off. A princeing to a government office to arrest a thief? Just what the hell¡­?

    The two jeered at each other again, saying theplete things of one another. Nothing connected to anything, and yet they were able to talk for ages. Not many people in our country are that fluent in Chinese.

    Shen Yiren and I lost itughing outside. Shen Yiren seemed to love the way the Orange Prince and Captain Song were trying to put the other one down and make them submit. She wasughing non-stop.

    It then urred to me that our faces were against each other as we peeked through the small holes. Shen Yiren''s beautiful face that''d put flowers to shame was right next to me. My heart beat uncontrobly sped up.

    It was also in that moment that I realised that our rowdy Boss Shen''s face was slightly red. I listened in and could hear that her breathing pattern was erratic. Could it be that she''s not use to interacting with guys and is just pretending to be calm?

    Hehehe, I''ve got to test her out. I extended my evil hand out to attack her from the side. Shen Yiren shyly took two steps back. Shen Yiren seemed to reluctantly wee it, while her eyes couldn''t express her inner perverted thoughts¡­ Keke, that''s just something I took out of one of my porn books.

    Why would I court death? Why would I do something that could cost me my job?

    I need to solve this case first, and then enjoy aid back life at a government office. My hand is holding the record which is in my shirt, but Shen Yiren is too close-up to me so I can''t move my hand. I couldn''t speak either, so I forced my hand upwards. That should be enough to let Boss Shen know to step back, right?

    I shoved my hand upwards but Shen Yiren didn''t step back. Instead her whole body quivered as though she froze up. I could feel her freeze up next to me, but I didn''t know what happened. But¡­ My hand was still stuck. Hey boss, give me some space. Can''t you just let me get my hand out?

    My eyes were focused on what was happening inside so I didn''t see what happened. I shoved my hand upwards again a few times. My hand kept making contact with something soft and plump but was still stuck. Far out, this girl is too strong. Can''t you just let my hand through? Do you not give way when riding a horse carriage? This is why females at the wheel are so¡­

    Hmm? It''s soft?

    When I said "soft" to myself, I suddenly remembered the reward from Boss Shen back there.

    No way¡­

    Coincidentally, my skin felt like it had a sharp gaze on it. I couldn''t take my eyes off the situation inside the small hole. I then looked out the corner of my eyes to look at Shen Yiren who was beside me. It was as I thought. She stopped looking at what was happening inside a while ago. She was ringly at me furiously. I followed her gaze and there I saw my evil hands!

    My hands were now stuck at the bottom of those glorious supple twin valleys, and I just unknowingly shoved them upwards before.

    Fuck!! I touched them!!!

    Boss, it wasn''t on purpose!! Please don''t kill me!!

    I dropped to my knees as though I was a hooligan who''d just offended the boss of a gang, but the death blow never came.

    Shen Yiren didn''t hit me. She red at me with her beautiful face in full view. She took a few deep breaths, hushed me with a cute hand gesture and then returned her eyes to the small hole.

    Sh-she''s not going to kill me?

    I noticed that her ears were red. My heart couldn''t help but thump harder. Could she have¡­

    I didn''t shove my hands upwards again. Instead I lowered them to another soft spot. Ooohh~ she''s not resisting! Could it be that Boss Shen really is-

    "Fuck you, stop fucking touching me!!!!"

    Boss Shen finally lost it. She pulled an ink stone out from inside her belt, jumped up and viciously smacked me on the face with it. The smack made a loud sound. I grabbed my face, squatted down and cried in pain¡­

    As promised, here''s the artwork for Ming Feizhen. The author said he''ll be trying to get artwork out on a consistent basis, so I''ll be uploading them when they''re released in the group.

 Volume 1 30 Incongruous Verbal Warfare

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 30 Incongruous Verbal Warfare</h4>

    Captain Song spoke in a stern tone: "What do you mean by that, your majesty?" Liu Shan Men is neutral and has never sided with any of the princes'' parties. Their rtionship with the princes isn''t exactly good. As soon as he noticed that the Orange Prince wasing on aggressively, Captain Song decided to be extra cautious. "Liu Shan Men and your circle have never crossed each other. You insist that Liu Shan Men is hiding a thief that stole your records, and are asking me to hand over said person. Don''t you think that''s nonsensical?"

    "Nonsensical? You mean to tell me the records aren''t here?"

    "Of course not."

    Captain Song then straightened up and sternly said: "Liu Shan Men is heavily guarded. All the thieves in the world run away the moment they see our doors. And yet you''re saying that a thief got in. Isn''t that nonsensical?"

    The Orange Prince''s expression changed. He was almost ready to flip out.

    I almostughed out loud seeing his face from the outside.

    Captain Song genuinely doesn''t know what happened. We handed the records to Boss Shen as soon as we got it. He came here looking for a head, or heads, before we even managed toe up with a n. Therefore, Captain Song didn''t know anything about the records.

    The Orange Prince however insisted that Captain Song had the records and was merely pretending otherwise to try and get something out of him. The so-called thief mentioned is nothing but another word he''s using to give Captain Song a graceful way out, but what he meant was very obvious. He was basically saying: "You''ve got my records. Don''t push your luck. Hurry up and hand it over or I''ll take action."

    But Captain Song waspletely clueless. He had no idea what retarded act the Orange Prince was pulling. Thief? Go look for him in the Ministry of Justice''s prison.

    The Orange Prince pointed at him with a disgusted look and said: "Hmph! Fine, you have the right to negotiate the conditions. Tell me what they are, but don''t push it."

    Captain Song didn''t understand¡­ He just felt that the Orange Prince was acting weird today.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "What conditions? Pardon me, I don''t understand what you mean."

    Yeah, he genuinely doesn''t understand.

    The Orange Princeughed coldly and said: "If you don''t speak out now, then you''ll be passing up this great opportunity. Don''t me me for leaving."

    Captain Song looked at him like "This prince is retarded", waved his hand and said: "In that case, goodbye."

    "Your barbarian!" The Orange Prince got angry and got up. He rambled on-and-on while pointing at Captain Song''s nose. "How ignorant. How ignorant!!!"

    The Orange Prince had never encountered someone so headstrong before, but he couldn''t actually leave either. He hadn''t yet managed to get the record of his bribes. Captain Song however couldn''t be happier to send him off. A princeing to a government office to arrest a thief? Just what the hell¡­?

    The two jeered at each other again, saying theplete things of one another. Nothing connected to anything, and yet they were able to talk for ages. Not many people in our country are that fluent in Chinese.

    Shen Yiren and I lost itughing outside. Shen Yiren seemed to love the way the Orange Prince and Captain Song were trying to put the other one down and make them submit. She wasughing non-stop.

    It then urred to me that our faces were against each other as we peeked through the small holes. Shen Yiren''s beautiful face that''d put flowers to shame was right next to me. My heart beat uncontrobly sped up.

    It was also in that moment that I realised that our rowdy Boss Shen''s face was slightly red. I listened in and could hear that her breathing pattern was erratic. Could it be that she''s not use to interacting with guys and is just pretending to be calm?

    Hehehe, I''ve got to test her out. I extended my evil hand out to attack her from the side. Shen Yiren shyly took two steps back. Shen Yiren seemed to reluctantly wee it, while her eyes couldn''t express her inner perverted thoughts¡­ Keke, that''s just something I took out of one of my porn books.

    Why would I court death? Why would I do something that could cost me my job?

    I need to solve this case first, and then enjoy aid back life at a government office. My hand is holding the record which is in my shirt, but Shen Yiren is too close-up to me so I can''t move my hand. I couldn''t speak either, so I forced my hand upwards. That should be enough to let Boss Shen know to step back, right?

    I shoved my hand upwards but Shen Yiren didn''t step back. Instead her whole body quivered as though she froze up. I could feel her freeze up next to me, but I didn''t know what happened. But¡­ My hand was still stuck. Hey boss, give me some space. Can''t you just let me get my hand out?

    My eyes were focused on what was happening inside so I didn''t see what happened. I shoved my hand upwards again a few times. My hand kept making contact with something soft and plump but was still stuck. Far out, this girl is too strong. Can''t you just let my hand through? Do you not give way when riding a horse carriage? This is why females at the wheel are so¡­

    Hmm? It''s soft?

    When I said "soft" to myself, I suddenly remembered the reward from Boss Shen back there.

    No way¡­

    Coincidentally, my skin felt like it had a sharp gaze on it. I couldn''t take my eyes off the situation inside the small hole. I then looked out the corner of my eyes to look at Shen Yiren who was beside me. It was as I thought. She stopped looking at what was happening inside a while ago. She was ringly at me furiously. I followed her gaze and there I saw my evil hands!

    My hands were now stuck at the bottom of those glorious supple twin valleys, and I just unknowingly shoved them upwards before.

    Fuck!! I touched them!!!

    Boss, it wasn''t on purpose!! Please don''t kill me!!

    I dropped to my knees as though I was a hooligan who''d just offended the boss of a gang, but the death blow never came.

    Shen Yiren didn''t hit me. She red at me with her beautiful face in full view. She took a few deep breaths, hushed me with a cute hand gesture and then returned her eyes to the small hole.

    Sh-she''s not going to kill me?

    I noticed that her ears were red. My heart couldn''t help but thump harder. Could she have¡­

    I didn''t shove my hands upwards again. Instead I lowered them to another soft spot. Ooohh~ she''s not resisting! Could it be that Boss Shen really is-

    "Fuck you, stop fucking touching me!!!!"

    Boss Shen finally lost it. She pulled an ink stone out from inside her belt, jumped up and viciously smacked me on the face with it. The smack made a loud sound. I grabbed my face, squatted down and cried in pain¡­

    As promised, here''s the artwork for Ming Feizhen. The author said he''ll be trying to get artwork out on a consistent basis, so I''ll be uploading them when they''re released in the group.

 Volume 1 31 So What If I Touched Her?

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 31 So What If I Touched Her?</h4>

    Shen Yiren was panting, so I could see her chest rise and fall: "I told you clearly that if you touched me again, I''d crush your little brother. But no, you went further and further!"

    Huh? That''s what that hand gesture meant?!

    "It''s a misunderstanding. It''s a misunderstanding!"

    "What misunderstanding? You. Come over here." Shen Yiren indicated for me toe over with one finger while her other hand clinched the ink stone tightly.

    "No." You think I''m stupid?! If I go over there, you''ll tten me.

    Shen Yiren grit her teeth, stamped her feet and said: "Fine, I''ming over then!"

    The two inside the Vermillion Hall wouldn''t let such a tragic incident happen, and definitely not Captain Song who angrily shouted: "Who''s that causing a ruckus outside the Vermillion Hall?!"

    Captain Song and the Orange Prince wore awkward expressions as soon as they stepped out and saw the vice-captain, and the three new recruits outside acting suspiciously.

    "Yiren¡­ Vice-captain Shen, what happened?"

    I spoke first: "Captain, the vice-captain wants to silence me!"

    Shen Yiren roared: "YOU SHUT UP!"

    I don''t know if Su Xiao learnt to speak before the other could from all the times I tricked him, but he cut in and said: "Sir, I saw it! Ming Feizhen touched the vice-captain in an indecent manner, so the vice-captain was punishing him."

    What he said didn''t help at all. Instead, the atmosphere went dead silent. The normally fiery and proud Miss Shen went red in the face like a ripe tomato. Of course she''d be embarrassed if it was exposed that she got felt up by her underling in front of the captain and the Orange Prince.

    I didn''t dare to speak.

    I just let the awkward atmosphere run its course.

    Surprisingly, the Orange Prince was the person who broke the silence. His gaze found its way to the book in my hand like he had hawk eyes: "Wow! Song Ou, you pretended to not know, but I''ve caught you red-handed now! That''s my book."

    The Orange Prince pointed at Captain Song''s nose and scolded him again. I saw the look on Captain Song''s face. He was seriously considering whether he should just gift the Orange Prince this criminal who touched his superior indecently and be done with it.

    The Orange Prince smiled smugly and said: "Well? This is the thief that stole my book. Men, arrest him!" Four people from the side of the prince''s side stepped forward, and rolled up their sleeves to arrest me.

    I looked at Shen Yiren, but she red at me with a white face and then angrily turned her head away.

    Hey, hey, hey!!! What happened to loyalty?!! Is this the right time to be throwing a fit? I didn''t steal the book. It was Zha Pi''s dad that stole it from that retarded Orange Prince.

    An unknown fire lit up inside my heart as the four men prepared to capture me.

    I red at Shen Yiren aggressively and asked: "I already told you it was a misunderstanding. Shen Yiren, are you going to help me or not?"

    She seemed to be slightly startled and moved since she''d never seen this expression of mine before. I saw her open her mouth a little to speak, but before she could speak, someone else spoke out.

    "In the September of the twenty-eighth year of Yuan Sheng''s rule, forty-thousand ingots were received from He Xili, fifty thousand silvers were received from the Zhang family in Shandong, as well as arge residence, and five acres of farnd in the capital suburbs."

    The further he read on, the more pale the Orange Prince''s face turned.

    "Enough, enough! He''s spouting nonsense!"

    I don''t remember it, but I could tell those were the contents of the records book.

    The person who recited it was Su Xiao who was standing to the side. He only looked over it once and yet he remembered the contents.

    Su Xiao smiled in a teasing manner and ask: "That''s roughly what''s recorded in the book. Your majesty, are you sure this is your book?"

    Whoa! Young Su Xiao is a pro at dealing with people!

    The Orange Prince shot Su Xiao unfriendly looks.

    I smugly tapped the hands of the four men and said: "Don''t touch me, don''t touch me. Go wash your hands." I then happily skipped over to Su Xiao and said to him: "Bro, gimme a kiss!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Piss off! You''re treating me like a girl again!" Su Xiao push me away out of annoyance and at the same time mumbled: "You saved me in the end¡­ You''re not as much of an ass as your appearance implies, so I won''t ignore you when you''re in danger."

    Haa~ people''s genuine feelingse through when you''re in precarious situations.

    "Don''t say anything. But the Eight Deities House really do make great soy pork elbows."

    "I don''t think we''re close enough for me to treat you to a meal¡­"

    Tch¡­ How stingy.

    The Orange Prince was at his wits end. Just as he was about to just arrest us both, a strong and angry voice from his side cut him off.

    Captain Song thundered: "What the hell is going on?" He saw us sneaking around outside the Vermillion Hall, and heard that the records were with us, so he wasn''t going to give up until he got to the bottom of it.

    Just as I was about to get him to send the Orange Prince on his way so I could exin to him in private, he belted: "Ming Feizhen, did you really do indecent things to your superior?"

    Fuck, for real?! Is that all you care about?! You''re hounding me instead of pursuing a case of a corrupt prince?

    I was going to exin myself, but Captain Song didn''t give me the chance.

    "I hope you know that such indecent acts towards your superior will result in amputating a hand and leg!" I don''t know what triggered this schr, but he was getting more and more furious as he went on.

    So much so that even Shen Yiren wanted to clear it up. I think she came to understand that what happened really was just a misunderstanding.

    "He didn''t do anything, back there¡­"

    "Shut up! Don''t interfere when I''m lecturing a subordinate! Vice-captain, remember who I am. Is there any ce for you to speak out on behalf of others in front of me?"

    What''s his problem? The guy won''t even let people speak. What''s stranger is Shen Yiren who''s more stubborn than a Donkey and flies off the handle at everything is so timid today. He''s giving her sh*t and she''s not flipping out on him.

    I was getting even more pissed. I was still pissed about Shen Yiren tricking me before, and now I have to deal with this unreasonable captain.

    Fuck this, you forced my hand!

    "Fine, fine, fine. It''s my mistake. I shouldn''t have touched Miss Shen''s ass. I''ll take responsibility for it. Happy now?" I extended my arm out in an arch, and pulled Shen Yiren into my embrace. Damn, she feels good in my arms. "I''ll devote myself to her from now on. I''m going to get together with her. We''re good now, right?"

    I never imagined Shen Yiren wouldn''t fly off the handle as I thought she would. Instead she wore an affectionate expression, looked at Captain Song, then turned back to look at me and asked: "Are you serious?"

    I smiled haughtily and said: "Yeah! What''s the matter?"

    "Are¡­ You crazy?" Shen Yiren opened her small mouth, but then paused. She then suddenlyughed and said: "I''ll be waiting for you to court me then, hot-head."

    I don''t get it. Why isn''t Shen Yiren angry?

    Captain Song on the other hand was red in the face. However, the look on his face slowly changed like characters in Sichuan opera. His face went from red to white, and then from white to pale green.

    Su Xiao''s look of despise returned in an instant. Even the Orange Prince and his men took three steps back and scanned me as if to say: "Are you insane?"

    Hmm? Isn''t the atmosphere here excellent?

    After a long silence, Tang Ye, the man with the horseshoe triceps broke the awkward atmosphere. He lightly and quietly walked over, but had no intention of solving the awkward situation and in a loud voice said: "Didn''t you know that Vice-captain Shen is Captain Shen''s fianc¨¦?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Inspiration suddenly hit me and I had an idea as to what I wanted to write in the reader''s column of the ck and White Reflection''s next issue:

    Dear editor, which of these is more serious:

    Touching your direct superior''s ass, or touching the big boss''s wife''s ass?

    What should I do if I did both?

    And uhh¡­ What about if I touched her ass in front of him?

    ¡­

    Oh right, I also said I''d steal his wife from him.

 Volume 1 32 The Combat Strategy for Facing Multiple Opponents is to Quickly Drop Them

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 32 The Combat Strategy for Facing Multiple Opponents is to Quickly Drop Them</h4>

    I hurriedly pushed Shen Yiren away and acted as though I hated her. She staggered and nearly tripped over. She turned around and gave me an angry look as though she was ready to rip my head off like a mad tiger.

    I had to push her away. My future was on the line¡­

    "Keke, I was just joking before." I was racking my brains for words: "Vice-captain Shen and I were deliberately putting on an act. We did it to¡­ To get your attention when you were inside."

    Seeing me push Boss Shen away and plead innocence, Captain Song''s expression changed for the better. He calmed down further after hearing my exnation.

    Captain Song cleared his throat and used the opportunity when no one was paying him attention to fix his cor which came undone when he threw a fit before, and said: "What do you mean? Why did you want to get our attention? And what were you four doing hiding outside of the Vermillion Hall when I was speaking to his majesty? Have you no manners?"

    Captain Song''s brain finally started functioning! Please let his brain maintain functioning for a bit longer.

    I wore a sorrowful expression and said: "It all goes back to the Orange Prince. Back to the summer of six years ago."

    The Orange Prince finally came to his senses as though he awoke from a dream and recalled that he was here to find faults with us: "Shut up! Shut up! I don''t want to have anything to do with your own issues. But I must get my book back. Return me my book, you idiot."

    I was smiling cheek to cheek: "See, Captain? His majesty is getting so anxious over a book, so we need to stay alert. That''s why we had to carefully hide outside the Vermillion Hall."

    Captain Song frowned and said: "Just what exactly happened? Your majesty, did you reallye here today just for that book? Ming Feizhen, let me take a look at the book."

    "W-wait!!"

    Wait for what, bitch?!

    The Orange Prince got pissed and anxiously tried to stop Captain Song, but couldn''t handle the look of suspicion in Captain Song''s gaze. The worst part though was that he realised that Captain Song indeed didn''t know anything about it. He can''t loudly announce that he epted bribes, right?

    This ce is Liu Shan Men''s Vermillion Hall. A few buildings down is the Qilin Guards Xuanwu Courtyard. If you make a scene here, everybody might actually gather here.

    The Orange Prince was cornered with the dissing. In the end he got furious and pointed his anger at me. While pointing at me, he shouted: "You thief! You have no regards for thew! You dared to steal from my resident and now you even dare to frame me. You must be punished, men, arrest him!"

    "I dare you! On the 10th of August in the 29th year of Yuan Sheng''s rule, fifty-four ingots were received from Shanxi Yumen, on the 13th of August, one-hundred and twenty ingots were received from Yan Jindu¡­"

    Su Xiao was upholding justice again. He wasn''t intimidated in the least by the Orange Prince. I think pretty boy Su Xiao seriously thinks that the prince sells fruit¡­ I can''t see how else he could be so daring.

    Captain Song got very suspicious after hearing those numbers and dates read out. I can understand him losing his mind when he nearly got cucked before, but he''s apetent captain now that he''s regained his brain functioning.

    Captain Song sped his hands together and said: "Your majesty, please allow me to see this book for myself. If I find that it is indeed your property, I will naturally return it to you."

    The Orange Prince''s expression got worsened again. The six princes'' parties have been gathering power for their battles. They''ve invited many of those in the pugilistic world to join their respective parties. To do that, they need money. Lots of money. Unfortunately, the Orange Prince has bad luck. Of the six princes, he''s one of the only two who are forced to stay in the capital.

    It should be obvious that it''s difficult to gather funds in the capital where the emperor resides which is why he resorted to bribes. Unfortunately for him, I found records of his corruption on my first day in the tomb. His misfortune is¡­ I''d be dreaded too if I were him.

    The proud Orange Prince stopped caring and loudly shouted: "Master Jia, get him!" I saw a silver light sh before he could finish speaking. The shadow of someone in white like a swan swiftly appeared into the courtyard. The silver light was continually moving like spilt mercury, yet was alsoing down like heavy downpour, as it made its way down onto Captain Song''s head.

    The silver light was emitted from the light radiating off of the sword in the hand of the man called Master Jia. It looks like he wields swords.

    I don''t know what was going through Captain Song''s head, but he seemed to be shocked by the speed of Master Jia and couldn''t react in time. Shen Yiren gave him a kick from the side, and he rolled on floor, barely evading Master Jia''s sword strike.

    Haa¡­ Why does that sword strike look so familiar?

    It looks so simr to Hua Shan''s swordsmanship. His surname is Jia¡­ He''s Hua Shan''s leader Jia Yun Feng?!

    Jia Yunfengughed coldly and then unleashed another attack called Circle the moon with three rings. He caught Captain Song, Shen Yiren and Tang Ye in his sword formation right off the bat. Nice visual prowess there, Master Jia! Go and capture all those who can fight you. That''s genius¡­

    But from a battle strategy standpoint, his decision was right because he sessfully split us up into two groups.

    Su Xiao and I were separated from the three of them.

    The Orange Prince cussed: "What the fuck are you useless idiots doing?! Get rid of those two scoundrels and then get my book back for me!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I grabbed Su Xiao and ran. We jumped through the window into the Vermillion Hall.

    "Aha! Those two idiots have trapped themselves. Go in and smash them! And make sure to smash that scoundrel that memorised the contents."

    As soon as Su Xiao and I entered the Vermillion Hall, fourrge men followed in. Su Xiao immediately insulted me: "You idiot! What did youe in here for? Now we can''t get out!" I didn''tment and just chuckled.

    The four men roared as they charged over and surrounded us.

    I still wasn''t convinced and asked: "Are you sure you want to fight?"

    The leader of the four chuckled and said: "It''s toote to beg for mercy."

    The four men looked sturdy, and judging by the positions they took when surrounding us, I surmised they were skilled wrestlers.

    The four men were evidently battle veterans. They closed in on us as soon as they surrounded us, so Su Xiao didn''t even have the space he needed to draw his sabre. When he went to reach for his sabre, he realised that he didn''t even have enough space to get his hand onto the sabre''s handle. This is the beauty of surrounding your enemies with a formation.

    I was very thankful for all that Su Xiao did today. He helped me out many times today. I felt like I shouldn''t have picked on him so much. I decided that I''d reduce the number of times I pick on him in future each day by one.

    "Su Xiao, have you ever fought multiple enemies at once?"

    "No."

    "I''ll teach you how to then."

    Seeing the size of the four men - they were a head taller than him - he worried a little and said: "Brother Ming, you should focus on taking care of yourself first!"

    I ignored him and struck the leader of the four on the neck with a palm strike and dropped him.

    As soon as there''s an empty spot, they''ll try to cover the hole in their formation.

    But that didn''t matter because I struck out again instead of waiting for them to fix the formation. My second palm strike hit the head of another and he dropped too. There were only two left now. And look, now that it''s two-on-two, he''s panicking. These sorts of henchmen are just full of bark.

    "H-how dare you hit my big brother¡­"

    I wasn''t going to listen to his garbage so I just hit him between his eyebrows which knocked him out.

    There was no time to be hesitant. Before thest one could escape I struck him under his ribs exactly where I aimed and he dropped too.

    It may be a little boring, but that''s how you fight multiple enemies at once.

    "The most important thing to keep in mind when fighting multiple enemies at once is to make sure you put them away with one strike each, understood?"

    I suavely blinked and prepared myself for Su Xiao''s uing praise.

    But instead he widened his eyes, and looked at the four unhappily. He kept silent for a good while before discontentedly eximing: "They were so weak. Why didn''t you save one for me?"

    ¡­¡­

    This is my bullsh*t nonsensical everyday life!!

 Volume 1 33 A Deadly and Brutal Young Girl

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 33 A Deadly and Brutal Young Girl</h4>

    I ordered Su Xiao: "Hurry and go help out. The guy outside likes to use sneak attacks. It''ll be bad if he seeds."

    "REALLY?!"

    Su Xiao was surprised when he heard me, and like the god of justice had possessed him again, he enthusiastically said: "I''ll go take a look now. If there''s a need when the timees¡­ Chop chop!"

    His "chop chop" made me really want to stab him, but I knew that it was fine outside. Yes, Jia Yunfeng is Hua Shan''s leader. Yes, he''s a skilled martial artist in the pugilistic world. But, that depends on who he''s up against.

    Song Ou is Liu Shan Men''s captain, Shen Yiren is the Vice-captain, and there''s also Tang Ye whose martial arts skills are close to their levels, and yet Jia Yunfeng is trying to fight them three-on-one? He''s dreaming.

    I just wanted to send Su Xiao out and ask some questions I want answers to.

    As soon as Su Xiao left, I picked up the leader of the four men and injected some of my internal energy into his body to wake him up.

    His face looked down as soon as he awoke: "Kill me if you want, cut me if you please. I, Tan Dadao am a man, I won''t sell out my master for riches or glory."

    "I know." You just answered my questions.

    I sealed his pressure point and he passed out again.

    I then proceeded by picking the weakest one among the four. I injected my internal energy into him and he immediately woke up.

    "Y-you!" He looked like he saw a ghost when he saw me. I immediately grabbed his neck so he couldn''t speak and gave him an aggressive re.

    "Answer my questions honestly. I already asked that punk Tan Dadao, and he spilled the beans. If what you tell me doesn''t match up, you know what''s going to happen."

    This scoundrel was so scared he pissed himself. He''ll tell me everything for sure.

    Further, since I was choking him by the neck, his blood flow would''ve been impeded so the chance of him lying due to having a foggy mind was reduced. This is a torture method for getting information out of people in the pugilistic world. I learnt it from a disciple from the Beggars'' Sect when we were drinking together a few years ago.

    "Why was the prince''s record book in Cha Yuan''s house in the Peach Vige? How is all this rted to the Demon Sect?"

    "I¡­ I don''t know. Cough. Cough. Alright. Alright. I''ll talk. It''s like this."

    I tightened my grip on his throat until his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets and his face turned purple. Now his brain wasn''t optimised for too much thinking and he started telling the truth because he couldn''t stand it.

    "Cha Yuan is a member of the emperor''s entourage and is responsible for investigating those in the capital. He pretended to defect to the prince. We found out that he stole the records book in the residence and intended to report it to the emperor. The prince therefore sent people to capture him, but before he could be captured he was killed by those from Lan Jun Zhu Kong. We consequently thought that the records had been picked up by the Demon Sect and that they''d definitely threaten us with it. However, after a few months of waiting, nothing happened. That''s why the prince thought he might''ve hidden it in his house before he died and sent people to search for it¡­ Cough. Cough. Cough. Please spare me, sir!"

    "Oh~ so Lan Jun Zhu Kong really were involved? Why did they kill Cha Yuan?"

    "I really don''t know."

    I snapped at him: "Are you absolutely positive?!"

    "Yes!"''

    Okay, it looks like he really doesn''t know. I was just scaring him to make sure.

    The only usible exnation is that the book contains secrets the Demon Sect doesn''t want others to know, right? Killing people at every turn certainly is characteristic of them.

    But this has nothing to do with me. I just needed to know who we offended and who was after whom. I just investigated the rest out of curiosity.

    "Okay, thank you."

    I chopped him on the neck which knocked him out.

    I need to be low-key, avoid causing trouble and hand ball problems to my superiors.

    Alright, that''s the n.

    I stepped out of the Vermillion hall and then looked left and right. I then called: "Su Xiao. Tang Ye. Where are you guys¡­? HEY, SU XIAO, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

    The scene before me scared me to death.

    I now know what Su Xiao meant by "chop, chop".

    In the little flower garden in front of the Vermillion Hall, Su Xiao had his rusted mud-like-looking divine Ancient Cold sabre up against the Orange Prince''s neck. Actually, it looked more like he was going to cut him with it. The Orange Prince was evidently inept at martial arts since he couldn''t even beat that brat. His men were all missing in action. In short, Su Xiao essentially got a cheap shot.

    You the sh*t!

    You''re a mere constable and you''re threatening a prince. How many heads do you have again?

    Su Xiao, however, smugly said: "Tell your men to stop or else."

    I looked towards Jia Yunfeng. Stop what? You mean we should stop?

    To be honest, this was the first time I looked at Jia Yunfeng carefully. He looked around thirty. He looked fairly handsome, and had a refined aura quite simr to Captain Son. However, unlike Captain Song, he didn''t look like he was skilled in literacy or martial arts.

    Jia Yunfeng was battling it out with three highly skilled fighters. Captain Song seemed to not participate to protect his reputation. Tang Ye was the vanguard. He stopped all the changes in Jia Yunfeng''s sword strikes using his red arms. With Shen Yiren assisting him, Jia Yunfeng was on his back leg. It''s a good time to stop now guys, otherwise I''ll have to send white packets* to Hua Shan this day next year. That''s a waste of my money.

    As soon as Jia Yunfeng realised that the prince had been captured, he leapt backwards. His swordsmanship may be inferior to Tang Ye, but his qinggong was far more advanced than his. In just a few steps, he''d returned to the prince''s side and pointed his sword at Su Xiao.

    "You insolent girl, how dare you threaten his majesty!"

    "Damn right! Let go of me you ugly hag or I''ll have your entire family and ancestors executed!"

    Su Xiao was enraged, His face turned bright read. He smacked the prince on the head with his sabre''s handle. He used it like it was a small mallet. All my hairs stood up watching it happen.

    Come on man, don''t do that! He''s a prince!!

    Su Xiao angrily eximed: "Who are you calling a woman?! I''m a guy!"

    Alright, alright, alright! You''re the manliest guy in the world!

    Fighting broke out in the Vermillion Hall. If the guards hadn''t figured out that something happened by now, this ce wouldn''t be called Liu Shan Men. All the guards and warriors in the office gathered. It was a jaw-dropping scene.

    A warm wind blew in the small flower garden. A brutal young beautiful girlughed wildly and pressed a de up against the prince to threaten him without any regard for anything. And she was his colleague!!

    The Orange Prince grit his teeth, grinded them and said: "Insolence. Insolence! Such insolence!! I''m going to report this to my father. I''m going to tell you how ridiculous Liu Shan Men is! You bitch!" The Orange Prince then pointed at me and said: "You too! None of you are getting away!"

    Us?!

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What''s this got to do with me?! He''s the one that''s threatening you!!

    You got sh*t for brains?

    All my colleagues started expressing concern for me. Yeah, that''s right, most of them put distance between themselves and I in the blink of an eye. Listen guys, the prince is just hating on me, I''m not the gue.

    Shen Yiren returned, patted me on the shoulder and said: "As team mates, you guys have to shoulder the burden and suffering together, okay?"

    That''s a terrible idea! I''ve only benefited a few times. He''s the one that started all the troubles!

    Tang Ye was calm as usual. He gave me a stern look and said: "Are we going to have our duel tonight?"

    Fuck off! Look at the situation!

    And you''re part of the team too, moron!

    Tang Ye: But I didn''t threaten the prince.

    Me: Well, me neither!

    Su Xiaoughed out loud and said: "Tell your men to back off if you don''t want your head to be Gautama Buddha." Jia Yunfeng reluctantly retreated two steps. Well¡­ The Orange Prince''s head looks like it''s bing an half an Arhat already.

    Somebody suddenly spoke out: "Stop! Have you no regards for thew? How dare you do this in a government office?!"

    Someone dressed as a eunuch suddenly approached. Su Xiao of course wasn''t scared of him, but the Orange Prince looked as though he''d seen his saviour. His face looked like he was d. "N-nan gong gong**, you''re here! Which means¡­"

    Shen Yiren who looked like she was enjoying the show had an "oh sh*t" look on her face: "Sh*t, Feizhen, I forgot I invited the emperor here to inspect us today."

    "Who?"

    A loud pitched voice suddenly rang through the air as it announced: "His majesty is here!"

    Notes:

    *You probably already know that red money packets are for lucky money during Chinese new years. The white packets are for the dead.

    **Gong gong = eunuch. But it''d sound very funny to say Eunuch Nan, so I used Nan gong gong instead. Tell me if you prefer otherwise.

 Volume 1 34 The Emperor Arrives

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 34 The Emperor Arrives</h4>

    Following the announcement, a tall,rge and handsome man dressed in a stunning robe came into the garden. There were two rows of people following behind. Only the emperor would be able to pull this off.

    Not many people from Liu Shan Men have seen the emperor before. They were all curious but didn''t dare to look in case they angered his majesty.

    The current emperor, a wise ruler whose bad luck streak didn''t end until after forty had eyebrows that were starting to turn white. It''s not easy to be a wise ruler, and dealing with his six sons who are fighting it out really takes its toll on him. He looks a lot older than when Ist saw him. He looks like he''s fifty plus when he''s in his early forties.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng had gotten a little chubby. Perhaps it''s due to his lifestyle in the pce. I couldn''t help but sigh when I saw him walk through. He and the Orange Prince look like they were made from the same mould.

    While their features looked strikingly simr, the area between the eyebrows of the Orange Prince makes him look more aggressive. The emperor had a very kind gaze making him feel more like a close uncle.

    The Orange Prince was acting like he found back up. He seemed topletely forget about his corruption case and yelled like an idiot: "Father! Father! I''m here. This evil woman is threatening me!"

    Su Xiao like the idiot he is, bravely - in a bad way - knocked the prince with his sabre''s handle so hard you could hear the bang ring in the air in front of the emperor.

    "Argh! Oww! Look father, she''s hitting me."

    "Well deserved. Who are you calling a woman?"

    I suddenly felt like young Su Xiao here was a treasure that I needed to pamper. I don''t think I''ll find another with his level of talent in this life. He''s knocking the prince''s head in like it''s a wooden fish¡­

    Nan gonggong got flustered and exasperated, and shouted: "Insolence! How dare you swing weapons around in front of his majesty! Is this mutiny?!"

    Su Xiao quickly said: "Your majesty, please forgive, umm¡­ Umm¡­" He got nervous when he saw the emperor. He barely managed to utter a few sentences: "Please forgive my insolence. This punk¡­ His majesty is too much. He brought people here to harass us. I''m worried that he''d run off if I let go of him and won''t be able to capture him."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng paused and then said with a frown: "Insolence. How dare you behave so audaciously in my presence, let him go!" He spoke in a very domineering tone. Even those highly skilled in martial arts and those who''d gone through life and death could not help but feel their heart rate speed up.

    "Your majesty, it''s not that I don''t want to let him go, but what if he doesn''t own up to his crimes and tries to harass me?"

    The Orange Prince chuckled and said: "We''re treating you courteously here! My father told you to let go of me, so let me go! As for starting with you, our quarrel¡­"

    Watch me save arade!

    I gave Tang Ye a shove and he took a step back. I took the chance to throw the book on the floor, creating a loud smack sound. The entire courtyard went dead silent and everybody turned to look in my direction.

    "Brother Tang, watch where you''re going. You made my drop my stuff."

    "Sorry¡­"

    Now that''s some Oscar-level acting! We didn''t even rehearse and yet he was able to react perfectly. He even picked the book up for me.

    I slowly and eloquently extended my hand out to take it. Everybody was watching us as though we were putting on a show. I took the book and then waved it around to make sure everybody got a glimpse.

    The Orange Prince who was some distance away nearly dropped at the sight of it.

    "Father, the matter between me and them is a misunderstanding. It''s no big deal. I''ll overlook this if he lets me go."

    Su Xiao quickly withdrew his sabre and ran to our side as soon as he heard that. Jia Yunfeng didn''t make things difficult for Su Xiao either since the prince had spoken out, so he let the pretty girl off.

    "What on Earth?!"

    The emperor got impatient, so he waved his hands and then pointed over to Captain Song and Shen Yiren: "Song Ou, Shen Yiren, step forward and answer me."

    "Right away."

    "Right away."

    "Liu Shan Men is your ce and your responsibility. What should I make of it when you create a mess like this? Shen Yiren, you invited me to inspect the ce many times. Did you invite me here to witness this joke?"

    Shen Yiren faintly said: "Your majesty, I honestly did not know his majesty woulde here today. As soon as he arrived, you used us of housing a thief. Captain Song tried to reason with him but he went and ordered his men to attack us instead. Had Su Xiao not stopped him, we would most likely have been hurt by his majesty."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng coldly snorted as if to say: Shen Yiren''s trying to y me. What, you''re saying the prince''s men could hurt you when your that skilled and in your own territory? Now I want to hear the rest of your fib.

    "Who was it that threatened my son before? Step forward."

    "I-it was me."

    Su Xiao walked over and knelt down. He was so nervous seeing the emperor for the first time. He replied with a stutter: "H-hi, your majesty."*

    Sh*t! You actually said "hi" to the emperor?

    Su Xiao''s white face wentpletely red as he stuttered: "I mean, greetings, your majesty."

    The emperor saw the sweat on his forehead and almostughed out loud but managed to resist the urge. He then cleared his throat and said: "Who are you? Why did you do something so audacious?"

    "My name is Su Xiao. The ''su'' character from Su Zhou, and the ''xiao'' character from the word ''dawn''. I am sixteen this year, my family lives in Nan Jing. My family runs a martial arts school. I¡­"

    The emperor signalled to stop with his hand and asked: "What are you telling me so much for?"

    Su Xiao pouted and said: "Your majesty, did you not ask me to tell you?"

    "Pfft"

    The emperor pursed his lips together, but everybody could tell he was fighting the urge tough.

    In just a few exchanges of words, the emperor had taken a liking to the simple-minded kid.

    "Keke. Just get to the main point. Tell me why you threatened the prince."

    "Right. Your majesty, his majesty came here for no rhyme or reason today and started an argument with Captain Song. He even ordered his men attack us."

    "Nonsense. The Orange Prince is a prince. Why would he attack a government office?" The emperor noticed that Su Xiao was distressed. To relieve him, he gestured for him to rise and said: "Stand up and speak. Tell me what happened from the beginning again."

    "Understood. Understood."

    Su Xiao replied and then ran a few steps. God knows what he was doing.

    Su Xiao ran over to the Orange Prince and suddenly yelled: "You bastard!"

    His words were slower than his fist which smashed right into the Orange Prince''s face. The Orange Prince was stunned and groaned in pain. He then swiftly reached for his sabre with his other hand and held it up against the Orange Prince''s neck again.

    Su Xiao: "Hahahaha. Now let them go."

    The young deadly and brutal maiden is back once again.

    Notes:

    *The word "greetings" for "greetings, your majesty" is made up of two characters. Su Xiao was so nervous he only said the first character, which in Chinese can sound a bit like "Cripple", which in this context basically sounds like "I''m going to cripple you". Since I couldn''t replicate the joke in English, I''ve altered it to make it sound rude as possible while still being within sensible parameters. So I substituted it "Greetings" (formal) with "Hi" (informal). If you have a better one, hit me with it.

    In today''s special segment, we have two special guests. They''re childhood friends. Please wee Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen in their childhood:n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 1 35 Wasnâ€™t the Way that Ended Slightly Strange?

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 35 Wasn''t the Way that Ended Slightly Strange?</h4>

    Jia Yunfeng follows the prince, but he didn''t expect Su Xiao to y that card in front of the emperor. Before he realised it, Su Xiao was threatening the Orange Prince once again. He couldn''t face the prince anymore so he could only y the loyal servant card: "What are you doing? You insolent wretch! Do you realise what the penalty is for frightening his highness?!"

    The emperor frowned and said: "How ridiculous! What are you doing?"

    Su Xiao widened his eyes and replied in a terrified tone: "But¡­ But isn''t this what you wanted me to do?"

    The emperor angrily replied: "I told you to recount the event, not to threaten the Orange Prince!"*

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao became even more distressed and asked in a slightly panicked tone: "N-no, isn''t this what you meant?"

    "You can just tell me. The penalty for assaulting a prince is serious."

    But in the end, the emperor couldn''t hold it in and burst outughing: "You''re such an honest kid, and I know you didn''t mean it. How about this, if I find that you''re innocent, I won''t punish you, and I''ll even promise to stop him from harassing you."

    Come to think of it, the current emperor doesn''t make a fuss out of small issues. Martial arts are flourishing these days and the emperor himself is surrounded by martial artists. So naturally, he''s quite candid.

    The emperor likes Su Xiao''s simple-mindedness and therefore let him off for threatening a prince.

    The Orange Prince was furious. He was still angry about getting hit and yet Su Xiao was forgiven?!

    Su Xiao retold the entire story, but he only mentioned how the Orange Prince was in the wrong, how he forced Liu Shan Men to hand over the thief and how he ordered Jia Yunfeng to attack Shen Yiren and co. He skipped over the part where we obtained the records. Imend him for that. At least he knew that it wasn''t something he could just blurt out. He was stuttering throughout, but that actually made it sound more genuine to the emperor.

    The emperor turned to face the Orange Prince and with a cold look in his eyes said: "Cheng''er, you promised me just a few days ago that you were going to change for the better and not engage in conflict with others impulsively. What''s with today''s surprise? You assaulted a government office? Heh, my son sure is amazing."

    "F-father, I didn''t assault the office, th-these people, th-they¡­"

    In the distance, I pulled the book out, and raised it up high¡­

    "¡­They didn''t do anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding. I was a bit too intolerant¡­"

    The Orange Prince got depressed again. If I handed the emperor the records, he''d be a goner from today. Seeing the look on his, Shen Yiren and I looked at each other and couldn''t help but smile.

    The emperor spotted me stealing the spotlight in the distance. He got a bit suspicious, so he pointed at me and said: "You. You cut me off multiple times. You''re quite the daring one. Come over here and speak."

    Ah sh*t, it''s my turn now.

    I took a stride forward and greeted him: "Greetings, your majesty!"

    However, I was still trying toe up with lines.

    What shall I do?

    If I hand the book over in front of the prince, he''ll hate Liu Shan Men forever. Attracting trouble isn''t a good long-term strategy for staying afloat in life. But if I hold onto it, the prince might start on us again.

    How should I deal with the records¡­?

    "My name is Ming Feizhen. I am a normal constable at Liu Shan Men."

    "You¡­"

    The emperor focused his gaze on me but stopped speaking half-way through.

    Huh? What''s wrong?

    I blinked out of confusion. I couldn''t figure out what the problem was¡­ Wait, sh*t! I suddenly remembered that I spoke with him face-to-face before.

    Sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t¡­ He doesn''t remember me, does he? That was many years ago, but the emperor is wise. Could he have photographic memory? If he recognises me, I won''t be able to run my concession scam. I can''t believe my retirement n is going to be ruined by the emperor himself!

    The emperor, however, didn''t look like he met someone he knew. To the contrary, he wore a frightened expression and asked: "A-are you alright?"

    "I am fine. Thank you for your concern. You are too kind, your majesty, to be caring about us. Your generosity and benevolence knows no bounds, it extends beyond the four seas, may you get wealthier by the day¡­"

    As I was kissing up to the emperor, Shen Yiren suddenly asked: "No, are you sure you''re alright, Ming Feizhen?"

    Captain Song who stood to the side also asked: "Ming Feizhen, are you sure you''re alright?"

    "I''m fine¡­"

    I was baffled after being asked by them. What did they see to be posing that question? I checked left and right, and myself, but there was nothing out of the norm. Could they have realised I secretly drank the stashed wine?!

    Tang Ye quietly walked over, handed me a mirror and said: "You''re wee."

    I unwillingly eximed: "You''re wee my ass¡­ For fuck sakes!"

    I checked myself in the mirror. My handsome face was swollen like hell. There were purple and green bumps all over. I realised I lost my sense of feeling on my face when I went to touch it. No wonder I didn''t realise, it waspletely numb.

    Was I poisoned? When did I get poisoned?

    Everybody looked at me rmed. I looked around once. It doesn''t look like I can hold a normal conversation like this. But I still have to resolve the matter with the book.

    My thoughts became muddled. I suddenly thought of a n and shouted loudly: "I''m poisoned!" I then looked up at the sky and fell down. As I fell to the ground, I tossed the book in a random direction. Those around me rushed over to catch my fall and call for a doctor. A lot of them also yelled "be careful to not get infected". Your family''s virus is contagious too¡­

    The book flew over in the direction of the Orange Prince like a white pigeon. The Orange Prince was gleeful and extended his hand out to catch it. However, he never expected there to be a force that''d prevent him from grabbing it, so it bounced off his hand and flew into the air again.

    The Orange Prince''s face turned pale because the book flew towards his father. But that was caused by his mysterious hand, so he couldn''t do anything but curse his own hand.

    The emperor is trained in martial arts so he managed to catch it. The emperor was baffled. He looked at the book in his hand and then at the enraged Orange Prince who was cursing his own hand. He then opened the book.

    The contents were incredible.

    In memory of the Orange Prince, destroyed at twenty-five years of age¡­

    Keke, not yet.

    The depressed prince ran over to his father and put on his filial son act: "F-father, I¡­ I¡­"

    "Heh, what a great prince you are." The emperor couldn''t stopughing coldly, but he didn''t look angry either.

    "Return home, right now. Get lost!"

    "Father¡­"

    "What are you still here for?! Do you want me to read the contents out loud in front of all these people?"

    The Orange Prince grit his teeth, shot me a hateful re and said: "I understand that I am wrong. I shall return home now. I will not leave my residence. I shall reflect on my mistakes! Yunfeng, let''s go." The Orange Prince left with Master Jia.

    I was also lifted up and sent off to be treated.

    Thest scene I saw as I was carried out on a stretcher was the emperor watching the Orange Prince leave and him throwing the book to Nan gonggong. He didn''t take another look. His benevolent eyebrows made it look like he was smiling, but at the same time not smiling.

    What the heck?

    Well, this ended weirdly¡­

    Notes:

    *The emperor used a form of speech only he''d use. When he said "recount", it''s the same characters as "return to the original" or in this context "resume what you were doing". Su Xiao thought he meant "resume what you were doing", as opposed to "recount", so he went and shoved the de up against the prince''s neck again.

 Volume 1 36 Conversation Between a Monarch and a Servant (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 36 Conversation Between a Monarch and a Servant (Part 1)</h4>

    "Sit."

    We''re still at the Vermillion Hall. There were only two people in the room. Everybody else had returned to their respective ces already.

    Seeing Shen Yiren refuse to take a seat, the emperorughed bitterly.

    "What''s wrong? Are you expecting me to beg you to take a seat?"

    Shen Yiren''s facial expression was still as though her usual demeanour was pretence. She knelt and said: "I failed to teach my subordinates properly causing you to suffer. Please have me punished!"

    The emperor waved his hand and said: "Alright, alright, skip that rubbish. I asked to see you because I wanted to know how you''ve been recently. Did you think I''d punish you? Get up and speak."

    Shen Yiren continued kneeling and didn''t raise her head. The emperor watched her grow up so he dotes on her like she''s his own nephew. If it was somebody else who caused today''s ruckus, they''d have been punished, but not her. Shen Yiren was well aware of that.

    Thess usually has no regards for any rules orws, so of course the emperor knew her act was for something else. However, he was well aware that her request would be something difficult toplete.

    "Yiren, there are no outsiders. I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you." The emperor wasn''t putting on airs. He could bex with anyone. That''s just how he is. However, his identity as the emperor means that he must be careful with every word he says and every action he takes. But otherwise, he''s just like a close uncle to Shen Yiren.

    "To punish Yan Shisan''s mistake that year, I deliberately gave Liu Shan Men the cold shoulder all these years. But I know that you''ve been working hard. You sold your household stuff to fund the repairs of Liu Shan Men''s que. You even went as far as giving your hand in marriage to Song Ou to expand the influence of Liu Shan Men. Why do you put yourself through this suffering?"

    Shen Yiren pursed her lips and a sad look appeared in her eyes and then quickly disappeared. She then said: "I''m ashamed, your majesty. My parents did everything they could for Liu Shan Men. Expanding Liu Shan Men is my lifetime-dream. What I''ve done can''tpare to what my parents did."

    "What you just said has made me feel even more guilty towards your parents. Shen Jun was my childhood friend, and our bond was like that of brothers. He has been my benefactor on many asions, and I remember them all. I highly respect Mrs Shen who was a heroic woman." The emperor felt more apologetic towards the girl before him as he recounted the past. "When Brother Shen passed away, I promised him that I''d look after you. I feel that I''ve let him down now though, since you and your brother are leading such harsh lives."

    Shen Yiren kept her head down the whole time: "Your majesty, I dare not threaten you into doing unjust things with my father''s aplishments. But Liu Shan Men has been quiet for many years. There are only ten of the elites left from Liu Shan''s Elite rankings. Has our punishment not been enough? I just feel that Liu Shan Men needs an opportunity to prove itself, and serve you again."

    The emperor stayed silent for a very long time before softly saying: "Do you know why I''m here today?"

    "I''m not sure myself. I have invited you many times, but you refused toe due to your work. I thought you wouldn''te today either."

    The emperor didn''t address what she said and said: "Did you know the Qilin Guards captain made a report yesterday? He wanted me to change Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings into Qi Lin''s Elite Rankings."

    To Shen Yiren, that news was the equivalent of raining on her parade. Her beautiful face instantly turned pale-white. In a shaky voice she said: "That, that, umm, so, what did you decide?" Shen Yiren couldn''t control her trembling voice after she finished speaking.iu Shan Men has been quiet for a long time and their reputation has gone down the drain. All that''s left is its once glorious history and the gold lettered que. If the Qilin Guards take that as well, then reviving Liu Shan Men would be as difficult as resurrecting the dead.

    "What do you think? How do you think I should decide?"

    "I¡­ I dare not question your decisions."

    The emperor''s heart ached seeing Shen Yiren''s fearful look. He said with a sigh: "I''ve dyed the matter for now. Liu Shan Men has aplished many deeds for the royal court so I can''t close it down entirely because of its performance thesest few years and Yan Shisan''s personal mistake."

    Shen Yiren''s anarchic mood calmed down a little, but then the emperor continued: "I can dy it for now, but I can''t put it off forever. Liu Shan''s Elite Ranking lists the name of one-hundred of the strongest fighters in the royal court. Originally, it was meant to include Liu Shan Men, my entourage and the Qilin Guards. The Qilin Guards now upy sixty spots. More than twenty people from my entourage are listed. As for Liu Shan Men¡­ You know how it is.

    Further, the Qilin Guards'' request isn''t unreasonable. They''ve done a lot to create order in the martial world all these years, and have never cked off. They aren''t asking for a reward. They''re just asking for recognition. I believe that that''s reasonable."

    The emperor finally said what he really wanted to say.

    "Yiren, you''re Brother Shen''s daughter. You''re just like a daughter to me, and your rtionship with my daughter is very good. I want to bestow the title of princess upon you. Pass Liu Shan Men''s matters on to somebody else. You''re a girl after all, so you''re not suited¡­"

    Shen Yiren lowered her head further and said in a worked up tone: "All I ask for is a fair chance."

    The emperor looked at Shen Yiren. His gentle gaze suddenly became sharp.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Shen Yiren! You do realise that if Liu Shan Men were to rise again, the resources allocated to the Qilin Guards and my entourage would be affected, right? The cake is only so big. If another person wants a piece, then somebody is going to stop them, and the person stopping you is no simpleton."

    "I know that."

    "You should also be aware the the Qilin Guards have grown significantly all these years while Liu Shan Men was quiet. The Qilin Guards now upy a part of the martial world and have a certain degree of influence. I feel assured with those in the pugilistic world keeping them in check too. My entourage may look like they''re not doing anything, but they''re actually investigating secret cases rted to retainers, ministers and officials, as well as protecting me. They''ve done a fair amount for the people too. If they have problems because of you, I won''t back you. My dear nephew¡­ The road in front of you is rocky."

    Shen Yiren finally raised her head. The gentle look in her eyes had vanished and her domineering and strong aura as the vice-captain returned. She said: "I want to expand Liu Shan Men, so it''s a given that I''ve prepared myself to face all the obstacles ahead. I''ll take on anything thates my way! I''m not afraid even if it''s a sea of fire up ahead. If the road ahead is tough, I''ll crawl if I have to!"

 Volume 1 37 Conversation Between a Monarch and a Servant (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 37 Conversation Between a Monarch and a Servant (Part 2)</h4>

    The emperor looked at Shen Yiren who raised her angry looking face high like a swan silently the way a benevolent father looks at his stubborn daughter.

    Shen Yiren''s father was the emperor''s childhood friend. They were together all the time from when they were kids into adulthood. The Shen family has always headed Liu Shan Men. Had it not been for the unparalled genius Yan Shisan and his insanity and absurdness, the leader of Liu Shan Men would probably still be someone from the Shen family. That said, Shen Yiren''s father was still the vice-captain. He controlled the martial world from within Liu Shan Men for the emperor. He aplished many things for the emperor.

    In the end he died at the hand of disciples from the Demon Sect while carrying out a secret mission. The emperor felt guilty towards the Shen family for these things.

    He also felt pity and hurt for the stubborn girl.

    Shen Yiren has no feelings for Song Ou. However, the Song family are a prevalent family in the martial world. Song Ou''s father possessed significant military strength, so the Song family had a good deal of power. At that point in time, Liu Shan Men''s skilled men were leaving one after the other. Shen Yiren''s parents both passed away, so she sacrificed herself voluntarily. A beautiful and bright girl took the initiative to marry into the Song family. The proud, men-hating Shen Yiren decided to marry into the Song household for the future of Liu Shan Men.

    Shen Yiren''s lifetime dream is to be the captain of Liu Shan Men. After Yan Shisan left, the person most qualified to take the mantle was Shen Yiren. However, for his family''s sake, he insisted that his son needed to be captain for him to be at ease. Shen Yiren agreed to it so as to not lose the support of the Song family. But behind her strong front, she wept many times over it.

    The emperor was aware of all that, but he didn''t have any right to stop it.

    Yes, not even the emperor could have his way with everything in the world. During the time Liu Shan Men lost power, the emperor''s entourage did all they could to fulfill their roles and serve, so should they be rewarded or not? The Qilin Guards shed much blood in their battles to suppress the influence and power of the evil sects. All their victories came at the cost of much bloodshed on their side, so shouldn''t they be rewarded? He can''t just promote Liu Shan Men citing friendship as the reason.

    But he should be able to at least give them a chance as the emperor, right? The emperor is well-aware of Shen Yiren''s efforts and how she''s held the fort all these years. The emperor suddenly remembered her father after seeing her stubbornly prostrating herself before him. Her father behaved the same way as her back then when they had differing opinions and her father was insistent on his.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng finally came to a decision after he was done thinking.

    "To be able to have a daughter like this, Brother Shen did not live a life in vain."

    The emperor gave Shen Yiren a nod and softly said: "The rankings for Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings will be re-ranked at the imperial martial arts tournament. I gave you this chance, so it''s yours, and nobody can take it away from you."

    Shen Yiren''s eyes started to tear up but she held it in, and while choking on her tears said: "Th-thank you, your majesty!"

    The Qilin Guards have attempted to prevent Liu Shan Men''s participation in the martial arts tournament before. The emperor''s entourage have also tried to stop them. Even the Orange Prince hase and threatened to remove them from it. There wasn''t a single particr reason for trying to prevent them. They all had their own reasons, but Liu Shan Men has faced many hurdles over it. However, with the emperor''s word, Shen Yiren could finally let go of that burden.

    "Do your best to prepare for the tournament. As for the Orange Prince, I''ll tell him to keep his mouth shut. He won''t dare to harass you."

    "Understood, your majesty!"

    The emperor then sighed and said: "We''re done with business talk, so won''t you sit and keep mepany for a while?"

    "I¡­"

    "I know you like to keep business matters and ces strictly business, but there are no outsiders here, so won''t you call me uncle?"

    The word uncle brought back many memories when she was a kid for Shen Yiren. The tears she held back finally surfaced and she whispered: "Uncle¡­ I''ve let you down."

    The emperor helped her up and as soon as she raised her head up to look, she found the emperor''s eyes were unsurprisingly brimming with tears too. The emperor who was the biggest authority in the entire country just moments ago had returned to being the endearing uncle she knew as a child: "Silly child¡­ Why must you insist on separating yourself from your uncle as a monarch and his retainers? Aren''t I your family? Come on, get up. Am I a stranger to you now that we haven''t seen each other for a few months?"

    Shen Yiren felt the warmth in her heart, the same kind felt by a lonely child with no one to rely on finally finding his father. She could finally put down the responsibilities as the vice-captain of Liu Shan Men and confide with someone close like a normal family member.

    The emperor pulled her to her seat and brought up many interesting things in the past, making time feel like it was flying by. The workaholic, Shen Yiren looked at the sky and started to worry as to when the emperor would leave. She thought to herself: When will he leave? I still need to work.

    The emperor was really getting into it as he spoke and had no ns to leave. However, they had pretty much talked about all there was to talk about with regards to her childhood days. Since Shen Yiren didn''t speak, he thought of a new topic. "Oh, that''s right. What''s the name of the young man that passed out in the flower garden before¡­?"

    Shen Yiren returned to her senses and said: "Ming Feizhen! He was the one who solved this case. He doesn''t have any special skills, but certainly likes to mess around." Shen Yiren probably recalled the things Ming Feizhen did to tease and mock the Orange Prince, and couldn''t help butugh.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "It seems like I can''tpare to him. I tried to get you to smile, but you wouldn''t smile once, and yet now you''reughing as soon as I brought him up."

    Shen Yiren continuedughing as she replied: "Don''t tease me, uncle. Ming Feizhen just joined Liu Shan Men and there are a lot of rules and regtions he''s not yet familiar with, thereby often doingughable things. He''s usually messy and unreliable, but he''s very familiar with the pugilistic world and is also quite the smart one."

    "He''s smart? Heeh~"

    Emperor Yuan Shengughed without saying anything. He''s smart? More like slippery and sly.

    He knew that he''d offend the Orange Prince if he were to hand me the book directly, which would cause Liu Shan Men to be public enemy. That''s why he chose that round-about method to hand me the book without being detected and settled the chaos at the scene. Two birds with one stone. But it seems like he got poisoned by the piece of gold he touched¡­

    The emperor felt a little guilty recalling his swollen face that was purple. That must''ve been due to the venom bing active.

    "Judging by his face, I think he got poisoned quite heavily. Is he alright?"

    "I still don''t know." Shen Yiren wiped the corner of her eyes which were yet to dry. She cried for a bit, but quickly returned to being her usual self. Shen Yiren is Shen Yiren after all. She wouldn''t dwell in silence and weakness for long.

    "I asked three highly-skilled doctors to take a look at him and then came to see you, so I don''t know how he is yet."

    The emperorughed and said: "He''s an interesting fe. His actpletely shut Cheng''er (the Orange Prince) down. He really knows how to cause trouble."

    Shen Yirenughed and said: "That''s just how he is. He looks like an absolute mess, but when there''s a problem, he''s always got a solution."

    "Haha. Let''s go. Come with me to pay him a visit. I have something to say to him."

 Volume 1 38 Bring Me Some Braised Pork Shoulders with Soy Sauce

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 38 Bring Me Some Braised Pork Shoulders with Soy Sauce</h4>

    "It''s the Five Poisons Divine Water. It must be the Five Venoms Divine Water!"

    "No, no, no. The Five Poisons Divine Water is highly toxic. Those poisoned by it die upon contact. Mr. Ming is still alive so it can''t be that. It must be the venom from a Golden Crowned Snakebined withdine etc."

    "I agree!"

    The three doctors surrounded Ming Feizhen who was lying on the bed asked to check his pulse and kept babbling non-stop. The three of them argued back-and-forth with no one agreeing with the other. And in the end, they still couldn''t determine what the venom was.

    Chen Bianque said: "It''s the Five Venoms Divine Water. How could it not be?! I know this venom best. It''s definitely the Five Venoms Divine Water!"

    Doctor Li said: "Golden Crowned Snake. Not only the venom of a Golden Crowned Snake, but alsodine without a doubt."

    Doctor: Zhang said: "I believe they are correct!"

    Su Xiao standing at the side was anxious watching them. He suddenly recalled something: "Gold! I remember there was a box of gold in Cha Yuan''s tomb. We took it back with us as evidence. Brother Ming said he wanted to keep it safe and held onto it all the way back."

    Zha Pi who was also watching from the side got excited when he heard there was gold in his old man''s tomb and jumped up and down. He quickly became extremely concerned and said: "Master Ming, for your safety''s sake, I''m going to frisk you!"

    He checked all over and touched something that felt like a box in Ming Feizhen''s arms.

    "Is this it?"

    As soon as Zha Pi extended his hand out to grab the box, Su Xiao called out as soon as his finger made contact: "Don''t touch it carelessly! Don''t you see that Brother Ming''s been poisoned? That thing definitely contains poison."

    "What''s wrong with touching it for a bit? You think the gold is poisoned? If all of the gold had poison on them, Master Ming would''ve been dead ages ago."

    Before he could finish speaking, Zha Pi started twitching like he had an epileptic attack and retching. His face then changed colours. His skin looked like it came alive as though there were countless worms wiggling around underneath his skin. Those who saw it were scared sh*tless. His face was swollen like a ball before he could even say three sentences. His face turned so purple it was freakier than a dead boar''s head.

    His mouth wentpletely numb and he could only groan non-stop. It was an evidently frightening condition.

    Doctor Zhang pped his hands and said: "Looks like this kid is history."

    Chen Bian Que got surprised and said: "That''s it. That''s it. That''s it. These are the symptoms of being diagnosed with the Five Venoms Divine Water."

    Doctor Lee said: "I guarantee that he''s also been poisoned by a golden crowned snake anddine. I''m absolutely positive!!"

    Fuck me¡­ Are you people going to save him or not?

    I awoke¡­ Wait, no. I never passed out in the first ce. I just took the opportunity to pretend I passed out in order to stop the Orange Prince''smotion.

    But I can''t believe the gold had poison. Who would''ve thought I''d get poisoned¡­ And Zha Pi was on the verge of death.

    Su Xiao anxiously shouted: "S-save him!"

    Doctor Li asked: "Save him? How?"

    "Isn''t it your job to figure that out as a doctor?" Su Xiao watched them stand still and got more anxious.

    "Since you know what the venom is why can''t you save him?"

    Chen Bianque answered sincerely rightfully as a doctor: "Brother Su, you''re young so you don''t know have much knowledge of old things. The Five Venoms Divine Water was specially concocted by Yuntian Pce. Once you get poisoned with it, death is certain. Who could save him? It''s best that you put some distance between yourself and him. The purple spots on his skin contain venom. If you get any on you, you''ll be done for."

    Doctor Zhang said: "I think they''re right."

    Doctor Lee sighed and said: "He''s dead for sure. He''s dead for sure."

    "What do you mean he''s going to die?"

    I opened my eyes, extended my hand and made contact with Zha Pi''s wrist. Using my internal energy to get rid of the venom would take too long, and it''ll cause too much noise, which will cause suspicion to arise. Therefore, I decided to use another method and gently mustered up my energy.

    "Urgh¡­ I¡­ I''m dying. I¡­ Eh? I can speak now?"

    The swelling on Zha Pi''s face was reduced. His mouth which was only able to groan and moan could open.

    What I did was suck the venom in his body into my own. I can''t do that under normal circumstances, but since I was poisoned right now, I had several hundreds of times more venom inside my body. Since the venom shared the same characteristics, it was easier for me to suck. And naturally it was collected into my body.

    I sat up. There was nothing wrong with my body really. It''s just that my face was swollen.

    The three doctors who saw me sit up rushed over to ask: "You''ve been poisoned with the Five Venoms Divine Water, the venom of a golden crowned snake, anddine. You shouldn''t even be able to move a finger right now, right?"

    "Don''t push yourself. Don''t push yourself. Stayid down. Let me check your pulse."

    "Uhm, that''s right."

    I lifted my hand up and drew circles in the air with it.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What Five Venoms Divine Water? I just got a bee sting while we were out in the wild, alright?"

    If you''re going to diss someone, make sure topletely shut them down.

    The three doctors'' expressions changed countless times. They looked at each other and then they all awkwardlyughed together.

    "I knew it was a bee sting at first sight. I just wanted to test the medical skills of my two old friends, so I didn''t mention it."

    "I had the same thought, Brother Li."

    "I believe they are correct."

    Zha Pi who just recovered hopped up and said: "You useless old farts! You said I was going to die for sure just before, didn''t you?!" The punk lifted up a wooden bench and hit them with it. He then started chasing the three doctors around in the room before taking it into the courtyard.

    Su Xiao crept over quietly like a mouse and asked in a concerned tone: "Brother Ming, are you alright?"

    I weakly answered: "What makes you think I''m alright? I got poisoned¡­ I just acted fine like that to piss off the doctors. Su Xiao, I''m dying."

    "BROTHER MING, DON''T DIE!"

    Yeah! I''ve almost got full marks for acting.

    I gently scrubbed Su Xiao''s head like a father that was about to pass away. I don''t know what Su Xiao was thinking, but he started crying.

    "NO! NO! DON''T DIE BROTHER MING!" Su Xiao grabbed my hand and ced it on his supple face. His supple and smooth hand skin¡­. Sh*t, are you really a guy?!

    Su Xiao acted like he was sending off a dying family member and said: "BROTHER MING! Hang in there!"

    "Su Xiao, I''m not going to make it. However, I still have a wish I haven''t fulfilled."

    "Tell me! I''ll see that it''s done!!"

    "Haaa¡­ I really want some braised pork shoulders with soy sauce from the Eight Deities Tavern."

    Su Xiao''s cries became muffled: "B-but Brother Ming, I still don''t feel like our friendship has developed to the point where I need to treat you to a meal. Would it be okay for you to take that regret with you to the grave?"

    I angrily jumped up and eximed: "WHAT?! Our friendship hasn''t developed to the point where you can treat me to some braised pork shoulders with soy sauce when I''m on my death bed?"

    "Get lost, you''re totally fine! You were just pretending!" Su Xiao pulled a funny face and continued: "No way am I buying it for you."

    Huh? I was busted already? So¡­ Is Su Xiao supposed to be smart or stupid?

    Su Xiao wiped his eyes and asked: "But are you sure you''re alright?"

    I waved my hand and said: "I''m fine. What''s a bee sting or two to a man?"

    "But your head¡­"

    I checked myself in the mirror and found that the venom was indeed umting in my body and still had some affect. The bumps on my head hadn''t gone away yet. Strange, this venom is pretty strong. One who''s mastered Yi Jin Jing shouldn''t be affected by poison. Tai Chi allows me to move my internal energy to my liking. But they seem to be of little use against this venom. Perhaps all three doctors are right in their diagnoses. Perhaps this venom was concocted using the Five Poisons Divine Water, plus the venom from a golden crowned snake, plusdine and the sortbined.

    Fucking hell¡­ Who''s the devil? Who wouldn''t fall for a box with poison.

    I suddenly heard a cheerfulughter from outside.

    "Hahaha, I heard you were full of energy after being poisoned. It looks like they were right."

    The emperor then entered the room. Why''s he here?!

    The emperor doesn''t look like he''s here to find faults with me. He''s alsoughing happily.

    "All of you, leave. I want to speak with this child in private."

    Speak in private?!

    Does he want to close some sort of deal?!

    I pretended to struggle to get up and was weak. The emperor opened with: "Don''t worry about greetings. I''m not so arrogant that I''d have a patient perform formal greetings. Is your name Ming Feizhen?"

    What the? Why does the emperor care so much about me?

    Could it be¡­ I looked at the emperor. He had a specialpassionate look in his eyes. It''s not an expression you''d have when meeting somebody for the first time. Could he have recognised me?!

    Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!

 Volume 1 39 The Case Within the Poisoned Gold Case (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 39 The Case Within the Poisoned Gold Case (Part 1)</h4>

    This is told from the emperor''s perspective.

    Thest time I left the pce was over half a year ago. I came here for Yiren and Cheng''er but I''d say it counts as taking a break to take a breather.

    The matters with Yiren and Cheng''er can be considered settled, but this Ming Feizhen fe was part of my calctions.

    "Your name is Ming Feizhen?"

    "Uuh¡­ Yes, that is my name."

    I looked at this kid who stuttered as soon as he spoke. I found him quite interesting and said: "Your surname is Ming? How interesting. I don''t venture into the pugilistic world often, but I hear most of the rumours. I''ve never heard of a young hero with the surname Ming."

    I cracked a joke with him, but never expected him to get nervous and break into a sweat.

    "I-I''m twenty eight this year. You can''t call me a young hero anymore. My surname, Ming, is actually quitemon! You don''t have to think so much of it."

    Is itmon?

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I pondered it for a bit. Yeah, that''s true.

    "Your surname is Ming? Hmm, there aren''t any prevalent families in the martial world with the surname Ming. But if I recall correctly, the sect leader of Mount Daluo in Bei Ping had the surname Ming."

    Ming Feizhen suddenly wore a strange expression. He then lowered his face and asked as though he was scared: "How much do you know?"

    Huh?

    I was a little confused and slightly angry. Ming Feizhen is but just a mere low-ranking constable. Even if he''s ill and I said that he could skip the formalities, that''s not a license for him to speak to me however he pleases.

    Forget it, forget it. That''s not important. I have something to say to him and if I don''t get it off my chest, I''ll feel suffocated.

    "Let''s skip the idle chatter. I have something to say to you."

    Ming Feizhen now wore an expression as if the sky hade falling down or it was the end of the world. He looked at me stunned, grinded his teeth and said: "I knew you had something to say!"

    Me: "Huh?"

    I must have a stupefied look on my face right now.

    Ming Feizhen held his head and looked as if he were having a breakdown, and said: "Your majesty! My appearance is so distorted, and yet you''re still able to recognise me! You''re godly!"

    What exactly does he mean by that?

    I scratched my head and asked: "How am I godly?"

    Wait a second. I was the one that wanted to speak with him. How''d it turn into him asking me questions?

    Ming Feizhen gritted his teeth and angrily said: "God, freaking damn it, I actually got caught! Go on, tell me what you want!"

    This rascal!!

    Watch your attitude. Watch it you attitude!!

    What happened to him all of a sudden?

    I red at him out of curiosity: "I heard that you single-handedly solved the Orange Prince''s case."

    Ming Feizhenined with a sigh: "I wouldn''t be like this if it weren''t for that sh*tty case."

    Why is this rascal speaking to me so casually? Is it because he got poisoned or is it because of me?

    It''s a long story.

    It''s hard to fulfill the role of an emperor, and it''s not easy to fulfill the role of a father. Myte friend Brother Shen was very fortunate to have a good daughter like Yiren. Of my seven sons, six of them are troublemakers.

    The six of them are forming parties and fighting each other for the throne. To maintain harmony, I sent four of them to cities outside the capital and only kept two in the capital. But even though there are just two of them, they still make sure to make life hard for me.

    He''s the son of my main wife, and is the queen''s eldest son. He''s the one with the right to inherit the throne so he''s always been mad at me for not bestowing the crown prince title upon him. As such, he took bribes, engages in corrupt activities and is gathering power right under my nose.

    My entourage has always been on his case of corruption and reported their progress to me. I''ve seen the book that Ming Feizhen pretended to hand to me by ident before. However, I left him be because one, he''s my son after all, and two, he''s also a prince. I didn''t want to take any drastic measures if he wasn''t going overboard, so the book didn''t serve much purpose when I read it.

    But Cha Yuan who was faithful to his post died unjustly investigated the case. I buried the book with him as a form of reward and as a memento. I didn''t expect Cheng''er to still be chasing Cha Yuan''s whereabouts and wouldn''t spare him even after death.

    I knew what he was up to as soon as I heard he sent people to Cha Yuan''s home. I could''ve moved the book before he found it, but that wouldn''t allow me to send him a warning. I wanted to punish him and his dead men for thinking they were above thew.

    Instead, I had members of my entourage race to Cha Yuan''s tomb and ce a box of poisoned gold in there.

    I was nning to send someone to give him a gentle warning after his men died upon contact with it, so that he''d straighten up.

    This is my script.

 Volume 1 40 The Case Within the Poisoned Gold Case (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 40 The Case Within the Poisoned Gold Case (Part 2)</h4>

    That was my n.

    But I never expected a passing constable to find out about the secret, and even take the records and gold with him.

    On my way to visit Yiren at Liu Shan Men, I head Cheng''er angrily stormed Liu Shan Men''s office. My rms were going off without question. I can understand the book being taken, but how on Earth did the box of gold get taken too?! Weren''t victims supposed to die from poisoning as soon as they touch it?

    I only found out he fell victim to the box of gold after seeing him poisoned and hearing from Yiren that he was the one who solved the case. I felt somewhat guilty towards him, because if he were to die serving loyally in the line of duty, it would be an unjust death.

    Getting back on track, my entourage told me the venom was extremely toxic and justing into contact it would be enough to kill someone many times over, and yet he survived. Perhaps it''s because he didn''t absorb much of the venom and was treated well.

    Since he didn''t see me speak, he decided to be even morex lying on the bed. He looked like he wasn''t afraid of anything or anybody and said: "Come on, spill it, what did you want to say to me?"

    H-he''s getting more and more overboard! Is that any way to speak to an emperor?!

    I must¡­ I must¡­

    Hmm?

    Could it be that he realised that he was poisoned because of me? Heh~ how dare this rascal try to rile me up.

    "You''re quite amazing, young man."

    "Don''tpliment me. I get a headache as soon as you do."

    Am I lice or something?!

    "Alright, let''s cut to the chase. Do you already know what I want to say?"

    "Long live your majesty, may you live for eternity. One who is just does not speak with hidden meanings and imply things. You''ve made yourself very clear, so of course I know"

    "You''re a smart fe. There''s no need to say everything explicitly when speaking with smart people. It''s good that you understand."

    Ming Feizhen stared at me for a while. He then sighed and said: ''Your majesty, you''re busy with thousands of things every day and still have to fulfill the roles of a father. It must be tough on you. This injury of mine is nothing. A bee sting or two is nothing. I''ll be fine in very soon."

    Ming Feizhen spoke to me as though I were his friend. Who does he take me for?! But what he said hit certainly home for me.

    "People say that I own all thends and rivers, but they don''t realise how much effort it takes to take care of it all. My sons are all a handful. I need to handle national affairs as well as my family. If I didn''t, then just my harem alone would grief me to death."

    "Your majesty, you may have sent four of your sons to different ces, but their mothers are still in the pce assisting them. Six princes and five concubines¡­ It''d be one heck of a headache if a fight broke out between them."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Oh? You know my family affairs very well. How insolent, Ming Feizhen! How dare you make baselessplements about the imperial family!!"

    I deliberately red at him with my eyes open wide to scare this rascal that didn''t know better. However, heughed and said: "Everybody out there discusses the rumours about your family. I could go for a walk around the block and hear five different people with five different upations discuss them. Just because you don''t want people to speak about something, doesn''t mean they''re going to keep their mouths shut. If you don''t believe me, I can take you to the Eight Deities Tavern in the Western City. As long as you''re willing to treat me to braised pork shoulder with soy sauce, I guarantee you''ll hear things you wouldn''t normally hear."

    The young man before me is only a few years younger than my eldest son at max. Putting aside the monarch and peasant hierarchy, he''s still younger than me. He, however, isn''t showing any signs of fear. He''s behaving and talking as if we were friends who are on even footing.

    I have to say, I haven''t been treated like this in a long time. Nobody has ever treated me as an equal since Yiren''s father passed away.

    I leisurelyughed and said: "I''d be more than d to treat you to braised pork shoulder with soy sauce if it''s as you say. Hahahaha."

    Ming Feizhen then suddenly showed a bitter smile and said: "But your majesty, my¡­"

    "Just keep it to yourself. It''s just between the two of us."

    "Thank you, your majesty!"

    Hmm?

    I wanted him to keep the poison matter secret and yet he''s thanking me? What is he on about now?

    "That''s enough, don''t spout nonsense. I know I caused you to get poisoned, but luckily you''re fine. I''ll deal with the matter with those from the Orange Prince''s residence, so let''s say we''re equal."

    "What? Poison? Say what?" Ming Feizhen squinted his eyes like a retarded kid and continued: "Poison¡­ Are you saying you were the one who gave the order to spread venom on the gold?"

    ¡­Is he a retard?

    I stared at him and asked: "Yes! Didn''t you already know?"

    Ming Feizhen widened his mouth and then closed it. And then widened it and closed it again. He then answered stiflingly as if he was choking on food: "I get it now¡­"

    Ming Feizhen suddenly looked relieved. He then seemed to recall something and sat up straight. His attitude towards me then seemed like a boat that got back on-route and he straightened up.

    "Y-your majesty, I was spouting nonsense before¡­ It was all because the venom affected my thinking. Please bestow your benevolence upon me and pardon me."

    What''s his deal? He changes like the weather.

    Iughed mockingly and said: "You look very alert to me."

    He went and acted all respectful, sincere and little: "Your majesty, I''m a lowly peasant who''s never seen your greatness, so isn''t it normal for peasants like me to be taken in by it."

    Normally? I''ve only evere across like¡­ Two peasants like you in the forty plus years I''ve been alive. And they were all from Liu Shan Men. The other one was Yan Shisan, who I sent off to scrub toilets.

    Iughed and curiously asked: "I''ll pardon you in that case. We''ll call this even if you take me to that Eight Deities Tavern you spoke of, what do you think?"

    Ming Feizhen acted as though I wanted his life and seriously answered: "Your majesty, I''d rather you decapitate me instead!"

    This greedy¡­

    "Enough, enough. I''ve left the pce for too long so they''re probably worried about me by now. Ming Feizhen, I remember what you said. It''s my fault that the people spread rumours. As my servants, Liu Shan Men should help me out, understood?"

    I paused for a moment and then said: "You''re a talented man, I can tell. Yiren¡­ Is the daughter of my old friend. I treat her as though she were my own daughter. Since you''re someone she chose, make sure to help her out. I expect many great things from you."

    "Understood. I wish you a safe return, your majesty."

    Ming Feizhen pretended to struggle out of bed.

    I waved my hand and said: "Forget it, stop pretending. If I were to punish you for your rudeness, do you think you''d ever have enough heads for me to chop?"

    The rascalughed and said: "Hehehe, that just goes to show your infinite benevolence."

    Yiren told me she recruited three people recently. I don''t know much about the one called Tang Ye. I''ve met Su Xiao who''s a kind, honest and upright child. As for Ming Feizhen¡­ He''s exactly how Yiren describes him: A messy walking embodiment of trouble.

    He''s an absolute mess¡­ Looking at him remind me of Yan Shisan.

    As I walked out of Liu Shan Men, Nan gonggong greeted me: "Your majesty, Let us return to the pce."

    "Yeah, let''s go."

    The sound of horse hoofs could be hard as the golden sun started setting behind the tiled roofs of Liu Shan Men. I suddenly remembered something.

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ That name sounds so familiar. Have I heard it somewhere before?"

    I turned around to look. I tirelessly searched my brain for Ming Feizhen''s face. But because of his swollen face, I couldn''t recall anything.

    Perhaps I remembered wrong.

 Volume 1 41 Hey, Wake Up, Youâ€™ve Been Ranked

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 41 Hey, Wake Up, You''ve Been Ranked</h4>

    It''s been peaceful ever since the end of the Orange Prince''s corruption case. Actually it''s been so boring, I''ve got nothing to do that I''m panicking.

    I couldn''t ask for more.

    You must understand that being free at home and being free with nothing to do at work are two different things.

    Being free and doing nothing at home is a waste of your life.

    Sitting around doing nothing at work and still getting paid however, is the greatest bliss in the world.

    I did everything I could to get the bestpensation possible for getting hurt in the line of duty. I avoided every shift I could skip, every street I didn''t have to patrol and every job I could avoid. Su Xiao always lectured me when he returned, and Tang Ye was always looking at me resentfully to ask: "Are we going to duel tonight?"

    Of course, I covered myself with my nket so I wouldn''t have to see anything. Hey! Who said I''m doing lewd stuff under the nkets?! I heard you!

    But I must credit the three doctors as their treatments really helped. They diagnosed me as being poisoned with the Five Venoms Divine Water mixed with some other types of venom. Fortunately for me, the venom didn''t enter the fatal zones in my body or I''d be cold in the ground.

    I did everything I could to get them to prescribe me some Saussurea involucrata and other simr types of expensive herbs, but those three doctors were as stingy as I am. They wouldn''t give me anything other than red bean-paste to invigorate my spleen and replenish my qi.

    Topensate for it, I snuck into the warehouse and stole three jugs of Laojiao*. They tasted absolutely fantastic!

    My only regret is the box of gold. I heard Boss Shen shared it with the new constables after the gold was washed. What a waste¡­

    I''ve been flipping through Liu Shan Men''s versions of the ck and White Reflection in my room thest few days. I easily learnt about the system regting warriors of the royal court.iu Shan Men, the Qilin Guards and the emperor''s entourage aren''t regted by the royal court''s orthodox regtion system. Boss Shen inherited her father''s title as an A-rank warrior, but that only affects her treatment, not her power and rights. She is only permitted to regte members of Liu Shan Men. The same applies for the captain of the Qilin Guards. Sure, he''s a hot-shot everywhere he goes, but he''s only permitted to regte the Qilin Guards.

    However, the universal system used to govern warriors by the royal court is fairly rich.

    The areas that officials govern usually have some sort power, groups and individuals from the pugilistic world active there. Without a strong warrior from the royal court to assist them, things can get tough for them, so you can imagine how they are treated by those officials.

    The measure they use for measuring a warrior''s capabilities is none other the Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. The officials will start paying attention to you once you''re ranked, and even ask you to deal with issues in the martial world in the area that they govern. But along with the sh*t and tiring jobs¡­

    The good part is, I''m always bludging work and avoiding my shifts, so I won''t get ranked. As I was considering whether I should refill my cup or not after myst drink, someone knocked on my door from outside.

    "Master Ming, Master Ming."

    I flew to my bed like a kite and pulled my nket over myself. The guard that knocked pushed the door open and came inside since I didn''t respond.

    My room is connected to Su Xiao and Tang Ye. We''re only three rooms apart. The guards who''ve been responsible for delivering me my meals thesest few days have remembered where my room is.

    I closed my eyes as soon as I heard him enter. The guard didn''t just leave my meal there and leave when he saw me asleep as he usually did though. Instead, he approached me, gave me few nudges and said: "Wake up, Master Ming."

    Get lost. How do you intend to wake someone who''s pretending to be asleep?

    "Master Ming, hurry and wake up. You''ve been ranked!"

    WHAT?!

    I got ranked for sleeping in my room for ten days?! What the heck has the worlde to?!

    I woke up shocked and asked: "What rankings?"

    The guard exultantly eximed: "Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings! Vice-captain Shen asked me to get the three of you. Master Su and Master Tang are already in the courtyard. You''re the only one they''re waiting on."

    I pushed the guard aside and ran to Su Xiao and Tang Ye. We then went straight to Boss Shen''s office. "Ming Feizhen corps. reporting in!"

    Yes, that stupid name¡­ Yes, my name was used because I was the eldest. Other famous teamse up with different names, but I don''t want to stand out, so I decided against it.

    Having not seen our boss for a few days, she''s gotten even more beautiful. She left her long hair down behind her freely today. She looked more feminine than usual, but it was very befitting of her usual demeanour where she doesn''t concern herself over petty matters, and her generous and candid personality.

    She seemed to be in a bad mood as she giggled while looking at us.

    "Not bad. You three were ranked today on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings."

    That''s the one. I was waiting for you to say that. Please give me a reasonable and logical exnation!

    "WHY?!"

    "I promoted you guys of course." I''ve found that Boss Shen likes to act cool when she gets her way and will suavely wave her hands, and say: "No need to thank me."

    Then she''ll close her eyes, and wait for us to praise and worship her.

    Tang Ye looked like he found it strange and didn''t expect it either. Nevertheless, he sincerely said: "Thank you, vice-captain."

    Su Xiao of course was in party-mode. He grabbed my sleeve and excitedly jumped up and down, and said: "How can we not thank you? Did you hear that, Brother Ming? We''ve been ranked! Look, look, I''m ranked two-hundred and fortieth!"

    Only I was criticising: "Oh, quit it. You call that getting ranked? Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings only have one-hundred ces. How''d you get ranked two-hundred and fortieth?"

    Boss Shen then shot herself in the foot as she stared at me and said: "You''re not entirely correct. The official version you see only ranks the top one-hundred. Why ''top one-hundred''? That''s because the top one-hundred are selected from arger list. The top one-hundred is the official one everyone sees. This is the underground ranking, which ranks the top one-hundredth and one to the top four hundred. Ming Feizhen, don''t spout nonsense if you don''t know what you''re talking about."

    "What do you mean I''m spouting nonsense?"

    I''ve been reading a lot of the ck and White Reflection thesest few days in my room. I counted my fingers like a mathematician and said: "The official version of Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings only ranks the top one-hundred warriors in the royal court. Everybody knows the top twenty are rtively special. The remaining eighty are ranked using the celestial stem**. The top twenty one to top forty are designated the Jia level. Ranks forty one to sixty are Yi level, and so one. Haha. Two hundredth and forty? You won''t even make the Ren or Gui levels."

    Su Xiao pursed his lips, disappointed and kept silent.

    "Enough from you, Ming Feizhen!" Shen Yiren stood up and showed her beautiful face.

    Sh*t! The boss is going to lose it now! Before I could even start evading, Shen Yiren grabbed my ear and pulled me over.

    "Why do you always go against me? Who''s your boss?!"

    "I-it''s you!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "So whose orders do you follow then?"

    "You! Now let go."

    This is embarrassing! Su Xiao wasughing. Su Xiaoughing is nothing new. But Tang Ye, you block of wood¡­ Can''t you even smile like "Sucked in"? God, I want to hit you!

    But our boss wasn''t done. She continued pinching me ear and said: "Okay, in that case, what''s the status of the case of the thief who stole the three jugs of Laojiao in the warehouse that I asked you to investigate yesterday? Have you found the culprit?"

    Oh, about that¡­

    "I''m still investigating it. The culprit is extremely clever, sly, smart, suave and handsome. He didn''t leave any clues behind."

    "How dare you bullsh*t me!" Shen Yiren smacked me in the face with an inkstone again¡­ Hey, enough! What the hell is with you and your bloody inkstones?! How many times is this?!

    "Su Xiao found the three jugs in your room. Ming Feizhen, you trying to be clever now, are you? You''re even stealing wine from the warehouse now."

    Su Xiao!! You fucking traitor!

    Didn''t we agree to keep that secret?! I treated you like a brother and yet you betrayed me?!

    When Su Xiao saw the murderous intent in my eyes, he was slightly confused, and quickly avoided eye-contact: "What we said a few days ago doesn''t count. And Tang Ye said you didn''t even return at night."

    Fuck you, Tang Ye! Make sure you hide yourself here you bitch!!

    Tang Ye returned my look of determination and hinted: Alright, tonight, how about it?

    Me: Fuck you! Who''d want to meet you at night!

    Tang Ye put on a tantly obvious expression of disappointment. Su Xiao didn''t understand our eye-conversation and looked on with envy¡­ Could you please not act like that? It makes the atmosphere in our team weird.

    Notes:

    *Laojiao = A very famous liquor in China

    ** The ten Celestial or Heavenly Stems are a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear during the Shang dynasty, ca. 1250 BCE, as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day of the Shang week.

 Volume 1 42 Thatâ€™s Because Youâ€™re Stupid

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 42 That''s Because You''re Stupid</h4>

    Shen Yiren set us straight: "Alright, stop picking on them. You''re older than them, and yet you''re the one that''s least reliable. All three of you are ranked. Tang Ye is ranked two-hundred and twentieth, Su Xiao is ranked two-hundred and fortieth, and you''re ranked four hundredth. Reflect on yourself, alright?"

    "Wait a second!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I don''t want to be ranked, but since I''m ranked, they need to rank me appropriately.

    "Why are Su Xiao and Tang Ye ranked so high? Wasn''t I the one that solved the case? Why are they the ones getting the credit?"

    "If you''re looking at the big picture, then you''re right." Shen Yiren wore a helpless expression and continued: "But once I recounted everything you did, Sir Sui felt that you didn''t actually do anything incredible. As a matter of fact, you were ranked thanks to them."

    What?

    3, 2, 1 thinks otherwise?

    "I don''t ept this! I want a proper exnation!"

    "First, Su Xiao was the one that stopped the fight between the Qilin Guards and the Orange Prince''s men, right?"

    "¡­Y-yeah."

    She wouldn''t believe me if I told her I took down all six of them, right?

    "Right. And the one who took down the grave robbers was Tang Ye, right?"

    "Yeah."

    "And when Jia Yunfeng snuck attack us when the Orange Prince came looking for trouble, Su Xiao was the one who stopped the Orange Prince, while Tang Ye stopped Jia Yunfeng, right? All you did was take the book from the tomb. Heck, you even got poisoned and then ended up throwing it wherever. In fact, you nearly put it into the Orange Prince''s hands, right?"

    "Yes."

    "So your ranking is justified."

    Son of a bitch!!!

    What sort of fucking logic is this?!!

    Boss Shen ignored me. It was rare, but she was gentle for once. She said: "You guys have worked hard. That was a very important step. If you can''t even make the underground ranks, you won''t get selected topete in the imperial martial arts tournament. I''m very happy that you three have achieved this feat in less than half-a-month of joining. I''ll give you guys half-a-day off work today, go and have fun."

    Su Xiao who was sixteen was still at the yful age. He happily grabbed my arm and said: "Brother Ming, Brother Ming, where are we going to go?"

    Me: "Eight Deities Tavern! Dong Po Restaurant! Choose one!"

    Su Xiao: "Ugh! I don''t want to eat braised pork shoulders with soy sauce."

    You finally said it! You''re a stupid, tasteless, uncultured idiot who doesn''t understand the intricacies, culture and beauty of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce!

    Tang Ye didn''t look happy. That punk is a martial-arts-training-nut. He''s probably going to use this break to train. Fine, I''ll definitely trick Su Xiao into treating me to braised pork shoulders in soy sauce!

    Shen Yiren out of the blue said: "Yan Ling, don''t train today."

    "¡­.."ooks like she hit the nail on the head. Tang Ye didn''t look too natural.

    "I know you''re dedicated to your martial arts training. I want you to be stronger too. But closing yourself off isn''t going to help you improve. You''re still young so spend some time on your own life. Go see how others spend their time and life." Boss Shen is only a year older than Tang Ye, but she had much more life-experience than him. She was bestowed the A-rank warrior title by the emperor himself after all.

    I gestured to Tang Ye to drink: Let''s drink. You foot the bill.

    Tang Ye smiled and nodded, so I guess he agreed.

    Fantastic! Su Xiao''s treating me to food, and Tang Ye''s treating me to drinks today!

    Just as I was struggling to decide between the Eight Deities Tavern and Dong Po Restaurant, Shen Yiren said: "But. One of you performed very poorly. Yan Ling, Xiao Han, you two go on ahead. Ming Feizhen, you stay back." Tang Ye and Su Xiao looked at each other, felt that something was a bit strange, but left anyway.

    Hmm?

    Th-this again? She smacked me in the face with an inkstonest time she told me to stay behind.

    I''m not going to answer any of your questions pertaining to me peeping at your boobs just now.

    "You were checking me out again just now, weren''t you? You''re always stepping out of line."

    Fuck, busted again!!

    "I''m sorry, boss!"

    I retreated a step as I feared her Divine Inkstonesmanship. Shen Yiren stepped closer. Her long swan-like beautiful neck and her jade-like tall stature meant that she only had to tilt her head upwards slightly to look at me. Our eyes met. I didn''t know what to do.

    She looked at me for a long time before asking: "Why?"

    Is that a trick question?

    "B-because you''re pretty."

    Shen Yiren paused, then blushed and asked: "I didn''t ask you about that. I was asking you why you wanted to stay at Liu Shan Men?"

    Huh? That''s your question?

    "To be honest, I recruited you in the first ce to get your gugu to join Liu Shan Men. I also knew your sect would be a good source of support, which is why I made an exception and recruited you as officially as an official constable."

    She then continued: "Su Xiao is naive and pure. He''s not skilled yet but his ideals align with ours. I believe he should stay as it''s the best ce for him to enact and pursue his ideals. Tang Ye may be out for vengeance, but I believe I can help him find the culprit and help him get his revenge, thereby making this a suitable home for him.

    But I have no idea what you''re after. Ming Feizhen, answer me, can Liu Shan Men provide you with what you want? Why did you choose this ce?"

    "I want to ask you a question first, vice-captain."

    "Ask away."

    "It''s about that book. If I couldn''t get the book to the emperor like that back there, and it was up to you, how would you have dealt with it?" I paused for a moment and then continued in a stronger tone: "Everybody knows that the emperor dotes on his sons. He may not punish the Orange Prince severely even if he knew about his corruption. However, Liu Shan Men would end up offending a prince like that."

    "I¡­" Shen Yiren paused to think and then said: "I''d still bash him."

    I sighed and said: "How stupid."

    Shen Yiren looked at me with disdain and said: "You''re fucking stupid."

    "I wouldn''t do something so stupid if I were you." I rubbed my face that was hurting slightly and continued: "But I''m very proud that I have a superior who''d do something stupid like that. That''s why I chose Liu Shan Men. Are you satisfied with this answer of mine, vice-captain?"

    Shen Yiren kept her eyes on me. I wasn''t sure what her evaluation of me was.

    She then suddenly said: "Boss."

    "What?"

    Shen Yiren nced and me and said: "In future, call me ''boss'' when we''re alone. You''ve called me boss so many times that I''m not used to it when you call me vice-captain."

    "Boss! I, Ming Feizhen shall serve you with every fibre of my being!"

    "Go and have fun with Yan Ling and Su Xiao. You have to return to work tomorrow so don''t go overboard. Do you have anything left to say?"

    I rubbed my face that got smacked with the inkstone and said: "No, nothing¡­ Oh, you don''t close the door properly sometimes when you get changed, so I stood guard for you in case someone tried to peep. You don''t have to thank me."

    Smack. Smack.

    I got pped with an inkstone again¡­ To hell with this Divine Insktonesmanship!

 Volume 1 43 The Orange Prince Wants to Stir Trouble

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 43 The Orange Prince Wants to Stir Trouble</h4>

    The melodies of bamboo musical instruments could be heard and beautiful dancers dancing could be seen at the Orange Prince''s residence, however, he was in no mood to enjoy the beautiful scene.

    I heard he got even more irritated after and fell to the floor with a loud thud while he had a cup of tea in one hand. I heard he got injured from his fall. The dancers and musicians went pale but they didn''t dare to stop ying and dancing. Everybody knows the prince gets angry easily, but you can''t show your fear of his rage in front of him or he''d get even angrier.

    "Get lost!! All of you!!"

    Everybody in the room felt like they''d just been spared the death penalty at his order and swiftly left the room. There was only one swordsman dressed in white who stayed by his side. That swordsman was none other than the prince''spetent assistant, Hua Shan''s leader, Jia Yunfeng.

    "Who the hell is that guy?! Howe my men didn''t find anything after three days when he found it in the blink of an eye?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The men the Orange Prince sent were Jia Yunfeng''s disciples, so he was basically attacking him by saying that.

    Jia Yunfeng embarrassingly said: "There''s no need to get angry, your highness. I''ve looked into that guy. He''s just a constable that was recruited by Liu Shan Men recently called Ming Feizhen. Your highness, you know how Liu Shan Men held a recruitment exam recently to reinforce their ranks and show off at the martial arts tournament, so their recruits can''t be bad."

    The Orange Prince mmed his hand on the table and eximed: "He''s not bad, while your men are fucking disgraceful! I had Hua Shan, Song Shan and Qing Cheng, threerge sects. You were the one that told me your sect could take on three sects, that''s why I went and offended the other two leaders. You then came up with the stupid idea of having your disciples disguise themselves as disciples of the Demon Sect and getting them to steal the book from Cha Yuan''s home. In the end, you couldn''t get the book and even disgraced me in front of my father."

    The prince got angrier as he spoke. He then grabbed a flower vase and said: "I''m grounded! I''m grounded! I''m the one that''s grounded! You on the other hand are fucking fine. Fuck you; grounded my mortherfucking ass!" As he was speaking he threw the vase out and shattered it to pieces.

    "Your highness, that''s a porcin vase exclusive to the pce during the Song dynasty."

    "So the fuck what?! I''m pissed off!"

    I''m stubborn!

    The prince was clearly throwing a fit and would''ve gone off whether or not Jia Yunfeng tried tofort him. Master Jia could only stand at the door silently like the swordsman he was.

    After a while when he calmed down a bit, he finally asked: "You said¡­ Liu Shan Men recruited three people right? What are their names and what are their personalities like?"

    "Yes. Liu Shan Men held a recruitment exam and recruited three young men. One is called Tang Ye, another Ming Feizhen, and another called Su Xiao." Jia Yunfeng clearly did some digging around, and counted his fingers like a mathematician as he said: "The most skilled fighter among them is Tang Ye. He knows more than ten styles. If I were to fight him, I don''t think I could defeat him within the first one hundred moves. He was the one who fought me at the Vermillion Hall that day."

    "His martial arts skills aren''t bad. I''d like to recruit him if possible. What about that bitch who took me hostage?" The prince got angry as he remembered the person who threatened him that day. He licked his lips and continued: "I want to make her my ve and make her have a taste of what it''s like to be threatened."

    "That person''s name is Su Xiao¡­" Master Jia got a little thrown off when he mentioned Su Xiao.

    "I think he''s a guy."

    The Orange Prince was stunned: "It''s a he? A guy looking that seductive?"

    "I think so. I''m not too sure, because even Liu Shan Men''s people aren''t sure themselves¡­"

    "Yunfeng, where do you get your information from? How did you turn a beauty into a guy? Are you telling me the one that threatened me and held me hostage is a monster? Is your informant the leader of the Demon Sect, or is he the leader of the martial world alliance?"

    Jia Yunfeng is without question smart and strong, but the three Shen Yiren chose are just rarities. He could only sigh and ept it as bad luck: "His name is Ming Feizhen. There''s not much information on him. I just heard he''s the disciple of a famous and reputable sect."

    "So what if he''s from a famous sect? Can any other famous sectpare to you? You just don''t want to help, right?" The Orange Prince has been grounded for ten downs now and had no freedom. He got angrier and asked: "Where are you, Batian?"

    "Present. Please give me your orders, your highness."

    A big formidable, mean looking guy in a grey robe from outside came in.

    He was thergest tyrant in the capital called Xiang Batian. His family was originally served the empress. Decades ago, the emperor married her when he was still just a prince. They did a lot for the empress so after the emperor ascended the throne and the empress was in power, she brought them along. They''re a family which can pretty much have their way in the capital.

    Xiang Batian is a deviant in the Xiang family. He was born with a strong mind and body, as well as loving to fight. He was picking fights with gangsters in the capital before he was thirteen or fourteen and also usually won. He attacks viciously, never pulling any punches. Most of his opponents suffered severe injuries like broken bones or damaged nerves.

    The elders of the Xiang family felt that he was hard to restrain so they sent him to Cold Mountain Temple, one of the eightrgest sects in Jiang Nan to study Buddhism and learn martial arts. They were trying to improve his personality and temperament. Before they knew it, twenty years had passed.

    When he returned, he was an adult. He studied Buddhism and learnt martial arts in those twenty years but his personality didn''t improve. As a matter of fact, he got more violent and vicious. The temple advocated peace and kindness. The elders of Cold Mountain Temple understood his temperament, so they didn''t teach him any high level martial arts. They just had him clean and do mundane chores.

    Xiang Batian never could stand life in the temple. Add on the fact that he wasn''t taught martial arts, and his hatred only grew. One night, he strangled a samanera who was on cleaning duty with him to death. He then stole some secret manuals in the attic he was tasked with cleaning. He stole a copy of the "Cold Heavens Sabre Arts", and a copy of the "Golden Armour" manuals. He then left Jiang Nan and spent over a decade mastering them before returning.

    He didn''t rush to return. The first thing he did was return to Cold Mountain Temple, and decapitated the shifu which put him on cleaning duty. He even killed the seven monks who tried to apprehend him. The incident shook all of Jiang Nan. That made it hard for him to find his footing in the martial world, so he could only serve government officials and the sort.

    He then used his family''s rtionship with the empress to join the Orange Prince. The Orange Prince had always behaved like he was above thew, so he was happy to have people like Xiang Batian at his disposal.

    The princeughed evilly and said: "Haha, Batian, is life in the residence alright for you? Are you still ''using'' that female entertainer I rewarded you?"

    Xiang Batian yed along. Heughed evilly and said: "She''s fantastic! You''ve got good taste, your highness. That girl is great."

    "That goes without saying. Not only do I have good taste, I can also use my hips very well. Hahahahaha." The Orange Prince has been depressed thesest few days, so he was very d to have someone who he could get along with.

    Jia Yunfeng stood silently to one side with his eyes slightly shut. He acted as the Orange Prince''s personal bodyguard as the leader of a sect, so he was treated differently. Moreover, he was prideful and wouldn''t talk with the prince about these unbing sorts of topics.

    "Master Jia, you''re not asleep are you?"

    Jia Yunfeng was the Orange Prince''s best warrior. Xiang Batian was always eyeing his position. He always wore a look of scrutiny on his face when he met Jia Yunfeng.

    "Master Jia, we''ve been working together for a year now, so why are you still acting so distant?"

    Jia Yunfeng had never liked Xiang Batian, so he frowned but refrained from answering.

    "Cut the bullsh*t. Batian, you can choose any of the warriors from my residence. Pick and choose until you''re happy." The Orange Prince wore a cruel and cold smile which contradicted his violent temperament, and continued: "I want you to go beat someone up, capture another and kill the other!"

 Volume 1 44 You Got Drunk After Two Sniffs. You Canâ€™t Drink for Sh*t

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 44 You Got Drunk After Two Sniffs. You Can''t Drink for Sh*t</h4>

    The flowernterns ascended to the sky, while the shadow of the moon obscured things.

    Our small team of three strolled along a four way intersection towards the South of the capital.

    Dong Po Restaurant is to the East of the capital, and the Eight Deities Tavern is to the West of the capital. But because of Su Xiao''s objections, we ended up going to the fucked up South of the capital.

    I insisted on eating braised pork shoulders with soy sauce, but Su Xiao would rather die than agree. We argued for-and-against back-and-forth but couldn''t reach a conclusion. In the end, we didn''t go to Dong Po Restaurant or the Eight Deities Tavern, instead, we went to the third ce I rmended.

    This ce is a rtively secluded unlike big restaurants like the Eight Deities Tavern or Dong Po Restaurant. This ce is just a small restaurant. The interior decorations and furniture are rtively in. In fact, the tables and chairs are somewhat dirty. The weather today is perfect for an outing but this ce is dead as usual.

    People who haven''t been here before probably don''t know its good points, but I can attest that this ce has great dishes.

    This ce has a special name: Years like des.

    "Stop!" Su Xiao suddenly had a thought that there was more to the name and asked: "Years like des? What des?"

    Iughed smugly and said: "Hmph, ask them yourself."

    The shopkeeper across from us heard Su Xiao''s question, snorted and said: "Sui Yue* is the name of a knife used to butcher pigs!"

    Su Xiao couldn''t believe his ears. He looked at me and asked: "We''vee all the way to the South and you still managed find a ce to eat braised pork shoulders with soy sauce?!"

    I red at him and retorted: "Don''t crap out of your mouth. There''s no braised pork shoulder with soy sauce here! There''s only braised pork feet here!"

    "Isn''t that the same thing?!"

    WHAT?! How dare you, you ignorant punk! How dare you insult braised pork shoulders with soy sauce and braised pork feet!

    Tang Ye ignored us and sat down first: "I''m covering the drinks, and Su Xiao''s covering the food, correct?"

    "Mixed pork feet flowers, Dong Po pork shoulders, gold pork cheeks, spicy pig waists¡­ Why is everything pork?!" Su Xiao looked at me with contempt and said: "I want something light!"

    "Eat this then." I chucked him the cucumber in my hand that I''d eaten half of.

    Su Xiao went red in the face. He threw it back at me and said: "What are you trying to imply by giving me this?! You''re the one that''s a sulkingdy! I''m a man!"

    Sh*t! You''re quite knowledgeable, young man!

    I see that you''re very dirty-minded!

    "Waiter! I want this, this, this, and this¡­" I ignored him and ordered a whole series of dishes I''d wanted to eat for a long time but couldn''t of my thin wallet.

    "Brother Ming! You''re not allowed to order so much pork shoulders! Waiter, give him a bowl of soup, a small te of vegetables¡­ Actually, peanuts will do."

    "Are you feeding a chicken?!"

    Tang Ye ordered his wine while we weren''t paying attention. He''s usually quiet and says very little. I wonder how he holds his liquor. I think I detected a hint of difort on the shopkeeper''s face as though the restaurant was in a chaotic mess.

    I quickly asked the waiter what he ordered. When he told me what he ordered, I almost spat the cucumber in my mouth out.

    "What did you order ten jugs of green bamboo leaves for?!"

    The waiter panicked and said: "Our green bamboo leaves are different to other ces. It''s much stronger. Just a few drinks will make you drunk. Usually people buy in cups."

    Tang Ye replied: "It''s fine, just bring out what I ordered."

    Su Xiao pped his hands and said: "Great! Great! We''re usually always on missions. We finally get to have a drink today."

    Forget Tang Ye, Su Xiao can drink now?!

    I nned to get both of them drunk today! But now¡­ Aren''t I the one that''s going to end up getting drunk?

    The waiter tiresomely brought the jugs over one by one: "Your wine is here!" He then ced threerge bowls on our table. He looked at us as if our bellies were going to transform into wine barrels and looked at us with a gaze of worship.

    Tang Ye opened the lid and lifted up the jug of wine. The strong alcoholic scent filled the air like it was travelling along a transparent thread that immediately captured our hearts.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I gulped down my saliva.

    Well, screw it, it''s not like I''m paying, I''m just going to enjoy it.

    Tang Ye filled up the three bowls and ced one in front of each of us. He then raised his own bowl.

    Su Xiao was acting like a mouse as he raised his bowl with two hands, sniffed the alcohol and then put on a blissful smile all of a sudden.

    I then raised my bowl too.

    "Alright. We''ve been a team for half a month now. Thank you brothers and sisters, I mean, brothers for looking after me. In future, we shall work together, and share the burdens and fortunes together. To our bright futures and friendship, cheers."

    I finally finished giving my embarrassing speech.

    "Cheers!"

    I raised my bowl up and knocked it back. Mmm~ it sure tastes great! I one-shot the bowl and blew all my air out after as though this didn''t count as a drink.

    "Ha! This wine is strong! You guys¡­"

    Thud.

    Thud.

    I saw two guys pass out before even taking a sip. Their heads banged on the table, and when I checked, they were out cold.

    Hey¡­¡­

    You guys got drunk just sniffing it! You guys can''t drink for sh*t!

    Oh well, now I don''t have to go out of my way to get them drunk.

    I continued eating and drinking at the table. I ate the dishes and drank the wine as they were served up. And of course I ordered the pork feet that that Su Xiao stopped me from ordering.

    "Burp~"

    I belched loudly. I cleared all the dishes on the table and finished all ten jugs of wine.

    The two kids were out cold, and missed out on the dishes and the wine.

    Time to get on with business.

    I got up and said: "You, the one hiding over there,e out."

    A fewrge looking men came out from the dark alley. The leader of the group was very tall. Judging by his breathing pattern, he should''ve learnt the Qi Hardening technique, and Golden Armour type of arts. The others were nothingpared to him.

    The leader took big strides towards me whileughing loudly, and said: "You three must be the three my master are after. Announce yourself so that I don''t waste my time. I don''t like to ask questions."

    My table was at a dark obscure corner. The light from streetmps didn''t reach this location, and since I was looking down, he didn''t see what I looked like.

    I kept silent.

    "Didn''t I just say I don''t like to ask questions?"

    Heughed hideously and threw his fist towards my face. He was aggressive and his strike caused a ripple in the wind that sounded like the cry of a night owl, while the force was like lightning strike. His strike was powerful, but his fist turned soft part way through.

    I caught his jelly-like body because he passed out and tossed him aside.

    Before he churned up his qi, he got struck by my palm strike. Because my strike hit his meridians, he was going to be out for three days, and he shouldn''t remember anything after waking up.

    I shot a nce at the other four who were still clueless as to what happened.

    "Your master is in bad luck, I''m not free today."

    Before the look of surprise in their eyes disappeared, I attacked with a palm strike which split into four directions and entrapped them. All four of them passed out in an instant without knowing what happened.

    There was nothing special about my palm strike. I just boosted it with my internal energy from Yijin Jing and executed it quickly. If you could take that instant and split it into four different intervals, you could probably get a clearer picture of what I mean. The four of them got hit one by one.

    Before they passed out, I caught a glimpse of their eyes which showed that they had no idea what was going on, as well as the fear you feel when something exceeds yourprehension. The look in their eyes reminded me of the old days.

    Back then¡­ But doesn''t everybody look at me like that anyway?

    I looked up at the moon in the night sky.

    I think the moon had a clear colour like that back then too.

    There are a lot of other things I have to do tonight.

    I''d better get moving.

    After two steps, I turned around and yelled to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper! The bill for the meal will be paid by the maiden inside~"

    The shopkeeper ran out after, nced at the sweet sleeping Su Xiao who was smiling like an idiot and said: "Okay~ it''s your treat!"

    Notes:

    *ËêÔÂ(Sui Yue) = Years; the original phrase used here isËêÔÂÈçµ¶

 Volume 1 45 Detective Ming Feizhen

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 45 Detective Ming Feizhen</h4>

    "Vige chief, thank you for opening the door for me sote at night. By the way, why do you have the keys to Cha Yuan''s house?"

    "If I didn''t have a copy of the key, what would we do if someone couldn''t return home at night? That''s why those who trust me in the vige have me keep a copy of their key with me." The vige chief shakily took out a key and opened the lock. Well, this is nice since I won''t have to damage Cha Yuan''s door now.

    "Sir Ming, you must be considerate of us citizens as an official."

    Since when was I an official¡­?

    "Chief, I''m a constable, not an official."

    "It''s all the same. Sir Ming, I''m d you''re here. Something strange happened in our vige and I''d like to hear your judgement." As soon as he stuck the key in, he stopped. He looked at me and revealed a genuinely sly smile.

    Fuck, is he threatening me?

    "Alright, alright, let''s hear it."

    "It''s nothing much really. It''s just that people always drown in ake in our vige during autumn. What do you suggest we do?"

    Are you people brainless? If people drown in autumn, why not just go in summer then?

    The vige chief''s reply was even more mind-boggling: "That''s no use. They all drown in summer."

    "How the heck do they still die in summer?"

    "We''re used to going there in summer. I exined it to them as soon as the season changed."

    "¡­¡­"

    Fucking retards!

    I ignored the vige chief''s rambling, extended my hand and unlocked the door. I then looked towards the vige chief and gave him an inexpressive smile.

    "Please stop, chief. I need to conduct an investigation of the scene, so citizens are not permitted to enter."

    The vige chief thud his chest and said: "You officials!"

    How many times do I have to say it? I''m not an official!

    I quickly and quietly entered Cha Yuan''s house. I knocked left and right to see if there were any suspicious ces.

    Although the emperor has exined the story to me, there''s still something that I can''t get over.

    That question is how do the disciples of Hua Shan know the Demon Sects martial arts?

    I had no exnation for that.

    At first I thought that Hua Shan''s Energy Fusion Technique was special and could be used to imitate the martial arts of other sects. But after thinking about it, The No Man No Me technique is a technique taught to new disciples of the Demon Sect, but the Hua Shan disciples were able to mix some genuine techniques with some fake techniques and pass it off convincingly. Even the Qilin Guards who specialise in subduing the Demon Sect couldn''t tell.

    Some people think it''s easy to learn the Demon Sect''s basic swordsmanship, but that''s not true.ots of martial artists don''t spare a thought for the fundamental techniques of schools. But isn''t it said that experts can apply the techniques tobat just by seeing them? Shaolin''s abbot''s Yijin Jing is renowned throughout the martial world, but if you were to ask him to perform Wu Dang''s kicks, which is from Wu Dang''s Long Fist style that any farmer could do, he may not be able to perform the whole thing. The underlying principles of each style are different, so just merely watching isn''t enough. One needs to train it before they can use it.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    So saying that the Hua Shan disciples could use the basic swordsmanship style of the Demon Sect is ridiculous. Most importantly, what medium did they learn it through? I don''t think there''s a prick like my shifu in Hua Shan who''d knock all the elders of the Demon Sect out using poison and then steal their secret manuals.

    Hua Shan is a famous sect of justice. Even if we say that they were researching other styles, they''d research Shaolin''s Staff style, Wu Dang''s Fists or even Emei''s Swordsmanship, not the Demon Sect''s style. And this so-called researches in two forms.

    The first form is where two friendly sects engage in exchanges with each other and learn from one another.

    The second form is where disciples of a sect encounter other disciples from other sects in the pugilistic world, memorise their techniques, imitate them when they return and record them.

    There''s no way Hua Shan and the Demon Sect were holding sparring sessions and exchanging knowledge. It''s not strange for them to know a few moves if they encountered disciples of the Demon Sect in the pugilistic world, but all the techniques from a move-set? That''s unbelievable.

    As such, the only interpretation left is that those Hua Shan disciples learnt the techniques from someone who knows the Demon Sect''s martial arts.

    In other words, there are still members of the Demon Sect hiding in the capital.

    I entered Cha Yuan''s room and swept my eye over it. His son has been living here since he passed away. The room was absolutely filthy as though there were venomous snakes slithering around. I should''ve expected that much since his son, Zha Pi, wouldn''t have taken care of it given his personality.

    I wasn''t hugely interested in the objects in the room, but the overall feel.

    The disciples of the Demon Sect have a system for choosing the direction of the door, the location of beam pirs, where furniture is ced, the materials and even its scent are different. The room was messy but had a faint sense of familiarity.

    It''s the exact same as the room of a disciple of the Demon Sect.

    But the most important piece of the puzzle was still missing.

    I looked around and then walked towards Cha Yuan''s spiritual tablet. The room was a mess but the tablet looked like it was the only thing looked after. It looked like somebody had been very careful with cleaning it. Zha Pi is staying at Liu Shan Men and hasn''t been back in more than ten days.

    I touched the tablet with my left hand. It was made from bamboo and carried the scent of orchids. The scent was so faint that it most likely would''ve been missed had it not been me.

    The scent reminded me of something.

    I used to always smell this scent many years ago.

    This isn''t something from the central ins.

    There''s a type of bamboo that''s proud but not lonely, which contains a serene sent like the one from Empty Valley Orchid. This bamboo is called Lan Jun Zhu, and is grown in a ce to the West called Lawless and Boundless.awless and Boundless is one of the tworge factions of the Demon Sect. It''s where the headquarters of the Dark Moon Faction is located.

    There was a big fight between Ximen Chuideng and the sects of justice there five years ago.

    I finally realised who was hiding in the capital.

    I also finally realised why those from the Orange Prince''s residence chose to disguise themselves as Lan Jun Zhu Kong''s members now.

    It really is them.

    It''s the Dark Moon Faction of the Demon Sect''s fourth rank - Lan Jun Zhu Kong.

 Volume 1 46 Lan Jun Zhu Kong

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 46 Lan Jun Zhu Kong</h4>

    There are a group of people that can be described as so.

    They move around while avoiding attracting attention.

    You''ll find them in temples as well as in the pugilistic world. You''ll find traces of them in the marketce as well as the pce.

    They go about their business extremely low-key. You may know of them, but you''ll be hard-pressed to state exactly what it is they''re doing. What''s even harder is pinpointing their location.

    They may not do much, but when they do something, it''s always something huge. They''re usually elusive, but when they do appear, they appear in a shocking manner.

    They serve the emperor faithfully and take orders from him directly.

    They are the emperor''s entourage.

    On a night with few stars. At an abandoned courtyard at the outskirts of Nan Jing.

    A tall handsome man stared into the courtyard. His surname was Tie, and his given name was Hanyi. People in the pugilistic world call him Tiexue Hanyi. They call him so as his martial arts have reached their peak. His internal energy is in a league of its own making him formidable. ording to legend, a man once said that arge sabre weighing more than thirty kilograms was used to cut down on Tiexue Hanyi during his sleep. But when the de was brought down, there was only a ng sound. The de got chipped, but Tie Hanyi was perfectly fine.

    Tie Hanyi is ranked twenty-first on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. He''s basically got a shoe in for the top twenty ranks to join those in the Jia level. He''s also one of the highly skilled fighters in the emperor''s entourage.

    There was a young looking beauty standing next to Tie Hanyi. She had a bow silver strapped to her back and was covered with a ck cloth to keep it hidden. She too is a highly skilled fighter in the emperor''s entourage. The pugilistic world calls her Ye Luo of the Silver Bow Falling Leaf. She may be young but her archery skills are incredible. She once shot through seven leaves which a single arrow, hence her moniker. She''s ranked just below Tie Hanyi on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings at rank twenty-two.

    Those in the pugilistic looked at the beautiful couple as a star of cmity though.

    Those in the pugilistic world aren''t afraid of Liu Shan Men if they haven''t done any evil deeds. If they haven''t offended any officials or ministers, then they need not be afraid of the Qilin Guards. But everybody avoids the emperor''s entourage regardless of whether they''re with the good or bad sects, because they''re the gue. It''s literally like getting arrested for cleaning your own house.

    The emperor''s entourage handles big cases of the royal family. When they take action, it''s out of necessity and when the fuse has been lit, meaning it''s toote to do anything. When they appear, you know that it''s going to rain blood. Even if you just happened to bump into them then, you won''t be able to escape unscathed.

    Since Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo appeared, it means this ce had caught their attention.

    They were investigating an unsolved case, a case that was considered a cold case.

    Cha Yuan was killed a year ago by the Demon Sect, but the reasons surrounding his death are unclear.

    Cha Yuan was a member of the emperor''s entourage and was once in Tie Hanyi''s position. When he was still alive, he snuck into the Orange Prince''s residence to gather evidence of his misdeeds. It always went smoothly, but he was somehow discovered during thest infiltration after handing over evidence, which resulted in the Orange Prince''s men trying to kill him. But in the end, he ended up dying at the hands of the Demon Sect.

    Tie Hanyi was once Cha Yuan''s subordinate so he wanted to find out the reason behind his superior''s death as well as find out who the culprit was. Based on the evidence thus far, he deduced that this courtyard was highly suspicious.

    Everything was going to be revealed tonight.

    Tie Hanyi pushed the door open and the two of them snuck in. The courtyard was supposedly once the property of an official, but was then abandoned for unknown reasons. People rarelye by the ce so it was fairly deserted.

    But there was somebody there in that deserted ce.

    "It''s a beggar." Ye Luo looked at the man sleeping with his head and face covered in the middle of the courtyard, and said: "Brother Tie, be careful, it might be a trap."

    Tie Hanyi found it strange too but didn''tment. He just gave Ye Luo an order with his eyes. Ye Luo gracefully nodded and reached for the bow on her back.

    "I''m going to speak to him." Tie Hanyi took a few steps forward while Ye Luo stayed back outside the door to support him with her bow. That''s their tactic as a team.

    Tie Hanyi took two steps forward. Then the shadow of a person from the roof came flying towards him like an arrow. In front of him was a punch, the wind was extremely strong, and the force of the strike was like thunder. His opponent wasn''t any less skilled than him.

    If Tie Hanyi were to retreat now, the opponent would go for Ye Luo. Ye Luo may be skilled with her bow, but she was weak with close quarter''sbat, so she mightn''t have been able to fend against the attacker''s powerful attacks. Tie Hanyi paused, roared and then retaliated with his own punch.

    His opponent didn''t cower, and took three punches and a kick head-on. When their fists collided, it was like two sledgehammers banging against each other which would worry anyone.

    Tie Hanyi just took a small step back and stopped his body while his opponent used the Seven Stars Steps to retreat, putting a big distance between them. Tie Hanyi now saw clearly that the opponent was wearing clothing made of cloth and his appearance wasn''t anything shocking. In fact, he looked like a forthright man.

    Tie Hanyi shouted: "Who are you?!" After he finished speaking, he noticed his inner breathing was slightly erratic. It turned out that he was unable topletely nullify the attacks of his opponent and had already suffered minor injuries. He finally realised why his opponent used the Seven Stars Steps. He did that to nullify the impact of his own punch.

    Tie Hanyi was shook, and he sunk his breath to his dan tian: "Who are you? Why did you attack me?"

    The beggar on the ground looked like he got woken up by the noise. He looked at Tie Hanyi and then suddenly shouted: "Heavens, please donate some money to me."

    Tie Hanyi has already been attacked so he didn''t know if the beggar was up to something: "Spare me the theatrics, who are you trying to fool? Get up!" He aggressively grabbed the shoulder of the beggar which shattered the shoulder bones of the beggar.

    The beggar cried and shrieked. He was in so much pain he was in tears: "Oh my god, help me! I''m beating assaulted by an official, please help me! You can''t do this even if it''s the capital!"

    Tie Hanyi was stunned. Does this beggar really not know any martial arts?

    The beggar cried: "What did you hit me for?! It hurts! Oh my god! My shoulder is broken!"

    While maintaining his guard against the strong man he fought earlier, he apologised: "Sorry sir, I thought you were a bad person. Pleasee over here so that my colleague can protect you."

    The beggar went from sad to happy. His sad face rxed itself and he revealed an evil smile: "There''s no need for that then. I''m not a good person after all." Tie Hanyi was alert once again. A silver light shed from underneath he beggar''s sleeve and reached for his neck.

    Tie Hanyi raised his right arm to guard himself, and when the de made contact with him, a ng rang through the air.

    The beggar continued with his evilugh but didn''t stop. He shed a hundred times at Tie Hanyi. His appearance is regurgitating, but his skills as a martial artist are genuine.

    The strong man from before had returned and now it was two versus one. The surprise attack from the beggar threw Tie Hanyi off and he lost the advantage, thereby putting him on his back foot.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Unsurprisingly, after ten moves when the beggar had enough internal energy umted, he chopped at Tie Hanyi''s right arm again. Tie Hanyi couldn''t churn up his energy in time, resulting in a skin deep cut that revealed his bone. Blood from his wound spilled forth.

    The strong manughed and said: "How touching! I''ve heard your alias before. If you don''t spill a little blood, how can you live up to it?"

    The beggarughed evilly and said: "I once heard that someone tried to cut you with arge sabre in your sleep but couldn''t scratch you. Ignorant people would think that it''s the Qi Hardening Technique, but they wouldn''t be aware that not all sabres are created equal. A de used by a farmer can''tpare to a formidable de."

    Tie Hanyi had no time to respond. He was already in danger as is. He shouted: "Ye Luo! Fire consecutively to support me!" However, wait as he may, her arrows never came.

    Ye Luo appeared after being unable to cope with her situation. She appeared with someone who looked like a teacher from the country side who appeared silently and the two were engaged in battle. The teacher looking man was wielding a sword. He was an expert with the sword. His attacks were sessive and swift leaving her with no room to counter. After his first attack, Ye Luo waspletely on her back foot. She didn''t have a single opportunity to even set her bow up.

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo couldn''t believe their eyes. They were in the capital, not Heluo or the martial world in Jiang Nan, ces where martial arts fights are intense. How did they ever run into such powerful foes?

    There were two cries as Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo had their meridian points sealed at the same time. Their bodies went numb as they fell to the ground.

    Tie Hanyi roared like an injured lion: "Who on Earth are you people?!"

    The strong manughed and said: "You charged into here without knowing what this ce is? How many lives do you think you have?"

    What is this ce?

    Tie Hanyi was baffled. He raised his head to look at them but could only see the moonlight, which shone onto the pirs of the courtyard that had two phrases inscribed on them.

    The two phrases were: Wen Jun is so elegant, yet does not know of Lan Jun bamboo.

    A name which had long vanished came to mind.

    "Lan Jun Zhu Kong!"

    Notes:

    Dan tian: Loosely tranted as "elixir field", "sea of qi", or simply "energy centre". Dantian are the Qi Focus Flow Centres, important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong, martial arts such as Tai Chi, and in traditional Chinese medicine.

 Volume 1 47 Anecdotes of the Divine Moon Sect

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 47 Anecdotes of the Divine Moon Sect</h4>

    "What are you Lan Jun Zhu Kong demon disciples nning to achieve by sneaking into the capital?!"

    The strong man looked as honest as ever. He responded: "We don''t intend to do anything. Ever since the Divine Moon Sect went into chaos, we brothers have secluded ourselves in the outskirts of the city."

    Tie Hanyi had kept track of the timeline. The Divine Moon Sect went into a chaotic state five years ago. In other words, they had been hiding here for five years.

    "So you were the ones that killed Big Brother Cha Yuan."

    "Brother Cha?" The beggar gloomily approached them. He pulled his bone back into ce as if it were nothing. His Bone Shrinking Skill was very well trained. It''s rare to see someone execute that with so much proficiency.

    "You''re members of the emperor''s entourage and yet you call a disciple of the Demon Sect ''big brother''? Hehehe, that was nicely yed by Brother Cha. I really want to join the emperor''s entourage and have some fun now."

    "What the hell are you talking about?! How could Big Brother Cha be a disciple of the Demon Sect?!"

    The strong man bitterly asked: "Cha Yuan wasn''t one of us? If he wasn''t one of us, he should''ve been able to reach the first rank of the Jia Level in just a few years given his martial skills."

    The beggar continued where he left off: "Not only was he a member of the Divine Moon Sect, he was a member of Lan Jun Zhu Kong. He went undercover in the emperor''s entourage as the captain of a small team. When our sect went into chaos, he took the initiative to contact us and said that he could help us avoid our pursuers. In exchange, he asked that we help him consolidate his position in the emperor''s entourage."

    Ye Luo cut in and eximed: "That''s impossible! Don''t listen to them, Brother Tie. Didn''t Senior Cha die to them in the end?"

    "Of course he had to go. That bastard did everything he could to aplish merits in order to leave behind a fat inheritance for his son. He even went to the Orange Prince''s residence to act as the insiders. I reminded him that he shouldn''t go to the Orange Prince''s residence. But not only did he go, he actually went and stole the records book for you people. He was naive enough to consider handing the turning the book over. He then took refuge here with us for two years while he waited for things to settle so that he could one day return to the emperor''s entourage. Fuck off! The Orange Prince would dig holes in walls to find him for stealing the records. When ites down to it, he''ll just drag us into the mess. How could we keep an idiot like that around?"

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo dropped their jaws at what they heard. So that''s how Cha Yuan died. Their superior whom they''d always respected turned out to be a disciple of the Demon Sect, and all his aplishments were achieved through the aid of these peoples. Tie Hanyi went silent after hearing the story.

    Ye Luo was different, she cleverly noticed a particr sentence they mentioned: "Why is the Orange Prince''s residence a ce to be avoided? You members of the Demon Sect are more daring than anyone, and yet you don''t dare to go there?"

    The beggar replied with disdain: "You people aren''t qualified to know that."

    Ye Luo deliberately mocked them: Oh, I know! It''s because the Hua Shan sect just so happens to be there, and you guys are afraid of them."

    "Get fucked! Hua Shan Sect ain''t sh*t! Heyss, don''t think I don''t know you''re trying to provoke me. Listen, the disciples of the Divine Moon sect aren''t afraid of anybody. The only people they''re afraid of are¡­ People in the Divine Moon Sect."

    The swordsman dressed as a teacher frowned and said: "You''ve said too much!"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The beggar waved his hand and brushed it off: "It doesn''t matter, they''ll be dead soon anyway. You know how nice the Orange Prince is. Our members are spread out all over the ce. What makes you think there aren''t any of our members in his residence when we have members in the emperor''s entourage?"

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo exchanged eye contact. They were absolutely shocked. There were members of the Demon Sect in a prince''s residence too?! On the surface, it seemed as though the Demon Sect had broken apart, but in reality, they were everywhere like weeds!

    Tie Hanyi looked at Ye Luo. Ye Luo indicated she''d understood. She lightly tapped Tie Hanyo with her left foot and sent her internal energy into his body which he used to help him unseal the seal on his meridian point. This method took a lot more effort to churn up energy, but it wasn''t like they had the luxury of choice.

    Tie Hanyi loudly eximed: "You want to kill me? Aren''t you worried that the emperor''s entourage will track you down?!"

    The beggarughed and said: "How strange of you to say that. We just live in the vicinity as your average every day citizens. We''re innocent. You''re a hero who''s ticked off a lot of people while upholding justice. Getting killed by one of those people you ticked off ispletely normal. What''s it got to do with us poor little men?"

    Han Tieyi angrily eximed: "You think you can just avoid myrades'' investigations? Aren''t you afraid you''ll be exposed?"

    The strong man innocently said: "Your head will be hanging in a small vige thirty metres outside of Hang Zhou tomorrow. So what''s it got to do with us?"

    Han Tieyi was shocked. The tricks up these Demon Sect disciples sleeves are cunning. The emperor''s entourage would still be able to find some clues even if their heads vanished into thin air, but if their heads were to be hung elsewhere unrted, then this case will probably never be solved.

    The strong man then continued: "As for Miss Ye, she''s far too beautiful. A feeling we haven''t had in so long ising onto us. We can''t pass up the opportunity to spend a night with her tonight. There are three of us here, so I''m afraid it''ll be tough on you miss, hahahaha."

    Ye Luo was stunned by what she''d heard. She lost all her strength in her legs. When she sunk down, the teacher who was keeping watch at the side noticed what she was doing.

    "You trying being smart?!"

    He stroked his sword in four directions on Ye Luo''s body. He sealed her meridian points using air and caused no harm to her skin. His sealspletely immobilised her. Ye Luo was startled and wanted to say: "This person''s sword y is too advanced. I think he could beat you one-on-one, Brother Tie. I''m afraid that today we''ll¡­

    The teacher faintly said: "I never imagined you''d have such an amazing skill. I truly admire your ability to send qi via your feet." The teacher spoke very eloquently, and was different to the other two.

    The beggarughed evilly and said: "Oh, so not only are you skilled with a bow, but your feet as well? I''m going to have to see for myself tonight." He stared at her body-lines and ran his fingers over her body as if he had already procured ownership of her body.

    Ye Luo shouted: "IF YOU DARE TOUCH ME, THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EMPEROR''S ENTOURAGE WON''T LET YOU OFF!!"

    The strong manughed and said: "Hehe, Miss Ye, we''re perverts who couldn''t care less about our lives. You''re Hero Tie''s lover right? What a pity~ you have a lover and yet fate won''t let you two be together. But don''t worry, we''ll sleep with you on his behalf tonight, so that he at least can be a ghost on the other side that knew what happened."

    The beggar suddenly said: "Then what are we waiting for?" As soon as he was done talking, he shoved one of his hands deeply into her shirt.

    "How dare you, you sick pervert!"

    Tie Hanyi was extremely enraged. His eyes were filled with blood. Ye Luo''s identity is special. He has to protect her with his life. There was no way he could let any harm befall her. He vigorously took a deep breath and felt his body lighten up. He managed to undo the seal. He somersaulted to his feet, and punched towards the beggar''s temple.

 Volume 1 48 We Run Into Each Other Everywhere in Life

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 48 We Run Into Each Other Everywhere in Life</h4>

    The temple is arge meridian point on the human body that may cause death upon impact. However, the beggar was skilled. His knees softened as though they had no joints inside, and he seemed like he shorten his body, thus causing Tie Hanyi''s punch to just scrape his head.

    However, the force of the punch was enough to make the beggar dizzy and stunned. The beggar subconsciously drew his sabre and cut at Tie Hanyi''s waist without hesitation. However, he only heard a ng. Tie Hanyi''s qigong had kicked in and he recovered his invincibility ability.

    The strong man saw it and got mad: "You were faking it! Fine, this woman can die!" He angrily kicked towards Ye Luo''s skull. Ye Luo waspletely immobilised, and if it were tond, she was pretty much dead.

    Tie Hanyi panicked. His breathing got obstructed. Before he could save her, he felt a painful burning sensation on his back. The beggar''s sabre which resembled a venomous snake broke through his invincible defence while he was distracted.

    The strong man''s kick was originally intended to be a feint. It was intended to throw off Tie Hanyi''s breathing. Tie Hanyi suddenly groaned aloud after being struck by two palms that were as hard as iron on his chest, which created a bone-shattering sound.

    Blood spurt forth from Tie Hanyi''s chest. The hero famous for his Qi Hardening Technique had his chest bones shattered by man''s bare hands, leaving him on the verge of death.

    Tie Hanyi stared at the two of them with bloodshot eyes and said: "Y-you despicable¡­"

    The beggar was still feeling sick from his attack. He stomped his feet angrily and said: "And you people aren''t?! Would you people have beaten Sect Leader Ximen if you didn''t resort to underhanded tactics? Didn''t you people set up a trap for him? Are you people capable of defeating Lawless and Boundless? When you people use traps, you call it tactical. When we use traps, you call us despicable. Man, fuck you!"

    The beggar gave him a kick but he didn''t feel much since he was already severely injured.

    "I''ll show you despicable!"

    The beggar tore Ye Luo''s cor off. The young girl''s white skin which was ethereal, light like water, and soft like snow was exposed. The thick fabric covering her waist that was like a fog, and the fabric covering her budding bosom was about to be torn off by the beasts.

    Ye Luo was stricken with despair and anger, so much that she could pass out. She''s still yet to understand men, but she knew that she couldn''t let those beasts have their way with her like that. That would be worse than death. She opened her mouth slightly.

    The strong man reached a hand out and grabbed her by her chin because he figured that she was trying to suicide by biting her tongue. Beneath his honest exterior, he''s a beast like the beggar. He''s never seen a beauty like Ye Luo before. He indecently ran his hands over her smooth face. His breathing got heavier. He was panting like a beast that was eager to swallow its prey.

    Ye Luo gave up all her thinking. She cried helplessly as she figured she couldn''t do anything else if she can''t even suicide.

    The beggarughed and asked: "Having not touched a woman for several years, you can''t resist any longer too, eh?"

    The strong man swallowed his saliva and said: "This girl is young and yet her body is so¡­ Sexy."

    The beggar''s eyes followed the strong man''s gaze. Ye Luo was only sixteen and yet she was sexier than a lot of mature women. She had a generous bosom, her waist was slim, her butt was curvaceous, which together created a smoking body. The beggar couldn''t hold back any longer. He reached his hands upwards and tore her skirt, which revealed her fine legs, further increasing their raging sexual appetite.

    The beggar had a bright hot fire in his eyes: "Oh fuck, I can''t take this anymore! Let''s fuck her!"

    The teacher of few words raised the sword in his hands and ced it against the beggar''s neck.

    "What do you think you''re doing, Tian Wen?" The beggar gloomily raised his head to look at him, and then rolled his eyes,ughed evilly and said: "Wow, Mr Tian, you usually maintain formalities and etiquette, but now that you''ve seen a girl today, you want in too don''t you?"

    "Nonsense!"

    Tian Wen said in a cold tone: "The justice sects in the martial arts world and our sect are sworn enemies. These two are members of the emperor''s entourage, so kill them if you will. If you kill them, those in the pugilistic world may even sing you praise as a hero. However, our sect has strict rules about raping women, so what do you think you''re doing? Have you lost your mind?!"

    The beggar aggressively replied: "Sect''s rules. Sect''s rules my fucking ass! Our sect leader isn''t even around anymore! What would we poor souls follow those stupid rules for? If it were up to me, I''d suggest we go join them."

    Tian Wen angrily said: "What did you say?! As long as I remain the leader of Lan Jun Zhu Kong, I won''t allow my subordinates to greedily pursue wealth or lust after women the sick way you do. Since you insist on your ways, how about you try your Bone Shrinking Techniques against my Thirteen Fast des Sword Techniques?!"

    The strong man exchanged eye contact with the beggar secretly and then said: "Branch Leader Tian is right. How do we exin ourselves to our fellow nsmen if we rape this girl today? We can kill her but we can''t fuck her. Don''t be so thirsty."

    The beggar bitterly replied: "Well, since you''ve both said that¡­"

    Tian Wen''s face rxed a little. He pointed his cold de at Ye Luo''s thin neck and said: "Hero Tie, Miss Ye, we''ve secluded ourselves here for many years and not involved ourselves with the pugilistic world. We don''t intend to in future either, but you were the ones who came here today, and we''re enemies, so sorry."

    Ye Luo had already given up and only wished to be granted death, however Tian Wen''s words got her worked up again.

    As Tian Wen raised his sword up to stab downwards, a strong wind struck him from behind. He retaliated and sent the strong man back two steps. Tian Wen frowned and asked: "Are you betraying me?" But it was pointless as he got struck from behind with a palm strike.

    It was the beggar this time.

    The beggar was aware that Tian Wen was more skilled than him, so after his sessful sneak attack, he quickly sealed more than ten of his meridian points.

    Tie Hanyi was severely wounded but he was still alert. He hated the beggar from the instant he saw him, but seeing him pinpoint and strike the meridian points so precisely under the dark nket of the night sky more skilfully than some of the most skilled warriors in the emperor''s entourage, he couldn''t help but admire Lan Jun Zhu Kong. They really lived up to their reputation.

    "How dare you two treat me like this?!"

    "Don''t be so annoying!" The beggar smiled evilly. "You got married here and had a kid. A man like you who gets his fill can''t understand us depraved men. How long has it been since the two of us got toy hands on a woman? This woman is ours no matter what the fuck you say."

    The strong man apologetically said: "Branch Leader Tian, Lan Jun Zhu Kong only has us three remaining members after Cha Yuan died. We don''t want to leave you or betray you. Please just reward us this woman."

    Tian Wen was powerless to stop them. He was immobilised. He was so furious his entire body was trembling, as he shouted: "You sick bastards!"

    The beggarughed and said: "Keep that up and I''ll show you how much of a bastard I am. I know where your wife lives. Do you want me to pay her a visitte at night?"

    Tian Wen was fuming, but didn''t say anything. Instead he heard the strong man exim: "Wh-where''s the girl?"

    "What are you being so rowdy about?"

    When he turned around to look, she really wasn''t there anymore!

    They couldn''tprehend what happened. The strong man yelled: "Where''s Tie Hanyi?!"

    The beggar was baffled. If the two of them got away, then Lan Jun Zhu Kong really will be done for.

    "Who is it that is ying with me? Please announce yourself."

    The strong man churned up his internal energy and shouted: "COME OUT!"

    His shout shook the entire vicinity.

    The voice of a man still in the courtyard said: "What are you shouting for? What are the chances I''d bump into you guys here? I didn''t know this was the hour for picking up women. It looks like I always appear at bad times."

    The voice sounded young, stable, strong and was clearlying from quite some distance away, yet sounded like it was right at their ears. The voice carried an aura that made them feel difort.

    Ye Luoid in said person''s arms and her half naked body was covered by a single piece of clothing. The piece of clothing carried the scent of wine. She inferred from the scent and his voice, she felt like the owner of the voice wouldn''t be afraid of the sky falling down. She felt her tense body rx as if she was on her beloved bed in her room at home. Her racing heart slowly calmed down. As she calmed down, she eventually fell asleep.

    The guy ced Ye Luo down gently and said with a helpless chuckle: "This girl''s such a sleepyhead. She can sleep anywhere."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The beggar and strong man didn''t know who their guest was, but they were well aware that his qinggong was extraordinary, and that he''d be a formidable foe. They released Tian Wen''s sealed meridian points so that he could help them. It wasn''t any time to be worried about them offending him earlier. Tian Wen was aware of their strong teamwork and put aside their own grudges for the time being. He picked up his sword and looked intently in the direction of the voice.

    After the guy settled the two members of the emperor''s entourage down, he slowly walked into the courtyard finally revealing his appearance to the three members of Lan Jun Zhu Kong.

    He was very tall. Tie Hanyi is taller than most people, but their guest was pretty close in stature. His shoulders were wide, his arms and legs were long, and his perfectly built muscles could be seen through the way his clothes sat on his physique. He really seemed like a man who wouldn''t be afraid of the sky falling down. His face wasn''t particrly handsome, but looked very rxed, and matched his domineering tone. They also felt that while his appearance wasn''t particrly unique, was very impressionable.

    Said person before them was roughly twenty-seven or twenty-eight, yet had a calm and steady temperament. It was though it didn''t made no difference to him who his opponent was. It was though the entire world was in his hands.

    "We seriously run into each other everywhere in life."

    The guy gave them a friendly smile which sent a sense of fear they were acquainted with through their bodies.

    "Long time no see, my old friends of Lan Jun Zhu Kong."

 Volume 1 49 The Master

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 49 The Master</h4>

    He could identify them right away so it was apparent that he knew their secrets. The three members of Lan Jun Zhu Kong decided that they''d kill him when he was distracted.

    At times like this, it was on Bishop Tian to stand at the forefront: "I am Tian Wen of Lan Jun Zhu Kong. Who might you be, and which sect do you belong to?"

    "Myst name is Ming, my first name is Feizhen. I''m a constable at Liu Shan Men."

    "Liu Shan Men? Ming Feizhen?"

    Tian Wen analysed his name, and then angrily asked: "Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen¡­ Are you messing with me?"

    Ming Feizhen means "clearly not true or real", so there was no way Tian Wen couldn''t figure out it was a fake name.

    Ming Feizhen replied indifferently: "I stopped going by my old name a long time ago. Everybody around me refers to me as so now. You three sure talk a lot, aren''t you going to attack?"

    The three of them couldn''t wrap their heads around what he was trying to achieve. They were secretly afraid. They replied: "It''d be very strange for us to attack you. We owe you no old debts or have grudges between us¡­"

    Ming Feizhen suddenly cut them off: "Thirteen Fast des, Seven Willows Wind Returning Sword, and Angry Eyes King Kong Fists. None of these moves are from the Divine Moon Sect. Did you guys not use your sect''s martial arts even once when you managed to beat Hero Tie into that state? You guys sure are careful."

    Tian Wen faintly replied: "We''re used to it. We''ve been very careful these past five years. We didn''t utilise our sect''s skills even when helping Cha Yuanplete missions. We were afraid people woulde knocking."

    The beggar finally caved in and asked: "Hey punk, how do you know our identities?"

    Ming Feizhen sighed and said: "Your Dark Moon Faction and Light Moon Faction fought until there was no way of resolving the conflict by negotiations. Do you still not recognise what your mistake was after witnessing your huge sect get buried from internal strife? You can be as cautious as you want, but you still operate using the Divine Moon Sect''s systems. You used Lan Jun bamboo for Cha Yuan''s spirit tablet. Who wouldn''t be able to figure out your identity from that?"

    The beggar stuttered: "Y-you know Lan Zhu bamboo?"

    Tian Wen forcefully suppressed his suspicions, calmed himself down and asked: "I''d heard that Liu Shan Men had gone quiet a long time ago. I never expected them to have a talent like you. What is your motivation for joining them?"

    "For old friends."

    "To save someone?* So you want to save those two? If that is so, we can look for another ce to seclude ourselves to. We can talk this out."iu Shan Men and the emperor''s entourage are both regted by the royal court and their rtionship has never been bad, so Tian Wen''s assumption was normal.

    "I meant for old friends."

    "These two are your friends?"

    "No, I don''t know those two."

    Tian Wen got even more confused: "Aside from them, there''s only us here. Don''t tell me that we''re your old friends."

    Ming Feizhenughed.

    He smiled amicably again. Tian Wen and co. couldn''t shake off the feeling that a sword was pressed up against their throat. They were in a precarious situation but powerless to resist.

    Tian Wen''s forehead was sweating as he asked: "Who exactly are you?"

    "Just a retired¡­ Person who doesn''t want to bother with the pugilistic world."

    The beggar couldn''t put up with the strange atmosphere and thundered: "Who the fuck cares! Get him!"

    After he thundered, he quickly pulled out his sabre, illuminating a silver light. Tian Wen followed fit from behind and created countless sword clones. The strong man gathered up all the internal energy he could muster and raised it to its peak inside his body.

    The beggar and Tian Wen''s martial skills were already among the top-ss in the world, so they had very few ws. Theirbined sabre light and sword clones ruthlessly went towards Ming Feizhen like tidal waves. There were just two of them and yet just their sword and sabre were a force to be reckoned with. These were their genuine skills from the Divine Moon Sect. The strong man took a deep breath and leapt at Feizhen with everything he had like an old bull.

    They didn''t dare to reveal their real skills when fighting Tie Hanyi, and yet now they were worried that their maximum efforts wouldn''t suffice.

    The man before them pressured them into putting their lives on the line.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t dodge, and instead shut his eyes.

    A sabre, sword and fist approached him like an angry wild animal that smelt blood. Ming Feizhen stood in ce with his eyes shut and let them attack him.

    The more they attacked, the more worried they became. The more they attacked, the emptier their minds felt. Their energy slowly got sapped away, but they hadn''t yet seen a drop of blood from him.

    The des made contact with his body, yet seemed to be hitting a strong wall of air that was keeping them away.

    Tian Wen sadly said: "Strong Body Protection Qi¡­" His statement carried discouragement, guilt, sadness and many more emotions, but he was the only one who could speak. The beggar and the strong man went pale in the face. Their hands and feet were turning cold as ice.

    "Strong Body Protection Qi!"

    Converting your inner qi energy into an external energy to protect your entire body is like a martial art of the gods. ording to legend, no one other than the top ten ranked masters in the ck and White Reflection are capable of mastering that skill.

    How were they going to match him when he''d mastered the skill at such a young age?

    Tian Wen suddenly yelled: "No Man No Me."

    They got into formation for their sword formation with a hint of indescribable ruthlessness. The beggar and the strong man were in a daze at first, but then executed the same technique right after. The beggar used his sabre, while the strong man used his finger, and yet the power behind their sword technique wasn''t bad.

    The force of their attacks had multiplied.

    Ming Feizhen widened his eyes: "Oh?"

    That sword formation is the Divine Moon Sect''s formation taught to neers. Given their identities, the three of them shouldn''t be using it during a battle to the death.

    But it''s weird. There was once a disciple who defeated an elder in the sect using that style. It wasn''t because he was particrly skilled or the elder was weak. It was because whenbined with the specific mental cultivation script, and executed without regards for consequences can be multiple times stronger.

    It''s a style that inflicts damage to both the opponent and the user. The power is increased multiple folds, but the damage inflicted upon oneself is also multiplied. It''s like dealing eight-hundred damage to your opponent and suffering one-thousand damage yourself.

    When that disciple defeated the elder by increasing the output ten-fold, he won the bout but lost his life after.

    The three of them were highly skilled fighters in the Divine Moon Sect, and they were now increasing the output together to its absolute peak.

    The power from their attack was like the Yangtze Rivering in. The force of the attack left a crack mark on the marble floor and the sound would send anybody into shock. In that moment, the three of them reached a level they could only dream of. It was only for a short time, and it was at a very high cost, but in that moment, the three of them had individually reached the level of a peerless master. Whoever it was that stood before them, be it a god or a demon were no match for theirbined effort.

    Their sword strikes and energy were like a fierce tiger, charging at Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen retreated and hid in the corridor of the courtyard.

    The force of their attack broke through all the bricks of the corridor and they forced their way to the front of Ming Feizhen.

    "That''s a very powerful internal energy there. I reckon it matches the level of the top ten masters."

    Ming Feizhen finally disyed some emotion. He wore a look of joy.

    "Interesting."

    Ming Feizhen didn''t retreat or gulp his saliva out of fear. Instead he fought back head-on with his own palm strike.

    Ming Feizhen was surprised when he got forced a step back. He looked at the three of them surprised and said: "That''s pretty damn strong."

    As they collided, they reached a stalemate. After a few breaths, a breaking sound was heard. The sh was like waves crashing against rock faces. Even Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo who were far away were affected. They groaned, demonstrating their difort. The sh decided who was more skilled.

    The three from Lan Jun Zhu Kong''s breathing started bing erratic. They went to extreme lengths, but remained in the safe zone. They only bolstered the force by six or seven times. But they were only even after raising their output by six times?

    The beggar shouted: "Fuck this! Let''s gamble our lives! Let''s fuck him up!" He gave up all of his energy he umted in ten years for the mental cultivation of the formation. The other two also came to the realisation that they''d die even more terrible deaths if their identities were to be exposed, and hence decided to gamble their lives as well.

    They copied him and raised their output to ten times.

    The courtyard transformed into a war-zone of violent beasts.

    Notes:

    *Old friends and save people/someone share the same pronunciation, and given the context, they misunderstood Feizhen.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 1 50 There Are Too Many Insane People. I Canâ€™t Help It

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 50 There Are Too Many Insane People. I Can''t Help It</h4>

    Ming Feizhen hadn''t yet regained his footing and noticed the three of them with their bloodshot eyes, mustering energy from their dan tian, while their muscles became engorged. Clearly they were forcibly using some messed up mental cultivation to increase their about.

    "Whoa!!!"

    After Ming Feizhen''s exmation, the three''s qi energy blew all the grass and bark in the courtyard into the air. The rotting pirs couldn''t withstand their energy and copsed, bring the roof tiles with them.

    The three of them formed a fierce tiger''s head with their formation previously, and now they''d turned it into an evil dragon. It was essentially a powerful entity that could reduce everything it came into contact with to smithereens.

    The three of them continued to fight for the offensive position as the marbles they passed by shattered.

    Ming Feizhen looked at them bitterly: "Hey¡­ Do you guys have to go that far? I didn''t expect things to turn out this way today." The power of the three had surpassed human limitations. It''s highly unlikely the Shaolin abbot who''s proficient with Yijin Jing would have that level of power.

    Ming Feizhen shut his eyes to think of a countermeasure.

    He could dodge it if he wanted to, and he could defend with Tai Chi if he wanted to.

    But Ming Feizhen hadn''te across such skilled fighters in a long time that could excite him. He didn''t want to dodge or defend. He just wanted to see if there was a power in the world that he couldn''t ovee. It didn''t matter if that power was borrowed from demons. He just wanted to confirm whether there was still anyone who could match him.

    "I''ll kill you!"

    He opened his eyes. His pupils moved around forming a red colour: "Very good."

    Ming Feizhen took in a deep breath, pulled his arm back to his shoulder and then explosively thrust it outwards to fight the oing evil dragon head.

    The two forces collided again, but there was no stalemate this time.

    The scene reminds one of the sport - shot put.

    The put was the three members of Lan Jun Zhu Kong, while the thrower was Ming Feizhen. The three of them got sent flying as if Ming Feizhen tossed them.

    The three of them only felt like a huge force beyond theirprehension overwhelmed their own. It was like a little kid fighting a warrior with godly powers. It was as though he was just taking a stroll in the park without even thinking about anything. Their hands got snapped by the overwhelming power like tree branches. The three of them flew through the air andnded on the ground like falling leaves. They never even caught a glimpse of the powerful strike they were hit with.

    Their bodies couldn''t stop quivering. Their breathing was nowpletely erratic. They had begun losing control of their qi. Blood was spurting out from all over their bodies and all they could feel was the shing of qi inside their body going berserk. Their meridians were ready to burst.

    Tian Wen made a quick and decisive decision. He used his sword to chop the six swords on his body so that there was a ce for his qi to escape, and at the same time destructing his own martial skills.

    That was a smart move. To minimise the side-effects of the technique, the best method was to destroy your own martial skills once you went overboard with it. That way, you''ll at least survive. But those in the pugilistic world value their martial arts over their life, and even fewer Demon Sect disciples choose that route.

    Ming Feizhen checked up on Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo in the courtyard. Tie Hanyi was unconscious as Feizhen sealed his meridians. He only groaned before because of the difort. That was normal because if someone tough as Tie Hanyi passed out from pain, he wouldn''t be able to groan.

    Ye Luo was still asleep. However, the clothes he used to cover her up before had been blown onto the ground by the wind. Her beautiful white body like jades was visible. However, the gentle breeze made it so that even the areas that were still covered by the remaining clothing were in danger. It was great eye-candy.

    Ming Feizhen picked up the clothing blown onto the ground and covered her properly. Thinking back on the fight before, he couldn''t help but sigh.

    "¡­I''m still far off from the Shaolin abbot."

    His tone carried a feeling of lonesomeness.

    When he went to the middle of the courtyard, the three had finished destroying their martial skills. The three who looked in their thirties and forties now had white hair, were thin and decrepit like they grew several decades older.

    "Self-destruction of your martial skills? That''s a good way to save your own life. I can''t believe you guys can''t break away from minor habits of the Divine Moon Sect, and yet you changed so quickly over such a major matter. Divine Moon Sect disciples would rather die than destroy their own martial skills."

    Tian Wen was first to destroy his martial skills and so he recovered a bit quicker. He sadly asked: "We don''t have any grudges against you. Killing Cha Yuan is our sect''s matter, not yours, right? You''re so skilled, so why do you have to make it difficult for us?! Is it not enough that we have already stopped involving ourselves with the pugilistic world?"

    "It''s enough. Of course it''s enough." Ming Feizhen put more emphasis into his words: "But carrying out acts of evil after secluding yourself isn''t eptable."

    Ming Feizhen red at the beggar and said: "Zhao Qi of Lan Jun Zhu Kong. You raped many local women in thest five years. You also killed anyone who found out about your secrets and dumped them in theke. People drowning at theke in autumn? Heh, you sure know how to pick your days, huh?"

    Tian Wen couldn''t believe his ears and looked Zhao Qi. His eyes looked like they were shooting fire: "You went to the Peach Vige to do those things?!"

    Zhao Qi had no idea how Feizhen figured it out and gave no response.

    Ming Feizhen turned his attention to the strong man: "Fang Bian of Lan Jun Zhu Kong. You look like an honest man, but you''re the same as Zhao Qi, you''re pussy-thirsty. He''s a serial offender, while you onlymitted it once, but it''s still disgusting. After Cha Yuan''s wife was found in theke after she died, there were hints of her being raped. Her cause of death was getting hit with a technique like that off King Kong Finger Strikes."

    Tian Wen waspletely shocked. He couldn''t believe that while he was secluded here at peace, his subordinates were outmitting such atrocities: "YOU BEASTS! YOU BEASTS!!!"

    The strong man pleaded: "Great hero, please spare me, please spare me! It was a moment of idiocy th-that¡­ I''m already crippled, so please spare me my life."

    Zhao Qi said: "He''s a constable of Liu Shan Men, he''s not with the Qilin Guards. He can''t kill you without reporting it beforehand, so what are you worried about?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The strong man muttered: "I-is that so?"

    Zhao Qi chuckled dryly and said: "Liu Shan Men''s rules are strict. The rules clearly state that they may not deal with a criminal who''s surrendered as they please. Offenders will be severely punished."

    Ming Feizhen looked at him and smiled. His smile carried a hint of anguish: "This is why I hate justice. People abuse the loopholes all the time, making it feel worthless."

    Zhao Qi slowly registered what he''d said and couldn''t help but panic: "Y-you dare kill us?!"

    "I hate killing people. I once said I wouldn''t kill unless I went crazy."

    Zhao Qi finally eased up after hearing that. However, he suddenly felt that he couldn''t control the blood in his body. All his blood clumped together and left his body. His body was reduced to nothing but a skeleton. There wasn''t a single part he could control. Thest sight he caught a glimpse of in his life was a young man without an expression on his face faintly retracting his palm.

    Ming Feizhen pulled his hand back. That palm strike of his looked like he created an explosion with it which would shock anybody who witnessed it.

    Ming Feizhen faintly said: "There are too many crazy people in this world. I can''t be another one of them. Once you get into a certain position in life, you''ll be controlled by it. That''s why I wanted to retire. I''m honestly tired of killing people."

    Ming Feizhen killed him.

 Volume 1 51 Lord San Shen

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 51 Lord San Shen</h4>

    Ming Feizhen didn''t have so much as a drip of blood on him, but his strike which caused all the blood inside Zhao Qi''s body to spray into the atmosphere was vividly seen, so his words only added to their confusion, and contributed nothing towards enhancing the credibility of his words.

    The strong man was scared beyond his wits: "G-great hero, since you''ve retired, why do you still care about matters in the martial world?"

    "You''re wrong. I don''t care about the martial world''s matters, but if it involves the Divine Moon Sect, then it''s my business."

    The strong man cried aloud, reached out for the sabre Zhao Qi left behind and cut his throat. Finally, his corpse fell to the ground. He didn''t die too painfully.

    Ming Feizhen turned his attention to Tian Wen.

    "You''re the most honest and earnest one in Lan Jun Zhu Kong, that''s why you''re still alive, and even became a bishop. Those two don''t know me, but you met me back then. Do you still not recognise me?"

    Tian Wen shivered like he was buried in ice.

    He didn''t use witchcraft to kill Zhao Qi, he killed him using martial arts. It was a style that would terrify anyone who heard of it.

    He''d seen that style before. There are no more than three people in the world who can use that style, but he only knew of one person who could use it on such a god-tier level. And the young man before him slowly fit the image of the person he knew of.

    "Spring Wind Night Rain Divine Arts¡­ Y-you''re Lord San Shen¡­ Sir¡­ Sir Ming?"

    "Oh? You can recognise me without my mask? It looks like there are still some who remember me."

    Ming Feizhen gave a friendlyugh. Hisugh was so nice it was like bathing in the spring breeze. His tone and attitude were the exact same as the person back then.

    Tian Wen''s eyes suddenly felt warm as he said: "I remember, I remember! But didn''t you already, already¡­"

    "Die? Guardian Lord San Shen and Sect Leader Ximen both died in the battle four years ago at Lawless and Boundless, is what you thought, right?"

    "The heavens have blessed out sect!"

    Tian Wen dragged his virtually incapacitated body over and knelt before Ming Feizhen: "The heavens have blessed out sect! The heavens have blessed out sect!"

    He kept repeating that phrase until he was choking on his tears and eventually became a silent whisper.

    "Men can cry but shouldn''t prostrate themselves so easily. Bishop Tian, what are you doing?" He didn''t know whether he was supposed toughed or cried at Tian Wen''s reaction. Ming Feizhen came here to get rid of the disciples running amok.

    "I¡­ I''m just so d. Our sect will one day have its glorious revival with you still alive." Tian Wen got sadder after saying that. He continued: "But, my lord¡­ Why, why didn''t you appear sooner if you were alright? Our great leader died unjustly. The sects of justice poisoned the well which killed our great leader''s wife and kid. They then continued to challenge him while he was grieving and insulted all of us. They angered our great leader to death."

    The Divine Moon Sect consists of two groups: The Bright God and the Dark Moon factions. Both control a separate area. The great leader Tian Wen mentioned was the Dark Moon Faction''s leader. After Ximen Chuideng went missing, the Bright God Faction went underground, while the Dark Moon Faction became wanderers because of the death of their leader. It was hard to revive the group.

    Ming Feizhen greatly pitied the death of the great leader of the Dark Moon Faction. He couldn''t help but feel sad over it. He then changed the topic: "I''ve looked over Liu Shan Men''s records in their library recently. You''ve all done well. You guys have gone about your days quite economically after Leader Ximen went missing. But as I said before, the Dark Moon Faction''s members are not to kill for money, rape,mit adultery, and certainly not hurt other sect members. Bishop Tian, what happens to offenders again?"

    "¡­Decapitation."

    "I can turn a blind eye to the Bright God Faction because their leader is still alive, so I don''t have to waste my time on them. But the Dark Moon Faction''s leader is dead, so I have to look after it. Zhao Qi and Fang Bian were your subordinates. One of them raped women, the other raped the wife of a fellow sect member. I must punish you for your poor management and bringing harm to fellow sect members."

    Ming Feizhen grabbed Tian Wen''s right arm. As soon as he exhausted his energy, he''d be reduced to nothing but blood like Zhao Qi.

    "Anyst words?"

    Tian Wen didn''t resist and only sadly begged: "Divine Lord! Please have mercy. I ept my punishment. It''s just¡­ I have a wife, son and daughter in the vige of the city outskirts. No matter how much of a scumbag I may be, I still love my family. Please. Please let me return to them for one night. I will return for my punishment on my own. Please have mercy, Divine Lord. Please give me one night."

    Ming Feizhen paused for a moment after he heard him, but didn''t stop exuding his internal energy.

    "Please show mercy, Divine Lord!" After his plead, he shut his eyes as though awaiting death. A sudden burst of internal energy rushed into his destroyed meridians. It was strong but it wasn''t Spring Wind Night Rain Divine Arts. The energy seemed to have properties which could repair luded meridians. The qi energy opened up his luded meridians which were a result of destroying his own martial arts skills.

    Tian Wen felt like a seed was nted in him and now growing rapidly. The energy was like sunlight and spring, giving him life.

    "Divine Lord! I do not deserve to be healed by you!"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t answer. He just gently added some qi to help regte the excess qi in his body.

    Tian Wen couldn''t believe the internal energy was healing his severe injuries. It was like he was bathing in a hot spring. His body felt amazinglyfortable. His wrinkled skin and white hair were returning to normal. When he went to touch his face, he understood what had happened.

    Tian Wen was shocked and said to himself: I knew the Divine Lord''s martial skills were beyondprehension, but I never knew his internal energy pool was like an ocean, as though it was infinite as well as extremely powerful. I think he''s the only person in the entire world who can return an old man his youth. No wonder why he was ranked equally with our sect leader when he''s so young.

    It took him less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea to heal Tian Wen.

    He stared at Tian Wen for a long while before saying: "Treasure your son and daughter."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen took out a stack of money from his shirt, which was all his savings, and threw it to Tian Wen. There was roughly one-thousand dors there.

    "Look for somewhere to retire to."

    Tian Wen was so moved he was in tears and knelt down. Just as he raised his head was about to ask the Divine Lord when he''d call back the former members, and when he''d revive the Faction to their glory-days, he found that Ming Feizhen had already left. Tian Wen ran his hands over the money in his hands and remembered Ming Feizhen''s words: "Treasure your son and daughter. Look for somewhere to retire to."

    In that moment, he thought of his two year old son and daughter, his kind wife, and home. In that moment, he kept asking himself what he wanted to do.

    His martial arts had returned, but he let go of his ambitions. He was left with nothing but infinitefort and peace of mind. This was the first time he truly stopped fearing and felt at peace since his days in seclusion.

    Disciples of the Divine Moon Sect are to never leave the sect after they join, unless someone like Ming Feizhen allows them to go off and do what they want. What he wanted to do wasn''t be a star of the martial world, but merely spend his life with his beloved family.

    He looked at where Ming Feizhen stood before with his tears rolling down his face and kowtowed three times.

    Ming Feizhen had left, and he wasn''t going to bother with any matters in this courtyard again because he''d done what he came to do.

    "Wen Jun is elegant, yet doesn''t know of Lan Jun bamboo."

    From this day forth, that phrase became a historic phrase that''d never appear again.

    Ming Feizhen wanted to retire.

    But he didn''t want to just retire.

    He wanted everything that was caused by him, all the chaos caused by him and the people in a mess toe to an end. Lan Jun Zhu Kong created many issues during its existence, and has left behind many troublesome issues after it vanished. It may take him the remainder of his lifetime to resolve all the matters, but he had to do it.

    This is Ming Feizhen''s retired life.

 Volume 1 52 Anyway, enjoy the long-awaited fight.

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 52 Anyway, enjoy the long-awaited fight.</h4>

    Take It As Me Bullying You, But I''ll Only Give You A Two Arm Advantage

    I sped back to "Years Like a de" by riding the moon. I still have onest thing to do tonight.

    And just as I expected, Su Xiao was still curled up at the table asleep like a cold kitten. I don''t know where Tang Ye went though.

    How is he so deep asleep? He''s been out for so long after just two sniffs. Just how bad is his ability to hold his liquor?!

    I red at him but it seemed like he knew I was ring at him. He suddenly chuckled: "Nyan nyan~"

    Our imouto* Su was acting cute while cleaning the table which looked like it hadn''t been cleaned in ten years by rubbing his soft cheeks on it¡­ That scene was so beautiful Ipletely skipped it.

    However¡­

    "Ah, I''m hungry. I knew it. Something alwayses up when it''s my meal time. I haven''t had an uninterrupted meal of braised pork shoulders with soy sauce in five years."

    "How about I treat you?"

    "You''re back?"

    It was Tang Ye who answered me. He wasing back from another direction.

    "Yeah. I had to deal with the people lying on the ground as soon as I woke up." Tang Ye brushed his hands against each other, "I''ve sent them to the government office. All five had their meridians sealed by somebody. They were sealed upon contact with their internal energy. The level of skill used to achieve that was god-like."

    I didn''tment.

    "How long have you been awake?"

    "About half-an-hour."

    So he basically was out for half the night then¡­

    Tang Ye stared at me and asked: "Where did you go?"

    "The weather is nice so I went for a stroll."

    It was obvious Tang Ye didn''t buy it, but he didn''t concern himself over it, because he''s not interested in my private matters. All he cares about is duelling with me.

    "Tonight?"

    "Only if you agree to the condition that the loser has to treat the winner to drinks for an entire year."

    Tang Ye who probably thought I''d reject again showed a smile of satisfaction and eagerness for battle.

    There were two reasons I agreed to Tang Ye''s request.

    The first reason is that I don''t seem to care about Tang Ye knowing my identity or my true strength, because he has his own goals. He won''t bother with others. Subsequently, he won''t go questioning why I''m in the capital or why I joined Liu Shan Men. So he won''t be a thorn in my side.

    The second reason is that I really like this young man. He reminds me of my fellow disciples at Mount Daluo, because they all asked me how to train internal energy techniques.

    Of course, I never managed to teach one of them. And that''s not because I can''t teach! It''s because my shifu was a bad teacher! Wait, no. He didn''t teach me jack sh*t! That''s why I don''t know how to teach others.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "¡­You seem to be reminiscing about something. Can we start?"

    We found ourselves a narrow alley to avoid waking Su Xiao.

    "I''ve waited a long time for this. I know you''re very skilled." Tang Ye took in a deep breath, "but I''ve never used my full power."

    Really?

    Come to think of it, he''s always given me the feeling that he was holding back when fighting others. I''m not suggesting that he did so to hide his skills, but rather he just didn''t go all-out.

    "This is my full power." Tang Ye ripped the sleeves of his shirt once again revealing his strong triceps. When he moulded his internal energy his arms got hotter and his skin turned red like two pieces of hot metal.

    He put his guard up and stared in my direction.

    The surrounding atmosphere started to get hot. It was night time, yet was warm like summer. The increase in atmosphere temperature was due to his internal energy.

    "Bright Blood Qi?" How rare. I never imagined I''d see this martial art in rumours here.

    Bright Blood Qi is an unorthodox style. It can change the temperature in the atmosphere using one''s power. Once one reaches the highest level, they can even create fire out of thin air. It''s an extremely powerful style. But I have no idea where Tang Ye learnt it from.

    "Kugh."

    Tang Ye grunted, pressed a bunch of hot energy between his hands, and when he had charged up its full explosive energy, he charged towards me. His hands were blood red and hotter than anything. His aim went from the midline of my body straight to my dan tian.

    I evaded his first palm strike but he followed up with infinite more.

    No, not just palm strikes. As I mentioned previously, Tang Ye''s martial skills with his hands are unparalleled. He punches, ws, finger jabs, pinches, ps and pokes. It''s continually changing. He learnt over ten types of martial arts with an emphasis on hand techniques, andbined it with his Bright Blood Qi technique.

    "Awesome. What''s the name of this style?"

    "Bright Blood Iron Hands."

    So Bright Blood Qi plus Iron Hands? Nice.

    Tang Ye''s every changing hand techniques made it hard to get a grasp on. I made a wrong step around to his back side and threw a kick. He dodged but I was faster than him so I stillnded the kick on his back.

    Tang Ye ended up rolling on the floor. I didn''t get to see all of his Bright Blood Qi and hand techniques. The atmosphere changed back to its normal temperature.

    "Oh, it''s cool now."

    "¡­¡­"

    Tang Ye''s breathing got disrupted by my kick so he was trying to calm down for dear life. But that didn''t stop him from continuing to shoot me res of anger: "Why aren''t you using your arms?"

    "There''s no difference, is there?"

    To be frank, I''m only giving you a two-arm advantage, so I already feel like I''m bullying you.

    "YES!" Tang Ye looked at me angrily and said: "You''re going easy on me! I don''t need you to go easy on me. I''m fighting you seriously."

    "It''s all the same, isn''t it? Aren''t arms and legs just¡­"

    "Don''t give me that nonsense!!"

    Tang Ye gathered his qi again. His left arm was red like a me. He focused all his Bright Blood Qi on just his left arm this time. He was intending to throw an all-out destructive attack.

    "Ming Feizhen, if you don''t fight me seriously, I won''t forgive you even in death."

    I continued to kick. I blocked his punch with my kick: "Young man, don''t keep talking about death when you''re so young." I pulled my leg back slightly and then swiftly moved it numerous times.

    Tang Ye quivered a little and then seven footprints appeared on his face.

    "You just died seven times, you know~"

    Tang Ye''s whole body trembled and he slump his head down.

    I continued defending his fist: "You''ve got a good body for martial arts. You''re more diligent with your training than I am. You''re more talented than I am. You''ll be much better in the future. I''vee across many people in the past who also had goals and capabilities, but sometimes they were just frankly too hasty."

    "I''m not anxious or rushed. This is my only path." Tang Ye roared and his strength increased again. That was the result of him increasing his output. It''s simr to the "No Man No Me" mental cultivation technique, but of course the effectiveness wasn''t as great as the martial arts of the Demon Sect. However, the consequences of boosting output were just as serious.

    "Ming Feizhen, if you want to lecture me, beat me first! I''m not convinced you don''t need to use two hands!"

    Tang Ye disappeared and then reappeared behind me. He threw a palm strike much more powerful than before my way.

    The street went quiet and the two of us didn''t utter a word.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­¡­"

    I yawned and said in a bored tone: "Remember you agreed to treat me to drinks for an entire year~"

    "Why?" Tang Ye lost his fighting power because I kicked him again which disrupted his breathing again. He couldn''t get up and his face was buried in the ground. "¡­How are you not known in the pugilistic world when you''re so powerful?"

    "Because of this and that probably." I casually looked to the sky and continued: "Aren''t you unknown as well?"

    "Yes, you''re right. We all have our own reasons." Tang Ye continued to stay on the ground. In a staunch tone, he said: "I''ve thought it through. I never had a clear idea of where I should direct my efforts. But I''ve made up my mind now. My one-and-only goal while at Liu Shan Men is to defeat you. Until the day I can beat you, please look after me and share your knowledge, Big Brother Ming."

    "Hmm¡­ This isn''t bad, huh?" Am I getting myself a little brother here?

    "Let''s head back now then. The sun''s almost up and I''m sleepy."

    I took three steps and then turned around to notice Tang Ye still lying on the ground.

    "What are you doing? Trying to scam me for medical fees?"

    "No."

    Tang Ye said in a calm tone: "Could you help me up? I sprained my hip when I got hit with your kick."

    Me: "¡­¡­"

    Notes:

    *Imouto if you don''t know is the Japanese word for younger sister. Feizhen''s making a reference to Su Xiao''s feminine looks and the fact that he''s younger.

 Volume 1 53 Ming Feizhenâ€™s Real Life of Retirement

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 53 Ming Feizhen''s Real Life of Retirement</h4>

    Just as I was getting to the good part of my dream while lying in bed, Somebody''s violent and high-speed knocking on my door ended my beautiful dream. The door to my small room was being knocked on so loudly you could hear it from heaven.

    There''s only one person who''d do this sort of thing.

    "Su Xiao! What are you doing?!" I opened the door knowing it was him, and there he was, the cute little Su Xiao who looked like an angel looked at me with his round eyes. But something looked off.

    "Huh? Why''s your face dirty? Wait, no. Why are you dirty from head to toe?"

    "Because of you of course! Come here!" What''s going on? Shouldn''t I be the one that''s mad here?

    Su Xiao dragged me into the courtyard and pointed at an invoice: "This is an invoice for green bamboo leaves and a feast. Why is it fifty dors?"

    Fuck¡­ What the hell happened here?

    "Hmm, could they have made a mistake?" I only ate a table worth of dishes. There was no braised pork shoulders with soy sauce feast. Were the ten extra jugs of green bamboo leaves that expensive?"

    "And also, where did you go yesterday?"

    Su Xiao widened his big bright eyes and looked at me who was guilty. He looked like a newlywed wife finding fault with her husband as he sniffed me and said: "Yuck! You reek of alcohol!" Su Xiao blocked his small white nose, "How did you manage to return after drinking that much?"

    "Well, uhh¡­" What reason should I give him? The vige chief knows I was investigating the case when I went to the Peach Vige, so I shouldn''te up with something too far-fetched. "Hmm¡­ I left because I had a job toplete."

    Su Xiao drummed his face and said: "Brother Ming! You''re lying to me!"

    Huh?!

    This kid found his brain again?

    Su Xiao angrily said: "The shopkeeper asked me to pay the bill as soon as I woke up! Neither you or Tang Ye were there. How dare you lie!"

    Oh that''s right. I fought with Tang Yest night and took him home when he was a nuisance. I ended up forgetting about Su Xiao back at the restaurant.

    "Tang Ye and I had work to attend to. What''s a kid like you being so nosy for?"

    "You¡­ You, you!!"

    Su Xiao looked at me with disbelief.

    "Why Tang Ye?! Didn''t you say we were closest?!" Su Xiao stamped his feet with all his might, and continued: "Why did you leave?! We were drinking together, and then you and Tang Ye ran off after I got drunk. What did you guys go do?"

    Hey, hey. Don''t start making things up now. What do you mean we "ran off"?

    As soon as Su Xiao finished his sentence all our colleagues at Liu Shan Men, even those we don''t usually see filed out like all my family in friends from multiple different viges came to visit.

    Hey, hey, hey! What are you people here for?

    I think I faintly heard something about "he''s moved on", "love triangles" and the sort.

    HEY! THERE''S NO YAOI* HERE!

    I quickly turned back to Su Xiao and red at him.

    "Don''t shout so loudly, you idiot!"

    Su Xiao froze up when I called him an idiot. Then his eyes turned red, and finally his eyes welled up with tears.

    "You clearly lied to me and yet you''re scolding me! I will shout. What did you and Tang Ye go off to dost night? Why did you run off with Tang Ye in the middle of night?! Why did Tang Ye say that his backside was in pain this morning and couldn''t get up?! Hmph¡­"

    Oh. My. Fucking. God!!!

    Don''t go crapping out of your mouth!! I''m going to fucking strangle you!!

    The crowd seemed to have grasped an important clue which helped shed light on our love triangle for them. I could virtually see the words in their mind flowing across my eyes.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The crowd instantly broke into gossip.

    "I knew they were cheating!"

    "This is why you have to be cautious when in a homosexual rtionship. There''s no room for a third party in a homosexual rtionship. It''s different to our situation. We can have concubines."

    "Ming Feizhen is so manly, the other two might be his harem. Crap, don''t even try considering us. Let''s go, let''s go!"

    Are you guys really guards at a government office? How are you so damn imaginative?!!

    You even called my thing manly. And now you''re running off after poisoning me?

    "Hmm. Hmm."

    I covered Su Xiao''s mouth.

    Because he couldn''t get enough oxygen, he started panting, which only further fed the crowd''s imaginations.

    Just what makes you people think that way?

    A guy dressed as a young master then showed up. It was Liu Yuan.iu Yuan shouted: "Let go of him! Ming Feizhen, you bastard! You cheater. Why are you clinging to my Su Xiao when you''ve already got yourself Tang Ye?"

    Fuck you!

    I''m not gay like you!

    I had no choice and quickly let Su Xiao go. However, I stayed alert in case he started belting nonsensical stuff again. I had to keep him within arms-reach so I wrapped an arm over his shoulder.

    Su Xiao leaned his limp body against mine and said: "Br-brother Ming¡­ You almost suffocated me¡­" I gently held him. And I have to say, his weak posture looked quite feminine. In fact, he felt like a girl¡­ Wait. What the fuck am I saying?!!

    "You guys¡­"

    Captain Song who was worried looked at us strangely, cleared his throat and said: "Feizhen, you''re young, so I understand. But¡­ Look at where you are." He then muttered: "Discuss this sort of stuff at home."

    He then wore a big brother looking after his younger brother look on his face and pat me on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

    ¡­..

    What''s that mean?

    Hey, hey, hey. You''re severely misunderstanding things here.

    Wait, let me put Su Xiao on the ground before you leave.

    The very tactful Captain Song gave me a wink to say: "Leave this ce to me, you guys hurry and leave."

    "Leave now everybody, don''t waste your time here."

    But it really isn''t what you think!!!

    "Feizhen¡­"

    "Huh? Boss? When''d you get here?"

    Boss Shen looked at me as if she were looking at something dirty and said: "In future¡­ Just send me written reports. Actually, you speak and get someone else to write for you."

    What the fuck! Is she worried of me spreading something?!

    Is she taking precautionary action against an infection?!

    "Oh for fuck sakes, listen to me!!!"

    Far out my retired life is like one big trap!!

 Volume 2 prologue Prologue

    <h4>Volume 2 prologue Prologue</h4>

    The emperor kept his eyes downcast as he looked at the corpses before him silently.

    Across from him were a group of retainers who like him were silent.

    This was not Chong Wen Hall where conferences with retainers were usually held, but Hong Wu Hall where they discussed matters pertaining to the martial world.

    The soldiers of the imperial court of this dynasty are rarely seen. Nowadays, it''s rare to see arge group of soldiers. Guard duties and maintaining the peace are primarily dependent on the regtions of the martial artists.

    If the major powerhouses of the martial world were to start a fight, it could possibly cause an issue big enough to shake the very country itself. Think about it, if affluent and powerful people like the Shaolin abbot and leader of Wudang, were to go against the imperial court, then just preparing enough soldiers to supress them would be a massive headache itself.

    Moreover, just those two alone could storm the imperial pce and take the emperor''s head. Even arge army would struggle against martial artists of that calibre. That''s also why the current dynasty doesn''t deploy many soldiers.

    What use would an army be against martial artists in the pugilistic world who could easily defeat hundreds of soldiers and leap over high walls as if the walls didn''t exist? You could conscript as many peasants as you want to form an army, but they''d still stand no chance against one thousand martial arts experts.

    That''s why the founding emperor decided to rely on the martial artists'' system instead when founding the dynasty. That''s also why official offices became a ce young people with aspirations tried to join. It''s also why Liu Shan Men, the Emperor''s Entourage and the Qilin Guards make so much money endlessly every year it''s like they manufacture it, while not a single retainer has ever made aint.

    And that''s because those three units are essentially the dignity and face of the imperial court.

    Unfortunately, their dignity and face was now being mocked by the pugilistic world.

    There''s been a huge uproar in the martial world in the capital thest seven days. The unknown culprit has kept a pace of one-per-day, killing seven warriors on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. The officials initially helped cover for one another, but the people dying were famous martial arts experts in the pugilistic world, so the news eventually got out.

    And by the seventh day, it could no longer be hidden. When the emperor caught wind of the news, he was enraged. He ordered his men to bring him the corpses so that he cold personally see what was going on.

    Eunuch Nan lifted off the white cloth covering the corpses, revealing corpses in terrible condition.

    "Lu Duan, Yi-level warrior of the Emperor''s Entourage, age thirty-six. He was rank forty-five on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. He entered the Emperor''s Entourage at age fifteen, and served the emperor for twenty one years, earning him his position today. He specialised in using a pair of golden hammers. The pugilistic world gave him the alias, Golden Light Wheel, which referred to him¡­ Being silenced with a single stroke of the sword."

    He proceeded to remove another piece of white cloth.

    "Qilin Guard, Jia-level warrior, Chang Xiang, twenty seven years of age. He was rank thirty on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. He was originally from the pugilistic world and made a name for himself with his swift sword techniques. His skill and fame won him the acknowledgement of the captain of the Qilin Guards, who rmended he join the Qilin Gaurds. People referred to him as Swift Meteor Sword. He¡­ He was a hot favourite for the uing martial arts tournament. His cause of death was having his skull lopped off with a big broadsword."

    Eunuch Nan tried to resist the stench of the corpses and his own fear. He quivered as he lifted the white cloth off another corpse.

    "Qilin Guard, Jia-level, Jiang Qiran, fifty five years of age. Rank thirty one on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings¡­"

    The emperor angrily shouted: "Enough! There are seven corpses here. They killed seven of my warriors in seven days!"

    The emperor angrily walked back to his seat, sped his hands and stared at the retainers before him.

    "The killer is getting more and more arrogant!"

    The emperor heavily emphasised himself and the retainers couldn''t help but be scared. The emperor coldly looked at the seven corpses, and with eyes filled with anger, eximed: "I wanted to conduct the imperial martial arts tournament, and yet the culprit dared to kill warriors of the imperial court right under my nose. This is the capital! How are the people supposed to have confidence in the imperial court if this carries on? Where is Shuntian Prefecture?"

    Sir Bao of Shuntian Prefecture is a fatty. His head was covered in sweat. He clumsily weaved his way out of the row of retainers, walked forward and knelt down.

    "Y-Your humble retainer is here."

    "Seven warriors, seven lives. I can''t believe that something like this happened in the capital. The culprit is still on the loose and will continue tomit crimes. What are you people from Shuntian Prefecture doing?"

    The Shuntian Prefecture government office is considered invincible, the leader of the entire country, and without question, the number one scapegoat in the capital. Not only do they have to manage the capital''s food matters, but also census registrations and the such on top of being responsible for maintaining safety in the capital. Whenever something happens, the me falls on him. So whenever something happens in the capital, the unlucky one who takes the me is Sir Bao.

    Although he was used to it, he was still sweating: I¡­ I¡­ That¡­ I¡­" He stuttered for ages but couldn''t offer anything useful.

    "Shuntian Prefecture! You are in charge of maintaining the peace in the capital. You have countless warriors serving you. All the warriors of the imperial court in the capital are under yourmand. If you can''t exin yourself today¡­" The emperor looked furious and revealed his murderous intent in his eyes. He continued: "I don''t need your official headwear, I just want to use your head as an offering for these dead warriors!"

    "Please spare me your highness!!" Sir Bao kowtowed like he was pounding garlic and continued: "I am not trying to push the me away from myself, but the reality is that although there are many warriors in the capital, they all belong to different departments, so they do not follow my orders. F-For example, those in your entourage only take orders from you. The Qilin Guards all have missions they have toplete daily, so I cannot order them around."

    The emperor then angrily asked: "What about Liu Shan Men? Isn''t Liu Shan Men thriving under Captain Song and Captain Shen''s leadership? What about them?"

    "Umm, Liu Shan Men do not even have ten of their members ranked on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. Moreover, most of them are not in the capital, while the only one that is, is¡­"

    "The only one left is what?!"

    Hearing the emperor''s loud voice, Sir Bao immediately bowed his head and said: "That would be Vice-captain Shen Yiren. Your highness, how would I dare ask Vice-captain Shen to help me with a case?"

    The emperor understood what he meant once he heard that.

    The seven warriors who died were either Jia-level or Yi-level. Having someone of the same level investigate the case would be the equivalent of sending them to their death. Only someone of a higher level would be qualified to investigate it.

    Those in the Jia-level are rank twenty-one and above. The tier above are those above rank twenty. People refer to those in that tier as the pirs of the imperial court, the "Seventeen Hidden Dragons". At current, there few of them in the capital, Shen Yiren being one of them.

    The emperor treats Shen Yiren like his own daughter and dotes on her to the utmost degree. You want him to send her out to investigate such a dangerous case? He was falling into his old temperament as a silly-emperor sh father again.

    "You handled this case well. Vice-captain Shen is having a tough time managing therge Liu Shan Men as is, so you are correct in saying that she should not get involved with this case."

    Sir Bao was well aware that the emperor treated Shen Yiren like his own daughter. And just as he expected, the mention of her calmed the emperor down a lot. Sir Bao wiped the sweat on his forehead and sincerely thanked the emperor as if he''d been spared from the jaws of a tiger. Sir Bao sessfully kept his life today.

    "Shuntian Prefecture cannot be med for this, but this case must be solved."

    The capital is the residence of the emperor, so nobody has dared to stir trouble before.

    Not to mention the emperor''s presence itself.

    The captain of the Qilin Guards, the Emperor''s Entourage and Liu Shan Men were all here in this city, so it was rare for anyone to dare stir trouble in the emperor''s residence.

    But someone just had to do it. And they just had to be mboyant and unscrupulous with their methods.

    Not only did they kill warriors of the imperial court, they even went and hung their corpses in the city. That''s the same as publicly insulting the imperial court.

    "If this continues, they''ll kill whoever they decide, and cause as much chaos here in the capital as they please. That''s a direct insult to me as the emperor!"

    "We are all at fault! Please pardon us, your highness."

    All the retainers knelt down in unison, trembling with fear and uncertainty. The emperor got madder and eximed: "The only thing you lot are good at is kneeling! Not one of you can provide me with a suggestion at crucial times!"

    One of the major retainers stepped out from among them and said: "Your humble retainer has a n!"

    When the emperor saw him, his eyes lit up.

    That was none other than the third seat of the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitian. The conference was called for in a rush, but they still ensured that the captain of the Qilin Guards was present. As such, all three leaders of the three government offices were present. However, the Qilin Guards decided to send Long Zaitian instead. Long Zaitian holds a title in the imperial court, thus allowing him to attend the conference at Hong Wu Hall.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Long Zaitian, what n do you have? Hurry and tell me."ong Zaitian lowered his head and acted like he was some sort of sage, took a deep breath and softly said: "I believe that the culprits in this case have a bigger plot in mind. I believe that the culprits belong to one of the four evil sects which have never agreed to let the imperial court rule. They must have a scheme of some sort since they dared to do this. And since they have chosen tomit the murders now, it is needless to say that it is linked to the imperial martial arts tournament."

    The emperor nodded slightly as he listened and said: "Uhm, that makes sense. Please continue."

    "Therefore, I would like to make a daring request of you to cancel the imperial martial arts tournament."

    What?

    The emperor almost fell of his chair when he heard him. Cancel it?

    So we''re going to basically let the culprit bully me now? The imperial court''s reputation just basically got sshed with sewage waste. You want me to cancel it? Isn''t that the equivalent of me admitting to the world that I''m afraid of the culprit?

    The emperor shifted his eyes side-to-side again and suddenly understood what was going on. The imperial martial arts tournament was a chance given to the three major powerhouses. Five of the seven warriors killed were Qilin Guards. Their participant list had undergone a major change. As one falls, another rises. The Qilin Guards were worried that their rankings on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings would suffer. They were afraid that Liu Shan Men and my entourage would rece their standing.

    They''re prioritising their internal conflicts with each other over national affairs! Long Zaitian, you piece of sh*t!

    The emperor didn''tment.

    "What do you all think?"

    The retainers all thought that the emperor liked Long Zaitian''s n, andpeted to be first to support it.

    "I agree."

    "I agree."

    "I agree."

    "That makes sense. I would like to ask your highness to cancel the imperial martial arts tournament."

    "Captain Long''s devotion to the country is admirable. He is an exemry example to be followed."ong Zaitian was proud of what he heard and took pleasure in it.

    The emperor couldn''t help himself. Nobody looked at the look on his face or bothered to listen to what he had to say.

    He closed his eyes and went silent.

    The emperor took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down.

    In the end, the emperor gave Long Zaitian and all the retainers present four words.

    "Shut your fucking mouths!"astly, I will do my best to get the rights to trante this series. I''ll detail it in tomorrow''s release. See you tomorrow!

 Volume 2 1 League of Assassins

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 1 League of Assassins</h4>

    "Assassins Association?"

    "What''s gauze?"*

    Su Xiao and I stupidly repeated what our boss said out of confusion.

    Shen Yiren eloquently sat in my room, and folded her long legs, one over the other, forming a most beautiful scene.

    "Not gauze, but Assassins Association." Boss Shen stared at the two of us and continued: "It''s thergest assassination association in the martial world, which is simply referred to as the League of Assassins."

    "Ooohh, the League of Assassins."

    I took a bite of my snow pear and asked out of puzzlement: "What about them?"

    "Su Han has little experience in the world, so forget him, but do you really not know?" Shen Yiren narrowed her eyes as she looked at me and sceptically asked: "Don''t you love those bullsh*t books? Didn''t they talk about them in there?"

    The ck and White Reflection is an official and popr magazine in the martial world! What do you mean it''s bullsh*t?! I want to prove its greatness!

    Honestly speaking, I do know the League of Assassins, I just don''t want to mention them. That''s because other than the time my shifu was teaching at Mount Daluo, they''re the trashiest and most bullsh*t organisation in the pugilistic world.

    It''s said that the League of Assassins didn''t originally start off as an organisation. As a matter of fact, it''s said that they couldn''t evenpare to a small sect. They say that it was originally an inn and was a legitimate inn that didn''t provide anything other than food, water and horses.

    But because it was operated at the North and South Junction, there were many peopleing by because they headed in those directions.

    The owner of the inn was a normal person. But he was different to others in that he had a great memory, so great it was like he had a photographic memory. He also had a tendency to be nosy so customers heading North or South would often leave him with news in the martial world, all of which he''d remember. After more than a decade of people sharing things, his knowledge grew like the snowball effect.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was originally something not well known. Butter on, someone from the martial world went there to investigate a case but couldn''t find his target when he arrived there. However, with the inn owner''s knowledge, he sessfully located the target not long after, allowing him to sessfully capture his target. That led to the inn bing instantly famous. The owner was very passionate, wanted customers and was very willing to share. As a result, that became a ce warriors of the martial world loved to go to for information.

    But then things went in a direction nobody would''ve predicted.

    The more information a ce holds, the more it naturally attracts those who require it. Lots of people slowly started bing information brokers which made the owner realise just how valuable the information he had was. After that, he went and sold information to the generous League of Assassins. And to have more information, he trained subordinates to gather information for him

    In the end, the owner started dabbling in purchases with the underground world. He made bids on behalf of people and had the assassins take the jobs. As a middle-man, he only got a single part of the profits. But then he started earning more and more. Consequently, his influence grew more and more, eventually controlling the entire assassination profession, because all the assassins and information brokers were under his control.

    The owner eventually became determined and made the inn the central hub, thus creating a weird information broker organisation. He and his aides were only responsible for the handling of information while assassins needed to join his organisation in order to receive missions and reward money. In other words, his organisation is the middle-man which takes orders and provides jobs.

    The organisation originally looked small, but then slowly started looking off. All those who offended the owner magically died within three days. It was only until even an elder of the Demon Sect died to the hands of the organisation did the martial worlde to the decision that the organisation was not to be underestimated.

    Back then, nobody imagined that everything the owner did was to gather all the scattered assassins together, all while promising a high degree of freedom while maintaining an organised group that could act within certain set parameters. Nobody at that time thought that the organisation would be so massive.

    After operating for a century, it became the League of Assassins we know today.

    The scale of the current League of Assassins leaves the one back then in the dust. The association''s main function is still to ept jobs and pass them on, but the entire organisation is now basically under the control of the Assassin''s Association. Every assassin receives missions through the Assassin''s Association, which gave the League of Assassins unprecedented growth, turning it into an organisationparable to the Demon Sect and one of the fourrgest evil sects of the martial world.

    But even so, my impression of them is just a group of nobodies.

    I remember looking for their members with my shifu to have a discussion. I remember we arrived at a big street and then my shifu shouted a phrase which was a secret code: You neighbour is here to nt a tree!

    And someone selling candied gourd suddenly came running over and said: The Ru Family is washing a bowl of misceneous fish!

    "I am from Mount Daluo. I am here to see the leader of the League of Assassins."

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you!"

    Back then I felt like the person from the Assassin''s Association was a good-for-nothing pervert like my shifu.

    But the worst part was that they wrote a vertical written couplet ced along the side of the doorway of their headquarters that was just appalling.

    I remember it went¡­

    "In front of their headquarters, they hang a vertical written couple which says: ''It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. But travelling ten thousand miles cannotpare to - killing countless people.''"

    Boss Shen read it out loud and revealed a worried look: "Whenever the members of the Assassins Association take action, there are bound to be fatalities and wounded people. They''ve killed countless people over thest century, and they''reprised of seventy ranked groups of assassins. Their strength isparable to the Demon Sect back then. In fact, they do an even better job concealing themselves. A few cases have happened recently in the capital where skilled warriors from the Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage have been killed. I''m worried that our members will be targeted."

    I took another bite of my snow pear. It filled my mouth with its sweet vour that came from its juice. I opened my mouth to take a breath and the juice came to life in my mouth. Not a drip was wasted. Snow pears in autumn taste delicious. The capital truly is an awesome ce.

    Boss Shen, in an annoyed tone asked: "Ming Feizhen, how dare you eat while I''m speaking?"

    I waved my hand and replied: "No, no, I''m very worried too. But what''s the point of being worried? Don''t assassins do their thing at night? I''ll worry about getting scared when night falls."

    "You aren''t nervous in the least, you punk." Boss Shen ced her hand on her head as if she had a headache. As soon as she raised her arm, all her voluptuous curves revealed themselves in a way that emphasised them as if they hadn''t appeared in ages and were emphasising their existence. I was awestruck.

    "What are you looking at again?!" Boss Shen got a bit angry and daggered me, so I immediately lowered my head and quietly ate my apple.

    "We''ll be careful." Su Xiao smoothed things over saying: "If we run into assassins¡­ I¡­ I''ll call for Tang Ye to help right away."

    Yeah, that''s right, look for Tang ye. I don''t think many of those in the Assassins Association can beat him.

    "Not only that, but seven warriors of the imperial court have died in seven days. The case will soon be handed to us, so other than reminding you all to be careful of their assassins; I''m also notifying you that you may have to investigate the case."

    "Eh? Didn''t you say you were worried that we''d be in danger?"

    Boss Shen innocently waved her hand and said: "There isn''t enough manpower at Liu Shan Men at the moment." I stared at her intently. She continued: "Moreover, you''re going to represent Liu Shan Men at the imperial martial arts tournament. It''s good to raise your rankings on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings a bit. It''ll benefit all of you. If you can solve the case, you''ll definitely join the official rankings."

    What Boss Shen meant was for us to get a grasp on the case and get involved. If our names get included in the report, the emperor''s impression of us will probably be better. As if a case of this scale would ever be handed to us.

    Su Xiao however, happily leaned over towards me and said: "Ooohh, I see. Big Brother Ming, the Vice-captain has a lot of faith in us."

    Su Xiao truly is a master of being at being stupid¡­

    Boss Shenughed as she squint her eyes and looked at Su Xiao: "The captain has gone to see his majesty. He should probably be back with news soon."

    Notes:

    *Same pronunciation different characters as Assassins Association

 Volume 2 2 Give Me a Bone

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 2 Give Me a Bone</h4>

    Inside the emperor''s study at the imperial pce.

    The current emperor was meeting someone.

    Foreign ministers from another state are not usually permitted entry into the emperor''s study. Normally, only those in the pce whom are inner servants or those conferred titles of royalty would be allowed entry there. The person the emperor was currently seeing didn''t fit in either category.

    The emperor took a sip from a cup of tea and without looking up said to that person: "Captain Song, sit."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Ou anxiously and fearfully replied as if he had a foreboding feeling: "A retainer cannot sit before the emperor. I am fine with standing."

    The emperor responded with: "¡­Hmm."

    The emperor would normally never askto see Song Ou. It''s not that he questions his abilities or personality, but because he''s treated Shen Yiren like his own daughter since her parents passed away while Song Ou was her future husband.

    He disliked his son-inw more and more. Moreover, their marriage was proposed by Shen Yiren without consulting him first. The emperor was unhappy with Shen Yiren''s future husband which she got engaged to for benefits to begin with.

    Further, the Song family was originally a family in the martial world, yet after their engagement, they gained a fair amount of power in the imperial court. Therefore, the emperor had his reserves towards Song Ou from the start.

    "Alright, just stand then."

    While Song Oues from a family in the martial world, he had a schr''s demeanour and was polite so the emperor didn''t feel he was mistreating him. Song Ou respectfully replied: "Understood."

    The emperor gave him a look of askance. He never had a chance to get a good look at him from afar in the courtroom and only finally got to take a good look at him today. Song Ou looked cultured, clean and tidy, had thick eyebrows, big eyes and carried the aura of a schr. He had a good appearance. He''s not an outstanding schr or martial artist, but couldn''t be so bad since he was the captain of Liu Shan Men. At least the Song family hasn''t disgraced the Shen family.

    The emperor scanned him a few more times before easing up and slowly asking: "Captain Song, have you and Shen Yiren been getting along well recently?"

    "Thanks to your majestic blessings, Shen Yiren and I have been getting along very well."

    "Oh, is that so?" The emperor changed his sitting position, and again slowly said: "I heard that you two never appear together. You''re future husband and wife. It''s not good to always be like that, right? Captain Song, Yiren is the descendent of myte friend. I love her like my own daughter, so don''t you act dumb with me."

    A quick sh of anger appeared in the emperor''s eyes that scared Song Ou when he caught it: "Yiren and I have been busy with preparations for the imperial martial arts tournament, so we have not had any time for our own affairs. Umm¡­ Uhh¡­ In short, it is because Ickpetence that I have dyed and neglected our rtionship. Please pass down punishment upon me."

    The emperor finally revealed a smile, waved his hand and said: "Nah! What wrongs have you done? It''s my good fortune to have you busy yourself with work. In fact, I am at fault too as her uncle. I just wanted to ask because I kept hearing gossip. I''m getting on with age so I don''t have the energy to concern myself with the affairs of you young people. Hahaha."

    Song Ou followed along andughed. He suddenly recalled what his father told him when he epted Shen Yiren''s proposal.

    "Son, don''t go thinking that Nan Jing''s Shen family has fallen and all that''s left behind is an orphan. How does the current emperor treat her? The Shen family has the backing of the emperor. Our Song family isrge, possesses status and power, so no one in the martial world of Jiang Nan dares question us. I have been conferred the title of Lord Protector and have infinite wealth, but so what? Our Song family''s territory is only two days away from the capital. If something happens in the capital we can react right away. How many in our family can join Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings? The emperor treats us with suspicion!

    The emperor is currently in his prime and is suspicious of all of us ministers, so I''m basically walking on ice. The emperor hasn''t found fault with me, but with our Song family''s power and influence, we''re like a trouble-ma. It''s tough to avoid others in the court eyeing us. If somebody in the imperial court happens to trick the emperor and frame us, would our Song family be able to defend ourselves if we didn''t have somebody in the imperial court?

    The Shen family and the royal family have a good rtionship. Shen Yiren''s father is thete brother by oath of the emperor, so her words hold a lot more weight than our Song family. Do you now understand why we must ept her proposal?

    Further, look at Shen Yiren who''s only fifteen. Not only does she possess the beauty of a deity, she also came alone to make the proposal. How bold is that? She could be a great help to you. Don''t misunderstand that she''s borrowing our family backing to revive Liu Shan Men. Don''t you think we need to rely on her to gain footing as warriors of the imperial court?

    Go to the capital, and remember, be patient and tolerant. Be patient and tolerate it even if people give you the cold shoulder! Tolerance is invaluable!

    Shen Yiren will be your wife. After you get married and have kids, your child will be surnamed Song. How much longer will the Shen familyst? We will eventually control Liu Shan Men. So in the end, is it really important whether she''s helping us or we''re helping her? Remember son, tolerance is invaluable!"

    Song Ou repeatedly repeated his father''s words to himself.

    Patience and tolerance! I must tolerate it!

    If it were not for what his father told him, he would''ve had no means of tolerating the emperor''s threatening tone which was clearly intended to protect Shen Yiren.

    Shen Yiren got engaged for the sake of Liu Shan Men. He of course epted Shen Yiren for the sake of his family. It''s not that he doesn''t have any feelings for Shen Yiren. It''s just that the people around were pushing him into an awkward position.

    Shen Yiren''s standing at Liu Shan Men is truthfully far too established. Most of the ministers left behind from the Shen Family are loyal to her. And since she was once Yan Shisan''s deputy, all the skilled warriors trained by Yan Shisan also take orders from her.

    Song Ou truthfully hasn''t done anything significant other than being the shield when troublees knocking at Liu Shan Men''s doors. And when he''s called into the pce to see the emperor, all he got was a warning to not mistreat Shen Yiren.

    Song Ou was bitter. His fianc¨¦e was far too good, making it difficult for him to fulfil the shoes of the captain role.

    The emperor noticed that he was slightly down-hearted and could therefore tell Song Ou understood his intentions so he said no more, so he brought up the main topic: "Let''s leave that aside for now. The imperial martial arts tournament is tomorrow. Do you know what I''ve asked to see you for?"

    Song Ou replied: "I do not. Could you please enlighten me, your majesty."

    "You do know about the killer killing several people recently, right? The people they killed were all warriors of the imperial court."

    "I have heard about it. Did you want me to investigate the case, and arrest the culprit, your majesty?"

    "That''s right." The emperor nodded and continued: "But that''s not all."

    The emperor sat up straight and continued: "The killer is cunning and tough to arrest, that I''m aware of. Asking Liu Shan Men to solve the case within a time limit is making things difficult for you all, so I''m asking my entourage, the Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men to investigate the case together. Whoever solves the case first will be credited handsomely. However, that''s not what''s most important. Tomorrow is the imperial martial arts tournament. Do you understand what I''m getting at?"

    "Yes." Song Ou pondered over what he emperor said and then continued: "The warriors will have to enter the pce for the imperial martial arts tournament, and so you are worried about the safety of the royal family?"

    "Correct!" The emperor nodded to emphasise his response and continued: "Forget the reason the killersmitted the murders before the imperial martial arts tournament for now. The doors to the imperial pce will be open the next few days for the imperial martial arts tournament, which makes it a coveted opportunity for the culprits, even though there are warriors present. If the culprits can easily disguise themselves and sneak into the pce, how can I guarantee the safety of those in the pce? Skilled warriors from my entourage are always by my side, so I''m not worried. The Qilin Guards have lost a few men over thest few days, so I can''t really ask them to provide manpower assistance. Therefore, the responsibility of guarding the East and West gates of the imperial pce will ride on the shoulders of Liu Shan Men."

 Volume 2 3 The Letter Sent to Mount Daluo

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 3 The Letter Sent to Mount Daluo</h4>

    "Oh yeah, where has Tang Ye gone?" It was a rare asion for Boss Shen toe to my room, yet we weren''t all present so she was surprised. She remarked: "It''s rare to not see you all present."

    The three of us are usually together so we gave the impression that we were glued together. Boss Shen looked at us like "I told you your love triangle would ruin your rtionship" expression as soon as she arrived.

    I almost choked to death from the piece of pear in my mouth.

    Do you still suspect me of being gay?!

    Boss Shen sat on my bed. She looked at my sheets and then narrowed her eye to look at me, and ask: "Last night¡­"

    "Nothing happenedst night!"

    "Are your sheets¡­"

    "My sheets are clean!"

    "I can see they''ve been washed." Boss Shen looked like she was smiling but at the same time not. She nodded and added: "It must tend to get dirty?"

    Hey! Hey! Hey! How do you know so much?

    Fuck! That''s filthy!!

    Su Xiao didn''t understand a thing we were saying. Heughed and said: "Tang Ye went out. I don''t know what his deal has been recently, but he''s been training even more diligently than before. He used to get up early daily before, but now he gets up early and returnste. Recently, he''s hand-balled all the missions to us while he heads outside the city to train."

    Tang Ye has been much more dedicated after he lost to mest time. He disappears after we finish our patrols or missions, while Su Xiao and I go to eat. He''s like an old man who found a dark cave where he can seclude himself to train. He spends at least six full hours training daily.

    Thest few days, he didn''t seem to even return all night. It''s like he''s out to kill gods or something. The only time I''ve been so scared that it could rival his mood is the time when my shifu was chasing girls in the Western City with his eyespletely red.

    Boss Shen felt reassured knowing he was training so diligently and nodded: "Tang Ye has best the best behaviour as usual. How about you two? Have you two trained at all?"

    Su Xiao obediently reported: "Yes! I asked a few of the seniors at the office to teach me Liu Shan Men''s sword techniques. I''ve been learning the Six-Forms Sword Art recently."

    "Good." Boss Shen rubbed Su Xiao''s head to encourage him. Su Xiao revealed a shy smile making him look like a kitten that got a pat. The room was filled with a healing aura.

    Aaahh~ life is beautiful.

    "Learning the sword will be good for you." Boss Shenughed out loud and said: "You can''t use your Ancient Cold Sabre during the imperial martial arts tournament. The Six-Forms Sword Art is Liu Shan Men''s basics. Your original specialty is the broadsword so it''s a bit difficult, but luckily you''re still young. It''s not toote to start learning."

    "Yeah, that''s what Big Brother Ming told me." Su Xiao grabbed my sleeve and continued: "Big Brother Ming said my family art excessively focuses on the Ancient Cold Sabre. He told me I should broaden my knowledge by studying the styles of other schools."

    Su Xiao gave me a sudden god-tier assist!

    "I never imagined you could say sensible things." Boss Shen came over to me and raised her beautiful chin as though she was rewarding me and in a tone of admiration asked: "What about you? What have you done?"

    Hahaha, Boss Shen, that''s too easy!

    "My diligent boss, you must know that I¡­"

    "But Big Brother Ming didn''t do anything. He just went around spending moneyvishly with the money earned from the missions." Su Xiao thought hard and long, and then continued: "He sometimes embezzled money to buy wine too."

    Good going, you Su-tard!

    That''s a god-tier attack!

    "I never did any of that!" I looked at Boss Shen and acted loyal. I put on a look that made it look like I was in misery over the world''s matters and said: "Boss, Liu Shan Men''s problems are my problems. Your problems are like my mom''s problems. How could I not treat it with the utmost importance?!"

    "Enough. Enough. I''m going to get goose bumps if you continue." Boss Shen sounded disgusted. She continued: "You didn''t do anything, right? Feizhen, you''re not young anymore and your martial arts aren''t all that impressive. I don''t expect you to make huge strides in a single month, but you should at least try a little."

    "Right, right, right. I''ll start training tonight. I promise I''ll master a style per day. I''ll be sure to make improve by leaps and bounds before the end of the tournament."

    "Cut the bullsh*t. The preliminary tests start tomorrow. You''re better off resting and saving your energy."ong live boss!ong live boss!

    Now I can continue to scam them of food and wine every day as Ize around. Life is blissful!

    "All you do is eat every day and run around. I''ve never seen you train once." Su Xiao pouted and continued: "What happens if you get defeated in the first round? The imperial martial arts tournament is important, so take it to heart."

    I waved my hand to brush it off and said: "Don''t worry. I definitely can''t get passed round one." The imperial martial arts tournament never even upied a corner of my mind. What good coulde out of winning it? Not only would my rank on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings rise, but the ministers would start ordering us around even more. Most importantly, other than the preliminary tests, all the official fights are held in the pce.

    I was lucky the emperor didn''t recognise mest time. I even closed my doors, so why would I go and do something so stupid?

    "I''m talking to you." Boss Shen pointed at me as she looked at me. Perhaps it''s because all my memories of her are aggressive and explosive. If she weren''t being so tough, then she was beautiful beyond words. Such a feminine gesture was rarely seen, sending me into a daze.

    "Wh-What?"

    "Where''s your shifu?"

    "He''s probably busy hiding somewhere trying to make me nephews."

    Ah, wrong choice of words.

    My shifu certainly should be hiding somewhere hitting on women, but the shifu of mine that Boss Shen knows should be my senior martial uncle, Priest Wushan. Everybody in the pugilistic world knows that my senior martial uncle is famous for avoiding women. In fact, he together with the leader of Wudang, Priest Shen Fa are collectively referred to as the Fa Wu twins. Although their alias coincidentally contains the character "wu", since they''re bothwless punks, the unknowing people in the martial world actually respect them even more for that.

    Boss Shen frowned as I expected and asked: "Your shifu Priest Wu Shan is famous for being dedicated to his Tao practices. Now what did you say he was doing?"

    "Erm¡­ I¡­ I said he was training in the mountains. Maybe he recruited a few decent disciples. He''s already at the stage where he''s recruiting grand disciples now. Doesn''t that make them my martial nephews then? Hahahaha."

    "I think so too. Your shifu is so reputable there''s bound to be many who want to be his disciples."

    Many? There are countless of them. My senior martial uncle could lie to ny percent of the country''s poption that he has reached the pinnacle of inner peace, when in reality it was because he caught the cold syndrome. I can honestly say that there are more people who want to be disciples of my senior martial uncle than my shifu.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    To be fair, part of the reason can be attributed to the difficulty of locating them. My senior martial uncle lives in the mountains, while my shifu is sleeping at some random''s ce.

    But what did she mention my senior martial uncle for?

    "Why do you ask, boss?"

    "Because of the imperial martial arts tournament. You all may be members of Liu Shan Men, but such an important matter should at least be reported to your families." Boss Shen changed her posture, switching which leg went on top and continued: "Su Han''s home is in Su Zhou. I''ve already sent someone to deliver a letter there. Tang Ye''s family¡­ You both know about the Mei Xiangli homicide case, so I can''t do anything about him. Only your family background is unclear, so I sent a letter to Mount Daluo. I wanted to know if your shifu received it."

    "Huh?"

    WHAT?!

    You sent a letter to Mount Daluo?!

 Volume 2 4 I Called for Cao Cao and Liu Bei Came

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 4 I Called for Cao Cao and Liu Bei Came</h4>

    "You sent a letter?! When? Why didn''t you tell me?"

    "Half a month ago." Boss Shen yfully and cutely stuck her tongue out, "It''s your fault for not listening when I speak. Well deserved."

    Sh*t! Sh*t!

    If those bastards on Mount Daluo know that I''m here, they''lle running over looking for me right away! They don''t care if I die from exhaustion. If they see me in a constable''s uniform, they''llugh so loud it can be heard throughout the three realms! They''ll even bring out gongs to gather all our old friends in the pugilistic world here to see me.

    I don''t want to see that damn Shaolin geezer who asks for donations as soon as he sees someone, or that Wudang geezer who''s always trying to convince people they need to get him to perform ceremonies! The leader of Emei spells trouble too! I can''t cross paths with them either!

    Moreover, if my ever elusive shifu finds out that I''m here, he''ll probablye here and try to set me up to be the sect leader. Hell no am I doing that!!

    What do I? What do I do? Should I go and clobber the messenger? But since it''s been half a month, not only should it have arrived, I bet he''s probably already on his way back I¡­.

    What do I do¡­?

    I calmed down a whileter though.

    Heh, there''s nothing to fret about.

    Even if he does go to Mount Daluo to deliver a letter, can he find my address? Even if he knows where it is, can he even climb all the way up there?

    Mount Daluo is a very intriguing ce. Our sect is situated in a mountain vige that''s been segregated from the world for centuries. You''ll only see mountain flowers and wild nts on Mount Daluo, making it a fantastic ce to train. The vigers that interact with us are simple and honest, and follow ancient customs. Their ancestors moved to the mountain many centuries ago and never descended the mountain since, because they couldn''t¡­.

    Mount Daluo is a steep mountain. The mountain path is difficult and arduous to traverse. It''s always had a reputation for being "Impossible to ascend, and impossible to descend. Cats have nine lives, and the graves there are covered in moss." Normal people in the pugilistic world can''t even locate our ce. And even if they do manage to locate it, they can''t climb it. Our disciples were able to climb it because our masters and martial mistresses took us there one by one."

    The mountain path is so difficult to traverse that my shifu has even used it as a graduation exam for his disciples. Disciples are considered skilful enough to leave the mountain if they can return home from the foot of the mountain and go back down. Our sect''s senior martial uncle has wanted to leave the mountains for decades and couldn''t. He has to bribe disciples leaving the mountain to help him. You think a messenger like you can climb the mountain?

    I''m not bragging, but as far as I''m concerned, the only person from Nan Jing''s Liu Shan Men who has a remote chance of climbing it is Boss Shen. I''m not worried as long as it''s not her delivering the letter.

    "Ah, whatever. So be it."

    "Of course. What would you do otherwise?" Boss Shen continued in a tone where she paid no mind to it: "I just told you about the assassinations. Go and examine the corpses and look for some clues, so that I can list your names in the records for people who investigated the case. That''ll earn you credit. Alright, that''s all from me, head off now."

    "Yes Ma''am!"

    "Alright."

    I took a bite of my pear, rxed my entire body and responded. Just as I was thinking about how toze around in a bit, somebody from outside suddenly came with a report.

    "Reporting, vice-captain. The constable who went to Mount Daluo to deliver the letter has returned."

    "Oh? Good timing. I was just talking about it." Boss Shen waved her hand and said: "Tell him toe in and report to me."

    I was having a breakdown.

    Isn''t he too quick?

    He''s back?! Why?!

    Hey! What happened to the cat with nine lives and graves covered in moss?! You lied to me, shifu!!

    A momentter, a fine and thin man came through, bowed with both hands sped in front of him and said: "Greetings, vice-captain, Master Su and Master Ming." Su Xiao and I are official warriors of the imperial court. While he is indeed a constable, he just works at the office so he has to refer to us as "master" when he sees us as well.

    Su Xiao, being not used to the treatment, bowed to him, while I red at him out of astonishment.

    Boss Shen: "Good work. Was it difficult to get to Mount Daluo?"

    "It was hard. It was extremely hard!" The messenger sighed: "When I reached the vicinity of Mount Daluo, my eyes were taken for a ride. The girls there were more captivating than the ones at the brothels. There wererge mountains everywhere. The mountain was so high the peak was in the clouds."

    No, his description isn''t retarded. I can''t believe the guy found Mount Daluo.

    I angrily said: "Who are you? Tell me your name."

    The messenger had a "hehe" look on his face, and in a ttering tone said: "I''m Liu Shan Men''s exclusive messenger. I''m the number one runner who travels North and South, Iron Legs Wang."

    What?!

    Why did it have to be this Iron Legs guy when there are so many messengers?!

    "How did you find my home?"

    Iron Legs Wang was still relishing the scene at Mount Daluo. He continually motioned with his hands in the air as he described it: "Man, that ce is like the home of deities. There was so much fog and the mountains were so high."

    "I didn''t ask you about the fog!" I angrily stamped my feet and eximed: "I asked you how you found it."

    "I have a mouth, so I can just ask. Mount Daluo is famous. The vigers there all knew of it."

    I overlooked that¡­.

    I normally just go straight home and forgot that the vigers at the foot of the mountain usually see us.

    But that still doesn''t make sense. Even if he did know where it was, how did he climb up there? But he''s called Iron Legs¡­

    "You. How did you climb up?"

    "I don''t have the skill to climb up there."

    Iron Legs Wang chuckled and excitedly said: "When I was wandering back and forth, not able to find a path up, I saw a beautiful girl that looked like an angel from heaven dressed in white. I saw her at the office when we held the recruitment exams. I remember she was your aunt, Master Ming."

    Shiyi?

    I feel bad when I remember her. It''s been a month, and she''s gone back as I thought.

    "I was really d to see her. The letter was originally intended for your seniors, so it''d be the same if I handed it to your aunt, right? And so, I walked up to her, greeted her and exined the situation to her. I''m not even shy to admit that when I saw the beauty of your aunt, it felt like I was struck by lightning. I couldn''t budge. I could only stare at her. I was worried that it was a bit confrontational so I continued to speak without daring to take another step forward."

    "Wh-What did she say?"

    "She was really happy when she heard what I said and reached her hand out to take the letter." Iron Legs Wang closed his eyes to relish the moment again as he continued: "A girl like a deity from the heavens. Her smile was so breath-taking. Her beauty is what do they call it¡­ Unparasomething."

    I grind my teeth and retorted: "Unparalleled!"

    "Yes, yes. Your knowledge is profound. That''s the word I was looking for. The smile of an unparalleled beauty. Man my legs are getting weak."

    "Alright, enough with the nonsense. Carry on."

    "Miss Ming''s martial arts are superb. I''ve wandered the world for so many decades yet I''ve never seen such an amazing style where a lift of the hand could allow someone to take something. She was about three or four feet away from me when she extended her hand out, and the letter seemed to just glide over into her hand."

    Boss Shen said with admiration: "It must be the Moon Sewing Palms. Shaolin has the Dragon Capturing Art, Wudang has Dao Natural Heart Manual, so Mount Daluo''s skill which allows them to take things through thin air like that should be the Moon Sewing Palms. I can''t believe your aunt''s martial arts are so profound. I''m even more eager to recruit her now!"

    I ignored Boss Shen''sment and hurriedly asked: "Shi-¡­ What did my gugu say when she saw the letter?"

    "Well¡­" Iron Leg Wang hesitated for a second. When I gave him an aggressive re, he immediately replied: "She didn''t say anything. She justughed and that was it. I was quite heartbroken by it."

    I suddenly felt some difort. A weird mood came over me. She''s¡­ Not happy.

    Iron Legs Wang seemed to be savouring the scenery from that moment: ""Your aunt got angry afterwards. She cursed ''I''m worried about you, and yet you''re enjoying yourself, you traitor''. She then stamped her feet, her clothes fluttered and she flew into the fog without her feet touching the ground. I was so shocked I thought I actually encountered a deity. Master Ming, who do you think your aunt was swearing at? Bullying such a beautiful girl¡­ That bastard really doesn''t know any better."

    I kept silent.

    "Who else could she be cursing? Since she''s calling him a traitor, she must be cursing some guy who betrayed her of course." Boss Shen looked as if she was smiling but not smiling at the same time, and winked flirtatiously at me. The ridiculing look in her eye made it obvious what she meant: "Bastard Guo''er, your gugu is swearing at you."*

    I stared back at Boss Shen: Hmph. Is it a good idea to be seducing me while your Song Ou is seeing the emperor in the pce?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Boss Shen: Come here, I promise I won''t kill you!

    Me: No. Come here if you''re so tough. Come here. If you don''t chase me, then I''ll¡­

    I came to the realisation that Boss Shen and I slowly developed a fairly trusting rtionship this past month. And more recently, we''ve even been able tomunicate just by exchanging nces.

    But to be honest, I''ve got my own woes too. I feel a little mncholic. Shiyi is still angry with me, but I haven''t finished the matters on hand. I honestly have no way of ditching everything to go to her side. Further, her seniority¡­ Sigh. Traitor, huh¡­ I can only ept it.

    Su Xiao gave me a pat on my shoulder and said: "Don''t worry, Big Brother Ming. Your aunt must just miss you. Instead of being troubled by it, we should do something else."

    "Do what?" I looked at Su Xiao puzzled.

    "Investigate the case of course!"

    The upholder of justice, little angel Su Xiao clenched his fist. He disregarded my sorrow like it was just dirt and in a righteous and awe-inspiring tone said: "Homicide cases happen daily in the capital, so how can we just ignore them?! Let''s go to the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard!" Without even giving me a moment to immerse myself in my sorrows, he grabbed me and started running as soon as he was done talking.

    Notes:

    *In case you have forgotten, it''s a reference to Jin Yong''s Return of the Condor Heroes.

 Volume 2 5 Thereâ€™s a Scumbag in my Family

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 5 There''s a Scumbag in my Family</h4>

    I went to grab Zha Pi from Sir Sui''s courtyard before heading to the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards.

    With my introduction, the punk became Sir Sui''s subordinate. Sir Sui usually likes to nt bamboo, plum blossoms and peach flowers and the sort in his garden. Zha Pi grew up in the Peach Flower Vige so he was skilled with that sort of stuff.

    His father, Cha Yuan, died due to the internal conflicts of Lan Jun Zhu kong, so I share some responsibility. As such, I also need to take responsibility for taking care of him once in a while.

    "Big Brother Ming! Why did you get him toe along? He''s always looking in my direction. I really want to dig his filthy eyes out!" Su Xiao stamped his feet, stared at Zha Pi who was wearing a smile like he was filth on the bottom of his shoe, andined to me: "Why are we bringing him along to investigate the case?"

    Zha Pi still treats Su Xiao like a girl, and he''s going so far that I''m worried that he just might go ahead and you know¡­.

    But the guy isn''tpletely useless.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Don''t just see him as a failure at martial arts and literature. Sometimes, you need people like him."

    Su Xiao doesn''t understand my painstaking thoughts. He turned around to shoot a violent re at Zha Pi who was still flirting with him using his eyes. Then he went "hmph" and stopped speaking.

    Sigh, these tworades of mine are both well qualified. But there''s just one w with them. Tang Ye and Su Xiao are good natured. Tang Ye is cold on the exterior but opens up once you get close enough to him. He looks like the type that ignores others, when in reality he''s a nice guy who''d help an elderly person cross the street. Su Xiao is as you already know, a naive and stupid sweetheart¡­.

    The two of them follow regtions andws when investigating cases, which is why they don''t see any results.

    The subordination system in the capital isplex and there limited resources. All the warriors of the imperial court have superiors. With seven warriors of the imperial court dead, whoever manages to solve such a big case will be given massive credit. So it''s basically a given that they''ll being from all over the ce to seize the opportunity, I guarantee that we''ll see hordes of warriors, enough to break the door down, trying to investigate the case when we get to the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards.

    If we were to follow the rules, we won''t make it in there even by next month.

    And now for Zha Pi.

    Zha Pi certainly is useless. He''s stupid, thick-skinned, exploits the power of others, is retarded, moronic and is stupid enough to use a sheet of paper as a shield. He''s also several times more shameless than my tworades here. In the pugilistic world, besides my shifu, the Shaolin abbot, the leader of Wudang, Yan Shisan, Ximen Chuideng and a handful of old demon sect members, he''s definitely a young, handsome and talented young man.

    ¡­I truly worry for the future of the pugilistic world¡­

    The main courtyard of the Qilin Guards is right next door so we were scheduled to soon arrive. However, Su Xiao kept shooting me weird looks the entire way, and in the end I couldn''t hold it in.

    "What on Earth is the problem? Why are you acting strange?"

    "You''re the strange one." Su Xiao pouted his lips and continued: "Why did you talk to the vice-captain like that back there, acting like you didn''t care about the case? Weren''t you the one that warned us to be careful the first night there was a death, and even went to investigate it several times?"

    "Well¡­" I rubbed my nose and continued: "I do care a bit, but there''s no need to exin everything to our boss." She''s not like you two. Boss Shen is smart! She''ll get suspicious if my thoughts and usual performance don''t match.

    To be honest, I''m really interested in this case.

    The fact that the Assassin''s Association is brave enough to pick a fight with warriors of the imperial court itself is suspicious.

    While it''s true that the Assassins'' Association does paid work, they also need to ensure there are no consequences before epting the job. Therefore, they would guarantee that nobody would pursue them after killing seven warriors of the imperial court before epting the job. Because otherwise, many people could get pulled into it causing the Assassins'' Association itself to suffer consequences. The association sent the assassins out, so does that mean that they can sit back and rx after the job?

    I shifted my gaze towards the imperial city.

    Our current emperor is wise. How could he possibly allow somebody to publicly challenge the imperial court''s rule in his territory? Not only would he look bad, but he''d also lose the trust of the people. If the people lose confidence in the warriors of the imperial court, then the imperial court itself will be in jeopardy.

    "Ah, what the heck?! Why are there so many people?!"

    We arrived, and it was just as I suspected.

    There were so many people were gathered outside the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards a mosquito would be hard pressed to get in. There were tens of men who were trying to maintain order and behaved appropriately there. But even then, there was no real order. Who would''ve thought the Qilin Guards who are known for their serious, strict demeanour and power would have a circus-day like this. The Qilin Guards themselves probably never imagined it.

    "Why are there so many people? Why don''t the Qilin Guards shoo them off?"

    "And how would they do that? They''re warriors of the imperial court."

    "Warriors of the imperial court?" Su Xiao blinked a few times: "But none of them are from Liu Shan Men. They''re all from the Emperor''s Entourage aren''t they?"

    "No, they''re wandering warriors."et me exin. Imperial court warriors aren''t a term exclusive to Liu Shan Men, the Qilin Guards or the Emperor''s Entourage. Whether they work officially or privately, if they serve the imperial court, they can be considered a warrior of the imperial court. They''re thergest faction in the imperial court''s warriors category. They make up about seventy percent of the warriors. They number more than the men of all the three powerhousesbined.

    While they number many, they''re not united. Most of them choose to stay in their homnds. Those who go to big cities are few, and those whoe to the capital are even fewer. Since the three official powerhouses have branches in big cities, it''s tough for them to make a name for themselves.

    Further, Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings are conducted at the capital, so there''s barely anybody from the wandering warriors whom are ranked. This now rted back to the power struggle between the official warriors and the wanderers. Moreover, the system deployed by the imperial court for its warriors doesn''t favour under-developed units. As one who is against that malpractice, I have the following opinions¡­.

    Okay, I''m done messing around.

    In any case, the wandering warriors are thergest category of warriors, however, there are few from there that make it to the high ranks. I''ve heard that it''s partly got to do with pressure from the Qilin Guards, but I''ve never looked into it so I don''t know the truth.

    But damn there are a lot of them. The corpse would rot by the time they finished checking everybody who wants to enter.

    Alright, it''s time for Zha Pi to make himself useful.

    "Zha Pi, follow the original n."

    "Roger!"

    Zha Pi cleared his throat, looked left and right to see if there were any suitable tools, and then his eyes suddenly lit up. He walked up to the side of a hawker selling chestnuts, stole his cart, and stole the money in the cart. That''s¡­ Alright, I''ll give him some extra food tonight.

    Zha Pi looked so alive with the cart in his hands; it was like he was possessed by the urban manager. He turned towards the crowd, and shouted: "All of you move the fuck out of my way!! My family''s boss is here!!" And then rushed into the crowd.

    I watched his reluctant back and admired him. He was like a dam holding back the yellow river burst forth.

    Good going, Zha Pi!

    "Good job! I''ll give you two bonus braised pork shoulders with soy sauce tonight!"

    Zha Pi smiled with his eyebrows and said: "Thank you, big bro!!"

 Volume 2 6 As a Constable, You Need to be Able to Play by the Books, as well as Be Under-handed

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 6 As a Constable, You Need to be Able to y by the Books, as well as Be Under-handed</h4>

    "Move the fuck out of the way! Who do you think you''re messing with?! I told you to move!" Zha Pi cursed loudly, smacked a few people behind their head, and every now and then used the cart as support to jump up and kick them in their faces. "Are you retarded?! I''ll kill you if you don''t move! Dodge. Come on, dodge. Dodge again if you can!"

    The degree to which he dominated the ce reminded me of the bastard of andlord in the countryside that bullies the kind vigers.

    But what was amazing was that nobody hit him.

    The wandering warriors who saw him seemed to think that royalty was arriving.

    It appears that the official warriors push the wandering warriors around a fair bit. I mean, they were scared of Zha Pi.

    "Come over here. Were you staring at me? Which eye did you look at me with? I''ll fucking kill you!!!"

    Who else wants to mess?!

    A single piss-weak man with skin thicker than the city walls actually managed to scare a group of expert warriors off. So who else wants to mess?!

    Zha Pi became a monster who invented a new style of getting through crowds. He had his chin up high as he went nuts poking people, and while he was at it, he felt up the butt of a girl selling flowers by the side. Just as I expected. I mean, no. He exceeded my expectations. Zha Pi really is a genius.

    "That''s your idea?" Su Xiao who was stunned took two steps back and said: "Big Brother Ming, you''re so dirty!"

    I awkwardly coughed twice and said: "Don''t make it sound so crude. It''s a good method as long as it gets the job done."

    Taking advantage of the cleared path, Su Xiao and I walked in like we owned the ce, acting like a couple-

    "Look! That couple must be a wed couple from some prince''s family who''vee to investigate the case."

    Zha Pi yelled as he opened a path and the crowd therefore naturally knew that somebody wasing. When we arrived on the scene and people noticed us, they started whispering amongst themselves. However, they seemed to have a twisted conception of my rtionship with Su Xiao.

    The warriors in the crowd were more concerned as to who Su Xiao and I was as opposed to the old fe who had his head beaten until it was swollen by Zha Pi.

    However, what they were paying attention to, especially what the female warriors were paying attention to was problematic.

    "That youngdy looks so pretty and young. She''s a good fit for a husband. Good choice!"

    "Her husband doesn''t look bad. He looks really tall. And judging by the way he''s guarding that youngdy, it looks like he really cares about this beautiful wife."

    "Of course. Otherwise, how would he convince her to dress as a guy? If I could marry such a beautiful wife, I''d hide her well at home. I wouldn''t dare let her go outside."

    Nobody cared about who we were. They were all there for the entertainment.

    Su Xiao wentpletely red in the face and almost yelled "I''m a guy". But I stopped him before he could.

    "Don''t be impulsive. Let''s head in first."

    I don''t know how, but it seemed my gesture got the crowd even more passionate.

    "What a yandere-husband!"

    "Look at how he treats his wife, you bastard!"

    "Spare us your lovey-dovey gestures!!"

    "Slut! Man-whore!"

    Fuck me, these people have empty heads!!

    Su Xiao and I quickly walked up to the door. The governor at the door stopped us and asked: "May I ask who you two are?"

    I used my Secret Sound Transmission Art so that only the governor could hear me: "Liu Shan Men''s constable, Ming Feizhen, Su Xiao, Under¡­ His highness has ordered us to investigate the case." When he heard we came from Liu Shan Men, he almost picked up the rod to hit us. Just how much bad-blood is there between us¡­?

    But he immediately changed his attitude when he heard we were here under the orders of the emperor: "I see. Please head on in. Just walk straight into the morgue."

    The governor didn''t suspect us. This is the capital. And there''s a massive crowd outside, with several hundred people who could hear us. A mere official constable like me wouldn''t dare fabricate a royal decree now, would I?

    But he was the only one who heard me, so if we do get busted, I''ll just deny the usations. That''s the beauty of the Secret Sound Transmission Art!

    Su Xiao, Zha Pi and I quickly went in. We might get into an argument or tussle here since we''re from Liu Shan Men, and this is the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards. We''re better off just getting to examining the corpses.

    I spotted the sign indicating it was the morgue. The main door was open. Standing at the door, we could see the silhouettes of a few people going back and forth quickly.

    No way.

    We walked up to get a better view and I was right. There were twenty-something people in the small morgue.

    It''s needless to say that members of the Qilin Guards were there. A fair few members of the Emperor''s Entourage were there. And there were three or four wandering warriors too.

    It was easy to recognise the affiliation of those on both sides. The warriors wearing the Qilin Guards uniform inside were definitely members of the Qilin Guards, and those wearing casual clothes yet were unwilling to let the Qilin Guards out of their sights were obviously members of the Warrior''s Entourage. As if the wandering warriors had the guts to treat them like that. So the leftover people who were looking fearful were without saying, the wandering warriors.

    What the heck? So many wandering warriors were lined up outside and yet only a few managed to enter.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It wasn''tpletely packed inside, but there was nowhere to stand around the corpses.

    There were seven corpses inside the morgue. Around them on all sides were four or five people examining them with hooks in their hands as they moved back and forth.

    Fuck it, I should just do it myself.

    "Hey." I called out to a Qilin Guard. When he turned around, I struck his meridian point and said: "Go sleep somewhere else if you''re sleepy", and then pulled him out and tossed him aside.

    In a sh, we quickly surrounded a corpse to examine it.

    Su Xiao looked at the five Qilin Guards I tossed aside with surprise and said: "They didn''t rest adequately. I mean, they fell asleep after walking around for just a short while."

    "¡­¡­"

    This is the exact reason I''m not afraid to reveal my martial skills. Little Su is a baby.

    And thus, we sessfully joined the group that was examining the corpses.

    The people standing around the seven corpses were discussing amongst each other.

    "Look at this corpse. The body and head are separated, and was wounded with a big sabre. The culprit used a sabre."

    "No, no. Look at this corpse. There are no obvious wounds on the body, so it seems contrived to say that the culprit used a sabre."

    "No, no¡­."

    The three main official units and wandering warriors argued back and forth but couldn''t provide any clues to help identify the culprit. And that was because not one of them understood how to perform autopsies.

    Further, they didn''t even dare to touch the corpse, one, because they''re scared of the corpse, and two, because of taboos.

    Now I know why the people outside couldn''t enter. Not one among the twenty-plus people here surrounding the corpses touched a single corpse.

    I was careless too. I forgot the Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage weren''t specialised in this field. They have coroners and doctors who can figure out the cause of death, but they''re unable to determine what art was used tomit the murder and what sect was behind it. Liu Shan Men''s constables should be the most skilled at this if I''m correct. I say that since the duty of Liu Shan Men is to arrest criminals, and as constables, they should be familiar with the autopsy process. Experienced veterans should be skilled at it. Su Xiao and I however, are newbies, and so no one has taught us how to perform autopsies yet.

    I''ll just have to do it my way.

    "Alright, alright, what the hell are the lot of you even on about?" In an irritated tone, I put an end to their debate and asked: "Did anybody bring tools with them?"

    Everybody shook their heads.

    I looked at Zha Pi and said: "Zha Pi, go!"

    "M-Master Ming, don''t kid me now. I can scare people, but as for scaring ghosts¡­ I don''t have enough guts for that."

    Pussy. He didn''t dare to touch the corpses like the others.

    "I didn''t ask you to perform an autopsy. I wanted you to go get some items I needed."

    "This is the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards. Did you want me to return to Liu Shan Men to get them?"

    "There''s no need to. Just go to the kitchen."

    "All of you get lost. Let me at it!"

    I grabbed Su Xiao who stepped up. His eyes were lit up. It was like he was looking at a cat, or a fish or something.

    Aren''t you the brave one?! You want to perform an autopsy with your spare hands? Aren''t you in over your head?!

    "Wait a second. Wait for Zha Pi to return."

    Not long after, Zha Pi sessfully gathered what I required.

    Zha Pi brought it over which caused the Qilin Guards and members of the Emperor''s Entourage to stare with their eyes and mouths wide open. What he brought me were two pairs of chopsticks.

    I took a pair and handed Su Xiao another.

    "Alright, dig in. I mean, begin the autopsy."

 Volume 2 7 Reunion While Performing an Autopsy

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 7 Reunion While Performing an Autopsy</h4>

    "Big brother Ming, is this this eggnt-shaped-injury the cause of death?"

    "It''s a light injury, like one you''d get from getting kicked."

    "Oh. Ah! This guy''s mouth stinks. Hmm¡­. There''s a red mark on his ear."

    "His wife must''ve scratched him."

    Su Xiao and I had a pair of chopsticks each. We flipped parts on the corpses back and forth like we were digging around in a hot-pot. It was the safest and most convenient method since we couldn''t touch the corpses and there was the concern of the corpses being contaminated with poison.

    The scared and disgusted voices of those to our sides wouldn''t stop.

    "Damn, my eyes!"

    "Is there anybody normal at Liu Shan Men?!"

    "I can''t take this anymore!"

    Those few fellows ran out of the morgue like bees were chasing them. Far out, it''s just an autopsy using chopsticks, is it such a big deal? Look at how obedient Su Xiao is.

    A few of the wandering warriors came close to Su Xiao and I. They were afraid of the corpses, but they weren''t as stuck up as the Qilin Guards, and were willing to do this sort of dirty work.

    Speaking of being daring, I admire Su Xiao most. He''s like a kid from the back arse of the countryside who''s just arrived in the city and can''t stop looking in every direction. He wasn''t afraid to work and he wasn''t intimidated in the least. The violent young girl lives up to her name¡­. Even the underlings she fights can''t stop calling her "Female Hero, Female Hero".

    "Big Brother Ming, Zha Pi is gone."

    "I got him to go tell Tang Ye we''re here. Even if he doesn''t contribute, he at least needs to be here so that we can add him to the list of people who contributed."

    Using chopsticks to perform an autopsy worked like magic. Su Xiao and I determined the cause of death for five corpses and continued on to the next ones.

    "Hmm? It looks like something got stabbed into the thigh of this person. Is it the weapon used to murder him?"

    I took a look, narrowed my eyes,ughed and said: "That''s a¡­hard-on."

    "Hard-on? What''s hard?"

    "What do you think is located there?"

    "Eww!"

    Su Xiao suddenly understood what I meant. He shrieked and then hid behind me. His white face turned red and he said: "Wh-Why didn''t you say so sooner?"

    I helplessly replied: "You didn''t ask."

    Su Xiao was still a little curious, so he poked his head out from behind me like a kitten.

    Hey! I can see you peeking!

    I shook my head. Why am I starting to struggle to identify Su Xiao''s gender. He''s a guy. A guy. A guy¡­.

    Su Xiao wentpletely red after he peeked and said: "D-Does it be like that when you die?"

    "Not necessarily. Maybe, if you were killed while you were turned on. This guy must''ve been killed while feeling ted over the fight when he got killed."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I-Is that so¡­? You sure know a lot." Su Xiao climbed onto my back. He was as light as a feather. He cutely said: "How nice. It would be nice if I could be like that."

    Oh?

    Do you desire strength, young girl?

    Or do you want¡­ Kekeke.

    Stop thinking about bullsh*t and get to work. This ce seriously reeks!

    Su Xiao who was still procrastinating on my back leaned over to grab the chopsticks and lifted up an arm. His eyes lit up as he giddily eximed: "Big Brother Ming, look, look. He''s got an injury under his armpit! Did he get stabbed to death? The culprit used a sword, right?"

    I reached out with my chopsticks and pointed at the wound: "No, no. Look carefully. A weapon was stabbed into him, but the shape of the wound is rarely seen. It wasn''t created by a sharp sword but a sharp spiky weapon like the ones Emei uses. Therefore¡­"

    Before I could finish speaking, somebody''s voice that unbelievably sounded like donkey having intercourse yelled out.

    "Aaaaaahhh! My eyes!! How could such a beautiful girl do such a thing?!"

    "Who the heck?" I turned around slightly irritated.

    I only saw a few peoplee in from outside. The one at the forefront must''ve been the one who just cried out. He was a man in his twenties. He was short in stature, limbs were short and looked like another face in the crowd.

    "You''re¡­ Oh!" I grabbed my head. I finally recognised him: "Good timing, I''m almost done. Give me some pork shoulder stew, wine and a warm pot. Don''t be too picky as to who the girl who prepares the wine is. Seventeen or eighteen years of age will do."

    "Fuck you, who are you calling a waiter?!"

    Huh?

    Isn''t he Liu Zi, the waiter at Dong Po Tavern?

    "I''m a Jia level Qilin Guard, Silver Line - Yi Yixian. These two arerades from the Emperor''s Entourage." Yi Yixian who looked like every other waiter in the world mockingly said: "What are you people doing? You dare vite the corpses of warriors of the imperial court using chopsticks?"

    "We''re performing an autopsy."

    My tone turned cold. What the hell? He''s not Liu Zi, What a waste of my feelings.

    "What are you acting like ''talking to you is a waste of time'' for, huh? I''ll shred you!"

    I ignored him and focused on examining thest corpse. There was no need to examine it. The head and body were separated. The cause of death was decapitation. I coted all the death-wounds I''d seen up until now and silently pondered them.

    "You people from Liu Shan Men were the ones that disgusted our men causing them to leave right? How dare you stir up trouble in the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards. And you dare force this maiden into doing this disgusting stuff? Get over here, I''ll teach you a lesson!"

    "How petty. We were just examining the corpses." Su Xiao got off my back, pulled a funny face and asked: "We''re done. What do you want?"

    "Miss, we know you didn''t mean to do this. I just want to find out what that punk is after. Hey! Don''t hide behind ady if you''re tough. You hear me?"

    "I''m a guy!"

    I stood up, stretched my body out and nced at them.

    "You came here investigate a case, not stir up trouble, right?"

    "Cut the bullsh*t, I''ll¡­"

    I cut him off: "The first corpse got killed by an arrow. There was no poison on the arrow, but the arrow pierced through his head. The internal strength and arm strength of the culprit are all extraordinary. The second corpse got struck with a palm strike on his Hun Men Meridian. The force of the palm strike destroyed his organs causing his death. The third corpse was¡­"

    Yi Yixian''s head was spinning: "Wait, wait! What are you saying all this for?"

    "It wasn''t meant for you, but those two."

    The male who was with Yi Yixian suddenly asked: "The way the seven of them died was different, the weapons used were different and there''s more than one culprit. Is that correct, brother?"

    A girl asked: "The culprit wasn''t an assassin but an organisation under the Assassin''s Association. Is that what you mean?"

    Yi Yixian panicked and said: "Brother Tie, Miss Ye, why are you siding with him?"

    With him was a male and female.

    The male was dressed neatly and simply. He was tall and exuded a manly aura.

    The girl was lean, sweet and mesmerising. She had a bow on her back, but she stood with her back straight. Her posture was very feminine. Her every movement had a way of moving the heart of the people.

    One was Iron Blood Hanyi - Tie Hanyi. The other was Silver Bow Falling Leaf - Ye Luo. I met the two of them when I was searching for Lan Jun Zhu Kong in the capital. Of course, they had passed out at that time so they didn''t remember me. Not only are they skilled fighters, but their ability to think is much higher than the few before and this trash-can before me.

    It''s a lot more efficient to discuss the case with them. Further, I don''t know why this assassination organisation is picking a fight with the imperial court, so I want to hear their opinions.

    Tie Hanyi formed a fist before him, sped it with his other and bowed to me. He politely said: "I am a Jia level warrior from the Emperor''s Entourage, Tie Hanyi. May I ask what your names are?"

    Uhm, very good. He doesn''t remember me as I thought.

    I kept silent. Su Xiao''s eyes were glimmering. He seemed to enjoy this pugilistic-world-type event: "We''re from Liu Shan Men! Hello, I''m Su Xiao."

    Iughed and said: "Greetings, I''m Ming Feizhen."

    "Ming Feizhen?" Ye Luo frowned. Her long legs came over my way as she stared at me with suspicion and asked: "Have I met you somewhere before?"

    Uhm, very good. She too as I thought¡­

    Huh? Huh?

    This is different to the script I was given!!

 Volume 2 8 To Push Down, or to Not Push Down

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 8 To Push Down, or to Not Push Down</h4>

    Ye Luo stared at my face. Her pitch ck eyes looked like they could see through me.

    Could it be that she didn''t pass out that day at the city outskirts and she now knows my identity?!

    I''m left with only one option then¡­. And that is to push her down! My shifu told me that you have to make a woman be part of your family for her to keep a secret!

    In a serious tone, I said: "Miss, I don''t think it''s such a good idea to stare at me like that. This is our first meeting." I deliberately emphasised "first meeting" to remind her that we were meeting for the first time. I''m doing this for your benefit too.

    You were virtually nude the first time we actually met. So it''s best for both of us that we don''t mention it.

    Or do you want me to push you down and taste my Eighteen Subduing Dragon Gropes?!* My eyes were filled with murderous intent.

    Ye Luo blinked and then her expression brightened up: "I remember now. You three are a pair from Liu Shan Men''s newly formed Three Swordsmen, right?"

    I let out a sigh of relief.

    Thank god I don''t need to use the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Gropes. But I somewhat regret it after seeing Ye Luo''s beautiful face and her alluring body that night¡­

    "Oh?" Tie Hanyi was also a little surprised, "they''re the Three Swordsmen? I''ve long heard of your reputation."

    What the heck? The three of us are famous now?

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ye Luoughed and said: "There''s a guy called Tang Ye in your group, right? He''s got great martial arts skills and is handsome. The news of him fighting on even-footing with Hua Shan''s leader, Jia Yunfeng is spreading. He''s also challenged many others this month and destroyed the ques of their martial arts schools. People call him Evil Tang Ye behind his back. I reckon he''ll ce well at the imperial martial arts tournament. He might even face off against me."

    Tang Ye did that¡­?

    I recall Miss Ye being ranked in the Pink Reflection. They stated that she was a rare amazing female hero among warriors of the imperial court, and has solved quite a few cases. She''s also beautiful which is why those in the pugilistic world speak well of her. I think she was rank¡­ Twenty-two on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings.

    It''s an honour for someone like Tang Ye who''s not even in the top one-hundred to be acknowledged by the top Jia ranking warriors.

    Ye Luo then said to Su Xiao: "You''re Su Xiao. I was right then. The outside world says that you''re an enchanting guy whose beauty is greater than that of Pan An and Song Yu. Hmm¡­ You truly are handsome." After she finished speaking, she looked at Su Xiao who was distressed andughed out loud.

    Su Xiao waved his hands with a red face: "Don''t say that. It''s embarrassing. How can Ipare to our forefathers?"

    Ye Luo then looked at me who was awaiting praise, giggled and said; "I told you I met you before. People say Ming Feizhen is a messy guy. If he''s not gambling, then he''s at a tavern drinking. I saw youst time I went to Dong Po Tavern. You asked the waiter Liu Zi for braised pork shoulders, but you got dragged off by your superior before you could finish, right?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Yeah, I felt slightly awkward.

    "Cough. Cough. Let''s not talk about us anymore. You two came here to find out about the culprit, right? Let''s head outside and talk. Hey, uhh¡­ Liu Zi, prepare some dishes for us."

    Yi Yixian got so mad he started jumping up and down: "Call me Liu Zi and I''ll kill you!!"

    Huh? That''s not him? That''s strange. I remember seeing Liu Zi from Dong Po Tavern just a moment ago. Why do I always mistake others for him.

    "Never mind if you''re not Liu Zi. Just prepare some dishes for us. Let''s talk outside."

    "I''m not a waiter!!!!"

    We found ourselves a quiet ce in the Qilin Guards main courtyard.

    The rtionship between the Emperor''s Entourage and the Qilin Guards isn''t so bad. Tie Hanyi was here for business. He''s got quite the reputation, so borrowing a ce to have a chat was a walk in the park.

    Tie Hanyi sounded surprised as he asked: "You said that the Assassins'' Association sent an entire organisation. Is there an organisation in the pugilistic world that can create wounds identical to those seen on the corpses?"

    "Yes, the fifth rank group of assassins in the Assassins Association, ck Wind Thirteen Wings."

    After I finished speaking, everybody looked stunned, Su Xiao included.

    The ck Wind Thirteen Wings assassination group is building quite the reputation in the pugilistic world. There are thirteen of them in total. All of them are skilled with internal and external styles. Each one of them possesses skillsparable to top level martial artists. The thirteen of them also use different weapons, from sabres, to swords, halberds, bows and arrows, to hook swords and axes. They even fight empty-handed.

    The thirteen of them always cover their faces with a ck mask when carrying out assassinations. They''ve been around for over a decade, yet no one has any urate information pertaining to them. Members from both justice and evil sects have fallen victim to them in that time, so they have enemies all over the world. But it''s weird. You can find at least some clues on other groups, but there''s not a trace of the ck Wind Thirteen Wings group to be found. There''s never been any news on them. So other than being frightening, they''re also very mysterious.

    "How are you so certain?" Ye Luo looked at me with suspicion, "Judging solely by their wounds, it''s possible that another group was responsible. Based on all the assassination groups I know, there are no less than ten who are capable of killing them."

    "Intuition." I waved my hand and said: "This is only my conjecture. Don''t ask me for evidence. You can ignore my conjecture if you like."

    Tie Hanyi looks rude, but he''s actually quite honest. He felt embarrassed to say: "It''s not that we suspect you, it''s just that this is a very important matter, so we want to be certain."

    "I certainly can''t be certain, but¡­" I looked at the two of them and waited for them to look at me. I then revealed a smile and said: "Think about it, even if there are other groups capable of assassinating them, would they dare to? The victims certainly are skilled and it''s not easy to kill them, but finding the gall to kill them is even harder.

    Who are the dead? They were either Jia level or Yi level warriors. They were considered talent the imperial court heavily relied on, right? Not only did they kill them, they killed them in the capital a few days prior to the imperial martial arts tournament. Clearly they''re trying to give the imperial court their middle finger. Other than the ck Wind Thirteen Wings group who work solo, I can''t think of anybody else who''d do this."

    Every time I finished a sentence, their expressions looked grimmer than thest. When I finished, they were already sweating.

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo became seemingly anxious, as though they themselves were at risk. It was clear they believed me now.

    I don''t me them.

    The League of Assassins fifth rank is scarier than the top three of the Divine Moon Sect. The Divine Moon Sect rewards its members based on their achievements. Certain criterion must also be considered when handing out annual sries. Members don''t just get more because they''re ranked higher.

    But the League of Assassins is different.

    Assassins in the League of Assassins don''t meet each other, so they don''t fight for rankings. They''re ranked based on their kill-counts,ponents, reputation and other factors. The fifth rank in the top one-hundred of the ck Wind Thirteen Wings group was built on lots of blood and skeletons. Their reputation was built on the lives of thousands of martial artists.

    While the Divine Moon Sect does carry out assassinations, their assassinations skills are nothingpared to those assassination groups.

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo exchanged looks and then apologetically said: "We intended to discuss the matter with you two today, but since we know who the culprit is we need to head back immediately to prepare."

    Ye Luo added: "The ck Wind Thirteen Wings group is not to be underestimated. If they''re the culprits, we must be very careful. That goes for you guys from Liu Shan Men too. You guys should return and notify your captain as well, got it?"

    "Understood."

    The two of them quickly left. It''s only normal for them to leave in a hurry. They can''t sit around and have tea with us while knowing that theirrades are being targeted by the ck Wind Thirteen Wings group, can they? It wouldn''t be such a big deal if they were just assassins. But if the ck Wind Thirteen Wings group are the ones taking action, there are bound to be deaths.

    Based on their rate of one kill per day, it looks like somebody else is going to die today.

    I stretched my limbs out after the two of them left.

    "Ah, I''m so sleepy today too. Let''s go after Tang Ye arrives."

    I looked at Su Xiao and found him staring at me sternly.

    Su Xiao looked at me with tears brimming and softly said: "Big Brother Ming¡­ How are you so knowledgeable?"

    "Huh?" I was slightly bewildered.

    "It''s like you transformed into another person today. Normally, you''re justzy and uninterested in work. But you said a lot today. And you actually spoke in aprehendiblenguage. Even the two Jia level warriors were amazed with you."

    Fuck! I was careless because I was so used to Su Xiao''s slow personality.

    "Big Brother Ming!" Su Xiao''s pretty face dropped down. He stared at me with suspicion, pouted his lips unhappily and said: "Are you hiding something from me? Hmm?"

    With Su Xiao pressing me for answers, two deadly options appeared in my mind.

    To push down, or to not push down.

    Notes:

    *It''s a parody of Hong Qigong''s Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms from Jin Yong''s Condor Heroes series.

    Pan An and Song Yu were famous pretty boys.

 Volume 2 9 The Atmosphere Between Su Xiao and I is Toxic

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 9 The Atmosphere Between Su Xiao and I is Toxic</h4>

    "Today, Shifu shall teach you how about the creature known as women. Women are a fascinating creature. They say ''no''¡­"

    "But their body is straight?"

    "Idiot! Dimwit! Stupid! You learnt all that from your senior martial uncle, didn''t you?!" Shifu red at me hoping that I would know better. *

    "Shifu, could you at least not include English while scolding me¡­?"

    "Open your heart and remember one thing when you encounter a woman that''s hard to get along with," Shifu trained his deep loving gaze on me, looked up to the sky and roared three words. His holy voice made my blood, breath, pulse and even my soul feel shocked like they were conquered.

    "PUSH HER DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    To this day, I still remember that after shifu said "push her down", he hadn''t had enough and licked his lips. I still can''t erase the ecstatic expression on that old geezer''s face. It''s virtually a traumatic childhood memory.

    And so I was now faced with a very important decision.

    To push down, or to not push down?

    This is an important life decision.

    The person before me has a crescent nose, apricot peach cheeks, long legs, a slender waist, and is enchanting, yet carries an innocent aura. You could say that it was a gift that all the men in the world craved for.

    "If you push her down, you''ll be rewarded with infinite joy. If you don''t push her down, you''ll be left with infinite regret. Disciple, pursue happiness now."

    Shifu''s demonic voice rang in my eyes and made my mind fuzzy.

    If that''s how it is, I choose-

    Wait!

    Su Xiao is a man, alright?!

    That was dangerous! My brain nearly short-circuited there.

    I anxiously shook my head, and recited the legend of the three chrysanthemums from memory.

    And yet I saw Su Xiao looking at me with his big beautiful eyes as he grunted and said: "Are you hiding something from me? I was wrong about you! You told me we were best friends."

    Hey!

    I always thought you were slow and so I''d be fine! Why are you betraying me now?!

    "Big Brother Ming, I actually do know."

    "You do?"

    No way!

    Su Xiao really knows? I really do have to push¡­ Ah, fuck! Why am I always having sick thoughts?

    "Wh-What do you know?"

    "Why are you hiding so obvious from me?" Su Xiao wasn''t suspicious. To the contrary, he looked at me with a very concerned gaze. He reached his hand out and ced it on my forehead: "You must have a fever; otherwise you wouldn''t act so abnormal. Don''t worry about the investigation if you''re not well. We don''t need the credits. Be a good boy, okay? Let''s head back."

    I looked at Su Xiao and let out a big heart-felt sigh¡­. He just thought I underwent a big personality change because I was sick?

    This isn''t too good, but it''s better than if it were to develop into the final ending.

    What? You''re asking me what the final ending is? Why of course that''s to push¡­ Kekekekeke.

    "Fuck off!" I pushed Su Xiao away and caught my hand, "How am I sick? I''m not sick."

    "But, today you¡­"

    "It''s all knowledge I acquired from reading books. Everything I mentioned was recorded in the ck and White Reflection." I pressed on with my nonsense, "go buy yourself a copy and read it if you don''t believe me. There''s nothing that''s not mentioned in The ck and White Reflection. I always told you to read more, but you just wouldn''t listen, you naughty boy."

    "Are you really not sick?"

    "Yes, I''m not." I hurriedly stood up, took a step, shivered, then turned my head around, and pat him.

    "Look how full of vigour I am."

    "Nope, I think you''re sick." Su Xiao took my big hand off his head. "Yes, you look full of vigour, but you''re still abnormal."

    "Alright, I know you''re worried about me. Thank you." I ced my hand back on his head and give him a gentle scrub, "I''ll tell you if I''m not feeling well, alright?"

    Su Xiao didn''t remove my hand this time. He instead let me scrub his head. He blushed and said: "Your words. Don''t go back on them."

    I chuckled and said: "Yes, yes, yes."

    ¡­¡­

    Why do I feel that the atmosphere is weird. It''s like the air around us turned pink. And Su Xiao''s expression looked like he was enjoying my scrubbing more and more. My hand too, started to feel like it was enjoying the touch of his head. It felt strangely nice¡­.

    This atmosphere is fucking toxic!!

    I quickly pulled my hand back. Su Xiao opened his eyes wide and looked at me as though somebody suddenly awoke him from his beautiful dream.

    "Hmm, this¡­ This¡­"

    As I was fumbling my words, arge sound came from the main door. Arge group of warriors then started cussing loudly: "Tang Ye! This is the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards! How many lives do you think you have to be acting like you run the ce here?"

    What?!

    Is the people''s friendly neighbourhood friend, Tang Ye here?!

    Tang Ye has arrived!

    "Why are you so happy about him arriving¡­?"

    "Of course I''m happy. It''s everybody''s good buddy, Tang Ye!"

    Tang Ye was basically my saviour in this moment. But the shouting at the door started again.

    "Fuck off!! You want to fight us? Are you nuts?!"

    "Who are you using of holding your friends? Ming Feizhen? I don''t know who that is!"

    "Fine. People call you the devil, and you sure live up to the title. Come, try me."

    And finally, I heard cries, calls for help and a beautiful scene under the sunset.

    Not long after, Tang Ye stepped into the flower garden like a meteor shower with his cool cold facial expression. His entire body was zing, so I guess he must''ve just used Yang Blood Vital Qi. No wonder those guys got beaten to a pulp.

    Tang Ye got startled when he saw Su Xiao and I sitting safely in the small flower garden drinking tea, and was left speechless. It then looked like he convinced himself and said: "You truly are admirable, big brother. You really are powerful."

    "Don''t be so modest, you''re the strong one here."

    There are more than two-hundred people waiting to smash you, bro!

    "They''re justckeys. There''s nothing rted to being strong or not."

    Tang Ye turned his head around to look at the group of Qilin Guards that he insulted and then nonchntly said: "Who wishes to fight me? Step out. I wee any challengers."

    A man quickly appeared.

    "You know who I am, don''t you?"

    "You?" Tang Ye paused and then blurted: "The waiter from Dong Po Tavern, Liu Zi?"

    "Fuck you, you motherfucker! I''m not a waiter!"

    The Qilin Guards Jia level warrior, Yi Yixian was fuming.

    Yi Yixian took a big step forward: "I''ll show you the power of a rank forty-four Jia level warrior!" His alias is One Silver Line. He''s a user of the Iron Wire Fist and he''s right-handed. He took out iron rings from his shirt and slipped them onto his arms. When he threw a punch, the nging of the iron rings were quiet loud

    Su Xiao got surprised and yelled: "Tang Ye, watch out!"

    Tang Ye, however, didn''t care. I didn''t give a damn either. Tang Ye is best with his fists, and yet this guy is challenging him to a fist-fight? As if he could beat Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye directly stabbed his hand in and grabbed a column of rings on Yi Yixian''s arms while deflecting Yi Yixian''s other attack. His palm was zing hot, so Yi Yixian''s iron rings were burning bright red only a whileter.

    Tang Ye withdrew his hands. Yi Yixian himself couldn''t withstand the heat and removed the iron rings from his arms, but that''s what Tang Ye was waiting for. As soon as Yi Yixian removed them, Tang Ye quickly struck the iron rings with his palms, propelling them back at him with even more force.

    Yi Yixian couldn''t bring up his guard in time and the deflected rings hit him on his body causing him to stumble backwards seven steps before he could stop himself. He wore a painful look on his face. His face was bright red and there were bullets of sweat on his forehead. It was clear that Tang Ye''s Yang Blood Vital Qi burnt his nerves which caused him to suffer like that, not to mention the injury he got at the end. It looks like he won''t have a chance at participating in the imperial martial arts tournament anymore.

    "Thanks for going easy." Tang Ye gently raised his fist and sped it with the other, held his hands before him to pay respect, "Who else would like to fight? I¡­"

    I smacked him in the back of his head. This punk is a fighting-addict.

    "Fight, my foot. Let''s go."

    All the warriors there suddenly became angels and gave me looks of concern. Their gazes were clearly saying: "He dared to smack Tang Ye behind the head? This kid has lost his mind. Aren''t you afraid that he''ll use Qin Na, hang you up, strip you and put you on disy to the public?

    However, Tang Ye obediently nodded and said: "Understood, big brother." Everybody present dropped their jaws.

    The three of us were invincible and we easily left the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards. Having a handsome guy, who''s skilled and is my younger brother is great.

    I asked Tang Ye: "How''d you arrive so quickly? Didn''t you seclude yourself in the mountains?"

    "Captain Song ordered someone to fetch me. On the way back I ran into Zha Pi, so I came here first."

    "Captain Song?" Does he mean Song Ou? I don''t get it then. Hasn''t he always sat back and not contributed?

    "Anyhow, let''s go see him first."

    "How was it at the Qilin Guards ce?"

    Ever since he lost to me, he''s kept calling me Big Bro and treated me with courtesy, a little too much courtesy that I''m not used to it.

    "Nothing much. We just performed autopsies using chopsticks and then I had some tea with Su Xiao." If I mention that we met experts from the Emperor''s Entourage, he''ll probably go and challenge them or something, so it''s better if I don''t.

    "Just the two of us." Su Xiao seemed to understand what I was thinking and added: "We were really happy."

    But then that raised another problem.

    "The two of you drank together happily?"

    Tang Ye looked at me with resentment and said: "Big bro, I feel lonely with you doing that." I suddenly felt like all the ears by the doors of the Qilin Guards main courtyard perked up to listen in closely, the same way the eyes of a man who discovered gold looks. After they saw my death-stare, they all quickly turned back to hiding in the courtyard.

    Hey! Why the hell are you all running after hearing that? Let me exin. It''s not like that!

    Su Xiao stupidly said: "If you''re lonely, next time, the three of us¡­"

    Hey! Enough!

    The atmosphere in our small team is already very weird as it is, so could you please stop making it spiral further downwards?!!

    "Alright, shut up. Go home quietly for me!"

    I forcefully cut him off, wrapped my arms around these two burdens and ran towards Liu Shan Men.

    Notes:

    *He actually says "stupid" in English.

    Qin Na is Chinese martial art focused on grabbing and subduing opponents.

 Volume 2 10 Everybody Has Become City Gate Guards

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 10 Everybody Has Be City Gate Guards</h4>

    "Guard the city gates?"

    Song Ou acted like he was a wise sage and nodded.

    "Correct, the imperial city gates."

    Boss Shen was absent, and since the punk was Liu Shan Men''s highest ranking individual in name, he was therefore particrly arrogant.

    There was a reason for it. ording to Liu Shan Men''s traditions, if the nation was in peril, we were to protect the nation and not the ruler. In other words, Liu Shan Men can choose not to protect the royal family during a crisis. However, they had to follow the orders of the captain. To simplify that, under reasonable circumstances where death and destruction is imminent, Liu Shan Men does not have to obey orders from the emperor. Instead, they must follow the orders of the captain.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I could ept it if it was Boss Shen, but I truly couldn''t ept the leadership skills of Song Ou whom people call Song Bastard behind his back.

    Song Ou is from the Song family which is a family of martial artists in Jiang Nan. Speaking of Jiang Nan, I must mention something particrly special about the martial world in Jiang nan.

    The martial world in Jiang Nan is the primary force of the martial world. They seem to be the strongest among the sects of justice.

    The martial world in Jiang Nan is different to the martial world in the North and Central ins. The power bnce between the sects of justice and evil sects is bnced in the other areas for the most part. Basically, their member ratio bnce has been maintained.

    In Jiang Nan, however, the ratio of members of the sects of justice to the evil sects is ten-to-one. No evildoers dare act audaciously there, nor do any evil sects or groups dare to advertise themselves. It''s a beautifully tranquil ce.

    Back then, my shifu and I once tried to inv-, I mean, join Jiang Nan''s martial world. He started a branch of Mount Daluo in Su Zhou with lots of motivation, but in the end, the sects in the area threw him out. Their reason was that the sect wasn''t upright and did not exhibit good behaviour. Theyined that there were constant prostitute vists which ruined the reputation of the martial world in Jiang Nan.

    My shifu was enraged. He actually went to their ce and reasoned with them: "My branch of Mount Daluo only has three disciples. Two of the male disciples haven''te of age yet. Are you using my female disciple of visiting prostitutes? How dare you!"

    They responded with just one sentence: "We weren''t talking about the sect''s disciples, but its leader."

    My shifu wentpletely red in the face. He revealed a shy look and ran off whileughing "Hehehe". And thus, I never dared to go to Jiang Nan in case somebody recognised me. There wasn''t even anywhere for me to hide my head in¡­

    Seven sects with long histories rule the tranquil area. Since Jiang Nan surrounded the capital, the imperial court depended on the seven aforementioned sects a lot. The seven sects were like stars that protected the emperor''s governance over the martial world.

    That''s why the seven sects which frighten people are referred to as: White Prince Seven Champions.

    They''re also known as the biological son of the imperial court.

    The emperor has seven sons, the red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue and purple princes, but no white prince. The seven sects which got the royal seal of approval from the emperor were bestowed the title of white prince, king of Jiang nan. They receive all sorts of benefits from the imperial court. They continue to expand their power. While they call themselves a sect of the martial world, they''re just dictators.

    The Song family happens to be one of the seven sects. The Song family is a family of martial artists. His family home is in Yang Zhou which isn''t too far from the capital. That''s why they''re called the biological son of the imperial court. However, he doesn''t make me feel like he''s a descendent of the Song family.

    I mean he''s not particrly good at literacy and his martial arts are only about as good as Zha Pi''s.

    While he always acts like a well-studied person, he doesn''t have a single de. He''s not even a schr. I''ve never seen his martial arts, but I heard he had never fought once ever since being appointed. Isn''t this love too much for Boss Shen who''d have to fight three rounds with people in a single day?

    Boss Shen is the only authority in Liu Shan Men because her parents were in the upper echelon of Liu Shan Men if I remember correctly, and she was Yan Shisan''s assistant. If this captain of ours wasn''t her fianc¨¦e, he wouldn''t even be able to utter a word here.

    And hence, when Boss Shen is absent, he likes to talk haughtily.

    "This is Liu Shan Men''s mission in seven days'' time." Song Ou calmly pushed his non-existent sses. He looked at the three of us like my senior martial uncle with the cold.

    "Is there a problem?"

    "There is!" Su Xiao is always the first to voice his objection. Song Ou frowned and then revealed a "I''ll forgive you since you''re cute" look, and shifted his eyebrows flirtatiously.

    "Go ahead, what''s the problem?"et me confirm something first. Captain, you know you have a fianc¨¦e right? And you''re also aware that Su Xiao is a guy, right¡­?

    Su Xiao rested his chin on his fingers and looked upwards as though he was recalling something and asked: "Umm¡­ Why us three? We have to participate in the imperial martial arts tournament from tomorrow. Isn''t it better to ask somebody else?"

    Song Ou nodded: "I knew you were going ask that question."

    Thene out with it right from the start yourself!!

    "The Eastern gates of the pce will be open to allow martial artists to enter during the three days when the imperial martial arts tournament will be conducted. His majesty is worried that the assassin will try to take advantage of it. As such, he wants us to guard the Eastern Guard. Listen carefully: all of Liu Shan Men. So not only you three, but all the other martial artists participating will always have guard duty."

    Stupefied, I asked: "Guard the pce''s Eastern gate? Isn''t that the responsibility of the imperial guards?"

    Captain Song waved his hand and said: "Of course the imperial guards will be present. But while the imperial guards are arge group, their martial arts skills are a far-cry from the imperial court''s warriors. Even the wandering warriors are more skilled than them. The assassin is virtually invisible. The imperial guards wouldn''t be able to detect them if they were to sneak in."

    It sounds logical, but why do I feel that¡­

    Tang Ye frankly asked: "Captain Song, why Liu Shan Men? The Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage are much more powerful than us. Are they not going to do anything?"

    Song Ou''s expression suddenly froze up.

    That''s it!

    Tang Ye asked the forbidden question which made Captain Song''s expression turn extremely sour.

    "Of course they do. The Emperor''s Entourage is responsible for the safety of the royal family. They are never to leave their side. Let me ask you, how many of their experts are ranked on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings? How many are left with some of the participants offed? The Emperor''s Entourage are doing quite a bit."

    "What about the Qilin Guards then?"

    "Well¡­ They have their own jobs of course. Just mind your own business."

    Captain Song looked slightly flustered, but Tang Ye continued his attack.

    "The Qilin Guards have been conducting investigations recently as they try and catch the culprit that killed the warriors of the imperial court. They have expended virtually all of their resources and team for the case. I imagine that is why they cannot guard the pce."

    Tang Ye swept his eyes over to Captain Song, "Can I safely assume that you didn''t fight for our benefits in front of his majesty, and therefore the Qilin Guards are off to achieve aplishments while we are stuck with this job?"

    Tang Ye, you''re going overboard. Captain Song is a member of the Song family after all. He can easily win us such opportunities given his status. You''re probably overthinking it.

    "Tang Ye! How audacious!" Captain Ou mmed the table and raged: "Are you questioning me?!"

    So Tang Ye was right I see¡­¡­

 Volume 2 11 Verbal Warfare with the Captain

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 11 Verbal Warfare with the Captain</h4>

    The Qilin Guards are off to catch a criminal while we''re stuck guarding the city gates. This is putting the horse before the cart no matter how I slice it. Don''t tell me¡­

    I asked: "Captain, did his majesty give you a scolding today?"

    Captain Song kept silent, but the surprised look in his eyes told me that I was correct. So it''s because the emperor hates you?! All of Liu Shan Men has to go and guard the city gates because of that?!

    What I said made him look bad so he shot me a death-stare. Song Bastard never liked me from the start because I groped his fianc¨¦e in front of the orange prince that day and said I''d steal Boss Shen from him. But that was all an ident¡­ Didn''t we clear that up already? How petty.

    Well, who cares.

    "In other words, we have to give up the chance to aplish something, and we have to go and do a tiresome job with minimal numbers?"

    "That''s right!"

    What, you serious?

    Captain Song wasn''t logically discussing the matter any longer. He was basically just giving us a ridiculous order to go and do something meaningless. He forcefully suppressed his anger, wore a cold expression and asked: "So what?"

    "Of course that won''t do!" Su Xiao jumped out and angrily eximed: "We just managed to find some clues on the case. Captain, please discuss it with the emperor and have him withdraw the order. Otherwise¡­ I''ll speak to him. His majesty really likes me, you know."

    "The emperor was just joking with you, why would you think he was serious?" Using a tone that sounded like a detective telling a scum who''d fallen head over heels for a woman, he said: "Do not spout nonsense! The emperor cannot take back an order he has given. Not even the current retainers could get him to, let alone a youngster like you!"

    Hey, are you talking about yourself¡­?

    Su Xiao didn''t care though. He pouted his lips and retorted: "But Big Brother Ming and I easily found clues when we went to investigate at the Qilin Guards main courtyard today. Wouldn''t all our work be for naught if we gave up now?"

    Hey, hey! Just mention yourself. Don''t drag me into this.

    Su Xiao didn''t stop: "Big Brother Ming had a high fever today and yet he was able to identify how those people died with just a nce. He even analysed it for Liu Zi from the Qilin Guards as well as Hero Tie, Tie Hanyi from the Emperor''s Entourage. Miss Ye, Ye Luo repeated it and they both expressed great admiration for him." Su Xiao''s small face wentpletely red. He was as happy as though he had aplished an achievement.

    But could you stop saying that I have a fever?! I''m not sick!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Captain Song''s expression changed. He angrily asked: "You went to the Qilin Guards main courtyard? What the hell! Whose idea was it?"

    Before anybody could say anything, he stared at me. He looked at me the same way evil female spirits react to Tang Zeng''s flesh, eager to swallow it whole and said: "I knew it was you, Ming Feizhen!"

    Hey! Nobody said anything, did they? Did you get possessed?

    "How can you behave like that as the captain of your small team? Su Xiao and Tang Ye are young and unexperienced. How could you ruin them like that? Hmm? If their futures are hindered because of it, you''ll be held responsible!"ooks like the detective god possessed Captain Ou again. How dare a scumbag like you stare at me with that look? I wish I could spit on you ten thousand times to warn all the women of the world to be cautious of the scum bag you are.

    "Su Xiao, Tang Ye, be careful of that punk. He''ll ruin you."

    Hey, I''ve only said two sentences up till now! I don''t recall pissing you off.

    "Song Ou!!" Su Xiao quickly took two steps forward and mmed the table with his hand harder than Captain Song. His gaze even exuded Boss Shen''s aura, "Big Brother Ming was working! Why are you scolding him when he finally decided to work hard for a month? What happens if he reverts back to being a bum like before?!"

    Go, My Su Xiao!

    Su Xiao directly challenged Captain Song''s superiority which made him lose more face than he could ever hope to make up for. His detective-expression finally crumbled.

    But why does it sound like I''ve been raising a boy-toy¡­?

    Song Ou''s expression changed again. He took in a very deep breath and said: "Fine. Let''s put that aside for now. Do you know how the vendetta the Qilin Guards have against us? You causing trouble like that will make theme here and start trouble with us, you know?"

    I felt somewhat unhappy when I heard that.

    The key to solving cases is speed. We mentioned the case, and instead of asking about our findings or the case, you''re worried about people starting trouble with you?

    I straight-out said: "The vice-captain had us go and investigate the case."

    "Don''t use the vice-captain to push me around!" Boss Shen''s prestige at Liu Shan Men seems to be Song Ou''s kryptonite. He furiously pointed at me: "I''m the captain, she''s the vice-captain. Can''t you tell whose rank is superior?! If I say you''re wrong, you''re wrong!"

    What?!

    I''m wrong if you say I''m wrong? Is that something a captain should say?

    I couldn''t be bothered with him so I just rolled my eyes at him.

    Song Ou got angrier. Our gazes met and it was like thunder shing. We stared at each other for a while. Nobody spoke while the atmosphere in the room became more and more oppressive.

    Our bitch-fight is about to break out!

    But¡­

    Somebody from outside suddenly came running over and reported: "Captain Song, there''s trouble!"

    "What?! Don''t you know what rules are?!" Song Ou was pissed. He shot the servant who entered a cold and upassionate re, "What is it? Can''t you report it properly?"

    "We have trouble! The vice-captain of the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitian is here. He said Tang Ye beat their men up, while Ming Feizhen and Su Xiao forged the emperor''s edict to sneak into their main courtyard. Their captain is looking for the three of them now!"

    "Ah!" Song Ou sat back down in an instant. "What shall we do?"

    Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I exchanged nces.

    Alright. This has nothing to do with us. Let''s leg it.

    When we reached the door, a roar came from behind

    "The three of you, stop!!"

    Notes:

    Tang Zeng is the monk from Journey to the West

 Volume 2 12 Whatâ€™s Up Bro?

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 12 What''s Up Bro?</h4>

    "Where are you three going? They''re here now." Song Ou grabbed me with a grim expression: "Don''t even think about running away! Come with me to exin yourselves."

    Song Ou didn''t even give me a chance to speak. He just dragged me to the door. Su Xiao and Tang Ye were helpless so they just followed us.

    You''re giving the Qilin Guards far too much respect by doing this, don''t you think?

    Song Ou was anxious and panicked. He was very differentpared to his usual calm demeanour and gentle behaviour.

    I couldn''t help but feel that his expression was strange. He''s not usually this afraid of the Qilin Guards. While he can''t solidify his position because of Boss Shen, he is still the son of a reputable family. He should be courageous, resourceful and knowledgeable. He was always concerned with eloquence when talking about reviving Liu Shan Men''s reputation, and he was alwaysid back when discussing the Qilin Guards as well. What''s the deal with him today?

    I soon got the answer to my question.

    No wonder he was afraid. To be honest, even I was slightly scared.

    There were hordes of them¡­ They covered the entire area out front Liu Shan Men. There was a massive line all the way to the street next door.

    A majestic unicorn was sewn onto every single one of their ck uniforms. It looked awesome without looking angry, yet was full of killing intent. We don''t have enough room for that many people. No wonder why Song Ou had to meet them out front.

    The Qilin Guards expanded and took most of Liu Shan Men''s resources and recruited new members during the years that Liu Shan Men fell from grace. A lot of people try to guess how big the power-gap between the two groups are. Some say three times while others say five times.

    From what I can see, based on the difference in member-count, I''d say they''re more than twenty timesrger than us. There are only around two hundred constables from Liu Shan Men in the capital. There were only fifty or sixty people in our main courtyard.

    On the other hand, the Qilin Guards were here with more than three hundred men, easily surpassing Liu Shan Men''s total number of members fit for duty.

    Of course, this is just the difference in members. If we were truly topare who was more powerful, then based on just the number of martial arts experts alone, the Qilin Guards would be more than twenty times stronger.

    On Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings, the top three are the strongest, and are also the imperial court''s strongest fighting force. One of them is a Qilin Guard, another is a member of the emperor''s entourage, and another is a wandering warrior. None of Liu Shan Men''s constables are ranked in the top three.

    There used to be one from Liu Shan Men ranked in the top three. That was none other than Yan Shisan.

    From fourth rank through to rank twenty, the seventeen in those ranks are called the imperial court''s main force, the seventeen hidden dragons. Only two of Liu Shan Men''s members are ranked in said group. One of them is Boss Shen, the other is currently away from the capital. There are four wandering warriors ranked in the group, while the remaining eleven are either Qilin Guards or from the emperor''s entourage.

    I won''t mention the others. Not even ten members from Liu Shan Men are ranked anywhere from rank twenty to rank one-hundred. Our fighting power is despairing. Thinking about it properly, Song Ou''s attitude isn''t all that strange. Not everybody can be like Boss Shen, thinking about reviving Liu Shan Men under these circumstances.

    The Qilin Guards who came to find fault with us took up all the space. Only one spot in the middle was spacious. There was only one person standing there, while everybody else was standing some distance away like he just came out of a cesspit and none of them wanted toe within three inches of him.

    Based on the situation, he must be the leader.

    The guy''s facial features looked rough. His hands and feet all looked extremely sturdy, exactly like a martial artist. But he was such a show-off, copying Tang Bohu or something, dressed in pink while holding a fan with an autumn painting in his hand that he clearly didn''t use!!

    Pink, for fuck sakes!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Bohu for fuck sakes!

    He revealed his teeth when he wore his big smile. The guy could move giants for sure. I mean, his breath smelt like garlic¡­

    "What''s up bro, long time no see. You good?"

    He actually dared to call Song Bastard, "bro"!

    What''s this? You actually dare call him that? That''s our great Captain Song Bastard you''re talking to!

    "What''s wrong with him?" Tang Ye couldn''t deal with it anymore. He frowned: "Captain, do you want me to teach him a lesson?"

    "Lemme, lemme!" Beautiful Su Xiao giddily said: "I''m an expert at beating up people like him. Even the Orange Prince got bashed by mest time and nearly wet himself!"

    I joined in: "Alright, ce your bets. Once you''ve ced your bet, remove your hand. If Su Xiao wins, you win five times your bet, if Tang Ye wins, you win the equivalent of your bet."

    "Don''t cause trouble!" Song Ou rposed himself, acted casual and sped one hand with the other, bowed and said: "So it was you, Brother Long. How do you do?"

    So this demented-looking pink Tang Bohu is the vice-captain, Long Zai Tian.

    Nice, nice.

    "Bro, you made me wait for ages."

    "I apologise, Brother Long."

    Hey, bro, he seems to have gotten your name wrong. Do something about it, damn it!

    Song Ou revealed a "so what, you don''t know sh*t" look. He then smiled as he faced Long Zaitian and asked: "What might you be here for, Brother Long?"

    "What am I here for?" Long Zaitian chuckled in a cold tone. His unscrupulous expression was filled with obscenity: "If I''m here looking for something, that''d be your unparalleled beauty of a wife. I''ll be straight with you, is Miss Shen here or not? If she''s here, ask her toe out."

    I called out again: "Alright, here we go. ce your bets and then remove your hands. If Vice-captain song assaults him, you''ll win three times your bet, if Captain Song attacks him, you''ll win ten times your bet."

    "Shut up! You''re the one who caused this mess!" Song Ou clenched his teeth, and he wentpletely pale in the face. He turned around and said to Long Zaitian: "My wife is out on business, so she cannot see you. I am the captain of Liu Shan Men. Is there some business you cannot share with me?"

    Song Ou emphasised three parts in his speech: My wife. Business. And I, Song Ou.

    First, he was warning Long Zaitian that while they had yet to perform the ceremony rites, she was his fianc¨¦e, so forget it.

    Second, was to tell him that they could only talk business, and nothing else.

    And third, was to tell him, I''m not "bro"!*

    Uhm, Captain Song lives up to his reputation as the son of famous family. He sure knows how to talk.ong Zaitian flicked his fan and then without a care replied: "Fine. I''ll see her at the imperial martial arts tournament anyway. I''ll greet her then." While Long Zaitian is rough, his expression revealed an expression of admiration and yearning - aside from the perverted look part, which was unexpected.

    Song Ou clenched his teeth and grinded them.

    Oh, I get it! So besides being enemies at work, they''re rivals in love too!

    "Since that''s the case, state your business."

    After confirming that Boss Shen wasn''t present, he wore a twisted look like an angry bull and scoffed: "I came here to ask what the issue with your people is. They came to my ce, barged in and did whatever they wanted. They barged into our courtyard and hit our people. Are you mocking us? You think you''re above the rules? Huh?"

    He grunted, pulled his pink sleeve up, and threw a punch over with his orangutan arms that looked rougher than a small tree.

    Notes:ong Zaitian actually calls Song Ou, Brother Bird, which is the result of dropping the radical from the character "Ou". But that doesn''t capture the joke in English, so I opted for "bro", which sounds somewhat condescending given the context and their positions. That captures their dynamics and the joke better.

    Tang Bohu was a famous artist in ancient China.

 Volume 2 13 Liu Shan Men Has a Disease

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 13 Liu Shan Men Has a Disease</h4>

    Everybody present who was protecting Captain Song thought that Long Zaitian not only sported looks which were outside the boundaries of human imagination, but also thought his movements that resembled an orang-utan also couldn''t be exined withmon sense. He just struck out before finishing his sentence.

    Hey, aren''t you going to do anything, bro?

    Song Ou on the other hand slipped and evaded to the side. His evasion looked embarrassing because Long Zaitian rushed him so quickly. Song Ou stood upright again and shouted: "Captain Song, don''t you push it! What do you want?"

    Hey, are you still not going to counterattack, bro?

    "My request is simple. Hand them over." Long Zaitian kept his arms posed, not easing up in the least, "Hand over the three who stirred trouble at our ce today, all three of them. Otherwise, even if I''m willing to forget the matter, I don''t think my three-hundred brothers here would be willing to forget the matter."

    The three-hundred Qilin Guards suddenly roared: "WE WON''T!!" Their voices were like waves, destroying the morality of Song Ou and the members of Liu Shan Men, even their legs went weak.

    Everybody knows how three-hundred versus fifty would turn out. The faces of Liu Shan Men''s constables went pale. Not one of them dared to take a step forward, speak a word or even look at them.

    I continued to fix my gaze on the ugly Tang Bohu. I caught the corner of his mouth creep up into a weird smirk and I knew what it meant.

    The Qilin Guards lost five skilled fighters because of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, while we didn''t even have any injured personnel, and that could potentially affect the oue of the imperial martial arts tournament.

    He certainly must have heard about Tang Ye challenging people all over the ce and making a name for himself.

    He''s taking advantage of the circumstances and trying to weaken Liu Shan Men''s fighting power. Himing here while Boss Shen was absent wasn''t a coincidence then.

    Song Ou looked at the three of us. He hesitated for a split second and then without any consideration said: "I-I''ll pass the me onto you and we''ll call it even, how about it?"

    What? You betraying me bro?!

    "There''s nothing left to discuss then!" Before his voice faded out, Long Zaitian punched towards him again.ong Zaitian''s punch packed all of his internal strength and strong as could be. If it were to hit Captain Song, he''d be crippled if not dead. Of course, with his Song family''s internal arts, he shouldn''t suffer any severe wounds, but he''ll definitely look bad.uckily for him, Tang Ye was with him today.

    Tang Ye always wanted to teach Long Zaitian a lesson, so he had been churning up his internal energy in secret for a while. When Long Zaitian approached, he immediately extended his hand out to guard. Tang Ye is very skilled, but he was still far from someone of Long Zaitian''s calibre. When the two of them collided, Long Zaitian remained where he was while Tang Ye flew through the air.ong Zaitian stopped his punch as well. His martial arts emphasise external power, so he''s an external martial arts style expert. His style relies on pure brute force. Since he had already sent Tang Ye flying with his punch, it should''ve been re-targeted towards Song Ou.

    However, although Tang Ye wasn''t as powerful as him, when he collided with Tang Ye, the fiery Long Zaitian''s arm turned numb, and thus stopped.ong Zaitian didn''t expect to find someone so young and skilled at Captain Song''s side. He asked: "Who are you?"

    Tang Ye somersaulted in the air and shifted the force behind Long Zaitian''s punch away. He didn''t suffer any injuries. He gentlynded on the ground, took a stance with his hand extended and said: "Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye, bring it."

    "Oh? So you''re Tang Ye, the one who''s been challenging people everywhere?" Long Zaitian froze up for a brief moment and thenughed out loud and added: "Not bad, not bad. Your martial arts skills aren''t shabby. I haven''t seen someone with such talent at such a young age in a while."ong Zaitianughed as he opened his fan. It didn''t look like he wanted to continue to fight. Of course, such a disgusting action was enough to be considered a provocation, and therefore a good enough reason for us to hand him an ass whooping. As such, Tang Ye stayed alert.

    "Your martial arts skills aren''t bad. No, they''re really good actually. You''re at least at the Yi level¡­ No, you''re at the Jia level already." Long Zaitian fanned the air as he said: "I know you defeated our Yi Yixian. I promoted him to protect the rankings when those ranked higher than him were assassinated. His martial arts skills are only at the Yi level. If you participate in the imperial martial arts tournament, you could make the top thirty-five or thirty-six of Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings, or otherwise known as the Jia rank."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tang Ye asked with puzzlement: "What are you telling me that for?"

    "Rank thirty on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings." Long Zaitian chuckled and continued: "I can bestow you with that rank if you agree to join us."ong Zaitian was poaching right in our presence. Song Ou angrily butt-in: "Brother Long, you were the one who attacked us as soon as you said you wanted to beat up our people, and now you''re saying this to our member. What are you ying at?! What are you taking me for?!"

    "I take you for a piece of sh*t!" Long Zaitian shouted and then kicked towards him. Tang Ye immediately reached his hand over and blocked Long Zaitian''s flying king.

    Song Ou was so angry his organs were ready to burst as he angrily shouted: "You and me, to the death! To the death!"

    Meanwhile, Long Zaitian was even further impressed with Tang ye.

    "Brother Tang! A fine fowl perches only on a fine tree. What''s so wrong about that?" Long Zaitian shamelessly fanned the air. He swept his mocking gaze over a group of constables who ran to Song Ou''s side. Civil servants and military attach¨¦ whom his gaze reached stayed quiet. They didn''t even have the courage to meet his gaze.ong Zaitian was very satisfied as he continued with his mockery: "I really don''t understand why you want to stay at this sh*tty office, Brother Tang. What aplishments could you achieve here?"

    Song Ou''s expression looked terrible when he saw that none of his people dared to utter a word.

    Hey bro, he''s insulting you, you know? Are you still not going to smash him?

    Song Ou didn''t say anything. Tang Ye on the other hand replied earnestly: "I have my own agenda for joining Liu Shan Men. I won''t bother you with the details. If you want a fight, bring it."ong Zaitian shook his head as though he thought it was really unfortunate: "Since that''s the case, don''t me me for being ruthless. Song Bastard, I asked you to hand them over but you disregarded me. Brothers! Beat anyone you see and smash anything you see!"

    "Roger!"

    "W-Wait, alright."

    "It''s a bit toote to agree now, isn''t it?"

    Song Ou gave it his all to stop the Qilin Guards who didn''t hear him.

    Three hundred guards roared and rushed towards Liu Shan Men''s doors where they got entangled into fist fights. They sure smashed the ce and beat the people. It only took a few moments before our people were beaten to the brink of death by the Qilin Gaurds. Even the madam who washes our clothes and the cook weren''t spared.

    Just as the old geezer who sweeps our yard was about to run, a few crude Qilin Guards caught him, lifted him up by his cor and mmed him onto the ground. I think his bones shattered.

    A fire was lit up in Tang Ye and Su Xiao''s eyes and they immediately charged into the heated fight.

    "Don''t get involved." I called them and pulled them behind so that they stayed away from the fighters at the doors.

    I stopped two hot-blooded young men who let their blood get to their head. I know that Tang Ye in particr looks cold on the exterior, treats hisrades at Liu Shan Men quite well. But that''s precisely why he shouldn''t help.

    "What are you doing, Big Brother Ming?! Let me go."

    "What''s wrong, big brother?"

    To answer their question, I sincerely replied: "You can help them now, but you can''t help them forever. This is Liu Shan Men''s personal issue, so they need to ovee it themself."

    Su Xiao angrily said: "We are members of Liu Shan Men!"

    "You''re different. You''re new members, so you don''t have their disease."

    "Disease? What disease? Jeez, let''s go help out, Big Brother Ming, otherwise they''ll reduce the ce to pieces."

    "Even if Long Zaitian were to be more audacious, do you think he''ll actually destroy Liu Shan Men? Haven''t you noticed that they''ve only gone back and forth from the doors and not one has entered the yard? They''re just showing off their power. They want to suppress Liu Shan Men''s reputation. Look carefully, who''s fighting who?"

    When Tang Ye and Su Xiao looked carefully, they finally realised that the new constables had let their anger get to their heads and thought that the Qilin Guards were going overboard.

    They didn''t care how many the enemy numbered or how their skillspared. They just charged in. Their blood rushed to their head so they didn''t fear the Qilin Guards'' numbers. Meanwhile, the constables who had been at Liu Shan Men for longer, were more skilled and had the numerical advantage over the group before them didn''t engage with the Qilin Guards. They could only be considered punching bags. And because they didn''t help, the fight between the new recruits quickly turned into a one-sided beating, with Liu Shan Men''s constables being the punching bags.

    I quietly said: "The current state of Liu Shan Men is very different to how it was in the old days. They must acknowledge and ovee their own problem. Liu Shan Men has no other way of restoring its former glory otherwise."

    All of Liu Shan Men''s members, particrly the ones who''ve always been in Liu Shan Men all these years have contracted a disease. And that disease is called cowardice. Their confidence as the number one martial group had been taken from them.

    Song Ou wasn''t the only one who was afraid of the Qilin Guards. It was a feeling shared by all at Liu Shan Men. In the six years Yan Shisan was gone, Liu Shan Men lost its resources, standing, pride and confidence.iu Shan Men has be like a child that''s used to bullying. Even if you were to tell them they could put up a fight against the Qilin Guards who bully them on the daily, they wouldn''t believe you. They don''t believe in themselves, and so nobody can help them but themselves.

    Boss Shen should be well aware of this problem already. I presume she wanted to raise their morale through the imperial martial arts tournament, and then ovee it slowly from there. Such a subtle methodology is quite unlike Boss Shen. She must be worried about her subordinates because she grew up at Liu Shan Men I guess.

    But since I was never a member of Liu Shan Men, I couldn''t empathise with them.

    Fear is a disease.

    If Boss Shen truly wants to restore Liu Shan Men to its former glory, she''ll need to train them with through aggressive means.

    After the trashing dished out from the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitianughed and said: "Enough! That''s enough. Song Ou, you and I are both retainers of the imperial court. You''re ranked higher than I am, so I can''t force you to hand them over, but that''s fine. My band of brothers wille here and create a mess everyday if you don''t hand them over."

    Heughed out loud after he finished speaking and happily left with his men. Long Zaitian looks crude, but he''s one heck of a schemer. He was never after the three of us in the first ce. He just wanted to dampen Liu Shan Men''s morale. Boss Shen had selected four other groups to participate in the imperial martial arts tournament besides the three of us. They were all now squirming on the ground. You can''t convince me that they''ll be able to recover before the imperial martial arts tournament even if you held a de at my neck.

    It was an embarrassing scene at Liu Shan Men''s front doors. Beaten constables were lying all around. Even Song Ou didn''t get off without a scratch. He tried his best to defend himself but his hair still got messed up, and he took a few punches and kicks too.

    "Big Brother Ming!" Su Xiao looked at me with tears in his eyes. He suddenly punched me on my chest with his pink fist. His tears fell pit-pat. His voice carried a hint of sobs, "You¡­ You''re too cruel!"

    "I agree." I lifted Su Xiao''s hand up: "Justice itself is crueller than evil. Those who pursue justice must be able to make crueller decisions than those who are evil."

 Volume 2 14 Weâ€™re Guarding the City Gates Today

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 14 We''re Guarding the City Gates Today</h4>

    The next early morning was the day of the imperial martial arts tournament.

    The small vendor hawkers selling breakfast had yet to awake to prepare for the day. We on the other hand, were already making our way to the pce since we had a royal decree to follow despite our sleepy look.

    Needless to say, I was the one with sleepy looking eyes while everybody else had bruised and swollen faces. Even Song Ou''s face was pale as a sheet of paper as if he didn''t sleep at all

    After the ruckus Long Zaitian caused, they had to tidy up which took until nightfall on top of their frustration which would''ve gone way into the night. I bet they didn''t even get two hours of sleep.

    Why was I fine you ask?

    Well, I left to go and sleep when they started tidying up. How could I not prepare early when we had to rise early the next day? What a stupid question.

    "Oh, if it isn''t the gentlemen from Liu Shan Men."

    A group of troops heldnterns as they stood outside the pce gates awaiting us. The inner servant standing at the forefront was smiles all over as he weed us: "I am here to wee you all and arrange your jobs. Greetings, Captain."

    Captain Song responded: "Thank you, Eunuch Wang. We have fifty-two men here in total. This is the entirety of Liu Shan Men. We will be at yourmand from the start of the imperial martial arts tournament today up until the end. I have matters to attend to, so if you would excuse me."

    "Please take your time, Captain Song." Eunuch Wang waited for us to leave before saying: "It has been tough on you all. You are all here early."

    "Not at all, this is something we must do." I stepped up to greet him and continued: "I wish you the best of luck and health, Eunuch Wang."

    "Uhm, you have good manners, young man."

    In that moment, I could seemingly see countless gazes of contempt from myrades from Liu Shan Men standing behind me. Stupid bunch. You have to kiss up to the eunuchs if you want to enter the pce. How else do you think you''d survive in there?

    "My surname is Wang, my name is Wang Tushui. Please remember it."

    What the fuck?

    I was bewildered. I barely made out: "Sir, could you repeat your name one more time?"

    Eunuch Wang gave a puzzled response: "My name is Wang Tushui."

    I worepletely deadpan look: "¡­¡­"

    His naming must be a deliberate prank!

    The manager at Liu Shan Men is called Sui Tuwan, and you''re called Wang Tushui? Are your names English names or Chinese names?

    321, 123?

    You must''ve been raised separately by divorced parents or something. How else would you exin such a weird naming sense?!

    Eunuch Wang gave me a confused look then to the people around and then his eyes suddenly lit up. I don''t know what wrong nerve got struck or if some spirit suddenly possessed him, but he twisted and turned his waist flirtatiously like a girl and catwalk-ed two steps, finally arriving at the side of one of our members.

    Eunuch Wang then "shyly" asked: "Hey~ young man, you look really manly. What''s your name? How old are you this year?"

    Oh, fuck!

    Oh, fuck!

    Tang Ye was dumbfounded¡­.

    "Sir, his name is Tang Ye, courtesy name Yan Ling. He is eighteen this year." I had to help Tang Ye who was either dumbfounded or startled.

    "Nice, nice, nice. I have heard the name Tang Ye before. Captain Song strongly rmended you. A true genius you are, a genius!"

    Eunuch Wang looked at Tang Ye with merrier than before. He checked him out from side to side, and top to bottom, scanning him from every direction.

    No matter how Tang Ye runs, I must say that this is the starting point of a romance.

    "Sir, are you done checking me out?" However, Tang Ye destroyed Eunuch Wang''s lustful dream without any empathy, "How dare you dy the emperor''s orders if he has orders. Are you not going to hurry up and assign our roles?"

    Eunuch Wang went red in the face. He cleared his throat to hide the awkwardness: "You have no sense of humour, young man. Please follow me inside everyone."

    We entered the imperial city''s main gates.

    They said that they wanted us to guard the city gates, but it wasn''t like there was only one fan-door. Outside the imperial city gates, there were three gates, another three inside the imperial city, and there were another three doors be section in between the pce and the Forbidden City.

    The country''snds and rivers are vast while the imperial city has nine gates. The emperor''s residence is solid, the emperor is well protected? How could our homespare to his majesty''s?" Eunuch Wang looked at me and revealed an evil but mesmerising smile which disgusted the sh*t of Su Xiao and I. Tang Ye was also disgusted to the point he shut his eyes. It was only then that he was satisfied and erased the death-inducing look off his face.

    In a tone as gentle as water, Eunuch Wang said: "Young Tang, you were the strongly rmended new recruit, so I shall leave you in charge of this outer city gate."

    "Understood. Thank you, Eunuch Wang."

    After he finished speaking, Tang Ye couldn''t wait and ran off with a fewrades.

    Eunuch Wang shook his head and sighed.

    The despair he must''ve felt¡­.

    He then led us around the inner imperial city to look around.

    The emperor wants to watch the imperial martial arts tournament, but he definitely won''t watch it from inside the pce. He''s going to bring his entire family, which includes his empress, concubines, princesses and princess to the inner imperial city to watch it live at the venue. That''s where events for the royal family are specifically held.

    Otherwise, all those stinking martial artists woulde into the royal family home. Even if the emperor were to allow it, his women behind him would destroy his ears withints and drown him in so much saliva it''d be enough to take two baths with.

    And hence, the most important lines of defence are the outer city gates. As long as that gate is well-guarded, there will be no concerns regarding people causing trouble at the imperial martial tournament. That''s a logical arrangement. I mean, I can''t afford to lose¡­

    "Young Su, oh wow. Look at you, how handsome~." Su Xiao quickly lowered his head to avoid Eunuch Wang''s clutches. Eunuch Wang pursed his lips into a "seductive" smile and said: "You are like a girl. You even blush."

    Sir, aren''t your tastes a tad too diverse?

    Aren''t gays and lesbians really loyal in love? Ah, same sexes? Does¡­this eunuch count as being gay¡­?

    "Since that is the case, you shall guard these inner city gates with these gentlemen, young Su. You will see many princes, princesses and nobles, so this is a good job, you know~"

    Su Xiao was startled by the smile Eunuch Wang revealed at the end and nearly puked, but he managed to hold it in. After thanking him, he quickly escaped to the inner city gates with a few constables.

    "What about me, sir?"

    There were only about ten people left now, myself included.

    "Where do you want to stand guard, young man?"

    "I do not mind the location as long as the job isid back, the breaks are longer than the work periods, and I can sleep six hours per day."

    "Young man, the conditions you named are only avable for the best job. You need connections if you want such a good job."

    Eunuch Wang''s gaze suddenly stopped on me like they were glued to me. I got frightened thinking some sort of newly invented weapon shot out from his eyes¡­

    "Hmm, your body is quite tough. It''s just that you''re too tall. You''re virtually a tower. Bend over so I can check."

    WHAT?!

    An exchange?! How can I shake my hips for you?

    But I don''t want to go with Tang Ye either. What do I do, what do I do¡­? An idea suddenly popped into my mind.

    "Sir, I look crude. I''m not good looking. I can introduce you to someone if you want someone to look at."

    "Oh? You have a candidate?"

    "Look over there!" Eunuch Wang then looked in the direction I pointed.

    "Hmm¡­ Nice! Handsome. Truly handsome. He may not look as pretty as young Su, but he is more masculine than young Su. He is not as rough as young Tang, butpared to young Tang, he looks¡­ He looks¡­"

    Seeing how Eunuch Wang was struggling to find the right word, I quickly added: "Suave!"

    "That''s the word! You arepletely right. Suave! Who is that? What is his name?"

    I wore a sly smile and said: "His name is Liu Yuan. He looks¡­like a match made in heaven next to you."

    "That makes so much sense!" Just as he was about to go and hit on Liu Yuan, I pulled him back.

    "Sir, you haven''t told me which gate I''m in charge of yet."

    "Heh, that''s simple. You''re a smart guy, so it''d be unfair to make you stand in the hot sun. How about this? You go and guard the South gate of the Forbidden City. Nobody usually goes there, so you will virtually have nothing to do."

    "Thank you so much, sir."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I thanked him countless times and took the token. I then sent him to go bite scared Master Liu. I then was led by a low rank eunuch to the South gate.

    The so-called South Gate shouldn''t even be called a gate.

    It was just a hole dug out from the wall and then decorated. I only found out after that the door was for meal deliveries to the cold pce where concubines who lose favour are sent to. The cold pce was currently empty for no concubines had lost favour, therefore it was essentially an abandoned gate.

    Praise to Eunuch Wang. I got him to thank for finding me this job.

    I took a look around the area surrounding the small South gate.

    I''ve been to the Forbidden City, but when I came in the past, it was under the veil of the night and I had to travel on the rooftops. I''ve never had an opportunity to take in all it had to offer like this before. I never expected to have the opportunity this time. There were no pavilions in sight, but there were towering ces of sce. The city walls were iparably high. The wall by the small South Gate I was at was unbelievably high and thick. It waspletely different to the other locations.

    But that was all there was to it. There was nothing else aside from a few walls around me¡­.

    I tossed the sword on my belt away to a random spot and sat down on the steps to rest. Being free is better than guarding the main gates. The imperial martial arts tournament is just beginning today so I don''t think there''s anything to be anxious about.

    The sun is so bright. The sunrays were really warm andfortable.

    I had no idea that dark clouds were forming over the pce in order to wee theing thunderstorm as I fell asleep.

 Volume 2 15 Trouble in Xuan Wu Hall

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 15 Trouble in Xuan Wu Hall</h4>

    "Six people dressed in ck snuck into the quarters of your entouragest night in an attempt to assassinate the three warriors in there. Fortunately, we figured out their identities beforehand so we were prepared. I and two other warriors acted as substitutes for the warriors they were after. Thanks to paying my due diligence with my training, we had no losses, making it the first night we did not lose a warrior."

    Han Tieyi from the emperor''s entourage was reporting to the emperor the events and results of what unfoldedst night. Upon finishing hisst sentence, he bowed his head and said: "I apologise for my ipetence. I was unable to capture them and let them escape."

    "You need not be so modest, Guard Tie. You managed to figure out their ns and sessfully stop them, so that is a major aplishment. What wrong have you done?" Emperor Yuan Sheng narrowed his eyes. He didn''t seem excessively happy: "So based on what you said, you have identified the culprit''s identity?"

    "Yes. ording to investigations, the culprit is indeed the fifth ranked group, ck Wind Thirteen Wings. I have fought with them and noticed that their weapons, fighting style and assassination methods were coincidentally identical to that which has been recorded, thus confirming their identity."

    "ck Winds Thirteen Wings¡­ Hmph! The Assassins'' Association will kill anybody for money. They''re bing more and more arrogant. The ck Wind Thirteen Wings group has been around for a few years and built a reputation. And now they don''t even consider me worth being concerned with. I want the Assassins'' Association and its people to know the fury of an emperor is like a terrifying hurricane! Shun Tian Prefecture, where are you?"

    The man that tanks the me, Sir Bao from Shun Tian Prefecture rolled out like a gourd as if he''d just been tortured and had to crawl. With a bitter look on his face, he said: "Y-Your majesty, I, I am present."

    The emperor looked at Sir Bao who looked like he was on the verge of tears and almost cracked up. He said to himself: I''m always scaring him and now he gets anxious whenever I ask for him.

    "Minister Bao, don''t look like that. I''m not asking you to go and capture them."

    "Huh? I don''t have to arrest them?" Sir Bao then livened up and continued, "Please go ahead, your majesty."

    "Today is the first round of the imperial martial arts tournament. I want you to have two-thousand men guard the venue and keep the warriors safe. The ck Wings Thirteen Wings want to shame me? Let''s see if they can seed with thousands of men around."

    "As youmand!"

    Sir Bao was relieved and quickly retreated a few steps, then turned around and ran to the Shun Tian Prefecture office. He ran faster than a young man in his prime.

    The emperor shook his head and smiled helplessly: "Guard Tie, you solved this case very swiftly, so I shall reward you."

    "It is my job to serve you, your majesty. Rewards are not necessary."

    Tie Hanyi then added: "I was able to find out the identity of the assassins thanks to the aid of ourrades from Liu Shan Men. I met ourrade from Liu Shan Men, Ming Feizhen yesterday at the main courtyard of the Qilin Guards. He shared details with me with his vast knowledge which allowed me to swiftly solve the case."

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ Ming Feizhen." The emperor felt the name was familiar but couldn''t recall where he had heard it before. After thinking for a moment, the face of a guy with a face swollen like a pig-head appeared in his mind and he almost couldn''tugh.

    "I see. Ming Feizhen, did you say?" The emperor then continued: "The punk is clever, but he''szy. How did he end up helping you solve the case? Minister Song, you trained your subordinate well. He''s not even on the official rankings and yet he could teach a Jia rank warrior solve a case. Both my entourage and Liu Shan Men will be given credit for this case.

    Song Ou quickly thanked the emperor: "Thank you, your majesty!"

    The emperor nodded. He then suddenly noticed the wound on Song Ou''s face: "Hmm? Minister Song, what happened? Are the bruises on your face from fighting with somebody?"

    The emperor may have asked, but Long Zaitian who was standing to one side didn''t seem bothered, as a matter of fact, he didn''t care at all.

    Fight as they may, no one from the three factions has ever directly mentioned their fights before the emperor. Not only would that indicate that the three factions did not get along, but would also be the equivalent of asking the emperor to strip them of their power. I don''t know how stupid, but you''d have to be darn stupid to do that.

    But Brother Song just had to do it today.

    "Your majesty, it was him!" Song Ou pointed to Long Zaitian, "Captain Song had his men beat me up like this!"

    The ministers were all shocked after hearing what he said, including Shen Yiren who stood by his side.

    Shen Yiren returnedst night and heard about it, but she didn''t know that Song Ou wouldin before the emperor today. Shen Yiren clenched her teeth. She was wondering how Song Ou''s injuries looked so severe when there weren''t many injuries on his face. Turns out Song Ou was trying to exasperate the matter.

    Shen Yiren couldn''t control her anger and blurted: "You useless idiot!"ong Zaitian didn''t say anything, while those from the emperor''s entourage were already sick of listening. They just silently cussed at Song Ou for bringing trouble onto himself and others. If the emperor were to get mad, all three factions would be in trouble. If they were to be stripped of their power, Song Ou would be condemned by history.

    The emperor revealed a puzzled look. He frowned slightly as he looked at Shen Yiren to ask: Is this your idea?iu Shan Men was currently in a weakened state. If they had nothing to back up their ims, trying to get rid of the Qilin Guards based on their ims alone would be impossible. If it was just a minor tussle, why would it be brought up before the emperor? The emperor therefore had to ask Shen Yiren first to avoid making a misinformed judgement.

    Shen Yiren shook her head to indicate it had nothing to do with her.

    The emperor''s expression turned grim.

    The emperor never wanted the three factions to be in conflict with each other. It was just that Liu Shan Men was too weak, while the Qilin Guards were strong. The emperor wanted to bnce their powers. He never thought about disposing of either faction. They were his left and right arms, so why would he go and slice one off?

    The emperor was a former martial artist so he knew a little about the conflicts between the three factions. He just doesn''t bother with it. If one faction were to fight another today, and then another fought with yet another the day after, the emperor would have to deal with it. The imperial court would subsequently turn into a mess. Perhaps that''s why Long Zaitian dared to take three-hundred men to Liu Shan Men and cause a ruckus.

    But Song Ou''sint came out of left field. It didn''t seem like he was purposely trying to attack the Qilin Guards nor did it seem like he had their Achilles heel. He just wanted the emperor to serve justice. The emperor was in a dilemma as he''d be in the wrong whether he asked or didn''t ask. So how would the emperor possibly look d?

    "Is that right¡­? Is that true, Minister Song?"

    Although Song Ou''s attack came out of the blue which caught him off guard somewhat, he immediately returned to his senses. He shifted the corner of his lips into a smile and said: "That is a false usation. Your majesty, Song Ou allowed his subordinates to cause a ruckus in our main courtyard yesterday. One of his young subordinates by the name of Tang Ye, has superb martial arts skills. He has been challenging people in the capital this month and everywhere he went. Yesterday, he started at our ce. He injured our people in my absence. I was angry with the injustice, and thus impulsively¡­"

    Song Ou watched Long Zaitian''s act and got angrier: "Based on what you''re saying, you''re the one that suffered the injustice!"

    "Did I not?! Your majesty, please do not listen to his nonsense." Long Zaitian proceeded to blind the emperor with his words, "Captain Song''s family is powerful. He could tten a lone and weak warrior like myself with a mere word. I heard that the Song family''s second son was a tyrant. He is nicknamed Great Swordsman and Schr of the South, Second to None Palm Master of Jiang Su. How would I dare bully somebody like that?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You¡­ Don''t you make baseless usations! Since when did my younger brother have such a nickname?! Your majesty, he¡­he''s talking nonsense!''

    "Enough, ministers." The emperor''s expression turned as cold as ice. He then gently said: "Are the two of you treating Xuan Wu hall like some teahouse for your bickering?"ong Zaitian swiftly knelt down in unison and said: "I apologise, your majesty."

    The emperor shot Song Ou a death stare and thought to himself: Song Ou''s brain must''ve got booted by a donkey. What sort of person is the vice-captain of the Qilin Guards? How could you remove him just by unting a few wounds? I can''t believe you filed aint against him before me. Sigh, this guy can''t even file aint properly. How does Shen Yiren like this guy?

    "Ministers, what do you think of the matter? Feel free to speak your mind."

    The emperor''s hand was forced. The battle between the three factions was never meant to be publicly discussed like this and yet Song Ou picked a fight under these circumstances. All the emperor could do was push the matter back and forth Tai Chi style and get around it.

    A young man around twenty-four or twenty-five years of age who looked extremely handsome suddenly stepped out from the crowd. It was the emperor''s second son, the orange prince.

    "I have something to say."

    "Oh? You have an opinion? How rare." The emperor showed interest: "Speak."

    The orange prince respectfully said: "I believe that both parties had faults in the matter. Captain Song is to me for letting his subordinates cause trouble, while Vice-captain Long is in the wrong for having his men assault Captain Song."

    "Hmm, so how do you suggest we resolve it?"

    "I think¡­" The orange prince smiled proudly and continued: "Since the basis of the faults of both parties are rted to martial arts, why not let the two let their martial arts skills do the speaking in the ring since the imperial martial arts tournament is starting? That shall resolve all their hatred and debts to one another. Is that not good?"

    "Uhm, that makes sense."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng nodded: "The imperial martial arts tournament is soon to begin, so you two as high ranking ministers shouldn''t ruin the harmonious atmosphere. If you want to fight, fight in my ring. Send my orders, add two names to the list of participants, Long Zaitian and Song Ou."ong Zaitian''s expression didn''t change after hearing the decision.

    Song Ou however, looked like he just ate a punch to the face.ong Zaitian is one of the Hidden Dragons as he is ranked in the top twenty on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. He''s a fair bit stronger than Tie Hanyi. The only one from Nan Jing''s Liu Shan Men who can fight him is Shen Yiren. Sending Song Ou out to fight Long Zaitian is the equivalent of sending him to his death.

    Song Ou looked at the orange prince withplete disbelief, only to find the orange prince sharing nces with Long Zaitian merrily.

    Ah! They got me!

    Cute Master Song finally realised he got yed.

    Song Ou turned to face his fianc¨¦e. Shen Yiren just shallowly eximed: "Song Ou! If you dare to fucking embarrass yourself in public like this again, I''ll send you to the castration table." Song Ou went white in the face after hearing her, and instinctively looked downwards before looking back up. He then suddenly spotted Shen Yiren''s leg swing upwards ferociously.

    Song Ou couldn''t dodge in time. He groaned and sweated cold bullets. His two legs instinctively pulled inwards together. His eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head, and then his body fell to the ground.

 Volume 2 16 Romance Always Starts When Youâ€™re Off-Guard

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 16 Romance Always Starts When You''re Off-Guard</h4>

    "The victor has been decided. Winner, Su Xiao from Liu Shan Men!"

    Su Xiao suavely twirled his steel sabre and sheathed it into its scabbard. Weapons used in the imperial martial arts tournament were provided by the imperial court, so Su Xiao used a steel sabre.

    Su Xiao''s martial arts had improved by leaps and bounds the past month because he was innately intelligent to begin with, but also because he was diligent. However, he also had a top-level experienced and skilled but terrible friend who taught him.

    Just sheathing his de was enough to attract the eyes of all the females below the ring while the women from noble families screamed non-stop. His tall and lean physique, ethereal face, handsome facial features, and bright and approachable attitude as well as his yet to mature demeanour like that in dreams struck the hearts of all the females present on the day, just as Shen Yiren predicted.

    Su Xiao had three matches on the ring and he had already no less than a hundred girls be his die-hard fans. The cheers for him below the ring were deafening. Su Xiao needed to win three matches to pass the preliminaries. He won two bouts, but then lost the third bout due to not being used to the sabre. Thus, he needed to fight a fourth bout to determine if he could pass the preliminaries.

    The extra bout only served to win him more fans.

    And thus, he acquired an exaggerated nickname: A young girl that causes women to scream non-stop.

    Su Xiao pouted his lips as he unhappily replied to the rumours Tang Ye heard: "Get lost! Who are you calling a young girl? I''m a guy, alright?"

    Tang Ye shrugged: "That means everybody from Liu Shan Men won except big bro. We at least have something to show the vice-captain then."

    "That''s really unlike you." Su Xiao tilted his head and looked at Tang Ye, puzzled, "I always thought you didn''t like interacting with people. It was like nobody dared to say much to you, yet you''re concerned about what the vice-captain thinks."

    "The vice-captain is different. She''s like big bro. She''s one of the people I care about most at Liu Shan Men."

    "Hmm¡­ People you care about, huh?" Su Xiao looked at the blue sky. Sharing the same feeling, he chuckled and said: "I think the same way too. The both of them treat me very well."

    Tang Ye easily won three bouts today and passed the preliminaries, so he was waiting for Su Xiao''s results toe out before going back to guarding the gates.

    "Oh right, what about big bro? It''s soon his turn, isn''t it?"

    "I don''t know. I''ll go and see if he''s arrived yet."

    Just as Su Xiao was about to stand up, the scabbard of his sabre hit the table. Su Xiao angrily eximed: "This crappy sabre caused me to lose before." Su Xiao removed it and tossed it aside, allowing him to feel much lighter after. Just as he was about to head off to search for Ming Feizhen, Tang Ye called out to stop him.

    "Su Xiao, you better take your weapon with you since it hasn''t been too peaceful recently."

    "Are you talking about the ck Winds Thirteen Wings?" Su Xiao stopped in his tracks, turned around and with a chuckle said: "I''ll be fine, it''s daytime right now." Su Xiao then ran off like the wind.

    Tang Ye watched him run like he was in the wilderness and felt like he was somewhat beautiful like a female fox demon. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, shook his head, sighed and said: "¡­I feel like my eyesight has gotten worst after the past month at Liu Shan Men."

    Once Su Xiao left, a few shadows immediately appeared behind him. The violent, blood-stench-covered shadows were called the ck Winds.

    The boutsmenced long ago. I however, was still sleeping on the stair steps of the small South Gate. I didn''t even want to open my eyes.

    I never nned to go and participate in the shady imperial martial arts tournament. There are plenty of warriors under the banner of the imperial court. I never approved of it. If somebody I fought in the past were to recognise me, it''d be troublesome.

    Even if they don''t recognise me, if I win, I''ll capture the attention of many. That will bring me nothing but trouble. And therefore, I intend to continue sleeping here until it''s over.

    We were entering autumn so the sunlight wasn''t as intense as during summer, and the cool breeze made it perfect for sleeping.

    This was the first time I was truly alone ever since I came to Liu Shan Men. There was nobody else here, and I won''t be disturbed by anyone else, thus making it the perfect ce for me to think about a particr person.

    Ever since we bid goodbye, I didn''t dare to think of her for a long time because I was afraid that it would influence my behaviour and actions. In a ce with many restraints like the capital, I had to be careful with each step I took.

    Shiyi''s exquisite and beautiful face appeared in my mind. Her frown and her smile, her countless flirtatious movements, her voice when she gently called me "Feizhen", all affected my mood.

    I''m afraid of seeing her, but even more afraid of thinking about her, because I always experience a bitter-sweet feeling of happiness whenever I see her. Whenever I think of her, I experience a sweet form of torture. But whenever I rx, I can''t help but think of her.

    I would then subconsciously recall lines I couldn''t recall where I''d heard them from, and then write her a poem.

    I think of you when I''m troubled just like how I miss the sun in winter.

    I think of you when I''m happy just like how I think of the shade of the tree underneath the bright sun.

    I think of you when the sky is clear just like how I think of music when I am lonely.

    I think of you when it rains just like how I wish for silence when it''s noisy.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡­..

    "Traitor"!

    Shiyi''s expression when she left appeared in front of me again. I basically pushed her away myself.

    There were lots of things between us that we didn''t openly mention because I always ran away at crucial moments.

    I know that shiyi will nod to everything I say if I spoke my mind, but I just can''t say it. There are too many people that I can''t ignore and too many things I haven''t resolved. Our seniority problem alone is troublesome. And I can''t even get past my shifu and the grandmaster.

    I feel like I''m suffocating whenever I recall thest gaze she gave me. I must be destined to be alone forever in this lifetime I imagine.

    "What are you doing here? Wake up."

    I felt like somebody was nudging me.

    I had my back against the wall and my head down. I vaguely asked: "Who is it?" and then opened my eyes a little.

    Before me stood a girl dressed in white.

    She had a small white face, with two big eyes like pearls. She had curved eyebrows and thin lips. When she spoke, it was like her exquisite gentleness escaped out of her. Her eyes in particr looked like they could speak as though a single nce from her could attract the deep hidden desires of any man.

    A female fox demon! Those were the only four words I could think of.

    A woman like her who you couldn''t help but want to ravage on sight had to be a female fox demon.

    I suddenly felt a little lost. I don''t know where the impulse to grab her small delicate hands came from.

    "Hmm? What''s wrong?"

    "Shiyi?"

    They clearly were different people, yet I saw shiyi''s silhouette in her alluring eyes.

    "What''s wrong?"

    She blinked and I thought I could see shiyi in front of me, and so I gently pulled her into my embrace.

    "Shiyi¡­you''re here."

    "What shiyi? I¡­ I''m not a female¡­"

    I wasn''t really sure why I did that after the fact. Was it because I hadn''t touched a female in a long time or was it because the pain in my chest encouraged me to seek out a bit of gentleness? Or maybe it was because shifu''s "PUSH HER DOWN!!" quote echoed in my heart which gave me the impulse.

    I didn''t know what the matter with me was. It was like I was possessed by a ghost causing me to lose control of my body and mind. It was like I lost the ability to control myself when I first saw this girl. I pulled her into my embrace and kissed her beautiful lips that were like flower petals.

    The girl in my arms was utterly horrified. I wasn''t sure if it was embarrassment or if she was drunk but her face was bright red. She desperately pushed me away but I pulled her tightly into my arms. She desperately struggled, but she was getting weaker and weaker. Her fresh flower like lips became softer, warmer and wetter as if every breath she breathed out could inflict a burn wound on someone. Her painful frowns struck my berserk nerves.

    I clearly saw her cry but I felt that even her tears were beautiful. Her tears were like water drops dripping off of flowers which gave me a natural cooling feeling.

    We continued like that for a long time until the girl in front of me looked at me with her tender and confused gaze. I too looked back at her with befuddled emotions.

    A particr atmosphere between us was brewing. I could clearly smell the stench of romance.

    ¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    After a while, I felt like the stench became more and more intense, so intense that it was suffocating¡­..

    I raised my head up to find that the small South gate appeared to be open. Beyond it I could seemingly see the door of the toilets used by eunuchs and maids open.

    Fuck!

    No wonder why I could smell a stench like soybeans mixed with melons.

    My dysfunctional brain that was in a nightmare restored its normal functioning. I loudly cussed: "Who the fuck didn''t close the toilet door after using it?!!!!"

 Volume 2 17 The Process of Love is Frightening

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 17 The Process of Love is Frightening</h4>

    The stench from the toilets brought me back to my senses somewhat.

    When I discovered what I was doing, I discovered that we had been locked in this position for quite some time.

    When my blood pressure dropped, I returned to my sensespletely.

    Hmm?

    What did I do?

    FUUUUCCKK!!! What did I do to this girl I met for the first time?!!!

    I panicked and quickly released her.

    The girl in my embrace looked like she had been tortured painfully. She lifelessly flopped onto my chest like jelly. I however, felt great. My body felt fantastic. That bad feeling before had vanished on its own.

    This is not good. What did I do just now? Why does it feel like there are some serious consequences iing?!

    When she regained some of her strength, she immediately pulled away from me.

    I apologetically said: "I''m sorry, I¡­ I¡­" I stuttered as I tried to exin that I mistook her for being a woman being two levels of seniority above me, and lost control of myself during my fit of confusion.

    Wait! That exnation would definitely grant me a jail sentence!! And I would be called a pedophile!

    The girl in white frowned and started tearing up. She aggressively wiped her lips as if she were trying to rip her beautiful flower-petal-like lips.

    I felt sincerely guilty and pped myself twice. But all I could do was repeatedly apologise: "I''m sorry, I¡­¡­"

    "Sorry¡­? What good is your apology?" Her tone carried her murderous intent but her eyes were truthfully too tender, so she sounded like she was softly begging even though she was furious. Is she¡­ Is she really the reincarnation of a female demon fox?

    "Men¡­ Hmph. Why are all men like this¡­?"

    I licked my dry lips and suddenly felt like there was the fragrance of a young girl on the side of my mouth. The fragrance wasn''t from lipstick but her natural body-scent.

    I couldn''t help but feel guiltier. What on Earth was wrong with me back there? Why did I do that¡­? I looked straight into her eyes and sincerely said: "I''ll do anything you ask as long as I can do it for you."

    "I want you to die!"

    The girl in white rolled her sleeve down, flicked her white wrist, and as a strong gust of wind swept up, she struck at me with her palm.

    I didn''t know she knew martial arts. And she''s not bad either.

    Her palm strike was sharp. Shended it right on my chest. Since I wronged her, I took it head on.

    I took the strike and took a step back. I couldn''t withstand all the force behind it and had to retreat another step. However, I still couldn''t steady my stance and fell to the ground. I revealed a look of "pain" on my face.

    "Argh¡­ I didn''t do it on purpose."

    "You didn''t do it on purpose?! You''re dressed as a constable,y here in ambush and acted indecently towards me. If it wasn''t on purpose, then what else was it?!"

    The girl in white seemed furious enough to explode. She pulled out a shiny dagger from her boot.

    When I saw the dagger, it was like somebody who fell into the water had found himself a life-saving vine: "Hey, hey, hey! You''re not permitted to bring weapons into the pce. What you''re doing is against thew. I can immediately arrest you, you know?"

    "Try it if you have the skill! We''ll see who cares to listen to you!"

    She thrust her dagger at me six times in one breath but I evaded all her thrusts. But then I realised that something was strange.

    This girl just came from the small South gate. In other words, she wasing out from the pce. Within the pce grounds, nobody including royalty is allowed to carry weapons aside from particr guards. How was she so fearless?

    On that side of the small South gate is¡­the cold pce! Is she a fallen princess or concubine of the emperor?!

    Sh*t, I''m scared!

    All the women in the pce belong to the emperor, and yet I just went and acted indecently towards her!!! I was so scared I nearly fell to my knees.

    " Please stab me to death¡­ Miss¡­" End this life of suffering of mine.

    When she saw me not resist, she seemed to calm down a little. But after listening to my entire sentence, she became even more furious.

    "Go to hell! Who are you calling ''miss''?!!"

    Huh? What the fuck?

    Is your gender Su Xiao?

    I idiotically asked: "A-Are you a Su, I mean, guy?"

    That doesn''t make sense! She just said something like "all men are like this"! She can''t be a guy. The girl in white denied it as I thought she would.

    "Go to hell! Who are you calling a guy?!"

    I was now even more baffled. What is this girl talking about? Could it really be that I''m not crazy and that I truly have encountered a demon fox?

    "Ming Feizhen! Ming Feizhen!"

    "Who''s calling me?"

    Thank heavens. Someone is finally here to end this awkward situation!

    A minor ranked eunuch then rushed over towards me. When I looked closer, it was the eunuch who led me here. Shouldn''t he be apanying Eunuch Wang? Why is he here?

    He cried: "Bad news, bad news!"

    Bad news? Did the sky fall? Did the Earth split? Is the dog missing?

    Could there be anything more significant than what I''m going through here?

    I kissed someone who could only be a female fox demon that happens to be the emperor''s concubine. It was a fucking deep kiss as well!

    "You are from Liu Shan Men, right? Y-Your colleagues!"

    "What about them?"

    "Got killed! Three of them are dead! Oh right, one of them had the surname, Su, do you know him?" Before I could shift my focus from "three of them are dead" and the girl in white who looked at me with disdain upon hearing I was from Liu Shan Men, my attention was locked on thest part of what he said.

    "Who? His surname was, Su? Su Xiao?"

    "Yes, yes, yes, yes, it was Su Xiao."

    Su Xiao? He''s dead?

    My heart froze. Before I realised it, I had already taken off running.

    "It was Su Xiao who told me toe and get you, I said¡­eh? Where is he?"

    The girl in white stared intently at Ming Feizhen who was supposed to be in the air and stuttered with disbelief: "H-He disappeared just like that. Wh-What on Earth?"

    People can vanish faster than the blink of an eye?

    The eunuch acted slightly scared and fearfully scanned his surroundings. While he was inside the pce, it''s still best to not disturb the spirits. But when he saw the face of the girl in white, he started sweating cold bullets. She was more frightening than seeing a ghost.

    "I-It''s you! May you have the best of luck and health."

    "What''s that bastard''s name? What''s his job?" The girl in white thought back to what Ming Feizhen did to her before and got angry again. She bit down on her lower lip hard, but could only feel a me, like she wasn''t herself and she unconsciously went red in the face. Her mouth was still red and tender like two maple leaves that had dropped into a jar of honey.

    "His name is Ming Feizhen, written with the "ming" character from bright, the "fei" character from extreme, and the "zhen" character from genuine. He is a constable at Liu Shan Men, and is guarding the pce gates on orders of his majesty. He was ordered to guard the small South gate. S-Someone just assassinated warriors in the outer court so I presume he has gone to see his colleagues."

    "Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen!" The girl in white repeated his name. Every time his name came out of her small mouth that was like a peach, it was like the humiliating and numbing feeling resurfaced again. "If the Brilliant Consort didn''t have something to tell me, I''d like to see how many heads you have!!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 2 18 The Unknown Individual Raised Deep in the Palace

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 18 The Unknown Individual Raised Deep in the Pce</h4>

    The girl in white rushed towards the deep inner parts of the pce.

    The harem is where the emperor and his concubines reside. It''s heavily guarded, however, the girl in white was able to enter and leave at her own leisure.

    She went to a particrly extravagant residence called, the Brilliant Night Pce. This ce was different to the residence of the other concubines. This pce was resplendent. It was as though the owner was worried about not having a way to spend all their money.

    A potted nt that was ced casually was an eye-openerpared to the nts, flowers or pine bamboos found in the pces of the other concubines. It was elegant.

    The leaves were made from gold, the pears were made from pearls; it had iid fruits from agate, emerald chiselled cucumbers; coral hole tree branches, an ivory fence, and even the azure porcin in full bloom was from the former dynasty. It was ruyao and blue flowers created from kilin of the previous dynasty. The ce was overflowing with wealth.

    If a beggar were to get his hands on one of the bowls from this pce, he would be filthy rich.

    Such, was the special Brilliant Night Pce.

    Inside the special ce was a special person. That was the emperor''s youngest consort, the Brilliant Consort.

    The emperor''s other concubines all had incredible backgrounds too, but the Brilliant Consort was different. Her family members weren''t officials or territorial owners, but merchants.

    Martial arts flourished during this dynasty so many concepts and ideals of schrs were useless. Consequently, merchants weren''t exactly discriminated against, but merchants who could enter the pce were no ordinary merchants. The Brilliant Consort wasn''t from an ordinary merchant family.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Her family is the richest family in the entire nation with thousands of stores, more than ten thousand boats and so many people working for them there was no way of knowing their numbers. You could say that her family brought in half of the nation''s ie.

    If it weren''t for her family background, the emperor wouldn''t have put up with all the disdainful looks of his concubines for marrying a girl younger than him by seventeen years, especially when she was only thirteen at the time when he married her.

    When the emperor married her, he was bestowed with the title, the number one lolicon in the world, which led to a trend of men marrying young wives. It was considered all the rage. The males of the nation couldn''t help but sigh, "The emperor has great tastes." His decision left a huge impact. Ten yearster, major ministers in the imperial court whether deliberate or not speak about themselves having a daughter not yet thirteen, and wondering if his majesty would be interested¡­¡­ Or they''d wonder if his majesty would consider their granddaughter that''s yet to turn ten¡­¡­.

    The incident troubled the emperor greatly and so he did not ept any more concubines for fifteen years after the Brilliant Consort. He dotes on the Brilliant Consort most which is why he hasn''t had any other concubines after her. This guess is in fact very close to the truth.

    Fifteen years had passed and the young thirteen year old loli wife was now nearly thirty. She was no longer the silly wife who only knew how to flirt and act spoilt before her husband. The young naive and pure girl had reached the point in her life where she needed to make preparations for herself.

    Although the Brilliant Consort was known to those in the pce as a kind, silly and wealthy person, silly daughter of andlord, she too had ns for herself.

    The girl in white with the peculiar identity was her n.

    The girl in white stepped into the Brilliant Night Pce. In front of the pce stood a row of maids, who couldn''t help but fight a cold war and stutter as they greeted her: "G-Greetings, General Manager"

    The girl in white ignored their greeting and just coldly asked: "Is her highness inside?"

    "Yes."

    "All of you, leave. No one is to approach without my orders."

    "The girl in white" had a dangerous look in her eyes. In a cold tone, she said: "I will break the legs on any who dare toe in without my permission."

    "Understood, understood."

    The girl in white waved her hand as if she was trying to wave off flies and the maids left. The girl in white then casually strolled into the extraordinary pce.

    The girl in white, Bai Ling lowered her head and said: "Your servant, Bai Ling greets your highness. Please forgive my tardiness."

    "Ling''er,e over, let me see you properly."

    Bai Ling stood up but kept her head down. She then bowed and gently walked over to the side of therge bed in the pce. A beauty with apricot eyes, peach cheeks beauty sat on the bed. The Brilliant Consort giggled and then pulled Bai Ling over to sit next to her.

    Bai Ling took a step back, panicked and eximed: "Your highness, your servant is a servant. Doing this would vite the rules in the pce."

    The Brilliant Consort shot her a rebuking look and said: "You child, what are you afraid of? Others don''t recognise you. Do you need to act like this in front of me?"

    Bai Ling refused to go over to her and could only sit on an angle by the Brilliant Consort''s side, not even letting her bottom touch the bed sheets as if she were afraid she would stain the Brilliant Consort''s bed sheets.

    The Brilliant Consort saw her and sighed to herself: It''s been twelve years. Ling''er has been forced to be a eunuch all this time. It''s been tough on the poor child.

    "Ling''er, how have you been recently?"

    With the opportunity to report, Bai Ling quickly got off the bed and said: "Your servant has not let you down, your highness. Your servant has be the general manager of four of the offices in the harem. As of current, your servant is beneath no one in terms of the number spies and power." Bai Ling showed great vigour as she spoke. Her tone was filled with confidence so it was evident that she was very confident in her abilities.

    "Th-That''s good." The Brilliant Consort was lost for words for a moment. She was actually wondering if Bai Ling was well, but the child didn''t seem to care about herself. She was fully devoted to the Brilliant Consort which both moved her and made her feel guilty.

    The two of them shared a secret. A big secret.

    The pce maid had turned into the general manager as a eunuch, but was actually a girl.

    On her way from home the pce twelve years ago, the Brilliant Consort met a girl around seventeen to eighteen years old. At the time, the girl waspletely covered in mud and thin. It was freezing and yet she only wore a shirt that had been torn countless times as if she were on the verge of death.

    Being the kind person she is, the Brilliant Consort took her in after seeing her pitiful situation.

    The Brilliant Consort was heavily favoured by the emperor at the time, but it was never peaceful between hisdies. The Brilliant Consort''s family was rich enough topare to the nation. She had six tables worth of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When she gave tips, she casually tipped them tens of silver ingots, so of course there were people who got jealous.

    The princes slowly grew and the fighting got worse as theypeted for the throne. The Brilliant Consort wasn''t one to conspire and suffered a fair bit during the time.

    Consequently, she decided that she needed to nurture her own power in the harem! And that''s when she thought of the young girl that she took in, Bai Ling.

    Nobody knew Bai Ling''s identity. She was a girl but she looked like a eunuch if she dressed up a bit. Bai Ling lived in the Brilliant Night Pce, so her life was hidden to the world. And since the Brilliant Consort was always generous with her tips and rewards, nobody said anything. Overtime, everybody came to terms with Bai Ling being a eunuch.

    The Brilliant Consort taught Bai Ling literacy, martial arts and to carry out certain tasks in the pce, slowly turning her into an important figure in the pce.

    Bai Ling made it her mission to help the Brilliant Consort, so she always gave it her all to ascend the ranks. She was now the general manager of twelve offices, so she was a major ranking eunuch.

    The Brilliant Consort took a good look at Bai Ling.

    The young eunuch was described by the people as "The Colourless Chrysanthemum of the Six Pces". She was born with a beautiful face, big mesmerising eyes, was delicate and charming. She was considered a girl who could make a man go crazy for her with a frown. Women hated her guts for her seductive appearance.

    It was amazing how anky young girl from twelve years ago grew into such a mesmerising beauty.

    It was a pity that she had to dress up as a eunuch.

    But if Bai Ling dressed as a girl, the Brilliant Consort would be worried. The emperor could see all the beauties of the harem, so all his consorts were worried.

    If she were an imperial consort or even a maid, she would be hated by everyone in the harem. She would either end up with her face ruined or dead. But as a eunuch, she could avoid trouble.

    Everybody knows that the emperor of this dynasty is a loli-con. He has no pimps and he doesn''t like taboos. And so the peculiarly beautiful eunuch wasn''t very much liked, but wasn''t pressured either. Bai Ling no longer knew if it was right or wrong to ept ying the role of a eunuch.

    The Brilliant Consort touched her shiny and smooth hair. She smiled and said: "Hmm, you look like you''ve gotten prettier. If I were a guy, I wouldn''t let you go."

    Bai Ling''s expression turned grim: "Your highness, how would a man like a person like me who''s neither male or female?"

    Speaking of Men, Bai Ling couldn''t help but feel disgusted. She lived as a eunuch for a long time, but she had not felt that she was a male. However, she didn''t feel like she was a woman either. Growing up around eunuchs, she had a different view to most other girls. She couldn''t imagine a man touching her, or even living with a husband. This feeling made it feel uneptable to her.

    The Brilliant Consort knew about her old habit so she didn''t peel back theyers of the onion. She just smiled and said: "I liked to speak about those sorts of things before I got married. Look at how I am with his majesty now. Our son has grown so much already. Child, you need to think for yourself sometimes."

    "Men¡­"

    Bai Ling suddenly started blushing. The numb and burning feeling from the kiss Ming Feizhen forced on her welled up in her chest. Her lips suddenly started releasing a hot sensation like they were burning up, yet the sensation felt good. Even she couldn''tprehend what was happening.

    Normally, she''d kill anybody who offended her on the spot.

    That man not only hugged her, he even gave her a deep kiss. Bai Ling wanted to say she was disgusted, but she was slightly confused because she didn''t hate it. In fact, she had a slight lingering feeling for it. She had never experienced this feeling before, and she had no idea what was happening.

    Bai Ling shook her head as if she was trying to shake off the confusion on her mind: No, no, you can tell that he''s not a good guy from a single nce. He must''ve done something shady to me, and he¡­he looks ugly too! If I run into him again, I won''t let him off.

    "Please do not worry, your highness. Sir Zi and you are the reason for your servant to continue living. Your servant will definitely not"

    "I was not questioning your loyalty, silly child¡­"

    The Brilliant Consort shook her head, smiled helplessly and said: "I asked you toe today because I asked his majesty for a seat to watch the imperial martial arts tournament, but I heard that it''s not safe. You know how I haven''t been asking about matters in the harem recently. I depend solely on you. Are you willing to examine the venue and see if it''s safe?"

    Bai Ling said to herself "I see", and then respectfully replied: "Your servant shall now go and see to it now."

    She then suddenly said to herself: The imperial martial arts tournament? That punk will be there then, won''t he¡­? Hmph! Ming Feizhen!

    Notes:

    Ruyao and Kilin are materials used in Chinese porcin

 Volume 2 19 The End of a Romance is Strangely Sorrowful

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 19 The End of a Romance is Strangely Sorrowful</h4>

    "Xiao¡­ Are you okay?"

    Su Xiao looked at me nkly with a bowl of peanuts in his hands as he blinked hisrge eyes: "I''m fine. Why were you so rushed, Big Brother Ming? I''ve got peanuts, do you want some?" He then looked left and right to scan his surroundings, "Where did youe from? We''re in arge open area, how did you appear from thin air?"

    I angrily eximed: "You idiot! You scared me!" I hadn''t calmed down yet, so my voice was louder than I thought.

    "D-Don''t scream so loudly. That was so embarrassing!!"

    You know what would be embarrassing? If Su Xiao were do die under my watch. That would be an embarrassment, okay?!

    The assassins from the League of Assassins have many methods of assassination. The Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage ran into trouble one after another, and today it was Liu Shan Men''s turn. I honestly can''t feel at peace.

    I raised my head to see Su Xiao''s smooth chin. I then ced a finger on his neck to check his pulse. Okay, good, he''s not poisoned. I sent some of my qi into his body for ap and didn''t find anything strange either. I was finally able to let out a sigh of relief. If he were poisoned by strong venom, it''d be toote to save him.

    Su Xiao looked like a kid whose parents were checking to see if he had a fever as I checked his pulse with my finger on his neck. He couldn''t stop himself from going red in the face: "Big Brother Ming?"

    I think he should be fine. No, I''m still worried.

    "Come here, do a 360 for uncle."

    "Screw you! What''s wrong with you?" Su Xiao continued in a puzzled tone: "Why are you acting strange? Has your fever returned? Hmm¡­ Why is your mouth red?"

    Oh, nothing, I just failed to score a romance with a cup of tea. I forced a kiss on a girl who passed by, no biggie.

    Well¡­ To be honest, I''m still confused by what happened. Why did I suddenly lose my calm? Why did I do something like that? I still don''t know why. But I was clearly not myself at the time.

    "Well, uhh¡­" I blinked my eyes and it took quite a bit out of me to say: "I crashed when I was walking in a rush before. But what on Earth happened? Our people died?"

    "Our people? Nobody died."

    Huh? Didn''t he say that the ck Wings Thirteen Wingsunched a sneak attack on the city gates and three members from Liu Shan Men died?

    "You got it all wrong." Su Xiao shook his head: "The eunuch who reported to you was aplete wreck. I think he was scared silly. The attack wasn''t at the city gates, but the on the ring outside the imperial city. Somebody suddenlyunched an attack and killed three Qilin Guards."

    I looked at the ring far in the distance with traces of blood on it. The three corpses were still on the ring, while a group of pce guards surrounded them, evidently to protect the scene. Most of the onlookers around were royal family members or children from noble families as well as servants of the pce. They seemed to be shocked by the scene of the murder taking ce, as they all wore frightened looks on their faces.

    I looked at them and went silent. I then said to Su Xiao: "Xiao, go to where Liu Yuan and co are, and ask the audience what they saw. Don''t overlook any clues."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Now? Why?" Su Xiao blinked his eyes, "We''re short-handed as is. Is it alright to not guard the gates?"

    I firmly said: "More than half of the audience present are rtives of the royal family, if we wait for this matter to pass, then we''ll be forced to run around and knock on all of their doors individually. Nobody will be willing to recall the incident. It will be very hard to investigate. The majority of them will close their doors on us. Resolve it now and we''ll have time for the future."

    "Oh, oh, alright, I''ll go now." Su Xiao ate a peanut and then eximed with admiration: "Big Brother Ming, you truly resemble a human when you''re acting proper!"

    Fuck! Does this kid know how to pick his words?!

    Somebody called out to me from behind as soon as Su Xiao left.

    "Big bro." Tang Ye wore a look of suspicion and walked over. He then quickly shoved something into my hand and quietly said: "I found this around the corpses."

    It evidently was something that needed to be submitted as evidence, and therefore Tang Ye was cautious when he handed it to me.

    It was a blood-like sheet of red cloth, but on it, eight characters were written on in actual blood. It had been written on a long time ago since the blood had turned ck, and stood out on the cloth.

    The eight characters were: "The promised favour has been repaid."

    A note left behind after a murder?

    It looks like the culprits were members of the League of Assassins.

    They originally killed one person per day. I heard that the emperor''s entourage managed to stop an attempt. So it looks like theypensated for yesterday''s miss and killed an extra person as interest. Treating people''s lives withplete insignificance, typical of an assassin''s character.

    "What exactly took ce? Did you see it?"

    Tang Ye nodded: "When it was almost time for your turn, Su Xiao went to get you. As soon as he left, a group of imperial guards came in and said they needed to tighten their guard."

    It wasn''t strange because the imperial guards were in charge of safety for the ring here.

    "But as soon as the group of imperial guards entered the perimeter of the ring, I immediately noticed that something was wrong. The sizes of their uniform didn''t fit well, and when I did a head-count, there were exactly thirteen of them."

    "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings?" I continued with suspicion: "They dressed up as imperial guards? The difficulty of that is¡­ Not bad. Smart. They didn''t need to disguise themselves well; they just needed to trick us for a split moment."

    "That''s right!" Tang Ye regretfully and angrily said: "I didn''t notice them right away and let them reach the ring''s perimeter. As soon as they set one foot in, they immediately went after the warriors on the ring. The three of them couldn''t react in time. They were killed before they could even get a clear look of the assants. The thirteen of them came and left like the wind. They turned around and left as soon as they finished with their hit. Eunuch Wang sent imperial guards after in pursuit, but¡­¡­"

    "Imperial guards?" That was a poor decision. Liu Shan Men and so many other warriors of the imperial court were here and yet he sent the imperial guards? What was 123 thinking?

    But then I soon understood the reason.

    The imperial court was shamed by the fact that their warriors were killed inside the imperial city. Eunuch Wang was afraid that more people would die if he sent Liu Shan Men and he would lose his head. He certainly is a veteran of the pce. He knows how very well how to look after himself.

    Tang Ye said: "There aren''t many imperial guards who know martial arts, so there was no way for them to catch them. Now they''ve disappeared without a trace. I was worried there would be more trouble at the outer imperial city, so I stayed here."

    The case started to sound stranger now. There was something strange about the entire case.

    The assassins'' association''s carry out assassinations for money, and for scary amounts of money for that matter. Who would be so bored out of their skin that they''d spend money to have warriors of the imperial court killed? Seven died previously and now another three today. None of them were any big-wigs.

    Forgetting the first seven for now, three were killed here in the imperial city¡­ Who has so much free time to p the emperor in the face like this? Who''s sick of living? Who hired the assassins? What good does he gain from going against the imperial court like this?

    I still couldn''t decipher their thinking, and yet another person had arrived.

    "Young Ming, why are you here? Weren''t you supposed to be at the small South gate?"

    Eunuch Wang''s "seductive" voice floated into my ears and I couldn''t help but shiver all over.

    "You''re here, Eunuch Wang¡­¡­"

    When I turned my head around, another person showed up along with Eunuch Wang. I couldn''t forget her even if I wanted to. Isn''t that the short tea cup, the girl in white I mentioned?

    What the hell is going on?

    Did you tell on me to Eunuch Wang?!

    It didn''t look like it. Eunuch Wang wore a joyful look on his face as he said: "Young Ming, this is General Manager Bai, Eunuch Bai. She is now recing me as the person in charge of matters rted to the imperial martial arts tournament. Come over here and greet her."*

    "The girl in white" didn''t wear a friendly look on her face. She smiled coldly and said: "Not even greeting me, how disrespectful."

    Tang Ye greeted her very naturally: "Greetings, Eunuch Bai."

    I was confused.

    What? General manager? Eunuch?

    This beautiful looking girl is¡­

    A thought suddenly came to mind which felt like having cold water sshed in my face.

    Eunuch.

    She''s a eunuch. So another Zhao Gao, Cai Lun, Sima Qian, Gao Lishi¡­¡­.**

    I still couldn''t ept it. Like an idiot, I asked: "Ah, Umm, uhh, Tang Ye, you just called this girl, ah, no, I mean, never mind, what did you call her?"

    Tang Ye looked at me puzzled and replied: "Eunuch."

    "Eunuch?"

    Bai Ling red at me: "What''s wrong with eunuch?"

    She seemed to be angry. Her melon shaped face moved my heart¡­ My foot! What sort of description was that?!

    NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

    MY GOOODD!!

    WHY DID I INITIATE A KISS WITH A EUNUCH?!!

    Notes:

    *He and she are pronounced the same in Chinese

    **Notable eunuchs in Chinese history

 Volume 2 20 Crazy Kiss-Forcing Demon

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 20 Crazy Kiss-Forcing Demon</h4>

    I froze up until Tang Ye finished speaking with Eunuch Wang, and tugged my sleeve to say: "Let''s go, big bro."

    When he tugged my sleeve, he tugged all my thoughts out of my mouth too: "Sigh, it''s such a waste that such a beautiful girl is a eunuch." I regretted speaking as soon as I spoke. But I guess only General Manager Bai understood me, so it shouldn''t be a problem.

    Well, I''ll be damned. When I looked up, I saw Tang ye and Eunuch Wang look at me and General Manager Bai with disbelief as though they detected something. The question they had in mind had reached their lips, but they just happened to temporarily hold off from letting it escape.

    General Manager Bai wentpletely red in her face, and she red at me with her blurry and pitiful eyes. I can''t say she looked cute.

    Hey,e on, sis, the look on your face is going to mislead people!!

    I sighed sadly again.

    Sister Nu wa, did someone anger you while you were designing her?! Why is someone so hot a eunuch?

    My ability to distinguish peoples'' gender was questioned once again. First it was Su Xiao, then it was Master Kuang, and now General Manager Bai. Why do I keep running into these beauties whose gender can''t be distinguished?

    "I am the senior eunuch supervisor, General Manager Bai Ling. Don''t spout nonsense!" General Manager Bai Ling started bringing up bureaucratic positions and scanned me a few times, without any kind intent of course: "You were selected by Liu Shan Men? You look so-so."

    We looked like a couple who broke up on bad terms, arguing as soon as we meet. But we haven''t even known each other for an hour.

    "I was sent to guard the small South gate precisely because I''m so-so."

    I deliberately emphasised "small South gate". Bai Ling however, just shot me a cold re, indicating that she was immune to my threat, and couldn''t care less for it. She put on an expression to show that she was all business, and impartial without personal ulterior motives.

    "So you''re admitting that you''re not all that then?"

    So what if I''m not?

    Her expression changed dramatically. She clenched her teeth and said: "Since you''re not all that, that means that you neglected your duty. Men! Drag him away and beat him to death with a pole."

    Fuck! I didn''t think she''d go this route!

    Your heart is darker than ink when you''re framing me!

    Eunuch Wang was put in a dilemma so he said: "General Manager Bai, he is not under the pce''s jurisdiction, he is under Liu Shan Men''s jurisdiction, and he is an official warrior of the imperial court. That is¡­¡­"

    "¡­¡­I wasn''t serious." Bai Ling waved her hand but her eyes revealed a look which told me she was dead serious, and her tone revealed a hint of pity.

    "If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave now. With the major incident that just happened, we need to report this to our superiors."

    If I don''t find an excuse to escape, I''m probably going to get buried where I stand.

    Bai Ling contemptuously said: "What can someone of your calibre do?"

    "You shouldn''t say that." I wore an upassionate look and continued: "You should know that I, Ming Feizhen, the man with the moniker, the Crazy Kiss-forcing Demon have quite the reputation in the capital. Further, I go for guys and girls. I even violently ravaged a eunuch today, you know~." As I spoke, I nonchntly touched my red mouth like a sage who had reach enlightenment.

    Tang Ye recorded my words with reverently. Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?! Are you trying to make me the public enemy of all the women in the world?!

    Eunuch Wang sneezed and looked at me flirtatiously. What he was signalling was very obvious: How about a date, brother?

    All the hairs on my body stood up¡­¡­

    But it was evidently effective against Bai Ling.

    She was so enraged she was grinding her teeth. She quietly and angrily eximed: "There wille a day when I return your humiliation ten times over!"

    Faced with her confession, I couldn''t help but blush.

    "Ten times over, huh¡­¡­" I did the math in my head and then asked: "How long would our kissst then?"

    "Go to hell!" Bai Ling furiously kicked in my direction. I side-stepped and she ended up kicking Eunuch Wang to the ground.

    My expression changed dramatically, and I indignantly and righteously eximed: "General Manager Bai, it''s fine if you don''t like me, but how could you take it out on Eunuch Wang too?! You''re so vicious!"

    Eunuch Wang who got booted finally came to realise that there was discord between us: My, so this punk and General Manager Bai have animosity towards each other! Why did I go and get myself involved?! They say General Manager Bai is vicious in her work and unforgiving, and now I''ve made myself one of her targets too. Ming Feizhen is a trouble-ma!

    Since General Manager Bai was the supervisor of eunuchs, her power within the pce was unimaginable. I could only make impromptuical gestures so that she wouldn''t get on my case for the time being.

    But it looks Eunuch Wang will need to take ten days or half a month''s break now judging from his injury. She was way too vicious. It looks like she''s¡­I mean, this eunuch is definitely going to give me grief.

    Well, I have no choice then. Time for my ulti.

    "Tang Ye."

    "Present."

    "Scram."

    Tang Ye and I ran off in opposite directions, which baffled the two eunuchs. When they managed to distinguish who was who, we had already run off far into the distance.

    "Ming Feizhen!" Bai Ling angrily stomped her foot, "If I get the chance to catch you, I''ll give you hell!"

    I ran off to where Su Xiao was and learned what the audience saw. It was just as I thought. I then rushed towards the inner imperial city. I need to speak to the two captains about today''s assassination.

    When I got to the entrance, I saw Song Oue out looking gloomy.

    "We have trouble! We have trouble!"

    Song Ou saw me, and then asked: "Ming Feizhen, what is your problem? Why did you let the ck Wind Thirteen Wings sneak in?! Now we''re in trouble!! Hmm, also, what happened to your mouth?"

    Fuck man! I thought we agreed to not hit a downed man! Why are you reminding me of the kiss with a eunuch?!

    "Captain, I came here to inform you about the incident." I tried to lower my head so that he couldn''t see my mouth, "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings disguised themselves as imperial guards. ording to the witnesses, they carried odd-shaped weapons with them when they performed the hit. It seems that they''re their own weapons."

    "Their own weapons? Then how¡­¡­" Song Ou finally understood what I meant and said: "You''re saying that they couldn''t have snuck in with their weapons, which means that they definitely snuck into the imperial city before we began our investigations?! That means it has nothing to do with Liu Shan Men failing in our guard duty then!"

    The light bulb in Song Ou''s skull switches on whenever it''s time to push the me on others.

    "I''ll go and report to his majesty now." Song Ou stopped in his tracks as soon as he went to leave. He spun around and asked: "Oh, what happened to your mouth again? Why do you have lipstick on your mouth again?"

    Sh*t! You wear lipstick, General Manager Bai?! I hurriedly wiped my mouth.

    The scene of me kissing General Manager Bai came to mind again.

    Give me a basin, I need to puke¡­¡­

    Song Ou looked at me and then suddenly eximed: "You son of a gun. We''re in the pce and yet you''re still hitting on women? Sigh, your messy personality is going to screw you over sooner orter. Women are as vicious as tigers!"

    Hey, do you think all wives are tigers?

    Song Ou lectured me without much substance and then immediately went back to see the emperor.

    When I saw Song Ou''s back silhouette disappear into the distance, I then pondered the case again and the strange intricacies of it. I kept getting the feeling that somebody was continually stirring trouble with some goal in mind. But who''s so bold and who has the ability to pull it off¡­..?

    Nothinges to mind.

    "Feizhen, is that you?"

    Hmm? Who''s calling me?

    I turned my head around and saw Boss Shen in her bluebat robe walk towards me.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Boss!"

    "I knew it was you. Don''t run away. I have something to talk to you about." Boss Shen suddenly lowered her head to look down, and then in a distrustful tone asked: "What happened to your mouth?"

    God fucking damn it! Can we please stop bringing up my mouth?!

    Notes:

    Nu Wa is believed by some to be the creator of humans. So he''s saying, did someone piss you off causing you to make her a eunuch.

 Volume 2 21 Fighting My Way Into the League of Assassins Den

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 21 Fighting My Way Into the League of Assassins Den</h4>

    The bouts for today were cancelled half-way through and were set to resume tomorrow.

    Boss Shen left a job in my hands, and that is to go and see if anything strange has happened in the capital''s martial world.

    I really don''t want to do this job.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The League of Assassins and the Divine Moon Sect can''t bepared, and to be frank don''t have much to do with me. I frankly don''t object to them carrying out a hit in the capital. There''s a hit every day after all. Nobody has the time and energy to deal with all of them. Moreover, the imperial court''s warriors are guarding the capital. Even if the ck Winds Thirteen Wings were greater, there are only thirteen of them at the end of the day, so it''s not like they could cause a huge ruckus.

    But I can''t just handle the job Boss Shen gave me thoughtlessly. She''s smart so she''ll be able to tell if I didn''t put in any effort with a single nce.

    I found a rogue make-up store and asked them to make me look like a boorish fellow in the pugilistic world.

    Given my height, it wasn''t difficult. They happily helped me put on make-up for a few pennies. Once I was ready, I walked towards my target location with a face nobody recognised.

    Instead of running around looking for clues, why not go knock on their door directly?

    And thus, I decided to go to the League of Assassins branch in the capital to talk to the branch leader.

    However, the passcode used when my shifu and I met the leader back then has expired. It''s also extremely hard to meet with the leader of the League of Assassins, no easier than trying to get my shifu to pay for his meal. So hoping to find him by running around randomly on the streets is wishful thinking.

    But it''s not like I have to see the leader. I just need to know what the League of Assassins is doing in the capital. This much I can do.

    I''m here. I should say the passcode now.

    Hmm, let me have a think¡­¡­

    "Love the nation, love the family, and love your junior martial sister!"

    As soon as I said it, a hawker with sly, slit eyes jumped out and whispered: "Beware of fires, beware of thieves, and beware of your senior martial brother!"

    I looked at the punk. He looked back at me and like a thief asked: "I haven''t seen you before brother, are you after biscuits or steamed buns?"

    Biscuits are yellow, so that meant you were working government, steamed buns are white, so that meant you were from the sects of justice of the martial world. When they sometimes run into those from the sects of justice, they''ll throw a steamed bun to a dog, and then smile at the person from the sect of justice mockingly, because they don''t understand what they''re on about¡­..

    Their choice of words for their passcode is quite interesting.

    They used food as ceholders for different sects, of course, with differences for sects of justice and evil sects.

    I seem to recall that Shaolin was glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean flour, Wudang was beef with mixed cold sd, and Emei was noodle soup¡­ All their names are fucked up!

    Also, I never understood why the Qilin Guards were called spaghetti Bolognese until I heard about them pursuing the three evils of He Dong. They sent more than four hundred men after those three pitiful bugs and tossed their steel sabres at them. Yeah, more than four hundred sabres. The three evils became minced meat on the spot. The stench of blood as a result of that¡­..

    In short, the sects of justice are assigned rtively light coloured foods, while the evil sects are assigned rtively dark coloured foods.

    And I should be¡­¡­

    "I''m used to having braised pork shoulders in soy sauce."

    The person listened in awe.

    "Those from the Night Fortress have rarely appeared recently!"

    The night fortress¡­ That''s the branch of Mount Daluo that my shifu started in Jiang Nan. Because of how much of an embarrassment he was, he didn''t dare to call it a branch of Mount Daluo again to avoid the grandmaster waking up in a fit of anger and killing him with a palm strike while still dazy. After that, Night Fortress continued to exist, but nobody actually knew it was a branch of Mount Daluo. And because of the terrible reputation Night Fortress had, it was always considered an evil sect by people.

    But it''s not like I could get into the League of Assassins by telling them I''m from a sect of justice.

    The guy who received me took me into a gambling building. We crossed a long hallway, turned left, turned right and then unexpectedly ended up at the courtyard around the back. He opened the door, and I found I was at apletely different street.

    He took me across another two streets and into a teahouse that lookedid back and elegant. It was a four-story teahouse. We went to the third floor and into a darkttice, and continued going up to the fifth floor hidden in the roof that couldn''t be seen from the outside or inside.

    I was stunned. These guys wille up with anything for their intelligence gathering work. If I were from a sect of justice, I''d probably have lost contact with my backup and be crying for my mom by myself by now.

    The person who received me went inside to report to the person inside. I waited at the door for a while and then they finally let me in.

    Before I could enter, I could hearughter that sounded like it came from a beast.

    "Wahahaha, there''s no way a fly could get into Jiang Nan. Even we don''t dare to be mboyant when operating in Jiang Nan. They say Jiang Nan''s Ten Million, The Seven White Champion Princes. With those seven fierce tiger leaders around, none of my sect''s members dares to act rashly. Only Night Fortress stands out. I''ve wanted to meet somebody from Night Fortress for quite some time now. Come in,e in."

    I walked into the hall, and only saw a bloke who looked crude andid back. Judging from his physique, I don''t think he''s three hundred kilograms. He had a pair of stinky feet, and a messy beard, but damn was he a lucky bastard. He had four beautiful young girls around him. Two were giving him a back and shoulder massage while the other two were massaging his leg and feet.

    I truly felt sorry for the young girl massaging his feet¡­¡­

    "Hahahahaha, young man, you were the one who wanted to see me, Meng Jiangnan?"

    It looks like he''s the leader of the League of Assassins branch in the capital then.

    But, bro, is your name a rip off of Meng Jiangnu?*

    "Yes, my surname is Ming."

    "That''s right. A family member from Master Ming''s Night Fortress should be surnamed Ming." He scanned me, revealed a big smile: "You do look like someone from our sect."

    Those from the sects of evil don''t call themselves members of "sects of evil". Some of them refer to themselves as "men of the forests", or "men of our sect", which both mean the same thing, and that is "we''re in the same group".

    "What have youe to see me for, Brother Ming?"

    "I had something I wanted to ask you about, Boss Meng."

    "You''re too courteous." Meng Jiangnan waved his hand, chuckled and said: "Night Fortress have a great reputation. I highly respect Master Ming. Our members in Jiang Nan are like bitches, being scared by those bastards, the Seven White Champion Princes. But look at Night Fortress, you''repletely different. Has anything happened all these years? No. Night Fortress has always managed to piss off the Seven White Champion Princes every time. I admire that. I admire that!"

    Indeed, Night Fortress has never been given any grief in Jiang Nan. And that''s because the seven sects that make up the Seven White Champion Princes know the actual background of Night Fortress. They don''t give Night Fortress grief to avoid trambling on my shifu''s reputation any further. It''s so shameful I can''t tell anybody about it¡­..

    "You''re too kind, boss Meng. I came here to ask¡­.."

    "Wait." Meng Jiangnan extended his short arm which resembled a pig''s leg, "I won''t answer your questions because I suspect that you''re not from Night Fortress."

    My heart froze: "What makes you say so?"

    Meng Jiangnan chuckled and said: "Everybody says that we''re the number one assassination organisation, but that''s not quite true. We''re just an organisation that brings assassins together. We don''t sell assassins. We sell intel. Did you think we didn''t know who you are?"

    I looked at him and frankly asked: "Who am I then?"

    "Your surname is indeed, Ming, but unfortunately, you''re not from Night Fortress. You''re from Liu Shan Men."

    A murderous gaze appeared in Meng Jiangnan''s eyes, and he shouted: "Ming Feizhen! You came out from Liu Shan Men. My subordinates saw you. You dare im to be from Night Fortress? Men, kill him!"

    Notes:

    *Meng Jiangnu is a famous figure from Chinese folklore

 Volume 2 22 Master of Night Fortress

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 22 Master of Night Fortress</h4>

    I turned my head to the side, shot Meng Jiangnan a look of askance,ughed and said: "Boss Meng, I''m a scaredy-cat, please don''t scare me." Meng Jiangnan''s men surrounded me in an instant. The area up here in the roof wasn''trge. I have to give it to him for being able to hide so many people up here.

    Meng Jiangnan suddenly quickly extended his arm to stop his men from continuing forwards. He looked like he was thinking about something when he said: "Ming Feizhen, do you think that I don''t dare to kill you?"

    "It''s just murder, of course you dare to. I just don''t believe that you''d kill somebody from Liu Shan Men so easily." I looked at his fat-as-a-pig physique jolt lightly. It looks like I was right. I then continued, "Especially somebody from Liu Shan Men who knows the passcodes of your world. Isn''t that not so good?"

    "Who exactly are you? How do you know our passcode?"

    "I really am from Night Fortress. I''m just being tied down by business I have at Liu Shan Men at the moment."

    Retirement is a job, so I wasn''t really lying.

    "Do you have proof?"

    "It is what I say it is. You want proof from someone from Night Fortress? Have you lost your mind?"

    Night Fortress has always been considered heretics by the martial world, primarily because of their free-going nature. Therefore, my response to Meng Jiangnan raised further suspicion. Meng Jiangnan couldn''t quite grasp what I meant. He looked around with his eyes. He then suddenly smiled, revealing his teeth. He pushed the girls around him away with one hand and stood up,"Since you im to be from Night Fortress, you don''t mind proving it I presume."

    "How do you want me to prove it?"

    "As people in the pugilistic world, that would be via martial arts of course."

    "About that¡­¡­" I was hesitant. I wanted to decline him.

    Meng Jiangnan suddenly shouted: "Cai Die, test his martial arts skills."

    A servant girl from Jiang Mengnan''s suddenly side glided over to my side like a butterfly. She took her silver hairpin off her hair that was as magnificent as clouds, pointed the sharp tip towards me and stabbed it down towards my cervical spine. Her sequence of movements was smooth as the flow of water which my eyes couldn''t help but adore. The speed at which she removed her hairpin with her hands with was incredibly quick. When she stabbed it downwards, her hair had yet to lose its original shape.

    The girl wasn''t old, but she was a trusted bodyguard so she was not to be underestimated.

    I couldn''t help but fight back. I reached out with two fingers, grabbed her hairpin between them, and then gently shifted my hand upwards, taking it out of her small hand. I then used my thumb to gently push her right hand aside. The young girl spun around where she stood. I followed her spin, and returned her hairpin to where it originally was. It all happened so quickly her hair didn''t change shape, like nothing had ever happened.

    The young girl lost all her strength due to the spin. Her body turned weak and she fell towards the ground afterwards. I caught her in my arms just in time. She curled up in my embrace, and couldn''t help but raise her head to look, which was when our eyes met.

    The girl was only thirteen. She looked like a cute, jade beauty. I pinched her chin and teased her: "You look so cute, and yet you''re so vicious. Careful, you might not be able to find somebody willing to marry you in the future."

    The young girl wentpletely red in the face, but didn''t know what to do since she was in my arms. She used her sleeve to cover her face and didn''t dare to look at me.

    "Embarrassing! Hurry back here!"

    Meng Jiangnan''s shout brought the young girl back to her senses, and she clumsily and quickly got out of my arms. When she went back, she snuck nces at me.

    Hey, miss, do you miss uncle''s embrace?

    "Ning Shan, go!"

    Meng Jiangnan shouted again and a man came out from the side. The light from his sword came before him and he performed a flurry of sword circles used to confuse people. His martial arts were basically on par with the young girl before. While he wasn''t as vicious as the young girl, his movements and posture were much superior.

    But he was a guy¡­..

    And so I extended my hand into the centre of the light of his sword, and pressed the hand holding his sword down. I then grabbed his hand and mmed him onto the ground like swinging a hammer. The materials used to build the building were good. They were firm and could resist banging. He bounced off the ground three times and then passed out.

    Meng Jiangnan''s expression turned imposing. It was evident that my martial skills exceeded his predictions.

    "Brother Ming, your skills are surprising. I see that you''re revealing your skills here." Meng Jiangnan scornfully continued: "While I''m just getting by until I die, I will never do business with someone from the government. These are the rules of the League of Assassins. I cannot match your skills, but I don''t think you can kill everybody here!"

    I felt that the fat-ass was considerably interesting: "Boss Meng, you''ve tested my martial arts, and yet you still don''t trust me?"

    "You are highly skilled, and are superior to the top level experts of the pugilistic world. I do not believe that there is another of your level at Night Fortress, is there?"

    "So Liu Shan Men does then?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Meng Jiangnan still couldn''t be sure. When it seemed like he finally thought of something, he chuckled coldly and said: "I have been learning a new qigong style recently which allows me to pierce walls with my hands, and kill a tiger with a single palm strike without side-effects. Brother Ming, if you can withstand three of my palm strikes¡­.."

    "There''s no need to go through so much trouble." I took a big stride forward and appeared by Meng Jiangnan''s side, and then lifted him up into the air with one arm. I gathered energy in my right hand and struck at the wall, creating a hole in the wall without a sound using Yin power. With Meng Jiangnan in tow, I leapt out of the hole.

    Everything happened so quickly like a sh of lightning. When Meng Jiangnan''s men noticed it, the two of us had already vanished.

    I didn''t run off anywhere after exiting the teahouse. I took in a breath of air, lightened up my body and then turned and ran upwards. After a number of steps, we reached the true roof of the teahouse. Because of how fast I was, the people passing by below didn''t notice that two men suddenly appeared on the roof of the teahouse.

    Meng Jiangnan gave me a shocked look before his senses returned to him. He looked at me with utter disbelief.

    "Just now, your¡­the qinggong footwork you used to walk up the walls¡­ Was that Night Steps of Night Fortress? Did such an amazing qinggong technique exist?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yep, it does. All you have to do is learn Yijin Jing at age eight, Taichi mental cultivation art at age eleven, and Spring Wind Rainy Night at age fifteen¡­and you''ll be able to perform Night Steps before you''re twenty. I guarantee it!

    "C-Could y-you be¡­¡­"

    Meng Jiangnan appeared to have realised something. He looked at me with his eyes wide open.

    I chuckled and said: "Did you say you admired me before? Why didn''t you recognise me at the start?"

    "You are the master of Night Fortress!"

    That''s right¡­I actually am the master of Night- bullsh*t -Fortress.

    Two months after my shifu created the sect, he named me the next representative for perving-on-women-of-Jiang-Nan''s-martial world. I rejected his order and refused to follow it. He bloody went crazy, threatening to reveal my collection of porn to shiyi.

    My shiyi is jealous and unforgiving when angered. She has no tolerance for bad stuff. I had to agree for the sake of my thirteen thousand porn books collection.

    And it was just as I thought. The role of master of Night Fortress was just utter bullsh*t. People wereing knocking every day looking for trouble and even those from the sects of evil under the seven white princes came and seeking refuge. The worst of them were my junior fellow disciples who came to join in.

    I didn''t bring the people trouble, I didn''t make things hard for the sects there, I didn''t get women in Jiang Nan pregnant, I mean, suffer severe psychological traumas, but I epted those people. Basically, I beat them into submission and taught them to behave. Night Fortress didn''t really stand out.

    But because my junior fellow disciples are retarded, and had stupid ideas, add that to me epting a fair number of evil sects, and Night Fortress looked like an extremely evil sect.

    But because the seven white princes couldn''t touch us, nobody else dared to either. The seven white princes knew very well that Night Fortress wouldn''t cause trouble, so they turned a blind eye to us. The other sects and schools of Jiang Nan thought we were so formidable that even the seven white princes didn''t dare to start with us. Hence, people made bold ims about us, speaking as though we ate people whole, bones and all. Consequently, Night Fortress has stood out until now. Apletely meaningless evil sect was thereby formed in Jiang Nan''s martial world like that.

    Night Fortress is still respected to this very day by the evil sects¡­¡­

    Meng Jiangnan looked like he just woke up from a dream. He cried out in a high pitched voice like he met his idol: "Please forgive my ignorance! I was ignorant!" Meng Jiangnan, a boorish and crude man knelt and kowtowed to me non-stop.

    This is exactly why I dragged him outside. If he''s like this, I can''t imagine what his men would be like. I still need to be able to move about in the capital. It''ll inconvenience me if all his men found out my identity.

    "Those who don''t know cannot be med. And the title, Master of Night Fortress is not worth mentioning." It''s just a good-for-nothing, ruffian-like sect in Jiang Nan man¡­.. While I did inherit the title from my shifu, the reputation was so trashed, I despised it myself.

    "You don''t have to stand on formalities, Boss Meng."

 Volume 2 23 Do Me a Favour

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 23 Do Me a Favour</h4>

    I brought Meng Jiangnan back to the hidden room were in before. There were less than half of his men there when we returned. I assume they left to go and save him.

    Meng Jiangnan quickly called for his men to return.

    I ripped the sheet on a folding screen off, and snapped it into two lengths of timber. I then nailed the screen-sheet to cover the hole I created before.

    "Now that you know my identity, I trust that you will patiently listen to me for a bit, yes?"

    "Yes, yes, of course."

    His assassin guards found it difficult to ept the situation seeing how he treated me with the utmost respect all of a sudden. Boss Meng seemed to be treating me more courteously than his own biological father.

    I told them about the warriors being killed in a government vicinity today.

    Meng Jiangnan revealed a grim look on his face when he heard it, andmunicated with the girl named Cai Die using his eyes. The young girl immediately understood what that meant and sent everybody out, including herself. When she left, she snuck a nce at me.

    I gave her a smile. The young girl blushed and ran out with her head down. How cute~, now I really want a maid to take care of me. But it''s pointless to even wish for it. If shiyi finds out, hehehe¡­¡­

    "Can you tell me now, Boss Meng?"

    "I am truly sorry about that, Master Ming. I truly do not know the details."

    Huh? You sent everybody away only to tell me you don''t know? I juggled it in my mind¡­ That''s not right. You sent them out so that you wouldn''t look bad, didn''t you?

    "It is as you said, Master Ming, it was the work of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings." Meng Jiangnen confirmed my conjecture, "However, they did not notify the League of Assassins about the job, and we did not offer them the job. It was something they epted on their own ord."

    That''s how it is?

    "So your group didn''t send them on the job, but rather, they took the job themselves?" I blinked my eyes, "That doesn''t make sense. You have a branch in the capital, so why would they need to ept the job themselves? That''s a high risk decision. In the assassination circle, assassins take jobs from well-known customers, and not strangers, right? Isn''t that the rule?"

    "I agree. To be honest with you, I was furious when I first found out they were behind the hit. I once called their leader over to reproach him, but they insisted onpleting the mission. I threatened to remove them from the League of Assassins, but they wouldn''t listen. Even I cannot understand why."

    "¡­¡­"

    I fell into deep thought.

    While this case is strange, it''s answered the question in my mind. I told you the League of Assassins wouldn''t go and pick a fight with the imperial court, and throw themself into a crisis. It''s stupid. While the evil sects wield great power in the pugilistic world, as soon as ites to fighting the imperial court, they all hide and zip their mouths because they know that no matter how strong they are in the pugilistic world, they can''t bring the imperial court down. Consequently, they won''t challenge the formidable foe that the imperial court is.

    Don''t think for a second that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings are hot-shots and having a st after thest few days. The imperial court will eventually be able to dig up even their deepest secrets if they decide to. It''s just a matter of time.

    I looked in Meng Jiangnan''s direction: "Aren''t you afraid that the imperial court will target you if that''s the case?"

    Meng Jiangnan smiled bitterly and said: "Who said that I''m not afraid? Those in this industry are most afraid of being targeted by the government. That is why I have increased our intel collectors recently. I have not dared to let my guard down, which is why I offended you before, Master Ming. Please forgive me for that."

    I waved my hand to indicate I didn''t mind.

    If that''s the case, then it makes sense. However, the location of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings has be a mystery again.

    "Boss Meng, can you get in contact with them on my behalf?"

    "Um¡­.." Meng Jiangnan revealed a grim look, "I think you would already know the rules of our line of work. The information I have is a secret to even the leader of the League of Assassins. I cannot tell you how tomunicate with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings."

    I angrily retorted: "Hmph, boss, are the women of your household made of gold or something?! You won''t even let me contact one!" *

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Meng Jiangnan revealed a clumsy smile: "I, I''m really sorry, how about I give you someone else. Is Cai Die any good?"

    You actually had a response for that?

    This fatso truly is unbelievable.

    After the two of us finished our "evil young master getting angry because he couldn''t get the girl at the brothel" act, Miss Cai Die''s cheeks were bright red. She looked very cute.

    Boss Meng finally apologised with a smile: "Jokes remain as jokes. As this is a rule, I cannot tell you."

    I raised my hand to stop him from continuing.

    "Don''t worry, Boss Meng. I won''t ask the impossible of you. I just want you to do me, Ming Feizhen, a favour. Go and contact the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. It''ll suffice if you just contact them on my behalf. I don''t care what it is they do, nor do I want to bother with them, but I don''t want to have to deal with nuisances whilepleting my job at Liu Shan Men. Do you understand what I''m saying?"

    Meng Jiangnan paused for a moment, thenughed and said: "Hah, I was wondering what the matter was. Now I know that you have business at Liu Shan Men and want me to say something to them. I shall let them know, and tell them to ''take care''. Easy. I will tell them to do Master Ming a favour, what do you think?"

    "That would be for the best. I should get going now."

    Well, we can consider the arrangementsplete now. All we have to do is wait for them to take the bait now. Boss Meng and I exchanged looks and smiled at each other as I left his teahouse.

    Notes:

    *Ming Feizhen was basically saying "are they like your precious daughters that you stuff gold inside and therefore unwilling to share" and he was surprised Meng Jiangnan could actually y along by providing an actual response to it. As you can see, the joke makes literally no sense, hence his surprise

 Volume 2 24 The Sun Has Set Many Times

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 24 The Sun Has Set Many Times</h4>

    The sun had set but Ming Feizhen had yet toe back.

    The Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men''s members had gotten into another tussle at Liu Shan Men''s doors again.

    The Qilin Guards are sly. They don''t enter into Liu Shan Men''s office grounds, nor do they actually destroy Liu Shan Men''s furniture. They only beat up Liu Shan Men''s constables whenever they meet one without rhyme or reason.

    Every day they bring a squad over. The leader of today''s squad was the guy who won three of four bouts, ismonly misrecognised as Dong Po Tavern''s Liu Zi, the undercover waiter, and got a free promotion due to too many Qilin Guards dying recently, Yi Yixian.

    Based on his martial prowess, he''s not even qualified to be in the Yi rank. At most, he''s at the Bing rank or Ding rank like wandering warriors. He was just fortunate that his family had money to spare, and "shared"rge amounts of money with people, which allowed him to bypass the regtions and be an Yi rank warrior.

    That''s the highest rank he''ll ever reach with his skills.

    However, with the recent chain of events that transpired, the Qilin Guards in the Jia rank in the capital had all been killed, forcing Long Zaitian to move Yi rank warriors up to rece the dead ones. But at the same time, he was worried that more would be assassinated if he were to promote those that were truly skilled. So due to the circumstances, Yi Yixian was promoted. And the punk managed to gain the greatest glory in his life like that. Nobody expected that.

    Song Ou tried to get back at the Qilin Guards today in Xuan Wu hall to no avail, instead getting himself into an arranged duel with Long Zaitian. That in turn got the Qilin Guards further hyped up, subsequently escting their bullying towards Liu Shan Men.

    Yi Yixian brought over sixty men toy in ambush on two sides of Liu Shan Men''s office''s dark alleys, waiting for a constable toe out to jump him so that he could report "mission aplished". However, after beating up five just before, not one person stepped out again, leaving them somewhat disappointed.

    At the same time, at the door on the other side.

    Su Xiao was flustered. Very flustered.

    Because of his three wins in the ring today, he attracted the fervent support of countless young girls,dies, and maids, thereby causing him to get cussed at by every Qilin Guard and member from the emperor''s entourage when they entered the ring. It wasn''t too much of a big deal with the emperor''s entourage since the two offices didn''t have any animosity between each other, and so they were slightly tolerant.

    However, the Qilin Guards went bat-sh*t crazy. They were so furious they were jumping around like a rabbit that had its tail set on fire. They looked like they just wanted to rush up on stage and skin Su Xiao alive. Another group was shooting strange nces at Su Xiao, as they sinisterly discussed how to kidnap Su Xiao, take him somewhere nobody would know and skin him alive in secret there.

    And because somebody took a beating today, Su Xiao was not permitted to leave after returning to the office.

    It wasn''t a huge deal. He was just tired from fighting for an entire day. But as luck may have it, Su Xiao ran out of his favourite Chinese jade honey locust. He couldn''t wash up without it.

    Su Xiao was contemting whether or not he should go out and fight with the Qilin Guards for a bath. He can''t win them in a fight, but¡­ when Su Xiao''s small white nose felt like it was being vited when he sniffed himself. He couldn''t wait until tomorrow. The problem was that there was an ambush waiting for him outside.

    "If only Tang Ye or Big Brother Ming were here." Su Xiao sighed and said: "Tang Ye would definitely be willing to go and get some for me. Mmm¡­ If I gave Big Brother Ming something good to eat, he would do me the favour too."

    Su Xiao saw someone walk past and his eyes lit up.

    "Grandpa Huang! You''re off work now?"

    The old man responsible for cleaning Liu Shan Men''s office, old Huang turned his head around to look, saw Su Xiao who was all smiles, and he immediately knew he had a favour to ask of him. Don''t underestimate him for being illiterate. He''s been cleaning and tidying Liu Shan Men for his entire life.

    It''s tough to tell if he''s a ghost or human, if you know what I mean.

    "Do you have a favour to ask of me? I can''t, I can''t. Not today. My grandchildren from the vige are visiting me tomorrow. I need to hurry home and clean up. I can''t help you."

    "Wait, grandpa Huang!" Su Xiao grabbed old Huang''s sleeve, "Please help me just this once. I need to buy something, but the people outside won''t let me out. You are the only one at the office who cane and go freely. Please help me."

    Su Xiao tugged at old Huang''s sleeve. He was young, and the way he tugged his sleeve was like a grandson begging his grandpa for a favour.

    Old Huang softened up: "What did you want to buy? I won''t buy it if I have to travel a long distance."

    "You''re the best, gramps!" Su Xiao cheerfully told old Huang the name of the item.

    "Huh? Honey locust?" Old Huang stared at him with his eyes wide: "That''s what you wanted? Jeez, you don''t need to buy that. I still have a block left over after cleaning the toilets. Take it and use it. You don''t need to buy it."

    "It''s not the same. The one I want has a special fragrance. I can''t sleep if it''s another scent. It''s also good for your skin." Su Xiao daggered old Huang disappointedly as if to say "You don''t know anything, gramps".

    Old Huang scratched his head: "You want something good for your skin too? What a fussyss you are."

    "I''m a guy!"

    Su Xiao red at old Huang, and then took out five silver ingots. Old Huang''s eyes sparkled. That was the equivalent of his entire month''s sry. Thisss sure spends generously.

    "The honey locust costs four ingots, the remaining ingot is for you."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Alright, I''ll make a trip for you." Old Huang quickly took it and shoved it into his pocket as if he was afraid Su Xiao would change his mind. When he was about to leave, he looked at Su Xiao and repeated, "It''s a promise, the remaining ingot is mine. Don''t trick me."

    "I''m not tricking you. All is well if you bring me what I want. Oh right, I only want the one from Elegant Pear House on the Eastern side of the city, and nowhere else."

    "Hehe, the East side of the city, huh?" Old Huang smiled with his eyes narrows and continued: "The East of the city is too far, this much is¡­ You''re being too harsh with me. It makes you look stingy, no?"

    You old geezer, you''re a thief!

    Su Xiao grumbled as he took out some more money.

    "Here''s another two ingots, the extra is for you." Su Xiao nodded and cheerfully said: "Aren''t you going to see your grandson tomorrow? Buy him something nice to eat and some new clothes."

    "That won''t do, that won''t do. It''ll be bad if I spoil them too much." Old Huang nervously waved his hands, "If I must buy something, I''ll buy books. Nothing beats reading more, don''t you agree? Otherwise, I''ll save money for them so that they can go and learn martial arts at a martial arts school. It''s good to know martial arts in this day and age."

    The cute old geezer cracked Su Xiao up.

    "That''s good too. The money is yours. You spend it how you like."

    "My, my, Miss Su, you truly are so nice, unlike that thieving, conniving Ming Feizhen. He''s always scamming me for wine when we ce dice games."

    "Gramps, I''m a guy!" Su Xiao angrily stamped his feeds, then immediately became happy again. He shook his head as he said: "Big Brother Mingcks manners. He likes to mess around all day."

    "That''s nothing strange." Old Huang chuckled and continued, "You constables usually don''t think highly of us. You''re the onlyss that greets me. I may not say it, but I''m d that you greet me. As for your Big Brother Ming, nothing about him resembles a constable. We get along really well. I''ve been here for a long time, but I''ve only ever met two people like that."

    Su Xiao blinked his eyes quickly: "There are two people like that? Who''s the other one?"

    "The other one? Heh, you won''t get to see him."

    After stashing the money away properly, old Huang checked both sides, made sure all was well and then turned around to leave.

    When Su Xiao watched his silhouette leave from behind, he suddenly had an uneasy feeling.

    "He¡­ won''t scam me of my money, will he?" Su Xiao shook his head and resolutely said: "Grandpa Huang is a good person, he won''t scam me!"

    At that moment, dark shadows by the wall behind the rear door started to move. Su Xiao waspletely oblivious as to what was about to happen.

 Volume 2 25 Youâ€™re Worthy of Being the Mastermind Behind the Scenes?

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 25 You''re Worthy of Being the Mastermind Behind the Scenes?</h4>

    After leaving the League of Assassins, I didn''t return to Liu Shan Men. Instead, I forewent sleep to stake out nearby.

    What I told Meng Jiangnan was a trap.

    I knew that he wouldn''t have told me how to contact the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, so I''m getting him to contact them while I tail him from behind to track them down.

    Who''s using me of being treacherous?! It''s called being smart!

    I honestly don''t really want to bother with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings stirring up trouble in the capital.

    But as a loyal reader of the ck and White Reflection, and a man that enjoys gossip, I have to see what the ck Winds Thirteen Wings are up to no matter what. A mere thirteen assassins are trying to challenge the imperial court; don''t you think that''s newsworthy?

    If the identity of the mastermind is newsworthy, I can write a reader''s letter to the ck and White Reflection publishers and sell the big scoop for some extra cash.

    Thanks to mezing around and eating well most of the time, I''m actually well rested. It''s the middle of the night. It''s quiet, so it was silent and still other than the night watch gong and asional dog bark.

    I ordered some beef and wine and a nearby tavern, and then went to a noodle shop to buy some steamed buns filled with mincemb. I then sat on the roof of arge house, eating as I silently waited.

    The true essence of a delicacy is not the food itself, but whether or not the asion, atmosphere and so forth match, just as with martial arts.

    I first picked up a few pieces of beef smothered in soybean sauce. Thebination of beef and soy sauce were perfect. Eating this in the middle of the night is a form of enjoyment. I then grabbed a beef tendon agate and mixed it with the transparent fatty part and somewhat cooled part, and put it in my mouth. If you eat just one part, you won''t be satisfied, but eat them together and it''s perfect. The oily part goes together perfectly with the dry part. It''s like the nerdy cowherd, and gentle and cute moon weaver. It''s a match made in heaven.

    I also snuck into the storage room to steal some grape wine that was brewed using methods passed down in the Western regions. Its mellow fragrance was perfect alongside the beef.

    Ahhh, the bliss is infinite.

    While I was giving my review of the food, they started to move in the teahouse.

    A group of people sneakily came out of the teahouse dressed in ck. From where I was sitting, there were eight of them. Among them was the young girl I met earlier today, Cai Die, and the sword wielder, Ning Shan. It looks like they''re Boss Meng''s men.

    They set out once they confirmed that there was nobody nearby. I was in fact very far away from them. They probably never imagined I''d be able to see them so clearly from such a far distance.

    After they set out, I stayed where I was.

    Hah, are you trying to fool me? Do you need to send eight people to notify the ck Winds Thirteen Wings? Boss Meng was evidently not among them as well.

    It wasn''t that Boss Meng detected that I was close by watching them, but their habit. Organisations like the League of Assassins are always very cautious with their operations. They''re used to operating in multiple groups so that in the case that somebody is indeed watching, they won''t idently reveal anything because of carelessness.

    And just as I expected, a second group of people dressed in ck soon stepped out of the teahouse. Among them was a big bloke which was obviously the foot-scratching Boss Meng. They too scanned their surroundings before setting out.

    Slice it how you like, but it looks like they''re the real target. It''s time to tail them!

    I finally stood up, but then I suddenly saw yet another group dressed in ck exit the teahouse. This was the third group. This group looked left and right, nervously looked around and then went in apletely different direction to the two previous groups.

    Now what? This group is much more suspicious than the previous two¡­¡­

    Okay, question time: Which group is the group that will actually contact the ck Winds Thirteen Wings?

    Answer: Fuck you, how the hell should I know?!

    The League of Assassins is too secretive. Who should I follow now?

    Ah sh*t, they''re getting further and further away!!

    Wait up!!

    I was kept busy with tailing them until the afternoon of the next day. The sun had set as if to tell me to go home. I dragged my fatigued body back to Liu Shan Men''s office.

    I ended up tracing all three routesst night in the end¡­¡­

    Those fucking bastards!

    I can''t help but clench and grind my teeth when I think of them.

    I chose a group to tail at random to start only to find out that the three groups were running circles in the city in a snake tail formation. They were basically running around like a baton race. If anyone was tailing any of the groups, they''d immediately be detected. They ran around for seven or eightps, and split up after confirming that there was nobody following them.

    I resolutely tailed Boss Meng''s group. I realised that there was something wrong when they went to the steamed meat bun store in the West of the city. Fatso Meng just wanted a midnight snack. I then quickly rushed back to tail the third group.uckily, my qinggong was superior to theirs. But even so, it was a nuisance running after them. I easily caught up to the third group, only to find that they had stopped at a graveclothes store. I immediately left. Neither a steamed buns store or graveclothes store could be where the ck Winds Thirteen Wings were hiding.

    Assassins have their own rules, especially when ites to scents. They would never hide themselves in a ce with a strong smell every day as it would increase the risk of being discovered.

    The League of Assassins truly is sly and slippery. I honestly never thought the first group were my real target.

    But this is lucky for me too. If I had to chase after the second or third groupst, I''d be at my wits end. What saved me was the smell.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I pulled some strings on Miss Cai Die''s hairpin earlier today. She had a faint, almost not-there scent on her today. Only somebody with formidable internal strength would have smelt it. But since the capital was sorge, it took time to trace down her scent.

    I couldn''t catch up to them by the time the sun came up.

    However, I did manage to find an important clue. I followed the scent and thest ce I detected it before it vanished was the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard.

    The ck Winds Thirteen Wings hideout was the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard, Long Zaitian''s territory.

    Fucking Long Zaitian¡­¡­

    Fucking Long Zaitian!

    Fuck you, Long Zaitian!

    His pink robe and stupid face appeared into my mind. He''s the one colluding with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings? He''s worthy of that role?!

    At best, he''s just a pink trotter!

    I denied the evidence before me.

    It doesn''t make sense.

    The majority of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings targets were Qilin Guards. Few were from the emperor''s entourage, while not even one Liu Shan Men member died. Could it be that he doesn''t like that the Qilin Guards have be too strong, thinks the fighting between the three offices has grown stale and purposely wants a handicap so that he can have a challenge?

    That''s bullsh*t. He doesn''t need to kill the ones in the imperial capital even that were the case. It would be the equivalent of smashing yourself in the foot, wouldn''t it? Long Zaitian is a government official after all. He''s even a part of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, one of the main pirs of the warriors of the imperial court. He''s aware of what the consequences of going up against the imperial court are, so how could he have done something like this? Let''s say that he''s the one behind it, what does he gain from it?

    If he''s the one who organised this with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, then it can''t be for something as simple as winning the battle between the three offices. The mastermind must be after something more significant.

    But no matter how I thought about it, one fact stuck out to me: Does the punk even have the brains for that?

    I returned to the office with those questions and rxed my body when I arrived.

    I pulled a cleaner over and asked: "Erm? What''s going on at home today?"

    He wore a glum look on his face. He wouldn''t tell me what had happened. He just told me not to ask.

    What the heck?

    "Also, why are you sweeping the yard? What happened Grandpa Huang? He still owes me two bottles of wine."

    "Grandpa Huang, he!!" He looked furious. His face waspletely red, "Nothing!! I''m leaving!"

    What the fuck is this, some sort of venting contest?

    Hey! So what happened to Grandpa Huang? What did the shameless old guy say in the end?!

 Volume 2 26 Create A Mess While Iâ€™m Gone Will You?

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 26 Create A Mess While I''m Gone Will You?</h4>

    I pulled over other workers at the office and asked them where Boss Shen was. I''ve been carrying out my mission since yesterday until now, so I should at least get a reward, right?

    But it seemed like Boss Shen was personally on duty overlooking the guards at the imperial city.iu Shan Men doesn''t have many fighters, so there were only enough members for one shift of guard duty. As a result, Boss Shen had to borrow some people from the emperor''s entourage and she herself had to go on duty in order to fill the gaps. Liu Shan Men was assigned guard duty so Liu Shan Men had to have some results to show. Although the assassination that took ce in the ring on the first day wasn''t Liu Shan Men''s issue, there may still be follow up assassinations that are hard to guard against on day two or three.

    But with Boss Shen in the imperial city, the ck Winds Thirteen Wings are much less likely to have a chance to strike. The imperial city wasn''t an easy ce to enter to start with, and now with Boss Shen on guard¡­ It''s better than leaving it up to us stragglers now, isn''t it?

    But if that''s the case, then the guard duty hours should be over already. Why is it so quiet and empty in the office?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I seemed to hear something and could detect no more than a few people. Something happened while I was away yesterday, didn''t it?

    "Ming¡­¡­."

    "Liu Yuan, I was looking for you." Before Liu Yuan could pop out from behind and scare me, I pulled him over and scared his soul out of his body.

    "A-Are you trying to scare me to death?! Where the fuck did you go?"

    "Nowhere, I just made a trip to the Qilin Guards main courtyard." I ignored his handsome-guy faces: "Hey, what happened here? Did the ck Winds Thirteen Wings stir up trouble or something?"

    That was all I could think of.

    Could it be that my warning was ineffective and they came to Liu Shan Men?

    "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings? You''re overthinking things. Our people are all gathered together, so they wouldn''t even have a chance to strike." Liu Yuan shook his head and then dejectedly said to me: "Ming Feizhen, you enjoyed wagging work today, didn''t you? As soon as I entered the imperial city this morning, the inner pce''s General Manager Bai came asking about you. When I said you weren''t present, General Manager Bai suspected me of covering up for you and beat me with ten pole strikes! You bastard, how did you offend somebody with such status?"

    Oh, no wonder why this punk was wobbling. Bai Ling hit you? Lucky I didn''t go otherwise I''d have been the one who got a beating.

    "Forget that for now. Have the ck Winds Thirteen Wings started behaving yet?" If they don''t stop after the clear signal I gave them, then that would mean that it''s a big mission can''t be aborted.

    "Who said they started behaving?" Liu Yuan angrily continued: "They killed again; three for that matter."

    WHAT?!

    They went even harder after I warned them?! Those guys are looking down on me, the number one gangster of Jiang Nan''s Night Fortress!!

    "Since you came back sote, are you not going to the official imperial martial arts tournament tomorrow?"

    Martial arts tournament? I didn''t even go to the preliminary selections yesterday. Haven''t I been disqualified? I''m in the official matches?

    "What, you didn''t know?" Liu Yuan gave me a weird look after hearing my question, "Didn''t you hear who died today?"

    "Who died?"iu Yuan smiled secretively: "The Qilin Guards: Wang Han, Lu Guang, Yang Jinwu."

    "¡­Who the fuck are they?"

    "They were your opponents for yesterday and today." Liu Yuan daggered me. He looked at me with a suspicious attitude: "I wonder if you were the one that assassinated them. All three of your opponents for today are dead. Aren''t you d¡­?"

    Huh? What the fuck is this?!

    Meng Jiangnan''s fat face suddenly appeared in my mind. Could it be that that was how he interpreted doing me a favour?!

    Man! Not this type of favour!!

    I wanted you people to stop, not clear my obstacles. Son of a bitch!!

    "Also¡­¡­" I wearily asked: "Where''s everybody today? Why don''t I see anybody?"

    "Didn''t you juste back from the Qilin Guards main courtyard? I thought you''d know."

    "Hmm?" I carefully pondered Liu Yuan''s words and then suddenly understood what he meant,

    "You''re saying that all of our people have gone to the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard?"

    Huh?

    Haven''t theye knocking and picking on us thest few days? Did our people finally explode and decide to bite back?

    "You really didn''t know?"

    "I didn''t."

    "Well¡­¡­." Liu Yuan seemed to be in a dilemma as he clenched his teeth and softly said: "I need to start by recounting yesterday. Do you know Yi Yixian, The one that looks like Liu Zi from Dong Po Tavern? He brought Qilin Guards over, lied in ambush nearby, and beat up anyone from our office that they came across."

    "Oh¡­¡­" Ever since the assassinations began, the Qilin Guards have been going downhill. Are they anxious and desperately trying to keep the pressure on Liu Shan Men? But then Long Zaitian and the ck Winds Thirteen Wings are connected¡­ Now I''m getting more and more confused.

    "So our people couldn''t hold in their anger and fought back?"

    The Liu Shan Men that I know has been so used to bullying that they don''t have the courage to fight back.

    "No, our people dodged them yesterday. Su Xiao had to ask old Huang to go and buy him some stuff." Liu Yuan was making me more and more confused, "But since Yi Yixian is new in his position, he doesn''t know our people. He just beat up anybody he saw, so he beat the living daylights out of old Huang¡­¡­"

    "What?!" My expression changed drastically. Someone in the martial world hitting a peasant is a vition of the martial world''s rules. I asked: "How''s old Huang?"

    "He''s lying down in Doctor Li''s room. Do you want to see him?"iu Yuan saw my glum expression and understood what I was thinking right away.

    "Follow me."

    As we walked to Doctor Li''s room, Liu Yuan said: "They beat old Huang so severely that he can''t straighten up his body. The old man that was stiff to begin with. He probably broke a few bones. He looks pitiful."

    I suppressed my anger and asked: "Does he have family?"iu Yuan who never behaved properly also felt sympathetic. Hepassionately nodded and softly said: "He left them a long time ago. He has a son, daughter-inw, and a pair of grand children back home in the vige. He was going to leave the city while on holidays to see his grandchildren today."

    We entered the room.

    Doctor Li wasn''t in the room. It looked like he had left. On the bedy old Huang who had his head wrapped up with white cloth and his eyes shut. His face was covered in blood-marks which weren''t cleaned properly. His two eyes were swollen like eggs. It didn''t look like he could open them. His nose looked broken and bruised. His old hands were curled up and looked like mouldy wood that somebody broke off. Old Huang is usually full of vigour, but he looks like a dying monkey right now.

    "What did the doctor say?"iu Yuan sighed and replied: "The doctor said¡­his organs have shut down. There''s no hope of saving him. He can only await his death."

    "What did Captain Song say about the incident?"

    Having somebody tread all over him and beating an employee to death¡­ Song Ou should finally man up this time, right?

    However, when I looked at Liu Yuan, he dodged my gaze.

    "He pussied off? He doesn''t care?" With a furious look in my eyes, I eximed: "Why didn''t you say anything to him?! You''ve shamed Thousand Willow Mountain Vi''s reputation!"

    Resentment crept up onto Liu Yuan''s face: "Watch your mouth! I spoke to him thrice, and asked him to ask the Song family to take a stand, but my rank at Liu Shan Men isn''t high, so why would Captain Song going to listen to me?"iu Yuan was right. But what exactly is Song Ou thinking? They beat his employee to death and yet he won''t say a word?

    "What else? He''s a chicken that''s scared of everything. He got owned by Long Zaitian at the conference. He doesn''t dare to fight with Long Zaitian. And since the Qilin Guards number more, he''s even more scared."

    "Wait, you said our people went to go and pick a fight with them, right¡­?" I thought about it, and since Song Ou didn''t go¡­ I suddenly had a bad feeling, "Who''s leading our men?"

    "Who else?" Liu Yuan shrugged, "One of them is your friend who''s always with you, and always present at a fight, your good brother, Tang Ye."

    I was astonished.

    What?! Tang Ye is the leader?!

    I''m not worried about you morons picking a fight. Worst case scenario, they''ll send a few troops to beat your asses back here, but Tang Ye is different. He has true skills. He''s at least at the Jia rank level. With so many Jia rank warriors from the Qilin Guards dead recently, I truly question whether they can fight Tang Ye.

    If Tang Ye leads the group, then we will be spitting in their faces. If they piss the Qilin Guards enough to bring their main force out, then just those three hundred Qilin Guards will be enough to kill them ten times over!

    Wait! I suddenly realised something wrong with what Liu Yuan said¡­¡­

    "Wait, you said, ''one of them''? So he has an aplice?"

    "Not aplice, but main offender." In a ndering tone, Liu Yuan said: "It''s that kid, Su Xiao. He looked scary as can be when he heard the doctor''s diagnosis. He grabbed his sabre and left the office without a word. Everybody else, including Tang Ye followed him. In my opinion, that kid is the leader of the pack."

    I had no expression I could use to express myself.

    Good going, Su Xiao. You''re more daring by the day!! You even have the guts to form a gang to seek vengeance now! Your skills can''t even rival warriors in the Bing rank, what fucking fight are you fucking starting?!!iu Yuan angrily eximed: "Of course I wanted to go. But if I went too, who would notify the vice-captain? This is definitely going to be a huge mess. I''m not a hot-head like them. I understand what should and shouldn''t be done. I was just about to go out when you came back. Hey, where are you going?"

    What a stupid question! Of course I''m rushing over to check things out!

    You punks create a mess as soon as I''m absent. My fucking god, you punks drive me insane!

 Volume 2 27 Liu Shan Men Is On Duty, So All Those Not Involved Are To Move Aside

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 27 Liu Shan Men Is On Duty, So All Those Not Involved Are To Move Aside</h4>

    The sun slowly began to set. The heat seemingly vanished as if the dark clouds blew it away, resulting in a fairly dramatic drop in temperature.

    The words "Qilin Guards the Nation" were inscribed on the que at the main door of the Qilin Guards main courtyard. Those four words were bestowed upon them by the founding emperor. Its significance was like the que with the phrase "Carrying out justice on behalf of the heavens" on it at Liu Shan Men''s Vermillion Hall. They are both handed-down treasures.

    The Qilin Guards however, hung their que at their main door instead as a sign that the imperial court trusted them and held them in high esteem. Commoners who passed by couldn''t help but look at it. Of course, they only snuck nces at it since they didn''t have the guts to look at the door to the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard.

    At the current time, eight warriors on guard duty were lined up in two rows on either side of the main door. They wore evidently excited looks on their faces.

    Guarding the doors is a really boring job, but they were lucky as their vice-captain gave them a new form of entertainment - pick fights at Liu Shan Men. It was said that Yi Yixian beat up a number of Liu Shan Men''s members yesterday. God it felt good.

    It was the turn of these eight to go and pick a fight at Liu Shan Men today, so of course they were excited.

    When the time for their fun finally came they spotted a group of people in the distance approaching.

    The group of people were strange. They were all dressed in navy clothing which looked like a constable uniform. It looked like they were from the same organisation. There were around twenty or thirty of them.

    The Qilin Guards only saw that much. The approaching group closed in on them swiftly. They didn''t stop at the door, instead entering without any hesitation. The eight Qilin Guards were practically like live statues as they allowed the group of people to rush in.

    One of the guards yelled: "How dare you, do you know what this ce is?!"

    Another one shouted: "Do you people have a death wish?! You dare trespass onto the Qilin Guards property?!"

    When the eight Qilin guards noticed who the group of people were, their hearts began to race.

    The leader of the group had a strong feminine charm, snow-white skin, and a beautiful face. If he weren''t a dressed as a guy with a sabre at his waist, they truly would''ve thought a beauty hade to visit.

    Some of them felt that he looked familiar, but they couldn''t put a finger on who he was. His footsteps didn''t slow down. He raised his foot and mmed it right into the face of the Qilin Guard in his way. His foot and the guard''s face collided with a thud and he flew crashing into the door.

    "A-Are you starting a riot?"!

    The other Qilin Guards quickly drew their sabres. However, before their sabres could be drawn, a young man in a purple robe imitated the person previous to him and stomped another Qilin Guard in the face as well. The other constables charged at them like lightning. They didn''t give the Qilin Guards a single chance to react. They each stomped the Qilin Guards in their faces. The eight Qilin Guards immediately began rolling around on the ground.

    Other Qilin Guards heard noises at the door, so a number of them immediately went to see what was going on.

    But before they could touch the door handle, they heard someone who sounded like a girl, yet like a young man coldly shout: "Smash!"

    A wave of hot air rushed over. The doors flung open like thunderp struck them. The sound of the doors snapping could be heard. The doors snapped off the frame and smashed into the guards who intended to see what was going on, rendering them all unable to get up from the ground.

    They just saw thirty constables rush over with Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao and Tang Ye leading the group.

    The group of constables looked furious. They went straight inside, scaring a group of Qilin Guards and all the other workers at the office.

    The thirty or more of them attacked everybody who tried to stop them, forcing their way straight in as if there was nobody present.

    On one hand, nobody has trespassed onto the Qilin Guard''s grounds through their front door like this before. On the other hand, most of the Qilin Guards recognised their uniforms so they were so surprised they couldn''t react in time.

    Inside the courtyard, Yi Yixian had a table of wine and food. He was picking his teeth with a toothpick.

    After he beat up old Huang yesterday, he beat up another five people, and giddily returned to report his achievement. Long Zaitian was quite happy to hear what he was told, and he was feeling proud about it right now. Yi Yixian was still thinking about how he''d teach Liu Shan Men''s people another lesson, and get revenge on Tang Ye forst time.

    He suddenly saw a group of peoplee as a horde towards him without slowing down.

    "You? What are you people here for?" Yi Yixian was caught by surprise, but then when he realised he was in his own home ground, heughed coldly and said: "Heh, you so eager for another beating that you''d offer yourself up?"

    What Su Xiao heard lit up a fire in his eyes. He drew his sabre and walked over.

    "You!" Yi Yixian barely evaded Su Xiao''s attack. He then cursed: "You crazy bitch, you''re actually attacking me seriously?! You know what style I train in?! You think I can''t defend against your dog-sh*t skills?!"

    "Alright, defend. Block this if you''re so fucking good!!"

    Su Xiao''s ancient cold sabre flew at him.

    Yi Yixian chuckled coldly. He trains iron ring fist, so he has two sets of iron rings to guard his arms, hence why he was unafraid of des. He extended his right arm outwards to block while gathering energy in his left fist to counterattack when Su Xiao struck.

    However, the cold light and cold energy of the sabre was hidden. Yi Yixian''s warning sirens went off before he coulde into contact with the sabre. He realised he was in trouble so he quickly retracted his arm, but he was a bit too slow.

    Surprisingly, there was no sound when the two collided. The ancient cold sabre glided on Yi Yixian''s arms, cutting all ten of his iron rings. But there wasn''t even a sound. The back of Yi Yixian''s hands and Su Xiao''s de cut against each other, leaving Yi Yixian jaw-dropped.

    Yi Yixian was so scared he took two steps back. Su Xiao took his scabbard out with his left hand and clubbed Yi Yixian''s face with it as if it were a sabre. His strike wasn''t exactly strong, but because Yi Yixian was in a panic, he forgot to gather energy to defend himself. And so, Su Xiao''s attack left him with a bloodied face and stars floating around his head like a halo.

    That one hit dyed his face red with his blood. The Qilin Guards standing around who saw him were stunned.

    Su Xiao shouted: "Knock him out and let''s take him!"

    Tang Ye gave him another palm strike, effectively knocking him out. A few constables then immediately tied Yi Yixian up like a zongzi, lifted him up and carried him back to the office.

    They came out of the blue and left mboyantly. Nobody came to the rescue of the Qilin Guards, and surprisingly, nobody stopped them.

    When they reached the courtyard, somebody finally stood before them to stop them.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao had met her before. It was Si Tuo.

    The beautiful woman had obviously been affected by Liu Shan Men''s actions today. She didn''t know what the best course of action to take was either.

    "Hand him over and go back. I''ll tell everybody to pretend this never happened." Si Tuo looked worried. She imposingly said: "You do know that doing this will incite a full-scale fight between Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards with no chance of return, right? Yang Shisan bullied us Qilin Guards back then as well. Young man, don''t be impulsive."

    "You done?" Su Xiao then coldly added: "Now get lost."

    Si Tuo chuckled coldly and mocked him: "Su Xiao, Su Xiao, you''re so pretty that even I''m a bit jealous. You just look like a girl in every way. What you''re doing is acting emotionally like a woman, don''t you think?"

    Su Xiao didn''t fall for her taunts. He grabbed his sabre handle, put on a scary expression and in a low tone said: "Get lost."

    "Miss Si, this isn''t a private matter. It''s official business." Tang Ye then earnestly added: "Please move."

    Si Tuo thought about it for a while then shook her head and replied: "I can''t."

    Tang Ye then hopelessly replied: "Then please forgive me for my rudeness."

    A Qilin Guard then jumped out: "You bastards, Madam Si is showing you courtesy, and yet¡­¡­"

    Before the Qilin Guard could finish, Su Xiao punched him onto his back. The guard cried out as he bled from his nose.

    Su Xiao didn''t even bother to spare him a look. He just went straight to the door.

    Si Tuo felt that the way he acted was just like Shen Yiren. In her mind she helplessly said: "Who said that there''s only one crazy bitch at Liu Shan Men? There''s another one right here!"

    "Wh-What are you doing?" Si Tuo panicked as she eximed: "This is the Qilin Guards grounds. What you''re doing is against the rules!"

    "Rules?"

    Su Xiao stopped in his tracks and exchanged eye contact with her. His gaze made Si Tuo feel like her heart froze up.

    "Alright, let''s talk about rules then."

    Su Xiao looked at Si Tuo with his gaze of justice. He then red at the Qilin Guards who came to surround them: "When you people came and beat up our colleagues every single day, did you consider the rules? Did you consider the rules when you surrounded our office with three hundred guards? Did you consider the rules when you beat grandpa Huang to death?! Listen, you people don''t have any regard for the rules, but I do. My rules are referred to as the country''sws!"

    Si Tuo and the other Qilin Guards were stumped. What Su Xiao basically left them speechless.

    Su Xiao started to sound like he was tearing up as he spoke.

    "Yi Yixian and his crew beat grandpa Huang who is an old man over seventy to death. Yesterday, he said to me¡­ He said to me that he was going to see his grandchildren today. He said he wanted to send his grandchildren to a martial arts and academic school, so that they could join Liu Shan Men in the future and be responsible constables who would catch criminals¡­ stop bullies from bullying the people, just like¡­ just like the officers he served in his lifetime."

    After that, Su Xiao''s tears started falling. His tear drops ran down his face, but he didn''t raise his hand up to wipe them away.

    "I came here today to fulfil the role of a good constable. I want to let his grandchildren know that the good constable they should strive to be can be found at Liu Shan Men. As long as we''re around, his death won''t be in vain. As long as we''re around, evildoers shall be punished."

    With each sentence from him, the constables standing behind him puffed their chest out a bit more. For every drop of tear that he shed, the fire in the constables'' chests burnt brighter.

    "Get it? This is the rule I''m talking about. Don''t bring up the rules of the conflict between the three offices. I don''t understand them. Thews practiced by the nation are my rules. Yi Yixian vited thew, so I must arrest him."

    Su Xiao shot res at them, but not one of them dared to look him in the eye.

    Su Xiao seemed toe to some realisation, and like the constable from Liu Shan Men back then that the people remembered, shouted: "Liu Shan Men is on duty, so all those not involved are to move away".

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Notes:

    Zongzi = Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or otherrge t leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling.

 Volume 2 28 The Orange Prince is up to Sh*t Again

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 28 The Orange Prince is up to Sh*t Again</h4>

    There was a special building at the centre of the Qilin Guards office. It was the Euphorbia royleana Boiss (horn of a unicorn). All four windows there were closed with only a single door. It was the only room in the Qilin Guards'' courtyard which was designed like that.

    Their unicorn horn, Liu Shan Men''s flying fish pavilion, and the emperor''s entourage''s yinglong chamber are the same. Only those at the highest ranks in the three respective offices could enter those rooms, and the grounds are usually forbidden from being essed. They were reserved for discussing highly secretive matters. Trespassers can be killed on the spot, even if they are members of the office.

    The unicorn horn room had a guest today.ong Zaitian allowed another to sit in the seat of the master.

    Seated in the captain''s seat of the Qilin Guards was a handsome, upright and domineering looking young man. By his side were two people from the martial world. One was dressed like a schr with his long sword hanging from his waist. The other had a thick back and was a man with a lot of muscle. The two of them stood still,pletely unmoving like mountains. The intervals between their breaths were long, clearly indicating that their internal strength was profound, no less than the seventeen hidden dragons.

    People of such calibre were a rare find in the capital, so it was even more surprising that the young man had two by his side.ong Zaitian revealed a smile which was intended to kiss up to the individual. He personally handed him a cup of tea: "I was able to teach that Song Ou a lesson yesterday thanks to you, your highness. I am sincerely thankful for how much you look after me, your highness!"

    The young man sitting in the seat of the unicorn horn was the second son of the current emperor, the orange prince, Li Chengzhi. And the two by his side were none other than the leader of Hua Shan, Jia Yunfeng, and the Cold Temple deserter, Xiang Batian.

    The orange prince didn''t take the cup of tea. He instead pointed to the table to indicate to Long Zaitian who obediently ced it onto the table.

    "Sure. We''ll humiliate him during the day and then knock on his door at night. We''ll torture them day and night. I''d like to see them act tough after that!" The orange prince had an evil exhrated look in his eyes like a cat that was toying with a mouse, "Those cowards from Liu Shan Men took advantage of the fact that my father shields them to hit me. Captain Long, you did well. Continue to send men there to beat them up until they stop acting arrogant."ong Zaitianughed in a ttered tone: "You are too kind, your highness. I have always hated Liu Shan Men. I just could not find an opportunity to vent. Your intervention actually helped me a lot, your highness. You did not see how pitiful, sad and wronged that Song Ou bastard looked after the conference ended!"

    The two of them looked at each other as theyughed.

    However, after a moment, Long Zaitian suddenly hesitantly said: "It is just¡­¡­"

    Seeing Long Zaitian hesitate to speak, the orange prince grumbled: "Do you have speaking issues?"ong Zaitian chuckled, but didn''te out with it. He instead took a round-about way: "Your highness, I share your hatred for Liu Shan Men, and we have cooperated many times on minor and major matters, can I consider myself a close friend of yours now?"

    The orange prince daggered him quickly, then let out a strangeughed and said: "Captain Long, are you still standing on ceremony when we''re already here where we are? Did you like the girls I gifted you? Hahahaha."

    "Oh, yes, yes, I really liked them." Long Zaitianughed and said: "I have settled those girls in my home. I am a lonely man, so I am very thankful for your considerate thoughts, your highness."

    "Why are you acting like we''re strangers? Ministers in the imperial court must know how to carry themselves and read the situation. Name a minister that hasn''t benefited in some way through me? I''ll be sure to reward you handsomely if we seed! Hahahaha."

    The orange princeughed cheerfully.ong Zaitianughed along with him and then slowly stopped himself: "But¡­ who are the twenty plus warriors you arranged to stay here? You only told me to keep it a secret when you entrusted them to me, your highness. I do not know any more than that which concerns me.

    I have kept their presence a secret with my status. However, theye and go freely from our courtyard, leaving early and returningte, sometimes bringing weapons with them when they return. A lot of people have eyes on our office, yet theypletely disregard them. It is not viable for them to hide in our courtyard for an extended period of time. I would like you to ask you to get them to leave, your highness."

    "That''s what you were worried about?" The orange prince frowned and grumbled: "Captain Long, my friends in the pugilistic world are in a difficult situation. It''s not hard for you to give a helping hand, is it? Captain Long, you are considered a top-tier individual in the pugilistic world, and yet you can''t do something as simple as this? You''re not much of a friend now, are you?"

    "If you had asked me to just host a few struggling friends from the pugilistic world, I would house them even if they were not your friends. I would even house those from the Demon Mirror Heavenly Cloud Pce as long as they were men who were loyal to their friends. However, I would say that keeping even just one who''d kill his own friends is one too many."ong Zaitian''s tone turned serious as he spoke. He stopped referring to himself as a subordinate and referred to himself less formally.

    "Since I have said that much, I would like to ask you something, your highness. Are there those from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings among those twenty plus people? Why is it that since they came here, our men have never had a day of peace? Why is it that our men always seem to be the ones getting the short end of the stick out of the three offices? Why did they coincidentally sneak into the imperial city on the day that we swapped guard duty with Liu Shan Men on that day?"ong Zaitian mmed his hand on the table with aggression in his eyes, causing the cup of tea to bounce.

    "Your highness, allow me to ask you, were my men who died recently killed by them?!"

    The cup of tea flew into the orange prince''s forehead this time.

    "How dare you!" Xiang Batian who was by the orange prince''s side quickly reacted with his exceptional vision and clear hands. He used two fingers to mp the cup of tea and red at Long Zaitian angrily. He then said: "How dare you try and hurt my prince when I, Xiang Batian am here?!"

    The two skilled fighters exchanged res. The visual contest was so intense you could virtually see sparks.ong Zaitian got a little surprised too. He then scanned Xiang Batian. Xiang Batian isn''t well known in the capital so Long Zaitian wasn''t familiar with him. But the way he reacted without giving off any prior signs was proof that he was skilled.

    Jia Yunfeng who stood at the side had his eyes shut and gave no reaction. But you could imagine that if he were to take action, his first sword strike would be aimed at Long Zaitian''s neck. Hua Shan sect is well-known throughout the pugilistic world. Jia Yunfeng''s swift sword skills were well-known even among the young. Trying to defend against his swift sword strikes in such a squishy ce would be a huge pain.

    The orange prince got frightened, but then revealed an understanding expression and signalled for Xiang Batian who was eager for a fight to stop.

    "Captain Long, why must you be like this? If you have a question for me, I shall faithfully answer you. Correct, they are from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. The others are throw-away substitutes when need-be. Are you happy now?"

    "Happy?" Long Zaitian angrily eximed: "My men got killed, and yet you are asking me if I am happy?"

    "Hah, men are but just people who share benefits with you, with the prerequisite being that you must share resources together." The orange prince waved his hands like it was no big deal, "They may be your men now, but they soon won''t be. I was just worried that you''d be in a dilemma, so I kindly helped you get rid of them."ong Zaitian was outraged by what he heard. He red and eximed: "I do not understand. Please be clear, your highness, what exactly is going on?!"

    "Alright, aright, alright. It''s best to be straight-forward. I''m the type of person who has to speak his mind. I find it embarrassing to hide my thoughts."

    The orange prince looked at Long Zaitian and spoke slowly: "Captain Song, everybody has something they desire. What you wanted were des, fame and benefits. You now have all of those things, and so you want more. However, you can''t have them because there''s a leader who holds a rank higher than yours, therefore, you will never be able to be the big-wig."

    The prince''s words seemed to speak to Long Zaitian''s heart. He calmed down a little, and then slowly started to listen to the orange prince.

    "Who doesn''t want to aplish great things in their life? Why must you y second-fiddle? I understand that feeling very well. I want to shine, but there''s someone of higher rank than me blocking my path."ong Zaitian was shocked by what he heard. Those words were the equivalent of treason.

    The orange prince is of the highest rank of royalty as a prince, so who else could be of higher rank and be blocking his path? Do you really need to ask? This is the equivalent of a revolt!ong Zaitian broke out in a cold sweat after what he heard: "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings are your men¡­ They killed¡­ to¡­ to¡­"

    His words were stuck in his throat. Long Zaitian couldn''t bring the words to his mouth.

    The orange prince walked up to him as though he were a student who had lost his way and slowly said: "They''re your subordinates. Their death was worth it. How could I arrange for the ck Winds Thirteen Wings to join the Qilin Guards if they don''t die? How could I get them to rece your subordinates? How could I get them to sneak into the imperial city and participate in the imperial martial arts tournament? On the day of the tournament, Liu Shan Men will be guarding the city gates, while my father''s entourage will be protecting the royal family, and so their fighting power will be diminished. Your Qilin Guards will be in charge of safety at the venue. If we join hands, what could my father do? And then, I will make him pass the throne to¡­ me!"*

    He''s nuts! He''s nuts! He''s nuts!

    The orange prince is nning to revolt!

    When Long Zaitian understood everything, he suddenly realised that he was now in a precarious situation.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He had now heard the orange prince''s n. If he didn''t approve of it, he''d be killed on the spot. If he agreed to it¡­ Good god, joining a revolt would mean the execution of one''s whole n. The orange prince was a prince, and the empress''s beloved son, so he wouldn''t die, but the heads of all the family members of Long Zaitian''s family would roll.

    "Long Zaitian, I personally came here today. Do you think you have a choice? You epted the girls I gifted you. Are you not aware that you''re in the same boat as me?"ong Zaitian''s expression looked painful. He thought the orange prince''s visit was sudden, and admittedly too open and upright. So it was all so that he could force his hand.

    "I have experts at disguise in my residence. If you do not join me, I can easily get them to disguise as you. I guarantee nobody will be able to tell."ong Zaitian felt like he had fell into the devil''s trap with no chance of resistance. The orange prince then added: "Haven''t you always liked that Shen Yiren?"ong Zaitian''s chest couldn''t help but fire up after hearing her name. He panicked and replied: "Y-Your highness, you mean¡­?"

    "Song Ou has always been an eyesore to me. A beauty like Shen Yiren should be with a true hero." The orange prince watched Long Zaitian''s expression and knew that he was captivated by what he heard, "Once your be my minister, you will be like a dragon. You will hold the highest degree of achievements among all in my imperial court. So how could I not gift you with a hot wife?"ong Zaitian who was forced into participating was now burning with passion. He went down on one knee: "Your subordinate¡­ Your subordinate shall serve you however possible!"

    "Hahahaha, I knew you were a man who knew how to choose. This was a most fruitful trip."

    Somebody suddenly knocked on the door while the orange prince wasughing, scaring him so much he went pale in the face and almost jolted: "Who goes there?!"

    Jia Yunfeng rushed over with a stride and pointed his sword tip to stab his target. His sword technique was unbelievably swift and exited the door as the door swung open. It was as though a ray of light came from the door. In a sh, the tip of his sword scratched the Qilin Guard''s throat. Luckily, he didn''t thrust it further.

    The Qilin Guard went pale from fright. However, he suppressed his terror and said: "R-Reporting, vice-captain, Liu Shan Men has brought many men here to cause trouble. They captured Yi Yixian and intend to take him away, saying they had to take him back to Liu Shan Men to interrogate him."

    "How dare they?! Who''s the son of a bitch who dared to cause trouble at my ce?!"ong Zaitian signalled to the orange prince with his eyes, and then angrily stormed out. Jia Yunfeng knew that the Qilin Guard didn''t hear anything, so he sheathed his sword.

    "Let''s go! Take me there!" Long Zaitian ran alongside the Qilin Guard and angrily cussed: "I can''t believe I''ve been bullied twice in a single day! Just you wait, you Liu Shan Men bastards!"

    Notes:

    *The "me" he used there was the "me" an emperor uses to refer to himself.

 Volume 2 29 Kill These Crazy Bitches

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 29 Kill These Crazy Bitches</h4>

    On this side, Tang Ye led the way as he cut open a path. He cut opened a path like he was cutting down bamboo, but Si Tuo caught up from behind.

    "Miss Si, please move out of the way."

    "Forget leaving so easily after capturing our men."

    Tang Ye knew that it was pointless to talk, so he opened his hand and said: "Su Han, pass me your sabre."

    Su Xiao handed his ancient cold sabre into Tang Ye''s hand.

    Tang Ye is most skilled with hand-to-handbat and usually never uses weapons. However, not liking doesn''t mean he doesn''t know how to use them. He knows more than ten styles, so his knowledge of martial arts is vast.

    Tang Ye flicked the de with his left index finger and the vibration created a ring like a bell. Since he had the Yang Blood True Qi art in his body, the flick heated up his entire body and the heat released itself onto the de. The air three inches around him turned zing hot like it was set alight, burning the human skin. Tang Ye''s internal energy had reached a new heightpared to when he fought Ming Feizhen thanks to his training the past month.

    Si Tuo knew that it was going to be a tough battle after seeing his flick. Si Tuo knew that Tang Ye wasn''t the time of man to pull punches just because she was a girl.

    Tang Ye said: "Miss Si, please move. This de''s sharpness has no equal. I am afraid I will hurt you."

    Si Tuo replied in a burdened tone: "I have a duty so I must fulfil it. Come!"

    Si Tuo used the nine-character art, a technique practiced by the Qilin Guards. The nine-character art is the creator of the Qilin Guards. When the nation was formed, it was one of the arts passed down by one of the three past great masters. There were soft and hard elements in the techniques with slow and fast techniques incoporated which were very unusual. The hand techniquesprised of many techniques used tobat different weapons, and strikes. It''s internal art was also uniquely creative. It was a fascinating style that could virtually deal with any other style.

    Tang Ye''s skill with a sabre was not on par with his hand-to-handbat skills which included pokes, palm strikes, punches and wing techniques. However, Si Tuo didn''t dare to exchange blows with him while the ancient cold sabre was enhanced with his Yang Blood True Qi, thereby making it seem as though she had already lost.

    However, Su Xiao and co weren''t so lucky.

    "Stab them!"

    "Smash them!!"

    "As Madam Si said, don''t leave a single one, and don''t let a single one off!"

    The Qilin Guards that followed Si Tuo out were entangled in a fight with the constables. Those Qilin Guards weren''t exactly more formidable than Liu Shan Men''s constables, but they were close. They had the number advantage. They were basically two versus two fights, so they quickly surrounded Liu Shan Men''s constables at the centre.

    Su Xiao had taken a fair few number of hits. He knew that he couldn''t just arrest a Qilin Guard in their courtyard with just a few words. He knew that he had to pay a big price. Su Xiaocked hand-to-handbat skills, so he took quite the beating when they got surrounded.

    The other constables quickly got surrounded by the increasing number of Qilin Guards, forcing them together like a ball of yarn. Their fear that was suppressed by the courage resurfaced.

    The situation of being pushed around by therger group reminded Su Xiao of what happened to old Huang yesterday. From his perspective, their thirty plus colleagues here all basically had a part in beating old Huang to death.

    "Alright, let''s fight then! I''m not scared!" Su Xiao shouted, picked up his ancient cold sabre''s scabbard but got bumped into the wall. While Su Xiao is tall, he has a lean physique, and moreover is light. He was like a cat being tossed around by a pack of lions. He got bumped around before he could ever settle his feet and stand.

    This time, he started bleeding from his head. A few drops of blood flew into the air and onto the faces of the other constables. He had quite the big wound which shocked those who saw it. A constable stuttered: "S-Su Xiao, you''re hurt."

    "Hurt my foot! Getting hurt is normal for a constable!" Su Xiao wiped his forehead and ignored the blood that continued to run down his head. He just got bumped into. He spat and then whipped his sabre outwards. The Qilin Guard that charged into Su Xiao just before tried to punch him afterwards, but when he went in for the shot, Su Xiao swung his scabbard at him.

    The constable that Su Xiao yelled out felt bad. He had intended to say something, but when he saw Su Xiao''s look which was like a mad-cat, and seeing Su Xiao continue to charge forward, he erased the thoughts. A fire lit up in his chest like he had drank ten pounds of a strong wine. His heart beat faster and his breaths sped up. Before he could speak, a constable by his side jumped thirty feet into the air like a horny rabbit and into the formation of the Qilin Guards surrounding them.

    "I''m a constable! I''ll fuck you all up!!!"

    The constable that leapt into the crowd was fat and round like a ball, as well as being scary-heavy. His leap was like a mountaining down on them, which put five or six Qilin Guards on the ground. Their fall pulled another five or six behind them down with them. There was finally a hole in the sea of people for them to exploit.

    The constable that was behind finally shouted: "I''ll fight ten!! Arrrrgghhhhhh!!" That constable was all skin and bones. He usually avoids all the heavybour work at the office. As a matter of fact, he rarely went on patrols. He was skinny and weak, yet he punched five big looking Qilin Guards in the face with his random punches.

    His punches were weak and each sessive punch got weaker. However, he never felt prouder to be a member of Liu Shan Men than in that moment.

    "Get ''em! Protect Su Xiao!"

    "I''ll fuck the lot of you up. I''ll be considered a hero in eighteen years'' time!"

    "I don''t get it. They work at the office, and so do we. Theye and beat us up every day while calling it the ''rule''. Fuck you and your motherfucking rules!"

    Su Xiao got Liu Shan Men''s constables fired up. Their men''s blood boiled and they charged forward with all their might, hitting anybody they came across. The Qilin Guards never expected to be on their back foot in their own backyard against the people who they always pushed around.

    The thirty constables surprisingly put up an even fight against more than seventy Qilin Guards.

    Tang Ye and Si Tuo had exchanged fifty moves, but they had yet toe into contact.

    Tang Ye who had kept silent the entire time then suddenly said: "As a man, I did not want to be ruthless to a girl. However, my colleagues are in trouble, so please forgive me, Miss Si."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Before he finished his sentence, a violent zing air rushed her like waves. Tang Ye leapt into the air. He spun the sabre in the air, creating a shing silver light as he created arge ball of light in the air with his hand movements. However, heat emitted from it made it seem like an umbre of fire.

    Si Tuo could tell it was a powerful move. She eloquently moved her hands, and retreated backwards in a fluttering movement, escaping the range of Tang Ye''s sabre attack.

    Tang Ye didn''t give chase, seemingly retreating at the same time Si Tuo did. The silhouette of a person suddenly appeared before the battle formation, and like a sh of lightning in spring: "Move if you wish to live!" The energy released from the ancient cold sabre rushed over like a wave of heat. The wave of heat that made contact with the Qilin Guards up ahead made them feel like they were set alight. Not being able to withstand it, they cried out and retreated.iu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards were on even footing, but with Tang Ye''s intervention, Liu Shan Men now had the upper hand.

    Both parties were engaged in an intense fight. However, since the Qilin Guards had more men, it could be considered Liu Shan Men''s Pyrrhic victory.

    Su Xiao''s pretty face waspletely red. He was covered in injuries from the fighting, but he was still as determined to fight as ever. Su Xiao looked left and right for an opportunity to break through. He raised his head to look upwards all of a sudden and noticed a que. A sly and sinister idea crept into his mind.

    He then suddenly made up his mind affirmatively.

    Before the Qilin Guards by the main door noticed, Su Xiao stepped onto the shoulder of one of the Qilin Guards, jumped off and grabbed the passed-down "Qilin guards the nation" que, and pulled it down.

    The surrounding Qilin Guards went into a frenzy. That''s the que that was gifted to them by the founding emperor. When it needs to be cleaned, three guards overwatch it being cleaned. You''d have to be insane or without any fear in the world to go and touch it, yet Su Xiao had pulled it down.

    Su Xiao looked at the floor pitifully. Tang Ye guarded him with his sabre in hand. The Qilin Guards looked at their missed opportunity to get back the que.

    It was then that a crude voice yelled out: "Motherfucker! Who''s acting up here on my grounds?! Huh?!"ong Zaitian was still dressed in his pink schr robe, and stormed over without any regard for teams or people. He was furious when he saw the situation at the door.

    He just saw a young girl with white skinned that glowed. Her face was covered in blood, her hair was messy, and she wore a resolute expression. But that wasn''t important. The girl had the que which the Qilin Guards viewed as a passed down treasure.ong Zaitian had no time to think about what happened. He just shouted: "Who are you?"

    The girl proudly replied in her high pitched voice: "My name is Su Xiao. I''m a constable from Liu Shan Men?"

    "Su Xiao? Isn''t Su Xiao a guy¡­?" Long Zaitian then shouted: "How dare you, Su Xiao?! Do you know what you''re holding in your hands there?! If that que gets damaged, I''ll reduce you to smithereens!"

    "Hmph, I know what it is. It''s the que the founding emperor gifted you Qilin Guards. It''s been a long time since. You''ve kept the que, but you''ve forgotten the things he said."ong Zaitian cussed: "You¡­ you crazy bitch. Apologise and surrender obediently right now and I''ll spare your lives. Otherwise, don''t me me for being merciless!"

    Su Xiao gave him a cold "hmph". The night-wind blew his hair, causing his neck to get itchy. Su Xiao tied his hair up into a pony tail in a simple fashion and threw it over behind his shoulder. His pretty face covered in blood revealed a heroic expression. The red blood on his face made his face emit a tender aura. Long Zaitian who was looking at him couldn''t help but feel stunned by his looks, even under those circumstances.

    "We have a que hung up in our white tiger hall with five words written on it."

    Su Xiao then took back his ancient cold sabre from Tang Ye''s hands, raised it up high and enunciated the words: "The Nation''s Laws Are Absolute."

    The violent young girl raised her hands up and swung her sabre down.ong Zaitian''s sense of reason was set alight. His two eyes became with red violent rage.

    "H-How dare you!!!! Men! Kill these crazy bitches!!"

    The Qilin Guards went into a frenzy!!

 Volume 2 30 Open Up Bro, Itâ€™s Feizhen

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 30 Open Up Bro, It''s Feizhen</h4>

    Long Zaitian howled like a tiger and leapt over. His internal strength was profound, and the power of his palm strike was powerful. The strength behind his palm strike just now was overwhelming. Had he hit Su Xiao, Su Xiao would be left with just one-fifth of his life while the remaining four-fifths would''ve vanished into thin air.

    Given those circumstances, there was no way I could just stand and watch.

    I''ve watched this nonsense go on from the sideline for long enough. I immediately appeared from the side when Long Zaitian struck out.

    There are many ways you can cause a skilled martial artist to miss. Other than the ny plus poisoning and simr methods, there are only two. The first is to make it pointless even if he was to hit his target, and the second is to make him miss.

    Given the current circumstances, it goes without saying the second option is better.

    Constables must carry a rope with them so I too had one upon joining Liu Shan Men. I pulled the rope out from my belt, wrapped it around Su Xiao''s small waist and gently pulled him back. Su Xiao''s entire body suddenly flew backwards in the air towards me as a result. Su Xiao is honestly quite light. It didn''t take me much effort to pull him over.ong Zaitian was fairly angry that he missed.ong Zaitian''s palm strike didn''t hit Su Xiao, but instead went towards Tang Ye who went to Su Xiao''s rescue.

    Tang Ye knows how strong Long Zaitian''s palm strikes are since he experienced them before, so he was very cautious this time. His Yang Blood True Qi is a powerful technique. Once released, it''s hard to cancel. With an opponent as strong as Long Zaitian, he couldn''t ask for more.

    The two forces collided.

    Tang Ye used all his energy without any flowery moves or pretence to sh with Long Zaitian. Long Zaitian became happy. He knew Tang Ye, and he knew that Tang Ye was Liu Shan Men''s hope at the imperial martial arts tournament. If he could prevent him frompeting, it''d be many times better than killing Su Xiao. Tang Ye was much younger than Long Zaitian so it was only normal for him to have superior internal strength. With an eighty percent chance of winning in his favour, of course he was d.

    However, their exchange resulted in a draw. Both of them retreated ten steps as a result of their exchange. Tang Ye looked as suave as ever while Long Zaitian was furious. He cursed loudly: "You despicable brat! What art did you learn?!"

    So it turned out that Long Zaitian''s specialty, his powerful brute force palm strikes couldn''tpare to Tang Ye. When the two shed, Tang Ye retreated first, but as Long Zaitian went to go for the winning strike, his hand suddenly started hurting from a burning sensation. That was when he realised that the internal energy on Tang Ye''s hand was like a fire that transferred to Long Zaitian''s body and burnt up everything inside. It was like a fire started at Long Zaitian''s core. Long Zaitian felt that his entire right arm was on fire, so he quickly retracted his qi to protect himself. Tang Ye took advantage of that and advanced on him, taking the upper hand from him.

    Their sh was like a tiger charging into a burning piece of metal. While the piece of metal is light, the heat is more than the tiger could withstand. While there was a discrepancy between the strength of their respective internal energies, in terms of special attributes, Tang Ye had the upper hand.

    Tang Ye didn''t lose the bout, which can be attributed to his diligence with his training.

    "Big Brother Ming!" Su Xiao who I was princess-carrying stared at me with his eyes wide, revealed a d look and eximed: "You''re here! You''re here to help me! I, I knew you would back me up."

    His tone indicated that he relied on me like a kid relies on his senior, but at the same time resembled l-¡­ In short, I pinched his pretty white nose, smiled and asked: "How did you find the guts to rip the que passed down by the founding emperor? How many heads do you have?"

    Su Xiao poked his tongue out and said: "Alright already. Are you going to take responsibility for it in my ce?"

    "I''m not qualified." I waved my hand and continued, "I can rmend someone to you though. He''s the real deal."

    "Motherfuckers! They destroyed the que passed down by the previous emperor! Men, kill them all!"ong Zaitian ordered his men to kill us because he missed his attack aimed at Su Xiao.

    "I-"

    "Stop!"

    Before he could finish, I shouted over his voice so loud that Long Zaitian couldn''t even hear his men''s response.

    "Everybody stop! Captain Long, what do you mean we damaged the que?"

    "You''re still trying to bullsh*t your way out?! That crazy bitch, Su Xiao chopped the que in half! His sabre is sharp as can be. I saw it with my own eyes, are you telling me otherwise?"

    "Nonsense!" I retorted him and pointed towards the que covered in dust on the ground, and added, "Everybody, including thedy selling douhua knows that Su Xiao''s skills with a sabre are terrible. We even witnessed him struggling to cut a piece of tofu in half. It''d be weird if he could chop the que when he can''t even cut tofu."ong Zaitian didn''t believe me, so he immediately went to check.

    He picked up the que and carefully examined it from back to front before letting out a sigh of relief.

    Su Xiao didn''t damage the que.

    It was all thanks to the rope. When I saw Su Xiao re at the que, I knew something was wrong. And so when he raised his sabre and swung downwards, I pulled the que aside with the rope.

    The back of the que was slightly damaged, but somebody in wood-works should be able to fix it.

    "It doesn''t look damaged." Su Xiao scrunched his nose up as if it were a pity: "Hmph, you''re lucky."

    Idiot, you''re the one that''s lucky! Good god, damaging that que would be a more serious offence then hitting a prince.

    If it were broken, your family and the neighbouring vige''s vigers would all be beheaded!

    "Stop!" I pulled Su Xiao over and mumbled: "Old Huang won''t die."

    "Huh?" Su Xiao stared at me with his eyes wide. He blinked his eyes rapidly and I think I saw a teare out.

    "Really? Are you telling the truth, Big Brother Ming? Really?"

    Yes indeed.

    Just before I left, I used my internal energy to release the clogged blood inside him. That plus the medication provided by the three outstanding doctors of Liu Shan Men. Old Huang is just a bit weak right now. He''ll be bed-ridden for the next few days, but he''ll be able to work on the frontlines in a month.

    "That''s great then." Su Xiao used what seemed to run out of strength as he leaned on my body: "That''s great, that''s great¡­¡­" His voice became weaker and weaker like a puppy that exhausted himself due to his yfulness, and then crawled onto me. He closed his eyes and I spotted two teardrops on his long eyshes. This kid¡­ He''s a kid in every sense, and yet he''s copying others and picking fights.

    "Hey! Are you two done flirting around?" Long Zaitian had evidently checked the que and confirmed that it could be repaired. He had calmed down a bit. His brain was functioning again, and he was now thinking about how to screw us over. In his sly tone he said: "The que is fine, I won''t find fault with you there. But you motherfuckers need to take a good look at where you are. Whose ce do you think this is? This is the capital, and who does this ce belong to? You had the audacity to cause a ruckus here and arrest our men!"

    I heard it was the emperor''s ce, was I misinformed?

    "Listen! We''re in charge of the areas outside of the imperial city. We get to bully Liu Shan Men! Don''t even waste your time dreaming that you''ll get another chance to rise."ong Zaitian pointed at me with his finger, Tang Ye, and then moved his arm around to point at everybody. Once he finished pointing his finger at everyone, he said: "I''ll let you off the hook easy today on behalf of your superior. All of you are to leave behind a hand or you can forget leaving our office alive."

    Tang Ye leaned over towards me and said: "Shall we fight them, big bro?"

    "No." I mumbled: "Let''s lead Long Zaitian and run towards our office."

    "Why?"

    Because I''m not going to take responsibility for this.

    "Because they don''t dare to enter our office."

    After I mumbled that, Tang Ye nodded, took in a deep breath and shouted: "RUN!" I don''t know if he pre-arranged it with Liu Shan Men''s members before we legged it. Tang Ye''s yell was more effective than an imperial decree. All of Liu Shan Men turned around and ran away in unison. If a rabbit were to spot a carrot in their path, it wouldn''t touch it with a ten foot pole. Otherwise, it''d meet a more tragic end than if a sheep were to bump heads with a wolf. To put it into perspective, Liu Shan Men''s members ran as fast as my shifu when he spots a beauty.

    I quickly chased after them.ong Zaitian chuckled coldly and then shouted: "Chase them!" However, only a few gave chase. The fight before left their men and Liu Shan Men''s quite severely injured. Chasing them would be tougher than fleeing. They didn''t have the motivation so they were sluggish. Long Zaitian yelled twice but they had yet to get up.

    "Call our men! Call our men! Go inside and call for more men!" Long Zaitian was fuming. A low ranking guard ran up to him to ask: "Vice-captain, how many men do you want me to ask for? Do we need to do a head count?"

    "Fuck you and your head out! Where are the three hundred we normally call for?! Call them over! Surround Liu Shan Men! If I don''t leave Song Bastard and that crazy bitch, Su Xiao crippled, I''ll change my name from dragon in the heavens to dragon licking the ground!!"

    Dragon licking the ground actually brought men with him to chase us.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    We ran through the streets and ran into bustling areas whenever we could. We had rather few men so it was easier for us to move aroundpared to them. It didn''t take long for us to arrive back at Liu Shan Men''s office.

    Tang Ye then asked: "Big bro, will they really not trespass into our office? Will we be fine once we hide inside?"

    "You wish. You guys went and trespassed on their grounds first, you guys broke the rules first. They''d be in the right even if we took the matter to the emperor. If you want to resolve matters using Su Xiao''s ''nationalws'', you''ll be screwed sooner orter."

    "What shall we do then?" Tang Ye started to get a little anxious as he continued: "We can''t let our brothers take another beating."iu Shan Men''s constables were exhausted from running. In fact, they looked like they were carried back. I was carrying Su Xiao on my back while Tang Ye carried Yi Yixian on his. We were like a team of sick elderly. We should go see a doctor first.

    "It''s fine, this isn''t our problem alone. We have a superior at our office. If our captain doesn''t show up in this situation, what''s the point of having him?"

    "Song Ou? He''d be willing toe out?"

    Tang Ye revealed apletely untrusting expression.

    "Don''t worry, I have my ways."

    We rushed to the door and I shouted: "Brother Bastard, Brother Bastard! Open the door, it''s Feizhen!"

    I shouted repeatedly for a while. Long Zaitian had almost caught up.

    However, I couldn''t continue yelling out Song Ou''s name so loudly. After a while, there was an unexpected response from inside: "Ming Feizhen! Did you grow another gut?! How dare you call me that?"

    Song Ou, my dear Brother Bastard, kicked the door open furiously, and violently came out pointing before shouting: "I''ll teach you what rules are today!"

    "Alright, Brother Bastard, let''s see you teach me."

    However, the person who replied to him wasn''t me, but the man who brought three-hundred men with him standing behind me, Master Long.

    "You caused a mess at my ce, knocked my que down, beat up my men and then even kidnapped my subordinate. I felt like there was a problem with everything I just mentioned."ong Zaitian aggressively clenched his teeth: "I just knew that a low-ranking constable like you wouldn''t be so daring. So the mastermind is here, huh. Nice, nice, Song Ou. We won''t have to wait for the imperial martial arts tournament; let''s fight right now, one-on-one!"

    Song Ou''s finger was still pointed at Long Zaitian''s face. He couldn''t get away by taking it back or continuing to point.

    He just looked at Long Zaitian like he just sh*t himself and then at me.

    Finally, he revealed a face which was like he was crying deep down, as he choked on his tears and could only exim: "How could you fucking set me up like this?!"

    Notes:

    Douhua is the short form of doufuhua. It is a Chinese snack made with very soft tofu. It is also referred to as tofu pudding and soybean pudding.ong Zaitian = Dragon in the Sky/Heavens; he then called himself Long Tiandi = Dragon licking the ground. Dragon in the heavens refers to the person in question being a dragon (which as you know is highly revered in Chinese culture), and one that soars in the sky above all, where you are revered by all. Calling himself a Dragon Licking the Ground is essentially saying he''ll be a useless dragon who will bow his head to everybody, otherwise understood as the lowest being in the world in terms of hierarchy.

 Volume 2 31 Bro, You Got Cucked

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 31 Bro, You Got Cucked</h4>

    "What''s it got to do with me?" I waved my hand and added, "This is an issue between you leaders. There''s nothing wrong with Captain Long going directly to you."

    Ha, I have to say that I did a magnificent job finding a scapegoat.

    Song Ou and Long Zaitian made eye-contact and it looked like Song Ou started shaking. Song Ou has been acting like he became a pussy ever since he screwed himself over in Xuan Wu hall and the emperor ordered him to duel Long Zaitian. Just seeing Long Zaitian scared him.ong Zaitian chuckled coldly and took a few steps forward. As he stepped forwards, ten Qilin Guards followed behind him. Long Zaitian walked straight past us and up to Song Ou. From his perspective, we''re nothing more thanckeys carrying out a task, while Song Ou was the mastermind.

    "Nice, Captain Song. I underestimated you." Long Zaitian had a tall physique, but Song Ou wasn''t short. In fact, their heights were rtively even. However, Song Ou bent over slightly when Long Zaitian walked over to him, clearly showing that he was beneath him. Long Zaitian''s gaze was aggressive. He continued to chuckle slowly. He then raised his hand up and pped Song Ou across his face. The moment his hand hit his face, there was a loud smack sound.

    "Aren''t you top sh*t? Huh? Didn''t you want to remove our que? Huh?"

    "Captain Long¡­ you, you¡­¡­"

    Song Ou''s face was bright red like it could bleed, but he didn''t bite back or strike back.

    "Alright, let''s see how you''re going to teach me a lesson. Bring it. Bring it on."ong Zaitian sounded like he was lecturing a three year old. Moreover, he poked Song Ou on the forehead with every sentence. His finger was rough and hard, and he didn''t hesitate to put strength behind it. After three pokes, it looked like Song Ou''s forehead lost ayer of skin. The constables who watched it unfold started to get angry.

    "Captain Long, you and I are both ministers of the imperial court. Sh-Show some respect."

    Hey! Brother Bastard, your head is still red!ong Zaitian didn''t quit with his insults.

    "Stop!"

    The high pitched voice of a female came from the door. Over ten warriors surrounding the door then went flying into the air like somebody sent them flying out with a palm strike.

    "Eh? Is boss back?"

    Boss Shen came out from Liu Shan Men''s courtyard dressed in herke-green long dress. Did shee back from the pce? She sure is quick.

    I could only see her sending her palms left and right, leaving the warriors by the doorpletely helpless. It was my first time seeing Boss Shen fight someone. I never expected her skills to emphasise fine and minute movements when she''s usually a generous and bold person. Every move was aimed precisely at her opponent''s weak point, as if she were looking for one-hit-wins. That''s the descendent of a famous family for you.

    Boss Shen shouted: "Everybody stop! Captain Long, aren''t you worried that his majesty will punish you for causing a ruckus at Liu Shan Men?"ong Zaitian knew who wasing with just a nce. He turned happy and was all smiles: "So Miss Shen hase personally! Wow, stop!" He immediately ordered his men to stop, and the Qilin Guards quickly got behind Long Zaitian.

    "Yiren! Y-You''re back?"

    Song Ou was still pathetic. He quickly hid behind Boss Shen.

    Come on man, don''t make your wife tank.ong Zaitian on the other hand adjusted his clothing and rubbed his hands together as if the person pushing Song Ou around was someone else. He giggled and then leaned over.

    "Miss Shen, you''ve be even prettier in the two days we haven''t met. I¡­ I¡­ Hey, where''s my fan?!" Someone from behind the pink Tang Bohu immediately handed him his schr''s fan. Long Zaitian handed it to her with two hands.

    "This is the fan Wen Zhengming once used. It can be said to be a very rare item. I heard that you like antiques. Please ept my gift."

    Boss Shen gave him the cold shoulder and didn''t take it. Long Zaitian reacted quickly. Since Boss Shen didn''t ept the fan, he quickly pulled his hands back, pretending that he was just bowing. He even whipped opened his fan as if it were his original intent. He fanned himself several times and then stuttered: "Ehehe, it''s hot, so I''m just trying to cool myself.

    Everybody watch out, Wen Zhengming is about to jump out of his coffin!*

    Boss Shen coldly said: "Do you have any other business, Captain Long?"

    "It''s as the rumours say. It''s as the rumours say." Long Zaitian lookedpletely captivated. His rage from before hadpletely vanished, "MIss Shen, you are beautiful and nice. I have admired you for a long time!"

    "OWW!"ong Zaitian suddenly cried out like he got possessed by a ghost. What the heck? Is he getting turned on or something?!

    "My heart hurts!"ong Zaitian steadied himself, focused his energy qi to his dantian, and continued shouting like a dog in heat: "When my lover arrived, the willows swayed in the winds. My breath was taken away by our meeting." Long Zaitian continued to recite the poem.

    He¡­ he was reading a damn love poem!!

    He was reciting a love poem right in front of Song Ou!

    Hey! Bro, you''re getting cucked!

    Song Ou went green in the face and then pale as a sheet of paper before turningpletely red. He started huffing and puffing, quivering with anger. He clenched his fists in an alternating manner as though he wouldn''t be able to stop the blood rushing to his head otherwise.

    Boss Shen waspletely red in the face as though she was extremely embarrassed.

    Whoa! Boss Shen actually turned shy!!

    Song Ou froze up in ce like he got struck by lightning and was reduced to charcoal.

    Normally, I would intervene since the matter hade to this, but¡­¡­

    Something was wrong. The more I watch, the more I felt that something was wrong.

    The young girl in theke-green shirt didn''t look like Boss Shen.

    While she resembled her, she somewhatcked Boss Shen''s gentleness. She looked a little stiffer. Boss Shen overflowed with youth. While they were huge, they were very perky. I remember they were both soft and perky. Let me make an analogy: It''s like how I saw people in the Western regions use a light water pouch for grape wine which made it overflow with sweetness and extremely slippery. It would never be as tough as that.

    Moreover, my eyes tell me that not only are they smaller, her peaks aren''t as voluptuous, soft and beautiful¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Huh? Since when did I acquire such profound knowledge about women? Have I read "Lihua Chronicles" too many times?

    Whatever the case, this girl''s facial features looked softer than Boss Shen''s, and she didn''t have Boss Shen''s heroic and domineering aura. Wait a second. I seem to recall seeing this girl somewhere before.

    Wait a minute¡­ Don''t tell me¡­

    "Young master Kuang?"

    When he heard me mutter his name, he immediately looked at me with his eyes wide.

    Whoa! Are you actually dressing up as a girl to pretend to be your sister?!

    Are you serious?!

    I looked at Song Ou and then at Long Zaitian.

    You two mistook somebody else for the girl that you two supposedly like?! You two were even at each other''s throats for her! Could you two be any less embarrassing?!ong Zaitian reached his hand out towards young master Kuang after he finished reciting his poem: "Could I have the honour of holding your hand, miss?"

    His dirty and rough hands slowly reached out towards young master Kuang. However, young master Kuang isn''t his sister, so he had a rtively softer personality. He looked like he wanted to dodge, but was stopped by Song Ou from behind.

    Song Ou seemed to be scared sh*tless by young master Kuang''s shy look before. He stuttered: "Yi-Yiren¡­ How could you and he¡­¡­" He looked as though he had lost a part of his soul.

    Sigh, it can''t be helped.

    Standing at the side, I shouted at the top of my lungs: "Hey, that''s enough from you, take your hand away."ong Zaitian had no choice but to take his hands away after what I shouted.

    Young master Kuang quickly took three steps back to hide from the awkward situation before him back like a rabbit that got frightened. He then looked at me to signal that he was thankful.

    Don''t worry.

    Don''t fret, young Miss Shen, your sister''s most loyal subordinate, the gant knight in shining armour shall take to the frontlines!

    Notes:

    *The joke is meant to mean that Long Zaitian is so ridiculous and making Wen Zhengming look bad, so Wen Zhengming would be so pissed that he''de back to life ande strangle him.ihua Chronicles is a modern Wuxia story.

 Volume 2 32 The Gallant Knight in Shining Armour

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 32 The Gant Knight in Shining Armour</h4>

    I was very surprised to find that I was the first to speak. But what could I do? I couldn''t let this girl, I mean, young master Shen get taken advantage of, right? Furthermore, this matter is our¡­ Wait, no. It was all Su Xiao''s fault! This wouldn''t have had happened if he didn''t to retaliate.ong Zaitian contemptuously scanned the area seemingly looking for the person who just spoke out. He didn''t realise that it was me at first nce, but he made eye contact with me the next moment, clearly realising it was me.

    We''ve now met face to face three times now. The first time was when he came to pick a fight with Song Ou, and the second time was back at the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard.

    But this was the first time we actually had a conversation.

    He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

    "Were you the one who just spoke out?"

    What? You want a face-to-face fight?

    I looked at Song Ou. He still had a pale face and was still repeating, "Yiren¡­ How could Yiren¡­¡­" as if he had be retarded. Looks like I can''t rely on him to tank this time. I looked at young master Shen and noticed he was full of worry. It looked like he didn''t have any idea for how to deal with Long Zaitian. Well, it''s only fair. While he''s the same age as Boss Shen, Boss Shen has always been the leader between them. His experience and chest couldn''tpare to his sister. Hmm¡­ especially his chest.

    It looks like I, the gant knight in shining armour will have to deal with things here.

    "Yes, I am the one who spoke out."

    "Oh?"ong Zaitian took a few steps over. He only realised we were simr in height when he got closer, so he had to raise his head to look at me. My height must''ve made him feel a little pressured so he didn''t fly off the handle, and instead asked: "Who are you? What''s your name?"

    "Hmm, about that¡­ I''m a new recruit constable. Myst name is Li."

    "Heh! You trying to lie to my face? Your surname is Li? There are only three new recruits at Liu Shan Men: Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Ming Feizhen. I''ve met Tang Ye and that crazy bitch Su Xiao. You were the one backing Su Xiao back at our main courtyard. Could you be Ming Feizhen?"

    "You are mistaken, Captain Long. My surname really is Li."

    "You still trying to fool me? So is your surname Li, and first name Laozi? Are you going to mock me now?" Long Zaitian chuckled. He narrowed his eyes and mocked me: "You think you can fool me with something like that? Hmm?"

    There''s no way I''d use something so simple.

    "No, no, no, my first name is the character Ba, from Bashu, except doubled up."

    "Hmm?"ong Zaitian seemed to be confused by what I said, and thought about it.

    "Double ba character? What the fuck? If the character ba is doubled up¡­.." Long Zaitian frowned with distrust. He tried tobine the characters in his mind, "Baba?"

    "Yes son?"

    Everybody around burst out inughter.

    There''s no way you can defend against me, Captain Dragon Licking the Ground.ong Zaitian finally realised his mistake and wentpletely red in the face. Furious, he drew his sabre. He looked like he was going to explode if he didn''t shave my face off on the spot.

    "How dare you?! I''ll skin you!!"

    Didn''t you say you wouldn''t fall for my tricks? I almost believed you.ong Zaitian swung his de at me. I took a step back and raised my hand gently using Taichi with perfect posture,parable to when I practiced every morning with old Huang.ong Zaitian paid me no heed, raised his hand to feint and shouted: "Dodge three shes if you can!"

    "Say my name if you''re so tough!"

    So as to not drag the constables behind me into the fight, I took a big step to the left, and then sprinted a few steps. I was already several yards behind him by the time he shed down.

    "You sure are good at running, you punk! Stand your ground and defend against three of my attacks if you can. If you can survive them, I''ll turn around and leave without a word."

    Your words, remember that!

    But I don''t have a weapon.

    Hey, hey, can somebody find me a corn cob? I at least need to pretend I''m duelling with him.

    On my back was sleeping Su Xiao who was deep asleep. Su Xiao will wake up if I keep moving around. A nice fragrance came from my neck as Su Xiao tightened his arms around my neck. It was as though he wasn''t sure what was happening.

    "Hmm? What''s going on?" Su Xiao looked left and right. He then got alerted and asked: "Why am I back here? Eh? The vice-captain is here too. Eh? Long Zaitian! Eh? B-Big Brother Ming, why are you piggy-backing me?"

    "I don''t have time to exin to you. Right now, we''re in a dangerous situation where we might get turned into meat-buns in three shes. Can you get off first?"

    Su Xiao''s mind was still foggy since he had just woken up. After he finished listening to what I said, he quickly buried his small head where my neck was. In a flirtatious and tired tone, he said: "Wake me up when you''re done then."

    "Is there no end to your indecencies, you bitches?!"ong Zaitian rambled loudly and went to sh at us.

    "Enough! Vice-captain Long, please forgive me for not keeping my subordinates in line." Young master Shen rushed over in a hurry and shouted. He then asked: "But as a top level warrior of the imperial court, how could you be picking a fight with a constable, not to mention the fact that you''re acting an unarmed person with a sabre?"

    However, young master Kuang''s expression changed as soon as he finished speaking.

    But it wasn''t just him. Even Long Zaitian who was going to continue shing at me underwent a big change, changing his expression as if he got shed thrice.

    Boss Shen and young master Shen are twins, so their faces looked simr. But no matter how much their faces were identical, their voice couldn''t be the exact same, especially since he wasn''t like a fifteen year old teenager like Su Xiao. His voice changed a long time ago. He spoke in a high-pitched voice before to imitate his sister, and he indeed resembled her a lot. But he spoke with his real voice just then because he was panicked. While young master Shen''s voice is soft and elegant, it was just a little bit deeper than a girl''s. Still, it waspletely different to Boss Shen''s.ong Zaitian and Song Ou both knew Shen Kuang. With this, they''d be able to know that the beauty before them dressed in a girl''s robe was not the Shen Yiren they fought over even if they were stupider. Song Ou finally calmed down and his mood seemed to turn positive.ong Zaitian on the other hand reacted the opposite way.ong Zaitian froze up first, and then it looked like his face was set on fire. His face waspletely red. While his skin colour was rtively dark to begin with, those by the side could tell that he was distressed. The voices around slowly started to stop, which made him who was standing at the centre even more awkward.

    I guess that''s perfectly normal. He fought with Song Ou for ages, and even recited a love poem before everyone. But in the end, the person he dedicated the love poem to was not his crush. And as if that wasn''t enough, the person he recited the poem to was a damn guy¡­¡­ong Zaitian scrunched his face up like he had an epileptic attack. He looked up at the sky like actors in a stage-y going experiencing a pain worse than death and shouted: "My heart! My heart! Why are the heavens treating me so mercilessly?! Why must you trample on a man''s love this way?!"

    I finally confirmed for myself that the punk was the number one cute-retard of the three offices!

    I don''t know how much time passed afterwards.ong Zaitian picked himself and his broken heart up. He shook his head and shook it in a sad fashion: "I''d be willing to go through hell for Miss Shen, yet our love ended like that."

    Hey, the female main character in the ending you speak of wasn''t even willing toe.ong Zaitian adjusted his pink robe, took Wen Zhengming''s treasured fan back, and scanned all of us. Even an idiot could see that his eyes were filled with the desire for revenge.

    Hey, he''s gone from embarrassed to angry and now wants to silence us!

    "I have no choice then." Long Zaitian slyly thundered: "Since Miss Shen isn''t here, there''s no need for me to pull any punches." He then pointed at us with his fan and shouted: "Surround these bastards and beat the living daylights out of them!" The three hundred Qilin Guards rushed over as soon as he was done speaking.

    That punk had already developed a deep seated hatred for us that couldn''t possibly be any more intense back at their courtyard. Actually, he might have developed that deep hatred for Liu Shan Men a few years ago.iu Shan Men''s constables had only had a short break and had yet to fully recover. However, they were much more determined than before. Not one of them showed a hint of fear as the Qilin Guards closed in. It looks like Liu Shan Men has recovered from their disease. And the credit belongs to Su Xiao alone.

    The problem was that there was still a massive gap in skill between Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards. There was no hope of beating the three hundred Qilin Guards before.

    Su Xiao hopped off my back and shouted: "Watch out everyone. Don''t let them surround us!"

    He intended to charge into battle after giving his warning, but I grabbed his cor and pulled him back.

    Su Xiao looked at me and angrily eximed: "Big Brother Ming, why are you stopping me again? Our men aren''t useless this time."

    "I didn''t say they were scared. But there''s still no need for you guys to fight them."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I looked at the street in the distance. Under the rays of the moonlight, the sound of horse hooves came closer and closer.

    The horse hooves sounded like thunderp as they trotted without stopping like a war drum. If one were to hear it, their heart would beat more intensely, and a fire would be lit in their chest. It was like a man who had reached the apex of a mountain and had to shout out loud to express his happiness.

    The name of the steed was called Caller of the Clouds of Battle. That very steed was the steed of Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren.

    "Liu Shan Men''s saviour has already arrived."

    Notes:

    Baba was written with the characters°Ñ°Î which sounds simr to °Ö°Ö meaning dad. So essentially, MFZ tricked him into calling him "Daddy".

 Volume 2 33 So-Called Yiren

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 33 So-Called Yiren</h4>

    The sound of a horse''s neigh could be heard in the distance. A white silhouette appeared under the dim light. A person and a horse appeared close by faster than the blink of an eye. The horse was so bright it was dazzling. It was snow-white from head to its tail. The horse was none other than the capital''s number one divine battle steed.

    A girl dressed in a purple fighter robe with facial features that were so beautiful no illustration would do her justice appeared. Her facial features were very simr to Shen Kuang who was dressed in ake-green shirt, but was much more heroic and exquisite. She was Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain Shen Yiren.

    "Oh! I finally get to see her!"ong Zaitian looked at her beautiful face, bouncing twin valleys and couldn''t stop himself from revealing a perverted look on his face.

    But it wasn''t easy for Shen Yiren to get back to the office.

    Three hundred guards surrounded Liu Shan Men''s office, forming threeyers. Even if they were willing to make way, it wouldn''t be easy for them to open a path. The Qilin Guards chuckled coldly to themselves: Who cares if you''re a warrior from the seventeen hidden dragons. We have three hundred men here. What can the few tens of Liu Shan Men members do to us?

    The battle steed came closer and closer, but the Qilin Guards didn''t budge. It was evident they wanted to force Shen Yiren off her horse.

    Shen Yiren looked forwards and rode forward with total disregard. All that could be seen was her prized battle steeding closer and closer, frightening the guards at the forefront to the point where they were afraid their hearts would jump out of their chest.

    She wouldn''t dare¡­ She wouldn''t dare¡­

    Her steed was one step away from crashing into the guards at the outer-mostyer.

    Shen Yiren''s gaze was cold as ice and she angrily shouted: "Who dares stand in my way?!" After she shouted, her steed charged forward without slowing down like it was in sync with her. They didn''t give the Qilin Guards a chance to react, jumping straight onto their heads and continuing on their way.

    Ming Feizhen was the only one who noticed the small hand movements Shen Yiren made. While her battle steed was smart, it wasn''t a human, and so it wasn''t as mobile. It simply moved ording to Shen Yiren''s direction, but that''s not to say that Shen Yiren doesn''t possess outstanding skills to be able to subdue her battle steed. She lives up to her title as the master of the capital''s number one divine steed.ong Zaitian''s heart was racing as he watched from behind his men. He knew about Shen Yiren''s ruthless nature, but felt that she was a little too ruthless and taking things a tad too far. Her steed stepped on the imperial court''s warriors. Not even members of the royal family would act like that.

    Shen Yiren''s steed hopped off the guards and before the rows of men she resolutely shouted: "Get lost!"

    The rows of Qilin Guards behind couldn''t help but feel frightened and all move aside, creating a wide path for her to walk down.

    However, Shen Yiren didn''t dismount. Instead, she slowly trotted forward while on horseback to the office door. She swept her eyes around, starting from Su Xiao, then Tang Ye, than Ming Feizhen, then Song Ou, then Shen Kuang¡­ She didn''t look pleased. Nobody knew what she was thinking.

    Shen Yiren looked at Long Zaitianst. Long Zaitian looked like he was blessed for three lives since the beauty looked at him.

    "Miss Shen, I¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Shen Yiren wore a cold expression, raised her delicate and white hand to cut off Long Zaitian.

    "I don''t want to hear it. Long Zaitian, aren''t you the hot-shot? You dare to order your men to surround my Liu Shan Men. Are you bullying my men because I''m absent?"ong Zaitian didn''t answer. He just grinned slightly. He then looked around at his three hundred men, and fanned himself in an extremely proud and conceited fashion.

    "The truth is that I was not the one started the fight. Who else may you be able to invite here, Miss Shen?"

    Shen Yiren scoffed at him. She wore an extremely cold expression and said: "They say that the Qilin Guards have gotten much wealthier and stronger thesest few years, focusing on only expanding, so you''ve been taking in nobodies. I think that''s apliment."ong Zaitian got insulted by Shen Yiren. He didn''t feel offended, instead he felt iparably happy that he got to trade words with the beauty. She even red at Song Ou as she spoke.

    "Miss Shen, are you saying that you can fight against three hundred of our men? You are most certainly skilled, but can you beat three hundred of our men? We are both warriors of the seventeen hidden dragons, and basically on par in terms of martial arts skills. Your subordinates were the ones who stirred trouble in our main courtyard first. They even apprehended my subordinate, so I must settle the score for my brothers. We must fight!"

    The three hundred warriors shouted in unison: "We must fight!! We must fight!!"

    Their voices were in unison and fierce as if they were never panicked by Shen Yiren. The three hundred of them were still a fierce fighting force. They were frightened by Shen Yiren''s dominance before, but if they were to fight, Shen Yiren would be very impressive if she could defeat the three hundred of them, bearing in mind, they had Long Zaitian whose skills were on par with her, so she was doomed to lose if they fought.

    Song Ou was frightened by their roar. He couldn''t help but shout: "Long Zaitian, don''t push it!"

    "Shut up, idiot. Don''t you have any other lines? There''s a simple solution if you don''t want to fight though."ong Zaitian suddenly revealed a filthy smile and said to Shen Yiren who was sitting on her steed: "Miss Shen, I will immediately order my men to leave if you agree toe and be my guest at my ce for a night." He then let out a disgustingugh after he finished speaking. He even opened his fan to fan himself.

    Shen Yiren watched Long Zaitianugh without saying a word, just giving him a cold re until hisughter slowly stopped.

    Shen Yiren finally spoke: "You courting death?"

    "Miss Shen, you''re¡­"

    "I asked you: are you courting death?"

    Before Long Zaitian could speak, Shen Yiren then said: "You''ve let the fact that you have three hundred men with you get to your head, haven''t you?" Shen Yiren wore an iparably cold expression and asked: "Thirty thousand imperial city guards, one thousand five hundred men under each prince, one thousand men under every princess, three of the princesses are close to me, you think it''s hard for me to call over a thousand imperial guards?"

    "Huh? Imperial guards?"ong Zaitian blinked as if he never considered that possibility. She wants to call the imperial guards for a fight between the three offices?!

    While there was no such precedent, the woman before him was called the imperial court''s number one crazy bitch, Shen Yiren! If she were to actually lose it, she would actually call for the imperial guards.

    Before Long Zaitian could speak, Shen Yiren suddenly spoke again.

    "Shun Tian Prefecture who is in charge of managing the capital, Fat Bao is my father''s student. I was the one who rmended him to his post. Do you think I won''t be able to ask him for another thousand men?"

    Shen Yiren then added the men from Shun Tian Prefecture as well.

    Shen Yiren then suddenly pointed at Song Ou with her finger.

    "He, Song Ou, is the eldest child of the Song family. There are no less than ten thousand men at the Song Ou family''s fortress with another several hundred skilled masters. Do you think that I can''t ask for three thousand men to protect their eldest child? Long Zaitian, do you know how far Yang Zhou is from Nan Jing?"ong Zaitian broke out in a cold sweat. He wore a heavy expression and said: "Miss Shen, please do not try to scare me with bluffs. His majesty would not¡­¡­"ong Zaitian lost confidence in himself as he spoke.

    "His majesty?" Shen Yirenughed and asked: "Do you think his majesty will listen to me or not?"

    Of course he would. He has always treated Shen Yiren like a treasured pearl, so of course he''d listen to her.

    Shen Yiren''s gaze hid a cold look. She asked him again: "Are you courting death?"ong Zaitian changed his facial expression a number of times while breaking out in a cold sweat causing him to feel cold even though there was no wind blowing. He couldn''t help but raise his hand, force a smile and said: "Miss Shen, please listen to me¡­"

    "Shut up." Shen Yiren cut him off again, and slowly asked: "What¡­ did you call me?"ong Zaitian stuttered, not daring to joke again. He earnestly replied: "¡­ Vice-captain Shen."

    With Boss Shen''s stern gaze on him, Long Zaitian didn''t dare to smile again. He wore a serious expression and said: "Please be understanding, Vice-captain Shen! I only brought my brothers here to train the new recruits. I didn''t intend to do anything else. I was just looking for Bast-¡­ Captain Song to discuss some matters, and would''ve left once I was done. I¡­¡­"

    Pfft! Nice excuse. Why didn''t you say that our office was on fire so you brought people over to help us put it out.

    Boss Shen cut him off, pointed to the front door of Liu Shan Men''s office and said: "There''s no longer any need for it. If you don''t take your men and leave now, I''ll burn up this office, and then I''ll tell his majesty that you brought your men over and set Liu Shan Men on fire. Thousands of people on the streets saw you leading your men in pursuit of my men. They''re all witnesses. All of our members from Liu Shan Men will also speak out. That''s all I''m going to say, now, bring me a fire torch!"

    Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!

    Well yed Boss Shen. She''s ying the thug card, and even forcing him to take the me. This move isparable to Yang Shisan''s. Actually, it''s better than Yang Shisan''s!ong Zaitian''s expression changed again. He knew that the consequences would be dire if he let it continue. He scrambled to say: "Please don''t misunderstand, Vice-captain. Truthfully, I just brought my men to¡­¡­."

    "Have all the men at Liu Shan Men died?!"

    Boss Shenpletely ignored Long Zaitian and domineeringly shouted: "I said bring me a fire torch!"

    "HERE IT IS!"

    Su Xiao turned around and went to grab the fire torch at the door when he heard Boss Shen ask for one, and then he raised it up high. The other Liu Shan Men members were now enraged. Long Zaitian''s bullying finally pushed them to the point of explosion. They all took turns to go and grab fire torches. Those who couldn''t find one chopped off bits off the door or found some sticks, brooms and whatnot and lit them up.

    The sky was quickly brightened up like it was daytime by the mes. The thirty plus fire torches put the pressure on the three hundred Qilin Guards.

    "Let''s go! Let''s go! Let''s go!!" Long Zaitian fiercely eximed to a minor captain beside him: "What are you still standing there for?! Are you looking to get in trouble?!"

    "R-Right! Let''s go everybody!"ong Zaitian and his three hundred Qilin Guards left like an ocean wave, with each leader quickly leaving the office.

    Shen Yiren was a woman in her twenties, and yet she brought the scattered Liu Shan Men''s souls together.

    I looked at the side of Boss Shen''s beautiful face. The name Shen Yiren was firmly imprinted in my heart again. I think everybody present must''ve shared the same feeling. It was hard to forget her if you saw her just once. That was the sort of woman Shen Yiren was.iu Shan Men and Shen Yiren exceeded my expectations again today.

    "It''s been tough on you, boss."

    I was the first to step forward and hold the reins of Shen Yiren''s battle steed.

    Boss Shen looked at me with surprised. Her cold gaze softened up. She grumbled: "You guys sure caused quite the mess." However, her tone was filled with affection.

    I smiled and said: "I wasn''t the one who started it, it was Su Xiao."

    I smiled and looked at Boss Shen. Boss Shen had yet to understand what I meant as she looked at me with a gaze looking to understand what I meant. She poked me on my forehead, smiled and said: "Luckily you got a pigeon to send me a notice, you smart aleck."

    Yep, I knew that Boss Shen was on duty in the imperial pce and since I didn''t have a token to get inside, I would need to deal with all the guards to get. Hence I came up with the idea to send an emergency notice via a pigeon and contacted Boss Shen directly.

    Of course, I had no idea that this would be how the event would unfold. I just made some preparations. For example, I didn''t know that Liu Shan Men would recuperate thanks to Su Xiao''s anger and no longer be cowardly. I didn''t know that Boss Shen could be so ruthless either, and send three hundred warriors scramming on her own.

    This was my test for Liu Shan Men. If they could not pass it, then it would be time for me to leave because I have no reason to stay with an organisation that is falling.

    What happened today was valuable.

    Today''s event is an important turning point for Liu Shan Men.

    Shen Yiren and Liu Shan Men will have my loyalty from today onwards.

    At that moment, a voice that was panting from the streets called out: "V-Vice-captain, W-Wait for me."

    The silhouette of a person slowly came closer from within the distance. He was out of breath.

    It was Liu Yuan!

    He went to the pce to notify Boss Shen, but couldn''t catch up.

    "I had something to say but you rode off faster than anybody around. I, I have a matter to report!" Liu Yuan appeared before us and looked dead like a nt. He panted for air and eximed: "Vice-captain, we have an urgent matter. That uhh¡­ that, that¡­ Su Xiao¡­ Su Xiao took our men to trespass into the Qilin main courtyard!"

    Su Xiao: "¡­¡­"

    Tang Ye: "¡­¡­."

    Me: "¡­¡­."

    Boss Shen: "¡­¡­. Uhm, have a rest."

    Seeing him out of breath from running after her, Boss Shen couldn''t bear to scold him.

    Notes:

    The chapter title is also a pun since the "Yiren" part in Shen Yiren''s name means "lover", so it can also mean "So-called Lover" which refers to her being the crush of Dragon Licking the Ground and Song Bastard

 Volume 2 34 The Minor Lord of Liu Shan Men

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 34 The Minor Lord of Liu Shan Men</h4>

    After driving Long Zaitian away, Boss Shen returned to her own study without a word. Song Ou was an embarrassment tonight so he didn''t dare to act up, ying fianc¨¦e and annoying Boss Shen, instead, sadly sneaking off.

    The Shen sisters, I mean, siblings were the only ones in the study.

    Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I, the biggest culprits tonight, were soon called to her study.

    I was a bit thirsty from all the running so I went to the kitchen to steal a few pears before heading over. I chomped on my pear as I entered Boss Shen''s study. When I entered, I saw Su Xiao and Tang Ye lined up before the desk copping a scolding

    Tang Ye had his head lowered as Boss Shen scolded him. Tang Ye is quite the honest guy, so he was probably reflecting on his actions. Su Xiao also had his head down¡­ he even let out a beautiful snoring sound every now and then. It was obvious he had fallen asleep. Just as Su Xiao was swaying and about to drop to the ground, I entered the study, reached a hand out to catch him around his slim waist, and supported his shoulder so that he wouldn''t fall. The bloody punk dared to fall asleep while Boss Shen was lecturing him. It looks like he''spletely spent.

    Boss Shen didn''t seem to notice and continued: "You were lucky this time. I managed to arrive just in time and only Long Zaitian was in the capital. You are aware we only have one captain and one vice-captain and Liu Shan Men while the Qilin Guards have three vice-captains, right? You''ve seen how arrogant Long Zaitian is. He alone dared to give Song Ou trouble. If they hadn''t sent so many men out on missions, they wouldn''t have given up today."

    She then seemed to finally notice that Su Xiao wasfortably leaning on my shoulder with his sleeping face on.

    Boss Shen asked: "What''s wrong with Su Han?"

    "He¡­¡­."

    I gently nudged Su Xiao who was hugging me like a kitten, but all I got was a worn out moan: "Meow, meow¡­" Su Xiao turns into a cat whenever he sleeps. Is he even the offspring of a human?!

    "Fell asleep. Su Xiao insisted on fighting ten alone at the Qilin Guards ce today when his martial arts skills are¡­ well¡­ you already know what Su Xiao''s skills are like. He was revving himself up before, so I guess he can''t hang in there any longer."

    "Don''t wake him up then. The kid is just¡­¡­"

    Boss Shen shook her head and said: "While the fault of today''s incident mainly lies with the Qilin Guards, it is a fact that Su Xiao vited Liu Shan Men''s rules by acting without my permission. Kuang, make a note to punish Su Xiao by deducting half of his annual sry."

    Young master Kuang was now in his male clothing. Noticing how his sister was angry, he gave a slightly perturbed response: "I have made a note."

    Tang Ye then suddenly said: "Vice-captain, I feel that your judgement is unfair."

    "Oh?" Boss Shen turned to look at Tang Ye and asked, "How so?"

    "Su Xiao did indeed make a mistake today. However, our colleagues at Liu Shan Men wouldn''t be so united and wouldn''t have regained their fire if it weren''t for him. Yes, he was wrong, but his achievements more thanpensate for his fault. So his achievement was more significant than his fault. Vice-captain, you must be just with rewards and punishments. A fault must be punished, and an achievement must be rewarded."

    Boss Shen didn''t know if she could follow his suggestion. She swept her upassionate eyes over Tang Ye, and then suddenly fixed her gaze on me.

    "Feizhen, what do you think about what Yan Ling said?"

    I didn''t stand up for Su Xiao like Tang Ye did because I knew Boss Shen wasn''t trying to make things difficult for Su Xiao.

    I smiled and replied: "Boss, you have already made a decision yourself. You''re just asking for my opinion to respect my feelings. It''s best to just follow your decision."

    "Clever and mischievous as ever." Boss Shen red at me but her tone couldn''t hide herpliments for me, "I really want to know if there''s anything that can be hidden from you."

    Boss Shen looked at the sleeping face that resembled the face of a child and couldn''t help but reveal a beautiful smile that outsiders would never get to see. The sight of her smile made my heart beat faster.

    "He''s a silly child, but I like him."

    Her affectionate tone was like that of a mother doting on her daughter, I mean, doting on¡­ Su Xiao. Why is it that I can never find the right words to describe him?

    "Liu Shan Men requires someone like him. Half of Su Xiao''s sry shall be deducted, but he will also be promoted to Bai Hu. He shall stay with Ming Feizhen''s small team and continue his learning."

    While the three offices also have titles and political roles, like the emperor''s entourage who investigate fraud cases, the martial world is usually involved with most of the jobs. You could say that the three offices are somewhat pugilistic world people. Therefore, their regtions are a lot more liberalpared the imperial court. For instance, they have a lot more freedom when promoting members.iu Shan Men''s captain and vice-captain can promote members to over five ranks which include, recorder, secretary, Bai Hu (master of a hundred), prefect and Qian Hu (master of a thousand). Three of them are civil official ranks, and two are military officer ranks.iu Shan Men''s Bai Hu and the Qilin Guardsmander are of equal rank, both being seventh rank officials in the central ranks. While the position is named "master of one hundred", the official in said rank certainly doesn''t have a hundred men under him. It''s just a vacant title. But as long as the ministry of personnel epts it, Su Xiao will be a legitimate official.

    That''s no small matter. While it''s just a vacant title, it still makes the title holder an official. Being of Bai Hu rank means that the title holder has risen above the status of a peasant, and is a legitimate official. Don''t underestimate the small change. To go from amoner to an official is a big deal. Many schrs never manage to achieve that much in a lifetime. That achievement alone would make people feel enough hate and jealousy to keep them up at night.

    Su Xiao wasn''t supposed to have such a fortunate fate.

    However, the recorder and secretary ranks that Liu Shan Men can autonomously grant are ninth rank official ranks. Those two positions actually have jobs to do, and aren''t just vacant titles. But you can''t just go and promote Su Xiao to some civil official rank. The prefect and qian hu ranks are fifth rank official ranks. Su Xiao can''t get promoted to a fifth rank official position for going and vandalising the Qilin Guards ce now, can he? If the emperor found out, he''d die from anger.

    Thus, the bai hu rank was most appropriate.

    The rank was also very different to civil official or military officer ranks.

    Schrs study in solitude for a decade, go through many examinations, and after many trials, still have to wait for the imperial court to offer a position to be an official. Military offers don''t have as many struggles. They''ll be promoted as long as they can make themselves useful. They don''t have to deal with as many rules since they can''t really demonstrate theirpetence outside of special events like the imperial martial arts tournament, thereby leaving the decision up to their superiors.

    I came up with the above as an individual formerly involved with the martial world as well as being a loyal reader of the ck and White Reflection.

    Thank youdies and gentlemen.

    While I was swimming in my own thoughts, Boss Shen suddenly looked towards me as if she were scanning me. Shen then said: "Ming Feizhen reported to me in a timely manner, handled things well and didn''t panic when faced with danger. From today, Ming Feizhen shall be promoted to head constable with no changes to his sry."

    Whoa! I just got a promotion out of nowhere!

    I sort of knew what Boss Shen was thinking.

    Su Xiao is a member of my team and has be a seventh rank official. While he has no actual power, his position is now higher than mine, which might make me unhappy as the team captain. To prevent that, she promoted me to head constable.

    A head constable is not an official position so even if the imperial court doesn''t ept it, Boss Shen can promote me if she pleases. The head constable rank is the same as the head guard position in the Qilin Guards, and the master position for the emperor''s entourage. A constable''s treatment can''tpare to an official''s. However, it''s a different case if we''re talking about just the three offices. A head constable can order the constables acting as his subordinates. So while the title isn''t all that, I''ve actually got a lot of power!

    And based on what I know, I''m now the only head constable at Liu Shan Men since Nan Jing''s Liu Shan Men doesn''t have many constables and the experienced constables are out in other areas.

    Ahahahahaha. I revealed the fearless smile of the minor lord of Liu Shan Men. I''ll be able to take as much wine and food from Liu Shan Men''s storage as I like from now! Let''s see who dares to bug me to clean my room now!! Let''s see who dares to wake me up early now! Ahahaha!!

    *Smack!*

    An inkstone smacked me on my face¡­ Fucking divine inkstones-manship! Hey! I didn''t look at your boobs! While they''re very soft and voluptuous, I haven''t looked damn it!

    "Fuck you, minor lord of Liu Shan Men! You treating me as if I''m dead?!"

    Right¡­ Sorry, I forgot my manners.

    Boss Shen red at me and continued: "Also, Feizhen, your experience in the pugilistic world is rtively mess-¡­ rtively rich, and you''re a quick thinker, so I''d like to ask you to help mee up with a solution for a problem."

    This sh*t again¡­

    I really don''t get why officials and office workers always seek out us ck and White Reflection readers for our knowledge.

    Boss Shen reluctantly said: "It''s about the captain''s matter¡­¡­"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Notes:

    Bai Hu = Master of a hundred; Qian Hu = Master of a thousand. Would you prefer me to use the pinyin, or would you prefer me to use the English? I personally would use the pinyin to save myself the trouble of typing more, but if it makes your reading experience better if I use the English, I shall do so. Let me know below in thements.

 Volume 2 35 Minor Lord of the Inkstone

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 35 Minor Lord of the Inkstone</h4>

    I took a bite of my pear and spoke with my mouth fool: "Is it about Captain Song''s duel with Long Zaitian?"

    "That''s right. This was a mess Captain Song himself caused, but we have to help him solve it." Boss Shen pondered something for a while, "The duel doesn''t just involve him alone. It involves Liu Shan Men as a whole."

    "Do you think that Song Ou is doomed to lose, boss?"

    Boss Shen thought about it for a while and then nodded.

    "The captain isn''t weak, but he''s used to being guarded right, left and centre since he always had tens of reputable martial arts experts following him in Yang Zhou. He''s never fought anybody himself. It''s theplete opposite with Long Zaitian. He and I are both part of the seventeen hidden dragons. Not only does he have lots of fighting experiencing in the pugilistic world, he managed to attain his current position through blood and sweat. As for his martial arts skills, even if were to disregard the fact that he''s among the top among Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings, his self-created Evesting Regret Ultimate Palms could easily put him in the top twenty. I can''t say I could beat him if I was to fight him myself¡­ The moment he was arranged to duel Long Zaitian, his chances of losing were already 99.9%.

    Hmm¡­ I supported Su Xiao with one hand and used my other hand to raise my pear to my mouth and take a bite. The juices filled my mouth with a sweet aroma.

    Song Ou''s duel¡­ is certainly problematic.

    This isn''t just about Song Ou''s honour and glory alone. This is important to Liu Shan Men''s sess or otherwise failure as well. Long Zaitian is a true veteran of the pugilistic world. He got us good with this. Boss Shen wanted to win the emperor''s favour through the imperial martial arts tournament, but if Song Ou were to lose then Liu Shan Men''s hopes of rising again would be reduced to a pipe dream. It''s easy to see why. None of the achievements of the other members could make up for the captain himself losing.

    If they were to truly duel, I reckon it would take three Song Ous to beat Long Zaitian alone. Song Ou''s problem isn''t his skills, but something else.

    But since it was a ring fight and Long Zaitian deliberately set him up, Brother Bastard must be racking his brains for a way out too.

    Hmm¡­ If we can''t solve the problem face-to-face when they fight, we''ll just have to incapacitate Long Zaitian before the duel then. But based on what I know up to now, the only way to do that is for me to go and jump him¡­ No, that won''t work. While I could help Liu Shan Men, I can''t do something with such a high risk. If Long Zaitian were to be incapacitated the day right after Boss Shen brought Song Ou''s problem up with me, I''ll definitely be suspected, so that won''t do.

    I tried toe up ideas as I shook my head, and so my eyes came along for the ride. As I was thinking of a solution my eyes suddenly locked on to something.

    When my eyes caught a glimpse of Boss Shen, they suddenly got drawn in.

    What my eyes were looking at were voluptuous-white valleys. Her white flesh formed big round, plump curves that looked like they were going to burst out of her shirt.

    My eyes were like hands caressing them; just looking at them made it feel like I could feel their soft touch in my hands.

    I haven''t practiced my religious practices for a number of days now, I actually feel like my determination is waning. My heart suddenly turned sincere. My, my, I''ve got a good idea.

    But my dear bosom-worshipping followers, I shouldn''t tell Boss Shen about it. I have a feeling that I''ll have another inkstone mmed on my face if I bring it up.

    "Feizhen? Have youe up with something?"

    "Ah? Ah, yeah, sect leader."

    "Sect leader?" Boss Shen red at me angrily, but then she couldn''t help butugh, "Why did you call me sect leader? Look at you, looking like your soul got stolen away. Which sect''s sect leader do I resemble, huh?" Boss Shen chuckled. Her bosom jiggled naughtily.

    I took in a deep breath. I was moved more than I could describe. I immediately covered Tang Ye''s eyes and aggressively eximed: "Kids can''t look!"

    Tang Ye: "¡­¡­"

    Boss Shen tilted her head and asked: "Why did you cover Yan Ling''s eyes? Does your answer have something to do with him?"

    "Ah¡­ Well¡­ that''s it! It''s got to do with Tang Ye." I suddenly had a hit of inspiration and remembered the idea of incapacitating Long Zaitian, "Here''s what I think. While we can''t stop their duel or increase Captain Song''s chances of winning, we can increase the chances of Long Zaitian losing."

    "Losing?" Boss Shen reacted as if she never heard of such a n. She curiously asked: "What do you mean?"

    "Long Zaitian has a 90% chance of winning his duel against Captain Song. But what if he fought somebody before their duel?"

    Boss Shen seemed to have caught on. She looked towards Tang Ye: "You mean to say¡­¡­"

    "Tang Ye." I nodded and replied, "Vice-captain, please bring it up with his majesty. Just say that it''s not fair on the other participants for their vice-captain to be able to skip the queue and go straight to the duel with our captain. So ask that they too must follow thepetition structure. And our captain''s duel with Long Zaitian will naturally be thest bout. As long as you''re able to clear up Tang Ye''s situation, you will be able to arrange it so that Long Zaitian has to go through Tang Ye first."

    "But Yan Ling is still young. While his skills are quite good, his opponent is Long Zaitian."

    "That''s part of the n. Tang Ye''s goal is to get Long Zaitian to expend his energy. As long as Tang Ye is able to force Long Zaitian to use his best skills and expend his energy, then the n is a sess.

    Even if Tang Ye were to lose, his reputation would only increase since he forced the Qilin Guards'' vice-captain to use his true skills against a normal constable."

    Boss Shen''s expression brightened up: "That will work! It won''t be hard for Song Ou to win if Yan Ling can tire out Long Zaitian."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I looked to Tang Ye, and ced the heavy responsibility on his shoulders by patting him on his shoulder.

    "Ye, you''re the next-in-line minor lord of Liu Shan Men!"

    Tang Ye scrunched his face up. It looked like it took a lot of determination for him to stop himself cursing and resist punching me. After a few moments, he painfully said: "No¡­ problem."

    "Uhm, good boy."

    Now that''s the minor lord I chose!

    I took a bite of my pear and thought about the winning probability between Tang Ye and Long Zaitian. Long Zaitian has great skills, but Tang Ye isn''t bad. Tang Ye should be able to draw with him if he trains diligently.

    I''m more worried about Su Xiao. The three of us all got into the rematches. I''m going to find an excuse to lose and be done with it. But Su Xiao wants to win. I think he could fight two bouts at best with his skills. I''m just worried about him being matched up against a Qilin Guard. Given the enmity between him and them from today''s incident, it''ll be a huge deal up on the ring.

    I thought about things.

    A voice from in front of the desk yelled out.

    "Ming Feizhen, where are you looking?!"

    "Huh? Nothing, I''m just looking at my pear."

    Boss Shen went silent andpletely red in the face after hearing response.

    Hmm? Hmm? Hey! Wait! I wasn''t talking about your "pears", what are you blushing for?! But then I suddenly realised that the pear in my hand, and Boss Shen''s slightly undone cor were connected in a virtually sinful position¡­..

    But, wait! I''m innocent!! I honestly wasn''t checking them out this time!!

    Boss Shen didn''t say a word. She raised her hand and another inkstone mmed against my face!

    My poor face! Not this motherfucking divine inkstonesmanship sh*t again!!!

 Volume 2 36 Dark Clouds Loom Over the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 36 Dark Clouds Loom Over the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament</h4>

    Ming Feizhen''s n worked as predicted.

    Shen Yiren told the emperor that the warriors weren''t pleased to know that Long Zaitian cut the line like that to go straight to Song Ou, which was received with agreement from most of the military officials. The imperial martial arts tournament is an opportunity for most martial artists to make a name for themselves. So you can''t just create a spot just because you wanted to. Most of the ministers in the hall agreed, plus the emperor was in his silly-daddy mode, so he passed down the order before Long Zaitian even had a chance to object.ong Zaitian and Song Ou had to start from the rematches.

    Thus, the rematches which the two were now participants of developed into a livelier event. The atmosphere from the crowd was intense, with it growing more intense each round, consequently raising the energy for finals tomorrow to a new level.

    Song Ou and Long Zaitian were going to enter the finals after finishing up in the rematches. Tomorrow is thest day of the imperial martial arts tournament. The emperor will be bringing the royal family with him to spectate it. That was what the warriors were eagerly waiting for.

    The most important day of the imperial martial arts tournament was thest day where they would have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills before the emperor himself.

    In regards to safety in the imperial pce, the ck Winds Thirteen Wings didn''t appear again in the imperial city after Shen Yiren formed tight guard structures. Instead, they killed another skilled Qilin Guard, except this time, Long Zaitian didn''t fly off the handle as though he had epted his face.

    The bouts for today were over.ong Zaitian hurried towards the imperial study. He got forced into the rematches today out of the blue. With his skills, it obviously wasn''t hard to win, but it was just a waste of time though.

    He wanted to report to the emperor about the orange prince mutiny n after the conference ended. But instead, Shen Yiren ended up screwing him over and making him fight. It was an easypetition for him. The day had passed and he didn''t know if the emperor was in the study or not. He could only go and try his luck. But the orange prince''s n to revolt must be reported.ong Zaitian wasn''t an idiot. While he sports a crude appearance, he''s actually quite smart, otherwise he wouldn''t have been able to ensnare Song Ou in his trap the way he did.

    He knew that the orange prince''s n wouldn''t seed.

    The current emperor is apetent emperor. The ministers have no idea how much power he truly wields. Take for example the top three in Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. All three of them are overwhelmingly powerful characters. The three of them only take orders from the emperor. They won''t give anybody else time of the day.

    The orange prince''s n is too mboyant. With the ck Winds Thirteen Wings killing a person each day, they''ve already attracted the attention of many. There''s bound to be more than one person or group tracking them in the capital. The orange prince thinks that he''ll be able to get his hands on the emperor''s throat as soon as they spring into action, but that''s just naive thinking.

    With the ck Winds Thirteen Wings around in the imperial martial arts tournament grounds, the emperor has definitely set up a trap to with no escape. Maybe those three aforementioned people will show up too.

    The orange prince''s n can''t possibly seed.

    Forget the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, if the emperor were to be on guard, the orange prince might still fail even if he were to order the entirety of the league of assassins.ong Zaitian was flustered. He wasn''t worried about the orange prince getting screwed, but himself getting screwed! If he doesnn''t report the matter beforehand and the orange prince exposes him, there''ll be nothing he can do to wiggle his way out.

    As soon as he entered the Forbidden City, Long Zaitian asked a low-ranking eunuch to notify the emperor.

    He waited for a long time. And then he was told the emperor was in the study right now reading!!ong Zaitian followed the eunuch closely. When he entered the study, he knelt down to salute the emperor.

    "I have a matter to report!"

    After a long silence, the emperor continued to read instead of responding.ong Zaitian continued to kneel quietly. After a while, Long Zaitian couldn''t stand the silence and added: "It is about his highness, the orange prince and the safety of the nation!"

    The emperor finally responded to him. He only heard what sounded like the emperor shutting his book and slowly ask: "Minister Long, what is it?"

    When the young voice entered his ears, Long Zaitian felt like he''d been thrown into an ice-bath.

    The voice was very clear and extremely familiar. It belonged to none other than the one who ckmailed him yesterday, the orange prince!ong Zaitian quickly raised his head and saw the orange prince sitting on the emperor''s seat. The orange prince chuckled coldly and asked: "Minister Long, you don''t need to be so rushed to salute me. What did you want to report? Something about the orange prince and the safety of the nation? What might you be referring to?"ong Zaitian felt a chill run down his spine. Not only did the orange prince read his mind, he was even a step ahead, waiting for him in the study. This ce was very deep in the pce. Princes were not permitted to stay here once they grew up. The orange prince seemed to be able toe and go as he pleased. What level of power must he hold to aplish such a feat?

    "Were you going to tell my father that I hired the ck Winds Thirteen Wings and was the mastermind behind the string of murders?" The orange prince looked at Long Zaitian like he was a god-like being, like Long Zaitian''s life was in his hands.

    "I don''t understand. You swore allegiance to me yesterday and yet now you are going back on your word."

    "I am not going back on my word. It is just that what you are after is too grand. I am but a normal person. I do not possess thepetence to follow your lead."

    "Is there any point in reporting it to my father? Do you have proof?" The orange prince chuckled coldly once again, "You can''t even find a trace of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. Framing a prince for treason will result in the death penalty."ong Zaitian resolutely replied: "That''s still better than actually revolting!"

    "Man must try, though the result lies with the heavens. It frankly doesn''t matter if you understand my n or not. I just want an answer from you. Do you want to keep your life?"

    The orange prince daggered Long Zaitian and killing intent came from both sides of the book shelf. It was clear that the orange prince''s men had locked-on to Long Zaitian as their target. If his reply was to the displeasure of the orange prince, he would die on the spot.ong Zaitian''s attempt at mutiny was stopped. He was aware he was helpless. He lowered his head like a defeated man: "Your highness, you predicted everything very well; I ept defeat. Do as you will with me."

    However, the orange prince replied: "Why would a man mention death so easily? I have always liked you and felt that you were a rare talent. I took a liking to you when you created the Parting Song Fists back then. You''re even more amazing now. Why would I not take such talent under my wing? You''re still just a vice-captain of the Qilin Guards and that is because my father has poor judgement."ong Zaitian replied in a puzzled tone: "Your highness, you mean¡­¡­"

    "A man does not desire anything but power and women. As long as you assist me, the captain of the Qilin Guards position will be yours."

    The orange prince''s promise was like that of the devil''s whisper, slowly making its way to Long Zaitian''s heart.

    I also heard¡­ that after we parted ways, you went to Liu Shan Men but ended up getting humiliated by Shen Yiren before everybody."ong Zaitian couldn''t help but blush: "That¡­ that¡­.."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I have one other thing I want you to know. When I was in a pinch, that bitch Shen Yiren who doesn''t know any better resisted. I have plenty of beauties. You could have a harem if you wish."ong Zaitian quickly retorted: "No, I can''t do that!!"

    "I thought so. Those vulgar women can''tpare to Shen Yiren who I''d capture for you. I''ll strip her naked and send her to your bedroom."ong Zaitian''s heart sped up. He saved the image of Shen Yiren sleeping sexily in high-definition and his chest started burning up.

    "I-Is that true?"

    "Heh. Once I seed, Shen Yiren will be your wife! And then you can make it true, can''t you?"ong Zaitian clenched his teeth: "Your highness, what exactly is it that you want me to do?"

    The orange prince revealed a friendly smile but his smile sent a cold chill down the back of Long Zaitian: "I want thirteen spots. Thirteen spots in the Qilin Guards'' ranks."

    "Thirteen spots¡­ The ck Winds Thirteen Wings¡­¡­"

    "There''s nothing to think about, Minister Long."

    The orange prince cut off Long Zaitian''s train of thought.

    "Yesterday plus today, I''ve killed twelve of your men. I don''t care if I have to continue killing to reach my goal number." The orange prince''s friendly smile disappeared. A stern look appeared in his eyes, "Minister Long, do you want to be the thirteenth corpse, or do you want glory and riches with a beauty in your arms? Make your mind up right now!"

    The second day was the final day of the imperial martial arts tournament.

    Thest round of the rematches would determine the final six contestants.

    Then there would be eight finalist bouts with four bouts fought. Then the two winners would square off in a final bout.

    The emperor will start spectating from the finalist rounds.iu Shan Men was in charge of guarding the imperial city''s main gate inside and out.

    The emperor''s entourage was responsible for protecting the rtives of the royal family spectating, the major ministers and their families.

    The Qilin Guards took up their posts close to the emperor, and were in charge of guarding the royal family.

    And on this day, thirteen unfamiliar people blended in with the Qilin Guards.

    The thirteen of them were going to turn the venue into anything but a martial arts tournament.

 Volume 2 37 Something as Minor as Releasing Someone Can be Done by Anyone

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 37 Something as Minor as Releasing Someone Can be Done by Anyone</h4>

    "Yi Yixian? We have to release him today?"

    Boss Shen nodded: "Yeah. Release him tonight."

    "Yeah¡­?" I sat on Boss Shen''s desk and chomped on my pear. With my mouth full, I said: "Do we need to release him so soon? That punk injured old Huang. Old Huang is still bed-ridden."

    "I don''t want to either." Boss Shen shrugged, "But he qualified for the rematches and has topete tomorrow. Furthermore, old Huang didn''t die. It''s not really right for us to lock him up when he''s an official after all."

    "Hmm¡­¡­." I casually flipped through the documents on Boss Shen''s desk and took another bite of my pear. The distinct sweet pear juice entered my mouth and it felt like the atmosphere turned much more pure. I asked: "So we have to release him tonight?"

    "Yes. This is my hand-written decree." Boss Shen tossed a book over. On it was her mark she uses. The ink was still wet so she must''ve just finished writing it. Boss Shen didn''t raise her head: "I got punished by the emperor trying to resolve the mess you all caused. I have to write a report exining what happened with Long Zaitian so don''t bother me."

    I only realised it when I took the hand-written decree. Boss Shen wants me to go and release him?

    Hey, hey, hey, are you joking here? I''m the only head-constable at Nan Jing''s Liu Shan Men, Liu Shan Men''s minor lord. You want me to go and handle something so trivial?

    "Can''t you just get somebody else? I mean, it''s just releasing Yi Yixian."

    Boss Shen didn''t reply. She suddenly frowned and said: "Why are you sitting on my desk? Mind your manners." But she didn''t kick me out right away. She just re-arranged the books that I made a mess of. Boss Shen doesn''t care about her subordinates'' hygiene and tidiness, but she is extremely attentive of maintaining order in her work environment. I heard that her thinking gets affected if it''s messy.

    "Give me back the document in your hand. You''re all grown up already and yet you''re like a kid." Boss Shen snatched the document in my hand and red at me. In a tone that indicated that she had set expectations for me, hoping I''d pick up the ck, she said: "You''re only good at wasting your time on those meaningless things. Start being more mindful of yourself, alright!?"*

    Sigh, that hurt my heart!

    What she just said made me feel like a prostitute that was having an illicit affair with the minister of households, got busted by his wife and concubines, and then got locked up and tortured before finally jumping out the window and breaking my leg. I was just scanning some documents and gossiping. What''s wrong with that?!

    Boss Shen then redirected the topic back to Yi Yixian: "Of course we can''t get somebody randomly to release him. Yi Yixian is a narrow-minded person. Once we release him, he''ll definitelye back to try and get back at us. You''ve fought him before, and you''re much more despicable, so of course it''s on you toe up with a way to mess with him so he doesn''t cause too much trouble in future."

    "He''s useless though. Anybody can scare him, right?"

    "Feizhen, don''t underestimate him." Boss Shen sneezed beautifully and then red at me with her alluring eyes, "While he only got promoted to the Jia rank out of pure luck, he''s still someone who has the skills of a warrior at the Bing rank. You and Su Han might not even be able to beat him together."

    Uhm, that makes sense, boss.

    Normally, I could squash Yi Yixian with a single finger, but once the burden Su Xiao is added to the equation, I''m no longer so confident.

    "Alright then. I''ll choose the method I use myself then."

    "It''s all in your hands." Boss Shen looked at as if to imply something, thenughed and said: "I''ll allow you to use some despicable means."

    "Hmm? What means?"

    Boss Shen looked at me with a teasing gaze: "You and Tang Ye¡­ You know what I''m talking about."

    ¡­¡­

    Fuck!! Boss, can we schedule some time to clear up some things?!

    That mistake is ridiculous!

    Not only do you think Tang Ye and I¡­ You want me to "serve" that Dong Po''s Liu Zi looking organism Yi Yixian¡­?! Fuck me!!

    "There''s nothing between tang ye and I!!"

    "Who knows?" Boss Shen shrugged and then suddenly stared at a spot on my body I can''t mention, "Well, it''ll just depend on whether or not you can get it up for a woman."

    What?! You''re so perverted, girl!!

    I quickly covered myself up.

    Boss Shen on the other hand was enjoying herself.

    Seeing Boss Shenugh uncontrobly like that, I knew she was teasing me.

    I ought to let her taste the counterattack of a veteran.

    "Boss, you seem to be in a good mood today." I cleverly snuck a nce at the part on Boss Shen''s body where my goddess resides, the celestial region of my sect where the twin divine weapons reside, "Oh, you''re wearing silk ck today. It''s different to the flower print yester-"

    *Smack*

    An inkstone smacked me on my face.

    Boss''s hand speed seems to have improved again¡­¡­

    "I''m going now."

    It was fine with me.

    I massaged my face.

    It''s time for me to do some legitimate work now anyhow.

    I took out another pear from my shirt and took a bite. I then continued walking towards our jail with the mark of an inkstone on the left side of my face.

    Inside Liu Shan Men''s cells, the new prisoner, the Qilin Guards'' Yi Yixian''s cell. His identity was special so he was locked up in a single segregated cell.

    At the beginning, Yi Yixian was somewhat disturbed when he heard he had beaten someone to death. But then when he heard the old geezer wasn''t dead, he naturally stopped worrying about having to repay the blood debt with his own life. However, he then started worrying about his future prospects.

    Being captured by a low-ranked constable from Liu Shan Men basically equated to smothering poop on the Qilin Guards'' reputation, so his arrest would have a great impact on his future as a Qilin Guard. Long Zaitian didn''t like him to begin with. When he returns to his post, he might end up getting kicked out. In other words, the longer he spent locked up, the more danger he was in.

    Tonight, the sky was beautiful and it was quiet, but unfortunately, it wasn''t a time where Yi Yixian could be at ease. He pondered those things over and over, tossed and turned but couldn''t fall asleep. He then suddenly heard the sound of the lock at the doore unlocked and the door suddenly opened.

    "Who goes there?!"

    Yi Yixian immediately sat up, and looked across the dark cell. While he wasn''t a top level master in the pugilistic world, he did spend ten years training diligently. When the door opened, he only heard the locke unlocked. He didn''t hear any footsteps or breaths, so his first reaction was someone skilled hade!

    "Who¡­ who are you?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yi Yixian just managed to recognise that it was a tall male thanks to the faint light outside. The male seemed to have some special characteristic causing one to be unable to avert their gaze once they caught sight of him. His aura gave off a very oppressive feeling, as though he could take a life without any effort. To put it into perspective, it was like being in an oxygen filled room where even the oxygen is your enemy. Yi Yixian''s entire body kept sending him danger signals.

    "Th-Thirteen Winds ck Wings?!!"

    Yi Yixian couldn''t help but think that way. Who else with such an intense murderous intent that you could virtually see with your naked eyes would visit in the middle of the night? If he had to guess, it''d be the ck Winds Thirteen Wings who''d been killing Qilin Guardstely.

    But the male didn''t look like he intended to attack. He just slowly walked over.

    He had a pear in his hand and ate it without any reservation for manners while his gaze looked like he was mocking him.

    Yi Yixian slowly began to see his facial features more clearly. He was a young man, around twenty-five or twenty-six, give or take a few years. He had dark ck eyes which he used to look at him. All of his other facial features were rtively unimportantpared to his breathtaking eyes. In terms of appearance, he looked rather ordinary with no outstanding features, but he was also free of shortings. Objectively speaking, he could be considered a flower boy. While he doesn''t possess any attractive features, the longer you looked at him, the better he seemed to look.

    Yi Yixian suddenly realised he had seen him before. He was there at their ce with that crazy bitch Su Xiao.

    When he knew that it wasn''t the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, he stopped fearing for his life, instead getting angry. He cursed: "What do you want? You want to frame me, don''t you? Listen up, I¡­¡­"

    Before he could finish, the guy lifted up one leg and sent Yi Yixian flying out with a kick. Yi Yixian got caught off guard so he flew out like a piece of cotton.

    "Y-You dare hit¡­.."

    Yi Yixian was now much more careful. He carefully watched his two legs. But when a shoe suddenly appeared on his chin, Yi Yixian realised that the location where the foot originally was, was now vacant. He grunted. Yi Yixian took a kick right to his chin and he flew vertically up into the air like an onion getting ripped out of the ground. He looked like somebody with a huge invisible hand grabbed his hair and lifted him straight up. His blood sprayed all over the ce.

    When hended on the ground, he waspletely incapable of moving.

    "Wh-What exactly do you want?! What do you want?!!"

    Yi Yixian spat mouthfuls of blood that were stuck in his mouth; otherwise he wouldn''t be able to speak. He had to speak. He to continue speaking because otherwise, he felt that he was going to get driven crazy by this person before he would even respond.

    "So fucking annoying¡­.." The man cussed out of annoyance. His speech was mixed with the sound of his teeth tearing into the pear, and the chewing sounds he made were like a wild beast. Yi Yixian''s heart started to beat faster was if the piece of the pear he was chewing was his own flesh being ripped from his bones raw. His back suddenly started hurting.

    Is he really human? Yi Yixian had never seen anybody chew on a pear so violently.

    The man crouched down and looked at the top of Yi Yixian''s head. Yi Yixian felt like he was getting squashed by a big mountain. He couldn''t budge a finger. Yi Yixian suddenly felt that his life was in the hands of the man. All his rage, confusion and unease had vanished into thin air, and what was left was an instinct to submit. He felt like he had met his born enemy. He felt fear seep into every part of his body causing him to lose any remaining courage he had to put up a resistance.

    In a callous tone, he said: "You''ll do what I tell you to do." His tone made Yi Yixian realise that his life waspletely worthless to the man.

    Yi Yixian replied in a panicked manner: "U-Understood!"

    "I want you to do three things. First, you must never mention the fact that I visited you tonight."

    "I¡­ I will never mention it."

    "Second, when I call you Liu Zi in the future, you must respond."

    "¡­¡­ Understood."

    Yi Yixian then suddenly felt that the man wasn''t so frightening.

    "Third¡­¡­ "

    The man softly finished mentioning his demands. However, Yi Yixian didn''t respond. Instead he questioned him: "Wh-Why is that?"

    The man didn''t speak. Instead, he just smiled silently.

    Some things need to be exined through words, but sometimes, a smile is enough to ry the idea.

    Yi Yixian understood what he was implying from his smile. The smile meant for him not to ask anymore and that it wasn''t his ce to know.

    Yi Yxian felt his throat freeze up. He struggled to nod and reply: "I understand now¡­.."

    "I''ll release you."

    The man nonchntly pped his hand on the ground, ced the core of the pear on the ground, and then reached his hand out to unlock the lock.

    Yi Yixian watched hime closer. He suddenly had an evil thought from somewhere. Maybe it was a fight response since his life was hanging in the bnce. He decided to muster up all his strength and strike at his head with a palm strike using all his might!

    But that person unlocked the lock very quickly so the lock came undone in a quick moment. He just had the thought. He didn''t actually have the time to execute it.

    Just when he felt it was a pity, Yi Yixian saw the ground by coincident and his entire body broke out in a cold sweat.

    The man mmed the pear core right into the ground. The core of a pear is soft while the ground is hard, so he managed to put the pear core in the ground using the strength behind his palm strike. Moreover, not only did he dig it into the ground, he even used his hand to level the ground within a split second.

    The power of his palm strike was definitely not beneath the grandmander of the Qilin Guards. If we''reparing the bnce of yin yang, gentle and hard, then he would probably be even superior.

    Yi Yixian had never seen anybody who could match their grandmander''s skills. He had always seen the grandmander of the Qilin Guards as an invincible existence.

    But this man¡­ How can he be just a constable?!

    Yi Yixian felt he was going nuts!

    "Oh, right, I forgot to tell you." The man seemed to have remembered something. He turned his head around and added, "Remember to bring me two braised pork shoulders in soy sauce when youe to the imperial city for the tournament tomorrow."

    "¡­¡­"

    Yi Yixian really was going to go mad this time.

    Notes:

    *The phrase she used here indicates that she cares about him and he does somewhat upy a ce in her mind.

 Volume 2 38 How Did Dragon Knight Lose?!

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 38 How Did Dragon Knight Lose?!</h4>

    I''ve been very unlucky recently.

    Not only was I misunderstood by Boss Shen and take a few inkstones to my face, I even screwed up multiple times when I tried to withdraw from the imperial martial arts tournament.

    My original n was to skip the preliminaries and dodge thepetition since I wouldn''t have to participate in the semi-finals.

    But it didn''t turn out as nned. My opponent got killed by the ck Winds Thirteen Wings before I even got to see what he looked like!

    And so the innocent me ended up entering thesemi-finals.

    Then it happened again yesterday. I had three matches, in other words, I had at least three chances to leave the awkward situation.

    But then the ck Winds Thirteen Wings went and killed those three before I even got to see them once!

    For fuck sakes, do you people have any respect for the rules of the pugilistic world?!!

    Why is it that my opponents end up getting offed whether or not I''m present?! I can''t even cast my "Hey! Your sh*t has poison!", "I''ve already expended all my energy¡­", "Hey you bald monk, how dare you steal from this priest¡­" and the sort of lines characters use when they have tform to show their skills.

    And don''t remind me¡­ That fucking Yi Yixian¡­ He looks exactly like Dong Po Tavern''s Liu Zi, but the damn bastard brought me the braised pork shoulders from old Zhang''s ce where he sells shady pork. It was basically an insult to my tastebuds!

    God damn it, I''m so damn pissed!

    I pat my cheeks as I walked forward a few steps.

    There was a huge suspended tower in front of me. This was the venue of the imperial martial arts tournament. Today was thest day of the tournament, so I''m forced to go down there and put on a show too¡­.

    The ring was set up outside the za of the imperial city where it was best suited for holding events where there would be arge audience such as this.

    The ring was surrounded on four sides by a rowdy audience. Seats which were reserved for those with prominent identities were arranged around the ring. Those not qualified such as maids, eunuchs, minor ministers and secretaries, and so forth could only stand and watch thepetition from the farthest position. But even so, with such a major event being held in the imperial city that was rare to see, there was an ocean of people standing, creating a bustling atmosphere from morning till night with no stopping.

    I walked up closer. There were no stairs around the ring. It was just a big lonely tower. To get up there, you had to either leap up or disgracefully climb up.

    The point of the design was very obvious. It was for the participants to show their qinggong.

    So it was obvious all of the participants were skilled martial artists. Competitors had to demonstrate their prowess just getting onto the ring. That way, you didn''t have to fight to show off either. You might raise a white g and surrender upon being stunned by your opponent''s skills.

    As soon as I entered the ring, the crowd started talking.

    "Here we go, here we go!"

    "Hey look, it''s the guy that''s rumoured to be on par with the Qilin God of Battle!"

    "Oh! So it''s him?!"

    What? Qilin God of Battle?"

    I pat my cheeks and couldn''t help but blow out a big puff of air.

    Isn''t that the second strongest Qilin Guard? I heard he was still out and yet to return. What''s he got to do with me?

    I could only hear thedies and young housewives around the ring. The old man from the Zhang family and the Li family couldn''t stop gossiping. There was a particr military minister who doesn''t know any martial arts, but is very familiar with the pugilistic world. A few olddies, and girls shook his head while continuing to talk, causing him to be a bullsh*tting-misleading prophet.

    "You people are just ignorant. Come here,e here,e closer, I''ll tell you what the truth is."

    "They say that the Qilin God of Battle, Yi Ya is a living weapon. Death is inevitable when he strikes. Those who touch him will be wounded. He''s considered an ultimate living weapon. Sigh, I''ve seen Sir Yi arrest a criminal before. Don''t underestimate him because he''s young. That particr criminal had a great sabre that emitted energy in all directions. It was a very powerful sabre that could slice a bull from head-to-tail in half. But when he shed at Sir Yi''s body, his great sabre snapped. Sir Yi snapped it into bits and pieces, letting them scatter all over. Sir Yi managed to put him away with just a single gentle poke with his finger. The criminal couldn''t take one strike."

    The girls were wowed and frozen. They couldn''t help but exim.

    Somebody immediately voiced their objection: "Talk about exaggeration! A normal sabre that''s very sharp and wielded swiftly could also split a bull''s head in two. But that''s if you''re talking about restricting it and slicing it. Slicing it in half from head to tail? Putting all else aside, given how tough a bull''s head is, a great sabre wouldn''t even be able to cut it, yet you''re saying it cut from head down to the tail? That''s dream-talk!"

    "What would I lie to you for? There were witnesses. There were lots of people on the street who saw it happen. That criminal was very fierce, but he couldn''t do a thing to Sir Yi."

    The punk''s story was veryplete. It''s possible to snap a great sabre using just two fingers if your internal energy has been cultivated to a high enough level. If his story is true, that Yi Ya''s internal strength must be incredible, in fact, he might have surpassed the top martial artists of the pugilistic world. He would be ranked among the top level greats. But those people aren''t even using their brains. What sort of criminal would have the luxury of boasting while he''s being arrested¡­? He''s got to be bullsh*tting.

    But what I heard next shocked me.

    "But while the Qilin God of Battle was powerful, he finally met his foe. Look up there! He''s in the ring right now!"

    I suddenly stopped and back-tracked a few steps.

    Don''t look at me¡­ Don''t look at me¡­¡­

    "Eh? He walked back. Hmm? He''s heading back to the ring. Ah, he''s walking back again. What''s he hesitating for?"

    Fuck you, you got some vendetta against me?!!

    Why the hell are you locking on to me at a live event?!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I just gave up and jumped onto the ring.

    They had no idea I could hear their conversation clearly from a distance. They continued: "Is he really that powerful?"

    "Of course. That guy with the surname, Ming is no simple man. He''s the secret weapon that Liu Shan Men''s Shen Yiren uses to deal with Yi Ya."

    What? What? What?

    What''s this breaking news?

    How do they know something I''mpletely clueless about?! When did I reveal my secret?! I was truly panicked now.

    Could it be that my identity was revealed to some passer-by?!

    "Liu Shan Men''s Shen Yi Ren is incredible. She found three elite martial artists for the imperial martial arts tournament! One of the three is him."

    After he finished speaking, everybody turned to look at me.

    "Don''t look at him!"

    The prophet-like military minister shouted out to stop everybody from looking at me. But they weren''t the only ones confused. I was befuddled as well. Why can''t they look at me?

    "Do you know what makes him so fearsome? You will die upon touching the Qilin God of Battle, Sir Yi Ya . The man with the surname Ming there is no less fearsome. You will die if you look at him or listen to him!"

    ¡­.. Wait. Why does it get weirder and weirder the more I hear?

    "He hasn''t shown his martial arts skills once up until now. However, his opponents have been defeated by him. And that is the man who is on par with the Qilin God of Battle, Liu Shan Men''s gue, Ming Feizhen!"

    Fuck you, motherfucker!!

    Who came up with that sh*t name?! Square up!!!

    "Far out, he looks exactly like a human, I never imagined¡­¡­"

    "He''s that good at hurting people? You''re not lying are you?"

    This guy is sh*tting out of his mouth!

    I''ll show you who''s a gue!!

    My opponent then came up to the ring.

    Oh my god¡­¡­

    My opponent¡­ was a warrior from the emperor''s entourage. He was walking on crutches, limping forward slower than a snail while his face was pale as a sheet of paper, huffing and puffing.

    Hey, you took the wrong route to the doctor''s. Who''s so cruel that they''d get a cripple to fight?!

    The warrior''s eyes were nk. They werepletely unable to focus. He trembled as he lifted up one crutch to point at me. He arrogantly stabbed the air a few times with a prideful attitude while he mumbled "sss¡­", "sss¡­¡­", some indiscernible stuff.

    Me: "¡­¡­."

    The crowd down below cried out: "Watch out, Formless Sword Spirit!"

    "My! Could it be that that young man knows the long-lost Six Pulse Divine Sword?!"

    "One-finger death touch! It must be the one-finger death touch! Could he be master Cheng Duan fucking Qing?!"

    How¡­ how is this fool Formless Sword Spirit? He''s already a certified blind-man!!

    The warrior continued hissing without end while I awkwardly stood there. I can''t hit him, but I can''t not hit him.

    Which of these two aliases do you think is better: (a) bullying a cripple, or (b) being bullied by a cripple?

    The warrior didn''t quit. He was passionately stabbing the entire time.

    The shallow people below immediately started whining "What sort of martial artist are you to be bullying a disabled person", "If you''re tough, use real weapons", "Don''t use ck magic you gue"¡­¡­ It became an uproar all of a sudden.

    Come on, just finish me with your Six Pulse Divine Sword!!!

    I''m dying from embarrassment here!

    Before I could finishining, the warrior seemed to finally realise I wasn''t in front of him and his crutch didn''t reach me. He looked like he was squinting as he looked left and right quickly. His eyes then lit up as if he had finally found my location. My heart rate slowed down. There was still a chance.

    He looked focused, and suddenly let out a big breath of air like he was about to unleash some big move!

    I waited eagerly for him to give me the chance to bid farewell to the ring.

    But I never thought that he just needed to cough¡­¡­

    "Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!"

    His coughing worsened as if he was going to cough up blood¡­¡­ Hey! He''s coughing up blood! He''s coughing up lots of blood!!

    Bro! Bro! Don''t die! Beat me down first. Please!!

    It took him a good while to finish coughing. He looked like he took on seven or eight masters for three days and three nights, and had depleted all of his energy. His face was white as a sheet of paper while he leaned his entire body on his crutches. He looked like if he''d die if he moved.

    How am I going to lose to him? I''m afraid that he''d die if I were to hit him with a strand of noodle.

    Don''t think that I''m exaggerating. He needed six people to lift him into the ring!!

    I suddenly remembered that he was the one the ck Winds Thirteen Wings failed to assassinate. I heard that they failed to kill him that day, but still managed to severely wound him nheless. He would''ve been fine if he had just rested for some time, but he''s been fighting in the preliminaries and semi-finals all this time¡­¡­ So that''s why he turned out like this.

    He didn''t wait for me to finish speaking. He faced towards the sky and shouted: "Today, I Qi Feilong!!"

    Dragon Knight, huh?**

    Before he could finish, he red at me before falling down onto the ground with a loud thud.

    ¡­¡­

    The whole audience went silent. I held my breath and quietly awaited the referee decision¡­

    Decision my ass! Is there a need to question the result?!

    This isn''t fair!

    Fuck those fucking toxic ck Winds Thirteen Wings!! How the fuck did Dragon Knight lose?!!

    Notes:

    The title was a popr online game quote from a DOTA 2. I never yed that so I had to read up on what it even meant. It was basically a situation where a really strong yer/character (in this case it was Dragon Knight) who was too OP that it was impossible to make aeback against, but then the other team went and made aeback.

    **The Qilong sounds the same as Dragon Knight (the DOTA 2 hero)

    ***gue in Chinese has the character for "god/deity" in it, hence the joke

 Volume 2 39 Let Me Kiss You If I Win. Itâ€™s A Fair Deal.

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 39 Let Me Kiss You If I Win. It''s A Fair Deal.</h4>

    I immediately raised my hands to indicate that I was innocent: "I didn''t touch him. He fell down on his own."

    But everybody below the ring started gossiping among themselves.

    "He really is a gue!"

    "You have no choice but to believe it¡­¡­"

    "Eeek! Who said he''s on par with Qilin God of Battle? That guy is much more sinister than the Qilin God of Battle!!"

    One of the warriors from the emperor''s entourage came over and carried Qi Feilong away. As he walked away, he pouted: "He killed another. Damn!"

    Fuck you! Who killed him? Didn''t you all know that he was wounded by the ck Winds Thirteen Wings?!

    As he was being carried away, Qi Feilong continued muttering: "I¡­ I will definitely win this round. I want to let his majesty see my skills!"

    Keep moving around and you will indeed get to show his majesty your skills, except that it''ll be his majesty, the king of hell.

    Sigh. There''s nothing I can do. I''ll just have to ept the oue of the bout.

    No wonder Boss Shen virtually didn''t say anything about our performance at the imperial martial arts tournament. Now that I think about it, there''s nothing toin about regarding our performance this time. Tang Ye fought his way to the semi-finals with his skills. Su Xiao managed tost thanks to his poprity as well as his opponents not willing to hurt his beautiful face. The other constables were all eliminated.

    But all in all, for us to have three members remaining at this point, as long as one of us makes it to the finals, we''ll be able to prove that while Liu Shan Men isn''t what it used to be, we are no less than the other two offices in terms of cultivating talent.

    I want to cry but no tearse out!

    I suddenly came to a realisation. Am I the first one to make it to the finals?! This wasn''t what I was promised!

    The eunuch who refereed asked me to leave the ring first while waiting for them to examine Qi Feilong''s condition. There''s nothing to examine. His leg is already broken. None of you can immediately heal him.

    I got off the ring and tried my best to go somewhere with few people. But honestly speaking, there was no need for me to. Wherever I went, people would flee like I was a cat entering their rodent den¡­¡­

    "What happened here? Why is there such a fuss?"

    An individual with a fragrance and dressed in elegant clothing came. She had beautiful, heartstring-plucking-big watery eyes on her delicate and charming palm-sized face. Her fluffy looking face had a pretty aura that seemed to be able to prate into one''s heart. She was tall and she had long slender legs. She held her head up high and had an erect posture. It didn''t look like her feet moved when she walked. It was like she was gliding. Her strides were harmonious and elegant.

    When I saw her, I couldn''t help but reveal a bitter smile.

    "General Manager Bai¡­¡­"

    The individual who came was none other than the one who had a quick tryst with me, Eunuch Bai¡­¡­.

    "Ming Feizhen? So everybody is rowdy because of you, you punk." General Manager Bai jabbed at me, and then in a disdainful tone said: "Everybody else from Liu Shan Men can be said to have fulfilled their responsibilities dutifully. Why is it just you that''s greedy andzy? You caused another problem, didn''t you? Men, beat him with a pole."

    Eunuch Bai has always been picking on me ever since our small misunderstandingst time. But since I guard the small southern gate while she overwatched the vicinity around the ring, we didn''t have a chance to run into each other. But every time we run into each other, she always finds an opportunity to screw me over to vent for what happened that day.

    I replied in a loud voice: "It''s my turn to fight. I didn''t leave my post without permission."

    "You''re up? Why aren''t youpeting then?"

    Whether intentional or unintentional, Bai Ling red at me. She then revealed a disappointed look as if it upset her because I didn''t feel hurt by her words.

    Just as I was about to say something, a eunuch from behind suddenly announced: "The contestant has passed away and cannotpete. This match is won without fighting. Winner, Ming Feizhen!"

    Bai Ling pulled her beautiful eyebrows together and slightly opened her mouth with red lips that look like she had smothered honey on them. She paused for a moment before saying: "You really are¡­ a gue."

    What''s it got to do with me?!

    What is the League of Assassins doing? They''re so toxic I''ve been winning without fighting these past few days. If only they''d give Song Ou this toxin, so that he could just hate Long Zaitian to death and save everybody the headaches.

    While Bai Ling is cold towards everyone, she''s actually very good at ridiculing people.

    "Then howe others'' opponents are fine? Are you telling me it''s not because you''re cursed?"

    Yeah, yeah, yeah, it''s all my fault. Men don''t fight with women, or eunuchs.

    I turned around and walked off. I opened a sheet of paper. On it was the names of the people up next as well as the order.et''s see¡­¡­ The next bout is¡­¡­

    My nose suddenly got filled with a pure flower scent, refreshing me. The fragrant was elegant, but at the same time, sweet and strong like green bamboo. It was cold and elegant, but at the same time intoxicating. The scent her body carried was just like her. It carried a special trait which made one strangely attracted to her.

    No, no, no, it''s not "her"! A eunuch is not a "her"!

    I forcefully suppressed the strange feeling in my heart. I looked sideways and just as I thought, Bai Ling was leaning over towards me, not noticing how close she was to me.

    "Who''s up next¡­¡­? Hey, let me see."

    Bai Ling wanted to see the match schedule in my mind. However, I turned around instead, not letting her see.

    "General Manger Bai, I personally wrote this schedule. Didn''t you say I''m a gue?"

    "I''m under orders to maintain safety around the area, so I want to know the program. Hey! Let me see!"

    I won''t let Bai Ling see it no matter what she says. I''m a head taller than Bai Ling, so she won''t be able to reach it if I hold it up high.

    "Beg me!" I chuckled coldly: "Didn''t you say I''m a gue and that I''m cursed?"

    Bai Ling looked at me silently and then calmly said: "I can send you to guard the restrooms."

    "Huh? The what-room?"

    "The toilets."

    "Here you go."

    I respectfully handed it to her. Even though today is thest day of the imperial martial arts tournament and I know that we won''t have to guard the imperial city for much longer, I won''t guard the toilets for a single day!

    Bai Ling looked at my characters. She then raised an eyebrow: "I never thought you could write like Yan Zhenqing. I guess isn''t true when they say ''one''s (Chinese) characters are a good reflection of them as a person''."

    Piss off. No one asked for your opinion!

    "It''s Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye and¡­ the emperor''s entourage''s Tie Hanyi."

    Bai Ling raised her head and looked over to see Tang Ye and Tie Hanyi both preparing. They were already standing close to the ring. She gazed at them with her beautiful eyes for a while. She then gently shook her head: "What a pity. A great young talented man will be destroyed here today."

    I was puzzled: "What do you mean, General Manager Bai?"

    Bai Ling returned the program schedule to me, shrugged and said: "Long Zaitian and Tie Hanyi fought three years ago. In the end, Tie Hanyi won by one move. Tie Hanyi is skilled enough to be part of the seventeen hidden dragons."

    I widened my eyes with surprise, looked at Tie Hanyi and asked in a surprised tone: "That happened?"

    "Do you know why Tie Hanyi is still only a Jia-rank warrior? That''s because he chooses to remain there. Tie Hanyi has no interest in being promoted, but he''s very loyal to the emperor''s entourage and the imperial court. He''s acting as a gate guardian by holding the first Jia-rank seat, with the goal of selecting people he''s happy with."

    "Isn''t that contradictory?" In a questioning tone, I asked: "If Tie Hanyi has the skills to be in the seventeen hidden dragons, those who can''t beat him won''t be able to join the seventeen hidden dragon ranks. If that''s how it is, then everybody in the seventeen hidden dragons should be stronger than him. If the seventeen aren''t stronger than him, how can we say that he''s skilled?"

    "That''s because he deliberately leaves an opening for the person he chooses at thest minute. Sometimes, he also rmends those with skills close to his level for promotion." Bai Ling frankly said: "Long Zaitian is an example. He only lost to Tie Hanyi by one move. His skills are truthfully close to Tie Hanyi''s level, which is why Tie Hanyi rmended his promotion back then. What do you think the chances of Tang Ye winning are?"

    "So what?" In a dissatisfied tone, I said: "General Manager Bai, are you saying that the next minor lord of Liu Shan Men will lose to that big idiot?"

    "That''s the reality of it."

    General Manager Bai gave me a look of dissatisfaction as if she knew the oue long ago. She stroked her long neck, revealing her snow-white skin which had a tinge of rogue, and her provocative blinking eyes. Herrge eyes were evidently naughty and cute.

    "How about we make a bet?"

    "What are we betting on?"

    "I''m betting that Tie Hanyi will win this bout."

    "It goes without saying that I''m betting on Tang Ye."

    "Good." Bai Ling wore an expression of confidence like she knew what the result would be. She chuckled and said: "If I win, I want you to do something for me." Herugh carried a savage and sly tone almost as if she was saying "If you lose, I''m going to send you off to be a eunuch".

    I swiftly replied: "Alright. But if I win, shouldn''t you do something for me as well?"

    General Manager Bai asked in a curious tone: "What do you want me to do?"

    "Hmm¡­¡­" I subconsciously looked at General Manager Bai''s small pink pouty mouth. The image of me forcefully acting indecently towards her resurfaced, heating my body up, and so without realising, I smiled and asked: "Let me kiss you again?"

    Notes:

    Yan Zhenqin was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His artistic aplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the greatest master calligraphers of history.

    *For non-wuxia readers, just to rify, a move refers to a set of techniques, thinkbinations. To further rify, a move could be "Jab, jab, cross, snap kick", where the jab, cross and snap kick are techniques.

    In wuxia fights, when the fighters duke it out, what they are exchanging is moves. A style is consisted for moves strung together, which we now know as Taolu (wushu), forms (Muay Thai and many other styles), patterns (TKD), or Kata (Karate). In wuxia fights, characters extract moves from these sequences and use them inbat. And fights in wuxia are calcted by the number of moves used as opposed to time or rounds as we now use nowadays.

    So when they say "X won by one move, it means that after exchanging n number of moves", that''s what it means. By winning by more moves, it means X''s moves countered more of Y''s moves, meaning X was much superior to Y. The less moves X wins by, the closer matched X and Y are.

    Hope that rifies things for you. If you need further exnation, let me know.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Volume 2 40 Little Ming Ming Is In Troubleeft punch! Punch into a claw!

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 40 Little Ming Ming Is In Troubleeft punch! Punch into a w!</h4>

    Right kick! A palm strike was hidden behind the kick!

    Twin Dragons to the Sea, Lone Cloud Comes Out from Behind the Mountain Peak, Spinning Flower Feints a Strike, Gone With the Wind After the Snow.

    As soon as I teased her, a gust of wind came at me like it was an attack.

    I quickly evaded. Well, that''s not quite correct. Since I can''t use skills that are too high-level, I didn''t evade entirely and took a hit. But since it didn''t hurt, it didn''t matter.

    General Manager Bai quickly leapt at me like a Persian cat. When she noticed that I wasn''t hurt, she got even more infuriated, and switched techniques.ow blow kick! Monkey Steals the Peach! Crescent Kick! Monster Plucks the Peach!

    Hey, hey, hey, aren''t you a bit too focused on hitting that one particr spot?!!

    I can''t withstand hits there.

    I''m fine with General Manager Bai hitting me anywhere on my body where I have my Big Dipper Qi which acts as a shield for my body. But if General Manager Bai''s scallion-like fingers hit me and it doesn''t hurt, her attack would be "service"¡­ hehehe. We''re in public, so let''s keep a low profile. Amitabha, a relic that is discoloured is a colourless colour. To have no colour is to have colour, and to have colour is to have no colour.*

    I immediately dodged to avoidmitting any indecencies and angrily eximed: "If you don''t agree to it, then forget it. What are you hitting me for?!"

    "You continue to humiliate me! If I can''t kill you today, I''ll kill myself on the spot!"

    You''re going to kill yourself over an insignificant matter like this? This girl''s temper is¡­ what am I saying? She''s a eunuch.

    "Are you still holding a grudge over what happened that day? I really didn''t mean it. We''re both men."

    *Ptuuu*

    "Who are you calling a stinking man like you?!"

    "I *&%@#*@¡­¡­"

    My head! Could you please stop making me run into these girls I don''t know how to deal with¡­ oh wait, men, wait, no¡­¡­ My ability to differentiate between men and women seems to have been affected after meeting Su Xiao and General Manager Bai.

    "You''re half-a-man. If you can pick it up, you can put it down. I''ll apologise, and then let''s end it here."

    Bai Ling''s skin was white to begin with. Now that she moved, I could see her flushed cheeks. She looked at me with her gentle and beautiful eyes that looked like they were going to tear up and said: "You damn thug! Let me cut your head off and I''ll return it to you after then!"

    I angrily replied: "What''s the point of returning it to me if you''ve cut it off?"

    Bai Ling puffed her chest out and said: "Then what use is your apology?"

    Fuck! Why is it that the crazy logic of beautiful girls always leaves me unable to say anything back?

    General Manager Bai looked around at our surroundings and noticed that a number of people were already looking at us so she couldn''t attack, thereby leaving her with no choice but to give up.

    However, she was still enraged as she said: "You made me feel rotten to the core by what you did that day! If you dare to mention how you forced¡­ on me, I absolutely won''t forgive you."

    Hey, sis! Why would you finish your sentence there?! Don''t cut your sentence off there! It''s creating ambiguity!!

    "I was just joking about that just now." I quickly ended the ruckus,ughed out loud and said: "I was just trying to ease the atmosphere."

    Hearing that, Bai Ling finally rxed her expression.

    While I say I was joking, I have no idea what was up with me just now. When I realised it, the words had already escaped my mouth. Bai Ling seems to have a strange special trait which makes me helplessly want to get close to her. It''s like having an invisible feather brush against you, teasing you and stirring up your lust. While what just happened wasn''t as intense asst time, it still felt very close to when I forced a kiss on her that time at the small Southern gate.

    "If I win, you need to forgive me for what I did that day¡­.."

    "You still on about that?!"

    Bai Ling red at me violently. But since her face was so incredibly beautiful, I felt that she was cute when she narrowed her eyes. She wasn''t intimidating in the least.

    I acted like a harmless kitten. I tried my best to give a friendly smile and said: "I''ll stop. I''ll stop. Whatever the case, if you win, I''ll let you decide what to do with me. But if I win, we''ll erase the past and never pursue it again. What do you think?"

    This was Bai Ling''s suggestion to start with, so she shouldn''t have any objections.

    But she hesitated for a moment. She scrunched up her beautiful nose quickly, scoffed at me and then said: "Don''t think that I don''t know that you''re going easy on me. It''s not that you can''t tell who''s stronger between Tang Ye and Tie Hanyi. You''re just trying to make it up to me, am I right?"

    My, thisss does still have a semnce of a conscience. She knows I''m going easy on her.

    This pretty girl¡­ I mean eunuch is also very¡­¡­.

    Bai Ling then suddenly grinned: "You thought I''d be moved? Get lost! Let''s bet then! If I win, I''ll have you go to the castration room and be a eunuch. I''ll have you wander in limbo between life and death, suffering in utter misery!"

    ¡­¡­.

    "Tang Ye!!" I shouted as loud as I could: "Win, minor lord!! You hear?!"

    Tang Ye who flew up to the stage with beautiful posture nearly fell because I called out to him. He frowned. He stared at me silently for a while like somebody pissed in his tea and then let out a big sigh. He then seemed to realise the situation he was in so he slowly turned his head around.

    He then turned to face the extraordinary man and gave him a nod. Needless to say, said person was Tang Ye''s opponent for today. He was the uncrowned king of Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings. He was the legend who''s a Jia-rank warrior that doesn''t want to be part of the seventeen hidden dragons, Iron Blood Hanyi, Tie Hanyi.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The first time Tie Hanyi met Tang Ye was a month ago. That was when Tang Ye was challenging martial arts schools all over the capital. Tie Hanyi already looked very eager to fight with the young man back then. However, Tang Ye had just finished fighting over ten people alone so he didn''t want to give him a handicap, thereby putting it aside. He never expected he''d get his wish today in the ring of the imperial martial arts tournament.

    Tie Han Yi smiled and asked: "You are the minor lord of Liu Shan Men?"

    Tang Ye kept silent for a while before shaking his head: "You are giving me too much credit, Brother Tie."

    Tie Hanyi replied: "There is no need to be modest. If you can win me by half-a-technique today, your title as the minor lord will not be in vain!"

    Tang Ye''s violent expression looked like he was saying "You motherfucker, say that name again and I''ll hack you to death"¡­¡­. Consequently, I couldn''t help but wonder if I should not have called out to him like that before.

    The atmosphere between the two of them got intense quickly. Both of them entered their battle status, while their qi energy duked it out in the very intense atmosphere, so intense you would think sparks were going to fly the moment they shed.

    The eunuch referee noticed the two of them preparing, so he didn''t dy and loudly announced: "This battle will be, the emperor''s entourage''s Tie Hanyi versus-"

    Just at that moment, Tie Hanyi and Tang Ye loaded up and readied their fists. They gripped the floor tightly with their feet like they had ws on their feet, just waiting for the referee to call start so that they could quickly charge at each other.

    They only heard the eunuch refereeing continue: "Versus¡­ umm, versus¡­ Liu Shan Men''s minor lord!"

    Tang Ye slipped and his other foot found itself misced. He had already moulded his energy, and because he couldn''t bring it under control as a result of the referee''s announcement, he fell towards the boundary of the ring like a bird that got scared off, drawing a beautiful line in the air¡­..

    General Manager Bai''s cold yet beautiful voice rang out in my ear: "Hmph, looks like somebody has toe with me now. I wonder if Eunuch Zhao who performs the baptisms is around. My, what should I call you? Little Ming? Little Fei? Little Zhen? How about, Little Mingming?"

    Who said I want to be called LIttle Mingming?!

    Tang Ye! Tang Yanling! Minor lord!! Get your fucking ass back in there for me!! I don''t want to be a eunuch! I don''t want to be without my little Mingming! I don''t want to lose my little Mingming!!

    Notes:

    *He''s just mumbling gibberish. In Chineseedy, it''smon to recite scriptures to calm down that''s all.

    Just in case you weren''t aware, his little Mingming is a reference to his ding-dong.

 Volume 2 41 The Minor Lordâ€™s Arduous Responsibility

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 41 The Minor Lord''s Arduous Responsibility</h4>

    Tang Ye''s situation quickly spiralled downwards. He was suspended in mid-air with nothing to leverage. With his skills, he''d be able to immediatelye back if he could find a spot to leverage. But because he rushed over so fast before, he was suspended in mid-air and much farther away than someone in particr.

    Tie Hanyi didn''t want to let his opponent lose because of a foot-slip either, but because he was standing too far away, he couldn''t save him even if he wanted.

    But something that shocked the crowd then happened.

    A strong gust of wind suddenly blew. The four walls of the imperial city were very high so they always managed to block the wind, but for some reason, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew inside the imperial city.

    As a result, Tang Ye who was falling got blown back up. While others may not have noticed, Tang Ye''s fall was stopped by that gust of wind.

    Tang Ye''s foot was in the ring as his head fell towards the crowd. Leveraging the the gust of wind, he used the power from his hips and used his feet to bounce off the wind to change his position. After sixteen consecutive mandarin duck kicks in the air, he forcefully turned in the air so that his head was pointed towards the ring. Tang Ye revealed his horseshoe tricep, grabbed arge timber post sticking out of the ring, weaved a brilliant hand gesture with his other hand and scaled along several timber posts sticking out of the ring. He then performed a leap and returned to the ring.

    The crowd wowed consecutively at what they witnessed, surprised at how the heavens helped the young man.

    Needless to say, it wasn''t the gods that helped him. It was me. I used the Spring Wind Rainy Night Arts to create the gust of wind. Whether or not Tang Ye loses isn''t a big deal, but I don''t want to lose my little Mingming!

    Tang Ye gave me a look of gratitude and I gave him a resolute gaze. In that moment, our brotherhood burnt up in our chests.

    Tang Ye gestured with his hand to Tie Hanyi for him toe at him.

    However, Tie Hanyi didn''t budge. He nced at him and said: "You were in a rush to mould energy just now so you expended a fair bit of energy. I won''t take advantage of you. Have as much rest as you need, and we''ll fight when you''re fully recovered."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    However, Tang Ye bluntly asked: "Would I be worthy of the title ''minor lord'' if I needed to be given a handicap?"

    Ooohhh!! I saved Tang Ye once and now he''s finally willing to take up the crown as the minor lord now!

    As soon as he finished speaking, the minor lord struck out with a palm strike. The force of his palm strike was an area of effect attack that covered three feet around him while the air became warmer. He''sing out with Yang Blood True Qi right from the get go.

    Tie Hanyi eximed: "How arrogant!" He then raised his hand and struck out with a palm strike of his own.

    Tie Hanyi''s alias is Iron Blood Hanyi. And that''s because other than him being incredibly strong, his execution of his palm techniques is also amazing. When he shed head-to-head with Long Zaitian, Long Zaitian lost even though he possessed that much brute strength, which goes to show just how amazing Tie Hanyi''s palm techniques are.

    Bai Ling brought her snow-white face closer. She tippy-toed up and came close enough to bite my ear: "Look at your Tang Ye, he''s as arrogant as can be. Tie Hanyi''s skills aren''t easy to guard against, yet he''s so full of himself, saying he doesn''t need any rest." The warm air from her breath made my heart feel ticklish.

    I narrowed my eyes: "That might not be true. Tang Ye is very straightced, but he''s not an idiot."

    Tie Hanyi struck out but he didn''t feel any force resisting him like he was hitting the air. Just as he was wondering to himself what was going on, he noticed Tang Ye had pulled back his strike. But Tang Ye''s feet didn''t stop. His feet slid over to Tie Hanyi''s side and he thrust another amazingly swift palm strike at Tie Hanyi''s big pressure point on his big.

    Tie Hanyi is a man with lots of experience and knowledge, yet he never expected the young man to switch moves so quickly. He turned his palm up to guard against the attack.

    Half-way to its target, Tang Ye changed the nature of his attack from a palm strike into a finger strike like abination of the Spinning Flower, Triple Feint Strike and Yang Blood True Qi, breaking through Tie Hanyi''s guard in under three moves.

    Tie Hanyi eximed with surprise: "Ming Jing Pce''s Flower Wheel Finger Arts!"

    If internal arts weren''t involved in the styles of every school, I wouldn''t really be able to recognise them. But that does indeed look like the Northern Sea''s Ming Jing Pce''s martial arts.

    Bai Ling was slightly surprised: "Ming Jing Pce''s Flower Wheel Finger Arts. He''s quite the impressive young man to have learnt it at such a young age. That''s a style that Ming Jing Pce does not teach to outsiders. Normally speaking, those who master it are at least over thirty-five."

    I felt a little happy: "That proves that our minor lord is highly-talented."

    But Bai Ling scoffed at me: "That may not be true. Tie Hanyi can''t be beaten so easily."

    Tie Hanyi re-focused his qi to his dantian and as a result, the air around him turned dark as if he was wearing armour with dark clouds entrapped inside. His poweres from his training in the Iron Palm Arts, so when he moulds his qi, his skin turns into a dark iron colour like he''s wearing body-armour. And that''s where his name, Iron Blood Hanyies from. When he enters that mode, no des will be able to prate him, allowing him to be fearless towards weapons and empty-handed attacks, making it his ultimate art.

    That proved that Tang Ye was a threat to him. Even he himself didn''t expect to have to use it so soon.

    After enveloping his body, the power behind his palm strikes also increased. Further, he could now focus on attacking without having to worry about defending, so he was multiple times stronger now.

    Tang Ye''s expression looked unwavering as if he wasn''t afraid of his opponent''s brute strength at all. He pulled his right arm back while he moulded energy on his left hand, turning it into a de like weapon and readied it. The power on his hand was like a candle-me flickering in the wind. His knife-hand attacks were fast as the wind, yet so sharp it was astonishing. One was light, the other dark, with power and technique separated, yet very clear. Such technique was a rare sight.

    Bai Ling widened her beautiful eyes: "Red Sleeve Divine de! That''s the Bu family in Jiang Nan''s Acacia Gorge''s secret sabre style!" She red at me as she grumbled, "You knew he knew it long ago, didn''t you?"

    "How would I have known?" I red back at her innocently: "What sabre style is that? Isn''t it a palm style?"

    While I know the internal arts of many schools, I''m useless when ites to recognising the techniques of different styles. Tang Ye is clearly using his palms.

    Sabre style? I got a little confused¡­¡­

    Bai Ling puffed her chest out. An alluring and beautiful curvature line revealed itself through her white clothing. She took a step forward with her slender and shapely legs like a teacher of some sort,pletely oblivious to what she was revealing.

    "He''s using his hand as a sabre, I''m one-hundred percent sure he''s using sabre techniques. The sabre style I speak of is called Red Sleeve Divine de, which is taught by the Bu family, one of the seven white champion princes in Acacia Gorge. Its magic lies in the fact that its technique and power are separated, creating a technique where he has both internal and external elements. There are four elements that made it famous in the martial world, understand?"

    "Erm, I¡­¡­"

    Bai Ling pouted her lips in a way that indicated she was looking down on me: "There are four intricacies to the Red Sleeve Divine de art: swift yet strong and slow; slow yet heavy; heavy yet the force is messy; messy yet orderly sophisticated, thus leaving their opponent at a loss for what to do. Think about it. If a de was already at your throat, but strong yet slow, would you save energy to guard or quickly guard against the de?"

    "Well¡­¡­"

    Teacher Bai Ling continued: "It''s hard to decide in a split second, isn''t it? And it''s not like the attack would be telegraphed, making it even tougher to deal with. As such, most people who get struck with the technique ''Substitute'' are defeated and need to retreat toe up with an alternative n. Tang Ye''s execution of it was very precise. He maximised the dark and light elements, and captured all four intricacies of the style with one move. You could say that he perfected it to its peak. Many from Acacia Gorge don''t even manage to execute it so well in their lifetime, including those from the Bu family themselves. Is Tang Ye rted to the Acacia Gorge? That doesn''t make sense because he just used the Northern Sea''s Ming Jing Pce''s martial arts."

    I had already stopped listening. I took out a bag of melons andfortably enjoyed myself.

    General Manager Bai looked at me with a slight frown: "Hey, are you listening to me?"

    "While I don''t really get it, in short, it''s some incredible stuff, right?"

    Bai Ling red at me as if to say "hopeless idiot", and then focused her attention back to the ring, only to see a shocking scene.

 Volume 2 42 The Minor Lord Wows the Entire Venue

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 42 The Minor Lord Wows the Entire Venue</h4>

    A little earlier on, during the nk time slot where Bai Ling and Ming Feizhen were having their little spat.

    Tie Hanyi and Tang Ye conversed as they fought.

    The brute force of Tie Hanyi''s palm strikes were countered by Tang Ye''s Flower Wheel Finger Arts, forcing Tie Hanyi to retreat half a step. Tang Ye gave chase, stepping forward, but Tie Hanyi side-stepped to evade.

    Tie Hanyi was very surprised andughed out loud: "Brother Tang, your usage of that finger art isn''t bad! It''s just unfortunate that you can''t perform it with both hands, are excessively nimble, butcking in stability. If you intend to try and beat me half-heartedly, I suggest you quit now!"

    Tie Hanyi''s intense gaze lit up. He stabilised himself, unmoving like a mountain. He performed the iron palm technique with his hands, with power like that of a crashing wave. The amount of internal energy he moulded on his palms far surpassed Tang Ye''s hurricane-speed-like palm and finger arts, thereby naturally being multiple times stronger than Tang Ye''s.

    At the beginning, Tie Hanyi had no desire to take advantage of Tang Ye, thus only using sixty-percent of his power so as to give Tang Ye who had wastefully expended his energy at the start a chance to recover. But Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi technique isn''t easy to prepare. It requires time to warm-up his body prior to its activation. However, when he returned to the ring, his movements warmed him up, so he didn''t actually lose that much internal energy.

    Only now did Tie Hanyi realise that Tang Ye was at full capacity. His internal energy was strong and so he decided to stop holding back.

    Someone in the crowd below the ring shouted: "That''s such a powerful Iron Palm!"

    Tie Hanyi struck the air with his palm and debris scattered around in the ring. A gust of wind blew as a result of his palm strike. Tang Ye''s Wheel Flower Finger Arts were no longer able to counter the strength of his palm strikes and was forced to retreat, and then evade by side-stepping.

    Tie Hanyi used enough power to defeat ten martial artists alone, yet it was surprisingly effective. Tie Hanyi''s palm techniques were dull yet artful. The power of his palm strikes were like a thunder in spring, disrupting Tang Ye''s minor advantage just now and evening the odds. In fact, he forced Tang Ye onto his back-foot. The two of them squared off again, but it was totally different to the start where they hid their skills. The tables could turn for either of them in an instant now. One mistake and they could lose the entire thing.

    Tie Hanyiughed and asked: "What do you think now?!"

    But just as he took a step forward, the air around them suddenly underwent a dramatic change, bing iparably hot as though he had suddenly walked into a sandstorm in the desert while traversing the imperial city. It was like he had travelled through a dimensional rift and couldn''t help but stop in his tracks. In that instant, a dark shadow came through. Tang Ye appeared like a sharp metal de ripping through the sandstorm from an imaginary dimension. With his hand like a sabre sharper than anything, he shed downwards from above!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That was the beauty of Yang Blood True Qi. Tie Hanyi froze in ce while Tang Ye attacked him from left and right, changing the temperature of the atmosphere with the Yang Blood True Qi technique he applied to his entire body. His goal was to throw Tie Hanyi off and trick him into losing his focus for a split second.

    The battle could change countless ways and a single slip-up would be deadly. When two people fight, not only must you assess the martial skills of the opponent, you also need to assess how they utilise their skills on an intellectual level.

    Tie Hanyi possesses more experience and superior skills to Tang Ye, but in regards to talent forbat, he can''tpare to the talented young man. Tie Hanyi''s eyes and everybody in the audience''s eyes were sparkling at the sight of Tang Ye at present.

    It looked like even Tang Ye thought he had the match in the bag. The strength of his chop that could split Hua Shannded heavenly on Tie Hanyi''s shoulder. His strike came from a reputable school in the North, Broken Sabre Sect. Their sabre techniques weren''t flowery. They relied on using power and hand techniques to split things in two.

    Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi was so concentrated, that chop would be no less than an iron sabre cutting down, capable of cutting gold and snapping metal. However, when hended it on Tie Hanyi''s shoulder, he heard a heavy ng sound like it collided with iron! The sound was so loud it hurt everybody''s ears.

    Tie Hanyi''s body was enveloped with a dark iron energy even his skin was the colour of iron as if his entire body was a fine cast iron.

    Tie Hanyiughed and eximed: "Brother Tang, you''re very smart. However, you underestimated me. You can use it once, but it won''t work a second time!" Tie Hanyi then use his Iron Palm techniques again. After he enveloped his body with Cold Body Armour, the strength of his palm strikes reached another level. When he struck again, the power was much scarier than before.

    After a short while, Tang Ye was busy fending him off with his left and right arms, being forced to evade continuously causing him to run out of breath.

    Tang Ye said to himself: No wonder I heard he beat Long Zaitian back then. The strength of his palm strikes are stronger than Long Zaitian''s.

    Tang Ye was aware that he couldn''t beat Tie Hanyi''s fierce iron palms. He quickly pulled his right hand out and turned his left hand into a de again.

    It was the technique Bai Ling couldn''t stop praising, the one thates from the Red Sleeve Divine de technique, Recing the Stiff Peach with Plum. The technique was miraculous, convincing one the wielder would win.

    Tie Hanyi moulded energy for his body-hardening technique. Logically speaking, he shouldn''t be afraid of Tang Ye''s attacks anymore. But as soon as Tang Ye used the Red Sleeve Divine de technique, Tie Hanyi''s martial arts-crazed brain kicked in. He wanted to see all the techniques in the move-set, so he had to reduce his power output a bit, forcing Tang Ye who was gassed to try and catch his breath.

    He used the Red Sleeve Divine de technique on his left hand as he calcted other moves in his mind.

    Tie Hanyi saw his move and couldn''t help but sigh: " Recing the Stiff Peach with Plum. Your skills are fantastic, especially your hand skills. I have never seen anyone with such skilful hand techniques. You changed your hand from fist to palm and into a de without losing power. Very few in the pugilistic world can do that, at least nobody in the imperial court is capable of such feat."

    Tie Hanyi suddenly said: "But why are you so rushed to improve? You''ve been challenging schools non-stop this past month, creating countless enemies for yourself. You even crossed paths with the Qilin Guards. You do realise that your actions will do no good for your future prospects, right? You''re still young and you possess talent I have never seen before. I am willing to ept you into the emperor''s entourage if you are alright with it."

    Tie Hanyi spoke as he continued to counter the Red Sleeve de Arts. With his Cold Body Armour, he basically didn''t have to worry about any attacks. If he weren''t interested in the Red Sleeve Divine de Art''s uniqueness, he could''ve won within twenty moves.

    Tang Ye continued tirelessly, not giving any verbal response.

    Tie Hanyi said: "I''m not trying to promote myself, but rmend you to our best fighter, Heavenly Fox."

    When he heard "Heavenly Fox", Tang Ye''s heard couldn''t help but thump hard, indicating that the person with that name was a figure of a high calibre.

    "You know what it means for somebody on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings to have the name of an animal represent their name right? It''s the same as Flying Fish who formed Liu Shan Men, and Yinglong who formed the emperor''s entourage." Tie Hanyi pulled his hand back a bit to give Tang Ye a chance to catch a breather. He looked straight at Tang Ye and said: "He, is, in-vin-ci-ble."

    "¡­¡­." Tang Ye pulled his hands back. After staying silent the entire time, he suddenly said: "I''ve learnt every style very fast since I was young and I''ve put in a lot of effort. I believe myself to not be bad. In the capital, only the seventeen hidden dragons and the ultimate three could rival me. But a month ago, I was utterly defeated in the capital."

    Tang Ye''s eyes locked onto Tie Hanyi''s. A sh of light appeared in his eyes, not showing any signs of backing off: "Before I defeat that monster, I won''t let anybody sway me."

    As he spoke, his hands moved again, using Red Sleeve Divine de once again.

    Tie Hanyi used his Iron Palms to counter him again. But he never expected Tang Ye to use his right arm as an arrow mid-way through the Red Sleeve Divine de and stab at his left chest. The strong gust of wind was like he fired it at him using an iron bow.

    That was when Bai Ling saw them.

    When that sharp arrow shed with Tie Hanyi''s body armour, it rang out with a ng, like an intable bag that got stabbed by a sword. A skilled martial artist present immediately shouted: "That really is the Shooting Yang Sword!"

    Tie Hanyi''s iron body relies on covering his body in his qi energy. Those who train in iron body fear martial artists skilled at sealing pressure points most. No matter how advanced Tie Hanyi''s body-hardening skill is, he''s no exception to the rule. The Shooting Yang Sword was one such style that could cut off the flow of qi essence.

    And just as you''d expect, when Tie Hanyi''s chest got hit, he stopped breathing for a second and revealed an opening on his body.

    Tie Hanyi said to himself: You may be able to undo my flow of qi, but you have no way of figuring out where my opening is. Your Shooting Yang Sword technique is only effective for a few breaths time so what good is it? You couldn''t possibly strike my entire body.

    While he brushed it off in his mind, he saw a smile creep up onto Tang Ye''s cold face.

    Tang Ye bluntly said: "I can."

    Tie Hanyi''s heart went stone-cold and realised he was in trouble.

    What happened next was what caused Bai Ling to stare with her stunned look.

    Tang Ye''s hands could change countless ways in split seconds.

    It was like his hands transformed into tens of thousands of birds and surrounded Tie Hanyi. Tang Ye''s every technique up until now was from reputable families that left everybody astonished, but this time, it was like he was unleashing everything.

    Tang Ye switched between his left and right hand, using palm strikes, finger strikes, de strikes, sword strikes and punches, without repeating any technique once, striking Tie Hanyi''s entire body in an instant.

    "Found it."

    Before he finished his sentence, he struck with his right hand like a sword; his left hand performed a circling motion, changing from a de into a tiger''s w. It created a whistling sound as it swept through the air and grabbed the exposed left abdomen on Tie Hanyi''s body.

    Tie Hanyi looked at where he grabbed with disbelief. Bai Ling shouted with her beautiful voice: "Phantom Tiger w!"

    Tang Ye''s internal strength limitation didn''t allow him to break through Tie Hanyi''s Iron Body technique; so instead, he threw him out of the ring.

    After what sounded like thunderp, Tang Ye roared and then picked up Tie Hanyi like he was lifting up a boulder and tossed him out. Tie Hanyi couldn''t breathe or move due to the disruption to his qi. Tang Ye struck very precisely. Ten feet before he hit the ground, Tie Hanyi regained his ability to move. He somersaulted and steadied himself so he didn''t embarrass himself.

    Tie Hanyiughed happily. He never expected to be examined so thoroughly. Tang Ye came prepared.

    Tang Ye walked up to the edge of the ring, looked down at Tie Hanyi from above and suddenlyughed.

    "Guess I''m lucky there aren''t too many monsters in the world."

    Tie Hanyi was speechless and could only smile bitterly.

    The referee behind him shouted: "Winner, Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye!!"

    Tang Ye quietly looked up to the sky and under his breath asked: "Aren''t I Liu Shan Men''s minor lord?" His handsome eyes showed a hint of loneliness in his gaze.

    "Good job!"

    Ming Feizhen who stood below the ring gave him a thumbs up while Tang Ye just responded with a smile.

    But as soon as this bout ended, an uproar came from the other ring as if some grand battle was about to begin.

    All that could be heard was the referee shout in a shady and excited tone that he was trying to hide: "Qilin Guards'' Yi Yixian versus Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao!"

    Notes:

    While it Hua Shan is a martial arts school, is also a mountain, hence the Shan (É½) part in the name which means mountain.

 Volume 2 43 Donâ€™t Try and Guess the Eunuchâ€™s Thoughts

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 43 Don''t Try and Guess the Eunuch''s Thoughts</h4>

    "General Manager Bai, I won."

    I red at Bai Ling to provoke her.

    General Manager Bai who was passionately discussing martial arts with me just a moment ago grunted softly. Her eyes that looked like the most breath-taking mountain and river on an autumn day looked beautiful no matter how I looked at them. Even though their owner was furious, there was still a tinge of gentleness in her eyes.

    General Manager Bai turned her head around, revealing her ice-cold beautiful face. In her unique yet unhappy tone, she said: "Yeah, you won, but do you need to be so satisfied with yourself? Shame on you for being a man." But Eunuch Bai held her two hands with her back to me. The only thing she had yet to do was puff her cheeks while stamping her feet while telling the whole world she was using aegyo.

    She was passionately and excitedly talking to me about each and every move before. It was the happiest I''d seen her be. But now that she was no longer smiling, I felt it was a real pity.

    I asked: "You want to make another bet?"

    "Bet again?" She sounded gleeful. I could virtually see two cat ears appear on her head. Bai Ling turned her head around to look at me, pointed at my chest with her spring onion-like finger and said: "No lie? You''re not going to be under-handed?"

    "I''m a professional better that does not swindle children or the elderly." I smiled helplessly as I said: "As long as you''re happy."

    That was when the referee from the ring next door could be heard making his announcement: "Qilin Guards'' Yi Yixian versus Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao!" After the announcement was made, voices cheered out like a wave. Su Xiao had established himself as the top-idol of many girls in the pce thesest few days.

    I looked over to the ring and nkly said: "It''s Su Xiao''s turn."

    "Let''s bet on him then!" A sly look appeared in Bai Ling''s eyes, "Su Xiao is your friend, right? When you heard he was in trouble the other day, you ran for dear life. I''m betting on Yi Yixian winning. You wouldn''t bet on your brother losing now, would you?"

    Hey! That was on purpose, wasn''t it?! Having supervised the venue here for thest few days, you''ve seen Su Xiao''s skills, and that''s why you''re making that call, am I right?!

    "d we agree! Let''s go, let''s go, let''s go!" Bai Ling quickly dragged me and ran to the other side of the ring. The maids and eunuchs all made way for us as if they''d encountered a ghost.

    Hey, hey! Who''s Liu Shan''s gue, huh?! Can you people please stop listening to bullsh*t?!

    But then I slowly realised that they weren''t looking at me, but General Manager Bai who was holding my hand. It seems that people fear approaching General Manager Bai. Everybody turned cold when they saw her. Of the ten people I asked, all of them said that she wasn''t an approachable individual. But since she''s holding my hand and walking intimately with me, I guess it''s only normal she scared off the group of people¡­¡­

    But I''m a happy chappy.

    General Manager Bai shouldn''t be angry with me anymore nor should she still want to send me to the castration room. My proof is that someone as meticulous as her didn''t state what was on the line for this bet. Based on people''s reactions, everybody is afraid of her and kisses up to her. My guess is that she usually doesn''t have any friends. Having somebody who would talk to her about something she was interested in, even if it were about martial arts, or even if it was just her talking while I listened was enough to put a smile on her face. Since that''s the case, I might as well go along with her.

    It''s my fault for kissing her after all. Men sure have a fate of suffering.

    Bothpetitors were finished with their preparations on the other ring.

    Real weapons are not permitted in the imperial martial arts tournament. Su Xiao had a wooden sword in head. He stood in crooked fashion and blushed like a child that met a stranger for the first time.

    What''s wrong with Su Xiao?

    I looked at Yi Yixian who was in position standing opposite him and finally understood why.

    I remembered that after Su Xiao arrested Yi Yixian, he said something like: As long as I, Su Xiao am around, you can forget about seeing the sun outside!

    But only two dayster, not only had he been released, he was in the imperial citypeting in the ring. I guess you can''t win against fate in the end. I can''t me Su Xiao for being red in the face. He must''ve recalled his line and felt ashamed.

    Bai Ling looked at the two of them with interest: "Yi Yixian is an iron ring fist specialist. What''s Su Xiao''s specialty?"

    I looked at Su Xiao''s distressed look and absentmindedly said: "Sabre=y."

    "Sabre-y?" Bai Ling looked at Su Xiao again and in a confused tone said: "But he''s holding a sword."

    I didn''t hear her response, nor did I reply.

    Bai Ling is extremely knowledgeable about martial arts. She couldn''t help but shake her head,ugh and say: "The iron ring fist is style that''s great for countering sabre styles. They battle against their opponents'' weapon with their flesh, so they must study the methods for countering different weapons, otherwise they''d be throwing their life away. If the sabre practitioner isn''t masterful, he will be helpless against the iron rings fist style. Further, sharp weapons are forbidden inpetition today while Yi Yixian''s iron rings can be used. Your office''s Su Xiao wants to win against his iron rings with a wooden sword? Hey, do you think¡­¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I looked at Su Xiao''s face that looked like it was on fire and felt extremely amused. I shouted towards the ring: "Xiao! Fight on! Do your best! You''ll win for sure!" When he heard me, Yi Yixian looked at me and shook. I gave him a mocking smile. He swallowed his saliva and nodded in a panicked manner.

    Hmph, at least he knows his ce. When I gave him a beating I intended to warn him not to get back at Su Xiao. I never expected it to be effective now.

    I think Bai Ling said something before. I turned my head around and asked: "What did you just say, General Manager Bai?"

    Bai Ling looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. Her smile was a bit sly. In a somewhat unnatural tone, she said: "I said¡­¡­ Whatever, their skills were at different levels to begin with. He won''t have an advantage just by having a weapon. I''m winning this bet. Get ready to lose to¡­¡­"

    Su Xiao found me in the crowd because I shouted out and waved at me cheerfully. His smile was as bright as the sun shining down on the imperial pce. He really is a little angel~

    I waved back at him and indicated that Tang Ye and I had won our matches. Su Xiao seemed to understand my mysterious hand gesture and jumped up-and-down like a rabbit. He then finally winked at me and pulled a very shoujo hand gesture as if to say: I''ll definitely win!

    It looks like he''s been cured~

    I think General Manager Bai just said something again. I asked: "Hmm? What did you just say?"

    "¡­¡­ I asked why he''s holding a sword."

    I then replied: "Oh, he''s been learning swordy recently."

    "¡­¡­ Oh."

    After that, she stopped speaking, and focused on what was happening on the ring. The gleeful Bai Ling that looked like she could fly without wings a while ago had returned to her usual cold self.

    Yi Yixian and Su Xiao''s match began. While Yi Yixian didn''t dare to act up, he couldn''t just dodge either, so he decided to use his iron rings to guard against Su Xiao''s attacks.

    "Start!" I continued chatting with Bai Ling: "Do you know what sort of style Yi Yixian''s iron rings fist style is, General Manager Bai?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Bai Ling''s attention was on the ring and clearly had no intention of giving me time of day.

    I awkwardly asked: "Hey uhh¡­¡­ General Manager Bai, now that you''ve seen Su Xiao use a sword, that looks like Liu Shan Men''s swordy, right?"

    "Uhm."

    "C-Could that technique be Autumn Leaf Metal Wing?! I never expected him to learn it so fast."

    "Uhm."

    "My, my, Yi Yixian''s evasion skills look terrible. He makes the Qilin Guards look bad."

    "Oh! Look at that technique. That was close. He was so close to getting stabbed."

    "General Manager Bai, what style was that fist move from?"

    I made exaggeratedments and Bai Ling finally replied: "Quit your rambling and look for yourself!"

    Bai Ling borderline shouted aloud. The fire in her breath was strong, but it revealed her mood.

    After she spoke, she seemed to somewhat regret it. Her white face and pretty lips that looked like she was holding flowers in between looked like she just swallowed a mouthful of a bitter tea. She frowned and eximed: "SHUT UP!"

    "¡­.. Okay."

    I hurriedly turn back to look at the ring.

    What the heck is this all of a sudden?

    All was well just a moment ago and now it''s all cloudy.

    Bai Ling wore a stern look that signalled not to offend or bother her, yet cold as a statue. She wore her beautiful yet ice-cold demeanour that ran through to her bones, refusing to interact with anyone.

    Why does she look like that¡­..?

    I made a silent decision to myself. I must send a letter to the ck and White Reflection to ask them the correct position to be in, I mean, method formunicating with a eunuch.

    Notes:

    Aegyo is a Korean word for a cute disy of affection often expressed including but not limited to through a cute/baby voice, facial expressions, and gestures.

 Volume 2 44 The Moody Young Girlâ€™s Thoughts

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 44 The Moody Young Girl''s Thoughts</h4>

    General Manager Bai had her gaze affixed on the ring. The water welled up in her eyes looked like they''d frozen, leaving not a single trace of warmth. She was familiar with the formalities in the pce to begin with. When standing, one had to maintain an erect torso with their head straight, and mood hidden. Now more than ever, she was ice-cold.

    She must be angry because I was concerned with Su Xiao before and ignored her. A eunuch and a woman should have pretty simr thinking¡­¡­ Women are not to be offended, and even more so when ites to eunuchs.

    I can''t stand this awkward atmosphere either so I need to think of a way to smooth things over with her¡­¡­

    I looked up at the autumn sun shining down from high above. It wasn''t hot, but the rays were very unpleasant. I caught a glimpse of General Manager Bai''s snow-white-like skin with a slight tinge of carmine. Her skin looked better than a girl''s. General Manager Bai looked like an ice-statue, not speaking a word, but since her skin looked so supple, she couldn''t stand exposing it to the sun''s rays for an extended period of time. Every now and then she would move her beautiful neck to avoid the sun''s rays. However, there was no shade here so she couldn''t escape the rays. Her skin started to turn a little red which I assume was because of the sun.

    She usually has somebody following her around to assist her, but the eunuch that follows her got left behind when she grabbed me and ran before.

    An idea suddenly hit me.

    "General Manager Bai."

    "¡­¡­."

    Bai Ling still ignored me. But when she saw my gesture, she broke her silent ice-cold demeanour and shouted with astonishment: "Wh-What are you doing?! Why are you stripping?!"

    I didn''t say anything and just continued taking off the outeryers of my clothes. The next thing I noticed was that she''d raised her hands up out of shock to cover her sight.

    General Manager Bai isn''t really tall, but she can be considered tall for a girl. She''s around Boss Shen''s height. But her height is considered averagepared to a guy''s. Maybe it''s because she entered the pce at a young age and thebour impacted her growth. Her waist looked soft, her body was lean¡­ her physique was like that of a girl''s. The thought of it is quite sad. Who would be willing to enter the pce and be a eunuch if they didn''t have particr circumstances?

    General Manager Bai''s eyes darted back-and-forth, looking at me one second, and then not looking at me the next.

    It seems that the tension between us has eased up somewhat. I think she''s willing to speak now. My other hand was busy too. I grabbed a crisp melon seed, ced it between my teeth and gently peeled the skin off, revealing the white melon inside. I sucked it back into my mouth, filling my mouth with its nice fragrance.

    I revealed a smile intended to kiss up to her, and like a waiter from a teahouse asked: "General Manager Bai, you want a melon seed?"

    "¡­¡­."

    General Manager Bai still didn''t speak. She just stared at me for a long time to the point that I felt awkward before she stopped. She then continued watching the "intense battle" between the two. She kept silent. Wh-What''s she ying at?

    Was it just my delusion that the tension between us had eased up?

    General Manager Bai then suddenly reached her slender hand out and took the bag of melon seeds in my shirt. Oh! So she wants to have some melon seeds.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''ll remove the skin and feed you."

    "¡­¡­"

    General Manager Bai red at me. But because her eyes looked so pitiful, I could only see her flirting with me. I think she was saying that she didn''t need my help.

    I stopped talking and stepped back.

    After a while¡­¡­

    "Hey¡­¡­."

    General Manager Bai suddenly spoke out. She peeled the seeds like I did while she watched the ring. She seemed a little annoyed when she said: "¡­¡­. That''s Su Xiao? I''ve seen him twice but I didn''t get a chance to get a proper look. I kept hearing that his looks were on par with Song Yu and Pan An, and more beautiful than a girl. I truly believe that now after seeing him today." But it was obvious she didn''t know how to peel the seeds, and just threw them into her mouth. It was clear she had no idea how to eat them either. She looked really cute like a squirrel holding food in its hands.

    I couldn''t help butugh: "Oh? Have you fallen for Su Xiao?"

    Bai Ling: "Why would I like a man? No ivoryes out of a dog''s mouth."

    While she was being mean, when she said that, a sh of red appeared on her snow-white face as if somebody dripped a drop of red water on her face. With her cheeks red, she sure looked good.

    No way¡­¡­ General Manager Bai actually¡­¡­

    I was slightly perplexed. I suddenly thought: The eunuch''s I''ve met usually liked women, but there are a number like Eunuch Wang who like guys. If this pretty eunuch falls for Su Xiao, she could forcefully get him given her authority. How the fuck am I going to save him?!

    Ming Feizhen thought about all sorts of things, but he didn''t realise that while Bai Ling was silent for that short while, she had actually had many thoughts of her own.

    Bai Ling had no friends. Her true identity as a girl was a big secret that she couldn''t reveal, so she naturally couldn''t get too close to anyone. The pce is a den of schemers. Everybody wears the same face. She never smiled even once a day.

    She''s never experienced what it''s like to have friends, so she naturally couldn''t talk about being lonely or otherwise not.

    It''s just like how somebody who grew up in the North with the cold harsh weather has never experienced the flower blossoming season of spring in Jiang Nan wouldn''t feel that the cool air is harsh. But if they were to tour Jiang Nan for a day and experience the kinder weather, they''d most probably never want to go back to living in the death-inducing coldnds.

    That was how Bai Ling had been feeling recently. She had never joked around this much with anyone, men in particr. Other than the royal family members, everybody in the pce feared her, and thedies and concubines spoke bluntly to her. Some tried to get on her good-side, but nobody ever had a proper chat with her.

    Ming Feizhen''s sudden appearance let her know that she could interact with people like this. It''s like somebody who''s experienced the harsh-cold suddenly found a field of lush grass with flowers in bloom in the field.

    Her reluctance to part with it grew inside her without her being able to control those feelings. Even though she knew that these times wouldn''tst long, she wanted to at least enjoy these moments of freedom before the imperial martial arts tournament ended.

    However, Bai Ling never thought it would end so soon, nor did she think it would end this way.

    Ming Feizhen forgot about her as soon as he saw Su Xiao, throwing her into the back of his mind as if hepletely forgot about her existence.

    Why? Why did he do that? Why won''t he speak to me?

    He ignored her even though she had cast aside statuses. Why was he like that?

    As she pondered the questions, she felt a sudden throbbing pain in her chest.

    The feelings she couldn''tprehend crept up into her mind again. Bai Ling experienced so many feelings she had never felt before in a single day, exceeding what she could process. She couldn''t even think of what to say or do. She consequently just stood there quietly, not saying a word and not doing a thing. She was like a child that had gotten injured for the first time, not daring to resist, quietly crouching down and waiting for the pain to pass.

    But just as she began to do that, the big idiot Ming Feizhen started talking to her non-stop.

    He was rambling about how Su Xiao learnt swordy so quickly, how Su Xiao was really talented, how Su Xiao was a man with a strong sense of justice, how Su Xiao''s sword technique was executed well, how he was thrashing Yi Yixian¡­.

    "Quit your rambling! Watch for yourself!"

    After she blurted that, she felt that she really wasn''t herself today.

    What was wrong with her? Why was she feeling so annoyed? Why did she lose control of her emotions?

    Bai Ling suddenly started to feel even more scared.

    She has always hidden her own life ever since she was young. She carried a huge secret so she had to hide herself away. The pce is a cruel ce. If she didn''t keep the secret, she wouldn''t be able to protect those important to her.

    That was how she had always led her life, and after living like that for a long time, she thought that she''d never reveal her inner thoughts.

    But why did just a single incident cause her to drop her guard?

    Bai Ling started to fear speaking. She stopped talking to avoid revealing her inner thoughts.

    When Ming Feizhen was thinking of a way to make her feel better, Bai Ling focused on the match to divert her attention. However, she slowly realised that she wasn''t watching the match, but rather, she was staring at Su Xiao''s handsome face, and she started feeling more and more ufortable as she looked at him.

    She couldn''t put her finger on what it was. Perhaps it was because Ming Feizhen said "our Su Xiao". Perhaps it was because the scene of Ming Feizhen running off after hearing Su Xiao met with trouble when he was at the small Southern gate. Maybe it was because Ming Feizhen tossed her to the back of his mind as soon as he saw Su Xiao,pletely forgetting about her existence.

    All of those things made her feel glum.

    If Ming Feizhen flirted with another girl instead of Su Xiao today, perhaps she would''ve mocked him by saying: "All men are like this!" She might''ve even publicly ridiculed him to smear his name with mud.

    But it was different with Su Xiao. Su Xiao is a guy. From a certain perspective, that was further away than the distance between her and Ming Feizhen with her identity as a eunuch. But how did they manage to get along so well? Why was it making her so envious?

    When she had that thought, she couldn''t help but look at Ming Feizhen, wanting to know what he was thinking.

    But then the troublesome punk started acting considerate towards her. His gesture indicated he was concerned about her.

    She stared at Ming Feizhen. She looked and looked, and then suddenly felt that the fellow was annoying.

    Can''t he behave a little? Who in the imperial pce would treat the general manager eunuch like this? But there was nothing he didn''t dare to do. The first time they met, he pulled her into his embrace and forced a kiss on her, stealing her first kiss.

    Bai Ling isn''t an ordinary child. She never had any yearning for love, desire to marry or the sort since she was young, nor had she had any thoughts young girls had. Furthermore, she was very decisive and never let herself be led by her emotions. While she was furious after Ming Feizhen kissed her that day, she didn''t care too much for first kisses and the sort. She just considered it getting bitten by a crazed dog. Would a human have to bite a dog back if a dog bit them?

    That was the sort of person she was.

    But Bai Ling now felt that something was wrong with her. She felt a throbbing feeling.

    She suddenly felt like her lips were heating up. The memory of Ming Feizhen''s deep kiss suddenly resurfaced. That was the first intimate interaction she had with a male. While she didn''t care for it too much after the fact, the impression left was very deep. She felt her cherry lips heat up as if they weren''t hers. It was a very strange feeling.

    "Then let me kiss you again?" The bet Ming Feizhen mentioned came to mind again. Bai Ling''s thoughts filled her mind, and her ears turned red without her being able to control it. She lost the previous bet.

    She didn''t dare to imagine how she would deal with it if he were to persist with his bet.

    Would she just ept her loss since she was willing to bet? Would they really have to kiss again like on that day?

    Bai Ling couldn''t find the answer, but the feeling on her lips got weirder and weirder, as if they were going to burn up. She had to steal a seed from Ming Feizhen to hide the fact that her attention was focused on her lips.

    Bai Ling doesn''t eat these kinds of things. In fact, she''s never eaten melon seeds. It was just because she saw Ming Feizhen happily eating them, angering her a little and therefore her decision to steal them from him.

    But then Ming Feizhen said he''d feed her. She can''t let him do that! He''ll notice that her lips were turning red!

    To avoid letting him notice her lips turning red, she forcefully said: ""¡­¡­. That''s Su Xiao? I''ve seen him twice but I didn''t get a chance to get a proper look. I kept hearing that his looks were on par with Song Yu and Pan An, and more beautiful than a girl. I truly believe that now after seeing him today."

    While I was still suffering, General Manager Bai suddenly eximed: "Hmph, what do they mean he looks like Song Yu and Pang An? He clearly is Su Daji!"

    Speak for yourself. I think you''re the one that looks like a vixen that could send a nation into ruin¡­¡­. Since I''d be hated for good if I said that, I didn''t dare to say it out loud.

    On the ring, Su Xiao basically had the match in the bag. Yi Yixian didn''t dare to fight back. Su Xiao had dismantled all of his iron rings. I think it''ll be hard for Yi Yixian to turn the tables even if he does fight back now.

    I suddenly saw a piece of melon peel on Bai Ling''s soft, warm, small lips which was a veryical sight. I didn''t know whether tough or cry. She has no idea how to peel melon seeds. She must''ve taken them from me so that I wouldn''t have anything to eat, am I right? Looks like General Manager Bai has a childish side to her too.

    Just as I was about to take the melon seed skin off her lips, I suddenly remembered her thundering at me before. Who knows if she''s in a better mood now¡­ If I offend her again, I''ll probably get a spanking with rods by the imperial guards. And so I used a roundabout method, coughing to get her attention.

    "Cough, cough, cough."

    After a few coughs, Bai Ling red at me. She frowned and said: "Don''t spread your virus if you''re sick."

    "Who you saying is sick?!" I was so angry I was about to fly off the handle. Why does this chick not understand appreciation?!

    I didn''t dare to touch her, so I just pouted my lips and pointed to my lips: "Hey, hey, here."

    Bai Ling''s face went red. She then bit down on her cherry lips tightly. Then without a single thought, raised her hand and smacked me on my face!

    Notes:

    In case you''ve forgotten, Song Yu and Pan An were famous flower boys, famous for their good flower boy looks.

    Daji, was the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, thest king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. She is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit in legends as well as novels.

 Volume 2 45 This Clearly Is a Scripted Fight

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 45 This Clearly Is a Scripted Fight</h4>

    I was beaten to the point I could virtually see stars: "Hey! Hey! What are you hitting me for?!"

    With a flushed face, Bai Ling asked: "Wh-What did you point to your mouth for? Didn''t you say that I just had to forgive you if I lost the bet? Wh-Why are you bringing that up again?"

    Iughed at the absurdity: "Who said I was talking about that? I couldn''t ask for anything more than for you to forgive me and then for us to put it all behind us."

    "What are you pointing for then?"

    "That''s not what I meant when I pointed to my mouth." I still had one of my hands acting as a sunshade for her while tirelessly using my other hand to gesture to exin myself: "I was trying to tell you, your mouth, your mouth!"

    "Ah!"

    Bai Ling eximed like a rabbit that got hit with an arrow. Her snow-white face turned ten times redder than before. It was just a faintyer of pink like an infant''s skin before, but now it was red as nail polish, making her look so alluring my heart was set aflutter. She quickly covered up her lips.

    "Why did you, why did you?!"

    She looked disturbed like a child that did something wrong. She twisted her body left and right like she was spinning on the spot. Finally, she tried to act tough and said: "Wh-What do you want? I''m warning you, don''t read too much into it, my mouth is only like this b-because¡­¡­"

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it." I waved my head and in a rxed tone said: "I totally get it. Don''t be shy. That''s normal."

    "Huh?" Bai Ling''s tough demeanour softened in an instant. She retreated one step like a small animal that got frightened, curled herself up and lowered her head as if she didn''t dare to look at me: "You get it?! Wh-What do you get? D-Don''t act smart! This is normal. I''ve seen it happen many times before. It happens every day in the pce."

    Of course, what''s the big deal about it to be bragging about it?

    I asked out of puzzlement: "Of course it happens every day. I''ve seen it many times already."

    "You''ve seen it before?" Bai Ling didn''t sound like she believed me: "What? When? Who was it between?"

    It seemed like justice possessed General Manager Bai. She wore an expression that looked like she was about to enforce justice, so I had no choice but to answer. I replied like an honest man: "It was just a matter of time. It was thest few days. The location was the imperial city grounds, several times at the small South gate, and I passed by it a few times. As for whom¡­¡­ Who else would it be? You can do it yourself."

    "Yourself?" Bai Ling was extremely doubtful. She looked like she was about to blurt "Are you speaking Chinese?" but she couldn''t resist her own curiosity. With her facepletely red, she asked: "How could you do it by yourself? I heard that when girls are lonely at night, they might umm¡­¡­ by themself¡­¡­ but as for what we''re talking about¡­ you can''t do it by yourself¡­ can you?"

    Bai Ling looked at me with her curious precious eyes like she was full of hope, eagerly waiting for me to show her a new world.

    But¡­¡­.

    You can''t by yourself? What the hell is she on about?

    "Of course you can do it by yourself. I''ve seen it plenty of times." Bai Ling opened her small mouth wide with disbelief from the shocking news. I then added another sentence to shock her even further: "I always see people do it by themself in the pce."

    Bai Ling retorted in a worked up tone: "That''s impossible! I''ve been in the pce for so long and only seen it two or three times!"

    What do you mean it''s impossible?

    "Why can''t someone eat melon seeds by themself?"

    Just in the pce alone, I''ve seen the guards changing shifts spitting melon seeds. I''ve even seen eunuchs eat them, so what''s the issue?

    "Huh? Melon seeds?" Bai Ling revealed a befuddled expression and repeated herself as if she became illiterate: "Melon seeds?"

    "Yeah." I was fed up. Scold me if you like. Can it get worse than taking a p? I reached my hand out, pulled the melon seed skin off her small mouth and waved it back-and-forth in front of her, "There was a melon seed. I was telling you there was a melon seed on your mouth. And why can''t someone crack melon seeds with the front of their teeth by themself? You''re a funny one."

    Bute to think of it, I do somewhat understand her puzzlement. General Manager Bai truthfully doesn''t know how to crack melon seeds with the front of her teeth and she usually has people serving her. She must feel that there should be someone to help her crack them for her to eat. Sigh, high-ranking eunuchs in the pce sure think differently to us peasants.

    I didn''t notice that General Manager Bai standing next to me quivered while I was having my sigh. Her face was so red it looked like it was dripping blood, entuating her beauty. But even if I was paying attention, I wouldn''t have seen it because she used her sleeve to cover her face. When I looked at her again, I could only see a maple colour on her snow-white neck which was how I confirmed she was blushing.

    But why is she blushing?

    What''s the big deal about cracking a melon seed with the front of your teeth? How funny she is.

    "Don''t worry, General Manager Bai. It''s fine if you can''t crack melon seeds. You''re responsible for supervising the eunuchs, not the imperial kitchen. You hold such a high rank that you will never have to help anyone peel melon seeds."

    Bai Ling who had been covering her face for ages finally lowered her hand and her face had returned to normal. She shot me a vicious re and then gestured for me toe over with her finger. "¡­¡­." I was speechless of a moment, "You must want to hit me, am I right?"

    General Manager Bai didn''t say anything and then intensified her gesturing to get me to bring my face over to her.

    Her expression looked like she was going to cry if I didn''t go over.

    She¡­ she¡­ she¡­ isn''t she too sly?

    I could only slowly bring my face over towards her¡­ and just as I thought, the next thing I knew was getting pped again!

    Hey! That''s enough from you! It doesn''t hurt, but I''m about to get pissed!!

    But Bai Ling red at me with her enraged gaze: "Well deserved!"

    How is it well deserved?!

    "Why''d you hit me again?! Be reasonable, will you?! Su Xiao is so much more reasonable than you!" I rubbed my face and grumbled: "You''re about the same age, and yet your temperaments are so different."

    Bloody hell! This broad should learn how to be gentle from Su Xiao! Our little angel greets me with a smile every day!

    "Is Su Xiao¡­ that good?"

    "Of course. He''s much better than you who doesn''t know how to be gentle many times over. If I knew this was how you were going to be, I wouldn''t have followed you here. I got hit twice for no rhyme or reason."

    I suddenly noticed something had changed.

    I don''t know what it is. It was like some emotion or maybe some feeling you can''t see with the naked eye, but it did happen, and my ears could virtually hear the sound of a fire getting put out.

    There was General Manager Bai who was shy just a while ago too. She went dead-silent as if all the noise around her got taken away. The lively Bai Ling discussing martial arts and the shy Bai Ling seemed to both vanish as if they were both fake to begin with.

    General Manager Bai''s face was white as a sheet of paper,pletely devoid of blood. Her gaze just before was like a child''s, innocent and naive, so much so that my heart was aflutter. But her gaze now lookedpletely empty and scary.

    "Umm¡­ General Manager Bai¡­¡­."

    Her gaze looked like it could kill!

    "Shut up."

    Her voice wasn''t loud, but it let her listener know that she was dead serious. I was scared enough to shut my mouth.

    The door formunication was closed off once again.

    Why?! When did I offend her? This is a damn scripted fight man. Why do I smell the stench of love again?! And the leads are three¡­ guys?!

    Bai Ling kept silent. Shepletely stopped speaking this time. She didn''t speak no matter how much of a ruckus I made next to her. She wasn''t an ice-mountain this time. Instead, she had mes hidden in her eyes. Whenever I said anything, she red at me viciously with the fire in her eyes.

    We continued to silently watch the ring, but the atmosphere between us was ten times tenser than before. I have no idea what just happened.

    At the same time in the ring.

    Su Xiao stabbed at a spot three inches below Yi Yixian''s armpit with his wooden sword. Yi Yixian surprisingly didn''t dodge and let Su Xiao get a direct hit on his pressure point. Yi Yixian is mostpetent with the iron ring fist style on his right arm, and with his pressure point on his right arm sealed, he''s done for. He had no choice but to surrender.

    The apuse from below the ring were deafening. It was at least ten times louder than when Tang Ye and I won. The first reason was because the crowd who watched Tang Ye''s match were adults, old men, officials of the imperial court and a number of martial artists. They don''t react so excitedly. Second, I was lucky to not have been told to fuck off with the way I won.

    But I''m happy to see Su Xiao win.

    Iughed and said: "Hahaha, General Manager Bai, I won our bet again."

    You didn''t expect that, did you?! Yi Yixian was already under my control before the match!

    "¡­¡­."

    "Hahaha, you lost. How are you going to make it up to me? Hahaha."

    Bai Ling didn''t say anything. She just stood under the shade I made for her, ring at me. Her gaze was cold as ice, but at the same time, intense as fire.

    "Haha, hahaha¡­ Umm¡­ General Manager Bai?"

    General Manager Bai replied without moving: "Hmm?"

    General Manager Bai''s face is beautiful to begin with. Her angry res and frowns are fairly ineffective. But I think I heard gun-powder when she just retorted me. She scared me enough for me to shut up.

    Bai Ling stared at me. I saw a mysterious ripple appear in her gaze. I couldn''t figure out what her mood was at all.

    Bai Ling quietly asked: "What do you want to say?"

    "I, uhh¡­ we made a bet just before, right¡­? I¡­ I identally won. It''s nothing, it''s nothing. It''s no big deal."

    "Yeah, you won." Bai Ling stared at me and I saw aplex emotion appear in her eyes. She looked like she was trying to stop her anger from exploding. Bai Ling stretched out a finger, ced it on my chest and softly asked: "What do you want to do?"

    "I¡­¡­"

    I don''t want to do anything. I was just joking with her. Why is she so angry?

    She ran her finger down my chest slowly and I could feel something ice-cold run down my chest. I don''t know why I felt such a nice sensation in my mind and on my chest. The atmosphere around me virtually burnt up.

    Bai Ling''s finger ran around on my torso. She looked straight at me and asked: "What do you want me to do?"

    My brain seemed to be be impaired and my mouth turned stupid. I couldn''t say "nothing at all". I could only say: "Hng, hng¡­ well¡­¡­."

    "I know. You want to kiss me, right? I''ll let you kiss me!"

    "AH?"

    Alright, I''mpletely confused.

    Bai Ling lifted up her beautiful slender white arm, revealing her lotus-coloured skin, and grabbed the overcoat I used to provide her shade with. She didn''t use a lot of strength, but still, she pulled the overcoat down from my hand.

    The gentle breeze and her dextrous physique looked like a beauty dancing before me. She tippy-toed up, and twisted her body one-hundred and eighty degrees to face me front-on. The overcoat in my hand gliding to the ground covered up the ultimate vixen that would bring ruin to the nation and people.

    "You won the bet for Tang Ye''s match. You won''t owe me anything in future." Bai Ling stared at me with her ice-cold eyes: "And now, and in the future, I, Bai Ling shall not owe you anything either!"

    Bai Ling wrapped her arms around my neck. Her fingers were so soft like they were boneless. Her fingers were so smooth it was like she had no fingerprints. Her beautiful face suddenly came close to mine and she pulled me in.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 2 46 Miss, You Want a Pear?

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 46 Miss, You Want a Pear?</h4>

    The fragrant scent of Xuemei filled my nose. Bai Ling raised her head up slightly, and moved her warm, moist lips right before my eyes.

    Someone sends a delicacy right to your door, what are you going to do: (a) eat, (b) not eat, (c) eat and then run?

    Kekeke.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I didn''t even consider the question, I already lowered my head.

    Bai Ling''s lips that were like fresh flowers got covered by something rough though. She frowned and angrily eximed: "What are you doing?!"

    I extended a finger out and ced it between our lips.

    Of course I can''t kiss her for real. I can write off the first time as being because I just woke up and mistook her for someone else, but what would the second time be considered? It''s sick and perverted!

    I took out a beautiful white pear from my shirt: "Miss, you want an apple?"

    "Save it for yourself!"

    Bai Ling pped it away with her hand.

    I don''t know what was wrong with her, but she seemed to be angry with me. She angrily and violently grabbed my head and yanked me over: "Get over here!"

    I don''t know what style she was trained in, but her arm strength couldpare to Tang Ye''s. She just yanked me over. The scent of fresh flowersing from her sweet lips and the warm breathing from her mouth was virtually like a line with a hook, pulling my mouth towards her.

    But I can''t submit!

    General Manager Bai is very knowledgeable on martial arts so I can''t reveal my martial arts before her. So at the crucial moment, I had no choice but to-

    I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her into my arms. I then hugged her with both arms like a bear-hug. When I pulled her hot body into my arms, it was like ice met with fire, melting even my bones. I don''t know why the violent and beautiful eunuch finally calmed down and stopped fidgeting.

    In that moment, it felt like the entire world had stopped moving.

    We were covered by the overcoat. Neither of us spoke. I don''t know why she went silent now of all times, nor do I know why I went mute now of all times. In the small space, it was silent like a winter night.

    After a while, the small head by my chest budged. I didn''t dare to let her go, so I continued holding on.

    But she fidgeted around, which I presume was due to difort, so I loosened up a little.

    Bai Ling tried to get her head outside to get in a big breath of air.

    She took shallow breaths and looked at me powerlessly: "Y-You''re making me suffocate¡­ What are you doing¡­?" I don''t know if it was because I hugged her too tightly or because the space was too small. General Manager Bai''s tone felt much calmer than usual, and different to when we were watching the bouts before.

    She was just like a seventeen or eighteen year old girl. She didn''t seem to realise herself that her tone had changed and continued to stare at me angrily.

    "I''m talking to you!"

    "Oh, oh, I was in a rush so¡­¡­."

    Wait a second! She''s getting angry first? Whose fault is this?!

    "Shouldn''t it be me who asks you that question?" I didn''t remove the overcoat covering us. We were close enough to smell the breath of one another. "Why did you suddenly want me to kiss you?"

    Bai Ling''s lost looking gaze seemed to recuperate some brightness when I put forth my question. She appeared to finally calm down. And then she went red in the face.

    "What do you mean? That¡­ that was my penalty for losing our bet." Bai Ling took in a deep breath and re-centred herself. Then, like a peacock, she proudly said: "Ming Feizhen, do you know what sort of status I hold in the pce? Can I go back on my word? I stick to my word, and if I lose, I shall do as I promised. Don''t misunderstand. I-I don''t like men."

    I could virtually hear her heart palpitate. So it was obvious she was fronting and incredibly nervous.

    "Ah, forget it¡­.. But what were you angry about just now?"

    That''s the crux of the problem. The reason we have this weird atmosphere is because General Manager Bai lost it.

    General Manager Bai red at me aggressively like a cat that had its tail stepped on: "What''s it got to do with you?! Can''t I suddenly feel unwell? Everybody experiences it every month, didn''t you know that?"

    Hey, that''s women only, isn''t it?

    Could it be that Eunuchs also¡­¡­.

    "Forget it then. But since you said you keep your promises." I smiled and said: "How about letting me kiss you again for real?"

    I scanned her carefully.

    Bai Ling virtually leaned her entire body on me. I wasn''t sure if it was because she was nervous or if it was because she was angry, but her breaths on my chest started to intensify too. Sweat started to form on Bai Ling''s cheeks and ran down her white neck due to the stifled space, creating a beautiful line like water.

    Is she really a eunuch?

    Faced with my question, Bai Ling shook her head: "Since you rejected me before, you won''t get another chance."

    Why do I feel like I suffered a great loss¡­¡­?

    "That''s it?!"

    "What else do you want?" Bai Ling chuckled as she spoke, "I gave you a chance. It was you who didn''t have the guts to take it, so who can you me?"

    Th-th-this nation-ruining vixen! Watch me get back at you!

    Worstes to worst, I''ll forsake my reputation.

    I revealed a naughty smile like a master forcing himself on a maid: "It wasn''t because I didn''t have the guts, but because I wasn''t prepared. Are you ready now, General Manager Bai?"

    "Wh-What do you want?!"

    The atmosphere between us heated up again. Her ears and neck uncontrobly went red. I stared into her eyes that could virtually steal your soul from you and felt like I was possessed by a devil. My throat and lips felt a little dry.

    My eyes then suddenly spotted something like ayer of sweet candy that looked moist on her lips. My eyes were virtually on fire. General Manager Bai couldn''t stop herself from biting down on her lip. She looked like she wanted to hide, but she had no idea that was egging me on even more.

    Whatever!

    I''m going to transform into a pervert!*

    "Big Brother Ming?"

    ¡­¡­.

    Huh? This voice¡­¡­

    "Big Brother Ming? Are you there?"

    Somebody suddenly removed the overcoat covering our heads.

    The autumn sun shone onto us again. The blue sky and white clouds appeared again and breathing became a lot easier for both of us.

    Our surroundings were empty. The sea of people watching the matches before had vanished. No wonder I didn''t hear anybody say anything for so long, turns out there was no one around. I remember Su Xiao''s semi-final bout was held here.

    In other words, the audience should have headed towards the main za of the imperial city interior to watch the finals with the emperor then.

    But the person who just spoke¡­¡­

    I looked over in the speaker''s direction and saw a cheerful and pretty face. On their face was a smile as bright as the sun, with flushed cheeks, like someone who had just restored their blood and qi in their body, restoring their vitality. The speaker looked like a young healthy beautiful girl.

    On closer inspection, said young girl was none other than Su Xiao!

    Why did Su Xiao have toe here now? I was so upied with talking to General Manager Bai just now that I forgot to pay attention to the sound of footsteps around me!

    Now this is slightly awkward. While hiding under the overcoat and talking might not cause people to imagine things, it could impact General Manager Bai''s stern and just reputation.

    But having been in the pce for so long, when she noticed the overcoat get taken away, she had already pushed me away and returned to her dignified stance. So even if we were seen at a closer distance, we kept a safe distance.

    I might''ve been a little worried if it was someone else, but this is Su Xiao we''re talking about. With Su Xiao''s intellect, we could bullsh*t our way out even if we were ten-times more flirtatious. I quickly tried toe up with an excuse for why we were hiding in the overcoat.

    Su Xiao widened his beautiful eyes: "Big Brother Ming."

    I replied with a smile, took out a pear: "Miss, you want a pear?"

    "Get lost!" Su Xiao angrily smacked my pear away, "I''m a guy!"

    Hey! Hey! Did you two pre-arrange this?! Don''t just go throwing away my pears!

    "I thought you were here. I knew you would wait for me here! But Big Brother Ming, what were you hiding in the overcoat for?" Su Xiao looked at me in a somewhat panicked manner and then looked at General Manager Bai whose face was red, "Thisdy is¡­ Ah, General Manger Bai?"

    "Yeah, yeah, you naughty kid, don''t you recognise General Manager Bai?"

    We were discussing national affairs so what did youe and disturb us for?! Let me enlighten you as to what we were talking about.

    "¡­¡­."

    Su Xiao didn''t say anything. He looked at me and then at General Manager Bai. He then continued shifting his gaze back and forth between us. He noticed Bai Ling and I were somewhat unnatural, therefore, I had to break the ice: "Umm, Xiao, General Manager Bai and I¡­¡­"

    Su Xiao stopped me. I don''t know what was up. It was like he suddenly realised something. He rushed over, hugged my left arm, red at General Manager Bai and for the love of god said: "Big Brother Ming has a lover!"

    I didn''t say sh*t!! You have a shoe-size IQ, kid!

    "Hey, what are you saying out of the blue¡­¡­?"

    But I heard a cold-piercing voice from my side. Bai Ling narrowed her eyes as she stared at me.

    "Oh, you have a lover now? I couldn''t tell."

    Your excellency Bai? Eunuch Bai? General Manager Bai? Why are you like this again now?!

    Su Xiao, still not content, delivered me another blow: "Of course. It''s his gugu!"

    Hey! You want me dead that badly?!

    "Even if he doesn''t have his gugu¡­¡­" Su Xiao went red in the face and pulled me behind him like a cat protecting its food. He treated General Manager Bai like a vixen that would bring ruin to a nation and vigntly said: "He still has me! I won''t let you sully Big Brother Ming!"

    Hey! She''s a eunuch! She''s a dude! What the hell are you saying?!

    "You''re too stupid, Big Brother Ming, don''t speak!"

    I can''t possibly be stupider than you!

    "So you won''t let me sully him as long as you''re around?" Bai Ling stood still at first, and then she revealed a smile to indicate a challenge because she didn''t acknowledge defeat: "Now that''s interesting. There''s never been anything that I haven''t been able to do since I was young."

    "General Manager Bai, please don''t be insensible like a ch-¡­¡­"

    "Shut up, Ming Feizhen! This is not your business!"

    I got told to shut up again¡­..

    "Su Xiao and Bai Ling, two young beauties (I think?) squared off. I could see sparks fly between their eyes.

    "Hey, uhh¡­¡­" I stood in the middle stupefied. I cautiously took out a pear: "Ladies, do you want a pear?"

    *Smack!*

    MY PEAR!!

    Notes:

    Xuemei is a flower

    *In the part about transforming into a pervert, the literal trantion is "wolf". But it''s word y because É«ÀÇ (lit. trantion Perverted Wolf), which means pervert. Since those who are unaware of the wordy at hand there wouldn''t understand it, and for best rity purposes, I used "pervert".

 Volume 2 47 The Young Girls, Pears and A Battle I Canâ€™t Do Anything About

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 47 The Young Girls, Pears and A Battle I Can''t Do Anything About</h4>

    Bai Ling and Su Xiao exchanged res below the ring outside the imperial city.

    Su Xiao noticed how beautiful Bai Ling''s body-line was. Her curvaceous hips looked soft and her generous physique was wrapped in a eunuch''s robe. The tight robe emphasized her seductive lines. Her face was small and snow white. Her facial features were exquisite; in particr, her beautiful eyes were like mas that one couldn''t take their eyes from. Su Xiao snorted and said to himself: What''s the use of such big eyes? She looks like she''s out to seduce people, how annoying! One nce and you can tell that she''s a vixen! A vi-xen!ooking at Su Xiao in front of her, Bai Ling felt that Su Xiao was just someone who would cause one to lose their ways. He had narrow shadows and looked fragile. The slightly revealed white skin of his crane neck looked so weak like it would snap with a tap. He had long legs, his hips were narrow and his physique was perfect. You could say that one extra inch would be too much, and one inch less would be too little. He had a delicate melon-shaped face. If he were not dressed in a male''s clothes, she really would''ve mistaken him for a peerless beauty.

    Bai Ling said to herself: He''s still a guy at the end of the day! You''re more feminine than the eunuchs in the pce. You''re nothing but a vixen!

    The two of them scanned each other. The more they saw, they more they disliked the other. The atmosphere turned tense. A big fight was about to break out.

    Bai Ling noticed that Su Xiao was still hugging Ming Feizhen and Ming Feizhen didn''t look like he was aware. She started to get angry without knowing why: "Ming Feizhen,e over here, I have something to say to you."

    "Don''te here! Don''te here! You viciously scold people every day." Su Xiao clung to Ming Feizhen''s left arm tightly and waved his hand at Bai Ling like he was trying to tell a spirit to get lost: "Look at Big Brother Ming, you scared him!

    Ming Feizhen kept silent.

    Bai Ling got angrier, but she revealed a startled smile: "You''re talking to me in that tone? What''s your surname and first name?!" Bai Ling already knew Su Xiao''s surname and first name, but she didn''t want to admit that she knew him as that would be the equivalent of her admitting she bothered herself with some insignificant fellow, hence why she needed to put on the act.

    Su Xiao pulled a funny face: "Hmph, I''m Su Xiao."

    "Su Xiao, huh? What rank are you to be calling me violent?" Bai Ling widened her eyes and coldly chuckled: "You think this ce is Liu Shan Men''s office?! Even if Shen Yiren is favoured more than she already is, you think I can''t beat up a minor constable guarding the gates inside these pce walls?!"

    Bai Ling checked her surroundings and was about to call someone over.

    "Beat me? You better look at you''re talking to."

    Su Xiao pulled out a bronze token from inside his shirt. Bai Ling looked at the bronze token and asked with astonishment: "Bai Hu? You got promoted to Bai Hu?"

    Su Xiao acted haughty. He revealed his bright-as-the-sun smile: "I''m an official too! You can''t hit me!"

    If Su Xiao was still just a minor constable, Bai Ling would be able to give him a beating using any excuse even if they operated under different systems. Shen Yiren can''t butt heads with the general manager of eunuchs even if she held more power and was more favoured. It''s not a question of whether or not she wants to, but something she can''t do. Shen Yiren wouldn''t do something so reckless as creating enmity between herself and officials in the imperial court for a mere low-ranking constable. So Su Xiao could''ve been beaten without a chance at escape.

    But now that he was an official, things were different. You can''t hit officials of the imperial court even if you arrested him for a crime unless you had established that he was indeed guilty. Further, it was just an argument with her, the general manager alone. As the general manager of eunuchs, a fifth rank official, she was many ranks higher than Su Xiao.

    There''s never been a precedent where a lower ranked official dared to argue with a higher ranked official, mostly because they were afraid of the power wielded by the higher ranked official as well as the impact it might have on their future prospects. That said, there are no documents which state that one cannot argue back just because of a difference in rank. Among them, the most obvious cases are the censorship officials and censorship supervision officials getting into arguments over rumours. Amonly seen example in the imperial court would be a seventh ranked censorship official pointing at a second ranked official and spitting in his face as he cusses him.

    Su Xiao as he is now waspletely unafraid of Bai Ling, and since he just got a promotion, he didn''t care about his future. So while Su Xiao is just a seventh ranked official, Bai Ling truly couldn''t do anything to him despite him wanting to pick a fight.

    Bai Ling looked at the token with surprise and said to herself: What''s going on with Liu Shan Men? They''re promoting even little kids now.

    When she looked at his hand he held the token with, she noticed how his skin was snow-white and she just wanted to say: Your skin is so white¡­ This guy is disgusting!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You''re a man that has skin whiter than a woman''s. Are you really a man?"

    "Who said my skin is whiter than a woman''s?!" She didn''t know it was taboo for Su Xiao. Su Xiao widened his eyes, pointed at Bai Ling''s small nose and shouted: "You''re the woman. Look at your puny nose. Can you even breathe?!"

    "What''s wrong with my nose?!" Bai Ling''s nose is smooth, but she had never heard anybody critique her facial appearance, nor did she realise she was a peerless beauty. She noticed that Su Xiao had a tall and straight nose which was very pretty. She thought his nose was the standard to pursue, so his words caused her to shiver all over.

    Bai Ling grew up in the pce. There are many rules and the pce and she interacted with very few people. After being promoted, all of the eunuchs and maids only felt fear towards her so she essentially never argued with anyone. She''s a smart individual nheless, so she immediately found a way to get back at Su Xiao.

    Bai Ling clenched her teeth: "Your ears look like¡­ look like a caterpir that tripped over and died! They''re horrendous." She didn''t know if she was factual or not either, but after she saw Su Xiao''s displeased expression, she knew she did the right thing and couldn''t help but feel pleased. Her cheeks were glowing, demonstrating that she was happier than winning a bet against Ming Feizhen.

    Su Xiao''s ears are like crystal clear jade. His ear lobes are like whirling jade pendants. But Su Xiao felt thought that they didn''t look good, and he never expected that damn eunuch Bai Ling to pick that out of all things first. Su Xiao grew up in the world ofmoners. While he''s naive and simple at heart, he''s much better than Bai Ling at verbal warfare. He had hiseback ready without even having to think.

    Su Xiao pursed his thing ice-like lips and proudly said: "My mouth looks better than yours."

    The topic of mouths was Miss Bai''s weakness. She was in a predicament because she couldn''t clear up the issue of mouths with Ming Feizhen just before. Now that the topic of mouths was brought up with Ming Feizhen present, Bai Ling felt her lips burn and itch again, causing her to blush again.

    Bai Ling''s cheeks turned red like she was slightly drunk on alcohol.

    "You¡­ you¡­¡­." Bai Ling felt a dip in her confidence levels. She had never seen herself as a woman, so suddenly engaging in apetition of beauty left her somewhat perplexed. But her innate instincts told her that if she were to lose, her entire value as a woman would be nil. She couldn''t help but use her sleeve to slightly cover her peony lips and small nose, leaving just half of her hand-sized face revealed, which made her look even more alluring

    "But I¡­ I have bigger eyes! Hmph¡­¡­" Bai Ling covered her mouth with her sleeve and let out a mocking chuckle: "Your eyes are puny. Can you even see?"

    Su Xiao couldn''t ept that. Not only are Su Xiao''s eyes not small, they''re actually close to the same size as Bai Ling''s. It''s just that Bai Ling''s eyes droop down slightly, making it look like she''s crying and pitiful, which makes her look mesmerising.

    Su Xiao always shared that sentiment and felt that he couldn''tpare, so her words ticked him off.

    "Midget!!" Su Xiao, "You''re a midget! I''m only sixteen and I''m taller than you!"

    Bai Ling couldn''t believe it. A man is trying topete in height with her?! I''ll have you know I''m a woman through and through!

    "I''m not as tall as you¡­ You''re¡­ you''re t chested!"

    Su Xiao froze up like he got struck by lightning. He opened and closed his mouth, "I-I''m a guy! What would I want a perky chest for?! Okay, I''m t, but what about you? You got a perky chest?!"

    Bai Ling revealed a ridiculing and proud smile: "You''re right. I''m a eunuch and also t-chested. That''s why there''s nothing worth mentioning." But after she said that, she shrugged her shoulders up slightly and her clothing naturally spread out on both sides. If you were to look at her silhouette, you could imagine two voluptuous soft and white mounds filling up the small space underneath.

    Su Xiao red at the pleased Bai Ling with hatred like she murdered his father, and Bai Ling responded by ring back at him.

    "Big Brother Ming, why aren''t you helping me out? Look at this damned eunuch!"

    "What did you just call me?!" Bai Ling angrily eximed: "Ming Feizhen, if you don''t put this kid in his ce, I''ll have you go guard the castration room and have you watch people get castrated every day!"

    "Big Brother Ming!"

    "Ming Feizhen!"

    "Whose side are you on?!"

    "Whose side are you on?! You dare not help me?"

    The anger of the two got directed at the silent Ming Feizhen. But all they got was a quite one word response: "Apologise."

    Ming Feizhen''s gaze was nk as he looked at the three pears on the ground and the two.

    "The two of you¡­ better apologise before I get lose my temper!!"

 Volume 2 48 An Actor Prepares

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 48 An Actor Prepares</h4>

    The two of them froze up. What''s Ming Feizhen up to now?

    "Apologise."

    But Ming Feizhen just repeated the same thing.

    "The two of you, apologise!"

    Ming Feizhen''s gaze was firm and his tone was stern. He was like a public servant with a strong sense of justice that had captured countless bandit leaders as he spoke while wearing the look of one who was upholding justice on behalf of the heavens.

    "What''s wrong, Big Brother Ming? ¡­ Are you angry, Big Brother Ming?" Su Xiao''s heart beat quickly. He never intended to make Ming Feizhen unhappy. Ming Feizhen was usually generous and tolerant, but he must''ve hit a nerve today.

    Ming Feizhen widened his eyes and shouted: "Apologise!"

    "Okay, okay!" Su Xiao red at him and involuntarily said: "I''ll apologise, okay?"

    Bai Ling who had never seen Ming Feizhen serious before slightly panicked and said: "Alright, Ming Feizhen. I too shall apologise for your sake."

    As soon as Su Xiao noticed Bai Ling''s crafty gaze, he immediately said: "Allow me to speak first. I was wrong to say that your nose is t, your mouth is ugly and that you''re a damned midget-eunuch. I''m sorry. Are we good now?"

    "I''m the one in the wrong." Bai Ling suppressed her anger, clenched her teeth and said: "You tiny-eyed, puny-eared, t-chest-bitch, I''m sorry, okay?!"

    "Y-Y-You!" Su Xiao pointed at Bai Ling, and just as he was about to fire back at her, Ming Feizhen shouted: "Shut up!"

    Su Xiao pursed his lips, shifted his small mouth to the side and nearly cried.

    Ming Feizhen then continued: "Who told you to apologise to each other?"

    The two of them exchanged nces and then looked back at the serious Ming Feizhen. Bewildered as can be, they asked: "What were you referring to then?"

    "I wasn''t telling you to apologise to each other!" Ming Feizhen then pointed to the ground, "And not me either. I was telling you to apologise to the three pears on the ground!"

    "Pears?"

    "Huh?"

    General Manager Bai knocked one down, Su Xiao knocked another, and one of them knocked another down during their argument just now, although the culprit is unknown. The three pears rolled on the ground and were now lying there on the ground.

    But pears?

    So he got mad because of the three pears?

    Su Xiao grumbled: "This isn''t braised pork shoulders in soy sauce, so what are you acting so serious for? Moreover, I''ve knocked your braised pork shoulders in soy sauce over before but you didn''t get angry with me."

    Ming Feizhen grabbed his chest as if he couldn''t remember that memory: "I-I was okay until you mentioned it! The memory hase back to me now! I haven''t settled the score with you on that!! I was pissed for three months!"

    Su Xiao innocently replied: "But we haven''t even known each other for three months. That happened only half a month ago."

    "That means that I''m going to continue being pissed for another two-and-a-half months!" Ming Feizhen stamped his feet and said: "Is that so hard to understand?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Yes. Why are you angry? It''s just a few pears and a te of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce."

    "Just a few pears? Just a te of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce?" Ming Feizhen looked like he got struck by lightning. He took three steps back and with his facepletely pale, said: "Where is the justice in this? Is that something a human-being would say?! Su Xiao, I was wrong about you!"

    Su Xiao waspletely confused. His brain was filled with questions.

    "What are you¡­? What you''re saying is¡­ you''re constables, you know?" Bai Ling frowned slightly. "Confused" was written all over her beautiful small face: "What''s this Dong Po''s pork shoulders? Are you talking about food?"

    "Enough! How dare you look down on Dong Po''s meats?" Ming Feizhen waved his arm in a big circle and eximed: "Don''t you feel that you''ve let Liu Zi, Uncle Wang Er, Zhang Dagua, Young Miss Li, Zhao Old Si, He Hua and Cai Ping down?!"

    "Who the hell are they?!"

    "Dong Po Tavern''s chef and co., you violent people!"

    "Aren''t you exaggerating too much now? It''s just a few pears!"

    Bai Ling took a step back and asked Su Xiao: "Wh-What''s up with him? Is he usually like this?"

    Su Xiao replied: "He''s not usually like this. But sometimes he has cramps."

    It was the first time the two witnessed what a food-fanatic was like when they lost it.

    "Both of you, shut up!"

    Ming Feizhen wore an angry expression. He rubbed his hands and walked over, step by step.

    "Big Brother Ming, wh-what are you doing?"

    "What are you trying to do?!"

    Ming Feizhen grabbed their small crystal ears like grabbing chickens with eagle w and pulled the uhh¡­ two girls(?) over. Su Xia''s ear love was like jade,pletely smooth and soft, which felt great to the touch. Bai Ling''s ears were rtively elegant, but at the same time exquisite and beautiful. They felt like a treasure of a great artisan in one''s hands. Their sizes were just right. Ming Feizhen didn''t hurt them. He just used his gentle Yin inner strength to pull them over. With his qi creating friction on their ears, it felt like somebody was blowing hot air into their ears non-stop, creating a ticklish sensation all over their body.

    "Stop! Stop! I''m sorry! Please don''t pull my ear."

    "Alright! Ow, stop pulling, it feels weird!"

    What initially felt like a numb feeling turned into a terrifying feeling like their ears were going to be torn off the next instant, a feeling they both felt at the same time.

    Ming Feizhen''s hands suddenly transformed into sharp objects like knives, like they could rip their snow-white ears off at any moment. That was because Ming Feizhen was using his qi essence. He sharpened his qi essence into a sharp form like a de, but kept it in is sheath. However, they felt a chill by their ears as if something sharp was there.

    Su Xiao and Bai Ling''s hearts thumped at the same time.

    "N-No! I''m afraid of pain!"

    "What did you put on my ear, Ming Feizhen?! Let go of me!"

    His qi essence then returned to a gentle state again, making them feel like warm water was flowing into their ears. Their bodies turned to jelly and they trembled all over. After that, their voices became weak as mosquitos, and a tinge of pink appeared on their necks. Their entire body was like jelly and felt numb like countless hands were massaging their body.

    "Ah¡­ don''t. My ears¡­ my ears feel so soft¡­.."

    "You¡­ you barbaric¡­ bastard¡­¡­"

    The two of them reacted as if they were diagnosed with asthma. They felt the warm current on their ears be stronger. They couldn''t help but clench their teeth. They quivered all over and a drip of sweat on their forehead rolled down their gentle snow-white cheeks, down to their alluring red neck, gradually dow to their pink cor bone, and over that softer, higher spot, forming a tight collection of sweat. When their sweat reached that location, it was obvious their clothing was fairly soaked, and their snow-white backs were almost in in sight.

    Only when their ears had been rubbed to the point that they felt ridiculous by his damnedrge hands did Ming Feizhen finally say: "Next, I''m going to rip your ears off." His qi essence changed dramatically, bing sharp in nature again. What the two of them felt was like Ming Feizhen pressed a small knife up against their ear.

    The two of them revealed terrified looks at the same time.

    Just as they were about to speak, they discovered that their body was so weak they could only mutter under their breath.

    Ming Feizhen shouted in a stern and righteous tone: "Apologise to the pears!!"

    The two of them gave it everything they had to shout: "S-Sorry!! We''re sorry, pears! Big Brother Ming! Stop pinching me."

    "Ow, ow, I''m sorry! Stop pinching my ear! Sorry, pear!"

    "Now that''s more like it."

    Ming Feizhen let go and the two of them reacted like all the energy in their body and lower back got drained away. They couldn''t straighten up their torso and dropped to the ground. If they weren''t leaning on each other''s backs, they''d have fallen asleep.

    "The two of you better reflect on your actions!"

    After he said that, he left the two who were arguing without a chance of surrender and walked off, leaving two speechless and drained beauties.

    After an uncertain amount of time, Su Xiao recovered some of his strength. He suddenly said: "¡­¡­. I-It''s all your fault. You smacked Big Brother Ming''s pear away."

    What Su Xiao said angered Bai Ling: "You were the one that smacked it!"

    "I only smacked one away."

    "I only smacked one away too."

    "Hey! Why don''t you have the courage to own up to what you did?!" Bai Ling pat her face and continued, "You were the one that smacked the third pear away, weren''t you?"

    "How could it have been me?!" Su Xiao shouted so loud the heavens could hear, "I didn''t even touch that pear. I never lie."

    "Really? Then who¡­¡­"

    Su Xiao and Bai Ling looked at each other nkly. They suddenly felt something was wrong and spoke out at the same time.

    "Where''s Ming Feizhen?"

    "Where''s Ming Feizhen?"

    Ah, no, Ming Feizhen (Big Brother Ming) ran off!

    The two beautiful young girls cried out in unison: "That bastard!!"

    As soon as I passed the city gates, I sprinted off. Since I usually guard the small South gate, I can use the token on my belt to get into the imperial city. Unlike Tang Ye and the others, I don''t need to visit the office that manages eunuchs and maids to get permission.

    I ran towards the za of the interior of the imperial city like the wind to rendezvous with Tang Ye. The show is about to start, so how can I be absent?

    At the main za inside the imperial city were four tall towers with a stage erected higher than the four towers in the distance. On there were over twenty seats, with a dragon seat and phoenix seat situated in the centre. The two seats in the centre were obviously for the emperor and the empress. The other surroundings seats were needless to say for the royal family members.

    There aren''t many members of the royal family in the capital. There are only two princes, a few concubines, a few concubines and of course the princesses.

    It was still early so there weren''t many people present. As for thepetitors, everyone but Su Xiao and I were present.

    There were thirty two people in the finals.

    The one other than Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I who could make Liu Shan Men proud was Brother Bastard. He was present too!

    He is the son of a reputable family, so his martial arts basics are profound. After Boss Shen''s arrangements, he got paired up with a guy weaker than even Yi Yixian who also made it into the finals. I couldn''t help but sigh¡­¡­ Why couldn''t he have been paired up with my opponents? He would''ve been even safer if he fought that Brother Ren guy.

    But the arrangements were fair. Since Brother Bastard got promoted, his opponent, Long Zaitian did too.

    The two of them hold ranks which are close to each other after all, so they were standing together speaking right now. But all I could see was Brother Bastard getting bullied.

    I scanned Long Zaitian with interest.

    He still had his up-to-no-good smile as he ridiculed Brother Bastard. Every once in a while, he''d pat him on his back and intimidate him like a bully.

    But underneath his rough exterior, he was quite the thinker.

    He''s the toughest sort of person to deal with.

    Today is thest day of the imperial martial arts tournament. If something is to happen, it''ll definitely be today.ong Zaitian¡­ sure is good at holding it in.

    No, perhaps that''s not quite right. He''s a little different to his usual self, as if he''s deliberately being shy to cover up his unsettled feelings. He was more mboyant with his actions as though he were slightly anxious.

    I looked in his direction. Long Zaitian seemed to sense my gaze on him and looked back at me. With the wide open space, I couldn''t evade his gaze in time so our gazes met. He gave me a ferocious re, proving he still remembered the humiliation of calling me "baba".

    But after that, he chuckled coldly as though he hade up with a way to get back at me. He turned back around and continued bullying Brother Bastard. Brother Bastardined incessantly. He too looked at me to gesture, "Your boss is in trouble and you''re not going to help?"

    There''s nothing I can do about it.

    I waved my hand to indicate that if our boss can''t save him, what could we underlings do? What about our balls man? Moreover, my balls are better than yours several times over. Around Long Zaitian was a group of Qilin Guards. All of them had a presence which stood out from everyone else. Every move they made gave the feeling that they were no simpletons. Such people are not easy to find, and yet the Qilin Guards have over ten of them here. They weren''t just blowing their trumpets when they said they''re many times stronger than Liu Shan Men.

    "Big Bro!"

    Tang Ye standing in the distance waved at me. I nodded to indicate I''d be there right away.

    I looked around slowly.

    Xiao and General Manager Bai should havee back to their senses by now, right?

    That was seriously dangerous¡­¡­. A fight between women is hard enough to deal with as it is. When Su Xiao and General Manager Bai argue, it''s like two women going to see their aunt all dressed the same. If I wasn''t equipped with special problem-solving skills, I wouldn''t be able to be here right now.

    What?

    Afraid?

    No way. I''m calm enough tough.

    Yours truly has encountered many situations. There''s no way I would be scared because of two little girls, I mean, little boys, wait¡­ whatever!

    What?

    The third pear? Why that would be me who smacked it away of course.

    I took a pear out from my shirt and took a bite. The juice was nice and sweet as I remember. And the refreshing feeling was just as I remember.

    I looked up to the blue sky feeling satisfied and had a thought.

    Ha! Trolling and then legging it. Damn that was exhrating!

    Notes:

    In this chapter, Su Xiao and Bai Lingbined are referred to as "young girls", that is not a mistake.

    Baba = Dad/daddy/father

    Volume 2 END

 Volume 3 1 Chronicles of the Six Dragons That Sealed the Nation (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 1 Chronicles of the Six Dragons That Sealed the Nation (Part 1)</h4>

    On a night twenty-two years ago, the sixth prince, who went on to be the blue prince was born.

    It was a celebration to have a prince born, but his father, emperor Yuan Sheng sat in his study with knitted brows, refusing to go and see his son. It wasn''t because he didn''t love his newborn son, but because the implications of his birth were far too significant, causing him to feel helplessly troubled.

    Three years ago, which was when the fourth prince, the red prince was born, the emperor had the grand priest prophesise the fate of the nation.

    The emperors of this dynasty believe in numerology, and emperor Yuan Sheng isn''t the first. Ever since the reign of the founding emperor, whenever the emperors were met with a big matter, they would ask the heavens to see their fate. If the prophecy said that the sess of his goal was unlikely, a wise man like the founding emperor would abandon the idea.

    It had be a custom for the dynasty. They always tried to seek the will of the heavens whenever something big happened.

    Since a prince was born, it was considered the very lucky, and hence the emperor asked the current priest to see what the prophecy was.

    It''s not amon practice to have the prophecy of the nation''s fate read as it was no minor matter. Therefore, the priest responsible for calcting the nation''s fate was nomon man either.

    In terms of martial arts skills, he was in the top ten of the most formidable in the ck and White Reflection. He had reached the peak of martial prowess. In terms of cultivation, he had many aliases, including: "crazy priest", "demi-god", "deity" etc. All of them were praise for his profound level of cultivation. In terms of status, not only was he the grand priest of the nation, he was also bestowed with the power to overwatch all dao sects across thend. All the priests of thend referred to him as the master of Daoism. His surname was Lai, and his name was Jingzhen. People called him "demi-god, Lai Jingzhen."

    While Lai Zhenjing was a daoist, he was a heavy drinker, ate meat without concern, and frequented brothels like no tomorrow. He acted casual and unruly, hence why people also called him the crazy priest.ai Jingzhen prophesised the nation''s fate. His cultivation was profound. He doesn''t usually need to prophesise. Simply pinching his finger was enough for him to find out heaven''s will. But this time, he locked himself in the royal heavenly office for three full days and yet still couldn''te to a conclusion.

    Bing impatient, the emperor went to hurry him. Lai Jingzhen pleaded for more time, saying that he just needed one more day to find out the result. However, only after seven days had passed did hee out. He ced a book with four words written on it in front of the emperor''s study.

    On the emperor''s table inside his study was a white sheet of paper with seven words written in ck ink. Those seven words were: The six dragons shall seal the nation.

    After the emperor finished reading, he suddenly thundered: "Crazy Lai, what the hell is this?! How dare you joke around with the prophecy of the nation''s fate?!" He shredded the white sheet of paper and ordered the top three of Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings to arrest Lai Jingzhen.

    The emperor''s rage was reasonable. The words "the six dragons shall seal the nation" were the equivalent of high treason.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng was the fifth generation emperor of the dynasty since it was founded.

    The founding emperor conquered and the following generations worked to stabilise the nation and worked to expand it. When the founding emperor established the kingdom back then, the nation wasn''t stable. To the South was a small country who didn''t ept the nation bing ruled by imperialism and continued to harass the borders. To the West were a number ofrge countries who were vying for thends. And to the North were the tribes that had been eyeing the maind for a long time.

    Emperors that came after all made it their mission to eliminate external threats. Emperor Yuan Sheng''s grandfather, Emperor Guang Hai reinforced the borders by building iron walls at three borders. The former emperor, Emperor Yuan Sheng''s father, Emperor Yu Zong possessed outstanding martial skills that was feared throughout thends. He signed an alliance agreement with the Northern tribes and defeated the united Western forces, and even conquered the Southernnds. The Southernnds therefore became part of the nation''s territory.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng was dered emperor at a young age. He was young but he was a good governor, never idling on national affairs. He could be considered apetent young emperor.

    In recent years, the West and North have continued with their battles, but not one tribe dared to invade our nation. So as you can see, under the governance of the emperors of this dynasty, tribes from othernds and minsters acknowledge the emperors, and their dominance extends to all corners of thends. In terms of the nation''s military, the army had always been powerful since the formation of the nation. There are countless martial arts masters in the three offices, and while the pugilistic world is quiet, it is not without its own masters.

    In Emperor Yuan Sheng''s mind, his martial prowess is evidently inferior to the two previous emperors. However, his governing skills are admirable. Children have what they need to be fed, the elderly have something to rely on, and the country is at peace under his governance, thereby making it a much more peaceful time periodpared to the time his two predecessors ruled. When he reflects on himself every now and then at night, he can''t help but smile, as he knew that his efforts weren''t for naught.

    But now Lai Jingzhen''s prophecy says that the six dragons will seal the nation.

    Dragons are obviously a reference to the true dragons, the emperor themselves. And since the founding emperor has passed away, he is obviously the fifth true dragon. What Lai Jingzhen said about the six dragons sealing the nation is basically the equivalent of saying that the dynasty will end with the next generation. That''s the same as cursing the all the emperors up until now. That was absolutely uneptable!ai Jingzhen was a top-level master at that point in time, but he''d only be equal to one of the ultimate three, so he couldn''t possibly win against the three of thembined. Thus, he was arrested before he could put up a resistance.

    He infuriated the emperor, yet when he came before him, he wore a natural look without any surprise or fear.

    The emperor thundered: "I respected you as an expert, bestowed you the title of grand priest, let you rule over all the dao sects in thend, and treated you with more favour than any other retainer. So why did you do something lowly like cursing? You insulted the previous emperors, cursed my nation and started a rumour about six dragons sealing the nation."ai Jingzhen bluntly replied: "That was what I learned from the prophecy. Believe what you will."

    He infuriated the emperor to the point that the emperor grinded his teeth. Emperor Yuan Sheng was just over twenty years of age at the time and he was hot-headed. Hearing his response, he almost ignored the difference in martial skill, drew his sword and sliced him!

    But then Yan Shisan who was the brains, made a suggestion: "Please calm down, your majesty. Demi-good is a daoist, but he is not the only demi-god who is capable of prophesising the fate of our nation. How about ordering three others to examine demi-god''s prophesising methods? If there is an issue, the three of them can point it out. That way, we would not falsely using demi-god either. If you do not trust those three either, then it is unlikely that there is anyone trustworthy left in the world."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng considered Lai Jingzhen''s status. Indeed, he couldn''t kill him just for those few words. Consequently, he went along with Yan Shisan''s suggestion. When the martial artspetition in the martial world took ce on Mount Taishan when the four princes were one month old, he invited the three major sects, namely, Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo to view the ceremony with him. While it was to view the ceremony in name, it was actually to get them to prophesise the fate of the nation again.

    When the fourth prince turned one month old, Shaolin''s abbot, Wudang''s leader and Mount Daluo''s Hero Shen Zhou came together.

    After the ceremony, they went to the royal heavenly office to examine the prophesising process.

    The three masters of the time stayed there for half a month. They took longer than Lai Zhenjing. Since the three of them learnt different things, their methods were naturally different. On thest day, they met up to report their findings.

    Their conclusion left everyone stupefied. They were the same seven words: The six dragons shall seal the nation.

    The emperor was bewildered: "The three of you have always been people I have admired. Why would your prophecy be the same as that insane man? And why did it take you twice as long?" The leader of Wudang replied: "Your majesty, demi-god Lai Jingzhen is my grand disciple. His daoism was taught to him by my disciple, and he has been taught everything. He knows no less than I. I tried once using his method which took me seven days. I then spent another seven days using my method. I then cross-examined it with Hero Ming and the abbot, thereby taking us fifteen days."

    The emperor calmed down a fair bit after hearing the exnation, but his curiosity had amplified.ai Jingzhen came from Mount Wudang. The emperor was always aware of that. He was also aware that Priest Shen Fa was his grand teacher. Since that''s the case, their calctions were naturally simr. As for the question of uracy, that''s another topic. But at least it was now clear the crazy man wasn''t just insulting the previous emperor, or cursing the nation as a joke. Given that he was a retainer of the nation, the emperor was relieved that he was innocent.

    But one man''s word is not substantial enough. And so the emperor then asked the Shaolin Abbot, Kong Xu.

    Abbot Kong Xu replied: "Amitabha. Your majesty, we monks do not believe in numerology. We believe in fate. I did not prophesise the fate of the nation. What I looked at was how the nation looked. It was a long process that took me fourteen days and nights. On thest day, I discussed it with the two others and feel that those seven words are most valid."

    The emperor was still bewildered as to why the shape of the nation mattered. But since monks discuss things on a profound level outside the realm ofmon logic, the emperor didn''t think too much of it and then turned his attention to Hero Shen Zhou.

    Hero Shen Zhou looked suave and rxed. He carried the aura of a grand-master. His eyes were narrowed as if the monk was right and didn''t speak a word.

    "Hero Ming? Hero Ming?" The emperor pestered him twice. Hero Shen Zhou continued to keep silent. The emperor worried that he wasn''t respectful enough and offended him, so he didn''t dare to continue pestering him.

    But out of the blue, the leader of Wudang then said: "Your majesty, Hero Ming has fallen asleep."

    The emperor: "¡­¡­"

    "Senior Ming, his majesty has something he would like to ask you."

    Wudang''s leader''s voice was gentle, but was infused with his pure internal strength. While it didn''t ring out, it shook the royal divine pce. The emperor asked himself with surprise: "Is it just because he''s a senior teacher? His internal strength is stronger than that lunatic."

    But it still took Leader Shen Fa a few tries to get Hero Shen Zhou to slowly wake up. His eyes were blurry. As a matter of fact, he didn''t even know where he was looking.

    "Wh-What is it?"

    "Senior Ming, his majesty has a question for you."

    "Yes, I wanted to ask you what discovery you made in thesest fifteen days."

    "Oh! Reporting, your majesty!" But once he awoke, Hero Shen Zhou started with saluting, and bowing respectfully, then referring to himself as "this peasant", sped his fist with one hand before him and said: "This peasant discussed it with Abbot Kong Xu and Leader Shen Fa on thest day, and also concluded with seven words: There is no mistake with those words."

    "Oh?" The emperor''s eyes lit up, "But what sort of research did you conduct during the previous fourteen days toe up to that conclusion. Could I bother you to exin it to me?"

    Hero Shen Zhou raised his head. He had a refined look in his eyes. What looked like two willows moved without the wind''s breeze. He looked old, but his voice was filled with energy. He shifted his qi to his dantian, stood firmly and sternly, stroked his beard and replied: "¡­¡­ This peasant slept for fourteen days!"

    The emperor: FUCKING RETARD!!!

    Notes:

    *In the original sourcenguage text, it was "four characters". I changed it to "seven words" since it''s seven words in English and we use words in English. And at thest part, with the different seven words, it was originally "There is no mistake", I changed it to those seven words to keep the joke.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    **To expand on the phrase Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation: This meant that the prophecy was that six male royal family members (male royal family were referred to as dragons as you learned in this chapter) would cause the nation to fall into ruin, sealing it off from external interactions causing it to suffer. This will make more sense after reading the next chapter. For those who are familiar with Japanese history, it''s the same as what Tokugawa Ieyasu did prior to the Meiji era. The simplified and easier to understand trantions would be "The Six Dragons Will Ruin the Nation". Would you prefer me to use that trantion or would you prefer me to keep the other version with "sealed" in it to keep the tone of thenguage?

 Volume 3 2 Chronicles of the Six Dragons That Sealed the Nation (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 2 Chronicles of the Six Dragons That Sealed the Nation (Part 2)</h4>

    Unreliable geezer!

    Emperor Yuan Sheng cursed in his mind. Hero Shen Zhou was several hundred years old. Legend has it that he once fought side by side with the founding emperor and that they were very close, sharing a bond that couldn''t be broken. And that was how the Moun Daluo on that mountain range became a sect of justice.

    In terms of seniority, Emperor Yuan Sheng could address him as an ancestor, so how would he dare show disrespect? Helpless, he then turned back to the Shaolin abbot and leader of Wudang.

    Priest Shen Fa replied: "While this is a major matter, you do not have to feel offended by my grand disciple, your majesty, as the six dragons referred to here are not the emperors of past generations."

    "What?! What makes you say so?!" The young emperor was enraged and he anxiously asked: "Alright, I am listening. What do you mean by that?"

    If Yan Shisan wasn''t by the emperor''s side holding him back, he probably would''ve lost control of his anger.

    What do you mean? I had enough with your grand disciple saying "the six dragons will seal the nation", and now you dare ridicule the emperors of past generations as not being dragons before my presence? Are you people from Wudang insane?!

    Priest Shen Fa leisurely exined: "I am not saying that the previous emperors were not true dragons. What I am saying is that the six dragons in the prophecy are not the emperors of the past generations. If this makes you feel better, I could also word it as: most of those six dragons are not true dragons."

    "Six dragons aren''t real dragons, real dragons aren''t the six dragons?! What on Earth are you trying to say?!" The emperor''s anger was about to reach its limit. He forcefully controlled himself and asked: "You are not trying to fool me to save your grand disciple, are you?"

    "Amitabha." Abbot Kong Xu said his Buddhist phrase. Hearing it calmed one down, so the emperor calmed down a fair bit. He then looked over to see Abbott Kong Xu with his hands pressed together. Abbott Kong Xu then said: "Please calm down, your majesty. This was a conclusion the three of us came to. It is not the thought of sect leader Shen Fa alone. While the six dragons, are dragons, they are not emperors."

    The emperor''s eyebrows twitched. Something else came to mind, and he suddenly started to feel a little afraid. He said: "Please tell it to me straight."

    "Other than the true dragon, the emperor, there are other dragons in this world. For example¡­ the true dragon''s offspring."

    "Dragons!" The emperor''s mighty face turned white as a sheet, indicating that Abbot Kong Xu spoke his mind: "Are you saying¡­ that my brothers¡­ Are you saying that I have brothers that are still alive?!"

    Emperor Yuan Sheng was the previous emperor''s youngest son. Emperor Yuan Sheng had three elder brothers. Two of them passed away when they fought for the throne when he was still young. The whereabouts of his third brother were unknown. Because Emperor Yuan Sheng was young back then, he only had positive feelings towards his brothers, knew very little of their deeds and cared very little. So when the abbot mentioned dragons, that was what he thought of.

    However, Abbot Kong Xu shook his head and replied: "Your three brothers have already passed away, and the number does not match the prophecy. The dragons I speak of are not the children of the previous emperor, but the current true dragon, yours, your majesty."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng frowned and asked: "My sons?"

    Abbot Kong Xu and Priest Shen Fa nodded together: "That is correct!"

    At that point in time, the red, orange, yellow and red prince had just turned one month old and were still infants. It was true that they were princes and that they were connected to the fate of the nation. However, those wet-behind-the-ear kids were still clueless children. They still couldn''t speak even. So the emperor didn''t connect the prophecy to them.

    "That''s impossible." The emperor chuckled: "You jest, abbot. My sons have only turned one month old. You three have seen them. How could they possibly influence the fate of the nation?"

    This initially wasn''t about the fate of the nation. What the emperor was most angry about was how Lai Jingzhen insulted the previous emperors while he was an important individual, and thus his decision to invite the three experts to clear his name.

    The emperor considered the seven words "the six dragons will seal the nation" nonsense. He never thought about what to do if they were true.

    "Abbot, priest, Hero Ming, you three are the greatest masters at this time. I know that the three of you came for Priest Lai''s matter. I shall release him, so with regards to these words¡­¡­"

    The emperor left hisst sentence unfinished.

    However, Priest Shen Fa said: "I dide here for my grand disciple, that is correct. However, since this concerns my grand disciple''s life, this is not satisfactory."

    "Wh-¡­ what do you mean by that?" The emperor truly didn''t understand what he was persisting for. It was as if that nonsense was important. "What do you say, abbot?"

    "Those seven words do indeed concern the fate of the nation, and the six dragons mentioned are indeed your sons."

    The emperor couldn''t believe what he heard. He sternly emphasised himself as he spoke: "Abbot Kong Xu, Priest Shen Fa, do you not feel that you are going overboard?!"

    Abbot Kong Xu looked straight at the emperor and calmly asked: "Monks do not speak nonsense. How would I dare?"

    Abbott Kong Xu had kind eyes, and a benevolent aura, so he was more trustworthy than Priest Shen Fa and Hero Shen Zhou to the young man.

    The emperor couldn''t help but whisper: If the six dragons in the prophecy truly refer to¡­¡­ no, there''s no way. They haven''t been born for long. It''s impossible.

    The abbot looked at the young emperor doubtfully and asked: "Your majesty, would you happen to still remember what I said I did these past few days?"

    "You said you were busy examining the shape of the country." The emperor seemed to suddenly realise something and quickly asked: "Could it be that what you were looking at were my four sons¡­¡­?"

    "Amitabha. Please forgive my rudeness, your majesty." Abbott Kong Xu pressed his palms together and continued: "That is correct. The four princes are talented individuals who have great potential and are destined to be outstanding dragons among the people. But unfortunately¡­ while the four princes are still young, they have enmity towards each other that cannot be overlooked. If they grow up together, their enmity will grow, and they will detest each other¡­.."

    "And what''s the problem with them detesting each other?"

    "In amoner''s home, if brothers were to hate each other, they would just avoid interacting each other in the worst case scenario. However, in the family of royalty, if the princes were to hate each other, it would escte into a wild battle that would involve the fate of the nation."

    "Wild battle¡­¡­" The emperor was on the fence. He somewhat believed him, and somewhat didn''t. Something suddenly came to mind: "But the prophecy says that there are six dragons which will seal the nation. I have four sons, so how are there six dragons?"

    "Your majesty." Priest Shen Fa suddenly said: "You are destined to have seven sons. The six dragons in the prophecy are six of the princes. As grand disciple Lai is still young and has yet to reach higher levels of cultivation, he could only deduce so much and could not decipher the implicit meaning of the words."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng said to himself: You said that your cultivation level is about the same as his. So how are you able to solve the mystery of the words?

    Priest Shen Fa seemed to be able to read the emperor''s thoughts. He smiled and said: "My cultivation is mediocre, and I too could not decipher the mystery behind the words. I was only able to decipher it thanks to the help of these two."

    Abbot Kong Xu smiled and said: "You need not thank me, Priest Shen Fa. I only know how to read appearances and shapes. I do not have the ability to read the will of the heavens. Your majesty, the mystery was solved all thanks to Senior Ming."

    "Hero Ming?"

    The emperor turned to look at the who-knows-how-many hundred years old geezer. His eyebrows were white and almost long enough to reach the floor. He looked blocky, hadrge hands and feet, and his wide frame made him look like an upright man, causing one to shiver with fear.

    Hero Shen Zhou''s name became famous in the pugilistic world in thest century. While his name was well known, he had not shown himself in the martial world in recent decades. Nobody knows how profound his martial arts skills are or how sensational the deeds he''s done were. The people who saw him thirty to forty years ago had already passed away. Lots of his feats had be myths. His existence was a legend in itself, as opposed to being a living person. As such, the emperor didn''t trust him too much.

    Priest Shen Fa read the emperor''s mind. He chuckled and said: "Perhaps you have not heard of Senior Ming''s legends due to your young age, your majesty. But Mount Daluo has the number one character in the world right now. He is Senior Ming''s private disciple. You must have heard of him, your majesty."

    The emperor blurted: "The one who currently leads Mount Daluo, the one they call Ming Huayu in the pugilistic world?"

    Shen Fa: "Yes, yes. Have you heard of him, your majesty?"

    "Of course I have."

    The emperor originally wanted to invite Ming Huayu along with the three, but who would''ve known that he was his shifu. Like others who respected him, the emperor said: "I met him by chancest year in Suzhou, and we listened to music in the same teahouse."

    "Oh?" Shen Fa chuckled and asked: "Was your impression of him positive, your majesty?"

    "I didn''t pay attention." The emperor shook his head and continued: "He had eight beauties by his side, my head spun when I saw the sight. Had Shisan not told me after the fact, I wouldn''t have known."

    "Mmm¡­ cough, cough." Leader Shen Fa coughed twice awkwardly and continued: "Leader Ming is the only disciple Hero Ming epted in eighty years. He is now one of the great heroes of the North. Such a disciple speaks volume of his shifu."

    The emperor looked at Hero Shen Zhou and looked at him. He was still on the fence about trusting himpletely: "What opinion do you have of the prophecy, Hero Ming?"

    Before the emperor''s voice tapered off, Hero Shen Zhou suddenly widened his eyes. His eyes contained a bright like, like a crystal jade. If you were to look closely, you could virtually see the reflection of light. Yan Shisan standing to the side reacted greatly surprised too. Hero Shen Zhou''s name had been famous in the pugilistic world for centuries like a myth. And indeed, his internal strength cultivation was incredible!

    Without catching him mould qi and lighten his body, Leader Shen Fa''s wooden sword by his waist got snatched away with the wide wave of his arm like an eagle spreading its wrings.

    Hero Shen Zhou turned around and drew his sword on the white wall. The speed of his sword draw was like the wind and deep etches were left on the wall.

    In less than a second, he engraved:

    Does thou know?

    The roar of the dragons brought the support of the gods down below the clouds.

    The moon shook at the cry of the phoenix.

    One fool banned nine states.

    The devil ruined the dynasty of five generations.

    Does thou know?!

    He finished with that. Hero Shen Zhou''s burly body then looked like it got swept up by a tornado, right up to the small skylight of the royal divine office.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The skylight was very small and could probably only fit one person through. Standing on the ground and looking up, one could usually only see the moon and nothing else through it. Hero Shen Zhou used an unknown method to leap away as he seemingly went through the skylight like deity.

    The emperor quickly shouted: "Hero Ming, please stay! I was wrong to me you! Pleasee back!"

    But in the end, he couldn''t keep Hero Shen Zhou who left like the wind.

    The emperor''s gaze was fixed on the white wall where the poem "Does thou know?" was just carved on like a fog that came down. But he heard the voices of the abbot and priest: "Hero Ming has already left the solution. The solution to the problem lies therein. Your majesty, if you canprehend it, the nation shall be blessed." When the emperor turned to look at the two, they had already vanished into thin air as well.

    The emperor was lost. He asked Yan Shisan: "Th-They left?"

    "The two great masters just left via the main door."

    "Th-The main door?"

    The martial world says that Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo are the top sects among the sects of justice. The three sects could match the seven white champion princes. The seven white champion princes were the strongest fighting force in the pugilistic world that the young emperor had seen, but he never expected the top of the top three sects would be so incredible. Where else in the world would you find such masters?

    Had Yan Shisan not stood by his side respectfully, he would''ve thought it was all a dream.

    "The six dragons will seal the nation¡­¡­ Does thou know, does thou know¡­¡­?"

    The seven word prophecy and the three words "does thou know" left a deep impression on the emperor.

 Volume 3 3 The Riddle in the Words and the Ming Family Gets a Daughter-In-Law

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 3 The Riddle in the Words and the Ming Family Gets a Daughter-In-Law</h4>

    Hero Shen Zhou left. The leaders of Shaolin and Wudang left too.

    The emperor stood there in ce nkly, staring at the white wall with the words.

    Does thou know?

    The dragons roar brought the support of the gods down below the clouds.

    The moon shook at the cry of the phoenix.

    One fool banned nine states.

    The devil ruined the dynasty of five generations.

    Does thou know?!

    After looking at it for a while, the emperor suddenly realised that phrases were formed when read vertically too!

    "Dragons and phoenixes are retards", "What the fuck are you bitching for"?*

    ¡­¡­

    The emperor then realised it: He cussed at me?!

    The next vertical line over was, "There are too many princes", which was pointing at how the fight for the throne woulde due to having too many sons.

    Then the next vertical line that the emperor saw was, "I''m tired"?

    I''m tired?!

    What the hell?!

    You left in a rush because you were tired?! How dare you?! I asked you toe to look into national affairs and that''s your reason for leaving?! You damn unreliable geezer!

    Thest three phrases, "Forbid the Divine Moon", "Clouds move nine five", "Shake the dynasty".

    They didn''t seem to make sense. But after pondering them for a while, the emperor felt like it addressed a concern he had.

    The phrase "Shake the nation" was straightforward and required no exnation. But the other two phrases carried implicit meanings.

    Divine moon? Was he referring to the Divine Moon Sect? The demon sect called Divine Moon had existed since the founding emperor''s era. Their leader had always resided in the Western regions. They worked with the countries in the West to fight against the imperial court. They were indeed a problem in the shadows. "Forbid the divine moon", could that be suggesting that the Divine Moon Sect were going to bring harm to his children?

    The very thought of it enraged him. If they dare touch a hair on my children, I''ll go all out and eradicate them!

    The phrase "Clouds move nine five" also confused him.

    The cloud character should be pointing to one of the four major forces of the evil sects, the Demon Cloud Heavenly Pce. They are the most mysterious powerhouse in the pugilistic world. They''ve always behaved in inexplicable and strange ways. So "Clouds move nine five"¡­¡­.. Could I¡­¡­

    The emperor stared at the white wall silently in a daze.

    But after a while passed, the emperor looked clearly bewildered.

    The characters didn''t resemble a poem, nor could they be considered phrases. The tones weren''t making sense, and neither were they an antithesis. It was void of literacy refinement and colour, and its meaning was even more so confusing. But after staring at it for a long time, the emperor subconsciously began to shift his attention. It was like the characters and the spaces between them were imbued with an alluring magic. It was like looking at a demon that one couldn''t shift their gaze away from.

    The emperor initially pondered the implied meaning of the text. However, looking at the text only made him feel heartbroken. The text looked magnificent on the white wall. He stopped paying attention to the meaning behind the text and just stared at the characters themselves nkly.

    The characters curved like the movement of dragons and snakes, and the text emitted a powerful aura. The sentence "The roar of the dragons brought the support of the gods down below the clouds". Instead of calling it a sentence of a poem, it would be better to say it was fifteen separated words. The stroke of every character had its own personal intent. Every sh of the sword had its own aura. For example, the "dragon" character was carved with ferociousness. The character for "roar" alone seemed like it could blow the clouds away. Every character after it was just as amazing. The emperor loved the "cloud" character in particr. It looked heroic and seemed like it was flying, like a wind blowing the snow.

    The emperor was so impressed he almost cried out!

    While some of the characters had repetitiveponents, but it was clear that there were some differences.

    For example, the character for "ruined" in "The devil ruined the dynasty of five generations" was written leisurely, without any suave feel to it. The second time it was written, it was written with a strong demeanour, and stood out as an excellently written character.

    Next, there was the repeated phrase "Does thou know".

    The first time it was written, the three characters were written beautifully. "Does" was written beautifully, "thou" was written eloquently and "know" was written naturally.

    The second time it was written, it was written in apletely different style. It was like two different people wrote them. The second time, "does" was written nimbly, the "thou" character was written uniquely, and the "know" character was written as if it were rushed.

    The emperor got more surprised as he looked at it. It was like he was no longer himself. He suddenly wondered to himself: C-Could this be a sword taolu?

    Emperor Yuan Sheng knows martial arts. His Li family has been proficient with archery and equestrian ever since the founding emperor established the dynasty. The founding emperor was a top-level master at the time. The martial arts he passed down couldpare to the best arts in the world.

    It was just that Emperor Yuan Sheng was still young at the time. Since he was young, his martial development was naturally limited by his age. And since he was born into royalty, he never had the chance to spar with anyone. The empress dowager doted on him. She wasn''t even willing to let him pick up a pet. He couldn''t improve his martial arts much living in such an environment.

    Secondly, although the founding emperor passed down his martial knowledge, martial art training requires a teacher. It''s not possible to master all the elements of a true master''s martial arts from a single book. An emperor is only permitted to train with his family members. That further increased the difficulty of passing on the knowledge, skills and inhibiting development. If by chance the exponent wasn''t talented, the chances of the art being passed down incorrectly or fading away entirely would be scary-high.

    The founding emperor possessed formidable martial prowess, but when he passed it onto his son, the second emperor, his son failed to learn half of it. The second emperorcked internal strength. He was only half as powerful as his father. What he could teach the next generation was even less. And the level deteriorated with each sessive generation. In the end, none of the emperors managed to reach the level of the founding emperor. They couldn''t even execute it with half the potency the founding emperor could.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng didn''tck potential. But due to the aforementioned circumstances, he was only a second-grade fighter in the pugilistic world at the age of twenty. The only difference was that his horizons were broader than normal people since he learnt the founding emperor''s incredible art.

    When he had the thought that a sword taolu was hidden within the text, Emperor Yuan Sheng''sprehension of the text reached another level. Extrapting based on what he knew, he was further convinced that the sword taolu was an incredible one.

    The emperor hadpletely forgotten about the six dragons sealing the nation matter as he was focused on the sword taolu. But regardless where he started reading from, it just looked off. The more he looked at the text, the more he found it changed. The more he looked, the more amazing the techniques appeared. The more he looked, the more confused he became. It was like watching forty-three swordsmen wielding their swords before him, with each techniqueing from different sources that couldn''t be connected. As he continued looking, he became distressed so much that he was on the verge of puking, and broke out in a cold sweat.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The emperor couldn''t help but continue looking. He looked at it a few more times. He stopped looking at it as columns and rows, instead looking at them in a disoriented order. He examined them horizontally, vertically and diagonally, but to no avail.

    While looking at it made him feel terribly sick and experience a throbbing headache, he couldn''t resist the curiosity to decipher the sword taolu. But after looking at them a few more times, he felt the text was no longer carved on the wall. He just felt the power of them increase more and more, and jump off the wall!

    It was virtually like a sharp sword flew out of the wall, straight towards the point between his eyebrows and through the other side of his head. The emperor then suddenly felt a sh of pain between his forehead like the sword was at point-nk.

    He then suddenly felt a hot energy enter his arms, like the illusion of a strong wind blowing away all the clouds before his eyes, revealing the bright moon in the sky.

    He then heard: "Your retainer, Jian Yue is here!" He then felt somebody tugging him. A strong flow of energy entered his body. The emperor got tugged away so that he couldn''t face the text on the white wall.

    When his eyes moved away from the wall, the emperor returned to his sentences, and eximed "ah". If his heart was not protected by the internal energy of someone with profound internal energy, his exmation might have shot his blood pressure through the roof and killed him.

    The emperor huffed and puffed, withyer of cold sweat on his forehead. After finally catching his breath, he asked: "Wh-What just happened to me? Did I experience qigong psychosis by chance?"

    He was so afraid he''d go mad that he didn''t dare to look at the text on the white wall again.

    The one who saved the emperor from his sea of illusions was none other than Liu Shan Men''s number one fighter, Yan Shisan.

    Yan Shisan snuck a nce at the white wall and didn''t look again. He congratted the emperor: "Your majesty, there is a sword taolu hidden within the text. You slowly entered qigong psychosis as you followed the sword sequence."

    "Really?" The emperor still felt dizzy. He shut his eyes and said: "But why would I fall into qigong psychosis?"

    "It was all because Hero Shen Zhou''s skills are so formidable. It truly is something rare to chance upon. The forty-three words are the essence of Hero Shen Zhou''s sword art. It is most brilliant, and without equal. Your cultivation level is not high enough, so you will get injured if you look at it for long, your majesty."

    "Y-You''re saying Hero Shen Zhou deliberately left behind this sword taolu? Could the sword taolu be the key to resolving the prophecy?"

    "I do not know." Yan Shisan slowly continued: "I just know that not even I am not qualified to learn that sword taolu with my martial arts. This sword taolu ispletely different to anything that I have ever seen. While I will not get hurt looking at the white wall, I know that there is no way I could learn the sword taolu."

    "Not even you?"

    The emperor felt disappointed. Based on what he saw just before, the sword taolu was indeed a brilliant work, and it was the key to resolving the prophecy. Yan Shisan is one of the ultimate three among the three offices. So if he was incapable of learning it, who else in the imperial court could?

    "Oh right! Hero Shen Zhoues and leaves without a trace, but he has disciples! Shisan, go and capture, I mean, go and ask that Ming Huayu toe here!"

    Yan Shisan itched to say something. The emperor was clueless about how the pugilistic world worked, so he could only say: "Your majesty, Ming Huayu and I are acquainted. Hero Shen Zhou can be said to be an individual whose whereabouts are unknown. However, Ming Huayu is one who ispletely untraceable."

    "Untraceable? What do you mean untraceable? He''s harder to find than his shifu?"

    "You are unaware of this, your majesty. Hero Shen Zhou tours the world and will help those in need. And thus, there are people who see him allowing me to find some clues. However, Ming Huayu deliberately hides. If he doesn''t want to reveal himself, he can disguise himself so well that you wouldn''t meet him even if you were to run into him face-to-face. I truly have no means of locating him."

    The emperor couldn''t help but frown. Yan Shisan was hispetent assistant who''d always demonstrated strength and intelligence. While he is unorthodox in his ways, he always seeded whenever he attempted a job. Even the assassins from the League of Assassins got captured in a month when he was tasked with capturing them. Yet he''s now saying that can''t find a hero from a sect of justice? Does that make sense? Clearly he''s avoiding the job.

    "He deliberately hides? What would he, a sect leader of a sect of justice be hiding from?"

    "Your majesty, he''s hiding from his debts."

    "That''s ridiculous! Mount Daluo is backed by the sects of justice. How would anyone dare to find trouble with him? What debts could he possibly be hiding from?"

    "Your majesty¡­ they are love-debts." Yan Shisan itched to say more, "Ming Huayu was born a yer. If he doesn''t anger three-hundred and sixty five women in a year, he''d anger at least three hundred. Would you dare to reveal yourself if you were him?"

    The emperor went silent. He seemed to recall all the daily bickering in his own harem and sympathised with him.

    Not long after, he shook his head and asked: "Wait. It''s just angering women. If he has the guts to do it, what''s he afraid of?"

    "Your majesty, he wasn''t afraid in the past, but not this year¡­.."

    "Why?! Why can''t I look for him?!"

    "Because he got married." Yan Shisan helplessly continued: "And he happened to marry two wives. His second wife is Heavenly Sabre''s elder''s only daughter."

    "Heavenly Sabre''s elder? Isn''t he the one they call the world''s number one broadsword master? I heard that he had a daughter in hister years. His daughter is apparently a beauty. She''s only fifteen this year and yet her name is renowned throughout the north as a female broadsword heroine. I heard her broadsword skills were brilliant." The emperorughed and asked: "Ming Huayu still dares to flirt around after marrying the daughter of a big-wig like that?"

    The emperor felt sorry for him. He shook his head, smiled helplessly and asked: "That guy is willing to throw his life away for women." But then as he thought about it again, something was amiss, "Eh? Did you say second wife? He married Heavenly Sabre''s elder''s daughter as his second wife? What''s the background of his main wife then?"

    Instead of hopelessly hoping to catch Ming Huayu, the emperor was more interested in listening to more gossip in the pugilistic world. Plus, this news made him curious as a man.

    Yan Shisan slowly replied: "The other woman¡­ it was not big deal initially, but afterst year, her elder sister took part in something big¡­ so she too underwent a drastic change."

    "God damn it, Yan Shisan, stop leaving me hanging. Can you stop talking in such a roundabout way?" The emperor grumbled: "Can you juste out with it? What did her elder sister do?"

    "Her elder sister became the empress¡­¡­" Yan Shisan waved his hands and hopelessly added: "Ming Huayu married your younger sister-inw, our empress''s younger sister."

    "¡­¡­"

    "Your majesty, you know best what the temperament of our empress is like. I heard her younger sister''s temperament was the same as her''s. It is said that they are just like twins. So¡­¡­ Ming Huayu, he¡­¡­"

    The emperor''s urge to say something grew stronger with each additional piece of information he heard. He opened his mouth to say something but then felt it was better not to say it.

    As if he had returned from a dream where he went into deep thought, he sighed helplessly.

    In the end, the emperor just gave a quiet response: "¡­ Send him my condolences then."

    Notes:

    *Only applicable in Chinese. Sorry, but I don''t possess the aptitude to recreate the word y in English. God bless the author foring up with this sequence. This is god-tier work. Wish I could do it justice. Like I said before, I am thoroughly impressed with the writing of this series in its originalnguage.

    **When the emperor reacted tedly over the character for cloud, it might be weird for non-Chinese readers, but it''s actually quite normal to have a fondness for certain characters or the way they''re written, hence calligraphy''s poprity.

    ***In the section where he breaks down the characters for "does thou know", I have switched the ordering of the original text to match the English syntax.

    ****Taolu as I exined in one of the previous chapters is a sequential set of moves which areprised of individual techniques, in this case sword techniques. If it helps, think of it like a procedure of sorts, for example, gluconeogenesis. But instead of performing the moves in the air, the emperor thinks that the text was the result of Hero Shen Zhou performing the taolu on the wall.

    *****The part with forty-three swordsman is originally thirty-four. But since we have forty-three words as opposed to thirty-four characters in the trantion, I used forty-three since it would make more sense than suddenly seeing thirty-four and wondering where it came from.

    ******Qigong psychosis, also known as Zuo Huo Ru Mo is a Chinese term traditionally used to indicate that something has gone wrong in spiritual or martial arts training, applied to describe a physiological or psychological disorder believed to result during or after practice involving qigong. The condition was a result of improper practice of qigong and other self-cultivation techniques. In this case, it is considered improper practice since the emperor tried to learn something he wasn''t qualified to learn (albeit identally)

 Volume 3 4 Past Memory When All Six Dragons Were Present

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 4 Past Memory When All Six Dragons Were Present</h4>

    There was no way to acquire the sword taolu on the white wall. However, it was an important matter so the emperor had to keep it aplete secret.

    The sword taolu Hero Shen Zhou left behind was breathtaking. Just a nce was enough to harm one. The emperor took arge sheet of white cloth and covered up the forty-three words. Afterwards, it was confirmed that not only did it affect literate and individuals who had martial arts knowledge like the emperor, but even illiterate people.

    The two eunuchs who were tasked with covering up the white wall nearly lost their lives when their qi went out of control at the sight of the characters. Yan Shisan then had to personally cover it with the white cloth.

    The power of the forty-three words was astonishing. Normal people could not approach them.

    After that, the divine royal office was out of bounds for outsiders and guarded day and night at all times. However, the emperor did task his entourage with secretly searching for someone who could unravel the mystery of the sword taolu on the white wall.

    Time flew by just like that. Three yearster, the sixth prince was born. Thus the emperor''s concern increased once again. His son wasn''t just a mere seven words.

    The priest, abbot and Hero Shen Zhou are the three with the highest levels of cultivation in the world, and also the three with the highest level of virtue. It was just as Yan Shisan said: if those three couldn''t be trusted, there truly was no one else trustworthy.

    If their prediction was right, the world was bound to end at the hands of the six dragons.

    The more the emperor worried, the more reality reminded him.

    The six princes slowly grew up, and at the mere age of seven or eight, they had already begun to not think anything of each other. The emperor taught them to value their brotherhood every single day. But the six of them were born to rebel. Their bickering could not be stopped by the ce, time or anything you could think of.

    Sometimes their arguments would escte into fist-fights with all of them tangled up in a beat-''em-up. It wasn''t the older ones picking on the younger ones either. And there wasn''t a single hint of any of them teaming up with another. It was always a battle royal between them. The brother older by three years would run his fists into his younger brother''s head, while the younger brother although unable to match his elder brother, wouldn''t surrender, low-blowing his elder brother. The elder brother in pain would dig at his younger brother''s eye balls. The princes'' fights always created an uproar that''d never end.

    Although the situation was so dire, the emperor kept persuading himself that it was amon urrence in the homes ofmoners as well, and not to think too much of it.

    That continued until that hunting event seven years ago. The eldest prince was eighteen and the youngest was fifteen. Hunting is a standard activity the royal family engages in. Speaking of the royal family, the kingdom they formed was won throughbat which didn''te easy. Hence, it was tradition for them to ensure they learnt archery, trained their mind and martial skills to remember their roots. The hunt that time was set up for the princes. As such, only the princes were permitted on the grounds, while the emperor waited outside.

    All six of the young princes set their sights on the toughest deer, in an attempt to impress their father. None of them were willing to give way to the other.

    The prince skilled at martial arts said he would hunt it with his skills. The prince not skilled at martial arts said he''d hunt it down by relying on his men. The prince without men relied on schemes, adding oil to the fire as if he was afraid the world wasn''t chaotic enough. After they were done talking, they started going at each other physically and not one of them could be stopped.

    The six princes had five mothers, all of whom had backgrounds you couldn''t ignore. Each of the princes had their own ways of winning over people. The prince with great martial prowess had his, the wealthy one had his ways, the scheming one had his ways, the self-righteous one had his ways, the handsome one had his ways, and the lucky one had his own ways.

    All of them had their own strengths. Each one of them was able to call on a group of people to help in a fist-fight. Their helpers included heroes from martial world, wandering warriors after wealth, and some of them were people in the forest the princes secretly built connections with. All of the princes had many men. It didn''t take long for two-thousand people to be engaged in a fist-fight on the hunting grounds. The wild beasts in the forest got frightened and didn''t dare to ascend the mountain. What would qualify as a battle between armies scared the wild beasts off, causing them to escape out of the forest.

    The emperor who was waiting outside of the hunting grounds was smiling brightly, enjoying his tea and the massage his consort gave him. The emperor loves his people and rarely has time to himself. Thanks to the princes'' hunting event today, he had some time to spare since he apanied them. While enjoying his time alone with his consort inside of his golden pnquin, there were some considerate and caring things they said to each other and of course they engaged in some intimate acts.

    As soon as the emperor held his consort''s small snow-white hand, his consort lowered her beautiful face to hide her embarrassment. Her eyelids fluttered and her ears turned red. The emperor wanted to just turn his beautiful wife into a helpless whitemb who couldn''t put up any resistance against him. Just as the emperor said: "Dear, I haven''t seen you for a few days, I have missed you dearly. How about I transform into a ferocious wolf today and, hehehehe¡­¡­"

    Before he could say "show you some love", the both of them suddenly heard a loud scream from outside the pnquin.

    "Fucking hell! There are wolves!" The scream shocked the pair, who thought they offended the wolf-god, and hence they immediately got dressed.

    But it was no simple matter. What came next was the wild whistling from the forest, the cries of the beasts, and the quaking of the Earth like hundreds of beasts were rampaging.

    Senior Eunuch Nan then quickly reported: "Reporting, your majesty! Hundreds of beasts are insolently escaping the hunting grounds. The soldiers ahead of us are subduing them. It is not safe to stay here. Please pardon my rudeness, but you must move!"

    "What?!" After the emperor reacted with astonishment, he felt his pnquin get lifted up by the men. The emperor and his consort were shook around inside of their golden pnquin. Because of that, his consort hit her head, wounding her beautiful skin. She consequently ignored the emperor for several days and caused a huge ruckus.

    As soon as the emperor arrived back at the pce, he ordered an investigation into the matter, only to be left stuttering for words upon learning the truth.

    After the incident was investigated, the emperor found out that the incident was caused by the in-fighting between is sons. The fighting wasn''t the problem. The problem was the scale at which they took the fight. The problem was that all six of them had their men lying in ambush all over the forest, with over two-thousand people in total in there. After the fight, there weren''t even half of them remaining. Countless people died or got injured.

    At the time, Yan Shisan still held his post, and led Liu Shan Men''s constables in the investigation. They found out what needed to be known within two hours. The two thousand aforementioned people came from all over thend. There were those from groups in the pugilistic world, those from the martial world, thieves from forests and a few members of the imperial guards. There were even people from the demon sect and the league of assassins. It was aplexbination of people. The matter was so serious it made the biggest and most brutal fight in the martial world look like y-fighting between children.

    When the six princes who were the masterminds behind the incident, leaving the emperor utterly stunned returned to the pce, they proudly brought up pieces meat from a deer, its skin and fur. In fact, even traces of blood were still present, leaving one shocked. Upon arriving back at the pce, the six naughty princes couldn''t stop bickering, almost angering the emperor enough to put him in aa.

    That finally reminded the emperor of something important.

    The six dragons will seal the nation¡­ The six dragons will seal the nation!

    If the six dragons were to gather together, they would grow more violent each day. They would fight each other for power, and finally ughter each other, putting the nation in danger.

    The emperor''s gaze looked glum. He looked at his six sons and emphasised every word he spoke: "Youmitted a big mistake and yet you show no remorse. Our Li family has run the nation based on none other than the principle of benevolence. How did we end up with such violent descendants?! Who started it?!"

    They angered their father, resulting in him scolding them. The naughty kids then calmed down. They couldn''t help but get goose-bumps. However, they were adamant on passing on the me, swiftly pointing at each other.

    "Enough! Chi''er, you''re the oldest, who started it?"

    The six of them had fought countless times in the forest. During the fight, all of their blood rushed to their head, so none of them could clearly recall who started it.

    The eldest prince didn''t say anything for a long time. He then finally remembered that it was the third prince that yelled "fight", so he said: "Father, it¡­ it was the third prince that started it."

    "So it was you, Huang''er."

    The third prince is usually impulsive. Of ten fights, five would be ones he started. This time was no exception. As soon as he heard what was said, he red at the oldest prince angrily. But before he could speak, in a deep voice, the emperor shouted: "Men! Remove the third prince''s headwear!"

    Remove his headwear, banish him from the royal family and make him amoner?

    No matter how daring the third prince was, he couldn''t help but turn pale in the moment. He immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Father, I, I¡­¡­"

    All six of the princes were bossy ever since they were young. Begging for mercy was something they were never used to. He couldn''t continue after "I". He just knelt before the emperor and allowed the guards to remove his headwear. The third prince quickly looked around to search for his mother to get her to help him.

    But then he heard the emperor say: "Where is Wang Tushui?"

    Eunuch Wang stepped out from the side with a friendly smile and announced: "Your majesty, your servant is here!"

    In his low voice, the emperor said: "Write up my orders."

    Once a royal decree is made, it is virtually impossible to get it retracted. Even the empress wouldn''t be able to save him in that sort of situation!

    The third prince kowtowed like a mad-man: "Please show leniency, father! Please show leniency, father!"

    The emperorpletely ignored him and bluntly said: "Pass down my orders. The third prince, Li Huangshu, possesses an upright character, and is very considerate of me. I hereby confer the title of Yellow Prince to the third prince, Li Huangshu, along with the sry of a prince."

    The princes went into an uproar. The one that just reported the third prince, the first prince was more bewildered than the rest: What? He started it and yet he''s been conferred the title of prince?

    The third prince was baffled. What the? I¡­ started a fight and got conferred a title?

    Before he could finish speaking to himself, a sh of light appeared in the emperor''s eyes. He frightened the third prince with his re as he continued: "Grant him Nan Yang Manor!"

    Grant him a manor!

    The third prince reacted like he got electrocuted. He was eighteen this year. While he''s usually indolent, he doesn''t covet the throne. Grant him a manor? How could he get approach the throne if he was sent off to somewhere else, away from the capital? Further, he had never left the capital once. He didn''t even leave the pce frequently. What was he going to do once he went to a foreign ce?

    The third prince forced a smile and said: "Father, I am willing to crawl at your feel forever."

    "With you by my side so often, I''ll get annoyed even if you don''t hate it!" The emperor angrily continued: "You are to set off now. Twenty warriors from my entourage will send you there. Send another ten imperial bachelors to apany him. If you don''t learn to behave, I''ll have you stay in Nan Yang forever."

    He finally realised the emperor was serious. The third prince kowtowed continuously, making loud knocking sounds on the ground until his forehead bled.

    "Father, father! I know I was wrong. I really know that I was wrong. Father, please take back your order!!"

    The emperor felt the urge to give in since he was his biological son after all, and he had doted on him since he was young. Every young man is a little violent. If he can change for the better¡­ But when the emperor nced to the side, he was stunned.

    Next to the third prince who was crying woefully while kowtowing, were his biological brothers who were all smiling coldly in silence. As a matter of fact, they wore ridiculing looks as if the person kneeling in front of them was their enemy that they had to torture before they were satisfied.

    The emperor''s heart froze. He steeled his heart again and said: "This is a royal decree. Do you intend to go against it? Men! Take him away!" The guards replied and then dragged away the prince who was begging desperately.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The emperor slowly swept his eyes over the other five princes, but didn''t say a word.

    The five princes could feel their father''s ice-cold gaze, frightening them. While the third prince started the fight, they too took part in the fighting. If father punished the third prince so severely, what will be of us? They couldn''t help but feel uneasy.

    However, the emperor didn''t say anything, instead, just continuing to look at them. He slowly stood up and said: "Get going." He then turned around and left.

    The five princes were all relieved to have gotten away, but they were still frightened.

    The way the emperor looked at them at the end was honestly far too strange. He looked at them the same way he looked at the third.

    What is he thinking?

    Notes:

    *When the emperor says his son wasn''t just a mere seven words, he was referring to the prophecy. In other words, they weren''t just a hearsay prophecy. The rest of the chapter exins why.

    **Chi''er = Chi (³à) means red. I tranted the part where the emperor called him as "Chi''er", because otherwise, it would have to be tranted as something silly like "red", or "red-dy". Sounds like a shoddy power rangers rip-off.

    ***The pnquin here is more the size of a tent than themon one-seated type. Technically, it might as well be called a tent. However, I thought it would make more sense to you as readers to read "pnquin" since you can imagine it, while seeing "lifted up a tent" sounds stupid.

 Volume 3 5 Master Chengâ€™s Dream

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 5 Master Cheng''s Dream</h4>

    Since then, emperor Yuan Sheng thought of countless different ways to send his children away from the capital one by one. He conferred different titles to them, gave themnd and then sent them off to their designated locations.

    None of the six princes were ipetent. They all had their own skills. Emperor Yuan Sheng was aware that once the dragons would feel restricted and struggle once they left the capital. However, he wasn''t willing to let them stay in the capital and hurt each other as they schemed against one another. The emperor''s three elder brothers died because they fought over the throne. While two tablets for two of his brothers could still be found in the royal family''s cemetery, he knew that the ground below was empty. When his two brothers died, their corpses weren''t intact, so what could they have buried?

    After two years of work, he sent the green, teal and blue prince to their designated ces just like the yellow prince.

    Because the eldest prince, the red prince was the pir of the nation and his eldest son, he decided to keep him in the capital. He didn''t grant him anynd. The only one left was the orange prince.

    But it wasn''t so easy to send the orange prince away.

    The influence of the harem cannot be underestimated. The most challenging thing for a man to deal with in this world is hisdy, or in this case,dies.

    And the most difficult one for him to deal with was none other than the empress.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The empress gave birth to the second prince, the orange prince, and the third prince, the yellow prince. The emperor had nned to send them off to their designated locations, but the empress wouldn''t agree. The emperor and empress were together since childhood and eventually married each other. Since the emperor was someone with the type of personality to treasure old rtionships, he showed her the most respect, and usually wouldn''t act against her wishes.

    She was the empress of the world who was very strict with herself. While she sometimes goes overboard with her methods for dealing with the other members of the harem, she doesn''t create problems for the overall picture. She always kept the overall picture in mind, and she was daring and decisive, rightfully making her the number one woman in the world.

    Back then when the emperor intended to move the capital to Bei Ping, he went there on a tour with just a few men to see what it was like. At the time, one of the generals of the imperial court wanted to revolt and took that opportunity. He led his men and sieged the capital, attacking day and night. He also sent skilled warriors to sneak into the city to assassinate officials of the imperial court. He also tried to open the city gates.

    At the time, Nan Jing fell into chaos. The emperor was still very young at the time while the princes were still newborns, and therefore, there was no one to lead in the imperial court.

    It was the empress who stepped up alone, managed the harem and put the officials at ease. She ordered the masters within the court to split up into seven directions and risk their lives to ask the three of the seven champion white princes toe and help suppress the chaos. That was how the revolt was resolved.

    The traitorous general was a powerful general in the imperial court. He was considered one of the most skilled fighters and brightest strategists. At the time, the traitorous general only had one city which he could defend, and he had what it took to go up against the imperial court. So if he were able to sessfully take over the capital, the consequences would be infinite.

    If it wasn''t for the empress''s decisiveness, the capital would have been in a crisis.

    After that event, aside from his romantic feelings for his wife, the emperor also respected her. Consequently, even when she was harsh with her means when dealing with her sisters that were part of the harem, the emperor couldn''t bear to fault her.

    However, after he finished sending the green prince away and was preparing to send the orange prince away, the empress cried and made a scene, threatening to kill herself and whatnot. Don''t underestimate her because she''s the noble empress. She doese from a family that practices martial arts. If she gets serious, there''s a fat chance she''ll actually hang herself.

    She clung to emperor Yuan Sheng until he gave in. He tried to approach her in different ways to no avail, forcing him to unwillingly allow the orange prince to stay in the capital. And that is the reason as to why there are two princes in the capital.

    The red prince and orange prince lived right under the nose of the emperor. While it looked like everything between them was fine on the surface, they had secretly fought each other countless times. With the empress backing him, the orange prince was able to one-up his elder brother in their battles. But that wasn''t enough to satisfy the orange prince.

    He didn''t want to just beat his useless elder brother. His other brothers who had been sent away were no pushovers. During the time he had been stuck in the capital, his brothers must certainly have been growing their influence and power.

    The lust for battle the six of them shared seemed to be innate. Every time he thought about how his other brothers were growing stronger, he couldn''t help but desire power.

    Being stuck in the capital impacted his ability to grow his power, but with the empress backing him, things were different. Since he was also in cahoots with the evil sects, he quickly gained money, resources and men. If he, Li Chengzhi was given another year''s time, perhaps he would hold power that the emperor could no longer overlook. But things suddenly changed.

    The emperor sent his entourage to his manor to conduct a thorough check after Liu Shan Men handed the emperor the records book.

    The god-like detective Yan Shisan was no longer around, so the orange prince wasn''t exposed so easily.

    While they were unable to find any conclusive incriminating evidence, the prowess of the emperor''s entourage was demonstrated. The orange prince couldn''t sit and wait for his fall. The people who were waiting to arrest him had already surrounded his manor and were thinking of ways to arrest him. Waiting is the act of a fool.

    Even if it was slightly early, the orange prince resolved to act first as he believed it to be the superior option.

    If the emperor wanted to off him, why not go and be the emperor?!

    At this moment, the orange prince was walking in the corridor of the pce. He was on the way to the audience that he would soon rule over, and hence was filled with happiness.

    He was in a great mood, such a good mood that was rarely seen.

    He wore a smile like he was enjoying spring with excellent wine, as if he could break out into a song.

    The servants that followed by his side didn''t understand the reason for the usually violent and brash prince''s uplifted mood. Some of the maids who saw his handsome face couldn''t help but have romantic thoughts about him. They said to themselves: "When he''s not wearing a moody look, he doesn''t look so scary. To the contrary, he looks quite handsome."

    Nobody knew that the orange prince was thinking: "When the old geezer is done for, I''ll be the ruler of all. Hahahaha! My dream is about to be a reality!

    The orange prince was different to the other princes ever since they were young. He wasn''t willing to submit to anyone, not even his father. He wasn''t satisfied with being under the rule of another. He grew his powers in secret while putting up with hardships. He quietly grew his powers until he had a power strong enough to strike like lightning with a single strike.

    All of the suffering he went through was for his small dream.

    When he was young, he was loved deeply and enjoyed the luxury of getting everything he wanted because he was the empress''s eldest son.

    He liked his mother most. His mother was very gentle with him and never scolded him. He remembered one time when he was naughty and pushed a maid into a pond and she nearly drowned. He knew he did something wrong and hid under his bed, not daring toe out.

    It was his mother, the empress that got him toe out from under his bed by coaxing him like a small pet. She also gave him plenty of delicacies, putting a smile on his face. But on the same day, the emperor came not long after she managed to get him to smile. The emperor looked at the happy prince enjoying his snacks and got furious. He locked the orange prince up in the library for three whole days. His punishment was to copy the "Analects of Confucius" every single day, and not permitted to leave. He was only allowed to have in noodles, mantou and some side dishes.

    The orange prince still remembered the humiliation of it. And whenever he did, a fire would light up in his heart. After that, he formed a small dream.

    The orange prince''s dream was passionate and just. It was just and noble. It was pure and true. It was elegant and void of insignificant thoughts.

    Our orange prince thought of one thing when he looked at his father, the current emperor: "I want him to call me Master Cheng! Wahahaha! Wahahaha! That feels awesome!"

    If he sessfully takes over today, his old man will have to call him Master Cheng! The thought of it put a big smile on his face like every fibre of his being was brimming with merry.

    If his subordinates could read minds, they''d hang him up, give him a beating and then throw him into ake. It''d be better than getting dragged into this sh*t-hole with this fool.

    But the world is an unpredictable ce. Who would have thought that the idiot was the son of the empress. He just had to be a dragon, one of the sessors of the nation.

    It looks like the prophecy of the six dragons sealing the nation was looking more and more genuine.

    The orange prince was forging forward on the bright path to achieve his noble dream of getting his father to call him Master Cheng. His men had snuck into the pce and his n was going ording to how he intended for it to. If sessful, the ruler of the country will change today.

    If the six dragons will seal the nation, Li Chengzhi will be the first dragon; an evil orange dragon that will seal off the pce walls.

    And the imperial martial arts tournament was the best stepping-stone!

    Notes:

    *Cheng (³È) is the word for orange, and is the name of the orange prince

    **Bei Ping is the former name of Beijing

    ***The reference to the empress''s sisters isn''t actually blood-sisters, but rather since because they all share the same husband, they''re considered sisters

    ****Mantou is like a meat bun without meat, just in flour

 Volume 3 6 Flying Fish Pavilion and the Beautiful Young Girl

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 6 Flying Fish Pavilion and the Beautiful Young Girl</h4>

    "The Duke of Jing has arrived! Sir Yu from the Ministry of Rites has arrived! Sir Qi from the Ministry of finance has arrived!"

    The ministers of the imperial court strolled in one by one after their arrival was announced loud and clear. They wore cheerful looks. They looked like they didn''te to watch a martial arts tournament but to attend a wedding celebration.

    Well it wasn''t surprising since it was the finals of the imperial martial arts tournament after all. Officials who don''t hold ranks high enough don''t even have the right to get a glimpse of it. It was considered a great honour for officials who could watch it for the first time.

    Therge za called the Flying Fish Pavilion was a ce designated specifically for the royal family to enjoy martial arts contests and simr events.

    The title "flying fish" is the title the founding emperor bequeathed the founder of Liu Shan Men.

    The founding emperor possessed great martial prowess. Not only did he possess profound martial arts skills, he also had a very heroic aura and thereby managed to bring together many strange men.

    The three greatest fighters who served him were bestowed the titles: flying fish, ying long and Qing Lin. The three of them went on to be the three founders, and their reputation was passed down to the next generations. The "ultimate three" trio in the imperial court became a thing since their time.

    It''s said that the three of them fought for three days and three nights to determine the number one fighter in the world back then at the flying fish pavilion. But it wasn''t until they determined the victor that it got the name flying fish pavilion. Besides determining the strongest fighter of the time, who was Flying Fish, the Qilin Guards, as well as the emperor''s entourage and Liu Shan Men were also formed.

    From then on, the flying fish pavilion which hosted the historic battle became favoured by the royal family. From then on, they chose to host martial arts fights there.

    The descendants of the founding emperor inherited his passion for martial arts. Aside from watching, they wouldn''t hesitate to go down into the ring to try their hand at it. It''s said that the current emperor also liked stories of people going into the pugilistic world to make a name for themselves and was addicted to stories of ring-fights. Now that he was older, he behaved more stably; however, his interest for ring-fights was just as strong as when he was younger. Every now and then he would ask the warriors of the imperial court or even warriors in the pce to show off their skills at the flying fish pavilion.

    The emperor sat with his empress, consorts, concubines and princesses on the tower as they watched the fights and enjoyed tea. The twenty or so seats below were reserved for the invited retainers. Next to the emperor was a eunuch whomentated and added to the entertainment.

    A betting zone was allocated below and the retainers were busy putting down bets for their fighter of choice. While they couldn''t gamble with real money, they could at least use objects as gambling chips. Those who were invited into the imperial city to spectate the fights were either high-ranking retainers or rtives of the royal family. Therefore, the bets were big. Nobody dared to not bet since they were worried they''d ruin the emperor''s mood.

    The emperor managed gambling very well. He didn''t allow retainers to dodge gambling debts and he didn''t allow the contestants to hold back.

    Such small martial arts contests were sometimes conducted once a month.

    I heard the eunuch on duty say that Long Zaitian once fought a Jia level warrior on orders of the emperor. The emperor then quickly took the item that the empress gifted him as a sign of their love, which also happened to be unimaginably valuable. It was an eight white jade bead crown and he used it to bet on Long Zaitian losing. When it got ced on the table, Long Zaitian misunderstood that the emperor was hopeful of him, punched his opponent which infuriated him, and then the entire venue went dead-silent¡­..

    It was a gift from the empress, and it was a crown for god''s sake. Would you dare to take it if you won the bet? Fortunately, the empress paid money to buy it back afterwards, otherwise the retainer that won the bet and Long Zaitian would be haunted with fear for the rest of their lives. I heard that the emperor was forbidden from entering the harem pce for seven days afterwards, but that''s just hearsay¡­¡­

    In any case, it''s be a norm here for an audience to sit around spectating while enjoying tea whenever there are people squaring off here. So I guess you could say the flying fish pavilion was the ultimate teahouse upgrade! But it was different today. You could tell with one nce at the grandeur around.

    Before me right now were four rings. All of them wererger than a ring from the preliminaries and a ring from the semi-finalsbined. Based on my count, the base was built on nine thousand nine hundred and eighty one wooden stumps, which supported the stone material above firmly. It was thick and sturdy. It didn''t move so those with strong internal strength wouldn''t have to be worried about stamping too hard. On top of each of therge wooden stumps wereyers of timber and smothered in ayer phoebe zhennan coated in tar oil, so it was tougher than gold and iron. As such, you should know that even if a fighter was to possess internal strength, equal that of masters, not even one-tenth of the energy would be transferred to the people close by if they were to fight on those rings. And since there was a sculpted piece of art of a dragon and phoenix on the phoebe zhennan, which was amazing, if somebody were to idently bump it over, they would have shattered the porcin of the previous dynasty.

    I''ve only seen a ring which could stop the power of a fighter like this twice. Once was when my shifu took me to the west to expand my horizons. The westerners have abundant mines so they love to use gold and iron. The other time was when I was y-fighting with the Shaolin abbot and a skilled fighter from an evil sect at the Shaolin temple. There''s a pure zen stone tform at the Shaolin temple. We exchanged ten palm strikes with each other on top of it. I sted my power around randomly. Abbott Kong Xu smiled as though our hearts were interlinked, and the skilled fighter from the evil sect struck intensely on his third strike, but nobody below the tform got hurt.

    Now you should know why the ring is crafted in such aplex way.

    The first reason is because that the skilled fighters would manoeuvre a lot like the wind and there wouldn''t be enough room for them. The second reason is because the force behind their strikes could ssh onto the audience, thereby injuring them. The spectators were all fragile old men. Nobody would want to have to take responsibility for it, so it was better to be cautious. Thirdly, which is also the most important reason, is because weapons were permitted in the finals. Weapons had to be checked by the eunuchs in the pce and then pass through all the checks at the various city gates before they could be sent to the ring.

    There were many contestants in the semi-finals, so there was a bigger chance of an ident happening if weapons were to be utilised. However, there were only thirty-two people in the finals, so there were only thirty-two sabres at best. Given the smaller number, the chances of an ident could be minimised.

    Take a look around. There are over a hundred guards from the Qilin Guards and the emperor''s entouragebined guarding the venue. If any of the thirty-one other people present had ulterior motives, they''d be mince-meat before they could reach the emperor. Heck, they''d be served up as a piping hot meat-stuffed dumpling, and it wouldn''t take any effort.

    What? Why are there thirty one?

    That''s because I''m among the thirty-two contestants. If I were the one to make an attempt on the emperor''s life, what would be ced before the emperor wouldn''t be thirty-one dumplings, but two hundred pork shoulders.

    Speaking of which, I''m a little worried about Su Xiao. How are Su Xiao''s martial arts skills any different to the spectators below? If it wasn''t for Liu Zi giving him the win, he wouldn''t have qualified to be here¡­¡­. I''m not so worried about him losing, but about him getting hurt badly by his opponent up there. Su Xiao arrived as I thought about that.

    "Big Brother Ming!" His beautiful, smooth forehead was scrunched up. He looked angry like a mouse that just ate, "You! You yed me and then ran off?! What sort of man are you?"

    I suddenly noticed all the gazes around focused on us. I quickly shouted in the direction of those bastards: "Ears! Pinched ears!" They all showed their disappointment with their gaze and took their focus off us.

    I could asionally hear their whispers.

    "What a gue. He doesn''t even dare to make a move."

    "Pinched his ear? How disappointing."

    Disappointed your fucking ass! What were you all hoping for?!

    Bloody Su Xiao! He''s getting better and better at screwing me over without me even noticing. If I wasn''t use to this sh*t, I''d fall for it again.

    While Su Xiao had arrived, I didn''t see General Manager Bai with him. Fair enough, I guess. She''s not as free as us. She should be busy with matters in the pce today and unable toe.

    I waved my hand and greeted him: "You''rete. We were about to begin drawing lots for our opponents."

    "You don''t say! It''s all your fault! You left me behind with that vixen. I argued with her for ages before I coulde here."

    You argued again?

    These two people met for the first time, so why are they on such bad terms? Could it be that they hate each other for being sharing the same gender tastes?

    "What did you argue with General Manager Bai about this time?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Move over, I want to sit too."

    Su Xiao was angry but he seemed tired from the running. He sat down and moved over towards me. I was sitting on a stone step, so I could only fit half a person next to me. With my build, there was nowhere left to sit once I sat down. Su Xiao didn''t care and forced open his own space. His vixen-like body leaned onto my chest but he didn''t seem to mind. He shifted back like a kitten. He leaned onto me and you could imagine what his white jade like neck and back were like. Because he leaned onto me, I could smell the faint flower scent on him.

    "I''m exhausted." Su Xiao''s face was reddish. It looks like he was afraid of arrivingte and ran hard. You could see his slender legs through his pants which proved they were firm and smooth. Su Xiao kicked his feet like you would when performing a backstroke, which was very much like a young girl.

    How does this punk always manage to cross over the gender boundary so effortlessly?!

    I resisted the urge to peek at his jade-back and closed my eyes. I kept repeating in my mind that he was my good brother and that I couldn''t look, amitabha, amitabha.

    But it was hard to erase the bad thought. Left with no choice, I posed like Guan Yu stroking his beard and sternly said: "Hmm, why did you two argue? It is easy to resolve the animosity between enemies, but not easy to be enemies in the first ce."

    "Hahaha." Su Xiao burst outughing, "What are you doing? Are you pretending to be Guan Yu? I''ll be Cao Cao then, alright? Look, look."

    Su Xiao acted like Cao Cao in stage ys and pulled a face. He looked very cute with his smiling eyebrows. This punk is like a kid. It took just a tiny bit of effort to make him forget about his anger.

    "So what did you argue with General Manager Bai about? You had to have a reason, right?"

    To be honest, General Manager Bai doesn''t have a personality issue. It''s just that she doesn''t know how to interact with people too well. Why did they argue when Su Xiao''s got such a talkative personality?

    "You still talking about that?!"

    Su Xiao frowned again and pouted his mouth.

    "If you''re going to help her, don''t talk to me ever again."

    Notes:

    *Phoebe Zhennan is arge species of tree up to 30 metres (98 ft) tall in the Lauraceae family

    *Guan Yu was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in thete Eastern Han dynasty.

    ***Cao Cao was a Chinese warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty.

 Volume 3 9 A Princess is Married Off As Soon As Thereâ€™s a Disagreement

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 9 A Princess is Married Off As Soon As There''s a Disagreement</h4>

    "His majesty has arrived."

    I lost track of time chatting with Su Xiao, and before we knew it, the emperor had arrived. He and the orange prince went to their seats, and the seats for the royal family''s rtives quickly filled up soon after. However, I didn''t see a princess or the rumoured red prince. It didn''t seem like the emperor''s harem wasing either.

    I thought I''d get to see what the harem looked like today. What a pity.

    "Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain Shen has arrived!"

    A high-pitched voice suddenly announced Boss Shen''s arrival, setting off a wave of sounds from the crowd.

    Yep, Boss Shen had arrived. She was here today as Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain. She was dressed in a red and white warrior robe, showcasing her heroic personality. Her slender white legs were revealed, and with each step she took, you could see her naked thigh move, attracting the eyes of countless people.

    From far away, Boss Shen shot me a doubtful look, frowned and then shook her head gently. It was like she was using her eyes to tell me: If you can win, fight, if you can''t, run. Don''t push yourself.

    I then gave her a thumbs-up to say: I''ll do my best.

    I could sincerely feel her encouragement, so I immediately shot her a determined look and gestured with my hand: That was my n all along! I''ll run as soon as I enter the ring. Perfect!

    Boss Shen looked like my teasing made her happy. She revealed a sweet oh so sweet smile. But then she discovered something was off. She gave me a rebuking look: But you are not to run without putting up a fight!

    Sh*t! She found out! I quickly switched the topic and sent her a blow kiss: Love ya, boss!

    Boss Shen smiled sweetly as she looked at me. Her gaze carried the doting feeling you would show a child, but at the same time also had a hint of mischievousness: Sweet-talker.

    My, my, my. Boss Shen is just way too beautiful. But why is her prankster¡­¡­

    "Hey!!"

    Song Ou who stood by my side angrily shouted at me and then daggered me resentfully and added: "Ming Feizhen, our enemy is right before us and yet you''re not taking it seriously. Flirting with girls every day, you''re ridiculous!"

    I forgot Brother Bastard was standing next to me!

    "I was just reporting the situation to our vice-captain¡­¡­."

    "That''s outrageous!" Brother Bastard was fuming, the guy was ready to explode with anger, "We men are fighting with our lives on the line, without whining. Back then when Yu the great controlled the flood gates so well, General Yue Fei''s army was thriving¡­.."

    Su Xiao standing behind me chuckled and said: "He''s probably jealous because the vice-captain is more concerned about you than the captain."

    Concerned about me?!

    Come on, it''s obvious she''s screwing me over!!

    Brother Bastard was busy spitting in my face. I red at Boss Shen far off in the distance viciously, but she instead pulled a funny face that''s hard to describe before finally smiling and continuing forwards.

    Her feminine look disappeared the next moment, and she became the calm, decisive and incredibly domineering vice-captain of Liu Shan Men.

    Boss Shen walked up to a seat reserved for the royal family''s members, looked towards the emperor and greeted him: "Liu Shan Men''s Shen Yiren sends you her greetings, your majesty!"

    The emperor was in a good mood. He smiled and said: "You''re here, Yiren. Wang Tushui, give her her seat."

    Shen Yiren paused and then replied: "This is a seat reserved for the royal family. I am afraid that for me to sit here would be¡­¡­"

    The emperor waved his hand to brush it off: "What''s there to be afraid of? The imperial martial arts tournament isn''t just official business. There''s an entertainmentponent to it too. Moreover, your subordinates arepeting. Don''t you want to get a clear view of it from here?"

    Boss Shen didn''t have the chance to object. Eunuch Wang who wasughing and after an opportunity for some credit had already led her up to the seat next to the emperor. She sat on one side while the orange prince sat on the either.

    Song Ou was still here spitting in my face. Just when I was about to shove a shoe in his mouth, the senior eunuch, Eunuch Nan suddenly took in a deep breath. Due to him taking in a big breath, it felt like he was imbuing it with powerful spirit, so I subconsciously covered my ears.

    "Please quiet down everyone!"

    His voice was sonorous, making his announcement audible over the voice of the entire za, yet the gentleness in his voice reached a great distance. His voice wasn''t extremely loud but made its way into my ears nheless. His ability to deliver it with such skill demonstrated that his internal strength cultivation was superior to that of Long Zaitian''s. Just in terms of reach, he far exceeded Long Zaitian''s capabilities. The emperor is surrounded by talent. I was surprised to discover that Eunuch Nan was an internal strength master.

    "This special martial arts talent selection event is held by the courtesy of his majesty. His majesty has something to say. Everyone please remain quiet."

    Eunuch Nan paused for a short while to let his voice die out.

    Eunuch Nan waited for a while and then said: "Contestants, you are the pirs of talent of our nation. The imperial court shall recruit you if you perform brilliantly. That is the first thing. Second, winning and losing is normal. Do not resent or seek vengeance on your opponents."

    In other words, we are topete sensibly. We are not to pursue personal grudges under the guise ofpetition. Why does this sound more and more¡­¡­ My eyes naturally looked at Brother Bastard and then Long Zaitian.ong Zaitian reacted quickly. He noticed me look at him as soon as I turned my head. He red at me and asked: "What the hell are you looking at?"

    I waved at him and then said with a smile: "Vice-captain Long, please go easy on Tang Yeter."

    "If you''re not confident, why not piss off now? Heh, I can''t stand looking at you, you weak-pussy-ass-ve." Long Zaitian snorted coldly, wore a mocking smile and said: "His majesty sure has too much free time on his hands. With me participating, isn''t it obvious who the winner is?"

    I smiled and nodded. I then turned back to face Tang Ye and eximed: "Later on, bash him to death! Don''t hold back!!" Or otherwise, let me at him!ong Zaitian looked at us. He gave Tang Ye a cold smirk and said: "You''re first."

    He then pointed at Brother Bastard and cockily said: "You''re second."

    He then looked at me, spat and said: "You''re trash."

    ¡­¡­

    "What the fuck did you say?!"

    Fucking cunt! Don''t stop me, Tang Ye!!

    Somebody give me a corn. I''m going to stab him to death today!!ong Zaitian extended his arm out into a fighting stance: "Ooh, I''m so scared~ you want a piece of me, do you? Alright! You asked for it! I''ll grant you your wish!"

    Just as we were about to go at each other, Eunuch Nan''s voice which sounded like the southern wind came over and entered our ears: "The imperial martial arts tournament is one of the imperial court''s traditions. The winner shall be awarded."

    The very mention of the "reward" is like dumping water into a boiling pan of oil. It''ll crackle and explode! I could virtually see the mouths and ears of the entire audience paying attention attentively, not missing a single word.

    While there weren''t many seated people inside the imperial city, the onlookers standing around watching numbered far more than the number of participants during the preliminaries and semi-finals. Not only did maids and eunuchs gather here, people outside the pce were also here. Many officials who weren''t invited also found their way here. As a matter of fact, there were a fair number of family members of the officials with them. There were lots of wandering warriors and imperial guards. These people give themselves pretty names, but they''re just audience members who stole a spot to stand around and watch the contest.

    While the flying fish pavilion is wide, it didn''t look very wide with the sea of people there.

    Everyone lost it and cheered loudly when Eunuch Nan mentioned that there would be a reward. Their cheers were like a huge wave surrounding the flying fish pavilion. But the emperor didn''t get mad. Instead, heughed like he was happy. I think that this is a tradition that the emperor silently promised long ago. But I guess it makes sense. The emperor should emit an aura like that in such a lively ce with a martial arts contest.

    With their rowdy cheers, we couldn''t help but stop even though we were ready to fight.

    Eunuch Nan turned around to look at the emperor. The emperor smiled and nodded. Eunuch Nan then took in another deep breath and spoke out, overtaking the voices of everyone else present.

    "Since the establishment of this dynasty, our dynasty has seen many heroes. The imperial martial arts tournament has always been a ce where heroes have been chosen. And heroes naturally have a beauty to apany them."

    The mention of "beauty" made the entire venue silent. Everybody was unsettled until Eunuch Nan continued: "My second daughter, Hong Zhuang is beautiful, gentle, generous, and intelligent. They are awaiting their maiden names and I am willing to betroth them to a hero. I hereby promise that the victor shall be Hong Zhuang Fuma as praise and the establishment of a beautiful fate."

    The entire audience inside and outside the venue went bonkers!

    The reward for the imperial martial arts contest has always been kept secret until the day of the contest where it is announced to create an incredibly passionate atmosphere.

    Now everyone was excited. Not only was a talented individual going to be crowned today, the emperor was going to make his son-inw too.

    The sound of the audience discussing among each other was more than ten-times louder than before. Thousands of eyes scanned the thirty-two of us as if we were getting brushed over and over thousands of times. They wanted to see who would have the fortune of marrying the princess.

    So the award this time is the second princess, huh?

    I heard the second princess, Princess Hong Zhuang hade of age this year. Everybody tries to marry their daughter when they''re young nowadays. Whether it''s the north or the south, every family tries to marry their daughter off when they''re thirteen or fourteen. I think the emperor must be getting anxious about too. I guess it''s fair. If the imperial martial arts tournament were held next year, the princess would''ve be an old girl and probably wouldn''t be liked by her husband. Luckily the imperial martial arts tournament was held ahead of schedule.

    I sped my hands and nodded.

    The apuse in all directions was deafening. They slowly began to end their discussions. While the crowd was excited, we contestants here were-

    Song Ou listlessly said: "Stupid."

    With a cold face, Tang Ye said: "Lame." He then copied Eunuch Nan and took a deep breath.

    "Hey, can''t you at least pretend to be interested to show some respect for the emperor?!"

    Song Ou again listlessly said: "I have a fianc¨¦e already. You think the emperor can still betroth the princess to me?"

    With a cold expression, Tang Ye eximed: "Get lost!"

    Su Xiao pitifully said: "Big Brother Ming, I''m hungry."

    Without a word, I pulled Tang Ye who was acting cool over and hammered him¡­¡­

    The audience was excited and the contestants were prideful. This imperial martial arts tournament has been blown up to epic proportions.

    But it wasn''t just us who were disinterested. The Qilin Guards didn''t look too interested either, well, except for Long Zaitian whoined: "Tch, she can''t evenpare to Miss Shen''s toes." But other than him, the other Qilin Guards didn''t react to it either, like they didn''t care about bing the emperor''s son-inw.

    "That is the end of his majesty''s promise. I now hereby announce the officialmencement of the imperial martial arts tournament!!"

    After Eunuch Nan ended his announcement, the contestants for the first bouts ascended the ring one after another.

    There are four rings here, so four bouts are run simultaneously. The first eight contestants flew up to the rings.

    Just as I went to see who the eight were, I suddenly heard someone shout: "Isn''t that Hua Shan''s leader, Jia Yunfeng? I''ve heard of his opponent. I think he was an exiled student of Cold Mountain Temple, Xiang Batian."

    The individual then pat himself on his forehead and added: "Both of them are the orange prince''s men. That''s some luck for them to be up against each other!"

 Volume 3 8 Master Cheng and His Father

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 8 Master Cheng and His Father</h4>

    Ping An Pce.

    This is one of the pces inside the Forbidden City. It''s a gathering ce for members of the royal family where they casually converse. Normally, the emperor acts as the host, while the princesses, princes, the emperor''s harem and other rtives of the royal family gather here.

    While the emperor is busy, he makes time to enjoy family gatherings a few days every month.

    Perhaps the prophecy made him miss out on chances to show his love for his sons, hence why he particrly treasured his children.

    Aside from the six princes, the emperor also has three princesses.

    It seemed as though the emperor transferred his love for his sons onto his three beloved daughters, He lets them have their way and bends to their every whim, giving them everything they ever wanted. And it wasn''t just giving them pearls.et me give an example. Martial arts are flourishing during this dynasty. There are princes and princesses who don''t practice martial arts. However, if a prince wanted to enter the pugilistic world and train, he wouldn''t reveal it before the emperor, but would wish for it silently deep down. But no matter how far-fetched things are, there aren''t any princesses who enter the pugilistic world.

    But Emperor Yuan Sheng went and broke that tradition. The second princess had a strong interest in martial arts, and was particrly skilled with a sabre. She asked the emperor to find a reputable teacher in the martial world. The emperor wrestled with the request and then let her enrol in a school. Not even the princes had the chance to experience such a great honour.

    You could reasonably say that the current reigning emperor, Emperor Yuan Sheng is the number one daughter-con-emperor in history.

    It''s a pity that the eldest princess left the pce after getting married while there''s such a lively event going on here in the pce. I heard that the second princess had returned after finishing up her training, but I don''t see her. I presume she couldn''t make it today. The third princess never liked martial arts so she didn''t care if the emperor asked her toe.

    It''s a nice imperial martial arts tournament, and yet daughter-con, Emperor Yuan Sheng doesn''t have a single one of his daughters apanying him by his side. It truly is a sight to sigh at.

    The emperor sat inside Ping An Pce on his one, waiting for his family members to arrive before heading out to watch thepetition together. However, wait as he may, nobody came. After waiting for ages, somebody finally entered the pce.

    A beautiful young individual stepped into Ping An Pce. They were dressed in an orange robe, possessed an eloquent appearance and looked graceful.

    The orange prince stepped into Ping An pce and stopped five steps in front of the emperor. He saluted him and said: "Greetings, father." His greeting was eloquent and perfect. The few maids in the pce blushed. If they weren''t before the emperor''s presence, I bet they would''ve screeched.

    Each of the six princes has their strong skillsets, but in terms of looks, the orange prince was easily the most handsome.

    The orange prince inherited the Li family''s big bones, wide shoulders and back, tall stature and upright posture. He had a heroic aura between his eyebrows and his eyes looked full of vigour. However, the emperor had a rectangr face with a majestic and solemn look. The orange prince on the other hand, had an oval-shaped face and resembled the empress more. While he didn''t look as majestic, he looked many times more handsome than the emperor.

    Seeing the reactions of the maids, the emperor couldn''t help but smile. He proudly felt: "That''s my son. He''s got the makings of a great man!"

    The orange prince has made countless mistakes, but the emperor still doted on him like this regardless, leaving outsiders astonished. However, it was easy to see that it wasn''t anything major. The emperor watched the six princes grow up so he was used to the reality that his sons were troublemakers long ago. When he sent the blue prince away seven years ago, the naughty kid went and gathered three thousand people tounch an assault on the imperial pce. However, his efforts were squandered it in less than an hour by Yan Shisan.

    While he didn''t cause any damage, he still revolted. While his revolt ended in failure, it was still a major crime. The emperor spared him for that, so the emperor forgave the orange prince for taking bribes too.

    The emperor warmly said: "You''re here, Cheng''er."

    The orange prince looked around the empty Ping An Pce, and replied in a pretend-surprised tone: "Has my mother, your consorts and concubines not arrived?" They couldn''te because of the orange prince''s arrangements. He had his men notify the harem that the martial arts tournament would begin in another two hours, so they were all having their beauty sleep right now.

    "Let''s go, let''s go, let''s go. Let''s talk on the way."

    The emperor grabbed the orange prince and the two of them walked out the door side by side. The skilled Qilin Guards in front of them made way and a group of eunuchs followed behind as they mboyantly made their way to the flying fish pavilion.

    "Sigh. Mother and Chi''er haven''te back from Purple Holy Mountain. Your mother iste again as usual, hahahaha." The emperorughed cheerfully: "Your uncle has never been reliable. It looks like he''s going to bete again. It looks like only the two of us will be walking together.

    The orange prince nodded naturally: "Yes."

    The emperor''s family is actually quiterge.

    Other than the seven princes, three princesses, and his harem, his mother, the empress dowager was still alive. The empress''s younger brother is also very close to the royal family. He wouldn''t pass on an event like this.

    The empress dowager believes in daoism, so she goes to Purple Holy Mountain at this time every year to pray for the longevity of the nation and the well-being of the people. She took the red prince and national priest along with her. She should''ve arrived at her destination by now, and should be rushing to get back.

    The empress''s younger brother likes to have fun, so he''s probably held up somewhere. With not much time left, the emperor had no choice but to go ahead with the orange prince.

    The orange prince followed the emperor''s big strides. He tried to keep his excitement under wraps. The emperor looked at his son,ughed and asked: "Cheng''er, are you still thinking about the finance records?"

    He never expected the emperor to bring it up like that. Could it be he had discovered something? The orange prince couldn''t help but turn alert.

    "I am ashamed. I know my faults in regards to the records."

    "Hah, that''s nothing." The emperor waved his hands. It seemed as if his spirit had returned to the time he was adventuring the pugilistic world because they were going to watch a martial arts tournament today. He generously and heroicallyughed: "Hahaha, I did many more ridiculous things than you when I was young. You can''t be more ridiculous than I was."

    The orange prince frowned. He couldn''t help but feel somewhat guilty: "A-¡­ Are you sure?"

    "Of course. You call that minor incident a problem?" The emperor waved his hand. He revealed an arrogant smile and asked: "When I was your age right now, I hid a huge fortune from your mother. Which do you think is a bigger deal?"

    "¡­¡­"

    The orange prince went into a silence for a long time. He then gestured with a thumbs up: "Father, you''re ama-¡­ I definitely can''tpare to you."

    "Oh, right. I have something to tell you." The emperor took a few steps forward and then quietly said: "I ordered Hu Po to go and do something today, and it has to do with you."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hu Po is ranked seventh on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings, and is one of the most skilled fighters in the emperor''s entourage. He''s virtually skilled enough to be in the same league the Qilin Guards'' god of battle, Yi Ya. He''s also the strongest among the members of the emperor''s entourage in the capital. But that''s not all. He''s also the emperor''s personal bodyguard, who''s always at his side guarding him.

    The emperor sent him on a job rted to me? Could it be that he knows about my ns?

    The orange prince''s heart almost stopped from fright. His face turned pale. He stopped in his tracks: "F-father¡­ you¡­ I¡­¡­" His speech got muddled and he struggled to put together aplete sentence.

    "What are you so nervous about?" The emperor chuckled softly and then softly continued: "I just told him to send some stuff to your manor."

    The orange prince almost called out to the ck Wind Thirteen Wings with their secret code toe and save him. I almost lost my throne before I could sit on it! But after hearing the whole story, he calmed down."

    "May I ask what you sent to my manor that Hu Po would have to personally make the trip, father?"

    "It''s nothing really, just some spare change." The emperor smiled and added: "I asked him to give you ten-thousand taels of silver. Would an average Joe be able to move that? Hahaha."

    "T-Ten thousand?"

    "Cheng''er, you''re my son. Why don''t you ask me if you need spending money?" The emperor stopped in his tracks and looked at his son with the look of a doting father, "You resemble me most among all my sons. You''re impatient, unimaginably impatient. Whenever you want something, you want it immediately, ignoring what others say. But corruption is a crime. It''s bad for the people and the nation. Remember, if you need money in the future, just ask me, got it?"

    The orange prince felt a warm feeling in his chest. He was lost for words in the moment. It took him a long time to put together a few words: "Father¡­ I¡­.."

    "Don''t look like that, it''s just ten thousand taels." The emperor revealed a mischievous smile: "Don''t forget that your dad rules the world. Of course I can spare that much." But then he anxiously added out of the blue, "But don''t tell your mother. She''ll definitely ask if I''m stashing money."

    The father and son pair exchanged nces. Their gaze hinted that they had countless things to say to each other, but they couldn''t say a single thing.

    The orange prince looked like he didn''t dare to look directly into his father''s eyes. His gaze contained lots of things he didn''t think about in the past and never waited on. Maybe he stopped waiting too soon. It was a deep emotion. He suddenly felt that the man before him was indeed his father who truly loved him.

    "Father¡­¡­. I¡­¡­."

    The emperor revealed a warm smile, pat the orange prince on his shoulder and said: "We''ve arrived. If there''s something you want to say, save it for after the imperial martial arts tournament." He then stepped into the flying fish pavilion.

    The orange prince watched his back that was steadfast yet beginning to sag slightly. As he watched it, he felt an emotion he couldn''t put into words. He stood where he was and took in a deep breath to calm himself down.

    He hesitated for a split moment and then silently followed.

    A thought repeatedly appeared in the orange prince''s mind: Fuck, this is great! Hu Po isn''t in the pce. My chance of sess has increased again! Don''t me I, Master Cheng if you get screwed over father! Wahahahaha.

 Volume 3 9 A Princess is Married Off As Soon As Thereâ€™s a Disagreement

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 9 A Princess is Married Off As Soon As There''s a Disagreement</h4>

    "His majesty has arrived."

    I lost track of time chatting with Su Xiao, and before we knew it, the emperor had arrived. He and the orange prince went to their seats, and the seats for the royal family''s rtives quickly filled up soon after. However, I didn''t see a princess or the rumoured red prince. It didn''t seem like the emperor''s harem wasing either.

    I thought I''d get to see what the harem looked like today. What a pity.

    "Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain Shen has arrived!"

    A high-pitched voice suddenly announced Boss Shen''s arrival, setting off a wave of sounds from the crowd.

    Yep, Boss Shen had arrived. She was here today as Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain. She was dressed in a red and white warrior robe, showcasing her heroic personality. Her slender white legs were revealed, and with each step she took, you could see her naked thigh move, attracting the eyes of countless people.

    From far away, Boss Shen shot me a doubtful look, frowned and then shook her head gently. It was like she was using her eyes to tell me: If you can win, fight, if you can''t, run. Don''t push yourself.

    I then gave her a thumbs-up to say: I''ll do my best.

    I could sincerely feel her encouragement, so I immediately shot her a determined look and gestured with my hand: That was my n all along! I''ll run as soon as I enter the ring. Perfect!

    Boss Shen looked like my teasing made her happy. She revealed a sweet oh so sweet smile. But then she discovered something was off. She gave me a rebuking look: But you are not to run without putting up a fight!

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sh*t! She found out! I quickly switched the topic and sent her a blow kiss: Love ya, boss!

    Boss Shen smiled sweetly as she looked at me. Her gaze carried the doting feeling you would show a child, but at the same time also had a hint of mischievousness: Sweet-talker.

    My, my, my. Boss Shen is just way too beautiful. But why is her prankster¡­¡­

    "Hey!!"

    Song Ou who stood by my side angrily shouted at me and then daggered me resentfully and added: "Ming Feizhen, our enemy is right before us and yet you''re not taking it seriously. Flirting with girls every day, you''re ridiculous!"

    I forgot Brother Bastard was standing next to me!

    "I was just reporting the situation to our vice-captain¡­¡­."

    "That''s outrageous!" Brother Bastard was fuming, the guy was ready to explode with anger, "We men are fighting with our lives on the line, without whining. Back then when Yu the great controlled the flood gates so well, General Yue Fei''s army was thriving¡­.."

    Su Xiao standing behind me chuckled and said: "He''s probably jealous because the vice-captain is more concerned about you than the captain."

    Concerned about me?!

    Come on, it''s obvious she''s screwing me over!!

    Brother Bastard was busy spitting in my face. I red at Boss Shen far off in the distance viciously, but she instead pulled a funny face that''s hard to describe before finally smiling and continuing forwards.

    Her feminine look disappeared the next moment, and she became the calm, decisive and incredibly domineering vice-captain of Liu Shan Men.

    Boss Shen walked up to a seat reserved for the royal family''s members, looked towards the emperor and greeted him: "Liu Shan Men''s Shen Yiren sends you her greetings, your majesty!"

    The emperor was in a good mood. He smiled and said: "You''re here, Yiren. Wang Tushui, give her her seat."

    Shen Yiren paused and then replied: "This is a seat reserved for the royal family. I am afraid that for me to sit here would be¡­¡­"

    The emperor waved his hand to brush it off: "What''s there to be afraid of? The imperial martial arts tournament isn''t just official business. There''s an entertainmentponent to it too. Moreover, your subordinates arepeting. Don''t you want to get a clear view of it from here?"

    Boss Shen didn''t have the chance to object. Eunuch Wang who wasughing and after an opportunity for some credit had already led her up to the seat next to the emperor. She sat on one side while the orange prince sat on the either.

    Song Ou was still here spitting in my face. Just when I was about to shove a shoe in his mouth, the senior eunuch, Eunuch Nan suddenly took in a deep breath. Due to him taking in a big breath, it felt like he was imbuing it with powerful spirit, so I subconsciously covered my ears.

    "Please quiet down everyone!"

    His voice was sonorous, making his announcement audible over the voice of the entire za, yet the gentleness in his voice reached a great distance. His voice wasn''t extremely loud but made its way into my ears nheless. His ability to deliver it with such skill demonstrated that his internal strength cultivation was superior to that of Long Zaitian''s. Just in terms of reach, he far exceeded Long Zaitian''s capabilities. The emperor is surrounded by talent. I was surprised to discover that Eunuch Nan was an internal strength master.

    "This special martial arts talent selection event is held by the courtesy of his majesty. His majesty has something to say. Everyone please remain quiet."

    Eunuch Nan paused for a short while to let his voice die out.

    Eunuch Nan waited for a while and then said: "Contestants, you are the pirs of talent of our nation. The imperial court shall recruit you if you perform brilliantly. That is the first thing. Second, winning and losing is normal. Do not resent or seek vengeance on your opponents."

    In other words, we are topete sensibly. We are not to pursue personal grudges under the guise ofpetition. Why does this sound more and more¡­¡­ My eyes naturally looked at Brother Bastard and then Long Zaitian.ong Zaitian reacted quickly. He noticed me look at him as soon as I turned my head. He red at me and asked: "What the hell are you looking at?"

    I waved at him and then said with a smile: "Vice-captain Long, please go easy on Tang Yeter."

    "If you''re not confident, why not piss off now? Heh, I can''t stand looking at you, you weak-pussy-ass-ve." Long Zaitian snorted coldly, wore a mocking smile and said: "His majesty sure has too much free time on his hands. With me participating, isn''t it obvious who the winner is?"

    I smiled and nodded. I then turned back to face Tang Ye and eximed: "Later on, bash him to death! Don''t hold back!!" Or otherwise, let me at him!ong Zaitian looked at us. He gave Tang Ye a cold smirk and said: "You''re first."

    He then pointed at Brother Bastard and cockily said: "You''re second."

    He then looked at me, spat and said: "You''re trash."

    ¡­¡­

    "What the fuck did you say?!"

    Fucking cunt! Don''t stop me, Tang Ye!!

    Somebody give me a corn. I''m going to stab him to death today!!ong Zaitian extended his arm out into a fighting stance: "Ooh, I''m so scared~ you want a piece of me, do you? Alright! You asked for it! I''ll grant you your wish!"

    Just as we were about to go at each other, Eunuch Nan''s voice which sounded like the southern wind came over and entered our ears: "The imperial martial arts tournament is one of the imperial court''s traditions. The winner shall be awarded."

    The very mention of the "reward" is like dumping water into a boiling pan of oil. It''ll crackle and explode! I could virtually see the mouths and ears of the entire audience paying attention attentively, not missing a single word.

    While there weren''t many seated people inside the imperial city, the onlookers standing around watching numbered far more than the number of participants during the preliminaries and semi-finals. Not only did maids and eunuchs gather here, people outside the pce were also here. Many officials who weren''t invited also found their way here. As a matter of fact, there were a fair number of family members of the officials with them. There were lots of wandering warriors and imperial guards. These people give themselves pretty names, but they''re just audience members who stole a spot to stand around and watch the contest.

    While the flying fish pavilion is wide, it didn''t look very wide with the sea of people there.

    Everyone lost it and cheered loudly when Eunuch Nan mentioned that there would be a reward. Their cheers were like a huge wave surrounding the flying fish pavilion. But the emperor didn''t get mad. Instead, heughed like he was happy. I think that this is a tradition that the emperor silently promised long ago. But I guess it makes sense. The emperor should emit an aura like that in such a lively ce with a martial arts contest.

    With their rowdy cheers, we couldn''t help but stop even though we were ready to fight.

    Eunuch Nan turned around to look at the emperor. The emperor smiled and nodded. Eunuch Nan then took in another deep breath and spoke out, overtaking the voices of everyone else present.

    "Since the establishment of this dynasty, our dynasty has seen many heroes. The imperial martial arts tournament has always been a ce where heroes have been chosen. And heroes naturally have a beauty to apany them."

    The mention of "beauty" made the entire venue silent. Everybody was unsettled until Eunuch Nan continued: "My second daughter, Hong Zhuang is beautiful, gentle, generous, and intelligent. They are awaiting their maiden names and I am willing to betroth them to a hero. I hereby promise that the victor shall be Hong Zhuang Fuma as praise and the establishment of a beautiful fate."

    The entire audience inside and outside the venue went bonkers!

    The reward for the imperial martial arts contest has always been kept secret until the day of the contest where it is announced to create an incredibly passionate atmosphere.

    Now everyone was excited. Not only was a talented individual going to be crowned today, the emperor was going to make his son-inw too.

    The sound of the audience discussing among each other was more than ten-times louder than before. Thousands of eyes scanned the thirty-two of us as if we were getting brushed over and over thousands of times. They wanted to see who would have the fortune of marrying the princess.

    So the award this time is the second princess, huh?

    I heard the second princess, Princess Hong Zhuang hade of age this year. Everybody tries to marry their daughter when they''re young nowadays. Whether it''s the north or the south, every family tries to marry their daughter off when they''re thirteen or fourteen. I think the emperor must be getting anxious about too. I guess it''s fair. If the imperial martial arts tournament were held next year, the princess would''ve be an old girl and probably wouldn''t be liked by her husband. Luckily the imperial martial arts tournament was held ahead of schedule.

    I sped my hands and nodded.

    The apuse in all directions was deafening. They slowly began to end their discussions. While the crowd was excited, we contestants here were-

    Song Ou listlessly said: "Stupid."

    With a cold face, Tang Ye said: "Lame." He then copied Eunuch Nan and took a deep breath.

    "Hey, can''t you at least pretend to be interested to show some respect for the emperor?!"

    Song Ou again listlessly said: "I have a fianc¨¦e already. You think the emperor can still betroth the princess to me?"

    With a cold expression, Tang Ye eximed: "Get lost!"

    Su Xiao pitifully said: "Big Brother Ming, I''m hungry."

    Without a word, I pulled Tang Ye who was acting cool over and hammered him¡­¡­

    The audience was excited and the contestants were prideful. This imperial martial arts tournament has been blown up to epic proportions.

    But it wasn''t just us who were disinterested. The Qilin Guards didn''t look too interested either, well, except for Long Zaitian whoined: "Tch, she can''t evenpare to Miss Shen''s toes." But other than him, the other Qilin Guards didn''t react to it either, like they didn''t care about bing the emperor''s son-inw.

    "That is the end of his majesty''s promise. I now hereby announce the officialmencement of the imperial martial arts tournament!!"

    After Eunuch Nan ended his announcement, the contestants for the first bouts ascended the ring one after another.

    There are four rings here, so four bouts are run simultaneously. The first eight contestants flew up to the rings.

    Just as I went to see who the eight were, I suddenly heard someone shout: "Isn''t that Hua Shan''s leader, Jia Yunfeng? I''ve heard of his opponent. I think he was an exiled student of Cold Mountain Temple, Xiang Batian."

    The individual then pat himself on his forehead and added: "Both of them are the orange prince''s men. That''s some luck for them to be up against each other!"

 Volume 3 10 Water Can Carry a Boat

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 10 Water Can Carry a Boat</h4>

    I looked at one of the rings, and indeed, Hua Shan''s sect-leader, Jia Yunfeng was on one of the rings.

    Among the thirty-two of us here, fourteen are Qilin Guards, four are from Liu Shan Men and four are from the emperor''s entourage. As it stands, it is much different to the contest three years ago.

    Su Xiao, Tang Ye, Brother Bastard and I didn''t take part three years ago, as we have just entered Liu Shan Men. Even Boss Shen hadn''t aplished much at the time, so you can imagine how bad it was.

    The ten-plus wandering warriors were first-timers too. Among them included Jia Yunfeng and Xiang Batian.

    Jia Yunfeng wore a grey rope. He looked neither happy nor sad. He stood there coldly in the ring as if the world owed him apuse for his handsome face.

    Jia Yunfeng stood there in the ring while showing off his extraordinary and noble aura, creating insurmountable pressure for his opponent before even making a move. That''s a sect leader of a sect in the martial world for you.

    Hua Shan sect mainly focuses on swordy, so they''re bound to have collected some rare weapons.

    Hanging on the Jia Yunfeng''s waist was a blue scabbard for a long sword. The sword handle had an ancient design and a straight body. The guard was extremely sword unlike the currently popr wing-guard design. The blue scabbard had old marks from taking damage which gave it an ancient aura. The sword must be the token of Hua Shan sect''s sect leader, Hua Shan sect''s famous passed-down sword Edge Beyond the Heavens.

    Based on my profound knowledge as the self-proimed gossip-king and the exnations of weapons in the ck and White Reflection, Beyond the Heavens Edge is a sword the first sect leader of Hua Shan made from the miraculous metal found at the top of mount Hua Shan. Mount Hua Shan is a dangerous ce. Those who make it to the top are far and few. Nobody had located any miraculous metal up there in the past either. That''s why Hua Shan''s sect leader predicted that the miraculous metal came from beyond the heavens and fell down there from heaven when he found it back then.

    When Hua Shan''s sect leader used that miraculous metal to forge the sword back then, it took him an entire year toplete the sharp de with no equal, and named it Beyond the Heavens Edge. It''s said that it''s sharp enough to cut jade and slice rocks like tofu. It is ranked fifth among the most famous weapons, and is most definitely a rarely seen weapon. I could sense the sharpness of the de from where I was standing; demonstrating the legends of the de weren''t exaggerated.

    Opposite stood a brash looking brute. He wasn''t intimidated by Jia Yunfeng''sposure or de at all. He just focused on himself, rubbing his palms together with a rxed expression.

    The audience started discussing among themselves.

    "Who''s that Xiang Batian? He doesn''t look intimidated by Sect Leader Jia at all."

    "Of course! Sect Leader Jia Yunfeng is most certainly famous, but you haven''t heard of the skills of Xiang Batian. Xiang Batian is a disciple of one of the seven champion white princes. I heard he had to leave Cold Mountain Temple because he lied to his teachers and killed his teachers. He even killed his shifu. What sort of sect is Cold Mountain Temple? It could be ranked among the top three of the seven champion white princes! I don''t think their exiled disciple is any lesspared to Hua Shan''s sect leader."

    "That''s right, that''s right, that''s right! I heard that he has been working for the orange prince for thest half-a-year. I heard he''s ruthless. Anybody who crosses him gets beat up until he''s a corpse.

    "He isn''t as skilled as Sect Leader Jia, but his underhanded methods are extremely cruel. I heard that he wants to climb the ranks in the orange prince''s manor. It seems like he wants to take Sect Leader Jia''s ce."

    Before they could finish, Xiang Batian suddenly revealed a cruel smile making one think of a blood-thirsty beast, and thus terrified. But seeing his savage smile made me have a sense of deja vu.

    Nani? Haven''t I seen this guy somewhere before? Why do I feel like I met him one night before? Sigh¡­¡­ with such a Mr. Average face, I truly feel sorry for his parents.

    In the distance, the orange prince sitting next to the emperor frowned, indicated that this wasn''t something he expected.

    Hohoho. As the sages of old said, water can carry a boat, but can also capsize a boat. The orange prince must not have expected this development I guess.

    Jia Yunfeng and Xiang Batian suddenly looked towards the orange prince to ask for directions.

    The orange prince stayed quiet for a long while. When nobody around was paying attention, he made a chopping gesture with his hand and the two of them understood his orders.

    His hand gesture meant "survival of the fittest".

    Jia Yunfeng bluntly said: "Brother Xiang, be my guest."

    Xiang Batian said: "I''ve been waiting for longer than half-a-year for this day. I''ve finally got my wish, Sect Leader Jia."

    Jia Yunfeng suddenly felt something wrong. He frowned as he had a thought: "We got paired up because you pulled some strings? You want to fight me?"

    "What else, you old priest? You think I want to eat, drink and y with you or something?" Xiang Batian let out a hideousugh, "Jia Yunfeng will be no more after today!"

    Xiang Baitian learnt his martial arts from Cold Mountain Temple which is originally a style for monks. However, he loved to fight and had no interest in Buddhism cultivation, so when he was learning martial arts back then, he only stole "Cold Heavenly Sabre Arts", and "Iron Body".

    Cold Mountain Temple is one of the biggest sects and ranked in the seven champion white princes. Among Dao and Buddhist sects, it stands above Emei and is only beneath Shaolin.

    As soon as Xiang Batian escaped from his school, he immediately hid in a cave and began training.

    You don''t actually use a sabre for the Cold Heavenly Sabre Arts. What you actually train is an art that strengthens your hands. It''s essentially a style where you use your hands as sabres. Just the Cold Strengthponent is difficult to master. If one does not possess a strong will, they won''t be able to handle the bone-numbing cold. Further, you can''t be distracted while practicing it. If you can''t stop quivering, forget training, the cold could turn you into an ice-block. Even if you manage to learn the Cold Strength technique, you must undergo frightening training in order to use a hand-de to fight against your opponents real weapons.

    Now let''s talk about the iron body technique. The iron body technique is a qigong art, and one of Cold Mountain Temple''s greatest arts. It is no less formidable than Tie Hanyi''s hardening technique. In fact, if one masters the higher levels of it, they would surpass Tie Hanyi''s technique. However, it is extremely difficult to learn. You must continuously hurt your body and withstand the pain to master it. As such, it is another style that requires a very strong will.

    Since the old days, learning martial arts has always required one to have a teacher, especially when learning internal arts as it''s easy to suffer qigong deviation if lucky, and if severe, death. Without a good teacher, it is not possible for one to master an art. There are very few people who sessfully master an art teaching themselves, and that is the reason.

    Back then, Xiang Batian was in his tens. He wasn''t one who could conceive the elements of martial arts very well, nor did he have a teacher''s guidance. Since he trained on his own, he ended up taking many detours. Xiang Batian hid and trained diligently for twenty years¡£ He zed a trail and managed to find a way to practice both arts at the same time on a whim.

    He used the iron body technique to protect his body while he trained the cold heavenly sabre art. When his proficiency with his cold heavenly sabre art improved, he used it to break his iron body, and then he rinsed and repeated the process. His method surprisingly allowed him to master two arts in twenty years without a teacher. He is an outlier to have achieved such a level as an exiled disciple.

    As soon as Xiang Batian moves, he''s as fast as the wind and thunder. As soon as he moulds energy, his hands be immensely cold. Once his energy is gathered, it means that his internal energy has reached a powerful level. He''s considered a top-ss fighter in the pugilistic world because of his skills.

    With his cold energy in his hands, Xiang Batian''s hands are sharp and he also has his body protected with his iron body technique. His hands can be sharp to the point where he can wound his opponents with just a nip. He went on the offensive right away without giving his opponent any opportunities.

    Jia Yunfeng is a sect leader at the end of the day, so he wouldn''t draw his sword on an unarmed opponent. He used his fingers as his sword. He stabbed at Xiang Batian''s throat as soon as Xiang Batian came within three inches of his reach. His finger thrust was like a sword, piercing through the air with immense power, creating a whistling sound. The audience showed their excitement when Jia Yunfeng used such a dangerous technique right off the bat.

    Xiang Batian didn''t retreat through. He hardened his throat and took it head-on with his iron body technique, and then tried to chop Jia Yunfeng, turning it into a trading-battle like a brawl.

    Jia Yunfeng doesn''t usually talk to people like Xiang Batian. As a sect leader, talking to a traitorous disciple like Xiang Baitian who disrespects his teachers and killed his teachers was a disgrace. Other than that though, Xiang Batian''s skills were unarguably good. It was just that he oozed the aura of a thug, acted arrogant and crude in his mannerisms. Such things were something Jia Yunfeng couldn''t get used to.

    And look, as soon as they fought, Jia Yunfeng looks steady like he''s got the match in the bag.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The move Jia Yunfeng used was called "deity showing the way". It doesn''t pack much of a punch. It''s one of the backward technique variants within Hua Shan''s sword arts. But in that split second, Jia Yunfeng managed to transform it into a lethal technique that was tens of times more powerful than the original technique.

    Jia Yunfeng was well aware that Xiang Batian''s iron body was formidable. However, Jia Yunfeng was more agile than him. He was confident he could win with just his two fingers by instantly changing his technique as long as he was within range.

    And vi, before hepleted his technique, he evaded Xiang Batian''s chop with his footwork and switched techniques. He stabbed straight towards the upper part of Xiang Batian''s digastric muscle. Striking as fast as the wind, Jia Yunfeng swiftly attacked with neen sword strikes using his finger. That move is Hua Shan''s Tai Ying Neen Consecutive Sword.

    He won!

    Just as Jia Yunfeng was about to push Xiang Batian off the ring with one hand, a loud sound rang by his ear, inducing dizziness and an immense headache. The sound was Xiang Batian''s roar. But his roar alone made Jia Yunfeng almost lose his footing, while his ears were aching like they were being ripped apart.

    Xiang Batian didn''t get hurt. His vigorous roar was the best evidence. But it wasn''t time to be figuring out why Xiang Batian was fine after taking the Tai Ying Continuous Neen Swords technique. What was more important was figuring out why Jia Yunfeng reacted like that after Xiang Batian roared. While his roar was indeed moulded with his internal energy, it shouldn''t have affected someone with profound internal strength like that of Jia Yunfeng.

    Jia Yunfeng staggered. His usual calm expression was reced with panic. When he tried to counteract, his hands slowed down.

    Xiang Batian let out a hideousugh: "What''s the matter? ¡­¡­ Did you finally realise that you''ve lost all of your internal strength?"

    That''s exactly how Jia Yunfeng felt. He could sessfully mould his internal energy to his dantian, but his meridians were unusually weak as if he wasn''t himself. When he tried to forcefully mould energy, he felt his dantian hurt as if his internal qi was pinned down inside by hundreds of thorns. He broke out in a cold sweat from pain whenever he tried to mould energy.

    "I see it''s true that the thorn-tears Heavenly Cloud Pce concocts does indeed seal one''s internal strength." Xiang Baitian locked his sly gaze with Jia Yunfeng''s furious and surprised gaze. Heughed and asked: "I stole some of it when his highness asked Long Zaitian to use poison. I''ve been waiting for this moment. Leader Jia, how does it feel to see Tai Ying Consecutive Swords fail to kill?"

    Jia Yunfeng struggled to shout: "How dare you poison me?!"

    The angry-fire in his eyes was ready to shoot out. After a jingling sound was heard, the sound of Jia Yunfeng unsheathing his sword could be heard.

    Beyond the Heavens Edge has been unsheathed!

    Notes:

    *Backward technique is just a technique name. The termes from one of the technique in Chen''s Tai Chi (thank god I still remember some of the moves).

    **Digastric muscle is a muscle on your neck that stretches between the mastoid process of the cranium to the mandible at the chin. The upper part where Jia Yunfeng stabbed at sits almost right underneath the rear-end of your jaw on either side.

 Volume 3 11 One Who Has Been Through A Lot, The Desolate Northern Breeze

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 11 One Who Has Been Through A Lot, The Deste Northern Breeze</h4>

    Beyond the Heavens Edge has been drawn!

    At the time, cold energy exuded in all directions in the ring. The reflection of the de was crystal-clear which spoke volumes to its sharpness.

    While Jia Yunfeng had lost his internal energy, his swordy skills were still intact. When he drew his sword, there was a cold line of lightning that apanied the de. He then thrust it straight at Xiang Batian, almost piercing his guts. Xiang Batian couldn¡¯t react in time and felt the pain in his chest. He quickly retreated. Jia Yunfeng gave chase with his sword tip leading.

    One retreated while the other gave chase. A drip of blood flew through the air. Turns out Beyond the Heavens Edge had already stabbed through his chest-flesh in that moment before.

    Despite Xiang Batian¡¯s efforts to retreat, he couldn¡¯t put distance between them. The tip of the sword was just a hair-length away from his chest. But if he were to continue retreating, he would be ringed-out. Qinggong wasn¡¯t his specialty, nor did he possess wondrous inner arts like Tang Ye, so he couldn¡¯t climb his way back by grabbing onto the wooden beams.

    Xiang Batian¡¯s caveman-like intelligence then kicked in. He focused his energy to his feet and stamped the ground hard. If he did that in the previous rings, he would probably make a hole and fall to his death.

    But the rings in the flying fish pavilion were different. Their bambooponents showed their sturdiness. They managed to withstand Xiang Batian¡¯s heavy weight and sling him like a catapult.

    Since Xiang Batian poisoned Jia Yunfeng, Jia Yunfeng naturally couldn¡¯t use his qinggong since his internal energy was a mess, and as such, couldn¡¯t chase him. However, the bloody mark left behind on his flesh from Beyond the Heavens Edge¡¯s tip was still there.

    Xiang Batian escaped death. He cursed and raised his hands up, turned them into sabres and charged over.

    Jia Yunfeng didn¡¯t panic because he was in a pinch. He knew that his sword was his only hope. Relying on the sharpness of his sword, he used six to seven quick moves to put Xiang Batian on his back-foot. After that he used Hua Shan¡¯s sword techniques to prevent Xiang Batian from getting close. Although there were other bouts taking ce in all four rings, the emperor focused on their fight with a strong interest.

    ¡°Those two are quite good. Jia Yunfeng¡¯s Hua Shan sword y is evidently masterful. That¡¯s a sect leader for you. Xiang Batian isn¡¯t bad either. He doesn¡¯t get scared when he finds himself in a pinch. Cheng¡¯er, what¡¯s Xiang Batian¡¯s background?¡±

    The orange prince smiled and said: ¡°The Xiang family is mother¡¯s servants. Xiang Batian is the Xiang family¡¯s disciple. He joined me half-a-year ago. I don¡¯t know the origin of his martial arts myself.¡±

    Shen Yiren chuckled coldly to herself: Bullsh*t-artist. You don¡¯t know? Have you forgotten how many times he¡¯s done bad things under your orders? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d put all the me on your mother.

    She couldn¡¯t handle him and therefore shot a re at him before picking up the wine on the table and having a drink. She felt that the taste was a little sweet, and was therefore nomon wine.

    Jia Yunfeng had finally made hiseback by relying on his sword. Spotting an opportunity, he used Hundred Birds Worshipping the Phoenix! Beyond the Heavens Edge transformed into thousands of bird beaks, entrapping Xiang Batian left and right.

    The hundred birds worshipping the phoenix was once used against Ming Feizhen, but was countered by him with Taijiquan. But the version Jia Yunfeng used was a consecutive string of strikes without any pauses. It was like unified version leaving his opponent with no room to counter.

    His move was powerful like a flock of birds flying over. Because of Beyond the Heavens Edge transparent de, it looked like thunger ps as silver lights shed between the two of them. The crowd witness the sharpness of his sword earlier on. It looks like Xiang Batian is going to get cut up this time. It looks like the white ring is going to get covered in his blood and flesh at this rate.

    But that wasn¡¯t what happened. A shocking sound from inside the ring of snow could be heard. The sound of metal nging could be heard from inside the ring of des that only Xiang Baitian should¡¯ve been in.

    But the most surprised person was probably Jia Yunfeng. He was sure that Xiang Batian wasn¡¯t armed and sure that all he hit his targets with his shes. However, Shang Baitian didn¡¯t even have a scratch on him.

    Xiang Baitian managed topletely fend off Jia Yunfeng¡¯s de that wasn¡¯t reinforced with his true qi essence.

    ¡°You! Were you just putting an act before?!¡±

    Xiang Batian¡¯s voice was muffled by the sound of metal shing, and also very irritating to the ear: ¡°If I don¡¯t give you a chance to show off, his highness and his majesty would suspect me.¡±

    Jia Yunfeng was mistaken. He waspletely wrong. Xiang Baitian wasn¡¯t brash or acking brute martial artist like he thought. But it was toote now.

    Amidst the noise, Xiang Batian chopped Jia Yunfeng on his chest, one hand after the other. The hundred birds worshipping the phoenix came undone in that moment and shes of light became reduce to a single de.

    Jia Yunfeng flew through the air andnded on the ground. The two chops were imbued with a fair amount of cold energy. Since Jia Yunfeng couldn¡¯t mould energy, he had no means of withstanding it and was left unable to budge.

    Xiang Batian slowly walked up to Jia Yunfeng¡¯s side. He didn¡¯t do anything. He just looked towards the orange prince in the audience area.

    The orange prince sitting in the spectator area didn¡¯t show any expression. He raised his cup of tea and silently made a hand gesture to Xiang Batian. Others wouldn¡¯t understand his gesture, but the reaction from Xiang Batian and Jia Yunfeng was evidence that the two of them knew very well what it meant.

    The corner of Xiang Baitian¡¯s mouth curled up into a hideous smile while Jia Yunfeng¡¯s eyes showed his unimaginable surprise, anger and¡­ regret.

    Xiang Batianughed. He retreated three steps, but before that, he kicked Jia Yunfeng before that by kicking the air to smash into Jia Yunfeng.

    Tang Ye watching below frowned and asked: ¡°Big bro, why did he do that?¡±

    What Tang didn¡¯t understand was why Xiang Batian chose that move, not his internal strength level. Based on Xiang Batian¡¯s disy, his style emphasises on externalponents, fighting strength with strength and notunching attacks through the air. The two kicks he gave him were much less effective than kicking him close up or palm striking him.

    Ming Feizhen stroked his chin and in a very bored tone, bluntly replied: ¡°He must be trying to get rid of him for good.¡±

    Before Tang could digest it, Jia Yunfeng who was lying on the ring suddenly sprang up like a stake. It looked like he sprang up through his own sheer willpower making the audience go crazy with praise. They praised him for his profound strength and how he still had the energy to counterattack.

    But Jia Yunfeng himself knew best that he wasn¡¯t himself right now.

    Xiang Batian¡¯s kicks weren¡¯t intended to take his life. The first kick was to cover Jia Yunfeng¡¯s body with his energy causing his body to be erect and unable to budge in a short-span of time. The second kick was to spring Jia Yunfeng up. However, just looking at it, it looked like Jia Yunfengunched a sudden surprise attack and Xiang Batian was forced to step back to evade.

    The emperor clearly stated that they weren¡¯t allowed to kill their opponent, and hence Xiang Batian¡¯s need to fake a scenario.

    Xiang Batian reacted ¡°scared¡± because Jia Yunfeng suddenly sprang up. He wore an ¡°angry¡± look and shouted: ¡°You scheming bastard. How dare you sneak-attack me.¡± He double punched a soft spot on Jia Yunfeng¡¯s body. A smack sound like a punching bag came from his body.

    Jia Yunfeng has a proud personality. He took the strikes without making a peep. That was what Xiang Batian was after as well. Finally, Xiang Batian punched him on his chest. Jia Yunfeng couldn¡¯t stand anymore and spat a mouthful of blood.

    After he spat a mouthful of blood, he groaned out ould unlike how he was silent before. That was very unlike him. Tang Ye soon realised the reason why he groaned in pain.

    Jia Yunfeng¡¯s left hand had been broken in many ces without realising.

    When Xiang Batian punched him on his chest with his left fist, he sneakily used qinna to break his left hand.

    A swordsman¡¯s hands are his most important assets. Jia Yunfeng¡¯s left fingers were broken in many ces. Even if he had a skilled doctor to heal him and he could recover his martial arts, his swordy would inevitably be much less powerful than what it was. If treatment goes awry, he will never be able to wield a sword again.

    Hua Shan sect focuses on mainly on swordy, so their leader must be skilled with a sword.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Shan sect has been established in the martial world for centuries. Jia Yunfeng isn¡¯t the only outstanding disciple. Even if their leader was to lose his sword skills, the elders would be able to take his ce. After today, Hua Shan sect will still be Hua Shan sect, but Jia Yunfeng will never be Jia Yunfeng again. This event has unquestionably destroyed Jia Yunfeng¡¯s life.

    Xiang Batian chuckled coldly when Jia Yunfeng cried out painfully. Before Eunuch Nan dered him the victor, he booted Jia Yunfeng out. Jia Yunfengnded with a loud thud outside the ring.

    With a neutral expression, Eunuch Nan dered: ¡°Victor, Xiang Batian!¡±

    Tang Ye looked at Xiang Batian who wasughing happily and bluntly said: ¡°That punk is mine.¡±

    If Tang Ye beats Long Zaitian, Tang Ye will face Xiang Batian next.

    ¡°He¡¯s all yours.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s gaze naturally found its way to the orange prince. He then looked at Long Zaitian and the Qilin Gaurds. He sighed: ¡°Man, we¡¯re going to be busy today.¡±

    Notes:

    *Qinna is a style that focuses on grabs, holds and locks with your hands

 Volume 3 12 Silver Bow Falling Leaf and Shocked Weak Su

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 12 Silver Bow Falling Leaf and Shocked Weak Su</h4>

    The imperial martial arts tournament runs on quite a tight schedule. Some matches are decided in just a few mere moves, while others may duke it out for an entire day and still not reach a conclusion.

    To avoid such situations, some ns are set in ce beforehand. For example, when one bout ends, another is started immediately. As such, as soon as Jia Yunfeng lost, the next two took to the ring in less time than it takes to make a hot cup of tea.

    The emperor sighed from where he sat for Hua Shan¡¯s sect leader¡¯s loss.

    ¡°Jia Yunfeng¡­ Why doesn¡¯t he train properly when he¡¯s the sect leader of a major sect in the martial world?! My imperial martial arts tournament has just started and the orange prince¡¯s manor has already lost a skilled member. How ominous.¡±

    He looked around and his eyes found their way to the orange prince. He slowly smiled and asked: ¡°What do you think, Cheng¡¯er?¡±

    The orange prince met the emperor¡¯s gaze. Without revealing any misleading expression, he respectfully said: ¡°Jia Yunfeng isn¡¯t diligent towards practice. I had wanted to get rid of him for some time now. I can now use this as a reason to substitute him. Thank you for asking, father.¡±

    ¡°That Xiang guy¡¯s strength truly is incredible though.¡± Shen Yiren interrupted. She chuckled coldly: ¡°Beyond the Heavens Edge is incredibly sharp while Hua Shan¡¯s sect leader is powerful, and yet he wasn¡¯t even able to cut him. You sure are verypetent to be able to find such talent, your highness.¡±

    The orange prince suddenly felt a jab to his heart. He naturally understood everything that took ce in the ring just then, but because today was an important day, he was afraid the girl from Liu Shan Men would see through his ploys and thus changed the topic.

    ¡°Xiang Baitian is a quick learner. It is an honour for him to receive your praise, Vice-captain Shen.¡±

    But he just saw the emperor shake his head with a dejected look. The orange prince hesitated for a moment but still decided to ask: ¡°What¡¯s wrong father?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± The emperor waved his hand and in a tone showing he wasn¡¯t too epting of the results, and said: ¡°It¡¯s just that I thought Jia Yunfeng wouldst until end. I made bets with a few people beforehand. I just lost three pieces of suet jade to your maternal uncle because of the two of them.¡±

    Orange prince: ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Does he suspect me or not? The orange prince was spinning.

    The emperor¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up: ¡°Oh? Who are the two girls entering the the ring next?¡±

    Two peerless beauties attracted the gaze of the emperor and the crowd. One had a bow, and the other a sabre. The bow was all silver. Rarely is there ever anyone who enters a ring-fight with a long-distance weapon. The sabre emitted a bright light and a cold aura. The cold energy was no less than Hua Shan¡¯s famous weapon, Beyond the Heavens Edge. As a matter of fact, it was sharper.

    The orange prince took a look and without surprise said: ¡°One of them is part of your entourage, Ye Luo, a specialist in archery with outstanding martial arts skills. She¡¯s made a name for herself in thest two years. The other one¡­¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren continued: ¡°You have met the other contest, your majesty. He is my subordinate, surname Su, first name Xiao. He is currently Liu Shan Men¡¯s Bai Hu.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao¡­¡­ Oh! The kid that once threatened Cheng¡¯er?¡± The emperor suddenlyughed, ¡°I heard he¡¯s been all the rage recently. I heard he arrested a Yi rank warrior within the Qilin Guards¡¯ ranks, and had him locked up at Liu Shan Men for a few days. Is that the kid?¡±

    Although the emperor appears to not take anything to heart, he¡¯s actually well aware of things. He remembers all these sorts of things.

    Shen Yiren panicked to exin: ¡°Please allow me to exin. There was a reason for it. I previously reported¡­¡­¡±

    The emperorughed and stopped her: ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. Today is the imperial martial arts tournament, not a day where we¡¯re trying to get square. Take a look for me and let me know what you think of Yiren¡¯s judgement. Let me know if the kid is qualified.¡±

    He¡¯s done.

    I¡¯m serious.

    Su Xiao is dead meat!!

    Miss Ye Luo¡¯s achievements were recorded in the ck and White Reflection.

    Ye Luo isn¡¯t a second rank Jia-rank warrior for no reason. The first reason is because Tie Hanyi¡¯s brain is roasted and won¡¯t ascend the ranks, thereby blocking her path forward. The second reason is because she¡¯s a Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship specialist.

    No matter how good a person is at archery, it¡¯s still just archery. What Miss Luo learnt however, was a totally different beast.

    Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship is a style that originates from Dzungaria. I heard of it since Mount Daluo is close to Dzungaria.

    It¡¯s a unique style that fuses internal arts with archery.

    The archer doesn¡¯t fire actual arrows, but arrows made from qi energy. This style that adopts an original approach was designed specifically for close-quartersbat. The practitioner uses a specially made bow. Uponbining it with the exclusive mental cultivation method, they can fire arrows with their qi energy. While the qi-arrows don¡¯t have a long range, they are more lethal than real arrows at close-range. So the style practically has an unfair advantage in a ring-fight.

    Ye Luo could still win within ten moves even if Su Xiao and Ye Luo were to engage in an empty-handed fight. Bow and arrow versus sabre¡­¡­

    Fortunately-

    ¡°Brother Su, while we may be acquainted, this is apetition, so I won¡¯t pull any punches.¡± Ye Luo¡¯s smile was gentle and pretty. She held her silver bow, ¡°The wind could wound your handsome face. It¡¯s not going to be good if your face gets hurt. Are you sure you want to fight with me?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ye Luo confidently unted her leisure attitude as a Jia-rank warrior would. It¡¯s understandable why Ye Luo is looking down on him. From what I¡¯ve seen, Su Xiao can¡¯t even make it into Liu Shan¡¯s Elite Rankings. At best, he¡¯s between the Bing and Ding rank.

    Su Xiao himself hesitated a bit too. Su Xiao never thought he¡¯d make it into the finals either. I told him not to force himself too. I think he understood what I meant. It¡¯s enough to just say some stuff about going easy on him and lose in a respectable way.

    But before he could speak, the audience below apuded loudly. If you listen closely, you¡¯d notice that it was all females cheering.

    ¡°Bai Hu Su! You must win!¡±

    ¡°Kick that wanton woman out!¡±

    ¡°Are you talking to Bai Hu Su? Are you qualified to?! Are you qualified to?!¡±

    ¡°Why is that girl such a slut?! How dare she seduce our Su Xiao?!¡±

    ¡°Get lost bitch! Get lost!¡±

    If you listen in closer, you¡¯ll find out that the contents of what they were shouting were rather nasty.

    Actually, they were unbearable.

    Not long after ¡°Get lost bitch!¡± it was like a choir belting out in the flying fish pavilion.

    Su Xiao, my boy, why are all of your fans so rude?

    And you miss¡­ Did you forget the emperor is here watching?

    Su Xiao finally stupidly said: ¡°Miss Ye, please go easy on me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ye Luo didn¡¯t say anything, but she nearly crushed the bow in her hand.

    A momentter, Ye Luo smiled and asked: ¡°Of course I will, go, ea-, -sy, on, you! Oh, right. Brother Su, have you heard of a particr style?¡±

    Su Xiao blinked and asked: ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Yep, Su Xiao is dead meat.

    ¡°Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to lose when I get up in there. I¡¯ll be leaving the rest to you.¡±

    Tang Ye curiously asked: ¡°Where are you going, big bro?¡±

    I pat him on his shoulder and looked at him with apassionate gaze you would use to look at a child in the family that hasn¡¯t grown up: ¡°Don¡¯t be like this. You have to grow up eventually.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I silently prayed for Su Xiao in my heart to at least not get sent flying in one move. I suddenly heard a grunt.

    The groan was like a bolt from the blue to my ears. It clearly came from a girl. The beautiful soft voice made me associate it with an alluring woman who was somewhat upset, angry and exasperated, yet tired and weak. But most importantly, the voice was very familiar. It was Boss Shen¡¯s voice. Why is Boss Shen like this?

    I looked in her direction and noticed her beautiful face waspletely pale with her eyebrows pulled together tightly, and her flower petal lips pursed together tightly, a sight that pricked my heart. What¡¯s wrong with her?

    She¡¯s notpeting, so what happened?

    I followed her angry gaze and looked at the ring closest to us.

    ¡°Ah!! Fuck, me!!¡±

    Tang Ye standing next to me too was exasperated: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?!¡±

    Tang Ye and I were flustered.

    We and Boss Shen shared the same sight.

    On the ring closest to us was Captain Song, our dear Brother Bastard. Wait, no, I should now call him ¡°shameless Brother Bastard¡±. He was lying motionless on the right as if he had already passed out. Next to him stood a Qilin Guard posing after throwing a palm strike and resetting his energy.

    If Brother Bastard didn¡¯t get knocked out in one palm strike, there are only two other possibilities: one, Brother Bastard likes sunbathing in a ring, and two, the Qilin Guard is a retard that thinks his pose is cool.

    When did this happen?

    Brother Bastard went and got whooped by an ordinary guard before he even got to meet with Long Zaitian!!

 Volume 3 13 The Situation Suddenly Changed, The Tiger Hiding Its True Skills Howls

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 13 The Situation Suddenly Changed, The Tiger Hiding Its True Skills Howls</h4>

    Brother Bastard¡­ lost already?

    We focused all our attention on either Jia Yunfeng¡¯s fight with Xiang Batian or Su Xiao and Ye Luo. Wepletely forgot about Brother Bastard, so we didn¡¯t even notice him get into the ring. But he actually lost to an ordinary Qilin Guard, and without a sound at that?!

    Boss Shen widened her small mouth. Her face waspletely pale. She never imagined Brother Bastard could be so embarrassing.

    What she had nned was for Tang Ye to exhaust Long Zaitian. Tang Ye too was astonished. He looked at the ugly back and grumbled: ¡°That bastard deserves a beating¡­¡­¡±

    Wow¡­ I never thought Tang Ye cursed.

    Eunuch Nan made an announcement, bringing us back to reality.

    ¡°Victor, Qilin Guards¡¯ Zhao Qi. Next bout, Qilin Guards¡¯ Long Zaitian versus Liu Shan Men¡¯s Tang Ye!¡±

    When he announced Brother Bastard¡¯s defeat, he also announced the next bout.

    The emperor looked at Shen Yiren¡¯s pale face silently. The rxing atmosphere now turned oppressive.

    The orange prince reacted as if he remembered something, chuckled and said: I heard that Liu Shan Men¡¯s men were all capable fighters, and had always been the leader of the three offices of the imperial court. How did their captain end up losing to an insignificant Qilin Guard? How strange~.¡± The Qilin Guard that defeated Song Ou was just an Yi-rank warrior. After defeating Song Ou, he quietly left the ring. He didn¡¯t show any special reactions, making him look all the more masterful.ots of people were surprised. With Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards matched up, and the dark-horse guard pulling off a big stunt like that, even if he were to lose all his matches thereafter, he¡¯d still be guaranteed rewards and riches. That exins why he wasted no time heading back to enjoy his victory.

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t seem to hear anything said. She was expressionless. However, everybody knew that the proud Shen Yiren definitely wasn¡¯t feeling good.

    The emperor bluntly said: ¡°Tang Ye, Tang Yanling, a descendent of the Bei Hai¡¯s Ming Jing Pce. The martial arts passed down to him are not to be underestimated, and surpassed the previous generation and his teachers. In just a few years, he mastered tens of styles, and is considered a never-before-seen talent of the North in the martial world. I truly believe what they say after his victory over Tie Hanyi.¡± He then shifted his eyes to Ye Luo who was fighting Su Xiao.

    ¡°That child in the ring isn¡¯t very skilled. But he is a descendant of the Su family, so he must hold a strong resolve for sure. You spent quite a bit of effort to recruit the two of them, didn¡¯t you? So many talented individuals put in effort for a single individual, and yet he embarrassed himself. His defeat has made their efforts go to waste.¡±

    The emperor spoke bluntly like he was talking about someone else the entire time. He then said to Shen Yiren directly: ¡°Child, is it worth it for Song Ou?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After a moment of silence, Shen Yiren replied: ¡°It was my fault for not thinking it through properly, not the fault of the contestant. Please continue watching, your majesty. We, Liu Shan Men will not let you down.¡±

    Seeing her insistence, the emperor had nothing left to say. He just shook his head.

    On the ring on this side.

    ¡°My, my, my, one cannot ovee the fate the heavens have in ce for them.¡± Long Zaitian looked at Brother Bastard¡¯s defeat and came over shuffling his feet like a happy-go-lucky guy. He held his treasured Wen Zhengming fan in his hand and fanned himself. He loudly ridiculed: ¡°What just happened? Did your leader just get defeated? Look at these embarrassing morons from Liu Shan Men, wahahahahaha.¡±

    The Qilin Guards who stayed quiet all day burst out inughter loudly with Long Zaitian.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, move aside brothers. We can¡¯t embarrass ourselves like that. Hahaha.¡±ong Zaitianughed and somersaulted into the ring. Before he left, he scoffed as us, but it wasn¡¯t too clear what he sound. It was something like ¡°Watch daddy¡¯s performance¡±. I had no choice but to take out a piece of melon skin and flick it towards his knee¡­¡­

    ¡°Oh! Motherfucking son of a bitch!!¡±

    After the cursing, there was a thud sound. It sounded like somebody¡¯s head crashing onto the ring.

    ¡°Oh? What just happened? Did your leader just slip on dog sh*t on the way up to the ring? Hahahaha.¡±

    The crowdughed than they did the entire day.

    Alright, while the crowd is busyughing at Long Zaitian, I need toe up with a n with Tang Ye.

    I looked at Boss Shen.

    She looked in terrible shape. Her face waspleely pale. She had waited and prepared for a long time for this imperial martial arts tournament to demonstrate Liu Shan Men¡¯spetence in front of the emperor and revive their image. She was now sitting next to the emperor as she watched Liu Sha Men¡¯s captain get dropped. You could imagine how bad she felt. Not only was she humiliated, she was also in despair.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I need to do something.

    I grabbed Tang Ye who was getting into the ring and called him back: ¡°Change of ns, Tang Ye.¡±

    The situation haspletely changed. We had four of us before. The original n was for me to lose my first fight, it was a question mark for Su Xiao and Tang Ye, and Song Ou was supposed to win. Then Song Ou was supposed to go on to beat Long Zaitian or have Tang Ye deliberately lose to him. That way, Brother Bastard would make it into the top-eight without any effort. At least that would give the emperor reason to show us favour.

    But Song Ou lost, Tang Ye might not win, I¡¯m going to throw my match, Su Xiao¡­ well, he¡¯ll be lucky to be alive. We originally had the advantage, but it looks like we¡¯re all about to lose this round. No wonder Boss Shen looked like she was sinking in despair.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, big bro?¡±

    I quietly said to Tang Ye: ¡°Listen in, Tang Ye, there¡¯s a change in ns. Our original n was to have you exhaust Long Zaitian enough for our captain to win. But it looks like our captain is out now, so your mission has changed. You need to beat Long Zaitian.¡±

    Tang Ye asked with puzzlement: ¡°Why? Won¡¯t we be fine if you win in the end, big bro?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Right, I haven¡¯t told him my ns for myself.

    ¡°I can¡¯t participate in this contest, and I¡­ have always kept a low profile, rarely showing my cards. So I beg you, please beat Long Zaitian.¡±

    Damn it! The whole entire n has beplex because of Brother Bastard.

    Tang Ye muttered: ¡°Big bro, that¡¯s Long Zaitia, one of the seventeen hidden dragons we¡¯re talking about. Do you think I¡¯ll win?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to give your best¡­¡± I looked at Tang Ye¡¯s eyes and bluntly said: ¡°Look, even if you lose before you get to give everything you¡¯ve got against me, don¡¯t blindly run into a dead-end. If you hold back and lose against an opponent you could beat, wouldn¡¯t it all be for naught?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s your opponent, figure it out for yourself.¡±

    Tang Ye went silent, turned around and walked a few steps. He dropped into the ring in a suave manner, and stood opposite to Long Zaitian. However, he squinted and didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±ong Zaitianughed and said: ¡°We¡¯ve exchanged blows several times since that day. It looks like you¡¯ve improved, Brother Tang. Not even Tie Hanyi can match you now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kid, I¡¯m your senior at the end of the day. Is that any way to treat your senior?¡±

    Tang Ye closed his eyes for a while before slowly re-opening them. He shot him an intense re: ¡°¡­¡­ The next thing I¡¯m going to say will be, your ass is too dirty, I don¡¯t want to kick it. Give me your head instead.¡±

    Tang Ye made a hand gesture for him toe at him.

    A big fight is about to start!

 Volume 3 14 Iâ€™m Busy, Please Let Me Through

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 14 I¡¯m Busy, Please Let Me Through</h4>

    As soon as Ye Luo and Su Xiao engaged in a long-distance contest, Ye Luo looked obviously angry. However, she wasn¡¯t using fatal blows. She used her silver bow as her weapon and then entered close quartersbat with Su Xiao. Ye Luo most likely learnt from a reputable school and teacher. Not only was she skilled in archery, her palm techniques were also splendid.

    Unfortunately, she was paired up with Su Xiao.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao and his Cold Sabre are like masters of close quartersbat whenbined. Su Xiao¡¯s broadsword skills aren¡¯t so good, but his personality is well-suited for broadsword styles. Su Xiao¡¯s personality borderlines on brash, daring and fearless; for example, threatening the orange prince, storming the Qilin Guards¡¯ office and arresting Yi Yixian, and he even tried to chop their que. If we were to consider it from a martial artist¡¯s perspective, those actions have virtually reached the point of evil and violence.

    Broadswords are the king among weapons, so they require the wielder to be prideful.

    As such, while Su Xiao wasn¡¯t skilled with a broadsword, and his strikes weren¡¯t fluid, he wasn¡¯t afraid of death! Su Xiao didn¡¯t evade or hide. He put everything behind every blow. He didn¡¯t care about Ye Luo¡¯s palm strikes, or maybe he just couldn¡¯t tell how fatal her strikes could be. When she put her true power behind her strike and prepared to strike at him, Su Xiao went head-on regardless. He fought like it was life-or-death. But thanks to that, it took longer to defeat him.

    The difference in their skill was very obvious. Ye Luo didn¡¯t hold any particr rank in the first-ranked masters, but she was among the top of the second-ranked masters, that¡¯s if you don¡¯t consider her incredible Tie Zhen Divine Archery skills. Ye Luo¡¯s martial arts style made it inevitably impossible for her to be the top ranked fighter in the emperor¡¯s entourage. But that aside, she was a great assistant on missions that was highly sought after. With her archery sides on their side, not only would they be able to prevent enemies from escaping, she could also be a powerful partner in a two-man fight situation.

    However, once she mastered Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship, everything was different because she was now a formidable fighter at close-range alone. That jump allowed her to go from a Bing-rank warrior to the second-ranked Jia-rank warrior within two short years.

    Now let¡¯s talk about Su Xiao. The cold sabre and the broadsword style that his family passed down were the greatestbination. However, Su Xiao was too young. His internal strength hadn¡¯t developed enough. If he wants to utilise the full power of his broadsword skills, he¡¯ll need to wait another three or four years. At his current level, it¡¯d be tough for him to even beat multiple bandits. The two of them won¡¯t trade more than ten moves. If Ye Luo gets serious, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t even take her two moves to win. However, Su Xiao¡¯s life-or-death style of fighting caused Ye Luo to stiffen up.

    Real arrows were not permitted in the imperial martial arts tournament. Ye Luo didn¡¯t think Su Xiao was so tough either. His ancient cold sabre was iparably sharp. Ye Luo tried to block with her carefully crafted silver bow, but his sabre nearly cut it in half. That gave Su Xiao a small advantage. As a result, Ye Luo had no choice but to evade his blows. Ye Luo was fairly angry since she was caught off-guard by his ruffian-like style. And so, the two of them exchanged more than ten moves.

    ¡°You scoundrel!¡±

    Ye Luo couldn¡¯t hold it in and cursed him. She ced her feet behind her and jumped back, putting distance between her and Su Xiao.

    ¡°You scoundrel, try this for size!¡±

    Ye Luo held up her silver bow up with her slender hands. She formed a shape like she was ying a fuqin with her fingers in her left hand, and the qi in her changed as ifyers of transparent silver qi encaged her body. Even the audience members who didn¡¯t know martial arts could tell that it was the prelude before her unleashing a powerful qi art.

    Sitting his seat, the emperor said: ¡°She is the sixth generation of the Ye family¡¯s divine marksmanship art. It¡¯s not an easy style to learn, and is heavily reliant on the innate potential of the learner. Most of the disciples of the Ye family this generation¡¯s potential are average, if they don¡¯t¡­ Uhm, that¡¯s the mental cultivation art, and that¡¯s the hand techniques, Ye Luo isn¡¯t bad.¡±

    Ye Luo held her bow up with one arm and locked her focus on Su Xiao intently. She used her thumb, index finger and middle finger to pull her bowstring back into a crescent shape like half-a-moon. When she extended her fingers, her qi spun together in a screw shape. When she pulled her bowstring, her qi formed a round shape. When Su Xiao saw her movements, he intended to push her back, but when he saw her mould energy making her look like she was refreshed, he felt something was wrong, and thus couldn¡¯t make it in time to attack. All he saw was Ye Luo rece her beautiful smile with a cold smile after moulding her energy.

    ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    The collection of qi shot out following her release of the string. The two moulded together and shot out in a spiral path. When her qi left her bow, its force increased more than several folds.

    The speed of her qi-arrow travelled as fast as an iron arrow. Her qi-arrow was invisible. Su Xiao had never seen an invisible arrow which could hurt their opponent from a long-distance. However, he could tell it was dangerous.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?!¡±

    Su Xiao had no time to guard. He swung his sabre without a thought. His de and the arrow collided. Su Xiao felt his wrist hurt causing him to almost drop his Ancient Cold Sabre. He suddenly felt a spontaneous burst of ice-cold qi energy from his body. As soon as Su Xiao could grab his sabre again properly, he flung the qi-arrow back along the route where it came from with his Ancient Cold Sabre.

    As the person who fired the qi-arrow, Ye Luo was fully aware what was happening. She was surprised to discover that Su Xiao deflected it back to her with a stronger internal strength.

    Su Xiao¡­ is a hidden internal arts style master?!

    Faced with danger, Ye Luo didn¡¯t panic. She ced three fingers onto her bowstring and fired two consecutive shots. The two shots shot at the shot Su Xiao deflected back at her, but they looked like they got sucked up. The two newly fired shots didn¡¯t do anything except look like they vanished.

    Actually, it¡¯d be better to say that they broke as opposed to getting sucked up. It was like two small breezes running into a tornado, gettingpletely absorbed by the stronger one. The two shots Ye Luo fired with full power werepletely useless.

    She thought: This kid¡­ managed to destroy three of my arrows with a single sh¡­ I can¡¯t believe his internal strength canpare to my father¡¯s.

    The arrow came back at her travelling very quickly, leaving her with no time to fire another shot. At the forefront of the powerful qi-arrow seem to be some sort of object about the size of a mosquito or fly. But there was no doubt there was something at the forefront of the qi-arrow.

    Ye Luo: It¡¯s a hidden weapon!

    When the arrow got closer, Ye Luo finally saw its ck shape clearly. It was a tiny melon skin¡­¡­

    Ye Luo: What the heck is this?!

    Before she could shout out her thoughts, her qi-arrow had reached her. The qi which was supposed to be concentrated into an arrow dissipated like it was destroyed by light. All that was left was the melon skin which didn¡¯t stop. It hit Ye Luo¡¯s temple, knocking her out.

    ¡°Victor, Liu Shan Men¡¯s Su Xiao!¡±

    The voices of the audience filled the air. They didn¡¯t suspect Su Xiao¡¯s abilities to win at all. They considered Ye Luo¡¯s short-time with the upper hand nothing but a small obstacle Su Xiao had to ovee to be a hero. Those good-for-nothing girls, wives anddies were still Su Xiao¡¯s loyal supporters.

    Su Xiao was puzzled as he epted his victory-cries filling the air and thanked them.

    I who was down below put my hand I used to flick the melon skin away¡­¡­

    I¡¯m not picking on you, Miss Luo. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m busy, so please let me through.

 Volume 3 15 Watch Me Loseâ€¦ Fuck! Get Up!

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 15 Watch Me Lose¡­ Fuck! Get Up!</h4>

    Victors and losers in the other rings were soon determined. The imperial martial arts tournament won''t wait for anyone. The next round hencemenced. The venue''s atmosphere became strangely tense.

    The audience began to whisper among themselves as if some hot-shot was about to enter the ring.

    "Here he is, here he is!"

    "Finally. I bet on him winning."

    "He''s the reason I''m here today!"

    "That''s him, look. He''s here. Look at his prepared look!"

    Other than sounding cheerful and excited, their voices also sounded impressed and tense, so it was evident that they were terrified of the figure that was about to take to the ring.

    ording to what they said, that individual must be an incredible talent with a handsome appearance, highly intelligent¡­¡­

    Su Xiao who just came down from the ring said to me: "Big Brother Ming, you''re here."

    ¡­¡­ Alright, it''s me they''re talking about.

    "I know, he''s just some insignificant Qilin Guard waving his fists around, so what?" As soon as I was done, Long Zaitian who was paired up with Tang Ye red at me furiously like somebody dug up his ancestors'' graves. I ignored him, since Tang Ye alone will give him a handful.

    "Big Brother Ming, be careful out there. Jia Yunfeng is very skilled and yet he got beat up like that," Su Xiao looked like a concerned wife seeing her husband off to war and worriedly said: "You''re not me, so run when you can''t win."

    "¡­¡­"

    I was stuck in a dilemma between being moved and speechless, so I could only reply: "Okay, give me a boost then, give me kiss?"

    "Eew!" Su Xiao took a step back. He tightened his grip on his Ancient Cold Sabre, and moved his feet as if he was preparing to spring in for the kill, "Don''te close. You touched that Bai Ling-thingy-mabob, and now you want to touch me?!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Aren''t you going to exim ''I''m a guy''?"

    "Also, I''m a guy!"

    I see nothing has changed.

    "Don''t worry." I pat Su Xiao on his small head. I then turned around to look towards me opponent in the ring and said: "I''ll be back soon."

    "Look, he''s preparing to curse his opponent to death!"

    Who''re you saying is cursing someone?!

    "Liu Shan Men''s Ming Feizhen versus the Qilin Guards'' Wei Jiaomeng!"

    I deliberately went around the ring once to waste energy before ascending. I did that to lower the chances of me being suspected, but the crowd ended up backing off, out of fear for me. In the end, I ended up attracting more attention to myself, and confused myself too.

    My opponent was a lean middle-aged man around forty years old. He was lean and tall, with no b around his body. His hands and feet wererge. His feet in particr were huge,parable to an ape''s. When he flew up to the ring, his feet didn''t budge and his movements were fluid, demonstrating that he trained well.

    Oooohhhh! Fantastic!

    Not only is this guy good, he doesn''t look like he''s wounded either! Thank heavens! I''ve finally got an opponent that''s not dead!

    When I looked at him again, I suddenly felt something was strange. This guy is certainly¡­¡­ He''s strong.

    Even though I only took a quick nce, I could tell that he wasn''t any less skilled than Long Zaitian. His eyes were full of vigour which was proof that his internal strength had been developed to a highs level. Further, I couldn''t tell which school''s internal art he trained. Seeing him, I thought to myself: The Qilin Guards definitely asked for outside help!

    If a Qilin Guard picked out at random was at his level, they would''ve revolted ages ago. Your majesty! I suspect that there''s some foul y here!

    Not too far away in the emperor''s seat.

    "Who''s that? He looks pretty handsome. Nobody at Liu Shan Men in my memory canpare his dignified aura. Yiren?"

    "He''s Ming Feizhen. Last month, due to a particr case, at Liu Shan Men, you¡­¡­" Shen Yiren''s mood had improved since Su Xiao won and Tang Ye looked in good shape. As she introduced Ming Feizhen and mentioned the casest month, she idently daggered the orange prince, "You met him due to a certain case. At the time, he was injured. He had wounds on his face, so you might have forgotten."

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ I don''t really rem-¡­¡­ Oh, that kid that didn''t have any manners?"

    "That is right." Shen Yiren smiled helplessly and continued: "Hees from a reputable school and is clever with work. He is the only head constable at Liu Shan Men."

    "You sure know how to put people down, Vice-captain Shen." The orange prince chuckled coldly: "You praised him so much, and he turns out to just be a mere head-constable?"

    Shen Yiren didn''t take any of his crap: "You are great with jokes, your highness. There has never been a captain at Liu Shan Men that was once a head-constable. But it is normal for you to not be aware since you do not involve yourself with the pugilistic world''s matters, and know even less about the operations of the three offices."

    The orange prince went mull. He didn''t dare to mention how much he was involved and even teamed up with the unorthodox evil sects. But he couldn''t let himself look bad and admit he wasn''t knowledgeable. Hence, he smiled to let the matter pass.

    The emperor was busy scanning Ming Feizhen a few times: "Last time I saw him, he was bed-ridden. I didn''t know he looked so dignified when he stands. What school does hee from?"

    "Ming Feizhenes from Mount Daluo, your majesty."

    "Uhm, I seem to remember that being the case. He should be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight now, right? Since the time Ming Huayu became leader until now¡­ he should be him a third generation disciple, right?"

    "You are correct, your majesty. He is twenty-eight this year¡­¡­ But he is very messy and does not carry himself well. He is not a third generation disciple, but a second generation disciple." Shen Yiren chuckled and said: "He is Sect Leader Ming''s junior, Priest Wushan''s disciple. While he is young, he holds a high level of seniority. Swordsman Moon Chaser refers to him as senior brother."

    "Oh? Second generation disciple?"

    The emperor fell into a silence.

    As for me, I wanted to know what was wrong with being a second generation disciple. Finish what you started!!

    Standing in the ring, I suddenly released that the emperor was staring at me intently like never before. Not long after, he finally rxed and repeated the facts he heard: "He''s a second generation disciple, and his surname is Ming as well? Could he be a descendent of the Ming family?"

    I could hear the emperor''s conversation with Boss Shen clearly, and of course, I could hear the things the orange prince said. But why was the emperor so tense about whether or not I was a descendent of the Ming family?

    I nked out and recalled a bunch of things¡­¡­

    Shifu! What did you do to his majesty?!!!

    Don''t tell me you went after his harem too!!!

    The emperor then sighed: "I''ve been searching for direct-disciples of their founder for many years. I''ve found Moon Chaser as well, but none of them could solve my question. I never expected to meet one of them year."

    Huh? Question?

    Don''t tell me he wants to rify who the father of one the princesses are.

    Shifu, what on Earth did you do?!! When you hit on girls in the future, could you please consider "what if" the emperor one day suspects that one of his daughters isn''t his?! He''ll hound your disciple over it!

    "You have a question for members of the Ming family, your majesty?" Boss Shen continued as if she was in a bit of a dilemma: "I remember that Ming Feizhen said he was from the Ming family''s branch family, so I am afraid he might let you down."

    However, the emperor replied: "Don''t worry, I''ve had this question for over twenty years. Perhaps Ming Huayu himself cannot answer it. As for Ming Feizhen¡­¡­ I just want to ask on the rare off-chance."

    A question he''s had for over twenty years? I don''t think any of the princesses are twenty yet, so it shouldn''t be what I''m thinking of¡­¡­ Shiiiit. Don''t tell me it''s a prince.

    I looked in the emperor''s direction nkly, and looked at the orange prince who wasn''t wearing a smile.

    Man¡­¡­ If he didn''t look like the emperor, I''d have mistaken him as the problem the emperor''s had for over twenty years.

    "Cough, cough." The Qilin Guard in front of me suddenly coughed and then asked: "Can we start now?"

    I answered him in an annoyed manner: "¡­¡­ Come."

    Fuck! Why didn''t you jump me?

    What did think I was doing just now? I was deliberately looking away to give you a chance! He looks like a bandit, but he behaves like a gentleman.

    I looked at his bandit-like face again as well as his pose with his sabre. Save it! There''s no way you can convince me you know more than five characters!

    The emperor wore a joyous smile and said: "I have not seen Mount Daluo''s martial arts in a long time. Let''s see how good this second generation Ming boy is."

    Boss Shen spoke as if she was in a dilemma: "Your majesty, Ming Feizhen, he¡­ his martial arts skills are actually¡­¡­"

    Exactly, watch what martial arts? Watch what martial arts? I''m about to surrender here.

    I turned around, stared at the Qilin Guard: "Alright, let''s begin."

    I swear to god i don''t know what happened.

    The Qilin Guard took three steps back as if he got punched hard when I red at him, and then he fell backwards onto the ring.

    ¡­¡­

    Is he trying to frame me?!

    Hey! Get up!!

    "Good grief! He''s cursed another to death!"

    "Liu Shan''s gue is overpowered!"

    Even the emperor stroked his beard and looked on befuddled. He then said: "He hurt his opponent with pure willpower! What godly power!!"

    Hey! Can you please not spout nonsense?! What happened had nothing to me!

    Boss Shen was spinning. She said: "Could this punk''s horoscope actually be possessed¡­?"

    Boss, you traitor!

    "Yiren, what was that style?"

    "Even with my vast knowledge, I have never heard of such a style in the pugilistic world. But Mount Daluo''s arts are profound, so it might be some divine art."

    The emperorughed cheerfully as he squinted his eyes to look in my direction and said: "That brat is going pretty hard for my daughter, hahahaha."

    Can we stop with this nonsense?!!

    I quickly ran over and called out to the guy lying on the ground trying to set me up: "Hey, can you stop pretending?! I didn''t even touch you!" I looked at him as I desperately went circles around him. I was trying toe up with a way to get him to get up, but nobody could tell.

    In the end, he justy there in that position on the ground and spoke: "I have known of you since long ago¡­ Hero Ming."

    As soon as I heard "Hero Ming", I suddenly recalled heaps of details. A lot of unclear things suddenly became crystal clear for me.

    "It''s you!!"

    "We''ve been eyeing you for a while. It''s not toote to find out now!!"

    The person lying on the ground like a corpse suddenly sprang to life, and smashed me on my chest with two punches violently, sending me back a few steps. A powerful palm strike got thrust my way. If I didn''t counterattack, I would get hit. But just as I wanted to counterattack, I suddenly discovered that the position I was standing in was nned.

    Where we were standing could be seen from the royal family''s seating area clearly. If I were to reveal my martial arts, Boss Shen and the emperor would recognise everything within in less than three moves.

    But then this guy wasn''t using an orthodox style. It was a style from an evil sect from beginning to end. Isn''t he afraid of getting busted?! I looked at the three people in the royal family''s seating area. The emperor and Boss Shen were both utterly surprised by the valiant man''s skills. The orange prince was the only one who was as cool as a cucumber.

    The orange prince looked like he was smiling like he didn''t care if the guy''s identity got revealed. I suddenly realised that the situation was bad. I had a feeling that the situation had turned out the way Boss Shen and I predicted.

    I waste to realise it. His iron palms had almost reached me. His palm strike was like a hungry wolf that saw blood, but still maintained its intelligence. All of his strikes were targeted at qi points, cutting off the flow of qi.

    "Amazing, Hero Ming. You truly are different to those on Liu Shan''s Elites rankings and the seventeen hidden dragons. I fought with Long Zaitian using this palm taolu a year ago, and he couldn''t even handle fifty-percent of my power. I defeated him in just two strikes. If he wasn''t still useful, you wouldn''t have seen him today. You on the other hand, Hero Ming, were able to take two strikes at full power without suffering any harm. I truly admire you!"

    Heughed coldly and then returned his qi. He didn''t stop moving his hands as he spoke. His palms strong were like a snowstorm. Each strike was like an explosion. He left seventeen hand marks on me.

    Notes:

    In case you have forgotten, Shen Yiren''s facts about him being Priest Wushan''s disciple is incorrect because he lied about it.

 Volume 3 16 Black Winds Become Mystery

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 16 ck Winds Be Mystery</h4>

    The emperor looked startled when he witnessed the unexpected reversal and said: "Nice palm techniques. There''s softness within the forceful strikes with varying tempos, unmoving yet moving, and once he moves there''s no way of defending. His palm techniques are so powerful. I don''t think it would be easy to find another inner style specialist who could match his strength."

    The emperor was right. For some reason, that Qilin Guard possessed tremendously profound strength.ong Zaitian and Tang Ye were engaged in a vicious battle in the ring not too far away. Not only were their identities attracting, their exchanges were intense. It was far more promising than this Liu Shan Men''s head constable versus an ordinary Qilin Guard bout.

    It was just that the emperor couldn''t shift his eyes away from the two of them. More urately, he couldn''t stop watching the Qilin Guard. All of this palm strikes were akin to a snowstorm, retracting one arm as the other extends alternatively like a waveing to shore and leaving, which sounded like thunderps. The emperor was seated very far away, yet his heart couldn''t stop palpitating which was a clear indication that the power behind his palm strikes was more than a level above Long Zaitian and co.

    "Feizhen!"

    Ming Feizhen took strike after strike but he never spat out any blood, and when the strikesnded, there was no sound upon impact. All of his bones and joints in his body must''ve had been shattered by the palm strikes, which would exin why he was powerless to counter, thereby taking strike after strike consecutively.

    Shen Yiren''s heart nearly popped out. She was concerned to the point that she stood up, ignoring the emperor''s surprised gaze as well as the impoliteness of her behaviour. She quickly knelt down and pleaded: "Your majesty, I ask that the contest be stopped! Ming Feizhen has already suffered grievous wounds, he cannot continue."

    "¡­¡­"

    The emperor was silent at first. His eyes were still fixated on the Qilin Guard and therefore ignored Shen Yiren. As a matter of fact, he was more focused on the contest than before. With his back against his seat, hezily said: "Such powerful palm strikes, not bad, not bad¡­¡­ Hmm, but this style¡­ it doesn''t look like an orthodox style no matter how I see it. Yiren, you may be young but you''re knowledge of martial arts can be considered vast. In your opinion, what are the origins of that style?"

    Shen Yiren didn''t know why the emperor suddenly asked her about that. Her eyes were locked on Feizhen who was getting pummelled in the ring. He looked like his limbs were all virtually destroyed. With much anxiety, she replied: "Please forgive me for my rudeness. The victor has been decided in that ring. Please dere Ming Feizhen the loser. Feizhen, he¡­¡­. Constable Ming''s life is hanging in the bnce. I am afraid he will not be able to make it."

    "Eunuch Nan is in charge of deciding the oues. He is a veteran of the pugilistic world. Do you not think he would be able to tell? Vice-captain Shen, I asked you, have you seen that palm taolu before?"

    Shen Yiren''s mind however, was filled with images of Ming Feizhen getting pummelled into mincemeat. She wasn''t paying any heed to the emperor''s words: "Your majesty, can you not wait to ask me thatter?!"

    The emperor shook his head: "Yiren, this matter¡­ is very important."

    Shen Yiren anxiously replied: "I, I don''t know!"

    "Since you don''t know, Cheng''er, how about you answer my question. What are the origins of that style?"

    The orange prince watched Shen Yiren standing up out of her seat and smiled: "I do not know. As Vice-captain Shen mentioned, I do not set foot into the pugilistic world while my own skills are poor. I was never qualified to discuss martial arts in the first ce."

    "That''s fine, that''s fine. There''s a specialist here with us." The emperor turned his head around to face the senior eunuch beside him and said: "Wang Tushui, bring Eunuch Nan."

    Eunuch Nan was from the pugilistic world. He entered the pce twenty years ago and suddenly became a skilled fighter rarely seen in the inner sectors of the pce. The emperor treated him as a person in the pugilistic world. He uses the word "please'' with him as the emperor, which goes to show just how much respect he has for Eunuch Nan.

    Not long after, Eunuch Nan came up the steps to the royal family seating area from the host area. He wore a neutral expression: "Greetings, your majesty."

    Wang Tushui quickly repeated the question the emperor had to Eunuch Nan. After he finished listening, he nodded gently and then said: "Your majesty, there are many palm styles in the world which make itplicated. Just in terms of the number of styles and variations alone, there are one thousand and forty-seven styles, which belong to three-hundred and seven schools. The guard in the ring can evidently use very powerful palm strikes, which tells us that the emphasis of his style lies in his power, and not the technique."

    The orange princeughed and said: "It''s just a palm style, what''s so great about it?"

    "You are wrong there, your highness. In terms of power alone, it is no less formidable than Shaolin''s Prajna Palms and Wudang''s Two-metre Palms. It is just that it relies heavily on power, thereby losing the true essence of it. Focusing on qi control is the keyponent, yet it treats as an auxiliaryponent. Such action is unorthodox in martial arts."

    "In other words, it''s an unorthodox style from the evil sects?"

    "Wise insight, your majesty. You are absolutely correct."

    "Eunuch Nan, I have a question for you." The Qilin Guard had now hit Ming Feizhen with seventeen strikes and stopped. Shen Yiren was anxious like she had a fire under her heart. She wanted to know how Ming Feizhen''s wounds were and anxiously asked: "With such forceful strikes, what would happen to the target?"

    "The characteristics of this palm taolu are particrly strange. The target won''t lose their conscious, but their breathing will gradually be erratic. After a short while the force will explode, thereby killing the target. But that said, the skill of the target would need to be factored into the equation as well. If their cultivation is at the peak, having their meridians sealed would be normal.

    "Ming Feizhen he-!"

    Shen Yiren''s mind was filled with the sound of thumps. Ming Feizhen dying was not part of her n. She clenched her teeth, turned around and ran out of the royal family seating area, and off in the direction of the ring like the wind.

    The emperor didn''t stop her though. He looked at Shen Yiren''s back getting further and further away kindly and amiably. He shook his head with a helpless smile: "She still hasn''t grown up. She can''t handle seeing her subordinates suffer. She''s exactly like her father."

    When he turned to look at the orange prince, his gaze changed: "But that''s strange. Only warriors of the imperial court are gathered for the imperial martial arts tournament. How did someone so skilled from an evil sect sneak in? What do you think, Cheng''er?"

    "Father, why are you asking me these questions?" The orange prince frowned and unhappily said: "He is a Qilin Guard. If there was a problem, you should be asking the Qilin Guard''s vice-captain Long Zaitian, and not me."

    "You are wrong again, your highness." Eunuch Nan continued: "I have been investigating the ck Winds Thirteen Wings homicide thesest two weeks, but no matter how I investigated it, everything pointed back to the Qilin Guards. But then there is another problem. The Qilin Guards are one of the imperial court''s threew enforcement offices charged with protecting the nation. The imperial court and the three offices work very closely together so there is no chance that they would betray the imperial court."

    Eunuch Nan looked at the orange prince and continued: "Hence the emperor thought that perhaps it was not someone from the martial world but people in the imperial court who wanted to use the Qilin Guards for unscrupulous means. After my endless investigations, I found out that you had gone and went from the Qilin Guards'' ce many times, your highness. Every time, you went you brought very few people and were very cautious, hence catching my attention."

    The orange prince couldn''t hold it in and shouted: "Nan Junfei! Who do you think you are?! You''re just a lowly servant! How dare you nder me?!"

    "I dare not, I dare not. But what I said was all true. His majesty has also looked over the evidence." Eunuch Nan looked to the ground, suddenly smiled and said: "The imperial martial arts tournament is a major event for the imperial court that involves many warriors of the imperial court. If his majesty was not certain, how would he have allowed the imperial martial arts tournament to continue with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings killing the imperial court''s warriors? You have overlooked it, your highness."

    Just as the orange prince was about to rebut, the emperor spoke out.

    "Cheng''er, stop." The emperor said in a low voice: "If Yiren was here right now, she''d be the first one to arrest you. I have looked into your men already. What could those thirteen from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings possibly do?"

    The orange prince wentpletely pale. His eyes ran circles like he was calcting his own skills and his men. Just in the royal family''s seating area alone, he wasn''t a match for his father if they had a fair fight, and he happened to have highly-skilled Eunuch Nan whose true skills knew no bounds.

    "Cheng''er, if you stop now, I''ll pretend nothing happened. What do you say?"

    "¡­¡­"

    "You showed your skills once at that dog-house and taught my men and me a lesson. You were surprisingly fearsome."

    The man who suddenly unleashed an incredible palm strike revealed a smile: "I wonder if you remember me mentioning that I had just mastered a power-focused qigong style that could smash a boulder and kill a fierce tiger? I wanted to ask you to let me try it but you took pre-emptive action, and thus I have only managed to make my request a reality today."

    My breathing was erratic. I forced the words out of my mouth: "Despicable¡­ scum¡­¡­"

    The man looked at hisrge palms,ughed and said: "This new internal style of mine assists my Fu Xiang divine palm techniques that can break through anything. I killed three Qilin Guards with it. It only took one strike to kill each of them. I never had to make a second move. For you to still be able to speak after taking seventeen strikes, your cultivation is evidently profound. A rare talent indeed. I truly admire you."

    He revealed a savage smile: "But even if your internal strength were to be even superior, after having your meridians sealed by these seventeen strikes, you won''t be able to budge for three hours. You''ll just look pitiful the entire time.

    Impossible¡­ This guy shouldn''t be here.

    I struggled to get up. I angrily looked at the man before me that had changed his looks and physique. He used disguise and joint maniption high-level type technique to transform his physiquepletely.

    No, when I saw himst time, he was fatter than he is now. In other words¡­ he manipted his jointsst time while this is his normal appearance.

    Why didn''t I discover it¡­¡­?

    "Why are you here in the pce¡­¡­?" I didn''t use my voice transmission technique. I muttered under my breath angrily: "Meng Jiangnan!!"

    "Of course I miss Ming¡­¡­"

    "Fuck out of here. Meng Jiangnan is a fake name, isn''t it¡­?" I bluntly said: "You just pretended to be the contact person for the League of Assassins'' as a cover for your true identity."

    "Meng Jiangnan"ughed and said: "I sincerely admire your intellect. I always thought that you were the Master of Night Fortress thanks to your martial prowess. I never expected you to be so smart as well. Night Fortress being located in Jiang Nan''s martial world is lucky thing. It''s a pity that you''re seeing through it now. Don''t you think¡­¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye and Zhong Yi."

    "Meng Jiangnan"''s expression drastically changed. A sh of killing intent appeared in his eyes. I ignored him and continued.

    "I do make mistakes sometimes for real¡­¡­. So it wasn''t the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, but you guys." I did my best to suppress my voice and enunciate their name that would frighten countless warriors in the martial world, "Second in the League of Assassins, Path of Darkness!"

 Volume 3 17 Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye and Zhong Yi

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 17 Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye and Zhong Yi</h4>

    Path of Darkness is a myth in the martial world. They are an evil myth that betrayed the orthodox sects. This assassination group strictly speaking can''t even be considered a group, because it onlyprises of four people, and all four of them arepletely unrted.

    Each of them has their own unique identities. They lead separate lives, and don''t even have anything inmon. The only onemon thing between them is that they''re all powerful fighters among ten thousand men.

    The four of them kill people in the martial will as they please without any regards for thew. When the boss of the League of Assassins once saw them together, he suggested they form a group which was named: Path of Darkness.

    The group has existed for less than six years, but they''ve surpassed countless other assassins in the League of Assassins in those six years. Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye and Zhong Yi thus became famous top-tier assassins in the pugilistic world.

    Consequently, Meng Jiangnan is a fake, yet not a fake identity as Ming Feizhen imed since Fu Xiang is Meng Jiangnan, the contact person for members in the capital. They''re one and the same person.

    "Meng Jiangnan" or more urately, the assassin Fu Xiang got identified after just a few words. Surprised, he said: "Master Ming, you really do know everything, huh? But I wonder how you managed to figure out who I am."

    "You''re a careful person, a rare talent. Other people only use disguises when they go out on missions while you use a disguise almost all the time, and then revert back to your true appearance when you go out on jobs. It''s no easy feat to turn yourself into a fatty with double your usual bodyweight. That is why I didn''t realise anything at all.

    Fu Xiang looked me with satisfaction as he listened to mypliments.

    "You could''vee into the pce with your usual disguise since not many people recognise it either, but because you tried to be cautious, you revealed your real appearance. That''s admirable. I haven''t met many who are as cautious and detailed as you."

    That''s right, while Fu Xiang looks brash and crude, he''s actually very cautious and detailed. For example, he must''vee up with the n when I tailed them and the three groups took turns running circles. Not only is he cautious and detailed, he''s also very skilled.

    "Thank you for the praise Master Ming."

    I then changed the topic: "But when you said ''Fu Xiang Divine Palms'' you revealed yourself."''

    It''s an aggressive style focused on power. I read about it once in the ck and White Reflection. Seven female disciples from Emei were killed three years ago and they suspected they were killed with Fu Xiang Divine Palms. They suspected it was the handiwork of someone in the League of Assassins. After putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, I guessed that Meng Jiangnan was actually an assassin and not a contact-person.

    "¡­¡­ And your name is Fu Xiang. The rest isn''t too hard to guess, is it?"

    "I never expected you to identify me through my martial arts. But I don''t care because dead people can''t think nor can they tell others."

    "The four so-called Path of Darkness assassins¡­ continued tomit crimes ever since they appeared during the six years they''ve been around. Committing crimes in the North, South, East and West. They''ve already killed a hundred and twenty one famous people. Among them includes Sect Leader Cang and Elder Swordsman Lushan. All the people you guys killed were famous figures. You''ve never refused any jobs and evene after the pce this time."

    Fu Xiangughed and said: "You sure know these martial world stories very well, Master Ming. It''s a pity you didn''t see through us."

    "It makes sense, I guess. I''d be surprised if it wasn''t you guys. The ck Winds Thirteen Wings wouldn''t dare to pull this off. It never was the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, but you four. Only you four have gall and skills to pull it off. You killed one imperial court warrior after another and are nowing into the pce to pull off more hits."

    I thought about things for a moment and then asked with puzzlement: "I want to know why you came up with this n to set me up? Why did you insist on getting rid of me?"

    "We never wanted to do this. You asked for it, Master Ming."

    Fu Xiang took in a deep breath and then let his qi circte freely inside his body to recover his internal energy. Those seventeen palm strikes do take a lot out of him, so he needed to recover his qi now.

    "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings were just pawns gathering intel for us. Their purpose was to find out how strong the three offices truly were. They can asionally kill some warriors of the imperial court that they''re confident fighting if they team up."

    The ck Winds Thirteen Wings are cold-blooded assassins that could frighten a lot of people, but they sounded like children when he mentioned them.

    Fu Xiang stared at me as if he was looking at a nightmare and pulled his eyebrows tightly together.

    "We didn''t take the initiative to go after you; it was just that you were in the way and unpredictable. Nobody knew that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings were the culprits. But you came out of nowhere, rocked up at the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard and managed to identify the ck Winds Thirteen Wings as the culprits just by examining a few corpses on your first day. You also told the emperor''s entourage. The ck Winds Thirteen Wings lost two men because of that. Even I couldn''t remedy the situation. So how could we not be extremely cautious of you?"

    "So it was my fault, huh¡­?"

    Yeah, no, fuck you!

    You killed them, they retaliated and killed your men, and now it''s my fault?

    "That''s not all. You identified the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, causing the security in the pce to tighten up a whole entire level. Even so, we only treated you as a worry, and not a ticking time-bomb, not someone who could affect the grand scheme of things. After that, you followed orders to investigate the League of Assassins, so I set up a trap to lure you in and kill you."

    Fu Xiang''s killing intent got stronger once he got there.

    "I just never expected you to be a prominent figure. So much for thinking I''d never make a miscalction. I never imagined that the great master of Night Fortress, the one and only evil sect in Jiang Nan''s martial world would actually lower himself to being an insignificant constable at Liu Shan Men. I was not exaggerating when I said you are unpredictable."

    No, if we''re being precise, for the remainder of my life I might live¡­ alright, I''m not going to mention things which would make me unpredictable.

    "It looked like you want to get yourself out of the imperial martial arts tournament so I did everything I could to make things hard for you. I did that to stop you from getting away and to trap you here. I didn''t have a choice. My skills can''t match yours so I had to use my wits and trap you here."

    "Is that why I won all my fights without even fighting? You people are bloody¡­¡­"

    "You''re wee."

    Wee your fucking mum!

    Fucking motherfucker! I got called a gue by people all because of you people!!

    "Don''t get angry, Hero Ming. You''ve always outdone my predictions, including the divine art you just used to knock that Ye missy out. I consider myself as having trained very diligently daily and possess decent internal strength, but I''m afraid I wouldn''t be able to defeat Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship with a melon seed even if I trained for my entire life. We have another instance here. I struck with seventeen Fu Xiang Divine Palm strikes before stopping. I wasn''t showing mercy, it was that the style drains me of my internal energy. I gave it my all with those seventeen palm strikes, but I haven''t even hurt you all. All I managed to do was seal your meridians."

    Fu Xiang shook his head, sighed bitterly and said: "I am sixty-two this year. I started training Fu Xiang Divine Palms since I was even, so that''s fifty-two years of training. I thought I was now strong enough to conquer the entire world, but forget that, I can''t even hurt one man. Master Ming, do you know how mixed my feelings are right now?"

    "Who gives a sh*t about your motherfucking feelings?! You people just have nothing better to do! What did youe to the pce for?" I wore a gloomy look and continued, "Are all your people here?"

    Fu Xiang dodged the question. He smiled and said: "Why did you have to sneak into Liu Shan Men, Master Ming? You are working as a constable for no rhyme or reason, and you''re starting from the lowest rank?"

    Who told you that? Sixty taels a month is starting from the lowest rank? You make that much sweeping the ground?!

    But when I thought about it carefully, my heart beat hard. This guy sure does know a fair bit. He looked into me and obtained urate information in a short amount of time. With meing and going here and there, teahouses, bars, eating out at Dong Po, and going to buy wine at "Years Like a de", who knows when I might reveal myself.

    Wait, wait, wait. Not even shiyi knows my goal. Surely they''re not that resourceful.

    "It''s fine if you do not tell me because ording to my reports, you¡­ are doing it for a person, right?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    What?! The man actually knows!

    "That person is very important to you and that is why you are insistent on staying at Liu Shan Men no matter the price."

    Hey, hey, hey, you can''t mention it in a crowded ce like this!

    "Hey! Stop talking sh*t!"

    Fu Xiang scoffed: "I speak no nonsense. I can understand that feeling too. You are willing to ept and respect. That is most certainly deplorable. That person is¡­¡­"

    I shouted: "I told you not to spout nonsense!"

    Fu Xiang stuttered: "You¡­ fell for Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren, right?"

    "How did you know that?!"

    ¡­¡­

    Huh? Wait. Boss Shen? This guy must be mistaken.

    Just when I was thinking that, a slender silhouettended in the ring gently like a snow ke. Her movements were swift. One jump and shended in the ring. Before she came over, she anxiously shouted something.

    However, when shended, she waspletely silent,pletely contradictory to how anxious she was before.

    Her skin was like perfect jade, and white as snow. Underneath her sword-sheath like beautiful shoulders were eye-grabbing, stunning huge knockers that jiggled as she moved, showing off her proud personality. She was dressed in a warrior''s robe, yet her body lines were revealed. Who else could it be other than Shen Yiren?

    When Boss Shen came over, she appeared to be furious, but once shended, she was dead silent. Looking at her carefully, her beautiful face had a seductive blush on it.

    After a long silence, Boss Shen finally spoke.

    "Feizhen,.. what did you just say¡­¡­?"

    "¡­¡­"

    It was like time had stopped.

    Notes:

    *When Fu Xiang mentioned the trap to lure MFZ in and kill him, he actually alluded to the Feast at Hong Gate which is a historical event that was a trap ostensibly joyous but actually was a treacherous plot. But I decided that putting that in the text would ruin your reading experience if you weren''t aware of the reference and thus adopted just the idea behind it for smooth reading. I try to minimise the usage of footnotes as much as possible.

 Volume 3 18 He is Here, Yiren Came

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 18 He is Here, Yiren Came</h4>

    "You¡­ fell for Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren, right?"

    "How did you know about that?!"

    That''s what just happened.

    Strictly speaking, that doesn''t count as a traditional confession.

    I didn''t take the initiative. The contents were provided by someone else. I was just in charge of admitting.

    Admit my foot! I didn''t admit it!

    I waited for a long time but nobody spoke.

    Boss Shen jumping up into the ring is against the rules, right? But nobody stopped her.

    I pretended to forget what just happened and tried to avoid the awkwardness: "Boss, what¡­ are you here for?"

    "Feizhen, what did you just say?"

    Whoa, she''s asking me straight-up! She''s different to other girls for sure. She''s not flirtatious like normal girls. I can''t believe she can speak so naturally after that awkward scene.

    "But¡­¡­" Boss Shen went red in the face. She sounded like she was put in a dilemma: "Don''t say what you shouldn''t."

    She''s been affected!

    A voice suddenly came into my ears. It was Fu Xiang using voice transmission.

    "Don''t worry, she didn''t hear anything."

    Boss Shen didn''t hear our conversation just now? But¡­¡­

    I see, so Fu Xiang was using voice transmission in our conversation. I was caught up with the Path of Darkness''s actions that I forgot for a moment.

    I looked carefully and noticed Boss Shen''s blushing look wasn''t because she was shy but because she was slightly short of breath after running over.

    Another voice then hit my ears. This time it was Boss Shen using voice transmission.

    "Our prediction was right. The ck Winds Thirteen Wings have already reced the Qilin Guards. This grunt is really strong, right?"

    Ooh, so that''s what Boss Shen meant by "what you shouldn''t say".

    I gave her a nod to say: That''s right. He''s from the League of Assassins.

    This is what happened.

    Boss Shen and I did indeed have other considerations with regards to the imperial martial arts tournament.

    I found the ck Winds Thirteen Wings traces in the Qilin Guards'' main courtyard and I discussed it with Boss Shen. We both agreed that there was a traitor with the Qilin Guards. I then used special means to continue investigating and found out that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings wanted to go after the emperor on the day of the imperial martial arts tournament. As such, we took some pre-emptive measures. We just didn''t know when and where or how they were going to do it, hence why we had no choice but to wait for the tournament tomence and wait for the time to strike.

    But things outside of our expectations happened one after the other. Brother Bastard losing is whatever, but I even ran into this strong but ugly punk.

    "Sorry¡­¡­ It''s my fault. I shouldn''t have let you fight him."

    Back then Boss Shen told me to try not to avoid the Qilin Guards if I ran into them, and fight them as much as possible for intel. Every move, every word and every expression would be helpful. It was a bullsh*t mission indeed, and realistically speaking, if I was actually an ordinary constable and ran into Fu Xiang, I wouldn''t even make it in time to say "there''s poison in your sh*t!"

    "She cares for you, Master Ming." Fu Xiang seemed to be able to make out what Boss Shen said from her expression. Using voice transmission, he said to me: "Even if I put you down, it doesn''t feel too bad knowing that the woman you love cares for you, huh?"

    Boss Shen looked stern. With a strong gaze, she said: "Your match ends here. I''m taking him with me."

    Fu Xiang didn''t budge. His aura was grounded like a mountain, but at the same time made one feel he could strike at any moment.

    "I am afraid that''s not possible. You are not the judge, Vice-captain Shen. Before Eunuch Nan deres the oue, I am afraid I will have to continue staying in the ring with Brother Ming."

    "You dare tell me ''no''?"

    "I have heard that you are incredible, Vice-captain Shen. I heard you ran Liu Shan Men. Vice-captain Shen is the rule at Liu Shan Men, and now that I have met you, I see that it is true. However, we are in the imperial pce right now, and in the ring at the imperial martial arts tournament. Don''t you think you''ve crossed the line, Vice-captain Shen?"

    Boss Shen appeared angry enough to explode. She didn''t let Fu Xiang get his way.

    "I''m going to take him away. You''re not qualified to interfere, so cut the bullsh*t!"

    Boss Shen frowned and then stretched her hand out and grabbed my shoulder.

    Fu Xiang didn''t back down. He stood in ce without moving. But his condensed collection of qi made him appear intense. As soon as Boss Shen''s hand touches me, he''ll strike out right away. I knew what he was thinking. If I leave with Boss Shen, he won''t be confident that he can bring me down, and their ns for today will vanish into thin air. As such, he was willing to make an enemy out of Boss Shen if it meant he could keep me here.

    As soon as Boss Shen extended an arm out, she could feel a wave of qi rush over. She didn''t dare to advance another step. She thought to herself: His internal strength is incredible. His martial arts tops the people here today.

    Shen Yiren could tell that she couldn''t match him just from the way he stood.

    "What exactly do you want?"

    "That should be my question. I heard you already you''re already engaged. I heard the groom was the eldest son of the Song family who are part of the seven champion white princes. In other words, the current captain of Liu Shan Men. What a nice match. A talented man and a beautiful woman. You make people envious."

    Fu Xiang spoke at a natural and neutral speed while sneaking a nce through the corner of his eys at Brother Bastard who had his turn and was now looking like a whinger who lost: "I just don''t want you to toss your fianc¨¦e aside for an unrted man. That would be sad for Captain Song." Fu Xiang thought that Boss Shen and I had some sort of illicit rtionship and therefore tried to leverage it against her to get her to back off.

    Who would''ve known that Boss Shen wouldn''t give a toss. She wore a cold expression and asked again: "I''ll ask you again. What do you want?"

    "My hand is itching and I want to have a spar with Brother Ming."

    "¡­¡­ You''ve already beaten Ming Feizhen to the point where he can''t defend himself. Everybody who isn''t retarded can tell who the victor is. Are you persisting because you want to kill him?" Boss Shen then grabbed her sword handle and thrust it forward down the centre-line of his body, "Since your hands are itching, I''ll scratch it for you!"

    Her sword strike was extremely swift. While Fu Xiang''s strength far surpasses Boss Shen''s, things are somewhat different in a surprise attack situation. The power of Fu Xiang Divine Palms was far too powerful and he couldn''t hastily use it. He really is a talented guy with incredible skills. He didn''t dodge when a sharp de was being stabbed right down his centre-line. He just smiled.

    I could tell what he was ying at. He was waiting for the sword to stop. This is the imperial martial arts tournament after all, so Boss Shen wouldn''t dare to kill someone. Fu Xiang could see through her bluff. Once Boss Shen stops, he''ll have an opportunity to strike back.

    The sword then went towards his chest and stabbed into his muscles. Fu Xiang grunted and floated back a few yards. He sounded angry. He clearly got hurt.

    Boss Shen didn''t stop. She went straight for the kill. And to be frank, he''s lucky to have dodged it. If he was one step slower, he''d be skewered to death on the ring.

    Boss Shen truly cares for me. Outsiders may see Shen Yiren as a crazy bitch who dares to say anything and do anything. But from my standpoint, nobody respects thew and rules than her.

    She broke the rules to enter the ring and save me. I''m very moved by that.

    Boss Shen wanted to chase him down. I extended my arm out and grabbed hold of Boss Shen''s beautiful slender small hand.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Boss¡­ I''ll deal with this."

 Volume 3 19 Mystery Puts His Lights Out. Snow Falls Silently

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 19 Mystery Puts His Lights Out. Snow Falls Silently</h4>

    Boss Shen angrily shouted: "Deal with? Deal with what?! You''re about to lose your life." She turned around to look at me who had a pale face. It was like her heart had be tender too.

    "Stop being stubborn ande with me."

    But before she could finish, Fu Xiang chased us like an ursed ghost unwilling to leave. He revealed a ridiculing smile: "Vice-captain Shen, you are very bold. You almost killed me with that strike." His voice was very energetic which was a clear indication that her attack just now didn''t hurt him.

    Boss Shen knew that she missed an opportunity to deal him a heavy blow. She looked extremely dejected, but her expression didn''t change. Instead, she just angrily red at me.

    I met her angry eyes which were kind of ming me. I made an open hand gesture and said: "I already told you I''d deal with it, so what are you ring at me for?"

    "Alright, even if you are right, tell me how you are going to deal with it in the state you''re in?"

    I thought about it but could only think of one thing to say: "Little kids shouldn''t concern themselves with adults'' affairs."

    "You actually believe that you''re an adult and more mature than me?" Boss Shen red at me with an even more serious re. But that didn''tst long because she then helplesslyughed: "Have you lost your mind or are you actually confident? Why does it feel that you''re not scared? Have you been scared silly?"

    "Didn''t I promise to gather intel for you? How can I give up without doing anything? Don''t worry, I''ll run away when it''s time to." I stood up and moulded my energy to erase the pale look on my face.

    Now I looked much better.

    "Nobody is more scared of dying than I am, so don''t worry."

    Boss Shen was going to say something, but I extended a finger forth and ced it on her soft lips. I chuckled softly and said: "A woman should behave and wait at home while her man attends to business."

    Time virtually stopped once again.

    The wind blew gently and carried a different sense of coldness with it.

    If you were to look up at the sky, you would see the sky covered in snow.

    Snow.

    It''s snowing.

    Winter hasn''te yet, but the first snowfall of this year started today as if it had ns of its own within the dark-unclear world.

    The sky caused created a silence inside and outside of the pce.

    The snowfall was carried by the wind. Ice crystalsnded on people like flowers blooming, substantially increasing the charm of the white snow.

    Boss Shen didn''t freak out or move away. She allowed me to ce my finger on her lips. What surprised me even more was the heat being transferred from her lips to my finger that was just like the impression Boss Shen''s appearance gave off, and just like her soft breaths.

    "You''re hurt¡­¡­" Boss Shen didn''t care about me cing my finger on her lips and spoke like that. Her warm breath was like a kitten''s lick which felt so nice in the cold.

    "If I hit you now, I''ll definitely end up killing you, so I''ll forgive you this time¡­ Are you still not going to remove your finger?"

    I slowly pulled my finger back and looked at her seemingly transparent eyes. I chuckled and replied: "Boss, trust me¡­ There''s always a way to solve things."

    Boss Shen didn''t say anything. She frowned, and I could sense a strong aura being emitted from between her eyebrows which touched me.

    "You are not to die. I don''t want any of my men to die. I don''t want you to die, you hear?"

    Those determined eyes¡­ I felt like I could read the one they call the-imperial-court''s-toughest-female-hero. A young girl in her tens holding up all of Liu Shan Men is no easy task.

    "I promise, I won''t die. At least not today."

    "Always talking glibly."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boss Shen sheathed her de again, looked at me with a thoughtful gaze and said: "Take care." She then turned around and slowly left.

    I looked at Fu Xiang who was standing to one side and behind Boss Shen''s back a few times with aplex feeling. It felt somewhat surreal. Boss Shen thought that Fu Xiang was a member of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings and was afraid I''d get beaten to death. Fu Xiang thought I fell in love with Boss Shen and she came to save me. I on the other hand simply didn''t want the emperor to discover my identity.

    Snowkes floated slowly in the air and my heart became clear because of that.

    Theplexity of the matter virtually surpassed my imagination. Who the heck caused everything to turn out this way?

    My eyes subconsciously found their way to the royal family seating area and my ears stood up on their own.

    I could hear the entire conversation between the emperor and the orange prince. There were things they didn''t know about each other, but it was all clear from my point of view. And based off the intel they have as well as the things Fu Xiang and co. have done, their goal could not be any clearer.

    I looked at Fu Xiang and spoke to him with lip reading: "Are you trying to overthrow the emperor''s rule?"

    Fu Xiang understood me. Somewhat surprised, he replied: "You are very wise, Master Ming. You ended up seeing through it in the end."

    "But I still don''t understand, why''re you not killing me?"

    "I want to borrow your appearance for the part thates afterwards."

    I see now. Now it all makes sense. Since I''m such a threat to them, Fu Xiang could''ve killed me after I was hit, but he didn''t. I couldn''tprehend why, but now whenbined the knowledge the Mystery want to get a piece of the pie in Jiang Nan''s martial world, it makes sense. They could rece me there using their masterful disguise skills. They could then use Night Fortress as a medium tomit more assassinations and slowly gain control over Jiang Nan''s martial world.

    "It''s just that you are too skilled, so I had no choice but to paralyse you with my palm strikes, stopping you from ruining our n."

    "Fair enough. Your n is tough and tiring, huh?"

    "Thank you for understanding."

    We bothughed and the atmosphere in the ring became ice-cold.

    "Last question." My qi essence in my body stopped circting and the qi which gave me the pale look resurfaced on my face again, reverting my appearance back to how it was before, "The current emperor is no pushover, do you think you can sessfully dethrone him?"

    "Meng Jiangnan", otherwise known as the assassin Fu Xiang revealed a genuine smile and replied: "Path of Darkness fears no one."

    That was thest thing we said to each other.

    We didn''t see this scene. We just heard others tell us about it after. It sounded pretty brutal.

    Fu Xiang took a quick step. Deeply-etched footmarks were left wherever he stepped. He braced, transformed his palm into lightning and viciously struck me, creating a huge sound. I looked like I got struck by lightning and got sent flying out of the ring like a kite that had its string snapped. Even though I crashed into the wall, my fall didn''t stop.

    A warm red drop of liquid from the skies filled with snowfallnded on Shen Yiren''s jade-white-like face after she just got off the ring. The liquid was hotpared to the snowkes. She reached her hand out to wipe it away gently. It didn''t take her long to recognise that it was blood, but she moved frighteningly slowly.

    "I''m Ming Feizhen. From today onwards, I shall love my country and devote my loyalty to it. I shall serve the imperial court and am determined to be Vice-captain''s good subordinate. Greetings boss!"

    "Boss! Want a pear?"

    "Boss, I''ll help you read over half of these documents, so have an early night."

    "Mmm¡­ Right now isn''t a good time for me to wake up. Boss, please don''t wear low-cuts¡­¡­"

    "Because you''re silly. You go all out without consideration for yourself for the sake of justice. That''s why I want to stay by your side."

    "Why would I go to work during my off-time? Boss, did you know you look really pretty when you''re working? Wouldn''t it be a waste for me not to look at you?"

    The memories slowly mixed in with the snow and poured into Shen Yiren''s blurry eyes.

    "Feizhen¡­ You liar¡­¡­"

    Shen Yiren turned around. The drip of blood flew away while her eyes were brimming with an impulse to kill.

 Volume 3 20 The Light In The Past Is Now But Smoke and Dust

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 20 The Light In The Past Is Now But Smoke and Dust</h4>

    Rewinding back a bit in the royal family''s seating area. The orange prince who was adamant on his stance when questioned by the emperor and Eunuch Wang went silent for a moment before saying: "Please forgive me father, but I do not understand what you are saying." He sat in his seat without moving or showing a hint of being unsettled.

    The emperor frowned and solemnly said: "Cheng''er, are you still going to be so stubborn? Forget it, I shall put your ambition to rest. Eunuch Nan, bring him out."

    Eunuch Nan responded to indicate he heard the emperor''s orders and then turned around to leave. Not long after, he returned with a unique long-faced individual with yellow-ish skin and a skinny appearance over.

    The orange prince didn''t show any sign of surprise. He just casually said: "General Manager Liu, you are the general manager of my manor, and you''vee all the way here to manage things here too?"

    "I was called upon by his highness. I came for his highness''s orders."

    The orange prince scoffed indifferently. He then grabbed a filled cup of wine to the side of his arm and tossed it out. He cussed: "Traitor, selling out your master for wealth and status. What a scoundrel!"

    Cao Jian didn''t move. He reached his long arm out, caught the wine-cup and shifted it forward to catch the wine in it. His movements were fluid and his reaction was quick. It was a surprise to learn that he was well-trained. Cao Jian courteously returned the cup to the table, knelt down and said: "Greetings, your majesty. I would like to let you know today that my surname is not Liu. My surname is Cao and my name is Jian, an Yi-rank warrior in his highness''s entourage. I have been by your side for thest three years under his highness''s orders. You have looked after me for three years, so I dare not tell the truth. Please forgive me, your majesty."

    The orange prince turned sideways, not to ept his bow, but to justugh coldly whilst looking at him.

    The emperor bluntly said: "Cao Jian reports back to me all the things you''ve done each month. When you went where, what you wore, what you ate, nothing escapes me. I know everything you''re thinking and doing. I don''t care about you taking bribes, but do you think you can exin today''s matter?"

    "Exin what? Heh, interesting." The orange prince clearly didn''t care. He yed with the white-jade ring on his thumb, chuckled indifferently and continued: "First it was Cha Yuan, and now General Manager Liu. I would think that they aren''t the only ones, right, father?"

    "You knew?"

    "Did you think I''m a moron? Heh, all of the eunuchs, maids, servants, elders, all of them were spies you nted by my side."

    The orange prince looked into the distance as though he was reminiscing something. He continued: "I knew that there were some who were different ever since I was six. The way they looked at me was different. Their looks were cold and resolute. Yeah, just like your guards. It was the look of someone who was putting up with it for the sake ofpleting a mission. I know that there are some people in the pce whom are different. When I grew up, there were some in my manor who were different too. I could tell. They were so easy to see through. The way they breathed was different. They were like a ck dot on a white sheet of paper. It wasn''t hard to figure them out."

    After listening to him silently, the emperor sighed and replied: "You and I are the most alike among my seven sons¡­ I was the same as you when I was young. If you were just willing to use your talent for good and fulfil your role as a prince, the situation wouldn''t have turned out like this today."

    "So now it''s my fault? I can''t believe you have the nerve to be talking about talent."

    The orange prince''s expression changed into a frightening expression as if he was going to explode as he said: "Ever since I was young, I liked reading military books, and learning about strategy. I was willing to help protect our borders so that our people could lead peaceful lives. When I was eight and had my birthday with my eldest brother, he said¡­¡­ he wanted to be a rose in the flower garden. You gave him a piece of white-jade in front of everyone. But when I told you I wanted to be a general and that I wanted to lead the army to protecting our borders, you wore an annoyed look. You scolded me ''you''re so young and yet you''re up to no good''. You pped me hard enough to give me a blood mouth in front of everyone. I still remember it now. That''s your idea of learning? That''s your idea of making use of your talents?!"

    The emperor''s face went stiff: "I¡­ I have my unfortunate reasons."

    The orange prince took in a big breath as if he was only finished now.

    "After that, I identally pushed a maid into a well out of a fit of anger. I immediately hid away afterwards. I was bewildered. If the child of a normal household were to push another child into the water, they''d just save the child and things would be fine. But instead, you beat me and then locked me in the study for days. I only got to eat mantou and salted vegetables during that time. I was forbidden from reading military books and forced to read books authored by sages.

    You then raised me like I was retarded after that incident and I started to hate you more and more. You didn''t let me study military strategies so I secretly stashed them away and hid in my room to read them. You didn''t let me get acquainted with military personnel so I made acquaintances with those from the pugilistic world. I called for the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, and the warriors of the imperial court were killed by me. I was behind it all. And I''ve already done it. What are you going to do about it, father?"

    The emperor wrestled with himself and finally, painfully said: "If you stop now and hand over all the people responsible for killing the Qilin Guards, I promise¡­ I''ll only strip you of your rank. I''ll spare your life."

    "Well thank you very much." The orange prince chuckled aloofly and added: "But that''s not the best oue. I want a better option."

    Without giving the emperor time to speak, he suddenly called out: "Batian! Jiaomeng!!"

    As soon as the orange prince called out, Xiang Batian who was lying in wait below the royal family''s seating area leapt straight up like arge bird. He wasn''t particrly good with qinggong, but his internal strength was decent. He leapt several yards up with his first jump and reached half-way up. He then he used a stone as a stepping-stone to jump the remainder of the distance up to the seating area.

    What was most surprising was "Jiaomeng" on the ring to the side. He had just sent his opponent flying with his palm strike. The young man flew away like a cannonball. The young man was oddly tall and he wasn''t light, yet he got sent flying like a feather with that palm strike.

    He was far from the orange prince yet he amazingly heard him. He spun around and leapt over. His qinggong was top-tier. He leapt over two rings and uponnding in thest ring, he shouted out loud. With a single jump, he jumped over ten yards like a proud dragon,nding right before the emperor.

    The emperor eximed to himself: What profound skill!

    The orange prince took a step back and shouted: "What are you waiting for! Do it!"

    The guards around the emperor rushed forward but Xiang Batian knocked a number of them over with a punch.

    Fu Xiang casually threw a palm strike upon reaching the seating area. A strong gust of wind blew forth from his palm. The power of Fu Xiang Divine Palms shocked the entire venue once again. Just the wind from the palm strike alone destabilised several guards while the ones at the forefront suffered internal injuries from it.

    Fu Xiang just beat Night Fortress''s master, the master of legend, so he was understandably ted. The more he fought the more his spirits rose. His internal strength from decades exploded onto the scene. A single palm strike alone took care of most of the guards.

    He threw another palm strike with his left hand but another force countered his. Fu Xiang discovered that his opponent possessed astounding internal strength so he didn''t dare to take his time. He focused himself and threw another palm strike. Their palms collided but no winner was decided. He found his ground and then looked over to discover that it was Eunuch Nan who was by the emperor''s side.

    Fu Xiangughed and said: "I''m amazed a dick-less guy like you can put up a fight."

    Eunuch Nan eximed: "How arrogant!" But he too knew that Fu Xiang was a strong opponent unlike any other he had faced before. He used a quick palm strike but drew with Fu Xiang''s single palm strike.

    As Fu Xiang exchanged blows with Eunuch Nan, he suddenly felt painful sensation in his back. His body shifted a little and a sharp sword stabbed towards him.

    "Heh, nice timing! I was worried I wouldn''t have a decent opponent!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Fu Xiang used his hand as a de and shed out a de of wind with the edge of his palm. Given his profound internal strength, his sh was no less dangerous than a scimitar. It collided with the neer''s sword but both ended up being forced a step back. Fu Xiang thought to himself with surprise: How old is thisss to have achieved such a profound internal strength level? They say that she is the strongest among all the young females in the pugilistic world and she sure doesn''t disappoint.

    The owner of the sword who stabbed him in his back was the best female fighter present, Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren.

    Shen Yiren wore a cold smile on the corner of her mouth and exuded her murderous intent in all directions.

    "You killed my subordinate andmitted treason. You''ve done both of the things I hate most. Alright, I don''t need any other reason to kill you now."

    Seeing her sword flicker, he got excited. He revealed an odd smile and eximed: "You and your subordinate are in a shady rtionship. You could still add ''vengeance for my husband'' you know?!"

    Shen Yiren didn''t care about his drivel. She swung her sword like a gust of wind. Midway through, there seemed to be a hidden electric current. She struck with her next strike like rainfall before her straight thrust wasplete. She executed three different intents within a single move. Now that was truly frightening.

    Fu Xiang had an ominous feeling. Liu Shan Men''s Six Shaped Art was renowned throughout the pugilistic world, so it was not to be underestimated. Realising that, Fu Xiang struck towards her centreline with a palm strike powerful enough to split Hua Shan, forcing Shen Yiren backwards. He then used a second strike to deal with Eunuch Nan.

    Both sides were on even footing. The orange prince had powerful men while the emperor had numbers.

    The orange prince and the emperor, the two faction leaders faced off. The emperor was much more skilled than the orange prince so there was virtually no need for them topete. The only problem was that the highly-skilled Fu Xiang was between them. Considering the importance of the emperor, he couldn''t risk his own life.

    At the same time, about ten Qilin Guards jumped up. Needless to say, they were actually the ck Winds Thirteen Wings in disguise. Liu Shan Men was outside the city while the emperor''s entourage was guarding the viewing tform and therefore couldn''t make it in time. As for the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitian ordered them not to enter the flying fish pavilion today so only just over ten of them were present. The ck Winds Thirteen Wings joined the fight and the situation changed in the blink of an eye. The emperor was in trouble.

    That was when Xiang Batian suddenly shouted loudly: "Your majesty, beware of sneak attacks. I''ming to save you! All of you make way!"

    He somersaulted over andnded before the orange prince.

    The ck Winds Thirteen Wings were bewildered. The orange prince wasn''t in any danger, so what was Xiang Batian shouting for?

    He was quicker than words could describe. As soon as he arrived at the orange prince''s side he shed with one arm and then he impartially grabbed the orange prince''s cor. Since he was so skilled inparison to the orange prince who wasn''t so skilled, he was in his hands in the blink of an eye.

    The orange prince frowned. He never imagined the situation would change so fast.

    Xiang Batian held the orange prince steady as heughed and said: "You''re right, your majesty. His highness didn''t just arrange for two people to spy on you. There is yet another one, and that is me!"

    Notes:

    *While the idea that the orange prince can identify people based on their breathing sounds ludicrous, it''s what the breathing tells you that matters. In psychology, one of the ways of lie-testing is via detecting changes biologically by measuring things such as heart rate and blood pressure. By being able to control your breathing, you can control your heart rate and blood pressure as well as affecting hormones such as cortisol. So here, he could "sh*t-test" them by asking them a question where under normal circumstances, one would flinch or heart rate would increase. If he didn''t detect that change, he could surmise that they are not your average person/maid/servant etc.

 Volume 3 21 I Know That Youâ€™re Waiting For Me to Act

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 21 I Know That You''re Waiting For Me to Act</h4>

    "All of you stop or else I''ll snap his majesty''s neck!" Xiang Batian''s roar caused all of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings to back off. Even Fu Xiang and co. were forced to stop as the orange prince was the pir of their operation. Without him, the n wouldn''t exist.

    Eunuch Nan and Shen Yiren who were locked in a battle with Fu Xiang also backed down at the same time. The result had been decided so they avoided a battle with Fu Xiang.

    Fu Xiang and Shen Yiren both couldn''t help but breathe a breath of relief. It was clear that neither side won. Fu Xiang is strong and his palm techniques are miraculous, but in terms of internal strength, you had Eunuch Nan who possessed profound internal strength, and in terms of technique, you had Shen Yiren. As such, neither of them could find the win in a short span of time.

    Splitting up in this sort of tight situation could be a huge handicap. The orange prince was captured by Xiang Batian precisely because of said reason.

    The orange prince didn''t panic despite Xiang Batian having grabbed hold of him. He just shook his head with an expressionless look and sighed: "So you were my father''s man too, Xiang Batian. Now that I didn''t think of. You drank, gambled and were lecherous, plus you killed your teacher and ran away. And yet you''re being valued so highly?"

    Xiang Baitian didn''t speak to the orange prince. He just reported to the emperor: "Your highness, I have not let you down."

    The emperor nodded and said with a smile: "Cheng''er, you schemed, gathered men and bribed the Qilin Guards, but you didn''t think that your closest henchman would be working for me, did you?"

    "I see. I see¡­¡­" The orange prince''s expression was absolutely calm. He slowly turned to face Xiang Batian and said: "So that''s why you desperately trying to get rid of Jia Yunfeng? You were acting all greedy and like a scoundrel before me. Aren''t you the scheming one?"

    Xiang Baitian arrogantly replied: "You need not admire me, your majesty. It was all his highness''s ns. I just followed it."

    The orange prince nodded: "I thought it was odd too. Normally you''re not calctive, yet you were very calctive this time. It appears you really did receive orders from my father."

    "Xiang Baitian is a member of your mother''s servants'' family. I promised him that I would resolve the enmity between him and Cold Mountain Temple if he could sessfullyplete this job."

    The Xiang family was the empress''s servants. So even though the orange prince was capable of ordering them, the emperor was even more capable of ordering them.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng''s talent lies in using people well, and not sticking to a fixed form. He would use someone even if they were like Xiang Baitian as long as they couldplete tasks. The emperor took two steps forward slowly. Eunuch Nan and Shen Yiren guarded him from his side in case Fu Xiang or the ck Winds Thirteen Wings acted. The emperor swept his gaze over the ck Winds Thirteen Wings around the orange prince.

    "Cheng''er, the people around you should wake up. Jia Yunfeng is an example. He as a sect leader didn''t guide you well and instead helped you. I spared his life but I can''t let him walk away easily. Xiang Batian crippling his right hand is but just a small punishment. He''s fortunate to still have his head on his shoulders. And do you know how many people these random assassins from the pugilistic world brashly following you have killed? That''s enough now. It''s time to stop this. Now surrender!"

    The emperor sent Xiang Batian an eye-signal. Xiang Batian dragged the orange prince two steps back, back to the centre of the royal family''s seating area, but he got blocked off by Fu Xiang.

    "Get lost, or I''ll snap his neck!"

    "No one shall pass beyond this point." Fu Xiangughed and said: "We from the League of Assassins do the work once we''re paid. We only kill people, we don''t save people. I don''t care if you want to kill, and I won''t be in your way if I kill either. It''s up to who''s faster."

    "Piss off! You don''t care? If you don''t care,e at me if you''re so tough and see what I do to you."

    While Xiang Batian was talking tough, he was actually quite scared. At the end of the day, he was holding onto the emperor''s son. Even if hemitted a heinous crime, it would naturally fall on the emperor to punish him. Even if he were to be killed, there is only one person in the entire world who is qualified to sharpen the emperor''s de. Who was Xiang Batian to be worthy of the emperor''s target of revenge?

    The only reason Xiang Batian pledged his service to the emperor was for money and because the Cold Mountain Temple was pressing his matter to the point where he had no other choice. Not only would killing the orange prince do him no good, his life would be in trouble too, so there was no way he''d kill the orange prince.

    Although Fu Xiang was worried about hurting the orange prince if he attacked, he knew that Xiang Batian wouldn''t hurt the prince, rendering Xiang Batian''s threat useless against him. Therefore, he blocked his path without any hesitation.

    As the two of them were facing off, the orange prince suddenly said: "You can be sure of seeding in your attacks if you only attack ces which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defence if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. With no attack nor defence, there is no need to fight."

    The emperor was aware that the orange prince had a love for war strategy from a young age, but he never expected his nerdy nature toe out now. He was confused by what he had heard.

    The orange prince leisurely said: "Father, I know that you''re waiting for me to act. As soon as I act, you''ll subdue me as fast as possible. But I haven''t acted since the beginning of the imperial martial arts tournament until now, which is why you haven''t restrained me, and instead had Nan Junfei and General Manager Liu try to force my hand."

    The emperor felt something was odd as he listened to him. The orange prince wasn''t saying things somebody that''s been seized would be saying. He sounded he had ns in ce already. He was already in a pinch. Around him were guards while the warriors of the imperial court had sieged the tform from below when they knew of the incident. He had no way of overturning the situation so how was he still so confident?

    The orange princeughed and continued: "Father, you''re waiting for me to act when I''ve already made my move, and you''re toote to realise it."

    The emperor felt what he said was odd, but he lookedposed. Could it be that he still has an ace in the hole? With that, the emperor reyed everything that had taken ce today to try and figure out where a hup urred. Suddenly a bad possibility came to mind. The emperor quickly tried to mould his internal energy. He was fine when he just initiated it, but then he felt his qi be erratic and was unable to use his strength. Panicked, he tried to mould energy once again and he felt a throbbing pain in his dantian as a result of it.

    Everything before his eyes began to spin. His lower abdomen hurt while his arms and legs became jelly.

    "You wicked creature! You!" He could no longer stay on his feet, consequently sitting back down. He looked to his side to find that both Cao Jian and Eunuch Nan were suffering from the same ailment. Everybody had dropped to the ground gasping for air and becamepletely powerless.

    But it wasn''t just them. Other than the few fighting in the rings, the hundreds of the imperial court''s warriors below the tform, guards, officials, rtives of the royal family and even the members of the emperor''s entourage by their side were suffering the same ailment. All of them were suffering from a poison akin to nerve-numbing medicines. Nobody was able to stand. They dropped to the ground, covering up the entire flying fish pavilion. The only ones who were still standing were the few servants and eunuchs who didn''t know martial arts.

    The corner of the orange prince''s mouth crept up into a cold smile. He stood in ce without moving. Xiang Batian who was holding him cussed when he saw the emperor drop: "Son of a bitch! What have you done?!" But he lost his strength in his arms and couldn''t hold the orange prince steady anymore.

    "You dare curse at my mother!?" The orange prince reversed Xiang Batian''s hold. He pulled out a small shiny de from his waist and shed at Xiang Batian''srge rough hands, slicing off four fingers. Xiang Baitian who was in so much pain he could no longer stand and dropped to the ground crying for dear heaven.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Traitor!" The orange prince chuckled in a cold tone: "Throw him off the tform!"

    Two from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings stepped forth to carry out the prince''s orders. They dragged Xiang Batian to the edge of the tform. Xiang Baitian panicked and eximed: "No, no! I don''t want to die! Your majesty, please spare me! I will do anything for you without hesitation! I''ll do anything!"

    The orange prince scoffed and said: "You''ve been thinking about how to capture me since the day you entered my service for merit. I imagine you must''ve imagined this scene countless times in your mind before. But I''ve never imagined killing you."

    Xiang Batianughed along with him when he felt that the orange prince had calmed down: "You are most benevolent, your majesty! I have served you for half-a-year and always done my best. As long as you spare me, I¡­ I will capture that bastard of an emperor for you."

    "My foot! You three-headed snake!"

    Shen Yiren mercilessly added an insult: "If Jia Yunfeng were to find out he lost to a scoundrel like you, I think he''d wake up in the middle of his sleep. He''d be angered to death!"

    "He''s already crippled, what difference does it make if he''s dead or not?" Xiang Batian argued and then added: "I would do anything for his majesty whether it be climbing a mountain of des or crossing a sea of fire. I''ll kill you lot like stray dogs! Vice-captain Shen, you best stop being stubborn. Ask for his majesty''s grace. Learn from me. It''s your fortune to be able to serve his majesty."

    The orange princeughed and said: "How self-presumptuous. I never visualised the scene of killing you because your life is worth less than an ant''s life to me. But since you insulted my mother and my father, I can''t forgive you. Throw him off!"

    The two ck Winds Thirteen Wings members were very experienced. One of them hit Xiang Batian''s spine with his palm strike, snapping it into three whilst the other dislocated his shoulders so that he couldn''t move his arms. They then found a position and kicked him off, ensuring that hended neck-first into the ground. The tform was high as it was, plus Xiang Baitian''s spine was snapped so he dropped down to the ground without making a sound, snapping his joints and splitting his nerves. Naturally, he died on the spot.

    The orange prince''s mood wasn''t affected at all like he really was killing an ant. It was as if Xiang Batian''s death had nothing to do with him.

    The emperor had never recognised the severity of the prophecy more than now. Even he himself wouldn''t have killed a bastard like Xiang Batian as if he was just another ant passing by. Seeing the orange prince''s cold demeanour when he killed Xiang Baitian froze the emperor''s heart.

    The emperor just felt they were naughty kids when they were young. And when they came of age, the emperor persuaded himself that they were just in their rebellious stage of youth.

    But the emperor couldn''t pretend he didn''t witness the result of his decisions now. The six dragons shall seal the nation prophecy was real and so was the orange prince''s revolt.

    The chance of the orange prince seeding existed convincingly since the emperor had never been in such a pinch during his entire rule up until now.

    The orange prince leisurely walked up to his father and indifferently demanded: "Father, hand over the imperial jade seal."

    The young dragon that hade of age was now baring his fangs at him.

    "And then submissively¡­ call me Master Cheng!!"

    In that moment, the only thing the emperor wanted to say was "Mother. Fucker."

 Volume 3 22 There Will Only Be Emperor Cheng Kong

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 22 There Will Only Be Emperor Cheng Kong</h4>

    The emperor couldn''t muster up any strength. He resentfully asked: "When¡­ when did you poison us?"

    "It''s not a poison. It''s Heavenly Cloud Pce''s secretly formted numbing drug, Thorn-Tears. Didn''t Xiang Batian inform you? But I can see why you''re puzzled. He must''ve told you I had Long Zaitian slip the drug into the kerosene, right?" The orange prince was in a great mood, so great that he was almost about to break out into a song. His long-time dream was right in front of his eyes. He exined: "How could I have told him the truth when I knew that he was a rat? Long Zaitian put the drug in all of the drinks in the flying fish pavilion, so you''ve all been drugged by it. Thorn-Tears don''t affect those who don''t know martial arts. But if you train internal arts, you''ll suffer iparable pain."

    "Long Zaitian¡­ Long Zaitian!"ong Zaitian and Tang Ye were currently far away on a ring. They had already stopped fighting, since they clearly knew something had happened. But since the emperor had been detained, they didn''t dare to rush over. Long Zaitian had his anxiety written all over his face. His heart was beating like it was going to explode when he heard his name.

    "Father, you have lost miserably today. Now hand over the imperial jade seal." The orange princeughed with absolute satisfaction: "If you don''t do as I say, I''m afraid even I can''t control my men."

    Before he could finish, a daring member of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings had already silently snuck over the same way he did when approaching Xiang Batian before. It was just that he wore an odd smile like he was extremely ecstatic.

    The leader of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings was the lean and tall guy. He couldn''t hide the satisfied feeling he wore between his eyebrows: "Don''t go chickening out now and begging for mercy when you''ve been at the top ordering people around until now. I never thought there''de a day when you''d be in my hands." He was one of the contestants before. He wasn''t armed with a sabre, but he was grinding his hands against each other like they were knives.

    Fu Xiang coldly asked: "Chen Yun, why are you so audacious when the current reigning emperor is here?"

    "He is indeed the current reigning emperor. But in a moment, he''ll be¡­ hehe."

    "You heard him, father." The orange prince sported a cold look and added: "All of them are desperate people. If you don''t hand over the imperial jade seal, I''m afraid that not even I could spare you."

    While the emperor was detained, he still smiled proudly and without fear eximed: "Li Chengzhi, do you still remember what your surname is? Do you still remember the surname of the ruler of our dynasty?!"

    The emperor didn''t wait for the orange prince''s response. He firmly eximed: "Is there anyone in our Li family that is a weakling who''s afraid of death?! My life is right here. If you really want tomit treason and have no consideration for me, thene and take it!"

    What he said was resolute. There were no other ways this could go now. The orange prince''s face turned white as a sheet as he eximed: "Since you''re going to be so stubborn¡­ hmph. Don''t me me then¡­ I will have you call me Master Cheng! Men!"

    "Dream on!" Eunuch Nan shouted and then grabbed the emperor''s arm, "Your highness! Come with me!"

    Eunuch Nan waved his hand as he spoke which caused a red smoke toe out from his sleeve. However, since they were unsure if the faint red smoke was poisonous or not, no one dared to approach them.

    They suddenly heard a clicking sound. The orange prince realised what it was and ordered: "The throne has a mechanism on it! Chase them!"

    Fu Xiang froze up. He never expected Eunuch Nan to still have the energy to move around after being poisoned. He threw two flustered palm strikes which forcefully collected the faint-red smoke into one spot. However, by the time the smoke settled, the two of them had disappeared from sight. The throne now sat there alone without any visible traces.

    The orange prince asked: "What''s this smoke? Is it harmful?"

    Fu Xiangughed and said: "Heh, it''s just some trick from that dick-less guy. It''s not poison. He just crushed up something red into powder and then used his saved up internal energy to turn it into a mist."

    "What red thing?"

    Fu Xiang shrugged hopelessly and replied: "Tomatoes."

    "Tomatoes?" The orange prince looked at the empty seat. He nearly achieved his ambition, yet was stopped by a tomato. He was honestly mad. "I always said that the western regions don''t have anything worth our time and money. And look, a national matter went to sh*t because of a damned tomato!"

    Fu Xiang said: "Your majesty, the urgent matter at hand is to subdue all forces in the pce that could potentially put up a resistance and find the imperial jade seal. Once you have the imperial jade seal, we can write up an authentic edict. As long as it has been sealed with the imperial jade seal, we will be able to make our announcements to the world."

    "You''re right. The urgent matter at hand is to find the imperial jade seal."

    The orange prince turned around and looked at the rtives of the royal family members and major ministers who all wore pale expressions. They knew martial arts and were poisoned by Thorn-Tears so they were all immobilised, while those who didn''t know martial arts couldn''t beat Fu Xiang or the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, so they didn''t provoke the orange prince.

    The orange prince majestically said: "I won''t waste my time with unnecessary drivel. You all should know what to do. I shall ascend the throne. There may be those among you who don''t ept it, but not to worry. Lots of people didn''t ept my father seeding the throne back then either, but the empress dowager killed them all off for him. I don''t have her help, so I''ll just have to kill them myself."

    All of the dukes, minsters and whatnot were now basically lying on a chopping-board helplessly. The orange prince was just making an illustration, but you couldn''t discredit the probability of the sess of his n. And by the looks of things, his chances were getting bigger and bigger.

    A minister dressed in a civil official''s robe angrily said: "Your majesty, you are the empress''s son, the eldest son of our empress, with an iparably noble blood-lineage. You were crowned imperial prince before you came of age, and yet you are still dissatisfied? Plotting to overthrow a higher power, detaining a ruler, and trying to force the abdication of the throne, your rule would not be genuine. The people now and in future will only see you as a traitorous tyrant."

    The leader of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, Chen Yun chuckled coldly: "Old man, you talk too much. Do you think you''re qualified to be criticising my prince?" He formed an eagle w with his hand. If he just grabbed him, he would kill him instantly.

    "Scum! I''m not scared of you! Kill me if you have what it takes!"

    "Alright, old man. You''re not afraid, huh?!"

    "Stop!" The orange prince had Chen Yun who was about to kill him stop. The orange prince took a few steps forward, looked at the minster who spoke out, nodded and said: "So it was you, Grand Tutor Zhao."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Grant Tutor Zhao had taught him literacy in the past. The orange prince loved learning about war tactics, but the emperor didn''t allow him to learn about them. It was Grand Tutor Zhao who always risked punishment to find a few military books to teach him.

    "You treated me very well back then, so I shall not take what you said before to heart. As for the contents of what you said¡­¡­"

    The orange prince chuckled and indifferently said: "If I''m not a tyrant, people would just see me as a good-for-nothing piece of trash anyway. So why not be a terrifying tyrant that the people shall always remember?"

    Seeing how his former pupil turned out, Grand Tutor Zhao shook his head and shed tears.

    The orange prince sighed and looked up at the snowy sky. He only felt that the cold winds were a unique characteristic just like the decisive battle with his father today.

    "You and I are the most alike. When I was young, I had the same personality as you."

    If only¡­ if only you said that to me when I was young. But your only ending now is that of a loser and calling me Master Cheng.

    The orange prince then steeled himself and looked at Shen Yiren who was seated to one side.

    "Shen Yiren, my father dotes on you more than us princes. Tell me where he went, or else I''ll have to make you suffer physical pain."

    "What a joke. His highness'' throne having mechanism is a secret of the royal family. My surname isn''t ''Li'', how am I supposed to know?"

    Shen Yiren was d that the emperor was able to escape, so her nonchnt attitude returned to her.

    "Your majesty, do you actually think that you will be able to take over the Forbidden City and obtain the imperial jade seal with these few helpers you found from the pugilistic world?"

    "Why not? The leaders of the four imperial guard units are here and all of them have been poisoned by Thorn-Tears. The lives of the leader of the three offices is in my hands too. What can you people do?"

    Shen Yiren seemingly refused to speak to him, since she viewed him as a retard.

    "Li Chengzhi, you should change your name to Li Ruozhi. Even though the leaders of the imperial guard units may be here, that doesn''t mean that you now run the Forbidden City. At best, you''re just a thug who detained a hostage, but the imperial guards will realise that something is wrong soon enough.

    His highness has escaped danger, while the imperial pce is massive. Do you think you could find him if you had one day? If you can''t find him within half-an-hour, his highness will use his exclusive summoning method to summon either the seven white champion princes or the ultimate three toe and assist. Do you think these stinky-fish-looking-washed-up turds can protect you?"

    The orange prince had noeback causing Fu Xiang to burst out inughter.

    "Vice-captain Shen, you sure like to make theories out of strategies merely on paper, huh? Alright, let me tell you this, we already had ns in ce to search the imperial city, so you don''t need to worry about it. As for the seven white champion princes and the ultimate three, they certainly are a concern. However, being the cautious person that I am, I have already looked into their whereabouts and ns. It would take them an entire night to rush here if they were lucky, so they wouldn''t make it in time for this event. Moreover, even if one of them does arrive¡­¡­"

    Fu Xiang raised his palm up and mmed it down. He created a deeply-etched palm mark on the ground without even touching it. Shen Yiren knew that the ground in the seating area here was the same material used for the rings, premium phoebe. Even she couldn''t create a dent that deep if she were to make direct contact with the ground, yet Fu Xiang could create so much damage without even touching the ground, thus disying the power behind Fu Xiang''s palm strikes.

    Shen Yiren was well aware that Fu Xiang was highly skilled, but she never imagined it be to this incredible degree.

    Fu Xiang smiled and said: "Heh, when I fought with you and Nan Junfei, I wasn''t at full power since I just fought a strong opponent. But I''ve now recovered seventy-percent of my power. This isn''t how this palm style is meant to be. I am just a novice making a fool of himself. How shameful."

    Shen Yiren was shook by what she heard: Th-¡­ this is only seventy-percent of his power? He is so skilled, that¡­ that he may not be intimidated by the ultimate three.

    The orange prince couldn''t help himself from smiling indifferently when he saw Shen Yiren''s reaction.

    He then suddenly heard from the people examining the throne: "Your majesty, we have found the mechanism."

    The orange prince immediatelymanded: "Two of you go and call our secret-ops team. You must capture them. Once I get my hands on the imperial jade seal, I shall be emperor."

    "Emperor Yuan Sheng is no more from today."

    The orange prince wore a cold look, stretched his arm out like he was a ruler passing down a decree and announced: "There will only be Emperor Cheng Kong!"

    Notes:

    *Shen Yiren''s suggested name "Li Ruozhi" means "Retard Li". I couldn''t capture it since it''s just a rhyme in Chinese, and Chengzhi and Ruozhi mean two vastly different things, so it''s a little hard to go from Chengzhi which can be interpreted as "the bright Li" to "retard Li" while ensuring you understand where the conceptes from. It would sound autistic for SYR to have to exin it to him and for the orange prince to not get the insult without an exnation so I didn''t incorporate it into the original text.

 Volume 3 23 There Is No Hole Which Night Rain That Comes With The Turbulence Does Not Enter

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 23 There Is No Hole Which Night Rain That Comes With The Turbulence Does Not Enter</h4>

    Basically all of the warriors in the flying fish pavilion were weak like jelly right now, with only thirty-two of the participants being fine.

    Other than Ming Feizhen, Ye Luo, and Song Ou who were knocked out, all the other contestants were tied up to keep them restrained on the rings.iu Shan Men had to surrender since their leaders had been captured, while the Qilin Guards had been dragged into the mess by Long Zaitian, and the emperor''s security detail''s leaders had fallen into the orange prince''s hands too, forcing them to drop their weapons and stop resisting.

    As for the wandering warriors, they weren''t very loyal to the imperial court to begin with. Plus, they felt that the father-and-son fight was a family affair. It made no difference to them who the emperor was. Putting their life on their line was stupid to them. So the thirty-two who weren''t poisoned couldn''t escape the fate of detainment either.

    Everybody red at Long Zaitian. If it were not for his graceful act, they wouldn''t be in their current predicament.ong Zaitian wore an "I don''t care" expression and went to the orange prince to get his reward.

    "Your majesty, I have not let you down. I havepleted the mission you trusted me with."

    With the orange prince''s ambition soon toe to fruition, he extended his hand out and said: "Sit! You were a big help this time, Minister Long. I told you that there would be nothing to worry about with your assistance. Hahahaha."ong Zaitianughed along with him, but his eyes were fixated on Shen Yiren''s white face, her voluptuous lines, her long-white legs¡­.. Basically he looked at every nook and cranny he could, okay?

    The orange prince noticed where Long Zaitian was looking but he didn''t bust him. Heughed and said: "Here, Minister Long, a toast to you."ong Zaitian asked with surprise: "Oh? Thorn-Tears wine?"

    The orange prince almost spat as heughed: "Hahaha, good one, Minister Long."

    The two of them clinked their cups and finished them.

    The orange prince felt relieved being able to release everything he had pent-up all at once. He looked at Shen Yiren: "This woman doesn''t know a thing about romance. My fourth brother once pursued her for many years and is still unsessful. Yet she chose Song Ou or whatever his name was. Why are you so infatuated with her, Minister Long? You leave me truly puzzled."ong Zaitian scratched his chest like his heart was bing impatient: "You are a dragon, your majesty, and you will soon be the emperor, so it is understandable that you do not fathom the crude thoughts we ordinary people have. I fell for this Shen girl at first sight many years ago. But it is as you said, your majesty, first it was the green prince, his majesty, and then Song Ou getting in my way. I hope that you can help me make my wish a reality, your majesty."

    Shen Yiren paid no attention to their conversation. She was busying up with an escape n and a way to counterattack.

    They haven''tpletely lost yet.

    The power of Thorn-Tears was strong, but they still had a chance.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But as Shen Yiren moved around silently, she suddenly noticed an unbelievable scene. Many imperial guards were fine since they didn''t practice any internal arts, and were therefore free from the pain of thorn-tears. But they obeyed the orange prince. They took the warriors who were incapacitated, brought them together and tossed them onto the rings.

    It wasn''t odd for them to obey the orange prince since he was a prince, but then it didn''t make sense when she thought about it properly. The imperial guards usually take direct orders from their captain and the chance of them meeting a prince is fairly small. Of course, there was the off-chance that the orange prince was forcing these imperial guards to work for him. However, the orange prince hadn''t even gone down to the rings. The chance of them taking autonomous action was minute. What if¡­ these imperial guards were the orange prince''s men?

    More urately, what if the orange prince was theirmander?

    Shen Yiren suddenly realised something.

    The orange prince''s forces weren''t just the ck Winds Thirteen Wings and the man called "Jiao Meng". He still had a lot of power he had yet to show.

    Shen Yiren pieced together all the events that took ce today, ran over them in her mind again and realised that there were lots of things that were unnatural.

    The orange prince knew the emperor wasing after him. He even knew that Xiang Batian was a spy¡­¡­ That''s just too strange. The orange prince doesn''t reside in the pce, so how¡­¡­

    That led Shen Yiren to a conclusion she was certain of.

    There''s a traitor!

    There must be a traitor!

    It''s not Long Zaitian but someone with more influence within the imperial pce. The orange prince must''ve ced a spy by the emperor''s side.

    A frightening thought suddenly surfaced in Shen Yiren''s mind. She thought of one person who is most likely to be the traitor, but at the same time, she hoped that it wasn''t him.

    If the traitor who she was thinking it was, then maybe everything she does will be for naught.

    When the emperor and Eunuch Nan exited the secret path, it was already veryte.

    The snowfall made the dark sky more apparent, and now it really had merged with the darkness. There wasn''t a star to be seen in sight.

    The path from the throne leads straight down underground. There wasn''t just one path dug out as it was intended for escaping dangerous situations. The multiple paths would serve to mislead and confuse pursuers. The flying fish pavilion is situated inside the imperial city. The emperor was now inside the Forbidden City so he had gone quite some distance.

    The emperor had lost all of his internal strength, making it hard for him to walk. He was only able to make it through the secret path with Eunuch Nan''s support.

    The emperor thanked him: "Thank you, brother Junfei. I don''t know how that unfilial son would''ve humiliated me otherwise!"

    Eunuch Nan''s original name is Nan Junfei. He came from the pugilistic world and met the emperor many times in the past. Afterwards, he pledged his services to the imperial court. The emperor recognised him so he promoted him throughout his time. Nan Junfei was a famous figure in the martial world in the past. He possessed astonishing skills. The emperor had always refused to treat him as a servant. When there was no one around, he would follow the practices of the martial world and refer to him as "Brother Junfei".

    Flustered, Eunuch Nan replied: "You should not call me that, your highness. I would be beheaded for that."

    After checking to see that there was nobody around, he said: "Your highness, his majesty has upied the flying fish pavilion now. I do not know what other tricks he has up his sleeve. So please advise me on what to do from here on out, your highness."

    The emperor''s anger and resentment resurfaced at the mention of the orange prince. That naughty kid dared to plot against me, and he was even sessful. The emperor was always informed of the orange prince''s ns and actions, hence thinking he was always impregnable, and even gave him countless chances to admit his wrongs. But based off the current circumstance, it looks like he underestimated the orange prince.

    Not only was his n much moreplete then he imagined, his men were also skilled. The one that disguised himself as a Qilin Guard, "Meng Jiao" something or rather was honestly amazing.

    The emperor regathered himself and replied: "The important task at hand is to regain our strength. As long as I have my skilled-fighters beside me, that unfilial son won''t be able to pull any funny tricks. Hmph!"

    The emperor scoffed indifferently and said: "At the end of the day, he only has about ten men. They couldn''t have snuck into the pce without the imperial martial arts tournament, which goes to show that they have no chance against my tens of thousands of imperial guards. Once I eliminate this poison from my body, the imperial guards alone will be enough to apprehend him."

    Eunuch Nan asked: "So shall we first make contact with the imperial guards?"

    The emperor nodded: "We also have to look out for an opportunity to call for backup. The ultimate three all have missions of their own and are too far away, However, Hu Po is in the capital."

    The emperor took out an obsidian pellet from his shirt. What he took out was called a dragon''s apricot. It''s an object royal family members can use to call their guards. This particr pellet was used to call upon Hu Po and his men for the most urgent situations.

    Eunuch Nan and the emperor exchanged nces: "Once we release this, we need to immediately move. Brother Junfei, my pace is slow, so I''ll need to rely on you."

    Thorn-tears locks one''s meridians, so you will feel indescribably limp and numb when you try to mould qi, as well as feeling like jelly all over. Eunuch Nan was aware of this so he rxed his body and didn''t use his strength. Surprisingly, he was able to walk as per usual. The emperor tried himself but he found no sess.

    Eunuch Nan nodded to indicate he understood.

    The emperor thought to himself: Cheng''er, perhaps I wronged you in many ways in the past, but that does not excuse what you have done today. I hope you look after yourself¡­¡­

    A yellow firework appeared in the sky not long after, creating a unique streak in the sky as it melded in with the snow.

    "Let''s go, Brother Junfei."

    "Your highness, I am strong, so how about I carry you?"

    "Haha, this thorn-tears drug is very strong. I''m amazed you can resist it. You were called "Southern skies rainy night" back then, and indeed, your qinggong and internal strength live up to the reputation."

    Nan Junfei, Yu Ye,ughed: "Thank you for your praise, your highness, I dare not im it for myself."

    Notes:

    *I''m changing "Emperor''s Entourage" > "Emperor''s Security Detail" if you don''t mind. I believe it is a better choice of words

    **Yu Ye = Night Rain (Go back to the things MFZ said during his fight with Fu Xiang)

 Volume 3 24 The Benevolent Emperor and The Never-Ending Treacherous Schemes

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 24 The Benevolent Emperor and The Never-Ending Treacherous Schemes</h4>

    An odd group of imperial guards appeared by the northern gate of the Forbidden City. They were dressed in all ck. They didn''t resemble orthodox troops at all. To the contrary, they looked like a group of wanderers from the pugilistic world.

    The group numbered around two-hundred. Judging from the structure of their formation, it appears they were separated into ten-man squads, therefore a total of twenty small squads.

    They were the orange prince''s private military. By the looks of things, they were already lying in wait within the pce long ago. Their appearance was far too sudden, not to mention their odd attire. Even those from inside and outside of the imperial city as well as those behind the thick pce walls of the pce had no idea how arge group like that entered. But here they were inside.

    They had received orders to chase down the emperor''s whereabouts.

    Initially, they weren''t sure where the emperor was hiding. However, the help-signal the emperor sent into the sky gave them direction not long after theymenced their search.

    And thus, two-hundred men who were like blood-thirsty wolves split up into twenty teams, spreading their web out as theymenced their search. In case they ran into imperial guards who would stop them to question them, they all had a token on them that would allow them free-passage without limits within the imperial city grounds.

    The private military group cautiously searched every suspicious clue, every path and every location they deemed suspicious.

    One of the small teams was most proficient.

    The leader of that small team, who was also the leader of the entire group, was a man who looked tall and strong. He had a strong back and was muscr like his frame was made from iron. With one nce, you could see that he possessed the appearance of a formidable general on the battlefield.

    Few people knew his name, since even he himself rarely used it to the point he almost forgot it. Those who know him these days refer to him as Zhong Yi.

    Zhong Yi of Mystery.

    He was in charge of finding the emperor for this revolt.

    Half-an-hour had passed since the operation in the flying fish pavilion began. No matter where the emperor showed up now, it could have a huge effect on the oue of the overall operation, so he had to search with all his effort.

    As they sped through the imperial city, they suddenly heard someone shout: "Stop!"

    Zhong Yi and the rest of the group stood still. They turned around to see a patrol unitprised of about twenty imperial guards. The imperial martial arts tournament was held at the flying fish pavilion today while they were on patrol and didn''t get to watch it, so they felt unlucky and therefore tried to hide their anger. They never thought they''d run into this group of nobodies so they were eager to vent.

    "Who are you people? How dare you run around in the imperial city grounds?" The leader of the imperial guards noticed that they had weapons on their back and eximed: "Oh my, you even brought weapons? Bringing weapons into the imperial city without permission¡­ how many heads do you have?!"

    Zhong Yi didn''t want to cause extra problems for himself so he followed the rules and showed the token: "We are from the orange prince''s manor and are here on orders to pursue a criminal."

    "Oh? The orange prince''s manor?" The leader seemed to somewhat fear the orange prince''s name so he revealed an odd look and continued: "Even so, you can''t just run around in the imperial city. Don''t do that next time."

    Zhong Yi saluted them the way you would in the pugilistic world with a hand sped over a fist:

    "Thank you sir."

    The leader of the imperial guards gave him a re and said: "Go on."

    Zhong Yi ran past the group of imperial guards. Zhong Yi suddenly raised an eyebrow when he passed by the group of imperial guards. He turned his head around to look at one of the men among them. While he was in a disguise, there was no mistaking it was him.

    Zhong Yi suddenly spun around and shouted: "Wait." He emitted his formidable qi with his shout, creating an echo in the empty pce walls, and the result was apparent.

    The leader of the imperial guards stood in ce. Ayer of cold sweat formed on his forehead as he asked with struggled to speak: "What is it?"

    Zhong Yi ignored himpletely. He just looked at one particr person. He quickly spotted two people who wore clothes that didn''t fit them and looked around forty or fifty. It was him. He stood out from the group. Hisrade gave him a signal.

    He found their main target!

    n number two. Start.

    Zhong Yi tried his best to supress his excitement and emotions. He chuckled apathetically and said: "Hiding a tree in a forest. How smart of you toe up with a n like this, using a passive strategy to erase suspicion. Unfortunately for you, you can''t hide from my eyes."

    One of them looked very handsome. He had the eyebrows of a middle-aged man and revealed his majestic aura. He was confident he was well-hidden, but he still got discovered. He couldn''t stop himself from sweating. Where did it go wrong?

    But the middle-aged man replied calmly nheless: "Do you know who I am? You dare apprehend me?"

    Zhong Yi revealed a cold smile: "I''ve spent ages searching for you. You think I don''t know who you are? Your highness¡­ you sure made things hard for me."

    The emperor felt dismayed. He himself was unsure where he slipped up. His perfect n had crumbled.

    This particr imperial guard unit really did just coincidentally pass by, and got a fright by the emperor and Eunuch Nan who were hiding in the flower garden. They almost passed out after listening to the emperor''s exnation. They emperor gave them a divine mission, and that was to get the two of them to their destination.

    After only taking a few steps, they realised that there were people searching for them in the pce. The emperor consequently came up with a n, and switched his role, hiding his identity as the master of the pce and disguising himself as a guard to investigate the private military of unknown origins. They forgot to hide themselves, but never expected to be discovered with just one nce.

    The emperor stopped caring and shouted: "Men, arrest these rebels! I shall reward you handsomely."

    Seeing the savage smile the group of people dressed in ck wore, the imperial guards couldn''t be any clearer as to who they were. They drew their weapons from their waist. They were more skilled than the imperial guards, but they had two-times the number of men. In an instant, they were locked in battle with each other.

    At the same time, the emperor and Eunuch Nan ran off.

    Zhong Yi shouted: "Where do you think you''re going?!" He pulled out tworge sabres from his back, revealing two shes from the metal des. He swung his de and a head flew over to the emperor and Eunuch Nan''s feet. The eyes on the head were open.

    The emperor, shocked, thought to himself: How does he have such domineering sabre skills?!

    Zhong Yi shouted: "Move men, let me at them!" His des transformed into ferocious tigers, making it appear as though he wielded two tigers. The eighteen imperial guards were basically half-dead by the time they saw the des.

    The emperor felt apologetic to them. These are the guards of the pce. Good men you all are!

    "Scum, how dare thou!"

    The emperor picked up a long sabre from the ground and shed at him withplete disregard for his own safety. Without even looking, Zhong Yi whipped his leg behind him and gave the emperor a heavy kick to the chest. The emperor currently didn''t have his internal energy to protect him and couldn''t avoid the kick in its entirety, so the kick sent him flying.

    Zhong Yi savagely said: "You don''t need to be in such a rush to die. I''ll have no problem catching you after I''m done killing these imperial noob guards!"

    Eunuch Nan helped the emperor up. In a shaky voice he said: "Your highness, you must look after yourself, the bigger picture is most important!" He then dragged the emperor away. The emperor was hurting for the guards. My good men, my guards were killed by such scoundrels. I can''t help but shed tears for you.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Eunuch Nan led the emperor away as fast as he good, creating wind below their feet, but he didn''t care about any limiting qi at his dantian. He couldn''t ask for anything more than to grow a pair of wings and fly right now. They ran randomly through the pce. When they looked up, they saw a sign indicating it was theundry room. Who knows where the workers there had gone to.

    Just as the emperor was about to continue running forwards, Eunuch Nan suddenly pulled the emperor back and softly said: "Your highness, hide in the water tank!"

    Upon closer inspection, they found that there were over a dozen of water tanks in theundry-room''s courtyard. There was no stored water in them and could fit two of them. Without saying much and ignoring taboos, the emperor immediately pulled Eunuch Nan into a water tank with him.

    Not long after, the group that killed the entire small imperial guard unit had caught up.

    Zhong Yi immediately focused his attention on a water tank that showed signs of being moved, but he didn''t say anything. He pretended to search theundry room for a while. The emperor didn''t dare to breathe out in the water tank. Zhong Yi muttered: "They''re not here. This is a filthy ce in the pce. That bastard is the current emperor after all. He wouldn''t lower himself to hiding here."

    The emperor was furious with what he heard, but he couldn''t do anything about it.

    After searching around for a while in the courtyard area, he shouted: "Let''s go! Let''s go over there!" And then they ran into the distance.

    After a long while, the emperor finally poked his head out to check outside, and indeed, nobody was there.

    The emperor let out a breath of relief. But since they were searching for him outside, he still couldn''t leave. And so he had no choice but to return back to sitting in the water tank. Thinking back on the martial arts disyed by the private military group leader, the emperor couldn''t help but be amazed at his skills. Many on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings wouldn''t be a match for him.

    After contemting their situation, he deemed it to be glum. The path ahead was unclear. The emperor was sort of out of it as he murmured: "Where do we go now?"

    Seeing the dilemma the emperor was in, Eunuch Nan saw it as an opportunity to speak: "Your highness, I have a n. May I speak?"

    The emperor was aware he was knowledgeable and a veteran of the pugilistic world so he excitedly asked: "What kind advice might you have for me, Brother Junfei?"

    "This n is actually very idiotic, and is based on being pragmatic." Eunuch Nan cautiously continued: "We are too far from the pce door. I am afraid that neither of us is able to fight off pursuers in our state."

    "You''re right."

    "As such, I would boldly like to ask you to go to your study."

    "My study?" The emperor gave a confused frown: "What purpose are we going to my study for?"

    Eunuch Nan lowered his head and courteously said: "To grab the imperial jade seal."

    "Nan Junfei! What is the meaning of this? The orange prince wants to steal the imperial jade seal and you want me to take it out? Isn''t that the equivalent of presenting it to him?"

    "Please calm down, your highness and listen to my exnation." Seeing how angry the emperor was, Eunuch Nan waited for a while. Once he saw that the emperor was opening up to listen to his exnation, he continued: "His majesty''s main goal is to obtain the imperial jade seal. Once he obtains it, he may not even need to capture you, and could directly use it tomit treason. He does not know where the imperial jade seal currently is. While your study isrge, finding it is but just a matter of time. In my opinion, the most urgent matter at present is for you to move the imperial jade seal''s location. We cannot leave it in the study anymore."

    "Your highness, the men died terribly! Please take the risk for the men that gave up their lives if not for yourself!"

    Seeing as Eunuch Nan was saying all this out of loyalty, he didn''t dare tosh out at him again and his anger slowly dissipated. He pondered the suggestion for a moment and then nodded and replied: "What you said makes sense. If Cheng''er gets his hands on the imperial jade seal, then the situation will be even worse. Let''s go to my study as per your suggestion."

 Volume 3 25 Su Xiao and Big Brother Ming

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 25 Su Xiao and Big Brother Ming</h4>

    Snow filled the skies like flower petals. A slender silhouette struggled along the roads of the imperial pce outside of the flying fish pavilion at the same time the orange prince and the emperor began their never-before-seen big bitch-fight.

    "Big Brother Ming¡­ hang in there."

    Su Xiao was carrying Ming Feizhen who weighed much more than him. His kitten-like body looked like it was going to be crushed under his weight at any moment, yet he walked on with determination, continuing to put one foot in front of the other through the snow as he headed towards the imperial medical office.

    Su Xiao kept mumbling: "Let''s go and see the doctor, the best doctor¡­ You''ll be alright."

    Su Xiao wasn''t aware of what was happening on the imperial tform where the emperor originally was, nor did he care. He was just an ordinary participant in the imperial martial arts tournament. If he won, great, if he lost, so be it. Su Xiao didn''t mind winning or losing too much. But he never expected Ming Feizhen to lose, and to lose so tragically.

    Su Xiao saw Ming Feizhen get sent flying with a palm strike with his own eyes. That person''s strength was like that of a titan. A single palm strike sent someone as tall as Ming Feizhen flying in a straight line through the air and crashing into the pce wall like a cannonball.

    Ming Feizhen''s body was curled up like a prawn appearing as though all his joints were broken.

    Su Xiao''s heart almost stopped beating. When he saw the scene, he ignored everything, tossed the imperial martial arts tournament into the back of his mind and brought Ming Feizhen out of the flying fish pavilion.

    Su Xiao was sniffling with his handsome white nose.

    "I¡­ I''m not crying. There''s nothing to cry about. They were lying. I don''t believe them."

    Su Xiao''s Big Brother Ming was now unable to stand up after being wounded with that heavy palm strike. ording to the palm style experts at the venue''s observations, they remarked that the power of his palm strikes were ferocious, and his skills were also a rare-find and miraculous. Ming Feizhen got struck in seventeen ces and his meridians got hit as well. Plus, he took a hit to the chest. He wasn''t going to make it past tonight even if he was fortunate.

    It''s not that Su Xiao never asked anyone, but the people he asked all gave the same response. All ten of the ten people he asked said that there was no saving him.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao said to himself: "That means that all ten of them were wrong!" He carried Ming Feizhen in his arms and trudged to the imperial medical office with great difficulty.

    It was fortunate that Su Xiao had practiced martial arts from a young age so he possessed a strong physique, otherwise someone as tall as Ming Feizhen would''ve crushed him. But even so, he was fatigued and covered in sweat nheless. Besides the smell of herbs and the sort being more prominent there, the imperial medical office was also different to all the other ces in the pce. Having worked in the imperial city recently, Su Xiao was somewhat familiar with some of the rules.

    Su Xiao looked into the courtyard and shouted: "May I ask if there is anyone there? I have an injured person with me! I have an injured person with me!"

    After a while of shouting, he saw the door creak open. An elder looking around sixty stepped out from inside. He was skinny, had a small nose, small eyes and was rtivelyical-looking. He had an old medical book in his hand. He wore Western sses and looked like an educated elderly.

    He scanned Su Xiao for a long time before finally saying: "What are you shouting for? What are you bringing a patient here to me for? This ce is the medicine warehouse. The doctors at the imperial medical office are the ones in charge of treating patients. Where are you fromss? I was just about to enter the herb garden to harvest this year''s new ripe shiny snow-whites. It bes usable upon meeting with snow. I cannot bete."

    "I-Is this not the imperial medical office?" Su Xiao was more anxious than he already was now. He had walked for so long, so how could this ce not be the imperial medical office? Big Brother Ming won''tst. Noticing that the elder was holding what looked like a medical book as well as having heard him mention going to the herb garden to get herbs, and the mention of high-grade herbs, he came to a conclusion. If he doesn''t understand medicine, how could he collect herbs?

    And so Su Xiao asked with a ray of hope: "May I ask who you are¡­?"

    The elder closed the door behind him and headed to the herb garden. Only after taking a few steps did he answer: "My surname is Dai, I am an academician at the imperial medical office, and work part-time as an envoy for the medicine warehouse¡­¡­ You can call me Imperial Doctor Dai. What''s the matter? Do you have a problem?"

    I knew he was a doctor! Su Xiao wore his joy on his face: "Yes, yes, yes. Imperial Doctor Dai, my brother has been injured. Please take a look at him."

    Imperial Doctor Dai stopped in his tracks but kept silent. He looked at Su Xiao and then at Ming Feizhen. He sighed: "Sigh, you''re still young and yet you''re babbling nonsense. What a pity that an unparalleled beauty''s brain is dysfunctional."

    Once he was done speaking, he continued walking toward the herb garden.

    Su Xiao chased after him like an ant that stepped onto a hot pot and asked: "Wh-What did you say? What is a pity?"

    "You asked me to take a look at him, yes or no? I''ve taken a look already."

    "But you have not even checked his pulse¡­¡­"

    "Check his pulse? Heh." Imperial Doctor Dai chuckled apathetically as if he was mocking him: "Why do I need to check his pulse? I can just use my ears to listen and eyes to see. That is adequate."

    "What do you mean doctor? I don''t understand! Please hurry and help me¡­¡­"

    "Rx, rx. Why are you so impatient? Let me exin to you. I was born with exceptional hearing. I can hear one''s pulse within a ten-foot range." The doctor shook his head and continued: "Judging from this person''s physique and pulse, he''s full of vigour, and in fact healthier than anyone, young and free of ailments, and could possibly live over a hundred years old. If he looks after himself, he would still be full of vigour after turning one-hundred. As a matter of fact, he might be just as physically healthy as when he was young too. But, I presume he likes fighting and got into a fight with someone."

    Su Xiao nodded as he listened. His anger crept up in his chest as well. As he was frantically nodding, he said: "Yes, that''s right. Big Brother Ming was beaten up by someone."

    "That''s strange. The person that wounded him possesses incredible strength you wouldn''t often find. And what was he thinking to let himself get hit with one, two, three, four¡­ eh, seventeen palm strikes? Does he think he''s a deity? He''s got injuries at seventeen meridian points, and even let himself get hit with a palm strike to his RN17 meridian point on his chest. As a matter of fact, it''spletely obliterated. He''s just a vegetable that''s barely breathing right now, and yet you''re taking him to see a doctor? If you''re not brain-dead, why would you take a dead person to the medical office?"

    Su Xiao''s heart froze up at what the doctor told him: "C-Could you please at least check his pulse?"

    "Lass, stop wasting your time and effort. My ability to read a pulse is superior to everyone else."

    Su Xiao angrily eximed: "I''m not a girl!"

    Imperial Doctor Dai sighed again: "And yet you im to not be brain-dead. Sigh, what a pity."

    "Please take a look at him, hey! Don''t go! Please take a look at him."

    The doctor waved his hand: "Don''t waste my time." He headed off to the herb garden and closed the fence behind him. Su Xiao carried Ming Feizhen who was stuck outside the fence and watched the doctor vanish into the distance.

    Su Xiao clenched his teeth, and grabbed his sabre-handle in reverse. The ancient cold sabre struck, making four shes, thereby reducing the fence to pieces.

    As a schr, Imperial Doctor Dai had never seen anyone dare to swing a sabre in the pce, so he couldn''t help but panic: "Wh-What are you doing?"

    Su Xiao looked at his fearful look and got even angrier. He kicked upwards, sending Imperial Doctor Dai into the air.

    "Check his pulse!"

    His angry voice carried a tinge of sobs: "Otherwise¡­ otherwise¡­ I¡­ I¡­ just check his pulse!"

    "Heyss, he''s clearly already¡­ alright, alright, alright. I''ll take a look. Let me up."

    Imperial Doctor Dai stood up from the mud and patted the dirt off him. He then grumbled: "I was just peacefully sitting at home and yet I still managed to run into a¡­¡­" He didn''t dare to finish his sentence because he was afraid Su Xiao would hit him again.

    Su Xiao ced Ming Feizhen on a bench. Imperial Doctor Dai picked up Ming Feizhen''s hand to check his pulse and find anything different. His pulse was still like a dead person. Well, he was a dead person.

    Suddenly, a group of people dressed in all-ck,pletely unlike clothing in the pce, charged through the door. When Imperial Doctor Dai noticed their murderous aura, he hid behind Ming Feizhen.

    Their leader said in a deep voice: "Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao, is Ming Feizhen here?"

    "That''s right. I''m Su Xiao. Big Brother Ming is here too."

    "His majesty, the orange prince has orders. No participants from the imperial martial arts tournament are to leave the flying fish pavilion on their own ord. Come back there with me now."

    "The orange prince''s orders? It''s not his highness''s orders then. And who are you?" Su Xiao frowned: "I don''t even know you."

    "From now on, there will only be the orange prince''s orders. There will be no more orders from the emperor." The man chuckled coldly and continued: "And my surname is Zhong, my first name is Yi. Remember it."

    As soon as he finished speaking, Zhong Yi charged inside. When he came in, it was like a gust of wind entered. Su Xiao''s martial arts skills and Zhong Yi''s skills are worlds apart. Su Xiao didn''t even see what Zhong Yi did. All he felt was a hot sensation on his neck before passing out without being able to react in time.

    After seeing Su Xiao''s appearance clearly, he grabbed Su Xiao around his slender waist and pulled him in. He noticed how his hips, long legs, and beautiful face surpassed every other woman he had seen before. Wait, no. It''s a guy. A guy?!

    Zhong Yi couldn''t resist the need to check with his hand. He pinched Su Xiao''s behind, and Su Xiao''s butt clearly satisfied him enough to put a joyous smile to his face.

    "What a beauty. How about serving his majesty and letting me have a go? That sounds great to me, hahahaha."

    He continuedughing. Just as he was about to grab another body part on Su Xiao''s body with his hands, he suddenly heard a voice from inside the herb garden.

    "You don''t have to go that far if it''s just a death-wish that you have."

    It soft was a soft voice. Very, very soft. However, Zhong Yi''s arms, legs, and the rest of his body began to stiffen up, immobilising him entirely.

    The corpse named "Ming Feizhen" had spoken out. Not only had he spoken, he had slowly began to move.

    Ming Feizhen slowly stood up from the bench and spoke. His words were like a magic spell. Once picked up by the ear, his limbs felt weak and wouldn''t listen to hismands.

    "I was forced to keep my eyes shut to suppress my murderous intent in order to avoid hurting those around me. But some damned people who deserve to die had toe here. Would you consider this a coincidence?"

    He opened his eyes, and his eyeballs lookedpletely blood-red. There was very little white visible. Whatever his eyes looked at became virtually blood-red in his eyes. It was like his eyes were balls of red-ss.

    Humans shouldn''t have eyes like that. Nobody in the history of mankind has had such terrifying eyes before.

    Those that got caught in those blood-red demon eyes became immobilised.

    Nobody. Nobody could see how he moved.

    But by the time they returned to their senses, Su Xiao was no longer in Zhong Yi''s arms.

    They followed the man''s movements within their minds with terror until his voice itself pierced the terror, inducing even more terror

    The owner of those terrifying eyes calmly asked: "Who hit the kid just now?"

 Volume 3 26 Fu Xiang Loses Favour to the Sly Young Dragon

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 26 Fu Xiang Loses Favour to the Sly Young Dragon</h4>

    Back at the flying fish pavilion, Long Zaitian who was pleased with himselfughed loudly along with the orange prince who was ten-times more pleased with himself. They were drinking and merry. The two of them chatted merrily together.

    The orange prince bowed to thank Long Zaitian, while Long Zaitian understood the formalities, behaving like "if this wasn''t the case, how would i have a beauty to keep mepany?"ong Zaitian started fanning himself with his treasured Wen Zhengming fan: Cheng Kong shall rule from today while Yuan Sheng makes way. Your majestic name shall echo through thends for years toe.

    The orange prince pointed upwards with his finger with the white-jade ring: That can''tpare to having a beauty by your side, enjoying the freedom and winning the envy of others like you, Minister Long.

    The two of them chatted andughed. The initially heavy atmosphere turned friendly.

    But all of the warriors in the flying fish pavilion red at the fatuous prince and treacherous minister as they cursed them with every word they coulde up with. No one knows who started it, but they didn''t stop.

    The orange prince didn''t care at first, but after listening to them for a while, he couldn''t help himself from slinging an insult back at them. That''s how the verbal war broke out. It might not be so bad if you just leave them to their own device, but the moment you sling something back at them, then all hell breaks loose. The warriors cursing realised their cursing was effective, so theyughed and relished in cursing at them even more. There was one guy that stood out. He was a constable from Liu Shan Men. Man, he cursed them over everything, leaving no stones unturned, used all sorts of words and then improvised toe up with even more insults. Everybody included the orange prince wasughing at his insults.

    But who was he?

    That would be none other than Zha Pi! After Ming Feizhen got promoted, he promoted Zha Pi to a small-time constable guarding the doors. Today was his off-day, so he came to watch the matches. He never expected that not only would he end up detained, but that his big bro would be beat up too. And so Great Master Zha who was a man with profound pugilistic-ruffian-qi decided "fuck it".

    Zha Pi''s insulting arts were acquired from his time on the streets, the true authentic stuff. Histe-father was an official too so he was at the very least home-schooled. So when he started cursing at people, it was on another levelpared to crude insults these vulgar martial artists used.

    As soon as he started, he was unleashing hell, quoting copious authors, spitting: bitch, bastard, motherfucker, sisterfucker, get fucked, fuck yourself¡­ He went at the empress to the empress dowager to the empress''s brother. He brought in farmers rescuing poisonous snacks, corn-eating rodents¡­ He went after the emperor''s ancestors, and said that Emperor Sui Wen raised a traitor.

    He got the orange prince so mad he was grinding his teeth. If he weren''t short of men, he would''ve ordered his men to p every single one of the martial artists across the face.

    "How dare you speak to me like that you low-life piece of trash?!"

    The orange prince red at the gossiping warriors. The royal family members, ministers and officials showed the orange prince a certain degree of respect, even though a fair number of them weren''t willing to surrender. But the orange prince refrained from swearing at them when he considered his status. It was different with the warriors though. They weren''t used to seeing a son screw his father over in such an uncultured way. They were saying how his mother would''ve been better off giving birth to a sweet-potato instead. The orange prince was unwilling to stoop down to their level and argue with them. The ck Winds Thirteen Wings couldn''t out-curse so many of them alone, especially the constable from Liu Shan Men who was using vulgarnguage, talked fast like the wind and argued heatedly like a learned man.

    Today was the most important day. He was the great Emperor Cheng Kong whom even Emperor Yuan Sheng had to call Master Cheng. If he couldn''t even take care of these martial artists, then he wouldn''t be like an emperor, so of course the orange prince wanted to get in there and have a go at them.

    But there was nothing he could do. He had nowhere to vent his anger. That was when Long Zaitian suddenly said: "Your majesty, they are just a bunch of insignificant mongrels. There is something more important to attend to right now."

    "Something more important? Oh, right. Look at me¡­ Minister Long, you truly are mypetent minister." When the orange princeplimented him, Long Zaitian bowed to thank him. The orange prince then shouted: "Where is Fu Xiang?!"

    Fu Xiang stepped out from amidst the imperial guards, bowed with his hands and asked: "What orders do you have your majesty?" Fu Xiang and Long Zaitian exchanged nces when he stepped out. A spark of lightning appeared between their eyes when they exchanged nces. That was their ambitions and fear for one another shing.

    Fu Xiang who took on the name Jiao Meng was responsible for protecting the orange prince right from the beginning. Though he could now return to being addressed as Fu Xiang, the way he was treated didn''t change much. That left him somewhat puzzled. Long Zaitian could sit next to him, while Fu Xiang, the man with the most merit was merely standing to the side as a guard. In terms of martial prowess, he was more than twice as good as Long Zaitian. In terms of prestige, Fu Xiang was one of Mystery''s members. In terms of reputation in the martial world, he was several times superior to the Qilin Guard who never leaves the capital, Long Zaitian.

    But Fu Xiang was stuck wearing the Qilin Guards uniform, and could only stand next to the orange prince,

    Fu Xiang understood why and the orange prince understood it even better. This was his position. Regardless of how skilled he was or how significant his aplishments were. An assassin was doomed to remain away from the public-eye. Perhaps the orange prince was going to have him enter the imperial court and get closer to the centre of power under a different identity. Indeed, that was the orange prince''s n. However, that was a n to be enacted in many years'' time after setting up various pretexts. His disguise arts were not to be used regardless of the circumstances.

    Fu Xiang was sixty this year, yet he looked thirty or forty from his appearance. He had trained his body and practiced lots of qigong all these years, allowing him to look and feel young regardless of age. But an interesting question was if his desires grew with his age as a result of him keeping a serene mind for many years, subsequently leading to him joining this n of the prince with hisrades in Mystery.

    However, his current situation told him that he was different to Long Zaitian. He wasn''t the one the orange prince needed. Long Zaitian poisoned the warriors and aplished a deed that was to the benefit of the orange prince, and that was considered merit without question. But the important difference was that Long Zaitian made an aplishment as himself, so he could be promoted in the future, and pass down prestige to his descendants as well as leaving them with an abundance of wealth.

    The orange prince wanted to form a new political power, so he needed men to form a new team. It wasn''t as though the orange prince couldn''t rely on these royal family members and major ministers who didn''t ept him, but rather that the orange prince didn''t dare to rely on many of them. He himself was a traitor, so how would he dare to employ ministers of the former ruler?

    The orange prince needed his own team, and Long Zaitian was a good choice for a foundational member. He was the vice-captain of the Qilin Guards who was stationed in the capital. There are three vice-captains in the Qilin Guards office, but Long Zaitian was the only one stationed in the capital. This meant that other than being thought of highly by themander of the Qilin Guards, he was also very knowledgeable about the capital''s defences and so forth. Long Zaitian was going to be the one the orange prince needed to rely on in the future in terms of control over the military offices. As such, the orange prince put in lots of efforts to recruit him. Most importantly, Long Zaitian was considered a traitor without question by the three offices. He was doomed to never be able to return to his old team with that stigma now. Hence, the orange prince didn''t have to worry about employing him.

    At the end of the day, the three offices, and even the entire imperial court were just a machine for the ruler to use in his rule. It was fine if they weren''t loyal. The orange prince was of the belief that a team formed on benefit and profit was the most effective team for operations.

    "Fu Xiang, are your men still around?"

    Fu Xiang courteously replied: "They are. What are you orders, your majesty?"

    "I don''t have any orders, but you still have the same number of men as before which is really odd. Where are the people that returned?"

    Fu Xiang then realised that the orange prince was actually finding fault with him.

    "Your men have been gone for too long, have they not? Have they made any discoveries? It''s been a long time. Didn''t you tell them to send someone back to report every thirty minutes?" The orange prince wore a sombre look and continued: "Aren''t you men exceedingly useless? They can''t even get a small task like that done properly?"

    Needless to say, the orange prince was referring to the emperor''s whereabouts. Three hours had passed, yet he hadn''t heard anything from the emperor. All of the dukes and ministers as well as a weakened Shen Yiren to the side started listening in closely.

    The orange prince wasn''t worried about letting them hear him nevertheless. The orange prince and mystery had prepared three stages to their n.

    Forcing the abdication of the throne here in the flying fish pavilion was only the first part.

    The orange prince knew the emperor''s personality far too well. He was someone who would rather die than submit ever since he was young. Further, while the orange prince didn''t like the emperor, he was a filial son toward his mother. He knew that his mother and father had strong feelings for each other so he couldn''t bring himself to use crueller means, such as torture.

    Therefore, they were going to trick the emperor instead of capturing him when they found him. They were going to trick him into going to his study to retrieve the imperial jade seal, and then have Yu Ye, Eunuch Nan who was by his side snatch it from him.

    But Yu Ye alone couldn''t seed. They needed another assassin to assist, and that was where Zhong Yi came in. Zhong Yi would join a private military and then would chase the emperor down with brutal methods to force him to the brink of break-down. They needed someone strong and domineering to achieve that, so Zhong Yi who looked tough and was strong was absolutely necessary to that step of the n.

    That was why Eunuch Nan risked his life to smuggle Zhong Yi and the private military into the pce as well as providing them with a pass-token.

    But three hours have passed and it would be harder to carry out the operation once night falls. What''s going on? Is there no news? No wonder the orange prince got anxious and had to speak up.

    "Please rest assured your majesty." Fu Xiang sped his hands and said: "It is not an easy task. It requires time and patience."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The orange prince frowned and asked: "How much time and patience do I require then?"ong Zaitian was listening from the side the entire time as he carefully drank his wine. He didn''t know about the ns for the third stage of the n. It was a top secret. Not even all members of Mystery knew. The only ones who knew of the full n were the orange prince, Fu Xiang and Kuang Tian. Not even Yu Ye, Eunuch Nan, their spy in the pce for over a decade who was also tasked with snatching the imperial jade seal knew. Zhong Yi who was going after the emperor wasn''t aware of the entire n either.

    However, Long Zaitian has the skills of a fish in troubled waters. Long Zaitian wasn''t any better than Fu Xiang at proper work, but when it came to dragging people down with him then taking advantage of the situation to use them as a stepping stone to climb up, Long Zaitian was a professional among professionals. It was a skill he refined in all the years he dealt with people from the imperial courtbined with the experience he gathered as the subordinate of the captain of the ce they call The Devil''s Qilin Guards. He took his time listening to their conversation and then looked for a chance to butt in.

    "We''re talking about two-hundred men here, and yet not one came back to report in. Don''t go screwing up now."

    The orange prince''s questioning cornered Fu Xiang. He suddenly had an idea and replied: "Your majesty, sometimes no news is good news."

    His response couldn''t be any more obvious.

    If Zhong Yi came to report every half-an-hour, then that meant he had no leads. However, if he did find the emperor, then it would take him some time to pursue him. Given that it takes time like that, having no onee back to report in was actually good news.

    "Huh? Did I hear that right?" It was as though Zha Pi possessed Long Zaitian. He fanned himself with Wen Zhengming''s fan, "No news is good news. That would mean we''re in trouble if he''s not in trouble. You''re calling a botched job a job done well? Failure must be an aplishment then. Your majesty, what do you think?"

    The orange prince nodded and eximed: "He''s right! Minister Long is right."

    Fu Xiang shot Long Zaitian a violent re: "What are you saying, Vice-captain Long? You''re not part of the inner circle, so please don''t interfere with my conversation with his majesty."

    "Eh? What do you mean? I am a loyal subordinate of his majesty''s and I was just pointing out your faults, is there a problem? And what did you call me? His majesty personally conferred me the title of General of the Front of the Hall. You called me vice-captain? What''s this? What''s this? Someone is missing the old rule when today is Emperor Cheng Kong''s first day on the throne."ong Zaitian pulled his eyebrows together and bickered with Fu Xiang. To be frank, his pose with his nostril pointed up to the sky while fanning himself is an awful sight to behold.

    Fu Xiang is considered a very knowledgeable person in Mystery, but he wasn''t as clever as the clown Long Zaitian when it came to talking. He caught two mistakes within three sentences and one of them was hard to wriggle his way out of.

    The orange prince continued nodding like a retard though: "Yes, Minister Long is right. You should change the way you address him, Fu Xiang. This is my General Long, not Yuan Sheng''s Vice-captain Long anymore."

    "You need not me Teacher Fu, your majesty. He is from the pugilistic world, so he needs to learn our culture slowly. He is still unaware of the taboos. As they say, the ignorant cannot be med."

    "You''re right. The ignorant cannot be med."

    Fu Xiang was about to explode. What is going to happen if Long Zaitian leads the orange prince astray? Everything he says is right. Truthfully speaking, Fu Xiang doesn''t know the taboos. The orange prince was a usurper and that was what he was concerned with all this time, but he had no one he could talk about it to, so with Long Zaitian bringing the old rule and new rule into the mix, it naturally struck a chord with the orange prince.

    After gaining the upper hand, Long Zaitian felt extremely pleased with himself and didn''t hesitate to unt it.

    Fu Xiang shot him an aggressive re and added General Long to the list of people he would have topete with in the future. He then looked to Shen Yiren by the side who was weakened yet still looked magnificently beautiful. Fu Xiang was entering his sixties. He didn''t view the matters between men and women with too much importance, except Shen Yiren was well-versed in both literacy and martial arts, and looked beautiful which just happened to suit his tastes. When Fu Xiang''s old eyes caught sight of Shen Yiren''s well-endowed breasts, his eyes got stuck on them and his carnal desires rose inside him.

    Fu Xiang said to himself: Fuck! She''s great at martial arts, she has a beautiful face, massive tits, fuck you could die of an erection she causes. Long Zaitian picks fights with me at every corner and even this ultimate beauty is his. Fuck this¡­¡­ The first person I kill when the prince is crowned will be him!

    His vicious thoughts filled his eyes with murderous intent.

    "Fu Xiang, what are you thinking about? I asked you a question."

    When he heard the orange prince''s voice, his murderous intent vanished. However, he didn''t hear what the orange prince said clearly so he stuttered for words before catching sight of something. He sped his fist with his other hand and rhetorically asked: "Look, have they note back?"

    The orange prince focused his gaze. Someoneing back to report was in the distance!

 Volume 3 27 Lesson In Medicine. Perhaps True, Perhaps Not.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 27 Lesson In Medicine. Perhaps True, Perhaps Not.</h4>

    What the hell? Only after I knock the punk out subconsciously did I realise that he seemed to be with Fu Xiang.

    And after I beat him silly with one move, my mood improved slightly.

    Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yue Ye, Zhong Yi. This guy must be the youngest one, Zhong Yi.

    He''s in full gear like he''s about to head out to a war battlefield. Fufufu, so you''ve fallen this low huh? Capturing small-time constables who''ve left¡­ isn''t that what door-guards do?

    Wait, could it be¡­ could they be trying to capture me and take me back because I got promoted recently? You''re making too much of a big deal people.

    I went to check up on Su Xiao. He was fine. Zhong Yi just sealed his sleep-meridian point. He didn''t suffer any physical injuries. It was just that I did hear his reason for holding back which was why my desire to murder surged back up.

    As soon as I had the urge my foot had already stepped onto his hand. I didn''t put any strength into it but I had shattered his hand bones to bits and pieces. His five senses had already shut down, leaving him muddle-headed so he couldn''t even feel the pain. Even the pain of his bones shattering was meaningless to him.

    It wasn''t easy for me to forcefully suppress my urge to kill. This happens to me really easily. Whenever I want to get serious, I lose control of my murderous intent. This is a disadvantage of practicing Spring Wind Rainy Nights Divine Art. Once you get to a certain level of mastery with it, your murderous urge increases by the day causing you to be violent and blood-thirsty, and it will also affect your personality.

    For me personally, whenever I want to get serious, my urge to kill gushes forth and my eyes turn blood-red. After Fu Xiang hit me with hisst strike, I was nning to just pretend I was asleep and leave on my own. I never expected Su Xiao would take me away.

    My eyes suddenly turned red back there, which I surmise was because I saw Shen Yiren''s sad look in the snow, so I didn''t dare to open my eyes. I didn''t dare to wake up in case Su Xiao discovered it for the same reason.

    Every time my eyes turn blood-red, I need to mould energy and release it. I initially thought I''d need a longer amount of time, but by some stroke of luck I ran into these unlucky guys.

    I stroked Su Xiao''s small head. He "meowed" because it was a little ticklish and tucked his head into his white neck a little. It was a touching scene. My hand seemed to escape control¡­ stop! Control yourself hand!

    Hehehe, he''s deep asleep. Su Xiao was tense right at the start of the day due to the imperial martial arts tournament as well as carrying me while running around and worrying. And that was why he was so sound asleep.

    Su Xiao¡­..

    I recalled Su Xiao carrying me as he struggled to walk and spoke to me.

    "Let''s go see a doctor. We''ll go and see the best doctor¡­¡­ You''ll be okay."

    "I, I''m not crying. There''s nothing to cry about. They were lying. I don''t believe them."

    I recalled the tough look like a small tiger he sported when he threatened this doctor too.

    I couldn''t help but chuckle. How is this kid so cute?

    I suddenly recalled Boss Shen''s look when I was pretending to be unconscious. Her murderous intent in her eyes was genuine. Her murderous intent at the time was probably colder than snow. She then went off to challenge Fu Xiang. That was the first time I saw Boss Shen fight with everything she had. She really is skilled.

    I couldn''t help but reflect on myself after seeing Su Xiao and Boss Shen get into trouble and feel sad because of me.

    I owe these beauties a great favour.

    Wait, sh*t! Su Xiao''s a guy!!

    That''s called strong brotherly-bonds!

    A slightly excited-elderly voice spoke out from the side: "Thisss over-stressed herself. The meridian poke was just an external force. The true reason was because she expended too much energy mentally. A fifteen, sixteen year old girl can''t handle so much."

    I was startled for a moment. I then looked at the repulsive-looking old geezer with small eyes, a small nose and a small nose. Was this geezer always here?! I quickly scanned my surroundings. This is no imperial medical office. This is a medicine warehouse! Su Xiao went to the wrong ce. Good grief, lucky this doctor was here, otherwise god knows what catastrophe he would''ve caused.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I tried to look for the words as I asked: "Doctor, you¡­¡­"

    "Eh?! You''re well now. Let me check your pulse. Uhm! Your pulse is stable and strong. It''s slow but the beats are strong. You''ll be able to live past one-hundred, but maybe not two-hundred! My bad, my bad, my bad, what am I saying¡­¡­ Oh? Your pulse is stable as if you don''t have any injury. I did say you didn''t look like you were injured. I just didn''t know why you were like a dead-person. I can''t pinpoint the reason, but I am ny-percent confident of my pulse readings."

    The old-rat looking doctor ran left and then ran right. I was truly concerned that I might identally stomp on him and kill him¡­ But I think I''ve seen this doctor that''s overly-passionate about medical studies, and speaks like he''s in ancient times before. I looked at him carefully and a silhouette of a particr person surfaced into my mind that resembled him.

    He''s¡­ Imperial Doctor Dai?!

    "Aren''t you Head Imperial Doctor Dai? This is the herb garden. Why are you here?"

    "It''s a long story. It''s a long story. But ever sinceing here, my days have been a lot more rxed. Hmm¡­¡­ Good! All five of your organs are healthy too. Your bones are like iron. I really wonder how you were raised. How does one have such a great body? I would think that not even a god''s would equal yours."

    "Thank you for yourpliments, Imperial Doctor Dai. Hey, that''s ticklish. Stop touching me¡­¡­ But not only are you the Head Imperial Doctor, you''re the greatest doctor in the world at present. You''re highly revered in the imperial pce, even the emperor insists that it must be you who he sees, so how¡­¡­ Stop, stop, stop! Don''t tug on my pants!!"

    "Uhm! Just as I thought. It curves like an eggnt, is vigorous as an angry frog and pointy like a dragon''s head. I knew it was an incredible weapon in the human realm!"

    "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Why are you making this perverted during a word and a blow?!!"

    The doctorpletely ignored my question. He continued grabbing my hand as he checked here and there. Sometimes his eyes would light up and he''d try and tug on my pants. This medical-study addict is insane as he was before!!

    "Young man, I noticed that your face looked pale before. You let out more air then you breathed in while your pulse was dead. It was there, but it was so weak, it was just about to stop. But then you got up full of vigour in an instant, with a pulse not only unlike ordinary people, but far superior to them as a matter of fact. H-How was that possible? Could I bother you to exin the mystery to me?"

    I smiled and replied: "I believe that you''re right ny-percent of the time when reading pulses. Even if there were others who had superior skills to you, I don''t think that there would more than one other person. You read the pulse correctly, but a pulse can trick you."

    "A pulse doesn''t lie."

    "A pulse can''t, but a person can." I chuckled faintly and continued like a school-lecturer: "I presume you''re aware that one can change their pulse through their own strength at times. Some think that a technique which makes one appear dead is useless. To be frank, there are lots of styles which are useless. But I have yet to see an internal style which is useless. When you can control your pulse, you can control the speed of your qi, and so you have total control of them. So how is it useless?"

    "Oh? Could it be¡­¡­"

    "Correct. This is the turtle breathing technique mentioned in the pugilistic world, an internal style that allows one to fake their death. I just used a different variation, which I''ll spare you the details of."

    Imperial Doctor Dai reacted with joyous surprise: "That is amazing! Man. Kid, I never imagined I''de across a master like you. I dare say that I have never seen anyone as knowledgeable as you other than my teacher, Jing An Fu Ma."

    I chuckled and replied: "Of course. Jing An Fu Ma is obviously incredible."

    An individual opposite us suddenly yelled out.

    "Hey, hey! You people. You think we''re props or something?!"

    It was one of Zhong Yi''srades who was also dressed in all-ck. I must ask, would you die if you wore an imperial guard uniform? Walking around the pce in all-ck¡­ aren''t you being excessively arrogant?

    But they ignored me and continued talking among themselves.

    "Hey¡­¡­ Nobody said that, so why would you call yourself a prop?"

    "He doesn''t look at us when he speaks, so what''s he taking us for if not props?"

    "He didn''t call us a prop though. What prop? Hey, what''d you push me for? Push me and I''ll push you!"

    After just a mere few sentences were exchanged, they started fighting like an undisciplined group.

    I must say, you punks are hell arrogant¡­¡­ You''re fighting with each other right in front of us?

    Imperial Doctor Dai said: "Buddy, I don''t know where these men came from and they don''t look like good people to me. Would you mind¡­.."

    "Of course." I didn''t wait for him to finish. I shed behind them, "Imperial Doctor Dai, do you know which meridians can save someone and which meridians can kill them?"

    "My teacher said that in the study of meridians, whether it''s killing or saving one, it all depends on the wish of the executor. As long as you use an appropriate method, you can choose to kill or save."

    The ugly looking doctor sounded pretty tough when he said that.

    I nodded, smiled and asked: "Do you know which meridians can put one in a confused state of mind?"

    His expression changed as I expected and he replied with an open-mind: "I''m all ears!"

    "The study of meridian points in medical studies and martial arts is different. While their exnations differ, meridian points are still meridian points nevertheless. If you strike here with Yin power, you will knock the target unconscious for three days, and upon waking, they will have lost their memory."

    "Amazing!"

    "If you stab from here and then these three consecutively, you can erase one''s memories of thest seven days. Remember, while that is how it is used, you adjust the length of it by adjusting your force output. However, this is arge meridian point on the human body. You will not be able to touch it without a decent amount of skill. Remember that well."

    My finger strikes were like the wind. I stabbed at the guys in ck while exining the functions and application of each move. The doctor shook his head like an epileptic, like a student that was taking notes.

    "That is most profound!"

    "This spot and this spot control one''s memories. Do not touch them without thinking. It may very likely lead to memory loss or in severe cases, cause dementia. However, these three points are also the key to curing memory loss. If you cannot undo them, then the patient with memory loss has a severe condition and cannot be cured."

    "Understood."

    "Next!" I moved my legs in circles consecutively to boot them all out of the ce. There was onest one left waiting to be booted. I turned around to pick up Su Xiao,nded in front of Imperial Doctor Dai and asked with a smile: "I''m hungry. Can you take me somewhere to eat?"

    "Yes! Shifu!"

    Stop messing. Who''s your shifu?!

    I''m not your shifu!

 Volume 3 28 The Only One Who Is Generous, Benevolent and Modest Is I, Cheng Kong

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 28 The Only One Who Is Generous, Benevolent and Modest Is I, Cheng Kong</h4>

    Fu Xiang''s reputation was severely damaged by Long Zaitian in the flying fish pavilion. But thankfully, his men had finallye back to report in and make a good showing. And it wasn''t just one team that came back. A total of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven teams returned!

    They didn''t return to report in for a long time, but now they had, and seven teams had returned at that. Fu Xiang felt relieved and daggered Long Zaitian, but Long Zaitian just looked unhappy. Fu Xiang, feeling relieved loudly ordered: "Come up and report to his majesty. Hurry up!"

    Of course, he didn''t forget to turn around and seek credit for their work: "I did tell you they would return anytime now. Please do not worry, your majesty. The people that this old man trained cannot be failures¡­¡­"

    Before he could finish, Long Zaitian started taking shots at him: "Wow, wow, wow! Are you seriously talking to his majesty in that rude tone? Throwing your weight around because of your advanced age, huh? Wow, ''this old man''? What, you think you''re old enough or do you think you''re of high status?"

    That was a very disparaging remark, hence why Fu Xiang''s expression changed: "Long Zaitian! What are you after?! I have always spoken like this. His majesty is right before you. Don''t even think of trying to sow discord."

    "Wow, wow, wow. Now that''s just overboard. You need to brush up your acting skills." Long Zaitian looked at Fu Xiang as if he had high hopes for him and continued: "Old Fu Xiang, in the political world, reason is vital. I shall educate you on the topic as your senior on the topic."

    Fu Xiang was speechless. Fu Xiang was sixty this year while Long Zaitian couldn''t be more than forty at most. He was old enough to be Long Zaitian''s father, yet he was calling himself his senior? Long Zaitian was a brash man and looked brash for that matter. Fu Xiang ced heavy emphasis on looking after his appearance so he looked lively and energetic even though he wasn''t handsome. If they stood next to each other, you really wouldn''t be able to tell who''s older. He didn''t know what to verbally sling back at him so he just brushed it off.ong Zaitian then said: "There''s no minister that doesn''t act. Ask his majesty. Ask him if it''smon for us ministers and officials to act. But your acting fails! You can''t get in over your head with your acting like that. You''ll make his majesty angry like that. I can understand you using me of sowing discord, I mean, I get that you''re just trying to look good in front of his majesty. But your tone is too overbearing. You''re going to ruin the harmonious atmosphere between us as colleagues. Am I right, your majesty?"ong Zaitian is seriously a scumbag. He actually went and used me of acting in front of the orange prince.

    Ministers acting and pretending in front of ruler is something that has always been done since the existence of imperial courts. But the court-veteran Long Zaitian coulde up with all sorts of trickery. He''s even informed of the environment the orange prince grew up in so he was able to take advantage of the orange prince''s sensitive thoughts.

    "Keke. It''s not good for there to be too much tension between colleagues. You are both important pirs of mine, so stop arguing."

    The orange prince helped neither side and instead suggested they stop. But then the orange prince went on to say: "Fu Xiang, you will be following me on my journey in the future. Calling yourself ''this old man'' is kind of¡­¡­" The orange prince said in a softer voice: "I''ll make you the military chief, so you should refer to yourself as ''I'' in future."

    Fu Xiang was aware that a military chief was no insignificant rank. However, it was a far cry from Long Zaitian''s grand general of the front of the hall. And because the orange prince was the one who recruited Long Zaitian which dealt another blow to Fu Xiang''s arrogance. Fu Xiang couldn''t help but show his reluctance: "Thank you, your majesty. I mean, your minister thanks you, your majesty."

    With Long Zaitian stirring trouble like this, Fu Xiang knew that his achievements today might be reduced to naught. He couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed since he was skilled and was an intelligent individual in the pugilistic world where he had spent half of his life, and yet was felled by the schemes in the imperial court.

    The orange prince ordered: "Alright, you''re all here. Report in to me one by one."

    The team-members came over one by one. They all squat down like they were taking a dump neatly in front of the orange prince.

    Fu Xiang wanted to reim his glory with this group of men he trained. However, he turned gloomy when he saw their pale expressions and shortness of breath like they just escaped death.

    Just as he was about to give them a hint, one of them reported in loudly like a ringing bell: "R-Reporting, your majesty! Th-The fifth team is no more."

    "Uhm." The orange prince nodded at first but then realised what he said, "Huh? No more?!"ong Zaitian furiously grabbed an orange and tossed it with his Helmet Smasher Orange technique at the face the guy who reported in causing the guy to nearly pass out from the impact. Long Zaitian scolded: "Vanished?! I can''t believe you can lie like that! What sort of bullsh*t are you spouting when Emperor Cheng Kong''s ascension is right at hand today?! Say something that makes sense!"

    The orange prince was more surprised than he was angry. But after hearing the three words "Emperor Cheng Kong", he regained hisposure. He then noticed that it was indeed a serious matter that couldn''t be neglected. He therefore naturally started to be unhappy with the members of Mystery. As a result of his actions, the orange prince saw Long Zaitian in a better light yet again. He felt that at the end of the day, Long Zaitian was a truly talented minister. My hand-picked general knows how to be considerate on my behalf. He scolded them before I could.

    "Calm down, Minister Long. I understand that it''smon for people in the pugilistic world to be crude and brash." That was Fu Xiang taking a dig at Long Zaitian. Fu Xiang''s expression changed a little and he felt momentum. He''s an old and prudent man. He''s not impulsive. The orange prince demanded: "Exin in detail what exactly happened."

    "R-Roger!" The guy crawled back up and stuttered: "When we went past that ce and realised someone had gone in, we went in to take a look, but we were unexpectedly ambushed. I was the only remaining person in my team in the blink of an eye. I rushed toe back and report, and¡­ and here I am."

    "Exin yourself properly!" Such a confusing exnation would make any listener bewildered. The orange prince frowned and said: "Do you know how important this is? There is no room for ying around here. Are you messing with me right now?"

    Anger surfaced in the orange prince''s eyes. The guy was so frightened he straightened up. Long Zaitian stood up again and eximed: "That sounds stupider than a story of a horse taking a sh*t at a park! If the person standing before you wasn''t our generous, benevolent and modest Emperor Cheng Kong, your head would be rolling on the ground right now!"

    "Yes! Yes! I! I!"

    Fu Xiang knew that guy was a skilled fighter but poor with words, so he immediately picked a better speaker from another team: "You exin it. Exin to his majesty what happened."

    He was a good talker alright. He quickly described the phenomenon their team witnessed while on their patrol, providing a time-stamp and precise location. They were searching for the emperor, but then they suddenly heard about it.

    "The captain is missing."

    Their captain was Zhong Yi. He was in charge of managing these mercenaries, but then he suddenly disappeared. Since that was odd, the mercenaries searched for their captain whilst searching for their target, the emperor, thereby costing them a lot of time.

    "We then ran into¡­ that person. He sent us all flying out without evening raising a finger. We did not even see his face clearly. We¡­ we do not even know if he is a human or a ghost. But we were attacked and thrown out as soon as we entered that ce. And the members who were thrown out were all thrown out in an unconscious state. We could not wake them no matter what we tried. We were told to not let an entire team lose contact in training. Therefore, we are thest remaining member of our respective teams. As such, we rushed back here to report in."

    The orange prince finally understood the situation now. Zhong Yi is missing and his status is unknown. But based on what this guy reported, there''s somebody messing with him in the pce and knocked out a number of mercenaries. How dare they!

    Today is my big day and yet someone dares to mess with me?! Does he think I have no men?!

    The orange prince frowned and asked in a frustrated tone: "What''s the ce you mentioned?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The guy who reported in looked like he was in a dilemma. He stuttered: "A-At the imperial kitchen¡­¡­"

    "¡­¡­"

    When Master Cheng realised what he said, he picked up a tomato on the table and threw it at him, causing him to be covered in tomato juice.

    "The imperial kitchen?! How could there be a skilled fighter at the imperial kitchen?! What are your men doing?!"

    "N-No, it is true." The guy with his face covered in tomato juice continued: "That person is at the imperial kitchen. He is very skilled. One punch and¡­¡­"

    "One punch the fuck what?! A skilled fighter from the imperial kitchen?"

    The orange prince jumped up and down like a rabbit trying to reach an eagle in the sky and kicked the unlucky mercenary in the face, leaving him with a bloody mouth. The generous, benevolent and modest Emperor Cheng Kong finally lost it and got aggressive.

    "Don''t fucking bullsh*t me!"

    Notes:

    *I can imagine that the first section about ways of referring to yourself is tiring to read to you. As you may already know, there are heaps of ways of referring to yourself in the Chinese imperial court. Essentially, they''re talking about a number of different ways, which in this case are essentially

    - ³¼

    - ÀÏ·ò

    Both of them basically mean "I" in English. The difference being, the first one is used by officials and ministers, while the second one is used by elderly males who aren''t officials. In the imperial court, you should be referring to yourself based on your role in the pce, such as a minister, servant, eunuch, prince etc. For sanity purposes and reading efficiency, I will revert to using "I" for all subjects unless I must differentiate like in this chapter.

 Volume 3 29 Ghost of the Imperial Kitchen

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 29 Ghost of the Imperial Kitchen</h4>

    "This is the ce."

    "Yeah, here."

    Two big men, one armed with a sabre and the other with a rod stood at the front of the kitchen, but didn''t dare continue forward.

    The two of them exchanged nces.

    "Brother Zhang, your specialty the Big Whirlwind sh''s overwhelming power rules Hejian! Don''t hold back when you go in. As soon as you see that ghost, slice him into six with three shes! sh him like a savage!"

    "Brother Li, your school''s Cross Soul-Chaser rod style is powerful too. Cross Soul-Chaser style could knock someone out before they could react. When you see him, you don''t need to say anything, just batter him!"

    "Yeah, fuck him up."

    "Yeah, fuck him up!"

    The two of them were fired up and looked awe-inspiring. But then after a while¡­

    "¡­¡­ Why aren''t you going in?"

    "What a stupid question. There''s a ghost inside, who would want to go in first?!"

    "Have you no shame? Didn''t you say cut him into six?"

    "You said to batter him as soon as you saw him! Have you no shame?!"

    The two of them argued endlessly until a voice came from inside.

    "Where did you say there was a ghost?"

    I think that was the first andst thing I said to them because I enjoyed pping them afterwards.

    Where in the devil are these peopleing from?

    I looked down at this uhh¡­ and the dozens of people in ck I pped out of convenience before. When you''re dressed in ck like this, it''s dead-obvious you aren''t up to no good, yet they dared to strut around in the pce with no reserve. I don''t know that there''s anyone braver than them.

    A fragrant smell suddenly hit my nose. Imperial Doctor Dai was carrying a dish of refreshments. I don''t know what it is but there was steaming from it. The very sight of it would make you drool.

    Imperial Doctor Dai courteously smiled and said: "There are some refreshments that have just been made. See if this¡­ you got it?" After I taught him about the meridians controlling one''s conscious mind, he seemed to firmly believe that I was his second shifu, and then he started behaving like this. He was a medical-studies fanatic, however, he wasn''t someone who''d hurt anyone so I didn''t bother him.

    "Alright, thank you." I grabbed the refreshments and took a bite. Wow, did it leave a nice fragrance in my mouth. The imperial kitchen''s dishes lives up to its reputation!

    That''s right.

    I brought an unconscious Su Xiao with me to the imperial kitchen following the lead of Imperial Doctor Dai. And right now, I''m eating their food without permission!

    Kekeke, don''t look down on me! I''m actually trying to make sense of the entire incident here¡­¡­ Where are the braised pork shoulders? That''s minus points! I reluctantly collected all the food I could find together, but not even all of it together was enough for me. And so, I sat to one side and slowly enjoyed them. Su Xiao was sound asleep next to the boiler as if he was having a sweet dream.

    "Huehue¡­ Big Brother Ming, I scared you, didn''t I¡­¡­?"

    It sounded like he saw me in his dream. I don''t know what he was doing but he was smiling sweetly.

    "It''s snowing heavily. Why are you drinking outside?" Su Xiao was holding firewood. His face twitched gently, "You''re such a scaredy-cat. You''re crying over something so trivial."

    ¡­¡­

    What?! How dare an insignificant Su Xiao act so arrogant in his dreams? I wiped my finger on the dust of the boiler and then carefully drew on his face¡­¡­

    Hehe. Alright, time for proper work.

    I cleaned my hands and then grabbed a meticulously made cookie, rolled it up with some chives, coriander and some paste. I rolled it and rolled it and into my mouth it went¡­¡­ I''m ny-percent certain that Mystery got involved with the orange prince''s revolt after he invited them. The orange prince doesn''t look like he''d amount to anything, but his n this time has impressed me.

    His n was very meticulous, and his clever arrangements were definitely most impressive. I surmise that everyone in the flying fish pavilion is currently under his control. It''s probably thebination of Mystery'' skill and their way of operating.

    As the League of Assassins'' second ranked assassination group, Mystery isn''t just a group skilled fighters. Their setups are unbelievable.

    The ck Winds Thirteen Wings began killing Qilin Guards before the imperial martial arts tournament to divert attention. But that wasn''t all. They were also testing the imperial court''s potential. And since I went and exposed the ck Winds Thirteen Wings unknowingly, I immediately became treated as a target for elimination. Because I went right to their door, they turned my own n against me, and pretended to be the contact person for the League of Assassins'' so that I''d drop my guard, thus luring me into the trap one step at a time.

    They must''ve used this setup in every part of their n.et''s use the imperial kitchen as an example. Not a single helper in the kitchen was in sight. This is the kitchen that prepares the meals for outer sections of the pce. They might have had to serve food and drinks to the flying fish pavilion at any moment, yet not a soul was in sight. As a matter of fact, they left many delicious dishes behind like they got called away in the midst of work.

    And¡­ the food tastes a little strange.

    "Imperial Doctor Dai, do you see a problem with these cookies?"

    Imperial Doctor Dai was revising the new knowledge I shared with him. It took him a while to react. He picked it up and sniffed it. He frowned and replied: "There seems to be a faint scent, yet not. However, I can say for sure that a potent numbing-drug has been added to it. The form is very unique too. It''s not easy to cure¡­ If it''s not Thorn-Tears, then it''s Soul Diffuser."

    "It''s Thorn-Tears."

    I picked up a meat-bun and took a few bites. Yep, I''m right. It''s Thorn-Tears. Thorn-Tears is a specially made drug by Demon Mirror Cloud Heaven Pce. As soon as someone in the martial world drinks it, they''ll be numb after some time. Their true qi essence at their dantian will be stopped like it''s pinned down by thorns. Any slight movement will cause excruciating pain.

    I swallowed it and then grabbed a cup of wine.

    The cup seemed to be made from white-jade with iparable exquisiteness. A cup of wine from a jade-cup in the pce is one-hundred and eight per cup! Let''s see how it tastes. I heard people bragging¡­¡­ I had a drink. Oh! This wine tastes great!

    It looks like this Thorn-Tears was what the orange prince used to control the flying fish pavilion.

    Fu Xiang and Zhong Yi have arrived. I imagine Yu Ye and Kuang Tian are close by too. Compared to Kuang Tian who moves around a lot in the pugilistic world, the other three are rtively mysterious. The ck and White Reflection only made mentions about Yu Ye many issues ago. It imed that he may be serving the imperial court and became a guard for the inner court. I don''t know if that''s true or not.

    Mystery won''t fight battles where victory is uncertain. The imperial jade seal and the emperor''s decree are required since the orange prince wants to steal the throne. These guys in ck can''t possibly be running around in the pce around aimlessly. They must be preparing for what''s toe next. It looks like their n to steal those two items will be the next impressive move Mystery makes.

    Fu Xiang''s stupid face resurfaced in my mind. That guy looks stupid, but he''s a sneaky and clever one. He''s able toe up with clever andplex ns if you give him time. He''s not to be underestimated.

    I closed my eyes to think about the possible things that could happen from now, but I couldn''te to a decisive conclusion.

    What I''m most concerned about is the situation at the flying fish pavilion. With Boss Shen''s personality, she''s definitely going to give the orange prince sh*t. If they get into a fight, the orange prince isn''t one who''d show pity she''s a beauty.

    I drank another mouthful of wine and it left a fragrant taste in my mouth. I only felt the wine had a nice fragrance to it. It carried a hint of sweetness with it. The first drink didn''t taste sweet, but why did it taste so sweet on my second drink? I tried it again. This isn''t the scent of wine, but the taste of a drug mixed with wine.

    Wait a second! Thorn-tears is virtually colourless and tasteless drug. It wouldn''t result in this. Something else seems to have also been added to this wine besides Thorn-Tears!"

    I drank a few more mouthfuls and figured out what the drug was. I suddenly had a new revtion about the entire incident. I see how it is¡­¡­ I went silent for a while and then said to Imperial Doctor Dai: "Imperial Doctor Dai, it looks like more and more people areing here. You should return to the herb garden first. I still have some business to attend to."

    "Oh?" A sh of light appeared in his eyes. He swept his gaze around his surroundings, "Haven''t you already finished eating everything here?"

    "I''m talking about legitimate business!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 3 30 The Shen Familyâ€™s Daughter Speaks Without Reserve

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 30 The Shen Family''s Daughter Speaks Without Reserve</h4>

    Back to the flying fish pavilion.

    The cursing underneath the imperial tform was like waves at sea. Even the mercenary reporting in on the tform had to shout at the top of his lungs.

    Emperor Cheng Kong was furious and was ready to unleash the martial arts he''d been training in for years on the Mercenary. But Long Zaitian quickly pulled the orange prince over: "Your majesty, your majesty, calm down. Please listen to me."

    "No, that punk deserves a beating!" The benevolent, generous and modest Emperor Cheng Kong ignored his grand general''s advice. He pointed at the guy and shouted: "You! Come here! Get over here! I''ll use just one hand! My fucking god I''ll knock the snot out of you!"

    The guy was no legitimate soldier. He was just a mercenary, serving Mystery for money. He kept his head down and counted his fingers, pretending that he didn''t hear the orange prince.

    "Wow, you pretending with me, huh?! I won''t hit you. I''ll smash you to death! Don''t give me a tomato, it doesn''t feel right! Where''s my orange?"

    "Your majesty, your majesty, your majesty! Calm down! You must calm down!"

    The mercenary angered the orange prince even further, but Long Zaitian was patting him on his back to calm him down.

    "What is the point of fussing over it with a mere servant? I have something to tell you."

    The orange prince huffed and puffed. Long Zaitian had calmed him down a little, but he was still daggering the mercenary.

    "My fucking god. If Minister Long wasn''t standing up for you, I''d¡­ hmph. Minister Long, please speak."

    "Your majesty, these insignificant nobodies are not vital to the n. These fodder in the pugilistic world cannotpare to our elite warriors."

    The orange prince nodded after he heard what Long Zaitian had to say like "Oooohhh, you''re right".

    Fu Xiang frowned at what he heard. He was different to these mercenaries. He wanted to rely on the imperial court and the orange prince in the future. Long Zaitian makes too many caustic remarks. Everything he says hides attacks at Mystery''spetence. Fu Xiang tried toe up with a n in his mind and find an opportunity to show off. As he tried to craft his n, the unjust feeling caused by Long Zaitian''s remarks grew inside him.

    Based on Mystery''s status in the pugilistic world and Fu Xiang''s personalpetence, he benefited in every way when he got on the orange prince''s good side at the start. He was the one that then came up with the majority of this n to help the orange prince ascend the throne. An insignificant Long Zaitian was no match for him. However, the scoundrel had him on his back-foot the entire time. He virtually lost his position as the orange prince''s strategist with just a few words from Long Zaitian. He used tricks used in small sects, which were distinguishably tricks in the pugilistic world and tricks in the imperial court. Chances are he was going to cop a lot with the stigma of someone from the pugilistic world before he enters the imperial court. He couldn''t help but worry to himself.

    "Your majesty, what''s important is that skilled fighter hiding at the imperial kitchen." Long Zaitian then slowed his speech down: "Due to our secretive way of operating, we have all the capable fighters in the imperial pce gathered here. And I personally took care of them. You are well aware of this, aren''t you, your majesty? This is just a minor of aplishment of mine, right?"

    The orange prince nodded: "Yes, yes. Of course it is."

    "Right, right, right, so let''s not mention it anymore. I do not covet merit, so let us forget this aplishment of mine. Let''s forget it. Let''s forget it."

    "Hey, don''t be so modest, Minister Long!"

    Fu Xiang''s jaw nearly dropped to the ground when he heard what Long Zaitian said. He thought to himself: "I''ve never seen someone so shameless!"

    "What I want to say is, we have already brought all of the skilled fighters inside the imperial pce under control. I am afraid that the situation might change if we missed one. We really cannot predict what these people from the pugilistic world will do, so we should bring that ce under control."

    "What mysterious skilled fighter is the imperial kitchen hiding?" The orange prince scoffed, "I grew up in the pce. Do you think I don''t know about the imperial kitchen? They can wash dishes and utensils, but they''re too weak to even pick up des."

    "There may be a hermit hiding there. Your majesty, we cannot be careless."

    "That''s¡­¡­ You''re right. What do you suggest we do in your opinion?"

    "I am a martial artist, so naturally¡­¡­"

    Fu Xiang suddenly stepped up, bowed with his hands and eximed: "Your majesty, this old¡­ I am willing to head over and capture said person. I shally the foundation of your new rule with his head!"

    The orange prince wore a happy expression and replied: "Oh? Fu Xiang, you¡­¡­"

    "You are a very dedicated man, Teacher Fu." Long Zaitian finished off with a serious expression: "I also know that this was a problem you started. Your subordinates are ipetent, and couldn''t beat him. That would make you look bad, would it not? But how can we let someone take on a job that the fate of the nation is riding on when he just wants to chase a personal vendetta?"

    "¡­¡­"

    Fu Xiang was enraged: Long Zaitian! I''m going to cut you to pieces sooner orter!

    Before the orange prince could finish, Long Zaitian added: "We need to send some efficient and strong elites. Unfortunately, we have no such men."

    Hearing "strong elites", the orange prince suddenly realised: "What do you mean we don''t? Aren''t the imperial guards under me elites?"ong Zaitian pped his hands and eximed: "Perfect! You can drive out the invaders with the imperial guards! You most certainly have the aura of an emperor!"

    As soon as the orange prince heard that it was a good n, he called for men. He sent half of the imperial guards watching over the warriors to go and deal with that mysterious skilled fighter.

    Having sessfully won the orange prince''s trust, Long Zaitian daggered Fu Xiang arrogantly.

    Fu Xiang and Long Zaitian red at each other. Fu Xiang was worried to death. His concern was hard to describe. This wasn''t his one-and-only aplishment. The majority of the n was his hard work as well. Fu Xiang even went to great lengths to get rid of Night Fortress''s master, but the orange prince didn''t know. The orange prince had never heard of Night Fortress or whatever, and of course, he was even more oblivious to all the difficulties that he faced.

    Just as the orange prince was gleefully pleased with himself, he heard a voice like a bell that was blown by the wind. It was a clear-cold-jade-like voice belonging to a female.

    "An emperor''s aura? Heh, what a joke. You would capture even your father for the throne." It was Shen Yiren who was sitting on the ground sluggishly. She stared at the orange prince coldly and the corner of her mouth curved up into a cold smile: "You''re not even worthy of being a human being. Emperor''s aura, my foot."

    The ministers and royal family members were shocked to hear her say that. Her words hit the orange prince right where it hurt him. He clenched his teeth and walked over. He pped her right across her beautiful snow-white face, leaving a red mark.

    "Bitch! Take that back or I''ll rip your tongue out regardless of what your rank may be!" The orange prince grabbed her hair and continued, "Say it! Take it back! Say that you, Shen Yiren will serve me from now on."

    Shen Yiren''s powerless body dropped to the ground. She''s only as tall as an ordinary girl. Her back was straight and her chest was perky while her legs were slender and long. When her body hit the floor, her round white pearls that were soft as tofu popped out of the top of her shirt. Even her backside was indescribably breath-taking.

    She frowned from the pain, and pulled her beautiful eyebrows together like a wild fox.

    A burning sensation started in Fu Xiang''s pants when he saw the alluring sight. His sexual desires surged up: How can I let Long Zaitian have this alluring woman?

    The orange prince shouted as he grabbed her hair: "Say it!"

    Shen Yiren''s hair became messy. Her voice sounded like rainfall behind her ck hair carried a calm voice that would make one''s heart cold.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "¡­¡­ Take your hand off me." Her voice was blocked out by her long hair, so it was muffled. However, there was an unconcealed murderous intent in her voice: "¡­.. Remove your hand if you don''t want your mother to lose a son."

    The orange prince never expected her to not lose a single hint of her pride in this situation, therefore angering him exponentially. He only heard Fu Xiang suddenly speak out from his side: "Your majesty, this woman fails to appreciate kindness. She deserves to die for going against you, your majesty."

    "I can''t kill her. She is the descendant of an official who rendered outstanding service and holds a high rank." The orange prince still had his rationality intact. He knew what he should and shouldn''t do, "We have not killed officials of this rank before in our dynasty''s history."

    But that was Fu Xiang''s n. His n was to use retreat as a means to advance. As soon as Long Zaitian noticed Fu Xiang''s expression that looked like he was smiling and yet not, he knew the situation was dire. However, he was toote to stop him.

    "I see. However, we cannot forgive her after she angered you, your majesty." Fu Xiang smiled and continued: "There is nothing outstanding about this woman, but she is a true beauty without a shadow of doubt. Therefore, I suggest¡­ how about making her a courtesan so that she learns the manners needed to serve men. That would be a good way to curb her wild nature too!"

    The orange prince thought it was reasonable. He therefore revealed an indifferent grin and nodded: "Let''s do that then!"

 Volume 3 31 Sorrows Hidden In The Snow, Fu Xiangâ€™s Concerns

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 31 Sorrows Hidden In The Snow, Fu Xiang''s Concerns</h4>

    "Traitor! You Dare?!" The speaker was Song Ou who had woken up and got thrown into the group with the dukes and whatnot and ministers. Brother Bastard had been awake for a long time. Seeing his fianc¨¦e in a pinch, he naturally got angry: "Your majesty, you are a noble prince of royal lineage. Why would you listen to the nonsense of these barbarians from the pugilistic world?" After Long Zaitian separated the boundary between people from the pugilistic world and the imperial court''s warriors, Fu Xiang was most worried about this. He was angry but he kept it inside and didn''t show it on his face. He chuckled coldly and said: "I was wondering who it was. Turns out it''s the Song family''s eldest son. Your majesty, Young Master Song herees from one of the seven white champion princes'' families. He is very trusted by Emperor Yuan Sheng, so I do not think he will help us."

    The purpose behind his words was to remove his position from the orange prince''s mind.

    In reality, Fu Xiang didn''t have to go out of his way to say that since the orange prince had always looked down on Song Ou.

    Song Ou and the orange prince do share somewhat simr backgrounds. They bothe from families of high-standing which affected their fate. The difference between them was that the orange prince possessed an ambition and talents on par with his background, while Song Ou was just a good-for-nothing.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The orange prince''s experiences allowed him to understand that while Song Ou was the eldest son of the Song family, he was just an abandoned pawn as well. Even if he did need to garner the support of the Song family once his rule was established, Song Ou was still unneeded. Given the orange prince''s status, there was no need for him to ingratiate himself with Song Ou. That would only be lowering himself. If the Song family knew how to behave, they would send someone important to congratte him. That''s how an emperor was meant tomunicate with the seven champion white princes. A strategy like ingratiating yourself with someone to form connections was something only people of the pugilistic world like Fu Xiang would think of. It''s natural for him to think that in fact. He overlooked the fact that if the orange prince were to ascend the throne, then he would be the emperor. There''s no emperor who would call on his ministers and ask to shake their hands. Having been in the pugilistic world for so long, there was no way Fu Xiang couldprehend the orange prince''s thinking. So what Fu Xiang said was just unnecessary drivel.

    Not getting any response from the orange prince, Song Ou started to panic: If Yiren were to be a courtesan, I would be too disgraced to show my face again! I won''t be able to face anyone in Jiang Nan''s martial world even if I am from the Song family!

    "Your majesty, we can negotiate as long as you spare Yiren. I do not need anything. I just wish for Yiren to be okay."

    Fu Xiangughed and said: "You think you can get his majesty to change his mind with a word from you?" His tone sounded nd, but his deep desires virtually seeped into his tone. It was like you could detect him saying "make her a courtesan! Courtesan! Courtesan!".

    "It does not matter what it is! As long as my Song family can meet your demand, you just have to say the word."

    "You?" The orange prince sneered and responded: "What can you provide me? Even your fianc¨¦e that you have yet to marry can push you around. I don''t think the Song family would even be willing to pay twenty taels to rescue you if I were to butcher you. Negotiate with you? What are we going to discuss, how to be a ve to your wife? Get lost!"

    After he finished speaking, he kicked Song Ou aside. Though Song Ou wasn''t poisoned by Thorn-tears, Fu Xiang personally sealed his meridians so he had no way of using any of his internal strength. As a matter of fact, he was worse off than Shen Yiren and everyone else. He almost passed out from the kick to his temple he received from the orange prince. Hey there on the ground without enough energy to even turn around.

    "If I''ming to discuss something, I''m going to discuss it with someone important." The orange prince let go of Shen Yiren''s hair. Shen Yiren''s hair fell down like clouds parting, which gave off an eloquent aura.

    The orange prince bluntly said: "Shen Yiren, don''t be impervious to an obvious situation. After I ascend the throne, you will still be Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain."

    The orange prince didn''t actually consider making Shen Yiren be a courtesan. He was just enraged and in the moment. He needs many helpers once he ascends. The three offices are integral parts of the warrior-system that has existed for a hundred years. It''s a deep-rooted tradition that can''t be meddled with without careful deliberation. The orange prince can delegate different individuals, but he can''t get rid of them entirely.

    The Shen family has been officials for generations. They are the descendants of Liu Shan Men''s patriarch, Flying Fish. They have always been the captain of Liu Shan Men. Though Shen Yiren''s father wasn''t as talented as Yan Shisan, he was still an established figure in the imperial court. The potential of those who remember the favour are not to be underestimated, even if they only remember ten-percent.

    Furthermore, though there are few members at Liu Shan Men''s office in the capital, if all of their constables spread out around thend were toe together, they would give their opponent a real headache. Forcing Liu Shan Men to revolt for a moment of joy wouldn''t be to their benefit. The orange prince is good with war-strategies, so after careful deliberation, he came to grips with the pros and cons.

    But it was hard for him to back down now because he said all that. As such, he now had to think of a way to back down without looking bad now.

    "You sure?" Shen Yiren wrestled with the pain she felt and slowly sat up. She looked at the orange prince with a sharp re and an aura of justice came up to her eyebrows: "If I am the captain of Liu Shan Men, the first thing I do will be to arrest you traitors and bring you before his highness."

    With such decisive words, the deal was sealed. There was no turning back now. The orange prince was enraged by what he heard while Fu Xiang was gleeful.

    He looked at Long Zaitian vengefully and then back at Shen Yiren''s beauty. His original n was to steal Shen Yiren away for himself once she became a courtesan. Hearing Shen Yiren butt-heads like that with the orange prince, he believed ny-percent of the n was sessful.ong Zaitian suddenly coughed and said: "Your majesty, I have something to say."

    When the orange prince saw how Long Zaitian wanted to speak, he suddenly recalled that he already gifted Shen Yiren to him.

    Fu Xiang knew he wanted to speak so he took initiative to strike pre-emptively: "General Long, I hope you are not going to ask his majesty to spare Shen Yiren. His majesty cannot go back on his words so easily." This is called "learn and apply". Now shut the hell up.ong Zaitian however, ignored him andughed. He pointed to the dark sky and said: "Your majesty, look. Look at the signs the heavens have sent. It is snowing so heavily and the sky is cloudless. What does that make you think of, your majesty?"

    The orange prince''s attention got taken in by him thereby forgetting the rude things Shen Yiren said.

    "What about it? Isn''t it just snow?"

    When ites down to it, it''s my grand general that respects me. The orange prince forced himself to suppress his anger and he asked Long Zaitian: "Minister Long, what are you trying to say about this snow?"

    "The meaning is noteworthy." Long Zaitian revealed a mysterious smile, "Today is the day you achieve your ambition and the heavens chose today to snow, creating a cloudless sky. Have you realised something, your majesty? It is sign of change the heavens have sent to respond to you, your majesty."

    "Oh? Hehehe, I''m not that lucky, hahaha. Man, changes in the weather are normal. It''s no big deal. It''s just a coincidence." He was modest for a couple of sentences, but then he was somewhat perturbed, so he asked: "Minister Long, would you agree?"

    "Of course it is not a coincidence. Think about it, your majesty. What day is it today?"

    "What day?"

    "It is three days before winter starts. Winter has yet toe so logically speaking, how would there be snow today? The heavens made it snow before the date which makes it a good omen!"

    "Oh? Ahahaha. You''re right. You''re right! It certainly is a good omen!"

    The two of them exchanged nces and thenughed loudly which led to Fu Xiang face-palming himself: God, these two retards¡­¡­

 Volume 3 32 Furious!

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 32 Furious!</h4>

    The orange prince was led by the nose by Long Zaitian, forgetting everything. Fu Xiang however hadn''t given up on his n to defile Shen Yiren.

    Fu Xiang used voice-transmission, only letting Shen Yiren alone hear him: "Beauty Shen, you''re flustered and panicked now after hearing you would have to be a courtesan, right? As long as you plead me, I can take you in as a mistress. It''s better than being toyed with by those old men."

    Shen Yiren just looked at him like something filthy and sighed: "With your skills and intellect, and your status as an A-level figure in the pugilistic world, you were stuck being an assassin in the League of Assassins. Mystery was always a legend in the underground. With your skills, you would''ve stood at the pinnacle. But among Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye and Zhong Yi, you''re only ranked second. I initially wondered why someone like you would stoop this low, but now it''s justughable. It''s far too obvious why."

    "What did you say?"

    It was as though Shen Yiren could see through him. She swept her beautiful eyes over him causing him to feel a desire to back down. Shen Yiren bluntly replied: "You learnt your martial arts from a reputable teacher and I believe you surpassed your own teacher. You practice qigong frequently to maintain your young appearance, but you can''t hide the wrinkles at the corner of your eyes. You can''t reach your level in your style without decades of practice. It''s not that you''re not willing to work hard, but because you''re a chicken which is why you didn''t dare to set foot into the pugilistic world at a tender age.

    You wanted to ensure everything was ready. You wanted to train until you were invincible before setting foot into the pugilistic world. However, you still couldn''t establish yourself as a prominent figure in the martial world, and was left with no choice but to join the League of Assassins and work as an assassin. Your ns are perfect, but youck the guts. This shows that you don''t dare to go all the way with things you do. It''s rare to see people in the pugilistic world with such skills yet be such a pussy at the same time."

    "Enough, you bitch!"

    Having been seen through, he violently eximed: "Still prideful, huh?! I''m afraid you won''t be able be to handle all the tricks the old foolse up with when you be a courtesan! I''ll make Song Ou watch me pop your cherry and beg me for it¡­¡­ No, seeing you and your boy-toy Ming Feizhen flirting with each other like that, I don''t think there''s any point in having Song Ou watch. When I fuck you, I''ll take you to Jiang Nan to fuck you! I''ll let your lover watch you please me in his old home."

    Shen Yiren''s gaze was still ice-cold as ever. She was indifferent to what he said, but when she heard the three words "Ming Feizhen", she was infuriated. She didn''t know what he meant by Jiang Nan and all, but she clenched her teeth and then shouted: "Fu Xiang, you bastard! You killed Ming Feizhen! If I, Shen Yiren don''t avenge his death, I''ll have been called ''boss'' for nothing!!"

    One could not help but be shocked at how she was had such strong killing intent even when she didn''t have an ounce of strength in her body.

    Fu Xiang wasn''t scared of her. He chuckled coldly and asked: "And you still won''t admit to having an affair with him? You think you''re convincing when you react like that?"

    Fu Xiang spoke to her using voice-transmission so he didn''t make any sound. However, others could hear Shen Yiren shout. The orange prince therefore turned his attention toward her. That was Fu Xiang''s true goal. He wanted to provoke the orange prince to get him to return to this topic.

    The orange prince frowned and said: "What are you shouting about?! What boss? If you knew who the boss was, you wouldn''t be in your current predicament."

    "I only know that I am to be loyal to my post." Shen Yiren stopped talking to Fu Xiang as well. She turned her attention to the orange prince and said: "Her highness has done me favours and you''re her son, so I never wanted to go against you, but your mistake is too big."

    The orange prince couldn''t believe her. He looked at the stubborn girl: "Aren''t you afraid I''ll make you a courtesan?"

    "If you want to torment me, try it. Do I look like the type to just take a beating without hitting back? Li Chengzhi, name one asion you beat me in a fight since we were kids."

    Shen Yiren entered the pce and yed with the princes and princess ever since she was young. She was their ymate. It was obvious who won once you saw the orange prince''s pale face. Back then, Shen Yiren entered the pce to apany the princess. The orange prince put on airs and wanted to bully his sister, but ate little Shen Yiren''s fists right away.

    Shen Yiren was trained by her family and then learnt from Yan Shisan as well. The orange prince was no match for her when she was around eight or nine. Once Shen Yiren grew older and taller, her skills improved as well. At twelve to thirteen, Shen Yiren always beat him to pulp when he was around eighteen or neen causing him to cry mommy and she didn''t let him go until he called her "elder sister Yiren".

    The orange prince went red in the face when that embarrassing past of his got dug out. It was like he had returned to the past.

    Shen Yiren sighed and said: "I never thought that you and I would drift apart after we grew up. You loved and respected your mother since you were a kid. Since when did you start treating women like this? I never wanted to mend my rtionship with you, but never imagined this day woulde. I never imagined we''d be in this situation."

    The orange prince''s face and ears were red. He found it hard to utter: "You make it sound nice and all, but what did you say when you beat me up back then?"

    "Chengzhi, that was just us ying around."

    The orange prince truly felt he wronged her when she changed the way she addressed him. He felt a little warmth in his chest. Just when he was about to steel his heart, his heart was swayed a little.

    But then he heard Shen Yiren say: "However, from today onwards, I am a soldier, and you a brigand. That is all. As soon as I escape, I''ll definitely arrest you."

    "You! You! You!!"

    The orange prince''s face went white as a sheet. He cried out like an angry doll: "You don''t appreciate favours! You don''t appreciate favours! Alright, alright, alright! You asked for it. I think you''d look quite pretty as a mute. I can let you ministers y with her! You don''t have to thank me!"

    Fu Xiang was joyous with what he heard. That was exactly what he wanted. He looked at the great beauty whose curves didn''t look like they could be contained by her clothes. He looked at her slender waist hidden and huge-soft knockers. Any man who saw her would go crazy for her. Who could resist such seduction?

    But then when he looked at the officials and co. there was nothing but an awkward atmosphere with them. Fu Xiang was surprised. What''s wrong with those old fools? Are they so old they can''t appreciate a beauty anymore?

    If Fu Xiang were to look more closely, he would see that other than the awkwardness, their anger was in their eyes.

    Shen Yiren is the youngest person to have set foot into the imperial court. She started working at Liu Shan Men before she was thirteen and continued working there until today.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When her father passed away back then, as a young girl, she said to Yan Shisan: I want to be an official. I want to be a high-ranked official at Liu Shan Men.

    Yan Shisanughed: Lass, you sure could beat boys.

    And he really did make her a fifth-ranked official.

    Summer or winter, she wore a uniform that didn''t fit her and wobbled her way before the emperor like she would trip if she wasn''t careful. The officials all remember her cute and serious look as she tried not to make mistakes when she spoke. It was just like it happened yesterday. That young-determined girl got Liu Shan Men to stand on its legs alone. Her face showed her bitterness and determination. Anyone with a conscience wouldn''t want to add another burden onto her tender shoulders and make her suffer any further.

    Most of the academic officials who came into the imperial court were very old. Fifty years old would be considered young for them. Shen Yiren could be their granddaughter at their age.

    Why has Shen Yiren been able to stand tall without being taken down all these years?

    That''s because besides the emperor, the members of the royal family and the major ministers all doted on her like she was their granddaughter.

    From their perspective, the orange prince''s revolt was a family matter. As ministers, ignoring him and looking at him coldly was called loyalty. Not speaking out against him was called a wise man keeps himself safe from harm.

    But you want to make my granddaughter a courtesan?

    Every single of the officials, regardless of departments were fuming. They had to get it out of their system. They got up and furiously shouted: "Go fuck yourself!"

    He was one of the elders of the imperial court. He served as prime minister since the orange prince''s grandpa''s time. He was known for being a political-goof who was invincible at avoiding trouble. He was happy just to get by without trouble.

    So if he were to start, all those who could be considered his students let loose. The ministers who had kept silent the entire time suddenly exploded.

    "I am from the department of rituals. I shall put these traitors in their ce!"

    "Piss off! Your mum can go be a courtesan! Whoever goes to see her is a thirsty boy-toy! I am the head of thebour department. I''d like to see who dares touch Vice-Captain Shen!"

    "Yiren, beat him up! I want to see how an orange prince is going to oppose the heavens!"

    The old Prime Minister Li Si''s students helped him up as he shook. He pulled up his sleeve, pointed right at the orange prince''s face and cursed: "I''ve put up with you for a long time! Bring it on if you''re so tough. I''ll one on one you!"

    He sounded as impressive as the emperor rewarding the three armies on a ceremonial day. The academic officials who were getting on with age ignored the weapons next to them, jumped up, shouted and cried as they rushed over without a care.

    These officials were important for the orange prince. The orange prince gave orders not to hurt them. They don''t know martial arts so they weren''t affected by the wine with Thorn-Tears. They were only controlled by the mercenaries. They weren''t bound either since they weren''t afraid of these officials doing anything.

    But he never expected that to be his Achilles!

    More than thirty-percent of the fiery group that rushed over were old men with white hair. They would probably crumble if you touched them. After receiving orders from the orange prince, they didn''t dare to stop them. They supported each other and rushed over. Forget des cutting into them, just tripping would reduce them to ashes.

    And so the mercenaries backed away leaving an open path so they got to charge at the orange prince as though it was no-man''snd.

    The orange prince started to panic. His fighting spirit was only just slightly more intense than old Prime Minister Li. He wasn''t a match for thebined might of the other officials who were tougher. With all of them charging at him at once, the orange prince was like an ind surrounded by water.

    The orange prince retreated a number of steps. Flustered, he shouted: "Guards! Guards! Assassins are after Emperor Cheng Kong! Guards!!"

    But since everyone was so far away, nobody could make it.ong Zaitian was closest. He was doing circles with his wrists as she prepared to go to the orange prince''s aid. However then when he looked closer, sh*t!

    The leader of the pack was the current prime minister. Among them were Minister Wu Ying, Minister Wen Hua, and Grand Academic Minister Ji Quan. One of them was Long Zaitian''s father''s teacher. They were all elders!

    Not even the grandmander of the Qilin Guards would dare touch them if he was here let alone me.

    So he rxed his fist and stood properly, allowing the elders passage. He indicated his stance: This is your issue with Emperor Cheng Kong. I have no right to interfere.

    The orange prince was stuck in the middle between the major ministers. As soon as they struck at him, the orange prince immediately got drowned by their sheer numbers.

    Fu Xiang immediately rushed over. However, as he slipped on his focus, a gust of wind blew at his ear. The qi from a sharp sword slipped past his neck and he felt the pain of a slit. Fu Xiang reacted with shock: Enemy attack!uckily for him, he was skilled, thereby allowing him to move his head out of the way so he put a distance of three feet between him and the assant. However, his opponent was truly too swift like they were going to pierce through his skull. Fu Xiang expended much effort to evade, but there was still a shocking wound on his neck.

    Fu Xiang turned his head to look and was surprised to discover who his assant was!!

 Volume 3 33 I Was Always Loyal. Dragon In The Sky

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 33 I Was Always Loyal. Dragon In The Sky</h4>

    A string of blood flew off from Fu Xiang''s neck andnded on the ground like rainfall while Fu Xiangnded back on the ground from the air like countless grapes falling. Drops of dark-red blood trickled onto the ground like raindrops which was not only pleasing to the ear but also dyed the ground red. Fu Xiang thought of a number of different people who might have attacked him in the split moment. He even considered his own men who he thought might have turned on him, He also thought if it was a violent riot, but never did he imagine that his assant would be her!

    Shen Yiren who was supposed to be immobilised by Thorn-Tears was as imposing as a sword and her sword was sharper than a normal sword which indicated that her internal energy was normal. Her hair was sprawled messily like a female-demon. A sh of blue awn appeared on the tip of her white-slender finger which didn''t take on a fixed shape, curving and being dexterous like a lively-slippery snake.

    Fu Xiang thought to himself: It''s sword-awn! She''s so young and yet she''s managed to master sword-awn!

    His feet didn''t slow down as he thought to himself. He continued to retreat. The wound on the side of his neck was a big one. One slip up and he could die. While the strike didn''t take his life, he was bleeding heavily. Moulding energy would put him at risk of severe injury. If he didn''t stop the bleeding now, consequences would follow him in future. Fu Xiang didn''t have time to counterattack so he subconsciously tried to seal his meridians to stop the bleeding.

    However, his young opponent didn''t give him the chance to. The sword techniques Shen Yiren unleashed with her finger kept on varying. The most severe wound Fu Xiang had was the one on the side of his neck. She didn''t go after his neck though, instead striking left and right, high and low, but all her thrusts were aimed at his limbs, giving him no time to seal his meridian and heal himself. If Fu Xiang were to seal his meridian to stop the bleeding, he would take a lot of other injuries from Shen Yiren''s onught of attacks.

    In just a moment''s of hesitation, he felt his left chest be wet. His blood had dyed his shirt red. The areas around his neck had turned numb. He had lost all feeling there which was a clear sign he was slowly headed towards danger. If he were to let this continue, his fighting power would be greatly diminished.

    Fu Xiang was without question the strongest in the flying fish pavilion, yet Long Zaitian kept putting him in check and now Shen Yiren was able to bind his hands and legs. Given those experiences, how could he not be mad? Shen Yiren''s cold words resurfaced in his mind: Your ns are perfect, but youck the guts. This shows that you don''t dare to go all the way with things you do. It''s rare to see people in the pugilistic world with such skills yet be such a pussy at the same time.

    Fu Xiang was furious. He roared like a wounded animal, ignoring the wound he had on his neck. He moved his arm and unleashed a Fu Xiang Divine Palms strike aimed at Shen Yiren. As a result, his nerves went into overdrive causing arge volume of blood to spew out.

    He never expected to see a smile on Shen Yiren''s beautiful face. The beautiful physique that chased him down had now stopped giving chase. She went up on tippy-toes, turned and she moved positions, moving a number of inches along with the gust of wind from the palm strike. She stretched her snow-white arm out and picked up a sword from the table. She took another step and then used the force behind Fu Xiang''s palm strike tond like a leafnding on water. She glided toward the ring under the control of the gust of wind like a swallow in spring.

    Fu Xiang realised he fell for her n! Shen Yiren left and didn''te back.

    As soon as Shen Yirennded in the ring, the blue mountain she held in her hand was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Her usage of the sword-awn technique where she uses her fingers as a sword is so formidable witnesses can''t help but be shocked. Thus, needless to say, it was much more incredible when she executed it with a real sword. Those watching over the warriors on the ring were no match for her.

    She managed to subdue the imperial guards in just a few moves and then cut the ropes binding the warriors of the imperial court. The warriors who werepeting today outside of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings didn''t drink Thorn-Tears. They were just tied up with leather ropes and couldn''t break free. However, they managed to break free after Shen Yiren came to their rescue with sword-awn.

    Fu Xiang poured his energy in to his finger making it like the wind and sealed his meridian before quickly leaping over to the rings.

    Wherever Shen Yiren''s de went, a warrior was released, causing countless changes at the battlefield in the flying fish pavilion.

    On the imperial tform, the orange prince was getting beaten up by old ministers. They beat him without mercy and their morale rose as they hit him while cursing him. The orange prince was like a waterdle floating on top of the water getting pressed down into the water and thening back up over and over. His face was soon bruised. He called out loudly: "Minister Long, save me! Save me!!"

    However, Long Zaitian''s attention was fixed on Shen Yiren''s side. After seeing Shen Yirennd in the ring and begin to release warriors, his job here was done too. He shouted in the orange prince''s direction: "Coming!"ong Zaitian moved agilely. He somersaulted through the air and over the heads of the group of ministers. With his monkey-grip, he grabbed the orange prince and pulled him up, saving the orange prince from the sea of people.

    All of the ministers were enraged. They shouted at Long Zaitian stuff like "You traitor, watch me take you on one-on-one."ong Zaitian wore a sneer on his face and then did something nobody ever expected. Right before hended on the ground, he spun around and tossed the orange prince. The orange prince finally escaped from the sea of pain only to get tossed flying away by Long Zaitian before he could give his thanks. Long Zaitian sped his fist with his other hand to bow. He smiled and said: "I dare not ask for your thanks."

    The orange prince was stunned. He furiously thundered at Long Zaitian: "You minion! What are you doing?!"ong Zaitian shouted. He then grabbed the cor on the back of the orange prince''s shirt and mmed him onto a seat. The seat broke due to the impact while the orange prince cried out in pain.

    "What the hell are you crying about?!" Long Zaitian then grabbed the front of the orange prince''s shirt, drew his arm back like pulling a bow-string back and then pped the orange prince over and over across his face as he thundered: "You retarded Emperor Cheng Kong! You dare hit my goddess! This is what you get for hitting her! This is what you get for hitting her!"ong Zaitian pped him four times consecutively. It hurt the orange prince so much he nearly cried "not even my mother has hit me like this before". Both sides of his face quickly swelled up.

    As soon as he finished his four ps, Long Zaitian felt a strong gust of wind attack him. The wind carried with it multiple different weapons, which meant that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings wereing to the orange prince''s rescue.

    The very mention of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings could shake the martial world so they were not someone you would want to provoke. Long Zaitian wasn''t delusional to the point he''d think he could beat so many of them. He knew he was in a pinch so he decisively tossed the orange prince off the tform. And as expected, they went to rescue the orange prince before he fell to his death like Xiang Batian.

    The orange prince''s face was bruised from the beating the ministers dished out on him, and then Long Zaitian pped him, so his entire face was swollen. Chances are, not even his mother, the empress could recognise him anymore at this point. He panted as he pointed at Long Zaitian: "Long Zaitian! Youmitted treason. You¡­ you must be sick of living!!"

    "Kiss my ass." Long Zaitian retorted with disdain: "You''re the one that underestimated our three offices. Miss Shen said it well, I''m a soldier, you''re a brigand. How did Imit treason?"

    "Heh! Has your brain malfunctioned?!" The orange prince seemed to find Long Zaitian''s jeering funny. He loudly eximed: "You already surrendered your loyalty to me, so how are you betraying me? I can remind you if you don''t have a brain! You epted my bribes so there''s evidence against you. You conversed happily with me on the imperial tform today which everybody can be witness to. You''ve already beenbelled as my henchman. Careful you don''t end up like Xiang Batian trying to y to three sides!"ong Zaitian waved his hand like he didn''t care: "Xiang Batian was fickle so how am I the same? I''ve only been loyal to one person from beginning to end, so what do you mean I''m ying to three sides?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You think the Qilin Guards will still ept a traitor like you? You''re the one who drugged everyone with Thorn-Tears. Everyone saw you protecting me. You think you can wipe the te clean with a few words?"

    "That''s why I''m saying you''re stupid. I did drug them, but why is Miss Shen fine?"

    The orange prince looked at Shen Yiren who was gliding across the ring suavely. She certainly was fine. The sight caused the orange prince''s heart to freeze up.

    "My men have always been watching you. How¡­ when did you team up with Shen Yiren?!"ong Zaitian didn''t give an immediate answer. Instead he chuckled coldly and said: "And you im yourself to be skilled at collecting intel. You watched me for twelve hours each day. You sent me a group of divas, and sent a stash of gold, money, pearls and treasures to my house leaving me with no choice but to ept them as a means to prevent me from betraying you. But why didn''t it ur to you that I hadn''t been home for months after you sent me the presents?"

    "You¡­ you son of a¡­¡­"ong Zaitian shook his head and sighed: "If it weren''t for Mystery being so powerful, you wouldn''t even have the right to mention a revolt."

    He didn''t wait for the others around to react once he finished. He copied Shen Yiren and leapt toward the closest ring. His qinggong skills are inferior to Shen Yiren and he didn''t have the gust of wind of Fu Xiang''s palm strike to ride. Thus, he got exhausted half-way and had to somersault tond on the ground instead of trying to leap further. Uponnding, he then ran up the ring.

    There were only a few members from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings on the imperial tform. Seeing Long Zaitian betray them, the other members went at him in full force.

    The members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings ran over from all directions wanting to smash his head in. Long Zaitian fought them off as he ran, continuously striking. Their battle was powerfully imposing like a tiger fighting off eagles swooping in at it. He then noticed an opportunity and jumped onto the steps of another ring.

    One of the members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings shouted: "You want to find a helper from the rings? You''re delusional!"

    Just as Long Zaitian was about to climb the ring, two gusts of wind blew toward him which meant that two wereing for him. Attacking from above always gives one the positional and physical advantage over the one below. Long Zaitian couldn''t evade in time so he was forced to block.

    However, despite seeing the two of them, Long Zaitian didn''t block, allowing the two of them to grab his shoulder bone with their Metal Rock-Splitting ws, hurting him so much cold sweat appeared on his forehead and trickled down. They never expected it to be so easy either. Just as they were about to rip his arms off, they felt a strong force control their necks from behind.ong Zaitian leveraged his tall stature. When the two of them jumped him, he grabbed the back of their necks at the same time and then bashed their heads against each other. After a loud crack sound, the two of them were seeing stars. The others were surprised to see Long Zaitian put the two''s lights out before sumbing to his injuries, causing them to freeze up.ong Zaitian clenched his teeth, whipped his hands and then gave it his all to muster everything he had and punched the two of them with his two fists like a massive wave crashing into the shore. His punches cracked their bones which could be clearly heard, indicating he put everything he had into his punches.ong Zaitian''s face looked like he got his head dunked in water as mes of fury surfaced into his eyes.

    "Three of my brothers died to your eagle w technique, and it was you two sons of a bitch that killed them!!"

    The two of them took three punches each, all of which were in lethal ces. Long Zaitian roared, opened his fists to the side and smashed them into their backs, sending the two of them flying like cannonballs. Theirnding posture was one even a yoga master would struggle to get into. Obviously, their bones were snapped and their lights were out.ong Zaitian had avenged his brothers and unleashed everything he had in the moment because of his anger. He was exhausted now. He quickly climbed to the top of the ring and ran toward Shen Yiren. But as soon as he reached the top, what his eyes saw sent him into another world of surprise.

    He only saw Shen Yiren duking it out with Fu Xiang on one side. There was only the two of them. There was no backup. Long Zaitian remembered Shen Yiren had released a few people so why was there no one else in sight? Upon careful inspection, his heart froze. Eight corpses lied on the ground. When he saw their faces, he realised, those were the warriors of the imperial court who were freed.

 Volume 3 34 Roger

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 34 Roger</h4>

    Fu Xiang chased after Shen Yiren right after she leapt over to the ring. She had released just eight people when Fu Xiang sted a gust of wind from his palm strike toward her that forced her to evade. However, four warriors who she had just released were murdered by Fu Xiang''s brutal palm strike that was like lightning strike. Shen Yiren went to save them but Fu Xiang moved and then unleashed a string of palm strikes consecutively, killing another four.

    Fu Xiangughed: "You mocked me for not going all the way andcking guts, but look at you."

    He struck again three times consecutively whileughing. They fought one-on-one, but Shen Yiren wasn''t a match for Fu Xiang in her current condition. Shen Yiren attacked a few times, but Fu Xiang won the upper hand after just a few moves from her.

    Heughed and mocked her: "Vice-captain Shen, you had the opportunity to release more people. All you had to do was kill the imperial guards stopping you, but you instead took your time bringing them under control. You also had the option of releasing more people while I was busy killing these people, but instead, you came here to try and rescue these people who were doomed. You had far too many chances. You messed up because you were being wishy-washy as a woman."

    "I''m different to you." Shen Yiren looked at him with a firm gaze and said: "These imperial guards revolted with the orange prince so they''re criminals. I would''ve killed them without a word if I ran into them in the pugilistic world. However, I''m currently in the pce so I must follow the rules here. I would be viting the rules if I don''t have them interrogated. Those you deemed ''doomed'' were people I personally released. They were brave warriors who had the courage to put up a resistance when we''re in such a dire situation. I wouldn''t be able to face their souls on the other side if I didn''t rescue them. You on the other hand, have lived for so long and yet you have no sense of morality or care for bonds. I feel sorry for your parents."

    Her words were undisputedly full of justice. Fu Xiang had no response for them.

    Then a voice from behind called out: "I''ming!"ong Zaitian tumbled and crawled his way over after his fight. Hended between Shen Yiren and Fu Xiang. As soon as hended, he immediately bounced over to Shen Yiren''s side. He smiled and said: "Miss Shen, everything went ording to our n."

    He then wore a bitter smile and added: "It''s just that our enemies turned out to be stronger than we expected so our n failed."

    "n? You two were always in contact?"

    Fu Xiang looked at Long Zaitian and Shen Yiren who was panting for air. He didn''t wait for Shen Yiren''s reply. Instead, he revealed a weird smile and ridiculed her: "I see how it is. Poor Young Master Song got knocked out by his majesty for your sake too. You sure are a phnderer, Miss Shen."

    "I''ll follow whoever I please. What''s it to you?"

    "Of course, of course. I was just wondering if I''d be fortunate enough to have the honour of joining you."

    Shen Yiren didn''t respond this time.

    Fu Xiang said that to see what Shen Yiren''s condition was like. He knew that she hadn''t made aplete recovery when he heard her shaky voice and saw her very pale face. Now that he was at ease, he said: "So you were a spy, huh, Long Zaitian. No wonder why you had his majesty send half of the imperial guards away. I told his majesty you couldn''t be trusted and I was right."

    The prince was slowly running toward this direction from far away apanied by two guards. As he ran he embarrassingly spouted "I knew it too. I knew it too! I was just giving him a chance to wise up! I''m a very smart guy!"

    The orange prince''s party''s true power was now bared for all to see.

    Other than the highly-skilled Fu Xiang, there were five members from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings who were slowly surrounded present. Though half of the imperial guards had been sent away, there were still hundreds of imperial guards below the ring. Every prince is allowed to have one-thousand five-hundred imperial guards under his control. The prince''s imperial guards weren''t meant to be in the pce. They managed to get in because Eunuch Nan opened the pce gates for them. But nobody knew that.

    It was Long Zaitian and Shen Yiren versus six highly-skilled fighters and hundreds of imperial guards. Slice it as you like, they were doomed.ong Zaitian scanned their surroundings. There were the two that he just killed. There were only seven members from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings present at the flying fish pavilion. The other six had gone off to capture the emperor. They had to bring this ce under control before the emperor was captured or everything would be over.

    Realising that, Long Zaitian''s face turned pale. Heughed and said: "Haha, Old Fu, you certainly possess profound internal strength and extraordinary martial arts. I''m surprised you''re still alive after that wound Miss Shen inflicted on you."

    "Long Zaitian, I see you''re talkative as ever. But it''s pointless for you to buy time. You forcefully moulded energy before and are left with less than thirty-percent of your energy. You won''t be able to recover in less than an hour." Fu Xiangughed and went on: "As for your Miss Shen, let me tell you something about her out of good-will. She''s been having an affair with that bastard, Ming Feizhen for a while."ong Zaitian reacted like a man struck by lightning. His face twitched and he asked a question looking like he was vomiting blood at the same time: "Miss Shen, i-is that true? So you kept flirting with him to tell me to give up?"ong Zaitian got thrown off his game by his opponent. Shen Yiren shot him an angry re.

    Shen Yiren thundered: "Look at the situation we''re in! I can''t believe you''re still spouting this nonsense!"ong Zaitian instinctively straightened up his posture. Shen Yiren loudly eximed: "You should all be starting to feel like you''re recovering now as well. Whoever can still fight, get up in the ring!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Fu Xiang''s expression changed for the worse. He too didn''t expect that reaction from Shen Yiren. Shen Yiren was most certainly afflicted by the effects of Thorn-Tears. Fu Xiang stayed hidden, waiting for the right moment when it was confirmed that everybody had been affected by Thorn-Tears. Fu Xiang is a cautious man. He wouldn''t take action unless he was nintey-percent confident.

    Shen Yiren had evidently recovered her strength though notpletely. However, she wasn''t feeling weak all-over. Fu Xiang was afraid that the members of the emperor''s security guard detail and the Qilin Guards had recovered theirbat abilities like Shen Yiren. If that happened, the flying fish pavilion would be impregnable once again.

    But they didn''t move after what Shen Yiren said. Well, that''s not entirely true since they all wore painful expressions simr to Shen Yiren.

    Thorn-tears is an anaesthetic that''s made by Demon Mirror Heavenly Cloud Pce. It''s not a poison. Technically speaking, it''s an unbeatable drug. Even if there was something that could match, it would cost an unbelievable amount of money and effort to acquire. Mystery spent all of their money and took three years to get enough to poison the people here in the flying fish pavilion. Forget a skilled-doctor, not even the pharmacist from Heavenly Cloud Pce who can make it would be able to make such arge volume in a short amount of time.

    Shen Yiren shouted: "I know that you are all in immense pain right now. But we have no time right now. Pleasee forth and protect the imperial city!"

    However, she spoke with a pale expression and shaky posture.ong Zaitian couldn''t help but panic when he saw her in that state: "M-Miss Shen, what drug did you have me put in the drinks?!" Long Zaitian didn''t have an antidote. He only obeyed Shen Yiren''s order to add another drug to the drinks after adding Thorn-Tears. However, he didn''t know what the drug was.

    After a moment of silence, Shen Yiren replied in a shaky voice: "Poison hemlock¡­¡­"

    "Poison hemlock?!" Long Zaitian was astonished. He loudly eximed: "That''s a poison!"

    "You cure us of Thorn-Tears quickly then if you''ve got another way!"

    Everyone in the flying fish pavilion gasped after they heard what was said. The warriors who were still able to hang in there started to feel their qi at their dantian be erratic like a sabre was shing randomly at their dantian. Poison hemlock is a strong poison which can erase Thorn-Tears, but it is strong as aforementioned. Consequently, they naturally felt a little worried.

    The hairs on the back of Fu Xiang''s neck stood up when he heard the gasps from all side. He looked at Shen Yiren and asked: "You used poison hemlock to cure it? I said you weren''t brutal enough but it looks like I was wrong. Not only are you brutal, you''re a maniac too. You went and poisoned all the warriors here?"

    Shen Yiren lowered her beautiful face. She suddenly stood up straight and shot the sword in her hand at him like an arrow. A sword aimed at Fu Xiang''s neck flew toward him like a lightning bolt. Fu Xiang never expected her to still be able to fight, so he evaded in quiet a pathetic manner.

    "It''s just a bit of poison. You ramble too fucking much¡­¡­" Shen Yiren slowly stood up with a pale expression. She took in a deep breath and then shouted: "His highness has gone missing! Why are you not doing your part with all you''ve got as vassals of the imperial court? Even the elder ministers who are weak put up a fight. Do you remember what your job is?"

    The warriors lying on the ground with painful expressions witnessed the elder ministers'' act. They certainly were weak, but despite that, they still mustered up their strength to fight back. Their fire of anger in their chest was still alight¡­¡­ Except, they were far away so they didn''t know the elder ministers actually fought back for Shen Yiren''s sake.

    The orange prince finally arrived. He loudly shouted: "The emperor is dead. I am now the ruler of this ce. You are servants of the imperial court. You dare disobey my orders?"

    Shen Yiren coldly said: "You''re just a traitor. What right do you have to be giving orders?"

    The orange prince retorted: "Do you have an imperial decree then?!"

    "I do!"

    He never expected for Shen Yiren to say: "Members of the three offices knew from day-one that there was an imperial decree that had existed since our first emperor which has been right in front os us¡­¡­ Where is Liu Shan Men?!"

    No one knows where they got their energy from. Perhaps the members of Liu Shan Men weren''t heavily poisoned because they didn''t possess profound strength. Together they shouted with vigour: "Enforce justice on behalf of the heavens!"ong Zaitian seized the moment and the Qilin Guards came forth: "Protect ournds and our people!"

    The emperor''s security detail came back to life: "I am present!!"

    Fu Xiang''s expression changed instantly: This bitch Shen Yiren is a sly bitch. She deliberately provoked the orange prince into insulting her, knowing that the elder ministers wouldn''t turn a blind eye. So all the steps she took was to create this opportunity to turn the tables!

    As expected, the pale-faced warriors all fought the pain in their dantian that was like sabres cutting into them to rise up. One of them loudly shouted: "Liu Shan Men''s Zha Pi has heard your orders!!!"

    The others then went along.

    "His highness''s security detail''s Shen F has heard your orders!"

    "His highness''s security detail''s Luo Limo has heard your orders!"

    "Qilin Guard Wei Lanmao has heard your orders!"

    "Qilin Guard Wei Sutong has heard your orders!"

    The group that rose up and responded to the call suddenly transformed into fierce beasts and started to fight with the imperial guards while fighting the pain from the poison. The poison hemlock had begun to cure their Thorn-tears effects. Though they were still suffering some of its effects, they had recovered their strength. Some were even able to use fifty-percent of the strength now.

    But more importantly, they had gained morale.

    Fu Xiang clenched his teeth and eximed: "You bitch, Shen Yiren! I underestimated you! We six can''t kill these hundreds of warriors, but killing you won''t be an issue. I''ll grant you your death-wish!! He then raised his palm and struck with all his might like an elephant stomping with the intent of crushing.ong Zaitian wanted to protect her. However, a member of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings kept him upied.

    Shen Yiren had overextended and was exhausted. She had trouble keep her eyes open. She trembled as she said: "I wasn''t¡­ talking about them."

    "Then who else?!"

    "Me."

    Screams of pain loudly rung through the air to him from behind. Two members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings then went flying through the air before dropping onto the ground with a thud. Their necks were covered in wounds inflicted by a sword and they had sumbed to their wounds.ike a fire-dragon soaring through the sky, a burning-hot qi seeped into the air. A purple silhouette appeared from the sky from the rear like he emerged from a burning Earth.

    When his palm collided with Fu Xiang''s, both of them retreated a step.

    The titan and the fire vanished, revealing his opponent.

    Fu Xiang looked at his opponent. A faint white-smoke was being emitted from him like an intense fire had been put out.

    A tall and handsome young man dressed in purple with a cold expression held the sword Shen Yiren sent flying to him early. He faintly said: "Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye has heard your order."

 Volume 3 35 Fire Soaring In The Sky. Titan That Continues To Glide

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 35 Fire Soaring In The Sky. Titan That Continues To Glide</h4>

    Fu Xiang looked at the young man before him as well as the sword he held in his hand. He realised that he had fallen for another one of Shen Yiren''s tricks but unconsciously became wary of Tang Ye as well.

    The young man didn''t look old but just standing there alone was enough to show off his extraordinary aura. He wore a cold expression, but his chivalry and talent were faintly visible in his eyes. His eyes revealed an aura only a highly-skilled master would possess. If Fu Xiang''s eyes weren''t lying to him, the young man before him might be on his level.

    He initially thought he beat Tie Hanyi by a stroke of luck, but he now realised that he was the real deal.

    "Tang Ye¡­ based on my intel, you''re a descendent of the northern sea''s Ming Jing Pce." Fu Xiang looked at the heat energy oozing out from his body with confusion. He went on: "The northern sea''s Ming Jing Pce is arge sect in the north. Their specialty is most certainly profound, but their internal style focuses mainly on cold yin energy."

    Fu Xiang looked at the marks left on his hand that shed with Tang Ye''s just before

    "Where did you learn you learn Yang internal arts from? Based on your execution, I assume you''ve been practicing for over a decade since you were a kid, right?"

    Tang Ye bluntly replied: "It''s called Yang Blood True Qi. It''s Kun Lun''s art."

    "Oh? You''re a disciple from Kun Lun?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Besides Jiang Nan''s martial world, Shaolin, Wu Dang and Mount Daluo are the leaders of the orthodox sects, followed by Kun Lun, Emei, Kong Dong and Dian Cang. Kun Lun is a school that teaches many other subjects outside of martial arts. However, since it is located further west, it''s hard for their disciples to reach Nan Jing. Fu Xiang is a cautious man. He gathers all the information he can possibly gather. His old habit was kicking in again.

    Tang Ye ndly replied: "No. Stop sticking your nose into my business. Focus!"

    When Tang Ye shouted "focus", he flipped his hand and whipped it without looking, sending the long-sword in his hand flying over. It cut the ropes restraining a warrior behind with absolute precision, causing no wounds. The warrior he released happened to be from the emperor''s security detail. The guy who was released immediately picked up the sword and continued releasing more people. The two members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings overwatching them had already been incapacitated and were unable to get up.

    There were only three members from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings left right now. One of them was fighting Long Zaitian while the other two immediately sprung into action to stop them. The mercenaries who weren''t too shabby understood the severity of the situation so they protected the orange prince to prevent Tang Ye froming close.

    Fu Xiang was going to assist given the situation, but then he saw a purple silhouette enter. That was Tang Ye who was now locked in battle with Fu Xiang.

    Tang Ye relied on a strong gust of wind to attack with his hands.

    This was the first time someone dared to face Fu Xiang face-to-face after seeing his true skills. Fu Xiang blocked Tang Ye''s two hands, took two steps back and then countered with one palm strike. Tang Ye couldn''tpete with him in terms of internal strength so he had to flip and then retreat. However, he recovered iparably swiftly uponnding and then smashed his palm into Fu Xiang''s. If his opponent wasn''t highly-skilled, he would be thrown off by Tang Ye''s fighting style that utilises lots of changes. That would lead his opponent into moulding energy incorrectly, thus putting themselves in danger.

    Fu Xiang struck with a simple single palm strike again. His Fu Xiang Divine Palms had reached the level of a great master so he didn''t need to mould energy. Power was naturally generated onto his hands by simply extending his arms. Tang Ye''s sneak attacks couldn''t catch him off guard. Usually, his opponent was bound to die once he struck. This was the first time he didn''t dare to put all his might into his palm strikes, leaving thirty-percent in the tank.

    Fu Xiang knew that Liu Shan Men''s minor lord was skilled. Though Tang Ye''s internal strength was inferior to his own, the internal style he trained was indeed unique. He didn''t feel like he was particr strong on their first exchange, but then Fu Xiang finally felt that his internal strength wasn''t being released smoothly when they shed the second time. His nerves in his left hand in particr throbbed with pain which gradually increasing. The pain was akin to getting burnt, causing his internal energy to be blocked.

    Fu Xiang thought to himself: This kid''s internal strength is profound, but far inferior to mine, so it''s nothing to be concerned about. But the internal style he trains is honestly terrifying. It specifically tries to burn the opponent''s meridians and injure their organs. Even if I don''te into contact with him, the qi on his body makes the air around us hot too, not to mention the qi he applies to his hands. Touching them feels like my hands are getting burnt. Just what style is that?

    Fu Xiang only thought that the style he trained was one he was personally unfamiliar with. However, the qi was righteous, which was evidence it was an orthodox style.

    He then thought about something else and said to himself: Even if his burning qi could be stored in his meridians for a long time before taking shape, he needs to gather it on his palms before he attacks. I don''t believe that you can maintain it on your palms forever. What, it doesn''t burn you and burns just me?!

    Hence, the next time they engaged each other, Fu Xiang didn''t take Tang Ye''s strikes head on. He avoided hand contact by weaving his hands. He wanted to find out if Tang Ye could keep his True Yang Blood Qi in his hands.

    His tactic worked as he expected. Tang Ye didn''t use Yang Blood True Qi as he did before.

    But Fu Xiang''s joy didn''t evenst for a second as Tang Ye''s abilities blew Fu Xiang''s expectations out of the water again.

    Ever since Fu Xiang started avoiding contact with his qi, opting to use a technical method of fighting, Tang Ye switched up his tactic as well. He fought technically instead which was just how he liked it.

    Fu Xiang''s style was simple and unadorned. He practiced Fu Xiang Divine Palms since he was young until now, using just one style to beat all of his opponents. Hisbat-style and Tang Ye''s wereplete pr opposites. Tang Ye''s way of fighting was like participating in a martial arts knowledge lecture.

    Tang Ye sneered indifferently. He changed his hands techniques non-stop in an incredible fashion.

    "Wh-What is this?!!"

    Tang Ye threw consecutive punches with his left and right arm, but with three different methods of execution being heavy, soft, strong and swift, which also came from three different styles. He kicked high like a mountain piercing the heavens. He grabbed a sword with his left hand and yet utilised Liu Shan Men''s basic sword art. He continued to strike, unleashing skills from five different styles.

    Fu Xiang started to get slightly flustered due to Tang Ye''s flurry of moves from various schools. After much effort, he managed to regain hisposure and cussed: "I don''t care if your techniques are even more unique and miraculous! They can''t hold a candle to the power of a single palm strike of mine!"

    He countered Tang Ye''s continuous changes by going with his original tactic, and thus struck out with a palm strike as usual.

    Tang Ye however, evaded the strike and then used Kun Lun''s Soft Hands. The technique consisted of encaging the force of his palm strike and reducing it significantly. He then suddenly twisted his body and moved his arms in a semi-circr shape. That was Wudang''s Soft Palms Art. Using that, he erased the wind gust of wind generated by the palm strike and adjusted his posture.

    Finally, Tang Ye concentrated and gathered his qi. He flicked simultaneously with his fingers. That was Spinning Flower Wheel Finger Arts Feint Strikes. He flicked three times consecutively with one hand. He reduced most of the force behind the palm strike using abination of technique and speed.

    Fu Xiang was astonished by what he saw. There was no way his tactic of sticking with his original tactic to counter Tang Ye''s countless changes would work, especially considering the swift speed at which he switched moves. Some in the martial world refuse to master one style, instead choosing to train various styles. However, the end result is a style that''s full of obvious openings and weaknesses. Fu Xiang himself had personally killed lots of those sorts of idiots.

    Tang Ye was apletely different beast though.

    He didn''tbine over ten styles together. He wouldn''t have the skill to do it at his age.

    What he possessed was incredible fighting talent.

    The amazing part about Tang Ye is his excellent judgement. He''s able to use the right style at the right moment based on the changes that ur during a fight. His eyesight, body and strategies were all perfectlybined when he diffused the power of Fu Xiang''s attack. The tactics he used were even more impressively creative. Using brute force to pressure Tang Ye was honestly Fu Xiang''s only counter against Tang Ye. Every move Tang Ye makes is calcted. It''s amazing how he can grasp a battle so well despite his young age. Fu Xiang himself who had worked as an assassin for a long time knew he couldn''t beat him in that aspect.

    It was a talent, or perhaps the result of his diligent training. Whatever the case, it was a fearsome weapon. Fighting him was the equivalent of fighting multiple opponents.

    When he traded blows with Tang Ye, he knew that his skills weren''t inferior to Shen Yiren, but he was definitely superior to Long Zaitian. In terms of battle IQ, he was most likely superior to both of them. Who said Liu Shan Men has no talent? Haven''t you got yourself a treasured piece of jade here?!

 Volume 3 36 Fu Xiang the Dragon that Descends VS Heaven Shocker Tang Ye

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 36 Fu Xiang the Dragon that Descends VS Heaven Shocker Tang Ye</h4>

    Fu Xiang sighed to himself that he was unlucky to run into a treasure now of all times. He was honestly a little worn out from today. Fu Xiang wasn''t initially worried about fighting for an extended period of time since he possessed profound internal strength. He''s tried fighting with someone for three days and managed to score the win due to him having more stamina. However, he had to go all out against Ming Feizhen, then he had to put on an act with Eunuch Nan in front of the emperor, then he fought with Shen Yiren where he never got to catch his breath after her. Tang Ye was now his fourth opponent. Fu Xiang isn''t made out of iron after all so he was starting to fatigue.

    Moreover, trading powerful blows against Tang Ye''s continually changing hand techniques was taxing.

    Just as he was at a loss for how to beat Tang Ye''s unique fighting style, Tang Ye suddenly retreated which surprised him. Tang Ye retreated like an eagle soaring through the skies. He glided through the air, suddenly made a turn and gave the ck Winds Thirteen Wings member locked in battle with Long Zaitian a big elbow to his back.

    The guy he hit wielded two hooks. Long Zaitian was already pushing it by fighting him bare-handed. Just as he saw Long Zaitian tire out, he was sure he could take his life. But then he took a heavy blow to his back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. Thus, Long Zaitian was able to escape his predicament. Heughed out loud and then kicked the downed-man away.

    A moment of distraction caused Fu Xiang to lose another man. He charged over furiously only to discover that Tang Ye had taken his two hooks. Tang Ye spun around and used an odd hook technique.

    The technique used by Tang Ye was strange. There was a strange change mid-way through his attack. Since it was executed in tandem with Tang Ye''s Yang blood True Qi technique, it was a different animal. Fu Xiang got caught with surprise. He couldn''t make out the moves so he didn''t dare to force his way forward, thereby opting to retreat for now, judging it to be the better decision.ong Zaitian shouted: "The Green Leviathan''s Group''s Leviathan Hooks the Sea, nice!"

    Hooks are a unique weapon that''s rarely seen. Without years of practice, it''d be impossible to grasp even the basics. Tang Ye however, used a brilliant technique as soon as he got his hands on a pair. It was like he''d practiced for decades so who wouldn''t be bewildered?

    "Nice!" Long Zaitian shouted anotherpliment that was louder than hisst: "Triple Talent Hook Arts! Brother Tang, I was right about you!"

    Tang Ye used one set of techniques on one hand and another set on his other. He used them as independent hooks and as twin hooks. Different weapons naturally mean different techniques. Tang Ye used the two hooks as two singr hooks so it was perfectly understandable as to why Long Zaitian was surprised.

    When Tang Ye wielded the hooks, it made the ring look like a tank of mercury. He leapt up and somersaulted,nding two yards away from the orange prince. Fu Xiang didn''t believe it at first, but he now understood what Tang Ye was nning. He was going to solo the orange prince''s men in the flying fish pavilion alone.

    "What an arrogant punk. You have to get past me first if you want to touch his majesty!"

    Tang Ye didn''t take on Fu Xiang''s palm strike. Tang Ye was thinking: He can go hit the air or something, I''m going to go and hunt my target.

    Fu Xiang held back to avoid casualties or damage. He didn''t dare to use his full power in case he hurt the orange prince, but that gave Tang Ye the opportunity to swiftly circle around the orange prince''s group of guards. The hooks flew into the air and hooked into the necks of two of the mercenaries causing them to shriek in pain. The orange prince suddenly found himself isted and without assistance.

    The orange prince Shouted: "Y-You dare?!"

    Tang Ye just gave a blunt response: "Your majesty, you revolted. I am Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye. I have received an order to arrest you. Please cooperate."

    "No! Come get me yourself if you can!"

    The orange prince pulled out an exquisitely decorated ancient sword from his belt. The de emitted a shiny light. It certainly was a high-quality sword. The orange prince isn''t diligent so his skills are so-so. His teachers on the other hand, were virtually all masters so he knew a move or two. The orange prince shouted loudly and stabbed with his sword. He looked the part for sure.

    Tang Ye didn''t evade. No one knows how he moulded energy, but he just reached his left hand out and gently caught the sword. Without even looking, he casually pulled the sword over and performed a figure-eight before throwing it behind him toward Fu Xiang who was sneaking up from behind. Fu Xiang caught the tip of the de. If he put his strength into it, it would be an internal strength deadlock.

    "Get lost!!"

    Tang Ye roared. The metal de of the ancient sword shined its light in all directions nine times like a dragon''s movement. Not even Fu Xiang was able to catch it with his strength, leaving him with no choice but to let go. The orange prince himself was dumbfounded too. He thought to himself: "This Heaven Shocker de has been with me for years, yet I have never seen it shine like so. How did it be so powerful after this sh*t-face got his hands on it?!"

    Shen Yiren had finally suppressed some of the poison. She saw Tang Ye''s sword technique. Her eyes reflected the light emitted from the metal de. She joyously said: "Fantastic! Kun Lun''s sword art certainly lives up to its reputation. Such fierce and swift techniques. That''s The Dragon shes Nine Times in the Sky! No, eighteen times!"

    The Dragon shes Nine Times in the Sky has nine variations. Tang Ye then went and added Ming Jing Pce''s unique footwork, creating the perfect storm of yin and yang. The sword also exuded two different powers being yin and yang, thereby turning the nine shes into eighteen shes.

    Fu Xiang never wanted to deal Tang Ye a heavy blow. What he truly wanted to do was to use retreat as a means to advance. Taking advantage of Tang Ye leaping into the air to execute his sword technique, he switched positions with him and ignored Tang Ye''s sword strike then ran toward the orange prince.

    "Fu Xiang! Hurry and protect me!"

    "Don''t worry, your majesty! No one will be able toy a finger on you with me here!"

    However, he got stopped again. Tang Ye''s move didn''t end there. He wasn''t after the orange prince or Fu Xiang. He created a whirlwind that was intended to destroy. He leapt up in an instant and ran the ancient sword through thest member of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings who was fighting a few of the warriors of the imperial court who had just been released.

    This particr member wielded a chain-gun. Chain guns are the most difficult weapon to master. It was straight as an iron rod and yet curved like a snake. It was both tough and soft. It was a hard weapon to guard against when a skilled user wielded it.

    It was as though the ck Winds Thirteen Wings had met their natural-born nemesis today. Despite how odd and rare their weapons were, they weren''t unique in any way for Tang Ye. As a matter of fact, he was able to use high-level skills with them right off the bat.

    Seeing Tang Ye and Fu Xiang fight on equal footing for so long, he naturally knew that he wasn''t a match. However, the chain-gun is no ordinary weapon. Breaking through his defence in a short timeframe was no easy feat and he was using the chain-gun to its maximum potential at the time.

    Normally, not even Tang Ye would be able to break down his defences in a short timeframe, but this time it was different. Tang Ye didn''t aim for the gun. Instead he used techniques that corresponded with his own. He used The Dragon shes Nine Times in the Sky against him.

    The assassin thought to himself: Your overconfidence will be your downfall. Don''t me me.

    Just as he was about to use his chain gun to tie his hand holding the sword with before dealing with his other hand, the sharp de of the ancient sword had cut the chain into pieces before nine shes had evennded. Tang Ye had managed to identify the weakness in his style and realised his weapon was his true trump card, thus destroying it swiftly and effortlessly with his sharp de.

    Tang Ye then tossed the Heaven Shaker ancient sword to Long Zaitian. He formed a gust of wind below his feet which he used to leap back over to Fu Xiang.

    Tang Ye cut the chains of the chain gun extremely quickly. So quickly he had returned before Fu Xiang could move his feet. He thought to himself: There''s no chance of me beating him on technique or speed. For the sake of today''s n, my only hope of winning is relying on my internal strength to fight with brute force.

    After he made that decision, he and Tang Ye began to try and dismantle the other''s techniques one palm strike at a time.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tang Ye''s palms were like Guan Yin''s thousands of hands. He utilised palm techniques from multiple styles, but Fu Xiang''s awkward power and technique fighting style countered his own efforts. Once Tang Ye gathered his qi, the air around them turned hot again because he had used Yang Blood True Qi once again.

    Fu Xiang had a way to counter it a while ago. He just had to avoid trading palm strikes with him. He was fine as long as long as Tang Ye''s palms couldn''t contain the odd hot qi.

    Fu Xiang forcefully moulded energy and struck with his palms again. He put more than two-times the strength behind his palm strikes than before so Tang Ye couldn''t get close. Though that cost him a lot of energy, the consequences of ying to Tang Ye''s tune would be even more severe.

    Tang Ye was now unable to get close to Fu Xiang but the atmosphere only got hotter. Tang Ye however, didn''t look like he was fighting any pain.

    Fu Xiang noticed that Tang Ye was moving as usual as he unleashed hand-strikes powerful enough to create gusts of wind. The area around his palms was probably hotter than boiling water. Based on Fu Xiang''s superior sense of touch, he felt that his palms were virtually as hot as bright-red soldering iron. How was one able to contain such heat in their hands? He must be using a trick!

    Fu Xiang didn''t buy it!

    And he must be expending a massive amount of internal energy to keep up with his fighting style. He shouted: "I''m getting serious now!" He then struck with two palm strikes, shing with Tang Ye''s own.

    Tang Ye got sent flying backwards from the shockwave as he expected. Unfortunately, the hot energy still entered his meridians causing burn wounds on the meridians of his hands. Fu Xiang looked at Tang Ye with utter disbelief as Tang Ye rushed back toward him like a cursed spirit that wouldn''t go away. His palms were flesh and bone too, so by what power was he able to reach such a level?!

    Tang Ye''s hands then suddenly glowed red due to his usage of Yang Blood True Qi. But he clearly saw the red-blood colour fade from his hands and turn ck when they exchanged blows.

    It was the ck colour you find on iron. There''s only one reason that someone''s hand would be that colour, and that is they were using the high-level Iron Palm technique simr to Tie Hanyi''s techniques.

    Fu Xiang suddenly had a spark of realisation. He thundered: "Iron Palms Style! You fucking yed me!" Fu Xiang was toote to realise it. His breathing was in disarray and he had wasted plenty of energy. Tang Ye''s palm aimed toward him like Yangtze Rivering to shore. Not one technique was delivered as a heavy blow, instantly burying Fu Xiang in his flurry of attacks.ong Zaitian who stood to the side was full ofpliments: "Iron Fist, huh? One must have great patience and determination to master it. Tie Hanyi is formidable as is. I''m afraid one can''t achieve that level with Iron Palms before the age of thirty."ong Zaitian looked at Tang Ye''s emotionless expression and sighed: "It''s hard to imagine how such a young man can be so rational and determined."

    "One requires two things to master a style like Iron Fist. They are discipline and determination. It''s not that hard really." Shen Yiren watched Tang Ye withpassionate eyes as well feelings no one knew. She faintly said: "When your mind is upied with vengeance every day, you will live with discipline and your determination will be unshakable. This¡­ applies for everyone."

 Volume 3 37 Liu Shan and Qilin, He Who Kills More Enemies is the Victor

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 37 Liu Shan and Qilin, He Who Kills More Enemies is the Victor</h4>

    There were still a fair number of imperial guards under the orange prince''smand who could put up a fight in the pavilion. However, their leader had been defeated so they too had no way of fighting on, thereby quickly surrendering one after another. The warriors who used hemlock poison to neutralise the poison from Thorn-tears were starting to slowly give in to the effects of it. They forced themselves to fight because they felt brave after Shen Yiren''s speech, but they were slowly struggling to resist the poison now. Shen Yiren had prepared hemlock poison earlier and ordered it be passed around. Those who were heavily poisoned sat down and tried to control their breathing. Those who were poisoned lightly took up the responsibility of guarding the venue as well as watching over the troops who had surrendered.

    There were a total of eight-hundred and seventy three rebels in the pavilion, most of whom were imperial guards and the minority were the warriors from the pugilistic world.

    The masterminds of the revolt, the orange prince didn''t even have a chance to react before he got grabbed by Tang Ye''s eagle w like a chick and hung up. Tang Ye also took the advantage to seal his meridians. In short, the orange prince got put in his ce before he could try anything funny. Tang Ye tossed the two leaders, the orange prince and Fu Xiang together before casually going and restraining everyone else.

    All the vassals of the imperial court were delighted to see the orange prince get captured.

    Soon, there were threeyers of people surrounding the orange prince who spat on him to express their loyalty. Needless to say, there were others who decided to use other special methods. It would take more than three days to list all of the wicked deedsmitted by the orange prince.

    The elder Prime Minister Li who was prime minister for two reigns maintained his mannerisms and held the venue together. He bunched his robe together and looked calm like he was heading to a conference with the emperor. He spoke in a long-winded fashion: "I witnessed even more serious crises back then. This level of turbulence is but child''s y to me. A failure of a child got a few nobodies from the pugilistic world to cause chaos? What was achieved?"

    He looked like a deity, appearing calmer than Jiang Ziya sitting at the fishing tform. The other major ministers and elder ministers looked as equally calm. Now that is the way wise vassals carry themselves. The others quickly followed suit as though nothing happened. The only thing to look at was the orange prince''s face covered in saliva.

    When Shen Yiren saw the orange prince''s face devoid of pride¡­ okay, his nose was bruised and his facial features had be contorted, she couldn''t find any words. Shen Yiren just took a guess as to what he was thinking: "What''s the matter? Still not admitting defeat?"

    "Defeat? When did I lose? Heh, it''s just starting." The orange prince revealed a look like he wanted to cry soon, but his tone was firm: "Shallow water can''t trap a dragon. I''ll break free eventually!"

    That said, it was hard to believe he was the speaker given the shape of his face.

    Shen Yiren frowned and then violently eximed: "Fuck you! Speak loud and clear. What the hell is a man crying about?"

    The orange prince angrily shouted back "Who cried?! Who''s crying?! I''mughing!"

    Shen Yiren froze. After taking a careful look, she realised that if she were to get rid of his bruises and get rid of the swelling, then indeed it would be believable that he was smiling. The reason he squint his eyes shouldn''t be because he was tearing up but it was someone''s saliva.

    "I only lost because I had a bad eye for people and misced my trust with Long Zaitian." The orange prince looked up to Long Zaitian to reveal an evil sneer like a guy''s anal cherry got popped¡­¡­ It was sickening enough to make one puke.

    "I never thought Long Zaitian would dare betray me!"

    "You need to learn to put a limit on how much you look down on people." Long Zaitian waszing around after the fighting came to an end. He smiled disgustingly like a big-red cat that just sunbathed: "Did you properly investigate what sort of person I, Long Zaitian am? I am a genius who got promoted to vice-captain in a matter of years. You actually thought I was someone who would revolt?"

    He then got serious and went on: "I could understand you underestimating Liu Shan Men, but aren''t you too full of yourself thinking so lowly of us Qilin Guards. We have had no equal in almost ten years of managing the pugilistic world. The demon sect was infamous for a century and look at how they ended up. We Qilin Guards annihted them. Our grandmander''s name could shake the world."

    Fu Xiang suddenly spoke out: "If you served his majesty, you would enjoy infinite wealth and could have any beauty you desired. And yet your reason for not revolting was because of your grandmander?"ong Zaitian looked at Fu Xiang with disdain and responded: "Since I Long Zaitian acknowledged our grandmander, my life was his. I''ll never regret it. A man doesn''t go back on his word. I see that you assassins don''t understand that, Fu Xiang."

    Fu Xiang went silent for a moment before responding: "There''s still something I don''t understand."

    He then lowered his head and slowly asked: "I''ve been wondering this entire time how you and Shen Yiren teamed up. My men kept surveince on you for twelve hours a day. I knew everything you were doing, so when and how did you exchange information with Liu Shan Men?"ong Zaitian ridiculed him: "It looks like you won''t be able to go in peace if I don''t tell you. Well, it was thanks to Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao. Thatss barged into our office and apprehended one of my men."

    Fu Xiang suddenly widened his eyes and realised it: "Yi Yixian! The one who got taken to Liu Shan Men!!"ong Zaitian responded: "Hehe, that''s right. It was him. When Yi Yixian got sent back, he naturally reported to me. However, what he reported to me was Liu Shan Men''s suggestion to join hands. Miss Shen is wise. She had already seen through the fact that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings were hiding in our office. We have our own ways ofmunicating discreetly. We haven''t used it in a long time but since Miss Shen wanted to join hands with us, she naturally could receive the intel I sent out."

    Shen Yiren then calmly added: "It was Feizhen''s idea. He was the one who pointed out the issue with the Qilin Guards activities and that the ck Winds Thirteen Wings hiding in their office. He therefore concluded that the one behind the scene was someone with great influential power. He suggested I use Yi Yixian as a middle-man and he was right that someone wanted to stage a revolt."

    The orange prince looked up at Long Zaitian and red at him: "I had always heard your two offices didn''t get along. That was correct, right? Your two offices have been in conflict for years, so how did you manage to ally with each other?"

    Shen Yiren bluntly hurled an insult: "Li Chengzhi, you really are retarded."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The orange prince clenched his teeth: "You dare insult me?"

    Shen Yiren daggered him: "I''ve hit you already as well, so what if I insult you? Shame on you for being in the capital for so many years. Our offices have fought with each other for almost a century, but don''t you know what we were fighting over?"

    The orange prince justifiably was unaware of those ancient stories. He''s not even passionate about martial arts let alone stores about the martial world a century ago.

    "Back then, Patriarch Fei Yu and the first grandmander of the Qilin Guards fought tough battles frequently. They were once surrounded by hundreds of bandits and were faced with a crisis. The two of them once said: "He who kills more enemies is the victor!"

    Shen Yiren''s eyes looked like stars in winter: "What Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards have alwayspeted over was who could kill more enemies. Do you get why we joined hands? Our three offices will always point our des toward the enemy."

    After a moment of silence to adjust his emotions, the orange prince finally let out a long sigh.

    "I see now. I was captured because of a legitimate reason. I trusted the wrong person."

    But before Shen Yiren and co. spoke, a "crying face" which was actually a smile resurfaced on the orange prince''s face.

    "But then do you get it? I still haven''t lost. There''s still no news of father. My n hasn''t failed for as long as he isn''t located."ong Zaitian asked with puzzlement: "How can you be sure his highness is in your hands when the pce is sorge?"

    The orange prince''s response was apanied by augh: "Hahaha, he was always in my hands. Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye, Zhong Yi. Do you not know who the mysterious Yu Ye is?"

    Shen Yiren frowned and zipped through the events again from the time the emperor was almost captured. In the midst of her thoughts, she suddenly blurted: "Nan Junfei!"

    The others reacted just as one would expect.

    Eunuch Nan went with the emperor. The emperor didn''t have any other guards with him and was poisoned by Thorn-tears. He was basically in the orange prince''s hands now.ong Zaitian and the others suddenly ran out of ideas.

    The elder Prime Minister Li Si didn''t understand it at first but after listening to her, he suddenly cut in: "In that case, your men must not know that his majesty has fallen into our grasp. Both sides have a hostage. All that''s left then is apetition of military intel."

    That''s an elder of two reigns for you. After pointing that out, the figures of the pugilistic world came up with a solution to their problem.

    While the others were still confused, Shen Yiren nodded and said: "You are right, prime minister. We can leverage the fact that they don''t yet know that we have captured orange prince toe up with a counter-attack n and snatch his highness back."

    Prime Minister Li smiled with joy and nodded: "Very smart of you, girl."

    But then the orange prince suddenly looked upward andughed before saying: "You sure are full of yourself. You think I''m unprepared? Go and report the situation here to Kuang Tian. Tell him not to let the emperor go until we obtain the imperial jade seal!" The orange prince then wore a serious expression and shouted: "Fu Xiang, go!"

    "Roger!"

    Fu Xiang opened his eyes which shot out two rays of lights. It was like his strength had been concentrated into his leap. Taking advantage of the height of the ring, he leapt over ten yards far away. The profoundness of his internal strength truthfully surpassed Tang Ye''s imagination. Tang Ye consecutively sealed six of his meridians and thought that he would be restrained for at least two hours going by his restrained look. But he never expected that the qigong Fu Xiang practiced had a hidden ability to help him recover extremely quickly. In just half-an-hour he had recovered fifty-percent of his strength. With that, he unlocked his six sealed meridians and waited for the right time toe.

    He then realised that the orange prince was just buying time with all his questions.

    The orange prince eximed: "Inform him of the situation here. I must make my father call me ''Master Cheng''!"

    Fu Xiang was only concerned about Tang Ye. Anybody he encountered once he got away from the ring was of no concern. He transformed into an elephant-like figure and ran across. None of warriors in his way were able to hold him for a second. Some were knocked flying when he ran straight into them, and those knocked away broke their bones and had their nerves destroyed on the spot.

    Tang Ye''s qinggong proficiency was about the same as Fu Xiang''s. However, Fu Xiang had umted a mass of energy for a long time which allowed him to make a massive leap with his first leap. With over ten yards between them, there was no way Tang Ye could catch him. As he hesitated again, Fu Xiang had gone even further.

    Shen Yiren shouted out to stop Tang Ye who intended to give chase: "Tang Ye, Stop! You watch this ce! You are not to leave without orders!"

    There were still many others in the flying fish pavilion who hadn''t recovered yet. Tang Ye was the only one who could control all the people present in the pavilion, so he couldn''t leave. If he did, the consequences would be dire.

    A cold look appeared in Shen Yiren''s eyes. She clenched her teeth and eximed: "I''ll be the one to kill him!"

    Notes:

    Jiang Ziya, also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. He''s the titr character of the Feng Shen Bang series.

 Volume 3 38 Shen Yiren Gets Caught In A Pinch. Maybe Real Maybe Not

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 38 Shen Yiren Gets Caught In A Pinch. Maybe Real Maybe Not</h4>

    Shen Yiren ignored the people around her advising against her decision and furiously gave chase. Her qinggong was superior to Fu Xiang and Tang Ye''s. Fu Xiang''s leap just before was full of vigour, while hers was like a sparrow taking flight. She was light and had urate control of the height of her leaps. Her slender waist and long-slender-snow-white legs were bared for all to see. It was now night-time. The floor was covered in snow, so Shen Yiren appeared even more like a tall-proud-white deer running across the field of snow. Her long-slender legs alternated. Her beauty had no equal.ong Zaitian watched Shen Yiren chase after him. He came out of his fantasy after a while and thought to himself: "Oh sh*t! Miss Shen went all out at one stage after being poisoned so the poison went even deeper. She''ll be screwed even if she does catch Fu Xiang!"

    Shen Yiren carried the antidote for hemlock poison on her but she never took it in order to suppress the effects of thorn-tears. She had just consumed it now so she should be focusing on re-adjusting her qi to get rid of the poison. There was no worse time to be fighting. Long Zaitian was confused as well since Shen Yiren is usually calm and collected. So why was she so insistent on killing Fu Xiang? Was it because he insulted her?

    But he didn''t have time to spare on trying to decipher her reason.

    "Brother Tang, you watch over this ce. Qilin Guards, listen in. All of you are to listen to Tang Ye!"ong Zaitian loudly repeated "sh*t, sh*t, sh*t¡­" and gave chase. But his qinggong was a far-cry from the two of them, not to mention he hadn''t even rested for half-an-hour after consecutive tough battles, so he was tired. If the other two were flying, he was an old cow plodding along slowly, getting virtually nowhere.

    After leaving the flying fish pavilion and travelling some distance, he suddenly realised something and quickly ran back. He ran back and shouted: "Motherfucker! What the fuck would you listen to Tang Ye for?! All of youe with me! I can''t fucking beat him!!"

    When he left the pavilion, he realised that his condition was worse than Shen Yiren''s. Chasing them alone would be the equivalent of marching to his own death so he quickly ran back to call hisrades. Seeing all of his own men standing there like retards, he got even more pissed off: "If I die, none of you will ever get promoted, so hurry the fuck up over here! All who are good fighters, get your asses over here! I need at least twenty of you!"

    Tang Ye knew he''de back to get back-up so he had hand-picked a few already. His choices weren''t just from the Qilin Guards though. There were members of the emperor''s security detail and even a few from Liu Shan Men. Seeing that, Long Zaitian felt a little relieved.

    However, by the time he had put a team together, Shen Yiren and Fu Xiang had gone far away, and he had no clue where to.

    Fu Xiang ran with all he had, not daring to lose a moment.

    He hadn''t fully recovered yet. The damage Tang Ye dealt to him was fairly severe. But the worst ones were the burns the meridians on his palms and wrists suffered. His style relies on his palms after all, so his meridians on his hands were vital. Once damaged, his skills would immediately be diminished.

    But from another perspective, he was lucky. If his palms weren''t strong, there''s no way he would''ve been able to exchange blows with Tang Ye for that long given the heat of Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi technique. If he wasn''t, he would''ve suffered wounds that are impossible to heal from.

    The vexing feeling in Fu Xiang''s chest increased progressively with every step he took.

    He was the brains in Mystery and was thereby greatly respected. Other than the leader of Mystery, Kuang Tian, others had no ce questioning his martial arts skills either. Even the major figures in the League of Assassins thought well of him. But he virtually hit wall after wall since arriving in the pce. Nothing had gone his way at all. Not only did Long Zaitian shatter his expectation that he had a bright future in the orange prince''s imperial court, even his n he carefully crafted with much effort was seen through by Shen Yiren. And finally, he lost to a younger Tang Ye in a fight.

    Now he was severely wounded and relegated to the role of a messenger. How did he fall this low?

    Fu Xiang got angrier and angrier. His steps got heavier and heavier. His footsteps got louder and louder as the vexing feeling in him increased. The anger in him continued to grow.

    Fuck! How the fuck am I supposed to ept this?!

    Once the nes to fruition, I''ll kill Long Zaitian and Tang Ye first. I''m going to fuck Shen Yiren until she admits she likes it. That''s the only way I can vent!

    Just as he was swimming in his thoughts, he suddenly heard the sound of another pair of footsteps. He turned his head around to look and he saw a slim, shapely and graceful silhouette was approaching him at fast speed. After looking more closely, he was even more terrified.

    Shen Yiren was like a flying bird, easily closing the gap he went through much trouble to create. Her and her huge knockers approached him in the pitch-ck night.

    Shen Yiren pulled her beautiful eyebrows together. With immense murderous intent, she shouted: "Pay for Feizhen''s life with your own, bastard!!"

    Fu Xiang gave up continuing forwards when he saw her qinggong. He did have a lot of stamina, that was a fact, but he couldn''t outrun her.

    This bitch bullies people too much! You think I don''t dare kill you?!

    When he noticed that there was no one with her he decided that if he were to capture her, he would have another hostage, thereby increasing the chances of the sess of their n.

    He then couldn''t hold back his anger any further. He turned and prepared his palms for a fight: "I wouldn''t have fallen like this if it wasn''t for you messing my ns up! You asked for it! Don''t me me!"

    The two of them had exchanged blows twice in the flying fish pavilion so they had a reasonable grasp of each other''s skills. This next exchange would be with their lives on the line.

    The aura of her sword and the winds sted from his palms shed in the snow, gradually creating a mass of qi. All the snowkes within one-yard couldn''t approach them. There was only one grey-coloured spot on the ground with everything else around white which stood out even in the dark night.

    They had exchanged over a hundred moves in a short amount of time. There were countless brushes with death during their exchange. In several instances, if Shen Yiren didn''t evade as quickly as she did, her head would''ve exploded from Fu Xiang''s palm strike, while Fu Xiang missed chances to deal her a heavy blow since she fought like she was throwing her life away. If he didn''t back off, her de would''ve taken his life.

    Shen Yiren knew that Fu Xiang hadn''t undergone aplete recovery. She knew that there would be dire consequences if she didn''t kill him now. She aimed and then swung her sword at him. Mid-way through her swing, she changed directions and in a semi-circr motion went toward his neck at breakneck speed. That was the ultimate technique of Liu Shan Men''s Six-Shaped Swordy, and also a technique Shen Yiren asionally hit perfectly. It couldn''t be replicated again.

    Fu Xiang felt a cold breeze headed toward his neck and thought to himself: "Fuck me!"

    She just had to mould energy and he''d be dead instantly. However, Shen Yiren was wobbling on her feet so it only cut the skin on his neck instead of piercing it.

    Shen Yiren had no time to worry about things that had yet to happen. Her head was spinning right now. Everything before her eyes looked hazy and she couldn''t maintain her bnce. She dropped her sword onto the ground and grabbed her forehead while her eyelids felt exponentially heavier.

    Despite knowing that she couldn''t fall now, she couldn''t fight her conscious that was slowly fading.

    Fu Xiangughed with absolute glee and then suddenly realised: Hemlock poison''s venom is powerful. It expends a lot of energy even if one does have the antidote. You must rest after taking the antidote and you will naturally feel iparably exhausted which meant sleep was setting in. This girl must''ve taken the antidote but not rested and chased after me without care for her own life. Hahaha, the heavens are with me!

    Fu Xiang joy filled his body. His lust surged up once he saw Shen Yiren''s beautiful eyes look drowsy and her voluptuous figure on disy. He smiled hideously and said: "You just need a rest my dear beauty. What are you so anxious about? I shall sleep with you, and after some rocking and thumping, you''ll naturally feel better. Don''t worry!"

    Fu Xiang rushed over and grabbed her two arms. He then jumped over into the flower-garden using his qinggong.

    Shen Yiren smelt the strong smell of a wild-beast in heat. She extended her arms out to push him away. Fu Xiang didn''t care about the details. He just grabbed her clothes with hisrge-rough hands and tore her clothes off, revealing her beautiful white skin underneath. Her clothes on her snow-white neck got torn off.

    Her skin looked more pure than the snow under the moonlight. Her skin was smooth and supple like water. Her jade-back that was like a white wall was clear. It was virtually impossible to find a visible vein or blemish on her skin.

    Shen Yiren showed her weak feminine side that she rarely showed. She moaned and she covered her body with her two slender snow-white-like arms without thought. Her torn clothes barely kept her huge jade-melons covered. A little bit of her luscious skin was revealed. It was like her shirt covered two snow-white pouches with premium wine in them. If there wasn''t a canyon between the two snowy mountains, people would actually make that mistake.

    Fu Xiang''s gaze behaved like his hands, running themselves down and across her body. His eyes were virtually shooting beams of light. His voice trembled as he eximed: "Fucking sexy! And she''s a virgin! How the fuck is she so sexy?!"

    The cold breeze in the snowy night blew against them. Shen Yiren''s body was weak, and her powerless hips made her look like a beauty that was caught in the wild. She desperately tried to wrestle with her desire to pass out using her determination. But because of that, she was aware that someone was harassing her.

    Fu Xiang was drooling for Shen Yiren back at the flying fish pavilion, and it was even harder for him to suppress his lust now. He had stripped himself down leaving only his outer shirt on.

    In her hazy state, Shen Yiren silently bit down on her tongue which helped her regain some alertness. She said to herself: "I can''t die. I can''t die! I can''t let myself die before I avenge my father and mother!

    Once Fu Xiang took his pants off, Shen Yiren''s eyes started to look slightly sober again. She looked at his ugly rod swinging back and forth in front of her. Not only did it look ugly, the rough nature of it exuded from it. With that, she unleashed her Hurricane-Descendent-Destruction Kick upwards!

    A man cried out in pain from the bottom of his heart in the pitch-ck night which echoed in the winds¡­¡­

    Fu Xiang cried out in pain. He crouched down and grabbed onto his balls for a long time. He was bleeding from her ferocious kick! His lust then transformed into rage!

    "I''m going to rape you three times first! Then I''ll strangle you to death, so that you can be a beautiful-mesmerising corpse!"

    Fu Xiang extended his hand out to grab the front part of her shirt. Shen Yiren managed to find the strength from somewhere to grab it to stop him from tearing it off. Fu Xiang was outraged. He didn''t care whether she lived or died anymore. He therefore moulded energy and thrust a palm toward her!

    Shen Yiren heard the wind whistle violently which indicated to her that it was going to take her life. She shut her eyes and waited for your young life to leave her body.

    Dad, mom¡­¡­ big brother. I''m going to die¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    Nothing happened.

    When she opened her eyes again, she witnessed an odd scene.

    The one who was coughing up blood was Fu Xiang.

    But look as she may, she couldn''t see who wounded him.

    Shock crept up onto Fu Xiang''s face as well as a strange expression that couldn''t possibly be any stranger.

    Fu Xiang''s body became distorted out of the blue.

    There was none other around him aside from Shen Yiren in the flower-garden. However, there was a very clear palm mark on his neck. Then something even stranger suddenly happened.

    Fu Xiang''s lower abdomen sagged down shockingly. It was like an entire region sagged down, like somebody gave him one brutal palm strike. The crunchy sound of bones cracking then came from his chest. His shoulders snapped. And then the bones in his legs looked like they took a hit causing him to get sent flying. But there was nobody around the entire time as this took ce.

    Shen Yiren whose mind was foggy found it extremely odd. She couldn''t even describe the odd scene she witnessed. It was as though there was someone invisible around giving him a thrashing.

    For Fu Xiang, he was even more shocked because he knew that the attacks didn''te from outside or someone else. He knew that very well from the first palm strike.

    It¡­ it¡­ it was Fu Xiang Divine Palms!

    The Fu Xiang Divine Palms style he had diligently trained in his entire life hit him from some unknown location. He got struck heavily on his neck, then his abdomen, then his chest, then his thigh¡­ and other ces too. Every single palm strike was heavy and hard. He was the only one in Fu Xiang School who could hit like that. It was like it was his patented version that nobody could imitate.

    It was his own strength that hit him.

    He was hit with one palm after another. His body twisted, snapped and bent. It was extremely strange. He couldn''t make sense of the situation. He''d never experienced this sort of pain in all his years as an assassin. He always acted with caution and therefore only fought when his win was certain.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Even when he did get hurt, none of his wounds were fatal. But he was hammered with strike after strike inside his body, and every single one of the strikes were lethal. He had never been so close to death.

    However, what drove him madder than the pain was the horror in his heart. He had never been more scared than now at this situation he had no exnation for. His fear felt like it was going to crush him. It was so terrifying that the pain was frankly inconsequential.

    What on Earth is going on¡­?

    Who on Earth is it?

    Why is this happening to me?

    The questions filled his mind until he heard a voice he''d heard before.

    "Fu Xiang."

    The voice was clear. It didn''t seem to be a memory or a voice-transmission technique. It was like somebody really was in his brain talking to him.

    Wh-Who are you?! Where are you?!

    Fu Xiang withstood the immense pain and searched around him, but he didn''t even find a shadow.

    "Speaking to you is the mental conscious I hid in your body. When we fought, I did something to your body. If you can hear my voice now, I assume that must mean youid your hands on Shen Yiren as I thought you would."

    It''s you! How''s this possible?!

    Shen Yiren finally couldn''t fight off the desire to sleep and her beautiful body copsed. Her smooth and supple skin shook in the cold winds. The front of her shirt she grabbed tightly finally slowly slipped out of her hand as her grip loosened.

    Shen Yiren''s body suddenly felt a faint warm feeling like somebody princess carried her. A warm woollen feeling covered her body. It was soothing like sitting next to a fire. Shen Yiren curled up her body like a kitten. Her hands which could barely grab onto her snow-white parts rested themselves on his chest. He seemed to feel that it wasn''t a good ce for her hands to be but he couldn''t help it.

    Her nose was filled with the scent of young man that was warm as the sun.

    The heroic and proud Shen Yiren felt a strange feeling rise up in her heart. It felt off with him having his arms wrapped around her waist that was numb and weak, but her body couldn''t muster up any strength. She just wanted to lean on his body forever.

    For a moment, the girl who was yet to be twenty with lofty ambitions and intended to rely on herself forever felt that her haven she could be in peace was in this man''s arms.

    She slept more soundly than ever now.

    Fu Xiang was basically dumbfounded. He reyed the owner''s voice repeatedly in his mind, but the owner appeared. He appeared without a sound like a ghost.

    "You deserve it for being up to no good. But whatever the case, I need to ask you."

    "Does the taste of being hit with your own palm strikes feel nice?"

    The man''s voice soundedzy and yet like it was showing him pity. It was identical to the voice in Fu Xiang''s mind. The image in his mind and the smile at the corner of the man''s face were identical.

    "It''s you. It''s you as I thought¡­.."

    Just before Shen Yirenpletely passed out, she clearly heard Fu Xiang shout a name in his panicked and helpless tone.

    "¡­¡­ Ming Feizhen!!"

    Notes:

    *The part of the title "Maybe Real Maybe Not" is also a y on words. Ming Feizhen''s name means "Clearly not real" for those who forgot. So you could also read the title as "Shen Yiren Gets Caught in a Pinch. She''s not sure if she heard Ming Feizhen''s name or if it was just her imagination." Could also be read as "¡­ if Ming Feizhen was the one who came to her rescue." Told you this series was very challenging to trante.

 Volume 3 39 Heart Slaying Sword and Dream Infiltration

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 39 Heart ying Sword and Dream Infiltration</h4>

    Fu Xiang looked at me on the brink of despair himself. My appearance here, or rather, my appearance looked full of energy and I didn''t have a blemish on me. That must''ve given him a big shock. But from my perspective, the reason he''s squirming must be due to the force of his own palm strikes hitting him. Fu Xiang was like a wounded animal. He faced me and thundered loud enough to crack through the snowy night. His throat was wounded so his voice was extremely husky. As soon as he opened his mouth, he chucked up a mouthful of blood due to having suffered severe internal wounds. But despite that, he was so angry he still shouted: "Ming Feizhen! Wh-What did you do to me?! Why are you unscathed?!"

    I covered the ears of Boss Shen who was in my arms. I looked at his eyes and quietly moulded energy. He suddenly froze up. The rage in his eyes decreased a fair bit. He was even more confused why his anger seemingly got sucked out of him by my re.

    "You confused? But someone who''s trained their internal strength to your level should know of Heart ying Sword and Dream Infiltration, right?"

    Those with profound inner strength will possess a fierce gaze that seemingly has a substance in them. Once one has attained that level of proficiency, they can kill someone just with their gaze. The principle is that their inner qi shoots out and causes the qi in their opponent''s body to attack itself. Hearty ying Sword and Dream Infiltration are manifestations of that principle. It''s just that these two arts are another level above.

    Heart ying Sword relies primarily on one''s heart''s thoughts'' internal strength to attack the opponent''s heart.

    Dream Infiltration relies primarily on the wielder''s brain to infiltrate the opponent''s mind and give itmands.

    If you can master these two styles, you can kill without lifting a finger. You can confuse someone''s mind without lifting a hand, and could even turn people into your puppet. That''s why styles which are on the level of the two are referred to as mind-control arts by those in the pugilistic world.

    Mind-control arts are arge category. The strongest and most miraculous techniques are Eye Techniques.

    It also gets called Soul Confusion Techniques and many other different things. But they all trace back to the two mind-control arts, Heart ying Sword as well as Dream Infiltration.

    But the training for mind-control arts is tough to learn as they rely heavily on the potential of the practitioner and they have lots of disadvantages. If your internal strength is inferior to your opponent''s, your opponent will reverse it on you. Mind-control arts also have a heavy emphasis on mental fortitude. If your internal strength is superior to your opponent but your mental fortitude is weaker, you still will have it reversed on you.

    In other words, even if you possessed profound skills, if your opponent has strong mental fortitude and doesn''t give in, you still might fail to make it work even if your target was a cow. Actually, the bacsh would be extremely harsh. Consequently, it''s unlikely this sort of martial art is passed down. Lots of people who learnt it used it for evil, so over time, it became viewed as an unorthodox-evil art, and not a martial art.

    ording to what I know, there are less than ten schools in the pugilistic world who have reached this level, and most of said practitioners were kept by the unorthodox sets.

    ¡­¡­ Mount Daluo was one. The Demon Sect was another.

    That''s why I¡­¡­

    But there are a lot of problems with the research on the two styles which is why most mind-control arts can''t kill people without contact or brainwash people. At most, they can only cause internal injuries or confuse their enemy for a while.

    Fu Xiang revealed a hideous outraged expression: "Nonsense!! There''s no way you used Heart ying Sword and Dream Infiltration on me."

    I bluntly replied: "I haven''t finished. You''re old as and yet you''re still so jumpy. You might not know much about this internal style, but it''s called Steal of Heart Camouge."

    Strictly speaking, the trick I used on Fu Xiang can be considered a technique within Dream Infiltration.

    It confuses the target, thereby influencing the target''s subconscious to control their skills. I think some people call it hypnotism.

    But whatever.

    This technique was one of the ones recorded in the Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Arts manual. Though the conditions for its usage are tough to meet and can only be used on one target, not to mention it can''t influence the target''s thinking or mental conscious. It can only control their body for a short timeframe. However, it should be the best method for today.

    Fu Xiang seemed to realise something as he eximed with utter surprise: "The Demon Sect''s divine art, Spring Wind Manual!"

    "You''re right. But not right at the same time. I can use the stuff in the Spring Wind Manual. It''s just that I can use them at a rtively higher level."

    Fu Xiang shook his head like a madman, like he was trying to shake his head off: "Who on Earth are you?! That''s impossible! That''s impossible! If you''re not hurt, then the force I hit you with back there¡­¡­"

    I chuckled with satisfaction.

    "Didn''t you notice that your energy recovered particrly quickly this time? You expended all your energy on those seventeen palm strikes you hit me with, yet you recovered within half-an-hour. Is that possible? You think you''re a deity?"

    Fu Xiang''s expression changed. He evidently realised that his energy had recovered at an unbelievable rate.

    "The reason for that is that the force from all of your palm strikes are still inside your body. You didn''t use it uppletely. I returned the force of all seventeen of your palm strikes to you and hid them in various ces inside your body. Usually you would be able to slowly neutralise the pent-up force after a few days effort given the level of your internal strength as well as the force of the palm strikes originating from your body in the first ce. But I guessed that you would be fighting a lot today and would expend lots of your internal energy. Whether or not you''d be able to withstand the force of your own palm strikes depended on how much internal energy you had left after your fights. And maybe themand I imnted in your body using Steal of Heart Camouge was for the force hiding in your body to explode automatically when you threatened Shen Yiren''s life. If you didn''t threaten her safety, it wouldn''t have activated."

    Fu Xiang looked like he couldn''t handle what I told him and dropped to his knees on the ground. He continued mumbling: "Impossible¡­ there''s no way you could''ve blocked the force of my palm strikes¡­¡­"

    You still on about that? I was so bored I shrugged my shoulders.

    "Your palm strikes are quite strong. But aren''t you being a little too full of yourself? Do you know that making me ''block'' is an honour very few in the martial world have? You were very diligent with your training, and Fu Xiang Divine Palms isn''t bad. It suits the qigong you trained. Every time you strike, you make sure to conserve energy so that you can fight for an extensive period of time. In fact, you could fight for days.

    But have you realised it? All of your fights have been fights where you exchanged heavy blows. Every time you reached the point where the level of the fight was enough to be frightening, you relied on your stamina to win. That''s a shoring of your Fu Xiang Divine Palms. You can''t connect them. The force of every palm strike is clear and distinguished, so once you use Fu Xiang Divine Palms at maximum output, you expend ten-times more internal energy than usual. In other words, when you need to use maximum output to win, you keep dying good chances to engage."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You shut up! Shut up!"

    "You lost to Tang Ye today, didn''t you? He tricked you into emptying your internal energy, didn''t he?"

    "!!!"

    "So you lost fair and square."

    Fu Xiang seemed to age another ten years due to the shock my words delivered to him. His knees couldn''t support his weight. He couldn''t help but curl his body up like a prawn. I knew that it was because he couldn''t withstand his own internal energy eating at him and that they were symptoms of his skills being destroyed.

    "Why¡­? You''re the master of Night Fortress. You''re an unorthodox sect like us¡­¡­ Why must you stop me? Why do you want to kill me¡­¡­?"

    "Why? You don''t seem to know your ce." I wiped my smile off my face and firmly continued: "I have enough reason to kill you a hundred times just for the lecherous thoughts you had for her just now."

    It looked like the cold night itself was tormenting Fu Xiang who was curled up and quivering on the ground.

    "But I won''t kill you. The pugilistic world has its own rules. You may have offended me, but out of consideration for the origins I share with the League of Assassins'', I''ll spare your life today."

    I looked at him and sighed before I slowly finished what I intended to say: "You should be content with me erasing just your skills."

    I added onest fraction of strength into his body which caused his qi essence to burst. Fu Xiang spat out a huge amount of blood before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. He has lost all of his martial arts skills. He''ll just be a weak-frail old man even if he could heal all of his woundspletely. The man known as Fu Xiang has basically now been erased from the pugilistic world.

    Notes:

    *Fromst chapter, the weapon Tang Ye wielded with the chain is akin to a nine-section whip, but is somewhat different. I can''t even find an image for it so you will have to use your imagination there. It''s no longer practiced (maybe a few do that I''m unaware of) due to its sheer difficulty to master. It falls under the soft-weapons category. I never learnt any soft-weapons so I can''t tell you much about how it works.

    **To break down MFZ''s description of Fu Xiang''s fighting style if anyone is confused: Fu Xiang style of fighting is the heavier hitter who looks to throw heavy blows. An example would be a fighter with a particrly strong kick or punch like a heavy right overhand. He tries tond that move all the time as opposed to stringingbos. You can''t throw at max output forever, so he conserves energy when he throws them. He doesn''t throw them at max output often so he''s physically not used to it, thereby expending more energy when he does throw them at full power (this is all about efficiency with the three main energy systems important to fighting but you don''t need to know about them). To conserve his stamina, he also passes on opportunities to attack. Using myself as an example, in one fight against a guy who was oiled up to the grills, throwing straights were difficult and a poor prep led to me gassing against him, not to mention him being two heads taller. So despite having the opportunity to go in and throw a flurry of attacks when he missed (MFZ''s: "¡­ good chances to engage"), I stuck to going to a wear down strategy and win on points which is simr to what Fu Xiang does against powerful foes.

 Volume 3 40 Explosion in the Snow. There are Curveballs in Life.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 40 Explosion in the Snow. There are Curveballs in Life.</h4>

    Fu Xiangy sprawled on the groundpletely lifeless. I now need to concern myself with the sleeping beauty in my arms. I looked down at Shen Yiren in herzy slumber. She was sound asleep like she hadn''t slept for several nights but at the same time like a kid afraid of losing her doting parents. She grabbed onto my cor tightly and wouldn''t let go. Shen Yiren usually spoke and behaved carelessly and sounded rougher than a guy when she started using profanity. But she was particrly lovable in her quiet state right now.

    I couldn''t help but stroke her smooth beautiful face with my hand. Her skin was shockingly supple like you could squeeze water out by pinching it.

    Boss takes care of her skin really¡­¡­

    The beauty in my arms moaned.

    Frightened, I pulled my hand back quickly! Dear magistrate, I''m innocent!

    But Boss Shen didn''t look like she was going to wake up. It seemed to be a reaction from her dream. Only then could I calm down.

    She murmured something indistinct. I had to mould energy to hear what she was murmuring clearly. Boss Shen''s usual firm voice was nowhere to be heard. Instead, she sounded cute and gentle: "¡­¡­ Big brother."

    When a beauty that''s always pointing in your face and ordering you around is lying in your arms, and you can feel the warmth and gentleness of her body stered to your body, what¡­ will you do?

    I think I''ve got a¡­ boner.

    But then I came back to my senses. Big brother?

    Who''s she calling?

    I was carrying Shen Yiren who seemed half-woke half-asleep. Her eyes were barely open but I could see her beauty and hazy eyes. It was clear she was exhausted. She seemed to be able to see me but wasn''t surprised. Her pleasant surprise appeared in her strong-spirited eyes. Her eyebrows and the corner of her mouth curled up. She was beaming like she was drunk as she said: "Big brother, you''re here¡­¡­ I missed you."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I¡­¡­"

    Big brother? Could that be the nickname Boss Shen gave me?

    That can''t be right. Besides calling me Feizhen, Boss Shen only ever calls me "moron", "idiot", "retard" and aggressively calling me by my full name "Ming Feizhen! You must be tired of living!" and the sort. It can''t be another nickname.

    "¡­¡­ Big brother¡­ howe you have hair now?"

    I really want to know who she''s calling out to!!

    This "big brother" has no hair!!

    A strong baldy?!

    "Yiren has been trying really hard all these years¡­¡­" Shen Yiren suddenly smiled like a young girl who was waiting for the brother she liked to praise her. Her eyes were smiling and she looked at me with her hazy smiling face. Her voice sounded adenoidal and clingy because she wasn''t awake which was so seductive.

    "Big brother¡­ Yiren is getting married¡­¡­" Her voice sounded slightly sad when she said that. Perhaps this was the secret in her heart. All of her own personal thoughts were overshadowed by her strong exterior as Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain. If she wasn''t in the situation she is in now, I doubt she would''ve mentioned it.

    "But I don''t like him¡­¡­"

    My condolences Brother Bastard!

    And please forgive me forughing, pfff¡­¡­

    Though that''s already basically an open secret that couldn''t be any more obvious, hearing her say it herself was different after all.

    This is obviously funnier! Puhahahahaha!!

    I then heard Shen Yiren continue speaking, but her voice was faintly full of sadness: "He doesn''t love me either. He can help me get revenge though so I must do this."

    Shen Yiren leaned onto me sadly and her breaths were nice as orchids. The warmth she passed onto my chest made my heartbeat speed up on its own.

    "Big brother, why aren''t you speaking to me¡­¡­? You''re mad at me, aren''t you¡­¡­?"

    I was scared she''d suddenly wake up and silence me. I don''t know what that big brother''s voice is like either. But he''s bald¡­¡­ I tried to imitate the Shaolin abbot''s voice: "Uhm¡­¡­ This monk understands now."

    Fuck! I slipped up because I was tense!!

    Shen Yiren smiled sweetly though and replied in a pleased tone: "Great¡­¡­"

    Huh? I''m safe? Oi, oi, Miss Shen, your big brother is a monk?!

    "You know I don''t like him, don''t you¡­? I''ve always wanted to see you¡­¡­ I want to tell you¡­¡­"

    Shen Yiren''s eyes shut once again. She was obviously falling asleep. But then in her hazy voice right before passing out, she threw me a bomb: "Big brother, Yiren only likes you¡­¡­"

    "¡­¡­"

    She''spletely asleep.

    OOOOIIIII!!!!

    I just saved you once and stumbled open a huge secret!!

    Brother Bastard, get over here! Hurry! I can barely hold this together!! I''m trying to rip the green grass off your head to feed the cow but it can''t eat it in time even!

    Shen Yiren fell deep asleep in my arms. Only then was I relieved. I can''t stay here with her forever.

    I still have business to attend to¡­¡­ I have to reveal myself to defeat the enemies I have to put away in a bit.

    They''re really strong. Fu Xiang is an example. I can''t take him out with a melon seed from far away. Oh fine¡­¡­ I''ll spend some effort on you. I need to go into the harem to grab borrow something.

    But then I realised a problem¡­¡­ She was nude right now.

    The warrior-robe she was originally wearing was generously revealing to begin with. But the result of that is it was still very tight on her body even after being torn. There wasn''t much material covering her body left. You couldn''t cover her important parts by stitching together the remaining material.

    She was covered with my outer-coat for now to keep her warm, but it''s only a temporary solution.

    It''s fine when I''m not paying attention, but when I do pay attention, I can feel her smooth skin on her jade back. Boss Shen''s lower body was virtuallypletely bared. She only had her underwear left. Carrying such a beauty in my arm, I suddenly had an odd feeling well up inside me.

    No! Stop! She''s your superior!

    I shook my head a little too hard causing my outer-coat on her to slip a bit.. One look downwards and your breath will be taken away. Shen Yiren''s underwear was ck and it couldn''t cover her huge jade-melonspletely. Her underwear looked like it was incapable of covering the area where they rose.

    From this angle, I could see the gods at the peak! I could faintly see her veins on her white skin gently running along her body. Her body is a divine weapon that could melt any man''s mind!

    Stop! Stop! I can''t look down or I''m going to be in trouble!

    But her clothes¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    Not long after, Long Zaitian arrived with his fiery team and noticed traces of a battle here, hence immediatelymencing a search.

    I hid on the pce wall not too far away and camouged myself with the darkness, and controlled my breathing so that they wouldn''t detect me.

    One of the Qilin Guards shouted: "Vice-captain, I have a discovery!"

    When they entered the flower garden, they first found Boss Shen lying on snow snoring gently in her sleep.ong Zaitian shouted: "Eh? Vice-captain Shen, are you alright¡­? Aren''t you sound asleep." He looked carefully and found that she was wearing ck clothes like that of the intruders in the pce.

    Of course, I went out my way to find those clothes.

    Who helped her wear it on?

    ¡­¡­.

    Mm, don''t ask¡­¡­ Ah, sh*t, my nose is bleeding¡­¡­

    "Send Vice-captain Shen back. Hey fuck off, don''t touch her with your filthy hands! Call a few strong maids here to pick her up."

    As Long Zaitian was bewildered as to why Shen Yiren was here, his eyes caught sight of Fu Xiang not too far away. He immediately headed over to check him out and the others soon came over.

    One of them eximed: "This is Fu Xiang¡­¡­ Is he dead? Vice-captain Shen sure is incredible!"ong Zaitian shook his head and frowned: "No, he''s not dead yet. But it looks like he suffered severe internal injuries. It looks like qi deviation actually. That''s unlike Miss Shen''s ways. My guess is he suffered qi deviation due to a reason on his end."ong Zaitian examined Fu Xiang''s entire body meticulously which further confirmed his guess.

    Well, since he''s taken in Fu Xiang and arranged for Boss Shen to be looked after, I should get going too.

    Just as I was about to take my leave, I suddenly heard a Qilin Guard ask: "Vice-captain, with Fu Xiang''s strength, what sort of situation would cause him to suffer qi deviation? Please forgive me for being ignorant, but I cannot figure it out."

    "Hmm, that is strange indeed. Let me have a think¡­¡­"

    I''m surprised they''ve started trying to figure out the truth behind why Fu Xiang went down. But since I was so discreet, I don''t think I''ll be revealed¡­ right?

    "Hm?! Oh yeah!" Long Zaitian seemed to have figured something out. His eyes lit up with intelligence: "It was Ming Feizhen!"

    I was standing atop one of the pce walls. I held my breath. In my hand was a melon seed. I locked my sights on Long Zaitian and in my heart I tried to figure out where I went wrong.

    That old brute hasn''t disyed his attention to detail andposure just once. Could he have seen through something? How the heck did he know it was me?

    I then heard Long Zaitian exim at the top of his voice: "Fuck me! That gue Ming Feizhen managed to kill even after being defeated. I now believe there are curveballs in life!"

    I almost fell off the wall because of what he blurted.

    Go fuck yourself!

    Fuck do you mean curveballs in life?!

 Volume 3 44 The Father Runs Into Trouble While His Kid Runs Into Me

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 44 The Father Runs Into Trouble While His Kid Runs Into Me</h4>

    Nan Junfei was lying on the ground gasping for air: "Your highness¡­ you saw through me long ago¡­¡­"

    "It wasn''t hard."

    The emperor tossed his crossbow aside and ced his hand behind his back. The emperor''s hands were still shaking in the darkness. Thorn-tears had truly sealed his qi. He tried to mould energy multiple times, but that only caused Thorn-tears to prate deeper within. His hands and feet were numb, leaving him powerless while he felt a sharp stinging pain in his dantian every now and then. It took him everything he had to fire the crossbow.

    Though Shen Yiren tried to help everyone neutralise the poison, the only person she didn''t dare to give hemlock poison to was the emperor. For her, the emperor wasn''t just her respected and beloved uncle, but also the foundation of a vassal''s loyalty. As such, poisoning the emperor without careful deliberation was not something she could do, even if it was a matter of expediency.

    As a result, the emperor was in a horrible condition and was only bluffing as best as he could to hide the fact from Nan Junfei.

    "I stopped trusting everyone the moment Cheng''erunched his revolt. Anyone could''ve been Cheng''er''s men so I came up with a method to determine if the person in question could be trusted. Those who mentioned the three words ''imperial jade seal'' were moles, no questions asked. Not only did you repeatedly mention it, you even showed your urgency on your face. That''s when I started paying attention. I continued to repetitively mention Cheng''er''s operation today. You and I were both poisoned and both in peril, but you were very calm. And you had so much to say when analysing his n, which ispletely contradictory to your usual self that speaks very little."

    "I can''t believe I revealed myself like that¡­¡­"

    "The League of Assassins must''ve grown a few more guts to dare ande invade my imperial pce. Yet they only sent small-timers like the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. There''s no way Cheng''er could''ve relied on them alone to attack the imperial pce. I felt something was wrong long ago. I just happened to not be able to figure it out until I saw that Qilin Guard, Jiao Meng with formidable skills. His palm strikes were incredibly powerful and shocking. He stood out to me particrly when he defeated my skilled fighters around me alone like a man who established his magnanimity in a wave. That reminded me of a style. The style counters variations by not varying the users techniques, drawing out fights with stamina, and focusing on brute strength as its core element. That style is called Fu Xiang Divine Palms."

    The corner of Nan Junfei''s eye twitched a little after what he heard so the emperor knew his guess was right. The emperor then continued: "The cultivation and execution is extremely simr to what Jiao Meng used. So it was strange, because ording to what I know, Fu Xiang Divine Palms is a style that originates from South Xinjiang. If it was being used in the Central ins, then only one person would be using it. That would be Fu Xiang, an assassin who made a name for himself in the north."

    The emperor then got angrier and he raised his voice: "Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye, Zhong Ning! God damn Yu Ye, Zhong Ning, Nan Junfei. I underestimated you. Mystery was a group that rose to prominence in thest six to seven years while you had entered the pce long before Mystery appeared. I thought you were just more regted and disciplined when I saw how you were usually very careful in the pce as though you were afraid of making mistakes. I never thought that it was all a cover for your real identity as an assassin!"

    "In the past, my alias was Yu Ye of the Southern Sky. The two words, Yu Ye were taken from that alias of mine after I became an assassin." Nan Junfeiy on the ground like a mouldy-old prawn. He smiled helplessly and added: "But that''s not the reason. I''m certain that you weren''t suspicious of me before you entered the imperial study. At least, I''m not entirely sure."

    "You''re right. I had no way of confirming your stance after I entered so I stayed here to watch you. You barged in iming enemies hade. You can trick people with your voice, but not your eyes. Your two sly-snake eyes were scanning the room the entire time like a dog searching for its prey! Is there any need to say what you were thinking at that point?"

    "I see now¡­¡­ You are most certainly wise, your highness. Not even such small actions could escape your eyes. To be honest, I was not deliberately trying to be careful. It was just that I had to be careful in front of you." Nan Junfei smiled and slowly got up from the ground. He panted for air and continued: "Since it was my eyes that betrayed me, I did not get hit with this arrow for no reason."

    Once he finished that sentence, Nan Junfei clenched his teeth, and resisted the pain as he yanked the short arrow out, causing a downpour of blood.uckily for him, the arrow wasn''t barbed so it didn''t open too big of a wound. It did hurt intensely though. Nan Junfei clenched his teeth and sealed his meridian. He moulded energy three times and he managed to stop the excessive bleeding. He then took out his medication for incision wounds he always had on him and had himself some. He then looked at the emperor. He had lost a fair bit of blood but he still had clear vision, and his internal energy was evidently fine.

    The emperor didn''t expect for him to be so tough, let alone stand up again. For a moment, the emperor got slightly flustered: "Y-You can still stand?"

    Nan Junfei chuckled and replied: "I just praised you for being wise and here you are being stupid. Your highness, do you perhaps remember what style I am a master of by any chance?"

    Though the style Nan Junfei is well-versed in is famous, it''s got nothing to do with his wound. His alias was Yu Ye Southern Sky. However, that was because he was good with qinggong and secret weapons. It had nothing to do with him pulling an arrow out.

    The emperor thought about it and suddenly blurted out something that came to mind: "Qi Release Aspiration Manual! Damn you! I taught you that back then, and now you''re using it against me!"

    In one particr year when the emperor went to see how the people were doing outside the pce, a bandit tried to hurt the emperor. Nan Junfei took the attack with his body and was severely wounded. After not being able to heal for a long time, the emperor taught him the healing technique of the royal family, Qi Release Aspiration Manual.

    After years of practice, Nan Junfei became proficient with the style. He sneakily used that style when he was hit by the arrow just before. And it had amazing healing properties as usual. He managed to stop the bleeding swiftly and his internal and external energy systems weren''t damaged.

    The emperor furiously eximed: "You bastard!" He went to strike him with his palms. However, he had lost all of his internal energy and had yet to recover.

    Nan Junfei intercepted the emperor''s arm and pped, knocking him onto the ground.

    "Hmph! The patriarch was so skilled yet has trash like you for a descendent. Once you die, I''ll use all of your skills andbine them into an invincible style. Let''s see how your Li family''s rule fares then!"

    The emperor was sprawled out on the ground and couldn''t get up as though he waspletely out of energy.

    "I didn''t want to do this, but you didn''t give me a chance. Your highness, I originally wanted to give you a swift death, but you forced me to do it the hard way."

    Nan Junfeiughed coldly and his tone slowly became more violent: "Your highness, I do execute my targets normally. I don''t interrogate my targets or anything like that. Only my brother Zhong Ning is a crazy murderous killer who''s also specialised in all sorts of interrogation techniques. And he''s a sick-perverted bastard who goes for men and women. If you don''t hand over the imperial jade seal, my brother Zhong Ning might just like you given your looks when he gets here."

    Just when he got to that part, somebody kicked the door open. Nan Junfei turned around with glee to look: "Speak of the devil."

    Nan Junfei shouted toward the door: "Zhong Ning,e in!"

    ========================

    "Zhong Ning, you bastard! Stop right there!!"

    I was galloping in the harem''s flower garden. Behind me was a pretty girl chasing me down with a sabre in her hand.

    I''ve ran a fewps in the harem with this girl in red already.

    It''s not that I can''t shake her off, but I need to find some makeup here. I don''t know what the heck is up with the harem today either. There''s a maid or a eunuch standing on guard every three steps so I had to take detours to avoid those ces. But then I got stuck on a big straight path, making it very easy for her to chase me from behind.

    Just what the hell man?!

    I''m just looking for some makeup. Name me one girl that doesn''t use any! Just why is it so hard for me to find some?!

    "Stop right there, Zhong Ning!"

    She yelled out with her beautiful-clear voice again. The speed with which the girl in red wielded her broadsword was honestly swifter than I imagined. She shed at me again.

    Get off me! I''m in a rush to save the emperor here! Can''t we just do away with our debts when we''ve got national matters to deal with here?!

    I suddenly stopped and threw a palm strike, forcing her to learn to back of¡­¡­ I can''t kill her or hurt her¡­¡­ This is tough man!! Why didn''t my shifu teach me some useful stuff back then?!

    While I wasining about for the umpteenth time about how my shifu isn''t reliable, the girl in red took two steps back and then shed the force of my palm strike away.

    She seemed to struggle to breathe a little due to my palm strike as she was short on breath.

    I couldn''t face her front-on in case she recognised me in my constable uniform. As such, I kept my back to her and thundered: "I have important business to attend to. Missy, if you continue chasing me, watch out your for you umm¡­ your dudou!"

    Kekeke, I just mentioned a ce she must guard¡­¡­

    "Pervert!"

    The girl in red swiftly covered her chest. A red flush appeared on her face. She wore a stern expression on and eximed: "You barged into the harem which is an unforgivable offense, and you''re the second team of the League of Assassins'', Mystery. How can I let you go?!"

    I made a mistake. This girl in red isn''t your average seventeen, eighteen, neen year old girl. Her martial arts knowledge is vast and managed to keep calm like this after a mysterious man suddenly barged in on her bathing. Herposure is impressive andmendable.

    "A-And¡­.." Her voice trembled a little. She looked at me with disdain in her heroic and beautiful eyes: "You, Zhong Ning, are an infamous evil figure in the pugilistic world, wreaking havoc wherever you go. People in the pugilistic world call you one of the four biggest perverts. You go for men and women, you disgusting-sick pervert! What were you trying to do in the harem?!"

    My jaw dropped to the ground.

    What? What? What?

    He goes for guys and girls? Sh*t! I didn''t know this guy''s appetite was that liberal!!

    "Your majesty! We have trouble!"

    A group of imperial guards rushed over. I looked at their leader. It was a proper imperial guard, not one of the orange prince''s henchmen. It looks like the crisis at the flying fish pavilion has been resolved after Fu Xiang''s defeat. The imperial guard captains had begun to return to their posts and the guards themselves had returned to their rightful posts.

    Eh? But what did the team-captain call this girl in red just now¡­¡­?

    She red at my back then and clenched her teeth before saying: "You guys came at the right time. I was worried about not being able to find a helping hand. Just now this man¡­¡­" It looks like she cares about her reputation and can''t reveal that I peeped on her bathing. She switched to: "He barged into the harem from out of nowhere and was rude to me. Arrest him and as the princess, I shall reward you handsomely!"

    Hmm? Something''s weird.

    Did she just address herself the way I think she did?!

    Other than the empress, the only ones who address themselves like that in the pce are¡­¡­

    As soon as the imperial guards heard what she said, they shouted out like I molested their mother. They angrily roared: "You rude bastard! One nce and you can tell you''re not a good person. How dare you humiliate the second princess!"

    Sec-ond princess!!!

    The girl in red is the second princess of the current dynasty, Li Hongzhuang!

    Once I learnt of her identity, my hairs stood up and I realised one more thing: I just threatened her by saying to her face that I was going to strip her dudou off. My name is going to go down in history now!

    Notes:

    *Dudou is like an undershirt worn in ancient China instead of a bra. It''s not called a bellyband which it''s often mistranted as. That refers to a variety of other devices including horses'' harness or apression garment expectant mothers wear. For a visual, google: ¶Ç¶µ

    **Li Hongzhuang refers to herself as ±¾¹¬ which tranted literally is "This pce". The English trantion in the right context is just "I", so for raw readers, I did add in the "¡­as the princess, I¡­" part for smoother reading and so that MFZ''s reaction wasn''t just nonsensical to you. From here on out though, whenever ±¾¹¬ is used, I will simply trante it as "I" unless I need to do that again. As in the chapter, it''s how the empress, sometimes otherdies of the emperor (because there are different ways) and princesses refer to themselves. In English, it''s just "I", hence why the changes I made to adapt it.

 Volume 3 42 Waiting Silently on the Beam on the Roof. Hong Zhuang Appears.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 42 Waiting Silently on the Beam on the Roof. Hong Zhuang Appears.</h4>

    The moonlight outside shone into the cold room. A pce-maid and a girl dressed in red came in. The pce-maids paced her steps to match the other girl''s steps behind her, creating a strong contrast between them. The girl in red looked at the duck meal on the table that was perfect then sniffed the osmanthus wine, confirmed it with an "uhm", and then faintly said: "Not bad."

    They didn''t find anything else.

    I then let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately I didn''t have to unleash my Eighteen Dragon Subduing Gropes.

    I was hiding on the horizontal beams on the roof right now. They don''t do sloppy jobs or use poor quality materials for building rooms in the pce that''s for sure. While this room is small, thick horizontal beams were used. You could fit an ordinary person on top. I''m just a little tall and my shoulders are a little broad. I don''t fit the requirements of a yer, no¡­¡­ In short, it was a little squishy for me hiding up on the horizontal beam. If there wasn''t just a faint light from the candle in the room, nothing would be visible from here. I had nothing on me that could reflect light. It''s time for my Eighteen Subduing Dragon Gropes to make its return to the human realm.

    At present, I''ll be safe as long as they don''t look up.

    The girl in red said: "This duck must be ced like this. Only you woulde up with this idea. Although this is an improvised idea, I do agree that it''s a good method."

    That''s when I noticed that there was a wooden barrel ced to the side of the table and it looked like steam wasing from it. There''s no venttion in this room but it has no way of maintaining heat either. The wooden barrel therefore became the secret to maintaining the warm temperature.

    The wooden barrel was filled with hot water which maintained the room temperature.

    The girl in red went up to the wooden barrel and removed the lid, letting the heat gush forth. She tested the water temperature with her hand as though she was thinking about something.

    That''s when I finally had the chance to see her face clearly.

    The girl in red looked really young which was simr to her voice. She looked around seventeen or eighteen.

    The girl in red possessed long ck hair likecquer-ware that began to part onto two sides and re-collected at her back like a collection of clouds. On her alluring snow-white forehead was a bright-red plum-blossom leaf mark which was very visible. It was a beautiful and mesmerising faint plum blossom petal makeup design.

    She had a radiant and clear face. Her eyebrows were like mountains in the distance while her nose was tall and straight, naturally giving her a heroic and dignified appearance. While heroic and straight-forward, she wasn''t the exact same as Boss Shen. Boss Shen''s heroic aura was more from her way of being decisive and strong personality, so it derived from within her.

    Comparing looks alone, Boss Shen''s face is a small goose-shaped face, but nheless beautiful. So as soon as she changes the way she speaks, you immediately see her as a beautiful and cute young girl.

    This girl in red however, had a handsome melon-shaped face. She had upright eyebrows and you could sense her hidden heroic aura just by seeing her and not having to hear her speak too.

    Boss Shen is slender and tall among girls, but this girl had a long-straight body. She''s a fair bit taller than Boss Shen. She''s almost as tall as a guy. Additionally, she maintained an erect torso when standing. So whenbined with her long-slender legs, men might just have to look up at her.

    I was amazed by her appearance. I wonder where this beautiful girl came from. She came into the harem pce and even intends to invite guests. All the concubines and whatnot in the harem alle from influential backgrounds, like the empress for example, who''s family backing is the seven white champion princes. I wonder who the rtive of this girl is.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The girl in red moved her hand in wavy motions in the hot water. Pleased, she said: "I rushed to get here and didn''t have time to wash up. Thedies are on their way now to so I can''t go far away. Go outside and keep watch for me."

    The pce-maid hesitated before saying: "B-But this is just an abandoned room. There is no one around to look after you¡­¡­"

    "We people in the pugilistic aren''t supposed to be so wishy-washy. I''ve eaten outside and camped outdoors plenty of times already."

    "But here is honestly¡­¡­"

    "What are you worried about?" The girl in red chuckled faintly and continued: "Only females and eunuchs are at the harem. As long as you keep watch, nobody will know. There''s nobody else in this room. You think I''m not worried about being seen by others?"

    ¡­¡­

    I''m here! I''m here! Reporting in! There''s someone right here!

    Sis, you may not be worried, but I am!!

    The pce-maid nodded and then exited, leaving just me and the girl in red in the room. She was now about to undress. Okay, what the hell is going on here?!

    I started to panic.

    Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Ooooiii!!! If news of this spreads, my beautiful name in the pugilistic world will bepletely tarnished!!

    The girl in red reached her hand down to undo her belt. Her posture was straight and stretched. Her legs in particr were long. Her back was also rtively longpared to the average person. Upon undoing her belt, her lower-garment suddenly revealed a fair bit of itself. She then undid her cor. That released the front of her shirt which came undone as though it couldn''t hold itself together. It was like watching a magic trick where you made rabbits appear. Her body caused me to jolt gently. Her body looks extremely supple.

    She lowered her head and looked at herself. In a somewhat serious tone she vented: "They''ve gotten bigger again¡­¡­ This is so inconvenient. My third sister keeps saying she envies me but if they get anyrger, I''m not going to be able to practice the broadsword anymore either. What''s their use?"

    I couldn''t believe she was a little frustrated. I really don''t understand the frustrations of women¡­¡­

    But I couldn''t just watch anymore. She was about to remove her shirt. I''ll soon get to enjoy the sight of a beauty entering the bath then I''ll take up my shifu that old scoundrel''s alias and unleash my Eighteen Dragons Subduing Palms. Yeah, as if!

    I sincerely couldn''t watch her snow-white melons prove their noble existence in front of me.

    I couldn''t stop myself from shouting: "Don''t take it off!"

    "Who''s there?!"

    The girl in red turned vignt as soon as she heard a male''s voice. She looked alert but she wasn''t flustered. It was clear that her able to maintain herposure much better than Fu Xiang who got caught with my Steal of Heart Camouge so easily. She swiftly did up her belt in the most convenient way. She directed her voice toward the roof: "How dare you sneak into an important ce like the harem and sneak around. Get down here!"

    I was more panicked than she was.

    What the heck was I thinking screaming out like that?!

    She had forced me to make a choice before I could figure out what to do.

    She bent her slender arm and drew a long broadsword from her belt, revealing the shiny metal. Her de shed upward straight toward my location urately in a trained fashion like a dexterous snake searching for its target.

    I lightly slid down and jumped to the side of the table, passing the girl in red who just shed at me. As I moved rtively swiftly, I had hid myself behind the table before she could see me clearly.

    She was clearly surprised she didn''t notice me. Because she had only done up her belt but her cor was still open, I could see her smooth snow-white pearls from this angle. There was ayer of sweat collected right between them which was extremely seductive. The sight of it made my mouth dry.

    I carefully picked up a cup of osmanthus wine and drank it. I then lowered my voice and said: "Your skills with the broadsword aren''t bad, miss. I''m quite pleased with them. But it''s unbing to have your cor open generously like that."

    The purpose of me saying that was to let her back down without embarrassing herself. If I''m an old-pervert, it shouldn''t tarnish her name. And I could remind her to dress properly while I was at it. Otherwise¡­¡­. she might catch a cold in this cold weather!

    But god forbid I would''ve known she''d get really shy. She quickly did up her cor and then coldly exim: "You are rude for an elder!"

    She was both angry and embarrassed. Even the bright-red plum blossom petal print on her head looked redder from embarrassment. Anger crept into her eyes and she eximed: "Hand me your head, pervert!"

    Her de swung at me like a hurricane! I marvelled at her skills to myself. The few skills she had disyed with her broadsword were enough for me to say that she could rival Tang Ye. Is she a female broadsword wielder from the seventeen hidden dragons?

    Before the qi on her de took shape, I moved behind her, making her strike miss. She retracted her de back and I followed her footsteps, sticking behind her causing her to miss all of her strikes.

    I didn''t want to bully her. It was because I was wearing my constable uniform so I didn''t dare to stop! If she sees my face, I''ll never be able to escape in all definitions of the word!

    "Wh-Who exactly are you?!"

    I quickly raised one hand to push and the other to grab, bringing the duck over. I then jumped over behind the wooden barrel and in a scruffy voice said: "Hmph! Don''t even think ofing over here. Come over and your end will be¡­ worse than this duck''s!"

    I threatened her while ripping a piece of tasty duck-meat and eating it¡­¡­ Oh! Mamma mia! It tastes gooooood!!!! I was nearly moved to tears. There were only snacks in the imperial kitchen. They didn''t serve me any hot food. This is what I call food!

    She hesitated for a moment but then a cold sh appeared on the broadsword again. It was clearly internal energy. This chick was going to go all out.

    Mm, it looks like I have to go¡­¡­

    I leapt away and had another piece of duck¡­¡­ Upon getting to the door, I took a big stride forward and ran off. There certainly are a lot of guards in the harem pce, but they''re not strong. If I''m busted, I just need to run.

    The girl in red behind me shouted: "Who exactly are you?!"

    "Hmph! This old man is Zhong Yi! Come get me if you''re tough!"

    Masterful ming skills! Need to put the me on someone else? Hit me up in person at Liu Shan Men!

 Volume 3 43 Distinguishing the Loyal and Traitorous Inside the Imperial Study

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 43 Distinguishing the Loyal and Traitorous Inside the Imperial Study</h4>

    "Your highness, I shall stay here to keep watch. Please go and grab the imperial¡­ that." Outside of the imperial study, Eunuch Nan decided to stop at the entrance and not dare enter the study. The emperor pushed the door to the study open. The interior was as it always was, except that he came here to read in the past instead of hiding like he was now, not to mention that it was his own son that forced him into this predicament.

    Nobody was standing guard outside of the imperial study which was very surprising, as there was a guard every five steps here just yesterday. Now however, there wasn''t a soul in sight. It truly was a sight that one couldn''t help but sigh at.

    When Eunuch Nan noticed the emperor not continuing in, he couldn''t resist his impatience. While still wearing his usual expression, he respectfully asked: "What is the matter, your highness?"

    The emperor nced at him and with a sad smile replied: "Brother Junfei, I am the emperor, yet I have been forced to move the imperial jade seal elsewhere to avoid a disaster at the hands of my own son. I truly fail as an emperor and as a father."

    Eunuch Nan thought to himself: If you did a good job, I would''ve decapitated you years ago. Would I have needed to trick you intoing here today?

    However, he kept his concerned expression on the surface: "Your highness, please do not feel down about it. This is a mistake his majestymitted in a moment of thoughtlessness. As long as you can keep the imperial jade seal safe, you will always have the necessary piece to turn this situation around. Once you have gathered your people to subjugate his majesty, you will naturally have a chance to set him straight. Your highness, this ce does not look it has been taken over, but we cannot stay for long."

    The emperor however, acted like he didn''t hear him. He stood at the door of the study and didn''t enter. Instead, he leisurelyined: "It''s easier said than done to set him straight. I have always been strict with them since they were young. But ording to what the Cheng''er said, I did wrong him in some ways. He was passionate about military strategies. His dream was to protect ournds and people. I shouldn''t have forced him. I don''t know how to clean up this mess now that I''ve forced him into usurping the throne."

    Eunuch Nan looked at the sky. The moon was graduallying up.

    I''m afraid the orange prince might not be able to wait anymore. Zhong Yi should have reported back to the flying fish pavilion by now, while I haven''tpleted my task here yet. When the time to announce rewards and merits, I''m going to be at the bottom for sure like this.

    Eunuch Nan responded in an amicable tone: "You need not worry, your highness. His majesty is your biological son after all, the son of her highness, and never left you before. You watched him grow up. If somebody was deliberately trying to harm you, surely it would not be his majesty, right? I am afraid that someone may be using his majesty and that person is the one who got him tomit this act of treason. His majesty possesses a pure heart. It is understandable for him to be used by another in a moment of thoughtlessness."

    The foggy look in the emperor''s eyes slowly started to clear up: "Did you say that Cheng''er had a moment of thoughtlessness¡­? It doesn''t look that way to me. He deliberately nned it. For him to pull off something so big inside the pce, I think it''s safe to say he''s been nning this out for a long time."

    "There are many ws in their operation, your highness." Eunuch Nan started to reveal his impatience in his speech, "Think about it, your highness, if Long Zaitian did not work with them, the n would not have seeded. Long Zaitian is but one of the four vice-captains in the Qilin Guards. If their grandmander was not away from the capital, he would not be making the decisions. As such, his majesty using someone like that was taking a chance. For it to be a deliberately thought out n, it is not well thought out."

    Due to his growing impatience, Eunuch Nan gave his opinion on the orange prince''s n. Using Long Zaitian was actually a spur-of-the-moment idea the orange prince came up with. All four members of mystery thought it wasn''t a wise idea.

    The original n was to have Eunuch Nan who was familiar with the pce drug them as it was safe and convenient for him. However, that meant that there would be too much reliance on Mystery. The orange prince worried that they would threaten his rule in the future. Thus, our Emperor Cheng Kong went and deployed a check and bnce tactic by using Long Zaitian who looked like a ruffian to keep Mystery in check. He never imagined that it would be the biggest w in the n.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While listening to him, the emperor thought about everything deeply.

    "No, that''s not right." The emperor shook his head while waving his hand: "The key to his n was the imperial martial arts tournament. The imperial martial arts tournament is conducted once every five years. However, it was conducted before the next schedule which wasn''t part of his n. I would assume that I threw off his n by moving it to an early date. Cheng''er originally aimed for two yearster. So can you really call it deliberate? If Cheng''er had an extra two years to prepare, I would most likely be captured already."

    That was factual. The orange prince did indeed n tounch his n into action two years from now. This operation wasunched all of a sudden with things not as ready as predicted.

    Eunuch Nan thought to himself: You''re notpletely stupid, you tyrant.

    "Your highness, we can sort this outter. If you do not grab the seal now, people might get here."

    The emperor nodded: "You''re right. Please keep watch then, Brother Junfei."

    "I shall wait for you, your highness."

    With that the emperor stepped into the imperial study and closed the door.

    Eunuch Nan was ted. He was just moments away from getting his hands on the imperial jade seal. He could help the orange prince ascend the throne and he, Yu Ye will be the vassal that aplished a great deed so he would be conferred a rank of nobility and be a minister, not to mention infinite wealth too.

    This dynasty permits eunuchs bing ministers. As someone who came from the pugilistic world, he could only move about in the inner parts of the pce as someone at the emperor''s side. But if he serves the orange prince, he will be able to be an elder of the new dynasty. That was his reason for choosing to serve the orange prince.

    As for the old emperor, out of consideration for his nice treatment toward me, I''ll give him a swift death after he''s served his purpose. They are father and son after all. If they mend their rtionship after some time, we rebels will be the ones who have to deal with trouble, so it''s best to just finish him off. I can just tell the orange prince he got so furious he died. He did revolt after all, so who can he me for angering his father to death?

    He almostughed out loud when he had the thought. Eunuch Nan stood properly as he waited for that awaited moment.

    But after a long time, it was silent inside the imperial study. Eunuch Nan naturally focused in to listen carefully and gently knocked on the door.

    After a while longer, Eunuch Nan in a muffled voice called out: "Your highness? Your highness?"

    He didn''t dare to rush him or push the door and enter, fearing that he''d raise the emperor''s suspicion. If he doesn''t get his hand on the imperial jade seal, he wouldn''t have aplished anything in this operation. Therefore, he had to be cautious.

    "Your highness¡­. it is I. Are you alright?"

    It was dead-silent inside.

    Eunuch Nan clicked his tongue. What''s going on? Could he have entered some secret passageway and can''t hear? Yeah, that must be it. Such a precious object like the imperial jade seal wouldn''t be ced somewhere obvious within reach.

    He waited for a bit longer but he was starting to get anxious.

    After pondering it over and over, he thought to himself: Since he''s entered a secret passageway, he won''t see me even if I go in to take a look. What''s wrong with entering?

    But he didn''t dare to enter the end. If he was discovered now, there probably wouldn''t be any good ending awaiting him. If his intent was to be discovered and the emperor destroyed the imperial jade seal, he''d be in for it.

    After a while longer, he couldn''t suppress his urge anymore, so he took action.

    Eunuch Nan quickly pushed the door open and entered. He rolled lightly on the ground, knelt there and then in a shaky voice said: "Y-Your highness, people havee! I am afraid that they will discover us, so I had no choice but tomit this crime punishable by death. Please forgive me, your highness!"

    All he got for his amazing performance though was awkward silence.

    It was scary-quiet inside the imperial study. Plus, it waspletely dark as there were no lights on and the atmosphere was eerie.

    Eunuch Nan knelt there for a while before slowly raising his head to ask: "Y-Your highness?" He looked left and ride, but all that was in sight were bookshelves as well as the table right at the front. There wasn''t a single trace of the emperor.

    Eunuch Nan thought to himself: So there is a secret passageway after all.

    But then he couldn''t see any secret passageway in sight. If there was a mechanism, he''d have heard it while standing outside. While he was confused, something shed right in front of his eyes, nearly knocking his soul out of his body!

    Right in a corner in the darkness was a small folding window.

    A window?!

    The first thing Eunuch Nan thought of was: The emperor ran off!!

    The thought of it gave him cold feet. He has great listening senses, but there''s no guarantee he won''t miss things. If the emperor sneaked out through the window then it may just have escaped his ears.

    But in that case, just when did the emperor find out he was a mole?!

    His suppressed fear resurfaced in his heart when he thought back to how the emperor maintained his usual majestic aura. His n to kill the emperor just now had gone down the drain in an instant. If he let the emperor escape, he was doomed given how the emperor usually dealt with evil!

    Eunuch Nan suppressed the fear in his heart and rushed over to the window to check it out. He no longer cared if he alerted anyone.

    Before he could get a good look, the sound of something flew through the darkness. Eunuch Nan instinctively went to smack it away. But his force was stopped and he felt a sharp pain in his palm. Something iparably sharp stabbed through his palm and went straight into his chest. Eunuch Nan groaned out loud and then fell backwards.

    A silhouette appeared from between the bookshelves in the darkness.

    Eunuch Nan slowly opened his eyes with disbelief because he was ambushed by him.

    Eunuch Nan resisted the pain at his chest and the sharp pain in his palm. With utter disbelief he eximed: "Wh-Why¡­ why did you attack me¡­ your highness?!"

    The emperor wore an angry look as he slowly emerged from the darkness with a crossbow in his hand,

    "You surprised? You entered the imperial study without permission which is punishable by death. How can you cry innocent?"

    Eunuch Nan quickly rushed to exin himself: "I am innocent, you highness! I am innocent! I saw suspicious people moving around outside and was afraid that you would be exposed if I was found. I¡­ I¡­ I did not think my actions would cause you to suspect me. I deserve to die."

    "You do indeed deserve to die."

    The emperor just looked at him with a sad and angry look as he shook his head.

    "You revealed yourself so soon, Nan Junfei."

    The emperor red at Nan Junfei and firmly dered: "Or maybe I should call you, Assassin Yu Ye!"

 Volume 3 44 The Father Runs Into Trouble While His Kid Runs Into Me

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 44 The Father Runs Into Trouble While His Kid Runs Into Me</h4>

    Nan Junfei was lying on the ground gasping for air: "Your highness¡­ you saw through me long ago¡­¡­"

    "It wasn''t hard."

    The emperor tossed his crossbow aside and ced his hand behind his back. The emperor''s hands were still shaking in the darkness. Thorn-tears had truly sealed his qi. He tried to mould energy multiple times, but that only caused Thorn-tears to prate deeper within. His hands and feet were numb, leaving him powerless while he felt a sharp stinging pain in his dantian every now and then. It took him everything he had to fire the crossbow.

    Though Shen Yiren tried to help everyone neutralise the poison, the only person she didn''t dare to give hemlock poison to was the emperor. For her, the emperor wasn''t just her respected and beloved uncle, but also the foundation of a vassal''s loyalty. As such, poisoning the emperor without careful deliberation was not something she could do, even if it was a matter of expediency.

    As a result, the emperor was in a horrible condition and was only bluffing as best as he could to hide the fact from Nan Junfei.

    "I stopped trusting everyone the moment Cheng''erunched his revolt. Anyone could''ve been Cheng''er''s men so I came up with a method to determine if the person in question could be trusted. Those who mentioned the three words ''imperial jade seal'' were moles, no questions asked. Not only did you repeatedly mention it, you even showed your urgency on your face. That''s when I started paying attention. I continued to repetitively mention Cheng''er''s operation today. You and I were both poisoned and both in peril, but you were very calm. And you had so much to say when analysing his n, which ispletely contradictory to your usual self that speaks very little."

    "I can''t believe I revealed myself like that¡­¡­"

    "The League of Assassins must''ve grown a few more guts to dare ande invade my imperial pce. Yet they only sent small-timers like the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. There''s no way Cheng''er could''ve relied on them alone to attack the imperial pce. I felt something was wrong long ago. I just happened to not be able to figure it out until I saw that Qilin Guard, Jiao Meng with formidable skills. His palm strikes were incredibly powerful and shocking. He stood out to me particrly when he defeated my skilled fighters around me alone like a man who established his magnanimity in a wave. That reminded me of a style. The style counters variations by not varying the users techniques, drawing out fights with stamina, and focusing on brute strength as its core element. That style is called Fu Xiang Divine Palms."

    The corner of Nan Junfei''s eye twitched a little after what he heard so the emperor knew his guess was right. The emperor then continued: "The cultivation and execution is extremely simr to what Jiao Meng used. So it was strange, because ording to what I know, Fu Xiang Divine Palms is a style that originates from South Xinjiang. If it was being used in the Central ins, then only one person would be using it. That would be Fu Xiang, an assassin who made a name for himself in the north."

    The emperor then got angrier and he raised his voice: "Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye, Zhong Ning! God damn Yu Ye, Zhong Ning, Nan Junfei. I underestimated you. Mystery was a group that rose to prominence in thest six to seven years while you had entered the pce long before Mystery appeared. I thought you were just more regted and disciplined when I saw how you were usually very careful in the pce as though you were afraid of making mistakes. I never thought that it was all a cover for your real identity as an assassin!"

    "In the past, my alias was Yu Ye of the Southern Sky. The two words, Yu Ye were taken from that alias of mine after I became an assassin." Nan Junfeiy on the ground like a mouldy-old prawn. He smiled helplessly and added: "But that''s not the reason. I''m certain that you weren''t suspicious of me before you entered the imperial study. At least, I''m not entirely sure."

    "You''re right. I had no way of confirming your stance after I entered so I stayed here to watch you. You barged in iming enemies hade. You can trick people with your voice, but not your eyes. Your two sly-snake eyes were scanning the room the entire time like a dog searching for its prey! Is there any need to say what you were thinking at that point?"

    "I see now¡­¡­ You are most certainly wise, your highness. Not even such small actions could escape your eyes. To be honest, I was not deliberately trying to be careful. It was just that I had to be careful in front of you." Nan Junfei smiled and slowly got up from the ground. He panted for air and continued: "Since it was my eyes that betrayed me, I did not get hit with this arrow for no reason."

    Once he finished that sentence, Nan Junfei clenched his teeth, and resisted the pain as he yanked the short arrow out, causing a downpour of blood.uckily for him, the arrow wasn''t barbed so it didn''t open too big of a wound. It did hurt intensely though. Nan Junfei clenched his teeth and sealed his meridian. He moulded energy three times and he managed to stop the excessive bleeding. He then took out his medication for incision wounds he always had on him and had himself some. He then looked at the emperor. He had lost a fair bit of blood but he still had clear vision, and his internal energy was evidently fine.

    The emperor didn''t expect for him to be so tough, let alone stand up again. For a moment, the emperor got slightly flustered: "Y-You can still stand?"

    Nan Junfei chuckled and replied: "I just praised you for being wise and here you are being stupid. Your highness, do you perhaps remember what style I am a master of by any chance?"

    Though the style Nan Junfei is well-versed in is famous, it''s got nothing to do with his wound. His alias was Yu Ye Southern Sky. However, that was because he was good with qinggong and secret weapons. It had nothing to do with him pulling an arrow out.

    The emperor thought about it and suddenly blurted out something that came to mind: "Qi Release Aspiration Manual! Damn you! I taught you that back then, and now you''re using it against me!"

    In one particr year when the emperor went to see how the people were doing outside the pce, a bandit tried to hurt the emperor. Nan Junfei took the attack with his body and was severely wounded. After not being able to heal for a long time, the emperor taught him the healing technique of the royal family, Qi Release Aspiration Manual.

    After years of practice, Nan Junfei became proficient with the style. He sneakily used that style when he was hit by the arrow just before. And it had amazing healing properties as usual. He managed to stop the bleeding swiftly and his internal and external energy systems weren''t damaged.

    The emperor furiously eximed: "You bastard!" He went to strike him with his palms. However, he had lost all of his internal energy and had yet to recover.

    Nan Junfei intercepted the emperor''s arm and pped, knocking him onto the ground.

    "Hmph! The patriarch was so skilled yet has trash like you for a descendent. Once you die, I''ll use all of your skills andbine them into an invincible style. Let''s see how your Li family''s rule fares then!"

    The emperor was sprawled out on the ground and couldn''t get up as though he waspletely out of energy.

    "I didn''t want to do this, but you didn''t give me a chance. Your highness, I originally wanted to give you a swift death, but you forced me to do it the hard way."

    Nan Junfeiughed coldly and his tone slowly became more violent: "Your highness, I do execute my targets normally. I don''t interrogate my targets or anything like that. Only my brother Zhong Ning is a crazy murderous killer who''s also specialised in all sorts of interrogation techniques. And he''s a sick-perverted bastard who goes for men and women. If you don''t hand over the imperial jade seal, my brother Zhong Ning might just like you given your looks when he gets here."

    Just when he got to that part, somebody kicked the door open. Nan Junfei turned around with glee to look: "Speak of the devil."

    Nan Junfei shouted toward the door: "Zhong Ning,e in!"

    ========================

    "Zhong Ning, you bastard! Stop right there!!"

    I was galloping in the harem''s flower garden. Behind me was a pretty girl chasing me down with a sabre in her hand.

    I''ve ran a fewps in the harem with this girl in red already.

    It''s not that I can''t shake her off, but I need to find some makeup here. I don''t know what the heck is up with the harem today either. There''s a maid or a eunuch standing on guard every three steps so I had to take detours to avoid those ces. But then I got stuck on a big straight path, making it very easy for her to chase me from behind.

    Just what the hell man?!

    I''m just looking for some makeup. Name me one girl that doesn''t use any! Just why is it so hard for me to find some?!

    "Stop right there, Zhong Ning!"

    She yelled out with her beautiful-clear voice again. The speed with which the girl in red wielded her broadsword was honestly swifter than I imagined. She shed at me again.

    Get off me! I''m in a rush to save the emperor here! Can''t we just do away with our debts when we''ve got national matters to deal with here?!

    I suddenly stopped and threw a palm strike, forcing her to learn to back of¡­¡­ I can''t kill her or hurt her¡­¡­ This is tough man!! Why didn''t my shifu teach me some useful stuff back then?!

    While I wasining about for the umpteenth time about how my shifu isn''t reliable, the girl in red took two steps back and then shed the force of my palm strike away.

    She seemed to struggle to breathe a little due to my palm strike as she was short on breath.

    I couldn''t face her front-on in case she recognised me in my constable uniform. As such, I kept my back to her and thundered: "I have important business to attend to. Missy, if you continue chasing me, watch out your for you umm¡­ your dudou!"

    Kekeke, I just mentioned a ce she must guard¡­¡­

    "Pervert!"

    The girl in red swiftly covered her chest. A red flush appeared on her face. She wore a stern expression on and eximed: "You barged into the harem which is an unforgivable offense, and you''re the second team of the League of Assassins'', Mystery. How can I let you go?!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I made a mistake. This girl in red isn''t your average seventeen, eighteen, neen year old girl. Her martial arts knowledge is vast and managed to keep calm like this after a mysterious man suddenly barged in on her bathing. Herposure is impressive andmendable.

    "A-And¡­.." Her voice trembled a little. She looked at me with disdain in her heroic and beautiful eyes: "You, Zhong Ning, are an infamous evil figure in the pugilistic world, wreaking havoc wherever you go. People in the pugilistic world call you one of the four biggest perverts. You go for men and women, you disgusting-sick pervert! What were you trying to do in the harem?!"

    My jaw dropped to the ground.

    What? What? What?

    He goes for guys and girls? Sh*t! I didn''t know this guy''s appetite was that liberal!!

    "Your majesty! We have trouble!"

    A group of imperial guards rushed over. I looked at their leader. It was a proper imperial guard, not one of the orange prince''s henchmen. It looks like the crisis at the flying fish pavilion has been resolved after Fu Xiang''s defeat. The imperial guard captains had begun to return to their posts and the guards themselves had returned to their rightful posts.

    Eh? But what did the team-captain call this girl in red just now¡­¡­?

    She red at my back then and clenched her teeth before saying: "You guys came at the right time. I was worried about not being able to find a helping hand. Just now this man¡­¡­" It looks like she cares about her reputation and can''t reveal that I peeped on her bathing. She switched to: "He barged into the harem from out of nowhere and was rude to me. Arrest him and as the princess, I shall reward you handsomely!"

    Hmm? Something''s weird.

    Did she just address herself the way I think she did?!

    Other than the empress, the only ones who address themselves like that in the pce are¡­¡­

    As soon as the imperial guards heard what she said, they shouted out like I molested their mother. They angrily roared: "You rude bastard! One nce and you can tell you''re not a good person. How dare you humiliate the second princess!"

    Sec-ond princess!!!

    The girl in red is the second princess of the current dynasty, Li Hongzhuang!

    Once I learnt of her identity, my hairs stood up and I realised one more thing: I just threatened her by saying to her face that I was going to strip her dudou off. My name is going to go down in history now!

    Notes:

    *Dudou is like an undershirt worn in ancient China instead of a bra. It''s not called a bellyband which it''s often mistranted as. That refers to a variety of other devices including horses'' harness or apression garment expectant mothers wear. For a visual, google: ¶Ç¶µ

    **Li Hongzhuang refers to herself as ±¾¹¬ which tranted literally is "This pce". The English trantion in the right context is just "I", so for raw readers, I did add in the "¡­as the princess, I¡­" part for smoother reading and so that MFZ''s reaction wasn''t just nonsensical to you. From here on out though, whenever ±¾¹¬ is used, I will simply trante it as "I" unless I need to do that again. As in the chapter, it''s how the empress, sometimes otherdies of the emperor (because there are different ways) and princesses refer to themselves. In English, it''s just "I", hence why the changes I made to adapt it.

 Volume 3 45 Itâ€™s Safe With the Emperorâ€™s Security Detailâ€™s Hu Po Here

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 45 It''s Safe With the Emperor''s Security Detail''s Hu Po Here</h4>

    "Zhong Ning,e in!" Nan junfei chuckled indifferently as he faced the emperor who sat up and said: "I must introduce you to my brother Zhong Ning. your highness. He''s ranked fourth in our group, Mystery. His martial arts skills are inferior to mine, but his evilness far exceeds the three of us. While the other three of us do admit tomitting evil, we only take on assassination or sabotage jobs from the rich.

    My brother, Zhong Ning however, is a rare toe by evil spawn that''s been around for decades. He kills, robs and rapes women. There''s no atrocity he doesn''tmit. He''s bloodthirsty. Our former master and servant rtionship would not beplete if I don''t introduce you to such a peculiar individual."

    The emperor sat up but still couldn''t muster up any strength. There wasn''t a single hint of capittion in his eyes, but he struggled to ask: "Why? Yes, you came from the pugilistic world, but you are just and brave. I took you in without questioning you when you came to offer your services to me back then. I''ve never treated you as a servant despite you entering the pce to work as a servant. I treated you as a hero nheless. Nan Junfei, ask yourself, when and where did I wrong you? Why are you betraying me?"

    "You didn''t wrong me. Of course you didn''t!" Nan Junfei''s gaze changed. He eximed: "You''re a saint. A great emperor that is proficient in literacy and martial arts. You''re an emperor that is superior to the previous emperors, so naturally, you never wronged me. But I became reduced to a eunuch because of you!"

    The emperor frowned and replied: "You already did it to yourself when you came to offer your services to me back then, and told me yourself that you wanted to enter the pce as a eunuch. I never forced you to, so how did I force you?"

    "Of course you don''t remember. You''re busy with thousands of things every day. How would you have time to remember these minor matters? In your eyes, my life is but a sentence on your documents." Nan Junfei red at the emperor aggressively and then exined in an enraged voice: "Fifteen years ago, I offered my serves to the Nine Rivers Sect. Someone reported to Liu Shan Men that our group was nning to revolt. With just one written decree from you and Liu Shan Men''s Yan Shisan immediately led his men to eradicate our Nine Rivers Sect.

    Heh, skilled fighters of the imperial, big shots, huh? A huge sect was eradicated in half a day. All those who resisted were killed. Those captured were subjected to the punishments in the pce. I didn''t castrate myself. I was castrated after I was captured as a prisoner!"

    "Nine Rivers Sect¡­ Nine Rivers Sect¡­¡­" The emperor muttered the name several times and then blurted: "I somewhat remember that incident. There was solid evidence that the sect-leader was nning to revolt back then. Yan Shisan didn''t make a wrong judgement. Why do you¡­¡­"

    Nan Junfei cut him off, shouting: "So what?! If it weren''t for you and Yan Shisan, I wouldn''t have be a eunuch!"

    So it turns out Nan Junfei didn''t know the sect-leader of the Nine Rivers Sect was in fact guilty. It was just that he suffered more than he could handle. He didn''t care about reason. He just needed a target to vent his hatred and pain. Life in the pce for over a decade didn''t reduce his hatred. To the contrary, it made him angrier and more averse to epting the oue, thus wanting to change his life even more.

    Nan Junfeiughed pitifully for himself: "Heh, a hero, huh? If I truly was still a hero, I wouldn''t be here today wearing these clothes and speaking to you here in the pce. Unfortunately, I''m just a eunuch, a eunuch who can only realise his dream of heroism by killing people. What''s the point of the martial arts skills I possess?"

    The emperor didn''t respond. Nan Junfei''s gaze turned cold. He snickered and went on: "I hate you and Yan Shisan most in this life. I couldn''t kill him, but I at least got to watch him fall. You were the one who spun this cocoon around for yourself. If he was still by your side you wouldn''t be in this situation now. You have treated me decently all these years, so I did want to make it swift. But you didn''t want the favour. I''ve managed to save myself trouble. Before you experience the pain I suffered, don''t even dream of having a moment to rx."

    He turned around to speak to the person at the door that wouldn''te in: "Zhong Ning? What''s wrong with you?"

    The footsteps at the door had stopped long ago. A silhouette of someone tall was seen outside the door, but the individual wouldn''t enter.

    Nan Junfei said: "What are you doing noting in, Brother Zhong Ning? The old emperor has already seen through my act. There''s no need to act anymore!"

    But the silhouette didn''t move like the individual didn''t hear Nan Junfei.

    Nan Junfei suddenly started to get suspicious: Today is an important day. Zhong Ning wouldn''t pull a joke like this. Could it be¡­ that it''s not Zhong Ning?!

    As his suspicion arose, Nan Junfei raised his vignce level. He reached his hand out and sealed the emperor''s meridian before tying him up brashly. He waspletely different to the careful version of himself when he was helping the emperor before.

    Nan Junfei dragged the emperor to the door then carefully asked: "Brother Zhong Ning, is that you?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The person at the door finally spoke up: "So¡­ the fucking evil bastard Zhong Ning is your sworn brother."

    The voice was strong and clear, theplete opposite of Zhong Ning.

    "Who are you?"

    Nan Junfei moulded energy to his palm. He waited for him to speak before striking with his palm. He didn''t see the individual raise his hand. Nan Junfei felt his palm collide with a wall of wind which was very tough. Nan Junfei immediately moulded more internal energy, seeking to get the upper hand right away.

    Their palms collided with a door in between. Frankly, the door was very tough to be able to withstand both of their palms colliding without getting damaged.

    That individual took several steps back after their exchange. Since he didn''t know who the visitor was, Nan Junfei couldn''t let him go. Therefore, he quickly pulled the door open and chased him outside. That individual reversed his direction and struck back with a palm strike. Not having enough time to defend, Nan Junfei was forced to use both palms to intercept his palm, thereby releasing the emperor.

    Their walls of qi shed and exploded in the air. The explosion of their sh blew the snowkes around away. The two were outrageously strong.

    The individual seemed to have nned the attack out for a long time. With both of Nan Junfei''s arms extended, he manoeuvred himself quickly, putting himself between Nan Junfei and the emperor, sessfully separating them. The emperor recognised the individual from his back. He said to himself: With him here, my safety is guaranteed!

    Nan Junfei realised he fell for the tactic when he lost his hostage. He retreated a step then shouted: "Who are you?!"

    The individual faintly asked: "Eunuch Nan, after bing thep-dog of the League of Assassins'' have you forgotten who I am too?"

    The man before his eyes was dressed in brilliant ck clothing. He was tall and had a straight posture. His eyes looked refined and his internal energy was evidently profound. He had bulging muscles like every inch of his muscles had explosive power.

    Nan Junfei took a proper look at his features and automatically blurted a name without thinking: "Hu Po! It''s you!"

    Hu Po is the current seventh ranked warrior on Liu Shan''s Elites'' rankings. He was the special ranked member of the emperor''s security detail whose post was to guard the emperor.

    Nan Junfei was shocked. If Hu Po is here, where''s Zhong Ning?

    Hu Po didn''t say any more to Nan Junfei, instead with his back facing him, he apologised to the emperor: "Your highness, I apologise for my tardiness. Please allow me to unseal your meridian first." He reported his intention before easily undoing the seal.

    The emperor''s body was already limp to begin with so he dropped to the ground as soon as his meridian was released. Fortunately, Hu Po caught him so he didn''t make an embarrassment of himself. With joy, the emperor said: "My efforts to stall for time were worth it in the end. You''re finally here, Hu Po."

    Hu Po nodded and respectfully apologised again: "I apologise for beingte. Please forgive me, your highness."

    The emperor waved it off with his hand and replied: "I had you leave, so you''re not at fault. Now that you''re here, let''s see how this scoundrel runs!" He then red at Nan Junfei and calmly said: "This manmitted treason, is ungrateful and is undeserving of mercy. I permit you to kill him."

    It''s usually forbidden for anyone to use weapons let alone fight outside the imperial study. Without the emperor''s orders, nobody was permitted to fight. But once he gave the order, Nan Junfei''s chances of survival got slimmer and slimmer.

    Nan Junfei looked at the two of them speak. Like he was standing on their corpse already he thundered: "If that bastard didn''t resort to trickery, you wouldn''t have been able to snatch that tyrant back from me!"

    Hu Po ignored Nan Junfei the entire time which was an indication that he looked down on him.

    Now that Nan Junfei cursed at the emperor, Hu Po''s gazed turned cold as he turned around to say: "Take that back."

    "Take it back? Go ask the king of hell to take it back!"

    Nan Junfei took out a rocket from his shirt and shot it up into the sky where it vanished instantly. That''s the League of Assassins'' special contact method. They never use it until the situation is dire.

    Nan Junfei chuckled brutally and mocked: "Be pleased with yourself as much as you can, because my people will be here any moment now!"

    =======================

    I had to go through some effort to shake them off.

    When I found out she was the second princess, I ran for dear life without stopping.

    Putting aside that she''s an incredible fighter herself, she even called for reinforcements. I fled for as long as it takes to boil a pot of tea. My number of pursuers increased several folds as I ran. My constable uniform is like a death-ma. Being sighted meant death, causing me to give up on my n and run out of the harem.

    And now I''m at god-knows where.

    I hid in a pile of stinky clothes and silently waited for my pursuers to pass by for some good distance. I waited for a long time. I waited until I could honestly no longer stand the stench before leaving the pile and running for dear life.

    Aaahh! I stink!

    What the hell is this ce?!

    I looked up and saw the word: Laundry.

    It looks like this is where clothes are washed in the pce. Did I run here without knowing it¡­? I lowered my head to sniff myself. I can''t do this. I need to find somewhere to wash myself.

    "Who goes there?!"

    The shout scared me. I thought I got busted. But then when I saw the individual, my worry vanished.

    He was dressed in ck and he wore a blue-fang mask. No matter how I look at it, he looks more suspicious than me.

    He suddenly shed out from a corner and pointed his sword at me. I''ve seen this clothing style plenty of times today. If I''m correct, all of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings and the orange prince''s private military dressed like this.

    What, is this guy passing by too? Where''s he off to?

    I looked at him again. He looks really familiar. He''s with the ck Winds Thirteen Wings if I''m correct¡­¡­

    The man with the mask scanned me from head to toe and back up. He then nodded as though he had figured out my identity. I could virtually see the bloodthirsty smile he wore behind his mask.

    "Hmm, you from Liu Shan Men? My sword hasn''t tasted any blood today. You offered yourself up to me so I have to kill."

    "Who are¡­¡­"

    "The name is Chen Yun." Chen Yun smiled savagely and added: "Remember it. That''s the name of the man who''s going to take your life."

    Ooohh! The leader of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, Chen Yun. I see~.

    Why is he here? Is he running away like me?

    But whatever.

    I stared at his clothes and mask before putting on my thinking hat.

    "Uhm." I scanned him for a bit, causing him to feel ufortable before smiling and asking: "Bro, you wanna strip?"

    Chen Yun seemed to be disgusted. He asked with disdain: "What did you say?"

    "The name is Zhong Ning." I grinned and copied his tone and line exactly as I added: "Remember it. That''s the name of the man who''s going to hang on you the wall butt-naked."

    Notes:

    *The rocket Nan Junfei shot wasn''t the massive modern day rocket. There are many variations such as the type that''s like a party popper where you pull the string and it shoots a re into the air.

 Volume 3 46 Hu Po Counters Yu Ye, Zhong Ning Counters Hei Ying

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 46 Hu Po Counters Yu Ye, Zhong Ning Counters Hei Ying</h4>

    There are a hundred warriors of the imperial court ranked on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. The twenty-first to one-hundred ranks are conferred Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding ranks, while the top twenty are different. Some in the pugilistic world jokingly call them seven, six, four, three, one brigade.

    The top three on the rankings are referred to as The Ultimate Three.

    The three of them possess profound martial arts skills and are in no respect inferior to the top masters of the martial world. It''s rare for them to fight, but when they do, they cause the world to tremble. Yan Shisan was once one of them. That''s why the three of them are usually delegated to posts far away where they are responsible for subduing foreign enemies.

    The seventeen warriors ranked after the ultimate three are known as the seventeen hidden dragons.

    Among the seventeen of them however, are clear distinctions. Those distinctions being:st-seven, middle-six, top-four.

    The skill level in each of those ranks is different. Long Zaitian is ranked fifteenth in the seventeen hidden dragons and therefore belongs in thest-seven, and is one of the rtively weaker members.

    Despite being one of the seventeen hidden dragons, his skills are far inferior to those ranked above him.

    However, all twenty of them serve the imperial court. Therefore, the nickname seven, six, four, three, one clown brigade isn''t without reason.

    The ultimate three are given aliases based on sacred animals so they''re like sacred animals that defend the nation. As long as they''re around, the imperial court shall know peace.

    Flying Fish, Qing Lin and Ying Long are the same. The ultimate three that came after were also the same.

    The top four whom are closest to the ultimate three are also conferred aliases that are close to them.

    Hu Po''s name contains the "tiger" character within "Hu". That goes to show that the emperor holds his martial skills in high regard.

    Nan Junfei was aware his opponent was no pushover. He held his breath and then whipped his sleeves out creating a whirlwind of snowkes that picked up over ten little stones that packed full of power. They were hidden within the snow whirlwind and hard to notice.

    This Flying Sands and Stones technique was a top-tier hidden-weapon technique that''s hard to master. However, it wasn''t difficult for Nan Junfei who was a famous skilled-master. The difficult part was forming the attack when waving his hand as it needed to look natural and not give the enemy time to defend. He took advantage of the snowkes and night sky as cover to bring out the essence of hidden-weapons. That was where his effort was focused.

    "Insignificant fluffy tricks."

    Ho Po however, didn''t think anything of him. Without even looking, he stepped forth. A single step from him was enough turn the atmosphere around unnatural. Nan Junfei could seemingly see the qi around him suddenly flow erratically. He didn''t know what sort of godly strength was hiding within. One misstep would mean death.

    It appeared as though an invisibleyer of qi flowed erratically around him, pushing the snowkes around away. However, the stones that contained Nan Junfei''s internal strength could still pierce through theyer of flowing qi and urately hit him on his body.

    Nan Junfei was all giddy to himself: Your fault for acting up. You can''t me me for the consequences!

    He then shouted: "Die, scoundrel!" With that, he rushed him with a palm strike.

    However, Hu Po''s body only stopped for a second when the stones hit him. His clothes absorbed the force of the stones so taking one step back was sufficient to dissolve their force. He got his clothes to stand straight up again, thereby bouncing them back at him. The sound of the stones flying through the air was two-times louder than when they flew at him.

    Being a master at hidden-weapons, Nan Junfei naturally knew how to defend against hidden-weapons as well as strike with them. However, it''s rare to see someone do it in an incredible manner as Hu Po just did. Nan Junfei didn''t panic as he watched the stones fly back at him. He was skilled at maintaining hisposure. He stopped his feet and caught the stones with his hands skilfully.

    "You want to kill me with that child''s y level of skill?"

    By the time he heard that sentence and looked at Hu Po again, he was already up in his face. While Nan Junfei was catching the stones, he moved to stand within three-feet of him. He wore a cold expression as he raised up one hand and mmed it on Nan Junfei''s chest.

    The punch came from Hu Po''s self-created "Ten Tiger Pration Techniques". The punch was heavy, sending Nan Junfei flying where he then spat a mouthful of blood like cotton being tossed into the winds.

    His bloodnded on the snow creating a trail of blood in the snow.

    "D-Damn you, Hu Po."

    Nan Junfei struggled to sit up. He then used "Qi Release Aspiration Manual" and slowly spat out several mouthfuls of foul qi. He acted like he was severely wounded, but in reality, he was still fully capable of fighting. The founding emperor''s Qi Release Aspiration Manual truly was a miraculous healing cultivation art. It was particrly effective for battle wounds. The ability to heal internal injuries with it was mind-blowing. He saved his true power, waiting for Hu Po to let his guard down tounch a counterattack.

    Hu Po walked over slowly, watching Nan Junfei seated on the ground with his calm gaze.

    He suddenlyunched a punch like sh of thunder. He punched mercilessly with no care for whether his opponent was wounded or not.

    Nan Junfei''s ns were far off from what he imagined they would be like. As a matter of fact, he revealed his card and had no choice but to evade. The brick where he was seated just a moment ago had been reduced to dust by Hu Po''s extremely powerful internal energy. In his moment of shock, the sound of a fist punching through the air swung toward his head. Hu Po hunted him down, using "Ten Tiger Pration Techniques" again on him.

    Nan Junfei eximed in his mind: Fucking nutcase! Did I smash your ancestors'' tombs or something for you to be so vicious?!

    Hu Po threw three consecutive punches and then threw a kick. Nan Junfei rolled like a gourd on the ground back and forth. If he didn''t have good qinggong, Hu Po would''ve dealt him the fatal blow already.

    Nan Junfei was furious. He wasn''t a magnanimous or tolerant man. Being a eunuch for so many years made him frighteningly paranoid. His attempt to lure his opponent just now failed. Instead, he convinced himself he was injured. Yet when he was genuinely injured, his opponent hunted him down mercilessly. He cussed: "Fuck you, Hu Po, you bastard! You and I have no deep grudge! Chasing me down like this¡­ are you ignoring the rules of the pugilistic world now too?"

    After Hu Po heard him, he asked: "No grudge?"

    A dark shadow appeared on his face. His voice got deeper as he rhetorically asked: "Did you say we have no grudges?"

    Hu Po''s anger appeared to increase. He put more force into his punches and punched quicker, leaving Nan Junfei with no room to catch his breath.

    "Being a member of his highness''s security detail and yet not being able to keep him safe is the greatest humiliation in my life. Death is the only way the grudge can be settled!"

    Nan Junfei finally realised why the emperor had him be his bodyguard for so many years and closer to him than anyone. He wasn''t just loyal, he was basically a mad dog!

    Nan Junfei wasn''t as skilled as him to begin withpounded with the wound the emperor gave him, the more he fought him the more he started slipping. He was forced to focus on defence.

    Hu Po didn''t give him a chance to drag the fight out. His Ten Tiger Pration Techniques could be used with punches, palm strikes and even hard-weapons. It wasn''t restricted. He suddenly swung his hand using a knife-hand technique, crushing Nan Junfei''s guard.

    Hu Po''s voice exuded his absolute confidence as he said: "If you have people with you, call them out, or else you won''t even get to see them onest time." He kicked him on his chest like a straight stab with a spear, smashing Nan Junfei''s organs and sending him flying.

    The kick was so powerful it would''ve caused an internal injury so severe Nan Junfei wouldn''t be able to continue fighting. Fortunately for him, he was using Qi Release Aspiration Manual.

    He held in hisst breath and forcefully focused on just the healing technique. However, he couldn''t even recover to fifty-percent. He lowered his head and bent his torso over. He watched Hu Poe closer. The violence in his chest surged up. He clenched his teeth and struck Hu Po right on his chest with two palms.

    "Aaaarrrgggghh!"

    He shouted as he hit him. However, it felt like Hu Po''s chest was an iron wall that his palms couldn''t prate.

    It was a clear sign his opponents internal strength cultivation was vastly superior to his own. Nan Junfei''s palm strikes were ineffective.

    Hu Po didn''t blink. He just frowned with boredom and mocked: "That''s it?"

    He then extended one palm, performed a circr motion with the arm and with one loud thud, Nan Jufei flew off some distance away.

    Nan Junfei only remembered a rumour once he was in the air.

    All of the first-four members of the seventeen hidden dragons had rumours of being monsters.

    But by the time he recalled it, it was already toote.

    Nan Junfei knew that he couldn''t fall or he''d die for sure. He forced himself to stay on his feet. But by the time he realised it, Hu Po had started his onught again!

    Nan Junfei continued stepping backwards while eximing to himself: I sent the signal a while ago, why haven''t my reinforcements arrived yet? What the hell are Chen Yun and the rest doing?!!

    Nan Junfei was said to be an expert in qinggong and hidden-weapons in this lifetime, but it was all pointless here. In terms of qinggong, he might be a little faster than Hu Po, but that was useless in close-quartersbat. It was only good when he was fleeing. He came here toplete his mission. What the hell would running away do?!

    Now for hidden-weapons. That was even more bullsh*t. Every hidden-weapon user has his own weapons. Where the hell was he going to get his own specialised weapons from inside the pce?!

    Nan Junfei had no counters for Hu Po''s onught. All he could do was cuss to himself: Those punks from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings got an order from a superior and yet they''re not moving. Where have they gone off too?! If I manage to escape alive, I''ll skin them when I see those bastards!

    =============================

    "Hey, if we keep fighting, he''s going to be left with just his skeleton. Aren''t you guys going to help him?"

    I looked at the guy called Chen Yun in front of me and then the ten guys in ck behind him. They seemed to all be from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings but also appeared to be a bit like other assassins from the League of Assassins. They were trapped by me at theundry. It was a really pitiful sight to see them want to leave but be unable to.

    However, Chen Yun was the most pitiful one. I had already stripped himpletely. Yes,pletely.

    In a bored tone, I said: "Didn''t I tell you? Strip down and put on the maids uniforms, and I''ll spare you lot."

    As soon as I was done speaking, he got angry again: "We''d rather die than wear that. As if assassins would submit."

    "Let''s fight then."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But then they didn''t dare toe at me when I said that. He took several steps back and shouted at his subordinates: "What are you guys standing there for, huh?! You all just going to watch me get ridiculed?!"

    One of his subordinates replied: "B-But he''s creepy-strong!"

    Pfft! People actually use that adjective that way now?!

    All I did was strip Chen Yun to teach him a lesson and trap you guys here.

    Chen Yun eximed: "We''ve been called for. Get him! You want to die?!"

    He then kicked one of his subordinates in the ass to push him over to me.

    Hey, hey¡­ General Butt-naked, can you quit being so arrogant? You think you hot? You just unted everything raising your leg up for that kick.

    His subordinate showed off and then bounced over to sh at me, but the single inchyer of qi I enveloped my body with deflected it. I raised my hand up in a bored fashion and gently pat him on the back of his neck. When I made contact, it sounded like a leather ball getting mmed onto the ground.

    "Hey, who else wants some?"

    The ten of them wore their terror in their eyes.

    Chen Yun thundered: "Where the hell did this creepe from?! Who are you exactly?!"

    Iughed and responded: "Hmph, this old man is Zhong Ning!"

    But right after I said that, a dignified and beautiful voice came from in the distance: "Zhong Ning, you scoundrel! So you were here, were you?!"

    I felt a chill run up my spine. I didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    Why did shee back?!

    Notes:

    *When MFZ talks about the objective, creepy here is the creepy twisted-creepy like you would use for a pedo (turn yourself in if you''re reading this by the way). Under other circumstances, I would''ve tranted it as "indescribably strong", but for the joke''s sake, I tried.

 Volume 3 47 Incomparable Material. Denying While Dressed In Womenâ€™s Clothing

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 47 Iparable Material. Denying While Dressed In Women''s Clothing</h4>

    I moulded internal energy into my voice just now to scare the group of bastards, but I transmitted it a bit too far!

    "Sh*t! That chick is back!" Anxious, I dered: "I''m done ying with you guys, party is over!"

    Then I tried to run but the ck Winds Thirteen Wings from behind stopped me.

    "Who''s ying with you? Huh?! You think you can leave whenever you like?!"

    I frowned. Before I could even speak, Chen Yun went and had his fun first. He red at me: "Aha! So you were being chased, you punk. Oh wow, she''s a beauty too. You want to run? Fine. Change into this maid uniform and then beg me. If you can entertain me, I''ll spare you your sorry life."

    I looked at him like I was looking at a retard. I calmly said: "That beauty in red is the current emperor''s second daughter. Think about what you did to her father. Good luck guys."

    Once done, I didn''t bother with the bunch of idiots anymore and swiftly hid myself into the pile of dirty clothes.

    This sh*t stinks! I need to use Turtle Breathing Art to hold my breath¡­¡­

    Chen Yun and his men exchanged looks. One of his subordinates suggested: "Captain, we can''t dy any further too. How about we put aside our grudge with this guy for now and find another opportunity to get back at him?"

    Chen Yun hesitantly replied: "Well¡­¡­"

    His subordinate stepped closer and whispered: "Plus, we can''t beat him."

    "That makes sense!"

    Chen Yun nodded his head firmly. But before he could leave, he had to get dressed. I had stolen his ck clothes and mask already while he waspletely naked right now. This ce was filled with maid uniforms. Chen Yun had no choice. All that''s left to see is if themander of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, Chen Yun is willing to wear one or not. Due to the beauty of this scene, I couldn''t help but take the risk of making a little gap to peep.

    I watched Chen Yun look at the dirty clothes on the ground and space out. I decided to give him a hand.

    From inside the pile of clothes, I poked my head out, stretched one hand out and said: "Contestant Chen Yun, please begin your performance!"

    "Y-Y-You bastard!"

    Chen Yun had difficulty dealing with the humiliation. I can''t believe he blushed. His shoulders quivered non-stop like he was ready toe at me with his life. His subordinates all eximed: "Cap! The mission is more important!"

    Chen Yun thundered: "I''m a man! You expect me to put up with this humiliation?!"

    His subordinate shouted: "But cap, you can''t beat him!"

    "¡­¡­"

    Chen Yun is a true man. He clenched his teeth and stamped his feet. He then turned around with his back facing me, picked up a set and wore it on. In a shy and enraged voice he eximed: "I won''t let you have theugh over my corpse! You can forget about getting a front view! Only my brothers can see me in female clothing!"

    His subordinates cheered him on: "Cap! You''re a true brother!"

    Hey! You can''t do this!

    I''ll give you three coins for the uncensored version!

    Since he was mad, Chen Yun just grabbed a random one without paying attention to the size. He''s arge man, yet he picked up a small-sized maid uniform. He couldn''t get into it. When he tugged on it hard, it ripped, revealing his ass.

    Everything went dead silent.

    I went silent too¡­ Everybody was trying to hide their smiles.

    Chen Yun was angrier than ever. He was so angry it literally appeared as though his face would bleed.

    That encouraged me tough even more.

    "Puahahahaha! Moron! Spin around, spin around! I''ll paint you a full-body gravure portrait next time!"

    Chen Yun whinged loudly: "Fuck this! I''m not taking this sh*t!" He then loudly shouted out: "Princess! Your highness! The man you''re looking for is over here!"

    Fuck! You chicken turd!

    "Where''s the scoundrel Zhong Ning?!"

    Princess Hongzhuang leapt over her. As soon as her beautiful ample-long legsnded, she spread out her huge team and rushed into theundry.

    "Over there, over there!"

    Before she could find my traces following Chen Yun''s hand gestures, she was frozen in ce.

    As soon as she arrived at theundry, she saw the guys in ck who came from unknown origins and behaved sneakily. Then she looked at Chen Yun, the man with a beard and brash look dressed in a teenage pce maid''s dress that was so tight it revealed his body, barely able to cover his body. Her eyes almost popped out of her head.

    Everyone looked at each other at a loss for what to do. The atmosphere was extremely awkward. And theundry fell into a dead silence once again.

    The imperial guards had now caught up. As soon as they entered and saw Chen Yun, the captain shouted: "Fuck! Are there ghosts in the pce?!"

    "Who you cursing at?! Who''d you call a ghost?!"

    Chen exined: "I, I''m not a weird person or anything. I''m a Qilin Guard. The reason I''m dressed like this is¡­¡­"

    The captain of imperial guards retorted: "Bullsh*t! Who cares if you''re a Qilin Guards? What, Qilin Guards can wear pce maid uniforms and strut around the pce?! And we basically cleaned up all those dressed in all ck that we ran into. It''s rare toe across one like you¡­¡­"

    Chen Yun didn''t look like he knew the flying fish pavilion had been repossessed. A look of concern showed up on his face: "Don''t go having misgivings. I have a token. Look at my¡­¡­ Hey! Return my clothes to me! I have a token. My clothes just got¡­¡­"

    "Shut up!!" The second prince exploded with justice and cut him off. She held her broadsword horizontally in her hand with the tip moving continuously. Her beautiful face now looked distorted due to her fury: "That perverted creep appearing in the pce was outrageous enough, and¡­ and yet you creeps¡­ go to hell, all of you!"

    Once she was done speaking, a silver sh appeared from her hand and she shed at the chest of one of the guys in ck. She then swung her broadsword and engaged the ck Winds Thirteen Wings to one side, finally letting me breathe a breath of relief.

    Hongzhuang is very skilled with a broadsword. She shed consecutively, unleashing technique after technique. She had cut down six or seven of them since their fight started, but there was no trace of her switching techniques. Her moves flowed naturally, making them look indistinctive like she only shed once.

    Chen Yun who was the most skilled was extremely afraid of her broadsword skills, thereby fleeing toward the crowd after shouting. He picked up the clothes and hung them on his arm, but as soon as he moved, the group of people in front moved aside, disying what you would think was irvoyance.

    Chen Yun didn''t waste the opportunity and ran forward. The captain of the imperial guards switched from his disgusted look back to his normal look and shouted: "Surround him!" Over a hundred imperial guards gathered together like a sea of them, creating a most spectacr scene!!!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Chen Yun got surrounded in the centre and punched by over two hundred fists. In between the thuds against his face, you could hear "I want to puke!", "The fuck is this? He didn''t even shave his legs properly!", "I do like men, but I wouldn''t want one like you!", "Beat him! Beat him to death!"

    The sounds of their punches drowned anything Chen Yun might''ve said.

    Other than the first thing he said which was "I''m not a cr-¡­", he didn''t get a chance to say anything else since he got booted in the face at that point.

    As for the main protagonist that I am, I sneakily grabbed the clothes from two sides to cover myself and left the stage to the young''uns.

    I listened to the sound of fighting slowly die down outside. The second princess panted for air and asked: "It looks like that scoundrel Zhong Ning isn''t here. You said my second brother revolted today, so I''m worried about father''s safety. Follow me to go find him. Do you know where father is?"

    "I do not know. However, under orders, I had searched multiple ces in the imperial pce but found nothing. There are a few ces I have yet to go to."

    "What''s the next pce?"

    "The imperial study."

    Princess Hongzhuang nodded and then firmly suggested: "Let''s go to the imperial study then."

    They came like a storm and left like one, leaving nothing behind, so needless to say, they brought their prisoners along.

    I came out from the pile of clothes.

    Sh*t! I stink even more now!

    I initially came to find makeup. Not only did I not find anything, I even had to hide in this sh*tty ce¡­¡­

    I looked at the ck clothes and mask in my hands. The mask is fine, but I don''t fit these clothes by the looks of it. Combined with my height, I''d look too conspicuous.

    Though eighty-percent of the orange prince''s ns have failed, he still has a chance to reverse the situation. Then it''ll be one chaotic fight with many people who''d recognise me present. If I''m exposed, oh man.

    I''ll need to disguise myself¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­

    Forget it. I''ll worry about it when ites to it. Maybe the emperor doesn''t even need me to go help him.

    I want a bath first!

 Volume 3 48 Kuang Tian Draws Jin Que Sword.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 48 Kuang Tian Draws Jin Que Sword.</h4>

    Demon Shadow Illusion Light Splitter (Part 1)

    "I''ll fight you to the death!"

    The snowfall got heavier and heavier.

    Outside of the empty imperial study was like a barrier against snow was up. Nan Junfei thundered loudly. He had been knocked down for the umpteenth time by Hu Po''s air punches and palm strikes now. However, he clenched his teeth and continued to utilise Qi Release Aspiration Manual to gather the energy to rise again.

    Qi Release Aspiration Manual was indeed very effective. Nan Junfei had practiced it for many years and possessed high-level cultivation. In terms of stamina, not even Fu Xiang could beat him. However, Qi Release Aspiration manual wasn''t almighty. You could heal internal wounds with it, but you couldn''t replenish expended qi.

    So he was using up qi continuously.

    As a result, the effectiveness of his healing cycles became less and less effective. Originally, he could recover to eighty-percent of his normal condition, then to fifty-percent, then only thirty-percent, and now he only had the strength to stand up like an ordinary person.

    But he stood up nheless. He knew that he couldn''t defeat Hu Po, but he continued to attack him over and over. If it wasn''t for Nan Junfei siding with evil, it would be a touching scene.

    Hu Po looked at Nan Junfei lying on the ground totally bored while thinking about something else.

    Nan Junfei should''ve died a long time ago.

    The emperor had given the order to kill him and now he had no strength to resist so killing him was but a simple turn of the hand for Hu Po.

    Hu Po wasn''t sparing his life to toy with him. He didn''t kill him as he was waiting for the yet to appear skilled assassins from the League of Assassins. Hu Po has served in the emperor''s security detail for a long time and tasked with gathering secret information. He was also the emperor''s personal bodyguard. Therefore, he was well-informed of the League of Assassins information since they were the organisation with the highest likelihood of harming the emperor.

    It wasn''t just a coincidence that Mystery managed to be the second team in the League of Assassins in just six years for sure.

    They also have many men. However, there were only four of them who could be considered the leaders, Kuang Tian, Fu Xiang, Yu Ye, Zhong Ning.

    Yu Ye Nan Junfei was here and Hu Po had met him. But he heard that Yu Ye''s forte wasn''t martial arts but qinggong and hidden weapons. Based on their fight, he was sure that was true. As for Zhong Ning, he was famous for being cruel, violent and lustful but not all that skilled.

    The main ones he had to be wary of were Fu Xiang and Kuang Tian. It''s said that both of them could give the orthodox sects of the martial world a headache. Their identities are secretive, and usually nobody knows their location.

    Fu Xiang was a master at strong palm techniques. It''s said that his internal strength had reached the level of its own. If that was true, Hu Po and him were the same level. The only question was who was stronger between them. Nobody will know until they fight.

    Kuang Tian was extremely mysterious. Basically everyone who ever saw him is dead. All that''s known is that he is supposedly stronger than Fu Xiang, but nobody knows what style he uses. They only know that he uses a sword, one that could cut hair without even directly cutting it.

    Nan Junfei was a dead-man to Hu Po. But there''s a difference between a corpse and a person on the verge of death. A Nan Junfei on the verge of death could act as a hostage, but not a corpse.

    Hu Po was unaware Fu Xiang had already been apprehended. He only knew that he was here as a bodyguard and naturally had to keep the emperor safe. If he didn''t have to fight Kuang Tian or Fu Xiang, he could do it.

    "Hu Po, how is the man?"

    A deep and calm voice came from in front. Hu Po looked up to see the emperor who had grown impatiente out from the imperial study. Snow filled the sky yet the emperor walked over very steadily.

    The emperor looked at Nan Junfei on the ground and said: "This man is very sly and hid himself by my side for over a decade. Thinking of it sends a chill up my spine."

    Hu Po respectfully replied: "Rest assured, your majesty, his skills are far inferior to mine. I taught him a lesson but he called for reinforcements. I think that we can use his special status in Mystery to our advantage."

    The emperor smiled and replied: "Threaten Mystery''s assassins with him? Not a bad idea. You''re improving more and more, Hu Po. Henceforth, I shall confer you¡­¡­"

    Before he could finish, Nan Junfei jumped up all of a sudden like a fish and violently leapt at the two of them.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Take this, tyrant!"

    Nan Junfei held hisst breath andy in the snow patiently for a long time. He put everything into his attack. Hu Po was caught with surprise by it and indeed, it worked. Nan Junfei managed to grab both of the emperor''s shoulders with his hands and almost choked him.

    "Hmph!"

    He was too quick to dere his victory. The emperor snorted and then bent one arm to stop Nan Junfei''s arms, then made a circr motion with his right arm to hammer fist him. As his arms were locked by the emperor, he didn''t get sent flying like he was meant to. To the contrary, he felt the bash throughout his body like his organs went another direction. It hurt him so much ayer of sweat gathered on his forehead and he vomited blood non-stop.

    "Y-You¡­¡­"

    The emperor chucked sneered: "You didn''t think I''d have recovered and could use my martial arts again, right?"

    The emperor was furious when he thought of how Nan Junfei lied to him, spied on him for so many years, teamed up with those assassins to kill people, disrespected him countless times today, and how he even used Qi Release Aspiration Manual which the founding emperor taught him.

    The emperor felt like he couldn''t put the resentment he felt into words so he scoffed and then palmed him away with one hand. Nan Junfei staggered back like his body was limp and rolled on the ground. If it wasn''t out of consideration that he could still be of use, the emperor would''ve taken his life with that strike.

    Nan Junfei was severely wounded. However, he managed to stay conscious: When my leader gets here¡­ when my leader gets here, none of you will get away with your lives!!

    While in a hazy state, he saw peopleing from in the distance. A good number of people came. He seemed to see a big group of people. Based off a rough guess, there were close to a hundred of them.

    Nan Junfei''s blood stuck to his eyelids so he couldn''t see who came clearly, but instinctively ran over nheless.

    They''re here! They''re here! My brothers are here!

    "Brothers, hurry ande help me. Kill this damned bodyguard and capture that tyrant!"

    But all he got was a heavy retort from the other side: "Go fuck yourself, you damned eunuch. Who you calling a ''damned bodyguard''?!"

    The people who came kicked Nan Junfei to the ground.

    Nan Junfei''s head was spinning. He wiped the blood in front of his eyes away and got a clear look at who came. When he saw who they were, he was almost frightened enough to cry.

    Not one from the ck Winds Thirteen Wings arrived. Reinforcements from the flying fish pavilion and imperial guards came though.

    There must be like a hundred and sixty of them. When they arrived in the za, the first thing they did was orderly kneel before the emperor: "We apologise for our tardiness. We deserve to die!!"

    The emperor didn''t scold them and instead waved his hand and said: "Things happened all of a sudden today. It is but the fault of the battle. You are all skilled to be able to see me here now. Rise."

    "Thank you, your majesty!"

    Nan Junfei was only able to see clearly who was who when they all got up.

    Their identities almost made him pass out.

 Volume 3 49 Kuang Tian Draws Jin Que Sword.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 49 Kuang Tian Draws Jin Que Sword.</h4>

    Demon Shadow Illusion Light Splitter (Part 2)

    The one who just kicked him before was the vice-captain of the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitian. He brought a group of warriors from the flying fish pavilion. Among them was Tie Hanyi, Ye Luo and a few more members from the emperor''s security detail, a few Qilin Guards and the men from Liu Shan Men led by Tang Ye. There were also a few more including Jia Yunfeng who had his skills erased along with his Hua Shan disciples, wandering warriors and even the guards in the pce. Altogether, there had to be fifty people.

    Aside from them, there were so many imperial guards. In between them was a heroic looking girl in red. Nan Junfei was shocked to realise who she was: The second princess is here!

    He knew about her broadsword skills and always feared them greatly. At least he knew he couldn''t beat her.

    With all of these people together, forget him, they''d only be on even ground if all of Mystery was to gather. He was in dire straits this time.

    When he realised his predicament, he panicked. In his voice of despair, he shouted: "Where''s Zhong Ning? Where''s Zhong Ning?! Why isn''t he here?! Why are you people here?!"

    From among the crowd, Long Zaitian spoke out: "That Zhong Ning or whatever his face is, is still on the run, but the second princess chased him for a while so it doesn''t look like he cane to your rescue."

    "Where''s Fu Xiang?! As long as somebody from Mystery with profound internal energy is here, I''ll still have a chance."ong Zaitian replied in a smug manner: "Fu Xiang? That chicken suffered qi deviation thanks to our gue and ispletely crippled. You want to see him? Sure. I''ll let you guys be neighbours in prison. You''ll be able to enjoy the bliss of your friendship for three more days before you''re beheaded as well."

    "F-Fu Xiang was defeated?!"

    The emperor couldn''t see who was who too clearly in the winds and snow, but he did hear "second princess" clearly. He cheerfully asked: "Has Hong''er returned?"

    Princess Hongzhuan walked over. Hu Po didn''t stop her since she truly was the princess.

    Seeing his daughter return, the emperor burst into so much joy it overruled his negative emotions. He eximed with joy: "Hong''er! You''re finally back. You''ve been gone for years! You must not miss your father at all."

    Princess Hongzhuang helped her father brush the snow off his clothes first and then held his cold hands. She transferred some of her qi to help him heal his wound. She felt relieved to find him still okay.

    "Father, I heard you were poisoned and captured. I was so scared my soul almost left my body. I am now a little relieved to see that you are well."

    She had been travelling far away for many years and just returned. His heart was warmed by the fact that the first thing she did upon returning was worry about him. That somewhat healed his heart after the orange prince''s revolt.

    "Father¡­¡­" Princess Hongzhuang called him timidly like she was afraid her question would hurt her father so she hesitated slightly.

    He could tell what she wanted to ask by looking at her eyes so he gave her a silent nod.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Princess Hongzhuang''s eyes widened and her heart sunk.

    Needless to say, what she wanted to ask was if it was as the outsiders said that her second brother, the orange prince was the root of this.

    The other princes had been set off to other territories while the orange prince had always remained in the capital. He grew up in the pce with her so they were quite close.

    Thus, she didn''t believe it when she first heard the im, but then when more people mentioned it, she didn''tment further. Now that her father had acknowledged it as well though, she had no choice but to believe it. Her second brother had truly revolted.

    Seeing that her father was alright, had gained the upper-hand and that this was an inevitable event, she began to wonder what consequences the orange prince would face.

    She said: "Father, I have something¡­¡­"

    The emperor interjected: "He cannot be let off easily. Hong''er, you are a kind and magnanimous girl, but you must understand that you must reward and punish fairly. I raised a snake. I made a mistake in the past, and I cannot make another mistake."

    That was the equivalent of sealing her second brother''s fate with capital punishment.

    She was rebuffed before she could finish what she had to say, and she didn''t know what else to say. However, she could tell from the emperor''s self-imposed tone and hands shaking behind his back that the decision wasn''t easy for him to make.

    She grabbed his cold hands and shaky hands, and then faintly told him: "Father, look after yourself. Do not let yourself get sick."

    The emperor patted her on her shoulder and smiled tenderly.

    He then turned to face his people and said: "Oh right, how is the situation at the flying fish pavilion? Who can tell me?"

    A tall man stepped forth, giggling as he replied: "I request the right to speak, your majesty!"

    "Speak¡­ Hmm? Long Zaitian?" When the emperor saw that it was Long Zaitian, his rage multiplied by three times, "You insolent traitor, Long Zaitian! You worked with the orange prince, plotted a revolt, and poisoned me and the warriors in the flying fish pavilion. You havemitted the severest crimes. You will not be spared. Men, arrest him!"

    The imperial guards were dutiful alright. As soon as the emperor finished, they immediately went to apprehend him. Long Zaitian pushed the left and right guards away and cursed at them: "Retards! What are you arresting me for?!"

    The imperial guards stopped and waited for the emperor to order them to continue.ong Zaitian then rushed to say: "You are mistaken! Your majesty, please listen to my exnation. Please let me exin it to you!"

    The emperor was going to curse at him, but then when he remembered his daughter was present, he had to maintain proper etiquette and demanded: "Exin yourself."ong Zaitian then exined everything from start to present. Tang Ye and co. provided witness testimonies for him. The emperor''s mood improved as he listened in and gradually cheered up. When he heard the orange prince had been captured, he burst intoughter.

    The emperor was ted: "Great. Minister Long, you put yourself out there for the nation. You are an important pir of the nation! I''m d there are still loyal vassals in the imperial court. I almost falsely convicted you." What the emperor hated most about Long Zaitian was that he betrayed his master for glory, but when he found out that he was sacrificing himself for the greater good, he changed his opinion for the better.

    "No, no, I am but just a imprudent brute. I am not worthy of yourpliments, your majesty." Long Zaitian acted modest: "I was waiting for the right moment and hence could not make my stance clear and poisoned the wine, causing you to suffer. Please grant me death."

    The emperor chuckled and replied: "Minister Long, there is no need for you to be so modest. I shall remember this merit of yours. Who dares say otherwise?"ong Zaitian gave a fist and palm salute then responded: "I would not have thepetence to have done it had our grandmander not taught me well. Please credit our grandmander, your majesty."

    After understanding that he wanted to credit his superior, he was d to hear that he was not desperate for credit and replied: "You both shall be rewarded. Both shall be rewarded, hahaha."

    The emperor then looked at the second princess and said: "That''s another good piece of news besides Hong''er returning today. Oh wait, I still have to find you a marriage partner through the martial artspetition. We''ve almost decided on someone, so it should be three good pieces of news."

    Princess Hongzhuang had long heard of it but she was straightced and rarely liked to joke. She lowered her head, chuckled and said: "Father, you''re making fun of me. You''re not making a good example as an elder." Speaking of making examples as an elder, she suddenly recalled the scoundrel Zhong Ning who peeped on her changing, lighting up the fire in her chest.

    "Father, now that you are safe for now, how will we deal with this traitor?"

    She couldn''t find "Zhong Ning", so his brother Yu Ye was going to have to pay for it in his ce.

    After Nan Junfei heard the shocking news that Fu Xiang and Zhong Ning had both been defeated, he crawled backwards several feet like he was struck by lightning. He then fell to the ground as he couldn''t support himself. Hey there on the ground with his face totally pale. He then noticed that his body got colder. It was cold like he was being his blood was being sucked out, making him gradually feel colder.

    We lost? Why did we lose?

    We''re Mystery. We can''t lose? Where''s big bro? Where''s big bro¡­¡­?

    Nan Junfei seemingly spotted a hazyntern adorned with a revolving circle of paper horses in front of his eyes. It appeared real but fake at the same time. He seemingly saw his leader''s face. He seemed to be standing there in the crowd.

    He then couldn''t hold back hisughter and burst out inughter: "Hahaha, you''re all dead. Our leader has arrived. Hees without a sound. You''re all going to die here. You''re all going to die here! Hahahaha!"

    You''re all¡­ going to die!

    "Brother, you''re absolutely right."

    The voice was faint yet like a dragon''s roar, ringing in their ears non-stop and wasbined with the sound of a sword being drawn like threads being neatly tied up, like a sophisticated internal strength cultivation artbined.

    The sound distinctly came from the crowd, yet it wasn''t clear where it came from.

    When they heard a sword being drawn from its sheath it had already been drawn.

    What appeared wasn''t a sword, but sword shadows.

    Tens of sword shadows that appeared like golden snakes danced wildly to form a ball of shadows, sucking up a number of skilled fighters on this side up. The ck sword shadows shed and a warrior had his meridians sealed. The sword shadows were extremely swift like a shadow became a snake and slithered through, leaving no one with an escape route.

    With one strike, Long Zaitian, Tang Ye, Tie Hanyi, Ye Luo, Li Hongzhuang, the emperor and most of the skilled fighters all had their meridians sealed. Though they weren''t in perfect form due to Thorn-tear''s effects, to be able to perform such a feat was barely ever heard of.

    With the attack being delivered from nearby, nobody managed to defend in time. Nobody thought "he" would suddenly strike. His swordy was unbelievably swift. They didn''t even have the time to think about guarding before they were struck.

    Hu Po roared. He stood in front of him but all he saw was the shadows transform into a form that was tough to distinguish, like they were snakes slithering around, creating flowing movement and transforming, creating variety. It turned out the technique was lethal, but the wielder had only sealed everyone else''s meridians while focusing eighty-percent of his attention on Hu Po. Hu Po he would be up against some other school''s swordy so he was caught off-guard too, thereby getting hit with five swords.

    "This¡­¡­" Hu Po was stunned, He struggled to utter: "Isn''t this Hua Shan''s swordy?"

    The assant sheathed Beyond the Heavens Edge.

    "Ah, you''re right. That was indeed Hua Shan''s swordy."

    Jia Yunfeng sounded like always. He was cold, aloof, and void of desire like a monk without desire.

    "That was called Demon Shadow Light Splitter. It''s Mystery''s Kuang Tian''s signature sword art. This is what the League of Assassins'' martial arts are truly like."

    A cold shine appeared in Jia Yunfeng''s eyes: "To have the right to witness it, your life wasn''t in vain."

    As soon as he finished, Hu Po cried out in pain. His entire arm had been severed as blood spurt forth like a fountain of blood. Hu Po slowly copsed onto the ground and passed out.

    Among all of the warriors, only the twenty-plus Hua Shan disciples were fine. They saluted Jia Yunfeng with a fist and palm salute.

    "Sect-leader¡­ leader, we have finished our preparations."

    Jia Yunfeng nodded. He swept his cold gaze over the panicked and evidently dumbfounded hundred-plus imperial guards. He then gave hismand in a cold tone: "Make it clean. Spare none."

    Notes:

    *Jin Que Sword is based off the historical sword which is a massive sword called ¾ÞãÚ½£. For a visual reference:

 Volume 3 50 Clinging to the Past in the Small Bamboo House

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 50 Clinging to the Past in the Small Bamboo House</h4>

    Thirteen years ago, Hua Shan Sect had an extraordinary disciple.

    He was naturally intelligent and had a talent for swordy. He was just twenty-two at the time, yet his sword skills were so incredible, it rocked Hua Shan Sect, and even the major sword schools in the north. There are very few in the martial world who attain fame at such a young age.

    Hua Shan Sects sword y consists of Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Swords for female disciples, and Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Swords, which male disciples trained. Once both taolu were mastered, one could be said to have aplished themselves in swordsmanship.

    When this particr disciple was fifteen years old, he pulled off a major upset that surprised everybody.

    Utilising Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Swords, he defeated all of the male disciples. He then utilised Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Swords to defeat all of the female disciples, shocking the entire school.

    The story is simple to retell, but that is because you are unaware of the dangers involved in the aplishment. Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Swords and Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Swords may be Hua Shan''s swordy, but they were created by different founders. Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Swords was a style made as a fundamentalponent for all disciples to learn. It''s not powerful, but it''s the foundation of Hua Shan''s styles.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Sword Techniques however, was a recently crafted style by a recent senior talented master for female disciples. It contains many brilliant and innovative aspects. It''s a tough style to train but is extremely formidable. It was distinctly differentpared to Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Sword Techniques in terms of superiority.

    However, the problem was that the young man was familiar with Cradle Head Blue Stones Nine Swords, while Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Sword Techniques were exclusive to female disciples. Male disciples only got to see a move of two while training together with the female disciples under the watch of the teachers, so they weren''t well-versed in the style by any means.

    So defeating Jade Maiden Sword Techniques with the inferior Cradle Head Sword Techniques or using the Jade Maiden Sword Techniques he was a beginner at to defeat Cradle Head Sword Techniques were by no means easy tasks.

    Yet he managed to do it, and beautifully too.

    Hua Shan Sect has always been a pir of the orthodox sects. There were thirty to forty disciples during that generation. He had defeated all of his fellow disciples despite being under twenty at the time with a single sword. Even the leader of Hua Shan at the time praised him for amazing talent that was rarer than rare.

    Ever since then, the leader treated him as the next sessor and thereby removed the limitations on learning swordy, allowing him to learn all of the sword styles in Hua Shan at his discretion.

    He mastered Hua Shan''s Five Peaks Swordy, Jade Maiden and Cradle Head Sword Techniques. He also mastered Rising Sun, Lotus and Falling Wild Geese Soars the Sky from Beyond Heaven''s Three Peaks as well. Those were styles only the elders had the right to learn yet he had mastered them at a young age.

    Seven yearster when he was twenty-two, most of the elders in the school were no longer his match. Even the leader of the school felt he was gradually surpassing himself. The only style from Hua Shan he had yet to master was the style only the sect leader could learn, and that was Heavenly Dragon Sword Techniques.

    He gradually outgrew his young self that was focused on mastery of the sword. He understood just how superb his talent was and at the same time, disappointed with the world as he had no equal.

    He slowly started to act insolently and contradicted usual standards. He wasted his days at brothels, drinking away with beauties, ignoring legitimate business. The leader of Hua Shan ordered people to descend the mountain and bring him back many times, but none could match his prowess with a sword, leading them to return empty-handed. Before the leader was a highly-talented man wasting his talent on wine and women.

    But that changed due to a pair.

    It was a snowy day that day.

    The young man had just awoken from his afternoon nap at Xi An Manor where flower girls resided called Small Bamboo House. He saw two people standing on the stone-path withyers of snow. They both looked tall and as though they knew martial arts.

    When the young man saw their posture, he knew that they were hired-muscle to bring him back. He had spent all day at Xi An Manor picking fights out of thin air and got into many fights, but never met a worthy opponent.

    Heughed and went to grab his sword to leave.

    "You''re my shifu''spdogs, aren''t you? It''s easy to catch me. Ask the sword in daddy''s hand!"

    The young man was on a winning streak. Even his shifu who he considered to be the strongest in the world might not have been his equal, so he belittled everyone in the world.

    The middle-aged guy smiled and asked: "Ask you sword? Can your sword speak or sumtin (something)?" The guy was dressed in clothing made from cloth, but when he spoke, he seemed extraordinary, so one would not dare underestimate him.

    The young man couldn''t tell how strong he was. He angrily eximed: "Stop screwing with me! If you''re not going to fight, get lost."

    "Rx, rx. I received two-thousand silver ingots from your shifu to teach you a lesson. If I can''t bring a nobody like you back, I won''t be surnamed Ming." The middle-aged guy took his time and yawned like he was tired: "But your shifu and I are different in terms of seniority. In fact, he should be calling me senior uncle. Speaking to you alones makes it bullying you let alone getting physical."

    The young man thought to himself: He''s of higher seniority than my shifu? Isn''t he the same as my grandmaster in terms of seniority then? I can fight with elders of my own school, but it will be troublesome if news that I fought with elders from other schools gets out.

    But then he thought that he couldn''t give in this time.

    He snickered and mocked: "What do you want then? You think you can make me go with you just by pping your gums? You think I''m a girl from Small Bamboo House?"

    The middle-aged guy red at him and responded: "Piss off! You think you''re worthy? The most popr girl in Small Bamboo House, Miss Qing Zhu is a very elegant girl. I drank three cups with her yesterday and had a long heart-to-heart conversation. You angered the poor girl by eating and living here without paying you little twerp. If I didn''t wake upte today, I''d have taught you your lesson already. You dare mention the maiden of Small Bamboo House?"

    The young man thought to himself: Miss Qing Zhu is famous throughout the entire city. I came here for her. I''ve been here for over ten days and haven''t seen her. How did this guy¡­¡­

    "You don''t need to look. I''ve got no interest in fighting with a junior like you." The middle-aged guy waved his hand: "Consider it me bullying you. I''ll let my disciple fight you."

    That''s when the young man noticed the boy that came with him.

    He wasn''t old. He looked around fourteen. He was a young boy with snow-white hair who wore a lonely expression.

    He wore an indifferent look like nothing in the world interested him, ignoring even himself. The entire time he was there, he only focused on looking at the snowkes in the sky. He watched the snowkes fall down into his palm and gradually melt while what appeared to be pain appeared between his eyes.

    He watched the snow silently the entire time.

    The middle-aged man cleared his throat because his disciple''s look made it awkward.

    "He''s not usually like this. Recently, him and a woman, umm¡­ cough. Cough. Hey! Hey!"

    The young boy finally returned to reality like he noticed the middle-aged man''s existence.

    The young man had been doted on since he was a kid so he couldn''t stand the way the boy belittled him. He aimed his sword at the boy. The boy''s sword-qi enveloped his body. Ayer of energy that looked like it was yet to take full-form appeared faintly around him, which was evidence he was about to break through the qi-enveloped sword realm.

    His sword-qi was like thousands of needles stabbing, causing the snow on the ground to split against its will.

    The boy''s sword-qi calmed down. He narrowed his eyes and indifferently said: "¡­ I''ll give you ten free moves."

    Notes:

    *Sword-qi is where you have an extrayer of qi surrounding the sword. Imagine your sword, and then the de being enveloped in with a visible electric current (the electric part is only an example visual).

 Volume 3 51 The Young Boy Recalls Past Memories. Looking Back At Wasted Years.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 51 The Young Boy Recalls Past Memories. Looking Back At Wasted Years.</h4>

    "Go ahead."

    The boy didn''t budge. He just raised his head up. He swept his indifferent gaze over him and the young man''s heart froze and the boy''s sword-qi vanished.

    The boy was very tall. When he looked up, his wide shoulders and thick back were visible. His gaze was lonely and broken-hearted like a schr. But on closer inspection, he had the physique of a fearsome warrior. He was about the same height as himself and he would eventually be taller given his age.

    What the young man felt was odder though was how his own qi on his sword vanished. He wondered himself: He didn''t even move. He managed to erase my qi on my sword with a single nce? What sort of strange art is that?

    But as he had limited inner energy, he couldn''t just sustain this sword-qi battle situation forever, so he shouted: "Enough with the talk! Take this!"

    The young man''s sword met with the air. As soon as he drew his sword, he unleashed on of the Falling Geese from Beyond Heaven''s Three Peaks. His techniques were brilliant, taking the upper hand against the opponent first.

    The boy with white hair didn''t block or even look up. He just turned his body side-on a little. The young man''s sword passed by the spot where he just was. He was surprised to find he missed the strike.

    "That''s one move."

    The young man swung his sword horizontally and then used "Seven Shining Sunrays". The sword-qi was aimed stood horizontally and shined with the winter sun during the day. The sword transformed into seven rays of light, but none of the rays of light managed to leave a mark on the boy. In fact, none of them even touched him.

    From the day he began learning swordy, there have been those who could block or evade his strikes, but none of his strike had ever gone through and stabbed thin air when he was right next to his opponent. It was as though his eyes were lying to him. The boy he saw was like his own hallucination.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    No matter how he shed, stabbed or switched techniques, he couldn''t touch the boy.

    The middle-aged man standing to one side chuckled and said: "That wasn''t bad. The execution of Lotus was clear. You''re about as fiery as your founder. It''s amazing that an idiot like you managed to reach this level in your twenties."

    The boy didn''tment or even spare him a nce. He indifferently said: "Third move."

    Cold sweat ran down the young man''s back, leaving the back of his shirt wet. He drank all nightst night and was a little drunk right now, but the shock he received in the cold breeze made him sober.

    The speed at which he learnt swordy was unmatched at Hua Shan which made him happy yet disappointed. His talent which showed itself early on in his life also led to him indulging in bad habits at a younger age.

    It wasn''t until he met this boy that he started to reflect on his past and think he was living in a tiny world. He had never given himself an opportunity to go and find out about this big world. This boy was much younger than him yet his skills were already at such a high level.

    He struck with all his might, stabbing over and over, but he couldn''t even touch the boy''s shirt.

    The young man suddenly reflected on himself: H-Have I been restingcently on myurels? Did I step out of line, boldlyplimenting myself with my meagre skills?

    He felt ashamed when he thought back to the ridiculous things he''d done in the past months, the rude things he said to his teachers and his audacious behaviours. Wh-Why did I behave like that?

    Upon realisation of his errors, his gaze regained rity.

    The middle-aged man off to the side praised him: "No bad. Breaking through to a new level in a crisis. You''re a talented young man."

    Having realised these things, the young man''s confused mind regained its rity. The things he experienced the past months were like a dream. Like a sh of thunder, his way of the sword and the techniques he learnt shed before his eyes.

    The young man with overwhelming talent broke through to a new level in that moment, causing a blue light of qi to envelope his de, moving about non-stop like a slithering snake. It was a sword-qi that had taken full-shape.

    The qi enveloping his sword meant that his interior and exterior elements were beginning tobine as one unit.

    Only those who have mastered sword-qi will have the chance to pursue higher heights.

    Mastering sword-qi is a technique that every swordsman dreams of mastering. The young man finally mastered it under the pressure of the powerful boy. His sword skills which had teaued had improved once again.

    The pride of the young man resurfaced. While he had stopped with the arrogance, his confidence had returned: I''ll attack you with sword-qi. Even if I can''t hit you with my sword, I''m sure I can hit you with the qi at least!

    The sword-qi and sword that transformed into a blue snake danced messily. The young man''s sword-qi and his swordy fused together, thereby improving his swordy tremendously.

    However, his opponent jut indifferently said: "Ninth move."

    Sword-qi is useless against him?!

    The blue snake-shaped qi surrounded the white-haired boy but couldn''t get any closer. It couldn''t even scratch the boy.

    The young man lost sight of him. He couldn''t see where the boy was.

    The difference between them was too significant. The difference was so significant that he couldn''t see where the boy was.

    It was as though the boy was enveloped in a faintyer of mist, preventing one from getting a clear view of him.

    It was as though his eyes had be useless. As soon as he made contact with the boy, it appeared as though he was caught in a mist with a terrifying beast behind him. As a matter of fact, he didn''t even have a chance to see him.

    "Tenth move."

    A finger came at the young man like it pierced its way out of a chaotic dream. The young man couldn''t budge or react. All he could do was watch the finger reach for his forehead. The poke cleared away all of the young man''s alcohol and the qi on his sword, as well as his indulgent feelings and pride. The young man''s love for swordy was revived in that moment.

    He finally understood that the boy was the ultimate goal of his pursuit of swordsmanship.

    The young man was a man in love with swordy to the point he could sacrifice his body to begin with. In that moment, he found the heart-throbbing sensation and passion he felt when he first touched a sword and wielded it. The boy was his ultimate goal.

    The boy poked him, opened his eyes then opened his hand to catch a falling snowke and in a lonely tone said: "You''re here too? ¡­ Xue."

    The young man lying on the ground didn''t hear clearly the name the boy murmured, hearing only "xue".

    The young man wondered to himself: The girl he''s enchanted with has the character snow character in her name?

    "That''ll be it." The middle-aged man walked over, shook his head and said: "Looking at you, I assume you''ve realised you''re a nobody, right? Walk back on your own after youe to your senses. It''s going to cost more than two-thousand ingots to carry you."

    As soon as he finished speaking, he and his disciple vanished from Bamboo House, leaving behind a sky full of snowkes and the young man lying on the ground.

    After that, the young man returned to Hua Shan Mountain and begun his sword training, not bothering with other things. He focused entirely training every technique.

    Be it orthodox or unorthodox, as long as it was a sword style, he''d learn it.

    He focused on nothing but swordy and did everything to improve his skills.

    He had a goal. And that was to catch up to the boy he couldn''t even get close to despite his best efforts.

    That young man''s name is Jia Yunfeng, the most talented swordsman in Hua Shan''s century-long history, as well as the second assassination group Mystery''s leader, Kuang Tian.

 Volume 3 52 The Long Night Camouflages the Black Clothes. The Snow Dyes His Hair White (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 52 The Long Night Camouges the ck Clothes. The Snow Dyes His Hair White (Part 1)</h4>

    The snowfall got heavier.

    The cries of pain resounded through the wind and snow. Hua Shan''s disciples, or rather, the elite assassin''s disguised as Hua Shan''s disciples ughtered the imperial guards.

    Putting aside the fact that theirbat skills were inferior to these assassins, they couldn''t resist even if they wanted to with the emperor''s life in the enemy''s grasp. They were basically sheep waiting to be ughtered, stuck like a stick in the mud just waiting to be brutally ughtered.

    Their blood dyed the snow red. Their cries echoed throughout the za. Not even the tough imperial guards could withstand the brutal treatment.

    The emperor and the warriors could only helplessly watch as soul after soul vanished outside the imperial study.

    The emperor was in a helpless situation. With his meridians sealed, he couldn''t make a sound despite opening his mouth with fury in his eyes.

    "You want to save them?"

    Jia Yunfeng watched everything that happened. Despite having his back to the emperor it was as though he had eyes on the back of his head. He snickered: "If you want to save them, you just have to tell me where the imperial jade seal is."

    The emperor cursed to himself: You''re delusional!

    Jia Yunfeng responded: "As that is the case, you need not say any more. You just need to watch in silence."

    He seeded the leader as the new sect leader of Hua Shan at thirty years of age and surpassed his predecessor in terms of skills. With his inner and outer elements having achieved a new level, his sword skills have reached new heights. If he didn''t, he wouldn''t have been able to boss around someone as skilled as Fu Xiang.

    But his skills now surpassed one''s imagination, being able to respond to the emperor''s inner thoughts without even looking.

    The emperor himself was also shocked by that.

    A strong gust of wind blew from the ground, creating a whirlwind of snowkes which came from down low and then came up and toward Jia Yunfeng. The emperor was ted to see that. The one who attacked was Hu Po who had lost an arm and was lying in his own pool of blood. He lost his arm to Jia Yunfeng and suffered many sword wounds. However, Jia Yunfeng didn''t seal his meridians. Hu Po realised that so yed possum to wait for the right time to strike.

    Jia Yunfeng however, wasn''t surprised. He just turned his body a little and Hu Po''s attack hit thin air. Their inner strength prowess was equal. However, Jia Yunfeng could anticipate Hu Po''s moves and therefore evade them. It''s like a powerful tiger that only hits the air. As strong as you may be, if you can''t hit your target, all the power in the world won''t do you any good.

    Their gap wasn''t in skill, but the fact that they were on different levels.

    During his fight with the white-haired boy back then, Jia Yunfeng didn''t just awaken sword-qi, but also realised an even more important possibility in martial arts. His fight with the boy would always resurface in his mind. He still remembered clearly how the boy defeated him.

    The boy erased sword-qi with just his gaze and evaded his sword strikes without even looking.

    Many years after their fight, Jia Yunfeng began to realise that it wasn''t technical skills but levels, a special level in martial arts that separated the talented from the ordinary.

    Once Jia Yunfeng realised that possibility, he could no longer focus all of his future on Hua Shan''s sword styles. He searched hard for a sword style that was close to that level, and eventually found it seven years ago with the League of Assassins.

    That sword style was called Demon Shadow Light Splitter.

    Demon Shadow Light Splitter wasn''t a popr style in the League of Assassins, but it had its unique points. Using the light at night to hide shadows, and shadows to conceal the light was a type of assassination technique with the sword, executed by manipting lights and shadows. Putting it nicely, you''d call it illusionary techniques. Describing itmely, you''d call it trickery.

    But Jia Yunfeng sold his soul to the underground world for it.

    He thought highly of Demon Shadow Light Splitter because of its unique training method, which was to train in the dark blindfolded.

    When Jia Yunfeng first blindfolded himself, his hearing took over so he had to block his ears too, thereby forcing him to use his inner energy to sense things. This sensing method was employed by internal style experts when they fought. He however, used it all the time, causing not even the creator of Demon Shadow Light Splitter to understand what Jia Yunfeng was up to.

    But the talented man with his sword in his hand knew. He knew what he was after. As such, hebined the memory and fight from back then with his incredible hard work for three years.

    When Jia Yunfeng opened his eyes again, he no longer needed to look with his eyes or listen with his ears. His sight and hearing could now be reced just by sensing one''s breathing and qi. He didn''t even need to think. He could tell if his opponent''s qi was powerful or not just using his sensing qi, and from there judge the level of their skill.

    After evading Hu Po''s lethal strike, he snickered: "A sneak-attack from behind? Sir Hu Po, you''re regarded as a hero, yet you''ve resorted to under-handed methods today."

    Hu Po didn''t have any energy to spare for his ridiculing. He only had one arm left. As soon as he missed his first palm strike, he threw another just as powerful palm strike. That''s when Jia Yunfeng realised Hu Po''s internal strength was profound. His internal strength was not inferior to Fu Xiang''s. It''s not easy for him to throw such a powerful palm strike when he''s suffering from severe wounds, lost an arm and is bleeding excessively.

    His palm strike missed again. It was as though he had eyes on every part of his body. As soon as Hu Po moved, he had already begun to take the next step.

    In terms of martial prowess, it would take over a thousand exchanges before a victor could be determined between the two. However, Jia Yunfeng''s ability to sense qi put them worlds apart.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After dodging the next palm strike, Jia Yunfeng eximed: "What can someone achieve on theirst pins?!" He drew out a cold and sharp ray of light that was swift, striking Hu Po''s weak-point before he could defend it.

    The emperor wanted to call "Stop" but he couldn''t make it. Hu Po couldn''t dodge in time. A cutting sound like the crisp sound of a de cutting an apple came from his neck.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng eximed to himself: Noooo!!!!!

    Blood spurt forth wildly. Hu Po''s frozen body dropped to the ground.

    Emperor Yuan Sheng''s eyes were red and his vocal chords trembled, but there was still nothing he could do.

    Jia Yunfeng sheathed his sword and then coldly said: "He died for you. They too, will die for you."

    When he looked to the other side, over half of the imperial guards had been killed. Of the one-hundred present, there were only about ten of them left. The situation resembled hell on Earth.

    "Your majesty, have you thought it through properly?"

    The emperor silently watched the imperial guards die brutally. His heart was breaking, but he couldn''t answer Jia Yunfeng''s question. All he could do was apologise to the imperial guards over and over.

    Jia Yunfeng indifferently remarked: "You really do have a heart of steel, your majesty."

    An assassin then made a hand and palm salute and asked: "Reporting, leader. There are only ten remaining. Do we kill them as well?"

    "I already told you. Spare none."

    "Roger!"

    No!!

    The emperor''s cry in his heart still didn''t sound out.

    As soon as the assassin who just responded "roger" turned around, he killed another guard with a palm strike by mming his palm hard into the back of his head. It sounded like a watermelon getting crushed. The captain''s body turned limp as it slowly fell to the ground.

    Jia Yunfeng was indifferent as always. His orders aren''t asplex as Fu Xiang''s. He didn''t preface this, and making reminders of that. They weren''t like Yu Ye''s either that contained excessive emotion. His orders were always clear and simple. Spare means spare. Kill means kill. There were never any emotions involved.

 Volume 3 53 The Long Night Camouflages the Black Clothes. The Snow Dyes His Hair White (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 53 The Long Night Camouges the ck Clothes. The Snow Dyes His Hair White (Part 2)</h4>

    All of the imperial guards had been ughtered.

    An assassin supporting a tall bloke ran over from the crowd. It was Fu Xiang he was supporting.

    "Leader. I have found our second in charge."

    After seeing the severity of his wounds and checking his pulse, he discovered that he had lost all of his martial arts. Jia Yunfeng couldn''t help but feel pity for Fu Xiang who lost all his skills in his sixties: We had investigated the skilled fighters in the pce carefully and found nobody to be stronger than Hu Po. Hu Po would at most be even with my second brother, and he just returned to the pce. There''s no way he could''ve beaten Fu Xiang like this.

    "What about our fourth in charge?"

    "Reporting, Leader. It is unknown where our fourth in charge is. Those who went to look for him have not returned. However, based on the information we''ve heard, it sounds like Princess Hongzhuang met with him once so she should have a clue."

    Jia Yunfeng just heard about that so he knew that, but couldn''t help but ponder: Although he''s a lustful one, he is vicious for sure, so for him to be fleeing with the princess chasing him¡­ it doesn''t make sense.

    Fu Xiang had lost all of his martial arts while Zhong Ning was missing. Mystery had never faced such a situation since their inception. Though their n wasplete and their martial prowess surpassed the skills of those in the pce, they paid a big price in the end. Relying on just one assassination organisation to overthrow an emperor''s rule is rash at the end of the day.

    Jia Yunfeng has been with the League of Assassins for years and gone through life and death with Fu Xiang and co. so you could say that they shared a brotherhood bond. His second brother was severely wounded while his fourth brother was missing. He walked up to Yu Ye who was moulding energy and palmed him on the middle of his back to help him mould energy. Jia Yunfeng possessed great strength so with his help, Nan Junfei''s execution of Qi Release Aspiration Manual was a lot smoother, allowing him to heal up much quicker. Although he couldn''tpletely recover from his severe wounds, he at the very least could now stand up.

    "Big bro! You''re finally here!"

    Jia Yunfeng nodded: "His highness was right to have me as the back-up n."

    "Big bro, about the imperial jade seal, you¡­¡­"

    "I''m going to get it now."

    The blood in the za had dried and the cries of pain had ended.

    The snow on the ground had turned dark-red.

    Jia Yunfeng then turned his head to look for the emperor. He didn''t move his palm and the emperor didn''t know how he did it, but he managed to release his sealed meridian just by sweeping his gaze over him. His arms and legs were still restrained, but he could speak now.

    "Jia Yunfeng! You¡­ You heartless maniac! If I don''t kill you and offer you as an offering to my soldiers, I will never consider myself a human being!"

    Nan Junfei who came up to the front snickered: "It''s a little too early for you to be saying that, your majesty. It''s still unknown how long you''ll still be on your throne once his highness gets the imperial jade seal."

    Jia Yunfeng said: "You need not say unnecessary things, third brother. As long as he hands over the seal, I''ll guarantee his safety." He said that with absolute confidence,pletely unlike a servant of the orange prince.

    The emperor was fuming to the point his face turned purple. He huffed and puffed as he eximed: "F-Fuck you and your bullsh*t!! The imperial jade seal is a national treasure. An emperor can''t just hand it to anyone. You''re being ridiculous!"

    "Don''t be rash, your majesty. First of all, you don''t understand me or how Mystery operates. Mystery is an assassination group. We are only responsible for killing. Who we kill and how we kill is dependent on our client or what we want."

    "Say whatever you like. I will never submit! Nan Junfei told me a fair bit about what you can do. You''re going to torture me, but heh, isn''t the one in charge of torturing people not here?"

    "I don''t need to torture you. I have my own way."

    Jia Yunfeng sounded like he had ns ready, but indifferently asked: "Why do you think we chose to act at this time. Did you think that we acted so hastily just for the opportunity provided by the imperial martial arts tournament? Didn''t it ever cross your mind that we took this risk because we had a corresponding chance of sess?"

    The emperor didn''t understand why he chose to ask such a confusing question now of all times. Did they have some other logical reason to act today? Being a smart man, a frightening idea came into the emperor''s mind when he thought about it.

    Jia Yunfeng suddenly spoke: "That''s right. It was because your daughter was returning." He swept his eyes over to Princess Hongzhuang and she suddenly felt like she could now speak.

    The emperor saw through what Jia Yunfeng meant and angrily roared: "Traitor! You dare?!"

    "I am a very timid man that doesn''t dare to do anything." Jia Yunfeng then turned to ask the princess: "May I ask if you saw my fourth brother, Zhong Ning?"

    "Of course I did." Princess Hongzhuang wore a cold look as she continued: "I saw Zhong Ning and my opinion was that he''s so disgusting, you''d be hard-pressed to find another as disgusting as him. But when I saw you, I came to realise that there''s always someone worse. You killed all those innocent people."

    "Winner takes all, and the losers must die. Mystery has not killed as much as your father. All I want to ask is: "Where is my fourth brother?"

    Princess Hongzhuang raged: "I turned him into mincemeat and fed him to the dogs already!"

    "Very good. I''m very satisfied with your answer."

    Jia Yunfeng then made a light appear on his finger. It wasn''t sword-qi, but another level above, sword aura. With his qi gathered on his hand, the sword aura is as sharp as a real sword that could actually sh with real des.

    Sword aura and sword-qi are different and is very rarely seen. It''s a challenging task for top-tier swordsmen to create a sword made of qi that''s about one-inch, yet Jia Yunfeng went and formed a one-foot sword of qi which is something almost unheard of.

    The emperor thought to himself: He''s not old, so how is his cultivation so pure? Hu Po wouldn''t be able to match him even at one-hundred percent. There''s nobody in pce that could beat him!

    Jia Yunfeng pointed it at Princess Hongzhuang''s thin clothes and made four shes. She was dressed in minimal thin clothes to begin with and he had now cut it up into numerous pieces of cloth. The immobilised princess was left with just a singleyer of thin clothing, revealing her alluring lines. The force of the sword pushed her to the ground, causing her shoulder to turn red and swell up from her fall which was very visible with her snow-white skin.

    Jia Yunfeng unsealed her meridians just so that she could shriek when he tortured her so as to make the emperor''s heart ache. Princess Hongzhuang was born stubborn so she refused to make a sound.

    "If you don''t cry out in pain, there''ll be lots for you to suffer from."

    The princess clenched her teeth tightly and refused to make a sound.

    Jia Yunfeng stopped holding back and stabbed her snow-white shoulder. Her skin was prettier than snow. Her delicate skin couldn''t withstand the cruelty of the sword of qi, causing her to bleed. Princess Hongzhuang revealed a look of pain but still refused to make a sound.

    The emperor''s heart ached for her though. He couldn''t stop himself "You beast! What are you doing?! Come at me if you''re tough!"

    "Father! My life is not worth anything!" Despite blood pouring out of her shoulder, she kept a stern expression and indifferently said: "He''s just using my life to exchange it for the imperial jade seal, but he will kill you once he gets his hands on it. Our only chance at survival is to keep the seal."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Before Princess Hongzhuang could finish, Jia Yunfeng cut in.

    "It''s a good n, princess, except that you''re wrong this time. I kill without batting an eye, a fact you should be aware of." His tone was indifferent as usual just like when he emotionlessly ordered his men to kill, "The same goes for women too."

    He gathered his energy to the tip of his finger, turning the sword of qi into a weapon sharper than a usual de. Just moving his finger closer to the princess could kill her.

    "Stop!"

    "I''ll count down from three. Where is the imperial jade seal? Three, two and ¡­¡­"

    The emperor realised that his murderous intent was for real so he panicked: "No, No! I can''t! Whatever it is you want, just say the word. I can confer you a rank and emolument of nobility. I could confer your entire Hua Shan sect titles! You can have anything you want as long as you release Hong''er."

    Princess Hongzhuang rushed to exim: "Father, he won''t dare do anything to me."

    "Say no more, Hong''er. Jia Yunfeng, as long as you''re willing to release Hong''er, I''ll give you anything you want." For somebody who hates evil with a vengeance to say that, it showed just how deeply he loved his daughter. Princess Hongzhuang felt warmth in her heart and hence didn''t know what to do.

    Jia Yunfeng gave a clear response: "I want the imperial jade seal."

    "I can give you anything else as long as you sp(are)-¡­¡­"

    "One." Jia Yunfeng stared at the emperor''s eyes and continued: "Time''s up."

    Jia Yunfeng raised his hand up without a hint of mercy. He aimed his sword of qi at Princess Hongzhuang''s neck the same way he did with Hu Po. A touch of red grazed past and the princess slowly turned limp.

    "Hong''er!"

    The emperor didn''t think Jia Yunfeng would be so vicious. His eyes were blood-red while his eyes brimmed with tears as he shouted loudly: "Hong''er! Hong''er! Jia Yunfeng, you animal! I''ll kill you!" The emperor reacted like a wounded wild-animal, desperately trying to get his immobilised body to move. He wanted to kill the insane demon even if he had to bite him to death.

    Jia Yufeng retained his indifferent nature even after killing Princess Hongzhuang: "I just killed one of your daughters. Where is the imperial jade seal? If you don''t tell me, the harem will be next. I''ll kill all of your women."

    The emperor''s face started to look even more distorted.

    Jia Yunfeng knew his n had worked. All he had to do now was wait for the emperor to break due to despair.

    But then Jia Yunfeng''s expression changed as well.

    He had learnt swordy from a young age so he was an expert in killing with a sword. When he struck at Princess Hongzhuang''s neck just now, he felt the sensation clearly. The sensation felt right, but the sound he heard wasn''t.

    It didn''t sound the same as when he cut Hu Po''s neck.

    What was stranger was how even his surroundings had gone quiet.

    Jia Yunfeng didn''t see her corpse. He never checked the dead because there was no point.

    His ability to sense qi could do everything for him. It could inform him if a person was dead or just ying dead. There was no escaping him. But what was strange was that he couldn''t detect any qi. A person who just died shouldn''t give off this reaction.

    One of his subordinates spoke out in a trembling voice: "L-Leader, she¡­"

    "I know¡­ This is very strange¡­¡­"

    Jia Yunfeng still didn''t turn to look. He just pondered to himself where the strike went wrong: Could I have stabbed the wrong princess? No. Did I use a fake sword of qi?

    But then the emperor''s words brought the pieces of the puzzle together for Jia Yunfeng: "Where''s Hong''er?! Where did Hong''er go?!"

    Jia Yunfeng finally realised something was off. He turned to look, only to find Princess Hongzhuang had disappeared. It was as if she vanished into thin air without a trace.

    At that same very moment, an aloof voice came from the distance.

    "Are you all done fooling around?"

    The voice was very weird. It sounded like it came from right in front yet far off in the distance like it''s location was changing every second.

    Jia Yunfeng was the first one to locate the owner of the voice. As soon as he caught sight of him, Jia Yunfeng froze in ce like he underwent petrification.

    He had arrived.

    He arrived lightly like the moon shining through tree-branches. Like snow slowly condensing, appearing before you before you knew it.

    He wore a bronze mask of what looked like a ghost of some sort and dressed in all ck. In his arms was the girl who had vanished.

    The heroic and suave Princess Hongzhuang was now lying in his arms like a little child, looking at him with infatuation. Her neck was slightly red, but she wasn''t hurt.

    He was the one who saved her.

    The princess initially hated him, but when she saw him again, she looked at him with an infatuated gaze because she didn''t know that he was the pervert she had been chasing down for a long time, for the man had a head full of white hair like snow.

    Notes:

    *Sword-qi is where you envelope your weapon partially orpletely with qi. Sword aura is like manipting the shape of your qi, so actually forming a sword made of qi without a physical weapon.

 Volume 3 54 Mysteryâ€™s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 54 Mystery''s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 1)</h4>

    "Who goes there?!"

    The first person to break the silence was Nan Junfei who had just recovered fifty-percent of his strength.

    It shouldn''t have been his ce to speak out, but he had to since his sworn-brother was staring at the white-haired man stupefied. All of the other assassins only follow his big brother''smands so he had to take on the responsibility.

    "The League of Assassins is at work here. Consider the consequences before you act!"

    He delivered his warning with his internal energy so that it pierced through the wind and snow to reach the man with white hair''s location.

    However, he didn''t get any response from him.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The man with white hair who was wearing a mask slowly walked over toward them while carrying the princess in aical fashion.

    When the winds are blowing strongly and it''s snowing, an expert in internal styles doesn''t let snow collect on them or let their clothes get wet from the snow. As they are moulding internal energy, it naturally causes the snow to melt. However, the man with white hair was just like an average person. The snow collected on his ck clothes and the snow gradually piled up.

    He walked slowly like he was walking against the wind. It looked like he struggled to get his leg out of the snow once he stepped in. His steps were heavy and could be heard as he trudged through the snow slowly. It was theplete opposite of someone using qinggong to traverse through the snow.

    He couldn''t be any more ordinary than ordinary.

    A silhouette that gradually became white due to being covered in snow gradually approached the ce considered hell on Earth. He approached the scene where there were tens of evil demons who created the bloody scene.

    The scene couldn''t be any more hrious.

    Even the bronze mask he was wearing was considered a ridiculous look by Nan Junfei: Isn''t that the mask the ck Winds Thirteen Wings wear on missions? Where did this punk grab it from? Is he seriously daring toe here acting up? He must be tired of living.

    "You two,e with me."

    Nan Junfei called two assassins over. These assassins around Jia Yunfeng took direct orders from him and didn''t need to follow orders from others. However, due to Nan Junfei having a good rtionship with their leader and their leader not stopping them, they followed Nan Junfei nheless.

    Nan Junfei went to meet the man with white hair with the two assassins. When went up to him, heughed and asked: "This way leads to Mystery. Have you thought it through?"

    Nan Junfei finally had the time to scan the man with white hair. He noticed that the man with white hair was tall and big simr to Fu Xiang. It''s quite normal for martial arts practitioners possess a physique like this. His facial features were hidden by his mask and thereby not visible. However, what was clear was his white hair was a very ordinary head of white hair on a young man. Despite being in the snow, Nan Junfei could distinctly see that his hair was white as snow. His white hair was healthy and radiant, something ordinary people wouldn''t have, but a phenomenon that urred as a result of training some particr style.

    That was something that raised Nan Junfei''s alertness. He leaned over slightly to conceal his movements. He buckled a flying knife he just obtained in one hand and prepared a palm strike with his other hand.

    "Brother, if you don''t stop there, don''t me me for getting rough¡­¡­"

    *Boom!*

    Nobody knew what the man with white hair did and nobody saw what he did.

    Nan Junfei just flew into the sky facing up to the sky and spat out a mouthful of blood. It was like he took a heavy palm strike but then it also looked like he got kicked. Nobody knew what it was. However, there was a massive dent on his chest. Nan Junfei had no idea what just happened. Just as he was about to strike, something mmed right into his chest and then he went flying.

    Before hended on the ground, he saw the two assassins who came with him drop onto the snow on the ground faster than he did like leather balls. The man with white hair in front of him however remained unimpeded.

    As Nan Junfei took hisst breaths, he caught sight of the unparalleled dominant aura flowing out from that ordinary looking silhouette.

    There was no smile on his face. He continued advancing, walking as he did before looking like he was struggling really hard. But as there was nothing stopping him, he never slowed down or stopped. He maintained a fixed slow speed as he approached, creating a fixed rhythm with his footsteps.

    His way of walking was extremely ordinary andughable.

    However, the assassins from the League of Assassins couldn''t find it in them tough. It couldn''t be any clearer to them that a powerful foe had arrived. Everybody knew how skilled Nan Junfei was, yet he was defeated without a sign.

    One of the team captains asked Jia Yunfeng for directions, but Jia Yunfeng just stared at him stunned without uttering a word.

    Two assassins exchanged nces and came to a consensus. They drew their long swords at their waists and charged at him. Three others backed them up from behind with their bare fists.

    The two vanguards surrounded the man with white hair to perform a swift double-team kill. Their hand movements were sharp. The two of them served Jia Yunfeng and were famous for their skilled movement. They were confident in their ability to evade if there were any obstacles with their advanced qinggong. Even if they couldn''t defeat their foe, they were able to test the level of skill their foe possessed and retreat unharmed.

    The three behind them waited for an opening to strike. At the end of the day, even if he was indeed skilled, it''s still tough to beat four hands with two.

    They watched as the two vanguards struck from left and right.

    Just as the sword was about to hit the man with white hair, the tip of their des turned backwards and flew back at them like lightning strike. As soon as two trails of blood hitnded on their ground, their corpses had already dropped to the ground. Compared to the lightning speed at which they were sent flying, the speed at which the two swords stabbed was slow as a snail.

    The three behind the two had no idea what he did as they didn''t catch anything with their eyes, including their own deaths.

    From the perspective of others, the three of them were drunkards behaving iprehensibly. The man with white hair continued forward in sluggishly. The three of them stood in ce without moving. They had him surrounded but didn''t act, instead, silently letting him pass by before slowly passing out. They had their sleep-inducing meridian sealed without even knowing.

    The man with white hair continued forwards without stopping once.

    His footsteps became a rhythm that instilled fear.

    He didn''t speak or look at anyone. Nobody knew what he wanted, but nobody could stop him.

    The assassins had no clue what they were fighting.

    They didn''t know who he was and even questioned if he was a human or a ghost.

    He just slowly approached them. He had shaken their fighting morale.

    The winds in the snow whistled, creating a melody of death in tune with the sound of his footsteps.

    The assassins'' rationality was virtually being picked apart by the melody. They sensed that their lives were in danger, but at the same time, powerless to do escape it. Images of them hacking the man with white hair to pieces kept surfacing in their minds, but none of them dared to act.

    It wasn''t that they felt there was no chance of winning, but rather they didn''t dare to attack.

    Just like how a trembling sheep is faced with a wolf. It would be of no help even if more sheep joined the fray. The man with white hair was exuding such an aura. The demons who killed others without batting an eye just moments ago were now quaking in their boots.

    They finallyprehended the emotions of the imperial guards they killed.

    The main with white hair then stopped.

    He stopped outside two feet from Jia Yunfeng, but didn''t seem to intend to speak to him.

    The main with white hair, Ming Feizhen suddenly looked to the sky. The snowkes fell silently. His emotions were at peace and still like the first snowfall. He couldn''t help but remark: "What heavy snowfall¡­¡­"

    The voice behind the bronze mask revealed a faint hint of loneliness.

 Volume 3 55 Mysteryâ€™s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 55 Mystery''s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 2)</h4>

    While looking at the night sky covered by the snow, Ming Feizhen let out a sigh after a long look: "¡­¡­ I will eventually find you."

    He then looked at the others. The assassins were terrified while the warriors of the imperial court were overjoyed.

    The emperor was extremely grateful to Ming Feizhen from the moment he saw that he had rescued Princess Hongzhuang. He wanted to tell him to be careful when he saw the assassins rush at him, but then was focused onmenting how incredible his skills were. His skills were on an unheard of level. When he saw him strike again, his shock gradually surpassed his worries and was now speechless.ong Zaitian got more and more shocked the more he witnessed: Motherfucker! Where the fuck did this guye from? How is he so skilled? His kick that burst Nan Junfei''s lungs was so fast I didn''t even see him throw it and he was even carrying someone!! Don''t tell me he''s an incarnate of a deity!

    Tang Ye was getting more and more puzzled: Is that¡­ big bro? That''s the hair that a true internal styles expert has. His physique is different to big bro''s too. What''s going on? But if it''s not him¡­ where did someone so powerfule from?

    The other warriors: Mamma mia! A powerful ally hase! We''re saved!

    Those were what Ming Feizhen derived from their expressions. He couldn''t help but feel likeughing. He deliberately altered his appearance with bone maniption techniques to avoid being recognised so he was much shorter than usual. He had changed the length of his limbs as well. Seeing that he wasn''t recognised, he breathed a sigh of relief.

    It takes time to manipte bones and he had indeed spent a fair bit of time. He never expected the situation here to be so dire during that time though. Not one imperial guard escaped death.

    Jia Yunfeng stood opposite Ming Feizhen looking lost and down. It seemed that he recognised Ming Feizhen from his white hair and aura.

    Just as Ming Feizhen was about to speak to Jia Yunfeng who looked lost and sad, he suddenly noticed radiant and beautiful pair of eyes looking at him without batting an eye. He looked down at her eyes and saw her snow-white skin and the flower petal design on her forehead.ooking further down was an elegant face that''s beautiful whether its owner is angry or happy.

    What captivating beauty. God bless the man who came up with that adjective. She wasn''t just captivating but also elegant and refined. She wasn''t just gorgeous but also had a proud and bright radiance to her beauty. Combined, they provided Ming Feizhen with the best interpretation.

    It seemed like he met lots of beauties aftering to Nan Jing, each with their own uniqueness. Shen Yiren was fiery. Bai Ling was coquettish. Princess Hongzhuang was gorgeous, radiant and refined.

    And Su Xiao¡­. Umm¡­

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen suddenly felt a headachee on.

    He shook his head before looking toward the princess. As soon as he looked, he saw the heroic and suave princess acting obedient like a little kid. Her warm body was still and she obediently stayed in Ming Feizhen''s arms. She timidly lowered her head when he looked at her.

    Ming Feizhen found it funny that she was now acting so shy when she was violently chasing him around before.

    He smiled at her and said: "Hello, princess."

    "H-Hello."

    His voice¡­ sounds so nice.

    Princess Hongzhuang fantasised about him but that made her feel shy.

    "I shall unseal your meridian."

    Ming Feizhen doesn''t know how Hua Shan sect''s meridian sealing techniques work. Moreover, Jia Yunfeng''s knowledge has already reached beyond the sect''s teachings itself, so his method of sealing meridians was special. Additionally, Jia Yunfeng had ruined half of Princess Hongzhuang''s clothes. She was left with just a single shirt so it wasn''t appropriate for him to touch her anywhere. As such, he picked up her slender wrist and transferred some of his qi into her.

    His qi caused her to feel a hot sensation allowing her to move her limbs afterwards. As soon as her limbs regained their freedom, she could move freely. However, due to her suffering physical wounds and mental stress after having her meridian sealed, she now felt powerless so she leaned onto Ming Feizhen''s body powerlessly. Usually she''s bashful. The style she trains in is simr to Buddhism so she considered herself a half-Buddhism disciple. As a result, she minded formalities and was always against physical contact with men.

    But it was as though she took the initiative to lean on him just now. Her red cheeks made it look like she was drunk.

    Ming Feizhen was aware that her limbs were most likely sore and weak so he didn''t think too much of it. He instead held her tighter. The only issue was that Princess Hongzhuang''s legs were frankly too long. Ming Feizhen held her with his arms positioned as he usually would despite having manipted his bones. He didn''t think about it too much when he grabbed her. He had one of his hands on her gorgeous back and the other underneath her limp thighs. However, half of her body was hanging in mid-air.

    Ming Feizhen''s perverted gaze politely zoned in on her voluptuous mountains of bliss and slender long baby-white legs.

    The sight of her body made him gulp and praise her body. Ming Feizhen marvelled: "Your highness¡­¡­"

    Princess Hongzhuang wasn''t exactly in a graceful position at the moment and she was feeling shy. However, she felt like she would offend her hero if she mentioned it so she wasn''t sure what to do. As she was contemting her predicament, she responded as soon as Ming Feizhen spoke: "What is it, hero?"

    Ming Feizhen chuckled and replied: "Nothing. I just wanted to say that you sure have long legs." The fact that he was checking her legs out was unknown since he was wearing a mask, but he went and said it.

    Princess Hongzhuang froze up. She felt sad but didn''t know how to respond.

    She was aware she was taller than the average girl ever since she was young, and in fact the same height as her grandfather. Even her mother said that her height would likely cause her husband to feel embarrassed in the future. She grew more and more concerned about her height as she grew taller. She was a first learner when it came to martial arts. None of her older brothers were a match for her, so then they mocked her being a foolish giant, shemonly hid away to cry alone.

    After this journey of hers in the pugilistic world, she gradually stopped minding it and came to realise that she didn''t need to depend on men. Consequently, she stopped caring so much about being taller than her husband. In spite of that though, she still didn''t like the fact that she was oddly taller than other normal girls.

    She felt empty inside when she heard her saviour say that to her on their first meeting, causing her to feel strangely sad.

    But then her body turned and he reached his hands to hold her under her voluminous knees and held her with ease. After getting away from that odd position, she heard himpliment her.

    "Beautiful."

    "¡­¡­"

    Just one word from him cleared away the negative emotions in her heart, recing it with joy she couldn''t put into words and a racing heart she had never felt before.

    Princess Hongzhuang looked at the ice-cold bronze mask. She couldn''t recognise any emotions to describe from the face but she could feel a burning sensation throughout her entire body, especially in the area around her face.

    Princess Hongzhuang thanked him in a very soft voice: "Th-Thank you." She then buried her face in his chest and didn''t make eye-contact with him again.

    Ming Feizhen was puzzled by her reaction. He then heard the emperor''s voice in the distance.

    "Great hero! Great hero! May I ask if my daughter is safe and sound?"

    The emperor was ted to see Ming Feizhen had rescued Hongzhuang. However, he didn''t see her speak even once after being rescued, but as he was afraid Jia Yunfeng had hurt her, he couldn''t resist his urge to shout and ask.

    "Please do not worry, your majesty. The princess is fine."

    His response was transmitted directly into the emperor''s ears. It sounded to the emperor like he was speaking standing right in his face.

    The emperor thought to himself: This sounds like the voice of a young man. How does he possess such profound internal strength cultivation and such frightening martial arts skills¡­? This voice sounds familiar too. How odd.

    The atmosphere at the scene had frozen like ice. The League of Assassins didn''t dare to loosen up for a split moment. But at this point, they had ced all their hopes with their leader.

    After staying silent for a long time, Jia Yunfeng finally spoke up.

    "Y-You''re¡­¡­"

    Jia Yunfeng looked at Ming Feizhen''s white hair and his memories resurfaced.

    It was snowing that day too. The boy was silent like this back then too. The scene was virtually the same.

    Seeing Ming Feizhen''s tall and big structure; thick back and wide shoulders; a head full of white hair left down, made him appear even more like the boy from back then.

    "You¡­ are¡­? Mystery is working here. What business do you have?"

    There was a slight tinge of trembling in Jia Yunfeng''s voice but he didn''t notice it himself.

    Ming Feizhen ced Princess Hongzhuang down on the ground.

    "So you''re Kuang Tian, Sect-leader Jia."

    Ming Feizhen''s tone was very rxed and lively. It didn''t sound like they were enemies, but rather old friends who hadn''t met in a long time.

    "I guessed as much. After all, Xiang Batian wouldn''t have been a match for you at the level you were at ten years ago, yet he can cripple you now? If it wasn''t a faked, then it sure was odd."

    Jia Yunfeng noticed his mention of ten years ago, causing him to shudder before asking: "Did you go to Small Bamboo Brothel in Xi An Manor thirteen years ago?!"

    Ming Feizhenughed and said: "You recognise me now? Guess that proves I''ve done a good job maintaining my handsome looks."

    "It''s you¡­ It''s you as I thought."

    The wind whistled.

    In that moment, Jia Yunfeng felt like he had returned to Small Bamboo Brothel back then. He was like the Jia Yunfeng from back then and his opponent was the silent white-haired boy who woke him from his stupor with a finger-poke. It was then that he made up his mind to seek the pinnacle of swordy. He repented from that moment, mended his ways and decided to live up to the expectations of Hua Shan, spreading their teachings worldwide.

    It had been many years since they met. He was now the leader of Hua Shan but had led Hua Shan down the path of evil.

    "I never expected to meet you here."

    "Right back at you. I never thought you''d be the leader of Mystery."

    Jia Yunfeng lightly drew his sword at his waist. His de shined. Beyond Heavens Edge had beenpletely unsheathed.

    The atmosphere turned cold and yful when Jia Yunfeng spoke.

    "If you want to catch me,e ask daddy''s sword if you can first."

    Ming Feizhen smiled as he replied: "Ask your sword? Can your sword speak or sumtin (something)?"

    Jia Yunfeng chuckled helplessly: "Stop screwing with me! If you''re not going to fight, get lost."

    Ming Feizhen responded: "You are aware that my shifu is ranked higher than your shifu in terms of seniority, right? I should be your senior martial uncle. Fighting you would be bullying you."

    Everything was the exact same as that day.

    Every scene from that day reyed itself in Jia Yunfeng''s mind.

    "¡­¡­What do you want then? You think you can make me go with you just by pping your gums?"

    Ming Feizhen smiled, but the mask still had an aggressive expression. The next line was his actual line from back then. He said it in a most calm and rxed manner, but it was the one line that spurred on Jia Yunfeng''s murderous intent.

    "¡­ I''ll give you ten free moves¡­ again."

 Volume 3 56 Mysteryâ€™s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 56 Mystery''s Living Hell. Not Jealous of the Flower in the World (Part 3)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "I''ll give you ten free moves¡­ again."

    The entire venue then went silent after Ming Feizhen said that. Neither of them moved.

    Jia Yunfeng didn''t respond, but he had regained the cold expression of his. His gaze moved like he had obtained something.

    He aimed the tip of Beyond Heavens Edge at Ming Feizhen.

    Jia Yunfeng indifferently asked, "Who¡­ are you?"

    Heunched his attack as he asked his question. A light formed on his de, which was a powerful wave of sword aura that enveloped him. The snowkes that were falling randomly now flew toward Ming Feizhen. They flew at him with arge amount of cold force that surpassed how strong the wind blew naturally.

    From the side, Princess Hongzhuang was astounded. She was aware that Ming Feizhen''s skills were profound, but she had a vision that wouldn''t go away which made her concerned for Ming Feizhen.

    The fusion of the wind and the sword aura created powerful waves that rushed his opponent one after another. The sh of qi was akin to a huge pool between them. Jia Yunfeng''s Beyond Heavens Edge acted as the source with an endless amount of qi, filling up the pool to the brim. As the volume of qi piled up, the pressure on Ming Feizhen would consequently increase.

    The Emperor and the warriors were astonished; Such a miraculous technique has never been heard of. They hated Jia Yunfeng to his core at the start, but now they acknowledged his superior sword skills. As experts,paring themselves to him without having fought him made them believe that their skills weren''t too far off from his and that he was an eyesore.

    Now, however, they were all admiring his skills after that move. When they imagined themselves in Ming Feizhen''s shoes, they realised they wouldn''t havested fifteen minutes. They would have to surrender or else die to their opponent''s miraculous technique.

    The huge build-up of sword aura locked his opponent down, taking away his opponent''s chance at getting the first strike. However, pinning his opponent down cost him a lot of energy as well. The idea was to finish his opponent with the amount of sword-aura he had built up once his opponent could no longer fend off the pressure. Jia Yunfeng was able to get the upper hand using this technique even if his opponent was an expert among experts.

    Jia Yunfeng''s first move, when meeting after thirteen years, was Falling Wild Geese Soars the Sky once again. This was the first time Falling Wild Geese Soars the Sky had been executed so incredibly ever since its creation.

    The most astonishing part was still Jia Yunfeng himself. Up until tonight, he was unable to execute such a miraculously sharp and difficult to defend against sword strike. He got many things off his shoulders when he met Ming Feizhen. Including his duty as the leader of Hua Shan and his mission as an assassin of the League of Assassins; The two identities conflicted with one another, but that vanished the moment he decided to fight Ming Feizhen.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Jia Yunfeng was unbelievably talented and focused. He had perfected his internal strength and sword techniques to an extremely high level. For him to improve at that point was easier said than done.

    For thest thirteen years, he had lived in the shadow of his fight with Ming Feizhen. The opportunity to fight properly with Ming Feizhen gave him the feeling that time and space had been misced, bestowing him with the chance to undo the knot in his heart for thest thirteen years. All his emotions, from his frustrations with his teaus to the conflicts with his identities, vanished into thin air.

    Ming Feizhen was impressed. Jia Yunfeng qualifies to be noted as one of the greatest among the top masters with his ability to use his internal strength this well.

    "After we parted ways that day thirteen years ago, I had always been trying to find out about you." Jia Yunfeng used voice transmission to speak to Ming Feizhen while continuing to churn up more internal energy. The ability to use his internal strength for two different tasks simultaneously was evidence of his profound internal strength.

    "I investigated your shifu. He''s the leader of Mount Daluo, ''Yuhua of the World'', Ming Huayu. He''s extremely famous in the pugilistic world. He was once listed as one of the Ten Ultimate Gods, one of the few greatest in the world. Back then, I thought it made sense for you to naturally possess great skills as his disciple, but you¡­" Jia Yunfeng''s tone was steady. Despite Ming Feizhen being his opponent, his confidence in himself was unshakeable, "You''re like someone that never existed. There''s no information pertaining to you anywhere to be found within Mount Daluo, and nobody in the world has heard of Ming Huayu having you as his disciple. Who exactly are you?"

    Ming Feizhen gave no response. His expression remained the same. Jia Yunfeng''s sword-aura didn''t seem to affect him at all. His body was still like it was locked in stone. He stood in ce like he was deep in thought for a long time.

    His memories returned like snowkes flying towards him.

    The things someone said to him back then plucked his heartstrings.

    "You don''t exist."

    "It doesn''t matter how well you do, or how famous you be. You''re just a non-existent person."

    "Ming Feizhen - can you even consider that a name? How much longer are you going to run away for, weakling?"

    "I''ll disappear from your sight. Don''t even dream of ever being able to find me."

    "¡­¡­ Never existed?"

    The voice behind the mask was faint and sounded somewhat lonely.

    It was calm and slow, yet sounded like the speaker was slightly angry.

    "I have to admit that I think you''re right about that¡­ God damned right."

    He looked over again. His eyes behind his bronze mask shed blood red. Jia Yunfeng''s heart and mind received a shock. He felt his nerves heat up and his sword aura vanished, causing the snow and wind to return to normal.

    Ming Feizhen took a step forward. The leftover sword aura vanished.

    "You don''t need to go searching for my shadow. I''m standing right here." His gaze intensified and in an awe-inspiring voice said, "Sect-leader Jia,e at me."

    "I don''t need you to tell me what to do!"

    Jia Yunfeng focused himself and then leapt through the air before swinging his sword downward violently from up high. His Falling Wild Geese Soars the Sky move was powerful but different to how he previously executed it. It looked like he was trying to split Ming Feizhen''s skull.

    Just as Ming Feizhen went to turn side on to evade the strike, he suddenly sensed an odd vibration from the tip of Jia Yunfeng''s sword. The strike was most certainly powerful, but what made it lethal was yet to be revealed. It appeared as though the technique didn''t end and could change at any moment. That waspletely different to Jia Yunfeng from thirteen years ago. Simrly to how he now held two identities, his sword technique also had two uses.

    Ming Feizhen reacted with surprise, "No wonder you became a new venerated member of the League of Assassins. Your skills have improved significantly. Congrattions." Ming Feizhen didn''t look distressed. He shifted his feet six inches, evading the area where Falling Wild Geese Soars the Sky was aimed.

    The Emperor eximed, "Brilliant qinggong, great hero!"

    Indeed, his movements were difficult to predict. Back then, Ming Feizhen didn''t even dodge Jia Yunfeng''s strikes, though.

    After his loss to Ming Feizhen, Jia Yunfeng suffered mentally and went as far as to sell himself out to acquire Demon Shadow Light Splitter and other styles. That''s how he found a way to defeat Ming Feizhen. Back then, Ming Feizhen used a simr qi sensing technique to detect his movements, allowing him to dodge even the well-hidden moves of his. They both had the same ability now, though. Jia Yunfeng was confident with his sensing ability. In fact, he believed he was superior to Ming Feizhen. Even if he wasn''t able to manoeuvre as quickly as Ming Feizhen, with his unparalleled sensing ability he knew what move his opponent would make next and could stop it.

    Jia Yunfeng had gained the upper hand with just his first move.

    Somebody shouted, "Careful!"

    Beyond Heavens Edge suddenly changed as if ayer of blue enveloped it, creating an eerie aura around the sword. He transformed Seven Shining Sun Rays into Seven Blue Sun Rays. His sword aura shed, causing a long and shocking sword cut mark on the stone ground.

    The ground was made using premium materials. It wasn''t likely that one could scratch it like that with arge saw. While Beyond Heavens Edge may be sharp, its de is light and thin at the end of the day. The only way it was able to create the big cut on the ground was through Jia Yunfeng''s internal energy.

    What happened was Jia Yunfeng cleverly directed his sword aura to his sword when he used this second move.

    Sword aura is a skill in the advanced stage of sword-qi. Usually Jia Yunfeng used sword aura with his finger which was enough to sh with real weapons. When he used it with a sword like Beyond Heavens Edge, it was invincible. The Jia Yunfeng of the past would never have been able to think of this, but he was able to concoct the excellent idea today.

    Jia Yunfeng thundered, "That''s what you get for fighting me bare-handed!"

    His qi-sensing ability was able to counter his opponent''s body movements. Combining sword aura with Beyond Heavens Edge countered his opponent''s bare-hands. Jia Yunfeng utilised such a formidable strategy without even thinking.

    His third, fourth, and fifth moves were executed consecutively. All of his selected moves came from Beyond Heavens Three Peaks Sword Style. The power and sharpness of Beyond Havens Edge could swallow everything in its path. Even the onlookers, who knew they would be faced with a tragedy once he emerged victorious, couldn''t help but marvel at his sword skills.

    Upon closer inspection, there was anotheryer to its greatness.

    Although his three strikes originated from Hua Shan, they belonged to different sword styles. They were utilised very differently to how the creator wished for them to be used; However, the moves were unhindered, smooth like running water, blending together perfectly.

    You could call it three sword strikes, but it wouldn''t be incorrect for you to call it a single sword strike either. Everybody present was a martial artist and they marvelled at how amazing the strike was.

    Poor Ming Feizhen had to dodge continuously left and right. No matter which side he evaded to, Jia Yunfeng intercepted him with his sensing ability. If he wasn''t faster than Jia Yunfeng, he''d have multiple holes in him.

    He said he would give him ten free moves, so he couldn''t counterattack.

    Jia Yunfeng, on the other hand, was putting on a more and more impressive disy. He was improving with every strike and every strike worked as intended. It was as though he was heartily releasing all of the confusion he had in regards to his sect''s sword styles in this battle.

    Jia Yunfeng was right.

    The white-haired boy¡­ was now an adult. He was the best stepping stone for Jia Yunfeng to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship. The experience he gained when he suffered a disastrous defeat to him back then helped him mature. Meeting him again helped him ascend to a new level. He was determined to acquire what he had always wanted in this fight.

    Jia Yunfeng could see his future. His magnificent condition today that came on by chance couldn''t be maintained forever. That wasn''t important though.

    Having gotten a sneak-peek of the most advanced approaches in martial arts, he will figure out a way to go further beyond. Before this fight, he was lost in confusion and couldn''t untangle it. As long as he was willing to train diligently after this fight, he would immediately be one of the strongest swordsmen of this era.

 Volume 3 57 Atmosphere of Battle

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 57 Atmosphere of Battle</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "This is Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Swords. Pay attention!"

    After Jia Yunfeng said that, his aura instantly changed. He extended his arm straight out and then utilised a finger as his sword, an action that waspletely unorthodoxpared to usual methods of attacking in martial arts. The creator of Jade Maiden Golden Needle Neen Swords was a senior in Hua Shan who was a strange character. He oftentimes made techniques no other would think of, this being one of them.

    This move wasn''t an actual sword technique, but a sword-qi technique. It''s executed by pointing one''s sword tip at the opponent and employs one principle for its entire execution. It attacks the opponent by flushing them with waves of sword-qi like drowning someone with continuous running water. When the opponent can''t ascertain your move; that is when you strike.

    Before today, Jia Yunfeng extremely disliked this move, but now he felt like everything worked synergistically when he executed his techniques. He hadprehended the thought process of the senior back then.

    Princess Hongzhuang shouted, "Ninth move!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen somersaulted sideways, evading the surrounding attack of Jia Yunfeng''s sword-qi. As soon as he got his head out of the way, a sword-qi immediately emerged from where he was standing just before. It targeted him like a venomous snake, shattering a white-jade handrail with a vicious bite.

    That was a close call. Princess Hongzhuang gasped when she watched the exchange. She, too, didn''t understand why the hero gave someone like Jia Yunfeng ten free strikes.

    Jia Yunfeng''s sword skills appeared to continuously improve throughout their exchange. The first move he unleashed was incredible, and every move that followed appeared to exhibit his enlightenment for a sort of swordy. It was like he was demonstrating the techniques of an excellent sword manual. Every technique was distinct, a result of a clear sequence of ideas, making him very much like a venerable master of an era.

    Such skill was something Princess Hongzhuang had only seen her shifu disy. She never imagined that Jia Yunfeng had also reached that level.

    There are not many warriors of that level, as only top experts could attain it. There are not even one-hundred people who have reached that level in today''s age, where martial arts are flourishing.

    Jia Yunfeng had managed to exceed his own limits now, putting him among said list of experts. Even if it was just now; he was a swordsman with skill would be rare to find.

    Ming Feizhen and Jia Yunfeng were originally face-to-face with the emperor and everyone else behind. However, they were now outside the imperial study as a result of their fight and Ming Feizhen''s forced evasions, which had taken them to where the jade handrails. Therefore, they were now some distance away.

    Ming Feizhen hopped on the white-jade handrail. He took advantage of the fact that his Qinggong skills were superior to Jia Yunfeng''s to create an opportunity.

    It was initially a good idea. But it was pointless before Jia Yunfeng of today. The consequence of his n was being forced to get off the handrails as a result of Jia Yunfeng''s ninth move.

    Hua Shan''s Five Peaks Swordy is named after Hua Shan''s five mountain peaks which are: Rising Sun, Falling Geese, Lotus, Jade Maiden, and Cradle Head. Jia Yunfeng used all five in session just now. The only move-set he had yet to use was Heavenly Dragon Swordy.

    Jia Yunfengbined sword-qi with his sword again. Beyond the Heaven''s Peak and sword-qi fused, augmenting the strength of sword-qi to the extreme. This was the final move Jia Yunfeng was going to use to determine the victor.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t spare him a nce. He stated, "Tenth move."

    "Die!"

    Beyond the Heavens Edge''s shine suddenly went dull. The exchange of light and darkness was so sudden that the eyes of the onlookers felt agonised as though they had gone blind. Even when they did widen their eyes to look at them, they didn''t see anything.

    Jia Yunfeng suddenly moved when his sword went dark as if he was blending into the darkness. Ming Feizhen stood still. Suddenly, a sword-qi appeared on the sword handle. It transformed into hundreds of blue snakes slithering toward Ming Feizhen.

    "Demon Shadow Light Splitter!"

    Jia Yunfeng used Demon Shadow Light Splitter. He positioned his sword-qi horizontally, as it shed interchangeably between light and darkness. He himself had blended into the darkness. He then suddenly appeared next to Ming Feizhen with his sword already aimed at Ming Feizhen''s chest. Ming Feizhen quickly retreated and Jia Yunfeng didn''t give chase. He instead blended into the darkness again, but then Beyond the Heavens Edge stuck toward the side of Ming Feizhen''s neck.

    Everyone present noticed that Jia Yunfeng''s skills had improved yet again. The move was still fresh in their minds from when he used it to control the people at the venue. However, it wasn''t asplex as it was this time. His utilisation of it was more than twice as incredible as it was before.

    Demon Shadow Light Splitter is an assassination style. Jia Yunfeng disliked the sneaky nature of it, so he only took the techniques from it to supplement his existing swordy and to use the qi-sensing ability. It was indeed formidable. However, an assassination style is an assassination style at the end of the day. Due to the change he made to its nature, he reduced its formidableness by a fair bit.

    Jia Yunfeng''sprehension skills were at a higher level now. He used the style as it was intended, striking from the light and shadows, forcing Ming Feizhen to avoid left and right. Jia Yunfeng''s execution was superb, gradually making it difficult for Ming Feizhen to evade his strikes, putting him in a position where he couldn''t evade again.

    From in the distance, Princess Hongzhuang suddenly shouted, "What are you trying to do, scum?!"

    What she saw was the assassin closest to Ming Feizhen suddenly draw the sword on his back and stab toward Ming Feizhen.

    It appeared as though he had applied something to his sword so that it wouldn''t reflect light. However, the sound of the sword flicking was loud, indicating that his internal strength was surprisingly on Nan Junfei''s level. He should be Jia Yunfeng''s strongest subordinate. He suddenlyunched a sneak attack on Ming Feizhen from behind, yet was bold enough to allow his sword to make noise. He was certain that Ming Feizhen couldn''t dodge the attack from this angle. Plus, his de was wide, so it wasn''t suited to silent sneak attacks.

    Ming Feizhen was already mindful of the others even before Princess Hongzhuang shouted out, so he immediately evaded to the side. The assassin, however, very quickly switched his attack. He swung his de in a semi-circle straight toward Ming Feizhen''s throat.

    Jia Yunfeng then suddenly popped out from the other side, catching Ming Feizhen in a pincer attack. Ming Feizhen was cornered.

    They were so close to each other that your heart would virtually pop out of your chest if you saw them!

    Then Ming Feizhen suddenly lifted his left arm up faster than words could tell at the same speed as Beyond the Heavens Edge. When he stopped the sword before his neck, he flicked it upward with one finger. Beyond Heavens Edge was enshrouded in qi, but Ming Feizhen knocked it upward several inches with a single finger, nheless.

    After Beyond Heavens Edge was flicked away, Jia Yunfeng slowed down due to the weighting down on the handle of his sword. He felt like a massive boulder he couldn''t hold up with his arm strength had suddenly dropped down, causing his sword to shoot straight downward.

    One sword went upward while the other went downward, creating an opening. Ming Feizhenughed and then escaped from the death-trap.

    "You make me feel like I''m actually having a real fight. You''re not the strongest opponent I''ve met in thest few years, but you''re the first one to make me feel like I''m actually fighting genuinely. It feels okay."

    Jia Yunfeng''s sure-kill technique didn''t kill Ming Feizhen. However, he wasn''t very angry about it. He had improved drastically today, so he didn''t care about winning in a single move any longer. No matter how powerful Ming Feizhen was, he was only slightly stronger than he was in the past. He couldn''t see any reason for him to lose to Ming Feizhen in his current state.

 Volume 3 58 The Long Sword is Sharp Out of Thin Air. Kuang Tian is Enshrouded in Confusion

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 58 The Long Sword is Sharp Out of Thin Air. Kuang Tian is Enshrouded in Confusion</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Jia Yunfeng snickered and said, "You said you would give me ten free moves, but you nearly lost your life. Do you think you still have a chance at winning with my men as part of the equation? What is the Emperor to you? Why have youe to his rescue withplete disregard for yourself?"

    Ming Feizhen nced at the Emperor then answered in an entertained tone, "Because he''s a good Emperor. He''s not the best, but everybody has some misfortunes. You need to learn how to carry those burdens."

    "Save the pointless drivel and big talk. If you want to save the Emperor, ask my Beyond the Heavens Edge first!"

    "Wrong. You''ve got it all wrong."

    Ming Feizhen shook his head, bringing his long-white hair along. His white hair oddly shone in the darkness.

    "Your n to overthrow the Emperor brings countless troubles, yet not a single benefit. If you weren''t Kuang Tian, I might''ve rescued the Emperor without fighting you."

    Jia Yunfeng frowned a little, "What does that mean?"

    "Thirteen years ago, your sect leader, in other words, your shifu, asked my shifu and me to do him a favour. He asked us to bring a lost young man back to his senses. He believed that the young man was Hua Shan''s hope in the future."

    "¡­¡­"

    "At the time, I had my own troubles, so I just taught him a lesson and considered the favour done. But that wasn''t the reality. The young man looked like he had realised his wrongs and went back on the right path, but he still had obstacles in his heart. And he still does now."

    Ming Feizhen swept his gaze over the Jia Yunfeng who was taking pride in the fact that his skills had improved significantly.

    "Jia Yunfeng, your current expression is the same as the one you had thirteen years ago. You''re still drowning in your pursuit of power and unable to pull yourself out. You made your shifu''s good intentions and efforts go to waste."

    "Do not spout nonsense, you chicken!"

    Beyond the Heavens Edge swung through the air. A blue light like a sh of lightning cut the snow and wind between them.

    Jia Yunfeng shouted, "My shifu was old and over the hill, with no aplishments for his entire life. If it were not for me, Hua Shan would not be what it is today! After my aplishments today, Hua Shan will rise and be revered like your Mount Daluo!"

    "What''s so bad about living a free and carefree life? How is your shifu in any way inferior to you? You''re busy all the time. You''re the League of Assassins''p-dog when you''re the leader of a sect. You think that makes you awesome?"

    "What nonsense!" Jia Yunfeng''s stared intently. His murderous intent filled his eyes, "Joining the League of Assassins was just a means of improving my swordsmanship. You''re no longer a match for me. Your provocations are useless against me. You are delusional if you want me to spare you."

    "As I said, you''re wrong. You''ve got it all wrong."

    What looked like a red me lit up in the eyes behind the mask. The eyes were not what a human''s eyes looked like.

    "Thirteen years have gone by and yet you haven''t changed at all. You sacrificed everything for yourself. You looked down on your shifu, yet you''repletely confused, unlike he was. You''ve been staggering through your journey thesest thirteen years. You became the sect leader, then became an assassin, and even went and worked as the orange prince''sp-dog. It gives the impression that you''ve done a lot, but really, it''s just a mess. You''ve improved your skills and killed plenty of people. However, you''re still that kid from back then who hasn''t grown up. You sacrificed precious things you won''t be able topensate for with your whole life, all for your so-called improvement."

    "Shut up." Jia Yunfeng got infuriated. He aimed his sword at Ming Feizhen, "Keep talking, and I guarantee you will spill blood in five steps."

    "Your shifu was right about one thing. You truly do have decent talent for martial arts. If you can get away today with your life, I guarantee with my head that you will go down in history as one of the greatest swordsmen."

    Jia Yunfeng snickered, "So you are suggesting that I will not leave this ce alive today?"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t reply. He kept silent, as if he were mocking his opponent with a smile, as he concurred with what Jia Yunfeng asked.

    Ming Feizhen stood in ce and gestured for Jia Yunfeng toe at him with his finger.

    "Keep showing off."

    Once he was done speaking, Jia Yunfeng immediately sprang into action. He flew through the air like an eagle. He shed with all his might and speed, like an arrow piercing through from theherworld. That was a variation of Hua Shan''s Cradle Head Blue Stone Nine Swords. His variation on it made it a terrifying attack.

    Once the strike was thrown, he shouted, "Catch this!" But the element of surprise was tant to see.

    Jia Yunfeng was very satisfied with the move. His ten moves against Ming Feizhen had significantly improved his skills more than ever. The coordination between his eyes, hands, body, and strength was perfect without thinking, whether he was stabbing or shing. He was already at the level of a master.

    His long-sword was powerful like an arrow. He had yet to break the sound barrier, but it was overwhelming as it was. So, whenbined with his moves that were sudden, it was virtually impossible to defend against.

    However, this powerful thrust of his missed its target.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen didn''t even budge. However, his long sword appeared as though it missed his body.

    Jia Yunfeng wasn''t the only one to be surprised. Even Princess Hongzhuang, the Emperor, and everyone else watching was bewildered. Other than being surprised, their gazes also showed that they thought it was absurd. This sort of technique in swordy is referred to as a thrust. The most important requirement of executing a thrust was to ensure precision. While the way a thrust is performed varies from school to school, precision is the key regardless of style. As such, it''s a technique that is only used after thousands upon thousands of times of practice. One''s eyes and hands must be coordinated. Done right, it''s harder to miss than hit.

    Jia Yunfeng was a sect-leader and Hua Shan''s swordy was renowned throughout the world, yet he missed a big target like Ming Feizhen? There was no other way to describe it other than absurd. It''s akin to seeing a marksman that shoots with great precision missing an apple in front of him. It''s just unbelievable.

    Jia Yunfeng was baffled. He stepped back and then used Falling Geese again.

    Ming Feizhen moved his neck sideways just ever so slightly, causing Beyond the Heavens Edge to stab straight past him, missing its target. Jia Yunfeng grunted. He then pulled his sword back which acted as a second attack. Ming Feizhen didn''t look like he dodged. He just shifted his head to one side slightly and the sword struck thin air again.

    Jia Yunfeng felt like he got dumped into freezing waters. Outsiders didn''t understand what he was feeling, but he knew.

    What transpired couldn''t be any more familiar to him. It had been his nightmare for thirteen years. He never thought history would repeat itself after he had improved his skills so much.

    While he started to panic to himself, he continued to swing his sword. His divine de was like the light emitted by snow. But regardless of how brilliant his techniques were, Ming Feizhen could seemingly evade his strikes by a hair''s breadth.

    "I told you. You got it all wrong."

    "Shut up!"

    Jia Yunfeng tried utilising the move he used before again, but it was still in vain. He was certain his skills had not diminished, but he couldn''t make sense of why all of his techniques were ineffective.

    Jia Yunfeng started to panic because the situation was too abnormal. Most importantly, his ability to sense qi waspletely failing him. He was never able to detect Ming Feizhen''s movements right from the beginning. It didn''t appear as though he moved, but even if he wasn''t moving at all, this wasn''t how things should''ve been. Jia Yunfeng''s sensing barrier had been set up all around Ming Feizhen. It felt akin to a rock with no pulse to react.

    Ming Feizhen seemed to have something on him that denied ess to sensing him and figuring him out. It was like a thinyer of mist surrounded his body. Thatyer of mist from the past had appeared. He thought he had closed the gap, only to find out the gap between them had in fact increased.

    Notes:

    *The words used for "thrust" when describing it tranted literally is more like "shot". In English however, we don''t say we shot our sword unless you literally mean that. Instead, we use descriptions to describe the thrust being fast. In Chinese as used here, it''s possible to separate them as two different phrases.

 Volume 3 59 A Money Debt is Repaid with Money. A Blood Debt is Repaid with Blood.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 59 A Money Debt is Repaid with Money. A Blood Debt is Repaid with Blood.</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The snow gradually stopped.

    Thick-dark clouds covered the entire sky, but a ray of moonlight finally shone through. Eventually, more light managed to shine through the darkness and the moonlight soon lit up all thend below.

    The za outside the imperial study was dim, appearing like it was bathed in ayer of misted spring water, making it resemble a fantasy world.

    Underneath the moonlight, Jia Yunfeng felt like a blind man once again after many years. He clearly saw Ming Feizhen in front of his eyes, but it was like the image before his eyes was false. His stabs went straight past him. Not onended on him. Ming Feizhen evaded every single one of Jia Yunfeng''s sword strikes. Jia Yunfeng was baffled. It was like he was fighting with someone who didn''t exist.

    The feeling of having everything go his way slowly disappeared in his anger.

    He couldn''t feel the sess of his attacks anymore. His swordy became wild. The more he missed, the more wild it became. Gradually, it became a mess that nobody could make sense of; like a drunkard pulling crazy antics.

    He was alone swinging Beyond the Heavens Edge by himself.

    Jia Yunfeng¡­ had lost sight again.

    He couldn''t see his opponent.

    He couldn''t see where his opponent was.

    He thought he was there. He thought today would be the most important day in his life.

    But in an instant, he understood something, causing him to burn with fury and insanity.

    "You were doing that deliberately before!" Jia Yunfeng began to roar, "You were deliberately going easy on me!!"

    Jia Yunfeng''s sword shed at his shoulder. Ming Feizhen didn''t evade, but it went through again.

    Ming Feizhen ndly exined, "You have mastered the ability to sense qi, and want to sense my location, but you''re in a different ce to me."

    Jia Yunfeng was enraged. He futilely shed like a madman.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t even need to lift a finger to evade his numerous shes.

    Ming Feizhen stood within his striking range, yet it was like he was standing way up above where Jia Yunfeng couldn''t reach, looking down at him.

    Even his voice sounded like it floated over from a distance.

    "That''s why I stated that you got it all wrong; you can''t see. You can''t see how we''re different from our fight back then. Your skills can be considered great, and you would easily make it into the top masters list with another step up in skills. If you put in the effort you, too, will have the chance to see what I saw back then."

    From Ming Feizhen''s perspective, Jia Yunfeng was in slow-motion. It was as he said. They were worlds apart.

    It''s a world that only those who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts can see.

    Those who have reached the pinnacle can see fast-motion in slow-motion by moulding qi. They live in a different time-dimension than an ordinary person.

    Regardless of how brilliant Jia Yunfeng''s techniques may be, they''re just boring slow-motion movements to Ming Feizhen. Hence, he could evade all of Jia Yunfeng''s sword attacks with minimal movement.

    Said world is referred to as Refined Heart and Spirit. In Buddhism, it is referred to as the World of Sheer Impossibility. In the martial world, it''s mostmonly known as enlightenment.

    Jia Yunfeng had no way of hitting him. Strike as he may, it was all futile.

    "Enlightenment¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Jia Yunfeng''s dry lips trembled as if he didn''t realise he had spoken. He could still hear the voice of the boy with white hair in his ears.

    "Some people improve their martial arts faster than others. They have better luck than others. Later on, they became the strongest in the world. At the same time, they reached enlightenment. You''re familiar with some of them but also unfamiliar with some others. The Ultimate Three of the imperial court is one example. The venerated Ultimate Thirteen Apostles is another example. The leader of the Demon Sect, who has been missing for a long time, is another example. I am another one."

    Jia Yunfeng lost all his will to fight when he found out the opponent in front of him was a top-level master who had reached the pinnacle.

    How is he so strong?

    He''s so young¡­ he''s got white hair¡­ a bronze mask¡­

    His white hair and bronze mask made Jia Yunfeng recall a rumour. Years ago, a skilled fighter suddenly appeared in the Demon Sect''s ranks. He had been conferred the seat of a lord that had been vacant for many years and assisted Ximen Chuideng in ruling the two Divine Moon Sects. He¡­ always wore a frightening mask and had white hair!

    "You are the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen!"

    That was meant to be said in a normal voice, but it sounded contained within a small area.

    "You''re right."

    Jia Yunfeng lost all of his fighting spirit in that moment. He finally realised who he had picked a fight with!

    Ming Feizhen walked up to him like a ghost.

    "But now, we should discuss the business between us, right?"

    Jia Yunfeng felt him frozen in ce, unable to budge.

    "You had a chance to attain the peak of martial arts in this world. You could reach the aforementioned world with Hua Shan''s arts, but you just abandoned your sects Heavenly Dragon Sword to use the League of Assassins'' Demon Shadow Light Splitter. I think you should now know the reason why you couldn''t attain the next level, right?"

    Ming Feizhen looked at Jia Yunfeng indifferently while the voice from under his mask sounded freezing cold.

    "I told you, if you have time hereafter, your swordy will continue to improve by leaps and bounds to a level few have achieved."

    He then brought a finger up to him slowly.

    It was almost like entering a nightmare. Jia Yunfeng could sense Ming Feizhen''s finger approach him to attack but he couldn''t evade it. He knew that it wasing closer, but his legs couldn''t take him away; the same way he was defeated thirteen years ago.

    Jia Yunfeng muttered like he was sleep-talking, "G-G-Give me time. Give me time. I''ll be stronger. I''ll be stronger!"

    "Yes, you will be stronger if I give you time." Ming Feizhen then indifferently added, "But you don''t deserve to have that time."

    "Why?! Why?! You and I have no grudge. I, I¡­"

    "I told you. You''re the same as you were thirteen years ago. You''re just a kid who hasn''t grown up. Hua Shan Sect has been around for centuries. Countless seniors and heroes sacrificed their lives to protect Hua Shan''s reputation, but you went and tainted it with your own hands. You think being a sect leader is a joke? If you don''t realise that, you shouldn''t hold the seat."

    Jia Yunfeng slowly began to lose his ability to speak, as though strangled.

    "Why won''t I spare you? You should go and ask your shifu that."

    Ming Feizhen swept his gaze around. The imperial guards whose blood had been shed were still covered in red.

    Ming Feizhen transformed into a de. He raised his hand up, collecting a pile of powerful qi and condensed it.

    The condensed qi was hot like a fire. It was so intimidating that no description could do it justice.

    "Go back and ask your shifu what sort of ce the pugilistic world is. Or ask your mother if money-debts need to be repaid."

    He threw a heavy sh that was like thunder with his knife-hand, sending qi into a hundred of Jia Yunfeng''s meridians. It was like tens of thousands of small des cutting into Jia Yunfeng''s meridians, destroying them all. Jia Yunfeng''s entire body shuddered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. When he fell to the ground, limp, his eyes had already rolled back into the back of his head with blood seeping out of his seven orifices.

    Ming Feizhen then leisurely asked, "Do blood-debts need to be repaid?"

 Volume 3 60 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The Plan Failed (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 60 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The n Failed (Part 1)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Ming Feizhen didn''t deal a fatal blow.

    Blood came out of seven of Jia Yunfeng''s orifices, but he was still alive.

    Using Spring Wind Rainy Nights Divine Arts, Ming Feizhen crippled his vessels. He then immediately followed up with Yi Jin Manual to begin healing his vessels that belonged to Hua Shan Sect. Ming Feizhen only erased the League of Assassins'' martial arts he had been practising for years, not his lifetime worth of skills.

    Despitemitting so many immoral and traitorous crimes, he was still Hua Shan sect''s leader. An outsider has no right to confer or strip him of his title nor to decide his life and death.

    Ming Feizhen just finished the job he was asked to do by the previous leader of Hua Shan sect, staying within the boundaries of what he could rightfully do.

    A green look appeared on Jia Yunfeng''s painful expression, indicating that the unorthodox style he practised was gradually leaving his body.

    Once done, Ming Feizhen didn''t give him any further attention. He instead turned around to help up the delicately beautiful princess.

    Jia Yunfeng had treated the princess cruelly, while Ming Feizhen himself had peeked on her, so he considered this atonement for his offence.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t say anything. He removed a coat to cover the Princess''s pink, smooth, and long thighs. He touched her palm and then transferred qi to her. Her cold body jolted gently and then she felt a lot better.

    He then lowered his head and said, "Your Highness, I had some personal issues with him in the past, so I can''t let him die yet. If you or His Majesty wishes to settle the score with him, I will not help."

    The Princess replied, "Though the traitor deserves to die, his crime cannot be absolved just by execution. He naturally should be judged by Hua Shan, whom shall deal with it solemnly."

    The Emperor said, "She is right. Hero, thank you for your assistance today. But may I ask for your name? After this, I shall¡­" He shut one eye and looked at his daughter who was looking at Ming Feizhen, forgetting all about herself. He sighed to himself and then went on, "Visit you with Hongzhuang to thank you for saving our lives."

    The Emperor has personal experience and has children, so he could tell what his daughter was thinking. When he saw Ming Feizhen defeat the powerful foes and then immediately turn around to worry about his daughter, he immediately thought that he could pair them up!

    "May I ask where you are from, how old you are this year, and are you married?"

    Ming Feizhen was puzzled, "I am from Nan Jing. I am twenty-eight this year and have never married."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Not married yet, huh? Twenty-eight years old¡­ you''re still young then. That''s good. That''s good."

    The Emperor praised him sincerely. He was just one step away from just asking them to hook up. Princess Hongzhuang blushed because of the information she learned from her father''s questions. She lowered her head and thought to herself, ''So¡­ so he''s so young.''

    Ming Feizhen raised his hand to stop the Emperor from saying any more.

    "Your Majesty, Jia Yunfeng may have been apprehended, but the threat in the imperial city has yet to be subdued. Only the four members of Mystery came, but there are many more assassins from the League of Assassins that have snuck in."

    In a confused tone, the Emperor asked, "Since Mystery has been defeated, how much of a threat could the others be?"

    Ming Feizhen shook his head, "That is not how it works. You cannot lump the League of Assassins and their assassins together. The League of Assassins epts a job and hands it to the assassination teams that are part of their organisation, thereby profiting as a middle-man. That is how ordinary people see the League of Assassins. However, they are unaware that they are also thergest organisation in the martial world responsible for training assassins at the same time. They have hands in the formation of teams and nurture them until they are mature. In other words, from beginning to end, until the teams are capable of standing on their own. In this way, the assassination teams they train fear and depend on the organisation. Therefore, the League of Assassins does not fear the possibility of betrayal. That has been the principle the League of Assassins has followed to survive for thest century."

    While others raise assassins, the League of Assassins raises assassination teams. They look like they''re cooperating with each other on the surface when in reality, they have a deeper connection.

    Had Ming Feizhen not informed him of the mysterious intricacy, the Emperor would never haveprehended it.

    "Mystery only has four members with no direct subordinates under them. These men should be assistants the League of Assassins sent to assist. They are in actual fact the important individuals for today."

    Ming Feizhen stood up. He stared at the assassins with sharp, beady eyes.

    They originally feared Ming Feizhen.

    However, when their leader died and they realised that their only option left was to fight to the death, an incredible fighting spirit emerged within them. They were well-trained assassins that had never feared death. Fighting with someone who''s not afraid of death is the stupidest endeavour.

    After thinking for a long while, Ming Feizhen suddenly said, "Mystery has fallen and so have the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. The Orange Prince haspletely failed today. Do you still have a reason to exist here?"

    As soon as he finished his question, one of them among the group responded, "We have our own rules, there''s no need for an outsider, like you, to concern yourself."

    The speaker deliberately tried to hide his location by changing the location his voice came from with his inner strength, thereby keeping his identity mysterious.

    Ming Feizhen vanished as soon as he went to move. Some may see it as him vanishing and then reappearing in front of someone else akin to teleportation.ong Zaitian and the others were currently releasing their meridians with their internal strength. They were halfplete. Due to their high skill level, they were able to speak now.ong Zaitian eximed, "Your Majesty, he knows witchcraft!"

    "What witchcraft?!" The Emperor was now siding with his future son-inw. He shot Long Zaitian a re. "That''s Qinggong, supreme level Qinggong. I''ve seen Tian Hu use it before. Don''t talk nonsense if you don''t know what you''re talking about."

    From the Emperor''s standpoint, he took Jia Yunfeng out as soon as he moved, so he already held the notion that this individual possessed immeasurable and mysterious skills. However, when he saw his footwork now, he suddenly felt that he wasn''t strange or suspicious, but possessed skills of such a high calibre that it sent chills to one''s heart.

    Ming Feizhen suddenly appeared in front of an assassin. Upon closer inspection, he was one of the ones who had attempted abined attack on Ming Feizhen.

    "Kids shouldn''t interrupt when adults are speaking."

    He pped him across the face with the back of his hand. A loud p sound was heard, but nobody saw even the after-image of his hand.

    The assassin flew out like an arrow andnded in the garden. He didn''t look like he was going to make it.

    Everyone had just witnessed Ming Feizhen defeat Jia Yunfeng, but Jia Yunfeng''s skills were so unique it left them unable to tell how skilled he truly was.

    They did, however, understand the assassin''s skills, because of that knowledge, they gasped at Ming Feizhen''s lethal blow.

    Princess Hongzhuang, on the other hand, saw it as a sacred work of art. She was somewhat angry that Ming Feizhen spared Jia Yunfeng, but now she secretly hoped he wasn''t a murderous person after seeing him kill the assassin. The young girl suddenly found herself in a conundrum.

    Ming Feizhen took two steps. Murderous intent surfaced in his red eyes under his mask as they scanned the assassins. Ming Feizhen suddenly extended one finger.

    "Youe here."

    He pointed at a wandering warrior lying curled up next to the Emperor and the others. The wandering warrior suddenly leapt up and over to Ming Feizhen.

    He made a cupped-fist bow and saluted Ming Feizhen, "I am Lei Muyun. I hereby pay my respects to you, Lord San Shen."

    He stepped up with an imposing appearance and clear voice, clear indicators that he was an upright individual.

    The Emperor and the others finally knew who the man with white hair was after his greeting.

    The warriors who knew of the name were shocked.

    The Emperor was even more shocked as thought to himself, ''Did he not die years ago at Lawless Cliff?! He''s still alive?''

 Volume 3 61 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The Plan Failed (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 61 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The n Failed (Part 2)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Father, what is Lord San Shen? This¡­ hero, he¡­" Being young, Princess Hongzhuang was unaware of older stories, so she had never heard of the name Lord San Shen.

    The Emperor revealed a look of concern. He wondered to himself that it was understandable for her not to know of Lord San Shen, but does she not know of the Divine Moon Sect either? That''s a major well-known name in the Demon Sect. His daughter was attracted to San Shen, so he had to inform her in time to stop her from falling deeper in love. If he couldn''t she would ruin her own life, never to escape.

    "Hong''er, listen to me carefully as this is very important for you. Listen carefully."

    "Yes, I am listening."

    The Emperor put on a stern expression. He rarely ever spoke to her so sternly, so despite his stern look, Princess Hongzhuang didn''t take him seriously. Instead, just looking at him indifferently.

    Seeing the fruitlessness of his stern act, he could only console himself, ''I need to learn to be more fierce next time so that my children take me seriously.''

    "Cough, cough, the Divine Moon Sect¡­ in other words, the Demon Sect we speak of, originates in the seven nations in the west with a long history. In some of the western nations and even state religions, their worshippers worship a god simr to how Tianzhu people worship Mah¨¡k, yet arepletely different. Their god is called ''Daytime.''"

    Princess Hongzhuang nearly burst outughing.

    "Pfft, D-Daytime? I bet there''s a Nighttime too then!" Seeing her father''s serious look made it even more hrious to her, so she couldn''t help herself. She grabbed her belly andughed, "What sort of unserious sect is that to name the god they worship like that?"

    "Hey! Be serious!" The Emperor shouted, "Don''tugh. This is a very serious matter."

    "Okay, okay, okay, I will notugh¡­ hihi, please forgive me for being disrespectful! I think I need tough for a while longer. Oh my god, Daytime." Princess Hongzhuang honestly couldn''t help herself. She covered her small mouth while tearing up as sheughed.

    The warriors behind them would probably have been rolling on the floorughing as well if they had their meridians released.ong Zaitian was the only one who was serious the entire time, nodding throughout.

    He drank wine all afternoon with the Orange Prince beforeing here. Then he drank quite a bit of tea as well. Unfortunately, he didn''t get to make a trip to the loo beforeing here with everything that transpired. He was trying so hard to hold it in he was sweating bullets on his forehead. If heughed, he was most likely going to wet his pants.ong Zaitian understood his situation, ''I put on a great show today. I''ll probably be promoted three ranks when I get back. If the Grand Commander puts in some nice words for me as well, I''ll be promoted up four ranks! But wetting my pants in front of the Emperor is not a joke. I''m not going to let all my efforts today be pissed away! Hold it! Hold it in no matter what, my brother!''

    "Listen! This god¡­"

    "Daytime?"

    While Princess Hongzhuang is heroic and suave, she is a girl, after all, so she still had a charming side to her. Especially because her father always doted on her. Unlike her usual casual and generous nature, she was as coquettish as a little kid right now. That caused the ten or so warriors behind to feel that they missed out on something great when they were eliminated from the tournament.

    They thought to themselves, ''If she could give me a smile like that, I''d be willing to die.''

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Cut it out! Listen to me!"

    The Emperor cut her off and with a serious look exined, "The Divine Moon Sect is divided into the Bright God Faction and the Dark Moon Faction. ording to their sect''s creed, their strength in the world wasprised of thebination of the two factions. Hence, they alternated with each other every generation, choosing one to act as the leader from one faction and a vice-leader from the other faction to assist. That''s how they''ve always operated."

    "The leader leads both sects. In this particr era, the leader was Ximen Chuideng. Underneath him were three Guardian Kings, four Lawless Wardens, and six ck Lotus Envoys. Back then, they were skilled martial artists who could cause major uproars in the martial world. As for Lord San Shen¡­ It''s said that he came from an ancient tradition of the Demon Sect."

    "Tradition?"

    "ording to their creed, light and darkness in the world act as a bnce of power that was not to be disturbed, or else there would be catastrophes. This consequently resulted in the alternating between the two factions. However, to avoid anybody being selfish and destroying the bnce, their Heavenly God will send them an incarnate to protect their creed by stopping those who try to stir trouble and punishing them. That incarnate is Lord San Shen."

    Princess Hongzhuang scanned Ming Feizhen who wasn''t too far away with admiration. Nobody knew what she felt when she looked at him.

    The Emperor became even more concerned when he saw the way she looked at him. So he immediately followed up, "He is the incarnate of the Heavenly God that the Divine Moon Sect worships. He holds a high status that words cannot do justice. While he has no actual jobs within the sect, his status is in no way inferior to the leader. Though the Divine Moon Sect is considered a demonic sect here in the Central ins, they have deep roots in the western region and are of major fundamental importance. I''ve even heard that if a branch leader were to arrive, the people where he arrives would offer their virgin daughters to the Envoy. If they could be married to an Envoy, they considered that a divine fortune. So you can imagine just how high in regard Lord San Shen is held when a branch leader is held in such high regard."

    The princess then murmured, "So he¡­"

    "However, the legend of Lord San Shen has always been an internal secret of the Divine Moon Sect. There seems to have been very few Lord San Shens who have descended to the mortal world in centuries. Once he does appear, he is one who could stir up a massive turbulence."

    "Hong''er, since you now know that his duty is to subdue traitors of the sect, I don''t think I need to mention his martial prowess. Even if he isn''t actually an incarnation of their Heavenly God, he must possess profound skills to be able to hold the post. Therefore¡­"

    The Emperor nced at Ming Feizhen with concern, "If Lord San Shen is not in the mortal realm then so be it. Once he does appear, though, you know for sure that he is one with skills at the absolute pinnacle. Years ago, Lord San Shen appeared to the shock of the Demon Sect. It was said that his martial prowess was as the legends im. At the time, the Grand Commander of the Qilin Guards and I nned day and night to eradicate the Demon Sect; for if he was to team up with Ximen Chuideng, there would be nobody in the world that could stop them. Back then, I didn''t consider the consequences. I did everything I could to gather up the orthodox sects of the martial world, the Seven Champion White Princes and all of the Qilin Guards to attack the Demon Sect, partly in order to eliminate him."

    Princess Hongzhuang looked at her father''s expression and suddenly felt worried, "Father, are you worried¡­"

    "Uhm¡­ I used very extreme means to eradicate the Demon Sect back then. I basically eliminated the entire Demon Sect in the Central ins. Even that thug Ximen Chuideng has gone missing. As a result, I offended many of the Demon Sect members. As such, he may not be here to save us out of goodwill."

    "Father, he will not harm you. He¡­"

    "Hong''er!"

    The Emperor raised his voice, "Even if he really is here to help me today, didn''t you hear him say that it was due to a personal grudge against Jia Yunfeng? Strictly speaking, this is an internal fight between the Demon Sect and the League of Assassins. They''re birds of a feather, so there''s nothing strange about them havingmon internal conflicts. He holds a status on par with that bastard Ximen Chuideng. My grudge against the Demon Sect is one that will never be resolved without one of us dying, so how could we possibly talk about reconciliation? He might just be here for revenge!"

    "Men! Watch the princess. If she gets close to that man, you must stop her, or I''ll behead you!"

    Tang Ye, Tie Hanyi and the rest didn''t speak. One man next to the Emperor suddenly sat up. He was the Vice-captain of the Qilin Guards, Vice-captain Long.

    Vice-Captain Long put his life on the line for the nation. He sat up, made a cupped-fist salute and responded, "Your Majesty, I have released seventy-percent of my meridians. I am at your service!"

    "Good! Minister Long, you shall be rewarded for your loyalty!" But then on closer inspection, the Emperor questioned, "Minister Long, why do you look so pale? Are you injured?"ong Zaitian fought off the painful sensation rushing up from his dder. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and with a chuckle replied, "No, it is nothing! It is just a little hot."

    "Hot?" The Emperor looked to see the ground covered in snow. He responded with amusement, "You need to look after yourself then, Minister Long."ong Zaitian wore an expression of suffering, one where he was unable tough or cry, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

 Volume 3 62 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The Plan Failed (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 62 Secret of Divine Moon Sect. The n Failed (Part 3)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    On the other side.

    "You know me?" Ming Feizhen looked at Lei Muyun, "I used my internal strength to speak to Jia Yunfeng with my voice suppressed, yet you were able to hear us from so far away. It looks like nobody else here possesses an internal strength that can match yours. That''s honestly not bad."ei Muyun didn''t dare to show any impoliteness.

    "I was born with good hearing, thus have always been able to hear over great distances. I did not deliberately eavesdrop on your conversation with Master Kuang Tian, Your Excellency. I plead innocence, Your Excellency. May I ask you how you knew about me hiding among the wandering warriors as backup when not even Master Kuang Tian was aware?"

    "It wasn''t hard. This is how the League of Assassins has always operated. The assassination team carries out the mission, while they provide backup. I would actually be surprised if they didn''t send out their elites for such a big operation. The warriors got poisoned and had their meridians sealed. Combined with the cold weather, it was natural for them to shiver from the cold. Meanwhile, you were different. You were fine. Your internal strength protected you. You can''t cover that fact."

    "I thank you for the enlightenment. As I am on a mission, I have to greet you in these clothes. I hope you can forgive me for my rudeness, Your Excellency."

    "I have nothing to find fault with you for. Be upfront. It''s much clearer that way." Ming Feizhen scanned him with his blood-red eyes.ei Muyun felt like he was dumped in ice, causing him to start to tremble uncontrobly. He felt a cold sensation through all the bones in his limbs. He was on the verge of freezing into an ice pick.ei Muyun thought to himself, ''So he''s not going to spare me in the end!'' However, he knew that whether they would survive or not depended on his interaction with Ming Feizhen, so he didn''t dare to mould energy in order to resist the cold. He clenched his teeth to resist it. As such, he could be considered a true man.

    Ming Feizhen looked at him with admiration, "You should now be the highest ranked member of the League of Assassins'' members here, right? The boss of the League of Assassins has five Grand Leaders, and twelve Vice-leaders, who are you?"ei Muyun resisted the cold as he replied, "I, I cannotpare to the leaders. I joined the League of Assassins at a young age and have just turned twenty-two not long ago. After some aplishments, I now serve as the vice-leader of the Nan Jing branch."

    He reported his profile clearly as if he had met his superior.

    Ming Feizhen smiled and said, "You are well-mannered, unlike those guys who only marched to their deaths."

    "When I first saw you, I knew that our n was doomed to fail. As part of the League of Assassins, we stress adapting to the situation. One failure does not mean it will never be a sess. They were fools to charge at you, Your Excellency."

    "You''re a sensible one."

    Ming Feizhen''s eyes suddenly changed. Lei Muyun felt the cold air reduce, letting him breathe a sigh of relief to himself, as he understood that he had managed to keep his life intact.

    "Don''t give me any nonsense. How many assassins did Mystery bring along for this job?"

    "A total of four-hundred and twenty-seven people, Your Excellency."

    The Emperor was astonished by what he heard. It turned out that other than the Orange Prince''s Imperial Guards, Mystery, and the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, there were over four hundred more assassins hiding in the pce. Had the four leaders of Mystery not been separated, they could have started a massacre in the pce if they had led their men in a military type of attack.

    "How many of your calibre?"

    "No more than one hundred."

    "Heh, they say that the League of Assassins is the only evil organisation still standing after the Divine Moon Sect fell. I''m somewhat convinced now. A single branch here at the capital managed to gather over four hundred assassins for an operation. You people sure have lots of talent."

    "The Divine Moon Sect has deep roots and has existed for centuries. How could you say that only the League of Assassins remains? You are being modest, Your Excellency."

    "Don''t be so modest. My Divine Moon Sect is scattered. If I had to gather members, I might be able to find three, maybe five, but you''d be better off killing me than asking me to find ten. I can''tpare to you guys, hahahahaha. I''m just wondering¡­ how many of you can withstand an attack from me like you, Vice-leader Lei?"ei Muyun felt bitter upon hearing the question. One move? He''d be frozen stiff if Ming Feizhen didn''t purposely spare him before, when he had stared at him.

    Mystery had been defeated, while Lei Muyun was the only one of his level remaining. Even if they had more men, they still wouldn''t be able to match him.

    Beads of sweat rolled down Lei Muyun''s forehead, "You are revered in the martial world, Your Excellency. Furthermore, I heard that you had once met with our boss. I do not think you would make things hard for us lowly juniors."

    "Hmph!"ei Muyun couldn''t help but feel frightened after hearing Ming Feizhen snort. He knew that the boss of the League of Assassins, who is also one of the Ultimate Ten Gods, once met with Lord San Shen. However, their conversation was kept secret due to both individuals being representatives of major sects. Nobody knew what the atmosphere during their meeting was like. Lei Muyun was just praying that they got along since they were both overlords of organisations among the unorthodox sects. However, it looked like he made a wrong bet.

    But then he heard Ming Feizhen say, "I do indeed have a friendship with your boss. You''re quite the quick-witted one."ei Muyun was finally able to calm down a little after hearing that.

    "But even if I don''t do anything about you, what would you be able to gain? Do you think I''m the only one who saw through your pretence?"

    "You need not worry, Your Excellency. While I dare not im my disguise to be perfect, I do have some skills."

    "If so, why were you surrounded by Long Zaitian, Tang Ye and Tie Hanyi?" Lei Muyun''s expression suddenly changed as soon as he realised that Ming Feizhen spoke the truth.

    "It''s not that they didn''t see through you, but that they didn''t expose you. They were just trying to see whose side you were on. Luckily for you, you didn''t look down on them."

    Ming Feizhen went on, "The imperial guards are currently regrouping and are searching all over the pce for the emperor. While there is a group here already, nobody can return to report in to the rest, so I bet they''ll send another group here soon. There are tens of thousands of imperial guards inside the imperial pce. I wonder how many arrows you few hundred assassins can withstand. Oh right, one of the four head-captains seems to be dead over there. Are you all ready to fight to the death?"ei Muyun didn''t panic or react with shock, as he had been considering various consequences ever since Ming Feizhen appeared. He was already aware of what Ming Feizhen mentioned. He was a veteran of the pugilistic world, so he understood what Ming Feizhen really meant.

    "I would like to ask you to enlighten me, Your Excellency."

    "It is simple, in my opinion. While the teams in the League of Assassins look like they''re all coordinated, they actually each act on their own. They ept jobs and you take care of backing up teams. This incident was caused by Mystery and the ck Winds Thirteen Wings. It has nothing to do with you guys really, so why would you get yourselves involved? As I told you, I was just passing by and took action because I saw my enemy. If you don''t find trouble with me, I''ll leave you be."

    Being a vice-leader, Lei Muyun had lots of information on the pugilistic world. He knew that Lord San Shen of the Divine Moon Sect was always a free soul, and even disliked getting involved with the sect matters. After hearing his conversation with Jia Yunfeng, he knew that they were acquainted in the past, so he was ny-percent trusting of him now.

    "You mean¡­"

    "Leave, however you got here."

    "Understood!"ei Muyun understood that this was hisst chance, so he quickly turned his head around. Without saying a word, he used a hand gesture to get the assassins with him to leave.

    Ming Feizhen watched them leave, allowing him to finally put down hisst concern.

    What''s more frightening in this operation isn''t Mystery and the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, but the League of Assassins who contributed a fair bit. Only the organisation itself would have the ability to challenge the emperor''s power like this. As Lei Muyun said, there were still hundreds of assassins not afraid of death remaining. They''re elites at hiding themselves. It wouldn''t be easy to kill them all, even if Ming Feizhen himself wanted to.

    This was the best oue. Both sides didn''t have to continue spilling blood.

    Ming Feizhen then turned around to help Princess Hongzhuang up.

    Princess Hongzhuang immediately went red in the face when he touched her with hisrge hand. She wanted to push him away, but for some reason had no strength in her.

    The princess shyly said, "So you were¡­"

    "Ah, yeah, a minor bodyguard for that sect." Ming Feizhen touched his white hair and thenughed, "I''m just a deputy. A deputy. Nothing worth mentioning."

    "You are the lord of a sect, so how do you have such a glib tongue?" The princess chuckled at his joke, finding him amusing. Her injury had improved a fair bit, but she was still pale. Her smile was like flowers in bloom. The sight almost caused Ming Feizhen''s eyes to pop out from behind his mask.

    He didn''t want to talk about the past though, so he quickly and respectfully addressed the emperor and the others.

    "I shall take my leave now. You can all slowly release your meridians with your internal strength. With the princess here, I need not worry."

    Hearing that he was going to leave, the princess suddenly felt sad. But then when she remembered his identity, she thought,

    "He is a survivor of the Demon Sect after all. It would be dangerous for him to stay here, so why would he?"

    The emperor, on the other hand, let out a big sigh of relief, "I cannot move around, so please see yourself out."

    When Ming Feizhen noticed the Emperor''s ufortable sitting posture, he realised that his legs had gone numb from sitting for too long.

    "I can release your meridian, Your Majesty."

    "No need!"

    The emperor waved one hand, "My men can help me with that, you need not concern yourself. You are from the Divine Moon Sect. We walk different paths, so we should not cross paths. Please be on your way."

    "All right then."

    Ming Feizhen gave the emperor a palm-and-fist salute and went to leave.

    However, he noticed the princess''s eyebrows pulled tightly together. He couldn''t help but smile. He swiftly appeared next to her pretty ear.

    The Emperor was infuriated with the scene.

    ''What is he doing?! I''m right here damn it! You''re flirting with my daughter now?!''

    In a quiet voice, Ming Feizhen said, "You need not worry, Your Highness. I did not kill him."

    "Eh?"

    Princess Hongzhuang didn''t expect him to talk about that, so she looked at him with her eyes wide.

    The Emperor didn''t know what happened, but seeing his daughter''s joyful, surprised look really got on his nerve.

    He asked Long Zaitian, "Minister Long, what do you think he''s saying to the princess?"

    "He probably wants to elope with her."ong Zaitian had been trying to resist the pain in his dder the entire time, even moulding energy to help. He was in a crucial moment right now and the emperor''s question nearly made him lose control of it.

    The emperor anxiously said, "Really?! I can''t let her go! Minister Long, You''ve led a team before. You must stop the princess. Do not let them leave."ong Zaitian wrestled with his dder that was about to burst. He clenched his teeth and forced a smile, "Your Majesty, I am trying right now¡­"

    Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen was having a great time next to the princess''s ear, "You are a student of Emei, Your Highness, so you follow Buddhist teachings. Even if the other party hasmitted heinous crimes, you do not kill. Do not worry, Your Highness, I did not kill them. I do not like killing either."

    "Really? Hongzhuang thanks you for your virtue then." Princess Hongzhuang then looked at the lord of a sect. She was astounded to know he had spared people who had offended him for her sake. She was touched, "Lord, wh-why for my sake alone did you¡­"

    Ming Feizhen chuckled somewhat awkwardly and replied, "Erm, I saw something I shouldn''t have and I felt guilty about it. I forgot all about it."

    "Hmm?"

    Ming Feizhen changed his tone to sound deeper¡­

    "Cough, cough, this old man¡­ Zhong Ning."

    "Ah?"

    "Thank you for your reception at the harem, Your Highness." Ming Feizhen swiftly turned around and left, "Take your time, Your Highness, I shall be taking my leave now."

    All that was left was a trail of dust and he was gone. A second after, she heard his footsteps on the roof in the northeast direction. She was amazed to know that he had gone so far already.

    Princess Hongzhuang spaced out as she looked at the empty spot. Her face turned more and more red, so red you''d think her fragrant sweat could be used as a dye.

    She then suddenly felt like she got tricked and teased.

    "You lied to me!!"

    The emperor saw his daughter throw a fit. He didn''t know what it was about, but he was happy, nheless.

    "Oh hey, there''s a chance to turn it around!"ong Zaitian apuded the Emperor, "Nice, Your Majesty, nice!"

    Princess Hongzhuang recalled the scene of that Zhong Ning appearing just before. As she put the two of them together, their appearance was simr.

    So the one who peeked at me changing was him!

    "Lord San Shen! You perverted bastard! Get back here!!!" Just as Princess Hongzhuang took a stride to give chase, a shadow zipped over swiftly and stood before her, blocking her path.

    "Please stop, Your Highness!"

    It was Long Zaitian who had just released his meridians with his internal strength. His sudden appearance gave the princess a fright. Princess Hongzhuang gave him a kick up the centre, scoring right at his lower abdomen.

    When Long Zaitian leapt over, he shouted while letting his qi out. He also didn''t keep his groin protected. The kick felt like fire and thunder hitting him at once. There''s one line from Zhao Mengfu''s poems that describes it perfectly: Every time Ie to the spring to wash off the dirt on me, it is like I am filled with ice and snow, making me feel as though I have escaped the mundane world

    When he visited the springs, his pants got wet before he could enjoy the ice and snow! Long Zaitian began to make a waterfall with a whitish-yellow colour. A joyous feeling of relief, like the dry Earth finally getting water from the rain, like the water couldn''t be contained any longer and burst onto the Earth filled him.

    The liquid ran down his pants and a foul smell started to fill his surroundings.

    Princess Hongzhuang pinched her nose and frowned. She immediately recognised the stench, so she immediately backed off a few steps.

    "Eeeww!!"

    The emperor, however, was very relieved. While Long Zaitian is uncouth, he is quite smart. He can''t touch the princess nor can he get physical with her. That wasn''t a graceful move, but giving her a fright to distract her from Lord San Shen wasn''t bad. Not bad at all.

    "Not bad, Minister Long! I''m very relieved!"

    The Emperor didn''t sound angry, so Long Zaitian started waving his hands and feet again. One cannot control their piss in the pugilistic world. But once one pisses, one must finish their piss. Thus, the waterfall continued to pour down his pants.

    However, the Emperor then realised something was wrong.

    "Hmm?"

    After seeing the shiny trail of yellow water swerve like a snake slithering on the ground, while a faint foul stench from it seeped into the air, the emperor suddenly figured out what it was!

    The emperor had been through many ordeals, but today, he revealed his most terrified expression ever.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Long Zaitian!! Long Zaitian!!! Long Zaitian!!!!!!!!! Uwaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

    "Hmm? Your Majesty? Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Be careful, there is urine!!!"

    The emperor''s cries echoed throughout the pce, with hisst cry being the loudest.

    "Long Zaitian! I''m going to behead you!!!!!"

    The Orange Prince''s revolt finally came to a close.

    The Emperor has seven sons.

    The six dragons shall seal the nation, and the Orange Prince was the first to revolt. He suddenlyunched a revolt, catching the entire pcepletely off guard, and almost seeded with the assistance of the League of Assassins.

    However, thanks to the Qilin Guards'' Vice-Captain Long Zaitian''s brilliant skills to adapt to the situation, the warriors were first caught in a crisis while he went undercover. With thebined effort of him and Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain''s two-pronged tactic, they were able to apprehend the Orange Prince. He then rescued Vice-captain Shen from Fu Xiang''s grasp. Then he put on an excellent disy at the imperial study, protecting the emperor and princess from harm.

    He truly made significant aplishments.

    This battle will be recorded in the books of history forever. The name Long Zaitian will forever spread toter generations.

    However, there was another version that circted around in the world. It was difficult to distinguish which version was authentic, with real and fake elements in them. But as for results, that one exined it better and provided a more clear exnation for why Vice-captain Long had been demoted three ranks after such great merits.

    And so the books of history record: The Orange Prince angered the traitorous true dragon. Vice-captain Long drowned his army. Between victory and defeat, rest in piss.

    So filthy~

    Notes:

    *The phrase "One cannot control their piss when in the pugilistic world" is a y on the phrase "One does not have their own free will in the pugilistic world"

 Volume 4 1 White Hair

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 1 White Hair</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kytaul

    I ran through the night toward a dark ce.ei Muyun didn''t lie. He really did pull all of the assassins from the League of Assassins out of the pce. I''m not sure if there are remnants, but I don''t think it''s likely. That is because I spoke to him as Lord San Shen, while he spoke to me as a Vice-leader.

    If dealt with inappropriately, it would be a problem between the two organisations. Lei Muyun isn''t in a position where he''d be able to carry the responsibility for that.

    I saw plenty of the Imperial Guards moving about along the way. I heard them say that the Orange Prince had indeed been captured alive at the Flying Fish Pavilion. The Forbidden City was now safe.

    However, the crisis wasn''t over, yet¡­ My crisis wasn''t over, yet.et''s put all that aside for now. First things first, I need to deal with my white hair!

    Speaking of which, some may still be unaware, so I''ll sincerely inform you once.

    My hair is white.

    My hair was originally white.

    Uhm, that''s right. I''m the so-called young man with white hair.

    I remember that I had ck hair when I was young until I started training Yijin Jing, I was severely wounded, and puked blood. After I recovered, I''d get severely wounded and puke blood again. After several repeats, I gradually stopped puking blood and my body began to be tougher.

    I remember that was around when I mastered sixty to seventy percent of it. That''s when my hair colour began to change. After training for another half a year, my hair turned half-ck and half-white.

    At the time, my Shifu had two drinks then looked at me with a drowsy look andughed, "That''s normal. The monks who mastered Yijin Jing are all old men. Old men have white hair. Didn''t you see the old men with white hair when I take you to Shaolin every year? You got it! That''s the white hair I''m talking about. Keep training!"

    I foolishly thought that was true and continued training. After I had mastered Taiji Divine Art, my hair finally turned all white. I''d also asionally check myself out in the mirror.

    It was only until many yearster that I discovered monks¡­ had no hair, to begin with!! What fucking old monk with white hair?! They''re old monks with white beards!!

    After my hair turned white, all of the disciples woulde to check out my new hair colour every day. A few girls at Mount Daluo seemed to quite like it so they, too, often hung around me.

    As a result, my ill senior uncle would always poke his head into my room. He would jealously remark, "Why don''t you go to heaven and be a god if you''re so tough?"

    Shiyi would always bully me at the time. She drew on my hair with a brush, and the ink that got in my hair wouldn''t wash off for days. My scalp would get itchy too.

    Sigh¡­ I wonder how she is now. I wonder if she would be consoled to know that I drove off the assassins from the League of Assassins today.

    Okay, enough with the drivel. Let''s get back on topic.

    Princess Hongzhuang beat the living daylights out of Chen Yun andpany at theundry. The others were captured.

    I couldn''t steal makeup from the Harem because Princess Hongzhuang wouldn''t let up on me. Thus, I resorted to using a mask and Bone Maniption Arts to alter my appearance and forced myself to wear a ck robe.

    That wasn''t enough, though. The chance of being recognised was still significant enough for me to be worried. I didn''t know how many people I''d meet in the end, but there was no way I could let the emperor recognise me. Therefore, I had to change my hair after much deliberation.

    My ck hair¡­ is dyed using ck dye.

    I had water and shampoo back at theundry I took refuge at. I was in a rush and didn''t have many options.

    I couldn''t confirm where the emperor was, either so I had to resort to washing the dye off, thereby reverting my hair back to its true colour. I then wore the bronze mask and dressed up simrly to how I dressed when I was Lord San Shen.

    I undid my hair so that I looked a little wild, which was more like how I looked back then.

    Once done with my disguise, I headed to the Imperial Study.

    I washed off the ck dye back there when I was pressed for time. Now I need to find a bottle of dye, but how am I going to do that?!

    I only trust the old man in the capital, when ites to dyes. His name has now be a stamp of credibility. Though, every bottle is so expensive that I want to kill myself - not to mention that I have long hair, so I need more than one bottle - the result is very good.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The dyests for five months, but I only got three months out of it this time. I lost two months¡­ Ah, for God''s sake! I''m not washing out my hair dye next time even if the emperor''s entire family dies!

    I discreetly returned to the Medicine Courtyard. I told Imperial Doctor Dai and Su Xiao to wait for me here, but when I arrived, I was shocked.

    Severely injured warriors of the imperial court were lying about all around the originally quiet and peaceful medicine warehouse.

    There were doctors running around, getting their subordinates and students to help out, shouting and whispering.

    It was a scene of panic. It resembled a medical tent on a battlefield.

    When I took a closer look, I confirmed that the people lying here were indeed all warriors. Not a single imperial guard got in.

    It looks like they''re using the medicine warehouse as a temporary ce to treat the warriors.

    That''s a good idea. There''s plenty of medicine at the medicine warehouse. Next to it was the Medicine Courtyard. They also had fresh herbs.

    This was also the number one doctor in the capital Imperial Doctor Dai''s residence of seclusion. He enjoys concocting drugs and whatnot, as well as trying to treat difficult to treat conditions. He also had premium drugs.et''s not forget that he alone is worth over ten doctors.

    I don''t know who came up with this idea, but hey, that was quite smart.

    "Imperial Doctor Li, are all of the warriors of the imperial court here? All of these warriors here made significant contributions to quelling today''s rebellion, so their treatments are not to be dyed."

    A voice that sounded clear yet somewhat indifferent, gentle yet somewhat tired, attracted my attention. The voice was very gentle like that of a girl, but I knew that she wasn''t.

    Imperial Doctor Li replied, "That is my duty. We have you to thank for suggesting this brilliant idea. Otherwise, I would not have thought of using this second medicine warehouse as a viable option."

    I poked my head out to look. It was indeed the unparalleled gentle beauty, General Manager Bai, who was speaking to an old doctor, who maintained a schr''s demeanour.

    "This is what I should do as the head of the imperial Doctors."

    General Manager Bai responded like she was slightly impatient.

    I presume she brought the injured personnel here since she knew that the truly skilled number-one imperial doctor was actually inside.

    She listened to them, while absentminded herself, and gave them a smile.

    She always was a charming person, and her face was beautiful. Her smile captivated the old doctorpletely.

    She always gave me the cold shoulder, but she''s pretty good at dealing with people, isn''t she?

    Stop, stop, stop! This is no time to be checking out a gir¡­I mean ,a eunuch. The urgent matter at hand is to find stuff to change my hair colour back.

    General Manager Bai then reluctantly asked, "These are all the wounded¡­ right? Have you seen a guy called Ming Feizhen?"

    She wanted to ask more, but she held herself back.

    Hmm?

    I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

    Did she just mention me?

    "He''s a constable. He''s quite tall."

    General Manager Bai went red in the face when she made her inquiry, causing Imperial Doctor Li to look at her with an odd look. Her cold handsome face turned a little red. She followed up, "I¡­ I am his friend."

    Oh sh*t! I managed to form a noble friendship here! Long live friendship! Wait for me, General Manager Bai. I''ll be back right away after dying my hair.

    "Who''s inquiring about Ming Feizhen?"

    Huh?

    Boss Shen walked out from the medicine warehouse with wide strides and light steps, but she looked like she was wobbling. She looked at Bai Ling outside the door with a surprised expression. Confusion surfaced in her eyes.

    "You''re¡­ Feizhen''s friend?"

    Bai Ling''s eyes swept over toward Shen Yiren. She saw her captivating appearance, white crane neck, and big round knockers. She suddenly narrowed her eyes. She gave off an intense, dangerous feeling.

    Her ample peach-like lips then moved. She repeated two words, "Feizhen?"

    I suddenly felt like my hair colour was no longer a big problem¡­

 Volume 4 2 Learned it all for Nothing

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 2 Learned it all for Nothing</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    If I''m correct, Boss Shen just got up from the sickbed, and has yet to fully heal, but was worried about my safety. She had suffered from Thorn-tears, poison hemlock, and the injuries Fu Xiang gave her.

    I did release her clogged blood, but she still wobbled on her feet. That felt heart-rending to see.

    "Yes, General Manager Bai. I am looking for him. I heard that all of the injured warriors were gathered here. That bastard Fu Xiang hit Feizhen with numerous heavy strikes, so he suffered grievous wounds. I do not know his condition myself. Would you happen to have seen him?"

    General Manager Bai scanned Boss Shen''s beautiful face for a while. Her expression looked a little strange. She then folded her arms and indifferently replied, "Vice-captain Shen, this is the medicine warehouse, not my ce. How could I cross my boundaries and interfere in the business of other departments? You are asking the wrong person."

    She then shook out her sleeve. That pure white eunuch uniform isrge, to begin with, so it made her look tiny due to her small physique. She strongly resembled a fox deity in legends, wrapping herself up in her soft tail.

    Oh my! General Manager Bai is giving her the cold shoulder!

    I remember that she at least greeted Boss Shen even if they didn''t speak to each other. Female friendships, I mean, friendships between eunuchs and women truly are fragile.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    General Manager Bai is the head of the eunuchs. She controls the inner operations, so she holds significant power and influence. In the past, she was called the "Inner Minister." As such, even Boss Shen had to show her a degree of respect.

    She made a cupped fist salute and smiled, "I apologise for my rudeness. It is just that Feizhen got hurt in the line of duty, so I cannot turn a blind eye to it. Imperial Doctor Li, General Manager Bai, do you know where he is?"

    Even if Imperial Doctor Li was stupider, he could still recognise that Liu Shan Men''s Vice-captain and the Senior Eunuch in the pce were in conflict with each other here.

    "I¡­ that¡­ Hehehe¡­" His office serves the royal family, so he needs Bai Ling''s support, or else they wouldn''t even get firewood in winter.

    They were old and weak, so they''d die in their office. Hence, he considered Bai Ling their leader.

    In a confused tone, Boss Shen asked, "Imperial Doctor Li? Where is Feizhen?"

    Before he could reply, General Manager Bai interjected again, "Feizhen?"

    General Manager Bai looked slightly unhappy, but she smiled and then asked, "Vice-captain Shen, do you address your subordinates so intimately?"

    "I am his superior. We are with each other every day from day to night. What is so strange about addressing each other in simpler ways?"

    Boss Shen frowned with puzzlement and asked, "You, on the other hand, are the General Manager of the inner pce. How do you know Feizhen?"

    "I¡­" Bai Ling suddenly found herself speechless.

    I don''t know if she recalled our first meeting or what, but her small handsome face suddenly went a little red.

    "I unintentionally became friends with him."

    Boss Shen paid attention to Bai Ling''s reaction.

    She grew up at Liu Shan Men and is the sessor of the number one constable of this era, Yan Shisan. Figuring out this situation isn''t all that difficult. Boss Shen immediately revealed an expression showing she understood what was going on.

    I could virtually figure out what Boss Shen was thinking from her unfriendly and decisive gaze, ''Feizhen must''ve hooked up with this eunuch!''

    She then wore a somewhat disdainful look, ''Aren''t you quite the man, Feizhen? First Tang Ye and now General Manager Bai.''

    Hey! That''s bullsh*t!

    There''s nothing between General Manager Bai and me! I haven''t done anything other than kiss her once!

    I looked down below from the roof. A spring breeze blew.

    In my mind, I shouted; "I don''t like men!!!"

    Boss Shen suddenlyughed and remarked, "You know Feizhen and have a rather close rtionship with him, huh?"

    Bai Ling went red in the face instinctively because Boss Shen hit the nail on the head. She reacted shyly, making her look so mesmerising.

    "Heh, for real? So that''s how it is."

    Boss Shen didn''t reveal a ridiculing smile like I thought she would. Instead, she changed to an angry expression and thundered, "What the fuck are you blushing for?! What the hell is wrong with you, you damned eunuch?"

    General Manager Bai suddenly got cursed silly.

    "Are you deaf or something? I said that Feizhen got severely wounded and that his life is hanging in the bnce. I want to see him! What the fuck are you getting jealous of?! Don''t get in my way!"

    She then turned to face Imperial Doctor Li and shouted, "Li Jingtian! Get over here, you bastard!"

    Boss Shen''s expression turned into a cold one. She grabbed him by his beard and pulled him over, "I said I wanted to see my subordinate. Are you ying with me? You fucking son of a bitch, say that again if you dare. What did you just say? I didn''t hear you!"

    Imperial Doctor Li had the living daylights shocked out of him. He was on the brink of crying, "I dare not. I dare not! I do not know who Ming Feizhen is. I honestly do not!"

    "Then what the hell were you spitting nonsense for?! I hate people lying to me most! Fuck you!"

    She gave him a thundering kick up the groin¡­

    Boss Shen was tough as ever¡­ Her fighting prowess was as incredible as ever¡­ I swallowed my saliva. If Boss Shen discovers my identity one day, I must¡­

    For Bai Ling to not have cried yet after being cursed by Boss Shen, I felt that¡­ I looked over again, only to see that General Manager Bai wasn''t scared in the least. She looked indifferent.

    Bai Ling wasn''t scared at all. She red at Shen Yiren coldly and indifferently said, "What are you trying to say? What do you mean, I am jealous? Jealous of who? Tell me."

    She said it lightheartedly, but it wasn''t lighthearted.

    Shen Yiren pinched her nose and said, "I can smell your jealousy from eight yards away. Can you be any more obvious, you female looking eunuch? I just called Feizhen''s name, and you got all angry. If there was something between us, would you cry and throw a tantrum before hanging yourself? Bloody disgusting."

    "Vice-captain Shen, please mind your status. You are ady with a fianc¨¦. I am jealous of you, you say? You do realise you just admitted to it, without me asking? Is there something between you and that punk Ming Feizhen?"

    Boss Shen suddenly found herself speechless.

    Bai Ling snickered and went on, "Yes, I do indeed know Ming Feizhen, but we just know each other. I heard he got crippled, so I asked about him. I am a eunuch in the pce. You think I would be fighting for a man and getting jealous with a girl like you?! How ridiculous!"

    As they conversed, they exchanged sharp eye contact like an exchange between inner energy. Sparks formed in the air between them as though they had already exchanged more than a hundred moves in an instant. It was basically a level only gods could attain¡­

    The ce where they stood suddenly transformed into a battlefield, as they oozed out auras so dangerous they could cause the injuries of the injured personnel to worsen.

    The personnel had no choice but to drag their wounded bodies further into the courtyard to save their own lives.

    One warrior was severely wounded to the point he needed crutches, so he walked slow. Upon closer inspection, I remembered he was the Six Pulse Divine Swords guy I "fought"! You''re still alive, Bro!

    He ran at a turtle''s pace. He cried and shouted, "That Ming Feizhen has screwed me over again! Whoever runs into that gue Ming Feizhen will have misfortune for eight lifetimes!"

    What?! What does this have to do with meeeeee?!!

    Boss Shen and General Manager Bai engaged in a stare down.

    I didn''t know what to do while on the roof. Somebody suddenly started rambling from inside the medicine warehouse.

    "What the hell did you write here?! Is this even any good? Your prescription is riddled with problems from beginning to end!"

    The voice contained a crazed passion for medical studies. It had the passion of a young man, yet sounded somewhat old. I suddenly saw my ray of hope! It''s Imperial Doctor Dai!

    I heard him continue with his scolding, "You can''t even read pulses. You learned all that medical stuff¡­ for nothing!"

    Notes:

    *Usually you address people by their full name such as "Ming Feizhen", and not just by their first name "Feizhen" in formal settings or if you aren''t close to someone.

 Volume 4 3 Searching for the Beauty

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 3 Searching for the Beauty</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Boss Shen and General Manager Bai went into the main room of the warehouse after hearing Imperial Doctor Dai''s voice.

    The ce was littered with injured personnel. The doctors arguing in the centre were Imperial Doctor Dai and another Imperial Doctor.

    The doctor eximed, "Y-You old fool! I have practised medicine for decades. How dare you say that about me?!"

    "What, I can''t tell you off?"

    Imperial Doctor Dai''s eyes glowed and his dry lips curled up into an eerie smile. The smile was like a really detestable antagonist smiling unapologetically at your face after screwing you over. He almost scared the doctor off with that look.

    I, however, knew that it was just because his vision was poor due to old age.

    Imperial Doctor Dai is obsessed with medical studies, trying to concoct drugs non-stop. He''s a medical studies nut, but he''s actually a very good person. He studies more than he can digest and his eyesight isn''t too good, so he''s always had fairly poor rtionships with others.

    "You must be urate with pulse readings! That''s the most important thing in practising medicine, yet you can''t even read them correctly. What right do you have to be a doctor?"

    "H-How did I read the pulse wrong?"

    "How did youe up with this prescription? What did you diagnose this big idiot with?"

    "I prescribed a medicinal soup to help his qi return to homeostasis. His pulse may be strong, but it is not serious. I prescribed him a supplemental medicinal soup. He will naturallypletely recover after resting for some time."

    The innocent warrior lying on the ground between the two doctors stopped moving altogether. He didn''t dare to say anything and had to deal with getting scolded. He sadly shed tears.

    "That''s bullsh*t!" Imperial Doctor Dai red at him, "One''s pulse must correspond on both the exterior and internal level. Arge individual has a fainter pulse, while a smaller individual has a stronger pulse. If they match, that is good. Otherwise, they are in trouble. You diagnosed a small in stature injured individual just before as well, right? You noticed that their pulses were simr, so you gave him a prescription, right?"

    Imperial Doctor Dai got angrier and angrier as he went on. He was one step away from stamping his foot, "His pulse was as strong as the smaller guy. That smaller guy is fine. How can you treat them as one and the same?! His lungs suffered an injury. If he treated himself with your suggestion, he''d start showing all sorts of symptoms in less than ten days. You chatans will then start pushing the me onto some after effects. After effects, my ass! You chatans! You can''t even read a pulse. Get lost! I don''t need you here at my medicine warehouse!"

    The doctor''s eyes got teary after the scolding. He raged, "Y-You were kicked out of the Imperial Medicine Office because of this excessively rough attitude of yours."

    He really did end up running off crying in the end.

    Old Dai was so angry he was huffing and puffing with his eyes wide. He didn''t keep the doctor. He mumbled, "Trash. Trash. How are there so many useless people in the world? I''m always running into them! These chatans only bring harm! Hmm? You two idiots at the door."

    He looked at Boss Shen and General Manager Bai with his unique, old, and antagonistic eyes and asked, "What?"

    He resembled a rodent in every way.

    The two beauties reacted like they saw a rodent. They suddenly felt a cold chill down their spine.

    "N-Nothing."

    "Thank you for your hard work, Imperial Doctor Dai."

    They then turned around and exited.

    Old Dai scratched his head and muttered, "What strangesses. What''s that girl wearing a eunuch''s uniform for? Is it fun?"

    He muttered as he went through the centre hall, into the building and a room.

    It looks like he''s going back to his bedroom.

    I spotted an opportunity I couldn''t pass up. I crawled across the roof like a gecko. I broke the lock on a window and silently snuck in.

    Old Dai held two bottles of medicine in his hands. I caught him muttering to himself, "This bottle is applied to the outside. This bottle is to be consumed via drinking. I guarantee that you''ll be a hundred times more energetic and fully recovered after one day."

    He then opened the bed curtain. It appeared as though he wanted to take something.

    I was now standing behind him. I suppressed my voice as I called out to him, "Imperial Doctor Dai!"

    He got a fright. He shouted, "Who are you?! How dare you barge into my¡­"

    I covered his mouth faster than a sh of lightning. I quietly said, "It''s me; it''s me! Keep your voice down!"

    He struggled for a bit to no avail before realising that it was me. He immediately stopped resisting. He became pleasantly surprised. However, just as he went to speak, I red at him. Consequently, he lowered his voice to say, "Oh my, Fuma Shifu, you''re finally back!"

    "Uhm, you¡­"

    "I''m so d you came. So many wounded personnel suddenly rocked up here. I alone cannot handle so many. Shifu, I have not seen your amazing healing skills in a long time. Please assist me and show some of your skills."

    He didn''t wait for me to agree or refuse. He pulled me by my hand and dragged me out. I looked at him and realised that he wanted to peek at my skills to learn them!

    He snickered slyly and said, "Come,e,e, please don''t hold back. Lots of people are waiting for you!"

    Putting his gaze aside, his smile was so eerie. He looked like a gigolo trying to trick an innocent girl into working at a brothel.

    I pulled him back. In a suppressed voice, I shouted, "Shut up! My hope lies with you now! You need to help me."

    He froze up and looked at me. He then looked at the folding window behind me. He seemed to realise that I came in through the window. He couldn''t help but frown. He said, "I cannot help you with that. I am a dutiful minister of the imperial court. Illegal things¡­"

    "I''ll give you one of the seventeen prescriptions of the lost Typhoid Fever Records."

    As soon as I finished, he looked at me like a rodent and his eyes lit up, "Shifu, do you want me to kill or set fire?!"

    He asked the question with a sinister smile. I''m telling you, that smile was more sinister than all of Mystery and the ck Winds Thirteen Wingsbined.

    "¡­ You''re a well-mannered guy, so why do you always say things that could cause misunderstandings? I''m not killing anyone or setting fire to anything." I ced my hand on my forehead and sighed, "Hurry and go find some of these materials for me in the warehouse. Get some leather parchments, too, hurry!"

    He thought about it for a moment before asking in a dragged-out way, "These materials do not look like medicine. They actually look more like hair dye. Eh? Fuma Shifu, what happened to your hair?"

    Mr. Divine Doctor, hurry up and get your eyes treated already!

    I pestered him to go and get the materials before I could finally sit down and have a think about "what next"?

    The Orange Prince''s revolt utterly failed. I don''t know how the emperor will punish him. He is his son, so I don''t think he''d behead him, would he?

    There wasn''t much damage and few losses as a result of this revolt, but hundreds of imperial guards did lose their lives. However, it wasn''t the Orange Prince that directly killed them, so Jia Yunfeng will have to bear the me for that.

    Jia Yunfeng was taken away by members of the League of Assassins. He took a palm strike from me, so he''s lost all of the evil techniques he had learnt. He failed his mission and Mystery was basically history. I don''t think the League of Assassins will keep him.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once news of this gets out from the pce, Hua Shan will send their own people to clean up their own sect.

    Jia Yunfeng, Jia Yunfeng, when will you ever grow up? Hua Shan will only have hope when you do.

    There''s a new problem as well. It wasn''t easy for me to save up some money, yet now I''ve spent it on buying a new dye. I need to think of something to save some, or else I won''t even be able to feed myself daily.

    What? The office has food for us?

    I hereby vehemently argue, "Piss off! I can cook better tasting food."

    A scared voice that sounded pretty suddenly came from the bed inside the building.

    "Wh-Who''s there?"

    Eh?! There''s someone inside!

    My carelessness got the better of me! I didn''t notice there was someone else in the room as well!

    That''s right! Old Dai did say something about recovering in one day or whatever. So he wasn''t talking to himself, but the person lying on the bed. It looks like Old Dai has learnt how to pretend to have proper mannerisms now! Why is he hiding a woman in the building?!

    I was afraid that the girl woulde out so I controlled my voice as I said, "I am Zhong Ning! I am here to look for a beauty and see her treasures. Come out and let me see if you are pretty or not. If I like the way you look, I''ll show you some fun."

    As I spoke, I struck the air with a palm strike, which emitted qi in all directions and kept it there for a long while. That was my way of letting her know that a powerful pervert hade.

    The girl on the bed panicked and didn''t dare toe out, as I had anticipated, "I, I''m not pretty. I''m ugly. Don''t youe in. I''m so ugly I could give you a fright."

    Her voice was the voice of a true beauty in the mortal realm. She had a high-pitched voice that sounded both clear and beautiful.

    I''m sure she''s a beauty.

    "Hehe, they call me Zhong Ning, the unparalleled pervert of the four seas. I am the number one pervert in the Central ins and beyond. If you don''t want to have fun with me, you best not let me see you. Let me also tell you that I love hearing others scream. If you dare to scream, I''ll dare to pounce you."

    I had to say that so that she wouldn''t scream out. Otherwise, I''d be busted.

    The girl grumbled, "I, I''m very ugly. My mother always said I was ugly when I was young. She often told me not to harm peoples'' eyes."

    That''s your motherplimenting your beauty, you silly girl! What a pure and cute girl.

    She''s pretty and has a cute personality. I can''t believe she''s Old Dai''s woman. Old Dai, you sure have good fortune with thedies! You usually pretend you''re intoxicated with medical studies, but you know how to hide a beauty for yourself!

    I''m still single over here!!!

    I''ll show you what it means to be an angry single man today!

    I chuckled, "It''s pointless no matter what you say. I''m a picky man. I just like¡­ white! I like anyone with white skin."

    "¡­"

    The girl seemingly froze up. She sounded like she was sobbing now, "I, I''m not white at all!"

    I suddenly smelt the smell of medicine and there was movement from the bed. It sounded like she was spreading medicine on herself so that she''d look dark. This girl is so silly it''s cute.

    "Hmph, the more you say that the more I want to see how pretty you are. I want to see if your ankle is smooth and snow-white. Let''s see¡­ Hng, let''s see your belly button! I want to see if your belly button is cute and fragrant."

    "M-My ankle is ugly. It''s dark and crass. My belly button is ugly too. It''s like a crooked seed. Don''t look. I beg you."

    I disdainfully asked, "How do I know whether you''re lying or not?"

    Her voice sounded soft like she was pleading, "I train martial arts. My ankle is really ugly. I don''t have any flesh on my belly either. In fact, it doesn''t show when I sit either. My belly is t. It doesn''t look good."

    I heard movement from the bed again. As I spoke, she continued to spread medicine on herself. She panicked as she tried to take a look at me outside holding my belly as Iughed like a mad man.

    But that''s enough fooling around. She is ady, so let''s not go overboard with the teasing.

    "Girl, if I don''t take a look at you after saying that, it would be¡­"

    The girl on the bed suddenly stopped moving and immediately yelled, "Fuck you! Who are you calling a girl?! I''m a guy!"

    Eh? Why does that line sound so familiar¡­?

    Somebody suddenly pushed the door and said, "Bai Hu Su, I have brought you your adjuvant candy as per orders."

    "¡­"

    Oh, fuck! It was Su Xiao!!! So it was Su Xiao I was teasing!

    Su Xiao sees me as a brother, and yet I¡­

    "Bai Hu Su? Bai Hu Su?"

    Su Xiao didn''t dare to respond. The person calling out to him waited for a bit. They wanted toe in after not getting a response!

    Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! Su Xiao is going to tell on me even if I run now! Princess Hongzhuang knows who Zhong Ning is. Wouldn''t that mean that my rtionship with Imperial Doctor Dai would be exposed?

    However, while I was hesitating, the person outside had already opened the door from outside.

 Volume 4 4 Su Xiao, Youâ€™re So Cool!

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 4 Su Xiao, You''re So Cool!</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Bai Hu Su. Bai Hu Su, I''ming in. Erm¡­ Are you still not up?" Since Su Xiao didn''t give a response to the person delivering the medicine, the individual thought that he was not yet up.

    "I will ce it here then. Please use it when you are ready. I shall take my leave now." The person exited after finishing what they had to say.

    I finally sighed a breath of relief. That was seriously dangerous.

    After I saw the door was just slightly open, I entered my enlightened mode and immediately rushed over to the bed fast as an arrow! I pulled the curtain open and managed to get a clear sight of the other party before they could see me.

    There was a beautiful young individual sitting on the bed. Their hair was down, and I immediately had my breath taken away when our eyes met.

    I''ve never seen her have her hair down.

    She sat as though she was sitting casually in her best friend''s room. Her eyshes were ck and closely spaced together. Her cute snow white nose was tall and straight. Her shimmering eyespared to the beauty of the moon, stars and sea.

    Her clothes were messy. It looked like it was messy as such because she had just spread medicine on her ankle and belly. Her long, slender arms and thighs formed a most alluring silhouette. The clothing at her lower abdomen was slightly open, revealing a cute and smooth belly button.

    Her pants were pulled down. She only had her upper body clothing to cover her lower body. One of her legs was under the nket, while her other leg was revealed.

    Her clothes hung loosely off of her body and blew in the wind. Her naked foot was smoother than snow. Perhaps she was perspiring a little, since she slept in the nket the entire time. A trail of water ran down from her smooth-white thigh.

    Not even I could help but feel my body heating up.

    I''ve seen a good number of legs. Boss Shen''s were soft and seductive. Shiyi and Princess Hongzhuang were proportionately long and slender, but they couldn''tpare to these legs in terms of their lines.

    My eyes followed along the outline of her leg, down to her clean small ankle. It didn''t look like she''d ever trained martial arts given how smooth her calf was, and she definitely didn''t have ugly feet.

    For some reason, I couldn''t help myself from moulding internal energy to instinctively take a whiff. I smelt a faint flower fragrance.

    It was different to the usual scent she had on her. It was as if she had bathed in scented water, which would exin how her skin was so smooth and gorgeous. She didn''t have visible wrinkles on her feet, where you usually would have wrinkles, either.

    Her belly was indeed as previously described. There was no excess fat, despite sitting up. As I looked up along her belly, that was slightly exposed, I unconsciously imagined two plump, soft mounds¡­

    Stop! Stop! I''ll be a creep if I continue looking!

    Deep breaths. Deep breaths¡­ Even if "she" is alluring, I am still very calm, because "she" is Su Xiao!

    Speaking of which¡­ is the stuff Su Xiao spread on his face Bai Yao? What good would that be if I was truly evil?

    All of that happened within an instant, as I had already appeared by cute Su Xiao''s side in the next instant. I swiftly covered Su Xiao''s gentle and sweet small mouth with one hand, and then used my other hand to cover hisrge bright eyes. I turned around and hugged "her" from behind. I pulled "her" into the nket with me.

    I only pulled the nket off, with a breath of relief, after the person delivering medicine left.

    Su Xiao put up a bit of a resistance, so I had to hug him tighter. His warm, soft and fragrant body leaned on mine. However, his legs were naked, so I had a really strange feeling. The more he struggled, the more awkward I felt.

    Honey! I don''t want to hug you myself, but I can''t be exposed! My hair is white right now and I don''t have my mask on. I''ll be done for if I get busted.

    I leaned right into Su Xiao''s snow-white ear and said, "Don''t be so loud. I don''t like you, so I won''t do anything to you. I''ll spare you as long as I''m not busted, got it?"

    Afterwards, I loosened up my grip a little. However, Su Xiao then started crying out, "I don''t trust you! You''re a bad guy! Help m-¡­"

    Hey!! You liar!!

    Hence, I had no choice but to cover his mouth again. This guy goes back on his word like he''s a natural!

    I lowered my voice and said, "Shut up, or I''ll strip you and walk you around on the streets stark naked."

    Su Xiao squirmed around a few more times and then suddenly stopped.

    Hmm? It looks like my threat finally worked.

    Su Xiao didn''t stop moving altogether. He actually leaned his body backwards. He stuck close enough to me to suspect he was actually naked.

    The air suddenly became really dry. My mouth started to get dry, while I couldn''t help but sneakily tighten my arms around the naughty kitten. The soft touch on my hands made me feel intoxicated. However, my mouth was still eximing, "Wh-What are you doing?!! Don''t move!"

    Nheless, Su Xiao ignored me and squirmed around while stuck to me. He then started sniffing around, making me suddenly feel as if a kitten I had raised was clinging to me.

    Su Xiao suddenly quieted down. He hesitated for a while and then mumbled something.

    I loosened my grip on him so that I could hear him properly.

    What he said was, "Big Brother Ming? Is that you?"

    Fuck!

    I broke out in a cold sweat.

    Who said Su Xiao was stupid? This kid is dangerously smart!

    "I''m not some Big Brother Ming. I''m Zhong Ning. Spout nonsense again, and I''ll strip you."

    Su Xiao reacted a little scared, but his tense body suddenly stopped. He jerked his pretty body gently and then giggled.

    "Big Brother Ming, I know it''s you. I can tell by your smell. Who else would have the smell of pears, meat buns and duck on them? Nobody in Nan Jing can match your gluttony."

    Fuck!

    I got anxious and apprehensive, "You know it''s me just by smelling?"

    This Su Xiao is getting more and more impressive. I can''t underestimate him. He''s beginning to grow a detective''s cells in his brain, now.

    Pleased with himself, Su Xiao replied, "I wasn''t sure initially, but I touched you as well. You''re the only guy that has hugged me before, so I remember the feeling very well. We wouldn''t be good brothers if I can''t recognise you after touching and smelling you."

    Hey! What you just said makes me feel that there''s something a lot worse than good brothers between us!

    I suddenly responded, "Okay, okay, good brother, it''s me. You¡­ got hurt, so I came to see you."

    Su Xiao responded with glee in his voice, "You''re okay now, Big Brother Ming? You were hurt so badly that everybody said you couldn''t be saved. I didn''t believe them, so I brought you to Imperial Doctor Dai. He seemed really skilled, but he wouldn''t tell me how you were. Did he treat you? Oh, yeah, bad guys came afterwards. What happened to them? Did they escape? Anyway, I''m d you''re okay. I was worried to death¡­"

    I felt Su Xiao tremble gently. He couldn''t hide the sadness in his voice. I could sense his reassurance and joy as if there was a little¡­

    Anger was seeping into the air.

    "Yes, yes, yes, you''re so smart, Xiao. You got it all right. Imperial Doctor Dai treated me and the bad guys got arrested by the Imperial Guards. You don''t need to worry about anything."

    I was fine the entire time, silly kid, but thank you for the thought.

    I scrubbed his head, "Silly kid, I''ll be fine, I guarantee it. Don''t get angry and don''t worry, okay?"

    Su Xiao went silent.

    I suddenly felt his body get warmer, but I wasn''t sure why.

    After the burning beauty hesitated for a bit, he extended his slender white hands and legs. He then turned his body around and hugged me gently with a tinge of fear. He wrapped his snow-white arms wrapped around me. It was as though he could intoxicate someone with just a single gentle touch.

    It was as if I was being seduced by the sweet fragrance, like drunk person. He had a beautiful ray of light in his eyes that bordered upon perfection, challenging my rationality even further.

    Stop! This is very dangerous!

    Just as I was about tough it off and mock him before pushing him away, Su Xiao suddenly spoke into my ear with a strangely firm voice, "Ming Feizhen."

    My hands stopped unconsciously, because he suddenly changed the way he addressed me. Ever since we got friendly, Su Xiao never called me by my name directly. Why¡­

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ I''m being serious now. Don''t make me worry about you again." Su Xiao''s voice sounded indifferent, yet left no room for questioning. He was serious in a way like never before. I could detect his rationality and even more so the strong emotions beneath the surface of his words.

    "I don''t know what''s wrong with me, but I''m scared¡­ that I will never see you again."

    "Oh, oh."

    "I nearly went crazy during this few hours."

    I suddenly felt like a girl that got hit on. My face and ears went red.

    Su Xiao, you''re so cool!!

    Su Xiao hugged and faintly said, "I know that you don''t like me like this¡­ But don''t push me away¡­ Let me stay like this for a bit longer."

    What can I say?

    I released my hands and then ced one on Su Xiao''s small head. With my other arm, I wrapped it around his narrow shoulders that were shaking. His shoulders were like a newborn''s. He rested his head on my chest. The beauty, that was resolute moments ago, was now sniffling.

    I hugged him back before responding, "¡­ Okay."

    Su Xiao then hugged me with all his might as though he wanted to confirm I was still alive.

    I heard his sobs from my chest every now and then.

    His shoulders shivered gently and time passed just like that.

    Wey in bed and chatted after he was done crying. I still had him in my arms. We spoke about many things that took ce after he passed out. Su Xiao was so frightened he nearly jumped up when he heard the Orange Prince revolted.

    I quickly covered his eyes, that were red from crying.

    Su Xiao titled his small head and asked, "Eh? Big Brother Ming, what are you covering my eyes for?" Su Xiao squirmed in my arms. The punk started acting bolder after knowing it was me. He moved without any restraint.

    Hey! Hey! Hey! Your legs are naked, so stop moving around like that!

    "I can''t see with you covering my eyes like this."

    "That''s no big deal. We just need to lie on the bed and chat!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Don''t wanna! Who wants to chat with you like this?"

    What else do you want then?!

    You think my Eighteen Subduing Dragon Gropes are that easy to resist?!

    "I feel ufortable like this, hmm¡­ it''s sticky. It''s ufortable!" He snorted while speaking.

    Thatbined with the touch of his smooth skin made me realise I shamefully¡­

    Su Xiao started to struggle more vigorously to no avail. He suddenly stopped moving around and asked with puzzlement, "Eh? What''s this hard thing on my back?"

    "Don''t ask, you idiot!"

    Su Xiao puffed his cheeks up unhappily when I scolded him.

    Su Xiao then raised his voice and loudly rambled, "What?! You scolded me again! How am I stupid? I''m not stupid at all. You''re stupid! Big Brother Ming, you''re the stupidest!"

    Oh my god!! Pipe down!!

    I forgot about this as I calmed down!!

    It was reasonable for me to be scared because two voices from outside suddenly eximed.

    "Ming Feizhen?"

    "Feizhen?"

    Oh my god!! Good heavens! Which female deity did I piss off?! Give me a pill!!!

    Notes:

    *I have not seen Bai Yao used in that form in this day and age. It''s nowmonly used on those sters you can get from Eastern medicine stores/practices for aches, pains, bruises etc. They''ve applied it to the ster where you will then stick it on a specific spot(s) on your body. I''m fairly certain you can still get them over the counter.

 Volume 4 5 Harvest Season

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 5 Harvest Season</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The sound of the footsteps outside came closer and closer.

    I can''t just wait for my death!

    I ran outside then checked left and right. There was nothing in this room.

    Old Dai leads a simple life. He has no other interests outside of medical studies. There were very few items in this building. Other than a bed, there was only a desk, a bookshelf of medical studies books and a big wooden tub for mixing medicines, which seemed to be filled with hot water.

    "What''s wrong, Big Brother Ming? Ah!"

    Sh*t. Su Xiao is still in the room. He''s going to see my hair!

    Just as I was able to hide on the beams above, I heard Su Xiao exim in shock. He poked his small head out, but then pulled it back. I couldn''t worry about myself alone.

    I turned my head around and asked, "Xiao, you all right? Did your injury open up again?"

    "No, I''m fine. That''s not it." Su Xiao''s voice sounded as if it was dyed red. He shyly said, "I, I''m not wearing anything below. My legs are exposed, so I can''te out."

    His beautifully slender, straight and exquisite legs around my waist, as well as when he murmured in my ears resurfaced in my mind¡­

    But then the footsteps that came closer and closer stamped my fantasy out!

    Sh*t! I wasted time!

    I started thinking quickly. In front of me was a desk and a wooden tub filled with water. What shall I choose?

    Do you need to ask?!

    I quickly ran toward the desk.

    The footsteps were at the door now.

    The door creaked as it opened.

    Two beauties appeared outside at the same time. The one in white, who had a beautiful face, curvaceous and soft hips was Bai Ling.

    The one gliding over in a blue robe with huge knockers and a small waist was Boss Shen.

    The two of them saw me from far away and entered together. They almost stepped down onto the same spot. My superior and the General Manager in the pce red at each other hostilely, causing sparks to fly in the air around.

    I quickly moulded energy to make myself look a little pale and then leaned on the wooden tub powerlessly.

    Neither of them gave way to the other. The two beauties came in like a gale.

    When they got half-way, Su Xiao suddenly eximed, "Vice-captain! I''m over here!" Shen Yiren called out with her beautiful voice, "Su Han! You''re all right? Where did you go? Many major things happened in the pce. Are you all right?" She veered off her original path and went to see Su Xiao.

    Bai Ling walked straight over here, instead. It''s only been a day, but I feel like she''s gotten a fair bit thinner. She must be tired after so much happened today, while she had to protect the harem all alone.

    I looked up and revealed a weak smile, "General Manager Bai, Long-time no see. Are you well?"

    "Of course I am. I heard you got hurt, so I came to see you."

    "Thank you. I''m all right. Imperial Doctor Dai has treated me."

    "That won''t do. Don''t underestimate your opponent. The person you fought was Fu Xiang. Fu Xiang''s Divine Palms shake the martial world. There are very few in the pce who could defeat him today. Don''t go thinking that everything is fine just because Imperial Doctor Dai is a skilled doctor. You must diligently treat it. Let me sum up the important parts about Fu Xiang for you¡­" Teacher Bai Ling continued with her lecture, but I was frankly snoring already.

    However, I then suddenly heard her exim, "Eh! Ming Feizhen, y-your hair!"

    Shen Yiren immediately ran over when she heard Bai Ling exim.

    They cried out with surprise at the same time, "Feizhen, your hair!"

    I knew it¡­ They found out. It''s hard not too after all.

    The two of them looked at me with disbelief. I don''t know why they were so in sync today. They shouted in sync, "Eh?! Your hair is so filthy!"

    Boss Shen then frowned and said, "Ming Feizhen, what happened with your hair? Why¡­"

    Boss Shen must be particrly nice to me today because I got hurt badly. She scrubbed my head withoutining about it being dirty.

    "Why do you have ink in your hair?"

    Uhm¡­ that''s right! It''s ink!

    I went to the desk before because I saw arge tub of ink. I poured the ink onto my head to get through the crisis. I got some of it on my face as well as my hair to ensure that I wouldn''t be recognised.

    However, ink can''t dye hair, so it could only cover my original hair colour. The ink was still dripping. I don''t know when I''ll be exposed either. Ink is also bad for you. I feel like I''ve been intoxicated with a poison that takes effect gradually. Will I lose my hair?!

    "Feizhen, what are you doing?"

    "Ming Feizhen, S-say something. You usually have so much to say."

    Yeah, what am I doing? I''m wondering what I''m doing here in this room as well.

    I used the tub as support to look up with an expression of a man that wants to cry but has no tears. I looked like I was going to vomit blood, "I- I''m having a bath¡­"

    "You''re having a bath?"

    Boss Shen narrowed her eyes like a cat. It was as though she could see through my heart.

    Bai Ling folded her arms and went, "Oh really?"

    Damn it! What sort of excuse was that?! How would Boss Shen possibly fall for that?!!

    "I, I¡­"

    "You''re bathing here?" Boss Shen looked at me with an odd gaze.

    Bai Ling couldn''t hold back her anger and added, "You''re bathing with Su Xiao?"

    I suddenly remembered that Su Xiao was staring at me with puzzlement from the bed!

    I quickly waved my hands and denied it, "No, no, no! I''m bathing alone! You can see that I''mpletely filthy from head to toe, right? I''m bathing alone!"

    Just as the two of them were on the border of trust and suspicion, Su Xiao poked his head out all of a sudden.

    "Eh? That''s my bathtub. Imperial Doctor Dai said it was for me to soak in medicine. I''ve even taken my pants off already."

    His snow-white long legs appeared in my mind again¡­ Fuck! I don''t need to jog my memory again so soon!

    Bai Ling folded her arms and asked, "Are you really nning to bathe with Su Xiao?"

    Shen Yiren frowned and asked, "You¡­ tricked Su Xiao into taking his pants off?"

    I must''ve heard fake news! Esteemeddies, howe you heard something different to what I heard?! Su Xiao took his pants off himself! Wait, fuck! The bigger problem is that Su Xiao is a guy!!

    "Why do you have to curse at me?! Su Xiao is a guy! What''s wrong even if we did bathe today?"

    As soon as I finished, Su Xiao timidly said, "So you really did want to bathe with me, Big Brother Ming. I see¡­"

    Boss Shen widened her eyes and eximed, "You¡­ are not to bathe with Su Han! That goes against morals and customs. It must be condemned!"

    You''re unreasonable!

    I retorted, "It''s just like me bathing with General Manager Bai, what''s there to condemn?"

    "You¡­ You dare try to vite me?!" Bai Ling raised her hand up and pped me, "Damn pervert!"

    Where is the justice?!

    Bai Ling red at me alluringly. Sheughed, "What? I just hit you. You can''t ept it?" She smiled like a young girl. Her sly mocking smile toyed with my heart.

    I couldn''t help but fall into a daze as I looked at her. After hesitating, I replied, "I ept. I submit."

    Boss Shen furiously eximed, "Bai Ling! You hit my subordinate in my presence! What are you trying to do?!"

    "You insulted me first. You hit Imperial Doctor Li, but I can''t hit an insignificant constable?"

    Boss Shen fumed, "Of course not! He''s my subordinate. I dare you to touch him!"

    Bai Ling seemed to want to try, but then when she saw my pale face, she decided to just forget it. She angrily folded her arms and kept silent.

    "Feizhen, are you still unwell anywhere?"

    Seeing my pale look, Boss Shen got worried. She checked my breathing and pulse, "Your breathing is still shallow. You must have some stuff clogged in your chest, right? Your condition is slowly improving, though. That''s the first signs of a severe injury healing."

    Boss Shen revealed a smile, "Imperial Doctor Dai truly does possess miraculous skills. You got hit with seventeen of Fu Xiang''s palm strikes, yet he healed you in less than a day."

    I touched my cheek andughed, "I don''t think Fu Xiang used all of his strength. Didn''t he have to fight with plenty of people today? If he went all out against me, who''s insignificant, he would be shooting himself in the foot, hahaha."

    "I think that''s the reason as well. How did youe here?"

    Su Xiao cheerfully responded from the bed, "It was me! It was me! I brought Big Brother Ming here. I was looking for the Imperial Doctors'' Office, but then after making several wrong turns, we ended up here."

    "I see¡­" Boss Shen''s expression rxed.

    It looks like my injury troubled her a lot.

    I apologetically said, "Boss, sorry¡­ I¡­"

    Boss Shen suddenly made an unexpected gesture before I could finish.

    I saw Bai Ling and Su Xiao''s expressions suddenly freeze stiff.

    Boss Shen suddenly gave me a hug the same way Su Xiao had hugged me before.

    Su Xiao''s expression looked like the world was ending for him. It was as if he was saying, ''I was first. I was first¡­''

    Bai Ling froze uppletely. She revealed a mass of anger in her eyes, ''This woman! This woman!''

    I felt a very soothing feeling at my chest.

    I didn''t dare to budge, as I was afraid the blissful feeling would disappear.

    Shen Yiren, who was hugging me, suddenly said, "You lied to me."

    My heart stopped beating. I wondered where I revealed something I shouldn''t have.

    However, I suddenly felt a slightly warm and wet feeling on my shoulder. This is¡­ I didn''t give a response.

    The beauty was sobbing. It informed me of my current situation at the same time, though.

    "You said you would be fine. You said you would be back." Shen Yiren raised her head. She stared at me angrily, "Ming Feizhen, were you trying to get yourself killed? Why did you insist on fighting him?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I¡­ I¡­" I seemingly turned stupid, unable to utter aplete sentence.

    "Did you know that I regretted allowing you to continue the fight after you got knocked out of the ring? There wasn''t a single moment I didn''t want to avenge you, but even if I did, you wouldn''t be able to return."

    I felt her concern for me in the warmth on my shoulder. Despite the wordsing from her, what she said was very simr to what Su Xiao said. I suddenly realised that I recently found people who would care about me.

    I''m different to how I was in the past now.

    Shen Yiren looked at me solemnly, "Feizhen, you must personally promise me that you won''t die without my permission." Her eyes were firm and sincere like Su Xiao''s.

    After a while, I nodded slowly and calmly replied, "Uhm, I won''t die. I promise¡­ you all." I hugged her back before she could reply.

    She resisted a little at first, but then she rested her head on my shoulder.

    Next to my ear, she said, "This is a one-off only¡­ I''m letting you take advantage of the situation this time, but there won''t be a next time."

    I smiled and replied, "You say that every time, Boss."

    Boss Shen widened her eyes enraged. She grabbed the ink stone on the desk, but then stopped her swing halfway to my face. She giggled. Then we looked at each other andughed.

    I suddenly saw General Manager Bai look at me with the same gaze from behind Boss Shen.

    I mouthed, "Thanks."

    General Manager Bai blushed. She was going to conceitedly snort and then look away, but she gave me a small nod after a moment of reluctance.

    The defence of the pce ended here.

    It had nothing to do with me, but it ended up sweeping me up into it. I can''t say that I was innocent.

    But what I thought to be just an arduous job, ended up gaining me more than I imagined.

    You can say that this was a very special oue.

 Volume 4 6 Not Over Yet

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 6 Not Over Yet</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Several major things have urred in the capital, recently.

    After the Orange Prince''s revolt, the biggest case was the elimination of the League of Assassins'' branch in the capital. Shen Yiren led a team to exterminate the branch in the capital after Ming Feizhen gave urate information.

    Shen Yiren was credited with a major merit and Ming Feizhen was credited as well. However, they only caught insignificant henchmen. They didn''t manage to apprehend any high-ranked members, causing Shen Yiren to feel very dejected.

    Ming Feizhen knew it would turn out like that.

    The League of Assassins operates very secretively. They knew that their hideout was no longer safe once Fu Xiang was exposed, so they moved long ago. Ming Feizhen wouldn''t have informed them of the League of Assassins'' hiding ce, otherwise.

    As hemonly says, "It''s better to be less one problem than it is to have one more problem."

    You must be courageous to oppose the League of Assassins. They''re professional assassins that have been around for a century. They have more experience with their trade than anybody.

    The League of Assassins'' oral password is, "It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. It is better to know countless people than to travel ten thousand miles."

    Even if you are invincible, you have people you care about, don''t you? You might not be afraid of being assassinated, but you''re afraid that your friends, wife, and children running into them, aren''t you?

    That''s why the Imperial Court would rather exterminate the Demon Sect''s nest then to get on the bad side of the League of Assassins, despite the Demon Sect being stronger than the League of Assassins.

    Therefore, Ming Feizhen was never interested in exterminating the League of Assassins.

    However, the branch will most likely require around half a year to recover after having their branch eradicated. Nobody knows how long they''ll have to wait before they resurface.ei Muyun had led all of the assassins to retreat to another branch by the time their hideout was eradicated, but he ditched the three members of Mystery.

    Zhong Ning got beaten until he went retarded and then they locked him up in prison, but it didn''t take much effort for him to recover a little.

    When he was asked for his name, he hazily replied, "I am Zhong Ning." That resulted in a band of guards beating the living daylights out of him. He nearly wentpletely retarded.

    It''s said that he angered the guards in the pce because he made fun of a princess.

    In the end, one of the General Managers of internal affairs ordered, "Hmph! He made fun of the princess? He sure has guts! Drag him over to get castrated!"

    The evil pervert Zhong Ning who imposed his lust onto countless girls, ruining their reputation and purity ended up bing a tool.

    The heavens are watching, and retribution is one bitter dish.

    ====================

    At a dungeon in a residential home in the Nan Jing.

    Inside of the dark room was one light that was akin to a bean.

    Jia Yunfeng stared at the candle without budging.

    The dark room smelt atrocious as though an animal defecated in there.

    On his side was Fu Xiang lying on two straw mats.

    The force of Fu Xiang''s palm strikes was eating at him. All of his bones ached. He had be a cripple, who was incapable of taking care of himself now.

    There were no passageways for air to get in here. It was dark and dry. As soon as there was any smell in there, it stank to the high heavens.

    Jia Yunfeng continued to look at the candle in a daze. He looked at its me and another day passed.

    Mystery was abandoned by the League of Assassins. Completely abandoned.

    What made Mystery formidable was their martial prowess, ruthlessness and double identities of the four members; in particr, Jia Yunfeng, the leader of an orthodox sect, and Nan Junfei, the eunuch at the emperor''s side. Hence, they had information that people only in the orthodox sects and the imperial court would have. That made it much more convenient for them to assassinate their targetspared to the other assassins.

    Fu Xiang was also one with strong connections with the League of Assassins. His identity on the surface is the contact person of the branch in the capital. That shows how much he was trusted. He still ended up in this pitiful state, nheless.

    Mystery was abandoned as soon as they were no longer useful.

    The thought of bringing them along never crossed Lei Muyun''s mind.

    Jia Yunfeng and Nan Junfei were doomed after their identities had been exposed. The imperial court would definitely put out an order to arrest them, while Fu Xiang was already on the brink of death.

    Nan Junfei has been the only one heading out to get food, water and necessities these days.

    Things were tense outside at the moment. Nobody dared to run away at this time. They had to stay here for a while longer.

    Fu Xiang stared into the darkness with his lifeless eyes, while continuously murmuring, "Yi¡­ ren¡­ Shen¡­ Yiren¡­"

    He was already in this sorry state, yet he still lusted after Shen Yiren. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that it had be his goal to live on.

    Jia Yunfeng continued to look at the candle like a possessed man.

    He thought about many things over thest few days. He was thinking about what hecked.

    After recuperating for thest couple of days, he discovered that all of the unorthodox styles he learnt had been erased, but his martial arts cultivation had improved another level. He made a big leap during his fight in the Imperial City, but it wasn''t stable. After the unorthodox skills of his were erased, heprehended more of Hua Shan''s arts. Every now and then he would re-enter that state where he could execute miraculous techniques at the level of a grand master with the wave of a hand. He never imagined he''d be able to do that.

    Why was he feeling like that? Could that guy have been correct? Was it true that Hua Shan''s arts alone are enough topete with the best in the world, and that there was no need to add styles to it?

    ''Was what I did in the past wrong¡­?''

    Jia Yunfeng fell into confusion. He faintly knew the answer, but he didn''t dare to unravel it.

    He was afraid the man with white hair was right and that he had always looked down on his Shifu. He was afraid of the opinion he had clung to was wrong. He was afraid of the reveal that throwing his dignity away to join the unorthodox sects only made him an idiot.

    He was a genius Hua Shan Sect had never before seen. He couldn''t ept that oue. At the end of the day, it was all about ego.

    "Do you know where your problem lies?" A voice suddenly spoke out inside the room.

    The voice belonged to aplete stranger.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A cold light appeared in Jia Yunfeng''s eyes. Jia Yunfeng shed toward the rear using the technique Terrorising Birds! He lost his Beyond the Heavens Edge in the Imperial City, but the sh was sharp as usual.

    Unfortunately, his target was too fast. He easily evaded Jia Yunfeng''s sh. Jia Yunfeng didn''t even have a chance to follow up with another technique.

    Jia Yunfeng looked around. The person who entered the dungeon was someone with a ck mask. His stature and face were all hidden by the ck mask and robe, so Jia Yunfeng had no way of recognising him.

    Jia Yunfeng shouted, "An upright man does not sneak around. Who are you? Why do you not dare to show your true face?"

    "You act as Kuang Tian, Sect Leader Jia. Speak for yourself." The person who came stood at the corner of the opposite wall, not far away. Yet, his voice travelled along a thin line like a string, echoing inside the ce, thereby making it appear as though he was in a jungle.

    This was a technique more advanced than Voice Transmission. It required the user to possess extremely powerful internal strength.

    Jia Yunfeng couldn''tpare to him and therefore became more worried.

    "Who I am isn''t important. I just came to tell you that the people from the imperial court will soon be here." The man in ck calmly continued, "Nan Junfei has been apprehended."

    Jia Yunfeng instinctively froze. He was seventy-percent convinced since Nan Junfei was always punctual, yet he was already half-an-hourte. If he wasn''t captured then, he had been dyed.

    The man in ck then continued, "I saw Liu Shan Men''s people a couple of streets away just before, searching every building, so it''s only a matter of time before they find this ce."

    Jia Yunfeng bluntly asked, "You''re not from the imperial court, so what did youe here to find me for?"

    He didn''t answer the question. Instead, he said, "The technique you just attacked me with was impressive. Don''t you think it''s a pity to just let such amazing skill wait here to die?"

    "I am no longer who I once was. You need not mention it again. I am no longer a sect leader as well, so you need not address me as one either."

    The man in ck snickered and asked, "Sect Leader Jia, you just lost one fight and yet you are so discouraged?"

    Jia Yunfeng seemingly fell into the memory of that day again. In a discouraged voice, he indifferently replied, "I lost. His martial arts skills are superb. I was defeated convincingly."

    "You need not be so down. Do you know who he is?"

    Jia Yunfeng nodded slowly, "Lord San Shen of the Demon Sect."

    "It looks like you still do not understand." The man in ck chuckled strangely, in a suppressed voice that was high-pitched and also sounded dark like a ghost, "You know his identity, but do you know who Lord San Shen is?"

    Jia Yunfeng was baffled, "¡­ Our skills are so far apart, therefore, I have no right to ask about the origins of his skills."

    The man in ck spoke in a voice full of ridicule, "What do you think if I told you he was an ordinary constable at Liu Shan Men?"

    Jia Yunfeng responded with disbelief, "Did you say he''s an ordinary constable? How can that be possible?"

    The man in ck avoided the question, "He trains reputable internal styles. You can''t tell what style he uses from the external techniques he uses on the surface. He uses at least two sorts of internal energy, so he possesses immense internal strength, thereby making him appear as though he is looking down on you. It''s rare, but he''s not invincible."

    Jia Yunfeng pondered in silence for a while and then suddenly asked, "Why did you go through so much effort to find me and tell me this as well as analysing it for me? Why?"

    He replied, "He''s in the way of my goal. I must eliminate him, so your strength is necessary."

    Jia Yunfeng snickered and replied, "If you could beat him, you wouldn''t need my help. I voluntarily dove into the path of evil, but I''m still a fair man. I won''t be your de!"

    "Use you? I think you''re putting yourself up too high on a pedestal. There is no living man that I cannot kill." The location of the man in ck''s voice changed.

    Before Jia Yunfeng could identify where he was, he had already appeared right in front of his eyes.

    Despite losing the skills his unorthodox skills, Jia Yunfeng''s cultivation improved after the battle in the Imperial City. He could use sword-qi as soon as he struck. He thought he had stabbed through the man in ck with it, but something that surprised him happened. The man in ck was like a phantom, passing through Jia Yunfeng''s body like gas.

    Jia Yunfeng got a shock. Jia Yunfeng knew that his skills were inferior to the man in ck, so he intended to win on thest move, but to his amazement, he didn''t even touch his shadow.

    He turned to look in his direction, only to hear an odd noise from his clothing.

    Jia Yunfeng lowered his head to confirm what he thought. What he discovered sent chills up his spine.

    What Jia Yunfeng saw was that his clothes had several holes in them, which were made by the man in ck within that split second. If he had wanted to kill him, Jia Yunfeng would have been dead.

    Jia Yunfeng''s cold sweat coursed down his forehead. He had always roamed the world as a man with supreme Qinggong and swift swordy, yet he had never seen movement like this, which resembled a phantom.

    "Wh-Who exactly are you?"

    "Who I am isn''t important. I just wanted to tell you that I''m stronger than you and that constable that defeated you." The main in ck was like a formless phantom, yet akin to smoke. A ck shadow then suddenly gathered in front of Jia Yunfeng.

    The ck shadow mocked, "What, you aren''t grateful after I kindly spared your life?"

    "I thank you for not taking my life." Jia Yunfeng''s voice sounded shaky as he spoke.

    He was a famous swordsman in the pugilistic world, was able to be the leader of a sect and had countless fights under his belt whether big or small. However, all of his near-death experiences, including the two times Ming Feizhen defeated him, were all mild, so they couldn''tpare to the danger he just experienced during that short exchange.

    The attack was sudden and frightening.

    Jia Yunfeng wasn''t afraid of dying, but that he realised there was always somebody better. Lord San Shen wasn''t the only formidable person in the world. This was like the light Jia Yunfeng found while lost and confused.

    "Jia Yunfeng, do you have hatred?" That question was like the sparks that would ignite an explosion.

    After days of hard thinking, a ray of light gradually appeared in his mind. Vengeance twisted his mind yet again.

    ''He erased the martial arts from the League of Assassins I worked so hard to master and crippled my brother. He even led Liu Shan Man in an extermination mission to destroy our branch, causing me to be forced to stay here.

    He even pretended to be acting out of good will, iming he was fulfilling my Shifu''s request.

    You want me to live in your shadow forever? Dream on!''

    "Thank you, benefactor!"

    The man in ck didn''t respond. He glided over to the front of Fu Xiang as if he didn''t have feet.

    "Heh, the force of Fu Xiang''s Divine Palmssts a long time. It''s about to destroy his organs even days after being hit. If he didn''t have a solid foundation, he wouldn''t havested until now."

    He flicked his hand inside his ck robe. Fu Xiang who had been lying on the ground in a daze the entire time reacted for the first time.

    Despitesting for only a moment, Jia Yunfeng clearly saw intense hatred sh in Fu Xiang''s eyes. Fu Xiang''s heart and spirit beat for that hatred.

    The man in ck then turned back and said, "Jia Yunfeng, it is already public news that you joined the League of Assassins. Even if you are not worried, are you not worried about your family at Hua Shan?"

    "¡­"

    "Your pitiful pretty daughter has only turned eight this year, right? What a beautiful daughter. I wonder what your enemies will do to her."

    "¡­ Please point me in the right direction!"

    "What are you panicking for?"

    The man in ck slowly approached Jia Yunfeng. His voice sounded like he was a ghost, tempting the man that had begun to return to the right path of swordsmanship.

    "I will find a safe ce for you to recuperate. I can save Nan Junfei as well as Zhong Ning, who has gone missing."

    "My family¡­"

    "The Orange Prince has fallen, and the League of Assassins doesn''t want you anymore, but you have me. Who can find your family? Your disciples? Your daughter is pretty, na?ve and cute. Who would hurt her?"

    Jia Yunfeng couldn''t stop his quivering. While it sounds like he''s helping, it could also instantly be a huge threat.

    "Thank you for enlightening me. I, Jia Yunfeng am willing to serve you!"

    "Don''t worry. I can give you what the Orange Prince can, and I can also give you what he couldn''t." If the Orange Prince was an ambitious wolf, this man would be a strange and unpredictable devil.

    "May I ask for your name?"

    "You can call me Mr. An."

    Jia Yunfeng thought to himself. He couldn''t think of anyone who was rted to Mr. An in any capacity.

    "What is it that you would like for me to do then, Mr. An?"

    The man in ck, Mr. An, faced upwards andughed in a terrifying voice like a devil from hell. His profound cultivation made even Jia Yunfeng somewhat fearful.

    After he hadughed, he blew out a mouthful of foul air, "I want you all to help me¡­ fight for the throne!"

    Notes:

    *The name "An" here is most likely an alias, because the word means "dark", and I have yet toe across anybody with a real Chinese name that "an" character.

 Volume 4 7 To Be Continued

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 7 To Be Continued</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Three months prior, at Dragon Fang Mountain.

    The mountain looked imposing because of the protruding peak. It, therefore, looked evil and aggressive, like a dragon''s fang, and hence its name.

    At this current time, there were two sides that were holding a duel in front of tens of thousands of people.

    The identities of the two fighting were very unique.

    One of them was a member of the Seven White Champion Princes, a descendant of the Gold and Silver Sect. He had defeated everybody in Jiang Nan. He was the young Number One Sabre King, Jin Wangsun!

    The White Champion Princes were bestowed their title in the founding emperor''s time, however; their families'' histories went back even further. While their history does not go back as far as Cold Mountain Temple, which had a millennium-long history, Lushan Jianguan and the other major sects have been famous in the pugilistic world for a century.

    For example, the Bai family, from Acacia Valley, has existed for centuries. They had been conferred the new Seventh Prince title. They only began to rise after being conferred the title by the founding emperor a century ago. This allowed them to be prominent like the Song family in Yang Zhou and the Gold and Silver Sect in Jiang Nan.

    The God and Silver Sect are different to the other White Princes. They''re both a martial arts school and also a sect that started off as a business. They were skilled at business, calcting, and nning, not allowing anything to be wasted. As a result, their business aspect is prospering.

    When the founding emperor revolted back then he required manpower, money, and provisions.

    The ancestors of the Gold and Silver Sect helped out a lot. Consequently, they were crowned as one of the Seven Champion White Princes. The founding emperor also promised to never charge them taxes for as long as this dynasty reigned.

    The Gold and Silver Sect was wealthy, to begin with. Whenbined with the tax-free privilege, the reputation of being a White Champion Prince, and their century of savings, their wealth now rivalled the nation.

    The business under their banner has steadily ced in the top three businesses. Nobody in Jiang Nan''s martial world can rival their wealth.

    But despite that, the other White Champion Princes still think lowly of their martial arts skills, whileining that they reek of bronze.

    It''s not hard to realise that the Gold and Silver Sect''s martial arts aren''t impressive. Though they do have a speciality, and that is they have thick skin. They''re very good at being calctive, no matter the asion.

    They''re self-aware that their special rightse from the fact that they are among the Seven White Champion Princes. Thus, they have always done their best to improve their martial arts skills; hence, they utilised their immense wealth to collect secret manuals of all the styles in the world for their own use. This allowed their skills to gradually improve over thest century.

    That was how Jing Wangsun managed to master impressive martial arts.

    The ck and White Reflection once ranked the second-generation young man. It listed him among the seventeen incredible young men, which they attached the name Seventeen Dragons.

    The first spot was taken by an unknown disciple from Mount Daluo, while Moon Chaser Swordsman was ranked tenth, so it was a ranking of strong young men.

    Jin Wangsun, who was named the Sabre King of Jiang Nan was ranked second among the best sabre users, so you couldn''t deny his strength.

    However, despite having such an impressive background, most people were of the impression that Jin Wangsun had no chance of winning this fight. Concurrently, they considered his opponent somebody that shouldn''t be challenged.

    The sect Jin Wangsun challenged was called Night Fortress, and the person he challenged was its master.

    Below are the reactions of most of the people in the martial world when news of the impending duel spread.

    One of the Abbots of Shaolin, "Amitabha, Amitabha, monks do not exaggerate things. Fighting will bring harm, which is not a good thing. When you fight, somebody is bound to die and I must conduct ceremonies for the dead. Shaolin is currently running a buy one get one free promotion. Don''t miss out! You can leave your contact details if you like, and we can be friends."

    "Victory or defeat? There is no need to ask. We should talk about the costs involved in the ceremony. Not leaving a mary donation behind upon entering my Shaolin temple is bullying us. We cannot tolerate such bullying! Men, Luohan Formation!"

    One of the leaders of Wudang, "Young man, I have noticed that your forehead is dark. You are doomed to die within three days! Come,e,e, I shall share with you three words. I will not ask you to pay if I am incorrect. Now, please pay your registration fee first."

    One of the leaders of Emei, "Is there any need topete? Has Jin Wangsun lost his mind? Fighting him is the same as killing yourself. Oh, right, when you ascend Dragon Fang Mountain and see that guy, tell him to hurry up ande see my disciple. Is he going back on his promise from back then, or what?"

    The leader of Gold and Silver Sect, "Win? Hahahahaha, oh my god, hang on, let me catch my breath. Oh my god. Win? Is he dreaming or still not awake? Have you ever seen an egg crush a rock?"

    "The reason I told the punk to go and challenge the Master of Night Fortress was to give him a lesson. He can barely even handle the usual daily stuff, and he''s Jiang Nan''s Sabre King? I just want to teach him a lesson, so that he knows what it means for there to always be someone superior."

    "the Master of Night Fortress is known as Jiang Nan''s Face pping King. Whenever a kid won''t learn his ce, he gets sent to the Master of Night Fortress to learn a lesson. It''s a guarantee he''ll learn a lesson."

    "This is what happened back then. The punk from Lushan Jianguan was overbearing and excessively cocky, so I said to him ''Kid, you need help.'' I had him pack his stuff and then sent him to the Master of Night Fortress. His temperament improved immediately, in less than three days. The results of his treatment were like the work of God."

    "Let me put it this way; I would still pay the Master of Night Fortress two-thousand gold ingots, after my son gets beaten, as an education fee, all right? I have to spend money to teach my kid. If I don''t, he''ll always be poor. Win? Win? Heh, all right, feel free to write what I say next and circte it in the pugilistic world. I said it. Write it down."

    "If. If my son, my sted son, can defeat the Master of Night Fortress, I''ll abdicate my seat as the leader of my sect and my wealth. I''ll pass it all on to him. It''s only natural for me to. If he can beat the Master of Night Fortress, he is incredible. You know what? I''ll abdicate my seat, go back to my hometown and feed nt crops, too."

    Because the leaders of the various sects were excessively bad-tempered, the reporter for the ck and White Reflection nearly lost his life to publish that issue. However, due to how excessively authentic things sounded, the battle was spoken of as if it was a miraculous fight.

    The two sects were now confronting each other on Dragon Fang Mountain.

    Jin Wangsun led the people of Gold and Silver Sect, while the opposition brought their own people.

    One party was one of the Seven Champion White Princes, while the other was a myth of Jiang Nan''s martial world.

    One was a legendary sect that was a leader among the orthodox sects, while the other was of an unorthodox sect.

    Their representatives stood up. They exchanged eye contact with Jing Wangsun as they snickered silently.

    Jin Wangsun said, "My sabre is so thirsty for blood it can barely control itself."

    His opponent said, "My piss is ready for your sabre to drink."

    Jin Wangsun fumed, "You''re shameless! You ruffian!"

    His opponent eximed, "Go home to your mommy! Go home to your mommy!"

    The atmosphere between the two was like two kids bickering with each other¡­

    "Second in Command!"

    A disciple, acting as a messenger, shouted out from behind and rushed over in a panic.

    The man called ''Second in Command'' turned his head around and eximed, "Shut up!"

    He then red at the angry Jin Wangsun and said, "Personal matters are of less importance than the group''s affairs. Speak with me inside if there''s something you need to say."

    The second inmand wore a cold expression. He snorted and then went into the temporary wooden building. There are a few others inside who were all disciples of Night Fortress.

    "What''s wrong? Why are you all in a panic?"

    The messenger disciple replied, "Second in Command, the Master has not returned yet. He needs to fight in a moment. What are we going to do?"

    "What''s there to panic about? When have we lost? We can''t lose with the Master here."

    "But he¡­"

    Their Second in Command waved his hand and replied, "What''s the big deal? Listen, the Master already informed me. He told me to run Night Fortress properly. What does that mean? It means we''re going to seize power in the pugilistic world! I sent the Master a letter already. He could get here within an hour with his Qinggong prowess. I had our Third in Command invite the Master three days ago, just in case. Watch me fuck up this stupid Gold and Silver sect when everybody arrives. I''ll make him bounce up and down in front of me for giggles. I''ll put him in his ce today!"

    The messenger was overjoyed. He then asked with concern, "But we were the ones who epted the duel. What happens if the Master refuses to fight?"

    "It''ll be fine." The Second in Command snickered. He looked like he had it in the bag as he continued, "Do you still not know him well enough? I prepared a lethal weapon to deal with him already."

    The Second in Command whispered a few words, causing everybody else to immediately wear delighted smiles.

    "That is great then! That always works on the Master."

    The disciples on guard duty outside suddenly asked, "Second in Command, Jin Wangsun asked when the fight will start."

    The Second in Command snorted. He exuded huge amounts of his dominant aura, "Tell him to piss off. Tell him to patiently wait for his death." He paused for a moment and then added, "Add ''go home to your mommy''."

    The disciple outside the door responded with even more delight, "Sure thing~"

    "Heh, weakling."

    The Second in Command looked up at the ceiling. He wore a lonely expression, "After old Ximen Chuideng pissed off, there aren''t many worthy our attention left in the pugilistic world."

    With a lonely expression, he stroked the ck weapon box on the table.

    "Sigh, there''s no opportunity to use this godly weapon despite having it."

    A knock then came from outside.

    The Second in Command thundered, "Didn''t I tell you to tell him to go back to home to his mommy?"

    The individual outside the door meekly replied, "Our Third in Command has arrived!!"

    "Oh?" The Second in Command looked up, "Old Third is here! Hurry and invite him in!"

    A tall young individual entered from outside. He had a western pair of sses on. He looked like a bookworm.

    He revealed a sly smile and said, "Lucky I didn''t fail."

    The Second in Command asked with surprise, "Is Big Bro here? Where is he?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The Third in Command revealed a sly smile, "He didn''te."

    "He didn''te?!"

    The Second in Command kicked and then raised his voice, "He didn''te?! What the fuck did you return for then?"

    "He didn''te, but I have his letter address to you here."

    "Oh, say so sooner then."

    The Second in Command revealed a shy smile, "Hatechu (hate you~.) You scared me."

    The Second in Command took the letter, "Kiss, kiss! Big Bro didn''t forget to write me a letter despite being busy and having to get ready to set out."

    He opened the letter.

    There was only one sentence in the letter.

    "I''ve retired. Make the decisions on deals yourself."

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    Repeat ellipses ten thousand times.

    "What the fuck?!!!!"

    While the second inmand was flustered, the disciple outside casually reported, "Heh, Second in Command, that punk, Jin Wangsun, ising over here with his sabre to die~"

    "Oh, fuck!!!!!"

    The Second in Command quicklymanded, "Where''s the challenger invitation? Where''s the challenger invitation?! We''re not epting the challenge. Throw it back!"

    "B-But you already returned it to him."

    "Exin it to him then. We''re all a big family in the martial world. We can talk it out!"

    "Y-Your response was all vulgarnguage¡­"

    "!!!"

    The Second in Command was faced with a crisis!

    That was the most amusing fight in all of Jiang Nan''s martial world''s history. Jin Wangsun challenged all of Night Fortress alone with a single sabre.

    The Gold and Silver Sect''s power finally began to expand to the point they were virtually on the same level as Lushan Jianguan. Night Fortress''s title also vanished from Jiang Nan''s martial world, henceforth.

    Jin Wangsun became known throughout the world because of the event. It allowed him to seed the leader position of the Gold and Silver sect, as well as getting an audience with the emperor. Meanwhile, his father was sent back to his hometown to work in the fields.

    Cries of celebration erupted on Dragon Fang Mountain. asionally you would hear "Motherfucker! Let''s go! Let''s go and find the Master! Ow! Watch where you''re going! Don''t push meeeeee!!"

    It sounded like something fell off the cliff and echoed throughout the mountain¡­

 Volume 4 8 Setting Out

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 8 Setting Out</h4>

    I had hidden in my room for over twenty days to recover from my ¡°injury¡±, refusing to see any outsiders. I didn¡¯t even let Su Xiao or Tang Ye in.

    There¡¯s no need to exin my reason for keeping Su Xiao out. As for Tang Ye, I don¡¯t want him to know my deeper secrets.

    There are too many things and people involved with me. Tang Ye has his own goal, so it¡¯s better for him to be involved with less of my business.

    I¡¯ve been troubled over how to clean my hair and dye it with some good dye every day since returning from the pce.

    I¡¯m not stupid enough to waste money buying one off the old guy in the city. Besides hair dyes, he sells makeup and female products that are all of the highest quality as well. There are countless females in the city who go to see him. I¡¯d die from embarrassment if I had to crowd in with all those females. Then there¡¯s the price tag, too; one bottle costs sixty ingots. He might as well go rob people!!

    I got somebody in the pce who can help me!

    Old Dai manages the medicine warehouse in the pce, so he has an infinite number of medicines and drugs. I crept into the pce every night to grab some off him and bring it back for my personal use.

    I¡¯m notplimenting myself. I¡¯ve always been troubled by my white hair since I was young, so I sought out all sorts of ways to dye it ck. The hair dye the guy working underground used to create for me was the best.

    Based on my extensive research over the years, the best hair dye is made using premium bird head, henna, walnuts, ck beans and green leaves, mixed withmb fat. It¡¯s not aplex procedure.

    There¡¯s a strange flower called Ebony Flower. If you can add one or two drops of the juice from the stem of the flower, your hair will look ck and shiny. Even I cannot help but fall in love at the sight of it¡­

    In summary, Old Huang has it at his store, so I can¡¯t find or make any hair dye that canpare to the one he made.

    But, the hair dye I make canst over two months, too. I just need to use some ck hair dye every seven days and vi.

    I¡¯mzing around and bored in my room today. I don¡¯t want to go back to work and work as a cheap ve for the Imperial Court. As such, I justy on my bed with one leg over the other, enjoying wine as I read thetest issue of the ck and White Reflection.

    Thest two issues have basically been focused on describing the Orange Prince¡¯s revolt, which they called ¡°Emperor Cheng Kong Incident.¡±

    After the curtain came down on the revolt, the Imperial Court has been busy dealing with rted matters, to bring an end to the entire incident. Therefore, the three offices were searching the capital to capture people. They arrest anybody suspicious and then interrogate them.

    I don¡¯t think the League of Assassins¡¯ skilled fighters would hide here, given how smart they are. Jia Yunfeng andpany won¡¯t get anything out of leaving with the League of Assassins, but he has lost all of his sinister skills; he¡¯s bound to be abandoned by them soon.

    I hope he¡¯ll think it through when he does get abandoned.

    The biggest debate was of course, who was responsible, in other words, the final verdict for the Orange Prince and how he was going to be dealt with.

    The people of the Imperial Court had all sorts of things to say; some said to burn him, others saying to y ayer of his skin off and grill it.

    Basically, it was a ruckus. It was as though they didn¡¯t care that his father, the emperor, was sitting on his throne feeling infuriated.

    Fortunately, Prime Minister Li Si reminded the emperor. The emperor raised his voice to change the topic, thereby avoiding a disaster.

    ¡®Heh, your ass got saved, Orange Prince¡­¡¯

    Then the topic of discussion changed to discussing merits and rewards. The families of the hundreds of killed bodyguards were rewarded with gold.

    I got stumped when I read up to that part. I felt a little mncholic. I kept silent for a long time before continuing to read.

    Speaking of rewards, everybody who contributed merited a reward. The public servants performed very well at the Flying Fish Pavilion, this time. They showed courage, so, they were all rewarded with something.

    It¡¯s just that there were too many people, so it was tough to calcte. Which was why it took seven days just to discuss who to reward and how to reward them.

    What I couldn¡¯t figure out was why Long Zaitian had been demoted three ranks before the rewards were even figured out.

    It wasn¡¯t just me that was puzzled. All of the vassals of the Imperial Court were baffled. We all sighed, saying that the emperor must¡¯ve taken such a big hit from his beloved son¡¯s revolt that led to him making a wrong judgement.

    However, I¡¯ve been hearing about a song rted to the incident that¡¯s called ¡°Drowning the Seven Armies¡± or something or rather. I have to go and listen to it when I have time.

    Just as I was getting into my reading, somebody booted my door open.

    I frowned angrily, ¡°Motherfucker! How many times have I said to use your hand and not your fucking foot? Use your hand, not your foot! Do none of you have ears or something?! You don¡¯t need to use so much force! How many faces do you have for me to smack, to be kicking Lord Ming¡¯s door, huh?!¡±

    ¡®You think it was easy for Boss to give me a room of my own?! I only get so many benefits as a constable! You break it, and I¡¯ll have you repair it for me!!¡¯

    However, when I saw who it was that came, I suddenly went speechless. What I saw was a beauty with narrows hips and big knockers. Who else could it have been but Shen Yiren?

    Boss Shen scanned me as though she was smiling yet not, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t you have lots to say just now? Mother what?¡±

    ¡°M-My mother doesn¡¯t want me¡­ Boss, why are you dressed like this today?¡±

    Boss Shen was dressed in a leaf-green, powerful robe. The front of her chest was left undone, revealing, a deep valley and blessing these eyes of mine. She wore arge and imposing light-green cloak, with her sword at her waist.

    She looked like she was about to go on a long journey.

    ¡°I have received an imperial decree. I need to send a bunch of things to the leaders of the Seven White Champion Princes, so I will be absent for some time. I have to set out right away. I specially came to see you. How are your injuries heal-¡­¡±

    ¡°No way!¡± I sprang up from my bed and ran over. I realised that I was supposed to be ¡®weak¡¯ right now, so I then sat down in a chair.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Boss Shen stared at me silently for a while. She then bluntly said, ¡°Return to work today.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Oh.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t able to calm myself down, ¡°But Boss, the New Year ising in and yet you¡¯re leaving on a long trip now? His Majesty is too inconsiderate, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Boss Shen wore a stern expression, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! This is a sign His Majesty holds us in high regard.¡±

    Iined, ¡°But you¡¯re not here for my first New Year at Liu Shan Men. Howme.¡±

    Boss Shen shrugged and replied, ¡°The New Year is precisely why I need to send His Majesty¡¯s regards to the Seven White Champion Princes¡¯ territories. They have alwayse to the capital, and it was to help the emperor with a problem every time. It¡¯s courtesy to send them a New Year gift. His Majesty sent me on the job because he thinks highly of us.¡±

    ¡°But even so¡­ How about I apany you?¡±

    ¡°Stop making a fuss.¡±

    Boss Shen bent down, revealing her twin knockers. It was as if her clothes were naturally that tight. Her pose made her curvaceous lines appear prominent with her thin, tight clothing.

    When she bent over at the waist in front of me, her smooth and clear knockers left me speechless.

    ¡®I must not look! Boss Shen will know! I can¡¯t look! Boss Shen will see! Aaaahh! Divine Inkstonesmanship!! I can¡¯t control my perverted eyes, though! My eyes! My perverted eyes!!¡¯

    I saw her desire tough in her eyes. She deliberately leaned in closer, so her orchid-like fragrance entered my nose.

    I desperately backed up, but behind me was the chair¡¯s backrest. I struggled as I eximed, ¡°B-Boss! Don¡¯t seduce me!¡±

    With her fragrant scent in my nose, Boss Shen¡¯s voice gently floated into my ears, ¡°You devil. I¡¯m blessing you. It¡¯s up to you, whether you choose to look or not.¡±ike being struck by lightning, my eyes nearly popped out from staring.

    ¡°I¡¯ll look! I¡¯ll look! I¡¯ll look! Do I get bonus time if I guess the colour of your undershirt right?!¡±

    ¡°Fuck you!¡± Boss Shen red at me with her pretty eyes. She then coughed and continued, ¡°You got injured partly because of me, that¡¯s why I let you have such a long break. However, you can¡¯t be too ck. Your injuries have healed. You have lots of experience in the pugilistic world, so look after Liu Shan Men in my ce while I¡¯m absent, got it?¡±

    Without blinking, I asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the Captain still around for that?¡±

    ¡°Enough! You¡¯ve looked enough, haven¡¯t you?!¡± Boss Shen covered her white breasts. She then pulled a face and replied, ¡°He has toe with me.¡±

    I stopped looking with disappointment. I felt sad randomly¡­ That blessing was too short.

    Boss Shen looked at my mncholic look. She asked with reluctance, ¡°A-Are you¡­ unhappy?¡±

    Boss Shen wore a subtly happy expression.

    I scratched my head, ¡°Not really.¡±

    Her face then showed a hint of sadness.

    But does Boss Shen and Brother Bastard both need to leave?

    ¡°That means¡­¡±

    I¡¯ve got the highest seniority at the office!!

    A thought surged up in my mind.

    If they¡¯re both gone, that means that I¡¯ll get to enjoy all the delicacies in the storehouse as I please!

    I heard they just made a new batch of Jinhua hamst month. The smell is strong, while the meat looks nice. I felt we had good chemistry at that very moment. My, my¡­ My babies, resistance is futile. You will not be able to escape my grasp.

    ¡°Boss, don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯ll wait for you obediently at home.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boss Shen looked at me speechlessly for a moment, ¡°¡­ That¡¯s filthy! Wipe your drool!¡±

    ¡®Huh? I drooled? I was too focused on the ham.¡¯

    Boss Shen looked at me and suddenly sighed, ¡°I bet you¡¯re thinking about eating again, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re incorrigible. One more thing. This is very important, so listen carefully. His Majesty is aware that I am focusing on the development of you three and has agreed to meet you three.¡±

    Boss Shen continued sternly, ¡°This pertains to Liu Shan Men¡¯s future, so you cannot take this lightly. You must treat it seriously. Maintain your manners when you see His Majesty. I¡¯m not worried about you and Yan Ling, but you must watch Su Han. He¡¯s short on brain cells and is likely to cause trouble.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Go now. I¡¯m heading off now¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I shut my eyes and gently pulled Shen Yiren into my embrace.

    Shen Yiren widened her eyes and went to angrily push me away, only to discover I was hugging her tightly.

    I entered the Divine Realm. I moulded energy and sent qi into Shen Yiren while she wasn¡¯t paying attention. The internal style Shen Yiren trains is Twelve Meridians. The ce I sent qi into was the Eight Extra Meridians.

    Boss Shen couldn¡¯t stand it, so she pushed me away in the end and thundered, ¡°Ming Feizhen! Are you looking to die?!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you just treat it as a reward for my full recovery?¡±

    Boss Shen red daggers at me and didn¡¯t speak to me, while I giggled, but didn¡¯t say anything either.

    I gave her qi as an insurance measure that can save her life in a crucial moment. I don¡¯t want her to die while she¡¯s out of my sight. The probability of her dying is big, given her fearless character.

    The heads of the Seven White Champion Princes are all wolves that¡¯d eat you whole without spitting your bones out.

    Yes, they are indeed a major helper of the Imperial Court, but the emperor has wanted for the martial world to ¡°take a break,¡± while focusing on nurturing the Imperial Courts fighters. Thereby causing the Seven White Champion Princes to gradually get the cold shoulder treatment.

    As such, there¡¯s a chance that they¡¯ll make things hard for Shen Yiren. The fact that the emperor had Song Ou apany her was evidence that he was aware of the dangers involved.

    Furthermore, in the case that the Seven White Champion Princes didn¡¯t n to do that, that didn¡¯t mean that they weren¡¯t hostile to people within the Imperial Court.

    Just as Boss Shen was about to push the door open and leave, I suddenly said, ¡°The pugilistic world is a dangerous ce, but the Imperial Court is even more dangerous. Liu Shan Men is starting to stand out, so you must be careful with everything you do, Boss. Travelling in two carts and operating in the cover of the night are the best courses of action.¡±

    ¡°You sound as if you¡¯ve got lots of experience in the pugilistic world.¡± Boss Shen turned her head around to look at me. She pulled a face and couldn¡¯t help butugh in the end. She patted me on my head, but due to our height difference, she had to tiptoe up.

    I found that very cute.

    She gave me two pats thenughed and said, ¡°All right. I know you¡¯re worried about me. Thank you. Su Han and Yan Ling have headed off already. Don¡¯t bete. The Imperial City doors will be shut after a certain time. Don¡¯t mess up.¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡± I waved my hand, ¡°How could I bete?¡±

 Volume 4 9 The End of the Year is Coming

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 9 The End of the Year is Coming</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Safe travels, Boss." I saw Boss off at the door and then took my time returning to the inside of my room.

    I looked at the northeast corner of my room andughed, "Why note out for a meeting, esteemed visitor."

    Somebody had snuck into my room while I was talking to Boss Shen.

    The intruder possessed extremely profound Qinggong, evident by the fact that Boss didn''t even detect their presence.

    Boss is always inside Liu Shan Men. If their target was her, they wouldn''t need to go out of their way to sneak into the room, meaning their target was me.

    I didn''t call the intruder out at the time so that I could face them one on one.

    "You did not leave the entire time. It looks like you have quite the grudge against me." The remark was delivered using Voice Transmission to the location of the intruder.

    There was a vague shadow of someone in ck clothing on the pir of the room. The individual suddenly dropped down from the pir, like a falling star. The floor and pir aren''t too far apart, but they came down like a meteorite. This demonstrated that they expended no effort, but free-fell down. Their Qinggong was so superior that it is honestly rare to behold.

    However, that wasn''t what surprised me. What surprised me was, their Qinggong technique¡­ was my creation!

    "How do you know Night Steps?!"

    The intruder still refused to speak up. They somersaulted out of the window while I was surprised.

    I stood in ce, instead of giving chase. I had a rough guess of how advanced their Qinggong skills were from thest few movements they made. If they weren''t in the Divine Realm, I was confident I could catch them before he escaped Liu Shan Men''s main courtyard. I was not, however, confident that I could catch them before being seen by others.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As such, I had to resort to shouting, "We have an assassin!!"

    The intruder turned around to re at me as if to say "consider it your win".

    The sounds of men moving about to search for them could soon be heard.

    By the time I caught up, there were over ten constables beat onto their backs in the courtyard. I didn''t see the intruder in sight.

    I wondered to myself, ''Who was that? Why did they know Night Steps, which I created? I''ve only taught it to my Second Junior Brother and Liu Zi. Don''t tell me something happened to them. Liu Zi is touring around, while my Second Junior Brother is still at Night Fortress. He shouldn''t be here''

    I thought long and hard, but I couldn''t find any answer. I had no choice but to put it aside for now, go change and get ready to enter the pce to see the emperor.

    ================

    It''s said that three major incidents happened in the capital recently.

    One of them was the Orange Prince''s capture and how he was going to be dealt with. The Orange Prince is the empress''s biological son. The emperor has always respected the empress, so it''s unlikely he''d be beheaded. However, this is treason we''re talking about.

    Although this dynasty doesn''t have any extermination of nine generation practices like Northern Xinjiang, treason would definitely cause the extermination of your entire n. Even the Orange Prince would be locked up for a century and live a life worse than animals.

    He''d only be spared the death penalty since the reigning emperor is kind. If a crueller emperor was reigning, forget imprisoning the Orange Prince, even the empress would be punished for raising her son poorly.

    The matter gave the emperor a headache, while the people were all watching on eagerly. They all wondered what consequences the first prince to revolt would be subjected to.

    The second incident was the young master of the Gold and Silver sect who proved himself to bepetent, recing the previous leader as the new leader of the sect a few months ago. His achievement of bing a leader of the one of the Seven White Champion Princes before the age of thirty was a record none had achieved before.

    He would enter the pce to meet the emperor, and for the emperor to bestow upon himnd and territory, as per tradition. The young man had sorted out the sect''s internal affairs and was now preparing to enter the capital to see the emperor.

    If you ask me, that incident was as strange as Long Zaitian''s demotions, which I couldn''t exin.

    I know the former leader of the Gold and Silver Sect. He''s an easy-going hearty man, who''s high in spirits and walks like an imposing old grandpa. He''s trained internal arts for a long time, so his cultivation is profound. He should be able to live for another thirty or forty years, logically speaking. His son isn''t old, so why did he decide to hand him the baton already?

    The third incident was what the emperor had said in his speech at the Flying Fish Pavilion. He said that the victor of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament could have Princess Hongzhuang''s hand in marriage and be crowned Hongzhuang Fuma.

    I always considered the idea retarded, but the emperor did dere it, after all.

    The tournament was called off midway through, yet he didn''t lose the thought. I heard that he was nning to re-select a Fuma.

    If you ask me, Princess Hongzhuang may be a little different to Princess Jingan, but she''s a great beauty. She''s upright and decisive. It would be a pity if she just married some random young talent.

    I thought about these incidents as I changed before heading to the pce.

    Every time I step onto this Vermilion Bird Road, I get the feeling like I''ve had two life times. Of course, that''s how I feel every time, after staying at home for over ten days without leaving, so it wasn''t anything rare.

    This was the first time I left my room during the day in twenty days. I was shocked by the sight of the streets as soon as I got to the streets.

    Thest time I wandered the streets was almost a month ago. It was still winter at the time. Snowfall had just begun to fall and the hawkers on the street were the same as always.

    This time, however, hundreds of stores had changed.

    Every house had auspicious messages written on red sheets hung up. Every store was covered with red paper with auspicious messages written on in ck.

    I heard firecrackers as soon as I got to the streets. Red sheets of paper swayed with the smoke. Kids in baggy red pants, with their hair done up as twin buns, ran around on the streets with adults chasing after them from behind. They weren''t exactly trying to stop them, but rather, afraid that the children would trip.

    The Vermilion Bird Road was congested with traffic. There were men and women moving goods, couples taking strolls, basically, nobody was free.

    The closer it got to the end of the year, the more evident it became.

    How long has it been since Ist celebrated New Year?

    Back when I was at Mount Daluo, I was sick in bed, so my juniors would go to the vige together to y with the vigers at the end of the year. Meanwhile, I''d be bedridden all alone.

    Shiyi woulde into my room carrying a bowl of steamed dumplings with a giggle. She''d tell me eating together made it taste better.

    She''d feed me the majority of the dumplings in the bowl before eating the few remaining cold ones, but she''d eat them like they were delicious, nevertheless. She said that dumplings had to be enjoyed together with the family. She didn''t have any family, so I was her family.

    As I recalled those times, a unique aroma of glutinous rice mixed with sesame found its way to me.

    An olddy not too far away was kneading a ball of dumpling wraps mixed withrd and sesame. She rolled it into a round dumpling, and it was done. This was a dumpling stall.

    "Auntie, give me a bowl of dumplings."

    She chuckled. She teased me cheerfully, "Hey, is one bowl enough for a big boy like you?"

    The mischievous auntie didn''t stop working even while she spoke. She continued until she formed thick round dumplings and then tossed them into the boiling water one after another.

    I smiled and replied, "I need to taste test them first, don''t I?"

    "My dumplings are famous here. I use premium ingredients. I guarantee the vour. Ask around on this road. I guarantee there''s nobody that doesn''t know of me. Here, one bowl. That''ll be two coins."

    "I''ve got to give them a try then."

    There were ten smooth dumplings that were clear as jade. The aromatic soup reflected the bustling road behind me. I held the bowl up, but I didn''t dig in.

    The auntie then ignored me and resumed calling out to attract customers. Another bowl came out from the pot.

    A person who passed by me said, "You got toe here to eat when you miss home. It''s New Year, man. Who doesn''t eat a bowl of dumplings?"

    I lingered for a long time before having a dumpling. I bit into the glutinous rice. The warm flesh entered my mouth and mixed with the glutinous rice. It was sweet, yet contained a hint of saltiness.

    I finished the bowl in silence.

    "They''re good." I nodded like I was kowtowing, "Your dumplings are the second best dumplings I''ve ever had."

    "Of course." She chuckled as she took the bowl back, "There''s no ce that can beat the dumplings at home."

    She was right.

    Regardless of how delicious other dishes were, I missed the bowl of dumplings Shiyi fed me back then.

    I miss home a little, now. I miss the people at home, now.

    Is this what it feels like to miss family during festivals?

    I can''t be like this. I need to recharge myself.

    My eyes shot in a specific direction likesers, and I began to tread into the bustling market.

    Braised pork shoulder with soy sauce! I''ming for you!!!

 Volume 4 10 The Long Road to the Meeting with the Emperor (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 10 The Long Road to the Meeting with the Emperor (Part 1)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Princess Hongzhuang was feeling very irritated today.

    Nothing had gone her way on her first day back at the pce.

    First, somebody peeked on her in the bath, then she found out her brother had revolted, and then her father had been in a tight pinch.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If Lord San Shen had not shown up, then nobody could say for sure how things would''ve ended.

    She had been going in and out of the pce for thest few days, working with the three offices to capture the criminals from the League of Assassins. She knew that the League of Assassins worked for money. As long as one could afford them, they''d even raid heaven.

    The biggest criminal in this incident was her brother, without question, however; she felt that she could relieve him of his crime, somewhat. If she could arrest more members from the League of Assassins, she could thereby reduce the severity of his punishment.

    Additionally, she hoped that she could find out some information pertaining to that man through the investigations, no matter how insignificant it might be. She wanted to find out about that man with white hair like snow, wearing a bronze mask, that saved her and her father.

    She often thought of him from that day onward. She recalled how suave he wasing and leaving like the wind and silent like a phantom. She recalled how heroic and invincible he was when he faced the enemies that day. She recalled how he spared many people for her sake. Every time she recalled his voice, she would find herself smiling, despite the fact that he wore a mask at the time.

    Princess Hongzhuang had possessed the temperament of a boy ever since she was young. She had developed a fondness for sabre arts from a young age. She trained diligently, so she often struggled to y with girls around her age. All of her siblings felt she was a martial arts nut, so they didn''t like to y with her, either.

    Shen Yiren was the only one who got along with her. Whenever Hongzhuang mastered any new styles, she''d excitedly show it off to Shen Yiren first. Simrly, Shen Yiren would immediately enter the pce to seek her out whenever she made any new discoveries pertaining to martial arts.

    There was nothing that Shen Yiren, whom she considered a close sister didn''t know. She initially wanted to tell Shen Yiren about Lord San Shen, but Shen Yiren was too busy, so she had no other friends to keep herpany.

    It was the first time she had been made to deal with this frustration, but she now had nobody to speak to about it.

    Time passed, but Princess Hongzhuang had achieved nothing. She couldn''t help her brother at all, and she had not found any news on Lord San Shen.

    The topic for today''s conference was a continuation of the "Emperor Cheng Kong Incident".

    The winter sun was shining up high in the sky, but the princess lifelessly and slowly walked on toward the pce.

    A horse carriage suddenly careened past her, charging toward the main doors of the pce while ignoring all of the citizens on the street. Crashing into numerous stalls, it broke their items and littered the street with eggs, baskets of fresh vegetables and tables of goods.

    The horse carriage had created an absolute mess. Several people got hurt because of it crashing into things.

    Hawkers chased after it to hit it but the carriage cared for nobody and nothing, causing a line of people to chase after it.

    Princess Hongzhuang angrily eximed to herself, "Who is it that''s acting so bold and arrogant?!"

    Rtives of the royal family, officials, and ministers reside where the pce is located, so any person you might run into could be highly-ranked individuals. However, the reigning emperor was wise. He hated nobility that had no integrity and bullied the people most.

    Ten years ago, the eldest son of the former Assistant Manager of the Ministry of Personnel teased a girl on the streets. He had ripped off her skirt, thereby revealing her white thighs.

    Citizens who passed by decided to capture the guy and send him to Liu Shan Men.

    The incident had quickly spread around and soon enough reached the emperor.

    The emperor had the young man brought before him and broke his legs in front of his father before erasing all of his father''s aplishments and stripping him of his title, forbidding him from being employed by the Imperial Court again.

    After that incident, the ministers and nobles understood the emperor''s temperament and therefore became strict with their children and grandchildren. Hence, it is very rare to see bullies in the capital, especially on the big streets.

    The carriage was pulled by four horses. The rules of this dynasty are that the emperor has his carriage pulled by six horses, while ministers have their carriages pulled by four horses, which meant that the individual sitting in the carriage was of very high status.

    Putting aside how resplendent the carriage was, having four horses pull it was enough to show how high in status the individual inside was.

    Two of the horses were fully ck, while the other two were fully white. Their bodies were bright, and their manes resembled a lion''s mane. All four horses were tall and strong. Such brilliant horses were hard to find even in the south of the capital where thend is rich, yet here there were four.

    Princess Hongzhuang got even more shocked upon looking at the body of the carriage.

    It was made out of gold phoebe, carved with intricate patterns. The curtains were made from silk. Half a gold tablet and half a silver tablet were located in the centre of the wheels, forming a unique emblem.

    The horses and carriage unted the immense wealth of the owner.

    As she looked on, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

    A tall and pretty young man pulled the silk curtain open and revealed himself.

    The man in white had a handsome face. He looked around thirty years old. He was dressed in all white with gold trim on his clothing. A gold sabre, with a handle made out of gold and a sheath made of silver, hung at his waist. There were eight jewels on his sheath.

    The sword and sheath looked more like they were there for design purposes rather than functionality.

    The young man had a graceful appearance. He didn''t say a word after stepping off the carriage. In fact, he didn''t even bother to spare the citizens behind him a nce.

    "Is the pce up ahead? The walls are thick and heavy enough, so they''re satisfactory."

    The citizens were cursing at him. Those who had more aggressive temperaments raised their arms up to hit him, but then six men who seemed to be his family servants came out from behind him.

    The four of them looked straight ahead and puffed their chests out. Like the man in white, they cared for nobody and considered themselves greater beings.

    The citizens continued cursing at them. If the six didn''t look like they were tough, there would be about ten people who would have gone over and punch his face in.

    One of the guys among the six pulled out a bag from inside his shirt. He opened it, revealing shiny silver pieces. Everybody was surprised to discover they were all silver ingots.

    The people froze. That guy then threw the bag into their air, leading to the silver ingots scattering everywhere.

    Another person then loudly shouted, "Our Young Master said that this was yourpensation. If you manage to snatch more, you got lucky. If you get nothing, then well deserved."

    Silver ingots scattered in every direction. Countless silver ingots asrge as a human forehead were worth more than their losses.

    The people immediately went into a frenzy, trying to snatch as much as they could, as those who couldn''t could only consider today an unlucky day. Naturally, the street became chaotic in an instant. Several men started getting into a tussle for two ingots. The scene was a lot more chaotic than when the carriage was rampaging moments ago.

    Princess Hongzhuang fumed to herself, ''This guy is taking it too far! He belittles everyone excessively.''

    The young man in white took a nce at the people fighting over the ingots and snickered, "I have never gone around. You set your stores up in my way, which you can consider your good fortune. Consider this my gift to you." He began to walk with big strides.

    A young girl tripped on the ground up ahead. The small windmill toy in her hand was still spinning. She looked at the four horses in the distance fearfully, forgetting to stand up.

    The man in white was tall as the horse, yet walked across as though he couldn''t see the people on the street.

    Princess Hongzhuang recalled how he went straight ahead instead of making turns and now saw that he showedplete disregard for the young girl as well.

    Just as she was about to rage at him, she heard a sweet clear voice shout, "Hey! What are you bullying people for?!"

    A slender beauty in male clothing rushed over from the side to pick the young girl up and protect her.

    The man in white gave him a cold re and snickered, "Who are you?"

    The beauty in blue pouted and fumed, "My name is Su Xiao. What are you bullying a young girl for? Can''t you see you caused her to cry?"

 Volume 4 11 The Long Road to the Meeting with the Emperor (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 11 The Long Road to the Meeting with the Emperor (Part 2)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Crying? What does her crying have to do with me? I''m walking on this street right now. You don''t look too bad, so I suggest you run along. I won''t stoop down to your level."

    Su Xiao ignored him and tried tofort the girl in his arms. It didn''t take long for him to get her to stop crying and smile.

    "Big sis, that man is so mean."

    "Yeah, I know. Having a brain is a good thing, except his brain has a problem. Also, I''m not ''big sis'', but ''big brother''."

    The young girl leaned onto Su Xiao''s chest. She smelt the scent on him and then titled her small head, "Big sis? Big brother?"

    The man in white coldly asked, "Who did you say has a problem with their brain?"

    Su Xiao stroked the girl''s soft hair and without looking at him replied, "Whoever doesn''t know how to make a turn is the one who has a problem with his brain. The road is public property. What right does one have to belittle people because they have some extra spare change? If people can''t respect others, all the money in the world is useless, right?"

    The young girl smiled, "Uhm! Yup!"

    The man in white snickered and then took out a broken piece of gold. He gently dropped it onto the ground. The hawkers in the distance with sharp eyes immediately ran over. Others behind them followed suit, resulting in a cluster of people fighting for it.

    "See? It''s not that I look down on them, but that they are willing to take my money. Do they need respect?"

    Su Xiao still refused to look at him, "My gosh, and he ims he has a brain. Of course, people are going to pick up money thrown onto the road. Even three-year-olds know that. I wonder which hole such a big ignorant fellow crawled out from."

    The people snatching the gold instantly burst out inughter.

    Although they found it funny, they did indeed view this wealthy man as a sucker using the money to make himself look good. They had nothing remotely close to respect for him. To the contrary, they felt he was overwhelmingly stupid.

    The man in white got embarrassed, so he snorted, "Fine, if that''s how you want to y then there''s no point being polite with you."

    With a raise of the hand from the man in white, Su Xiao suddenly felt his feet gliding, so he swiftly focused his qi downwards to stabilise his body.

    Ming Feizhen had taught Su Xiao some internal style mental cultivation techniques, so Su Xiao made big improvements this month. The man struck him with a vacuum palm strike, but that didn''t move him.

    The man in white''s expression changed, "I couldn''t tell you knew martial arts. So you were deliberately picking a fight with me, then!"

    As soon as he finished making his remark, he threw another swift palm strike. With the child in his arms, Su Xiao was unable to move nimbly, so he didn''t evade. He was bound to get hit with the palm strike. However, the man in white then felt a sharp wind and his body headed backwards.

    The man in white didn''t lose his cool. He steadied his elbow, moved his palm downwards in a semi-circle and then precisely palmed Princess Hongzhuang''s wooden sabre.

    Princess Hongzhuang wanted to teach him a lesson before Su Xiao appeared, so when she saw Su Xiao and the child in a pinch, she naturally went to their aid.

    Seeing that he had help, Su Xiao quickly carried the child away from the battle.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Princess Hongzhuang shed thrice consecutively with an average amount of force behind them.

    The man in white was a sabre user himself, so he was aware that she was skilled and thus didn''t dare to contest it with his bare hands again. However, he evaded pathetically. He then hastily made a turn and used his sheath to guard her attack.

    Princess Hongzhuang found out that her opponent possessed profound internal strength and a very solid martial arts foundation with those three shes. She concluded that if they were to officially fight, then it was bound to be an intense fight.

    Despite possessing a body considered to be precious, Princess Hongzhuang had practised martial arts from a young age and never used her status to push people around in fights.

    She tightened her grip on her wooden sabre and then focused her eyes.

    The man in white frowned when he saw the princess. He scanned her as though he was trying to determine the authenticity of an item.

    Seeing the way he ran his gaze up her long legs to her slender waist, up to her breasts, where his eyes lit up, caused Princess Hongzhuang''s hairs to stand up.

    "Heh, I never thought I''d see the female lead before the show."

    The princess had no idea what he was talking about, but she saw him draw his sabre at his waist.

    True to her assumption, that expensive and resplendent sabre was better suited to be used as decoration. Though the handle was made of gold, the de was blunt.

    "Since we''ve met, how about seeing who''s stronger. Let see if I can control you."

    She paid no heed to what he said. Once the man in white drew his sabre, his aura instantly changed, making him much more imposing. He made a quick sh.

    Princess Hongzhuang raised her de to intercept it without a second thought. The two des shed loudly and then the two took a step back each.

    Both of them were surprised with each other and made remarks to themselves.

    The man in white said, ''I heard that she was just eighteen or neen this year, yet her sabre skills are so refined. She is indeed a rare find.''

    Princess Hongzhuang, on the other hand, said to herself, ''His sabre looks luxurious and mboyant, basically just a de. In reality, however, the sabre matches his style. His sabre is best suited to close-quartersbat.''

    The man in white raised his sabre and went at her again. He was much faster than he wasst time.

    Surprisingly, Princess Hongzhuang kept up with all of is attacks.

    Their des shed and then disengaged. Theypeted in vision, arm strength, overall strength, speed, precision through their exchanges, which soon resembled a tornado.

    They exchanged moves so swiftly it was akin to a string of fireworks going off on New Year. Before they knew it, they had traded over two hundred blows.

    The man in white noticed that his opponent wasn''t tired in the least and detected her vitality rising through her strong blows, which were signs that she possessed profound inner strength and thus was not to be underestimated. He made a vicious attack and then suddenly retreated.

    Princess Hongzhuang didn''t give chase, instead watching him to see what he was up to.

    The man in white took three steps back and then tossed the expensive sabre aside. He shouted, "Bring me Yun Tou!"

    His six ves immediately took out a box from the carriage. They took out arge grey sabre. The de was thick, wide and looked very heavy. That made it obvious the sabre was intended to be used for strong attacks.

    He took the sabre and snickered, "Now is your chance to surrender!"

    He raised hisrge sabre up and quickly shed like a gust of wind. That was a strong strike.

    Princess Hongzhuang realised something was wrong when she intercepted the sh, but it was toote to regret by then.

    The techniques he used with therge sabre were akin to running water, in that he attacked continuously with no breaks.

    Princess Hongzhuang got pushed back by his attacks and didn''t dare to take his attacks head on. She herself was fine, but her wooden sabre had nearly been shaved down to a pick. The superiority of their weapons was determined before who was stronger was determined.

    The sabre wasrge, thick, heavy and sharp while Princess Hongzhuang''s wooden sabre relied on her speed. Her sabre wasn''t thick, so it could stand the blunt de, but it was hopeless against thisrge sabre.

    Princess Hongzhuang was on her way to the pce, so she didn''t bring the sabre she usually carried with her.

    It was unlikely she''d be able to take three attacks from therge sabre with her wooden sabre if she wasn''t reinforcing it with her qi. However, she was now unable to keep up, allowing the man in white to chop it apart.

    The man in white got excited as he fought. He didn''t stop even after seeing that his opponent had lost.

    He shouted, "Your skills are atrocious!"

    He shed vigorously eight times consecutively, surrounding Princess Hongzhuang.

    Not daring to intercept the de with her body, the princess was forced to step back. The de swung past as though it was trying to cut her clothes open.

    "How dare you!!"

    The man in white suddenly felt a hot attack like firee from behind. He didn''t know what it was. He pulled his de back to defend himself first. He saw a man dressed in a navy robe that was borderline ck.

    The man had an upright posture and looked handsome. The man struck at him with a palm strike from a foot away. The palm strike was akin to fire.

    He shouted, "Insolence! Do you know where you are and who this is?!"

    The man glided through the air like an eagle andnded stably between him and Hongzhuang.

    The man in white knew he was the one that attacked him. He suddenly decided to switch hands, passing his sabre to his left hand and attacking with a reverse grip.

    The neer didn''t expect his style to have such a unique twist, so he quickly retreated, but he used the Red Sleeve Sabre Art "Li Era Stiff Peach" before he was cornered.

    The sabre attack was enveloped in darkness and light, leading to the man in white to suddenly change and stop.

    Princess Hongzhuang was relieved to have his assistance, but she also knew that the man in white would attack again, so she quickly started moulding energy to fight again.

    However, the man in white suddenly stopped. He took a big step back and put some distance between them. He swung his sabre in a way that made it look as though his de was on fire and that he could throw at them at any moment. The heat around then vanished.

    The man in white frowned, "Red Sleeve Sabre! Who are you? What''s your rtionship to the Valley of Yearning''s Bai family?"

    The school he came from has been in a friendly rtionship with the Valley of Yearning for many years. Therefore, he had to clear things up, or else things could turn out bad.

    "That has nothing to do with you."

    The young man in the purple robe that looked navy before with a cold expression was Tang Ye.

    Su Xiao''s silhouette could be seen behind Tang Ye. Of course, Su Xiao was the one who went and called Tang Ye for help. Su Xiao had never seen the princess, but Tang Ye had seen her in the pce.

    He saw the princess fighting and had to get involved, as she was about to lose. It''d be fine if she won, but he couldn''t just watch and let her get bullied.

    Tang Ye stared at the man in white and bluntly asked, "Did you know that the girl you fought with is the current second princess, Princess Hongzhuang? Who are you? How dare you swing your weapon at her?"

    The man in white nced at Tang Ye with interest, "Who I am has nothing to do with you. And who are you?"

    Tang Ye stood in front of the princess and replied, "A constable from Liu Shan Men, Tang Ye."

    The man in white froze for a moment and thenughed out loud. He casually threw his sabre away, and his people behind him caught it.

    "Hahahaha, I thought you were some bigwig, but you''re just a constable? Your Red Sleeve Sabre is incredible, but I''ve already researched it thoroughly. I''m not afraid of your Dark and Light Manual."

    Tang Ye responded indifferently, "You can try me. I look for fights every day. How about giving me a try?"

    The man in white revealed an eager expression, but then his people suddenly came up to him from behind and told him, "Master, you might bete."

    The man in white looked at the sky and worried a little. He couldn''t miss his appointment today. And so, he snickered, "You''re Tang Ye? I remember you now. We can fight next time."

    He then swept his gaze over to Princess Hongzhuang''s beautiful face and couldn''t helpughing, "Beautiful, we''ll meet again soon. We''ll have to do something about your fiery temper when we do. Hahahaha."

    Princess Hongzhuang hurled her sabre handle at him and fumed, "If it were not for my sabre being inferior, you might not have been able to beat me!"

    Su Xiao suddenly came out from behind her and eximed, "Exactly! Exactly! You don''t fight fair!"

    The man in white looked up at the sky as heughed. He then sat back on his carriage and left. Surprisingly, he was headed in the direction of the pce.

    Tang Ye watched him leave. He then turned around and knelt before the princess, "Your Highness, please forgive me for beingte."

    Seeing his mannerisms, Su Xiao suddenly raised his voice like a thunderp, "Th-This maiden is the second princess?!"

    "What ''maiden''? You''re supposed to address her as ''Her Highness.''"

    Su Xiao quickly took a step back and went to salute her, but Princess Hongzhuang calmly said, "It''s fine. We''re outside the pce, so you don''t need to salute me. Thank you for your help back there. I don''t know what would''ve be of me, otherwise."

    Princess Hongzhunag looked at Tang Ye and nodded, "You''re Tang Ye. I''ve heard of you. I heard that you came from Mingjing Pce in Beihai. I heard that you defeated Tie Hanyi at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament and that you are even stronger than Long Zaitian. I see that your reputation is true after witnessing your skills today. You are superior to me in empty-handbat. You did very well at the Flying Fish Pavilion and the Imperial Study. I will report this to my father after some time. You will definitely receive a handsome reward."

    "Thank you, Your Highness."

    The princess then looked at Su Xiao, but she looked at his military official uniform with suspicion.

    "Miss, you are¡­"

    "I am not a girl!" Su Xiao then quickly went to exin, "Your Highness¡­ I¡­ I am Su Xiao. I am working at Liu Shan Men. Umm, umm¡­ I am a Baihu."

    Su Xiao isn''t used to announcing himself as an official, thereby causing the princess to giggle at the end of his exnation.

    Su Xiao didn''t feel awkward, though. He just poked his tongue out with embarrassment as he, too, giggled.

    Princess Hongzhuang then responded, "You''re Su Xiao? I know of you, too."

    "You know of me, Your Highness?"

    Princess Hongzhuang pursed her lips into a smile, "The eunuchs, maids and even the harem, basically anybody who has seen you, is full of nothing but praise for you. They say you look like Pan An and the prettiest official of our dynasty. Hmm, Let''s see, I think that''s an understatement. If you were to dress up, not even girls couldpare to you."

    Su Xiao scratched his white cheek and replied as though he was in a dilemma, "I am not that great."

    "In my opinion, the rumours are still not urate. You are kind. You put your own safety aside to save a child. That is a rare virtue. I hold that in high regard. Baihu Su, if you run into any trouble in the future, don''t hesitate toe and see me."

    Su Xiao felt like he found a strong backer after what he heard, so he quickly thanked her, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

    "Seeing that the two of you were walking this street, are you nning to enter the pce?"

    Tang Ye responded respectfully, "His Majesty has ordered us toe and see him. As such, we are on our way to the pce now."

    Princess Hongzhuang smiled and said, "I thought so. That''d be about the only reason you''d be heading this way at this time. How about going with me, since we''re walking on the same street?"

    Before Tang Ye could reply, Su Xiao nodded with a smile, "Sure! I heard lots of girls in the pce say that you were a good person, and you really are. That child and I would have gotten hurt if you did not help us back there."

    Princess Hongzhuang froze for a moment. She had dropped the princess mannerisms, but Su Xiaopletely tossed their difference in status out the window to walk next to her in a rxed manner.

    Tang Ye watched the two of them walk away. He then looked at the sky and said to himself, ''Big bro, it''s not me that didn''t wait for you, but Su Xiao.''

    He then quickly went to catch up with them.

    Notes:

    *A "vacuum palm" is where you palm the air and then the wind itself attacks you. If you read Naruto, it''s the exact same as Hinata''s move.

 Volume 4 12 To Kill and to Not Kill (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 12 To Kill and to Not Kill (Part 1)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Reward!"

    Eunuch Wang Tushui stood in Jin Luan Hall and in his clear voice, loudly dered, "Tie Hanyi from His Majesty''s Security Detail was faithful to his duty and came to His Majesty''s rescue at the Imperial Study, and is hereby promoted two ranks, awarded fifty gold ingots, plus two hundred silver ingots."

    "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!" Tie Hanyi showed his joy on his face as he took therge red packet handed to him by a eunuch. He knew his reward was inside, so he bowed to give his gratitude.

    The formalities required during this dynasty''s reign are fairly loose.

    The vassals didn''t have to kneel down when they saw the emperor, unless it was for something very important. To give their thanks, they just needed to bow, instead of having to kowtow as well, hence why it was all right for Tie Hanyi to just bow and verbally give his thanks.

    The emperor narrowed his eyes that were obviously tired. He revealed a slight smile, "Guard Tie is very loyal and a role model for others. He came to my rescue as soon as he dealt with the poison. I shall remember the loyalty you showed."

    Tie Hanyi is an honest man. In reality, he just followed the crowd and ran around randomly. He found the emperor by coincidence, so he just bowed like a yes-man to thank the emperor without saying anything else.

    Tie Hanyi was standing at the centre because he stepped out of the line alone to give his thanks. His original position in the hall was located roughly toward the rear of the middle of the military vassals.

    There was somebody standing at in thest line of the military vassals with jealousy in his eyes.

    Said person was Long Zaitian, who hated Tie Hanyi when he saw him go to receive his reward.

    ''I performed magnificently during the "Emperor Cheng Kong Incident." I yed an undercover agent for two sides and never let any information slip. I countered the Thorn Tears Poison, fought against the ck Winds Thirteen Wings at the Flying Fish Pavilion and even saved Vice-captain Shen. I even led a team to rescue the emperor at the end. I didn''t get a single reward, despite all those major contributions.

    Who the fuck is Tie Hanyi? He got his ass whooped by Tang Ye and then went fishing in barren waters for ages. He only contributed right at the end. He was just a prop in thest battle, and he got promoted?!''

    The emperor failed to get what he was after despite his sacrifice in Long Zaitian''s¡­ "Drowning the Seven Armies," so he was furious and almost had him beheaded. He was saved by his big contributions and loyalty.

    His choice to remain loyal despite the Orange Prince''s threats and offers was a rare attribute. The emperor was on the brink ofing up with a random excuse to have him skinned, or if not, sent to the castration room, so that the now Eunuch Zhong Ning could enlighten him.ong Zaitian was aware that the emperor was very generous to not have beheaded him, for if it was another emperor, they''d have him beheaded for pissing on them. But he was annoyed, nheless, as he was a Vice-captain of the Qilin Guards and yet now he''s a Baihu after being demoted, which is the same rank as Su Xiao.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ording to the regtions, he shouldn''t even be allowed to stand where he was now standing in the hall. However, he was the leader of the Qilin Guards in the capital, which was unrted to his rank in the Imperial Court, as it''s a rank appointed by the Grand Commander of the Qilin Guards, so he was still allowed to stand there.

    Tears welled up in Long Zaitian''s eyes. Though he was standing in thest row, he would still poke his body out every now and then to sh a "poor me" gaze to the emperor.

    ''Your Majesty! This is unfair to me!!''

    The emperor looked at his vassals and Long Zaitian. They all wore grim expressions, so he knew it was time, and hence exchanged eye contact with the empress who was sitting next to him.

    "Why did Guard Tie receive a reward? He aplished nothing inparison to many others here. However, he arrived to help me when I was in a pinch, and thus managed to get himself a contribution merit. Many of you may not understand the logic I followed, but what I rewarded were the two words ''just right.'' There are times when we cannot control our hearts. Once we are shaken, we be strange. As important vassals of the Imperial Court, you all need to have better self-control."

    It looked as though the emperor nced at Long Zaitian, but at the same time not. He then added, "Of course, that applies to other posts too. If you cannot manage yourself well, you cannot manage others."

    His gaze shifted to the Baihu Long in the rear.ong Zaitian, who couldn''t control his dder, stood back in line immediately.

    The emperor then wore on a lonely expression, causing the many people who saw it to feel afraid, "You must know when to advance and when to retreat, both as an emperor and a vassal. I have been crowned for over three decades now and you have assisted me in managing thends. I was just a young man back then, and you are no longer the same age, either."

    "Some of you were young men with ck hair, but now have a head of white hair. Many talents havee and left. I have sat here for over three decades as well. I''m old now and so are you."

    "I don''t dare to im that I did everything well thesest thirty years, but I at least can honestly say that I have a clear conscience. You have had me as your ruler, and I have not let you down. We have weathered everything together these three decades. I have treated you generously, so you cannot treat me poorly. Now you are all asking me to behead my own son? How could I possibly bring myself to give the order?"

    The vassals of the Imperial Court have been aggressive, recently, regarding the Orange Prince''s punishment. They said that there is no father that kills his son, but there shouldn''t be a son who kills his father, either. The Orange Prince plotted to kill his father and revolt. Whether you consider him a son or a vassal, he is a traitor. His crime is, therefore, unforgivable and he should be killed as deterrence.

    The three elders of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rights and the Military have pressed for his execution. They couldn''t ask for anything more than to skin the Orange Prince as a tribute to their loyal fallen vassals.

    The empress was shocked as she heard that they wanted to have the Orange Prince beheaded.

    The empress was stuck in the harem the entire time when the revolt unfolded, so she didn''t know what happened in the Forbidden City. After she heard that her son had revolted, she immediately went to see the emperor to kowtow and ask for forgiveness.

    The emperor and empress cared for each other deeply. The emperor didn''t reprimand her at all for the revolt, because he knew that it had nothing to do with her.

    However, the empress could detect the coldness in his words and mannerisms.

    But regardless of how wrong her son may have been, the empress couldn''t let the emperor behead him. Consequently, she knelt outside the Imperial Study, refusing to eat, drink, or get up no matter what the emperor said.

    The emperor also asked himself many times if he should kill the Orange Prince or not.

    If it was somebody else who had revolted, he would have had their entire family beheaded without batting an eye.

    Revolting is a major crime. As matter of fact, it could poison the vassals of the Imperial Court, leading to absolute chaos.

    The emperor had never been so cornered alone before. He was subdued by assassins outside of the Imperial Study. Not only was that an unforgivable crime, but also a massive insult to the royal family!

    If the Empress Dowager were here, she would have the Orange Prince beheaded with her vicious personality.

    However, the one who erred was his son.

    The emperor still remembered when the Orange Prince was born. He was small and soft like a big ball of flour. His fingers were small and slender. His hands were plump. The emperor still remembered how he was as an infant after twenty five years had passed.

    However, the emperor was clueless about other things, such as what he liked to eat, what he liked, his interests, if he had a girl he liked or not and so forth.

    The Orange Prince was without a doubt unfilial, but wasn''t he partly to me?

    The emperor had busied himself all these years working for the nation and had also kept his distance from his children due to the Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation prophecy. He had only found out about this love for war stratagems once they finally shed in a revolt.

    The Orange Prince resided close to him, but the emperor almost never went to see him. He only called him into the pce on annual festivals, and even then he only saw him once or twice a month.

    The Orange Prince hade into the pce daily to see him after he had moved into the Orange Prince''s Residence, but the emperor didn''t see him, due to his work. After a long time passed, the Orange Prince continued toe into the pce daily, but only to see his mother and never to see his father again.

    The emperor asked himself if he was not partially to me for how the Orange Prince turned out.

    In the end, the emperor said to the eEmpress, who was kneeling, "We must take responsibility for our child''s wrongs. Empress, let us help Cheng''er take the me for this."

    The empress passed out after that, for she hadn''t eaten or drank anything in three days.

    More than half of the officials at the conference wanted the Orange Prince killed to appease the people, so it wasn''t easy for even the emperor to shield him.

    The emperor had to resort to pulling some strings to save the Orange Prince. While today''s conference was about bestowing rewards, the emperor looked for an opportunity and made a mention.

    Tie Hanyi was still standing in the centre of everybody after getting his reward because he couldn''t step back yet. His dilemma was indescribable.

    The Emperor pointed to an official and said, "Assistant Minister Wei, I remember that you were a Principle Graduate in the tenth year of my rule and entered employment at the Imperial Court the same year. You were still a young man back then. Now you have a son and daughter. You''ve got grandchildren, too, don''t you? If I told you to kill your son and daughter, what would you do?"

    That''s heavy.

    Assistant Minister Wei yed yes-man. He didn''t dare to answer.

    "Assistant Minister Jin. You''ve just been conferred a rank. Maybe you haven''t heard of these things I mentioned, but you know that there are no parents who could bear to kill their children, right? Have you met one who could?"

    Assistant Minister Jin has no standing in the court, so naturally, he didn''t dare to speak.

    The emperor then wore a stern expression and finally looked toward the elders standing in the front row.

    "Minister Zhang, you want me to kill the Orange Prince. You carry it out." The emperor nodded as he spoke. Intolerance shed in his eyes, "Minister Zhang, Teacher Zhang, you have served me my entire life. You were my teacher when I was young as well. You taught me to read, sentence by sentence. I remember everything you said to me. I still rely on you heavily even now, but you are now asking me to kill my son. Do you not think you have gone overboard?"

    "Your Majesty, what you said is incorrect."

    Minister Zhang is from the Ministry of Personnel. He was the one that led the petition to have the Orange Prince executed. He wasn''t flustered and responded calmly, "You need not kill the criminal, Your Majesty. You just need to give themand. A written decree is all you need to hand to the Ministry of Justice. They will handle the rest."

    "Is there any difference between giving the order and me personally executing him?"

    Minister Zhang remained calm. He met with the emperor''s eyes and with a smile replied, "Your Majesty, the crimemitted cannot be pardoned."

    "But not even a vicious tiger would not eat its child. If beasts understand that family is important, then, how could a human do something not even beasts do?"

    Minister Zhang remainedposed, "Your Majesty, that analogy does not work. It would indeed be cruel for a tiger to eat its son if it was hungry. However, if the tiger were to eat it for its own sake as well as the betterment of its people, due to its sonmitting evil, then that would be a benevolent virtue."

    Minister Zhang then paused. He nced at the emperor again and with a warm smile borated, "You cannot apply a tiger''s character to a human, as they are not humans. Thus, they would not kill their child for their people. This is about different levels of rtionships. You are the ruler of a nation. Everything is rted to you and simrly, your own affairs are rted to the nation. Killing your traitorous son for the sake of the people falls under the same logic. Which holds more weight, a traitorous son or a stable nation?"

    "Furthermore, I am not saying frightening things just to raise an rm."

    "The criminal Ling Chengzhi did not set an example as a prince. He bullies others and thinks little of the people. Additionally, he epted many bribes and encouraged it in the Imperial Court. He then bribed officials of the Imperial Court, used force or bribes and he caused those who showed any opposition to be stripped of their ranks. One month ago, he lied and offended the ruler, was insolent to his father, poisoned vassals of the Imperial Court and vited countless rules and taboos in the Pce."

    "Let us put everything aside and talk about just the Imperial Study. Li Chengzhi insolently brought assassins into such a strictly guarded ce and even put your life at risk. No such atrocities have beenmitted since the time Founding Emperor of this dynasty''s rule, not to mention that he is a member of the royal family and your son, no less! How will you appease the people after hemitted such heinous crimes if you do not execute him? Your Majesty¡­"

    Every time Minister Zhang spoke, the emperor pulled back a little. The teacher and student duo have always debated things like this. Minister Zhang was clever with words.

    The emperor could not contest his main points and finally would finally be defeated.

    Minister Zhang rode the wave of momentum and went on. The emperor listened with his head down, which was an exact repeat of how things went back then.

    Suddenly, noisy rambling outside caught the emperor''s attention.

    "Stop! We''re going to bete! It''s all because of the bully, destroying my sabre, causing me to go back and grab it. Su Han, stop leaning on me. Walk on your own legs."

    "Jeez, Your Highness, I cannot run anymore. Slow down."

    "And you call yourself a man? Hurry up!"

    Everybody heard the voices of two girls in the short three-sentence conversation, but they couldn''t tell who the ''man'' the sentence ''And you call yourself a man?'' was directed at.

    The sound of their footsteps came closer. The guards at the door didn''t stop them, even when they got to the door.

    A gust of wind blew and two beautiful and lively individuals stepped into the hall.

    The two girls were walking so quickly it was as though they had a wind blowing under their feet, as they passed by many vassals and headed to the centre of the hall.

    The girl with a pair of long slender legs that loved to dress in red, and had six plum flower petals on her white forehead, was the emperor''s second daughter, Princess Hongzhuang, Li Hongzhuang.

    The other who wore a blue military uniform with a cute face who came in together with her was naturally, Su Xiao.

    The princess, being skilled at Qinggong was able to stop as soon as she wanted to. The hasty energy she had when she came in vanished as though she shook it off. She then immediately saluted the emperor and empress, "Li Hongzhuang humbly greets you, father, Your Majesty."

    The empress wasn''t Princess Hongzhuang''s biological mother, hence she had deliberately addressed her as ''Your Majesty'' as opposed to ''mother''.

    However, her greeting was, by all means, polite and eptable. She maintained her mannerisms perfectly, but she couldn''t do much about Su Xiao who came with her.

    Su Xiao''s martial arts skills are far inferior to Princess Hongzhuang. Princess Hongzhuang used Qinggong to travel here, while Su Xiao just hugged her around her waist toe along for the ride. As such, when the princess suddenly stopped, Su Xiao continued flying forward as per the rule of inertia.

    As a result, he flew straight at Minister Zhang who was standing on the cliff of death as is.

    "Therefore, Your Majesty, if you deal with his crimes un-¡­ OW!"

    Su Xiao crashed into Minister Zhang''s lower back right on the bull''s eye. After Minister Zhang cried out, the two of them began to roll on the ground like candied haw, as a result of the crash.

    After rolling around several rounds, Su Xiao finally stopped and found himself on a soft surface. He cheerfully eximed, "Eh? I''m okay!"

    "I, I am not okay¡­"

    "Mister, who are you?"

    Minister Zhang refused to look bad in front of his junior. With his facepletely red, he announced, "I am Zhang¡­ Chun¡­"

    Su Xiao titled his head, "Your name is Chun? That does not sound too good, does it?"

    "Who''s name is Chun!? I am Zhang Chunfeng. I am¡­"

    Su Xiao cut him off, "But, gramps, you are so old already, so what are you standing here in the hall for?"

    "Because I am the Ministry of Personnel''s¡­ Ministry of Personnel''s ¡­ Head! Get off, I am about to blow my back out!!"

    Notes:

    *Minister Zhang and Su Xiao are speaking of the two "chun" among many others, specifically ´º versus ´¾. The first one can have a feminine connotation. As an example, Zhang Chunhua, Sima Yi''s wife, has the character ´º. It can also have a sexual connotation.

 Volume 4 13 To Kill and to Not Kill (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 13 To Kill and to Not Kill (Part 2)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The emperor finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    He had never won against Teacher Zhang in a debate ever since he was a child.

    Su Xiao and his daughter managed to give him a chance to catch his breath.

    Seeing an opportunity, the emperor eximed, "How are you?! How dare you act insolent in the Golden Hall?! Guards, arrest him!"

    The warriors from both sides of the Golden Hall immediately restrained Su Xiao and dragged him to the side. A few vassals also immediately assisted the old Assistant Minister to his feet.

    Assistant Minister Zhang was now over sixty, but he was still very sturdy. He was hurting just moments ago when Su Xiao collided with him, but he was feeling much better now.

    The emperor didn''t recognise Su Xiao. He merely considered him the princess''s friend and reprimanded, "Hong''er, how can you be so insolent? This is not a ce for fun and games. Howe you brought you friend with you?"

    Princess Hongzhuang quickly exined, "Father, I am not ying. This is Sir Su Xiao, a Baihu from Liu Shan Men. He was also ordered to enter the pce today. I happened to meet him on the street and came with him since we were headed the same way."

    Now the emperor remembered who Su Xiao was. He had called Su Xiao here today topliment and reward him, not to reprimand or punish him.

    "Su Xiao, do you know who you just collided with?"

    Su Xiao panicked a little after being restrained, "Umm, umm¡­ An old grandpa?"

    The emperor almostughed.

    "Yes, this grandpa here. However, this grandpa has done lots of things for the nation. He works hard from the moment he rises to the time he sleeps. All for the sake of ensuring that there is another good official in the Imperial Court. To allow the people to have another upright official to rely upon. This grandpa has many excellent students. I am among his students. However, because he is upright and has been poor all his life, he has not had the money to buy a decent litter. I have wanted to reward him many times, but he has sternly turned me down each time. He is the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Sir Zhang Chunfeng¡­ He is a high-ranking official."

    Su Xiao only understood what the emperor was saying in thest sentence.

    "I apologise! I apologise! I did not bump into you on purpose! Please do not me me!"

    "Not at all, not at all. You did not bump into me on purpose." Assistant Minister Zhang waved his hand as he spoke to Su Xiao. He then said to the emperor, "You have exaggerated your praise for me, Your Majesty. I am too old to carry so many heavy burdens."

    As soon as he finished, he made his gaze firm once again, "However, I can fall, but I cannot fail in my duty as a minister! The Orange Prince must be killed as a deterrent! Otherwise, I would not be able to face the previous emperor. If I cannot do so, I shall voluntarily quit, to express my frustration and regret!"

    What the emperor had feared most still happened. He had imagined this situation countless times, previously, but he still had no solution. This elder had many students, so if he were to lead a petition, it would most likely result in hundreds of officials refusing to attend conferences. However, he was also aware that Assistant Minister Zhang''s temperament was the same as that of a standard schr; stubborn to the bitter end, with no room for manoeuvring.

    The situation became a stalemate.

    The emperor couldn''t find any words in his defence.

    Assistant Minister Zhang then swept his robe aside and knelt down, "Please give the order to execute Li Chengzhi!"

    "¡­"

    Su Xiao was standing between the emperor and Assistant Minister Zhang. He noticed the tense atmosphere between them. He couldn''t help himself from interjecting, "Gramps, do you want His Majesty to give the order to kill His Highness?"

    Assistant Minister Zhang straightened his wrinkly neck, "That''s right!"

    "Mm¡­ But that would make His Majesty very pitiable."

    Following Su Xiao''s statement, Assistant Minister Zhang looked up to where the emperor was.

    The emperor''s eyes were both red and his body was quivering uncontrobly.

    If the emperor was a tyrant, then this situation would never have urred. He could have found fault with his vassals and pinned them with crimes to save his unfilial son. He could even demote and promote vassals, to switch those he liked and listened to him in, instead. However, that would ruin the nations operations and his rule.

    The emperor was aware of the consequences of doing that. He couldn''t abandon all of the efforts of his ancestors for his son, and he couldn''t forsake the people.

    The officials of the Imperial Court had continued to bicker with each other over the Orange Prince''s judgement ever since. The emperor was already exhausted by it.

    If he was a tyrant, there would be no room for bickering.

    Assistant Minister Zhang had a softhearted moment. He indifferently said, "What do you know, kid? This is about right and wrong. It cannot be handled thoughtlessly."

    Su Xiao couldn''t help himself, "I do not understandplicated things, but my mother and Big Brother Ming always tell me not to look at things on just a surface level. It is true that the Orange Prince revolted, but I feel like he did not seem to cause much losses or damage."

    "Not much?" Assistant Manager Zhang frowned, "Ignoring everything else, poisoning the vassals alone¡­"

    "But I do not recall any of you dying."

    "He revolted!"

    "But His Majesty is still here. And His Majesty seems to strongly want to forgive him."

    "Over a hundred Imperial Guards lost their lives!"

    "Was that not the work of the League of Assassins? I heard that the leader of Mystery was the one that gave the order to kill them, not the Orange Prince. To the contrary, I heard the His Highness gave the order to not hurt anybody when you were all unable to put up a resistance, so very few people actually got injured, in the end."

    Assistant Minister Zhang was shut down by Su Xiao''s counters.

    Su Xiao''s thinking is very pure. He speaks his mind. But that, surprisingly, shut down Assistant Minister Zhang, who was able to out-talk everybody in the Imperial Court.

    The emperor thought to himself, ''How did I never think of that? Cheng''er didn''t kill many people, indeed¡­ Su Xiao is a kid that has straightforward thinking, yet that is what allowed him to see things for what they are.''

    Indeed, the Orange Prince didn''t intend to kill many people at the time. He was fortunate now. It was a fact that he did not give the order to kill the people who were killed. The only people who lost their lives to him directly were the Qilin Guards.

    Assistant Minister Zhang thought of that and said, "The ck Winds Thirteen Wings killed the Qilin G-¡­"

    "Assistant Minister Zhang, we Qilin Guards have decided not to pursue the matter."

    The speaker was Long Zaitian standing at the rear. The emperor had called him here just for that. Long Zaitian spoke in a very professional manner, "Our Grand Commander sent us a letter saying that matters of the pugilistic world are to be settled within the pugilistic world. Needless to say, we will collect the blood debt that the League of Assassins owe us. We have no interest in collecting the debt from a second-generation person in a prison. Those were our Grand Commanders words. Would you like to see the letter?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Assistant Minister Zhang neatly got shut down again. If you looked carefully, you could see that steam wasing out of his head due to anger.

    "The criminal Li Chengzhi killed many loyal and outstanding men, yet, you are not pursuing it?!"

    "Mind your words!!" The voice was clear, but it came from a female.

    *Smack!*

    The empress that had kept quiet the entire time suddenly picked up a document from the desk and threw it on the ground, shocking everybody present in the hall.

    Being a schr, Assistant Minister Zhang almost leapt up and cried "assassin!" when he heard the sound.

    Angry and beautiful tears of pain were visible on the empress''s pretty and white melon-shaped face, "Minister Zhang, the Orange Prince is yet to be stripped of his title, so he is still a prince. How dare you address him by his name? You served as an elder for two reigns, and yet you address people incorrectly?" The empress lived up to her reputation as a hero among women.

    Her mother''s side of the family was the leader of the Seven White Champion Princes, the Lushan Jianguan. She was both highly skilled and more venerated than any other. She alone suppressed all rebels in the past.

    Though others may be unaware, the Assistant Minister had served as a vassal for two reigns. In one rebellion, he stood next to the empress crying for help. So, there was no way he did not know of her prowess.

    Seeing her dominance again now, the elder couldn''t stop himself from bing submissive to her.

    He was a vassal, while she was the empress, and here he was asking to behead her son. He had offended the world''s fiercest tigress.

    Assistant Minister Zhang knew that he couldn''t say much more. The more he said, the more mistakes he would make, so he responded frankly, "I apologise."

    To his surprise, not only could the empress roar like a tiger, she also knew how to slip like a snake.

    With a smile, she said, "Good. The Orange Prince did indeed err, but his faults are not that severe. His Majesty and I were both already aware of him epting bribes and have severely punished him for it already. Therefore, that should not be mentioned again."

    "Now, as for the im that he tried to kill his father, His Majesty told me that he did not meet with any danger. He said that not even the assassins dared toy a hand on him. Consequently, although the Orange Prince revolted, the im that he tried to kill his father is false. Furthermore, he is still young, so he was partially tempted by the League of Assassins."

    In a peremptory manner, Assistant Minister Zhang retorted, "Those are unfounded statements, Your Majesty. His Highness has grown into a mature man a long time ago, not to mention his meticulous nning. How can you say that he is still young?"

    "The League of Assassins works for money. If His Highness did not take the initiative to offer them payment, how could he have had assassins from the League of Assassins? Now for the part about killing his father. The League of Assassins is a mercenary organisation. His Highness hired the secondranked group, ''Mystery''. If he was not trying to kill, what did he pay such a huge sum for? If he intended to kill, who else besides His Majesty would be worth such an effort?"

    "Hmph. Do you have any evidence then, Minister Zhang?"

    "That¡­" The question stumped Assistant Minister Zhang.

    The part about killing his father was derived from induction based on logic. If the Orange Prince was going to revolt, he naturally wouldn''t keep the emperor. One, that would mean that people would question his rule, and two, that would be the equivalent of keeping a hazard. However, those things were all evidence on the surface level.

    He could reason that the Orange Prince thought that way, but he had no evidence to establish that it was indeed the prince''s thought process.

    The emperor was now safe. The Orange Prince was put on his back in the Flying Fish Pavilion. It was a fact that nobody knew if he wanted to kill his father or not.

    Even if Assistant Minister Zhang was smarter and morepetent, it was impossible for him to prove that the thought of killing his father crossed the Orange Prince''s mind. But Assistant Minister Zhang was brilliant without a doubt.

    He nced around and then smiled, "Indeed, there is no evidence. However, I suppose that you possess proof that His Highness never had any intention of killing his father for you to ask that then, Your Majesty."

    Their situations were now reversed. This had now turned into a situation of refuting his opponent''s attack with her very own attack. The ministers who were for killing the Orange Prince breathed a breath of relief to themselves.

    They thought that Assistant Minister Zhang was still impressive, regardless of the circumstance.

    The empress puffed her chest proudly, wore a confident smile, "I do have proof."

    Assistant Minister Zhang was slightly surprised, "Oh? I would be very keen to hear about it."

    "My words are my proof!"

    "Hmm?" Assistant Minister Zhang stroked his beard. He then nodded and asked, "What does that mean?"

    He didn''t get it.

    The empress maintained her perfectposure. With a beautiful smile, she replied, "I may not be informed about other topics, but would I not understand my own son? Assistant Minister, you have read lots of books, but have you given birth to a son? Huh? Do you know the pain of departure with your child you were pregnant with for ten months? Hmm?"

    Assistant Minister Zhang, ''Wh-Wh-What the heck is this all about?!''

    The empress then continued, "Nobody knows their son better than his mother. The thought never crossed Cheng''er''s mind. What I say is most correct. Cheng''er did not get to be close with his father from a young age. He has always wished to be acknowledged by His Majesty. That is what led to this major incident. However, he is not cold-blooded, nor cruel, and he would never think about harming His Majesty."

    The empress'' face was flush red as though she said that while under the influence. Plus, she looked after her appearance very well. Despite being forty, she still looked younger than thirty. She was no empress. She was basically a young maiden.

    However, it didn''t matter if others didn''t believe her. The problem was that the emperor was visibly moved, "I see. What you said makes sense."

    ''How does that make sense?!''

    The Assistant Minister was a highly educated individual.,Bbu,t against the empress, who came from the martial world, it was truly a case of a schr and soldier trying to reason with each other.

    He suddenly realised something was wrong. Usually, conferences are held in Wenhua Hall, but the emperor called everybody to the Wuying Hall. He didn''t do that because he was bestowing rewards today, but because the ancestors forbade the harem from entering Wenhua Hall to join conferences!

    The emperor had brought the empress with him today. That means he came prepared!

    Right as he realised that, the emperor spoke out with impable timing, "However! My Empress, this is a conference between members of the Imperial Court. Pay attention to your manners. Assistant Manager Zhang is an elder for two reigns. You must discuss things calmly and with courtesy."

    The emperor and empress exchanged eye contact. The empress nodded and stopped speaking.

    Assistant Minister Zhang''s momentum had been pushed back, though. When the emperor spoke up again, he deliberately ignored him, treating as though he had given his opinion. He knew what the emperor was up to. He snickered to himself and didn''t speak again.

    "Assistant Minister Leng, what do you say?"

    Assistant Minister Leng runs the Ministry of Justice, which handles the legal proceedings all over thends. He has a cold expression and rarely speaks, but when he does, he always hit the nail on the head. Hence, the people in the Imperial Court called him One-word Leng."

    "Nobody has brought assassins to the Imperial Study ever since the establishment of this dynasty."

    The emperor and empress'' expressions both turned to distress. They thought that Assistant Minister Leng, who never shared his opinion, was somebody that they could bring over. They never realised he was part of the faction that wanted the Orange Prince dead.

    After a pause, the cold Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice then said, "However, there is no precedence of killing a prince, since the establishment of this dynasty. I am against killing."

    Only then did the emperor let out a sigh of relief.

    While Assistant Minister Leng looked cold, he had a very good reputation, leading to many loyal vassals supporting him. If he was against killing the Orange Prince, then many neutral officials would also choose to side with the faction against killing the Orange Prince.

    The emperor then asked, "Where is Shuntian Prefecture?!"

    Hero Scapegoat slid out from the crowd. Sir Bao, who was as round as a ball, quickly saluted the emperor, "I am here! I am here! You need not ask, Your Majesty. I am against killing His Highness. If you are asking me why, then¡­ umm¡­ umm¡­ Empress Dowager. Yes, that is it. Empress Dowager! She has personally gone to the Holy Mountain to pray to earn a good fortune. If shees back to find her grandson gone, good grief, she might freak out and be bedridden. Who would be responsible for that crime? Furthermore¡­"

    Shuntian Prefecture manages hundreds of matters in the capital. Everything had to do with him, so the emperor could use a pretext to me him for the ''Emperor Cheng Kong Incident''. All Sir Bao had done was go with the flow, to protect his reputation and head, so it was worth it.

    "Hence, I hereby dere that the Orange Prince will not be killed. He will continue to remain imprisoned. How he will be dealt with will be discussed at ater date."

    Before anybody could say anything, Prime Minister Li Si who had yed deaf and mute the entire time, with his eyes barely open, suddenly opened his eyes!

    His eyes resembled the eyes of a pirate who had stumbled upon a treasure. He then swiftly dered, "Wise decision, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!!! Long live Your Majesty!!!"

    Seeing the Prime Minister speak out, the other officials and ministers quickly followed suit, "Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

    Assistant Minister Zhangined to himself, ''Old fox. You''re a good for nothing who''s only trick is to stand there sleeping. You nowhere-to-be-seen-when-we''re-having-a-dispute thug that only handballs things! Most importantly, you''re always fighting to im the biggest contribution. No wonder he''s been the Prime Minister for three reigns.''

    Princess Hongzhuang was shocked but also ted. Her brother didn''t have to face capital punishment and Su Xiao, who had charged into the hall was safe. She couldn''t help but feel happy.

    The voices of the vassals died down like waves settling.

    The key to the discussion was Su Xiao.

    The empress, who was always tough, also changed her opinion of Su Xiao.

    The empress gently asked, "Child, is your name Su Xiao?"

    Su Xiao nodded, "Yes. I am Liu Shan Men''s¡­ I, I, Liu Shan Men''s Baihu, humbly greets you, Your Majesty."

    The empress couldn''t help butugh. The emperor smiled and said, "I have mentioned him to you. He is very pure-hearted, as though his heart is transparent."

    The empress gave Su Xiao a nod, "Child, you are very good."

    Su Xiao replied with a smile, "Your Majesty, you''re so pretty."

    The emperor, ''Hmm? Why does that feel a little strange¡­?''

    Notes:

    *Su Xiao cuts himself off when responding to the empress because he used the informal way of addressing himself before correcting himself.

    **Second tost paragraph, Su Xiao speaks to the empress informally, hence the use of a contraction.

 Volume 4 14 Reward According to Merits

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 14 Reward ording to Merits</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The emperor and empress were ted after having sessfully saved the Orange Prince.

    After exchanging words with Su Xiao, the twoughed with great joy.

    When they brought up what Shen Yiren mentioned a month ago, the empress became highly fascinated.

    "I heard Shen Yiren mention that you led a team to the Qilin Guards office and beat up their leader. What happened there?"

    Feeling wrong, Su Xiao pouted. He straightened up his neck, "Your Majesty, I will not tell you."

    "Su Han!" Princess Hongzhuang called out to Su Xiao twice, but he didn''t respond. Hopeless, she ced her hands together and held them out to speak, "Father, Your Majesty, you two are most likely aware the child did not intentionally offend you. He is just a little, a little¡­"

    Not even the princess knew how to brush off his offence.

    "It''s fine. It''s fine. The child is cutely straightforward. What would a martial arts practitioner be so mindful, like a schr, for?"

    The emperorughed.

    He met Su Xiao a month ago at Liu Shan Men''s office. The impression Su Xiao left on him still made himugh today.

    "Freely tell us the reason. I won''t punish you. It was in the past. Freely share the story with us."

    Su Xiao went red in the face. He softened his voice so much that it nearly couldn''t be heard, "You will definitelyugh at me once I tell you, though."

    The emperor replied with amusement, "We promise not tough, then."

    Su Xiao nodded, "I-I thought Old Grandpa Huang, who sweeps our yard, got beat to death. That guy, Yi Yixian, beat him and then walked away proudly. He also mocked us behind our backs. Grandpa Huang is an elder over seventy. He nearly lost his life after being beaten viciously by several of the Qilin Guards."

    "And so you took justice into your own hands and took a team to apprehend him?"

    "I-I honestly did not think that much. I just could not stand it. After that, we were obstructed by them several times. Hehe¡­" Su Xiao scratched his head and poked his pink tongue out. He then cutely continued, "I then lost self-restraint and fought them. They got violent with me, so I got even more violent with them. Then I managed to subdue them."

    "So you couldn''t stand them, huh? Hahahaha. All right. All right. All right. It''s not a big deal that your martial arts are inferior. You have an ideal character. Yiren has a good eye for people."

    The empress smiled with her lips pursed, "Your Majesty, this child''s temperament is quite like you when you were young. By that, I am referring to how he puts a heavy importance on justice."

    "I had a tendency to cause trouble when I was young as well, but I wouldn''t have stormed the Qilin Guards'' office for a grandpa."

    Su Xiao responded earnestly, "I was always causing trouble when I was young as well. When I was young, my mother always told me I was not good looking. She said I was a bit like a kidney and also like tweezers. She told me it was best for me not to y with boys as I would be hated."

    "Kidney? Tweezers?"

    The empress checked out Su Xiao. She noticed that he had clear eyes, nice teeth and a beautiful face. If Su Xiao wasn''t a male, she would''ve mistaken him for a pretty female at first nce.

    The empress suddenly understood what he meant, ''kidney and tweezers meant subus. With such beauty, the child should indeed avoid ying with boys. If he didn''t get bullied, he would steal their hearts.''

    "That''s why I yed with girls ever since I was young. My mother said that boys should spend more time with girls so that it would be easier for them to get girls when they grow up. But the girls around me always fought. They refused to get along. My mother told me it was all my fault. Your Majesty, why is that?"

    The empress shook her head with a helpless smile.

    One of the members of the Emperor''s Security Detail got jealous when he saw how Su Xiao was liked, "All right, wise guy, you''ve said a lot, so how many women have you got?"

    It''s fine to speak about the topic in private, but asking him straight to his face was inappropriate.

    Princess Hongzhuang, the emperor and empress all looked at him with displeasure.

    The man then immediately lowered his head.

    Who would''ve known that Su Xiao would reply without batting an eye, "Plenty!"

    Su Xiao cheerfully opened his snow-white palm and counted, "I have my mom, my elder sister, the maids Cui Lan, Ruo Zhi, You Zhu¡­ In short, lots and lots."

    The emperor continued to suppress hisughter, but the empress couldn''t hold herughter in and burst out inughter.

    "Child,e,e,e, let me take a look at you."

    Su Xiao scratched his head as he walked over. The empress liked him even more because he was shy like a maiden, so she pulled him in and hugged him.

    Su Xiao pulled his neck back, "Your Majesty, that is a little ticklish."

    The empress smiled and asked, "You''re much younger than my son, child. Are you scared or being shy?"

    The emperor cleared his throat and said, "I called you here for business."

    "Wang Tushui, continue."

    Eunuch Wang turned into a rock by the side ever since the discussion began. He now finally resumed functioning to fulfil his duty.

    In a high-pitched voice, that sounded tough to speak with, he dered, "Reward~~ Liu Shan Men''s Su Xiao performed excellently at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, remaining undefeated. As of today, Su Xiao will be rank seventy on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings, a Bing rank warrior, and receive a one rank official post promotion!"

    Normally speaking, the reward can be considered appropriate. It was just that a Bing rank warrior usually didn''t hold an official Imperial Court post. A one rank official post promotion would make them a Ninth Rank Military Official at most. Su Xiao, however, went from a Seventh-Ranked Baihu to a Sixth Rank! To be a Sixth-Ranked Official at his young age proved that he possessed unparalleled luck.

    With a smile, the emperor said, "Additionally, I need to bestow you with a nickname. You are now officially a warrior of the Imperial Court, so you need a nickname to unt when you travel in the pugilistic world henceforth, right?"

    The civil court officials suddenly revealed mysterious smiles when they heard that.

    The military court officials, in particr, the skilled ones revealed looks of sympathy at the same time. Their hearts ached for the future of the young man.

    Princess Hongzhuang noticed Su Xiao looking dumbfounded. She poked him and said, "Hurry up and thank His Majesty."

    "Ah, ah! Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!"

    "Uhm, Good. Now, what shall I call you?" The emperor ground the ink and thought to himself. He then wrote four words inrge font on a sheet of paper: Violent Beautiful Young Girl

    Su Xiao squealed, "Eee!! I am a man!"

    The emperorughed, "Hahahaha, this name is unique because it''s unexpected. Pass the order down. Su Xiao''s nickname is Violent Beautiful Young Girl! Record that on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings."

    Su Xiao''s nickname was determined the fastest!

    The emperorughed. He then faced Eunuch Wang and said, "Wang Tushui, continue on."

    Eunuch Wang nodded. He opened the thin sheet, "Send for Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye!"

    The phrase "send for" is not used with civil and military officials standing in the conference hall. However, as Tang Ye is not an official, he couldn''t join them. As such, he was waiting outside the hall the entire time. He was clueless as to everything that happened inside.

    The low-rank eunuchs outside Jinluan Hall immediately led Tang Ye over once they heard Eunuch Wang call for him.

    Tang Ye followed the eunuch into the eye-catching resplendent hall with carved pirs and drawings pce that exuded a majestic aura.

    He couldn''t help but feel a little proud of himself to know that he had managed to enter the hall where the most powerful figures in the nation gathered with his own hands.

    Tang Ye noticed a que on the side of Jinluan Hall that had ''An Emperor Must Act Lawfully and Morally'' written on it.

    He felt excited and said to himself, ''Father, Mother, I have arrived here in less than a year. I will definitely find out who got you killed, Father. I will apprehend the culprit!''

    Despite feeling excited, Tang Ye''s expression didn''t change. He slowly followed behind the low-rank eunuch to see the emperor.

    He bowed and ndly greeted the emperor, "Liu Shan Men''s constable Tang Ye, humbly greets you, Your Majesty."

    "At ease."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    As soon as he raised his head up, one could see his sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, handsome face, and tall and erect physique, whichpletely matched the highly skilled martial artist everybody envisioned.

    He was incredibly skilled, to begin with, and defeated many of the assassins at the Flying Fish Pavilion all alone. He killed members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, and even apprehended the Orange Prince and the formidable Fu Xiang, shocking everybody present.

    "Constable Tang, I called you here to thank you for your herculean effort to turn the tide at the Flying Fish Pavilion."

    "Thank you for yourpliments, Your Majesty, your humble peasant¡­"

    The emperor waved his hand, "You''re no longer a peasant. Wang Tushui."

    "Reward~ Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye is hereby conferred the title of Baihu. Tang Ye will also be rewarded five hundred gold ingots and two thousand silver ingots."

    Right when Tang Ye went to give his thanks, the emperor cut him off, "Bring it here."

    A warrior in the hall immediately brought a box over from behind. He slowly opened it in front of Tang Ye.

    Inside was an ancient sword with a sheath made from gold.

    Upon closer inspection, Tang Ye noticed the two words on the sheath, "Heaven Shocker." He finally remembered using the sword at the Flying Fish Pavilion. It was the famous sword the Orange Prince had collected.

    The emperor collected it after the incident and now rewarded Tang Ye with it.

    "A great sword belongs in the hands of a hero! I shall award it to you."

    "Tang Ye, I hereby dere that you will join the Seventeen Hidden Dragons as the seventeenth ranked member. I pronounce you¡­"

    The emperor picked up a writing brush made of brownish rabbit fur and wrote four words down vigorously.

    "Heaven Shocker Holy Hands!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye was moved. He knelt down with a thud. His tone contained his utmost excitement, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

    That day, Heaven Shocker Holy Hands, Tang Ye and the Violent Beautiful Young Girl, Su Xiao both had their names recorded in the martial world''s history.

    This is the start of a legend.

    The emperor looked at what he wrote with satisfaction. The two sheets with their titles he wrote will be ced on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao, who were warriors conferred with titles, will forever get to live that honour.

    Actually, there weren''t just two sheets, as the emperor had written "Liu Shan''s gue" on another sheet and had it ced on the table already. He just didn''t get to use it yet, seemingly.

    The emperor made some idle chatter and then suddenly asked, "Oh, right, since you''re both here, that Ming Feizhen should be here as well, right?"

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye exchanged nces. The first exchange read, ''Where''s Big Brother Ming?''

    The second exchange read, ''Don''t know. Never saw him.''

    Su Xiao thought to himself that the situation was bad. What were they going to do if Ming Feizhen didn''t arrive?

    The emperor was actually just asking for the sake of asking. It wasn''t as though Ming Feizhen would seriously dare to bete. He assumed Ming Feizhen was waiting outside.

    He mouthed his orders to Eunuch Wang. Just as Eunuch Wang went to call Ming Feizhen in, a low-rank eunuch ran up to his side and whispered something. Eunuch Wang''s expression changed a little. He then went up to the emperor to reiterate for him quietly.

    The emperor frowned, "Hmm? Was he here that early? Whatever. Everybody is present today, so call him in for some fun."

    In a high-pitched voice, Eunuch Wang announced, "Send for the Young Master of Gold and White Sect, Jin Wangsun,e forth and greet His Majesty!"

    The officials and ministers weren''t surprised. It turned out the new leader of the Seven Champion White Princes was here to see the emperor.

    A young man entered through the door. He looked around thirty. He was dressed in white clothing with gold seams. He had a handsome face and a dignified appearance.

    After a nce, Prince Hongzhuang suddenly asked, "You''re the Gold and Silver Sect''s Jin Wangsun?"

    You guessed it. It was the bully young master in white that she ran into earlier today. He was the new master of the Gold and Silver sect. The pugilistic world called him the Sabre King Jin Wangsun.

    Although the Seven White Champion Princes were schools of the martial world, all of them were bestowed with their own territories, so they qualified as the emperor''s vassals.

    Jin Wangsun swept his robe aside and greeted the emperor.

    The emperor responded, "It has been a rough journey for you, Minister Jin. I heard that you came for something in addition to being conferred a title by me."

    "That is correct."

    Jin Wangsun raised his head. The firstplete sentence he spoke ended up shocking everybody, "I came to ask you to fulfil your promise back then. Please betroth Princess Hongzhuang to me!"

    Notes:

    *Kidney and tweezers here are regional dialect terms, and hence why the empress was confused. Basically, it''s regional ng. It''s like saying dead ass in New York to mean "for real". In this case, the regional dialect uses kidney and tweezers to mean a subus (because of their simr pronunciation). Note that subus is not a literal trantion, but the trantion with context taken into consideration. Impress me and MTL regional terminology.

 Volume 4 15 The Gold and Silver Sect Encounter a Monster During Their Visit

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 15 The Gold and Silver Sect Encounter a Monster During Their Visit</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    This traces back to what happened twelve years ago. Back then, thend was at peace. The emperor decided to go on a tour far away. He brought along people who were almost invincible.

    Said people were two of the Ultimate Three, forming the most fearsome incognito travelling team.

    They went to see the flourishing scenery in Jiangnan and visited all of the schools of the Seven White Champion Princes.

    The Seven White Champion Princes were located in all different parts of Jiangnan. Lushan Jianguan was located at Lushan, Cold Mountain temple was located at Suzhou, and Valley of Yearning was located at Songjiang. None of them was far from the capital, but the first one the emperor visited was Zhenjiang''s Gold and Silver Sect.

    It''s said that the Gold and Silver Sect''s wealth could rival the nation''s wealth. How rich they were and how they could rival the nation were two things the emperor was always keen to know. Therefore, he went there with hisplete team. He didn''t want to go to their headquarters as the emperor, but he was stunned when he arrived!

    Their headquarters looked simple. They upied a spacious area with stairs in front of a row of trees.

    What shocked the emperor was the row of trees. The tree trunks were made from pure silver. The leaves were made from gold by artisans. There were at least a hundred of those trees.

    The emperor hadn''t seen so-called golden leaves and silver trees anywhere but at the empress''s pce. While he was still stunned, he suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound next to his ear.

    A strong and sturdy looking man rushed over from behind.

    "Stop! Who are you to dare look at my gold and silver trees?! The Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters are ten yards inside. Who dares stir trouble?!"

    It was the old master of the Gold and Silver Sect. At the time, the emperor got into a fight with him. After the fight, they cleared the misunderstanding. The old master was absolutely frightened by the revtion. However, the emperor is a hearty man, and his generous temperament clicked with the old master, so the two of them went from enemies to friends after over three hundred drinks.

    At the time, the emperor witnessed the old master''s only son Jin Wangsun training with a sabre. The emperor''s love for talent surfaced when he saw his good looks and well-trained skills with a sabre.

    He was now best friends with the boy''s father. But because he was also under the influence, he made a promise with the old master. That was to betroth a princess to Jin Wangsun once he became the master of the sect.

    If the Jin family was to be inws with the royal family, then the Gold and Silver Sect would forever be friends with the Imperial Court.

    Old Master Jinughed and signed the agreement with the emperor. The name of the princess to be betrothed wasn''t written, but it was written that it had to be a princess.

    Everybody knew that it was something said while under the influence, though.

    Needless to say, the emperor regretted it after he was sober once again. The emperor is the most famous daughter-con in the entire nation, so there''s no way he''d marry his daughter off to some spunky kid.

    Need evidence? Throughout the entire nation, a girl is suitable for marriage between fourteen to eighteen years of age. However, the emperor insists on raising his daughters until they''re twenty before marrying them off. The same applied for Princess Hongzhuang.

    The emperor nned to get himself out of the agreement by exploiting a loophole. When he thought about it carefully, he realised that the agreement wasn''t established.

    Princess Hongzhuang was just eleven at the time, while Jin Wangsun was no older than sixteen at most. The old master wasn''t old at the time either.

    He was a fit mature man at the time. He had only been running the Gold and Silver Sect for a few decades. He possessed profound internal strength, so it was clear that he could continue running the sect for a few more decades.

    Most importantly was that the Seven White Champion Princes were household names with strong foundations, big family businesses and packed with talented individuals. Therefore, those who could be the master of their sect had to be at least forty or over. There had never been a twenty or thirty-year-old individual who could convince their sect to ept them as the master. Hence, it was normal for members of the Seven White Champion Princes to be at a specific age.

    After much deliberation, the emperor thought that Jin Wangsun couldn''t be the master of his sect until he was at least forty. If he still remembered this after he became the master, then it wouldn''t matter, since his children would all be married with kids. He could then marry a betrothal princess to him without any difficulty when the time came.

    But never did he imagine that the heavens had another n in mind! Jin Wangsun managed to be the master of his sect before thirty and he just had to remember the promise!! Worse, he just had toe knocking!!

    Jin Wangsun smiled and said, "Wangsun has prepared a humble gift. Wangsun hopes that you will ept it, Your Majesty."

    The emperor and Eunuch Wang exchanged eye contact. Then he replied, "Permitted!"

    His six servants behind him carried an iron container. The container didn''t lookrge, but it appeared it was very heavy for the six. The six of them ced it down on the ground gently. It made a loud thud when itnded on the ground, making people wonder, ''I wonder something so heavy could be.''

    There was a mechanism on the container. Jin Wangsun opened the lid gently, revealing a sh of gold. A sharp aura from inside virtually burst forth from the container. Inside was a thickrge sabre with a handle made from half-gold and half-silver. The handle was long. It was made ording to an ancient style. The de was t and smooth like a mirror. The de reflected light from all directions as soon as the container was opened. The sharp dey there.

    Jinluan Hall paled inparison to how majestic the de was!

    Jin Wangsun chuckled, "You have travelled thends and have seen many rare items, Your Majesty. Therefore, I also had troubleing up with a gift idea that would show uniqueness. If my Gold and Silver Sect is to give a gift, this Golden Crow Moon Eater de is the only item that can express sincerity."

    The emperor had guessed it was the Golden Crow Moon Eater de when he first saw it. After Jin Wangsun confirmed his suspicion, he suddenly said, "I thought it was the legendary Heaven''s de of Peace! Great! I finally got to see it today! Wangsun, your sincerity is far too precious!"

    The Golden Crow Moon Eater de has extraordinary origins. Back when the founding emperor established the nation, he went through great adversity. The seven divine weapons were unmatched in his era. The next generation referred to them as the Seven des That Create Heaven.

    The Golden Crow Moon Eater de was the de that the ancestors of the Gold and Silver Sect used to help the founding emperor establish this nation. His de is called the Heaven''s de of Peace.

    The legend of the seven des has existed for a long time, but not even the emperor had seen one of them before. The seven des were taken away by their owners before he could even consider collecting them.

    Nobody in the pugilistic world doesn''t love superior weapons, let alone a de one couldn''t ask for.

    This Golden Crow Moon Eater de is very precious. It is a treasure passed down within the Gold and Silver Sect. It was among the three treasures that were not to be used unless there was a very special case.

    Having gifted the emperor with a family heirloom treasure, the emperor couldn''t easily get rid of him after he showed that much sincerity.

    "You need not worry, Your Majesty. We will be a family once Wangsun marries Princess Hongzhuang. Therefore, this Golden Crow Moon Eater de will naturally be Wangsun''s betrothal gift."

    "I see." The emperor got a little flustered, "Erm, about this¡­" His gaze shifted to the empress to plead for help.

    Normally, the empress would definitely roll her eyes at him and say, "That''s your fault for getting drunk and making thoughtless promises!"

    However, the emperor did save the Orange Prince''s life.

    While Princess Hongzhuang wasn''t the empress''s biological daughter, she doted on her a lot, usually, so she helped out, "Wangsun, do you still remember me?"

    Jin Wangsun saluted her, "It has been a long time, Your Majesty."

    The Seven Champion Princes had always interacted to some degree.

    The empress is the cherished daughter of Lushan Jianguan, who had deep bonds with the Seven Champion White Princes. She met them many times in the past annually.

    "Your visit is sudden. His Majesty and I both knew that you came to be conferred a title, but we never expected a wedding. Further, Princess Hongzhuang is His Majesty''s beloved daughter, while you are the leader of a sect. Marriage is a major event, not a game. So why not patiently wait for a few days?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Of course. For the sake of marrying a beauty like a flower¡­" Jin Wangsun ced his hands behind him. His gaze shifted over a little to look at Princess Hongzhuang by the side. After seeing her utterly shocked state, he finally decided to pull back, "Wangsun is very patient. Wangsun shall await the good news. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Wangsun has been rude."

    The princess had be unhappy ever since Jin Wangsun appeared to ask for her hand in marriage. Now she was annoyed and disgusted because he had his eyes on her. However, she was sensible enough to maintain herposure and prioritise the bigger picture, hence she didn''t shout out loud in front of everyone that she objected to the marriage, thereby, fortunately, allowing there to be leeway.

    Jing Wangsun then said, "Your Majesty, I like to train sabre arts. Sabre arts cannot be mastered in a day. Please allow Wangsun to borrow a few stilts from Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings so that Wangsun has something do during Wangsun''s spare time."

    By stilts, what he meant was punching bags. In other words, people who he could chop up with his sabre.

    However, forget a young skilled fighter like Jin Wangsun, few grand-masters of schools would treat top-tier fighters as punching bags. Yet he had called for the warriors ranked on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings first thing.

    His arrogance was tant for all to see, causing even the emperor to be somewhat unhappy.

    However, Jin Wangsun then went and pointed at one of the people in the hall, "How about him? I have seen his skills before. His skills are passable. He makes a perfect punching bag."

    Of course, the person he pointed to was none other than Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye bluntly replied, "Be my guest, but we are yet to know who the punching bag is."

    He gripped the Heaven Shocker sword in his hand, so it was evident he wasn''t afraid of Jing Wangsun at all.

    The emperor could immediately tell that the two of them had butted heads with each other, so he rushed to stop them, "Minister Tang is an important minister of the nation and is highly skilled. He is not suited for you to practice your sabre skills on. I am afraid that it would ruin the harmony in the Imperial City. How about this: I will give you three Yi ranked warriors to spar with."

    As soon as Jin Wangsun left with a few Yi ranked warriors, Princess Hongzhuang gave a ''hmph'' before turning around and leaving.

    The emperor panicked, "Hong''er! Hong''er!"

    It''s true that Princess Hongzhuang is sensible and knows how to keep the big picture in mind. However, she had done the emperor a favour already, so she didn''t show him another one. She left without sparing him a look.

    The emperor had never been given attitude like that by his daughter. His expression changed in a blink of an eye, "Listen in,e up with a way to resolve this for me! What would I be feeding you all for otherwise?!"

    The emperor suddenly remembered the three individuals Shen Yiren rmended to him. There was Tang Ye who was skilled and brave, and worthy of an official post appointment, making him a pir. Then there was the innocent and pure Su Xiao with a limitless future. Thest one was unexpectedly sly and slippery and always managed toe up with ideas.

    "Ming Feizhen! Call Ming Feizhen in!"

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye exchanged eye contact, ''Great. Big Brother Ming couldn''t escape in the end.''

    =============================

    The emperor was reluctant to go to the Flying Fish Pavilion after going through the revolt staged there.

    Although there was no longer an audience there or thick wooden rings, it was still used as a ce for performing martial arts.

    "Ha! Thanks for going easy!"

    With a backhand swing upwards, Jin Wangsun had his de right at his opponent''s throat. Any more force and his opponent''s head would be separated from his body.

    "You are a Yi ranked warrior? I think you are not worthy of the rank, do you not agree?"

    The warrior got utterly defeated by Jin Wangsun within ten moves. It was no sparring match. It resembled a duel to the death.

    "I''ll fight you."

    This individual was also an Yi ranked warrior. He immediately went on the offence with his iron rod as soon as he approached him. He swung down on his head with his might.

    Jin Wangsun was currently using therge and thick sabre called Yun Tou. This sabre was an imitation of the Golden Crow Moon Eater de, made by the Gold and Silver Sect. However, it wasn''t easy to make an imitation. This was the only sessful imitation after many years'' worth of attempts, so it was truly a rare de.

    Despite the thick and wide nature of Yun Tou, Jin Wangsun wielded it as if it was light as a feather. His title as Jiangnan''s Number One Sabre King wasn''t for nothing. A casual upward raise shed with the iron roding down.

    To the warrior''s surprise, Jin Wangsun wasn''t shaken at all. Jin Wangsun thenughed and shed upward. The warrior couldn''t match him at any point of the sh, therefore switching him from attacker to defender within a single move.

    Jin Wangsun knew that this warrior wasn''t as skilled as his previous opponent, so he immediately lost interest. Consequently, he chose to raise a leg up and kick him out.uckily, Jin Wangsun didn''t intend to cause him harm and thereby didn''t put excessive strength into it, or else that kick would''ve ruptured his organs.

    His skills were superior to the three ''punching bags'', so he soon got bored and annoyed.

    "You can all go. I''ll have my ves train with me."

    The three Yi ranked warriors left with anger.

    Jin Wangsun continued holding Yun Tou in his hand. He neither wiped nor intended to continue training.

    One of his ves slowly went up to him.

    "Young Master, it seems that His Majesty does not intend to betroth the princess to you."

    "Of course I''m aware of that. He made the promise back then purely out of a moment of impulse. It was merely a game. Go and see the agreement for yourself. You can still smell the aroma of wine on it."

    "But, Young Master, does that not mean¡­"

    "Hmph, it''s not that easy to go back on his words. Evenmoners understand the three letters and six etiquettes. I have His Majesty''s betrothal letter, which he personally wrote, in my hands. He can''t brush it off. Marrying a princess is far too important for me to mess up."

    Jin Wangsun regained hisposure, ending his streak of arrogant borderline misbehaviour today. He revealed a cautious expression, "That''s why I must not be haughty to him or act unbearably insolent so that His Majesty cannot underestimate my Gold and Silver Sect. Otherwise, he will cancel the betrothal, which is as simple as a turn of the hand."

    He then looked at the warriors that left and snickered, "I heard that the inner section of the pce was filled with highly skilled fighters. It is imed that the fighters on Liu Shan''s Elite Rankings are all top-tier fighters, but they''re nothing special. We''ve already dealt a blow to the warriors of the Imperial Court as we wanted to."

    An individual was running for dear life outside the Forbidden City.

    "Shut! Sh*t! Sh*t!!!"

    Ming Feizhen ran extremely fast. When he noticed that the folding doors were beginning to close and with just enough room for a single person to get through remaining, he eximed, "Fuck! The doors are closing!"eft with no options, he kicked a rock up, sending it through the air. Ming Feizhen, however, moved even faster than the rock. He then positioned his body sideways, with his head facing the door and his feet in the opposite direction.

    Ming Feizhen took aim and kicked the rock with his internal energy concentrated at his feet, thereby shattering it to dust. He used it as aunch pad tounch himself forward.

    This was one of the techniques within Night Steps, a straight high-speed bodyunch, Night Rain.

    "Aaahhh!!!"

    With that, he was able to slip in through the doors right before they shut.

    The door guards had no idea what happened. All they had heard was somebody crying out overhead. When they looked up, there was nobody to be seen.

    Ming Feizhen knew the way to his destination, so he ran like a madman to Wuying Hall.

    Jin Wangsun saw an adult''s silhouette suddenly berge in the distance. The individual''s movement skills were without question extraordinary.

    That stirred him, making him feel filled with the joy of hunting. He shouted, "A skilled fighter!"

    However, his target was, frankly, too fast so he couldn''t stop him. As a result, Jin Wangsun shed at him as soon as he reached him!

    "Take this!"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t even bother to evade the sh. He let the shnd on his body. Yun Tou was unexpectedly unable to cut into him!

    "What the fuck are you shing at me for?!"

    Ming Feizhen moulded an overwhelming amount of internal energy into his left hand and hammer fisted the tip of Yun Tou sabre. Jin Wangsun felt as though his hand exploded, causing him to lose control of his entire body. He flew away as fast as a peal of thunder, a speed he never imagined in his life. He was already unconscious and foaming at the mouth by the time hended.

    Notes:

    *Three letters and six etiquettes is the Chinese practice of parents selecting an eptable wife for their son. The namees from three letters, and sixmon customs performed by the groom-to-be.

 Volume 4 16 The Emperor Asked Me for a Favour

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 16 The Emperor Asked Me for a Favour</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Send Ming Feizhen in!"

    "Coming! Coming! Coming!"

    I suddenly appeared in Jinluan Hall. I slid in, creating white dust resembling steam due to the friction between my boots and the floor. I ran like the wind the entire way and made it in time at thest second!!

    "You''rete!"

    "Eh?"

    A beautiful young girl standing at the forefront of the hall, ahead of all the vassals looked at me grumpily. It was Su Xiao!

    ''Whoa! There are so many prominent figures here! Whenever did you manage to get ahead of all the royal family members and high-ranking vassals here to stand in front of everyone??''

    Su Xiao mouthed, "His Majesty has called for you nine times. Eunuch Wang went to Liu Shan Men to find you. Where did you go, Big Brother Ming?"

    "What did His Machesty call me in such a rush for?"

    I looked up to see the emperor looking very displeased. His originally tanned face now looked dark, like a boiler.

    Next to him was a middle-aged beauty looking like she was in her prime. I seem to recall seeing her somewhere when I had snuck into the pce previously.

    If my memory does me justice, she''s His Machesty''s wife, which makes her the empress. How strange for the empress to be present as well.

    I quickly corrected my standing posture and sensibly greeted them, "Ming Feizhen humbly greets you, Your Majesty. Long live, Your Majesty."

    I then paused for a moment and added, "Long live, Your Majesty the Empress."

    As soon as I had finished myst greeting, an old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me, somewhat surprised.

    I was surprised to see that he showed some degree of recognition for me in his gaze, so I looked back at him, somewhat surprised as well.

    He was dressed in a vassal''s uniform and stood on the western side of the hall.

    Civil servant vassals stand to the west, while military vassals stand to the east in Jinluan Hall.

    This particr old man stood at the forefront of the civil servant vassals and furthest left. In this dynasty, those who are most respected stand farther left.

    This old man not only stood at the forefront of civil servant vassals but also furthest left, which meant he was among the absolute highest ranked vassals.

    ''Could he be the current Prime Minister?!''

    I took a closer look at the old man, who had white hair and white eyebrows.

    He looked like he was eighty plus. However, you could say he did a good job maintaining his appearance, as he had very healthy skin. His facial muscles were still firm and had an infant blush on his face, which made him resemble my grandmaster, Daogu Immortal Wind.

    But based on my experience, people who have that sort of appearance aren''t trustworthy. Therefore, I smiled and then focused on the emperor again.

    The old geezer looked at me and nodded slightly without saying anything.

    ''Judging from his behaviour, could it be that he noticed how I have a great sturdy physique and wants to sell me a couple of secret martial arts manuals that, once mastered, would make me invincible?''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Amitahba. You''re a few yearste. You''re a few yearste.''

    "Since Ming Feizhen is here, today''smendations are nearly over. Wang Tushui¡­ Hmph, Eunuch Wang left the pce to go and search for you. Bai Ling."

    General Manager stood next to the empress the entire time. I saw her already. It''s just that I didn''t dare to greet her in the presence of so many people.

    General Manager Bai slowly walked out.

    I smiled to curry favour with her and mouthed, "Bless you, General Manager Bai."

    Bai Ling walked coldly with a cold expression and ignored me, but there was a tinge of a smile she couldn''t hold back in her eyes.

    I had often met General Manager Bai this month, mainly because I went to the pce to get medication and dye from Old Dai. Whenever I went to collect them, I''d ''identally'' go and see her. As a result, one thing happened after another.

    General Manager Bai operates alone in the pce. She''s haughty and doesn''t know how to make friends, so she reacts with joy every time she meets me.

    It''s just that I have to pretend as if I was severely injured and came to fetch medicine. I also have to listen to all sorts of gossip in the pce from her, so it''s a bit tormenting on my part¡­

    She nced at me. Only afterwards did she mouth in both a pleasantly surprised, but also reprimanding manner, "You''rete¡­ Have you recovered?"

    ''See that? I''m a people person. I''m even friends with a eunuch that works directly for the emperor.''

    Bai Ling cleared her throat.

    "Reward. Liu Shan Men''s constable, Ming Feizhen performed outstandingly and contributed greatly, assisting the Imperial Court in destroying the hideout of the League of Assassins and suffered severe injuries gantly fighting the assassin Fu Xiang. He made manymendable contributions¡­"

    ''Is that what Boss Shen imed? Howe I remember Fu Xiang sent me flying with a single palm strike?''

    "Henceforth, Ming Feizhen is promoted to a Seventh Rank Warrior of the Imperial Court as apliment. I hope that you will continue to serve the Imperial Court."

    ''A seventh ranked warrior?! That makes me an official!''

    ''I remember that Boss managed to reach a First Rank Warrior rank thanks to her family''s eight generations of merits and her father''s close rtionship with His Machesty. Yet I''m a Seventh Rank Warrior in the blink of an eye? This bliss came on a little sudden. I have heard that ranked warriors receive monthly bonuses, based on their rankings.''

    ''My, my, if I have more money each month, how am I going to spend it?''

    "Now, please bestow upon Ming Feizhen a warrior alias."

    ''Huh? I get an alias, too?''

    The emperor red at me and then snorted. Still feeling angry, he then picked up a sheet of paper from his table and threw it at my face.

    It was scrunched up, nearly into a ball. I couldn''t read what the text was properly. I saw the character ''Liu,'' because that actually looked distinct.

    ''Is he saying that I''m awesome¡­? Forget it. His Machesty is still angry. Kissing ass is the unconquerable tactic among tactics.''

    Iughed and held the sheet of white paper properly, "Your Majesty, your handwriting is fabulous! Look at this ''Liu'' character¡­"

    I spread open the white sheet of paper. He wrote four characters with firm strokes. The characters looked like they came to life. Only after looking it over for a long while did I recognise that the three words were, ''Liu Shan''s gue''.

    ''Who''re you calling a gue?!! Let''s not get me started on the fact that it''s written so well!''

    ''Motherfucker! Hey, you, Mr. Li, step outside with me!''

    But His Machesty seemed to feel less angry after Iplimented his calligraphy. He looked somewhat pleased with himself.

    ''Yeah, fuck you and your proud look!!''

    In a muffled voice, General Manager Bai said, "Hurry up and thank His Majesty."

    I knew that General Manager Bai was thinking of what was best for me, so I involuntarily thanked him, dragging out my words, "Thaaaankk yoouuu."

    The emperor red at me and then exchanged eye contact with the empress before saying, "Ming Feizhen,e with me."

    "Huh?"

    I had only finished half of my bow when the emperor looked at me. He indifferently snorted, "I told you toe, soe here."

    He then swept his robe and took off with the aura of a wandering warrior in the pugilistic world.

    ''Your Machesty! Yes, you''re suave, but where are we going?!''

    I followed His Machesty to the rear of the hall.

    Today, I found out that there''s a small door at the rear of Wuying Hall that led directly to another hall. We didn''t go far, but there were ten people following all around him. The ten of them looked very skilled, with some being at the level of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons.

    ''It looks like His Machesty is on high alert after the Orange Prince''s revolt.''

    As soon as we stepped into the other hall, His Machesty ordered his men to step down. I was surprised to see that he seemed to have a secret to share with me.

    "Your Machesty, I mean, Your Majesty, do you have something to tell this humble peasant?"

    "Hmph! Ming Feizhen, you good for nothing!"

    ''Don''t just start cursing at me right off the bat. It sounds like Shiyi scolding me too¡­''

    "And here Shen Yiren was always speaking highly of you, saying that you live up to your school''s reputation. She said that you''re witty, calm and very much like a general."

    His Machesty got angrier and angrier as he went on. He then wore a long face and asked, "Today is a big day, and you dare bete? Where were you just now?"

    "Erm, that¡­ is a long story."

    So this is how it went; I just went to Eight Deities Tavern to buy braised pork shoulders in soy sauce, but the line was so long I couldn''t even squeeze in. When the boss saw me, who was a frequent customer, he gave me a hanging roast chicken. However, I brought bamboo leaf green tea, to go with braised pork shoulders in soy sauce, so it didn''t match with the vour of the chicken. Hence, I ran back home to find wine. After finishing my meal, I saw a candied haw seller on the way here, so I bought two sticks¡­ Sigh. In short, it''s a long story.

    His Machesty wore a disdainful look when he noticed that I didn''t borate.

    "Besides calling you here today tomend you, I have another job for you."

    Astonished, I replied, "Oh? You have something you are begging me to go do?"

    His Machesty, "¡­"

    Notes:

    *Ming Feizhen is deliberately mispronouncing "Majesty"

    **Áù in Liu Shan Men can is "six", but here it means "awesome". I''d like to see someone get that from MTL.

 Volume 4 17 Search for Lord Shan Shen

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 17 Search for Lord Shan Shen</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The air smelt like three-day-old dog sh*t; dry and astringent.

    His Machesty stared at me for a long time before smiling helplessly, "No wonder why Yiren said you are a man without restraints and cannot be viewed withmon sense. She said you are unpredictable, andmonly say things that surprise people."

    I scratched my head, "Boss Shen praised me like that?"

    "Boss? Heh, only you would dare to address Yiren like that." The emperor wore a look of nostalgia in his eyes.

    "You were able to see through the ck Winds Thirteen Wings arrangements ande up with a n for Yiren to have Long Zaitian neutralise Thorn Tears using poison. Though those feats of yours were not publicised, I do know that you are a talented man that can handle big jobs."

    "Frankly, I don''t like you at all." His Machesty red daggers at me, again, after he finished speaking, "Because I had a man who served at my side just like you, back then, but his greed got the better of him and he vited thew. In the end, he threw himself into the abyss. You two are identical in a lot of ways."

    ''His Machesty must be talking about the living treasure Yan Shisan. I''m surprised to hear that His Machesty hasn''t let go of that after so many years. It looks like Old Yan will have to continue waiting before he can return.''

    "However, I have alsoe to realise that it''s not right to treat you like that. You are you; he is he. I can''t cut off a young man''s future because I mind what somebody did in the past."

    The emperor then suddenly raised his arm up and went to reach for my shoulder.

    I unconsciously evaded by shifting my shoulder downwards.

    However, His Machesty didn''t stop. Instead, he struck at me with a powerful palm strike. He struck at me using just his arm strength alone without moving his. But, but it was enough to show that His Machesty was an expert at both internal and external strength techniques.

    I didn''t dare to ck.

    I utilised Taji Fist, which I learnt from the uncle nting vegetables at the foot of Wudang Mountain. Unfortunately, I had forgotten a few moves, so I had shoved a few random palm strike moves from Mount Daluo into the mix. I''m different to Tang Ye. I fail to remember techniques, so my fighting style doesn''t look aesthetic.

    However, my strength was enough to withstand His Machesty''s internal strength, so he didn''t hurt me.

    He then suddenly retracted his arm and stepped back before nodding as an out of this world expert would.

    His Machesty stroked his beard, "Not bad, not bad. It''s quite impressive for you to have such splendid skills at your age."

    ''Can we just talk properly without the theatricals? I had over two hundred opportunities to knock you flying into the toilet of Kunning Pce, Your Machesty.''

    His Machesty then said, "You have enough internal energy. You are the disciple of a reputable sect, no doubt. It''s just that your skills are terrible. There''s virtually no firepower, just as Yiren told me. You possess good vision and quick hands, and you also react fast. As long as you''re willing to train diligently, I guarantee you''ll be able to rank in the Seventeen Hidden Dragons."

    I submissively tucked my chin, "I was bornzy. I have no patience for martial arts training, so I am afraid I will not amount to much. As such, I am afraid I will disappoint your kindness."

    His Machesty dodged the topic, "Youe from Mount Daluo?"

    "Erm, yes."

    His Machesty nodded, "You''re not actually simr to the person I''m thinking off, but more simr to one of the people in your sect. I think you know who I''m talking about."

    "You would not be talking about¡­"

    "Your sect leader, Yuhua of the World, Ming Huayu."

    ''I knew it!''

    ''I don''t understand why everybody who is my senior always says I''m like my shifu when they see me. How are we simr in any capacity?! My shifu likes visiting brothels and hitting on girls, while I like eating pears and pork shoulders!!''

    "Perhaps it is a unique characteristic you people of Mount Daluo possess. I don''t me you. I called you here for a job I need you to do. You must do your best."

    His Machesty''s gaze then became serious, "Do you know of the Divine Moon Sect?"

    ''Hmm? I feel like this topic is going in a direction that''s bad news for me¡­''

    But it would be even stranger for me to im I don''t know of it. The Demon Sect is the nemesis of disciples of orthodox sects.

    "Your Machesty, that is a Demon Sect."

    "Correct. Have you heard of the legend of the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen?"

    ''This is bad news for me!!''

    "I-I have."

    "That makes things easier, then." His Machesty nodded with a grim expression. He then acted extremely mysterious.

    He suppressed his voice as he said, "I have a huge secret to tell you. Not many people know this secret, so you must promise to keep a tight lid on it. If it spreads, I''ll have your head."

    "Oh, oh! Yes!"

    "Good. I won''t hide it from you anymore. Last month, the Orange Prince revolted and brought incredibly formidable assassins in. Nobody in the Imperial City could defeat the assassins. The princess almost got killed by the assassins."

    "Fortunately, a man came to our rescue at thest minute. Not only did he defeat the assassins and save myself, along with a number of high-ranking officials, but he also rescued Princess Hongzhuang, whose life was hanging in the bnce."

    I nodded in apletely ignorant manner, "Oh¡­"

    "Said person was Lord San Shen of the Demon Sect!"

    The emperor smacked his own thigh with regret, "Unfortunately, I was immobilised at the time. My meridians were sealed not long after I could use my martial arts, again, or else that punk Lord San Shen wouldn''t have gotten to do anything. Unfortunately, he was sessful. After that¡­ Hong''er has yearned for him all the time."

    I reacted with shock, "Huh?! The Princess¡­ likes me, I mean, our nemesis Lord Shan Shen?"

    "That''s right. You know that the Demon Sect is the nemesis of the Imperial Court. There is no way we will have peace between us. Further, I have already made up my mind to marry Hong''er to a heroic disciple of an orthodox sect, so Hong''er''s feelings for him will just be a fantasy."

    I nodded, "So you want me toe up with a way to make the Princess forget him?"

    "No. The exact opposite, in fact." His Machesty thought to himself for a moment before exining, "I want you to help me find Lord San Shen."

    I was caught off guard.

    His Machesty continued, "Hong''er misses him every day. I know her temperament. All is well if she has no feelings. What I''m most afraid of is that her feelings will be etched into her heart and she will yearn for him forever, despite not being able to be with him. That will only make her life miserable. I would never want for that."

    His Machesty looked like a kind father as he went on, "Hence, I want you to find Lord San Shen''s location, even if it''s just a small hint. I know that you know the schools and sects of the pugilistic world and are very smart. I know about Mount Daluo ying to both sides with the orthodox and unorthodox sects. I won''t restrict you from using any method. Do your best to locate him for me. Arrange for him to meet with Hong''er, so that she can lose any ideas. Consider it mypensation for not being able to let her have her way, I guess."

    The emperor gave him a heavy pat on my shoulder. His gaze was filled with hope and expectation.

    I nkly repeated the job, "You want me¡­ to go and find Lord San Shen?"

    I patted the emperor''srge hands and nodded firmly. I then responded with a firm gaze, "Your Majesty, you have a keen eye for talent!"

    The vassal and monarch met with each other''s eyes. There was no need to say anymore.

    After a long while, His Machesty smiled and said, "You''re a good man. You''re much better than your sect leader, who''s never sensible."

    Just when I was excited about thepliment, the emperor suddenly let out a breath of relief, "I thought you''d ask for some reward. All the people of Mount Daluo are money mongers."

    ''Fuck! I forgot about it!!''

    ''My heart is bleeding! I finally had the fortune of having a true dragoning to me to bless me! I was so focused on talking about some father daughter love, I forgot about the reward part. How puzzling. What''s their father and daughter business have to do with me?!''

    "Additionally, Ming Feizhen, there was initially no need for this, but I have another problem I can''t untangle at the moment that I need to discuss with you."

    "Oh?"

    Thus, His Machesty gave me an overview of how he made a promise to betroth a princess to the Gold and Silver Sect, and how Jin Wangsun came to the conference today to ask for Princess Hongzhuang''s hand in marriage.

    Now I understand why the new master of the Gold and Silver Sect came into the capital today in a grandeur fashion and caused amotion in the city.

    ''So it turns out that he was trying toe in unting himself. Was he trying to be powerful and prestigious when asking for her hand in marriage?''

    His Machesty then told me about his n.

    "I didn''t have an idea, but I remembered the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament when I saw you!"

    "Oh?" I circled with my eyes and then suddenly understood what the emperor meant. I smiled mischievously, "Your Machesty, that idea of yours is really underhanded!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His Machesty made a cupped fist salute, "Hahaha. You''re too kind. You''re too kind."

    What His Machesty meant couldn''t be any clearer. He promised to betroth the Princess to the winner of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament at the tournament.

    I lost to Fu Xiang, so I was eliminated, but there were lots of other people who weren''t yet eliminated.

    Some of them are still in Jinluan Hall right now. That includes Tang Ye and Su Xiao. His Machesty wants to find a few shields for Jin Wangsun''s attack.

    ''Oh sh*t! Congrattions you two Fumas. There''ll be a fun show to watch, in a bit. I''m not going to miss out!''

    Notes:

    *The part where Ming Feizhen reacts: "Huh?! The Princess¡­ likes me, I mean, our nemesis Lord Shan Shen?"

    In Chinese, "I" is written ÎÒ (wo; third tone) and "we" is written ÎÒÃÇ, so when Ming Feizhen slipped up, all he did was add the second character to cover his slip up. Unfortunately, "me" and "our" have no resemnce whatsoever, so it was impossible for me to keep it intact.

    **The "true dragon" reference, is a reference to the emperor. Emperor''s wore robes with dragon designs and metaphorically associated with dragons. It''s nomenture.

 Volume 4 18 An Emperor, A Vassal and A Golden Vat

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 18 An Emperor, A Vassal and A Golden Vat</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    I understood what His Machesty meant. He didn''t like Jin Wangsun.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Strictly speaking, His Machesty could ept him, given his background and his family''s history with His Machesty''s. However, he has a poor reputation. He even angered gods, monks and ghosts on his way to the capital.

    His Machesty is aware that Princess Hongzhuang hates evil with a vengeance, so the two of them will be literally at war with each other. Hence, His Machesty wanted to see if he could find out Jin Wangsun''s true character, with the victor of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament.

    If Tang Ye andpany could easily defeat him, then he was naturally daydreaming. If he could ovee the test, then His Machesty would seriously consider betrothing his daughter to him.

    I had a long conversation with His Machesty. Once we were done, a group of guards stood all around him as we followed him back to Jinluan Hall.

    Her Majesty seemed to be uninterested in the discussions in the hall, and therefore, had left by the time we returned.

    The vassals saw that I followed behind the emperor into the hall, with both of us wearing sly smiles. We looked exactly like a tyrant and a sly vassal. Many high-ranking vassals revealed displeased looks.

    One of the people who stared at me was Assistant Manager Zhang.

    He muttered, "What did he do to manage to get so close to the emperor in such a short time period?"

    Another high-ranking official watched me vigntly, "Amazing ass-kissing arts. The rising young generation is a forced to be reckoned with."

    Everybody started talking about me.

    Only the old Prime Minister, twirling his white beard with his fingers with his eyes slightly shut, suddenly opened them. He looked at me as if I was a demon that brought ruin to the nation, "Don''t tell me the man is gay and satisfied His Majesty''s wish. He''s a demon from the heavens! He''s a demon from the heavens!"

    ''Fuck me! You came from a Taoist temple, didn''t you, gramps?! Is it really all right for you to spout nonsense like this in front of everybody?! Also, stop staring at my ass! Nothing happened just now!!!''

    The emperor cleared his throat and then waved his hand, "It was nothing. It was nothing. We just discussed some private matters. The end of the year ising, so I had a few things for Minister Ming to buy. Minister Ming, you understand, right?"

    I nodded with big head movements, "I do. I do. I do. I understand very well."

    The old Prime Minister who had muttered about the gay talk suddenly revealed an understanding smile¡­

    ''Sir, we need to have a good talk after this!!''

    The emperor smiled, after he finished listening. He then looked in Princess Hongzhuang''s direction and nodded.

    Princess Hongzhuang was usually hearty and valiant, but she couldn''t stop herself from going a little red in the face this time. She looked as though she was drunk. That look of hers was captivating.

    "All right, let''s put aside the trivial talk and talk about Jing Wangsun''s matter, again. I have an idea now."

    The vassals looked at the emperor and thought, ''He''s on a roll today.''

    They argued back and forth for over twenty days, yet still couldn''t reach a conclusion in the past. But the emperor was able to think things through in less than an hour when he was faced with a difficult situation, today.

    "Call Jing Wangsun in."

    Bai Ling called out loudly, "Please invite the master of the Gold and Silver Sect."

    The Seven Champion White Princes have been in Jiangnan for a long time. They are on equal footing with princes, as they have their own territory. Therefore, they had to use ''please invite'' when calling for Jin Wangsun.

    But it was strange; nobody came in after waiting for a while.

    We stood there and waited for almost ny minutes. General Manager Bai was about to lose her voice calling for him, but he still hadn''te.

    Not even the person who went to invite him came back.

    The emperor got irritated, "What''s going on? Why is Jin Wangsun trying to act up? Is he trying to face-p me in front of all my vassals? Men! Send more men to go and invite him."

    Before he could finish, someone from outside shouted, "Master Jin has arrived!"

    However, all we saw was eight people pushing and carrying in arge golden zongzi.

    I had a good look before I realised it wasn''t a zongzi, but an iron jar. Upon closer inspection, I realised it was the big iron vat which had been ced in the za to be used as a pot for nts!

    The exterior was coated with a gold paint, making it look majestic. I saw lots of these when I was on guard duty at the Imperial Pce.

    ''But what did they carry this thing here for?''

    Somebody, sounding humiliated, then suddenly spoke out, "Jin Wangsun¡­ H-Humbly greets you, Your Majesty."

    ''The golden zongzi spoke!''

    The way he suddenly spoke out gave me a fright, so I blurted, "Whoa, the zongzi came to life."

    Bai Ling and Princess Hongzhuang couldn''t help themselves fromughing.

    ''Thank you for your patronage, two great beauties!''

    After I said that and seemingly when the princess wasughing, I felt a cold gaze shoot over to me.

    It came from the zongzi¡­ There was somebody inside of the iron vat, but only his head was revealed. Like a groundhog hiding in the fields, he poked his head out to look at me.

    ''That''s the current master of the Gold and Silver Sect, Jin Wangsun? Damn, I feel bad for you, Old Jin.''

    Jin Wangsun didn''t look light, and the iron vat wasn''t light, either.

    ''No wonder the person who had gone to get him had note back. They needed eight people to push him over to the hall.''

    I ignored his hateful gaze and casually scanned the big golden zongzi.

    The vat was intended for holding nts, so the opening was very narrow. Specifically, it was half of his shoulder width. As a result, just about only his head was exposed. His arms and legs were inside the vat, so, naturally, he couldn''t extend them.

    ''He should be very skilled since he has inherited the Gold and Silver Sect master''s seat. However, probably only his father would be able to destroy that iron vat with just his internal energy alone. And even then, he would barely manage it. Unfortunately, Jin Wangsun is young, so he''d need a weapon to pull it off.'' The interior of the vat wasn''t spacious, so he probably can''t move his hands and feet.

    The emperor''s angerpletely vanished when he saw him. He was amused but also bewildered, "Wangsun, What¡­ are you doing? Why did you go into the vat?"

    One of Jin Wangsun''s servants, who had followed him, aggressively and angrily replied, "Your Majesty, my young master, he¡­"

    "Shut up!" Jin Wangsun was physically incapacitated in a vat, but he maintained a firmed attitude, nevertheless. One loudmand from him and his servant didn''t dare to make a peep.

    The big golden zongzi continued reproaching him, "We are at Jinluan Hall. Who are you to be speaking up in front of His Majesty? Get lost!"

    The servant had no choice but to submissively bow apologetically to the emperor and then exit the hall.

    Once the big golden zongzi finished reprimanding his servant, he regained hisposure and moved the only body part he could move; his neck.

    He wasn''t ced inside straight on, so he had to turn to face the emperor when he spoke. He twisted his neck over and with a serious look replied, "Wangsun rushed here. The journey was tiring, and thus Wangsun sought out a ce to rest."

    "Oh?" The emperor narrowed his eyes, as he struggled toprehend Jin Wangsun, "You used a vat to rest in?"

    The big golden zongzi remained cool as a cucumber. He nodded and replied, "Yes. The vat¡­ isfortable."

    ''Sh*t! A vat isfortable, he says!''

    "¡­"

    His Machesty was astonished.

    ''There are people who like sleeping in kettles?''

    At the same time all this was going on, Princess Hongzhuang revealed an unprecedented look of disgust.

    ''Princess, I have nothing but sympathy for you. Who would''ve ever imagined your future husband prefers vats over chairs?''

    ''Additionally, my conjecture is that Brother Zongzi didn''t go legs first before sitting down slowly. It looks like he jumped in ass first and then squeezed his limbs in.''

    What was very interesting was that his shoulders couldn''t fit in, but his entire body squeezed in.

    ''Bro, that''s some incredible skill! Just what on Earth did you do to lock yourself inside that vat? It''s as if somebody with profound internal strength used a palm strike to smash you into it.''

    I nced over at Su Xiao and Tang Ye before looking at His Machesty again, and I revealed a disappointed expression.

    I was waiting for the Fuma show.

    Well, great. I''m afraid there''s going to be some changes to the program, now that this big golden zongzi has gone and pulled this stunt.

    His Machesty would never betroth his daughter to him now, even if the thought did cross his mind before.

    Otherwise, His Machesty would have a son inw everybody calls "Jin Dagang".

    Notes:

    *Jin Wangsun''s surname is written ½ð which means gold. Therefore, Ming Feizhen refers to him as Jin Dagang a.k.a. the vat is gold, so he''s calling him "Big Golden Vat".

    **For anybody who has forgotten, a zongzi is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or otherrge t leaves.

 Volume 4 19 Mystery of the Golden Vat

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 19 Mystery of the Golden Vat</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Half an hour ago.

    Jin Wangsun was unconscious, and no different to a corpse, after Ming Feizhen sent him flying with a palm strike.

    His servants had tried many different means to wake him up.

    When he came to, he slowly checked his surroundings and, in a hazy state, confirmed his status. He felt that his body and internal energy were inhibited, while his chest felt heavy and painful. He knew that his blood and qi had been disrupted by the attack he had gotten caught by just now. Making it impossible for him to utilise his energy for some time. However, he was fortunate to have not suffered anything more severe than numbness in his hands and feet. As such, he concluded he wasn''t in too much trouble.

    He rejoiced to himself, ''My skills are formidable, no matter what you say. Defeating me in one move is no simple feat. That guy merely has brute strength. I''ll show him up the next time we meet!''

    He had a fire in him that burnt brightly and confirmed that he was fine.

    Except, he felt that he had trouble moving. His entire body was slightly numb, and he struggled to use his strength. He, therefore, had to turn his neck.

    When he looked down, he saw a vat.

    That''s right. He didn''t see a person, but just a vat.

    "What''s this?!!"

    One of his servants respectfully replied, "Young Master, you just had a duel thatsted three hundred rounds with that man. It was intense¡­"

    "Ptoo!" Jin Wangsun angrily spat saliva onto the shameless servant''s face, "Three hundred rounds?! I got sent flying with one hit! Don''t kiss ass. Tell the truth!"

    "Yes. Yes. You were defeated, Young Master. And younded into this vat. We have tried many methods, but this iron vat is too tough. We cannot break it."

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t help but recall the scene from before. His memory was simr to water in the ocean. It took him a long time to recall anything.

    He remembered that he had totally lost control over his body when he collided with that man. It was as though that man was power itself. It was that power which sent him flying.

    Afternding with a heavy thud, with a painful sensation all over, he had passed out.

    He concluded that the painful sensation he had felt was when he had crashed into this iron vat.

    Jing Wangsun went into deep thought, which highlighted the calmness and eloquence of Jiang Nan''s handsome man, like that of water in ake.

    He concentrated on his thoughts.

    ''How truly strange. Who exactly is he? I would have to say that he was born with overwhelming strength. His arm must produce over a thousand kilograms of strength. If that is the case, then it would be usible for him to send somebody flying with a single strike. I don''t have a single wound on me, though. Where did the strength he used to knock me into this iron vat vanish off to? How baffling.''

    While Jin Wangsun was still thinking, one of his servants loudly eximed, "We made a long journey here. How can the Imperial Court treat us so poorly?! Young Master, let us report this to His Majesty. We will have him hand that guy over. He must take responsibility!"

    His five other servants apuded him. However, just as they went to take action, Jin Wangsun made a hand gesture for them to stop; Albeit nobody was able to see it, since his hands were in the iron vat, "Stop!"

    Jin Wangsun thought to himself for a moment and then exined, "This may be a trap."

    "Young Master, you mean¡­"

    Jin Wang sun replied in a muffled voice, "I was mboyant on the way to the capital. The Imperial Court caught wind of that long ago. Therefore, His Majesty must''ve known what my intention was and prepared a counter. That guy''s martial arts skills are negligible, but he''s got tremendous strength. We are not his match."

    "How despicable of them. They were the ones who made the agreement. How can they just go back on it?"

    "Hmph. There''s no end to the number of lies and traps in the world. If you''re strong, he can''t underestimate you even if he''s the reigning monarch. But if you''re weak, even dogs and cats can push you around." Jin Wangsun then took in a deep breath and paused before continuing, "The emperor was prepared. We must handle this cautiously. That guy just now¡­ I didn''t see his face clearly, but he wasn''t dressed in the clothes of the top fighters of the Imperial Court. I''ve researched all of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. Many of them are not in the capital, at present, so he''s unlikely to be a warrior on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. Perhaps he is somebody who can be of use to me."

    "Young Master, since he moves about in the pce, he must be connected to the Imperial Court, even if he is not one of the warriors¡­"

    Jin Wangsun snickered, "What are you afraid of? Is there anything in the world that can''t be solved with money? Going forward, don''t be mboyant and don''t show any emotion. Carefully observe in silence. If he really is in the pce, I''ll be able to find him. While my Gold and Silver Sect is immensely wealthy in Jiangnan, our roots aren''t yet strong. If I can''t marry a princess and receive the assistance of the Imperial Court, then my Gold and Silver Sect will be in danger."

    "But if we do not mention it, how will you get out¡­?"

    "It''s nothing. This iron vat may be tough, but it''s just amon product. I can''t shatter it, but it''s absolutely possible to rip this apart. It''s just that my internal strength hasn''t recovered, yet I need to use a weapon. Where''s my Yun Tou?"

    "Umm¡­ Young Master, it dropped inside with you."

    Jin Wangsun reproached him, "Don''t be ridiculous. Yun Tou''s Sabre is longer than this vat. How could it have dropped inside? Go and find it."

    When his servants prepared to go and search for it, they saw a low-rank eunuch approach them from in the distance. It appeared that Jin Wangsun was being called in.

    Jin Wangsun quickly revealed a rxed expression and quietly told his servants, "Stay calm! Stay calm! You must stay calm! Don''t let the people in the Imperial Courtugh at us!"

    The low-ranking eunuch wore a look of utter disbelief as he approached them.

    "Master Jin, His Majesty has called for you. Hurry ande with me¡­ But what are you doing inside that vat?"

    Jin Wangsun responded with a suave smile, "Vats¡­ arefortable."

    That folks, is how "Jin Dagang", also known as therge golden vat came to be.

    ===============

    Therge golden zongzi couldn''t budge.

    He turned his body, as best he could and smiled proudly, "May I ask what you have asked for Wangsun for, Your Majesty?"

    "Huh?"

    ''You''re going to listen to me like this? Are you treating Jinluan Hall as if it''s a stage for your monkey show?!''

    His Machesty said, "Erm, I have a few things to say about your marriage agreement, but it is not convenient for us to speak while you are in the vat, Wangsun."

    Jin Wangsun smiled the same way you would when a clear, soothing breeze blows by. "It isfortable in this vat, but I am afraid it would be rude for me to remain in here. Please have somebody destroy it, Your Majesty."

    I honestly wouldn''t have believed it if I hadn''t witnessed it with my own eyes.

    A few warriors walked over, as per the emperor''s orders.

    However, as Jin Wangsun was inside, they looked around and couldn''t help but scratch their heads, for they had no way of dealing with it.

    A few civil servant officials then leaned over to take a closer look. They seemed especially interested in therge golden vat, so they gradually put Jin Wangsun in the centre.

    The big golden zongzi inside the vat revealed his head.

    He resembled a vegetable on disy for everybody to view, but he wore a faint smile on his handsome face, as though he didn''t feel bad about it.

    Princess Hongzhuang slowly walked up close to me. Suddenly, she faintly said, "I will have to trouble you for tomorrow."

    I nced at her with surprise.

    Princess Hongzhuang was dressed in clothing that females wore when travelling in the pugilistic world today. She wore a pair of tight pants that made her long legs appear more prominent and firm. She was dressed in red from head to toe.

    She has the "hong" character in her name, which means red, and unexpectedly, loves to dress in red.

    Needless to say, her red clothing today looked unbelievably bing of her, as it was a perfect fit for her snow-white skin and bright eyes.

    I rarely see girls dressed in red that look as beautiful as her.

    She still possessed the noble aura she had when we first met. She didn''t wear any expression on her snow-white, handsome, melon-shaped face.

    When she spoke, she emitted a polite aura, as though she was a thousand miles away from you. She seemed to have faint eye bags underneath her beautiful eyes. Her eyes were the same as Boss Shen when she pulled all-nighters.

    If I had to guess, I would say that it was because she couldn''t sleep at night.

    ''His Majesty said she fell for me. Could that be why¡­?''

    ''Sigh¡­ ''

    I scratched my head.

    ''God damn! I can''t help it when I''m so darn good looking.''

    ''I don''t have any feelings for the princess, but there''s no man who wouldn''t be happy to know a beauty liked him, now, is there?''

    Princess Hongzhuang, who was in the dark, didn''t know what I was smiling like an idiot for. When she swept her gaze over to me, her gaze was akin to a pair of sharp swords stabbing at me.

    I immediately stopped daring to smile anymore.

    Princess Hongzhuang has a serious personality. She''s serious with those around her and even more so with herself. I could tell what her personality was like based on her sabre techniques. Her execution was neither careless norzy.

    I have to admit, she gave me a fright when I first witnessed her skills with a sabre on that night in the pce. The first move she unleashed was Emei Sect''s passed down sabre style. The move was called Green Jade Home.

    Her execution of it was so fantastic, it was as though the leader of Emei Sect herself had personally executed the move. Her physical execution and spirit made her every move the perfect embodiment of Emei Sect.

    That was evidence that she was not only very talented but also possessed a spirit stronger than many other sabre wielders.

    ''I''m very surprised to hear that such a princess would like a strange man with white hair wearing a mask¡­ Yes, that was me, but if we''re being objective, this princess has weird taste.''

    Princess Hongzhuang then said, "I am close to Yiren and I got to know Su Han today. They told me what sort of person you are. If you will do your best for me, then okay, sure. Otherwise, you can turn down the job now."

    I swiftly replied, "Do not worry, Princess. I will definitely do my utmost. Even if he falls into a rodent hole, I will pour boiling water into the hole, on your behalf, to flush him out."

    ''But, I can''t promise you''ll find him~''

    Princess Hongzhuang suddenly looked up. A tinge of surprise surfaced in her eyes.

    "You are¡­ very much like."

    "Huh?"

    The princess looked at me for a while before shaking her head, "Nothing. I just thought you were very simr to him. He sounds just like you just now when he jokes¡­"

    The cat suddenly caught my tongue.

    I reflected on myself and realised I should control myself. The atmosphere immediately turned incredibly awkward, because I stopped speaking and the princess wasn''t a girl of many words, either.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Suddenly, somebody in the distance eximed, "Watch my Divine Mountain Splitter Palm Strike!"

    What we saw was a military official violently hit the iron vat with a palm strike. After a loud bang, the big golden zongzi got rocked so roughly his face turned purple. Unfortunately, the iron vat didn''t even have a scratch.

    His Machesty, sitting in the distance, was getting a headache. He just rested his forehead on his hand without a word.

    Princess Hongzhuang fumed, "What insolence in the conference hall!"ike a red cloud, Princess Hongzhuang glided over to the centre of the hall. She passed by the iron box in front of the Imperial Throne, kicked it open, and took out the Golden Crow Moon Eater sabre lying inside.

    The shiny de lit up the entire hall as soon as it saw daylight. The aura of the de surged forth.

    The princess delicately leapt high. Despite holding such a huge and wide sabre, she didn''t show any signs of effort, which was a testament to her strong arm strength.

    She spun around in the centre of the hall and shed three times, separating the iron vat into pieces as though it was butter into boiling oil.

    Jin Wangsun finally escaped from therge golden vat.

    Princess Hongzhuang returned the sabre to the box and let out a breath, nheless, maintaining a cold expression.

    I looked into the eyes of Jin Wangsun who just had been rescued. It appeared as though he had done away with some of his arrogance and had more respect. He made a cup fist salute to thank the princess, "Thank you for your assistance, Princess."

 Volume 4 20 Fuma, Donâ€™t Curse Me

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 20 Fuma, Don''t Curse Me</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Jin Wangsun gawked at Princess Hongzhuang for a full fifteen minutes before shifting his gaze away. If he didn''t happen to be her fianc¨¦, specifically, the warriors of Jinluan Hall would''ve apprehended him.

    Jin Wangsun cleared his throat, regained hisposure and then lowered his head to look at the broken bits of iron in his hand.

    He seemed to be shocked. The loud sound made when the iron hit the ground indicated that it was obviously very heavy.

    ''What''s this punk acting like it''s a big deal about?''

    I heard him mutter "My Yun Tou. My Yun Tou." or something or other. I had no idea what his muttering had to do with the broken bits of iron that were hidden inside the iron vat¡­

    We''ve only met for a short time, but this new Master Jin of the Gold and Silver Sect is a clown to me. The only difference is that he''s a rich clown.

    The emperor cleared his throat as well and then got down to business.

    "Cough, cough. In short, Wangsun, I called you here because I had something to say to you. Your wedding agreement is genuine and I did, indeed, say that to your father. However, I only have three princesses. Jingan married off a long time ago. Airu is too young and is not yet ready for marriage. The only one among my daughters who is at a suitable age for marriage is Hongzhuang."

    Jin Wangsun formed a cupped-fist salute and responded, "I was already aware of that. That is why I asked you to betroth Princess Hongzhuang to me, Your Majesty. ording to the rules of this dynasty, Princess Hongzhuang cannot marry an official. Wangsun may have seeded the Gold and Silver Sect and I refer to myself as your vassal, but, as you are fully aware;, I do not hold an official post."

    "Furthermore, the Gold and Silver Sect does not have a bad reputation in the pugilistic world. With many years of history, we are also well established. Additionally, Wangsun''s family is adequate, financially, so it is a guarantee that Princess Hongzhuang will not have to suffer after marrying into my family. If you could kindly fulfil Wangsun''s request, then it will definitely be a beautiful romance."

    As a means of avoiding the royal family from losing power, there is a rule enforced in this dynasty which forbids officials from marrying children of the royal family. This was to prevent them growing their power in the harem. The current empress is, indeed, from a family ofmoners, but her father is a hegemon in the martial world.

    Hence, ever since the establishment of the dynasty, princes and princessesmonly married into the family ofmoners, which was then referred to as examples of free love.

    The family of the two lovers made the calls, even if the two werepatible. However, if the two of them loved each other, oftentimes, they still managed to have their wishes fulfilled; in spite of huge discrepancies in status and family backgrounds. There were many cases like this in the current dynasty.

    ''In my opinion; Though I don''t know what the emperor''s ancestors were like, I know for sure that our reigning emperor is going to crawl through every crack and exploit every loophole.''

    ''He''s got seven sons. Six of his seven son''s mothers are from families in the martial world. He''s basically ying edge ball with the moner family girls'' stiption.''

    ''The empress is the daughter of Blue Sky Swordsman, Ling Hanzhong, Lushan Jianguan''s master. Lushan Jianguan is the first-ranked sect among the Seven Champion White Princes. All of the disciples of the sect are experts with the sword and know unarmed martial arts.''

    ''Can you imagine an army of over ten thousand people all being brave generals? That''s why they are considered on equal footing with the two big powerhouses Wudang and Shaolin in the martial world.''

    ''You call someone with that sort of background a moner''s daughter?'' What do you expect the girls that are actually frommoner families to do?!"

    ''With that said, though the emperor ys edge ball, he''s quite open-minded with his children. After all, Princess Jingan''s Fuma is¡­ Sigh, my heart aches when I speak of it.''

    ''In short, ever since the establishment of this dynasty, princesses had the right to choose who they married.''

    ''But on the other hand¡­ The ordinary people who were unwilling to marry a princess were doomed. They had no right to refuse if the princess liked them. In other words, if a princess liked a guy that passed by¡­''

    ''Simply speaking, it''s no different to thugs in the mountains kidnapping a girl back to his home to make her his wife.''

    The emperor stroked his beard, "Of course. Of course. Your Gold and Silver Sect has always been wealthy. I am not worried about that, either."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He nced at Princess Hongzhuang, out of the corner of his eye, to see her looking distracted and not giving a single care for Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun looked over to her cold attitude and felt tremendously disappointed himself.

    The emperor sighed to himself. All he could say was, "I understand your good intention, Wangsun. It is just that I cannot do anything about it at the moment."

    Jin Wangsun replied with astonishment, "How so?"

    "You must not know then, Wangsun." The emperor stroked his beard and spoke with utmost sincerity. In no capacity, did he appear to be trying to humour him. He was without a doubt, the emperor.

    "A month ago, I didn''t know you woulde, nor did I know you woulde to the capital to ask for my daughter''s hand in marriage.

    As such, I betrothed her to another, in front of everybody.

    Jin Wangsun frowned. It was clear he was unaware of it, "Oh? May I ask who you betrothed Princess Hongzhuang to?"

    ''The fun is about to start. I thought I missed out on a verbal annihtion show, but then, what do you know? I get one right away. I''m all smiles here.''

    The emperor replied bluntly, "The Fuma candidate was selected from the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. He is, like my Jingan Fuma, perfect, with nothing to pick on. He defeated fierce fighters and remained undefeated at the tournament. That is what caught my attention."

    I reyed the event to myself.

    ''I remember¡­ I was smacked flying in my fight with Fu Xiang. I don''t remember what happened with Tang Ye''s match against Long Zaitian, but I remember Su Xiao beat Ye Luo.''

    ''Could it be¡­?''

    The emperor then asked, "Bai Ling, what is the first requirement for a Fuma?"

    Bai Ling answered properly, "Good appearance, good posture and good character."

    "Correct. As a Fuma, one must have a good appearance and character. After all, I can''t have my grandchildren looking demented, right?"

    ''That''s true.''

    ''Even if the princess has the right to choose who she marries, the emperor can''t marry her off to someone looking hideous, right? The pride and dignity of the royal family is very important.''

    The emperor did well in that aspect. All thedies he married were beautiful maidens, which is why all the princes and princesses looked decent. The Orange Prince, who was just apprehended, is also a handsome flower boy.

    "Fortunately, the two candidates this time¡­"

    The emperor''s gaze slowly swept over Jin Wangsun, Tang Ye, Su Xiao and then finally me.

    "Erm¡­ Aren''t bad."

    ''Hey! Why did you stop after looking at me?! Was that a profane remark directed at me?!!''

    ''But good appearance, good posture and good character, huh? Who else could there be but him? My, my! Appearance is the key when it matters!''

    I took two steps over and patted Su Xiao on his shoulder. He reacted by tilting his head in confusion. His cuteness was indescribable.

    "Congrattions. Congrattions, Fuma Su."

    "Piss off. Stop messing. I didn''t win the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament!"

    "You had the best record. Don''t curse. I got your back. I''ll invite the Three Letters and Six Rites on your behalf."

    Su Xiao frowned beautifully, "Ming Feizhen, are you picking a fight?! Hmph! I''m not talking to you anymore."

    Su Xiao appeared to be quite unhappy. He pouted his small mouth and turned his head away.

    ''Careful, Fuma Su¡­ You''re even prettier than the princess. Careful, lest somebody destroys your face.''

    Jin Wangsun appeared to have had hispetitive nature stirred. He wore a long face and asked, "Can this individualpare to the Gold and Silver Sect, and Wangsun, to you, Your Majesty?"

    The emperor smiled, "For him to be worthy of being my Fuma, of course, he has a good character and outstanding family background."

    "Needless to say, you also fit that criterion."

    "The victor is highly skilled, just, and upright, and is also from one of the strongest and prominent sects in the martial world. He makes for a strongpetitor for you in every aspect."

    ''I see.'' I pped my thigh.

    That means it''s not Su Xiao, then. Su Xiao''s family runs a martial arts school in Suzhou. They don''t remotely fit the ''strong and prominent sect'' description.

    ''That means it''s Tang Ye, then!''

    Tang Ye''s father came from Beihai''s powerful Mingjing Pce.

    ''Fufufu. He''s toughpetition, all right.''

    I bounced over to Tang Ye''s side.

    "Fuma Tang, remember to look after me in the future. Call me into the pce for braised pork shoulders."

    "¡­" Tang Ye lingered for a moment before scanning me, "Look out for yourself."

    ''Su Xiao getting angry was tough to understand, but why is Tang Ye spewing enlightened speech that''s difficult to decipher today?''

    The emperor then looked over to me and smiled, "He defeated all his opponents, and rose to fame at the Flying Fish Pavilion. Those who have seen him can support my im. I am not bluffing."

    I looked to the emperor with a smile and responded, "You are right, Your Majesty."

    Jin Wangsun then asked with astonishment, "Really?"

    He looked around and then, with a smile, continued, "Your Majesty, you did not find a senior who has been famous for a while, did you? ording to what Wangsun knows, among the young warriors of the Imperial Court who have achievements under their belt, besides the Qilin Guard God of Battle Yi Ya, there is no other that can match Wangsun. Your Majesty, Princess Hongzhuang is a beauty in her prime. Would you bear to betroth her to an old man, decades older than her?"

    The emperor looked at me with a smile, "The individual I speak of is powerful. He is a handsome, young man."

    I nodded exaggeratedly.

    All I was missing was a fan to fan myself with.

    "You are right, Your Majesty!" I said.

    The emperor seemed very pleased. He continued as if he was singing a duet with me, "It is true that I made a promise to your Jin family, Wangsun, but I also made a promise to the victor of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. My promises sh, so I am in a dilemma, too."

    I nodded, "It''s hard. It''s hard. You are right. You are right!"

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t hold it anymore, "May I ask who this individual is, Your Majesty?"

    "He is in the hall!"

    "You are right!"

    The emperor suddenly pointed at me.

    "Him, Ming Feizhen! He is a third-generation disciple of the powerful and renowned sect in the martial world, Mount Daluo. He hails from a famous sect. Fuma Candidate Ming!"

    I smiled ecstatically. As soon as I heard Fuma, I blurted, "You are right, Your Majesty!"

    The hall would''ve gone silent all of a sudden if not for the echo of my sentence¡­

    ''Damn, that was fucking awkward.''

    I felt as though the time and air had frozen.

    Countless eyes turned to look at me as if thousands of arrows were fired at me.

    I sluggishly looked toward the emperor.

    He wore a look of disbelief as though he was a victim. He looked like I kidnapped his daughter with his sad, droopy face.

    "I didn''t believe it, initially. There was no victor at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. However, he was the only one whose opponents either lost or died before fighting him. The members of the ck Winds Thirteen Wings who were meant to fight him all died, too."

    "I went over the results many times, and he is the only qualified contestant. He won without fighting. He''s a young man close to the level of Qilin''s God of Battle, Liu Shan''s gue, Ming Feizhen!"

    ''Say that one more fucking time, and we''re going to have a death match Mr. Li!''

    Su Xiao poked his head over and bluntly said, "I only found out when I heard Old Huang''s conversation."

    ''I want to cry, but I have no tears! Even old Huang knew more than I did!!''

    ''Your Machesty!! You yed me!!!''

 Volume 4 21 The Situation Couldnâ€™t Be Worse Than This

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 21 The Situation Couldn''t Be Worse Than This</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    I stood at the agreed spot the morning the day after I had been dered Fuma.

    I looked upwards, speechless. I looked at the tree, more bent than my neck was, and spaced out¡­

    Yesterday, His Machesty said I had won the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament and threw me into the fire. Then he added, "As for how you two fuma candidates willpete, wait for my good news."

    Just as I went to speak out, His Machesty immediately called for the conference to end. The old prime minister, who was snoring, then suddenly opened his eyes and sent His Machesty off with "Long Live, Your Majesty", as though he had it all nned out.

    The vassals andpany in the hall had scattered like a flock of birds, with the emperor leading.

    I still remember it as if it was yesterday.

    Before I knew it, all of the vassals of the Imperial Court, including Su Xiao and Tang Ye had left, leaving behind just the princess, Jin Wangsun and I.

    I looked at my princess nkly and then at Jin Wangsun, who was looking at me. The three of us wore awkward looks.

    The atmosphere was akin to dog poop that had been left for three days, dry and hard¡­

    We then awkwardly left the hall and went our ways to wait for His Machesty''s ''good news.''

    ''I don''t care about Jin Wangsun¡­ But I have to take the princess out today¡­ And to fucking find myself, no less!!''

    When I grabbed my head to try and figure out how to deal with the mess, I heard the princess'' clear and cold voice transmit to my ear from behind.

    "Brother Ming."

    My eyes couldn''t help but light up when I turned around.

    I saw a tall long-legged, lively beauty, with snow-white skin, in red. Inside her light-as-a-cloud red clothes was a snow-white fitted robe. She had a red belt around her shapely hips and her clothing was tight around her voluptuous breasts and underarms.

    There was no way one wouldn''t have their breath taken away at the sight of her beauty. Nobody could help but be passionately captivated by her beauty. Any man walking on the street would forget what he was doing and stop to marvel at her.

    ''I didn''t notice it at first, but I''ve now discovered she''s unexpectedly precious.''

    She had six flower petals faintly drawn on her forehead. The pretty red flower petals and her snow-white skinplemented each other.

    I spaced out as I looked at her for a while before returning to reality.

    "Good morning, Princess."

    The princess looked at my reaction and seemed to feel somewhat awkward herself, "Uhm, Mm¡­ Good morning."

    I didn''t know what to say after yesterday''s mess in Jinluan Hall.

    I scratched my head, "Th-The weather is quite nice."

    The princess nodded, "Uhm, It''s¡­ quite dark."

    It''s a cloudy day today. The sky was dark like the abyss of this mess¡­

    Me: "¡­"

    The princess: "¡­"

    The atmosphere was like dog p-¡­ Cough. Cough. In any case, it was very weird.

    The gaze the princess looked at me with was an odd gaze that was emitted from her soul.

    I don''t me her. I''m her future fuma candidate and yet I''m supposed to take her out to locate the man she likes¡­

    ''Where in the world would you find a man taking the initiative to cuckold himself like this? How should I exin this situation?''

    ''Would I be disrespecting her if I told her I had identally won and don''t actually have any feelings for her? It''s true that I won by ident!! I didn''t know that the opponents in myter matches were the ck Winds Thirteen Wing''s members.''

    ''Those guys took up one-third of the contestant numbers. And they had to all get defeated, for fuck sakes. I''m in despair, too! Those unlucky punks screwed me over for a month and I''m still suffering because of them!''

    I was mustering up every cell in my brain to try and figure out a solution. Then the princess said, "Brother Ming, since we will be working together today, I have a few things I''d like to make clear with you, first."

    I sighed a breath of relief, "Your H-¡­ Miss Li, please go ahead."i Hongzhuang thought to herself for a moment and then, in a firm tone, said, "Hongzhuang assumes that father has already mentioned to you that Hongzhuang wishes to meet him. He is Hongzhuang''s saviour. It''s also the first time I''ve wanted to see a man. I''ve had lots of questions to ask, recently. I won''t be able to resign myself if I don''t see him again. However, I am not after anything. As you are from a famous sect, I presume you are aware that the Imperial Court and orthodox sects are at odds with him."

    "Uhm." I muttered, indistinctly.

    ''What else could I have said? That man, who is at odds with the orthodox sects, is me!''

    "So needless to say, Hongzhuang''s teacher from Emei ¡ªwhich is where Hongzhuang learnt martial arts¡ª detests him with a vengeance. If she found out about this, she is most likely to be enraged."

    "She won''t go that far. Old Grandma Bailou is quite reasonable and easy to speak to."

    "Hmm?" Li Hongzhuang frowned gently, "Brother Ming, what did you call my teacher?"

    I screwed on a serious look and responded, "I said that Master Bailou is a revered individual in the martial world, so it is unlikely that she would make things difficult for her disciple."i Hongzhuang shook her head, "You do not know that my teacher is a Buddhist. She is a vegetarian and rarely uses weapons. However, she bes enraged as soon as the Demon Sect is mentioned. This must not be mentioned in her presence."

    ''I remember she almost lost Emei''s golden Buddhist statue, after losing ten times via thirteen wonders in mahjong, when she yed with Ximen Chuideng back then. She flew off the handle and swore to oppose the Demon Sect. Back then, I was ying around at the scene, and I still remember it clearly.''

    ''Don''t go ming grandma, though. After the event, I asked Ximen, and he told me he cheated. Yep¡­ He cheated seven games in a row. That evil bugger. Needless to say, grandma saw through it in the end. Ximen ended up enraging all of Emei for nothing since she saw through it before he could collect his money. At the time, I thought he was bankrupt. Afterwards, he really did go broke, as I thought.''

    "As a girl and a disciple, I cannotmit such a grievous mistake. As such, please do not worry, Brother Ming. All I ask is to see him one more time to ask him a few questions."i Hongzhuang spoke in a very solemn tone, "No matter what you may think. Hongzhuang is not a shameless maiden. I understand your dilemma. If you feel that this is inappropriate, let''s forget this business today. Hongzhuang will notin. I will exin the situation to my father myself. I won''t make things hard for you."

    I looked at her eyes carefully. Her eyes were clear and firm.

    ''She''s a princess, while I''m a constable.''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''If I became a fuma, I wouldn''t have any say, even if she decided to raise a bunch of boy toys; let alone going to see somebody. Nevertheless, the thought of bossing me around with her father''s identity never crossed her mind. Instead, she was forthright with me. She''s a good, upright girl. I can tell her I don''t have any feelings for her without concern. That''ll make it easier for me to move about in the future, too.''

    I made a fist and palm salute to say, "Miss, do not worry. Since you have said that, I shall be upfront with you about my feelings. I¡­"

    ''I sense murderous intent!''

    I felt a cold murderous intent shoot over before I could finish.

    I thought it was somebody with profound internal strength preparing a sneak attack. The aura suddenly made me recall the person in ck who hadunched a sneak attack on me at Liu Shan Men yesterday morning.

    The person from yesterday was by no means weak. We''re on a primary street, right now. If we fight, I won''t be able to show my skills in the princess''s presence. If I have to take a beating, forget fighting passively; the bigger concern would be that the princess would be in danger.

    ''I didn''t have time to think through all the details. The best n of all is to take the initiative!''

    I wrapped an arm around the princess''s slender waist. Her waist felt basically the same as it did a month ago in the pce, but she seemed to have lost some weight.

    I leapt up lightly and moved to the rear of the tree with a crooked top half in order to obstruct the assant''s vision.

    Their murderous intent died down in an instant and vanished without a trace. It was clear that they got my warning and retreated without any sess.

    I revealed a cool cold smile.

    ''Hmph! Nobody acting like he''s hot!''

    However, after escaping the crisis, the girl in my arms suddenly said, "Brother Ming¡­"

    ''Hmm?''

    I lowered my head to see the princess in my arms. She looked at my hand on her waist and then my smile, showing I was pleased with myself. Her usual cold expression was now a furious expression, instead.

    "This is the feeling you wanted to express?"

    ''Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?''

    ''Hey! Wait! It''s not what you''re thinking!! Don''t connect the two!!''

    ''Fuck! Just who did I ever aggravate, damn it?!!''

 Volume 4 22 Liu Shan Menâ€™s City Manager

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 22 Liu Shan Men''s City Manager</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The atmosphere became really awkward.

    Princess Hongzhuang isn''t a girl of many words. My confession made her speak even less.

    She was now walking in front silently, while an insolent man who had delusions for her was silently following behind her. She was very vignt of the man.

    ''Why is it that I''m an insolent man, if not a pervert, when I meet this Princess¡­?''

    "Stop!"

    "What now?"

    The Princess frowned and took a step back. She watched me with suspicion. She was one step away from saying ''Insolent pervert. How dare you tease this Princess on the streets? Why not go hang yourself?''

    "No¡­ I was trying to say that we''ve arrived."

    Princess Hongzhuang was looking for Lord San Shen.

    ''Of course, I can''t click anybody into existence for her out of thin air.''

    ''The simplest and most direct approach would be for me to throw on some makeup, wash off my hair dye and make an appointment to meet her. But it wouldn''t be reasonable if it was so easy. Not to mention, it would be impossible to convince her.''

    ''How am I supposed to exin to her that I managed to find a leader of the Demon Sect so easily when I''m a disciple of Mount Daluo? She might even suspect me of trying to fool her, for all I know.''

    ''Secondly, the hair dye removal solution is very expensive, too!! Yes, it''s true that Lao Dai runs the pharmacy, but the stuff in the medicine warehouse is reserved for the royal family. Not even he can just take them for his own use. He was nearly apprehended just a few days ago. I can''t get him in trouble.''

    ''That''s why I have to put on an act and pretend to take her around to search for information first.''

    This is our destination. This is the where most of the people from the west reside in the capital.

    Princess Hongzhuang couldn''t help but sigh softly when we arrived.

    All we saw was skin, appearances, and people dressed totally unlike locals, or even people in the Central ins. Most of these people had incredibly white skin and distinct facial features. Some had blonde hair and green eyes. Some had ck hair and thick beards. Some dressed boldly, while others dressed modestly. Their clothes were colourful.

    They looked vastly different to people from the Central ins. It feels as though you''ve walked into a new world when youe here. It makes you feel as if you''ve returned to the west.

    The majority of the people here were merchants and monks from the seven nations in the west.ots of monks were, actually, disciples of the Divine Moon Sect. However, the situation in the seven nations of the west was different.

    The main sect that the Emperor was attacking was the one Old Ximen had led. The Divine Moon Sect held different opinions and was peaceful.

    Many of their disciples were monks and preachers. They were called the Bright Sect. They were members of one of the factions of the Divine Moon Sect, the Bright Moon Faction. The way they conducted themselves was also the pr opposite of Old Ximen.

    The Emperor seemed to consider them a counterbnce for the Demon Sect, so he weed them with open arms. However, the Bright Sect was founded only twenty years ago, so their doctrine and rules were the same as the Divine Moon Sect''s. Even the god they believed in and the scriptures they read were identical.

    As such, everybody thought it unbelievable when they saw this group on the streets of the capital, while others were called disciples of the Demon Sect.

    Besides selling various delicacies from the west, as well as strange little things, they also sold tranted versions of the Divine Moon Sect''s scriptures.

    Bored, I picked one up to flip through. These books came from my Shifu and Old Ximen''s handwriting.

    The old man with a big beard selling the books revealed a mysterious smile.

    In a strange tone, he said, "Chinese friend! This is our Divine Moon Sect''s ssic ''Red Cloud Jing''. This book is the only copy of the book. The Grand Priest himself tranted it. There''s even a drawing of a candied haw inside, drawn by the Grand Priest himself. Candied haws! Candied haws! It''s great! It''s great!"

    ''The Red Cloud Jing the Grand Priest''s personally tranted? I remember that the one my Shifu tranted back then was¡­''

    I thought to myself that this was bad. As soon as I opened it¡­

    ''Isn''t this the porn my Shifu randomly drew?!''

    ''My eyes are burning!''

    The Princess poked her head over and asked, "Is it a good read?"

    "I don''t understand it. I don''t understand it. Let''s leave it. Let''s leave it. Let''s hurry."

    I quickly dragged the Princess off elsewhere.

    She suddenly pulled back, as I was holding onto her soft white hands. She revealed an unhappy look and said, "Brother Ming¡­ Though you might¡­ But you and Hongzhuang have no rtionship, after all. Please show some respect."

    ''I want to cry, but have no tears! I was trying to avoid giving you eye cancer, Miss!''

    I led the Princess into a restaurant I often went to, in order to relieve the awkwardness.

    You could say that this is the restaurant with the highest-quality stuff on Bright Lane. They may sell food from the west, but they have all sorts of stuff. I heard that the boss spent a lot of effort and used many means to bring the chefs of the seven nations together. And so, this ce has the best dishes of the seven nations of the west.

    Princess Hongzhuang continued looking around after she had sat down. Her curiosity was piqued by the things she saw, "Although I was born in the Capital, I started learning with a teacher from a young age. I travelled with Shifu to lots of ces. We were usually away from the capital eight to nine months in a year. I''ve never been here before."

    With a smile, I replied, "I had a simr experience to you, Miss Li. I heard my Shifu speak about them. I am from Nanjing, but as far as I can remember, I was on Mount Daluo in the north. I only got a chance to leave after I had grown a bit older. I only sent a foot in Nanjing at eleven or twelve."

    Princess Hongzhuang smiled but didn''t speak again. She didn''t seem interested in what I had to say.

    Sigh.

    If it were not for my status as a Fuma candidate, as well as my confession, this princess would probably scold me whenever she wanted, without much thought. Given her temper, she would say whatever she wished. It feels really ufortable speaking to somebody who''s not being honest.

    "Miss Li, have you never heard of this ce before, either? Nanjing is your home, after all. All of your family and friends here."

    I randomly found something to speak about to break the awkward atmosphere. However, she froze up for a moment and then stopped speaking altogether.

    The atmosphere became iparably awkward.

    ¡­

    ''Motherfucker! People are about to congratte for my new can''t-pick-up girls nickname!!''

    "I¡­"

    After a short moment passed, Li Hongzhuang finally spoke, "I am a natural loner. I don''t have any friends and am not close to my siblings. Furthermore, I''m always away from home, so we drifted apart. In the capital, I¡­"

    She suddenly nced at my constable token at my waist.

    "Only Yiren speaks with me. She''s my best friend."

    ''I''m so moved! She finally spoke! Thank you, Boss!''

    "Did Boss not take you around the Capital? ording to what I know, she''s a woman that had been everywhere in the capital when she was fifteen."

    Princess Hongzhuang covered her mouth andughed when she heard "Boss." Even her breath smelled nice¡­

    "That''s a very chic way of addressing her, but it''s a great fit. Yiren has loved to stand out since she was young. Nobody could stop her from doing what she wanted to do."

    "Boss was like that since she was a kid¡­?"

    "Everybody likes her; not just me. My siblings, my father and even his wives like her. She possesses a unique charm that attracts people to her."i Hongzhuang faintly said, "I loved learning how to wield a sabre, even more, when my Shifu taught me how to sh the air. I persistently trained without getting sick of it, until nobody was willing to apany me anymore. That''s when I travelled to find somebody to train with me. I came across Yiren, who was practising swordy. The two of us became friends like that."

    I listened in silence. The Princess wasn''t lying, considering how Boss usually behaves and her poprity. Even the Qilin Guards'' Long Zaitian fell for her.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "All right. I''m done with the idle chatter and don''t feel awkward anymore. It''s time to get down to business, right?"

    I froze up when I heard her say that.

    ''Oh, so you were feeling awkward, too, Miss! Say so sooner! I had to go about it in such a roundabout way.''

    "If you have questions, please go ahead and ask. I shall do my best to answer."

    "Can we really find him here?"

    "It seems you didn''t know." I shrugged. With a smile, I continued, "He is from the West. That means, he looks the same as these people, which is different to people in the Central ins. If he''s in the capital at this time, he has to hide here and wait for an opportunity to run away. Even if that''s not the case, we can find out some information on him. What do you think?"i Hongzhuang nodded as if she strongly agreed.

    Of course, that was just me spouting bullsh*t; I''m from the Central ins, through and through. Plus, I''m not so stupid to let myself get captured.

    Suddenly, there were people calling out from upstairs and on the streets.

    "Lord San Shen of the Divine Moon Sect''s painting! Lord San Shen''s drawing! The rare hidden version from the west. This is exclusively distributed. One copper coin for one copy!!"

    "¡­"i Hongzhuang reacted with surprise, "You sure do know the Pugilistic World and your way around. We already have clues. How about we go and buy a paint-¡­"

    I had flown off to him already!! With my token in my hand, I gave chase and shouted, "Stop there, Punk! Hand over the drawing! I''m from Liu Shan Men and the manager of this city!"

 Volume 4 23 Indian Naan Bread and the Puzzle

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 23 Indian Naan Bread and the Puzzle</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The hawker was from the Central ins. He didn''t get flustered when he saw me. Instead, he chuckled and replied, "Hi, Sir. Happy New Year. Were you looking to buy a painting?"

    "Happy New Year. Happy New Year."

    I thoughtlessly responded and then violently snatched the paintings in his hands.

    "Let me see them. I''m not stealing. It''s just one copper coin."

    ''Good boy!''

    I can''t believe my likeness is being sold on the streets! I wasn''t sure if somebody drew me when I was strolling around in the west, back then. If they really did, my days in the capital would be over.

    I flipped through the "Records of Famous People of the West" book.

    I froze up on the busy street. I heard "Candied haws for sale~", "Indian naan bread" and "Bread rolls. Bread rolls straight from the oven~", every once in a while.

    I was still stuck staring at the painting.

    ''Who¡­ is this?''

    This Lord San Shen looked like the one I fooled the Princess with, just before. He wasn''t from the Central ins. He looked disgusting. He had ck hair, ck eyes, wavy hair, and you could tell he wasn''t from the Central ins from his facial features. The guy looked like he was in his fifties. He was covered in ck hair. The book was twenty plus pages, filled with paintings of this uncle from different angles.

    ''Good grief! So ugly!''

    I took in a deep breath and then grabbed a naan bread from a hawker by the side. I took a bite.

    ''Tastes good.''

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I then gave him three copper coins. I then let out a big sigh.

    ''It''s not me!!!''

    It was obvious that it was fake.

    ''But what''s so good about posing as Lord San Shen? What, there are counterfeit fugitives now, too?''i Hongzhuang rushed over from behind. She nced at the book and then in a curious tone, asked, "This is how Lord San Shen looks? He¡­"

    I angrily eximed, "That''s not him! He''s not even one of his ancestors!"

    The hawker retorted, "How is he not? Look¡­" He lowered his voice, "There is this one, too. It has paintings of the demon Ximen. He is as famous as Lord San Shen. However, this is a hardcover version, so it costs twenty copper coins. Look¡­"

    He flipped to another page. Ximen Chuideng looked the way he should, and he was drawn surprisingly well.

    ''How did I turn into an old Indian man, though?!''

    ''Wait. Hardcover?''

    "I-Is there a hardcover version for Lord San Shen, then?"

    "Yes! Of course! Say so sooner."

    The hawker narrowed his eyes with a smile and handed me a new book. It was clear that the paper quality was superior and the threads were done up sturdier, It was much better than the graffiti on toilet paper just now.

    I flipped it open and took a look. The Indian uncle appeared again.

    ''Fuck you!!''

    I threw the book away and shed my token again. I grabbed the hawker''s shoulder and said, "Punk! You''re selling fake paintings on the street. Did you know that Liu Shan Men hates scammers like you the most? Come with me."

    "Please no! Sir! Please don''t! Please don''t! I did not know that it was fake!" The hawker started to get a little panicked, "These came from a few recent foreigners. How would we peasants know what the people from the west look like? We just know what they say."

    ''A few foreigners? They sold these? Now you''ve got my attention.''

    Though my painting waspletely inurate, Ximen Chuideng''s painting was very alike.

    ''Why have foreigners started selling these, all of a sudden?''

    Noticing that I was silent for a long time, the hawker panicked and said, "Please believe me! These paintings have been spread through Bright Lane. Everybody in a family that worships the White God has a copy."

    "Every family has a copy of this junk?!"i Hongzhuang frowned. The six flower petals on her head shook, making her look less pretty.

    "What are you so worked up for? It''s not easy for him to get by with this small business."

    ''That''s a stupid question! This is the same as swearing at me right to my face!!''

    But I had to show the Princess respect, so I released him.

    The hawker''s expression, now, didn''t look so grim. He revealed a mysterious smile and said, "Sir, calm down. I still have plenty of goods. This is a one-and-only exclusive. I promise that it is the official version. This is it, Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng. I will only take two taels¡­"

    "Get lost! Run for your life!! Hey! Miss Li, what are you buying that junk for?!"

    I watched on with disbelief as I watched the heroic Princess purchase the Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng book. She revealed a shortsting charming smile and then said, "It''s just paintings. What are you all worked up about? There might be a clue. It''s quite thick, though. Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng¡­ What sort of story is it? A martial arts duel painting?"

    ''¡­ I wish you nice dreams tonight.''

    I tried to find out where the foreigners were staying from the hawker, then continued walking through Bright Lane with the Princess. This isn''t a small ce, but neither is itrge. However, there just had to be so many narrow alleys that it would take some time to get through the entire area.

    We walked for a while. Peering suspiciously at the building behind us, I sighed to myself.

    ''This aside, Ximen Chuideng''s painting circting among the people isn''t normal¡­ I must get to the bottom of this.''

    I suddenly stopped in my tracks. I made a cup-fist salute and apologetically said, "Miss Li, I have remembered something I must attend to and must take my leave for a bit."i Hongzhuang nced at me. She didn''t say much. She gave a blunt response, "I am grateful that you were willing toe today. How about we part ways here since you have work to do?"

    I looked at her silent eyes. It seemed she understood the current situation.

    I apologised, "I am very sorry for ruining your mood, Miss. I shall treat you to Indian naan bread next time if I get the chance."

    "You do what you have to, Brother Ming. This ce is very interesting. I want to go around on my own. I shall take my leave now."

    "Goodbye."

    I stood in ce as I watched Princess Hongzhuang''s beautiful, slender silhouette walk off into the distance. She, genuinely, is a girl that''s straightforward. She wouldn''t be able to make friends in the pce with that straightforward personality of hers, would she?

    ''I must introduce General Manager Bai to you if I get the chance. The two of you would definitely be good friends.''

    After seeing her go off into the distance, I bluntly said, "You people cane out now."

    A few ck silhouettes emerged from the corner. Another four or five that I noticed before jumped out from the small buildings. There were around roughly twelve or thirteen of them. All of them had their faces covered and dressed in either ck or grey robes that''d be suited for moving about at night.

    "You sure have dangerous eyes. We brothers hid well, if I may so say myself. Yet, surprisingly, we couldn''t escape your eyes."

    The leader of the group did his best to alter his voice, but I could still tell he was around forty to fifty. He had a fat physique and struggled to move.

    "Who are you people?"

    The fatty in ck, who was the leader,ughed and said, "Why not take a guess?"

    "You''ve got your faces covered in bright daylight. There''s a few too many of you, making you too conspicuous to be thieves. You''re not robbers, are you?"

    The fattyughed and replied "Correct. We''re robbers. Are you going to surrender or are you going to stubbornly resist? It''s up to you, but I have to capture you, regardless of your decision."

    Both their martial arts skills and their experience were far inferior to the ck Winds Thirteen Wings, let alone Mystery''s level. It looks like they don''t know the details and are just being used as mere robbers.

    But I couldn''t ask for anything better.

    I chuckled and asked, "Do you know why you''re capturing me here?"

    The fatty in ckughed, "We''ll capture you wherever you stop. Is that even a question? Did I scare you silly? Hahaha."

    The othersughed with him. They filled the narrow alley with theirughter, but then it gradually died down. All that was left was the echoes of the dryughter before it died down altogether. Silence engulfed the narrow alley again.

    This narrow alley ended here as a dead end. There was nowhere left to go. The closest street with people was over a hundred steps away.

    "Heh, how interesting."

    I tilted my head and then lowered it. I took in a breath. My inner energy surged up in waves. I gently raised my hand to throw a gentle palm strike behind me. The stone house behind me couldn''t withstand the pressure of the strike, causing half of the wall to copse.

    The sound of stones dropping to the ground filled the narrow alley, while dust and a small wind blew into their faces.

    I could see various emotions in their eyes, including terror, confusion, regret and panic.

    I, on the other hand, only had a desire to smile in my eyes.

    "Let''s y a game. Those who tell the truth won''t turn into naan bread. Fatty, you start."

 Volume 4 24 Hmm~ Somethingâ€™s Strange

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 24 Hmm~ Something''s Strange</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    They refused to speak, at first. However, after three of them turned into puff pastry and another four turned into Indian naan bread, I began searching for a wooden rod to prepare to make chrysanthemummb skewers. Finally, they submitted.

    It turned out that they were just a band of thugs that were bullying people in the Capital. In particr here in Bright.

    I can''t say that there was no evil they didn''tmit, but they scammed people, and merchants, every day and bullied the simple people.

    After doing it for a long time, they became a famous band of thugs in this ce, known as the Contribution Gang. However, the name was too hard to pronounce, so they called them the Salted Fish Gang.

    I demanded that they removed the ck cloth covering their faces.

    All of them were pale and thin. It was as though they lived from meal to meal. I also discerned that their internal energy was very poor early on. They were virtually the same as the average man.

    It appears they were just ordinary thugs.

    It''s too conspicuous with this many of them, so I arrested just their leader and had the rest of them run along.

    I sat in front of the building they had hidden in before and made their leader my leg rest, like a big boss. Owing to my legs being rtively long and heavy, the fatty''s head kept dropping down after I put my legs up.

    It wasn''t very long before his face went red since he couldn''t handle it.

    "I ask one question; you reply with one sentence. What''s your name?"

    "My surname is Yan. My family used to sell vegetables at a stall. I studied for two years, and the teacher gave me my name Xianyu."

    "Your name is Pickled Salted Fish?!"

    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The fatty was ted, "That was my name. My family used to sell salted fish!"

    Only now did I finally scan this guy properly. His voice sounded like he was a forty or fifty-year-old man, when Ist heard it. However, now that I''ve seen him, he looks like he''s in his mid-thirties. He''s fat, but not the type of rich fatty who ate his way to a white plump body. This guy is rtively more simr to the type of fatty butchering pork in the markets. It makes sense, for a fatty like him to be the leader of an underground gang.

    ''I''m just surprised that you dare to y gangster when your name is so tragic. No wonder why you''re still a small-time gang.''

    He titled his thick neck andughed, "Sir, Sir, ce it well. Please do not kick me. I am fine with being hurt, but it would be bad if you got tired."

    "I won''t kick you or turn you into a chrysanthemummb skewer, as long as you answer my questions properly." I then narrowed my eyes and supported my chin with one hand. I put on the terrifying face of an antagonist and asked, "Who order you toe after me?"

    "Oh, man. It angers me whenever I think about it!" Pickled Salted Fish almost leapt up when I mentioned it, but since my legs were on his head, he couldn''t do so much as budge. He revealed an even more frightened look.

    He gulped his saliva and exined, "Somebody came to mest night and gave me ten silver ingots. He said he wanted my gang to go and capture someone for him, and that he would pay over ten times the amount if we seeded. I thought that we''d be able to find the target for sure, because we know Bright Lane best. Hence, I epted the job. But I never expected I''d be capturing you! If I had known you were a hero, I wouldn''t have done it even if he paid ten times the amount!"

    "Piss off! That''s because you can''t beat me!"

    ''If there really was a hundred times the original amount to make, I''d just cooperate with you and then we''d split among ourselves after.''

    He sobbed as he said, "We were just doing what we were paid to do. We never nned to harm you. Look at us, Sir; none of us were armed. We all came empty-handed."

    That was true. The gang was so poor that they couldn''t afford food, so, naturally, they couldn''t afford weapons. But¡­

    "You think I didn''t see you holding bricks?!" I gave him a kick.

    He cried out loudly in pain. I then asked, "Do you know who he was or his background?"

    "No!" After having his head kicked, he shouted as if he was wronged, "Hero, if I knew who he was, I''d gather my men and go settle this score with him! The man yed me. Ten silver ingots to die?!"

    I could understand that¡­

    I kept asking, but I couldn''t get any clues. The person who gave him the job was very careful and didn''t leave any clues which would expose him. I couldn''t find any clues.

    After some careful deliberation, I thought of one more question worth asking.

    "Oh, right, have you seen this thing?"

    I took out the painting of Lord San Shen I took from the book before.

    The fatty got frightened. He shouted as if he was butchering pork, "Motherfucker! Is that Zhong Kui thrown into a small oven?!"

    ''Fuck¡­ He wouldn''t be that dark, would he?!!''

    "Think carefully. Have you seen this before?"

    "No! Honestly, no! Oh, there seems to be somebody selling paintings recently, but people like us¡­ You get it¡­ Hehe, porn, yes, but we''re not interested in these."

    I believe that. After all, I was far more interested in the porn than these tattered sheets of paper.

    "Oh, there is something!"

    "What?! Hurry and tell me!"

    "Ow, ow, ow! Sir, stop! Stop. I will tell you. Aside from us, he also enlisted the services of many other local gangs. He wanted us to capture you but gave a special condition. He said that we were not to take action, as long as you were with the pretty girl from before."

    ''That makes sense. You think you stinking shrimps could touch a hair on the princess?''

    Not to be a chatterbox, but Princess Hongzhuang can be considered above the average skilled female fighters. Abbess Bailou didn''t hold back, teaching her diligently to mould her into such an outstanding fighter. Abbess Bailou has already passed on to her seventy or eighty percent of her skills. As a matter of fact, I''m afraid that she''s stronger than Tang Ye. There shouldn''t be many in the Seventeen Hidden Dragons that could defeat her.

    The next thing he said, however, concerned me.

    "But then he said that if you two never separated, then have a gang go after the girl and lead her away."

    ''He said that?''

    "Come with me. Stay quiet." I grabbed Pickled Salted Fish, as soon as the thought came to mind.ike a gust of wind, I ran in the direction Princess Hongzhuang had gone. Nobody here recognises me, so I don''t need to be concerned about them seeing me take off.

    Pickled Salted Fish seemed as though he''d never seen Qinggong like this, shocking his soul out of his body.

    The path the Princess took led to another dead end in an alley. I changed directions, but then we ran into another dead end in an alley.

    I went deep into the alley where light didn''t reach, but still didn''t find her¡­

    ''Don''t tell me¡­'' I checked my surroundings.

    A light was suddenly emitted in front of my eyes. I noticed a red bead that resembled a piece of ss overhead. The bead was the one on the Princess''s clothes! I carefully checked to find that a fight did take ce here and it was a one-sided victory.

    ''How can that be possible?! How could she have lost to these small-time thugs with her skills?''

    "Oh my, there was a fight here. It looks like it was intense, too. Fufufu, those thugs are famous for not knowing how to cherish a beauty. If they''ve captured her, she may already¡­"

    I lifted him up and aggressively eximed, "Do you know which gang was in charge of going after her?"

    "I-It was the Evil Bandits Gang."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Hurry up and take me to them!"

    I suddenly noticed a number of eyes on me, as I began to move.

    ''Enemy attack? ''

    I didn''t engage them, but they didn''t seem to take any action. I pressed my hand onto Pickled Salted Fish and moulded energy to enhance my hearing.

    I heard one behind the roof, three at the corner and one behind a house. There was a total of five of them and they all possessed profound internal energy.

    The five of them were watching, but they had no killing intent. Rather than say they were preparing to attack me, it was more like they were keeping surveince on me.

    I hissed, "Something''s strange!"

    I suddenly felt that the entire incident was very odd.

    First, we found those weird paintings of Lord San Shen. Then the paintings of Ximen Chuideng showed up in the world, out of the blue. Then there was the mysterious Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng¡­ And then there was the person hiring gangs toe after me and capture the Princess and the people keeping surveince on me.

    There seems to be more than just one team behind the scenes.

    I calmed myself down and threw Pickled Salted Fish onto the ground. I then took out the book of paintings in my shirt. I looked over the drawings in detail. Thin nted lines and evenly distributed ink. That''s very simr to someone¡­ Ipared it to Ximen Chuideng''s painting. It was evident that the two painting styles were different.

    Ximen Chuideng''s painting, Lord San Shen''s strange painting and the people after me, including the Salted Fish Gang¡­

    I slowly shut the book. Things aren''t as simple as they appear to be on the surface.

    ===============

    Inside and outside the courtyard of arge and extremely luxurious manor in the capital.

    The new master of the Gold and Silver Sect, Jin Wangsun sat quietly at the study table inside the hall. With a pen in his hand, he was trying to calm himself down as he painted.

    The highest ranking servant in his n was currently reporting to him. His tone sounded malicious, which waspletely unlike Jin Wangsun.

    "Young Master, that punk is extremely arrogant to go out of the pce with the Princess in private. We have hired a few people. He will die, sooner orter, when they go after him one by one."

    "Are you so sure?"

    He applied lip makeup as he spoke, not even sparing the servant a look. Jin Wangsun was dressed as a bright schr today. His look for today was high spirits and radiance, which was totally unlike the look he had on the day he was in the pce.

    People knew that the man referred to as Jiangnan''s King of Sabres, was a highly-skilled martial artist, but they didn''t know that he was good at painting. He was brilliant at painting, as well as martial arts.

    Jin Wangsun never shifted his gaze away from the sheet of paper for a second. The way he used the brush in his hand was akin to wielding a supreme precious sabre in his hands. His made countless strokes, but they were amazing.

    Jin Wangsun was a famous refined young master in Jiangnan. He was skilled in music, chess, literacy and drawing. If it wasn''t for his fame with the sabre being too overwhelming, he would be renowned for his penmanship in Jiangnan.

    "I heard that the punk''s martial arts are negligible, and he only gets favoured at Liu Shan Men thanks to his background. Those gangsters mayck skills, but they have numbers. A strong man cannot ovee numbers, just as a tiger cannot defeat a pack of wolves. Further, they are all willing to work for money, so they will not expose you."

    "Uhm. Not bad. You''ve improved a little."

    Jin Wangsun didn''t stop moving the brush, as he spoke.

    "I have found the most famous, Evil Bandit Gang. They are the most skilled."

    "What did you do about the Princess?"

    The servant suddenly felt worried after he finished reporting. Jin Wangsun''s gaze, which was as sharp as a de, swept over, causing him to feel suffocated.

    "You said you got somebody to go after the Princess? I didn''t mishear you, did I?"

    "Y-Young Master, please calm down! Although I do not know the gang well, I have done my research. Her Highness is extremely skilled. In the pugilistic world, they refer to her with the honoured title ''Blood-Stained ss''. Those gangsters would only be able to stall her for a while. There is no way they can hurt Her Highness."

    "Hmph! That best be the case! If the Princess suffers any harm, you wouldn''t be able topensate with your entire family''s life!"

    "Yes! Yes! I hope so!"

    Jin Wangsun turned back to look at his painting.

    "However, that punk asked the Princess out on a date and dared topete with me for the Fuma seat¡­ Indeed, he cannot be spared."

    He frowned with anger and then shook his brush. The white sheet of paper emitted a distinct murderous intent.

    "Pass on my orders, hire another ten people. Make sure he can''t make it home. If he does, make sure he can''t stand up!"

    Notes:

    *Contribution Gang and Salty Fish, what''s going on here?

    It''s homophones at y again. Ï×Óà is his name, ÏÌÓã means salty fish. They''re pronounced the exact same way. So that''s that. Now Pickled Salted Fish. Hisst name is ÑÔ meaning word/speak, which sounds the exact same as ëç which means "pickled", and hence MFZ understands ÑÔÏ×Óà as ëçÏÌÓã.

    I have no idea how to replicate that into English.

    **Zhong Kui: a figure of Chinese mythology. Traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able tomand 80,000 demons.

 Volume 4 25 Three Indians

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 25 Three Indians</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Princess Hongzhuang had been restrained and was being led to an unknown location by a group of boorish men. Her beautiful snow-white face was covered by a ck cloth that had been forced on her without any consideration to harm. Her sabre had also been taken from her.

    A big man was charged with watching her from behind, so as to not let her run rampant.

    The woman in front of him had a tall physique. Her erotic hips looked soft, making it appear as though they were filled with a seductive mana. Her legs seemed to be longer than the legs on any other woman he''d seen. Her pear-shaped breasts jiggled due to her inability to walk steadily. Looking at them gave him a strong urge to bite into them. He gulped his saliva and did his best to clear his mind and to suppress his urge to go up to her and pinch her buttocks.

    "What the hell are you looking at?! Pick your eyes up, or you won''t see where you''re going."

    After the leader had reprimanded him from behind, the big man stopped ogling her, albeit stopping very reluctantly.

    "Big Bro, I-I wasn''t looking."

    "Bullsh*t! If your eyes were your hands, the girl''s ass would be swollen from your groping by now!" The leader reproached him and then metaphorically kicked him away. However, after all that talk, the leader crept up next to the Princess and sniffed her. Her smell caused him to get carried away.

    He was the one who couldn''t keep it in his pants. The others kept themselves in check, because of his order, while he was the only one gawking her from behind.

    As such, he got a very clear view. Besides her long and slender pure-white legs, she had an erect torso and curvaceous breasts. He almost misjudged her breasts when he looked at them, covered by her red clothes, from the front. Only when he stood on her side did he notice that they resembled piled-up snow. Her breasts were so big they were startling, and when her slender hips were added into the picture, his mouth turned dry.

    The Evil Bandits Gang, initially, didn''t know that they were kidnapping such a beauty. The subordinates of the Evil Bandit Gang Chief nicknamed "Evil Bandit", had over two hundred reasons to not spare the beauty. It was the mission that kept their hands off her.

    There was no way he was willing to spare Li Hongzhuang after seeing her appearance. The order was to not cause her any harm and to stall her for a while. The Chief''s n was to wait for this ''a while'' to pass, get his paycheck and consider the mission done. By then, he and Li Hongzhuang would be unrted strangers.

    It wasmonce for him to kidnap men and women. It was considered generous if he only kidnapped the women and spared the family, so he wasn''t breaking the rules of the pugilistic world if he did do something to Li Hongzhuang.

    They were currently heading toward a storage warehouse in the area of Bright Lane. The Chief of the Evil Bandits Gang swallowed his saliva and retracted the sinful hands that had reached out for those round mounds. The wait for his moment of blessing irritated him.

    He waspletely oblivious to the fact that he just barely got away with his life.

    Had he actually dared toy his hands on her, his perverted head would be rolling on the ground before he coulde within three inches of her.i Hongzhuang, who was silently following them, hadn''t lost her ability to fight back. To the contrary, this was adding fuel to her violent urge. She followed them just to humour them.i Hongzhuang encountered these guys, who called themselves the Evil Bandits Gang, right after separating with Ming Feizhen. She didn''t engage them inbat. She merely spoke to them, very normally, and then went with them. Her n was to follow them to their den and catch them all in one clean sweep.

    Jin Wangsun''s family ve knew that the Princess was highly skilled. But he had been at the Gold and Silver Sect for a long time. As a result, he had considered her to be an ordinary daughter of some high-ranking official or famous sect. He considered her to be simr to Jin Wangsun.

    If it was Jin Wangsun that ran into this sort of thing, he''d teach them a lesson at most. He wouldn''te knocking andpletely wipe them out.

    What he didn''t realise that Li Hongzhuang hated evil with a vengeance.

    Princess Hongzhuang is different from her siblings. She''s, essentially, cut from the same mould as Abbess Bailou of Emei Sect. She can''t stand evil, especially from those who know martial arts.

    She had been in the pugilistic world for a long time; therefore, she had heard of the Evil Bandits Gang and knew that they were evildoers who were kidnapping men and women around the Capital. However, nobody had managed to acquire urate information on them, since their identities had always remained a secret.

    Nanjing City is considered part of Jiangnan, thereby putting it under the secretive watch of the Seven Champion White Princes. Further, it''s where the Imperial City is located, so it had always been a peaceful ce.

    It was just that the Evil Bandits Gang, which had juste to maturity, didn''t pursue that same peace.

    These sorts of small gangs have no end to their greed. They can be formed with just thirty to fifty people. Oftentimes, they can even be considered generic trolls, formed by a group of hot-blooded young people.

    Strictly speaking, they aren''t even considered people in the pugilistic world.

    The Seven Champion White Princes won''t bother with these insignificant people, so these small-scale gangs ended up bing a hole in Jiangnan''s pure peace.i Hongzhuang wanted to use this opportunity to find out their origins and enact judgement upon them, for the sake of the people.

    When they reached their destination, Li Hongzhuang was settled down to one side.

    The Chief had his subordinates gather around to talk to them.

    "Our ie for the month has dropped, yet again. Chief, are we going to steal some from the punks again?"

    "Someone like you would, indeed, do something petty like that. If we''re out of money, go rob a vige outside of the city; especially those with old people living there. They''ve saved up a lifetime of money. Won''t we be letting them down if we don''t spend it?"

    "D-Don''t you think that''s not such a good idea? Liu Shan Men have turned the Capital on its head recently. That''s whyst time we¡­"

    "What the hell are you afraid of?! If something happens, we have the Assistant Minister to cover us. We''re working for him, so what''s there to be afraid of?" The Chief suddenly revealed a perverted smile, "How were the girls we sold to the brothelst time? Don''t tell me you''ve already forgotten. Hehehe."

    "So you have the audacity to act like that because you have the backing of some Assistant Minister?" The beauty, who had been as calm as water, suddenly spoke up.

    "I''m also very curious as to who asked you to separate me from my friend."

    The ck cloth over her head suddenly split, as though it was originally designed as two separate pieces. It dropped to the ground naturally. It was split as if a sharp de had cut it.

    The Chief jumped to his feet in a panic, "The bitch was pretending!"

    He scanned her beautiful face. Seeing her face, he couldn''t help butmand, "Capture her alive! I''m going to fuck her right here!"

    With a frown on her face, Li Hongzhuang grabbed a wooden rod from the storage without thought. She didn''t say anything after that.

    The fight didn''tst long.

    Jin Wangsun''s ve had underestimated her "Blood Stained ss" alias far more than he should have.

    The useless bags of trash couldn''t resist against the Princess for half an hour and ended up spilling the beans. The Princess didn''t even need to use her sabre, instead she beat them with only the wooden rod.

    In fact, they were beaten without even the opportunity to put up a semnce of a resistance.

    After beating them up, she tossed the rod away. Her best friend was in this line of work anyway, so she thought she''d give her some credit for this. However, just as she left the warehouse to go call the constables, she felt a sudden gust of wind from behind.

    She couldn''t turn her head in time, so she quickly moved to the side in order to evade. She managed to catch the sight of three people in her panic.

    One of them was one who had attacked her.

    He threw a palm strike at her.

    She felt a strong wind st pass her snow-white neck, creating a burning sensation on her skin.

    She could tell that he was a powerful foe. She blurted, "Shaolin''s Metal Palm Strike!"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A pair of legs swung at her from her left and right. It was very simr to a snake''s attack. The technique was Kunlun''s Wind Serpent Parade Kicks.

    There was one more person, who stood the furthest away. He didn''te over; instead, he watched with a cold look. Drawing a circle on his right palm, using his left hand, he chanted something.

    Upon listening closer the Princess discovered he was chanting a curse.

    ''Is he drawing a circle to curse me? Where did these three people, who know three differing styles,e from?''

    The Princess was aware that she couldn''t just continue taking hits, so she moulded energy to her palm and focused her qi in one arm.

    She got the two to back off with a tremendously powerful chop. Only then was she able to see what the three of them looked like.

    The three of them had dark skin and goatees. They were red clothing and a round hat.

    What she saw was three Indians. She eximed, "What the hell?!!"

 Volume 4 26 Five Black Robe Elders

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 26 Five ck Robe Elders</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    While Princess Hongzhuang came under attack by the mysterious three Indians, another five people were whispering behind Ming Feizhen''s back, as they nned a mysterious operation.

    The five of them looked, particrly, odd. They were of different ages, but the youngest one among them had snow-white hair by his ears.

    The five mysterious elders tailing him were famous in the pugilistic world.

    If there was somebody from the martial world present, they might be able to identify the five with a mere nce, as the five elders in ck robes of Nanjing''s Qinhuai.

    "By the Rose Finch Bridge now grow flowers and weeds running wild,

    At the end of what used to be the ck Robes Row the sun makes its incline.

    Sparrows that used to gather in the courts of Wang and Xie of the Jin dynasty,

    Now scattered aroundmoners'' huts, cottages and their ordinary street life."

    "At the end of the ck Robes Row, is Qinhuai''s evesting glory."

    Dark Robe Sect was one of the Seven Champion White Princes; however, they had a more prestigious aura about them and had experienced more ups and downs in lifepared to the other six.

    Their sect was a concentration of the evesting ck Robes Row. Their lifeline was inherited by a venerated n centuries ago and is still revered today.

    The difference between their sect and others was that they were closely rted to the royal family.

    Between the Wang and Xie ns, the Xie n was connected to the royal family by marriage. Of the Empresses, two were from Xie n. One of the Imperial Consorts of the reigning Emperor was from the Xie n. She had given birth to the Red Prince and the Second Princess, Princess Hongzhuang, so their n had very tight ties with the royal family.

    The Head Instructor for the Imperial Guards, tasked with guarding the Inner Court, was also from the Wang n. Besides that, they were also connected with the Qilin Guards.

    Thus, among the Seven Champion White Princes, the Gold and Silver Sect is the richest, and Lushan Jianguan was the strongest, while the Dark Robe Sect was the most respected.

    All else aside, the Dark Robe Sect was the only member of the Seven White Champion Princes within the vicinity of the Capital. Yes, such a powerfulbat organisation was situated by the Emperor''s side, and they had been there for over a century. The fact that they are situated so closely is proof that they are highly trusted.

    One of the elder''s eyes lit up. It was clear that his internal energy was profound and that he was highly skilled. Using Voice Transmission, he said, "Big Brother, we came to apprehend Lord San, but we haven''t done anything but watch people sell paintings of that bastard Ximen. We''ve waited for days. Lots of people havee to buy the paintings, but none of them was Lord San Shen. Do you think His Majesty''s n is going to work?"

    A somewhat younger man piggybacked off that to say, "Exactly, Dad. His Majesty shows us too little respect, do you not agree? I mean, look at what he is making us Five Dark Robe Elders do."

    Though he called him "Dad", he was actually in his fifties, so he wasn''t young.

    "Nonsense!"

    The leader of the group was in his seventies. Two among the group were his brothers, and one was even his biological son. However, his beard and eyebrows were dark ck. He didn''t have a single strand of white hair, nor did he look old. He was the leader of the five, and the eldest among the Wang and Xie ns. He belonged to the Xie n, and they called him Ancestral Master Xie.

    He still had very young facial features, and his internal energy was still as profound as if he were still young. His internal strength is at the supremacy level. He could cause people''s ears to feel as though they were being bombarded, inducing an extremely ufortable sensation, with just his voice.

    "There is no better n than this n, which His Majesty hase up with. Lord San Shen is from the western regions. Subsequently, he is most likely to be moving about here, in Bright Lane. He''s also in cahoots with old bastard Ximen. There''s no reason he wouldn''te to check things out, upon finding out that his painting was being circted. You, young people, are far too impatient. Back then, your eldest brother, your dad, your uncle, and I went through life and death with His Majesty. Back then, when we charged through the enemy ranks seven times, it was a most intense¡­"

    Ancestral Master Xie''s eldest son was also part of the five elders. He was called Master Xie. He quickly wet to stop Ancestral Master Xie from retelling the past.

    "Father, do not be so agitated. You are too fiery. I was saying¡­ You are an Elder Statesman, the father of Virtuous Consort, after all, yet he is making you do this. Moreover, Hongzhuang is your niece. She is about to be married, and yet she is searching for another man. This is not right."

    Ancestral Master Xie red at his son after he rambled.

    "Stupid! You say that sort of nonsense, yet you don''t believe me when I say you''re stupid, brat?!"

    Master Xie was in his fifties and was now the head of the n. He was also the Vice Chief of the Dark Robe Sect, so he was a high-ranking individual. However, being scolded by his old man made him go red in the face.

    In a muffled voice, he remarked, "She is your granddaughter and the n is yours. Do as you please. I dare not be nosy."

    Ancestral Master Xie didn''t waste his breath on him; instead, he gave him a kick which almost ended up revealing the three of them.

    "You think I can''t hit you and reproach, just because you''re married and a Prince''s maternal uncle?! Why did His Majesty have use here to search for Lord San Shen? It''s just to let Hongzhuang meet him."

    "Look at how haggard she has be. She used to be full of life, training with her sabre daily, yet she nowins about being tired after a few swings, she''s always frowning and has no appetite. Your heart might not ache to see her like that, as her maternal uncle, but as her grandfather, I can''t stand it!" Ancestral Master Xie gave him a stern scolding.

    His son no longer dared to speak, but he continued, "Furthermore, that guy, Lord San Shen, fought with our Chief, back then. You know what his skills are like. Forget you alone; even if I was to fight him with you, our chances of winning would still be minuscule. If there weren''t five of us, how would we stop him?"

    Another elder then said, "But, Big Brother, that Lord San Shen is formidable and from the west. He''s not even thirty, so how powerful could he be? Plus, this guy is clearly from the Central ins, so what are we watching him for?"

    Ancestral Master Xie replied in a deep voice, "That might not be so. When Lord San Shen fought with our Chief, back then, his voice was the voice of a very young man. Additionally, I haven''t seen his true appearance, so I don''t know for certain if he''s from the west. However, based on what my eyes tell me, he has a superb body for learning martial arts, one you wouldn''t find among ten-thousand people. He''s a good candidate for learning martial arts, so his skills aren''t poor. Also, did you not see how superior his Qinggong was when he moved just now?"

    The other two nodded.

    They weren''t young anymore. They had gone through lots of turbulence in the pugilistic world and had met many revered seniors. They were done with trying to make gains and attain fame at this stage of their life. Nowadays, they put more emphasis on their n and family. Everything else was insignificant to them.

    Master Xie worriedly asked, "If he really is Lord San Shen, won''t he discover us when we''re conversing so close to him?"

    "Hmph. So old and yet so ignorant."

    Ancestral Master Xie angrily replied, "We''re about thirty metres away from him and conversing using Voice Transmission. He wouldn''t be able to hear a thing, even if he was right opposite us, given the way we use it. You think he can hear from so far away like that? You think he''s a deity?"

    ========================

    ''Hello. This is the deity.''

    I looked up and then looked down. I scanned the painting in my hand and heard the conversation the three had while I was at it.

    I listened in for a long while, but couldn''t figure out who they were untilter. It turned out that the Princess'' family had shown up.

    ''No wonder¡­ ''

    ''Let''s see these two paintings, now.''

    Ximen Chuideng is drawn so well, while my drawing looks like a mess. It turns out that Ximen Chuideng''s painting was provided by the Imperial Court to lure me out.

    ''It seems that these two paintings aren''t from the same group, but¡­ Who, exactly, is this Indian guy? Why did they draw him?'' I deliberated it many times, but couldn''t wrap my head around it.

    ''Whatever. I''ll worry about itter. I need to find the Princess first. I did hear the depiction of the Evil Bandits Gang, but I reckon the Princess is ying along with them, to try and catch them all in one fell swoop. But she''s a girl, after all, so it''s better if I go to check up on her.''

    ''The problem is how I am going to lose these seniors.? I''ll be suspected if I''m too shy¡­''

    Arge group suddenly came running over from up ahead, just as I went to fold my arms to think. Judging from their clothing, they weren''t from the same group. There were at least eight or nine different gangs running over with an overwhelming murderous intent.

    One of the leaders aggressively asked, "Is your name Ming Feizhen?"

    I snuck a nce at the group. They all had des at their waist and an overwhelming murderous intent, so I surmised they weren''t good guys.

    "No."

    I waved my hand and pointed to a building behind me, while I was at it. In a stifled voice, I added, "Ming Feizhen just ran over there."

    "Then you are¡­"

    "Ah, you''re wee." I smiled and said, "I am Zhong Ning. Helping others for a just cause is nothing to worry about."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Notes:

    *Qinhuai is a district in Nanjing

    **The poem is ck Robes Row by Liu Yuxi, with thest line written as a separate paragraph, because it''s not part of the poem, but an boration by the author.

    ***Charging through the enemy ranks seven times is a famous scene in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, whereby Zhao Yun charges through the ranks of Cao Cao''s armies seven times to search for Liu Bei''s son. The battle was the Battle of Changban, in case you wanted more reading.

 Volume 4 27 Eight Teams Battle

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 27 Eight Teams Battle</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The leader of them scanned me with his shifty eyes.

    "I am the Chief of Ouws Gang. Remember me."

    He tried to meet my eyes with his shifty ones, but he couldn''t because he was too short. He scoffed indifferently and then aggressively eximed, "Remember not to lie to me, or you''ll be crawling from now on! Let''s go!"

    He drew his de and turned his head to order the people next to him to head to the exit of thene.

    ''At least forty of the people here were with his Ouw Gang, or whatever they were called. If I include the others then there would be about two hundred people. Given that they''re in such a hurry to find me, I presume they''re out to hurt me.'' I watched them noisily squeeze out of thene.

    The five elders in ck robes hiding in the roof, however, didn''t get discovered. It was clear that their martial prowess was staggeringly superior to these small-time gangsters. While it was true that they were a threat in terms of numbers, the fact is theirbat skills were inferior.

    I folded my arms as I waited for them to go far away and begin searching.

    I then suddenly shouted, "Elders by thene exit, be careful! They''re trying to hurt you!"

    "Elders¡­ Eh?! Old man, what are you hiding here for?! You hid your head, but showed your tail! Get down here!"

    At the end of the day, two hundred pairs of eyes looking at you is frightening. Those on the roof weren''t discovered, but the three people at the corner of the wall did get discovered.

    A ck shadow suddenlynded on the ground, after a gust of wind akin to a tornado blew. He appeared very imposing. He looked to be the oldest among them.

    It was Ancestral Master Xie. He had a long beard and eyebrows, while his cheeks were somewhat red.

    "Sonuva (son of a)! I have been in the pugilistic world for decades, and nobody has ever had the audacity to shout at me. Who just swore at me?!"

    One of the guys from the Ouws Gang represented his Chief and bravely stepped up, "I did. Damn old fart, what do you think y-"

    Before he could finish, a polite and not so old man, with the start of white hair, gave him the boot instantly kicking the thug right out. It was Master Xie. Of course, he''d defend his father if somebody cursed at him. Who else would''ve?

    After seeing his subordinate get hit, the Chief of Ouws Gang angrily charged over to snap at them, "How dare you get in my way, you old sh*t. How dare you hurt my Ouws Gang''s man? I''ll chop you up!!" He shed at the elder. Judging from the sh, I could discern that he had genuine martial arts skills.

    But nheless, his skills weren''t even worth the Vice-Chief of Dark Robe Sect sparing a look. Master Xie swung his arm in a circle, to disarm him, and then kicked him back.

    Fortunately for him, thene was narrow and there was a group of people behind him, so he crashed into the crowd.

    Master Xie looked pleased with his attack. Just as he went to boast, for credit from his father, his father looked at him. He was so outraged, it was as if his beard could stand up.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Embarrassing! Is that how our Xie n''s skills are to be used? Always cking on training. Hong''er is more diligent than you."

    I, basically, understand how their father-son rtionship works now¡­ It''s, fundamentally, the same as my Shifu and me. He has aint about everything that I do. I suddenly felt a little sympathy for Master Xie.

    The matter wasn''t over, though. The Chief of Ouws Gang had gotten hit but wasn''t badly injured, so he immediately jumped to his feet and called for a gang up.

    Thereafter, the entire Ouws Gang charged over as a group.

    Ancestral Master Xieughed, "Today, I shall show you what Xie n''s martial arts are like!"

    He raised his palms up and struck one thug with each hand, sending the thugs flying.

    Master Xie seemed to be aware of what his father''s temperament was like, so he didn''t dare to help him. Instead, he just stood aside and watched his father bully the amateurs.

    Ancestral Master Xie could, practically, take out a thousand soldiers with a single swipe! He knocked down five or six of them in a sh with a single swing of his arm, which was as tough as iron. He then used High Pat on Horse, before spinning around to unleash Golden Horse Hisses in the Wind! With that, he hit the Chief of another gang, making him cry and wail¡­

    Ancestral Master Xie had no idea who was who. He was an important figure in the Seven Champion White Princes. He had never even heard of Ouws Gang. Even if he did, he''d end up forgetting. It''s just that there were two hundred of them, so he hit whoever he ran into.

    Hence, the gangs that had initially not intended to fight with the five elders in ck robes quickly joined the fray. However, they were all armed, so the old man was at some risk when they surrounded him.

    Another one of the elders in ck robes couldn''t stand watching any longer, so he joined the battle, too.

    The Chief of Ouws Gang was one tough man. After having his teeth knocked out by being pped three times, and with fingerprints still on his face, he spat out a mouthful of blood and then cussed in a loud voice.

    His cussing fired up the men, "Motherfucker! Everyone, get them together! Beat the daylights out of these three geezers!!"

    Bear in mind that somebody in the crowd had attacked, and in particr don''t forget that the Ouws Gang and other gangs hade together. They were getting beat up by three old men in this narrowne, and the turn of events led to them building rapport and chemistry with each other in the spur of the moment.

    Therefore, the two hundred plus men surrounded the three elders and attacked them. des shed like snowfall. Voices of the crowd in the alley resounded throughout.

    The scene of the fight was akin to watching a big pot of boiling porridge, where things were just flying around. You could say it was lively.

    I watched the pot of porridge boiling from afar and couldn''t help but sigh to myself.

    ''Lucky I didn''t fight them¡­ They''re too violent. I just shouted once. They might not be good guys, but angering an entire gang in what, two sentences? Too hot headed. That''s not to mention they''re rtives of the royal family. Fighting them is a death wish!''

    ''I can''t afford to fight them. I can''t afford it. I''ll pass. I''ll pass.''

    ======================

    "Report!"

    A ve of Jin Wangsun''s manor ran into the hall, as fast as an arrow. He got down on his knees and made a cupped-fist salute, "Reporting, Young Master. A fight has broken out in Bright Lane."

    Jin Wangsun raised his eyebrow and stopped moving his brush.

    "Be clearer."

    "Erm¡­ Well¡­"

    Jin Wangsun was decently patient. He raised his head up to look at the drawing and in an intoxicated tone demanded, "Think about it first; then speak. Make sure it''splete."

    "Understood." The ve hesitated for a while. He found it hard to put it into words. After deliberating it, he finally responded, "I, honestly, do not know what happened. Four, five old men suddenly sprang out from the corner of thene and started fighting with the men we hired. Those old geezers are extremely skilled. They wounded the men with a single strike. As a result, our men got entangled with them and can''t leave."

    "Elders¡­"

    In a muffled voice, Jin Wangsun asked, "Did they see Ming Feizhen? What''s the situation?"

    "Erm¡­ They got into a very intense fight with our men. It looks as though they are backing him up."

    "Liu Shan Men has fallen. The only remaining capable people there are Yan Shisan''s subordinates. Among them would be those troublesome elders. Since they''re helping Ming Feizhen, they''re our enemy, not our friends."

    Jin Wangsun then wore a cold smile, "Get more men. Increase the paycheck by five times! You six, personally, go. Make sure that punk can''t oppose me. I don''t want ''quite certain'' and I don''t want a sloppy job."

    Jin Wangsun raised hisrge hand and drew an amazing horizontal line with his brush.

    "I want ''absolutely certain'' and I want you to make sure you dominate!!"

    Notes:

    *Sonuva = Son of a bitch. I tried to capture the dialect used.

    **High Pat on Horse is the twelfth technique from Chen''s Twenty-Four Taiji Fist.

 Volume 4 28 Domination. Reunion after a Long Time.

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 28 Domination. Reunion after a Long Time.</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    ''I''m done. I''m done.''

    Just as I went towards Pickled Salted Fish, I detected a dry aura that was exceptionally powerful, as though lightning was about to strike.

    However, inside was Ancestral Master Xie, who had beenpletely surrounded.

    He got fired up as he fought. He was old and feeble, and thuscked the mobility to move dexterously and evade as young men could. His movements were slow, but he still possessed his internal energy. He built up ayer of qi to shield himself, preventing any from being able to inflict damage to him.

    "Hahaha, brats. You want to take advantage of your numbers? I''ll show you what I''m made of!" Ancestral Master Xie suddenly shouted, "Grandson, Third Brother,e out already!"

    At Ancestral Master Xie''s shout, the other two elders still in hiding flew into the crowd from above to join the group battle,parable to tigers after a group of sheep. They flicked their sleeves to knock down five or six men. Their opponent numbered more than them, but the five elders in ck robes possessed far superior skills.

    "Where are you going, boy?!"

    With the assistance of the two, the surroundings were immediately cleared out. He leapt over close to me in one leap. He moulded energy to further augment his spirit.

    A faintyer of purple qi formed in his clear eyes. He wore an amiable smile. He grabbed my shoulder bone with his five fingers, which were harder than steel.

    I pletely couldn''t detect his move'' and in a ''panic'' got caught by him.

    "You bold brat. You dared to reveal my hiding spot?!"

    My shoulder muscles contracted, because of him clutching my shoulder tightly. I stuttered, "Ow! Ow! Please spare me, Elder."

    He snorted upon seeing me plead. He then grabbed my cor and dragged me over.

    "Little brat. I hid very well, yet you still saw me. Announce yourself."

    I swiftly told him my identity, exining how I was connected to Liu Shan Men and Mount Daluo.

    He frowned upon hearing my response and thought to himself, ''Isn''t he the kid that was supposed to go with Hong''er? That hawker selling books told us he was interested in Old Ximen''s painting, and we had to spend half a day to find him¡­ Sigh! If he''s going with Hong''er to search for Lord San Shen, then he has to check information rted to Lord San Shen, doesn''t he? I followed the wrong person.''

    Ancestral Master Xie calmed down, then released me, "Don''t go running around randomly if you''re not guilty. It makes you suspicious. You''re a disciple of Mount Daluo? You''re so weak it''s uneptable. Your Qinggong isn''t bad, though, and you''ve got good vision to be able to notice us."

    I wore a friendly smile, "I am born stupid and not diligent with my training, so I do notprehend much of the principles taught in martial arts. However, my Qinggong is not bad. Further, as I have spent some time at Liu Shan Men, my ability to sense people following me has shown improvement."

    Ancestral Master Xie nodded, "Indeed, it''s not wrong for a young man to be more careful while working in a government office."

    He stopped me just as I went to leave. While I was trying to concoct a n, he said, "You came here to apany Hong''er, right? I heard about it from His Majesty."

    "Yes. Yes. I¡­ came here and walked around for a bit with Miss Hong''er. I was just about to go and look for her." I suddenly heard footsteps.

    I panicked, "But I ran into these bullies, who seemed to want to start trouble with you. I did not know if they were evildoers in the pugilistic world who did not like your acts of justice and therefore picked a fight. Therefore, I shouted to alert you."

    Ancestral Master Xie didn''t suspect me. Needless to say, he didn''t think that those guys were after me. The elders were famous and had lots of enemies, so it wouldn''t be strange for enemies toe knocking.

    "Hmph. That was unnecessary. I could take them out, even if there two times this number."

    "Wow! You are incredible, Elder. That level of skill is rare to see."

    He seemed to feel very proud of the fact that a disciple from Mount Daluo was praising him since he stroked his beard and said that I was a good kid.

    However, I could see dark shadows moving about in the distance of thene. I could tell they were simr to the Ouws Gang andpany. There were, surprisingly, somewhere over eight hundred of them. A lot of them had a piece of ck cloth by their waist, which was used to hide the light emitted from their de. They noisily approached.

    Ancestral Master Xie also quickly noticed them¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Hmm¡­ Elder, you might be able to defeat twice that number, but these numbers seem to be a bit¡­"

    The elder went red in the face. He seemed to be considering if he needed to stick to his guns, after his boasting.

    "Forget it, Elder. There are too many of them. Let''s hide this time¡­"

    "Bullsh*t!" Ancestral Master Xie raged, "I can put their lights out with my two hands. Just you watch!"

    "Really?"

    Ancestral Master Xie didn''t bother answering such a stupid question. He went straight in to begin his assault. He was a strong elder, so he each opponent only took one palm strike to incapacitate. The four other elders noticed the enemies numbers increase, so they, too, rushed to support Ancestral Master Xie.

    Ancestral Master Xie, who was fighting in the crowd, truly gained momentum as he fought. His roar sounded simr to a thunderp, while his twin palm strikes created a gust of wind that blew the hair of his opponents upwards as if they were electrocuted.

    Heughed, "Brat, let me give you a lesson since you''re from a big orthodox sect. There are many different types of martial arts, but they all consider three fists, five palms, swordy and twin sabres as the pinnacle of martial arts. The five palms refer to the supreme five palm styles!"

    His palm strike created friction in the air, so it was nearly possible to see a purple electric current flow through the air.

    "Mount Daluo''s Empty Palms is profound. The Song Family in Yangzhou''s Nine Heavens Breaking Palms is tremendously powerful. Heavenly Cloud Pce''s is mysterious, as if it were an illusion. The Beggars Sect''s Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms is the most powerful palm style, in terms of brute strength. Then there''s the palm style that utilises overwhelming dominance to subdue enemies; the palm style created by the Wang n and my Xie n, Forbidden Wind Lightning!"

    He pressed his palms together, creating a loud thunderp sound. The ground quaked and arge chunk of the ground caved in, as it couldn''t withstand the force of the attack.

    In a low-tone voice, Ancestral Master Xie eximed, "Watch my Heavenly Annihtion Thunder!"

    He then rushed into the crowd to begin his onught¡­

    =================

    I took advantage of him unleashing his Heavenly Annihtion Thunder on the gangs to escape from the roof with Pickled Salted Fish.

    I know how formidable Forbidden Wind Lighting is without him demonstrating it. I fought with their sect multiple times in the past, so I''ve seen everything there is to see about it. What''s most important now is finding the Princess.

    I found out that the Evil Bandits Gang liked to gather at a warehouse, so I headed towards it, like a slithering snake.

    I only heard rustling sounds from inside the warehouse and a somewhat young voice.

    I then heard a bold and generous, yet not serious, voice. However, the bold and generous voice also contained indecency, "This woman is hard to beat. I couldn''t defeat her if it was a one on one."

    "Uhm. The toughest part was that she got up every time she was knocked down and refused to admit defeat no matter what. This sort of woman is the most troublesome to deal with. Fourth Brother and I faced her together for a long time and couldn''t subdue her. Third Brother, you''re the most reliable as usual. One smack and it was all over."

    A sluggish voice that sounded as if its owner was a schr then said, "Sigh. Her fault for not being with the man she was meant to be with. She was bound to take a hit from the rod. Amitabha and god bless."

    I was baffled by their conversation, so I snuck in.

    I saw the Princess out cold on the ground. Around her was¡­ three Indians?!

    The strong-looking man among them said, "We may as well be hanged for a sheep as for amb. We''ve already gone this far, so we might as welle up with some reason to sell her off to the west. That will also circumvent this being exposed."

    The small guy next to him scratched his head, "But we don''t know how to sell."

    The tall guy with spectacles then replied, "Mm¡­ I''ll go back and look through the books. We should be able to find a few human traffickers."

    "How troublesome¡­ Let''s not sell her, then. Let''s just throw her into ake." The strong-looking man then looked at the Princess. Seemingly considering it a pity, he sighed, "Sigh, and she happened to be a beauty. What a pity. If you didn''t get caught up with us, you wouldn''t end up this way. Our leader has a woman, so you can forget him. Forget about him when you''re in Huaihe River."

    Complex feelings filled my chest, as I watched these guys babble utter nonsense.

    I listened to them for a while and would asionally chuckle and asionally cuss at them.

    I then had to wipe my tears from the corner of my eyes.

    I knew who the three were.

    ''But¡­ Second, Third and Fourth Junior Martial Brothers, what on Earth are you three doing?''

    Notes:

    *God Bless is a recement for a Taoism phrase that functions the same way as Amitabha in Buddhism. It would just leave you bewildered there, so it needed a substitution. The original phrase is literally tranted to "almighty heavenly lord".

 Volume 4 29 Jump!

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 29 Jump!</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    I watched the three people in front of me in silence. They were once the people I was most familiar with. They were once the three that were disciples of the same school I was enrolled in.

    We went through many life and death experiences that my Shifu had set up¡­

    ''Yes! You read that right! Life and death experiences that my Shifu had set up!''

    I remember the one day over ten years ago when my Shifu gathered us six martial brothers and sisters to the peak of Mount Daluo - Trembling Dream Drizzle Peak, in order to teach us some martial art. He had us cover our ears and walk to the cliff of the peak.

    I went over first.

    Shifu was dressed in white that day. His clothes fluttered in the wind, making him appear as if he was a deity.

    He indicated for me to remove my earplugs.

    He opened the precious ivory fan and gave amand no human being would give.

    Using the ivory fan, he pointed down to the bottom that was nowhere in sight. Standing at a cliff with the violent winds, he softlymanded, "Jump."

    I couldn''tprehend what he meant in the spur of the moment. However, after many years of being under his tutge, my body moved on its own. I leapt up ten feet high and thennded in my original spot.

    I revealed a serious look, "Done! What is next, Shifu?"

    "¡­ Mm." He looked at me and nodded with a profound look, "You certainly have inherited my teachings¡­ You know how to be lowly."

    ''Fuck you! This problem you''ve put in front of us is a prank!''

    But I must admit that my Shifu''s test could most certainly reveal one''s character.

    When my Second Junior Brother heard, "Jump," he looked at the cliff with concern. He looked around and then his entire body tightened up. He covered his ass with one hand and then dropped to the ground with a thud. His dropping movement appeared as if he''d trained it diligently.

    He revealed a bitter look and murmured, "Shifu, I was injured by Senior Brother when I practised palm strikes with him the day before and got distracted, so I can''t move my body right now¡­"

    ''Fuck! Not only did you shift the me, but even pulled an opportunistic stunt?! How the hell is anybody supposed to beat that doubleyer of armour?! Also, you said we practised palm strikes. Okay then, sure. But why are you covering your ass?!!''

    "I do not think I can make it. Please do not me Senior Brother. My biggest regret is not being able to continue to serve you, Shifu. I am willing to continue to serve you from the other side."

    "Once I reach hell, I shall pray that you are happy every day, that Martial Mistress is forever young and that Junior Martial Sister grows up cheerfully and you do not need to worry about her studies, as she shows daily impr-¡­"

    "Okay, okay, get up! You''ll bring my whole family into this if I let you continue." Shifu angrily kicked him, "You''re great at seeking death, so how about learning some actual useful skills, instead? Go back and master this Sky Net Palms manual."

    He then threw the manual to him, while I watched with envy from the side.

    My Third Junior Martial Brother then came over. He wore sses and moved about slowly. After hearing my Shifumand, "Jump," he paused, and then slowly looked up at my Shifu. After staring at him for a while, he shook his head and sighed as if he was looking at a retard¡­

    My Shifu almost kicked him off the cliff¡­

    Shifu raged, "Third, are you going to jump or not?!"

    "Why jump?" Third Brother pushed his sses up, "I''ll die if I jump. Why would I die? There''s a limit to life, so how could I waste it on something so pointless? Shifu, we should cherish life and stay away from danger."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Shifu, you''re standing too close to the cliff. Hurry over here. Be careful of the wind on the mountain. If you''re not standing steady, the wind may blow you off. You will turn into an indiscernible pool of blood if you fall."

    My Third Junior Martial Brother wasn''t even ten yet, at the time, but he had the gaze of an intellectual.

    It was also the first time I saw my Shifu sincerely consider strangling the brat to death and throwing him into the mountain.

    When it was my Fourth Junior Martial Brother''s turn, he, to the contrary, looked absolutely serious, when he was just six at the time.

    Shifu ordered, "Jump!"

    My Fourth Brother responded, "Roger!" He ran into the clouds without a thought and reached the edge without any effort, then leapt off the edge.

    My Shifu was shocked.

    Fortunately, he used the rope he always had on him to save the guy. Otherwise, we would''ve had to erect a tablet for him that day.

    "You guys¡­ have different talents and thereby should naturally learn different skills. I shall teach you in ordance with your different aptitudes, meaning I shall give you different skills to learn. Second, you have the best foundation, so focus on palm techniques. Third, you''ve got a good brain, so keep track of my finance books for me."

    "Fourth, remember to bring ropes with you whenever you climb the mountain¡­"

    Thus, only my Second Brother received a secret martial arts manual that day. My Third Brother received a book for tracking finances, in addition to an abacus. All my Fourth Brother received was a rope¡­

    Afterwards, I went to eagerly ask for a secret manual. However, Shifu red at me as if to say, "Have you mastered Yijin Jing? How about Tai Chi? What? You''re satisfied with beating your Martial Uncle? You''re satisfied with defeating Shaolin''s Arhat Formation? You can''t even beat Shaolin''s Abbot. How embarrassing! Look at your fellow martial brothers. They all strive to be strong, even daring to jump off a cliff, while you can''t even beat a damned monk. Go back and train!"

    At the time, I wasn''t sure if I was just stupid, or what, but I felt too ashamed to show my face. Therefore, I furiously trained all night.

    That was the night I suffered qi deviation and destroyed over twenty walls in our courtyard with my Essential Qi, plus gave my Martial Uncle a fright, causing him to be diagnosed with cold disease.

    We fellow martial brothers then underwent our own sessful training; after which we descended the mountain to wander the world.

    I only managed to be free of living a bed-ridden life when I was fifteen, whereupon I apanied my Shifu around on his travels. I didn''t meet my martial siblings much after that until we reunited when Night Fortress was established.

    My Second Brother seemed to begin researching palm styles with Sky Net Palms.

    I don''t know if he fell in love with palm styles after that, or what the case was, but he began to learn palm styles from other schools after he had mastered our sect''s palm styles.

    He learnt Mount Daluo''s Sky Net Palms, Moon Sewing Palms, Shaolin''s Vajra Palms, Wudang''s Soft Palms, Emei''s Light Smoke Palms and so forth¡­ He was basically the Tang Ye of palm styles.

    After that, I heard he started walking the pugilistic world and ended up being beaten until he was left with just his underpants one time because he kept seeking death. That''s how he acquired the nickname Chrysanthemum Hero.

    It''s said that he was a beggar for several years, as a result of that.

    My Third Brother practised diligently after that time and found ultimate sess many yearster, finally bing Mount Daluo''s best Abacus Master! He became an ount in a rice shop and earned a sry of five silver taels per month.

    My Fourth Brother mastered a body refinement technique that gave him a tough body, so des were harmless to him. He supposedly became a guard at a brothel in the north,ter on, earning a meagre wage.

    As for me, I''m now a constable.

    ''Our Mount Daluo truly is home to talent!! Mount Daluo is the number one martial arts school in the north! Sign up here!''

    ''Keke, I digress.''

    In any case, it''s a past that''s too painful to recall.

    ''Should I say goodbye or stay when the memories make me shed a tear?''

    Cough, cough, cough¡­ ''I digressed again.''

    In short, we''re close brothers that grew up together and haven''t met in a long time, since leaving Mount Daluo. These three are as worrisome as ever.

    ''Look at them. We haven''t met in ages and¡­ How the fuck did they be Indians?!''

    I thought it was them when I heard their voices and confirmed it after seeing them. I can''t believe they didn''t care for their skin colour. Wait; upon closer inspection, they painted themselves dark and they randomly took their clothes from somewhere.

    They''re wearing Persian clothing.

    It''s clear as day from their dress-up that they''re out to trick somebody.

    Notes:

    *Essential Qi - Essential Qi (termed as True Qi in Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi technique) is the culmination of innate qi and qi you gained via training. It''s the most fundamentalponent to sustaining life and promoting movement. This is not to be confused with Essence.

    ** Chrysanthemum Hero - Chrysanthemum is a another way of saying "asshole", literally.

 Volume 4 30 Talent of Night Fortress

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 30 Talent of Night Fortress</h4>

    The muscly guy who was dressed up as an Indian in torn and tattered clothing, but couldn¡¯t change his refined demeanour, was my Second Brother who was once a beggar, Hongjiu.

    The people of the pugilistic world call him ¡®Chrysanthemum that blooms and overshadows the flowers,¡¯ ¡®The King of Hell wants me to die at midnight, but I¡¯ll be able to seek death until sunset,¡¯ and ¡®Number One Death Seeking Lunatic of the North¡¯, for his skills in seeking death were not to be underestimated.

    Of course, not only was he born with the skill to seek death but was also amazingly talented and had poor luck. In other words, he could seek death, but he couldn¡¯t run. He could win fights, but that wasn¡¯t necessarily good.

    My Grand-master was well versed at reading fortunes.

    One time, when he was reading my fortune, he shouted, ¡°Be wary of women,¡± then suddenly paused before shouting, ¡°And men!¡±

    I froze upon hearing him.

    When he read my Second Brother¡¯s fortune after that, he shouted ¡°Nine lifetimes of misery! You¡¯ve got another eight to go!¡±

    As a result, it became publicly acknowledged that my Second Brother was the unluckiest around.

    With that said, I can¡¯t confirm if the fortunes he proimed were genuine or not. That¡¯s because when he was with my Shifu, he shouted, ¡°Your mother is boomshakka. Your mother is boomshakka.¡± Not only did he not figure anything out, he ended up teaching my Second Brother a few curse phrases, too, which led to him loving to say this phrase.

    However, it was a fact that his luck was poor.

    He got busted without question, whenever he worked as a spy, definitely got caught whenever he tried to dine and run, and enemy reinforcements would arrive just in the nick of time when he won fights.

    I¡¯ve seen people with luck that bad before, except they were antagonists in picture books.

    Sometimes he¡¯s so miserable that I don¡¯t even dare to approach him, out of fear that it¡¯ll rub off on me and I¡¯ll be unlucky for months on end.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been here in the Capital for several days now and finally saw our Senior Brother.¡± He revealed a spooky mysterious look as he spoke, ¡°And he was bringing along such a pretty girl. Comrades, does this look right to you?¡±

    The other two transformed Indians, who looked as though they were a part of some shady organisation, responded in unison, ¡°No!!¡±

    ¡°The Master must have a n in mind to leave us, and stay in the capital.¡±

    My Second Brother let out a sinister chuckle, ¡°In my opinion, he¡¯s here for this woman. Look at her. Not only is she beautiful, but she¡¯s got a milk-white perky butt and amazingly long legs. Senior Brother loves this best. Fufufu, something is strange.¡±

    ¡®Hey! Don¡¯t suddenly go talking sh*t about me! What do you mean I love long white legs¡­? Okay, I admit I like checking them out, but every man likes that, doesn¡¯t he?!!¡¯

    My Third Brother still moved slowly, just as he did back then. He still wore his sses with the golden string. He nodded and took his time with his response, ¡°Indeed.¡±

    My Fourth Brother appeared to have grown up a bit. He should be twenty-two this year but was still as awkward and simple-minded as before.

    Somewhat angry, he replied, ¡°Of course not! Senior Brother likes Martial Grandaunt. How could he be with another girl?¡±

    My heart suddenly felt heavy, upon hearing him say Martial Grandaunt.

    Their so-called Martial Grandaunt is my Shiyi. Come to think of it; I¡¯m the only one who can call her Shiyi.

    ¡°Quiet down!¡±

    Second Brother red at Fourth Brother, ¡°You sound as if you¡¯re worried that nobody will hear you. Is Martial Grandaunt¡¯s matter something we can share with the outside world? Our Shifu is a man that loves polishing his reputation, while our sect is a big name.¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother will be seeding the sect as Patriarch. Can we tell the outside world about him and Martial Grandaunt being together? Are you going to tarnish our sect¡¯s name?¡±

    Every sentence that Second Brother said, near enough, added another wall to my heart and suffocated me.

    He was right. I couldn¡¯t let Mount Daluo ¡ª which had been around for centuries ¡ª be ruined in my hands. That¡¯s one of the reasons I don¡¯t want to lead the sect.

    Further, Shiyi let me stay in the Capital so easily, probably because she realised that. If I actually seeded the Patriarch seat, we probably wouldn¡¯t have any hope of being together. But even so, we¡¯re currently in two different locations.

    The two of us face countless things that we can¡¯t help.

    ¡°Then why are we capturing this woman?¡± Confused, Fourth Brother scratched his head, ¡°If Senior Brother is with her then doesn¡¯t that mean that he no longer likes Martial Grandaunt? Can¡¯t we just release her, then?¡±

    ¡°Fourth, I¡¯m not calling you stupid; you¡¯re actually stupid. What are we here for this time?¡±

    I was wondering the same thing.

    ¡®What did theye here out of the blue for? You¡¯re not going to tell me Mount Daluo was set on fire and they have no home to return to now, are you?¡¯

    Fourth Brother nkly replied, ¡°Are we not here on Martial Grandaunt¡¯s orders to tell Senior Brother about that and help him?¡±

    Second Brother wore a look of a smart man, as that of Zhuge Liang. He stroked his fake beard and exuded the noble aura of a man sellingmb skewers.

    ¡°That¡¯s one reason. The most important one is to let Senior Brother meet Martial Grandaunt.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Is it?¡± Fourth Brother touched his head, ¡°But Martial Grandaunt cursed Senior Brother so badly. They¡¯ll fight if they meet? Moreover, Senior Brother can¡¯t keep secrets. What are we going to do if the fact that he likes her gets exposed? Martial Grandaunt will get angry.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said you¡¯re stupid.¡± Second Brother shook his head at his incorrigible brother.

    ¡°When has Martial Grandaunt ever genuinely cursed Senior Brother? She¡¯s done that so many times, since we were young. Can you still not tell what¡¯s happening? She maymonly reproach him, but when has she ever sincerely meant it? Additionally, haven¡¯t you seen the look on her face and her temper on the mountain during this time? She scolded our Shifu as if she was scolding a damned dog. And what for? What else, but because he made Senior Brother seed the sect? If you ask me, Martial Grandaunt may actually have feelings for Senior Brother¡­ Sigh, let¡¯s ignore the future, for now. Let¡¯s get them to meet first, and then we¡¯ll figure things outter. Otherwise, Martial Grandaunt is going to pull all Shifu¡¯s hair out.¡±

    ¡°I get it now. So we find Senior Brother first; then have them meet.¡±

    The two spoke in a neutral tone.

    Meanwhile, Third Brother didn¡¯t say anything. He maintained his mysterious gaze, as he calmly watched the two of them. He stood in front of the Princess, with a short rod in hand, as if he was waiting for her toe to¡­

    After a while of talking, Second Brother suddenly uttered, ¡°Only that way can we make up for our mistake.¡±

    I was puzzled by what he said.

    ¡®Hmm? What mistake?¡¯

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy for us to draw Senior Brother as an Indian; put on make-up and hide here as Indians.¡±

    ¡®Huh? You were the one who drew me as an old Indian man!!¡¯

    Second Brother sighed, ¡°Well, it¡¯s for the sake of making up for losing Night Fortress. Sigh, I can¡¯t believe the massive Night Fortress got taken.¡±

    ¡®Huh? You lost Night Fortress?¡¯

    ¡°You useless bags of trash!!¡± I couldn¡¯t listen to any more. I jumped out and pointed at their faces.

    ¡®You bastards. I spent years maintaining such a stable sect, and you lost it just like that!¡¯

    But before I could begin my verbal assault, the three revealed gazes of surprise. They stared at me as if they had frozen.

    The frozen atmosphere between us was instantly broken and became heart-warming.

    ¡°Leader!¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡±

    The three of them were the same as the three younger brothers I remember from my childhood. They leapt over to me, as soon as they saw me.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The three of them hadn¡¯t actually changed.

    Just when Second Brother sprinted over, he suddenly felt himself moving sluggishly. He lowered his head to see that Third Brother had stepped on the front leg of his trousers. When he lifted his leg, Fourth Brother stepped on the rear leg of his trousers. Since he was in motion, his pants got pulled down when he ran over.

    I kicked him back!

    Second Brother¡­ truly hadn¡¯t changed.

 Volume 4 31 Night Net Book is Lost. Where is the Master to Stay?

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 31 Night Net Book is Lost. Where is the Master to Stay?</h4>

    ¡°Senior Brother! You¡¯ve finallye to see us!¡±

    Fourth Brother resembled a lively puppy. He ran around me and checked me out, examining me with curiosity.

    ¡°Senior Brother.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Third Brother slowly came over. He narrowed his eyes behind his sses and gave me a mysterious smile. This kid often has trouble controlling his expressions, so his smile looks sinister. That¡¯s why people call him the hardest person among all of Night Fortress personnel to read.

    ¡°Senior Brother, are you serious about retiring?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I touched his head, ¡°I won¡¯t inherit the Patriarch seat. Fourth, you better work hard not to let Shifu and Shiniang down.¡±

    ¡°Understood! I will work hard!¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother¡­¡± In a muffled voice, Third Brother said, ¡°Are you really not going to seed the Patriarch seat? Shifu would be very disappointed.¡±

    ¡°No. I pass. Shifu still has you guys. You¡¯ve all grown up. You just need to find another Patriarch.¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother¡­¡± Third Brother wanted to speak but paused. Finally, he slowly said, ¡°I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s anybody more¡­¡±

    A loud voice cut Third Brother off before he could finish.

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Second Brother got up and looked at me with his teary and passionate eyes. He opened his arms, ¡°I want to give you a hug!¡± He charged over.

    I quickly grabbed the back of his cor and restrained him. He kicked his feet and struck up a ruckus, ¡°Let me down. Let me give you a passionate hug!¡±

    ¡°Hug a turd!¡± I threw him away again and angrily asked, ¡°What happened to Night Fortress? How did somebody take it?¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­¡± Second Brother, who I just threw away, hesitated for a moment and then thumped his chest with passion, ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for now! Come! Let me have a hug!¡±

    I threw him away with abhorrence. I then took a step back and helped up the Princess lying on the ground.

    The beautiful Princess with pure white skin had her eyes shut. Her tall physique fit my embrace perfectly. Her valleys of pride rose and fall in ordance with her breathing. She looked so beautiful it was captivating.

    I could see a small lump on the back of her head.

    Third Brother sure had hit her hard. His skills with a rod are improving¡­

    ¡°Cut the drivel.¡±

    Only after I red at my Second Brother did he wipe his grin away. He had known my temperament since we were kids, so he stopped his stupid acts when I got serious.

    Second Brother had his head down, simrly to a child that made a mistake. He initially stuttered, but then told me the entire story. After finding out what happened, I was so stunned I couldn¡¯t shut my mouth.

    ¡°Jin Wangsun? He, alone, challenged Night Fortress?¡±

    ¡®The Big Golden Vat did?!¡¯

    ¡°Yeah. We didn¡¯t want to lose to him like that, either, but you weren¡¯t there at the time¡­ As a result, he challenged Night Fortress, and then the Gold and Silver Sect upied our ce.¡±

    ¡°What were you doing then?! What were you all doing during my absence? What? You can bully girls, but sit on yoururels when a strong foe rocks up?¡±

    Second Brother rubbed his hands and chuckled awkwardly. He scratched his head, ¡°Not entirely. The main reason was that we didn¡¯t have what it took to match them, at the time¡­ Over two-hundred of their members came. We didn¡¯t have enough manpower.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t even have two-hundred men? We had over a thousand men when I left. What happened to all of them?¡±

    Third Brother stepped out and pushed his sses up, ¡°They were dismissed.¡±

    ¡°Dismissed?!¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Who dismissed them?¡±

    Third Brother smiled mysteriously, ¡°Me.¡±

    I finally understood how my Shifu felt when he had wanted to strangle him to death.

    I angrily asked, ¡°What did you dismiss them for?¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother, it was all your fault?¡±

    ¡°My fault?¡±

    ¡®Huh?! He¡¯s shifting the me again!¡¯

    Third Brother pushed his sses up, leading to the golden string emitting a ray of intelligence.

    ¡°Bear in mind that the one thousand or so members of Night Fortress were weird people that you knocked the living daylights out of and then epted into Night Fortress. There were mountain bandits, bandits and members of the Demon Sect. Nobody could control them. You were able to control them, as you were strong enough to.¡±

    ¡°They essentially did nothing for the half a year after your departure. Everyone followed you when you were still around, regardless of what we were doing. I was able to arrange for an opportunity to make money, whenever there was something to do. However, you didn¡¯t return. They justzed around all day, after you left. It¡¯s all right for them toze around for a day or two, but for a year or two¡­¡±

    I was panicstricken by what he said.

    ¡°What happened to the money I earned back then?!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured,¡± Third Brother kept cool as a cucumber, ¡°We didn¡¯t touch a single penny. The treasures you collected are all still there. I had dismissed the members before they ate through us entirely.¡±

    ¡®At least they left the money. That puts me at ease a little.¡¯

    ¡°Don¡¯t feelpletely reassured.¡± Second Brother poked his head in and weakly added, ¡°Did you forget that Night Fortress was challenged, and that the Gold and Silver Sect now upies the ce?¡±

    ¡®Ah? Does he mean¡­?¡¯

    ¡°God fucking damn it! Hongjiu!!¡±

    Second Brother shuddered, as a result of my roar. I grabbed him over with one hand and spat in his face as I eximed, ¡°You¡¯re saying that all the treasures I hid at Night Fortress are all gone?! What about my Night Net Book?¡±

    He didn¡¯t dare to look at me. Instead, he turned his head away.

    Since he was silent, Fourth Brother jumped out to inform me, ¡°Senior Brother, Night Net Book has been taken.¡±

    I looked at my Second Brother with utter disbelief. He lowered his head.

    ¡°Hongjiu!¡± I thundered at him, grabbing his cor, ¡°Say that one more fucking time! Where¡¯s Night Net Book?!¡±

    Hongjiu lowered his head with shame, seemingly not able look me in the eye.

    I looked at him with rage. My eyes were on the verge of spitting mes. Not even I remember thest time I was so outraged, but he seriously went too far this time.

    All of Mount Daluo¡¯s styles are uniquely created. Ever since the grand-master, the senior martial uncles, and previously left behind manuals all have their own unique names.

    The grand-master¡¯s self-created style was named Daluo, literally, Big Net.

    Shifu¡¯s self-created style was named Tianluo, which means Heaven¡¯s Net.

    While I created Yeluo, meaning Night Net.

    As we martial siblings are still young, we haven¡¯t mastered martial arts, and thereforeck the prerequisites to create our own style. Consequently, I¡¯m basically the only person who created some martial art mental cultivation techniques.

    I recorded all of that stuff inside Night Net Book and ced it in the treasure storage at Night Fortress. I considered it a contribution to my sect.

    In other words, all the styles and techniques I created are recorded in there. The other techniques such as Dragon Groping ws, Divine Food Catching Fingers, The Shoulder Belongs to Me Art were just my way of having fun, so they¡¯re nothing rare.

    Besides them, though, Night Fortress¡¯s invincible mental cultivation technique, Night Steps and all of its intricacies are recorded in there.

    Night Steps isn¡¯t just a mere Qinggong art, but also a style for cultivating internal energy. It had breathing techniques and energy moulding transformation techniques, equipping its practitioner to see immense daily internal energy increases. That was the essence of what I spent over ten years learning.

    If the book has fallen into the hands of others, the consequences are unfathomable.

    ¡°You useless sack of sh*t! You came to see me after losing it? All the intricacies of Night Steps are recorded inside. You let the Gold and Silver Sect just waltz off with it?!¡±

    I raised my hands up high. Second Brother went totally pale in the face. He raised his head up to say, ¡°Senior Brother, just beat me to death. I can¡¯t face you after that. I am willing to serve you when I reach the other side and¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up! You think I don¡¯t dare hit you?!¡±

    Just as I was about to p the top half of the bastard¡¯s body off, Third Brother suddenly spoke up, ¡°Senior Brother, it¡¯s not all Second Brother¡¯s fault alone.¡±

    I red at him, ¡°You telling me it¡¯s my fault then?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Third Brother continued at a slow pace, ¡°Second Brother merely held Night Fortress together, as per your instructions when you left. You¡¯re the one who suddenly said he wanted to retire. That¡¯s how this whole incident came about. Second Brother was oblivious to the matter. Even if he didn¡¯t notify you, he just happened to do bad when he had good intentions. He can¡¯t be med.¡±

    I raised my hand and stared at my Third Brother, before ncing back at my Second Brother, who had his eyes shut while I grabbed him.

    The two of them looked at me nervously, simrly to children whomitted mistakes, worried that I¡¯d punish them.

    I heard their heart beats very clearly.

    I snorted heavily.

    ¡°What bullsh*t! If it¡¯s something the previous master left behind, you could easily allow them to get lost! I don¡¯t care who you want to me. You guys lost it, so you have to find it.¡±

    I pushed Hongjiu away and then pointed at his face, ¡°Hongjiu, I don¡¯t care whether you die or live, but if you don¡¯t bring the Night Net Book back, don¡¯t evere to see me again.¡±

    He staggered and nearly tripped over. He steadied himself and loudly proimed, ¡°Rest assured, Senior Brother. I¡¯ll throw my life away if I have to, in order to get back the Night Net Book from that punk Jin Wangsun, to apologise!¡±

    ¡°What else?¡±

    Hongjiu responded in a serious tone, ¡°I¡¯ll put a hole in the son of a bitch¡¯s ass!¡±

    ¡°Whatever, that¡¯s nothing. What¡¯s crucial is Night Net Book. It contains our styles. Nothing in it is to be spread.¡± I continued in a heavy tone, ¡°If one man read it, kill him. If a hundred people read it, kill all one hundred of them. If a single outsider learns the intricacies of Night Steps, don¡¯t evere back to see me.¡±

    Second Brother nodded solemnly.

    I finally managed to rx my long face slightly.

    ¡°This wasn¡¯t your mistake alone, and I won¡¯t make you resolve it on your own. The three of you are to take advantage of Jin Wangsun being in the Capital City toplete this task, got it?¡±

    Second and Fourth Brother responded in unison, ¡°Yes!¡±

    However, Third Brother slowly shook his head.

    I frowned, ¡°Third, what are you shaking your head for?¡±

    He made an open hand gesture and responded slowly, ¡°No matter how you slice it, nobody is better a better fit for the Patriarch seat than you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I cleared my throat to end the awkwardness. I did lose my temper, but we¡¯re martial brothers that haven¡¯t met in ages, so we started chatting away cheerfully afterwards. I told them a fair lot about what happened recently, which reminded me of something.

    ¡°That reminds me, why are you dressed as Indians?¡±

    Second Brother was in high spirits again, after we started getting friendly, ¡°Heh! There¡¯s no secret. I¡¯ll tell you. We entered the Capital with ns to find you at Liu Shan Men, but then we heard that somebody was recently spreading Ximen Chuideng¡¯s painting. The three of us then came here to search around and, indeed, we found that it was true that his painting was being circted. However, there were only the odd few hawkers selling them, while we also noticed people secretively stalking them. Hence, it caught our attention, and we began conducting investigations over and over. We found out that it was a ploy to lure Lord San Shen out. From that, we concluded that they were nning to bring harm to you.¡±

    ¡°Subsequently, the three of us came up with the idea to dress up as Indians and randomly sell paintings of Lord San Shen, passing you off as an old Indian man. Since we gave the paintings to the hawkers for free, they only sold them for a penny. In turn, that saturated the market, whilst getting rid of the Ximen Chuideng paintings.¡±

    ¡®I see now. No wonder why I didn¡¯t hear about Ximen Chuideng¡¯s being circted. So it was your prank. Did nobody take it seriously?!¡¯

    I cackled and then praised them for an amazing job. We returned to idle catch-up chatter for a while. When we got to my recent situation, I brought up me bing a Fuma candidate.

    Third Brotherughed with disbelief.

    ¡°If you were a Fuma, wouldn¡¯t you be keeping the Princesspany?¡±

    ¡°Buddy, that¡¯s oundish, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. You¡¯re lying.¡±

    ¡°Who said I wasn¡¯t keeping the Princesspany? I am right now.¡±

    I raised the hand of the beauty in my arms, ¡°Aren¡¯t I?¡±

    The three of them were immediately stunned. They then chuckled insipidly. They looked at me, who didn¡¯tugh, but was seemingly on the verge of tears, ¡°What are you saying, Senior Brother?¡±

    I shrugged and responded nonchntly, ¡°This girl here, who you knocked out, is a Princess.¡±

    The three of them reacted with looks of despair in an instant.

 Volume 4 32 His Majesty Makes a Wise Decision Thatâ€™s Just and Leaves Him Void of Concern (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 32 His Majesty Makes a Wise Decision That¡¯s Just and Leaves Him Void of Concern (Part 1)</h4>

    This dynasty doesn¡¯t hold just morning conferences alone. There are also afternoon and evening conferences. They are held at Chongwen Hall and Hongwu Hall, and the location will be determined based on the contents to be discussed.

    The morning conference had wrapped up and the Emperor had finished lunch. By the time he came to Chongwen Hall again, there were already two vassals awaiting him. They were the Assistant Minister Zhang Chunfeng, Assistant Minister Zhang, as well as the current Prime Minister, Li Si, old Prime Minister Li. These two individuals were the pirs of the Imperial Court, so the Emperor heavily relied on them to handle national affairs.

    As soon as Assistant Minister Zhang saw the emperor, he immediately demanded, ¡°Your Majesty, since it has been decided that the Orange Prince shall not be executed, please decide on his sentence.¡±

    Yesterday¡¯s conference turned into quite the quarrel, and it took a lot of effort to decide that the Orange Prince wouldn¡¯t be executed.

    Assistant Minister Zhang was the pir of the faction that wanted to have him executed to appease the people.

    Even if it was decided that they wouldn¡¯t execute him, in the end, he wasn¡¯t going to let him continue enjoying the peaceful, unconcerned, wealthy lifestyle of a prince in his territory for the rest of his life. He wanted to at least strip him of his royal status, take back his territory and have demoted to amoner.

    Only in that way would the vassals of the Imperial Court, and people of the world, be satisfied.

    Hence, he couldn¡¯t wait to bring it up, despite the Emperor being the one who called them to the hall. He wanted to gain the initiative; otherwise, he might be in a passive position, if the Emperor gains the upper hand.

    The Emperor looked neither sad nor happy. He basically looked akin to a block of wood. He slowly sat down and cleared his throat.

    ¡°I call you two elders here today regarding the betrothal proposal from the new master of the Gold and Silver Sect. I wanted to ask for your opinions.¡±

    The Emperor acted as though he didn¡¯t hear what Assistant Minister Zhang initially said, and instead spoke with confidence andposure.

    ¡°As you two are aware, Jin Wangsun requested a marriage. It was so sudden that I¡¯ve now got a headache over it. The importance of the Seven White Champion Princes to the Capital is obvious, but what about the Gold and Silver Sect¡­?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Assistant Minister Zhang got angry, as His Majesty ignored what he said. He cut him off in a loud voice, ¡°May I ask if you heard what I said, just now, Your Majesty?¡±

    Chongwen Hall immediately turned silent. The Emperor silently looked at Assistant Minister Zhang, but didn¡¯t speak. After a while, he continued, ¡°Where was I?¡±

    It was as though he had been diagnosed with dementia, and Assistant Minister Zhang didn¡¯t exist.

    The Emperor returned the topic of the importance of the Gold and Silver Sect, as well as the pros and cons of the marriage proposal.

    ¡°Your Majesty! Yesterday, you and Her Majesty utilised underhanded means to do away with the Orange Prince¡¯s capital punishment. Are you going to act deaf and mute, to cover the Orange Prince¡¯s crimes, today?¡± Assistant Manager Zhang took a step forth and then continued fuming, ¡°Your Subject may be old, but shall not allow this to happen in the Imperial Court!¡±

    ¡°Insolence!¡± The Emperor¡¯s rage showed on his face. He aggressively shouted, ¡°Zhang Chunfeng! I showed you respect as my teacher, but you spoke before I spoke in the hall. When I went to speak, you continued to cut me off. Do you still even consider me the Emperor?! You clenched your fists and stepped forward. What do you intend to do?!¡±

    Zhang Chunfeng¡¯s heart jolted. He crossed the line just before, due to carelessness. He stepped back and said, ¡°Your Subject was wrong.¡±

    ¡°You know your mistake? If you knew what wrong youmitted, you wouldn¡¯t be pushing me, over and over again. You know how hard it is for me to deal with it, yet you continue to force me down that route. What a remarkable man you are, Zhang Chunfeng, Assistant Minister Zhang. You¡¯re perfectly impartial, aren¡¯t you? You want to talk about crimes? I shall talk about crimes with you, then. Where are you, Wang Tushui?¡±

    Eunuch Wang, who was next to the Emperor¡¯s throne, poked his head out. He had his eyes narrowed and was wearing a smile, ¡°Your Servant is here. This is what you asked for, Your Majesty.¡±

    The Emperor took hold of it, then threw it at Assistant Minister Zhang, without even checking it beforehand.

    ¡°Look for yourself!¡±

    Assistant Minister Zhang grabbed the white sheet of paper.

    There was something written on there with the letters closely spaced closely.

    Assistant Minister Zhang looked at the Emperor¡¯s expression with puzzlement, before opening the sheet of paper to read the contents.

    The first line was enough to rain on his parade!

    The sheet of paper recorded how his grandson was in cahoots with bandits of the pugilistic world and established an infamous gang that bullied the masses. At the end of it were his grandson¡¯s signature and fingerprint. Assistant Minister Zhang was so furious that he couldn¡¯t stop his body from trembling.

    He wanted to speak, but he didn¡¯t know what to say when he opened his mouth. His Zhang family was a family of schrs, with many of their family members serving as officials of the Imperial Court. They were an influential family in the Capital.

    He never expected a bastard like his grandson to exist.

    He was trying to reason with His Majesty, only to discover that his family had beenmitting these horrendous deeds. If His Majesty made an issue out of it, the Zhang family would be doomed.

    Therefore, his only option was to kneel, clench his teeth and bear with it.

    ¡°For this beast to do this, the fault lies with me for not teaching him better. Please severely punish him. I will not be biased!¡±

    ¡°My Security Detail gave me this report days¡¯ ago. I didn¡¯t bring this up yesterday, because I did not want you to look bad. Don¡¯t worry, Assistant Minister Zhang. He erred, but I will not me your entire Zhang family, and even less so, you. However, you must understand that human beings are not holy beings that never err. Pushing somebody too far is not an act of graciousness.¡±

    Assistant Minister Zhang had things to say, but he couldn¡¯t find a way to speak in the spur of the moment, so he had to thank His Majesty for his leniency, first and foremost.

    ¡°Next is the Orange Prince¡¯s sentence.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Assistant Minister Zhang was dumbfounded for a moment.

    ¡®What? His Majesty pulled this stunt, just to reduce the Orange Prince¡¯s sentence? How did he alreadye to a conclusion?¡¯

    ¡°Wang Tushui.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Draft up an edict.¡± The Emperorposed himself and then, in a steady voice, dered, ¡°Date. Second Prince, Li Chengzhi deceived the nation and insulted its ruler. His actions vited morals and his crimes were heinous. However, the heavens are benevolent. There has been no precedence of executing a Prince since the establishment of this dynasty, thanks to the benevolence and lenience of my ancestors. As a descendant of my ancestors, I dare not vite what they have set and hereby dere this the first time this is done. Out of consideration of his mother, the Empress, and her many merits, he shall be spared the death sentence.¡±

    ¡°However!¡± The Emperor paused to emphasise the contrast, ¡°He may be spared the death sentence, but punishment for his crimes is inevitable. I hereby dere that Li Chengzhi shall be stripped of his status as royalty, demoted to amoner, and is no longer a member of the royal family, henceforth. He is to never be involved with schstic, agriculture, artisan or merchant industries. As long as I am instated, he is it never be conferred the status of nobility. He is to never set foot in the pce and not to see old enemies!¡±

    The Emperor felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off him, upon finishing his edict in one breath. He then gave Assistant Minister Zhang a smile.

    ¡°Assistant Minister Zhang, what do you think of my decision?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Th-That¡­¡±

    Assistant Minister Zhang was stupefied. The Emperor severely reproached him, but the edict he made waspletely identical to what he was after.

    As a matter of fact, the Emperor was more meticulous than he expected. It turned out that His Majesty had nned to strip him of his status, forbid him from stirring the four industries and seeing enemies again. Thatpletely eliminated any possibility of the Empress secretly assisting the Orange Prince on a materialistic level.

    ¡®However, as the Emperor¡¯s thinking is in line with mine, why did he have to harshly reprimand me? I asked for the scolding. Why did I bring that upon myself?¡¯

    During his moments of confusion, the old Prime Minister suddenly remarked, ¡°What you said is too sound and reasonable, Your Majesty.¡±

    While Assistant Minister Zhang was wondering how he ended up getting kicked when he was down, he suddenly had a spark of enlightenment. He recalled the Emperor saying ¡®Pushing somebody too far¡¯, and it clicked for him.

    ¡°You are impartial in your judgement. Your Subject greatly admires that. If there is nothing else, Your Subject shall leave now.¡±

    As expected, the Emperor didn¡¯t stop him, ¡°Please feel free, Assistant Minister Zhang.¡±

 Volume 4 33 His Majesty Makes a Wise Decision Thatâ€™s Just and Leaves Him Void of Concern (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 33 His Majesty Makes a Wise Decision That''s Just and Leaves Him Void of Concern (Part 2)</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The old Prime Minister didn''t say anything, besides that, from beginning to end. He had his eyes slightly shut as if he paid no heed, yet he had, actually, been indifferently watching the entertaining show.

    Prime Minister Li Si had served for three reigns. They called him the Tree that Doesn''t Fall in Politics. He had served as Prime Minister since the time of the Emperor''s grandfather. That his steady run had remained for three reigns was attributable to his knowledge on how to be a vassal and how to carry himself as a person.

    He deliberately didn''t involve himself when His Majesty asked Assistant Minister Zhang toe, because he was digging a hole for Zhang Chunfeng. If an outsider had witnessed the ploy that the Emperor had used on Assistant Minister Zhang just before, they''d be utterly confused. Prime Minister Li, however, knew perfectly well what was going on.

    It''s true that Zhang Chunfeng is a pir of the current Imperial Court. It''s also true that he is talented, knowledgeable, and good with words to the point that he is unequalled. Additionally, it''s a fact that he is an upright individual with a clean reputation. He doesn''t back down just because the opposition holds higher power, and even the Emperor shows his former teacher respect.

    If he didn''t possess all those favourable characteristics, he wouldn''t have been given the powerful Assistant Minister post in the Ministry of Personnel; which allowed him to control all manner of civil servants and schstic tests for government posts.

    However, despite sporting the face of an intelligent individual, deep down he was still just a schr who didn''t know how to adapt.

    Yes, perhaps His Majesty still loved the Orange Prince as his son and pitied him. However, the Emperor, who''s now over fifty, is no longer the young man that acted ording to his emotions anymore. He was definitely no longer the student that had to be guided by Zhang Chunfeng. He was now the monarch of a nation. He had his own way of thinking and his own ns. There was no way he didn''t kill the Orange Prince, purely because of the fact that they were father and son.

    The Emperor is a wise monarch. It wasn''t as though he couldn''t kill the Orange Prince in order to cate the people, because he, himself, was aware of the severity of the circumstance. He was different from the Empress. He didn''te to ignore the Orange Prince''s sentence, and not consider it part of the equation.

    Had Zheng Chunfeng tried to slowly calcte his moves, this time, this date next year might have been the Orange Prince''s death anniversary.

    Should the Orange Prince have been killed? Yes.

    Was the Emperor aware of that? Yes.

    Was he capable of oveing his emotions to go through with it? Yes.

    So how was the Orange Prince able to escape that fate this time? That was because Zhang Chunfeng had been giving criticism without end for the past month. He repeated the same show every single day during the conferences. Therefore, getting numerous vassals to join his cause was an idiotic move on his part.

    Monarchs will always suspect those that threaten their power, even a benevolent dead ruler, or if it was for work.

    While themunity is equally shared by all, monarchs and vassals can stay out of each other''s ways, but can also fight so intensely that thends turn barren.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Prime Minister Li Si had witnessed that himself, on more than one asion. He knew that to say and what not to say.

    He knew even better what his monarch was like.

    Emperor Yuansheng was never a weak monarch. He was different from his father. Unlike his father, he didn''t kill or use cruelty. He was a good Emperor, but at the same time, a bold and strong Emperor.

    Thus, he wasn''t the type to lower his head in the face of numbers. To the contrary, that would encourage him to dislike the group and retaliate.

    The Emperor looked at the Prime Minister. He was pleased with the Prime Minister. Heughed and said, "Hahahaha, Prime Minister, you have been an elder for three reigns for good reason. Nothing escapes your eyes."

    The Emperor stroked his own beard, "Assistant Minister Zhang is a talented man and a respectable, good vassal. The Imperial Court can''t operate revolving around the Emperor''s personality. Simrly, it can''t revolve around any particr vassal, even if he is of high status and as pure as a clean te. Today, I wanted to let him know that I can tolerate his arrogance, and I could also keep him in check if he wants to push his agenda."

    The Prime Minister chuckled.

    "I imagine that you did not call me here just to watch you destroy him."

    "You are correct. Besides giving Zhang Chunfeng a reminder, I had another matter to discuss with you." The Emperor took out a sheet of paper from the drawer of his desk and then handed it to the Prime Minister.

    The Prime Minister took it with two hands.

    The Emperor solemnly said, "This is a letter written personally by the former master of the Gold and Silver Sect. The letter arrived this morning. He sincerely begged me and mentioned his long friendship with me. He also said that he''d be willing to turn over nearly half of the Gold and Silver Sect''s territory, in addition to the Golden Crow Moon Eater de as a wedding gift. He pleaded me to betroth Hong''er to his son."

    After he read the letter, the Prime Minister slowly asked, "Your Majesty, do you have an idea?"

    The Emperor looked at the Prime Minister and instinctively nodded.

    "Putting aside my friendship with Old Jin, it''s a loss for me no matter how I look at it." The Emperor sat back on his chair and rxed his forehead, to release some of his fatigue. "Prime Minister, you possess vast knowledge. Tell me, who in the martial world is the strongest nowadays?"

    Old Prime Minister Li tried to knock the question away, "You are making things hard for me by asking me that, Your Majesty. I am a civil servant. I am ignorant when ites to martial arts. I think that it would be more appropriate for you to consult your Security Detail or the Qilin Guards, regarding this."

    The Emperor quickly responded, "Don''t be modest, Prime Minister. I know that you are knowledgeable about both old and recent things. Nobody knows more about recent things than you do. It''s just that I''m aware that you don''t like to stand out, and hence called you here alone."

    The Prime Minister looked as though he was ill and couldn''t withstand the wind. There was a fire burning in the hall, yet he still wore three inner and outeryers of thick clothing. But even then, he would still feel cold.

    However, the Emperor wasn''t ashamed to seek the knowledge of such an elder.

    "As you hold me in such high regard, I shall give my two cents. I am not knowledgeable about the pugilistic world. Therefore, should I say something not factual, please do forgive me."

    "Sure. You are too modest, Prime Minister."

    The old Prime Minister slightly frowned, as though he as focusing his thoughts. However, he spoke at a rtively fast pace, nheless, "The martial world has been split into four groups for a long time, now. If we do not include the Southern and Northern Xinjiang, then there essentially fourpeting groups."

    The Emperor had yet to hear anybody say that, so it was evident that the Prime Minister was truly knowledgeable. What he had said just moments ago was a mere humble statement that was worded differently to how it would''ve been said in the pugilistic world.

    The Emperor joyfully responded, "Please, go on, Prime Minister."

    "The traditional threergest orthodox sects, namely Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo havepeted for a long time. Their disciples are still active in the pugilistic world, but it is rare to hear of them doing anything major. That is because the three leaders of those respective sects have long stopped pursuing fame or gains, and thereby limited the development of their disciples."

    "At present, the most active sects among the orthodox sects would be the four major sects, namely, Emei, Kunlun Mountain, Canghai Heavenly Sect, Mingjing Pce. These four sects are rtively active."

    "These seven aforementioned sects all have long histories that possess the knowledge of countless profound styles; hence, no other sects canpare. There are the asional standout individuals from other sects, but they struggle to rise to prominence."

    "As for the unorthodox sects, they would, of course, be the League of Assassins, Demon Sect and so forth, so there are four main unorthodox sects, with countless minions. You could name any from the four major unorthodox sects and they would possess skills among the top tiers in the pugilistic world. For that reason, the unorthodox are by all means stronger than the orthodox sects. You asked who could be considered the strongest. While my answer may be rude, I must say it. I would say that the unorthodox sects are stronger."

    "The third group is the Seven Champion White Princes, who provide protection to the Capital. Not only are they sects in the martial world, but are also the equivalent of nobility and ministers, and thus, lords of a region. In fact, they are essentially a self-established mercenary group that has been given permission to operate by the Imperial Court. Their strength far surpasses a sect. They are people who go through weal and woe with the Imperial Court in name, yet act as though they are Eng. They are your subordinates in name, but you cannotmand them. As such, it is difficult to grasp whether they are friend or foe."

    "The fourth group is our Imperial Court. The Imperial Court possesses all of the militaries in thend and the skilled fighters on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. It is thereby a powerful force in the pugilistic world. However, if we were to take the influence of the Imperial Court out of the equation, leaving just the three offices in, then we are indeed the weakest among the four groups."

    The Emperor was delighted by what he heard. He smacked the table, "Beautiful! What you have just said is music to my ears."

    The Emperor continued with delight and constion, "The Imperial Court needs to take care of the pugilistic world. Relying on the three offices alone is insufficient. I went through so much effort, yet managed to only rectify the Demon Sect. I want to do something about the other three unorthodox sects, but I''m powerless to."

    "Therefore, I have to depend on the Seven White Champion Prince''s strength. The Imperial Court gave them their glory and special rights, but we can only use their power when we''re in precarious circumstances. If any of them were to have rebellious thoughts¡­ Jiangnan is right next to the Capital. How would I defend against them?"

    "That''s why the Gold and Silver Sect''s sincerity has attracted me. I can leverage their territory to expand into Jiangnan, where the Seven Champion White Princes are."

    "Prime Minister, let us be candid. Who I choose as my Fuma is but just a decision away for me."

    The Prime Minister smiled and responded, "Your Majesty, you mean to say that you would rather choose the master of the Gold and Silver Sect, who provides a much more realistic benefit than the in disciple of Mount Daluo, who is an ordinary disciple, no less?"

    "It''s true that I don''t like Jin Wangsun; however, I don''t have a good impression of Ming Feizhen, either."

    The Emperor then heavily snorted, before carrying on, "Ming Feizhen is a slippery individual. I heard Yiren mention him many times and had a small hint of liking for him. At the Flying Fish Pavilion, I heard the assassin Fu Xiang, personally, say¡­"

    "Sigh, he said that Yiren and that fellow were having an affair. I wanted Yiren to separate from him, before teaching him a lesson. But then he became the winner of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament and got connected with Hong''er. It was so unexpected."

    The Prime Minister stroked his beard and responded, "I saw him yesterday, too. He is far from handsome, but based on a facial reading, he is popr with the opposite sex. He is bound to have many women clinging to him in a messy rtionship. Indeed, he is not fit for the Princess."

    "Exactly. Exactly. I thought he was a womaniser with one nce." The Emperor then quickly followed up, "As for Jin Wangsun, he''s a little overbearing, but nobody canpare to his family background. Further, I can see that he does have some feelings for Hong''er."

    "So you want toe up with a reason to betroth the Princess to Jin Wangsun?"

    The Emperor calmly nodded, "Exactly. That''s what I''m getting at. Would you happen to have any other opinion, Prime Minister?"

    The Prime Minister pondered it in silence, for a long time. In the end, he said, "I agree with your opinion, Your Majesty. Betrothing the Princess to him will be very beneficial to the Imperial Court."

    "All right! We''re going with that then!"

    As soon as he finished, footsteps could be heard from outside. A low-ranking eunuch ran over, as fast as his legs could take him, and almost tripped over at the door.

    The Emperor revealed an angry look. Eunuch Wang rushed forward to shout, "Insolent servant! Are you looking to die?! Do you know where this ce is, to be so rude?"

    The low-ranking unique couldn''t catch his breath, "Bad news. Bad news, Your Majesty! Reporting, Your Majesty, V-Virtuous Consort''s family sent a message. Th-They said, the Prince''s maternal uncle and Her Majesty''s father got beat up!"

    The Emperor was currently ted because he hade up to conclusions and had ideas for several things. He had been about to leave the pce to take a trip to Heavenly Garden with the Prime Minister, to see a musical that was currently all the rage in the capital.

    Upon hearing this news, however, his anxiety levels shot through the ceiling, "What in the heavens?! Men,e help me change. I must personally go and save them! Prime Minister, are youing with me?"

    Perhaps it was because he hadn''t brown-nosed anybody in a long time, but when the Prime Minister heard the news, he didn''t want to be outdone. As a result, he puffed his chest out, and with a stern look, replied, "I am duty-bound!"

    And so, a monarch and his vassal got changed, and brought along a few subordinates, as they sped to Bright Lane in a grand fashion.

    Notes:

    *Eng - For those who have forgotten, is the god with a third truth-seeing eye on his forehead.

    **The Eng reference is a direct reference to the phrase "They are your subordinates in name, but you cannotmand them."

    *Facial Reading - The act of reading one''s fortune by their facial features.

 Volume 4 34 Primary Principle. Beat Him to Death.

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 34 Primary Principle. Beat Him to Death.</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    "Miss Li. Miss¡­"

    From my arms, Princess Hongzhuang''s eyebrows formed a pretty line. She gently sniffled and slowly came to. She gently curled up her body, as though she couldn''t stand the warm breath I emitted as I spoke. She revealed the smooth white back of her neck, causing my heart to palpitate.

    "You''ve finallye to, Miss. You were out for a long time. I was worried for you."

    "Brother¡­ Brother Ming, why are you here?"

    The Princess had just gotten hit hard with a rod by my Third Martial Brother. She didn''t suffer any wounds. She gently shook her head, taking her ck hair along for the ride, and releasing a mellow scent. Her eyes were already clear, so it was obvious she was fully alert. She wore a long face, that showed a hint of bewilderment.

    "I remember that I came here to eradicate the bandits'' den, and then encountered three Indians. They attacked me without saying anything prior. They weren''t weak. I couldn''t defeat them¡­ Wh¡­ -What''s wrong with me? Why are you here, Brother Ming¡­?"

    The Princess gently ran her fingers through her hair and then frowned a little. Her eyes showed a hint of pain, which she was resisting, but that hint was hard to detect.

    It was obvious that she felt the lump on her head.

    ''What a cute girl.''

    "I also ran into some gangsters, not long after splitting up with you. They weren''t skilled, but you know that Ick in the martial arts department, so it took me some effort to deal with them. After I questioned them, I found out that they were hired muscle, out for us. I was worried about your safety, so I followed the path you took here."

    Then I went and exined to her how I caught Pickled Salted Fish and found out the address to this ce through him.

    "What happened to the Indians?"

    "I did not see any Indians. You must have imagined it, Miss."

    She silently frowned. It was clear her thoughts didn''t coincide with that im.

    "I couldn''t have mistaken it. It''s just that they left for whatever reason." Suddenly, a valiant look appeared in her eyes, "They might still be hiding here, and are just lying in ambush."

    Her suspicion spewed into her tone.

    My back was sweating because I was startled. Those three Indians were actually hiding at the top of the pile of goods behind us.

    We were less than fifteen metres away from them.

    After exchanging a few words with my juniors, I noticed that it was gettingte. We couldn''t continue putting things off forever. Even the bandits would''ve woken up, had we kept on talking, so I had them hide somewhere nearby and then figured we would decide on our next move, after sending the Princess away.

    The Princess being so sharp-witted was outside of my predictions.

    "I remember now. I did indeed see a few people when I entered the warehouse, but I didn''t get a clear view of their appearance and clothing, so I am not sure if they are the Indians you spoke of. I remember that one of them was quite tall, another was muttering as if he was chanting some drivel."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "That''s right. That''s how they looked."

    But then, after a short pause, the Princess looked at me with a gaze of suspicion.

    "Why did you deny it if you saw them?"

    ''Oh, wow. Sh*t! Our Princess isn''t stupid! She''s not as easy to fool as Su Xiao!''

    "Err, well, that was because they suddenly vanished when I entered. I genuinely suspected they were phantoms. I was wondering if I imagined it, and was, therefore, afraid you would make fun of me if I said it. Had you not said you also encountered the three of them, I would''ve thought I had a hallucination, due to fatigue."

    "The three of them were very skilled. They might be people with profound Qinggong, or perhaps they sealed your meridians. Also, one of them kept chanting a curse. I suspect that he can use unorthodox mind-control techniques. It couldn''t be helped that we couldn''t defeat them. Had you not frightened them with your arrival, I may be at theherworld already."

    ''Well¡­ No, you wouldn''t be in theherworld, but I''m afraid you''d have to make a trip to Qinhuai River¡­''

    The Princess was relieved. She wanted to give me a pat on my shoulder, as an expression of encouragement, but she suddenly realised that I was supporting her entire body. So, naturally, she wanted to gently push me away.

    As soon as she had the thought, she pressed her slender hand onto my chest. However, in the moment she went to push me, she seemed to recall that I could be considered her saviour. She, subsequently, felt that it wasn''t really appropriate to push her saviour away, from a formality standpoint. Thus, she surprisingly didn''t push me away.

    Her slender and soft palm pressed on my hand gave me a unique sensation.

    I, then, couldn''t keep myself from lowering my head to look at her.

    Coincidentally, the young Princess also looked up at the same time.

    We made eye contact. I don''t know if she recalled that I was supposedly her Fuma candidate, or what, but she flushed hotly, causing us to both suddenly feel slightly awkward.

    Being alone with a young beauty in a room, in such a suggestive position would''ve made for a most magnificent scene¡­ if not for the three bastards staring at us from behind.

    Second Brother used Voice Transmission to shout into my ears, the way a crying ghost or werewolf would sound, "Martial¡­ Grand¡­ Aunt. Martial¡­ Grant¡­ Aunt."

    ''Okay! I get it! It''s not like I''m nning to do anything!''

    Before I could speak, though, we heard a sudden loud sound from outside! The Princess and I were startled. The Princess took two steps back, and we ''naturally'' separated.

    She seemed to be quite pleased with her quick wits, as she revealed a smile and remarked, "I wonder what happened outside."

    I smiled, too, "Yeah, let''s go and take a look."

    The two of us went outside to take a look.

    ''Oh my!''

    ''Oh my! Sh*t!! My eyes and mouth are gaping, son!!''

    There was a massive crowd out front. Not only was the front of the warehouse blocked, but all the way down the street, as well. I couldn''t see the end of the crowd from where I stood.

    There are roughly over ten thousand people in Bright Lane, and there were, surprisingly, likely over a thousand people here. All of them were armed. They roared, as they rushed towards the centre, where the intensity of the fighting was at its pinnacle.

    Off in the distance was a ce that seemed to restrict the crowd from moving about. Somebody was continuously crying out in pain, as well. It seemed that somebody was taking a beating. The more frequent the cries were heard, the more the morale of the people running over to join the fight rose.

    The Princess and I exchanged a nce.

    The Princess''s eyes told me she was stunned, while I had a good idea of what had happened.

    I gathered my energy to peer past the crowd and into the distance. In the centre, I saw the five elders in ck robes in a circr formation.

    I didn''t know what formation it was, but I was praying they''d be okay since they were old and the enemy had overwhelming numbers on them.

    As soon as I had that thought, however, I saw Old Master Xie create an opening with a palm strike, which sent seven or eight people flying. He thenughed simrly to a demon king of a chaotic era, "You want to take on Forbidden Wind Lightning with that pathetic level of skill? Come,e,e! Come at me, all of you, you little brats! I''ll show you what palm arts are!"

    ''I think I can save myself the worrying¡­''

    ''I have no idea who wants to hurt me so badly that they''d send so many people after me. What''s just as surprising is that none of these guys were from legitimate schools, sects or whatnot. The security in the Capital really is piss poor.''

    A genius idea suddenly hit me.

    I gave the Princess, who was still stunned, a smile.

    "I suddenly thought of something I must do, no matter what. If you are all right with it, please do as you please."

    I then turned and left, without giving her a chance to speak.

    I used Voice Transmission to tell the three brats, "Act ording to the circumstances. Don''t let the Princess get hurt, or I''ll use your heads to brew wine."

    All I got in response was three hisses of fear from within the warehouse. I ignored them and swiftly departed.

    The Princess didn''t know my reason for leaving. She wanted to say something, but then she suddenly heard a familiar voice in the distance.

    "Wahahaha! Just you few here to die today?! Take this! And this!!"

    The Princess was slightly bewildered. She then took a closer look at the elders in the distance that were surrounded and being beat; or rather, being surrounded, but handing out a beating. She blurted, "Grandpa! Uncle! What are you all here for?"

    She quickly leapt over the crowd to them.

    Farther away was a man in a yellow robe. He looked extraordinarily valiant, but he was an old man. With him, were five of his subordinates. Together, they made haste in her direction.

    It appears that the chaos is only going to be more chaotic.

    =============

    Jin Wangsun continued to calmly and leisurely paint inside the building.

    It wasn''t very long before he remarked in satisfaction, "If His Majesty were to see this painting of mine, he would recognise that I am the appropriate choice; meaning that my Fuma title isn''t too far away."

    However, his subordinate said, "Reporting, Master, Umm¡­ The situation in Bright Lane has exceeded expectations. The five elders did not get hurt. They are too powerful. I am afraid that it would be impossible to defeat them, even if we were to bring more men into the fray."

    Jin Wangsun calmly responded, "Powerful? How powerful could they be? Let them take their time. A thousand people are enough to tire them to death."

    But then, after thinking about it again, he said, "But we might attract the attention of the officials if we take too long. You six; take my Gold and Silver Sects elite weapons and go assist. Make sure you demonstrate my Gold and Silver Sects prowess."

    His six family ves exchanged nces. They couldn''t withhold their excitement. They hadn''t had a chance to disy their skills since arriving in the Capital, but they finally had a chance to.

    "Roger! Young Master, we shall bring glory to the Gold and Silver Sect!"

    "Hmph." Jing Wangsun snickered, "When needed, you can show my Gold and Silver Sect token. Let those Liu Shan Men nobodies know who pped their faces!"

    While five of them went to grab weapons, as excited as monkeys in mating season, the one remaining was slightly concerned. This particr family ve was known for being cautious. He wasn''t sure what the parameters he had to work with were.

    "Young Master, may I ask how far we take it when we fight? Please make it clear, Young Master."

    "I need to instruct you on that, too? Four words."

    Jin Wangsun raised an eyebrow. He revealed a cold smile on his refined face.

    "Beat them to death!"

    Notes:

    *Qinhuai is located in Nanjing - as you know from the mentions in recent chapters - which is where Jin Wangsun''s home is located.

 Volume 4 35 Three Teams on the Long Street

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 35 Three Teams on the Long Street</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    The poption of Nanjing city numbers in the millions, making it the most popted city in the nation. However, there weren''t many evildoers in the Capital, despite that. There was no room for evil sects and various other evil entities to flourish, when they were under the watchful gaze of the three offices and the Dark Robes of the Seven Champion White Princes.

    If we had to name troublemakers and evildoers, they would be young masters of wealthy households, high ranking ns, local martial art schools, organisations dealing goods underground or those bullying the weak.

    Two types of people dared to stir trouble in Nanjing. The first type was the type that was savage enough. The second type was the type that was stupid enough.

    It had nothing to do with being strong or weak, for there was no organisation that would be strong enough to disregard Shuntian Prefecture and the three offices.

    The majority of the guys that had surrounded Bright Lane were gangs that came from the lower parts of society - basically another face in the crowd type of gang, if you would. They were the type of gangs that had membersing and going.

    The members were peddlers. They were simr to robbers, except that they didn''t carry sinister connotations. These peddlers usually came and went. They never had a proper stay in Nanjing City before.

    Thanks to the frequent and unreasonable trouble-making Jin Wangsun engaged in, his six family ves were truly very clever workers. They were quick as elites, evident by their ability to find and bring together so many men, which was actually amazing.

    Normally, if two sects in Nanjing were to fight, they''d make an appointment to fight at a designated location and time. It had been a long time since such arge scale gang war had broken out like this.

    The five dark robed elders were at the centre, fighting with a thousand members. They fought in a back to back formation, sticking within a five foot distance of each other. Further, their visual radius was still shrinking.

    It was obvious that the five elders were gradually caving in under the indomitable waves of attacks, leading to them retreating further and further.

    Frankly, the battle could''ve ended a long time ago. They just had to kill right from the get go, to deter the others. However, they were in the capital, where the Imperial Pce was located, while their Wang and Xie ns were esteemed ns.

    They couldn''t let themselves be convicted as killers.

    Given Old Master Xie''s temper, it was needless to say that he wasn''t afraid of killing. He was a rtive of the Emperor, and yet these people dared to attack him with a de in bright daylight. He was of the belief that they had a death wish.

    He believed that His Majesty would serve justice. It was just that there was something else worth considering, and that was that the five of them were highly skilled and were prestigious individuals. As such, merely sparing these people a gaze was being gracious towards them, let alone fighting.

    The Wang and Xie ns were prestigious ns. Putting aside their upper ranks, not even the leaders of these sorts of gangs would be worth taking a punch from the elders. So, the elders themselves couldn''t stoop down to the level of these kids and kill them.

    As a consequence, they missed out on the opportunity at the start, and it was now toote to realise that strategy. These guys were now fired up. The people that were unconscious on the ground were considered no better than dead to them. That, subsequently, caused their blood to boil, and thereby be even more fearless.

    There were bright people among the five dark robe elders. They thought of revealing their identities, which would end the fighting immediately, but they were carrying out a direct order from the Emperor, so they couldn''t let it end here. It was impossible for them to continue with their mission if their identity was out in the open.

    As such, they chose another course of action, which was to ask these men why they attacked them.

    These people were working for money, though, so not even they could provide them with a legitimate reason. All they could do was look at each other and then sh at the elders with more fury.

    The situation was now such that nobody could make sense of it.

    The fortunate part was that they were in a narrow location, despite it being an overwhelming one-thousand plus people against five. The five elders only faced around thirty to fifty people at a time, while the others were squeezing their way to the front. However, there was no end to their opponents, and their numbers seemed to increase infinitely.

    Even if the five elders possessed profound internal energy, it was inevitable that their heart rate would gradually rise. Their blood was being pumped to their arms and legs faster than they could adapt to.

    The only miraculous person was Ancestral Master Xie. He was the one that fought the most opponents. He was the one who had the loudest voice. And he was also the most energetic one among them.

    He struck with Forbidden Wind Lightning again, creating an explosive sound and knocking over a dozen burly men. He truly was awe-inspiring, but the power of his palm strikes was no longer as they were at the start of the fight. The strength of wind st, which was a product of his strike, had been reduced by half. Nheless, he stillughed after that strike.

    The problem was that it was winter, and yet steam wasing out from his head. It was an obvious sign that he was gradually losing strength, due to exerting more internal energy than he could afford.

    The four other elders weren''t much better off. They were skilled in their own rights, but they were getting on with age, so they were now incapable of long fights.

    Right at that moment, a gust of wind blew over, which was an indication that somebody powerful had arrived. But then, the wind was fragrant and apanying the gust of wind was fluttering red clothing.

    They saw a pair of long and slender legs, clothed in red. One could tell that those thighs were ample, soft, white and most definitely firm.

    The girl who had joined the party performed a leg sweep upon arrival, kicking away a group that advanced on the elders.

    Why who else would it have been but Princess Hongzhuang?

    She drew her wooden sabre by her waist and took down seven guys consecutively.

    "Grandpa! Uncle! Why are you here?"i Hongzhuang continued to fight off attackers while speaking, yet it didn''t look challenging in the least for her.

    "You''re here, Hong''er!" Ancestral Master and Old Master Xie were joyous.

    They were always aware of how skilled Hongzhuang was. In fact, her skills were on par with Old Master Xie, and maybe just minutely inferior to Ancestral Master Xie. However, she was easily superior to the other three elders.

    With her joining them, one could say that they had unquestionably gained themselves strong reinforcements.

    Ancestral Master Xieughed aloud.

    "Let''s save the talking forter. Come, fight our way out with Grandpa. These clowns and hooligans are just too audacious. They said they wanted to behead us. I didn''t believe them, so I showed them the greatness of my Xie n!"

    Princess Hongzhuang knew what her grandpa''s temperament was like. She didn''t rule out the possibility that he was the one who caused trouble and riled them up, for the situation to turn out this way.

    However, a natural me of anger was lit in her when she saw her uncle and the three other elders. They all had white beards. They were very old.

    It angered her that over a thousand young men had surrounded them and aggressed them.

    She wore a long face, and in a calm tone eximed, "Watch this, Grandpa! Hong''er shall follow suit and disy Hong''er''s skills!"

    She moved her body and shed with her wooden sabre and sent forth a gust of wind that took on the shape of an arc. She hit fifteen guys in front of her with that sh.

    Her wooden sabre was light, didn''t have sharp edges, nor was it enveloped in qi. Yet it was no different to an edged weapon when she wielded it with her internal energy. The fifteen of them bawled in pain, but didn''t drop down, and thereby inhibited the people in the rear from rushing forth.

    Within just a moment, the Princess brandished her sabre and performed a fly kick. She executed a string of sabre techniques aimed at the rear, yet every technique was sharp and solid. Every time she swung, her opponent unquestionably went down. She struck the arteries on her opponent''s necks, instantly knocking them out cold.

    Her sharp and agile execution was without equal. In fact, it was virtually impossible to blink as fast as she manoeuvred.

    She was so impressive that not even the five elders in dark robes expected her sabre skills to be so overwhelming. It was quite possible that the speed she took them down with was on par with the five eldersbined.i Hongzhuang''s sabre skills were acquired under the tutge of Emei Sect''s leader, Abbess Bailou. Abbess Bailou''s style has always emphasised emotionlessness, viciousness, and being sharp and decisive. Her style was famous for those traits.

    The Princess was an upright and strict character, so she was essentially a living copy of Abbess Bailou, after learning the skills. However, while she managed to learn the techniques thoroughly, she still had yet to grasp the spiritual and mental side of it.

    Therefore, the Princess was most skilled with other Buddhist sabre arts from Emei, which were merciful on opponents, so she didn''t kill. With that said, this sort of chaotic battle provided a different context; plus, the Princess was furious.

    In addition to having witnessed them try to gang up on the five elders with their numbers, she viewed it as being unfair, which infuriated her. As a result, the sabre art she couldn''t quite get a grasp of in the past now felt smooth as butter, allowing her to execute it with the power of raging billows.

    All that was in sight was her sabre being swung around, making it appear as if it were one massive wave covering the entire area. If you were to take a quick glimpse, you would mistake it as she, alone, surrounding all of the guys.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ancestral Master Xie was ted by what his eyes beheld. His hands got a little itch again, but he knew that he couldn''t use Forbidden Lightning Wind again; hence, he shouted, "Lass, grab Grandpa a quality sabre."

    "Catch, Grandpa!!" Princess Hongzhuang knocked an iron rod away with her one-handed sabre. The rod flew to the rear with the perfect amount of force, allowing it tond right in Ancestral Master Xie''s hands.

    Ancestral Master Xie tested it out but seemed to be dissatisfied with the weight, so he tossed it to his son.

    "Lass, it''s too light. It''s not suitable."

    "Check this one out." She sent him another pair of sharp long sabres.

    Ancestral Master Xie yed with them, but then tossed them to another two elders.

    "Still too light! They''re not suitable for me."

    Suddenly, they heard the steady voice of a male in the distance.

    "Try this one!"

    A ck shadow, resembling the ck feathers on an arrow, shot through the narrow street and the crowd to reach Ancestral Master Xie''s hand. It was a rod made of ebony.

    It certainly was heavy, yet Ancestral Master Xie revealed a look of delight.

    "I couldn''t ask for more! May I know who it is that hase to my aid?!!" He saw a face off in the distance, but the crowd blocked him off froming in.

    The Emperor brushed his hands while sending a big guy back with a palm strike of his own. At the same time, he leapt up and eximed, "Father-inw! Father-inw! It is me!"

    "Hmm?!" Ancestral Master Xie rubbed his eyes, as he couldn''t believe his eyes. He waited to get a clearer look, and thenughed aloud, "Haha! Your M-, Son-inw! Howe you are here?"

    "When I was in the Pal-¡­ at home, I heard about what happened here. I was worried, so I came to assist you." The Emperor extended his arm forth and leapt for joy. He cheerfully added, "And it is not just me. Look who else came."

    The elder next to him, Prime Minister Li Si saluted him, "Ancestral Master Xie, long-time no see. I hope you have been well."

    The Xie and Wang ns are the first and second most esteemed ns in Nanjing. The Xie n is connected to the royal family via marriage, while the Prime Minister has served for three reigns and thus was naturally very close with the local esteemed ns.

    He was especially close to the Elder Statesman, Ancestral Master Xie. They were acquainted way back when the former Emperor was still reigning.

    Ancestral Master Xie was even more delighted, after seeing that his old friend hade. He raised the ebony rod and whacked the chest of a guy with his almighty strength, causing his target to vomit up blood. He then twirled the rod back and led the four other elders on a rampage to reach the Emperor, with the intention of regrouping with him.

    But after just a mere few steps, he suddenly heard the sound of a gust of wind encroach upon them. The gust of wind was immensely oppressive.

    Ancestral Master Xie raised his ebony rod to sh with the assant at close range; however, he was sent backwards, after his hand jolted in reaction. He was astonished to discover that his opponent had defeated him in a contest of inner energy.

    His opponent wielded arge sabre and shed at Ancestral Master Xie''s ebony rod with all his might. Fortunately, the rod was thick and robust, so the sabre was unable to split the rod. Despite that though, Ancestral Master Xie was sent back to his original position by the barrage of shes.

    Noticing that her grandpa was sent backwards, Princess Hongzhuang was astounded, but at the same time, detected a deing towards her from the front.

    ''He''s highly skilled!''

    With her extremely fast eyes, she detected the attack and raised her sabre to guard against the attack. The sword attack was incredibly swift. Her attacker challenged her strength, speed, eyes and reaction right off the bat. The attack shaved off a part of her wooden sabre.

    Four more skilled fighters appeared simultaneously to engage the Emperor''s party and the remaining elders.

    The leader of the assants that had just shown up had his face hidden. He didn''t dare to show his face, yet he eximed, "Under the orders of our Master, we are to treat these people to four words: beat them to death!!"

    Notes:

    *Sabre VS Broadsword and Grips - In ancient times, the sabre was quitemonly used. It''s simr to a Japanese katana, but the de is straight. This is not to be confused with the Jian (sword), which is double edge and has that V-shaped tip.

    The sabre is verymonly mixed up with the broadsword which has a de with a wider surface and a prominent curve. Then you have all the various variations in between, such as the broadsword with rings on one side.

    The ancient sabre could be wielded with one hand or with two hands, depending on your style, which is the same for the broadsword. It''smon for their handles to be longer for two-handed wielding, and shorter for single-handed wielding.

    For the record, double broadsword is performed with the singr grip broadswords exclusively.

 Volume 4 36 Smoke from the Melee

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 36 Smoke from the Melee</h4>

    Editor: Areth Kyntaul

    Jin Wangsun''s six family ves were not ordinary men. Strictly speaking, they could be considered his martial brothers.

    The Gold and Silver Sect were different from other sects in the martial world, as they were established as merchants. Therefore, they had little regard for seniority, and made losses and profits their primary priority. As such, it was very rare to hear titles such as Shifu and disciple between them.

    These six family ves were skilled fighters of the sect. They were all very close brothers of the previous master of the sect. Basically, they were akin to Jin Wangsun''s martial uncles and were all well trained. In terms of skills, they didn''t pale inparison to Jia Rank warriors on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings.

    The Gold and Silver Sect were specialists in producing metal weapons. The refinement workshops they owned could be considered among the top three refinement workshops in Jiangnan. Even many of the Imperial Guards'' weapons were made by the Gold and Silver Sect.

    All six of them were armed with premium weapons made by the Gold and Silver Sect. Whenpared to the crowd that was being pushed back, they stood out as formidable. Especially when they raised their weapon, which made it seem as though six tornadoes were formed, thereby astonishing witnesses.

    The Emperor was delighted every time he had an opponent. Emperor Yuan Sheng hadn''t let loose in a long time; plus, he had a few skilled men from the inner court guarding the Prime Minister, so he was fearless. He took on his opponent, who was wielding an executioner sabre, with his bare hands, and yet didn''t show signs of being at a disadvantage.

    The Emperor''s martial arts skills were the skills passed down by the founding emperor. He had refined his skills to great heights with many years of practice. The Emperor used a consecutive string of grappling techniques, countering every move his opponent had to offer. His opponent may have already been defeated if not for him wielding the sharp, thick, and heavy executioner sabre.

    However, when the Emperor began to get smug, more des were swung his way. His attackers were more of the hooligans. They all shouted, "Beat him to death! Beat him to death!"

    The Emperor, consequently, had to divert his attention to deal with the hooligans yelling out loud, as if they were monkeys in heat, and dying him from attaining victory over and over.

    Meanwhile, the five dark robe elders were doing much worse. The long battle had depleted their stamina, yet four of Jin Wangsun''s family ves were fighting against them, using their sharp des to put the six of them on their back feet in an instant.

    Ancestral Master Xie and Princess Hongzhuang took on one each, while the four remaining elders only managed to survive by fighting two against one.

    Princess Hongzhuang heard one of the ves say something about their ''Master''s order,'' ''Beat them to death,'' and so forth. She came to realise the reason she encountered bandits, and why her grandpa and hispany were beaten. She checked to see that her father was still safe and sound. That took care of one of her concerns, for the meantime.

    Her opponent used a straight sword qi shot. The sh of their swords formed a sword. With Princess Hongzhuang''s usual temperament, she wouldn''t have any reason to fear him. She could break the sword by moulding sufficient internal energy and using a swift sh to cut twice with one sh. However, she was using a wooden sabre this time, while her opponent wielded a shimmering sharp metal sword.

    The Princess didn''t lose her cool. She took a small step back and waited for her opponent''s sword to envelop her. She watched her opponent carefully, to catch the sluggish moment in his movement. With a turn of her de, she shed at the weak point in her opponent''s sword web technique to dismantle it. She had trained with the sabre since she was young, so her proficiency with a sabre was exceptionally pure. That meant that she didn''t rely on brute strength to win.

    She had dismantled her opponent''s move, but she didn''t rush to chase him. Instead, she swung in the opposite direction, where the hooligans tried to charge at her in an attempt to piggy-back off of her moment of distraction. With her sh, she managed to knock out ten hooligans who didn''t know better.

    Despite having his sword move dismantled, the family ve didn''t get discouraged. With a sluggish movement, he utilised Golden Summit, a move which caught the attention of the Princess. The move derived from Emei Sect''s previous generation, so, naturally, the Princess recognised it. She couldn''t help but be startled when she saw him utilise it, but nheless, she didn''t dally and swiftly used her sabre to intercept the move.

    Noticing that the move was effective, he utilised Emei Sect''s swordy for his next five or so moves, until the Princess came up with a counter. For his next seven moves, he utilised Cang Sect''s swordy, and then followed up with Hua Shan''s swordy.

    He employed swordy from multiple sects back to back, and though they weren''t the most profound swordy of each respective sect, his execution was iparably proficient. His natural execution, void of hesitation, was clear evidence that he was ustomed to using them.

    His variety of swordy left the Princess considerably baffled. It wasn''t that he couldn''t use the swordy of famous sects, but rather that he couldn''t use them well.

    To put it into perspective, the swordy from various sects that he had just executed in actual fact belonged to the same style, except his proficiencycked. Therefore, his execution wasn''t good, that''s all. The same could be said of the other five. They used more than one school''s style, and so you couldn''t tell who their teacher was from their techniques alone.

    Princess Hongzhuang was given surprise after surprise. The current "Heaven Shocker Heavenly Hands" Tang Ye, was conferred the title by her father. It was said that her father made an exception, and allowed him to be ranked among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons despite him ranking on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings for mere months.

    The reason for the exception was that he used numerous styles at the Flying Fish Pavilion, which emphasised hand techniques. It was said that the way he switched from style to style was seamless, with no signs of him switching. Thus, he came to fame faster than anybody in history.

    But these six men possessed the same level of martial talent as Tang Ye! That''s impossible!!

    The reason for Princess Hongzhuang''s puzzlement was that she didn''t understand the reason for the Gold and Silver Sect''s im to fame with regards to martial arts.

    A century ago, the first patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect was a merchant. He ofttimes managed to collect some secret martial arts manuals in his younger years, thanks to his business operations. Coincidentally, he was a martial arts fanatic.

    He was an innately smart man, with good luck. On one asion, when he had gone out to sea, he obtained a ten-thousand-year golden pearl that gave his internal energy a substantial boost after consuming it.

    Thebination of all these factors allowed him to ze a trail and master a powerful set of skills, based on what he saw and heard.

    After that, he helped the founding emperor ascend the throne and eliminate his enemies, thereby being crowned one of the Seven Champion White Princes. It was only then that he began to consider the future of the Gold and Silver Sect. His skills were acquired through miraculous luck. His skills were unique, but he couldn''t be considered a top-tier martial artist.

    The sect was guaranteed to remain part of the Seven Champion White Princes, for as long as he was around. Perhaps they could maintain their status in the next reign; however, they were bound to fall down to the level of Kongtong Sect, Cang Sect and simr famous local schools or sects.

    In fact, they would be worse off than those sects.

    The patriarch of the Gold and Silver Sect thought long and hard. He ordered people to collect secret manuals scattered throughout thends, with the aim of forming his own sect. In the end, he founded a glorious style that had stood the test of time until now.

    It sounds as though it was a simple matter on paper, but it was in fact incrediblyplex to achieve.

    All of the top styles in the pugilistic world are protected by the various sects and schools. Every sect and school was cautious, so as to avoid their skills being acquired by others. He, consequently, opted for a long-term n, going through much effort to collect secret manuals with his immense wealth.

    It took him thirty years'' time to establish an ''omniscient warehouse.'' Stored inside of the aforementioned warehouse are records of various sects'' ssic manuals. Over the years, the storage has continued to be filled with more people bringing in more manuals.

    The ''omniscient warehouse'' is still located at the headquarters of the Gold and Silver sect today. Over the century, only those who had received the orders of the Master of the sect were permitted entry into the warehouse filled with books.

    Many years ago, however, when renovations for the warehouse were yet to beplete, the first patriarch had already secluded himself inside to train. That was when he created a rare supreme style.

    By then, the first patriarch was no longer young. It took him another thirty years to create a new style. In the end, though, he couldn''tplete the style. Back then, he had begun to feel that his me was going out, with his talent and thinking starting to fail him. Hence, he couldn''t finish it one year before he passed away.

    Notes:

    *Grappling techniques - Here they refer to qinna, not BJJ type of grappling. This is more grab and control your opponent.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    **Cang Sect - Pronounced ''Tsang''

 Volume 4 37 Careful Not to Inadvertently Get Hurt

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 37 Careful Not to Inadvertently Get Hurt</h4>

    Owing to there being so many martial arts styles in thends that they''reparable to grains of sand, with each style having their own differences, it isn''t impossible to invent a supreme style, using various martial arts of the world as your foundation. However, that could require over a hundred years. If one were to achieve mastery over the simplest punch, palm, fingers, w and hand techniques, they could reach an limitless profound level, let alone the eighteen martial arts.

    Knowing that his time was running out, the first patriarch of the Gold and Silver Sect left the job ofpleting the formation of a new style to his descendants. However, at the end of his life, he had a moment of enlightenment during a moment of reflection and came to realise a principle in internal martial arts styles. Said principle that he came to realise was one word, "bite."

    It''s a simple concept, but due to his own greed back then, he bit off more than he could chew, which led to his inner demoning back to bite him. It was through arduous efforts that he was able to ovee the wall, which made him what he pursued.

    When he had the thought, he earnestly wrote out how he learnt the other styles, and yet,bined them together. He thenbined that knowledge with everything heprehended in the thirty years of meditation over martial arts; thus, he wrote Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual in one sitting.

    Once hepleted writing Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual, he told his descendants to use it as the foundation of the Gold and Silver Sect in the future and to have important figures in the sect train it. Later down the road, things turned out as he predicted. Using the Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual and the numerous other secret martial arts manuals collected, the Gold and Silver Sect went on to shine in the martial world,. Not only did that maintain their status as one of the Seven Champion White Princes, but it also allowed them to expand their power.

    As such, if the members of the Gold and Silver Sect trained the Golden Grow Moon Eater Manual, they were able to learn other styles at a rapid speed and have a greater grasp on them, since they''d solidly fused with their own skills. Therefore, when executed, they had their own uniqueness and didn''t suffer consequences.

    The family ves had apanied Jin Wangsun for a long time and had recently received a portion of the Gold Crow Moon Eater Manual, allowing them to master several more swordy styles. Subsequently, their skills were now amazingly advanced, leaving even Princess Hongzhuang wondering how to counter in the spur of the moment.

    There were six family ves. One fought the Emperor, one fought Ancestral Master Xie, one fought with Princess Hongzhuang, and two more fought the four other elders.

    That meant that there was still one remaining, who was further off in the distance.

    This family ve was the cautious one. He was the one who asked Jin Wangsun how he should go about dealing with that man. Logically speaking, he''s the most skilled among the six of them. In his hand was the sabre that Jin Wangsun himself used. The sabre had a golden handle and silver scabbard. The sabre was the precious Gold and Silver Sabre that was suited to swift and level shes. The thing was, he was now in the most dangerous predicament.

    He went with his brothers, but stayed at the rear, as he was the second-tost boss. However, three weird guys went after him in a moment where he wasn''t paying attention!

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    His opponent threw a powerful palm strike, sending him three steps back. While he was fighting him, the young man cussed, "Son of bitch! I hated you the moment I saw you on the mountain. Bastard got long eyshes and clear eyes, and is quite motherfucking skilled at brown nosing. Come here and fight me again! You running?! Run now!!"

    The family ve was scared silly by his appearance. He, himself, had no clue how he managed to get on the guy''s bad side. It was the first time the six of them came to the capital, so he had no idea who this guy was!

    If the family ve counterattacked, an even stranger younger man would pop out. He''d giggle and then jump out and take a hit with his arm!

    Who knows if he was looking to die or not? Whenever the ve shed with the precious Gold and Silver Sabre, he''d extend his arms out and block the attack. The strange part was that it sounded as if he was cutting metal when his sabre collided with his arms and the young man wouldn''t even get scratched!

    Second Martial Brother threw another palm strike at him before he was done dawdling, "Come on,e on,e on, I wasn''t done yet. Take this fruit biscuit!"

    His palms transformed into a heavy shadow, making every strike a heavy blow. The ve felt his adrenaline racing and extremely worried.

    The family ve almost broke down in tears, ''We were told to show why our Gold and Silver Sect was impressive! How did I run into these three freaks?! Fuck! Their faces are fucking pitch ck, too!!''

    With that said, the family ve didn''t expect there to be somebody silently sneaking up from behind, whilst he was fighting Second and Fourth Martial Brothers. The individual approaching him from behind extended forth his hand from within his sleeve, revealing the rod in his hand.

    The wind whistled¡­

    "Jackass. One bat and he''s out. Skilled my ass."

    Once Second Martial Brother saw the family ve have his lights put out, he extended his arms and swung them, taking out seven or eight opponents. He then immediately kicked another ten over, using a series of bicycle type kicks before he took another breath.

    Ming Feizhen had ordered the three of them to ensure the Princess'' safety. Not long ago, they gave her a big lump on her head. They were feeling somewhat guilty about it, so they were naturally willing to be the beauty''s escorts. However, they didn''t dare to get too close to her, for they were afraid of being discovered to be the three Indians who snuck attack her. Hence, they hid toward the rear. They couldn''t see everything when they wereying in ambush to the side; neither did they know how she was doing. However, when they spotted the six highly skilled fighters leap over the crowd and head toward the Princess, they immediately knew that formidable threats had arrived.

    Subsequently, the three of them snuck up over to the one walking slowest and staying in the rear.

    "His skills aren''t poor, but he''s too slow with a sabre." As Fourth Martial Brother spoke, he punched another one of the gangsters that they just couldn''t rid themselves of, "Second Senior Martial Brother, how much longer do we have to fight for?"

    Second Brother blew a group in front of him away using the gust of wind from his palm strike. He suddenly felt a gust of wind from a palm strike approach him from behind; thus, he formed a circr motion with his hands and then intercepted it with his empty left hand, before throwing his own palm strike. However, his opponent got through it with his own palm strike and collided with Second Martial Brother.

    The two of them were rocked by the collision, yet neither took even half a step back.

    Second Martial Brother reacted with surprise, "Damn, that was tough!"

    His opponent was dressed in a yellow robe. He had a rectangr-shaped face and was noticeably extraordinary in appearance. He was around forty to fifty.

    After trading blows with Second Martial Brother, he remarked, "That''s some decent internal strength. It''s impressive for you to have this level of skill at that young age. Why have you allowed yourself to fall?"

    Second Martial Brother raged, "What?! You just curse at me?! You fucking fell you damned geezer!"

    Second Martial Brother unleashed a series of fierce grappling techniques. Being well-versed in grappling techniques, the Emperor immediately began to exchange moves with him.

    "Nice grappling skills! It''s a pity that you''re serving an evil one to do evil. Who is your leader?!"

    "You''re not even qualified to ask who our Boss is."

    Second Martial Brother switched to palm techniques out of consideration for how the ruffian old geezer was skilled enough to block his grappling moves.

    The more the Emperor fought with him, the more he felt that the young man was decently skilled. His attacks and retreats were methodical, while his palm strikes were good. Further, every palm strike had their own twists, so not even the Emperor could tell what style he was using. Those who are strong flock together, as birds of a feather do. As such, his love for talent crept into his mind.

    "If you tell me who your leader is, I''ll spare you!"

    "If you can take this, I''ll tell you anything!"

    The Emperor raised his spirits, "Bring it!"

    Second Martial Brother poised himself and then began to move vigorously. In the moment the Emperor focused himself, Third Martial Brother once again appeared behind the Emperor without a sound. He revealed a mysterious smile, as he took a rod out from his sleeve, revealing the rod that resembled a wolf fang.

    The wind whistled¡­

    And then¡­ he was out on first bat.

 Volume 4 38 Going Downhill Fast

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 38 Going Downhill Fast</h4>

    The Emperor felt a painful sensation radiating from the back of his head just when he was really getting into the fight with Second Martial Brother. The world before him spun and he dropped to the ground unconscious with a thud.

    Second Martial Brother then apuded Third Brother, albeit with an emotionless look. He snorted, "Damn geezer. I don''t even know where he came from, but how dare he impede on our escort mission. I told you that you wouldn''t be able to take this blow."

    He didn''t get to say much, for he had to evade a sh aimed at him. He countered with a palm strike, sending the individual that tried to sneak attack him, flying. They then began another new round of fighting.

    The fight in Bright Lane had almost gone on for an hour now. There were roughly less than half of the thousand-plus gangsters taking part, so the crowd was a lot thinnerpared to the start. It was easier to hear over the crowd, as well.

    It took some effort from Second Brother to locate the five elders in dark robes, and he also found the beautiful Princess. He was now thinking up a n for how to approach them and protect her, yet not let themselves be exposed. It was a huge challenge to their skills.

    Second Brother listened in carefully. He heard the Princess'' heroic and stern voice, "Where is my father, Mr. Li? I saw him just before. Is he all right?"

    He then heard an old man reply, "You must be unaware, Miss. Since these thugs looked so aggressive, His Majesty''s anger won and thus he rushed over to begin ughtering them, but please rest assured. You know how skilled he is. These nobodies cannot hurt him."

    "But there are far too many of them!"

    The Princess forced her way forward to fight the family ve in one corner after she yelled back.

    Second, Third and Fourth Brothers wore grim looks. They swiftly nced at each other. They all sent each other the same message, ''Fuck! We just went hard as a motherfucker! This is the Emperor!''

    ''Not only did we hit a Princess, we hit the Emperor, too!!''

    ''Mount Daluo is going to be exterminated today!''

    They then saw a brash man that didn''t know better. Seeing the old man that just hit him with a palm strike before nowying on the ground, he boldly swung his de at him.

    "Motherfuckeeeeeerrrrr!!! Don''t touch him!! Guard the Emperor! Guard the Emperor!!"

    Second Brother gave him a fly kick back to his mom''s home and then took back an iron rod from the crowd. He began a frenzy, swinging left and right countless times, then thrusting, then swinging, thrusting again and then swinging again, beating every single person who tried to approach the emperor.

    "Nobodyes near him. I''ve reserved this ce!!"

    His eyes were red when he swung his rod, "Third and Fourth Brother, guard this ce!"

    The three of them made a ruckus and began their jobs as the escorts of a dragon.

    The sound of horns in the distance reached the five elders in dark robes. People who saw the dust flying around in the area could tell there was a fight going on.

    While fighting, Ancestral Master Xie thought to himself with pleasant surprise, ''I don''t know who these heroes who havee to our assistance are. My Dark Robed group may be one of the Seven Champion White Princes, but we''ve been focusing on the Imperial Court for many years and our name has started to be forgotten in recent years. I never thought that it would be our friends in the pugilistic world that''de to our aid in this situation.''

    Nevertheless, by hanging on for a bit longer, his exhaustion only continued to worsen.

    The other four elders who fought with another two ves didn''t feel anything, either.

    Ancestral Master Xie was the eldest, though. He was a very talented man and was still full of vigour in old age, but it''s still impossible for him to maintain peak performance after fighting here for so long. Moreover, he kept on using the Forbidden Lightning Wind Palms, which ate up lots of his energy. He was now using a dark wooden rod to fight the family ve with therge sabre.

    Ancestral Master Xie had the upper hand in the first thirty moves of their exchange, but they gradually became even and he was now in danger. He found himself in danger every eight to ten moves.

    The sabre came swinging down from above with enough force to slice a mountain again!

    The sabre shed in a straight line onto Ancestral Master Xie''s rod. He dropped to his knees, since the force of the shbined with all his bodyweight was more than he could fend off. The family ve didn''t let the opportunity slip, thereby thrusting his de straight toward Ancestral Master Xie''s throat. When he leaned back to avoid the thrust, the ve turned his attack to knock the dark wooden rod away.

    "Go die, old bastard!!"

    Neither the family ve nor Ancestral Master Xie could score the victory over each other after a long fight, which was a vition of the order to show why the Gold and Silver Sect was impressive; hence, angering him. After knocking away Ancestral Master Xie''s weapon, he followed up with a strong kick to his chest.

    Due to overexertion of his internal energy, Ancestral Master Xie was unable to turn to guard himself in time, thereby getting sent flying by the ve''s kick. As a result, he coughed up a mouthful of thick blood.

    It was the first sign of blood, after such a long fight, sending the ce into an even greater frenzy!

    Someone then led the pack and yelled, "Beat them to death!!!"

    The pack of people rushed overparably to a wave. The angry guys caved in the five elders'' defence line. Ancestral Master Xie and Princess Hongzhuang were holding the defence line together with their Forbidden Lightning Wind and sabre skills respectively, but they were unable to handle an attack on all sides once one of them fell.

    The situation became precarious and was going downhill fast.

    The five elders and the Princess were squashed in by the crowd and drowned by the simplest of attacks - punches and kicks. The Princess didn''t feel absolutely horrendous, since she still had her internal energy to shield her body, but the five elders, who were spent, couldn''t bear with the savage beating.

    The guys that were armed were worried about hurting their own teammates, so they stuck to barehanded beatings, instead. It only took a moment before they could hear the sound of the bone of Ancestral Master Xie - who''s the Elder Statesman - breaking. A heavy rock metaphorically mmed down on the Princess'' heart. She, therefore, quit concerning herself with rules and whatnot. She swung her wooden sabre and snatched a metal sabre.

    "Get lost if you want to live!!"

    The Princess made a powerful series of swings, akin to a frenzying tiger. The eight who were struck immediately suffered startling wounds on their chest, legs and shoulders. There was nobody that didn''t suffer severe injuries. However, their blood couldn''t stop the crowd''s frenzy. To the contrary, it fed their agitation.

    They rushed at Master Xie and pulled some of his ck hair out. The other four elders weren''t doing well, either, as they were simultaneously beat with punches and kicks.

    "Old five bastards! You beat up so many of our people and you think you''ll have a nice ending?!"

    "Fuck them up!"

    The famous five dark robed elders were surrounded and thrashed by a group of people that couldn''t even be considered fighters in the pugilistic world. They were betterpared to street thugs. Every punch pummelled their bodies. One of the elders with only few teeth remaining had them beat out of him, as well. Even the Prime Minister took a good number of hits, in spite of being guarded.

    "That''ll teach you!" One of the family ves flew over. He picked up Ancestral Master Xie, raised his hand up and aimed his palm at Ancestral Master Xie''s chest, "Once I''m done killing this arrogant geezer, I''ll show you who just beat you!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The Princess frowned with anger, "Put him down or I''ll kill you!"

    "You can''t save him even if you do kill me!"

    The family ve began his palm strike. The Princess swung her de in a curved path, only for two others to stop her attack. Unfortunately, shecked the strength to cut through them.

    The moment the palm strike was about tond on Ancestral Master Xie''s chest, he wore on a savage smile and announced, "The one who killed this old bastard was my Gold and Silver Sect!!"

    The palm strike hit him as soon as he finished his deration. However, the family ve''s savage smile seemingly froze on his face. His hand then violently burst with blood, due to blood gushing up into his hand in an indescribable manner!

 Volume 4 39 Shifting Blame Faster than the Blink of an Eye, and Framing Faster than They Can Evade

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 39 Shifting me Faster than the Blink of an Eye, and Framing Faster than They Can Evade</h4>

    The ve let out a tragic shriek, as blood burst from his hand as if it was a fountain of blood. He had no idea what just happened to his hand.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It just happened all of a sudden, and the crowd, naturally, had to stop, yet they heard, "Ancestral Master sure possesses mind-blowing power after all those years mastering a profound art. It is amazing for him to still have that much strength in reserve, despite being unconscious."

    Ancestral Master Xie was seized by someone at some unknown point in time. He now looked burly at his age. The speaker, however, was evenrger. It seemed as though it was easy for him to support Ancestral Master Xie''s size. Even if this man didn''t know martial arts, his physique was enough to be considered imposing.

    The ve''s hand was crippled, but he hadn''t lost conscious. In spite of that, however, he knew that he could never wield a sabre again in his life. Furious and distraught, he charged at the tall man. When the tall man raised his leg, the weight difference between the two individuals was immediately visible. The tall man managed to boot him flying with his thick and heavy leather boots without any effort.

    Nobody wondered about the strength of the man, and instead, presumed that he was sent flying so easily, due to loss of strength from his severe wound. However, the ve, himself, knew that the kick he took was akin to raging ocean waves crashing into him, produced by an internal strength akin to wild lightning, which was the same sensation as when his hand exploded. However, he didn''t have the chance to mention his experience.

    The tall man managed to appear here all of a sudden without anybody detecting his arrival. His expression and tone, however, didn''t sound as if he was a man in a pinch, but rather very natural.

    When Princess Hongzhuang saw him, she belted, "Brother Ming! You''re back!"

    The ve with a crippled hand fainted. Another immediately took over the role ofmander and yelled, "We''re just one man down! Beat them up!" The crowd immediately got fired up again and encroached upon them. They could drown them in another brutal beating as soon as they got an order.

    Princess Hongzhuang quickly took on her stance then stood before her grandpa and Ming Feizhen, "Brother Ming, protect my grandpa. I shall cut open a path for us!"

    However, Ming Feizhen responded by pulling her aside with a smile, "It''s all right, Miss. Let theme."

    He then smiled as if he was challenging them, "Try to your heart''s content."

    Of course, they weren''t going to wait for Ming Feizhen to finish before attacking. They roared and rushed over to him.

    At the same time they began their advance, sharp des akin to venomous snakes appeared on top of dozens of resident roofs not too far away in the distance.

    *Swift movement!*

    *Consecutive sounds!*

    It sounded as if it was one sound, but it was actually the sounds of countless arrows flying through the air! Next, painful cries and sounds of bodies dropping to the ground filled the air one after another.

    Not one of the twenty-plus men that charged up first were spared. They were all hit with arrows and incapacitated on the ground. Even if they could move, they were scared of being shot with another rain of arrows.

    That was when Ming Feizhen extended his hand out and eximed, "Men!"

    Horse sounds suddenly came from in the distance. Over a hundred elite cavalry were present. Every one of them had bows and arrows on them. Behind them were hundreds of soldiers. On the other side were dozens of constables blocking the alley with their sabres drawn.

    That''s when the assants realised that they were the ones who were surrounded. There were weapons shining in the darkness on the roofs that were aimed at the six-hundred or so people present. Those who had better vision noticed that the constables armed with des were all elites. All of them appeared more than able of taking out fifty of them each.

    The most shocked people were none other than the three family ves.

    ''Ming Feizhen!''

    ''Ming Feizhen!! How did we fucking forget about him?!''

    ''We got high on fighting when we arrived here and totally forgot about him!''

    ''We were here to give him a beating, but he was never present!!''

    ''We spent so much effort, fought a pointless fight, failed to beat him, and instead, let him bring the soldiers over to apprehend us?! How tragic is this?!''

    "Arrest them!"

    The constables and soldiers orderly entered. They restrained all thoseying on the ground, standing and sitting that were a part of the fighting, and then took them away from the scene.

    The Princess asked, "Brother Ming, is the thing you said you remembered you had to do, this?"

    Ming Feizhen replied in a natural fashion, "I remembered that our Vice-captain told us to achieve as much merit as possible in her absence, to polish up Liu Shan Men''s name. I never expected the heavens to drop such a big fish to catch."

    Speechless, Princess Hongzhuang then asked, "Brother Ming, those archers¡­"

    "I went to Shuntian Prefecture to call for reinforcements."

    "You even went to Shuntian Prefecture?! Why didn''t you call for help sooner?!"

    "I was already fast. How could we have brought so many people under control without these archers? Not even the cavalry would be able to stop them, right?"

    The Princess still wanted to give a rebuttal, but Ming Feizhen waved her off. He then looked to Jin Wangsun''s restrained family ves. They were all tied up together.

    "Should I be grateful for you giving me this achievement? Oh, right¡­ Did you just say¡­ you were from the Gold and Silver Sect?"

    They shook their heads in unison.

    "Oh, wow." Ming Feizhen revealed a yful smile, "That''s worth looking into then. But before that, did you know that this maiden here is the reigning Emperor''s Second Princess?"

    The three of them revealed looks of utter shock, "Eh??!"

    "Then did you know that the elder you beat to a pulp is the current Elder Statesman?"

    ''Eeeehh?!!!''

    "Then did you know that the elder you pulled the hair out of is the Emperor''s father-inw?"

    The three of them forced themselves to not allow their shoulders to tremble. After hearing Ming Feizhen, they yelled, "What?!!!"

    "Also!"

    Somebody suddenly spoke up from the crowd. An ugly looking young guy that looked tough, yet had eyes with a strong spirit carried a middle-aged man in a yellow robe over as if he was a hero.

    He had wiped away the ck coating on his face. Puzzled, Princess Hongzhuang asked, "Who are you? On your shoulder is¡­"

    "Your Subject is a third generation disciple from Mount Daluo. My name is Hongjiu. My¡­ Erm, Senior Brother from the same school, but different teacher asked me toe and assist. I just saved a good man."

    Ming Feizhen didn''t think his Second Brother would abruptly appear. He, himself, was unsure what sort of trouble his Second Brother was nning. He used his eyes to ask, "Why did you suddenlye running out here?! Who are you carrying?"

    His Second Brother responded with a firm gaze, "Don''t ask me anything. I didn''t want it to turn out like this, either¡­"

    As soon as he ced the Emperor onto the ground, he ignored Ming Feizhen and the Princess'' utterly startled gazes; instead, he righteously pointed at the three family ves who were already scared for dear life, and shouted, "Then, did you three know that this man you hit in the head that resulted in a horrific lump is the reigning Emperor?!"

    The three ves exchanged nces. They were ready to cry, "Hey! That''s rubbish! We don''t remember seeing him!!!!!"

    ==================

    It wasn''t hard to find out the truth behind the incident in the slightest, especially for Liu Shan Men, whom were experts at cracking cases and were present at the scene.

    After collecting intel and investigating the actions of the suspects, Head Constable Ming Feizhen had finished up confirming that the mastermind behind thisrge-scale fight was, in fact, Jin Wangsun. Despite the few that imed they were from the Gold and Silver Sect denying their ims after the fact, Head Constable Ming refuted all of their testimonies and insisted it was Jin Wangsun''s handiwork.

    Once the truth was out, he went to knock on Jin Wangsun''s door to give him grief.

    It''s said that Jin Wangsun had just finished up his painting of a beauty taking shelter from the rain, when the Imperial Guards barged into his ce. Due to his special identity, they merely had soldiers surround his estate, as opposed to giving an order for his apprehension.

    However, the fight in Bright Lane that day was a day very much worthmemorating by those in the next generations.

    In the contest, Jin Wangsunmanded a total of one thousand three hundred and sixty eight men and wounded an Elder Statesman, the Emperor''s father-inw, a Prime Minister, a Princess and three elders of the Dark Robe Sect.

    Most important, they even gave the Emperor a beating.

    It''s said that he ended up with a lump bigger than a bowl on his head.

    Upon returning to the pce, the Imperial Doctor cleared him and said that it wasn''t anything major after treating him. He stayed at the Brilliant Consort''s pce to enjoy the warmth and brilliance of the beauty.

    Seeing her husband with such a big bump on the back of his head, she pitifully asked, "Who is this Jin Wangsun? How dare he hit Your Majesty like this? My gosh, does that hurt?"

    "He gathered up men and hit even the Elder Statesman and Prime Minister. For that, I have punished him by grounding him at home and making him reflect. He is forbidden from leaving before the day before New Year''s Eve."

    There''s only about ten days until the day before New Year''s Eve, so it certainly wasn''t really considered punishment in any capacity, but Brilliant Consort was well aware of how important Jin Wangsun was to the Emperor. He hadn''tined about him to her just once. Her family is among the wealthiest families in all thends, so it goes without saying that she, too, knew how wealthy Gold and Silver Sect was. The Emperor was going to have to deal with being angry over this incident if he wanted their assistance.

    Nheless, she fumed, "I am mad about this, too. Who does Jin Wangsun think he is to be running amok in the Capital? This is your territory. He has no respect for you whatsoever, and yet you want to betroth the Princess to him. Every time I think about that, I get so mad I want to hit him."

    "About Hong''er''s marriage¡­" The Emperor paused, "She really may not have to marry Jin Wangsun now. I''ve decided to let them fairlypete for her. It''s all in heaven''s hands now."

    "Hmm? Why?" Excited, Brilliant Consort then asked, "Could it be that Mount Daluo has also reached an agreement of some sort with you?"

    "No. The main reason is that I thought it through after taking this beating."

    "What did you realise?"

    "Hui''er, do you know why I got hit this time?"

    "Heh!" Brilliant Consort yfully rolled her eyes at him, "Do you need to ask? Of course it was because of Jin Wangsun''s ''graciousness''."

    The Emperor shook his head with a smile, "I actually know very well that this isn''t Jin Wangsun''s fault."

    "Huh?"

    Brilliant Consort reacted with puzzlement. Her eyes that distinguished between right and wrong immediately revealed a look of confusion.

    "It''s not Jin Wangsun''s fault after he hit you like this?"

    The Emperor waved his hand and replied, "It''s not his fault. It''s not his fault. You must know that the crux of this incident came from how I saw the two Fuma candidates. On that day, the Prime Minister had a discussion with me, and we decided to rig the results of the Fuma selection to betroth Hong''er to Jin Wangsun, and I also scolded Ming Feizhen a bit."

    Baffled, Brilliant Consort asked, "So?"

    "You don''t get it, Hui''er. Do you know what Ming Feizhen''s nickname is?"

    Brilliant Consort tilted her head. She suddenly recalled his nickname and blurted, "Liu Shan''s gue!"

    "Exactly!" In an extremely begrudging tone, the Emperor continued, "Look. As soon as I tried to give him grief, I met with grief. I haven''t lost a single fight in ten fights; plus, I brought men with me this time. Who would''ve expected that the scene was that chaotic? I was even unlucky enough to be knocked out."

    With much grief, he sighed, "Sigh, his eight characters of birth time are lethal!"

    Notes:

    *Hui''er - the "hui" character here is the character for Brilliant in Brilliant Consort. Of course, you don''t trante her name as "Hey, Brilliant¡­", so it''s "hui" as her name, "Brilliant", when used as her title.

    **Eight Characters of Birth Time - Derived from theplete phrase which is "Four Pirs of Destiny." It is a Chinese astrological concept that a person''s destiny can be divined by the two seagenary cycle characters assigned to their birth year, month, day and hour.

 Volume 4 40 Itâ€™s Unbelieve that Somebody, Like Him, Exists

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 40 It''s Unbelieve that Somebody, Like Him, Exists</h4>

    He was still at that same room in that leisure building locating within the pavilion, where the sound of moving water could be heard.

    Jin Wangsun sat alone by the pond in an erect sitting posture. He was flipping through a book in his hands and carefully reading every word. The maids and servants in the pavilion were moving about as per usual. The incident that took ce yesterday shook up the entire city, yet it seemed as though his life and mood at as the new master of Gold and Silver Sect wasn''t affected in the least.

    The Emperor''s punishment was so light that it was unbelievable. It made people feel as though the Gold and Silver Sect''s honour far surpassed the other Seven Champion White Princes.

    As a consequence, the servants within the estate were indifferent to the entire incident. They didn''t consider it a big deal, despite knowing that their Master had caused trouble.

    However, those few family ves that were close to him and present at the location were aware that Jin Wangsun''s mood couldn''t be any worse.

    Jin Wangsun was still that young master of Jin n, who was always three feet behind his father and rule abiding. Thus, he should''ve been delighted and thanking the Emperor for his leniency and tolerance, for it was practically a blessing after what he did. After all, he sent his family ves out, who then went and hit members of the royal family, which included His Majesty. Yet he was merely grounded for ten days and permitted to go about life as usual and suffered no material losses, in spite of the severity of his crimes.

    However, this punishment he was subjected to caused him to feel iparably bad, despite still being the same Jin Wangsun and having been the master of Gold and Silver Sect for so long, for the reason that one should confine himself to his own duties.

    The Seven Champion Princes are essentially guardians of Nanjing. Each one of them has their own territory and forces, simrly to Barons given their own territory to rule. He controls the taxes, sets the prices for food and can kill without consequences within his territory. That''s the right given to the Seven Champion White Princes by the Imperial Court. In terms of practical authority, their authority stands even above Princes of the royal family. Furthermore, most of the territories of Princes are returned to the Imperial Court after a hundred years. The Seven White Champion Princes, on the other hand, get to keep passing down their territory within their families.

    Jin Wangsun is the master of Gold and Silver Sect; hence, every interaction he has with the Imperial Court directly influences the attitude of the Imperial Court toward Gold and Silver Sect. For him to be ced under house arrest after his marriage proposal is a major blow to both him and Gold and Silver Sect.

    How would the other Seven Champion White Princes and even others in the martial world look at Gold and Silver Sect after he is ced under house arrest in the capital? That''s not all. How were his loyal subordinates in the sect going to evaluate him when he''s found himself in this predicament as soon as he took up the post?

    He obtained a high-ranking position at a young age and led the capture of Night Fortress, thereby taking the throne to rule over the martial world in Hangzhou. He didn''t sacrifice so much blood and sweat to be locked up in the capital.

    All of this worried him. He was unsettled and even felt somewhat violent and insulted.

    Jin Wangsun''s ideal n fell through. Besides his personal fondness for Princess Hongzhuang, whom he fell for at first sight, he also had his own difficulties that he couldn''t mention.

    A major incident urred internally in the sect, so he required the assistance of the Imperial Court. Therefore, Princess Hongzhuang was of utmost importance to him. At first, he was worried about Princess Hongzhuang being dislikeable, for a man''s most important woman was his main wife. Wives are different to concubines. You can have a hundred concubines, but regardless of how much power you wield or if your wealth could rival the nation, you can only have one wife. Consequently, the most important thing for families was marrying into or bringing into the family somebody with equal status, wealth and so forth, which is the most important thing particrly for prominent families. Of course, that is with regards to one''s wife.

    Jin Wangsun was not only pleased with the Princess, but was also fond of her from first sight, but this situation waspletely unexpected.

    "Hongzhuang¡­"

    Jin Wangsun turned left as he murmured the Princess'' name. The charming silhouette of the beauty shed past in his mind, causing him to feel his heart heat up. The young master couldn''t help but think of the Princess whenever he thought about his predicament.

    Upon looking back on it, he realised that he was truly faced with one difficulty after another, after taking the mantle as the leader of the sect.

    When he seeded the post as head of the n, he suggested having the Emperor fulfil his promise back then, only for his father to unexpectedlysh out at him, "A man turning to another for assistance when it''s his own family problem?! Weakling! Only you would be able to do something so cowardly! I can''t! That marriage contract was merely a something His Majesty left for our family tomemorate my friendship with His Majesty. It''s meant to be used purely to look at for some fun, yet you want to turn around a joke His Majesty made while under the influence and force him into a marriage? How did I end up with such an unscrupulous son like you?!"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The more the former master scolded him, the angrier he got, until he turned around and left. Back then, Jin Wangsun pretended to bear with it on the surface, but had actually stolen the contract and prepared for his trip to the capital to ask for the Princess'' hand in marriage.

    Nheless, his n was exposed in the end, causing the father and son pair to have an intense fight in the sect headquarters. It was only natural that the former master was more skilled than he was; except, the rules of Gold and Silver Sect are strict. One of the rules was that skilled fighters within the sect had to obey themands of the reigning master. One was the former master, while one was the newly crowned master, so neither was assisted.

    As such, Jin Wangsun managed to get the upper hand with the six family ves helping. Plus, he was wielding the Golden Crow Eater Sabre when he fought him, as he was the reigning master. As a consequence, the former master inevitably lost to their superior numbers and weapon.

    However, the former master of the sect was a stubborn man. He''d rather die than be shamed. He, therefore, gathered up his brothers and left the headquarters with roughly a quarter of the members and stated they wanted to retire from the pugilistic world. They erected a new ce elsewhere in their territory and named it ''Old Gold and Silver Sect,'' and made an oath to tear down Jin Wangsun''s world.

    The former master was ruthless, but Jin Wangsun was even more ruthless than him.

    Taking advantage of his father''s departure, he leveraged his influence to bring the other territories and headquarters under his control. He then demanded that somebody forge a letter to the Emperor using his father''s handwriting. In the letter, he said that Gold and Silver Sect was giving the royal family some of their territory, which was the location where the former master established his branch¡­

    He gave his father''s territory away as a gift!

    Of course, to give away so muchnd in one go, Jin Wangsun couldn''t bear it. He had no choice but to do that, though.

    He was aware that snatchingnd from his father would result in an intense fight between them. It wasn''t that he wasn''t confident he wouldn''t win, but that it was inevitable. And so, he gave awaynd at his father''s expense, yet when a problem arose, it became, "It''s not my problem; you people from the Imperial Court can deal with it." The only way you could describe his sly scheme was, "He''s the child of a merchant family, no doubt about that."

    With that said, Jin Wangsun still wasn''t convinced that he could force the Emperor to betroth his precious daughter to him with just a joke he made under the influence and the Golden Crow Moon Eater Sabre. After all, it was the infamous daughter-con Emperor, who was the man in question. Regardless of how valuable the sabre may be, it''s just a weapon at the end of the day. He, thereby, needed to provide the Emperor with more practical benefits, for him to have a solid chance of seeding with his n.

    It should''ve been ny percent in the bag. He had thrown his father, who was his issue, to the Imperial Court. Then he got to take home a beauty and borrow the Imperial Court''s power with his status as a Fuma. It was three birds with one stone.

    He never expected a Ming Feizhen toe out of thin air!

    The guy literally came out of thin air, and besides messing things up, he only messed things up even more. He resembled a slovenly mess and was a mere low-ranking constable at Liu Shan Men, yet three major orthodox sects in the martial world stood up for him, not to mention the fact that he was a third generation disciple of Mount Daluo. He was riddled with shorings and things to criticise, yet he was able to rival him.

    ''I wouldn''t be in this predicament if it wasn''t for him!''

    It still escaped Jin Wangsun. All he did was send out some men to give Ming Feizhen a beating, so why did they beat up the Princess, the Elder Statesmen, the Princess'' uncle and even the Emperor? He would be one step away from n extermination if it wasn''t for his special identity.

    ''It''se to this and yet that Ming Feizhen hasn''t suffered a damn thing!''

    ''What the hell is going on?!''

    "Ming Feizhen! You really are a gue!" Jin Wangsun''s fury collected on his forehead. He fastened his grip on the book and tore it to shreds. Jin Wangsun thoughtlessly threw it aside, causing the sheets to float through the air simrly to snowkes. He shouted, "Men!"

    The Emperor had an army surround his estate, but his family ves were sent back into the estate. Things weren''t made hard for any of them. This was the only thing that Jin Wangsun was relieved about.

    Frankly, beating the Emperor''s father-inw and an Elder Statesman could be forgiven with gifts and an apology, but they also hit the Emperor. If it was treated as a minor matter, they couldugh it off. If it turned into a major issue, it could result in a n''s extermination. The penalty the Emperor gave them was very lenient.

    But then, nobody came even after a long time after Jin Wangsun called for someone. He frowned. He had begun reaching for his sharp, long de at his waist. He grabbed the handle and readied himself forbat. He was a very strict man. Any servant who didn''t respond within three breaths after his call was punished. There had never been an asion where he never got a response as with the case this time. Given that nobody answered his call, there either had to be a spy or a powerful foreign enemy.

    And it turned out just as predicted. It wasn''t a servant that appeared at the end of the garden, but a tall man dressed in grey clothing, slowly walking over.

    "That was quite the fast reaction. You don''t disappoint as Jin Buhuan''s son."

    The man''s voice wasn''t loud, but his inner energy seeped into it. Jin Wangsun immediately felt a grim feeling. He had to mould his internal energy to reduce the impact of the man''s inner energy to be able to remain collected.

    Jin Buhuan is the name of the former master of Gold and Silver Sect. Because the man addressed his father by his name, Jin Wangsun frowned and asked, "Who may you be? What have youe here to see me for¡­?"

    The man''s footsteps were slow and collected as his tone was. However, he slightly leaned his body forward whilst speaking to Jin Wangsun. The man had moved up to the side of the pond in the pavilion in an instant, leaving only a grey shadow left behind in the air. In fact, his robe was still fluttering upwards.

    Realising that his visitor had made his move, Jin Wangsun swung his de out in an arc with his right hand, aiming to lop his head off without any hesitation.

    His visitor raised his hand, bringing up a powerful flow of qi. It seemed as though he struck out a lightning bolt.

    Finally, their palm and sabre collided.

    Jin Wangsun recognised the style of the palm strike user before it shed with his sabre.

    "Forbidden Lightning Wind!"

    When the violent lightning and sabre shed, a white light was emitted from the sabre, which led to it emitting heat as hot as fire. Judging his opponent''s palm strike to be immensely powerful, Jin Wangsun had to retreat.

    After two shes, Jin Wangsun was rocked back.

    After the man in grey sent him back with one palm strike, he slowly asked, "I am close to your father. We have been friends for decades. What is your reason for sending men out to harm my father?"

    After being knocked back by the palm strike, Jin Wangsun tried his best to nullify the lightning. He was making guesses about his opponent''s identity, but learnt of it from him, himself, in the end.

    The words "The Magnificent Genius of the World, Wang of the Dark Robes," shed into his mind.

    ''Could he be one of the Seven Champion White Princes? Could he be the leader of the Dark Robe Sect, Wang Du?!''

    As soon as he had the thought, he immediately managed to piece it all together.

    ''His Majesty didn''t spare me out of respect for the Seven Champion White Princes, but because he knew that the person who truly wanted to teach me a lesson was somebody else! His Majesty never forgot about the grudge!''

 Volume 4 41 Golden Sabreâ€™s Belt Snaps. Dark Robeâ€™s Xiongqiao

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 41 Golden Sabre''s Belt Snaps. Dark Robe''s Xiongqiao</h4>

    The Dark Robe Sect is one of the Seven Champion White Princes and a family that''s held a high official position for generations. Many changes have taken ce over a thousand years, but famous andrge ns remain unchanged. Not only do they enjoy boundless prestige and honour, but also practical authority, for the reason that these ns know how to ensure their n remains stable. For a n to continue to prosper for hundreds and thousands of years, talent must never becking.

    Wang and Xie ns collect resources in order to nurture talent. In an era where literally talent prospered, there were many of their n members in the Imperial Court. Now, in an era where martial arts are prospering, their prestige and fame remains just as prominent.

    "It''s unbelievable that somebody, like him, exists," was originally used as a phrase used to describe a useless husband. However, it''s now used to describe the best talent of ck Robe Sect. Xie n, which is part of ck Robe n, is very good with ingratiating themselves with people, and thus, very close to the royal family. Wang n, which is inseparable from Xie n, on the other hand, dedicated all of their resources to the Imperial Court. They predicted that military officials would be able to dominate civil servants'' futures. Therefore, they took the first step by having descendants of Wang n practice martial arts for the sake of obtaining military official posts. Nowadays, Wang n holds an important and prominent role among military officials. Virtually one in ten military officials above Fifth Rank, carry the surname, Wang. There really is nobody who can match their vast wealth of talent.

    Gold and Silver Sect collected the supreme arts in the world. Owing to that, Jin Wangsun is very knowledgeable with regards to martial arts; hence, he was able to recognise the origins of the palm strike of therge man in the grey robe with just a nce. Initially, he suspected that it was the patriarch of Wang n, the leader of Dark Robe Sect, Wang Du. However, he then shook his head.

    ''He may look old, but he should be around just forty. That does not fit the description of the leader of Dark Robe n, whose name alone can strike fear into the hearts of people.''

    Nevertheless, after seeing his opponent''s usage of Forbidden Lightning Wind and his unimaginably profound internal strength, he didn''t dare to belittle his opponent.

    Even if he wasn''t the patriarch of Wang n, he must be an important figure of the n, given the fact that he has such a solid grasp of Forbidden Lightning Wind. It''s always better to lose an enemy than to make one. Gold and Silver Sect wants to expand, so there''s nothing to lose by forming a friendship with Dark Robe Sect, a fellow Champion White Prince.

    The truth is, Jin Wangsun wanted to apologise after hearing that Ancestral Master Xie was hurt, but he was grounded, and therefore, had no means of doing so. Now that Wang n hase knocking with a vengeance, it''s no time for him to be fighting back, but for him to be using tricks to recruit them .

    "I have longed heard of ''The Magnificent Genius of the World, Wang of the Dark Robes.'' Wang n certainly is home to talent." Jin Wangsun suavely smiled, showing off his extraordinary aura, "Please excuse my rudeness, but may I ask how you are rted to the Patriarch Wang Du?"

    "You certainly are fast at catching opportunities. I am the Guardian Elder of Dark Robe Sect, Wang Xiongqiao, brother of Wang Du." The man in grey was slightly surprised. He grinned, "You could tell solely from my Forbidden Lightning Wind? The techniquees from both Wang and Xie ns, though, so how did you know my surname was not Xie?"

    Jin Wangsun formed a hold fist salute, "I am the master of Gold and Silver Sect, so I must expand my knowledge of martial arts. My nbines fists, palms, swordy, sabres and footwork. We are required to learn everything, so it is only natural that I know palm arts."

    Wang Xiongqiao gave a snort of contempt, "Oh, really? Fists, palms, swordy, sabres, footwork, three fists and five palms, supreme swordy and dual sabres, all of the supreme arts in the martial world haven been snatched by your family and you even have a movement art. You think you are Dugu Qiubai?"

    Jin Wangsun revealed the smile of a steady individual, which was unlike his usual arrogant self.

    He knew his visitor. Wang Xiongqiao is the Patriarch Wang Du''s second younger brother. He was born with a fondness for martial arts, in particr, palm arts, so he started by investing himself in them.

    "One cannot believe everything in legends. My martial art skills were indeed the culmination of researching various styles in thend. As I am young, I have not yet reached a respectable level of proficiency, but I do possess a discerning eye. Xie n uses Forbidden Wind Lightning with an emphasis on ''explosiveness,'' utilising internal energy to create lightning power through many years of explosive training, thereby allowing them to easily smash rocks, which is truly overwhelming.

    However, Wang n''s version of it is best. Wang n emphasises swift strikes and yet the strikes are as powerful as lightning. Both ns'' versions each have superior and inferior aspects. In my humble opinion, however, while Xie n''s power is truly frightening, it is too forceful, and therefore misses the meaning of ''forbidden.'' As for their internal energy training, they have missed the essence of the word ''wind.'' Further, their version of it deviates from the original intention of palm techniques, so it is inevitable for their version to be inferior."

    "It sounds logical; so, your Gold and Silver Sect has collected all the palm manuals in the world?"

    Jin Wangsun slightly smiled, "It is difficult to collect all palm manuals in the world. For example, there is your esteemed sect''s Forbidden Wind Lightning, Heavenly Cloud Pce''s Flowers in a Mirror and the Moon''s Reflection in Water, the Beggars'' Sect''s Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms are manuals we have not collected."

    Wang Xiongqiao was caught with surprise, "You mean¡­ you have collected Mount Daluo''s Empty Palms and Song Family in Yangzhou''s Nine Heavens Splitting Palms?"

    With his sabre in his hand, Jin Wangsun smiled and went to take a step to respond.

    However, he suddenly heard movement by his ear. He heard a very delicate sound of the air being shattered. It was such a delicate sound that it wasparable to a mosquito''s presence, making it almost unnoticeable, in spite of it happening right next to him. Once he heard it, though, he suddenly felt his lower back loosen up. His golden belt where his white piece of jade was fastened snapped. His belt, therefore, couldn''t support the weight of the white piece of jade, leading it to drop off. Jin Wangsun sharpened his skills with a sabre daily, so for convenience sake, he wore clothes that were easy to move around even when he was reading before. Since his belt came off, his pants would drop down.

    Jin Wangsun was shocked. His visitor was an elder from the Dark Robe Sect. What would he make of his pants falling down in front of him?! He didn''t have enough time to wonder who screwed with him, so he, instead, quickly reacted by catching his belt before it totally snapped. He grabbed it and gave it a big tug to fasten it again. However, he couldn''t just let go, since he was holding two parts with one hand. Consequently, his situation became incredibly awkward, but he couldn''t let Wang Xiongqiao see that, and hence, forced a smile.

    Wang Xiongqiao waited for him to exin the palm arts, but Jin Wangsun abruptly went silent, and merely smiled. Just as he was trying to figure out what he was doing, he suddenly realised something. His realisation angered and shocked him.

    ''This bastard is trying to show off his skills. He knows my ns Forbidden Lightning Wind is among the Three Fists and Five Palms, so he bragged about how he had collected other palm manuals.''

    Wang Xiongqiao fumed, "Now I get it! Your n is knowledgeable and wealthy, so you had the audacity to hit my father, as well."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''I didn''t hit him!''

    ''I''m bewildered about it, myself!!''

    Jin Wangsun eximed to himself. However, as a master of a n, he couldn''t lose his demeanour¡­ Not to mention, he was faced with the crisis of his pants falling, but he maintained his smile and silence.

    Wang Xiongqiao came here for a fight and he had a short fuse, so seeing Jin Wangsun''s smirk riled him up more and more.

    "Enough with the nonsense! I didn''te here to engage in idle chatter with you. You were the one who sent men to beat my father. Your Gold and Silver Sect started it, so don''t me us for getting back at you!" Wang Xiongqiao pressed his palms tightly together. The atmosphere within three inches of his body immediately became dry due to his special internal energy, "My Dark Robe Sect doesn''t require somebody to stick up for us! We''re settling the score between us today!"

    Notes:

    *It''s unbelievable that somebody like him exists - Is as the text describes, a saying used to describe a husband one is unhappy with. It refers to Wang Ningzhi, husband to famous poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xie Daoqi. She was very talented, but he was a failure. She used the phrase to describe him.

    **Hold Fist Salute VS Cupped Fist Salute - A hold fist salute is often widely used between martial arts practitioners, while the cupped fist salute is used by everyone else or when notmunicating with a fellow martial artist. A hold fist salute is performed with a right fist and open left palm, while the cupped fist salute is performed with a fist and the other hand cupped (note that it can be performed with either hand over the other - which is gender dependent). Use the wrong one in the wrong context, and you could literally up end suggesting "thanks for kicking my ass."

    *** Dugu Qiubai is a fictional character who is mentioned by name in three wuxia novels by Jin Yong. He attains the philosophical level of "swordsmanship without a sword", which means that he uses swordy techniques inbat without the physical existence of a sword. His full name roughly trantes to "Loner Who Seeks Defeat," since he was invincible at swordy, but was haunted by solitude, for there was none who could equal him or defeat him.

 Volume 4 42 Golden Crow Moon Eater. Roaming the Night. The Sabre Misses.

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 42 Golden Crow Moon Eater. Roaming the Night. The Sabre Misses.</h4>

    Wang Xiongqiao took in a breath of air and channelled his true qi in his entire body. The atmosphere that had turned unbelievably dry, suddenly returned to normal when he separated his palms a little, while his internal energy that was incredible enough to alter the atmosphere was collected into his hands. Wang Xiongqiao slowly moved his hands as if he was rubbing an invisible round ball of powerful qi.

    Jin Wangsun looked into the distance. Despite being many yards away, he could sense the danger of the ball of qi. That was a potent collection of lightning energy with the qi condensed. In terms of physical properties, true qi that has been condensed is naturally more potent and destructive. Jin Wangsun had no means of knowing how Wang Xiongqiao managed to condense such unique true qi together so densely and maintain it for so long without letting it disperse, despite the vast knowledge of Gold and Silver Sect.

    ''Forbidden Lightning Wind lives up to its reputation as one of the Three Fists and Five Palms supreme arts of the pugilistic world.''

    Jin Wangsun silently praised his opponent''s martial arts prowess and tightened his grip on his belt. Hemented that there were many skilled fighters in the world and how it would be a long journey to research all of the martial arts in the world. He recalled how he met another overwhelmingly strong fighter in the Imperial Pce, turning him into arge golden vat. He had ordered a search for him, but still hasn''t found him.

    Jin Wangsun held his belt with his left hand and held his sabre with his right hand. He held his sabre up horizontally and channelled his aura.

    Wang Xiongqiao strike with one palm!

    Wang Xiongqiao''s strike was violent. The lightning gathered in his hand emitted a sound akin to oil boiling in a pan, which was enough to numb one''s ears. He sted the ball of true qi through his palm strike, reaching Jin Wangsun in an instant.

    Jin Wangsun was actually reassured, instead, when he noticed the powerful palm strike. It was clear that his opponent wasn''t aware that his left hand was restricted. He had to use it to keep his belt together. That''s why he used a single highly destructive palm strike.

    Jin Wangsun remained calm and collected. He seemed to have a well-thought-out n in mind. He suddenly turned to the left, bent his knees and turned his toes up slightly, disying a strange pose that made it unclear if he was going to exert force or not, giving one the impression that he was gently drifting as if his body transformed into catkin. Therefore, it seemed that he wouldn''t be coughing up blood if he got hit, but would drift off due to being unable to withstand the strength of the palm strike.

    Wang Xiongqiao approached him extremely quickly. When he had no means of attacking Jin Wangjun due to his odd body movement, he saw him swing with his right hand to sh the air.

    The sh was mediocre, with nothing special about it. Wang Xiongqiao suddenly had a feeling that Jin Wangsun was generating as much power as he''d liked. Despite the weird sh nameless sh hitting thin air, he could reverse it and attack with a stab at any moment, turning it into a powerful attack. More importantly, was the mental cultivation used in unison with the sh. The bright and shiny de seemed to create an odd attractive power that redirected the force of his palm strike, putting him in a very embarrassing position.

    Wang Xiongqiao knew that the sh hit thin air, but then when he pulled back, he attacked with immense power. Wang Xiongqiao used his other palm protecting his body to quickly st the true qi ball from his hand and quickly retreat.

    As expected, Jin Wangsun immediately responded by shing the ball of true qi with his sharp and shiny de.

    *Boom!*

    Their attacks collided with a loud sound. His ball of true qi crumbled and the energy scattered.

    Wang Xiongqiao took three steps back and then took on a defensive stance to guard against a potential attack.

    Jin Wangsun stood still in ce. He looked at him with a smile, "Victory has been decided. Brother Wang, you should be aware that I was holding back just now. Had I given my all, you would be covered in blood by now."

    They didn''t determine a victor in the strength contest just now, but Wang Xiongqiao retreated three steps, while Jin Wangsun stood still in ce, so it was obvious that Jin Wangsun had ample strength.

    However, as an expert in palm arts, Wang Xiongqiao got an inkling. He knew he didn''t get hurt, not because Jin Wangsun spared him, but because Jin Wansun used a sabre.

    Correct. He would''ve won with that attack had Jin Wangsun not used a sabre, for the magnificent technique Jin Wangsun just used wasn''t a sabre technique, but a palm technique.

    Sabre arts and palm arts are twoplete different styles, from their poses, power and footwork; therefore, Wang Xiongqiao was able to discern it with a single nce. Jin Wangsun executed a palm technique using a sabre and it was a formidable palm style that didn''t pale inparison to Forbidden Lightning Wind.

    Alone on the empty mountain, with a mind as open as a valley - Empty Palms.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Daluo''s Empty Palms! How did you learn it?!"

    Empty Palms was crowned by Daluo, meaning it was a style invented by Hero Shenzhou.

    Since Mount Daluo''s martial arts werebined to form a single style, even lineal descendants had to learn their style from the beginning until they were at the stage they could learn Empty Palms. That took at least twenty years.

    ''Jin Wangsun is still young, how was he able to learn sabre arts and palm arts simultaneously, not to mention, the palm art was from another sect?''

    Truthfully, Jin Wangsun wasn''t doing well, as he had to hold up his belt with one hand. His pose was slightly hard to maintain. Fortunately for him, he managed to intimidate Wang Xiongqiao with Empty Palms. If they had to exchange multiple blows, his belting undone, alone, would leave him open to be a victim of seven or eight strikes.

    Jin Wangsun tried toe up with a n in his mind. He suddenly raised his head and asked, "That, you do not need to concern yourself with, Elder Wang. Are we still fighting?"

    "Yes! Why not?!"

    "I ask that you be careful then!"

    A sh of light immediately appeared in Jin Wangsun''s eyes right after he said that! He managed to get his sabre up to the side of Wang Xiongqiao''s neck before Wang Xiongqiao could see how he moved. To Wang Xiongqiao''s surprise, he was checkmated in a single move!

    They were several steps away from each other. What Wang Xiongqiao saw, however, was Jin Wangsun''s sabre right in front of him when Jin Wangsun was still yards away. The qi of his sabre had cut him before he noticed Jin Wangsun vanish from his sight.

    It turned out that Jin Wangsun was so quick that he left an afterimage where he was originally standing, thereby making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake.

    Wang Xiongqiao practices Forbidden Lightning Wind, which uses lightning to practice movement and had achieved an extremely high level of proficiency with qinggong. It would cost him too much internal energy to travel long distances, so he wasn''t the skilful in that department. When it came to travelling short distances, though, especially when in a one on one fight, his movement was what allowed him to repeatedly win fights by a margin, yet he wasn''t able to keep up with Jin Wangsun.

    Wang Xiongqiao angrily eximed, "What is that qinggong?!"

    While keeping one hand on his belt to hold it in ce, Jin Wangsun pulled his sabre back. With a smile, he replied, "I did say that besides fists, palms, sabres and swordy, my n''s teachings also include movement. Why did you not believe me, Brother Wang?"

    Jin Wangsun was in a disastrous predicament. If he didn''t leverage his movement technique to attack and they actually duke it out, it wouldn''t be surprising for him to be rocked. Jin Wangsun isn''t stupid enough to exchange blows with someone who is bold enough to fight a sabre with his bare hands. If they were to fight, it would be a long fight.

    Wang Xiongqiao scanned him, believing him only partially. However, he didn''t n to strike again. He''s a famous skilled fighter. As such, he didn''t have the shame to continue with him after consecutively losing two exchanges.

    Jin Wangsun wore a faint smile. He knew that he had managed to get through the ordeal. He thought to himself, ''Iwas lucky that my Golden Crow Sun Eater Stance is frighteningly powerful; else, this would be a sticky situation to get out of.''

    But then, he got angry. He scanned his surroundings with a savage look, ''Just who was it that tried to screw me over?! Who snapped my belt?!''

    "Brother Wang, your martial arts prowess is amazing. You have my heartfelt admiration. I was only able to withstand your attack thanks to my knowledge of Forbidden Wind Lightning. In terms of strength, I am far inferior to you. The incident with Ancestral Master Xie was a misunderstanding. I was set up. As I have been grounded by His Majesty, I have no means of cloning myself. Please put in a few good words for me with Ancestral Master Xie. I am very sorry about it."

 Volume 4 43 Royal Edict for Kucha. Running at the Sight of It.

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 43 Royal Edict for Kucha. Running at the Sight of It.</h4>

    Everything can be beaten¡­

    Except brown nosing.

    Every time Jing Wangsun opened his mouth, it was "Big Brother Wang."

    If they were to consider seniority from Jin Wangsun''s father onward, Wang Xiongqiao is Jin Wangsun''s senior. However, Jin Wangsun is the reigning master of Gold and Silver Sect. That is a prestigious status, so for him to continually address him as a big brother, Wang Xiongqiao had to ept or he''d look petty.

    The injury Old Master Xie suffered wasn''t severe. His worse ailment was actually expending too much internal energy and having his hair pulled out. He needed to recuperate for a few days, as well as have his grandchildren surround him andfort him daily. It wasn''t so bad that he needed to hold a grudge for it.

    However, Wang Xiongqiao formed preconceptions of Jin Wangsun based on the rumours about him riding a horse in the Capital and acting as a tyrant. He believed Jin Wangsun to be a man that disregarded thew and even dared to disregard the Dark Robe Sect. He couldn''t contain his anger, and hence, wanted to give him a lesson. He honestly didn''t think that Jin Wangsun had achieved such a high degree of proficiency in martial arts and wasn''t as lowly as he imagined. As a member of a renowned n, Wang Xiongqiao knew very well the importance of a friend.

    Jing Wangsun was a young master of a sect that was part of the Seven Champion White Princes. If Gold and Silver Sect allied with the Wang and Xie families, it would only benefit them. After getting to know him better, Wang Xiongqiao became a lot more courteous with him.

    Wang Xiongqiao anger had been slightly soothed. He cleared his throat and said, "Master Jin, you possess vast knowledge of martial arts. I am greatly impressed."

    "Please do not say that. You are a senior in the martial world. Wangsun still has a lot to learn from you. Dark Robe Sect is also a member of the Seven Champion White Princes just as Gold and Silver Sect is. Dark Robe Sect has a long standing history and is our senior, so we should be learning from you."

    Jin Wangsun mentioned a key point. As such, Wang Xiongqiao had no choice but to respond humbly, "You are too modest, Master Jin. Gold and Silver Sect is among the wealthiest in the world and possesses a vast array of martial arts. My Dark Robe Sect disciples are busy with work and focus very little on martial arts. That Empty Palms move of yours just now, as well as the movement art you used to counter me are truly rare skills to behold. I would say that you''re more skilled than the former master. It should be I, who learns from you."

    "You are being too distant, Brother Wang. We should just address each other as bothers. There is no need to be calling each other Master this and Master that. It makes us feel like strangers."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Hmm¡­" While Wang Xiongqiao is an elder of the Dark Robe Sect, he is far from a leader post in the Seven Champion White Princes. It wasn''t hard for him to fight as he just did, but he was somewhat scared of striking up rtionships, "In that case, umm, Brother Dagang, I hope you look after me henceforth."

    "Who you calling Big Vat?!!!"

    ''If I wasn''t holding my snapped belt together, I''d give you a spinning p!!''

    Jin Wangsun almost passed out from anger. Besides his reputation of being a tyrant rapidly circting within three days ofing to the Capital, he also managed to earn himself the nickname, ''Big Golden Vat.'' After circting around for some time, people actually began to say his surname was Jin, named Wangsun, and courtesy name was Dagang, meaning ''Big Vat!''

    Seriously, he was furious.

    ''It''s all because of that ther mouth, Ming Feizhen, giving me a nickname from his ass!''

    ''Also, you''re a bastard Wang Xiongqiao! I can''t believe you couldn''t tell!''

    However, it took a lot of effort to get friendly with him. Jin Wangsun wasn''t going to shoot himself in the foot, so he maintained his refined smile.

    "My courtesy name is Kucha, Ku character for dry leaves, and Cha character for tea. We feel as though we''re old friends, despite our first meeting. Your devotion and dedication to researching martial arts impresses me. As brothers, we should get to know each other better."

    Wang Xiongqiao didn''t dare to address him by his full name, so it was, indeed, more appropriate to address him by his courtesy name, "Brother Kucha, besidesing here today to¡­ erm, exchange pointers with you, this stupid brother of yours also came to send you an edict on behalf of His Majesty."

    The Emperor never mentioned his mistakes. All he did was have him grounded at home. Jin Wangsun didn''t expect Wang Xiongqiao to bring a royal edict today. He suddenly felt perturbed. He injured the Elder Statesman. Everybody was from the martial world, so they went about ording to the rules of the martial world, and thus, could also resolve the incident ording to the rules of the martial world. However, injuring the Emperor couldn''t just be brushed off. He was fine with any punishment, but not something that would impact his marriage to the Princess.

    "Brother Kucha, do not think that I was bying after you using my powerful connections. I attacked you with His Majesty''s permission. His Majesty once said that you could forget the marriage if you couldn''t defeat me. Therefore, you can celebrate. Had it not been for your splendid martial arts skills, I wouldn''t be able to hand you this royal edict."

    Wang Xiongqiao took out a yellow edict. He held it out on his palms and respectfully said, "His Majesty''s royal edict is here."

    "Your subject shall ept your edict."

    "Date, Jin Wangsun disyed disorderly conduct, colluded with sects at sea and the perverted devil, Zhong Ning."

    "Zhong Ning? I did no such thing!"

    Jin Wangsun raised his head with disbelief. Wang Xiongqiao frowned and raged, "The edict has yet to be fully read. How dare thou raise thy head?!"

    Jin Wangsun had to reluctantly lower his head.

    "Fortunately, you avoided a mistake thanks to Constable Ming Feizhen. ording to Constable Ming''s investigation''s, Jin Wangsun lusted for the Princess'' beauty and asked Zhong Ning to knock the Princess unconscious beforemanding him to lure the pirates to the Elder Statesmen, leading to a conflict."

    ''Ming Feizhen! You son of a fucking bitch! How dare you frame me, like this!''

    A me was lit in Jin Wangsun''s eyes. He was so outraged that he wanted to gnaw Ming Feizhen''s head off.

    Wang Xiongqiao carried on, "Jin Wangsun caused the injury of royal family members, and thus, should be punished. However, out of consideration of it being his first offence, in addition to his special identity, his crime may be pardoned with a financial punishment of¡­ Fifty thousand taels.

    ''What?! Fifty thousand taels?!''

    Initially, Jin Wangsun was somewhat relieved to hear that the Emperor was willing to drop the matter for some financial reimbursement, but the number nearly made him jump up. He eximed to himself, "Your Majesty, I heard that you only needed to roll two eggs over your wound to heal it!! Damned money monger! A little beating and you penalise me fifty thousand taels?! You''re making me your national treasury!"

    "Next is His Majesty''s oral edict."

    While he said it was an oral edict, it was actually written down. Wang Xiongqiao cleared his throat and read it out, "Jin Wangsun, I know that you have your reasons for your domineering behaviour. Your motivation may not have been tomit a major sin, but you struck the bee''s hive this time. You dared to hit the Elder Statesman. You have gone too far. I refrained from shaming you in public out of respect for your father. After paying the sum you are penalised, you are to reflect on yourself. Stay at your estate and reflect. You are not to take a single step out of the estate before I give you permission to, and you are not to do anything harmful to the Princess; otherwise, I will have your head, regardless of whether you''re Jin Wangsun or Yin Wangsun!"

    The Emperor''s oral edicts are never formal, but spoken in such a tone. He was rarely ever this stern, which goes to show that he was very angry about him hurting the Elder Statesman.

    Jin Wangsun was initially unhappy about the mary penalty, but after hearing the Emperor''s tone, he changed his mind and felt that fifty thousand tales wasn''t much.

    "However, you may rest assured. As long as you do not have crooked thoughts, I shall continue pat your head the same way I pat a dog. As for your marriage request, I have already made it clear long ago. Princess Hongzhuang belongs to the victor of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, Ming Feizhen. But nevertheless, out of consideration of old friendships and the painting you painted for Hongzhuang, which reflected the sincerity of your love, I shall allow you two to have a fair chance topete for her. I have three tests for you two. You willpete at the banquet on the night prior to New Year''s Eve."

    Jin Wangsun was delighted beyond words. Despite the Emperor saying so much, he didn''t give up on him. This sort of conclusion is also very reasonable.

    ''His Majesty even wants to extort fifty thousand silver taels from me, so there''s no way I can''t budge him with territory from the Seven Champion White Princes.''

    Next, the contents of the test topics were read out.

    Upon hearing the three topics to be tested on, Jin Wangsun was even more ted. The tests were a walk in a park for him. It was essentially a free win for him. Victory was already in the bag for him! He swiftly and respectfully epted the edict and then took another two looks at it. He treated it as a treasure and held it to his chest after confirming the contents.

    "Brother Wang, the edict has been fully read. Allow this brother of yours to treat you to a meal. How about having a meal at my humble dwelling?"

    While he referred to it as a humble dwelling, this estate of Jin Wangsun''s was actually considerablyrger than Wang Xiongqiao''s home. The chef was also a renowned chef, so the meal would be amazing, without a doubt. More importantly, this was a good opportunity for Dark Robe Sect and Gold and Silver Sect to form a friendship.

    Nevertheless, Wang Xiongqiao silently shook his head. He looked pale when he replied, "A-Another day. Let''s do it another day. I have to get going now."

    "Eh? Don''t go." After putting the edict away properly, Jin Wangsun tried to keep him in a confused tone, "You came in such a rush. I can''t let you leave empty handed. Men! Bring a gift."

    Who would''ve thought that Wang Xiongqiao would shake his head again, "No, no, no, I shall leave empty handing. It''s cleaner that way. Uh, B-Brother K-Kucha, I''ll be taking my leave now."

    "What do you mean clean? Also, you pronounced my name incorrectly."

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t make sense of what he was saying.

    ''Nothing he said connected, yet the Emperor had him bring an edict to read out. What aughable matter.''

    But then once heughed, he suddenly felt a cold breeze blow past. He felt the breeze brush past between his legs. He possessed profound internal strength, so he rarely ever felt the cold.

    ''What''s with me today? Am I tired?''

    The cold wind passed through his two sturdy legs, leading to one imagining the sight of a forest without boundaries with a small creek twisting and turning - Jin Wangsun''s pants fell down, revealing his white pants with golden threads on them.

    Jin Wangsun panicked, "Fuck! I took the edict with two hands, so I couldn''t hold up my pants!!"

    Wang Xiongqiao was more flustered than he was. Wang Xiongqiao ran from the man he considered a sick a creep that goes for men and women as fast as his legs could take him.

    One''s chastity is more important than a future ally!

    "Wait, Brother Wang! Wait! I can exin! Somebody sneak attacked me! My belt snapped! Come back!"

    "Sure, sure, sure, I''m off first, Brother Kucha."

    "Wait! You pronounced my name wrong! My name isn''t Kucha! Hey! Hey! We can discuss anything, what are you running f(or), fuck! Somebody bring me a new belt! How am I supposed to chase after him in these loose pants?! Hey! Don''t go!"

    After the event, the denizens of the Capital finally got Jin Wangsun''s courtesy name right. His courtesy name wasn''t Dagang, meaning big vat. His surname was Jin, and his name was Wangsun, courtesy name, Kucha, meaning pants.

    A few dayster, a beggar calling himself Master Eighteen heard these names from somewhere and made a nursery rhyme out of it that the kids sang all over the streets.

    Take a look at just one street and there''d be a number of kids singing:

    Kucha, Kucha, Jin n has a sizerge pair of pants,

    He paints and trains with his sabre at home. Besides stealing, he robs.

    Don''tugh and don''t panic, Kucha''s name is Dagang.

    The vat goes "gong," the vat goes "shine," Jin n''s vat knows how to make braids with hair¡­

    Current time, the precious big vat was drowning in sorry. All he could do was stay at home and shout, "It''s Kucha!!"

    But, nobody knew.

    Outside of Jin Wangsun''s estate, a captivating dark silhouette that resembled the female deities in stories, gentlynded on an old tree branch. Her small cat-like white feet stepped on the branch. Her feet were slender and white. The branch bent down just a little and then sprung back up. Underneath the maiden''s captivating slender waist, was a pair of straight and slender legs wrapped in her pants. A breeze blew. Despite wearing a dress, one could still see the outlines of her soft and ample thighs as if they were naked.

    A light shining through between the trees fell on her white robe as it fluttered in the wind.

    She revealed a mischievous smiled and left swiftly like the wind.

    Notes:

    *Jin = Gold, Yin = Silver, so while rhyming, the Emperor saying, "¡­I will have your head, regardless of whether you''re Jin Wangsun or Yin Wangsun," was also to reference Gold and Silver Sect.

    **His name is Kucha (literally, Dry Tea), but when Wang Xiongqiao was talking about leaving clean, he pronounced them with a different set of tones, turning the ''Dry Tea,'' into ''pants''.

 Volume 4 44 Childish Guy and the Dry Beauty Inside Liu Shan Men

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 44 Childish Guy and the Dry Beauty Inside Liu Shan Men</h4>

    Inside the training grounds of Liu Shan Men''s main courtyard.

    The sunset made their three shadows appear longer.

    The Emperor''s Security Detail''s Tie Hanyi held his sabre, but didn''t strike. The broadsword shes went straight past his true qi, revealing a frighteningly sharp edge each time. The sharp qi of the sabre was akin to a blowing wind andparable to a sun reversing its rays. Tie Hanyi didn''t strike, though. He, instead, patiently waited while confronting all of his opponent''s shes that had reached the pinnacle of thebination of sabre techniques and qi maniption. If his opponent was patient enough to not strike, he would throw a savage vertical downward sh with all his might in the end.

    The Qilin Guards'' Miss Situo stood to the side. She maintained an elegant posture, with every gesture being most beautiful. However, in her white hands was nine different true qis from abination of Soft Yang and Hard Yin qis. That was the Qilin Guards'' exclusive mental cultivation art, Qilin''s Nine Character Manual. She looked to be standing there in a seductive way. Her slender waist looked fragile enough to be snapped with a touch, but she could still use a vicious and heartless method to kill from that casual posture of hers.

    In Tang Ye''s hand was the ancient sword, Heaven Shocker, the sword he was using tobat Tie Hanyi. The two of them were engaged in an intense duel. It was a battle where two heroes showed their respect for each other. Furthermore, Liu Shan Men and the Emperor''s Security Detail don''t have any animosity between them, so they''ve be good friends. The twomonly exchanged pointers with each other to improve their martial arts skills.

    Situo, herself, was a frequent guest at Liu Shan Men. She always came when Shen Yiren was away, to try and recruit members to her side or pry for intel. While she was at it, she''d spar a match with Tang Ye, in order to avenge the shame of her previous defeat at his hands. The three of them bumped into each other today. All three were skilled. Situo was the one who suggested sparring, and since the other two were both individuals who loved martial arts, they agreed.

    Tang Ye casually got into a hand stance. Regardless of what style it was, he could attack from this hand stance. However, when he saw the way Tie Hanyi twirled his sabre, he was somewhat perplexed, "Is that not the technique Jia Yunfeng once used in front of the Imperial Study?"

    Tie Hanyi smiled and replied, "This is a new technique that was inspired by the Qi Sword of the traitorous leader of Mystery. This method is quite impressive. It allows one to easily adjust their posture by using the qi of the de to control a body from a distance. It''s a technique thatbines both attack and defence. It would be a splendid technique inbat. I''ve tried practicing techniques in the forest in the outskirts. I was once able to split a fierce tiger''s head with it. It packs quite a punch. I was just about to ask you to give me some pointers with it, Brother Tang!"ike Tang Ye, it woulde to no surprise that Tie Hanyi could y a tiger with his skills. It''s just that anybody who goes into the forests in the mountains would know that ying a tiger requires you to find its weak spot. There are a fair number of heroes who''ve managed to split a tiger''s head, but you must sh its neck from the side, because its bones are extremely tough, particrly its forehead. The spot below the ''king'' character on the tiger''s head is always the spot that those who attempt to y a tiger, avoid.

    Tie Hanyi''s broadsword is a very thin de. You could only consider it a light and thin weapon for speed. It''s isn''t a great weapon, meaning that he possesses profound internal energy, for it''s a prerequisite for him to have in order to split the forehead of a tiger with one sh.

    Situo covered her mouth andughed in a graceful manner, "Captain Tie, it took you many years of diligent practice with Iron Palms to gain prominence. You have only just started learning the broadsword and have already achieved proficiency. If you started learning the sabre twenty years ago, there would unlikely be any in the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, who could match you."

    Han Tieyi responded with a smile, "My Iron Palms cannotpare to Brother Tang''s Iron Hands. What is the point of mentioning it? This may cause you two tough, but before I joined His Majesty''s security detail, I did consider joining Liu Shan Men to travel thends and punish evil on behalf of the heavens and protect the welfare of the people with a broadsword. However, after diligently practicing the broadsword for several years, Yan Shisan changed the weapon of Liu Shan Men''s constables to iron swords. That left me disappointed; therefore, I joined His Majesty''s Security Detail, instead."

    Situo responded, "So you''re originally a broadsword specialist. I fight using my hands. It''s best to not hurt people."

    Tang Ye has fought her more than once, and hence, was aware that she was skilled. Therefore, hearing her deprecate herself caused him to raise an eyebrow. Situo, on the other hand, noticed his reaction with her sharp eyes.

    In a very blunt tone, Situo asked, "Tang, what''s that eyebrow raising business of yours supposed to mean?"

    She put her hands on her hips when she spoke. She looked indescribably pretty, but also cunning and vicious.

    Tang Ye responded bluntly, "Nothing. Brother Tie is extremely skilled with the broadsword. Please be careful, Miss Si."

    "That suspicious attitude of yours tells me that you''re lying."

    During the short conversation, Tie Hanyi focused on moulding qi. He pushed himself to his peak, evident by his eyes that were full of spirit.

    "Miss Si, Brother Tang, be careful!"

    Tie Hanyi shouted out and then shed with half a tonne of force. It was akin a flood of water violently crashing. He used a broadsword move, but it had the vibe of the sword techniques Jia Yunfeng utilised that day. The move he used served multiple functions. While it wouldn''t be a powerful attack upon connecting with its target, it was the best method of execution for a one on two fight.

    "Beautiful one on two technique!"

    Situo fought to intercept it first. Her movement resembled gliding as if she was performing a fantastical move. She brushed her white palm on Tie Hanyi''s de as though her brushing movement was a gentle breeze. It should''ve been very disadvantageous for her to block the broadsword using a palm technique, but thanks to her magnificent movement, every palm strike allowed her to adjust her posture, so while the broadsword attacks were powerful, she could dismantle each technique in a mostposed manner. The powerful sabre attacks akin to crushing waves were dismantled by her clever hand techniques.

    Tie Hanyi focused half of his attack on Situo, while focusing the other half on Tang Ye.

    "Brilliant broadsword skills!"

    Tang Ye poised his sword and went to intercept the attack. They exchanged dozens of blows. The two of them knew each other''s strength very well. Tie Hanyi was superior in terms of the strength of their internal energy, while Tang Ye''s techniques were intricate. If Tang Ye didn''t use Yang Blood True Qi, it would probably take them over a thousand moves to determine the victor between them.

    However, Situo attacked from the side. She used two fingers to stab the big meridian on Tang Ye''s back, but Tang Ye slipped his left hand under his right armpit and spun his body simrly to a spinning top spinning at top speed. He spun one circle and then attacked with a Spinning Flower Wheel Finger Strike using his left hand, perfectly striking Situo''s slender and beautiful fingertip. He then violently struck with the ancient sword, Heaven Shocker, in his right hand.

    The three of them were sometimes engaged in a battle royale, then in a two on one, and then the tables would change again.

    Their fight was dynamic and exciting. If you listened closely, you could hear people cheering.

    "Is this ce the training grounds?!"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye, Situo and Tie Hanyi all let out their shouts. This was about the end now. One broadsword, one sword and one palm were about to collide together in the air to end the match, but all of a sudden, somebody leapt over from out of nowhere, simrly to a nailing down from the sky andnding right in between the three of them.

    With one nce, Tang Ye noticed it was a young man with handsome features and bright eyes. He wore a simple and honest smile. However, it was toote for the three of them to stop. By the looks of things, the moment the three met would be the moment a tragedy ensued.

    What they heard, though, was a ng. Tang Ye''s Ancient Heaven Shocker Sword and Tie Hanyi''s broadsword made a ng sound akin to metal shing with metal when they connected with the body of the young man. The feeling in their hands further cemented that suspicion. It was as though they shed a hard rock, causing them to feel a slight pain. Had the two of them not been strong, their des would have likely been deflected and thrown out of their hands.

    As for Situo, her Qilin True Qi barely managed to wobble him, and he didn''t look as though he even suffered an internal injury.

    "Ow! What are you doing?! That hurts!"

    Upon closer inspection, the young man who took a hit from a sword and a sabre actually looked as though he was still childish, yet he also felt slightly more mature than a young man. You could call him a young adult, too. The young man loudly cried out while shedding tears, despite not shedding a drip of blood.

    Being struck by thebined might of the three was no different to being hit twice with a bowstring for him.

    Tang Ye looked at his sword with disbelief. Tang Ye had examined the ancient sword of his many times and knew it was an ancient item possessed by the Imperial Court hundreds and thousands of years ago. Although it couldn''t be called a famous weapon or divine weapon, it was a rare sharp weapon, yet it had no affect when he shed the young man''s body, so how could he not be surprised?

    Tie Hanyi, an expert in hard styles and qi, had his mouth wide with surprise, "Wh-What style is that? He managed to withstand des without concentrating any qi!"

    Tie Hanyi, himself, could withstand a broadsword if he used a hard style, except that his true qi consisted of only true qi. He would, therefore, be just slightly tougher than an ordinary man if he didn''t mould qi to his body. Judging from the reaction of the young man, however, he just defied the logic of qigong. Tie Hanyi had no clue what sort of strange style he trained.

    Suddenly, a loud voice from the courtyard next door sounded out.

    Situo asked, "Kid, who are you? How did you get here?"

    "Oh! Look who it is! How dare you barge into our female baths!"

    The top floor of Liu Shan Men is upied by females. Shen Yiren is the Vice-captain, so it''s only a matter of course that she has a group of females as subordinates. They are referred to as female constables. They''re personally trained by Shen Yiren and usually handle cases with morals involved or those involving females where it''s inconvenient for males to handle.

    However, they all live in anotherpound for constables and usually can only bemanded by Shen Yiren.

    Tang Ye wondered who was so bold to peep on the female constables when he heard them cry ''pervert,'' from theirpound. They all know how to fight, after all.

    Situo frowned, "Howe there are women next door?"

    Tang Ye answered honestly, "That is thepound where the female constables reside. There are only women there. I don''t know why a man went in there."

    All that could be heard was a group of screaming women.

    "Baihu Su! Baihu Su, hurry and arrest him. Beat him, beat him!"

    In a girly voice intended to sound cute, one called, "Baihu Suuuu, Baihu Suuu, save meee."

    The female constables, who were fierce as tigers when on duty, turned into a nest of newborn swallows around Su Xiao, twittering non-stop.

    "Sure! You dare barge into our L-Liu Shan Men''s females''pound. You looking to die?!"

    Su Xiao acted the exact same way as the leader of the female constables of Liu Shan Men. He chased a tough looking young man. The man didn''t look handsome¡­ Strictly speaking, he was slightly ugly, disgusting, and ever so slightly perverted, but he wore the expression of a wronged and innocent man.

    "This is a misunderstanding! I didn''t barge into the female baths! Miss, let me exin! Huh? You''re so pretty, and yet, you''re not a girl? Ow! Stop! Stop! I didn''t barge into the baths. My Third Brother dropped soap inside. I just went in to pick it up! No, it wasn''t a gleditsia sinensis!!"

    The guy doesn''t look skilled, but he''s being chased down and beaten by Su Xiao, who''s got poor skills. He couldn''t evade on several asions, consequently getting smacked on the head, and he also tripped over his own leg when he tried to run.

    ''Just how unlucky is this guy?''

    Just when Tang Ye and Situo let out a sigh, thinking that they''d just watch and stay out of it while watching the guy trip then crawl to his feet and repeat, a voice suddenly gave them a fright.

    "What are you two looking at?"

    A tall andnky young man appeared between the two without them even noticing.

    The young man wearing sses looked at them with a strange look, "What are you so surprised for? Judging from your expressions, you two have so much chemistry¡­" He pushed his sses up and then a mysterious urge tough shed in his eyes. While Su Xiao was chasing down Second Brother behind them, he slowly smiled and over the sounds in the background, asked, "Could you two be having an affair?"

    Notes:

    *"¡­ except that his true qi consisted of only true qi¡­ " - This sounds like the infamous Shiro meme, "People die when they''re killed," but here, you have to understand that the idea here is that true qi can be the umtion of multiple sources of qi to allow a once off use, as in this scenario. I went into a bit more depth on the concept of true qi a few chapters back if you want more information.

 Volume 4 45 Sing This Perfect Song Properly

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 45 Sing This Perfect Song Properly</h4>

    "Affair, my foot!"

    My eyes couldn''t stand it anymore. I quickly approached Third Brother from behind and smacked him on the back of his head. Meanwhile, Tang Ye watched me approach him and smack him with his eyes wide.

    "Big Brother, you¡­"

    The case of the attack on the Emperor exhausted me all night. I''ve finally found the time toe back. My Junior Brothers didn''t have a penny on them. They didn''t even have enough for a meal after selling Lord San Shen paintings in Bright Lane. As a consequence, my only option was to bring them back for a meal. Else, if Second Brother was to continue leading, the three of them would go off and beg for food¡­

    I exined everything to Tang Ye andpany.

    "These are my three junior martial brothers. They recently passed by the capital for business. Boss took a number of men with her when she left, didn''t she? We have a good number of spare rooms. After contemting it, I thought it was better to bring them back than let the inns rip them off. They''ll be in charge of misceneous jobs around Liu Shan Men, so if somebody has anything that needs doing, order them around as you need."

    All of a sudden, Tang Ye said, "So they were your junior brothers, Big Brother. No wonder why they were so skilled."

    "They have just arrived today. Keep an eye on them."

    "Big Brother''s concerns are my concerns. I shall do my best."

    As soon as Tang Ye finished, Situo and Tie Hanyi scanned me in a bewildered manner.

    ''Hmm? What''s the matter?''

    Tang Ye and I looked at them feeling stupefied, ourselves.

    Situo frowned, then pursed her lips and asked, "Brother¡­ Brother Ming, you are of Ding Rank, correct? Howe Tang Ye¡­"

    I finally understood the reason for their bafflement.

    Tang Ye has recently been promoted into the ranks of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons and ranked above a Jia Rank warrior, thereby enjoying many special privileges in the Imperial Court. His ranking is no lower than Third Rank military officials. The Seventeen Hidden Dragons are also a one-and-only existence, with only the seventeen of them. For someone in the Ding Rank such as myself to be able to speak to him is amazing in itself. However, I just ordered him as if he was my underling.

    Tang Ye also grasped the situation, but maintained his cool demeanour, "He is our team captain, and thereby rightfully my big brother. There''s nothing strange about that."

    ''Hey! Badass Tang, you sounded badass saying that, yes! But! Doesn''t that mean I''m leveraging your poprity to boost my standing?! Hey! Situo and Tie Hanyi, what are you twoughing at me to scorn me for?! Liu Shan''s gue has been just as popr recently! Be careful, or I''ll jinx you to death!''

    "In any case, my junior brothers will be staying here for some time. They came straight to Nanjing after leaving Mount Daluo. Kids in the mountains don''t know how to behave¡­"

    Fourth Brother wasn''t pleased with what he heard, "Senior Brother, what do you mean I came straight to Nanjing? I still haven''t worked at lots of brothels in Beiping."

    Tang Ye and Situo, who just got frightened by Fourth Brother before, were even more scared now, so they took a step back. Their greatly astonished expressions remarked, "How did this man turn gay at such a young age?''

    I, too, was furious, "Don''t spout nonsense!"

    "What do you mean ''spout nonsense''?" Fourth even proudly gave a thumbs up and added, "I''m famous in Beiping. They call me The Small Iron Gate Man."

    ''Fuck me, cut out the bullsh*t, okay?! Your alias is worse than your damn job! The person who gave you the alias definitely hates you to the core!''

    I couldn''t stop Fourth Brother from running his mouth full of sh*t. Third Brother then pushed his sses. He looked at Situo and Tang Ye with interest, "You two have not yet answered me. You two are having an affair, correct?"

    Tang Ye remained indifferent. Situo, however, snickered. Astonished, she asked, "You are an interesting fellow. You and I have only met for the first time, and yet you are asking me this sort of question?"

    "I guess it makes sense." Third Brother stroked his chin, "He doesn''t look as though he cares about you. So, I guess that means that it''s one-sided love for you."

    I smacked Third Brother over his head and fumed, "Stop asking! Can''t you see she''s gone from shy to angry (Why would I be shy¡­?)! When ites to this sort of stuff, women want to maintain their dignity; how could you blurt it out (Why would I care about my dignity over this? I just can''t stand Tang Ye''s conceited mannerisms)?! Even the blind can tell what''s going on. What would she be sparring with Tang Ye daily for if she didn''t like him (Who said I like him?!)? Of course she''ll deny it if you ask her that way! Who would reply to such a question (I¡­)?! Aren''t you putting the maiden in a tough spot by exposing her feelings?!"

    ''Huh? What did I just say?''

    While I was lecturing Third Brother, Situo''s pretty, white face with a calm expression turned redder and redder and it eventually looked as though smoke wasing from her head that she lowered. In the end, she stomped her foot and eximed, "You watch out!"

    She then turned around and stormed off.

    Third Brother and I were stunned silent for a moment, but then we gave speechless Tang Ye a few pats on the shoulders, "Brother, be careful. She told you to be watch out."

    Tang Ye: "¡­"

    I then suddenly saw Su Xiao chasing down Second Brother in the distance and beating him. Second Brother was now rolling and crawling on the ground. Seriously, my eyes just couldn''t watch the tragedy anymore. I swiftly shouted, "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

    Second Brother''s martial arts prowess is an entire level above Su Xiao, but it was evident that he didn''t dare to hit back. My Second Brother usually speaks crudely, but he''s a very graceful gentleman deep down with an ugly appearance. He''s always very soft when ites to women. He never likes to fight with any female. Fighting women is the toughest task for him.

    That''s why Third Brother had to step in and knock the Princess out that day. Otherwise, he would''ve just kept endlessly exchanging blows with her, which would lead to his downfall sooner orter.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''However, Su Xiao isn''t a female!!''

    ''Second Brother, you took a beating for nothing!''

    Su Xiao, however, didn''t show any signs of showing mercy. It''s a rare opportunity for him to cross paths with a criminal he can actually defeat, so he was delighted, and therefore enthusiastically chased down Second Brother.

    "Xiao, stop."

    I went up and grabbed the back of Su Xiao''s cor, thereby slightly revealing his white neck. I then yanked him back as if he was a kitten. Because he was just running around, he was panting a little and his pretty, uh, handsome face had red flushes.

    Hended on my chest when I yanked him back. Su Xiao couldn''t quite make sense of the situation. He just nced at me as soon as he came to his senses. He blinked his beautiful eyes for a long while before he wrapped his head around what happened. He swung his hands and legs around as he eximed, "Big Brother Ming! Let go of me. I''m going to arrest this punk! So many sisters were victimised by him."

    ''What do you mean so many sisters? If you''re included, there were only three people in the bathhouse! Speaking of which, howe nothing happened to you when you were in the female baths?! Just how messed up have morals in this world be?!"

    "Enough; he''s my junior brother. Forget it."

    "He is your Junior Brother? So that means he went to pick up the soap for you¡­"

    Su Xiao went red in the face as though he just had a crooked thought.

    ''Hey! Girl, you filthy!''

    ''You choose now to believe he went to pick up soap? But, he went to pick up an apple that rolled in there for Third Brother!''

    ''That reminds me; why do you know male body parts so well, yet not understand what it means to pick up the soap?! I see you reading books every day for training. Those are definitely indecent books, aren''t they?!''

    I gathered my three juniors and re-introduced them to Su Xiao, Tang Ye andpany, then added some drivel here and there. I just said that they had jobs in Beiping, but beggars in Nanjing look down on beggars from the North, and housing prices in Nanjing are really high, and how Nanjing''s brothels are squishy, all that sort of bullsh*t to settle the matter.

    "Anyway, my junior brothers will be temporarily staying at Liu Shan Men. Besides misceneous jobs, I''ll set them up with temporary constable identities. As for their sry, they will work for free."

    Before my junior brothers could start arguing against it, I shut them down with my intense stare.

    Tang Ye seemed to realise something and folded his arms. He knows what my martial arts skills are truly like, but didn''t know my identity. However, he''s smart and sharp, so I don''t know how much he managed to discern.

    Su Xiao, on the other hand, cutely blinked as though he didn''t understand what he heard, because none of my bullsh*t connected up. I don''t think any ordinary person would''ve understood it.

    "In short, get along with each other. Tang Ye will take you to lodge some registration papers in a moment."

    Boss gave me a fair bit of authority before she left, which includes allowing me to recruit somebody to handle misceneous tasks for less than three silvers and apprentice constables that don''t need to be paid a sry. Thanks to those two privileges, my three junior brothers became constables that brought glory to Liu Shan Men.

    The only one who had an opinion was surprisingly the one who just passed by, Tie Hanyi! When he saw me, he looked as though he finally found his target. With a grim expression, he said, "Ming Feizhen, I have business to speak with you about. Let us talk about it in detail over there."

    The two of us walked off to one side. Only then did I realise Tie Hanyi came here specifically to question me.

    It was about Jin Wangsun having his men beat up the Emperor''s father-inw, Elder Statesman, the Emperor and the Princess yesterday. The Emperor had grounded Jin Wangsun in his estate for it. Of course, the majority of the testimonies were provided by me. I have no clue as to what Tie Hanyi wants with me.

    "I have some testimonies I would like to verify with you."

    I nodded, "Go on."

    "ording to what you said, the person who led the gangsters to Elder Statesman was a man by the name of Zhong Ning. Did you personally see that?"

    Oh, so this is what it''s about. At the time, my goal was convenience, so I put the me on Zhong Ning. He''s not dead yet anyway. It won''t matter if he takes on the me for a few more crimes.

    "Yes, that''s right. He kept muttering, ''I am Zhong Ning. I never leave my name behind''."

    Zhong Ning has already been castrated, so it''s no big deal if I smear some more crimes on his name.

    "Uhm, I see. They did say that a man by the name of Zhong Ning pointed them in their direction, too." Tie Hangyi folded his arms and stopped to think, "Zhong Ning is infamous in the pugilistic world for being evil, so it is unlikely they misrecognised him. However, Brother Ming, Zhong Ning has already been captured for his participation in the Emperor Jun Kong incident. He was then sent to the castration room. He should still be bedridden. Was the person you saw truly Zhong Ning?"

    ''Huh?''

    ''Sh*t. I was so upied with passing me that I forgot about that.''

    Stumped, I folded my arms, "Maybe¡­ they share the same surname and first name?"

    "Brother Ming, are you really going to resort to sophistry?" Tie Hanyi''s gaze turned cold. I already asked His Majesty''s father inw. He said that while there were many people present at the time, he personally saw you speak to those people, but never saw the person you im to resemble Zhong Ning. Further, Elder Statesman said that you were the one who revealed their hiding location. Brother Ming, you were not the one who lured the thugs to Elder Statesman, were you?"

    ''I''m innocent!''

    That''s the look I gave Tie Hanyi.

    I''ve sessfully nted the me on Zhong Ning so many times already. I never imagined it''d fail this time.

    Tie Hanyi emphasised his words, "I have been given the order to get to the bottom of this case. Your testimony is critically important. Brother Ming, I shall ask you again. Is everything you said, true?"

    "¡­ O-Of course¡­"

    ''Hey! Bro! What happened to the brotherhood?!''

    ''Have you forgotten my graciousness of letting you spar with Tang Ye to help you improve?!''

    Suddenly, a guy from the Emperor''s Security Detail came running over and whispered in Tie Hanyi''s ear.

    Tie Hanyi froze when he heard what was said. Perplexed, he said, "Zhong Ning suddenly vanished from the pce yesterday. Even Nan Junfei, who was imprisoned with him, has vanished. The timing coincidentally fits with the timing of the incident yesterday¡­"

    "See? I told you he was Zhong Ning!"

    I let out one massive breath of relief!

    ''I can''t believe Zhong Ning managed to escape with such timing, and help me perfect my story! Damn, I never knew he had that skill, too.''

    ''But wait¡­ I beat him into a retard and he was ''purified.'' Eve nif he can move now, he''d just be a crippled retard. He managed to save Nan Junfei, as well? It can''t be so simple.''

    ''I''ll have to let the Emperor''s Security Detail get to the bottom of this. I can''t interfere here.''

    "Zhong Ning, who has been castrated, should have been lying in the pce on the brink of death. He does not have the strength to escape; but¡­ he vanished without a trace and took Nan Junfei along. All of the criminals from Mystery we captured have escaped. God damn these wicked creatures of the League of Assassins!"

    Good ol'' Tie drivelled with me. He then gave me a cupped fist salute and said, "I shall write a report to report this to my superior. I must leave now!"

    He then swiftly left.

    I watched Tie Hanyi leave. I then looked up at the clear blue sky and folded my arms. I leaned onto arge tree in the courtyard and began contemting.

    Winter has walked in, but the sky is still as far as ever.

    I slowly shut my eyes.

    The situation is moreplex than I imagined.

    His Majesty is trying to betroth his Princess to me against his will, since he has no other choice. I don''t want to marry the Princess, while Jin Wangsun is determined to marry her. At the same time, I still need to snatch back Night Fortress and Night Net Manual from Jin Wangsun.

    ''Eh? Can''t I exchange the Princess for Night Fortress then?''

    ''Kekeke, it''s a decent tactic, but a little too underhanded. My fellow disciples may look down on me if I use that tactic.''

    I analysed the intel and people in detail one more time. I tried to think about it objectively from a perspective where it most makes again.

    I then considered the feasibility of the method.

    When I got there, I opened my eyes.

    "Second!"

    "Present!"

    My loyal deputy, my forever unlucky Second Brother responded as a police dog sentry when he heard my voice. He popped up out of nowhere.

    "Your orders!"

    "Compose some lyrics for me."

    "Ah? Lyrics?" Second scratched his head. He then nced at my expression, "Big Brother, who are you harming this time?"

    "Harming my foot! Does this count as harming somebody?" I waved my hand, "The more you can smear Jin Wangsun''s name with the lyrics, the better. Go out and see if you can dig up any of his embarrassing news then add it to the lyrics topose a song. Teach the kids on the street the song and have them sing it on all the streets. I want to piss him off. He can''t do anything except feel infuriated at home."

    Second Brother shifted his eyes back and forth, "Why are you doing this?"

    I took out from my shirt the three test topics the Emperor announced today.

    "Because I want to beat this punk. I want to make him regret pissing me off. I''ll show him why they call me, Ming Feizhen, the professional tutor for naughty kids."

 Volume 4 46 According to Planâ€¦

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 46 ording to n¡­</h4>

    My Junior Brothers followed Tang Ye to the office toplete their registrations. It didn''t take long toplete, since I used my authority.

    That night, I snuck into Second Junior Brother''s room. He was already waiting when I arrived. Third and Fourth were in there, as well. I didn''t waste time and got straight to the point, describing my n to them.

    My n is slightlyplex. Nevertheless, if everything goes ording to n, I''ll achieve my goal in the end without it costing me too much.

    In summary, I have two goals.

    First, I want to take back Night Fortress'' Night Net Manual, my concession (read: treasure). Secondly, I want to escape the nightmare of being a Fuma.

    "First, we need to deal with Jin Wangsun, but we can''t be underhanded. Jin Wangsun is the master of Gold and Silver Sect. Don''t make the mistake of assuming he doesn''t have any backing and only has a few men with him. He could mobilise three thousand elites here if he wanted to. We have to fight him face to face, unless we''re ready to fight Gold and Silver Sect to the bitter end."

    My three Junior Brothers nodded in unison, but I wasn''t sure if they understood what I meant or not.

    "Jin Wangsun snatched Night Fortress and managed to be the master of Gold and Silver Sect thanks to that merit. That''s a free lunch. I might not have known all this would happen before the fact. Therefore, it''s possible that he has yet to consolidate his position in the sect. Based on what I know, the Patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect is a stubborn old man. Logically speaking, he''s unlikely to just let his son seize power. As for Jin Wangsun, he thought he struck gold by capturing Night Fortress. Hng, hng. Laughable."

    Frankly, Night Fortress is a piping hot potato, which is why I don''t care so much about it being upied. All that I''m concerned about is Night Net Manual and my treasures.

    The Seven Champion White Princes are the most powerful in Jiangnan, with each owning their own respective territory. There hasn''t been much change to their territory even when they expanded. Now, as Hangzhou lies outside the circumference of the Seven Champion White Princes'' range of influence, Hangzhou is considered a fish that escaped the.

    My Shifu chose to build Night Fortress in that specific location, because of that realisation. I have to admit that he was very sharp with regards to that decision. As expected, we were the first to take a beating as soon as something happened¡­

    After I seeded the Night Fortress, Night Fortress was able to rule Hangzhou, for the reason that Night Fortress went a different route to Jiangnan''s martial world. Night Fortress took the thug route. Night Fortress doesn''t adhere to the rules of the orthodox sects. Those who challenged Night Fortress were face pped back, while those who came to cause trouble had their asses kicked back. In the worst case scenario, we exterminated ns without giving a damn, because somebody looked at somebody the wrong way. Night Fortress epted members from every walk of life. Most of them were Robin Hood characters.

    Those guys excessively follow their own wills. They haven''t brought their old temperament under control, so they get into fights whenever they lose it. At one point in time, Night Fortress'' reputation became so bad that it was ranked among the top five unorthodox sects in the ck and White Reflection! Literally everyone was shouting, "Fight! Fight!"

    The only benefit of recruiting them is that they''re formidable fighters. At least we''re the boss in Hangzhou¡­

    ''Why are we sounding more and more simr to mountain bandits¡­? That''s why I don''t want to be the master of this damn fortress!!''

    The overlords of Jiangnan, the Seven Champion Princes, left us to our own devices, even when we caused major uproars. The first reason for that was that the patriarchs of the Seven Champion White Princes were cognizant that Night Fortress was a branch of Mount Daluo. They fear my Grandmaster, my Shifu and I, the three thugs, cough, cough, I mean, veterans of the pugilistic world. Therefore, they turned a blind eye to us. The second reason was because Hangzhou is a rtively special ce. It''s not in the territory of any of the Seven Champion White Princes. They may be in the big city of Jiangnan, but they''d have more to lose than gain. As a matter of fact, they could potentially make themselves the public enemy of the other White Princes. Consequently, Night Fortress became one of the biggest powerhouses in the martial world, thanks to the countless plot-armour conveniences.

    In saying that, we had different a different level of authoritypared to the Seven Champion White Princes. It doesn''t matter howrge Night Fortress grows; it''s just an ordinary sect in the martial world at the end of the day. It can''tpare to the Seven Champion White Princes, whom are granted territory and conferred the title of Princes. We can''t collect our own taxes or raise troops. I had to resort to leading my brothers to extort people under the name of protection fees, I mean, collecting alms.

    That was the only way Night Fortress was able to prosper. At other times, being able to break even was a blessing.

    That''s how we were. Jin Wangsun is in the same boat. I''m not convinced that rich boy, Jin Wangsun, can get Night Fortress into great shape. After capturing Night Fortress, he thinks that he''s captured a powerhouse in the martial world on the level of the Seven Champion White Princes, acquired Night Fortress''nd and gotten a big boost in power.

    The reality, though, is that you should say he captured a mountain, and that''s apliment. He can''t bring the entire martial world of Hangzhou under hismand. He''s too young and hecks good judgement. He''s been blinded by Night Fortress'' name. He thinks he struck gold. I''ll show him that a free lunch that''s too big will make you choke.

    "Third Junior Brother."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Present."

    "Make a trip to Hangzhou. Go and find our scattered brothers. Tell them to join up to Night Fortress, which has been upied by Jin Wangsun, again. Speed is of the essence. I want you toplete the task in three days."

    Third Brother revealed a grim look, but nheless, made a hold fist salute, "Understood."

    He left without any nonsense.

    I like that about Third Junior Brother. He puts up with hardship himself.

    When he first joined me as my subordinate back then, I ordered him go from the west side of theke to get me the freshest Longjing Tea within half an hour. But, he took an entire day. He didn''t make it back from the art workshop until the evening. In spite of that, he smiled and said, "I got lost."

    Thus, I returned his smile with a friendly smile, then kindly tied him up to kindly throw him into West Lake, to kindly help him learn to swim. After he went through that several times, he became a sensible boy. From then on, he''d bring me the freshest Longjing sprouts within thirty minutes. When he brought tea to me, it was still piping hot. However, I then heard rumours that every time he brewed tea, he''d beat people with a rod more and more viciously. Apparently, the more enraged he was, the harder he hit them¡­

    After Third Junior Brother left, I went on, "His Majesty wants to select a Fuma, so he wants me topete with Jin Wangsun, but there''s no way I''m being a Fuma."

    "Ah?" Second Junior Brother blinked his eyes, "So, you don''t want that white-skinned, long-legged beautiful Princess? Don''t throw her away! What a waste to give that cunt Jin Wangsun a beauty, like that!"

    ''Weren''t you just firmly protecting Shiyi a few days ago?! Aren''t you the number one fan of the Shiyi and Her Childhood Friend club?! Why are you sympathising for the Princess after just one day?!''

    "Don''t interrupt me!" I savagely said, "I''m not going to be a Fuma, and neither am I going to let Jin Wangsun be Fuma."

    I filled the two of them in on my n. Second Junior Brother touched his chin as though he was contemting the viability of the n.

    Fourth Junior Brother got sleepy after hearing the entire n. He pouted, "What''s the point of making it so troublesome? We can just charge into his ce and smash every man we see. Once we''re done, we can plunder and leg it. Whoever could catch up to us?"

    ''So you still want to be a mountain bandit after everything I said?!''

 Volume 4 47 How About Me?

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 47 How About Me?</h4>

    Fourth Brother is very pure minded, even more pure than Su Xiao. Su Xiao at least sometimes unleashes his woman-like intuition, but Fourth is as clueless as ever. He can''t be med for it entirely, though. Besides his inherent dense nature, the main reason has to do with his training environment.

    The environment which we brothers practiced martial arts differed.

    I travelled everywhere with my Shifu since a young age. We went from South to North. Afterwards, I got to know good ol'' Ximen, the Shaolin Abbot and other freaks that even ghosts are afraid of. It''s, therefore, hard, if I don''t notice things.

    Second Brother majored in palm arts, so he didn''t need a unique environment. He could train in deep mountain forests, indoors at Mount Daluo and even the pugilistic world if he wanted. He was very talented with palm arts. He improved very rapidly and was allowed to descend the mountain at eighteen years of age. He spent a long time refining himself in the pugilistic world, so as a matter of course, he learnt toe up with lots of slippery tricks.

    Third Junior Brother actually descended the mountainte. He was barely able to manage descending the mountain at twenty-four years of age. He was learned; so while he had the aura of a nerd, staying at book and art workshops, or ountant offices, meant that he met with those who were well versed with literacy or thosepetent with calctions. Thus, that was greatly beneficial for his mental development.

    As for Fourth Brother, he trained hard styles, and thereby needs to soak in the water located in Mount Daluo''s old forest. There are herbs from the mountain which are added into the water. He never left the mountain before. As a hard style practitioner, he has to be dedicated to his training. Such styles require the practitioner to master it in one go; hence, he, too, descended the mountain after he achieved mastery. However, he has to continue training for several hours daily to keep up with it. I never assigned him much work during his stay at Night Fortress, as I was concerned that it would impact his training. Therefore, Fourth Brother has always viewed the world with a pure mind.

    Fourth Brother is rtively idioticpared to the Second and Third Brother. With that said, he''s the one I have to worry about least. After all, one of his senior brothers made a name for himself as the Number One Death Seeking Maniac of Beiping, while the other is a warrior that dared to smash the Emperor behind the head.

    Before I could speak, Second Brother fumed, "You stupid? You think we''re Robin Hood robbing an escort? We don''t even know where the stuff is. Snatch and run, my foot. The Fuma selection is right around the corner. You beat Jin Wangsun''s face in and I''ll carry your shoes if we don''t have our wanted posters stered all over the city. I''m a beggar, so I can get away, but you two would die here."

    "You''ll be the one who dies here!" I smacked the senselessness out of his brain, "The topic of discussion is how to win, not how to run away! Second, you finished the song from this morning?"

    Second Junior Brother responded, "Hehe, allposed and released."

    "Good. Over the next twelve days,e up with an idea daily to torment Jin Wangsun, to get into his head, so he can''t concentrate. Whatever messes with him is what you do."

    Second Junior Brother''s eyes lit up, "This job is perfect for me!"

    Then Second Junior Brother began mumbling to himself about setting a trap at the guy''s bedroom door, dunking manure on him and so forth.

    I just pretended I didn''t hear him.

    Since all of his senior brothers had jobs, Fourth Brother raised his hand to ask, "Senior Brother! How about me?!"

    "Umm," I stopped to think for a moment, "Remember to clean the entire office. I''ll be checking every day."

    Fourth Brother: "¡­"

    ==================

    I returned to my room. It should be everybody''s bedtime now, yet I can''t sleep.

    I took out the carefully and neatly written ordion booklet with the three topics the Emperor gave us from my shirt.

    The three topics the Emperor selected were all named. They were Shining Edges, Thousand Miles and Dancing Demon.

    Shining Edges means a sword or sabre duel between the two of us.

    The point of the weaponry duel is to pit our skills and weapon quality against each other.

    ''Judging from this contest¡­ I have to ask, His Majesty is nning to hand the win straight to Jin Wangsun, isn''t he?!''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gold and Silver Sect is one of the three most influential sects in Jiangnan. They''re bound to have high quality weaponry. Jin Wangsun, himself, is known as the Sabre King of Jiangnan. Jin Wangsun was born into a prominent family that''s part of the Seven Champion White Princes. He''s been learning sabre arts since he was a kid. Not even a retard could be weak if he trained properly for twenty years. It''s going to be excessively hard to defeat him in the presence of so many people without revealing anything!

    ''His Majesty couldn''t be any more bias¡­''

    Second topic: Thousand Miles.

    This is a contest where Jin Wangsun and I have to obtain something far away in the distance. If it was a martial arts contest, it could be eptable, albeit grudgingly, but this is in disdain. Looking at this ticked me off. I''m absolutely certain that His Majesty settled on Jin Wangsun long ago, and only gave me this opportunity topete, because Jin Wangsun caused that big incident.

    Gold and Silver Sect is a wealthy and powerful n. They''re all over the world for trade. There''s no rare item that they can''t get their hands on. Jin Wangsun may appear to be stuck in his estate, but the truth is, he just has to p his gums and he could literally get anything.

    ''Your Majesty, you! I saved you for nothing! That''s twice now!''

    As for thest topic, Dancing Demon, nothing was written below. His Majesty probably ns to announce it when we get to it.

    I was so enraged I nearly tossed the booklet out. If I was a real constable, the Emperor would, basically, have dered Jin Wangsun Fuma by now.

    I know, however, that His Majesty doesn''t n to help either of us. He''s finding a husband for his daughter, so he wants to find her a husband that''s proficient in both martial arts and literacy, in addition to having a good background. This reminds me of the finals of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament three years ago.

    This was also how His Majesty selected, "Fuma Jingan" back then.

    ''Mm¡­ Given the current date, don''t tell me it''s time for that again.''

    I then suddenly heard footsteps at the door. I moulded some energy to expand the range of my five senses. I, thereby, learned that it was Su Xiao.

    Just as I thought, Su Xiao called out to me from outside without hesitation, "Big Brother Ming, are you asleep?"

    The Princess''s matter held me up, so I don''t think I spoke much with Su Xiao today. Just as I was considering whether or not I should sacrifice some time to chat with him, the thick-skinned guy said, "Silence is admitting you''re not asleep. I''ming in!"

    ''Hey! If people don''t reply, doesn''t that mean that they''re asleep?! You barge in while I''m asleep on other asions, too, don''t you?! No wonder why I see you sshing water from a basin on me whenever I wake up!''

    Su Xiao pushed the door open and entered. Seeing me sit at the table, he sat on my bed. In a doubtful voice, he asked, "Big Brother Ming, what are you doing? Are you copying Vice-captain dealing with documents?"

    I grouchily eximed, "I''m reading the Fuma selection topics!"

    "¡­" Su Xiao suddenly went quiet for a second after hearing my response. He then gloomily replied, "Oh."

    As I was looking over the topics, I didn''t notice the slight change in Su Xiao''s voice.

    "What are youing to me sote at night for?"

    "Mm¡­ Nothing really. I just came to check up on you." Su Xiao swung his slender legs by the edge of the bed. He looked as if he was deliberately avoiding looking in my direction, but nheless, couldn''t resist the urge to blink his eyes at the booklet in my hand, making him look as if he was a thief.

    Putting all else aside, the room went silent. After some time, Su Xiao broke the silence first, "Big Brother Ming."

    "Hmm?"

    "Y-You really want to be a Fuma?"

    I raised my head to look at Su Xiao. His white cheeks were slightly flush.

    ''What''s with this kid today?''

    Interested, I asked, "What, you not happy if I do?"

    "Why would I not be?" Su Xiao waved his hands in a flustered manner, "You''ve never had any goals. I wouldn''t be displeased to know that you''re finally going tomit do something significantly important."

    Su Xiao''s flustered mannerisms made it obvious he was lying, so I suddenly felt he was somewhat hrious.

    I deliberately sighed, "Yeah, Your Big Brother Ming is almost thirty. I can''t stay single forever, right? It''s a given that I have to seize such a good opportunity to get you a sister-inw."

    Su Xiao frowned ever so slightly. He pursed his lips in a pretty manner and looked at me. He pondered to himself for a long while before finally asking, "What about your Gugu, then? You don''t want her anymore?"

    I waved my hand, "There''s nothing between me and my Gugu, so me getting married has nothing to do with her."

    Somewhat anxious, Su Xiao blurted, "H-How about me?"

    "Ah?"

    I widened my mouth and dropped the booklet to the ground.

 Volume 4 48 You Didnâ€™t Get Drunk on Wine; You Got Drunk Yourself.

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 48 You Didn''t Get Drunk on Wine; You Got Drunk Yourself.</h4>

    On my way back from Shuntian Prefecture this morning, I ran into a hawker on the side of the street.

    "Square blocks. Glutinous white rice with red dates. Sweet osmanthus cakes, fresh osmanthus cakes right out of the oven."

    There are lots of osmanthus in Nanjing, so osmanthus cakes sell really well in winter.

    I went over and tried a piece. I frowned, "This isn''t sweet. Give me a sweet one."

    The vendor was a burly looking man. With a glum smile, he said, "Heh, Dear Customer, you think you can refund something you''ve eaten?"

    I fumed, "Didn''t you say you sell sweet osmanthus cakes?! This isn''t sweet. Hurry up and give me a sweet one."

    The burly man thundered, "My name is Tiantian, meaning ''sweet'', and I made them, so they''re sweet osmanthus cakes. Still refusing to pay, are you?!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Furious, I kicked up him onto the tree without another word.

    When the conman hung from the tree, he drooled and his eyes rolled back, making him resemble a retarded kid.

    I never imagined that I''d be sporting a simr expression to him back then several hourster, which is this present moment.

    "H-How about me?"

    The air in the room instantly froze when Su Xiao asked that question. Not even a needlending on the ground could be heard.

    Su Xiao''s pure-white face usually has a healthy red gleam to it. Right this moment, though, it was the red flush induced by alcohol. His cheeks were bright red underneath the candle light in my room. I had no idea what sort of answer he was looking for, but he had his melon-shaped face shamelessly down.

    His slightly undone cor revealed his smooth and soft white skin underneath. Every line on his skin was clear. The candle light enveloped a part of his skin, making his beautiful skin look clearer, hence,parable to white jade. I suddenly came to realise something while I was staring at him with a stupefied look.

    ''Su Xiao doesn''t just have a pair of long and slender legs hidden in his pants, but his ass is perkier than a girl''s. I have no idea how such a slender body has two thick buns, like that.''

    I suddenly understood why Su Xiao''s face was red. The temperature in the room seemed to rise. Even I felt my mouth was slightly dry, and I noticed my lower body heating up. There virtually seemed to be an invisible thread connecting Su Xiao and my emotions.

    My eyes scanned Su Xiao''s slender hips. My breathing sped up and got heavier.

    I wondered what Su Xiao would feel like if he was to shyly strip then slowly crawl on top of me as a kitten would. I wondered how the scent of orchidsing from his neck and mature snow-white slender virgin body that''s burning would feel when he''s fervently shaking his hips on top of a man. I wondered how it''d feel to have those two round snow-white ass cheeks smacking a man''s hips when they''re sweaty and he''s panting.

    I couldn''t believe my hand furtively snuck over to try to grab Su Xiao''s waist, while my other hand had an urge to audaciously pinch his white ass.

    ''Stop!!''

    My thoughts scared the living daylights out of me. I quickly moulded energy to erase the sensual fantasy in my mind.

    ''What the heck was I thinking about just now?! He''s Su Xiao!!''

    ''I have to admit that while I''ve seen many beauties in my life, I''ve rarely seen one on this level.''

    ''But he''s a guy!''

    Maybe I had those thoughts, because Su Xiao rarely speaks to me in this manner, on top of suddenly mentioning the rtionships between a man and a woman.

    Perhaps it was because I''ve been resting at home all this time and have umted too much vigour, yet had nowhere to unleash it.

    ''I think it''s time for me to venture into the forest for a while to visit the jungle ofdies.''

    Consequently, my only choice was¡­ to try my best to imitate the expression of the hawker from this morning. I distorted my facial features, opened my mouth in a crooked manner and left some drool at the corner of my mouth. Oh, I also rolled my eyes back to look as though I couldn''t speak.

    Seeing my look that resembled a retard, Su Xiao panicked.

    "Big Brother Ming! Eh?! Wh-What''s the matter? Are you sick?!" Su Xiao quickly touched my face and then neck with his small white hands. His hands smelt nice, they were smooth and soft. It felt insanely good when he touched me. My thinking became amorous when I looked at Su Xiao''s gaze¡­ I scanned his snow-white neck, all the way down to his slender waist and imagined¡­

    ''Imagined nothing! Am I a creep?!!''

    ''What the hell is wrong with me?! Why did I begin meditating when he merely touched me?!''

    Su Xiao thoughtlessly and randomly touched me everywhere for a while, but he''s never learnt medicine. He can''t solve anything just by getting anxious. Surprised, he eximed, "Big Brother Ming! You must''ve caught a cold from eating something dirty!"

    ''You''re the one who ate something dirty! I''m putting on this act to dodge your question, okay? Learn to back off! Hey! Hey! Hey! What the hell are you hugging me for?! Hey,ss, you better keep your distance from me, or I''m going to push you down!''

    Su Xiao ignored the taboo of men being touchy with each other to hug me with one arm. I noticed a trail of tears course down his face, so I was reluctant to push him away.

    ''But, why does he feel so soft?! My sabre, calm down, boy! I didn''t tell you to unsheathe yourself!''

    Su Xiao looked at me. He sympathetically murmured, "I can''t leave you in this state. I''m going to go call a doctor."

    I let out a sigh of relief.

    ''Yeah, yeah, yeah, hurry up and go.''

    Su Xiao''s eyes were slightly red, but his firm resolved shined in his eyes.

    "I''ll wake up all the doctors even if I have to. Actually, I''ll kidnap the Imperial Doctor if I must."

    Su Xiao took in a deep breath. Su Xiao then grabbed my sabre, fuck, I mean, his sabre, I mean, his Ancient Cold Sabre¡­

    Su Xiao lost control of his emotions. He resembled a Persian cat with all its hairs standing up. He eximed, "I''ll cut down whoever dares to stop me!!"

    He then furiously stormed out of the door.

    ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Violent Beautiful Young Girl, stop there! The Imperial Guards will skin you if you barge into the Imperial Pce at this hour with a sabre! You think you''re me?!''

    I hurried to my feet and shouted, "Hey! Don''t be so impulsive! Get back here! I''m fine!"

    Su Xiao, who had just begun to run off, turned his head around. My crooked mouth and eyes appearance was gone. I returned to normal.

    "B-But just before, you¡­"

    Su Xiao wore a dumfounded look as if he was drunk. He looked at me with an intoxicated gaze and a look that indicated he couldn''t distinguish between true and false.

    I didn''t give him any more nonsense. I just scratched my face and exined, "I was¡­ just tricking you just now. I''m not sick and I don''t have a cold. I was just cracking a joke¡­"

    "¡­"

    "I didn''t know how to answer your sudden question, so I just¡­"

    Su Xiao still didn''t speak. His gaze didn''t seem focused on anything. He was probably looking in my direction, but I can''t say for certain where on me. The atmosphere remained awkward, though.

    "S-Say something!"

    ''If you don''t speak, won''t I look as if I''m a mentally demented and talking to myself?!''

    Su Xiao stood at the entrance with a nk look with his sabre in his hand, man, fuck me, his Ancient Cold Sabre. He looked at me with a dramatic look as if we were on stage. His tears gradually formed in his eyes.

    After a sudden ng, a clear and refreshing scent came over to me. Su Xiao threw himself into my arms. Simr a child throwing a tantrum, he hammered my chest with his small fists. However, he seemed to be afraid he''d hurt me, so he remembered to hold back.

    Notes:

    *Ìð£¨tian£©= Sweet. It''s a pun there. I tried to incorporate it into the text.

 Volume 4 49 Stuck In the Room

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 49 Stuck In the Room</h4>

    Su Xiao actually went and put on the, ''If you don''t make it up to me, I''ll hammer you to death with my small hands'' act. However, his thumps were too weak, so it didn''t hurt. Instead, tears formed in his eyes. Several dropsnded on me, but I didn''t feel as if I was getting hit.

    I wiped his tears on his flush face. He looked up at me. I don''t know if he was shy or what, but he then buried his small head in my chest. He muttered under his breath, but I could also hear him sniffling.

    "Big Brother Ming, you jerk, you lied to me!"

    ''That''s a pretty slow reaction!''

    There''s something wrong with Su Xiao today. He''s usually silly and sweet; he''s agile and has fast reactions, which ispletely unlike today. Today, he appears as though he''s drunk several jars of wine. He fumbles with his reactions.

    ''Don''t tell me he''s drunk.''

    Su Xiao passes out with one drink, though. Plus, I sniffed him and didn''t detect any smell of alcohol. There was an enchanting scent, however. Sniffing him made me feel drunk, instead¡­

    He raised his head and batted his eyes.

    "Big Brother Ming, why did you trick me?"

    "Erm, erm, because¡­ Because¡­"

    ''Because I was scared off by your question!''

    ''We were talking about the marrying the Princess. How did you stick your question in there?''

    I honestly don''t understand what Su Xiao means by, "How about me?"

    His gender is questionable as is. I''m so close to him, yet I tend to have trouble distinguishing if he''s a guy or girl most of the time. If I wasn''t stupefied by his question he asked with the mannerisms and tone of a young girl, then the sun would rise from the other side!

    ''But since he asked that¡­ Could he have fallen for me?''

    ''Touchwood! That''s poisonous!''

    "Quit with your waffling already."

    Su Xiao slowly got off me, but kept his head lightly leaning on my chest as though he was out of energy and needed to lean on me. He softly asked, "Let me ask you again¡­ What is to be of me after you marry the Princess?"

    I had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask, "Xiao, what does that mean?"

    "You''re ying dumb!"

    Su Xiao was so angry that he was on the verge of tears. He stamped his feet, "I asked you, what about me?"

    ''I''m literally in tears here!''

    ''Please! Venerated Xiao! Could you please exin to this humble one what it is that you mean?!''

    I took out a refreshment from my shirt and tried to cheer him up.

    "Xiao, you want a sweet osmanthus cake?"

    Su Xiao looked at me with disbelief. He snatched up the osmanthus cake and threw it toward the door!

    ''Hey! That''s the osmanthus cake that Tiantian made! It wasn''t easy to find two actual decent ones from his stand. That''s my midnight snack! Don''t throw it away if you''re not going to eat it!

    Su Xiao looked at me with rage. He narrowed his eyes and stared at me simrly to a cat.

    "Big Brother Ming, you don''t keep your word!"

    "How did I not keep my word?!"

    "I remember you said that you''d retire at Liu Shan Men, so that the two of us can work together for life. You also said that I had to look after you and treat you to delicacies. You said that you''d take care of me for life if you were promoted. Did you say that or not?!''

    ''So that''s what you were on about!''

    ''I told you so! Su Xiao couldn''t possibly fall for me.''

    However, Su Xiao didn''t spare me. He kept pestering me by poking my chest and lecturing me.

    "But look at you. How long has it been since you said that, huh? You tossed that promise out of your mind to be a Fuma, because the Princess is pretty. Does our brotherly bond even matter to you anymore?!"

    "Xiao, Xiao, calm down. This is an expedient measure."

    "Exp-, Exp-" Su Xiao couldn''t enunciate it. He then barbarically belted, "Expwhatever! I don''t understand it!"

    ''You ever heard of being reasonable?!''

    ''You can''t pronounce it, so you got mad?! What is the matter with you today? Your speech is all muddled and you''re throwing your temper around. You trying to y drunk bum with me?!''

    "You disregard everything the moment you spot a pretty girl. You''re already about to be a Fuma, yet you went on a date with the Princess. Did you tell me beforehand? I waited for you all day yesterday, while you went to visit the Princess'' uncle and grandpa with her."

    As he spoke, he poked me with his small white finger while his tears coursed down his face. I can''t say he looked good. His speech got faster and faster, and his face got redder and redder. Even his breathing became hectic.

    "You don''t care about me. You¡­ You¡­ I¡­"

    He couldn''t calm himself down and passed out.

    I swiftly caught Su Xiao and carried him in my arms over to a seat. I ced one hand on his wrist and transferred true qi to unblock his clog. In response, Su Xiao''s frown slightly rxed.

    His body was burning up as if he was sick.

    Su Xiao is just odd today.

    He lost control of his emotions, struggled to enunciate words, and his face was flush. It was though he was drunk. Even his neck was frighteningly hot as if he had a high fever.

    I checked his pulse. Judging from his pulse, he doesn''t appear to be sick¡­ It''s most likely the effect of some drug.

    The moment the possibility of a drug came to mind, I suddenly thought that all of Su Xiao''s strange mannerisms could be exined now. He just came to see me, but then suddenly asked a strange question. He cried and made a scene. He was fine when he came into my room, but then his emotions abruptly underwent a massive change. He seemed as if he was ready to hack somebody. That''s uncharacteristic of him to say.

    Based on Su Xiao''s symptoms, it''s got to be a drug that can affect one''s mental state. I do know a good number of drugs that could cause a drastic change in a short time period, but Su Xiao''s condition just now was somewhat strange. He didn''t appear depressed, but neither did he appear ecstatic. It was more akin to his emotions being amplified many times over, leading to loss of control.

    I quickly went through the relevant drugs recorded in ck and White Reflection¡­ It''s an aphrodisiac!

    It''s got to be some aphrodisiac. That would exin why Xiao was so strange just now.

    With a beauty in my arms, my sabre started to feel stimted. It seemed to want to bust out of its sheath to prove its prowess.

    ''No wonder why I was so weird tonight, always thinking things I should be thinking of! This drug is strong. That''s why not even I could escape its grasp. Additionally, it''s definitely located in my room!''

    Realising that, I began to inspect every nook and cranny. I sniffed as hard as I could, but to no avail. Instead of saying that there was the smell of a drug in my room, you might as well say that it''s the pheromones of an oestrus female animal.

    The smell wasing from my arms. To be specific, it wasing from the body of the sleeping beauty¡­

    ''Fuck! Sabre! It''s not time for you to be unleashed from your sheath!''

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I suppressed the thought then suddenly discovered that the candle smelt odd. No, not odd, but it didn''t have any smell.

    I usually use the candles everybody in Liu Shan Men uses. It''s always had a bad smell that I can''t describe properly, so I usually avoid lighting it. When night falls, I either go see Old Huang for some drinks and gambling, or I sneak into the pce to see Old Dai, dye my hair, and then sleep.

    Today, however, the candle didn''t have any smell. Therefore, somebody has mixed drugs into the candle!

    ''Now I''m angry. Who''s the bastard who did this to Su Xiao?!''

    When I was nning to get to the bottom of this, I suddenly heard light footsteps outside the door. The visitor had purposely walk with light steps. Nheless, their steps were fast, despite being light.

    ''A sneak attack?''

    It doesn''t seem to be. I can''t sense any murderous intent form them.

    I then heard knocks on my door. I had no idea who was here to see me sote at night.

    I fumed, "Who are you, dipsh*t?! I''m asleep!"

    ''Not to mention, the room has been drugged, I''ve got a beauty in my arms, and I''m pissed. If you don''t want me to bust your ass, then piss off!''

    The suave voice outside contained a hint of hesitation.

    "Brother Ming¡­ It''s me."

    ''Oh, fuck! The Princess?!''

 Volume 4 50 Discussion with the Princess at Night (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 50 Discussion with the Princess at Night (Part 1)</h4>

    "It is you, Your Highness?"

    In a quiet voice, the Princess said, "Brother Ming, I have something to discuss with you. Please allow me into your room."

    "Ah? You want toe into the room?" I looked down at Su Xiao, who was sound asleep in my arms, "Th-That is not too convenient, is it? How about Ie out?"

    "No." The usuallyposed and steady Princess sounded anxious this time. The image of her frowning appeared in my mind. She hesitated for a moment then added, "I-I jumped over the walls to get in."

    "You jumped over the wall?! Why?"

    The Princess went quiet.

    I then cursed myself for being stupid.

    ''The Princess is no meremoner! Is it appropriate for her sneak into a man''s bedroom at night? Moreover, she has a fianc¨¦e. If news of her visiting me in the middle of the night was to spread, Jin Wangsun would probably be fine, but if it gets out tomorrow, I''ll be able to marry her the day after.''

    "By the way, Your Highness, you sure are familiar with this ce! How did you know where my room was?"

    "I didn''t know. I was nning to knock on door by door. If it wasn''t yours, I''d flee using qinggong. Your room is the first room, so I found you on my first try. Stop asking so much and open up already."

    ''Oh, open up, open up¡­ open my foot!! Can I open it?!! Somebody has nted an aphrodisiac of some sort in this room and it''s yet to go away!''

    ''Why does she have toe knocking now?!''

    ''If she finds Su Xiao in my room, I¡­ I¡­ What''s there to be afraid of? I''m not in a rtionship with the Princess. Plus, Su Xiao is a guy.''

    I couldn''t help but let out a snicker from the bottom of my heart.

    ''I''m straight. Why do I need to be afraid of others seeing me together with my colleague, who''s got a flush and sleeping in my arms, looking powerless¡­? Why do I sound more and more guilty?''

    ''No, no, no, it''s just a hallucination. I¡­''

    The Princess suddenly thundered, "Ming Feizhen! Hurry up and open the door!"

    Owing to the shock she gave me, I swiftly chucked Su Xiao into the nket! I was afraid the nket would suffocate him, so I had to remove my outer shirt to gently cover his face. That way, he won''t suffocate.

    "Give me a moment. I aming."

    The Princess couldn''t wait. She fumed, "I can''t wait any longer. I''ming in."

    I saw a silver light appear. A shiny de appeared between my doors and silently opened. She used the perfect amount of strength! I''m not educated on sabre arts, but I do know they can be tremendously swift. The amount of strength she used was worthy of praising her as a sabre user, who had reached the pinnacle. One could behead their target without them being aware. In fact, the target would still be able to normally move for a second before they die. The sabre can be wielded so swiftly that the opponent doesn''t even realise they were cut, and most definitely that they were already dead.

    She perfectly cut the doors open, so they didn''t shift on their hinges. They looked as though there weren''t cut with a de. She must''ve used such a skill.

    I almost unwittingly cried out. The Princess entered as swift as the wind. I finally realised why she couldn''t wait.

    She was dressed in a ck as ink tight suit, revealing her voluptuous curves. I don''t know if she was in a rush and picked up a smaller size. Her breasts looked as though they were eager to burst out of the suffocating cloth. However, upon looking at her hips, they were slender, which was a match made in heaven for her long slender legs. Upon closer inspection, I realised that her torso actually fitted out the entire upper body section of her clothes, not that it was small and tight.

    Although I knew that today would be my only chance to relish the sight of her sensual body, I didn''t dare to take too many nces. I quickly faked a serious demeanour and pulled a seat out for her.

    "Your Highness, why are you here sote¡­? Erm, my room¡­"

    Despite pondering for a long while, I couldn''te up with how to refer to myself. When we were on the streets yesterday, I called her ''Miss Li,'' and used terms we use in the pugilistic world to refer to myself. Now that we were meeting in private in a room, however, it would be too amorous if I didn''t refer to myself as if I was on duty. With that said, she is not an official, while I am not ranked, so it would be somewhat weird to refer to myself as, ''Your Subject.''

    She, too, evidently felt that it would be slightly weird; but, she seemed to be distracted by something else, and therefore didn''t correct me.

    I saw the flush look of anger on her face, so I asked, "Your Highness, is something bothering you?"

    "Hmph!" The Princess sat in my sight and wore on a cold look. She frowned and replied, "I can''t believe that my father intends to betroth me to Jin Wangsun."

    ''Oh, so that''s what this is about.''

    "I knew the Emperor was biased! He told me to diligently prepare for the contest and give it my best, then turned around and told you and Jin Wangsun that it is a done deal?!"

    "Well, he hasn''t cheated for him yet. My father assigned fair tests, so he wasn''t biased there. That, I can attest to." The Princess answered my question, but then was even more infuriated, "What I can''tprehend is why he''d consider Jing Wangsun a candidate, given his character!"

    "Upon entering the city, he rode around on a horse and crashed all over the ce, knocking over the denizens booths, and then used silver to instigate conflict between the people. I, personally, witnessed that. If it wasn''t for his status, I''d have given him a lesson long ago."

    I had almost forgotten the Princess had a strong sense of justice. I just tried to pinch some makeup in the pcest time, and she chased me down nine streets, let alone Jin Wangsun''s conceited behaviour. The Princess has a strong sense of justice and has a serious personality. Once she settles on a particr way of thinking, nobody can change her mind.

    Her face appeared slightly flush underneath the candlelight. She clenched her teeth and fumed, "Yesterday, he even dared to hit my uncle and grandpa! The two of them are still in pain. I can''t forgive him."

    Her angry frown then became even more prominent. She mmed her hand on the table, "I will never marry such a man!"

    ''Fantastic! This Princess of ours is invulnerable to criticism! She sides with reason and her family!''

    Nevertheless, there''s an issue with her logic there.

    I corrected her, "But¡­, Your Highness, you have to realise something. If you refuse to marry him, does that not mean¡­"

    She looked at me with a confused look and interjected before I could finish, "Brother Ming, that doesn''t make sense. There are only two Fuma candidates. If I don''t marry him, it goes without saying that I''ll be marrying you, then."

    ''You thought it through already?! Wow! That came faster than a tornado!"

    "Marry me?" I blinked my eyes, "Your Highness, are you sure about that?"

    "What''s the big deal?" The Princess waved her hand as if it was an insignificant matter to her, "I came to discuss with you how to help you win in the contest, so that you can marry me."

    ''Oh?''

    I tilted my head with a perplexed look.

    ''What a virtuous wife. You understand the big picture very thoroughly. As your husband, I am very d to know that. I shall not stand on ceremony then. Come,e,e, let use to the bed to practice our Big Flirting Art three times before we continue. Henceforward, you and I shall address each other as husband and wife. I have two sweet osmanthus cakes here. Please try them¡­ Yeah, get fucked!!''

    I jumped to my feet!

    ''You''re supposed to bloody give the exnation when I wear my perplexed look!''

    Princess Hongzhuang titled her small head. She seemed to not understand why I reacted so oddly.

    Confused, she asked, "What?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''That wasn''t a cue to act cute!''

    ''You certainly do look very beautiful with that look, yes; but before that, exin yourself!''

    ''If I marry you, does that I mean I get to rub, I mean, what am I on about? What makes you think I can marry you?!''

    Notes:

    *Why I don''t use ''Light Arts'' for qingong - First of all, if you have practiced Wushu (any style - see how you don''t trante that as ''Martial Techniques,'' but use ''Wushu''?) and trained at schools which deliver lessons in English, as well, you will know that you don''t use the term qinggong and not ''light arts'' or any other literal trantion. Secondly, there is the chance that "Light Arts", as in the opposite of ''dark,'' may crop up at some point. Yin and Yang references, for one. If you trante it as ''light arts'' or its variants for whatever reason, you''d have created a conundrum.

 Volume 4 51 Discussion with the Princess at Night (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 51 Discussion with the Princess at Night (Part 2)</h4>

    The Princess seemed to be surprised by my surprised reaction.

    "Are you not willing to marry me, Brother Ming?"

    ''We''re making unfounded counter charges on the victim now?!''

    ''This attitude of yours is so open-minded that you''re sending chills down my spine! You think I can marry you with just a word? You think we''re buying vegetables at the market here?!''

    "Your Highness! Please make yourself clear!" I nearly leapt to my feet, "You just abruptly told me to marry you. Whatever do you mean?!''

    "Oh, that''s fair. Indeed, I should exin it to you. You and I have only just gotten acquainted, so asking you for this favour is, indeed, a little rude of me."

    In the past, I heard that the Second Princess was obsessed with sabre arts. While she was usually witty and strong, by the sounds of it, she wasn''t gifted with a silver tongue.

    Struggling to put into words what she wanted to say, she fiddled with her soft, snow-white chin with one hand. The tip of her slender fingers gently sunk into her chin, but that made it clearer as to just how smooth and supple her skin was. It gave the viewer an urge to touch her skin.

    After pondering to herself for a long time, she seemed to finally sessfully pieced her thoughts together, "Brother Ming, can you marry me?"

    "¡­" I remained silent. What she said after all that thinking nearly made me suffer an internal injury, "Your Highness, can you tell the whole story in one go?"

    "Mm¡­ What I mean is, are you willing to pretend to marry me?"

    "Pretend?"

    I suddenly had some vague understanding of where this was going.

    "Yes, pretend."

    The Princess looked at me with a solemn look. She blinked, "I want to ask you to do me a favour, and team up with me to defeat Jin Wangsun; then marry me in my father''s presence. Rest assured, it is of course, a fake marriage. After a year or so, the two of us can find an excuse to amicably divorce."

    ''I get it now.''

    ''The Princess isn''t happy with Jin Wangsun, but she didn''t have a better way of avoiding him. Since hispetition was me, nobody would think I''d have a chance at winning, would they? That exins why the Princess courageously came to offer to help me defeat Jin Wangsun.''

    "As for yourpensation, I will allow you to take everything you obtain during your time as my husband after our amicable divorce, whether that''s a manor or fields. You can take what you please."

    ''I genuinely believe that she''ll allow that.''

    ''Your grandpa is a venerable elder of the Dark Robe Sect. Your father is the Emperor. Is there any likelihood of your dowry being sparse?''

    "However, that¡­" I folded my arms and did my best to analyse it, "This may sound rude, but I would like to ask why you trust me so much, Your Highness? Are you not afraid that I will tell His Majesty about this or refuse to divorce you, which would be disastrous for you?"

    The Princess smiled. She maintained her usual heroic and suave demeanour.

    "As you can see, I am a Princess, but I do not stay in the Imperial Pce for long. I spend most of my days fighting in the pugilistic world. There are many times where I''d rather be Blood Stained ss, Li Hongzhuang. I hope this won''t make me sound embarrassing, but I am ipetent at embroidery, cooking and cleaning. All I know is how to wield a sabre. All of my siblings call me a dull person. Would you want to marry such a wife?"

    After listening to her self-deprecating speech, I had a totally different thought.

    ''It goes without saying that I want to marry a virtuous wife. In saying that, my view doesn''t align with having one''s wife do nothing but arduously wait for her husband''s return every day. Perhaps it''s because I witnessed my Shiniangs live with my Shifu as I grew up. When my Shifu was travelling, my Shiniangs also travelled. In fact, they helped the weak and protected the people more than my Shifu did. As a matter of fact, my Shiniangs may have been the ones who managed to protect Mount Daluo''s reputation as a gant and upright sect.''

    ''A heroic maiden as the Princess is a rare resource is the pugilistic world. Most importantly, Blood Stained ss is a female hero that''s often ranked on the Pink and Red Reflection! Previously, I didn''t know that was the Princess.''

    ''Don''t retire even if you get married! Bless our loyal readers with your angelic aura!''

    And so, when she asked me if I wanted to marry her, one word popped into my mind, "Yes."

    I shook my head to try to throw the thought out of my mind.

    Iughed, "Haha, well, as opposed to saying that it is your problem, it would be more precise to say that I do not want to get married yet."

    ''That was a lie. I actually do want to settle down with a family quite soon. I''m not young anymore, after all. Once my life of retirement at Liu Shan Men is set, I''ll buy a big house and then ask a matchmaker to find me a wife. That said, I will never be a rtive of the Emperor! My identity is guaranteed to be exposed. When he exposes me, there goes my life of retirement!''

    Once she heard my answer, she surprisingly nodded with confidence. With a smile, she responded, "I thought so. I am in the same boat."

    ''Why the hell is it the same thinking as yours?!!''

    ''While I did peep on you bathing and save you, Ming Feizhen and Li Hongzhuang only got acquainted with each other the day before and finally conversed yesterday. Moreover, the dipsh*t Jin Wangsun went and jumped in between. How do you know that I don''t want to marry you?! A normal person would never refuse to marry a Princess!''

    ''Why does what she said sound so strange?''

    ''Wait! Could it be that aphrodisiac at work again?''

    ''Su Xiao fell victim to it for no rhyme or reason. Could the Princess have fallen prey to it, as well?! I have no choice then. I have to use my ultimate technique.''

    And so, I imitated the retarded look of Tiantian, who sold the osmanthus cakes.

    However, the Princess responded with a dumbstruck expression. She clearly enunciated, "Eh? Brother Ming, what''s wrong?! Did you catch a cold?!"

    Not only was her voice clear, but so was her thinking. She waspletely different to Su Xiao.

    ''What the hell did I just embarrass myself for?!''

    I rubbed my face, "Erm¡­ M-My face was feeling a little ufortable."

    ''Could the drug have suddenly stopped working? Is the dosage only enough to catch one person?''

    The Princess looked at me with an odd look, "Oh¡­"

    "That is my request. I hope that you can agree to my request." The Princess seemed to be afraid that I wouldn''t agree to her request, so she added, "The men that Jin Wangsun hired yesterday were after you. He has be audacious, since he thinks that he is invincible with Gold and Silver Sect backing him. If he dared to do it once, there will be a second time. If you do not join hands with me, you may lose your life at the contest."

    I folded my arms. I stopped to contemte her suggestion.

    ''Truthfully, her suggestion coincided with my ns, despite us not nning it. My original n was to defeat Jin Wangsun at the contest, and get him upied with me, thereby shifting his attention onto me, instead of Night Fortress. Once I won, I nned to find a way to aggravate the Princess for her to give me the boot. Either way, I''m of no value to the Emperor. He only needs to say one word to get rid of me.''

    ''The only troublesome part is that the pressure of bing a Fuma is too much for me to bear¡­ I don''t want to keep entering the pce to see my father-inw, not to mention having to worry about him seeing through something, and then calling upon all skilled fighters in the capital to hunt me down.''

    ''I can worry abouting up with a n to get out of marriage agreement afterwards, though. I can use the first part of the Princess'' n, however. With a Princess in my corner, I''ll have a better chance of dealing with Jin Wangsun.''s

    I nodded, "What you have said is sound and reasonable. Your Subject shall agree toply with it."

    The Princess revealed a look of joy. It was her first genuine smile, since entering the room.

    However, there was a tinge of unnaturalness in her gaze.

    "What is the matter, Your Highness?"

    The Princess whom was always straight forward hesitated all of a sudden, "The truth is, Brother Ming, I have an unreasonable request."

    I nodded, "Please tell me, Your Highness."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I¡­ I left a letter telling my father I was leaving, so I cannot reveal myself for the next few days. And so¡­"

    The Princess'' voice got quieter and quieter, while her face started having hot flushes until her voice could no longer be heard.

    I had to mould energy to hear what she was saying.

    "Can you¡­ let me stay in your room for a few days?"

    I froze.

    ''No wonder why she sounded so shy! I never expected to hear such a bold request from her. This is the room of a stranger, not to mention that it belongs to a man.''

    "Is it too much of a bother for you?"

    "Not a bother, no; but¡­, are you sure that you do not need me to find you a room?"

    ''I don''t want to mention this, but I remember that there are a few hiding ces in the capital specifically reserved for skilled fighters of the unorthodox sects. If you hide there, I guarantee that you won''t be found.''

    Puzzled, the Princess replied, "There''s no need for that. I can just stay here at your ce, Brother Ming. If it inconveniences you, I can sleep on the ground."

    The Princess seemingly didn''t understand that it wasn''t convenient to stay at my ce. After all, I''m much older than her. Some things should be said by me, "Your Highness, I would be fine with sleeping on the beams, let alone giving you the bed. The thing is, you are a girl. For a single man and woman to stay together here would not be good, would it?"

    Despite that being as explicit as it gets, the Princess responded with a smile, "What''s the big deal about that? You won''t do anything to me. You just need to give the nod."

    ''Whatever do you mean I won''t do anything to you?! It''s a given that I won''t do anything to you, yes, but you being so certain hurts me!''

    I suddenly felt that her trust in me is so great that it''s on the border of insulting.

    ''I peeped on you taking a bath! Please keep your guard up against me when you''re around me!''

    I even asked, "Your Highness, you seem to totally have your defences down around me. Why is that?"

    ''I must appear as a very good person to her, as I helped her search for her romantic interest in Bright Lane, saved her from my junior brothers and brought Shuntian Prefecture''s men there to rescue her grandpa andpany yesterday!''

    ''But, seeing the way she was hesitant to speak suddenly made me have a realisation.''

    ''I''m dead certain that it''s not because she thinks well of me. It must be due to my title as Liu Shan''s gue, isn''t it?! It''s because I''m a gue that I''m ready to spend the rest of my life in solitude, and thus have no interest in girls, am I right?!!''

    ''Sorry, I''m not just pissed. Look, I''ve got thirty six thousand porn books at home that teach you a new position on every new page!''

    "Because you are not¡­"

    "Are not what?"

    ''A gue?''

    The Princess began to be even more fidgety. She lowered her head and finished off, "Because you are into guys, are you not?"

    ''Whoa, what the fuck?!''

    I almost spat up a mouthful of blood.

    ''I never expected that one!! Who said that nonsense?!!''

    ''No wonder why you''re so confident that I''d divorce you! No wonder why you felt getting married to me was the same as not being married. Turns out you thought I go for guys?! So you were utterly fearless, because you felt I was a safe card to y?!!''

    "Hey, hey! Your Highness, please allow Your Subject to exin!"

    I jumped to my feet. The sound of my chair sliding out beneath me was quite loud. The noise seemed to wake up the troublesome kid on my bed.

    "Big Brother Miiiinnggg. Haha, that ticklessss."

    Su Xiao had yet to wake. He was sleep talking."

    "Who goes there?!"

    In order to keep her whereabouts hidden, the Princess had to get to the bottom of this. She leapt over to the bed in one stride! She pulled off my garment to see the scene of a beautiful young g-(girl).

    ''The Princess recognises Su Xiao!''

    She froze in ce. She then looked at the garment before suddenly turning her head to look at me. She frowned.

    Su Xiao hugged my garment simrly to the way a kitten would and snuggled up to it. He didn''t forget to seal my fate by chanting the curse of death, either.

    "Stop, don''t touch me there¡­ You can''t touch me here. Aaaahh, Wh-What are you doing¡­?"

    I looked in the direction of the always serious Princess. Her face was red. I swiftly eximed, "He''s talking about his ears! Su Xiao''s ears are sensitive, so he doesn''t let people touch them! He''s talking about his ears!"

    After resisting her urges for a long time, her face turned bright red. She gently covered Su Xiao up with the nket and then responded to me, "I¡­ never asked anything."

    Then, sounding as if she had suffered an internal injury that she held in, she added, "You two¡­ look quite good together; but¡­, this is the office, right? You should be careful, so as to prevent tainting the office''s name."

    ''Look good together my fucking foot!!!''

    ''Taint what?! You want to see me prove to you that I like women right here and nooooww?!!!''

 Volume 4 52 Seduction

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 52 Seduction</h4>

    The Princess said that she was thirsty, so I brought over a pot of wine. She immediately took a hearty swig.

    I finally got the Princess to reveal why she thought I was into guys after I continuously pestered her, "I contemted and hesitated about teaming up with you to deal with Jin Wangsun for a long time. Therefore, I investigated you before I approached you. It''s a shame to say this, but I couldn''t find out anything about you in the pugilistic world, so I had to ask the people within the vicinity of the Imperial Pce."

    And so, the Princess'' information on me was learnt through the people I''d met and conversed with before.

    Below is the insider information that she dug up.

    "He likes men. I, personally, witnessed it before. Not only were there sparks between him and his colleague, but he even¡­ k-¡­ me¡­ he¡­ Cough, cough, in short, he likes men. There''s no question about it." - General Manager Bai

    "Oh my, that would never escape these eyes of mine. I scanned him with my eyes at first sight. My, my, his toughness is just his front to hide the emptiness he feels in his heart." - General Manager Wang

    "One-hundred percent! I can vouch for it with my life!" - Person with the surname Liu from Liu Shan Men.

    "Ming Feizhen? He''s a sly one. He''s always scamming me for wine. Being generous, I let him have his way. Huh? Does he like men or not? Well, that''s hard to say. Erm, but he''s alwaysing and going with men apanying him. Does that count as a clue?" - Cleaner Huang from Liu Shan Men.

    "I get along very well with Big Brother Ming. We eat and sleep together every day. Hmm? He lives next door to me. That counts as sleeping together, doesn''t it? Hahaha. Oh, that''s what you were talking about? Mm¡­ I strongly suspect that he and Tang Ye have something going on between them, because they always discuss things behind my back and im I cause trouble. In my opinion, that''s just an excuse. I''m sure that Big Brother Ming and Tang Ye have something going on." - Person with the surname Su from Liu Shan Men.

    ''God, that''s a lot of fucking bullshiiiiiiittt!!!''

    ''Your Highness, I''m amazed by how you managed to pick every single bullsh*t artist for questioning! The first two you asked were wrong! I admit to the incident with General Manager Bai, but as for Eunuch Wang, that''s clearly his own imagination, okay?!!''

    ''Don''t go judging Liu Yuan by his upright and honest appearance. He''s jealous that Su Xiao won''t give him attention! He''s the one that''s gay!! Gramps Huang, don''t take advantage of the situation to seek revenge on me just because I beat you at dice games!! Liu Shan Men''s constables move together, and the female constables move together, too. What''s so strange about me being with other guys?! Su Xiao, you''re the biggest bullsh*t artist in this story! How in the world did it be Me X Tang Ye?! If that was the case, it''d be Me X Su Xiao, too! Wait, what the fuck did I just say?! I''m not gay!!''

    "Really?"

    The Princess, who was holding a cup of wine, was somewhat drunk. She widened her eyes to look at me then she suddenly giggled as she usually would.

    ''That was you mocking me! You''re the serious as a judge type. Why did you suddenly giggle that way?! It must be the wine, right?! You''re a horrible drinker! That was less than three cups!''

    "You''re a funny one. You like him, yet he don''t dare to admit it," the Princess'' face was flush. She looked into my eyes. In a slightly sad tone, she said, "But I''m in the same boat."

    ''¡­ Our circumstances are different!''

    ''You have a crush on your nemesis, while I''m falsely used of liking men by you people!!''

    The Princess ignored me. She began to drink even faster.

    "Did you know that my Second Brother¡­ Orange Prince, used to always bully me when we were kids. He said that I''m only good for training with a sabre, a dull brat. He tossed bugs into my clothes and pushed me into a pond."

    ''I know that. He still loves bullying people, doesn''t he? His bullying escapades went all the way to the Imperial Pcest month, and almost killed your dad. It was a big task to lock him up in prison. His pranks when he was young were quite cute, on the other hand. My Second Brother was the same when he was young. He''d throw all sorts of stuff at people, push people off mountains and what have you. It seems that children are the same no matter where they are.''

    "But after he bullied me, he''d bring me some nice foods or fun things. Although he wouldn''t say anything, I knew that it was his way of apologising. He''s still the same now. He asionally wrote to me. He didn''t write much, but he''d always send me things I like."

    ''Damn, he''s a tsundere! I told you he was a tsundere!''

    "That''s why despite everybody hating him now, I know that Second Brother, he¡­ isn''t bad by nature. The main reason hemitted such an atrocity was because Father gave him the cold shoulder when he was young. I, myself, don''t know why Father treated us that way. Father doted on us, but for some reason, rarely spoke to my brothers. I know that he loved them, but when he went to express it, he''d say something else. He''s doing the same thing again with my marriage. Father doesn''t dare to look at me after deciding that he''d betroth me to Jin Wangsun. He knows that his decision will let me down, and hence why he can''t face me. But I know he''s in a hopeless situation.

    ''Your entire family are all tsunderes! By the way, Your Highness, why have you suddenly brought up your personal story?"

    "Do you know why?"

    The Princess is terrible at holding her liquor, yet she finished the pot of wine in one go, "Because we''re born into royalty! That''s why we''re forced to do things we don''t want to!"

    ''Listening to her made me sigh, as I remembered the outrageous things I did in the past, whether it was as the head disciple of Mount Daluo, as Lord San Shen of the Divine Moon Sect, or as the master of Night Fortress. I was never able to act ording to my own will in any position, and hence my sighing.''

    "Noblesse oblige. Life consists of things beyond one''s control, so don''t pay it too much mind."

    ''I have no clue why, but I suddenly remembered Shiyi. Second Brother andpany came, so she will probablye to, won''t she?''

    A faint heartache sensation instinctively surfaced.

    With a helpless smile, I said, "One cannot act ording to their will in the pugilistic world. That''s how it''s always been."

    However, the Princess looked at me. She was already totally drunk. She looked as though she wasn''t listening to a thing I said. She aggressively pointed at me and said, "Even when ites to marriage, I have to¡­ marry a gay first."

    ''Hey! Who you calling gay?! Who likes men?! Make yourself clear!''

    "You don''t like men?"

    The Princess wriggled her seductive hips and looked at me with her intoxicated eyes. Her snow-white small face was red from intoxication. Even her breath became a mellow scent. Sheughed, and then grabbed my chin and lifted it simrly to when you tease a girl.

    "Prove it to me."

    "Huh?"

    The Princess suddenly leaned in. Her hot lips exuded an alluring smell. When her breath hit my face, an intense urge I''d been having all night from the bottom of my heart surged up.

    ''I want to strip this beauty before me.''

    Her hot lips came closer. We could feel each other''s breaths. She went in for the kiss, but I caught the back of her cor and pulled her away a centimetre before our lips made contact.

    The Princess didn''t react with surprise. Instead, sheughed aloud, "Hahahaha, and you im you don''t like men?"

    ''The usual serious and stern Princess undergoes a change in personality when she''s drunk, I see. Luckily for you, I''m still rational; else, you''d have been taken advantage of.''

    Feeling sorry for her to some degree, I stated, "Your Highness, I am not your crush. You are drunk."

    Sheughed, "I''m not drunk. I know that you don''t actually like men, correct?"

    "Huh?"

    "I know that not only do you not like men, but are also actually heroic and incredible. You are hailed as a god in the Western Region. You must have countless beauties throwing themselves into your arms, right?"

    The Princess gently took her eyes off me. Her gaze was akin to a gentle pair of hands gently caressed my face. Her voice sounded simr to mumbling in one''s sleep, "I''m not drunk. You¡­ You''re Lord San Shen¡­ You''re Lord San Shen¡­"

    ''How would I have ever imagined she''d see through me now?!''

    I instinctively let go of her. She immediately threw herself onto my chest, but judging from her look, something didn''t feel right.

    Her face was totally red. Her heroic eyes were now narrowed into slits. She looked pitiful. There wasn''t a tinge of a heroic aura from her.

    Her entire body was burning and limp as if she didn''t have bones. She was firmly stered to my chest. Her breath was hot. She suddenly pulled my cor apart and furtively gave me a kiss with her tender lips. And then she kissed me again. Soon, my chest was alight with hot lip marks. While she was doing this inadvertently, that only made it that much more seductive.

    She removed her tender lips from my chest, and reced it with hot breaths when she muttered, "I don''t know what the matter is with me. I thought about you day and night ever since I first met you. I know that it''s wrong. I''m the Second Princess of the Imperial Court, while you are the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen, but I can''t forget you."

    ''This isn''t the first time a young girl has straight up confessed to me; however, I''m finding a beautiful Princess leaning on me while confessing a little irresistible.''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I miss you every day. I think of the way you saved me that day. I think of your invincible look. You carried me. You''re so gentle. When you held me in your arms, I felt that the sky falling down wouldn''t be an issue, because you were by my side. I felt that you could ovee any difficulty thrown at you. I felt so safe in your arms.

    I once liked someone, but that was the first time I felt that there was somebody keeping mepany, allowing me to feel absolutely reassured.

    When I saw your eyes, my heart shook. I couldn''t withhold my sadness. Your eyes are filled with¡­ loneliness as though you have gone through countless heartbreaking experiences. I want to understand you. I want to know why you''re so lonely."

    "¡­ Your Highness, I¡­"

    I couldn''t believe that I didn''t deny that I wasn''t him.

    "I don''t know if this is liking you or not¡­ I don''t understand these things, but I think about you all the time. I now¡­ feel really unwell. Can you touch me?"

    The Princess grabbed my hand all of a sudden then ced it on her soft snow-white cheek and rubbed her face against it. She was cute and lovely as a little pet, despite her usual heroic demeanour.

    "Your hand is so big¡­" The Princess looked up in a hazy manner. With a silly soundingugh, she asked, "Can you¡­ dote on me tonight?"

    ''I can''t take this no more! This is wrong! Who starts acting this way just because they''re drunk?! The Princess is usually very reserved. Usually, she''d fly off the handle if somebody just touched her hand, wouldn''t she? Not only has she mistaken me for somebody else, but she keeps clinging to me and begging me to pounce her!''

    My eyes lit up.

    ''It''s that aphrodisiac again!! When will this damn aphrodisiac quit?! Wasn''t the Princess fine just before? She must''ve been poisoned by it, too, but owing to her profound internal energy, it took longer to take effect than with Su Xiao!!''

    The Princess haspletely taken me as Lord San Shen. She clung to me and refused to get off.

    ''While that is indeed my¡­ something feels weird.''

    The Princess has been drugged with aphrodisiac; plus, she''s drunk, so that sped up the rate at which the drug spread through her blood, thereby making it impossible for her to resist. She''s begun to act on her lust.

    Before I could speak in time, she tightly gripped me and pulled me over while I was in a panic-stricken state.

    Our lips made contact. I felt that her lips were even hotter than her mesmerising body in my arms.

    The Princess then squeezed her legs together, locking me into her. I felt numb sensations radiate throughout my entire body. Suddenly, owing to embarrassment, I was pped across the face.

    "H-How could you do this to me¡­?"

    ''I''m innocent! It was you that kissed me just now!''

    ''Also, you mistook me for your crush, and you got poisoned, didn''t you?! People get embarrassed in these sorts of situations now?! You sure are a snowke!''

    Afraid that she hurt me, the Princess then shyly said, "D-Don''t strip me¡­ Okay?"

    I responded as if I was retarded, "Okay, okay, let''s get dressed then."

    The Princess shook her head, "G-Go put the lights out."

    I raised my hand and sted out a wind current from my palm to put the candles out.

    I picked up the Princess. A pleasing, shyugh and my heavy breathing could be heard in the pitch-ck room.

    Time slowly ticked by and the room gradually fell into a silence as if the clouds cleared and rain stopped.

    A bright pair of eyes outside the window suddenly approached. The owner seemed to want to see what happened in the darkness.

    "You finally here?''

    I opened my eyes and out of the blue,ughed. I responded, "You''ve kept me waiting."

    Notes:

    *Tsundere - A Japanese term for a character who says one thing, but thinks another.

 Volume 4 53 Whoâ€™s Peerless Beauty (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 53 Who''s Peerless Beauty (Part 1)</h4>

    I need to tell the story from the beginning.

    From the moment that Su Xiao was poisoned, I knew that something was wrong. Aphrodisiacs will confuse one''s mind. Men use it to enjoy intercourse, while feeding it to women must mean the one who fed it is attempting to pursue degenerate ends with a woman.

    I specifically examined theponents of the drug. The majority of it consisted of a unique drugged candle. The drug itself is harmless and useless, other than providing a scent. Extrapting from that conjecture, I can rule out the possibility of the culprit being overconfident and slipping up, since they left me with the smell, which is a clue right under my nose and practically a dead giveaway. The reason for this is that the drug itself has a scent, which means that they required a candle to mask it, so that I''d unknowingly breathe it in.

    I discovered some powder from the remains of the drugged candle. I had a taste of said powder. I found out that it''s the holy level drug among sexual drugs, Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill. Men will receive a massive boost after consumption. Their conscious will be muddled, their mental energy will be haywire, and their energy will get a kick. When females consume it, their desire for skinship will skyrocket. They''ll flirt and allow men to y with them; hence the name Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pull.

    ''Don''t ask me how I know. You just have to know that my Shifu isn''t a good guy, cough, cough, cough¡­''

    At the time, however, I had no idea what the culprit''s goal was. I thought it had been used up, only for the Princess to unexpectedly fall victim to it, as well. Because she drank alcohol, its effects were even more pronounced.

    I calmed down to analyse it.

    ''There aren''t many in the Capital who''d want to harm me. If I eliminate all those who have grudges with my former self from the list of possible culprits, then Jin Wangsun is the only one who''d want to eliminate me.''

    ''Whoever was the culprit, though, definitely harbours ill-will toward me. For them to use a sexual drug such as this one, chances are that they want to smear my name. As soon as I err, they''ll bring people into my room to witness me in my unbing predicament. Naturally, that also means that my chances at bing Fuma will go down the drain with it.''

    ''The culprit might''ve even sent a beauty into my room to have me sleep with her. Once they confirm that I did the deed, they''ll catch us all in one fell swoop, except, they didn''t expect Su Xiao and the Princess to enter my room, thereby putting a halt to their vicious scheme¡­ And they didn''t think I''m impervious to poison. Not even Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill can affect me.''

    ''Subsequently, I went along with their scheme to reverse their scheme on them, and therefore went along with the Princess'' act. I then destroyed the candle, thereby erasing the source of the drug. I then ced the Princess onto the bed and sealed her meridians. Then I tickled her ribs, leading to her immediatelyughing uncontrobly.''

    ''Not long after, the punk came to see the fruits of hisbour, and that would be none other than the culprit in question!''

    "You''ve kept me waiting."

    I said that using Voice Transmission. The person outside by the window froze for a moment, and then gently pushed the wall with their palm to spin andunch themself into the distance.

    ''That action alone revealed three things to me.''

    ''First, I spoke to them using Voice Transmission, which meant that I''m inside the room, but was fully aware of their location and where they headed, in addition to me being more skilled from abat standpoint. However, they merely dallied for a moment before immediately fleeing. They reacted very swiftly and weren''t surprised. Therefore, they most likely know my identity.''

    ''Second, they were able to leave with a single palm push, which proves that they were sticking to the wall with Gecko Walking on a Wall technique just before. Subsequently, their qinggong is unquestionably advanced. You could count the number of individuals in the capital with this level of qinggong proficiency.''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Third, judging from the fragrant scent on them¡­to my surprise, it was a female.''

    I got off the bed and chased after as fast as a gust of wind. It''s night time at the moment, so I''m not afraid of somebody seeing me. She''s very quick with movement arts. At the very least, I haven''t seen anybody with qinggong that''s above her level in the capital. That said, I don''t n to spare her, so I caught up to her rear not long after giving chase.

    The girl was dressed in ck. She wasn''t dressed in the ck robe you''d wear to hide yourself at night, but a pretty thin silk dress. It''s just that the colour of her dress happened to be ck. If it was the Princess or Boss Shen who came, they''d fail if they dressed in this gear for night time. Although females like to look beautiful, this maiden didn''t forget to doll herself up for such a secretive operation, which goes to show just how mischievous she is.

    When I caught a glimpse of her slender and beautiful view from the rear, I lingered in silence for a split moment.

    I had countless thoughts in my mind. Only when there was just a small sight of her left in view underneath the moonlight did I silently sigh, and then give chase.

    When she went very fast, so did I. When she went slow, so did I. You could say that I followed her cadence. We ran the entire way for over ten miles ever since leaving Liu Shan Men.

    We had now arrived in a deste wild area, but we maintained a consistent distance between us that could be considered neither close nor far apart.

    She was unable to shake me off. With the swift pace we travelled at, she would soon feel tired. She turned her head around to see my rxed look, which told her that her qinggong was inferior to my own. As such, she suavely stopped at arge eucalyptus tree.

    The maiden in ck''s footsteps were remarkably light. Her light footsteps were again to a kitten''s. Her beautiful white feet wouldnd on the ground, yet not even dust would be kicked up, which demonstrates just how light she was, and how soft those cat-like muscles on the bottom of her feet were. Her firm and powerful hips rotated along with her spin, and she finished with a silentnding.

    She turned her head around. Thanks to the moonlight, I saw her ck as ink face veil that covered half of her face.

    Her clear skin that''s white as snow and virtually transparent underneath her ck veil was revealed. Her hair that came down to her buttocks behind her was long and thick, perfectly matching her delicate white skin, yet standing out, thereby creating a distinct distinction between her white and ck colours.

    Her eyshes were ck and long, curved, yet standing. Her eyes are capable of captivating one in an instant. Those are a pair of eyes with life. She''s graceful, brilliant, mischievous, brave, cruel and cold¡­ Her eyes could seemingly be described with lots of different words, for they gleamed with aplex light. It''s hard to imagine what sort of woman she is when she''s both elegant as water in ake, yet simultaneously dangerous as a sharp de.

    ''From memory, only General Manager Bai, who was born a seductress, wouldpare to her. General Manager Bai is the only one capable of inadvertently capturing one''s soul with her charming eyes. Therefore, she''s the only one who couldpare to this pair of eyes.''

    ''This female isn''t charming ifpared to General Manager Bai, but in terms of charm, even gods would be mesmerised by her.''

    ''Though I can only see half of her face, I can say with absolute certainty that she''s a peerless beauty. If she''s not a seductress, then she''s an enchantress.''

    Under the moonlight, her curvaceous lines and bulges appeared captivating underneath her silk dress. It appeared as though she deliberately chose to wear clothingrger than her actual size in order to avoid the eyes of men. Despite that, though, her curves underneath her clothing couldn''t be hidden, yet she also gave the vibe that she had a light physique. Thus, you could tell that she didn''t have any excessive fat on her. Her waist was most stunningly slender. She wasn''t deliberately trying to seduce anyone, but those tall peaks sitting on her shoulders still stood out, nheless. Therefore, they exuded an alluring aura, despite her not purposely intending to do so.

    The maiden raised her pure-white, soft, slender hands. She faced her palm away from her and covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she giggled in an elegant voice. However, herughter also sounded particrly cold, "It iste at night. Do you not think that it is rude for you to have chased me for so long?"

    I steadied myself and replied, "Shouldn''t it be me that asks you that question?"

 Volume 4 54 Whoâ€™s Peerless Beauty (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 54 Who''s Peerless Beauty (Part 2)</h4>

    I finally gentlynded on the ground. We are now in the wild at the outskirts of the city, standing face to face to each other.

    "Miss, you have made attempts to harm me on three separate asions. The first time was in my room, where you then fled using Night Steps. The second time was on the main road when I met the Princess, where you made me look pathetic. I truly becameughing stock. The third time was tonight, thanks to you and your expensive drug. I have been taught to be cultured and well-mannered since a young age. I, therefore, will not senselessly get physical with girls, particrly one as beautiful as yourself. You have seen my humble room andughed at my misery, but do you not think that you have gone overboard by using Five Plucks Heart Enchantment? That causes harm to one''s mental state, and you have harmed my colleague."

    ''Indeed, this is something that''s put me in a pinch.''

    ''The Princess may be severely poisoned, but she possesses profound internal strength, so she''ll be fine after half a day of rest after consuming these sorts of drugs. Su Xiao, on the other hand, is much weaker than her, and the kid has tunnel vision. If we''re not careful, he might be retarded. You betterpensate me if he does!''

    "Master Ming, you are exaggerating." The maiden in ck suddenly mentioned my identity, but I wasn''t surprised whatsoever. She continued on after a calm giggle, "Had I been half a stepte on the first day, I would most likely have been captured by you and hidden in your room. Then you would molested me against my will. Whatever do you mean by going overboard?"

    She speaks in an elegant tone, which is evidence that she''s an educated girl from a prominent family, but hearing her say ''molested me against my will,'' in such a righteous tone with no hints of it being a joke is most startling.

    "Of course I wouldn''t do that. Who wants to molest you?!! I couldn''t even discern if you were male or female back then!"

    She giggled. She made hand gestures of her wiping her tears, and then mischievously said, "With your peerless martial arts skills, I know that I cannot defeat you. If I did not use some little tricks, I might have lost my purity. Therefore, I had to continue testing you. I did not expect to be exposed by you today. Sigh, all the men in this world are carnal animals. If your carnal desires are aroused, I really¡­"

    "Since when did I say I wanted your purity?! What did you take two steps back and then cover your chest for?! I haven''t even moved, okay?! Don''t pretend to cry! There''s nobody around, so it''s pointless even if you cry!"

    "Master Ming, are you going to take advantage of the fact that there''s nobody around and my cries can''t be heard to impose your carnal desires on me?"

    "That''s absolute nonsense!! Don''t make it sound as though it''s true! It''s true that I followed you out here to the outskirts, but that doesn''t mean I want to act on my carnal desires!"

    ''Speaking of which, I don''t have carnal desires!''

    While she personally took action at night, her speech is elegant and poised, suave andposed, so it sounds as though she''s been one who gives outmands for a long time.

    "Nevertheless¡­" She stoppedughing and turned a little serious, "Master Ming, you do not seem surprised that I know your identity."

    I calmly replied, "You have been secretly spying on me for a long time; therefore, it is not surprising that you know my identity."

    "I have asked a stupid question, then. May I ask what you chased me out here for, Master Ming?"

    She''s the one who''s made attempts to harm me on multiple asions, yet she''s questioning me, instead.

    I didn''t immediately reply. Instead, I looked up at the sky.

    ''The night sky that resembled arge boundless contained all the stars within. That''s the kind of ce I feel I''m in at the moment. It seems to have named this era I''m in as Night Net.''

    As I thought about totally unrted things, I said, "Nothing. I just came to ask you what orders you have for me."

    It was clear that my response caught her unsuspectingly.

    "¡­ What do you mean?"

    "¡­" After a moment of silence, I asked, "Where''s Night Net Manual?"

    "Where did that questione from? Should I know the answer?"

    "You used my Night Steps, yet you still intend to hide its whereabouts? You do not intend to tell me that you came up with it yourself, do you?"

    She leaned back onto a tree trunk and folded her arms, revealing a soft bodyline. With smile, she asked, "You think that learnt your skills without your permission?"

    I looked at her beautiful eyes that were without equal, "My Night Net Manual records the training method for Night Steps. If one with talent was to practice it ording to the manual, it wouldn''t be hard to master it in three to five years. While you have yet to reach the pinnacle of it, you have shown some degree ofpetence with it."

    "Exactly. As Night Steps is difficult to master, what makes you think that I could master your Night Steps in a short time frame?"

    I lowered my head to contemte it. I then responded, "Gold and Silver Sect passes down a style known as Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. It''s not powerful, but the result of mastering it is miraculous. It allows one to learn the style of another. Though it''s a hasty way of digesting it, it is effective. The more one learns, the moreplex one''s knowledge bes, thereby improving one''s skills. If one was to attain a certain level of mastery with Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual, I wouldn''t put it above them to master several moves within Night Steps. You must be from Gold and Silver Sect, am I right?"

    The girl in ck covered her mouth tough, "Are you genuinely smart or did you go out of your way to investigate me? How did you manage to hit the nail on the head without much thought?"

    "Since Gold and Silver Sect has an information collector as skilled as you, I cannot disappoint, can I?"

    The beautiful girl snorted then mischievously smiled, "How much do you know about my sect?"

    "Truth be told, I do not know much about Gold and Silver Sect; however, the former patriarch has had a long standing friendship with me. We''ve fought side by side before in Jiangnan, so we can be considered friends. He does not hide things pertaining to Gold and Silver Sect that are on the brighter side of things. He did not mention the request to marry the Emperor''s daughter to me, though, which goes to show that he is not proud of it. Further, ording to what I know, Jin Wangsun is supposed to have a fianc¨¦ in the sect. Given the way Jin Wangsun came here in a mboyant manner to request the Princess'' hand in marriage, I would assume things have been turned upside-down, inside-out back home.

    Gold and Silver Sect have always prioritised profit and heartily conducted business. If it was detrimental for the sect, not even the patriarch would be able tomand the members of the sect. Thus, I would presume that the sect is split between Jin Wangsun and the sect, itself. If I am correct, you must be from the opposing faction, correct?"

    The girl in ck froze. She slightly jolted as though that was her way of signalling I was right on the money. After seeing her response, I continued on, "I, initially, was not sure, but after seeing your reaction, it would appear that my memory is not bad."

    "You certainly have proven to be smarter than I imagined," the girls in ck made a short pause then went on, "I¡­ am the close friend of the fianc¨¦e that you spoke of. That bastard, Jin Wangsun, abandoned my friend, who I see as a sister. I could not ept it; therefore, I copied some of the secret manuals he took from Night Fortress, which is¡­ Night Steps, which I just utilised. Although I have practiced it, it is a fact that Night Fortress'' manuals are not with me."

    ''I fully believe that. Night Fortress'' manuals are most probably in Jin Wangsun''s hands, and I dare say they''re kept very safe.''

    ''If we''re judging from the time frame from then until now, he should be learning from the manuals at this present time. He is unlikely to hand them over even if somebody holds a de up to his neck.''

    "So pretty much what I expected then."

    "My good sister had a marriage agreement with him since long ago, yet he ignored his legitimate betrothal to her and just wants to join the imperial family, instead. Once he captured Hangzhou''s Night Fortress, he brought a big group of men into the ce, along with dried provisions with the intent of using Night Fortress as his base to expand Gold and Silver Sect''s power of influence. That got to his head, and made him think he was the overlord of Jiangnan''s martial world. Subsequently, he began starting trouble everywhere, thereby provoking somebody he should not have. Therefore, he rushed to get to the Capital to seek a marriage in hopes that the Imperial Court can resolve his problem for him.

    I found the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect. Both he and I believe that Jin Wangsun needs to be taught a lesson; hence, he wants to ruin Jin Wangsun''s marriage request. I am the representative of Gold and Silver Sect''s faction that opposes Jin Wangsun."

    I revealed a smile indicating I understood, "I thought so; hence my original question, what can I do for you, Miss?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You are too kind, Master Ming." To my surprise, she responded withughter, "You are not yet qualified to work for us."

    "What makes you say so?"

    "You possess peerless martial arts prowess, but there are many times when one''s martial prowess cannot change the big picture. For instance, you may not be able to prevail against me in a qinggong contest."

    I revealed a look of astonishment, "What makes you say that? Are you saying that you could shake me off?"

    Without her expression changing, she replied, "You are very confident with Night Steps, by the sounds of it."

    "Not exactly. However, even if I let you take the first ten steps and still catch up to you within ten breaths."

    "That is a very arrogant statement." She didn''t get angry, but covered her mouth to chuckle, "Let us have a bet then."

    "What would you like to bet, Miss?"

    The girl in ck stood with a beautiful pose. She ced a hand on her clothes, adopting a pose that made it appear as though she was thinking. Not long after, she pped her hands as a young girl would, "Let''s have a qinggong contest then."

    I may have expected some odd suggestion, but never did I imagine she''d suggestpeting in qinggong.

    "We shall use this location as our starting point and head North. Whoever goes furthest in half an hour is the winner; what do you think?"

    The thought of crossing has never crossed my mind, so I responded with a smile, "What''s the prize then?"

    She pointed at her sharp and delicate chin with her slender finger. She faintly replied, "If I lose¡­ I shall tell you my name."

    "All right. Learning the name of a beauty is a nice prize."

    "But should you lose¡­" She emphasised every following word, "I will request a favour of you, and you must see that it is done no matter what."

    "¡­"

    Hearing her make such an assured agreement made me suddenly feel worried.

    ''Could she really have a trump card?''

    ''During Tian Ji''s horse race, the plus won against the super. Does she have a way of triumphing against me, as well?''

    I pondered to myself for a long while.

    ''So the deal is whoever gets the furthest after half an hour is the victor? Is there a trick in there somewhere?''

    ''I can''t think of any reason I''d lose to her no matter how I rack my brains.''

    "Master Ming, you are a man. Are you afraid of me by any chance?"

    I know that she was provoking me, but I was curious as to how she''d win, "All right. Deal."

    "Also, you just said that you could let me start with a ten-step lead. Does that still hold?"

    "I clearly said, ''even if I let you take the first ten steps ¡­'' All right. Take it as I said it. You can start with a ten-step lead."

    "Great, let us begin then."

    The maiden in ck drifted over to me with light steps. After a few silent counts, she said, "Begin."

    I waited for her to take ten steps, but instead, she stayed in ce. She folded her arms, and it looked as though she was giggling.

    "Master Ming, your memory sure is poor," Sheughed, "Did you not just say you have a decent memory? How did you forget that there''s still an aroused man and woman in your room?"

    My mind instantly went nk. I thought of a scary scenario.

    ''Right now. In my room. On my bed. Is Su Xiao and the Princess. If the dragon meets the phoenix, oh, sh*t!''

    ''I''ve left my room for a long time. I did seal the Princess'' meridian, but Su Xiao might wake up! The drug is still in their systems! If they lose control of themselves, sparks are going to fly!''

    "I shall go on then, Master Ming."

    The maiden in ck then took off toward the North simrly to a sharp arrow, which is the opposite direction of Liu Shan Men.

    ''No wonder why she was so certain of her victory. She knew that I had to go back.''

    ''Fucking hell!! She''s so cunning!''

    Notes:

    *Tian Ji''s horse reference - Please note that this is a condensed version of the story.

    During the warring states period, a military strategist named Sun Bin fed from Wei to State Qi. Horse racing was the most popr entertainment among Chinese aristocracy at that time. Both Tian Ji and the king of Qi were horse racing fans. They often spend lots of money bet on winning or losing. Since the King''s horses were better than his, Tian Ji lost most of races. Sun Bin told Tian Ji to ask the King for another race, and provided him with a strategy.

    The race was conducted with horses divided into three sses: regr, plus and super. Each horse was only allowed to be used in one round. Tian Ji lost every round. Sun Bin pointed out how Tian Ji pitted his regr against the King''s regr, his plus against the King''s plus, and his super against the King''s super.

    The victor is determined via best of three rounds.

    What he had Tian Ji do was doll up his regr as his super, plus as his regr and super as his plus. Therefore, his regr went up against the King''s super, and naturally lost. However, Tian Ji''s plus won against the King''s regr, and his super won against the King''s plus.

    Subsequently, Tian Ji lost one, but one two, thereby winning the overall contest.

    Sun Binter exins to the King that strategy will be the deciding factor when two sides are equal in strength. Therefore, MFZ''s reference to it is him wondering if the maiden has some sort of winning strategy to ovee the discrepancy in their qinggong skills.

 Volume 4 55 Whoâ€™s Peerless Beauty (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 55 Who''s Peerless Beauty (Part 3)</h4>

    "I shall go on then, Master Ming."

    The maiden in ck''s beautiful body swayed, and then she took off simrly to a crane. She was at least thirty percent faster than before. She had hidden her true skills before.

    She didn''t use a new movement art. What she did was kick a rock flying and somersaulted. When she got into an upside down position, she kicked the rock,unching her flying off simrly to a bird. That move is called Night Rain, a move from Net Steps that focuses on a straight dash. Not only was she capable of utilising the move, but also to a superior degreepared to many others, which goes to show that she''s a lot more proficient with Night Steps than I imagined.

    ''In my mind, however, all I could think of was what Su Xiao and the Princess were doing!! Su Xiao may be more of a girl most of the time, but he''s a male at the end of the day! What happens if his instinctual urges explode?!''

    ''Even if those urges don''t explode, lying naked with the Princess is a problem, itself!''

    ''What''s more is that I sealed the Princess'' meridians. She can''t move, but she''s not asleep. If Su Xiao does something as a result of the aphrodisiac, the Princess is bound to see and remember it. Once she wakes up the next day, Su Xiao won''t have enough heads to chop!''

    ''But even if I want to bolt back to Liu Shan Men, I have to wait for her to finish taking ten steps!''

    In one step, the girl in ck was able to leap a great distance. Given the length of this forest of trees, she didn''t seem capable of making many big leaps. After several more leaps, her slender and pretty silhouette became a mere ck dot in the distance underneath the night sky. I moulded up energy to my eyes to track her movement. By the ninth step, she was already out of sight.

    ''I must say that was well yed.''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''She hid her true skills, leveraged the situation and even got me to give her a ten step head start. She sessfully took advantage of my weakness, which was being overconfident. I must admit that¡­

    I silently counted the tenth step. I looked into the distance. Her silhouette had already blended in with the moon, so it appeared as though she''d vanished.

    I turned my head back to look.

    ''That''s the direction Liu Shan Men is in. There''s a huge problem that I need to go solve there.''

    ''Over on this side, is a bet that may have a huge effect on things. I promised that I''dplete one task, which is the equivalent of handing over authority of me. That''s a deed that couldn''t be any stupider.''

    I shut my eyes and pondered in silence.

    ''The distance from here to Liu Shan Men plus the time I''ll need to catch up her¡­''

    I carefully calcted it¡­

    ''I have no choice, but to get a little serious now.''

    I used Yijin for internal energy, Taiji mental cultivation and Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art in conjunction with each other by cycling through them.

    I opened my eyes that were now blood-red.

    =============

    The maiden in ck sped through the night. While continuing to advance forward, she turned her head to look back. She couldn''t resist the urge to reveal a yful smile. She came up with the n the moment she saw the Princess enter the room, so for it to have seeded, she couldn''t help but feel proud of herself.

    ''Ming Feizhen must be running to Liu Shan Men for his life now. Once he''s done over there and gives chase, it''ll be time up. It''ll probably take him the full thirty minutes to reach Liu Shan Men even if I don''t move.''

    Just when she was feeling confident, she noticed a ck shadow suddenly appear in front of her. She had no idea if it was a shrub or a mountain rock. Due to the speed she was travelling at, she couldn''t stop in time. She was fast to react, but she could only chalk it up to the shadow appearing too suddenly. When she confirmed what was up ahead just before, she was sure that whatever it was wasn''t there. As a result, she crashed right into it. It was slightly hard, but it didn''t hurt.

    To the contrary, she felt the softness of muscles and the smell of a man. She looked up. She just charged head-first into Ming Feizhen''s chest.

    She hastily retreated. She felt her arm stiffen up. Her arm stiffened up, as Ming Feizhen had grabbed her slender, yet curvaceous and soft right arm.

    "You actually caught up?!"

    Based on his circumstance, she figured that he had yet to return to Liu Shan Men. Though she was shocked that he could catch up in such a short amount of time, this had only put him farther away from Liu Shan Men.

    With a smile, she said, "Master Ming, it doesn''t seem to have been half an hour. What did you grab me for? Additionally, if you don''t return to Liu Shan Men, be careful not to let this same date next year be Her Highness'' child''s one month old birthday."

    "There''s no birthday that needs immediate attention."

    The blood in Ming Feizhen''s eyes circted around inside as he grabbed onto her arm. He resembled a beast that ate people. He smiled, "Your qinggong prowess is splendid. I can see that you held back. How about letting me show you something."

    "You¡­"

    "Remember this, Miss; this is how Night Rain is used."

    Ming Feizhen copied what she did. He kicked up a stone, went upside then kicked the top of the stone with the tip of his foot, but he pulled her along for the ride.

    Compared to the rock she used, he used a much smaller one. It should be considered a stone; nevertheless, the stone wasn''t sent flying as when she kicked her rock. Instead, it began to transform. Cracks appeared on the stone due to thepression of internal energy, which thereby led to it being crushed to dust, but an enormous amount of force from the rebound was unleashed.

    Night Rain is one of the profound manoeuvre techniques within Night Steps. It''s one of the most difficult supreme techniques to master.

    Many people, including Ming Feizhen''s martial brothers, misunderstand it as a marvellous manoeuvre technique that requires repetitive practice. That in turn leads to them training it countless times. They practice it with the same posture over and over, but they never managed to master it.

    Frankly, they all misunderstood its nature. Night Rain isn''t a manoeuvre technique, but an internal strength art. As a matter of fact, the entirety of Night Steps is an internal strength art, while Night Rain is one type of true qi and rebound method.

    For instance, if it wasn''t a rock, but a wall, it would be easy to understand. If one was to mould all their true qi to the tip of their feet and spring off the wall, the force generated from the rebound would be astounding. Now back to concentrating the energy in the rock as aunch pad. Due to the connected surface of the wall, it''s hard to crush the wall in one kick to generate a massive rebound. The smaller surface area of the rock makes it easier to smash, consequently making it easier to generate more force from the rebound.

    Ming Feizhen''s kick sent him and the maiden in ck flying dozens of times faster than before, consequently turning them into a ck shadow that zipped through the air, which was a sight no human eye could discern.

    The maiden in ck was now totally convinced that this was the true version of Night Steps. She misunderstood that Ming Feizhen didn''t use Night Rain again, but another faster manoeuvre technique. Nheless, this was now in a realm beyond herpression. She had no exnation for how this qinggong operated.

    The two of them travelled at an unbelievable speed. The maiden in ck had never seen such fast movement. They were in the forest just a second ago, but then they were at a farming field in the next second, then by ake the next second. It was as though the surrounding scenery was being sliced up by this otherworldly movement. It was as if the link between her eyes and the world had been cut off. What she saw ahead of her was akin to a kaleidoscope that the eyes couldn''t keep up with. Actually, no. A kaleidoscope is manually moved by someone. It''s far slower than this speed they were travelling at.

    It didn''t take long for them return to Liu Shan Men''s courtyard.

    The two stood on the roof, which was diagonal to Ming Feizhen''s room. They could see inside the room from their location.

    Su Xiao was still out cold to one side of the bed, while the Princess was in the midst of a sweet dream and sleeping in a well-mannered way.

    ''It seems nothing happened.''

    The maiden in ck never imagined Ming Feizhen''s qinggong had reached another realm beyond humanprehension. She was still frightened by what she had just witnessed.

    "L-Let go!"

    After seeing that Su Xiao and the Princess were safe, Ming Feizhen silently released the maiden in ck''s arm.

    The maiden in ck swiftly hopped aside. She looked as though she was smiling, yet not. She shot him a nce, "Very impressive. Very formidable¡­ What qinggong was that?"

    Ming Feizhen stayed silent.

    The maiden in ck raised her head. Her eyes gleamed as she eximed, "Tell me!"

    "It''s pointless even if I told you," said Ming Feizhen in a mumbled manner, "It''s impossible for you toprehend even if I went all the way to the end, unless you''ve reached the Divine Realm. You wouldn''t be able to see how I move even with your qinggong standard."

    Those who''ve reached the Divine Realm are basically in another realm of their ownpared to your normal martial artist. However, the Divine Realm is mystical, and then more mystical. Very few manage to reach it, and there are even fewer who can utilise it under control. That''s why it''s not considered a martial arts weakness.

    The maiden in ck was somewhat frustrated. She bit down on her lip behind her ck face veil. She seemed very reluctant to be resigned to something.

    "Master Ming, you sure went all out for the Princess¡­ Your feelings for her are truly deep," mocked the maiden in ck. She continued, "I think it''s safe for me to assume that your desire to help me ruin Jin Wangsun''s proposal has to do with your desire to be Fuma, am I right?"

    Ming Feizhen ndly responded, "I won''t be Fuma. My matter with Jin Wangsun is a personal vendetta. It has nothing to do with anybody else."

    "I don''t buy it." The maiden pulled a funny face underneath her veil then added, "You have the right to help us. If somethinges up¡­ I shall take the initiative to contact you."

    She left after saying that.

    Ming Feizhen''s eyes reverted to their normal colour. He suddenly raised his hand to stop her, "You lost, Miss, yet you haven''t told me your name. May I ask for your name, Miss?"

    The maiden in ck smiled, "Hmph, I never lost. It hasn''t been half an hour yet."

    Ming Feizhen smiled, "So, shall we continue?"

    The maiden in ck seemed to recall Ming Feizhen''s movement prowess from before. Knowing that she couldn''tpare, she shamelessly eximed, "No! You''re just a bully!"

    She stomped her foot, but surprisingly, her attitude struck a chord in Ming Feizhen''s heart.

    She stared at Ming Feizhen''s spaced out look. After a long while, she went, "Pfft."

    She then revealed a beautiful smile beyond words, "My name is Juese."

    "Which jue, which se?"

    The maiden in ck giggled, "Jue from tragic beyondpare, and se from pervert."

    Ming Feizhen mumbled, "Juese for Peerless beauty¡­"

    The maiden in ck couldn''t resistughing due to his idiotic look, "Don''t forget what you said today. I''lle find you. Goodbye for now!"

    She immediately left.

    Ming Feizhen nkly watched her from behind in silence for a long time. Afterwards, he finally got off the roof. He sighed as he walked.

    When he thought of theedic part of it, he couldn''t help but shake his head and reveal a helpless smile as though his wife gave him attitude. He knew that she was messing with him, but he couldn''t hit her or curse her. Reproaching her would only make him feel sorry for her. He was helpless to do anything to her.

    ¡­

    ''Sigh.''

    ''You''ve been this way since we were kids. You won''t listen to anybody once you''re feeling wilful. When we y and I don''t go along with you, you''ll throw tantrums.''

    ''But why can''t you be forthright with me? If you don''t like Jin Wangsun, I''ll beat him to a pulp for you. If you don''t like me marrying the Princess, I won''t marry her.''

    ''Everybody says I treat you like a Queen¡­ Who cares if I treat you as a Queen? From the past up until now, the one I''ve doted on most has always been you.''

    ''You didn''t want for me to recognise you, so I yed the idiot.''

    ''But, Shiyi, no matter if was just easy or if it was your disguise, if you truly don''t want me to recognise who you are, you probably need to change your name.''

    ''Juese. Peerless beauty.''

    ''Who else in this world, but you, could do the name Peerless Beauty justice?''

    Notes:

    *Juese (¾øÉ«) = Peerless Beauty. For those who don''t get it, Ming Suwen was basically saying my name is "Beautiful", which is simr to how I''m good looking and people call me "Good looking" on the streets.

 Volume 4 56 The Reason Shiyi Showed Up

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 56 The Reason Shiyi Showed Up</h4>

    I woke up very early. Actually, I technically didn''t get any sleep, and I was busy at Shuntian Prefecture''s office the day before, so that''s two nights I haven''t had any sleep.

    After Miss Peerless Beauty, or rather, Shiyi left, I went back to my room firs to separate the two maidens, I mean, the Princess and Su Xiao, who were in each other''s embrace and muttering nonsense.

    The Princess and Su Xiao are considered young man (woman?) and woman. Su Xiao is just sixteen this year, while the Princess is twenty if I''m correct. Though I''m the sole witness, it''ll affect our two maidens'' reputation if news of them lying in bed together spreads.

    The issue was that they were locked in each other''s embrace. Their pure-white, soft hands were locked together, and both wore sweet smiles, which resembled a scene of two beautiful sisters sleeping together. The scene was akin to blooming flowers. It was a naturally beautiful scene that''s hard to describe.

    ''I don''t think anybody will spread bad rumours about them even if they saw them in this state, would they¡­?''

    ''I can''t let Su Xiao see the Princess in my room, though, so I do have to separate them.''

    ''Although Su Xiao was intoxicated with Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill, he maintained proper manners while sleeping. Perhaps it was due to his tender age and being a simple kid that he didn''t have any lustful feelings. When I pulled him away from the Princess, he justughed, "Nyahaha" as if he was drunk. There was no sign of him being aroused due to a drug.''

    When I touched the Princess'' arm with firm muscles, however, she slightly frowned. She maintained her serious demeanour. She anxiously said, "D-Don''t strip me. I-I can''t¡­"

    ''Who''s trying to strip you?! I was just separating you from Su Xiao! Strictly speaking, Su Xiao may resemble a female, but he''s an authentic pretty boy. The only person''s innocence that''s at risk here is yours, alone!''

    The effects of the drug had yet to wear off. The Princess'' cheeks were still red, and her eyes were shut tight. It was as though she was having hot flushes throughout her entire body. With a nasal voice, she said, "Can you give me a hug? I''m a bit cold¡­"

    In a normal tone, I responded, "Your Highness, you are drunk. Your subject shall help you pull your nket up."

    I courteously covered her with the nket after I finished speaking. Then I picked Su Xiao up and politely took three steps back before turning to leave.

    ''Of course I had to do that!''

    ''Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill is an aphrodisiac. Its effects aren''t overwhelming. It just arouses the user. People have even used it as a truth potion to get people to reveal the truth on certain things, so it has been used as a tool in interrogations. Owing to its effects, very few people can avoid not revealing their true thoughts. ''

    ''It''s easier to interrogate the user when they''re under the influence of the drug, but once the effects wear off, the user won''t have forgotten anything. They''ll remember exactly what happened that night; hence, I had to make sure I didn''t offend the Princess in any way. Otherwise, I''ll be skinned tomorrow¡­''

    Once I was done with things here, I snuck into the wild forest that Tang Ye usually trains in. It''s said that he uses the wild beasts in here to practice new moves.

    Due to the amorous scene and Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill, I now feel as though I have some excess energy. I went into the forest intending to find some wild beasts to practice some techniques on as I nned yesterday. However, after half an hour of searching while expecting to encounter some lions, tigers, bears or something, I didn''t see anything even after reaching the ends of the forest.

    ''Tangy Ye usually said that he fought with tigers and wolves in here. He said that he''d run into one once every second day. He wasn''t lying, was he?''

    ''Speaking of which, I never encountered a wild beast again on Mount Daluo after turning ten.''

    ''But I heard my junior martial brothers run into countless various strange beasts. They said that when they trained, they often ran into an old ck bear three persons'' tall, tigers with raised eyes and a white forehead, a huge eagle that could catch a wolf with one w, but I never saw them.''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    My shifu disregarded them, "Big deal. I''ve never seen a wild beast when I entered the mountains. Your Shiniang said she fought three hundred rounds with a ck bear and managed to behead it after much arduous efforts, but I don''t even know if that''s true."

    Apparently, Grandmaster was in the same boat. The three of us never encountered wild beasts in the forest. Second Shiniang said that was due to the three of us having a mountain purifying qi, and hence, all wild beasts would be driven away when we enter the mountain.

    It took me ages to find a tiger that wasn''t small by a creek. It looked around with an imposing look and emitted the aura of an overlord.

    "Bro, want to y?"

    I waved at the tiger, only for it to then look at me, and then cry out as though it was struck by lightning before finally fleeing¡­

    ''Oi! You can''t do that! Help me train! I won''t kill you! What are running as if your tail is on fire for?!''

    It may have been a fast runner, but I could''ve caught up if I wanted to.

    It''s already had its soul frightened out of its body, though. If I caught up to it, it''ll probably die from fright without me even hitting it¡­ I''m not skinning it to sell its fur. I think I should give up on training on wild beasts to protect the animals.

    I shot a nce at a small creek by the side. I might as well jump into the creek in the cold. Creeks in the mountain can freeze your bones in winter, but I think it''ll be perfect. It''ll help reduce the heat from the aphrodisiac.

    I dipped my entire body into the water and thought back on the scene of my reunion with Shiyi back there.

    I never expected to meet her in that fashion after not seeing her for several months.

    I was slightly surprised at the start by her disguise, but after careful deliberation, I realised that there were clues.

    To exin it, I need to start by telling you about her alias in the pugilistic world, Demoness.

    Shiyi likes to roam the pugilistic world. In terms of seniority, the majority of people in the pugilistic world are three to four levels below as juniors. Although she''s only younger than me by three years, she felt that everybody in the pugilistic world was her junior. Consequently, she loved to stick her nose into things.

    ''Demoness'' is a title she earned in her early years, as she was the same as me when I was young. Her martial prowess and her wits weren''t proportionate. Her martial prowess far exceeded someone of her age, but her temperament was fairly poor. She particrly loved pulling pranks. Leveraging the fact that she was highly skilled and had a strong backing, she did her fair share of things that shook the world.

    For example, she burnt the patriarch of Wudang, Patriarch Shenfa''s beard, stole the Divine Moon Sect''s ancient books, challenged the seventy six members of Lushan Sword Sanctuary, who are the leaders of the Seven Champion White Princes, and defeated all of them, and she pulled off many other simr feats. That''s the reason that she''s called ''Demoness''.

    To be honest, there''s one more reason, but¡­ it''s somewhat hard for me to say, as her temperament had yet to settle. She''s a bold and unrestrained character to begin with; therefore, she seduced men without any reserve. She''d wink to the guy on the left, send a blow kiss to the fellow on the right and would sometimes even throw herself into a guy''s embrace.

    That''s how news of Demoness became all the rage. Moreover, they said that she was already eighty, but managed to maintain eternal youth by draining men of their Yang energy through bedroom cultivation. The rumour led to lots and lots of gentlemen in the pugilistic world hating her and loving her. They hated her for her unrestrained temperament and shamelessness in practicing that secret bedroom cultivation art. But nheless, they wanted nothing more than to get in her pants and cultivate with her! Unfortunately, they didn''t get the chance to cultivate with her, so instead, they resorted to ndering her.

    ''But! All those men she hit on were me!''

    When I was active in the pugilistic world, I used lots of fake identities. Shiyi saw though my disguises every time; then she''d find her way to me. As a consequence, lots of people were under the impression that Shiyi changed her partner. Daoists would sigh, "She''s changed her cultivation partner again."

    ''Who would practice bedroom cultivation with their martial aunt?! Whoever just had a dirty thought, go face the wall and reflect on yourself!!!''

    Notes:

    *Yang energy - It''s believed that men excrete their Yang energy when they orgasm during intercourse

    **Bedroom cultivation - It means intercourse.

    ***Lushan Sword Sanctuary - I originally tranted it as Lushan Jianguan, but I''ll change the end the Jianguan part to Sword Sanctuary, because with more context now provided, I deem it necessary to reflect that. I''ll make time to change this in earlier chapters. Previously, it was unclear that could take the meaning of sanctuary, because it''s a very diverse character, context not ounted for.

 Volume 4 57 Dojo Challenge

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 57 Dojo Challenge</h4>

    Cough, cough, enough with the bedroom cultivation. Shiyi is actually at the shrine nearby. I realised that from the first time she snuck attack me.''

    That was the day I saw off Boss Shen when she left to go and send a New Year gift to the Seven Champion White Princes. I was afraid that Boss Shen might run into trouble on her journey, so I left ced an insurance measure on her. I had to distract her and make body contact with her to do that, and hence I audaciously hugged her.

    The feeling of her soft body still echoes in my mind, cough, cough, excuse me, I was trying to say that it''s a miracle Boss didn''t beat me to death.

    That was when I first met Shiyi as the maiden in ck.

    The second time was when I made an appointment to meet the Princess on the street, and I found myself in awe at her heroic, suave beauty. That time, Shiyi shot me a warning re from her hiding location.

    Both times was when I was interacting with pretty maidens. That''s why I had a decent rough guess as to why Shiyi didn''t outright reveal herself.

    She was jealous!!

    Because I was too close with Boss and the Princess, even going as far as to have body contact with Boss, Shiyi was absolutely unhappy.

    Shiyi and I are different with regards to seniority, but she was always obviously unhappy whenever a pretty girl approached me. I remember there was a young girl selling mantou who''d smile at me when I went to go buy breakfast. As a result, Shiyi was immediately unhappy. Not only did she start up a meat bun store right opposite of the young girl''s, she even made up an excuse to beat the girl into a meat bun look.

    I have an idea of what Shiyi thinks about me¡­ But one, I can''t reciprocate her feelings. Two, I question what there is about me that she feels is worth her devoting her feelings to me. As such, I''ve always assumed that things would be a little better if she got married.

    However, not only has she not shown any signs of getting married, nosy Shiyi doesn''t even have another male friend.

    Normal girls have a candidate for marriage at fourteen to fifteen years of age. Rushing to find a husband at twenty years of age as the Emperor''s family does is considered veryte, but they get away with it, since it''s the royal family. The Princesses from twelve to twenty seven could find a candidate for marriage any day. All that matters is who she likes. One imperial edict and he''s Fuma. I''d like to see somebody dare refuse.

    Only my Shiyi is different. We don''t run a forcing marriage conning organisation. I can''t knock some guy out and gift him to Shiyi.

    When Shiyi was twenty two, my Shifu asked me to persuade her to find a husband. Subsequently, I named all sorts of benefits of getting married early, such as giving birth to a little fatty, having a blissful home to return to and so forth. But then, Shiyi just stared at my face the entire time without saying a word. She appeared as though she was simultaneously angry and hurt. As a result, I couldn''t bear to continue with the attempt.

    One time, she got mad when I tried to persuade her.

    With tears in her eyes, sheshed out, "Fine then, Ming Feizhen! I doted on you for nothing! You''re so eager to marry me off to another man! Fine, I''ll go get married. I''ll get married to a bastard with terminal disease or a yboy. I don''t want you interfering even if they get me killed."

    The way she looked when she stubbornly withheld her tears looked pretty and intense. When I saw that look, I gave up and apologised. I took her out to y to cate her in the end.

    I sometimes reflect on myself. Perhaps it''s because I always let her have her way that she''s fearless!!

    After that, I lived in seclusion for a long time without contacting her. As such, she didn''t see me and yed the endurance game with me, presumably due to anger. Time went on, and by the time we knew it, she had yed the endurance game until she was twenty five. I don''t know why she went to such lengths¡­

    Now that I think about it, Shiyi probably came to see me to meddle again.

    The part about Jin Wangsun having a fianc¨¦e is true and so is the part about him abandoning her. I truly had to rack my brains to recall his fianc¨¦e to exin Shiyi''s sudden appearance without exposing her disguise and allowing her to believe that it was perfect, so that she wouldn''t be embarrassed!

    Shiyi should, therefore, have met his fianc¨¦e; else, it must''ve been the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect who mentioned it to smack Jin Wangsun awake from his Fuma fantasy.

    Jing Wangsun isn''t going to wake up with one or two ps, though. He no longer purely wants the Imperial Court''s help by being Fuma. He has genuinely fallen for Princess Hongzhuang now.

    Also, I can''t directly knock him out, for that would lead to conflict between me and Gold and Silver Sect.

    ording to the rules of the martial realm, if he challenged me to a one-on-one fight, he''d have to ept the results whether he won or lost. I''ll surrender without a fight. What''s taken is taken. I have the right to call a rematch, as well. Challenging him to a rematch as the master of Night Fortress to take back Night Fortress is the most feasible method.

    With that said, that method goes against my original intention to retire, and it would mean I won''t be able to return to Liu Shan Men. Plus, defeating Jin Wangsun is easy, but taking out Gold and Silver sect is hard.

    Trying to defeat one of the Seven Champion White Princes on my own is practically impossible.

    Even if I ignore Cold Mountain Temple, there''s still Lushan Sword Sanctuary. They''ve been around for a thousand years and have watched power change hands all these years with smiles on their faces. Gold and Silver Sect has built themselves up for a century. They''re wealthy and have talent. Though they don''t have as many skilled fighters as the Imperial Court does, it''s not impossible for them to form a team of a hundred skilled men. Without me, they could massacre Night Fortress, revive them and repeat that for three times without an issue.

    The reason Night Fortress was able to find a way to survive under the watch and pressure of the Seven Champion White Princes is attributed to the fact that all these ns and sects were wary of each other. If one side starts an all-out attack without consideration for the consequences, then there''s going to be one hefty price to pay. There isn''t a single one among the random people that I gathered that would show any loyalty. They''ll immediately flee as soon as something happens. In saying that, I don''t know what tricks Jin Wangsun would use to attack, but I wouldn''t put it past him to set fire to the mountain, so that nobody escapes.

    Owing to Jin Wangsun being able to send over a thousand men in the capital to thrash someone on a street in a most shy fashion - including the Elder Statesman, the Prime Minister, the Emperor''s father inw and even the Emperor, himself - I wouldn''t put anything past him.

    In the worst case scenario, if he knows about the connection between Night Fortress and Mount Daluo, it might turn into a fight between Mount Daluo and Gold and Silver Sect.

    Mount Daluo has stopped being involved with the pugilistic for many years now. Most disciples of Mount Daluo won''t leave their name behind when carrying out justice or heroic deeds. Back when the orthodox sects and the Imperial Court joined hands to take out Divine Moon Sect, Mount Daluo didn''t even send a cleaner to join them, which is enough for me to understand my Shifu''s stance.

    A fight between the threergest orthodox sects and the Seven Champion White Princes must be avoided at all costs. If that fight breaks out, it''ll spell disaster for the martial world. All of the forces in the dark that are eager to take action might act at any moment.

    The Divine Moon Sect''s destruction in the Central ins brought peace to the martial world for many years, but who''s to say if there will be a new fuse?

    The one and only thing to feel consoled about is that the former patriarch, old Patriarch Jin doesn''t agree to his retarded son''s method. With him being pulling on Jin Wangsun''s back leg, I can fight for the Fuma post without any qualms. The former patriarch reigned as patriarch for decades. The power he wields is far more than what Jin Wangsun managed to gain in mere months. I''m sure that the former patriarch had backup prepared for himself. Additionally, there should be many in the sect that oppose Jin Wangsun; otherwise, he wouldn''t havee to the capital on his own, which is the main reason that I don''t want to butt heads with him face to face at the moment.

    If I give him too much pressure that he has to return to the headquarters of Gold and Silver Sect to call for help, the sect will unite tobat their foreign enemy, which would be me. It would be the equivalent of me helping Jin Wangsun unite Gold and Silver, which would only serve to make things harder for me.

    "Gold and Silver Sect''s young master, who is also Fuma, united his sect and final defeated the public enemy of the martial world, Night Fortress."

    ''If that''s how the ck and White Reflection records it, how the hell am I going to be able to remain around?!''

    I intuitively refocused my attention on how to deal with Jin Wangsun.

    Shiyi and the Princess have both indicated that they''ll help me. They''re helping "Ming Feizhen," while the person who wants to take back Night Fortress is "Night Fortress''s Master."

    It appears that I''ll have to dedicate some effort to recapturing Night Fortress.

    At present, what I need to do is confirm Jin Wangsun''s situation. I need to find out exactly how much power he wields, in addition to how many subordinates he has at hismand. If I can''t get a grasp on his situation and my own, it''ll be dangerous to act rashly.

    After analysing all these things, it was daylight before I knew it. The first bright sunrays lit up the mountain forest. The creek continued to flow. The sunlight shone onto the water surface, giving the water a vibrant and lively appearance.

    I slowly stood up in the creek and moulded energy to dry my clothing. Then I thought about what I needed to do next.

    ''I''m hungry. How about going to eat something? Where shall I eat today?''

    I suddenly remembered the person Jin Wangsun sent after me to give me grief when I was walking on the main street.

    ''I have an idea now.''

    ===========

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There were rows of troops outside of Jin Wangsun''s estate, but I knew there was a hole in the formation that I could sneak into the estate from. After all, I was the one who went and called for Shuntian Prefecture to send troops. Thus, I located the hole and somersaulted over the wall to sneak into his estate.

    Jin Wangsun wallows in money. He lives a life of luxury, so I can''t go wrong sneaking into his kitchen for breakfast.

    I could smell the fragrance sting forth from the kitchen before I even set foot inside. I poked my head in to see the head chef in the middle of frying Jinling herbs. A vegetarian diet is popr among people from Nanjing. In fact, vegetarian dishes are particrly popr. There were the three Jinling herbs, namely goji, chrysanthemum nankingense and Indian aster. Every dish had its unique fresh fragrance. The scent wasn''t overwhelming, but refreshing when eaten.

    I snuck into the kitchen and snatched up a te of Jinling herbs as well as a bowl with pink soup. While I was at it, I took two tes of refreshments, too. Additionally, I took a te of fried broad beans. After I turned to leave, I took big bites while strolling around in the courtyard without a single care.

    I deliberately went slow and audaciously walked around in the courtyard. The family retainers quickly noted my presence and twenty of them surrounded me faster than the time it''d take for me to finish a small cup of tea.

    The leader of the group looked at my strange dress up.

    I wore arge and baggy robe. On its back was a hood that was attached to the robe, which I used to cover my head, and thereby hiding my face. I deliberately let my hair down, which also contributed to covering up my face.

    I had my head down in the food and drink without a care for the people around me.

    Those few family retainers felt more panicked the calmer I was. When I nearly finished breakfast, one of them finally mustered up the courage to say, "Who are you?! This is the estate of the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect. How dare you trespass? If you are here to see Patriarch Jin, leave your request card and wait outside for further instructions. We shall report to the Patriarch for you."

    I ced thest te down and waved my hand, "Don''t be so courteous. I''m not here to visit."

    "In that case, what are you here for?"

    I snickered. I raised my head a little to allow them to meet my vicious gaze. I revealed a savage look in my eyes, "This one is Zhong Ning. This one is here to challenge you!"

    Notes:

    *Giving birth to a little fatty - While I suspect it may sound insulting in some cultures, it''s considered a good thing to have a "little fatty" in China, Vietnam, Korea (maybe others, as well) because they see that as a sign of the baby being healthy

 Volume 4 58 Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 58 Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual</h4>

    It didn''t take long to be a riot.

    Basically, the moment I finished saying, "Challenge you," two ready family retainers rushed at me with iron pipes one after the other.

    Judging from the way that they wielded the iron pole, I discerned that they were door guards from Nanjing, so they weren''t rted to Gold and Silver Sect.

    "Mere door guards are trying to act tough in front of This One?!"

    I vaguely remember that Zhong Ning was called a perverted demon, who was most skilled with a spear.

    ''Fuck! Damn pervert''s martial arts style is perverted, too. Of all things he could like, he likes spears. General Manager Bai sent him to the castration room to cut his spear off, precisely because he yed with his spear too much in his lifetime.''

    I snatched an iron pole from one of them and used it as a long spear. Then I gently¡­ and carefully¡­ swung it left and right. The tip of the pole vibrated, creating multiple after images I struck. I sent the two guards were sent flying sideways. I thought I put too much force into my strikes from the way they flew off, but then I saw that they had just passed out, which told me that I used just the right amount of strength.

    ''That''s how much force I need to use.''

    They didn''t seem to be afraid of me. I coldly snorted, "This one loves pretty girls most. What are the lot of you damn bastards here for?"

    With a manoeuvre technique, I threw one out. I touched a maid on her face. Before she could shriek, I gave her shoulder a push to spin her around and gave her a resounding spank on her butt cheek that. The maid went totally red in the face, but she was so frightened that she couldn''t utter a word.

    Iughed in a strange tone, "Wow, you can stand even that?"

    A family retainer lost it. He eximed, "How dare you?! How dare you cause trouble at Gold and Silver Sect?! You must be sick of living!!"

    This family retainer wielded a broadsword. He began his offensive against me with consecutive attacks. He was definitely from Gold and Silver Sect.

    ''I wonder how many more of them there are at this abode.''

    His swings were akin to a snowke, but I didn''t care. I casually intercepted his sabre using my iron pole. When the tip of my pole shed with his sabre, he reacted as though I smashed it with arge hammer that weighed a tonne. As a result of my technique, his broadsword flew out of his hand. I used a straight thrust attack a second time. He dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

    I shot an intimidating look at the remaining family retainers. They then rushed at me together, which led to a big fight.

    I, Zhong Ning, took on a group of elites alone with a single iron pole. I basically knocked several out cold just by swinging a circle then after a few more flicks, nobody was left standing.

    I then enunciated thepulsory line in these sorts of situations, "Gold and Silver Sect is shabby."

    I then walked around in the abode wherever I pleased.

    "Useless trash. You think you can stand This One''s divine spear?!"

    ''Jeez, it''s all this Zhong Ning guy''s fault that my lines are getting more and more evil. I can''t believe that I keep yelling out that I''m going to use my spear, long spear and its variants. Now, merely mentioning spear in a legitimate sentence sounds disgusting, too.''

    This estate is veryrge. I can''t see everything now. There was no shortage of stairs. The ce unted all the unique characteristics of Jiangnan. Wherever I went, I''d used the same tactic of pinching maids'' butt cheeks, thereby infuriating people before knocking attackers in each area out.

    Afterwards, I even began to feel that using an iron pole was too much of a hassle, so I used broad beans, instead. Yes, you read that right; I used broad beans.

    I grabbed a bag of broad beans that had just been fried. They smelt nice and were crunchy. I flicked beans at family retainers that charged toward me. A thin ck silhouette shed pass. He got rocked, and then dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

    Gold and Silver Sect doesn''t have weak subordinates, which was what I thought. A mere door guard was able to take one broad bean flick from me. I thought that I''d cause a cascade of severe injuries, but he was merely immobilised. They were insignificant to me, but their foundation was solid.

    I threw broad beans at their meridians while chewing on some. I took out another batch in the same manner.

    At the end, I finally managed to provoke Jin Wangsun, who was hiding indoors, intoing out.

    When he came out and saw his servants scattered all over the ground, he was abnormally enraged. He immediately took out a sabre used in executions that was named "King Kong." He red at me with an infuriated gaze and shouted, "Insolent pervert! For as long as I am here, you shall not exist in Jiangnan. Take this!"

    It''s said that Sabre King of Jiangnan, Jin Wangsun, has more than ten different sabres, with each sabre being used in conjunction with different styles and mental cultivation, which therefore, made them fearsome in different ways. He has a gold and silver sabre. Besides being worth a load of money, it was most suited to swift attacks.

    As for this King Kong Sabre of his, it''s supposed to be a sabre that focuses on brute force, which is why the style that''s used in conjunction with it consists of shes and an emphasis on toughness and power. This style reminds me of Five Tigers Gate Destroying Sabre, Tiger Forehead Splitter Swordy and other simr straightforward power techniques.

    ''Can one use so many techniques with a single sabre?''

    ''Jin Wangsun has never learnt those styles, though. ording to what his father said, Jin Wangsun''s sabre skills may be decent, but Gold and Silver Sect doesn''t possess any sabre styles worth learning. So, where did he learn his sabre skills from?''

    I didn''t concern myself any further. I moulded energy with one hand and raised the pole up horizontally. His sabre shed with my iron pole. The friction generated sparks!

    Jin Wangsun was delighted to see me take up a defensive position, so he immediately attacked with a barrage of powerful moves with the intent of taking my life.

    ''His moves looked familiar to me. No, I''m not saying that I''m so highly educated on martial arts that I can tell, but that I seem to have fought with the owner of the style. It resembles the sabre style that Tang Ye used!''

    ''Doesn''t this sabre stylee from the Valley of Yearning''s Bai n? They don''t teach their style to outsiders! It''s strictly taught to their disciples! How are you and Tang Ye able to use it?! What sort of trade did you make?!''

    I continued to calmly fight with him. I switched the position of my pole between horizontal, vertical, raised it and lowered it to intercept his attacks, consequently, emitting a chain sequence of sounds of metal and iron colliding. All of Jin Wangsun''s attacks were intercepted by my divine spear no matter how fast or vicious his attacks were!

    After exchanging over twenty blows with me, he became extremely dispirited. First, it was illogical for his King Kong Sabre, which is a rare sharp weapon, to be snapped by my iron pole. Next, I hadn''t counterattacked once yet, which left him even more bewildered as to why I came here.

    My goal today was to see how skilled he truly was and where his true skills lie.

    I observed his sabre style and couldn''t resist the urge to say, "I heard that the ancestors of Gold and Silver Sect have been searching for martial arts manuals around since their time with the aim of collecting many manuals to form their own n. Subsequently, they devised a godly style¡­" I wore a belittling smirk, "So you people haven''t given up on trying to imitate Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual?"

    Jin Wangsun shuddered. He fumed, "Wh-Wh-What nonsense is this?!"

    "Hmph, you im This One is speaking nonsense? This One is not blind. Brat, your n''s deeds are truly embarrassing."

    I''ve said it before. My martial brothers all have their specialties. Other than me, the five disciples of Mount Daluo''s third generation have all mastered different styles. Our sect has already researched styles that have reached the apex of martial arts. If you were to categorise said styles, they would consist of: palm styles, qinggong, hard styles, finger styles and swordy.

    Those five martial arts styles are my grandmaster''s specialty. They call him Hero Shenzhou, a man with prowess beyond the boundary of humans. He had be invincible at an early age and lived over a hundred, which practically makes him a demi-god. In hister years, he modified his lifetime worth of skills and recorded them in Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual.

    While it''s said that it consists of five styles, the truth is, the contents are vast, profound andplex beyond what words can do justice. Divine Palm Manual, alone, dives deep into the keyponents of palm styles across thends, pointing out their pros and cons. The manual also includes our Mount Daluo''s supreme styles, Moon Weaving Palms and Empty Palms.

    There are over thirty totally different palm styles that are all unique in their own rights. Mastering Empty Palms alone would allow one to defeat countless people; hence, it''s honoured as one of the five most formidable palm styles in the world. A martial arts practitioner would have to bury his head in it, as mastering it would take decades.

    As for qinggong, there''s Shadow Zipping Manual, a manoeuvre style that allows one to move so fast they are perceived as a passing light, such that opponents have no means of guarding against it.

    For hard styles, there''s Golden God Manual. It''s nicknamed Daluo''s Unshakable Golden God. Not even metal can hurt its user. At current, Fourth Brother is its master.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For finger styles, there''s Brutal Murder Manual. For swordy, there''s Ultimate Sword Manual. These two you can ignore for now.

    Other than our Grandmaster, nobody else in Mount Daluo has mastered all five styles. Not even my Shifu, the patriarch of Mount Daluo. He''s only managed to master Divine Palm Manual, Shadow Zipping Manual and Ultimate Sword Manual.

    It''s not that hecks talent, but that he doesn''t have enough time.

    I heard that my Shifu was still just a mischievous brat when he met my Grandmaster. Afterwards, he trained for nearly thirty years before he was allowed to descend the mountain. He learnt those three styles in those thirty or so years.

    Because my Shifu was locked up on that lonely and empty mountain for almost thirty years, he felt so suffocated that he wanted to hang himself. That''s why the first thing he did when he descended the mountain was visit brothels. Visit after visit and several decades had passed before he knew it¡­

    For the record, he hasn''t finished visiting them.

    So as you can see, therees a lot of pressure with learning that unlucky style.

    If it took my Shifu thirty years with his talent, others might as well stick to dreaming of it.

    I''m not particrly surprised by that, though, since it was created by my Grandmaster.

    Given my Grandmaster''s talent, cultivation and experience, he, too, required a hundred years to create that supreme art. Therefore, regardless of who tries to learn it, they''d have to spend a tremendous amount of time.

    Consequently, mastering Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual is an incredibly life-consuming endeavour.

    Thus, my Shifu came up with the idea of having my fellow disciples master one style each, instead, to prevent us from wasting our lifespan. His method allowed us to effectively use our prime time for training to master a style most suited to us.

    Back in the day, the manual wasn''t called Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual, for the reason that it was justpleted and Grandmaster hadn''t given it a name. It wasn''t until Grandmaster heard of Shifu''s idea that he revealed a faint smile and wrote down on a nk sheet of paper the five words, Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual.

    Back then, I couldn''tprehend the reason for the name no matter how I racked my brains.

    I thought, "Does this name have anything to do with the styles we''re supposed to learn?"

    But I figured it outter on.

    ''You guessed it! The implied intenty in the meaning of the ambiguity of the word Divine. The words for divine can be read as retarded.''

    ''Once my fellow disciples finished one divine style, they''d bing Daluo''s Five Living Retards!!''

    ''Yep! The reason my Grandmaster named it that was to make a fucking joke that''s funny by virtue of not being funny at all!!''

    Notes:

    *Toughness and power - Toughness refers to the rigid nature of the techniques and tendency to trade, such as trading blow for blow or blocking attacks head on (e.g. checking a kick, instead of sweeping it or directly countering). Power refers to attacks, which emphasise generating maximum force.

    **Divine VS Retard - Okay, this is different and I had to insert information into the text, so that you didn''t miss out on the joke. The divine characters in Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual is Éñ¾­, which means nerves, but can also mean retardation.

    It doesn''t actually mean ''divine'', so don''t actually use it that way. In the original text, they aren''t read as one word, but actually, two words, which are split up as Éñ£¨divine£©and ¾­£¨manual£©. The word ''styles'' is merely there to adapt it to English.

    In the joke, however, it''s read as one word; hence, it''s usage of the ''retardation'' definition.

    So, when reading it as the y on words intended here, instead of reading it as

    ´óÂÞ£¨Daluo''s£©

    Îå£¨five£©

    Éñ£¨divine£©

    insert ''Styles''

    ¾­£¨manual£©

    It''s read

    ´óÂÞ£¨Daluo''s£©

    Îå£¨five£©

    Éñ¾­£¨retards£©.

    ***Cold Joke - This isn''t in the English text, as I rewrote it to avoid confusion, but a cold joke is a Chinese term which refers to a joke that''s funny by virtue of not being funny at all.

 Volume 4 59 Shameless

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 59 Shameless</h4>

    Now that we''ve discussed Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual, let''s learn about Mount Daluo''s marvellous tradition.

    ording to Mount Daluo''s tradition, the styles created by disciples of the sect would qualify to be recorded in Cloud Stair to Heaven once the reigning patriarch has a look over it. Cloud Stair to Heaven is the library for Mount Daluo''s manuals. The patriarch of every generation has to create a secret martial arts manual of their own that needed to surpass at least ten self-invented styles.

    The essence of styles from Grandmaster''s era was recorded in Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual. Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual contains an enormous number of styles. There are thirty palm styles which fit the requirements, alone.

    After teaching my Shifu, hidden weapons, fan styles, qinna and countless other deft styles were added to its repertoire. Shifu then separated them into more categories before he taught them to my fellow disciples.

    Grandmaster''s Daluo Mental Cultivation emphasises profoundness. My Shifu''s style focuses on intricate and clever techniques. Shifu is a perverted and unfettered, cough, entric and unrestrained person. In spite of that, however, he''s very meticulous, which is why he specialises in styles that focus more on details. His self-invented style was recorded in a book called Heavenly Net Treasure Records. I''ve seen the book, but I just couldn''t understand the contents¡­ My Shifu''s style seems to be theplete opposite of mine.

    ''It''s too darnplex for me to learn!''

    If training Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual is a fight against one''s lifespan, learning Heavenly Net Treasure Records is a test of one''s talent. Shifu''s martial arts are all without strict and rigid concepts and twists and turns that one can''t understand even if they rack their brains. For example, there''s the Miracle Reversal Manual. I can learn the Force Reverse Meridian internal energy cultivationponent, but with regards to the execution part, do I really need to walk upside down?

    ''The fuck am I, Ouyang Feng?! I still can''tprehend it for the life of me even today! Is it my Shifu''s deliberate prank?''

    Of all the disciples in the sect, there are only three disciples who have the talent required to learn Heavenly Net Treasure Records. One of the three is Shiyi. That''s why it''s not a fluke that Shiyi meets rarely meets anyone who can rival her prowess in the pugilistic world.

    The reason for that is that because she is the only person who''s well-versed in all three ultimate styles no matter if it''s Daluo''s Five Divine Styles, Heaven Net Treasure Records or Night Net Manual. Nobody would dare to stop her if she wanted to learn them. Grandmaster doted on this cousin of his most. He gave her anything she wanted. He dotes on her more than he''d dote on a granddaughter.

    ''As for when Shifu and I face off against Shiyi, let''s not go there. It''s embarrassing¡­''

    Now, let''s talk about my era. Us five martial siblings are still in the phase of learning our sect''s skills, which is why the contents of Night Net Manual is bullsh*t I shoved in, because even if Grandmaster, Shifu and I were the ones to possess profound knowledge, I''m the only one who learnt martial arts that¡­ Strictly speaking, I may have learnt lots of internal strength styles, but I neverpletely learnt the technical executionponent of any style. Up until now, the styles I got closest to finishing were Taiji Fist, which I learnt over half of, Dragon w, which I learnt about half of and Grandmaster''s Fist, which I learnt about one-third of.

    Daluo wins in terms of profoundness; Heavenly Net is formidable for its intricacy, while my Night Nets, uhh, it doesn''t seem to have anything unique about it. It''s basically grab someone, and use him as a big bat¡­

    ''I honestly don''t know any other way of fighting! All that matters in a fight is pummelling the opponent into the ground, isn''t it?! Sword twirls and all that shy whatever is beyond me!

    As for Night Nets Manual''spletion, that was my test from my Shifu before I descended the mountain at twenty two years of age. I had descended the mountain countless times before that, but I had toplete the exam to ascend the mountain as a graduate.

    However, due to me knowing squat besides internal strength, I wrote Night Steps as my manoeuvre art. The truth is that Night Steps is also another internal strength cultivation method. I merely wrote it for the sake of passing the exam. I was hopeless with everything else. As a result, I resorted to copying skills from my seniors¡­ It took me seven days of copying some of this and some of that to finish Night Nets Manual.

    Consequently, the quality of Night Nets Manual isn''t good. Shifu always referred to my Night Nets Manual as trash. He said that other than Night Steps, all of my other self-invented ultimate arts such as X Dragon w, Picking Dishes like Divine Fingers and The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art were all retarded and unpresentable. I can''t even remember the number of times he rolled his eyes at my Night Nets Manual. I''m still extremely discontent with that.

    ''All else aside, The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art was a move I burnt the midnight oil and worked all day to copy from Cloud Stair to Heaven and a bunch of other manuals I stole from! Don''t look down on it because of its name. It''s hard to be a chef in an eatery that can ensure all the shoulders belong to you! I had to copy Empty Fists energy moulding style to create it! To troll people, I even named it Empty Palms Version Two Point 2.0!''

    ''What, you think that the name doesn''t sound elegant? You think I should copy you with your bullsh*t Snow ke Sword, Jujube Flower Palms and whatnot? Look, I''m not trying to criticise you, but naming your martial arts skills after brothels is what''s truly embarrassing!''

    ''Don''t go thinking I haven''t been to Snowke Brothel and Jujube Flower Brothel! The elder sister type of girl that ys the string instrument is fond of me. She even fed me jujube flowers when I was young!!''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Oi!" Jin Wangsun aggressively roared, "What are you hiding in the tree and spacing out for? We fighting or not?!"

    ''Ah? I think I just went on a trip down memoryne and forgot about my fight with Jin Wangsun.''

    ''Cough, cough, I digressed there. Okay, I''m done talking. Next on the menu is what Gold and Silver Sect has been tinkering with for around a century.''

    When I was the master of Night Fortress, I had lots of conversations with Old Patriarch Jin. At the time, he once mentioned that Gold and Silver Sect had been doing one thing for roughly a century, which was to collect all martial arts manuals in the world to create a god-tier martial arts style.

    When I heard his idea, I nearly blurted, "Isn''t that our fucking Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual?!"

    Grandmaster''s Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual is a style that he created by crossing seas and mountains to st(steal)-, excuse me, created by reading and memorising countless styles across thends, in addition to his amazing knowledge and profound cultivation.

    ''Gold and Silver sect wants to giarise the skills that my Grandmaster giarised? How Shameless!''

    In saying that, I can understand why they had the idea. My Grandmaster was invincible back then, and most of the credit can be attributed to Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual. It wasn''t oneplete style yet back then, and some were yet to be invented by him, but he already had a prototype. He''s the perfect example of the saying, the older one is, the wiser they are.

    Shifu''s Heavenly Net Treasure Record may be very formidable, but it''s too hard to bepatible with it. If there''s something to be handed down, Grandmaster''s Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual is the only option.

    I think that''s what the ancestors of Gold and Silver Sect thought when they attempted it. They wanted to invent a style that could be passed down simrly to Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual.

    I never expected old Patriarch Jin to tell me. The reason Jin family''s ancestors collected secret manuals was to fight my Grandmaster, because Grandmaster schooled him. He didn''t want to ept defeat, which is why he came up with the idea.

    ''My fucking god, it was all over a personal vendetta! Your descendants have been ving away for over a century just because you couldn''t swallow your grudge! Your grandson''s are all obedient! If the Emperor''s family had descendants that were as obedient, they wouldn''t keep on trying to overthrow their father!''

    ''Also, is your idea of revenge giarising my Grandmaster''s idea?! That''s enough of your bullsh*t!!''

    Notes:

    *Ouyang Feng - A viinous character from Jin Yong''s (Louis Cha) Condor Heroes trilogy. He learns ¸òó¡¹¦£¨Toad Skill£©. As the name suggests, the style has the user imitate the movement of a frog, so they leap around simrly to a frog. The style was very powerful, and being a martial arts fanatic, Ouyang Feng was willing to leap around as a human and looking like a retard to the rest of the world, which is why Ming Feizhen refers to him.

    ** The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art - For the record, the ''shoulder'' here refers to pork shoulders and what have you, not human shoulders

 Volume 4 60 Hidden Expert

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 60 Hidden Expert</h4>

    ''Later on, I asked the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect why he upheld such ame tradition, only for him to reply that he believed it to be the right course of action.''

    ''The former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect is quite the good geezer. He approved of what was done. On one hand, he believed that inventing a supreme martial art style would give his sect more power. On the other hand, he believed it to be beneficial for the martial world, as it''smon for there to be rare and peculiar things in the martial world, but original inventions vanish into history due to descendantscking what it took to aplish the feat or encountering enemies that took their lives. By collecting as many martial arts manuals as they could, Gold and Silver Sect essentially managed to prevent many styles from going extinct.''

    ''At the time, I had no interest in martial arts, which is why I didn''t really take what he said to heart.''

    As I observe Jin Wangsun''s sabre techniques now, I can see that he switched to another sabre. He still held King Kong in his ride hand, but he drew another de, which was a broadsword from his waist with his left hand. If I''m correct, the sabre he drew with his left hand is called ''Pearl'', a pure-white, long, slender and thin sabre. It''s aesthetic and is just missing a gift wrapping. Jin Wangsun performed a Broadsword Flower with it. Before hepleted it, his broadsword instantly split into four des that all radiated with murderous intent.

    Up until now, he has changed sabre styles several times already. If I''m correct, he used no less than five different styles with King Kong Sabre. He even used Valley of Yearning''s Bai n''s Red Sleeve Sabre Art. Now that he''s switched to a broadsword as his main, he''s changed to another style that''s different to his rigid and power focused style just before. It''s almost as if he''s a different person whenever he picks up a different de.

    Gold and Silver Sect have umted a hundred years of knowledge. They never managed to create an original god-tier style, but it''s possible that they have more knowledge than any other sect or school at this point in time. It''s no wonder why Jin Wangsun focuses solely on sabre arts. With the enormous number of manuals his family has collected, he''d never make a name for himself if he tried to learn everything at once. Chasing two rabbits usually results in catching neither, after all.

    "My family''s Ten Treasured ssics is a secrets among secrets," Jin Wangsun didn''t seem to want to let others hear, so he lowered his voice, "How did you know about, you sick pervert?!"

    As he spoke, he executed four techniques with Pearl Broadsword. It seemed to be an attack, yet not, because it continued to change and vary simrly to a snake striking its prey. He then unleashed a heavy swing with King Kong Sabre using his right hand. The heavy attack was extremely violent.

    My attention was elsewhere.

    ''Ten Treasured ssics! You call that yet-to-exist style of yours Ten Treasured ssics?! Grandmaster named his style Five Divine Styles Manuals, so you called yours Ten Treasured ssics! Grandmaster had five, so you have to one up him and have ten, huh?!''

    I didn''t take Jin Wangsun head on. Instead, I timed it so that I could borrow the momentum of his attack to slide down from the tree along the trunk. While I was at it, I went back to the question I had for Jin Wangsun.

    "We have many ways. It''s none of your business."

    "Yours?" Jin Wangsun emphasised the part I mentioned it was about me. My heart skipped a beat.

    ''Sh*t. I didn''t let anything slip, did I?''

    I never expected him to ridicule me, "You perverts have formed a society now? That''s beyond disgusting."

    ''What do you mean pervert society?! At least, call it flower picking society!''

    I don''t know why, but I dodged his attacks as I stood up for the pervert. In his right hand was King Kong, in his left was Pearl, which was abination that had elements of hard and rigid, yet also soft and without form, which you could say was abination of yin and yang. He then unleashed a barrage of incredibly amazing moves. The only style I could think of that continuously changed throughout whileplementing one another was Red Sleeve Broadsword, which is a style from Valley of Yearning''s Bai n.

    My intuition told me that this move should be his trick up his sleeve. Should he utilise it as it was originally supposed to be utilised, I''m certain that it''d be very troublesome.

    Consequently, I took a step back with a smile. I disregarded all the soft and fluid, hard and rigid changes Jin Wangsun made as he alternated. I raised my left arm and lowered my right. I tightened my grip on the iron pole in my hand and swung it at his head. A fierce gale sprung up. The swing was so inconceivable that it appeared as though my iron pole absorbed all the qi in the atmosphere to swing toward Jin Wangsun as a fierce gale.

    The powerful gale sted toward Jin Wangsun, making it feel hard for him to even breathe. The gale made his body sluggish, thereby immediately slowing his attacks down. He''s a handsomed among the skilled fighters in the young generation, and he was aware that he virtually wouldn''t have a chance if he was slow. My pole swung toward him very quickly. My pole was long while his sabre was short. He, too, had to calcte whether or not he''d be able to cut me first or if I''d bash him to death first with my longer pole first.

    As such, he had to pull back and focus on defence. He crossed his two des over each other and gathered his internal energy to block my attack.

    I put much more strength into this swing inparison to when I beat up the family retainers. Jin Wangsun slightly frowned as it took a good deal of effort for him to stop the attack. Nevertheless, he still had enough in him to withstand the attack.

    He struggled with all his might to hold back my attack. He gritted his teeth, so I could barely hear what he said, "Wh-What exactly are you here for¡­?"

    "There is no sin that I, Zhong Ning, don''tmit. Do I need a reason to beat some people up?"

    His face was bright red. I suddenly had a mischievous idea, so I mischievously chuckled, "Young Master Jin, have you yed whack-a-mole before?"

    "??"

    "It''s not an issue if you haven''t. I''ll teach you."

    I didn''t wait for his stunned expression to return to normal. I suddenly raised my iron pole up high as if I was raising an iron hammer, consequently relieving Jin Wangsun of all the weight crushing him below and allowing his muscles, nerves and bones to rx, but that almost caused him to drop to the floor.

    When he looked at my expression, though, he immediately knew something was wrong, and hence tried to flee.

    "Take this!!"

    I swung down at him over ten times faster than myst swing, viciously mming down onto his two des. Sparks shot out as if a firework went off. The loud ng of our weapons colliding exploded in his ears. Jin Wangsun maintained his posture with his de, but his body jolted, which was a sign that the pole hit hard enough to rock him.

    Not long ago, he angrily came rushing at me looking for a fight, but he now had a dumbstruck look on his face. Iughed, "Hahaha, don''t be scared! Don''t be scared!"

    *ng!*

    *ng!*

    I imagined Jin Wangsun as a soldering iron. I raised my pole and swung it down. I continued speaking as I swung the pole down, thereby creating loud ngs one after another.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You''re usually busy bullying the kind and running from the bullies, so you don''t have time!"

    *ng!*

    "To ymoners'' games!"

    *ng!*

    "This one shall impart knowledge ofmoner''s onto you today!"

    *ng! ng!*

    "This *ng!* is *ng!* called *ng!* Whack-a-mole! *ng!* A technique reserved specifically for beating up sick fucks, like you!!"

    *ng! ng! ng*!!*

    "You asked me what I came for, right?! Listen in, I like the Princess! I came for the Princess! You want to marry the Princess? See if This One''s divine spear approves first!!"

    *ng! ng! ng! ng!!*

    I continued swinging for a while before stopping just to see what he had to say. I kept my iron pole pressed down on his two des to prevent him from running.

    After myst swing, Jin Wangsun begun to pant for air. He forced himself to speak, "If you''re here for the Princess¡­ I know somebody who''s the perfect fit for you. His name is Ming Feizhen. He lives at Liu Shan Men. He''s the one who''s most likely to marry the Princess. Go and kill him¡­"

    ''Oh, really? Fuck you!!''

    ''You want me to go kill Ming Feizhen?!''

    ''Scolding the locust while pointing at the mulberry, and pointing at a coward to call him a bastard, are we?!!''

    ''Wait¡­ why does that example sound strange¡­?''

    "I don''t want to beat him; This One wants to beat you, specifically!!"

    *ng! ng! ng! ng! ng!!*

    "Why aren''t you responding? I''m talking to you, yet you don''t respond?! This is what you get for not responding! This is what you get for not responding! You''re so rude!!"

    *ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! ng!!*

    As I continued to swing down onto his des, his feet continued to sink deeper and deeper into the ground. After myst swing, he was almost knee deep in the ground.

    Jin Wangsun mustered up every ounce of strength in his body to withstand my swings. He didn''t have any chance to use his amazing skills. All he could do was hold up his des to avoid being reduced to mincemeat. His strength in his arms gradually left him while his legs quaked. His face went redder and redder. Two more swings and he''ll spit blood before passing out on the ground.

    ''It''s about time, I guess.''

    I deliberately pulled my pole back and made a gesture to indicate I was going to throw the finishing blow.

    Jin Wangsun took the opportunity to yell, "Big Cat! Are you not going toe out? Are you going to watch your master get killed?!!"

    "Ho!!"

    It soundedparable to a tiger''s roar! After the roar that wasparable to a wild beast emitting its murderous intent, a dark shadow with immense murderous intent suddenly came down from the sky as fast as a wild storm. The dark silhouette was agile and fierce. It managed to close in on me in just a couple of movements. I stabbed with my pole without bothering to look.

    However, the dark silhouette came down from between the trees. He went down on all four limbs as a wild beast would as soon as hended. He managed to nimbly dodge my thrust. He then shot me a re. The murderous intent in his eyes could bepared to a powerful beast choosing its target to gnaw.

    He was the first person to dodge a serious attack from me ever since I came to this abode.

    ''I predicted as much. Jin Wangsun had apetent fighter with him. ''

    ''This fellow is the hidden expert that the patriarchs of Gold and Silver Sect keep by their side!''

    Notes:

    *Broadsword Flower - I filmed it for you =>

 Volume 4 61 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 61 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Part 1)</h4>

    After missing my first attack, I struck again. When the shadow of my pole appeared overhead, he immediately turned and moved. He seemed to have some metal object on him that jingled whenever he moved. However, he moved unbelievably fast. My swing was very swift, but to my surprise, I missed. He was much more agile than Jin Wangsun, who exchanged blows head on.

    From the rear, Jin Wangsun shouted, "Big Cat, your sudden appearance didn''t frighten Her H-, her, right?"

    The owner of the dark silhouette shook his head, "No."

    Iughed, "What sort of monster are you? Show yourself!"

    I swung down at his head as myst swing. The wind st produced from my swing evidently affected his movement.

    He punched upward to meet with the poleing down. He was abnormally strong. He was almost able to bend the pole with his punch. The strength of his punch didn''te from internal energy, but pure arm brute strength. It was clear that he had mastered an outer style, which allows him to strike swift as lightning and generate tremendous power.

    However, the strength between an outer style and an inner style can''t bepared. My swing pushed him back in spite of his effort. When he gradually lost his ability to support himself, I felt my pole tilt a little. To the side was Jin Wangsun, who held King Kong Sabre in his right hand while drawing a circle with his left hand. I had no clue what he was up to, but the circle he drew generated a suction force. The force ended up bending my iron pole a little.

    Taking advantage of my pole being bent, the dark silhouette popped down and deftly rolled out of the range of my pole.

    ''Eh?''

    ''Why does this palm moveset Jin Wangsun is using look so familiar?''

    "Daluo''s Empty Palms?"

    Jin Wangsun revealed a look a proud smirk, "Realise how formidable I am now?!!"

    He attacked with the sabre in his right hand while the dark silhouette leapt at me at the same time.

    ''How did Jin Wangsun learn Empty Palms?''

    ''He only took my Night Net Manual. Five Divine Styles Manual can''t possibly be in his ownership.''

    ''Ah, wait¡­ Empty Palms isn''t in Night Net Manual, but I did giarise some parts from Empty Palms. I even wrote version 2.0, The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art!!''

    ''Jin Wangsun stole my The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art, and then thought he learnt Empty Palms!!''

    ''Wipe that smirk off your face! All you learnt was how to snatch shoulders at a diner!!''

    I twirled my iron pole and ruthlessly knocked Jin Wangsun back with a swing then I threw a nted stab - the way you''d use a spear - at the iing dark silhouette. He was fast to react, though. He grabbed the pole with his hands, but I could permanently cripple his hands if I channelled my strength through the pole.

    I hesitated for a moment and decided against unleashing my strength; after all, he''ll die if I use excessive force.

    Seeing as I didn''t follow up, he immediately leapt back to put distance between us and regroup with Jin Wangsun, who I smacked flying.

    Upon closer inspection, I discerned the man, who entered the fray all of a sudden, to be roughly thirty years old. He was a tall and masculine man. I was surprised that he was as tall as I was. He was tall and sturdy. His gaze looked imposing without him having to be angry. I truly never expected him to be an aplished man through and through.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I''m tall, but he was even taller than me. We look roughly the same height when face to face, but that was due to his weird way of walking, which made him shrink. He resembled a tiger poising itself to spring into an attack. He bent his knees and bent over at the waist to lean his body forward. As a result, he was shorter. If he stood straight up, he should be somewhat taller than me.

    Despite his height being reduced when he bent over, his imposing aura wasn''t reduced in the least. He''s arge man with wide shoulders, a thick posterior chain and two big arms that were akin to tough iron. He was arge man for sure. In spite of hisrge physique, he wasn''t slow.

    His gaze was calm and imposing; whenbined with his serious face and silent nature, he looked fierce as a tiger.

    ''It''s clear that his skills aren''t inferior to Jin Wangsun''s. It wouldn''t be unreasonable to say that the bodyguard for the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect is highly skilled, but the strange part is that he hid on the tree by the room and didn''t show himself even after I gave his patriarch a beat down. It was only when Jin Wangsun had no choice, but to call for help that he intervened. I don''t understand why that''s the case, unless it''s because¡­''

    I nced over to the room.

    ''There''s someone even more important than Jin Wangsun hidden in that room.''

    Once he noticed my line of sight, Jin Wangsun couldn''t hide his fear, and hence, eximed, "Big Cat, this man randomly barged into our estate. Hurry, work with me to apprehend him!"

    ''So there is someone in that room as I thought.''

    ''I always suspected that Jin Wangsun had somebody in the capital that could get him connected. At the very least, this person had to be someone whose words held a lot of weight in the Imperial Court; otherwise, there''s no way he would''ve had any chance of sess if he came here to propose alone.''

    ''The Emperor has grounded him as punishment, but it''s a light punishment. Plus, thepetition topics are all in his favour. Aside from His Majesty being biased, I''ve always suspected that Jin Wangsun might''ve bribed a high ranking official or Prince of some sort that''s close to His Majesty to put in good words for him.''

    ''The person in the room must be Jin Wangsun''s mole.''

    I moulded up energy to enhance the range of my five senses. Indeed, I could sense somebody sitting at the table in the room.

    ''The fighting here didn''t seem to affect her.''

    ''Yes, it''s a her. I can smell her body fragrance. She''s a girl, and a beautiful one that you won''t oftene across.''

    ''I''m surprised that his mole is a female.''

    Noticing my growing interest in the room, Jin Wangsun started to panic more, "Big Cat, hurry! Otherwise, Her H-, she''ll be seen by this pervert. You and I will be done for if he does!"

    The big man looked at me and shook his head. He kept silent for a moment before replying, "I cannot defeat him. We cannot fight him."

    It was obvious that Jin Wangsun expected that response. Hence, he immediately said, "I allow you to remove your sabre rack."

    Therge man called Big Cat had three oddly shaped sabres on his back. I would presume that they were Jin Wangsun''s sabres. Jin Wangsun likes to switch out his sabres for no rhyme or reason during fights. I, therefore, wouldn''t be surprised he has a ve to carry his sabres. The reason I presumed the sabres belonged to him was mainly due to the fact that therge man carried the resplendent and splendid treasured Gold Silver de. Turns out therge man was always carrying a heavy metal rack that had sabres on them.

    ''Big Cat'' shook his head again, "I cannot defeat him with my bare hands. We are still no match for him even if we team up."

    Big Cat looked at me with an intense stare. He was extraordinarily calm, "His inner and outer energy is united. He is already at the Hegemon Realm. We are no match for him. To put it into perspective, his level should not be lower than your father''s."

    Jin Wangsun had a spark of realisation, "He''s that skilled? No wonder why he could rule women and stand firm for so many years. I can''t believe he''s skilled enough to share a sentence with my old man."

    ''Hey! That''s bullsh*t!''

    ''The real Zhong Ning isn''t that incredible! He was only tough, because Mystery was backing him! Without Jia Yungfeng and Fu Xiang, the two super masters in Mystery, he''d have been dog food for the dogs of masters of the orthodox sects long ago!''

    "We absolutely mustn''t let our esteemed guest see him."

    Jin Wangsun saw stars after myst whack; therefore, his face was still pale, "The situation is dire. I shall allow you to use Tiger Fang. Can you fight now?"

 Volume 4 62 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 62 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Part 2)</h4>

    "Really?" asked the big man.

    The big man''s eyes were filled with delight. Thus, it was obvious that this so-called Tiger Fang is something he considers to be paramount to his victory.

    "If I can use Tiger Fang, I am willing to give it a try."

    I shifted my eyes away from the room and back to the big man.

    The broadsword on his back can be ignored, but the spot roughly around his waist can''t be ignored. From it, hung a ginormous broadsword that was almost as long as a human being. It resembled a musical instrument case, whichplemented his physique. The ginormous de looked pitch ck, simple and unadorned, yet could make one''s hairs stand up, which was a testament as to how sharp the de was.

    One could imagine how heavy the ginormous de was. No ordinary man could wield it. Only a man with that sort ofrge physique would be able to wield it. Perhaps that also indicated that not only did he possess excellent skills, but also tremendous might.

    I couldn''t resist the urge to blurt, "Impressive de. That de doesn''t pale inparison to Golden Grow Moon Eater."

    Actually, though I''m not particrly educated on sabres and broadswords, I''ve never actually inspected his Tiger Fang or the Golden Crow Moon Eater in detail before; hence, I don''t know what makes them great. I merely made that statement to sow discord.

    I calmly looked at the big man and praised him, "As for you as a person, you''re superior to Jin Wangsun, too."

    Jin Wangsun got mad over my statement and fumed, "Big Cat is my family ve. He''s not your tool for sowing discord. Get him!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The big man''s gaze remained calm, though. Neither my tactic nor Jin Wangsun''s anger got to him. He didn''t immediately strike; instead, he slowly removed the three sabres and heavy rack from his back. He only rxed his frown when the rack reached the ground.

    Only then did I finallye to the realisation that when he evaded my swing before, he was carrying lots of metal objects on him, yet moved agilely with crafty movement. His agility was akin to a fleeing beast ¡­

    Just as I was feeling astonished by Big Cat''s movement skills andbat prowess, he suddenly unleashed an angry roar toward the sky after warming up his body. His roar shook the surroundings, including the buildings, causing even dust on the roofs to fall and dirty the courtyard in dust.

    He was totally different to his calm self just moments ago. When he decided to attack, he had the wildness and intensity of a beast.

    "Ho!!"

    After his roar, he unsheathed the pitch ck de. A ck de akin to tiger widening its mouth or an audacious gale instantly reached me. I didn''t even have the chance to change moves or anything, and thus, had to resort to intercepting it with my pole.

    The wind generated from the force of his attack sted my face. A powerful force prated the wind, sending Tiger Fang swinging onto my iron pole. The sh didn''t result in a loud sound as it did when I shed with Jin Wangsun, but instead, unleashed a very soft sound akin to a gentle jingle. The sharp and wide de had already cut through the iron pole. It easily broke through the impregnable wall that Jin Wangsun couldn''t breach and went straight for my waist as it prepared to sever my torso and lower body in two.

    Jin Wangsun eximed, "Nice!! Now that''s Jiangnan''s Number One Tiger for you! The descendant of Jiangnan''s Number One Broadsword Wielder lives up to his predecessor''s reputation."

    "¡­"

    The big man didn''t respond. Instead, he focused his gaze on the afterimage that he shed. He quietly remarked, "That was incredible movement."

    "Jiangnan''s Number One Tiger?" I retreated into the distance when he attacked and was now slowlying out from between the rockery. I recalled some memories and said, "I remember hearing that name somewhere before. That''s the alias of a broadsword wielder ten years ago if my memory does me justice. He wielded an incredible broadsword with a wide de called Tiger Fang. He roamed Jiangnan in search for opponents to fight. His style was overbearing and sharp. He was invincible at the time. For a time, there was nobody as famous as him. Sometime after, he infuriated one of the Seven Champion White Princes and lied low henceforth."

    ''The reason that I remember him was because he wanted to challenge even me back then. He just happened to be defeated one of the Seven Champion White Princes.''

    ''So, did he anger Gold and Silver Sect? Is that why he''s being punished as a ve?''

    I nced at him out the corner of my eye, "That broadsword wielder¡­ wasn''t you. You would''ve been too young ten years ago. He must be your teacher or father, right?"

    "Number One Tiger ten years ago was my father."

    "I''ll fill you in. Back then, Big Cat''s father was Jiangnan''s Number One Tiger, Sabre King Jin Wanghu, which makes him my nsman. Back then, he left Big Cat and Tiger Fang to me; however, he passed on everything he knew. If you want to hurt me, you''ll have to get through Tiger Fang''s might first."

    I looked at them with curiosity. If Number One Tiger back then was a member of Jin n, my theory that he angered Jin n falls through. Big Cat is Jin Wangsun''s junior, as well. It''smon for branch family members of big ns to serve the head family as servants and ves. That''s probably their situation. It''s just that it''s weird that Big Cat would be willing to be a ve when he''s so skilled.

    ''Who did his father tick off back then to end up in this predicament?''

    Jin Wangsun nced at Big Cat and pestered him, "Why''d you stop? Hurry and kill the scum with Tiger Fang. I''ll back you up. I guarantee he won''t hurt you."

    The tall and virtually bulky big man slowly shook his head, "I cannot do that. He spared me this time; therefore, I cannot kill him."

    I think that he was referring to when I first detected him and didn''t take his life with my swing. I never expected him to notice I held back.

    Jin Wangsun''s white face turned red with anxiety, "You dare oppose mymand?!"

    We had an agreement back then. I am allowed to disobey you if yourmands go against my father''s wishes. When my father passed away, he said that there were three situations that permitted killing and three that didn''t permit killing. Benefactors, the righteous and those who have surrendered must not be killed. He spared me once, so he can be considered a benefactor. As such, I cannot kill him."

    Big Cat wielded Tiger Fang very naturally. He easily sheathed his broadsword, and then stabbed it into the ground, yet didn''t show any signs of it being heavy.

    "My name is A Hu. May I ask for your name?"

    Jin Wangsun answered on my behalf, "His name is Zhong Ning. He''s the biggest rapist in the North and South. He goes for men and women, the dead and the living. It''s said that he doesn''t even spare the corpses of handsome boys and pretty girls. Who''s he the benefactor to? How is he righteous?"

    When he said that, Jin Wangsun''s face turned his face away in an unnatural manner.

    ''Eh? What''s the matter with him? Why does it look as though he''s blushing?''

    "You can kill him without any qualms. Killing him is definitely not against your father''s wishes. In fact, your father would only praise you. He''ll praise you for doing a fantastic job of protecting your master."

    ''Oh, fuck you, I get it now!''

    ''Fuck you, Big Golden Vat! You thought that I came here to molest you or something?! Don''t blush, you bastard! What''s there to blush about after I whooped your ass?! Yes, you''ve got a clear face and look decent, but I don''t like you! Wait, the fuck? I don''t like any guy! Plus, there''s a woman in that room, isn''t there?! Why the fuck would I choose you over a pretty girl?!!''

    ''Just how bad is Zhong Ning''s name?! Going for both men and women is bad enough, yet he goes for the dead, too? That''s horrifying! I touched him when I beat him into retardation! Don''t tell me he infected me with something!!''

    A Hu Froze. His gaze slowly swam over me. Though he always had a quiet expression on, he looked at me with disdain, "Eek! Disgusting."

    ''You''re disgusting!''

    A Hu said, "If you feel that you have been falsely used, why not show your true self?"

    Big Cat lifted up Tiger Fang and pointed it to the sky. Owing to its size, it resembled a dark cloud that was gradually covering the sky.

    "Otherwise, please forgive me for my rudeness."

    Jin Wangsun, who was standing behind him, was even angrier. He rubbed his hands together as though he was preparing to fight me. He grabbed hold of Vajra Sabre and Pearl Broadsword. When A Hu attacks me, he''ll definitely jump into the fray.

    I smiled, "Give me your best shot."

    A Hu eximed, "Watch out, then!"

    The evil dark Tiger Fang was unsheathed. He took a swing at me.

    A Hu could potentially rival his former patriarch when he''s got his broadsword. His style has been condensed into a single one. Tiger Fang was the perfect culmination of beast traits mental cultivation, beast-like movement and broadsword techniques. Together, he is a skilled fighter you wouldn''tmonly find in the martial world.

    Jin Wangsun also sprang into action. To be frank, he''s not that much worse than A Hu. It''s just that his style is littered with excessive unnecessary stuff. In essence, it hasn''t beenbined into a system. Additionally, he relies on his des far too much. He would fair all right in a sparring match, but when ites down to a life and death match, nobody is going to stand there waiting for him to switch weapons.

    I threw two simultaneous palm strikes, one to the front and one to the rear. Both perfectly hit the surface of the des of Vajra Sabre and Tiger Fang. My internal energy stopped their force dead in their tracks.

    "Rise!"

    With a scream, A Hu''s follow up surge of power sent me flying back several steps. He then narrowed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He tightened his grip on Tiger Fang with his insanely big hands. His arm muscles bulged. As a matter of fact, he looked as though his clothes were stretched by his bulging muscles.

    Jin Wangsun moulded up his energy. His gaze looked as if it was glowing. He must''ve learnt his lesson and is nning to use a lightning fast sh to swiftly end the battle, as opposed to trying to use fancy techniques again.

    The two of them exchanged eye contact, and then nodded.

    "Kill him!!!"

    "Pervert, go to hell!"

    Jin Wangsun opted for a swift strike as I predicted. His two des wereparable to two des of snow avnches sting enormous amounts of true qi. The damage they could inflict with his strikes this time was more than several times what their previous attacks could''ve potentially inflicted. Ites as no surprise that he''s ranked as one of the Seventeen Jiaolong. He does have some skill, after all.

    A Hu unleashed a fierce roar. While Jin Wangsun''s moves were akin to a tidal wave, A Hu flew at me simrly to a huge log smashing through the wave. Tiger Fang appeared again as a dark cloud covering the sky, creating a gale that blew against me.

    I turned and steadilynded on the ground then gradually straightened up.

    "There''s something that I must say. You two must know¡­"

    I grabbed a bamboo stick used to hang clothes on that happened to be within reach. I held as if it was an extremely long sword.

    I pulled my hood down to prevent them from seeing my face. All they could see from their angle was the grin on my face.

    "This is a crouching tiger, hidden dragon world."

    ¡­

    The fight didn''tst long.

    I nonchntly tossed aside the bamboo stick without a thought. The only man still standing in the courtyard was me and me, alone.

    I now know what Jin Wangsun is capable off, and I''ve vented. The only thing I don''t know about yet is the individual in the room.

    I slowly walked over and furtively opened the window. I just wanted to see which high-ranking official she was the daughter of or if she was a Princess.

    But nheless, I never ever imagined that I''d be that shocked by the identity of the individual inside.

    Our eyes met. She couldn''t help but gently cover her mouth in a manner simr to a little pet that was frightened, an action that anyone would think was cute.

    She was as elegant, beautiful and pure as before. Nevertheless, I still couldn''t believe my eyes.

    ''How can the person who''s been scheming behind the scenes with Jin Wangsun be her?!''

    Notes:

    *A Hu - Pronounced "Ah Hoo"

    **Jiaolong - A mythical aquatic dragon.

 Volume 5 1 The Maiden Wishes Her Lover Is Safe and Sound Through the Long Years

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 1 The Maiden Wishes Her Lover Is Safe and Sound Through the Long Years</h4>

    The beauty in the room and I made eye-contact. She had to cover her small mouth.

    She was an amazingly beautiful girl, but not tall. However, she possessed mesmerising and unforgettable proportions.

    She had a most slender physique, an elegant neck and captivating shoulders. While she wasn¡¯t thin as a piece of thin cloth, it¡¯d be a universal consensus that she¡¯s a little too skinny. Her slim waist and simrly slender legs that had no excess fat were able to imprint a deep impression upon first sight.

    However, in spite of her slender physique, her rack was ample. It was as if all of her bodyweight was found on those blessings. The young beauty was dressed in a light yellow suit of clothing to be worn in the pce that looked formal, yet pretty. Though it was meant to be a perfect fit on her, owing to her over-developed breasts, it appeared as though her rack was overstretching her clothing, which disyed the suppleness of her blessings.

    Her mannerisms were also graceful, thereby making even the action of covering her mouth due to surprise attractive and lovely.

    Having seen the appearance of her family members many times, I knew that most of their family members hadrge back eyes. The difference between hers and her younger sister¡¯s was that despite havingrge eyes, her young sister had an imposing gaze that only looked beautiful when she grumbled in a flirtatious manner, while she hasrge eyes and rosy cheeks, thereby always emitting a graceful and gentle aura.

    While her younger sister used a plum blossom style of makeup, she used a thinyer of rogue and light makeup, which made her skin resemble hibiscus rising from clear water. In other words, her skin was clear and without a blemish.

    I haven¡¯t seen her in months. It took every brain cell I had to escape herst time. I never imagined I¡¯d bump into her here all of a sudden.

    She¡¯s not a skilled fighter, and she¡¯s physically weak. Realising that somebody hade, she immediately took two steps back. Her rosy cheeks turned pale, which showed her sick condition.

    Seeing her stupefied me a little, so I subconsciously asked her, ¡°Sh-Shouldn¡¯t you have gone to the offer sacrifices to the gods with Empress Dowager?¡±

    The beauty replied without thinking for some reason, ¡°She decided to stay on Holy Purple Mountain for a while longer after making the offerings. She will be staying there to talk to the priest for some days. I heard Sister Hong was back, so I came back first to see her¡­¡±

    The moment she finished speaking, the both of us froze in ce.

    The reason I froze was because I was regretting it!!

    I shouldn¡¯t know that she went with Empress Dowager to the mountain! Only those immediately around her would know that she went with Empress Dowager to Holy Purple Mountain! It¡¯s supposed to be a secret! I only know, because I received a letter about it! Others should be under the assumption that she¡¯s living at the pce in Hangzhou.

    ¡®That¡¯s not the point here, though!¡¯

    ¡®I understand youing to the capital to visit your sister, but why did youe to Jin Wangsun¡¯s ce?!¡¯

    Fortunately, I didn¡¯t shout everything out; otherwise, given how familiar we are with each other, she¡¯d recognise who I am if she heard my voice again.

    Despite that, however, the beauty seemed to pick up some clues from my appearance. She stepped forward. The terror in her eyes had diminished a little. She softly said, ¡°Y-You¡¯re¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the intrusion.¡±

    I quickly shut the window then turned and left.

    ¡®I can¡¯t stay here!¡¯

    When I turned in a rush to leave, I suddenly felt somebody¡¯s gaze of surprise on me. Jin Wangsun, who was lying on the ground and gasping for life, looked at me with great surprise.

    A Hu is too rigid. All I did was increase the power of my attacks, and that was enough to knock him up onto a tree, whereas Jin Wangsuny on the ground with dignity and remained about thirty-percent conscious. He nced at me with surprise then revealed a suspicious gaze before it finally turned to terror.

    I adjusted his expression, only to discover he was thinking of something disgusting!

    ¡®Because I¡¯m the flower picker, yet showed no interest for the beauty inside, you thought that I came for men, didn¡¯t you?!! Fuck you! What makes you think that I¡¯d go for you two freaks?! You think I¡¯d go to the trouble of spending an entire afternoon to give you two an ass whooping?!! I don¡¯t even give Su Xiao a chance when he¡¯s begging for me!! Wait, what the heck did I just say?! Don¡¯t make me repeat so many times that I don¡¯t like men!¡¯

    ¡®Don¡¯t change the topic! Why did you call her to your ce? You trying to steal the man¡¯s wife from him while he¡¯s not around? You have a death wish?!!¡¯

    The beauty inside called out in a gentle tone, ¡°Wait, can you please wait a moment?¡±

    Despite the beauty inside being flustered, her speech remained graceful.

    The beauty chased after me from behind. She was quick, but she¡¯s not tall and can¡¯t fight; as a result, she was totally red in the face after a meagre few steps. Her face was red as if she was shy or angry. Her snow white twin rabbits mischievously bounced as she ran. The sight of that led to even Jin Wangsun, who was lying on the ground, harbouring ideas for them.

    I gave him a boot to the face, causing him to loudly groan in pain.

    ¡®The fuck you having feelings for another man¡¯s wife for? Did you grow another nutsack?!¡¯

    ¡°Mister, you¡­¡±

    The beauty caught up with me, but didn¡¯t seem to daree into contact with men, and thus, stopped several feet away from me. She gently panted as she asked, ¡°Do I know you¡­?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I swiftly waved my hand to deny it!

    Nevertheless, the beauty looked around then in an incredibly surprised tone, asked, ¡°Eh? Wh-Wh-What happened to Master Jin¡¯s courtyard?¡±

    The beauty seemed to only realise the tragedy that befell the courtyard at that moment.

    I beat anyone who could be ssified a human being to the ground with either an iron pole or a bamboo stick. Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s fearsome broadsword wielder, A Hu, was whacked up onto a tree. I sealed his meridians, so he won¡¯t be able to use his true qi for at least three days. Jin Wangsun was in a simr boat. However, to make him feel disgusted, I yed whack-a-mole with him using the bamboo stick, which was why he was now able toy on the ground. Truth be told, it was actually because it took him a long time to get his legs out of the ground.

    Jin Wangsun painfully cried, ¡°Pr-Pri-, Mistress! He is a molester! You must hurry and escape!¡±

    ¡®What Jin Wangsun didn¡¯t expect, though, was that I was the one who was fleeing!¡¯

    I swiftly hid behind the rockery. My aim was to look for a blind spot to escape, so that that they wouldn¡¯t know where I fled off to. I heard light footsteps from behind, but I didn¡¯t think much of it, as I knew that she couldn¡¯t stop me even if she wanted to, since she couldn¡¯t fight.

    From the other side of the rockery, the beauty asked, ¡°Mister¡­ we know each other, don¡¯t we?¡±

    I responded with silence. Truthfully, I was preupied with searching for an escape route.

    But the beauty¡¯s voice sounded more confident after a moment of deliberation, ¡°F-Fuma¡­ is that you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡®Fuck me, your deduction skills are literally a cheat skill! How are you so confident with just a single sentence from me?!!¡¯

    I swiftly jumped on top of a building without looking back; then I quickly fled without even choosing my direction prior.

    The fear of being discovered lingered within me as I fled.

    ¡®Why on Earth was she there?!¡¯

    ¡®I don¡¯t need to worry about Jin Wangsun anymore. I know what he¡¯s got up his sleeve: a sabre style, which is a bunch of haphazardly mashed together moves, The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art, and night steps, which he may have learnt. Once the matter with Night Fortress is settled, I¡¯ll take back his skills.¡¯

    ¡®As for A Hu, he may be a skilledbatant, but I¡¯ve figured him out, so he¡¯s useless in the Fuma candidate selection. His Majesty may have chosen ridiculous topics topete in, but I have absolute confidence that I can handle them now.¡¯

    ¡®The only thing I didn¡¯t expect is that she¡¯s Jin Wangsun¡¯s backer in the pce.¡¯

    ¡®Who is she? She¡¯s none other than the Emperor¡¯s pearl, our nation¡¯s first Princess to get married, Princess Jingan.¡¯

 Volume 5 2 Irrelevant Stuff That Serves to Confuse. The Fuck You Smiling About?

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 2 Irrelevant Stuff That Serves to Confuse. The Fuck You Smiling About?</h4>

    I took a massive detour. After ensuring that nobody was following me, I found a corner to revert back to my normal appearance.

    Princess Jingan¡¯s appearance nearly scared me to death.

    She should be far away on Holy Purple Mountain praying to some god, deity, whatever, yet she suddenly appeared in the capital, not to mention the fact that she was at Jing Wangsun¡¯s abode.

    My rtionship with her goes so far back that I can¡¯t make sense of it with words, so I won¡¯t go into detail here.

    The important part is that when I was about to beat the pussy Jin Wangsun¡¯s face in, Princess Jingan¡¯s sudden involvement changed the circumstances. I can¡¯t allow her to recognise me, because once she does, it¡¯ll be worse than being recognised by the Emperor.

    ¡®If she ns to back Jin Wangsun, should I just drop out to avoid being recognised by her, take back just Night Fortress and call it quits?¡¯

    ¡®Princess Hongzhuang doesn¡¯t want to marry Jin Wangsun, though. That, too, is¡­¡¯

    ¡®There¡¯s Shiyi, too!¡¯

    ¡®Shiyi didn¡¯t mind taking on the name Juese toe up with a way to contact me and screw Jin Wangsun over. She¡¯s very enthusiastic about kicking naughty boy Jin Wangsun¡¯s ass back to the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Set for him to give him a stern teaching, as well as his fianc¨¦e.¡¯

    ¡®If I go along with Princess Jingan¡¯s wishes, Princess Hongzhuang will be unhappy. She might even feel despondent for the rest of her life.¡¯

    I thought about how the heroic and suave Princess would be forced into marrying someone like Jin Wangsun.

    That thought was an emotional roadblock for me.

    ¡®If I marry the Princess, however¡­ would Shiyi spare me?!! Shiyi will be heartbroken, and then she¡¯ll sink into despair, and then she¡¯ll perish with my wife, won¡¯t she?!¡¯

    ¡®I knew it, there¡¯s truth to the saying: beauties are the root of trouble!¡¯

    ¡®All three beauties havee together, while I don¡¯t want to offend any of them. What in the world do I do?!¡¯

    I got changed, and thenzily roamed the streets by using my qingggong to leap buildings, flip over walls and so forth to get home.iu Shan Man¡¯s main courtyard was beginning to get busy at this hour. The duties we have to perform daily are beyond cumbersome while Boss is absent.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡®It seems that today will be another very busy day.¡¯

    While my usual duties are just strolling around on the streets for patrol duty and reporting cases to other constables when I discover any, nobody calls me a constable. Big fish eat smaller fish; smaller fish eat shrimp.¡¯

    I checked to ensure that there was nobody around then gently pushed the door to my room open and entered. The room was the same as when I left it. It¡¯s unlikely anybody came. It¡¯s reasonable, though. Boss isn¡¯t here, so there¡¯s nobody to pester me into attending meetings.

    A mass of killing intent shot over!

    I subconsciously went to dodge, but then I realised who the killing intent belonged to. I was, consequently, left with no choice but to obediently surrender.

    Princess Hongzhuang jumped out from the deeper part of the room and grabbed my cor with one hand.

    ¡°Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    The Princess shouted at me in a muffled voice, then pulled me over to the bed, then pulled the bed curtain down with her slender hand.

    ¡®Wh-What is she doing?¡¯

    I was suddenly pulled over onto the bed by the Princess. While the bed was mine, we were in an enclosed environment once the curtains were pulled down. I could smell the fragrance on her body, which went perfectly with her beautiful face.

    I suddenly thought of a tagline to use in the ck and White Reflection: A man and the Princess shared a bed for two hours in the middle of the day. The two hours were kept under tight wraps. Nobody knows what happened.

    ¡®Oh sh*t! That¡¯s as bad as it gets!¡¯

    While I was busy having nonsensical thoughts, the Princess looked at my face, and then gifted me two ps.

    I was pped silly, but the Princess looked serious.

    ¡°I thought you were an upright man. You hail from a reputable orthodox sect. What did you do to me yesterday?¡±

    I was a bit out of it, since I just saw Princess Jingan, so I didn¡¯t quite catch what Princess Hongzhuang meant. Instead, I was upied withparing the two sisters.

    Upon closer inspection, Princess Hongzhuang is quite simr to Princess Jingan. Needless to say, they both bear a striking resemnce to the Emperor.

    Though their biological mothers are different, and therefore have many minor differences, such as the Emperor¡¯s face shape being more rectangr, Princess Hongzhuang having a cool and beautiful melon-shaped face, while Jingan has a beautiful oval-shaped face, with a single nce, you¡¯ll notice simrities that you can¡¯t put your finger on.

    Princess Hongzhuang doesn¡¯t look imposing unless she¡¯s angry. The moment she looks down, she looks as if she¡¯s a sulking kid. As for Jingan, she looks simr when she¡¯s silent. The difference is one is cooler, while the other is fiery, I guess.

    The Princess looked at my spaced-out look and fumed, ¡°What do you have to say in your defence?¡±

    I still didn¡¯tprehend why she was angry. In an unjustly med tone, I replied, ¡°Your Highness, you should give me an exnation for hitting me¡­ It was not because you could not get ustomed to sleeping on my bed, was it?¡±

    Things weren¡¯t catastrophic until I responded. The moment I mentioned the bed was the moment I struck the wrong nerve. Her face went red. She firmly bit down on her lip and ruthlessly eximed, ¡°Ming Feizhen! You have yourself a death wish!¡±

    She raised her hand up and threw an extremely swift attack with her palm. It resembled a palm strike, but in actual fact, was a hand knife technique. The difference between it and a palm technique is that when augmented with inner energy, the knife hand will be the same as a real de shing with a refined sabre or broadsword technique.

    The knife hand attack went straight toward my throat in the form of a de. I wanted to dodge the attack; however, I had limited space to move, and hence countering was impossible. The Princess is a veteran of the pugilistic world. Her experience doesn¡¯t pale inparison to her father that lives in the pce. I was afraid that if blocked it head on, then it would give away clues to my identity. Consequently, I had no choice but to take the hit. In order to avoid revealing anything, I erased theyer of qi I had shielding my body and used just Tai Chi Mental Cultivation alone to provide myself with true qi. Nevertheless, I was going to have to put up with some physical pain.

    There was no doubt that the Princess¡¯ palm strike was thrown out of anger; but nheless, out of fear of killing me with it, she reduced the amount of strength she put into it when itnded, thereby only knocking me back and hurting my throat.

    After she hit me, she firmly pressed her palm onto my throat. She could shatter all of my organs and send me to the paradise we call heaven if she just unleashed a burst of energy¡­

    ¡®Okay, I admit to making that up.¡¯

    In saying that, if it was somebody else, the Princess would be able to leave him, at least, half dead if she actually unleashed a burst of energy. Thus, this was a very threatening position to be in.

    The Princess angrily red at me. Traces of blood became visible in her eyes, ¡°I thought that you were a respectable gentleman despite your usual nonsensical behaviour. I never thought that you would use an aphrodisiac in a candlest night to¡­ to¡­¡±

    Once she got to that part, the Princess became so enraged that her entire body began to shake. Her breasts began to rise and fall with her huffs and puffs while her eyes figuratively shot fire.

    I finally realised where the problem was.

    ¡®Damn, I¡¯m stupid!! How did I not realise something so simple?¡¯

    Those who consume Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill may go wild when the drug¡¯s effects take effect, but afterwards, they¡¯ll remember every single detail while they were under its influence.

    I hastily exined that somebody tried to set us up.

    ¡®If I was the one up to no good, how could I have ended it with just a kiss? I left for so long to search for the culprit.¡¯

    I spent ages exining it, only to learn that the Princess didn¡¯t care about the culprit. Instead, she fired back at me, ¡°Wh-Who said you only kissed me?!¡±

    ¡®Hmm? Could she have recalled how she threw herself at mest night¡­? I¡¯m innocent! I didn¡¯t do nothing! Even if I did kiss, it was you that forced a kiss on me!¡¯

    The Princess raged, ¡°You still dare im you didn¡¯t do anything?!¡±

    ¡®Okay, I admit there was a bit of a mistake in there.¡¯

    I admit that during the chaos, I might have touched the two¡­ lots of ces I should¡¯ve have touched¡­ Okay, I give. I touched everything there was to touch.

    ¡®But that was due to you grabbing hold after my hand and making me feel you after the drug kicked in! It wasn¡¯t me practicing my Eighteen Subduing Dragon Gropes!¡¯

    The Princess furiously red at me due to me feeling her up yesterday.

    I looked at her teary eyes, yet stern expression. I couldn¡¯t resist smiling.

    ¡®I stole your first kiss, and I took advantage of you, yet you held back when you hit me¡­? You¡¯re such a nice girl, Your Highness¡­¡¯

    ¡®Can I let such a nice girl fall into Jin Wangsun¡¯s grasp?¡¯

    ¡®Rest assured. I¡¯ll help you with the Fuma candidate selection.¡¯

    Unfortunately, when I had the kind thought, I took another p to the face.

    I held my hand to my face and looked at the Princess with disbelief, ¡°Why did you hit me again? Did I not exin it already?!¡±

    ¡°You can still find it in you to smile after what you did¡­?¡±

    On this rare assion, the Princess used profanity, ¡°Keep smiling, keep smiling, the fuck you smiling about?!¡±

 Volume 5 3 Mastering the Sabre to Meet Again Somewhere

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 3 Mastering the Sabre to Meet Again Somewhere</h4>

    Back to Jin Wangsun, who lied on the ground in the courtyard the entire time after being beaten down. His multiple attempts to stand up were futile. No matter what he tried, as soon as he tried to use his true qi, his entire body would feel numb. He, therefore,y there cussing ''motherfucker,'' of course, it was the bastard that just left that he was calling a motherfucker.

    "That''s the second time now¡­ This is the second time now. Motherfucker¡­ If I run into you again, I''ll skin you alive!"

    Jin Wangsun abandoned etiquette a long time ago. He continued making death threats anding up with thousands of variations to curse Ming Feizhen with. Listening to his cursing made him go from the appearing as the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect to reverting back to useless Young Master Jin.

    Jin Wangsun''s life wasn''t a smooth ride. His mother passed away when he was young. He was raised by the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, alone. His father was the patriarch of a huge and prominent sect in the pugilistic world. At the same time, their family was one of the three biggest merchants in thend. Despite how busy he was every day, he never forgot to bring Jin Wangsun along by his side and strictly educate him.

    Gold and Silver Sect started out as merchants. They value pragmatism, profit and unity. Profit was far more important than friendships. As such, the days of mental warfare - which was every single day - became a mini pugilistic world for Jin Wangsun. Subsequently, Jin Wangsun learnt power is King at a very tender age. Further, it didn''t take him long to recognise that he wasn''t powerful.

    Many years ago at a grand event with the Seven Champion White Princes, heroes across Jiangnan were invited to attend. The heroes brought along their second generation disciples.

    Among the chattering and drinking was a cheerful atmosphere. It didn''t take long for somebody to suggest letting their junior disciples perform in the arena. Everyone eximed that it was a good idea to have the children split up into groups ording to their age and put on a martial arts performance. There were many children in attendance and plenty of children at Jin Wangsun''s age.

    At the time, he was only nine years old. He performed the Gold and Silver Wrong Hands. He was smart and dedicated with practice, so the majority of other kids his age weren''t a match for him. As such, he continued to win match after match.

    The heroes in attendance congratted the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, "A wise goose neverys a tame egg!"

    Jin Wangsun was originally extremely proud to hear that, but then his father said otherwise, "My son is still a tame egg. He had to put in the yards. He cannotpare to your talented disciples."

    It was just a modest statement, yet Jin Wangsun took it to heart and belted, "They just said that I''m not a tame egg. Dad, why did you insist on calling me a tame egg? What are you if I''m a tame egg?"

    His response caused everyone to erupt intoughter. The heroes'' mouths nearly ended up lopsided fromughing. His father wore a displeased look as he stared at his naughty son.

    It was just a normal everyday tantrum. All that his father had to do was put him in his ce when they got home; however, things went south afterwards. Some viin from somewhere dared to have the audacity to act up at the venue. The viin knew that he couldn''t defeat so many skilled masters, so he grabbed a kid, instead.

    All the kids - bar Jin Wangsun - fled toward their parents. Jin Wangsun had absolute confidence in himself, and thus, stood in ce to face off against the viin.

    Naturally, Jin Wangsun took a devastating beating.

    At the time, Jin Wangsun called for help in an embarrassing manner. In his moment of panic, the viin pped him across the face until he bled. His cheeks were swelled up as if he had balls in his face. At the time, Jin Wangsun saw two scenes.

    One was his father standing in the distance, protecting a child about his age. He looked at his father''s arms with concern.

    ''Are you my dad or not?! Come help me!''

    The other scene he saw was himself in shock. There were many seated female heroines. One of them held a long broadsword with one hand. She ruthlessly shed toward the viin! Before the viin could even think of using Jin Wangsun as a shield, he pulled his hand back to guard against the attack, but he didn''tst long and was shed to death by her.

    Afterwards, Jin Wangsun even forgot how to thank her. He only remembered that she was very pretty, wielded a broadsword and was very strong.

    Once he arrived home, the first thing he did was reprimand his father for not saving him.

    However, his father looked at him with a torn look, "That child was a child of one of our big customers. I have to do business with him. Put up with it for a bit, will you?"

    ''That''s your reason?''

    Ever since then, Jin Wangsun fell in love with mastering the sabre. He fell so infatuated with it that he couldn''t quit.

    He trained for five hours daily, be it rain, sun or wind. Gold and Silver Sect didn''t have an advanced sabre manual of their own, so he followed Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual and learnt styles from other sects to eventually acquire the title Jiangnan''s King of Sabres.

    But Jin Wangsun, himself, was aware that he was unworthy of the title, for there was somebody more skilled with a broadsword right next to him, his family ve, A Hu. Had Jin Wangsun been born elsewhere, perhaps he would''ve been a hero and respected figure. Unfortunately, owing to his origins, his starting point was at a very advanced level, in turn making it very difficult for him to have a breakthrough to stand out. As such, if he was to be honest, he never aplished any achievements that he was proud of.

    That was until one particr day. He decided to challenge a fearsome and notorious opponent. It was the best opportunity he had in his life. Night Fortress is extremely famous in Jiangnan. His dad even said that if he could win, then he would let him seed the patriarch seat of Night Fortress.

    The master of Night Fortress didn''t show up that day, consequently allowing him to finally sit on the seat he glorified most in his life. Nobody dared to look down on him wherever he went in the following months!

    The moment he was crowned patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, he began to n a revolution in the sect. Unfortunately, it wasn''t long before he met his match. He lost in their fight, but it wasn''t over, yet, for there was still hope, as long as he could win the support of the Imperial Court.

    However, one man came to his abode alone today and made him taste humiliation once again.

    Jin Wangsun''s graceful demeanour went out the window long ago. He used the most profane words he knew to curse all eighteen generations of the perpetrator''s family. Despite that, though, he never mentioned the name Zhong Ning once.

    He wasn''t convinced that the perpetrator was Zhong Ning. To the contrary, he believed it to be a skilled master in the martial world disguised as Zhong Ning that came to give him grief due to their opposing positions.

    The first time he found himself on the receiving end the first time in the za in the Imperial Pce. That day, he was struck into a vat with a single palm strike. The name Big Golden Vat stuck with him henceforward.

    Ming Feizhen deliberately pulled punches to test Jin Wangsun''s true skills. Although Jin Wangsun was beaten with no means of fighting back, he, too, was trying to find out what Ming Feizhen''s true skill level was. The first time he was smashed into the vat, the attack was too fast. Given the unexpected nature of the attack, all he managed to faintly figure out was that his opponent didn''t have any excellent or unique techniques; instead, his opponent relied on immense brute force.

    During their second exchange when they actually fought, though, Jin Wangsun was perplexed the entire time. He couldn''t figure out why he couldn''t fully execute his sabre skills. Usually, a sh on the left and a hook on the right, then a sh, and it''s game over for his opponent. Nevertheless, against Ming Feizhen, regardless of what he threw, Ming Feizhen wouldn''t even bother with intercepting or countering his attacks. Instead, he''d just swing his pole. The gales generated from the swings were so powerful that it was practically impossible for him to breathe. Had he not immediately refocused on guarding, he would''ve been beaten into retardation with one swing. Consequently, there was no sh on the left, hook on the right, then sh. His only option was to guard with both des, or else, be reduced to mush.

    Despite trading countless blows with Ming Feizhen, never for a moment did it ur to him that he was technical. What he perceived from their exchange was that Ming Feizhen relied on pure insane brute strength, which reminded him of the skilled fighter that sent him flying on that day in the pce.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    When Ming Feizhen was questioned, he stuttered and asionally replied here and there.

    Moreover, Zhong Ning is just a rapist. He''s just a lowly pervert. Even if he possessed elite skills that could defeat him and A Hu at the same time, what would he stand to gain from beating them? He''s a rapist. Offending the Seven Champion White Princes would only result in bringing him infinite grief.

    Jin Wangsun isn''t stupid. Once he pieced it all together, he made sense of a fair bit. He concluded that today''s assant was definitely in cahoots with Ming Feizhen, which he exined as the assant helping Ming Feizhen by attacking him. That was the only way to exin why the assant risked himself, yet never dealt the fatal blow, not to mention that he only touched a few maids'' peaches.

    With that said, Jin Wangsun was somewhat scared, nheless. While his attacker may not have been Zhong Ning, who knows if he''s into men or not?

    ''Thank heavens for him being afraid of Her Highness; otherwise, we''d have been vited.''

    That thought made him eagerly looking forward to the Princess even more for some reason, especially Princess Hongzhuang, because¡­ she uses a sabre, and loves sabres to the extent that she treats it as her life. Jin Wangsun could tell that Princess Hongzhuang''s skills with a sabre were advanced.

    ''We''re nothing short of a match made in heaven.''

    While analysing all the incidents, he heard footsteps approach. He remembered that Princess Jingan came to visit today. It was rude of him to fail to disy the required etiquette, but the problem was that he couldn''t get up.

    As soon as he raised his head, he didn''t see the beautiful Princess, nheless. Instead, he saw a group of men.

    The leader of them was a well-known face in the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, Long Zaitian, who had been demoted and was no longer a captain. However, he was one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, so he had the qualifications to lead the Imperial Guards. They weren''t here to rescue the Princess. As soon as they heard a disturbance inside the estate, they immediately charged in.

    "Wow, Young Master Jin, what are you lying on the ground for? You sure are in a great mood, huh?" Long Zaitian found Jin Wangsun, who was lying on the ground, and couldn''t resist the urge to ridicule him, "You copying gophers? Fuma Candidate,st time, you climbed into a vat in the flower garden, and this time you have climbed into a hole at the bottom of a tree. You are not going to dig a hole for yourself in a pond next time, are you?"

    Jin Wangsun was angry to begin with, and thereby raged, "What would I dig a hole for?"ong Zaitianughed, "What did you climb into a vat for, then? If I knew why your reasons, would I have to ask?"

    "Cut the nonsense! Where is Her Highness?"ong Zaitian wasn''t fond of Jin Wangsun. In a disdainful tone, he replied, "Would Her Highness see you with this "respectable" appearance of yours? Her Highness ordered me to get you out of the ground and clean you up before sending you over to her. Come, Brother, don''t make Her Highness wait for too long."

    Jin Wangsun cried out in pain as Long Zaitian pulled him out without a single care for his cries. Jin Wangsun, therefore, would spend more time on his sick bed as a result of Long Zaitian''s method.

    Jin Wangsun was taking to Princess Jingan. The Princess calmly said, "Young Master Jin, as per our agreement, I shall assist you in bing my younger sister''s Fuma."

 Volume 5 4 Gentle and Graceful Emperorâ€™s Heart (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 4 Gentle and Graceful Emperor''s Heart (Part 1)</h4>

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t feel an ounce of strength in his body. He felt as if he was carried over. These Imperial Guards were different to the officers and men from Shuntian Prefecture. All of these Imperial Guards were extremely proud of themselves and carried themselves with the demeanour and attitude of the capital''s number one military force. When Jin Wangsun went to the Imperial Pce for the first time, he challenged six warriors on Liu Shan''s Elites'' rankings, which led to many military personnel developing an extreme dislike for him. As such, they weren''t going to treat him with courtesy when they had the chance not to. They brought him along as though he was a criminal.

    Jin Wangsun could grind his teeth with anger, but Ming Feizhen sealed his qi meridians during the tussle. Then he tried to undo the seal by moulding true qi, but that only served to reinforce the seal. As a result, he now couldn''t walk properly. It would''ve been impossible for him to walk so far had it not been for these people supporting him.

    Once they arrived at the hall the Princess was at, Jin Wangsun broke away from the two guards on either side of him and told them to fix his appearance for him. Ming Feizhen had beaten him into a gopher twice now. Right now, he looked no better than a farmer.

    There was no chance of Long Zaitian helping him. After stalling for ages, he called two servants in the estate to help Jin Wangsun pat the dirt off in the end, and then supported him to slowly head to Princess Jingan''s location.

    Princess Jingan sat in the centre of the hall. She was invested in a painting that she was holding in her hands. She gently turned her beautiful snow-white neck and giggled in a soft voice.

    She was a beauty that didn''t pale inparison to Princess Hongzhuang. Her rare characteristic was that she was married. Hence, she exuded a unique aura that sat between a young girl and a young wife, an aura that was hard to distinguish. Nheless, it only made her more attractive to men.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t dare to look at her for too long. He bowed his head and saluted her, "Your Subject hase to see you, Your Highness."

    "It has been a long time, Young Master Jin." Princess Jingan finally set the painting down. Her reaction seemed as though she just noticed him. Jin Wangsun went unnoticed by her from the moment he slowly entered up until he came up before her.

    "It has been over half a year since our short meeting in Hangzhou, hasn''t it? I''m surprised that you have managed to be a patriarch in a short six months, Young Master Jin¡­ Oh my, pardon my rudeness. I should call you Patriarch Jin."

    Princess Jingan was graceful and educated. She didn''t speak fast, and every word was enunciated clearly. Her speech mannerisms and tone was beyond careful and gentle, yet captivatingly elegant.

    "I dare no refer to myself as such before your presence, Your Highness. Your Subject does not dare to be conceited." Jin Wangsun slowly responded with his head down. He then smiled, "You must be tired from your long journey, yet went out of your way to visit Your Subject. Your Subject is sincerely very grateful. As such, Your Subject has prepared several modest gifts for you. Please ept them, Your Highness."

    He needed Princess Jingan''s assistance with many things, both as the Gold and Silver Sect that rivals the nation in terms of wealth and as Jing Wangsun. Subsequently, his gifts would be anything but modest. However, Princess Jingan didn''t pay him too much attention. Instead, she spoke to Long Zaitian and hispany first, "Commander Long, may I ask you to leave us alone? My bodyguard is with me, so I will be fine. Instead, due to the disturbance that erupted at the abode, please guard the outside for safety sake; also, arrange for men to conduct a search."ong Zaitian never thought well of Jin Wangsun.

    ''Fucking hell. I saved His Majesty, yet was demoted three ranks. This brat is cockier than the sky, and yet wants to be Fuma. Why didn''t that pervert kill him back there?''

    Nevertheless, Long Zaitian didn''t dare to oppose an order from the Princess. Moreover, Princess Jingan is graceful and beautiful, not to mention her gentle tone that made it sound as if she was discussing it with him. Long Zaitian felt as though his bones melted upon hearing her speak.

    "Of course, of course, Your Subject shall stand guard outside. Should that pervert dare to return, Your Subject shall capture him for you and fry him in boiling oil."

    Princess Jingan slightly frowned. She wore a sorrowful look as though it tore heart to hear something as cruel as frying a live human being in oil. Long Zaitian realised he said something he shouldn''t have, and thus, quickly made up with two random lines before running away.

    Jin Wangsun knew that the Princess was sending away unrted personnel in order to discuss something secretive.

    There was a somewhat anxious look in her eyes.However, Princess Jingan questioned, "Young Master Jin, please have a seat. May I ask if those two are your trusted men?"

    Jin Wangsun had a sudden realisation, "The two of them are my two most trusted subordinates from Gold and Silver Sect. It is fine for them to listen in."

    He didn''t expect the graceful Princess to be so meticulous and not take any risks.

    Jingan cut straight to the chase, "Young Master Jin, ording to our agreement, I shall assist you in bing my younger sister''s Fuma."

    Jin Wangsun''s spirits rose, "Yes, Your Highness. Your Subject will not let you down."

    "That was what I wanted to say," Princess Jingan looked straight at Jin Wangsun with her bright eyes and suddenly sighed, "It''s just that you seem tock self-respect."

    Jin Wangsun smiled helplessly, "That is because¡­"

    "You need not speak of it. I have heard enough on my way back to the pce," a tinge of anger appeared on Princess Jingan''s snow-white face, "There are many ways for one to establish their prestige. Why did you choose to scatter gold and silver on the streets, which subsequently led to the people fighting over it? As a man of higher status, you should be thinking about how to improve things for the people. Do you not feel that you disgraced Gold and Silver Sect with such an act?"

    Princess Jingan is several years younger than Jin Wangsun, yet she sounded as though she was an elder sister reproaching her younger brother. Jin Wangsun didn''t dare to raise his head and protest. He kept his head down and bore with the reprimanding.

    "Empress Dowager said that she was very pleased with your filial character, which was why she told me to help you at all costs. You know my younger sister''s temperament. She''s kind and upright. She does not like others bullying the people to parade their prestige and power. Young Master Jin, you made a blunder from the very first step. The events that came after were even more absurd. How could you collude with gangs in the pugilistic world and allow them to run rampant in the capital? You hurt the Elder Statesmen and my grandpa. I didn''t and won''t pursue the matter with you. However, it''s only natural that the Dark Robe Sect will make things difficult for you. But, how could you hurt my father?"

    Jin Wangsun had his reasons, but couldn''t mention them. He ingratiated himself with officials at all ranks and sent Empress Dowager, Her Majesty arge batch of tributes. He, therefore, thought that he just needed toe to the capital, unt his prestige and marry the Princess with a smile that went from cheek to cheek. He never imagined that a Ming Feizhen would crop up out of nowhere andpete for the Fuma position. Had he known that he needed topete for it, he would''ve known to keep a low profile. A well-learned man is more likable!

    As for hurting the Emperor, he waspletely in the dark. He, personally, asked everyone involved, and nobody admitted to hitting the Emperor.

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t easy to exin; hence, he had no choice but to acknowledge his wrongs to the angry Princess.

    "Your Subject realises that Your Subject has disappointed you and Empress Dowager, Her Majesty. However, I am confident that I will win the Fuma selection contest. I will not disappoint you."

    Princess Jingan gently responded, "Empress Dowager ordered me to assist you. I am a mere wife. No matter how I think about it, I can''t help with much besides doing some things on Father''s end. As such, I have sent a letter to Father with the intention of making up. I hope that he will not hold the grudge against you out of consideration for your young age and brashness."

    Jin Wangsun finally realised that the reason that the Emperor was still showing him some degree of respect was thanks to Princess Jingan''s blessings.

    Princess Jingan slowly shook her head. She seemed as though she wasn''t used to being outside for so long. She weakly said, "I wasn''t helping just you. One, I wanted to fulfil my filial piety duties as a granddaughter to Empress Dowager, and two, I did it for my sister''s sake. I don''t want her to marry a low-ranked constable and suffer for her entire life."

    "As long as I have your support, I am not worried about ending up with a disappointing result."

    Princess Jingan shut her eyes and leaned back onto her backrest. She maintained her elegant demeanour, but didn''t utter a word. She came to help Jin Wangsun on Empress Dowager''s orders. She, personally, didn''t take a liking to him, especially since he treated something important as marriage as a business transaction. Every time he opened his mouth, it was about results, which was not to her liking. In saying that, she was born into royalty, so she understood the helplessness of women. From her perspective, Princess Hongzhuang marrying Jin Wangsun was better than marrying a constable from Liu Shan Men.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t know what Princess Jingan was thinking. He carried on with a smile, "As long as you speak up for Your Subject, there will be no further problems. Today''s incidence is a perfect example. As soon as the viin saw you, he immediately felt ashamed and fled for his life."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Princess Responded with nothing more than a soft, "Ah."

    "That assant was truly bold. He knew that the estate is heavily guarded, yet still dared toe in and stir up trouble. Had it not been for Your Subject being forbidden from leaving the estate''s grounds, Your Subject could have called for men to viciously teach him a lesson, erm, apprehend him and send him to the office to be judged by thew."

    "Was he¡­ very skilled?"

    Jin Wangsun didn''t know why Princess Jingan, who''s gentle and quiet, began to concern herself with his martial arts skills. As a result, he frowned and replied, "He is, indeed. In Your Subject''s opinion, his skills are not inferior to those in the Hegemon Realm. It is unfortunate that he is a vicious scum. After he trespassed into my estate, he groped men and women. He truly is a perverted demon. To be frank with you, he groped all of Your Subject''s maids that look quite cute all over. He did not spare Your Subject''s family retainers, either. Your Subject must inform you that he even said that he has eyes for Princess Hongzhuang and wanted to teach Your Subject a lesson for her sake. These sorts of thugs in pugilistic world are truly audacious, spouting nonsense¡­"

    Jin Wangsun continued with his rambling without knowing that Princess Jingan''s expression was slowly changing. She didn''t want to hear anymore.

    "Given how bad the pervert is, his family may end up being a family of lowly, shameless thieves and prostitutes. The heavens¡­"

    Jingan stood up, "All right, that will be all."

    "Erm?"

    "I came a long way and saw you before seeing Father. That is wrong of me to do," The Princess shot Jin Wangsun a re, "I don''t like having others gossip about me; thus, I shall take my leave now."

    Jin Wangsun wasn''t sure how he offended the Princess. He still didn''t understand where he went wrong.

    Princess Jingan then added, "Out of respect for Empress Dowager, Her Majesty, I have done what I can for you. By the looks of things, you should be able to achieve your wish at the Fuma selection given the fact that you are skilled in both martial arts and literature."

    ''It''s obvious what she means. She''s ignoring me and not helping any further from now!''

    ''Why?!''

    "B-But Empress Dowager, Her Majesty¡­"

    "Young Master Jin, I must remind you that I was practicing filial piety toward Empress Dowager, Her Majesty, not blindly following orders. Additionally, as it is the case that you wish to be my brother-inw, please mind yournguage. Do not say uncouth things and speak thoughtlessly in my presence. Saying that someone''s family are thieves and prost-, i-Is that something that someone cultured would say?"

    After saying that, Princess Jingan''s face turned pale, and she gently trembled as though she was suppressing her rage with all she had.

    Jin Wangsun knew long ago that Princess Jingan was the exemr for cultured females and usually never left home. Naturally, that meant that she rarely heard such coarsenguage. Ming Feizhen aggravated him silly today, which was why he had a moment of carelessness and went too far. He, consequently, rushed to remedy it, "Your Subject apologises for the uncalled fornguage, Your Highness. Your Subject is a martial artist, and hence,cks etiquette. Your Subject hopes you do not take offence for the remarks."

    Jingan snorted, but didn''t reply. That was her way of showing her dissatisfaction.

    At the same time, however, she was wondering if her Fuma really was in the capital.

    Based on what she knew, her Fuma said he was headed to Northern Xinjiang to subdue a riot. He said that it would take him a year and a half.

    ''It''s only been months, though. Has he returned to the capital already?''

    It seemed as though Princess Jingan was thinking about many things. She supported her snow-white chin in her hand as if she was deliberating something. Her mind was filled with questions, which was visible on her face. Her feet seemingly walked to the exit on their own.

    Jin Wangsun rushed to speak up, "But, as for things toe¡­"

    "I know what I''m doing."

    "You are right. You know that Your Subject cannot leave the estate. Your Subject will have to trouble you with the selection contest, then. In addition¡­ eh? Your Subject has not finished yet."

    Princess Jingan kept her head down and pondered to herself. She had already gone into the distance before Jin Wangsun could finish.

    Jin Wangsun watched her pretty silhouette vanish. As he watched her leave, he scratched his head and muttered to himself.

    ''She''s so cultured and graceful, yet is impatient and has a short fuse?''

    Notes:

    *At one point, Jin Wangsun switches from referring to himself as "Your Subject" to "I". That is not a trantion inconsistency.

    ** "Your Subject is a martial artist, and hence,cks etiquette" = This ismonly used in literature with ancient China settings. The reason for saying this - as nonsensical as it may seem to us - is that martial artists were considered uneducated, meathead brutes that were brash and rude. They were also viewed as straightforward and blunt. Hence, they weremonly associated with not knowing the etiquette required around political figures, which for the record, oftentimes requires one to pay attention to more than basic politeness.

 Volume 5 5 Gentle and Graceful Emperorâ€™s Heart (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 5 Gentle and Graceful Emperor''s Heart (Part 2)</h4>

    Half an hourter inside the Imperial Pce.

    Princess Jingan walked as though she was walking on clouds then bowed. With a pleasant smile, she greeted her father, "Your Daughter sends her greetings, Father."

    "Hahahaha,e,e,e,e here, Jing''er. Sit, sit. Come sit next to me. Let me take a good look at you.

    The Emperor couldn''t stopughing.

    The Emperor is an infamous daughter-con, a fact that the entire world knows. However, among all of his children, he doted on his youngest Princess, the Third Princess, most. The one he worried about most was Second Princess, who was drifting around in the pugilistic world all the time. However, he liked and got along best with his eldest daughter.

    Princess Jingan is cultured and well-mannered, beautiful and graceful. She was known throughout the entire capital for her good nature and has been bestowed the title The Capital''s Most Beautiful.

    Princess Hongzhuang was, of course, a beauty, no doubt about that; however, she was rarely in the capital; plus, she was fond of swinging weapons around. As a result, her image inevitably paled inparison to her elder sister. If the ranking was for the capital''s martial world''s most beautiful female, Princess Hongzhuang woulde out on top.

    What was rare was that Princess Jingan was nice and considerate. She was the only one among the Emperor''s daughters that would often talk about Imperial Court affairs with her father or personally prepare delicacies to cheer him up.

    Speaking of which, all three of his daughters have different methods of cheering their father up.

    Third Princess is young, pretty, but barbaric and wilful; nheless, she loves to act winsome most. Second Princess is a girl of few words, enjoys being alone and rarely smiles. Nevertheless, the Emperor is ted to have them. Only Princess Jingan is most sensible and understanding. She''s cognizant of her father''s hardships. She always brings him his favourite refreshments. The food is secondary. What he values most are her considerate thoughts. That''s why he''s fond of his eldest daughter.

    After getting married, Princess Jingan only returned to the capital once per year. Otherwise, she stays at Jingan Pce, located in Hangzhou. The two ces may be close, but the Emperor is very busy, while his daughter couldn''t bear to always be away from home. Thus, it had been a long time since the two met.

    "Are you used to life in Hangzhou? I heard that you went with Empress Dowager, Her Majesty to Holy Purple Mountain. What did you gain from it?"

    Princess Jingan was also happy to see her father. She shared the interesting things she encountered. She''s a warm and kind character. She doesn''t like to say much to outsiders, but she can engage in cheerful conversations with her family.

    Soon enough, they got to Princess Hongzhuang''s wedding.

    The Emperor smiled, "I concur, Jing''er. I, too, was foolish. I was so busy thinking about how to gain from Jin Wangsun, such as exchanging her for theirnd or something and forgot about a low-ranking constable. How can an ordinary disciple from Mount Daluopare to the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect?"

    "While you are right¡­" Princess Jingan recalled Empress Dowager''s order to assist Jin Wangsun. She paused, but then out of consideration for her sister''s bliss and happiness, she said, "We have to take the man''s character into consideration, too. Jing''er has never met Ming Feizhen, but Jing''er has met Jin Wangsun. Jing''er was not impressed with his character¡­"

    "Huh?" The Emperor fumed, "He was rude to you? Is that punk crazy? Is beating up my Li family that addicting or something?"

    The Emperor aggressively waved his hand and thundered, "Call back the Ultimate Three! End Gold and Silver Sect overnight!"

    Princess Jingan quickly waved her hands, "No, no."

    She gave the eunuch, who was thrown into panic, a gentle smile. She exined, "You people are so silly. You knew that Father was joking, so why would you react that way?"

    The eunuchs, who deliberately ran about to make it seem as though something major was going on, scratched their heads and chuckled with embarrassment when they saw Princess Jingan''s smile.

    "Ehehehehe, you are too wise, Your Highness."

    Jingan giggled at their act, and then shot her father a reproaching re, "You, too, Father, how could you make such a joke?"

    "There''s no harm in making a joke when I haven''t seen you in so long." The Emperorughed, and then nervously asked, "But, uhh, did that Jin Wangsun do anything to you?"

    "No, he did not. It is just that Jing''er went to visit him at his abode today as a guest. During Jing''er''s stay, a robber came. Jin Wangsun and his subordinates were no match. They were utterly defeated. Jing''er met the assant at the end."

    The Emperor became tense the moment he heard a robber came. When he heard that the robber was able to defeat Jin Wangsun and his subordinates, he was even more astounded.

    Since his daughter wasn''t well-versed in martial arts, she mentioned it with a light heart, but the Emperor knew how tall of a task that was to aplish.

    Jin Wangusn might not be the most skilled at Gold and Silver Sect, but he was ranked second on Seventeen Jiaolong''s rankings. Furthermore, as a patriarch, he had to have had highly-skilled fighters apanying him. Therefore, it begs the question: just who could defeat so many skilled fighters all alone?

    Then, he heard his daughter say that she met him. Consequently, he blurted, "Did he do anything to you? What did he go to Jin Wangsun''s abode for? What were the Imperial Guards doing?! How could they let my Jing''er meet that man?! Wang Tushui, who''smanding the Imperial Guards in charge of protecting Jing''er?!"

    Eunuch Wang poked his head out. With a radiant smile, he replied, "That would be Commander Long Zaitian, Your Majesty."

    The Emperor thundered, "Him again?! Does he not know how to cherish the opportunity I gave him? Demote him one more rank. He makes one more mistake and send him off to join the army in Northern Xinjiang!"

    "Calm down, Father." Princess Jingan couldn''t help chuckling upon seeing her father get angry for her sake, "You are always getting angry, Father. What am I to do if your anger affects your health?"

    "But Long Zaitian, he¡­ he¡­ *Sigh*. Jing''er, you don''t know the ridiculous deeds he has done." Seeing his daughter''s chastising gaze, he surrendered, "Okay, don''t demote him; but nheless, tell him, one more mistake and he''s going to Northern Xinjiang to eat dirt!"

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "Keep going, Jing''er, what about him? Did he harm you?"

    This is what you call concern leads to foolish mistakes. His daughter was sitting right in front of him. Of course, she''s fine.

    "Stay calm, Father. Jing''er met him, but he turned and left." Jingan smiled, "Did you forget that Fuma, personally, trained a group of skilled fighters to stay by Jing''er''s side? Jing''er is not afraid."

    "Oh, that''s true."

    "However¡­" Jingan frowned, "Jin Wangsun causes trouble left, right and centre, and now he has angered someone in the pugilistic world, which goes to show that his character is not remotely close to being upright. Therefore, Jing''er suggests observing him more."

    The Emperor expressed his agreement. He was quiet confident in his daughter''s evaluation. To add to that, it was his beloved daughter''s input, and therefore naturally considered everything she said to be correct. They then proceeded to converse about other topics.

    Suddenly, Jingan asked, "Oh, that''s right, father, have you seen Fuma?"

    "Fuma?" The Emperor scratched his head, "No, I have not. What''s the matter? Has he gone off to deal with matters in the pugilistic world again?"

    Jingan nodded, "Uhm. He said that there was work at Northern Xinjiang. He said¡­ he would be gone for a while."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Emperor stroked his beard, "Oh, Fuma really is busy. After he''s done at Southern Xinjiang, then he heads to the West. After he''s done in the West, he heads to Northern Xinjiang. Why does it feel as though Fuma is always running around?"

    Jingan lowered her head. She thought to herself, "Since not even Father knows, he can''t be carrying out a secretmand from Father."

    After some pondering, she stood up and began contemting something else. Then, her feet began to move on their own.

    The Emperor smiled, "Jing''er, recently, how has Hangzhou treated y-, eh?! Why''d you leave? I haven''t finished! Geez, she''s as impatient as ever."

    Princess Jingan had left the hall before she finished listening to her father. She stroked her smooth chin with one hand and the cogs in her little head began to turn.

    ''Fuma has definitelye to the capital, but can''t show himself.''

    ''What do I need to do to see him?''

 Volume 5 6 The Princess and I in One Pot of Porridge

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 6 The Princess and I in One Pot of Porridge</h4>

    "Keep smiling. The fuck you smiling about?!"

    After one p, the Princess pped me again. There was no way that she could pretend that I didn''t grope herst night. She pulled her heroic eyebrows together tightly and red at me with her gaze that was sharp as steel when she hit me.

    The majority of the emotions in her eyes were admonishment and disappointment. Shyness took up only a tiny portion. Normal girls would be crying and screaming if a male stranger groped her. The tougher girls would explode on the spot and fight you to the death.

    I can say with absolute certainty that Boss Shen would pass on talking and smash his nuts with an inkstone. Shiyi would definitely wear on a radiant smile and ask him, "who touched me?" and then the moment he''s not paying attention, she''ll castrate him.

    ''Sometimes, Shiyi''s smile scares even me¡­''

    Only the Princess didn''t seem to take it to heart. She wasn''t angry over being touched; she was disappointed with me as a person.

    I suddenly felt a desire to reflect on myself¡­

    ''But I didn''t voluntarily touch you! It was you who grabbed my hand and¡­ Ah, fine. It''s Shiyi''s mess, so I''ll take the me for her.''

    I scratched my head, "Sorry, Your Highness, it was my fault for not finding out the cause in time and capturing the malicious culprit. I should not have smiled, either. I understand that it is a big deal for females; I was rash."

    Truth be told, I was partly to me, as I wanted to capture the culprit, and therefore deliberately left Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill on the candle. I wouldn''t have been able to lure Shiyi, otherwise. As a consequence, I felt a teeny bit of guilt toward the Princess.

    The Princess didn''t seem to think that I''d apologise so easily; hence, she froze for a moment. She stopped to think for a moment then looked up. She calmly asked, "Was there really a malicious culprit? When you gave chase yesterday, who did you see? Was it a male or female? Were they tall or short? Slim or fat? What was their goal in harming you?"

    "When I chased the culprit outside, I saw that the culprit had their face covered and was dressed in ck clothing. Their qinggong was also very advanced. He leapt from roof to roof. You see, I chased him all night, but could not catch him in the end."

    My exnation was sound and reasonable; however, the Princess didn''t buy it. She folded her arms. Despite her folding her arms before her chest, her voluptuous peaks didn''t change shape much. From this angle, they look phenomenally perky. Add that with her unleashing her lustst night - which caused her messy hair and unkempt appearance - the folding arms action became a sight to behold, especially since we were on the bed with the curtains down.

    The Princess didn''t realise how charming she looked at the moment. She seriously said, "Ming Feizhen, be honest with me. If the culprit''s qinggong was advanced, how did you catch up on feet, let alone run after them for the entire night? Additionally, my visit was not nned, so nobody knew. Why did the culprit sneak into your room when there''s nobody present to use an aphrodisiac on you?"

    ''The Princess'' logic is sound, yes, but she didn''t nt it to use on you, but us! Shiyi intended it for it to be used on me and her! Who would''ve expected you and Su Xiao toe inside in the middle of the night? That part wasn''t part of her n.''

    No, no, no, don''t take this in a crooked direction. Shiyi didn''t want to drug me to do that happy stuff we can''t tell children; she most likely intended to use it as a truth serum to ask me questions she had for me.

    News of me bing a Fuma Candidate probably spread. Being unsettled, Shiyi probably wanted to ask if I wanted to marry the Princess.

    ''Jeez¡­ What''s so good about being Fuma? It''s boring¡­ Why did Shiyi think that I wanted to be Fuma?''

    Since I couldn''t answer, the Princess'' gaze became sterner.

    "It''s a private item you use to trick girls, isn''t it? Liu Shan Men''s courtyard is split in two. On the other side is where the female constables reside. Yiren told me that she carefully picked and personally trained close to a hundred female constables, with none who would bring shame the word beauty. You were nning to go after them, weren''t you?!"

    The Princess gained more and more confidence as she spoke while the fire in her eyes burnt hotter and hotter.

    ''I can''t be any more innocent!''

    ''I''m not capable of theplex task of putting the drug into the candle, yes, but that''s no reason to frame me! Shiyi is much defter with her handspared to me!''

    ''Plus, those female constables that were trained by Boss Shen are tough as nails. They probably have no issues in fights! Who in their right mind would dare to provoke them?!''

    "I get it now." The Princess puffed her face. Her stern gaze turned even sharper, "I''ve investigated you. Besides continuously hearing that you like men¡­"

    "Hey! We already rified that matter yesterday!"

    "Shut up! rified what?!"

    The Princess raised her hand for no other reason than to punch me in my nose! The pain made me hold my face.

    "The only thing proven by what you did to me is that you like men and women!"

    ''Who likes men and women?! Who has that big of an appetite?! Ny percent of the news you heard was from people prejudice against me, while the other information was just absolute rubbish!''

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "To add to that, your alias, Liu Shan''s gue¡­ whoever touches you will be unlucky."

    ''Okay, don''t bring up that alias! I was set up; then your old man decided to officially acknowledge it! I, too, am in despair over it!''

    "Now I feel that it''s not that simple. They were definitely set up by your schemes, and these idents are the result of that."

    The Princess''s gaze was stern as though she was all the more confident in her deduction.

    ''The others all said that my fortune is bad and will curse people to death!''

    "I have already confirmed it¡­ Ming Feizhen, you''re Mount Daluo''s most rebellious disciple, a disgrace to the orthodox sects in the martial world!"

    That sort of ticked me off to hear.

    ''Even if I did touch you a few times, how does that make me a disgrace to the orthodox sects in the martial world? My Shifu bedded so many girls; you think that touching them was all that he did? He¡­ He''s even revered! I hate you fake morals preaching orthodox people the most!''

    The Princess threw yet another punch, but I blocked it with my hand.

    She used a surprisingly big amount of force. The Princess trained in sabres and broadswords since a young age; her arms were, therefore, particrly strong. To my surprise her punch wasn''t any weaker than Jin Wangsun''s aide, the big man, A Hu!

    ''Fuck, Princess, how much effort did you devote to your sabre training?!!''

    "You¡­" The Princess bit down on her lip then anxiously said, "Let me punch you!"

    "Be reasonable! I didn''t do anything¡­"

    The moment I said that I didn''t do anything, a flush appeared on the Princess'' pretty face. She seemingly recalled lots of things fromst night.

    ''Oh, so you didn''t remember it all before, that''s why you wanted to hack me to death before you even saw me!''

    Her fist was currently connected to my palm, which apparently led to her recalling the feeling of touching mest night.

    "You¡­ you!" The Princess grumpily asked, "I just want to punch you; you going to let me punch you or not?"

    ''Who does this?!''

    ''You can''t just hit somebody this way even if you''re worse at expressing yourself with words, can you?!!''

    Before we were finished with the ruckus, we suddenly heard knocks at the door. However, the knocker just knocked for the sake of knocking.

    "Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen, are you there?"

    It was Liu Yuan''s voice. Additionally, judging from the footsteps, a few of them seemed to havee.

    From the way they knocked for the sake of knocking, I knew that they weren''t nning to wait for me to respond. In essence, calling out to me was just protocol; should I not open up, they''ll immediately push the doors open and enter.

    I swiftly asked, "What? What do you so early in the morning?"iu Yuan responded, "What, you''re in the right now? How many days have you been absent from meetings now? You haven''tpleted a single task Vice-captain left you with when she left. We need to have a meeting now."

    "Huh? A-A meeting?"iu Yuan fumed, "Of course. We have lots of problems to go through at the moment, while you have never attended the meetings. There are lots of things awaiting a decision. Therefore, you have to attend the meeting today no matter what."

    ''What do I do?''

    I sent the Princess a signal with my gaze. She, too, was worried.

    "We''reing in!"

    Apanying the sound of the door creaking, Liu Yuan entered as soon as he pushed the door.

 Volume 5 7 Crazy Mountain of People at Liu Shan Men

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 7 Crazy Mountain of People at Liu Shan Men</h4>

    The Princess nced at me with her gaze beaming with a heroic resolve to kill. She then swept her pure white thigh across and kicked me toward the edge.

    ''Excuse me?!!''

    While I still had my dumbstruck expression on, the Princess looked at me and mouthed, "You can, you up!"

    ''Yo, our Second Princess has real world experience! She even knows English now!''

    ''But does that mean that I have to take all the me?!''

    The Princess shot me a death stare with an expressionless face. She used Voice Transmission in conjunction with her stare to say, "You''re a man, so you solve it."

    Then, simrly to a wife expressing disdain for her useless husband, kicked me off the bed. Following my tumble, she immediately pulled the bed curtain shut.

    Our silent conversation onlysted for an instant before the door fully swung open.

    Seeing me stumble a few steps and almost trip, Liu Yuan felt perplexed, "What are you doing? Toad jumping?"

    "I just woke up and was exercising." I then angrily asked, "What are you in such a rush for? You dying?"

    "Look at the time. Morning passed a long time ago. You''re¡­ fully dressed and you''re saying you just woke?"

    ''Thank you, captain obvious! I haven''t slept for three nights and just went to smash someone! It''d be strange for me to not be fully dressed!''

    "I sleep how I please, what''s it to you? Aren''t we having a meeting? Let''s go; to the Vermillion Hall we go."iu Yuan stopped me, though. He red at me, "You want to go to the Vermillion Hall? We''re holding the meeting right here."

    He then turned to face the people behind him, "Everyonee in."

    I then saw myrades at Liu Shan Men file in one by one, including Tang Ye. Over ten of them came in.

    "Wh-What''s this about?"

    "Vice-captain gave the order before she left. She said that you needed to sign all of the documents in the office during her absence; otherwise, they weren''t approved. You haven''te to work for a single day in all these days; consequently, there''s a pile of things awaiting your decision."

    ''Huh? For real?''

    I swept my gaze across the group. Besides Zha Pi, Tang Ye is a Baihu while Liu Yuan is Official of Misceneous Affairs. They''re officials, and so are the others. Some were elders who''ve stayed at Liu Shan Men for a long time. For instance, there was the uncle in charge of the armoury and the chef, yet all of them were awaiting a decision from me, a meremoner.iu Shan Men emphasises pragmatism over rankings, which is why authority and official rankings are two separate matters and depends on the constables. At the moment, I am the only head constable at Liu Shan Man''s branch in Nanjing.

    ''No wonder why they have to listen to me.''

    As for signing documents, if my memory does me justice, I think Boss said that I have good handwriting, and therefore told me to sign documents. That way, we, at least, wouldn''t look embarrassing¡­iu Yuan borated, "Over thest few days, you''ve either gone to attend court meetings ore up with excuses to go off and y. You''re never in the office. You think you''re hot after winning the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, do you? We''re all present today. We''re staying right here until you finish signing the documents. Don''t you even dream of escaping."iu Yuan spoke with an imposing manner. The others didn''t speak, but exuded a simr demeanour, nheless.

    I shot Tang Ye a re. He was enjoying a mantou in his hand. He supinated his hand as if to shrug and signal that he was helpless, "I was kidnapped here as soon as I got to the kitchen."

    ''Oh, so you tried to get ahead, but were caught in their ploy, too!''

    ''Whatever, whatever, I can''t leave so many matters at the office unsettled, either.''

    "All right. We''re holding the meeting in my room, right? Fine. Wait up."

    I quickly went back to the bed and whispered, "Wifey, we''re having a meeting. Don''t make a sound in there."

    I wasn''t sure if it was due to the misunderstanding from before or what, but I ended up remembering the word "wifey," and consequently blurted it by ident.

    The Princess didn''t answer.

    Before I realised my error, I added, "Otherwise, it would be bad if news if it reaches His Majesty. Your marriage to me is set in stone. The reason you do not want to get married is because what is done is done. You cannot refund it, can you?"

    I wasn''t sure if she was able toprehend my true intentions behind my cheeky words or if she just had a good grasp of the situation, but she didn''t give a response.

    I didn''t dare to leave the Emperor''s daughter here and ignore her, though. Subsequently, due to my doubt, I added, "Hmm? Okay? Say something?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After some time, the Princess finally whispered, "Ming Feizhen¡­ do you know why my alias is Blood-stained ss?"

    ''Huh? Why is she suddenly bringing that up?''

    "It''s because my sabre is called ss. Further, I never show mercy to viins. If I encounter traitors of orthodox sects or bandits and bullies from the unorthodox sects, my de will never be sheathed until they are dead."

    She then made a pause. I could hear a sound, which was apparently the sound of her de sliding against its sheath.

    Then I heard, "I''ll wait for you toe back."

    ''Fuck me! This is what they call ''the de must be swung down after it''s raised'' is it?! You want to cut me up with the sabre you use to cut down notorious criminals, because I touched you?! It''s one thing for me to not be afraid of you, but if you''re going to stay here for over ten days, would I even dare to sleep at night?! I haven''t slept for three days, and I''m very sleepy, damn it!!''

    I returned to my desk with a restless mind. Due to my table not being wide enough, I stacked the books up. My visitors came over with each of them bringing a bench over to sit down on; meanwhile, Tang Ye nonchntly stood next to me as he ate his mantou.

    Each of the visitors held thick stacks of paper and revealed excited looks in their eyes.

    I looked at them feeling slightly perplexed. I then said, "All right, if you have business, speak up. Who needs a signature?"

    I regretted my question afterwards, for the entire venue went out of control.

    "Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!"

    "Us! Us! Us! Us!!!"

    As they fought for priority, they shoved a pile of paper onto me. Boss had left for just three days, yet to my surprise, there was a mountain of work.

    "Our internal department needs more clothing!! We need underwear, outer wear, cotton pants, pants for winter andrge cotton-padded jackets!!"

    "The kitchen needs more knives! Thick knives, thin knives, long knives, short knives!!"

    "Our armoury needs more broadswords and sabres! Broadswords! Broadswords! New broadswords! Oooohhhh!!"

    "We constables need more dishes! We don''t want vegetables anymore! We want mushrooms, tofu, chicken thighs! Oooo!!!"

    "We want to knock down the walls to the female constables'' courtyard! We don''t want to be single! We want to have girlfriends! Ooohhh!!!"

    "The daily work hours are too long! I want to go on strike! Ooohh!!"

    Zha Pi went beyond. He removed his clothes to reveal his thin torso. He grabbed the table as though he was Xiang Yu, who was about to lift the cauldron on tripods. However, his version became the toad letting out sensual moans. He shook as he roared, "Ooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!"

    ''Zha Pi was normal and serious just a second ago, yet out of the blue, he turned into an orgasming animal orgy!''

    The frenzied crowd surrounded me and tugged me here then there, and then back. I was akin to a small boat that was thrown around by big waves.

    ''So, to sum up what you''re saying, you need money, correct?! Why do you need to be so worked up?! You''ve turned normal requests into something resembling a script!''

    ''Oi, you, the one that asked to knock down the walls to the female constables'' courtyard, are you still a constable or what?! How did a borderline criminal get into Liu Shan Men?! By the way, even if you did knock the wall down, you can''t even beat them! You''d be turned into their toy or something instead!! As for you, the guy who wants to go on strike, didn''t youe to substitute for Gramps Huang? You''re a temporary substitute; strike your ass! You''re screwing with me, aren''t you?!!''

    ''Also!''

    ''Zha motherfucking Pi, you never said a thing! You just started shouting!! What fucking document is a misceneous workering to my room to talk about?!''

    I didn''t hear a single major issue despite the ruckus they were making. They were all trivial issues in the office, yet they were all worked up as if they were discussing a national or n vendetta.

    ''If our soldiers at Northern Xinjiang were as courageous as you lot, our nation''s map would expand by one-third!!''

    The nutcases pulled me back and forth. Even my clothes nearly ripped. Tang Ye choked on his mantou as a result of the abrupt change in the situation. He stood to one side with a pale face and duked it out with the mantou in his throat.

    ''What''s with these people?''

    I suddenly noticed the pursed-lips-evil smile that Liu Yuan wore on his face. As soon as he noticed my gaze on him, he immediately unleashed his pretence acting skills. He picked up a cup of tea from the table and had a sip. He nonchntly remarked, "My, my, smooth and exquisite. Truly fabulous tea."

    ''Oh, so you were the mastermind behind this!!''

    Notes:

    * You can you up - It''s Chinglish. The original phrase in Chinese is ÄãÐÐÄãÉÏ. As aplete phrase, it would be tranted (context dependent) as something along the lines of, "You do it if you''re so good." The author wrote this phrase in its Chinglish version and wrote MFZ''s "excuse me," which came before that in English, too. Princess Hongzhuang says this in English.

    ** Toad Jumping - Squat down. Come up on your toes. ce your hands behind you. Now bounce up and down, back and forth, and anything else you cane up with in that position. That''s what we call Toad Jumping in martial arts.

    *** Xiang Yu is a historical figure with unusual physical strength. The original Chinese phrase is °ÔÍõ¿¸¶¦, which literally means "Overlord/Hegemon Lifting a Cauldron." Xiang Yu dered himself Overlord during the Chu-han warring period, which is why the "overlord" part of the word refers to Xiang Yu, and the rest refers to his feat of strength. It can''t be tranted as "overlord," as nobody would understand the reference.

 Volume 5 8 Newly Appointed Official.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 8 Newly Appointed Official.</h4>

    First Torch to Bear. Liu Yuan disyed his delight for my misery of the swarm of people in my face with his face. He hid his sly smile with a teacup, but he didn''t fully cover it! I could see that smirk on his face perfectly clear from my angle. Liu Yuan is responsible for handling misceneous things in the office; he''s responsible for delivering the office''s documents. He knows better than anyone when documents should be submitted, yet I was swarmed with these petty matters that clearly didn''t need any thinking.

    ''I''m sure that it''s this punk that told them toe to me!''

    I looked at Liu Yuan''s smug, stupid face. Using ventriloquism, I muttered, "It was your idea, wasn''t it?"

    As Liu Yuan drank his tea, he''d asionally lick the edge of the cup.

    "What are you talking about? Howe I can''t understand what you''re saying?"

    ''You think you''re convincing?!''

    ''It must be because I gave you a beating when I first joined Liu Shan Men that you''re now trying to exact revenge on me, since Boss is out!''

    I can''t believe this guy is so petty that he''d remember something from so long ago. When I thought about it more carefully, though, I realised that this wasn''t just about the beating that I gave him.

    ''It''s about Su Xiao, isn''t it?! You''re jealous that Su Xiao gets along with me, aren''t you! You finally found a chance to get revenge, is it?!''

    "Keep up your stupid act, and I''ll call Su Xiao here for a talk¡­"

    And as I thought, the mention of Su Xiao caused him to lose his cool expression.

    "Tch, who cares if you know it was me?" Liu Yuan muffled his chuckle, "You''re a newly appointed individual, so it''s only normal for you to take on jobs. Henceforward, you''ll have your fair share, don''t worry."

    ''I knew it was you!''

    ''How bored are these people?

    They''ve all squeezed into my room, since they have nothing to do. If we hold the meeting at Vermillion Hall, the meeting will need to be recorded for Boss Shen to examine afterwards.

    ''I''ll be surprised if Boss doesn''t rip you to shreds with all this nonsensical babbling of yours.''

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Seeing the sulky looks on their faces reminded me of the day Boss promoted me to Head Constable. After my promotion was announced, these people all wore this sulky look.

    I''m not exactly weed at the office; plus, I spent over twenty days recuperating (read:zing around) and ditched my shifts daily, which led to them being even more displeased with me. As a consequence, their discontent for me exploded when Boss left me with some authority when she left.

    ''Youme, boring people!!''

    ''You''re all teaming up to boss me around, because Boss promoted me to head constable and left me with authority around here? When you have to fight with outsiders, you''re all pushovers, but when ites to fighting your own, you''re all bloody masters! For the dark side of working for the Imperial Court to be exhibited through these insignificant matters of yours, I''m sad for you!''

    ''Also, Zha Pi, whatever the hell are you here for?!! Piss off back to Sir Sui and water the nts!!''iu Yuan licked the cup again; then, he shot me a ridiculing gaze, "That''s how politics work. Everyone knows how it works. When you can''t bear it anymore, I''lle help you."

    ''Piss off with your good guy act! It was your idea in the first ce, bastard!! To add to that, you''re a Ninth Rank official. Who in the world would be jealous of you when you''re at the bottom of the rung?!''

    As I was speaking to Liu Yuan, a constable leapt over to where my foot was, as I wasn''t paying attention to him, "I beg you, Head Constable Ming, please show your benevolence and tear down the walls to the female constables'' courtyard on my behalf!"

    ''Fuck you! You''re trying to get me killed!''

    ''If I tear that wall down, Boss will smash me to mush with an inkstone when shees back! Moreover, who brings such a grand request to a meeting?! Have you no shame?!!''

    This guy was just here to cause trouble, but he created a domino effect. The others asked for money, authority, vacation, passes, wanted me investigate cases as they pushed me around and rambled.

    Annoyed, I pressed my fingers to my temples. I sent Tang Ye an eye signal to do something about the situation, but he was still on the ground wrestling with the mantou that was choking him¡­ Just when I was considering borrowing the Princess'' sabre to hack a few of them to get them to calm down so that I, too, could calm down, I suddenly heard a distinct voice from the door, "Big Brother, are you in?"

    "Second Martial Brother?"

    "Oh, you''re in. Great!"

    Second kicked my door open and came in, bouncing with a mischievous smile on his face.

    "It was tootest night, so we did not get to chat enough. Regarding Jin Wangsun, how should we¡­"

    Seeing so many people in the room caused Second Brother to freeze, "Eh? What are so many people doing squashed together in a room so early in the morning? Big Brother, what are you doing?''

    However, being a man that''s used to behaving as though nobody is around him, he didn''t care who all these people were, "What are you all doing standing around my Big Brother for? Move, move, all of you move."

    Second wasn''t formal with the group of people. He pulled one away with his left hand and kicked another way with his right leg, thereby immediately clearing out the crowd around me, and then sat down opposite me.

    Needless to say, the people he moved away weren''t pleased. Nevertheless, when theypared themselves with my Second Brother''s muscles, most of their anger dissipated.

    The other people in my room included the elders, who had been employed at Liu Shan Men for twenty years, while others were officials recognised by the Imperial Court. In fact, there was Official Tongzhi, who specifically focused on apprehending bandits and robbers. He''s a Fifth Rank official under the current Imperial Court system. Many documents were handled by him, but he was also on the ground - courtesy of Second Brother''s kick.

    Consequently, he began to furiously scream and shout. If the document in his hand could be used to chop someone up, he''d have chopped my Second Brother into a meat pie by now, "Ming Feizhen! What is the deal with your junior brother? He dares to hit even me?!!"

    Second Brother didn''tment. All he did was wipe the sweat on his forehead. He seemingly came here after morning practice. A trail of sweat coursed along the trail of the sunlight shining on his bronze muscles. Second didn''t make a fuss with the others. He just wiped his forehead of sweat then whipped his hand.

    *St!*

    He whipped his sweat onto the table. It was merely sweat, yet itnded on the table loudly as if he threw stones down. Upon closer inspection, there wasn''t a drip of water in sight. Whatnded on the table were several condensed drops of sweat. That''s not an advanced martial arts or anything. It''s merely the palm style that Second Brother specifically trained. Due to his swift hand speed, the drops of sweat flew fast, thereby condensing. Given how strong his arms are, ites to no surprise that his drops of condensed sweatnded on the table with a loud sound.

    While I wasn''t surprised, ordinary people would perceive him as a Jia Rank warrior judging from that level of skill. Thus, several of the civil officials had their wits scared out of them. If even Tang Ye widened his eyes with admiration at Second Brother''s skill, the reactions of the others is self-exnatory.

    "What? What are you all surrounding my Big Brother for?" Like a thug, Second Brother put one leg on a chair and in an overbearing tone, threatened, "I won''t concern myself with other matters, but if anyone dares to touch a hair on my Big Brother, I, Hongjiu, will palm strike him as if I''m crushing a watermelon. If two people touch him, I''ll palm strike two people."

    Unfortunately, Second Brother''s valiant act didn''t appease their anger. To the contrary, it added fuel to the fire.

    One constable yelled, "Who''d you say you''d palm strike? Palm someone; I dare you!"

    Another constable snickered then spoke to me, "You''re a real piece of work. I''m amazed that you brought an outsider in to sh*t on our Liu Shan Men."

    There was no way of wording how much ridicule was found in his tone.

 Volume 5 9 Newly Appointed Official. Second Torch to Bear.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 9 Newly Appointed Official. Second Torch to Bear.</h4>

    "You''re a real piece of work. I''m amazed that you brought an outsider in to sh*t on our Liu Shan Men."

    As soon as the constable who said that finished, another one immediately followed up, "He''s an outsider to begin with. He''s been here for three months, yet he hasn''t even clocked up one month worth of work hours. How is he not an outsider?"

    "Exactly," ridiculed another constable, "He was ying ''nowhere to be seen'' when we went to show up the Qilin Guards at their ce. He was nowhere in sight when we were guarding the city doors, eithers. Now he''s soon-to-be Fuma, so of course he''s an outsider to us lowly constables."

    ''Geez, how salty. You must''ve drunk seven jugs of salt water consecutively.''

    ''How much do you people hate me to still resent me for going to guard another door on my own back then?!''

    "What are you talking about?" Second brother scratched the back of his head, "How do you all sound as if you''re a group of housewives? Your husband die?"

    Second Brother managed to infuriate several constables with that. They immediately began a verbal assault on him. He didn''t resort to bullying them with his martial skills. Instead, he took on three of them by himself with his Zhuge Liang level verbal onught. However, I was relieved when they turned their attention to Second Brother, since I was, at least, free of them standing around me shouting in my face.

    Thus, I escaped the catastrophe. I immediately shot Liu Yuan a re and quietly said, "I have no time to mess around with you lot. Hurry up and take them away."iu Yuan slowly had a sip of tea as though he was relishing the vour. With a smile, he replied, "The meeting has just started. How can you leave so soon? Moreover, I can''t convince them to leave. I just gave them a reminder. They voluntarily came here."

    "Voluntarily? As if I have such a serious grudge with you lot."

    "You still don''t get it? It appears that you''ve had your way for too long that you won''t know your ce if I don''t give you a reminder."

    He amplified my anger. I coldly snorted, "I''m afraid it''ll be you who regrets it if I don''t give you a reminder."

    As he had hisst sip, Liu Yuan smugly responded, "This Young Master is upright and has never cked on his duties nor does he have any rough patches with his colleagues. Remind me of what?"

    I smugly replied, "That pot of tea has been sitting there for three days. The smooth texture you mentioned is probably the result of the tea leaves going bad."

    "Pffft!!!"iu Yuan sprayed an entire mouthful of tea onto the face of Zha Pi, who was red in the face as he put on the performance of his life, causing the aroused toad to calm down a little.

    I seized the opportunity to grab Liu Yuan by the cor, swung him over and pressed him onto the table. The moment his face mmed onto the table, a loud sound was heard. He started to see stars after his head hit the table.

    I''ve got many things to attend to. I don''t have time to be wasting on these trivial matters.

    The people around eximed upon seeing me take action, so I angrily yelled at them, "Attention!"

    I made the people around freeze and stop their bickering. I moulded up energy then scanned them. All of them began a silent war with me.

    "Since this is a meeting, where are you manners? What''s with all this rambling?" I threw Liu Yuan aside as if I was throwing away a rag doll. Then, I wore on a solemn expression, "I have no grudges against you. Do you have some sort of unforgiveable grudge against me? Have I seriously offended you in some way?"

    They lowered their heads in silence. They didn''t say anything. Even if they did have something to say, they wouldn''t be able to say a word given the amount of energy I emitted from my eyes onto them.

    "Everyone here works for Liu Shan Men and the Imperial Court. You two department heads, is there something that can''t be resolved with discussions for you to resort to such repulsive means?"

    The uncle in charge of the armoury didn''t expect me to have such a firm stance. He panicked, "Wh-What are you saying?''

    "Must I explicate it?''

    I pointed at them as I addressed them one by one, "How long has the internal department required more clothing? How many months and days has it been? You only realised that you needed more clothes when it''s nearly the New Year? What have you been doing all this time? All of our colleagues have bought more clothes out of their own pockets, and only now do you feel that it''s cold? Is your skin too thick or what?"

    "And you, the armoury needs more broadswords? How many constables do we have in total? There are enough for a team of one hundred. What are you stocking up so many broadswords for? Are you thinking of revolting?"

    "You, the one whoined about the food tasting bad, I always see you with a big appetite. Why do you eat so much when it tastes so bad?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You, the one who wanted to tear the wall down. You can tear the wall down tonight, and I''ll collect your corpse tomorrow!"

    "And you! Zha Pi! What in the world are you here for?"

    Zha Pi got kicked away by Second Brother, so he looked at me with pitiful teary eyes, "Master Ming! You tricked me! Didn''t you say that I could transfer to a legitimate constable post? Why am I still a gardener?"

    ''Huh? I said that? Sir Sui needs you in his flower garden, though.''

    I contemted it then replied in a serious tone, "Report in tomorrow, then. However, you have to continue helping out Sir Sui. Don''t let it the flowers wither."

    Zha Pi wanted to cry, but had no tears. He probably didn''t want to work under Sir Sui. Sir Sui was originally a schr and one that''s very graceful. Other than his habit of asionally touching people''s butts, he''s good guy.

    I addressed the people present one by one. The officials found themselves to be in the wrong, and therefore didn''t debate it with me. Life at Liu Shan Men is, in fact, very orderly. Boss may have a personality where she doesn''t concern herself with trivial things, but she has her own ways of being meticulous, nheless. Hence, she was able to create order at the office. However, once she approves of their requests, things be a mess. By the looks of things, Liu Shan Men is probably going to be a pot of porridge.

    As he watched me address them one by one and even order Zha Pi around, a constable snickered, "Heh, what are you acting as if you''re a hot shot for? Don''t go thinking that you can sh*t on us just because Vice-Captain treasures you."

    I froze after I heard what he said. It wasn''t the content of what he said that troubled me, but that they had begun to question Boss Shen''s judgment and credibility mere days after her departure.

    He was a man with an aggressive appearance. He wasn''t short. He was almost as tall as Tang Ye. His name is Luo Huaian. It was him who was making the sarcastically ridiculing me before.

    He usually doesn''t speak to me. ording to my memory, he''s one of the constables that took part in the recruitment exams at the same time that I did. I don''t think his martial skills were poor. He does have quite the prestigious name among the new constable recruits. At some point in time, he formed his own team without me being aware. Nobody else spoke; he, alone, was the only one who dared to express discontent for me.uo Huaian revealed a look indicating that he wasn''t afraid of authority. He snickered, "Others may be afraid of you, but I''m not. What have you done besides threatening people?"

    He had the guts to make harsh remarks; one, because he''s physically strong and has decent skills; two, it''s probably his personalitying out.

    There''s no enmity between him and I nor do we have any rough patches between us.

    ''He probably just doesn''t ept me as his new superior, which would exin why he joined them here to specifically give me grief.''

    Notes:

    *Zhuge Liang - Considered the genius strategist during the Three Kingdoms Era. Served Shu.

 Volume 5 10 Newly Appointed Official. Third Torch to Bear.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 10 Newly Appointed Official. Third Torch to Bear.</h4>

    Once Luo Huaian was done talking, another constable piggy backed off what he said, "Exactly. Had you not brown nosed Vice-captain, what right would you have to lead us? You''re poor at literacy, and your martial skills are negligible. Your only skill is relying on women to feed you."

    Another one jumped onto the bandwagon, "Aren''t you Liu Shan''s gue? I-Isn''t your only strength having a stronger life force? You didn''t fight a single fight at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. Had you not jinxed your opponents to death, you would never have won. What qualities do you have to qualify to be Head Constable? We rmend Tang Ye, Baihu Tang to Head Constable."

    Suddenly, another constable took a stand. I had a careful look. To my surprise, it was one from the female constables. A white and plump female constable coldly spoke with her arms folded, "While Vice-captain did tell us to follow yourmands before she left, I don''t feel that it''s necessary to listen to you, don''t you agree?"

    They verbally attacked me one after the other, with all of them questioning mypetence, character and reputation, none of which they felt was sufficient tomand them and the other constables of Liu Shan Men.iu Shan Men''s office is different to other offices, for the majority of the authority is in the hands of the Head Constable as opposed to other military officials. As a result, even Su Xiao and Tang Ye, who are both Seventh Rank officials, Baihus, wouldn''t be able to order anyone. They have to obey me in operations. Although I think I was conferred a Seventh Rank Warrior rank, it''s just a fa?ade. Besides putting me on a taller pedestal, I haven''t gained any more actual authority. Thus, the unique nature of the three offices is clear. Rankings as an official is not the be all end all.

    And it would now seem that this unique nature is working against me.

    Boss made me Head Constable, as I was the captain of a small team, and she didn''t want to let me look bad in front of Su Xiao and Tang Ye, who were conferred official ranks. However, she didn''t have any other reserve candidate for the post; thus, I''m the only Head Constable at Liu Shan Men''s branch in Nanjing. Therefore, the negative criticisms followed the jealousy and found their way to me in a fashion akin to waves.

    Even others may dislike me. However, the constables felt that I used trickery to gain the post, with some even thinking that I brown nosed my superior to be instated as Head Constable.

    ''Can you all stop being so embarrassing?! You don''t even get a pay rise for the post! It''s a tiring and tough job to shoulder!! If you like it so much, I''ll pass it to you!''uo Huaian spoke up again, "Noment? I thought that you''d have guts if nothing else. You should, at least, exin yourself to everyone after doing something so dirty, shouldn''t you?"

    I shot a re at the young constable that was making sarcastic remarks. Afraid, he took a step back and hid behind another constable.

    The constable in front of Luo Huaian tactfully guarded him. Seeing the look in my eyes, he reached into his shirt and grabbed something. He forced a snicker, "Hmph, your shame has turned to anger, has it? You want to jinx me to death, too? Listen, I have a protective talisman from Cloud Great Temple!"

    He quivered as he spoke and brought out the protective talisman with "praying for a partner for marriage and a son" on it and shoved it up to my face. His reaction seemed as though he was dead certain that I''d be afraid of his talisman. Heughed, "What do you think, you evil spirit? All of your hairs are standing up now, aren''t they?"

    ''Okay, so is it a protective talisman or an explosive?! You, who came up with the idea of using a protective talisman to curse a living person to death, would be the evil spirit, don''t you think? Moreover, you went to the temple to ask for a protective talisman to bless you with a son. That''s called misappropriation of a public item! Also, you have some romantic issues you can''t get over, isn''t that right?!''

    I nced over to the female constables'' representative. She kept up with the cold tone, "I think that it would be better for Mr. Tang Ye to be appointed Head Constable. We only believe in thepetent."

    "Are those your heartfelt feelings?"

    My eyes drifted from the three constables faces over to the female constables'' representative. The four of them gave their opinion that they had reached a consensus on, which was to have me be removed from the post and ndered my rtionship with Boss.

    I maintained my expressionless look as I nodded, "Fine."

    I extended my hand out to the side and made a hand gesture, "Tang Ye."

    Tang Ye had a look, and then nodded before taking the protective talisman. He then closed his hand. He looked at the constable and scrunched it up in front of his face.

    Then, Tang Ye looked at them without any expression on his face, "He''s my big brother. If you have something to say, ask him."

    Suddenly feeling that he was in a crisis, Second Brother raised his head. He used his eyes to inquire, "What about me?"

    I helplessly chuckled, and then picked up a document.

    "Let''s get back to discussing these, then."uo Huaian looked at my calm expression with astonishment, as his provocations had no effect on me, "A-Aren''t you going to give an exnation?"

    "What am I supposed to exin?"uo Huaian sounded as though he was afraid that I''d flee, "Exin how you snatched the post from Vice-captain; exin what the deal is with your thug rtives, and then apologise to everyone."

    I looked at him with the gaze reserved for looking at retards.

    "Apologise?" I sat back in my chair with confidence and snickered, "Let''s not speak of the fact that everything you said waspletely fabricated for now. Indeed, I have been promoted to Head Constable, and I''ve been appointed for a full month. That was a decision made by our superior. Apologise? Exin? I don''t me you for yourck of knowledge, but since when did superiors have to give you an exnation? Does Vice-captain have to exin every matter and every word she writes to you? Who do you think you are?!"uo Huaian got angry, "You! You''re unworthy of the post; yourbat skills are pathetic. You''re totally ipetent, so what right do you have to be Head Constable?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Another constable jumped in, "Exactly, exactly. How can a Head Constable¡­"

    "Do you peopleckprehension skills? I said that it was what our superior decided." After I cut him off, I wore on a cold expression, "Let''s put aside the fact that I''m yourrade and won the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. Even if it was some random that you don''t know from the pugilistic world, if your superior says that he''s the Head Constable, you must ept him as Head Constable!"

    "You have something to say about the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament? Sure, I didn''t win a single match, but so what? I didn''t win a single match. I''m ipetent? You''re right, too. I have far more faults and weaknesses than those things you mentioned. I''m a money monger; I love to eat, dodge work, don''t even work for two hours a day, go to the kitchen to eat at a set time every day and take drinks from the storehouse; besideszing around, Ize around more every day, and I''m far worse than you can imagine."

    I rearranged their three faces with what I said. It was as if they didn''t think that I was that scummy.

    I continued, "You thought I asionally worked diligently? Never happened! I''mzy that way! Be scared! But you know what? I''m still your Head Constable, and I''m still your superior. Nobody can rece me."

    "You haveints? You can''t ept it? Deal with it!!"

    I didn''t just stun these fellows. I even heard the Princess, who was on my bed, use Voice Transmission to mutter, "You scared me¡­"

    ''Oi! For god''s sake, can you not put any more trouble on my table?! This is akin to a family issue that I''m dealing with here!''

    The constables were left with ghastly pale faces and silence.

    I looked at Luo Huaian and quietly said, "If my memory does me justice, you were employed at the same time I was, right? Sadly for you, only Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I became warriors ranked by the Imperial Court. Meanwhile, you and yourpany are stuck at the office."

    "S-So what?"

    "So I''m your superior. You just told me that you rmend Tang Ye for Head Constable, right? I couldn''t care less who you rmend, but for as long as this ce is Liu Shan Men, you shall abide by Liu Shan Men''s rules. I''m your superior; hence, you are to obey mymands. You have no right to negotiate. I, the Head Constable, am currently substituting for the Vice-captain. I will fulfil my duty. If I must be the monk that tolls the bell, then so be it."

    The two of them and the female constables'' representative fell into a silence. They seemed unable to think of a counterargument.uo Huaian went through a number of expressions as he looked at them. In the end, he forced augh, "Who knows if you fulfilled your duty on the bed, too."iu Yuan couldn''t forgive the uncouth remark, "Luo Huaian! What the hell are you saying?! If your nder toward the Vice-captain gets out, it''ll be a serious issue! You looking to die?!"uo Huaian deliberately wore on a nonchnt look and began a bravado act, "Heh, the truer it is, the more one is scared of it being mentioned. If it''s false, what''s there to be afraid of?"

    I stood up and silently walked up to Luo Huaian. Being taller than him, he immediately had to look up when I walked over.

    "Wh-What do you want?"

    "You offended your superior, but I shan''t punish you. With that said, you dared to argue with me and say that sort ofme stuff¡­"

    Iunched the name of the thorn, who I didn''t know the name of, out of my room with an upward kick. He flew a good distance through the air beforending outside.

    "Carry him out of here."

    Owing to surprise that I actually got physical, the entire room went quiet.

    "Additionally!"

    When I turned my head back, the others reacted simrly to a mouse spotting a cat. Put another way, it was as If Boss Shen''s subordinates saw her and immediately straightened up.

    "I know that you lot are dissatisfied with me being Head Constable and having the authority on all matters in the office no matter how minor or serious. Nevertheless!"

    I raised the document in my hand.

    "There are rules and regtions at the office. You can''t use what you want when you want. ording to the dates on these documents, they''re from ten days ago. Vice-captain was in the office ten days ago, but none of you asked her about any of this. You only dared to bring them out after she left. It''s certain that Vice-captain would skin you for these requests, but let''s put that aside for the moment. To cover the costs of these requests, alone, would mean that everyone in the office will have to eat thin air for next month!"

    They backed down one step for every sentence I said. Maybe they recalled how cruel Boss can be, a presumption that came to mind, as they all instinctively covered their groins when I mentioned Vice-Captain. However, when I mentioned her in conjunction with my sound logic and violence at the same time, they were stumped, and nobody dared to say ''no''.

    ''Man, I''m spent.''

    It''s not easy to punish one to deter the rest. I only managed toe up with this idea thanks to my experience managing the Demon Sect, Mount Daluo, Night Fortress and all the other sects.

    When a new official is appointed, the biggest emotional feeling that the people associated have isn''t objection, but confusion. As a consequence of being confused, they''re easily controlled by their negative emotions. My job is to establish a new of thinking and reliable system. I know that it''s impossible for me to be a good Head Constable; actually, it''s impossible for me to even be a good official.

    Therefore, I must let them know that even if I''m a horrendous, scummy Head Constable, I''m still their Head Constable. Thus, it''s perfectly reasonable for them to obey me, and they''re not permitted to object. Once I imprint that thought process in their heads, it''ll be much easier to do anything in the future.

    "Those who need money, book in an appointment with me. Come visit me to request funds on the scheduled day."

    I flipped through the documents and saw a few from the kitchen.

    "It''s bad for us if the kitchen utensils are poor, though. Here, for you."

    How could I possibly dy the kitchen''s problems? I mean, I have to go and ask the chef to make me a meal in a bit.

    As I spoke, I signed the request invoice and told them to go to the treasury to collect the funds. The chef picked up the form with my signature and left feeling ecstatic.

    Everyone in the room responded with silence, "¡­"

 Volume 5 11 Su Xiao Is My Roommate

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 11 Su Xiao Is My Roommate</h4>

    The few constables that didn''t want to ept me eximed, "You! Just you wait. We won''t bow our heads to you," then they ran out. I don''t know if they ran off in tears or not, but they were probably returning to their ces to mourn.

    After they left, I began to officially get to work on the documents. Based on my knowledge of Liu Shan Men''s financial status, my experience acquired through my midnight thefts from the warehouse and intel acquired via keeping a close on the man in front of the treasury to see if he cut my sry, I defined a time frame where we would be able to make ends meet.

    Next, I had to give everyone set schedules toe and request funds from me one by one. Due to me having to busy myself with watching Shiyi, screw Jin Wangsun over, hide from Jingan, bed Hongzhuang, *ptoo*, provide Hongzhuang with a bed and ce to sleep and participate in the Fuma selection, I arranged for most of the times for requests to be over half a monthter. I had Tang Ye and Second Brother intimidate whoever wanted to object. One of them wore a stiff expression while the other wore the face of a thug. You could call them my guardian devils. It didn''t take long to eventually clear everyone out of my room.

    Thus, the number of documents I had to sort out was drastically reduced.

    Once I finished with all of them, approximately half an hour had passed. ''Mm, Boss probably takes this long, as well.'' Basically, when she works seriously, she takes about as long as when I entertain work.

    ''Boss, I worship you¡­''iu Yuan was still feeling dizzy after having his head banged, which was why he was still on the ground. Since he''s here, why not enjoy the floor and watch me ramble, "This brat must''ve worked as an official before¡­ he knows what he''s doing¡­"

    Second Brother got down andy there with him. The two of them resembled two beggars under a bridge. With a smile, he remarked, "Big Brother used to lead countless famous figures; he''s much better than you officials of the Imperial Court."

    ''Oi, you retarded ally!!''

    ''Fortunately, there are only a few of us in here; nevertheless, even Tang Ye is keenly listening in!''

    I frowned due to what I heard. I red at Second Brother. Frightened, he changed his choice of words, "We once joined arge organisation. Our Big Brother was once the organisation''s high-ranking guardian. Erm, erm, the organisation was called Shoulders n."

    ''The more you describe it the shadier it sounds! What did that n of ours do?! Steal shoulders together?! If you''re going to go there, you might as well let me be n chief! How can I be a mere guardian in Shoulders n?! Are you questioning my love for shoulders?!''

    It''s merely because martial arts are prospering in this era that everyone tries to nurture a skilled fighter in the family. As a result of those efforts, countless strange bands, ns and whatever else popped up in the martial world. There''s an organisation for everything these days from people selling mantou, meat buns, cleaners and even people selling coffins.iu Yuan wasn''t bothered. He pouted, "I bet it was an unorthodox organisation."

    Seeing as almost everyone had left, I looked at Liu Yuan and Official Tongzhi, who sat there and refused to leave.

    "Why have you still not leaving? You staying for a midnight snack?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "As if someone as stingy as you would treat us to a meal." Liu Yuan grumpily sat back in his chair, "Official Tongzhi also has an organisational problem that he needs to discuss with you. I am here to keep himpany."

    ''Fuck you! It''s obvious that you were recruiting people to give me grief for your own enjoyment! Only Official Tongzhi had serious business from the start, I bet!''

    I looked at Official Tongzhi. He may be a civil official at Liu Shan Men, but he''s in charge of capturing bandits and robbers. Lots of arrest warrants for henious bandits were issued by him. He''s a man that does proper work. I think he''s sixty this year. He''s not the healthiest man, that''s for sure. He should''ve retired years ago; however, he knew that Liu Shan Men was failing, which was why he volunteered to stay and support Boss Shen for a few years.

    It''s not the fault of the elders that Liu Shan Men''s performance has always been poor. After Yan Shisan''s departure, a group of skilled fighters left the office, leaving just the elders from back then. The elders are proficient with work, but the best that they could do was fulfil the civil roles. Asking them to go out and chase bandits or investigate cases is asking for the impossible. ording to what I''ve heard, the branch at Nanjing is considered to be faring well. The ce is practically dead, which is why Liu Shan Men hascked impact in the martial world.

    This, Official Cai, however, has a good reputation and doesn''t get on anyone''s nerves. I''ve always had a decent impression of him.

    "Offical Cai, do you have something you would like to speak to me about?"

    "Yes. Young Ming, I came specifically to see you."

    Official Cai handed me the document in his hand.

    I took it with two hands. I frowned after reading it, "Change rooms? And so many people are changing at once?"

    "Yes. The main courtyard is currently being renovated, and we''re struggling to provide rooms, since we are taking in new employees."

    "New employees?"

    The document pointed out the current struggle to house all of the members at Liu Shan Men and explosion of new recruits. I was stunned by what I saw.

    In the past, there used to only be around fifty to sixty constables at the office, yet there were now over a hundred of them. Thanks to me winning the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, Su Xiao and Tang Ye making it to the final rounds and the three of us being conferred aliases from His Machesty, namely, Su Xiao''s Violent Beautiful Young Girl, Tang Ye''s Heaven Shocker Divine Hands, my *ahem*, in any case, due to a variety of reasons, Liu Shan Men gained a surge of fame. Therefore, there have been countless job applications starting from half a month ago.

    I must say, Boss Shen is very good at projecting the future.

    The sry for us three is enough to pay for dozens of constables. Nevertheless, Boss was insistent on keeping us during a time when she faced financial difficulties and nurtured us into the face of Liu Shan Men. After the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament ended, in other words, now, is the time for us to reap the results.

    I''ve finally seen what makes Boss Shen astute.

    The current rules for recruiting new employees are totally different to the set of rules applied three months ago. Three months ago, the high sry was used to attract people. This time, those applying had to pay twenty silvers each. Moreover, for the first three months, not only are they not paid, but instead, must pay Liu Shan Men ten silvers each month as their training fee. In other words, everyone has to pay fifty taels each!! Shady? More like Boss'' heart is pitch-ck!

    Despite that, though, the number of people applying has continued to ever increase.

    Therefore, the impact of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament is clear to see.

    Almost a quarter of the people applying are after Tang Ye. He did break the records on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings, after all. It took him a mere two months to go from just being ranked to joining the ranks of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, a feat that none other before him has ever aplished. Therefore, most of the applicants are trying to learn his supreme hand techniques. It''s clearly noted on the recruitment notice that they can view Heaven Shocker Divine Hands training at close range.

    The reason that Tang Ye is famous is because he, alone, can use a plethora of different styles. Hence, if one got to watch him up close and learnt even just one style from the viewing experience, they''d have saved themselves the trouble of signing up at a school and learning. If they manage to be Tang Ye''s disciple, that''d be the equivalent of finding a treasure trove. Thus, many young men take the risk and pay the price to apply despite the absurdly exorbitant price.

    Another quarter of them join for Su Xiao. That, I didn''t expect.

    They were interested in Su Xiao, for they heard that he had a charming appearance and personality. It''s said that he, in fact, was a flower boy with an appearance that surpassed Pan An. Boss Shen knows how to do business. Last month, she assigned Su Xiao to patrol duty on the streets, thereby charming all the men on the streets, so they''re all heads over heels for him. Then, they surprisingly came to apply.

    It wasn''t just males that applied for him. Lots of maidens applied for him, too, as they admired his handsome looks. Consequently, they also requested to join the female constables. As a matter of fact, there was over double the male applicants. As such, Su Xiao didn''t attract as many males as Tang Ye; but nheless, all of the female applicants applied for Su Xiao''s sake!

    As for the remaining applicants¡­

    ording to my analysis, they should be interested in Boss Shen''s charming personality and those charming twin noble blessings. While Boss didn''t take to the ring for the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, she wasmended for her contributions to the rescue during the Emperor Cheng Kong Incident, consequently revealing herself.

    What about me, you ask?

    Mm, truth be told¡­ there were some monks, priests, wizards and whatnot that came for me. They revered me for my ability to jinx people to death. They all came to have deep conversation with me to find out what the gue of legends was made of.

    ¡­

    ''Fuck the lot of you!!''

    ''Actually, the number of applicants was reduced because of my name being written on the notice!! I won the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, damn it! How did triumphing have the opposite affect?!!''

    "So?" I grouchily threw the beautifully written, but frustrating document onto the table, "Why are you asking me about this? You don''t need my signature for internal arrangements, do you?"

    ''Strictly speaking, I''m not in charge of this sort of matter. Although I need to sign documents, there are no documents involved for room changes, is there? The document I just threw out only served one purpose: to make me sick.''

    "Yes, yes, there is." Cai Tongzhi slowly replied, "Because the number of people at the office has rapidly increased, we are unable to house so many people simultaneously."

    "There aren''t enough rooms or something¡­? I remember that we had several times more members when Liu Shan Men was at its peak. Hasn''t Liu Shan Men''s courtyard been maintained as it''s always been?"

    I visited Liu Shan Men back then when Yan Shisan was still instated. At the time, there were an excessive number of men. You could say that they had a well-trained and powerful team at the time. I''d argue that not even the current Qilin Guards have achieved Liu Shan Men''s level during Yan Shisan''s reign. Everyone lived at Liu Shan Men''s courtyard back then. Given how much Boss treasures Liu Shan Men''s reputation, I''m certain that she''d rather eat sugar and choke down vegetables than sell Liu Shan Men''s courtyard.

    ''How, then, are there not enough rooms at Liu Shan Men?''iu Yuan interjected out of nowhere, "It is precisely due to having never undergone any changes that it''s a problem. That''s the reason why I''m here. I need your signature for this."

    I grabbed the document and scanned it, "Southern courtyard''s renovation ns?"

    "Yes. Indeed, there were more people at Liu Shan Men during its peak; however, after they left, not even the cleaners stayed. Consequently, other than the Eastern courtyard, all of the other courtyards have been left empty. It''d be a miracle if those rooms were still inhabitable after everything its weathered all of these years. We need some time to repair the Southern courtyard before we can move the new members in. Fortunately, Vice-Captain was clever enough to make them pay an application and training fee. Thanks to that, money is no longer a concern. Instead, time is the issue. It''ll take three months toplete the repairs. During the renovation period, we''ll be dealing with a headache."

    I signed the document then scratched my head, "So, is there enough room for the new recruits to live in the empty rooms in the Eastern courtyard?"

    "Nowhere near enough."

    ording to Liu Yuan''s exnation, they''ve apparently upied all of the rooms owing to there being too many of them. As a consequence, he made the suggestion to change rooms. Even Liu Yuan has been forced into squeezing into a room with others.

    "That is why I havee to discuss this with you. Young Ming, I have an idea."

    "And what would that be?"

    Cai Tongzhi chuckled, "You and Su Xiao should move in together. You''re both men, anyway. There''s nothing inconvenient for you two."

    I felt hopeless, for I had no idea what to do. I slowly shifted my gaze to the big bed behind me.

    ''There is an inconvenience!''

    ''It''s super inconvenient!''

    ''I have a Princess on my bed!!''

 Volume 5 12 Su Xiao and I are Roommates

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 12 Su Xiao and I are Roommates</h4>

    "That won''t do!"

    Before I could speak up, Liu Yuan spoke up. He virtually blurted the moment he heard what Cai Tongzhi said, "That won''t do. It''s inconvenient for him!"

    Cai Tongzhi narrowed his old eyes, "Hmm? What''s inconvenient?"iu Yuan got flustered, "W-W-Well, this is different to what was initially agreed on. Official Cai, you said that you would have him and Tang Ye share a room."

    "Oh, that? But, Tang Ye just said to me that he''d be willing to move out and rent a room outside to reduce the burden on us, which is why Young Su and Young Ming can move in together."

    "That''s absurd!" Liu Yuan angrily pointed at me, "This guy is a pervert. What happens if some mishap befalls Su Xiao?"

    "About that¡­ everyone has their own pursuits. If they''re truly in love¡­"

    "Get out of here! Su Xiao couldn''t possibly like him. He can dream on!"

    I mmed my hand on the table, "Enough! What exactly is going on?! Exin it clearly!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I finally understood the circumstances after Official Cai exined it to me.

    It turned out that it wasn''t just about us having more new recruits, but also due to Second and Fourth Brother. In essence, they got through via a backdoor method, which is why there were no rooms prepared for them. Now we''re facing a room shortage, as well; hence, the two of them either live in with me or sleep on the streets.

    Thanks to Tang Ye''s assistance in the Emperor''s rescue, he was handsomely rewarded by the Emperor, and therefore is now quite the wealthy one. Subsequently, he decided to move out. Official Cai didn''t hesitate to take Tang Ye''s room and offer it. As a result, Second and Fourth brother are now living in Su Xiao''s room, while Su Xiao has to live with me.

    It sounds quite reasonable.

    "It is a major matter, so let me have a think."

    Official Cai stroked his beard, "No. You have to make a decision right away. Young Ming, you just need to say the word, and I will be able to go back to work. There is still a table worth of arrest warrants waiting for my signature."

    I got grouchy, "Enough! It''s just a short while. Wait for me."

    I''m fine with Su Xiao moving in with me, since I''m out at night. However, I now have the Princess here. I have to get her input.

    I quickly went over to the bed and poked my head inside the bed curtain. I saw the Princess'' beautiful face. Her expression was slightly threatening and quite stern. She was currently in a pose that''s hard to get in. It looked as though she did her absolute best to hold up her torso and let her lower body hang down.

    To begin with, she has an exquisite and delicate body line and tough body, but I didn''t expect her body to be so supple. She was dressed in red today, as well. Due to her posture, there was an alluring and sexy line between her voluptuous breasts and perky buttocks.

    The Princess apparently noticed me approach. She frowned with a serious look. She seemed to have all of her attention focused on that action. The blossom flower on her white forehead looked even more beautiful as a result.

    I gulped my saliva. My eyes werepletely hooked in. However¡­

    ''I''ve been arguing with people out here for so long, and you were in here doing yoga?!!!''

    "Your Highness!"

    The Princess looked up, but spaced out for a moment when she saw that it was me. Finally, she asked, "Why are you back?"

    I responded in a muffled voice, "Why else? Your Highness, did you just hear that Su Xiao was going to move in? What do we do? I need to go and give a reply. Can you stop with this? It looks good, yes, but it is not time for it. You can show me every pose at night one by one!"

    ''Eh? Did I just speak my mind?''

    "Y-You, pervert! !"

    The Princess'' white cheeks turned red, but she remained in the same pose. I doubt it was easy for her to stretch her limbs to this degree. If she undoes it now, that''ll be dumping all of her effort.

    "It''s not that I can''t ept it! It''s all your fault¡­ Your bed is too small."

    ''Eh? What''s this got to do with my bed?''

    As it''s easy to be exposed if she situated herself dead centre of the bed, she sat on the left side of the bed. Thus, she was basically relying along the width of the bed as opposed to the length of the bed to support herself. Normally, people wouldn''t have an issue with that. But nheless, the Princess looked as though it was a bit of a struggle to sit up.

    I took a closer look¡­

    ''Oh, it''s because of her legs! Princess Hongzhuang''s legs are too long. Even if she can get her bottom on the edge of the bed, my shabby bed is only wide enough for the Princess to barely sit on it, which is why it''s ufortable for her. Your Highness, it''s not that my bed is too small, but that your legs are too long!''

    ''So, you started doing yoga to stretch your limbs, because it was ufortable to sit on the bed?! That''s fair and whatnot, but at least consider your timing! What if somebody else came instead of me?!!''

    "No, no, no, I was asking you what we do now."

    The Princess made a rare gesture. She narrowed her eyes as she gazed at me. There was a ridiculing undertone in her reply, "Aren''t you the genius with all sorts of ideas? Why are you asking me?"

    "With you here, Your Highness, Your Subject dares not act without your permission. It is only natural for you make the calls for important matters."

    "What a glib tongue." The Princess then frowned, "Su Xiao may be a somewhat stupid kid, but if we stay together, we''ll immediately be exposed. You must prevent that from happening.

    ''Well, I can sleep on the beam overhead.''

    "Man¡­" I ran back to the table and shook my head, "Sorry, I don''t approve."

    Official Cai frowned, "Oh? And why is that?"

    "¡­" I found myself dumbfounded, "Wait a second again."

    I rushed back to the bed and poked my head again, "Your Highness, Why do we not agree?"

    The Princess had changed her pose. She was in the middle of adjusting her clothes supporting her breasts, but I stuck my head in. She wasn''t prepared, so I saw the white¡­

    ''How was I supposed to know what you were doing?! Hey, don''t draw your de!!''

    The Princess'' entire face was red as a fully ripe peach. Nheless, she was very calm; hence, she didn''t scream. She just ced her hand on her sabre, and then aggressively gripped the handle.

    I immediately ran back to tell Liu Yuan, "In short, I don''t approve."iu Yuan and Official Cai both wore looks of confusion. I couldn''te up with a reason, but just no.

    Second Brother finally spoke up, "Man, I knew that Big Brother wouldn''t abandon us. Let''s do this: we''ll sleep with you, Big Brother!"

    "Ah? You two live with me?"

    My brain is currently filled with the Princess'' captivating body at the moment. I can''t connect any other scenes. Second Brother is unlucky to begin with, while Fourth Brother has hyperactivity disorder. If the two of them move into my room, the first that they do will be to search every nook and cranny of my room to see if I''m hiding any secrets. Last time, my eighteen thousand porn books were pulled out by them!

    If the Princess was changing and they pulled the curtain off¡­

    "You can''t! You can''t! You absolutely mustn''t!"

    ''If they move in, then I die if they die! Do you think that the Princess is called Blood Stained ss for nothing?! And you know what? It''s not illegal for her to kill! His Majesty will definitely shield her. If he finds out that three perverts peeped on the Princess getting changed, he won''t even need to protect her; he''ll skip straight to swinging his de!!''

    "Eh? No? Okay, then." Second Brother touched the back of his head, "We''ll share a room with Brother Su Xiao, then. We''re all men, anyway."

    ''Ah? Huh?''

    ''You guys and Su Xiao in one room?''

    ''Hehe¡­''

    ''I don''t know how that conclusion came to be.''

    ''In any case, Su Xiao already moved in with his pillow before I realised it.''

 Volume 5 13 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 13 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 1)</h4>

    Su Xiao was moving in with me.

    When I heard that Su Xiao would move in with Second Brother, I changed my stance without even realising it.

    I don''t trust Su Xiao in my room, but I''m even more worried about my junior brothers.

    The two of them are ident mas. What do I do if they think that Su Xiao''s pretty and can''t resist the urge to go down on him? I don''t want to see my straight brothers be bent! Even if Second Brother can resist the urge, given Fourth Brother''s lively character, if he heartlessly sleeps with Su Xiao, how is he going to resist the urge?

    ''Not even I sleep with Su Xiao!!''

    ''Uh¡­ Using myself as a standard somehow seems weird. I never thought about sleeping with Su Xiao. I''m worried that someone will give Su Xiao a fright. Yeah, that must be the reason.''

    After I got rid of Liu Yuan andpany, I tried toe up with reasons to convince Second Brother that it would be better if he didn''t live with us. I was afraid of him blurting out my rtionship with Divine Moon Sect, which was why I didn''t dare to let Tang Ye leave the room.

    And so, it took me an entire afternoon to exin it to him. Before I knew it, the sun was setting, thereby leaving a red sky in sight.

    The Princess couldn''t hold it in any longer after everyone left. Her legs were finally released, so she immediately got up and walked around to mobilise her limbs. As she stretched out, she frowned, "Your bed is too small. Given how tall you are, you should get Yiren to make you a bed."

    Iughed, "A big bed would cause us to sleep too soundly, right? Hence, Boss does not allow us to sleep on big beds. Not only does it make us more prone tozing in bed, but also makes us more susceptible to causing trouble."

    Curious, the Princess asked, "What trouble could you cause?''

    I touched my nose, "Asking girls to lie down."

    The Princess went slightly red in the face. She frowned and bluntly remarked, "Pervert! You are not to say such things in my presence again in the future."

    The Princess didn''t refer to herself using the "I" reserved for royalty, which meant that she drops her status as a Princess when she''s outside of the pce, I think. That''s amazing self-awareness.

    "Your Highness, I do not know when Su Xiao wille, so you need to be careful."

    "I know."

    The Princess was focused on performing her exercises and didn''t look at me. She appeared to be angry, yet seemingly not interested in talking.

    The Princess is actually very easy to get along with. It''s just that she maintains formalities.

    ''Perhaps I angered her.''

    I recalled the intimate interaction with herst night and the visual blessing from today.

    ''Indeed, I have been blessed with a fair bit¡­ I''d say that they''re all reasons for her to be angry.''

    ''If we don''t clear this up, it''s going to be a disaster sooner orter.''

    "Your Highness, I have not cleared up yesterday''s matter, yet."

    After organising everything that happenedst night in my mind, I recounted the events. This time, the Princess just silently listened. She didn''t give me any emotional reactions.

    "It is true that I spent quite the amount of time chasing that individual, except that I did not chase them until the sun came up as I imed. The main reason for that was because you were on the bed while the effect of the drugs had yet to wear off. I was afraid that something would happen¡­"

    Noticing her face turn subtly red, I quickly added, "I did note back right awayst night; instead, I went to the forest outside of the city and soaked in the small creek. I swear that every word I said is true."

    The Princess finally seemed slightly interested, "You soaked in the creek for the entire night when it was that cold?"

    "Uhm¡­" I scratched my head and embarrassingly replied, "You would know that I would be affected by the drug, as well, since you were affected by it. I felt my entire body burning upst night; therefore, I had no choice, but to find a cool ce to rest. That was why I decided not to sleep in the officest night."

    Princess Hongzhuang is big girl that''s still wet behind the ears, and therefore didn''t understand the details. Hence, she didn''t realise I was fine despite being poisoned. Now that I just exined it to her, she couldn''t help feeling ashamed and even somewhat remorseful, because she felt that she falsely used me.

    The Princess scanned me a few times, but I didn''t know what she was thinking."

    ''This is his room; I was the one who came here on my own ord, yet caused him to have to soak in a creek in the mountain in the middle of winter. When he came in, I immediately hit him, scolded him and threatened him with my sabre. He looked fairly aggressive when he was reprimanding the members, yet never shouted at me, and instead, put up with everything I threw at him.''

    When she spoke again, her voice was back to its usual calm tone.

    "Okay, let''s end the matter there, then. Don''t bring it up again."

    ''Eh? Really? That was your first kiss and first grope, you know. I thought that I''d, at least, have to take three shes from your ss Sabre.''

    ''This is fantastic. If we''re going to share a room, yet never speak, I''ll die.''

    The atmosphere in the room rxed a lot by now. I seized the opportunity to ask, "Are you nning to stay at my ce until the Fuma selection?"

    "Naturally. Father will definitely send out skilled warriors to search for me. I''ll be taken back to the Imperial Pce the moment I''m found, and I won''t be able toe out again."

    "There are only ten days until the selection. Your Highness, it would not be a big deal for you to live peacefully stay in the Imperial Pce until then, would it? As for Jin Wangsun, I¡­"

    I suddenly couldn''t continue. The Princess is also active in the pugilistic world. I can''t tell her that I had already bestowed him with a beating. You think I''m not concerned about poking him given his track record of tricks?

    The Princess faintly replied, "I don''t feel reassured entrusting it to you. Ming Feizhen, it''s not that I look down on you, but Gold and Silver Sect is an entire sect, while you are just one man. Don''t be careless just because Jin Wangsun is stuck in the estate and can''t move about. It''s precisely because he''s stuck in there that he''ll send out the elites of Gold and Silver Sect to take care of things in his ce. Jin Wangsun may be skilled, but he''s a notch below the true masters in Gold and Silver Sect. With those elites assisting him, he''ll be an even more formidable force than if he, himself, were to act."

    She''s right about that. A Hu is, for a fact, stronger than Jin Wangsun.

    She continued, "By staying here with you, I can work with you toe up with ideas to deal with him in addition to protecting you. Subsequently, operating will be a lot more convenient."

    I folded my arms to stop and think to myself, "That is true. If I win, you and I will be husband and wife. It is a good idea to see how life together would be, right?"

    "Ah? You¡­" The Princess found herself at a loss for words. She didn''t seem to consider it, "Why do you say that?"

    I responded in a puzzled tone, "Am I wrong? Since you are helping me to win Jin Wangsun and suggested a fake marriage, you did take into consideration the fact that we would live together and meet with many challenges afterwards, right? If we do not develop some chemistry between us, we will feel awkward, would we not?"

    "Oh, oh, yes, you''re right¡­"

    The Princess apparently didn''t consider it.

    ''What is her idea of a fake marriage?''

    "I thought¡­ you would move into the Fuma residence, while I''d return to Mount Emei¡­"

    ''As if! You can''t just go back there even if you''re in a rush to get back to wandering the pugilistic world, can you?! True, the bride does return to her mother''s home on the third day after matrimony, but she doesn''t go that far, does she?!''

    "In any case, we will be fine if we work together. We have to understand our habits when we live together; otherwise, you will merely be taken back to the pce if we are discovered, while I will be in serious trouble if they find out that I hid a Princess."

    "Chicken. How are y-¡­"

    Before Her Highness finished, somebody suddenly knocked on the door from outside.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Big Brother Ming, I''m here."

    Su Xiao has arrived!

 Volume 5 14 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 14 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 2)</h4>

    Su Xiao arrived!

    The Princess and I exchanged nces. She immediately spun around and sprung back onto the bed. While she wasn''t paying attention, I used a palm technique to disperse her scent that lingered in the room. The scent of a woman having been in a room is very noticeable, after all.

    I only dared to open the door after I ensured that her scent wouldn''t be noticed, "You''re here."

    Standing at my door was Su Xiao, who was carrying his pillow and nket. His face was red due to shyness. For some reason, his attitude when he was around me today was somewhat odd.

    Usually, he''d be an energetic little angel, yet he was now fidgety and his eyes continued to dart around, yet always avoided making eye contact with me.

    ''What''s the matter with him?''

    "Xiao,e in."

    Su Xiao hesitated for a moment. He gave me a bow, "P-Please look after me, Big Brother Ming."

    ''Oi! Is this our first night as newlyweds?! Su Xiao is behaving way too strangely today! Could the Five Plucks Heart Enchanting Pill still be in effect? How much did Shiyi feed you?!''

    "¡­ Mm,e in."

    "O-Oh, okay. I''ming in."

    Su Xiao then lowered his pretty face and cautiously entered. His small feet reminded me of a kitty, yet his attitude was simr to that of a newlywed bride. I glimpsed at him with bewilderment. At the same time, he happened to furtively nce at me. When he discovered that I was looking at him, he immediately lowered his face that waspletely red.

    ''Why did he react that way?!''

    ''Why is Su Xiao acting as if I did something to him?! Could his memories ofst night¡­ That''s impossible! I didn''t do anything to himst night! Moreover, his internal energy is poor, so he shouldn''t his memories ofst night should be faint and minimal. What''s more, if there''s someone who should be surprised, it should be me, shouldn''t it?! Why is Su Xiao more surprised than I am?!''

    "Big Brother Ming¡­"

    Su Xiao looked left and right; he was still carrying his nket in his hands.

    "Do I not need to wait for Big Brother Hong and the rest?"

    Second Brother and Tang Ye went off to move their stuff, which was why I invited them toe over again in a bit to discuss how to deal with Jin Wangsun. Second Brother lost Night Net Manual and Night Fortress; therefore, he should take this matter to heart. As for Tang Ye, the damn rich punk, the sooner he leaves the better!

    "You don''t need to wait for them. Help yourself settle down first."

    Su Xiao snuck a nce at my bed then tightened his grip on his nket. He muttered, "Can I put my stuff on the bed?"

    In a justified and stern tone, I responded, "No! Absolutely not!"

    Su Xiao didn''t think that I''d turn him down so swiftly. He widened his eyes with astonishment, "Why?"

    "Erm¡­ sleep on the ground."

    Su Xiao reacted with even more disbelief. He hesitantly looked at me the same way a puppy looks at its owner when its owner abandons it, "Big Brother Ming! You''re making me sleep on the ground!"

    All of a sudden, tears started to form in Su Xiao''s eyes.

    "Don''t cry! You¡­ wait up!"

    I sped over to the bed and stuck my head inside.

    "Your Highness, Su Xiao wants to sleep on the bed."

    The Princess rolled her eyes. "If Su Xiao sleeps on the bed, where do I sleep?"

    I pointed up to the beams above, "Your Highness, your qinggong prowess is advanced¡­"

    "No way! I''m not trying to sleep on the bed, but to hide. With Su Xiao going back and forth in the room, how long can I hide on the beam for? I have curtains to hide myself with on the bed, which makes it the only ce I can hide for an extensive period."

    ''She has a point.''

    I went back to Su Xiao and looked at his confused expression with my own silent expression.

    Su Xiao blinked hisrge eyes with bafflement, "Big Brother Ming?"

    ¡­

    After my silent response, I barbarically snatched Su Xiao''s nket. I ignored his teary eyes and attempts to stop me. I chose a corner rtively far from the bed and threw his nket onto the ground, "Sleep here."

    Reacting as though he was angry enough to cough blood, he eximed, "What''s the matter with you, Big Brother Ming?! Are you seriously going to make me sleep on the ground?!"

    ''Xiao, be a little considerate. This is decent, I tell you. Your Big Brother Ming is going to have to sleep on the beam!''

    Nheless, Su Xiao looked even more befuddled, "I always thought that you would never make me sleep on the ground even if we slept together!"

    ''How about I sleep on the ground, then?! Why do you choose to sleep with me when ites to sleeping on a bed?! What would people think if we, two grown men, slept together?! I don''t know what would happen if it was someone else, but if someone sees you and I sleeping together, I''d have to put up with even more gossip about me, okay?! What will we do if my name discourages people from signing up to Liu Shan Men in the future?!''

    Su Xiao was oblivious to howplex things were for me. He pointed at me, feeling disappointed and resentful, "I was wrong about you. Big Brother Ming, you''ve be a bad guy¡­ Also, also, why do I have to sleep so far away from you, not to mention that it''s so cold over here?!"

    I threw Su Xiao''s nket to the furthest corner, thereby cutting off his view of my bed to a certain degree. The only way to keep warm in my room was the charcoal furnace; however, obviously, it was ced next to the bed. Subsequently, Su Xiao''s corner was fairly cold¡­

    "Well¡­ I''m afraid of awakenings at night¡­"

    "I don''t wake up at night!"

    "I''m afraid of myself waking up at night¡­"

    "Still, I don''t need to be situated so far away, do I?! I''ll freeze to death!"

    I pressed my hand to my face and responded in a bitter tone, "I have my woes¡­"

    Su Xiao fumed, "What woes?"

    "You¡­ wait again."

    Off I went again. I poke my head inside, "Your Highness, with regards to my woe¡­"

    The Princess didn''t even want to bother with me. All I was gifted with was her saliva on my face, "Use your own brain!"

    ''How am I supposed toe up with an excuse on my own?! For what reason do I need to force Su Xiao to sleep on the ground?!''

    Su Xiao, who stood off to the other side, peered over to my bed with suspicion. Suddenly, he loudly asked, "Big Brother Ming, is the reason that you won''t let me sleep on your bed because you have something you''re hiding in there?"

    ''Congrattions, my Xiao! Your IQ has increased again!''

    s, if I replied in a panic, I''d shoot myself in the foot. As such, I boldly shrugged, "There''s no such thing. Come and take a look if you don''t believe me."

    Su Xiao looked at me with suspicion. He ignored my ruse. He turned and headed toward my bed!

    ''Hold up!!''

    I blocked him off, "Stop!"

    Su Xiao scanned me, "Wh-What do you want? Didn''t you say that I could look?"

    "Since it''se to this, I have to admit to it. The truth is I do have secret hiding in my bed¡­"

    ''Sorry, Your Highness. It''s your fault for not helping me. You die; I''m not dying.''

    I calmly finished, "There''s a woman in my bed."

    "!!!"

    I could clearly sense my bed quaking in silence. If I had to describe it, I''d describe it with two words: murderous aura!

    The Princess probably shattered her ss Sabre''s handle when I spilt her secret.

    ''I can''t be med, though. It was all because you refused to help mee up with an idea.''

    Su Xiao widened his eyes. He eximed, "Wow, Big Brother Ming, you have a woman in your bed? Why?"

    He then seemingly remembered something, which led to him going totally red in the face. He wore on an aggressive expression, "You seduced the female constables? You! Ming Feizhen! I was wrong about you!"

    Su Xiao gets along very well with the female constables.

    I waved my hand, "Wait, wait, you''re mistaken. She''s not from the female constables; she''s from Apricot Brothel."

    Suddenly, I felt my entire room enveloped in with a murderous aura.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 5 15 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 15 The Moon is Clear Tonight (Part 3)</h4>

    Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a spike in murderous aura from the bed.

    ''Hold it in, Your Highness! We''re almost there!''

    However, the cold aura from the front of me came from Su Xiao. He had his tworge eyes intently stuck to me.

    "Apricot Brothel? A prostitute?" Those four words that came out of Su Xiao''s mouth were akin to droplets of ice dropping onto the ground; they wereparable to a sharp de on my neck. Su Xiao''s murderous aura didn''t pale inparison to Her Highness''!

    "Big Brother Ming, I-I don''t understand." Su Xiao touched his adorable snow-white earlobes. He seemed to be checking if there was a problem with his ears, "Did you just say that you found yourself a prostitute, and put her on your bed?"

    "Exactly." I rubbed my chin, "Life is short, you know?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You actually have the shame to say that?! You. Perverted. Crook!!"

    Su Xiao grabbed a pot of tea on the table and hurled it at me. I caught the pot then used the same technique to catch the next six objects he hurled afterward, yet that wasn''t enough to appease him. He grabbed something and hurled it with all of his might.

    "You! You''ve be a crook in just one month! You had the audacity to seduce a prostitute and bring her to the office!" Su Xiao exploded simrly to a Persian cat. He raged, "Do you know what Liu Shan Men stands for?! Vice-Captain treated you well for nothing. I¡­ I treated you nicely for nothing, too! You, do you know how pitiful the girls at brothels are?! How dare you copy those crooks and bully them! I¡­ I''ll kill you today!"

    Since the objects missed me, Su Xiao leapt over to punch and kick me. His soft fists didn''t hurt me, but his aggressive attitude was scary!

    ''This must be why you''re called the Violent Young Beauty!''

    Curious, I asked, "How do you know girls in brothels are pitiful?"

    Su Xiao thundered, "My mom told me! The girls in brothels are the most pitiful girls in the world. Life is more miserable than death for them in brothels. None of the men that go to brothels are good people!"

    I knew it. While there are lots of famous brothels in Suzhou, I''m sure Su Xiao has never been to one. Otherwise, given his appearance, he''ll be called to the stage before he even gets to call for a girl.

    "Wait, wait!"

    I grabbed Su Xiao''s soft and white small hands. Because it didn''t take us long to be good friends, Su Xiao and I have never fought. This was our first fight. I grabbed his hands. His hands were so soft and thin; it was as though it was a fantasy world, thereby giving them a surreal feeling.

    ''I can''t believe Su Xiao''s hands are so delicate¡­ and soft.''

    "Oh, I see how it is! You''re seriously fighting back now!"

    Su Xiao was now extremely infuriated. He kicked me; now, though, there wasn''t a trace of technique in his attacks. It was purely a child''s brawling.

    A small gap appeared by the curtains of the bed. Her Highness stuck her head out ever so slightly. A somewhat mischievous look appeared on her face for a moment as if to say, "Hmph, that''s what you get for spouting nonsense."

    I had to pretend that my martial arts skills were poor in front of Her Highness, so I couldn''t use Voice Transmission. Hence, my only option was to signal for her to hide somewhere else with my eyes.

    However, she replied, "You have to ensure that Su Xiao doesn''t see. The room is too small, so any movements will raise his suspicion."

    ''I''m trying to think of something.''

    Su Xiao eximed, "Let me see who this girl, who caused you to fall head over heels for her, is. She''s far too shameless!"

    Once he was done with words, he angrily pulled the curtain open.

    ''My dear god, you can''t do that!!''

    I grabbed Su Xiao around his waist to stop him, thereby pulling him into my embrace, a face to face embrace. Under normal circumstances, whatever; this time, however, Su Xiao jolted as if he was burnt. His face waspletely red when he looked at me with disbelief.

    I remember that he behaved the same way when he first entered.

    ''What in the world happened?''

    While I had Su Xiao locked in my arms, the Princess made a prompt decision to leap out. She didn''t choose the beams, presumably, because they were too dusty. As such, she hid behind a chest.

    Due to me often searching for delicacies and drinks in the warehouse, not to mention my stacks of ck and White Reflection magazines, clothes and whatnot, I couldn''t be bothered sorting through it all. Hence, I moved a chest about as tall as a human being into my room. Thus, nobody would see Her Highness behind it.

    Reassured, I then calmly said, "What''s the rush?! I said that I have a woman on my bed, but meant that I had a woman on my bed."

    "Had?"

    "Yeah." In a just and upright tone, I exined, "I asked her toe and help me out with a case. After I asked her what I needed to askst night, she left."

    Su Xiao looked at me with doubt. He lowered his head from my embrace and mumbled, "She left yesterday?"

    "Of course."

    I released Su Xiao to allow him to freely check out my bed.

    Su Xiao slightly hesitated. He started to feel a little afraid at this point. He hesitantly headed over to the bed and opened the curtains. Obviously, the bed was empty.

    With a spaced out look, he remarked, "She¡­ smells so nice."

    "Don''t you have mysophobia? I didn''t think that you''d want to sleep where a girl from a brothel slept. That''s why I didn''t let you sleep on the bed. Plus, it''s better to stay away from it."

    "So it was for a case?"

    I sternly replied, "What else did you think your Big Brother Ming called a girl over for?"

    Su Xiao went red in the face again, "I thought you¡­"

    "Also, why are you acting so weird today? You go red in the face whenever you see me. What''s the matter with you?"

    Su Xiao went to speak, but stuttered for words as though he was too shy to speak his mind. In the end, he finally spoke after I gave him encouragement, "Big Brother Ming, d-did you have a dreamst night?"

    ''Huh? Dream?''

    "No."

    ''I haven''t slept for three days. Last night, I went to the mountain to search for a tiger to beat up to waste some energy! As if I had time to have dreams.''

    "What''s wrong? You have a dreamst night?"

    After hearing my question, Su Xiao immediately went red in the face. I had never seen anyone with a face so red. You could boil an egg on his face.

    Su Xiao fidgeted while he kept his eyes on the ground the entire time.

    "I¡­ had a strange¡­ dream of myselfst night¡­"

    ''Last night, you say¡­? Huh?! Last night!''

    In that moment, I managed to piece it all together.

    Su Xiao was intoxicated by a beautiful aphrodisiac (read: heavenly) drug! That''s why he definitely had a sensual dream.

    ''Darling, you can say that you grew up overnight!''

    ''That said¡­''

    "Who did you see in your dream?"

    "Eh?! Nobody!"

    Su Xiao almost leapt up as a rabbit hit with an arrow would. He waved his hands with desperation, "Nobody, nobody! Just me!"

    ''I can tell that you''re lying with a single nce from your flustered reaction! You didn''t dream of just yourself, did you?! You definitely dreamt of someone else, didn''t you?!''

    I suddenly had an image of Su Xiao and Her Highness in my mind.

    ''Last night, Su Xiao and Her Highness slept together when their minds were confused!''

    ''No way! You dreamt of yourself on top of Her Highness?! Her Highness could reverse rape you seven times with one hand! Heavens, you dared to use her for your wet dream?!''

    "Sure, sure, there''s definitely someone. You definitely dreamt of someone, didn''t you? Who was it? How did they look?!"

    Su Xiao didn''t panic. Instead, he just looked at me while his face heated up. He turned away and ran off to his nket.

    Before he left, he covered his face and quietly mumbled, "Big Brother Ming¡­ you meanie¡­"

    ''Mm?''

    I wore a stupefied look.

    ''You''re not telling me¡­ you dreamt of¡­ me.''

    ''¡­''

    ''You''re not serious!''

    ''What happened to our brotherly bond?!! You dreamt of me?!! Wait, no. Based on Su Xiao''s expression, it must''ve been me who pushed him down¡­''

    ''Ming Feizhen, why are you feeling a tad joyous, you son of a bitch?!!''

    ''I don''t like men!!''

 Volume 5 16 Time for Schemes. Leave No Stones Unturned. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 16 Time for Schemes. Leave No Stones Unturned. (Part 1)</h4>

    Night time at Jin Wangsun''s dwelling.

    The traces from Ming Feizhen''s rampage in the morning had vanished without a trace. The family ves Jin Wangsun brought with him werepetent, so they were able to return the garden to its original state in a single afternoon.

    Jin Wangsun paced back and forth in his room. He didn''t look as though he suffered anything. He was vastly different to his immobilised state before. The seal that Ming Feizhen thought would take Jin Wangsun over a day to release took only half a day for him to release.

    Gold and Silver Sect''s Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual is truly a force to be reckoned with in the martial world. Regardless of what style was in question, the manual had a way of finding a way to imitate it. Then, the user will be able to imitate the True Qi of the style for their own usage. Thus, despite Jin Wangsuncking in the strength department, he was able to identify the uniqueness of Ming Feizhen''s True Qi, which equipped him with the necessaryponent to release the seal.

    Jin Wangsun''s defeat at the hands of Ming Feizhen was meant to be a humiliating incident, yet he inadvertently benefited from it.

    The realisation was what Jin Wangsun was deliberating as he paced back and forth in his room.

    In order to release the seal, he had to use Golden Grow Moon Eater Manual to imitate the nature of the True Qi that was transferred to his body. As such, Jin Wangsun came to get a grasp of some rted information pertaining to the nature of the True Qi. The True Qi was strangely familiar to him.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t use Yijin Jing, Taichi Mental Cultivation or Spring Wind Rainy Night Painting''s techniques when he sealed his meridians. He used Night Fortress'' arts.

    Upon realising that, Jin Wangsun wrote ater on the all. The wall remained white and in the same state as per usual. When he pressed his hand onto it afterwards, however, a mechanism could be heard operating. A dark chamber behind the wall was revealed. On the top was a wooden container.

    Jin Wangsun took out a book from the container. The words ''Night Fortress'' were written on it with impressive handwriting.

    "Was it seriously Night Fortress'' martial arts? No way¡­"

    Jin Wangsun wasn''t convinced.

    After getting his hands on Night Nets Manual, he had his nose to the grindstone the entire time, with the goal of mastering the contents. Evidently, the skills within were vast and profound, especially the two amazing styles, namely, Empty Palms and Night Steps. Being gifted with incredible talent for martial arts as well as having his family''s past down treasure, Golden Crow Moon Eater, at his disposal, literally every martial art style in thend was possible to master. One could make a strong argument that he never encountered any obstacles in learning martial arts.

    Nevertheless, even with the enhancement provided by Golden Crow Moon Eater, Jin Wangsun still wasn''t able to master the two amazing styles. Fortunately, they became his lifesaver when he was in a crisis.

    ording to what he heard, Night Steps was apparently invented by the master of Night Fortress. While Jin Wangsun didn''t explicitly admit to it, after he began to practice Night Steps, he began to admire Night Fortress'' master, who allowed him to be its new master. The powerful and unconstrained nature of Night Steps appeared to be capable of infinite possibilities even to Jin Wangsun, who had read countless books before. After he began training Night Steps, he began to feel thankful that he didn''t actually fight with the master of Night Fortress that day, for if he did, he would''ve ended up as a tragedy.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But nevertheless, the trespasser from today not only possessed unbelievably elite skills, but also employed Night Fortress'' skills.

    Jin Wangsun had fought with those at Night Fortress who could be considered leaders. He had even fought with their second-inmand; indeed, not even their second-inmand had reached the Hegemon Realm. Subsequently, the identity of the man who could utilise Night Fortress'' skills and possessed skills superior to their second-inmand was obvious.

    "Master of Night Fortress¡­"

    Jin Wangsun had heard of that name countless times in Jiangnan, yet had never seen him in person. He never expected to be beaten time after time when they finally met.

    ''I took over Night Fortress, so Master of Night Fortress is definitely here to make things hard for me.''

    A realisation suddenly found its way into Jin Wangsun''s mind. He recalled what Ming Feizhen said back there, "He said¡­ he came for Princess Honghzhuang¡­ why? Could he have some sort of connection to the Princess¡­?"

    Jin Wangsun carefully pondered over everything, "On the day that I sent men to beat up Ming Feizhen, the Princess was with him¡­ Why were they together? Ming Feizhen, Mount Daluo, Night Fortress¡­"

    Jin Wangsun suddenly felt that he had found a key; s, he couldn''t put his finger on it. Fortunately, he wasn''t alone. He had the immense power that supported the nation; he had the power of one of the Seven Champion White Princes at his disposal. He just needed to have the thought. As for verifying the thought, that wasn''t his job.

    Jin Wangsun looked up, "A Hu!"

    Therge man awaiting orders the entire time outside pushed the door open. With a palm and fist salute, he responded in a deep voice, "Young Master."

    "Are you feeling better?"

    "Thanks to your incredible healing skills, I have recovered fifty percent of my strength. I will be able to fully recover in two days."

    Jin Wangsun put his hands behind him, "Good. Do you have any news on the identity of the individual that I asked you to look into? I''m talking about the one that snuck attack me in the pce that day."

    "Yes, Young Master. I have copied the pce records and curated a list of suspicious individuals."

    "List of suspicious individuals?" Jin Wangsun sighed, "The one who attacked me that day came and went as fast as the wind. His qinggong was highly-advanced. In my opinion, he mightn''t have entered through the front door if he wanted to enter the pce, let alone sign in. Keep investigating it. You must provide me with a detailed conclusion in a short time frame."

    "Yes, Young Master."

    "Additionally, carefully look into the Princess'' conversations and activities after returning to the capital. The more I know the better."

    "Yes, Young Master. With the Fuma selection right around the corner, do we need to do anything?"

    Jin Wangsun replied, "Of course we do. We can''t just wait for victory to fall into ourp during this time. That''s all talk. We have to do something. A Hu."

    "Present!"

    "Henceforward, lead our elites around the city and make things hard for Ming Feizhen in every way possible. Youe up with the ideas yourself. Just don''t spare him."

    Over thest two days, the Big Golden Vat nickname spread throughout while the name Jin Big Underpants also became poprly known throughout the capital. Even if the Emperor spared him and allowed him to leave his abode, he wouldn''t be able to walk the streets with his head up.

    Jin Wangsun was infuriated when he thought about how all of his current suffering was because Master of Night Fortress beat him into a vat, and Ming Feizhen gave him the nickname Big Golden Vat that day.

    "When you give Ming Feizhen grief, don''t pull any punches. As soon as you see an opportunity¡­." A cold look appeared in Jin Wangsun''s eyes, "Beat him to death!"

    ========

    Su Xiao''s migration to my room came to an end.

    Second Brother and Tang Ye soon arrived together despite not nning it

    I called them over to discuss how to deal with Jin Wangsun, but I already had an idea in mind.

    Truth be told, dealing with Jin Wangsun was Night Fortress'' business. I never intended to drag Tang Ye into it. However, Her Highness was also in my room. If Second Brother goes off and talks about the Divine Moon Sect, I''ll be carried out on a stretcher. Hence, by having Tang Ye present, Second Brother won''t speak thoughtlessly.

    I did consider just telling Second Brother that the Princess was actually hiding in my room, but he''s a megaphone. He''ll definitely tell Shiyi about it. She wasn''t too happy about me partaking in the Fuma selection to begin with. If she found out that she shared a room with me¡­ I''ll be dead meat!

    I don''t have the foggiest idea as to what Shiyi will do when she gets angry!

    One time, a female hero who got too close to me once thoughtlessly challenged Her Grand Majesty, Shiyi, when she was angry about her being close to me. As a result, Shiyi went and burnt down the maiden''s house in a fit of anger. The maiden went to get even with Shiyi, only to be beaten to a pulp!

    After that time, I started to behave myself around Shiyi and never dared to bring a girl home¡­

    ''Man, I envy Shifu.''

 Volume 5 17 Time for Schemes. Leave No Stones Unturned. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 17 Time for Schemes. Leave No Stones Unturned. (Part 2)</h4>

    Our meeting began.

    The first to speak was Su Xiao, however, "Big Brother Ming, I don''t think you have any chances."

    And he immediately dumped cold water on me right off the bat!

    Su Xiao took a bite of his biscuit. As he chewed it in his cute small mouth, he said, "I met Her Highness. She is so beautiful; meanwhile, you are sooo ugly. Her Highness won''t like you."

    ''I! That! Compared to Jin Wangsun, I¡­ okay, I admit that he might be just a tad better looking than me from a very specific perspective. That said, it doesn''t mean that Her Highness won''t like me.''

    ''The reality is, she''s already fallen for me, except that I had white hair and wore a mask at the time!''

    Tang Ye faintly replied, "We''re discussing the Fuma selection, not holding a pageant. Big Brother still has a chance."

    ''What''s that supposed to mean?! You mean to say that I was eliminated from the pageant already?! Don''t give me that look. Everybody said that I was adorable when I was a kid! Yes, Shiyi did always call me a big idiot and chase me around to beat me up, but that was her way of expressing her love for me!''

    Second Brother brought a meat bun, which was presumably his dinner. However, he didn''t n to eat it. He focused on talking to me, "Big Brother, have you got an idea?"

    Truth be told, I no longer have to do anything with regards to dealing with Jin Wangsun. I''m not afraid of his martial skills. I''m confident that I can defeat him in a one-on-one fight without revealing myself in front of the Emperor.

    The news has already begun to spread in Jiangnan. My n to take back Night Fortress hasmenced. The Princess is on my side, too. She''s willing to put on a show with me, so it''s ny nine percent in the bag as it stands. In regards topeting with Jin Wangsun, I''m not afraid of his sneak attacks, but his attacks in public.

    If he sends an assassin or tries to seduce me with a beauty, I''m not afraid. I can defeat assassins; as for using beauties to seduce me, I can use his n against him. Sending someone after me on public streets or alleys, though, I''m left with limited options. Most importantly, they''ve got numbers, while I have too many secrets.

    I mentioned my woe about dealing with upfront attacks in public. Su Xiao was ignorant of the finer details, so whatever. Tang Ye and Second Brother were able to pick up the hint, nevertheless.

    Tang Ye responded, "What shall we do, then? Shall I be your bodyguard? If you need, I can set work aside for the meantime."

    "Big Brother, don''t be a coward!" Second Brother got worked up and smacked his meat bun, "Jin Wangsun is a good-for-nothing! If he wants some, let hime get some. Fourth Brother and I will¡­"

    I grabbed a meat bun and mmed it on his head, "You won''t do fucking nothing! If you could beat him, would you have fled here, huh?!"

    ''If you didn''t get your ass handed to you, would I have to deal with all this trouble?!''

    I then turned my attention to Tang Ye, "No, being my bodyguard is the same as treating the symptom, not the cause. If he fails once, you think he won''t try again? There''s no way you can outy him by guarding."

    Su Xiao raised his hand, "How about hiding at home? It''s only ten or so days away, right? You''ve just recovered, as well, so don''t work yourself too hard."

    "Mm¡­ if I did that, Jin Wangsun woulde after Liu Shan Men instead. Bear in mind that it makes no difference to him. He even hit the Emperorst time. Look, isn''t he currently being grounded for half a month as punishment?"

    "Do you have any suggestions, then, Big Brother?"

    "Wait up."

    I stood up and went to the corner of my room where the chest was ced.

    I softly asked, "Your Highness, do you have any ideas?"

    All I could see was a ck curtain. To respond, she shrugged, which subtly moved the ck curtain. She poked her beautiful small face out, revealing the beautiful plum flower pattern on her head. She poked her head out in simr fashion to a small rabbit. She checked around with her eyes. She sped her hands together in front of her mouth to muffle her voice and cautiously asked, "I won''t be discovered, will I?"

    ''How cute, Your H-, ahem.''

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No, you will not. Go ahead and tell me."

    Her Highness looked at the three sitting at the table. None of them came over. It appeared as though she didn''tprehend how I held such high standing among them. Nheless, she was sensible enough to focus on what was more important, "I think that being passive and taking the beating isn''t wise. We need to seize the initiative and take action."

    "Great minds think alike, I see."

    Her Highness'' eyes shimmered with brightness, "You had the same thought? Ming Feizhen, I thought you were timid."

    "No, no, not at all. I am only timid with you, Your Highness. I am brave and daring in other circumstances."

    "Glib talker," Her Highness shot me a re, "What do you think?"

    All of a sudden, Su Xiao asked, "Big Brother Ming, what are you doing? Getting something? Do you need my help?"

    Upon hearing Su Xiao''s voice, Her Highness scuttled back behind the ck curtain simrly to a rabbit going into hiding. Due to Her Highness having white skin, yet loving to dress in red in addition to the plum flower that she often draws on her forehead, she strongly resembled a rabbit.

    "No, I''m fine. I''ll be done in a second."

    Second Brother got up and pulled Su Xiao back over. I don''t know what he said to Su Xiao afterwards, but Su Xiao obediently replied, "Oh, oh, I won''t go over, then. Big Brother Ming, you sort yourself out."

    ''Oh? Second Brother was actually able to persuade Su Xiao? You haven''t disappointed as my Second Junior Martial Brother that grew up with me. You do have chemistry with me. You understood that I''d tell him what he needs to know sooner orter even though you didn''t know what I was doing. That level of trust can only be established after refining it for many years.''

    ''You''re a great brother!''

    Su Xiao went back and chatted with Tang Ye and the other two and stopped paying attention to me.

    "Your Highness, you cane out."

    Her Highness poked her head out, "Uhm, continue."

    "I absolutely agree with you, Your Highness. As opposed to staying passive and taking blows, why not take the initiative and strike. By attacking, he''ll be forced to guard, which beats guarding against him."

    I smiled, "Therefore, before hees to me, we will send someone to get him first so that he has no energy to spare on trying to harm me. If we can take it one step further, it would be even better if we can interfere and disrupt his preparations for the selection."

    Her Highness looked at my face. Her smile reced her beautiful solemn expression. It was akin to snow being melted and spring walking in, allowing the plum flowers to bloom.

    ''What beauty.''

    Her Highness covered her small mouth with the back of her hand and giggled, "You''re worth the effort, after all. You''re finally serious for once."

    I fell into a daze as I looked at her. I couldn''t resist the urge to say, "Your Highness."

    Her Highness cautiously focused her attention elsewhere, for she was afraid of being discovered, so she absentmindedly replied, "Mm?"

    "You truly look pretty when you smile."

    Hot flushes suddenly appeared on Her Highness'' face.

    "!!" Her Highness got a little angry, "Ming Feizhen! Is this time to be spouting that sort of nonsense?! Yiren wasn''t wrong in her judgement of you!"

    "So you''re saying that I can say it at other times?"

    "You¡­ Take advantage of me one more time, and sleep with your eyes open." She couldn''t maintain her aggressive mannerisms after that, so she softened her tone a little, "Nevertheless, your idea is very good. Tell them that."

    I rubbed my chin. My lips slowly curled up into a smile, "All right."

    Having waited for too long, Second Brother yelled, "Big Brother, what are you doing? What''s taking so long?" Then, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Are you still not done stroking?"

    ''What the fuck?! That was the excuse you used to persuade Su Xiao before?!''

    ''Who you saying is unloading one in the room?!!!''

    ''Don''t associate your beggar habits with me, you son of a beach!!''

    Notes:

    *Son of a beach - Ming Feizhen deliberately mispronounces "son of a bitch"

 Volume 5 18 Knocking While the Moon is Out

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 18 Knocking While the Moon is Out</h4>

    After Her Highness exined her n, I established a firm stance on my n. As such, I went to go back to announce the n, but I heard a sound simr to my stomach rumbling due to hunger. I heard it, but Tang Ye, Second Brother and Su Xiao didn''t look as though they heard it.

    I concentrated to try and pick it up.

    I heard the sound again.

    ''Wait. That''s not the sound of hunger.''

    I carefully analysed the sound. It sounded as though it came from Her Highness'' direction, and it seemed to be a sound made by a human. Princess Hongzhuang was mimicking the sound of a stomach rumbling due to hunger using her mouth, and then delivering it to me via Voice Transmission!

    I quickly went over to see her pull back her hands that she just used to assist in delivering the sound in a flustered fashion.

    ''You were toote! I saw you! I knew what you were just doing! You just used sped your hands and mimicked the sound of your stomach rumbling, didn''t you?!''

    The Princess'' white face was totally red, but she focused her gaze somewhere on the roof. She pouted her red lips and pretended she was whistling as a means of feigning innocence.

    ''¡­''

    ''Your whistling is silent! Su Xiao is right outside; there''s no way you''d be whistling! You still think that whistling proves your innocence?!''

    ''She''s pretending! The straightced Princess is doing her best to feign innocence, because she''s shy!''

    ''You''ve got to be illegally cute!''

    ''You''re about to give me a blood nose!!''

    ''You don''t actually think that you''re convincing, do you?! What was that sound that I just heard, then?! A cat thates indoors at night doesn''t make such a sound!''

    Nevertheless, as I had basically figured out how awkward the Princess is, I took the initiative to inquire, "Your Highness¡­ are you hungry?"

    She couldn''t cross her long legs, so she angled her beautiful legs. Add her imposing beautiful face, and we had the sight of her sitting square and rigidly. She faintly replied, "I''m all right."

    ''Oh really? I see.''

    "Oh, I''ll go back to chatting with them, then."

    I took a step back and prepared to leave.

    "Wait."

    The Princess suddenly grabbed hold of my hand¡­ let me correct myself there; she probably moulded seventy percent of her internal energy into her frantic grab! I suddenly felt an immense amount of strength you''d only encounter in a real fight clutch my wrist. Had I not been well-acquainted with her, I''d have mistaken her as an assassin! Moreover, if the outside world saw me shoulder such an immense amount of strength, it''s absolutely certain that they''d be crying for their moms and dad.

    I couldn''t help, but face palm myself so that she couldn''t see my expression. I pretended that it was extremely painful.

    "Your Majesty, if you grab me so firmly, my hand will break."

    "Umm¡­" The Princess looked at me with a bright and piercing gaze. Her tone remained calm as she asked, "Are you¡­. Not hungry?"

    Her gaze looked imposing; that was a fact, but she didn''t dare to look at my face.

    "Me? I am all right. I will go to the kitchen in a bit to grab some grub."

    "Then¡­ I think meat buns aren''t bad."

    ''What, you like meat buns?''

    "In other words, you are hungry!"

    "I''m not hungry! I spend most of my days wandering the pugilistic world. One time, I didn''t drink or eat for three days and three nights straight in order to assassinate a viin, and I was fine, so how could I be hungry?!"

    ''I believe that im, but that''s one matter. Today''s circumstance is different to back then. Your Highness, don''t forget that you were drugged with an aphrodisiac (read: heavenly) and drank a fair amount of strong alcohol. Plus, you left the Imperial Pce before night fallst night; I bet you didn''t even have dinner, did you?''

    ''Also, don''t mindlessly pull the assassin act! You''re a Princess if you go through life this way, His Majesty will die from distress! Just tell your dad and any bad guy will be history!''

    I indifferently said, "Wait for a bit! Wait till we are done with business, and I will grab you some food."

    "I''m fine¡­ I-I''m worried that you''re hungry."

    ''Oh, well, thank you for being considerate!''

    I went back to my seat. They looked at me with a weird gaze. I don''t me them, though, as I''ve kept on going back and forth.

    Suddenly, the room went dead silent.

    I felt a little awkward¡­

    ''What should I do?''

    ''Oh, right, I should do this. Carry out my n!''

    "Oh, right, I just thought of a n to deal with Jin Wangsun. I''ll now tell you all about my n."

    ¡­

    ¡­

    The room went quiet; then, somebody began screaming!!

    "Wait, what are you doing?"

    "Don''t touch me. Hey. Touch me again, and I won''t hesitate to hit you. You! Ming Feizhen! You''re teaming up with him?!"

    "Don''t mess up my hair! What''s with that look on your faces?"

    "W-Wait. Don''t tug on my clothes. You''re going to rip my clothes! Wait!"

    I forcibly ripped his clothes off despite his resistance, thereby revealing his sturdy, yet supple body. Then, I revealed a mischievous smile.

    "Stop screaming. Nobody wille to your rescue even if you scream your lungs out. Hehehehe."

    "What are you doing? Oi! You''re being gross!!"

    I said, "Second Brother."

    "Present!"

    I rolled up my sleeves and approached him step by step. I smiled and led with my Chinglish, "Follow me."

    Second Brother also rolled up his sleeves. He eximed, "Ass we can!"

    "Whatnguage are you two even speaking?! Stay away! Stay away from me! Your smiles are gross!!"

    I gave Second Brother a strong smack to the back of his head, "It''s ''Yes, we can'', son of a beach!"

    ''Learn your Chinglish properly, will you?! You ruined the mood!''

    As for Tang Ye, he seriously couldn''t stand the atmosphere in the room. His ice-cold face melted. He panicked, "What in the world do you want?!"

    I don''t me Tang Ye. He was about to be stripped butt naked, after all.

    After I came up with an attack n, I discussed it with Second Brother. However, the two of us revealed spooky smiles, and then began stripping Tang Ye without a word prior. Consequently, it came as no surprise that he was panicked and lost for what to do.

    "Don''t worry, Brother; I have a request I''d like to make of you."

    Tang Ye picked up a piece of fabric and wore on a stern expression, "Get lost!"

    Tang Ye seemed to think that it wasn''t enough. Therefore, he picked up a teacup and hurled it with an immense amount of force behind it. He then raged, "Piss off as fast as your legs can take you!!"

    I caught the teacup. Puzzled, I asked, "I still haven''t told you what this is about? Why are you in such a rush to turn me down?"

    Worried about his purity, Tang Ye covered himself with his clothes. Had it not been for his unkempt appearance, you could say that he looked stern, "I''m not whoring myself!"

    ''Huh? Whoever told you to whore yourself out?''

    "Listen to me."

    "Stay away, you gay!"

    "Are you still going to be so uncooperative? Second Brother! Come, strip him first, and then we''ll talk!"

    "Ass we can!!"

    With Second Brother and me teaming up, Tang Ye wouldn''t be able to escape even if he used a hundred and eight different supreme styles. He could struggle, but only despair would await him.

    Su Xiao curbed his curiosity by scanning Tang Ye''s tough muscles. It was clear that he was very tough. His striations didn''t overwhelm the suppleness, though. His bulging muscles were akin to a piece of dry goat cheese.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao checked out Tang Ye''s imposing triceps with curiosity and envy. While he was at it, he touched Tang Ye''s slender and supple arm. Then, he sighed with disappointment.

    ''Miss, it''s not easy to gain horseshoe triceps. You''re better off learning kitchen skills, and then marrying off when you grow up¡­''

    Just when we were engaging in the tussle, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

    "Are you there, Head Constable Ming? Someone from the pce hase looking for you for a pressing matter."

    ''By the sound of her voice, I think she''s the leader of the female constables. Her name was Bai Yeshuang if my memory does me justice.''

    "Erm, not right now. Wait! Don''t move! If you continue to refuse to cooperate, I''ll rip it!"

    It sounded as though it was an urgent matter. Bai Yeshuang didn''t wait any longer. She pushed the door open and entered.

    The moment she entered was the moment Tang Ye met his end. His pants had nearly been removed. He didn''t care who knocked; he just minded himself and screamed, "I''ll strip! I''ll strip, all right?!!"

    There were two people at the door when it opened. One of them was Bai Yeshuang, while the other was Princess Jingan!!

    Notes:

    *Ass we can is a Chinglish phrase two men say when they need to blow a load, but there are no females around, and thus, use each other''s ass cracks instead.

 Volume 5 19 You and Your Colleagues Have an Ambiguous Relationship

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 19 You and Your Colleagues Have an Ambiguous Rtionship</h4>

    Half a day ago, Princess Jingan was still running about in the Imperial Pce. Ever since she saw Ming Feizhen at Jin Wangsun''s ce, she''s had questions on her mind that she couldn''t stop pondering. As such, after greeting the most important people in the Imperial Pce, she paid a visit to her good friend in the Imperial, Bai Ling, General Manager Bai.

    General Manager Bai grew up in the pce; she was acquainted with the Princesses from a young age. As Second Princess was often out of the Pce, while Third Princess was still young, Bai Ling was closest to First Princess.

    Bai Ling was adopted by Brilliant Consort to act as one of her aides to undertake work in the shadows. In order to climb the ranks, things had to be settled both within and outside. Therefore, striking up connections and currying favour with high-ranking eunuchs and members of the royal family were a must. s, Bai Ling had a cold personality; hence, asking her to make friends was asking for the impossible, let alone currying favour.

    Fortunately, Brilliant Consort had the wealth to ovee the obstacle; she settled all invitations with money. In addition, Bai Ling was smart, which was why she rapidly improved in literacy and martial arts. She was one of those in the pce that were proficient at both. When they left the pce on several asions and trouble emerged, it was always Bai Ling that settled things with her extreme methods. His Majesty liked the eunuch, who wasn''t approachable, but had incredible means of dealing with things. Subsequently, despite her young age, Bai Ling rapidly ascended the ranks.

    In terms of connections, though Bai Ling failed at establishing connections in the pce, Brilliant Consort knew that she was a girl, and thus, didn''t force her. If she got too close with people in the pce and her female identity was idently revealed, then it woulde back to bite them. Consequently, Brilliant Consort had her focus her efforts on getting closer to the Princesses.

    As Bai Ling was stationed in the pce, she could meet the Princesses daily. So ordingly, it wasn''t hard to find opportunities to get close to them. Plus, Princess Jingan is a graceful and cheerful character. After interacting with Second Princess, the pair eventually became friends.

    Princess Jingan wanted to ask if Bai Ling had seen Fuma in thest few months, but when she asked, she learnt a number of other things, too.

    "That Ming Feizhen just randomly became a Fuma candidate. He has no desire to improve, has no aplishments to his name in literacy fields or martial arts endeavours and is a mere Head Constable at Liu Shan Men. There are many positions at Liu Shan Men. Even someone behind the times can be a record keeper. They, at the very least, are officials of the Imperial Court. Afterwards, I found out that he was a disciple of one of the three major orthodox sects in the martial world when His Majesty told me. He is very fortunate to be their disciple, yet he carries himself in a dishevelled manner and behaves improperly¡­"

    Bai Ling doesn''t like to wear her emotions on her face. Thus, in spite of speaking to the Princess, she maintained her cold and straight expression. Nevertheless, judging from the way that she sat at the table with Princess Jingan, one could tell that they were having a discussion without the constraints of the status of master and servant, in other words, they did not bring their status into their conversation.

    Jingan looked at Bai Ling in a daze. She kept on hearing Bai Ling speak ill of the man named Ming Feizhen. Bai Ling sted him for an entire hour. She only felt relieved after Bai Ling finally stopped. However, when she realised that Bai Ling only stopped for a drink, Jingan gave in to the urge to speak up, "Okay, okay now. If you continue to st him, you''ll verbally st him to death before he can even partake in the selection."

    Princess Jingan then shook her head with a smile, "Normally, you don''t talk about anyone when I converse with you. Why do you care about this Ming Feizhen so much?"

    "Who cares about him?" Proud General Manager Bai gave her response with a snort, "He is a nobody? I could not care less about him."

    After she said that, Bai Ling turned her head away to show that she wasn''t angry.

    Jingan found Bai Ling''s action to be humorous. She did chat andugh away with Bai Ling in the past, but the majority of the time, it was primarily Jingan who spoke andughed while Bai Ling just silently listened. At most, she''d say one or two things. This was the first time that she heard Bai Ling say so much.

    After hearing so much, Jingan couldn''t help but be somewhat interested in the Ming Feizhen Bai Ling spoke of.

    "I''ve never seen him, so I can''t really give fair judgement. In your opinion, then, is he a good fit for my sister?"

    Princess Jingan''s question left Bai Ling in silence. Ever since Ming Feizhen was announced a Fuma candidate, Bai Ling has been out of sorts. She got closer and closer to Ming Feizhen over thest half a month, but she still knew where to draw the line.

    ''He''s¡­ not somebody that I should get close to. Absolutely not.''

    Nothing good woulde out of Bai Ling getting close to Ming Feizhen from any perspective.

    But nheless, when she found out that he had a fifty-fifty chance of marrying the Princess, a strange feeling disturbed her. It was a feeling that she had never felt before, and she didn''t know how to describe it.

    For thest two days, she kept recalling her very first meeting with him when he forced a kiss on her. Whenever she recalled the kiss, she''d feel a hot sensation on her lips. Whenever the hot sensation returned to her, she''d see an image of Ming Feizhen and Princess Hongzhuang holding hands. The more beautiful the scene looked, the more it felt as though her heart was being pricked.

    "Is Ming Feizhen a good fit for my sister?"

    When Bai Ling heard the question, her heart shook.

    "They are¡­ not a good fit for each other."

    When she came back to her senses, she had already blurted that reply.

    Seeing Bai Ling''s reaction, Princess Jingan responded with just, "Oh," but kept her eyes on Bai Ling, nevertheless. She looked at Bai Ling as if she was trying to figure out if Bai Ling was telling the truth or not.

    Bai Ling couldn''t stand Jingan''s gaze on her, and therefore immediately added, "He likes men! That is why they are not a good fit for each other whatsoever."

    "Ah?" Jingan thought she misheard, "Wh-What did you just say?"

    "Ming Feizhen likes men!"

    "M-My sister''s Fuma candidate¡­ is queer?" Princess Jingan angrily got to her feet, "How can they be put together, then?!"

    "Uhm, uhm, exactly." Bai Ling felt relieved to see that Princess Jingan believed her, "Exactly. He is queer. He has an ambiguous rtionship with that colleague of his. Eh?! Wait! Why did you leave before I finished¡­? What a hasty person!"

    ========

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The atmosphere in the room was very awkward.

    Right now, there were amazing shows to see at every corner of the room.

    Exhibit one: Tang Ye desperately grabbed onto his pants. A man with horseshoe triceps was yelling stuff that a sexually abused maid would yell such as, "Go away! Move!" and so forth.

    I went to grab Tang Ye''s X with my Dragon w ¨C where X is a ceholder that can be anything. As for what it is, you can imagine it to be whatever you want to imagine it to be¡­ Either way, it wasn''t something good.

    Do not try it at home, kids.

    Exhibit two: Su Xiao covered half of his eyes, as he didn''t want to look, but he kept half of his vision unobstructed, for he needed to satisfy his curiosity.

    Exhibit three: Princess Hongzhuang was driven nuts by her hunger. She was in the middle of an attempt of trying to hook a meat bun on the table over using a length of fabric. As a matter of fact, she ignored the fact that her elder sister was standing at the door.

    All of those scenarios took ce at once.

    As for Second Brother, he was still there shouting, "Ass we can¡­"

    As soon as the door swung open, Captain Bai Yeshuang and our dynasty''s eldest Princess, Princess Jingan saw what I just described.

    It''s not the biggest issue if Bai Yeshuang saw the scene, but Princess Jingan!

    ''Why has Jingane back here? Have I been busted?''

    ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! Shiiiiitttt!!!''

    When Princess Jingan saw me, she reacted with her mouth wide. Her entire body trembled.

    ''Wait! Wait! We can take our time talking about our business in private!!''

    Princess Jingan, however, ignored the eye signal I sent her and thundered, "Ming Feizhen!"

    ''Eh? She''s calling me by that name?''

    Nevertheless, I responded, "Present!"

    Jingan shivered as she eximed, "Y-You''re too much!"

    "Yes! Sorry! Please listen to my exnation!"

    "Enough. I don''t want to hear it." Jingan waved her hand. She then pointed to Tang Ye with her slender finger, "So you are in an ambiguous rtionship with your colleague!!"

    I nned to apologise, but as soon as I her say that, all I had to say was, "I %£¤#&[email protected]"

 Volume 5 20 I Have Three Things that I Want You to Keep in Mind

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 20 I Have Three Things that I Want You to Keep in Mind</h4>

    In an instant, my mind was totally nk.

    It''s not that I didn''t think that I''d see Jingan again so soon, but that I never thought that it''d be today, let alone such an usation being the first thing toe out of her mouth!

    ''Who are you saying is in an ambiguous rtionship?!''

    Tang Ye, who had poor timing skills, eximed, "Let go of me!!"

    *Sigh*

    We were so close to seeding, but now it was all for nothing. Second Brother and I couldn''t continue with outsiders present. Hopeless, we had to spare Tang Ye.

    Jingan angrily red at me and raged, "Young Master Ming, I think that you should provide me with an appropriate exnation."

    Su Xiao took three steps over toward me, and hid behind me. He peered at Jingan with curiosity.

    You can''t deny that even Princess Jingan, the number one beauty in the capital, still exudes an elegant aura despite being angry. Her face shape gives her a sweet look while her tone is gentle. Her attempts to intimidate people aren''t intimidating.

    Second Brother and Tang Ye were dumbfounded. First, they had no idea who the young beauty, who came out of nowhere, was. Second, owing to her soft voice, they couldn''t determine if she was angry or not.

    Just as I went to respond, I realised that "Ming Feizhen" isn''t acquainted with Princess Jingan, which is why I turned to Bai Yeshuang and asked, "Uh, Team Leader Bai, who is the maiden?"

    Bai Yeshuang had trouble finding her words, "She is¡­ is¡­"

    It was obvious that Bai Yeshuang knew Jingan''s identity. It was most likely announced when she arrived.

    ''No wonder why you knocked as though you were trying to smash the ground. I now see that it was because the Princess came to find fault with me.''

    Speaking of Princesses, I have Princess Hongzhuang in my room¡­

    ''And I thought I''d seen it all!''

    You know what Princess Hongzhuang just did? She tore the ck cloth that she used to cover herself with into a long piece of fabric. And now, she''s trying with all her might to use a whip style to hook Second Brother''s meat bun on the table over to herself. From the looks of things, she was on the verge of sess.

    ''I knew it; you were starving, weren''t you?! You shouldn''t have fronted! I would''ve grabbed you something to eat had you just told me! Oh yeah, your elder sister is here. If it is not too much trouble, may I please ask you to be a little nervous?!!!''

    Bai Yeshuang didn''t dare to state Jingan''s origins without permission. Jingan didn''t make things difficult for her. She finished off what Bai Yeshuang started, "No need to ask her. I am Princess Hongzhuang''s rtive."

    After she said that, she revealed a very peeved look, "Additionally, I am married. Maiden is not an appropriate way of addressing me. Please show some respect, Young Master."

    ''Would you look at that. How surprisingly loyal; she isn''t giving anyone a chance toe in between her marriage.''

    "Please pardon my blunder, Madam. May I kindly ask what exnation you were after?"

    Jingan looked as though some of her anger died down, "I heard that you have a wedding agreement with Princess Hongzhuang and just need to pass the Fuma selection to be Fuma, so why do you not show self-respect? You¡­ you¡­ forget it. Seeing as you like men, why have you not declined the wedding arrangement? Do you realise that such a marriage would be beyond disrespectful to my sister? Should I inform His Majesty of this, you will be beheaded!"

    Princess Jingan got more and more agitated as she went on, even forgetting to mind her words and blurted ''sister''. Being the number one beauty of the capital, her excellent reputation is widespread. Tang Ye and Second Brother aren''t idiots, so they figured out who she was with that slip of the tongue, and therefore broke into a sweat with fright for my sake. They both used Voice Transmission at the same time to speak to me.

    "Big Bro, this is what you getting for being a yboy. Now you''ve gone and done it. She''s a Princess and her sister. Had you got to work sooner and married both Princesses, how hot would that be?! Sadly, she''se here to teach you a lesson, and you can''t even argue back."

    "Big Bro, give me back my clothes. I can''t see anyone in my current state¡­"

    I broke into a cold sweat¡­ Then I grabbed Tang Ye''s clothes from Second Brother and returned them to him. While I was at it, I pped Second Brother across the face.

    However, Jingan had no intention of letting me off the hook, "I''d kindly like to ask you to promise me that you will back out from the Fuma selection; otherwise, His Majesty will definitely learn of this."

    Jingan''s gaze indicated that she was serious. If I refused, she really would tattle on me to His Majesty. Then I''d be captured when he''s enraged, and thenes the punishment.

    Nevertheless, I remained fearless, "I refuse."

    I calmly exined, "Because you are mistaken, Madam. I am not stripping Tang Ye; I am helping him get dressed."

    Jingan replied, "Helping him get dress?"

    "Of course."

    I went up to the chest where I stored my clothes. I went to take out clothes that I had prepared long ago, only to be surprised to find Princess Hongzhuang downing a meat bun in secret.

    ''You actually seeded! You managed to swipe away a meat bun with a length of fabric! You might as well dine and dash next time!''

    Princess Hongzhuang''s cheeks uncontrobly turned red when she saw my calm eyes, yet she continued shoving the meat bun in her mouth simrly to a greedy squirrel. I gently took out a set of clothes. When my hand passed over Princess Hongzhuang''s head, I couldn''t resist the urge to touch it. It was soft and warm; plus, her reaction of resistance made her so adorable. She was simr to a squirrel that was interrupted during its meal.

    I ced the clothes on Tang Ye. The clothing was made from exquisite fabric. It''s form-fitting, butfortable. It looks tailor-made on Tang Ye. The most eye-catching aspect of it was how resplendent it was. It used white as its base colour, and its sleeves had golden threads sewn on. With his imposing aura and handsome face apanying it, he went from looking as a fierce fighter into a young master from a reputable family.

    I confidently stated, "The weather has turned cold recently; I wanted to get Tang Ye to try on some new clothes."

    Princess Jingan looked at me with bewilderment, but she didn''t have anything to falsify my im.

    Anyone with a discerning eye would be able to see that Tang Ye and I have totally different physiques, which is why I couldn''t possibly fool the Princess with my own clothes. In truth, I had already nned to have Tang Ye work for me, but am only announcing it now.

    Tang Ye, however, felt that I specifically prepared the clothes for him and fitted him perfectly. He instantly revealed a look that indicated that he wanted to run due to fear of me.

    ''Don''t think about running, you bastard! Those clothes are expensive! I had to ingratiate myself, employ intimidation tactics and pay thirty two taels to buy it from the owner of Anima Satin! I wouldn''t have been able to bring myself to buy it if I didn''t have to deal with Jin Wangsun!!''

    Su Xiao stroked his chin and earnestly deliberated something to himself for ages. He abruptly raised his small hand, "I can prove that Big Brother Ming does not like men!"

    ''Yo! They say you nurture a soldier for thousands of days just to use him once! My Xiao finally served a purpose!''

    Su Xiao then pointed at my bed, "I can prove it. He brought a girl from Apricot Flower Brothel to his bed to¡­"

    ''Before the fatal words could escape his trouble-making mouth, I covered his mouth with my hand!''

    "Mm?! Mmmm¡­ Bik Prudda (Big Brother) Ming!" What are you covering my mouth for?!"

    ''Enough, enough, enough, for god''s sake! Please stop adding oil to the fire! You betray your teammates as fast as lightning!!''

    Jingan didn''t appear to be bothered by our fooling. She rubbed her chin and slowly asked, "That doesn''t prove anything and neither do the clothes. I only believe my eyes. I have a witness right here; you have no means of talking your way out. Young Master Ming, I only have one question for you: are you backing out or not?"

    Jingan''s speech was organised and polite as usual. However, everything that she said was pushy.

    I knew that my excuse wasn''t convincing. I was just trying to justify my actions to Tang Ye and Second Brother so that they didn''t think that I was a weirdo.

    As for Jingan, I''m sure that she''s going to dump the sh*t on my head even if she has to use force, because this isn''t just about Princess Hongzhuang. I saw her at Big Golden Vat''s abode, which means that she''s the one in the Imperial Court that supports Jin Wangsun. If "Ming Feizhen" was to lose here, Jin Wangsun would owe her a favour for something that took very little effort.

    Jingan seemed as though she was trying to prove my thoughts. She added, "You should be aware that this is not about you, alone, but also century-long the friendship between the Imperial Court and Mount Daluo. If my fath-, I mean His Majesty beheads you in a fit of anger, it would sour the rtionship between the two friends. That will not be good for the martial world, the nation or us."

    I don''t know why Jingan wants to help Jin Wangsun, but either way, I can''t be defeated here.

    "That is incorrect, Madam. His Majesty is generous and benevolent. Perhaps he will not thoughtlessly behead me."

    Jingan fearlessly replied, "He might not. That said, he does listen to some specific people. For example, his daughter. Perhaps he will listen to her and have you beheaded. It would not be surprising for His Majesty to be furious upon discovering that this is how you treat Princess Hongzhuang."

    "I see." I looked around, and then touched the back of my head, "If I may be honest, whether or not I back out is no big deal. However, I do have some backers; therefore, I cannot just back out. In particr, there is someone I cannot disappoint. You could say that he is my hard core fan. He has gone all out to assist me, so I must not let him down."

    At first, Jingan felt perplexed. Nheless, when she heard my confident tone, she gathered herself and stopped to think. Suddenly, she looked unsure, "Your supporter is¡­"

    I smiled. I leaned in and whispered something, leading to her expression turning even moreplex. There was a mix of surprise, joy and fear. She solemnly looked at me and seriously replied, "Keep your word."

    She then picked up her skirt and left in a hasty fashion. Team Leader Bai Yeshuang bid us goodbye, and then followed after the Princess.

    Second Brother watched Jingan leave from behind. He grabbed his head and remarked, "Why does such a graceful girl walk so hastily?"

    I waved my hand and in a quiet voice, answered, "She''s always been that way. People think that she''s cultured and introverted, when in reality, she''s got plenty of peeving problems that outsiders don''t know about."

    "Outsiders don''t know, but you know?" Tang Ye focused his gaze on me, "It sounds as though you know¡­ that Princess, correct?"

    Su Xiao reacted with surprise, "Sh-She''s a Princess?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I rubbed Su Xiao''s head, "You just realise that?"

    I then answered Tang Ye, "I guess so. We shouldn''t have known each other, but as fate would have it, a few years ago¡­ we got to know each other. She just doesn''t recognise me now."

    Technically speaking, she doesn''t recognise the current me.

    Second Brother looked at me then suddenly revealed a look of concern. He eximed, "Oh, crap!"

    I grumbled, "What are you making a fuss about now?"

    "Big Brother, you''re scum. How can you be three timing? That''s not to mention that they''re all beauties?!" Second Brother then woefully remarked, "Martial Grandaunt is perfect; Second Princess has long legs; the eldest Princess is majestic. How are you so lucky?!"

    ''You have yet to meet Boss Shen. When you see her, you''ll learn what majestic really means!''

    Second Brother shook his head, "Heed a brother''s advice! If Martial Grandaunt finds out, you¡­"

    "Okay, shut up! What nonsense are you even on about?!"

    ''This guy has so much bullsh*t to spout today! Usually, he meets with misfortune three times within an hour. What''s going on today? He''s been fine all day. Why didn''t Jingan call for someone to give him a beating back there?''

    I hammered Second Brother then turned to face Tang Ye, "Tang Ye, I''m being serious now. The clothes are yours. Look after them carefully. We have an important use for them. Come with me tomorrow, dressed in those clothes."

    I got rid of Tang Ye and Second Brother. I was going to wash up and turn in.

    Of course, because I have three people in my room, we''ll be sleeping together. Before we sleep, though, I have three things for you to keep in mind.

    One: Su Xiao shall sleep on the ground. The Princess shall sleep on the bed, while I sleep on the beam. Those of you, who just had twisted thoughts, go face the wall.

    Two: I was perplexed as to why Second Brother''s bad luck curse didn''t activate today, but then realised that I was wrong. He was very unlucky. When I went to Princess Hongzhuang, I discovered her in a state that resembled poisoning. It turned out that Second Brother''s meat buns were mouldy. As a result, Her Highness suffered the brunt of it.

    Three: What I said to Jingan back there was, "Fuma asked me to pass a message on to you. He said to meet him at the usual location the night after at midnight."

 Volume 5 27 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 27 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 1)</h4>

    I identally fell asleep and slept as if I was dead.

    I have a rather bad habit; once I fall asleep, it''s hard for me to wake up. In a way, it''s not a weak point, as my senses for killing intent and so forth increases in magnitude while asleep, thereby allowing me to evade twice as fast as usual.

    My worst habit is that once I''m asleep, I won''t pull any punches when I strike. I was even worse when I was young. When I fell asleep one time, I brought the entire tavern down and spent a night sleeping in the rubble. That''s why I usually mind where I sleep, always choosing to sleep in safe ces. Else, others will be at risk.

    Because of my poor sleeping habits, Tang Ye copped a beating, which led to him discovering that there was something peculiar about my martial arts.

    I heard someone shouting and carrying on in my slumber.

    "Hey! Hey! Wake up! What are you doing?! How can you sleep after such a ruckus?! Hey, this is dangerous!"

    "Are you actually asleep or not?! How are you still so formidable? Wait! I''m not your enemy! Hey!"

    "Stop touching me! What are you doing?! Pervert! Y-Y-You!"

    The rambling next to my ear annoyed me, so I raised a hand and effortlessly covered the source of the sound, thereby giving me my desired silence. And so, I fell deep asleep again.

    Having not slept for days, my brain gradually melted as if all of the umted fatigue was released.

    After sleeping for an unknown length of time, I gradually woke from my deep slumber.

    When I opened my eyes, I saw a sky-blue ceiling of a bed. The style was elegant, but also had an ancient vibe to it.

    ''Mm¡­ this doesn''t seem to be my bedroom.''

    "What''s going on? Where is this ce¡­?''"

    It took me a moment to recall that I was at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. I went to rub my head, only to discover someone sitting next to me.

    I recalled what happened before I fell asleep.

    ''I think I put Miss Sisi next to me, and then fell asleep. Damn, don''t tell me¡­ wait. I sealed Miss Sisi''s meridians. She shouldn''t be able to sit up.''

    ''¡­''

    ''Don''t tell me it was Shiyi!''

    ''Let me exin! I didn''t deliberately sleep with the girl. I sealed her meridians, ptoo, I didn''t seal her meridians tomit a crime! In any case, just let me exin!''

    I mustered up my strength to open my eyes and look over. What I saw was extremely smooth and soft clothing. Therefore, I concluded that it should''ve been made from the best silk. The individual didn''t look tall and actually thin and small. As my line of sight ascended, I finally met with their eyes.

    The eyes I met with her the eyes of someone with seventy to eighty years of umted intellect, the hallmark of a veteran. When he rxed his eyelids, I saw wrinkles and an elderly smile!

    "Eeek!!!"

    ''Why is it not Miss Sisi or Shiyi, but an old man?!!''

    The elder, Prime Minister Li Si, stroked his beard upon seeing me back off, "Master Ming, why are you overreacting upon seeing this old one?"

    ''Is that a trick question?! If I climbed into your bed and scared you the same way, you''d have kicked me out the door by now! Also, don''t sit there smiling that way to someone on the bed. That''s super spooky! If I wasn''t able to resist, I''d have shattered your brains with my fist by now!!!!!''

    Still in shock, I asked, "Prime Minister¡­ what are you here for?"

    ''Now that''s what I call a good question. What the heck is the Prime Minister blindly barging into rooms for?''

    As I spoke, I checked my surroundings, only to frighten myself again. I just had to open my eyes and saw people. Not only were their men in ck, but also muscles from the brothel dressed in dressed in a variety of styles and colours. I was basically faced with a hill of people.

    "Wh-What is this¡­?"

    Prime Minister Li Si smiled, "It would be your masterpiece."

    "I did it?"

    "Why, of course. Actually, to be precise, you did it while asleep. The people in here includes the assistant ministers'' servants, some are generals'' subordinates, and needless to say, those in ck are not good news."

    "Assistant minister? Generals?"

    "Rx, rx, they were just displeased with your audacious behaviour and came to find trouble with you. This old one has helped you fend them off."

    Prime Minister Li Si looked as though he was smiling, yet not. He gave me the thumbs up, "Mount Daluo''s fame is truly extraordinary. Their disciples are able to fight back even in their sleep. This old one merely passed by here, yet personally saw you send men flying with your eyes shut, and then hug a young girl and sleep. You truly are a hero. This old one had nothing to do and wanted to exchange a few words with you, and therefore sat down to wait for you."

    "Then, the young girl¡­"

    "There is no need to fret. This old one had someone carry her aside to avoid her interrupting our conversation. You two will get the opportunity to meet in a moment."

    I found myself speechless. I wouldn''t believe him even if he told me I wasn''t responsible for the mess in the room. The Prime Minister must''ve told the truth: I must''ve been excessively audacious and shy before, and then beat everyone who came to pick a fight.

    I felt relieved somewhat upon seeing the wise foresight in Prime Minister Li Si''s eyes. If he wanted to report me, he would''ve done so long ago, not sit here and wait for me to wake up.

    "Prime Minister Li, you waited for this one to wake up? You should not have been so tolerant."

    Prime Minister Li chuckled, "There is no need for such formalities. Master Ming, the Fuma selection ising right up, yet you have the free time to be visiting brothels. You must be in quite the excellent mood, huh?"

    His statement could be casual, but could also be very serious. Nevertheless, I couldn''t detect any threat or warning in his tone. As such, I touched my head and replied, "Erm, this humble one will not be able to visit them in the future, which is why this humble one came to relish thesest trips. Prime Minister, you are the head of officials in the Imperial Court, yet you are here to enjoy the youth, erm, replenish your energy?"

    Prime Minister Li Si replied withposure, "This old one observes the public''s state of affairs; hence, it is only natural for this old one to be out and about. This old one heard that someone was here to cause trouble, iming that they were Zhenjiang''s Jin Wangsun, and therefore came to see what it was about. Who would have known that Jin Wangsun''s subordinates were so sly and would have the audacity to bash the family members of the assistant ministers and generals? *Sigh*, this old one cannot help but feel frustrated."

    I saw the Prime Minister''s cunning gaze. If I didn''t know who managed Heavenly Fragrance Garden on behalf of His Majesty, I''d be the stupidest of the stupidest!

    "I see. If His Majesty was to know how diligent you worked, he really should make you the exemr for all officials to aspire to. Please look after yourself, Prime Minister. The nation cannot be without you."

    The two of us exchanged nces, and then simultaneouslyughed.

    "When this old one met you at the Imperial Court that day, this old one knew that you were quick witted, and indeed, you have proven that to be true today. Master Ming, you are young, yet aplished. If you were to be an official, your future would know no bounds."

    "Prime Minister, you are wise, which this humble one has gratefully benefited much from. May this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you?"

    Prime Minister Li Si responded, "Haha, you are an astute and straightforward individual. I first heard of you when Vice-Captain Shen mentioned that she had three individuals join to assist. Master Tang is a formidable martial artist, Master Su possesses a splendid appearance, and Master Ming is a fish that escaped the. Indeed, escaped you have; however, it was these eyes that missed you. If this old one had one with your astuteness as a subordinate, this old one would have a big weight lifted. Master Ming, have you ever considered helping this old one?"

    Notes:

    *The part where Ming Feizhen asks Prime Minister Li if he is at the brothel to replenish his energy is actually worded as, "¡­ savouring scallions, erm, adding garlic to years."

    The scallions reference has to do with the fact that brothel is has the character for ''green'', ÇàÂ¥ (lit. green building), which makes the rest self-exnatory. Garlic, as you should already know, is known for its potent ability to provide immune system support. So garlic here is actually recing the words ''strengthening'', ''restoring'', and so forth. Note that garlic only holds this implied meaning within certain contexts and you can''t substitute it for those aforementioned words interchangeably; otherwise, it can be used as an offensive way of suggesting someone is behind the times.

    Now you have a Morse code for when discussing your impure trips with your mates down at the bar. Shame on you.

 Volume 5 28 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 28 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 2)</h4>

    I calmly said, "This humble one is blessed by Vice-captain''s kindness. Vice-captain Shen''s breasts arerge and pretty (meant: she''s very nice to me), how could I possibly desert her?"

    Prime Minister Li Si stroked his beard. He smiled and remarked, "Your genuine and situational thoughts have been mixed together! Kid, are you still not awake?"

    "Oh, did I?" I tried to y it off as if I was just trying to humour him, "This humble one is muddle headed; this humble one does not have the qualifications to work under your leadership, and therefore can only thank you for your generous offer."

    "If you don''t want to, this old one won''t force you. Otherwise, if Vice-captain Shenes to this old one''s door, this old one would not be able to able to handle her temper, hehehe."

    Iughed along with him.

    "May this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you, Prime Minister?"

    Prime Minister Li Si chuckled, "Is it safe to assume that you have heard this old one''s journey as an official?"

    I froze for just a moment before replying. "Erm, well, everyone praises you; they say, so the wind blows, so the grass bends. The grass cannot help but bend¡­"

    "Heh, that''s apliment? Master Ming, do you truly consider this one old and senile?" Prime Minister Li Si smiled, "True, I am grass, but I am grass that sways with the wind, am I right? They thought that this old one is deaf, but this old one is not ashamed about it, for they are right. This old one sways with the wind."

    Prime Minister Li Si wasining, but at the same time, had the suave and unbothered tone of, "People mock me for being crazy, while I mock them for not knowing better."

    I formed a cupped fist salute, "From this humble one''s perspective, it is most certainly praise. Many things in life are beyond one''s control, especially when dealing with the separate factions in the imperial court. This humble one is afraid that there would not be a second individual in the entire imperial court who could safely watch the fire burn from safety with their arms folded as you do."

    "From the very first time this old one met you, this old one immediately knew that we were one of a kind."

    "If we continue with this chat, we may never reach the conclusion. Therefore, this humble one shall ask you a third time: may this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you, Prime Minister?"

    "You''re a hasty one. Fine, I shall tell you." Prime Minister Li smiled, "It''s very simple. I want you to do nothing."

    "Do nothing?"

    "Do nothing. You, Ming Feizhen, are to just stay home and do nothing aside from wait, understood?"

    I carefully deliberated what he said. He suddenly appeared at Heavenly Fragrance Garden most probably because he received a report that Jin Wangsun''s people barged into the ce. However, as the man in charge of Heavenly Fragrance Garden, he spared us posers. Then when the assistant minister and generals'' people came to beat me up, he helped me sweep it under the rug.

    I suddenly understood where he was taking it, so I smiled, "I, Ming Feizhen, naturally never did anything. The one responsible for causing trouble was, of course, someone else."

    "Smart kid." The old prime minister then flipped his cultured image on its head and tedly said, "This old one is not bothered by drifting along with the current; however, if someone wants to push the fence this old one is sitting one, this old one shall push it back. That is a principle this old one must uphold."

    I contemted and contemted; my eyes then lit up, and I instinctively let out an emotional sigh, "That day, Jin Wangsun sent hit so many people. Indeed, he hit His Majesty and his father-inw, but the one person who he never should haveid hands on was you."

    My original n was just to give Jin Wangsun some trouble so that he didn''t have spare energy to give me grief. Never did I imagine that the Prime Minister wanted to personally give him a piece of his mind.

    The Prime Ministerughed, "Haha, you have confused this old one with that. This old one is merely upholding justice; what personal vendetta do you speak of?"

    ''Everything about it is a personal vendetta! You initially supported the Emperor in crowning Jin Wangsun as Fuma, didn''t you?! You''re now leading the attack on him, because he sent someone to hit you!''

    The old prime minister shook his head, "This old one merely heard that Jin Wangsun led a group to barge into Heavenly Fragrance Garden. He drank alone in the front hall and audaciously called for more than eighty girls to keep himpany¡­"

    ''Isn''t that Su Xiao that you''re talking about?! That''s not called ''calling for more than eighty girls to keep himpany''; those eighty plus girls threw themselves at him!''

    "In addition, he hit over dozens of wealthy individuals in the city. General He couldn''t stand his absurd behaviour, and thus, sent men to deal with him, yet he unreasonably assaulted them. He even assaulted the assistant minister who passed by the ce. He was truly audacious beyond words."

    ''You officials are specialists with that trick, huh?! You just nted all of my deeds on Jin Wangsun without batting an eye. Why would General He be displeased with what he saw happening in a brothel?!! Does he live nearby?! Also, how did the assistant minister coincidentally pass by this ce? Where was he originally nning to go?!''

    "Seeing as that was true, I had to do what was right; I, therefore, teamed up with twenty officials to report his heinous deeds to the imperial court!"

    I was absolutely stunned. In a dumbstruck manner, I said, "But the assistant minister and general, twenty¡­"

    The prime minister waved me off and revealed a smug grin, "Heh, what''s so hard about that? Assistant Minister Lu is this old one''s pupil; General He is this one''s maternal grandson. The other eighteen other officials are all with this old one. What are you worrying about so much for?"

    ''This old man has literally recruited half of the imperial court to get back at one man.''

    The prime minister then stroked his beard as if to suggest that his predictions were all on the mark. He acted sort of simr to Great Duke Jiang sitting at the tform to fish while emitting his divine aura as he slowly said, "This old one has staged a three-pronged attack. I have men at Shuntian Prefecture, the Qilin Guards and your Liu Shan Men to surround his ce''s door and interior so that he can''t move around freely even in his own estate. If he behaves obediently, so be it. If he dares to resist, heh¡­"

    A cold look appeared in the prime minister''s eyes. He looked at me and made a neck slitting motion with his hand.

    ''Fuck! I think your temper is too fiery, Prime Minister! Are you waging a war or exacting vengeance?!''

    ''Not even I am as angry as you with the punk after he snatched my Night Fortress.''

    ''I have to say this again: Brother Big Vat, it''s fine for you to offend me, but if you offend a man that would drag you to hell with him, there''s no way that you''ll be able to defend against him!''

    ========

    After the Prime Minister and I forged a cohesive testimony together, I left the room. The men in ck in the corridor had been cleared from the corridor. Needless to say, the credit belonged to the Prime Minister''s. He was the one in charge of Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Therefore, it was only normal for him to deal with such things.

    After leaving the room, I found that it was still day. I finally realised that I had slept for an entire day and night. It was now afternoon the next day.

    ''Sh*t! I didn''t contact Shiyi; I don''t know how Su Xiao and Tang Ye are doing, either.''

    When I asked around, I learnt that Su Xiao left on his own after drinking, and apparently, a girl with a face veil took him away. It was probably Shiyi. She saw Su Xiao on Liu Shan Men''s recruitment day and knows that he''s my friend. I, therefore, would assume that she''d help me look after the drunken kitten.

    When I inquired about them with some more people, they told me that Tang Ye had left. That baffled me; Tang Ye didn''t seem to have any urgent business. He left without even letting me know. He should''ve told me what he learnt from Miss Qing''er.

    When I asked two more people, they said that Tang Ye apparently conversed with Miss Qing''er for an entire night¡­

    ''I see¡­ wait a minute. One night?!''

    ''Tang Ye is famous for being muscle bound and a man of few words. He could chat for an entire night?''

    The first scenario that popped into my mind wasn''t a good one.

    ''A young man and woman alone in a room for one night? Miss Qing''er is young and pretty. If sparks flew and something sensual happened, then Big Golden Vat would go crazy with anger, wouldn''t he¡­? Wait, no. That wooden-faced martial-art-training-obsessed Tang Ye wouldn''t do that, would he?''

    At most, Tang Ye would calmly ask me, "What could happen?"

    That was how Tang Ye should react. The issue was that I couldn¡¯t be certain, and hence, I quickly ran out to give chase.

    Notes:

    *General He - The ''He'' is pronounced ''her''.

    *Great Duke Jiang refers to Jiang Ziya. I''ve given background information on him before, so I won''t bore you again.

 Volume 5 29 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 29 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 3)</h4>

    As soon as I stepped outside, I ran into someone I was familiar with. Long Zaitian, who looks as if his face is a cake, was there, at the door, with his men, who were prepared for battle ¡­

    ''¡­was there, at the door, with his men, who were prepared for battle. The door of a brothel, no less¡­ Why does it sound as though it''s a very bad situation?''ong Zaitian called me as soon as he spotted me, "Ming Feizhen, why aren''t you greeting your superior when you see him?"

    I verbally attacked him, "You''re whose superior, again? Didn''t you get demoted to Seventh Rank? I''m a Seventh Rank Warrior. We''re on the same footing."ong Zaitian''s three rank demotion was the biggest secret in the imperial court. I didn''t know why it was kept secret, either. In all fairness, he was credited with three merits at the time. I, myself, didn''t know what he did. I heard that he did something while organising the men.

    I suddenly realised that he was here to lock down Jin Wangsun''s ce.ong Zaitian looked at me with a grumpy expression as though I stole his credit or something.

    "What are you looking at?"

    "Look at your reflection in your own piss; who''d want to look at you? The Prime Minister said that he wanted Shuntian Prefecture, us Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men to send men. Where are your people from Liu Shan Men?"

    "Don''t you have eyes to see if they''re here or not? If they were here, wouldn''t you have seen them? Why even bother asking?"

    "Heh! Ming Feizhen, you feeling itchy or something? This capt-¡­ capt-capt¡­ needs to teach you a lesson."

    "Aren''t you now just some run-of-the-millmander?"

    "Shut up, loud mouth! Would I be in this state if you didn''t infect me with your gue?!"

    ''Wow! This twerp must be really itchy.''

    When Long Zaitian and I gave each other the death stare, I suddenly heard a clear voice call me.

    "Ming Feizhen!! Get yourself over here!"

    The voice was extremely aggressive. It was Her Highness'' voice.

    "Wait!" I brashly cut off Long Zaitian and frowned, "Someone is calling for me."ong Zaitian looked around and fumed, "Who''s calling you?! Hey! What the hell did you run behind a lion statue for? Would there even be anybody behind there?!!"

    I ignored Long Zaitian and quickly ran behind the lion statue.

    I was genuinely very worried. Her Highness followed me to the outside of Heavenly Fragrance Garden yesterday. Owing to her mysophobia, she would never go inside. Meanwhile, I fell asleep by ident. Her Highness might have squatted behind the statue all night!

    I sped up; I poked my head around the back for a look. I wasn''t surprised to see Her Highness, who just barely managed to hide behind the statue, squatting in a very strange posture. She could no longer maintain her calm demeanour. She clenched her teeth, "Ming Feizhen¡­ where did you go?!"

    "I-I went toplete the mission."

    I didn''t dare to tell her I went and slept¡­

    "Your Highness, what''s up?" I looked around to check to make sure nobody was looking. To change the atmosphere, I lowered my voice and spoke in a weird dialect, "What''s goodie? I have someone waiting for me. If nothing''s up, I''m leaving first, ya?"

    "I dare you!" Her Majesty thundered. She angrily responded with a dialect of he own, "Whatchu say?! I squat here for the entire night, ya; my legs are all wooden. Hurry and help me up."

    ''Eeeehhhh?!! Her Highness knows can speak Sichuan dialect, too?! She''s from Nanjing, but she''s a Sichuan chick?!''

    Her Highness'' tone was cold as usual, but there was a faint sense of pride, "Did you forget where I grew up?"

    Nevertheless, owing to her numb legs, her expression looked stiffer than it did proper and serious.

    ''Her Majesty went to Emei Sect with Abbess Bailou when she was young. Oh, now I get it. Mount Emei is located in Sichuan; no wonder why Her Highness'' pronunciation was even more authentic than my own.''

    ''Fufufu, I didn''t expect that. My Cutie Pie Princess, here, let me help you.''

    Her Highness angrily smacked away my hands and sternly eximed, "You done grabbingdies with them hands! Don''t touch me!"

    Knowing only a few phrases in Sichuan dialect, I didn''t dare to continue making a fool out of myself. I scratched the back of my head then switched to the tone used by officials.

    "How can I help you up without touching you? I do not know the Stained Clothes Eighteen Gropes or whatever."

    Her Highness expressed her disdain for myck of knowledge, "It''s called ''Stained Clothes Eighteen Falls''! You''re totally uncultured. Go tell that Long Zaitian to leave, and then bring me two broadswords, sabres or something simr to use as crutches. I''ll use them to stand up myself."

    "Yes, Your Highness. I shall go and do so now."

    I didn''t need to fool Long Zaitian. He had received orders from the Prime Minister to rush to Jin Wangsun''s abode. I then had to go through another attempt to finally help Her Highness up. She had to walk for a while before her blood started circting properly again.

    Having nothing to say, Her Highness tried to start a conversation, "Aren''t you from the North? How do you know Sichuan dialect?"

    I subtly smiled, "When I was young, I went everywhere, including Emei."

    ''I even yed mahjong with your shifu.''

    As we were in the midst of our conversation, someoneing over from ahead of us, asked for directions, "Brother, do you know how to get to Vermillion Street?"

    I replied honestly, but then he strangely asked, "Brother, how did your wife suddenly disappear?"

    I turned around to find Her Highness had vanished into thin air. I had to haul my butt again to finally find her hiding behind the stone lion of a bar.

    "Your Highness, he was a pedestrian just passing by¡­"

    Her Highness went red in the face and ears. Her young face looked red as though she boiled a kettle of water with it, "I know! I''m used to it; you have a problem with that?!"

    "¡­"

    In order to avoid being revealed, we decided to go back one after the other.

    I rushed back to Liu Shan Men, as I needed to find out from him what happenedst night, only to be stopped by Second Brother, "Big Bro, I have good news."

    Curious, I asked, "How do we have good news?"

    "Your n worked!"

    Second Brother heartilyughed, "I just received news from Hangzhou. Our men have returned to Night Fortress as per your orders. Seventy to eighty percent of our brothers have returned; that snowke, Jin Wangsun, does not suspect a thing. We can definitely take it back!"

    That yed out pretty much the way that I expected. There were arge number of people in Gold and Silver Sect who voiced their discontent with Jin Wangsun, thereby preventing him from sending more people to fortify Night Fortress. His only option, therefore, was to recruit people from outside of the sect. I had Third Brother go and tell our original members to return. Naturally, Gold and Silver Sect were happy to wee the veterans back."

    "Wait for a bit longer. Wait a few more days before taking action. Oh, right, have you seen Tang Ye?"

    "He just came back. I think he was getting ready to head out. Didn''t you see him just now?"

    I immediately took off running. I saw Tang Ye walking funnily at the main door, causing my heart to skip a beat.

    ''Oh, sh*t! Oh, sh*t! Something definitely happened! He definitely used muscles that he had never used before, which must be why he''s sore now!!''

    ''You stupid virgin! Well-deserved!''

    ''What did you do to her?! Didn''t I tell you that you couldn''t touch her?!''

    "Tang Ye, get over here!"

    The punk''s face looked fresh and cool. He couldn''t help looking away when he saw me.

    ''Why don''t you dare to look at me?! Exin yourself!''

    Tang Ye lowered his head. He had subtle hot flushes on his face, but didn''t speak. I pressed him for answers.

    "Big Bro, it''s all your fault. You were the one who told me to ''touch some more, touch some more'' and to strip them and whatnot.''

    ''I said, besides her, touch the others some more! I didn''t tell you to strip her! You stripped her, and then couldn''t contain yourself?! Your willpower is horrendous! Did you even read my lips properly?!''

    Tang Ye sighed. He looked into the distance simrly to someone who became a real man after one night and emotionally sighed, "It''s a long story."

    ''Long story? You virginity is your only long story!''

    ''As if you have much to tell, you virgin! At most, you would only have as long as it takes to boil a pot of tea worth of a story! Don''t boast as if you''re some sort of weapon under the nket!!''

    It was then that a bunch of children passing by sung a song as if it was a nursery rhyme, "Kucha, Kucha, Jin n has a big pair of underpants. He''s either drawing or training with his sabre at home. If he''s not performing theft, he''s robbing. Don''tugh and don''t go panicking. His name is Big Golden Vat. Kucha''s name is Dagang. Bit Vat goes, ding, big vat goes, shine, Jin n''s Big Vat has no one to talk to except his bedside light¡­"

    ¡­

    There are four unfortunate miseries that one can experience in life: your wife being stolen from you, your, your lover getting banged, your assets are stolen, or strangers on the roadughing at you.

    ''Brother Big Vat, you just had all four done to you¡­''

    I suddenly couldn''t bear to think about it any further.

    *Sigh*

    ''I''ll just shut my eyes.''

    Notes:

    ***Lots of the conversations in this chapter are in Sichuan dialect. I''m not writing strangely. For details, see the points below.

    **"What''s up" - I reced the original with this. The original was actually "What''s the matter/what is it?" but in Sichuan dialect. We don''t have an English equivalent, so I used the closest phrase that has a simr vibe. MTL that. Won''t be exining the other substitutions I made.

    ***When MFZ refers to his weird dialect, he uses Sichuan dialect again. Mind you, it''s not casual or rude by any means, but may look so on paper due to a certain dialects subbing characters, switching orders, adding characters etc. To capture that, I''ve reflected that by rewording and adding. He could''ve totally confused Li Hongzhuang, though. Arge number of Chinese people will actually struggle to understand a number of dialects, for there are just too many to learn them all. For the record, mandarin is a dialect, too. This is why they even dub their own TV series to standardise the mandarin, as not every actor/actresses from the same ce. Subtle differences can make things barely topletely iprehensible.

    ****The character Tang Ye uses for ''strip'' can also mean ''besides''.

    *****Kucha means pants for anyone who has forgotten

 Volume 5 24 Spring Breeze Brings Back the Lush Green Shore in Jiangnan

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 24 Spring Breeze Brings Back the Lush Green Shore in Jiangnan</h4>

    Tang Ye''s appearance led to everyone, who was present, freezing in ce. Next, they burst intoughter in unison. To my surprise, theypletely brushed off my act of breaking the door down just now.

    Several of themughed and said, "So it''s the Patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect. That sure is a shy way of entering. Come,e."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "My, why are you only here now, Patriarch Jin? You must be punished with one drink no matter what."

    News of Big Golden Vat beating up the Emperor''s inws, the prime minister and the Emperor, himself, was forbidden from being leaked. As such, despite the nobles and wealthy having heard that Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch had arrived, they never had the chance to meet him. They were also oblivious to the fact that Jin Wangsun was under house arrest. That''s why today was Jin Wangsun''s first time making an appearance in the capital''s social circle, albeit being a fake Jin Wangsun.

    A few men dressed in resplendent clothing passionately stated, "I waited ages for you. Everyone here is a friend. Come in and chat Patriarch Jin."

    "Patriarch Jin is always looking after me, yet I never had many opportunities to get to know you better. I have finally had the privilege of meeting you today."

    "I have finally managed to meet you. Please sit, Patriarch Jin!"

    As soon as he appeared, Tang Ye immediately became the topic of attention inside. We were only at the front hall, where the majority of people gathered were merchants in the capital. Sure, there were genuinely wealthy people inside, but they were far from the level of the truly influential. Being able to sit in this ce was a great privilege already. Nevertheless, Gold and Silver Sect does big business. Consequently, the more business oriented merchants were, the more they wanted to ingratiate themselves with Jin Wangsun. That was why the ruckus from me kicking down the door immediately died down.

    I eximed, "My young master has his own ns. Attendant! Does no one at Heavenly Fragrance Garden greet guests?"

    I established our status before we could be asked. Frankly, what I said was against regtions and extremely rude. Fortunately, Jin Wangsun''s underlings had already made a name for themselves with their arrogant behaviour in the capital, which was why the merchants weren''t surprised. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to start trouble, but all the merchants did was brown nose!!

    An attendant immediately came over to lead us to a table.

    Before Tang Ye took a seat, he nced at me with a frown and mumbled, "Jin Wangsun? He''s the wealthy foreign young master you were referring to?"

    "Correct. Not only are there merchants here, but also major figures in the martial world in the capital. In fact, there are even officials of the Imperial Court. Others shouldn''t be affected, however. Stir up trouble here. The more embarrassing you make them, the better."

    Tang Ye pursed his lips together, "Why didn''t you say so sooner?"

    "Would you havee if I told you sooner?"

    "¡­ No."

    As I conversed with Tang Ye, a few girls flocked over to us on both sides. The girls were young. The older ones were sixteen or seventeen, while the younger ones were thirteen or fourteen. They were all in their youth. The rare aspect of the group was that they all had different physiques from lean to round and different unique traits. Their clothes were selected specifically ording to their unique traits.

    The girls wore thin clothing with their pretty backs revealed. They had beautiful body lines while their clothing was hot and bold. Underneath their necks was skin as white as snow and voluptuous, supple and soft breasts. The guests, who witnessed their beauty, forgot where they were.

    At first nce, the girls didn''t possess appearances worthy of being praised as ''very'' beautiful. But nheless, it was evident that they had been professionally trained which, in turn, allowed them to disy themselves as highly attractive. Those who they approach are mostly wealthy young men who look suave and handsome, simr to Jin Wangsun.

    In saying that, their gazes kept drifting over to our Su Xiao. There were eyes on him left, right, front and rear; they all scanned him. Su Xiao was dressed in casual attire today, yet kept his handsome face. The girls, who came specifically to fawn over Tang Ye, literally had all of their attention on Su Xiao. Tang Ye is handsome, no questions about that, but he''s far inferior to Su Xiao when ites to picking up girls.

    Su Xiao struggled to resist their hot gazes. He, therefore, lowered his head with his face burning and bright red.

    I was the only one who was as cool as a cucumber. I quietly said, "Don''t panic. Hurry and practice on these girls. They just look after guests here. Their seduction skills are still far inferior. If you can''t even withstand these girls, by the time you get inside, you''ll be screwed."

    Befuddled, Tang Ye asked, "Practice? How?"

    "Didn''t I already tell you? Practice on your own."

    After I said that, I took a few steps back and headed into the crowds, far away. Bodyguards and the sort have to keep watch on their masters from far away in these sorts of ces. There are no bodyguards who stick to their masters here. Since I left, Su Xiao was left alone for the girls to tease while Tang Ye was left speechless against the girls around him.

    Tang Ye appeared to desperately try and recall my lecture, "Pamper them with a line or two then grab their butt and done."

    Tang Ye then revealed a perplexed expression.

    I gave him a nod to signal, "You have to do it."

    Hopeless, Tang Ye asked one of the girls, "Miss, what is your name?"

    The thirteen-year-old girl blushed. She covered her face with her sleeve, "M-My name is Sisi."

    "Oh, I see."

    Handsome Tang Ye then used his divine hand skills to touch the girl''s buttocks faster than lightning. Miss Sisi vaguely felt as though something grazed her buttocks, but didn''t say anything. However, the faint feeling caused her cheeks to turn red with shyness. She just didn''t realise that it was the handsomed with a face as cold as ice who touch her. Instead, she revealed a look of concern, for she wondered if it was a bug of some sort.

    Seeing her cheeks turn red, Tang Ye thought that he seeded; hence, he looked at me with a gaze, asking for praise.

    ''You''re not getting any praise!! You clearly failed!!''

    ''Not only did she not realise that it was you, but you also went and made it even more perverted! Swiftly touching her ass is even more perverted than perverts!!''

    I mouthed, "Try on another girl now. This time, pinch her."

    Tang Ye mouthed back, "That''s not a good idea, is it?"

    "What''s the big deal? If you don''t tease girls at brothels, their boss will scold them."

    "That¡­ all right, I''ll try my best."

    And so, Su Xiao was forced to down drinks while Tang Ye kept on training to grab butts. Later on, Tang Ye instinctively made a dragon w gesture with his hand whenever he saw a girl. Unfortunately, he showed no improvement. Not only did the girlsin that he was too cold, but also unenergetic. As a consequence, he never touched more than a few butts.

    Hopeless, Tang Ye searched for his next target. For some reason, though, he locked on to a somewhat older girl. His gaze locked onto her behind without him realising. He then looked up to her breasts, which had a magnificent shape to them. Her beautiful long legs held up her two bunsparable to pears. She walked up to Tang Ye with disordered steps. Tang Ye''s gaze zoned in on her hips swaying side to side without him being aware. It didn''t take long for her to arrive before him. She bowed to him, "So it is Patriarch Jin of Gold and Silver Sect from Zhenjiang that has arrived. Please forgive Qing''er for beingte to wee you."

    A beautiful girl, who was roughly twenty years old and exuded a captivating aura, came up to Tang Ye. Her breasts were curvaceous and ample; she was dressed in ake-green shirt. She seemed to have a thin undershirt inside. Her dress floated behind her. While she revealed a bit of her snow-white skin, she emitted the aura of an honest and upright girl. With it, she also exuded a graceful demeanour, thereby giving her the aura of a daughter from a reputable family. She showed no signs of a lowly background.

    ''She seems as if she''s a boss at Heavenly Fragrance Garden or something.''

    Miss Qing''er''s reproaching tone seeped into her speech, "It is just that ever since Qing''er has been here since Heavenly Fragrance Garden opened, nobody has caused such a scene. Patriarch Jin, you attacked people without reason; would you agree that it was unreasonable of you?"

    "Qing''er has revered Patriarch Jin''s heroism for a long time. With that said, Qing''ers Heavenly Fragrance Garden is not Zhenjiang''s Jin Riverbank or the capital''s martial arts hall. If you wish to swing your de, I am afraid that you havee to the wrong ce. Men, see our guests out."

    It was surprising that she showed no respect for Gold and Silver Sect when she spoke. Immediately after, a few men came up to drag Tang Ye away.

    ''Oh wow! I can''t believe there are people who do business this way! Luckily for you, my shifu isn''t here; else, he''d teach you a lesson,ss.''

    Just as I was about to scold her with the intent of intimidating her, I suddenly heard a voice in my ear.

    "Her identity is special. She is with me."

    I immediately identified the owner of the voice.

    ''That''s Shiyi''s voice!''

    It was clear that Shiyi, too, wanted me to find her, which was evident by the fact that she left me a clue when using Voice Transmission. Hence, I was able to locate her. I traced down her voice and responded through the same medium, "Miss Juese? Long-time no see."

    "It hasn''t been long. I see that you''re smart enough toe searching for me at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. How did you know that I was here?"

    ''I didn''t know! I thought you''d be having your beauty sleep at some inn.''

    ''And what''s the fuss abouting here? It''s just Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Isn''t it? Big deal. Normally, I''d definitely visit once a month.''

    Obviously, I didn''t actually say that.

    As Shiyi wanted to pretend that she just got to know me, I had no choice but to y along and pretend that I didn''t know her, either.

    "Miss Juese, Miss Qing''er is with you?"

    "Yeah."

    As soon as Tang Ye unleashed his strength, the fighters, who were no match for him, were sent flying aside.

    I watched Tang Ye clumsily say to Miss Qing''er, "Miss, your¡­ head looks really good."

    I concur. Miss Qing''er''s head is slightly on the big side. It slightly resembles the ball used in sepak takraw.

    Miss Qing''er, on the other hand, was bewildered by the remark.

    ''So that''s thepliment. Next must be the grab¡­''

    "Miss Qing''er''s name is Huo Qing''er. She''s Jin Wansun''s fianc¨¦e from Jiangnan. I specifically brought her to the capital to meet Jin Wangsun. She will now proceed to give you a scolding then take you to the secret room to converse. I will also be waiting for you. What is your colleague trying to d-? Ming Feizhen! What is your colleague doing?!!!!"

    ''Oh, sh*t, he''s going in for it!!!''

    Following mymand, Tang Ye went to grab her butt!

    ''Wait! Don''t touch iiiitt! She''s Big Golden Vat''s wife!!''

    ''Don''t let anyone catch you!''

    s, Tang Ye had absorbed my previous teachings, and therefore didn''t spare Miss Qing''er. He bravely reached his hand behind her then proceeded to rub, pinch, pull and tug! He left his five fingerprints on that luscious skin before letting go. He repeated the sequence for a total of three times. Miss Qing''er was so shocked that she couldn''t hold back her consecutive sensual moans. The anger and shame that she simultaneously felt led to her nearly passing out.

    Tang Ye looked in my direction to ask for praise again¡­

    ¡®Fuck your praise!! Did you have to be so fast?! It¡¯s fine for you to master martial arts quickly, but do you need to learn this sort of stuff so quickly?!!¡¯

    ''Oh, sh*t, Bro!! Not even Brother Big Vat has touched that spot yet!''

    ''Brother Big Vat! Hurry here! You¡¯ve been cucked!!''

    Notes:

    *Sisi is pronounced "sss, sss" simrly to a hissing snake.

    **Sepak takraw is volleyball using your legs instead of hands. It''s native to Southeast Asia.

 Volume 5 25 Loverâ€™s Precious Short Rendezvous

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 25 Lover¡¯s Precious Short Rendezvous</h4>

    Miss Qing''er is Jin Wangsun''s fianc¨¦e. One nce and you can tell that she''s the daughter of a prestigious family. Why am I so certain? Because if you were to draw her current panicked look, you''d be able to disy it in an art exhibit!!

    Her face was as red as blood. It wasparable to a ripe tomato.

    ''How can you be the bossdy of a brothel when you react that way?! Sis, you are a properdy; can you note here to for the giggles¡­?! Shiyi kidnapped you, didn''t she? I knew it.''

    When Shiyi decides to be rebellious, she''s worse than eight of mebined.

    Miss Qing''er was aware that Tang Ye was a friendly, obviously, which was why she resisted the urge to give him a lethal p for his impulsive action. She bit down on her lip, "T-Take him away!"

    Nevertheless, she burst when she said, "away."

    After she said that, a group of girls and attendants charged in from god-knows where. Since I was far away, I could only mouth, "Remember to touch a few more! Touch a few more to embarrass Jin Wangsun! Touch some more!"

    However, I then realised that my instructions were poor, and thus, changed the contents I mouthed, "Except for her! Except her! Touch the others some more, but not her! Don''t touch her again!"

    Tang Ye responded to me with a determined gaze and ''no problem'' hand gesture. Then he was shoved into an aisle.

    When I wanted to go over to him, I was stopped and prohibited from entering. Only Tang Ye went along with Miss Qing''er.

    ''Will he be all right¡­? Did he understand what I signalled or not?''

    I tried to contact Shiyi again, but she didn''t respond. When I thought about the reason more carefully, I understood why. She was angry at me for not contacting her, and therefore posed as someone else, and has yet to reveal herself. She wouldn''t take the risk of meeting me during the day.

    ''Nobody should''ve known that I came here to ruin Jin Wangsun''s reputation by creating scandals. I think that Shiyi only saw me by coincidence. I wonder what she''s doing here.''

    Su Xiao, who was on the other side, was forced to down drinks by the girls. The kid passes out after one cup¡­ Naturally, he was already asleep simrly to a drunken kitten.

    I wanted to follow Tang Ye; I came to stir trouble. Beating up door guards is not an issue for me. The issue is that since Shiyi is here, they might be her underlings, which means that I can''t beat them up as I please.

    Idle and with nothing to do, I picked up a random wine pot and cup. I went to look for some wine, but someone abruptly gave my clothes a gentle tug. I turned around to look, only to find no one. I looked down to see a small silhouette. It was the first girl who had her bottom touched by Tang Ye, Miss Sisi.

    Miss Sisi didn''t look as though she was older than thirteen or fourteen. She quivered as if she was a small animal that met with her born nemesis.

    "S-Sir, I shall pour you a drink¡­"

    ''Oh, she wanted to pour me a drink?''

    "Thank you, Miss."

    The manner in which Miss Sisi poured wine was very clumsy. She finally poured me a cup after much struggle, but still ended up spilling a bit. From her pretty appearance, I''d say that she''d be the best looking among the girls here with her appearance had it not been for her being too young. However, she stayed behind instead of leaving with the rest.

    She seemingly knew what I was thinking, "I-I am still young. My elder sisters did not allow me to join them."

    "What is that ce?"

    "It is Spring Swallow Sanctuary" Miss Sisi blinked a few times, "Only VIPs may go there. I-I do not understand why that young master back there was allowed to go there after how he treated Miss Qing''er."

    "I see¡­ Your name is Sisi?"

    "Y-Yes."

    "Is Miss Qing''er always at Heavenly Fragrance Garden?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No. Miss Qing''er only came here recently. Even I was here before her."

    "Oh, really? Do you know what she usually does?"

    Miss Sisi replied, "Miss Qing''er is a maiden of few words, and I do not get to see her¡­ In saying that, Imonly see her crying by herself."

    "Crying by herself?"

    I had a drink. I could imagine how tragic Miss Qing''er was. She was abandoned by her fianc¨¦. Not every maiden can bear that.

    I drank a few cups. Miss Sisi never forgot to refill my drinks. She wasn''t skilful, but was very diligent, nheless. She had a small physique, yet wore baggy clothing. She had two small mounds on her chest whichplimented her young face. She clumsily served me, consequently giving me have an urge tough.

    "Miss Sisi, do you not offer any other services besides pouring wine?"

    Miss Sisi went red in the face. She pursed her lips after she dallied for a second, "I-I shall take you to the room upstairs, Sir."

    ''Now that''s Heavenly Fragrance Garden for you. Premium service as I thought.''

    She immediately understood what I was implying with a single remark.

    I smiled, "Please lead the way, Miss."

    Miss Sisi stood up and began to lead the way.

    "This is how we''re going to go?"

    "Ah, sorry," apologised Miss Sisi. She then looped her arm around mine, but she still looked afraid.

    I felt her youthful skin against my body. My arms felt a soft sensation. As we walked, my arms continued to touch the front of Miss Sisi over and over. The young girl had yet to mature, but her body wasn''t tough as a board. Judging from her hip contour, one could tell that she possessed amazingly soft skin. So ordingly, it was a sign that she was trained in relevant subjects from a young age. As such, while she was young, she could definitely please a man with her appearance.

    Her slender and soft twin peaks had another allure to them. They were akin to soft beans that couldn''t be crushed no matter how you rubbed them, blessing any viewer''s eyes.

    The two of us arrived at another corridor that was empty. It was only reasonable that it was empty at this hour, as few people would sleep with a whore. By the time we reached the room at the end of the corridor, not even an attendant was in sight.

    "The nice ce that you chose¡­ this ce¡­" I nced down at Miss Sisi''s chest, "I could do anything that I want, right?"

    Miss Sisi''s face instantly turned red, "Sir, this is the corridor¡­ D-Don''t."

    I pulled her into my embrace in the corridor using one arm. She seemed as if she was light and unable to resist, thereby making it effortless for me.

    "Sir¡­ d-don''t do this. It''s not good to do it here¡­ Sisi shall serve you in the room¡­"

    "How can you work at Heavenly Fragrance Garden if you don''t know how to serve men? How many men have you had, Miss?"

    "Not even¡­ one¡­"

    My arm felt as hot as if I was holding the sun. Miss Sisi seemingly couldn''t stand it. When I touched her hips, her body went limp and meekly leaned onto me as if her spine was detached from her. Regardless of where I touched her, she''d let out sensual moans.

    ''She''s only thirteen or fourteen, yet her expression is so amorous.''

    She panted as she spoke, "Y-You are my first, Sir. N-Not there¡­"

    She struggled to hold it in. Her breaths smelt nice, yet were incredibly hot. That went to show that she was nervous.

    I lowered my head and bit her pure ear. I whispered in her ear, "Really? I''m very happy to hear that."

    "Fu Xiang has been crippled, and the League of Assassins has left, yet Miss Caidie has yet to leave. I''m genuinely very curious as to how much the bounty Jin Wangsun put on my head is."

    When I looked up, Sisi, or rather, the assassin from the League of Assassins, Caidie, revealed a cold and murderous gaze.

    Notes:

    *Lover''s Precious Short Rendezvous - Taken from Song Dynasty poet Tai Guan''s (ÇØ¹Û), ÈµÇÅÏÉ¡¤ÏËÔÆÅªÇÉ.

    Although the original phrase is½ð·çÓñÂ¶Ò»Ïà·ê, it''s not meant to be taken at surface level. At surface level, it would read as, "Rendezvous in the evening wind and amongst the dew." However, the first part of the phrase ½ð·çÓñÂ¶ actuallyes from another poem, which references the cowherd and weaver girl fairy tale. The phrase refers to the short-lived time together being precious for lovers.

    **While Sisi/Caidie refers to the other girls as her elder sisters, it''s more than likely that they''re not rted by blood, but just a respectful way of addressing them.

    ***Caidie = Read Tsai dee-eh (short pronunciation)

 Volume 5 26 A Long Dream Thousands of Years Long

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 26 A Long Dream Thousands of Years Long</h4>

    For those who have forgotten, allow me to remind you. Miss Caidie was the young girl, who tested my skills under orders from Meng Jiangnan (Fu Xiang), when I entered the League of Assassins'' branch. It had been over a month since then; the League of Assassins hadpletely vanished; Fu Xiang''s whereabouts were unknown. As for why Miss Caidie was here, I had no idea.

    "You''re Caidie, correct?"

    As soon as I exposed her, Miss Caidie straightened up her torso and drew a cold short sword, which she hid in her dressed, using her right hand.

    "Take th-"

    Before she could say, "this," or even draw her de from its sheath, I had already touched her lower back several times and sealed her meridians. As an assassin, she relied on surprise attacks. Consequently, trying to escape or retaliate when she had been exposed was already toote.

    As I injected my internal energy into her meridians, she wasn''t going to be able to move for the next five hours, instead, she''d feel weak all over. I supported her lower back with my hand and continued hugging her lean physique.

    "Miss Caidie, it''s been a long time. Are you still doing well?"

    "My name is not Caidie!" She fumed, "My name is Sisi. Caidie is a fake name."

    "Is it? Sisi is quite a unique name. But I was wondering if it was your idea toe here to assassinate me today or if it was someone else''s idea."

    Sisi didn''t show any fear. She harshly eximed, "Despicable scoundrel! I never wishfully thought for a second that I''d live to see another day after you captured me. Go ahead and kill me."

    "It doesn''t seem as though you became an assassin for money."

    I apparently read her mind, and thus, she couldn''t hold it in and gritted her teeth, "You killed my foster father!"

    "Fu Xiang is your foster father?"

    Now it made sense. Fu Xiang had no shortage of skilled assassins from the League of Assassins around him. Sisi''s swordy and hand techniques were decent, but she was too young. If she wasn''t rted to Fu Xiang, they most likely wouldn''t have kept her.

    ''But then, given how perverted that Fu Xiang is, did he adopt her purely out of good will? I wouldn''t have erased all of his martial arts skills had he not harboured crooked ideas for Boss Shen.''

    "I didn''t kill him. Didn''t you people rescue that pervert?"

    Sisi raged, "If we had rescued him, would I need toe here and fight you to the death?! Foster Father saved my entire family. When my family encountered bandits back then, we were fortunate enough to be rescued by him."

    I took a careful look at Sisi''s appearance.

    ''You can say she''s a beauty.''

    "That fellow didn''t do all of that out of good will. You were definitely tricked, girl!"

    "Don''t you baselessly malign him! He promised to give me my freedom after I served him until I was sixteen years old!"

    "That''s because he was waiting for you to be a little older beforeying his hands on you! He even set the date for it! I assure you, what was waiting for you that day wasn''t freedom! I don''t know what it was, but I''ll bet anything it wasn''t freedom!!"

    "H-How can you insult my foster father that way?! You''re the pervert; why would you have followed me here, otherwise?"

    "Hey, you posed as a girl at a brothel, yet you''re patronising me? I have yet to ask you why you''re here."

    "Look at yourself; we figured out ces you frequent long ago. Besides Eight Deities Tavern and Dong Po Restaurant, this is the ce you frequent most. You''re the master of Night Fortress, yet¡­ yet¡­ you pervert!"

    ''Hey! I''m here for work today, okay?!''

    ''Previous visits were for¡­ umm, were just to search for those beautiful times in the past. What do you know, Brat?!''

    Sisi snickered, "You pervert; you have no idea that you''ve fallen into my trap already. I may not be able to kill you, but since you''ve followed me here, you can forget about leaving this ce alive."

    "No, I know that this is your trap; else, why did you think I asked you so many questions? Get this into your head: those who are best at keeping secrets are always those lurking in the dark, because they rely on secrets to live."

    Just when Sisi was wondering what I meant by that, the doors to the rooms in the corridor flung open in unison. Six to seven individuals dressed in ck clothing exited from each of the rooms. All of were armed with long swords. Their murderous intent gave off their intentions a while ago. In the span of a few sentences, the corridor was packed with assassins.

    Judging from their clothing and the way they held their swords, they didn''t appear to be from the League of Assassins.

    "Your boss is Jin Wangsun, isn''t it?"

    The individuals in ck froze. One of them said, "D-Don''t make things up. We won''t admit it."

    ''It seems that I was right. You people aren''t from the League of Assassins, since you''re also professional assassins, but can I bother you to not expose your boss so soon?''

    "I get it now." I leaned in close to Sisi and in a quiet voice, said, "You hate me for getting rid of Fu Xiang, which is why you excitedly came running here when you heard that someone put a big bounty on my head. Jin Wangsun is the one who hired you, am I right?''

    Sisi stuttered, "H-H-How do you know everything?"

    "Do you even need to ask? What else does he have up his sleeve? It''s either trying to sending beauties to seduce me or assassins. That''s the extent of his brain capacity."

    "Don''t look down on us! They''re all skilled fighters from Flying Eagle Sect. They''ll skin you!"

    The group in ck watched me to find the right time to attack. The situation made it seem as though Sisi summoned them. Ten of them decided to themselves: "Firste first serve!"

    I took Sisi''s short sword from her dress and swiped my closest opponent without thinking about it too much. Some sparks flew when our des made contact.

    My short sword made contact with his long sword for a mere second, yet he suddenly flew up high, crashing into the roof andnding on the ground simrly to withered grass. He resembled a still object, but Iunched him away by using a blunt weapon simr to a rod.

    The assassins were left stunned. However, being professional assassins, they couldn''t retreat withoutpleting their mission.

    During their moments of hesitation, I advanced on them with the short sword in hand. I aimed for their swords and shed at them. Each sh was enough to knock one unconscious. I sped through them, yet looked as though I was casually strolling through a garden. I didn''t stop swinging the short sword in my hand. Not one person offered anything remotely considered a challenge.

    The sound of metal shing with metal in the corridor didn''t pause for a moment until I reached the entrance of the corridor. By then, I had left a trail of individuals in ck on the ground behind my wake.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It took me less than the time it''d take to say three sentences to put them all away. I then asked Sisi, "What did you just say before? Something about a turkey something or rather? Is it tasty?"

    "¡­" After a moment of silence, Caidie finally responded with shock, "Y-You monster!!"

    I ignored her exmation and knocked her out before carrying her out.

    As I thought, Jin Wangsun had targeted me.

    ''I must''ve been followed for the entirety of today.''

    They contacted Sisi to strike inside the building when they saw me enter Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Jin Wangsun''s ns aren''t amazing by any means, but they''re seriously a pain in the neck.

    ''Big Pants Jin, you twerp, you started this, so don''t me me for retaliating!''

    I unknowingly stepped into the main hall while lost in my own world, thinking about things. Lots of people saw me carrying Sisi on my back, not to mention the fact that they saw her unconscious, thereby looking at her with sympathy.

    "Geez, he''s ruthless. Miss Sisi is still so young. Look at the size of him; he''s going to hurt her so much."

    ''That''s so riching from you people here looking for prostitutes! The reason such young girls work in brothels is because of your special fetishes, you bastards! Also, no showing her sympathy! She''s an assassin! I''m the victim here.''

    Before I knew it, a maiden fearfully walked up to me. She probably thought that I was Jin Wangsun''s servant. With her knowledge of Jin Wangsun''s background, she didn''t dare to aggravate me. Once she came close, she quietly said, "Sir, Miss Sisi is still young. I am afraid that she cannot withstand your grace. How about you let me take her back?"

    I couldn''t spare her, so I had no choice, "¡­ I haven''t enjoyed myself enough yet. I''m getting another room, and then continuing."

    I then immediately turned and went back the way I came. I heard boos from the crowd, but I had noints or regrets!

    I returned to the corridor that I just came from. Because they had prepared to assassinate me in the corridor, it was unlikely for someone else toe.

    I found a room and shoved Sisi into the bed. I theny down on the bed, too, to wait for Shiyi toe find me.

    I hadn''t slept on a bed in days. Actually, to be precise, I hadn''t slept for days. The soft bed caused my brain to melt and gradually feel as though I was drifting on clouds.

    I reaffirmed things in my mind again. Since the day Boss left, I hadn''t slept a wink, which was why I felt all of the umted fatigue the moment I rxed.

    So ordingly, I did the stupidest thing I ever did in my life. Had I known the consequences that I''d have to bear, I wouldn''t have done it even if I had a de on my throat.

    I¡­ identally fell asleep! Oh, that''s not all. I slept as if I was dead!

    I never ever imagined that the entire situation spiralled out of control and into the worse direction imaginable due to my absence. That day henceforth, Jin Wangsun woulde to see me as his mortal enemy. Unless I was dead, he was never going to get off my case.

    Notes:

    *Ming Feizhen''s reference to turkey is him messing with Sisi/Caidie when she mentioned that they were the Flying Eagle Sect.

 Volume 5 27 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 27 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 1)</h4>

    I identally fell asleep and slept as if I was dead.

    I have a rather bad habit; once I fall asleep, it''s hard for me to wake up. In a way, it''s not a weak point, as my senses for killing intent and so forth increases in magnitude while asleep, thereby allowing me to evade twice as fast as usual.

    My worst habit is that once I''m asleep, I won''t pull any punches when I strike. I was even worse when I was young. When I fell asleep one time, I brought the entire tavern down and spent a night sleeping in the rubble. That''s why I usually mind where I sleep, always choosing to sleep in safe ces. Else, others will be at risk.

    Because of my poor sleeping habits, Tang Ye copped a beating, which led to him discovering that there was something peculiar about my martial arts.

    I heard someone shouting and carrying on in my slumber.

    "Hey! Hey! Wake up! What are you doing?! How can you sleep after such a ruckus?! Hey, this is dangerous!"

    "Are you actually asleep or not?! How are you still so formidable? Wait! I''m not your enemy! Hey!"

    "Stop touching me! What are you doing?! Pervert! Y-Y-You!"

    The rambling next to my ear annoyed me, so I raised a hand and effortlessly covered the source of the sound, thereby giving me my desired silence. And so, I fell deep asleep again.

    Having not slept for days, my brain gradually melted as if all of the umted fatigue was released.

    After sleeping for an unknown length of time, I gradually woke from my deep slumber.

    When I opened my eyes, I saw a sky-blue ceiling of a bed. The style was elegant, but also had an ancient vibe to it.

    ''Mm¡­ this doesn''t seem to be my bedroom.''

    "What''s going on? Where is this ce¡­?''"

    It took me a moment to recall that I was at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. I went to rub my head, only to discover someone sitting next to me.

    I recalled what happened before I fell asleep.

    ''I think I put Miss Sisi next to me, and then fell asleep. Damn, don''t tell me¡­ wait. I sealed Miss Sisi''s meridians. She shouldn''t be able to sit up.''

    ''¡­''

    ''Don''t tell me it was Shiyi!''

    ''Let me exin! I didn''t deliberately sleep with the girl. I sealed her meridians, ptoo, I didn''t seal her meridians tomit a crime! In any case, just let me exin!''

    I mustered up my strength to open my eyes and look over. What I saw was extremely smooth and soft clothing. Therefore, I concluded that it should''ve been made from the best silk. The individual didn''t look tall and actually thin and small. As my line of sight ascended, I finally met with their eyes.

    The eyes I met with her the eyes of someone with seventy to eighty years of umted intellect, the hallmark of a veteran. When he rxed his eyelids, I saw wrinkles and an elderly smile!

    "Eeek!!!"

    ''Why is it not Miss Sisi or Shiyi, but an old man?!!''

    The elder, Prime Minister Li Si, stroked his beard upon seeing me back off, "Master Ming, why are you overreacting upon seeing this old one?"

    ''Is that a trick question?! If I climbed into your bed and scared you the same way, you''d have kicked me out the door by now! Also, don''t sit there smiling that way to someone on the bed. That''s super spooky! If I wasn''t able to resist, I''d have shattered your brains with my fist by now!!!!!''

    Still in shock, I asked, "Prime Minister¡­ what are you here for?"

    ''Now that''s what I call a good question. What the heck is the Prime Minister blindly barging into rooms for?''

    As I spoke, I checked my surroundings, only to frighten myself again. I just had to open my eyes and saw people. Not only were their men in ck, but also muscles from the brothel dressed in dressed in a variety of styles and colours. I was basically faced with a hill of people.

    "Wh-What is this¡­?"

    Prime Minister Li Si smiled, "It would be your masterpiece."

    "I did it?"

    "Why, of course. Actually, to be precise, you did it while asleep. The people in here includes the assistant ministers'' servants, some are generals'' subordinates, and needless to say, those in ck are not good news."

    "Assistant minister? Generals?"

    "Rx, rx, they were just displeased with your audacious behaviour and came to find trouble with you. This old one has helped you fend them off."

    Prime Minister Li Si looked as though he was smiling, yet not. He gave me the thumbs up, "Mount Daluo''s fame is truly extraordinary. Their disciples are able to fight back even in their sleep. This old one merely passed by here, yet personally saw you send men flying with your eyes shut, and then hug a young girl and sleep. You truly are a hero. This old one had nothing to do and wanted to exchange a few words with you, and therefore sat down to wait for you."

    "Then, the young girl¡­"

    "There is no need to fret. This old one had someone carry her aside to avoid her interrupting our conversation. You two will get the opportunity to meet in a moment."

    I found myself speechless. I wouldn''t believe him even if he told me I wasn''t responsible for the mess in the room. The Prime Minister must''ve told the truth: I must''ve been excessively audacious and shy before, and then beat everyone who came to pick a fight.

    I felt relieved somewhat upon seeing the wise foresight in Prime Minister Li Si''s eyes. If he wanted to report me, he would''ve done so long ago, not sit here and wait for me to wake up.

    "Prime Minister Li, you waited for this one to wake up? You should not have been so tolerant."

    Prime Minister Li chuckled, "There is no need for such formalities. Master Ming, the Fuma selection ising right up, yet you have the free time to be visiting brothels. You must be in quite the excellent mood, huh?"

    His statement could be casual, but could also be very serious. Nevertheless, I couldn''t detect any threat or warning in his tone. As such, I touched my head and replied, "Erm, this humble one will not be able to visit them in the future, which is why this humble one came to relish thesest trips. Prime Minister, you are the head of officials in the Imperial Court, yet you are here to enjoy the youth, erm, replenish your energy?"

    Prime Minister Li Si replied withposure, "This old one observes the public''s state of affairs; hence, it is only natural for this old one to be out and about. This old one heard that someone was here to cause trouble, iming that they were Zhenjiang''s Jin Wangsun, and therefore came to see what it was about. Who would have known that Jin Wangsun''s subordinates were so sly and would have the audacity to bash the family members of the assistant ministers and generals? *Sigh*, this old one cannot help but feel frustrated."

    I saw the Prime Minister''s cunning gaze. If I didn''t know who managed Heavenly Fragrance Garden on behalf of His Majesty, I''d be the stupidest of the stupidest!

    "I see. If His Majesty was to know how diligent you worked, he really should make you the exemr for all officials to aspire to. Please look after yourself, Prime Minister. The nation cannot be without you."

    The two of us exchanged nces, and then simultaneouslyughed.

    "When this old one met you at the Imperial Court that day, this old one knew that you were quick witted, and indeed, you have proven that to be true today. Master Ming, you are young, yet aplished. If you were to be an official, your future would know no bounds."

    "Prime Minister, you are wise, which this humble one has gratefully benefited much from. May this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you?"

    Prime Minister Li Si responded, "Haha, you are an astute and straightforward individual. I first heard of you when Vice-Captain Shen mentioned that she had three individuals join to assist. Master Tang is a formidable martial artist, Master Su possesses a splendid appearance, and Master Ming is a fish that escaped the. Indeed, escaped you have; however, it was these eyes that missed you. If this old one had one with your astuteness as a subordinate, this old one would have a big weight lifted. Master Ming, have you ever considered helping this old one?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Notes:

    *The part where Ming Feizhen asks Prime Minister Li if he is at the brothel to replenish his energy is actually worded as, "¡­ savouring scallions, erm, adding garlic to years."

    The scallions reference has to do with the fact that brothel is has the character for ''green'', ÇàÂ¥ (lit. green building), which makes the rest self-exnatory. Garlic, as you should already know, is known for its potent ability to provide immune system support. So garlic here is actually recing the words ''strengthening'', ''restoring'', and so forth. Note that garlic only holds this implied meaning within certain contexts and you can''t substitute it for those aforementioned words interchangeably; otherwise, it can be used as an offensive way of suggesting someone is behind the times.

    Now you have a Morse code for when discussing your impure trips with your mates down at the bar. Shame on you.

 Volume 5 28 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 28 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 2)</h4>

    I calmly said, "This humble one is blessed by Vice-captain''s kindness. Vice-captain Shen''s breasts arerge and pretty (meant: she''s very nice to me), how could I possibly desert her?"

    Prime Minister Li Si stroked his beard. He smiled and remarked, "Your genuine and situational thoughts have been mixed together! Kid, are you still not awake?"

    "Oh, did I?" I tried to y it off as if I was just trying to humour him, "This humble one is muddle headed; this humble one does not have the qualifications to work under your leadership, and therefore can only thank you for your generous offer."

    "If you don''t want to, this old one won''t force you. Otherwise, if Vice-captain Shenes to this old one''s door, this old one would not be able to able to handle her temper, hehehe."

    Iughed along with him.

    "May this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you, Prime Minister?"

    Prime Minister Li Si chuckled, "Is it safe to assume that you have heard this old one''s journey as an official?"

    I froze for just a moment before replying. "Erm, well, everyone praises you; they say, so the wind blows, so the grass bends. The grass cannot help but bend¡­"

    "Heh, that''s apliment? Master Ming, do you truly consider this one old and senile?" Prime Minister Li Si smiled, "True, I am grass, but I am grass that sways with the wind, am I right? They thought that this old one is deaf, but this old one is not ashamed about it, for they are right. This old one sways with the wind."

    Prime Minister Li Si wasining, but at the same time, had the suave and unbothered tone of, "People mock me for being crazy, while I mock them for not knowing better."

    I formed a cupped fist salute, "From this humble one''s perspective, it is most certainly praise. Many things in life are beyond one''s control, especially when dealing with the separate factions in the imperial court. This humble one is afraid that there would not be a second individual in the entire imperial court who could safely watch the fire burn from safety with their arms folded as you do."

    "From the very first time this old one met you, this old one immediately knew that we were one of a kind."

    "If we continue with this chat, we may never reach the conclusion. Therefore, this humble one shall ask you a third time: may this humble one ask how this humble one can be of use to you, Prime Minister?"

    "You''re a hasty one. Fine, I shall tell you." Prime Minister Li smiled, "It''s very simple. I want you to do nothing."

    "Do nothing?"

    "Do nothing. You, Ming Feizhen, are to just stay home and do nothing aside from wait, understood?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I carefully deliberated what he said. He suddenly appeared at Heavenly Fragrance Garden most probably because he received a report that Jin Wangsun''s people barged into the ce. However, as the man in charge of Heavenly Fragrance Garden, he spared us posers. Then when the assistant minister and generals'' people came to beat me up, he helped me sweep it under the rug.

    I suddenly understood where he was taking it, so I smiled, "I, Ming Feizhen, naturally never did anything. The one responsible for causing trouble was, of course, someone else."

    "Smart kid." The old prime minister then flipped his cultured image on its head and tedly said, "This old one is not bothered by drifting along with the current; however, if someone wants to push the fence this old one is sitting one, this old one shall push it back. That is a principle this old one must uphold."

    I contemted and contemted; my eyes then lit up, and I instinctively let out an emotional sigh, "That day, Jin Wangsun sent hit so many people. Indeed, he hit His Majesty and his father-inw, but the one person who he never should haveid hands on was you."

    My original n was just to give Jin Wangsun some trouble so that he didn''t have spare energy to give me grief. Never did I imagine that the Prime Minister wanted to personally give him a piece of his mind.

    The Prime Ministerughed, "Haha, you have confused this old one with that. This old one is merely upholding justice; what personal vendetta do you speak of?"

    ''Everything about it is a personal vendetta! You initially supported the Emperor in crowning Jin Wangsun as Fuma, didn''t you?! You''re now leading the attack on him, because he sent someone to hit you!''

    The old prime minister shook his head, "This old one merely heard that Jin Wangsun led a group to barge into Heavenly Fragrance Garden. He drank alone in the front hall and audaciously called for more than eighty girls to keep himpany¡­"

    ''Isn''t that Su Xiao that you''re talking about?! That''s not called ''calling for more than eighty girls to keep himpany''; those eighty plus girls threw themselves at him!''

    "In addition, he hit over dozens of wealthy individuals in the city. General He couldn''t stand his absurd behaviour, and thus, sent men to deal with him, yet he unreasonably assaulted them. He even assaulted the assistant minister who passed by the ce. He was truly audacious beyond words."

    ''You officials are specialists with that trick, huh?! You just nted all of my deeds on Jin Wangsun without batting an eye. Why would General He be displeased with what he saw happening in a brothel?!! Does he live nearby?! Also, how did the assistant minister coincidentally pass by this ce? Where was he originally nning to go?!''

    "Seeing as that was true, I had to do what was right; I, therefore, teamed up with twenty officials to report his heinous deeds to the imperial court!"

    I was absolutely stunned. In a dumbstruck manner, I said, "But the assistant minister and general, twenty¡­"

    The prime minister waved me off and revealed a smug grin, "Heh, what''s so hard about that? Assistant Minister Lu is this old one''s pupil; General He is this one''s maternal grandson. The other eighteen other officials are all with this old one. What are you worrying about so much for?"

    ''This old man has literally recruited half of the imperial court to get back at one man.''

    The prime minister then stroked his beard as if to suggest that his predictions were all on the mark. He acted sort of simr to Great Duke Jiang sitting at the tform to fish while emitting his divine aura as he slowly said, "This old one has staged a three-pronged attack. I have men at Shuntian Prefecture, the Qilin Guards and your Liu Shan Men to surround his ce''s door and interior so that he can''t move around freely even in his own estate. If he behaves obediently, so be it. If he dares to resist, heh¡­"

    A cold look appeared in the prime minister''s eyes. He looked at me and made a neck slitting motion with his hand.

    ''Fuck! I think your temper is too fiery, Prime Minister! Are you waging a war or exacting vengeance?!''

    ''Not even I am as angry as you with the punk after he snatched my Night Fortress.''

    ''I have to say this again: Brother Big Vat, it''s fine for you to offend me, but if you offend a man that would drag you to hell with him, there''s no way that you''ll be able to defend against him!''

    ========

    After the Prime Minister and I forged a cohesive testimony together, I left the room. The men in ck in the corridor had been cleared from the corridor. Needless to say, the credit belonged to the Prime Minister''s. He was the one in charge of Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Therefore, it was only normal for him to deal with such things.

    After leaving the room, I found that it was still day. I finally realised that I had slept for an entire day and night. It was now afternoon the next day.

    ''Sh*t! I didn''t contact Shiyi; I don''t know how Su Xiao and Tang Ye are doing, either.''

    When I asked around, I learnt that Su Xiao left on his own after drinking, and apparently, a girl with a face veil took him away. It was probably Shiyi. She saw Su Xiao on Liu Shan Men''s recruitment day and knows that he''s my friend. I, therefore, would assume that she''d help me look after the drunken kitten.

    When I inquired about them with some more people, they told me that Tang Ye had left. That baffled me; Tang Ye didn''t seem to have any urgent business. He left without even letting me know. He should''ve told me what he learnt from Miss Qing''er.

    When I asked two more people, they said that Tang Ye apparently conversed with Miss Qing''er for an entire night¡­

    ''I see¡­ wait a minute. One night?!''

    ''Tang Ye is famous for being muscle bound and a man of few words. He could chat for an entire night?''

    The first scenario that popped into my mind wasn''t a good one.

    ''A young man and woman alone in a room for one night? Miss Qing''er is young and pretty. If sparks flew and something sensual happened, then Big Golden Vat would go crazy with anger, wouldn''t he¡­? Wait, no. That wooden-faced martial-art-training-obsessed Tang Ye wouldn''t do that, would he?''

    At most, Tang Ye would calmly ask me, "What could happen?"

    That was how Tang Ye should react. The issue was that I couldn¡¯t be certain, and hence, I quickly ran out to give chase.

    Notes:

    *General He - The ''He'' is pronounced ''her''.

    *Great Duke Jiang refers to Jiang Ziya. I''ve given background information on him before, so I won''t bore you again.

 Volume 5 29 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 29 Nothing More Tragic in Life (Part 3)</h4>

    As soon as I stepped outside, I ran into someone I was familiar with. Long Zaitian, who looks as if his face is a cake, was there, at the door, with his men, who were prepared for battle ¡­

    ''¡­was there, at the door, with his men, who were prepared for battle. The door of a brothel, no less¡­ Why does it sound as though it''s a very bad situation?''ong Zaitian called me as soon as he spotted me, "Ming Feizhen, why aren''t you greeting your superior when you see him?"

    I verbally attacked him, "You''re whose superior, again? Didn''t you get demoted to Seventh Rank? I''m a Seventh Rank Warrior. We''re on the same footing."ong Zaitian''s three rank demotion was the biggest secret in the imperial court. I didn''t know why it was kept secret, either. In all fairness, he was credited with three merits at the time. I, myself, didn''t know what he did. I heard that he did something while organising the men.

    I suddenly realised that he was here to lock down Jin Wangsun''s ce.ong Zaitian looked at me with a grumpy expression as though I stole his credit or something.

    "What are you looking at?"

    "Look at your reflection in your own piss; who''d want to look at you? The Prime Minister said that he wanted Shuntian Prefecture, us Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men to send men. Where are your people from Liu Shan Men?"

    "Don''t you have eyes to see if they''re here or not? If they were here, wouldn''t you have seen them? Why even bother asking?"

    "Heh! Ming Feizhen, you feeling itchy or something? This capt-¡­ capt-capt¡­ needs to teach you a lesson."

    "Aren''t you now just some run-of-the-millmander?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Shut up, loud mouth! Would I be in this state if you didn''t infect me with your gue?!"

    ''Wow! This twerp must be really itchy.''

    When Long Zaitian and I gave each other the death stare, I suddenly heard a clear voice call me.

    "Ming Feizhen!! Get yourself over here!"

    The voice was extremely aggressive. It was Her Highness'' voice.

    "Wait!" I brashly cut off Long Zaitian and frowned, "Someone is calling for me."ong Zaitian looked around and fumed, "Who''s calling you?! Hey! What the hell did you run behind a lion statue for? Would there even be anybody behind there?!!"

    I ignored Long Zaitian and quickly ran behind the lion statue.

    I was genuinely very worried. Her Highness followed me to the outside of Heavenly Fragrance Garden yesterday. Owing to her mysophobia, she would never go inside. Meanwhile, I fell asleep by ident. Her Highness might have squatted behind the statue all night!

    I sped up; I poked my head around the back for a look. I wasn''t surprised to see Her Highness, who just barely managed to hide behind the statue, squatting in a very strange posture. She could no longer maintain her calm demeanour. She clenched her teeth, "Ming Feizhen¡­ where did you go?!"

    "I-I went toplete the mission."

    I didn''t dare to tell her I went and slept¡­

    "Your Highness, what''s up?" I looked around to check to make sure nobody was looking. To change the atmosphere, I lowered my voice and spoke in a weird dialect, "What''s goodie? I have someone waiting for me. If nothing''s up, I''m leaving first, ya?"

    "I dare you!" Her Majesty thundered. She angrily responded with a dialect of he own, "Whatchu say?! I squat here for the entire night, ya; my legs are all wooden. Hurry and help me up."

    ''Eeeehhhh?!! Her Highness knows can speak Sichuan dialect, too?! She''s from Nanjing, but she''s a Sichuan chick?!''

    Her Highness'' tone was cold as usual, but there was a faint sense of pride, "Did you forget where I grew up?"

    Nevertheless, owing to her numb legs, her expression looked stiffer than it did proper and serious.

    ''Her Majesty went to Emei Sect with Abbess Bailou when she was young. Oh, now I get it. Mount Emei is located in Sichuan; no wonder why Her Highness'' pronunciation was even more authentic than my own.''

    ''Fufufu, I didn''t expect that. My Cutie Pie Princess, here, let me help you.''

    Her Highness angrily smacked away my hands and sternly eximed, "You done grabbingdies with them hands! Don''t touch me!"

    Knowing only a few phrases in Sichuan dialect, I didn''t dare to continue making a fool out of myself. I scratched the back of my head then switched to the tone used by officials.

    "How can I help you up without touching you? I do not know the Stained Clothes Eighteen Gropes or whatever."

    Her Highness expressed her disdain for myck of knowledge, "It''s called ''Stained Clothes Eighteen Falls''! You''re totally uncultured. Go tell that Long Zaitian to leave, and then bring me two broadswords, sabres or something simr to use as crutches. I''ll use them to stand up myself."

    "Yes, Your Highness. I shall go and do so now."

    I didn''t need to fool Long Zaitian. He had received orders from the Prime Minister to rush to Jin Wangsun''s abode. I then had to go through another attempt to finally help Her Highness up. She had to walk for a while before her blood started circting properly again.

    Having nothing to say, Her Highness tried to start a conversation, "Aren''t you from the North? How do you know Sichuan dialect?"

    I subtly smiled, "When I was young, I went everywhere, including Emei."

    ''I even yed mahjong with your shifu.''

    As we were in the midst of our conversation, someoneing over from ahead of us, asked for directions, "Brother, do you know how to get to Vermillion Street?"

    I replied honestly, but then he strangely asked, "Brother, how did your wife suddenly disappear?"

    I turned around to find Her Highness had vanished into thin air. I had to haul my butt again to finally find her hiding behind the stone lion of a bar.

    "Your Highness, he was a pedestrian just passing by¡­"

    Her Highness went red in the face and ears. Her young face looked red as though she boiled a kettle of water with it, "I know! I''m used to it; you have a problem with that?!"

    "¡­"

    In order to avoid being revealed, we decided to go back one after the other.

    I rushed back to Liu Shan Men, as I needed to find out from him what happenedst night, only to be stopped by Second Brother, "Big Bro, I have good news."

    Curious, I asked, "How do we have good news?"

    "Your n worked!"

    Second Brother heartilyughed, "I just received news from Hangzhou. Our men have returned to Night Fortress as per your orders. Seventy to eighty percent of our brothers have returned; that snowke, Jin Wangsun, does not suspect a thing. We can definitely take it back!"

    That yed out pretty much the way that I expected. There were arge number of people in Gold and Silver Sect who voiced their discontent with Jin Wangsun, thereby preventing him from sending more people to fortify Night Fortress. His only option, therefore, was to recruit people from outside of the sect. I had Third Brother go and tell our original members to return. Naturally, Gold and Silver Sect were happy to wee the veterans back."

    "Wait for a bit longer. Wait a few more days before taking action. Oh, right, have you seen Tang Ye?"

    "He just came back. I think he was getting ready to head out. Didn''t you see him just now?"

    I immediately took off running. I saw Tang Ye walking funnily at the main door, causing my heart to skip a beat.

    ''Oh, sh*t! Oh, sh*t! Something definitely happened! He definitely used muscles that he had never used before, which must be why he''s sore now!!''

    ''You stupid virgin! Well-deserved!''

    ''What did you do to her?! Didn''t I tell you that you couldn''t touch her?!''

    "Tang Ye, get over here!"

    The punk''s face looked fresh and cool. He couldn''t help looking away when he saw me.

    ''Why don''t you dare to look at me?! Exin yourself!''

    Tang Ye lowered his head. He had subtle hot flushes on his face, but didn''t speak. I pressed him for answers.

    "Big Bro, it''s all your fault. You were the one who told me to ''touch some more, touch some more'' and to strip them and whatnot.''

    ''I said, besides her, touch the others some more! I didn''t tell you to strip her! You stripped her, and then couldn''t contain yourself?! Your willpower is horrendous! Did you even read my lips properly?!''

    Tang Ye sighed. He looked into the distance simrly to someone who became a real man after one night and emotionally sighed, "It''s a long story."

    ''Long story? You virginity is your only long story!''

    ''As if you have much to tell, you virgin! At most, you would only have as long as it takes to boil a pot of tea worth of a story! Don''t boast as if you''re some sort of weapon under the nket!!''

    It was then that a bunch of children passing by sung a song as if it was a nursery rhyme, "Kucha, Kucha, Jin n has a big pair of underpants. He''s either drawing or training with his sabre at home. If he''s not performing theft, he''s robbing. Don''tugh and don''t go panicking. His name is Big Golden Vat. Kucha''s name is Dagang. Bit Vat goes, ding, big vat goes, shine, Jin n''s Big Vat has no one to talk to except his bedside light¡­"

    ¡­

    There are four unfortunate miseries that one can experience in life: your wife being stolen from you, your, your lover getting banged, your assets are stolen, or strangers on the roadughing at you.

    ''Brother Big Vat, you just had all four done to you¡­''

    I suddenly couldn''t bear to think about it any further.

    *Sigh*

    ''I''ll just shut my eyes.''

    Notes:

    ***Lots of the conversations in this chapter are in Sichuan dialect. I''m not writing strangely. For details, see the points below.

    **"What''s up" - I reced the original with this. The original was actually "What''s the matter/what is it?" but in Sichuan dialect. We don''t have an English equivalent, so I used the closest phrase that has a simr vibe. MTL that. Won''t be exining the other substitutions I made.

    ***When MFZ refers to his weird dialect, he uses Sichuan dialect again. Mind you, it''s not casual or rude by any means, but may look so on paper due to a certain dialects subbing characters, switching orders, adding characters etc. To capture that, I''ve reflected that by rewording and adding. He could''ve totally confused Li Hongzhuang, though. Arge number of Chinese people will actually struggle to understand a number of dialects, for there are just too many to learn them all. For the record, mandarin is a dialect, too. This is why they even dub their own TV series to standardise the mandarin, as not every actor/actresses from the same ce. Subtle differences can make things barely topletely iprehensible.

    ****The character Tang Ye uses for ''strip'' can also mean ''besides''.

    *****Kucha means pants for anyone who has forgotten

 Volume 5 30 Itâ€™s Catching Cheaters Season (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 30 It¡¯s Catching Cheaters Season (Part 1)</h4>

    Su Xiao was in a room; he covered himself with his nket in simr fashion to an ill child, leaving just his head exposed, "Big Brother Ming? He loves to eat; he never cleans, though. I have to often clean his room for him, because I share a room with him now."

    Miss Juese, also known as Ming Suwen with a face veil, chuckled, "So you two live together, do you?"

    Whether deliberate or not, her pretty eyes looked up to the roof. Princess Hongzhuang, who just climbed to the roof, immediately evaded Ming Suwen''s line of sight simrly to a cat. She didn''t dare to take another look. At the same time, her heart palpitated.

    ''That girl is amazing. She seems to know that I''m here.''

    Ming Suwen peered at the roof for a short while. Finally, she giggled as she turned her attention back down and said to Su Xiao, "It''s nothing. Take your time telling me about your Big Brother Ming. I''m listening, especially the parts that concern women¡­ Take. Your. Time."

    ========

    Entrance of Liu Shan Men''s courtyard.

    Tang Ye mumbled and fumbled a few sentences, and then needed to leave again.

    Ming Feizhen blinked, "You''re going out again? Don''t tell me you''re meeting up with Miss Huo. Please tell me you''re not."

    "Big Bro, Qing''er, she, I meant, Miss Huo is actually a nice girl. Please don''t be prejudice against her, all right?"

    Ming Feizhen nearly jumped up. He thought to himself, "What the hell did you just change your way of addressing her for?! You called her Qing''er, didn''t you?! You just omitted ''Miss'' and called her Qing''er, didn''t you?! She''s going to be calling you, "Brother Ye," soon enough, isn''t she?! You bastard! I told you to work; I never told you to seduce the man''s fianc¨¦e! Additionally, for your information, I''m not prejudice against her. I''m prejudice against you! Why did you go through your virginity graduation at Heavenly Fragrance Garden of all ces, moron?!"

    The current dynasty practices the three letters and six etiquettes. Marriages are protected by thew.

    Even if Jin Wangsun was to be a Fuma, it''s not rare for a Fuma to have concubines. As long as the Princess permits it, Huo Qing''er will be Jin Wangsun''s concubine.

    While females are in a variety of industries across thends nowadays, when ites to marriage, a female''s purity is always a very important factor. Even ordinary families share the same view, let alone a sect as prominent and powerful as Gold and Silver Sect. If they don''t make a deal out of it, so be it, but if they do, Tang Ye and Huo Qing''er would be considered nothing more than a cheating couple. Not even His Majesty would be able to stay out of the matter; he''ll be forced to stick up for Jin Wangsun and harshly punish the two.

    Tang Ye said, "Heavenly Fragrance Garden isn''t far from here. I have to meet Miss Huo in a short while; I can''t bete."

    He then immediately gave Ming Feizhen a cupped-fist salute and wobbled off.

    Seeing as it was gettingte and there was still work to do, Ming Feizhen could only express his bemoan for his hopelessness with a sigh.

    "It was only one night, yet they''re all lovey dovey now. *Sigh*, One night of love is eternal devotion, they say. The two of them are glued to each other. Howe Ick such good luck? It''s virtually impossible to marry a girl. Everyone has a different fate, after all, I see¡­ My grandmaster said that I had to be careful of women and men; what exactly did he mean by that?"

    As Ming Feizhen babbled to himself, he suddenly heard a tender and lovely voice, "What one night of love is eternal devotion?"

    Ming Feizhen absentmindedly blurted, "What else? A husband and wife on the bed for a night¡­"

    Ming Feizhen suddenly heard movement indicating that the visitor''s internal strength was impressive. The visitor practiced the Qilin Guard''s style. Upon detecting her presence, he turned his head to see the Qilin Guard''s Miss Situo. She looked frail; she stood in the courtyard with a grumpy look.

    She was dressed in green clothes today, thereby making her look several years younger. She as a girl with a charming face; hence, with her dress up today, her skin looked very moisturised and healthy. There was a tinge of pink on her cheeks, giving her the vibe of a young girl who confessed, yet was unfortunately rejected.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A group of people instantly poked their heads into the courtyard for a look. They took turns making remarks.

    "Oh, ho, Ming Feizhen has gotten himself in trouble again. This time, he''s angered even the Qilin Guard''s Miss Situo."

    "Look carefully. If she cries, that bastard will be a serious phnderer."

    Ming Feizhen immediately thundered at them, "What are you looking at? What''s there to look at? Scram!"

    He then nced at Situo through the corner of his eyes. He remarked to himself, "Why is she here again?! Does she think this ce is her house?!"

    Nevertheless, Miss Situo didn''t spare Ming Feizhen a single nce. Instead, she nkly looked toward the door, which was where Tang Ye left from, as though she didn''t ask the question that she blurted before and that she was in the middle of a conversation with Ming Feizhen.

    "Where¡­ has he gone?"

    "To see a buddy."

    Situo''s face went pale after hearing Ming Feizhen''s response.

    Ming Feizhen looked at Situo''s face. A light immediately lit up for him.

    ''Damn Tang Ye, you''ve given me a load of trouble. Watch this¡­''

    "Miss Situo, didn''t you know that our Tang Ye went to Heavenly Fragrance Gardenst night¡­"

    "Heavenly Fragrance Garden?" Situo''s irate frown was clearly noticeable as soon as she turned to look at Ming Feizhen, "You took him there?"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t expect Situo to try and find who was responsible. He stuttered, "Huh? Umm, I, uhh¡­ no."

    Situo responded with disdain, "Are you really going to try that?! We Qilin Guards learnt your group''s habits long ago, and you''re the most improper among everyone. You go to Heavenly Fragrance Garden several times per month. If you weren''t the one who took him there, then who was it?"

    Ming Feizhen touched his nose and guiltily answered, "I just went there for a stroll to reminisce. The biggest issue is that the kid, Tang Ye, doesn''t listen. I kicked and shoved him, but he wouldn''t leave. He insisted oning. See, he met a beautiful girlst night and became a patron on his first visit. He''s going there a second time right now."

    Situo only heard the most key points in his response. She shuddered, and then slowly asked, "Beautiful girl¡­ What''s her name? What does she do?"

    Ming Feizhen pped his hands together in simr fashion to storytellers at tea houses, "Her name is Qing''er; she is the boss of Heavenly Fragrance Garden!"

    "Boss?!"

    Situo couldn''t believe her ears.

    ''What sort of girl would be the boss of a brothel?''

    Situo was in charge of cases involving sexual offences for the Qilin Guard''s office. Countless perverts and sexual offenders in the pugilistic world have been captured by her. She was very well-informed of secret information on brothels. Upon learning that Tang Ye was so thirsty that he''d even go for the boss, she trembled with anger.

    "I''m¡­ going to look for him!"

    Just as Situo went to take off, Ming Feizhen immediately called out, "Wait!"

    Situo spun around and raised her pretty hand and in an aggressive manner, asked, "What do you want?"

    Ming Feizhen removed the sword at his waist in a dignified manner; he calmly and solemnly ced it in Situo''s hands. He gave her a thumbs up and the two exchanged words through their gazes.

    "It is at yourmand."

    Situo froze for a second before nodding, "Thank you. You''re a good guy!"

    She apparently moulded fifty percent of her energy into her grip on the scabbard, consequently almost crushing it in her hands. Thankfully, Vice-captain Shen Yiren did well to look after Liu Shan Men. Their weapons were tough and made from high quality metals. Even their scabbards were meticulously made and robust. Otherwise, the scabbard would''ve been crushed before Tang Ye would be.

    Ming Feizhen clicked his tongue as he watched Situo leave while gusting up a murderous aura in the process. He muttered under his breath, "Tang Ye, Tang Ye, don''t me me¡­ Okay, I wronged you. Hmph, what can you do about it? Fufufu, your fault for seducing a man''s wife. *Sigh*, I need to pay Old Huang a visit, though. Only he can do my hair. Man, my money¡­"

    A headache gued Ming Feizhen when he thought about what he''d have to deal with in a bit. He walked onto the street while fiddling with his hair.

    Miss Situo made haste for Heavenly Fragrance Garden with her murderous aura sting from her. Ming Feizhen also took his time sorting his hair out. However, he had no idea that his shiyi, whom he cared for most, was secretly stalking him after finishing her conversation with Su Xiao.

    Notes:

    *Brother Ye - This is just a very informal and intimate way for Huo Qing''er to address Tang Ye. Usually in Chinese, you address people by their full name. When you''re closer, you can address them by just their first name as done here. Adding the "Brother" part to it just adds the cute girl vibe; it sounds more coquettish.

    "What happens when a guy uses it, then?"

    Good question. There are multiple scenarios. First, let''s establish that we''re using ¸ç¸ç here , not the other ways of addressing someone as an elder brother.

    1) You have a guy calling a guy ''Brother'', but it''s much more in the sense of, ''bro'', or as Su Xiao uses, which is a more man to man version. In English, you just have ''brother''. In Chinese, however, you have ´ó¸ç£¬¸ç¸ç£¬¸ç£¬´óÀÐ, which would all be tranted as ''brother''. However, they''re masculine ways of using it - rtively speaking.

    2) A kid is using it with another guy.

    3) You like men, sexually. If you don''t want to be misunderstood as being gay, don''t use ¸ç¸ç with a Chinese guy as that''s the connotation you will give. Try it or call a Korean older male ?? and see what happens (Disimer: I take no responsibility for the consequences). If you want to address an older male that''s not decades older, you can use ´ó¸ç£¬¸ç£¬´óÀÐ (if you''re mafia or just want to sound thug).

 Volume 5 31 Itâ€™s Catching Cheaters Season (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 31 It¡¯s Catching Cheaters Season (Part 2)</h4>

    It waste at night; naturally, the sky was dark as ink. Chickens and dogs had turned in.

    The splendour of ancient Jinling City''s night life had yet to disy one third of itself.

    Vermillion Street was still busy and bustling as it was during the day. If anything, there were more aplished officials and nobles out on the streets than during the day. The only difference was that there was less interest for exploration as there was during the day, which was very disappointing.

    A man came out from a clothing store on the street. He was an incredibly tall man with an upright posture, confident aura and wide strides. He had to be over a head taller than your average man. His confident steps were particrly steady. He seemingly emitted an overpowering masculine aura, causing those who saw him to helplessly feel convinced that he had an extraordinary presence. A guard at the corner of a big household revealed a tense look when he saw him pass by. Those from the martial world helplessly sighed, "Jinling may be a wealthy city, but rarely do we see such an impressive hero from the North!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The man that earned theirpliments was none other than the now disguised Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen wore on a set of resplendent garments that he would never usually wear. The materials were the most premium one could find, but was somewhat simr to Tang Ye, who dressed as Jin Wangsun, yesterday. Tang Ye''s robe yesterday used silk as its base material, while Ming Feizhen''s current garments were made from tiger fur that warriors in the North wore. The simrities were few; it was just that such clothing is a rare sight in Nanjing.

    Despite the tiger fur garment not necessarily being as dear as Tang Ye''s, Just one of the eight pearls attached to the white jade ribbon at his belt would likely be enough to purchase twenty of the robes that Tang Ye wore.

    The wandering hero of the North''s dress up was the main star for tonight.

    As for Ming Feizhen''s appearance, it was different to his usual one. He switched his ordinary appearance for the look of a wide face of a handsome and valiant warrior. His eyebrows looked thicker, making his eyes appearrger. His thick eyebrows crossed over to his temples, and he had a scar, which was inflicted by a de, on his left cheek. With his incredible height and new appearance, he resembled a man not constrained by customs or anything else of such nature.

    Ming Feizhen''s disguise was made using extremely advanced disguise techniques that employs abination of masks and makeup, altering one''s face to be totally different to their original appearance, literally. He also deliberately changed his gait. As opposed to walking in an unfettered style as he usually did, he walked with an upright posture and was straightced as a soldier would be.

    Ming Feizhen''s hair colour was also different tonight. His pure ck hair was now half-white and half-ck. He ordered Old Huang, who sold a special hair dye in the city, to give him one with some of the dye removed. Every strand of hair, therefore, was half-ck and half-white, making him look ludicrous. Nevertheless, that gradient hair style looked gentle on his overly tough and rough face, thereby giving his tough-looking face a handsome touch. It was no wonder girls came up to flirt with him on their own ord when he just stopped at a bar and did nothing, but stood there in silence.

    The Fuma Jingan that people were familiar with was none other than the main depicted above.

    By the time Ming Feizhen finished with getting his appearance right, it was almost time for him to get to business.

    Ming Feizhen went out of his way to be mboyant as he crossed through the streets to give the false impression that he wasn''t operating in the shadows. After he went through several streets and found a ce without many people, he vaulted up to a roof, and then sped off into the night without anyone detecting him.

    In a while, he finally arrived at the appointed location. Every time he met up with her in the capital, he''d meet up with her at this specific location.

    Ming Feizhen leapt up and into the courtyard with a steadynding. There were servants on patrol in the courtyard, but with his movement skills, they couldn''t detect him. However, he did not see her.

    Ming Feizhen checked left and right, but didn''t see her, nevertheless. He wondered, "Am I too early by any chance?"

    As soon as he thought that, he saw a beauty in the distance.

    A woman carried a piping hot pot on a tray with beautiful pair of hands as precious as jade. She covered her mouth with disbelief when she saw Ming Feizhen. She let go of the tray, and ran over to him, seemingly forgetting that she had the tray in her hand. Needless to say, the tray and the hot pot dropped to the ground as a result.

    Ming Feizhen eximed, ¡°Watch out,¡± then took a big stride to catch the falling tray and steady the items on it with one hand. Meanwhile, he used his other hand to catch the beauty around her slender waist.

    A fragrant smell then shot into his nose, followed by the sight of a beauty falling into his arms, with her body being curvaceous enough to take up his entire arm length. He looked down to see his wife, whom he hadn''t seen in a long time, with a pleasantly surprised look on her face, but also concern and a look that told him she missed him. However, that all transformed into an enchanting smile as she rxed into his arms.

    "Fuma, you''re finally back."

    As she wrapped her arms around him, she eximed, "Kyah."

    With his hand upied with preventing the tray from dropping, Ming Feizhen couldn''t evade in time, thereby allowing her emotions and hug to crash into him simrly to a wave.

    Jingan wasn''t tall, but her limbs were slender and long. As for her breasts, they were a nice handful and enchanting. Therefore, once he picked her up, her fragrant smell enveloped him. He immediately felt her soft and charming body subtly quiver in his arms. In spite of not having romantic feelings for her, Ming Feizhen gently stroked her back without him being aware. With him stroking her back, the beauty finally calmed down and stopped shaking simrly to a frightened small animal. She slowly looked up. Her enchanting peaks rubbed up against Ming Feizhen''s chest, allowing him to distinctly feel her smooth and supple skin change shape against his body. It was a joy to y with her body simr to a thin and light, butrge, ball of flour despite not being able to grab the entire ball with one hand. Subsequently, Ming Feizhen felt his body burn up and his male instincts reacted without any self-awareness.

    ''This is going to be bad if this continues.''

    "Princess, I¡­"

    As he went to speak, he suddenly felt a warm and soft sensation on his lips, stopping him from speaking.

    As she wasn''t tall, she hooked her arms around Ming Feizhen''s neck and gave him a burning hot kiss. Her lips were hot as a me, yet gentle and soft as a flower petal. Their body temperatures continued to soar higher and higher, fusing the two together with theplex of fragrances and heat.

    To begin with, Ming Feizhen had his arms full of her; thus, the instant she kissed his lips, he couldn''t hold back his urge to hug her tighter. Her body went limp as if he crushed her bones.

    Ming Feizhen suddenly felt a fresh and cool sensation in his mouth. It came from a slippery liquid that he sucked. Not only did it taste refreshing, but also contained a faint beautiful fragrance. It turned out to be Princess Jingan''s saliva that she subtly spat into his mouth.

    Ming Feizhen instinctively responded with passion, sending the saliva back to Jingan with his tongue. Discovering something foreign entering her small mouth, Princess Jingan''s body jolted in response before she tightened her hold around her husband. She leaned her soft and beautiful body on her husband to realise that he was flirting with her; hence, feeling embarrassed. Nevertheless, it was she, who naughtily started the flirting, and therefore the consequences were to be borne by her.

    Their tongues duked it out,peting as a way of being intimate with each other. They took turns, with one being gentle and delicate and the other being aggressive as a wolf. The feelings they felt as they went back and forth in a lively manner could only be understood by the two of them.

    The more they kissed, the more they were entranced by each other. Princess Jingan''s soft face burnt up, and she began to gently pant. Tired, she leaned onto Ming Feizhen''s chest. She started the flirting, but in the end, it was as if Ming Feizhen was the one who boldly came onto her, leading to her the one that was pushed around and forced to reveal her enchanting side.

    Ming Feizhen''s gaze instinctively focused in on her mature body, and then he quickly tried to collect himself.

    The husband and wife couple, who had not seen in each other in a long time, passionately kissed in the courtyard and clung to each other for a long time until ady-in-waiting cleared her throat to notify the two that there was an audience still around. Only then did Jingan separate herself from Ming Feizhen with hot flushes on her face.

    Their lips looked red and hot. In saying that, by separating, she technically only removed her lips from him, as she persistently leaned on him.

    "Fuma¡­ you''re finally back¡­ you''re back."

    Ming Feizhen spaced out as he stood with the beauty in his arms in the courtyard. He helplessly smiled, "Yeah, I''m back."

    Just as he was about to head inside with Jingan, he suddenly entered a random cold battle. He scratched his head; then looked left and right. He pondered to himself, "Why does it feel cold out of nowhere? Has my internal energy be nullified? That''s impossible, though."

    A disturbing feeling crept up in his chest as he remarked, "For some reason, I''ve kept feeling disturbed and startled. I''ve been seduced by one beauty after the next, too, causing me to have a raging urge that''s continued to grow, yet unable to release. My unspeakable urges have risen; I''m afraid that it''s time for the dragon and the phoenix to heed the call. It''s time stand up, and spread those wings to fly to heaven!"

 Volume 5 32 Nobody Knows Shiyiâ€™s Feelings

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 32 Nobody Knows Shiyi¡¯s Feelings</h4>

    After Miss Juese - Ming Suwen - secretly tailed Ming Feizhen to the roof of arge building, she saw the two in a deep, affectionate and passionate kiss from afar. The sight of them kissing caused her heart to throb with pain. Her charming body was still steady in the freezing night breeze, but her entire body was empty. When the wind blew, it was as if it blew without obstruction.

    Her pretty feet were snow white, supple and shapely and beautiful as cat paws. However, her adorable feet possessed immeasurable destructive force that one couldn''t tell from their appearance. Had she willed it, she could''ve moulded energy to leap in between the two. Given her prowess with Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual and Heavenly Net Treasure Records, she could have killed weak Jingan even with Ming Feizhen present using a single powerful technique that could defy the realm of human belief. Demoness Ming Suwen was never afraid to do things that would stun the entire world; however, she didn''t harm Jingan.

    The beauty, who was thought to exist only in fantasies, stood silently in the distance. Ming Suwen watched him slowly leave and vanish before her sight. Only she remained in ce. The clear and cold moonlight enveloped her. The sight of her atop the roof gave the impression that she was the only person in the world. Miss Juese''s melon-shaped face that could only be described as entrancing was void of emotions as if it had turned to ice.

    Her initial anger, palpitations and disappointment gradually turned into sadness, hopelessness and indifference. Nobody had any way of knowing for sure how her emotions changed; they could be depicted as a me that had gone out, a representation of absolute despair.

    Ming Suwen didn''t n to go and question what Ming Feizhen what he was doing there or why he treated her as if she was non-existent while being together with another woman. She didn''t n to act up, pretending to be angry and throwing a fit so that he''d pamper her again then leave as a girl would, because she understood Ming Feizhen. She knew what the answers to her questions were.

    Whatever she did, including turning the pugilistic world upside down and inside out, Ming Feizhen would never chide her whatsoever. Despite that, however, he wouldn''t choose her, either.

    Ming Feizhen wouldn''t betray his shifu and definitely not Mount Daluo. His shifu and Mount Daluo were people and things that he cared deeply for; there was no chance of erasing those feelings. Ming Suwen didn''t want to put him in a dilemma.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Miss Juese stood in the night breeze as she recalled her memories with Ming Feizhen, from the major to the every minor detail. s, she couldn''t recall it all, for it had been too long. Before she knew it, they had known each other for twenty five years.

    She was acquainted with him from the time that they were still infants.

    Ming Suwen didn''t have parents. ording to what she heard, she only had Hero Shenzhou as her distant cousin, a im that she had never believed. No matter how one looked at it, their age gap was too great. Moreover, if her parents were Hero Shenzhou''s rtives, why did everyone in her family die? She always questioned that. Subsequently, she never believed that she had a rtive, except for one person.

    Said person was silly andmonly considered himself to be useless. He loved to trouble himself with things where no answer or solution existed, eat and drink, but was willing to ignore everything to dedicate himself to his beliefs.

    Those traits, his character and his unique traits made him very adorable, but they were not the reasons that Ming Suwen missed Ming Feizhen. Long ago, at least, Ming Suwen was of the opinion that those aforementioned traits of his were so silly that she didn''t want to spare him a nce.

    Their fate went beyond liking or not liking each other. Their fate could be described as one without room for choice, and one that was set by fate with no logic to speak of.

    Ming Feizhen was older than Ming Suwen by three years, and he was the only one who didn''t cause her to cry when he hugged her. As such, he began to take care of her from then until now.

    From Ming Suwen''s perspective, Ming Feizhen had be someone who she had taken for granted.

    Why ask why the sunes out?

    Why ask why nightes after day?

    Who would one insensibly ask why someone loves them? The reason couldn''t be any simpler. It''s because I am me, and you are you.

    A long time ago, though, Ming Suwen didn''t recognise what the feeling was. She was beautiful, and she was aware of that. She knew even better what others around thought of her.

    Hero Shenzhou was old and nevermented on her appearance. Her martial nephew, Ming Huayu, on the other hand, once remarked, "I like beauties, but Martial Senior Aunt is just too beautiful. Peerless beauty is not to the advantage of a woman."

    Ming Huayu was correct; ever since Ming Suwen set foot in the pugilistic world, there were people who coveted her; some envied her and there were those who were jealous of her. All her beauty did was cause her trouble. After many years in the pugilistic world, there was virtually nobody who wasn''t heartbroken or filled with heartfelt admiration for her beauty. There were humble and proper men who would lust for her due to her beauty. She had also met suave, heroic, handsome and extraordinary men. Sadly, she couldn''t help, but feel that there was something missing. As a result, she was still single when other girls her age were married.

    All that changed when she met a twenty-three year old Ming Feizhen when she was twenty. He was in his prime at the time. He was renowned throughout the pugilistic world at the time; there was nothing that he couldn''t do. Nevertheless, he couldn''t hide his emptiness and loneliness.

    She, simrly, felt as lonely as he did. That was why she wanted to understand the reasons behind her loneliness.

    One night, she used some tricks to pry his secrets out of him, thereby finding out about the woman deeply etched in his heart. It was then, when she found out about the secret, that she suddenly had the realisation that she had feelings for Ming Feizhen and that the feelings she had for the woman in his heart was jealousy.

    The ultimate beauty learnt how jealousy felt for the very first time in her life that night. After that night, she learnt how missing someone and mncholy felt.

    Helping Huo Qing''er was just one of her reasons for returning to the capital. She also wanted to help herself. She was aware that Ming Feizhen would find his own happiness at some point, but the one to give him happiness wouldn''t be her, for sure. But nheless, she knew that if she didn''t try to win his heart, then her chances would be zero.

    She inquired about Ming Feizhen''s social circle from Su Xiao. She learnt that Ming Feizhen was no longer deliberately avoiding intimate rtionships with females, which meant that he was no longer traumatised by that experience and could ept someone into his heart again.

    s, when she saw him kiss with Jingan, she suddenly realised that the one to enter his heart would still not be her. Despite herpetition being a Princess, Liu Shan Men''s Vice-captain and even Su Xiao, she would never be the one who could truly make Ming Feizhen blissful.

    Ming Suwen silently turned around and took off, gusting up winds in her wake.

    After that night, two events shook the entire capital.

    The first event was the Emperor betrothing his daughter. Princess Hongzhuang was to be married off. The two candidates were Jin Wangsun, patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, one of the Seven Champion White Princes, and Mount Daluo''s disciple. Everyone had their eyes on the intense contest between the two on New Year''s Eve.

    The second event was the new beauty, who possessed beauty described as a perfection, at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. She dered that she was looking for the man of her life on the same day as the contest, in other words, on New Year''s Eve. She attracted nobles and royalty to the brothel. Her appearance garnered praise from the masses. They depicted her as a woman with beauty that ascended the realms of human beauty. Her beauty reportedly could overthrow cities and ruin kingdoms. Her venerable name was Juese.

 Volume 5 33 Big Vatâ€™s Day. Refining the Vat.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 33 Big Vat¡¯s Day. Refining the Vat.</h4>

    Jin Wangsun paced back and forth in his room, looking as if he was anxious. Jiangnan''s usually graceful young master currently looked distressed and uneasy. One could go as far as to say that there was a tinge of¡­ fear and anxiety that would be difficult to illustrate with words.

    For thest few days, Jin Wangsun had been extremely unsettled. Men from Yingtian Prefecture had their eyes on his estate, and thus, he couldn''t go anywhere, subsequently staying at home. Little did he realise, Hongjiu, the megaphone, went around promoting his nicknames ''Big Golden Vat'' and ''Big Pants'' amongst the people.

    His legacy spread throughout via the rhymes that the children sang. There is something that is faster than cheetahs; that would be the mouths of women who love to gossip. Hongjiu cleverly passed the song onto thedies at the market and shared it with children. Jin Wangsun had always been infamous in the capital. News of him exploiting the people to unt himself that day spread far and wide. Consequently, it only took a few days for his signature song to be as hot as Eight Deities Tavern''s business. The song spread so wildly that even Jin Wangsun, who was stuck at home, heard of it.

    Jin Wangsun was infuriated, so infuriated that he almost coughed blood. Everyone who knew what was going on knew that the credit belonged to Mount Daluo''s people. So ordingly, he hired assassins to deal with Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, that wasn''t the main reason that he was unsettled. His source of unease was the master of Night Fortress.

    He tried to locate the whereabouts of the master of Night Fortress who barged into his abode and went on a rampage, and also the one who palmed him into a vat. His subordinates reported in on the matter not long ago. After that day, he was certain that he knew who Master Night Fortress was. Jin Wangsun had no means of taking any actions when Master Night Fortress was so skilled and plotting against him. s, the results of his investigation were disappointing.

    There was no direct or clear evidence that described how Master Night Fortress operated in the pugilistic world, his face or his character, let alone his current whereabouts. There was only one thing that he considered suspicious, which was the record of who came and went from the Imperial Pce.

    Jin Wangsun was rich enough to have almost everyone at his beck and call. He spent arge sum of money to bribe high-ranking eunuch Wang Tushui to get his hands on the records of entry and exits from the Imperial Pce on the day Master Night Fortress showed up. Jin Wangsun had his men look into every single person who was on the list, even going as far as investigating Prime Minister Li Si, who was well into old age. He didn''t overlook any individual who was famous. Unfortunately, he didn''t learn anything. Everyone on the list was innocent.

    Only then did Jin Wangsun admonish himself for being foolish. Given Master Night Fortress'' phenomenal qinggong prowess and ability to move as fast as the wind, not even the entire Imperial Pce''s guards could stop him. Why would he go to the trouble of signing in and out?

    Initially, it was no big deal until he met the young Sisi from the League of Assassins. He heard from her that Master Night Fortress was in the capital and had a fixed identity. She didn''t expose his identity, but she was willing to help him kill Ming Feizhen.

    At the time, her enthusiasm perplexed him, and he didn''t suspect Ming Feizhen. Today, however, Jin Wangsun happened to reorganise the Imperial Pce''s entrance and exit records. That was when he suddenly heard a song being sung, "Big Vat is stupid, Big Vat is scum, Big Vat isn''t worth three coins. Big Vat is blue; Big Vat is green. The Green Vat is truly so pretty." He was so furious about the lyrics that he almost gave into his urge and leapt over the wall to kick the kid''s ass, and teach him why Gold and Silver Sect was not to be trifled with.

    It was then that Jin Wangsun suddenly had a revtion. The lyrics caused him to get angry with Mount Daluo and Ming Feizhen.

    Jin Wangsun suddenly realised that it was true that Master Night Fortress didn''t sign in, but neither did Ming Feizhen. That day was the first time he spoke with Ming Feizhen, which was why it left a deep impression on him. Ming Feizhen entered the pce and met the Emperor, so his name should''ve been on the records.

    The question, therefore, was why was Ming Feizhen''s name missing? However, he then recalled that Sisi enthusiastically offered to assassinate Ming Feizhen. All the pieces of the puzzle finally came together. The only possible reason that Ming Feizhen didn''t sign in on the records was because he entered the Imperial Pce using qinggong. He finally had an epiphany; Jin Wangsun figured out the big secret. Master Night Fortress was Ming Feizhen!

    Jin Wangsun frowned when he had the realisation. He still vividly remembered that day, when Master Night Fortress used a single staff to turn his entire abode on its head. While Jin Wangsun didn''t go all out, he was aware that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Master Night Fortress even if he did go all out. So ordingly, he knew that he was significantly inferior to Master Night Fortress. Nevertheless, he still sent assassins after him andpeted with him for the Princess. Heaven knows what consequences of all of those actions would be.

    But it didn''t end there. On the rainy night, one of his men came in to give a report. His subordinate reported that Huo Qing''er, his fianc¨¦e, who he missed day and night, had recently disappeared from her home in Zhenjiang and had yet to return. But then, he suddenly caught wind that she was spotted in the capital.

    Gold and Silver Sect''s informationwork in the capital alone wouldn''t be so well-informed. What bolstered hiswork was the eldest Princess backing him from the shadows. Princess Jinagan grew up in the capital; while she was physically frail, she wasn''t an ignorant woman. The Orange Prince raised his own faction, so it was only natural for a Princess to have her own people. Her people caught sight of Jin Wangsun''s fianc¨¦e, Huo Qing''er, suddenly going to and fro thergest and most famous brothel in the capital, Heavenly Fragrance Garden. He further heard that she weed guests and saw guests off, being very devoted to providing the highest standard of customer service as if she was the proprietor of Heavenly Fragrance Garden.

    Jin Wangsun understood his fianc¨¦e''s temperament; he, therefore, knew that she was angry and deliberately doing that to provoke him. Thus, he now had an even higher pile of concerns when it was already high enough to make him anxious.

    "How could Qing''er be so silly?! Of course I would return to marry her once my career goal has been achieved. Wouldn''t I be disappointing her and making her suffer if I''m a nobody, and Gold and Silver Sect doesn''t flourish as it did in the past? Why does she not understand my painstaking efforts?"

    Jin Wangsun and Huo Qing''er''s romance developed from when they were young. They met when they were children. Huo Qing''er was younger than him by more than a few years. Huo n was one of the big ns within Gold and Silver Sect. As such, she was very close to Jin Wangsun. The two childhood friends also had a wedding arrangement with each other, and naturally became a couple that earned the envy of those around.

    Jin Wangsun devotedly loved Huo Qing''er. In spite of having fallen for Princess Hongzhuang, he didn''t consider it an issue for, ording to his knowledge, there was rarely ever anyone with concubines. Hence, he even struggled toprehend why Huo Qing''er didn''t like him bing a Fuma.

    Jin Wangsun paced back and forth in the room, but sadly, no feasible ideas came to mind.

    Suddenly, Jin Wangsun''s eyestched onto a big golden vat. Jin Wangsun earnestly gazed at the vat that was ced in his room. He was the one who bought it. He told his servants and ves that it was there to remind him to never let anyone defeat him again and provide him with encouragement. In truth, though, it had another intended purpose.

    Jin Wangsun frowned and squinted. He stared at the opening of the vat with an incredibly imposing gaze for a long, long time¡­ maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.

    He then slowly squeezed his buttocks into the opening and skilfully slid down into it. The deep and steady feeling wasfortable to him. Jin Wangsun sternly shoved himself into the vat.

    At the same time that he slid down into it, he let out a soothing moan as if he took a dip in a hot spring, "Aaahh, that feels amazing."

    He then rxed his limbs on the edge of the opening, and did his best to rx his body and mind.

    At some point in time, Jin Wangsun began to feel that he could only seriously and smoothly deliberate matters when he was in a vat. Of course, he couldn''t allow others to see him in a vat, and so he had to hide his little fetish to himself. He only ever lied in a vat when he was all alone.

    Allowing his mind to rx also altered his mood. Jin Wangsun gradually shut his eyes. He seemingly found the answer to his problems in life deep within his soul¡­

    Suddenly, someone booted the door open and came in, freaking out while eximing, "Master! Master, we have trouble!! Where are you?!! Eh¡­? What are you doing?"

    When the individual came in, Jin Wangsun was amid a rxing sensation with his eyes shut as hey still in a vat and enjoyed it. Nheless, as soon as he heard the voice, he vigorously opened his eyes with a stern expression on his face. He quickly ced his hands that nearly melted from thefort before on his chest and thought carefully before replying, "I¡­ fell in."

    "Oh¡­ Do you need help?"

    "Uhm. Pull hard, as it''s quite tight."

    The individual immediately helped Jin Wangsun out; it didn''t take much effort. Jin Wangsun then found his footing and smiled, "All right. Now, how would you like to die?"

    The other ves soon heard a tragic cry from inside the room; thus they immediately rushed in to find Jin Wangsun wiping blood off his hand. Jin Wangsun wore an indifferent expression, "Hemitted a mistake."

    That was all that Jin Wangsun said.

    The scouts Jin Wangsun used weren''t his own men he brought to the capital, but scouts from the pugilistic world who he hired. The loosely managed intelligence organisations had pros and cons. The pro to using them was that no traces would be left; the con was that information uracy was rtively unreliable, and the scouts would never risk their lives.

    The information collected was oftentimes trivial. Usually, one of Jin Wangsun''s ves was responsible for collecting the information, and then reporting back. However, the dead ve mitted a mistake," so Jin Wangsun had no choice but to personally listen to the numerous reports himself. Unfortunately, after listening to multiple reports, all he heard was how Ming Feizhen ate, drank, took dumps, slept and other trivial matters. Just when he was fed up and about to tell them to shut their traps, he heard a shocking piece of news.

    The man who reported the shocking news went by the name of Master Eighteen. He dressed simrly to a beggar. He slowly reported to Jin Wangsun, while Jin Wangsun''s face gradually turned paler and paler.

    "D-Did you just say that Qing''er spent a night with a member from Liu Shan Men?"

    Master Eighteen frowned, "One night? As of today, it is their third night sleeping together. Big Bro, the fellow she got with is seriously a donkey, and doesn''t get tired."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jin Wangsun''s face eventually turned white as a sheet. He couldn''t stop his head; he began to shake his head in denial, "Impossible, impossible. She loves me¡­ She was my wife since we were kids. She would never treat me that way? You have to be lying! Are you serious?"

    Master Eighteen didn''t panic despite Jin Wangsun''s loss ofposure. He smiled, "What do you think, Young Master? I would not lie about such things. Two people drank wine until they were drunk and when their feelings reached their peaks. Do not forget that one is a young man, and one is a young woman. Would it not be normal for them to make a mistake? Moreover, I watched Heavenly Fragrance Garden every night and personally heard good news."

    "Why¡­? Who¡­ who''s that man?!"

    "I, myself, am not sure. I think his surname was Ming or something or rather."

    "Ming Feizhen! Ming Feizhen again! Fuck!" The veins on Jin Wangsun became visible. He thundered, "I''ll kill him!!"

    Jin Wangsun took off toward one of the guests rooms and yelled, "A Hu! A Hu!! Come out!"

    Arge titan of a man suddenly appeared as if he appeared from thin air. He saluted Jin Wangsun in a half-crouched and half-kneeling position.

    Jin Wangsunmanded, "Hand me Tiger Fang!"

    "¡­"

    The silent titan remained silent. His eyes were calm as still water. However, his calm gaze rubbed Jin Wangsun the wrong way. Jin Wangsun was so irate that he just wanted to go on a rampage!

    "Give me the de!!"

    Jin Wangsun picked up the teapot on the table and shattered it over A Hu''s head! Nheless, therge man remained in ce with a straight posture. He allowed his blood to course down his head and onto his face as if it was heavy rain, but he didn''t give in.

    "Master, you are grounded."

    "I haven''t got one fuck to give about that! Qing''er has eloped with another man!" Jin Wangsun''s eyes were bloodshot red, "She''s my wife! How dare Ming Feizheny his hands on her?!"

    "Master Hu, Young Master¡­"

    Jin Wangsun shot the ve a re, scaring him enough to make him shiver. Ever since Jin Wangsun seeded the patriarch post, he hated nothing more than people calling him ''Young Master''. The servants had to call him ''Master'', if not ''Patriarch''. ''Young Master'' was a title only fit for when he was not in power.

    "What?!"

    The ve gulped his saliva before barely answering, "Shuntian Prefecture has increased the number of men outside the abode¡­ by three times."

    The world spun before Jin Wangsun''s eyes. With stars in his eyes, he raged, "Three times?! What for? Are they suppressing an uprising?"

    "It is not that serious¡­ Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards sent thirty men each. Liu Shan Men is tasked with patrolling the exterior of the abode, while the Qilin Guards¡­ came straight into our abode to watch us."

    Jin Wangsun had enough pent up anger as is due to being grounded in his abode, only for him to now be put under surveince, as well. The Seven Champion White Princes had always been the overlords of the pugilistic world and held in the highest esteem.

    ''Is this predicament one that a Seven Champion White Prince should be in? Should the patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect be in this predicament?!''

    "What are they doing that for?! Are they going to bully in our very own ce now, too?"

    The ve exined, "They said¡­ that they are doing this, because you left without permission and ran amok, also citing your two subordinates, in particr. They stated that one called for over eighty girls, while another destroyed over a dozen rooms and¡­ and beat up four assistant ministers."

    "That''s bullsh*t!" Jin Wangsun thundered, "That''s fucking utter fucking bullsh*t!"

    Jin Wangsun started to hurl profanity. Owing to A Hu not giving him Tiger Fang, he used his hand as a de and horizontally shed a table, splitting it into eighteen or seventeen fragments at the moment of contact! That wasn''t enough to appease Jin Wangsun, nevertheless. He began to kick and punch arge tree in the courtyard as if he lost his mind.

    He only rxed somewhat after hitting the tree until his hands were covered in blood. Amazingly, he calmed down due to his brain burning up. Once he finished beating the tree, he leaned his head on the trunk in silence. After a long silence, he gradually began tough maniacally.

    "Fine! Fine! Fine! Fine! Fine!! Ming Feizhen, you want to y, do you?" Jiangnan''s nice young master, who was always gentle and graceful, finally unleashed the arrogant air he had upon first arriving at the capital, again, "I''ll y with you, then! Constable from Liu Shan Men, Master Night Fortress, let''s see how you hide your identity on the Fuma selection day!!"

 Volume 5 34 So-called Wife Is Not My Wife

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 34 So-called Wife Is Not My Wife</h4>

    Jingan rxed in my embrace, refusing to separate for even a split second. Her curves unted their amazing suppleness and softness, and she had no qualms with letting my hands know that, therefore allowing me to touch and grab as I pleased.

    Her hands didn''t stop, either. She continued to grab fruit and refreshments from the table with her supple white fingers to feed me. Every fruit and refreshment had a different vour, but there was a light and fragrant scent around me, which was a scent unique to Jingan.

    "Fuma, have this one, and then try this one."

    The usual graceful, generous and esteemed Princess Jingan''s tone was soft and delicate enough to give the impression that she was trying to tickle my heart, yet was also akin to a grain of rock sugar dropping into a me to be a sweet vour that was sticky.

    Jingan was somewhat excessively passionate tonight, while my body wanted to draw the line.

    I had refused¡­ but they seriously tasted very good; plus, I was hungry¡­ As such, I pathetically ate everything she fed me. When I asionally licked her finger, hot flushes would surface on her pretty face, but she''d continue feeding me, nevertheless.

    The atmosphere was incredibly awkward. Jingan looked at me with a gaze hinting at her passionate desire to go further. So ordingly, I could only rely on chewing to hold down the fort¡­

    As I chewed, I recalled the past and the reason I ended up with her.

    To exin how Princess Jingan and I ended up in this rtionship, I would need to backtrack to three years ago, when I was still active in the pugilistic world.

    Three years ago, I was twenty five, and had been involved with a good number of major matters in the pugilistic world. At the time, the Divine Moon Sect had already been plunged into tragedy, and I was thinking about where to go from there. It was then that the Emperor announced to the world that he wanted to select a Fuma for Princess Jingan through an Imperial Martial Arts Tournament of the same nature as the most recent one.

    At the time, I was in Nanjing and uninterested in the announcement. Not long after, the victor was announced. Legend had it that the victor had reached the apex of martial arts and possessed unmatched literacypetence. Every member of the imperial court was astonished at his disy and marvelled at how such a perfect individual could possibly exist. They remarked that only one with such talent was worthy of His Majesty''s most beloved eldest Princess, and therefore conferred him first fuma of Yuansheng Dynasty''s reign, Fuma Jingan!

    ording to what I knew, Fuma Jingan was indeed an outstanding martial artist who would unlikely find a match. However, said person wasn''t me; rather, he never was me from the start, but¡­ my shi! Fu! That damn old geezerrrrrr!!!!!

    It was a ridiculous mess that was beyond ridiculous.

    Way back then, my shifu heard that I was in Nanjing, and hence, came to pay me a visit. For the sake of avoiding people (enemies, lovers, female fans) from recognising him, he wore on a set of clothes he reserved specifically for courting girls and wore on a mask made from human skin to disguise himself.

    Unfortunately, he passed by a bar before he met me, he coincidentally ran into Princess Jingan who, at the time, was dressed as amoner. Her magnificent beauty caught his eyes. His lust fired up, and thus, he actually had the audacity to go and hit on her!

    My shifu''s skills at hitting on girls are at the apogee of picking up girls art. Utilising his skills, the two began to cheerfully get along. Princess Jingan actually had dinner with him three on three asions. My shifu began to be very fond of her through their conversations. Somehow, he learnt from Princess Jingan''s maid that Princess Jingan was going to get married, and the groom would be chosen in the ring.

    My shifu didn''t have any suspicions in spite of hearing that the ring would be set up in the pce. He thought Princess Jingan was the daughter of a noble family. Subsequently, he went and signed up topete for a kiss from the maiden. Only after he won did he realise that he seduced the reigning eldest Princess.

    Thus, the problems started. After he discovered Princess Jingan''s true identity, he immediately ran. The reason for that was very simple. First Shininang, in other words, Shifu''s first wife, was the Empress'' younger sister, thereby making him the Emperor''s brother-inw. Therefore, Princess Jingan should''ve addressed him as ''Uncle''.

    Even if he was to do something more preposterous, he would know that it was no longer a joking matter. Sadly, running away was very hard. At the time, The Ultimate Three were at the imperial court. If he ran away from the marriage, he''d anger the Emperor. When the Emperor got angry and sends men after him, there''ll be no end to his troubles. Even if he wasn''t worried about losing inbat, the incident itself was embarrassing enough as is! Faced with an emergency, Shifu, therefore, pulled me in to bear the responsibility when I was just passing by the damn ce!

    On the day they were to get married, Shifu suddenly found me. He forced me to change, did up my appearance without any exnation, and then dragged me into the pce¡­ Only when I arrived at the pce did I realise that the bastard was making me repay his phndering debt!

    On the day, I panicked as I asked my shifu, "Wait! Going through the ritual, I can handle, but what about consummating the marriage?"

    Shifuughed in a weird tone, and then with a perverted demeanour, said, "Do you need me to teach you even that? Obviously, you pick up her two luscious white legs¡­"

    "Get out of here, you damn geezer!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    What could I do, though? In the end, I had toe up with some reasons. On that night, when we entered the room to consummate our marriage, I ad-libbed to the Princess, who I met for the first time, "Princess, it is not that I do not want to establish a genuine husband and wife rtionship, but the style I practice is a daoist''s secret, authentic, highly-advanced, pure internal style called The Most Perfect Square Has No Corners The Loudest Sound Is the One That Cannot Be Heard Giant Pearl Purple Wrinkle Invincible Art. One of themandments of the style is that I cannot have intercourse with a female within a timeframe of several years. If I do, my blood, qi and true qi shall flow in reverse, thereby leading to death¡­"

    "Such a concept exists?" Hearing that, the Princess lowered her head with disappointment, "Fuma, you are not making that up to trick me are you?"

    "There is no way I would do such a thing. Princess, you are the incarnation of a fairy deity. There is no man in this would who would not love you. Unfortunately, due to my training in The Most Perfect Square Has No Corners The Loudest Sound Is the One That Cannot Be Heard Giant Pearl Purple Wrinkle Invincible Art, I must not be intimate with women."

    "Why did you approach Jingan, then?"

    "Erm, well, it is not that I can''t touch women at all. I just need to be willing to give up all of the results of my cultivation and erase it before I do. That said, Princess, a man must put the nation before everything else. I still want to do my part for the nation to secure our father''s world! As such, I cannot erase my own cultivation. Once I have aplished myself, I will naturally forego my martial arts and give you my embrace."

    "Fuma!" Jingan was moved to tears by my speech, "How long do we have to wait, then?"

    "Erm, as a man, I need to make a trip around the world. At the very least, I need to settle the Southern border, clear the Northern desert, subdue the West and obliterate them all. Otherwise, I would have lived a life in vain, would I not?"

    Jingan poignantly lowered her head. She stopped to think for a moment before looking up with her beautiful eyes, "All right. I shall wait. I have a condition, though."

    I immediately asked, "What condition? What condition?"

    Hot flushes appeared on Jingan''s pretty face. The stench of love lingered in the air. She squirmed around as she drew circles on my chest with her smooth white hand, "You have to sleep holding me every night¡­ otherwise, I won''t be able to sleep; I''ll have nightmares."

    Subsequently, I hugged a fireball and waited for the sun toe up while lying there in loneliness¡­

    "Fuma, Princess."

    The elderly female servant''s voice cut off my train of thought. A woman, who looked healthy and approximately forty, stood at our door. She was the elder female servant that was with Jingan and responsible for misceneous jobs. Jingan usually called her ''Mama Liang.''

    The abode I went to was the fuma manor that the Emperor rewarded me with. It was far inferior to the Princess'' short-stay pce in Hangzhou, but it wasrge enough to house a family and its servants.

    Mama Liang lowered her head. In her hoarse voice, she said, "The room is ready. Please head there now Fuma and Your Highness."

    "Fuma, let''s go, we¡­" Jingan''s beautiful eyes swam around on my body a few times. She exuded her charm as she uttered word by word, "Turn¡­ in¡­ now."

    Notes:

    *Ming Feizhen''s "The Most Perfect Square Has No Corners The Loudest Sound Is the One That Cannot Be Heard Giant Pearl Purple Wrinkle Invincible Art," is abination of text from Confucius and gibberish that he added in. In case it escaped you, he''s using it as a lie.

 Volume 5 35 One Night of Affectionate Love. Three Years of Intrigue

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 35 One Night of Affectionate Love. Three Years of Intrigue</h4>

    ''Ag-Again?!''

    That was thest thing I wanted to do with Jingan. Mama Liang nkly stood in ce and looked at me. She repeated herself in a monotone voice, "Please head over, Fuma."

    I scratched my head and miserably answered, "Keep it down¡­ I want some peace."

    Jingan suddenly raised her head and giggled, "You miss me, Dear?"

    ''Can you choose another time to remember that nickname of yours?!!''

    ''Speaking of which, you''re supposed to be an elegant character; why would you give yourself such a cute nickname?!''

    Once we reached our room, the dragon and phoenix design on the frame, which was the shape of the moon, emitted eye-catching aesthetics. I remembered the scale of things when we got married back then was basically on that scale, too.

    ''Are we doing this again tonight?''

    I unnaturally lowered my head, and my eyes coincidentally met with Jingan''s body.

    She dropped her usual graceful and refined demeanour for a bashful one, "How about¡­ you let me taking care of you tonight, Dear?"

    I cleared my throat and replied in a stoic manner, "Princess, didn''t I tell you that owing to my practice of The Most Perfect Square Has No Corners The Loudest Sound Is the One That Cannot Be Heard Giant Pearl Purple Wrinkle Invincible Evil Demolition Overlord''s Divine Art forbids me from sexual rtionships with women?"

    Befuddled, Jingan remarked, "But, Fuma¡­ why does it sound as though the name of that style gets longer every time you mention it? I don''t recall the Overlord part or anything simr."

    "Eh? Does it?" I touched my nose and solemnly exined, "That is because I have reached a higher level."

    Jingan looked at me with herrge puppy eyes. I wasn''t sure if she believed me or not. Either way, I had run out of ideas¡­

    I didn''t flee. I sat down on the bed frame in a callous manner, undid my two soldier boots and kicked them off my feet, where they thennded on the ground. I then pulled off the nket andy sprawled out on the bed in an impudent fashion.

    Jingan didn''tugh when she saw my coarse behaviour; instead, she giggled, "Fuma, it has been hard on you to serve the nation. Have matters at the Northern border been resolved?"

    After she asked her question, a pair of soft and white hands gently and slowly slid up my thighs.

    ''Hey, hey! Which of my actions just now gave you the illusion that I was serving the nation?! I even spent a night at Heavenly Fragrance Gardenst night! I never even went to the Northern border!''

    Jingan was in just her underwear; her long hair was undone, revealing an enchanting aura that she never usually showed. Usually, she was elegant and beautiful, showing that she came from a respectful household. Now, though, she was an exceptional stunner who men could only dream of. Nevertheless, I suppressed my desires and tightly shut my eyes.

    "Not yet." I pretended to be exhausted and sleepy. In a nasal voice, I continued, "His Majesty has done a great deal for me. If I do not give my best, I would have let down the effort he spent on me. Worry not, Princess, the fodder at the Northern border are no match for me. I will be back in the course of time."

    I then faked extreme fatigue and began to pretend to snore. The Princess didn''t say anything when she saw me so tired. After some time, she suddenly spoke out in a soft voice, "Fuma. Fuma¡­ stop faking it. I know you''re awake. You''re¡­ too energetic down there; there''s no way you could fool me."

    I almost leapt to my feet!

    ''Fuck me! What are you looking at?!''

    I sat up a little. I saw the Princess'' red cheeks and eyes trained on my lower body. A very dangerous pir appeared beneath the nket.

    ''What are you looking at?! It''s all your fault for rubbing me! It wouldn''t have happened if you didn''t touch such a sensitive spot!''

    "Princess, did I not tell you already?! Y-"

    I froze and couldn''t finish what I wanted to say.

    In the room with the dim candle lights, I saw the beauty, who was my wife, with a soft satin dudou in her hand. The sight of her nearly imploded my head!

    Once the cultured beauty slipped out of her underwear, all that was left was a thin outer garment. She sat on the bed. Her stunning curves changed shape when she pressed them on my body. The two snowy mountains looked vaguely visible under the dim light, asionally revealing themselves as if they were white lights. The delectable snow mountains were supple and potentially capable of reflecting the moonlight. It was as though their owner was the most hospitable owner. I sneaked a nce. Honestly, I almost gave in to my urge and bit them.

    A shy flush red tinge appeared on her cheeks, yet her back appeared as if it didn''t have an ounce of strength to support her body, thereby leaving her with no choice but to lean on my chest. She clumsily threw her entire body at me. As I went to get up, our faces collided as did her body, thereby leading to her white skin jiggling right before my eyes. Down low, I saw soft and smooth white skin without a blemish, as well as strands of ck hair. I couldn''t resist the urge open my mouth and link it with her body. As her smooth and supple snow white skin entered my mouth, the beauty softly moaned, "Ah," and her body began to tremble.

    Her breath and voice contained hints of joy, yet also a sensation that would erase her rationality.

    A sweet aroma filled my nose; it was as though she smothered her skin with milk and honey that I tasted over and over. Aside from her soft flesh, my suckling intensified until the sound of liquids could be heard dripping.

    If her body was a peach, it would perfectly understandable as to why Sun Wukong was determined to taste one of the peaches of immortality no matter what the price was, thereby causing the uproar in heaven.

    I did my best to savour every inch of the beauty, while she moaned and moaned until her moans becamepletely unlike a cultured and reserved girl. The two of us would exchange eye contact every now and then. Traces of tears surfaced in her tears, but the boiling atmosphere around us heated up even us, plunging us deeper into our trap of lust.

    The beauty''s eyes looked emotional, "Dear¡­ please dote on me."

    An enthralling scent seeped into my nose; my body gradually fired up. I scooped my hands under the beauty, whose entrancing body was on fire, and picked her up to hold her up against my chest!

    ¡­

    ¡­

    I had no idea how much time passed in the end.

    I quietly sat up at the top of the bed. I nced at the half-naked beauty who was sound asleep next to me. Taking into ount that she fell asleep due to me manipting her acupuncture point, she was still a sleeping beauty. When my urge gushed to the surface, and I was about topletely go down, I stopped and put her to sleep with acupuncture point maniption.

    I didn''t evaluate myself as an upright and honest man, and I wasn''t bothered with seeking thrills and fun at ces intended for such activities. Taking advantage of a Princess, however, was a major issue.

    I left again without bidding farewell.

    ========

    When morning walked in, Princess Jingan gradually came to.

    When she sorrowfully swept her gaze over beside her on the bed, he was missing. She checked herself out then slowly sat up and got off the bed while still nude. She quietly called, "Mama Liang."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The maid, who had been waiting outside for a long time, pushed the door open and entered. In her hands were clothes that had been prepared for Princess Jingan to change into. She then deftly helped Jingan get dressed. With a sluggish expression, she stoically reported, "We failed to kill him. The drug did not appear to work on him. He did not sleep all night, while the assassins did not dare to enter. He did not vite you; his martial skills are, therefore, still intact."

    Princess Jingan''s calm, eloquent and mesmerising face reflected a sudden change. It was still her face, and she was still Jingan, but her entire demeanour changed from head to toe and inside out. Usually, she was akin to a spring breeze, but she was akin to a firest night. Today, she had transformed into a block of impregnable ice. Her cold tone was aplete contrast to her usual self.

    "I asked him to sleep with me months ago and forced him from Night Fortress to the border in the North to make it easy toy things down for Jing Wangsun. Everything that I did was to prepare for this moment. I never expected him to return andpete to be Hongzhuang''s fuma¡­ Ming Feizhen, I underestimated you," mumbled Jingan. She then coldly added, "Don''t worry about this time''s failure. I will kill him sooner orter. Notify Jin Wangsun that I have organised everything for the Fuma selection. Tell him to get ready to marry Hongzhuang."

    ========

    Jingan failed once again. As I made my way back to Liu Shan Men, I recalledst night''s exchange with her.

    In truth, Jingan and I had been battling for three years. She had asked me to consummate our marriage countless times in the three years since our marriage. She also sought to ruin my martial arts skills. Of course, my training style im was gibberish; the reality was that she couldn''t do that even if we shared a bed. Despite her countless attempts, she failed. In saying that, she never left any traces. As a result, I never managed to catch any incriminating evidence to tear down the fake act she kept up. Thus, the two of us continued with our sporadic skirmishes for thest three years.

    Months ago, she used consummating our marriage as an excuse to force me to leave, using business in the North as my excuse. Never did I imagine that she was now assisting Jin Wangsun in contending for the fuma title. Her frightening schemes had only be more and more frightening.

    I always thought that Jin Wangsun had someone helping him from behind the scenes; else, there was no way that he managed to snatch Night Fortress with such ease and the patriarch seat in Gold and Silver Sect. As such, I didn''t hastily go after him. After finding out that it was Jingan, who was supporting him from the shadows, I had more qualms weighing on me and avoided any outright confrontations.

    As I previously said, Jingan wasn''t the cultured girl that she makes herself out to be. While she held the title of the capital''s most beautiful woman and the graceful eldest Princess, she actually nurtured an incredibly daring and ambitious nature within her.

    I would consider that I knew her extremely well. After all, she was after my life from the moment we got married.

    Author Note: To readers presuming and guessing third party or NTR, pardon me, but I, Taibai, never said that Jingan was a good person.

    Notes:

    *I give up on adapting this one. When Ming Feizhen says "I want some peace," it''s the exact same way as saying "I miss Jingjing." We have just found out that Jingjing is Jingan''s nickname used by those close to her. The original Chinese is ÎÒÏë¾²¾². It can be understood either way. If you have a genius way of wording it, I''m all ears.

    Reason for my struggle: Jingjing needs to be tranted as ''silence/peace'', but cannot be tranted when used as a name. Ïë can mean ''miss'', but can also mean ''want''. I can''t think of any word that can mean both in English, but still maintain the ambiguous (without context) nature of the word.

    **Dudou - for those who have forgotten, it''s essentially the undershirt in Ancient China.

    ***Peaches and Sun Wukong, Monkey King, are from the popr fantasy story ''Journey to the West''. Sun Wukong was tasked with protecting the peaches of immortality, but he soon realised the effects of the immortal peaches if one consumed them and had one. That in turn caused a cascade of troubles, but that is a story for another day.

 Volume 5 36 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 36 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 1)</h4>

    Three years ago at Nanjing, as well.

    On the joyous day of Princess Jingan''s wedding, she sat upright in her room. The maidsbed her hair and applied her makeup. With them moving about, it was akin to a school of fish that was forever moving. The maid whobed her hair watched her grow up and loved her most. When she looked at Princess Jingan''s demeanour with her head down, waiting to be married, the maid''s was filled with joy and sweetness.

    "You are finally getting married, Your Highness. His Majesty dotes on you the most among the three Princesses. Your fuma is said to be a man of the highest calibre who is talented in both literacy and martial arts. You truly are blessed with boundless fortune, Your Highness."

    A low-ranking maid added, "My, I personally saw him. He fought seven men on his own, yet utterly defeated them without them having any chance of countering."

    "Look at our Princess. She is blushing as soon as we mentioned marriage. She must be tired of our nonsense and eager to see Fuma. Fuma is opposite you. You will have plenty of time to spend with each other. There is no need to be hasty now."

    "Don''t make things up¡­" Princess Jingan''s face was red. She thoughtlessly waved her hands around. She bashfully said, "Every girl has to get married when she grows up. Whoever father chooses for me would definitely be a good candidate. I don''t have anything to say about it."

    Princess Hongzhuang wore a gentle smile. Her soft snow white skin looked as if she had ayer of lotion applied to it, giving it an entrancing red tinge. The shyest new bride probably didn''t feel as unsettled as her. However, at the top of her rosy cheeks was a pair of dark ck eyes that gazed at the maids around. Her ck eyes looked so profound and deep as though there was no telling where the end was, yet at the same time, exuded a cold and lonely vibe found in the skyte at night in cemeteries. She looked at the maids'' gazes. She gazed at them as though she was scanning some sort of unmoving, lifeless flower that was a waste of time to gaze at. Or perhaps more urately, she gazed at them as if they were corpses.

    From Jingan''s viewpoint, the maids were no different to the dead.

    Fuma Jingan, Ming Feizhen, was currently in the opposite make-up room getting ready as she was. He changed into his clothes as the groom. As a fuma essentially marries into the bride''s family, she would still rank higher than him after marriage. As a result, even though he was marrying her, he had to move into her manor.

    Jingan considered him, Fuma Jingan, a corpse as she did with everyone else.

    From the very beginning, Jingan''s was determined to recruit Mount Daluo''s skilled martial artists; however, she was unable to find out anything from two Mount Daluo disciples she once captured. What she wanted to know was probably only something the patriarch of Mount Daluo would be able to tell her.

    Thus, Jinganmanded skilled martial artists to search for Mount Daluo''s patriarch, Ming Huayu. When she found out he came to the capital, she arranged a fated encountered between the two. With her beauty that was able to take down cities, Ming Huayu immediately fell for her and couldn''t escape.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Then she pretended to identally reveal her esteemed identity through her father''s Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. The n was to have Ming Huayu win the tournament to marry her, achieving her goal of the talented coupleing together. From there, she nned to use him to obtain something specific. Unfortunately, a man of unknown origins threw a wrench in her ns. The man who came to the pce to receive his reward the day after Ming Huayu''s triumph was another man.

    Jingan was aware that Ming Huayu was in disguise from the moment they met. So ordingly, she saw through Ming Feizhen''s disguise not long after meeting him. She decided to kill him thereafter, a decision which she made at the snap of a finger.

    Seducing Ming Huayu was a risky manoeuvre, but she did it, nheless, to enact a secret n. Owing to Ming Huayu''s departure, she had to take action and invest immense effort to turn the tides. Killing Ming Feizhen was the action.

    From a young age, she had big ns in mind, all of which were on a scale that no ordinary man couldprehend. Let us use her marriage as an example. Normal girls emphasised mutual feelings; however, such sentiments and even sharing simr status in the social hierarchy were insignificant matters to her.

    Her fuma was just outside the door. She silently sat there as she waited for her make-up to be done. The number one beauty in the capital had already made up her mind to kill everyone present. That was the only way that the "A formidable enemy seeks revenge on Fuma. The Princess'' Manor is drowned in a sea of fire," y could go on as scheduled. Once news of the incident were to spread, Ming Huayu would immediately return to the capital for his disciple and to find out the truth. That would provide her with a second chance to approach Mount Daluo''s patriarch.

    JIngan didn''t enjoy killing nor was she a cruel and violent individual. In saying that, she didn''t inherit her father''s kind nature. She was unlike her father, brothers, sisters and even her mother. That was her innate nature; she was a woman whocked joy and sadness, emotions that normal people experienced. She didn''t smile or cry ever since she turned five.

    Jingan''s mother passed away as soon as she was conceived. Her father was busy with national affairs and didn''t bother with her. The only hobby she had was reading in her room. Be it day or night, she always read books. Whenever she was tired from reading, she would sit at the window ledge and space out while peering at the sky.

    Due to her not crying or smiling, always wearing the same expression, as well as not being fond of speaking, she just kept her head down and read books. Maids, eunuchs and even the concubine who raised her gradually developed a fear for her. Her biological mother passed away when she was an infant. The highest-ranking Imperial Concubine, who raised her, wasn''t favoured by the Emperor from a young age. She originally intended to raise the eldest Princess to win the Emperor''s favour, but to her dismay, the Princess was a nerd.

    Try as she may, the concubine couldn''t get Jingan''s attention. At one point, she questioned if Jingan was mute. Afterwards, she recalled that while she read out loud during her lessons with her teacher, she was able to speak. Hence, the concubine realised that Jingan deliberately ignored her!

    The concubine and Jingan''s biological mother had a grudge between them when herte mother was still alive. Her thoughts side-tracked, and she thundered, "Your mother is His Majesty''s cousin, a Royal Princess. Your mother was Empress Dowager''s granddaughter, and you''re her grandniece, so you hold status without equal. Is that why you think nothing of anyone? So what if your family background is prestigious? Your mother is dead; you reside in my pce. If I want to starve you to death, see if anyone feeds you!"

    The concubine in question was not one for convoluted schemes, but was very brash and had a tendency to be jealous. With her character and the loneliness in the pce, she had umted a mass of jealousy and resentment over time without her being aware. Logically speaking, due to JIngan''s biological mother having passed away years ago, it was impossible for Jingan''s mother to threaten her standing in the Emperor''s heart. Nheless, she stubbornly projected the grudge between Jingan''s mother and herself onto Jingan.

    After that, the concubine locked Jingan in a dark room and didn''t feed her for several days consecutively. Had she not been afraid of getting in trouble with the Emperor if Jingan actually died, she, without a shadow of doubt, would''ve starved the Princess to death given her brash temperament. She once closed the doors to her room, stripped Jingan down and brutally whipped Jingan with a rattan rope, leaving cruel bloody marks on the Jingan''s soft skin.

    By the age of six, Jingan was able to remember the contents of over a hundred books. She would prostrate her snow white body on the ground, but not say a word or cry, "It hurts." She''d just coldly look at the concubine.

    The concubine once remarked that Jingan''s gaze was not the gaze of a child, but that of a devil''s reincarnation. Noticing that the young girl''s body still look stunning despite her bleeding, the concubine subconsciously recalled her beautifulte mother. She, thereby, developed jealousy towards Jingan and said to herself, "A vixen sure does give birth to another vixen!"

    Furious, the concubine thundered, "You want to be tough? Let''s see how long you can be tough for!"

    The concubine wanted to get a few men to destroy the girls'' chastity so that the girl would fear her and remain loyal to her for eternity. s, the pce was a strict ce. Besides the Empress, only the most favoured concubines would likely be able to bring people from outside in. The realisation further added fuel to her fire. She, therefore, wanted to find some strong females in the pce to torture Jingan daily as she awaited the day she''d find a guard in the pce who would obey her and carry out the viinous crime.

    Approximately a month after the Concubine had the idea, Jingan had yet to turn seven, but the Concubine¡­ suddenly jumped down a well in the name ofmitting suicide.

    Notes:

    *The first part of the titlees from the line "ËêÔÂ¾²ºÃ£¬ÏÖÊÀ°²ÎÈ " which can be tranted slightly differently in another context. The line was written as an oath from Hu Lancheng to Zhang Ailing when they got married.

 Volume 5 37 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 37 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 2)</h4>

    Every reason imaginable was attributed to the concubine''s suicide. Some imed she was heartbroken due to falling out of favour, and therefore suicided. Some imed that the concubine must''ve identally slipped in, as the well had been abandoned long ago and the edges were falling apart. Some imed that there were evil spirits in the pce and that Wudang''s Priest Shenfa should be called in to the pce to conduct a ritual. Rumours continued to bounce from one person to the next, but nobody knew why the young concubine would give up on life when she was in her prime. Only the young eldest Princess knew the reason.

    To lure a greedy woman to an abandoned well, all she needed to do was scatter her jewellery, forming a trail leading to the well. Setting traps to hunt prey was a concept that Jingan grasped at six years of age.

    None of the strong women, who tormented her, were let off the hook. Some were crushed under a wall that fell; others were incinerated in the locked firewood room; some fell from the second floor while wiping windows and happened tond head first on the stone paths.

    Jingan murdered one after the other, but never once did she feel proud of herself. Killing them was the same concept as a wild beast eating merely to satiate hunger, as not killing would mean their survival was in peril. It was an act void of personal emotion.

    It was just that she couldn''tprehend why the concubine had to torture her, why people feared her just because she didn''t cry or smile and if she was somehow wrong, for she neither wanted to smile nor cry.

    After she was done murdering all of the culprits involved in her abuse, she continued to read books regardless of time of the day. Sadly, she couldn''t find the answers to her questions in those books.

    Princess Jingan never showed a smile, cried and remained reticent until she was ten. The Emperor thought his eldest daughter had contracted some sort of strange disease, and therefore had Imperial Doctor Dai, head of the Imperial Medical Department, move in to a ce nearby hers to allow him to always be ready to take a look at her.

    Doctor Dai had prescribed countless medicines for the Princess, who was difficult to deal with, and checked her pulse countless times to no avail until one particr time. That visit, young Jingan seemed curious about herself, so she finally asked, "Doctor Dai, what is the condition I am diagnosed with?"

    "You have none," responded the most skilled doctor in the capital, who was busy experimenting with herbs and didn''t look up when he responded. He gave the impression that he didn''t think anything of the charming young girl, "You have never been ill, Your Highness."

    "Oh?" responded ten-year old Jingan, who nced out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to be interested somewhat, "I have never smiled, though."

    "If one does not smile, besides being incapable, it could also be attributed to the fact that they do not like to smile. Why must it beplicated with contrived reasons?" remarked the old doctor, with a big beard. He narrowed his eyes that were losing their visual acuity, "You do not like to smile, cry, those around you and yourself. That is all there is to it. What illness is there to speak of? Please forgive this old one, but this old one must resume experimenting with medicines."

    The doctor actually ignored the Princess and concentrated back on his medicines.

    Jingan felt as though she finally found someone who understood her, yet was still puzzled.

    Yearster on a particr day, Jingan suddenly discovered that she was different to others. Perhaps it started with her facial expression. Subsequently, she began to learn her first distinct frown, thinking expression and indifferent expression. Admittedly, she did an impressive job of learning the expressions.

    She learnt to smile; to be precise, she learnt how to imitate smiles. The first time she imitated a smile, the Emperor was almost brought to tears of joy. It was his first time seeing his daughter smile. The reactions Jingan received for her smiles were an incredibly new experience for her. She smiled, disyed big smiles, charmingly smiled, bashfully smiled, hopelessly and so forth.

    Jingan felt that smiling was very fascinating for the first time. When she had spare time, she liked to imitate other''s expressions. Eventually, she learnt to cry, show anger and show sorrow. Despite her learning all of the expressions from others, she realised that her repertoire of expressions gradually expanded and emotions that she never felt had surfaced.

    With the passage of time, Jingan, who never wore any expressions, became hailed as the most beautiful woman in the capital today. In the pce, they alsouded her as the Emperor''s most sensible, kind, erudite, refined and graceful eldest Princess.

    Until now, she lived using expressions she learnt from others andbined them with her hidden thoughts to try and realise her grand ambition.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Princess Jingan sat in front of her make-up table and applied a rosy colour to her iparably enchanting cheeks. For a split moment, she forgot her smile, but a frost flower quickly appeared on her face and instantly captured the hearts of all of the maids. Her dangerous beauty figuratively hung the maids'' hearts up. Perhaps that was what people meant by breathtaking beauty. There was no doubt that the maids wished to possess that same degree of beauty.

    Princess Jingan had no time to spare for their reactions. She intently waited for news toe from next door. However, the response from her fuma''s end was surprisingly still. She and her assassins had agreed on a time to strike, yet still no one sprang into action.

    Jingan wasn''t proficient with martial arts, but was gifted with photographic memory. She could discern if a fight took ce or not on the opposite side just from subtle changes in the air. Nevertheless, the fight was unbelievably fast. She knew that Ming Feizhen was Ming Huayu''s substitute, and hence, could not have been weak. She surmised that Ming Feizhen must''ve been Ming Huayu''s disciple or something simr. Consequently, she called in the cavalry for the ambush, which consisted of skilled fighters of a calibre that wasn''t easy toe by from the pugilistic world. From the looks of things, she presumed they had finished off Ming Feizhen.

    JIngan was a tad disappointed. She had wanted to make a bigger deal out of it when the assassins struck so that she could take advantage of the disturbance to let the people, who came to their rescue, hear cries and pleas for help, thereby escting the severity of the disturbance. Unfortunately, it was dead silent. A long time passed before footsteps were finally heard approaching her.

    Jingan remained unperturbed as usual, but she subconsciously copied those around her with a frown. Her frown was her way of expressing her dissatisfaction with her men. But, to her surprise, it wasn''t her people who came in, but her husband.

    Fuma Jingan, Ming Feizhen, pushed the door open and entered whileughing, "Haha, where''s my little Princess? Wife, my, my, let me have a look. Your make-up is more enthralling than flowers."

    Without waiting for the Princess to respond, the head maid at the time cut in, "Fuma, look at the time. You have still not gotten dressed. Moreover, meeting your wife before your wedding is inauspicious. Hurry up and get out!"

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head, "I just saw five dogs bite someone opposite this room. They were rewarded with one chopstick each, and then they were out cold. I thought, ''this is bad.'' I did not know who the owner of the dogs was, and since it would bring trouble after knocking them out, I came to ask what to do."

    "What dogs? We do not raise any dogs at the manor. Get out, get out."

    Ming Feizhen was forced out of the room. Jingan snuck a nce at Ming Feizhen through her mirror. She noticed his gaze sweep over everyone in the room, and then, left, seemingly without anyone noticing.

    As she thought, he came to test them.

    ''He is a tricky one to deal with.''

    Jingan wasn''t exposed, but she struggled to recollect herself for a long time.

    Jingan sent a total of five assassins on par with the Seventeen Hidden Dragons to be on the safe side. It was incredibly unlikely Ming Huayu, himself, could dispatch five of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons without a single person noticing.

    ''He¡­''

 Volume 5 38 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 38 I Swear To Lead A Quiet Life of Peace. I Wish You Well, My Beloved. (Part 3)</h4>

    Jingan arranged a total of four groups of assassins before they were to consummate their marriage. They were all weaker than first time assassins. Also, they didn''t act directly through her orders. Therefore, even if they spilled the beans, the mastermind wouldn''t be her. She didn''t want to kill Ming Feizhen, but to test him. To her amazement, she learnt that his skills were too profound to determine. His skills exceeded the Seventeen Hidden Dragons and were most probably at the level of the Ultimate Three.

    Jingan possessed extraordinary insight. Ming Feizhen''s disguise skills were brilliant and meticulous, but not wless. Jingan deduced that he was younger than his appearance suggested from the condition of his skin in his palms. She was amazed that a man around twenty five, twenty six could embody such profound skills.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Jingan scanned Ming Feizhen the entire time. He wore a delighted smiled from beginning to end. asionally, he''d check out Jingan''s buxom breasts and reveal a perverted look. Jingan didn''t feel shy about that, yet shyly smiled.

    Before it was time for them to consummate their marriage, Ming Feizhen kepting up with reasons to refuse her; he didn''t dare to touch her body. She, however, applied a powerful drug to the bed. It was a drug that was powerful enough to knock out beasts asrge as an elephant. The purpose of the drug was to inhibit Ming Feizhen''s rationality, thereby allowing her to assassinate him. If he possessed profound internal energy, the effects would be reduced. Besides the drug, Jingan also arranged three hundred executioners outside. The moment he stepped outside, he''d be mincemeat. She didn''t expect for Ming Feizhen to adamantly refuse to join her on the bed, though. If he refused, how was she to carry out her n?

    "Fuma, do you hate me¡­?"

    "No way!" eximed Ming Feizhen. He wiped away his yful attitude and wore on a serious look, "It is because I, your husband, practice The Most Perfect Square Has No Corners The Loudest Sound Is the One That Cannot Be Heard Pork Shoulders¡­ Giant Pearl Purple Wrinkle Invincible Fried Chicken¡­ I meant, Evil Demolition Overlord''s Divine Art that forces me to avoid sexual activity with women. Please forgive me, Princess."

    Despite always being astute, the Princess believed that im of all things, because as far as her understanding of men went, they couldn''t resist her charms. She used herself as bait to seduce Ming Feizhen.

    "Fuma¡­ in that case, you have to let me sleep in your arms¡­ every night from now."

    Jingan threw herself into Ming Feizhen''s arms, using his arm as her pillow.

    Jingan wasn''t a girl who cared about maintaining her virginity, but that wasn''t to say that she''d offer herself to any man. What it meant was that she didn''t consider her body to be so important. As such, when the situation called for it, she didn''t mind using her body as bait. s, something awkward happened.

    Ming Feizhen showed no signs of drowsiness. To the contrary, besides having more and more vigour, hid rate of breathing picked up more and more. Jingan, on the other hand¡­ fell asleep. For some reason, she slept as though she had returned to her childhood, when she was in her mother''s cuddle, and enjoyed a deep and peaceful slumber on Ming Feizhen.

    When she came to, she finally realised that she fell asleep. She opened her eyes to saw somebody else, "F-Fuma?"

    She almost instantly covered her mouth to stop her voice escaping.

    His long hair was as white as snow; it resembled collected heavy snowfall, yet looked as soft and thick as goose feathers. His hair was syed before his face in casual fashion. It wasn''t just his hair that was different, though. His facial appearance was alsopletely different.

    Upon close inspection, he was arguably quite the handsome man. If he looked quieter and was more reticent, he would look striking. It was a pity, however, for he loved to wear exaggerated expressions. He slept with his mouth wide open simrly to a child. To add, he had faint wrinkles on his eyes, which were signs that he usually liked tough and smile.

    ''So this is his true appearance¡­ Pfft¡­ he truly resembles a little kid.''

    Princess Jingan couldn''t contain herughter when she saw Ming Feizhen curl his hair up and bite down on it as if he was chomping a chicken drumstick. Owing to the subtle jolt, Ming Feizhen opened hiszy eyes. Subsequently, Jingan quickly shut her eyes and returned to her sleeping posture while softly snoring.

    She heard the man, who she slept on, exim, "Oh, sh*t, I fell asleep! Why did I have to fall asleep after holding on until dawn?"

    She heard him pat his face and mutter, "It''s almost over now; don''t rx now. Fuck you, damn old Shifu¡­ Had it not been for you, I wouldn''t be in the hands of this scheming woman as her husband¡­"

    Jingan wondered to herself, "So he is Ming Huayu''s disciple. But how did he read me? I faked my expression¡­"

    The voice next to Jingan''s ear was extremely soft. She opened her eyes ever so slightly to glimpse at him. Ming Feizhen was in the midst of face shifting at a sensational speed. He stuffed his white hair into his back cor; then wore on his wig before wearing on his mask; then hethered a powder of some sort onto his skin where it was uneven, such as where his neck and mask connected.

    Jingan was a tad surprised, "It seems that he hastily did his disguise yesterday. Otherwise, I might not have seen through his disguise with the skill he is currently disying."

    Once Ming Feizhen finished his disguise, he nced over to see Jingan still sound asleep.

    After looking at her for a brief moment, Ming Feizhen caressed her face with hisrge hand and slowly remarked, "Why does such a good looking girl¡­ keep trying toe up with ways to kill people? Killing without any consideration for herself¡­ Just who are you doing this for?''

    Jingan broke the silence after Ming Feizhen ended his remark, "Fuma."

    Jingan sat up and looked at Ming Feizhen''s expression look with her own mischievous smile, "Your touch tickles."

    Ming Feizhen spontaneously realised that Jingan was putting on an act before. Hence, he smiled, "Good morning, Princess."

    He was happy to not beat around the bush. However, Jingan responded, "I slept too long and made you wait for me to wake. I do apologise for that. Should others find out about my unbing behaviour, people would say that you married azy wife."

    "Marrying you is a great blessing, Princess. Nobody would dare to speak ill of you."

    In his mind, however, he said, "Seeing as you''re not exposing my fake identity, I guess you''re not all that upright and transparent, either."

    "Furthermore, I was not waiting for you to wake, Princess. You know, there are lots of executioners in the manor. I went to train with them this morning before the sun came up and passed on some of my knowledge to them. I hope we did not wake you."

    Ming Feizhen finished off with a smile, but his gaze showed his evident provocation, which said, "Lass, these little games of yours aren''t enough to kill me."

    Jingan responded with a quiet smile, "Hehe, I will be yours henceforward. Everyone in the manor will need to be educated by you. Every single one of them."

    ''Those aren''t my only ns.''

    Sparks appeared in between the husband and wife couple''s eyes.

    From that day onward, the "husband and wife couple," stayed with each other for their own ends. They spent three years plotting and battling with each other and staying vignt of each other. Nevertheless, nobody was able to win against the other.

    Ming Feizhen couldn''t break out of the shackles as his Fuma identity by himself, for the reason that it would attract the attention of the imperial court. That would make his activities at Liu Shan Men difficult.

    Meanwhile, Jingan couldn''t kill Ming Feizhen. It wasn''t that she didn''t have better and more vicious methods, but that she, too, had countless jobs to attend to, therefore leaving her without enough time to focus on solely Ming Feizhen.

    Jingan was the same as what the Divine Moon Sect was for Ming Feizhen. They were roadblocks in his path to retirement, ones that he couldn''t resolve.

    To Jingan, Ming Feizhen was a mistake she made on the chessboard that she couldn''t correct, unfortunately. In her original n, she would rather be a widow than have a man, who wouldn''t touch her, fortunately, but was impossible to get rid of, not to mention always appearing around her.

    The marriage that came to be through a failure and a sequence of errors and would only end with a death had yet to bear fruit. The only aspect which wasn''t stagnant was their understanding of each other, which continued to grow without end.

    Ming Feizhen knew that Jingan had someone with exceptional martial mastery supporting her from the shadows, in addition to powerful supporters from the pugilistic world and the imperial pce. Moreover, Jingan was aware that Ming Feizhen was Ming Huayu''s disciple, as well as the master of Night Fortress. He was definitely not weaker than Yi Ya, the Qilin''s God of Battle.

    ''So we''re acting, are we? Bring it on, then. Let''s see if you die at my hands or if you can catch me before I send you to the other world.''

    Three years had gone by. Jingan silently gazed at the sky from the room in the fuma manor once again. Her mind followed a path that none knew of as when she was young.

    Jin Wangsun followed hermands. The chance that the Emperor bestowed Jin Wangsun with was also her handiwork. This time, she forced Ming Feizhen to meet her as her fuma and made another attempt on his life, but it failed again.

    ''Ming Feizhen can''t be killed with normal means, after all.''

    Thus, Jingan forewent assassination ns; instead, she decided to leverage that fact. The young Princess had secretly set a n up already. She was steady and calm. Even the individual who stood with her had toment that they, themselves, couldn''tpare to her.astly, she softly sighed, "Fuma, Dear¡­ don''t disappoint me. Everything done¡­ is for the throne."

 Volume 5 39 Gaily Dressed Girl. Entering a Mystery.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 39 Gaily Dressed Girl. Entering a Mystery.</h4>

    After bidding Princess Jingan farewell, I exited the city; then found a secluded and quiet spot.

    I wanted to finish the preparations for the fuma selection as soon as possible. There were only ten days left until the event. I was roughly seventy, eighty percent confident that I could triumph in the three contests that the Emperor had chosen. However, that didn''t mean that I could sit on myurels and still win.

    We weren''t told what the "to be determined" topic was, while the remaining two were peculiar. Although they were rted to martial arts skills, as well, to be honest, defeating Jin Wangsun while hiding my skills in front of the Emperor was a tall order.

    The first topic was ''shining edge''. As the name suggests, it was a weaponrybat contest. Besides requiring us to demonstrate martial arts proficiency, we also needed a quality weapon. Jin Wangsun wasuded as Jiangnan''s Sabre King. Though his skills were far from qualifying as a Sabre King, he did possess genuine skills. Further, his family had a weaponry workshop; hence, he didn''t have just one de on him.

    I had considered stealing a few of his weapons. Tiger Fang, which was wielded by his broadsword expert, A Hu, was a quality de that could didn''t pale inparison to any of the supreme weapons. However, I scrapped the idea in the end, as all famous des in the pugilistic world had their own origins. Hence, they couldn''t be faked. If nothing else, Tiger Fang had been mentioned in the ck and White Reflection on more than one asion, meaning that it was a famous weapon.

    Jin Wangsun had his own men; therefore, there was the off chance that Gold and Silver Sect might''ve marked their weapons with their unique symbol to avoid losing their weapons. That, alone, was enough of a reason to dissuade me from stealing his weapons.

    Mount Daluo certainly had weapons. Nevertheless, I never learnt styles involving weapons; consequently, I never paid any attention to them. I, therefore, didn''t know if there were any good weapons at Mount Daluo. Shiyi, on the other hand, was well-versed in all eighteen weapon types. But s, with her suave personality and dislike for burdens, she whinged that carrying a weapon with her all the time was just dead weight, literally. Whenever she enteredbat, she''d pick up whatever was avable within the vicinity. Worstes to worst, she didn''t have to be concerned about tackling opponents with her bare hands, since she had learnt Mount Daluo''s Five Divine Styles and Heavenly Net Treasure. Subsequently, I needed to find myself a weapon on par with Tiger Fang topete against Jin Wangsun.

    The second round of the contest was ''thousand miles'', a contest where we were to search for a rare object within a thousand miles, and bring it back for the Emperor. The further the object was located and the rarer it was, the more points would be assigned. Obviously, the one with more points assigned would be deemed the victor. The round was a contest of manpower and resources. Gold and Silver Sect was a wealthy family in Jiangnan. You''d be hard-pressed to name a rare object that they couldn''t get their hands on.

    I wasn''t afraid of fighting Jin Wangsun one on one, but frankly, the two aforementioned contests were all subtly in Jin Wangsun''s favour. I, initially, didn''t realise it, but now that I thought about, I''d bet my head that it was Jingan''s idea. Thatss would definitely support him in such a roundabout way. I just didn''t know what thest contest ''to be determined'' was.

    I stayed at a ce outside the city for three entire days to prepare for the contest before returning to Liu Shan Men.

    As soon as I entered the doors of Liu Shan Men, there was a strange atmosphere lingering in the air, but I couldn''t put my finger on what exactly it was. As a quick summary, everybody walked around with their hands down. Myrades, who usually greeted me, checked left and right. They were either had something holding them up or were busily heading somewhere.

    ''It''s just a greeting! Just how busy can you be?! You, messenger boy, you still haven''t left when the sun is at its peak; just how busy could you be?!!''

    When I got to the side yard, I caught sight of Su Xiao leading a small team out.

    "Xiao, are you going out on patrol?"

    I raised a hand to greet him, only for him to pout sideways. With a, "hmph," he looked away and led the team out.

    Bewildered, I chased after them, "Hey! Wait. What''s going on here?"

    Su Xiao wore high boots on his straight and slender legs, yet the boots had the vibe of dance shoes. When he saw me give chase, he suddenly halted in his tracks, leading to me nearly colliding with him. He, too, jolted due to me appearing up close so abruptly, but I caught him in time.

    "Careful."

    To my surprise, Su Xiao shook my hold off, "I-I''m not careful, beat it! It''s none of my business even if I die!"

    "Just what is the going on here?''

    "What is going on, you ask?" fumed Su Xiao. "Mr. Ming! You don''t even know about the unscrupulous deed youmitted?! Is there a need for you to ask the obvious?! Hmph!"

    With a flick of his hip, he turned around and left.

    ''What in the world is going on here?!''

    After I strolled through the entirety of Liu Shan Men, I gradually noticed that they didn''t just avoid me, but basically despised me.

    ''God, you''ve got me spinning. Have you mistaken me for someone else?''

    ''Tang Ye was the one who gave Jin Wangsun a green hat and bedded the man''s fianc¨¦e, not me!''

    The atmosphere in Liu Shan Man was truly bewildering.

    Even my loudmouth second brother had a cold and sounded husky. True, his cold did have to do with him getting drunk then sleeping naked on a cold night on the streets, but it was still perplexing. The heavy atmosphere was weird, but I couldn''t put my finger on what the trigger was. It was simr to¡­ feeling as if someone would push you from behind while you were urinating down the edge of a cliff.

    ''It''s only been a few nights since I wasst in. Just what exactly happened?''

    I headed to my room¡­ Man, I didn''t get any sleep for several nights again. It seemed as though sleep and I didn''t mesh recently. If it wasn''t Su Xiao moving in, it was Princess Hongzhuang taking my bed, consequently robbing me of a peaceful night of sleep.

    ''Man, I miss the good old days when Boss was around. If Boss Shen was here, you two girls¡­ a girl and a Su Xiao wouldn''t be able to bully me out of my bed.''

    I didn''t see any traces of Princess Hongzhuang anywhere. Perhaps it was inconvenient for her to stay with just Su Xiao when I was out, and thus, went somewhere else. I pushed the door open and walked straight over to my bed.

    Suddenly, my nose picked up a faint sweet scent. It didn''t seem to be Su Xiao''s scent or the perfume Her Highness liked to use, but it was a familiar scent, nevertheless.

    My curiosity was piqued all of a sudden. I strolled over to the bed and pulled open the curtain. On my small bed, lied a pretty, small, delicate young girl with youthful white shoulders. She lied face down on the bed. Her attractive long hair covered a small portion of her face, but left enough visible to see her face. Her face was pretty; she had red lips and white teeth. She looked younger than sixteen year old Su Xiao by several years. She was the assassin I ran into at Heavenly Fragrance Garden, Sisi.

    ''She tried to kill mest time, but was exposed by me. She shouldn''t being after me so soon; why is she on my bed, and asleep for that matter?''

    I seemingly heard a sound. The girl, who resembled a purring kitten, wasn''t asleep. She vigntly raised her head up, turned her head around and nced at me. Realising it was me who entered, she reacted with shock.

    "Wh-Why are you here?"

    I was unable to withhold my chuckle, "This is my room, yet you''re asking me that?"

    I took two steps forward. Sisi struggled with her entire body, seemingly in an attempt to flee. Unfortunately, she couldn''t move. When I had a closer look, I realised that she was restrained with a thin rope, thereby totally restricting her movements. She wasn''t sleeping on my bed, but forced to wait on my bed.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You¡­ you shameless lecher!" eximed Sisi. With a flushed look, she yelled, "You used Liu Shan Men''s authority to abduct me from Heavenly Fragrance Garden after my assassination attempt failed! You know well and truly that I am not a girl working at Heavenly Fragrance Garden, yet shamelessly vited me! You bring shame to your exalted name in the martial world!"

    Notes:

    *All units of measurement in the series have been converted to units you, readers, are more familiar with. For instance, all the phrases using incense as measures of time have been converted.

 Volume 5 40 Hongzhuang on Snow. A Clear Situation.

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 40 Hongzhuang on Snow. A Clear Situation.</h4>

    What Sisi used me of left me totally confused and lost for words.

    "You''vepletely lost me. When did I ever ask for you from Heavenly Fragrance Garden?"

    I saw a letter on the pillow out the side of the corner of my eye. I found out what happened after I read it. The letter was for me, and penned by Prime Minister Li Si. He first recounted the bond we formed at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Then, he mentioned how he helped me frame Jin Wangsun, which was a great job and was very much to his liking. Then, he mentioned that he supported me for the fuma selection and told me to take it easy. However, he reminded me that it was a fuma selection, nheless. He also reminded me that it was best to not visit Heavenly Fragrance Garden and simr ces too frequently. He reportedly prepared a beauty for me who would be my maid. And so, he took the girl who lied next to me, Miss Sisi, tied her hands behind her back and sent her to my ce.

    ''No wonder why everyone in Liu Shan Men gave me weird looks!! Turns out you were the one who screwed me over! Who ties up a girl and sends her to a constable office in the middle of the day?! And of all ces, you choose one from Heavenly Fragrance Garden! You didn''t leave your name, so you''re fine. I only knew it was you, as you left the word ''Si'' on the letter. I would''ve thought Heavenly Fragrance Garden was holding a bargain event, otherwise:e visit and we''ll gift you a girl!''

    ''No wonder why Su Xiao was angry, and no wonder why Her Highness didn''t stay here! It was all because you sent this girl here! Might I also remind you that you sure know how to choose, huh? Send me someone after my life, will you?!''

    Sisi adamantly yelled, "You despicable scoundrel!! You killed my adopted father, and then vited me for your own entertainment. Do it. I will never spare you!"

    Sisi red at me with her eyes wide as though she was dead certain that I would vite her or something. I, to the contrary, thought the whole ordeal was a drag.

    ''I have so many things that require my attention right now; as if I have time to bother with you.''

    I snipped the rope with two fingers, "This has nothing to do with me. Someone took matters into their own hands. Don''t me everything on me."

    As soon as I released Sisi, I suddenly heard a voice in my ear. The speaker used Voice Transmission and articted her thoughts in an affable and clear voice.

    "You sure are being soft. She''s an assassin. She must have a grudge with you, am I right? Are you just going to spare her?''

    Every sect and school has their own way of utilising Voice Transmission. The different way the Buddhist sects and dao sects use it was vastly different as an example. This girl''s version of it was gentle and heavy. Evidently, she used a Buddhist mental cultivation style. She was none other than Emei''s exalted disciple, our reigning second Princess, Princess Hongzhuang!

    I checked side to side. I had just conducted a search when I entered, too, but I didn''t see her.

    ''Wait¡­ could Her Highness have learnt some stealth technique over thest few days?''

    "Save yourself the trouble; I''m on the roof."

    ''Eh? I see now; no wonder why I couldn''t find her in the room.''

    I mouthed, "Your Highness, have you been well over thest few days? Your Subject was not nearby. Did you manage?"

    "It was no big deal¡­ I just slept on the roof."

    "Wow. Your Majesty, you truly possess extraordinary resilience! The roof is dirty, and it is a cold winter, yet you slept on the roof for three nights? You seriously possess impressive internal energy. With that said, the weather is freezing nowadays; even my second brother has fallen ill. It has been hard on you for thest three days."

    "Hmph, it''s nothing worth mentioning. Back then, I travelled across thends, so it shoulde as no surprise that I have weathered harsh weather conditions. Our Emei Sect''s internal strength is formidable. The cold is nothing to fear. You should be aware of that.

    "Yes, yes, indeed."

    While I spoke with Her Highness, Sisi regained her freedom, but she didn''t leave. Instead, she just stared at me, feeling surprised.

    I sat down on the edge of the bed and began to take my boots off. Once I took them off and ced them aside, I nced at Sisi. Voice perplexed, I asked, "What? You still not leaving?"

    "Are, are you really letting me go?" asked Sisi. She tucked her chin and looked at me. She resembled a doubtful kitten. She swept her eyes over the entire room, seemingly afraid that I set a trap or something. "Don''t try to get in my graces. You killed my adopted father; I must take your life to avenge him. Don''t even dream of trying to make me give up by doing me a small favour."

    ''So you''re just going to dump it on me, huh?''

    I smiled, "Well, stay here, and suck it up, then. I''m not married. I''m fine with having myself a mistress before I marry my main wife."

    "Ming Feizhen."

    "Ah, Your Highness! I was just trying to intimidate her, nothing more."

    "¡­"

    Her Highness suddenly stopped responding. When she did speak up again, she had a tinge of concern in her tone, "Uhh¡­ Ming Feizhen, can you hurry up? I''m not cold, but¡­ I can''t discuss the recent events and whatnot with you from the roof."

    "Huh? Hurry up? We do not have anything to chat about. I have been spending my days outside the city to avoid your elder sister''s surveince, and prepare for the fuma selection."

    "I meant¡­ we can chat¡­ about the weather and whatnot. Otherwise¡­ we can y idiom solitaire."

    "What the heck? Even idiom solitaire is featuring an appearance now¡­? Could Her Highness¡­" I wondered. I suddenly figured it out. "Oh, fuck! Her Highness has frozen stiff up there!! She just put on a tough front with me, so now she can''t bring herself to admit that she was cold! Geez, sensitive as always. She dug herself a hole too deep to climb out of!! I bloody knew no one could''ve slept on the roof for three freezing nights!!"

    "I''m not that eager to enter your room¡­ You know how superior my internal strength is. I¡­ just wanted to y idiom solitaire."

    ''Her brain must be frozen silly!''

    "Pl-Please give me a moment. I will be done right away!"

    Quickly and aggressively, I said to Sisi, "Kid, you''re a little runt who looks ten, so why do you have so much to say? I said I''m letting you go, which means that I''m letting you go. It''s time for me to hit the hay. Either get up, or I''m making you my nket. I''m willing to put up with looking at your nude body."

    "You! You! You degenerate!"

    The young girl''s biggest weakness was being teased. Her immediate reaction was to try and hop off the bed. Unfortunately, her movement was very sluggish. She lied on the bed as if there was still a rope restraining her. In saying that, her hands and feet appeared perfectly fine. It was just that she crawled at a turtle''s speed.

    "What''s the matter?"

    With red flushes on her face, Sisi panicked, "N-Nothing. I''m leaving. Don''t look at me!"

    Her movements were sluggish enough to be considered bizarre. It looked as though her buttocks wouldn''t move ording to her desire. Noticing my gaze scanning her, she instantly reacted in a bashful manner. She covered her young and yet to develop buttocks with her hands, "What are you looking at?! Look again, and I''ll dig your eyes out!"

    I couldn''t contain myughter, "What''s wrong with your bottom? It''s swollen, isn''t it?"

    My remark fanned the mes of Sisi''s rage. Her face turned red as a ripe tomato, "Y-You can still brazenly say that?! It was all thanks to you!"

    ''Me? What did I do?''

    "All because you fell asleep that day and¡­ you! You pervert!"

    ''Me?''

    If my memory does my justice, I think Prime Minister did say something along the lines of me misbehaving while I was asleep. Apparently, I groped and rubbed the girl.

    ''Could the victim of my mischievous ws been¡­''

    I turned to look at her slender hips. She was merely a young girl, yet it had to be her behind that wasparable to a mature woman. I then looked at my hands and performed squeezing motions¡­

    ''Did my hands really touch her?''

    "Ming Feizhen¡­"

    "Yes, Your Highness!" I replied. I straightened up and mouthed, "Reporting, Your Highness. I swear that I was not the one who squeezed her buttocks!"

    Her Highness didn''t respond to me right away. Finally, she responded, "¡­ Mr. Right¡­"

    ''Fuck me! Her Highness has already begun the game of idiom solitaire! Has she lost her mind due to the cold?!!''

    I swiftly flicked Sisi an expression that indicated ill-will. Then, I wriggled my fingers and made hand movements appear perverted. The sight of my hand gestures enraged Sisi even further beyond before, "Stop with that gesture, you damn fiend!"

    She then propped herself up with a hard downward palm strike, ignoring the red bruise on her buttocks, only for the pain to overwhelm her, thereby nearly making her fall back down.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I picked Sisi up, and then put her on the ground properly and nicely. She put a desperate resistance when I first grabbed her, but she was far too weak inparison to me. As it was futile, she had to resort to cursing me, "It''s all your fault! It''s all your fault! Are you still going to continue harassing me?!"

    I responded with a smile, "Okay, okay, it was my fault. Put it on my tab."

    After setting her down, I caressed and pampered her. While I was at it, I adjusted her clothes for her.

    "I wasn''t the one who killed Fu Xiang. I don''t even know if he''s dead or alive. I''m only telling you this once." I said. I then tied up her clothes to fix them in ce. "If you want to exact vengeance on me, suit yourself. I''m not afraid. However, don''t go getting involved with Jin Wangsun. The people behind him are not to be trifled with, and it''s not to your benefit. Don''t idiotically run off and offer yourself up as someone''s scapegoat, got it?"

    Sisi spaced out as she looked at me before blushing out of the blue, "Quit the nice guy act! I refuse to listen you!"

    And thus, she turned and left.

    I knew that she wanted to act tough and state that she wouldn''t listen. In truth, she was cognizant of the fact that she was doomed to die after failing to kill me. Had she seeded, he''d turn her into a scapegoat. Young she may be, but definitely not stupid.

    As soon as Sisi left the room, I quickly looked up to the roof and whispered, "Your Highness, can youe down?"

    It wasn''t until a momentter that I received a reply, "¡­ Gestures of affection. Your turn¡­"

    ''You ying with me here? Oi! You just said ''Mr. Right'' before, didn''t you? Earth to Your Highness; it ends with ''Right''! How many idioms have you gone through on your own?! What was the process that took you from ''Mr. Right'' to ''gestures of affection''? It would be appropriate if you went from meeting your loved one to ''gestures of affection''!''

    ''Sheesh, it''s all over the ce now! I need to hurry and get the Princess down.''

    However, before I could act on the thought, I suddenly heard footsteps. Sisi came back. With my sight on the roof, I asked, "You have something else to say?"

    "A woman recently came to Heavenly Fragrance Garden¡­ Her name is Juese. I assume she''s someone you know, right?"

    Her statement made me look to her, "I do. Your point?"

    Sisi fumbled with her words, wondering if she should speak or not. In the end, she decided to tell me, "I shouldn''t be telling you this, but since you let me go, I won''t let myself owe anyone a favour. She suddenly joined Heavenly Fragrance Garden a few days ago and spread news that she wanted to be a courtesan. She also said that she wanted to give her virginity to a man on New Year''s Eve. She made an appearance at Heavenly Fragrance Garden the night before. Countless men drooled at her mesmerising appearance. There''s no way of keeping count of the number of men who visit Heavenly Fragrance Garden every night to try and meet her. It''s said that the price offered for her has already risen to a ludicrous amount."

    "Sh-, Miss Juese? She wants to be courtesan?" I eximed with disbelief. "And offer her virginity?!"

    "I''ve seen girls in brothels¡­ She¡­ doesn''t look as though she genuinely wants to be a courtesan. If you''re her friend, you should dissuade her before it''s toote."

    I couldn''t finish processing what Sisi said. I had no choice but to put everything aside. I bolted out of the door, crashing into five, six tables, seven, eight pots, nine, ten people and stumbled out of the door before running off full pelt.

    "Shiyi! What in the world are you thinking?!!" I yelled in my head.

    Princess Hongzhuang, who was in a daze on the roof, saw a figure zip out of the office. She frantically returned to her senses. Upon getting a clear visual of Ming Feizhen frantically running out, she took off after him.

    Notes:

    *Idiom Solitaire ¨C It¡¯s a game that requires, at least, two people. One person kicks it off with an idiom, and then someone elsees up with a new idiom, whose first character needs to contain thest character of the previous idiom. The one who eventually fails toe up with a follow-up idiom is the loser.

    **Obviously I didn''t adapt the idioms to English.

 Volume 5 41 Illustrating a Lover and a Love. The Stars Separate. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 41 Illustrating a Lover and a Love. The Stars Separate. (Part 1)</h4>

    An enormous holiday boat was gaily painted on Qinhuai River. Qinhuai River had been an illustrious scene for millenniums and always had to be associated with the cluster of luxury boats that literally covered the entire body of water, the brilliant men and beauties. Despite the romantic atmosphere under the moonlight and presence of flowers, the enormous boat was still the centre of attention, because Nanjing''s biggest brothel, Heavenly Fragrance Garden, owned the luxury boat - Ethereal Beauty Boat.

    Had it not upied a ce on Qinhuai River''s waters, the temptress of Jinling wouldn''t be considered one of the standouts among the paradises of beauties. There was no way that a brothel personally established by the Emperor wouldn''t have a branch on the waters.

    Ethereal Beauty Boat was constructed by Heavenly Fragrance Garden with a hefty sum. It was made by connecting twenty other boats together. It was made so well that it would feel no different to walking on t ground when aboard the ship. The elegance, scenery and sensual vibe around came together as one on board, thereby being deemed the favourite boat of nobles and officials in the city. As such, while it was considered a branch, it was the business that earned the most among all of Heavenly Fragrance Garden''s branches. In thest three most recent days, its business had shattered all previous records, as a beauty from the capital had gone there as a courtesan.

    With Miss Juese''s presence known to be there, Master Wangsun rushed to the ce to meet the beauty, but she calmly sat before her mirror on her own,bing her hair in an unfettered manner.

    It came as no surprise that money could allow one to have their way at ces such as Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Nevertheless, considerable power was also necessary. Ming Suwen''s identity was special, not to mention that she was in contact with the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect. Hence, she easily managed to induct Huo Qing''er into Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Choosing to be a courtesan, however, was a totally different manner.

    Arranging for Huo Qing''er to take on a fake identity was but a human resource delegation issue. However, suddenly dering herself a courtesan earned the jealousy and resentment of the girls at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Heavenly Fragrance Garden had three branches in the capital. Besides the headquarters and the boat, there was one other ce. They had eighty if not a hundred top-ranking beauties. As for famous beauties, the top-ranking beauties at the three branches were girls who strictly performed artistic feats and participated in no form of prostitution. They, too, were girls so beautiful that one would think they walked out from a picturesque painting.

    The moment a courtesan was promoted, it meant that the courtesan was disregarding the top ranking girls and getting in their way of earning money. The top-ranking beauties knew Master Wangsun from the city very well and possessed an impressive amount of resources. Should they be offended, the brothel known as Heavenly Fragrance Garden, a front for an informationwork ground, would be faced with trouble, as well. Consequently, Huo Qing''er''s induction into the group of girls and Ming Suwen''s announcement to be a courtesan couldn''t be announced on the same day to avoid offending the top-ranking girls. But nheless, Ming Suwen did so anyway.

    On the day Ming Suwen explicated her intention, she walked straight up to the person in charge at Heavenly Fragrance Garden and made clear her intention foring. However, with a single gesture from her, the person in charge dropped a significant number of IQ points. Could you me him when he was a man?

    Truly, the gesture Ming Suwen performed was very insignificant. All she did was gently remove her face veil, revealing her gorgeous clear face of a fairy. There was none present who weren''t swept off their feet by the stunner. Thus, her courtesan status was established from the second she removed her face veil.

    Had the young masters and masters witnessed her beauty that transcended the realms of human imagination, they would have to redefine their definition of what it meant to possess beauty that could capture cities and fell nations. Compared to Ming Suwen''s ethereal beauty, the beauties they once held in their arms paled inparison. Those girls would be considered nothing more than artificial beauty achieved thanks to heavy make-up. However, Miss Juese wouldn''t bless them with so much as a smile.

    A decade ago, she was a young girl who had yet to turn twenty. In spite of that, though, men devoted themselves to her at the sight of her beauty, let alone the new mature beauty she was now bestowed with. By no means was it an exaggeration to say that they wereparable to weeds from her viewpoint.

    She rose to be the highest-ranking girl in Ethereal Beauty Boat faster than any before her, and became the first courtesan to be promoted through Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Unfortunately, besides ying one song every night and chatting for her own entertainment, she didn''t meet with any outsiders. Despite that, the number of men who boarded the boat for just a single glimpse of her beauty was almost enough to sink the boat.

    Ming Suwen sat before the mirror in her room by herself. She had just taken a bath with fragrances added. Shebed her wet hair that grazed her gorgeous body and cheeks. A tinge of loneliness could be seen in her beautiful reflection in the mirror.

    Her almost transparent white skin resembled the highest quality suet jade. Even if one were to split hairs, they would not be able to find a single blemish on her. Below her elegant neck was a flowing white shirt. What should''ve been a t surface were two mounds that perked her shirt up. They could qualify as two snowy peaks.

    Although the shirt was made by skilled weavers, nobody dared to wear it in the year plus that it had been on the boat. It was evident that the weaver possessed profound skills, and they had taken into ount one''s body lines to entuate the best of the wearer by loosening the chest region and tightening the waist area. As a result, it was extremely hard to find someone who could fit it perfectly. As if that wasn''t enough of a challenge. Due to the white colour, any blemishes on the wearer would be highlighted. The chest region was thin, thereby making breasts appear small. The wide waist region made the wearer''s hips look distended. You could say a tiny bit too much would be excessive, while a tiny bit too little would be missing too much.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hence, not even the highest ranking girls at Heavenly Fragrance Garden would dare to see customers or guests in those clothes, fearing that it would hide their gifted bodies, thereby leaving their customers and guests displeased. In the line of brothel work, they say that a girl should reject three times before giving the man the honour of meeting her, but when she does meet him, she should cover her face as a way of ying hard to get. Supposedly, it was the way to capture a man''s heart. It wasn''t to be misunderstood as revealing one''s weaknesses.

    The set of clothes required one with a very well-endowed breasts and a narrow torso to look good in. Ming Suwen, however, literally gave everyone at Heavenly Fragrance Garden a big face p hard enough to spin their head the other way when she wore it on.

    You could make the argument that their clothes were made tailored to her. Ming Suwen had a tall physique with the perfect proportions. Her belly was firm and tight, legs long and slender. There was no one who couldpare to her in any facet. That was not to mention her round and perky breasts with a bounce that would leave everyone in awe. Only with such a figure was she able to have the clothes that were soft stand up with the curves on her body. There was no other in Heavenly Fragrance Garden who would look better in it than her. One would wonder if her face and body was woven by God to create a definition for the word ''stunner'' and bless the men of the world. Even when she was in nd and unadorned clothing, men couldn''t resist their desire to rip her clothes off and realise their fantasies on those snowy mountains.

    She had long gotten used to men ogling her, and thus, disliked men. Perhaps her breathtaking beauty was one of the two unwanted inexorable things in her life. Having said that, she didn''t hate all men in thends, for there was one whom was always on her mind. Sadly, he was the other thing in her life that was doomed to never be hers. He was a man with a heart that she couldn''t capture.

    She fell for her childhood friend, who was also her martial grandniece. It was an open secret on Mount Daluo. Few wouldn''t be able to see through the atmosphere between the two, let alone Mount Daluo''s patriarch and the other leaders. Nobody ever explicated it, as nobody knew how to deal with it. What sort of situation would a senior of a sect being in a rtionship with a disciple be? Thus, nobody dared to mention it or speak about it in private. Even Ming Feizhen''s junior brothers faintly felt that their senior brother had a crush on their martial grandaunt. However, it was a rtionship that was doomed to nevere to fruition. Having said that, to make it up to their senior brother, they always did their best to help the two meet up.

    Seniority and background was a hurdle for Ming Feizhen as it was for Ming Suwen. In spite of her high status and her juniors not daring to voice their opinion on the matter, she grew up on Mount Daluo, lived off Mount Daluo and learnt Mount Daluo''s arts.

    Ming Huayu raised Ming Feizhen. Hero Shenzhou raised Ming Suwen. She couldn''t pursue her own interests while tarnishing her cousin''s Mount Daluo. If she did, it would result in everyone in the pugilistic making a joke out of Mount Daluo.

    Consequently, she never professed her love to Ming Feizhen. As a result, the two spent year after year guessing each other''s thoughts. Their rtionship was akin to that of a married couple. They were close enough to make the most intimate couples jealous. Ming Suwen cared about Ming Feizhen to willingly die for him without any hesitation, and she believed he would do the same. But s, it was impossible for them to be a couple.

 Volume 5 42 Illustrating a Lover and a Love. The Stars Separate. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 42 Illustrating a Lover and a Love. The Stars Separate. (Part 2)</h4>

    Ming Suwen''s love, intimacy and devotion gradually became a source of torment for the two. She didn''t like there being girls who were friendly with him. It frustrated and annoyed her. At the same time, though, she knew that she was harming him by stopping him and other women from getting cloes. Her feelings for him gradually became a restraint. If she forbade him from getting married - not to mention that she was sure he''d obey her - he''d end up in solitude until death. That wasn''t what she wanted. She cared about him more than any other. She just didn''t know what to do, unfortunately.

    Ming Feizhen definitely had his own reasons for desiring to retire. She didn''t know why entirely, but she did know some things. He wanted apletely new life; he didn''t want to have anything to do with those from his past, one that he had no affinity for.

    While Ming Suwen was wrestling, unsure of what to do, he had begun to move on. By the time she realised it, she had almost be part of the past he was throwing away. The discovery was very unsettling to her. It left her feeling defeated and ground her heart with bitterness. Therefore, she had to take action; else, he and she would forever remain in the past.

    Since Ming Feizhen was going to get married, she wanted to use the opportunity to cut the string of fate connecting them. As for bing a courtesan, that wasn''t a big deal to her. That was just Ming Suwen''s nature. There was nothing or nobody that she feared. She didn''t care what others thought. Good or bad, she did whatever she pleased. Plus, how was offering herself up as an auction item any different to having a matchmaker find a lover for her? She just wanted someone in name. At the end of the day, she hated those men.

    As for coincidentally choosing the same date as Ming Feizhen''s fuma selection for her auction date, she felt annoyed and heartbroken when she looked at the date that the procuress circled on the almanac calendar. Even if Ming Feizhen wanted toe, he wouldn''t make it.

    Sitting on front of the mirror, Ming Suwen couldn''t help but reveal a heartbroken bitter smile.

    "I didn''t cherish him in the past, yet now want to win him back," she thought.

    Suddenly, hasty footsteps approached from outside. It was the messenger maid who came. Ming Suwen had been in a foul mood as of recent, and consequently disliked being disturbed by anybody. Everything was reported to her by the particr maid.

    The maid shouted from outside, "Miss! This is unbelievable! A man hase for you! He looks very mad. Also, he knows martial arts."

    "Oh?" responded Ming Suwen. Her heart swayed, leading to her getting to her feet before she knew it. "H-He''s here?"

    Upon asking that, she finally realised that she still deeply loved Ming Feizhen. It was as though the man who upied her heart was standing there in front of her with a smile for her and silently waving his hand. She then would immediately rise and go to his side withplete disregard for anything and everyone else.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Suwen shook her head to throw out the fantasy.

    ''But even if I want to go to him¡­ what does he think? Shen Yiren, Li Hongzhuang, Li Jingan¡­ He is surrounded by beauties, all of whom are younger than me. Feizhen may not want to be with me.''

    The bitter thought caused Ming Suwen to stammer when she went to speak.

    "Not seeing him."

    Anxious, the maid notified Ming Suwen that she was going toe in, and then entered the room. She was almost knocked out by the stunning sight of Miss Juese sitting at the table.

    "Miss! He is very hostile. He has been standing in the main hall all this time. He said that if you do not grant him an audience, then he will vandalise our boat."

    "Then, let him vandalise the ce. Big deal¡­ Put it on my tab."

    "B-But he brought a sabre with him. Miss Dai tried to speak nicely with him to no avail. Once he got angry, he poured a cup of wine on Miss Dai''s head."

    "Feizhen wouldn''t do that. Moreover, he''s now Liu Shan Men''s head constable, so he can''t act that out of line. Could it be someone else? Could it just be another thirsty bugger?" wondered a bewildered Ming Suwen, after hearing the story.

    "So, not just arguing? He''s started fighting?''

    "Yes, he has. He is frightening."

    "You said he knows martial arts? How are his skills?''

    What would a low-ranking maid know about martial arts? It was immediately clear that she was the type to be so scared when a fight broke out that she''d take cover right away. When the fight broke out, she hid behind a flower vase shelf. She was so worried that she only dared to peek out of a small gap. The bloody fight almost led to the maid passing out. The fact that she managed toe and report to Ming Suwen was deserving ofmendation for exhibiting praiseworthy courage.

    "He started fighting with a few older men. As soon as he struck, he hit hard enough to make them cough blood. He was very violent. Miss, if you do not go see him, countless people may wound up hurt."

    "Are you serious?"

    Ming Suwen was convinced that it wasn''t Ming Feizhen based on the description. Ming Feizhen strictly controlled himself when he fought. Further, he could subdue and control his opponent with a single technique. There was no need for him to hit some brutally enough for them to cough blood.

    With a frown, Miss Juese brushed her dress and got up to head to the main hall.

    After crossing through a myriad of furniture and items, she found a handsome man, dressed in white, standing in the centre of the hall. He had his hands behind his back in a manner that disyed his arrogance.

    Ming Suwen recognised him.

    ''He''s Jin Wangsun. Isn''t he under house arrest?''

    As she ascended the stairs with graceful steps and quietly asked, "Would it be you who is looking for me, Master?"

    Jin Wangsun turned his head upon hearing the voice. The instant he saw Ming Suwen, a hideous grin surfaced on his face."

    "You''re Miss Juese. Good. Very good,"mented Jin Wangsun, with a furious expression. Voice imposing, he said, "My Qing''er entered this filthy Heavenly Fragrance Garden after listening to your provocations, correct?"

    Ming Suwen''s heart skipped a beat. She realised that Jin Wangsun hade to give her grief. Demoness Ming Suwen had never been afraid of anything or a man''s challenge. In response, she snickered, "Yes, it was me."

    Aside from the procuress that allowed Ming Suwen to be a courtesan on the day of her request, very few others knew Miss Juese knew martial arts. She resembled a frail beauty who would be knocked over with a gentle breeze. Thus, it was presumed that if she was to fight with the young man with a broadsword at his belt and profound martial arts, not to mention his aggression, she was bound to suffer.

    Several guards charged over, but Ming Suwen raised her soft and white arm, nced at them with her charming eyes and said, "You''re hurt. Rest up. We will need to rely on you for business tonight."

    Therge men blushed and responded in a flustered fashion when the cold beauty, who usually spoke bluntly, expressed concern for them. They were coughing blood just before, but her concern restored their energy. They were revitalised with enough energy to bounce off walls. Three hundred more rounds of fighting? Not an issue. They exchanged eye contact and signalled their unified agreement, "We must ensure Miss Juese''s safety even at the cost of our lives."

    "Young Master Jin, let us not beat around the bush. True, Qing''er is your fianc¨¦e, but you abused her, then abandoned her to attempt to soar to greater heights. You cannot me her for moving on to someone else."

    Ming Suwen only had an inkling of knowledge pertaining to Tang Ye and Huo Qing''er''s manner. She wasn''t too informed. She, after all, had been busy with her courtesan promotion as of recent. Regardless, she still retorted Jin Wangsun.

    "Are you iming that my Qing''er is an easy and fickle woman as you sluts are?!" cursed Jin Wangsun, in a harsh voice. "Had you not fooled her, would she have done such a thing, you whore?"

    It wasn''t the first time Ming Suwen had been called a whore, slut or even worse derogatory terms. The young demoness sped her hands before her chest. She brushed off all of his insults. She reversed it by shooting him a provoking gaze as if to say, "That''s all you have to say?"

    "You asked for it, you bitch! I''ll show you why my Jin n is not to be trifled with!"

    Ming Suwen giggled with her gaze on him. She didn''t fear what move he''d utilise, for given her skills, there was no need to fear a Jin Wangsun without an impressive weapon on him. But nheless, Jin Wangsun didn''t advance, mould energy or poise himself even. Instead, he reached into his shirt.

    Ming Suwen wondered to herself, "Hidden weapon?"

    His astonishing footwork, namely his Not Nail Not Eight Stance, with his front foot pointed forward, but turned slightly inward, rear foot rotated out , but slightly forward, was the stance from Mount Daluo''s Five Divine Styles, which was designed to counter the usage of hidden weapons.

    Instead of attacking, however, Jin Wangsun wore an aggressive expression, pointed with hisrge hand and demanded, "I''m offering one hundred thousand taels to redeem you! Leave with me now."

    With his other hand, Jin Wangsun pulled out a stack of cheques from his shirt and threw them to the floor, where it emitted a clear sound when it hit the floor.

    Notes:

    * Not Nail Not Eight Stance ¨C I''ve filmed a demonstration of how it looks, provided an exnation of its origins and the logic for you =>

 Volume 5 43 Looking Back on Shiyi

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 43 Looking Back on Shiyi</h4>

    Ming Feizhen rushed to Heavenly Fragrance Garden, with Princess Hongzhuang following behind. While Ming Feizhen sprinted there, Princess Hongzhuang, who followed behind, gradually slowed down due to being frozen silly. He knew that she was following him, but there was nothing he could do! He was now akin an ant on a hot pan.

    "As if Shiyi being a courtesan wasn''t bad enough. She wants to give away her virginity now, too? What in the flipping hell?!" eximed Ming Feizhen, to himself.

    ''Combing,'' was a term used for girls giving away their first time to their patron.

    Among courtesans, there are those who strictly perform their artistic talents, and do not offer their bodies. They are all epitomes of the word ''beauty,'' who strictly work as artists.

    Despitebing being a term associated with an elegant action, the meaning behind the word in that context was extremely shameless. After girls from brothels shared their body with their patron for their first night, their bodies were officially "ripened." As such, the price for a girl''s first night, especially gorgeous ones, was quite expensive.

    There were often patrons who said that they wanted to be a groom again, but that desire would onlyst a night, for they settled it with money after the night and neither would burden the other. In other words, it was paying for a one-night stand.

    Seeing that there was nobody down below, Princess Hongzhuang jumped off the eave.

    Her appearance frightened Ming Feizhen. Originally, her pure white skin had a healthy rosy tinge to it, but now it was corpse white. Clearly, she was cold.

    It turned out that Princess Hongzhuang had been searching everywhere for Ming Feizhen thest few days to no avail. On top of that, she didn''t want to share a room with Su Xiao. As they were male and female, not to mention the only ones in there, she perceived it to be inappropriate. As a result, she slept on the roof for several nights. The cold winter breeze nearly turned her into an iceberg. Consequently, Ming Feizhen had no choice but to remove his outer coat for her, wrapping the beauty up simrly to a zongzi. Only then did her quivering start to reduce.

    Princess Hongzhuang regained her senses and instantly revealed a downhearted look at the same time, "Ming Feizhen, where were you? I searched for you for days. If I don''t get an exnation, you know what''sing to you!"

    Ming Feizhen was so anxious that he could jump off a roof from a suicidal height to rush to the brothel. He had no time or energy to spare on the Princess. Due to his urgency, he told princess Hongzhuang exactly what he had in mind without any modifications to the content.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    However, the more she heard, the more puzzled she was. She widened her eyes, "You said that because of my¡­ fake marriage with you and seeing us share a room, your shiyi is offering herself up as a courtesan at a brothel due to anger?"

    "If it was not because of you, then it would be because of Su Xiao," answered Ming Feizhen. He dragged Su Xiao into the fray with impable timing to try and reduce the Princess'' guilt. "I think that Shiyi saw Su Xiao, as well."

    "Eh?! So Su Xiao is also part of your list of candidates?"

    "What in th-?! Says who?!"

    Ming Feizhen clumsily poked his tongue, and then exined it again. This time, he vaguely glossed over the romance between him and his Shiyi.

    "And there you have it. I now must go to Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Your Highness, y-"

    "I''m going, too, of course!" eximed Princess Hongzhuang. She tapped on her ss Sabre at her waist, "And, I''ll be going with you. If something happens, such as Heavenly Fragrance Garden bullying their customers, I''ll put them in their ce for you."

    Touched, Princess Hongzhuang nodded and proudly dered, "While you and your shiyi have an odd seniority status, her devoted love for you is worthy of pity. We cannot allow her to make a decision that she will regret for life due to a moment of impulsiveness! I, Li Hongzhuang, am taking charge of this matter!"

    Ming Feizhen couldn''t decide if Princess Hongzhuang''s remark was worth a smile or tears. After all, her hands and feet were still stiff, yet she had the energy to be sticking her nose in another''s business.

    "As that is the case, you have my gratitude, Your Highness!"

    Without wasting any more words, Ming Feizhen spun around and continued on his way.

    As he had just wasted more time, he was more anxious than ever. He knew his shiyi''s character. Not only was she the owner of a stunning face that could knock people out, but also housed a gall that allowed her to do anything.

    Her title as ''Demoness'' didn''te about as a result of her pranks on Shaolin''s abbot or Wudang''s patriarch. These days, she was considered to be on better behaviour. Seven, eight years ago, when she first set foot in the pugilistic world, she was cold and harsh with her enemies. She wouldn''t stop until they were utterly demolished. Very few escaped death when they faced her. Five years ago, Demoness Ming Suwen was practically considered the equivalent of a heretic.

    Many people didn''t know that one of the Four Great Lecherous Demons, The Billow Falls in One Wave, Mei Lang, died at the hands of Demoness Ming Suwen. That day, the lecherous Mei Lang vited a girl, who was around thirteen or fourteen, in Beiping, but then, bumped into Ming Suwen. They had a physical altercation; however, Mei Lang didn''t stand a chance. But s, most perverts in the pugilistic world invested an enormous amount of time and energy into their qinggong arts. Mei Lang was one who had mastered a plethora of tricks, not to mention his cunning and crafty nature. With time, he managed to slip away from Ming Suwen.

    In one exchange, Mei Lang used the aphrodisiac Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill, which he had ground into powder, to subdue Ming Suwen. Logically speaking, Ming Suwen should''ve been able to instantly kill him. However, Mei Lang wasn''t one of the Four Great Lecherous Demons for no reason. How could he not have been mesmerised by the girl who could set everyone''s hearts aflutter? He immediately reached for those captivating curves with his grotesque hands.

    Miss Juese was very young at the time. Her body couldn''t withstand Mei Lang''s flirtatious techniques. The girl let out an unbing moan. Her voice was clear and pleasing to the ear, yet sounded unbelievably sensual. Mei Lang''s lust was ignited as a result. It was more than he could hold in. He tore off Ming Suwen''s clothes and ogled her curvaceous peaks. With a nk look, he sighed "G-Gimme."

    In that instant, he heard a clear and cold voice.

    "I wondered how it felt to be vited by a pervert."

    It was Ming Suwen, the girl who just moaned, who spoke. She looked at him with a cold expression. She brushed off his provocations. With a smile, she mocked, "It feels about the same as being bitten by a dog."

    It turned out that Ming Suwen was just ying possum and deliberately moaned to stall for time. Being so upied with his lust, Mei Lang forgot to seal her meridians, and it was toote to regret by the time he realised his error. In the motion of a spreading fan, a silver de swung through the air in a circr trajectory, immediately slicing off Lang Mei''s hideous rod from its root and taking his root of sin from him.

    Mei Lang screamed as the bloody tip of Ming Suwen''s sword sent his uglyher region flying. As if she needed to fulfil her curiosity, Ming Suwen looked left and right due to being unable to look directly at the sun. Finally, she snickered, "I see why you always kept that diminutive thing of yours on you all the time. Aren''t you afraid of losing it? No wonder why you loved going after virgins. If she was a mature woman, she wouldn''t even feel that she was vited. Had it not been thanks to my splendid swordy, it would''ve been a real challenge to slice it off. It wasn''t even a test of swordy proficiency, but a test of visual prowess."

    Owing to his severe wound, Mei Lang fled as if he lost his mind. The lecherous viin who lost his powers swore that he would one day eventually torture the bitch until nobody could differentiate between her and a grotesque demon, and have her grovel at his feet as a horny sow would. Unfortunately for him, The Demoness didn''t give him any chances.

    Miss Juese hunted him for seven days and seven nights before finally decapitating him on the seventh night. Her strategy to catch me was quite simple: leave no survivors wherever she went. During her pursuit, any who dared to shelter Mei Lang was cut down regardless of reasons or who their backer was. By the seventh day, countless had been felled by her de, and a terrifying trail of blood was left in her wake.

    In the hunt, she killed dozens of people to kill one viin. She showed no concern for reasons, right or wrong. She acted ording to her mood. Concepts such as justice or being upright didn''t exist in her world. The three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues had even less value to her. She was called the The Demoness.

    Ming Feizhen couldn''t agree that her title as a demoness fitted her any more than he already did. Before he and Ming Suwen began to develop their ambiguous rtionship, Ming Feizhen was certain that his Shiyi still didn''t have any feelings for him or, at least, didn''t realise his feelings for her, but she was already a troublemaker.

    On one particr day, Ming Suwen found a daoist sect''s secret manual from somewhere, which was an impressive style that required two people to train. Legend had it that following its instructions would allow one to boost one''s strength by one thousand days'' worth within a single day. After she read it, she felt she had a knack for it. She thought that it could help her take her strength to the next level. And so, she dragged Ming Feizhen into her room to ask him to help her master the two person cultivation style. Ming Feizhen didn''t see a single word in the manual. What he saw was a naked, sexy beauty lying on her side and giggling while gently waving her hand. Subsequently, it provoked him into gradually losing control of his emotions.

    Owing to his mastery of Yijin Jing and Tai Chi, Ming Feizhen had better control over his inner thoughts and emotionspared to those who hadn''t mastered it. However, mastering Spring Wind Rainy Nights Divine Art had the opposite effect. As a consequence of three different types of styles pushing and pulling, his resistance to women was no different to the ordinary man in the end. The only difference was that he was no longer a teenage boy. As such, he was still able to resist the charm of beautiful women. On that day when he saw his shiyi''s body, however, he discovered that his throat was dry and a certain body part was so hard that it ached. He was just one step away from firing from the cannon that had ballooned with an immense surge of blood.

    That was the first time Ming Feizhen realised that it was borderline impossible for him to resist Ming Suwen. He wasn''t as calm and indifferent toward his shiyi as he believed himself to be.

    Had Ming Feizhen not made up fib after fib, iming he got an erection owing to the style being filthy, not pure and definitely not some mysterious, authentic style, he wouldn''t have been able to convince his shiyi. Who knows, she might''ve meted out punishment on him on the spot that day if she was enraged. She''d erase the lines of seniority, making it no longer clear if they were martial aunt, grandmother, senior or niece. Be it day or night, there''d be moaning, panting, drowning bliss and they''d even have two kids. Everything between them would be a blur. Their children would''ve been several years old by now and able to mess around.

    Back then, Ming Feizhen asked, "Shiyi, you''re too senseless¡­ What would we have done if I couldn''t control myself?"

    "Nothing," replied a nonchnt Ming Suwen, with augh. "Everybody would be happy. We might not end up having a child. Plus, I don''t need you to take responsibility, either, since you''re notfortable about it anyway. What''s there to worry about, you c, h, i, c, k, e, n."

    Ming Suwen whispered "chicken" in Ming Feizhen''s ears with a gaze and tone that was essentially a challenge directed at him. She even bit his earlobe before backing off. Her voice was quiet as if she was whispering to her lover, yet also bore the resemnce of two people having a tryst in a room, thereby almost causing Ming Feizhen to lose control, pick her up and climb on top, where he would then want to strip her after she just got dressed.

    Fortunately for Ming Feizhen, he knew his shiyi''s temperament. Being young, she found it to be fun and meaningless. However, ever since then, Ming Feizhen always reminded himself to never anger her, for heaven knows what would happen if she got angry.

    Ming Feizhen ran as fast as his legs could take him to Heavenly Fragrance Garden, only to find out that Miss Juese wasn''t at that branch when he arrived, but on Ethereal Beauty Boat on Qinhuai River. Hence, he took off running towards Qinhuai River.

    Princess Hongzhuang, who followed behind, was far behind, mainly because she was affected by the cold exposure prior, thereby impacting her qinggong prowess. Thus, the two passed by each other as Ming Feizhen turned back. Princess Hongzhuang''s mind wasn''t functioning at full capacity, consequently leading to her missing Ming Feizhen passing right by.

    Ming Feizhen rushed to his destination, but stopped by Old Huang''s medicine store on Vermillion Street to grab a bottle of something¡­

    Notes:

    *Combing - It should be obvious, but in case it wasn''t, I''ve always been tranting the phrase as ''giving away her virginity'', which is why you''re only seeing the phrase for the first time now. The reason the author inserted an exnation is due to the phrase not being known by even native speakers. Again, this series writing style follows what we call ¹Å·ç£¨lit. ancient wind; should be ancient style£©. Not everyone who knows Chinese can understand it. Going forward, I will trante it as "giving/losing virginity," unless the other term is absolutely necessary.

    **Cultivation - The cultivation here is referring to mental cultivation, physical training, qi control training and mastery of specific moves and techniques and more. It''s used as a very broad term here. Have a look into Jade Maiden Swordy cultivation if you want an example.

    Other note: I have made updates to some names and terms to improve the overall quality. For instance, Divine Moon Sect > Divine Moon Cult to capture the religious aspect of them worshipping Lord San Shen. In my opinion, cult embodies that essence better. I think about how to improve trantions even when not tranting ¨C call me boring.

 Volume 5 44 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 44 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 1)</h4>

    "I''m offering one-hundred thousand taels to redeem you! Leave with me now," dered Jin Wangsun, as he threw down a stack of cheques thatnded loudly. "Since you are offering yourself up for a price, your new master can afford you!"

    Jin Wangsun sneaked out for the day in order to find Huo Qing''er and clear the air with her. However, he didn''t find her at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Then, he heard of Ming Suwen offering herself up, which had caused an uproar. Among the intelligence he had collected, there was a mention of the mysterious woman, Juese. Apparently, it was her who took Huo Qing''er to Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Suspecting that the bitch, Juese, may have been the instigator who caused Huo Qing''er''s change of heart, Jin Wangsun aggressively barged onto Ethereal Beauty Boat.

    His deration sounded imposing. The stack of cheques he threw down was positively authentic. There were one-hundred thousand taels there. At brothels and simr ces, such an exorbitant amount should''ve earned countless looks of admiration and voices of praise. Master Jin would then take off with Juese with everyone watching on. He would then use tactics such as bribery and force to get her to reveal Huo Qing''er''s whereabouts. Worse came to worse, he would vite the beauty to pry the answer out of her.

    Owing to being ced under house arrest for days, listening to the nderous songs, dealing with Princess Jingan, who might''ve ended her support for him at the drop of a hat, and even having the offices'' men supervising his abode, too, Jin Wangsun had been enraged for some time.

    Despite seeing Ming Suwen with a face veil, he could faintly see her smooth and white skin, long and slender legs and mountain peaks that stood tall, he couldn''t resist his urge to let off some steam on the peerless beauty. Nevertheless, nobody reacted after he made his bold deration. The people''s attitudes were indiscernible. Some even disyed smiles hiding ill will, while some showed pity for a retard. Even the maid hiding behind the flower vase cackled due to howical she felt Jin Wangsun was.

    Jin Wangsun had no idea where he went wrong. With a cold expression, he fumed, "Since when did maids have the right to stick their noses into their master''s conversations? You sick of living?!"

    Ming Suwen giggled, "Not all maids are equal; it depends on whose maid it is. My maid has a right to speak. Master Jin, this is not your home. Your imposing act was performed on the wrong stage. Same goes for your money."

    Jin Wangsun raged, "What, youining that it''s too little?"

    "Hahaha, silly boy, you want me, Miss Juese, with that meagre amount? One-hundred thousand taels?"

    A young flower boy, who was oblivious of Jin Wangsun''s background, sitting at the front of the hall, pped his table as heughed, "You look to be one who''s willing to spend money, but you''rete, dipsh*t. Take a look at Miss Juese''s supreme beauty. Who are intimating with your spare change? Forget one-hundred thousand tails, even one-hundred and fifty thousand taels is a joke. On the first day Miss Juese became a courtesan, there was someone who offered one-hundred and thirty thousand taels. After two days, the highest offer is now one-hundred and eighty thousand taels!"

    Jin Wangsun finally learnt that the woman''s worth was a mind-shattering price. He came to the capital with a very big plot in mind. He aimed to win the imperial court''s support. As such, he brought a decent amount of money to pave his way into people''s graces. Having been ced under house arrest within just days, however, he never got to spend the money. Subsequently, he had a huge amount on him.

    Jin Wangsun had run into roadblock after roadblock and faced setback after setback ever since setting foot in the capital. Now he was being mocked by strangers. Unsurprisingly, he was irate. He gritted his teeth and took out another thick stack of cheques.

    "This is two-hundred thousand taels!" announced Jin Wangsun, as he threw the stack of cheques down, emitting a loud smack upon contact. This time, he silenced everyone on board.

    The offers for Ming Suwen may never reach that price, but, at present, Jin Wangsun had made the highest offer. Most of the offers were made by second generation rich children from families with power. Sure, jeering Jin Wangsun was fun, but asking them to suddenly pull out hundreds of thousands to ridicule Jin Wangsun? They''d rather die.

    Just a brief moment after, the crowd began to gossip amongst themselves. After some discussion, a middle-aged man came forth, appearing to have something to say. He wasted no time with unnecessary words. What exited his mouth was a nd tone, "Two-hundred and twenty thousand taels."

    Now, that offer literally blew the top off the boat!

    The official date for bids had yet to arrive, yet the bid had already reached a startling amount! But nevertheless, the patrons felt something was odd; the man who made the offer was quite familiar. Apparently, he was the general manager of Assistant Minister Lu''s manor. He couldn''t possibly have money. His master was Young Master Lu. It was impossible for him to have that huge sum. It would be even more impossible for Assistant Minister Lu to make the offer, for he was caught "picking flowers" by his wife a few days ago in front of the Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Everybody present saw him get caught. It wasn''t until they saw the Young Master Lu''s prankster smile that they figured out what was going on.

    "Ah," they realised. He was nning to raise the price to y Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun went along with it just as Young Master Lu desired. Voice aggressive, he eximed, "Two-hundred and forty thousand!"

    "Well, since we know that everyone except Jin Wangsun is making random offers, why not dump more misfortunes on the unfortunate man?" they figured. Hence, someone in the corner immediately made another offer, "Two-hundred and forty thousand and one!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Immediately afterwards, a barrage of offers were made.

    "And twenty!"

    "And eighteen!"

    Jin Wangsun thundered, "Two-hundred and fifty thousand!"

    The owner of Heavenly Fragrance Garden, who stood in the centre of the ce, felt a chill up her spine. Sweat condensed on her forehead. She was one step from passing out. She thought, "Is this a dream¡­? I''m¡­ so blissful!"

    She immediately picked up her abacus and paper to record every offer made. She smiled brightly.

    Ming Suwen was the only one who maintained aposed expression. The soaring price and enthusiasm meant nothing to her. The owner of Heavenly Fragrance Garden ran back and forth. She was so happy that she was barely able to walk straight, eventually leading to her bumping into a man by ident.

    "Oh my, sorry, sorry. You look quite hasty. Are you here for the courtesan?''

    The hasty customerughed helplessly, "Most certainly."

    The owner''s nose was ready to fire a shot of blood from her nose. She was on cloud nine. She rubbed her hands together, "How much are you willing to offer, Dear Customer?''

    The customer''sughter gradually ceased. Voice stern, he replied, "I don''t have¡­ a single tael."

    Ming Suwen''s body juddered upon hearing the new customer''s voice. She shifted her gaze to the door with disbelief. Jin Wangsun looked over with a suspicion. The others were puzzled at first, and then their expressions slowly froze stiff as if they were actually frozen in ice.

    The man at the door was tall enough to block out the sunlight behind him. He was akin to a dark cloud that had drifted over. His dark demeanour induced a stifling atmosphere. The guards outside never saw him arrive. When they did see him, he was already at the front of the hall.

    Every step he took felt as though he was stomping on their hearts. He couldn''t have looked any more ordinary from the side, but his back exuded an unmatched heroic aura. Like an ordinary dark cloud, yet hiding a frightening lightning strike behind it, would be how one would describe him. His slow, but powerful steps shook their hearts. However, when they looked at him from in front, it felt as though their blood froze.

    His facial features were hidden behind a terrifying green mask made from copper with fangs. Only his eyes were visible. His gaze was set dead straight on the courtesan wearing the face veil.

    Word by word, he enunciated himself with authoritative rity, "I will never put a price on you. For as long as I am alive¡­ I will not let any other put a price on her, either."

    His words wereparable to boulders crushing their hearts. Thest thing they noticed, however, was his hair behind him that reflected the sunlight.

    The sun on Qinhuai River sets. His hair was white as snow.

    Notes:

    *Young Master Lu - "Lu" is pronounced "Loo," in an American ent.

 Volume 5 45 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 45 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 2)</h4>

    When their eyes met, Ming Suwen was first to avert her gaze. Seemingly unable to stand his gaze, she lowered her head.

    "Why is he here, and in that appearance no less?" wondered Ming Suwen.

    Ming Suwen took on the persona of Juese to approach Ming Feizhen; however, she was unaware that he immediately saw through her disguise at first nce.

    Back then, she silently waited until New Year''s Eve, when the crowd was out and candles in countless homes were bright. She entertained herself with the sight, and then left after leaving her name behind. After vanishing for years, she came back and told Ming Feizhen that she had gotten married in the capital already. At the time, Ming Feizhen should''ve been married. The two looked at each other,ughed and reminisced their childhood together, and their younger days spent wandering the pugilistic world. They were still childhood friends, still Shiyi and Ming Feizhen¡­

    Ming Feizhen went to pursue his own life, while she just needed the memories. For some reason, though¡­ nothing went the way she expected.

    "Why?" she wondered. "Why has he already appeared before me?"

    It was her first time meeting him after watching him kiss with Jingan. The memory of Ming Feizhen and Jingan kissing involuntarily surfaced in her mind again. The stifling feeling in her chest had her hang her head down.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen wasn''t too sure what to do. ording to his memories, his shiyi rarely ever disyed such a lonely expression in front of so many people, especially when there were enemies in the vicinity, as well. Frankly, Ming Feizhen felt agitated all of a sudden the moment entered and saw Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun was theirmon enemy, yet he was there carrying himself as though he owned the ce. Jin Wangsun used his most beloved money to try and buy Ming Feizhen''s shiyi, while his shiyi, herself, was the one who created the predicament.

    Ming Feizhen was unaware that Jin Wangsun and his shiyi had reached out to each other. Nevertheless, he was unable to keep up with his shiyi''s wayward character. Hence, the memory of the twin mental cultivation manual from back then appeared in his mind again and, of course, the scene his eyes were treated to that day¡­ Realising that the man before him might get to see that same scene, Ming Feizhen got mad for a number of reasons. He was also a tad angry with Ming Suwen. He was angry at her for not being forthright.

    In his mind, Ming Feizhen asked, "If you don''t want me to marry the Princess, why not just tell me? Why sabotage and punish yourself? You know that I always listen to you. Why do you refuse to trust me¡­?"

    But nheless, witnessing the crowd treating his shiyi as amodity to bid on, rage and sorrow umted in Ming Feizhen''s chest. He was on the verge of exploding and levelling the entire ce.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t know much about Lord San Shen. However, the Orange Prince''s rebellion was a huge deal. ording to the intelligence he received on the insurgence, the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen got involved with the incident. Thanks to that information, he was able to recognise him when he saw Ming Feizhen''s long white hair and fang mask.

    Jni Wangsun, a member of the Seven Champion White Princes, was the nemesis of Divine Moon Cult. Hence, he had toment. Having said that, he was in an awkward position. Remember, he sneaked out of his abode. He was not supposed to be at a brothel. Subsequently, he carefully chose his words and gauged his manners, "My family name is Jin. I have made the highest offer for Miss Juese, y-"

    "Shut up!" thundered Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen yelled in his mind, "I have yet to say anything, and you''re already starting?!"ike a whirlwind, Ming Feizhen zipped over next to Jin Wangsun and grabbed him with one hand, true qi flowing through his fingers. His afterimage became an actual figure, his grip tough and sharp enough to crush a skull. Jin Wangsun was an erudite on martial arts styles thanks to Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. Seeing the destructive true qi from Ming Feizhen, he knew better than to sh head on with it.

    Not one to lose in verbal warfare, however, Jin Wangsun eximed, "Audacious nobody! You would sneak attack a man?!"

    With a roar, Jin Wangsun leapt back and drew his broadsword out with his right hand. Because he secretly sneaked out and wanted to avoid being noticed, he didn''t dare to carry a famous weapon with him, therefore bringing an ordinary iron broadsword along. He poised his broadsword in front of him in a defensive stance. He sunk his hips and positioned his feet without a fixed form, but allowed him to retreat quickly. No matter how impressive his opponent''s w grabs were, he would be able to guard and retreat.

    Ming Feizhen thrust straight forward with a lightning swift w. Suddenly, Ming Feizhen turned and slowed, turning a thrust into a grab. Before Jin Wangsun could finish getting into his guard stance, Ming Feizhen grabbed his de as if an eagle had sunk its teeth into the de. Ming Feizhen deftly snatched his broadsword. Using the remainder of strength emitted, Ming Feizhen cleared open a path to Jin Wangsun''s centreline by breaking through his two hands.

    After uncaringly throwing aside the iron broadsword, Ming Feizhen struck down the centreline, mming his palm into Jin Wangsun''s chest, a blow thatunched Jin Wangsun straight out of the window.

    Jin Wangsun appeared aggressive and imposing just moments ago on the boat, but the man with the green mask didn''t even need one full move to get rid of him! Just what level was this man on? When the people on board saw Jin Wangsun, a part of them wanted to flee; however, after witnessing Ming Feizhen''s skills, they regretted why they didn''t run before that.

    "Now that we have a walking disaster of a monster on board, we might be his next target if we try to leave. How do we leave now?!" wondered the crowd.

    Ming Feizhen paid no heed to anyone around and slowly walked up to Ming Suwen. The guards mustered up all of their courage to take a stand, "D-Don''t even think about touching Miss Juese!"

    Ming Feizhen couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of their loyalty, "I hold this maiden in the same esteem as a deity. I will not be rude with her. Please step aside; we need to exchange a few words."

    Frankly, the guards had a faint suspicion that Miss Juese and the man were connected somehow. Whether that was a romantically or not was not something they knew. Regardless, they had never seen Miss Juese show so much emotion on her face before. The gaze she looked at him with was the same gaze every girl looked at the man she loved with. When they looked back at her, though, she kept silent.

    Ming Suwen silently looked at Ming Feizhen. She watched him smash Jin Wangsun into Qinhuai River with a single technique, but she neither felt proud nor joyous. Sure, she was unhappy with Jin Wangsun''s insults from before, but she disliked Ming Feizhen''s current attitude.

    She had seen him furious and had seen himposed. When he wasposed, he was able to bear with things with equanimity. He seemed to be of the belief that as long as he appeared, then she would go with him given his imposing and powerful self as Lord San Shen.

    In her mind, Ming Suwen said, "Feizhen, you once said that you''re uneducated in martial arts, but you know how to fight. Despite understanding how to fight, nevertheless, you still don''t understand women."

    Ming Feizhen had won countless bouts within an instant in his Lord San Shen dress up, but Ming Suwen had always and still considered his Lord San Shen dress up to be a form of avoidance, instead. She wondered to herself, "Do you not dare to see even me unless you wear those clothes that represent the past?"

    After she had the thought, Ming Suwen gently removed her face veil, allowing the men to see her gorgeous face. Unsurprisingly, it was very effective. If they were able to defeat him, the men present would have tried to fight Ming Feizhen just to see her smile.

    Despite notprehending the meaning of her gesture, Ming Feizhen demanded, "Leave with me.''

    "I¡­ do not know you, Young Master. Please leave."

    Ming Suwen was resolute. She cherished her past with Ming Feizhen, but that was precisely why she needed to change.et''s not pretend that such events between them were few and far between.

    Ming Feizhen asked himself, "For what reason has she turned herself into virtually a ything for men in the capital to gawk at?"

    "The young master you hit was bidding for me. If you had not caused trouble, I might have given myself away tonight and became a bride. Please leave."

    Ming Feizhen suddenly deduced something from the three words "be a bride." Hence, he frantically said, "So you did this because I was going to marr-. That''s not for real. I don''t n to marry her. Let me exin this to you."

    "There is nothing that needs to be exined," replied Ming Suwen, lowering her head at the same time. "I have nothing to do with you. Please leave. I am tired and must rest now."

    Once herst word left her mouth, she lightly spun around and slowly left.

    "Ming Suwen!"

 Volume 5 46 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 46 Arriving at Heavenly Fragrance - Invincible (Part 3)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen yelled out to Ming Suwen in the loudest voice he had ever spoken to her with.

    "What is this ce? Who is this bunch? Must you torment yourself¡­ and me this way before you''re satisfied?"ike a gust of wind, Ming Feizhen zipped over. The guards virtually didn¡¯t even catch the sight of him shift from one ce to the next. As a matter of fact, they didn¡¯t even sense him, but there was no question that he had whizzed past them.

    He grabbed Ming Suwen¡¯s slender, supple and white arm. Voice muffled, he asked, ¡°Young Shiyi, what are you angry with me about?"

    Ming Feizhen glimpsed at the crowd, and then utilised Voice Transmission, ¡°There are too many people here. Let¡¯s talk somewhere else. You should, at least, tell me why you¡¯re angry with me, shouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    But nheless, before Ming Feizhen could use force, Ming Suwen had already shaken his hold off!

    ¡°I¡¯m angry with the way you¡¯re behaving right now!¡± dered the usually suave, unfettered, beautiful and hospitable Ming Suwen, who had lost control of her emotions. "You always want to exin this and exin that to me, try tofort and pamper me, speak to me in a gentle tone and take things to heart. I want tofort you! Who needs your generosity?! Who needs your hospitality?! I don''t need you to take care of me! Have I given you permission toe so close to me? Have I given you permission to treat me nicely?"

    Ming Feizhen never thought he''d anger his shiyi to the point that she''d ignore propriety and express her anger even through her bodynguage.

    "I¡­ I¡­ I just care about you."

    A slightly cold look surfaced on Ming Suwen''s gorgeous face. She snickered, "All right, then. Since you love to care about people so much and are so good at it, why not use your caring skills on other women? Did someone force you to listen to me? Did anyone force you to forego sleep to gather herbs for me when I''m sick? Did anyone tell you toe to my rescue whenever I''m in danger? Did I ask you to treat me so nice? Who are you of mine?! Why do you have to be responsible for me? If you want to be dutiful, go and be dutiful to someone else! You must''ve been born to aggravate me. Since you''ve angered me, I¡­ I¡­"

    Ming Suwen''s eyes turned red. Words wouldn''te up again. If they crossed thest line, then the thin paper screen between them would no longer exist.

    "Enough, enough. If I keep going, how will he hold his head up at the sect?" said Ming Suwen, in her mind, shedding tears as she stopped herself.

    "You''re¡­ so nice to me. Why not be nice to me forever? Why do you want me to go back by myself¡­? Why didn''t you visit me when I was on the brink of death when I fell ill on Mount Daluo?" asked Ming Suwen.

    With his blood rushing to his head, his heart throbbing and his mind in panic, he asked, "Ar-Are you sick? Why did nobody tell me?!"

    A helpless smile bloomed on Ming Suwen''s face. Ming Feizhen instantly understood what happened.

    Ming Suwen fell ill as soon as she returned to Mount Daluo from Nanjing. It was clear that her illness was a psychological illness. Naturally, everyone on Mount Daluo kept a lid on it; they couldn''t let Ming Feizhen know. Otherwise, he''d definitely return. That, in turn, would only deepen their love for each other.

    "What, are there some things that nobody knows if neither you nor I mention it? They all knew. My cousin knew. Your shifu knew. Your martial uncle knew. Your shiniang also knew. Else, why did I not visit you in over a year during your life of seclusion in Nanjing? They didn''t tell me where you were, so I searched for you from beyond the border and back into the Central in. They view me as a crazy woman who doesn''t know shame. I couldn''t care less how they evaluated me. You know me well enough. You even know what I care about, but you never took it to heart."

    "Young Shiyi¡­ I¡­"

    Ming Suwen was able to think of far more than Ming Feizhen possibly could.

    As though he had something clogged in his throat, causing him pain that inhibited his ability to speak, he forced himself to enunciate his thoughts, "Whatever the case, it was I, who let you down."

    Ming Feizhen''s reaction stabbed at Ming Suwen''s heart, but she was even angrier. Her fury almost came out as a belt, "I don''t want your apology! I don''t want you to care about me! I don''t want you to care about me,fort me and take care of me! After the sleepless nights and bright days, I end up finding out that I''m just a responsibility to you!"

    Ming Feizhen''s face turned ghastly pale upon hearing the word "responsibility". He never considered Ming Suwen¡¯s significance in his life, while she was a step ahead and had found the answer.

    "Is the fate that brought about our meeting when we were three and months old respectively, just a form of obligation?" wondered Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Suwen¡¯s tears finally fell from her eyes. The representation of their owner¡¯s strong character coursed down from those curved eyshes, but the clear crystals left behind on them entuated the beauty of her dazzling eyes.

    "Henceforward, your obligation is over. You can leave now."

    "I can''t do that."

    Ming Suwen could seemingly see the face behind the bronze mask. The face she was familiar with since childhood had a tinge of loneliness and a pale smile.

    "This is how we''ve been since we were kids¡­ I will only ever be nice to you. I didn''t know you were angry. What else, besidesforting and pampering you, can I do? I don''t know why I want to care about you, but that''s all I can do."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There was a silence between them as if it was raining. It was as if they had forgotten there were hundreds of pairs of eyes watching them. Nevertheless, the audience was emotionally invested enough that they couldn''t bear to disturb the two.

    "All right, then. I only have one question for you, then¡­" stated Ming Suwen. Teeth clenched, she asked, "Will youe on the night of New Year''s Eve?"

    Ming Feizhen fell silent. He was participating in the fuma selection, but not to represent himself or Liu Shan Men. Additionally, if he didn''t partake in it, he wouldn''t be able to take back Night Fortress. Heaven knows what schemes Jingan had in store, as well. He had to participate in the selection at all costs.

    Voice muffled, Ming Suwen eximed, "If you can''te¡­ leave now!"

    "Young Shiyi¡­ must you really do this?"

    "Don''t push it. I''ve never owed you anything," replied Ming Suwwen. A cold expression surfaced on her beautiful face. She pinched the back of her hand with her fingers, stabbing her fingernails deep into her flesh. It hurt enough to inhibit any detectible sensations. When she spoke again, her tone was bitter, "So, you can marry other women, but I can''t marry other men?"

    "Hey, hey, hey, you two done or what?" one of the drunkardsined, after finally waking up.

    Waking up to see the ethereal beauty of Courtesan Juese was enough for the drunkard to jolt himself sober. However, he was frightened when he noticed the man with the bronze mask. After all that arguing, it turned out to be a lover''s bicker.

    "This ce is for entertainment. If you two want to make love or argue, take it somewhere else. Hey, buddy, don''t touch the head. Touch the head, and you''ll shed tears. If you''ve sent your wife to a brothel, you have to be ready to part. Look at your stunner of a wife. I don''t have enough money to have her first night, but no dramas; I''ll definitely have her second night. With your gorgeous looks, you probably serve a good number of patrons every night, huh? No problem. I''ll join the crew. I don''t mind used goods¡­"

    The more he said, the more overboard he went. The me of rage in Ming Feizhen''s eyes could almost burn a hole in him, and he only grew angrier and angrier. Everyone who witnessed Ming Feizhen''s power before furtively mouthed, "Are you trying to get killed?!! Shut! Up!"

    Ming Suwen still refused to spare Ming Feizhen a nce. The reason she faced her back to him seemed to be to prevent giving him a chance to speak.

    Ming Feizhen pursed his lips. His face turned pale underneath the mask. Suddenly, he faced upward toward the sky andughed loudly, "Fine, fine, fine! My young shiyi said she wants to offer her virginity. Who has ever dared to stop her from doing what she wants?!"

    Ming Feizhen picked up the broadsword Jin Wangsun had at his waist all of a sudden. The broadsword was themonly seen iron broadsword with a very thin de. Again, to avoid suspicion, Jin Wangsun chose a de that was worse quality than you could find from a hawker on the street. In Ming Feizhen''s hand, however, a light flick of the de was akin to a dragon''s roar, firing off killing intent from the de and seething his blood. With a gentle horizontal swing, the qi sted outward as if it was a wall of energy. If Jin Wangsun was present to witness the power Ming Feizhen demonstrated, he would know better than ever provoke the man.

    The de''s qi illuminated brighter than snow, but Ming Feizhen wasn''t done with just that. He thrust the tip upward, took in a breath of air and swung down with technique you''d see a butcher at the market use. Ming Suwen was the only one to realise the peril to follow. The others? They were oblivious of what was toe.

    If Ming Feizhen wanted to hack someone, there was nobody within his vicinity to hack. If he was swinging his de, there was nothing remarkable or profound about it. The only clear fact was that he possessed tremendous might. There were no clues to help identify his style.

    Realising the danger, Ming Suwen eximed, "What are you going to do?!"

    No response. When Ming Feizhen vigorously opened his eyes, two blood-red pearls were unveiled.

    With a single downward vertical swing, a blinding light came down! It looked as though there was a burning white energy aura on the de, one that would burn all in its path and cut at the speed of lightning. The white me appeared was visible for just a split second before disappearing into the floor.

    Ming Feizhen merely shed the air. There was no identifiable technique, but nheless, his brute force was enough to leave one gaping from astonishment.

    The moment the crowd realised what happened, they suddenly felt the floor enough their feet quake. After Ming Feizhen''s shed into the floor or to be to precise, the boat, a crack appeared on the boat. Like a crack in an iceberg, the crack continued to erge until finally¡­

    *Creak¡­ Creak¡­. Crack!*

    The bow snapped!

    The brothel became suddenly rocked on the river surface. The clear breeze blew the waters. Within moments, the bow swallowed more water than it could handle, thereby sinking straight down into the river. A bow that was tough enough to function as a building was chopped off with the one sh!

    Fortunately for Ethereal Beauty Boat, it consisted of many linked up boats, therefore avoiding sinking. Having said that, the hall they were in instantly became a ruin. It was now night outside. People walking along the shore instantly noticed. If one looked closely, they would catch the sight of an utterly stunned Second Princess, Li Hongzhuang among those people walking.

    Princess Hongzhuang followed Ming Feizhen to the boat, but was a momentte. She listened in from the shore, but never imagined Ming Feizhen would sh off an entire section of a boat. She most definitely didn''t expect Ming Feizhen to fuse with the man she yearned for day and night again.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t see Second Princess. He violently threw away the broadsword. Then, she swept his blood-red gaze over the people, who were as terrified as though they had the de right up against their necks.

    "Let me inform you all of this now. If anyone dares toe on New Year''s Eve, I''ll dare to kill him!"

    Ming Feizhen then met with Ming Suwen''s eyes. The two of them both had things they had yet to say, but Ming Feizhen resolutely turned and left without a word.

 Volume 5 47 How Does One Cope With Sorrow? - Secret (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 47 How Does One Cope With Sorrow? - Secret (Part 1)</h4>

    Night time. At a residence near Heavenly Fragrance Garden.

    The residence was resplendent. Despite being a residence for the ordinary folk, it fetched a steep price without question. The residence was where Huo Qing''er stayed. It was nowte at night, yet she had a guest, not to mention her guest was a man.

    Huo Qing''er passed him a cup of tea and said, "Brother Tang, th-thank you for always visiting to have heart-to-heart chats with me, in addition to protecting me every day. I do not know how to thank you."

    Tang Ye vigntly looked around with his arms folded. He never spared Huo Qing''er a look.

    "It''s no big deal," replied Tang Ye, voice cold. He had a nip of tea and considered that a drink. "Miss Juese is my big brother''s woman. Since she asked me to secretly protect you, I will not let any mishap befall you."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Miss Juese¡­"

    The reality was that Huo Qing''er didn''t know Miss Juese very well. She merely knew that she was close to the former patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect. The reason she brought Huo Qing''er along was supposed to be to deal a blow to Jin Wangsun, preventing him from marrying the Princess. However, for some mind-boggling reason, she suddenly decided to be a courtesan, and she was so persistent that there was no stopping her.

    Tang Ye had only met Ming Suwen a few times. Needless to say, the time he saw her at Liu Shan Men''s recruitment exams was the first time he saw her. That was also when he learnt she was Ming Feizhen''s senior. She abruptly came to Tang Ye and asked him to protect Huo Qing''er for several days, only to go off and be a courtesan. Presumably, she still wanted him to continue with bodyguard duty. Tang Ye stayed at Huo Qing''er''s ce untilte every day before leaving. Hence, it was perfectly eptable for Ming Feizhen

    Having said that, his so-called bodyguard duty entailed doing basically nothing. Heavenly Fragrance Guardian had their own muscle as bodyguards. With himing and going every day, it only served to encourage rumours spreading. Today was no exception.

    Time was up; nothing happened again. Tang Ye bid Huo Qing''er goodbye, and then headed to the new ce he rented. She went to put out her lights to turn in after seeing him off. However, a gust of ominous wind blew out the candle before she could.

    A slightly cold chill ran down Huo Qing''er''s back. It was quite the creepy sensation. Though she hailed from a family in the martial world, she was a sshouse girl at the end of the day, so the feeling was the feeling she feared most.

    She wrestled with her fear while trying to convince herself that it was nothing. She went over to the window that was slightly open. Nothing. There was nothing outside. Apparently, she merely forgot to shut the window. After shutting the window, she turned around to discover someone standing behind her.

    "Aaahh!!" shrieked Huo Qing''er, soul, spirit all escaping her body from the fright.

    He wore a white mask with a tinge of blue, his expression aggressive as a devil, his body drenched in water. She had no clue what waters he came from, but his facial appearance was one she was familiar with. Correct, it was the man who Ming Feizhen sent plummeting into the water earlier during the day, Jin Wangsun.

    With a resentful and vicious expression, Jin Wangsun snickered, "Bitch!"

    "You! You! Wangsun!"

    Before Huo Qing''er could regain herposure, Jin Wangsun pped her across the face with his right hand!

    *p*

    Jin Wangsun sent Huo Qing''er to the ground with a single p.

    Huo Qing''er was considered an exalteddy of Gold and Silver Sect. Never had she been treated as so. Her face was numb; she instantly burst out crying.

    "Damn bitch, you have the shame to cry?!" fumed Jin Wangsun. Seething with rage and overwhelmed with humiliation, Jin Wangsun red at her with red eyes and a malicious smile. "Fine! Fine! Taking your lover here now, are you? Huo Qing''er, you haven''t disappointed me. I didn''t believe the ims that you sneaked into a brothel, but it appears it was true. You grew up with me; how was I unaware that you were this sort of slut?!''

    "I-I¡­"

    And another p vited her face before she could finish.

    "Bitch! You want a man so bad that you''d even go to a brothel! You''ve shamed my Jin n! You think you can do as you please, because you have Night Fortress'' master backing you? Wait till I be fuma. I have my ways to squash him with my hands! You and the old man want to rely on Mount Daluo to stop me? You''re still sleeping!"

    Jin Wangsun apanied every sentence with a p to Huo Qing''er''s face as if he would be paid each time. Her shapely face was beaten until it bled.

    "Call your boy toy here to save you! Go on!"

    As if wanted to let out all of the resentment intoxicating him, Jin Wangsun continued to amplify the impact, making the next p more vicious than thest. The originally beautiful face waspletely battered. He then grabbed Huo Qing''er''s shirt and tore it off. Sounding akin to a wild beast, he demanded, "Where''s the pill? Give it to me! Don''t try anything funny!"

    Huo Qing''er suddenlyughed in spite of being hit viciously by Jin Wangsun. She remarked, "I knew¡­ you were this sort of man."

    Still furious, Jin Wangsun thundered, "What sort of man am I? I loved and cherished you so dearly. You were the one who let me down."

    "Loved and cherished me?" snickered Huo Qing''er. "I realised how selfish you were from the moment you began your sabre training. Gold Crow Moon Eater, One Hundred Qi Returns to One, Overlord Rule, without my Huo n''s specially made Taiyin Miracle Feather Pill suppressing it, you would never be able to be intimate with woman all your life. Jin Wangsun, is it me you are worried about or the pill?"

    Jin Wangsun''s expression sunk. He asked, "What are you trying to say?''

    With augh, Huo Qing''er replied, "Every time you finish your practice, your true qi elevates, and you can''t suppress it. You need Taiyin Pill and women¡­ I still remember how you deceived me and took my purity from me that day."

    "So what? You''re my fianc¨¦e. Our wedding had been set in stone ages ago. You''re mine sooner orter. What''s the difference if you give yourself to me sooner orter?"

    Tears coursed down Huo Qing''er''s face, mixing in with her blood. Words couldn''t describe her misery.

    "You never consider yourself wrong. You belittle me, yet im that to be love? Your violent abuse is cherishing me? When you found a better candidate, you immediately went to pursue the Princess. That''s your idea of being nice to me?" rhetorically asked Huo Qing''er. She stubbornly turned her face away. "I''ll remember every p you gave me today. You can forget about getting any Taiyin Pills from me."

    "Listen, Bitch! I don''t need your pill! I''ve already offered His Majesty the old man''s block ofnd for retirement as a wedding gift. The imperial court will kick him out without me needing to lift a finger. Your father blindly sided with him, yet you expect good fortune? Your family''s form and fate are ruled by me! Listen: hand me the pill right now, or your father, mother and your younger brother won''t live to see you."

    Huo Qing''er shot Jin Wangsun a vengeful gaze, but gradually softened up. When Jin Wangsun felt a little reassured, she suddenly puffed her chest out and firmly eximed, "Someone will help me!"

    "Someone¡­? Him! That adulterer?!"

    Huo Qing''er mustered up her courage and shouted, "Yes! He''s stronger than you! He''s tougher than you! Gentler than you! Kinder than you! He''s thousands of times better than your useless pin!"

    "Bitch!!"

    An enraged Jin Wangsun went to strike Huo Qing''er''s throat with a palm strike with the intent of killing her. However, before his palm reached its target, he suddenly felt a hot sensation on his hand. Next, a hot aura shot toward him. A purple glow appeared. Tang Ye broke through the window and kicked Jin Wangsun''s forearm. Before they could decide who possessed superior internal energy, Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi sent Jin Wangsun straight back with its heat.

    "Enough."

    "Brother Tang!"

    When Tang Ye''s gaze met with Huo Qing''er''s face, he aggressively frowned.

    Jin Wangsun also shuddered when he saw Tang Ye.

    With a swing of his fist, Tang Ye initiated an attack, but Jin Wangsun used Huo Qing''er as a human shield, thereby making it impossible for Tang Ye to attack.

    "You thought it was just me?"

    Following the rhetoric question, an enchanting voice entered the room, "I am the Qilin Guards'' Situo. I happen to be the biggest fan of minor reports. Young Master, you look very familiar. If I am correct, you should be locked in some abode. How do you have the luxury to visit brothels?"

    The residence was quite some distance from Heavenly Fragrance Garden, actually. However, there were countless other brothels within the vicinity of Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Subsequently, it would be hard for him to argue he wasn''t visiting a brothel by visiting Huo Qing''ers ce.

    Noting that the enemy outnumbered him and possessed skills on par with his own, Jin Wangsun knew that he would get the short end of the stick if he fought them. He, therefore, shoved Huo Qing''er to Tang Ye and escaped from a window.

 Volume 5 48 How Does One Cope With Sorrow? - Secret (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 48 How Does One Cope With Sorrow? - Secret (Part 2)</h4>

    After midnight.

    Ming Feizhen pushed open the door to his room. Su Xiao, who was anxiously pacing back and forth in the room stopped and widened his eyes. Standing akimbo, he yelled, "Where did you go screw around at this time?! Why are you back sote? You neglect home, ah, I meant, this room!"

    Su Xiao''s family valued girls over boys. His mother, consequently, was the boss. Even if his father merely went for a walk around the block, he''d have to give her an exnation, or he''d get an earful without question. Having tea or a meal with a female friend? Grabbing a male both would be enough to earn an earful. He''d be left with an aching ear for two hours.

    When Su Xiao didn''t see Ming Feizhen return at night, he was worried. At daytime, Ming Feizhen didn''t exin what happened between him and Sisi. Add Ming Feizhen noting back at night, and Su Xiao''s anger umted. Hence, he identally reprimanded Ming Feizhen the way his mother reprimanded his father. Not one to scold others, Su Xiao immediately made a mistake when he went to scold Ming Feizhen.

    While still fumbling to get his words right, he sensed that there was something odd about Ming Feizhen. He didn''t even spare Su Xiao a nce when he entered.

    "You¡­ *Sigh*, Big Brother Ming, what''s the matter?''

    Su Xiao went over at supported a wobbling Ming Feizhen. When he got close, he caught a whiff of the alcohol stench on Ming Feizhen. The smell was almost enough to get even Su Xiao drunk.

    After Ming Feizhen left Ethereal Beauty Boat, he went to five different taverns and emptied out their wine stock. The wine alleviated his sorrow, but despite being a good drinker, he still ended up slightly drunk.

    "Y-You''re so heavy. Walk on your own, too."

    When Su Xiao helped him to the bed, he smelt a faint fragrance on it. It was light and elegant, yet seemingly simr to a girl''s body odour. The smell was left behind from the few days Princess Hongzhuang slept on the bed. Su Xiao''s suspicions rose. He leaned over to Ming Feizhen. That was the climax of the show. Not only did Ming Feizhen see Sisi and Ming Suwen, he even went to Heavenly Fragrance Garden and Ethereal Beauty Boat, two brothels. Imagine the makeup and powders there. The amazing mixture of scents left Su Xiao with an angry look.

    "¡­ Jerk¡­"

    Su Xiao was about to throw his jerk of a Big Brother Ming on the ground and be done with him to vent his entire day of anger. When he saw Ming Feizhen''s frown and drunken look, he gradually rxed his clenched teeth and pretty frown.

    "You''re drunk¡­ I won''t settle the score with you today. Hey, sleep inside."

    "Don''t push me. I can still drink ten vats¡­"

    "Drink, drink, drink, that''s all you know! I hope you die from drinking!"

    Su Xiao hugged and puffed as he lifted Ming Feizhen''s only leg hanging off the bed onto the bed. He then dropped down next to the bed due to exhaustion. While Su Xiao was also rtively tall, he only came up to Ming Feizhen''s chest. Moreover, Su Xiao was gically lean. Therefore, for him to lift a muscr man as Ming Feizhen onto the bed was an exhausting task.

    Su Xiao looked at Ming Feizhen with a reproaching gaze. He didn''t know what happened. Usually, his Big Brother Ming was able to knock back pot after pot without even going red in the face.

    "What''s wrong with him today," wondered Su Xiao.

    Ming Feizhen mumbled something as hey on the bed. Su Xiao leaned in to have a listen, but all he heard was indistinct mutters, "Young Shiyi¡­ Young Shiyi¡­ It''s my fault for being useless¡­ Jin Wangsun, heh, even that punching bag, Jin Wangsun, has gone for her. What else can I do? She wants to leave me. She wants to leave me, too. Had someone not told me, she would''ve left on her own without a word. Rules. Rules¡­ The one thing I don''t care about just has to be the insurmountable wall. Shifu¡­ Just kill me. Just kill me. I don''t want her that way, either¡­"

    Su Xiao blushed as he listened. Ming Feizhen was mumbling about his private matters, apparently.

    "He seems to be talking about his beautiful young shiyi. Isn''t he marrying the Princess, though," questioned Su Xiao.

    Ming Feizhen, however, rolled over and frowned. Apparently, guing nightmare caused him to grimace. Su Xiao''s hand reached for Ming Feizhen''s hot face on its own. Su Xiao felt his hand burnt abnormally. He quickly moulded his modest internal energy and transferred it into Ming Feizhen''s body.

    Ming Feizhen hadn''t been so drunk in years. A qi practitioner''s biggest taboo was losing control of their mental stability. On the day Ming Suwen and Ming Feizhen parted, where Ming Suwen returned to Mount Daluo alone, it was her mental instability and sorrow that almost took her life. She wrestled with a high fever that wouldn''t go down for days. Had Hero Shenzhou not personally helped her, she might''ve already lost her lifetime of skills. With her level of internal strength, she definitely couldn''t ept catching colds, especially severe ones.

    Ming Feizhen drank arge volume of strong wine in a mentally unstable state, therefore almost incapacitating himself as Ming Suwen did. His situation was veryplicated. With his level of skill, losing control of his mental state wouldn''t leave him bed ridden; it''d make me lose his mind. If he went on a rampage, the damage wouldn''t pale inparison to when the Demon Sect was running amok given his skills. In fact, it might''ve been the emergence of a demon.

    Su Xiao had no internal energy to speak of. The current internal energy style he was training was weak, but it was imparted to him by none other than Ming Feizhen. Further, he assisted Su Xiao''s training with his own true qi. Though Su Xiao''s true qi was inferior to even Zha Pi''s punch, its purity and density were arguably among the best.

    With his true qi in disarray, receiving a transfusion of qi from an external source immediately caused his own true qi to respond to the new true qi. Thebined true qi formed a whirlpool with tremendous attractive force. Su Xiao felt as though his months of hard-earned internal energy would bepletely sucked out of him, but he didn''t dare to let go.

    "Big Brother Ming taught me my internal strength style; I''ll just train and regain it if I run out!" resolved Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao gritted his teeth and refused to let go. Suddenly, he felt a hot wave return to his body, knocking his hand off! The hot wave travelled along the path that Su Xiao moulded qi via and entered his body. It circted through the trails without any resistance. He looked at his small hands with a dumbfounded look. He had no idea what happened.

    What Su Xiao didn''t know was that his true qi shared the same origins as one of the internal energy styles Ming Feizhen learnt. As a result, it spurred on the true qi in Ming Feizhen''s body when it entered and elicited a response. Then, it began to flow through the path it was moulded via. In the first step, it rectified the disordered true qi in his body. The whirlpool was a naturally produced attractive force, but when it was returned to Su Xiao, the excess true qi followed along, thereby strengthening Su Xiao''s internal energy. Su Xiao was unaware that the internal energy Ming Feizhen spilled over into him had elevated his internal energy cultivation over five times what it originally was.

    "What¡­ happened to me?" asked Ming Feizhen, holding his head, oblivious as to what just happened.

    "Xiao?" mumbled a drunken Ming Feizhen. "What are you doing? Ah, ow, ow¡­ My head hurts."

    Su Xiao felt his body was incredibly light. His hands and fleet overflowed with power, but he couldn''t define what happened. nkly, he said, "I went to help the female constables today. You don''t know this, but they have a lot of jobs, yetck the manpower toplete all of their jobs."

    "You''re about to be the women''s association president¡­ Haven''t we been recruiting recently?"

    "It won''t work. The female constables'' members are trained from a young age, not recruited."

    Though it was gettingter andter, Su Xiao''s newly acquired internal energy continued to grow more and more energetic.

    "Big Brother Ming, you must be hungry. I''ll go prepare you a meal."

    "Eh? Ah, w-wait!" stopped Ming Feizhen, waving his hands at the same time. "You know how to cook, Xiao?"

    Su Xiao energetically replied, "I might not be able to cook many dishes, but congee is my best dish. Fish congee expert right here!"

    Then, Su Xiao headed to the kitchen in high spirits, leaving a speechless Ming Feizhen, who resembled an ill patient, sitting on the bed.

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his forehead. He then used Internal Vision Technique to peer into his body, thereby realising what happened before. Had Su Xiao not helped him, he would be in far worse condition.

    Upon thinking about the fuma selection scheduled in a few days'' time, his head began to ache. If he didn''t participate, Jin Wangsun would be fuma as per his wish, and it would only be a matter of time before Night Fortress was lost again. The most worrisome part was that since Jin Wangsun was recruited by Jingan, she was bound to have other designs. Ming Feizhen just didn''t have any clues for what she had in mind was as of yet. And of all days¡­ it just had to be today when he had his quarrel with his shiyi.

    "What''s most important to Young Shiyi," asked Ming Feizhen. "I want to retire by bidding farewell to my past, while she has chosen to be a courtesan as another form of retirement. She wants to cut off all rtions to me and start over."

    Ming Feizhen contemted the problem¡­ He didn''t want to lose his shiyi nor had he ever imagined life without her. They were friends from childhood and grew up alongside each other. Labelling their rtionship as childhood friends allowed their feelings to be projected without repercussions, but also blinded them to things. Their identities were impassable roadblocks from the past.

    Contemte and contemte; before he knew it, Su Xiao hade back with a big piping-hot bowl of fish congee.

    "Why are you still in the same pose as when I left?"

    "Oh, Yeah."

    "Are you thinking about your gugu?"

    "Oh, yeah¡­"

    "Hmm¡­? Big Brother Ming."

    "Mm?"

    "You''re useless in my opinion," stated Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao blew a spoon of congee he scooped up and fed Ming Feizhen.

    "Hot, hot!" eximed Ming Feizhen, covering his mouth. After actually tasting it carefully, however, he discovered it tasted decent.

    The fish was slightly odd. The fish odour was rather prominent, and the texture was ordinary. Nheless, Su Xiao was quite the skilful chef when it came to congee. The ratio of water to rice was perfect.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hungry, Ming Feizhen didn''t wait for Su Xiao to feed him. He, instead, took it from Su Xiao and ate two mouthfuls beforeining, "Why didn''t you add some parsley? Put more parsley; I like it better with parsley."

    "I know you like it. It''s at the bottom," replied Su Xiao with a smile. "How is it? My congee is good, huh?''

    "Uhm, thanks," replied Ming Feizhen, with a helpless smile. He then returned to eating.

    Su Xiao sulked, "Big Brother Ming, do you remember what you said to me?"

    Su Xiao continued, "Didn''t you always teach me that when you deal with someone tough to deal with, take a less assertive approach if being assertive doesn''t work and if being less assertive doesn''t work, then be scum. A man in bare feet won''t be scared of the man with shoes. Mountains don''t move, but water does. If water doesn''t move, people still will. If you don''t use your brain, you''ll die from holding your piss in. You usually have plenty of ideas; why aren''t you using your brain this time?"

    "If being assertive doesn''t work, then take a less assertive approach if being assertive doesn''t work and if being less assertive doesn''t work, then be scum. A man in bare feet won''t be scared of the man with shoes¡­"

    Ming Feizhen eyes lit up.

    "A live man could die from holding his piss in?" asked Ming Feizhen. He thenughed. "You''re right. ming everyone but yourself is useless. Seize the initiative to strike. There''s always a way to solve everything."

    Ming Feizhen raised his head. He finally saw the bottom of the bowl of yellow congee. Su Xiao giggled as he pushed the bowl up to get Ming Feizhen to finish it.

    "The congee smells weird, but it was good stress relief¡­ Still, the fish just tastes weird as can be. What did you add?"

    Su Xiaoughed and replied, "Ah, the female constables gave it to me when we were on patrol duty today. You want to see?"

    "Oh? The congee did help me sort out my troubles, admittedly," said Ming Feizhen, who raised his head to gurgle the congee before swallowing it. He wiped his mouth once he was one. "How did you relieve my sorrow?''

    Su Xiao smiled kindly and replied, "Eel!"

    "¡­"

    Ming Feizhen literally sprinted to the toilet.

    *Vomit!!!*

    And the sound of a man vomiting rang was audible throughout Liu Shan Men for the entire night.

    Notes:

    *Su Xiao''s reproach - it''s lost in culture differences (within my parameters of cultural knowledge), but the phrase, "You neglect home," epasses home and family. It''s only used between husband and wife. Pretty sure they do it between husband and husband, too, but I''m ignorant there. So, Su Xiao was essentially treating Ming Feizhen as a husband at that moment.

 Volume 5 49 Night View on New Yearâ€™s Eve - Front of the Palace

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 49 Night View on New Year''s Eve - Front of the Pce</h4>

    "Amid the crackling firecrackers, a year hase to an end,

    The vour of spring can be tasted in Tusu wine,

    While the bright sun shines on each and every household,

    People switch out old charms for new ones."

    The year had yet to end on the 23rd December, but the sound of crackling firecrackers was always audible throughout the entire city of Nanjing.

    New Year''s Eve is also called Thanking Kitchen God, Offerings to Kitchen God and other names. In ancient times, Kitchen God was also called Kitchen Monarch and Kitchen Duke. His job was to supervise the sins and benevolent deeds in the human realm, but was also in charge of food and water. The reason people worshipped Kitchen God was to ask him to put in a good word for them with the Jade Emperor. Despite their worshipping, however, one could interpret it as the people trying to get in their superior''s good graces. It''s ratherical if one thinks about it. Some families will still offer candy, wine and express their sincerity despite being financially poor. Indeed, that was considered very sincere. Who knows for sure how much they made during the year to hold such a grand ceremony. Nevertheless, it was a custom that was worth respecting.

    Some say that entrusting prayers to gods is an absurd decision, for peace of mind lies within oneself. Obviously, those who believed it to be absurd were aware that there were people before the people of the past. By their definition of the people from the past, they meant Sun Tzu''s Art of War, Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Governance, Twenty-Four Histories, people capable of constructing captivating scenery and buildings. It''s obvious they knew how much good karma they could earn from burning sheets of paper. Gods wouldn''t hear their prayers if they offered some incense. People eventually learnt the absurdity of ancient customs with time, but those traditions continued to be passed down, which wasmendable. Despite the thousands of years, the people were able to leave behind ancient cultural miracles.

    Avoiding a moment of absurdity will only end with one being caught in something more absurd. Buddhism suggests that everything exists for a reason; everything should be viewed as if it is true. Life is a collection of unexpected events. To evaluate ancient customs through the lens of the present is folly and a gross offence to decency.

    Different locations celebrate New Year''s Eve with different customs. Southern Xinjiang prefers to celebrate Lunar New Year''s Eve instead of the day before New Year''s Eve. Northern Xinjiang may practice the custom of making offerings to Kitchen God, but do so on the second day, which is the 24th December. Nanjing City had practiced the custom the way the custom was practiced when first introduced. On the 23rd December, families would all offer candy, wine, food and paper money to begin worshipping Kitchen God with the male leading the ceremony.

    The same custom practiced bymoners was also practiced in the imperial pce. Tonight, the imperial pce was livelier than usual, because there was some major entertainment that followed the worshipping of Kitchen God ceremony. Aforementioned entertainment was the contest between Mount Daluo''s disciple, Ming Feizhen, and Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch, Jin Wangsun, for the fuma crown.

    The fuma selection contest was different to the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. Because a Princess would be married off, there were joyous celebrations taking ce everywhere. Absolutely, the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament was important, but that was to find talent for the imperial court. As soon as the victor was decided in the fuma contest, however, the deal would immediately be sealed. As such, the eunuchs and maids in the imperial pce were particrly diligent for the event. To top it off, there were also New Year preparations to take care of. The active imperial pce brought back a notable degree of life in the imperial pce after the cold and quiet days seeding the "Emperor Chengkong Incident".

    After he was done with the Kitchen God''s ceremony, the Emperor headed to Wuying Hall to wait. It wasn''t time to be seated yet; hence, the Emperor sat there alone with only Prime Minister Li Si keeping himpany.

    Although the fuma selection was a major event, it was the monarch''s family matter. Consequently, there weren''t many officials present. Most of the people present would be the royal family members. It goes without saying that the Princess would be present. Dukes and Princes and Princesses of second rank who rarely made appearances were also present.

    Princess Hongzhuang returned to the imperial pce without a word a few days ago. When she returned, she looked exhausted and cold. It was a sight that had the Emperor''s heart throbbing. He intended to admonish her, but couldn''t bring himself to. In the end, he just ordered servants to take care of her.

    Every time the Emperor visited his daughter, he found her depressed. He had no clue what happened when she was out of the pce in recent days. All he saw was her frowning. She looked as though she was bothered by something. The Emperor had an inkling that whatever happened was rted to the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen. He knew his daughter''s temperament. While she was a girl of few words, asking her questions would only make her refuse to speak. As a result, he had to give up.

    The Emperor stroked his beard, "Prime Minister, would you agree that there was something really strange today?"

    "Your Majesty, you are referring to¡­"

    The Emperor reminisced the ceremony he just led. Neither of them uttered a word, but the opposing aura rendered even others too intimidated to speak. With a sigh, the Emperor said, "All else aside, let''s focus on just the two fuma candidates. When we worshipped Kitchen God just before, the two didn''t spare each other a single nce. In all fairness, the two of them may be in opposition, but they are from Gold and Silver Sect and Mount Daluo, two elite sects among the orthodox sects. The two of them have maintained harmony on the surface."

    They say that with agees wisdom. Prime Minister had been en elder in the imperial court for three reigns. He was the eldest among the elderly in the imperial court and "wiser" than one could possibly be.

    Prime Minister Li Si was aware of the schemes Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun had in their bags. Even if he wasn''t aware of their ns in their entirety, he knew fifty if not sixty percent. Moreover, it was he, who rode the wave Ming Feizhen started, to frame good ol'' Jin Wangsun.

    "There is something you are missing, Your Majesty. Although the two hail from impressive roots, there is a degree of difference at the end of the day. Mount Daluo is a reputable orthodox sect; however, they reside in the mountains, and very few of their disciples are famous. On the other hand, a White Champion Prince is an exalted existence. In addition, Gold and Silver Sect is wealthier. Therefore, it is natural that they would be proud of themselves. That is the first difference. Secondly, there is a difference in status. Constable Ming is an ordinary disciple from Mount Daluo. While he is now a seventh ranked warrior of the imperial court, Patriarch Jin Wangsun, to the contrary, is a patriarch of a sect. His status does not pale inparison to a state. Hence, it is a given that he would not think highly of Constable Ming."

    In essence, Prime Minister Li Si dumped all of the me on Jin Wangsun. The Emperor shook his head after hearing the exnation.

    "Oh? Uhm¡­ But the two of them are too aggressive today. They both had their faces scrunched up from the moment they entered. We need to be on guard today. Don''t let Jin Wangsun be too vicious out there. It won''t look good for us if an ident happens on New Year."

    "Your benevolence is unmatched, Your Majesty. With that said, you seem to be bothered by something else today, Your Majesty."

    "Indeed, there is something on my mind. Prime Minister, Lord San Shen¡­" said the Emperor. He lowered his voice. "You know about it."

    With a confused look, the old prime minister stroked his beard. He focused his energy into recalling things before leisurely replying, "It is about that bugger Lord San Shen seducing Princess Hongzhuang, right?"

    "Yes, yes, yes! Exactly!"

    It was unarguably embarrassing if people found out Princess Hongzhuang fell for Lord San Shen. The old prime minister did his fame justice. Words were his weapon. Admire the brilliance of the prime minister''s tactful thinking.

    Having made a simple mention of Princess Hongzhuang''s recent condition, the prime minister quickly developed a suspicion. He said, "Fret not, Your Majesty. In your subject''s opinion, if Her Highness truly saw him, she would not be sighing and low in spirits. To the contrary, she should be joyous and eager to venture outside. There has to be another reason for Her Highness'' low spirits. There is actually no reason for you to be bothered, Your Majesty. Among your three Princesses, Princess Hongzhuang is the most valiant and upright. Further, she grew up studying Buddhism. She would not actually associate with someone from the Demon Sect."

    As they conversed, many had joined them at Wuying Hall. Even Princess Jingan had been seated.

    "Jin Wangsun has arrived!" shouted a eunuch by the door.

    Jin Wangsun entered the hall with a disgruntled look. That night, he sneaked out of his abode to go and give Ming Suwen grief, only to end up being smashed into the river - courtesy of Ming Feizhen. Then, he went to find Huo Qing''er, only to encounter Tang Ye and Situo. Needless to say, the two didn''t let him off the hook so easily after that. They assigned men to guard his room. As a result, Jin Wangsun was even followed to the bathroom for thest few days. For days, he was despondent.

    After greeting the Emperor, he was granted the right to rise. The Emperor scanned him and asked with bewilderment, "Wangsun, are you not feeling well? Have you not slept well recently?"

    "Wangsun was insolent in the past and erred. Fortunately, you are an Emperor of benevolence, Your Majesty. That is how I have managed to reflect on myself," replied Jin Wangsun, putting on a charade. "Having spent these past days reflecting on myself at home, I haveprehended many morals worth taking to heart."

    "Good, good."

    The Emperor looked at Jin Wangsun with joy. While the Emperor received plenty of reports from the prime minister and even dozens more from officials, he was the one who chose Jin Wangsun, after all. Plus, the mess was one he brought upon himself. Additionally, while he received reports of Jin Wangsun''s absurd behaviour, he didn''t hear Ming Feizhen doing anything better. He heard Ming Feizhen visited Heavenly Fragrance Garden several times in a single month, so his behaviour was far more outrageous than Jin Wangsun''s.

    "It is normal for young ones to do outrageous things. You are a considered a hero. Being a bit of a womaniser isn''t an issue, but you must make sure to keep yourself in line after marriage. My son mayck anything, but being upright and conducting himself properly is a must. If you want to catch her attention, you must¡­"

    "No! No! No means no!" eximed Princess Hongzhuang from outside.

    "It is Princess Hongzhuang."

    "Yes, it is Hong''er," reaffirmed the Emperor, sounding more energetic after finally hearing Hongzhuang''s voice.

    However, as soon as the Emperor went to speak, he heard, "Your Highness, please show your kindness and amodate your subject for this once."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The Emperor immediately expressed his displeasure with his face and words, "Th-Th-That is just ridiculous! Who is that?!"

    Earlier on when the worshipping Kitchen God ceremony ended, Ming Feizhen immediately started to cling to Princess Hongzhuang.

    "Kind Princess, great heroine, nice Princess, please lend me your sabre for a bit."

    Princess Hongzhuang had red shades on her cheeks. Though they were talking about sabres, if you didn''t hear their dialogue, one would think Ming Feizhen was asking for her. The usually suave and valiant beauty surprisingly didn''t dare to look straight at him.

    Ever since that day on Ethereal Beauty Boat, where Princess Hongzhuang followed Ming Feizhen to search for his Martial Grandaunt, she heard their conversation. However, after witnessing him split the boat in two, subsequently revealing Lord San Shen on board, she no longer knew what to think. It was impossible for her to identify him. Even if he was¡­ was Lord San Shen¡­ She lived under the same roof as him and even told him she liked him! Poor Princess Hongzhuang didn''t have energy or time. As a result, she and her father behaved as if they were at odds with each other. Their hostile situation frightened and concerned the entire pce for days.

    She questioned herself countless times, but she was certain that the voice of the man who conversed with Ming Suwen had to be Ming Feizhen. But nheless, the astonishing might he sliced the boat with, the dominating aura he left with and the terrifying and hideous green mask belonged to the Lord San Shen she knew.

    "How can the two of them possibly be the same person? If they''re one and the same, why did he approach me and ept my proposal to enter a fake marriage with me? Moreover, he''s a disciple from Mount Daluo; how can he be a leader in the Demon" questioned Hongzhuang to herself. But s, the questions overwhelmed her mind.

    "Ming Feizhen, t-tell me the truth. Are¡­ you¡­"

    "Yes!"

    "Eh?!"

    "Yes! I wish to borrow!"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t have the foggiest idea that the young Princess had seen through him. He was solely focused on shamelessly trying to plead her.

    "Your Highness, the contest will soonmence. I do not even have a proper weapon. It is too embarrassing. Your ss Sabre is a one-of-a-kind quality sabre. Come on, lend me it. Come on."

    Princess Hongzhuang just couldn''t clear her train of thought. Given the way Ming Feizhen was clinging to her and pleading her, she tightly hugged her sabre. She deliberately wore on a straight face and eximed, "Since when were we talking about that?!"

    Princess Hongzhuang then added, "ss Sabre is a part of my body. You can never have it."

    "Ming Feizhen and Princess Hongzhuang have arrived!"

    The two of them stepped into Wuying Hall at the same time, but were too immersed in their conversation, thereby forgetting to pipe down.

    "Come on. Give it to me, Your Highness!"

    "No! Would you be okay with giving your body to someone else?!"

    The Emperor almost leapt off his throne¡­

    Notes:

    *Tusu wine -as the name implies is a wine, but from ancient China.

    **The poem is New Year''s Eve, authored by Wang Anshi during Northern Song era.

    ***Princes and Princesses of second rank - these refer to children of Princesses or extended family of the Emperor.

 Volume 5 50 Night View on New Yearâ€™s Eve - Combat Aura

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 50 Night View on New Year''s Eve - Combat Aura</h4>

    "Ming Feizhen, did your guts grow another size?!" thundered the Emperor.

    Because Ming Feizhen and Princess Hongzhuang didn''t control their volume on time, everyone in the hall heard their dialogue. Unsurprisingly, the members of royalty immediately began to whisper among themselves.

    "Wow, they''re already talking about their bodies. Our Princess sure is liberal."

    "I heard Her Highness left the imperial pce for a few days, and no one knew where she went thereafter. Could she have¡­"

    Seeing the Emperor roll his sleeves up as if he was going to fight him one-on-one, Ming Feizhen hurriedly exined, "Please calm down, Your Majesty. That was iplete speech said for the sake of convenience. What your subject wanted to loan was Her Highness'' ss Sabre on her lower body, which is of the same importance as her body. Your subject did not have any warped agenda."

    Princess Hongzhuang quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, he meant lower body."

    "Wow, so not her body, but her lower body."

    "Shh, quiet. Patriarch Jin''s hairs are standing up."

    "His green hair you mean."

    "So what? He would still have to forgive her, wouldn''t he?"

    Jin Wangsun was already cornered. With the remarks now made on top of that, he was aggravated to the point that he was pale in the face. If you stole a quick nce, you''d see a green hat on his head.

    The Emperor understood it was a misunderstanding and, therefore, quickly redirected everyone''s attention toward him. He raised his voice, "As you are both here now, you should begin preparing."

    Jin Wansun and Ming Feizhen stood aside. The both of them snickered, but didn''t speak. However, Jin Wangsun''s pale face was very clear. Thus, being able to hold his head high was fortunate as it was.

    As for Princess Hongzhuang, for whatever reason, she instinctively stood behind Ming Feizhen when he and Jin Wangsun were told to get in position.

    "Once the all of the guests have arrived, we shallmence," stated the Emperor. He nced over to Princess Hongzhuang. Angry, he let out a puff of air. "Hong''er, why are you not sitting down?''

    "I¡­ was used to standing¡­"

    Hongzhuang only realised she was in the wrong ce upon hearing her father''s question. Embarrassed, she lowered her head and sat down.

    Jingan, who sat to Hongzhuang''s left-hand side, indifferently watched them. Once Hongzhuang sat, Jingan finally smiled, "Long-time no see, Hongzhuang."

    "Greetings, Elder Sister," greeted Hongzhuang, albeit in a flustered fashion upon seeing Jingan. "Please forgive Hongzhuang for not greeting you sooner when you came back a long time ago."

    There was a mountain of rules in the imperial pce. The royal family members were trained from a young age. Princess Jingan was special among the Princesses, for she was the Princess with the purest blood in the royal family. She was permitted to return to the imperial pce at her own pleasure despite being married. In fact, the Emperor was so reluctant to part with her that he located her temporary-stay pce mere hundreds of miles away at Hangzhou.

    Although Princess Hongzhuang''s mother was a descendent of one of the White Champion Princes, her mother was considered amonerpared to Jingan''s biological mother. Therefore, her lineage was considerably inferiorpared to Jingan. As a consequence, it was clear how they were viewed differently.

    "Good girl," giggled Jingan. "Hongzhuang, it hasn''t been long since west met, yet you''re already getting married. Let me have a look. All the men in the world would love this beautiful sister of mine."

    Hongzhuang blushed and lowered her head, "You are considered the most beautiful woman in the entire capital, Sister. Brother-inw is the one who is truly blissful."

    "Hihi, your brother-inw?"

    Jingan then nced over to Ming Feizhen, apparently without consciously wanting to. Her concern was worn on her face.

    "He''s a busy man. Who knows where he is or what he''s doing right now? If he''s not in a violent fight already, he''ll bepeting against somebody tonight."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen, who the Emperor red at the entire time when he walked over, touched his nose and coughed due to feeling guilty¡­

    Hongzhuang quickly responded with a smile, "Why is there any need for you to feel concerned, Sister? Brother-inws skills reign supreme. Back then, he defeated over ten skilled martial artists in the inner circle in a single swoop. Even Yi Ya was only able to score a draw against him. It would be hard for him to find a challenger with his degree of skill."

    "You know I''m uneducated in regards to martial arts."

    Jingan shifted her body to get closer to her sister with a smile. The two beauties, who were sisters, sat together, forming a dazzling sight in the hall.

    "My younger brother-inw would definitely possess respectable skills, as well. Tell me who you like."

    All of a sudden, Hongzhuang went red in the face, a reaction that Jingan didn''t expect. Nheless, she was always one to wear her thoughts and mood on her sleeves. But despite fear or smiles, she was always able to maintain herposure. She merely nced over to Ming Feizhen with a smile.

    Hongzhuang noticed her sister''s line of sight. Hence, she wore on a straight face, "Neither of them. I do not like either of them."

    Jingan giggled, but kept her gaze on Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t dare to interact with Jingan. He maintained the look of a Buddhist to avoid the Emperor noticing his usual mannerisms he was familiar with. While he did use a disguise as Fuma Jingan, he did speak face to face with the Emperor before. Hence, if a familiar aspect was noticed, it''d be lethal for him.

    JIngan didn''t dare to unmask Ming Feizhen, as if she failed to take him out in one stroke, Ming Feizhen''s retaliation would be destructive with his skills. A wise man doesn''t trade blows so that both parties end up hurt. That was why there was the three-year time frame. In spite of not daring to reveal his identity, whether it was deliberate or not, she would alwayse up with tricks or pranks. It was as if making things difficult for Ming Feizhen was entertainment for her.

    The Emperor was unaware of the subtle urrences below. Voice loud, he asked, "Constable Ming, Patriarch Jin, I have informed you two of today''s events. Are you two prepared?"

    Ming Feizhen answered in a loud voice, "Your subject, Ming Feizhen, has fully prepared himself thanks to your grace."

    Jin Wangsun answered, "Your subject sends you his greetings, Your Majesty. Your subject is also fully prepared."

    After checking to ensure everyone was seated, the Emperor nodded, "Shining Edges shall immediatelymence. Before we begin, though, allow me to preface that I am not making things difficult for you two. This is merely the royal family''s traditional way of selecting a fuma. This is also my first time putting the tradition into practice. In addition, you two are pirs of the nation. I do not wish to see either of you hurt. Remember to hold back and stop when appropriate.

    Today is New Year''s Eve. It is meant to be a day for family to reunite. I have no choice but to allow violence despite it being inappropriate. I hope you two bear in mind the word ''stop''. I will not show the other leniency if either of you is hurt!"

    As the Emperor spoke, he swiftly swept his sharp gaze over the two. Though he looked at both of them, in reality, his warning was directed at Jin Wangsun, who shot Ming Feizhen a re.

    "What are you looking at? If you have eye problems, go visit a doctor," fired an annoyed Ming Feizhen. "As if liking lying in vats wasn''t bad enough, you''ve got eye problems now, as well? Man, I feel sorry for your parents."

    Jin Wangsun gnashed his teeth, "Do your best to be as insolent as you can now, because it''ll be toote for you to regret itter."

    Jin Wangsun then stood opposite Ming Feizhen with his back facing the Emperor. Suddenly, he revealed an aggressive smile and quietly snickered, "Ming Feizhen, Night Fortress'' Master¡­ You can forget beating me with your formidable skills in surprise attacks! I''ve seen through your disguise; I know your true identity. The master of Night Fortress would actually disguise himself as a branch disciple of Mount Daluo and infiltrate Liu Shan Men to be a low-ranking constable. You must have something big in mind, huh?''

    Jin Wangsun was well aware that he couldn''t match Ming Feizhen''s skills. He was eighty-percent confident that Ming Feizhen wouldn''t go all out. In saying that, he still needed to avoid "what if" and, therefore, there was no better time to threaten him than now.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t flinch. He calmly asked, "What do you want?"

    "Nothing," replied Jin Wangsun, with a hideous smile. "If you kneel to me now and promise not to give me trouble, I can show you benevolence and allow you to continue working as a constable. What do you think?!"

    Notes:

    *Inner circle martial artists - refers to martial artists who are permitted entry into the deeper parts of the imperial pce. Compared to other martial artists, they are considered more skilled and trustworthy. Considering using ¡°warriors¡± instead of martial artists. Less literally, but maintains the fact that they are trained forbat, but could potentially cover a wider ssification, since generals or guards could potentially pop up in the list. Let me know what you think in thements.

 Volume 5 51 Night View on New Yearâ€™s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 51 Night View on New Year''s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 1)</h4>

    Jin Wangsun discerned there to be a problem before Ming Feizhen replied.

    "You don''t seem surprised¡­ Did you know that I knew your identity already?"

    "Master Jin, you don''t happen to be retarded, do you?" asked Ming Feizhen. "Given that your fianc¨¦e mentioned Night Fortress'' Master, and she happened to be guarded by Liu Shan Men, how could I not already be aware?"

    Ming Feizhen''s response had Jin Wangsun pull a long face.

    "As Ming Feizhen already knew his secret is out, why didn''t he do anything and waited for me to expose him here, instead?" pondered Jin Wangsun.

    "You''re not afraid I''d report it to His Majesty?"

    Ming Feizhen shrugged with his hands supine, "Tell him if you please. Besides yourck of evidence, even Miss Huo is on our side. She would reveal what you did to your father and your n to gift His Majesty your father''snd for retirement. Let''s see who''s in more trouble given your father''s friendship with His Majesty after all is revealed."

    "That''s your reason for being fearless?" asked Jin Wangsun, with a snicker. "I thought Night Fortress'' Master was supposed to be some incredible figure, but it seems that besides your martial skills, you''re more na?ve than a child. You''re staying at Liu Shan Men as a member of an unorthodox sect and deceiving the imperial court. His Majesty wouldn''t forgive you. As for my matter, that''s a family affair. His Majesty has no say in the Seven Champion White Princes'' internal turmoil. It sounds as though you want to help my old man. Heh, listen in: he has no hope of making aeback."

    Ming Feizhen nonchntly remarked, "Confident, aren''t you?"

    "I have you to thank, Master Ming. Thanks to your foolishness and your durd underlings, I''ve managed to seize control of Hangzhou''s mightiest force," responded Jing Wangsun, with a haughty smile. "By exhibiting my eight-thousand elites in Hangzhou, I''ve seized control of Hangzhou''s martial world using Night Fortress. In addition, after months under my lead, I have secretly recruited men, thereby increasing my forces to over ten-thousand men. Even if my old man wants to resist against me, he''d have to see if my ten-thousand-plus elites would let him. Moreover, I have those loyal to me in Gold and Silver Sect; I''m invincible."

    Jin Wangsun then patted Ming Feizhen on the shoulder, "Don''t be morose. Kneeling isn''t embarrassing. You can consider it in the first round. Think carefully then give me an answer."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jin Wangsun then walked off, but just after two steps, Ming Feizhen called out to him, "Hey, Jin Wangsun."

    Jin Wangsun halted in his tracks, "What?"

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms and leisurely responded, "You raped your fianc¨¦e, and then violently abused her. As Jiangnan''s best professional educator for naughty kids, I should''ve epted the business deal from Gold and Silver Sect."

    "You''re Night Fortress'' master, yet you''re hiding at Liu Shan Men and trying to hatch some sort of n. Don''t put yourself on a pedestal."

    The two red at each other, with both showing intense murderous intent. Seeing the two''s confrontation, the Emperor stepped in, "Shiny Edges will soonmence. I''d like you two to hear me out before wemence."

    The Emperor then began to exin the origins of Shiny Edge in an emotional tone, "Shiny Edge is a contest passed down from the founder of my dynasty. He was without equal across thends. Additionally, he had the best methods of training soldiers for battle. I was told that his first son-inw was selected in the army barracks. The first thing he did was consider their martial prowess. It didn''t take long before shiny edges dynamically danced in the tent. Our founding Emperor possessed unparalleled skills, and there were countless men worthy of being considered heroes in the tent, yet fell as a result of those des. After the event, every Emperor before me, including the previous Emperor, Emperor Yinde, held a Shiny Edges test before, albeit not every single time."

    Owing to the emotions that came onto him as he spoke on the topic, he looked over to Ming Feizhen, "Back then, your Mount Daluo''s Founder was our founding Emperor''s left and right arms. I heard that he was the one who came up with the idea. Do you know about it?"

    "Yes, your subject does know," replied Ming Feizhen, with a cupped fist. "Additionally, your subject knows that our founder still remains with us. Your subject sent him a letter and received a response before today. His memory is still fantastic. He has imparted to me how to win."

    Hearing Ming Feizhen''s response, the audience got rowdy.

    "Oh?" reacted the surprised Emperor. "You''ve already inquired with him? You''re quite the efficient worker."

    "Your subject''s skills are poor; how could he match Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch''s skills? As such, your subject had to reach out to his founder for guidance. Fortunately, he has provided your subject with the key thanks to his vast knowledge and profound wisdom."

    Hero Shenzhou''s name had gained fame for a century. He was already a living myth in the martial world. Thus, if Ming Feizhen had received his guidance, he was bound to have some sort of ace up his sleeve. The audience, who thought there was nothing worth watching, started to show anticipation for the contest upon learning of Hero Shenzhou''s involvement.

    The Emperor shook his head, "As the name Shiny Edges implies, it is a contest of weaponry. Bare-handedbat is not permitted during the contest!"

    Despite having Hero Shenzhou''s guidance, the Emperor still believed the gap in Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun''s skills to be too significant. He never had a shadow of doubt that Ming Feizhen was doomed to lose. Elder Wang from the ck Robe Brotherhood reported back to the Emperor on Jin Wangsun''s skills already. He told the Emperor that not only did Jin Wangsun have a unique potential for des, but was also well-versed in two of the world''s five palm styles. Not only that but, apparently, his skill with palm styles were without equal in any way, as well.

    The Emperor wasn''t worried about Jin Wangsun being bold enough to kill Ming Feizhen right before his eyes, but was worried that he''d cause internal damage. Internal injuries might not be instantly fatal, but it could lead to Ming Feizhen dying after leaving. Subsequently, he raised his voice to remind Jin Wangsun indirectly, "Should you break the rules, you will lose the round. Shiny Edges is the first contest. There is another after it and, if need be, there will be a third. You two, therefore, must not get caught up in your desire to fight and lose out. All right now. Those are the rules of Shiny Edges. Do either of you have any issues?''

    "Your subject does!"

    Nobody expected the first one to voice a protest would be Jin Wangsun - who had a huge advantage.

    Ming Feizhen muttered under his breath with discontentment, "Go see a doctor if you have an issue. What''s the point of telling His Machesty?"

    "Hmph," snorted Jin Wangsun. Not hearing clearly what Ming Feizhen said, he asked, "What eel?"

    Ticked off, Ming Feizhen retorted, "Piss off!"

    Eel, sorry, His Majesty revealed a reluctant smile, "What request might you have, Wangsun?"

    "Your Majesty, I heard that the Shiny Edges contest your family has passed down required weapons to be double checked."

    "Indeed," remarked the Emperor, feeling surprised. "You really do possess an impressive abundance of knowledge, Wangsun. You are right about that rule. It is just that I know both of you, erm, are well-versed in weaponry, and so¡­ I didn''t bring it up."

    In truth, the Emperor deliberately avoided it to cover for Ming Feizhen, for he was positive that Ming Feizhen couldn''t have had a superior weapon to Gold and Silver Sect.

    The Emperor''s praise for Jin Wangsun triggered Ming Feizhen who said to himself, "Abundant pile of sh*t for brains is what he has! Prove to me that Jingan wasn''t the one who told you about the rule, and I''ll let you use my head as a chamber pot!!"

    Enraged, Ming Feizhen shot Jingan a re, only for her to look left and right, suggesting, "Eh? Who''s looking for Jingjing?" while ignoring him.

    "We may have two weapons, but can be the only one to wield them. May Wangsun boldly request a change in the rules to allow us to have a helper, thereby allowing us to disy the full potential of having two weapons?"

    "Oh," replied the Emperor.

    As he searched for an excuse to refuse the request, he suddenly noticed Tang Ye, who was behind Ming Feizhen, was oddly concerned. With a spark of inspiration, the Emperor thought, "Ming Feizhen would definitely lose tragically in a one-on-one contest. If I let Tang Ye assist him, he might not look so bad and have his pride trampled on."

    "In that case, let us give it a try. Who are you looking to assign your assistance?''

    Jin Wangsun loudlymanded, "Big Cat,e greet His Majesty!"

    Notes:

    *His Majesty/His Machesty/Eel - They''re homophones. Now, in case you''ve forgotten, eel is being used to represent urine.

    To remind you, there was an incident in China where a woman went on live cam and inserted eel up her vagina for attention. That is where the association originates from.

 Volume 5 52 Night View on New Yearâ€™s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 52 Night View on New Year''s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 2)</h4>

    "Big Cat,e and greet His Majesty!"

    As soon as he gave the order, a family ve, who carried a box containing a weapon, stepped forth with big strides. He stayed behind Jin Wangsun with a hunched back the entire time, and also kept quiet in order to stay alert. As a result, few ever noticed him. Nheless, when they saw him step out with big strides, his head up and chest out, they sensed his incredible aura.

    The man was extremely tall. In fact, he was quite a bit taller than Ming Feizhen. To add, he was muscr, which gave the impression that he possessed immense might. His messy hair was tied up behind him, helping him look suave as opposed to boorish. Even the Emperor''s eyes lit up upon setting his eyes on the man with the impressive appearance.

    "He''s a titan, indeed!" the Emperor remarked to himself.

    Big Cat was Jin Wangsun''s strongest subordinate. For those who have forgotten, he was one who carried Tiger Fang on his back, Jiangnan''s titan, A Hu. His skills were superior to even Jin Wangsun. With his Tiger Fang de on his back, as well, he could be considered on par with Jia Yunfeng.

    The Emperor, who loved talent, asked, "Wangsun, who is this impressive gentleman?"

    With a smile, Jin Wangsun answered, "It is shameful to say this: he is merely Wangsun''s family ve who is tasked with carrying sabres. His name is A Hu. He has no skills. It is just that Wangsun is used to having him serve Wangsun, and he knows Wangsun. As such, he is convenient to have around for errands and the sort."

    It took Ming Feizhen only an instant to figure out Jin Wangsun''s strategy. The previous threat was the first strike. Bringing A Hu into the picture was his second strike. He deliberately suggested a two-man team contest. A Hu was more skilled than Jin Wangsun was. With them being master and servant on top of both practicing Gold and Silver Sect''s martial arts, their chemistry was exceptional. It was a given that theirbination would be far superior to himself and Tang Yebined thanks to the aforementioned reason. To top it off, there was also the difference in weapon quality. As a subsequence, Ming Feizhen was very likely to lose the round.

    The nail in the coffin, though, was Jin Wangsun made deliberately emphasising A Hu''s status as a ve. The reason he had A Hu join wasn''t to assist, but to demonstrate his "weapon". Tang Ye was one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons nowadays. So ordingly, both of them had rather unique statuses. See, A Hu could be overwhelmingly strong and wouldn''t make Jin Wangsun look bad. On the other hand, Tang Ye''s supposedly superior skills would render Ming Feizhen theughing stock. Unsurprisingly, Tang Ye wore on a long face.

    Jin Wangsun carried on, "Wangsun''s assistant will be A Hu. As for Wangsun''s weapon, it will be¡­ Please forgive Wangsun''s arrogance."

    The Emperor waved a hand, "Never mind it. Show me."

    Jin Wangsun smiled subtly, "A Hu!"

    A Hu remained silent and maintained his lifeless gaze the entire time until Jin Wangsun called for him, when his eyes lit up and he set the box on his back down. Evidently, the box was abnormallyrge. The audience felt the hall quake when he set the box down. Before the quaking stopped, they suddenly felt a gust of wind st their face that had an oppressive aura to it.

    A Hu drew a wide and ck de out from the box. The de was approximately the height of a human being and incredibly thick. Having said that, the de''s edge was so sharp that it didn''t have a blemish.

    No ordinary man could wield a de with such weight and length. Only a man of A Hu''s size would be able to.

    The martial artist piqued the Emperor''s interest. He thought to himself, "What an overwhelming de. Should its wielder be proficient, he would be able to stand toe-to-toe with the top-tier martial artists."

    Out of the blue, Ming Feizhen eximed, "Your subject thinks this is inappropriate."

    The crowd wasn''t surprised to hear Ming Feizhenin about unfairness. It couldn''t have been any more obvious that A Hu was skilled. The box he carried on his back was equally intimidating. Anyone who had reached a certain level of martial artspetence would be able to recognise what made Tiger Fang extraordinary. Bear in mind that was just one weapon. Jin Wangsun still hadn''t revealed his own weapon. Once he did, what hopes would Ming Feizhen have?

    As a result, Ming Feizhen had to lower his head as a little man would and implored the Emperor to take back his previousmand. It was bad news for him no matter how one looked at it. His morale was zero, and the Emperor''s view of him was negative. Most importantly, if he admitted to being inferior to Jin Wangsun, he''d be too embarrassed to continuepeting. Ming Feizhen, however, was fearless and calm.

    "Your Subject believes this is inappropriate. Back there, your subject wanted to borrow Her Highness'' lower bod-"ooking eager to get to his feet, the Emperor cut him off, "Shut up! Mention that one more time, and I''ll, personally,e down there to p you! If you know it''s inappropriate, why are you mentioning it?!"

    "Please calm down, Your Majesty. Your subject was trying to say that Shining Edges was created by your subject''s school''s founder. If we think about it, your subject has an enormous advantage. The unfairness is what your subject perceives to be inappropriate."

    "Say what? You think you have an enormous advantage?" asked the Emperor, seemingly questioning if his ears were ying tricks on him. "You mean¡­"

    "Your subject''s shifu always taught your subject to be fairness. If someone gives you an inch, you must give him a foot. Your subject does not dare to take such a big advantage. As such, your subject suggests allowing Patriarch Jin and his assistant to be armed and work alongside each other."

    Ming Feizhen''s suggestions stunned everyone present.

    "His arrogance knows no bounds. Is he throwing away his life?"

    "The highest level of strategy is to win with pure wits. Jin Wangsun has only revealed one de. We don''t know what his other incredible weapon is, yet Ming Feizhen has made such a request. Battle monger. Utter idiocy at its finest."

    "Weapons aside, he is not Jin Wangsun''s equal in terms of skills, either."

    Elder Statesman, also known as Princess Hongzhuang''s grandpa, Old Master Xie, who was once beaten by Jin Wangsun''s muscle, stroked his beard, "The young boy is wet behind the ears. No matter how skilled you may be, you couldn''tpare to my ck Robe Brotherhood''s elder''s skills. Even my grandson couldn''t do much against Jin Wangsun. What, you prefer a short life?"

    Ming Feizhen approached the elder statesman, "Elder Statesman, this humble one''s biggest fear is death. Please rest assured, Elder Statesman. This humble one is definitely not underestimating this contest. This humble one swears to avenge you for that day."

    Voice quiet, Ming Feizhen then added, "I am under Her Highness'' orders. She cannot forgive Jin Wangsun for crossing you and, therefore, ordered this humble one to win."

    Elder statesman revealed an expression of surprise. He nced over to Hongzhuang. Then, the old hero slowly nodded, "All right. Good kid. If you''re in any dangerter, I''ll be sure to assist you."

    In spite of saying that, elder statesman wasn''t convinced Ming Feizhen would win.

    Hearing Ming Feizhen''s conceited speech, Jin Wangsun''s pride as a martial artist boiled. He said to himself, "Even if you were skilled beyond what I fathom, you think you can ovee my Jin n''s supreme weapons with your bare hands when you don''t dare to reveal your true skills?!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Jin Wangsun hastily said, "Your Majesty, your subject would like to take the opportunity to bring his own weapon out, as well."

    "Sure. You need not be concerned with formalities, Wangsun."

    Jin Wangsun raised his head, "As you have agreed, please pass Wangsun Golden Crow Moon Eater."

    The audience could assign a single word to urately describe both fuma candidates: crazy!

    One candidate asked for the Princess'' lower body and surrendered a de. The other dared to demand stuff from the Emperor?

    The Emperor also frowned. Somewhat unhappy, he asked, "Golden Crow Moon Eater is your de. I did not snatch it from you. Further, you gave it to the imperial court as a gift, correct?"

    "Indeed."

    ¡°As you have given it as a gift, why are you purposely asking for it back? Are you toying with me for entertainment?¡±

    With a smile, Jin Wangsun replied, "Your subject dares not. However, would you happen to remember that I mentioned Golden Crow Moon Eater was my betrothal gift¡­?"

    The moment the Emperor heard the two words "betrothal gift", the Emperor had a moment of realisation, "Damn! This kid has a good memory. Why didn''t I think of that?"

 Volume 5 53 Night View on New Yearâ€™s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 53 Night View on New Year''s Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 3)</h4>

    Jin Wangsun gifted the emperor Golden Crow Moon Eater as a betrothal gift when he first had an audience with the Emperor. When he gave the gift, he was unaware that Princess Hongzhuang was betrothed to the winner of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. His proposal was sudden; His Majesty, therefore, focused solely on dealing with the matter in urgent fashion. He epted the de, while overlooking how he received the gift Golden Crow Moon Eater. Thinking back on it now, he realised that since he didn''t betroth his daughter to the man, he shouldn''t have epted the gift.

    Judging from the look on the Emperor''s face, Jin Wangsun knew his Golden Crow Moon Eater would be returned.

    "Although Golden Crow Moon Eater is your subject''s family heirloom, it is mere scrappared to Her Highness. What a pity¡­" opined Jin Wangsun, wearing a sad charade. "Unfortunately, Wangsun is unfortunate. Wangsun needs to further refine Wangsun in order to marry Her Highness. As the marriage is not established, Golden Crow Moon Eater should still be considered your subject''s property."

    "Eh? You¡­"

    The Emperor was rendered speechless. Indeed, Jin Wangsunbelled it a betrothal gift, not to mention that he said it before all the vassals in attendance at the court. While the Emperor was angry, he couldn''t slip his way out. Hence, he ordered men to bring out Golden Crow Moon Eater from inner pce''s the warehouse.

    The iron case for Golden Crow Moon Eater was thick and heavy. As soon as it entered the hall, it sent chills down spines. Golden Crow Moon Eater''s handle had a variety of metals added to it through a special tempering method, allowing it to be thick and heavy, yet sharp and possible to wield with a quick style.

    Though Jin Wangsun''s ploy was considered shameless by many upright figures, the majority of them could ept it. Being calctive was in Gold and Silver Sect''s nature to begin with. It was, therefore, not surprising that they couldn''t bear to part with the priceless Golden Crow Moon Eater.

    Besides the Seven Dynasty-Founding des, which were seven amazing des that appeared during the founding emperor''s prime, there were seven other des that possessed unique capabilities. Let us use Golden Crow Moon Eater as the topic of discussion: the de''s unique trait was its power andrge size. It was a staple in empowering ancestors of Jin n''s road to oveing obstacles. It wasn''t merely sharp and possible to be wielded swiftly.

    Jin Wangsun opened the iron case. He slowly ran his hand along the handle, then the scabbard, then the edge of his family heirloom. As his hands ran along it, he sharpened his gaze and muttered under his breath, "With my n''s de that can rule the world, I am without equal!"

    When Jin Wangsun picked up the sabre, it seemed as if the de shot countless de qi shots into Ming Feizhen, turning him into a hedgehog.

    "Brother Ming, you said that you only needed one weapon. Don''t go regretting it."

    Ming Feizhen stretched out his back and smiled, "Obviously I won''t."

    "Patriarch Jin will have two contestants and two des. I have confirmed his eligibility. What about you Constable Ming?"

    "Your subject is also fully prepared."

    Tang Ye stood up and walked up behind Ming Feizhen after Ming Feizhen replied. Tang Ye stared at A Hu, who was also silent, with his hand ced on the ancient sword Heaven Shocker at his waist.

    The Emperor nodded, "As you are all ready, Shining Edges shall nowmence!!"

    The moment mence" exited the Emperor''s mouth, A Hu ripped Tiger Fang out, looked up and howled as ferociously as a wild beast. The titanunched toward his target with the aggression of a cannonball. Like a fierce tiger''s jaws going for its prey, Tiger Fang came swinging down from overhead. His violence was akin to dark clouds enveloping his two opponents.

    At the same moment, Tang Ye sprang into action. The ancient sword, Heaven Shocker, made its appearance with the intensity of a cyclone, but was thrust upwards, instead, shing with Tiger Fang multiple times. The sound of consecutive blows between the two des resembled the sound of hundreds of ss shards falling onto a tray made from jade. The exchanges were so quick that that you''d think heavy rainfall fell into a basin.

    The intense close exchange between the two was akin to running water pitted against rocks. Who won? Nobody knew.

    Neither was able to get the jump on the other in the exchange. After splitting apart, the two zipped past one another. Taking just half a step, they suddenly twirled at the same time to swing back at each other! Like thunderp, Tiger Fang challenged the icy sting of Heaven Shocker with its overbearing might. The second exchange put their life in the bnce.

    However¡­

    "Wait. Wait!!" suddenly shouted Jin Wangsun, voice louder than the two''s exchange.

    The two engaged inbat halted upon hearing Jin Wangsun''s voice. They almost failed to pull back in time amidst thebat. Both looked to Jin Wangsun with perplexed gazes. Actually, it wasn''t just the two of them; everyone present looked his way.

    All they saw and heard, though, was Jin Wangsun jumping up and down and loudlyining, "Motherfucker! Fucking Ming Feizhen! What did you do?! Return me my sabre!"

    Shifting their gaze to Ming Feizhen, they saw Ming Feizhen ying around with Golden Crow Moon Eater as if it was an antique.

    "This is the de that could rule the world? I didn''t know how sharp it was before I saw it. Hehehe, I bet slicing pork shoulders with this would be¡­" said Ming Feizhen, before gulping his saliva. There was no hiding the gluttonous look on his face as he wrapped up hisst word.

    "Slice a pig''s ass!" raged Jin Wangsun. After dropping vulgar bombs, he demanded, "Give it back! What sort of honourable man steals the weapon of another?!"

    When the Emperor announced themencement of the contest, A Hu and Tang Ye went off to their own corner. At the same time, Jin Wangsun nned to challenge the monster that Night Fortress'' master was to prove his splendid skills developed over the years¡­ while having a limitation on his skills. Unexpectedly, his beautiful dream he wanted to realisested less than the time it took to take a breath, as Ming Feizhen utilised techniques such as Dragon Capture Art and Moon Weaving Palms to easily snatch Golden Crow Moon Eater before Jin Wangsun could hold his de properly.

    Besides Jin Wangsun and A Hu, who were enjoying themselves, everyone else was dumbfounded. Needless to say, nobody was more dumbstruck than Jin Wangsun. Nobody ever expected the man to immediately snatch his opponent''s weapon in a weapon contest!!

    Impressed, the Emperor smacked his thigh and flipped a thumb, "Genius! Why didn''t I think of that?! That must have been taught to you by Hero Shenzhou, right?!"

    Princess Hongzhuang wore her admiration on her face, "That is a genius idea from Hero Shenzhou."

    Jingan, on the other hand, saw through the deceit. Irate, she wanted to say, "What does Hero Shenzhou have to do with it? I''ll bet anything it was another one of Fuma''s underhanded tactics. Who does that? Snatching his opponent''s weapon in Shining Edges, you''d expect him toe up with such a dirty tactic."

    The witty old prime minister stroked his beard and apuded him, "Shameless, shameless. He certainly possesses my remarkable character from my early days!!"

    Jin Wangsun pointed at Ming Feizhen with his finger. The royal family members'' ridiculing gazes made it impossible for Jin Wangsun to brush it off. He quickly moulded energy and used Cloud Push Technique. He belted, "Are you not going to give back my Golden Crow Moon Eater?!"

    However, Ming Feizhen thundered, "Insolence! His Majesty said bare-handed attacks were not permitted, yet you would knowingly break the rules?!"

    Jin Wangsun had to force himself to pull back his internal energy when he had nearly fully executed his technique. Enraged, his face turned red. His rage almost induced an internal injury.

    "Your Majesty, is this allowed?!"

    "Uh¡­ well¡­" The Emperor scratched the back of his head. "I don''t see why not. He hasn''t broken any rule."

    "But he is using your subject''s weapon!!"

    "But he snatched it from you."

    "Yet your subject cannot hit him?!"

    "If you break the rules, you will lose the round. That''s the rule of Shining Edges. There is no room forpassion inw."

    A Hu tried to go and assit, but Tang Ye stopped him on every asion, leaving Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun to shoot res at each other.

    Despite having Golden Crow Moon Eater in hand, Ming Feizhen didn''t strike. Instead, he tossed the thick and heavy de up into the air as if it was a fan and allowed it to rotate as it came back down. Jin Wangsun was so infuriated with Ming Feizhen''s attitude, but all he could do was snatch it back.

    "Give it back!" thundered Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun reached out, but Ming Feizhen used unique footwork to evade. Jin Wangsun continued to pressure Ming Feizhen, but unfortunately, couldn''t get his hands on him. The more panicked Jin Wangsun was, the more and more erratic the execution of his techniques became. He used techniques from every style in his books. Soon enough, it was barely discernable.

    In order to hide his skills from the Emperor and not counterattack, Ming Feizhen dodged left and right, thereby preventing Jin Wangsun from catching him. He deliberately left an opening on his back. Jin Wangsun wobbled as he went to grab Ming Feizhen, who then rotated and shifted away. Jin Wangsun, who was dizzy by that point, was supposed to catch the air. Nevertheless, due to excessive output, he crashed into the flower vase Ming Feizhen was next to a moment ago, thereby incitingughter from the audience.

    "Don''t be so hasty to return ''home'', Brother Dagang," jeered Ming Feizhen, with a casual smirk on his face. "You''ve got plenty of time to stroke yourself after the contest ends."

    Notes:

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    *"Don''t be so hasty to return ''home'', Brother Dagang." - Let''s break this down.

    Dagang = Big Vat

    Jin Wangsun became notorious for his supposed fondness of lying in vats.

    Combine the fact that Ming Feizhen used his "big vat" nickname on purpose and Jin Wangsun crashing into a flower vase, what does his home refer to? Hint: He''s been in something simr before.

 Volume 5 54 Shoulder Grand Art â€“ Freeloading

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 54 Shoulder Grand Art ¨C Freeloading</h4>

    The sound of metal shing in Wuying Hall never ceased for a moment. Sparks flew as the two weapons shed. The exchange that shook eardrums was akin to a string on one''s heart being plucked, leading to their blood boiling with excitement.

    Ancient sword Heaven Shocker, a long sword from all ounts, weaved through the air dexterously. Rather, wielding it swiftly and dexterously was the only option. Tang Ye strung together several swordy styles in his assault. Tang Ye a vast array of styles at his disposal, an aplishment that even Ming Feizhen couldn''tpete with. In fact, Ming Feizhen couldn''t identify all of the styles Tang Ye was capable of.

    Tang Ye''s swift attacks that were stringed together consecutively painted a tempest of mercury in the air. The winds from the swings emitted cold air. The sword''s dance was a splendid sight to behold.

    A Hubatted the variations in Tang Ye''s style by sticking to one. He kept his manoeuvres with the huge de to the absolute bare minimum when defending himself. Though his fighting method wasn''t attractive, his exchange with Tang Ye was a long one. Furthermore, in spite of Tang Ye''s barrage of attacks that were akin to a raging cyclone, A Hu had yet to suffer any injuries. Such skill wasn''tmonly heard of.

    What was supposed to be a face-off between the two fuma candidates had evolved into the showgrounds for the two assistants.

    Someplimented Tang Ye, praising him for doing his reputation justice as a member of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. His skills were certainlyplimented. Ever since the fightmenced, Tang Ye had yet to use the same technique twice. Thus, there was no doubt that he hailed from a reputable n. Somepared his dominance to a rainbow, iming that he would make therge durd spill blood.

    Only those with a certain level of proficiency in martial arts, such as the Emperor, stroked their beards and smiled. They were cognizant of the fact that Tang Ye''s fighting strategy would cost him a lot more energy than A Hu. Furthermore, A Hu''s tiger fang was overwhelmingly heavy, making it a perfect weapon for murder. It would be unfair and grossly wrong to lump together his defence and attack, for he wasn''t defending because he couldn''t attack. A Hu was actually collecting energy, waiting for his energy to fully charge up before striking back with knockout might.

    Tang Ye knew what A Hu had in store and, therefore, was startled himself. For that reason, he went on the attack with the goal of shutting him down before he, himself, was in jeopardy. However, he not only failed, but had his number of attack options shut down thanks to A Hu''s defensive game.

    A Hu''s techniques appeared dull, but there was the hint of meticulous attention to each and every rough technique that was very hard to spot. His broadsword style didn''t reveal any murderous aura, and he didn''t attack. Despite that, Tang Ye found it increasingly harder to attack the more and more he attacked. At the point they had reached in their match, defeat was imminent; however, Tang Ye had no way of finishing him. If he retreated at that point, A Hu would finish him with a single swipe. Their fight transcended into a fight between trapped beasts as the two moved and exchanged blows.

    In spite of having been in dozens of fights ever since he got started, Tang Ye had never gone so far in a fight. He remarked to himself, "He has already won without batting an eye. His skills are superior to even Fu Xiang."

    But nheless, now that it hade to that, Tang Ye had to continue on.

    As for the other twopetitors, their situation was the reverse of their teammates''.

    Ming Feizhen took things easy. He adamantly refused to return Jin Wangsun his Golden Crow Moon Eater. He walked along the left side and would pull over to talk. He went to the right side, swung the de a few times and teased the maids. Then, he went and spoke to Assistant Minister Lu from the Ministry of Works, "Hey, Assistant Minister Lu, your battle at Heavenly Fragrance Garden''s front door sure shook up the entire capital. This humble one admires your flower arrangement skills. This humble one is keen on being your disciple. Would you happen to be willing to teach this one?"

    "That¡­ that¡­ We are all gentleman who have the same taste. I would not dare to be your teacher. We can just exchange tips. Just exchange tips."

    "Bastard, take this!"

    Jin Wangsun tried to grab Ming Feizhen from behind, only to earn his giddyughter as he spun around with the de held behind him. Hesitant, Jin Wangusn didn''t dare to touch Ming Feizhen and, thus, had to redirect his hand.

    Ming Feizhen grabbed a chicken drumstick from Assistant Minister Lu''s table and chomped off a mouthful. Then, he frowned, "Patriarch Jin, what are you doing? Why are you stalking me? Here, here, have a chicken bone."

    Furious, Jin Wangsun''s body shook. But s, there was nothing he could do about the bastard. The Emperor forbade using limbs on the body to attack. As a result, he couldn''t inflict harm on Ming Feizhen in the process of taking back the sabre. Ming Feizhen leveraged the rule to behave insolently without misgivings. Whenever Jin Wangsun went to snatch his sabre, Ming Feizhen would move his body in the way. Being taller than Jin Wangsun and having a longer arm span, it was easy for him to keep Golden Crow Moon Eater out of reach. The difference in their physiques created an enormous advantage for Ming Feizhen.

    "Big cat! Catch him in a pincer!"

    A Hu had finally gained the upper hand against Tang Ye. Upon hearing themand from Jin Wangsun, he instantly responded. He turned and charged over with his de raised. Being tall, his strides were wide. With just two steps, he had reached Ming Feizhen''s side.

    Ming Feizhen, however, calmly smiled, "Perfect timing."

    As soon as Jin Wangsun saw the grin surface on Ming Feizhen''s face, hesitation overtook, and he changed his mind. He frantically shouted, "Stay back!"

    A Hu was stupefied by themand but halted in his tracks. He sensed a sword aura approaching his body. Hence, he spun around and shed! Like a thin wave, Tiger Fang sent Tang Ye back with a single mighty strike. Though the sh was considered a finisher, the audience felt it was a pity, while the Emperor shook his head.

    A Hu had taken the upper hand in his match with Tang Ye and only needed to finish the trapped Tang Ye. Had he finished Tang Ye, Ming Feizhen wouldn''t have had any reinforcements, subsequently allowing them to seize the victory. Unfortunately, Jin Wangsun let his emotions get the better of him and, consequently, fell for Ming Feizhen''s ploy. It was a question of intellect, not martial skill.

    Keeping an indifferent expression, A Hu exchanged blow after blow with Tang Ye once again. He had lost the upper hand he had before, but he didn''t gripe, opting to remain silent.

    Jin Wangsun ignored A Hu''s predicament and focused on cursing to himself, "Sly Ming Feizhen! Had I actually sent Big Cat after you, I''d take on that Tang Ye with my bare hands while Big Cat dealt with your strange movement style. My movement isn''t necessarily inferior to Tang Ye''s, but you''ve got Golden Crow Moon Eater, so I would be at a disadvantage even if we fought. You damn sly sh*t!"

    Blinded by his rage, Jin Wangsun ignored the people around and thundered, "If I don''t show you why I''m not to be trifled with, you''re going to look down my Gold and Silver Sect!"

    Taking in a deep breath, a burst of golden and ruby colours appeared on his face. Clearly he was utilising some sort of special style!

    "Oh," eximed the Emperor, wearing on a look of surprise. "Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual! I heard Gold and Silver Sect''s martial arts'' uses that as its foundation before integrating countless more styles. That said, it supposedly depends on one''s level of cultivation. The fact that his face is glowing golden and ruby indicates that he has already mastered the highest level. When I got acquainted with his father back then, Patriarch Jin was already a middle-aged man, yet still hadn''t achieve the level Jin Wangsun is disying. Not bad! Not bad!"

    After saying that, however, he looked puzzled, "I did say you can''t fight with your bare fists, though. He can''t transform his hands into spears, rods or staffs even if he does use Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual."

    With a chuckle, the prime minister exined, "Your Majesty, your subject heard that the most formidable aspect of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual is not the effect on the body, but the fact that all techniques learnt can be put to use by its user without any repercussions. Patriarch Jin might be trying to use a style beyond our imagination to win the contest."

    "Oh? Such a style exists?"

    Once Jin Wangsun finished charging, he smashed through the air with a palm thrust that could bepared to a snake shooting out of a cave. It couldn''t have been any more obvious that his style hadpletely changed. Ming Feizhen was able to discern that it was powerful enough for him to have to reveal his true skills if he were to take the strike head on with his internal energy. Subsequently, he needed to evade.

    Nevertheless, Jin Wangsun''s palm strike didn''t end there. The force of his strike seemingly spawned fangs seen on a venomous snake and snatched up a small te from Assistant Minister Lu''s table. Jin Wangsun then reversed the direction his right hand travelled, yanking the te back and then sending it over towards Ming Feizhen with a palm strike as if it was a hidden weapon.

    The te was actually hurled with enough force to be damaging if it made contact. Ming Feizhen instinctively swung Golden Crow Moon Eater to shatter the te. Though the swing was swift, there was nothing about it to qualify it as a martial arts technique. But nevertheless, the moment Ming Feizhen swung, he suddenly found himself struggling to steady his grip on it, thereby losing his grip. As he did with the te, Jin Wangsun used the suction force produced from his palm strike to pull the de over to himself.

    As a martial arts enthusiast, the Emperor was naturally excited to see supreme skills. The Emperor loudlyughed, "Daluo''s Empty Palms! That''s one of the world''s Five Palm styles!"

    What made Daluo''s Empty palms amazing wasmonly spoken of. One of the skills that made it amazing was its ability to grab things without direct physical contact. Mount Daluo also taught another palm style known as Moon Weaving Palms, which epassed the same skill. However, it prioritised grace instead. In fact, it was the easiest palm style to recognise once used. As such, there was no question that the style Jin Wangsun employed was Empty Palms.

    After Jin Wangsun snatched back Golden Crow Moon Eater, Ming Feizhen immediately flung the chicken drumstick in his hand over to Jin Wangsun but was stopped by the force of Jin Wangsun''s palm technique. Having caught it with the air, Jin Wangsun sucked it out of the way.

    With Golden Crow Moon Eater lingering in limbo, Ming Feizhen lunged over to snatch the sabre again. The exchange was rapid enough to elude the audiences'' eyes. However, both used their aces with one using spectacr palm skills and the other, his wits, but no victor was decided in the split-second exchanged.

    The Emperor clicked his tongue and remarked, "You know, this is quite the spectacle. Golden Crow Moon Eater is Gold and Silver Sect''s key treasure, yet ended up in the hands of a disciple from Mount Daluo. Meanwhile, Empty Palms, which is Mount Daluo''s supreme style passed down in the sect, ended up being learnt by Gold and Silver Sect''s Patriarch Jin. Did they mix up their curriculums?"

    Jin Wangsun unted his smug look. He learnt Empty Palms in Night Fortress'' manual that he stole. Though it was called Empty Palms 2.0, it certainly produced incredible force and worked a miracle for him in the fight. Being able to give Night Fortress'' master a taste of his own medicine felt delightful for Jin Wangsun after all the trouble he copped!

    Ming Feizhen, however, just looked at Jin Wangsun''s smug look without a word.

    Jin Wangsun poised himself, intending to unleash Empty Palms again.

    "You didn''t actually learn Empty Palms."

    Jin Wangsun froze. It finally clicked for him; he realised Ming Feizhen used Voice Transmission to speak.

    "Don''t go thinking that you can fool me with your tripe¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "The two styles actually share the same origin, which exins why there will be people who''d misunderstand that you mastered Empty Palms. If you don''t master the entire manual, people might really think the style you mastered was Empty Palms," exined Ming Feizhen. As he spoke, he took a big stride forward. "Unfortunately, your Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual is superb, and you learnt too fast. You''ve already reached the highest level. Therefore, your true qi can''t help but react to something."

    Jin Wangsun wasn''t going to buy the story. He aimed at Golden Crow Moon Eater and struck out with Empty Palms.

    Ming Feizhen shifted left and right, evading in a manner that wouldn''t arouse the suspicion of the people present. A Hu had managed to shake off Tang Ye at that point and turned his attention to Ming Feizhen by swinging his de at Ming Feizhen''s back. Left with no option, Ming Feizhen evaded into the line of Jin Wangsun''s Empty Palms attack.

    Owing to Ming Feizhen''s positioning, he walked a very thin line. On his right was A Hu; on his left was Jin Wangsun''s iing palm strike. Behind him was Elder Statesman''s table. The hungry elder statesman''s chopsticks were en route to his mouth, but he stopped his hand when he saw Ming Feizhen approach. He froze in ce when his eyes made contact with Ming Feizhen.

    The sabre in Ming Feizhen''s right hand inevitably shifted into the range of Jin Wangsun''s sucking technique as a consequence of his positioning. Sadly, the suction force couldn''t be evaded. To jog some memories, Jin Wangsun had offended his future inws and, therefore, was eager to butter up them. He eximed, "Elder Statesman, watch this. Wangsun shall demonstrate an excellent technique for you to admire!"

    Jin Wangsun viciously went for to grab the sabre, but ended up grabbing onto the pork shoulder in between the elder statesman''s chopsticks¡­

    Furious, Elder Statesman blew his beard and shot Jin Wangsun a re, "You little bastard! What do you want this old one to see?!"

    Ming Feizhen burst intoughter. He swung the sabre in hand, gently sweeping it underneath the hands of the two and shaving off a piece of pork shoulder. Then, in his mouth the slice of pork went.

    "Uhm! Delicious!" Ming Feizhen eximed to himself.

    Ming Feizhen grinned. With a light spin, he escaped his two attackers. Jin Wangsun, to the contrary, looked lost for what to do. In his hand was a greasy chunk of meat, while his body stiffly fell forward toward the elder statesman. He probably wanted to get away. s, he put too much force behind his palm strike, thereby piercing through the chunk of meat and heading straight for the elder statesman. Fortunately, he terminated his output to avoid sttering the elder statesman''s face. His shaking body illustrated his rage.

    "Wh-What palm style did you say this was?"

    "I call it The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art. It was god''s creation intended to be used for snatching braised pork shoulders. It''s totally normal for you to choose a pork shoulder over a sabre. What, you didn''t know that?"

    Jin Wangsun''s re read, "Piss off! What sort of sh*tty named style is this?!"

    Ming Feizhen rolled his eyes to say, "Never forced you to learn it."

    Time was up. The Emperor examined thepetition field. A Hu and Tang Ye fought to a draw, but there was a definitive victor between Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun. Although Jin Wangsun won in terms of martial prowess, it was dismantled by Ming Feizhen''s wits. Jin Wangsun had no reason to object to his defeat.

    "The winner of round one is Ming Feizhen!"

    As soon as the Emperor dered the winner, Jin Wangsun''s enraged voice followed, "Wangsun objects! His identity is questionable."

    Following that, Jin Wangsun shot Ming Feizhen a fuming re, "Since you don''t know what''s good for you, you can¡¯t hold a grudge against me for exposing you!"

    MKRL theme song with trantion =>

 Volume 5 55 Galloping a Thousand Miles - Defeat

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 55 Galloping a Thousand Miles - Defeat</h4>

    "Your Majesty, your subject has something to s-"

    *Whiz!*

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Before Jin Wangsun could finish his sentence, he had to quickly get out the way of a length of metal hurled his way. He fumed, "You want to kill in His Majesty''s presence?"

    "I was returning your sabre to you. Don''t take it if you''re so tough."

    Indeed, the length of metal hurled toward Jin Wangsun was Golden Crow Moon Eater, which Ming Feizhen held a moment ago. Granted he was irate, Jin Wangsun took his family treasure nheless.

    Ming Feizhen then folded his arms and nonchntly said, "Jin Wangsun, think carefully. You''ll regret it if you mention it."

    "What? You scared now? I''d like to see you slip your way out of this!"

    When Jin Wangsun intended to speak up again, Ming Feizhen suddenly cut in. "Night Fortress had five-thousand four hundred and seventy one members. Three-thousand and fifty members at Hangzhou City acted as reinforcements, who were led by twelve warriors. You even gave the twelve another alias. I think it was Twelve Iron Gods what was it again? Some second-generation rich good-for-nothing kid mighte up with that, but as a patriarch, you''re treating it as if you''re running a kindergarten."

    "You!" eximed the stunned Jin Wangsun.

    Indeed, that was his arrangement at Hangzhou City. He never told anyone, besides his most trusted subordinates, the details, yet Ming Feizhen, who should''ve been thest person to know, exposed him. Instead of concerning himself with Ming Feizhen''s ridicule, he did his best to try and work out how Ming Feizhen knew his secret.

    Having observed the two converse for a long time, the curious Emperor asked, "Wangsun, what is unfair?"

    Jin Wangsun examined Ming Feizhen''s look that resembled a smile, yet not. Put on the spot, he couldn''t decide on a course of action and, consequently, didn''t reply. Ming Feizhen replied on his behalf, "Young Master Jin said that tonight''s feast is sumptuous, yet the two of us have topete unfortunately. As such, we are missing out. He would like to ask you to grant us a table of the delicacies to satisfy our cravings."

    A mncholic feeling involuntarily came onto the Emperor. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Hey! What sort of problem is that? Don''t you two bring your games here. The results of the first round have been decided. Take a short break, and then we shall begin the second contest."

    Though he said that, the Emperor did have servants provide the two contestants with a table of delicacies in the end. The Emperor stroked his beard with a magnanimous aura.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thanks to you, your ipetent subject will not need to starve to death. My, my, let me tell you: I must say that our imperial chefs are experts. Look at the pattern carved on this chunk ofmb. If amoner asks to bless their eyes with a glimpse of this, your subject rmends charging him two-hundred taels. Ooohh, hot, hot."

    Ming Feizhen popped arge piece of deliciousmb into his mouth then started eximing it was hot. Seeing him behave as if he was in a market, the people in the hall couldn''t help butment, "You only one the round by a fluke; you seriously consider yourself fuma already, treating yourself as if you''re family with His Majesty? Is this any ce for you to be acting insolent?! You''re a gross sight to behold, lowlife!"

    Jingan watched Ming Feizhen feeling puzzled. Hongzhuang, to the contrary, nearlyughed. She thought to herself, "He sure is a glutton. To think that he''s Lord San Sh-, wait, it''s not confirmed yet."

    Ming Feizhen picked up a few more pieces ofmb. Noticing everyone look at him oddly and even the Emperor looking slightly unhappy, heughed. "Please pardon me, Your Majesty. Your subject is a boorishmoner and is not refined. Your subject is used to being uncouth, so your subject has embarrassed you here. Your subject shall head outside the hall to eat ande back once done."

    Ming Feizhen carried his entire table out. Every single warrior in the hall wondered to themselves if they were supposed to stop him or not. Even the Emperor was left wondering how to react. He knew Ming Feizhen was a walking mess, but never expected him to be so bad.

    "Fine, fine, fine, I''ll let him eat as a reward for winning Jin Wangsun in that round," decided the Emperor, then waving his hands to the warriors to signal for them to let him go.

    Jin Wangsun''s treacherous gaze wouldn''t settle. He had no clue what Ming Feizhen had up his sleeve, but he didn''t have the leverage required to expose Ming Feizhen''s identity. As he got ready to try to pry an answer out of Ming Feizhen, he spotted someone rushing in from outside. The individual approached Jin Wangsun. It was a family ve of his.

    Jin Wangsun''s ve reported, "Master¡­ this is extremely urgent."

    "Keep your voice down. Follow me¡­ take your time."

    The ve was one of the ves in charge of collecting and reporting information. In other words, all important information had to pass through him. He was Jin Wangsun''s best informant. Owing to having to wait for a letter from Hangzhou, he stayed at their lodging and, therefore, waste. Nevertheless, judging from his panicked demeanour and the mention of something being extremely urgent as his first few words, Jin Wangsun surmised something major had transpired.

    Jingan''s expression began to look serious somewhat. Clearly, the Princess with extraordinary wits had grasped a fair amount of information merely by reading the expressions on several faces.

    The ve quietly reported, "Master, I have received a letter from Hangzhou. Two days ago, the one-thousand-plus martial artists we recruited into Night Fortressunched a revolt all of a sudden. Under the lead of a young man with sses, their forces dominated. Our brothers at Night Fortress either died or fled after the savage fight that carried on for two days. Over two-thousand others were subdued by them. They then rode their wave of momentum and made their way down the mountain to wage more battles, sweeping all of our forces along the way. Our empire we spent months establishing in Hangzhou has thoroughly devastated."

    The impact of the news almost had Jin Wangsun''s blood flow in reverse. His vision turned dark. Peripheral blood flow ceased. His conscious almost left him.

    "H-How could that be possible?!!" fumed Jin Wangun, clenching his teeth to muffle his raging voice. Nheless, his teeth trembled and banged against each other as if he was freezing in snow.

    "I arranged almost five-thousand elites at Night Fortress'' mountain, yet one-thousand men were enough to drive our forces out?!"

    The ve also trembled and shakily replied, "They employed a ploy¡­ to lure the majority of our team to the rear of the mountain, and thenunched a sudden attack, killing our brothers who remained in the fortress and upying it."

    "That''s ridiculous! The rear of the mountain is where our supplies are located. Since our main forces defended the rear of the mountain, how could they have not retaliated? How could they have fallen in two days?!"

    "Master, th-that is because they were sly! You have to avenge us!" raged the ve. He seethed with anger. "ording to the letter received, their one-thousand-plus men were originally members of Night Fortress. They hadid in ambush in the fortress for half a month, eating our supplies if not stealing them. They emptied out our entire warehouse at the rear of the mountain. Then, they lured us to the rear. They then sat and waited. Owing to the rear of the mountain being t terrain, they had the advantage. Damn sly bastards¡­"

    "Quit sh*tting out of your mouth. We need tactics against you lot?" suddenly remarked a guard in golden armour next to Jin Wangsun. "On the day of the fight, you people sent two-thousand men as vanguards to try and crush our Night Fortress. We only dispatched a small team of five-hundred men and fought your men from every direction face-to-face, man-to-man and we stomped your elites at being sh*t! We had a quarter of your numbers. Each of us took on four each, yet you still ended up getting stomped. Why would we even need to n how to whoop your behinds?"

    The family ve went red in the face with embarrassment. He exaggerated the story so that his fallen brethren wouldn''t look bad; however, he didn''t expect an irrelevant passing guard to call him out on his lie.

    Jin Wangsun vigntly asked, "Who are you?! How do you know so much?"

    The guard in golden armour looked up, revealing a young and ordinary face that contained a tinge of swiftness and ferocity. "This guard is Hong Daoqiang!"

    "Hong Daoqiang?!" eximed Jin Wangsun. His eyes darted back and forth before recalling who he was. "Aren''t you Master Eighteen, who sells me information? Wait¡­ A-Are you Night Fortress'' second-inmand Hongjiu?!"

    Of course he was Ming Feizhen''s junior martial brother, Hongjiu.

    "No wonder why he knew everything. He''s the darn leader," realised Jin Wangsun. "You''re the second-inmand of Night Fortress, yet are hiding behind the disguise of Hong Daoqiang. You''re as much of a joke as your master. You too shady to show the world your real identity?"

    Hongjiu raised his chin and smugly said, "You never heard of knacks? Lord Hongjiu here is known in the pugilistic world as Master of Myriad Transformations. I can be the golden armoured guard Hong Daoqiang, the farmer Hong Tukang, the prostitute Hong Sang and even you, Hong Dagang."

    Notes:

    *It''spletely lost in trantion, but here is the pronunciation and meaning behind the names Hongjiu mentioned at the end.

    Hong Daoqiang = Hong Dowchiang = Swords and Spears Hong

    Hong Tukang = Hong tookarng = Kang Bed-stove Hong

    Hong Sang = Hong Sorng = Slut Hong

    Hong Dagang = Hong Dagang = Big Vat Hong

 Volume 5 56 Galloping a Thousand Miles - Heavenly Fragrance

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 56 Galloping a Thousand Miles - Heavenly Fragrance</h4>

    "You never heard of knacks? Lord Hongjiu here is known in the pugilistic world for being a master of myriad transformations. I can be the golden armoured guard Hong Daoqiang, the farmer Hong Tukang, the prostitute Hong Sang and even you, Hong Dagang."

    The sudden barrage of tripe during a serious conversation, not to mention the seriousness it was delivered with, gave Jin Wangsun an urge to draw his sabre and hack the man.

    Hongjiu fanned himself with his hand. "I came straight back here through the night after the fight. I''ve yet to get any rest. But it only took two days to wipe the floor with all your minions."

    The guard in golden armour was Hongjiu in disguise. The pugilistic world veteran, Master Eighteen, was also him. He was also Ming Feizhen, Tang Ye andpany''s helper in the imperial pce. It couldn''t be any easier to rece an armoured guard in the imperial pce on a night as busy as New Year''s Eve.

    Jin Wangsun red at Hongjiu. Voice muffled,, he asked, "What happened to the three thousand men I stationed at Hangzhou?"

    "Old Patriarch¡­" muttered the family ve. "Old Patriarch brought a group of men to Hangzhou and gave the order for everyone to gather. He¡­ took the majority of the three-thousand men back to headquarters. The remainder, who did not oppose Night Fortress, were all¡­"

    "Smashed! Double kill!" picked up Hongjiu.

    "Fuck you! Shut up!" Jin Wangsun fumed. Teeth clenched, Jin Wangsun dered, "My old man?! I already dismantled his forces. How many people could he possibly order around? Our sect''s rules state that one is not allowed to train a private army unless they''re the patriarch. Fine. Giving me grief, huh? Fine. Wait till I get back to headquarters. I''ll have the elders get rid of him!"

    Honjiu raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Dagang, don''t do that to your dad. Your dad is actually a decent man. His only mistake was creating the waste of semen that you are. Don''t punish him too harshly now. Plus, it''s inappropriate for you to punish him."

    "Shut up!"

    "No, Old Patriarch did not actually vite any rules. He came to Hangzhou with¡­ only about twenty men," stated the family ve. He then tried to recall the contents of the letter. "He brought over twenty seniors and elders in the sect. They were all our disciples and men''s teachers and seniors¡­"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "So, they submitted?"

    "No¡­ Old Patriarch promised to allow everyone to stay in Jiangnan for five years if they went back with him."

    Gold and Silver Sect''s main priority was profit. No profit meant no budging. Members of Gold and Silver Sect were on the move frequently throughout the year and, consequently, rarely had the chance to stay at home. Giving the promise to allow them to stay for five years was a blessing. Jin Wangsun¡¯s vision was much more short-sighted inparison to his father. In mere months since his dethroning, his father''s standing in the hearts of the sect members remained exalted. On top of that, by provoking their emotions and enticing them with a benefit, he was able to instantly win their support.

    Jin Wangsun resentfully remarked, "Who do we have left at Hangzhou, then¡­?"

    "¡­ The Twelve Iron Gods'' heads are hung at the front of Night Fortress. Their dominance scared off even our remaining members. Nobody is left."

    "My third junior martial brother doesn''t have very good vision¡­" Hongjiu said, stroking his chin. Tone calm, as if he was reciting a scripture, he borated, "You took my senior brother''s Night Net Book, didn''t you? I had men look into it. You taught the contents of the book to neen people. My senior brother already erased the martial skills of seven of the people at your lodging. As for the remaining twelve, they were fortunate if their heads were still on their shoulders after running into my third brother. Jin Wangsun, you managed to be patriarch thanks to Night Fortress. Night Fortress has been taken back. Meanwhile, your dad has gathered the elders to strip you of your reign. You said your final prayers yet? Your patriarch dream hase to an end."

    "Hongjiu! Shut your trap! What right does a loser have to run his mouth?"

    Hongjiu nced at Jin Wangsun out the corner of his eye and snickered. "Loser? Did you ever beat me?"

    With a light wave of his hand, Jin Wangsun lost his grip on Golden Moon Crow Eater, allowing it to escape over to Hongjiu''s hand.

    "Patriarch Jin, here is your sabre. Be careful not to lose it," loudly said Hongjiu, returning Golden Crow Moon Eater back to Jin Wangsun.

    You guessed it. The technique Hongjiu just executed was none other than the authentic version of Empty Palms, not The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grant Art.

    With a treacherous and somewhat aggressive expression, Hongjiu whined, "It took half a year of work to take back Night Fortress for Senior Brother. I never expected you were easier to beat than a broom. You aren''t even worthy of being called an opponent. If you knew the group would break up, why¡­ would you waste all that effort for nothing?"

    Jin Wangsun felt a chill down his spine when his eyes met with Hongjiu''s. He had doubts as whether or not he could actually win again against the man he once supposedly defeated. Nheless, Jin Wangsun wasn''t despaired. He sneaked a nce at Princess Jingan. Proposing the marriage was Jingan''s suggestion. The two of them were in a business rtionship, with each using the other for their own ends; however, at present, it wasn''t time for him to call it quits yet. As long as there was a single trace of hope, he would give it a try. Jin Wangsun forced himself to calm down. "So what? I already know your leader''s secret. Unless you have the guts to kill me in His Majesty''s presence, what can he do to me?"

    "I knew you were trash," Hongjiu coldly snorted. "We''ve taken back Night Fortress. You won''t be able to continue walking in the shoes of Gold and Silver''s patriarch. The only thing you have going for you is the fuma post, which is hanging in the bnce. That''s why our leader suggested making a bet with you."

    "Bet on what?"

    "Initially, I suggested assassinating you," replied Hongjiu, avoiding the original question. "But our senior brother said, ''Jin Wangsun is scum. However, his father is benevolent and is dedicated to Jiangnan''s well-being. He provides tuition and opens martial arts schools, allowing children from poor families to learn martial arts. You could say that he is one of few benevolent elders. I have yet mentioned his upright, honest, gant and impartial character. He deserves to bemended by all. He has done countless good deeds in his lifetime. He is one of the seniors I respect in the martial world. I do not want to kill his only child.'' That''s exactly what our senior brother said. He won''t kill you and won''t let me kill you. You don''t have sharp fangs; you''re just being spared out of consideration for your father."

    Jin Wangsun hated nothing more than people saying he depended on his father. Looking peeved, he asked, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

    "Let''s have a bet," suggested Hongjiu, with an innocent smile. Simr to a young man, he borated, "If you win, our leader will hand you Night Fortress, and we, as his martial brothers, will be at your beck and call. Besides Gold and Silver Sect, we''ll conquer all of Hangzhou for you, as well. If we win, you naturally have to keep our leader''s identity a secret. I also want you to publicly dere that you and your father are cutting off your father and son ties."

    Murderous intent crept onto Hongjiu''s expression, "Then, I''ll kill the bastard you are, and I doubt anyone will have an opinion."

    The two exchange hostile gazes.

    The Emperor began to chat with the elder statesmen and Princess Hongzhuang''s uncle for a while. When he looked up, he saw Jin Wangsun conversing with a guard to his amazement.

    "A child who grew up as one of the Seven White Champion Princes has learnt to put aside ranks and converse with others as Ming Feizhen does? That''s contagious now?" wondered the Emperor.

    "*Cough, cough*. Our respite has gone on for long enough. Two fuma candidates, I hope you are ready."

    Jin Wangsun lowered his volume and dered, "Deal! Get ready to be my ves!"

    Jin Wangsun then held his hands in a salute position. "Your Majesty, Wangsun is ready."

    "Uhm. What about Constable Ming? Oh, he went out to eat. Call him back for me."

    Hongjiu headed to the door before anyone else could as soon as the Emperor gave themand. He checked left and right and then with an act, came back and reported, "Reporting, Your Majesty, S-, Ming Feizhen is not outside the hall. Your subject does not know where he has gone."

    Everyone present was stunned to hear that.

    "Did the food spoil his brain?! No matter how easy going His Majesty may be, daring to vanish outside Wuying hall is just impudent. How many heads does he think he has?" the crowd thought.

    "He''s not there?" asked the Emperor. He thundered, "How can we dy this with so many guests present? If he''s not present, I''m considering it a no show and will give Patriarch Jin the win for round two and three!"

    ========

    Though I moved the entire table out of the hall, I didn''t take a single bite. To begin with, it was my excuse to sneak off. I presumed that Second Brother had begun to enact the n by telling Jin Wangsun what I told him to say. Meanwhile, I had something to do, obviously.

    I took in a big breath. "I''m leaving things in your hands for now."

    Tang Ye, who followed me out, nodded, "I''ll do my best."

    "All right."

    "Big Brother," suddenly called Tang Ye. "Your n is risky, though. We don''t know how His Majesty will react. Even if you are lucky enough to pull it off, you muste back quickly. Qinhuai River is far from here, you know?"

    I calmly responded, "It''ll be fine. Stick to the n; I''ll be back."

    "If you don''te back, then¡­"

    "¡­" I had no instant response. "Then, let it take its course. There''s nothing in this world that''s worth the risk of losing her."

    I went on my toes. Everything in my line of sight appeared blood red.ike a pulp, yet like a wave, like a mist that was blown away by the breeze, Ming Feizhen vanished from sight.ong Zaitian, who was at the imperial city''s main doors, fumed, "Stand straight! Stand straight! I must''ve been cursed with nine lives worth of retribution to be stuck here on guard duty with you kids who are still wet behind the ears. Raise your spirits. With your Baihu Long here, not even a ghost will get past, let alone a human."

    The two guards straightened up after being lectured by Baihu Long. They replied, "But Baihu Long, we do not want to stand here. There is something weird about this entrance. Your subordinate is slightly afraid."

    "Obviously. Just half a month ago, we realised how spooky it is when we were stationed here. We saw a dark figure dive through the doors. By the time we blinked, it was gone. Whatever or whoever it was, was faster than a hawk chasing down a rabbit. It was freaky. Do you think it was some martial arts expert? The supreme type of master."

    "Ridiculous. What is all this nonsense at this time of the day?" mocked Long Zaitian, looking askance at the two new guards. "Let me educate you. Such a level exists; however, if you reach that level, it''s no longer called martial arts. Vanishing before your eyes is called ¡®absolutely impossible¡¯ by Buddhists. Daoists call it profound dao cultivation. As martial artists, we call it the Divine Realm."ong Zaitian stroked his stubble and sighed. "I doubt there are many people who have reached that realm left nowadays. Despite the unfathomable skills of the Supreme Ten Saints, I wonder how many of them have actually broken through to that realm. My teacher, Mount Zisheng''s Zhen Weiguan''s disciple, would most likely have to ovee countless challenges to reach that realm. It would probably take him over a century and ascending to the status of an immortal two or three times to reach it. You think there are so many martial artists in the divine realm that you''d look up and catch one?"

    "So you are saying that there is nobody in that realm?"

    "So what if there is one? My eyes have been refined in a pill refinement cauldron! My eyes are never wrong. Every time I''ve identified someone as a criminal, he was a criminal. Let me put it this way: see this stone lion statue? if my eyes make a mistake, I''ll eat this stone lion statue right before your eyes."

    The two guards were ted and convinced after hearing Long Zaitian''s affirmative im. Long Zaitian sighed with a firm gaze and smug look.

    *Gasp!*ong Zaitian gasped all of a sudden. Something zipped past overhead. Long Zaitian drew his broadsword and pointed up to the sky. He yelled, "Announce yourself, fiend!"

    The three looked up at the same time, only to see the moon and sky. Indeed, it was beautiful night. The moon was clear.

    There¡¯s a poem that goes as so.

    The moon is silver.

    The insects cry at night.

    The so-called smoke and rain that envelopes Jiangnan is merely scattered dust.

    ¡­

    ¡­

    *Cough. Cough.*

    Baihu Long''s face turned red. He sheathed his broadsword and cleared his throat before exining, "When I was a kid, I was a dao cultivator. My shifu often told me that I possessed extraordinary senses and had eyes that could see light and darkness, deities and demons. I just sensed something appear before, but when I looked up, there was nobody there, so¡­"

    Baihu Long pointed to the sky with his ugly finger. Voice serious, he stated, "That was definitely a deity that soared past!"

    Having run some distance forward already, thereby having a considerable amount of forward momentum, I almost fell from the sky.

    ''Fuck you! Can you not be aedian for just one chapter?!!''

    Notes:

    *The so-called poem is made up. There''s no such historical poem.

 Volume 5 57 Feizhen and Suwen - True Love

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 57 Feizhen and Suwen - True Love</h4>

    I remember a boy who loved to cry as a child. He was older than me by three years, yet was a child three junior levels below me. With so many memories, I had lost count of them all. However, it seemed as though I kept seeing the same one over and over. That said, my memories seemed as if they were submerged in water and couldn''t be seen clearly. The only clear memory I had was his crying appearance.

    Because of the horse''s rampage, he fell off the horse. His eyes resembled the crying eyes of a puppy. Upset and feeling unjustly victimised, he bit his lip and cried while clenching his fists. His clean and fair face was smothered with tears that continued to course down his face. The dirt on his face was smudged, leaving his face looking filthy.

    "How repulsive," was what I thought at the time.

    Despite my distaste for him, as long as I called for him, he''d immediately wipe his tears and run to me.

    "Martial Grandaunt, you must be hungry¡­ Let me piggy back you to go eat."

    He then struggled to put me on his back. Ized on his back. The sunlight that day was very smoothing. I enjoyed the sunlight with my eyes squinted as I looked at the narrow back in front of me.

    "How small¡­ His hands and feet are both small. He''s only five or six, isn''t he?" I thought.

    I can''t remember that time period too vividly now. Perhaps it was because I was just a kid, as well, at the time.

    By the time he was a teenager, I had grown up a bit, too. I gradually came to learn who he was. He was my martial grandnephew, while I was his martial grandaunt.

    He didn''t cry any more at that stage; nevertheless, his situation wasn''t any better than during his younger years. He was dullpared to his martial siblings. What took others a day to achieve, often took him three to four days of practice. He''d frown and look mncholic due to the confusion and struggle.

    His shifu, my martial nephew, said that his potential was close to non-existent. He was often called a stupid block of wood. As a result, his homework continued to pile up.

    I was very angry. I walked up to my martial nephew one day and stomped on his foot, "Ming Huayu! Why are you so naughty?! If you don''t let him take breaks, who''s going to y with me?"

    "Martial Aunt, why are you here to sabotage things? He is halfway through Yijin Jing, so it is inappropriate for him to y with you at the moment. If his true qi spirals out of control, we will have trouble on our hands."

    I had no clue what he was talking about. I pouted and stamped my foot so loudly that you could clearly hear each stomp. I repetitively yelled, "I don''t care! I don''t care! I don''t care! I want him! I want him!"

    The young boy came over. He had already grown a lot taller than me by that stage. I was sulking and making a scene until he picked me up out of habit. I stopped crying without even realising it. I wrapped my small arms around his shoulders that were gradually growing sturdier. For some reason, I felt safe and assured on his back.

    "Shifu, I shall y with Martial Grandaunt for now and practice at night."

    At the time, I didn''t realise that I left him sleep deprived at night, since I had him y with me every day. He had lots of studying to begin with, so when coupled with me taking up his time, he, consequently, had less sleep than other disciples.

    We kept it up until I turned twenty. At the time, I wilfully forced him to follow me around everywhere I wanted to go. One night, when I had nothing to do, I opened my door to hear someone training outside. That was when I noticed that he was training a style that I didn''t recognise whatsoever. I had no idea what he was training, but I could see that he was very invested and focused when I saw his expression. He trained until morning and dropped on the ground due to exhaustion. Only then did he fall asleep on the ground in front of my room.

    I opened my window slightly to observe his sleeping appearance. As I silently peered at his face, my face felt slightly warm.

    "When did I fall for him?" I asked myself.

    I looked up to the moon and spaced out. Mncholy invaded into my heart. I suppose I fell for him when I saw his sleeping face.

    "Miss. Miss"

    I came back to my senses and faintly replied, "Yeah?"

    It was the owner of Ethereal Beauty Boat who called me. Heavenly Fragrance Garden was established by the imperial court, but due to the high financial investments required to run brothels, the imperial court invited investors. One of said investors was Ethereal Beauty Boat''s proprietor, Boss Dong.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boss Dong knew that I hailed from the martial world, and therefore slightly feared me. Boss Dong rubbed his hands together with his eyes narrowed. He bowed as though I was his master. "Miss, you are my Ethereal Beauty Boat''s most, I meant, the capital''s most valuable courtesan. Your current worth has far surpassed the record held by previous courtesans. You are now worth five-hundred and fifty thousand taels ording to our equal split deal. You are our source of ie."

    Afterwards, person after person came up to me to take turns repeating thepliment. Only then did I remember that I was working as a courtesan at Ethereal Beauty Boat, and tonight was the night I offered myself up.

    Feizhen''s threat from that day didn''t deter them froming. To the contrary, they assigned more bodyguards to me.

    The sight of the men who packed the seats grossed me out. Their jealous and vengeful gazes were focused on one of the men. The man had his teeth clenched, but he was helpless. Judging from his demeanour, he must''ve made the five-hundred and fifty thousand taels bid. I was totally oblivious to the fact that the bidding had ended. I returned to my senses and asked, "It''s over?"

    "It is," replied Boss Dong, who couldn''t stopughing. "Duke Zheng''s eldest son will also go on to be nobility. Miss, you have be a noble. You will go on to be a duchess. Please do not forget about me."

    Young Master Zheng, who was in the distance, was a man who was as fat and round as a ball. He was the one who insulted me on board that day and angered Ming Feizhen into rampaging, eventually leading to him slicing the boat. He ogled me as though he was stripping me down with his eyes. He was absolutely rude. I could see a tinge of displeasure, but also his desire for me to make eye contact with him. I knew what sort of repulsive ideas he had in mind, but I no longer had the energy to bother with thoseme men.

    "Duchess¡­" I mumbled despite not knowing what I mumbled.

    I gazed at the moon and spaced out. The moonlight was gentle as water, immersing me in a fantastical air.

    "This is a dream ¨C a nightmare to be correct ¨C one that I can''t break free of. Will all of this just be a memory after tonight?" I asked myself.

    I shut my eyes. The surroundings seemingly went quiet then eventually silent. All the strength in my body seemed to leak out of my body.

    Cousin said that I was a genius at learning martial arts. Supposedly, my level of talent was extremely rare to chance upon. I liked to be whimsical with training and take shortcuts with internal strength development. As a result, even if my skills were to improve, they wouldck the fundamental requirements to maximise them. I never took his criticism to heart until I fell ill on Mount Daluo and realised he was telling the truth.

    My heart was dying and so was my body.

    ''Feizhen¡­ tonight might be the night I die. I know you don''t like me. I''ve always treated your poorly from when we were kids. I was wilful and unreasonable but was your senior. Despite how abhorrent I was, I fell for you. You must think that I''m a pain and shameless, huh? I still really, really want to see you again, nheless. I want to travel to all sorts of different ces on your back as we did when we were kids. I''ll depend on you and cling to you as I did when we were young. We''ll be the same as we were when we were kids. How nice would that be?''

    The surrounding sounds gradually faded. It was the same as sinking into the sea where nothing could be heard. My eyelids felt so heavy that I couldn''t open them.

    ''I''m going to die now, aren''t I?''

    Suddenly, a voice broke the silence.

    "Out of my way! Young Shiyi, where are you?"

    I think I heard the young boy''s voice over and over in my mind. He anxiously called out to me as if I would disappear.

 Volume 5 58 Zero, Eight, Zero, Seven, Zero, Zero, Seven

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 58 Zero, Eight, Zero, Seven, Zero, Zero, Seven</h4>

    The rustling sound resembling the sound heard a strong arm in motion pulled Ming Suwen out of her deep conscious.

    "Wait for me."

    Ming Suwen gradually opened her eyes. She was dumbstruck. She looked at the man who appeared before her; his appearance fit the image of the child in her memories. With just a quick glimpse, she knew he came for her. Judging from his hasty demeanour, he must''ve been pressed for time.

    He was dressed in a constable''s uniform, didn''t wear a mask or disguise. He was him, the current and real him. Ming Suwen disliked his Lord San Shen disguise. She disliked the way he acted as though he was invincible and everything went ording to his predictions. She disliked the fact that he viewed her as a woman who''d follow his every demand. However, she regretted her decision when she saw him appear without a disguise. She felt that she had done something detrimental to him.

    Ming Feizhen had his own reasons for choosing to retire at the capital, but it was dangerous, for he had to avoid letting the imperial discover he was Lord San Shen. The status quo was different; there were no traces of Lord San Shen to track him in the past. Very few in the imperial court knew anything about him. Now, however, he had revealed too much information pertaining to Lord San Shen to the imperial court. The only thing stopping them from continuing to trace him was that they were oblivious to the fact that the information he revealed was useful. If Ming Feizhen''s identity was to be uncovered, the only possible oue was to on the run due to the arrest warrant.

    ''Is Ming Feizhen risking the remainder of his life to cate me?''

    "Idiot¡­"

    Miss Juese''s fading heartbeats suddenly began to regain vitality. It was the same as when she saw his sleeping face that night.

    None of it mattered anymore. Marriages, Princesses, none of them mattered.

    ''If he considers me to be so important, what can I criticise him for?''

    Ming Feizhen stepped out from the crowd and walked up to her. He pulled her up from her chair and held her in his now strong arms. In his arms, her body went limp and hot as if she took a dip in a hot spring, melting even her bones.

    With Ming Suwen in his arms, Ming Feizhen''s demeanour changed, "What''s the matter? Why have you suffered such a severe injury?"

    Worried sick, Ming Feizhen transferred some of his own internal energy to Ming Suwen, subsequently adjusting her deviated true qi back to its proper state. Had Ming Feizhen notprehended the foundations of her internal strength and been proficient with Tai Chi Mental Cultivation, he would unlikely have been able to instantly readjust her true qi status.

    "Qi deviation¡­ You clearly learnt mental cultivation; why didn''t you readjust your true qi when it was erratic? Were you trying to kill me with worry?!"

    Ming Suwen liked his demeanour when she was worried for her even more than before. "I like you when you''re worried for me¡­"

    ''This gives me¡­ the illusion that you also like me despite me being your martial grandaunt.''

    Ming Feizhen seemed to discern something from her gaze. His eyes were a tad red, and he bit down on his lips, but he made no remarks.

    "Hey! Who are you?! What are you doing holding your young master''s woman?!" shouted the man behind him, voice sounding resembling a pig being butchered.

    The man who shouted was none other than Duke Zheng''s fat-as-a-ball son, Young Master Zheng, who also looked as if he was a barrel of swishing oil.

    Ming Feizhen remembered him as the man who hurled many rude remarks towards Ming Suwen the other day on Ethereal Beauty Boat.

    "She''s not yours," grouchily stated Ming Feizhen, upon seeing the fatty. He tightened his hold on Ming Suwen. "She''s mine. She always has been."

    Ming Suwen weakly rested in Ming Feizhen''s arms. She gradually sobered up as Ming Feizhen transferred his pure and potent true qi to her to aid her breathing. The clearer and clearer her mind was, the harder and harder her chest thumped.

    ''Feizhen, Ming Feizhen came to see me! S-So, what bes of his business in the imperial pce? I¡­ Damn it, I shouldn''t have thrown my temper around! Y-You idiot!''

    Despite thinking that, Ming Suwen felt blissful. It was as if somebody poured a pot of honey into her heart. She was totally besotted with him. Hearing him say, "she''s mine. She always has been," gave her an unstoppable urge to look into his eyes. Her face literally emitted smoke. Embarrassed, she tried to hide her face under his neck.

    Ming Feizhen knew his shiyi was no longer angry when he noticed her reaction. He subtly smiled and began to take off.

    Young Master Zheng went up to the tform where Ming Suwen''s seat was. He merely took a few steps, yet had begun to pant already. "Who are you, piece of sh*t? You want snatch this young master''s woman? You think you''re wealthier than me?"

    "I don''t owe you any exnation," retorted Ming Feizhen. He then looked down to Ming Suwen. Voice concerned, he said, "Young Shiyi, I have something to say to you; let''s get going."

    "You want to leave?! Life isn''t that easy!!" With a wave of Young Master Zheng''s hand, between seventeen to eighteen burly men immediately stepped out from the crowd. With a treacherous smile, Young Master Zheng eximed, "Hmph, ever since that freak with the mask came, I''ve made sure to bring along men that not even the Qilin Guards can match! You think you can steal my woman, you piece of sh*t?!!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen red at Young Master Zheng out of the corner of his eyes, but that was as far as he went. He didn''te in a disguise. Naturally, then, his risk of being exposed was extremely high. In fact, there was no guarantee that there wasn''t someone present who recognised him. He lowered his head spun around to take off with qinggong, but¡­

    "She''s mine. Put her down!"

    Ming Feizhen''s movements suddenly slowed.

    "The sexy woman has been deliberately putting on airs just because she looks half decent. That''s why I bought her to y with her. You and that masked freak are the only ones who even cherish her," insulted Young Master Zheng. He red at Boss Dong, who was shocked, and smiled hideously. "Such a slut has no right to be my wife. Is your brain for storing bricks? Once I''ve fucked her, I''ll rent her out to the young master''s in the capital so that everybody can have some fun. One thousand taels for one load, five thousand taels for one night and I''ll have made back my investment in half a year."

    Ming Feizhen''s looked angrier and angrier by the word. His murderous intent started to send chills down spines.

    "Let''s go! Ignore him," softly said Ming Suwen. "You''re now Liu Shan Men''s constable; you''re a public figure. Are you crazy?! If you assault him, you''ll be courting trouble with thew!"

    No response.

    Ming Suwen realised that she couldn''t change Ming Feizhen''s mind when she saw his expression. Once Ming Feizhen was angry, you would need more than an Emperor to stop him.

    Ming Feizhen turned and took a few steps forward. Voice quiet, he said, "Check that your tongue is attached right, and then repeat yourself."

    "How dare you speak to me in that tone?!" thundered Young Master Zheng. "Listen carefully: you and that slut¡­"

    If possible, Ming Feizhen wouldn''t want to fight in front of others. Hemented, "But when has life ever gone my way?"

    *Crack*

    And a face was deformed that night.

    Without anyone noticing him move, Ming Feizhen sneaked past Young Master Zheng''s guards and mmed his enter foot flush onto his fat face. The crack resembled the sound heard when crushing rice crackers. However, it sounded far more horrific when an actual face shattered.

    Young Master Zheng''s face began to hurt right after hearing a gust of wind next to his ear. He then fell backwards. His facial bones were shattered, but his conscious was intact. He touched his face to find it bloody. He was shocked to the point of disbelief. He looked at the insolent man before him and sobbed. He shocked and enraged at the same time but had no means of retaliation.

    "H-How dare you hit me?! Not even my father¡­"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t let him finish. He cut him off by serving him another kick, sending him rolling as if he was a ball. With the next kick, he swung horizontally, kicking seven of his rotten teeth out! Correct, Young Master Zheng''s mouth was putrid, as dental hygiene wasn''t high on his list of priorities. The terrified crowd quickly backed off. Young Master Zheng finally got to his feet and shouted, "You¡­ You!"

    Ming Feizhen wasted no time front kicking him.

    "And I just fucking hit you! Do something about it!"

    Another kicknded.

    "I''ll kick you after you''re done, too! Tell your dad toe do something if you''re so tough! Make sure you burn my appearance into your mind. I''m the one who trashed your pig face! Since you won''t be able to fucking speak, you won''t need your teeth anymore! If I hear you nder her one more time, I''ll skin you alive and cook you, you fat fuck!"

    Young Master Zheng''s servants had their meridians sealed when Ming Feizhen zipped past them to get to him. Thus, not one of them could move, let alone assist him. If not even his men could move, his friends certainly had no business helping. All that could do was spectate Ming Feizhen kick him around as if he was kicking a ball.

    Using the fact that nobody approached him to stop him to his advantage, Ming Feizhen stomped on the floor and utilised qinggong to leap out the door of Ethereal Beauty Boat.

    Utilising Night Steps, Ming Feizhen''s presence in the night went undetected. Once he had moved to somewhere he considered safe and far enough, he finally stopped. As soon as he stopped, he felt Ming Suwen''s white hand thump his chest. He looked down to see Ming Suwen''s raised eyebrows and the anger in herrge and round eyes.

    "Idiot," she uttered.

    Curious, Ming Feizhen asked, "Young Shiyi?"

    "You big idiot!" Ming Suwen shouted. "You''re ying hero again! That was reckless! He is Duke Zheng''s son. If the imperial court finds out, it''ll be impossible for you to do anything henceforward. Let him curse and insult me. It''s not as if he''d actually be able t-"

    "I won''t permit it," Ming Feizhen interjected. He stubbornly refused. "I won''t allow it. Whoever insults you will have to answer to my fists. I won''t make any exceptions."

    Speechless, Ming Suwen nkly looked at Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen slowly stroked Ming Suwen''s slender and soft arm. There was a scar on her arm that had yet to heal.

    "I remember¡­ when you were twelve, you ran into a strange beast in the mountains while roaming the mountains. It almost had the two of us as its snack for the day. Because I couldn''t defeat it, you shielded me and got this scar. Ever since then, I pledged an oath to hunt down everyone who would ever dare hurt you even if I had to chase him to the ends of the world. How can I let someone insult you in my presence, then?''

    "Feizhen¡­"

    "Also, Young Shiyi, what did you say about you being my responsibility?"

    "Eh?"

    "Don''t go getting ideas on your own," said Ming Feizhen, stroking her hand nose with one hand. "As if I''d take up responsibility for someone for my entire life just because a few old men made some remarks."

    "You¡­ You¡­"

    "In short¡­" began Ming Feizhen, turning his blushing face away. "You''ve never been a liability to me. You''re the most important person in the world to me."

    Ming Suwen''s face turned red as if she drank a bowl of nice wine. She wrapped her arms across her voluptuous peaks. She desperately tried to hide her bright red face behind a tough fa?ade.

    "Always sweet talking¡­" mumbled Ming Suwen, in a soft voice without her realising. "All you''ve ever done was tease me ever since we were kids."

    "What?"

    Ming Suwen quickly looked up. "What are people going to think of you and me with you behaving that way?''

    "I couldn''t care less what they think. All I care is what you think," sincerely stated Ming Feizhen, holding Ming Suwen''s hand.

    "Young Shiyi, I honestly didn''t know about your illness. I definitely would''ve visited you even if the entire sect stopped me, otherwise. I want you to live together with me from now on. I don''t want you getting hurt out or being sad when you''re out of my sight."

    "Then¡­" Ming Suwen couldn''t see her face, but judging from Ming Feizhen''s mischievous smile, she knew that her face must''ve been totally red. She couldn''t help looking up and forcing an aggressive smile and gaze to mask her embarrassment. "So you''ve decided to take my heart?"

    *Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!*

    "No, I, uhh, I meant¡­" stammered Ming Feizhen. He touched his head and gazed up at the sky. "Wow, tonight''s moon sure is b-"

    "Coward!" muttered Ming Suwen, under her breath. "Loser! Fine. You have yet to settle your phndering adventures; I don''t want to part of the list of boats you''ve got your feet in. I''m satisfied just to know that you''re willing to let me live with you."

    Ming Suwen naturally felt her tension leave her body, as she saw Ming Feizhen''s relieved look. It wasn''t time yet; Ming Feizhen still had a hole in his heart to fill. He, therefore, refused to take another step forward.

    "I guess this is the furthest we''ll get at present," thought Ming Suwen.

    "So¡­ what do you n to do with me? If I went with you¡­ what do we do about Mount Daluo? Your shifu may be unaware, but your martial brothers are in Nanjing. If they rat you out, what will you do?"

    Ming Suwen pointed out the biggest hurdle. If Mount Daluo''s members found out, there''d most probably be a hassle. The fact was that they had levels of seniority between them.

    "With regards to that¡­ A genius always has a way. Having spent the recent nights foregoing sleep to engross myself in deep thinking in addition to extensive research, this one has finallye up with a perfect n," said Ming Feizhen. He then cleared his throat and wiped his grin off his face. He deliberately put on an earnest charade. "Liu Shan Men''s newly recruited female constable, number zero, eight, zero, seven, zero, zero, seven, Ming Juese, attention!"

    Ming Suwen blinked with puzzlement. "Huh?"

    Ming Feizhen straightened up his posture. Officer Ming then dered, "I, Ming Feizhen, Liu Shan Men''s Nanjing branch''s sole head constable, hereby dere that you have been epted into Liu Shan Men''s ranks. Henceforth, I hope that you will diligently forge forth, practice chivalry, uphold justice on behalf of the heavens, loyally devote your service to the imperial court and bring glory to Liu Shan Men!"

    Ming Suwen seemed to catch on to where Ming Feizhen was going with it. "You mean for me to join Liu Shan Men as¡­."

    Ming Feizhen nodded with a smile. "Constable zero, eight, zero, seven, zero, zero, seven, you are still a new female constable at Liu Shan Men. Liu Shan Men''s female constables are trained from childhood. The youngest girl right now is six-years old. You have joinedter than them. That also means that you are two levels my junior."

    Ming Suwen found herself dumbstruck. She thought, "You sly punk! I can''t believe he''de up with such an amaz-, shameless idea I mean. Did he just drop my seniority two levels to erase my seniority over him at Mount Daluo? Maybe this will work, though."iu Shan Men had a long history in the martial world just as Mount Daluo did. The levels of seniority within the group were acknowledged.

    "As long as one of us the senior of the other, we might really be able to ovee our seniority hurdle!" reasoned Ming Suwen. She hid her delight. The light at the end of the tunnel suggested there was a way to resolve the problem that had gued her seemingly forever.

    Ming Feizhen blinked. "What are you waiting for? Let me hear you call me Shigong."

    "In your dreams!" eximed Ming Suwen, before poking her tongue. "You''re barely a senior, yet you''re making a huge fuss out of it."

    "Misbehave, and I might spank you."

    Ming Feizhen was always talkative around girls; hence, he had a slip of the tongue. As a result, his face went red. As far back as he could remember, that was the first time he worshipped his goddess, and hence, the mistake.

    "Pfft, hahahaha,"ughed Ming Suwen, covering her small mouth with her hand. Sheughed so hard that she bent over and backwards alternately.

    "Do it. If you don''t, you''re not a man," provoked Ming Suwen, raising her chin with a smug look, yet still smiling with the beauty of a flower in bloom.

    Whether deliberate or by ident, Ming Feizhen''s gaze sneaked down to her entrancing snowy peaks. They were powerful enough to turn the cold winter air hot.

    Ming Suwen knew where he was staring; therefore, it was only natural that she blushed. Nevertheless, apparently afraid that he couldn''t get a clear view, she instinctively straightened her torso to push them up.

    With both of them feeling awkward, Ming Suwen tried to find a topic to divert their attention. "By the way, when¡­ did you realise it was me? I had covered my face and used a fake name, not to mention altering my voice using a specific technique. How did you recognise me?"

    Ming Feizhen chuckled. "I recognised you with my first nce. It was nothing hard. Who else in this world could do justice to the word ''peerless'' besides my young shiyi?"

    "Pfft, glib tongue." Although Ming Suwen gave a nonchnt response, her satisfaction seeped into her voice.

    "Ah!" suddenly eximed Ming Suwen. "Aren''t you taking part in the fuma selection? Has it ended already?"

    "No," replied Ming Feizhen, with a faint smile. "I bet it''s still going on right now."

    Ming Feizhen then peered into the distance and murmured, "I wonder how it''s going. I hope everything is proceeding smoothly."

    Notes:

    *Title - It''s written using the military number system in Chinese.

    **Bowl of wine - Back in the old days, it wasn''t umon for people to drink wine from bowls.

    ***Shigong - Grandmaster/teacher''s teacher/teacher''s father. I will use ¡®grandmaster¡¯ if there¡¯s a strong request for it or chance of confusion. Otherwise, I will use ¡®shigong¡¯ for the most part, because it¡¯s just being weird (arguably wrong) for the sake of simplification.

 Volume 5 59 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Thousand Miles

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 59 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Thousand Miles</h4>

    "Ming Feizhen, where in the world have you gone?!" eximed Hongzhuang, in her mind.

    Worry and frustration gued Princess Hongzhuang. In her moments of frustration, she abruptly recalled that today¡­ was the day Miss Juese''s bid was going to be held.

    "Could he have gone to¡­" suspected Princess Hongzhuang. She suddenly felt disappointed. She bit down on her lip. "Why did youe to participate in the first round if you were going to run to her¡­? What exactly are you thinking?"

    "Ming Feizhen has just left without rhyme or reason? What''s his deal? Am I nobody to him?" fumed the Emperor, with a huff and a re. He mmed the table and rose to his feet. "Where is Liu Shan Men?"

    Tang Ye looked left and right. Virtually all of the audience members were rtives or direct family members of the royal family. The only reason he was allowed to be attend was thanks to his new rank as one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. The only members in attendance, who were from Liu Shan Men, were himself and Ming Feizhen. Hongjiu, who suddenly rocked up in a guard''s disguise, wasn''t counted. Left with no choice, he stepped forth. "Your Majesty, your subject is present."

    "Constable Tang, where has Ming Feizhen gone?"

    "Your subject does not know; he did not inform your subject."

    "What insolence! Where is your office''s leader?"

    "Absent," replied Tang Ye, hands in a cupped fist position. "Both our captain and vice-captain are not in the capital. The only person with authority is the fuma candidate who left just now."

    The Emperor fumed, "Shuntian Prefecture?"

    As he didn''t see any me to shoulder, the best me taker in the entire world, Shuntian Prefecture''s Sir Bao, sat in his seat and enjoyed the view with a perfect cup of wine. Life was bliss until the Emperor shouted at him. He nearly fell out of his chair.

    Old Bao hurriedly crawled over and sobbed, "Your Majesty, th-that has nothing to do with me. The fuma candidate''s disappearance¡­. I¡­ I am not familiar with him."

    "When did I say it was your fault?" asked the Emperor, with a frown. "Go and bring him back."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Sir Bao groaned to himself. "Howe I''m still unlucky when the fuma selection has nothing to do with me?"

    Nevertheless, Sir Bao left to call men, as he didn''t dare to defy the Emperor.

    Noticing the Emperor''s face turn pale, he spoke up despite his hesitation. "Your Majesty, while Ming Feizhen did not leave behind a message, he has left the second round''s present in your subject''s hands. Your subject can take his ce. That will save everyone from the hassle of waiting. Ming Feizhen said that the item he had in mind was rare and wished to show everyone present. If you could spare it some praise, then it prove that it is truly valuable."

    Still, the Emperor couldn''t help but shake his head. "Hmph. This has nothing to do with an items value; the problem is Ming Feizhen. My aim is not just to test the two fuma candidates'' martial and literacy skills, but also their character. If profound martial arts skills and an illustrious background were adequate, I might as well seek out someone from the Demon Sect, the League of Assassins or Heavenly Cloud Pce. None of those groupsck talented men. The issue is that they aren''t upright characters. What would I want them for?''oving what he heard, Jin Wangsun chuckled. He tried his best to milk the topic. "Your Majesty, that uncouth Ming Feizhen thinks so highly of himself due to his identity as a disciple of Mount Daluo, that he would disregard the royal family. In addition, he mocked your subject many times during Shining Edges, carrying himself disgracefully. A barbarian from the mountains cannotprehend so many formalities and etiquette practices. You would forgive him, as you are tolerant and magnanimous. However, he has taken advantage of that to behave insolently repetitively. He cannot be pardoned for that."

    Jin Wangsun''s speech served to nder Ming Feizhen whilst helping himself. Unfortunately, his statements led to Elder Statesman recalling the scene of him snatching the pork shoulder. Thus, he couldn''t withhold hisughter. Nevertheless, Jin Wangsun showed amazing control. He didn''t react to theughter; instead, he took a step back with a faint smile after he finished speaking.

    The concerned Princess Jingan said, "Father, there is no need to be irate. Given that Constable Ming will not be returning, you can put an end to it by dering it his loss. There is no need to waste your time and energy. Your well-being is the top priority."

    Realising the dire plight, Princess Hongzhuang swiftly jumped in. "Father, Constable Ming told me that he was not feeling too well today. I think he might have suffered an internal injury during Shining Edges, and therefore found himself a location to recuperate."

    Upon hearing Princess Hongzhuang''s exnation, the Emperor''s anger was slightly appeased. He rambled, "Well, that I can understand¡­ Constable Ming''s skills are far inferior to Wangsun''s. While he won thest round thanks to a fluke, I can understand that he suffered an internal injury as a consequence of being caught in the wind st generated by the sabre. You''re right; we''re in the inner section of the imperial pce. Where can he go on his own? There would be no other way to exin his disappearance. I can understand him seeking somece quiet to recuperate."

    Then, the Emperor turned his attention to Tang Ye. "Constable Tang, did you say that Ming Feizhen has already passed the item on to you?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "Perfect, then. Although Ming Feizhen isn''t here, I shall pardon his misconduct and insolence out of consideration of his previous merits for the imperial court and his great grandmaster. I won''t wait for him tomence the second round. We''ll being now. He won the first contest; therefore, if you win this next contest, he shall be crowned fuma. Should you lose, we will proceed to the third contest. Should Ming Feizhen not return in time for the third contest, Jin Wangsun will be dered the victor."

    Jin Wangsun wasn''t pleased to see Ming Feizhen get off without any punishment, but as he was absent, he figured there was no reason to dy the second contest. If Ming Feizhen still wasn''t back for the third contest, he would win by default.

    Jin Wangsun was full of confidence for the second round. With a cupped fist salute, he said, "Wangsun has no objections."

    "Good!"

    "Honoured guests, the second contest in tonight''s fuma selection is called Thousand Miles. It, too, was one of the historical methods monarchs used to select a fuma. The forefather of Shining Edges was our Founding Emperor; Thousand Miles was Emperor Taizong''s creation. Our Founding Emperor was without equal throughout thends, making him one of the few phenomenal masters during our dynasty. He fought his way to establish our dynasty, was a dominating man and possessed skills that still shocks today''s generation, but s, literacy was not a field of expertise. On the other hand, Emperor Taizong was a genius at national administration. During his reign, our dynasty was stable and saw no wars. Under his wise rule, the world prospered more than any other reign."

    Emperor Taizong was the Founding Emperor''s son. Hecked the martial aptitude his father had, and therefore failed to ever reach his father''s level despite being under his direct tutge. However, he was a wise and calm individual with a high degree of self-awareness, not to mention that he possessed an abundance of knowledge. He took over and ruled after his father brought the curtain down on the tumultuous era. After the nation recuperated from the tumultuous era, the nation grew strong and wealthy. We had everything we could ask for, while the people enjoyed peaceful and prosperous lives. Those aplishments should be attributed to Emperor Taizong''s astute leadership.

    The Emperor stroked his beard. "Thousand Miles first appeared during the era of peace. At the time, Emperor Taizong wanted to marry off his daughter. Meanwhile, many fuma candidates who excelled in literacy and martial arts asked for her hand in marriage. That was when Emperor Taizong came up with the idea to put their skills to the test.

    Thousand Miles will test our two fuma candidates'' body and mind in unison. They are to bring the Princess a valuable item thousands of miles away. The rarer the item is, the more valuable it will be considered. In saying that, value alone will not suffice. The further it is located, the more weight it will hold. Now, then, two fuma candidates, pleasemence!"

 Volume 5 60 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Black Container

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 60 Galloping A Thousand Miles - ck Container</h4>

    "Please step up."

    Jin Wangsun and Tang Ye stepped forth in unison. "Your subject is ready."

    Jin Wangsun red at Tang Ye through the corner of his eye. His grudge with Ming Feizhen in their fight for the Princess was a grudge no doubt, but his biggest grudge was with Tang Ye thanks to his rtionship with Huo Qing''er. He stole the man''s fianc¨¦e. But it didn''t end there. He then had the audacity to send his own men to Jin Wangsun''s abode to keep him under surveince, robbing the man of any semnce of freedom. Jin Wangsun hated Tang Ye to the very core. At most, Ming Feizhen got on his nerves. Tang Ye, however, was who Jin Wangsun perceived to be the blood debtor.

    Gnashing his teeth, Jin Wangsun dered, "Once this is over, I''ll reduce you to dust!"

    Without sparing him a look, Tang Ye responded, "I have yet to settle the score with you for hitting Miss Qing''er. If it''s a fight you want, I''ll give you one."

    The two exchanged res. Sparks began to form between the two as they fired their rage at each other.

    Hongjiu strutted in at the perfect moment and broke the two up. Golden armour guards were tasked with maintaining security and order at Wuying Hall. However, due to the level of skill of the two individuals at each other''s throats, nobody volunteered for the death wish. To their astonishment, though, someone was actually brave enough to get in between the two.

    Truthfully, the Emperor had no idea why Jin Wangsun and Tang Ye were so hostile with each other. He assumed that Tang Ye was standing up for his good friend, Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, acting on personal grudges in Wuying Hall was inappropriate. As he watched Hongjiu separate the two, he stroked his beard and said to himself, "When ites down to it, my guards are still the most sensible. Who is he? I must reward him after this."

    The other golden armour guards looked over feeling envious. At the same time, they regretted and reproached themselves forcking the courage to take those few steps forward.

    Hongjiu didn''t stop after he separated the two. He made sure to insult Jin Wangsun while he was at it. "Shut up. Shut up! If you''ve got a grudge, bring out the goods to settle it. Why are you so damn clingy? Did he steal your wife?"

    Jin Wangsun thundered, "Hongjiu, our score has yet to be settled. You led your men in the assault on my Gold and Silver Sect. I''m telling you, we have a grudge."

    "Whoa! What''s your horoscope? Crazy dog? Why are you biting everyone in sight? Like I said, if you''re so tough, bring out the goods. Is yours as good as my senior brother''s?"

    "Bring it on, then! Hmph!" dered Jin Wangsun, before taking off.

    Jin Wangsun told A Hu to bring out a golden container that wasn''t very big. The container was made from genuine gold, making it extremely valuable.

    Hongjiu felt a sense of uncertainty. He went to Jiangnan to eliminate Gold and Silver Sect, and then rushed back through the night, so he wasn''t sure what Ming Feizhen brought back. He, therefore, scuffled over to Tang Ye and spoke using ventriloquism. "Tang Boy¡­ will our item suffice? Judging from Jin Dagang''s demeanour, I think he might really have some good stuff."

    Tang Ye found himself in a dilemma. "You don''t know, either?"

    "Huh?" eximed Hongjiu, turning to face Tang Ye. He was totally stupefied. "You mean to tell me that you don''t know, either?"

    "I don''t!" said Tang Ye, voice muffled. "You''re from the same school, yet you don''t know?"

    Hongjiu looked somewhat pleased with himself. "So you don''t know, either, huh? I guess Senior Brother doesn''t y favourites. I see he remembers old dogs, I meant old friends, after finding himself new friends. Wait. If we don''t even know¡­ aren''t we pretty much screwed?"

    Tang Ye and Hongjiu looked down to view the ck container in Tang Ye''s hand.

    The ck container didn''t stand out. It wasn''t made from gold or timber. Its material was a question mark, but it was cold to the touch. Holding it wasparable to holding a block of ice. It was only thanks to his training with Yang Blood True Qi that Tang Ye was actually able to withstand the cold sensation. In short, the ck container was ordinary in appearance, but had unique qualities, thereby qualifying it as something not to be underestimated.

    Hongjiu touched his chin and mumbled, "Eh? Isn''t this the weapon container I gave Senior Brother? Why did you bring it here?"

    Hongjiu''splexion suddenly changed. He lowered his volume. "I-Is this what we''re submitting? Has Senior Brother lost his mind?! Why is he being so generous?!"

    Curious, Tang Ye asked, "What''s the matter? Do you know what''s inside? Big Brother said to use it. Is it valuable?"

    "You bet it is," answered Hongjiu, as he wiped his sweat on his forehead. Hisplexion turned pale. "Besides creating one''s own new style on Stirring Dreams Rainy Skies Peak, they must also ce a unique and precious treasure in Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall. Grandmaster left half of the Founding Emperor''s imperial jade seal. My shifu left behind the Demon Sect''s Spring Rain Windy Nights Painting. This ck container holds the item my senior brother intends to leave at Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall!"

    "Hey, hey, hey! Don''t you think the two items you just mentioned are too frightening to even think about?!! Also, why would Big Brother have to leave a treasure in your treasure storage as previous patriarchs of Mount Daluo did?"

    "Don''t you see how wise and peerless my senior brother is? Why would it be surprising for him to be a patriarch?" rhetorically asked Hongjiu, scanning left and right. Voice quiet, he added, "But this thing''s value¡­ is on par with the other two if not more valuable."

    Tang Ye suddenly found himself speechless. He focused his gaze on the ck container in his hand. The very thought of its significance had him break into a cold sweat. He did give the container a shake before to try and figure out what was inside by its sound, but he couldn''t hear anything.

    "Don''t tell me it''s broken¡­" pleaded Tang Ye, in his mind. "Are you saying that whatever is in this container¡­ is worth the value of those other two items?"

    "In terms of rareness, that might even be rarer than the other two."

    Tang Ye began to worry. "Wh-What exactly is this?"

    Hongjiu muffled his voice to respond. "This can be used as a weapon, medicine, armour and even as a catalyst for qinggong. It''s impregnable to fire and water. Iron can''t break it. It is the toughest¡­ silk thread in the world."

    "Silk thread?" asked Tang Ye, eyes narrowed. He tapped the container. "Your Majesty, your subject is ready to make a submission!"

    "Hey! Don''t give him that! It''s too valuable to offer!"

    Jin Wangsun jumped in before they coulde to a conclusion. "Your Majesty, your subject is already ready. Please take a look at Wangsun''s first."

    With augh, the Emperor replied, "It matters not whether I look at yours first or after. However, as you are already ready, I shall examine yours first."

    Hongjiu wished he could p Tang Ye. Sounding aggressive, he eximed, "You bastard! You realise it''s worth more than the entirety of Mount Daluo put together?! If Shifu finds out you gave it to the imperial court, he''ll rob the national treasury!"

    "It''s just a silk thread, big deal."

    "You don''t know sh*t!" aggressively eximed Hongjiu. "It isn''t an ordinary silk; it''s Celestial Spider Silk!"

    Tang Ye was confused. "Celestial Spider?"

    "You ignorant brat, you don''t even know Celestial Spider Silk? Listen up: in a mountain far, far away, there''s an insect called Snow Spirit Spider."

    "Oh! You''re talking about the ultra-rare type of spider that has snowke marks on it, has a unique body that''s extremely cold, born ten thousand miles deep in the ground, found at the peak of Heavenly Mountain located in the far Northwest? I heard that the spider grows up in Heavenly Mountain''s snow and gold, thereby reinforcing its silk to the point that it''s tougher than iron. Apparently, adding it to an ordinary weapon would turn it into a super weapon. It is easily an item those in metal and iron work would dream of having. However, due to snow spirit spiders only being found at the peak of Heavenly Mountain, not to mention living together in groups, it''s apparently inconceivably difficult to obtain."

    "How do you know even more than me¡­?"

    Tang Ye calmly answered, "I once trained at Kunlun, which is also located in the cold area in the Northwest. Therefore, it''s a given that I heard about the legendary rumours on Heavenly Mountain. Snow spirit spiders are renowned in legends for their aggression.

    Tang Ye took another look at the ck container in his hand. "They are basically as famous Snow Spirit Spider Silk."

    Notes:

    *Old friends and new friends - Because of the Chinese phrasing, Hongjiu got the word wrong due to the slight simrity in pronunciation. It''s lost in trantion.

    ** Crazy Dog Horoscope ¨C It¡¯s the thirteenth zodiac, albeit pending patent. In other words, Hongjiu made it up to use as an insult.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ***The spider''s exnation is deliberately written in a wordy manner to capture the original speech. Fun to read in Chinese for ridiculous level trolling, but not so much to trante.

 Volume 5 61 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Celestial Spider

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 61 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Celestial Spider</h4>

    All supreme sharp weapons consist of four supreme refinement materials, all four of which were extremely rare to find. Even the ordinary among them are very were rare. The four supreme materials were ck Aurum, Darksteel, Sea Mother and finally, Snow Spirit Spider Silk. The four were equally difficult to find. The ck and White Reflection described the four as so: too long, too expensive, too spread out, too difficult respectively.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ck Aurum was a strange stone that turned to gold after being left to precipitate over ten thousand years approximately, which earned it the description of "too long".

    Darksteel was a miraculous type of gold that was believed to fall from the sky. Although they imed that you could only pray that you find it, there was some that circted on the market. Having said that, the price would leave one''s jaw on the ground. One or two bits would be enough for one to live a ptial life till the day they died.

    Sea mother was a metal that was hidden at the bottom of the sea. Given the sheer size of the sea, searching for it was no different to searching for a pin under the sea.

    Celestial spider silk wasbelled as "too difficult". Searching for the rare material in harsh conditions on the peak was difficult in and of itself. On top of that, one must bear in mind that they were no ordinary spiders. An adult snow spider was gigantic - rtively speaking. They grew to roughly the size of a puppy, not to mention that they were extremely poisonous. As such, even snow spirit spider silk contained a lethal poison. If one were to risk their life to locate a snow spirit spider''s nest, only to end up being bit, you''d still hear about their story in the vige within the vicinity. Due to how harsh and difficult it was to procure it, it became the highest-ranked material among the four.

    If you mustpare, the mostmon two were ck aurum and darksteel. Although one must wait a long time for ck aurum, the reality was that Earth had existed for hundreds of millions. ck aurum was hidden deep underground, but it was possible to find if one was to approach it with an appropriate method. As for darksteel, spend enough money and time, and you''d be able to find enough for a de.

    The reason Golden Crow Moon Eater, the de to rule the world, became one of the supreme weapons was because it was crafted with splendid craftsmanship using ck aurum and darksteel. Crafting the body itself carried its own risk. Sometimes, even if one had gathered the required materials, they''d still be susceptible to losing a part. Had Gold and Silver Sect not had cksmiths under their banner and a top-tier weapon refiner, not even Gold and Silver Sect would''ve been able to forge the de despite their wealth.

    Mount Hua''s patriarch''s Beyond the Heavens Edge was another weapon in the category. The de was refined with rare stones. How else would it have been so sharp and possible to be wielded lightning fast?

    As for sea mother and snow spirit spider silk, those were rare enough to be considered mythical.

    Once Tang Ye recalled how rare snow spirit spider silk was, he looked down at the container in hand. He weighed it again, but perceived it to be heavy enough to rip his arm off his shoulder this time. With sweat collected on his forehead, he asked, "You mean to say that this container is filled with snow spirit spider silk?"

    Given the rarity of snow spirit spider silk, if he was holding a container full of it, then it actually could be more valuable that the imperial jade seal.

    "Didn''t I already answer that?" replied Hongjiu, throat dry due to giving so many exnations. He rolled his eyes. "It''s not snow spirit spider silk, but celestial spider silk."

    Worry began to tighten its hold Tang Ye. He nced over to the smug Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wansun took out his item from the gold container and allowed the Emperor''s examiners and the prime minister to inspect it. Jin Wangsun had "haughty" written all over his face. He had no clue how valuable Tang Ye''s item was. The old prime minster and examiners frowned when they saw Jin Wangsun''s item, and then carefully inspected it. Nobody knew if they discovered anything, but there was one thing that was certain: once they were done, they were going to go Tang Ye, when he still had no idea what he was holding.

    Tang Ye began to panic. "What exactly is celestial spider? Stop ying guessing games with me."

    "Celestial spider and snow spirit spider are actually one and the same; it''s just that they''ve lived for a long time," answered Hongjiu. He then lowered his volume. "A celestial spider is a snow spirit spider that has lived for over a thousand years, has a physique that''s tougher than a fierce warrior and isrger than an ape. What''s most terrifying about it is that a celestial spider¡­ develops intelligence over time. It learns to lure people and animals into its nest.

    Senior Brother once personally went to Heavenly Mountain and found its nest. It took him an entire month to kill the nest''s King. Its cave was littered with corpses. The one he killed had already developed intelligence on par with a human being."

    Hearing the story had Tang Ye''s hairs stand erect. He had heard rumours of the snow spirit spider. The rumours of it described it as an incredibly tough and fierce beast. Had another heard Ming Feizhen actually entered a nest and came out alive, they would''vebelled it a ludicrous story.

    "Senior Brother took all of the spider silk in the cave that day. He then asked a refiner to make the container in your hand."

    Tang Ye was absolutely speechless. Never did he imagine Ming Feizhen would mindlessly pass something to him so valuable as if he was throwing rubbish out.

    "Because of the lethal poison in therge volume of celestial spider silk from that day, Senior Brother doesn''t thoughtlessly bring it out. Hence, he puts them all in the snow spirit container."

    Both Tang Ye and Hongjiu fell silent after Hongjiu finished. The only voices were the asional, "This is rare, indeed," from the examiners.

    "¡­ How about we run?" Tang Ye finally suggested. He passed the container to Hongjiu. "Sell this, and then go find a ce to raise cattle."

    Hongjiu rolled his eyes. "You think you could sell it? Who would be able to afford it? Plus, where would you house so many cattle?"

    "If we can''t raise them¡­ we''ll start a beef hot pot restaurant."

    "God, cut the bullsh*t, will you?! Listen, kid, your good looks won''t stop me from skinning you!"

    "Then, what can we do? This container''s contents are too expensive; we can''t give it to His Majesty, can we?"

    Even Tang Ye instantly made the same decision when he learnt of its value. Besides the question of whether or not Ming Feizhen would be willing to give the Emperor an entire container of celestial spider silk, the Emperor might not even ept it.

    After mulling for a brief moment, Tang Ye suddenly had an idea. "Let''s split it into a smaller portion and give His Majesty just s portion¡­"

    "Didn''t I just tell you that it''s impregnable against fire and water and can''t be cut with metal or iron? What are you going to split it with? Let me tell you this: my shifu once had someone hold out a small string, which he then tried to cut with our sect''s divine weapon. He shed it seventeen times consecutively, and you know what? The one holding the string was injured severely, but not even a mark was left on the silk."

    Tang Ye frowned. "How are you so sure? That''s a random instance."

    Hongjiu thundered, "Random my foot! I was the one who held the silk!"

    "¡­" Hopeless, Tang Ye asked, "What do we do¡­?"

    Hongjiu had nothing he could do, either. He never imagined Ming Feizhen would offer celestial spider silk. The sun would rise from the other side if Ming Huayu didn''t raid the imperial pce for it if they actually handed it to the Emperor. Actually, that''d only be the start of the disaster. Ming Huayu would definitely take it another step and mercilessly rob the national treasury as interest. Then, he''d groped some maid''s buttocks before finally being satisfied enough to leave. If he did that, they''d have made themselves the imperial court''s enemy!

    When they nced over, they saw Jin Wangsun''s smug look again as he unted the item in his gold box. Jin Wangsunughed. "I sincerely look forward to seeing the looks on your face in a moment!"

    Tang Ye and Hongjiu responded in unison. "We really look forward to seeing the look on your face, too¡­"

 Volume 5 62 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Ancient Book

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 62 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Ancient Book</h4>

    Hongjiu still felt unsettled. He swept his gaze around and happened to catch sight of Princess Jingan, who noticed his gaze on her, and thus, made eye contact with him. The moment the two made eye contact, Jingan revealed a subtle smile, one that was bewitching and clearly intended for Hongjiu, consequently nearly stealing his soul.

    Hongjiu shook his head out of instinct and mentally thumped himself. "Sh*t, sh*t, why does her smile look so nice? Don''t tell me she has a crush on me! Isn''t she married? Sh*t me. Sh*t me. I couldn''t resist her charm! Wait! I''m in a disguise. Did she catch something perchance? Look at the beauty. How did my disguise fail?"

    "Please examine it, Your Majesty!" eximed Jin Wangsun, shaking his body. He was giddy and smiling as if he was in a y.

    "This is a rare item. Ites from a very faraway ce. It is very rare to find in the Central in," reported Jin Wangsun, not forgetting to shoot Tang Ye a berating nce. "It is a splendid item that others will not be able to find."

    Tang Ye and Hongjiu began to lose control over their emotions. "Ours is rare, too¡­ too rare and too splendid, in fact¡­ so splendid that I''m getting an upset stomach¡­"

    The Emperor grabbed the item Jin Wangsun submitted and clicked his tongue. "Indeed, this, I have never seen before. May I ask what this is? Is it very rare and precious?"

    The old prime minister and inspector whispered to each other and kept exchanging opinions. They seemed to be in a dilemma and weren''t convinced of its authenticity. Frankly, it wasn''t just the Emperor who thought Jin Wangsun would win the round without any hitches. All of the royal family members in attendance and the prime minister, who hoped Ming Feizhen would win, believed that Jin Wangsun would win for sure.

    With the wealth and influence that Gold and Silver Sect had, they were always in possession of countless rare and precious items. Therefore, Jin Wangsun had an almost unfair advantage in Thousand Miles. Gold and Silver Sect still had an advantage even if they didn''t count hidden items. The fact that Gold and Silver Sect originated as a business with their influence in business stretching to every corner of the Kingdom ¨C and even further South to the border ¨C was the factor that convinced everyone Jin Wangsun would unquestionably win. There was no logical reason to think that they couldn''t bring the best item to the Emperor if Jin Wangsun gave themand.

    In terms of transportation, the steed that Jin Wangsun brought to the capital demonstrated how amazing his horses could be. After all, Gold and Silver Sect certainly wouldn''tck quality horses or equestrians. As long as time allowed, they''d be able to bring things back no matter how far away it may have been. There was nothing to suggest that Ming Feizhen had any hope for the round.

    Despite the prime minister having prepared himself mentally for the defeat, his expression was still stirred by the sight of the object¡­

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After a long discussion with the serious looking inspector, they finally reported back to the Emperor. "Your Majesty, after a lengthy discussion with inspector Li, we both conclude that this itemes from Lizhe Kingdom.

    The Emperor''s expression changed to surprise owing to what he heard. "Lizhe Kingdom?! H-How¡­?"

    Everybody, including Hongjiu and Tang Ye who looked at each other, was shocked by the news.izhe was one of the seven Kingdoms in the West. The current dynasty opened up to trades, but nevertheless, that didn''t change the fact that the distance from the seven Kingdoms in the West was over thousands of miles away from Nanjing, so it was perplexing to hear that it arrived at Nanjing in time. It had only been ten days since the fuma selection was announced; it made no sense that Jin Wangusn was able to obtain the item from Lizhe Kingdom.izhe Kingdom was located over six-thousand miles away from Nanjing. Even with Gold and Silver Sect''s wealth and influence, it would probably take ten days alone just to reach Lizhe Kingdom from Nanjing. That was even if they used their horses that could run a thousand miles a day to run all day and night, changing horses at every rest stop. Six thousand miles would mean he''d have to cover one-thousand miles per day to arrive within six days.

    A horse that could run a thousand miles per day was but a cultural quote. Even the best bred horses were limited to a thousand miles during the day and another eight hundred at night. A horse that could travel five-hundred miles in a night was considered cream of the crop. To add, a horse couldn''t maintain top speed the entire way. Going by averages, it still wouldn''t be able tost for an entire day and night. The imperial court needed to continue to switch horses to deliver urgent messages within an eight-hundred mile radius. Subsequently, it was inconceivable for Jin Wangsun to obtain the item from Lizhe Kingdom and make it back within ten days.

    Hongjiu didn''t expect Jin Wangsun to be capable of the feat, either. The amazement left his mouth dry. He picked up a pot of wine and ensured nobody was looking his way before drinking from it whilst trying toe up with a countern.

    The Emperor also frowned. He questioned the authenticity of Jin Wangsun''s item in a roundabout way. "Wangsun¡­ Thousand Miles is a test of patience and sincerity. Even if you don''t personally make the trip, you must send someone to obtain it. And if you buy it, you must buy an authentic product."

    Jin Wangsun smiled. He seemingly sneaked a nce at Princess Jingan. He showered her with praise in his mind. "Her Highness is truly pure and eloquent. What a fantastic idea it was."

    "Your Majesty, you need not worry, for Wangsun personally sent someone to go and buy it," calmly replied Jin Wangsun. Slowly and calmly, he borated, "Wangsun first sent a pigeon to deliver a message, switching pigeons along the way to reach Gold and Silver Sect''s business branch in the far West. Wangsun had them bring the item back from Lizhe Kingdom on horseback, following the directions Wangsun provided. As such, it was reduced to a one-way trip, making it possible to be delivered to Nanjing in time."

    "Brilliant. Brilliant," praised the Emperor. Tone joyful, he asked, "You have done your reputation as the youngest leader of the Seven Champion White Princes proud. That was a brilliant strategy. With that said, why didn''t you purchase something from the Western border directly, and then have them transported back? Would that not have saved you time?"

    Expression solemn, Jin Wangsun exined, "It is precisely because your subject wholeheartedly loves Her Highness. Had it note from Lizhe Kingdom, how could it constitute as a rare item? This ancient book details Lizhe Kingdom''s religion that is thriving most there. Prime Minister, can you confirm the truth of my statement?"

    "Your Majesty, your subject travelled all thends in his younger years and did go to Lizhe before," replied the old prime minister, with his hands together in front of him. "Your subject has meticulously assessed the book. Indeed, the book is from Lizhe Kingdom. The paper, text and cover are all styled after Lizhe''s style, which is exclusive to them."

    "Oh," responded the Emperor. The Emperor then flipped through the book. What he found was that there were only images and difficult to understand text, which was read: he didn''t understand any of the contents. Thus, he scratched his head. "Is it rarely that rare? What are the contents about?"

    "Your subject does notprehend it, either. While the book does, for a fact,e from Lizhe, it does not seem to be an ancient book," answered the prime minister.

    "How is it not an ancient book?" asked Jin Wangsun, voice angry. After all, he spent a lot of effort to bring the book back from Lizhe Kingdom. He fumed, "Prime Minister, you should not try to fabricate sensationalism. The book is Lizhe Kingdoms'' most popr ancient religious book."

    "Then, may I ask if you can understand the text within, Patriarch Jin?"

    "Hmph. Prime Minister, this one asks that you do not try to divert the attention to this one. This one is from the Central in; how would this one understand their text?"

    "This old one thought about as much. If you did, you would not submit it to His Majesty so joyously."

    The prime minister nced over to the small book that was turning yellow. He did his best to hold in hisughter and after much struggle, sighed. "This old one needs not mention the text. If you read the title backwards, it is read as, ''Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng ¨C Next Chapter''. As for the contents¡­ apologies, but this old one''s shallow knowledge is not profound enough to understand it."

    "Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng¡­? What does that m-, huh?! Gross! Touchwood!" eximed the Emperor, as he hurled it as though it caught fire. "Jin Wangsun, what are you showing me on New Year''s Eve?! I was wondering why there were so many drawings of two men hugging each other!"

    Jin Wangsun quickly evaded the book as it zoomed back toward his head.

    "This is not it! Your Majesty, y-your subject does not know how this was bought, instead, either!"

    Hongjiu, who had been sneakily drinking while the fiasco took ce, wanted to chime in when he saw the fiasco. Unfortunately, he choked on the wine. His face was red; he was forced resort to stammering,"I, I, I¡­ I! Ugh!"

    Jin Wangsun, who was annoyed already, turned around and thundered, "You what?"

    *Spit!*

    Hongjiu sted a mouthful of wine onto Jin Wangsun''s face¡­

    As things had gottenpletely out of hand, Tang Ye quickly stepped in, "Second Brother Hong, what exactly do you want to say?"

    Hongjiu kept coughing and rubbing his chest. He eventually took out a small book, albeit after much struggling. While panting, he said, ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I have the previous chapter¡­¡±

    "¡­"

    Notes:

    A horse that could run a thousand miles per day was but a cultural quote - refers to the Chinese phrase Ç§ÀïÂí (Lit. Thousand mile horse), which ismonly used to praise remarkable horses who could run long distances

 Volume 5 63 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Return

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 63 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Return</h4>

    "Father."

    The clear voice of a girl disrupted the chaos in the hall. Jingan was unbothered by the ruckus, remaining calm as she held up the book thatnded on her table. She gently flipped through the ancient book from Lizhe Kingdom with her pretty fingers. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity simrly to a young girl with her interest piqued.

    "Jing''er has studied foreignnguages to an extent and has read some foreign books. What is this book about?"

    Before the Emperor could scold Jin Wangsun for his inappropriateness, the Emperor needed to quickly direct his attention to Jingan. "Jing''er, don''t look! Don''t look!"

    Even Princess Hongzhuang stopped her, albeit with a bright red face. "Sister, you cannot look inside!"

    "Huh? Why not?" asked Jingan, expression pure, yet beautiful as flowers in boom. She titled her head. "I saw this book in your room, as well, Sister."

    Jingan''s statement was literally a pebble that stirred up a sky-high wave. The entire hall fell dead silent.

    "The Princess likes to read Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng? What sort of preference is that?" wondered the audience.

    The Emperor''s expression obviously took a turn for the worse. As soon as he looked to the two girls, Hongzhuang, who sat next to Jingan, jumped to her feet as soon as Jingan was about to read it out loud. "Huh?!!! Wh-Wh-Why did you enter my room, Sister?!"

    "Why else?" rhetorically asked Jingan. She covered her mouth and giggled. "A few days ago, I went to see you, but couldn''t find you. I figured you must''ve left the pce, so I went to your pce to see if you left a notice for me, telling me where you went. Who would''ve known?"

    Jingan poked Hongzhuang''s supple skin in simr to fashion when lecturing a young girl and feeling unhappy.

    "You didn''t leave any notices for me. You knew I came back to the capital, yet didn''t leave a single message. Don''t you think you''re too naughty?"

    Hongzhuang''s face turned red thanks to Jingan''s poking. Hongzhuang always had a tomboy side to her. She, in fact, was pretty much as unrestrained and frank as a boy. Therefore, she was powerless against her elder sister who was the epitome of femininity. Hongzhuang wasn''t afraid of challenges or fighting, but her sister''s soft voice and elegant speech rendered her powerless.

    "I-I¡­ I am sorry, Sister. I was not aware you had returned at the time."

    Jingan stopped Hongzhuang''s overreaction and picked up the "Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng" book again. She turned back to face the Emperor. "I did not take a close look back then, though. It seems that I missed out on a treasure. I was unaware that this was an ancient book, Father."

    Despite being well-aware of his daughter''s feelings for Lord San Shen, the Emperor couldn''t tell everyone present, including his own rtives, that Princess Hongzhuang liked a leader in the Demon Sect. As such, he had to force himself to fight the urge and look unfettered. "I took a look at the book just now. It''s actually¡­ an ordinary book on religion. It''s nothing valuable by any ount. It just so happens to be that the sincerity is undeniable, as it was brought back from Lizhe Kingdom, which is thousands of miles away."

    In his mind, however, the Emperor eximed, "Jing''er, Jing''er, the ignorant may be innocent, but you havepletely ruined your father!"

    All of the Emperor''s rtivesughed with him. The Emperor knew that his im was ridiculous. Having said that, they did partially believe him.

    "Wow," remarked Jingan. "So, that means that Master Jin gave you a big gift, Sister. The book in your room was the exact same. I guess you''re both in sync."

    Hongzhuang stroked her lower jaw as if she had a tooth ache. "Y-Yeah¡­ I-I guess it is not too shabby for a gift."

    "That''s fantastic, Sister. You and Master Jin are fated for each other."

    "Y-Y-Yeah, fated, fated."

    Hongzhuang wanted to just climb into a hole; she could no longer even look at her sister. She had read the book in her room countless times, but didn''t leave any traces behind. Her sister''s mention of the book in her father and rtives'' presence was akin to being caught reading porn. Being sensitive as she was, Hongzhuang couldn''t help being fidgety due to the embarrassment.

    Wanting to change the subject as fast as possible, the Emperor said, "Wangsun''s item is hereby considered submitted. All right, Constable Tang!"

    "Present."

    "Submit your gift now. I shall personally examine it."

    Tang Ye''s eyes drifted back and forth. Hesitant, he said, "Uhh, umm, th-the gift we have¡­ the gift we have for Her Highn-"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Don''t fret, Young Tang. Geniuses have genius ideas. Trust me on it," interjected Hongjiu, in a muffled tone after coughing.

    Without giving Tang Ye any time to think, Hongjiu took a step forward and handed up the gift on behalf of Ming Feizhen. "Your Majesty, this is the gift Ming Feizhen asked your subject to give you."

    After taking it off Hongjiu and taking a look, the Emperor nearly passed out due to anger.

    The cover was the same. The paper felt the same. The only difference was the number after "part". Even the text were the same. It was clearly from the same series.

    "''Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng'' again?! And previous chapter?!" The Emperor hurled the book at Tang Ye''s face and thundered, "Are you two here to sell me porn books today?!"

    The entire audience couldn''t help instantly bursting out inughter! The Emperor realised how embarrassed he was. Unfortunately, he didn''t know what to do about the two walking bizarre individuals.

    Jing Wangsun, on the other hand, was surprised. He thought, "Oh? They could import such a rare item, as well?"

    Jingan didn''t realise she wore a smile on her face. Princess Hongzhuang was the only who covered her face while peeking out the gaps between her fingers. She thought to herself, "There''s a previous chapter of god''s work?! Where do they sell it?! Leave me the third book! I need it for collection and reading purposes!"

    ========ong Zaitian guarded the pce doors with a stern expression. After boasting as if he was without equal, he found him thirsty. Hence, he opened a canteen to drink.

    "With my skill and visual prowess, if I make one mistake, I''ll eat a table made from stone live¡­"

    As soon as Long Zaitian leaned his head back, he jerked his body and sprayed a mouthful of water on the guards'' faces!

    "Motherfucker, show yourself, you fiend!!" eximed Long Zaitian, with his sabre pointed to the sky!

    He saw a golden ball zip through the night sky again, but there wasn''t a single person in sight.

    The two guards wiped their faces¡­ They stepped back to put some space between them and Long Zaitian. Albeit not nning it, they spoke up in unison. "Baihu Long, please start eating the table."ong Zaitian touched his chin. "Today must be a cursed day. Once a fluke, but twice?! Could deities actually exist?!"

    ========

    After finding a ce for Young Shiyi to settle, I headed back to the pce by utilising qinggong. On my way back in, that clown Long Zaitian¡­ almost made me fall off the wall again.

    Obviously I was worried due to leaving for so long. Hence, I took off running toward Wuying Hall. When I returned and apologised to His Majesty with a mischievous smile, he looked white as a sheet. One might suspect he was exhausted. "No matter, no matter. Your skills are inferior to his; suffering an injury is, therefore, normal. Don''t mind it too much. It''s a question of talent and luck; you can''t force yourself. Have a good rest and prepare for the third round."

    ''Injury? Wait. There''s a third round?!''

    I grabbed the two little bastards who were facing the ceiling and whistling as if to say, "It had nothing to do with me."

    "How did we still end up losing? And why is this still here?" I asked, as I tapped the container. "Didn''t I tell you to hand this to His Majesty?!"

    The quick-witted Hongjiu quickly passed the me, running as if he was going for a stroll while speaking. "Senior Brother, you can'' me Young Tang. While he took it upon himself to make the decision, he did it for your sake."

    Before I could wrap my head around what happened, Princess Hongzhuang, who wasn''t too far away, suddenlymunicated with me using Voice Transmission. "Ming Feizhen!"

    "Huh? What is the matter, Your Highness?"

    "Umm¡­ umm¡­ do you have any more of those books?"

    "Huh? What book?"

    ''Eh? Hold up. What''s that book sitting on His Majesty''s table? That name¡­ Oh, sh*t! Why are Old Bastard Ximen and I painted in each other''s arms?! Is that a porno?!!''

 Volume 5 64 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Long Heard Of

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 64 Galloping A Thousand Miles - Long Heard Of</h4>

    "You two¡­ exin to me what happened while I was gone."

    The two fearfully exined what took ce for me to finally understand how Thousand Miles ended.

    They were afraid of the contents in the container being too valuable, which would lead to my shifu flying off the handle. As such, they took matters into their own hands and improvised by submitting a porn book in its ce. Owing to Jin Wangsun submitting the exact same item, the Emperor had no choice but to dere the second round a draw, thereby leading to the uing third round.

    "Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng"¡­ was a problem we martial brothers created for ourselves by being stupid when we were in the Western region. Somebody then turned into a reason to boldly carry out executions. As a result, the book became widespread throughout all seven nations in the Western region.

    Second Brother was one of the original creators of the series, so it didn''t surprise me that he had one.

    ''But Jin Wangsun¡­ went all the way to Lizhe Kingdom to buy a boys love porno?Does he have some sort of disease?''

    I gave Jin Wangsun a belittling gaze. Jin Wangsun, who the Emperor virtually tore apart with his gaze, immediately stared back, refusing to back down. Tone imposing, he cursed, "What are you looking at? Dog sh*t?!"

    "¡­"

    I had no response¡­ What could I do but nod? Only then did Jin Wangsun realise he had a poor choice of words. Hence, he quickly tried to rectify his slip up. "Wh-Wh-Who you treating as dog sh*t?!"

    "You?"

    "Fuck you!!!"

    Besides looking despondent, Jin Wangsun bared his fangs, though I didn''t know who to. He was different to conceited Jin Wangsun back in the first round. I won the first round. We came to a draw in the second round. Thus, even if he was to win the third round, we''d reach a draw. For the meantime, I had yet to lose.

    I shifted my gaze to the two princesses. Princess Hongzhuang sat alone. With nobody''s attention on her, she buried her red face in the small book with "previous chapter" on it.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Oi, oi, oi! You bought a copy when we were in Bright Lane, didn''t you?! You''re a converted fan!''

    Jingan, on the other hand, behaved differently. Jingan was surrounded by her rtives who offered her toasts one after another. Based on Princess Hongzhuang''s character, she was definitely not good at handling those situations. Jingan, to the contrary, was adept and natural in those situations.

    "Grand Princess, it has been a long time since you have been back in the capital. You should stay for some time before leaving. If you have time, you are most wee to visit Imperial Princess'' ce anytime."

    "Indeed, indeed. Your pce in Hangzhou may berge, but the capital is our true home at the end of the day. Come and visit me if you have time. With Fuma''s exemry martial prowess, he would not mind. It is nothing major."

    Jingan calmly conversed while holding onto her drink. She wasn''t very good at holding her liquor; two cups and she was out. When people made the asional inquiry about Fuma Jingan, she would smile, and tell them that he was too busy and not in the capital. At the same time, she''d keep on ncing over to me with a tinge of bitterness.

    ''What?! What are you looking at?!I visited you just two days ago, woman! What are you resentful about?! Oh, is it because I didn''t let you kill me? Is it because I escaped your death trap, and therefore trampled on your title as the Genius Princess?! I''m not even a life worth considering to you, am I?! Visiting you would just be giving you another chance to try and kill me! Why are you pretending that I was the one who cheated on his wife and eloped?!''

    Noticing my interaction with Jingan, Jin Wangsun''s suspicion started to arise. He seemed to suspect that we were somehow rted. His frown was barely a suspicion. Actually, it was closer to desire to kill after confirmation. Jin Wangsun was aware of my identity as the master of Night Fortress. I wondered if he had picked up some other information, such as my identity as Fuma Jingan¡­

    ''Now I''m struggling to get my head around this. With Jingan''s prudence, it''s unlikely that she wouldn''t share with Jin Wangsun information that could threaten me.''

    While I was still contemting to myself, the Emperor did ap around to drink with the audience and soon showed subtle signs of drunkenness.

    "All right now. I did think that we would have to go to thest round, Dazzling Talent, but I didn''t think it would be in this preposterous fashion. Oh, well. Fuma candidates,e forward. I have an announcement to make."

    The Emperor leaned back in his seat and waited for Jin Wangsun and me toe forward. The Emperor subtly frowned. "After the two rounds, Constable Ming currently has the upper hand, but we have yet to determine a victor. I intend to have the third round determine the victor. What do you two say?"

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t have asked for more. "Your subject strongly supports your decision. Thank you for your grace."

    "How about you, Constable Ming?"

    I considered it to myself for a brief moment then joined my hands to speak. "You are absolutely correct. Indeed, your subject is inferior to Brother Jin. Your subject merely got by in the previous two rounds thanks to his wits and prudence. It was shameful to mention it to begin with but thanks to your suggestion, your subject feels much better about it. As such, your subject would like to express his agreement with your suggestion."

    ted, the Emperor replied, "It ismendable for you to show such character. Very good!"

    The reason I said what I said was because I sort of stood out during Shining Edges. To cover the reality that I stole the limelight, I needed to humble myself before the Emperor. As for the fuma selection itself, neither Jin Wangsun nor I knew what Dazzling Talent was, so it would be fair anyhow¡­

    In any case, I had managed to take back Night Fortress, so I could give the naughty boy a lesson before throwing him back to his dad whenever I fancied. Worst came to worst, I could have him vanish into thin air for a few years, and Her Highness would be safe from his pompous self. I looked at Jin Wangsun and giggled with that idea in mind. I noticed that he was somewhat out of sorts. I took my gaze off him right before he was going to suggest I was looking at dog sh*t or something simrly filthy.

    The Emperor raised his voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, the two previous rounds have concluded. We will now be beginning the third round, which is named Dazzling Talent. Dazzling Talent is something you wouldn''t expect. It requires my two fuma candidates to unravel a mystery that has been on my mind for many years."

    The majority of the audienceprised of the Emperor''s rtives. As the Emperor''s rtives, they were able to visit him multiple times per year, and therefore were very familiar with him. Given that he made such a solemn announcement, he was bound to follow it up with something else. When he mentioned he had something baffling him¡­ their conclusion was that it had to pertain to matters outside of the pce or something in major in the imperial court if it was less important, for that was whatmonly weighed on a monarch''s mind.

    "It seems that His Majesty does not want us to watch this," the audience concluded.

    The audience, therefore, prepared themselves to miss out on the third round.

    The Emperor said, "This matter ties in with the nation''s well-being and cannot be shared. Even Hong''er and Jing''er are forbidden from hearing it. You need not worry,dies and gentlemen, for you are all the people whom I trust most. However, owing to theplications that may arise, I cannot share it with even my children and Prime Minister Li Si. So I''d like to rify that it is not that I don''t trust you."

    The audience replied, "We understand. Please rest assured, Your Majesty. You have always been impartial, and we trust you."

    If not even the Princesses and prime minister were allowed to know, they had no business giving the Emperor attitude.

    The Emperor immediately picked up again. "Pleasee with me fuma candidates. I need to have a word with you."

    The Emperor rose and took off. All of the golden armour guards followed along. Jin Wangsun brought A Hu along, while I brought Tang Ye along.

    The Emperor calmly said, "This rtes to old news from over twenty years ago."

 Volume 5 65 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - The Late Carving

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 65 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - The Late Carving</h4>

    "This dates back to over twenty years ago," said the Emperor, without halting in his tracks. He did quickly nce at us, however. He then smiled: "A member of Mount Daluo was present. Constable Ming, you might not like to hear this, but when it came to being absurd, he didn''t pale inparison to you. In terms of martial prowess, though, he was a legend in the martial world. Nowadays, he is considered a deity. His skills are over a hundred times superior to your own."

    I instantly had an idea who the Emperor referred to: "Your Majesty, you would not be referring to your subject''s great grandmaster, would you?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I am referring to Hero Shenzhou, indeed. At the time, I invited him over to discuss a matter, which was when he left me with the iprehensible mystery."

    "Great Grandmaster left a mystery riddle?" I asked myself.

    If Great Grandmaster did leave a mystery, then I was going to have my hands full. Within the parameters of my knowledge, there were more mysteries left behind him than anyone could count, especially during the span of time I grew up.

    I couldn''t say for certain if Great Grandmaster was getting on with age and losing it more and more or what, but he''d frequently say things that totally bewildered us. Shifu said that Great Grandmaster was a master diviner who could see into the future, but apparently was only right one or two times out of ten. ording to what I heard, Shifu once gambled ording to Great Grandmaster''s reading and ended up losing every penny, consequently earning himself over eighty vicious ps - courtesy of Shiniang.

    ''Don''t tell me Great Grandmaster performed a divination for His Majesty back then¡­''

    "May your subject ask ab-"

    "Wait. Bring it upter," interjected the Emperor, expression stern.

    The Emperor raised a hand to signal for the low-ranking eunuch to call over a team of elite guards. Then, the high-ranking eunuch led the way from the forefront. We continued on in silence, passing the corridor and rooms. We went far away from Wuying Hall. At the end of the hall were three stools there for us. The Emperor took a seat first. With a smile, he said, "You two need not stand on ceremony. There is still some time before we reach our destination. Get in the sedan to save yourself some energy."

    Jin Wangsun and I had nothing but questions. The supposed mystery upied all of our concentration. Hence, we hypocritically refused his offer then immediately got into the sedan. The sedan was presumably reserved for usage only within the imperial pce''s grounds. The tiny sedan made it possible to speak. Two people carried it from the back and front, so it was a stable ride.

    A Hu and Tang Ye orderly followed behind us. Actually, the two of them were perplexed. I wasn''t sure what they were doing, but it seemed as though they werepeting in a contest of speed. A Hu had the height, and therefore stride length advantage. Tang Ye was light on his feet. Their contest was quite heated.

    The Emperor looked behind us to see A Hu and Tang Ye following closely behind. He couldn''t resist the urge tough: "I know that you hate these sorts of formalities most as martial arts practitioners. But nheless, riding horses in the inner sector of the imperial pce is not permitted. Indeed, it would beughing matter in the pugilistic world."

    I held my hands up in salute to speak: "This honestly is your subject''s first time sitting in this sort of sedan, and it is a privilege he has all thanks to you. There is nothing your subject couldin about."

    The Emperor was fond of his days in the pugilistic world, which exined why he always referred to himself as a martial artist. He also always treated skilled members of the martial arts world quite kindly. It shoulde as no surprise, then, that the three offices were still prospering to this day. In fact, they were better off than many schools in the martial world.

    We began to engage in idle chatter again. Meanwhile, the Emperor told A Hu and Tang Ye to take the contest back a bit further away from the sedan. The Emperor thenmunicated with Jin Wangsun and me using Voice Transmission: "This is a very serious matter, so I must be cautious."

    Obviously the people carrying the sedan weren''t strong men proficient with internal styles. The point being, they couldn''t hear the Emperor. Furthermore, since we were on the move, it''d be impossible for someone with internal strength ten times superior than His Majesty to eavesdrop from a distance.

    Once he felt reassured, the Emperor borated, "Over twenty years ago, I was concerned about choosing my sessor from among my Princes. I also imprisoned a diviner for infuriating me with a result that triggered me. I then invited another three skilful masters to seek their advice in hopes of unknotting my troubles that had begun to suffocate me. When I think back on it now, I realise that I unjustly punished the grand tutor.

    ''Grand tutor¡­ I remember he was from Wudang or something¡­''

    Jin Wangsun impressed: "Would the grand tutor you are referring to be the man who was one of the Ten Supreme Saints, who you conferred as the world''s leader in dao, Lai Jingzhen, Immortal Lai, who was also nicknamed Half-Deity?"

    I followed up. With that said, as I wasn''t supposed to be able use Voice Transmission, I had to speak in a muffled voice: "Your subject heard that he is devoted to his cultivation in seclusion and rarely stepped into the mundane world. He is currently with Empress Dowager and Red Prince on Mount Zisheng."

    "That is him," replied the Emperor, seemingly not minding me speaking out loud: "Haha, his name sure has been polished, since you both knew right away."

    ''It''d be strange for me not to be familiar with the name.''

    I never met him in person before, but he had been mentioned in The ck and White Reflection plenty of times. ording to their ims, his martial prowess was inconceivable. He was the only person from Wudang to ever be part of the Ten Supreme Saints, after all. By those standards, he qualified for a spot among the figures at the peak of the martial world. His character, on the other hand, was considered rather unruly. One could make the argument that he was the priest version of Yan Shisan and that bastard Ximen.

    Resembling a man recalling his memories, the Emperor said, "Because of him, I invited the three adepts."

    The Emperor''s tone was very rich with emotion. He calmly and slowly recalled the historical event for us using Voice Transmission. However, it wasn''t surprising, as he also mentioned the "the six dragons shall seal the nation" prophecy. He was busy with national affairs and afraid of the prophecy but regretted giving the Princes the cold shoulder. s, he wasn''t just a father, but also a monarch. Thus, he had no choice but to give them the cold shoulder.

    I suddenly somewhat understood why he was lenient with the Orange Prince''s punishment after hearing the story.

    Jin Wangsun looked incredibly touched by the story. He bootlicked the Emperor with his snot and tears resembling dog piss.

    ''Filial kid, your filial self forced your father to feed the cattle just days ago. I can''t keep up with your rapid transformations, kid.''

    I reacted differently to Jin Wangsun after hearing the story. The three of them enjoyed the feast celebrating the first month of the newborn baby, resided in the imperial pce for half a month, eating and taking things easy. Then, my great grandmaster exchanged all of that with a couple of words.

    ''Wh-Why is this sounding more and more like a three elders scam team?! The logic sounds familiar to the fake medicine scam for two chickens the grandpa pulled off at Qiling Vigest month.''

    When I nned to ask about the sensitive money topic¡­

    "Money? Oh, hahaha, that''s nothing. I was young and fiery. If anything, I must''ve offended the exalted masters with things I impulsively said. Being exalted adepts of their era, it would''ve been impossible to invite them, which was why I prepared some events to express my gratitude," said the Emperor,ughing heartily: "It was only twenty thousand taels per person each day. It was no big deal."

    ''But I nearly fell off the sedan hearing that number!''

    ''You sure were young and fiery! You cannot spoil those three! I do not know what they said to you, but I assure you they are not the type to refuse invitations, especially the Shaolin Abbott and Wudang''s patriarch. Those two woulde running as fast as you could fly when they hear there is money for them! Had my great grandmaster not had a sore tooth and had eaten a fair amount, I bet he would have been first to lead the back there!''

    By the way, did he say over twenty years ago? I seem to recall I was still living in that rundown house that rain could leak through. I used to go running around in the mountains trying to catch rabbits and pick berries to stave my hunger.

    ''How dare that old geezer embezzle all that money for himself! Had it not been for you, we''d have been able to move into arge home! I wouldn''t be stuck in that sorry excuse for a home. I wouldn''t have crashed into all sorts of things when I suffered qi deviation during my Yijin Jing taining, either. My junior martial uncle wouldn''t have been force to turn to celibacy, either! So you were the culprit behind all of the misfortune!''

    "I still remember the three exalted master''s glorious images today."

    ''Hey! Focus when you''re speaking! The three are still alive! Can you not mourn them before they need your condolences?! It wasn''t easy for my great grandmaster to live over a hundred!''

    Notes:

    *Great grandmaster - Is your teacher''s teacher''s teacher. Or otherwise, your grandmaster''s teacher. Probably should''ve exined this earlier.

    **Immortal Lai - Immortal is more of a title than it is a im he is actually immortal. It''s used to indicated that somebody has mastered the spiritual side of daosim (which his school''s belief system is), which also means that they¡¯re supposedly a perfect person.

    ***Junior martial uncle - Can I use "Shishu", instead? Can you remember it simr to Shiyi? Otherwise, it''s being wrong for the sake of simplification.

 Volume 5 66 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Forbidden Zone

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 66 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Forbidden Zone</h4>

    Mncholically, the Emperor said, "It''s a pity that over twenty years have passed, yet I am still unable to decipher thete carving that Hero Shenzhou left. I am truly ashamed."

    ''Oi, oi, oi, what the hell do you mean te'' carving?!! That was on purpose, wasn''t it?! You''re holding onto a bitter grudge because the meaning behind Great Grandmaster''s note eluded you, aren''t you?! You''re taking advantage of the situation to curse him, aren''t you?!''

    Jin Wangsun asked, "Where is thete carving now?"

    ''Enough! You and you ,too, what the heck do you mean te'' carving?! He''s still alive and kicking! Careful or my great grandmaster may sneak into your dream and turn you into shotacons!''

    The Emperor pointed to a tall tower-like structure not too far off in the distance. It was located within the imperial pce, but stood out. Had it not been used to perform divinations, god forbid anybody knew what it''d be used for. The tower''s redcquer looked brand new. The timber used to construct it didn''t appear old, either. It must''ve been constructed in fifteen years and repainted recently. The tower had always been in use.

    "See the tower? That''s the ce I had people construct the new Qintian Watchtower nine years ago. After that, it reced the old one."

    The story the Emperor mentioned before took ce at Qintian Watchtower. However, since it was the new one, it meant that Great Grandmaster''ste c-, I meant carving wasn''t there.

    The Emperor pointed to another ce, which was where we were headed: "We''re heading to the old Qintian Watchtower. I haven''t touched thete carving on the white. It''s been maintained to ensure it remained in the same condition as back then at Zhaixing Hall."

    Suddenly, the Emperor''s ear twitched, as he heard something strange. No, it wasn''t the sound of somebody sneak attacking him or whatnot, but a sequence of strange heart beat rhythm. His heart skipped a beat when he mentioned Zhaixing Hall.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t notice the change in the Emperor''s heart beat whatsoever. Quietly he said, "May Wangsun asked if you have made any progress over these years?"

    The Emperor reactively shook his head. Solemnly, he replied, "Thete carving on the white hall is incredibly hard to grasp. I have asked countless - eighty if not one hundred ¨C astute and talented schrs over the years to try and decipher the message, but unfortunately¡­ there has still been no progress."

    I touched my nose: "So that is your test for us today?"

    "It is the reason I named the round Dazzling Talent." The Emperor chuckled in a soft tone: "You are both pirs of the nation. Wangsun, you have vast knowledge from your family background. Your predecessors researched a vast array of martial arts, conceptualised a new idea and created the amazingly superb Golden Crow Moon Eater. With every passing generation, your n has continued to exceed the previous generation. As for Constable Ming, you are one of Mount Daluo''s high-ranking disciples. The carving came from your sect, so you also have a big chance. I see a lot of potential in you two. I hope you seed, and help lift the weight off my shoulders."

    I detected an insincere undertone in the Emperor''s speech. His heart beat was normal as he explicated all that. He wasn''t as tense as he was before. He didn''t look excited, either. In essence, it was borderline indifference. In other words, he didn''t expect us to be able to decipher the caving.

    ''Why is he asking us to participate in this so-called Dazzling Talent, then..? How can he determine who''s superior in this?''

    The sedan suddenly stopped. It stopped very abruptly. However, I figured out why we came to an abrupt stop. From the abrupt stop, I managed to read what was between the lines.

    The scene before me was more abrupt than the stop. It was akin to having something smash into your eyes. It was impossible to describe going from the resplendent imperial pce to suddenly walking into the ce''s sudden sharp turn. It was literally harmful for the eyes.

    We entered a courtyard, but this particrly courtyard''s trees were left with only branches. Without context, one might''ve thought somebody once set fire to the ce. The ground seemed as though it was infested with ck, because it was akin to just walking on a field of ck. They were probably fallen and rotten leaves from the trees. The trees were thoroughly dead, and nobody cleaned the area, leaving the ground littered with leaves.

    That was bad, but as soon as we arrived, I immediately noticed that the ck ground¡­ was in motion. To be precise, it was the various insects, bugs, rats, snakes and so forth underneath he rotten leaves beginning to move when they detected visitors. That created the illusion of the ground shifting. That was what was freaky about the ce. As it was winter, snakes and rodents weren''t supposed to be active, yet it was an exception in this particr courtyard.

    The main building in the area was a towering building. The building shouldn''t have been described as a building, because the door didn''t function as a door. Be it the wind and rain blowing harassing itor the rodents and insects chewing it off, it was essentially non-existent. It would probably be reduced to powder if you tapped it with your hand. The most ridiculous point was that it looked as though it would copse at any given moment. If I didn''t see the Zhaixing Hall on the damaged que, I''d have thought it had been abandoned for, at least, twenty years. I never would''ve recognised it as Qintian Watchtower.

    The stunned Jin Wangsun pointed at the building with disbelief written all over his face: "Your Majesty, could this be¡­"

    His Majesty nodded: "Correct. This is the old Zhaixing Hall. It''s also why I built a new Qintian Watchtower."

    Jin Wangsun replied, "Wh-Why is it in this state? If it has been abandoned for so long, why did you not clean and renovate the ce? If you do not want the interior contents to be seen, you could just have somebody move thete carving."

    "Don''t be stupid," I said. I silently analysed the anomalies then frowned: "It''s obvious that it wasn''t a natural urrence. There''s a prominent sinister air around this ce. It wouldn''t have happened if there was somebody alive here. Had this ce not been located within the imperial pce and had a solid foundation, there would likely be over ten times the number of snakes, bugs, insects and rodents here. Your Majesty, what exactly happened here?"

    "Not long after what happened here, it became a forbidden zone," replied the Emperor, pinching his forehead as though he had a headache.

    "That''s not all, though," added the Emperor. He gazed at the moon in the sky and sighed: "It''s time."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    All of a sudden, a high-pitched screamparable to that of an owl came from within the pitch-ck Zhaixing Hall! The cold breeze at night amplified the hell-like scene, thereby making it more frightening. The voice was akin to a girl''s sobbingte at night. In saying that, the excessive high-pitch was simr to a needle piercing your heart. Imagine a hell where you''re pricked with a needle for eternity. It was freaky.

    Jin Wangsun revealed his surprise on his face. The Emperor, however, shut his eyes and looked hopeless as an empty man. I, on the other hand, focused on listening in closely. I perceived the sound to be some sort of unique metal vibrating. The sound resembled chirping. I couldn''t shake off the feeling that I had heard it somewhere before when some supreme swordsman wielded his sword¡­

    "Sword Howl?"

    Notes:

    *Shotacon - A borrowed term from Japanese to refer to adults who like young boys. The boy version for Lolicon if you will.

    **Qintian Watchtower ¨C Lit. Gazing at the Heavens Watchtower

    ***Zhaixing Hall ¨C Lit. Plucking Stars Hall.

 Volume 5 67 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Phantom

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 67 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Phantom</h4>

    "Your vast knowledge shows, Constable Ming," said the Emperor, forcing himself to nod: "Correct, it is Sword Howl, indeed."

    Swords were a weapon, a tool. The more adept a swordsman was, the easier it was for them to imprint their soul in their weapon. Once they fused, the nature of the sword would be set,which would show in battle. As such, swords had always been categorised as Light or Dark since ancient times. Which they tended to was dependent on their wielder.

    The concept was called Sword Soul. Whether or not a sword could be ssified as a first-rate sword was judged based on that quality. Let us use Mount Hua''s Beyond the Heavens Edge as an example. The de''s superior sharpness and boldness was its Sword Soul. Whenbined with Mount Hua''s swordy, the wielder was practically invincible. As hard as it was to produce a sharp weapon, cultivating Sword Soul was even harder. Many sharp swords never gained a soul before their lifetime expired.

    There shouldn''t have been any swords in Zhaixing Hall¡­ yet strangely, a dark and forceful Sword Soul was cultivated there over thest twenty years. I didn''t know the reasons behind it; however, if the Sword Soul inside the hall was to be imbued in a sword, there was no doubt that it would be a frightening Dark Sword.

    "Not even I want to bother with this ce. I sent people here to clean and tidy the ce dozens of times, but all of the maids and eunuchs would foam at the mouth and pass out within less than half an hour. As a result, many people believed that there were ghosts in the pce. I even personally came here with a team. Although the dark aura wasn''t too noticeable, after cleaning for a while, I would be attracted by the Sword Spirit within Zhaixing Hall. I went in, and then¡­ *Sigh*, long-story short, it didn''t work.

    I asked many martial arts adepts to help in the past from all over thends and from orthodox and unorthodox sects. I literally searched the entire world, but the oue was the same regardless of how many adepts I asked. As if that wasn''t bad enough, all of the adepts who entered the building foamed at the mouth and fell into aa just as the pce workers did. Finding doctors to treat them was even more tiring than asking them toe to the pce.

    Nine years ago, we could hear sword howlsing from this building every night. The howling was akin to a crying ghost. Everybody around the area could hear it, leading to horrified people. Subsequently, I was more anxious and searched for more martial arts adepts. There''s one thing that''s bizarre. The more adepts there were and the more skilled they were, the more prominent the dark aura would be after they left. Additionally, the Sword Howls wouldst longer. The longest howl eversted all night and until the sun came up. Hopeless, I had no choice but to move Qintian Watchtower in addition to sending the workers around the area off to somewhere else. Needless to say, I had to demand them to keep a lid on it."

    Neither Jin Wangsun nor Imented. The strange phenomenon was genuinely difficult to explicate. If a big deal was made out of it, people in the pce would start iming the pce was haunted, which would quickly escte into a scandal. It, therefore, wasn''t surprising that His Majesty was nervous.

    Touching my chin whilst thinking, I asked, "Your Majesty, you have countlesspetent individuals serving you. Why not ask them to clear the ce for you?"

    "Indeed, I do have men. The issue was that very few people knew the whole story. The Ultimate Three could do it. The problem is that they would damage thete carving on the wall. The text on the wall is of utmost importance to me; I can''t lose it. As for the others, I have asked those who I could."

    Tone worried, the Emperor borated, "This doesn''t actually just pertain to the nation''s fate, but is quickly bing a psychological illness for me. Constable Ming, to tell the truth, I have sent people in search of Hero Shenzhou three times and searched for your patriarch, Ming Huayu six times. Unfortunately, I never found either of them. Few souls can actually ascend Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak. I didn''t dare ask the Ultimate Three to go in search of them in case I offended them. The dilemma is torturing me."

    I couldn''t me him. The Ultimate Three were assigned to keeping the borders, so they couldn''t be reassigned on whims. If they were withdrawn from the border, we could expect war.

    ''The only one who would ignore the unwritten rule would be Yang Shisan, but you have him assigned to toilet cleaning duty.''

    "As such, I am seeking your help today! Dazzling Talent will be a contest of who can withstand the Sword Howl and enter the building to view Hero Shenzhou''ste carving and dispel the mystery for me."

    Jin Wangsun and I both responded with silence.

    No wonder why he decided it would be a winner-takes-all match. It was a damn set up. If I was to be honest, I was eager to see what Great Grandmaster carved in the haunted building. In saying that, I couldn''t shake off the feeling that there was something peculiar about the contest. My intuition told me that it wasn''t as simple as it appeared on the surface.

    I coughed and prepared to speak, but Jin Wangsun raised his hand all of a sudden: "Your subject shall tackle the challenge without anyints!"

    ''Eh? I was going to ask if I could have three days to think about it, yet you want to go in now?!''

    "Oh? If you are volunteering, then I shall permit your attempt now, Wangsun," cheerfully stated the Emperor, stroking his beard: "However, you need to A Hu along with you. Now, you cannot allow him to see the carving. I need you to promise me that."

    A Hu was highly skilled. With him apanying Jin Wangsun, he had a half-a-job head start. Not surprisingly, he quickly nodded: "Of course, of course, Wangsun promises he will not see anything, replied Jin Wangsun, albeit somewhat baffled.

    "May Wangsun ask your reasons for ordering so, though? Is this not a test for us?"

    The Emperorughed: "Oh, it''s nothing major. It''ll just be convenient to have someone carry you if you fall unconscious in there."

    Jin Wangsun: "¡­"

    ========

    Two individual''s shattered Zhaixing Hall''s que underfoot.

    The visitors weren''t afraid. He was the youngest White Prince among the Seven Champion White Princes and possessed unique martial skills. That wasn''t to mention that he had his family heirloom, Golden Crow Moon Eater, with him for the test. As a Sword Soul hid in the building, there was bound to be a weaponry contest. With the de that had a part in founding the dynasty in hand, he did have the right to act haughtier than others. That also exined why he offered to enter before Ming Feizhen.

    Jin Wangsun entered the building together with A Hu. With every step they took, the floor emitted rustling sounds beneath them. Jin Wangsun was armed with his treasured de. A Hu held antern. There were two audible sounds as they slowly entered the building: the timber flower creaking beneath them, and the strange cries.

    Zhaixing Hall hadn''t been renovated in over two decades. In that time, it bore the harsh weather and snakes, rats and bugs vandalism. As a consequence, the entire building was very fragile. Jin Wangsun and A Hu were both heavy individuals in their own rights. A Hu''s heavy weight was self-exnatory, but Jin Wangsun also carried the awfully heavy Golden Crow Moon Eater. That was why every step they took virtually seemed as though they were bringing the building down.

    The Sword Howl only sounded more intense the moment Jin Wangsun entered the building. Thentern A Hu held would dim and brighten in alternating, abrupt and non-fixed fashion. Despite there being no breeze within, Jin Wangsun felt a chill down his spine.

    There were too many legends associated with Hero Shenzhou for anyone to keep count of. One of them was his dominant victory over Jin n''s ancestor. Numerous generations of Jin n had gone by since then, but Hero Shenzhuo was still alive. Living deity? No, he probably genuinely possessed insight beyond what the rest of the world knew of. At least, Jin Wangsun couldn''t help thinking that way.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The two went to the centre of the building. The Sword Howl was no longer sobs, but deafening screaming. The pitch climbed higher and eventually soundedparable to a flight of birds holding a concert. The snakes, rodents and insects on the ground encroached upon them. Jin Wangsun finally noticed that the snakes and rodents didn''t hibernate in winter owing to the Sword Howls, which kept them excited every day by force. From a certain perspective, the howls fundamentally formed a natural defensive wall. If it wasn''t for their profound internal strength, the howls alone would be enough to force them to flee in surrender.

    The interior of the building was pitch-ck. There was light, but it didn''t serve any purpose. The floor was essentially snakes, bugs, insects and rodents. Naturally, Jin Wangsun wanted to barf at the sight of them, but they really got on his nerves.

    "Enough with the pretence! No matter how profound your internal energy may be, you''re still human; you can''t just turn into a fiend, monster, ghost or whatever it is you''re trying to be! That Mount Daluo asshole happens to be a professional at ying a ghost!"

    Jin Wangsun nced over to A Hu. Thetter responded. He drew Tiger Fang from his back and shed without a warning.

    Jin Wangsun also spun around and shed. His sh''s ferociousness was akin to a roaring dragon. Golden Crow Moon Eater and Tiger Fang unleashed sparks in the air as they shed with a loud, yet crisp, impact! The sound of the impact spread from the two of them as the centre. Subsequently, it erased the Sword Howl resonating throughout the building. The sparks and their killing intent also frightened off the snakes, rodents, bugs and insects. The Sword Howl thereby stopped, returning silence to the room.

    "Hmph, Mount Daluo is nothing impressive."

    Topare, the Sword Howl was essentially ayer of mist before them. Once they got rid of it, Jin Wangsun spotted what he was after. It was right there in front of him the entire time. The building wasn''t very spacious; it was just built high up. Hero Shenzhou''s carving was on the hall close to the entrance. Jin Wangsun basically only had to look up to see it.

    There was a huge white wall. The hole on the roof allowed the moonlight to shine through and light up the entire floor. Indeed, there was text on the wall. The text was carved on in a freestyle fashion. It didn''t stick to any style, thereby giving the impression that every character was written the intent of differentiating itself stylistically. But nevertheless, it was hard to tell which was superior. That was evidence of the writer''s vast knowledge and the depth ofprehension. That would be the only way to exin how the carver was able to carve the text in a variety of styles, yet do so with precise control. Even more astonishing was that he carved the text on the wall using a sword, a feat that was an entire level more difficult.

    Jin Wangsun silently admired the text and said, "A Hu, don''t look. We need to avoid His Majesty finding out and disqualifying me."

    "Yes, Master," replied A Hu.

    Jin Wangsun focused his gaze on the text and tried to make sense of it.

    "Did thou know, the roar of the dragons brought the support of the gods down below the clouds¡­"

    Jin Wangsun still couldn''t make sense of what the text meant after reading to the end. He tied to focus in again.

    "There seems to be a swordy hidden within the text," Jin Wangsun remarked to himself.

    Jin Wagnsun housed a wealth of knowledge in his mind. Hence, he could see what others couldn''t, and so, he quickly noticed what stood out about it. The swordy hidden within the text was very new. He had never seen it before. As he examined it, his blood suddenly roiled. He felt a Sword Spirit surging up within him, giving him an urge to perform the swordy engraved. The swordy upied every brain cell he had. All of a sudden, he seemingly saw a sword aura thrust toward him out the corner of his eye.

    Shocked, Jin Wangsun drew Golden Crow Moon Eater from behind and retaliated with a sh. However, the sword aura was powerful enough to reach a stalemate with him in their sh.

    "Who goes th-"

    Not even having a chance to finish, the exact same aura struck him again except there were two attacks this time. Jin Wangsun defended again, rotating Golden Crow Moon Eater and deflecting the sword aura.

    Jin Wangsun saw a total of three swords, but nobody wielded them. Like arrows, the swords zoomed towards him on both sides. Jin Wangsun used all of his might to defend; however, the number of sword auras assaulting him multiplied over and over again. There were no signs of slowing down. Regardless of how profound Jin Wangsun''s internal energy might''ve been, it was impossible to ovee the insurmountable odds with Golden Crow Moon Eater - not to mention that he didn''t even know who his assant was.

    "Who goes there?! Who are you?!"

    Rotating Golden Crow Moon Eater again, Jin Wangsun executed nine moves from nine different sabre styles. Unfortunately, the sword auras continued their assault. Soon enough, he was surrounded by a wave of sword auras.

    "C-Could this be the danger of the carvings on the white wall?! Were all of the martial arts adepts defeated by this?" wondered Jin Wangsun.

    The sword auras continued to unleash a barrage of attacks simrly to waves to the shore. It was Jin Wangsun with one de against over thirty swords shot toward him.

    Jin Wangsun was faced with his greatest peril ever since setting foot inside. With no time to waste, Jin Wangsun moulded up eighty-percent of his energy. With a sh that emitted a golden ray of light, lighting up the darkness, Jin Wangsun shattered all of the sword auras approaching him! The moment he felt relieved and went to catch his breath, though, more sword auras suddenly spawned.

    "What in the world?! Why?! How can a human''s internal energy still exist after twenty years?! What are these sword auras?!" eximed Jin Wangsun.

    Cornered, Jin Wangsun continued swinging his sabre while yelling, "A Hu,e to my aid!"

    A Hu was behind Jin Wangsun. But nheless, he had no idea how to help him. Jin Wangsun just abruptly called for him, and then started waving his de around in the air non-stop. What was A Hu supposed to make of that?

    After a few breaths'' time, Jin Wangsun suddenly eximed, "Argh," and then fell on his back. Jin Wangsun''s condition matched the Emperor''s description word for word. Jin Wangsun foamed at the mouth and was in aa.

 Volume 5 68 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - â€œHeâ€

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 68 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - ¡°He¡±</h4>

    "Sister, tell me, do you like one of the fuma candidates?" asked Jingan.

    After the banquet in Wuying hall ended, Jingan didn''t return to her pce. Instead, she grabbed her sister to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. Being a martial arts and sabres fanatic since she was a child, Princess Hongzhuang never shared her deep feelings with her sister as a woman. As a result, Jingan''s question turned her heroic aura into shyness in the form of red cheeks.

    "Sister, you should notugh at me. I am used to being abrasive. I have never understood romance. I think it is best to trust Father to make the decision."

    Never one who was good at telling lies, Princess Hongzhuang blushed, stuttered, minced words, looked upward and whistled. Jingan wouldn''t have been Jingan if she couldn''t tell Princess Hongzhuang was lying when there were so many dead giveaways. Jingan further confirmed her suspicion, which was that Li Hongzhuang had developed feelings for one of the two. Obviously, it wasn''t Jin Wangsun.

    Jingan rested her chin on one hand. Tenderly and politely, she asked, "Mm¡­ If you have fallen for one of them, you would not lie to your sister''s face, would you?"

    "Sister!" Hongzhuang blushed: "I-I did not lie!"

    Jingan wore on her trademark entrancing smile when she saw her sister''s flustered reaction. She thought, "How adorable. If I was a man, I''d definitely like the type of woman simr to my sister. No wonder Fuma wants to marry her. Did he go through all the trouble of enlisting in Liu Shan Men to marry her? Ming Feizhen¡­ I still can''t read you no matter what."

    Thought Jingan thought positively of her sister, those very thoughts struck a chord with Princess Hongzhuang. Thetter was never one to be hung up on minor details. She dressed as she pleased, opting to prioritisefort. From her perspective, she was unfeminine, and therefore reasoned that nobody had any reason to like her.

    "If¡­ Ming Feizhen is Lord San Shen, whom I''ve yearned to see day and night¡­ Oh my god! I''ve lived together with him for so long! He''s seen everything there is to see! I''m aggressive when I eat, sleep, speak and carry myself with total disregard for manners. He''s seen all of my bad traits. What do I do? If¡­" thought Princess Hongzhuang.

    Princess Hongzhuang nced over to her charming and graceful sister. She thought, "That''s what you call a real woman. Sister is always so beautiful, eloquent and feminine. No wonder why a hero the likes of brother-inw is wholeheartedly devoted to her."

    The step-sisters grew up in totally different environments. The elder sister was an exalted Princess, yetcked anyone who she could count on. The younger sister''s maternal family didn''t hail from an imperial family, yet wielded immense authority. Consequently and ironically, the two grew up with aspletely contrasting characters.

    After the long silence between them, Princess Hongzhuang asked, "Sister, will¡­ you be returning to Hangzhou tomorrow? How about you stay with me in the capital for a few days?"

    Jingan smiled: "I came back precisely to see you. Even your fuma has been chosen, so do I have any other choice but to leave? I am a married woman; I cannot leave the family for too long."

    "That is true. I apologise for not being thoughtful enough," responded Princess Hongzhuang, tone very regretful.

    Jingan, to the contrary, smiled: "There''s no need to be blue. You will choose a day to get married after your fuma is selected. There is lots of time to prepare. My dear sister can''t be married off in a senseless fashion. I wille and visit you again on your wedding day."

    "Great! I just wonder¡­ how the fuma selection is going."

    Jingan scanned Hongzhuang''s flush and worried expression. It was obvious that she was worried about Ming Feizhen: "Yeah, I wonder how he''s doing."

    Jingan was on a different wavelength to her sister. She looked to the North''s Zhaixing Hall and subtly smiled: "If¡­ ''he'' could pass, then that would be great."

    ========

    The Emperor and I quietly waited outside Zhaixing Hall. With neither of us having anything to say, the atmosphere between us turned awkward as could be.

    His Machesty was good with conversations, yet was rendered speechless due to tension. To dispel the awkwardness, I leapt into the breach: "Your Majesty, it would not be a big deal if it cannot be solved. We can go in and copy it onto a sheet of paper. Worstes to worst, we can imprint it onto paper, and then take it with us. Then, we would have plenty of time to mull over it."

    It was just a joke. I didn''t expect His Majesty to say, "No, we can''t do that. I''ve tried it. The Sword Spirit on the white wall refuses to leave. It''s as if it''s a living spirit. Anybody who approaches the wall to rub copy it or print it onto a cloth will be inexorably drawn in to thete carving. Once they do, they''ll end up in aa."

    "What about reciting it? Your Majesty, you have seen it many times. You can write it down and have someone else look at it, can you not?"

    "That won''t work, either," replied the Emperor, shaking his head. "Because¡­ I can''t remember it."

    "You cannot remember it?"

    "The poem is incredibly peculiar. I attempted to memorise it many times, but whenever I looked at the text on the wall, the text would lead my mind off track. It''s impossible to hone in on it. When I came to, I totally forgot what it said."

    ''Oh, I see now. Now it makes sense.''

    Judging from the Emperor''s tone, he must''ve reached out to many people, yet never had to worry about spilling the secret. If nobody could remember what they read and he didn''t tell them what was carved on the wall, then, indeed, nobody would know what they did. Having said that, his exnation gave rise to more questions.

    His Majesty didn''t sound as though he thought we''d be able to decipher the secret. He asked many schrs, martial artists and famous priests and what have you, yet none of them were able to decipher it. He''d have to be mad to actually believe we could dispel the mystery. In addition, the way he looked at Zhaixing Hall gave me the impression that he wasn''t fretting over whether or not we could solve it but confirming what Jin Wangsun was up to.

    ''A carving that can induce injury¡­?''

    I was bewildered despite having seen the tragic courtyard and personally heardthe Sword Howl. Great Grandmaster truly was a man who was beyond man''s realms ofprehension. I never heard of a Sword Spirit that could remain for over two decades.

    As I was about toment again, His Majesty said, "Based on his level, he should be done."

    Indeed, we heard a tragic scream from within Zhaixing Hall the moment the Emperor ended his sentence. Who screamed? Jin Wangsun screamed.

    The Emperor stroked his beard: "His servant should be bringing him out about now."

    The Emperor''s prediction was wrong. We waited for a while, but neither of them came out. Instead, we then heard a loud sound that reminded me of a sharp weapon shing with a boulder. They still didn''te out once the strange sound ended.

    The Emperor mulled it over to himself: "That sound before must''ve been someone trying to damage the white wall with a sharp weapon. Could¡­"

    After some time passed, I heard heavy footsteps approach.

    A Hu was covered in wounds inflicted by Sword Qi. He looked awfully pale and was bleeding profusely. It was clear that he was suffering from excessive blood loss. On his shoulder was Jin Wangsun, who was in aa. On his back was Golden Crow Moon Eater. His steps were heavy and slow. He seemed drained. He used everything he had left to set his master down on the ground. He, himself, was ready to copse.

    "Your Majesty, this humble one''s master, h-"

    "Say no more. Send him to the imperial medical department. Wang Tushui, help them out. Make sure the two of them are well."

    Eunuch Wang quickly went and called for men. His Majesty seemed bored and casual when he asked, "Did you make the loud sound I heard?"

    A Hu courteously answered, "Please forgive this humble one, Your Majesty. The master¡­ was bewitched. I had to look at the white wall in order to rescue him. Unfortunately¡­ this humble one was also bewitched and scratched the wall."

    "Uhm," responded the Emperor, tone neutral. "That is one way to ovee it. There were adepts who wanted to try the same method, but s, the majority of them couldn''t do it. You are a quick thinker and an impressive martial artist. It is a pity that you are a family ve. By the way, how many flying swords did you see in there?"

    I was baffled by the question: "Flying swords?"

    "Correct. Hero Shenzhou''ste carving is capable of producing flying sword phantoms that will thrust toward you using a profound swordy. Both previous adepts and myself were defeated by the flying swords. I assume the same fate befell Wangsun. It would be a very tall order to have the average martial artistst until three swords appeared. Those who are skilled would be able to see ten to twenty swords. The cream of the crop would be able to see over thirty swords."

    Head down, A Hu replied, "This humble one¡­ saw over one hundred swords."

    "One hundred swords?" The Emperor scanned A Hu''s face. He granted A Hu a nod of approval: "Not bad. Once this is over, I shall send a letter to Zhenjiang, and ask for you. It is absurd to let such a talented individual be stuck as a ve. Jin ncks a discerning eye for talent."

    A Hu jolted, but didn''t dare to speak. The Emperor naturally knew what the former was thinking. He couldn''t bear to leave his former master. The Emperor stroked his beard and chuckled: "You certainly are loyal. Okay, okay, okay, let us pretend I have not mentioned it for now. While your wounds were inflicted by phantoms, they are real wounds. If you do not treat them in time, your life will be in peril. Men, help them."

    Eunuch Wang returned with help. They immediately took the two to the imperial doctor''s department.

    As soon as they left, the Emperor turned to leave, as well.

    I asked, "Your Majesty?"

    With his back facing me, His Majesty indifferently replied, "I have business to attend to. Youplete the test while I am gone. If you pass, you pass. If you don''t, have a respite. It''s no big issue."

    The Emperor then suavely departed. Tang Ye and I were the only ones left behind.

    ''What the hell¡­? The Emperor doesn''t seem to give a single sh*t about me. Why does this Dazzling Talent event seem so fishy? I smell schemes every step of the way.''

    I meticulously scrutinised the beginning to end of the event, but I couldn''t put my finger on any specific clues until Jingan popped into mind.

    Dazzling Talent was the name decided on half a month ago. That meant the Emperor already had ns to have us attempt the challenge. I suspected the Emperor had designs for the fuma selection. I was also certain that Jingan knew what Dazzling Talent was all about. It wouldn''t be surprising if she managed to pry something out from the Emperor given how much he loved her. She wouldn''t have had the confidence to let Jin Wangsun pit himself against me, otherwise. I weighed the situation while fiddling with my chin. I concluded that I, at least, needed to take a look inside to be able to tick the box and say I finished.

    "Let''s go."

    "All right."

    Tang Ye and I entered Zhaixing Hall with antern each.

    For whatever reason, the Sword Howl had vanished without a trace. We took the risk but managed to arrive at the centre of the hall with the white wall. It was a big white wall and had text carved onto it just as His Majesty stated. I confirmed it was Great Grandmaster''s handwriting. In saying that, his handwriting was different to usual. I was under the impression he added a unique touch to it.

    As I looked at the wall, I suddenly realised Dazzling Talent was Jingan''sst assassination attempt.

    ''Geez, now this is troublesome.''

    Great Grandmaster''s carving was likely to be more effective as one''s internal strength improved. Jingan was aware that I was highly skilled, which was why she deliberately had me sent to the hall. In other words, she set it up so that Great Grandmaster would kill me. It was safe to assume that His Majesty''s departure was also calcted in her ns.

    I''d be willing to bet that her people were already hiding in ambush outside in the courtyard. Once I cried out tragically as Jin Wangsun did, they''de in and end me.

    ''Is our three year battle going to end here today?''

    "Tang Ye, keep your eyes peeled. You might find some sort of door."

    When Tang Ye had a glimpse of the wall, his body jolted. He performed a head slip as though he evaded something. I ced a hand on his shoulder and transferred some of my own Qi in order to help him recollect himself. That allowed the phantoms to back off a little, giving him some space.

    "What do you see?''

    "I¡­ flying swords¡­ I see about thirty or forty of them."

    "Thirty or forty? You need to work on your internal strength some more. Remember how many A Hu saw?''

    "Big Brother¡­ how many do you see?"

    I didn''t answer. I just nkly gazed into the emptiness.

    ''No wonder why Jingan set this up as a phase in her assassination n. Damn smartss.''

    After lingering around, I quietlymented, "Great Grandmaster¡­ you truly are a living deity."

    Zhaixing Hall essentially transformed into a sword mountain where the swords came to life. The swords resembling ice-cold spears vibrating in the air looked to devour me.

    In front of me were, at least, over ten thousand flying swords hovering in the air. Like camouged snakes, they were aimed at my throat.

    ========

    Jin Wangsun had a dream, one he hadn''t had in a long time. He dreamt of what once happened when he was a kid.

    One time, he attended an evening banquet. That night, viins raided the banquet. Nobody noticed the assants, thereby putting him in jeopardy. When he was lost and helpless, somebody saved him.

    His saviour wielded a sabre of matchless quality, rendering allies in awe and enemies panic-stricken. Nobody was a match for her. Jin Wangsun had a sabre at home called Golden Crow Moon Eater. It was ssified as the divine de among the Seven Dynasty-Founding des. People in the martial world envied his n for possessing it; however, his savour''s sabre was more beautiful and attractive than Golden Crow Moon Eater. Her sabre contained a potent charm. None other could rival the sabre. That was the only sabre that could finish adepts in one swoop.

    Jing Wangsun grew up before he knew it.

    He recalled the female sabre wielder who rescued him. She was his influence to take up the sabre, which he diligently trained. Her courage, beauty and hearty nature had a heavy influence on him. Regardless of how many years passed by, she was always on his mind. He faintly remembered that she was very beautiful. She particrly loved tough and drink. She was dazzling when she raised her cup for a hearty drink.ater down the road, his father apparently invited her to their ce. Jin Wangsun couldn''t recall what followed. All he remembered was¡­ a dark red scene that was borderline ck. The female hero was covered in blood; her hair was a mess, and she lied in a puddle of blood. Her long hair was dyed dark red. She murmured simrly to a ghost. The word she murmured was "traitor".

    Jin Wangsun suddenly woke up in a sweat, and his lips were pale. It hadn''t seen the nightmare since around the time he was ten. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he had it again. He slowly opened his eyes to find his head aching as if it was burnt.

    "You awake?"

    The voice was very familiar. Jin Wangsun searched his mental records and quickly found the answer.

    "Y-Your Majesty."

    Jin Wangsun immediately attempted to sit up when he saw the Emperor sitting on a chair not too far away and drinking tea. As soon as he tried to sit up, he felt his dantian aching. He couldn''t utilise any true qi. Before he could express his surprise, the Emperor said, "That''s perfectly normal. Anyone who falls unconscious after seeing Hero Shenzhou''ste carving will be unable to utilise their true qi for twelve hours. I have some private matters to speak to you about, and I don''t want others to hear it."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Emperor smiled: "This is perfect. We can have a chat now."

 Volume 5 69 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - The Emperorâ€™s Thoughts

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 69 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - The Emperor¡¯s Thoughts</h4>

    "A chat? Why did he wait for my meridians to be sealed and true qi to be inessible before asking to talk with me?" wondered the puzzled Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun did away with his unease. He knelt down and held his hands in salute: "Wangun shall listen to what you have to say, Your Majesty."

    "No need to mind the formalities. Sit."

    The Emperor sat in his seat and continued going through ordion books without stopping his pen for a second: "Wangsun, your Jin n and I have been friends for two generations, so we''re considered old friends. My brotherly bond with your father aside, there is the imperial court and Gold and Silver Sect, which have been part of an important rtionship since the founding of the dynasty. So ordingly, I consider you family."

    Suddenly hearing the Emperor bring up the past didn''t help alleviate Jin Wangsun''s unease. To the contrary, it amplified his unease.

    "Wangsun is blessed and thankful to have you hold Wangsun in such high regard."

    "Blessed and grateful? I don''t see either of those. I did see what you did after entering the capital, however. The more I hear, the more astonished I am."

    The first incident Jin Wangsun recalled was hitting the elder statesman and His Majesty.

    "This again? Is he still hung up about that incident?" queried Jin Wangsun.

    "That was Wangsun''s mistake due to a moment of failing to think straight. Please forgive Wangsun!"

    "Forgive? Which fault should I forgive first?"

    The Emperor tossed an ordion book over to Jin Wangsun. The sound of the ordion booknding broke the peace in the room. The Emperor''s voice was very calm and emotionless: "Take a look for yourself."

    Stunned, Jini Wangsun picked the ordion book up to take a look. What he saw was far more stunning than Hero Shenzhou''ste carving - not in a good way. The ordion was the exclusive ordion style the Seven Champion White Princes sent to the imperial court. There was a secret means of delivering it that only leaders knew. What really startled Jin Wangsun was that the ordion was written by none other than the erstwhile patriarch of Gold and Silver Sect, his father!

    Written in the ordion was Jin Wangsun attacking Night Fortress with the aim of profiting from Hangzhou, pursuing ambitions and so forth. His father also said that he nned to gift the Emperor his father''s retirement territory. An additional mention was that he nned to incite war between the imperial court and Gold and Silver''s former faction. He said his son was had sinister ambitions and was besotted with power. Therefore, he imed his son was not worthy of being one of the Seven White Champion Princes'' leaders.

    Jin Wangsun¡¯s father stated that everyone within the sect was willing to force Jin Wangsun to abdicate the seat and would select a wise young man to rece Jin Wangsun. Due to the Seven White Champion Princes being implicated, the matter was major, which was why he asked His Majesty to intervene. In addition, he mentioned that he was willing to bear the punishment for failing to teach his son better. As such, he promised to give the imperial court more territory than Jin Wangsun did. He usedpassion and profit to win over the Emperor, so it wasn''t surprising for the Emperor to turn on Jin Wangsun so quickly.

    Jin Wangsun was absolutely bbergasted. His heart almost raced fast enough to be dislodged.

    "Y-Y-Your subject¡­" was all Jin Wangsun could enunciate.

    The Emperor wore on a stern expression. He took out a white sheet of paper and a letter in one smooth sequence. He then stamped it with his personal stamp and slid it into an envelope.

    "I don''t me you for being rash and ambitious as a young man. However, I cannot ept you forcing your father to abdicate his seat, lying to those superiors and attempting to use me to eliminate your¡­ your biological father! It is unforgivable from all ounts. Additionally, you came to ask for my daughter''s hand in marriage when you have a fianc¨¦e. You tried to take advantage of a joke I made back then so that you could turn my daughter into your weapon. That is utter insolence. Jin Wangsun, you have offended both the imperial court and I! Do you honestly think I''ll let you have your way just because you''re a patriarch?!"

    If the Emperor wanted to remove one of the Seven Champion White Princes, he was a sentence away from doing so. Jin Wangsun was unfortunately caught in a pincer, not to mention that he couldn''t use his strength. He was a step away from kissing everything goodbye.

    Jin Wangsun panicked: "Your Majesty, W-Wangsun wholeheartedly loves Her Highness. Wangsun''s father is getting on with age; there must be someone dubious trying to use him. Y-Yes, Wangsun defeated the evil Night Fortress. It must be them¡­"

    "Jin Wangsun, do you think my brain is shrivelling?" asked the Emperor, as he held up a letter. Expression cold, he added, "This letteres from a guest who is currently at Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters in Zhenjiang. I sent him there. He has stayed at Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters recently, so he knows everything there is to know.

    He mentioned how magnificent Zhenjiang is. Your men are everywhere in Zhenjiang. You banished your father to the fields and forbade him from returning. Jin Wangsun, you sure have impressed me. You forced your father into retirement. Meanwhile, you made a request of me by leveraging my friendship with your father."

    "Th-There must be a misunderstanding. Wangsun''s father is merely ill. That was why Wangsun sent him home to rest. Wangsun did n"

    "You still want to try and slip your way out? Have you any idea who I sent to Zhenjiang? Why do you think Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters fell so fast? Why do you think your father could recruit your men to join his cause in Hangzhou? It was because the man I sent there was my entourage''s Tianhu."

    Jin Wangsun shuddered. Tianhu was the top-ranked member in the Emperor''s entourage and one of the Ultimate Three on Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings. He was assigned the "hu" character, meaning "fox". His full name meant Heavenly Fox. As with all members of the Ultimate Three, they were assigned aliases from spirit animals.

    Tianhu''s skills were inconceivable. It would be a tall order to find someone who could match him. The League of Assassins spent hundreds of thousands merely for one of his hands, yet nobody epted the job to this day, which was one of the things that troubled the boss.

    The current Ultimate Three were at the borders. The Qilin Guards'' grandmander guarded the northern border, while Tianhu was in charge of guarding the southern border. The two of them were the imperial court''s two Heavenly Gods who held down the pugilistic world. They couldn''t be ordered back from the border thoughtlessly.

    "So Father managed to bring down Gold and Silver Sect so swiftly thanks to outside assistance. How frightening is Tianhu to have been able to achieve this on his own?" questioned Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun was understandably furious. First, Ming Feizhen, Hongjiu and his crew snatched back Night Fortress, and then his father took his men. His only hope, the imperial pce, was gone with the wind. He couldn''tprehend why the Emperor suddenly changed his stance. If the Emperor predicted all of his steps from the beginning, then he was far more shrewd and scheming than Jin Wangsun imagined.

    The so-called fuma selection wasn''t a contest to decide on his son-inw, but to put on a show for the imperial court, one they could ept, because thest contest was impossible toplete. The Emperor deliberately chose that for the contest to fail both Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun. Since neither of them couldplete the assignment, the Emperor wouldn''t have to marry his daughter to either of them.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Wait¡­ it''s not that simple." Jin Wangsun realised something.

    Jin Wangsun looked shocked. The Emperor lookedid back as if he had him in check. He was poised. He didn''t resemble someone who was caught by surprising news. Not even Tianhu helping out the former patriarch in Zhenjiang was a surprise to him. The Emperor most probably nned it out earlier on. He wouldn''t have reacted so quickly, otherwise. As one of the Ultimate Three, reassigning him wasn''t done at the drop of a hat. The only usible exnation was that the Emperor began his designs for Gold and Silver Sect from when Jin Wangsun took over Night Fortress.

    He wasn''t the Emperor for no reason. He wasn''t looking at just his daughter''s marriage, but the entire world. What the Emperor cared about from beginning to end was the Seven Champion White Princes; they were the potential threat he was uneasy about.

    The Emperor''s initial n was to use thend Jin Wangsun gifted him to gradually take over the Seven Champion White Princes'' territory, which was why he agreed to the marriage proposal. When he heard about Jin Wangsun and his father being at odds, he just went along with the tide, cancelled the wedding and helped the former patriarch return to headquarters. Of course, the former patriarch offered more territory, which perfectly aligned with the Emperor''s agenda. Needless to say, he didn''t have to be concerned about a patriarch who was out of power. In summary, the Emperor was always conspiring against the Seven Champion White Princes!

    Realising the Emperor''s agenda lit up the track in front of hm. Jin Wangsun finally understood why his father never asked the Emperor to help him reinstate himself as the patriarch out of friendship and chose to find another candidate, instead. His father was aware of what the Emperor was after.

    The Seven Champion White Princes were held in too high regard. They say a tall tree catches the wind. Fundamentally speaking, they were the stars around the bright moon, thetter being the imperial court. Every monarch understood the concept that the water that held up a boat could also capsize it. The reigning Emperor was no fool. He had an iron grip to prevent losing the fragile bnce. No matter who it was, if they wanted to rule Jiangnan, then they would be the imperial court''s first enemy. Jin Wangsun crossed the line when he took over Night Fortress.

    Song n was brighter than Gold and Silver Sect in that regard. Song n was the final n to be listed as one of the Seven Champion White Princes. They didn''t marry anyone from the imperial family, but they sent their son to Liu Shan Men. By doing that, they managed to seize power whilst offering the Emperor a hostage in the capital. As a result, the Emperor was less wary of them.

    Gold and Silver Sect had a chance to build an amicable rtionship with the imperial family; however, when Jin Wangsun took over Night Fortress and marched his men into Hangzhou, the Emperor''s scales finally tipped. From that very moment, he wouldn''t choose Gold and Silver sect even if they were to offer an alliance.

    Hangzhou sat in the centre. By taking over Night Fortress, Jin Wangsun became the top force in Hangzhou''s martial world, but he also stationed his men there. In essence, he was building an army, or so it was perceived as so. Jin Wangsun essentially stepped on the Emperor''s sensitive nerves over and over. There was no way the Emperor would turn a blind eye to such a tantly ambitious and dangerous figure.

    The Emperor snickered as if he read Jin Wangsun''s mind: "You took over Night Fortress half a year ago and stationed your men in Hangzhou, Jingan reached out to me at the time. She warned me to keep tabs on you. If you behaved, I would''ve left you to your own devices. The issue was that your ambition knows no bounds. You continued to cross the line time after time. I cannot let you off."

    "Princess Jingan?!" Jin Wangsun''s blood turned cold.

    "Princess Jingan targeted me right from the beginning?" wondered Jin Wangsun

    Jin Wangsun recalled the day Princess Jingan took the initiative to contact him. She was the one who told him it was feasible to challenge the master of Night Fortress to establish himself. Following her advice, he managed to soar up and reach his status at present without any hitches. He also treated her as a deity, waiting on her in every possible manner. Coming to the capital to ask for Princess Hongzhuang''s hand in marriage was also her instruction.

    "Why? Why did Princess Jingan want to harm me in the first ce? Because of Ming Feizhen? I did hear that Princess Jingan''s fuma was allegedly in contact with Mount Daluo. Could it be because of Ming Feizhen? It makes no sense, though. Ming Feizhen is the master of Night Fortress. Why would she ask me to challenge Night Fortress?" Stars rotated overhead and the world spun before his eyes: "Why?"

    The Emperor judged Jin Wangsun to be afraid and guilty going by his dejected look. He scornfully remarked, "Coward."

    As aforementioned, the first two contests of the fuma selection were to put on a show for the world and demonstrate that the Emperor was a man of his word and fair. The third contest, however, was what the Emperor was truly focused on.

    In all fairness, as an overlord, Jin Wangsun wasn''t wrong for being ambitious. If anything, it was perfectly normal. The Emperor eyed the Seven Champion White Princes'' bnce every day. Jin Wangsun just had to slip up ever so slightly, and Tianhu would be ready to take him out.

    Jin Wangsun''s mistake was revealing his ambition too soon and challenging his opponent before he had what it took. All in all, if there was anything to me, it was his own idiocy and weakness. His mistake was climbing too high too soon.

    Finally realising his folly, Jin Wangsun gritted his teeth and felt resentful. He trained Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual in recent months without consuming a Taiyin Pill or using a woman to modte his Yin and Yang energies. Hence, his true qi was highly susceptible toplications.

    After being defeated, suffering a psychological attack and being under the influence of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual, his mind underwent a change. At that moment, he had a strong desire to kill to calm his roiling blood even in spite of being in the Emperor''s presence.

    Unfortunately, Jin Wangsun couldn''t utilise his true qi. He just had a desire to kill. His eyes glowed faintly red. His hands began to involuntarily shake. His heart felt cold as ice. He wore a ruthless expression: "I want to kill them! I''ll kill Ming Feizhen! I''ll kill the old man! I''ll kill that bitch, Jingan!! I''ll kill all of them!"

    Noticing Jin Wangsun''s odd demeanour, the Emperor called, "Guards! Jin Wangsun is a traitor, deceived his superiors and shown intent to harm me. Apprehend him and lock him in at his lodge. Have the Seventeen Hidden Dragons escort him! Announce his crimes on my behalf, and he shall be executed at ater date."

    Guards came and subdued him by his shoulders as though they were arresting a criminal. Jin Wangsun was ted to hear "lodge". Once he arrived at his abode, he had a chance, which was his one and only chance.

    Jin Wangsun had mastered the highest level of Golden Grow Moon Eater Manual. As long as he could return to his ce, he would have an opportunity to amplify his strength. With A Hu also assisting him, not even the Seventeen Hidden Dragons would be his match. He received his final god-given chance.

    Notes:

    *Tianhu - Pronounced ''Tien-hoo''

 Volume 5 70 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Celestial Spider

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 70 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Celestial Spider</h4>

    Does thou know?

    The dragons roar brought the support of the gods down below the clouds.

    The phoenix''s cry shook the moon.

    One fool banned nine states.

    The devil ruined the dynasty of five generations.

    Does thou know?!

    I examined the text Great Grandmaster left behind.

    Tsk, tsk, tsk, Great Grandmaster''s calligraphy disyed his schstic talents developed and refined over a century. Every inch and every segment illustrated grace. Look at the ¡°This old one is tired¡± in the middle. Look how righteously it was written¡­

    ''I have to say, the Emperor sure has too much spare time. Why would he waste time on trying to solve this ridiculous garbage¡­?''

    Back on Mount Daluo, we often yed word riddles with Great Grandmaster by trying to guess what he wrote at New Year. It was all for entertainment. There was never a shortage of ¡°Dragons and phoenixes are retards¡± or "What the fuck are you bitching for?" type of traps. Merely seeing ¡°Forbid the Divine Moon¡±, and ¡°Clouds move nine five¡± made me think he was trolling with tripe again.

    The poem was carved with excellent martial prowess. It was highly improbable anyone could make sense of it purely through guesswork. To decipher it, one had to defeat the hidden taolu within.

    "Be cautious. Blindly retreating won''t get you anywhere," I reminded Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye struck out without hesitation. His hands were immediately inhibited by two swords before they returned to their sheath. The swords he saw, however, were a mental manifestation without form. That was why they instantly vanished into thin air.

    The flying swords were left behind by Great Grandmaster. We manifested them as we tried to grasp the meaning of the text. As such, I couldn''t see what Tang Ye saw, while he couldn''t see what I saw. All I could do was infer where the swords were approaching him from ording to his body movements. Apparently, my guesses were on the dot. If I was wrong, though, Tang Ye could very well have lost his life, for phantoms could be lethal.

    The skill wasn''t derived from Mount Daluo''s Five Divine Styles or Mount Daluo''s main style. The technique fell in the same category as the technique I used on Fu Xiang, but it waspletely different in aspects besides its nature. Although the technique was in the same category as Heart Sword Subconscious Sword Intent techniques, which were styles that inflicted damage via delusions, it waspletely different.

    I folded my arms and silently observed the myriad swords around me. The swords didn''t attack me; they were immobile in the air, instead.

    I peered at the white wall with blood stains behind the swords. There were a number of scratches in addition to the carving. I wasn''t sure if somebody in the past made the marks or if it was A Hu and Jin Wangsun''s work from before. There was dark-red blood sttered on it. If I had to hazard a guess, I''d say there was the blood of others from the past, as well. Blood aside, there was also a trail of huge ws that started from the top left corner. The deep trail ran from top to bottom and from left to right. I was confident that A Hu was the one who created the trail to save Jin Wangsun just before. Due to that, however, seven words were damaged. There were only thirty-one fully intact words among the thirty-eight words. Having said that, the Sword Spirit didn''t diminish. Tang Ye and I still ended up being caught in the technique.

    Tang Ye faced off against the illusion for a long time. He didn''t fight back head on; he followed my instructions and made sure to dodge one after the other. He kept it up for an entire hour. It was challenging; he sweated profusely. Sternly, he remarked, "The Sword Intent is swift and ferocious."

    He did his reputation as a young and talented man justice. He couldn''t grasp the profound intricacies. Nevertheless, he was able to sense what made the Sword Intent extraordinary based solely off the text. It took me an hour, but I finally discerned what the so-called "Hero Shenzhou''ste carving" was all about, and how the anomaly giving His Majesty a headache came to be.

    The first thing to address was the text on the white wall itself. They didn''t have an offensive setting. The people who passed out when they looked at the white wall weren''t defeated by a ferocious Sword Intent or profound Sword Qi.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Regardless of how mind-blowing Great Grandmaster''s qigong and internal strength might be, and even if his qi could hypothetically remain for two decades, it should''ve vanished by this stage, because think about how many people would have seen the wall and how many times the skill had activated. There wasn''t energy left on the wall; it was Great Grandmaster''s Sword Intent hidden in the text that influenced the viewer''s state of mind.

    From what I could see, there was an unfathomably profound swordy hidden within the text that was highly enthralling. It produced an irresistible urge that led to people trying it out. As a result, they activated their true qi. That was where the tragedy began.

    Strength was born from one''s mind, and also controlled by one''s mind. The text influenced their true qi, thereby generating visual and auditory illusions. It was the same concept as a dream.

    The illusions the victims saw were influenced by the thirty eight words'' Sword Intent. The victims, themselves, generated the illusions. That was the exact reason their measure of internal energy determined how many illusions they saw. It, therefore, was perfectly understandable as to why His Majesty praised A Hu. As for how the adepts the Emperor invited fell intoas regardless of skill level, it was pretty self-exnatory.

    Since the viewer generated the flying swords with their own true qi, if they fought back with all they had, they were attacking themselves with the equivalent output. It was a case of them fighting themselves; the greater their output, the greater the flying swords'' output. Another key factor was that while the internal energy belonged to them, the flying swords'' attack method was Great Grandmaster''s swordy. Thus, the adepts weren''t defeated in swordy superiority, but through rapid expenditure of their internal energy. Once they were empty, they passed out. The issue wasn''t that the Emperor asked people whocked in the internal energy department; superior internal energy just wasn''t of any help.

    It was a matter of being in different realms, not internal strength profoundness. If one failed to grasp the nature of it, no level of skill would point it out for them. In the end, they''d just end up wasting effort, and then refuse to give up, and then most likely dying in their own nightmare. It wasn''t swordy. It was the same as my Night Steps, but also a god-like internal style. That was how those who scrutinised the text wounded up injured. From there, things only became more and more difficult.

    The sword intent was inconceivably profound and was capable of spurring the viewer''s own Sword Qi. Everybody who visited attempted the swordy in the text to some degree. Put it this way: if it was an internal mental cultivation technique, then everybody used it once before. See, if one swordy was attempted by countless different people, then the umtion of twenty years of people activating Sword Qi in the hall would have bolstered it beyond what most sword sects in the pugilistic would have umted. That was precisely why there wasn''t a single sword in sight, yet an incredible Sword Soul was nurtured into reality.

    If the visitor was illiterate or wasn''t trained in martial arts, then the Sword Intent wouldn''t affect them whatsoever. Everyone else who possessed martial arts skills and was literate, to the contrary, would be wounded by the Sword Intent. One factor worth noting was that if they possessed martial arts training, yet were weak, then they wouldn''t be able to make it past the violent Sword Howl. The Emperor did mention seeking out schrs. But s, all efforts to decipher the text were futile. By my estimations, the Sword Howl must''ve been more than they could bear.

    "Big Brother, what do I do?!" Tang Ye turned left and right, presumably to dodge the iing swords. Totally baffled by me standing there with my arms folded as though nothing was happening, he asked, "Why have you not been affected?"

    "Because I''m not afraid."

    Since Tang Ye was baffled, Iughed: "Tang, let me teach you something practical today. There are, at least, three ways of oveing the attack."

    Unarmed, Tang Ye couldn''t catch or sh with the Sword Qi head on. He, therefore, had no other option but to evade. Frustrated, he demanded, "Just tell me any one of them!"

    "First option: calm yourself. The text''s illusions attack you ording to your movements. That''s the best way of dispelling the illusion. The only way it''ll work is if you''repletely convinced that what you see isn''t real."

    The method I suggested was the best method for Sword Heart Subconscious Attacks. Only by steeling one''s heart could they resist the attacks on their subconscious.

    Yan Shisan, one of the Ultimate Three, for example, could look straight at the text without being affected thanks to that method. They put their mental fortitude through rigorous training. Consequently, no illusions could intimidate them. With that said, it was easy said, not easy done.

    Who wouldn''t be worried if there was a flying sword in front of them? That reaction, the fear realised the illusion. Once one was victimised, they would probably need medical attention for three days. There were plenty of warriors who had strong mental fortitude, but the number of individuals who were able to reach the threshold The Ultimate Three attained were far and few between. Essentially, there were only two types of people who could reach that level. The first type was the supreme adept who reached the Divine Realm. The other type was the type who were wired differently, the type who could watch the sky fall without batting an eye. Thetter''s emotional state was referred to as "Savage Heart". It was a state of mind that allowed one to see through everything in life.

    Personally, I relied on Divine Realm to not fall prey to the illusion.

    Tang Ye, who had his hands full trying not to die, shouted, "That''s not happening. Next!"

    "Second option: destroy the text just as A Hu and Jin Wangsun did. You need to leave a scratch or hole on the wall. Due to the altered text, your perception is altered, thereby granting your temporary relief from the illusions."

    At the end of the day, illusions were conjured by one''s mind. To dispel the illusion, one had to alter their perception, specifically their perception of what induced the illusion. The crucial factor to its sess was escaping right away once one sessfully disrupted the perception. Stay too long, and your eyes would be exposed to the second word, which would conjure up another illusion.

    "And third option?"

    "Third option¡­" I touched my nose, "You''ll have to summon the snow spirit container I left in your care."

    "Huh?" eximed Tang Ye: "The celestial spider silk is the key to dismantling it? I didn''t bring it with me!"

    "Worry not. I did want to inform you two that I didn''t store celestial spider silk in there. When I was waiting around, I spent another few days to go back to Heavenly Mountain. I collected some ordinary snow spirit spider silk. I only grabbed two or three spiders-worth, having said that, so there''s hardly any. It''s not worth as much as you two think. I spent all that effort to climb the mountain, yet you two still couldn''t win ''Thousand Miles''. You two really are something else."

    Tang Ye''s expression changed. No, he didn''t regret that he mistook it for something it wasn''t; he was surprised. To me, he looked as though he was surprised I managed to make a trip to Heavenly Mountain from Nanjing in those few days.

    ''Kiddo, a horse wouldn''t even see my back when I use my qinggong.''

    "What I was trying to tell you was that I always wore celestial spider silk on me."

    I raised an arm. My snow-white shirt underneath my coat moved on its own. A string that one would struggle to see with their naked eye came out. I used my qi to furtively eject two threads from underneath my robe simrly to a leopard preparing its ws.

    "The third method is¡­ take it head on. If you see ten thousand swords, destroy all ten thousand."

    Notes:

    *Poem - Some of the poem is not supposed to make sense, and you never will make sense of it. It was there for fluff and to make the poem read in multiple directions. That is deliberate. Should''ve mentioned it back in volume 3. For instance the phoenix''s cry shook the moon. It''s gibberish even in Chinese.

    **Number of damaged words - Just a reminder that I''ve adapted it to English as opposed to going with the Chinese character count.

 Volume 5 71 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Celestial Silk

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 71 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Celestial Silk</h4>

    Silk was a weapon that was never a part of The Eighteen Arms or The Eighteen Unique Arms. Some in the pugilistic world relied on their n''s unique weapons to win. Some used popr weapons in the pugilistic world. Some used weapons passed down by their ancestors. The wealthy spent hefty sums to hire a cksmith for custom weapons. Some also bought weapons outright. Only a very, very small number of people chose silk as their weapon. The poprity of using silk as a weapon in the martial world was thest thing one needed to be worried about. Understanding the unique properties of silk itself would make it clear as to why it wasn''t even considered a unique weapon.

    Silk was extremely fine,cked an edge and tip on top of being soft. Trying to wield it with brute force would require double the expenditure for half the results. In short, it was giving oneself trouble. Trying to wield it gently would under-deliver in the lethal department. Using a soft object gently was by logic absurd. Silk as a front-onbat weaponcked offensive power. As a defensive tool, it wouldn''t offer much resistance.

    Whips, fly-whisks, ropes and so forth might''ve been found in abundance in the martial world. However, silk wasn''t the same at the end of the day.et us use fly-whisks to put this into perspective. A fly-whisk was made from thousands of strands of some thread and soft as could be. The key was that the strands were closely collected, thereby increasing the potential output it offered unlike a single strand of silk. If you were to pluck one strand and ask a fly-whisk master to use it, he''d say, "You are too kind¡­ You think this is funny?" He''d beat you so silly you''d mix up a monk with a priest.

    There were some in the martial world who could use iron wires to restrain their foes. Those with profound internal strength or were phenomenally skilled could rely on their superior internal strength and energy to wield the wire as a whip. But that would be a case of superior proficiencypared to their enemy, not silk being lethal. If those same skilled individuals were to encounter someone who could rival them, then they''d revert back to using their actual style''s weapon. Very few schools in the martial world used wire - or silk in this case - as a weapon. So ordingly, it was understandable that rarely did anyone ever hear of somebody using silk as their main weapon.

    Back then, when I was outgoing and aggressive, I heard about celestial spiders eating people. I enthusiastically packed my gear and went to save a bunch of people I didn''t know. Despite my qinggong proficiency, I still ended up searching Heavenly Mountain for over two months¡­ After the long journey, I returned to their vige. I searched the entire mountain again. Eventually, I found the celestial spider''s nest. I fought my way into its den without any hesitation, only to find¡­ nobody. All I found was a group of snow spirit spiders that were bigger than dogs, and the celestial spider that had lived for over a millennium.

    As soon as I stepped inside, snow spirit spiders immediately swarmed me while another group sealed the cave behind me. The celestial spider''s reaction was very surprising. It swiftly spat out ice silk. The force generated from its spit was potentially more lethal than an arrow off a bowstring and was sharper as a metal edge. It struck so fast that I was almost injured.

    If I tried to flee, then their massive numbers and the old celestial spider would devour me whole. As I had to risk it all, I ended up fighting with them for an entire month. After spending my days eating spiders and drinking melted ice, I finally slew the old bugger. At the time, I didn''t even know how rare celestial spider silk was. I was only aware that snow spirit spider silk was worth a lot of money. That was why I took everything I could.

    When I finally found out how much it was worth, the silk clung to me as if it was a ghost that died unjustly. I had no idea what to do with it. Soon enough, I found myself racking my brains to figure out what to do.

    Though spirit spider silk was a very precious smithing material, I wasn''t a weapon user. To make a sharp de, I only needed one strand. Even if I made The Eighteen Arms - so, a sword, broadsword, spear, halberd, axe, great axe, hook, trident¡­ then made a trident, hook, great axe, axe, halberd, spear, broadsword and sword - I''d still have a tonne of leftover silk. I wasn''t going to war, and neither was I going to be able to use so many weapons.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Herees more. Celestial spider silk was significantly rarer and sturdierpared to snow spirit spider silk. The former was also a lot harder to use in smithing.

    Snow spirit spider silk contained Cold Venom. A weapon with snow spirit spider silk as an ingredient would, therefore, contain Cold Venom, which was a very unique trait. Now, celestial spider silk was an issue, because its Cold Venom property was over a hundred folds more venomous. One would be poisoned upon contact, not to mention that it would spread to the rest of their body rapidly. If one was to identally breathe in the cold qi, the Cold Venom would virtually spread to their organs in an instant, and turn them into a human block of ice.

    I once set fire to celestial spider silk to see how tough it was, only to end up find out how vicious its Cold Venom was. Instead of the me burning the silk, the silk thread put the fire out. If I wanted to do something with it, I''d say that I needed the best cksmith among the best cksmiths in the pugilistic world.

    The homes to the world''s best cksmiths were called "The Big Four", which consisted of Beihai''s Bright Mirror Pce, Demon Realm Sky Pce, Jiangan''s Luo Sword Manor and Tang n.

    Each faction among The Big Four had their pros and cons. They all had some people who were easy to get along with, and others who had foul tempers. They all had one thing inmon, nevertheless, which was they never did business with strangers.

    I once kidnapped a cksmith from Tang n after so much nning, only for him to tell me he could only make me a container using the snow spirit spider silk I had. He said he surrendered when it came to celestial spider silk. In all fairness, celestial spider silk''s toughness exceeded what the majority of cksmiths thought possible. If you couldn''t use it, it couldn''t exactly bebelled as a material. As a result, dealing with celestial spider silk was put on the back burner again.

    Sell it? That would be harder than forging a weapon out of it. Snow spirit spider silk alone costed a fortune. As for celestial spider silk, not even I could think of how much to ask for. I couldn''t think of anyone who could even afford that much. What? Was I supposed to sell it to the Emperor or something¡­?

    In the end, I couldn''te up with anything, so I just hung onto it all. I stored half of it in the snow spirit container and stored it at Night Fortress'' treasure warehouse as though it was one of the treasures Night Fortress kept. In addition, if Shifu asked me to store something in Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall, then I had something to put in there.

    I kept the other half on me. The n was to sell it for money if I ever went broke. Yearster, I met a genius who gave me a spark of inspiration. In turn, that led to me changing how I thought about celestial spider silk.

    The person I met imed he was from overseas. Apparently he came from a country by the name of Fusang. It was a small country overseas, yet was home to many geniuses. The ce wasparable to the northern border''s Korea. They had littlend, but every once in a while, some amazing figures would join the Central in''s martial world. I heard thating to the Central n''s was a journey that had toplete in their martial arts journey.

    Anyhow, the genius'' weapon was a roll of iron wire that he controlled with his hands in simr fashion to a spider web. He used it to perform assassinations without the enemy ever detecting him. It was also fabulous in the dark. He ssified it as stringsmanship. His internal energy and technical skill could give the top-tier adepts in the Central in a run for their money. He was also always able to win while being the weaker one. Those he defeated were an entire level above him, and he did it using his threads. I once sparred with him in order to get a more in-depth view of his unique style.

    Celestial spider silk was tougher than metal, yet soft as ordinary spider thread. It wasn''t as easy to use as metal wires, but I presumed that as long as I could control it, then I could learn to wield it the way he did. That was when I came to the conclusion that celestial spider silk couldn''t be used as smithing material and would serve much better as a weapon. The only issue at the time was that I had so many jobs requiring my attention at the time. I, therefore, had no time to research its usage. I kept the idea in mind and tossed it around, but I never acted on it.

    When I was twenty six, I decided to live in seclusion. Thus, I found a quiet bamboo house at the outskirts of Nanjing and lived there on my own. Besides delegating time for reading The ck and White Reflection, looking into how the people of the nation were doing, major incidents in the world and issues of beauties for research, I spent my days there trying to invent my own style.

    Great Grandmaster left Mount Daluo''s Five Divine Styles for Mount Daluo''s disciples and his signature swordy. My shifu left behind Heavenly Net Sacred Records. He also had a style only he could utilise. All of those styles would be added to Mount Daluo''s historical records to then pass down to future generations.

    I didn''t want to be patriarch. I swore to shake that duty off sooner orter. In saying that, as a member of Mount Daluo who was lied to, bullied, abused and, ahem, I meant taken care of for twenty-plus years, if I didn''t leave behind my unique style at Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak, then I''d most probably never hear the end of it from the old assh-. I would''ve wasted my shifu''s teachings! You didn''t see that!

    While I was bored out of my mind, I recalled celestial spider silk. During my two years of seclusion in the bamboo forest, I didn''te up with any internal style cultivation. Instead, I researched how to employ celestial spider web as a weapon. It was a new taolu that barely anybody knew of in the pugilistic world. There was no other style I could cross-reference. That was why it took a lot of time. That was the only reason I was willing to dedicate so much effort into research. Once I could finish it, it''d be my style and mine only. There would never be another style simr to it in the pugilistic world.

    The adept from Fusang used some sort of special hand techniques to control his string. I thought he used a number of mechanicalponents, as well. I, however, couldn''t do what he did with his hands nor could I figure out how I was supposed to install a mechanism and everything that came after as part of the parcel. That being the case, I had to do it Ming Feizhen style.

    I¡­ used my internal style true qi to control the silk. And you know what? My idea sent me to hell and back! Way to go inspiration.

    Ever since I attained a solidmand of internal strength, I stopped having any issues with learning martial arts. The only one that gave me grief was when I researched how to create a practical style with the silk. I ran into dead end after dead end after dead end.

    Combining true qi and string was difficult in the first ce. For the record, imbuing normal weapons with true qi wasn''t difficult. If one possessed advanced internal strength and energy, then it was even simpler, because ordinary weapons were rtivelyrge! Bigger than the human body''s passages where vital energy circted through, at the very least!

    Normal true qi focused mainly on cultivating one''s principal meridians. They were the twelve standard meridians in Chinese medicine, which were divided into Yin and Yang groups. Specifically, you had the two groups of three Yin and Yang meridians on the hands and feet. Hence, there were a total of six Yin and six Yang meridians, totalling twelve in total.

    Once one''s internal energy was formed, internal energy would be discharged from those twelve meridians. The reason for the meridians being located on the human body''s hands and feet was because it was always easier to activate internal energy from one''s hands and feet.

    When tapping into true qi, the qi would always travel between therge and small meridians. To put its size into visual perspective, true qi was about two fingers together. Since practically every weapon wasrger than that size, imbuing weapons with true qi was never an issue. So ordingly, trying to control the thread as if I was controlling my fingers with my arms required me to "thin" my true qi out to the same dimensions.

    Usually, people wanted to increase the size of their true qi, as true qi with greater dimensions meant superior mastery. I, on the other hand, tried to do the reverse. People often described true qi as something as thin as a thread. Nevertheless, that was just a description people came up with. The reality was it was unbelievably difficult to achieve.

    It took me two months just to have so much control over my true qi that I could get it as thin as a needle at will. The next step, which was manipting the threads, was excruciatingly painful. Trying to control a thread with true qi as an extension of my body was akin to using two Heavenly Warrior''s Halberds to try and catch an ant by its leg. It took me three months to get it down pact. I eventually seeded when I could control celestial spider thread precisely through a needle hole roughly thirty metres away from me.

    Over the next year and beyond, I kept researching various ways to manipte celestial spider silk, including using it to clean my teeth, eat, write, as a hammock and more. One yearter, I could barely believe it, but I seeded! The unlined garment I wore nowadays was made from the celestial spider silk.

    Since we grew up on Mount Daluo, my martial siblings'' families sent them their clothes. I was the only one who had to find himself clothes to adorn himself with. For the most part, I had to ask Shiniang to teach me how to sew so that I could make my own. Over time, I got the hang of it. I applied those skills to turn celestial spider silk into clothing. It was warm in winter and cool in summer. Thanks to its Cold Venom, it was perfect for summer.

    While me being able to sew was praiseworthy and all, more importantly was the speed at which I sewed clothing. Manipting celestial spider silk using my true qi revolutionised the sewing game all together. In the past, I had to spend all night sewing. After I mastered my new style, though, I could finish clothes before tea could boil. I could also use it to make different styles, boots and even helmets and armour. I, as a matter of fact, used it to wipe my ass when I forgot to grab paper. I doubt the old celestial spider could use his own silk as proficiently as I could if he came back to life.

    They say shut-ins create miracles. In my opinion, the greats such as Jiang Ziya, Lu Ban and Zhuge Liang weren''t even on my level!

    This time, I manipted my unlined garment, which was the celestial spider silk, back into its original form rapidly.

    Having no idea what I was doing, Tang Ye pinched his eyebrows together: "Big Brother, the thread on your clothing hase undone."

    "¡­ Shut up."

    I moulded a bit of qi. I looked to the ten-thousand swords vibrating and eager to attack.

    "I''ll let you watch, but you have to keep a lid on it. This is not a skill shared with anyone."

    I flicked the air. A thread in my hand twirled around Tang Ye. Once I infused my true qi into the thread, the illusion he saw instantly vanished.

    At the time, Tang Ye was in the middle of a quick evasion manoeuvre. He was nning to leap back, but suddenly felt a cold sensation on his body that was covered by a warm sensation. Seeing the illusion suddenly vanished, he asked, "Wh-What was that¡­?"

    "I twirled celestial spider silk around you, and then injected my mental ne''s view into you so that you can see the exact things I see. Celestial spider silk''s cold energy has a barrier now. You should be able to see them now, right?"

    "What in th-!" Tang Ye didn''t listen to what I said. When he had a glimpse of what was up above, he asked, "What is this? Ar-Are all those swords what you see, Big Brother?''

    In that moment, Tang Ye apparently realised when I said, "If there are ten thousand words¡­"wasn''t just me making a casual remark. Unfortunately, his timing wasn''t the best, since the swords were about to make their move.

    Notes:

    *The Eighteen Arms - are the eighteen main weapons in Chinese martial arts/wushu. The list''s origins aren''t too clear. I''ve had the list told to me with some variation.

    **The Eighteen Unique Arms - This only exists in wuxia fiction. We don''t actually use the term in real life martial arts settings/schools.

    ***Taolu - set of techniques and movements. In most cases you can use "style". The challengees when we are referring to the techniques and movements of the style. A style can epass more than physical techniques; it could also epass mental cultivation. Thetter isn''t an actual movement. ordingly, there needs to be a distinction this time, because, as per Ming Feizhen''s words, he createdbat techniques, not aplete style.

    ****The meridians discussed in this chapter are actual concepts practiced in Chinese medicine. I have expanded on it slightly in the text for your understanding.

    *****Heavenly Warrior''s Halberd - I''m coining it as so, since there''s no official English trantion. Yes, it was given a name. The halberd was Lu Bu''s weapon during the Three Kingdoms era. For those who know more, it was the Halberd he hit with an arrow.

    The halberd was sorge that it was deemed impractical for most people in battle. The halberd was three metres in length. That''s why Ming Feizhen used it as the big and heavy tool topare with his true qi.

    The name of it tranted literally is Comparable to Heaven Painting Halberd. There have been countless arguments as to what its actual name should be in Chinese, but the name has remained unchanged.

    ''·½Ìì'' Archaic for "Comparable to Heaven". This is derived from the two crescent moon shaped des on it.

    ''»­êª'' Literally Painting Halberd.

    Instead of keeping it in that nonsensical English trantion, I''ve taken the meaning of parable to'', which is a reference to its appearance, and called it ''Heavenly'', since I''m arguing they''re the same thing if they''reparable but more on this in a moment.

    Then, the ''painting'' character references the extravagant decorations added to the length of the handle. I dropped the character, though. See, one of its alternative names is ·½Ììêª, meaning, "Comparable to Heaven Halberd". Another name for it is»­¸Ë·½Ììêª, meaning "Extravagant Handle Comparable to Heaven Halberd". See how the ''painting'' character isn''t attached to the halberd itself but more so the handle? I, therefore, think it''s reasonably eptable to forego the word in trantion.

    The addition of ''Warrior'' exined:

    If you look deeper into its history, you''ll find that the historical figures who wielded the halberd were all considered the mightiest warriors of their times. It begs the question: was the name describing the weapon as being amazing, or was it praising its wielder for their fearsome might? Given that the weapon was intended more for ceremonial asions thanbat due to its ridiculous weight and size, I would hazard a gaze that thetter is more probable.

    This is why ''Comparable to Heaven'' is not saying that the halberd isparable to heaven. It''s the wielder who possesses might thatpares to gods. By that logic, it deserves to be mentioned that it''s the wielders who werepared.

    ''Halberd'' is self-exnatory.

    *Jiang Ziya, Lu Ban and Zhuge Liang - Mentioned the first andst too many times now. Lu Ban was a Chinese carpenter, engineer and inventor, who was active during the Zhou Dynasty.

 Volume 5 72 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Night Net

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 72 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Night Net</h4>

    The ten-thousand swords in Ming Feizhen''s world suddenly began to vibrate as though they were starting to lose their temper. Numbers aside, owing to them being manifested via Ming Feizhen''s internal energy, their ferocity was in another realm''s to Tang Ye''s.ike rainfall, the swords fired toward themparably to shooting stars in the night sky. They tore through the air so rapidly you could hear them moving. The swords at the forefront had a red tinge on their tip, a result of zipping through the air so quickly that the friction with the air imbued the swords with fire.

    When Tang Ye saw an afterimage, he already felt the pain register as a sword sliced his skin. By that point, the swords were all within a lethal distance.

    The swords moved too swiftly for Tang Ye to keep up with. It was no different to watching a cmitye zooming down. You ran as fast as you humanly could, but your legs seemed stuck, and you couldn''t escape. It was no different to being stuck in an eternal nightmare, where you were only waiting for one moment. Death.

    Indeed, in that moment, that was the only clear thought in Tang Ye''s mind. The instant swords were about to pierce his eyes he heard a strange sound. The pain of being pierced by a rain of swords didn''t register. The experience was akin to finally hearing a sound the instant a fire went out or a candle was lit. As for feelings, it felt simr to a powerful blow sinking into a swamp and losing functioning. Perhaps a better alternativeparison was the sound of the instant a fire was put out. It was a soft sound.

    Once Tang Ye ran the above analysis through his mind, he realised he was still alive. With a forehead smothered in sweat, he looked left and right to try and rify what his situation was. His eyes finally returned to normal functioning. At the end of his search, he saw Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen was rxed as always. He even smiled for that matter. He smiled as if it had nothing to do with him. That was what answered Tang Ye''s pressing question. He saw a gigantic white spider web. The threads were so closely arranged that nothing would''ve been able to pierce through. If you could imagine, it looked no different to a of snow.

    On both ends of the web were several - or rather, dozens - of threads that were directly linked to Ming Feizhen''s sleeves. In the were the swords that came zooming down before.

    Tang Ye realised that the, or rather, Ming Feizhen, who stopped a fatal rainfall of swords.

    Ming Feizhen didn''t bother looking at the swords vibrating in the web. Instead, he turned to give Tang Ye a smile: "Careful. If you can see it, then you could potentially get hurt."

    Tang Ye was about to dodge, but when he went to move, he realised that it didn''t matter where he ran to under the pressure and magnitude of the attack. He furrowed his eyebrows. After a quick think, he swiftly took cover behind Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen smiled: "Smart kid."

    The flying swords went for round two.

    Ming Feizhen shook his celestial spider web to shake off the swords from round one and nullify round two''s attack. Celestial spider silk was impervious to fire, des and water. Hence, the previous attack didn''t damage the silk whatsoever.

    Tang Ye asked, "Big Brother¡­ you use silk threads as a weapon?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The softest thing in the world can control the toughest thing in the world," replied Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen swiftly pulled the thread used to form the web in. Then, he controlled the thread off his fingers by gradually releasing them.

    "You may have seen des break each other when they sh, but have you ever seen anyone slice running water? A thread with no power can''t be cut, can it?"

    Flying swords formed again and attacked for a third time. The third attack was different to the previous two attacks. The third attack method was totally new. The swords seem to draw on the experience from each attack for the sequential ones.

    Ming Feizhen''s threadsunched off his fingers again, as well. Over twenty threads resembling twenty whips swept through the rainfall of swords, bending the des with whipping motions. As the spider threads were thin, while the swords were wide, the threads were able to form an impregnable shield in front of Ming Feizhen. A victor, therefore, couldn''t be determined so easily.

    Tang Ye waspletely blown away by the indescribable scene before him. Curious, he asked, "What style are you using? I''ve never seen it before."

    "This is my self-invented style. It''s the only set of techniques I have for humans versus humans."

    Ming Feizhen dealt with the hundreds of swords in front of him using the silk threads in his left hand. He used it to form arge hammer. He imbued the hammer with his internal energy to then bend the swords behind him with a smash, making it difficult for them to attack. Because the sword phantoms couldn''t be maintained for long, they vanished. The swords behind him, however, began to attack again. Ming Feizhen didn''t rush or deliberately go slow as he raised the thread in his right hand.

    "I named this style Night Net Heavenly Thread."

    Ming Feizhen flicked his fiver fingers on his right hand, which had the threads perform a wave-like motion. Like a one-foot-long whip, the threads ferociously whipped the sword formation, shattering the leading sword!

    Ming Feizhen followed his previous pattern. He threw out celestial spider silk, alternating between hands, creating wave after wave, thereby knocking the swords away with ease. He continued repeating his tactic for an entire hour. He didn''tpletely destroy the flying swords; however, they couldn''t harm him, either. Ten thousand swords spawned again every time he destroyed ten thousand. Both were so strong that the shockwaves they generated each sh had Tang Ye wobbling slightly.

    Panting, Tang Ye asked, "Big Brother, repeating this on end is not a solution. Will this really dismantle the formation?"

    Ming Feizhen insipidly replied, "All of the flying swords are summoned by a Sword Sprit. Humans have a cap to how much they have in the tank but objects don''t. By the same token, Sword Sprit also has a limit. Weren''t you watching? Every round''s attack was different to the previous round. They fight the same way a swordsman does by varying their attacks."

    "I noticed," quietly replied Tang Ye. "I think they follow a set of guidelines. I started counting jut before. There are a total of thirty-eight sword formations, which matches the number of words on the white wall. That being said, the sword formations will repeat. That''s why I said continuing to counter it is not a solution."

    "Don''t you find that bizarre?" asked Ming Feizhen, knocking away another batch of flying swords. Sounding as though he figured something out, he revealed a smile of confidence: "Since they repeat, how did you manage to count there were thirty-eight sword formations so fast? If there were techniques that were repeated, how can you be so sure that there are thirty-eight formations?"

    It finally clicked for Tang Ye: "That would be attributed to the fact that the formations are executed following a set of guidelines. I counted from the first one and noticed that there were no changes for thirty-eight of them. After the thirty-eighth one, it repeated from the beginning."

    "Precisely. The sword formation follows a set of guidelines, and the guidelines are the answer to the riddle on the wall."

    Ming Feizhen suddenly switched techniques to something entirely different. But nheless, Tang Ye understood his logic. That was one of the moves from the thirty-eight sword formations. Ming Feizhen shouted: "Four!"

    Ming Feizhen''s move was executed with tremendous power. The move Ming Feizhen used was one of the formation''s masterpieces. Although Ming Feizhen wasn''t a technique specialist, having seen the move seven times, he imitated the visual aspect perfectly. His utilised a swordy resembling Night Net Heavenly Thread and managed to offer as much output as though he was using a real sword. Night Net Heavenly Thread was capable of many variations in a concerted attack, thereby increasing its power. If he was to use an actual sword, on the other hand, he would most likely fail given his skills with an actual sword.

    Once the technique from thete carving was executed, the flying swords switched to another taolu for the first time, retreating in unison. In previous attacks, they didn''t retreat even when destroyed.

    Ming Feizhenughed: "I thought so."

    Night Net Heavenly Thread continued its attacks. It switched between changing techniques, drifting, risk-taking, big and unique or nimble movements in session. However, the techniques executed were magnificent and varied greatly from technique to technique.

    "Six! Twelve! Fourteen! One by one!"

    Every single one of the techniques came from Hero Shenzhou''s swordy in the carving. The ten-thousand swords just sat there and took a beating surprisingly. Despite the profound nature of the techniques, Ming Feizhen''s horrid swordy meant he was unable to produce one-twentieth of the maximum potential. That was why it as surprising that he was able to thwart the flying swords.

    "One and three! Twenty nine! Three then one!"

    Ming Feizhen gradually overwhelmed the flying swords. All they did was retreat and retreat some more.

    Baffled, Tang Ye asked, "What''s going on?"

    "The thirty-eight moves within the formations aren''t from one style. Twenty six of the moves are from one style, but the remainder are from another style. My great grandmaster mixed two swordy styles into the text. That''s what induces the mind confusion resulting from difficulty with distinguishing. The two styles have no simrities whatsoever. The former is just a mediocre style. The former, to the contrary, is a peerless swordy. I suppose Great Grandmaster only wanted to pass down eleven moves."

    Ming Feizhen retracted his celestial spider silk. Tone rxed, he said, "I watched for the differences as I countered the iing attacks. I found that countering the twelve moves is the only way to resolve the riddle. I must say, the flying swords are so well-behaved."

    Tang Ye frowned: "Too well-behaved, you mean¡­? Why have they notpletely backed off yet?"

    After thest move, the swords kept retreated further and further away until they were blocked by the roof. Zhaixing Hall was originally built for stargazing, which was why the ceiling was higher than the imperial pce. The swords retreated to the roof as if they were creating space for a run up or something.

    Ming Feizhen was bewildered by the swords'' retreat. Nevertheless, he quicklyprehended their aim: "They''re preparing to kill the people in the room. This is thest blow Great Grandmaster set in ce. The swords were created from my mentality; they''lle raining down with my internal energy."

    Eyebrows drawn together, Tang Ye asked, "So it''ll kill you even if you figure out the secret? What''s the point of forcing someone to solve it, then?"

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: "How would I know? I can''t do anything about his wilfulness."

    "Will you¡­ be able to take thest strike?"

    Ming Feizhen dodged the question. He, instead, calmly said, "You know, I created seven different uses for Night Net Heavenly Thread. Each function was created with my lifetime of knowledge and diligence. I call them Seven King Threads."

    "Wait! What''s the point of you telling me that now? The swords areing!"

    *Whiz!*ike a death goding for their lives, the first sword speared down from the night sky far in the distance.

    Ming Feizhen stared intently at the materialised metal flying sword. He gently shifted his head ever so slightly for it to pass him by a hairbreadth, literally. Tang Ye''s heart stopped beating for the split second.

    "Who told you there''s no point in me telling you? There''s nothing more important than it."

    "Wait! Herees another!"

    They had no chances to catch their breaths, for more flying swords flew toward them with more force than ever before. With doomsdaying down on them, Tang Ye suddenly felt as though he was familiar with the feeling. He pinpointed that the feeling was the same as the one Ming Feizhen gave him during their duel. He asked himself how he was supposed to defend against an attack with Ming Feizhen''s internal energy inbination with Hero Shenzhou''s swordy. Before he could find an answer, he heard a quiet voice by his ear.

    "There is nothing gentler than water. There is no gap it cannot seep into. Water is supple, fluid and silent, yet can big and violent. There is nothing that can stop water," recited Ming Feizhen, eyes shut.

    By the time Ming Feizhen finished reciting the manual''s activation chant, the flying swords were right at his forehead. However, he opened his eyes in thest moment: "Water King Thread."

    The formidable swords suddenly pulled back! Look closer and one could see threads attached to the sword handles. When Ming Feizhen had his eyes shut, the celestial spider thread seemingly came to life and left its nest totch on to ces it needed to. As a consequence, the flying swords were caught in their traps once they moved. The thread then began to act unusual. One would be questioning their eyes if they witnessed it, but it was happening. The thread suddenly showed suppleness and fluidityparable to water.

    Ming Feizhen previously wielded the celestial spider thread simrly to a rope, yet he now used it as if it was running water. The waves moved the flying swords aside. The rainfall of swords encountered what couldpare to waterfalls that stopped its assault. Ming Feizhen kept releasing threads that replicated the movement of flowing water, throwing the swords into disarray. As opposed to wielding the threads as single strands, they were collected and replicated ocean waves.

    The swords fell, but they didn''t just fall; they appeared as though they sunk deep down below the ocean, losing their ability to inflict harm. In spite of the strategy, the sword rainfall continued. That resulted in a deadlock between the swords and Ming Feizhen. Fortunately, Water King Threads'' potential didn''t end there.

    Ming Feizhen rotated his hands, thereby rotating the celestial spider thread in the air in reverse. The swords drown in the sea floating overhead began to rotate. The flow of water grew turbulent and gradually turned into a whirlpool. The swords caught in its rotational force were dragged into the whirlpool. New flying swords were then absorbed, producing an evenrger whirlpool. As the whirlpool expanded, it collected more swords, subsequently increasing the whirlpool''s dimensions infinitely.

    The ten-thousand swords fell against their will until none were left. Eventually, only a whirlpool remained above. With a squeeze of his left hand, Ming Feizhen stopped the lengthening of the thread. Gradually but eventually, the whirlpool slowed and recollected as a mass of thread, consequently stopping any spinning all together. Peace was returned. In the centre was a collection of what bore a resemnce to bugs.

    "It''s over." Ming Feizhen closed his hand and executed a downward yank.

    The thread fastened around the flying swords was fastened as tight as they could. Thus, when Ming Feizhen yanked on the thread, the thread reduced them to bits of metal that rained. The sight was akin to stars falling. They vanished when theynded.

    The white wall covered in text never looked so normal before. It wouldn''t be surprising if the Emperor was ecstatic to see the wall appear so ordinary. Someone finally solved the riddle Hero Shenzhou left in the imperial pce for over two decades.

    Ming Feizhen and Tang Ye''s Sword Spirit vanished without a trace. They overcame the illusion through sheer brute force. Ming Feizhen''s two years of assiduous contemtion finally bore fruit. Night Net Heavenly Thread was finallyplete.

    Ming Feizhen looked up at the sky of silver rain then looked down at his hand. He muttered under his breath, "Have I grown strong?"

    Tang Ye folded his arms. He peered at the bright full moon outside. Sounding bored out of his skin, he grumbled, "Feels surreal."

    Notes:

    *Thirty Eight Formations - Again, this is going by the English word count. You want me to keep it or go for thirty four? I''ve had to make a number of edits to the numbers to match the English.

    Verdict:

    (A) Stick to the Chinese and ept that the English and Chinese don''t match.

    (B) Alter the counts in Chinese to match the English count at the cost of absolute precision in trantion.

 Volume 5 73 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Demolition Demon

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 73 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Demolition Demon</h4>

    Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual was a special manual Gold and Silver Sect''s ancestor formted for the sake of trying to rule martial arts. To be precise, he was focused mainly onpeting against Hero Shenzhou.

    Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual possessed immense potential and was very profound. It empowered one to mix and match styles with totally different foundations, origins and even opposing key points. Usually, this wasn''t possible for a single person to achieve. Once the practitioner was able to take it to its absolute maximum potential, they could even immediately replicate a style they just saw. The manual went on to be what Gold and Silver Sect was most reputable for in terms of martial arts.

    There was never a shortage of bizarre styles in the pugilistic world. Schools created styles that were designed to conquer other style or certain aspects. For instance, trying to master a dao and Buddhist style simultaneously was extremely challenging. As another example, orthodox and unorthodox styles were markedly challenging to try and master simultaneously. Gold Crow Moon Eater Manual eliminated those shes and melded the various styles together. Nobody had ever done that before. The aplishment also contributed to the reasons they were crowned as one of the Seven Champion White Princes.

    Despite sounding very flexible, as you might now assume, its mental cultivation was preposterously rigid. It insisted on following a set development route. As such, all those who trained in Golden Crow Moon Eater were always addicted to two things, namely women and pills.

    Owing to Golden Crow Moon Eater''s rigid mental cultivation approach, they were able tobine multiple styles together - which meant that the more advanced they were, the more they needed to regte their Yin and Yang Qis. That was the reason Huo n was absolutely necessary to them, for they could provide their Taiyin Pills and women. That being said, that applied to only the average practitioners of the manual.

    A modest number of those who had the right to practice the manual would be in the hundreds. Those who mastered its full potential, however, were far and few between.

    The reason the manual was called Golden Crow Moon Eater was connected to Pacify the World de, Golden Crow Moon Eater. As a reminder, The Seven Dynasty-Founding des all had unique attributes. Golden Crow Moon Eater was given its name due to a very frightening attribute that it had. Said ability was absorbing one''s internal energy.

    It didn''t absorb internal energy to boost the wielder''s attributes. Instead, it turned the de into the wielder. In essence, it could steal its enemy''s internal energy, and use it to boost one''s own attack power. However, Gold and Silver Sect''s ancestor used it in a different way.

    When Gold and Silver Sect''s ancestor invented Golden Crow Moon Eater, he was inspired by the de. So ordingly, the qi control method bore a striking resemnce to the way the de absorbed other''s internal energy.

    Once one reached the peak of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual, if the enemy also used it, then whoever wielded Golden Crow Moon Eater could absorb the other''s internal energy for themselves.

    Because Gold and Silver Sect''s ancestor possessed superior internal energy that was rarely ever matched, he originally only used the absorption method as a means of punishing traitors. Practicing it forbat did more harm than good.

    Due to the overbearing nature of the manual, if the user was to add another''s internal energy into the mix, they may have more energy than they could control. The consequence of that would be enhanced physical attributes at the cost of losing their mind. They would turn into a fighting machine that would only be capable of that, fighting.

    In Gold and Silver Sect''s history, they were faced with extermination numerous times. Each time, the patriarch would be forced to sacrifice disciples to bring the killing machine under control. The killing machine was called Golden Crow Demolition Demon.

    ========

    "Get moving."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A stocky man irritably gave the weak Jin Wangsun a shove, leading to thetter staggering and nearly tripping. His long hair covered his face. The guard cursed as he pestered Jin Wangsun to move. Interestingly, the guard wore his uniform slovenly. The guard was none other than Long Zaitian, who guarded the imperial pce''s main doors before.

    Two members of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons were assigned as Jin Wangsun''s escorts. One was rank fourteen, Unbreakable, Bai Laimu, who was from the Emperor''s entourage and ranked fourteenth. The other escort was rank seventeen''s The Dragon That Soars the Sky, Long Zaitian.

    The new rankings saw Heaven Shocker Holy Hands rise to sixteenth ce. Meanwhile, Long Zaitian was assigned the spare seat. In addition, he had to run errands for the Emperor during his free time. People in the imperial court started conspiracy theories about Long Zaitian''s fall from grace. ording to them, he supposedly offended someone he shouldn''t have. Though Long Zaitian was usually arrogant to a degree, he was a descendant of family of government officials, implying they knew what to say and what not to say. That was why they didn''t dare to guess who he offended. In the end, they had no choice but to me Liu Shan''s gue.

    Now that''s addressed, let us address Former Vice-Captain Long''s frustration and anger. He was on guard duty at the door for two days straight, including on New Year''s Eve''s night. When he was finally allowed to go home, Eunuch Wang approached him and ordered him to escort Jin Wangsun¡­

    Great Long Zaitian was furious! Jin Wangsun was an eyesore to him; therefore, after hearing that Jin Wangsun allegedly deceived the Emperor and was going to lose his patriarch seat, he made sure to take every advantage he could to kick the downed man, and let him know the great Long Zaitian was still the wolf warrior.

    With a sigh, Long Zaitian poked Jin Wangsun in the head repetitively while braying: "Hey, does Gold and Silver Sect not feed you or something? Why are you so slow? What are you keeping your head down all the time for? I''m talking to you! Hey, hey, hey!! Answer me!"

    Jin Wangsun put up with all of Long Zaitian''s abuse in silence. Long Zaitian, on the other hand, relished the joy of poking Jin Wangsun. At the same time, he was looking for something to give Jin Wangsun more grief about. However, the man next to him intervened: "Officer Long, he is a criminal but has a special status, nheless. I do not think your behaviour is appropriate, wouldn''t you agree?"

    The man who spoke up was in his early twenties. He was a handsome man with anky appearance. He had his trusted broadsword by his waist. His tone was polite; however, his attitude didn''t align, and he was stern. That said, he seemedid back. He was the man with the alias "Unbreakable". He was rank fourteen on The Seventeen Hidden Dragons'' rankings, Bai Laimu. He was young, true, but he hailed from a respectable n, namely one of the Seven Champion White Princes, Canyon of Yearning''s Bai n. He established himself as the lightning-fast broadsword wielder in the pugilistic world. They called nicknamed him "Gale sher".

    He may have resembled a schr, but he was not a pushover. The fact that he ranked higher than Long Zaitian said something. Either of them could match Jin Wangsun, which was why they were assigned.ong Zaitian giddily chuckled: "Young Hero Bai, his crime is deceiving His Majesty. Do you realise how mad the Emperor is with him? I''m giving him some grief to vent on behalf of His Majesty. Why do you want to stick up for him?"

    "All right, then." Bai Laimu smiled. A witty idea came to mind: "In saying that, what if he has some sort of ailment afterwards or gets hurt? If His Majesty questions people and finds out you were responsible, how much do you think you will have to shoulder?"

    Jin Wangsun''s crime was directly connected to the Emperor. The Emperor never mentioned what he''d do with Jin Wangsun. Jin Wangsun''s status was rather special. It, therefore, was unlikely the Emperor would have him executing. Poisoning him and then exining that he was sick, and therefore would be recuperating at the capital for a year or half a decade was a usible n, though. If Long Zaitian gave Jin Wangsun grief now and news of it reached the Emperor, the former would turn into a scapegoat.ong Zaitian believed that logic of his to be sound the more he contemted it: "Young Hero Bai, surely you jest. This one never hit him. It was clearly he who tripped."ong Zaitian then stood properly next to Jin Wangsun, looked at him and pretended as though he never touched him.

    Bai Laimu couldn''t resist the urge to shake his head. He then turned to Jin Wangsun: "Master Jin, we are in charge of escorting you, so we will treat you fairly and justly. We will not harm or insult you. Having said that, we need you to cooperate. If you try to run away or try anything inappropriate, then we are sorry. His Majesty clearly stated that the two of us have permission to kill. I, therefore, would like to ask you to cooperate.

    Jin Wangsun hid his face behind his hair and responded, "Uhm."

    Bai Laimu responded, "Great."

    The group slowly headed back to the ce Jin Wangsun stayed. It was formerly surrounded by Shuntian Prefecture''s men and patrolled by Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men''s supervisors inside, but they were all recalled before today. Nevertheless, guards were outside when they arrived. Clearly, the Emperor had ns to deal with Jin Wangun. Many of his adepts were inside. The Emperor had his men seize the ce after Jin Wangsun entered the pce. Gold and Silver Sect''s family ves and martial arts adepts were all apprehended, restrained and thrown into the filthy firewood room.

    Jin Wangsun''s family ves didn''t panic when they saw him. As Gold and Silver Sect''s ves, they had to be considerate and prioritise their master. They knew Jin Wangsun''s rtionship with the imperial court was of utmost importance. ordingly, they obediently allowed themselves to be apprehended when the imperial court''s members arrested them. They, however, never imagined Jin Wangsun would also be apprehended.

    Jin Wangsun sent his ves an eye signal. Those who saw it shuddered. They revealed mncholic expressions. Long Zaitian wanted to put Jin Wangsun in a separate room; however, Jin Wangsun suddenly bellowed, "Long Zaitian, I''m done taking sh*t from you!"

    He leapt up and aimed a punch toward Long Zaitian''s nose! Being fast as he was, Long Zaitian wouldn''t let Jin Wangsun, who also couldn''t ess his internal energy for the meantime,nd his punch. He performed a chopping motion toward Jin Wangsun''s arm, but thetter altered the trajectory, causing Long Zaitian to miss. Jin Wangsun''s technique was Night Net Book''s The Shoulder Belongs to Me Grand Art, the derivative of Daluo''s Empty Palms.

    Owing to hisck of internal energy, Jin Wangsun''s palm attackcked its usual lustre. He circled around Long Zaitian''s arm to hit Long Zaitian on the left cheek. Itcked any internal strength, so it didn''t hurt. Still, it was a sonorous p.

    You could imagine the look on Long Zaitian''s face after he was caught by someone without any internal energy: "That one was free!"ong Zaitian front kicked Jin Wangsun straight into the firewood room.

    Bai Laimu drew his broadsword and raced over and held it up to Jin Wangsun''s neck: "I warned you! If you resist, you will be killed! Master Jin, are you ignoring this one''s warnings?!"

    Jin Wangsun struggled to lift his head. He snickered: "Young Hero Bai, you are impartial; for that, Jin Wangsun admires you. However, Officer Long is taking his bullying too far. Jin Wangsun is a man with pride. How can Jin Wangsun allow him to just insult Jin Wangsun?"

    Bai Laimu said to himself, "So it was an emotional response. They say the Qilin Guards are overbearing and unreasonable. I see that there is truth to it. Troublemakers."

    Jin Wangsun then added, "This one admits to his wrongs. If His Majesty wishes to punish this one, this one will be happy to oblige. However, that does not give others the right to assume His Majesty''s authority as his own. Jin Wangsun has always wholeheartedly served the imperial court. The heavens can prove Jin Wangsun''s innocence. Time will prove everything."

    Bai Laimu sheathed his broadsword then helped Jin Wangsun up. He was impressed with Jin Wangsun, reason being thetter maintained his refined conduct despite having charges pressed against him and was ced under arrest.

    Jin Wangsun was quite hurt by Long Zaitian''s kick. He had to lean on the table and chair. He couldn''t move; he panted quite heavily. His face was bright red, which was a sign of him suffering an internal injury.

    Bai Laimu said, "Master Jin has suffered an injury. As such, there is no need to find him a room. Let him rest here."

    "Stop!" interjected Long Zaitian, startled. He cursed, "Don''t you try feigning ignorance to bullsh*t me, you shifty worm."ong Zaitian yanked Jin Wangsun out with one arm.

    Bai Laimu and Jin Wangsun were both rendered dumbstruck, but Long Zaitian blustered, "My eyes have been refined in the former Emperor''s furnace, you smart ass! You''ve been acting dubiously ever since we entered. Your gaze has been focused on those crook ves of yours ever since. You deliberately provoked me into kicking your sorry ass into the firewood room so that you could be locked together with your cronies. If my suspicions about your trying to pull some sh*t are wrong, I''ll change my official surname to Dagang (Big Vat) to match yours!"

    Bai Laimu might''ve been young, but he wasn''t stupid. When he weighed what Long Zaitian said with what transpired, he found that Long Zaitian''s reasoning was perfectly sound. See, if Jin Wangsun wanted tosh out, why choose the moment they reached the firewood room of all times? Would there really be something so perfectly coincidental in real life? It was fishy.

    "That is tant nder!" argued Jin Wangsun, trying to break free of Long Zaitian''s hold while his face was still red. He fumed, "I, Jin Wangsun, have nothing to be guilty of! If you don''t believe me, I shall kill them to prove my loyalty to His Majesty!"

    Jin Wangsun tried to snatch Golden Crow Moon Eater from Bai Laimu all of a sudden. Unsurprisingly, thetter stopped him. Jin Wangsun seemed to be blinded by his rage. He ignored Bai Laimu''s hold on it and dragged thetter along as he swung it down onto his ve!

    Pacify the World de was renowned for its sharp edge. Despite Bai Laimu''s quick reaction and backward yank, the de already sliced into the servant''s skull, sttering his blood on the ground. Never in Bai Laimu''s wildest imagination did he think Jin Wangsun would actually kill one of his own at the drop of a hat. He was stunned by the sudden kill. Meanwhile, Jin Wangsun impaled the servant''s corpse with the de. He wore a freaky smile on his blood-stained face.

    "Are you crazy?!"

    Bai Laimu felt a chill down his spine. He moulded energy to try and snatch Golden Crow Moon Eater back to no avail. He increased his output by a third, but it still wouldn''t budge. In what shape or form was that the state of a man without the ability to use his internal energy?

    "You!!"ong Zaitian belted, "What a son of a bitch!"

    Wasting no time with words, Long Zaitianunched a punch toward Jin Wangsun''s face. Thetter had his two hands on Golden Crow Moon Eater, and therefore copped the full brunt of Long Zaitian''s punch that sent him stumbling. He was tall; he wasn''t shorter than Long Zaitian for sure, but the punch sent him far as if he couldn''t stand the force. Nevertheless, he kept a vice-like grip on Golden Crow Moon Eater.

    Jin Wangsun fell into the pile of firewood; however, he managed to jump to his feet as if it didn¡¯t even tickle.

    Bai Laimu drew his broadsword and got into his guard stance. He shouted, ¡°He has regained his strength! Officer Long, be careful!¡±ong Zaitian could tell that things didn¡¯t bode well. He clenched his fists and prepared to use his signature Song of Evesting Regret Fist.

    The two hidden dragons were prepared forbat.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t even spare them a nce. Instead, he stabbed his sabre through another family ve. His face was red enough for one to suspect it might implode, yet he didn''t seem to suffer any difort in the slightest. If anything, his smile resembled one of a maniac under the influence of some drug.

    Even more bizarre was that the family ve he just thrust his sabre in didn''t show any pain. His ve appeared as though he knew it wasing. He looked nonchnt despite death awaiting him. Afterwards, however, the ve groaned tragically for a short moment. The pain wasn''t one he could ovee just by calming his mind. Jin Wangsun didn''t let him die so peacefully.

    The spot the ve was impaled began to shrink simrly to a scene of someone having their blood and life essence sucked out of them. Very soon, he was just a dry corpse. The other corpse was also in an identical state.ong Zaitian and Bai Laimu both felt a chill down their spin. They were both seasoned veterans of the pugilistic world. It was the first time they witnessed some so unorthodox and freaky, nevertheless. To add, it was one of the Seven Champion White Princes who did it.

    Golden Crow Moon Eater''s de began to glow demonically as if it was nourished. Jin Wangsun swung his sabre, littering the air he sliced with blood and unleashed a gale at the same time. Bai Laimu and Long Zaitian were both surprised that they almost lost their bnce.

    "This is the pinnacle of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. It''s called Golden Crow Demolition Demon. Not only have I regained my strength but also increased it beyond what I previously had," exined Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun''s red face turned redder. With a viinous smile, he asked, "So, who''s first?"

    ========

    Princess Hongzhuang and her sister went to search for their father on their own, since he didn''t return after their conversation. Unexpectedly, their father had already returned to Yangxin Pce. He wasn''t surprised they went to see him, either. To be fair, he knew his daughters.

    Among his three daughters, Jingan was the most aplished, while his youngest daughter was doted on most. For some reason, nheless, he felt Hongzhuang resembled him most. There was a time he was as driven as she was.

    "You''vee, Hongzhuang."

    "Father¡­ I¡­"

    "Hahaha, I know you have many question on your mind, correct? Come over and have some tea with me. I''ll exin it to you."

    The Emperor then recounted Jin Wangsun''s deeds, his set up to convict Jin Wangsun and the reasons for the various events to Hongzhuang.

    Hongzhuang was stunned when she heard the entire story. It never urred to her that there were so many intricacies, twists and turns. Jin Wangsun wanted to marry her to receive the imperial court''s assistance; she knew that. What she didn''t know was that there was already a contest for power in the martial world far away. She also didn''t know her father was involved with it.

    "Also," said the Emperor, stroking his beard. "Hong''er, I can tell that you don''t like Jin Wangsun, nor do you want to marry him. Obviously, I don''t want to betroth you to the useless Ming Feizhen, either. Only those two and I know the results of today''s contest. Jin Wangsun has fallen from power. I''ll give Ming Feizhen his warning tomorrow. Thus, your betrothal is cancelled. Don''t worry. As long as I''m here, you''ll be able to find a suitable husband."

    "I am not worried about that. I am not very eager to be married. I want to continue pursuing mastery of the sabre."

    That being said, she was strangely disappointed to learn that her marriage to Ming Feizhen was cancelled. At the end of the day, she hadn''t confirmed his identity yet.

    The Emperor started rambling. Hong''er was a strong-headed and loved sabre arts since she was a child. If she really went off as a wanderer to pursue the pinnacle of sabre arts, she might''ve ended up dying as a lonely woman. She didn''t want that.

    The two conversed for a while. Hongzhuang then asked, "Jin Wangsun and his subordinate, A Hu, are both skilled and should not be underestimated. Father, will two people really be enough?"

    The Emperor chuckled: "Hong''er, don''t underestimate the two I sent. Bai Laimu may be young, but his skills with a broadsword sit among the top-tier. He is from no ounts inferior to Jin Wangsun. Long Zaitian looks abrasive no the surface, but, in reality, he''s courageous and meticulous. He is unquestionably talented. A Hu has surrendered himself. Therefore, the two of them can definitely escort Jin Wangsun, who has lost his internal energy, without any hurdles."

    "Reporting!" said Eunuch Wang, hurriedly running into the pce out of the blue.

    "Your Majesty, we have trouble!"

    "What is it, Wang Tushui? It''s the middle of the night; this is unbing."

    "Y-Yes, Your Majesty, your servant has neglected the formalities," replied Eunuch Wang, panic-stricken. "But this is a serious problem, Your Majesty. J-Jin Wangsun suddenly went mad at his guesthouse. He snatched Golden Crow Moon Eater, freed his subordinates and dozens of other warriors. He has gone on a massacre! By the time backup arrived, he already escaped with his subordinates. He has reportedly gone off to Liu Shan Men!"

    Notes:

    *Wolf Warrior - A new term in Chinese used as English''s equivalent of "Like a boss," or "Like a soldier" and so forth.

    **Long Zaitian''s Refined Eyes Joke - I didn''t realise people missed it, but it seems we don''t have many xianxia readers here. Anyway, oftentimes in xianxia, characters refined pills in cauldrons/furnaces. This is also referenced in some wuxia/history/war genre stories with the immortality pursuers. The aim of refining the pills in cauldrons was to power them up. Long Zaitian is, therefore, trying to say he has a pair of all-seeing eyes.

    ***Yangxin Pce - Literally Pce of Tranquillity.

 Volume 5 74 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Demonisation

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 74 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Demonisation</h4>

    "Ah!"

    Hisst family ve broke the night''s silence with an ear-splitting cry. Jin Wangsun finally absorbed hisst family ve''s energy into his own body. Golden Crow Demon Demolition Technique was originally a method used for punishing traitors, which makes the pain associated with it self-exnatory.

    Golden Crow Moon Eater''s energy absorption ability was an overpowered skill. Thebination of ck iron and Jin Wangsun''s energy assisting sucked the family ve''s energy dry by force. Not even his corpse was recognisable by the time Jin Wangsun was done. That was supposed to be part of the punishment to deter others from harbouring simr ideas. Jin Wangsun, however, used it to massacre his loyal family ves, which was at odds with what its purpose was when it was invented. Truly ironic.

    Jin Wangsun''s eyes looked swollen and red. He discharged energy from his body. He devoured the energy of over a dozen of Gold and Silver Sect''s adept''s energies in one sitting. The family ves were no match for him as individuals, but the sum of their internal energy was not aughing matter.

    Jin Wangsun couldn''t house such potent true qi. Consequently, he expanded his body to squeeze it in. His muscles were bulged, filling out his clothing. In fact, they almost burst out of his clothing. He was a handsome and radiant man, yet he transformed himself into a hideous beast. His head was tiny, while his body was bulky. To put him into perspective, imagine popping a head on top of a fully-filled balloon. Try arguing that didn''t look bizarre. Golden Crow Moon Eater was a huge sabre even for him, yet it was a perfect fit with his new size.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As Jin Wangsun ughtered dozens of people with his sabre and sucked his family ves who trained Golden Crow Moon Eater dry, he brimmed with blood, and his killing intent intensified.

    Jin Wangsun yanked his sabre out from hisst family ve. His family ve didn''t give any reaction, because he was a dry corpse - minus the blood still pouring out of the hole in his body. The sabre had a velvet feel after he pulled it out.

    Jin Wangsun killed dozens of warriors at his abode, trained Golden Crow Demolition Demon mental cultivation and absorbed the internal energy of all his family ves who ever practiced Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. The ves were mentally prepared for it when Jin Wangsun decided to teach it to them of his own volition. They were essentially energy vessels reserved for their young master. It was only a question of when they would need to sacrifice themselves for him. With his skill, he remained invincible.

    Golden Crow Demolition Demon''s core principle was ruthless, violent and overbearing. Due to Huo Qing''er''s actions, Jin Wangsun didn''t get to consume Taiyin Pills for months, leading to a severe imbnce between his Yin and Yang qis. To top it off, he mastered Golden Crow Demolition Demon. He was the craziest in all of history ever since the invention of the technique.

    Jin Wangsun''s head felt as if it''d split. The excess qi began to flow in reverse, altering his appearance into a hideous freak. Like a madman, he kept mumbling to himself: "Damn it¡­ Ming Feizhen¡­ Ming Feizhen¡­"

    A Hu didn''t focus on mastering the sabre, and never learnt Golden Crow Moon Eater. For that reason, he managed to avoid sharing the same fate as the other family ves. The big man calmly said, "Young Master, it is time we got going."

    Jin Wangsun panted quietly. His eyes were blood-red, and he was dying for some blood: "Let''s go¡­ Let''s go¡­ Ming Feizhen¡­ Liu Shan Men¡­"

    ========

    On a peaceful night at Liu Shan Men.

    Su Xiao just had a bath. His white skin had a light pink tinge. His luscious hair was tied into a ponytail behind him. Overall, his appearance was lively and mischievous, yet didn''t detract from his adorable side. He was an aplished young constable and had a bright future ahead. Martial arts'' skills aside, he was in the middle of his journey to mastering the mental cultivation for internal strength that Ming Feizhen taught him. His potential and his character made him a splendid constable candidate.

    Su Xiao wasn''t afraid of hard work; he just had a habit that didn''t bode well at the office. He was a clean freak. He couldn''t stand going a day without cleaning himself. He was fussier about being clean than the female constables. With that said, he didn''t get to be so fussy when he had to work. That wasn''t to mention that he was stuck around men at Liu Shan Men''s office. It was bearable in winter, but it was intolerable in summer. It stunk to the high heavens. As a consequence, Su Xiao had to have a bath every night regardless of howte it was before he turned in.

    Once he finished cleaning and drying himself, he peered at the full moon. He let himself be lost in his own thoughts for a while. Then, he wiped his face with a towel and stood in ce for a while. Once he was invigorated, he eximed, "Uhm! I''ll go with that arrangement! I''ll congratte Big Brother Ming tomorrow!"

    Su Xiao then headed back to his room whilst humming a tune.

    "It''ste, yet you''re still not asleep?"

    "Eh?" Su Xiao spun around to see a drop-dead gorgeous young woman. She was dressed in a light blue shirt. The fact that she wore a thin shirt despite it being winter was a testament to her profound internal strength. The fact eluded Su Xiao, unfortunately. He, instead, reacted surprised: "Y-You''re Big Brother Ming''s gugu! Wait, y-you are Miss Juese!"

    Ming Suwen once visited Liu Shan Men as Miss Juese to ask for information on Ming Feizhen. Coming and going from Liu Shan Men without a soul noticing was no challenge whatsoever for Ming Suwen with her skills.

    "What nonsense, silly child," said Ming Suwen, giggling. "Don''t make things up. I am not his gugu. I am¡­ his young shiyi."

    Su Xiao hastily nodded: "Ooohh, hello, Shiyi. I am Su Xiao. Wait, we''ve already met. Please pardon me. I don''t have a very good memory, hehehe."

    Miss Juese giddily giggled: "Okay now, don''t call me that. You make me sound old. You and Ming Feizhen aren''t fellow disciples, either, so just call me ''Sister''."

    Su Xiao obediently nodded: "Sister Juese."

    "Good boy."

    "But, Sister, what are you here for? Big Brother Ming isn''t in tonight."

    "I know. He''s at the imperial pce, right?" Ming Suwen''s eyes darted around as she surveyed the entire ce: "You will have an uninvited guest tonight. I am here to protect you."

    "Huh? An uninvited guest? No, we don''t have one," replied Su Xiao, baffled. He said, "I am the only one here. Oh, and the tub of water. I just finished my path. Everyone else has gone to bed."

    "Silly child, that is because they are not here, yet. I came straight here after receiving intelligence from the imperial pce. I think¡­"

    Ming Suwen cut herself off and moved to Su Xiao''s side to protect him as if she smelt someone approaching: "He''s here."

    The moon was nice. There wasn''t a cloud in sight - just a huge golden ball falling from the sky.

    A dark silhouette zipped over using an unusual movement art! He was remarkably fast yet light. He used an immense amount of power to propel himself forward. His movement could bepared to a fired cannonball.

    Jin Wangsun''s true qi radiated from his bulky body. He used Night Steps from Night Net Book. Night Steps was a unique internal strength cultivation manual that helped the weak gradually build up their physical strength. Jin Wangsun''s internal energy was topped off. Since he also utilised Night Steps, he had the Eastern wind on bolstering him. He went so fast that he even struggled to stay bnced.

    Ming Suwen and Su Xiao were both perplexed by Jin Wangsun''s appearance. Ming Suwen grabbed Su Xiao''s arm in case he rashly tried to attack.

    Jin Wangun had an evenrger man behind him, namely A Hu, except Jin Wangsun''s appearance stood out. Therefore, they didn''t notice. Ming Suwen and Su Xiao nearly froze in ce. It took a while before Su Xiao finally blurted, "I-Is he Jin Wangsun? Why does he look, like that?"

    "He has lost his mind and turned to the dark side," answered Ming Suwen, keeping watch on Jin Wangsun and A Hu''s movements. Voice calm, she added, "I raced here after I received news from A Jiu, who is in the pce. He said Jin Wangsun used an unorthodox style to drain people of their strength. I don''t know what the facts are, but it''s close enough."

    Jin Wangsun ran across the rooftops. His qi radiating from his body was indomitable. Every step he took left his footprints deep in whatever he stepped on. Hended heavily in the courtyard. He took a look to see two beautiful women.

    Jin Wangsun''s mind was foggy from the influence of the mass of energy, but he vaguely remembered one of them was the woman he saw at Celestial Beauty Boat. She was the one who tricked Huo Qing''er intoing to the capital. The other woman was one of Liu Shan Men''s constables. Apparently, she was very important to Ming Feizhen. He smiled evilly and began tough. Hisughter resembled an owl''s stifled hoot; it wasparable to a mournful cry. Jin Wangsun''s tone, though, was rage from deep down.

    "Die!" Jin Wangsun fastened his grip on Golden Crow Moon Eater and took a swing!

    "Let''s go!"

    Ming Suwen grabbed Su Xiao and evaded the range of the sh in simr manner to a swan goose. As soon as they evaded the sh, they heard things behind them breaking sequentially. Jin Wangsun went on a rampage, shing the wall behind him, windows and door pirs! The fact that he cut them all with one sh demonstrated the des matchless sharp edge, but just as frightening was the tremendous might he swung the sabre with.

    After missing his initial attack, Jin Wangsun thundered, "Where are you running to, you bitch!" before performing his next swift sh.

    Ming Suwen remained absolutely calm. She dodged the sh by a hair''s breadth. The de appeared as though it grazed her, but only the shockwave managed to catch a few strands. She only had to make the smallest mistake to see her body separated from her head. Nevertheless, she remained absolutely calm as she utilised clever footwork simr to butterflies flying between flowers to get away from Jin Wangsun''s side.

    Su Xiao''s skills were notches below the two, and hence, could only do his best to follow along.

    "You''re not getting away!"

    Jin Wangsun unleashed three consecutive shes in arcing motions. As The King of Sabres of Jiangnan, Jin Wangsun''s skills with a sabre were as elite as ever - even when his rationality was downgraded. Each of his three shes was executed using different techniques from different schools. Thanks to Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual''s system, he was able to blend them in toplement each other perfectly. His execution of varying styles was superior to Tang Ye''s method of using various styles in session.

    Miss Juese evaded the first two much easierpared to the previous attack; however, A Hu watched closely from the side. She couldn''t ensure Su Xiao''s safety if she let him go, consequently forcing her to drag him along whilst slipping Jin Wangsun''s iing attacks.

    Ming Suwen was frustrated, as she was in such a rush that she didn''t have time to grab a weapon. She wasn''t familiar with Liu Shan Men''s office. Without a proper weapon, she couldn''t fight back against Golden Crow Moon Eater.

    Suddenly, a bellow from someone with a clear and strong voice reached the battlefield.

    "Jin Bastard Wangsun! Back your ass up! How dare you even think about hurting my grand martial aunt!"

    "What insolence! Fight me for another three-hundred rounds!"

    "Jin Wangsun, we have you surrounded here. Surrender now!"

    Three individuals zoomed over and came down from the rooftop. Providing reinforcements was Hongjiu. Hongjiu had no time to inform Ming Feizhen, who was amidst trying to solve a riddle, and bolted back to Liu Shan Men. The other two in the trio were the two who were defeated and had to flee, Long Zaitian and Bai Laimu. The three didn''te together. Lai Baimu and Long Zaitian needed a short respite, thereby arrivingter.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t show a single tinge of fear. Instead, he maniacallyughed and discharged his internal energy, shaking even the rooftops: "Perfect timing. Troublemaking clowns and misfits I defeated already. You''re all gathered up for me to destroy. Now isn''t that fantastic?!"

    Notes:

    *Golden Crow - Commonly, this would be the three-legged crow. The reason it shouldn''t be a three-legged crow in this scenario is because it has nothing to do with the folklore behind it. To the contrary, it has much more to do with the gold colour it is often depicted as. Now, there''s also Jin Wangsun''s usage of gold for his weapons and the sect''s name. This is why three-legged crow would be nonsense its trantion here.

    *Darksteel - This is a made up word. It made its first appearance earlier in the volume when Ming Feizhen first spoke about smithing material rarity.

 Volume 5 75 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Subduing Dragon

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 75 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Subduing Dragon</h4>

    Hongjiu andpany realised the dire situation the moment they arrived on the scene. Jin Wangsun engaged Ming Suwen and Su Xiao. The others couldn''t join the fray, as Jin Wangsun''s sabre was too close to them. Distance mattered, as there was no space for them to jump in given the dimensions of Golden Crow Moon Eater and Ming Suwen''s close evasions. If they tried to intervene, they''d only be asking to be cut. They, therefore, couldn''t do anything.

    Jin Wangsun inflicted heavy damage on Long Zaitian and Bai Mi after he gained a sudden boost in strength. Thanks to Long Zaitian''s discerning eyes, he determined Jin Wangsun used the restrained ves to boost his strength and fled before Jin Wangsun could kill the both of them.

    They instantly recognised that Ming Suwen wouldn''t have any chances of escaping her predicament if A Hu entered the fight. As such, the two, motivated bypelling obligation, made sure A Hu couldn''t intervene. A Hu had a rough time trying to handle two of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons at the same time.

    Ming Suwen was able to strike a perfect bnce and regain her footing despite her initial struggle. The previous Jin Wangsun was no match for her martial prowess; however, he was different than usual tonight. He possessed the internal energy of over a dozen adepts trained in Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual in addition to Golden Crow Moon Eater, making up the ultimatebination. His might was among the supreme adepts. In terms of sheer might alone, he was most probably mightier than Jia Yunfeng after he awakened in his duel against Ming Feizhen in the imperial pce.

    Ming Suwen evaded Jin Wangsun''s next three lethal blows. Unfortunately, she didn''t have any chance to counterattack. She barely escaped every attack Jin Wangsun offered. The adepts around gasped as she dodged the shockwaves Jin Wangsun generated.

    In uplifting news, Jin Wangsun struggled to move his feet beneath him. That was his only weakness. Ming Suwen developed an awareness of the ring weakness and leveraged it to her advantage. She used more refined and strategic qinggong to outmanoeuvre his lethal attacks.

    After missing his attacks, Jin Wangsun increased his strength to eighty percent as his eyes turned red. Golden Crow moon Eater swept up gales. He swung the dark de toward Ming Suwen and Su Xiao.

    As she pulled Su Xiao''s left arm with her right, Ming Suwen shouted, "Watch out!"

    As she pulled Su Xiao aside, her body moved into the de. She remainedposed as she slipped out of the way of Jin Wangsun''s attack, stunning the onlookers. s, defences eventually crumble with time. Jin Wangsun gained momentum as the fight raged on. Meanwhile, Ming Suwen found her space avable for evasion gradually shrinking. If she didn''t tackle the issue, she would eventually be cornered and cut down.

    Suddenly, Su Xiao clenched his teeth and blustered "I won''t let you have your way!"

    Su Xiao punched toward Jin Wangsun. Thetter was in foggy state of mind. Nevertheless, he instinctually knew Ming Suwen was formidable. Meanwhile, he brushed Su Xiao offpletely, not bothering to defend his attack whatsoever. The reciprocal force generated from Su Xiao''s force knocked Su Xiao back. Ming Suwen cleverly used the deflective force to bounce out of Jin Wangsun''s attack range.

    Jin Wangsun felt a flow of a bizarre internal energy seep into his chest when Su Xiao hit him. It ached. But nheless, his head-splitting pain overrode any other pain he could feel. He ceased for a brief moment owing to the ache, but he quickly resumed his attack.

    "Die, bitch!"

    "Jin Dagang, back your ass off!" brayed Hongjiu, sting Jin Wangsun with two ferocious shockwave palms.

    Jin Wangsun reactively evaded the attack that could split rocks. Then, he swung his sabre in a semi-circle toward his front line.

    Hongjiu fearlessly palmed Jin Wangsun''s Golden Crow Moon Eater from the air. A shockwave sted forth with their sh as the point of origin. The two retreated three steps. Their qi and blood rumbled inside them as a result.

    Hongjiu had the advantage in the exchange, since he attacked from above, not to mention the fact that Jin Wangsun only reacted once Hongjiu''s attack was half-way there. The exchange demonstrated who had the upper hand in terms of sheer brute strength.

    Hongjiu was surprised Jin Wangsun recollected himself and got into position so quickly, for he was still trying to recollect himself. In reality, Jin Wanguns'' true qi overflowed; he merely suppressed it. By the same token, he had to suppress his own qi and blood in theirst exchange to be able to swing his sabre.

    Hongjiu recognised fighting punch for punch wasn''t going to work out in his favour. Hence, he switched to another palm style: Wudang Cotton Palm. As the name suggested, the style emphasised dismantling the opponent''s power-based attacks. Having said that, it wasn''t ssified as a profound style. Jin Wangsun could also use it.

    Hongjiu didn''t aim to defeat Jin Wangsun using it; he merely wanted to stall for time. He nullified Jin Wangsun''s sh with a push and a circr redirect. Once he managed to stabilise his blood, he sprang back with a right handed palm simr to an arrow off the bowstring! Hongjiu''s powerful palm attack picked up the wind. Hongjiu switched from Wudang Cotton Palms for defence to Kunlun Tempest Palms.

    Jin Wangsun responded with an unorthodox approach. Instead of evading the attack, he raised Golden Crow Moon Eater and nned to swing it down as the palm attacknded on him! Jin Wangsun''s strategy was an insane strategy that would result in both getting hurt. The reason it worked out was because Jin Wangsun would only suffer an internal injury in exchange for Hongjiu''s life.

    Hongjiu was not a weakling, though. Hongjiu''s attack didn''t implode on impact; it activated onmand. When Jin Wangsun swung upward, Hongjiumanded, "Explode," leading to the energy packed within erupting. Jin Wangsun flew back over three metres and missed his sh.

    "T-Tempest Palms?" eximed Jin Wangsun. The technique was among the secret manuals Gold and Silver Sect had. The familiar technique somehow helped him regain some of his rationality. He thundered, "You want to actpetent just because you can sling a few moves?!"

    Jin Wangsun switched up his style. He sheathed his sabre and switched to palm techniques. Jin Wangsun''s internal energy granted him unbelievable might. Every palm strike was lethal. There was a hint of metal in them. His palms resembled him drawing his sabre each time.

    Hongjiu was an encyclopaedia of palm styles. Therefore, he could tell Jin Wangsun couldn''t be trifled with. He performed a circr motion with one hand and palmed the air to redirect one of Jin Wangsun''s powerful palms. Then, he reversed it with a palm. The back and forth the two saw their qi create a phenomenal wave of qi shing.

    Su Xiao was amazed: "Their palm techniques are incredible."

    Ming Suwen calmly exined, "Of course. That''s Mount Daluo''s Empty Palms and Yangzhou''s Song n''s Sundering the Nine Heavens Palms. The two styles areuded as part of the world''s supreme Three Fists and Five Palms Styles. Ever since the two styles were ranked, the two styles never crossed paths until tonight."

    "Who''s better?"

    "If we''reparing style to style, it''s hard to say. My Martial Nephew, nevertheless, isn''t versed in just one palm style. He has his own ultimate style."

    Palm styles were always regarded as a very advanced and profound martial arts style. Hongjiu invested over twenty two years in palm styles and learnt the very best there was to offer. By that logic, he was the authority on the topic unlike Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun wasn''t in the right state of mind. He relied purely on crushing brute force whilecking in the technique department. In fact, Hongjiu already overwhelmed him with Sundering the Nine Heavens Palms, slowly forcing Jin Wangsun into the danger zone.

    Hongjiu suddenly thundered and hit with a big palm strike forcing Jin Wangsun to defend with a sheathed sabre for the first time ever to safe his own life. Hongjiu''s palm strike smashed loudly into Golden Crow Moon Eater, forcing Jin Wangsun back five steps.

    Jin Wangsun felt his bloode up to his throat. He felt as though his brains tumbled around in his skull. His vision was hampered. He recognised the attack, nevertheless. After all, he spent many years trying to obtain the manual to no avail. It was Hero Shenzhou''s palm style. The world revered it as The Hero''s Invincible Palm Style: Eighteen Subduing¡­ Dragon Palms

    Notes:

    *A push and circr redirect - A force redirection concept from Tai Chi. Note that this concept is not the same as Wing Chun''s concept of redirecting the force. I''ll put this down to film.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 5 76 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Hongjiu

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 76 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Hongjiu</h4>

    Jin Wangsun recognised the palm style. He guarded with his sabre, but Hongjiu still pushed him back.

    "It is Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!" shouted Hongjiu.

    Hongjiu raised his hands, drew a semi-circle with his left hand, performing a draw and a push, sending out a qi st simr to a raging wave. It was such an intense attack that Jin Wangsun felt the energy on his chest before the attacknded. The difort in his chest and redness on his face were more pronounced due to his true qi seal. As a result, he looked awful.

    Jin Wangun knew he couldn''t take Hongjiu''s attack head on. He vigorously swung his sabre to counterattack; however, Hongjiuunched his attack first. Therefore, Jin Wangsun''s attempt was futile. The impact prated his guard, nearly causing him to vomit blood. Interestingly, though, his erratic true qi seemed to calm down slightly after being struck with the palm attack. His headache wasn''t alleviated, but his true qi flowed smoother than before.

    Feeling sober, Jin Wangsun thundered, "If you''re so desperate to die, I''ll send you on your way!"

    Jin Wangsun finally swung Golden Crow Moon Eater with a degree of control. His attack was totally different to his wild swings against Ming Suwen. After the first sh, he revealed eight more different variations. Those were techniques he borrowed from one of Gold and Silver Sect''s treasured manuals: Phantom Yin Thousand Snow.

    Phantom Yin Thousand Snow''s unique trait was its ability to force its opponent into a position where they couldn''t evade. Needless to say, then, the style wasplex. After the first attack, there were eight variations. Each variation opened up another eight variations. Eight more branches would open up for the sessive variation. In the end, there were hundreds of variations one could utilise.

    Hongjiu wasn''t concerned with the countless variations. He didn''t even evade. He rotated and palmed again, turning the duel into a contest of speed between man and sabre!

    Hongjiu''s palm style was very swift. His attack already reached the side of Jin Wangsun''s lower back before thetter could reach Hongjiu with his sabre. Jin Wangsun knew his main meridian on his lower back was sealed. At the same time, however, he felt a dangerous attack approaching from another direction. Hongjiu threw a simultaneous and direct palm strike thatnded flush on Jin Wangsun''s chest.

    Hongjiu''s palm strike inflicted fifty-percent more damage than his first. The force of the attack was akin to the Yellow River overflowing and bursting. There was so much force behind the attack that Jin Wangsun felt his chest muscles sink a tad before it evennded.

    Hongjiu''s power and speed exceeded Jin Wangsun''s expectations. Jin Wangsun''s sabre techniques were rendered useless. He sheathed his sabre to defend again. Hongjiu mmed the sabre, but the impact forced him back another five steps. Hongjiu didn''t give him a second to catch his breath. He continued putting the pressure on with a palm as violent as a tempest, forcing Jin Wangsun backwards.

    In the other battle, Long Zaitian and Bai Mi were unable to get the upper hand against A Hu. A Hu was a ve, however, and thus, focused mainly on his master. Long Zaitian was well aware of that, which was why he kept up what he could.ong Zaitian worried for Hongjiu when the fighting begun, but he was stunned when Hongjiu unleashed Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. Long Zaitian nodded with every move Hongjiu made: "Man, man, that''s crazy the golden armour guard can even use Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. I heard people say the martial world was falling from grace, as all the best adepts struggled so much they had to work as small tradesmen and porters. I''m finally convinced now. Luckily, I receive a government sry. Otherwise, I''d still be stuck working as a guard after mastering Eighteen Subduing Dragons Palms. If I was in his shoes, I''d havemitted suicide due to depression."

    Su Xiao, on the other hand, had a different view. He was amazed Hongjiu was able to prevent Jin Wangsun from even having a chance to counterattack. He nodded and excitedly asked, "Big Brother Hong is incredible! Is that palm style he is using¡­ the rumoured Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?"

    Ming Suwen giggled: "Correct. That''s one of the Three Fists Five Palms, Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms."

    Su Xiao admired Hongjiu''s prowess, since thetter was able to render Jin Wangsun virtually defenceless. That being said, he then felt perplexed. Hongjiu used techniques on an epic scale to trade blows with his opponent, which was apletely different style to what Su Xiao learnt. For that reason, he couldn''t wrap his head around the logic.

    "Sister Juese, since you are so skilled, do you know why the palm style is so remarkable? His techniques¡­"

    Ming Suwen found Su Xiao''s innocence adorable. She giddily giggled: "You feel that the techniques are so simple that even you could perform them, correct?"

    Su Xiao touched his head and blushed: "I think I''m better, even."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Haha"ughed Miss Juese, hand over her mouth. She found it hrious: "Don''t judge it based on its simple appearance. It''s very profound."

    With a look of admiration and respect, Su Xiao asked, "Sister Juese, can you use Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?"

    "Absolutely not. It''s the beggar''s sect ultimate style; they don''t teach it to outsiders. There are unlikely to be even three people in all thend who could utilise it. I couldn''t possibly learn it," replied Miss Juese, shaking her head with a helpless smile. "Moreover, it''s my first time seeing it in actualbat. I only ever saw Young Eighteen practice it in the past. I now see that it is indeed intense and powerful as the legends surrounding it state. In the past, only F-¡­ Only one man exined its intricacies to me. Iprehended it thanks to him."

    Su Xiao didn''t respond. He was engrossed in the fight. He watched as if he was trying to store the moves and techniques to memory.

    Ming Suwen felt as though she returned to Mount Daluo, when she and Ming Feizhen cheerfully discussed palm styles, as she watched the fight. Ming Suwen was a female martial artist, but she wasn''t interested in her school''s Empty Palms. She was interested in Demon Realm Sky Pce''s Illusion Palms. Ming Feizhen, however, extolled Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. The two used to discuss their preferences while watching Hongjiu train.

    Back then, Ming Feizhen pointed to Hongjiu and exined, "Look at his palm style. It''s epic. It crushes everything in its path and is direct as if to say there is no evil in the world. It neglects the basics of reverse thinking, angled attacks, variations, advance and retreat. It''s practically a brainless style. You could say it''s unbelievably na?ve as a style. Would there be a stupider style than it?

    Young Shiyi, do you know why hardly anyone has had the right to witness it ever since its appearance? It''s because simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It takes the stupidest and most difficult route. Nevertheless, that is how it is able to rule among palm styles. If you can defeat your opponent as soon as you strike, he will be forced to evade and defend. As a consequence, his attack will be hindered. Why bother with all the movement and variation? When the sunes out, the moon goes down. Be as crafty and viinous as you please, it''s still not going to change anything.

    That is why Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms is called the undefeatable style. What makes it hard is its direct nature. If one could master it because they were smart and knew a lot of styles, how does it qualify as being invincible?"

    "Judging from what I''ve seen today, I have to admit he was right,"mented Ming Suwen, as she watched the fight.

    Puzzled as to why Ming Suwen sounded emotional, Su Xiao asked, "Mm? Sister Juese?"

    "I guess that exins why Young Eighteen is so skilled. You know, not even I can master thirty percent of Mount Daluo''s Empty Palms. He is the only Mount Daluo disciple close topleting the entire style. He might not look the part, but his talent trumps all of the disciples''. That and his Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms almost made him Mount Daluo''s third generation''s strongest disciple."

    Su Xiao asked, "So, howe he isn''t the strongest?"

    "Because there''s somebody stronger than him," replied Ming Suwen, tone calm. "When he was ten years old, Hongjiu came to the realisation that he would never be able to match him. Thus, Hongjiu gave up and became one of his men. My martial nephew is extraordinarily talented at martial arts and unlucky to the bitter end, but that''s not what I respect him most for. His ability to let things go and not be hung up on them is what makes him a man."

    Notes:

    *Young Eighteen - Hongjiu''s nickname Ming Suwen refers to him as.

 Volume 5 77 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Craze

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 77 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Craze</h4>

    Jin Wangsun was stuck in defence. His internal status also erratically changed. He was never doing well internally since activating Golden Crow Demolition Demon; however, he was able to reduce the pent up true qi throughbat, in turn, easing the load on his body.

    With Hongjiu forcing Jin Wangsun to into total defensive mode, thetter''s true qi was clogged inside him again. As the fight raged on, he relied on reflexes to stay afloat. He was unable to offer any appropriate countermeasure. So ordingly, his situation quickly nosedived, allowing Hongjiu tond three palm strikes, coughing blood as a result. His true qi built up faster and faster, yet he had no means of reducing the load.

    Jin Wangsun''s technique hampered his rationality, which was exacerbated by his true qi build up and the pain associated with it. The side effects of Golden Crow Demolition Demon worsened by the second, while Hongjiu attacked relentlessly, rendering Jin Wangsun at a total loss. All he could do was loudly bellow, and then swing his de in arcs, relying on his sharp de to keep Hongjiu at bay. He couldn''t see clearly. Colour blindness gradually set in, colouring everything a single colour. His wild swings sped up the detrimental side effects; he operated on adrenaline while not in the right state of mind. His headaches intensified as a consequence.

    Suddenly, like a voiceing from inside his head, Jin Wangsun heard "Traitor, I''m going to kill you." The concept sounded ludicrous, but that was the only way to describe Jin Wangsun''s sensation.

    The forlorn and bitter voice was akin to a sharp sabre that stabbed his brain and sliced it open. He huffed and puffed. Everything in his vision was dyed blood red. His killing intent was overwhelming, but he couldn''t find a medium to release it on. He felt an attack hit him, but he didn''t concern himself with it. The voice in his head generated throbbing sensations and instilled fear.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Shut up!"

    "Traitor, youreuppance will be served for this!"

    The scene from back then surfaced in Jin Wangsun''s mind. It appeared as vivid as though he was witnessing it in person. The heroine he liked most as a child fell into a puddle of blood. Blood and tears coursed down her beautiful eyes as she lied there. Her blood and warmth gradually escaped her body. The sight of her empty face was frightening, but her wrathful and resentful voice remained in his mind.

    "Traitor¡­ Traitorous Jins!"

    ¡°Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Heroic Sister! It wasn¡¯t me! I didn¡¯t do it! It wasn¡¯t me! It wasn''t! It wasn¡¯t me!¡± frantically eximed Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun avoided the usations countless times, but that only served to highlight the scene and amplify the rity of her curses in his mind. The locked-away memories abruptly burst forth, bringing his true qi along. Every detail of the reality he forgot and the heroine''s cause of death were reyed before his eyes again.

    "I see. I see. So that''s what happened!" realised Jin Wangsun.

    Jin Wangsun forgot the memory, as it was the one event in his life that he couldn''te to terms with. He was the one who caused the death of the woman he looked up to most.

    Jin Wangsun''s frustration overwhelmed his body. The headache and damage to his soul suddenly started pulsating again. Jin Wangsun felt his mind slipping.

    "Aaaaarrrrggh!!" Jin Wangsun''s howl ripped the air, because his internal energy was awfully potent.

    "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!" thundered Jin Wangsun.

    Being as astute as she was, Ming Suwen recognised Jin Wangsun''s mannerisms as the signs of pent up qi about to explode. With a dire situation before them, she yelled, "Eighteen, get back! You won''t be able to defend his eruption!"

    Hongjiu knew his grand martial aunt was an insightful and perceptive individual. Hence, he bounced back without a second thought.

    Jin Wangsun''s eyes were crimson; his veins on his face seemed to want to crawl out from underneath his skin and devour his face. Hideous was an understatement. Jin Wangsun held Golden Crow Moon Eater high up. Body expanded as a balloon, he belted, "It wasn''t me!!"

    Then, Jin Wangsun savagely swung his sword down in front! Like a dragon wreaking havoc in its wake, his swing left a hole deeper than explosives could leave in the ground. The entire venue was covered in a veil of dirt.ots of Liu Shan Men members had made their way to the scene after hearing the shouting. Thankfully, Su Xiao exined that they needed to maintain their distance. Jin Wangsun, however, shook everything up with hisst sh.

    Hongjiu felt an urge to silently remark, "Man, that was lucky. I''d be the dust by now, otherwise!"

    A Hu and the hidden dragons'' duo stopped after the crazy debacle to look over to the other arena.

    Once the dust settled, Jin Wangsun was seen standing in the centre of it all with World Pacifying de, looking as though he was unconscious and immobile.

    Hongjiu attempted to go and see if Jin Wangsun was ying possum, but Ming Suwen stopped him. She coldly said, "There''s¡­ something bizarre about him. He doesn''t have any injuries. His breathing is disturbing. He appears perfectly normal. Moreover¡­ his physique has been restored."

    Jin Wangsun managed to discharge the excess true qi through thest sh, leaving him with enough for him to control. The side-effects of excessive absorption dissipated. Allowing him to use Internal Vision Technique to peer inside his body and discover that his internal energy had more than doubled. He was in his best shape ever. Most importantly, he had regained a clear mind.

    Jin Wangsun opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. This time, he was moreposed than ever. He engaged in a quick calction and concluded that there was plenty of time for him to exact his revenge down the road.

    Jin Wangsun came to Liu Shan Men and flew off the handle due to the effects of Golden Crow Demolition Demon. It wasn''t a wise decision. First and foremost, Ming Feizhen wasn''t at Liu Shan Men. Secondly, he already spent too long at the office. If a true adept came after him, he wouldn''t stand to gain anything. He had lost everything besides his Golden Crow Moon Eater and his martial skills. The best decision was for him to maintain a low profile, not go on a mass murder rampage. His top priority was to improve his martial skills and power. Growth was the keyword.

    Once he reached that conclusion, he opened his eyes and vaulted up to the roof. He called for A Hu, and the two immediately fled the scene, vanishing out of sight.ong Zaitian could only watch the two leave, for he didn''t have the energy to continue fighting. Even if he did pursue them, it wouldn''t have boded well for him. He looked up to the moon and cursed, "If I''m not mistaken, his skills just received a boost after regaining his senses. He resents the imperial court. Now that he''s escaped, I bet he''s going to bring us more grief than before. Mother. Fucker!"ong Zaitian felt better after cursing, but that didn''t change the reality of the situation. Ming Suwen was the only one who had her head down in silence. She seemed to be in thought. She couldn''t put her finger on what was odd, but Jin Wangsun''s reaction led to her thinking of something in particr. Eventually, she looked up and calmly remarked, "I¡­ wouldn''t be so sure about that."

 Volume 5 78 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Mr. An

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 78 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Mr. An</h4>

    "Traitorous Jins, I''ll kill you!"

    Jin Wangsun kept recalling the heroine''s voice and the scene of her blurting those words. He finally remembered the majority of the memory back then. The event didn''t happen when he was young; he didn''t meet her only once, either. He was no longer a child when the event took ce; however, he still couldn''tprehend what happened. He suffered from a high fever after the event. When he recovered, he couldn''t remember his n''s rtionship with the heroine. He, as a matter of fact, couldn''t recall her tragic end. He forgot everything pertaining to her.

    Perhaps he forgot the event due to how unbelievable the scene was. He never imagined that would be the oue, nor could hee to terms with the fact that he was the aplice. The blow was too much that he denied it being a part of his memory.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He should''ve remembered her. She was the woman he admired and respected for many years. She treated him as if he was her biological son. Still, he couldn''t make sense of how it happened even till today. He was certain there was a missing piece of the puzzle he wasn''t aware of. He was sure it had to do with the Seven Champion White Princes.

    ========

    Jiangnan''s martial arts'' world''s ce of Purity was the name of the ce of interest.

    Jin Wangsun never believed it. Hebelled it a lie told to fool the people. The so-called ce of Purity was merely a location to prevent the martial world''s factions that opposed the Seven Champion White Prince from getting involved with Jiangnan. It was not a ce in Jiangnan''s martial world that was free of sin.

    The character for purity in ce of Purity was "white". Pure white wasn''t a colour. Why couldn''t white be a sin? Jin Wangsun''s father was once Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch; however, there were more than plenty of things he didn''t inform him about.

    Jin Wangsun never contacted the core of the Seven Champion White Princes in the half a year he was instated as patriarch. He believed that they wouldn''t divulge any secrets to him despite him being Gold and Silver Sect''s new patriarch. He, in fact, knew they wouldn''t show him the Seven Champion White Princes'' true identity even after a long time. He believed they would lead Gold and Silver Sect on from behind the scenes.

    "Master, the ship is ready," calmly said A Hu. "There is enough food and water on board tost you a while."

    Having regained his senses, Jin Wangsun vigntly asked, "Can the boatman be trusted?"

    A Hu nodded: "We prepared the ship in advanced. Nobody found out. If we leave before anyone finds us, we will have a chance."

    "Uhm," responded Jin Wangsun, with a nod. "Caution is the parent of safety; we can''t afford any more mistakes. Go check to see if the boatman will run or not."

    The duo was still in the wilds at the outskirts of Nanjing City. Usually, nobody would pass by the ce during the day, let ale at night. Jin Wangsun''s original n for his intense contention with Night Fortress'' master was to have his people lie in ambush at the outskirts of the city. The point of the ambush was to capture Ming Feizhen if thetter tried to escape. He prepared a destination that allowed him to pursue Ming Feizhen regardless of where thetter fled to. Round and round it went; he ended up being the one who needed the ambush. They do say you can''t have fortune without misfortune.

    He lost the chance to be fuma. His fianc¨¦e left him. He lost his patriarch seat and wasbelled a wanted criminal. Jin Wangsun wasn''t too angry or dejected despite his utter defeat. Perhaps he wasn''t bitter after the excessive stimtion during his rampage. He even stopped hating Ming Feizhen so much, too.

    Winners take all, and losers leave empty handed was amon situation as a result of contentions in the pugilistic world. His grudge with Ming Feizhen wasn''t some vengeful grudge he couldn''t get over. At the very least, it wasn''t one that justified putting their lives on the line. He saw things much distinctly after venting. Perhaps it was due to him recalled the broadsword heroine.

    Jin Wangsun didn''t know why hepletely forgot about the heroine; it seemed a part of his mind was missing.

    Thinking back on her now, her sense of justice, her valiant character, her broadsword techniques and her implied lessons were the pure spring water that flowed into the dying field. Every thought of her changed Jin Wangsun. He wasn''t always a mboyant and overbearing as his appearance suggested. After his fever, when he was eighteen, though, his character developed into an insufferable one. Thinking back on it now, he wasn''t somebody who earned the disgust of others or conspired against others.

    Jin Wangsun began to somewhat regret his overzealous character of the past. He shouldn''t have set up Ming Feizhen, and he shouldn''t have killed so senselessly. His biggest regret was killing his loyal ves who sacrificed themselves for him without anyint after serving him for over twenty years.

    He also felt apologetic for the way he abused Huo Qing''er. He liked her; he never thought he''d resort to violence with her. Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual tended to sway its practitioners down a more evil path, thereby gradually altering his personality, turning him into a mindless and aggressive man. With time, his personality changed until there was no return.

    Half a year ago when Huo Qing''er didn''t provide him with Taiyin Pills, his calm character gradually faded. That being said, she couldn''t be med, because he gave her the cold shoulder, as well. All of a sudden, he blurted a sincere statement: "If I have the chance, I want to apologise to Qing''er. Right now, however, the urgent task at hand is to find a ce to hide. Once I''ve reformed my internal energy¡­"

    Jin Wangsun gazed at his Golden Crow Moon Eater in his hand. He looked absolutely resolute from the side. Jin Wangsun Golden Crow Demolition Demon''s ability to rapidly power up demonstrated that very distinctly. He added, "It might be very onerous, but I want to modify Golden Crow Demolition Demon Secret Art."

    In the past, Jin Wangsun could only bear with ten family ves'' internal energy. He exceeded that limit and hadn''t consumed taiyin pills, resulting in him almost losing his mind. But nheless, he managed to fuse his true qi and consolidate it. That, in turn, improved his internal energy and allowed him to store more. As he had Golden Crow Moon Eater, he could continue searching for n members who practiced Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual.

    "I''m certain there''s a spy in Gold and Silver n; I just don''t know who it is," stated Jin Wangsun, sounding confident. From the bottom of his heart and to make it up to the heroine he revered, he said, "I''m sure they colluded with an outsider in the incident a decade ago. I must find the traitor."

    "Have you finally recalled the incident ten years ago?" asked someone, voice akin to a ghost cryingte at night.

    A Hu and the boatman didn''t hear the voice.

    Jin Wangsun responded: "Who are you?!"

    Jin Wangsun was a wanted criminal who was regretting his past actions; however, by no means did that mean he would surrender. To the contrary, his mind was clear and his internal energy saw a seventy-percent increase, meaning he was much more formidablepare to before.

    Nobody responded to his question. A Hu and the boatman, on the other hand, looked bemused at each other. Jin Wangsun wasn''t one to shy away from using his sharp tongue. He pinched his eyebrows together: "If you are going toe here, I shall take you on no matter what the case may be. I will not allow anyone to look down on me. Your Voice Transmission skills aremendable. I, therefore, thought I met an adept. To my surprise, you turned out to be a coward!"

    The leaves on the trees rustled. Jin Wangsun looked in the direction the gale blew. He ignored the wind blowing on him. The wind abruptly stopped. It went silent for a split second. The next second, a man was already standing ten metres away from him!

    Jin Wangsun was well aware he encountered an adept. With his back sweaty, he remarked, "Your qinggong is impressive."

    The individual came as if he rode the wind. Jin Wangsun never sensed him approach. For a second, one might''ve mistaken him to be a formless phantom. He donned a dark robe,pletely hiding his appearance. His ominous ck mask covered his face. Jin Wangsun felt a weight on him the instant the man in ck appeared. He didn''t feel that level of pressure even when he fought Ming Feizhen at his guesthouse.

    "May I ask for your honourable name?" said Jin Wangsun.

    The man grinned andughed. Jin Wangsun could see through his mask; he could see and hear dark and terrifyingugh.

    "I have no surname or name, but you can call me Mr. An."

    Jin Wangsun repeated the name several times in his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn''t dig up any memory associated with the name.

    "You can save yourself the trouble thinking. You may not know me, but I''ve known you since you were a child. Jin Wangsun, you''re a key element of the n."

    "What n? How do you know me?"

    Jin Wangsun came up with several feasible possibilities, but all seemed unlikely.

    "You don''t need to trouble yourself with all the questions. I''ll take my leave once I''ve picked up what I came for," answered Mr. An. Tone Insipid, he added, "As for you, you''re not worth my breath."

    "Is that a provocation tactic I sense? You want me to attack?" asked Jin Wangsun. "It seems you are after my Golden Cow Moon Eater sabre."

    "Oh?" Mr. An raised his calm voice a little. He sounded a tad interested in Jin Wangsun based on his performance: "You''re very calm. Not bad. Not bad. I didn''t expect the upright and straightforward Jin Laishi would have a son with a trace of brain cells. I remember you suffered qi deviation due to using Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. Have you already recovered?"

    Jin Wangsun was rmed by Mr. An''s response. He never mentioned his qi deviation when practicing Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual to anyone, let alone someone he met for the first time. He wondered, "How does Mr. An kn-"

    "Is it strange that I know?" asked Mr. An,ughing in a stifled voice. "Your life just gets more and more absurd. I can''t believe you would be bothered by such a minor matter. Don''t try and spout tripe with me. Think carefully back on what has happened around you the past half a year. Does it resemble a stage y someone scripted you in from the very beginning? Of course somebody could. It wasn''t me, though; I can''t handle that sort of stuff."

    Mr. An managed to read Jin Wangsun''s mind several times without him mentioning anything relevant. He felt as though Mr. An couldpletely see through hm. He kept thinking and thinking as they conversed until he suddenly caught something. He followed that track until he figured out Mr. An''s background; however, the realisation sent a chill down his spine.

    The group of people Jin Wangsun identified Mr. An allied with was more troublesome than the imperial court. As he watched Mr. An, he sent A Hu a signal to retreat with his right hand behind his back. A Hu did as he was told; he furtively began preparations to leave. Meanwhile, Jin Wangsun kept Mr. An''s attention: "Mr. An, you mean that somebody has been controlling my every move?"

    Mr. An was forthright about it: "Correct. You don''t seem surprised, nevertheless."

    Jin Wangsun forced a smile: "What reason is there for me to be surprised? You and I know full well who it is. I now see you''re with them. Hahaha, you can stop with the Mr. Mystery act now. How about taking off your ck nket and mask so that I can see who you are? We might''ve met for all I know."

    Mr. An chuckled: "It appears I''ve underestimated you. You may have guessed who I am during our short conversation. That said, I still need what I need."

    "Since you insist on taking my precious de, tell me how we will do this. I am sure you wouldn''t bully your junior now."

    Mr. An cackled: "You''re right. All right, then, I shall not take advantage of you. Men."

    Mr. An never really raised his voice to sound pronounced. His tone wasparable to a conversation with an old friend. It was soft, yet seemingly from a distance. An individual zipped out of the forest, demonstrating his profound qinggong. He arrived next to Mr. An and stood still as a rock. He wore a mask with a dragon pattern and had only one eye revealed. He had an ancient longsword on his back.

    Mr. An waved a hand: "His name is Longdan. He is my best swordsman. If you can defeat him, I shall allow you to leave."

    "Oh? You sound very confident, Mr. An."

    Jin Wangsun witnessed Mr. An''s qinggong already, so he knew he needed to buy enough time.

    Jin Wangsun''s internal energy was more potent than before. He could move his legs agilely again, and his qi flowed without any obstructions. He felt satisfied with his newfound power and was eager to test it. Unfortunately, he was on the run. Since someone offered themselves up, he was eager to give it a go.

    "In that case, Wangsun shall oblige."

    Jin Wangsun got into his stance. Longdan was still as his mask''s pattern. The two squared off for a while. Jin Wangsun couldn''t find any openings from his opponent''s stance. It was clear that Longdan wasn''t just a henchman, but a man with actual skill. With neither of them budging, A Hu couldn''t get the boat moving while Mr. An was watching. Waiting wasn''t a strategy.

    Jin Wangsun belted, and then began his attack in the gentlest fashion ever. In response, Mr. An remarked, "Oh? Now this is an interesting technique."ongdan aimed straight for Jin Wangsun''s face. Jin Wangsun shed at Longdan''s waist horizontally, only to discover that he was slower than Longdan. His only choice, then, was to pull back and defend. Surprisingly, however, Jin Wangsun opted to imbue Golden Crow Moon Eater with his internal energy and activate its true unique ability. Once imbued, his de generated a suction force.

    The force of Longdan''s thrust was reduced as a consequence of Jin Wangsun''s counter. Jin Wangsun''s de was already swinging toward his waist by the time he noticed. Longdan had to pull back this time. However, he went and forcibly swung down on Golden Crow Moon Eater, instead!uckily for Jin Wangsun, his weapon was able to withstand the sh. Jin Wangsun was surprised, but nheless, unleashed a quickbination of a dozen or so shes as fast as the wind. Despite his might, Long Dan was able to intercept every attack he offered.

    If Jin Wangsun was to rematch Hongjiu with his new internal energy level, thetter''s first three Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms would have to avoid head on collisions with him. The difference between Longdan and Hongjiu was that thetter didn''t use brute force but precision. Longdan was able to pinpoint where Jin Wangsun focused his strength to pick and choose the thinnest defence zones for his attacks or reduce his sabre''s output.

    Wherever the man with the mask hailed from, his swordy was an entire realm above the ordinary swordsman''s. In addition, he never let himself be hasty. He harassed Jin Wangsun with consecutive pokes, forcing Jin Wangsun to deflect them.

    Mr. Anughed: "It appears someone cannot hang in there any longer."

    Jin Wangsun responded, "I wouldn''t be so sure about that."

    Jin Wangsun leapt to the sky all of a sudden and kicked a rock with all his might, a technique he learnt from Night Steps: Night Rain.

    Using the momentum generated, he propelled himself all the way onto the boat no longer by the shore. He was impressed with Mr. An''s qingong; however, he was confident he wasn''t any worse with Night Steps at his disposal.

    Mr. An and Longdan didn''t give chase. Jin Wangsun was relieved; he finally escaped.

    Jin Wangsun turned around.

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    Jin Wangsun was impaled through the chest¡­

 Volume 5 79 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Who Is The Winner?

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 79 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Who Is The Winner?</h4>

    Princess Hongzhuang and The Emperor raced out together upon hearing of Jin Wangsun''s treason. There were two reasons the two took action: first, Jin Wangsun was a criminal; his escape was a serious problem. Second, Liu Shan Men was Shen Yiren''s blood, sweat and tears. The two treated Shen Yiren as family. They couldn''t turn a blind eye to the office''s predicament. The two, therefore, led arge group of skilledbatants to Liu Shan Men.

    Jingan was the only one who sat calmly in the pce. Only maids remained behind with Jingan, who maintained her calm demeanour. She always liked being alone, for the reason that few could match her thinking speed.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Jingan sat as still as a captivating ice statue. Her snow-white skin truly made her resemble a doll. Her long ck hair was syed behind her and swayed with the night breeze. If anyone was to look at her hair, their eyes would trace her hair''s movement. That being said, she oozed a livid vibe. Her long eyes were long and up; they made her appear gentle whenbined with herrge eyes. Her body was petite for a girl, yet not tall. She just had superb proportions. Her torso was short, but her legs were long. Her long, soft, white and luscious legs were highlighted by her dress.

    Jingan bore a striking resemnce to her mother, who was once the considered the most beautiful woman in the pce. She inherited her mother''s perfectly slender proportions. One could make a strong case that she was her mother''s spitting image. She had mother''s narrow and prominent shoulders and elegant neck. The only difference was her oversized and voluptuous snow globes.

    Jingan shut her eyes and sat still. Soon enough, she heard footsteps in the pce. She turned a deaf ear to the individual and only opened her eyes when he spoke to her.

    "You were waiting for me?"

    "You''re also looking for me, no?"

    The two conversed quiet enough to not need to fret about the maids overhearing them. However, it was impossible to avoid people conjuring up ideas when they saw Princess Hongzhuang''s fuma candidate chatting with his future sister-inw in the middle of the night.

    "You have something to say to me?"

    "It is only right for a wife to bid her husband goodbye, is it not?" rhetorically asked Jingan, giggling mischievously.

    Ming Feizhen, to the contrary, was confrontational. Perhaps his blood was roiling. Jingan was always aware she''d see that expression of his if she mentioned his Fuma Jingan identity. She couldn''t help feeling gleeful to see the man she failed to kill for three years reveal a look of concern.

    Voice stifled, Ming Feizhen said, "It''s not appropriate to speak here; let''s go somewhere else."

    Jingan stood straight up. She didn''t know martial arts or Voice Transmission. Hence, she had no choice but to go somewhere else without aint. Ming Feizhen left the hall but headed elsewhere. Once Jingan found a deste ce in the imperial garden and nobody was around, Ming Feizhen appeared before her again.

    "Jin Wangsun has lost, utterly lost. You also lost again," stated Ming Feizhen. "May I ask how you feel, Your Highness?"

    "I can''t believe you would dare bring it up. You ruined my n. Isn''t it all because of you, though?" Jingan red at Ming Feizhen through the corner of her eyes: "Fuma, instead of helping your wife, you helped an outsider. Jing''er is not happy."

    The two exchanged blows furtively for three years and never exposed each other. Neither of them mentioned their contest in the shadows. Ming Feizhen genuinely didn''t know what to do when she suddenly put on the "You''re my husband, so I''m going to involve myself with your affairs" act.

    Fearful, Ming Feizhen stammered, "Y-Your Highness, please mind your manners. I am Ming Feizhen¡­"

    "Manners? If you understand the concept of manners, would you go and participate in the fuma selection when you already have me?"

    "What do you mean I have you?! You''re not mine!"

    Jingan subtly smiled. She had a sly and entrancing side underneath her refined exterior. The not-so-tall beauty leaned on her tall husband''s chest. Voice muffled, she said, "What do you mean, Fuma? Ever since we got married, every inch of my body has been yours."

    Ming Feizhen felt as though Jingan was biting his ear lobe due to her way of speaking while biting down on her bottom lip. He could feel her warm and fragrant breath graze his nose. He felt as though he had fallen into a vixen''s tap as she lied on his chest. He desperately tried to back off. The scene resembled the scene of a big man forcing a young girl up against the wall except in reverse.

    "Hey, hey, hey! What''s this about? I wasn''t supposed to be the one who married you! I just got dragged into shoulder the mess."

    Jingan naughtily winked andughed in her charming manner: "I don''t care about that. You were the one who went through the rites with me that day, correct? That means you married me."

    Ming Feizhen, who should''ve been boasting and carrying on after Jin Wangsun''splete defeat, felt things didn''t add up. Scratch that, something was very wrong!

    "What is this woman¡­ nning¡­?" wondered Ming Feizhen.

    When Ming Feizhen heard about Jin Wangsun''s escapade from his ce to Liu Shan Men, thetter had already vanished from the office. Ming Feizhen was relieved to hear everyone at the office was safe and sound. After the fact, nevertheless, he couldn''t shake off the feeling that something was very wrong.

    "The Emperor was the one who set Jin Wangsun to arrest with the text. The issue is why he needed to ensnare thetter in a trap. What role does Jingan y in this? There''s something wrong with this entire script, but I can''t put my finger on what it is exactly," thought Ming Feizhen.

    "Since I have found and bid you farewell, Jing''er shall take her leave. Dear, will you asionally visit me?"

    Ming Feizhen''s hairs stood up when he heard Jingan''s deliberate smitten and gentle "Dear". He couldn''t handle listening to another word from her in that tone but didn''t dare to tell her off. He replied, "I would not dare have such thoughts. I wish you safe travels, Grand Princess."

    "Scaredy cat," taunted Jingan, covering her small mouth with her luscious hand and giggling. She then left.

    Ming Feizhen unquestionably won, yet felt as though he lost. He hurried back to Zhaixing Hall. He had figured out the riddle, but he couldn''t inform the Emperor he deciphered the message. He had no choice but to pretend he never deciphered it. The duo wasted a lot of time pretending they were unconscious and waited for someone to find them.

    Tang Ye was incredibly enamoured by the text. Ming Feizhen overcame the challenge with him, thereby enjoying it together with him at the same time. Since they shouldered the risk together, they shared the spoils. Tang Ye wasn''t troubled by the sword spirit again after he witnessed Ming Feizhen beat it. As such, he did his best to view the sword spirit; he could retreat and separate himself from the sword spirit at any moment when he was overwhelmed by the flying swords. Learning the mental cultivation was his biggest catch in the fuma selection.

    After Ming Feizhen came back, he stared at the wall and didn''t utter a word. Eventually, he blurted, "Something doesn''t add up."

    Tang Ye inquired, "Big Bro, what''s wrong with you?"

    "Nothing is wrong with me; it''s the text on the wall that''s the problem," replied Ming Feizhen. Touching his chin, he asked, "Do you still remember the Sword Howl we heard?"

    "I do. You said the howl was the power of the power of sword soul progressed into a powerful sword spirit."

    "Exactly. Look¡­ you saw my great grandmaster''s carving. The sword spirit was unparalleled. In addition, rarely anyone ever visits this building both in the past and now. It''s reasonable to say that a sinister sword soul was developed over the course of two decades. The issue is that the sword spirit couldn''t have just popped into existence without a trigger. It requires a sharp metal medium to manifest. I thought that it would be perfectly normal to find a sword, dagger or short sabre in here. If there was, then it would be possible to develop a sword soul via one of the des. Sure, sword soul is wasted on ordinary metal. That being said, it''s not unusual.

    If you look at it on a deeper level, however, we''re deep inside the imperial city here. Who would dare to bring a sharp weapon in here? Even if they used weapons designed exclusively for decoration, they''d use wooden swords. The question, then, is how was the sword soul developed? In other words, somebody left a weapon here with the intent of nurturing a sword soul after my great grandmaster carved the words."

    Everybody the Emperor asked to enter and try to decipher the text "fed" the sword spirit''s power. umted over twenty years, the text on the white wallpletely changed. It developed into something more sinister. Ming Feizhen didn''t notice much malicious intent after he deciphered the text, nevertheless. It was as if it never existed.

    Ming Feizhen borated, "Why has the Sword Howlpletely vanished? Even if I deciphered the text, I should be the only one immune to the sword spirit. The sword spirit should still be there; therefore, the Sword Howl should also be there."

    Ming Feizhen suddenly reached a conclusion¡­ The only feasible exnation was that somebody had taken the sword soul.

    "The individual who ced the weapon in here obviously wanted to develop a sword soul. Once the sword soul was ripe, they sent someone in to take the sword soul and text. Essentially, they killed two birds with one stone. That''s one fucking sly schemer!"

    Tang Ye finally understood where Ming Feizhen was taking it: "So, the person who took the sword soul was¡­"

    "The one who left that scratch on the wall¡­"

    Ming Feizhen began to think. There were lots of pieces that he couldn''t exin. Fortunately, he finally had some clues. He thought long and hard. When he was done, he felt a chill down his spine. He asked, "Tang Ye, you''re close with Huo n''s eldest daughter, right?"

    "I guess you could say that."

    "I misunderstood you and her were having an affair, and then you told me you drank all night with her, so you''re decently close, yes?"

    "Yes¡­ we''re decently close."

    "Tell me everything you two said to each other. Everything you can remember! Quick!"

    Tang Ye was frightened by Ming Feizhen''s reaction, but he promptly calmed down. He filled Ming Feizhen in on everything. He didn''t know Huo Qing''er for long. Still, they did talk about quite a bit with each other.

    Ming Feizhen had his eyebrows together the entire recount. He didn''t find anything suspicious until he heard about the night Jin Wangsun flew off the handle and hit Huo Qing''er: "Wait! That''s it! Miss Huo said she has someone she liked, which infuriated Jin Wangsun, and then she said he''s heads and shoulders above Jin Wangsun in every department. Did I get that right? Was that exactly what she said?"

    "Yes¡­ it is."

    "And then Jin Wangsun thought she was talking about you, which was the reason you two started fighting."

    "Yes, that''s correct."

    "Okay, think again. Do you think the person she mentioned actually exists?"

    Tang Ye had a think before replying. His answer clicked the piece in ce for Ming Feizhen. Thetter instantly figured out several things he couldn''t wrap his head around before. Then, he delved deeper into the puzzle. The deeper he went, the more details he found.

    "Jingan, what exactly are you after¡­?" wondered Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen''s legs began to take him toward Jingan without hismand. He ran fast, but Jingan already left the pce. He decided to chase after her using qinggong whilst repeating to himself what Tang Ye just told him.

    "When Miss Huo got drunk that night, she kept mumbling some Hu Ge, Hu Ge. I didn''t know who she was calling for, so I ignored her. Is that a clue?"

    It was a clue. A big-fat-juicy clue!

    The name wasn''t Hu Ge¡­ His surname wasn''t Hu as in erhu. The "Hu" was the character for tiger, and the "Ge" wasn''t song, but "Ge" for brother. She was calling for Brother Hu!

    ''Jingan, how damn terrifying is this n of yours?!''

    =========

    He pulled out arge and sharp de from Jin Wangsun''s chest. Jin Wangsun bled profusely from his chest. He couldn''t believe who he saw when he turned his head to look. His heart shattered. He asked, "Why¡­ is it you?"

    Jin Wangsun looked at the titan who remained silent. He raised his voice: "Why is it you, Big Cat?!!"

    Big Cat never changed. Never. He always served Jin Wangsun loyally and took care of him as a brother, yet he stabbed thetter in the back with a lethal attack whilst wearing the same expression.

    "Why did you do this¡­? You''re¡­ you''re my heroine''s¡­ you''re¡­" wondered Jin Wangsun.

    The titan remained emotionless. Calmly, he stated, "Young Master, you are truly¡­ too foolish."

    Notes:

    * "The name wasn''t Hu Ge¡­ " ¨C I borated on the original text a little within the text so that it made sense to you as English readers. You would¡¯ve beenpletely lost if I didn¡¯t. My addition was exining what characters were mixed up.

 Volume 5 80 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Top Tiger

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 80 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Top Tiger</h4>

    Neen years ago, a female sabre wielder was known throughout in the martial world on both sides of Changjiang River for her prowess with her sabre. Her talent with a sabre was unheard of at the time. She stood out among martial artists when it was an era where sabres and broadswords had fallen out of favour. She reached Master Realm at a very young age through her prowess with a sabre. She was hailed as the individual who had the best chance of defeating the world''s greatest sabre adept at the time. Her profound skills were as equally feared as they were revered. Her character wasmended in the same light as her skills with a sabre.

    Her style was regarded as simplistic and practical as opposed to aesthetic-focused and fragmented. No matter how extravagant her opponent''s techniques were, she was able to dismantle every single challenge they offered. If she had a trick, it was concealing her true skill. There was no way anyone could''ve kept track of her long list of victories. Established sabre and broadsword adepts stopped daring to challenge her. Ever since her time, nobody had yet to surpass her aplishments.

    She was born into a family of martial artists. She married before seventeen and had a son, as she was engaged since she was a child. Family life didn''t hinder her pursuit for loftier heights in the realm of sabres. Her husband was an ordinary schr; however, they both sincerely loved each other. Her husband was never displeased with that fact that she loved martial arts. To the contrary, he respected her desire to use her skills as a martial artist to protect the people and punish crime. If anything, her marriage served as her motivation to improve.

    Who said women were inferior to men? She was a dutiful wife, a kind mother and a venerated sabre wielder. She was as good in the kitchen as she was at beheading the worst viins in Jiangnan with single shes. But s, she made a decision she regretted to herst moment neen years ago. That being said, given her character, she probably would''ve regretted it all her life if she didn''t make that decision.

    She encountered a viin who took a child hostage when she attended a banquet. The handsome and adorable child was about her own child''s age. He looked slightly scared when he was held at de point. But nheless, he was angrier and stronger than children in his age bracket. Those traits were extremely simr to her child''s character. She would''ve rescued the child even if she didn''t do it out of motherly instinct. With that said, she probably wouldn''t have met with her tragic end had it not been for those characteristics.

    Gold and Silver Sect''s Patriarch Jin was a well-known hero in Jiangnan. He fulfilled many benevolent deeds for the people - more than one could count. She always respected his character and deeds. As such, she got along very well with Patriarch Jin. As her family was in Jiangnan, both ns were on very good terms. She often enforced security and upheld justice at Zhengjiang''s magistrate office alongside Gold and Silver Sect''s members.

    Many years went by without any significant changes. At one point in time, Gold and Silver Sect was challenged by a powerful foe. He was a viin who seldom appeared in the martial arts world. He led a group in an assault on Gold and Silver Sect''s branch in the North and involved multiple prominent sects in the martial world. The situation was dire. Sadly, Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch ran into a teau in his mastery of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. He, therefore, pleaded her to intervene and promised to repay her handsomely by teaching her the sect''s ultimate style: Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual. She understood the hopes old Patriarch Jin had for her. Therefore, she epted the offer.

    Granted her talent and the old patriarch''s mentorship by her side, she grasped the intricacies within three months. She didn''t practically train the style. Nevertheless, sheprehended the manual at a much deeper level than many others who spent an entire lifetime learning it. She asionally made suggestions of her own that went beyond the manual, demonstrating her solid grasp on the style. Once she finished her training, she set out on her journey for three years.

    The intense fight was both a prolonged mental and physical battle. Her opponent was extremely proficient on the battlefield, violent and crafty. Had it been anyone else, they would''ve been decimated by his traps. He was the most challenging opponent she ever faced. By the time the dust settled, it was the peak of summer.

    Herst match against the viin was intense. She eventually relied on herprehension of Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual''s sabre style and eventually triumphed when she finally outmanoeuvred him on one particr trade.

    She never saw his appearance despite the number of years they crossed paths. When she shed his mask open, she discovered he was someone she knew. He was Gold and Silver Sect''s most skilled adept: Jin Wangshi.

    Jin Wangshi was old Patriarch Jin''s nephew. Old Patriarch Jin personally trained Jin Wangshi, who had surpassed his predecessor. He was the top patriarch candidate.

    With a sinister smile, he said, "You think it''s over after you kill me? You''re already toote. It''s toote for you. You''ve wasted too much time here. We''ve been setting things up in Jiangnan for thest three years. If you rush back now, perhaps you''ll get onest glimpse of your husband and son."

    Her heard skipped a beat. If she fought her supposed ally for three years straight, then what he said might really have been true. After the battle drew to a conclusion, she immediately mounted her steed and bolted to the docks to catch a boat back home. She was greeted by Jin Wangsun at her home when she vindictively arrived home.

    Jin Wangsun always revered her, which was why she brought him in without suspecting him. She stepped inside to find her home in ruins and corpses littering the floor. Her husband and son were the only ones missing.

    She came across a man wearing a mask as Jin Wangshi did. The difference was that he showed no intention of hiding his identity. That was proven by his sabre with iid gold and silver and its dark aura. Aforementioned sabre was Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch''s huge de: Golden Crow Moon Eater.

    She knew full well by that point that she had been betrayed. Jin Wangsun, who was the only joy after days of exhaustion, ended up feeding her a warm cup of poisoned tea. When she shot him a vengeful re, the boy was stunned. He didn''t know he was used as a weapon. By the time he began to wrap his head around it, the mastermind knocked him out.

    "Who are you?!" brayed the heroine.

    Her nemesis replied with a smile: "I have nothing to say to someone about to die."

    The extremely potent poison instantly hampered her movements. She fought a long battle, suffered through the harsh weather, was poisoned and she depleted a lot of her internal energy already. She couldn''t be in worse shape, yet she had to face a traitorous viin who was more skilled than Jin Wangshi.

    She responded with her sabre, and she remained undefeated in spite of her condition. When she was on the verge of defeat and unable to swing her sabre again, she surpassed her limits and reached the realm all martial artists dreamt of reaching. She cut her formidable nemesis down utilising her ultimate technique.

    She cut him down without him even knowing what happened. When it registered, he realised he was cut down with one sh. Still, he wasn''t about to be resigned to defeat. He sacrificed decades of cultivation to save his life.

    When she was about to finish him and seek out an antidote before her consciousness left her, her nemesis suddenly threw a big hidden weapon at her.

    It was a bag that he threw. She didn''t know what was inside or if there was a mechanism that would activate on it. It was a pathetic throw; she surmised she might''ve shut down his courage. Any unknown martial artist not worth a glimpse could''ve done better than him.

    She instinctively shed the cloth bag. Ever since she entered the new realm, her skills with a sabre also reached new grounds. She shed the bag in two without making a single sound.

    Her nemesis snickered: "Impressive sabre skills, indeed! I wonder how your husband feels after his beloved wife sliced him in two, though."

    Her heart skipped a beat. She never saw her husband and son on the way in. She thought she''d be able to find out where they were from their assants after she took them down. If they were after her, it only made sense for them to be opportunists and spare her husband and son. That was what she told herself the entire way. s, her shaky hands gave in. She opened the bag and saw a scene nobody should ever have to see in their life.

    She dropped her treasured sabre she never let go of before, the de that could reverse the situation when she was in a plight, the de that was more important than her life.

    Her virtually unparalleled sabre skills couldn''t bless her with bliss in the end. Her tears coursed down her eyes. Her life force left her body as she coughed blood over and over.

    Mercy was not shown on that day. Her nemesis impaled her with his sabre, robbing her of herst trace of warmth. He then sighed: "You were so difficult to take down. Nine years it took to take you down. You''re too mighty. You defeated every sect you ran into, including one of Jin Wangshi''s calibre. The stronger your opponent was, the stronger you grew. You rose above every challenge and defeated everyone. I prepared to fight you as though I prepared to fight an invincible adept, yet still only barely eked out a win by using this strategy. For as long as you live in Jiangnan, we will never be able to rule it. You must go for the sake of our greater ambition."

    Her mind was a mess. Her vision was dark. The world spun. Her consciousness faded along with her blood. Everything gradually turned dark. All she saw was the de in her, the one that apanied her throughout all of her fights.

    She wondered, "Why¡­? Why is it this sabre¡­? Why did you betray me? Did you teach me Golden Crow Moon Eater purely for this moment? You killed my husband and son solely for this? You made my cut open my husband''s skull¡­ just for this?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Gaze and voice hopeless, yet vengeful, she, acrimoniously cursed onest time as loud as she could: "Traitorous Jins, as long as my spiteful soul remains, I will ensure your entire Jin n perishes!!"

    Her story ended there.

    Ten yearster, her name, Jin Wanghu, disappeared from the pugilistic world. Jiangnan''s top tiger was, in actual fact, a woman.

    Notes:

    Jiangnan is a region south of the lower reachers of Yangtze River, including the southern part ot its delta. So far in the story, we have seen Hangzhou, Nanjing and Zhenjiang mentioned most (in terms of cities). Those aforementioned cities are among the most important cities in Jiangnan.

 Volume 5 81 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Truth

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 81 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Truth</h4>

    Jin Wangsun lied motionlessly on the ground as he bled out. The Tiger Fang sabre was wider than Golden Crow Moon Eater, therefore closely resembling a broadsword more. As a result, the wound inflicted was much worse. When A Hu pulled Tiger Fang out, Jin Wangsun''s wound turned into a fountain of blood. There was no way he could stop the bleeding.

    Jin Wangsun never had his guard up against A Hu. A Hu dealt the former a fatal wound. Jin Wangsun was frightened when A Hu then picked up Golden Crow Moon Eater. Thetter sabre perfectly fitted A Hu.

    A Hu stabbed Golden Crow Moon Eater into the wound perfectly. Jin Wangsun groaned, but that was only the beginning. A Hu then drained Jin Wangsun''s energy from him by using Golden Crow Moon Eater Manual, Jin Wangsun''s speciality. Jin Wangsun never knew A Hu could utilise the technique and at its maximum potential for that matter.

    Jin Wangsun had bemusement written all over his face. He felt his blood and energy spilling out of his body. He lost a lot of qi in a short time frame but lost a lot more.

    "Wh-Why was it you¡­? Why was it you¡­?"

    Jin Wangsun''s qi was barely detectable, but he kept repeating the question. His eyes disyed his fury, confusion and heartbreak. He thought he''d get to see A Hu show a tinge of guilt so that he couldsh out at him on justified grounds. He could also learn why he was betrayed and tell himself it was A Hu who let him down. A Hu, however, didn''t speak or avoid him.

    A Hu remained as calm as always. He silently stood next to Jin Wangsun. He stood there as if he was still Jin Wangsun''s loyalest ve, who was at his beck and call and would willingly sacrifice himself, Big Cat.

    A Hu showed no guilt when he met with Jin Wangsun''s gaze. He only added to Jin Wangsun''s bewilderment.

    "Young Master, you are truly very stupid," stated A Hu. He remained emotionless and patient. He quietly said, "Since you''repletely ignorant, let me fill you in. My mother''s surname¡­ was Jin. She was a distant rtive of your Gold and Silver Sect. She was in the same generation as you. She was essentially your senior in the n. Neen years ago, she saved you out of the kindness of her heart; your father held her in high regard afterwards¡­"

    A Hu took his time with every sentence. His description matched Jin Wangsun''s memory of the female heroine he admired back then: Jin Wanghu. He recalled her prowess that was renowned throughout Jiangnan and pretty smile.

    "Thirteen years ago, your father wanted my mother to help him defeat a powerful foe. Hence, he passed Golden Crow Moon Eater on to her. Afterwards, Gold and Silver Sect started pondering if your father nned to make her the next patriarch of the sect, inciting much debate and usations. Some even outright challenged her. My mother just kept it to herself out of consideration for your father.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Despite all that, she left home for three years to help your n. My mother''s favourite hobby was spending time with my father. She would rather starve at work just so that she could have dinner with us. She liked sabres, but she liked her family even more. She left home for three years for your n. How did you repay her? You massacred her family, killed her husband and kidnapped her son. Then, you used Golden Crow Moon Eater to drain her energy; she didn''t even get to die with her corpse intact!!!"

    A Hu was always a man of few words, quiet and usually looked mncholic. Jin Wangsun never sensed all that rage pent up inside the former.

    "Big Cat¡­ that w-"

    "After my mother passed away, Gold and Silver Sect ssified the name Jin Wanghu as a taboo and avoided any mention of it. You shifted all of her aplishments and merits to another man, and then contained rumours of her in the martial world. You used her of being a bloodthirsty murder that literally drank people''s blood. You then imed the Seven Champion White Princes had to kill her to end her crime spree¡­"

    A Hu''s rage surged and surged as he spoke until, eventually, he huffed and puffed as a beast would. He was a step away from roaring to the sky.

    "Had Mr. An not rescued me and told me to go back to look for my mother, I wouldn''t have even heard herst words."

    "Your mother¡­ Big Cat¡­"

    "My mother always considered you her own son. I hate everyone in Jin n but you," quietly said A Hu, eyes gradually turning emotionless. "That was how I would''ve felt had it not been for Qing''er."

    "Qing''er¡­ Qing''er!!"

    Jin Wangsun was shocked to hear Qing''er''s name. He never knew A Hu and Qing''er were close to the point he, a titan who was poor with words, would address her by name. The pieces all clicked for Jin Wangsun at longst.

    How did A Hu master Golden Crow Moon Eater? He didn''t have taiyin pills or women, so it was impossible for him to master the most advanced level? The fact that A Hu could absorb Jin Wangsun''s energy told him everything he needed to know.

    "Y-You two¡­ So Qing''er was working¡­ with you! You two¡­ Nice, nice, nice! You sure did right by me!"

    A Hu shook his head: "I liked Qing''er long ago; that was before she knew she was betrothed to you."

    "You scious bitch and conniving bastard! Y-You two betrayed me¡­"

    "You are wrong. Very wrong," calmly responded A Hu. "I know she likes me. She, nevertheless, doesn''t know I like her. I gave her the cold shoulder, for I didn''t want to hurt your feelings. I kept my feelings to myself and prayed you two would be happy together. However, you never ever should''ve forced yourself on her. When I found her the day after that night, she was in the midst of trying to end her life. I realised this day woulde when I stopped and picked her up that day."

    "¡­" Jin Wangsun''s gaze gradually looked empty, but he couldn''t respond.

    "Young Master, you don''t owe me anything, and neither do I owe you anything. I don''t hate you; I hate Jin n''s members."

    A Hu pulled Golden Crow Moon Eater out. Jin Wangsun didn''t have many breaths left.

    "Why did I stab you from behind?" The titan answered his own question in a monotone voice: "Because¡­ that was how my mother was killed."

    "¡­ Your mother''s death, Sister''s Hu''s dead was n-"

    "Save it for the King of Hell."

    The moment finally came. The scene appeared before Jin Wangsun''s eyes again. The scene that day froze in that moment. The scene in his memories was a nightmare that gued him ever since that day, yet he couldn''t bear to delete it from his mind. He wanted a glimpse even as he drew his final breaths. Perhaps it was because it was his only chance to see his Sister Hu again. Worth noting, though, was it was the first time the scene yed out differently.

    Jin Wangsun saw Jin Wanghu lying in a puddle of blood and the enemy with his iron mask. In the distance - no, further, even further - there was a small grid door in the wall enclosure. Jin Wangsun spotted the reflection of an individual in ck. Upon closer inspection, the ominous figure seemed so dark and sinister it could devour the light just by existing. He was Mr. An!

    Ten years ago, Mr. An was present at the scene! The story about him rescuing A Hu and so forth had to be fabricated lies!

    Jin Wangsun''s throat burbled and croaked, but he couldn''t make out any words.

    He tried to say, "A Hu¡­ it wasn''t me¡­ It was him! It was him! He was the one who poisoned your mother¡­ it was him!!!"

    A Hu revealed a barely-noticeable tinge of hopelessness in his eyes. Like a howling beast, he violently swung Tiger Fang.

    The rmed birds took flight. Blood was everywhere in sight.

 Volume 5 82 The Worldâ€™s Dazzling Talent - Extraordinary Talent

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 82 The World¡¯s Dazzling Talent - Extraordinary Talent</h4>

    The water roiled as the boat gradually sunk when A Hu returned to shore. He crossed the water by using qinggong to hop across floating timber boards. Jin Wangsun and the boatman'' corpses sunk into the river together with the boat, leaving no traces behind. He courteously greeted Mr. An: "Mr. An. Your subordinate has not disappointed you and sessfullypleted the mission."

    "Well done. Well done," praised Mr. An. He stood there outside in the cold night in his ck robe. Heughed: "A Hu, your skills have improved yet again. You haven''t disappointed me as my disciple. You also absorbed Jin Wangsun''s energy, progressing your internal energy substantially. Poor Jin Wangsun spent his life fulfilling the wishes of others. He continues to serve even in death, feeding fish this time."

    "It was all thanks to you, Mr. An."

    Mr. An didn''t appear interested in A Hu''s martial arts or the Golden Crow Moon Eater sabre in his hand. He asked, "Spare the drivel. Where is it?''

    "On me." A Hu stabbed Golden Crow Moon Eater into the ground then took out a brocade box, which was the same size as one used to store jewellery. Longdan took the box on behalf of Mr. An.

    A Hu then abruptly undid his shirt. He wore two undershirts underneath his poor-quality outer garment. Deep inside was a snow-white long strip of cloth with blood on it. To be specific, it was text in written in blood. The blood stains were made on the same day everything took ce. He removed the white cloth and handed it over. Mr. An, personally, took the cloth.

    "You have everything Her Highness asked for?"

    "Yes," replied A Hu, hands in a cupped-fist salute whilst half-naked. "I shed the white wall to obtain the Profound Ice sword soul she wanted. As for Hero Shenzhou''s carving, I used my blood as a substitute for ink and printed it on the cloth. The sword soul is a very rare possession."

    Mr. An nced at the text out of the corner of his eyes to ensure it was the same text he saw when he entered the imperial pce back then. Then, he gave Longdan a nod. The great swordsman opened the brocade box. Before he could see the contents inside, a metal grinding sound escaped the box. It was the sword howl. The box wasn''trge. There wasn''t a sword or broadsword in there; there was only a ck tip of a de.

    Mr. An had someone ce the tip of the de inside Zhaixing Hall over two decades ago. The n went awry when the sword soul inside developed beyond his expectations, making it a challenge to reim. Since A Hu was sent in to steal Hero Shenzhou''s carving, Mr. An figured he might as well have the former take the sword soul with him.

    "You have done Jiangnan''s fiercest tiger''s name proud as her descendant. You are the only one who can resist Hero Shenzhou''s sword soul and copy the text down thanks to your Fragmented Heart Mental Cultivation," stated Mr. An, as he examined the text. He sighed: "This text mentions the secret of the nation''s destiny. Back when Her Highness seduced Ming Huayu, she nned to have him try and unravel the mystery of the text with his skill as a direct disciple. Who would''ve thought the shrewd bugger would run. Even worse, he substituted the fuma position with his disciple, putting her in a dilemma. However, Her Highness truly is a phoenix; she was able to acquire the text within a mere three year time frame."

    Bemused, A Humented, "The text seems to hide a martial arts manual."

    Mr. An chuckled: "The text hides a supreme style: Fragmented Sword Eighth Layer Candle. It''s the supreme swordy the Founding Emperor used to conquer thends. He didn''t pass the swordy on to his descendants; instead, he passed it on to hisrades. Hero Shenzhou wanted to return it to the imperial family. Unfortunately for them, Yuansheng is an imbecile. Two decades he spent, and he still couldn''tprehend it. The nation is doomed in the hands of such a fool."

    "Mr. An, who will you be passing the swordpl-"

    Mr. An calmly interjected: "What are you so eager about? You wield sabres; your physique cannot be changed. You will never replicate half of your sess with a sabre when ites to swordy. Not even swordy of this calibre will change that fate, so stop wasting your energy coveting it."

    A Hu responded: "Your subordinate dares not. It is just that the sword intent in the text is incredibly overwhelming. Your subordinate was injured even with Fragmented Heart Mental Cultivation protecting him. Anyone who practices it must be wary."

    "You don''t need to tell me that; I have ns in ce. As a thorough guard and astute individual, I''m sure it''ll be deciphered," replied Mr. An, chuckling. The Founding Emperor''s supreme swordy has been returned to his descendant. Perfect, isn''t it?"

    A Hu didn''t know who Mr. An was referring to. He let Mr. Anugh heartily, and then asked, "What should your subordinate do now?"

    "Do as Her Highness initially ordered. Emperor Yuansheng is impressed with you. You need to continue rising through the ranks in the imperial court and improving your image. As for Gold and Silver Sect, that old Jin Laishi is holding down the fort. That being said, the new patriarch will be decided based on martial prowess. You know what to do."

    "Understood." A Hu quietly said, "I will return to Zhenjiang and fight for the seat. I will then instigate a war between Jin Laishi''s Gold and Silver Sect and the other Seven Champion White Princes to plunge Jiangnan into chaos. I shall await my chance to make Jin n pay the price."

    The tiger grew up in a bloody grudge and blood. He was out to realise his mother''s curse.

    ========

    Ming Feizhen caught sight of Jingan preparing to get into a carriage when he sprinted out of the pce doors. He dashed over and yelled, "Please wait!"

    The guards were startled. They had no clue who would have the audacity to stop the Princess. They yelled, "Halt."

    Princess Jingan calmly said, "It''s fine. Let him over."

    Ming Feizhen lowered his head and rushed over.

    "What are you doing?" calmly asked Jingan. "Are you not worried people will find out?"

    "They''re two separate matters." Voice quiet, Ming Feizhen asked, "What¡­ exactly have you done?"

    "Fuma, Jing''er cannot understand such profound and cryptic speech."

    "I asked you¡­ since when¡­ did Jin Wangsun fall victim to your trap?"

    "Oh? What would your guess be, Fuma?"

    "Half a year ago¡­ at least half a year ago. That''s how long it''s been since hest consumed a taiyin pill. Did you know his mental state would be unstable if he didn''t consume the pill, and then¡­"

    Jingan just smiled. However, her eyes seemed to say, "What are you trying to ask me?"

    "A Hu and Huo Qing''er are a couple; the former can''t possibly be a loyal servant. You bribed him, didn''t you? He took something from Zhaixing Hall for you, correct? You n involves many entities and people; it''s going to take a lot of time. What exactly do you want?''

    Jingan''s smile was beautiful and captivating. In a soft voice, she responded, "What exactly are you talking about?"

    "¡­ Is Jin Wangsun dead already?"

    "Jing''er does not understand anything you have said."

    Jingan gently turned her face away. She wore an ambiguous, yet beautiful and youthful, smile. Her expression looked alive as though her nose could speak. There was no way of acquiring any information through her appearance and bodynguage.

    "You won this time, and you won beautifully. Fuma, Jing''er always loses to you. Jing''er is a failure."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Hopeless, Ming Feizhen gave up: "Where¡­ are you going now? It''ste now, so head back to the fuma estate, and we''ll t-"

    "I am returning to Hangzhou tonight," interrupted Jingan, letting down the curtain at the same time.

    "W-Wait, let me finish!! Why are you still so hasty?!"

    "We¡­"

    The curtain slowly fell. Thest thing Ming Feizhen saw was Jingan''s entrancing smile.

    "Will meet again."

    Despite her smile being beautiful, it sent chills down spines. You could never tell what she had on her mind. If her rationality and emotions were written as a ratio, her emotions would be a tiny numerical valuepared to the former. She could use anyone as her pawn without batting an eye. Add her astuteness to the mix, and she made the most terrifying tactician one could go up against.

    That was why people obliviously walked into her doubleyer traps. Why were they called doubleyer traps? Because you''d think you found out something, but that would be what she wanted you to know. As for what she didn''t want to let you know, you would never know regardless of how you racked your brains. Even the one who taught her military strategiesmented, "Rarely is there anyone with talent of this calibre."

    Notes:

    *Longdan - This isn''t an actual name. It''s an alias simr to the Ultimate Threes'' system. Longdan essentially means "bravery of a dragon". If the meaning isn''t obvious enough, it''s a way of depicting someone as very courageous.

    ** As a thorough guard and astute individual, I''m sure it''ll be deciphered¡­ - The gender and so forth of individual who is praised and supposed to be able to decipher the manual is shrouded in mystery.

    ***Brocade Box - A timber box usually covered in silk on all sides but the lid, which has a thickeryer. You will find numerous variations.

 Volume 6 1 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Yiren Has Hope

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 1 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Yiren Has Hope</h4>

    ¡°A man departs with no hopes of return in the harsh and gloomy weather,¡± was a poem originally used to illustrate the scene of a fearless warrior venturing out on a journey for the greater good in spite of the sorrow he felt deep down. Recently, though, hawkers used it to describe a rash individual who wasn¡¯t exactly a valiant warrior. The poem shot to fame in the capital when it was used to depict the order to execute Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s new patriarch for his bold act of treason.

    The traitorous patriarch secretly practised an unorthodox style and absorbed his loyal subordinates'' energy via a cruel mean. Then, he used the unorthodox style to brutally ughter the imperial court''s warriors. News of his deeds spread throughout the city.

    Had the Seventeen Hidden Dragons not arrived on the scene in time alongside Mount Daluo''s renowned disciple and The Seventeen Wyrms'' top ranked warrior, Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider, Hong Shiba, also known as Hongjiu, nobody present would''ve been able to subdue the carnage. The treacherous and viinous Patriarch Jin would''ve harmed the capital with a great cmity. Unfortunately, the viin was sly enough to escape after suffering critical wounds.

    Jin Wangsun''s family ve, A-Hu, gained acim for his deeds during the coup d''¨¦tat, as he retaliated against Jin Wangsun''s tyranny. He, too, wounded up with an injury, but he did manage to snatch Gold and Silver Sect''s heirloom, Golden Crow Moon Eater and offered it to the reigning Emperor.

    The Emperor epted the de; however, he then handed it back to A-Hu as a reward for prioritising the greater good and justice. He had A-Hu''s status as a family ve revoked and insisted on nurturing him into a hero to be remembered. With the imperial court supporting him, the orthodox sects in the martial world were blessed with another hero. Martial artists in the capital were ted to hear the decision, deeming the Emperor as a wise man.

    News of Jin Wangsun''s treason was widespread, because it happened not long after the Emperor Chengkong Incident. People conjured up different ideas due to the two events happening so closely one after the other.

    Some imed it was because the Emperor refused to marry his daughter to Gold and Silver Sect, leading to Jin Wangsun retaliating. Some imed Jin Wangsun was in cahoots with the Orange Prince; the only difference was that one struck after the other due to poor teamwork, apparently.

    Some imed Jin Wangsun conspired with the Demon Sect to fulfil his ambitions. Others imed it was the Emperor''s scheme to put Gold and Silver Sect in their ce. Regardless, the rumours spreadparably to wildfire; nobody knew what the truth was. The imperial court was also divided in two, with both factions tending to opposing extremes.

    The rebellion came as a shock given the Seven Champion White Princes rtionship with the imperial court.

    The Seven Champion White Princes'' reputation had been rooted in Jiangnan''s martial world for a century. Every single one of the White Princes maintained armies of their own and collected taxes autonomously. They were essentially Princes with fiefs. Patriarchs even had the authority to execute the people within their domains of their own volition. Their domains were notrge enough to impact the imperial court''s politics; however, they were geographically linked to the imperial city. In other words, as far as military strategy was concerned, they yed a major role.

    The imperial court, as the world knew it, might''ve fallen victim to rebellions years ago had it not been thanks to the Seven Champion White Princes'' support. So ordingly, thetter was an extolled entity in the martial world and from the perspective of the citizens. As a matter of fact, they were almost ced higher on the hierarchy than the imperial court.

    The Seven Champion White Princes'' power was always called into question. Their arbitrations and ruling power in Jiangnan was absolute. Even if one was to disregard the warriors under their banners, the seven patriarchs were legends to the people. The people would celebrate if they had the fortune of meeting one of the patriarchs.

    Theuded patriarchs ced above the clouds always were a thorn in the imperial court''s side. They didn''t need to do anything; they could deal a blow to the imperial court purely with their que with golden text. After the recent fiasco, nevertheless, the seven ques lost their gloss. They were dragged down from the clouds and buried in the mud. In essence, their reputation took a critical blow. Jin Wangsun''s fall produced a domino effect; it impacted the martial world in Jiangnan''s domain and further beyond. The best evidence was news of Jin Wangsun being removed from the patriarch seat and an arrest warrant being issued for him.

    The same afternoon, five sects that were part of the Seven Champion Princes received letters. That was despite the seven having always ignored the imperial court during New Year. They were quick to call Jin Wangsun out on his shameless deed and sent their courteous wishes to His Majesty. They even insulted Jin Wangsun''s father for failing to raise his son properly. When they switched the subject afterwards, though, they all agreed it was Gold and Silver Sect''s business; they stood unified, arguing that the imperial court shouldn''t get involved. They ssified the removal of a patriarch to be a major matter; consequently, they believed it was best for the Emperor to stay out of it and to leave it to Gold and Silver Sect to sort out by themselves.

    Unsurprisingly, the Emperor was livid. At a conference, he snickered: "See? Look at this? How long has it been since the incident? See? They''ve already managed to put their letters on my desk. When I need to deploy them, they take ten to fourteen days to respond! Removing a patriarch is a major matter, and I should not be involved? They''re putting the pugilistic world on the altar, huh? I''m the Emperor, yet a patriarch from a martial arts sect is held in higher regard? They ask for money to train soldiers annually. Whose soldiers were they again? Are those soldiers there to protect me or them when we''re in dire straits?"

    Nobody dared to piggy back off what the Emperor said. Most importantly, the letters were there on the table. It would be reasonable to assume someone nned it. The Emperor had reasonable grounds to be irate. The only two sects that didn''t submit a letter was Gold and Silver Sect, since they were too ashamed, and the other was the Dark Robe Brotherhood, the Emperor''s inws. They were part of the imperial family, and they decided to y along with it.

    All that said, the Seven Champion White Princes'' response was expected. They were able to maintain power and influence through the years thanks to the Emperorcking the ability to involve himself with their domains in any capacity. That being the case, their domains became the most precious domains in the pugilistic world. Think about it: nobody couldy a finger on you if you were up to something shady.

    The Seven Champion Princes - minus Gold and Silver Sect itself - didn''t care that Gold and Silver Sect''s patriarch was kicked off his throne. All they cared about was whether or not the Emperor could harm them.

    The imperial court debated the topic for days but didn''t reach a conclusion. The reformist faction, led by The Secretary of the Bureau of Military Personnel, wanted to leverage Jin Wangsun''s case to undermine the Seven Champion Princes'' influence, promoting the belief that the Emperor couldn''t allow there to be anyone who could rival the imperial family''s power.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The peace advocates, led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, on the other hand, expressed it was impossible for the imperial court to rece such a powerful entity at the snap of a finger. The threew enforcement government offices, namely Liu Shan Men, Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage, were unable to begin managing the pugilistic world so abruptly. Thus, the two factions tried to shove their opinions down each other''s throats.

    As for Prime Minister Li Si, who took a neutral position and yed Tai Chi, he never offered any usible ideas. The enraged Emperor''s was so irritated with everything he heard that he needed to pay the prime minister a visit for a bowl of tea to calm his nerves.

    Emperor Yuansheng sat on his throne to discuss the matter with the six ministries'' heads and Prime Minister Li Si again today. Seeing as they couldn''t reach a conclusive decision after so many days, the Emperor nned to discuss another topic.

    The Emperor stated, "Today''s discussion isn''t about Jin Wangsun anymore. I want to promote some talented individuals to help thosegging behind. I''d like to hear your opinions."

    Note

    I¡¯ve changed ¡°A Hu¡± to A-Hu in consideration of the future. In the manhua, all text is in capitals, which means ¡°A Hu¡± might be mistaken. ¡°Ah Hu¡± would be Cantonese style, but we¡¯re not using Cantonese. The other options were ¡°A-Hu¡± and ¡°A¡¯Hu¡±; I picked the former just for ease on the eyes.

 Volume 6 2 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Ministers in the Imperial Court

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 2 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Ministers in the Imperial Court</h4>

    ¡°Today''s topic doesn''t concern vassals. I have found seven individuals I identify as my kingdom''s pirs."

    There were three people lined up on either side of the room. One in the centre wore a smile. The seven of them were loyal to the imperial court from the bottom of their hearts in body and soul. It was perfectly normal for them to be jubnt when acknowledged by the Emperor. However, he didn''tmend them individually; instead, he apuded them as a group. Five among the seven were discontent. They looked left and right, coldly snorted and looked away. They took a small step back to signal they refused to be on the same page as their foe. Nobody noticed they segregated themselves, since they stepped back in unison, thereby nullifying their disconcerted attitude.

    It was supposed to be a morning conference, yet the Emperor met with them exclusively. The seven were cool as cucumbers; nothing suggested they were ttered. That demonstrated they were used to turbulence. The seven of them wielded tremendous power and influence in the imperial court.

    From left to right, they were there two who led the reformist faction in the imperial court, Secretary of Ministry of War, Lie Jingchan, and Secretary of the Ministry of Work, Lu Boan. The two viewed the Secretary of Ministry of War as their leader; the Ministry of War always was the reformist faction in the imperial court.

    In terms of foreign threats, the two kept the Northern border and Western Region in check through warfare and expanded the nation''s domains to ensure peace once and for all. In terms of internal challenges, they worked with the threew enforcement government offices, assisting them with military might, stripping the Seven Champion White Princes of power one by one by one and taking back territory. They wanted to empower the imperial court with the ability to rule the pugilistic world. In terms of national policies, they encouraged the Emperor to innovate. Part of this innovation included encouraging engineering studies. They advocated pursuing extra skills outside of martial arts, a creative idea the Emperor loved.

    The only problem the Emperor had with them was their obsession with fighting. The Seven Champion White Princes'' foundations were solid. Trying to take any of them down would be an arduous struggle. But let''s focus on the Western Regions and Beijiang, the Northern Border.

    The Western Regions'' seven kingdoms were always united. Beijiang''s two big kingdoms were home to countless valiant figures. By no ounts were they inferior to Emperor Yuansheng''s kingdom. If Emperor Yuansheng''s kingdom was to go to war with them, they''d most probably be locked in an eternal battle. The Emperor conducted a detailed analysis on the idea before. If the two vassals were to actually implement the thought, it would likely cost more than the founding Emperor''s living expenses for a century. Evidently, the idea was preposterous.

    The two from right to left were Secretary of Personnel, Zhang Chunfeng, Secretary of Rites, Kong Duan, and Secretary of Ministry of Revenue, Qian Wuque. The three were the imperial court''s peace advocates'' faction representatives. They were strongly against resorting to military might unless absolutely necessary. They were experienced and steady, especially since they had Secretary of Personnel, Zhang Chunfeng, as their leader. They encouraged the Emperor to rule with benevolence and to respect rtionships. They strongly promoted ruling through culture. They were of the opinion that the Seven Champion White Princes and the threew enforcement government offices were able to rule the pugilistic world.

    The Emperor agreed with their experience and steady approach; he wasn''t eager for more war. Unfortunately, they were against his desire to send in his forces to wipe out the Demon Sect when thetter was facing internal strife. That led to the Emperor believing the three were far too conservative.

    The dynasty always promoted martial artists as being integral to the imperial court ever since its establishment. As such, despite there being rtively lots of peace advocates, the ratio of martial artists to schrs in the imperial court was even. It becamemonce for them to engage in verbal warfare every daily conference.

    On gentleman stood right in the centre. He looked as though he was asleep, thereby sticking out like a thorn. The honoured gentleman would be none other than Prime Minister Li Si. He had to wake up earlier than usual in the morning, which was why he struggled to stay awake. In just two sentences'' time, he was nodding off, looking to y a game of chess with Duke of Zhou.

    Next to the Prime Minister was a middle-aged man. Said man was Secretary of the Ministry of Justice''s Leng Ming, Secretary Leng. He was charged with enforcing justice not partaking in politics. He wasn''t fond of forming factions, either. He kept to himself, which was one of the reasons the Emperor respected him.

    Smiling, the Emperor said, "I have a favour to ask of you seven."

    Secretary Lie immediately took centre stage. As a soldier who fought in countless battles, he looked tough and had a dark, thick beard. He responded to the call with a ming spirit in his eyes: "Your Majesty, I shall fulfil whatever favour it is! Consider it done!" He brushed his robe after he was done speaking, acting as though he was about to leave after giving amand in the barracks.

    Secretary Zhang was dressed as a bright schr. Courteously and clearly, he expressed, "Please give the order, Your Majesty. Your subject will provide advice."

    Secretary Zhang snickered and directed a deridingment at Secretary Lie right after: "How are you going to do what you don''t know what the task is? How is someone so brash supposed to achieve anything?"

    Secretary Lie red back: "I just will! I can do anything. You have a problem with that?"

    "Not one. It is I merely feel sorry for the soldiers who have to serve under amander with the temperament of a raging bull."

    Secretary Lie didn''t fire back - not that he could win even if he tried. He made a simple statement: "Old geezer, don''tpete in silly topics here. Give me that bizarre attitude again, and I''ll skin you."

    Unafraid, Secretary Zhang ced his hands behind his back and scowled, "How unruly! Your Majesty, listen to him insult a minister in the imperial court. Please punish him ording to ourws!"

    Secretary Leng, who had his eyes partially shut, suddenly opened them fully: "ording to our dynasty''s constitution, insulting ministers of the imperial court is punished with eighty h-"

    "Old Leng, can you stop reciting all that scripture stuff you read? I''m illiterate; I don''t understand a thing you''re saying," griped Secretary Lie.

    Meanwhile, the Emperor kicked back andughed. He was used to watching his vassals go at each other. The leader of the two factions didn''t have any grudge between them, yet they always bickered. They were a headache whenever they met from the time they were young and still were. Back when Emperor Yuansheng ascended the throne as a young man, the schrs and military personnel would quarrel. It certainly was nostalgic.

    "Hahahaha, stop, stop for a second. Where is Leng Ming?"

    Secretary Leng responded: "Present."

    Stillughing, the Emperor said, "If anyone bickers or curses again - raising their voice included - they''ll be punished via caning. That applies for everyone."

    Secretary Leng sped his hands before his chest. With no expression on his face, he replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

    Secretary Zhang and Secretary Lie put an end to their bickering. Being caught by Leng Ming was just utterly silly.eng Ming was renowned for being impartial. He enforcedws with total disregard for empathy. Forget the two secretaries; he went after the Emperor one time. The Emperor once stayed at a civilian vi to get out of the sun. Secretary Leng chased the Emperor down for days to make him pay the owner of the vi. He even demanded the Emperor personally go there on his two feet and apologise to the denizen who was forced out of his home. The denizen never knew it was the Emperor; he was just a contractor at the vi. Still, the incident shocked everyone.

    "I summoned the seven of you here today for both business and personal matters. In terms of personal matters, I want to fulfil an important wish I''ve held on to dearly for a long time. In terms of business, I want to promote thosegging behind in the imperial court. I am looking for your rmendations."

    In reality, the Emperor just strung together a series of meaningless sentences. The ministers still had no clue where he was trying to steer it. Six of them looked at each other, seeing if the other knew how to answer. When they looked at the prime minister, they wanted to woefully thump their chests. His head rocked side to side. What was he doing? Oh, just sleeping.

    Being mindful as he was, Secretary Zhang wanted to ask the Emperor to borate on what he was after specifically. Before he could, though, the Emperor added, "You and I have served the kingdom together for over two decades. Time sure flies¡­"

    Secretary Zhang''s heart figuratively cracked. The Emperor didn''t say anything with substance. Instead, he immediately brought up their long-standing rtionship. He, therefore, knew the favour wasn''t hard, but very hard, maybe incredibly hard! Before he could ask to pull out, Secretary Lie started tearing up. Secretary Lie thumped his chest: "There is no reason for you to say that, Your Majesty. As long as I can still fight, I shall serve you in any way possible! You just have to say the world, and I shall sweep the Western Region''s seven kingdoms! Men, prepare my steed and summon twenty-thousand elite sold-"

    "Terrific! I was hoping to hear that from you. I assume the rest of you share his stance?!" interjected the Emperor.

    The other five ministers, including Secretary Lu, who was with Secretary Lie, were livid. They red at Secretary Lie and silently cursed, "Lie Jingchan, Lie Jingchan, you impress in warfare, but why won''t you learn to tell when someone means well and when someone is harbouring ill will?! His Majesty is setting us up!"ie Jingchan was too straightced to understand what their facial signals meant. Heughed heartily: "I will never shy away from an order, Your Majesty."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Said of the Emperor: "You''ll dive into the ocean if I ask you to?"

    Said of Secretary Lie: "We shall jump into the fire if you ask!"

    Thought of the remaining officials: "Wait, wait, wait, you''re diving and jumping alone!!"

    "Excellent. I''m d to hear you all so determined; I was worried you wouldn''t help me. I finally feel a weight lifted off my shoulders."

    Thought of the wise vassals: "Don''t put the weight down! Heave that weight back up! We didn''t agree to anything! Oh, for crying out loud, Li Jingchan, you gue!!"

    The Emperor sounded touched when he next spoke: "It''s nothing major, really. I have three students I want to rmend to you. The three of them have exceptional prospects; they just haven''t set foot into politics as of yet or understand the rules. I want you to take them in as students. You seven are pirs holding the nation together. It''s good for everyone if any of you take them in."

    There were precedent cases of ministers taking apprentices under their wing. They could be top-ranking schrs or martial artists. They could be rmended to high-ranking vassals or adepts from the three governmentw enforcement offices.

    The reason they were made students as opposed to apprentices was owed to both parties serving as officials. Teachers and apprentices would make sense for schrs. However, in the case of martial artists, it''d be iffy. No apprentice would tell his shifu what to do. Identical scenarios were also applied to Fourth Rank Low-ranking Officials. Even the highest scorers in imperial examinations - in both schr and martial arts examinations - were never rmended to Secretaries as students. Therefore, it begged the question, "Who was the Emperor promoting the idea for?"

    The secretaries weren''t stupid. They needed to be elites to be where they were. Besides those with many war merits, such as Secretary Lie, the other five immediately realised who the three were.

    The three individuals the Emperor referred were the three hottest names recently. They also hadn''t set foot in politics. That much information was a dead giveaway: Liu Shan Men''s three monkeys.

    The Emperor was very close to Shen n and Liu Shan Men was one of the three longest standingw enforcement government offices. Since they were the weakest at present, he wanted to give Shen Yiren a hand with reviving Liu Shan Men. The issue was that it was excruciatingly troublesome.

    Three were rmended; however, they were all from the same office. If the three were to follow the ministers around all day, the ministers might be diagnosed with a lethal case of irritation. They were busy gentlemen; taking care of the three would be overkill.

    Secretary Lie was quite the slow one, so Secretary Lu quickly whispered the intricacies in his ear. They couldn''t let the three monkeys prevent them from theirpetition with the peace advocates'' faction, not to mention the headache they would be.

    The vassals immediately rejected the Emperor.

    The Emperor feigned ignorance and frowned: "Old Lie, what did you just say before?

    Secretary Lie instinctively replied, "We will dive into the ocean and jump into the fire?"

    Said of the Emperor: "Friendships?"

    Secretary Lie: "Are worth gold?"

    With a straight face, the Emperor asked: "When friends call?"

    In a historical moment, Secretary Lie was able to demonstrate literacypetence. He proudly eximed: "Show up!"

    The Emperor pped his thigh: "Perfect! Martial artists in the pugilistic world are men of their words. My imperial court''s ministers can''t be inferior, right?"

    Thoughts the vassals wanted to share: "Your Majesty, you''re taking advantage of the idiot to set us up!!"

    The Emperor was confident he had it in the bag, so he smiled: "In that case, please have a good think as to who you want to take on as your student. Needless to say, they would be delighted to be under your mentorship. Prime Minister¡­ Umm, Prime Minister?''

    The Prime Minister was too busy snoring.

    The Emperor brayed, "Prime Minister!"

    The Prime Minister''s bubble by his nose popped. He woke up and surveyed his surroundings with his shrewd eyes: "Hmm? Where am I? Who are you lot? What do you want?"

    The Emperor desperately contained his fury: "Prime Minister, do you ept?"

    Prime Minister Li Si held his hands in a cupped-fist salute: "What is this about, Your Majesty?"

    The other secretaries saw an opportunity to capitalise on: "Exactly, Your Majesty. What do you wish to discuss?"

    In the Emperor''s mind: "For real?! I finally ensnared them! Do I have to ensnare them again?!"

    "Li Si!" eximed the Emperor, jumping to his feet. "Don''t push it! How dare you sleep when I''m sitting right here¡­?"

    Secretary Leng indifferently dropped a word: "Arguing?"

    "Huh? Arguing?"

    The Emperor suddenly recalled himself saying, "If anyone bickers or curses again - raising their voice included - you''re going to be punished via caning. That applies for everyone." The key phrase was, "That applies for everyone." When he added Secretary Leng''s stern character to the equation, he felt a chill down his spine.

    Secretary Leng swept his gaze over everyone present. He emotionlessly asked, "Do I hear an argument?" Then, he went and picked up a cane.

    "No, no, no, no argument. There''s no argument. Oi! Prime Minister Li, you did this on purpose, didn''t you?!"

    Prime Minister Li innocently looked up to the ceiling right away, acting as though he was just inspecting the exquisite ceiling''s painting. He even asionallyplimented it: "Tsk, tsk, who is the artist? It is a magnificent painting."

    "You''ve looked at the painting for decades, yet you''re only discerning its magnificence now? Who are you trying to fool?!"

    Secretary Leng picked up the cane and went over.

    "Secretary Leng, wait, wait, wait! Calm down! Hey! Stop him! Leng Ming! You wouldn''t dare! J-Just you wait!" eximed the Emperor, running off.

    Secretary Leng picked up the cane and gave chase, eyes indifferent to the Emperor''s pleas.

    Meanwhile, back in the hall, someone casually remarked, "My, my, why is His Majesty absent? I guess it''s time to end the conference. I really am getting on with age. I didn''t even realise His Majesty left. This old one shall take his leave."

    The speaker ced his hands behind his back and leisurely walked out. The others watched him leave from behind. They thought to themselves, "There''s a reason he''s the prime minister. Not even I would dare to make a fool of the Emperor. What a sinister man."

    Notes:

    *Apprentice versus student - This one is lost in trantion, and that was the only way I could differentiate them in English, because they''re the same thing in English. It has to do with the specific terms used in certain contexts in Chinese.

    **Secretary Lie''s historical moment - Ipletely made up the speech here, because it''s nonsensical to begin with. It''s the equivalent of using a passcode to find people in the same line of work. It''s simr to the Morse code. It originated from Qu Bo''s novelÁÖº£Ñ©Ô­ (Tracks in the Snowy Forest). Fun fact: it''s now used as ng.

    Notes:

    *Qian Wuque, Secretary of Ministry of Revenue - His name means "I don''tck money".

    *Prime Minister Li Si''s dream of ying chess with Duke of Zhou by sleeping reference is a reference to Duke of Zhou also being known as the "God of Dreams".

    It wasn''t meant in such a literal way when Duke of Zhou was first associated with dreams. It just began to be taken literally at some point, not that it makes the literal usage wrong.

    It was originally quoted in "The Analects". Confucius was quoted for saying, "How I have gone downhill! It has been such a long time since I dreamt of the Duke of Zhou." If you know of Duke of Zhou and his expansion and codifying of his brother''s feudal system, you''d know why he was famous. Confucius reference to him was him bemoaning that government ideals Duke of Zhou promoted had faded.

 Volume 6 3 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Caught Red-Handed

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 3 Liu Shan Men Divided in Three - Caught Red-Handed</h4>

    Jin Wangsun''s whereabouts were unknown; however, his family ve, A-Hu, offered Golden Crow Moon Eater to the imperial court, but the Emperor gave it back to him as a reward. That marked the end of the incident.

    A-Hu then took the sabre back to Gold and Silver Sect with the imperial court backing him. Gold and Silver Sect''s disaster had only just begun.

    After the incident, I locked myself in the room for utility room, because Su Xiao stayed in my room for two entire days, refusing to step outside.

    There were lots of things about the incident that I felt were strangely connected. The contrivancemenced the moment Jin Wangsun set foot in the capital. Jingan ensnared Jin Wangsun, Night Fortress, Gold and Silver Sect, His Majesty and¡­ me in her convoluted trap.

    From beginning to end, Jingan only fanned the mes - the mes being Jin Wangsun - leading to him making arrogant decisions that ultimately led to his own demise. She didn''t have a hand in any other part of the scheme. We all danced in the palm of her hand. A-Hu was her ally from the very beginning. For all we knew, she could''ve led Huo Qing''er by the nose, too. She yed the imperial court and the Seven Champion White Princes like a fiddle without any cost to herself. As a tactician, she was scary skilled. What bemused me more than anything was how she benefited from the results. She concocted one massive n, but her goal was shrouded in mystery to me. I couldn''t fathom how Jin Wangsun''s downfall benefitted her.

    I spent two days deliberating and deliberating. On the first day, I thought about Jin Wangsun, who probably died tragically¡­ which rendered me mncholic. On day two, I recalled the lovely smile Jingan left me with when she departed¡­ which rendered me disappointed and heartbroken. On day three¡­ Dongpo Restaurant had their end of year half-price sale, which rendered me hungry.

    There was nopelling reason for me to not forsake the sorrow and thinking to step outside and enter the ultimate battle. I recalled my aim in life when I wolfed down a sulent pork shoulder at the taste-testing zone outside. My goal was to kick back and rx for the rest of my life. ordingly, it was in my best interest to keep my distance from Jingan, the Seven Champion White Princes, North, East, South, West and everything in between. I could step on their tails another day, but for the meantime, I needed to get out of the crossfires.

    I nned to enjoy my life of retirement to its fullest for the day. I needed to make a trip to Eight Deities Tavern a bitter for a special event.

    After being promoted to Seventh Rank Warrior, I kept buying makeup products; I bought more than women. Sometimes, I used my sry to give myself some love.

    As I packed, I asionally nced up to the roof; I couldn''t stop thinking about the imperial family''s beauty. I wondered how she was doing.

    As for my marriage to Princess Hongzhuang, it went to the bin, as Jin Wangsun and I both failed the third test, resulting in a disqualification for both of us. The matter was swept under the rug thanks to Jin Wangsun''s wild ideas. I was convinced the Emperor did it on purpose. He wouldn''t marry his Princess to someone like me. Not that I wasining that he called it off.

    The man selling fish would give me a smile when I went to buy groceries as a fuma candidate. I could also have biscuits by the office doors for breakfast if I liked. However, Jingan, alone, was enough of a headache, so I couldn''t imagine the two sisters together. If the Emperor found out I, the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen, married two of his Princesses, he''d send the entire kingdom''s military after me!

    The ending was perfect for me and Princess Hongzhuang. Having said that¡­ I had a feeling Princess Hongzhuang already figured out my identity. I left the office at the same time as her on the day I flew into a fit of rage and sliced the boat in two. I left her behind, as I was in a hurry. That said, if she caught up and watched me get on the boat¡­ I remember I did all the makeup and washed off my hair dye. Unfortunately, I didn''t change my clothes.

    I didn''t see Princess Hongzhuang after the debacle on the boat. More precisely, , I guess , she didn''t want to see me. She suddenly left a letter behind and returned to the pce. I was focused on Young Shiyi and thepetition at the time. Therefore, I didn''t pay attention to Princess Hongzhuang''s departure. When I thought back on it, I realised her reaction was rather bizarre.

    I was under the impression Princess Hongzhuang and I were on decent terms. We did share a room for several days, after all. I never met her again after. Well¡­ I was only a mere constable; it''d be unrealistic for a Princess toe and hang out with me. Man, and here I remembered she liked spicy foods. I was going to invite her to the new hot pot restaurant.

    "Ming Feizhen," suddenly called somebody.

    "Huh? Who''s calling?"

    I looked up but didn''t see anybody. There was nobody at the door, either. The voice was clear enough for me to tell it was a girl.

    "Wait. It sounds familiar¡­" I thought.

    "Is that you, Your Highness?"

    "It is. Stop looking. It''s not as if you''d find me¡­"

    I stepped outside the room and looked side to side. I headed to a rockery in the flower garden.

    "Eh?! How did you know I was here? W-Wait! Stay back!"

    I stopped in my tracks. Princess Hongzhung was evidently on edge and nervous despite her best efforts to put on a tough front. She acted as though she couldn''t maintain her demeanours if I was too close. I stopped behind the rockery.

    "I''m returning to Emei," stated Princess Hongzhunag. "We are acquainted, so I decided to bid you goodbye after considering it. My shifu summoned me. I probably won''t be back for several months. Do¡­ you have anything to say?"

    "You are leaving, Your Highness? Your subject is very grateful you took the time to drop by and bid farewell," I said. Touching my head, I added, "But howe your subject cannot approach y"

    "Just no!" brayed Princess Hongzhuang. "I don''t want to see you."

    She was supposed to sound enraged and intimidating, but I found her cute.

    "If you say so." I smiled helplessly: "Have a safe trip."

    We fell into a silence. She didn''t say a word, while I feigned ignorance. I couldn''t just outright ask, "Hey, you realise I''m Lord San Shen, don''t you?" How would that be any different to exposing myself?

    Princess Hongzhuang took a few breaths: "I''ll be leaving now. You don''t need to see me off. You''ve taken care of me a lot over thest few days. I yell at you every day, but I don''t actually hate you."

    Princess Hongzhuang leapt off the rockery and onto the roof. As she peered into the distance, I caught sight of a tender look from a side view of her face.

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ thank for taking care of me, and thank you¡­" Princess Hongzhuang lowered her volume: "For saving me that day."

    "Eh?! What''s that supposed to mean?!" was the first thought that came to mind.

    Princess Hongzhuang turned and left after she said that. I intended to chase after her using qinggong, but¡­ I figured that''d be the equivalent of exposing myself. While I was wrestling with my options, she vanished out of sight. Meanwhile, I was left pondering, "When she said¡­ I saved her that day, can I safely assume she meant that night when I rescued her from Jia Yunfeng''s grasp¡­? So, she does know?"

    I was d and consoled Princess Hongzhuang didn''t reveal my identity. I decided I had to look for a chance to repay her for keeping my identity a secret.

    "My, my, it''s broad daylight, and here we have someone ying out Farewell. How toxic on the eyes."

    I spun around to see Young Shiyi''s mesmerising, yet mischievous, smile, though she covered her mouth with her wide sleeves. Her gaze evoked a sense of unease in me.

    I panicked and wondered, "When the heck did she get here?!"

    "Y-Young Shiyi, I-I didn''t do anything!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yeah, did I use you of anything?"

    "I-I didn''t bid no farewells."

    "Hmm? Did I ever say it was you?"

    Young Shiyi''s signature ambiguous smile she wore when messing around was tant. All that was missing was the line, "Oh, wow, your mistress hase knocking now, too."

    My rtionship with Young Shiyi entered an abstruse status. I didn''t have a retort, either, so I just kept silent. Needless to say, she found that even more amusing. She continued teasing me about it, while I had noe backs¡­ She eventually got serious: "Feizhen, I have something to speak with you about. Let''s speak inside the room."

    "Huh?" I eximed. I shook my head vigorously: "I don''t have time. I must attend to big and important national affairs. I can''t waste time!"

    Deciphered version: "I have to go to Eight Deities Tavern for the special in a moment. Life will be miserable if I miss out!"

    "Shut it. It''ll only take a while," said Young Shiyi, looking concerned. "I need to speak to you about ''The Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation'' matter."

    Notes:

    *Farewell - Ming Suwen is referencing the y titled "Farewell", which is a romance story between leads Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo.

 Volume 6 4 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Daluoâ€™s Stance

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 4 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Daluo¡¯s Stance</h4>

    "Wait, wait, ow, ow, ow, Young Shiyi, stop tugging my ear!"

    Young Shiyi shook her supple and smooth hand¡­ I was cool with that - as long as my ear wasn''t in her hand while she shook it. She dragged me into my room as I cried, kicked the door shut, and then inspected the room. She pulled out a piece of copper and threw it at the ground hard but no so hard she''d generate a shockwave. That was actually a disy of very profound strength, since she was able to contain the sound of it hitting the ground within the confines of the room.

    Young Shiyi could tell where someone hid or what they fumbled through when she silently listened to the sound emitted. The technique was taken from my shifu''s Heavenly Net Sacred Records. My grandmaster possessed profound skills, while my shifu was a man of bizarre ideas. That was the reason his Heavenly Net Sacred Records contained a plethora of unorthodox moves and techniques. Whoever wanted to learn my shifu''s style, required exceptional talent, or they could be stuck toiling away their entire life with nothing to show.

    The technique Young Shiyi utilised was called Ultimate Listening. The method granted the user enhanced hearing within a certain range. The unique aspect was nothing would be missed within said range. Eavesdroppers, scouts and everything else could be picked up on.

    My internal strength was advanced enough to hear an enemy''s heartbeat if they hid in the room. Still, it wasn''t fool proof. There were many unique or unbelievable individuals out there in the pugilistic world who could use their breathing to conceal their body temperature, heartbeat and breathing, allowing them to feign death. In that scenario, I couldn''t hear anything from them. Ultimate Listening, however, could test for life. Hence, the user would be able to pick up on the action the feigner used to conceal their status.

    Told you my shifu came up withme techniques. Nobody but he woulde up with such pointless andme techniques. With that being said, I had yet toe across a superior scouting technique. Young Shiyi only ever used it when something major happened.

    Young Shiyi cupped her ears to focus in on the surrounding sounds. She looked cute with that hand posture. She went from looking suave to serious. I couldn''t find the words to describe her adorableness. She was bullying me, but look at her; she was lethally cute.

    I suddenly had an irresistible urge to prank Young Shiyi. With a smile, I sneaked up to her neck and breathed in her ear.

    "Don''t¡­ Mm¡­ That tickles¡­"

    Young Shiyi moaned as if she just woke up. She was prone to being ticklish. She never let me tickle her ever since we were kids. Every now and then, I''d get to see her blush, however. It happened again; she lividly red at me with a tinge of shyness and raised a fist at me: "Wow, tough guy now, are you? Since you''re teasing me, I presume you''re itching for a beating."

    "You tter me. I merely learnt from you."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Oh? Well, I have more lessons to teach you. You want to learn?" Young Shiyi tried to provoke me with her gaze in order to cover her own shyness. She fronted and said, "It''s not easy to learn. If you think you''re stupid, don''t y the tough guy."

    "Is there any style in existence that I can''t master?" I rhetorically asked as I thumped my chest. Tone brave, I said, "Give me your best shot, Miss Demoness. If it is your order, this one shall take on anything under the sun."

    Young Shiyi came on boldly, since she didn''t find anyone in the room. She was always the most rxing person to speak to. She covered her smile with her eloquent hand: "The martial arts world says that I, Demoness Ming Suwen, specialise in yin yang cultivation. I found an unusual book at my cousin''s ce called Revitalisation Manual, which addresses that exact topic. How about I act as your furnace for you to practice the style?"

    Young Shiyi teased me with her gaze. She seemed as though she lifted her chin with her finger, inducing fear in me. Young Shiyi often teased me with bodments, and then enjoyed my dyed reactions.

    This time, Young Shiyi used yin yang cultivation, also known as dual cultivation as a joke. The idea behind the concept was that one could greatly increase their cultivation, meaning internal energy, by plundering the vital energies of their partner during sex. The cauldron was equated to a human, as the cultivator was essentially an internal alchemist, where they refined their energy using their body as a cauldron.

    Her joke really got on my nerve. For whatever reason, I responded, "Sure."

    "¡­"

    The two of us froze in ce, and the room fell dead silent after I blurted my response.

    I would never know what I was thinking, but I didn''t spend much effort thinking of a response, anyway. Maybe my jokes were bolder owing to the pressure of seniority being removed after Young Shiyi entered Liu Shan Men. That said, I really did want to find a hole to crawl into¡­

    The atmosphere was suffocating as being locked in a room with cured meet ten years old. Actually, it was the same as being locked in a room with a pile of dry and hard¡­ sh*t¡­

    "Okay, enough with that and onto business," said Young Shiyi, trying to look stern with a pink tinge still on her cheeks. "I''ll research that with you another time. There''s urgent business today¡­"

    "Wait, wait, wait! Are you being serious?! Who''d you learn it from?!! Shall I, at least, prepare myself mentally, take a bath and get a change of clothes?!" I hastily thought.

    Young Shiyi took out two letters from her shirt. Voice serious, she said, "I had a pigeon deliver a letter back to Mount Daluo after Jin Wansun''s act of treason. I wanted to tell them my stance henceforward. I also inquired about the text you mentioned and all the weird events that you encountered. This is the reply I just received today. One of these letters is from your grandmaster. Cousin confirmed he did leave a text carving in the imperial pce over twenty years ago. He also gave hisments on ''The Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation'' prophecy mentioning the so-called six dragons among the Princes would bring cmities to the kingdom."

    ''Oh, so Young Shiyi asked about our stance on the matter going forward¡­''

    I took the letter personally written by Grandmaster. He recounted the event over two decades ago and the Shenzhou carving. He didn''t exin what the ''The Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation'' meant, though. He just mentioned it was connected to the Princes.

    "Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation¡­" I mumbled.

    I folded my arms and spun my brain cogs. The six dragons matched up with the six Princes in the dynasty. There were rumours the six of them formed their own political cliques. All of the cliques were forces to be reckoned with, so that matched up. They were a hazard to the nation.

    The reigning Emperor was in his prime; however, all Emperors in history had to name a Crown Prince as a backup n in case anything unforeseen urred. The fight for session always gave rise to internal turmoil. The Emperor was an astute gentleman, but he still hadn''t named a Crown Prince. He didn''t seem as though he had any ns to dere one anytime soon.

    After reading the exnation on the prophecy, I suddenly felt the matter could be logically exined. The Emperor must''ve avoided instating a Crown Prince out of fear they would plunge the nation into chaos. That would also exin why the Princesses held statuses on par with his sons. There was no such precedent in history.

 Volume 6 5 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Helping a Dragon Evolve into a Sovereign

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 5 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Helping a Dragon Evolve into a Sovereign</h4>

    I didn''t have anything to say. Grandmaster''s divinations had a one in five chance ofing true at best. Nobody could say with absolute certainty that he was right. Up until this point, I still didn''t know what he meant by "Be careful of women¡­ and men". In this case, though, Wudang and Shaolin''s patriarchs came to the same conclusion. Hence, it was more credible. That being the case, the Emperor had sound reasons to be so superstitious about it.

    If I was to be honest, I was fairly convinced the three old geezers colluded to dupe the Emperor¡­ but I couldn''t identify a motive for them to take it so far. If the prophecy held true, the nation would be plunged into absolute chaos with the six Princes contending for the throne. In turn, my sry from Liu Shan Men would be doomed. Seriously, the nation''s future was worrisome.

    I reminded myself, "I need to go to Eight Deities Tavern in a second! Wait for me, my pork shoulders!"

    "What about the other letter?"

    "That''s your shifu''s letter to you."

    "Hmm?" I blinked several times. I doubted my ears. When it finally registered, I eximed, "Shifu? Oh, so he does remember to write me letters!"

    The son of a beep dumped Jingan''s mess on me, and then took off to go enjoy himself. I searched and searched to no avail!"

    "When I wrote the letter to Mount Daluo, I wrote one to your shifu, our patriarch," said Young Shiyi, shyly yet charmingly.

    "I told him¡­ I was staying with you at Liu Shan Men and asked for his opinion."

    "Huh? S-Staying with me at Liu Shan Men?!" I eximed to myself.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Without looking at me and forcing herself to soundposed, Shiyi said, "You''re a junior, so it would be hard for you to bring it up with your shifu. It''s only reasonable for me to notify the sect, since I''ve joined Liu Shan Men, right?"

    While she said that, there was a "I wasn''t helping you" undertone. I was unexpectedly touched. Shiyi was aware that I was always in a tough position when I had to speak to Mount Daluo. I chose not to lead the n and wanted to ck off, so I actually let the sect down in many ways. For that reason, Shiyi spoke up on my behalf to keep me by her side.

    ¡­

    ''Wait. So, Shifu learnt what Shiyi and I were thinking while I was upied with daydreaming about pork shoulders and wrote back?''

    I quickly opened the envelope. It was unmistakably his handwriting. His handwriting resembled the text on ques at brothels. Actually, fuck me, there was even the scent found in brothels. I had no idea where he penned it from, but I held it outstretched as far as I could to read. Thest thing I wanted was to contract some disease.

    I thought Shifu would give me a scolding; however, he penned a ssic Ming Huayu letter¡­ Utter. Garbage¡­

    The first thing Shifu asked me if I was married yet or not, when I''d pay Grandmaster a visit, not to touch Young Shiyi''s buttocks despite her being gorgeous and whatever¡­

    "What sort of concerns are these?! How could I possibly¡­" as I thought that, my eyes sneaked over to Young Shiyi''s perky, yet supple, buttocks and then up to her round globes. My heart suddenly thumped.

    Shiyi looked up. I think she read my mind, but she didn''t avert her gaze. Instead, she straightened up to unt her body in all its glory. Her mischievous facial expression asked, "Do I look good?"

    I instinctively nodded, and then realised it was the wrong thing to do, so I shook my head, causing Shiyi to giggle giddily.

    I stuttered, "Wh-What are youughing at?"

    Chin resting on her white cheek, she smiled naively: "I like tough. Don''t I look good when Iugh?"

    My mind: "V-Very¡­"

    "Also, I already read your shifu''s letter."

    ''I knew it! You were teasing me, weren''t you! You made my face all red¡­ Tease me again, and I''ll give you a spanking!! Wait¡­ Why does it seem as though Shifu was right¡­?''

    I dryly coughed, and then returned to reading the letter. I still didn''t see a single thing pertaining to Young Shiyi staying in Nanjing. Instead, Shifu mentioned another important issue that surprised me: "Huh? He wants us to dedicate all our efforts into helping a dragon in Nanjing be the Crown Prince? What''s he on about?"

    To end the letter, Shifu told me to have Second Brother, Young Shiyi and I discuss which of the Emperor''s sons to assist in the contention for the throne. He sternly warned not to waste opportunities, mentioning Mount Daluo''s principle in the martial world.

    Young Shiyi gazed at the ceiling and said, "Read it to the end."

    I flipped the letter around and noticed a small attached note on a separate sheet of paper. In the tone of a teacher, he wrote a secretive letter that went as follows:

    "Twerp, you''re all the sh*t now after a few years, huh? Your Young Shiyi is my Shiyi. Are you eager to be my martial uncle? As punishment, I''ll cane you ten thousand times when youe back. That said, you are old now. I am now sixty lots of years old now. You would be a failure of a disciple if you didn''t given me a martial grandchild. Moreover, if she doesn''t get married already, she''s going to be too old to marry. My shifu and your shiniangs are going to call me a failure again if you don''t get your act together.

    You know, I found several candidates for your Young Shiyi over these years, including Beijiang''s Prince, the Seven Champion White Princes'' sessor, Nanjiang''s tribe''s young master, but they all looked ugly as demented animals. They also had sons, but they were rich enough to still be wealthy after spendingvishly for ten lifetimes. Unfortunately, she didn''t like any of them. She insists on choosing you.

    I asked myself, ''Could my disciple possibly be worse than them even if he was more useless than he already is?''

    I''ve always been horrible with unnecessary and excessively borate formalities and pleasantries. If the deal is sealed, I won''t waste time on more meaninglessparisons. You want to score your Young Shiyi? Fine. Nice going. God didn''t give you an extra toy in your pants to y with it on your own. Still, we need to set things clear between all of us due to our rtionship.

    Your grandmaster treats your Young Shiyi as the most precious treasure in the world; she''s no different to a daughter to him. You remember the incident with Jade Raksha? That devil was considered the evilest devil across the Three Parallel Rivers. Jade Raksha only touched your Young Shiyi''s hair that time, and your grandmaster led every martial sibling, including me, to his ce. Remember how we exterminated his entire n within the eight hours after he touched her. The pugilistic world still mistakes that we did it to punish evil.

    I''m not afraid of helping you. I''ll help you hide it from your grandmaster for a year. Do your best this year to produce some results, hehehe. Seal the deal, bring back two little chubby boys, and I''ll be ted, %*@#!"

    Then it just became a mess. Further down, somebody else piggy backed off where Shifu left off.

    "Feizhen, I''m your senior shiniang. Your second and third shiniang are around, as well. Are you doing well?"

    My reaction in my mind: "Shiniang?! What happened during the mess?! Oh, my shiniangs must''ve caught Shifu at a brothel! He must''ve been trying to write with swollen eyes!! I told you not to go there! The hell was that bullsh*t about sealing the deal?! You copped a beating because you didn''t watch your mouth, I bet!"

    Shiniang added: "We all know about you and Suwen''s matter. We will help you hide it from your grandmaster."

    I didn''t know what to say. I was quite touched¡­

 Volume 6 6 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Helping a Dragon Evolve into a Sovereign

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 6 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Helping a Dragon Evolve into a Sovereign</h4>

    As I read Shiniang''s writing where Shifu left off, which was approximately half way down the sheet, I thought, "So this was a coboration between you two?!"

    Below was Shiniang''s continuation.

    "This won''t be enough. Your grandmaster is rigid and strict when ites to rules. If you can achieve somethingmendable and sufficiently significant, perhaps he''ll agree to let you be with Suwen. The "The Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation" prophecy will bring about a cmity to the people. As you are in Nanjing, you will be able to address it first. You should think for the betterment of the people and aplish something worthy of being called valiant.

    Mount Daluo only ever epts few disciples each generation; however, all our disciples are talented and valiant individuals in every era. Your grandmaster helped the Founding Emperor establish the nation. Your shifu assisted the erstwhile Emperor. You are your shifu''s direct disciple. You are also the only one among your six martial brothers capable of keeping Mount Daluo away from devastation.

    Feizhen, Shiniang doesn''t me you for not wanting to lead the sect. You are careless, and enjoy being out and about. I, therefore, understand you wouldn''t be happy being the sect''s patriarch. We were with Suwen as she grew up. She may be wilful at times, but she treats you better than she treats anyone. Your shiniangs, me included, don''t mind epting her as our daughter-inw. We don''t me you for either of these matters. However, you need to choose one or the other. You can''t turn down the patriarch role and steal your grandmaster''s precious treasure, can you? If you don''t want to ept either option, we have an option for you. Ensure Mount Daluo''s security.

    Mount Daluo is one of the three biggest sects despite our small numbers. That is all thanks to your grandmaster''s invaluable aplishments. As long as he is alive, the imperial court will continue to treat us decently. After his time, unfortunately, our sect will deteriorate more and more with each passing generation.

    Feizhen, if you can choose a virtuous and talented Prince and help him seed the throne, it would be a virtuous merit that would benefit the people. Needless to say, Mount Daluo will be credited as a subsequence, therebypensating for the impact you did unto Mount Daluo.

    Six dragons may seal the nation, but there will only be one sovereign. Remember that well. This is the only condition you must fulfil in order to be with Suwen. The risk of failure exists alongside your chance of sess."

    Text right at the bottom of the small attached sheet: "Girl''s room''s thoroughfare. Check the small drawer in the second room at Heavenly Fragrance Garden. Thumbs up. - Shifu."

    ''Whoa! Look at this handwriting right here.''

    I bet he wrote them by controlling a brush with his true qi, because he was scared Shiniangs would see the suggestion he sneaked in¡­ He was definitely my shifu.

    I finally realised why Young Shiyi blushed¡­ My interpretation of what Shifu said was I could be with Shiyi but I needed to provide Mount Daluo with a bright and secure future as my betrothal gift. I ced the letter down and engaged my brain for a moment. I said, "Young Shiyi, I¡­ will do my best."

    Head down, Shiyi asked, "¡­ at what?"

    Smiling, I replied, "I''ll do my best to nurture a Crown Prince so that you can stay by my side forever."

    Shiyi widened her eyes: "What do you want me¡­ to stay by your side for?"

    I touched my head and joked, "Anything. If we''re bored and free¡­ we can research the Revitalisation Manual."

    And¡­ our faces were on fire.

    Shiyi twirled her hair and furrowed her nose: "Idiot."

    The inner workings of my mind: "What does that mean? What does that mean? Are we really going to be able to practice Revitalisation Manual?!"

    I instinctively took a step towards Shiyi and asked her what her profound remark implied. She stood still with her head down. I suddenly realised I stepped a bit too close. She was practically in my arms.

    ''Wait. Does this mean¡­''

    "Big Brother Ming, are you there?!" belted Su Xiao, barging in as he asked. "Wh-What are you two doing?"

    Su Xiao covered his red face and peeked at Shiyi and I between the gaps in his fingers. He eximed, "I didn''t see anything!"

    ''You''re clearly peeking, Honey!''

    I fumed, "Xiao, what are you back here for now?"

    Su Xiao sulked, "Why are you asking the obvious? I thought you went missing, since I didn''t see you for two days. "Wh-What did you just try to do to Miss Juese?"

    Shiyi folded her arms to signal, "You''re the man; you exin."

    I genuinely tried toe up with a response: "Reading a book¡­"

    "What book? There are books here?"

    "Mm!" I resolutely replied, "Mount Daluo''s treasured ssic, Revitalisation Manual!"

    Su Xiao believed my answer to be tripe. Shiyi also thought my answer was ridiculous. She rolled her eyes. Su Xiao looked to Shiyi, questioning us. He dered, "You two are being fishy!"

    Su Xiao scared the living daylights of me. The kid had some sort of "intelligence" switch that switched on when I didn''t need it. He pointed at the letter in my hand: "You''re clearly reading a letter not a book!"

    ''¡­ Now why did I have to say I was reading a book?''

    Su Xiao fumed, "Big Brother Ming, this is our room. You can''t let a female in! Not even Miss Juese! Men and women need to maintain an appropriate distance!"

    "Why not? She''s my¡­ my¡­"

    Shiyi looked as though she might be annoyed when she heard me about to refer to her as my senior. I fell into a silence when Su Xiao kept pressing me with questions.

    Su Xiao: "Your¡­?"

    Shiyi: "Yeah, your what?"

    "My¡­ my¡­" I tried, but nothing came to mind. I saw someone out the corner of my eyes. Discovering a life-saving straw, I called, "Don''t run, runt!"

    I sprinted out and grabbed Hongjiu, who didn''t dare to look at me. I asked, "Where are you off to?"

    I foiled Hongjiu''s n to escape. Therefore, he was forced to turn around with a miserable smile: "B-B-B-Big Bro, I-I was off to the toilets."

    "Bullsh*t. You''ve been avoiding me for several days. It''s time to get to the bottom of this. Follow me."

    Su Xiao called out, "Eh? Where are you going? You haven''t answered the question."

    I waved my hand: "Women shouldn''t get in the way when men are dealing with his sect''s official business."

    I quickly ran off, but I heard Su Xiao''s, "I''m a guy!"

    ========

    At Eight Deities Tavern

    Second Brother and I upied a table. He sat square, while I had my head down, inhaling my food. I made it in time for the pork shoulders special!

    "Boss, give me another three tes of pork shoulders!"

    "You got it."

    Second Brotherughed: "Haha, eat more, Big Bro. Eat more. Man, you sure still are a quick thinker. You instantly slipped out of danger simrly to a cicada sloughing its skin. Well yed. I must learn from you, refine my strategies, work harder and improve my skills."

    "The great Rank One on the Seventeen Wyrms, Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider, Hongjiu, needs to improve now?"

    "No, no! I''m not famous at all. People are just being too kind!" responded Second Brother, waving his hands in desperation. "It''s all superficial. I only mentioned it, because I was questioned when I fought Jin Wangsun."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I chomped into a chicken drumstick and took my time replying, "Really? So, what are we going to do about you deliberately throwing your match against Jin Wangsun and losing Night Net Manual?"

    Second Brother broke out in a cold sweat. He caused a cascade of problems thanks to his decision to lose Night Net Manual. That was why he avoided me ever since Jin Wangsun''s downfall.

    "Big Bro, I-I¡­ I''m terribly sorry. I deliberately lost it¡­ I-I just wanted you to make aeback and take up Mount Daluo''s patriarch seat."

    "Humph, you lost Night Net Book on purpose, and you lost Night Fortress. Nice n you had there."

    Second Brother dropped to his knees with a thud: "Big Bro, Mount Daluo needs you! We need you. That''s why I¡­ but I did my best to protect Grand Martial Aunt that day¡­"

    Sternly, I eximed, "You think I''d spare you if your blunder caused her harm?!"

    Second Brother juddered and lowered his head. I couldn''t help going easy on him when he was so flustered and overwhelmed with guilt. I said, "I can''t deny that she and Liu Shan Men were safe in the end thanks to you. You''vepensated with a merit, so I can forgive you. That said, the sect''s rules must be upheld. We must retrieve the lost manual.

    "Eh? But Jin Wangsun is alr-"

    "You need me to finish it?" I asked, slowly.

    "I will find the manual even if it is at the end of the world! I will retrieve it from Jin Wangsun''s corpse if he is dead!'' immediately replied Second Brother.

    "All right, I''ll keep that in mind," I replied with a wave. "By the way, you''ve been on the mountain for longer than me. Do you know about ''The Six Dragons Will Seal the Nation'' prophecy?"

    "Oh, a little. I heard Shifu mention it; I do not know the details, though."

    ''So it was public knowledge on the mountain?''

    I filled Second Brother in on the letter and the job. He nodded furiously throughout only to then frown at the end: "So, what does all that mean?"

    ¡­ Let me tell you, I resisted my strong urge to butcher Second Brother and patiently exined it again for him. He finally understood it the second time: "Heh, a few second generation rich kids is all they are. Easy fix: serve them all a beating. Whoever calls for his mom is a filial boy. Whoever retaliates is brave. Whoever lets me hit him ten times without getting angry is the wise monarch we are looking for."

    "He''d be retarded by then!" Damn, I almost kicked Second Brother off the second floor. I said, "You seriously think they''re second generation rich kids you can just p around when you''re in the mood? They''re not second generation rich kids; they''re second generation dragons. Beat them, and you''ll have an army up your ass."

    I posed my thoughts as a question: "I was away from the Central in for a long time. I didn''t bother with the imperial family''s news when I returned. You know about the Princes?"

    "A little," replied Second Brother, stroking his chin. He spun his unused and clunky mental cogs: "I only know about the two princes in the capital. One of them is the Orange Prince. The other one is the Red Prince. The people say that the Red Prince should be the next candidate for the throne, since he''s the eldest and the one His Majesty kept in the capital to nurture. I heard he''s proficient both in literacy and martial arts. They say he''s the best adept in the imperial family."

    "The best adept in the imperial family?"

    If that was true, the Red Prince was a decent fighter. Second Princess was a decent fighter in her own right. If he was stronger, he''d qualify as one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons.

    I suddenly heard an elder ask, "Boss, what dishes do you rmend?"

    "Sir, we have a pork shoulders special today."

    "I''ll skip that. It''s an unrefined dish."

    I jumped to my feet!

    ''You calling pork shoulders unrefined?!''

    "Eh? Big Bro, we were talking about the Princes."

    "Fuck the Princes; somebody is vandalising my honour!"

    The elder added, "Just give me a bowl of Pearls, Emerald and Nephrite Soup."

    ''Pearls, Emerald and Nephrite Soup my foot. It''s called spinach and tofu soup, you stooge!''

    "Hey, oldie, y-"

    "Hmm?"

    "Eh?"

    The elder turned around feeling surprised as I was. I recognised him. He was the current reigning prime minister, Prime Minister Li Si.

 Volume 6 7 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Three Perspectives

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 7 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Three Perspectives</h4>

    "This is a very grave problem."

    Secretary of Personnel, Zhang Chunfeng, was seated in his home. Kong Duan, Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Qian Wuque, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, gathered at Secretary Zhang Chunfeng''s abode right after the conference. The three wanted to discuss the matter discussed back in the pce earlier. Specifically, they wanted to discuss the three students they were asked to take under their wing.

    Secretary Zhang enjoyed a nip of tea. Stroking his beard with a stern temperament, he said, "His Majesty usually wouldn''t gather the six ministries for nothing, yet he gathered us and the prime minister for such a menial matter today. Liu Shan Men fell from grace after Yan Shisan was removed from power. Everyone is aware the Qilin Guards now wield the most power among the threew enforcement offices. Only His Majesty''s entourage has a chance against them, because they have Tian Hu. The only noteworthy one under Liu Shan Men''s Vice-Captain Shen is a straight-faced and frigid constable. They won''t go anywhere with such an awfulck of talent."

    Secretary Qian chimed in: "Perhaps that is why Shen Yiren asked His Majesty to give her special treatment for recruitments. Don''t forget His Majesty and Shen n have been friends for decades."

    "Still, Liu Shan Men oversees matters in the martial world. Unless it involves the martial world, Shuntian Prefecture or the local government offices handle the problems even if it''s a security issue. There''s no need for Liu Shan Men. It''s insane for His Majesty to ask us to take them in as students."

    Secretary Zhang shook his head: "You two would be dismayed to know the joke they are. This old one has met the three individuals in question. Tang Ye is eptable, but the other two are an insult to the imperial court. They''re all brawn and no brains. The three of us are schrs. We enjoy literature in all shapes and forms, including at work. It would be very difficult for us to handle martial artists as students."

    "You are absolutely right, Brother He Ya."

    He Ya was Secretary Zhang''s courtesy name. Secretary Kong and him were close in age and joined the imperial court at the same time. That was why theymonly addressed each other by their courtesy name. Apparently, Secretary Kong was one of Confucius'' descendants, though which generation was unknown. He was a steady man who valued formalities, morality and character.

    The three unruly constables from Liu Shan Men got on Secretary Kong''s nerves. He fumed, "And we have the worst one, Liu Shan''s gue, Ming Feizhen, among the three of them. Not only is hete to conferences, but he also left without a word during the fuma selection, rendering everyone dumbstruck. Hepletely disregards His Majesty. I am d Princess Hongzhuang did not choose him as her husband. Else, he would bring shame to the imperial family."

    Secretary Qian, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, favourite hobby was plotting. Frowning, he added, "The three are unorganised, don''t abide to rules and are proper martial artists. I would think that the imperial court will heavily promoted them as military officials in the future, as they are from Liu Shan Men. That on top of the way we operate means they are not a suitable fit for our three departments. For that reason, it is best for them to learn under Lie Jingchan''s Ministry of Military. I think His Majesty added us to the equation for other reasons."

    "Secretary Qian is right. His Majesty wants the three to figuratively take root in the imperial court. He would not have us take in students. If they were under our banners, they would naturally enjoy a smooth journey in the imperial court as well privileges. Who would dare to refuse? From this, we can infer His Majesty genuinely wants to promote the three."

    Secretary Zhang sounded more and more assured as he went on. He nodded: "Fortunately, the n fell apart thanks to the prime minister and Secretary Leng''s intervention. Else, the consequences would be dire. His Majesty grows more cunning with age."

    The second the three felt relieved they escaped a cmity, they heard someone with a clear voiceing from outside. The voice evidently belonged to someone from the imperial pce. The visitor dered, "An imperial decree has arrived! Secretary Zhang, Secretary King and Secretary Qian, heed His Majesty''s decree!"

    By the time they knew it, a decree was at the door.

    ========

    At the Ministry of Military''s office.

    Secretary Lie, who was sitting in the guest room, pped himself on the head and rambled, "We were quarrelling wildly over Jin Wangsun and the Seven Champion Princes not long ago, yet His Majesty switched the topic today. What is he thinking? I don''t understand a thing that happened today."

    Secretary Lie''s old friend, Secretary Lu Boan, sat to his side. With an exquisitely made device in his hand and head down, he replied, "It would be a miracle if you did. Just know this: His Majesty had another agenda below the surface level of what he said. It''s good you didn''t understand."

    "Why is His Majesty speaking in a more and more profound manner? All I hear is confusing stuff. Man, what does His Majesty mean by taking on students? I''m on edge now. I''ve spent the majority of my life fighting wars without ever thinking about taking in a sessor. I do want a student, sure, especially that Ming Fei what''s his face. He''s physically tough. I think he''s talent who can be refined. How about I ask His Majesty for him?"

    Head still down, Secretary Lu said, "It is in your best interests to stay out of it."

    Secretary Lie reacted surprised: "Huh? You want to fight me for him? That Ming Fei what''s his face is an obvious halfwit. There''s no point in you recruiting him."

    "You shouldn''t get involved, and I won''t. Let them get involved," replied Secretary Lu, continuing to fiddle with the device in his hands. Frigidly, he borated, "The Seven Champion White Princes have always been a thorn in His Majesty''s side. Regardless of which if it''s our faction, their faction or His Majesty''s, none of us want to let the Seven Champion Princes continue in their audacious ways."

    The boration only served to confuse Secretary Lie even further. It went from students to the Seven Champion Princes somehow.

    "The intent is obvious. His Majesty''s entourage is essentially his and the imperial family''s security detail. The Qilin Guards are tasked with protecting the kingdom, maintaining order and dealing with the unorthodox sects. The best candidates for dealing with the Seven Champion Princes, however, are Liu Shan Men, the constables enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens," exined Secretary Lu, before suddenly changing the topic. "Old Lie, how long do you need to prepare to wipe out the Seven Champion White Princes?"

    Stroking his beard, Secretary Lie said, "Ten months to prepare. Fourteen months to train the soldiers. Give me a year and a half. Seven Champion White Princes or Seven ck Princes, I''ll mow them all down."

    "They live right next door. If you go about it so mboyantly, how would they not know you''reing?" rhetorically asked Secretary Lu. He finally looked up: "The only solution is to let the pugilistic world find incriminating evidence to gradually disintegrate and uproot them. That is why His Majesty wants to nurture and raise Liu Shan Men."

    "You mean that we shouldn''t get involved? I think that Ming Fei what''s his f-"

    "If we get involved and let them start from the pugilistic world, it would take ages before we can start a war. His Majesty is thinking long term. If we go with his n, it would take, at least, ten years. How do we benefit from getting involved? It''s a good idea to let Prime Minister Li stir the pot. We should find an opportunity to ask for leave of absence. It''s in our best interest to not get involved," exined Secretary Lu.

    Secretary Lie nodded furiously. The question was how much did he really understand? The two of them were reformists; however, Secretary Lie was careless unlike Secretary Lu. As such, Secretary Lu was actually the strategist for the faction.

    "A royal decree has arrived! Secretary Lie from the Ministry of Military and Secretary Lu from the Ministry of Works, pleasee and heed His Majesty''s decree!" somebody called from outside.

    ========

    Prime Minister Li Si had a nip of Longjing Tea. In his hand was a white stone used in Go. He mulled for a long time before making his y. He was very invested in the game. Next to him was a beautiful woman roughly forty years old. She was quite the beauty in every aspect. Even her mannerisms were refined. However, her serious expression indicated she was not to be underestimated. While others would tter the prime minister, she fumed, "It''s really annoying when you don''t answer what you''re asked. Tell me: what did His Majesty summon you to the pce for?"

    Aforementioned woman was the prime minister''s wife. She was young in appearance - she was younger than the prime minister by thirty years. His first wife passed away a long time ago, after which he remarried. Despite their age gap, the two were very affectionate with each other.

    The prime minister never married anyone else after marrying Madam Li. When he married her, he was over fifty already. His eldest son was only nine, implying he was still in decent shape.

    Madam Li nudged her husband''s arm and grumbled, "Did something happen? His Majesty did summon you all out of the blue. It''s not going to impact you, is it? He''s not punishing you for going too far with your foolery, is he?"

    Madam Li was aware her husband served the imperial court for three generations; that said, she knew his temperament equally well. The old man loved to make a fool out of others. Every now and then, he''d make a joke out of the Emperor. That was a reason for concern all the time. She always made him report to her what happened when he returned from conferences to see if he crossed the line in any capacity that day.

    Prime Minister Li chuckled. He was focused on his game of Go. It took a while before he finally responded, "You need not worry, My Lady. Don''t fret. I have served the imperial court for three generations. I know exactly what to say and do. His Majesty wanted us to work on a silly task."

    Madam Li leaned in: "What is it? What is it? Can you add another merit to your name if you seed?"

    "See, you''re clearly not a professional in the field. What merit? I''ve served as an official for my entire life. Since when did I ever rely on aplishments to get to where I am? With greater aplishments,es greater trouble, thus, less reliable."

    "Why are you so unreliable, My Lord? What bad could possiblye out of aplishing things?"

    "Of course it''s bad. It''s catastrophic. If you aplish things, you stand out. Since when was standing out a good thing? Why not keep away from the trivial stuff and enjoy an unfettered life?" responded Prime Minister Li. He was happy with the oue of the game. He ced the manual down and smiled: "Give me a massage. My back is always aching during winter."

    "Yes, My Lord," responded Madam Li. She began to give her husband his massage, thumping and rubbing: "You should not brush off everything His Majesty says. You may wield great power and influence; however, the Ministry of Personnel''s Zhang Chunfeng and the Ministry of Work''s Lu Boan are both individuals you need to be wary of. They both want to take your ce. You never do anything except dine at Eight Deities Tavern and drink at Dongpo Restaurant. It''s time you actually work."

    Prime Minister liughed: "You are wise, mydy. I''m surprised you can see that."

    Madam Li started to look a little smug and put less effort into her massage: "Heh, that''s nothing. I learn a thing or two when I follow you around."

    Prime Minister Li burst intoughter. He never felt lonely with his wife around him. A whileter, he got to his feet and said, "My Lady, I need to go out for a while. If anyonees looking for me, tell them I''m not at home."

    The prime minister then grabbed a pouch and left with his hands behind his back, giggling on the way out. Madam Li was livid: "Hey! What did I just tell you? You unreliable old geezer!"

    A eunuch from the imperial pce dide knocking at the prime minister''s ce an hourter with a decree. However, he was already at Eight Deities Tavern by then.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Notes:

    *He Ya ¨C Pronounced "Her Yah"

    **Secretary Kong was one of Confucius'' descendants - For those who don''t know, Confucius name was Kong Zi, thereby sharing the name with Kong Duan, Secretary Kong. Their surname is the same character.

    ***Longjing Tea - Literally "Dragon Well Tea"

 Volume 6 8 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Not Quite Normal

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 8 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Not Quite Normal</h4>

    "Pr-Prime Minister Li?" I stammered, after seeing the frigid gaze of a young individual next to the Prime Minister.

    Prime Minister''s first reaction upon seeing me was surprise, and then he smiled. I teamed up with him to set up Jin Dagang at Heavenly Fragrance Garden, so we were allies in a sense. That was why he didn''t appear to think too poorly of me despite the big gap in our status.

    The Prime Minister only had one servant with him. Judging from his appearance, he was roughly twenty-six years old. Although he was dressed as a family servant, he looked tough. It was very noticeable when he shot me a re very simrly to a martial artist. He was actually decent with martial arts. It was understandable and expected for the prime minister to have a fewpetent fighters with him.

    The prime minister wore a smile: "Young Ming, I see. What a coincidence. How about sitting with this old one?"

    I blinked andughed before pulled a stool out to sit, acting as though I didn''t just harshly call him an oldie¡­

    "It truly is a coincidence. This one views you as the pir of the nation. It would cost three lifetimes of luck to meet you just once. This one did not expect to see you here."

    The prime minister''s servant seemed frustrated with my disrespect back there. That''d exin his livid re on me.

    "Yanbei, you don''t need to be so hostile. Young Ming here is this old one''s friend," said Prime Minister Li Si, waving a hand and stroking his bead with the other. "Heh, this old one needs a breather from his busy life. How much can one possibly do in a lifetime? One needs to rest to have the energy to work."

    "You are absolutely correct."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I waved at Second Brother behind me to signal for him to return to Liu Shan Men. He had no clue what I was trying to say. The fact that he met the prime minister already further fuelled his confusion. Thus, he resorted to Voice Transmission: "Big Bro, you want to solo the old man? Mount Daluo doesn''t need to revolt yet, does it? If you want to pummel him, give me the signal. I need to pack our luggage first. I bought lots of native foods in the capital, so I need to pack!"

    I shot Second Brother a re: "Put a sock in it! This involves all of the orthodox sects. What do you know?!"

    Prime Minister Li Si didn''t notice our eye exchange. Smiling, he said, "Since you have joined me at the table, you are a guest. This old one shall treat you. Do not stand on ceremony. Order whatever you like."

    "This humble one shall oblige, then." I immediately shouted, "Give us a te of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce! Make it quick!"

    I ordered sixteen entrees at my table before, so I didn''t get around to my braised pork shoulders in soy sauce when the prime minister interrupted. Man, I barely made it in time for the day''s main event.

    The waiter frantically nodded and shouted, "One pot of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce for our esteemed guest over here."

    "Wait!" interjected the prime minister, voice energetic. I expected him to interject, but the waiter almost pulled a neck muscle mid shout.

    The prime minister griped, "Young Ming, this old one doesn''t want to say this, but why would you choose shoulders, spareribs and whatnot of all things? Those things are for peasants. They are not worthy of being served on a table. Waiter, give the young man a bowl of pearls, emerald and nephrite s-"

    "Wait!" I interjected, nearly leading to the waiter choking on his saliva. Sternly, I said, "Prime Minister, I must correct you on that. There is no such thing as nobility or lowly when ites to cuisine. Your pearls and nephrite soup is amoner''s soup, is it not? If you wish topare their origins, pork shoulders would be considered more exalted."

    Yanbei eximed, "Insolence! Know your ce."

    The prime minister also coldly stated, "Should you insist, this old one shall not treat you."

    "You need not treat this one!" I flicked my sleeve and ced eight coins on the table: "I shall pay for myself! Waiter, give me a serve of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce!"

    The other customers nced over to our table when they saw us quarrelling. Their eyes were rewarded with my suave flick. Of course they praised it. Second Brother looked at me as if he was looking at a retard¡­

    ''The hell does your ignorant ass know?! I''m defending traditional moral principles!!''

    The prime minister stroked his beard. With piercing eyes, he asked, "So, you are you saying you joined me at my table to vandalise it?"

    I narrowed my eyes and flicked a hand: "You tter me. May I ask what profound insight you might possess?"

    The prime minister mmed the table: "This old one knows every type of dish. They say, ''When ites to cuisine in Huguang, one must reference Prime Minister Li''s evaluation. When ites to cuisine in Jiangnan, they still must mention Prime Minister Li''s evaluation. His Majesty calls this old one The Imperial Court''s God Tongue. You would dare to challenge this old one''s superior taste?"

    "Only thosecking genuine skill resort to blowing their own trumpets," I casually responded. "If you wish to be obstinate in your ways, then so be it."

    "Insolence, Ming Feizhen! This old one shall test you. Exin how this braised pork shoulders in soy sauce dish is prepared."

    I responded without having to think: "This pork was the best pork selected from the avable selection. The preparation process can be summarised in five steps: roast, nch, simmer, brush and drain. When roasting, it must be roasted until golden. When nching, the water needs to be pure. When simmering, it must be simmered with other ingredients. The soy sauce needs to be fragrant. The me ratio must be perfect, or the deliciousness of the pork will be lost when slicing it. As such, it takes a long time to prepare and must be enjoyed right away."

    The prime minister praised, "Good. I see you do have some cuisine education."

    "How about you, Prime Minister?" I grabbed a pot of wine and poured the prime minister a cup: "What wine might this be?"

    The person next to us was supposed to ask for the pot back, but they were so invested in our contest that they forgot to. Instead, they were interested in whether or not the prime minister could identify it.

    Yanbei fumed, "Who do you think My Lord is? How can you ask him to drink someone else''s drink?"

    "Don''t worry, Yanbei," said the prime minister, taking a whiff. With a smile, he answered, "The water is clear. The fragrance is light and easy, yet hard, to swallow. If it is not ten years old bamboo leaf, this old one will forfeit his God''s Tongue title to you."

    The prime minister then knocked the drink back. Though he was a schr, he could really hold his liquor. He wiped his mouth and heartily said, "It is a waste to not drink such a nice wine."

    Before I could say anything, our neighbour said, "Terrific, Elder! I shall treat you to the pot!"

    The prime minister stroked his beard with a smile, yet didn''t dare to look at me. I confronted his gaze with my own. Neither of us spoke a word. Both of us wanted to one up the other.

    The waiter came over with a big bowl of clear soup, which was the prime minister''s pearls, emerald and nephrite soup.

    "This is what you call a delicacy," stated the prime minister.

    Even the smell of the soup was sweet. Merely looking at it was enough for one to salivate. It qualified as one of Eight Deities Tavern''s famous delicacies.

    The prime minister moved it over to himself with a smile. He scooped a spoon for a taste and remarked, "Mm, it still tastes the same."

    I scorned, "It''s not even the original broth and taste, yet you im it is good?"

    "Young Ming, do not incite fear with misleadingments. This old one has eaten this dish for over five years. Are you telling me there are other vours?"

    I smiled: "Like everything else, there are cuisine recipes. Every dish should have its own recipe. With regards to the pearls, emerald and nephrite soup, round tofu is fried with freshly picked spinach. That is why the white tofu glistens. Spinach is green and emerald, and rice crust is bright yellow. The mixture of juices is what creates the pearls, emerald and nephrite soup. Prime minister, the tofu in here is cut into cubes. Where are the nephrites you speak of? The spinach is not fresh. What do you mean by emerald? The pan was ever used. Where are the pearls you speak of?"

    Every customer looked to the waiter. Tensely, he exined, "Sir, our store is not swindling you. The truth is getting round tofu, fresh spinach and also rice crust is very difficult. Once you touch tofu, it breaks. If you want round tofu balls, it would take ages. Spinach would be easy to handle except it is winter; it is out of season. For that reason¡­ As for frying them in rice crust, there is only so little in a pan. It is quite the ordeal to prepare it each time. That is why we have never prepared the soup as per the original recipe. However, we charge a lot lesspared to the authentic recipe. We are not swindling."

    "Wait, wait." The prime minister had a think then shook his head: "You said the recipe states the tofu is white and glistening. The spinach is emerald green. The rice crust is yellow and shiny. The key here is the white and glistening, yellow and shiny. Those two make sense. Emerald and green spinach is redundant, though. Have you ever seen spinach that''s green but not emerald or emerald but not green?"

    ''Oh, to hell with you! Who picks apart words the way you do to make arguments. Get out of here!''

    I calmed myself and argued, "You see, emerald is a bright and shiny green. There is no such thing as dull emerald. The spinach you are eating is a dull green. A dull green does not equal emerald."

    The customers apuded loudly. I humbly gave them my thanks.

    Second Brother ran over to Yanbei and patted thetter on the shoulder: "Bro, it sucks for us to have these sorts of superiors, huh?"

    To my surprise, Yanbei didn''t whack Second Brother''s hand away. He, instead, nodded.

    The prime minister red at me: "Heh! What a sharp tongue."

    With a smile, I retaliated: "Humph! What a bowl of green soup."

    Sparks flew between our eyes.

    Second Brother sent me a reminder: "Big Bro, have you suffered a case of qi deviation recently? I have a strength pill. You want it?"

    Me: "Piss off!"

    "I never imagined I would lose to you after studying all the cuisine from north to south of Yangtze River. Fine, fine, fine¡­"

    I heard him pronounce "fine" using a version that was a homophone for another word. I waved: "There is no need to tter me. You are old enough to be my grandpa. I cannot let you call me ''dad''."

    "What? Do I make you look bad or something?!" eximed the prime minister. Annoyed, yet smiling, he said, "Are you not going to sit down and exin how to eat your braised pork shoulders in soy sauce? I''m eager for a taste after listening to you described its preparation method."

    With a cupped-fist salute, I seriously said, "It is always better to share delicacies. It is just that this te is not enough for this humble one. If you do not mind, how about ordering your own serve? Of course, if you would like to treat me, then I would dly ept the kind gesture."

    The prime minister brayed, "You little bugger. You''re going to try and pull one over on me?!"

    Someone suddenly eximed, "Eh? Is that Prime Minister Li Si up there?"

    Prime Minister Li lividly replied, "I am right here. Who is so ignorant that he does not recognise me?"

    The prime minister''s expression suddenly froze, and he covered his mouth as though he said something he shouldn''t have.

    I wondered, "Mm? What? He can''t let people know he''s here?"

    A eunuch revealed himself from the stairs. I recognised him; he was General Manager Bai''s subordinate; he was in charge of delivering messages. He smiled as soon as he saw me. He said, "Oh my? Young Ming is here, too? Everyone is present, I see. Prime Minister, His Majesty has an imperial decree. Are you not going to heed it now?"

    The prime minister nced over to me and palmed himself in the head. Regretful, he griped, "Why did I forget your nickname?"

    ''My nickname¡­? Oh, fuck you! What does this have to do with me?!''

    Notes:

    *Huguang and Jiangnan are geographic locations south of the Yangtze River. If you look at where they are on a map, you''ll understand why the prime minister decided to use the two locations.

    ** "I cannot let you call me ''dad." - I''m so annoyed this one is lost in trantion. "Fine, fine, fine¡­" was written as "°Õ°Õ°Õ¡­¡­" which is pronounced, "Ba, ba, ba¡­" which is also how you pronounce "dad". I tried to insert the catch in there, but I doubt it was funny.

    So mad I couldn''t capture this joke. It was so hrious to me.

 Volume 6 9 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Vaulting Over South Gate

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 9 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Vaulting Over South Gate</h4>

    The Prime Minister didn''t resign himself and heed the decree. Instead, he curled his hand around his ear and said, "Oh, this old one is getting on with age. You see, this old one''s hearing and vision are poor. Young Master Haozi, did you say there were leftover dishes?"

    "E-Eh? I said there was an imperial decree¡­"

    ''Fuck your poor vision! You''re telling me you can''t tell how a eunuch looks when there are so many of them in the pce?! You''re clearly trying to dodge the arrow!''

    The old man seemed thrilled with it; he narrowed his eyes and looked to the rails of the second floor: "This old one is getting on with age. I¡­ I¡­ I can''t see anything. Pass me one some tea please."

    The old prime minister leaned on the rails and slipped down as though he was powerless. Not unable to support himself, he rolled over the railing!

    Eight Deities Tavern was a ssic three-storey building. On the other side of the railing on the second floor was the road. The prime minister wasn''t a martial artist. If he fell down onto the ground below, he''d be critically injured if not end up retarded.

    Flustered, Eunuch Haozi and the people who learnt he was the prime minister eximed in shock. When they looked down, though, they saw his bodyguard, Yanbei, leapt after him. Using his Golden Wild-Goose manoeuvre, he carried the prime minister down to the ground safe and sound. I noted Yanbei had a daoist background from the manoeuvre.

    ''Hey, his bodyguard isn''t half bad,''

    The prime minister actedpletely stupefied as though he was dealing with a case of Alzheimer. He reacted, "Eh? Where am I?" yet he was running off with Yanbei in tow.

    ''Fuck me! Feigning ignorance to evade an imperial decree? The standard has been set!''

    Ignoring an edict brought to the door was a major crime. Having said that, Eunuch Haozi wouldn''t dare to report the prime minister for ignoring an imperial edict. Because I didn''t run, Eunuch Haozi turned to me: "Young Ming, since you are here, ept the imperial edict on behalf of Liu Shan Men."

    Eunuch Haozi tossed me a yellow scroll. I didn''t even have time to think about kneeling or thanking His Majesty, as he chased after the prime minister with his group before I could react.

    Second Brother dashed over: "Big Bro, the leader of the ministers of the imperial court is even less dependable than you are."

    "Don''t spit tripe here." I corrected Second Brother: "He''s much less dependable than I am."

    I opened the yellow scroll. The contents surprised me. His Majesty summoned Su Xiao, Tang Ye¡­ and I to Wuying Hall after tomorrow''s morning conference. He probably wanted to see Tang Ye for his martial prowess, Su Xiao probably to satisfy his new gay fetish, but I didn''t have the foggiest idea as to what he wanted to see me together with them for.

    ''Is there a'' summon a warrior get one free'' bargain going on at the moment?''

    The only exnation that came to mind was His Majesty wanting to penalise me for my insolence during mypetition with Jin Wangsun. I had doubts, nevertheless, as it had been days since the event. Surely he wasn''t that petty. And so, I was back to square one. I stuffed the imperial edict in my shirt and nned to take my time mulling it once I got back. But s, the waiter suddenly came over and stated, "Excuse me, you have not paid for your meals."

    ''Oh, the bill.''

    I sent Second Brother an eye signal. He immediately pulled out his wallet: "Oh, the bill. You have a special going on today, so this is yours."

    Said of the waiter: "This is not enough¡­"

    Second Brother thundered, "How? I did the maths. You trying to dupe your customers right in their faces?"

    "Your bill is settled," said the waiter, overwhelmed with tearless grief. "But the elder''s bill is still outstanding!"

    ''Huh? The prime minister''s pearls, emeralds and nephrite soup?''

    The water said, "Please pay another two taels."

    ''Mother. Fucking. Retard! That conniving old sh*t!''

    "Second Brother, you wash their tes for them; I''ll go and get even for you!"

    "Eh? Wait! Big Bro!"

    I left Second Brother crying tragically as I raced off right after I finished my sentence.

    I showed Tang Ye and Su Xiao the imperial edict to have them organise their schedules. We couldn''t tarnish Liu Shan Men''s reputation, could we?

    Tang Ye nodded profusely: "I live close to the imperial city''s entrance now, so I''ll be there on time."

    Worried, Su Xiao griped, "I''m on duty tomorrow morning, so I can''t wake you up. Remember to wake up on your own, Big Brother Ming."

    I grumbled, "Get off my case. What''s so hard about waking up?"

    ========

    Second morning inside the imperial pce.

    A beautiful and energetic young man stood at the front of an empty pce. He was dressed in a ck martial artist robe with his hair done up as a ponytail. The pce appeared to have been abandoned for a long time. He appeared to be a gentle young man roughly thirteen to fourteen years old. With his hair all pulled back, his young face was fully visible. His entire body was pure white. If one wasn''t particrly perceptive, they would likely mistake him for a girl.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The young man went through a lot to find the pce. It was even tougher to transport the weapons there. There were various weapons on the weapon stand. To be specific, they were the mostmon eighteen arms in the pugilistic world.

    Eyebrows together, the young manmented, "I''ll practice Emei''s sabre techniques today."

    He picked up a sabre and began to swing it. He was fast; however, it was literally random swings. If Princess Hongzhuang saw him, she''d be so infuriated she''d make a trip back to cane him thirty times.

    "Now, let''s try Wudang swordy!"

    He set the sabre down and picked up a sword. He began practicing a bizarre swordy. His execution wascking. He was diligent with his practice. Due to a myriad of reasons, unfortunately, his improvements were negligible.

    He then picked up a staff and began swinging it. It was tragic to watch, but he trained until he was drenched in sweat. He went through all eighteen arms in an hour, yet didn''t wield a single one correctly. Spent, he sat on the ground. Without any regrets, he mumbled, "I wonder if I''m practicing correctly. Do I count as an adept?"

    "Mm¡­" He rested his head on a finger and remarked, "If only I had a shifu."

    He suddenly noticed a dark shadow cast over him. He was petrified when he looked up to see a huge figure!

    ========

    "Ah, sh*t, I''mte! I''mte!"

    I did my hair as I ran. I had a Chinese cruller dangling from my mouth and a bag of soybean milk tied to my waist.

    I spent allst night trying to figure out what the Emperor summoned me for. Then, I read through the ck and White Reflection and Pink Reflection I stockpiled fromst month. As a result, I ended up sleepingte!

    I gobbled the Chinese cruller as fast as I could and entered the imperial pce using my usual method - using qinggong. The technical term was "infiltrated". Taking thest time into ount, I already infiltrated the imperial pce three times. It was quicker, but there was a drawback: I had to edit the entry and exit records. Jin Wangsun discerned my identityst time as a result of it, so somebody else was bound to sooner orter. So ordingly, I circled around to the front door to edit the records, and then entered the city via another door.

    The imperial pce wasn''t difficult to traverse due to the tall city walls but due to the patrols being too thorough. I was always at risk of being spotted. I, therefore, always chose the path to Small South Gate, which I once guarded. It was where General Manager Bai and I met each other. Opposite it was the Cold Pce, although it was used to imprison concubines whomitted mistakes. That was why nobody was there. It was the simplest path from the imperial city to the Forbidden City.

    The morning conference was already over by the time I woke up, so I was on the brink of beingte! I arrived at Small South Gate. I obviously didn''t have the key. But nheless, getting over the wall was simple for me. Thus, I vaulted over¡­

    "Aaahh!"

    "Aaahh!"

    Two tragic screams resonated from Small South Gate.

 Volume 6 10 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Have Some Soy Bean Milk

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 10 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Have Some Soy Bean Milk</h4>

    I vaulted over the wall, contemting which route to take to Wuying Hall. I was midnding and nning to begin my search, but¡­

    "Aaahh!"

    As soon as I vaulted over, a pretty boy roughly thirteen to fourteen nkly looked up at me. He held on to a¡­

    ''Is that a spiked mace?!''

    The boy shrieked, and then swung the mace at me as he stepped back owing to his anxiety.

    ''Sh*t me! Do you have to be that vicious?! And watch where you''re swinging it!!''

    I used my qi to elevate myself thirty centimetres back up in order to avoid a mace sttering me! However, my manoeuvre stunned him. Face red, he opened his mouth and shut it multiple times until he eventually stammered, "M-Monster! Sister Lian! There''s a monster!"

    Oh, and he began to swing the mace wildly again. I could feel the wind generated hit me in the face each time. I had to bob and weave my head then circle around to his rear.

    The boy was dumbstruck, yet he switched to a double-hand grip and continued swinging the mace. He swung it behind him without even looking back. The kid''s reaction was unweingly fast! He was too short, and his reach was too shortpared to me, unfortunately. I chopped the section of the mace without spikes, grabbed on to the reverse side and snatched it from him.

    The mace was notably heavy. It was sized for an adult martial artist. A rough estimate would be ten to twelve kilograms. The kid''s arm strength was impressive for his age; he was able to swing it without any hitches. With the correct guidance and training, he would grow up to embody astounding might.

    He was dumbstruck when he looked down to his empty hands. Livid, he pointed at me and stomped his foot: "Wh-Wh-What insolence! How dare you snatch my spiked mace?!"

    I didn''t expect him to throw a fit over having his spiked mace snatched¡­ More importantly, I couldn''t figure out what a kid was doing at Cold Pce. He wore the uniform of imperial guards if I was correct. The only imperial guards in the pce who could move about freely in the pce were trained by the Emperor''s Entourage¡­

    ''Sh*t, don''t tell me he''s a second generation official.''

    I surveyed the immediate surroundings to see swords, sabres, spears, halberds and whatnot littered on the ground. Swinging a weapon around in the pce was a crime but all eighteen?

    ''You know what? Getting out of here is the best strategy. His Majesty is waiting for me!''

    "Who¡­ are you?" asked the kid, frigidly frowning and imposing his aura. "Sister Lian said there are some things one can''t possibly do. She said that no matter how skilled one may be, once they have maximised their output, they can''t produce more force. How did you elevate yourself thirty centimetres back up when you were falling? Wh-Who exactly are you? I''m not afraid of you."

    He cowered after saying that, revealing his nature as a kid.

    "Your sister told you amonly applied concept in martial arts. It''s correct," I stated. I poked the ground with the spiked mace, cracking it and sinking it deep enough for it to stand steady. I casually borated, "However, internal arts never obeyedmon sense. I know more than thirty internal styles for using old force to produce new force or storing force within yourself to deal with various sticky situations. Shaolin, Wudang, Emei and even the Demon Sect have their own version. They aren''t rare methods by any means. As for who I am, I''m just a passing¡­ constable."

    The boy didn''t listen to me; his wide eyes were fixed on the spiked mace in the ground.

    "Th-That''s crazy."

    "This is nothing!" I furrowed my eyebrows: "This is enough to impress you? Listen: you know of the principle ''it''s better to receive than attack''? That sort of brute force style would bepletely dismantled by a true adept at absorbing force. You can hurl your strongest attack at him, but if your opponent withholds seventy to eighty percent of his strength, you tell me who gets the short end of the stick."

    "It''s better to receive than attack? Really?" Thrilled, the boy eagerly asked, "Really? Can you do it? Teach me please?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I stopped myself. If the kid really was an official''s child, it wouldn''t be wise of me to reveal my skills to him: "In short, I need to go to work. I have someone waiting for me. I have no time to y with you, so see youter."

    "W-Wait!" the kid called. "Take this!"

    The kid suddenly threw a palm strike at me.

    "Huh?"

    I casually waved my hand. Then, all I heard was a "waahhh" as he flew into a shrub¡­

    ''Damn, kid¡­ you''re piss weak.''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I didn''t even try. It was just my true qi armour that deflected him. Nobody with a semnce of internal energy foundations bounces off internal energy armour. Be fair. He had impressive strength with the weapons.

    ''Does this kid really not know how to use internal strength at all?''

    "Hey¡­ you all right?"

    I didn''t put much behind my wave, so he instantly crawled out from the shrubs. However, he had several cuts on his face, hands and legs. He also had leaves in his hair, rendering him dishevelled beyond belief. He sat there on the ground and mumbled, "How¡­?"

    He wasn''t low in spirits; he was full of energy. He widened his eyes and asked, "Wh-What''s your name?"

    I smiled: "I''m nobody. My name isn''t worth mentioning."

    I suavely spun around. I needed to run. Fast! If somebody caught me bullying a kid, they''d drag me out and punish me in front of the masses, turning me into Liu Shan Men''s disgrace!

    "Lord Zi. Y-, ow¡­ Wh-Which pce are you from? Why are you so brash?"

    I spun around to leave; unfortunately, I "bumped" into someone and knocked them over. The physique, big white robe and long ck hair were all mashed together. However, the most memorable feature was her eyebrows that were seemingly able to speak. Had I not been acquainted with her already, I would''ve thought I ran into a white fox that cultivated into a human beauty to seduce humans. Sadly, because I idently knocked General Bai over, she was livid.

    I didn''t notice the kid when I leapt over the wall, as I was in my own thoughts; it wasn''t easier to pick up on a kid not moving, either. Strangely, I didn''t hear General Manager Bai''s footsteps or breaths when she approached.

    Once General Manager Bai got a clear view of me, she thundered, "You again, Ming Feizhen! What are you here for?"

    "Uh, I got lost¡­"

    General Manager Bai didn''t buy my lie. She fumed, "You got lost? I was guarding the outside with five pce maids; exin how you managed to ''lose'' your way in."

    ''How was I supposed to know you were on guard duty outside?! Actually, you''re an imperial household general manager. Why are you here instead of at the conference? If His Majesty can''t summon you when he needs you, you''ll be in major trouble!''

    Head still in a mess and exnation still owed, I suddenly heard, "I see an opening! Take this!"

    The kidughed as he ran over to try and palm me!

    ''Hey! You still not done?! You couldn''t even prate my true qi armour. You won''t palm sh*t!''

    I was toozy to counter. My true qi would deflect his attack, so I didn''t bother with him. Instead, I helped General Manager Bai up. She, however, ignored me and worried for the kid: "Lord Zi! Why are you hurt? Who hurt you?"

    General Manager Bai didn''t realise her hand covered his sight, thereby forcing him to alter his attack trajectory marginally.

    Several other maids rushed into the courtyard. They probably couldn''t keep up with General Manager Bai''s pace.

    That was how the tragedy happened: General Manager Bai refused to let me help her up. As such, I stood still in ce. Because the kid changed the trajectory of his palm, he ended up palming the leather bag of soy bean milk by my waist. As it was full, he ended up bursting it, thereby spraying the soy bean generously. The maids were witnesses to the tragedy. As soon as the five maids arrived, they shrieked.

    This is what the maids saw: General Manager Bai in a crouched position with her beautiful small head in line with where my lower hip crease was. The soy bean milk sprayed onto the kid''s face and General Manager Bai''s face¡­

    ¡­

    ''Hmm, did I just get two faces?''

    Notes:

    *The kid uses an archaic way of referring to himself, but I don''t have an idea for what that would be in English. Let me know if you do.

    **Cold Pce - Basically a chamber/quarter/pce where concubines who fell out of favour with the Emperor were banished to. It was essentially a morefortable version of a prison cell materialistic-wise.

    ***Though Bai Lian is referred to as "she" from Ming Feizhen''s point of view, he doesn''t know she''s a girl. We, as readers, tacitly understand he isn''t aware.

 Volume 6 11 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Three Teachers and Their Students

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 11 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Three Teachers and Their Students</h4>

    The vassals already left Wuying Hall, leaving only the vassals the Emperor asked to stay behind. He grumpily stroked his beard from his throne.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye were present on orders. As such, they stood still at the centre of the hall with their heads down. Su Xiao nced side to side to satisfy his insatiable curiosity. It wasn''t his first time there. He was given his promotion at Hall of Supreme Harmonyst time; however, unlike Tang Ye, who joined the Seventeen Hidden Dragons and frequently visited, he rarely entered the pce. For that reason, he couldn''t resist quietly admiring the stately edifice.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tang Ye was stoic and indifferent to the atmosphere in the pce. He bore a striking resemnce to Secretary Leng in that aspect. If it was under different circumstances, the Emperor probably would''veughed at the two. For now, he had his head down simrly to an exhausted man. The Emperor weakly called, "My vassals."

    The six secretaries immediately bowed: "Present¡­"

    Asked of the Emperor: "What do you think? You think holding conferences every morning is too tiring? You think the policy is inhumanely tiring?"

    The secretaries exchanged eye contact and shook their heads vigorously. They responded in unison: "Not at all. Not at all. It is very humane! Very, very humane!"

    The morning conferences were the time for the monarch to discuss matters. If the Emperor refused to attend them in the future,ter generations would charge them as corrupt and undutiful vassals. The secretaries all had their own unique skill sets and were respected individuals of the era. They wanted to ensure their name and reputation was recorded in a positive light in history. They would rather die than leave behind a tarnished name. Feeling that their response was insufficient, they added, "We are all ted to be part of it!"

    To their surprise, the Emperor didn''t go along with them. Instead, he mmed the table!

    "Why is Ming Feizhente again?!" blustered the Emperor, blowing his beard and ring. "Does he think he cane and go from Hall of Supreme Harmony as he pleases? The time before thest, I praised him for curs-, ahem, defeating over a dozen warriors and kindly rewarded him. He decided to tell me he got lost and rocked up two hourste. Last time, he disappeared for over two hours after the first round of the fuma selection and imed he got lost again.

    Oh, but that''s not all. This time, he still hasn''t shown up after I finished with my morning conference, while his colleagues arrived before the morning conference. See this? Look. He signed in already. He''s on the pce grounds. Is he lost again or something? What''s wrong with my pce? Do people get lost so easily in the pce? Huh?"

    Not a soul dared to raise his head or utter a word¡­ except for Su Xiao, who suddenly argued, "Your Majesty, that is unfair judgement."

    Besides Secretary Leng who was indifferent to the matter and Secretary Lie who wasn''t listening whatsoever, the other four were scared out of their wits. They say being around an Emperor is the same as sitting on a tiger''s back. Though the reigning Emperor seldom acted arbitrarily and killed, as vassals, one had to consider their future. Offend the Emperor, and one''s future was almost guaranteed to be in tatters.

    The Emperor fumed, "How am I not being fear? Su Han, don''t shelter him. Look. This is his signature! The motherfucker even wrote his name with eloquent handwriting."

    The secretaries were d on Su Xiao''s behalf; he was lucky the Emperor didn''t take him seriously. If he did, in the best case scenario, he''d cane Su Xiao. In the worst case scenario, he''d be stripped of his rank. Would you treat it lightly?

    Su Xiao surprised everyone present. He puffed his cheeks and argued, "It is unfair!"

    Thought the four secretaries had: "Kid, are you trying to challenge your limits?"

    His Majesty: "How am I being unfair?"

    "You cannotpare Big Brother Ming to the average person. He is this stupid!" rightfully dered Su Xiao, drawing a big circle in the air with both arms. "He is so stupid you could hold an exhibition, and people would pay to watch his foolishness. His brain does not function. He is unlucky, and he is ugly. How can you makeparisons between him and the average person? In your subject''s opinion, he is definitely lost in the pce. Then, he ran into someone who hates him, and they scolded him. You see, he is stupid, bad with words and has the type of face everyone has an urge to hit. Therefore, it is perfectly normal for him to bete."

    Su Xiao sessfully had the Emperor''s brain doingps. Thetter said: "That makes me feel better¡­"

    Su Xiao literally cursed Ming Feizhen on behalf of the Emperor, thereby soothing the Emperor''s rage. Eventually, he smiled.

    Surprised, Tang Yemented, "Su Han, I never thought you''de up with this idea to help Big Bro."

    Su Xiao: "Help him? I didn''t. I was being absolutely honest."

    Tang Ye: "¡­"

    "As that is the case, I shall get to business." The Emperor cleared his throat: "Yesterday, I had a long discussion with the six ministries heads and the prime minister. I decided to help support Liu Shan Men to promote talented individuals to serve the imperial court. I have asked the respected veterans here to take you thr-, two in as students. You will study at the six ministries with your teacher. You will have a one month probation period to see how you fair."

    The six secretaries had no escape after the imperial decree reached them yesterday.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao were startled upon hearing of it for the first time. Su Xiao''s was dumbstruck as Secretary Lie the first time thetter heard about. In a nutshell, the Emperor didn''t speak Su Xiao''snguage. Tang Ye had a brief silence to himself before holding his hands in a cupped-fist salute: "Your Majesty, your subject is beyond grateful for the kind gesture. However, as a martial artist, your subject has only ever held weapons; he does not understand formalities and pleasantries. He is afraid he will offend the ministers."

    "I''m aware of what you''re concerned about," responded the Emperor, smiling. "I''ve always been aware of your temperament due to your background in the pugilistic world and your dislike for rules. That applies for Su Han as much as it applies for you. You spend most of your time among the people; you have not worked as officials properly. Nevertheless, that is precisely why I need you to learn how to work as an official under these secretaries. You are young at the moment, which empowers you with boundless opportunities. Do not becent, and talk yourself out of realising your potential. Think about Yiren. Though she''s a famous figure in the pugilistic world, when has it ever been easy for her in the imperial court?"

    Tang Ye tacitly nodded.

    Su Xiao: "But, Your Majesty, Big Brother Ming is not here y-"

    "He has no chance. He''s already twenty-eight years old. I''m only letting him join you to make up the numbers," frigidly interjected the Emperor. "He can choose any teacher he wants."

    Tang Ye couldn''t refuse when the Emperor was so adamant. He nced over to Su Xiao to signal: "Who are you choosing?"

    The two conversed with their eyes until the Emperor irritably asked, "What? Do you two still need to think it over?"

    Hands in a cupped-fist salute, Tang Ye answered: "Your subject hereby gives you his gratitude. Your subject wishes to learn from Secretary Lie. As he has served in the military for his entire life, he is apetent general capable of training troops for battle. He is the type of person your subject would like to learn from. Therefore, your subject requests permission to join the military and study under Secretary Lie."ie Jingchanughed: "Your Majesty, as you can see, I am still quite popr. The young man is quite decent. I shall take him in."

    While the Emperor just smiled, Su Xiao excitedly dered, "Can I study under Secretary Lu, then, Your Majesty? He has lots of fun things to y with. Children from my hometown of Suzhou grew up ying with toys he invented."

    The Emperor maintained his eyes and squinted: "Don''t rush. Don''t rush. I have decided who you will learn from already. It is written in the ordion. Wang Tushui."

    Eunuch Wang picked up the ordion and handed it to Su Xiao and Tang Ye. Tang Ye figured it would be boring with anyone but Secretary Lie only to learn the Emperor already had arrangements in ce. Tang Ye took the ordion and opened it. Upon reading its contents, he furrowed his eyebrows thinking, "Secretary Zhang? I am going to the Ministry of Personnel?"

    When Tang Ye nced over to Secretary Zhang with his head down, it was clear he was one who valued literacy far over martial arts.

    Su Xiao sighed aloud, thinking. "Secretary Leng? The Ministry of Justice''s ice cold secretary?"

    Su Xiao nced up at Secretary Leng, who stood as still as a statue. His eyes were open, but Su Xiao wasn''t sure he could speak.

    The two constables looked at each other, and then looked back at their future teachers: "They''re our teachers? You''re not serious!"

    ========

    "Please ept me as your disciple!" shouted the boy clinging to my waist. "I hit you with several palm attacks, but you never felt any pain! You must be very skilled. Please teach me martial arts!"

    ''Hey, hey, hey! What are you talking about soy-bean-face kid! General Manager Bai is right here! Also, she also has her faced smothered in soy bean milk! Hang on. Her body, hair and face are all covered in soy bean milk. In fact, it''s still dripping from her hair, and I can see through her chest region. It''s all your fault, naughty kid!''

    The body had no self-awareness. If anything, he was jubnt: "ept me as your disciple! ept me as your disciple!"

    ''Piss off! As if I want a kid with such bad luck for a disciple!'' General Manager Bai wasn''t even half as angry as she is now when I saw her at her angriest!''

    General Manager Bai quivered. Her snow-white face was bright red. She was going to erupt!

    I instinctively wiped General Manager Bai''s face¡­ She reactively jerked backwards, but let me wipe her face in the end. I thought I sensed her anger dissipating as I wiped her face.

    ''Is General Manager Bai a tsundere?''

    General Manager Bai suddenly pinched her eyebrows together: "¡­ What''s that smell on your hand?"

    ''My hand? Oh, I don''t think I washed my hand after eating the crullers for breakfast¡­ Oh, so I just spread oil on her face.''

    Bai Lian: "Why do I smell oil on your hand?"

    Me: "Uh, uh, crullers and soy bean milk are a betterbination in the imperial pce''s backyard."

    Bai Lian "¡­"

    General Manager Bai pulled my hand off. I took out a handkerchief from my shirt. She was so angry that she stood still as an ice statue. Soy bean milk trickled down her small face. She was in a vengeful mood. I reached for her face with my shaky hand holding my handkerchief.

    Bai Lian vindictively warned, "Don''t touch my face."

    Frightened, I jerked back: "Okay, okay, I won''t wipe your face."

    What else could I do but wipe her chest¡­? Out of nowhere, Bai Lian pped me across the face!!

    ''Fuck! Why?!''

 Volume 6 12 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Affection and Cutest Queen

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 12 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Affection and Cutest Queen</h4>

    General Manager Bai stood up silently before I could rpose myself after being pped. Despite wearing an aloof expression, I was more enamoured with her entrancing beauty than focused on her expression. She extended her slender arm. I could see her supple and white fingers. She calmly said, "Handkerchief."

    A maid immediately approached General Manager Bai as though she was stabbed in the butt. She shakily passed over a handkerchief. General Manager Bai was definitely imposing. She only said one word, yet nobody dared to fool with her. She wiped her face whilst maintaining her aloof look: "Clean."

    Two maids immediately brought General Manager Bai several handkerchiefs and a basin of water. One of them helped her wipe her clothing. The other helped wipe down the Lord Zi boy. General Manager Bai didn''t need to say much; the maids knew what they needed to do. I suppose General Manager Bai trained them well. It was apparent they feared General Manager Bai more than second generation rich kid Lord Zi¡­

    Once General Manager Bai was clean, she held her arms out parallel to the ground and calmly ordered, "Fix."

    Two maids immediately adjusted the messy parts of General Manager Bai''s clothing to perfection. Judging from their reactions, she appeared to have developed good chemistry with the maids. After they were done fixing General Manager Bai''s clothes, General Manager Bai lowered just one hand and calmly said: "Broadsword."

    A maid immediately passed General Manager Bai an executioner broadsword. The maids were considerate and in tune with General Manager Bai. Their teamwork was perfect that even a br-.

    "Wait, wait, wait, your chemistry is too perfect!"

    ''And why the hell are there so many des here?! Why did the maid pick the executioner broadsword of all things?! That thing could slice a sword in two, you know?! How desperate are you see to diced Ming Feizhen?!''

    Bai Lian took the broadsword. Twirling the eight to ten kilogram broadsword with her wrist took no effort, demonstratingmendable wrist mobility and strength. She frigidly said, "How many times have I warned you? I hate nothing more than people teasing me as if I''m a woman. Since you don''t have a memory, your head is useless, isn''t it?"

    "Exactly! Exactly!" eximed the maids behind General Manager Bai.

    There was no denying Bai Lian taught the maids to obey her orders to the "T"!

    I pleaded ignorance: "General Manager Bai, this is wrong. We''re friends! We''re bosom buddies! Why would you fuss over this?"

    Bai Lian furiously aimed her de tip at me: "Screw you! Who''s you bosom buddy?!"

    I touched my nose with a smile: "Well, remember that day at Small South Gate?"

    General Manager Bai''s cheeks turned red when she recalled the kiss I forced on her, leading to her hand holding her de shaking: "Y-You! You said we were never going to mention that again! Why are you bringing it up again?!"

    General Manager Bai bit down on her lip as I did. I felt a hot sensation when I recalled the kiss. That being said, I think I crossed the line using a kiss to threaten a eunuch¡­

    The maids behind General Manager Bai covered their faces. They couldn''t believe their usuallyposed and stern General Manager''s reaction. Like a girl, General Manager Bai stamped her feet: "Shut up! Say one more word, and I''ll hack yoouu!!"

    Good heavens thatst "yoouu" was fatally cute!

    General Manager Bai had a bad habit of raising her pitch whenever she panicked. It waspletely different to her usual stern voice. Her normal voice was gentler than girls in their teens. She immediately regretted it when she spoke in a rush. Her face was as red as though she had several drinks.

    The maids behind General Manager Bai¡­ were stunned from cuteness overload! Two of them even gave me a thumbs up.

    ''Are you praising me for doing well?!''

    As soon as General Manager Bai looked behind her, the maids acted as though nothing happened.

    ''Weren''t you supposed to be afraid of her? So you all perceived General Manager Bai as a cutie for you to feast your eyes on, huh?! No wonder why you hate me! Do you think I bullied your cute General Manager?!''

    General Manager Bai cleared her throat. She lowered her pitch, but she couldn''t change the voice she was born with; it was still higher pitch than ordinary girls. She stammered: "I-If you keep talking, I''ll hack you."

    "So if I don''t speak again, you won''t hack me?"

    "What sort of question is that? Of course I will!" brayed General Manager Bai, shing five fingers.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Me: "You''ll sh me five times?"

    "I''ll spare you five shes, so there are only three hundred shes left to go."

    ''Listen to yourself! You just made that bullsh*t up! If you''re going to sh me three hundred times, why spare me the five?! By the way, how the heck did you decide to hack me three hundred and five times?!There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year! Why are you getting rid of sixty?! One sh daily for ten months?! Why would you use the length of a woman''s pregnancy to decide on the number of times to hack me?! How evil of a pregnant woman are you?! It''s not good for the infant if you sh the woman once every day for her ten months of pregnancy. You want your son to be born a sher?! Wait, you''re a eunuch; you can''t get pregnant!''

    After changing into new clothes, the boy suddenly interjected: "Question! What happened that day?"

    Bai Lian hastily responded, "L-Lord Zi, you should not listen to this boorish man''s words. Do not listen to a word he says, or your ears will rot."

    ''That''s it. How can you malign your bosom buddy that way, Lianie. I''m going to have to teach you a lesson.''

    I folded my arms and gazed at the sky. Wearing the look of a man thinking diligently, I recounted, "I remember it was an afternoon with warm sunlight. I happened to pass by this ce and was looking for a drink. Pretty Bai came out from Small South Gate. Pretty upied my mind when I saw those gentle eyes, and then w-"

    "And then you died!" raged General Manager Bai, swinging her de full pelt at me!

    ''Hey! I was going to say ''¡­ and then we got acquainted''! What are you so mad about?! I only got to the part where we met!''

    General Manager Bai swung hard at me again. The de was right at my neck before I could even distinguish which style she was using. There were too many people to use martial arts, and General Manager Bai was skilled enough to be able to distinguish my techniques. I stepped out of the way only for her to continue pursing me with her de.

    "Oi! You being serious?!"

    "I''m not ying!" raged Bai Lian. "How many times have I told you not to tease me as if I''m a woman?!"

    I hastily evaded the sh that almost nipped my neck. Whilst staying busy, I said, "But teasing you as if you were a man would be quite the fetish, no?"

    "You''re asking for it again!" Bai Lian was even more livid: "I knew I shouldn''t be so lenient on you. I''ll kill yoouu! I''ll kill yoouu!"

    General Manager Bai didn''t hit me, but the maids and I sure almost died to her lethal cuteness. The boy didn''t follow the conversation too well. Spectating our fight was thrilling to him, though. He shouted, "Sister Lian, are you fighting Shifu?"

    Bai Lian, face red, said, "Lord Zi, you should stay quiet. Once I arrest this criminal, I shall exin it to you."

    ''Hey! They kid treats you as a woman! I thought his Sister Lian was Lian as in ''lotus'' Lian. You were the Sister Lian he was talking about?! You''re not being fair! Why am I the only one you''re hacking!''

    "This isn''t fair!" I eximed, dodging multiple shes. "Sister Lian, howe he can treat you as a girl, yet I can''t?!"

    "You!" Bai Lian blushed: "Don''t you call me that!"

    General Manager Bai started swinging more rapidly. General Manager Bai was a skilful martial artist. I couldn''t just keep evading for eternity. So ordingly, I stepped forward with a big stride and ran behind the boy. I picked him up to use as a shield. General Manager Bai immediately stopped when she turned around and intended to advance. She hid the de behind her and yelled, "Ming Feizhen, what are you doing?! Do you realise who h-"

    Hell as if I knew who he was. However, the boy sent Bai Lian an eye signal. She groaned and immediately stopped hassling me.

    "What were you trying to say? Who is he?"

    I looked down at the light kid. He looked up naively and met my gaze. He smiled brightly: "Me? I''m Zizi. Just call me Zizi, Shifu."

    "¡­"

    ''So he''s called Lord Zi, since his name is Zizi? Geez, talk about mindless naming.''

    "I''m not your shifu. Asking someone to be your shifu is a very serious matter in the martial world. Nobody does it so casually," I exined. I put the kid back down and grumbled, "You even ruined my bag of soy bean milk."

    The kid grabbed his head: "Ah! I didn''t do it on purpose! I was just testing your skills, Shifu!"

    ''Yeah, whatever, kiddo. Those street performers would whoop your behind effortlessly. Testing my skills my foot.''

    Bai Lian immediately said to the kid, "Lord Zi, do not go near him. He is a beast who does not discriminate between men and women. Never go near him."

    Zizi responded: "Sister Lian, he is very skilled!"

    Bai Lian shot me a frown. I shrugged to imply: "You believe what kids say?"

    General Manager Bai calmly said, "Lord Zi, it is time for you to begin your studies. Baimei, Wanzi, send Lord Zi back."

    Zizi protested: "Eh?! Already? Shifu! Shifu! Remember to visit me!"

    The two maids dragged Zizi off. Once they were out of sight, Bai Lian wore on a straight face again: "Ming Feizhen, what are you trying to get close to Lord Zi for?"

    "Didn''t I tell you already? I got lost. What? I can''t get lost now or something? What are you here for, then, raising a child for the imperial family or some minister?"

    "I don''t have as much free time as you," coldly responded General Manager Bai. "Outside this ce is the storage room. I''m going through items in the cold pce. Some antique items have gone missing from the pce recently; I''m investigating the case. I just happened to run into Lord Zi by coincidence."

    Realising she divulged too much or something, General Manager Bai fumed, "What are you in the imperial pce for? You don''t have a patrol shift Liu Shan Men anymore?"

    "Of course not. The imperial pce has enough hands; what would we be on patrol for? I came here to¡­"

    ''Hang on.''

    "Oh, fuck!! His Majesty is still waiting for me!!"

    Thus, I ran full pelt to Wuying Hall. Watching me take off, General Manager thought, "Retard."

 Volume 6 13 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Centre of the Hall

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 13 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Centre of the Hall</h4>

    "Your Majesty, Liu Shan Men''s Ming Feizhen has arrived!"

    "Your Majesty, your subject ising!" I cried as I rushed in. I was so lucky I made it in t-

    "You''rete!" eximed a pretty and charming maiden, as she pped me on my head!

    ''Eh? This sort of girl gets to be here?''

    She wore a blue warriors robe; she was dressed identically to Su Xiao. Her melon-shaped face, snow-white skin, tall and straight nose, eyshes and sparkly eyes were the same as Su Xiao''s¡­

    ''Wait, it is Su Xiao! Why do I still mistake you for a girl despite knowing you for so long?! Also, how dare you smack me on my head!''

    Su Xiao thundered, "Big Brother Ming, you big idiot! You''rete again! Why are you alwayste?!"

    "I wasn''tte on purpose!" I eximed whilst internally saying, "You think I deliberately slept in?!"

    Man, I screwed up bad. Back when Boss was around, she only reproached me for sleeping in and beingte for meetings before letting me off the hook. I didn''t expect to have to see His Majesty often while she was out. I had to make the long trip to sign in. It was so troublesome I wanted to curse!

    The atmosphere in the hall was quite weird. I didn''t understand why there were only several secretaries, the prime minister and the Emperor, who just red at me. Eventually, the Emperor ordered, "Ming Feizhen, step forward to speak."

    "Right away, right away! Your Subject is here."

    I took a few steps forward. I nced over to Tang Ye as I passed him, hoping he''d use Voice Transmission to exin to me what happened. He wore a straight face, but it looked as though he ate sh*t for breakfast¡­

    "Did something happen while I was on my way here?" I wondered. I saluted the Emperor: "Your subject, Ming Feizhen, greets you, Your Majesty. Long live, Your Majesty."

    The Emperor rested his chin in one hand. Wearing a lifeless expression, he contemptuously responded to my greeting: "Enough, enough, don''t waste my time with those fake pleasantries. If you genuinely respect me, stop beingte!"

    "Ugh. Your subject was not actuallyte. He was lost. The imperial pce is toorge. Your subject lost his way. As such¡­ please forgive him, Your Majesty."

    "Please!" the Emperor eximed, with a wave of his hand. "I know you by now; you can''t be trusted. I don''t know why Yiren would choose you to represent Liu Shan Men. Anyway, I called you three here for something important."

    "May your subject ask what that might be?"

    The Emperor sat square and swept his gaze over us. When he spoke, he sounded as though he was recalling a cherished memory at the same time: "Your superior, Vice-Captain Shen, is a descendant of an illustrious n. Her ancestors were dedicated andmendable individuals who rendered outstanding service. Her father was my sworn brother. He was one of the nation''s heroes who dedicated every fibre of his being to it. For that reason, I have also regarded Vice-Captain Shen as my own daughter. We are all on the same side, so I shall not withhold information. I once wanted to instate her as a Princess; but s, she rejected the offer for Liu Shan Men. She has dedicated her life to Liu Shan Men."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Switching to a serious expression, the Emperor carried on: "Liu Shan Men has been one of offices the imperial court has relied on heavily ever since the dynasty''s inception. Due to someone''s mistake back then, however, I gave them the cold shoulder¡­"

    ''Uh¡­ Your Majesty, howe I heard you demoted Yan Shisan to a toilet hygiene technician when he caught you at a brothel?''

    "Fortunately, Vice-Captain Shen has gradually revived Liu Shan Men''s glory under her leadership. Although Liu Shan Men still pales inparison to my entourage and the Qilin Guards, you have your strengths. Your members are young thanks to you joining. Your office now has the youngest members among the three. You are energetic and passionate; neither of the other two offices can match you in that aspect. I saw your futures after your contributions in the Emperor Chengkong Incident and Jin Wangsun''s betrayal. You all have great potential. After careful deliberation, I have decided to give you a hand for the imperial court, Yiren and Liu Shan Men."

    I returned to reality after listening for a long, long time.

    "May your subject ask what insight you have, Your Majesty?''

    The Emperor smiled: "You know what you threeck most?"

    "Uh¡­ What would that be?" The Emperor watched me think. I quickly figured out the answer: "Experience, connections and status?"

    "¡­" The Emperor spent a moment hesitating. Unhappy that I figured it out, he stated, "Mm¡­ precisely. In short, you need those three things¡­ Thus, I have passed down an order to have the six ministries'' leaders and prime minister take you in as students. They will help youwork, learn rules and umte experience."

    "Oh," I responded with a nod. "That is a beneficial. The secretaries are the era''s heroes. It would be an honour and beneficial to learn under them. Thank you for the kind offer, Your Majesty."

    Although I didn''t really know any of the six, I doubt anybody besides Boss Shen would scold her superiors. If the Emperor was nning something else, I was keen to find out what it was. If I could learn how to make a tool to rapidly boil braised pork shoulders in soy sauce from the ministry of works, woo!

    ''Wait, have Tang Ye and Su Xiao already had their teachers arranged?''

    As though he read my mind, the Emperor said, "You are the only one who has not met his teacher. They already know who their teacher is."

    I nced over to Tang Ye. He nced over to a schr.

    ''Isn''t that the Ministry of Personnel''s Secretary Zhang? No wonder why Tang Ye looks as if he ate sh*t!''

    ording to what I heard, Secretary Zhang was strict with formalities and rules. That was why everyone under him even walked with a certain gait.

    Su Xiao pointed to a middle-aged man. I couldn''t see anything spectacr about him. He seemed to be an energetic man, though. If my memory does me justice, he was the ministry of justice''s Secretary Leng¡­

    ''Wait, you''re sending Su Xiao, who is publically known for missing a part of his brain, to the ministry of justice?! Your Majesty, your reign''s incorrectly-judged-cases count is going to take the top spot in history.''

    ''So¡­ who''s my teacher?''

    "Your Majesty, my teach-¡­"

    The Emperor cut me off: "I don''t have any opinion. You may choose any among them, though they might not be free¡­"

    ''In other words, you don''t care if I have one, right?! What happened to my boundless future?!''

    "Despite my ns, things did not turn out ideally," stated the Emperor, waving with a nonchnt look. "One elder asked to take you in. I thought it was a very rare opportunity for you, so I agreed on your behalf."

    "Oh, may your subject ask who his teacher will b-"

    "Present," dered a statue that came to life. He wore an honest smile. I, on the other hand, saw the eyes of a challenger, and an ominous feeling gripped me. He said, "Yes, it is this old one. Young Ming, I have discussed your recruitment. Let''s look out for each other."

    There was no need for aprehensive introduction. It was Prime Minister Li Si! He admitted to not being as erudite in cuisine only to then turn around and set me up into footing the bill! The old geezer was more shady and sly than the unorthodox sects!

    ''You''re telling me he volunteered? Let me check if there''s an elephant climbing a tree right now; he''s definitely looking to get back at me!!''

    "All right, since you three all have your teachers now, I shall proceed with the rules," said the Emperor, sitting up straight and wearing on a stern expression. "I am giving you three a chance to improve yourselves with your teachers'' assistance. Besides learning from them, you need to improve by yourself, as well. I have three cases here. Once you reach your departments, you need to help your teacher solve the cases. You will not be permitted to return to Liu Shan Men until you have solved your case!"

    ''Eh? No returning to Liu Shan Men?''

    Both Su Xiao and I were stunned.

    ''How are we supposed to solve the cases from there?!''

 Volume 6 14 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Prudent Emperor

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 14 Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Prudent Emperor</h4>

    After receiving the Emperor''s orders, the secretaries headed back to their offices with their new students to get started on their case as soon as possible. After we left, only the Emperor and Wang Tushui remained in the room.

    The eunuchs at the door tucked their limbs in to bear the winter breeze. A ck smoke whisked into the atmosphere from the bronze and gold-ted furnace. The fire kept the hall as warm as in spring. Wuying Hall was simr to the majority of pces in the imperial pce. Other pces also used furnaces and had small adjacent rooms in their rooms for their furnaces. That was how they kept warm in winter. Underneath the pce was a passageway that led to other ces. People in the small adjacent rooms for furnaces were in charge of controlling the firewood and mes.

    Exhausted, the Emperor gradually fell asleep in the warm room not long after Ming Feizhen and the others left.

    The ministers had to wait outside the imperial city between one to three in the morning. The Emperor went through documentste into the night and had to wake early for morning conferences. He slept as much as they did; that was the routine he abided to ever since he ascended the throne almost thirty years ago. Emperor Yuansheng probably wasn''t evaluated as the most talented; however, he would be crowned among the most diligent without a doubt.

    Eunuch Wang Tushui silently stood still in ce. He was a veteran who had worked in the imperial pce for decades. Because he and Liu Shan Men''s Eunuch Sui Tuwan entered the imperial court''s employment at the same time, the two were best friends. Nevertheless, Eunuch Sui Tuwan was diligent with his studies and, eventually, sessfullypleted the examinations. While Eunuch Wang Tushui also read a lot of books and poetry, he refused to leave the pce. For that reason, he remained a servant for the imperial household.

    Eunuch Wang Tushui wanted to remind the Emperor to go to the Imperial Study. s, the Emperor was asleep. He quietly stepped back until the eunuch outside saw him. Wang Tushui signalled with a gentle hand gesture. One of the eunuchs immediately heeded the call and folded a thin nket properly. He ced it onto a tray and courteously handed it over.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was the low-ranking eunuch''s first time on duty at Wuying Hall. He never met the Emperor before. Due to his tension, he identally dropped the nket and stepped on it, resulting in him almost tripping. Eunuch Wang reproached him with a scowl. The low-ranking eunuch shuddered. Luckily, he was swift and didn''t wake the Emperor. Still, he was ghastly pale. He made sure to be extra careful when he went to drape the nket on for the Emperor. Before he could, though, Eunuch Wang gently tugged him back with a frown.

    "S-Sir."

    Wang Tushui nced over to the Emperor, who was still sleeping, and dragged the eunuch out. Once they arrived outside, Eunuch Wang called over a guard and indifferentlymanded, "Take him away and cane him five times."

    The startled eunuch looked deathly pale. There was nothing more ruthless in the imperial pce than canes. They could hit gently or hard. Some could withstand eighty canes, but some were finished with one strike. Given he angered Eunuch Wang, those five canes were most likely to be lethal. He immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed: "Sorry, sorry. Please spare me, Eunuch Wang."

    "Do you know what your mistake was?" asked Eunuch Wang, coldly grabbing the nket. He shook it in front of the eunuch and whispered: "How dare you put this on His Majesty after stepping on it?"

    The low-ranking eunuch was rendered speechless. Before he realised it, the guard hauled him away. Eunuch Wang frigidly watched the guard drag him off. He stood with his torso upright. His ck robe blended it with the night sky. Another low-ranking eunuch quickly brought over a nket. Eunuch Wang personally took the nket in. He paused next to the furnace to warm up before draping it on for the Emperor.

    "Wang Tushui," the Emperor suddenly said with a smile. "It was just a nket. Did you need to punish him so harshly?"

    "Oh, Your Majesty," eximed Eunuch Wang. Sincerely apologetic, he said, "I apologise for waking you."

    It was obvious the low-ranking eunuch woke the Emperor before; he merely feigned ignorance to see how Eunuch Wang would deal with the eunuch. The Emperor could easily hear the dialogue outside the door with his internal energy.

    The Emperor said, "The eunuch has only just started work. There''s no reason to be too strict and harsh. Let us be considerate of his parents who devoted so much to raise him. Don''t be too harsh over minor mistakes."

    "Yes, Your Majesty. Your subjects must learn to practice benevolence as you do. Rest assured, Your Majesty. Your subject notified the guard to hit hard once and light for the remaining four. He must be taught a lesson; nevertheless, he needs to be in shape for work tomorrow. He will be all right. In saying that, your subject is to me for failing to train him property, resulting in us disturbing your sleep. Please see to it that your subject is punished."

    "Okay, okay, I''m sick of hearing those lines even if you aren''t sick of repeating them," scolded the Emperor, with a smile. "It''s just a minor matter. By the way, do you remember the looks on the secretaries'' faces when they left?"

    Respectfully, Eunuch Wang answered, "Yes. Secretary Lie and Secretary Lu looked somewhat unhappy. Secretary Zhang, Secretary Kong and Secretary Qian looked jubnt. Secretary Leng was straight faced as always. Prime Minister Li was still chuckling."

    The Emperor valued Wang Tushui''s ability to handle matters appropriately, but he also valued thetter''s observation skills. That was why the Emperor often had him serve by his side in conference hall. In essence, he maintained surveince on the officials and would report back what he saw afterwards. The Emperor factored in the observation reports when analysing and theorising.

    Smiling, the Emperor said, "Liezu Faction will learn to stop pushing the envelope now. I won''t have toe up with ways to remind them to stay in line anymore."

    The Emperor had Liu Shan Men''s three new recruits join different departments, but left out the reformist faction''s two secretaries. It, therefore, stood to reason that the two of them were unhappy.

    The reformist faction''s influence in the imperial court gradually overtook the neutral and peace-advocate factions. Noticing the trend, the Emperor used the opportunity to send them a warning. His intent was obvious. If he never nned to involve them, there was no reason to call for them on both asions. In other words,petition was all right; however, they had to stay within the boundaries.

    The reformist faction was formed with Secretary Lie and Secretary Lu as the leaders. Secretary Lie was the grand marshal back then. The majority of military generals were his pupils. Secretary Lu also had a military background. He was their cksmith. He climbed the ranks through rendering merits. He was a master of his craft and more knowledgeable than many in the imperial court, leading to some crediting him as Laozi''s incarnation. Hence, the people even sided with the two. In turn, they gradually built up a big faction the peoplebined their names and titles to coin the faction "Liezu Faction".

    As for the peace advocate faction, the three were legitimate imperial schrs. All three were renowned for their talent throughout thends and wielded tremendous influence in the martial world. Secretary Kong Duan, in particr, was the descendant of the sage Confucius. Thus, peoplebined Feng from Secretary Zhang Chunfeng''s name with Confucius exalted title of a sage and coined their faction "Wind Sage Faction".

    Ever since the dynasty''s establishment over a century ago, the dynasty fought many wars. Besides the internal war thirty years ago that arose as a result of the contention for the throne, the others were always against foreign enemies at the borders. That exined why the imperial court always ced a big importance on their military and respecting the military personnel. Having said that, few were truly valued highly. In thest century or so, the denizens of the Central in focused on their own livelihood and growth. Martial arts flourished as per usual, but the same couldn''t be said of literacy. That was the root of the military personnel and schrs'' conflict.

    The two factions quarrelled over anything and everything. They were supposed to be evenly matched; but nheless, in recent years, there was a slight change to the status quo. Aforementioned change was attributed to the termination of Divine Moon Cult years ago. With the imperial court''s full force, the orthodox martial world''s sects and the Ultimate Threeunching a concerted attack on the Demon Sect, failure was not an option

    The Emperor equipped his forces with arge batch of weapons Secretary Lu was credited with making. In addition, he ced a number of generals under the Qilin Guard''smand to promote the generals. They racked up an inconceivable injury and death toll in the skirmishes. The Emperor, consequently, rewarded them handsomely for their contribution. Owing to the magnitude of the rewards, the generals still had their rewards to use despite it being years ago. From that time henceforward, Liezu Faction overtook Feng Sage Faction.

    The bickering between the schrs and military personnel in the imperial courtsted since forever. The key to take note of was that it wasn''t because schrs looked down on military personnel. You would never find someone from the martial world picking a fight with a government office. Conversely, you would never find a schr from the imperial court trying to start trouble with an illiterate hilly billy martial artist. Interestingly, the intensity of the conflict between schrs and martial artists not instated as government officials wasn''t so heated.

    The first reason those situations never happened was because many schrs practiced martial arts. A decent number of them were actually adepts. A number of adepts were also equally learned. The second reason was because the wealthy was able to learn more martial arts under reputable masters. The poor, to the contrary, read lots of books. That was why there was a saying that went, "The wealthy are martial artists. The poor are schrs."

    When referring to schrs and military personnel in the imperial court, the referrer is actually pointing to the discord among the two groups. They didn''t argue for Confucian orthodoxy or for emotional needs. They argued to protect what they held closest to them.

    When the world was in turmoil, the Emperor needed a de to fight for supremacy. Once the dust settled and he wanted to restore peace, he needed his brush. When he gave one party attention, he had to reduce his attention on the other. It had always been a bncing act that was difficult to y perfectly throughout the ages. It was a simple battle of benefits. The strong restrained the weak. Morals and sympathy? There were none to speak of.

    Smiling, the Emperor said, "Liezu and Wind Sage are all the imperial court''s vassals. Hah, they resemble the pugilistic world''s sects now. Prime Minister Li is the easiest to deal with. He can be prime minister, for he never takes either side."

    Eunuch Wangughed: "The ministers merely fight for your favour, Your Majesty. Liezu Faction will have understood the warning after what you did. They will be conscious of when to push and when to back down."

    "When to push and when to back down? I would argue¡­ it''s not just them who need to learn that," responded the Emperor.

    The Emperor rested his chin in one hand and stared at the mountain of ordions on the table to mull. Not only was it a tall stack, but also very weird. They had covers with the text "To His Majesty".

    The Emperor added, "I''m¡­ afraid I won''t get to sleep well for some time."

    Notes:

    *Laozi - also rendered as Lao Tzu (Lao Zu in mandarin pinyin). He was a Chinese philosopher

 Volume 6 15 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - The Dynastyâ€™s Female Constables

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 15 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - The Dynasty¡¯s Female Constables</h4>

    While Ming Feizhen and his colleagues left Liu Shan Men, an interesting matter took ce at Liu Shan Men. It was the day the female constables weed their new colleague.

    Shen Yiren set up the female constables division at the age of fourteen. For the record, they were an official team the imperial court acknowledged. Their reputation was on the rise as of recent, leading to people perceiving them to be aw-enforcing team with plenty of potential. The dynasty''s system was impressive, considering there was room for there to be female constables in an era where eunuchs and women could work as officials.

    Female constables existed long ago, and there most certainly were a decent number of excellent female constablesparable to Shen Yiren. Now, due to constables being treated as personnel as opposed to officials, Shen Yiren needed to jump through lots of hurdles to legalise them as officials. Strictly speaking, then, female constables were around before female officials were acknowledged. Having said that, there was a lot of doubt in the imperial court. See, if females could fulfil the roles of a constable, was there really a need to establish an exclusive "Female Constables" team. Topound the matter, it was suggested during Liu Shan Men''s period of decline.

    Shen Yiren had plenty of sound reasons. Her response to the criticism and scepticism earned the acknowledgement and support of Empress Dowager, the Empress, the consorts and high-ranking officials'' wives. She said: "Females can hold up half of the sky."

    There were cases of female soldiers in military history. There were sects led by females in the martial world. The Emperor''s Entourage and the Qilin Guards also had female adepts, such as Ye Luo and Si Fu. The only missing entity was an official femalebat team.

    Shen Yiren stated she wanted to form a team proficient inbat, capable of apprehending criminals, collecting intelligence, being able to bear with admonishment and physical pain and was fearless. She argued females were also able to take risks on the frontlines. They performed the same work as males, including jobs inconvenient for males.

    The team operated exactly as Shen Yiren described. They bolstered Liu Shan Men''s withering forces. They exhibited the ability to crack cases as proficiently and effectively as the veteran constables of the office as well as punishing crime. They solved a string of over a dozen cases. As a bonus, they were able to deal with cases involving housewives, family issues and pce maids, which would''ve been inconvenient for males to handle. At the end of the day, ordering a man to ask one of the consorts how her underwear thief sneaked in, its colours or her period was ridiculous. Hence, Female Constables'' integral part in the grand scheme of things was soon epted, gaining them fame.iu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren, was a female. So ordingly, she needed female subordinates to assist her. With that said, the female constable''s proficiency was evaluated to rival the Qilin Guard''s elites thanks to Shen Yiren''s training.

    The biggest hurdle Female Constables faced was their small numbers. Shen Yiren''s target poption when she initially established the team was elites. She aimed to have them focus on the imperial capital; she didn''t want too many members. Unfortunately, dozens of them was evidently insufficient. As such, she began recruitment for new female constables before she left. In fact, she already conducted interviews. The examinees who passed only needed to sort out their paperwork and undertake their recruitment ceremony. Today was the day of their ceremony.

    Among the interviewed females included Ming Feizhen''s Young Shiyi, Ming Suwen, who joined via under-the-table means. Hongjiu was kicked out of Liu Shan Men, so he returned to his natural habitat: sleeping on the streets. The room he parted with was handed over to Ming Suwen. Hence, she only needed to go from the North courtyard to the South courtyard to report in, easy and joyful.

    Hands behind her back, Ming Suwen walked along the stunning scenery underneath the winter sun. Her strides were rxed and mischievous; even the air found her joy contagious. Miss Juese was thrilled to join Female Constables. She was very pleased with Ming Feizhen''s arrangement. It was a testament to their childhood friends'' rtionship. He treated her as someone close (read: as an Empress) and personally took care of her (read: served her). Her martial nephew knew exactly how to please her.

    Ming Feizhen knew her temperament very well. She was the type who enjoyed a lively lifestyle. She wouldn''t be able to sit still and idly wait for him to return every day. That aside, he didn''t want her to be a pitiful housewife pitifully waiting for her husband to return every day.

    Ming Suwen loved praying pranks in the pugilistic world than anything. She certainly wasn''t an orthodox character or justice advocate. Her "Demoness" nickname wasn''t given to her without rhyme or reason. She always wanted to be involved with anything fun. Female Constable, a one and only female team piqued her interest.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Suwen entered Female Constables'' courtyard from inside the grounds and headed straight to their training grounds without going through the inspection at the door. She sensed a group more heated than the male''s spirits. Though there were barely more than thirty of them, their training ground was over ten times more spacious than the males. The females were engaged in free sparring. They used everything at their disposal and fought sparred vigorously. Loud ngs and shockwaves were ubiquitous in there.

    All of the female constables donned form-fitting ck robes. A visual judgement suggested they were catered for movement; however, they didn''t appear to be appropriate uniforms outside of the office. It was safe to assume they were designed to be training fear.

    Interested, Ming Suwen went inside for a closer look. The female constables possessed impressive martial prowess. Actually, they were fantastic enough to surprise her. One of them could easily wipe the floor with eight to ten men solo. Even Su Xiao might lose. Some were extraordinary. Ming Suwen reckoned they could rival Tang Ye.

    Ming Suwen touched her smooth chin as she pondered. The difference in abilities between the female and male constables was enormous. It stood to reason, then, that Liu Shan Men managed to solve several major cases despite them withering. Liu Yuan and his cronies wouldn''t be able to solve the cases. It was safe to assume the female constables cracked the cases.

    Ming Suwen was unaware Shen Yiren personally trained the female constables unlike the male constables under Song Ou''s management. Since Shen n headed Liu Shan Men for generations, their martial arts was based primarily on Shen n''s best aspects. As Shen Yiren possessed a moreprehensive grasp of her own n''s style, her disciples were far superior to those trained by the older constables.

    Several of the girls who joined Liu Shan Men possessed decent martial arts skills before they entered Liu Shan Men. Shen Yiren''s teachings, therefore, enhanced their skillset. They, by all means, could make a name for themselves in the pugilistic world if they wanted to leave Liu Shan Men.

    Ming Suwen nodded as she watched.

    "Hargh!"

    A grunt followed by a gale generated from a sword tip rushed toward Ming Suwen. The wind simply glided off her ultimate smooth skin. Ming Suwen turned her head and evaded the sword. Her slender opponent slipped into her line of sight. Ming Suwen saw a twenty-nine year old female in her prime. She was stunning from head to toe; however, she had an unapproachable air about her.

    The woman aggressively said, "That was a quick evasion, but let''s see you evade all of my strikes."

    The woman performed Sword Flower, proceeding into Liu Shan Men''s exclusive style. To be specific, it was one of the most advanced moves from Six Fusion Swordy.

    Ming Suwen didn''t have the foggiest idea as to why the woman suddenly thrust a sword toward her as soon as they met. Judging from her tone, she didn''t seem to mistake Ming Suwen for somebody peeking on their training. She, as a matter of fact, seemed aware who Ming Suwen was, yet stillunched a sneak attack.

    Miss Juese wasn''t the type to just wait for the guillotine toe down. She shifted her centre of mass over her left foot and rotated, giggling as she dodged every attack the woman offered. The woman didn''t pull any punches; she struck seventeen times in the blink of an eye. Her attack speed demonstrated her level of skill.

    The woman attacked even rapider. Once she noticed Ming Suwen rotate on her left foot, all the force of her attack had dissipated. Next, the woman threw a lethal attack, putting everything behind her attack. She spawned five sword clones and surrounded Ming Suwen with them.

    Ming Suwen suddenly reversed the direction she spun. The most sensational aspect was that she managed to rotate in the reverse direction at the same speed, thereby defying logic. Hence, the woman slipped past without suffering any damage. Ming Suwen''s manoeuvre was named Reverse Extraordinaire, which originated from Ming Huayu''s Heavenly Net Sacred Records. The manoeuvre''s main focus was the reverse. However, that didn''t mean the woman''s execution wasn''t sudden and vicious. She just happened to meet her bane: Ming Suwen, who was well-versed in all three generations of Mount Daluo''s best styles.

    A female with a stern voice interrupted when the woman tried tounch another attack: "Stop!"

    A female with a serious demeanour dashed over. She had her eyebrows pulled together to form a stern expression: "Lan Kn! You done?!"

    Ming Suwen recognised the female constable who came to her aid. Ming Feizhen once promoted her: Bai Yeshuang . Bai Yeshuang saw what transpired; therefore, she scolded Lan Kn, who initiated the attack: "Lan Kn, what were you trying to do? Do you know who she is?"

    "I do," responded Lan Kn, sulkily sheathing her sword. "She''s the genius Vice-Captain was eager to recruit but failed to, right? I don''t need an introduction. I can see for myself."

    Ming Suwen finally figured out the motivation behind the attack from Lan Kn''s tone. Shen Yiren fervently persuaded her to join when she was at the exams, and even went as far as epting Ming Feizhen to force her to visit Ming Feizhen. All of the female constables most probably knew about it. That exined why Lan Kn decided to test her skills. To sum up, it was jealousy!

 Volume 6 16 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - Looking Down on Junior Martial Sister

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 16 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - Looking Down on Junior Martial Sister</h4>

    Miss Juese wasn''t fazed even after learning Lan Kn was jealous. All women deserve to be forgiven when she starts swinging a weapon out of jealousy¡­

    Bai Yeshuang: "Why did you attack her when you knew that? Apologise to Junior Martial Sister Ming."

    Female constables referred to each other as martial sisters and arranged seniority ording to the date and time they entered employment. Ming Suwen was older than the two girls; however, she was their junior martial sister. She didn''t find it offensive. To the contrary, she was jubnt. She joined Liu Shan Men to ovee the seniority obstacle between her and Ming Feizhen. She was one grade his junior all on her first day already. Why wouldn''t she be happy?

    Bai Yeshuang: "Junior martial sister Ming is a senior disciple of a reputable sect. She showed lenience, only evading your attacks, yet you continued to viciously attack her."

    Before Lan Kn left, she said, "Humph, the one Vice-Captain wanted to recruit isn''t all that impressive. If you ask me, she didn''t dare to attack."

    Bai Yeshuang wasn''t well-versed with articting her thoughts. She frowned but had no response: "You¡­"

    Ming Suwen suddenlyughed: "Hey, Lan."an Kn stopped in her tracks after her first stride and thundered, "What did you call me?!" You asked for th-"

    Right as Lan Kn reached for her sword, she noticed something whiz toward her, leading to her taking a step back to catch it with her hand. She checked to see it was an ordinary hairpin. Though ordinary, she felt a chill down her spine. Discovering there was a hole in her shirt, she freaked out.

    Ming Suwen giggled: "Look after your stuff. Girls shouldn''t swing their sword around so carelessly. It''s not good for you."an Kn looked as white as a sheet. She had no verbal counter. She bought the hairpin in her hand yesterday. She knew full well her hairpin didn''t grow wings and fly off; she knew Ming Suwen pinched it from her when they passed by each other before. The reason herplexion was ghastly pale was because Ming Suwen was able to take an item she kept on her without her even noticing. In other words, Ming Suwen could''ve taken her head without her even knowing. Lan Kn finally realised Ming Suwen left her in the dustpletely. She snorted and stomped off.

    "She''s not a bad girl," said Bai Yeshuang, watching Lan Kn leave. She borated, "She is the faster learner among all of those Vice-Captain trained. That is why she is rtively proud. She has always considered herself to be Vice-Captain''s left and right arm, so when she sees you¡­ She just doesn''t know what to do. Please don''t hate her for it."

    "I know. I won''t," responded Ming Suwen, smiling. "Lan is adorable."

    "You have to refer to her as ''Senior Martial Sister Lan''."

    "Can''t I call her Lan?" asked Ming Suwen, blinking rapidly. "Young Kn? Young Lan?"

    "Senior Martial Sister Lan. You may omit ''martial'' at most," answered Bai Yeshuang, shaking her head. Sounding as though there was a long road ahead, she calmly said, "Let''s speak as we go."

    The two girls headed to the courtyard. Tone neutral, Bai Yeshuang remarked, "Ming Suwen, you''ve finally joined."

    "What, did you wait for long?"

    "Mm, over three months," replied Bai Yeshuang, with a nod. "Vice-Captain mentioned you. She said you were very skilled and astute. I was not at the exams, and therefore had no basis on which to judge. After witnessing your skills just now, I am thoroughly convinced your skills are as impressive as Vice-Captain evaluates. I do not feel I can match you, either."

    Ming Suwen casually responded with, "Oh" at every remark, since she was focused on scanning Bai Yeshuang. Bai Yeshuang was straightforward and proper. Ming Suwen admitted Shen Yiren had an eye for people. When women fought, it was ten times moreplicated than a fight between men, and that was an understatement. Only those with Bai Yeshuang''s temperament and personality wouldn''t be prone to getting into conflicts. Those traits made it possible for her to rein in the proud and skilled girls.

    "Once you join us inside these walls, we will be senior and junior martial sisters who have each other''s backs. From now on, call me Senior Martial Sister Bai, and I will call you Junior Martial Sister Ming."

    "Yeye, you are Female Constables'' only head constable, right? Have you solved any major cases?"

    "¡­ " Bai Yeshuang didn''t know how to deal with Ming Suwen. She resorted to repeating, "Senior Martial Sister Bai."

    "Okay, okay, don''t be so hung up on how to refer to each other so much."

    "We have to abide by the rules," said Bai Yeshuang, starting to feel slightly annoyed. "You have to call me Senior Martial Sister."

    "Oh," absentmindedly answered Ming Suwen. "How many senior martial sisters do I have, then?"

    "You had sixty-seven, but the new group who joined from the front door have gone through their recruitment ceremony. You arete, so you are their junior. You now have seventy-two senior martial sisters."

    "Wow¡­ I have an extra five just for being a littlete? Take me to the ceremony now, then."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There was no way of proving it; however, perhaps Ming Feizhen''steness disease was contagious. Both of them werete for important events, after all. Ming Suwen silently cursed, "Did he infect me withtenesstitis?"

    Bai Yeshuang led Ming Suwen to their destination and introduced the ces they passed by, such as the training grounds, training room, archives room, case conference room and so forth. Their ce was far superior to the males'' side. Their rooms were newer, were fully equipped and more spacious. They also had dorms. There were enough rooms for the six new female constables unlike on the males'' side.

    "Mm¡­" Once they finished their tour, Bai Yeshuang hesitated before speaking: "There is something I hope you understand. We did not anticipate you joining, so¡­ you need to be mentally prepared."

    Baffled, Ming Suwen asked, "We''re all girls. Is it so strange for me to join Female Constables?''

    "Our rule is the first to join is considered the senior as opposed to going by age. As such, you have to refer to me as your senior despite you being my senior in age."

    "That''s no big deal. Senior Martial Sister Bai. See? It won''t kill me."

    Bai Yeshuang''s speech was clunky due to her hesitation: "Not just us, but the five who just joined, as well."

    "So? I''ll just call you all senior martial sisters, no big deal."

    Ming Suwen was a passionate prankster. But nheless, she was very easy going. Titles weren''t important to her. She, consequently, couldn''t understand why Bai Yeshuang spoke so hesitantly."

    "Mm¡­ I don''t know how to put it, either. Anyway, this is the front courtyard. They are your senior sisters. Go and see them."

    Ming Suwen stepped inside with many questions on her mind. As soon as she stepped through the door, she froze. She was insightful, but she never imagined she''d see what she saw. She was a step away from being stupefied. There were five young girls roughly six to seven years old in the courtyard¡­ The group of girls nudged, chattered and yed around. It was no different to watching a children''s stage y. One look and one might forget they were at Liu Shan Men.

    It took Ming Suwen a while to finally utter, "Umm¡­"

    In a dilemma, Bai Yeshuang exined, "We nurture female constables. We didn''t have enough hands before. At the time, we selected our recruits from young girls with a martial arts foundation. Now that our system has developed, we have begun training female constables at a young age¡­ They¡­ are your senior sisters¡­"

    "¡­"

    One of the lively lolis, a new recruit roughly seven years old, bossily said, "I''m the eldest among you, so I''m your senior martial sister."

    Ming Suwen finished her ceremony, and then went over to the girls. Her height cast a shadow over the loli. The loli turned around and naively looked at Ming Suwen: "Who are you?"

    Bai Yeshuang awkwardly introduced, "Meng, this¡­ this is your junior martial sister."

    Startled, the loli widened her eyes: "Wh-What arge junior martial sister!"

    "¡­"

    Ming Suwen did her best to contain her temper; else, her tyrannical aura would''ve been enough to hurt the loli. She folded her arms and looked down: "Young one¡­ watch your attitude."

    Notes:

    *For simplicity and readingfort sake, I will omit the "martial" part in the junior/senior sister''s whenever possible just to save you from the mouthful. You saw me inject thement in the body. It''s still correct from a technical standpoint, as you can call each other "ÈýÃÃ" (Third Sister). Chinese speakers do that for the same reason I remove it.

    *Meng - Pronounced simrly to merng

 Volume 6 17 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - Lawâ€™s Profoundness

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 17 Barking Up the Wrong Tree - Law¡¯s Profoundness</h4>

    Su Xiao silently followed behind Secretary Leng''s official litter toward the Ministry of Justice''s office. He had yet to say a word to Secretary Leng ever since the end of the meeting. Su Xiao wanted to speak, but Secretary Leng''s fast-paced nature and calm exterior were contradictory; he was a man who acted fast. Before Su Xiao could even greet Secretary Leng or ask where the office was, Secretary Leng just dropped, "Follow me," and then got into his litter.

    The Ministry of Justice was an hour away from the Forbidden City via litter. Fortunately for Su Xiao, his internal energy gradually improved thanks to practicing the mental cultivation Ming Feizhen taught him. Hence, he didn''t pant or feel tired in the slightest.

    Judging from the office''s exterior, it wasn''t markedly different from Liu Shan Men. They were both constructed ording to the imperial court''s regtions. Liu Shan Men, however, had been established for a long time and was renovated countless times since its establishment. Thus, it was different to its original painting. That being said, the Ministry of Justice''s office resembled a building built a century ago. The original designer would be moved to tears if he learnt his design hadn''t been altered in any shape or form. Though not notably impressive in appearance, the meticulous attention devoted to it surpassed the other five ministries'' buildings.

    The men at the door didn''t utter a word when Secretary Leng, surprising Su Xiao. When the Qilin Guards'' superiors'' returned to the office, there''d be groups weing their superiors back, acting simr to valets or something. At Liu Shan Men, members would also greet their superiors.

    Once they were inside, Secretary Leng provided the office members with a simple introduction of Su Xiao''s background and dropped jaws: "Su Han will be working at our office henceforward. Provide him with his own room."

    Someone went to arrange things for Su Xiao straight away. Meanwhile, the others crowded around him. They almost thought their head had a change of personality to score such a beautiful bosom friend. They learnt Su Xiao was actually promoted talent and Secretary Leng''s student. Secretary Leng was a loner and never had a pupil; Su Xiao was his first. Hence, they even tried to curry favour with Su Xiao, showering him with respect. Su Xiao shivered. Secretary Leng was an oddball to him; however, the others were no different to Liu Shan Men''s officials.

    Secretary Leng didn''t voice any opinions on the matter. He gave Su Xiao a tour of the office, and then suddenly asked, "You are from Suzhou?"

    "Oh, yes," replied Su Xiao, touching his head. "I am from Suzhou. I have been in Nanjing for less than half a year."

    Secretary Leng nodded: "Since you are a foreigner, have you been to the various entertainment areas in Nanjing?"

    Su Xiao was delighted to hear the question, for he interpreted that to mean Secretary Leng was an approachable individual. He replied, "I have! I often go out with my buddies at Liu Shan Men. I have been to many ces in Jinling."

    "Mm, what do you like to do?" asked Secretary Leng, nodding again. He added, "No wonder why they say your martial skills are dismal."

    "¡­"

    "This man gets on my nerve!" was the first impression Secretary Leng gave him.

    Su Xiao proceeded carefully thereafter and didn''t speak again unless asked. Still, he kept his answers to single sentences. Secretary Leng asked, "Su Han, how old are you?"

    Su Xiao was tall; his long and slender legs made him look very good next to Ming Feizhen, ahem, prevented him from looking too short. That was why his age was often overestimated. He exined, "I usually say I am sixteen¡­ but I am not actually sixteen yet. I was born in the summer of August, fourteenth year of Emperor Yuan Sheng''s reign."

    "That makes you fifteen, then. You''re quite sessful for a young one."

    Su Xiao didn''t have the foggiest clue as to why he wasplimented. He touched his head and embarrassingly responded, "N-Not really. I am just lucky."

    Secretary Leng quietly remarked, "Since you were instated as an official at fifteen years of age, you almost beat Vice-Captain Shen''s record for youngest female official."

    "¡­ I am a male!!" eximed Su Xiao

    Secretary Leng titled his head. An official at the office popped up behind him out of nowhere and eximed, "Huh?! Don''t lie!"

    Su Xiao: "Why are you ndering me?!"

    After the tour, Su Xiao also finished learning about the operations and links at the Ministry of Justice.

    "I will give you a tour of the prisonter."

    Su Xiao nodded: "Oh."

    "What, are you afraid?"

    "Prison? I am all right. Teacher Leng, is it a scary ce?"

    "Not at all," replied Secretary Leng, shaking his head. "Only a lot of people die there."

    The Ministry of Justice''s vice-minister, seeing Su Xiao''s fragile appearance, couldn''t resist giving him extra attention: "Constable Su, there are lots of criminals in the prison. Given your pretty appearance, you should just get a glimpse."

    Su Xiao: "It is no big deal. I have run into simr circumstances while on duty before. There is no need to amodate me."

    Vice-minister: "You are an erudite among young heroes, Constable Su! So, can I take it that you have seen criminals on death row before?"

    "No," replied Su Xiao, with a smile. "I have performed an autopsy using chopsticks, however."

    Vice-minister: "¡­"

    When they arrived at the door, they heard a ruckus. As Su Xiao and Secretary Leng went to go and see what was going on, someone sprinted into the front courtyard through the main door. She plopped himself on the ground and, whilst crying, shouted, "This is unfair! Where is justice?! This is catastrophic!"

    She wore clothing made from coarse cloth and dressed as a housewife. Judging from her appearance, she was a roughly thirty-five to thirty-six years old farmer. The workers at the office immediately tried to pull her to her feet, but she was stronger than anticipated. She shoved the officers aside and continued crying about an injustice, the government was unfair and what have you in a resounding voice, literally calling everyone out of their work stations.

    The vice-minister fumed, "Insolence! Where are you from? This is no ce for you to be stirring trouble. Men, take her away."

    "Hold it right there!" shouted someone a t the entrance.

    Ten burly and tan men entered. It was apparent they were farmers from a nce and was with the woman. One of them thundered, "You officials back each other up. Where do you n on taking the poor homeless woman? Will you not give up until she is dead?!"

    Upon ncing over to the door, they noticed the worker at the door was out cold. The men didn''t appear to know martial arts. Nevertheless, they packed a punch and were a big group. The workers at the office weren''t martial artists, so they were easily overwhelmed.

    The woman cried, "This is unfair! Look at how you officials are dressed! My poor husband''s crops! He came to work in the capital in winter, only for you officials to arrest him. You people framed him for underground fighting and locked him up."

    The woman cried louder and louder. The male farmers tried to sooth her: "Sis, don''t cry. We''ll make sure these damn officials serve you justice today."

    Vice-minister: "Who are you cursing?! You backwater people better start showing some manners!"

    The farmers brayed, "And you''re still overbearing. By the sounds of it, you''re going to turn a blind eye to this, aren''t you?!"

    Several farmers raised their fists and confronted the officials. Although the Ministry of Justice operated the ce, the officials working there were all weak. They were no match for the big men. When the farmers advanced, they retreated. Su Xiao was the only one to step forth: "What are you doing?"

    Secretary Leng extended an arm, stopping Su Xiao and stepped in front of him. He said, "Don''t fight. There are too many of them."

    In Su Xiao''s mind: "He''s protecting me?"

    Secretary Leng: "I don''t know martial arts. Once a fight breaks out, I will die in the chaos."

    Su Xiao: "¡­"

    The farmers were illiterate; however, they weren''t barbarians. They didn''t intend to hit the officials when the officials cowered. The toughest man red: "Are you going to do something about Sister Niu''s problem or not? What happened to the officials of this world? Does the people''s wellbeing not matter to you?"

    Su Xiao didn''t perceive them to be a group harbouring ill will based on the woman''s crying. He, therefore, gently said, "Uncle, what exactly is the problem? Please exin the situation to us. It will not help your case or help us do our job if you just yell as you are doing."

    The big man spat to the side then answered, "I, Mao Dali, may not be bright, but I''m fully aware one doesn''t set foot inside a government office while alive and doesn''t go to hell when dead. If we could get our point across via normal means, would we have to resort to making a scene?

    This is Sister Niu. Her man came to the imperial capital to work for two months while there was nothing to do in the fields. Somebody deceived him into a harsh job. You people then arrested him. How is that any different to killing him? Brother Niu is an honest man who never loses his temper. He''s weaker than his wife. How could he be into underground fighting? After you arrested him, Sister Niu lost her means of survival. There are still months of winter to go. How do you expect a widow and her child to bear through it?"

    Su Xiao understood the situation after listening. He wanted to hear more details, but nheless, Secretary Leng spoke up first: "You have made a mistake."

    Mao Dali: "What do you mean?"

    Secretary Leng calmly exined, "The matter is not in the Ministry of Justice''s hands. You need to see Shuntian Prefecture. If you wish to open a case, you need to go to Shuntian Prefecture''s office. Her husband is not locked up here."

    Vice-minister: "If the people of the city report every trivial issue to the Ministry of Justice, would we ever have any time to ourselves?!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Mao Dali: "Y-You scum shelter one another! This is sphemy! Sister Niu, let''s end this here. We shouldn''t havee here. We can''t rely on any of these officials."

    Sister Niu didn''t stop crying for a second from the moment she entered. Mao Dali''s statement only added salt to her injury. She eximed, "We don''t have any clothes or food back home! Without him, I might as well die!"

    Su Xiao couldn''t bear watching them. He quietly asked, "Teacher Leng, how about w-"

    "It is thew," replied Secretary Leng, maintaining a straight face as always. Calmly, he said to the vice-minister behind him, "I need to give Su Han a tour of the office''s prison. I am leaving this matter in your hands."

    Secretary Leng was tantly indifferent to the farmers'' problem, earning Mao Dali''s ire: "Let''s go. I can''t stand these bastards and their condescending attitude."

    Mao Dali helped Sister Niu up and went to stomp off, only to hear Secretary Leng ask, "Where are you going?"

    Mao Dali: "What, you won''t let us leave even though you won''t get involved with the case?"

    Tone nonchnt, Secretary Leng replied, "You have not received your punishment. How can you leave?"

    "Wh-What?"

    Secretary Leng continued in his usual voice, which was the same even when he conversed with Su Xiao: "The thirteen of you barged into the Ministry of Justice''s office and started a ruckus. ording to thew, citizens who trespass into government property and cause a disturbance are punished with ten canes."

    He appearedpletely indifferent to Sister Niu''s tragic situation. He didn''t sound or look as though he was threatening the group; he seemed dead serious.

    Over thirty tough-looking men in the office''s uniform emerged, indicating they were aware of the situation but didn''t act, because they were awaiting Secretary Leng''s orders. The group, who were obviously martial artists, immediately approached the group to apprehend them. The farmers were taken out with single punches. The sudden reversal left Su Xiao bbergasted.

    They rolled the farmers over. One person held them down while another caned them with the merciless canes. The farmers cried and groaned. The men were burly enough to handle it. s, Sister Niu''s tragic cries alternated with the sound of the impact.

    The ten canes went by very quickly, but the consequences were dreadful. The twelve men bled; Sister Sao was in an even worse state. Yet, the officers didn''t give them the chance to catch their breath. They threw them out of the office right away.

    Su Xiao felt his hairs perk up. He felt he finally saw Secretary Leng''s character. Secretary Leng was calm the entire time. He, perhaps, saw it as a natural course of matters. Su Xiao raged to himself, "How can he give such cruelmands with a straight face?! They''re all honest and upright people. They came to open a case to contest a false usation. Not only did he ignore them, but also punished them!"

    Su Xiao thundered, "She was just looking for her husband! She only trespassed due not having anyone to report to! How could you be so cruel?!"

    Secretary Leng nced at Su Xiao out the corner of his eye: "She broke thew; her punishment is perfectly justified."

    Su Xiao, livid, argued, "She''s unaware of thew, though! Her husband was arrested; she didn''t have food or clothes for winter. She''s pitiful as she is. The beating has only diminished her faith in thew and government. Why do you refuse to handle it at your own discretion?"

    "That is not my job. She should report it to Shuntian Prefecture."

    "If Shuntian Prefecture can do it, why c-"

    "We are from the Ministry of Justice," interjected Secretary Leng, cold as always.

    "The Ministry of Justice handles all crimes in thends. Right behind me is this nation''sw guide."

    Secretary Leng calmly responded, "If a criminal was to escape under my watch, would anyone honour thews of the nation again?"

    "¡­"

    Su Xiao broke out in a cold sweat. He never thought of the questions asked of him.

    "Everyone has their own role. This is my role; therefore, I am responsible for fulfilling it. The same principle applies for you," stated Secretary Leng. He walked a few steps and said, "Your job is to fulfil the job His Majesty assigned you. Follow me to the Ministry of Justice''s prison. Now."

    Notes:

    *Su Xiao refers to himself as "Your student", which is a very formal way of addressing yourself with your teacher.

 Volume 6 18 Essence of the Ministry of Personnel

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 18 Essence of the Ministry of Personnel</h4>

    Unlike the Ministry of Justice''s office, there were two rows of energetic people lined up at the door of the Ministry of Personnel''s office. The Ministry of Personnel was the leader of the six ministries, and their leaders'' main concern was promotions. Unless there was a special circumstance or they were at war, they had the best ies among officials. With their wealth, they were able to afford hiring legitimate martial artists as guards. They even hired some disciples from sects in the big league. Adepts from the martial realm, therefore, joined their office, meaning they had the most adepts among the six ministries.

    The Ministry of Personnel controlled the lifeline of schr officials. Zhang Chunfeng, Secretary Zhang, was approachable, courteous and refined, positioning him as an exemr for other officials. He joined the imperial court via the imperial exam and soared up the ranks after being promoted around his early twenties. He was the Crown Prince''s tutor before he was thirty; however, Prime Minister Li was considerably older than Secretary Zhang. Prime Minister Li was close to seventy this year. Many believed Secretary Zhang was undoubtedly the next prime minister in line. For that reason, the Ministry of Personnel was considered the most powerful ministry among the six. Had it not been for Secretary Lie''s plethora of war aplishments, the Ministry of Personnel would probably boss him around.

    Secretary Zhang pointed to the office''s que the Emperor personally wrote. Emotionally, he said, "The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the entire nation''s officials'' promotions, exams, rewards, duties and delegation, making it the most important department and nation''s cornerstone¡­ Mm, you see, the Ministry of Personnel is the entire nation''s officials'' hopes. The reason everything and everyone is coordinated appropriately is thanks to us¡­ Yan Ling, this old one''s¡­ So, if our department faces any issues, the entire nation would be plunged into chaos. Our top priorities are to be attentive, detailed and patient¡­ Yan Ling, I am speaking to you¡­ His Majesty told you toe here to study. All else aside, the first thing you need to learn is pat-, for fuck sakes, that''s enough from you! Hit the wooden dummy, and I''ll beat you to death!!!"

    That was the umpteenth time Secretary Zhang used profanity in a single day. By the way, Secretary Zhang was refin-.

    "Are you fucking retarded?! If you don''t stop, I''ll amputate your fucking hand!"

    Tang Ye calmly responded, "Teacher Zhang, give me one moment. Let me finish thisst move."

    "You said it, okay? One move is all you''re allowed. Eh? Wait. Where''s my zither in my room? Fuck, where did you get the wooden dummy from?! You ripped the wood off my zither to make a wooden dummy?! My zither is an antique zither from the previous dynasty. It has a value of a thousand gold b- , hey! Stop! Stop! You''re going to damage it if you hit it! Hey! I said stop!"

    Tang Ye pulverised the wooden dummy, emitting the same sound as a watermelon being mmed onto the ground. Ayer of qi on the wooden dummy dispersed, but it didn''t take any damage. Tang Ye then smiled confidently. He reported, "It is fine, Teacher. That was Liu Shan Men''s Six Fusion Fists. I have mastered up to the thirdyer. I can keep my force outside of my target perfectly."

    Teacher Zhang rushed over to inspect the zither Tang Ye punched, worriedly stroking it: "Oh, oh, I''m d it''s all riiiiiight."

    The wooden dummy cracked and split in half right as Teacher Zhang thought everything was fine. He thundered, "It''s fucking broken!!"

    "Fourthyer is Tongbeiquan force?" muttered Tang Ye, checking out his fists, since he was boggled. He then smiled proudly: "Not bad."

    "It''s fucking bad!! I''m going to kill you!! You just fucked up big time!!"

    The nation''s monarch''s teacher, Teacher Zhang, known for his graceful character went wild at the Ministry of Personnel''s office. Nine men couldn''t stop him from trying to clobber Tang Ye with the zither''s fragments.

    Teacher Zhang wasn''t afraid of any other official, including the prime minister. Although Prime Minister Li was the highest-ranked official in the imperial court, his approach to being an official was essentially to get by; he didn''t have any ambitions. Therefore, nobody could sway him. By the same token, he wouldn''t stop Teacher Zhang.

    Teacher Zhang''s greatest fear was running into the Minister of Justice''s head. He was the only individual who could drive Teacher Zhang up the wall. Leng Ming was as cold as his name pointed out. His name literally meant "Cold Name". Furthermore, he arrested anyone regardless of rankings, age and status. He could destroy your ns, and still look at you as if it was none of his business, acting as though he wasn''t aware why you were incandescent. Teacher Zhang almost had to visit the doctor on multiple asions thanks to him. There was a ban forbidding Secretary Leng from interacting with the Ministry of Personnel.

    In all honesty, Teacher Zhang admired Secretary Leng''s strict adherence to thew. The Ministry of Personnel couldn''t operate so strictly, however. Officials needed to strike the correct bnce between strictness and flexibility in their means. Countless incidents happened daily throughout the nation; it wasn''t to the people or nation''s benefit if everything was put in Leng Ming''s hands.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Teacher Zhang had his own conviction as a schr as well as the required slick nature of an official. Having said that, that was the reason Leng Ming was an oddball. He sometimes quarrelled with Teacher Zhang relentlessly, only to totally forget about it afterwards. That always left Teacher Zhang feeling empty.

    After verifying Leng Ming had no desire to contend with him for future promotions, Teacher Zhang stopped bothering with him. But s, he never imagined the Emperor would send him a student with a personality identical to Leng Ming! To make matters worse, Tang Ye was a skilled and battle-monger Leng Ming, also known as a nightmare!

    Teacher Zhang initially thought the Emperor was just having mood swings and would get over it after a few days. The mere sight of the ferocious Qilin tattoo on Tang Ye''s strong arm was dreadful to look at. He couldn''t stand having his beliefs tested. He silently eximed, "Fuck, he even has a tattoo? None of my countless students have ever had a tattoo! This is embarrassing!"

    Tang Ye kept his head down and abstained from speaking after damaging Teacher Zhang''s zither. Ostensibly remorseful, he asked, "Teacher Zhang, may I have permission to take the wood?"

    Mncholic Teacher Zhang looked up: "Oh? You¡­ want to repair this old one''s zither?"

    "No," replied Tang Ye, shaking his head and clenching his fists tight. "I think I can continue training for a while. I am striving to master the essence of Six Fusion Fists'' sixthyer this year."

    Tang Ye''s eyes sparkled. See, because Teacher Zhang was a graceful and refined man, he¡­

    "Fuck your fucking training! Train! Train! Train! Train again, and I''ll have you train buried several metres in the ground!"

    By the way, Teacher Zhang was a graceful and refined man¡­ until he was enraged. On that day, vulgarnguage echoed throughout the Ministry of Personnel''s office countless times.

    Notes:

    *Tongbeiquan - has roots in Wudang. Literally, it''s "Spreading Power from the Back Fist". It''s popr in Northern China and focuses on long distance engagement. There are various subsets to it, such as Pigua Tongbeiquan. It''s a very vast style and, like many, consists of numerous styles of it simr to Wing Chun.

 Volume 6 19 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Finding His Own Trap Hilarious

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 19 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Finding His Own Trap Hrious</h4>

    The prime minister didn''t say anything to me after the morning conference. He got into his litter. I opened the curtain and asked, "Prime Minister, where are we heading?''

    The prime minister opened an eye and fumed, "What insolence. Why are you not calling me ''teacher''? Are you disobeying His Majesty''s edict?"

    "I am showing you respect," I exined while touching my nose. "Without your permission, I would not dare to address the leader of the imperial court in such an intimate manner."

    The prime minister looked at me out the corner of his eye: "So, you respect me? Does this old one need to thank you?"

    "Absolutely not. This humble one does not desire promotions. If you do not mind treating this humble one to a meal somewhere, then this one would be sincerely grateful."

    "You little¡­!" The prime minister blew his beard but was gleeful: "Hahaha, your weird demeanour is the identical to your patriarch! Whatever, this old one isn''t going to waste time with you and your hijinks. His Majesty is only interested in developing the two runts. This old one will return your freedom to you once the case is solved. We can skip the pleasantries."

    The prime minister was veryid back; he didn''t seem bothered despite me offending him at Eight Deities Tavern. But, uh¡­ about that case¡­

    I remember His Majesty gave us three cases; nevertheless, the prime minister had yet to open the ordion. The prime minister sounded as though he knew what the contents were. I folded my arms and deliberated. The ministers back in the conference room didn''t appear to know what the contents were. As only the prime minister knew, he must''ve hashed it out with His Majesty already. Ignoring me, the prime minister waved his hand: "Head to Dongpo Restaurant."

    "Hmm?! Prime minister, this one is absolutely an upright and honest individual. This one is not that easy. Moreover, we would have to line up at this hour; that is not wise, is it?"

    "Haha, this old one knew you followed the same way of life. We both pursue oesophagus, I meant, the apex of cuisine! How can one discuss business without a table of quality wine and dishes?"

    You bet my eyes sparkled, ears perked up, smell enhanced and temples pulsated as though my strength grew ten years'' worth.

    ''God! Heavens! Why was Prime Minister Li not the shifu to take me in back then?!''

    The prime minister and I enjoyed a joyous conversation on the way to Dongpo Restaurant. He possessed vast knowledge of cuisine, particrly since he travelled across thends when he was younger. He was an expert in foods from various regions. He even knew the rare mantis shrimp I mentioned to him. He was undisputedly amazing.

    Yan Bei suddenly reported, "Prime Minister, we have arrived."

    There was an ocean for a crowd outside Dongpo Restaurant as I said there would be.

    The prime minister stroked his beard: "Oh, mantis shrimp, I mean, Young Ming, let''s go."

    ''Prime minister, that''s quite the fashionable diss¡­''

    The prime minister got off his litter. He carried a small bag on his back. He looked at the crowd then said to his servant, "You can all head back."

    Surprised, Yan Bei asked, "Prime minister, how can I leave you alone?"

    The other subordinates immediately expressed agreement with Yan Bei. The prime minister replied, "I''m just having a meal. What could possibly happen?"

    "Prime minister, you are the foundation of the nation. Should anything happ-"

    "Nothing will happen. Even if a mishap does happen, I have a bodyguard," interjected the prime minister, pointing to me confidently. "I have Young Ming with me, don''t I?"

    ''Excusies, but why are you bringing yours truly into your argument?''

    What could I do? It wasn''t easy living as someone famous. Gold always gleams.

    ''I''m surprised someone can see why I''m special when I''ve made sure to hide my identity to leech off the imperial court. Worry not, prime minister. With me here, nobody will be able to harm you.''

    Right as I finished my thought, Yan Bei irately eximed, "He looks like a nobody. How can he possibly protect you?!"

    ''Hey! Excuse me, but you are going too far! Who you calling a nobody? The fuck do I look like to you, a widow in a vige way up on a mountain?!! I could kill you with my alias! I could kill you just standing next to you! You want to see the list of names I cursed to death?! You''d wet your pants!''

    Prime minister: "Young Ming is an adept from Mount Daluo. His shifu, Daoist Wushan, is a hero in the North. Don''t embarrass yourselves in front of him with your child''s y."

    Yan Bei scowled at me: "Really?"

    Prime minister: "I shall take ten canes for every false word."

    ''Hey, hey, prime minister, I''m very grateful for your assistance; however, your subordinates clearly don''t believe you. Yan Bei is looking at me as if he''s staring at trash! His gaze says, ''I could beat twenty of him!!''''

    Prime Minister Li stroked his beard: "What? You don''t believe me? Young Ming, show him what you got."

    Yan Bei and his colleagues stepped back. He made a, "Let''s see what you got," gesture.

    ''You can''t set me up, like this! Why are you making me work just because you can''t order your people around?! Now what? Shall I perform Tai Chi?''

    Yan Bei: "Merely performing techniques or speaking is not enough. You need to spar with us."

    So, we ended up going to an alley. Yan Bei folded his muscr arms. Due to his impulsiveness, he spoke with a regretful undertone beneath his frigid look: "I''ll let you follow the prime minister today if you can defeat any one of us."

    ''Okay, fuck it! I don''t want that reward. I do want to dine at Dongpo Restaurant, but I don''t necessarily have to dine with the prime minister. Win a fight to win the right to dine with an old gramps? I''m not into that fetish!!''

    "What? You don''t want to ept? Are you toying with our honour as warriors? I knew you were just running your mouth. We''ve never heard of any of your aplishments, but you are far from upright. There are countless scandals of you and the pretty young constable at Liu Shan Men, and I see it''s true. Do gay men lose their backbone?"

    As Yan Bei spoke, his subordinates kept disdainfully spouting, "Exactly, exactly."

    ''I don''t want to hear that from you, you gramps-loving freaks! At the very least, I''m paired up with Su Xiao, while you''re going after an old grandpa. You sure you want to y this game with me?!!''

    One of the particrlyrge subordinates was done listening. He charged over to me, shouting. The prime minister stroked his beard and chuckled. He said, "Yan Bei, have you forgotten Young Ming''s alias? Strengthes from one''s efforts. Luck is granted by the heavens. You th-."

    Before the prime minister could finish, the man charging at me fulfilled the prophecy and slipped. The momentumbined with his weight resulted in him crashing straight into a wall and cracking it.

    "Think you can win against the heavens?" finished the prime minister.

    Everyone was stupefied. Their gazes said: "What luck! Is he a deity?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The truth was I used celestial spider silk to trip him. A physical strength specialist, such as him, wouldn''t have fallen on t ground, otherwise.

    Yan Bei, stunned, stuttered, "L-Liu Shan''s gue?"

    ''¡­ Didn''t you just say you didn''t know me, and I was nobody?! Where did you get that alias from?! My face?! I have the face of a gue?! Huh?!!''

    Notes:

    *Oesophagus and cuisine - The prime minister used "food dao (literally)", which actually means oesophagus. Food Dao isn''t a real concept/term; he made the phrase up. He realised his made up term was misleading, which was why he corrected himself to, "Pursue the apex of cuisine".

 Volume 6 20 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Finding His Own Trap Hilarious Again

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 20 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Finding His Own Trap Hrious Again</h4>

    Yan Bei''s group left, epting the loss they were dealt. Before he left, looking despondent and reluctant, he said, "If it''s you¡­ if it''s you, then I have no choice but to admit defeat."

    ''Fuck you! What, are you betrothing your younger sister to my uncle or something? What the fuck?! Why are you trying to be bosom buddies with me just because those in your generation were beaten?! You were all giddy a second ago when you called me Liu Shan''s gue!!''

    Prime Minister'' Li''s other subordinates left prior; Yan Bei was thest one remaining. He kept ncing at the prime minister. Before he left for good, he looked back to mouth what I interpreted as, "Take good care of him."

    ¡­ I took in a deep breath and brayed in my mind, "Are you the second lead male protagonist in fiction, who crushes on the main female protagonist for his entire life, tells the main male lead to take good care of her and tacitly bid her farewell when she chooses him?! Fuck out of here, gay boy! Sh*t, you''ve tarnished a nice dining scene!"

    I wanted to express my heartfelt concern for the prime minister''s future after that encounter with his subordinate.

    I entered Dongpo Restaurant with the prime minister after sending Yan Bei off. Dongpo Restaurant''s entrance was tantamount to the markets. There were seven floors - which they kept adding to eventually reach - yet there still weren''t enough tables. Lining up was the everyday scenario. Everyone who liked to frequent treated it asmon sense.

    Given the prime minister was fond of Dongpo Restaurant, I acknowledged him as a distinguished cuisine expert. A ce of Dongpo Restaurant''s calibre even reserved a private room for him for prolonged periods. For many big names frequenting the restaurant, the restaurant needed to ensure they had their heads on right and reserved private rooms for them. I didn''t know the prime minister frequented the ce.

    "Prime Minister, there are lots of people in the line. Are we going to take the backdoor?"

    "What backdoor? We''re entering through here."

    "Oh? From the main entrance?"

    The prime minister coughed twice. He took out a pair of western sunsses and a wig. He wore them on, transforming himself. He, an almost seventy year old elder, looked young. He was somewhat hunched over, but he was teeming with energy. His new look reversed over a decade years of life for him. A rough guess would be he was a barely fifty. He then said, "Done. Let''s go."

    "Let''s go?" I repeated in my mind. I inquired, "Eh? What about the private room?"

    The prime minister waved his hand: "What private room? We''re lining up right here. We can chat as we wait."

    ''I see. That''s wise. Is that what you thought I''d say?!''

    Gaze frigid, I took three steps back then turned and left. At least I tried. The prime minister hastily caught me as I went to leave: "Don''t go. Don''t go!! Why are you such a naughty kid? Come back. Come back. This is out of consideration for your safety."

    ''Oh, I know that sort of line. Those face-pping male protagonists always say, ''Miss, for your safety''s sake, this one shall share the room with you tonight.'' You think I haven''t used that trick before?! Don''t underestimate me; they call me the Demoness'' dual cultivation man!''

    Still, the prime minister stopped me. It would look ridiculous for two grown men (one young and handsome man and an old grandpa) to be getting touchy out on the street. I, therefore, had no choice but to obey him.

    "Prime Minister Li Si does reserve a room at Dongpo Restaurant; however, I''m not Prime Minister Li Si at the moment."

    "Huh?" I condescendingly looked at the prime minister. I imitated Zha Pi''s threatening act: "Have you finally gone senile, old man? Huh? So you''re not Prime Minister Li Si but ''I''m fucked''?"

    "You hasty kid. This old one can''t go in as himself. Think about it: How hard could it be for this old one to enter a restaurant as a prime minister? People will use me of things, won''t they?"

    "Oh? Are you telling me His Majesty cares about your reputation being tarnished now?"

    "It''s not that His Majesty won''t let me use my status," said the prime minister, stern. With a mncholic undertone, he continued, "However¡­ my wife won''t let me."

    ''¡­ I think I''ll go back home to have a chat with Shiyi.''

    "Don''t go. Let me finish," called the prime minister, sighing miserably. "Due to old age, I suffer from all sorts of ailments. I even have to restrict my food choices; I can''t eat any cold, raw or fried dishes. She visited all the ces I frequent and told them she''d make them close down if they served me¡­"

    ''Fuck me! So you''re going behind your wife''s back?''

    "What happened to ourst meeting at Eight Deities Tavern, then?"

    "Are you really going to bring it up? She gave me an earful. That''s why I have this disguise," exined the prime minister. He sighed: "When I invited Secretary Zhang to Eight Deities Tavern for drinksst time, my wife found out. She¡­ went to his ce and gave him two earfuls. I guess I spoil her too much."

    ''Hah, my teacher''s wife is a tough one¡­ Hmm? Wait. Something''s odd. Why the hell are you dragging me in when your wife is so aggressive?! You were the one who suggesteding here, by the way. You''re clearly setting me up for revengest time!''

    "I bet anything you are exacting your vengeance!!"

    "Exact a vengeance? This old one would never do such a thing. We just happen to be discussing important andplex business. In consideration of your cuisine knowledge, this one decided to provide the best location. Don''t worry. This old one will pay. You don''t need to spend a single tael. Don''t misconstrue this old one''s kind gesture."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    And¡­ we were in line as we spoke. I had to line up in the past, too. I couldn''t go to Dongpo Restaurant during my free time, anyway. Since someone was treating me, I decided it was worth the risk. We were finally offered a table after an hour of waiting - which was normal.

    I ordered eight dishes, and the prime minister ordered four. I didn''t order strong wine to be considerate. The two of us first had a toast. Before the prime minister could bring up the case, nevertheless, I spoke first.

    "This one has a request to ask of you, Prime Minister," I said. I ced my cup down and smiled: "Would you happen to know why His Majesty divided us into three different departments and the most important departments for that matter?"

    "Young Ming, don''t try and guess what His Majesty is thinking," replied Prime Minister Li, smiling. "It is very hard to predict what His Majesty is thinking; we, for one, will never be able toprehend what he is thinking. If we want to be well off, we need adhere to a five word principle: do as you are told."

    I ced a mushroom in the prime minister''s bowl: "I see. This one has a guess, though. May this one ask if you could provide an answer if he asks?"

    The prime minister heartily ate the mushroom: "Let''s hear it."

    "Su Xiao and Tang Ye made a name for themselves during the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. As a result, His Majesty rewarded them with official ranks. Tang Ye even made it into the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, bing an inspiration to many martial artists in the capital," I said in a detached tone.

    The prime minister picked up food as he listened. I wasn''t sure if his grin was due to what I said or if it was thanks to the food being tasty.

    "This one, however, suddenly recalled Vice-Captain Shen told him the tournament pertained to Liu Shan Men''s rise and fall, subsequently concerning the bnce of power between the threew enforcement offices. There were supposed to be many difficulties and risks involved. This one thought he understood at the time. A few days ago, though, he suddenly felt something did not click.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye were conferred official ranks and acknowledged as martial arts. That said, one was a mere Rank Six military official. The other was ranked as one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. They would not be able to do anything about His Majesty''s entourage or any other department in the imperial court, let alone the Qilin Guards who run the martial world. There are superior individuals among Liu Shan Men''s female constables.

    They could not possibly oppose His Majesty''s entourage or the Qilin Guards. Why would Vice-Captain Shen evaluate them so highly? As such, this one spent thest few days mulling on the topic to see if he missed something. Could there be an agreement of some sort between Vice-Captain Shen and His Majesty? Our performance at the tournament was not a victory. More precisely, it was not a result but a condition. Did the fallen Liu Shan Men have to fulfil the condition to be restored to glory?"

    The prime minister smiled with his eyes narrowed. He had a drink and said, "Go on."

    I ced my chopsticks on my bowl and grabbed a pigeon. I shoved the entire thing into my mouth. The bones were nice and crunchy. I totally ignored the fact a high-ranking official sat opposite me with his eyes down.

    I went on: "I love putting myself in other''s shoes to think. For that reason, I found myself thinking the opposite at that point. If I was His Majesty and wanted to revive Liu Shan Men without aggravating his entourage and the Qilin Guards, what would I do? What is Liu Shan Men stillcking?"

    "What?"

    I answered, "Merit. Amendable merit. Liu Shan Men needs a big aplishment that can make up for their past mistakes and surpass any aplishment prior. Boss Shen has been sent to Jiangnan to deliver, but that is merely in name. In reality, she is there to investigate Jin Wangsun''s recent incident, Gold and Silver Sect''s activities and the recentrge-scale war between Night Fortress and their sect. It is obvious what His Majesty wants Liu Shan Men to aplish."

    The prime minister and I exchanged eye contact in silence. Then, weughed heartily together.

    "Not bad. Not bad. Not bad at all," said the prime minister, nodding. "I''d say I now know why Shen Yiren considered you one of the talented ones now. She has a good eye for people. I would argue you are more valuable than your two colleagues considering your knowledge and insight."

    I touched my nose: "I heard you had an eye for people. Boss Shen also sought your guidance on the topic. I suppose a good teacher produces an exemry student."

 Volume 6 21 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Finding His Own Trap Hilarious Yet Again

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 21 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Finding His Own Trap Hrious Yet Again</h4>

    "You''re an outspoken one, hahaha," said the prime minister. "But don''t put a green hat on this old one. This old one only provided an opinion. Shen Yiren was the one who sorted out all of the details. His Majesty is very astute, you know? As of present, only Grand Princess has sessfully requested such a major imperial edict before; Green Prince and Brilliant Consort have yet to replicate her sess. Not even Her Majesty has been able to ask for one. I have to give Yiren credit where it''s due."

    I concurred. I couldn''t help feeling the prime minister cooperated excessively well on the matter. ording to my knowledge, he was the one who inspired Boss Shen to ask for the right to partake in the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. Given that he was willing to help, all of theponents could be reasonably exined.

    Sounding as though he was well informed, the prime minister added, "It''s not a big deal even if it''s revealed. Since you''re already aware where the sword is aimed, the ace is obvious; there''s no point in this old one hiding it from you on the surface. His Majesty likes the talent Young Su and Young Tang have to offer. Their performances at the tournament captivated him. The imperial court has nevercked talent simr to them. You might be unaware, but, after Yiren and His Majesty reached the deal, His Majesty sent a surveince team out to monitor the two for the purpose of finding out their potential."

    "You mean the few new blokes who joined Liu Shan Men, correct?"

    "Oh? You recognised Luo Huaian?" asked the prime minister, sending me an eye signal as apliment. "I''m impressed. They''re elites among His Majesty''s entourage, yet you saw through them?"

    ''Obviously. I even taught them a lesson. Luo Huaian started acting as though he ran the ce and gloated as if there was no tomorrow as soon as he joined. How is it possible to not catch on?''

    "What did His Majesty find out after the extended surveince?"

    The prime minister smiled: "Quite a good deal. Young Su is young and not very adept at martial arts. Nevertheless, he attractspany almost magically and is amazingly approachable. You should already be cognizant of the fact men and women - regardless of age, including those in the imperial pce - have fallen head over heels for him in mere months."

    "Are you referring to the secretive Su Xiao Support Association? They are a menacing syndicate. I see maids in the pce using secret codes to exchange paintings of him every time I am in the pce. The procedure looks asplicated as military secrets trades; it freaks me out."

    "That''s it. That''s it. That specialty of Young Su can put Liu Shan Men and the imperial court''s image in a positive light. What are the chances you would ever find someone with such a quality? As for Tang Ye, he''s a martial arts genius. This old one has never met another with his gift for martial arts, improvement rate and potential, and this old one is confident in his judgement of Tang Ye. Within ten years, he will stand out among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. If he is lucky, he might even reach the pinnacle. ordingly, His Majesty values him the most among you three. He wants to groom him into one of the Ultimate Three. Both His Majesty and I agree and value their young age, which is the most important factor. Tang Ye is eighteen. Su Xiao is only fifteen. There is no better time than now to cultivate their talent. They are almost bound to rise through the ranks."

    "And that is why they have been rmended to different departments?"

    "Why are you asking what you already know? Yiren has a good judgement of character and possesses a knack for cultivating talent. Having said that, she may not have enough time on her hands. That''s not mention the two are Liu Shan Men''s hope. If it isn''t already obvious why His Majesty wants to personally train them, it''s because they will be grateful to him in the future."

    "Was that what His Majesty said?"

    "It was a guess."

    The prime minister and I looked at each other. The atmosphere reeked of cunningness. The two of usughed together. I then said, "Their weaknesses are also obvious. That exins why His Majesty immediately sent them to the Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Justice."

    "Young Su is pure, kind and has a strong sense of justice. That''s a positive; however, his motivations are predominately emotions and sympathy. Down the road, that will be to his detriment and possibly be his fatal weakness. Secretary Li judges others based on thew and is totally impartial. He might be the only one Young Su can learn how cruel the adult world is from.

    Tang Ye is fond of martial arts; I heard his fondness had to do with his family background, but let''s brush that aside for the meantime. I heard he was a well-known figure in the North. He possesses an affinity for martial arts and learns it remarkably fast. Needless to say, he is very adept. He''s most renowned for looking for people to fight for three days straight, challenging martial arts schools in Nanjing. He may look stoic, but he''s impulsive. If he keeps that up, he''ll be his own undoing in the imperial court. He needs to learn patience and to be meticulous from Secretary Zhang."

    I had a nip of wine and kept my head down in silence. The prime minister looked over to me and smiled: "You were also ced under surveince for some time, but nothing noteworthy was found. If you''re not eating or sleeping, you''re engaging in idle chatter. Oh, you also flirt with girls. I heard you frequent Heavenly Fragrance Garden, too, right? You''re essentially an embodiment of ws. That being said, none of your ws are fatal. You do have your own merits. Strictly speaking, though, they aren''t worth His Majesty''s time and effort. At the end of the day, however, you''re able to catch on to details others would miss. I must praise Yiren for noticing that knack of yours.

    His Majesty and Yiren have both said you''re a very peculiar individual. When with you, one has their guard up. They forget the difference in status without being aware and speak to you as if they are equal in status or friends¡­ This old one has witnessed it for himself today. You really are a unique one, Young Ming."

    I smiled: "If you sat that, they will behead me, Prime Minister. People will mistake I owe you lots of money."

    "Hahaha, you are going to deny you are not unique after saying that? Even if others don''t show this old one the degree of respect Yan Bei, they are still courteous. This old one isn''t blessed with a striking appearance, but his prime minister status has many on their knees. Who could chat andugh in such a casual manner with the leader of the imperial court''s vassals? That, itself, is praiseworthy."

    Iughed again and had a few drinks with the prime minister. We didn''t touch on my identity thus far. In saying that, there was no doubt the prime minister had developed an interest in me. He might''ve nned to dig into my profile for all I knew. I wasn''t worried, since he, like Tang Ye, was the type to ignore trivial affairs. If he hypothetically learnt my true identity someday, I doubt he''d mention it on his own ord.

    After a few more drinks, I asked, "It is your turn now, Prime Minister. What is the case we are working on?"

    "Oh, the case? His Majesty assigned it to us. It''s a very important case. This is the case for your test."

    I took the ordion and had a read. I asked, "Since you knew about this already, I assume you must have some insider information."

    "Haha, clever one, aren''t you? How did you know?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I quickly poured the prime minister a cup: "You did not even spare the ordion a nce after leaving the pce, yet you told me the case was a big one. I do not think there is a need to explicate anything else."

    "Not bad. Not bad,"mented the prime minister, finishing the drink I poured. Smiling, he said, "It''s not a minor issue. It has to do with a recent incident in the imperial pce. It''s not a major case. In saying that, it has given His Majesty a headache. Solve it, and there''ll be lots of gains for you."

    I quickly poured the prime minister another cup: "Would you happen to have any tips?"

    "I do, actually," answered the prime minister, having sips of his next drink. "His Majesty''s entourage looked into it before, and they dug up some clues. They found a businessman by the name of Lu Shangfei to be very suspicious."

    "Lu Shangfei¡­" I repeated the name, but didn''t find any clues. I asked, "Do you happen to know him, Prime Minister?"

    The prime minister clutched his cup. Tone serious, he said, "He is shrouded in mystery; this old one doesn''t know much, either. All this old one knows is that he is a viger at Rock Riverside Bull Vige in Zijin Town, Fengning County, Nanjing. He was born on the 9th, April, second year of Dacheng''s reign. He was born at his second aunt''s house in the east of the vige. He started from nothing and began with a silk business. Over time, he opened several silk stores. A few years ago, he gained some fame for his wealth in Jiangnan. He opened branch after branch. The newest one is the one on Vermillion Street; he opened that onest year. There has been no news of him in thest half a year. Besides that¡­ *sigh*¡­ this old one doesn''t know anything else about him."

    "He''s your illegitimate son, isn''t he?!"

    ''How the hell do you know where his old home is, where he was born and where he obtained his capital?!! Also, you know everything, don''t you?! Pick the perfect spots to cut off your information, will you? You know his entire life as if it''s your own up until half a year ago. You don''t know everything I happen to want to know. That''s not called a coincidence; it''s called bullsh*t!!''

    "The person in charge of this case will soon be here to meet with you. They''lle dressed in white and carry a white fan. You must be cordial. This old one''s wife must be worried sick after this old one has been out for so long, so he shall take his leave now. He shall pay for the bill."

    I asked again, but the prime minister already walked over to the owner.

    I decided to investigate it myself. The credit wouldn''t be mine, otherwise. Plus, I just had a nice meal, so problems were no longer problems.

    The prime minister stroked his beard: "Boss, put it on my tab."

    Boss: "Not happening."

    "¡­" The prime minister nced over to give me a smile.

    "¡­"

    ''Motherfucker, I fell for it!!''

    The old prime minister bolted downstairs before I could even chase him.

    ''Wait! Wait! I didn''t bring enough!''

    Somebody suddenly said from behind, "Where did the man who sat with Mr. Li at Xuan Section''s table twenty four gone off to?"

    ''Hmm? Oh, sh*t! A saviour! My bro probably has that cash!''

    "Over here! Over here! Over here, buddy!"

    I turned around. White clothing? Check. White fan? Check. She looked over to me. When I saw her face, I had a good guess what case His Majesty assigned me. She was entrancing, had a melon-shaped face, dazzling eyes, had hair done up as a male would and lips were sensually moist. Those soft and ample curves on her slender body were eye-catching. No man could resist stopping to admire her beauty. Name one female who could look so mesmerising dressed as a woman who''s not General Manager Bai.

    "You?" remarked Bai Lian, surprised. She nced over to the boss. Scornful gaze on me, she said, "And¡­ you''re trying to dine and dash?"

    ''You old fart! What the hell was that about not getting revenge on me?! Did you tell General Manager Bai toe, and foot the bill, because you knew she hated me?!! Hey! Get your ass back here and rectify this situation, you weasel!!''

 Volume 6 22 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Stop Acting Up

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 22 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Stop Acting Up</h4>

    Ten days ago, before the fuma selectionmenced, specifically the night before New Year''s Eve, eunuchs personally went out to buy ingredients and whatnot; everybody was busy at the time. Items for the New Year in the imperial household were prepared long ago. Hence, those in charge of the imperial household were responsible for menial tasks. For instance, they had to decorate the harem, prepare new clothes, flower pots and what have you. It cost a lot ofnterns to light the pce up as bright as day time. Old items were exchanged for new ones to, in a sense, practice the saying, "Out with the old, in with the new." Unsurprisingly, there were countless goods cartsing and going from the pce that day. General Manager Bai called out a cart heading out of the imperial pce.

    General Manager Bai only passed by, but she saw how much the coach struggled. Carts carried goods into the imperial pce and left as empty carts. How, then, could someone transport so many items out of the pce? The illogical situation raised suspicion. General Manager Bai, therefore, queried the coach. The eunuch with her did everything in his power to stop the coach. Angry, General Manager Bai had the golden-armoured guards apprehend him and inspect his chest. What did they find? They found the imperial household''s precious antiques!

    General Manager Bai then forbade any goods carts from exiting the imperial pce, asking the imperial guards to stop and inspect each chest. They found another three chests of precious items from the pce, including the Empress'' favourite silver silk embroidery. Upon further inspection, they discovered more theft. It came as no surprise the Emperor was furious when they reported it to him.

    General Manager Bai meticulously investigated the case and caught all of the thieves. That was the reason General Manager Bai was missing in action for ages. She also captured the forty moles inside the pce. Unfortunately, she didn''t find the mastermind. She fruitlessly interrogated the forty low-ranking eunuchs. It boiled down to them being greedy. To make matters moreplicated, each of them had a different contact person. They were merely mindless pawns in the scheme.

    I grabbed my head to think: "If they were able to avoid detection, the theft would still go undetected had it not been for General Manager Bai."

    "Here. This is your debt sheet," said General Manager Bai, handing me a debt sheet with more than twenty taels written on it.

    I tore the sheet up on the spot, earning a frown from General Manager Bai. She asked, "What was that about?"

    "You wrote the wrong name. It''s Prime Minister Li who owes you. You need to write his name."

    "Good grief, you''re a handful¡­"

    General Manager Bai wrote up another debt sheet then sat square. Because she wore male clothing instead of her oversized eunuch uniform, all of her slender limbs were pronounced. Those legs were, ahem.

    ''Wait, why the hell am I enamoured by a eunuch?! Calm down. Calm own. I need me a Buddhist scripture.''

    Bai Lian: "The details are as I just told you. My job is to retrieve the stolen goods and arrest the mastermind. I had one clue that led to a wealthy businessman in Jiangnan. Recently, he opened a fabric store, and he''s currently in the capital. You better not disrupt my work. Otherwise, I''ll have someone cane you."

    "Yes, yes, yes, Cao Shangfei, yeah?"

    "He''s Lu Shangfei!" eximed General Manager Bai, ring at me ufortably. "This is why I don''t want to work with useless men. Prime Minister Li had to say this was His Majesty''s order¡­ Ming Feizhen, if you have something to say, voice it."

    "Mm, hmm¡­ it''s quite a strange case. Why are you suspecting Cao Shangf-, Lu Shangfei?"

    Bai Lian folded her arms and shifted her hips. She answered, "There are quite a fewyers to it. I followed the clue and discovered a piece of jewellery was once found at a martial arts school by the name of Feiyun Hall."

    "A martial arts school? That isn''t remotely rted to a fabric business."

    "It''s not your everyday martial arts school; it''s an underground fighting syndicate."

    "Underground fighting?" I repeated to myself.

    It soundedplex since underground fighting was involved. Underground fighting was, in essence, ring fighting without rules unlike friendly sparring; it waspetition only in name. In reality, they were fights to the death. The school earned money from bets and entry tickets. The school would train a group of formidable fighters; bigger schools would even have legitimate adepts among them. They took on challengers from all over the ce daily. In a way, it was a quick cash grab for some in the pugilistic world.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The imperial court never meddled in underground fighting, for it was permitted in fixed locations and it happened to be permitted in the capital. Betting on fights wasn''t illegal. It was called underground fighting for the reason deaths were possible. The unwritten rule was that one couldn''t hold grudges for deaths; they enforced it via signing a waiver beforehand. Although the pugilistic world tacitly agreed to it, the imperial court wouldn''t publicly approve. The fanatics, consequently, couldn''t be publicly vocal about it. ording to my knowledge, they reined themselves in quite significantly at the capital. I hadn''t heard of many deaths in underground fights. As such, the government offices kept an eye on them but couldn''t intervene without rhyme or reason.

    "So, how does Lu Shangfeie into the equation?"

    Bai Lian: "He''s the one with the biggest share."

    It certainly raised gs for one of the wealthiest businessmen in Jiangnan to be associated with those in the martial world. I mulled on the information for a tick then got up: "Let us be on our way then."

    Surprised, Bai Lian asked, "Where to?"

    "Since we don''t know what happened, we have to go and investigate. Are you going to sit here and wait for the results tond on your table or something?"

    General Manager Bai ran her eyes over my face as though we met for the first time: "I didn''t know your brain was used for work. I thought you were here to idle away."

    General Manager Bai then pointed forward: "Okay, go."

    "¡­ Let''s go together."

    "Why?" asked General Manager Bai, eyebrows furrowed and arms folded. Tone frigid, she said, "Why should I work alongside a damn man?"

    ''Hey, Prime Minister, the teammate you asked for is mega uncooperative! Why does she hate men so much, yet isn''t intimate with women? Are eunuchs some sort of profound species¡­?''

    What could I do but y the bad guy? I said, "Oi, stop acting up, or I w-"

    "Will what?" asked Bai Lian.

    "Or I''ll force a kiss on you."

    Next second, I had five red fingers printed on my face¡­

 Volume 6 23 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Who You Calling His Darling?!

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 23 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Who You Calling His Darling?!</h4>

    Rubbing my face, I whinged, "That was mean¡­ How can you just p me in public¡­?"

    "What sort of question is that?! It''s your fault for letting your mouth run loose! I thought you fixed your bad habits, but you''re still a damn jerk!"

    Bai Lian''s arms shook as she scolded me all the way from Dongpo Restaurant to Feiyun Hall. As so many people looked at us when we bickered, Bai Lian had to follow me. Shembasted me, only taking breaks to take in oxygen.

    "You already have Su Xiao, yet you''re still going after other men. As if picking on distasteful men wasn''t enough, y-you even tease me! Do you have a death wish?!"

    "Whoa, whoa! There''s a big misunderstanding in there! I admit to being wrong when I threatened to force a kiss on you; however, that''s due to our history! It''s not my fault our first meeting wasn''t a pure scene! Who you saying likes men and eunuchs! I married a Princess (lie), practiced dual cultivation with my shiyi (another lie) and picked up countless girls after descending Mount Daluo plete bullsh*t). I''m a real man through and through!"

    "Oh? List the seven names you met before you met me."

    "List the names? You asked for it: Prime Minister Li, Yan Bei, Su Xiao, Tang Ye, His Majesty, Secretary Zhang, Secretary Leng¡­"

    I realised, "Sh*t me, they really were all men and Su Xiao¡­ Why do I feel defeated? How far have I deviated onto the path of decadence from my original journey to marry a gorgeous wife and lead a nice life?"

    "By the way, where is Feiyun Hall? Why are we still not there?"

    "Obviously," replied Bai Lian, keeping her distance from me. "Feiyun Hall is at Wuhua County. It''s under Najing''s jurisdiction, but it takes, at least, one day on foot to reach it once we''re out of the capital. I did say I didn''t want to go with you¡­"

    ''Wow, that''s far. Wait a second. So¡­ your original n was to make me run all the way there, while you kick back and wait for me toe back with a report?! Oh, man, did I underestimate you! You learnt all the cunning tricks while in the imperial pce, huh?!''

    "Long-story short, we can''t just walk there; it''ll be night time by the time we arrive. We should prepare for the long journey."

    Due to the long distance, the two of us prepared gear for two days and one night. We went to buy a set of clothes at the variety store and bought some dried food. The store was quite big. They really did have a variety of things for decent prices.

    Truth be told, I didn''t need to waste money buying clothes. Firstly, I could just jump into anyke to wash my clothes then use my internal energy to dry it (necessary skill for broke wanderers). Secondly, I was broke (absolutely broke)¡­ I would''ve put up with it if someone resembling Eunuch Wang or Eunuch Sui, but General Manager Bai''s body and fragrance, I couldn''t bear to let her eat shoddy food, not have clothes or ces to take baths. In the end, I bought her a set of clothes.

    General Manager Bai reacted jolly as soon as she entered the store, giving the impression she never went out. She asked, "Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen, what''s this?"

    With an absentminded attitude, I replied, "It''s antern. We''re in the New Year period; I bet they sell that stuff everywhere nowadays."

    "They haven''t painted dragons and phoenixes on it. Plus, it''s made using paper. You call this antern?"

    "Why does yourment sound the same as those nobles proving they''re high ss, saying, ''Oh, I didn''t know pork was also meat''? Look, I know you use silk in the imperial pce, but the citizens use paper, okay?! It''s quick, budget friendly and doesn''t look any worse than the ones in the imperial pce!"

    General Manager Bai ignored me and surveyed the store, looking around as though she was enthusiastically searching for a treasure. She asked, "What''s this?"

    "A bamboo hose. You can fill it up with water and fire it using pressure. Kids use it to y water fights."

    "How about this?"

    "Firecrackers. Light it up and throw it out. Kids throw it at adults."

    "This?"

    "That''s eel. Adults use it for m-"

    *Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!*

    ''Hey, owner, get your ass out here! What are you selling eel for in a variety store?!! You can''t convince me you''re selling them as food!''

    General Manager Bai''s eyes glittered as a child''s in a toy store. She asked me this and that; she waspletely different to herself a while ago. I found the contrast really adorable.

    "I know what this is!" eximed General Manager Bai, picking up an exquisite puppet and smiling confidently. "It''s a voodoo doll, correct?! There''s plenty of them in the pce."

    "You''re totally wrong!" I wanted to retort. I said, "How did you associate such a nice and cute doll with a diabolic practice?! Does the education in the imperial pce change one''s values, view of life and philosophies?!"

    General Manager Bai widened her eyes: "What''s the point of looking nice and cute? When were the users in the pce not beautiful and cute? Do you need to look a certain way to harm someone?"

    I guess she had a point. I, for one, couldn''t offer a counterargument. I guess only pretty boys (I think), like her, woulde to that conclusion. She crouched down and fumbled through the toys. She found a clean drum with duo balls. The handle was made from wood. Shaking it would beat the drum - which she instinctively did.

    I smiled: "That''s a pellet drum. Kids y with that. It''s alsomonly used to get on infant''s good sides."

    "I know¡­ There''s no way I''d be so ignorant I couldn''t see that," said General Manager Bai, continuing to fiddle with the drum. Curious, she blinked my way: "You''re telling me you yed with these things when you''re from an orthodox sect in the martial world."

    "I don''t like to; however, I have a young shiyi, and she loves them¡­ I yed with her every day."

    Out of the blue, Bai Lianmented, "You must like your young shiyi a lot, huh?"

    "Mm," I responded with a nod. "I like her a lot."

    "How nice," quietly replied Bai Lian, gently shaking the drum. "It''s so nice to be able to be honest about liking someone."

    I yed test the waters with Bai Lian: "You¡­ can, too, can''t you?"

    "Me?" Bai Lian''s response sounded thoughtless: "I can''t. Who likes eunuchs?"

    The side of Bai Lian''s face was beautiful in an ethereal way, giving the rest of a surreal impression. Yet, that response sounded unusually lonely and unforgettable.

    "I remember you said you entered the pce as a child. Didn''t you y with toys when you were young?"

    "Mm¡­ never," answered Bai Lian, voice quiet and with the hint of an envious undertone. "My family didn''t like me as a kid; they didn''t let me y with toys¡­ After I entered the pce, thinking about how to repay Her Highness w-, well, I was just really busy and didn''t have time to y with toys."

    "Did you never y with the Princes and Princesses?"

    Bai Lian''s mncholic countenance teemed with feminine charm, especially her sparkly eyes. She replied, "As if I would have that right. I was merely a low-ranking eunuch back then. I did not even have the right to serve a cup of tea. Moreover, nobody was allowed to approach them unless they were specifically assigned as their servant."

    As the atmosphere grew more and more mncholic, I shoved a shortbread I just bought into Bai Lian''s mouth. .

    "Mm, what''s this?"

    "Have a bite, and you''ll find out."

    General Manager Bai took a few steps back as soon as the shortbread touched her lips: "Cough, cough, cough, it''s dry, bitter and coarse. What is that?"

    Well, I guess shortbread wouldn''t be on the menu in the imperial pce.

    "Two and halfpulsory kilograms of shortbread when travelling."

    "Two and half kilograms?!"eximed General Manager Bai, instinctively raising her voice in her sweet voice. She didn''t realise she just switched to her cute voice. She continued, "Y-You bought two and half kilograms of that for the journey? Is that your way of starving me? I''ll pay. We''ll eat at small eateries on the w-"

    I shoved a piece I tore off into Bai Lian''s mouth before she could finish. She widened her eyes, but her instincts after being in the pce for so long kicked in, stopping her from spitting it out, as it would be rude. As a consequence, she had to swallow it. She coughed and said, "What are you doing?"

    I smiled: "Listen, young one, I shall share some basicmon sense necessary in the pugilistic world. You can''t eat food others offer you while you''re out there. That''s why you have to prepare yourself to eat some of the nd, dry rations."

    "But that''s j-"

    I bit the spot she bit off before, leading to her blushing and rendering her speechless. As I chewed, I added, "It doesn''t taste good, true; however, it''s the rule in the pugilistic world. If you don''t want to be in trouble, watch your back."

    I then turned around to the owner: "Owner, how much in total? She''s paying."

    Being the perceptive man he was, the owner gave me a wink: "Roger that. It''s always better to let the wife handle the finances when you''re out."

    ''Hey, hey, hey, watch what you''re saying! She''s the imperial household''s general manager, you bugger! By the way, I like women!''

    "Ming Feizhen! What did you say to him?! Why did he say you''re suffering as a husband, and I have to learn to be a proper wife?!"

    "I''m innocent; I didn''t say a thing. It''s your fault for looking so stunning that he mistook you for a female. Look, I''m not trying to be a jerk, but you are fortunate I know your true identity. Who would not mistake you for a girl with your appearance?"

    "You''re the only one running his mouth!"

    We quarrelled as we exited the store then stopped in unison. Bai Lian sighed: "The people involved in this case make it aplex case."

    I nodded: "I certainly didn''t expect it. But we do know who is investigating him. They''re sending someone after us in spite of knowing who we are. Not to mention in broad daylight and in the capital of all ces."

    We met with about thirty mounted cavalry in ck. All of them had their faces concealed behind ck cloth. They had broadswords by their waists, and their desire to spill blood was apparent. The leader drew his broadsword and shed the air in front of us. He brayed, "Surrender, and I shall spare you."

    "General Manager Bai, he is offering to spare us."

    "Head Constable Ming, it would be rude to not ept the kind offer."

    The cavalry thundered, "Rude what? What are you trying to say?"

    Bai Lian and I gave each other a smile before replying, "It would be rude to not ept free horses delivered to the door, is what we mean."

    Notes:

    *Dragons and Phoenixes - They''re popr drawn ontonterns, especially back in the pce they associated with the mythical creatures.

    ** Eel - It''s the same NSFW reference as the time Su Xiao made porridge for Ming Feizhen.

    ***Shortbread (Chinese) ¨Cn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 6 24 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Facing the Ambush Head On

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 24 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Facing the Ambush Head On</h4>

    As soon as the variety store owner heard there was going to be a fight, he speedily shut his doors with the timber boards. The others in the tranquil area followed suite, thereby emptying out the street.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The cavalry leader brayed, "You would dare to steal our horses?!"

    The leader tapped his horse. The horse deftly sprinted over, while he focused on swinging his de toward General Manager Bai''s skull. She stayed calm and leaned back, performing a manoeuvre simr to Vajra Iron Bridge. Malesmonly used it to set up a spring attackparably to an arrow on a bow. General Manager Bai performed a variation, utilising her flexibility and minimal knee bend to evade the swing. If there were beauty standards in bridges, she took the crown.

    The cavalry in the distance were astonished. Their leader, unfortunately, didn''t have the time to enjoy himself, for General Manager Bai kicked her leg up at the same time she performed the back bend, beating him to the punch andnding her kick on the crook of his arm. The numb sensation induced led to him dropping his de. Only then did he realise General Manager Bai was proficient with movement.

    General Manager Bai had her right hand ready to snatch up the iron broadsword. She rotated with the cutting edge facing out and swung in the same direction. Everything looked still in that second. By the next second, when the ck horse neighed, the rider was already drenched in a bloody mist from his back. His horse continued charging forward, while his corpse dropped off the back.

    General Manager Bai held the broadsword parallel to the ground. Her white clothingbined with the silver de gave her the vibe of an empyrean. She smiled sarcastically: "Don''t swing your de at me if that''s all you''re made of."

    "Th-The bitch killed Big Bro! Avenge Big Bro!"

    "sh and gash her!"

    "Let''s go!"

    General Manager Bai failed to intimidate them and, instead, riled them up. For some bizarre reason, they didn''t charge together. Instead, nine drew their des and charged in a crisscross pattern. Equally strange was they surrounded us instead of attacking. We were caught in their strange formation consisting of intersecting members. Not even knowledgeable General Manager Bai could identify the style. With my elbows pinched together, I remarked, "Horse ying Formation?"

    Bai Lian: "What style is that? I''ve never heard of it."

    "It''s not a style; it''s a formation," I replied whilst touching my chin. "It''s used in the Northern parts of Xinjiang to capture violent-tempered horses. Generally speaking, you have three riders on three horses. Three more are behind said three. They form a circle around the target horse to cut off its escape routes. Then, they gradually close in until the members behind them can leap over the front three to mount the horse."

    Bewildered, Bai Lian asked, "Why do they call it Horse ying Formation instead of Horse Subjugation Formation, then?"

    "Because they don''t subdue horses nowadays. Inspired by the formation, one of the warriors in the North replicated the formation to apply tobat on horseback. They close in for kills, hence the name. Theymonly surrounded six riders with three and ovee the numbers barrier. That''s why the cavalry from the North is very skilled with the formation. Having said that¡­" I noticed the cavalry''s ck steeds were the cream-of-the-crop steeds from the North. Baffled, I remarked, "Where are these people from? Why are they such superb equestrians and know Horse ying Formation?"

    "Get the gibberish, and watch out!"

    General Manager Bai immediately bobbed her head after speaking. The iron de whooshed past her head. Another rider shed her from behind right away. She defended using the broadsword in her hand. A third and fourth attack encroached from behind. She deflected each attack, generating sparks. She fought off several riders from behind with her back to me. As soon as the first de slipped past her, it travelled toward my head; however, I didn''t dodge.

    My counter was so quiet it wasn''t audible unless one really honed in on it. The sound came from his broadsword, causing him to specte something was wrong with his weapon; there was no other way to exin it. Before he could make heads or tails of the situation, the force from the broadsword thunderously ploughed him off his horse.

    His swing collided with my true qi armour, leading to it deflecting straight back at him. I deliberately didn''t defend, so, in theory, he wouldn''t die if he was at a certain level. When I checked on him, I found I erased all of his skills. Fortunately for him, he was still breathing. I pondered, "Who are these people, and why are they sending as many as thirty men after us?"

    After I incapacitated one of their knights, their nine-man formation wasn''t what it should be. General Manager Bai was able to keep up with eight of them simultaneously. As a matter of fact, it took three of them to guard against one of her attacks. It was only a matter of time before she dispatched them.

    General Manager Bai deftly disarmed one with a kick and disarmed another with a sh right after. They were no match for despite her having to tackle attacks from high and low. Actually, they were lucky they were excellent at their craft. Else, they''d already be in bits and pieces.

    I never paid too much attention to General Manager Bai''s style before. When I observed her in the fight, I discerned it was primarily Bai n''s style, which emphasised flexibility and rigidness equally in addition to ensuring speed didn''tpromise power¡­ No, I won''t admit I made that all up, as I didn''t understand a lick of what I was watching. In summary, she could kick ass.

    General Manager Bai had no time to spare for me, since she was focused on multiple opponents. Hence, while fighting at the centre, she said, "Ming Feizhen, I don''t have time to take care of you at the moment, so watch your own back. I''ll rescue you once I''m done putting these eight away! Hang in there!"

    Strolling around casually, I responded, "Roger that! I''ll be waiting for you!"

    The remaining cavalry in the distance intently watched from afar. They had a good reason to not join the fray. Cavalry from the North weren''t just adept equestrians; they also needed to be superb archers.

    Notes:

    *In ancient times they had lengths of timber they put up at the front door as the equivalent of a security door.

 Volume 6 25 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Just Follow Me

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 25 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Just Follow Me</h4>

    The imperial court forbade civilians from possessing arrows. So ordingly, the twenty equestrians wrapped their arrows in ck cloth- presumably. Maybe they didn''t think they''d need arrows to kill two people. After their leader was killed, they took out their arrows and short bows. They could make a hedgehog out of a martial arts adept once nine of them had their target surrounded and received the signal to fire. Today was no exception until I used an unimaginable means of killing one of their members (that was what was suspected).

    After I took out one of them, they aimed their arrows at me. One of them tried to fire at me when they saw me approach; only to find his hand was immobilised. His finger wouldn''t obey hismand. He then discovered he couldn''t move any other part of his body, either, including telling hisrades to be careful. Knowing the saying "Can''t budge a finger" and experiencing it in its literal sense were two different things. Experiencing it for himself was scary. He soon realised it wasn''t just him who was incapacitated; all twenty of them couldn''t budge an inch. No, blinking wasn''t possible, either. None of them knew what happened. Try as they may, they couldn''t discern what the cause was.

    I tied them up using another form of my Night Net Celestial Silk from below. The seven forms were different and used for different purposes. I referred to the seven forms as Seven Sovereign Threads. The form I utilised was Shadow Sovereign Thread, a shadow puppeteer technique.

    Speaking to all twenty at once, I said, "Behave now. Don''t try to jump someone from behind while they''re fighting. Gentlemen from the North, if you don''t mind, how about we have a heart-to-heart talk?"

    I raised both arms and flicked celestial spider silk from all directions, wrapping the silk around them in varying patterns when I sealed their meridians just before. With a tug, I yanked all twenty off their horses. They all fell in unison, surpassing the most trained army corps. Once theynded, they felt a weight lift off them, and they could speak again. Still, they looked as though they were in despair.

    "Who are you people?" I positioned myself in the centre of them and casually asked. Nobody responded, so I followed up: "I only ask questions once. Where''s your answer?"

    Surrendering to my threat, one of them brayed, "Han bastard, I won''t tell you a s-"

    I maintained an bored look as I gently tugged with my thumb, rotating his neck beyond the safe zone. Everyone could hear his neck crack; his bulging eyes showed him the view behind him before he fell onto his back with a thud.

    The remaining members'' reactions told me they didn''t expect me to kill. There were various expressions ranging from surprise, scorn, rage¡­ I was only interested in finding the fearful one. When I found two viable targets, I pulled the celestial spider silk I had on them. Since I sealed their meridians, they were supposed to be out cold. I transferred a small amount of true qi to keep them awake and allowed them to speak in soft voices. The instant I released the silk on them, they passed out on the ground. Among the witnesses, two were frightened. I didn''t bother repeating myself; I just gave them a threatening stare.

    "Okay, okay, we''ll talk."

    "We are Beijiang¡¯s Tiezhen Kingdom''s citizens."

    "Tiezhen Kingdom¡­ What are you doing here in the Central ins?" I questioned.

    "We came here with our master for business. Someone from the Central ins hired us to attack you today."

    I inquired, "Who is your master, and who ord-"

    An arrow shot over from far away mid-speech. Judging from the whistling wind, the archer''s arm strength was top notch. I was going to test what would happen if I took the shot with my true qi armour. I changed my mind when I sensed another pair of cold and sharp eyes on me, however. One of them was located in the Southwest; the other positioned himself in the Northeast. In other words, I couldn''t take a shy approach unless I could ensure I could kill both of them simultaneously.

    I stepped off diagonally to give the arrow the slip. I tracked its trajectory after it zipped past. The cavalry fled helter skelter. I finally realised I slipped up: "Sh*t, I fell for it!"

    By the time I turned around, the two I interrogated were already corpses. Yes, the archer skewered both of them with a single arrow! I hurried over to check their wounds. The arrow miraculously pierced their hearts.

    "Son of a bitch¡­" I cursed to myself.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The archer fired two arrows. The leveraged the whistling from the first shot to conceal his second shot. At that point, I spected he aimed to silence the cavalry in the first ce. The more I thought about it, the more baffled I was. They tantlymitted murder in broad daylight in Nanjing as though they weren''t afraid the imperial court would go after them.

    Bai Lian rushed over with a broadsword in hand over to rescue me after she finished off her eight opponents, only to see me leading to horses by their reins. Everyone else was kissing the ground. Running her gaze over the fallen cavalry, she asked, "What¡­ just happened?"

    Tone stern, I answered, "It was bizarre. I was going to fight them, but they all started fighting each other. Maybe they weren''t happy with the shares or something."

    Before I could borate any further on the story, General Manager Bai had an earnest think then revealed a look of astonishment and eptance: "Ming Feizhen, you really are a gue."

    ''¡­ Noment. Heavens, say ''motherfucker'' for me!''

    General Manager Bai and I called for Shuntian Prefecture''s forces and told them who we were. I didn''t need to let them know I was Liu Shan Men''s head constable - I wouldn''t be able to run, otherwise. Their leader personally made a trip when I told them General Manager Bai asked for them. They let us go after finding out we were working under His Majesty''s direct orders. All of our assants were taken away.

    Neither General Manager Bai nor I uttered a word. We mounted the cavalry''s horses and sped off to Wuhua County.

    Perhaps we underestimated the target. They were able to transport valued goods from the imperial pce as though it wasn''t even guarded. Therefore, we could conclude they totally disregarded thew and thought highly of themselves. They had no restrictions on what they''d do, and they wielded enough power to be troublesome. I never imagined Beijiang would be involved, having said that. Beijiang and the Central ins were facing enormous tension and hostility between each other. Not even the Western Region and Central ins were so hostile. Yet, they assisted someone from the Central ins.

    "Just who is this Cao Shangfei fellow?" I wondered.

    General Manager Bai was obviously irate after the ambush. She smacked her horse incredibly fiercely. I asked, "General Manager Bai, you did not get hurt, so why are you so mad?"

    "Whatw states I can only be angry if I''m hurt?" rhetorically asked General Manager Bai, frowning and speaking in a fiery tone. "There are two things I hate most. I hate assholes who disturb the pce in the imperial pce, and I hate scum who kill theirrades. Theymitted both atrocities. I can''t forgive them!"

    Night had fallen by the time we reached Wuhua County. General Manager Bai didn''t rest; she rode off. Once she arrived at her destination, she brushed the front of her robe aside to dismount in a suave fashion.

    We were at arge, but ordinary, abode. Appearance-wise, it was the same as any ordinary house. On the que was "Feiyun Hall", the name of the underground fighting martial arts school. For some reason, the text gave off a familiar vibe.

    General Manager Bai knocked on the door. The two of us were focused on what was in front of us, thereby not noticing the runt around and watching us closely.

    Notes:

    *Tiezhen Kingdom - Lit. Iron Truth/Absolute Truth Kingdom. It''s a fictional kingdom.

 Volume 6 26 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Plum Blossoms In the Wind

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 26 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Plum Blossoms In the Wind</h4>

    "Younger Martial Sis," said Senior Martial Sister Meng, full of vigour as she pointed at her new junior sister. To ensure her aura surpassed her big junior sister, she went up on her toes and, in her high-pitched loli voice, said, "We''re freezing! What are you shtanding there for?!"

    Senior Sister Meng, who was seven this year, struggled with enunciation. The notorious Demoness of the pugilistic world tensed her face muscles to resistughing. She definitely wanted tough; she was just afraid she''d embarrass Senior Sister Meng. She learnt to be considerate after many, many years. Ming Suwen could capriciously pursue whatever bizarre idea she came up with whenever she fancied. Nobody at Mount Daluo dared to question her owing to her seniority. When it was time to face the consequences, she pushed all of the me to Ming Feizhen. If Ming Feizhen found out she had grown up, he''d be move to tears.

    Ming Suwen was more skilled than Shen Yiren in terms of martial prowess, yet she was thetter''s subordinate. Plus, she was assigned to babysitting instead of serving as part of the normal team. Despite that, she didn''t seem bothered in any shape or form. She cheerfully yed with the kids. It begged the question: was she approachable, or did she always like children?

    The young female constables had practice during the afternoon. Specifically, they practiced Liu Shan Men''s beginner style. Knowing how skilled Ming Suwen was, Bai Yeshuang exempted Ming Suwen from the training. When Ming Suwen saw the kids training earnestly in the cold, however, she went and joined them. She didn''t disy annoyance or fatigue; to the contrary, she was happy to join them.

    Although Ming Suwen was happy to join the kids, the content was boring. Thus, she improvised and added some fun. She yed ape, dog, swan, chicken, dead fish, flying swallow and so forth. The kids absolutely loved it. Technically, she went from learning to teaching.

    After training was over, Ming Suwen took her Senior Sister Meng by the hand and taught her "Dead Fish''s Comeback". When Senior Sister Meng looked up, she saw plum blossoms. Cheerful, she asked, "Junior Sis, you want some flow?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Once Ming Suwen figured out "flow" meant flowers, Sister Meng was already at the plum blossom tree. Unfortunately, she was vertically challenged, subsequently revealing disappointment. Her junior sister, therefore, approached from behind with a gentle smile: "Senior Sister, would you like me to lift you up?"

    "Can you?" asked Sister Meng, smiling brightly. She stretched her arms out and carried on cheerfully.

    Ming Suwenughed. She pinched Senior Sister Meng''s face and carried her senior sister up. Senior Sister Meng, to the contrary, earnestly tried to determine which plum blossom was prettiest. She couldn''t find any that pleased her more than the red and white one at the top. Unfortunately, she was still vertically challenged. She solemnly said, "Junior Sis, I can''t reach it. Lift me up when I''m older, and I''ll pluck it for you."

    Ming Suwen smiled: "You won''t need to wait until then. I shall pluck it for you now."

    Ming Suwen was renowned for her legs that remained shapely and soft unlike many other female martial artists who ended up more muscr. In a nutshell, they defined "perfect legs on a female". However, they packed explosive power in them. She vaulted up from the ground. Senior Sister Meng giggled; she was incredibly excited the entire way.

    "Junior Sis, Junior Sis, you''re so cool! You''re so cool!" excitedly eximed Senior Sister Meng, before finally remembering her status. She cleared her throat and, blushing, said, "N-Not too shabby. You can have the plum flow."

    "No, no, I cannot take it. Thank you, Senior Sister Meng," responded Ming Suwen, smiling suavely as she took the flower and set her senior sister back on the ground. Senior Sister Meng smiled brightly when Ming Suwen then scrubbed her hair gently.

    Ming Suwen recalled Bai Yeshuang told her, "Junior Sister Ming, I hope you can watch over the children. They may be your seniors in name, but they are children¡­ and they are orphans. Young Meng doesn''t know her parents have passed away. I know it''s an unreasonable demand, but please take up the mantle."

    Bai Yeshuang reminded Ming Suwen of herself with her request. Ming Suwen pondered, "Feizhen, do you see me as a petite and lovable maiden, too?"

    Ming Suwen couldn''t resist giving her Senior Sister Meng, who wore an adorable and innocent smile, a tight hug. She gave the young girl a peck, leading to Senior Sister Meng eximing and blushing. Not one to ept losing without putting up a fight, she gave Ming Suwen a peck on the cheek in revenge. The two of them enjoyed their little game.

    ========

    Su Xiao poked his head out from the entrance. After ascertaining nobody detected him, he sneaked out of the Ministry of Justice He went from a slow walk to sprinting once he put some distance between the office and himself. He sought information and ventured guesses to stop the farmers out the front of Shuntian Prefecture. He cried, "Wait up!"

    The group walked with a wobble due to the caning they copped. Sister Niu cried so much that everything she tried to articte was inarticte. One of the males remembered the cute maiden. With a re, he shouted, "What are you here for?"

    Su Xiao sincerely replied, "My name is Su Xiao. What exactly happened? Please exin the situation to me. You have visited Shuntian Prefecture before. Without a legitimate reason, they will not allow you in."

    Su Xiao couldn''t stop himself from meddling despite Secretary Leng explicating the case was not in the Ministry of Justice''s hands. The people merely let their emotions get the better of them at the office, leading to a physical altercation. Although they were wrong to hit others, Secretary Leng punished them for it already. Therefore, Su Xiao decided to get to the bottom of it.

    "You can help?" asked therge man, doubtful. "How old are you? Are you a female official? What can you do to help?"

    "I''m not a female official," answered Su Xiao, taking out a golden imperial ordinance. The ordinance was only avable at the imperial pce. Su Xiao, serious, exined, "I am Liu Shan Men''s Baihu. I have been ordered to investigate the underground fightingpetition at Wuhua County. I heard you mention it and am now requesting more details from you."

    The group of vigers were startled upon seeing the token. They were ted to meet someone willing to help. Sister Niu hastily expressed her attitude: "Thank you, Sir, I mean, Ma''am. I mean, uh, Miss."

    Another viger remarked, "I didn''t know such beautiful girls would work as officials nowadays."

    One of the men was dumbstruck: "My daughter is about the same age - except she''s much heavier than this girl. Would she have a chance of bing an official?"

    Su Xiao fumed: "I''m a male!"

 Volume 6 27 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Conscience Training

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 27 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Conscience Training</h4>

    "Okay, please answer my following questions," said Su Xiao, taking out a small notebook and holding a brush in his mouth.

    Strictly speaking, Su Xiao meddled partly because he felt bad for Sister Niu, meaning it wasn''t all business for him. He struggled to write down "Twenty-seventh, twelfth lunar mother, thirtieth year of Yuan Sheng''s reign", impressing Sister Niu andpany with his nice handwriting.

    "Yeah, it looks good, but I can''t recognise a single character. All those swirly squiggles just resemble paintings if you ask me."

    Su Xiao went red in the face. His handwriting tended towards a style embracing beauty and grace, as it was his mother who taught him to write for the most part. In essence, it was virtually a girl''s handwriting. It was his handwriting that swept Liu Yuan off his feet during his initial visit to Liu Shan Men. He mulled on it since and opted to write textbook style. s, habits weren''t easy to change; his characters continued to take on a swirly style.

    Su Xiao cleared his throat: "Sister Niu, why did you cry your husband was framed and break down in tears as soon as you set foot into the Ministry of Justice? What exactly was the problem? Also, what exactly happened to your husband? What do you mean he was kidnapped?"

    Thanks to Su Xiao''s appearance and gentle tone, Sister Niu saw "her" in a positive light right from the start. Though young, she saw the virtue amoner wouldn''t possess within Su Xiao. And so, she recounted the story from beginning to end.

    "My husband''sst name is Niu. His full name is Niu Shuanzi. We are all from the countryside, specifically Zijin County''s Big Cow Vige. Two months ago, my husband came to the capital to look for work, since there was none back home. It wasn''t long before I received a letter from him saying he already found a job at a martial arts club. It immediately struck me something was bizarre. He was paid decently; however, my husband isn''t a refined man and has a one-track mind. If he offended the people there, who were martial artists, he would not survive the beating. I told him to find a different job, and he sent back five taels of silver. He told me the club asked him to fight; they paid one silver tael just for fighting one match."

    Su Xiao felt sorry for Sister Niu after hearing her story. It wasn''t umon for those with her background to view money in a cynical light. However, she didn''t just look unwell; she looked very tense, too. The martial arts club didn''t pay just five silver taels. Anyhow, the information confirmed Niu Shuanzi did participate in fights.

    ording to what Su Xiao knew about the capital, a martial arts club would only pay a master a few silvers. Niu Shuanzi''s earnings were ludicrous given his ordinary background. Logically, he had to be fighting in the underground circle. Underground fighting wasn''t against thew, nevertheless, so he couldn''t have been convicted for that. As such, Su Xiao didn''t mention it.

    Sister Niu cried as she borated: "We were all happy he made money. My husband loves his family. He sent a letter every few days. Eventually, the frequency of the letters continued to drop until he vanished without a word. Scared and anxious, I prepared toe here to search for him. Little did I know Shuntian Prefecture already sent me a notice. I learnt my husband wasn''t in the capital but taking part in underground fights at a martial arts club in Wuhua County. He supposedly made a name for himself in the two months he was there."

    Su Xiaomented the case given to him. The Emperor gave him exactly that: a case on the recent rise in underground fighting''s poprity. Due to its poprity, he was handed many scrolls listing past cases. He read a lot - arguably learning half of the underground fighting circuit''s business.

    Normally, martial arts clubs involved in underground fighting trained their own fighters in addition to bolstering their ranks with hired martial artists. Of importance was that winning and losing wasn''t the main source of ie. Their main ie came from betting odds on fighters. If the fighter with bigger odds lost, the club would pocket a big sum, while their fighters would also be treated handsomely. So ordingly, some fighters staged fights to rack up a win streak in order to raise their own worth. Once they lost, they would earn loads from the gamblers. Niu Shuanzi might''ve been part of such a scheme because of his background. The question was, why him when he was weak and honest?

    "My husband has been framed, Miss! My husband is an honest gentleman. He would never fight. He must have been framed. My husband is innocent. Please clear his name."

    Su Xiao smiled: "Sister Niu, calm down. Let me exin the situation to you. Although the imperial court didn''t start underground fighting, there''s now banning it. In other words, he wouldn''t have broken thew if he did fight."

    "Really? Really?" asked Sister Niu, grabbing Su Xiao''s thin arms as though they were thest straws for her to grasp. "He''s okay? He''s okay? So, so when will he be released? The office said I can''t visit him!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "If he is found innocent, he will soon be released. I now need to ask all of you a few questions."

    Su Xiao questioned all of the vigers to verify everything Sister Niu imed, proving their stories aligned. He couldn''t identify any oddities.

    Mao Dali, who still felt the caning, fumed, "What''s with all of the questions? When are you going to release Brother Niu? Just tell as it is already."

    "Last question. If there''s no issue, I''ll go and ask Shuntian Prefecture to release him straight away," stated Su Xiao, trying to maintain a smile to hide his fear. Putting on a calm front, he asked, "Sister Niu, did your husband kill anyone in the fights he participated over the two months?"

    ========

    Two hours ago.

    "You''re going to look for the vigers, aren''t you?" asked Secretary Leng, head down in the books.

    The sudden question that hit the nail on the head startled Su Xiao, resulting in him dropping his brush. He wondered how Secretary Leng read his mind.

    "It wasn''t hard," said Secretary Leng, pausing his writing. He continued as if he was just finishing off a statement: "Your bright eyes gave it away. You''ve been out of sorts, restless at work and continue to peer out the door ever since you met them. I would be a failure if I couldn''t read you with so many tant signs."

    Though surprised for a second, Su Xiao reasoned it wasn''t surprising Secretary Leng could read him when considering thetter''s status. Having recollected himself, Su Xiao replied, "Teacher, since you are attentive down to minute details, why did you not help them? She lost her husband. Moreover, based on what they said, we should learn what happened, since it pertains to Shuntian Prefecture. I had a look through past cases and found the Ministry of Justice has dealt with cases where officials were used. In my op-"

    "Su Xiao, remember where you stand," interjected Secretary Leng, with an imposing undertone. "You are my subordinate and student. You should not be questioning my decision."

 Volume 6 28 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Poor Su Xiao

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 28 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Poor Su Xiao</h4>

    Secretary Leng was known for keeping his dialogues simple and concise. He didn''t hate talking; he was just the type who didn''t beat around the bush. When he spoke, he gave conclusions he needed his subordinates to act on, not discuss.

    Su Xiao heard Secretary Leng say, "As a subordinate, it is your responsibility to make sense of my decisions if you didn''t already understand it. If you can''tprehend it no matter what how you try, it means you aren''t qualified to know more information. "

    "He''s¡­ quite simr to Big Brother Ming," thought Su Xiao.

    Strictly speaking, Ming Feizhen and Leng Ming were pr opposites. Leng Ming''s indifference and minimal speech was more simr to Tang Ye. Themon denominator between Ming Feizhen and Leng Ming was their refusal to let anyone question decisions they had settled on. By no means were their decisions perfect. They, however, would mercilessly oppress opposing opinions through demotions or brute force -dependent on the context. That was just how they were.

    There can be no such thing as a perfect decision, only perfect decisions within specific contexts. In spite of how suitable a decision is within the given parameters, it would still be impossible to satisfy everyone. As leaders, though, they were burdened with different things others didn''t take on. They shouldered more than what the average man would imagine. Thus, their words carried a lot of weight.

    Su Xiao was surprised he didn''t think of strict Vice-Captain Shen in his situation but Ming Feizhen, who never spent a second in serious mode. He saw Ming Feizhen''s calm and quiet smile unlike the Ming Feizhen he usually saw. He wondered if it was Ming Feizhen''s unthinkable burden simr to Secretary Leng''s that resulted in them developing the same trait.

    "Secretary Leng enforces the nation''sws and systems. It''s a big responsibility. What about Big Brother Ming? Why do I feel he''s in the same boat? Is he carrying boulders on his shoulders, as well?" pondered Su Xiao.

    Before Su Xiao coulde to a conclusion, Secretary Leng asked, "Think carefully about what it is you want to do."

    Su Xiao deliberated it thoroughly before answering, "I¡­ want to help them. It is clear they have a case to file for a wrong usation. I do not want to see their circumstances ignored."

    Expression stern, Secretary Leng responded, "Fine."

    "Eh?"

    "Here." Secretary Leng handed Su Xiao one of the cases His Majesty assigned to Liu Shan Men''s trio. It was clearly indicated it was His Majesty''s assignment, therefore demanding everyone is to support them. With the ordinance, Su Xiao could demand Shuntian Prefecture release Niu Shuanzi. Secretary Leng added, "You can spend the remainder of your time as you please once you''ve finished your work for the day. I won''t interfere."

    Grateful, Su Xiao passed over hispleted documents and said, "I have finished."

    Secretary Leng picked up one and read through it. Then, he read through several more before saying, "What are you still here for? You can leave."

    Su Xiao excitedly went to leave. Secretary Leng suddenly sighed: "I''ve already given the order to not interfere. If you don''t interfere, there''s still a chance of changing the situation based on the original judgement. You are outright defying your superior if you interfere. It''s not a crime; however, I will punish you. Have you thought it through yet?"

    "I do not and will not regret it!"

    Su Xiao believed in his judgement. He believed the vigers ignorantly stormed into the office. Waiting for him wasn''t the role of a hero upholding justice, unfortunately.

    ========

    It was winter, yet it seemed as though heavy winds and rains wereing in the overcast capital. Nevertheless, Secretary Leng burnt the midnight oil at his office. Suddenly, he asked, "You''re back?"

    Su Xiao, who just entered, hung his head: "Yes."

    "That''s it for work today?"

    "Yes."

    "Leave when you want, then."

    "Are you not going to ask any questions?" asked Su Xiao, teeth gritted.

    "Ask?" asked Secretary Leng, demeanour calm. "Can you help them?"

    Su Xiao could still vividly recall Sister Niu''s pale expression during the questioning, Mao Dali''s desperate attempts to stop her and the shocked vigers. Sister Niu exined, "Y-Yes, they said my husband killed someone. They signed a life and death agreement, though! He couldn''t have killed, either. How would he have killed someone when he''s so weak?"

    Su Xiao didn''t me them for hiding the truth; however, he felt helpless after hearing the story. He wondered, "Did Teacher Leng know this was the case, too?"

    Su Xiao headed to Shuntian Prefecture''s office calmly and asked to investigate the case. The information he found lined up with what he was told. Niu Shuanzi struck with excessive force and killed his opponent through blood loss from seven orifices. Judging from the information obtained, the martial arts club manipted him into fighting, so it wasn''t unusual for him to kill someone in that situation. That being said, murder was murder. He would, at the very least, be banished to the border. All in all, Sister Niu''s family was bound to be separated.

    Su Xiao exited the office by himself. Sister Niu pleaded him on her knees until she eventually began cursing at him. The twelve vigers harshly swore at him. He didn''t take it to heart, for he was preupied with the feeling of powerlessness.

    Niu Shuanzi didn''t purposely kill his opponent. He was innocent, yes. The real culprit was the one who manipted him. He still couldn''t absolve himself of the crime even if he imed he was implicated and controlled, however. That was the reality of the situation.

    "I cannot. Hemitted manughter, and there were dozens of witnesses. He killed, and there is no questioning that. Shuntian Prefecture did not incorrectly judge him."

    Su Xiao didn''t receive any help. He didn''t search for evidence or investigate the case beforehand. He didn''t even have his own list of observations or judgement or rationale. His impulsiveness gave Sister Niu false hope that he then destroyed.

    "Sorry, it was my mistake," apologised Su Xiao, head hanging down. "I have embarrassed you, Teacher."

    "You acted as yourself. You embarrassed yourself; it has nothing to do with me," said Secretary Leng, speaking as though he was dering the end of the case. He stretched his back and got to his feet. He calmly added, "But don''t ignore your own reputation, either."

    Secretary Leng strolled out of his office. Before vanishing, he reminded, "Remember to lock up."

    Su Xiao stood in ce without knowing what to do.

    "You said you''d help me! Miss, you promised you''d help me! Why? Is it because you''re also an official? That still doesn''t give you the right to push the people around!"

    "Forget about it! Scumbag officials won''t side with us! Let''s go!"

    "Go to hell, scumbag official!"

    Every single thing the vigers said hurt, making Su Xiao regret his actions. He folded his arms and crouched down. He sobbed, "Big Brother Ming¡­ what should I do?"

    ========

    At the Ministry of Personnel.

    Tang Ye finally resembled a schr - somewhat - after copping one lengthy scolding. He didn''t say much, but he''d bring martial arts into the conversation every few sentences.

    Tang Ye gave up his martial arts robe, covering his muscles and tattoo. Tang Ye never cared what he wore. Teacher Zhang just couldn''t stand the sight of his student dressed as a martial artist all day. He wore a schr''s white robe; however, he was still striking as a martial artist. In no capacity did he look feeble. If anything, he gave the impression he was as skilled with the pen as he was with the sword.

    Tang Ye was assigned with investigating the underground fighting circuit as Ming Feizhen and Su Xiao were. Theponents they were assigned were delegating ording to their skills and personalities.

    Su Xiao was given the most authority due to hisck of skill and soft nature as a preventive measure in case he was in a pinch.

    Ming Feizhen was the enigma. His strong qualities were nk. At the same time, naming his shorings wasn''t so straightforward. General Manager Bai was a skilled martial artist butcked experience in the pugilistic world, making her the mostpatible partner for the "unskilful" pugilistic world veteran.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tang Ye was in charge of a corruption case. Lu Xiazou from the Ministry of Revenue embezzled public funds and disappeared without a trace afterwards. All nine gates to the capital were alerted, but he was still on the run. By logic, he should''ve still been in the capital.

    Tang Ye wasn''t given permission to recruit men; hence, he had to count on himself. He, therefore, went around the capital, relying on diligence and insight to find Lu Xiazou. He was a smart young man who picked up martial arts skills on his first attempt. Plus, he was sharp, so he was perfect constable material. Unfortunately, Handsome Tang wasn''t good at talking to people. If he could resolve the problem with his fists, he wouldn''t speak. His only hobbies were training and challenging others. With his straight face, he was hardly approachable. As a result, his detective skills were arguably inferior to Su Xiao''s.

    Tang Ye didn''t find any clues after running around for half a day. When he went back to ask Teacher Zhang for advice, he was told to get out. Teacher Zhang said, "You can''t even do that much at your young age? Where could a living person possibly go? Use your brain. If your brain doesn''t work, use your mouth to ask. You''re from Liu Shan Men, so you should be an elite detective. Is this too much to ask of you?"

    "How many people do I ask?"

    "Hmph, can''t you think for yourself?" asked Teacher Zhang, huffing his beard. "Ask every household until you find some clues!"

 Volume 6 29 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Stuffing His Face to Maturity

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 29 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Stuffing His Face to Maturity</h4>

    Zhang Chunfeng, demeanour demure, slowly brewed tea in his tearoom. Tea ceremony was ssified as an art, for it fulfilled the requirements of tranquillity and silence, yin and yang, fast and slow. Each facet was worth studying. He was more elite than those who had invested decades into the art.

    Many people were fond of the Ministry of Personnel''s tearoom. Zhang Chunfeng''s subordinates and friends often met up there purely to taste a cup of tea he brewed. If Dongpo Restaurant''s refreshments were also avable, more people might gather there than the imperial pce. The Emperor''s entourage''s secret agents out to investigate corruption in the imperial court were set to be too busy to return home again.

    Despite his skill, few people knew Zhang Chunfeng wasn''t interested in tea ceremony in any capacity. The sole reason he was able to brew fabulous tea was attributed to his sagacity. He had a photographic memory from childhood; what took others a month took him a mere three days to learn. Owing to his intellect, he picked up many skills many ordinary folks never picked up. Tea ceremony was one of them.

    When Zhang Chunfeng took the imperial exams, the head examiner remarked, "He will surely be a pir of our nation." He became an important figure rapidly, filling the shoes of one of the six ministries'' leaders. The only man above him was the prime minister.

    As Zhang Chunfeng, who was past his fifties, enjoyed his tea, he thought back on what His Majesty did during the day and what was implied. Being meticulous, he paid attention to every little detail the Emperor disyed. Though he didn''t approve, he was able to connect the dots. It didn''t take long for him to reach Secretary Lu''s conclusion - referring to the Emperor''s desire to have Liu Shan Men rein in the Seven Champion White Princes. In addition, he noticed something else that was unusual: the Emperor''s three cases.

    Zhang Chunfeng nted spies in the Ministry of Justice. He already found out Su Xiao was assigned to the underground fighting case. Ming Feizhen and General Manager Bai were ambushed in broad daylight and rushed out of the city. Given General Manager Bai, general manager of the innermost sections of the pce, was permitted to leave the pce, it indicated the case was connected to the inner departments - possibly the imperial household. Needless to say, he was also aware of the theft case. The cases seemed to be individual cases, and each case was difficult. Worth noting, though, was the three cases were given to three individuals connected with each other. What was implied was, therefore, obvious.

    "Wuhua County''s underground fighting¡­ Lu Xiazou''s corruption case¡­ The imperial pce''s theft¡­ Who is His Majesty looking into?"

    Zhang Chunfeng remembered Lu Xiazou. Three years ago, Lu Xiazou introduced himself to Zhang Chunfeng at a banquet. Lu Xiazou purchased his official status; he stood out due to his incredibly rash approach. Refined Zhang Chunfeng remembered not being friendly with the briber. What was a meeting by chance raised a question at this point. There was no logical way of exining how Lu Xiazou could''ve entered the imperial pce with his rank; somebody had to lead him in. Zhang Chunfeng wondered, "Could His Majesty be after the mastermind?"

    Zhang Chunfeng snickered when he thought about people calling him a genius.

    The Emperor went to great lengths to help Liu Shan Men establish themselves. The three cases were all interlinked. If there was a mastermind behind the scenes, he wasn''t just another face in the crowd. If Liu Shan Men''s trio could crack the case and have the honour of being the six ministries'' students, Liu Shan Men''s value would skyrocket in the blink of an eye. The question was, "Who is the mastermind?"

    Zhang Chunfeng spected he knew the mastermind behind the three cases. His intuition told him he knew someone bold enough to steal from the imperial pce and had connections with the martial world to host underground fighting contests. The issue was hisck of evidence and clues; it was merely his intuition.

    Zhang Chunfeng had experienced plenty of storms throughout his lifetime. His intuition, therefore, was trustworthy. He wouldn''t have had the impression he was familiar with the mastermind''s style, otherwise. Someone opened the door to the tearoom, distracting him from his train of thought.

    Nobody ever shoved doors open before at the refined office. Tang Ye carried two stacks of books and documents on both hands. That suggested he kicked the door open! Merely seeing him gave Secretary Zhang a headache.

    Zhang Chunfeng was prejudice against martial artists; he held their brash, impolite and violent natures in contempt. Everyone in the imperial court was aware of that. He once went as far as asking His Majesty to prohibitmoners from practicing martial arts in case they became a hazard in the martial world. The martial world would be half of if its size within three decades if the bill passed. Martial artists had His Majesty''s love for martial arts to thank.

    Zhang Chunfeng detested martial arts due to the contention for the throne back then, when Emperor Yuansheng''s elder brothers and the other princes hired martial artists for enormous sums. The violence that ensued was self-exnatory. Three hundred of the hired warriors could stop an army of a thousand. Fights broke out on streets and in alleys. They ignored themoners, because they had support from the imperial family. They went as far as burning down residences in broad daylight. That wasn''t even the worst of it.

    During martial arts'' peak in the present dynasty, there were countless people who were trained in martial arts. As soon as they heard a Prince sought talent, the orthodox and unorthodox sects offered their services. The Princes didn''t hesitate to hire unorthodox groups such as the Demon Sect or League of Assassins. The contractors were enthusiastic, as the imperial family''s backing empowered them to run amok without consequences. Unsurprisingly, assassinations were rife in the capital, leading to countless innocent people being wrongly convicted. Commoners werebelled subordinates, interrogated and executed. That was barely the beginning, for one Prince suddenlyunched his insurrection, ushering the Demon Sect into the fray.

    Zhang Chunfeng was only twenty or so when the revolt took ce. As a consequence, his voice went unheard. Nevertheless, the nation rendering itself asunder was the root of his hatred for martial arts. He was convinced it could''ve been avoided if everyone embraced literature and culture in the first ce. Ever since the contention, he dedicated his efforts to empowering civil officials, hoping to change the course of development through the imperial court. Sadly, his efforts had yet to bear fruit after three decades. He, nheless, continued for an opportunity to realise his goal.

    Never in Zhang Chunfeng''s wildest dreams did he think hisst closed-door student would not only be a martial artist but a martial arts'' addict, too. He rubbed his temples and rposed himself. He shut his eyes and asked, "Did you go and ask every household as I told you to?"

    "Yes, I did."

    "Did you expose your identity or alert the culprit?"

    "No. I just said I was looking for someone; I did not mention the case at all."

    "Thank heavens," remarked Teacher Zhang, grateful Tang Ye, at the very least, understood humanity''snguage. "How did you go?"

    "I have found some clues," answered Tang Ye, in a stoic voice. "Someone saw Lu Xiazou entering and leaving a restaurant yesterday."

    "Not bad for your first time. You''re not fond of speaking; however, you have to bear in mind that we schrs cannot be the people''s model without speaking. You may not be good at speaking, but you are able to pry for information, meaning you put in the effort and didn''t waste my efforts. Good job. How many households did you question?"

    "It is my duty," replied Tang Ye, with a nod. "I found clues from the third household."

    Secretary Zhang stood up: "That was quick! You sure are lucky!"

    "Not really," responded Tang Ye. "It took a long time, though."

    "Yeah, three households, not lucky, you say? If you weren''t lucky, you''d still be knocking in your next life!" fumed Teacher Zhang. "What did you find out on his whereabouts? Did you check the restaurant?"

    "Not yet. There are too many people there."

    "That is absurd! It doesn''t matter if there are few or a lot of people; check it! The more people there are, the higher your chances of finding something. Do I have to teach youmon sense, as well? Yan Ling, you are now my student and a member of the Ministry of Personnel. Thus, you must follow our rules. We must be cautious and meticulous, leaving no stones unturned. You must adopt the mentality of pursuing things all the way; there is not abandoning anything half way. Learn to face the crowds. Now go!"

    Tang Ye didn''t give as much as a facial reaction. He ndly replied, "It costs money. I came to request the funds."

    Speechless, Teacher Zhang touched his head and grabbed a silver tael: "You have the meticulous part down."

    Secretary Zhang then sat back down feeling embarrassed. The room fell silent until Tang Ye inquired, "Do you have any other instructions, Teacher?"

    "Yes," answered Teacher Zhang. "Bring me a beef oven roll on your way back¡­ Don''t forget the change."

    Tang Ye: "Oh. I shall be on my way now."

    ========

    The restaurant in question was called Huangshang Restaurant. It was located to the busiest area in the southern section of the capital. They had a guest visit to congratte them on their opening less than five days after opening.

    The streets were bustling and crowded with the end of the yearing, since everyone was out to buy celebrationmodities. Literally everything needed could be found on the street. Jinling City was a city with many streets. Therefore, being able to operate a restaurant on the most crowded street was a testament to their immense wealth.

    There were threerge tables at the door with stacks of steamers on them. The meat buns in the steamers were piping hot and fragrant. The softness indicated they used high-quality flour. Though the meat wasn''t visible, its fragrance proved it was prepared with heart. The two were a match made in heaven.

    Huangshang Restaurant''s three fresh meat buns fetched five coins per bun. That was expensive, but they never had any issues selling a high volume of them. The sign, with the meat bun names written on them, next to the three tables was credited with their poprity. They had a deal where one could have ten free steamers if they could eat ten consecutively.

    If anyone could eat twenty steamers, the restaurant would give them a bonus twenty as takeaway. One might never want to see meat buns again in their life once they finished the twenty steamers, but, hey, why not gift it to family members?

    Twenty steamers wasn''t the only level. If anyone could wolf down fifty steamers, the owner of the restaurant would personally prepare a private course entailing anything the customer requested. There were ims the owner was a former member of the imperial kitchen who prepared dishes for the reigning Emperor, hinting at his exemry skill. In essence, they''d be enjoying a meal exclusive to the Emperor.

    The monster andst level was eating one hundred steamers. If anyone could eat that many, the restaurant was theirs. Of course, the one hundred steamers challenge was merely for amusement purposes. The ten and twenty steamers challenge was attractive, on the other hand. For the first four days since the restaurant''s inception, people lined up in the long line to challenge themselves. There was, at least, one winner every day. The restaurant made good on their word in public, as well. Hence, the line only ever grew longer.

    Without a doubt, spectators would feel hungry watching the challengers, leading to them buying meat buns at full price to satisfy their cravings. By the way, the business inside had yet to be taken into ount. One booth at the door was half of their ie.

    People were unaware the challengers were actually people the owner invited. The meat buns they ate were thinned out and contained little meat; one standard meat bun was worth five of theirs. Twenty steamers wasn''t such a challenge any more. If anything, some were still a little hungry after the challenge. Cunning would be an understatement if one was to describe Huangshang Restaurant''s owner, Huang Shng.

    Huang Shng weed every customer at the door. He gave those dressed in premium clothing a bright smile. Meanwhile, he avoided those who dressed in old and tattered clothing. His "meat bun arena" strategy raked in enormous profits; however, it wasn''t a long-term strategy. The capital he used to open the restaurant originated from shady conduct. He already spent the majority of it on renovations and inviting renowned taste testers from across thends. For that reason, he began a search for someone suicidal to take on his other two challengers to drum up news in the neighbourhood.

    Huang Shng didn''t think it through properly and was afraid someone would be able toplete the challenge. As a result, he set the ridiculous fifty and one hundred challenge. Fifty steamers equated to three hundred meat buns. It was a tall task to find someone who could manage that. In addition, he was afraid the candidate he found couldn''t be trusted. Ponder and ponder, a customer rocked up. His customer gifted him a red packet.

    "My,e in. Why are you giving me money?" insincerely asked Huang Shng, weing his guest in with his eyebrows together.

    "I insist. I insist. It''s for good luck, Brother Huang," replied the customer, with a smile.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Huang Shng smiled: "You shouldn''t tease your brother. Come in. Come in."

    A striking young man in ordinary cloth clothing approached the restaurant. He evidently wasn''t just another face in the ground. Huang Shng headed over to wee him: "Wee. Wee. Pleasee inside."

    The young man didn''t enter; instead, he pulled out a sheet¡­

    "You''re too kind, Young Master. There''s no need to give me a red packet on your first visit," said Huang Shng, reaching out for it straight after his hypocritical remark.

    The "young master" clutched the sheet firmly. Hepared the painting on it with Huang Shng. Once verified, he said, "You."

    "Me?"

    Tang Ye nodded: "You''re the person I''m looking for. I have questions for you."

    God forbid Huang Shng had the foggiest idea as to what Tang Ye was on about. However, it was painfully obvious Tang Ye wasn''t giving him money or patronising him. Hence, he switched to a cold demeanour: "Questions for me? I am extremely busy running my business. Apologies, but I cannot answer them. If you are not here as a patron, please leave."

    Huang Shng nced at the sheet in Tnag Ye''s hand: "That''s Huang Shng! You have our ''Shu'' and ng'' characters mixed up! Who drew that?"

    "I did," admitted Tang Ye. "I asked who owned this restaurant, and they told me it was Huang Shng."

    "I''m Huang Shng, ''shu'' as in number, and ng'' as in youth. That Huang Shng''s ''shu'' is ''shu'' as in rodent, and ng'' is wolf! I don''t have time to waste with you. Outta the way!"

    Tang Ye shook his head: "I require your assistance."

    Tang Ye intercepted Huang Shng, preventing him from fleeing.

    "Okay, fine. Wait¡­ Are you an official?"

    Tang Ye almost gave the honest response until he recalled Teacher Zhang''s reminder. So ordingly, he answered: "No. I am the blind cleaner next door. Please answer my questions."

    "How about ''no''?!" eximed Huang Shng, fearless once he learnt Tang Ye wasn''t an official. "Look, I''m running a business. What makes you think I have time to chat with you? Run along."

    "¡­" Tang Ye was stuck, for he never dealt with anyone so uncooperative. Eventually, he said, "If you refuse to answer, I shall refuse to leave."

    "What is your issue?! Men, kick him out!"

    Several tough gentlemen emerged from the restaurant. Before they couldy their hands on Tang Ye, he incapacitated all three with a spin kick.

    "Heh, you know a move or two, huh?" fumed Huang Shng. "Where did youe from, you barbarian? You know how many people are watching? You think you can bully model citizens?"

    The challengers and spectators at the meat bun challenge booth nced over, leaving Tang Ye speechless. Though Huang Shng was a sordid businessman, he didn''t vite thew. As such, Tang Ye couldn''t physically apprehend him.

    Tang Ye found the most challenging aspect of the case to be the fact hecked someone he could knock the snot out of. Lu Xiazou was hard to find, but he was a civil official. He couldn''t pulverise him even if he did locate him. Cases of this nature required attention to detail and patience. Communication fluency and proficiency was even more vital. Tang Ye had no choice but to adapt to the job requirements. He lowered his head and said, "Please help me. I will return the favour if you answer some of my questions."

    "Heh, finally learnt manners, have you? There''s nothing I can answer, though, so get out of here."

    "As long as you answer my questions, I''ll do anything I can."

    "Where did you learn to be so annoying from? Didn''t I say I have n-," Huang Shng cut himself off when he caught a whiff of his meat buns. A sly smile flitted across his frustrated countenance: "You¡­ eat meat buns?"

    "I can."

    "Fifty steamers worth."

    Tang Ye sat at a table alone and force fed himself until the sun went down. There was no way he didn''t have an urge to puke on several asions. That day, Liu Shan Men saw a new member mature.

 Volume 6 30 Barking Up the Wrong Tree â€“ Ministry of Rites Turns

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 30 Barking Up the Wrong Tree ¨C Ministry of Rites Turns</h4>

    Night was falling by the time Tang Ye finished fifty steamers. He wrestled with his nausea to ask his questions. He suavely left with his hand over his mouth.

    Meanwhile, Huang Shng increased his enthusiasm in calling challengers, adding more to his ie through the meat bun arena. In essence, Tang Ye helped him vent and helped him promote his business for free. However, he didn''t look happy; he looked different to his usual self. He wore a frigid look after Tang Ye left. It was apparent to him Tang Ye was searching for Lu Xiazou. He gave some short instructions before heading upstairs.

    There were two rows of towering and imposing guards outside the room. Ten or so men dressed in Han clothing, but they actually wielded the North''s most popr curved broadsword. Huang Shng whispered something to one of the guards, who then nodded: "You can leave now. Report back if there is anything else."

    The guard didn''t show Huang Shng any courtesy. Huang Shng nodded and left with a smile. He was scared, though he actually thought, "Fucking barbarians! You think I''m your pigeon?! I''d be the first to report you to Shuntian Prefecture if it wasn''t for Secretary Kong protecting you!"

    The guard went into the room after Huang Shng left. The guard stepped gently as though he was afraid he''d disturb the two sitting inside.

    A young man between twenty five and twenty six looked clean and proper, but his long face, literally, ruined his aesthetics. He wore light makeup and rouge. He drew around his eyes, giving them a faint purple shade. His idea of facial aesthetics was rather disturbing. There was a trace of conceit apanying his feminine gestures when he spoke. Based off appearances alone, there was no possible way of determining this gender. ording to the seating arrangement, he was the master of the room.

    The guest was an elder between sixty to seventy years old. His wrinkles on his forehead were deep as knife gashes. He dressed in a schr''s robe and sported a refined demeanour. Though old, he was once a refined young man. With a smile, he asked, "Lord Yang, you can''t trust this old one? This old one is the reigning department head of the Ministry of Rights; you think he would not keep his word?"

    Kong Duan, reigning head of the Ministry of Rights, looked as serious as he would look in the imperial court. He smiled as though his usual stern speech and mannerisms were a charade.

    The young man, Lord Yang, Yang Lianhua, adopted an ambivalent countenance: "Of course I do. We both stand to gain. We agreed to make our move three monthster, though; you are asking to deviate from the original n. You asked me to act on two days'' notice and sent out the cavalry, which ended up apprehended today. Had it not been for the restaurant''s intervention, I am afraid the n would already be exposed.

    Your sudden change in ns bemused me. Secretary Kong, are you with the restaurant, or are you trying help the imperial court ensnare the restaurant. Hahaha, this is an important matter. Neither of us will get off scot-free if they find out our secret. Could I trouble you to exin the situation to me? I do not have spare heads should this fall through."

    Yang Lianhua was one of the people in the shadows when Ming Feizhen was questioning one of the cavalry he captured. Yang Lianhua always spoke with a hint of a smile and added jabs every time he spoke at the meeting, indicating his displeasure for what transpired earlier in the day.

    Secretary Kongughed along: "This old one did not wish for that to happen. Due to rec-"

    "Master, I have a matter to report," interrupted a guard.

    Yang Lianhua raised a hand to stop Secretary Kong from continuing. He said to the guard, "Come in."

    The guard entered and saluted Yang Lianhua exclusively. He gave a brief overview of what Huang Shng reported to him.

    Secretary Kong didn''t take offence, for he was aware what Yang Lianhua''s hobby was. For all he knew, some of the guards Yang Lianhua brought along could''ve been his concubines. There was no sound reason for him to gripe over Yang Lianhua''s "concubines", as it didn''t have anything to do with their work. However, the report did startle him.

    Yang Lianhua looked hostile after hearing the report: "I, personally, killed Lu Xiazou. He''s bold enough to investigate it? Is he still nearby?"

    The guard: "Yes. I can catch up."

    Yang Lianhua snickered. Before he could give themand to assassinate the target, Secretary Kong interjected: "You cannot do that. Take your time, Lord Yang."

    Curious, Yang Lianhua asked, "What, you know him?"

    Secretary Kong nodded: "Indeed. He is from Liu Shan Men?"

    "Liu Shan Men? You mean one of the threew enforcement offices alongside the Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s entourage?" asked Yang Lianhua, not too learned on the topic, since he dwelled beyond the Central in for years.

    "Precisely," answered Secretary Kong, stroking his beard. "This old one moved the schedule ahead for that exact reason. After Lu Xiazou''s issue came to light, the theft in the imperial pce was then brought to light. His Majesty has been making moves recently, including having three constables from their office dig into the case. My guess is he has found clues from Feiyun Hall, the imperial pce and Lu Xiazou. I sent out forces without consulting you first today to try and eliminate the two investigating the theft. I never expected them to be so skilled."

    "Great. The three offices all have their eyes on me. And here you are calmly telling me to strike in two days'' time," thundered Yang Lianhua, twerking his hips and mming the table, leaving his hand print in the table. Surprisingly, he didn''t spill a drip of tea cups filled to the brim, which was a testament to his skill. He carried on: "So you decide to take action while disregarding the lives of the restaurant team?!"

    "Minister Yang, you are wrongly using me," replied Secretary Kong, calm. He picked up a cup of tea and cackled: "Please deliberate the matter meticulously. This old one has always been with your Evil Spirits'' group. Not to mention we share the glory and mishaps. If you fail, you could sell this old one out. Why would this old one do something so nonsensical?"

    Yang Lianhua smiled wrathfully: "Why can''t I kill him, then? You were not so hesitant when you asked us to eliminate Lu Xiazou."

    "It is embarrassing to admit, but he is now the student of Zhang Chunfeng, leader of the Ministry of Personnel. He may be honest and frank, but he is exceptionally astute. If we kill Tang Ye, he may be able to pick up clues. With the grand scheme about to go ahead, this old one does not want to create unnecessary trouble."

    "To put it simply, your Emperor suspects us," remarked Yang Lianhua, gaze akin to a female''s. "That being the case, would our risk not be higher if we strike in two days'' time? Secretary Kong, you are not setting us up, are you?"

    "Caution and finding incriminating evidence are not mutual. No matter how perceptive and insightful His Majesty may be, he cannot personally investigate the case. Moreover, everyone is at Feiyun Hall. You may be the manager there; however, it operates under Lu Shangfei''s name. Thus, should any mishap ur, the Lu brothers will take the fall," exined Secretary Kong, with a smile. "Additionally, this old one is a mere schr. Your master is a renowned adept - not to mention we are in Jiangnan. How would this old one possibly dare to harm his beloved subordinates?"

    They say every tactic except brown nosing can fail. Secretary Kong stroked Yang Lianhua''s ego exactly the way thetter preferred. Though Yang Lianhua was a young adept in the service of his master, he was inferior to many others. He gained his status through schemes and relying on his master''s backing.

    "My, I have to work hard for you now after such praise, don''t I?" sarcastically asked Yang Lianhua, finger on his lips and giggling in a tone that raised Secretary Kong''s hairs. "In that case, I shall call for Feiyun Hall''s adepts tomorrow to assist you. Speaking of which¡­"

    Yang Lianhua squinted with a smile: "We stole the treasures from the imperial pce for you. Lu Xiazou paved your way for you with bribes; I killed him for you. I also have tomand the dozens of adepts at Feiyun Hall for you."

    It was obvious Yang Lianhua was trying to ask for money. Secretary Kong silently cursed the freak the entire time.

    "That is why this old one is giving all of Feiyun Hall''s ie to you. The fighters are under your management; having said that, this old one had to put in many stops to allow the betting and fights to run so smoothly. If people were to find out about you feeding your fighters five stones powder, nobody would get off. This old one is giving you all of the ie despite his contribution. Is that not enough sincerity for you?"

    "What harsh words, Secretary Kong," said Yang Lianhua, pinching his eyebrows together and stroking his chest. "Five stones powder is a forbidden drug worth gold and silver. Do you know how much we had to feed those packs of wolves? You cannot let them feast on me, agreed?"

    Secretary Kong was irate with what he heard. Yes, five stones powder was expensive. But nheless, they had a pharmacist; there was no need to ask for outside help. He found Yang Lianhua''s tone much more spiteful than him asking for money. He replied, "Yes, yes, once this is over, this old one will prepare a thank you gift. Fret not."

    "Do not forget you made the promise, Secretary Kong. I will be waiting for it. Do not think of spending money as pain. Bear in mind that, as long as my master is on your side, there is no such thing as a difficult problem," said Yang Lianhua, smiling vilely. "That includes assassinating the Ministry of Military and the Ministry of Work''s department heads."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The twoughed, each harbouring their own schemes.

 Volume 6 31 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Flying Snow Stunning Green

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 31 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Flying Snow Stunning Green</h4>

    General Manager knocked several times, but nobody opened up. I watched with my arms folded until I was eventually fed up: "Underground fighting is forbidden. They won''t open up so easily."

    "So, help out."

    I shrugged: "It is your job. Also, I''m not good at knocking on doors when I know nobody will open. So, please help yourself, General Manager Bai."

    The door was locked tight. By the looks of it, nobody had visited the ce in ages. If I was correct, the entrance was elsewhere. I looked up at Feiyun Hall. The ce wasn''t particrlyrge. It urred to me that it wouldn''t be an ideal ce forrge-scale fights. Additionally, I couldn''t hear a thing from within, which was odd.

    General Manager Bai eventually wore on a straight face and fumed, "If you won''t open up, I''ll open it my way."

    General Manager Bai threw a heavy impact palm at the old timber door, snapping the timber. She gave me a smug smirk: "Hmph, tell me why we need to find another way in again."

    ''You know that''s called trespassing on private property?! I don''t even have my Liu Shan Men token with me. What are we supposed to do if someone reports us?!''

    General Manager Bai ran in without any regard formoners'' logic.

    As per the outside, the interior appeared to have been abandoned ages ago; there wasn''t a soul in sight, either. The interior was as small as I surmised from the outside. If it was a martial arts club, it must''ve been a miserable one. In no capacity did it resemble the ce where the corrupt or thieves dwelled.

    I suppose General Manager Bai was unlike her usual aloof self because she never left the imperial pce before. The number expressions she showed were sparse, but she resembled a child on an exploration adventure. She''d look at something then turn back to me and called me over. This time, she said, "Hurry, hurry. Your qinggong is poor, and you walk slowly, too?"

    "I''m trying to quick, you know? This ce is tiny. One nce and you can see everything there is to see; what''s the rush? General Manager Bai, are you sure this is the right ce?"

    "I can''t be mistaken. This is the secret report His Majesty''s entourage submitted."

    "Enlighten me. Where are the fighters, then?"

    "Umm¡­" General Manager Bai had to agree I wasn''t wrong.

    General Manager Bai leapt up onto the roof without making a peep or kicking up any fragments, demonstrating practiced qinggong skills. I wasn''t sure what the limit of her skills was. She seemed proficient in every facet of martial arts. However, she wasn''t a hand style expert in various styles as Tang Ye was. I spected she had yet to reveal her best skills. For that reason, I couldn''t tell what her style was. Well, I could hardly recognise any style, anyway¡­

    Bai Lian surveyed the area below. In the end, she was disappointed: "Besides this ce, it''s just more residential homes. This is all there is t-, wait¡­ Something about the buildings is strange."

    "How so?"

    General Manager Bai leapt down and puffed her cheeks: "This ce is the main building. The dozens of other residential homes are linked up in a straight line with only a wall in between. It''s¡­ resembles a singlerge abode split up instead of each house being built independently. Ming Feizhen, you might be correct; the entrance might actually be elsewhere."

    "In other words, the residential ces around here are suspicious?"

    "Exactly," replied General Manager Bai, rubbing her hands as a sign of fascination. "Since we found something, let''s get going."

    ''Oi, oi, oi, don''t wear that ''I''m not afraid of a fight'' expression! The people dwelling nearby are citizens. You can''t go searching every property! There''s bound to be someone on surveince. By the time you find any clues, they''d have run off with everything already, my goodness gracious! That''s it. I can''t trust anyone but myself.''

    I folded my arms and moulded energy to my ears, enhancing my hearing. I could hear conversations, people eating andughter in the neighbourhood.

    Bai Lian nced over with a bewildered look: "What''s the matter? Something wrong?"

    I nodded with a smile. I focused in to sift through the noise for relevant information until the conversation between a man and a woman caught my attention.

    Woman: "Dear, do you think you can win?"

    Man: "The fucking peasants are usually wusses, yet they''re unbelievably tough out of the blue. I have no clue what their deal is. Honey, don''t panic. We can use weapons in the underground circuit. Worsees to worse, we can amputate one of their arms. They wouldn''t know sh*t about de weaponry."

    Judging from the exchange, I was sure I found my target, so I continued listening in.

    Woman: "Okay, your call. However, we''ve fought two bouts without any rest in between. Not to mention you took a blow for me before. Are you all right?"

    Man: "I know what I''m doing. The next fight will be two versus two. You take the left, and I take the right. As I said, we can resort to using our des if need be. This ce is home to adepts in hiding. If outsiders see us lose, everyone wouldugh at us, Shaanbei''s Mandarin Duck des, for losing to backwater people."

    Woman: "Dear, I''m sure you can win with your skill."

    Man: "Heh, of course you''d know how skilled your husband is. You sexy little thing, you want to test my skills here, too?"

    Woman: "Stop it. There are people waiting."

    Man: "Wifey, it''s been a long time since w-"

    I nodded with a squint. The man walked the same path as my shifu. Tell me what sort of couple would have a tryst in a room in broad daylight if they didn''t have a record for cheating.

    Bai Lian came over, since I didn''t respond to her. She poked her head around to the front: "Ming Feizhen!"

    The sudden scenery and character change startled me.

    "What?! Who are you?! What do you want?!"

    Bai Lian: "What''s the matter?"

    "Eh? Eh? Eh? Oh, nothing. I didn''t do anything!" I eximed with both hands up to prove my innocence.

    Bai Lian mumbled, "You''re always been a peculiar one, but you''re even weirder today."

    "Whatever do you mean?"

    Imagine your wife catching you flipping through your intimate art magazine. That was how I felt¡­

    "Are youing or not?" asked Bai Lian.

    "Wait. I mulled on it and realised there''s more to it. Follow me."

    I led confused General Manager Bai to an underground storehouse. Seeing the storehouse confirmed my suspicion. The storehouse was made from pure brick, so it was sturdy unlike the main door. The ce didn''t stand out; however, if you meticulously inspected the entire building''s design, you''d notice it actually stuck out. In addition, the voices I heard came from the storehouse. Worth noting was I had to resort to Yijin Jing to hear them, indicating the walls were ridiculously thick.

    "This ce¡­ is bizarre. They constructed it using different materials. I have the impression they emphasised safety to protect something. This storehouse is too small for a ring fight, having said that¡­" stated General Manager Bai. Admittedly, she was considerably perceptive to be able to discern the difference with a single nce. After further scrutinising, she remarked, "Feiyun Hall is hidden beneath this storehouse?"

    I smiled: "General Manager Bai is most wise."

    With a blush, Bai Lian replied, "Hmph, you''re the one who noticed. Don''t give me credit where I didn''t earn it. I''m not the vain type of eunuch."

    I smiled as a modest man would: "May I ask how you could tell Feiyun Hall is underground, then?"

    "Are you done mocking me?!" fumed Bai Lian. "There''s a big chimney at the top when it''s not necessary. That means this ce is used to provide oxygen to the area below. I''ll be damned if the ring isn''t underneath. Hmph, immature!"

    ''What are you angry about?! How was I supposed to know?! I was busy listening to the sensual conversation. How do you expect me to notice a chimney? Why would I ask if I knew?'' Sheesh, you''re a fierce cat. Whoever you m-, gets married to you. Wait. I give up. But what is with my stinking luck¡­?''

    General Manager Bai nced out me out of her peripherals then ignored me. She knocked on the bricks to find a way in. If it was an airway as she imed it was, there wouldn''t be a way in. There were no windows, meaning the exit was elsewhere. In the end, she shook her head: "The entrance isn''t here¡­ Ming Feizhen, back off a bit."

    I noticed Bai Lian look decisive for once. I responded, "Huh?"

    "Move. Keep standing there and I won''t hesitate to go through you."

    General Manger Bai took in a deep breath and sped her hands together. A faint, calm blue energy resembling sword aura, except that it was harder to perform, appeared at the tip of her fingers. Only adepts possessing immense control over their internal energy could perform the feat. I was thoroughly impressed her internal energy was so potent when she wasn''t even twenty yet.

    General Manager Bai wore a cold expression. The blue energy from her hands covered her entire body; she churned up so much energy her sleeves fluttered when there wasn''t the presence of a wind. The sky-blue energy shrouded General Manager Bai''s hand.

    "Flying Snow Stunning Green!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    General Manager Bai struck with her sleeves in tow,nding two palm strikes sequentially on a single spot! If she hit a living person with that force and the cold qi in the blue energy, they''d be history on the spot. Despite her heavy blow, the wall didn''t even budge; it wouldn''t be far-fetched to think the wall absorbed all of her force.

    The attack drained General Manager Bai, evident from the sweat on her forehead. She slowly pulled her arms away from the wall. There were cracks on the wall where her handnded. She breathed out and said, "This wall is made up of severalyers of different bricks. I managed to break halfway through, but I can''t get any deeper. We''re going to need some other tricks if we want to break it. I say we start with the residents."

    Notes:

    *Mandarin Duck des - This is possibly a reference to Jin Yong''s wuxia nove of the same title - it''s also known as de-Dance of the Two Lovers - in 1961. Fun fact: if you read it, you will notice how tremendous the differences in themes are from then and now in Chinese fiction.

 Volume 6 32 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Give Me Back My Beauty

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 32 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Give Me Back My Beauty</h4>

    General Manager Bai was on the money. The wall was absurdly thick; it wasprised of sevenyers of different bricks. She smashed four down, which was remarkable; unfortunately, each sessiveyer was thicker than its predecessor. Thest threeyers were thicker than the first fourbined. Further proof was the fact the couple was still having the time of their life on the other side when General Manager Bai smashed fouryers.

    Disappointed, General Manager Bai said, "It''s a waste of time to start over, and they may stop us from entering thepetition venue. I don''t see another option, sadly."

    ''You''re correct, but¡­ search the residential homes? Is that some sort of bad joke?! I went to the trouble of listening to a porn conversation and watched you perform some dual flying green sparrow, only to resort to the stupidest option?! Fine¡­ Thanks for the show back there,dy and gentleman, but apologies.''

    "Let''s go. It''s gettingte," said General Manager Bai, walking off resolutely.

    I stood still in ce, because I had a special way of entering. I gazed up, pretending to admire the sky and then, boom! I kicked behind me. The impact smashed through all sevenyers. Rubble and dust flew looked as if an explosion went off.

    Startled, Bai Lian spun around to see the cav-, well, technically, some of the wall was still standing. Take a few bricks out, and the wall would be no more.

    "Wh-What happened?"

    "How should I know? Weren''t you the one who bashed the wall with some twin flying green sparrow?"

    "It''s Flying Snow Stunning Green! It''s a description of orchids. How did you mix the characters uppletely¡­? I didn''t break through, though. Did I get stronger without knowing? Th-That makes no sense," said General Manager Bai, checking out her hands and the wall without but unable toprehend what happened.

    I stepped into the storehouse and moved a few bricks. I found the uncensored couple buried underneath the rubble, indicating the bricks knocked them out when they were doing it up against the wall. Fortunately for them, they were close to the wall. If they stood farther away, the impact would''ve killed them on the spot.

    I silently prayed, "Love is noble, and I admire your dedication, but I apologise."

    Bai Lian stepped in and questioned, "Who are they?"

    "You don''t know Shaanxi Mandarin Duck des?"

    "What? And you know?"

    "See the namete? It''s written there," I said as I grabbed said namete.

    "Eh? Oh, right¡­" reacted General Manager Bai, feigning she didn''t know who they were. She timidly added, "I have plenty of mandarin ducks back home."

    ''Your excuse perfectly exposed your ignorance, Dear Lian! Plus, your home is the imperial pce. You asking to be executed?!''

    "What were they doing here? Why isn''t the woman dressed?"

    ''Uh¡­ they have the freedom to do what they like, don''t they?''

    Since the two of them went for a tryst after fighting, there had to be a passageway. After silently searching for it, I found the mechanism to open the door. The ce was supposed to be an air duct of sorts; therefore, the entrance would always be open. They, however, shut it for their tryst. I tugged the iron mechanism. The noisy fighting, shouting and swearing quickly hit my eardrums. Feiyun Hall was underground just as General Manager Bai said it was!

    "General Manager Bai, we found Feiyun Hall!"

    Absentminded, General Manager Bai looked down at the two on the ground and, resembling a researching schr, eximed, "Hey, Ming Feizhen, why is the man touching the woman''s breast? Ew! He''s not even dressed! That''s just gross!"

    "How? Don''t make unfoundedments if you don''t know what''s going on. They wer-"

    "What were they doing?" asked General Manager Bai, covering her red face using her sleeve, leaving just her eyes out to satisfy her curiosity. "What were they¡­ they¡­?"

    I found myself speechless. I didn''t know how to exin it to the eunuch who started working at an early age. I stopped myself when I had a realisation: "Wait. Eunuch Bai has to know when she takes care of the Empress and concubines. She can''t possibly be ignorant!"

    I replied, "They were¡­"

    "They were?"

    "Wr-Wrestling."

    "Oh¡­" General Manager Bai titled her head: "It must''ve been an intense match."

    General Manager Bai struggled toe to terms with it. After a second nce, she asked, "But why are they wearing masks?"

    "That''s just a fetish the couple has, okay? Masks¡­"

    ''Eh? A new mask fet-, what the hell am I on about? They''re wearing masks, because it''s an underground fight, surely. It''s not a new fetish!''

    Underground fighters often wore masks, which suggested we were at the right ce. Suddenly, someone below called, "Hu Wangxing and Madam Hu versus Uncle and Auntie Wang. ce your bets now. Contestants, ce prepare!"

    General Manager Bai finally asked a proper question: "What''s his name?"

    I found the man''s nametag: "Hu Wangxing."

    Meanwhile, General Manager Bai picked up the woman''s name tag: "Her name is Die Yn."

    "Contestants, ready up!"

    Hasty, General Manager Bai said, "They''re cing bets. It''s time to collect the evidence. We''ll stick out if we go down there, like this. How are we going to search for evidence?"

    When an idea came to mind, I patted General Manager Bai on the shoulder. She asked, "What?"

    I revealed a cunning smile: "General Manager Bai, strip!"

    "I''ll strip you of your head!" brayed Genera Manager Bai, pping me straight away.

    ''Oi! Why did you react so fast?! That''s what girls do!''

    General Manager Bai gave me the, "Your skin is so thick my hand hurts" look.

    ''Okay, shall I apologise to your noble hand?!''

    "I blurted the wrong words. I meant get changed, not strip."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I stripped Hu Wangxing down and wore his clothes on. I had to use my bone maniption technique when General Manager Bai wasn''t paying attention to actually fit into his clothes. General Manager Bai had no idea why I stripped Hu Wangxing; hence, she didn''t cooperate. Instead, she gripped her clothes with a vice-like grip as though she was afraid I''d strip her.

    "What are you doing?" asked General Manager Bai.

    "General Manager Bai, you aren''t going to ask me to exin from the beginning, are you? Wasn''t the fact there wasn''t a way to find collect evidence crippling you?"

    General Manager Bai stared at me with her eyebrows furrowed for a while before catching on. Delighted, she asked, "So, we''re disguising ourselves as them to sneak in to collect evidence?"

    Once General Manager Bai saw me wear on Hu Wangxing''s clothes, she suddenly panicked: "W-Wait. You want me to wear on Die Yn''s clothes?"

    "Obviously! Does it look as if I''d fit into a woman''s clothes? You are a stunner, so nobody would suspect you if you wore a woman''s clothing. Just deal with it. I''ll treat you to a meal after this."

    "B-But I¡­"

    "We''re both men. What''s the big deal?"

    "Y-Yeah, we''re both¡­ But I''m actually¡­"

    ''Yes, I know you''re a eunuch, but I never told you to take your pants off. You just have to wear the dress over the top.''

    General Manager Bai looked down to the half-naked maiden then me over and over. I pestered her in the end: "General Manager Bai, hurry and change."

    General Manager Bai stammered, "C-C-Can I not?"

    "What do you think?! They''re rushing us down there!''

    "Wouldn''t she be left nude, then?"

    "We can just leave our clothes for them, then. Hurry up. Fine, I''ll give you a hand!"

    General Manager Bai quickly wrapped her arms around herself to signal she would never obey: "W-Wait. Don''t touch me. Y-"

    Cackling, I reached for Die Lanyi instead of the ces General Manager Bai covered. I mumbled in my mind, "I can''t help it, Madam Hu. General Manager Bai refuses to cooperate, so I have to force her to change myself. If I want to help her change, I have to strip you. If I see anything I''m not supposed to, please just me her. Hmm? Why is it dark?"

    General Manager Bai threw a cloth bag over my head and beat me with a brick. Lying on the ground, I heard, "Idiot¡­"

    Good grief¡­ I nearly died. In saying that, when I removed the cloth bag in a hazy state, the first thing I saw would be imprinted in my memories forever. General Manager Bai had just finished changing into a dress. The dress fitted Die Yn perfectly, but there seemed as if there was a space between General Manager Bai''s waist and the dress. Despite the fitted design, her taper was so perfect that her waist didn''t look blocky.

    General Manager Bai was doing up thest button at the neck. Even the way she did up her buttons was elegant and majestic. Once done, she syed out her hair. I finally realised it was her naturally graceful, yet casual,bination that made her unique. She could get physical at the drop of the hat, but she always stuck to what she was taught. Upon noticing my gaze on her, I saw a gentle countenance I''d never seen before on her.

    "I''m sure I look weird, since this is my first time wearing female clothing. Don''tugh at me."

    I just admired General Manager Bai without blinking. Smiling somewhat mischievously, she asked, "What are you looking at?"

    "¡­ You look good."

    Bai Lian giggled with hot flushes: "Who praises someone that way? You sound stupid."

    I reactively responded, "Stupid¡­? Isn''t it your looks that stupefied me?"

    Bai Lian stopped giggling instantly, while I didn''t know what to say, resulting in the atmosphere heating up. Neither of us uttered a word despite looking at each other. However, I could hear our hearts thumping louder and louder.

    "Hu Wangxing and Madam Hu!" called the announcer below.

    Bai Lian and I jerked back to reality. We hastily wore our masks on and descended the rather long staircase. On our way down, I said, "Follow my orders when we''re down there."

    "Oh? And if I don''t want to?"

    "You take the reins, then¡­"

    "Hu Wangxing? Madam Hu? If you dy any longer, you will be disqualified¡­"

    The two of us raced down and shouted in unison, "Present!"

    Notes:

    *Shaanbei is the northern part of Shaanxi, so Ming Feizhen isn''t wrong when he refers to the Hu couple being from Shaanxi.

    **Hu Wangxing - Pronounced "Hoo Wangshing".

    **Die Yng - Pronounced "Dee-eh eeng".

 Volume 6 33 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Prospering Descendant of a Clan

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 33 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Prospering Descendant of a n</h4>

    The two of us immediately climbed up to the ring as soon as we spotted the ring and before we could take a good look at the surroundings. Once the cheers hit our ears, we began to survey the area slowly. There was another ring in the direction of the spacious underground space; however, there were less people over there inparison. The two rings essentially upied either end of the space and were separated a significant distance from each other. The underground space extended beyond Feiyun Hall''s grounds to dozens of residential homes. As a matter of fact, it went further beyond the homes. The high ceiling exined why those on the surface couldn''t hear the noise underground. General Manager Bai and I took a considerable length of time just to go from the air duct to the ring in spite of employing our qinggong.

    The countless mes brightened up the dark space. I could see the seated audience clearly. They all wore an assortment of masks and shouted to their heart''s content to turn up the heat in the venue. I did a rough head count to find there were more than five hundred people present without ounting for the people at the other ring. There were dozens ofpetitors ringside awaiting their turn.

    Judging from the weapons, I could tell some of thepetitors were members of orthodox sects. Some were adepts from unorthodox sects. Bai Lian meticulously scrutinised the weapons and stated, "There are Shaolin, Wudang, Emei and Kunlun disciples among thepetitors."

    "Three of them are assassins. Two are in the underground syndicates. Six are smugglers. Orthodox and unorthodox sect disciples are here."

    It was odd for there to be so many ordinary folks around. If they weren''t ordinary folks, they were farmers. Based off their disguise and quiet discussions, they weren''t your everyday farmers. In all fairness, the masked audience behind them were even more bizarre. I didn''t sense a minute trace of internal energy from them. They just packed exceptional brute force frombour work. I was astounded to see they matched the martial world''s attendee numbers. There was one more person below the ring, specifically the announcer who called for us before. He appeared to be the official manager of the ce.

    The announcer wore the mask of a savage rabbit fiend. He raised his voice: "Shaanxi''s Mandarin Duck de will face the club''s Uncle and Auntie Wang. Betters, ce your bets now, and then remove your hands from the tables."

    The announcer''s subordinates began collecting the money from various locations. We were the underdogs ording to the bets; however, some faced a dilemma.

    When General Manager Bai looked back at me after scanning the area, the two of us found we were both equally surprised with Feiyun Hall''s ability to set up such arge ce; there had to be someone wielding immense power to make it possible. It was no longer a surprise they dared to steal from the imperial pce. Having said that, it also meant finding the mastermind was harder. I thought that was what General Manager Bai tried to tell me. I discovered another oddity I tried to make heads and tails of.

    Rabbit turned to us and, surprised, asked, "How did you grow taller, Hero Hu? Also, where is your broadsword?"

    I forgot the broadsword upstairs¡­ I resorted to deceit: "Uh¡­ When one understands the heart of the de, one does not need a physical de. I''ll be fine without it. As for my height, I''ve always been this height. Are you imaging things?"

    "Rabbit has never been wrong. Strange. Strange¡­ eh?!" eximed Rabbit Fiend. "Eh? Howe Madam Hu is somehow different? She''s more charming. Her waist is, well, a waist and her arm¡­ hehe."

    Rabbit Fiend''sments drew attention to Bai Lian. She was fine with the mask; s, she wasn''t used to female clothing. She went red in the face as a consequence of the remarks; I could feel the heat from her. I sternly jumped in: "What''s so funny? My wife has always been a stunner. A waist is a waist, and an arm is an arm. Look, I understand you''re jealous, because you can look but you can''t touch. However, it''s wrong to shamelessly mock her."

    "Ming Feizhen! Why are you going along with them?!" griped Bai Lian, using ventriloquism with her teeth gritted. "Cut the nonsense! The fight is starting."

    There were no such things as rules in underground fighting. The opponent could''ve struck at us from the moment we entered the ring.

    I didn''t even spare our opponents a nce. The two of them looked as if they were in the wrong ce. They dressed in clothing worn on farm fields. They belonged on a field; not in a ring. They made their move before we did.

    Uncle Wang went for a double-handed grab. Auntie Wang swung her arms as she raced over. She probably learnt it when she argued with other farmers back home. With that said, in spite of their unruly style, their movements were fast and strong - evident from the booming wind.

    Bai Lian and I split off but didn''t retaliate, because we felt we''d be bullies if we hit them. Something odd about them started to disturb me, nevertheless. Their eyes and ears gradually turned red. They sweated. Their lips turned pale. It was if they used some voodoo technique or something. Their movements resembled beasts, in the sense there was no structure to it. Imagine a starving, bloodthirsty wild beast running around. General Manager Bai also noticed their oddity; thus, she, too, didn''t engage them.

    General Manager Bai caught Rabbit Fiend pursing his lips into a smug smile as he watched us retreat. She stifled her voice and said, "There''s something unusual about these people. I''m sure these two were ordinary folks. Somehow, they''ve augmented their strength, and they''re not in the right mind. They look as though they practiced a style of some sort. This ce is weird in numerous ways. I think there''s a bigger plot behind the scenes. We need to find a way to find out more¡­"

    "That won''t be necessary. It''s five stones powder," I replied.

    I rotated to follow closely behind General Manager Bai. When General Manager Bai dodged, I dodged. When she moved, I moved. Our movements resembled a concerted dance.

    "Five stones powder?" asked Bai Lian, surprised. "The five stones powder imed to stimte one''s potential until they lose their mind?"

    "You know it?"

    General Manager Bai was more knowledgeable than I expected. She responded, "Yeah, it''s been mentioned in one of the hidden books in the imperial pce."

    Five stones powder was a hypnosis drug employed in the military to stimte wounded soldiers'' potential and induce the mentality of taking their enemies down with them. It was an arguably cruel method, as it was awfully taxing on its user. It wasn''t detrimental if used once. After multiple uses, however, it wouldn''t rob them of their physical energy but their lifespan. Consume it more than five times, and they would be left crippled several months post-consumption. Some even lost the ability to distinguish between allies and enemies. Thus, it could be described as a double-edged sword. Another point worth noting was it came from areas beyond the capital - think far outskirts. The cavalry from the Northern half of Xinjiang also ambushed General Manager Bai and me in the capital. The coincidental matches made me wonder who was behind Feiyun Hall.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I know it, since I saw someone suffering from it before."

    In truth, I knew of it, because it was a terrific aphrodisiac if it was slightly modified. They offered them at brothels. Being well versed in the art, my shifu taught me all about it¡­

    Bai Lian questioned: "What happens after consuming it?"

    "Immense strength. Enhanced senses. Imagine adding ten years'' worth of training to your strength just clicking your fingers. It also sustains your stamina and switches off pain sensations. Therefore, you''ll get up from any non-lethal damage and fight until you''re dead. I''d say it''s safe to assume it''s the reason these ordinary farmers could defeat adepts."

    If Uncle and Auntie Wang were up against Shaanxi''s Mandarin Duck des, the former might be intimidating. Against someone of General Manager Bai''s calibre, on the other hand, she could beat them without breaking a sweat.

    General Manager Bai spun to deftly evade her two attackers and asked, "You know how to nullify it, then?"

    "It''s hard to concoct the antidote. I''d need an hour."

    "Is there an alternative method?"

    "Yes." I lowered my voice to exin, "Regardless of what drug you use to influence one''s mental state, it''s useless once they''re out cold."

    "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I tried already; they don''t sense pain."

    "Yes, but what about their nerves, qi or blood pathways?"

    "I see!"

    Bai Lian steadied herself and perfectly timed a double palm attack counter, leading to our two opponents seemingly running into the attack themselves. The force of her palm strikes prated their dantians to stir their qi and blood, knocking them out. And that was how we won our first round.

    The crowd erupted into cheers and sighs, though thetter was the minority. It wasn''t hard to discern who would ce big bets on the fight. Surprised with the oue, Rabbit Fiend hastily eximed, "Hu Wangxing and Madam Fu win! ording to the rules, they must fight three consecutive fights once the fighting starts. Let the next boutmence!"

    The next two bouts were against the simr duos in identical scenarios. General Manager Bai utilised my method to finish them, giving them no opportunities to pressure us. Thus, we breezed through the three rounds. Needless to say, the crowd cheered and ced bets. The two of us rode the momentum to win another three bouts, totalling six victories. A number farmers lost chunks of money.

    Ostensibly, Rabbit Fiend was rendered speechless. He clenched his teeth and smiled hostilely: "Nice, Hero Hu, Madam Hu. I must admit I did not see you possessed such skill."

    Smiling, I responded, "It was just a fluke. We can''tpare to your elite subordinates."

    The audienceughed upon hearing me refer to his subordinates as elites.

    Rabbit Fiend suddenlyughed: "Your skills were a pleasure to watch. I wish to recruit you two on behalf of my master, so you willpete against our adepts. What do you think?"

    General Manager Bai subtly pinched her eyebrows together. She looked to me and gently shook her head: "I''ll pass. You can''tpete against their adepts with your skill. Don''t ept no matter what. As we now have a disguise, we should spend some time here. We''ll eventually find the thief."

    Before I could reject the offer, someone shouted, "A kid sneaked in! Catch him!"

    The audience area was in uproar. The pretty-boy kid weaved through the crowd skilfully, evading Feiyun Hall''s people multiple times. He even stopped every now and then to retaliate, hammering them on their heads.

    "Catch him!"

    "He doesn''t have a mask! He must''ve sneaked in!"

    People tried to run straight after hearing he sneaked in, plunging the venue into chaos. However, Rabbit Fiend belted, "Calm down, everyone. I shall capture you now. How dare you run amok here, you insolent kid! Catch him, and beat him to death."

    The dexterous kid in purple was quite strong; but s, he was soon cornered, because he had five to six people chasing him. Once he had nowhere left to turn to, he cried, "Help me! Help me!"

    I watched on with my arms folded. I was aware he followed us all the way to Feiyun Hall from the capital. I had yet to figure out what he had in mind. His bravery impressed me, though. Thest thing I expected was for him toe underground.

    Hearing his voice, Bai Lian eximed, "It''s Lord Zi!"

    "Surprised", I remarked, "Eh? Oh, Lord Zi."

    "Why is Lord Zi here? Damn it¡­ They caught him."

    Rabbit Fiend went up to Lord Zi and lifted him up by the back of his cor: "Who let you in here!"ord Zi looked away: "Not telling! But certainly not you!"

    "Lord Zi is going tond himself in hot waters with that attitude!"

    "What are you so anxious for? His family is influential and powerful. Call his old man, and he''s good."

    "His father? What are you on about? If we don''t save him now, it''ll be toote!"

    Rabbit Fiend threw Lord Zi to his subordinates. Admittedly, the subordinates didn''t look friendly. I wouldn''t have put it past them to batter him to death.

    "Stop! Don''t touch him!" aggressively demanded General Manager Bai.

    Rabbit Fiend: "Would you happen to know him, Madam Hu?"ord Zi smiled brightly once he saw Bai Lian. I assumed he believed she could save him. I would argue his optimism was closer to fearless.

    Bai Lian said, "Of course I do. Release him."

    Rabbit Fiend detected Bai Lian''s anxiety. He, consequently, decided to leverage that: "We don''t know who he is, and he barged in without a mask. The people here are all prominent figures. This impacts hundreds of important people''s lives. He broke the rules first, so you can''t hold it against me, Madam Hu."

    Bai Lian shot me a wrathful re, telling me to speak up. Hence, I said, "Brother Tu, let''s do this as men would. Let the kid go. We''ll join Feiyun Hall as you wish."

    "Haha, absolutely. You are a wise man, Hero Hu." Rabbit Fiend then followed up, "Who is the child, though? If he is not rted to anyone, we can''t just sweep it under the rug."

    "Uh, well¡­" I didn''t have a response. I didn''t have an exnation for the second generation rich kid¡­

    After racking her brains, Bai Lian decided to go with, "He''s our son!"

    Me: "Eh?"

    Rabbit Fiend: "Ah?"ord Zi: "???"

    Face red, Bai Lian clenched her teeth: "H-He''s our child!"

    Notes:

    *Brother Tu - Tu means Rabbit. He is obviously referencing "Rabbit Fiend".

 Volume 6 34 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Zizi, The Dragonâ€™s Descendant

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 34 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Zizi, The Dragon¡¯s Descendant</h4>

    Rabbit Fiend didn''t make things difficult for Lord Zi upon learning he was our son. He promised to release Lord Zi once we met tomorrow morning. He didn''t want to offend us, since he wanted to recruit us.

    After we picked up Lord Zi, we were led out. We were forced to cover our eyes once we reached the exit. That made the ce much more mysterious and suspicious than I initially thought; fortunately, we weren''t in danger.

    "Why are you here, Lord Zi?" asked General Manager Bai, after we swiftly left the ce. In her serious demeanour, she questioned, "Why did you sneak out? Does anyone else know about this ce?"

    Based purely off General Manager Bai''s tone, she was respectful to Lord Zi. Her attitude, to the contrary, was more of an elder sister reproaching her younger brother out of care. For the record, she was only eighteen or neen, so she was only a few years older than him.ord Zi hung his head down and pleaded, "It''s not my fault, Sister Lian. I didn''t want to sneak out. I followed someone and ended up arriving here."

    Me: "Good kids don''t lie. It takes several hours on horseback to reach this ce from the capital. Who would you follow all the way here?"ord Zi blinked a few times: "You."

    Me: "Huh?"ord Zi puffed his cheeks: "I said I would be your disciple; I can''t quit half way. That''s why I followed you ever since you left the pce. I saw you speak with Grandpa Li and Sister Lian! Then, I followed you here when you two rode off."

    "You can run as fast as a horse?"ord Zi proudly responded, "I know how to ride horses! Sister Lian taught me!"

    I nced over to General Manager Bai: "General Manager Bai, why does he keep calling you Sister Lian? You two¡­ aren''t ying some sort of weird game in the pce, are you?"

    That plus the fact she couldn''t possibly be any more bing in female clothing raised rms. I suspected she dressed as a female in the imperial pce!

    "Ow! That hurt," I griped.

    General Manager Bai ruthlessly smacked me. She avoided addressing the way Lord Zi addressed her. Tone cold, she said, "It''s none of your business. Lord Zi, I have not finished speaking. You cannot just leave the pce. Your mother will be worried sick. She must have a lot to say to you, since it has been a long time since you two met. Moreover, this ce is far from the capital. Y-"

    "It wasn''t on purpose. I left a note for Mother before I left," interjected Lord Zi, hiding behind me after and giving Bai Lian the pitiful look. He tugged my sleeve and quietly pleaded, "Shifu, Shifu, help me out."

    "Who you calling your shifu? Plus, General Manager Bai isn''t wrong. Do you realise how much danger you were in? You''ll need more than ten lives next time."ord Zi looked away and pulled a funny face: "I only get bullied, because my martial arts skills aren''t good enough. If I was as good as you, casually putting away the cavalry viins, I wouldn''t have to fear anyone."

    ''Huh? You saw me fight the cavalry from Northern Xinjiang? You''re a sneaky one, kiddo!''

    Puzzled, Bai Lian asked, "Cavalry viins?"ord Zi replied, "Th-"

    I covered Lord Zi''s mouth and intervened: "Uh, nothing, nothing. Calm down. He''s still a k-"

    "Don''t defend him!" scolded Bai Lian. "One can''t hide aftermitting a mistake. Lord Zi,e here."

    Thus, Lord Zi obediently copped a scolding. On a serious note, I had no idea why he giggled when General Manager Bai reproached him. I didn''t know any second generation rich kid or second generation official who would be happy to cop a lecture.

    "We have an important mission today. Do not meddle, understood?" said General Manager Bai.

    "Just send him back. Solved," I remarked.

    "What sort of idiocy is that? How can Lord Zi, a child, go back?!" argued General Manager Bai.

    In my mind: "Come on¡­ What sort of logic do you work with? Is there even any? If he can''t go back, how did hee here in the first ce?!"

    "I''m worried Lord Zi will meet with mishap, so he must go back with us, full stop. Lord Zi, we have to go out for work tomorrow. Please wait for us at the inn. Do not leave it," stated General Manager Bai, in a respectful, yet demanding, tone.

    After Lord Zi nodded, General Manager Bai turned to me: "And you! We''re splitting up tomorrow. I''ll take care of the fighting in the ring; you focus on locating their contact."

    A helpless feeling surfaced when I thought back on the design and set up of Feiyun Hall. I was hoping to kick back, eat pears and feast on pork shoulders after Jin Wangsun''s fiasco to enjoy New Year, but there I was stuck with two busy days.

    General Manager Bai headed to Feiyun Hall as she said she would the next day. ording to my observation from yesterday, nobody at Feiyun Hall would be able to put one on her. She would be able to escape even if they ganged up on her. Finding a way to retrieve the stolen artefacts was far harder than sparking doped fighters.

    ording to what General Manager Bai said, the stolen items were sold once they smuggled them out of the pce. Apparently, the items were seen at Feiyun Hall before. The biggest shareholder of Feiyun Hall was Lu Shangfei. Puremon sense was enough to realise a rich businessman couldn''t have possibly sneaked into the pce. He either had to disguise himself as someone high ranking, or he had someone influential supporting him.

    I went around to different ces to ask different people about Lu Shangfei. Their information didn''t match with what I knew. He, apparently, was a household name at Wuhua County. He wasn''t born there, but he migrated there from childhood, studied and grew up there. Hence, he treated it as his second home and often returned to participate in phnthropy events. He had a brother working as an official at the capital. Once sessful, his brother often came back to teach. The brothers, consequently, were respected.

    The information I obtained was bemusing to me. I could understand someone running an underground fighting syndicate and stealing from the imperial pce trying to create a facade with phnthropy. Nevertheless, Lu Shangfei clearly didn''t fit that description. If his phnthropy was a facade, he should''ve stayed off the grid as much as possible. Yet, Prime Minister Li and General Manager Bai knew of him. That wasn''t even counting the Emperor''s entourage. If he could be the mastermind behind Feiyun Hall, he had to be underestimating people in the pugilistic world. The biggest plot hole was¡­ if he really was part of the underground world, he wouldn''t let his brother work as an official and make a big deal out of it; he didn''t even attempt to hide their rtionship. If something undesired ever happened, both of them would be history. In my opinion, he resembled a scapegoat more than a mastermind.

    I made my way to Feiyun Hall''s main property. We were too overconfident yesterday and didn''t pack up, so they most likely caught on to us already. The main door was open when I arrived, proving my spection someone already entered. I hurried to the air duct storehouse to see a group of people, presumably Feiyun Hal''s subordinates, gathered in one spot.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Someone must''ve barged in and smashed the storehouse."

    "Yeah right. Are you iming he used a hammer to do this?"

    "Well, they''re not here anymore. I wonder who it was."

    "Wait. There are two people here, a male and a female. They resemble Hu Wangxing and his wife."

    "I told you Die Yn suddenly looked so much better yesterday. Hang on¡­"

    I thought, "Pretty perceptive, bros."

    "There''s a reward if you guess correctly," I said as I whooshed over. I chopped all four using a knife hand, knocking them out on the spot. I silently remarked, "You''re smart, but I can''t let you expose us. General Manager Bai is still whooping ass down there, after all."

    I threw the four aside then checked Hu Wangxin and his wife''s pulse. Their pulse was all right, and they were still breathing. They probably needed another half a day to wake up. Due to yesterday''s rush, we didn''t tidy up. Thus, I helped the couple ease out the clogs in their qi and blood cirction pathways to ensure they could heal. Then, I sealed their meridians so that they would sleep for one more day. Once done, I questioned, "What happened to waiting at the inn?"ord Zi ran over from behind: "You noticed me already?"

    "There''s no reason for you to follow me even if I didn''t detect you, is there?"

    Eyes on the people on the ground, Lord Zi adopted an envious tone: "You are strong as I thought¡­ I need to be as strong as you."

    "Lord Zi, I think you''re mistaking something. I don''t ept students," I said, arms folded and smiling. "Especially those who aren''t honest."

    "¡­ You knew?"

    "Knew what?" I asked with a smile. "That your name isn''t actually Zizi?"

    Though hesitant, Lord Zi eventually admitted, "My name is Li Zizi. The first ''Zi'' is ''zi'' in filial son, and the second ''Zi'' is the ''Zi'' for purple."

    "Oh? You share the same surname as the imperial family? That''s quite the coincidence."

    "Please don''t make fun of me. You know he is my father," said Lord Zi, particrly serious for once. "Given my name is Li Zizi, it is obvious I am His Majesty''s seventh son."

    I hated to admit it, but I was spot on. The seven Princes were named after colours red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple. The six adult Princes were crowned as Princes, had their own fiefs and were forbidden from returning to the capital without permission. Hence, it was quite obvious he was the seventh son yet to be crowned a Prince, since General Manager Bai was so concerned about him, and he could enter and leave the pce as he pleased. I assumed he was called Lord Zi, since he wasn''t officially dered a Prince yet.

    "Hero Ming!" cried Lord Zi, hugging me around my waist. "I don''t know why Sister Lian thinks you''re weak, but I know you''re anything but weak. You''re the strongest person I''ve ever met. Can you take me as your disciple?!"

    "Don''t try to cotton up to me," I said as I pushed Lord Zi''s face away gently. Voice frigid, I questioned, "Tell me why you chased me all the way here to ask me to be your shifu in spite of the risk? You''re a Prince; can''t His Majesty find you a shifu? Why do you insist on learning from me?"

    "That''s because¡­" A trace of fear crept onto Lord Zi''s small face: "Someone is after my life! If you don''t take me as your disciple, I''ll die in the imperial pce!"

 Volume 6 35 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Drink Too Much and Itâ€™s Sickening

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 35 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Drink Too Much and It¡¯s Sickening</h4>

    Lord Zi told me he usually lived at his grandpa''s ce in Luoyang and returned to the capital to visit his parents at New Year. His maternal family were ostensibly wealthy, allowing him to lead an even more luxurious life at his home in Luoyang than the imperial pce. He stayed at the capital for longer than scheduled owing to the Orange Prince''s revolt. After that, his eldest sister returned to the capital (so he was my rtive in a way¡­). His second sister was then supposed to marry (I was the groom¡­). As a consequence, he didn''t get to spend much time with the Emperor and extended his visit.

    After spending so long in the imperial pce, Lord Zi tried to relieve his boredom and left the pce daily to y. The other Princes were no longer around in the pce. He, however, was still young and usually resided elsewhere. As such, he was permitted to enter and leave the pce to his leisure. Jinling, being therge city it was, offered many ces he could find entertainment. He spent his days immersed in leisure, almost spending his nights outside the pce. On one certain day, he witnessed a scene at a restaurant that haunted him henceforward.ord Zi enjoyed a banquet of more than a dozen dishes by himself on that fateful day and even ordered two pots of wine, believing it made him an adult. s, he couldn''t triumph over his physiology; he nearly passed out after just one cup. Nevertheless, as the descendant of the dragon, defeat wasn''t eptable. Lord Zi proceeded to down half of the pot, resulting in him almost puking all over the floor. Not wanting to give others grief, the considerate kid held it in until he reached the toilet to unleash a storm from his mouth.

    When Lord Zi finished throwing up, he realised his head was spinning so awfully he couldn''t navigate his way back, nor did he know where he was. He walked into a random room and eventually sumbed to the alcohol in a chair. When he came to, he didn''t have the foggiest idea as to where he was. As he went to get up, he overheard a conversation, consequently informing him he identally entered a booked room.ord Zi, being the righteous kid he was, intended to apologise but heard a man say, "Thank you for taking me in, My Lords. I have resigned from my duty as an official. His Majesty''s entourage is investigating me. Had it not been thanks to Mr. Yang''s foresight, I would have been apprehended tonight."ord Zi was wise enough to tell he was listening in to something important, since he heard the Emperor''s entourage mentioned. It wasn''t hard to realise an official the Emperor''s entourage investigated couldn''t be up to good. He, therefore, instinctively covered his mouth.

    "You need not say any more," said an elder, in aposed voice. "Sir Lu, you have always shown this old one respect and taken care of him during your time managing Jinling and Jiangnan. How can this old one sit by and watch you suffer when you have contributed so much?"

    Aforementioned Sir Lu was Lu Xiazou, who gratefully responded, "I offer you my heartfelt gratitude, Sir. To avoid exposing you both, I cannot reveal myself. Could I bother you to help organise me an opportunity for me to meet my elder brother? I will not be back for eight to ten years once I leave the Central ins."

    "Eight to ten years? That''s too short," said Yang Lianhua, voice high-pitched enough to be mistaken for a woman and be spine-chilling. "I am from Beijiang. I don''t know the rules on the Central ins; however, in Beijiang, it''s considered a blessing to die formitting a mistake, for the torture thates before it is far worse. Even a man as masculine as I am feels intimidated. Lu Xiazou, you think your bribery case will blow over in a meagre few years?"

    "How about twenty years, then?"

    Yang Lianhua snickered instead of speaking.

    "My wife, son and elder brother are here though¡­" Lu Xiazou cut himself off out of hesitation. Reluctant, he continued, "Fine. In that case, I only ask for the chance to see my wife, son and brother one more time. I shall never return to the Central ins hereafter."

    Despite making the biggestpromise he could make, Lu Xiazou failed to win over the two. The elder suddenly grinned: "Sir Lu, this old one didn''t take you from His Majesty''s entourage for you to one day turn around and ce me in jeopardy."

    Shocked and disturbed, Lu Xiaozou eximed, "S-Sir, how could you malign me? I did not take a single penny; I gave all of the money to you. I have carried out so many dirty deeds for your sake. How could y-"

    "Xiazou, don''t bring up dirty deeds, consciences and whatnot. I am merely taking the necessary steps," said the elder, with a calm smile. "Watching this ill nation brings this old one to tears. This old one is going to improve the status quo, but he needs a lot of money to achieve that. Due to his status, he has to rely on subordinates, unfortunately. You are not the first to earn for this old one and won''t be thest one, either. You should feel honoured. You will not see tomorrow, but this old one will ensure you are on the first page of ''Monarch''s Records''."u Xiazou wasn''t surprised to hear the elder''s self-righteous speech; he heard them plenty of times before. However, he freaked out upon hearing "You will not see tomorrow¡­" Panic-stricken, he eximed, "What do you mean I will not see tomorrow? I am alive and well!"

    "Hahaha, all those years as an official, yet I, another face in the pugilistic world, am more insightful than you are. Secrets are inevitably revealed no matter how long they are hidden for. The only way to permanently bury them is to ensure those who know are dead."

    Realising his predicament, Lu Xiazou turned to leave. Lord Zi only managed to get a view of their feet from his angle. He heard Yang Lianhuaugh but didn''t hear him attack. He did catch a glimpse of Lu Xiazou falling to the ground and the dark blood flowing onto the rug. He didn''t know why Lu Xiazou was killed. Still, it was shocking to see them ruthlessly kill one of their own.

    Judging from Yang Lianhua''s ability to kill silently, I surmised he specialised in assassinations. Further, he had to either possess a sharp metal weapon or possess incredible internal strength to kill in one strike without making a sound. ording to Lord Zi, Yang Lianhua wasn''t armed, suggesting Yang Lianhua''s style emphasised risky, yet technical, techniques and specialised in maintaining close-distance fights. Since he wasn''t armed, he must''ve killed using his internal energy, thereby ssifying him as an expert at both internal and external styles.u Xiazou, on the verge of death, kept muttering, "Old¡­ Old man¡­ you betrayed me, so¡­ I won''t let you take it all¡­ I''ve kept records¡­ of penny you took¡­ I''ll be seeing you¡­ on the other side¡­ very soon¡­"u Xiazou''s threat scared the duo, as they didn''t expect it. Furious, the elder stomped onto Lu Xiazou''s face and cursed, "You are a sinner. You can forget being credited when this old one seeds! Where did you hide the records?!"

    "H-Haha, who gives a toss¡­ about your credit¡­ I''ve grown tired¡­ of listening to your nonsense¡­ I, at least, have the chance to get it off my chest¡­ before I die¡­ and watch you panic¡­"

    Yang Lianhua pulled the elder back when thetter attempted to stop Lu Xiazou again. Wearing a stern expression, Yang Lianhua suggested, "Don''t be rash. There are too many secrets surrounding you; if anything is exposed, it will implicate me. We need to find out where the record is first and foremost."ife fading gradually, Lu Xiazouughed: "It''s toote¡­ I''m out of time¡­"

    Yang Lianhua knew Lu Xiazou wasn''t bluffing, since the former struck a vital in his attempt to finish Lu Xiazou with a single blow.

    Wearing a derisive smile, Lu Xiazou continued uttering, "Old man¡­ your ideal¡­ is just your wishful thinking¡­ In reality¡­ You''re just nutz¡­"

    Because the elder stomped somewhere on Lu Xiazou, something sttered. Disgusted with the smell of blood, Yang Lianhua covered his nose and walked off.

    Because the Yang Lianhua''s pronunciation of hisst word coincided with Lord Zi''s name and the eerie stter, Lord Zi reactively cried out!

    "Someone''s here!" eximed Yang Lianhua.

    The elder looked over his shoulder and brayed, "Who''s there?!"

    The elder and Lord Zi made eye contact; both of them saw each other''s faces. Flustered, the elder brayed, "Stop right there!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Aware he was in peril, Lord Zi leapt through the window. The seven or eight guards at the door grabbed their des at their waists upon seeing him leap out. As he wasn''t their match, Lord Zi mustered up every ounce of strength in him and charged through the thin wall of the neighbouring room. Blessed with herculean might, Lord Zi charged straight through it and leapt onto the main street from the second floor.

    Yang Lianhua finallymanded, "Catch the rat!"

    Fortunately for Lord Zi, he managed to pinch a horse and speed off before Yang Lianhua andpany could see where he went.

    I spent a while analysing everything I heard. Lu Xiazou¡­ was Lu Shangfei''s brother. I always thought the Lu brothers sounded as though they were the scapegoats in the story. Having heard Lu Xiazou bribed officials and more on behalf of the elder, I figured the elder also helped promote his business. I associated the elder''s need for money and Feiyun Hall; Feiyun Hall could very well be one of his businesses. I never imagined Lord Zi ran into the mastermind I was hunting for.

    "Sir Yang, this way please."

    I immediately pressed my hand on Lord Zi''s mouth upon hearing someone mention Sir Yang at the door. You know, the ce sure seemed to be a one of a kind attraction. From what I could tell, the people outside didn''t detect our presence. I suspected "Sir Yang" was Yang Lianhua. We heard a male try to speak with a female''s high-pitched tone, as Sir Yang didn''t bother lowering his volume.

    "This ce is filthy. Lu Shangfei, you should clean up."ord Zi and I were surprised, because it was an unthinkable coincidence for the man I was looking for to present himself to me.

 Volume 6 36 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ A Prince Appears

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 36 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C A Prince Appears</h4>

    Smiling, Lu Shangfei said, "I have not resided here since I purchased the ce; I have always treated it as somewhere to spend when I need a short break. As you are aware, the residential buildings behind this ce are Feiyun Hall''s business signs. Therefore, we must work in the shadows. If we need a shelter in emergencies, this is the ce. Please do not worry. I have ordered people to go elsewhere. Have a short respite here. I will prepare a feast for you."

    The group then entered the house. The manor wasn''trge; however, nobody would find you if you hid in the backyard.

    I poked a hole in the window and swept my gaze over everyone in the room. One individual roughly thirty years old wore a robe in Long Zaitian''s beloved pink, albeit more feminine in style. He walked with his hands in a sluttier pose than the pose where you brought your thumb, index and ring finger together whilst holding up your index and pinkie finger, and wrist flexed down. He sat down in the centre, acting as casual as possible. A lower-ranking man roughly forty years old sat with an upright posture. He had the gaze of a businessman. Judging from their appearances and behaviour, they had to be Yang Lianhua and Lu Shangfei, respectively.u Shangfeiughed: "Sir Yang, since you did not visit Feiyun Hall in so long, I thought you forgot about me. May I ask why you suddenly asked me to join you? I have a business to run at the capital; this is not the best time."

    The slut shook his head, flicking his hair embellished with perfume; the smell was ridiculously prominent to the point it could be ssified as nasal pollution. He answered, "It''s your side''s fault. He asked me to act before schedule. He asked me to select adepts with him and insisted they had to be adepts. Tch, throwing his weight around as if he runs my life."

    The identity of this "he" was unspecified, but I surmised it was the elder Lord Zi told me about.

    The slut continued, "You have a share in Feiyun Hall, so I had to call for you. It''s your leader who wants to hire men. Go with Rabbit Fiend to the Heaven Sectorter to select the three best adepts for him, but tell him I personally selected the adepts."u Shangfei nodded obediently. The slut added, "By the way, where are the things from the imperial pce?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Based on the slut''s question, I wondered if he was referring to the stolen goods from the imperial pce.

    "The same ce as always," answered Lu Shangfei. He nced over to the slut''s subordinate. Receiving the signal indicating it was all right to speak from Yang Lianhua, he carried on: "However, they are from the imperial pce at the end of the day. Wuhua County and Jinling are too close, thereby increasing the risks of being exposed. Countless wealthy individuals visit Feiyun Hall. Still, it is hard to find someone who could afford so many in one transaction. My point is that it is somewhat difficult to find a buyer. I will diligently search for someone to sell them promptly."u Shangfei verified my spection for me. I found them without any effort, as well. The question was, where was "the same ce as always?"

    "Heh, I don''t even get a penny. How am I supposed to be impressed with such poor sales skills?" the slut scoffed, smiling with a hostile undertone. Ashamed, Lu Shangfei lowered his head, only for Yang Lianhua to demand, "Since they''re still around, let me inspect them."

    The slut didn''t let any opportunity slip him. He insisted on taking a few items, since he couldn''t get a share of the money. He operated the same way mountain bandits did.

    Too scared to disobey, Lu Shangfei replied, "The stuff is in Feiyun Hall''s underground secret room. We need to wait for today''s contest to end before we can bring them out. I shall take you there tonight."

    You bet I loved what I heard. My n was simple: take the stuff, and transport it back to the capital!

    Once he received a satisfactory answer, Yang Lianhua began asking about Feiyun Hall''s operations. Apparently, Rabbit Fiend worked for him; that would exin how he was informed of Feiyun Hall''s operations. Lu Shangfei was only responsible for the import and export of money. For that reason, Yang Lianhua focused on money questions. Once Yang Lianhua was content, Lu Shangfei suddenly asked, "Sir Yang, may I ask where my brother is? I heard you two sheltered him after the imperial court stripped him of his post. Is he doing well?"ooking in control as if he practiced beforehand, Yang Lianhua calmly responded, "Your question isn''t applicable to those on the run. If you want to see him, then do so. That said, let me remind you that he is a wanted criminal, so it won''t be easy."

    "Sir Yang, my brother is not dead, is he?!" boldly asked Lu Shangfei, since Yang Lianhua''s tone aroused suspicion. The slut''s facial expression change didn''t go unnoticed. Lu Shangfei followed up: "I wish to see my brother. You two have continued citing a variety of reasons to talk me out of meeting him. Has he really¡­"

    With a subtly wrathful undertone, Yang Lianhua argued, "Absolute hogwash. Who told you that?"

    I figuratively shook my head, thinking, "Now why in the world would you say that to his face? Now you''ve gone and triggered the freak''s viinous character. I doubt you have much longer to live."

    The two continued to argue over Lu Xiazou''s whereabouts. I, therefore, lost interest in them, especially since I already knew the stolen goods'' whereabouts. Hence, I turned to leave, but Lord Zi blocked my way. He couldn''t hear them, and he wasn''t tall enough to peer inside. As such, he resorted to clinging to me and asking me to share with him what happened.

    I told Lord Zi, "To sum up, it''s exclusively adult business. Don''t make a scene."

    "Why? Are you going to take me as your disciple or not, then?!"

    I ignored Lord Zi and checked out the backyard. Feiyun Hall''s crew I knocked out were still on the ground with Hu Wangxing and his wife, so it wasn''t exactly good news for me. Even if I could escape with Lord Zi, suspicion would arise once they saw them. It would be a problem for General Manager Bai, who was still underground. Consequently, I stealthily moved them into the storehouse before bringing Lord Zi in with me.

    Continuing with the disciple topic, Lord Zi kept asking, "Please? Pretty please?!"

    "Of course not," I replied.

    "Why?!" eximed Lord Zi.

    I focused on controlling five strands of celestial spider silk underneath my sleeves. I wrapped them around the damaged brick on the ground to easily pull it up with a gentle tug. Then, I answered Lord Zi: "Because I''m weak¡­"

    I then resumed the rinse and repeat process. I went quicker and quicker with each sessive attempt until I could hook and pull a brick right away. In no time, I repaired the wall to about seventy percent of its original shape. At the end of the day, though, I wasn''t a professional nor did I have the materials. And so, I couldn''t do anything about the cracks. Once I was done fixing the wall, I continued, "I''m weak, so¡­ I can''t help you."ord Zi fumed, "I just watched you mend the wall!! Don''t lie to me! Why won''t you help me? Aren''t you from Liu Shan Men?"

    Having aplished my mission, I wore on my mask and led Lord Zi down to find General Manager Bai.

    "You know, I''m curious why you''re so afraid. You said you met to elder outside of the pce, so why are you scared he''d kill you in the pce?"

    "Because I saw him again in the pce," replied Lord Zi, eyebrows together as though he was still scared to think back on it. "We made eye contact that night, but the light in the room was too dark to see clearly. I still remember his eyes, though; they were the eyes of someone sly and sinister¡­ I sensed the gaze again during the conference in the pce yesterday."

    When we went down to the contest area yesterday, we exited at Earth Sector''s ring. General Manager Bai was at Heaven Sector, which was on the other side.

    "You sensed it?" I asked with my head titled. "Are you saying you know how he is?"

    "Of course. I don''t remember his appearance, but I could sense his gaze. When I looked in the direction the gaze came from, he was gone¡­ I''m sure he''s hiding among the imperial court''s high-ranking ministers, though. Shifu, think about: given Sir Lu worked for him, he can''t be another face in the crowd. I''m sure he has identified me."

    "Don''t call me shifu," I said, surveying the surroundings. "Call me ''Dad'' while we''re here."

    "Ah¡­" responded Lord Zi. Tone somewhat unwilling, he remarked, "My dad is much more handsome than you are¡­"

    ''Oi! Is that how you ask someone to be your shifu?! Also, that''s an unfairparison! The reason he''s handsome is because his mother was pretty! Look at the standard of all your old man''s wives. It''s all thanks to your parents!!''

    "Shif-, Dad, help me. If I continue staying in the pce, the old man will kill me for sure. He looks at me as though I''m his prey. He''ll go ''twang''. The arrow will go ''stab''. And my blood will go ''psst''. Then, I''ll go ''thud''. And then I''ll be ''sob, sob'' and die!"

    "Motherf-, that''s brutal! Why would someone shoot an arrow at you in the pce?! Don''t they use poison in the pce?! By the way, your onomatopoeia game is strong, but why the hell did you cry when you were dying?!"

    "Because dying is tragic! A dead man would cry, right?!" exined Lord Zi, sounding serious. "Please take me as your disciple and teach me martial arts. Once you teach me, I can defeat the viin."

    "Defeat him¡­?" I asked. "You¡­ not scared?"

    "I am, but¡­ I''m a Prince," answered Lord Zi, looking pitiful as if to suggest I didn''t understand his sentiments as a Prince. "I will also be crowned as a ruler of an area. If I cower from those viins, the people wouldn''t have faith in me. Plus, wouldn''t I be an embarrassment?"

    I thought, "You''re quite the nice and courageous Prince, huh?"

    The imperial family''s education system befuddled me. The Emperor kept Jingan and the Orange Prince by his side to raise them, yet they both¡­ Hongzhuang and Lord Zi were sent off and ended up being honest, pure and upright. It really makes one wonder if destiny chose the Emperor to legitimise the phrase "ipetent father". I thought, "Maybe I should ask Grandmaster to do a divination for him."

    "I can''t say you''re wrong, but why don''t you tell His Majesty? It''d be much better if he intervened."

    "It''s pointless," said Lord Zi, lowering his head. "Father doesn''t like me¡­"

    "His Majesty doesn''t like you?"

    It didn''t make sense. Based on what I knew about His Majesty''s silly-father character, he still cared about his children in spite of the "Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation" prophecy. He wouldn''t have spared the Orange Prince for treason, otherwise. It would be out of character for him to give Lord Zi the cold shoulder. Moreover, Lord Zi was the honest and adorable kid. He never put on airs, was brave and level-headed for someone of his age. I couldn''t find any reason for His Majesty to not like Lord Zi.

    In a disappointed voice, Lord Zi borated, "Because before I was born, I think¡­ my mother, sh-"

    "Okay, stop. Don''t tell me if you don''t want to."

    My intuition told me prying any further would reveal one of the imperial pce''s big secrets that would only bring me grief, which was why I cut Lord Zi off. I had my hands full already. I didn''t get to eat braised pork shoulders once despite visiting Dongpo Restaurant twice in a single month. Poor me, man.ord Zi ignored me, mistaking my reaction as me saying he didn''t express enough sincerity. Hence, he steeled his resolve and demanded, "I''ll tell you, but you must ept me as your disciple."

    Without waiting for me, Lord Zi gritted his teeth: "Only the old eunuchs in the imperial pce know about this. I only heard about it¡­ The alleged reason my father doesn''t like me is because my mother was abducted before she married my father. She was pregnant not long after she was sent back, and so¡­ they im I might not be my father''s son."

    "That happened?" I asked. I stifled my voice: "If His Majesty''s wife was abducted, the world would be in uproar. I don''t remember anything of the sort."

    "That was fourteen years ago at Yanjing¡­ I''m not too sure about the details, either, since I wasn''t born yet at the time."

    "Hmm, fourteen years ago at Yanjing, huh? Wait. Somehow, I think I know about this. All the coincidences align¡­" I thought. I asked, "¡­ Is your mother¡­ the eldest daughter of Feng n in Luoyang, Feng Huang?"

    Notes:

    **Feng Huang - Pronounced "fur-ng hoo-ang"

 Volume 6 37 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Excellent Sonâ€™s Secret

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 37 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Excellent Son¡¯s Secret</h4>

    Luoyang''s Feng n was the wealthiest n in the entire nation. They had businesses, which included trading,nd and water transportation, spread all over the nation''snds. They partook in all money-making opportunities. Their power was on par with the top sects in the martial world, but nobody could hold a candle to their wealth. Feng Huang was the name of their eldest daughter.

    "Shif-, Dad, how did you know? That''s right. My mother''s name is Feng Huang. She''s referred to as Brilliant Consort," said Lord Zi, after blinking several times out of puzzlement. He quickly covered his mouth. In a small voice, he added, "Don''t tell anyone I told you."

    It wasn''t exactly taboo to reveal a female''s maiden name; however, it did matter for specific individuals. For instance, the Emperor''sdies'' maiden names were to be kept secret. It, therefore, stood to reason Lord Zi''s biological mother''s maiden name had to be kept secret.

    ''Hah, Feng Huang, huh? Tsk, tsk, tsk, now that brings back memories.''

    Fourteen years ago, I was still a hot-blooded youth who was in his infant ages of martial arts. That time, Shifu led me down the mountain for some fun. I still don¡¯t know who got lost first. Long-story short, we couldn¡¯t find the right ce. Anyway, I ran into a violent group robbing a travelling businessman. They brutally killed everyone as if they were there to exterminate a n as opposed tomitting robbery.

    In all honesty, I didn¡¯t n to assist them. It was amonce scenario in Beiping. There were plenty of mountains around, too. I didn¡¯tplete my training yet at the time, so I didn¡¯t go around sticking up for people. Nevertheless, one of the guards - forck of better word - saw me before he died. He offered me five silver taels to rescue his master. I couldn¡¯t refute a dying man. So ordingly, I epted the silver taels and sparked the group of damn robbers. By the time I drove them off, there was only one survivor left.

    The survivor was a gorgeous maiden with teary eyes. Once her despair and fear subsided, she sobbed and leapt into my arms¡­ Thinking back on it, Lord Zi also hugged people over literally nothing. Needless to say, aforementioned maiden was Feng n''s eldest daughter, Feng Huang. That was how I got acquainted with Brilliant Consort.

    Afterwards, I escorted Feng Huang from Yanjing back to the imperial pce as her guard hired me for. We got along quite well on the way, poking fun at each other and whatnot. Having said that¡­ we made lots of unforgettable memories. Results-wise, I sessfully escorted her back to the imperial pce safe and sound as per the guard''s request.

    I didn''t need to share the story with anyone. Hence, I dodged Lord Zi''s question: "I have my own sources. Just believe me. What are you asking so much for, anyway?"ord Zi gave a weird reaction then lowered his head silently. I thought he had something in mind, but I didn''t pay too much attention. I dragged him along to Heavenly Sector''s ring. When we arrived, it, coincidentally, was Bai Lian''s turn. She looked jovial.

    Both rings had four people on at a time, but only one could win. General Manager Bai went up against three alone. Her opponents were a monk, a daoist and an oaf armed with a broadsword. She was the only unarmed contestant among the three, although she didn''t seem bothered in the slightest. The three, on the other hand, appeared afraid of her.

    Bai Lian''s Flying Snow Stunning Green technique used to break the wall was an internal style technique; its focus was on power, not technique. She approached the fight with an emphasis on power over technique as it was designed for. In saying that, her movement resembled smooth gliding and drifting motions. Each technique was visually impacting. Meaning it could confuse her opponent.

    Bai Lian advanced and retreated swiftly, attacked lightning fast, preventing the three from being able to synchronise their attacks. She cut off their attacks each and every time. Thus, she surrounded the three instead of them surrounding her. In terms of skill, Bai Lian didn''t pale inparison to any of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. I would argue Hupo and Tang Ye''s Yang Blood True Qi would run into trouble if she utilised techniques of Flying Snow Stunning Green''s calibre.

    Arms folded and smiling, Imented, "I wonder what style that is."ord Zi copied me, folding his arms across his chest: "Sister Lian told me she learnt Hundred Flower Manual."

    ''What? Hundred Flower Manual?! Is that rted to the legendary Sunflower Manual¡­? So even the style eunuch''s learn in the pce have to do with flowers?''ord Zi added, "I wouldn''t need to seek out a shifu if she could teach me¡­"

    "Hey, hey, hey, are you listening to yourself? Hundred Flower Manual. Learn it and you can forget about finding a shifu who''d ept you. You wouldn''t even be able to marry a wife if you learn it."

    "Why?"

    I had no idea who to exin it. Before I could attempt to, Rabbit Fiend approached me and energetically called, "You''re finally here, Hero Hu!"

    I held my hands in a palm and fist salute: "Brother Tu."

    "Madam Hu''s skills sure are sensational. She has been winning round after round against three opponents at once each time. I''ve made five hundred silver taels in a single afternoon."

    "Goodness gracious," I thought.

    Five hundred taels was a fat sum. I doubted Rabbit Fiend was referring to his group; he was most probably referring to his own profits. Given the massive sum, it proved Feiyun Hall was a much bigger entity than I imagined. Unsurprisingly, Rabbit Fiend revealed the look of a man who said something wrong. I pretended I didn''t notice his reaction. Tone serious, I said, "Dat is a given. Ya know, dee two of us are considered adepts at Shaanxi."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    My shoddy Shaanxi dialect rendered Rabbit Fiend confused, but he didn''t dare to offend me in case we didn''t fight to fill his pockets. Hence, heughed along with me. Exploiting his moment of distraction, I sent General Manager a hand signal, informing her I found out where the goods were.

    After she noticed my signal, General Manager Baiunched a barrage of six palm strikes, aiming for ces difficult to defend, subsequently knocking the three off the ring. Then, she rode the wind off the stage. She was sweating, but she was in high spirits, looking as if she hadn''t had enough. If you ask me, she probably had a lot of pent up stress from work in the pce¡­ There were over twenty contestants shooting her vengeful res. I wondered if she beat all of them up¡­

    Bai Lian went to address me by my name but stopped herself when she noticed the attention on her. Face red, she called, "D-Dear."

    My felt my heart thump: "O-Oh, yeah."

    Bai Lian smiled: "I won."

    "I saw¡­ And you beat them brutally."

    Upon noticing Lord Zi hiding behind me, she shot me a re: "Y-, Dear, why did you bring¡­ our son along?"

    I couldn''t tell if Bai Lian''s hot flushes were due to embarrassment or anger. I lowered my voice to rhetorically ask, "We''re outsiders here at Wuhua County. Do you think it''s safe to leave him alone at the inn?"

    Since I offered a reasonable argument, Bai Lian calmed down somewhat. She questioned, "You still can''t bring him here, though. Wait. Have you two¡­ spent the day together?"

    "Yeah. Why are you asking the obvious?"

    Bai Lian suddenly panicked. She rushed over to Lord Zi and quietly asked, "Lord Zi, did you two¡­ talk about anything weird today? He did not say anything strange, did he? H-He did not mention me, did he?"

    I had no idea why General Manager Bai was on edge. She acted as though Lord Zi would reveal her secrets or something.

    "Weird?" remarked Lord Zi, folding his arms the exact way I did. Furrowing his eyebrows as if he was some detective, he replied, "Well, there was one thing that was quite strange."

    "What?" asked Bai Lian, in an anxious manner.

    "We talked about my background. Sister Lian¡­ I think¡­ he might be my biological father."

    I only noticed one thing: Bai Lian''s intense desire to spill blood.

 Volume 6 38 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Waiting to Speak

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 38 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Waiting to Speak</h4>

    The three of us sneaked our way to Feiyun Hall''s secret room. Based on my analysis of the conversation between Yang Lianhua and Lu Shangfei, the stolen goods were supposed to be in the secret room. General Manager Bai and I decided to investigate it straight away and take them back if we found the goods.

    I showed the two the highest form of courtesy on the way, allowing them to walk in front. Both of them wore weird looks: "General Manager, Lord Zi, this way please."

    Bai Lian fumed, "Teach Lord Zi nonsense again, and I''ll serve you a dish ofeuppance."

    I actually already took a savage beating after Bai Lian heard Lord Zi mention I could be his biological father. Why? Because she was positive I misled him with my bad influence and desecrated Brilliant Consort whom she respected most.

    ''Eunuch, you were probably still ying in a sandpit when I got to know Feng Huang!''

    It took ages and plenty of effort to exin and convince Bai Lian it was just a misunderstanding. Oh, and I only took three ps to the face. How about that? Impressed with my tremendous aplishment?

    As for Lord Zi''s perception of me¡­ I exined to him, "I only head about your mother; I don''t actually know her. Stop making wild guesses."ord Zi kept ncing in my direction; he didn''t believe me. He kept using his hand topare his to mind to see if we resembled each other.

    ''That method doesn''t even work, Kid! Simr hands don''t make you my son! Don''t gobelling me things that''ll make my head roll! I don''t want to be the antagonist who gifted the Emperor a green hat after I retired. By the way, why aren''t you suspecting your mother had an affair?! We don''t resemble each other in any shape or form!!''

    "Shifu," called Lord Zi. He didn''t call me "dad", since there were no outsiders around. I couldn''t be bothered correcting him again, so I let him call me what he fancied. After thinking, he inquired, "Are you right handed or left handed?"

    "Me? I''m right handed."ord Zi revealed a look of astonishment: "M-Me, too."

    ''Hey! Don''t do me like this! I could find a right-handed man without even trying every few steps from here! If being right handed made me your old man and Bai Lian was also right handed, would she be your mother?! First of all, she''s a eunuch, so she couldn''t give birth to you even if she was your mother; how would she and I give birth to you, then?!''

    Bai Lian didn''t butt in while the two of us interacted in an odd manner; nevertheless, as soon as she heard Lord Zi''s belly growl, she handed him a clean and nice pear from her shirt: "Lord Zi, you must be hungry by now. How about a pear? Pears are your favourite, right?"

    "Oh! Thank you, Sister Lian!" eximed Lord Zi, grabbing the pear and taking a blissful bite.ord Zi smiled brightly after having his bite. I, on the other hand, was startled: "No way. It can''t be that coincidental."

    I wondered, "Lord Zi likes pears, too?"

    Bai Lian thought I wanted the pear, so she gave me a scowl: "Ming Feizhen, I know you also like pears, but can''t you give kids a priority? You''re a grown adult for crying out loud!"ord Zi''s gaze swiftly nced over to me. He touched his chin to enter his super detective mode: "Oh? Shifu also likes pears?!"

    ''''Oh'' your fucking pear! How many pear fans are there in the entire nation?! Are all of them your father or something?! If that was true, every strand of hair on His Majesty''s head would be green! Your mother is a good girl; she would never betray His Majesty. Your father must dislike you for some other reason!''

    Noticing my livid reaction, General Manager Bai froze for a tick. Hopeless, she passed me a candy wrapped in paper: "Hang in there. I''ll buy you a pear when we get back, okay?"

    ''I¡­ I''m not fussing over the apple! What sort of glutton do you take me for?!''

    I grabbed the candy and grumpily ate it, only to think, "Oooohh, this is sweet."

    General Manager Bai shook her head with a helpless smile as she watched me as if I was her immature younger brother. Before I could retort, Lord Zi mumbled, "Fourth simrity: Sister Lian gives us food."

    In my mind: "Wait. That''s a simrity?! And stop searching for proof I''m your father! I feel I''ll be in more danger further down the road! General Manager Bai is being nicer because Lord Zi and I are simr? Why does it feel as though she''s taking care of me as if I''m another Lord Zi? I don''t know how to feel about this. But don''t treat me as your younger brother! I''m virtually ten years older than you!"

    Smiling, Bai Lian said, "Okay, okay, I''ll treat you to a meal after. Workes first."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''You''re taking your elder sister character for real?! You''re a eunuch! Did Lord Zi transform you into a female with his continuous ''Sister Lian''?!''

    "Stop. Someone''sing," I warned. "Five fighters up ahead. They aren''t weak."

    Bai Lian: "Your hearing is good enough to even tell skill levels?"

    "Mount Daluo produces elites," I casually answered with a smile. "If there''s one thing I''m not horrible at, it''s my listening ability."

    Bai Lian didn''tpletely buy it, but the three of us took cover. Soon enough, the footsteps were audible for all three of us. We nned to jump them if they passed by. However, the five didn''te our way; instead, they went elsewhere. I still didn''t know how far Feiyun Hall''s underground area stretched. That said, there were apparently areas I had yet to explore.

    One of the fiveined, "Our boss did all the thinking and took the risk involved with transportation. That son of a bitch justes along and demands the goods without even giving a thank you."

    Another one added, "Exactly. We''ve been at this remote ce for ages and had to train those farmers into fighters. Does he think it''s a walk in the park or something? After we finally get something, the freak demands it."

    An older one: "It''s our boss'' problem for not being able to control the deals at Feiyun Hall. We''re given the authority to manage the ce, but the money earned from the fights at Heaven Sector all go to Feiyun Hall''s people. Not even Rabbit Fiend gets a cut."

    Bai Lian and I exchanged eye contact. Based on what we heard, neither Lu Shangfei nor Yang Lianhua ran Feiyun Hall; they were only managers. There was somebody with a bigger share. Rabbit Fiend rmended people to earn amission, which also exined why he could use General Manager Bai to earn for himself.

    One of the five said, "This is the ce. Bring out the chest. Pick a few for the freak to entertain him."

    General Manager Bai and I poked our heads out to watch the five around the chest. As soon as the lid came off, the golden items radiated brightly. There was also jade and more. It was unmistakably items from the imperial pce. We looked back at each other. There was no better time to take action.

 Volume 6 39 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Hell on Earth

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 39 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Hell on Earth</h4>

    "You take left; I take right. You think you can handle it?!" asked General Manager Bai

    "Yes!" answered Lord Zi, fists clenched and high in energy.

    I learnt General Manager Bai was among the best in the imperial pce in terms of martial prowess. As such, she asionally taught Lord Zi some skills. Technically speaking, you could argue she was his part-time shifu. I finally understood how Lord Zi ended up with his skills all over the ce. To borate, General Manager Bai possessed a wealth of knowledge and learntplex styles. Therefore, she chose to teach him simple skills. He had his potential and innate brute strength to credit for his skills.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Since the two of them were on the same wavelength, I''d only ruin their chemistry if I interfered. Hence, I rooted for them from the sidelines. What else could I have offered when General Manager Bai remarked, "You? Don''t get in the way. You might be worse than Lord Zi."

    General Manager Bai''s left and right strategy was sagacious. When they sprang, she deliberately positioned herself behind Lord Zi a small step for two reasons. One, she could get a clear view on the enemies from the rear, making it easier to protect him. Second, since he obstructed the enemy''s line of sight, she could leverage the momentarypse to subdue the enemy.

    "Wh-Who''s there?!"

    Although Lord Zi never trained his internal strength, he was fast on his legs. By the time the enemy detected them, he already aimed a fly kick at the enemy''s temple with his right leg. By no means did his sessful attack invalidate my statement the enemy was decently tough. The enemies were merely caught, because the duounched a surprise attack in a ce they perceived to be safe. The five didn''t let the situation impact their skills.

    The enemy raised his arm to guard Lord Zi''s kick then borrowed the momentum to switch his guard to a leg grab. Finding himself in a pinch right off the bat, Lord Zi looked to me for assistance. General Manager Bai zipped past the enemy; none of his allies saw her knock him out, but I did. When she zipped past, shended three precise finger stabs at three acupuncture points. In terms of finesse, it couldpare to Tang Ye''s often-used Flower Wheel Fingers.

    The five were skilled. Unfortunately, it wasn''t their day. General Manager Bai smoothly transitioned into her next attack and then the next, dispatching the remaining four swiftly. None of them had the chance to call for help.

    Once the fighting was over, Bai Lian nced back to me to unt her aplishment. The duo then gave each other a high five to celebrate. However, she quickly realise her behaviour was inappropriate; hence, she wore on her straight face again: "Lord Zi, this is an exception; there will not be a next time. In the future, you will be a prince and ev-. In short, you must be mindful of everything you do."ord Zi listened to Bai Lian''s lecture obediently. Only to then turn around and poke his tongue out at me simr to a kid caught doing something he shouldn''t have.

    "Now, pearls and whatnot," remarked General Maanger Bai.

    Bai Lian opened the chest and confirmed the items matched the list of missing items from the imperial pce. There were, at least, a third of the stolen items on the list in the chest. Eyebrows together, she eximed, "This criminal must be punished."

    General Manager Bai sounded unusually livid. She squinted as part of her thinking routine. I think she was thinking about how to send all of the culprits to the room that took men''s rod of bliss. She had the type of eyes that made her look cute; however, the ideas she came up with always sent chills down spines. She turned her attention my way: "Hmph, damned man, get over here."

    "Hey, Lord Zi, Sister Lian is calling for you."

    "I called for you, Ming Feizhen!"

    "I know, far out. I was just trying to improve the atmosphere," I said to myself. And so, damned man went over to await a scolding and reported, "General Manager, this humble one is present."

    Bai Lian pointed to the chest with her chin: "Carry it. We''re leaving."

    The chest had to be, at least, dozens of kilograms. I froze in ce and questioned, "Carry it? Me?"

    "Who else? Me?" responded Bai Lian, sounding as if it was a given. "Lord Zi is still young. You''re a man and tall. Who else do you expect to carry it?"

    ''Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there. This is outright bullying! We''re in enemy territory; they could catch us any time. You even said my skills are horrendous! How am I supposed to run while carrying the chest if they catch me?!''

    Well, General Manager Bai didn''t care about, so¡­ what could I do but go along with hermand? I patted the chest to see how thick it was. Then, I wrapped my arm around and lifted it up onto my shoulder. Bai Lian indifferently apuded me: "You''re quite strong. Next time, you c-"

    "Grab me!"

    "Huh?"

    "That wasn''t me. I said you c-"

    "Grab me firmly!"

    Embarrassed, I inquired, "Wh-Where?"

    Bai Lian went red in the face: "That wasn''t me! That''s not even my voice."

    Maybe tilting my head to fit the chest on my shoulder messed with my brain, thereby causing me to blurt exactly what was on my mind next: "Oh, true. General Manager Bai''s voice is soft and sweet. Your voice is more girly than a girl''s if you don''t control it. You''re right; that wasn''t your voice. Your voice sounds much better."

    General Manager Bai''s face turned as red as a ripe tomato. Her captivating eyes were shrouded in a mist. She stuttered, "Wh-What are you talking about?! Wh-Who said that?!"

    Bai Lian gave up confronting me in the end to head in the direction the voice came from. There was something unusual about the voice, because Lord Zi didn''t hear it. Put another way, it wasn''t very loud. Only adepts who had trained their internal strength could hear it. As such, the speaker didn''t speak to General Manager Bai or I, which also implied we weren''t busted. Nevertheless, since General Manager Bai left, Lord Zi and I had to follow her.

    The farther we went, the louder the voice sounded; however, we heard other voices, as well. I discerned over twenty different voices. I saw Bai Lian spacing out in front of a narrow iron prison where the voices came from.

    "Ah, ah! I want powder! I want powder!"

    "Pinch me! Strangle me! Hit me! Don''t stop! Stop this darn itch!"

    "Kill me! Kill me now!"

    There were over twenty fighters from Earth Sector incarcerated behind iron bars. Judging from their clothing, they were vigers, both women and men, who consumed five stones powder for the fights in Earth Sector. From what I could tell, they were suffering from consuming five stones powder. One of its side effects was inducing an excruciating itch. Some of them were half naked. Some had scratched their faces until they bled. They rolled around and cried in agony.

    One the vigers with his mind still intact got on his knees and kowtowed repetitively: "Sir, Sir, we do not want money anymore. Please release us. We will not ask for money again. I will do anything, but please give me some five stones powder. I cannot bear it any longer."

    Heart wrenched, Lord Zi nodded: "We''ll think of something. Shifu, Sister Lian, let''s help them."

    I spun my brain cogs. Once the side effects kicked in, they were brutal. They either continued to consume and build up their addiction, or they consumed the antidote; thetter was the only escape. I, honestly, couldn''t find it in my heart to just turn my back on them. I considered finding an opportunity to concoct an antidote ande back to treat them. In saying that, General Manager Bai was unusually quiet.

    "¡­ They say one goes to hell after death, woefully crying their days away for eternity¡­" remarked General Manager Bai, breaking her lengthy silence. She trembled gently. She bit down on her lip hard: "Is this ce hell? Who is the son of a bitch who came up with this ce?!"

    Notes:

    *I don''t know how much of a misunderstanding it can be interpreted as in English, but the "Grab me" part is the same word as "grope" (Chinese). I''m the innocent type, so I''m not sure if it''s sufficiently misleading in the trantion.

 Volume 6 40 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Bittersweet Memories

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 40 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Bittersweet Memories</h4>

    A rebellion for the throne took ce twelve years ago between summer and autumn. It was swiftly squandered; the rebellion didn''tst for even half a year. s, the people suffered as a consequence.

    The siege on the capital failed. The army thatid siege to the capital retreated. The rebels defended their city with elite strategies and lives. The man behind the rebellion, being a Northerner, did his best to hold out until winter, when he could leverage his experience fighting in snowy conditions to defeat the imperial court''s military. Unfortunately, he fell at the city walls before winter came, as the Seven Champion White Princes joined the fray.

    The city the rebellion army upied was situated along an important travel route connecting the North and South. The leader refused to leave the city walls. Meanwhile, rations in the city eventually ran out. Death from starvation, bloody corpses, decayed corpses, skeleton sightings and woeful cries were ubiquitous and became a daily norm for those months he upied the city. Hell on Earth was one way of describing the tragedy that ensued.

    A young girl in the city during the turmoil fought for her life every day on the mean streets. Her mother once said, "Lian''er¡­ Live." Her mother''s words were her source of courage and hope during those days, yet they eventually became a curse that stopped her from pursuing death when despair hit. After the imperial court''s army broke through the defence line and punished the rebel, the imperial court expressed and exercised sympathy to all of the victimised families, thus beginning the period of recovery. Sadly, the girl''s nightmare had yet to end.

    After the war was winter. The girl''s residence - if it could be considered one - was worn out and unable to keep the cold old. She had nothing to wear except thin and tor clothing and nothing to do but count her days before she froze to death. She would be a skeleton had she not encountered Brilliant Consort returning to the capital that fateful day.

    Brilliant Consort didn''t feed her sumptuous food or gift her resplendent clothing. The only difference between her and other servants was the consort spent more time chatting with her dailypared to the others. Nevertheless, the girl cherished those conversations.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The girl assiduously learnt martial arts under a teacher''s tutge and climbed to a rank few could match within the next twelve years. She treated Brilliant Consort''s child more importantly than her own life and protected the mother and son duo with her life simply because she was grateful for Brilliant Consort taking her in back then.ife in the imperial pce wasn''t avish life and came with its difficulties. If anything, she often needed to devote all of her efforts to her endeavours if she wanted to grab even the lowest hanging fruit.

    She was a girl, yet she had to abandonmon perceptions of males and females to assume the identity of eunuch. She understood that meant she was doomed to spend her entire life alone and without descendants. As if it wasn''t enough, seeing others live out that very fate in the imperial pce was routine for her. Despite that, Bai Lian was sincerely grateful, for she, at least, wasn''t continuously gued with the questions, "Will I freeze to death tomorrow? Will I even have food tomorrow?" At the very least, she didn''t have to work so hard to fulfil her promise to live on. Thankfully, it had been a long time since she felt overwhelmed with fear again. At some point, she forgot about the miserable times; perhaps she dissociated with those memories, forgetting she once lived in a hell.

    Bai Lian, seeing the vigers crying and writhing in pain, clenched her fists tight without self-awareness of what she was doing. Her fear and detest turned her face red. She stood still in ce and breathed heavily until her breathing was erratic. Her true qi began to run wild.

    An elite adept taught Bai Lian the one-of-a-kind internal strength palm style she used. Top that off with her diligent practice and talent, and she qualified to stand among the highest-ranked members amongst the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. At one point, her teacher remarked, "You''re not weak anymore. You defeat ten imperial martial arts exam winners. What are you still training so hard for? I was only half as good as you are at your age, and I could barely sleep at night from the excitement."

    Bai Lian didn''t agree with her teacher''s evaluation. Her goal was to help Lord Zi seed the throne. His six brothers had countless formidable names under their wings. Therefore, she had to do everything she could to shield him from his brothers. Subsequently, she continued to dedicate herself to improving her skills.

    Bai Lian''s style was highly advanced; she merely hadn''t reached its peak due to her young age. Once she did reach its pinnacle, she would struggle to find someone who could match her. Her style took the quick route. One could be an adept within a decade using it. Having said that, the faster a style could be learnt, the greater the mental hurdles its practitioner had to ovee. In the martial world, said internal style mental hurdle wasbelled as "Mental Barrier". The difficulty of oveing the "barrier" grew proportionately to one''s school. The orthodox sects weren''t fond of rapid-mastery styles.

    Styles that could be quickly mastered required having a "spotter" around. That was another reason one couldn''t self-teach themselves martial arts; the more advanced the skills, the higher the risk of repercussions. Qi deviation was considered a light repercussion. Crippling oneself or incinerating oneself wasn''t umon. Orthodox sects stipted their disciples mastered their craft before descending the mountain. If they weren''t good enough, they would end up with the short end of the stick. More importantly, their mental barrier still haunted them until their training wasplete. If they didn''t have someone who knew their sect''s skills around when they lost control, they were practically finished.

    Bai Lian hadn''t reached her mental barrier yet, which was why her shifu never bothered guiding her through it or considered protecting her. What her shifu didn''t know was she had improved by leaps and bounds more recently, exceeding her shifu''s predicted timeline. So ordingly, she was close to the teau she needed to get through. The sight of the viger''s misery triggered her buried memories, thereby triggering her demon barrier.

    Bai Lian''s style''s barrier was particrly troublesome. She had to shed blood, or there was no calming down. Her master she regarded more importantly than her own life was right in her presence. She mustered up all of her strength to speak but she couldn''t. She wanted to say, "L-Lord Zi, run¡­ Stop. Control yourself, Bai Lian. Now is not the time¡­"

    As Bai Lian edged toward the undesirable path, she suddenly felt a soothing sensation around her simrly to a warm hug. She cried, "Ah," as she felt her body temperature gradually soar. She wondered, "Wh-Who would have such long arms?"

    The answer to her questions was right in front of her. There was only one other person besides Lord Zi around. Although unwilling to acknowledge it, Ming Feizhen emerged in her mind when she felt the warm sensation. She had no time to bother with the details, nheless. The warmth spreading to all of her limbs was soothing; it helped calm her wild true qi back to its normal state. She felt reassured in his arms; not even the sky falling down scared her. After so many years, she finally heard the words she wanted to hear most: "Don''t be scared. I''m right by your side."

 Volume 6 41 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ An Idea Sparked

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 41 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C An Idea Sparked</h4>

    Bai Lian didn''t see the bloody scene, for Ming Feizhen covered her vision. She shut her eyes behind his hands; slowly but surely, she calmed her emotions down. Every breath she took felt as though a long time passed. The vigers cried mournfully, but she gradually blocked them out. Once her true qi calmed down, she regained control and could bust her mental teau.

    Mental teaus usually took more than two to four hours to ovee. It took her an entire day when she ran into her first one. Strangely, she was able to control her true qi with absolute precision this time; it was the equivalent of controlling it with ten times of her current proficiency and having her shifu guiding her by her side. She couldn''t exin the phenomenon. Regardless, she needed to capitalise on the opportunity. If it didn''t take too much time, she could reach unchartered territory. As such, she allowed Ming Feizhen to hold her close enough to hear each other''s heart beats clearly. Whenever she felt cold somewhere, she would reposition herself to close the space.

    With General Manager Bai in my embrace, I steadily transferred my true qi to her in order to help her regte her own. We were in the same position for a long time. I wasn''t sure what to make of hugging her. First and foremost, the top of her head came up to only my eyes. I had no idea how she managed to keep herself so clean all the way out here, but her hair smelt irresistible; make that her entire body. Her body was also as soft and light as a young girl. That didn''t change the reality that she was a eunuch, though!

    Once Bai Lian calmed down, the red in one of her eyes faded away. Her internal energy was visibly purer. Upon opening her eyes, she gave me an unfriendly look: "What are you doing?"

    It was awkward to say the least. I hugged her as tight as if I was afraid she''d disappear. Lord Zi covered his eyes. Bai Lian''s gaze reserved for me was frigid as though she was looking at garbage, while my hands on her¡­

    ''Hey! If you weren''t¡­ You''d be dead from qi deviation!''

    I cleared my throat: "I thought you were cold¡­"

    Bai Lian coldly responded, "You done molesting me? Can you let go now?"

    "Why would I ever molest you?! Don''t go acting smug just because you smell nice, feel soft and feel great to hug! I did not hug you on purpose!" was what I thought, but my hands couldn''t let go right away.

    Bai Lian: "What do you want now?"

    Me: "My arms are numb¡­"

    It wasn''t on purpose. It was hard to stay in that position for so long, okay?!

    Bai Lian looked at me with a violent gaze. Suddenly, she said, "Whatever¡­ Just stay there, then."ord Zi and I: "Eh?"ord Zi: "Sister Lian has mutated!"

    I was equally surprised: "You''re not going to hit me?"

    "You like me hitting you that much?" asked Bai Lian, eyebrows pinched together. She seriously didn''t push me away. She calmly added, "You''ve already hugged me for so long, so a little longer won''t make any difference. I want to save them."

    I could sense Bai Lian''s determination of steel in her final deration. The vigers were the ones who stirred her emotionally. Obviously, then, the desire was important to her. Lord Zi also nodded: "Indeed. Indeed!"

    Bai Lian looked at me the way a kid throwing a tantrum would: "Are you joining me or not?"

    What could I do? I smiled: "If we''re going to rescue them, I want you to hear me out first."

    General Manager Bai and I returned to Heaven Sector''s ring half an hourter. The audience was high as usual. Rabbit Fiend greeted us with tears, because imagine what two people could earn given what Bai Lian alone earned him. He cried: "Brother Hu! Brother Hu! My brother! Thank heavens you two are finally done resting! This way, this way, please. The opponents are nothing impressive; you two will win effortlessly!"

    I spotted Lu Shangfei, who was at Heaven Sector to select three adepts. General Manager Bai and I took to the ring together. Her performance earlier in the morning had the audience in uproar. Since she had improved since then, nobody was her match.

    I practically strictly evaded until I reached the perimeter of the ring and waited to find my opponent off bnce so that I could easily nudge them out of the ring. My unorthodox movement andck of offensive skills led to me creating an upset. Whenever it looked as though I was doomed, I''d reverse the tables. At first, my strategy scared Rabbit Fiend out of his wits. Owing to my consecutive wins, however, he was grateful I earned him so much. The only thing he had yet to do was kiss me.

    General Manager Bai covered her mouth with her sleeve and backed off: "The eight characters of your horoscope sure is a curse. Don''t ever visit me unless it''s important. It''s not a new year yet. If you visit me, I might end up unlucky for the entire year. I certainly don''t want that.

    ''You''re cute, but who you calling a curse?! It''s called unfathomably profound martial arts skills!''

    I idently made eye contact with Lu Shangfei. He gave me a respectful smile, but I felt he was signalling he was recruiting me.

    After an hour of back to back wins, someone reported in. Rabbit Fiend''s eyes darted back and forth, for the joy of winning money went to hell. He mulled on the report before approaching Lu Shangfei to discuss it. Lu Shangfei was also shocked to hear the news except to a lesser extent. Once calm, he said something to Rabbit Fiend. As soon as I finished my fight, I went over to the duo: "Brother Tu, what''s wrong? This is?"

    Rabbit Fiend was on edge, but he couldn''tsh out at me, his money maker. In an irritated tone, he answered, "This is Boss Lu, one of the shareholders of Feiyun Hall. He is my master''s old friend. Boss Lu, this is Brother Hu. They call him and his wife Shaanxi''s Mandarin Duck des. They are experts with des. Uh, yeah, good de skills. You two have met."

    Though anxious, Rabbit Fiend did introduce us properly. Lu Shangfei, to the contrary, wasn''t anywhere near as edgy; he had the luxury of time to greet me. He held his hands in a cupped fist salute with a smile: "You truly are as striking as the legends state, Brother Hu. I am humbled. Coincidentally, I have recently opened a small Shanxi eatery at Wuhua County. I was thinking about asking an expert on Shanxi pastries to give it a try. Would you be interested?"u Shangfei spoke in a friendly tone. Itcked the hearty tone those in the pugilistic world conversed in; it was more refined and sincere, giving the impression he genuinely respected the person he spoke to. Given those points, in addition to his status at Feiyun Hall, it would be odd for me to reject him. Hence, I pretended I was touched and went with my original n¡­ I wiped my drool: "Shanxi pastries? Such as?"

    Then, I thought, "Wait a second. Why are we discussing food again?"u Shangfei smiled: "We have everything we should have. As long as you request it, we will see that it is done."

    It was obvious Lu Shangfei wanted me to join him. I pondered, "Yang Lianhua was the one seeing three adepts for an assassination mission. Rabbit Fiend is his subordinate, yet here is Lu Shangfei trying to snatch Rabbit Fiend''s candidate right under his nose. He''s not recruiting me for Yang Lianhua''s job but a long-term n. I presume this means they''re about to go to open hostility. That fits my agenda perfectly."

    Due to the sudden indirect praise I was showered with, I replied, "You are too kind, Boss Lu. I am an uncivilised individual. Heh, heh, I came here merely to earn some small change. I am nowhere near as impressive as you suggest."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A look of delight flitted across Lu Shangfei''s face upon hearing my primary interest was money. I had yet to showcase anything, but he already saw Bai Lian''s exceptional skills. As such, if we were easy to recruit, he couldn''t be any happier. Rabbit Fiend, on the other hand, wasn''t too happy. He was far from being an idiot; Lu Shangfei''s intentions were apparent. That being said, Lu Shangfei and Yang Lianhua were possibly on equal footing as shareholders. Thus, Rabbit Fiend couldn''t make an issue out of it. That didn''t stop me from responding seriously: "It was all thanks to Brother Tu that I was able toe here. It is a privilege to demonstrate my skills and earn money from it at the same time. I could never forget Brother Tu for fulfilling my lifelong wish."

    Rabbit Fiend perceived General Manager Bai and me to be mere pawns in his money-making scheme. Being crowned our benefactor was immensely useful to him. Smiling smugly, he said, "Brother Hu, you are family. There''s no need to thank me. If you run into any trouble, mention my name. Nobody at Feiyun Hall would dare to disobey me."

    "Thank you, Brother. You truly are my blood brother," I said.

    Seeing an ace leave him just when he thought it in the bag, Lu Shangfei hurriedly said, "Ah, you wanted a tform to show your skills, Brother Hu? I see. There are different types of matches here. True adepts only join thepetition in the evening. The pay is several folds higher. Unfortunately, one cannot enter without permission. If you are interested, I can act as a middleman; I can permit you to fight at night. I guarantee you will be famous after one fight."

    The offer was appealing, but Rabbit Fiend fumed, "It is not time to be engaging in idle chatter. Boss Lu, if you wish to speak to Brother Hu, speakter. We need to sort out business first."

    "What has you two so uptight? I do not carry much weight in the pugilistic world, but loyalty is absolutely important. As friends, how about telling me?"

    Rabbit Fiend froze. He then said to Lu Shangfei, "Brother Hu could help out¡­"u Shangfei: "I don''t know if your master¡­"

    "Brother Tu, you are not treating me as family," Noticing Rabbit Fiend was in a dilemma, I pressed on. I revealed a straight face to express my displeasure: "I must have been mistaken we were friends. I shall show myself the door.

    "It is not that I do not trust you. It just so happens to be it is very secretive," said Rabbit Fiend, catching my arm when I bowed out. He checked around: "I was nning to trouble you with this. Our fighters at Earth Sector¡­ have gone missing for some reason. It''s no big deal if they go missing underground, since our underground area is enormous. The guards could drag them back. Nevertheless, we do not have power over all aspects of Feiyun Hall. We only operate these two areas. If those vill-, ahem, fighters run off somewhere else, it will take a long time to relocate them. The problem is thepetition is starting soon¡­"

    "I see." I thumped my chest: "Leave it to me. It''s nothing major. Even if I cannot help, my wife certainly can. Leave it to us."

    Rabbit Fiend cheerfully replied, "Thank you, Brother Hu. I must take care of finding the, umm,petitors. I am leaving this ce to you!"

    I responded, "Be it water for an inferno I must enter, I will not refuse."

    Grateful, Rabbit Fiend kept prattling on about me being his brother. He wiped his tears and hastily left.

    General Manager Bai and I knocked out the imprisoned vigers and took them to the airway storehouse. I predicted they would lose their cool.

    Once Rabbit Fiend left, Lu Shangfei gave me a smile, and I responded in kind. He said, "Brother Hu, do you happen t-"

    "I know where your brother is," I interjected with a smile.u Shangfei''s smile froze on his face.

 Volume 6 42 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Waiting to Reap Without Sowing

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 42 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Waiting to Reap Without Sowing</h4>

    Lu Shangfei''s face was ghastly pale after he heard everything I said. I told him I ran into Lu Xiazou at restaurant in the capital one time. Then, I told him what Lord Zi shared with me, albeit picking and choosing what I shared. He was always suspicious his so-called allies eliminated his brother, but he didn''t have a witness. I put the nail in the coffin, bringing out his determination. I came up with an excuse to leave after I was done. All I needed to do was sit back and watch the events unfold.

    I hurried back to the storehouse to check on the vigers while General Manager Bai fulfilled the promise to fight in Heaven Sector''s ring. Lord Zi happened to return to the storehouse the same time I did.

    We had to deal with the viger''s five stones powder, or it''d continue to, in a sense, harass us. For that reason, I sent Lord Zi on a shopping mission. He excitedly handed me a big bag of ingredients. Sounding ready for praise, he reported, "Shifu, I''m back. I have enough of every single one. If there isn''t enough, I will go and fetch some more."

    "There''s enough."

    There was twenty percent extra. I tore the bag open and took some ingredients out. When I went to begin concocting the antidote, I noticed Lord Zi circling me and bouncing up and down. Confused, I questioned, "Why are you so happy? Did you pick up money?"

    "Because I felt I was a hero just now!" Lord Zi touched his red cheeks: "You told me to cautiously jump over the wall to get out, told me to buy the ingredients from over a dozen separate pharmacies, warned me not to ask locals for location of pharmacies and to ask customers of eateries instead, so I followed your instructions, and it made me feel as if I was a hero! Is that sort of experience exclusive to the pugilistic world?"

    "Technically, you''re not wrong."

    I had my reasons for giving Lord Zi those specific instructions. Wuhua County wasn''t arge area. I spected they had surveince teams in ambush; after all, they couldn''t be careless when they had such arge-scale underground fighting syndicate. Any of the locals, regardless of age, could''ve been associated with them. Hence, we had to take preventive measures. The less someone stood out, the greater the likelihood they were informants or part of the syndicate.

    It was normal for those in the syndicate to be distrustful of others. That was why they''d eat food they prepared; eateries would be thest ce they''d want to go to. Purchasing ingredients for the antidote from various pharmacies was done for the same reason. If we bought all the ingredients to concoct an antidote for their five stones powder from one pharmacy, they''d suspect us.

    I had no idea Lord Zi found it fun. You know, the Emperor''s sons sure were something else. Continuing from my previous response, I said, "Well, I enjoyed it when I was young, too."ord Zi stroked his chin yfully: "Oh?"

    ''Oh, my foot! Stop giving me that look whenever there''s a mention of a simrity between us! Come on, man, are you still suspecting I''m your biological father?! Keep it up, and I''ll be dead once we return to the pce!''

    "By the way, Shifu, why did it have to specifically be eateries? Based on your logic, clothing stores, inns or misceneous stores also would''ve worked, right? Was it because heroes fight at restaurants and the sort?"

    "Of course there was a reason for it. Did you buy the meat buns I told you to buy?"

    "I did!"

    "Good boy." I shoved the meat bun in my mouth. Voice muddled, I exined, "I told you to go to eateries, because I was hungry. Don''t attribute everything to heroes; heroes have to eat, as well."

    ''Also, stop iming heroes like to fight at eateries. The one thing I can''t tolerate is when people fight at eateries. To hell with food wasters! Wait¡­ is that why I''m still not a hero¡­? Huh, beats me.''

    I separated the ingredients from the bag into portions. Curious, Lord Zi inquired, "Shifu, we don''t have anything to simmer the herbs. What do we do?"

    "Simmer them? Just eat them."

    I picked up the bag containing soft and hard raw herbs. I directed my energy to my hands to mould he paper bag into a ball. When I removed the paper, I revealed a circr pill within. I said, "Here, feed them the pills."ord Zi looked mind-blown: "H-How did you do that?"

    Rolling a pill, I casually answered, "Train your internal strength for four decades, and you should be able to make one."ord Zi saluted me: "All right! I shall train my internal strength!"

    "Before you do that, feed them the pills."

    I took charge of producing pills. Lord Zi fed the vigers the pills to the twenty-plus vigers. I then touched my nose: "Cover your nose."

    Tone na?ve, Lord Zi stated, "Why? The smell is strong, but it doesn''t st-"

    One of the vigers interrupted Lord Zi''s sentence with a loud vomit¡­ord Zi: "Okay, it stinks now."

    The other twenty vigers reacted simrly, vomiting a repulsive yellow and white mush. After almost being caught with one st of vomit, Lord Zi took cover behind me. The antidote I concocted induced the urge to puke, thereby allowing them to expel the five stones powder. I didn''t know what doses they consumed, so that was the best method. Yes, it was filthy, but it was effective¡­ We couldn''t stay in the storehouse after that much vomit, nheless.

    I looked outside to check there was nobody watching. Virtually nobody resided there, since Feiyun Hall''s que was situated at the front door. Even Lu Shangfei, the owner of the ce, only used it as a ce to have a break. I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, there''s a small door you can leave by. If the effects of the powder have worn off,e with me. If you lie there for too long¡­ you might as well bury yourself in your own fields."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I ushered the vigers out with me. Owing to their rancid smell and wobble, they resembled a group of zombies following behind me. Luckily for me, I was at the forefront. Otherwise, they''d call me Xiangxi''s zombie exterminator. When we reached a busier street, we heard.

    "Ew, what''s their deal?! Vomiting and walking around at the same, are you trying to be zombies?"

    "Look at him! He''s not their leader, is he?"

    "Judging from his appearance, he''s one of them!"

    ''I resemble a zombie now? I wish you weren''t so darn imaginative! They''re innocent and kind vigers who were poisoned and forced to fight! They just happen to stink!''

    "Why would they be vomiting?"

    "How should I know? Don''t you think their leader looks hideous, though?"

    ''You aren''t discussing sh*t! You''re outright insulting me! You won''t get off insulting my looks just because you''re a passerby!''

    After dashing through the crowds to cross ane, I heard, "Big Bro, you''re here?"

    I turned to look in the direction of the voice. On the horizon was a familiar individual. He wore a stoic expression, sported muscr arms and a qilin tattoo. It was Tang Ye. I asked, "What are you doing here?"

    Tang Ye rushed over to me, speaking as he ran, consequently making it a difficult to hear him: "I received orders to investigate a corruption case. The clues I found led me here¡­"

    I frowned: "What are you in such a rush for?"

    Arriving before me, Tang Ye answered, "I was afraid I''d, blegh!"

    Bloody Tang Ye puked right in front of me. I wanted to ask, "Hey, what''s the matter, Tang Ye? Handsome and cool Tang Ye wouldn''t puke in the middle of the street! Wh-, wait, why are you puking meat buns?"

    A bystander from before: "See? Even his friend pukes at the sight of his revolting face."

    ''What the hell? You''re still here?! Why are you staring at me and following me?! You have a crush on me or something? You''re supposed toe over to give him warmth and water when he pukes, you jokes! Do people these days have no sympathy? Gosh!''

    Suddenly, an elder at the rear tripped over. Part of the reason was because he was getting on with age andcked strength, but another reason was due to the puking worsening his condition. Not a single person offered to help him, though. Lord Zi was at the front, yet he stated, "Ah, a pretty elder sister has gone to assist him."

    As Lord Zi said, a pretty maiden helped the elder up and dusted him. He said, "Elder, are you all right? Why are your grandchildren not with you? Are you lost? Are you all going for a group dance?"

    Judging from the elder''s face, he wanted to reply, "I want to puke." Either the effects of the antidote still lingered or the poison was still in his system, but I digress. The maiden sounded as if she was a lunatic. Group dance? How did she even get that idea? I certainly wouldn''t be good enough to lead a zombie parade.

    "By the way, Elder, have you seen a man in purple, this tall and with a straight face? He is my friend; we were separated not long ago."

    "Hmm? That sounds simr to¡­ this bloke puking in front of me. Her voice is familiar, too¡­" I thought.

    When I looked over to the maiden, she happened to look over to me: "Big Brother Ming!"

    "Xiao?"

    Eager to help, smiling and a young girl sweeping elders off their feet. Only one person ticked all three criteria: Su Xiao. I wondered why Su Xiao was at Wuhua County and what happened.

    Tang Ye struggled to articte himself: "We might¡­ be investigating the same case¡­ Su Han and I came here together."

    Su Xiao sped over to me. Something about his mannerisms was unusual; therefore, I took a small step back. For some reason, everyone around me was puking over the course of the day as if destiny had it nned for me. I silently pledged, "If you dare to puke, as well, you''re finished!"

    Su Xiao suddenly threw himself into my arms. I asked, "Xiao, what''s the matter?"

    Su Xiao didn''t respond. Lord Zi, however, righteously and sternly eximed, "Shifu, you''re having affairs behind Sister Lian''s back! Also, what about my mother?!"

    ''Jeepers, why do kids these days blurt things without considering the consequences?! Your Sister Lian is a eunuch. Your mother has a husband, and Su Xiao is a boy!!!''

    Discussions pertaining to myplex rtionship tree surged through the group of vigers.

    ''Is nobody going to defend me?!''

    Tang Ye shakily lifted his arm to pull himself up using my shoulder as support. His eyes bulged when he used too much strength, so¡­ he unleashed another splurge of his lunch¡­

    ''Hey, fuck you! Go puke somewhere else, asshole! Also, why are there more meat buns?!''

 Volume 6 43 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Not a Foolish, Ordinary Man

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 43 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Not a Foolish, Ordinary Man</h4>

    Yang Lianhua''s estate. Night time.

    Yang Lianhua enjoyed a bath then changed into his pink sleepwear with golden seams and flower petals. His legs and chest were forests of hair. He splurged when it came to applying rouge on his face. He had a thin physique but sported a seductress'' eyes and demeanour. Still, his Adam''s apple stood out. He was a fan of dolling up after baths; in fact, he applied more than when he went out to see guests. Regardless of what others'' opinions were, he was pleased with himself. From other''s perspectives, he was more feminine than women, but his face was so revolting everyone wanted to punch it in.

    Yang Lianhua squinted at the letter next to his makeup table. If someone tried to open the letter to read it, they would blow their own mind trying to decipher the contents. However, it was easier than telling t out lies for Yang Lianhua. Truth be told, it was the writer whose handwriting was atrocious.

    Evil Spirits created the secret code formunication. Leaders, such as Yang Lianhua, were proficient enough with their secret code topose refined poems. Some were able to rank writers based on their usage of their group''s code. It was one feat that helped establish their uniqueness. It wasn''t all morous, however, for it posed a challenge for their underground world allies who needed to contact them. Their allies often turned their brains upside down trying to decipher the code to no avail. Mistakes in interpretation and usage would lead to nothing making sense. In a sense, those who couldpose a letter using their code deserved apuse.

    The letter addressed to Yang Lianhua came from Secretary Kong. Secretary Kong waned to confirm the details of the operation to assassinate Secretary Lie and Lu tomorrow. The n was for Secretary Kong to invite the two out alone to his private abode, giving his team the opportunity to assassinate the two. It was so straightforward that it bordered on fearless.

    Secretary Kong reminded Yang Lianhua to try and poison Secretary Lie before striking, as thetter was abat veteran. He also reminded Yang Lianhua to flee to the ship via the passageway arranged and so forth. His concern seeped through his own handwriting.

    Amused, Yang Lianhua remarked, "Heh, imagine Confucius'' descendants teaching me, a viin, how to kill people."

    Yang Lianhua held the letter over the candle''s me to burn it. When he turned back to the mirror, his smile gradually disappeared. A crafty look flitted across his powdered face as he pondered, "The sly Kong Duan is just leveraging Evil Spirits'' reputation to gain power. Tiezhen Kingdom has never been amiable with Central ns. If we kill their officials, the tension will burst. Their Emperor could name our assassinations as a reason to dere war on us. What does Kong Duan, a peace advocate, stand to gain from a war between our two kingdoms?"

    Evil Spirits was a fearless group of thieves in Beijiang. Their motto was "Rob everything and anything you can rob". They lived by that motto to the T. Rumour was that their group had a hand in the chaos in Tiezhen Kingdom six years ago, leading to the reins to the nation changing hands.

    Evil Spirits consisted of River Monster, Mountain Monster, Ox Demon and Feathered Serpent. As for their leader''s identity, they were shrouded in mystery. Yang Lianhua was the sly Feathered Serpent. Owing to his character, he was one of their brains. He wasn''t the type to help someone out after he was betrayed.

    Whilst applying rouge, Yang Lianhua reflected on every single action and minutia Kong Duan exhibited during their conversations, even putting himself in thetter''s skin. Suddenly, he eximed, "I get it now!"

    Teeth clenched, Yang Lianhua cursed to himself: "I can''t believe I could be so foolish."

    Kong Duan certainly was part of the peace advocate faction; however, who were the hawks? Once the assassination was sessful, the hawks were dead, meaning the peace advocates would be the only faction to hold power. The assassination would trigger a war between the two kingdoms, forcing the imperial court to concentrate their military forces in the North. Needless to say the Seventeen Hidden Dragons and Ultimate Three would also have to join. So, among the remaining people in the imperial court, who would be able to offer resistance? By the time the two kingdoms had fought for several years, Kong Duan would''ve seized ultimate power in the imperial court.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yang Lianhua in his mind: "What a conniving old man. You think you can buy my loyalty with just Feiyun Hall''s ie alone? You''re underestimating me. Kong Duan, you may be cunning, but I''m no fool. If you want adepts to fight for you, find them from Central ins. I won''t be giving you a finger, let alone a hand."

    Yang Lianhua and Kong Duan''s cooperation began with their joint operation of Feiyun Hall. The initial order Yang Lianhua''s master gave him for when he reached the Central in was to establish a foundation. He couldn''t do anything in the Central in despite having a team of warriors with him. Thus, Feiyun Hall offered the perfect opportunity to fight and earn money. It waster on that he was acquainted with Kong Duan, a Rank Two official, but that was pure coincidence.

    The more involved Yang Lianhua was with Feiyun Hall, the more he felt there was more to it. There were so many adepts at Feiyun Hall''s Heaven Sector who could pull their own weight and could arguably rival him. It, therefore, begged the question, why would Kong Duan share the profits with him? Kong Duan had to be after something bigger if he could ept handing over profits for seemingly nothing. The keyid within the words "Beijiang citizen."

    If Secretary Lie and Lu''s assant was from Beijiang, Beijiang would be held responsible. If the assants were only from Feiyun Hall, the oue would be drastically different. Kong Duan couldn''t say, "You must be from Beijiang," when recruiting the assassins. Hence, Yang Lianhua made the most of that weakness to throw a wrench in Kong Duan''s n, making it impossible for thetter''s n to be one hundred percent sessful. Yang Lianhua had no qualms making an enemy out of Kong Duan if it was necessary; his group never feared anyone in the first ce.

    Once he was pleased with his appearance, Yang Lianhua nodded. It was time for his "servant" toe "serve" him. Nobody was specified for the night, so he wondered who''d pay him a visit. The knock on the door hinted hesitance and fear. Pleasantly surprised the individual outside was shy, he responded in a high-pitched voice: "Coming. Who is it?"

    Startled after hearing "seductive" tone, the individual outside was stupefied. Once he got over it, he answered, "This one is Lu Shangfei¡­ This one wishes to have a word with you, Mr. Yang."u Shangfei figuratively sshed cold water on Yang Lianhua''s me. As a result, Yang Lianhua stamped back to his seat and irritably stated, "It''s not locked. Walk yourself in."

    "Understood."u Shangfei entered fearfully and with a surprised look. He wore clothes simr to what a broadsword wielder would wear. As he watched Lu Shangfei, Yang Lianhua thought, "He''s so scared he even brought a bodyguard with him. Why didn''t Kong Duan find someone with a backbone? Well, I guess it would be troublesome to clean up after he enacts his n if they''re too skilled."

    Yang Lianhua threatened, "Brother Lu, are you here to disturb my sleep, because you can''t sleep? If I don''t sleep, my face will be ruined. I won''t me you, but my subordinates might not be so kind."u Shangfei''s hairs stood up, and he felt somethinge up to his throat. The man next to him said, "Boss Lu, business, business," to help stop the urge to puke.

    Yang Lianhua turned his attention to the man with Lu Shangfei. The man was exceptionally tall. His shoulders and back were wide. His proportions were among the best Yang Lianhua had seen even ifparing him to men from the North. He wondered, "Where did Lu Shangfei find such a splendid man from?"

    Oveing his dilemma, Lu Shangfei questioned, "This one has a question pertaining to our discussion during the day. Where is this one''s brother at the moment? Is he¡­ still alive?"

    Silence.

    Kong Duan gave the order to kill Lu Xiazou, but he carried out themand; there was no arguing that. He was going to entertain Lu Shangfei but realised, "Kong Duan wants to set me up? Lu Xiazou was an official of the imperial court! Kong Duan took his corpse. The Central in''s adepts will be able to determine what style was used to kill him! Damn you, you old fox! I missed that!"

    Yang Lianhua''s silence rendered Lu Shangfei nervous. Unable to contain his anger, Lu Shangfei pointed at Yang Lianhua: "Was Brother Hu right when he said my brother is dead?! Yang Lianhua, were you the one who killed him?!"

    "¡­ So what if it was?" rhetorically asked Yang Lianhua, with augh carrying a hostile undertone.

    The Lu brothers were mere sacrifices in the two parties'' scheme. Nevertheless, continuously crossing his bottom line led to Yang Lianhua believing Kong Duan was setting him up, putting the former at the disadvantage. Consequently, Yang Lianhua had no patience for Lu Shangfei. He slowly stood up and walked over to Lu Shangfei: "But don''t me the innocent. I don''t know your brother. Why would I kill him? It was your master''s order."

    Vigorously shaking his head in denial, Lu Shangfei eximed, "Wh-Why would he do that?"

    Yang Lianhua smiled sarcastically: "You brothers have worked for the old fox for all these years and haven''t learnt a thing. You don''t know what sort of man he is yet? He discards you once he''s done using you. What''s scary about him is they still benefit him even after they''re thrown away. He''s done it to me, too. You Hans are despicable cowards; the only thing you''re good at is ying underhanded tricks. I find it hard just to brown nose someone. Now, I suppose it''s time for you to be on your way to join your brother."

    Yang Lianhua raised his sleeve. Because he avoided the sun year round as if it was the gue, his hand was ghastly pale. He stabbed the side of Lu Shangfei''s abdomen from an awkward angle and pushed his force in, decimating thetter''s vitals. Like the way he killed Lu Xiazou, his stab was meant to be lethal. Lu Shangfei, not even knowing he had been stabbed already, cried, "I''m going to kill you, you freak of nature!!"u Shangfei ignored the gap in their strength and punched Yang Lianhua in the face.

 Volume 6 44 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Officials and the People Mutuallyâ€¦

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 44 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Officials and the People Mutually¡­</h4>

    Yang Lianhua staggered back three steps. Lu Shangfei''s tall bodyguard then intervened: "Boss Lu, Boss Lu, we agreed to only find out the truth. Why are you fighting?! Don''t fight. Don''t fight."u Shangfei wasn''t going to stop; he ignored his bodyguard and tried to fight Yang Lianhua. It happened so suddenly Yang Lianhua couldn''t keep up. Sure, he only used thirty percent of his potential when he performed the finger thrust, but he never expected Lu Shangfei to get out unscathed and evenunch his own counter.

    Yang Lianhua suffered a blow and was livid, but that was due to him forgetting to shield his body with his qi before he struck. He was livid, because his face was his life. He was so angry hepletely neglected carrying himself with an adept''s demeanour. He flicked his sleeve and tried to attack again with more force.

    "Don''t fight. Don''t fight. Why are you two so hot headed?" The bodyguard stood between the two and tried to help them reconcile when Yang Lianhua struck again. He caught Yang Lianhua''s hand and yanked him down. Trying to mediate, he said, "You are both respectable gentlemen. Why are you fighting? Why not both take a step back and talk this out?"

    Because the bodyguard focused on catching Yang Lianhua''s hand, he released his hold on Lu Shangfei. Lu Shangfei aggressively shouted and knocked Yang Lianhua down with a spin kick to the face. Yang Lianhua grunted when he fell.

    Yang Lianhua was fully aware the bodyguard was leading him by the nose. He was confident he would finish Lu Shangfei with a palm strike at eighty percent of his full power, yet the bodyguard disintegrated his force and true qi armour when the bodyguard yanked his arm down. He might not have been a top-tier adept; however, there were only two people among Evil Spirits who were able to dismantle an attack at eighty percent of his full power. Evidently, the bodyguard wasn''t an ordinary man.

    Ming Feizhen maintained an impartial expression as he tried to break the two up: "Don''t fight. Don''t fight. We can talk this out."

    "Yeah? Talk? Talk to this foot!" brayed Lu Shangfei, trying to kick Yang Lianhua despite Ming Feizhen stopping him. "Brother Hu! This old one knows you''re a man who respects justice, but he killed my brother. We have a grudge that can only be settled with his blood. If I don''t kill him, I have no shame to continue living!"

    "Boss Lu, it''s not right to impose a personal vendetta despite him being a criminal. I suggest you arrest him, and send him to a government office."u Shangfei was in tears: "They can''t do anything about him! He''s in cahoots with them!"

    Yang Lianhua crawled to his feet: "You think you can stop me? I could squash you and your brother at the same time even if he coulde back to life!"

    Yang Lianhua didn''t dare to attack, for he feared Ming Feizhen. Lu Shangfei, meanwhile, had absolutely no qualms flinging threats: "I''ll body you right here, you gender-bending freak!"

    Yang Lianhuaughed in a sinister tone: "Come at me on your own if you''re so good. If you can take one blow, I''ll kill myself on the spot."

    "Bring it! Give me your best shot!"

    Ming Feizhen insisted on maintaining his position in the middle of them: "Stop! Don''t fight! What are we going to do if you two get hurt? They say fight if you''re going to fight, but why would you pull a sabre on him?"u Shangfei: "Huh? Sabre?"

    Yang Lianhua: "What sabre? Whose sabre?"u Shangfei nced down to Ming Feizhen''s waist, where an ancient western-style sabre hung, finding the answer to his own question. Needless to say, he immediately reached for it. Once he took it, Ming Feizhen cried, "Why are you pulling a sabre on him?! My Ancient Cold sabre is six point eight kilograms. My ancestors passed it down. It kills on contact. Unskilled martial artists wouldn''t touch it; adepts can''t defend against it. Why would you attack someone with that?!"

    Despite saying all that garble, Ming Feizhen didn''t bother setting up any defence; he even handed it over to Lu Shangfei, as thetter was slow. Lu Shangfei was impressed with the de. The de''s cold aura spread throughout the room. Yang Lianhua could tell he was in dire straits. Knowing it could potentially slice through gold and might''ve had jellyfish added to it, Yang Lianhua focused.

    "I''ll hack you to pieces, you demented freak!" brayed Lu Shangfei.

    Yang Lianhua evaded all of Lu Shangfei''s swings. Ming Feizhen couldn''t identify Yang Lianhua''s style based on his movements. Lu Shangfei wasn''t a martial artist, so he couldn''t keep up his assault for long - particrly since the sabre was considerably heavier than a normal sword or broadsword. Lu Shangfei swung it purely out of rage.

    Yang Lianhua was delighted, since Lu Shangfei was easier than easy to for him to defeat unlike Ming Feizhen. He feigned fear and retreated as he bided his time.

    "Don''t run, bro. You need to talk this out. What''s the point of being angry?" sarcastically asked Ming Feizhen.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen appeared behind Yang Lianhua with a smile out of nowhere and grabbed thetter''s hands. Yang Lianhua tried to direct strength to his arms to no avail. He struggled against Ming Feizhen. Yang Lianhua eximed, "Y-You pulled me off track!"u Shangfei couldn''t give a damn about what Yang Lianhua said. His eyes bulged as he charged over and ran his fists into Yang Lianhua''s face, knocking out two of his teeth. Only then did Ming Feizhen release Yang Lianhua and put on another act: "Miss Tomgirl, you should talk this out. Easye. Easy go. Don''t fight. Fighting is no good."

    Yang Lianhua was so furious he pointed at Ming Feizhen but couldn''t express his thoughts, which were, "Fuck you and your charade, you conniving sh*thead! I know you''re the one screwing me over!"

    As soon as Yang Lianhua pointed, Ming Feizhen grabbed the former''s wrist and sighed: "Why are you still trying to fight? It''s sad, but I have no choice."

    Ming Feizhen didn''t just dismantle Yang Lianhua''s attack again. He drove a kick straight at Yang Lianhua''s chest. Yang Lianhua didn''t go flying, but he felt his true qi roil. Ming Feizhen basically shook Yang Lianhua''s meridians, a technique internal style experts often used. Yang Lianhua felt his mind crumble upon impact.

    Yang Lianhua passed out. Nevertheless, Lu Shangfei didn''t bring the guillotine down. At the end of the day, Lu Shangfei was a businessman, not a pugilistic world veteran. He didn''t dare tomit murder. With Yang Lianhua as his captive, Lu Shangfei''s revenge was halfplete. As for the other culprit¡­ Lu Shangfei couldn''t afford to offend him.

    "Boss Lu, why do you look down after avenging your brother?"

    "Brother Hu, you heard what he said. I assume you can extrapte and figure it out for yourself¡­ Frankly, I was just a cowherd from an obscure vige¡­" Lu Shangfei filled Ming Feizhen in on his story, history with Secretary Kong and up to the current events. Then, he said, "My brother and I have been the only family for each other all these years. I must avenge him. That being said, that old fox wields immense power¡­ What can I do about him?"

    Ming Feizhen chuckled: "You don''t need to worry about that, Boss Lu. Didn''t you just finish Yang Lianhua? How is Kong Duan any worse?"u Shangfei waved a hand: "They''re different. Yang Lianhua looks useful but isn''t. A couple of punches and look where he is."u Shangfei thought, "Yang Lianhua''s skills are just so-so. He couldn''t even put up a fight against me. I seem superior to you, Yang Lianhua. I bet you had to gang up on my brother to kill him."u Shangfei suddenly jumped into a worried frame of mind again and frowned: "Brother Hu, will Sister-inw and your child be all right against Yang Lianhua''s subordinates. Is it all right for us to just stay here?"

    "Don''t worry about them. They''ll be fine."

    Someone opened the door. Tang Ye came in and dusted his hands: "Big Bro, they''re all there."u Shangfei''s mouth was close to gaping. Tang Ye pointed to the twenty or so Beijiang men on the ground outside and calmly reported: "They insisted on resisting no matter how I tried to convince them. I, therefore, had to resort to force. I did not want to hurt them¡­"

    "Whatever, whatever!" fumed Ming Feizhen, waving his hand. "I saw you walk straight up to them and begin an onught. Don''t try to be smart with me!! Where''s Bai Lian? She''s the grandmander here. We can''t just ditch our superior, can we?"

    Tang Ye''s proud tone could rival Lord Zi''s: "To the rear. General Manager Bai didn''t fight. Nobody fell. What a pity."

    Ming Feizhen griped, "What did you think would happen if you didn''t spare anyone for her? There were about twenty of them, and I saw you take on four per arm from the beginning, so there went eight. Then, you went on a spree, smashing everyone you came across. Who''dpete with you? What happened thest two days? The Ministry of Personnel is where civil officials gather, no? Why are you even more eager for fights than when you were at Liu Shan Men?"

    Merely hearing "Ministry of Personnel" struck the wrong nerve with Tang Ye. Cool Tang Ye had to be meticulous and careful with every minutia at the Ministry of Personnel to meet Teacher Zhang''s standards. There was no fighting for him when he even had to mind the way he spoke. Then, he was forced to stomach Boss Huang''s meat buns. Why hold back when he finally has the opportunity to resolve something with his fists, especially when the enemy was the one who indirectly forced him to stomach the meat buns? If anything, he loved dishing out punishment.

    After beating them down, Tang Ye realised fists, legs, spears, des and what have you were the truth in life. Nothing felt more exhrating than punching and kicking. Unfortunately for his opponents, they ran into Liu Shan Men''s lesser lord who beat them before they could even grunt.

    "I said, you''re mistaken!"

    Ming Feizhen focused energy to eyes for vision enhancement when he heard the arguing. He saw one of his nightmares, Bai Lian and Su Xiao, two enemies, quarrelling with each other.

    "How many times have I repeated myself? Do you haveprehension issues?" Bai Lian exined, "I had to y husband and wife with him for the mission; it''s not as if I wanted to!"

    "At least you''re trying," remarked Su Xiao, pulling a funny face. "They call me Liu Shan Men''s genius, Su Xiao. Do you genuinely believe you can deceive me? Zizi told me you not only pretended to be husband, but also took the initiative to acknowledge him as your son!"ord Zi was twelve. Su Xiao had yet to turn sixteen. Owing to them being close in age, they got along well. Lord Zi still had their friendship-token candied hawthorn stick.ord Zi sensed Bai Lian''s re on his back. He shivered and said, "I-I didn''t say much. Only two sentences!"

    Frustrated her most respected Lord Zi betrayed her, Bai Lian folded her arms: "I-In any case, I didn''t want to."

    Su Xiao smirked: "Hmph, try a different excuse. I took my eyes off Big Brother Ming for a moment, and you became his wife. Since when could eunuchs be wives? Zizi, have you ever heard of a eunuch being a wife?"ord Zi, honest, shook his head: "No."

    Bai Lian went red in the face. Su Xiao lifted his chin condescendingly and unted his genius: "If you haven''t fallen for Big Brother Ming, would you have been willing to pretend to be a woman? Just admit it. You share the same taste as Eunuch Wang and Liu Yuan. You like Big Brother Ming, don''t you?"

    Bai Lian wanted to argue, but Su Xiao outssed her in verbal warfare, and she was in still in female clothing. As such, she couldn''t impose her general manager power. Defeated, she turned to innocent Ming Feizhen and shot him a re.

    Su Xiao licked his friendship-proof token, making slurping sounds as he licked. Eyeing Bai Lian out the corner of his eyes, he said, "Unfortunately for you, you don''t have my permission. I can''t let you deceive him when he''s so stupid. He has less retirement funds than me. There''s not much you can swindle from him."

    ''You''re the stupid one, Fool! Who are you to be giving my wifey grief?! What would the General Manager of the imperial household con a lowly constable''s money for? Please show some tension; we''re working on a case, damn it!!''

    What could Ming Feizhen do? One was a Prince. The other was the one in charge of the case.

    Upon seeing Yang Lianhua floored, Bai Lian expressed surprise: "Ming Feizhen, not bad. He''s quite skilled, yet you managed to defeat him?"

    Well prepared ahead of time, Ming Feizhen smiled: "He just happened to be weak. Ask Boss Lu if you don''t believe me. Strictly speaking, he beat Yang Lianhua."

    Ming Feizhen''s wife was a eunuch. Ming Feizhen''s son was a fake son. And then a beautiful maiden appeared out of nowhere. The conversation and Su Xiao''s appearance stupefied Lu Shangfei. He inquired, "Br-Brother Hu, what''s going on?"

    "Let me give you an introduction. This is the pce''s imperial household general manager, General Manager Bai. This is Constable Su and Tang from Liu Shan Men. My surname isn''t Hu. My name is Ming Feizhen; I''m also Liu Shan Men''s constable."

    The cat caught Lu Shangfei''s tongue. Ming Feizhen continued, "Boss Lu, did you just ask me what you could do? Does this answer your question? Frankly, I wanted to say this to you, the vigers and others."

    Ming Feizhen wore on his signature innocent smile whenever he boasted. He raised a thumb and confidently said something he never said in the past: "If there''s a problem, report it to officials. We don''t charge."

 Volume 6 45 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ The Scene Before Sunrise

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 45 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C The Scene Before Sunrise</h4>

    General Manager Bai''s astute leadership led to Yang Lianhua''s sessful arrest. Although he wasn''t themander behind the scenes nor was he legally held responsible for operating the underground fighting syndicate, he illegally produced five stones powder, kidnapped vigers and forced said vigers into fighting for money. The former two crimes were serious offences on their own. Lord Zi''s supplementary testimony of him murdering Lu Xiazou, an official of the imperial court, was another nail in his coffin.

    Yang Lianhua was special in the sense that he wasn''t from the Central in. With that said, the Ministry of Justice''s leader was Su Xiao''s teacher, Secretary Leng. Secretary Leng wouldn''t show mercy to Yang Lianhua even if thetter was an alien. Yang Lianhua was a cautious man, though.

    Yang Lianhua resided at a ce Lu Shangfei provided while at Wuhua County. As such, he took precautions. When Tang Ye charged into the courtyard and began his carnage, one of his men in hiding immediately fled the scene to call for reinforcements from Evil Spirits.

    Owing to the distance, the sun already rose by the time said henchmen arrived at his destination. He hastily reported, "I couldn''t ride a horse here, as I was afraid of attracting attention and revealing my tracks. As a result, I waster than ideally. Is Commander safe? Please advise what I should do next, Vice-Commander!"

    The vicemander was a man roughly twenty-eight years old. He had a narrow head. In his hand was the mask of a rabbit fiend. Indeed, he was the one overwatching Earth Sector for Yang Lianhua, Rabbit Fiend. Rabbit Fiend''s real name was Yan Jingwang. As his Commander belonged to Feathered Serpent group, he and his subordinates were referred to as Feathered Serpent Order. When theirmander was absent, the group''s vicemander took control with the same degree of authority as the group''smander.

    As he lost the vigers, Rabbit Fiend didn''t risk having Yang Lianhua''s close aides search for them in case he was punished for his mistake. Hence, he headed to the rendezvous point to summon reinforcements. Before he could do anything, however, Yang Lianhua was captured. When he heard the enemy force''s numbers, he thundered, "Ridiculous! Commander was in danger against those meagre numbers? We all know how profound Commander''s skills are. The Central in''s weaklings are no match for him. Moreover, he had over twenty other members of the order with him. You''re clearly exaggerating!"

    The informant responded, "I am telling the truth! He wore a stoic expression and dressed in a purple robe. He ruthlessly took out eight of ourrades as soon as he entered. He then took out everyone he came across. None of our brethren escaped."

    Yan Jingwang: "Hmph, if there really is someone so skilled in the Central in''s, I''d like to see what he''s made of for myself. Do you know who he is?"

    "I got a clear visual on him. He was the Liu Shan Men constable who ate fifty steamers at Huangshang Restaurant. If my memory does me justice, his name was Tang Ye. I was there when he ate the fifty steamers. I am absolutely certain it was him."

    "Liu Shan Men''s constable?"

    Serpent Feather Order was different to other teams in contact with various nations. The group chiefly provided Yang Lianhua with support from the North as opposed to from the Central in. As a consequence, they weren''t familiar with Liu Shan Men. Beijiang''s martial world and the Central in interacted a lot. That was why they knew about major sects and the Seven Champion White Princes. However, when it came to the threew enforcement offices, they weren''t familiar with them - barring the Qilin Guards. In terms of Liu Shan Men, they only knew of the forever-revered Yan Shisan and the leader before him.

    "Liu Shan Men found out Commander''s identity within a matter of days? They certainly are a force to be reckoned with as we have heard. Remember to never make an enemy out of Liu Shan Men while in the Central in''s martial world. Based on what you said of Tang Ye, he should be the best fighter amongst them," said Yan Jingwang, suddenly feeling eager for a fight. Still clinging to his view that the Central in''s martial artists were pushovers, he sternly asked, "Even if Liu Shan Men is formidable, however, you managed to escape, yet Commander was caught? Did you drop your guard?"

    The informant replied, "It started in a rather strange way. I saw Lu Shangfei and his bodyguard enter Commander''s room."

    "Lu Shangfei?" remarked Yan Jingwang. Since being ced in charge of managing Earth Sector, he met Lu Shangfei more times than he met Yang Lianhua. He expressed, "What can he do? Liu Shan Men must''ve sent an elite bodyguard to trap Commander together with Lu Shangfei."

    The informant responded, "I disagree. Not long after the pair entered, I heard them get into a physical altercation. Lu Shangfei beat Commander the entire time. The bodyguard tried his best to break them apart; he never struck once."

    Yan Jingwang was totally befuddled at first. Upon deeper deliberation, he wore on a scornful expression: "I get it now! They must''ve used poison! Lu Shangfei wouldn''t stand a chance against Commander by himself unless Commander was poisoned. Poor Commander fell for the scum''s trap. Hang on¡­u Shangfei is a businessman. There''s no way he''d dare to attack ourmander. The poison must be something beyond imagination if he could poison Commander with it. How did Lu Shangfei poison Commander? This is a conspiracy¡­ a big conspiracy."

    The members of Feathered Serpent Order in the courtyard responded, "What is the conspiracy? Please enlighten us, Vice-Commander."

    "Of course," said Yan Jingwang, stroking his non-existent beard. "Liu Shan Men must''ve given Lu Shangfei the poison."

    Everyone else: "Oh!!"

    "There''s no need for you to be in such a rush to lick my boots," said Yan Jingwang, waving his hand. "That''s not all there is to it. Something bothers me: why was someone trying to help them reconcile when Liu Shan Men sent their constables to arrest Commander? I couldn''t find an exnation for it."

    "Oh?"

    "I do now know. There''s only one way to exin why he gave up his stance as a constable to help ourmander. The problem was he couldn''t outright assist Commander."

    "What would that be?"

    Yan Jingwang took in a deep breath. He bluntly answered, "His conscience told him to."

    "Really?!"

    The conversation resembled a drama skit. The informant was baffled. If Yang Lianhua, the man called the brains of the group, was there, his intelligence would dip after listening to them. Fortunately for him, he was busy trying to stay alive instead of listening to the nimrods.

    Yan Jingwang''s excellent deduction show went on: "Liu Shan Men is a symbol of justice. His conscience told him the mission was unjust. Thus, he wanted to stop Lu Shangfei but couldn''t be forthright. That proves he''s afraid of Lu Shangfei or the person backing Lu Shangfei."

    "You mean¡­"

    "Kong Duan!" proimed Yan Jingwang, switching to a vindictive look. "Lu Shangfei wouldn''t ever concoct such arge-scale n and be bold enough to harm ourmander. It must be that old bastard Kong Dua''s idea. He must''ve asked Commander for something, and then deliberately leaked intelligence to Liu Shan Men when Commander refused to obey him. How else would you exin Lu Shangfei and Liu Shan Men being together? How else would you exin Liu Shan Men''s constable trying to talk Lu Shangfei out of it?"

    "Kong Duan?"

    "How wicked!"

    "And Commander treated the traitor sincerely as an ally!"

    Beijiang''s men held promises in the same regard as life itself; it wasn''t above them to sacrifice their lives to uphold a promise. They always detested cowards who betrayed others. For that reason, Kong Duan''s betrayal infuriated them.

    "Motherfucker!" cursed Yan Jingwang, shattering a timber table with his hand as if it was a hammer smashing an egg.

    The spy shuddered: "Th-That was sensational, Vice-Commander."

    Yang Lianhua cked off on martial arts training, for he believed he could outsmart any other soul. In terms of martial prowess, Yan Jingwang was more qualified than he was to be the order''s leader. He merely schemed his way up thedder.

    red up, Yan Jingwangmanded, "Old Kong, let''s find out what gave you the gall to offend Evil Spirits! Engs, grab our weapons! Go and ughter the old fool!"

    ========

    At Feiyun Hall''s Heaven Sector.

    Heaven Sector was different to Earth Sector in so many ways that it''d be normal to question if they were in the same area. The biggest difference was the wealth of the officials. Those who were permitted into Heaven Sector''s stadium weren''t wealthy, famous or held power. If they wanted to enter it, their only option would be to test their luck in a gambling den first.

    Bai Lian won dozens of matches in Heaven Sector, yet she never learnt any of its secrets. Dozens of adepts concealed themselves in the vicinity; they were Kong Duan''s secret weapons. They mingled below the ring and pretended they didn''t know each other. Kong Duan just needed to give the order, and they''d abandon their identities to disguise themselves as the Ministry of Rites'' warriors. Alternatively, they''d assume the roles of assassins in the pugilistic world working for him. When they weren''t required for any missions, they were his splendid money-making tools.

    Kong Duan had dozens, if not a hundred or so, men working for him, and they all assembled at Heaven Sector. Four of them monitored the ring. They worked together to ensure they always won against outside challengers. In other words, Kong Duan always controlled the oues, empowering him to operate the underground fighting syndicate without qualms and earn an endless flow ie. In addition, it was his best ce to hide his army of adepts.

    Feiyun Hall was essentially Kong Duan''s army barracks, one that made him money. The approach benefited him in a multitude of ways. First, his adepts were always busy, thereby ensuring they wouldn''t suffer ring rust. Second, it covered his expenses. Third, he could profit. He always was a fan of killing multiple birds with a single stone. To be frank, his business acumen would''ve made him a fine businessman if he wasn''t a government official.

    The reason Bai Lian never met Kong Duan''s secret soldiers was they concealed themselves during the day and were active at night, reason being the audience fondest of blood, brutality, shing and gashing visited at night. The night is a veil capable of cleansing sins and finding ways to hide all of the other possibilities.

    Another night, another fight. The enthusiastic crowd''s cheers stirred the warriors'' thirst for blood. As a result, fights intensified. Shockwaves travelled over three metres. Needless to say, the four were skilled. Three of the four were Kong Duan''s subordinates; the fourth warrior was an outside challenger. It was obviously a three-on-one match. Kong Duan''s team consisted of a broadsword wielder, a swordsman and a warrior dual wielding a pair of five kilogram copper hammers. The dual wielder smacked the blood out of the challenger; the challenger hung on sheerly based on willpower after being beaten inside and out.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Despite the crowd crying "shameless," there was no angry undertone to speak off. That was perfectly normal at Feiyun Hall. There was always more jeering and goading than unfair-y calls.

    The man with the hammerughed hysterically: "Hu whatever your name was, you have balls tost until now, but your brain must be dead, or did you just have a death wish?"

    Hu Wangxing, the man Ming Feizhen assumed the identity of, was the one taking the beating. When the couple regained their conscious and entered the stadium, his wife was sent to Heaven Sector, as she was mistaken for Bai Lian. Unlike Bai Lian, she was no match for the adepts. Then, it was his turn. He mustered up all of his strength to stay standing: "We agreed¡­ you''d allow my wife and me to leave once we won three rounds¡­ You can''t go back on your word."

    The broadsword wielderughed: "That was what the host promised you, not me."

    Hu Wangxing spat out blood and smiled condescendingly: "Heh, what''s the difference."

    The man with the hammers: "Witty but foolish unfortunately. You think your beautiful wife would still be ''remaining'' after we got out hands on her?"

    Hu Wangxing began to worry for his wife: "You animals!"

    Hu Wangxing charged in and swung down, ying right into his opponents'' hands. The man with the hammersughed as he effortlessly deflected Hu Wangxing''s de with one hammer and pummelled Hu Wangxing with his other hammer.

    Crack! Hu Wangxing sprayed blood and copsed backwards on the ground, barely able to breathe. The audiences'' voices seemed to go further and further away. His conscious gradually faded. Suddenly, he heard a rxing song.

    "Buy a cow, and learn to farm¡­" The singer casually walked to the ring with a gourd of beer in hand: "Build a toilet facing the forest''s spring. Who has a long life in old age? Spend a few years in the mountains."

    The tall singer wore a demonic mask. His leisurely demeanour seemingly painted a smile on the mask. He sounded young, yet he vocalised an elder''s sentiments. He figuratively emerged when it was bright. However, at some point, he grew ustomed to being in the shadows, bing a spectre. Night and day are opposites. Who could say for certain it wasn''t him? Once the singer reached the bottom of the ring, he said to Hu Wangxing, "You taking to the ring as a couple, too, are you? I know how it feels. It''s a tough hurdle to get over."

    Hu Wangxing was barely able to keep his eyes open, let alone speak.

    The man with the copper mask smiled: "I shall take over for him."

    The man with the hammer blustered, "Announce yourself, arrogant fool!"

    The man with the mask generated a gale when he moved, knocking the three off bnce. After stumbling back several steps, there was still enough residue pressure to cause their knees to buckle. They only stayed on their feet thanks to their strength. The host was thrilled, while the three were rmed.

    Someone: "Feiyun Hall wees all challengers! May I ask for your name?"

    "It''s been a long time since I''ve used my name," was all the masked man replied with.

    The masked man crouched down to run his hands over the ring''s mat and sliced it, revealing the stone ring. The stone wasn''t anything special; the materials were old unlike the decorations around. Perhaps the ring was used for something else in the past. He then ran his fingers over the text carved onto it as if he was sharing a nostalgic moment with an old friend.

    Hesitating at first, the host eventually requested, "Sir, may I ask for your name?"

    "Sure," replied the masked man, looking up after. His gaze suddenly turned unfathomably diabolic as if his blood was roiling: "This old one''s name is Zhong Ning. I shall appreciate all pointers."

 Volume 6 46 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Early Bird Gets the Worm

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 46 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Early Bird Gets the Worm</h4>

    Kong Duan was dressed and sitting at his work desk before the first bird chirped in the morning. Officials who attended the imperial court rose at the wee hours of the morning. Some woke as early as eleven at night. That was why older officials had a habit of sleeping in when they didn''t need to attend conferences as a means of catching up on lost sleep. Kong Duan was an exception to the popr practice. Kong Duan woke at the same time every day regardless of howte he turned in the previous night and repeated his daily procedures as if they were rituals he never grew tired of.

    Kong Duan didn''t light a candle in his study. He went over to the window and opened the bamboo window to allow sunlight in. He remarked, "You''ve arrived, Long Cheng."ong Cheng awaited Kong Duan in the room for a long time already. One word from Kong Duan, and the former would immediately help Kong Duan fight for the throne.

    Kong Duan found the sunlight too stimting for his eyes, since he spent too long in the dark. His wrinkles represented all the thinking he did and paths he had walked in life. With a helpless smile, he remarked, "It''s finally time."ong Cheng took a moment to respond: "It is finally time to realise the dream?"

    "Huh?" Kong Duan irritability fumed, "Did I tell you to respond? Where are Old Lie and Lu?"

    Kong Duan''s subordinate saluted him with a hold-fist salute: "They have set out should be arriving at Feiyun Hall as per the original n. Lu Shangfei is reportedly ready."

    "Everything is in ce, then,"mented Kong Duan, smiling confidently. He brushed his robe andmanded, "March!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Kong Duan''s group advanced toward Wuhua County.

    Kong Duan''s rtionship with Secretary Lie and Lu was always tense. However, he didn''t risk everything to assassinate the two. Firstly, the consequences would be dire if it was revealed he orchestrated it. His entire n might be exterminated. Ambitions, ideals and politics were useless if he was dead. Secondly, despite differences in political stances, they served the Emperor. There was no reason to take the leap of fate and risk everything to assassinate officials of equal rank. Moreover, he was the representative of civil officials, Confucius'' descendant and the Ministry of Rites'' leader.

    To circumvent the risks, Kong Duan sent a secret letter inviting Secretary Lie and Lu to Wuhua County. No matter how baffled or suspicious they were, assassination would never cross their minds. Liezu and Feng Sage Factions fought in the imperial court, true; however, nobody would expect Kong Duan would go as far as taking hispetitors out via such drastic measures.

    Once the targets arrived, Kong Duan intended to let Yang Lianhua and his adepts from Beijiang execute the mission. To counter Secretary Lie''sbat prowess, he prepared poison beforehand as a countermeasure.

    Once Yang Lianhuapleted the job, Kong Duan nned to reveal the true ace up his sleeve: his secret army at Feiyun Hall. They would "clean up" the aftermath. Kong Duan would then cast all the me onto Beijiang''s men. Add Yang Lianhua assassinating Lu Xiazou beforehand to the equation, and he had a more convincing argument that Evil Spirits specifically targeted the imperial court''s officials. As such, Yang Lianhua''s conjecture of Kong Duan''s ns was spot on for the most part. He, however, never thought Kong Duan would stick one in his back so fast.

    Kong Duan''s team arrived earlier than usual despite heading outerter than scheduled, as he rode the horses Yang Lianhua imported from Beijiang. Kong Duan had Yang Lianhua''s three adepts, a broadsword wielder and two empty-fist fighters put on a performance. Once satisfied, he said, "Once I give the order, just execute the mission."

    Secretary Lie and Lu arrived a whileter. Sitting inside the main building, Kong Duan heard Secretary Liee in: "What the heck is this ce? It''s more dead than dead. If I had my men with me, I''d burn this ce down before it spooks people out."

    When Secretary Lie saw Kong Duan sitting inside, he fumed, "You must be bored out of your skin on this cold day to be all the way out here. What''s the big idea? Can''t you say what you want to say at the capital? Man, I''m tired."

    "Old Lie, shut it," said Secretary Lu, in a calm voice. "I''ve heard enough from you on the way here. Since Secretary Kong invited us out here, he will naturally provide us with an exnation. Are you going to die or something if you wait? Am I right, Secretary Kong?"

    Secretary Lu was a man with white skin, a well-kept appearance, a tall nose and green eyes; he certainly didn''t resemble someone from the Central in. That being said, his pronunciation of the Hans'' dialect was beyond perfect. Needless to say, his eyes were often a topic of discussion. He yed Secretary Lie''s strategist.

    Secretary Lie calmed down after Secretary Lu told him to pipe down. He touched his head and mumbled, "Fine, but only because you asked me to."

    When Secretary Lu red at him again, Secretary Lie finally stopped grumbling.

    Kong Duanughed: "You are most certainly right. Please take a seat. It is not appropriate to discuss this subject in the capital. That is why I invited you here. Please take a seat first."

    Secretary Lie and Lu sat down. They were offered tea as they were supposed to be. Secretary Lu grabbed Secretary Lie''s hand the moment thetter picked up his teacup. The gesture startled Secretary Lie; he thought he was going to be punished for making a mistake of some sort. Secretary Lu expressed, "We''ll pass on the tea. Secretary Kong, please say what you have to say. I came here to be enlightened. If this is predicated on business, why not discuss it at the capital. If this is a private matter, hah¡­"

    Secretary Lu''s snort was akin to a hook that grabbed Kong Duan by the neck and suspended him in the air. Secretary Lu then went on: "Whatmonalities do we share in our personal lives? I''m from the Western Region; I don''t have any knowledge pertaining to this sort of activity. Please enlighten me."

    Kong Duan was aware Secretary Lu was no fool, far from one. Thetter was never fond of conflict. Since the two of them refused to drink, Kong Duan couldn''t force it on them. Nevertheless, he smiled without feeling hindered and went on: "Secretary Lu, why do you find it questionable? Despite this old one not sharing your views in regards to politics, he has always admired you as human beings. Do you suspect this old one poisoned your drink?"

    "I have always been forthright and tolerant. If you are a man, why are you performing detours and mincing your words? A man should have the courage to articte his thoughts without reserve."

    Secretary Lu''s response earned Kong Duan''s ire. Kong Duan grumbled, "This old one invited you two to reduce our two factions'' conflict. However, owing to the sensitivity of the topic and potential eavesdroppers, this old one invited you two here. What led to you misunderstanding my intent, Secretary Lu?"

    Secretary Lu wore on a wry smile: "Reduce our two factions'' conflict? Okay, may I ask where Zhang Chunfeng is? Your faction is referred to as Feng Sage Faction; the character Feng and its positioning indicates Zhang Chunfeng is your leader, while sage is merely an alias. As we can all see, Zhang Chunfeng is the only authority in your faction. You want to discuss with us? Discuss what exactly?"ittle did Secretary Lu know he struck Kong Duan''s wrong nerve. Kong Duan was absolutely furious; he almost lost hisposure.ie Jingchan wasn''t remotely a fan of Kong Duan; nheless, they were all officials serving the Emperor. He didn''t want to let their rtionship turn confrontational. He, therefore, rose to his feet and intervened: "Okay, enough. Are we really just going to argue? Arguing in court not enough for you? Old Kong, if you have something to say just s-"ie Jingchan suddenly saw the room spin. He sat back down in his chair: "Eh? What the heck? I feel dizzy. Were the two pots of winest night something else¡­?"

    Cognizant of the fact Lie Jingchan could hold his liquor impressively, Secretary Lu frowned: "Old Lie, y-"

    Secretary Lu discovered he couldn''t exert any strength; standing was a no go. As a quick thinker, he immediately came up with a solution: "Men!!"

    It was a no-brainer for Secretary Lie and Lu to bring men along with them. They just had to say the word, and their men would show up. There might be an argument for Secretary Lu''s men being weak. In Secretary Lie''s case, on the other hand, his men were soldiers from the army. Unsurprisingly, they calmly sparked Kong Duan''s men and rushed to their masters.

    As the group of men raced over, Long Cheng, donning ck, zipped over from behind Kong Duan at high velocity. Uponnding in the centre of the hall, he massacred ten men as soon as he started his swift attacks. He returned to Kong Duan''s side before the two secretaries could see him make his move.

    Swift attacks and retreats were one factor that made up an adept, and Long Cheng certainly qualified as one. There was still no exnation for why he served Kong Duan. After his retreat, several men went over to restrain the two secretaries.ie Jingchan, upset over his men''s death, reverted to his old speech habits and screamed toward to ceiling, "Motherfucker! Let''s see who daresys his hands on this nation''s genera!!"ie Jingchan swung his arms to catch two heads and mmed them together, shattering their skulls upon impact. He wrestled them to the ground and tackled the other six who tried to restrain him. He raged, "Bring it on! I''ll run my fists through your heads for three hundred rounds!"

    Rage could only power him for a moment. Once his adrenaline subsided, Lie Jingchan fell backwards and couldn''t budge a finger again. He remarked, "Motherfucker. What the fuck is going on¡­? Hey, Old Lu, can you move?"

    Kong Duanughed: "You two were careful enough to not drink my tea. Unfortunately, my ''infinite haze'' is a secret Confucianism poison. It''s tasteless and invisible. It paralyses its consumer. Secretary Lie, that was impressive. Normally, top adepts in the martial world would be out ofmission as soon as it hits their system. I''ve never misjudged dosages, yet I almost failed to immobilise you."

    Secretary Lu remained level-headed throughout the ordeal. Since Long Cheng went and killed their men without any hesitation, there was no question Kong Duan wouldn''t stop until he killed them both. He questioned, "You want to kill us? Kong Duan, what are you nning?"

    "You''ve proven yourself perceptive once again, Secretary Lu. Lie Jingchan wouldn''t have been a threat all these years if it wasn''t for you."

    Kong Duan walked over to Secretary Lu and knocked his hat off, revealing thick and ck hair. Secretary Lu, head of the Ministry of Rites, turned out to be a woman - a beautiful one for that matter. Kong Duan grabbed Lu Boan by her hair and smiled condescendingly: "Those not our countrymen are bound to be traitors. You vixen, I knew you were a venom to our nation the moment you came here from the Western Region. I never thought it''d take me so many years to do away with you."

    Secretary Lu revealed a ridiculing smile: "If only His Majesty agreed with you, huh¡­? Sad for you; he can tell right from wrong, so he listens to my suggestions."

    "That''s the most nonsensical thing I''ve heard today!" eximed Kong Duan, throwing Secretary Lu to the ground. "Had His Majesty not kindly epted you, Lie Jingchan that blithering moron probably wouldn''t have amounted to anything. If it wasn''t for you impelling Lie Jingchan to wage wars, His Majesty wouldn''t have kept the repulsively barbaric threew enforcement offices'' system until today. Once we Confucians gain power, we can teach the people better. The misery and tragedies across thends are your fault for the most part. Without you war mongers and the three barbaric offices, the world would be a considerably more peaceful one."

    Secretary Lu bled from her head, and her hair hung down after it collided with the ground, giving her the appearance of a female ghost, yet she never onceined despite not being a martial artist. She derided Kong Duan with a chuckle: "Coward¡­"

    Anger flitted across Kong Duan''s condescending countenance: "What did you call me, foolish woman?!"

    "You im Old Lie and me are war mongers, yet you refuse to look beyond your bubble of ignorance. You do realise the Western regions'' seven kingdoms and Beijiang''s two countries are eyeing our nation and preparing to eager to march on us? You all know how to ther righteousness and reason until the enemy marches in. Can you drive foreign enemies out with your mouths? You have your head in the dirt; you think you can deceive the world after denying reality? What you''re doing is called being a bystander, coward."

    "Nice ims! Old Lu, brilliant!" Kong Duan breathed so heavily and radically his face turned purple. Instead of getting violent, however, heughed: "You have a sharp tongue, but you think I have free time to discuss righteousness with you? One of you is a war monger who wants to fight solely to satisfy his desires, while the other is venom from one of the Western region''s fallen kingdom. Neither of you try to improve the nation; you two are conspirators who bring cmity to the nation. I have no need to waste my breath on you."

    Secretary Lu snickered: "Oh, and you''re enacting righteousness now¡­ Considering today''s scheme, I''d say you''re doing very well in that department."

    "He who aplishes great deeds must be willing to forego the minor details. This will set the nation''s foundation for generations toe. Future generations will agree. Unfortunately for you, you won''t live to see that day," said Kong Duan, smiling with an obvious intent to kill. "Men, kill them!"

    "Roger!"

    "Roger!"

    "As youmand!"

    The three adepts behind Kong Duan swiftly took action. One slipped right. The other slipped left. They kicked and punched the men around him to the ground. Kong Duan thundered, "What are y-"

    A sabre exited its sheath, sliced the air and stopped right at Kong Duan''s neck. Tone jolly, the wielder said, "No. Moving!"

    "As per His Majesty''s decree, Liu Shan Men has taken over the case of the head of the Ministry of Rites'' assassination attempt on the Ministry of Works. All those involved are to disarm and ce their hands behind their hands. Those who resist shall be executed on the spot!"

 Volume 6 47 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Dragon Sighted

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 47 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Dragon Sighted</h4>

    Su Xiao held Kong Duan at de point, rendering the situationplex. They subdued Kong Duan''s men around Secretary Lie and Lu; however, Kong Duan''s men were still present, including Long Cheng. As such, optimistic wouldn''t be the correct adjective.

    "So it was you! I was so scared I didn''t leave my bed for days!" cheerfully eximed Lord Zi. He stared down Kong Duan and aggressed, "All thanks to you, my appetite and sleep suffered! I''m going to have father behead you!"ord Zi hid at the rear of the hall the entire time and jumped out to reinforce Su Xiao andpany once Su Xiao seized Kong Duan. What hecked in the technical department, he made up for with brute force. He subdued two of Kong Duan''s men on his own.

    Kong Duan narrowed his eyes: "I didn''t know you were here, too, Lord Zi."

    "Surprised you, did I? I knew someone in the imperial court was suspicious, but I wasn''t sure exactly who. Turns out it was you."

    "I always thought you woulde back to haunt me after you escaped from Huangshang Restaurant. I suppose I''m not ruthless enough."

    "N-Not ruthless enough?! I''ll have Father execute you!"

    Kong Duan snickered: "Would His Majesty give you time of the day?"ord Zi looked upset.

    "Shut it!" eximed Su Xiao, pressing his de up against Kong Duan''s skin. "Behave yourself!"

    "Liu Shan Men, huh? What are you lot doing here?" asked Kong Duan, showing the aura of a high-ranking minister. Head still up, he said, "What''s Yang Lianhua doing? Call him here."

    Su Xiao smirked: "Hmph, the freak? We already captured him for an interrogation. Ifdy luck is on your side, I''ll lock you both in the same cell. You''ll have the chance to ask him in there yourself."

    The trio who disguised themselves as Yang Lianhua''s adepts were none other than Bai Lian, Tang Ye and Su Xiao. Kong Duan didn''t need the three adepts for support but to frame Beijiang for assassinating Secretary Lie and Lu. Subsequently, he never cared who they were or how skilled they were. He could frame Beijiang even if they weren''t Beijiang people. He took a couple of the Beijiang cavalry that ambushed Ming Feizhen and Bai Lian in case he needed to use them. Of course, that was the fall back n. Liu Shan Men''s appearance wasn''t part of his predictions.

    Kong Duan didn''t just obediently surrender. Since Yang Lianhua was captured, he proimed, "If you are Liu Shan Men''s constables, why are you seizing this old one? Do you not know this old one is the head of the Ministry of Rights? Your captain isn''t doing his job."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Oh, now you''re conveniently the head of the Ministry of Rights?" remarked Secretary Lu, as Bai Lian helped her up. Sounding fatigued, she continued, "You hired corrupt warriors from the pugilistic world and attempted to assassinate ministers of the imperial court. You think your rank will save you?"

    Su Xiao added, "You ran an underground fighting syndicate illegally and kidnapped vigers from Wuhua County''s neighbouring vigers. Feiyun Hall''s people used fives stones powder with your permission. Anything else you want to add?"

    Bai Lian, impartial, flicked her sleeve: "Kong Duan, His Majesty ordered me to look into the imperial pce''s thefts and retrieve the stolen items. We have witnesses testifying against you."

    Tang Ye didn''t have anything to say, since he was assigned to Lu Xiazou''s case and Lu Xiazou''s killer had been apprehended.

    Kong Duan''s eyes turned red as he conjured all the possible scenarios that would follow the failure of his years of nning and capture. The scenarios frightened him. The young group''s appearance suddenly lit up a light bulb for him. He raised his voice: "Why are you not showing yourself when you are already here, Your Majesty?"

    Su Xiao pulled his eyebrows together: "What the hell? His Majesty isn''t here!"

    Kong Duan ignored Su Xiao: "Your Majesty! Do you not have the courage to face your subject after setting this trap?"

    Kong Duan was convinced Liu Shan Men''s involvement in the case was too coincidental to be true. He was certain the Emperor had a hand in his predicament.

    Secretary Lu pondered, "Is His Majesty really here?"

    "Your Majesty! Please grant your subject an audience!" shouted Kong Duan, sending Long Cheng an eye signal.ong Cheng resembled a ck arrow whooshing over to seize Lord Zi. The skill discrepancy between the two was self-exnatory; Lord Zi''s closest ally was Su Xiao. Concerned, Su Xiao had no choice but to release Kong Duan.

    Secretary Lu eximed, "Don''t! It''s a trick!"ong Cheng abruptly reversed his trajectory, switching ces with Su Xiao. Kong Duan''s subordinate hiding outside the hall leapt in to protect him right as Kong Duan regained freedom. His subordinate didn''t enter before, as Kong Duan was detained.

    "You''re still too inexperienced to beat me," taunted Kong Duan. Staying cautious, he pointed at Su Xiao and Lord Zi: "Capture those two as hostages."ong Cheng immediately zipped over to the targets.

    "Don''t you dare!" brayed Bai Lian, unfortunately too far to help out.

    Someone in ck charged toward Long Cheng''s rear from the northeast direction. Long Cheng spun around to intercept when he heard the howling wind. His opponent was able to take the blow and grabbed Lord Zi immediately after.

    During the exchange, everyone else finally caught a glimpse of Long Cheng''s two bizarre-shaped short daggers. The daggers were curved as a wave and simrly to a slithering snake at the same time. That exined how he spilt blood whenever he attacked the two secretaries'' guards.

    The individual in ck was able to handle dozens of exchanges with Long Cheng using his bare hands. His final move was an internal-energy-enhanced punch that drove Long Cheng back.

    Secretary Lu was surprised. Bai Lian asked, "Is he your subordinate, as well?"

    Bai Lian and Tang Ye couldn''t identify the individual in ck. Secretary Lie struggled to sit up thenughed: "Among the three fists and five palms, that fists-dominant style reigns supreme. Are you all ignorant or something? How can you not tell who he is?"

    "Father!" eximed Lord Zi, delighted.

    He donned a ck robe and wore a mask; however, his square-shaped face,rge ears and gaze was unmistakably the gaze of the man who wielded more power than anyone in the nation.

 Volume 6 48 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Evil Wind and Moonlight

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 48 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Evil Wind and Moonlight</h4>

    "Father!" cried Lord Zi, hugging the Emperor around his neck cheerfully. "You''re here to save me!"

    The Emperor ced his son back on the ground and vigntly swept his gaze around. Wearing a smile, he said, "Good grief. You''re always worrying me. Zizi, I heard Bai Lian say you often stayed out after you returned. I also heard you drank wine."ord Zi poked his tongue out and smiled: "I haven''t been back in ages, so I wanted to take a look around. I only drank two cups of wine. Father, you''re not going to punish me, are you?"

    "I also heard you were in a hurry to leave the capital."ord Zi pulled his eyebrows together. Somewhat afraid, he stuttered, "I-I thought you didn''t like me being there. That''s why I told Mother I wanted to leave as soon as I could in case y-"

    "What nonsense is that?! Who was the one who made that up? Of course I like having you back," the Emperor interjected, wearing on a stern look. "I haven''t seen you much during this visit owing to a myriad of national affairs demanding my time and attention. Didn''t you realise that was why I dyed your return to Luoyang? Every time you asked to go back to Luoyang, I had someone stop you."ord Zi blinked multiple times before asking, "Do you really like meing back, Father?"

    The Emperor chuckled: "What sort of question is that? I couldn''t be any dder to see you back. What would I shoo you off for?"

    Jovial after hearing his father''s response, Lord Zi eximed, "Father, you know, I am a genius. I found a hero to be my shifu. He''s incredibly skilled. Against those chumps, it''d take him only take him a second or two t-"

    The Emperor raised a hand to stop Lord Zi, because he wasn''t done with Kong Duan: "Tell meter. There''s something more paramount to deal with at the moment."

    Since the Emperor didn''t look at him when he was bouncing off walls, Lord Zi lowered his head: "Oh, yes, Father."

    The Emperor nced down to Lord Zi upon hearing his son''s disappointed tone. Lord Zi was sensible; however, it didn''t mean he was emotionally invulnerable. Lord Zi looked as disappointed as the countless times he left the capital to return to Luo Yang. The Emperor chuckled: "Zizi, you''ve grown up."

    Seeing Lord Zi silently nodded, the Emperor, voice gentle, added, "When you were younger, I felt you should spend more time with your grandpa and learn about the imperial pce. Since you''ve grown up, it won''t do you any good if you''re always in the capital. How about we extend your stay here with me and your mother after this is over? I''ll listen to what you have to say, all righty?"ord Zi expressed disbelief after the first question. He replied with a firm nod: "Uhm!"

    "Your Majesty, you could not resist once Lord Zi was in trouble, as expected," remarked Kong Duan.

    "Secretary Kong, do you find attacking a Prince when you''re an official of the imperial court something to be proud of?" rhetorically asked the Emperor, turning his attention back to Kong Duan. "My entourage has thoroughly investigated all of your crimes over thest two days. I never expected you to go as far as assassinating the two secretaries. Your ns have failed. Do you regretmitting those crimes?"

    "Crimes? Regret?" responded Kong Duan. "Surely you jest, Your Majesty. Kong Duan has devoted his entire life and every decision to the nation. He has never done anything motivated by selfish desires. There is nothing to regret. Instead, your subject would like to ask how you knew it was him behind the scenes."

    The Emperor shook his head in disappointment: "Kong Duan, you are a sage''s descendant, Confucius'' descendant. I expect you to know the value of life. I crowned you a Second Rank official and assigned you to an important role. Why did you let me down? Had Zizi not witnessed you kill at the restaurant and spilt the beans in his dreams, describing your appearance, I never would''ve suspected you. "

    Kong Duan finally attained rification for his puzzlement. The Emperor then stated, "Kong Duan, it''s your loss. Surrender and I promise to not punish you harshly."

    "If your subject refuses?" asked Kong Duan, after a long silence.

    "You would make an enemy out of the entire imperial court?" asked the Emperor, tone frigid this time. "Kong Duan, you should be aware I have my bottom line."

    "Your Majesty, your subject''s loyalty is unquestionable. Should your subject harbour any semnce of disloyalty, lightning shall strike your subject down where he stands. The issue is the imperial court is crazy, and the nation is sick! Your Majesty, the fools have infected you. Your subject has failed to bring you to your senses. This is the only solution, and your subject shall see it through to the end! Long Cheng!"ong Cheng pulled out his daggers and raced over.

    "Your Majesty, please step back!"

    "Your subject shall take him. Please step back, Your Majesty."

    Before the Emperor could intercept, Tang Ye and Bai Lian intervened. They watched him ever since he was there. They took one side each, and both were unarmed. Bai Lian performed a thrust. Tang Ye performed a swing. Due to the difference in style, the two aimed for different spots, resulting in a dual attack that was hard to guard against.

    The contrasting styles managed to slow Long Cheng down. Aside from their technical differences, both used different internal styles. Bai Lian''s true qi was ice cold, while Tang Ye''s was scalding hot. Thebo was lethal enough to put many away. Secretary Lie was thoroughly impressed. He pped as he smiled: "Hey, dude in ck, you''re skilled, man; it''s a pity you chose to serve the wrong person! There''s still time to repent. There''s no need for you to worry about opportunities when His Majesty is here. Be a man, and own up to your mistake!"

    The Emperor didn''t respond, as he was busy thinking. Lord Zi asked, "Father, what are you thinking about?"

    The Emperor exined, "When I fought him¡­ he also retreated, but¡­ I don''t recall seeing him take any damage."ong Cheng appeared to have openings whenever he fought. The difference was only to what degree. Strangely, he always guarded hisst line of defence. As such, Tang Ye and Bai Lian couldn''tnd a fatal blow. From a broader perspective, he seemed to be on his back foot when thebat started, yet nobody actually inflicted any damage on him.

    Secretary Lu sensed something odd. Upon looking over, she eximed, "Kong Duan fled! He''s buying time!"

    The Emperor nced over to Long Cheng. Indeed, Kong Duan was missing; he must''ve fled via a secret door of some sort. Bai Lian looked away from Long Cheng and added, "He fled from the rear window with a few subordinates."

    Tang Ye was fully invested in his fight against Long Cheng. When he noticed danger, he eximed, "Watch out, he''s countering."ong Cheng suddenly switched up his movements with his daggers. Like gales, he thrust and shed toward Bai Lian and Tang Ye''s throat, navel, eyes, heart and ribs. Hepletelymitted to each attack. Topletelymit to an attack meant to decisively move oneself into the attack. Consequently, the striker would often have no means of retreat. His movements were fluid as he seemingly switched between targets instinctually. His speed gave the impression each move was linked to the other. He had Tang Ye and Bai Lian breathing heavily as they focused on evading and blocking. Soon enough, he slit their skin and drew blood.

    Though Tang Ye and Bai Lia had to retreat, Long Cheng didn''t hunt them. He acted as if was an adept who could take his time with them. Bai Lian and Tang Ye could see each other''s surprise. Both were disciples of reputable teachers and gained a wealth of experience after they went off on their own. Bai Lian had the manuals in the imperial pce to reference. Tang Ye learnt from numerous schools and trained as if his life depended on it. He defeated many schools and possessed plenty of realbat experience. Bai Lian possessed a wealth of knowledge. Tang Ye defeated countless people from the North and South. There was unlikely anyone else in their age bracket who could hold a candle to their knowledge. Thanks to her diverse knowledge, Bai Lian recognised Long Cheng''s style after the exchange.

    Bai Lian calmly said, "Nine Nether Sunless Gorge, a gorge where the evil wind forever looms. When the moon shines on a void, the de ughters countless men¡­ Your style is Nine Nether Sunless Valley, Evil Wind Myriad de''s Demon Art."

    Tang Ye: "You''re from the Demon Sect?"

    Kong Duan escaped through the residential homes after he escaped the hall. The houses were already constructed when he found Feiyun Hall''s underground. He didn''t think much of them until he realised martial arts'' sects would''ve used them to hide in the past. As he fled, he pondered, "My subordinate''s adepts haven''t arrived yet. I can''t depend on Long Cheng alone despite his skills. They should be here by now. Where are they?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Picking up on voices up ahead, Kong Duan ecstatically looked ahead: "Are you Feiyun Hall''s men?"

    "Yes!"

    Kong Duan: "This old one is Kong Duan. Come and help!"

    The voice responding to Kong Duan seemingly contained both joy and excitement, confusing him. The door opened, revealing Lu Shangfei¡­ and his twenty-plus subordinates.

    Kong Duan stammered, "Wh-Why are you here?"u Shangfei: "Hehe, I''m one of Feiyun Hall''s shareholders. I''m part of Feiyun Hall, aren''t I? Secretary Kong¡­ it''s time you pay for taking my brother''s life!!"

 Volume 6 49 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Demon Blade Re-Emerges

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 49 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Demon de Re-Emerges</h4>

    The four unorthodox factions, the Seven Champion White Princes and the Central in''s three orthodox religions maintained equilibrium between them ever since their rise to prominence in the pugilistic world.

    The League of Assassins - an association in the darkness, the Western Region''s Demon Cult, the enigmatic Sky Pce and one other ce made up the four influential unorthodox factions, hence their ssification as the "Four Unorthodox Sects."

    The Seven Champion Princes ruling Jiangnan, guarding the capital and crowned as "The White Monarch" and the scattered factions part of the martial world were considered the orthodox sects, as they were the chief upholders of justice in the martial world.

    The fearless andwless four unorthodox sects, the sly and astute Seven Champion White Princes and evesting embodiment of justice, the orthodox sects, had always sustained a frail bnce between them. No faction ever volunteered to sabotage said bnce. Absolutely, they often had conflicts with each other in the pugilistic world - going as far as exterminating ns - but the leaders never left their base. Perfect events to illustrate the point would be Shaolin and Wudang''s alliance, when they decided to eliminate the League of Assassins or Sky Pce poisoning everyone in Gold and Silver Sect.

    If the bnce between the three ever crumbled, the martial world would drown in an ocean of blood. The blood spilt, the sects annihted and the prices to be paid weren''t going to be mere numbers on a page. If the tension between them ever erupted, it would never end until there was only one standing. None of the factions could afford the costs - not just financially - involved. The orthodox sects'' three main representatives, Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo evenid low in the pugilistic world primarily for the same aforementioned reasons.

    The factions drew a line determining what was considered eptable expansion and remained within that unwritten boundary. If anyone wanted to bolster their forces, influence and so forth, they would be very cautious and adopt a slow approach. The bnce was as sensitive as a rtively young girl''s thighs. One slip and one could end up wiped off the map.

    Despite the three greater factions'' efforts to protect the fragile bnce, a fourth faction rose, expanding their power from the South to the North rapidly. Their ascension to power triggered a major disturbance; however, none of the three greater factions stepped in to stop their rise, for nobody wanted to pay the price involved.

    The majority of the main factions perceived the fourth faction''s rise to be an insignificant and short-lived spurt until reality was smashed into their faces. The fourth faction''s growth exceeded estimations; their development wasn''t measured in years but days. The fourth faction''s new White Tiger Hall would pop up in Jiangbei today, and a new Vermillion Hall would''ve popped up in Zhenjiang by tomorrow. Their expansion was witnessed daily. Their development wasn''t remotely insignificant or short-lived. Their development was of cataclysmic scale, and nobody could predict how much destruction they would bring about. By the time they were deemed dangerous, it was toote; nobody could stop their growth. Those who attempted to stop them were utterly decimated.

    The new faction became the new standard in the martial world and a leader. Their rise to power was attributed to their new leader who appeared out of nowhere and led his followers over countless walls. The man who ignored the unwritten rules of the martial world to rise up was the incarnate of chaos, the Demon King: Ximen Chuideng. The faction that saw a meteoric rise was the Demon Sect of twenty years ago.

    The Demon Sect''s influence and power was unprecedented in the era Ximen Chuideng led the sect with his Divine Moon Cult''s two Leaders, three Guardian Kings, Lawless'' four Guardians and ck Lotus'' six Emissaries. All those among those teams were top-tier adepts in the martial world. In addition to them was their enormous group membership they referred to as branches. There were over a thousand branches that housed formidable warriors. Thus, the Demon Sect was practically omnipotent during that era.

    The Demon Sect was notorious for their imperious nature. When Liu Shan Men''s erstwhile captain challenged Ximen Chuideng to a duel at the Forbidden City, Ximen Chuideng rocked up alone and set fire to a number of buildings in the imperial pce, infuriating the Emperor. Rumours imed Ximen Chuideng had a helper nearby; nevertheless, nobody could confirm the authenticity of the im.

    The Seven Champion Princes, the orthodox sects and four unorthodox sects were reluctant to admit the Demon Sect overtook them. The century before the Demon Sect''s rise, nobody could truly dominate the martial world. The Demon Sect, Ximen Chuideng, was the first to sessfully dominate it.

    During the Demon Sect''s era in power, they had two adepts who easily qualified to rank among the Supreme Ten Saints. One of them was the man who was ranked equally to the best broadsword user in thends. They called him de Demon.

    de Demon wielded weapons with the cutting edge on the opposite side. He was notorious for his kill count. Those who wanted to exact vengeances on him could amount to an army. Interestingly, he wasn''t fond of the sun or socialising with others. He resided in a valley where sunlight was rare. He only left the valleyte at night when it was quiet. There was poem describing his formidable skills as so: "Nine Nether Sunless Gorge, a gorge where the evil wind forever looms. When the moon shines on a void, the de ughters countless men."

    Ever since the Demon Sect fell from power, de Demon seemingly vanished without a trace from the pugilistic world, and nobody ever saw his style again until he resurfaced alongside Kong Duan.ong Cheng''s Evil Wind Myriad de was a short broadsword style derived from de Demon''s Broadsword Style. While the style wasn''t as famous as its original source, de Demon, its uniqueness lied within its unpredictability. Evil Wind Myriad de inherited de Demon''s style in the sense that its attacks were ruthless. Owing to the lethal nature of it, it was categorised as an unorthodox style in the pugilistic world.

    de Demon loathed human interaction to the point he nigh killed people for nothing more than to appease his disgust. The only people he didn''t kill was fellow members of the Demon Sect. He rarely passed his skills onto anyone. He handpicked a small number of adepts who met his standard to pass on Evil Wind Myriad de. That was why there were no doubts the style''s users were those from the Demon Sect.

    Bai Lian wore a berating expression as she remarked, "Kong Duan colluded with the Demon Sect. He is scum among schrs."ong Cheng kept his silence until he heard Bai Lian mentioned "Demon Sect." His gaze turned hostile, and he sternly said, "How dare you insult the Demon Sect! You will not be shown mercy."

    "Don''t jump to conclusions on your own," said the Emperor, smiling confidently. "You''re overestimating yourself. Do you think I would be here on my own? Men!"

    Arge group of guards in golden armour stormed into the hall. Among the guards were four members of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. Tang Ye and Bai Lian were also present. Long Cheng''s defeat seemed set in stone.

    Disappointed, the Emperormented, "Kong Duan must''ve taken men with him if he knew I was here. He''s no fool. It''s a pity he escaped."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Meanwhile, Long Cheng didn''t look perturbed in the slightest. He kept his eyes on Bai Lian and Tang Ye, as he was intent on targeting the two for insulting the Demon Sect. He calmly stated, "You have yet to see de Demon''s true potential. Evil Wind Myriad de is only one move¡­ Don''t take your eyes off this one."ong Cheng threw his daggers into the ground then spun around and drew a long broadsword from a warrior''s belt.

    "Wind of Death."ike its name, Long Cheng''s murderous aura swept through his opponents simrly to a gale bringing death upon them.

 Volume 6 50 Husband and Wife to Battle â€“ Save Me Before I Die

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 50 Husband and Wife to Battle ¨C Save Me Before I Die</h4>

    It didn''t matter if Bai Lian, Tang Ye, the Emperor at four of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons were focused and ready. As soon as Long Cheng struck, the qi from his swing covered everyone despite him not budging from where he stood. His output and true qi were equally impressive. That being said, he didn''t inflict any physical damage. His positioning and broadsword techniques didn''t match. He locked his hips down and swung; as a result, his feet didn''t move.

    Everyone present saw Long Cheng seemingly disintegrate and restructured himself again. He wasparable to a haze; the only thing they could get a clear visual on was his eyes. The ck mist soon dispersed, revealing him. Visual-wise, nothing had changed.

    Tang Ye thought something was odd but couldn''t put his finger on it. The Emperormanded, "Enough with the trickery. Apprehend him!"

    Two of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons charged toward Long Cheng with a team of guards. Bai Lian eximed, "Stop! He already struck! Come back!"

    "Move recklessly and you''ll bleed out," remarked Long Cheng, sounding bored as he calmly sheathed the broadsword. "I''ve already caught you."ike a geyser, blood sprayed vertically into the sky. Those who charged toward Long Cheng tripped over. Everyone on the scene suddenly bled from a cut he opened. The four from the Seventeen Hidden Dragons suffered the deepest wounds at lethal locations. The cuts weren''t deep, but Long Cheng''s qi on the de travelled to their meridians and stopped their true qi, triggering profuse bleeding. They tried to shut their meridians to stop the bleeding; however, that resulted in an enormous reduction of their usualbat abilities.ong Cheng shed the guards'' necks, as it would be difficult to pierce their golden armour. Hence, roughly ten of them died on the spot. Lord Zi and the Emperor had blood coursing down their chest. Fortunately for them, their wounds were minor inparison to the wounds the others suffered.

    Among all those present, Long Cheng wanted to sh and gash the Emperor most, followed by Bai Lian and Tang Ye, who insulted the Demon Sect. He didn''t finish the Emperor, for something held him back mentally. Lord Zi survived purely thanks to a stroke of luck; the sh''s force wasn''t enough to finish Lord Zi by the time it reached him. If he targeted the father and son pair first, the two would already be dead on the ground.ong Cheng caught Bai Lian and Tang Ye on the shoulder. He attacked them seriously, which was why he intended to amputate their shoulders with the sh. Bai Lian''s style honed sensory skills. Hence, when the blow closed in, on her shoulder, she jerked her arm back in time. Her reaction was purely instinctual; she only felt a graze. As for Tang Ye, he was using Iron Palm. That was why Long Cheng''s ordinary de wasn''t able to slice all the way through Tang Ye''s shoulder.ong Cheng''s swing astonished everyone present. The Emperor''s overconfidence came back to bite him. He tried moulding his true qi to find it was fine. Relieved of that much, he questioned, "Wh-What skill was that?"ong Cheng gripped a de''s handle and calmly responded, "Ye are too foolish to understand de Demon''s skill''s intricacies. Cursed Emperor, I swore I would sunder you if I ever caught you. I can spare you, but I have a condition¡­"

    "Insolence!" brayed Bai Lian.

    The Seventeen Hidden Dragons watched as the alluring beauty with captivating eyes walked through the crowd of people. Her movements were smooth and delicate. Once she reached Long Cheng, she immediately mounted an attack. She threw a palm strike, generating a gale. The abrupt and fearless attack startled Long Cheng and forced him to retreat a step. She pressed the attack again straight away.

    Bai Lian was a heavy hitter unlike her appearance suggested. Her palm style emphasised gentleness and refinement, yet was swift, precise, technical and ruthless. Her barrage of attacks, eventually numbering over forty moves, was strung together too closely for anyone to intervene. By the same token, she prevented Long Cheng from drawing his de, robbing him of his best tool. The moment he drew his des, nobody would be able to subdue him.ong Cheng wasn''t a match for Bai Lian when it came to hand-to-handbat, gradually leading to her pushing him into a position where he was surrounded. Annoyed, he churned internal energy for a hard-hitting palm to force a contest of strength.

    Instead of dancing to Long Cheng''s rhythm, Bai Lian evaded his palm strike dexterously. She had no idea her tight attire gave every male there a visual treat to feast their eyes on. Once she was out of his attack trajectory, she threw a teep at his belly. He hurriedly shifted off her trajectory, allowing her to kick his long broadsword off his belt. Evidently, she discerned he needed his long broadsword to use his moves; thus, her aim was to prevent him from using it.ong Cheng hastily retreated; however, the four Seventeen Hidden Dragons immediately intercepted him. They were considerably weaker than they could be; nevertheless, they were still enough to trouble him whenbined.

    Bai Lian: "How dare you hurt His Majesty and His Highness, you brute!"

    Whilst gazing at his out-of-reach broadsword, Long Cheng reassessed his opponent''s abilities. In his deep voice, he calmly stated, "I can still use Wind of Death with my bare hands."

    "Try it. Your attack clearly has a w, or I''d be dead already. I won''t give you another chance to use it."

    Bai Lian vigntly watched Long Cheng. She was totally oblivious to how mesmerising her focused look was. Tang Ye was the least unlikely to be interested, but even he nced over a second time.

    Bai Lian: "Either you or I are going down the next time you strike."ong Cheng shrugged: "I admit I''m not confident I''ll hit you. Having said that, I''m certain I can hit the others. You can certainly kill me, but over half of you here wille with me. One of them might be your Emperor. You want to give it a try?"

    Bai Lian fell silent. She had no right to make the call in the Emperor''s presence. He resolutely stated, "General Manager Bai, do as you see fit. Nobody will threaten me. If he wants to kill me, it''ll depend on his skills!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bai Lian was still hesitant, as Lord Zi was present. She couldn''t decisively take the risk when he was already hurt once. Suddenly, they heard, "Long Cheng! Save me!"

    Everyone stopped for a second, thinking, "Isn''t that Kong Duan''s voice?"

    Notes:

    *Teep ¨C (The kick the fighter in blue throws). It''s a straight kick with the force travelling straight forward. The kicker aims to kick their target with the ball of their feet. There are no restrictions to what you can target with it. For example, you could harass their front leg with it instead of going straight to the body.

 Volume 6 51 Ending â€“ Poor Me

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 51 Ending ¨C Poor Me</h4>

    Long Cheng''s Wind of Death and Kong Duan¡¯s ¡°Wind of Death¡± produced drastically different results. Kong Duan was a man of talent, perceptive and quick with his mind. Hence, he surmised, "His Majesty wouldn''t be here alone if he''s set on arresting me. He might have Feiyun Hall surrounded already. The only way out is to rendezvous with my helpers."

    Kong Duan, therefore, sneaked off when while Long Cheng kept the rest upied. Kong Duan''s underlings nned to follow him; however, he demanded they stay to assist Long Cheng and promised he''d be back before speeding off in his unique running style. Needless to say, he fled, as he didn''t see Long Cheng defeating all of the Emperor''s adepts. His underlings were told to stay to stall the Emperor''s golden armour guards. He only trusted himself and the warriors trained at Feiyun Hall.

    Kong Duan sneaked through other residential homes via the secret door in the hall he left, but he ran into Lu Shangfei before he could enter Feiyun Hall. Blinking out of confusion, he asked, "Why are you here?"u Shangfei waved a hand: "Old Kong Duan. Armed buddies, don''t hold back. Rip the old scum apart and feed him to the pigs!"

    Kong Duan''s twenty or so armed men surrounded Kong Duan before he could run. Kong Duan quickly pieced the situation together. Since Yang Lianhua was captured, Lu Xiazou''s death was most probably out in the open. Kong Duan wasn''t a martial artist; he wasn''t a match for the men. As he trieding up with a n, his eyes instinctively darted around. Sounding imposing and righteous, he said, "Wait! Shangfei, what are you doing here? Enemies are currently pursuing this old one. You should be helping me. Why would you turn on me?"

    "Helping you? This mother fucker wants me to help him? Why didn''t you think about all the things I did for you all these years when you killed my brother?" fumed Lu Shangfei, pointing an iron broadsword at Kong Duan as he panted heavily. "Either you die or I die today! Get him!"

    "Wait, wait, kill your brother? Do you mean Xiazou? He''s still at the capital. Why do you mean this old one killed him?"

    "W-Wait!"manded Lu Shangfei. "What? Xiazou¡­ is still alive?"

    "Of course he is," replied Kong Duan, pping his thigh, which was very out of character. Expression stern and tone righteous, he borated, "Who told he''s dead? Of course this old one would protect him when he works for this old one? He''s still well and safe at the capital. How could you frame this old one for killing him?"

    Kong Duan carried on: "Evils Spirits are a sly group. How can this old one not be cautious when dealing with them when his goal is so grand? That day, Lu Xiazou and I agreed to put on act to trick Yang Lianhua. That''s why Xiazou pretended to die after taking a blow from Yang Lianhua, thereby using Yang Lianhua of killing a government official. We both knew about it; we just couldn''t tell you, since we had to keep the secret. In regards to Xiazou''s injury, I already had a doctor treat him. He''s doing fine at the capital. Why do you believe he''s dead? Who told you that?"

    Kong Duan stupefied Lu Shangfei. Lu Shangfei had yet to see his brother''s corpse, and he only heard of his brother''s death two days ago. He was still on the fence about epting the reality. Pleasant surprise and astonishment put him at an impasse. He was worried Kong Duan was lying, though. He stammered, "I-Is that true? Xiazou is still alive? Really?"

    Kong Duan stroked his beard and acted imposing: "Absolutely. If you want to know where he is, tell your men to back down before it''s toote. This old one shall write down his location for you. Bring a brush, paper, ink and a stone."u Shangfei''s men pulled a desk over and cleared a path. They set the four treasures of the study on the table. The items were prepared to fabricate the impression people lived in the homes. Kong Duan picked up the brush and began to write. iming the brush to be problematic, he expressed a desire to switch it for another brush.u Shangfei''s tears welled up in his eyes when he looked at the sheet of paper Kong Duan wrote. He was so d he could finally see his brother after seeing him in his dreams thest two nights. All of their memories together came back to him. He thought they were separated for eternity, but he always fantasised Lu Xiazou was still somewhere¡­

    "Uh, Boss Lu, why does he need to go so far just to write something? I don''t even see him anymore."

    "What did he even write? It resembles nothing but scribbles."

    "Hmm?" Lu Shangfei picked up the sheet for a closer look. Kong Duan wrote five words before suavely leaving: this old one is leaving.

    Finally realising he had been duped, Lu Shangfeimanded, "Fuck! Chase him down! Don''t waste your breath on him! Kill him on sight!"

    Kong Duan raced to Feiyun Hall''s entrance. Suddenly, he heard, "Old bastard, where do you think you''re going?!"

    The man who descended from above was dressed in resplendent clothing. His appearance, nheless, was that of a soldier from the battlefields. He was stocky and muscr. Kong Duan eximed, "Lie Jingchan!"

    Su Xiao gave Secretary Lie and Lu the antidote for their poison after they were rescued. After Kong Duan escaped, Secretary Lu booted Lie Jingchan''s rear end and cursed: "Hey, Useless, go and chase him down already!"ie Jingchan, of course, gave chase given his fiery temper. Unfortunately, navigation wasn''t his forte, which was why he jumped from roof to roof to search for Kong Duan. When he heard Lu Shangfei''s group''s loud voices, he located Kong Duan.ie Jingchan rubbed his hands together: "Fucking old bastard, you''re a real piece of sh*t. I would rather die in war than after the war. You almost had me back there."ie Jingchan was thest one Kong Duan wanted to offend among the six ministries'' leaders.

    Kong Duan: "W-Wait, Secretary Lie, I can exin."

    "Ex-fucking-in to your momma!" cursed Lie Jingchan, giving Kong Duan a flush p to the face.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Kong Duan felt as if his cheek was pped off his face.

    Kong Duan and Lie Jingchan had been at odds since forever. Kong Duan could deceive anyone but Lie Jingchan, not because thetter was astute but because he couldn''t be reasoned with. Kong Duan''s most impelling speech wouldn''t get through to Lie Jingchan when he was in the right, so there wasn''t the remote chance he''d get through when he was in the wrong.ie Jingchan stepped forward and lifted Kong Duan off the floor. Then, Lie Jingchan pped Kong Duan multiple times: "Poison me, huh?! Poison me, huh?! Good god, your face is repulsive! This is what you get for hitting Old Lu!"

    Kong Duan''s face was totally disfigured after the double digit pbo.

    Footsteps followed the sound of a door opening. Only Kong Duan''s henchmen would''ve known how to find the area. He, ordingly, was delighted help arrived. Taking advantage of Lie Jingchan''s moment of distraction, Kong Duan escaped the former''s grasp and bolted. As he ran, he cried, "Hurry! Hurry!"

    Kong Duan tripped over after a short run; he was a civil servant at the end of the day. From above, he heard, "Eh? What''s going on? Why are so many armed men here?"

    It was Lu Shangfei and his men. Lu Shangfei didn''t jump Kong Duan before, for he figured it was better to line up while Lie Jingchan dished out a beating. Once Kong Duan ran, it was Lu Shangfei who rushed over. A member who just arrived and saw Kong Duan was startled, "Whoa, sh*t! Who let the pig out?! I just bought these shoes! Fuck off!"

    Kong Duan was furious, but he couldn''t even open his swollen eye to see who insulted him. Either way, he was sure it was his men, so he didn''t make a scene. He cried, "Help! Kill them for me!"

    "Help you? Who are you?"

    Kong Duan: "What sort of blimming question is that?! It''s me! Kong Duan! Your Secretary Kong!"

    Never in Kong Duan''s wildest dreams did he expect to hear, "Fuck Kong Duan!"u Shangfei was surprised to see the man p Kong Duan. He wondered, "Aren''t they on the same team? Why are they bickering?"

    Kong Duan spat out a mouthful of blood: "H-How dare you hit me! Who is your master, insolent scoundrel?!"

    "Why would I not dare to? Open your fucking pig eyes and look at me. I''m Yang Lianhua''s subordinate!"

    Secretary Kong was in a pinch.

 Volume 6 52 Ending â€“ Everyoneâ€™s Laughing Stock

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 52 Ending ¨C Everyone¡¯s Laughing Stock</h4>

    Long Cheng raced to Kong Duan upon hearing thetter''s panic-stricken cry for help. Long Cheng saw three parties ganging up on an elder upon arriving, riling him.

    "Release him!" demanded Long Cheng, zipping over and shing everyone in the way effortlessly.

    Yan Jingwang was the only one who escaped three shes. Due to the narrow space, he had no option but to retreat a few steps. Long Cheng already helped Kong Duan to his feet by the time Yan Jingwang found his footing.ong Cheng: "Secretary Kong, wake up. Secretary Kong. Secretary K-"ong Cheng felt uneasy. He wasn''t even sure if he rescued the right person when Kong Duan''s face was disfigured. Kong Duan had walnuts for eyes, lentils for a noise, sausages for lips and his face was painted with his own blood. Long Cheng even spected it was an enemy ploy. On second thought, wouldn''t you find someone resembling the person you''re trying to disguise to set a trap? How was anyone supposed to tell if he was Kong Duan or not?

    Red-walnut-lentil-sausage face stammered, "L-Long Cheng¡­ Y-You''re finally here."ong Cheng could confirm he heard Secretary Kong''s voice. He fumed, "Sir, how did this happen?"

    "Isn''t it obvious? I beat the snot out of him. I never knew he made so enemies, though,"mented Secretary Lie, sitting off in the distance and tiresomely waving his hands. Tonezy, he continued, "Man, there''s a bloody line waiting to pummel him. Since we only had short turns, I milked every second of my time. It''s a tiring job. I''m drained."ong Cheng wasn''t surprised Kong Duan waspletely disfigured after he saw Lie Jingchan''s massive fist¡­ Lie Jingchan could potentially help a surgeon''s business boom.

    Kong Duan wobbled, but he kept his vindictive gaze fixed on Kong Duan. He mumbled, "Old Lie¡­ If I don''t get away today, you''re done for."ie Jingchan responded fearlessly: "Whatever. I don''t even have to kill you; they''ll kill you sooner ort-"

    Bai Lian led Tang Ye and four Seventeen Hidden Dragons over before Lie Jingchan could finish his sentence. They had wrapped up their wounds and were ready for an intense fight. They overwhelmingly outnumbered Kong Duan and Long Cheng. Bai Lian called, "Demon Sect viin, hand Kong Duan over!"

    Those on Bai Lian''s immediate left and right raged, "Where did you hide him?! Where is he?!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "¡­"

    Kong Duan tried to wear a cocky smile: "Eunuch Bai, I''m surprised you found me."

    Bai Lian scrunched her face. She looked as if she saw a ghost. She stuttered, "H-How is his voice reaching here when he''s not here? Are there ghosts?"

    Tang Ye: "Could he have mastered Thousand Mile Voice Transmission? I suppose it''s true that the skilled don''t rave¡­"

    Kong Duan was understandably livid. In his mind: "Is my appearance that bad? I only took a few blows!"ong Cheng was vignt of Bai Lian. After theirst sh, he determined he wouldn''t necessarily be able to hit her with Wind of Death, as she was amazingly quick to react. If he couldn''t make contact in a single sh, she wouldy the counterattack on him. If the other Seventeen Hidden Dragons joined in, he was unquestionably doomed. To furtherplicate his predicament, he needed to guard Kong Duan. It was difficult to see himself gaining the upper hand.

    The Emperor soon arrived with his golden armour guards. Long Cheng slew ten guards back in the hall, but the Emperor brought over five hundred of them with him. The chances of victory seemed to only dwindle.

    Yang Lianhua only had about a hundred men. Fighting the Emperor was pure folly. Yan Jingwang, therefore, had his underlings take refuge in the residential homes around and wait it out.

    The Emperor eximed, "Where is Kong Duan?! Come out! Don''t be a coward!"ord Zi swung a g: "Come out! Come out! We have you surrounded!"

    The father and son duo surveyed their surroundings and touched their chins in unison: "Did he escape?"

    Kong Duan wanted to say, "This old one is right here! You''re all blind!"ong Cheng''s tension umted as the enemy numbers increased. He couldn''t use Wind of Death over and over; it was a skill he reserved for exclusively getting out of dire situations, as it cost a lot of true qi and original qi. He had to use it back on the hall to escape capture, as he couldn''t kill all of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons in one fell swoop at his calibre. Bai Lian''sbat prowess was a surprise to him, nevertheless.ong Cheng was used to being in carnages; he''d seen worse before. This time, he was drastically outnumbered, outssed and had to carry dead weight. On a positive note, they might not have been able to defeat him. He was confident his qinggong surpassed theirs. Another advantage was his knowledge of the terrain. He was confident he could escape their pursuit whilst carrying Kong Duan if he decisively fled. Kong Duan suddenly interrupted his thoughts: "Long Cheng¡­ I have a question for you."

    "Worry not, Sir," replied Long Cheng, forcing a smile. "Long Cheng owes you a life. Had you not supported me thesest two years, I would not be here today. I will give my life to protect you today."

    Kong Duan shook his head. Unwilling to ept his n was foiled, he asked, "No, that''s not what I was asking¡­ Wh-Where are my guards from Feiyun Hall?"

    Kong Duan considered the hundred adepts he found, developed and invested into for ten years to be his trump card when he needed to turn the tables. Since some could match the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, they were the equivalent of his own Liu Shans'' Elites Ranking. His magnificent force capable of granting him the power he desired were nowhere to be seen when he was in a plight, however. Instead, he, unfortunately, mistook enemies for them, resulting in his physical and mental misery.

    Kong Duan: "Wh-Where are they?"ong Cheng felt awkward: "Uh, I do not know, either. Did you give the order for them to be here today?"

    Kong Duan tried widening his eyes: "Of course I said today! They would never oppose me¡­ Hurry, let''s head underground to search for them."

    Kong Duan offered the worst suggestion Long Cheng could imagine. Talk about having a moron and useless superior! Instead of fleeing, they were going to waltz into a dungeon of all ces. If the enemy caught up to them, it was one way road to hell!

    "Are you going to defy me?! Don''t forget I have what you want!" brayed Kong Duan, sounding malicious. "I won''t fall for fake loyalty acts. This old one knows what you''re thinking. You would take this old one''s head if he didn''t have the key!"ong Cheng tacitly admitted to it with a helpless smile: "I underestimated you, Sir. You certainly are perceptive."

    Kong Duan snickered: "If you still want the key, show me some loyalty."

    "Of course," replied Long Cheng, stoic and hiding an angry undertone in his voice. "This one''s life is not worth anything. Sir, hang on tight."

    Bai Lian read Long Cheng''s expression: "He''s going to put it all on the line! Be careful! Prioritise His Majesty and Lord Zi''s safety!"

    The Seventeen Hidden Dragons led the charge with the guards following behind.ong Cheng swung with everything he had, but he opted to use Evil Wind Myriad de''s risky techniques. They say, "An inch shorter, an inch more dangerous." Meaning, the shorter the range of a weapon, the greater the risk required tond. Additionally, Long Cheng was mad; as such, he was disappointed andcked a desire to guard himself. Hence, he struck without considering his safety. He tried to outpace his opponents, quickly dispatching those in his way.

    "Wind of Death!" eximed Long Cheng.

    Those caught in Wind of Death explosively leapt back. As soon as they backed down, Long Cheng dashed into ane. They gave chase, but they ran into a dead end. Meanwhile, Long Cheng was gone. There was no need to guess there was a secret door somewhere.

    Among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons present were members of the Emperor''s Entourage, who were reconnaissance experts. They soon located the hidden door from the traces of blood. The issue was how to open it; they needed some time to figure out how to open it. It, usually, wouldn''t be the biggest of issues. It was an issue, though, for His Majesty was there, and they couldn''t act on their own. They, therefore, went to report to His Majesty.

    The Emperor thought about it and replied, "If we blindly charge in, we''ll suffer. Bai Lian, did you and Ming Feizhen ever search the dungeon? There must be a mechanism to ess the underground area."

 Volume 6 53 Ending â€“ Fight Between Monsters

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 53 Ending ¨C Fight Between Monsters</h4>

    "Your Majesty, this is not a dungeon; it is an enormous underground space. The residential homes here act as a cover. There is no doubt they were built to hide this underground space. For that reason, nobody resides here. Your subject has entered multiple times. Each time we left, they required us to cover our eyes. As a result, we never learnt about the mechanisms. However, your subject made an opening at an air duct. We can safely enter the underground area via the opening."

    "In that case, let us split out forces in two to enter Feiyun Hall. There''s no need to worry we won''t catch them," responded the Emperor, d to hear Bai Lian''s positive answer. He then furrowed his eyebrows: "Where is Ming Feizhen? Why have I not seen him when you were both investigating the case?"

    "He said he wanted to shut down Feiyun Hall yesterday. As such, he drove out the gamblers and participants. The guilty were panic stricken. Perhaps they fled to avoid capture. Maybe he has gone to arrest them."

    "Ming Feizhen¡­ never there at crucial times. Mm¡­ I guess I should celebrate his absence. Given his luck''s track record, all my men might be decimated if he came here," The Emperor griped, Even a monarch feared Liu Shan''s gue. Then, he shook his head and questioned, "Did you two capture Beijiang''s Feathered Serpent, Yang Lianhua, together?"

    Bai Lian gave a faithful report: "The credit for Yang Lianhua''s arrest belongs to Ming Feizhen. He nned the arrest and incited Lu Shangfei into defecting. We only made it in time today thanks to his n."

    "Hmm¡­ His martial arts skills are unimpressive, but he''s not too shabby with his head. I shall honour his merit."

    Yan Jingwang heard everything the Emperor and Bai Lian said. Subsequently, he learned the imperial court apprehended Yang Lianhua. As the Emperor looked as though he had his guard down, Yan Jingwang started to engage his brain: "One nce and you can tell the Emperor is a fool. If I can seize him, and force them to release Commander Yang, hehehe, I could even ask for ten thousand gold and silver taels. I see me a promotion¡­ I''ll be Rabbit Fiend, Great Viin Yan Jingwang!"

    Somebody suddenly asked, "Hey, who are you?"

    "Sh! Quiet or they''ll find us."

    "Oh, so, what are you doing here?"

    "Heh, rescuing Commander Yang, obviously. I thought we could capture that old Kong Duan. If I got my hands on him, I''d give him a thrashing. The Central in''s Emperor showed up out of nowhere and saved him. I''m now trying to figure out how to capture the Emperor to exchange him for Commander Yang and some valuables."

    "Oh, oh, I see, so you''re bad guys?"

    "Obviously. Why would we be called Evil Spirits if we weren''t bad guys?" answered Yan Jingwang, responding fluidly and confidently. "Eh? Wait! Who are you?! How did you get here?"

    "Me? I''m Su Xiao. I was conducting a search for any potentially involved people and found you guys," replied Liu Shan Men''s self-proimed genius. Su Xiao touched his smooth chin: "Hehe, what do think I intend to do?"

    "W-Wait! Wait! D-Don''t report us! I''ll give you money, lots of money."

    Su Xiao: "Hmph, money you stole? Not interested."

    Yan Jingwang hastily replied, "Well, anything, then! Just don''t report us! Come on, Beautiful, please!"

    "I''m not a girl! I''m a guy!" responded Su Xiao, ring at Yan Jingwang. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Your Majesty, we have suspects here! Hurry! Hurry!"

    "Sh*t! You gue! Everyone, run!!"manded Yan Jingwang.

    Dozens of Yan Jingwang''s underlings in ck rushed out with him at the forefront. They sprinted to the secret door Long Cheng used and knocked others away. He somehow easily opened it and bolted in with his underlings in tow.

    The Emperor: "After them! After them! Get in before the door shuts! Half of you go in! The other half is to follow me! Eliminate them!"

    ========

    The majority of the space underground Feiyun Hall was used for the fighting arena. There was also lots of winding secret passages. It was pitch dark down there, as the candles were out. Long Cheng made turns without any hesitation and remembered to shut doors behind him, demonstrating his familiarity with the terrain.ong Cheng''s vision in darkness was vastly superior to the ordinary man owing to his dislike for sunlight and his time at Lingering Evil Wind Canyon.

    Kong Duan smiled: "You Demon Sect members sure know your secret rooms as if it was your own home even in this darkness."ong Cheng just indifferently snorted.

    The two of them didn''t pick up on any traces of life, let alone Kong Duan''s Feiyun Guards. They called out as they ran; however, they never received any response. The arena was also empty.

    "Why isn''t there a single soul here?! Where are this old one''s Feiyun Guards?!"ong Cheng treated Kong Duan using his internal energy as they ran. Thanks to that, Kong Duan was able to speak a lot more smoothly.

    Kong Duan: "Even if Liu Shan Men ambushed them here, it shouldn''t be empty. Liu Shan Men simply isn''t capable enough. Where are they hiding¡­? I wonder if they''re on the bottom level."ong Cheng: "What?! Secretary Kong, I worked for you, as you promised to keep the room a secret. How do your guards know where it is?!"

    "Big deal," remarked Kong Duan, discontent. "The key is with me still. It''s just a hiding ce. What are you making a fuss for?"ong Cheng: "That secret room is¡­ is¡­ hmph!"

    Kong Duan was positive his guards were hiding at the basement''s secret room. With an excited undertone, he said, "We haven''t even confirmed it yet; what''s the point of you jumping about it. Well,e on. Let''s go check it out. If they''re not there, we''ll have to start the search from the beginning."ong Chen opened a secret door and carried Kong Duan down. The path was hard to traverse, so it took about fifteen minutes to reach their destination. There was a pool of water with an iron door situated on the water. The door appeared as though it was ced into the wall. It took a skilled artisan to aplish the feat. The area was spacious enough to shelter a hundred people. Nevertheless, not a soul was in sight. While Long Cheng was relieved to see nobody around, Kong Duan scowled: "Just what in the world is going on? Could this old one''s Feiyun Guards have just vanished into thin air?!"

    A group of people burst through from behind a secret door. Kong Duan, thrilled, questioned, "Feiyun Guards! You were so hard to find. Where did you go?"

    "Fuck your Feiyun Punching Bags! Open your eyes and look. I''m Yan Jingwang, you fuckwit!"

    Having stayed at Feiyun Hall for an extensive period as Rabbit Fiend, Yan Jingwang knew the ce''s mechanics and secrets as well as the back of his hand. It was, consequently, simple for him to find the switches to lead his men into Feiyun Hall. Since nobody was in sight, he led his men to the secret room, certain Long Cheng and Kong Duan would be found there. He was right in the end. With regards to the Emperor''s pursuit units, he had yet toe up with something.ong Cheng thundered, "How do you know this ce?!"

    Yan Jingwang red daggers at Long Cheng: "Ask that decrepit idiot there; he''s the one who brought ourmander here. I went along with them that time. You expect me to not know? More importantly, what are you doing here?"ong Cheng red at Kong Duan. Kong Duan brayed, "What are you here for? You want to pick a fight?"

    Yan Jingwang couldn''t admit his n to position himself as a winner was turned on its head when the Emperor chased him. He answered, "If it''s a fight you want, you''ve got one. I''ll whoop you!"

    "Brother Tu, why didn''t you greet me when you arrived? Aren''t we friends?" sarcastically asked someone in the dark.

    "Who''s there?!" questioned Yan Jingwang.

    "Argh!" someone cried before falling to the ground.ong Cheng thought there would be an intense fight, but the man was out in an instant. Before he could finish a thought, Yan Jingwang''s subordinates were knocked out the moment they opened their mouths. The skill exhibited could bepared to an assassin who mastered the darkness. Soon, there was nothing but silence. Yan Jingwang''s group was history. Long Cheng desperately tried to find the assant. He discovered someone was at the door on the water.

    "Who are you?!" eximed Long Cheng.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Wee," the individual in the darkness answered, sounding rxed as if he was sightseeing under a blue sky.ong Cheng saw only one man; that said, his features weren''t clear. His calm voice was surprisingly imposing to the extent one felt they needed permission to breathe. Long Cheng thought the aura was familiar. His aura was suffocating and so overwhelming it felt as though he shrouded the entire space, and everything was part of him.

    The man by the door inquired, "What are you two doing at my ce?"ong Cheng didn''t answer. He set Kong Duan, who was disturbed the moment the man''s presence was detected, onto the ground. Kong Duan didn''t know what to do but watch from the sideline. Long Cheng then drew his de. He shed a qi breaker at the man by the door: "This is not your ce. It''s mine¡­Our ce."

    The man chuckled: "Really? Your des look interesting."ong Cheng stood still: "Wind of Death."

    It only took Long Cheng one nce to determine the man by the door''s presence was enough to rob one''s will to fight. A few words from him convinced Long Cheng thetter needed to use his ultimate technique if he was going to escape. The man by the door was no man; he was a monster.

 Volume 6 54 Ending â€“ Distant Past

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 54 Ending ¨C Distant Past</h4>

    Long Cheng became a ck haze the moment he poised his des and made his killing intent known. The youthful man didn''t appear surprised in the slightest, nheless. His rxed tone and suffocating murderous aura were contradictory. He remarked, "You must think very highly of me to use your ultimate technique right from the beginning."

    When Long Cheng reappeared in the darkness, he was merely three metres away from the youth. Long Cheng leapt up. His mist form vanished. However, there was no time to be concerned with whether or not his technique had been countered, for he would plunge into the water, if not die, if he lost his concentration. He held his breath as part of his way of concentrating. His quick and agile steps generated ripples on the water surface. The built-up momentum helped him move as fast as a tornado. The wind whistled as his de parted the air. His attack came up from below at an awkward angle.

    The Demon Sect''s adepts during their fifteen years of glory would leave the current martial world''s best martial artists'' mouths'' gaping. The qinggong art Freezing Running Water was enough to scare off adepts in this era. There were no more than three among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons who could execute the art. Among them, Tang Ye''s qinggong was decent, but he would fail to meet Grass-Bending Wind Realm''s standards, let alone Freezing Running Water.ong Cheng''s skills with broadswords did his reputation as de Demon''s disciple justice. The swing should''ve led to his demise, yet he calmly adjusted tounch another attack from a different angle. The ability to adapt and switch at such high speed was praiseworthy. It all came crashing down, though, when he stopped just as his de was going tond.

    When the youth raised a hand, the des seemingly froze. Long Cheng couldn''tmand his limbs. He felt as though someone knocked his technique''s trajectory off from another angle. ording to Long Cheng''s instincts, he had to retreat, or he would fall into the enemy trap the next step. He, therefore, twirled his de in the opposite direction and retreated three steps. Upon looking down, he noticed some faint traces on his de, sleeves and boots. He searched his knowledge and experience base then furrowed his eyebrows: "Silk¡­ This is Fusang''s String Maniption Technique. You are from Dongying Kingdom?"

    "It''s not called String Maniption Technique; it''s called Night Net Celestial Silk. I invented it two years ago. The principle it operates on drastically differs from String Maniption Technique. There''s no need to set traps beforehand. That being said, it''s quite a bit harder to get the hang off. I found someone decent to pass the technique on to, since he''s talented and somewhat simr to my younger self. Unfortunately, he''s too upright; maybe I''ll have to wait a few more years." The youth responded with a chuckle, but he didn''t follow up. He sounded friendly as if he was talking to an old friend. He then asked, "So, what''s that style called? Did you find someone to pass it on to?"

    "It is nothing special," replied Long Cheng, vigntly watching the darkness and gripping his de tightly. "This one''s skills are trivial. Before his teacher approves, this one shall not pass the skills on to outsiders."

    The youthughed: "Outsiders? Do the fifteen behind you count? Come down."ong Cheng didn''t have many subordinates, but they were elites from the Demon Sect. After they lost the sh against the Emperor outside, his subordinates sneaked into Feiyun Hall and searched for Long Cheng. As elites, their internal strength was good enough to conceal them well enough Long Cheng wasn''t sure if they were around. It was startling to think how profound the youth''s skills were if he could sense them from such a long distance.

    "His internal strength wouldn''t pale inparison to our former leader if he''s capable of seeing them from so far away¡­. He''s exceptionally good for a young man," thought Long Cheng. Hemanded, "Come down. Let''s not embarrass ourselves."ong Cheng''s subordinates leapt down from the stairs in the darkness after he gave themand. The fifteen of them stood behind Long Cheng in silence.

    The youth smiled: "I wasn''t done. You said you don''t pass your skills on to outsiders. What about them?"ong Cheng resisted his impulses and raised his voice: "They''re not outsiders. They''re my brothers who''ve gone through life and death without wavering no matter how bloody or dangerous things have been. I''m blessed to have met them. Your sowing discord tactic iscking in execution. I admit you are superior to me inbat; however, should you humiliate me, I will seek pointers."

    The fifteen men behind Long Cheng, in booming voices, eximed in unison, "Dark Wind Branch seeks pointers!"

    Dark Wind Branch was the branch Long Cheng oversaw. They were primarily tasked with intelligence gathering missions. At their peak, where they were notorious in the pugilistic world, they had three hundred scouts. After the Demon Sect fell to ruin, their group scattered. The fifteen men were thest of them.

    The youth still sounded amused: "Your so-called teacher must be Old Dao, huh?"

    "Old Dao¡­?"

    Dark Wind Branch''s members looked baffled. Only Long Cheng remembered that only those close to de Demon - which was limited to the patriarch, the three Guardian Kinds and one more man - referred to de Demon as Old Dao. Long Cheng was positive the youth couldn''t have been one of them.

    "You know why Wind of Death is lethal?" asked the youth, pulling Long Cheng back to reality.

    The youth''s familiar voice had Long Cheng questioning his ears and memories.

    The youth continued, "Wind of Death is incredible because the instant the de qi numbs the enemy''s mind inbination with deft footwork, leading to the opponent hallucinating its user was a ck haze. It''s impossible to execute the technique with subpar qingong. Back at Dark Moon Faction, you were the only one who pushed his qinggong to Grass-Bending Wind Realm. You''ve further improved your qinggong since then. Old Dao was correct to choose you back then, I guess."

    "How do you¡­"

    "You should be well aware why your Wind of Death was defused. Those who understand the nature of the technique are cognizant it relies purely on footwork to gain the upper hand. What they don''t know is how integral the user''s win-and-lose mentality is to its sess. When Old Dao came up with the technique, I told him an adept would be able to defuse it with a thought. Therefore, it was inferior to his Demon de. He argued nobody could master his broadsword techniques; he said he invented Wind of Death for someone else. He told me they one he invented the technique for spent more time with animals than humans. You probably didn''t know this aspect. He invented the technique for your Dark Wind Branch. If you don''t carry it forward, wouldn''t you have wasted his efforts?"ong Cheng bowed: "Thank you for the insight. It has answered the questions weighing on me for many years. This is very important, nevertheless. Should I be lucky enough to meet Senior de Demon again, I must personally ask for his advice."

    The youth chuckled: "Personally ask him? You still have a one-track mind, huh?"

    "May I ask who you happen to be?" asked Long Cheng, a little frustration seeping into his voice. Long Cheng''s frustration surged as a result of the youth spilling too many of Demon Sect''s secrets. It was hard to fathom how an outsider knew so much about the sect. Long Cheng then said, "Regardless of what connection you have to my sect, you are standing on ournd¡­ Please move!"

    The youth fixed his gaze on Long Cheng but kept silent. Long Cheng couldn''t make out the details of the youth''s appearance from there or up close even with his visual prowess. It was as if the youth''s face was hidden in a mist. The youth''s eyes were particrly bright, though. The youth then questioned, "You meant to say, ''Our sect''s sacred grounds,'' didn''t you?"ong Cheng tightened his hold on his de handle. His fifteen brothers pinned their gazes forward. Eventually surmising the youth wasn''t hostile to him, Long Cheng asked, "Would you¡­ happen to be from Dark Moon Faction?"

    The knowledge of the Demon Sect. The skills he possessed. The detailed knowledge of the sect''s past. These were all things Long Cheng couldn''t exin. He couldn''t recall who among Dark Moon Faction''s youths was of such calibre; there was no other exnation he could conjure.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The youth answered, "No, I''m not."

    "I guess so. Patriarch has departed from his world. Dark Moon Faction split up after his departure. I must be deluding myself. If we had a youth as formidable as him, he''d have been assigned many more jobs." Long Cheng thought. He then said, "I cannot identify you; in saying that, since you know it is our sect''s sacred grounds, I suggest you do not stand in front of the door."

    Amused, the youth folded his arms: "And if I refuse?"

    Voice calm, Long Cheng replied, "Then, for as long as I have a breath in me, I will not allow you to spheme my sect. Should you insist, Dark Wind Branch will fight you to the death here in spite of our gap in skill. That is all there is to it."

    "You''re a member of the Demon Sect, yet you surrendered your services to the imperial court for this ce?" asked the youth, in a scathing tone. "I would surmise you havepletely gone against yourselves serving under Kong Duan. I bet it''s more agonising and mortifying than death."

    The looks on Dark Wind Branch''s members made it clear they agreed with every word uttered. The youth then continued on, "You''re all skilled in your own right and can aplish yourselves in the pugilistic world, yet you''re allowing yourselves to be Kong Duan''s puppets just for what''s inside. Is it worth it?"

    Unsurprisingly, Dark Wind Branch answered without hesitation and in unison: "Yes!!"

    Not used to loud voices, the youth covered his ears.

    Notes:

    *Fusang and Dongying Kingdom are often used as a variety of entities in Chinese literature. One is a mythological tree, but we''re talking about a mysteriousnd to the East, hence "dong" in the name. It''s been interpreted as Japan in the past.

 Volume 6 55 Ending â€“ Divine Moon Elder

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 55 Ending ¨C Divine Moon Elder</h4>

    Proud to share a brotherhood with such an impressive individual, Long Cheng smiled: "As you heard, my brothers and I are wanderers in the pugilistic world. We no longer ask for a peaceful life. Dark Wind Branch is no longer what it once was; however, we are still Dark Wind Branch. We have our honour and things more important than our lives to protect.

    Since you know us as well as the back of your hand, you should already be aware what Dark Wind Branch is proud of. Since falling from our peak, our three hundred member branch has been reduced to just sixteen members. All of our other members gave away their lives valiantly on battlefields. We have fallen, but we are not cowards who surrender or run. Please step away from there!"

    Right after Long Cheng''sst words, all sixteen members of Dark Wind Branch brandished their broadswords and prepared to cut down all those in their path. Their killing intent overcame the pressure the youth''s killing intent imposed on them. Long Cheng camouged himself in darkness again.

    "Wind of Death!"

    The youth couldn''t defuse Wind of Death using the same method again. Long Cheng zipped through the darkness. The youth touched his head and muttered, "I can''t use an advanced method this time. Man, it is hard being an actor when I only have to act once a year."ong Cheng paid no heed to the rambling and thrust his de toward the youth''s throat. The youth waved his hand and punched. Following the sound of something heavy dropping into water, the water rose up as a colossal tide. The youth''s punchnded flush on Long Cheng''s face, sending thetter reeling so fast through the air he generated a swirl of dust, yet Long Cheng looked as if only a big mosquitonded on his face.

    Frustrated, the youth grumbled, "Yo, this man is trying to act badass. I was going to show off after not seeing you in so long. Why did you copy the p(ast)-"

    "Now!"manded Long Cheng, rising up to the water surface.

    Fifteen members of Dark Wind Branch split off in fifteen directions to light up the torches.

    Surprised, the youth remarked, "I''m impressed you''re trying that in this situation."ong Cheng didn''t see himself triumphing against the youth; therefore, he decided to focus solely on lighting the torches. His goal was to see the youth so that whoever from Dark Wind Branch escaped could seek the youth out to avenge them.

    Once the torches were lit, the dark space was revealed in its entirety. Dark Wind Branch fell silent. They didn''t see the youth''s face, for he hid in the shadow the door cast. They, instead, saw a scene that sent a chill down Long Cheng''s spine; he imagined himself being devoured. Corpses lied scattered all over the ground. Judging from their condition, they died yesterday. The number of corpses wasn''t what freaked Long Cheng out but the identity of the dead.ong Cheng recognised every dead guard on the ground. They were the assassins Kong Duan spent a decade gathering and training for his grand scheme, the guards said to be capable of recing Liu Shan''s Elites Ranking, the Feiyun Guards.

    "F-Feiyun Guards¡­" Long Cheng stammered, finally noticing the bloody stench he missed. "Why¡­ They¡­ You killed all of the Feiyun Guards? Why did you kill them¡­? How did you kill them¡­? Y-Y-You killed all of them? Impossible¡­ You must haverades. Where are your c-"

    "I don''t needrades," interjected the youth, with a hand wave before moving on to run his hand gently on the stone hinged door. "Why did I kill them, you ask? It''s because they also tried to harm that which I would give my life to protect."

    Everybody was on edge as they watched the youth, for they didn''t know what he wanted to do with the secret room. They were primarily concerned he''d defile their sacred grounds.

    The youth, tone frigid, asked, "This door has restrained you all this time, correct?"

    The youth pulled his arm back and thrust forward again, performing a booming palm strike that was louder than all the people crying for him to stop. To their amazement, he cracked the stone door in a way only conceivable if they were told someone assaulted the door with ten thousand hammers and a thousand broadswords.ong Cheng didn''t know what the youth''s goal was. Nevertheless, Long Cheng was certain the youth''s arm was history after hitting the door with that much force judging from the volume of the wind. After all, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The impact sounded as loud as an explosion.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Dark Wind Branch''s members'' eyes silently welled up with tears. The youth turned around to give them a smile: "Henceforward, you are free."ong Cheng eximed, "Who exactly are you?"

    "Don''t you already know me?" asked the youth, peering into the distance as if he was reminiscing the past. "It''s been five years. Our different environments have changed us. Back in the day at Lawless Cliff, two branch leaders would quarrel all day long over staying secluded and going out. The three King Guardians all had their habits. ck Lotus'' six emissaries had their own disguises they always wore. You were the only one among four Guardians who ran the sect''s businesses and was capable. Thest thing I expected was for you to vanish first when the biscuit crumbled. I''ve travelled from South to North, the Western Regions to the East, but I couldn''t find you. I never thought you''d be with a secretary."

    "Y-You searched for us? Wait! How do you know who we are¡­? There shouldn''t be many people in the pugilistic world who know I was a guardian¡­."

    "There were only four people who inherited Old Dao''s broadsword skills. Two of his sessors were horrible with the skills," replied the youth, smiling derisively. "Is there anyone else who uses it as a poorly and restrictively as a stick in the mud the way you do?"

    The more Long Cheng heard the youth''s voice, the more familiar he felt it was. His tone¡­ seemed more mature than back then, but the way he sounded as though he was teasing you when he spoke was still the same. For some reason, Long Cheng started to feel emotional. The surreal feeling he had let to him addressing the youth in a formal manner of speech.

    "Y-You could not be¡­ Wait, y-you would not be¡­"

    The youth slowly stepped out of the shadow. The light on his face flickered uncontrobly. The light and shadow''s dance revealed half of the familiar, resolute and masculine face from five years ago. He stood with an upright posture. The long hair syed behind him was as white as snow. Even the lower-ranking members of Dark Wind Branch recognised him. Though they were men as tough as steel, their voices sounded as if they were sobbing: "Y-You!"

    Ming Feizhen smiled, "Guardian Long, brothers, it''s been a long time."

    "Your subject pays his respects to you, Lord San Shen!" all sixteen members dropped to their knees and greeted him in unison.

    Ming Feizhen covered his ears and frowned: "I still can''t get use to you calling me so loudly."

 Volume 6 56 Ending â€“ Reasoning

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 56 Ending ¨C Reasoning</h4>

    "Lord San Shen, why are you here? Where have you been the past five years?"ong Cheng stayed on his knees. His delight seeped into his voice involuntarily. Teardrops sat on the edge of his eyelids. His smile couldn''t have been missed.

    Frankly, not even I could provide a concise rundown of what transpired over thest five years. Both the world and I changed drastically after we separated at Lawless Cliff. Yan Shisan became atrine caretaker. Ximen Chuideng went missing. Divine Moon Cult was practically exterminated. As for me, I lost the desire to continue life in the pugilistic world.

    I examined Long Cheng in detail. He had white hair. His age caught up with him. The youngest of the four Lawless'' Guardians was the most aplished and particrlymendable when it came to reporting information and scouting. He made lots of sacrifices and sacrificed many lives for his work back in the day. If logic applied, he shouldn''t have struggled so much during the five years given his internal strength prowess. He clearly had it rough, though.

    I helped Long Cheng up and, with a friendly expression, said, "It''s hard to tell you what happened in a few sentences. All of you get up. Check this ce out with me."

    I led the group to the stone door I smashed. Seeing the rubble, Long Cheng stammered, "L-Lord San Shen, your skills have improved. I have no words to describe my admiration for your strength."

    Some of the others tried to flip the rubble over but failed. As a result, they looked at me as if they were looking at some monster. For some reason beyond me, Long Cheng looked as if he was in a dilemma: "Your subject apologises for attacking you before."

    ''You''re apologising after I nearly killed you? I feel bad now, Guardian Long!''

    The four Lawless Guardians held a high rank in Divine Moon Cult. They were granted plenty of freedom and authority. They took direct orders from their leader. Long Cheng, who served Dark Moon Faction, only took orders from Dark Moon Faction''s leader and Old Ximen; not even the three Guardian Kings could order them around, yet he apologised to me after I nearly killed him. If the elders who set the rules for Divine Moon Sect were to learn Long Cheng apologised to me, they''d be furious.

    We entered thest secret room. The atmosphere suddenly turned oppressive; nobody made an utterance solely out of instinct. It was no ce for idle chatter. As Long Cheng andpany said, something more important than their lives and mine was located there. I noticed a moon symbol was drawn in every corner. An altar for worshipping was set up North and South.

    Stopping in my tracks, I said, "Salute the North. The moon is within¡­ I thought so¡­"

    I ran my hand over the stone tablet and fell into deep thought for a good while.

    "I finally found you¡­" I recalled the old man saying as if it was yesterday.

    "Feizhen,e here. Come here. y a game of go with this old one," he would suggest.

    "Don''t cheat. Don''t be an ass! You lost. We agreed the winner would p the loser. You pped this old one ruthlessly just before. It''s his turn now," he would whinge.

    "Ow! Is your face made of rocks?! We agreed not to shield ourselves with our energy! Your face is thicker than the city walls!" he would joke.

    He was old, yet age seemed to be nothing more than a number to him. He never quit after losing. He was always brimming with life. He wasparable to a kid who never grew up.

    "Your subject cannot match your wisdom, Lord San Shen." Long Cheng stood behind me: "Your subject only found this ce when Kong Duan led him here. Fortunately, although the scum held it hostage, he did not damage it, or else¡­"earning what happened really triggered me. I smiled passive-aggressively: "I was wondering why the fearless Dark Wind Branch members would help him."

    I eyed the huge underground space: "Why did our ce be a venue for fighting entertainment?"

    Perhaps I unknowingly spoke in a cold tone; Long Cheng suddenly clenched his teeth out of anger: "That was all due to your subject''s failure. Your subject failed to watch over it; he dares not ask for your forgiveness, but he would like to request permission to personally execute the vile Kong Duan, and then face punishment for his failure at the altar! Your subject needs his right hand to exact punishment. Please take just your subject''s left hand aspensation!!"ong Cheng drew his dagger from his waist as he finished and swung down at his left wrist. The other members of Dark Wind Branch cried for him not to, but he was too fast for them.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ng! The de soared through the air. It took a while for Dark Wind Branch to realise I saved Long Cheng''s left hand. They were grateful I intervened, but also wondering, "What style was that? He was faster than Guardian Long."

    They looked at me as if I was some monster¡­ again.

    All I did was flick the dagger away using celestial spider silk. Long Cheng''s subordinates thought there was no way his swing could be stopped¡­

    ''Fucking hell, man, you have a grudge with me or something, giving me a bloody wee? Name one scenario somebody celebrated meeting their superior with a bloody hand!''

    I asked Long Cheng, "What was that about?"ong Cheng bowed his head: "Your subject failed miserably. Unless he does this, his mistake cannot be pardoned, and he cannot face his brothers again."

    I recalled the same scenario happened in the past. Divine Moon Cult was a sect associated with religion. Consequently, there were a decent number of individuals who strictly adhered to religious practices. Guardian Long was one of them. Everything they did had to adhere to the religious practices, or they''d walk themselves to the ritual area and punish themselves. They were practically the religion''s incarnation.

    Ximeng Chuideng, of all people, found those religious devotees to be a headache. He hated listening to their religious lectures and recitals daily. That was why he sent Old Dao off to learn broadsword skills. I think Old Dao was quite annoyed with good ol'' Ximen, too. That''d exin why he hurriedly created a technique and passed it on to Dark Wind Branch. Guardian Long would probably already be dead if he didn''t swear an oath to never cut down those within the group.

    "Is it my turn to bear the brunt of it after Old Ximen¡­? Too young too simple," I thought. I decided, "You''re just a younger, excessively rigid board. I''ll show you a superior''s power. I wish you''d know how tiring it is to y the badass superior¡­"

    I narrowed my eyes: "Hmph, what would I need your hand for?"

    I smiled mischievously the way I saw girls at brothels did and suavely said, "I only eat braised pork shoulders. I don''t like raw hands."

    I didn''t wow Long Cheng. He, instead, looked baffled and said, "In that case¡­ you could fry it in soy sauce¡­"

    ''What¡­ the¡­ fuck¡­?! Why am I eating your hand? Is your hand a trotter?! You''re de Demon''s disciple; at least value your hand! If Old Dao heard you say that, he''d split your head in two, you stupid oaf!''

    ''By the way, don''t tarnish my reputation! I only like pork trotters; I don''t have some preference for hands! Chicken feet are infinitely better than your hand! Your subordinates are going to go from looking at me as a monster to looking at me as a freak! Piss off with your middle-aged man hand!''

    "All right. All right," I fumed, giving up on the badass charade. "Just¡­ just don''t amputate your hand!"

    As Long Cheng went to speak, I added, "Guardian Long, you did terrific. I''m not talking about you serving the imperial court; I''m saying it was the right choice to turn the ce into a fighting area. That being said, there is something called priority. This ce is the most important ce. If this ce is damaged, I couldn''t avenge the grudge even if I turned the world on its head. I''d have to risk my life to murder everyone in the imperial court. Imagine the chaos the martial world would be plunged into after. You put up with all the humiliation and bitter feelings to protect this ce and me. I should be thanking you for that."

    Because Long Cheng was such a serious man, I had to speak in the same serious manner to get through to him. As he was still hesitant, I sternly borated, "It''s my duty to protect this ce, so if anyone is to me for letting it fall into Kong Duan''s hands, it would be me. If you have to take your own life for it, I would also have to take my own life. If you amputated one of your hands, I would have to amputate one of my hands to make it up to you to honour your valiant act."ong Cheng regretted his actions: "You cannot take your own hand, Lord San Shen. You are the only one worthy of leading our cult among the three survivors of our cult. To add, we need your leadership to revive our cult from here on out. I would be a sinner if I let mishap befall you."ong Cheng was one of those types of characters who''d kill himself if he said he would unless you convinced him otherwise. Honouring things was very important to him. It took a lot of exining to convince him donating his hand and feet wouldn''t revive the cult before he gave up on it.

    "Lord San Shen, how shall we proceed?"

    "We''ll take the tablet and altar. We''ll have to abandon this ce."

    "But this ce is¡­" Long Cheng hesitantly said.

    "I know," I interrupted. "Since Kong Duan found out about it, I bet the Emperor has been keeping tabs on it, as well. There''s no way we can hide its existence any longer. Staying here is basically waiting to be arrested. The ce isn''t going to sprout legs and run off. We only need to take the items here. We''ll eventually take back what''s ours."

    "What belongs to you now? You confuse me," proimed the Emperor, from outside the room.

    The Emperor appeared outside the steps. He heard everything we said, since we didn''t stifle our voices or anything of that nature. I recognised a number of faces among the big group he brought with him. Tang Ye and Bai Lian were on either side. There were four of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. Lord Zi was also with him. I suppose they were reunited.

    For the most part, things proceeded as I nned. As the three cases we were assigned were all linked to Kong Duan, it indicated the Emperor had suspicions about him. If there was someone who could eliminate Kong Duan, it would have to be the Emperor. I just never expected Kong Duan to upy this ce and control Dark Wind Branch.

    Notes:

    *Too young too simple was actually written the same way in Chinese, but its gibberish in Chinese, because it''s written to sound simr to "Too young, too simple" in English. It''s a simr scenario to the Shui Tuwan and three, two, one homophones. It took me a while to figure out what the author was doing.

 Volume 6 57 Ending â€“ Stylishly Displaying Honour

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 57 Ending ¨C Stylishly Disying Honour</h4>

    "Lord San Shen, it''s been a long time since west met at the Forbidden City," remarked the Emperor.

    I smiled: "Not really. You still look as great as then. I have missed you."

    I deliberately altered my voice, because there were plenty of people who knew me present. Long Cheng andpany, being used to their line of work, automatically knew I didn''t want those around me to know my Lord San Shen identity. Hence, they weren''t surprised. Tang Ye''s odd expression caught my attention. He had a hunch I was Lord San Shen; however, he didn''t have sufficient evidence to verify his suspicion. He never asked, so I never mentioned it.

    Bai Lian didn''t look too pleased with us. If anything, her frown suggested she detested us. Maybe she thought the Demon Sect would be a bad influence on Lord Zi or something. She was dressed in a female''s dress to disguise herself as one of Kong Duan''s adepts. Thick dresses and belts hampered movement. Using her wits, improvisation skills and actual deftbat skills, she figured tying the legs of her dress would ovee the issue. As a result, the form-fitting look highlighted her thighs.

    In regards to Su Xiao¡­ he wasn''t with them for some reason. I don''t know; the kid was missing part of his brain. Maybe something caught his attention, and he got lost on the way over.

    The Emperor fumed, "I don''t need you to miss me. In fact, that would be worrying."

    I think the Emperor was annoyed he couldn''t get rid of me after Princess Hongzhuang fell for Lord San Shen. After a longint, he remarked, "Is this¡­ where you worship the remaining sinners of your Demon Sect?"

    "Watch your mouth, you wretched Emperor! This is where we worship the sacred one," fumed Long Cheng. "Salute the North. The moon is within. It''s a ritual we only use when worshipping Patriarch. Don''t you dare vomit nonsense in my presence!"ong Cheng''s tone drastically differed from when he was talking about amputating his own hand; he sounded tough. Maybe having me backing him had something to do with it. He didn''t have a headache or sore leg anymore. I bet he could''ve climbed seven floors in one breath!

    Calling the Emperor a "wretched Emperor" incurred the fury of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, who decided to fire back verbally, expressing their unwavering loyalty and courage. Watching their verbal skirmish reminded me of my shifu and the people at the brothels fighting for the girl.

    Anyhow, I gently cleared my throat. The four Seventeen Hidden Dragons shouted in unison, "Watch out for the hidden weapons," and jumped back all the way behind the Emperor¡­

    ''You''re making the Emperor your shield?''

    The Emperor and I ignored them. I added, "This one did note here with any ill intent. Please do not misunderstand, Your Majesty."

    "I don''t believe you harbour any ill will. I wouldn''t have personally met with you otherwise," replied the Emperor, nodding as he observed me. "That being said, you keep showing up wherever I go. You first showed up at the Forbidden City. Then, I heard you fought for a beauty at Qinhuai River. Now we meet again. These meetings are not normal, are they?"

    "Indeed, they are not. However, they are all coincidences. I never had any intention of getting in your way. I cannot help it, though, for I have many private matters to deal with. As a consequence, I identally appear before you. I shall refrain from disrupting you again and causing you trouble."

    The Emperor nodded: "I am ttered you would be so considerate. I do want to ask what you are here for this time, nheless. A minister has corrupted the imperial court''s order. I am here to clean the mess. The men beside you were assisting said corrupt minister just before. You have not involved yourself with the pugilistic for many years; I never expected you to involve yourself with my court affairs. Is this part of your idea of ''refraining''?"

    Everything the Emperor said expressed faint hostility. He, perhaps, evaluated me as a walking disaster as troublesome as Old Ximen. He assumed I would bring bloodshed to the martial realm again after he went through so much to settle and organise it. Thus, he was very vignt of me. For my life away from the pugilistic world''s sake, it was in my best interest to limit interactions with the Emperor. I figured the best option was to entertain him for a while before leaving, perhaps. I didn''t intend to do that, though.

    I calmly stated, "That should be my question for you, Your Majesty."

    One of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons: "Insolence."

    I ignored the fellow and went on: "Thisrge underground room you are in is the Divine Moon Cult''s underground divine temple. The first floor is being used as Heaven Sector. The rings for betting and fighting are the altars we use for our religious rituals."

    The Emperor understood where I was taking it: "You mean Kong Duan turned this ce int-"

    "This ce is a building from many epochs ago. Judging from its appearance, it is safe to say it has over a hundred years of history. It is also my first time here. ording to Divine Moon Cult''s religious guide, we are to set up altars to worship and pray for three days in February, starting from the thirty-third on Divine Moon Cult¡¯s calendar. After that, we celebrate for seven days. It is Divine Moon Cult''s festival. This is sacred ce Divine Moon Cult''s followers believe must not be desecrated. The divine temple is also the only ce we can worship our patriarch.

    Your men were the ones who turned this ce into a gambling den and fighting arena. Your men were the ones who defiled our sacred grounds. Your people were the ones who threatened my cult''s guardian with our patriarch''s grave. So, my question to you is, does it make sense to not fight back when someone invades our ce and sphemes it?"

    "Is your patriarch''s grave the spot you are standing at?"ong Cheng held up a rectangle tablet and stepped into the light''s range. The Emperor clearly saw the text on the tablet that looked brand new. Ximen Chuideng personally wrote the text. It read: Dark Moon Faction''s Bai Tianbin''s grave. Your disciple, Chuideng.

    Someone''s thought: "The Demon Sect''s Dark Moon Faction''s patriarch''s grave¡­"

    I expressed, "Bai Tianbin was a hero in his lifetime, yet everything he left behind crumbled after his passing. His wife and son were separated. Dark Moon Faction fell from grace. Still, he had friends. This one will not hesitate to punish any who dares to desecrate Bai Tianbin''s grave under any circumstance. Your Majesty, please keep an eye on your people. I said it before: I will not interfere with the imperial court and Divine Moon Cult''s conflict. With that said, should anyone defile the dead, this one will show no mercy. A mere second rank minister thinks he''s a hero of the ages."

    The Emperor fell silent before he sighed: "In that case, this is merely a misunderstanding. Please leave this ce with your men."

    One of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons sounded out: "Your Majesty, there is no need to fear him. Your subject is willing to fight for you. Whether he triumphs or loses, it is his honour."

    Bai Lian indifferently said, "If you''re going to fight, you have to win. If losing and winning don''t matter, what are you fighting for? To embarrass His majesty? You make your life sound important. Is His Majesty''s reputation less important?"

    The warrior was outraged. s, he couldn''t afford to offend General Manager Bai. All he could do was pretend he never said it.

    In a firm tone, the Emperor said, "Say no more. Lord San Shen saved me at the Forbidden City. He didn''t use that to ask me for anything. Would I stoop lower than him?"

    With a smile, I told Long Cheng andpany to take the ashes and stone tablet first, and I would leave after they all left. Long Cheng, however, said, "Lord San Shen, this pl-."

    "Get going. There''s no need to keep this ce anymore," I interjected.

    "But¡­"

    "Don''t worry about it and go. Regroup outside."

    Since he noticed me focusing my attention on the Emperor, Long Cheng was cognizant I had something to say to the Emperor. He, therefore, did as he was told. Several of the Emperor''s men drew their weapons to stop Long Cheng andpany. They didn''t dare to take any actual action without the Emperor''smand, though. All they could do was watch Long Cheng leave.

    The Emperor asked, "How can I help you, Lord San Shen?"

    "You did me a favour, so I, naturally, have to repay the favour."

    "What favour do you speak of?" asked the Emperor, with a smile. "You saved my daughter and I. I repaid that favour. Neither of us owes each other anything. What favour is there for you to repay?"

    "That is not all there is. Guardian Longmitted treason when he attempted to assassinate you, yet you overlooked it. I must repay that favour."

    "You sure are an honest man, Lord San Shen. May I ask how you intend to repay the favour, then?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I can¡­ answer a question of yours. Any question. I will honestly answer any question you may have for me."

    "I ept."

    The Emperor began to contemte. He could ask Lord San Shen to reveal his identity, or he could ask for Ximen Chuideng''s whereabouts. With only one question he could ask, he needed to be prudent. Eventually, he asked, "I would like to ask, who is Lord San Shen siding with at the moment? Five years ago, you didn''t intervene. Will you intervene henceforth?"

    "I admire you for prioritising the nation. You want to know my goal? I can answer that." I smiled and candidly replied, "Unlike Ximen Chuideng, I have no desire to conquer the Central in or overthrow the current rule. All I care about are the things I care about. Divine Moon Cult fell due to their own mistakes; I will not pursue the defeat. Five years ago, I never exacted a vengeance on the imperial court after their fall, and I will not today or in future. However, that does not imply I will overlook the imperial court killing members unable to fend for themselves.

    I was against Ximen Chuideng''s desire to revolt. Divine Moon Sect has sacrificed enough. As a matter of fact, they have sacrificed more than they needed to. It is not even one thousandth of its former self. There is no need for you to project your fear back then onto the weak in the present. The majority of the members remaining in the Central in prefer peace. As long as they want to lead peaceful lives or ordinary men, why does the imperial court insist on exterminating them? You are a tolerant and benevolent man. As long as you stop ughtering Divine Moon Cult''s members, the imperial court and I have no grudge or conflict to speak of."

    "I understand now."

    "Additionally, I hope what happened today never repeats itself."

    I took out a bronze mask from my shirt and wore it on before I began to leave: "Your Majesty, regardless of what happens, please do not force me to be your enemy. Otherwise, the next time a g is raised, the one you see ughtering his way to the capital might just be me alone."

    I virtually vanished into thin air after I finished speaking. One of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons stuttered, "H-How did he just disappear?"

    The Emperor remarked, "You''re proving yourself to be ignorant. That is what they call the Divine Realm. He has reached the apex of martial arts spoken of in the martial world''s ancient legends. Don''t undermine it with your ignorance."

    The Emperor stared at the spot Lord San Shen vanished and spaced out. After snapping out of it, he mumbled, "It''s such a pity someone so brilliant isn''t in my service¡­ Was it because of fate that Hong''er''s marriage fell throughst time?"

 Volume 6 58 Ending â€“ Running Into Su Xiao

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 58 Ending ¨C Running Into Su Xiao</h4>

    I moulded qi to lighten my body and caught up with Dark Wind Branch. The Emperor''s men didn''t understand the signature way Divine Moon Cult''s arranged their buildings and structures. It was safe to assume the Emperor''s group found their way through trial and error, because Guardian Long and I wouldn''t have been able to fight for so long if they found us.

    We took an alternative path. Divine Moon Cult always arranged for a special path reserved for high-ranking authority personnel. Said paths were usually shortcuts and easy to navigate. I knew my way around, as I spent my time figuring out the paths after I went on an onught in the ring yesterday.

    When I caught up to Dark Wind Branch, I found they didn''t intend to leave without me; they waited for me in the secret passage. Actually, I take that back. When I took a closer look, I saw them carrying barrels of something outside. It smelt¡­ I was fairly certain it was ck powder.

    I eximed, "What are you doing?!"

    "Lord San Shen! We were discussing how to rescue you if you fell into the enemy''s hands. Kong Duan left behind these barrels of explosive powder. He nned to blow up everyone with these barrels if his Feiyun Guards encountered a formidable adept."

    ''Huh?! Kong Duan left behind ck powder to blow up everyone? What a fucking lunatic!''

    After I discovered Feiyun Hall was Dark Moon Faction''s altar, I was so mad that I went and challenged the fighters,pletely ignoring everything else. Had I not been fast enough, I''d probably been buried under the rubble after they blew the ce up.ong Cheng smiled: "Lord San Shen, you are blessed, so you would be fine. We were going to threaten the wretched Emperor with this ck powder if you were seized. Your subject underestimated your profound skills. Brothers, fill up the barrels."

    "I''ve already managed to escape; why are you still filling up the barrels?"ong Cheng looked more joyous than before: "Since you have escaped, we have no reason to hold back. We can blow the wretched Emperor to pieces with this and avenge our fallen brothers!"

    The other members actually cried out in support.

    ''Do you realise you''re revolting?! I had to talk a boat load to convince him to let you off the hook! Don''t kill yourselves! The Ultimate Three couldn''t even get a warm-up out of you lot!''

    Since I looked panicked, Long Cheng apologetically added, "Of course, we will let you light the first barrel."

    "Shut up!! Put the ck powder away!"

    ''Who would make a fuss out of wanting to be the first one to light it?! If I lit it up, would I see another day?! You trying to ensure my demise?! Is assassinating a monarch a joke to you?! Ximen Chuideng failed after decades of trying! As a matter of fact, he almost got himself killed.''

    I eventually managed to convince them to give up on blowing up the Emperor after a lot of talking. The ck powder was worth an exorbitant amount and too dangerous. Hence, I had no choice but to reluctantly keep it with me. I rounded up everyone in the residential homes and discussed the next step.

    "Let''s deal with Kong Duan first," I resolutely said. "Kong Duan cannot be forgiven for desecrating our cult. However, the Emperor won''t spare him after he returns to the capital, either. Let the Emperor capture him; it''s one way of dealing with him. By the way, Guardian Long, you should''ve been tasked with guarding him. Where has he gone off to?"

    "Kong Duan¡­" Long Cheng froze and pointed down: "Was left down there."

    "Why is he still down there?" Suddenly recalling something, I questioned, "By the way, who was the old man you were helping out before, the one who yed dead?"

    "Uh, that was the Ministry of Rites'' Kong Duan. Your subject intended to tell you that when we were about to leave, but you said to leave everything and go, so¡­"

    I fell silent for a moment before eximing, "Does he look like Kong Duan?!"

    ''He looked perfectly fine a few days ago; he literally walked around with a revolutionist''s determination! Why would you call a demented melon Kong Duan?!''ong Cheng exined all the mishaps that befell Kong Duan. It turned out I incorrectly presumed Guardian Long had a change of character and took up helping people as a hobby. I was going to tell him to be careful people would trick him into touching them then pretending to fall over and con him.

    ''Fuck Kong Duan! The piece of sh*t heard everything we said!!''

    Imanded, "Drag that piece of sh*t before me! Do not let him reveal my identity!"

    "Yes, My Lord!"

    ========

    Kong Duan wobbled out from the underground space. He barely managed on his wobbly legs, but he couldn''t stop. He fled into the residential homes. He yed dead until Ming Feizhen left, after which he got up and fled for dear life. He was surprised nobody with the Emperor recognised him; they mistook him for a member of Dark Wind Branch and let him go. He didn''t take a beating for nothing in the end.

    As Kong Duan stumbled around, he thought, "How does such a monster exist? That door is a several metres thick and made from the toughest stone. It would take an artisan several days to make a hole big enough to get through with all the tools at his disposal. "

    Kong Duan managed to threaten Long Cheng with the key in his possession for two years for the above reasons. Had he not personally witnessed Ming Feizhen knock the door down, nothing could''ve convinced him knocking it down using sheer brute force was within human capabilities. As sure as night followed day, he never thought Lord San Shen, the only man who could stand as an equal to Ximen Chuideng and a man who dissociated with the world for years, was actually someone he knew. He felt Lord San Shen infiltrating Liu Shan Men''s ranks was insulting and challenging the imperial court''s authority. He inferred Lord San Shen harboured sinister motives for infiltrating their ranks.

    Kong Duan smiled savagely. There were two reasons his world came toppling down. The first reason was the Emperor caught on to him. The other reason was because Lord San Shen massacred his Feiyun Guards. If his Feiyun Guards were still around, he believed he wouldn''t be in such a pitiful state. Tone vindictive, he pledged, "Heh, as long as I know this secret, I''ll ensure you have hell to pay every day you''re alive."

    "Oh? What secret?"

    "A secret I just learnt, obviously. I won''t mindlessly share it."

    "Let''s hear it. I might know, as well."

    "And how would you know? The secret is the Demon Sect''s Lord San Shen''s true identity. He is¡­" Kong Duan cut himself off when he realised his folly. Startled, he shouted, "Who are you?! Why are you trying to pry the secret out of me?!"

    "I''m Su Xiao."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 6 59 Ending â€“ Where the Wind Blows is Where the Clouds Go

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 59 Ending ¨C Where the Wind Blows is Where the Clouds Go</h4>

    Su Xiao performed an inch-by-inch sweep of the residential area after he chased Rabbit Fiend into the underground space. By some stroke of luck, he ran into Kong Duan, who was on his way out. Su Xiao bent over and sniggered: "I was running around randomly to see if anyone slipped away. Lucky me, I scored the biggest catch!"

    Kong Duan responded, "Y-You can tell who I am?"

    "Yeah. Your face is just swollen," replied Su Xiao, smiling. "Careful. I''m going to arrest you now."

    Su Xiao swung his scabbard, knocking Kong Duan onto the ground. Su Xiao was ruthless unlike his usual forgiving self. He ignored Kong Duan''s cry and gave him another kick, sending Kong Duan rolling across the ground. He said, "Kong Duan, you''ve harmed civilians, colluded with viins from the pugilistic world and plotted to assassinate government officials. I shall now arrest you for questioning. If you resist, I will not hesitate to cut you down, so please don''t force my hand."

    Su Xiao pulled out a rope from his shirt and restrained Kong Duan. Kong Duan''s chances of escaping were practically zero. At the end of the day, despite Su Xiao''s rather poorbat skills, he was superior to a schr getting on with age.

    "This old one controls the imperial court effortlessly, yet a kid wet behind the ears is going to end me?!" Kong Duan thought. Faced with an emergency, he shouted, "I-I know a huge secret. I''ll share it with you as an exchange, deal?"

    "What exchange? No deal," said Su Xiao, face straight. "I have enough money. I have enough to eat and wear. The imperial court is nice enough to me. I also have a legitimate job that allows me to help civilians and apprehend criminals. I don''t need a life of luxury. I only desire an honest and secure life. I don''t ept bribes."

    "This is not about money; this is hundreds and thousands of times more serious," proimed Kong Duan, panting. "Do you know Lord San Shen''s true identity?"

    "Who? What, you know?"

    "Of course. Spare me, and I''ll tell you. You will be rewarded for it! Deal?"

    "Spare you?" Su Xiao shook his head: "You''re a criminal His Majesty wants apprehended. By what logic would I spare you?"

    "You don''t have to actually spare me. You just need to not stop me from escaping this ce; give me five hundred metres. You have martial arts skills; I have nothing. I just can''t ept this result; I want to find an opportunity to make it right."

    Admittedly, Su Xiao wasn''t eager for credit; however, finding out Lord San Shen''s true identity would be beneficial to Liu Shan Men. Hence, he couldn''t resist contemting the suggestion.

    "Su Xiao, don''t listen to him!" eximed Bai Lian,ing across the ce. "He''s a slippery one. If you give him five hundred metres, he''ll return to the underground space and escape another exit. The secret room is consists of countless twists and turns. You''ll never be able to catch him again."

    Bai Lian was the only one who thought something was bizarre about the person who left, so she tailed him. He didn''t regroup with Dark Wind Hall and escaped on his own. Thus, she was more confident she was right to suspect he was Kong Duan.

    Bai Lian: "Kong Duan, you can forget about wiggling your way out."

    Kong Duan tried toe up with another n, but he hardly had any bargaining chips. His only hope was to gamble: "General Manager Bai, you are a true adept. Do you think I have a chance of escaping with you here? If you don''t give me the chance, I''d rather take Lord San Shen''s identity to the grave than tell you for free."

    Bai Lian pulled her eyebrows together: "How am I supposed to know if you''re lying or not? If you genuinely know, we''ll pry it out of you at the Ministry of Justice."

    Bai Lian strictly adhered to thew, since shecked any personal desire. If she did have a weakness, it would be difficult to find. Kong Duan couldn''t help fretting; he was aware his chances of escaping with her present were extremely slim.

    Gettingpetitive with Bai Lian again for some iprehensible reason, Su Xiao decided to defy her and said, "Old Kong, tell me, and I''ll let you go."

    Bai Lian: "Su Xiao, do you not understand priorities? If Kong Duan escapes, who is going to take the fall?"

    "That''s riching from you. Would you have caught up to him if I didn''t stop him here? Moreover, it''s only five hundred metres. He''s going to need wings to escape me."

    Kong Duan was perceptive enough to discern the discord between the two, so he added oil to the fire. He said, "In that case, this old one doesn''t mind waiting for you to decide if you want to hear it. With that said, this old one will only share it with one person. If you grant this old one five hundred metres, he promises to go only five hundred metres."

    Bai Lian was privy of Kong Duan''s character. Su Xiao, however,cked the same degree of perception and was more emotionally driven. He grumbled, "Liu Shan Men shall ept the deal. General Manager Bai, you came after me, so please step aside."

    "Why do you always insist on opposing me?" fumed Bai Lian. "I don''t have any grudge with you; you''re also a man. Can''t you be more generous?"

    "You''re a man, too. You''re even older than me. Why don''t you be generous?"

    One had to question if they had to argue even in that situation. Kong Duan''s chances of escaping grew as they argued. He was overjoyed as he watched the quarrel.

    Afraid dying Kong Duan''s capture would bring trouble, she eximed, "You''re just jealous Ming Feizhen is close to me, aren''t you? Grow up. Learn to be independent."

    "N-N-Nonsense!" argued Su Xiao, blushing. "I''m very independent, thank you!"

    "Hmph, hugging him and crying after not seeing him for two days is your definition of independent? I couldn''t tell if you didn''t say so."

    Su Xiao stomped: "You''re not my sister-inw! Who are you to be telling me about impendence?!"

    "Wha? S-Sister inw?! Wh-What nonsense is that?!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Exin your blushing, then."

    Bai Lian lost to Su Xiao in verbal warfare again, resulting in her face turning as red as a ripe tomato. She usually used "nonsense" and "I did not" as her shields, but blushing was a fatal problem she couldn''t deny.

    "Stop! Don''t argue!" said Ming Feizhen,ing from afar hastily as if his rear was set on fire.

    Neither Bai Lian nor Su Xiao had ever seen Ming Feizhen run so fast before. They knew him as someone who waszy, messy would sit unless forced to stand and would lie down to rx at every opportunity. Su Xiao smiled upon seeing Ming Feizhen, while Bai Lian shot him a, "It''s all your fault for not teaching him better" re, rendering him useless.

    Kong Duan was scared silly upon seeing Ming Feizhen. As neither Bai Lian nor Su Xiao had their attention on him, he quickly dashed. Bai Lian quickly took a step to load up a kick that sent Kong Duan into an alley. Kong Duan pulled off an impressive manoeuvre nimbly, rolling and then getting up to continue fleeing.

    Su Xiao thundered, "What happened to promising not to run?! Did you lie to me?!"

    Su Xiao drew Ancient Cold and swung it multiple times, nearly taking Kong Duan''s life. Ming Feizhen raced after Kong Duan.

    Kong Duan knew he was likely finished if he was caught again. He used his knowledge of the terrain to his advantage and rain into a courtyard. Then, he ran to the home next door. He continued to do circles and zigzag until he shook Su Xiao off. That was precisely why he specifically specified five hundred metres in his offer. Su Xiao not being able to catch him didn''t mean others couldn''t, nheless.

    Bai Lian took to the roofs. Skilled with qinggong and meticulous, she quickly located Kong Duan. When she jumped down, she and Ming Feizhen bumped into each other at the same time. Bai Lian silently grumbled, "Su Xiao and now Ming Feizhen? Does Liu Shan Men have some sort of issue with me?"

    Bai Lian flipped out: "Ming Feizhen, are you going to fight me for him?"

    Kong Duan tried to make a run for it a second time, but Bai Lian booted him into a house and shut the door to prevent him running again. She then looked over her shoulder and asked, "What do you want?"

    Ming Feizhen hastily stated, "General Manager Bai, do not stop me. I have an important job. You are already the General Manager; you will be credited for sure, so how about letting me take him?"

    "I''m not trying to take the credit from you! Lord Zi sneaked out of the pce and involved himself in the problem. I''m afraid he''ll be punished severely when he returns to the pce. I want credit to reduce his sentence."

    "They''re father and son; how far do you think he''d take it?! General Manager Bai, please let me through."

    "No. Beat me if you want to get through."

    Sternly, Ming Feizhen said, "I don''t want to have to fight you."

    Bai Lian scoffed, "You think you''re a master now? You think you can defeat me?"

    "Since you insist, pardon me."

    Ming Feizhen did exactly as he said and barged past Bai Lian. Bai Lian made good on her word, as well. Ming Feizhen still advanced. He caught her hand and kicked between her legs to throw her off bnce. Bai Lian could effortlessly stand straight on one leg. For some reason unbeknownst to her, however, she felt her body go limp simr to being hit with a heat wave.

    Ming Feizhen bent his knee and virtually stered himself to Bai Lian''s lower body after kicking in between her legs. With their faces barely separated, the two felt an odd rush that had their bodies reacting to each other.

    Bai Lian could feel Ming Feizhen''s hands were hot; however, the heat didn''t seem to be from a palm strike but tension and eagerness. When she looked into his eyes, she saw a simr look in them to when they first met at the imperial pce''s Small North Gate and kissed.

    Ming Feizhen suddenly hugged Bai Lian around the waist with a vice-like grip. Her eyes suddenly drew his soul and eyes toward them. She resisted, yet that resistance stirred him more than before.

    "Umm, mm, you¡­ I¡­"

    "I came to catch Kong Duan. How did we end up in this position?" pondered Ming Feizhen.

    Those rosy lips insults regrly spewed from were in contact with Ming Feizhen''s. Bai Lian weakly leaned onto him and felt her body temperature soar.

    Kong Duan took the opportunity to flee through the window. After crossing through several houses, a cold de on his neck stopped him in his tracks. Su Xiao, expression frigid, remarked, "Where are you off to?"

    "W-Wait! Don''t you want to know who Lord San Shen really is?"

    "This again?" Su Xiao booted Kong Duan in the face: "Not interested. What would I listen to you lie for? Hmph, all three of you are liars. You''ll say anything, because you think I''m stupid. I guess you weren''t beaten hard enough. Let me help you loosen up those stiff muscles!"

    Su Xiao went to give Kong Duan a hard knock.

    "W-Wait!" Kong Duan panicked when he couldn''t get through to the "special" Su Xiao, so he spilt the beans.

    Su Xiao froze. He lowered his fist. He looked at Kong Duan in disbelief: "Impossible¡­ He''s¡­ with the Demon Sect?"

    Su Xiao''s reaction was a cue for Kong Duan to begin working toward his escape: "Yes. This old one personally saw him: this isn''t hearsay."

    Su Xiao: "Impossible! Impossible! You''re lying again!"

    "This old one swears it! This old one personally saw him. He is L-."

    Kong Duan abruptly juddered and copsed simrly to when one was struck on the back for their head,

    "Wh-What''s the matter?!"

    Su Xiao hurriedly checked on Kong Duan. Kong Duan was still alive; something knocked him out, though. Su Xiao checked left and right, but nobody was in sight. Several houses away, Ming Feizhen held onto Bai Lian, who passed out and was reminiscing the kiss before owing to him squeezing her too tightly, in his arms. He used his left hand to coil the silk back to him. He mumbled to himself, "Made it¡­ Thank heavens the old man didn''t say anything troublesome. I''ve wiped his memory of thest two hour. I should be safe now."

    Ming Feizhen let out a breath of relief, only to then breathe in Bai Lian''s scent. He looked down at the imperial household general manager he vited time and time again¡­ He was too focused on her to notice Su Xiao holding his head to contemte the world he began to question.

    After the whole fiasco was settled, we returned to the capital in grandeur fashion. His Majesty and Lord Zi stayed to manage the situation. I guess they were going to personally see that Kong Duan was rightfully convicted. As for us, we didn''t have anywhere to go upon arriving in the capital, as we arrivedte, and the doors to the imperial pce were shut. General Manager Bai was also stuck outside. In the end, we found ourselves an inn to stay at and whatnot.

    Tang Ye, Su Xiao and I held a meetingter that night to discuss business before digressing into idle chatter.

    "There''s a big event at the temple in the capital tonight. Who''s going?" asked Tang Ye, sporting his straight face. "I''ll be meeting someone. You two not going?"

    ''Fuck you! I''m getting tired of your sh*t, bragging without batting an eye! Why in the world are you interested in going somewhere couples have to go to?! Oh, it''s the Qilin Guards'' Miss Si, isn''t it?! I knew I wasn''t wrong when I saw you two flirting! You got together while I wasn''t around, didn''t you?!''

    I waspletely off the mark. Tang Ye was meeting up with his teacher, Secretary Zhang Chunfeng, to give a report at a teahouse near the temple."

    Tang Ye asked me, "Why would I go with Miss Si to the temple fair? Does she want to go?"

    The martial-arts nut would need three to five more years before he was enlightened enough to go to a temple fair¡­

    ''Miss Si, you have a heavy burden to carry for a very long journey. Hmm, I haven''t been to a temple fair in a long time now that I think about it.''

    I turned around to Su Xiao, who I figured would be most keen: "Xiao, you want to go?"

    Su Xiao looked as if his mother was going to being to check on him. Startled, he replied, "I-I''ll pass."

    "You sick?" I touched Su Xiao''s forehead. It was quite hot: "Rest at the inn. We''re still in our new posts, in any case, so we can''t return to Liu Shan Men. Just rest up."

    Su Xiao looked ufortable and frustrated with me touching his head. He ran his eyes over my handsome and suave face. He shook his head and, in a muffled voice, sighed: "Impossible¡­"

    ''What''s with that reaction?! Don''t you sigh after looking at my face! People will mistake I''m ugly!''

    Comining Tang Ye and I were noisy, Su Xiao kicked us out. I don''t know, maybe he was on his thinking period or something.

    I sighed: "Daddy is sad."

    Tang Ye and I went into the corridor. He looked nonchnt. His biggest issue as of recent was not being able to fight. Once the case was closed, he was going to embark on his challenges and suicide attempts record in the capital again. As far as I could remember, he had enough enemies to break down five hundred doors after he finished with the twentieth academy on his hit list. I figured I should keep tabs on him; else, he was going to be in the news after several hundred people ambushed him on the street.

    Tang Ye headed out to meet Secretary Zhang. I strolled around in the inn to kill boredom. I inadvertently ended up at General Manager Bai''s door, and my legs stopped on their own. I could smell a faint plum blossom scent. Smelling it was akin to seeing her skin. From the other side of the door, she questioned, "Who is it?"

    I recalled our kiss earlier in the day; my throat felt dry. I replied, "Me."

    Silence.

    I racked my brains but couldn''t think of what to say. After the kiss, General Manager Bai never said another word to me. She''d asionally steal nces. She was more disappointed than she was angry, amplifying my guilt. I don''t know why I kissed her; it wasn''t part of my n. My body acted before my brain could do its job.

    As I was standing there, thinking what to say, General Manager Bai asked, "¡­ What is it?"

    "Uh, I, uh¡­ Right, I came to ask¡­ Do you want to go to the temple fair?"

 Volume 6 60 Countdown (1)

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 60 Countdown (1)</h4>

    The thirtieth was two days away. To wee the New Year, every one of all ages in the capital was glowing, practically ready for war; the statement could be extended to everyone in the nation. The people prepared to wee the New Year long ago. New Year goods were on sale three months ago. Some didn¡¯t mind riding to the East or crossing the ocean to the West to bring back the rarest items for entertainment. Those people began preparing for the New Year half a year ago. They invested exorbitant sums of money into New Year celebrations.

    The Western Region often said people of the Central in were sick in the head during thetter¡¯s New Year celebration period, because the Western Region folks saw the celebration as ridiculous. After all, people splurged, sung into the night and paused their economy and work. They dressed in all red as if they thought it was aesthetically pleasing. People would be prancing on the streets instead of walking. Really, they resembled mad men; gambling and drinking went on all day and all night long. The Western Region¡¯s businessmen found it startling. Admittedly, the thought was due to the Western Regions'' folks being scared silly and stereotyping; to be fair, they weren''t far off the mark.

    With two more days until New Year''s Eve, every household had colourfulnterns out. They wore red clothing and green hats. It was as if everyone waspeting to see who could give the New Year the grandest wee. Naughty kids wouldugh, chatter and cheer on the streets with their parents, crash into people left, right and centre, yet refuse to apologise. Despite that, the people on the roads were so ustomed to it that they considered it the norm. They''d just give the kids a smile and light kick to get even. The entire city''s joy was akin to a dam pushing up against a floodgate.

    The imperial pce went along with the carnival. They already began burning incense and what have you all day. A star could be spotted above Jinling City every now before bursting into countless light fments, feeding the people''s excitement. The smell of joy from bamboo, firecrackers, wine and pork cooked with garlic dispersed in the air! Themoners weren''t the only one start preparing food to wee New Year.ots of families were phnthropists. They would always open their doors before New Year''s Eve and set up dozens of tables. Anyone who passed by coulde in and enjoy a hearty meal regardless of status or anything else. Guests woulde and go, and it would go on for three days straight when New Year came.

    While everyone was in a festival spirit, the air within my one metre radius was ice cold. Even those who passed me would shiver. I had a beautiful and calm maiden walking next to me. She hid her rage underneath her calm demeanour. In spite of having a beauty next to me, nobody was envious of me. If anything, they kept their distance from us.

    General Manager Bai agreed to attend the temple fair with me, yet she didn''t say a single word. I tried to break the ice.

    "I."

    "Get lost."

    General Manager Bai''s voice was firm, and she didn''t have any issues. If things continued down the same track, I''d seen bebelled the scummiest human alive¡­ She looked at me as if I was some tainted object ever since I impulsively hugged and kissed her. Every interesting stand or ce with nice delicacies we passed by, I''d do everything I could to cheer her up.

    "General Manager, Bai, look at this. Have you seen this before? Th-."

    "Get lost."

    "This is one of the biggest families in Jinling. We can go in to eat some nice d-."

    "Buzz off."

    "As for th-."

    "Creep."

    "¡­"

    "Pervert."

    "Go die."

    "Die. Die."

    "Die. Die. Die. Die. Go to hell!"

    ''Hey! Listen to me, god damn it! Scolding me once or twice if you don''t like what I say is eptable, but why do I have to cop insults when I never said anything, too?! Also, you were just outright cursing me at the end! What do you want?! Did my kiss transform you from a eunuch into a witch?! That''s a one-of-a-kind profession change!''

    General Manager Bai must''ve been seething with rage. Considering her usual refined speech, she was probably angry enough to blow an entire city away. I couldn''t stand the atmosphere anymore. The atmosphere wasn''t remotely close to a walk at a temple fair; it was closer to negotiating with gang leaders as I did in the past!

    I couldn''t help blurting, "We''re buddies. You can''t keep being angry with me for that, can you?!"

    "Buddies?" Bai Lian wouldn''t even spare me a nce: "You sure are sincere with your friends."

    Bai Lian sounded as if speaking to me was insulting the word friendship.

    ''I treat you as a friend, while you want give me d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡­?''

    "You misunderstand."

    Bai Lian stopped in her tracks and red at me as if she wanted to rip my head off: "What was it about, then?"

    I answered without thinking: "Would you believe me if I told you it was because you''re too pretty?"

    Bai Lian widened her eyes: "Say that one more time!"

    I frantically waved my hands: "No, no, no, let me exin again."

    "All right, let''s hear it. I''m all ears." Bai Lian folded her arms and stared at me. From her appearance to her gestures, she was unbelievably feminine: "That was the second time. Today, you¡­"

    "Kiss" was apparently a word General Manager Bai considered too humiliating to say. Unable to articte the word, she bit down on her lip and remarked, "In short, that''s that. What do you have to say about your debauched behaviour?"

    ''Debauched?! Who?! I didn''t do it on purpose!''

    I never purposely kissed Bai Lian either time. I just felt an intense impulse in my legs and mouth. By the time I snapped out of it, General Manager Bai had almost passed out.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After listening to my exnation, Bai Lian maintained her disdainful look: "Impulse? Couldn''t control? So, you''re debauched?"

    ''Don''t take bits and pieces to create your own narrative! I just used the wrong words! It really does me sound debauched with that description, but I''m not!''

    I clumsily eximed, "I meant I couldn''t control myself!"

    Bai Lian frowned and looked at me even more disdainfully: "How does that change the fact you''re debauched?"

    Helpless, I gave up trying to clear it up: "Fine, fine, fine, I''m debauched, happy now? I don''t know what was the matter with me, either? Maybe I''ve had a crush on you for a long time. I can''t control myself as soon as I touched your hand."

    So focused on talking, I didn''t notice Bai Lian''s face turning bright red.

    "You didn''t resist; I suppose you didn''t think it was so bad. Maybe sparks between us flew because the lucky star of love aligned and the heavens willed it. Once firewood is engulfed in an intense fire, you can''t stop it. You know what? You should quit working as a eunuch. You should go to the Ministry of Personnel to change your hometown, dress up as a girl, leave the pce and get married to me¡­"

    "You! What should I have expected besides a grunt from a pig!"

    p! My face copped another one.

    Notes:

    *When speaking of changing her hometown, that''s a loose trantion. There''s no real way to trante it urately. If you wanted to be more urate, I''d trante it as "ce of ancestral origin".

 Volume 6 61 Countdown (2)

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 61 Countdown (2)</h4>

    Bai Lian bit down on her lip. Sounding heartbroken, she said, "I¡­ genuinely consider you a friend. Y-Yet, you¡­"

    General Manager Bai''s demeanour made me feel as though I just got to know General Manager Bai. She was a simple person, sincere and straightforward. It was hard for her to form friendships inside the walls deep within the pce, yet I disrespected the genuine feelings she shared with me. It finally struck me that I hurt her feelings without realising it, resulting in her ring up for such a long time.

    Furious, Bai Lian shook: "I don''t want to ever see you again!"

    "Wait. Sorry!" I blurted, blocking off Bai Lian''s path. "I¡­"

    Ostensibly annoyed just seeing me, Bai Lian stomped: "You what?!"

    Bai Lian was oblivious of how much she appeared as a young girl with her behaviour, stunning me. I adjusted my emotions and sincerely answered, "I honestly don''t know what happened. I swear I didn''t do it deliberately. Honest."

    "You said the same thingst time!" thundered Bai Lian. "There''s no way you can do the same thing unintentionally so many times! Do you not know who I am? Were you nning it from the moment you asked me to y your wife at Wuhua County? Why do you keep doing this? Do you not know it''s impossible for us to¡­ You¡­ Out of my way!"

    Bai Lian threw a palm strike my way. I reactively intercepted it. Our skin contact seemingly sted away the confrontational atmosphere. The force of her blow dispersed. Her breathing gradually grew erratic. Our feelings were identical to the first afternoon we met. Only then did I discover her breathing sped up before I kissed her, not afterwards. I pulled her into my embrace to find her as hot as if she had a fever. She was red from her face to her neck.

    While I was lost in my thoughts, Bai Lian hit me, but she didn''t enhance it with any energy. I suppose she didn''t actually hate me so much. I looked down at her face leaning on my chest. She slowly raised her head. I didn''t know why she wore a faint smile.

    "H-Has she always been this beautiful?" I asked myself.

    General Manager Bai always was a beauty. Among all of the beautiful women I met, I could hardly name anyone who surpassed her beauty; it''s tragic. Princess Hongzhuang, Jingan, Boss Shen and Su Xiao (?) were all beauties in their own right, but the only one who could hold a candle to Bai Lian''s charm in my arms was my absolutely perfect young shiyi.

    Nobody paid attention to General Manager Bai, because she was usually awfully strict with herself, trying to keep her emotions from showing. She often wore a stoic face to hide her emotions. As a consequence, she gave the vibe she was stern and strict. The look deducted points from her beauty, but there was also the fact she never wore make-up.

    Bai Lian''s big eyes looked ever so slightly narrowed, giving her the puppy eyes look, sweeping one off their feet and leaving an unforgettable impression. Her eyes looked most enthralling when she had a tender look in her eyes. When she was willing to smile genuinely, her eyes would smile, knocking your guard down without you being aware. Her narrow waist, the swell of her hips and immodest thighs were irresistible. She was a weapon that could fell a nation. The people in the imperial pce - the Emperor in particr - were blind, I tell you. How they didn''t know there was such a jewel next to them was beyond me.

    I couldn''t resist touching Bai Lian''s smooth cheek. She shyly lowered her head and stayed on my chest. Unable to resist, I lowered my head to steal those rosy lips. As I went down, I thought to myself, "If she wasn''t a eunuch, th-, wait, wait, wait! General Manager Bai is a eunuch!!"

    I speedily performed three qi circtions. To indicate I was innocent, I forced my hands to release their hold on Bai Lian. As we lost skin contact, the uncontroble urge dissipated.

    Bai Lian snapped out of it and stammered, "Wh-What just happened? Did you do something to me?"

    "Not a thing," I replied, checking my hands before checking Bai Lian''s. "It all happened just because we held hands."

    Bai Lian believed me, since she personally witnessed everything. That was not to mention she, too, realised something was odd about her. She was bashful, eager, smiling tenderly and charming a nation to its doom; she wouldn''t usually disy any of those traits.

    "Why did that happen¡­?" Bai Lian nced at me then grabbed my arm after mustering up courage. Nothing happened. The surge of passion didn''t visit again. She remarked, "Strange¡­ Why?"

    I took the opportunity to say, "Whatever the reason may be, the record is clear now, right? I never vited you on purpose. Don''t be angry with me, please?"

    "Hmph, you think you can get off so easily after what you did?" Bai Lian''s tone sounded much friendlierpared to before. She folded her arms and wore on a thinking face: "Why does it happen? I never had the feeling before. It''s as if¡­ my body won''t listen to me. I also feel you¡­"

    Bai Lian nced at me. She looked away immediately upon noticing her face turn red. I went along with her. I pretended I was lost in thought and didn''t notice. Then, I revealed a look of enlightenment: "I get it now!"

    Bai Lian turned back: "What?"

    Tone serious, I said, "We must be an inseparable match made in heaven¡­ Is it my destiny to marry a eunuch?"

    Bai Lian looked stupefied: "Doesn''t that mean I''m fated to marry¡­"

    Realising the problem with what she was about to say, Bai Lian''s face turned bright red. She unleashed a twenty-plus fist thumpbo on me: "I''m not marrying you! Go marry your Su Xiao!"

    ''Huh? What sort of logic is that?! Why is Su Xiao the only candidate besides you?! Just how do you see me?! Call me debauched or a creep? Fine, I''ll ept it begrudgingly, but I''m not a creep who likes boys! If anything, you''re a eunuch. That''s better than a full-fledged boy, isn''t it?!!''

    My own thinking started to creep me out. "Why¡­ would a eunuch be better¡­?" I asked myself.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What''s the problem with eunuchs? Are you looking down on us?" Bai Lian furrowed her eyebrows: "Eunuchs know how to express sympathy better than girls. Eunuchs in the pce are particrly nice¡­"

    I was too busy counting all the pros of eunuchs on my hands that I forgot what we were even talking about.

    Bai Lian then asked, "Understand what makes eunuchs great now?"

    "Yeah, yeah. Since you strongly rmend yourself so much, when are we getting married?"

    Bai Lian took a second, but she did catch on to what I said, so she stopped and changed her response: "Eunuchs can''t get married! What sort of twisted thoughts sprout up there?!"

    Well, we cleared the misunderstanding; therefore, Bai Lian wasn''t so angry with me. As soon as we stopped talking¡­ I heard her stomach growl. She wore on her straight face again and said, "That''s all it takes for you to be angry? Let''s go eat something, then."

    "Cool, cool, cool," I responded, holding my head. "You have to do something about your tone. You were just calling me ''Dear'' thest two days. You switch gears too fast for anyone to dare marry you."

    "Anymore nonsense from you and no prayers will save you from me beating your teeth out!"

    And¡­ we continued on with our yful quarrelling as we made our way to the temple¡­

 Volume 6 62 Countdown (3)

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 62 Countdown (3)</h4>

    Thenterns lit up for the first time underneath the moonlight. The enormousntern on the street was made using seven colours. The me brought out the bright colours. People walked side by side, talking and smiling on the streets. Although the capital was a densely popted, the streets were only so lively for New Year. People would walk around solely for the magnificent walk.adies who rarely stepped outside would finallye out onto the streets. Unsurprisingly, thedies from the capital''s four treasures, namely Heavenly Fragrance Brothel, Apricot Flower Keeps the Deity Brothel, Beauty Pavilion and Cheery Blossom and Emerald Hall, would make an appearance. They could be found gazing at the moon from boats on Qinhuai River and asionally whispering to each other. One could say it was a beautiful end to the year in more ways than one.

    Blood ejected from old men''s noses when beauties in resplendent clothing, jewellery, sang in their beautiful voices on a backdrop of the clear moon and apanied with wine.

    Despite the New Year carnival, there was one restaurant that was as busy as the markets, yet was silent.

    People gathered around to nervously watch a young man at a table. He enjoyed himself as if he didn''t know there were hundreds of pairs of eyes on him. His eyes bulged more and more as his hands moved. There were, at least, fifty to sixty bamboo baskets of buns, ranging from chicken buns, pork buns, barbeque pork buns, soup buns and evenmb buns.

    Said restaurant was none other than Huangshang Restaurant, known for their long-running bun-eating contest. Eat one hundred baskets and the restaurant was yours. It made a name for itself throughout the capital thanks to the owner''s enthusiastic promotion efforts. He was happy with it until the fateful day, when he wanted to strangle himself foring up with the idea, because one of the challengers could seemingly eat forever!

    As soon as the challenger sat down, he wolfed down sixty-eight baskets. Forget one hundred baskets; he was on his way to eating all of the restaurants fillings. They had to serve lotus seed buns and red bean buns to make up for the numbers. He, however, only cried unfair or discussed how much he liked the food if he wasn''t wolfing more down. Despite the volume of food he consumed, he didn''t look as if he was suffering. asionally, he said, "Shopkeeper, you fumbled with the steamed buns. I''ll forfeit if you can prove otherwise."

    Despite hisint, he picked up one bun after another, gobbling them at unbelievable speed.

    The waiter went over to the shopkeeper with a troubled look: "Shopkeeper, we are out of fillings. All of them."

    The shopkeeper mmed the table: "Go and grab the pork for New Year''s banquet. I''ll stuff him to death!"

    "But we still need them for the banquet; we cannot order any more pork at this time¡­ Ar-Ar-, fine!"

    The waiter looked miserable, but he did as he was told. As for the shopkeeper, he was well aware of the waiter''s concern. They didn''t operate solely as an eatery; during the New Year period, the chefs had to prepare dishes for their big customers who ordered New Year dishes for banquets. Those specific dishes were time consuming and took a lot of effort to prepare; it took two days to prepare the dishes. Topound their problems, they epted three open banquets.

    Open banquets were banquets whereby dinner was served separately as the guests arrived in session, amon practice in viges. Therefore, they needed to be meticulous with controlling their resources. To y it safe, they set aside half of the day''s ingredient as reserve, opting to sacrifice the day''s business and close early if necessary to ensure their priorities were in order. s, the restaurant''s future was on the line.

    The shopkeeper assumed their challenger was reaching his limit. If they allowed him to rest whilst they went shopping for meat fillings, wouldn''t they be giving him a break? Thus, new baskets were served up in session. The strategy quickly crumbled. Not only did he eat fast, but he also loved it! He was on cloud nine. It was as if he was drinking them. After he finished thest basket and pushed it aside, he burped and smiled brightly: "The restaurant is now mine."

    The audience went wild with their apuse despite how cold it was outside. One hundred baskets of meat buns, he ate. They showered him with praise.

    "Your face resembles a meat bun. Terrific."

    "God of Food, please ept my bow."

    "God of Food? The God of Food is a chef. He''s an eater. You''re supposed to call him Taste Deity!"

    "You praising a dog?! Dogs sniff scents with their noses. You''re supposed to call him Lecherous Demon!"

    "He ate one hundred baskets of buns. I say we call him Bao Gong!"

    It was an eye-opening experience for the geniuses of Jinling. The young man had a beautiful young girl apanying him. Her shoulders shook as she couldn''t contain herughter. He rolled his eyes: "Enough! Stop trying topose poetry! Don''t p your gums if you don''t know how to praise people! It''s sounding worse than being cursed."

    The shopkeeper shed tears of sorrow as he watched the young man leave with the papers to the restaurant. He cried, "Who are you?! Why are you messing with this old one?!"

    The young man stopped in his tracks. He chuckled and, without looking back, replied, "You remember my brother, Tang Ye?"

    Boss Huang shuddered. So incensed upon recalling how he forced fifty baskets down Tang Ye''s mouth, he convulsed and passed out.

    I left with the restaurant deed.

    "You said we wereing here to eat. Only to end up eating to your heart''s content. Look what you did to the owner." Bai Lian withheld herughter. Once she saw me look back, she wore on a straight face: "Can you still eat with me now?"

    I performed a cupped-fist salute: "Please, please don''t praise me like that. I did eat a hundred baskets, but I''m still quite hungry."

    Bai Lian finally gave in. She covered her mouth and giggled: "Show off! The ce is yours now; what are you going to do with it?"

    I scratched my head and mumbled, "Donate it, probably."

    "Donate it?" asked Bai Lian, eyes wide. "Something''s wrong with you. There might only be one branch, but its scale and location are splendid. There''s a endless stream of customers every day. You could earn much, much more than working at Liu Shan Men. The imperial court is strict with officials'' private assets, but you''re personnel from one of the martial world offices, so they''re fairlyx with you. Why don''t you want it? As long as you don''t be an asshole, you could open another branch within three months."

    I shrugged: "But I am an asshole."

    Bai Lian was perplexed at first. She then scratched her head: "I can''t argue with that. So you do know yourself well."

    ''Don''t agree with me!! That''s called modesty! Modesty is a virtue! Can''t you just let me look good for once?!''

    "If you weren''t an asshole, would you kiss me when I treat you as a friend?" Bai Lian indifferently remarked. She held up two fingers: "Twice."

    Bai Lian''s face turned red after speaking.

    "Come on! What happen to reason?!" I thought. Iined, "I thought we cleared that misunderstanding up. Why are you bringing it up again¡­?"

    Bai Lian probably didn''t want to mention it again. Evident from the re she immediately shot me after that shut me up. I lowered my head. She apparently thought she wasn''t being fair, either; however, she refused to lower herself. All she could do, then, was nce at me with her arms folded and try toe up with a solution. She wasn''t aware I could see inside her sleeves with my visual prowess, when she didn''t tuck them inside. Her hands underneath pushed against her curves that raised my blood pressure.

    ''Wait¡­ Eunuchs have curves now? Her curves trump Apricot Flower Brothel''s girls! Why have I never seen such a good looking eunuch?''

    Bai Lian suddenly questioned, "So¡­ you seriously don''t want the restaurant?"

    Bai Lian''s tone sounded a lot softer. I guess that was her way of lowering herself.

    ''Pride will ruin your life, Eunuch¡­''

    "Well, it''s not as if I have any business acumen. It''s a burden to have so much money," I answered, waving my hand. "One can lose their money before they know it. Let go, my friend, and you shall attain peace of mind."

    Bai Lian: "Don''t forget what you just said."

    I paid Bai Lian no heed and said, "Money is necessary. In saying that, too much is a nuisance. Boss Huang toiled his entire life for the restaurant. Look who has it now. Look at all those people guarding their money all their life. During the day, they guard it in case they drop it. At night, they worry somebody will rob them. They''re afraid of poverty; they''re afraid of returning to their days of poverty. Are they truly happy when they have money? How much must you earn before it''s enough? In my opinion, earning enough is just a teeny bit better than spending a lot. That''s the most ideal scenario to me."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bai Lian waspletely dumbstruck. She mulled on what I said. It was rming, since it wasn''t something someone of my age would say. To avoid her questioning my goals, I changed the topic: "How are Lord Zi and His Majesty doing in Wuhua County, I wonder. They got along quite well. They must be enjoying each other''spany right now, huh?"

    Bai Lian curled her lips: "Hmph, yet you told Lord Zi to call you ''dad.'' You must not be afraid of losing your head."

    ''Watch what you say, dear me!''

    "Lord Zi said His Majesty doesn''t like him. He keeps thinking he''s an illegitimate son. I don''t know how to clear it up, either."

    "Then, you''re blessed! How can you beining about that?"

    ''The point is he said he''s my son with his mother! You can''t mindlessly say that. His Majesty would rip me apart if he heard you! Besides, Feng Huang was still a young girl when I met her back then. Sure, she was a winner in the appearance department, but why would I ever bother with her when I visited brothels thousands of times?!''

    Bai Lian fumed, "Don''t say ignorant things. His Majesty has nine pces and countless beauties in them; however, he loves only Brilliant Consort. I treat Her Highness as my family. Speak ill of her, and I''ll rip your ears off."

    ''Bai Lian sees Feng Huang as someone that important, huh?''

    "Why would Lord Zi think His Majesty isn''t his biological father, then? Logically speaking, His Majesty should love him if he loves his mother, right?"

    "That was always the case. It was just that Lord Zi was rather¡­ rather¡­ mischievous when he was young. He often¡­ put His Majesty in embarrassing predicaments. That''s why His Majesty sent him to Luoyang to expand his horizons and learn how to conduct himself. In addition, Lord Zi''s maternal grandfather is getting on with age; it''s an opportunity for Lord Zi to fulfil his filial piety duty. His Majesty actually dotes on Lord Zi the most."

    "Mischievous? How so? How bad must it have been that he had to practically be exiled from the imperial pce?"

    Bai Lian''s face muscles twitched. She then shared Lord Zi''s heroic epics back in the day.

    First example:

    "Mother, I''m back. I want a huggie."

    "My, why are you acting so spoilt today, hmm? Eh? Zizi, howe I can smell alcohol on you?"

    "Father took me drinking. I''m a terrific drinker. I out-drank f-five¡­ three people!"

    "You''re so drunk you can''t even count anymore. Your Majesty, why did you let Zizi drink?"

    "Never mind it, Hui''er. My son is a real man. Zizi, I am proud of you today as your father."

    "You two¡­ Geez¡­ Zizi, where did you go? I didn''t see you anywhere in the pce."ord Zi righteously answered, "We left the pce! Apricot Flower Brothel!"

    "¡­"

    "W-Wait! I can exin! Wait! Wait!"

    The Emperor kowtowed. When he was embarrassingly punished from climbing onto the bed, Lord Zi revealed in his dreams, "Apricot Flower Brothel''s neighbouring restaurant¡­"

    Second example:

    "Father,st time at Apricot Flower Br-."

    "Stop, stop, stop. Don''t mention Apricot Flower Brothel again. You not satisfied with my punishment? Huang''er, as I exined, we went to a restaurant!"

    "Hmph! Zizi, go on. What happened at the broth-, I meant, restaurant?"

    "Oh! Well, this girl said to give this to Father." Lord Zi handed his mother a silver ingot and added, "She also said she refused to do something against her beliefs, so she refused to ept the money."

    "¡­ How old was she? How did she look?"

    "Mm¡­ I''m not sure. She looked maybe eighteen or neen. She looked pretty."

    "Mr. Li! What were you doing?!"

    "Huang''er! Huang''er! Let me exin! I have to plead ignorance here! Zizi, say something! Stop! Don''t hit me! Don¡¯t put the spittoon on my head! Don¡¯t!"ord Zi had a sip of tea and took his time saying, "She said Father dropped the ingot. She said, one should not keep something they pick up that does not belong to them, or they will not be able to sleep at night¡­ Eh? Where''s everyone?"

    Third example:

    "Mother, I was a good body today. I read books. Teacher said I''m a quick learner."

    "Good boy. What a smart boy. What characters did you learn?"ord Zi wrote down three characters inrge font: Heavenly Fragrance Garden.

    "S-Son¡­ how did you learn these three characters?"

    "I saw Father go there today!"

    "¡­ When your fatheres back, tell him to grab a washboard. He knows what to do with it."

    Fourth example:

    "Father, why do people call you Heavenly Son?"

    "Hahaha, Zizi, that''s because I am the son of heavens."

    "You can''t fool me! You''re grandma''s son. Heavenly Sonbines the characters ''heaven'' and ''son''. That means, grandma''s son shouldbine the characters ''grandma'' and son''. That means you should be c-."

    "Shut it, kiddo! Your grandma will skin you if she hears you!"

    Fifth example:

    "Zizi, your brothers and sisters prepared so many presents for your father for his birthday, yet you haven''t prepared anything."

    "What does Father want, then?"

    "You know, your father still doesn''t know the feeling of having a longevity peach his son personally prepared."

    "Father, when it''s your birthday, I''ll let you know how longevity peaches are!"

    "Good boy!"

    On the day of the Emperor''s birthday, he held a banquet with a hundred tables and the world celebrating with him. Lord Zi furtively sneaked over to the Emperor and whispered in his ear, "Father, I had a taste. Longevity peaches are sweet!"

    "¡­"

    ''Fuck me! The kid''s an elite killer! Man, I''d be surprised if the Emperor wasn''t mad! I never knew Lord Zi was a father yer. Sh*t me! Getting hit on the head with a spittoon, kneeling on a washboard and being called a breast?!''

    "Lord Zi was still young. What''s wrong with being a little mischievous? Moreover, His Majesty never seriously reprimanded him. He just felt Lord Zi was too na?ve. If he stayed in the imperial pce for too long, someone might eventually use him," Bai Lian said.

    Bai Lian hopelessly exined, "His Majesty''s other princes left the pce after that. Lord Zi wasn''t conferred a prince rank. He needed to do what was politically right. Brilliant Consort, being the most considerate person she is, backed down and had Lord Zi sent back to her home. That was why the other consorts who opposed sending their sons away had to give in.

    His Majesty loves Brilliant Consort the most. I''ve been in the pce all these years, so I can tell. How could he possibly not love his son? If Lord Zi really was her child with someone else, Brilliant Consort would''ve been banished to the Cold Pce long ago. Do you think she would be treated so favourably?"

    Bai Lian continued borating on Brilliant Consort''s rtionship with His Majesty as we walked and provided evidence to prove Lord Zi was His Majesty''s son. I believed her. Feng Huang was sort of wilful. Nevertheless, she would have to control herself as a consort. Moreover, she was upright and looked great. She and His Majesty was a good match. There was no reason for her to have an affair. Lord Zi probably heard rumours in the pce and made a mistake. As for the root of the rumours, I guess that was because I escorted her back to the pce¡­

    ''Is it really going toe back and bite me? Man, eat sh*t! I was helping her for crying her loud!''

    Bai Lian''s stomach soon growled again, reminding me we were supposed to go eat. Only for me to be so consumed with avenging Tang Ye I forgot. Unfortunately, the temple would be packed at night. Even if we travelled around using qinggong, where would wend? On someone? Hence, we chose to dine at a hawker''s ce selling duck blood and vermicelli soup.

    Curious, Bai Lian asked, "What''s this? It smells quite nice."

    ''You live in Jiling, yet you''ve never had duck blood and vermicelli soup? Which back water vige did youe from?!''

    "Only quite nice?" I raised an eyebrow: "If anyone dares to question Jinling''s Snack King''s duck blood and vermicelli soup throne, I''ll be the first one to teach him a lesson."

    "Are you exaggerating again?" asked Bai Lian, wearing a kid''s expression and smile. "Well, since you insist, I''ll give it a try."

    Bai Lian: "Shopkeeper. I mean¡­ umm¡­"

    Bai Lian didn''t know what to call the owner. Due to her upbringing, she rarely interacted with hawkers, so she forgot how to refer to them. She proudly looked up and pointed at me. I figured she was asking for help, so I did nothing: "You weren''t born in the pce. Is this too much for you?"

    Bai Lian red at me: "Just you wait."

    Honestly, if she just pleaded me, I''d help her out. The problem was she was an independent character and isted herself. She wouldn''t ever plead me. She took in a deep breath and tried to recall if she ever ate at hawker''s ces. Then, she blushed upon recalling her childhood memories. She blinked and called, "Uncle¡­"

    ''That''s how you pronounced ''uncle'' as kid?! In that tone, too?! Why didn''t the heavens let me meet you ten years earlier?! If I met you back then, I''d be an authentic lolicon!''

    As Bai Lian''s voice was too quiet, the owner didn''t hear her. I bet he only looked up because he caught her scent. He blushed upon seeing her pitiful expression and hearing her call him again. He took in a deep breath that must''ve magically wound back his clock twenty years. Oily-face Uncle suddenly became Gentleman Uncle. He asked, "Miss, what can I do for you?"

    ''Which stage opera group are you with?! I bet you were only a servant when you were twenty! And help with what?! Even if someone had sh*t for brains, they could tell you sell duck blood and vermicelli soup, you clown! What, you think she''d be asking you to marry her?!''

    ''H-Hang on! This girl who called, ''Uncle'' isn''t the General Manager Bai I know! What happened to your ice-cold tone?! What happened to your superior-being demeanour?! What happened to the, ''You''re trash'' gaze?! Am I the only one you look down on?!''

    Bai Lian earnestly checked out the bowls of duck blood and vermicelli soup. In that sweet voice of hers again, she said, "Can I have a bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup? Mm¡­ I rarely eat chilli, so please do not add too much. I can''t handle spicy foods too well."

    ''You can''t eat spicy foods?! What''s the point of eating duck blood and vermicelli soup, then?! Why do I feel agitated?! Why are you so sweet to him, yet so aggressive to me?''

    Unable to tolerate it any longer, Iined in a frigid tone: "Hey, the soup is voured a specific way. You can''t just not add something¡­"

    "Of course I can!" proimed the owner, voice energetic. He adopted the posture of the sage of soup or something and added, "For the twenty years this one has been on the streets, there is yet to be any soup he does not havepletemand over."

    ''Hey, you retarded, mate! You''re okay with sacrificing business just to please girls?!''

    "Great. I honestly cannot handle spicy foods. Well, it''s not as if I can''t touch it at all; it''s just¡­ I can only handle very little," said Bai Lian, using her thumb and index finger to create a visual for "little."

    The owner was literally dying from cuteness overload. He spun around and poured out all of the soup with chilli in it. He cleaned it spanking clean then started up another pot. He was as quick as a martial arts adept!

    Bai Lian sped her small hands and smiled: "Thank you, Uncle."

    The owner went bright red in the face. He put on the air of a head chef and began mumbling as if he was entering some soup grandmaster mode, firing on all cylinders.

    "This bowl is on the house."

    Bai Lian somehow earned a free bowl. I had been on the streets of Jinling for months, yet I was never given a free meal! He even gave her an extrarge bowl. He gave her twice the amount of chicken and little chilli.

    ''Screw you! You charge me ten coins every time no matter what! What''s wrong with this world?! You get free meals if you''re cute now?!''

    Notes:

    *A lot of the audience praising is lost in trantion. What they were doing was using terms with multiple meanings that could be misunderstood. For instance, smell and taste could be written using the same character. You could interpret "God''s Tongue" as "God''s Nose".

    Bao Gong was a government officer during the Song Dynasty (Emperor Renzong''s reign). The character for "bun" in "meat bun" is the same character used in Bao Gong''s name. Gong can be interpreted as master, sir, gentlemen etc. It denotes a male of some sort in a formal tone. So, Bao Gong could be understood as "Bun Man," or it could be a poke at Bao Gong, the government officer, depending on how you interpret what was said.

    "I don''t know how it feels" can be written the exact same way as "I don''t know how it tastes."ord Zi mixed up the meanings; he thought the Emperor didn''t know how they tasted, when the original intent behind what was said was that none of the Emperor''s sons ever gifted him a longevity peach.

    ** Spittoon on the head ¨C Spittoons were loos for the bedroom back in the day. When a husband was unfaithful or wronged his wife, she¡¯d stick it on his head (the slot goes onto the head, of course).

    ***Son of heaven = Ìì×Ó.

    Grandma = ÄÌÄÌ

    Grandma''s son = ÄÌ×Ó

    At the same time, ÄÌ×Ó means breast

    **** Longevity Peaches Joke - Again, this is a homophone joke. Taste, feeling, sensation and simr words all share the phrase.

 Volume 6 63 Countdown (Final)

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 63 Countdown (Final)</h4>

    Bai Lian clearly never met a businessman so passionate. Hence, she smiled jovially: "Thank you, Uncle."

    The owner''s blood nose and expression read, "I can rest in peace now." I couldn''t be bothered with him. I helped myself to a bowl.ooking at the big bowl of vermicelli soup in front of her, Bai Lian picked up her chopsticks but had no idea where to start. She asked, "How do we eat this?"

    "Are you being serious?" I asked, tone condescending.

    All you had to do was wash down a piece of duck blood with the hot soup. The bun was a little soft due to leaving it there. Just have the bun then some soup. That helps with digesting it (don''t try this if you''ve never done it before).

    Bai Lian imitated what I did and picked up a piece of duck. The duck was prepared perfectly. The smooth texture of the duck blood was perfect in the cold weather and great for appetite upregtion. Bai Lian only had a small nibble. As she chewed, she nodded to herself.

    I asked, "Does it taste better eating that way or something?"

    Bai Lian ignored me and focused solely on eating. I leaned over to look at her. She shot me a re: "Where are your manners? Don''t speak when you eat."

    Bai Lian''s jab reminded me she wasn''t strict exclusively with others; she was equally strict with herself. That exined why it was dead silent when she ate and why I never got a response out of her while we were eating. I misunderstood she was in a poor mood back in Wuhua County.

    Watching Bai Lian take her time chewing as if she was eating bird''s nest soup or shark fin soup got on my nerves. I said, "You''re ruining it with the way you eat. Watch me."

    Bai Lian''s eyes bulged as I scooped a big spoonful out of her bowl. I ignored her protest and smiled: "Answer me this first: what''s the opposite of small?"

    "Big?"

    After having her pronounce "big" to have her open her mouth wide, I quickly shoved the spoonful of soup into her mouth. She pulled her eyebrows together to try and stop me; unfortunately, I yanked my hand back quickly, forcing her to swallow.

    "Wh-What was that for?!" thundered Bai Lian, ring. "I almost choked on that."

    "What do you think? Tastes better, huh?"

    "Who cares if it tastes better or not?! Safetyes first!" Bai Lian then blew on her hot soup and had a small nip, only to frown after: "Eating a big spoonful tastes better. Why?"

    "That''s the essence of eating at street stalls. When you eat at street stalls, you eat the food immediately after it''s prepared. You also have to take big, hearty bites. This isn''t a banquet in the pce; this is whatmoners eat. The ingredients are asmon as theye. You''re never going to taste squat if you take your time, nibbling on your food as you do in the pce in the name of being prim."

    Bai Lian wasn''t totally convinced I was telling the truth. She resumed blowing and consuming small serves each time. When I wasn''t paying attention, though, she''d have a big mouthful then cover her small mouth. Eventually convinced my suggested eating style heightened the taste, she looked at me as if to say, "I suppose you do say sensible things once every blue moon." Still, she refused to speak whilst eating unless absolutely necessary.

    I smiled and began eating my own meal: "ording to the eating guide, if you change the way you eat, the way you view the exact same food will be drastically different. With that said, you eat cream-of-the-crop delicacies in the pce. It''s only natural, then, for you to thinkmoners'' foods aren''t as nice inparison."

    Bai Lian froze. She then revealed a warm smile. In a tone so tender it was surreal in the rowdy market, she said, "I think it''s nicer."

    It was my turn to freeze up. I blinked in rapid session: "You seriously think duck blood vermicelli soup tastes better than Nine Dragon Phoenix Tail Prawn and Red Plum Cold Fish Belly?"

    ''I disagree! If I had the chance, I''d ask the imperial head chef to make me a dish!''

    Bai Lian picked up her bowl and gazed at the clear soup. She nodded and revealed a charming smile: "I do."

    Bai Lian looked serious, but I wasn''t sure what sort of past was associated with her certainty. Since I didn''t look convinced, she smiled again: "Since you showed me Snack King''s food, I''ll show you my favourite."

    "Are you saying you don''t want the rest?"

    ''Give it to me if you don''t want it!''

    I winked in hopes of Bai Lian understanding how pitiful I was. She pursed her lips and determinedly replied, "You shouldn''t waste food."

    Bai Lian leaned her head back and finished the bowl in one breath. I and the madams watching us from the table next door were bbergasted. The madams scoffed at me as if to say, "What sort of husband is he? He must starve his wife. Look how hungry she is."

    Bai Lian looked slightly pale after she finished her bowl. She wiped her mouth and heartily said, "Let''s go," as she took my hand and led me through the crowds¡­

    "y oven rolls?" I asked.

    We travelled three streets over and struggled through the crowds to arrive at a stall selling y oven rolls. That was thest thing I expected. Bai Lian, however, smiled. She was in a great mood for the day; she smiled more times than all the months I knew her up until thenbined.

    Bai Lian said to the hawker: "Lucky it''s here. Uncle, please give him a roll."

    The hearty uncle wrapped up a roll and passed it to me: "Here you are, roll."

    ''Buzz off! Don''t call me a roll. You''re the roll!''

    ''General Manager Bai, if you really want to give someone a y oven roll, give one to Liu Yuan. There''s nobody at Liu Shan Men more appropriate to give a y oven roll to."

    I eximed, "What happened to the premium delicacies?!"

    "A bowl of tofu. A te of mung beans and a bowl of white rice." Bai Lian looked at me puzzled. Smiling, she stated, "That was thest meal I had before I left the pce for the job. I don''t usually eat any special delicacies. I don''t leave the pce, either. I guess I eat pretty simrly tomoners, though."

    ''Simr¡­? You mean drastically differently! You thinkmoners just eat beans or something?! Whichever family does that is the king of misers! The bloke selling pork at the market sells a kilogram and a half of pig feet a day. He''s even fatter than the pigs he raises nowadays!!''

    "Your days sure are tough, General Manager Bai," I sincerely said. "Is that how stingy they are in the imperial pce now?"

    "They''re not stingy," remarked Bai Lian, with a hint of loneliness in her tone and more emotions I couldn''t quite identify. Sounding as if she was reciting a belief in life, she told me, "It''s called being frugal. Think about it: it''s not easy to have a bowl of congee. My mother told me: when you eat your food, you should remember that it''s not easy to grow it.

    A general manager is actually served a lot of nice meals. We are granted five to six different dishes per meal. If we''re not happy with what we''re served, we can go to the imperial kitchen to demand different dishes. I, personally, asked for modest dining."

    "Why?"

    Bai Lian didn''t answer. She gently ripped off a small chunk of the roll in my hand and ate it. Unlike her formal dining style before, she chewed it as if she was trying to imprint the taste to memory. Evidently, her and oven y rolls when she was young were secretly rt-. I meant she associated it with a memory."

    "Let me share a story with you. When I was first promoted to general manager, those ranked beneath me were afraid of me. Still, they organised a banquet for me. I epted the invitation. We started off on a good note. Nevertheless, Ished out at the end. As a result, it ended with everyone unhappy."

    It wasmon for General Manager Bai to lose her temper; she alreadyshed out at me more than ten times for the day. Of course, besides her fair, just, rule-abiding and disciplined character, the other contributing factor was her ego. One careless mistake and you''d end up on her bad side. I''d hate to imagine how many unlucky eunuchs offended her at her promotion banquet.

    Bai Lian shook her head, snapping me out of my word: "Nobody actually broke any rules. I just couldn''t stand there being half of the food remaining at the end."

    I sure didn''t see that reasoning. I inquired, "Why was that?"

    Bai Lian touched her nose and smiled helplessly: "Nothing really¡­ I just couldn''t bear to throw it away. It''s a waste of food. They barely even touched some of the dishes. How many lives could be saved if we gave it to refugees or people starving due to a famine?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I quietly listened to everything Bai Lian had to say.

    "I don''t know when I developed the habit; I just can''t stand people wasting things. Before I was promoted to general manager, when I was a deputy manager, I had more than I could eat already. I told them to reduce the amount of food they delivered to me. Over time, I developed my current diet. I think it''s enough for me to eat."

    Bai Lian pursed her lips. She wore a uniquely determined look on her face. She''d be the tree that wouldn''t fall if the wind blew. Voice somewhat bitter, she continued, "I once lived in a refugee camp when I was younger. One time, I only had my first meal after starving for ten days. I had to steal and fight for that meal. I would already be dead if Her Highness didn''t take me in. I still remember she gave me a y oven roll that day. That was the first time anybody cared for me since I lost my family. That was also when she told me every grain of rice we ate and every thread on our clothing was thanks to someone else''s hard work. I, therefore, don''t feel as though I''m suffering right now. If anything, I feel I don''t do enough to repay Her Highness and Lord Zi."

    "No wonder why you let Lord Zi call you Sister Lian and are on such friendly terms. I suppose you''re Brilliant Consort''s adoptive daughter of sorts. Ugh, I meant, adopted son."

    ''God, that was an awful mouthful to say! It''s a trap sentence!''

    Notes:

    *y oven rolls joke - y ovens are pronounced Shao Bing. The initials are S and B. Together, they can mean moron/retard/idiot and so forth. Essentially, handing someone a y oven roll is a way of saying, "You''re an idiot." There''s something for you to try.

 Volume 6 64 I Wish to Win the Beautyâ€™s Heart

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 64 I Wish to Win the Beauty¡¯s Heart</h4>

    "General Manager Bai, even if you want to be frugal¡­"

    I took hold of Bai Lian''s hand. Hot flushes instantly surfaced on her face; however, the weird phenomenon didn''t kick in again. I pulled her over and gently shook her by her thin arms. Although her sleeves were loose, it was a sizerger than it should''ve been. To be precise, her arms were thin enough to give that impression.

    "You''re essentially skin and bones. You can eat a piece of meat or two, can''t you?"

    Bai Lian jerked her arm back and red daggers at me: "It''s none of your business. What does how much I eat have to do with you?"

    "I can''t bear to see you suffering," I replied. I copied her tone from before, "It breaks my heart to see you starving."

    Bai Lian''s face was figuratively up in mes: "D-D-Do you not know I''m¡­ What are you¡­"

    Despite watching her facial-expression transformation demonstration, I didn''t have the slightest clue as to what she said.

    A group of mischievous kids ran past and shouted, "Come and catch a goldfish!"

    "Wh-What is catching goldfish?! Let me try!"

    Bai Lian zipped over to the kids as fast as a rabbit with an arrow up its rear end. I think she didn''t look my way to avoid making eye contact. I wondered, "Why is General Manager Bai making such a big deal out of me encouraging her to eat more? Actually, I just realised¡­ howe she just changed the way she referred to herself?"

    I couldn''t find any exnation, but whatever. The n was to stroll around the temple fair with her, so I decided to just kick back and rx. I held my hands behind my back and followed behind them to catch goldfish.

    ========

    "I can''t bear to see you suffering," Bai Lian recalled Ming Feizhen saying.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen casually stared at Bai Lian''s face that was bright red and hot with his head on an angle. His voice was gentle, yet firm, rousing her emotions. Hearing those words in that voice and with that look on his face felt the same as being immersed in a hot spring.

    "It breaks my heart to see you starving." When Bai Lian heard the heart-warming remark, her defences wavered. Usually, Bai Lian would never react that way if someone said those exact lines. If anything, she''d scoff at them, yet she had removed the barricade to her heart and her armour. Those two statements that sounded as if they were said out of care but were actually lines men said to flirt with women were lethal to her after she poured her heart out.

    Bai Lian usually ate very little, yet she finished a bowl of soup three days'' worth her usual intake, and she even ate a y oven roll after. She rarely exchanged more than five sentences with anyone and refrained from speaking unless necessary, yet she shared everything, including that which she least wanted to recall. She even shared her time in a refugee camp with Ming Feizhen. She never shared that part of her history even with Brilliant Consort. She didn''t consider it something to be embarrassed about; they just happened to be miserable memories. Those were the most bitter and miserable days of her life. Merely recalling it would keep her up for days. For whatever reason, though, she took the initiative to share it all with him.

    Bai Lian revealed her major and minor quirks, weaknesses, past and experiences she had kept sealed away all those years. Maybe they were important. Maybe they weren''t. At the end of the day, they were only a girl''s feelings. Still, they were a necessary part of her.

    Bai Lian never deemed it necessary to share those things. Perhaps she never was aware letting it all out was the only way to ease the pain and stifling feelings. The fact she was lonely and isted herself made it impossible for her to realise she needed someone to share her most genuine feelings with. She never knew she had rued so many feelings and experiences. She didn''t know who to share all of it with. Perhaps nobody cared to hear her out, either.

    Bai Lian couldn''tprehend why she shared everything with Ming Feizhen. For one reason or another, she felt it was safe for her to share it all with him. She didn''t think he wouldugh at her or im she was making a big deal out of nothing. He quietly listened to her as if he was a reliable elder brother who would pat her on the head after she was tired from talking and lend her a shoulder to rest on. Merely thinking back on how she poured her heart out led to her cheeks burning up.

    ''Wait! I don''t want him to pat me on the head! I don''t want to lean on his shoulder! H-He''s an uncle! Elder Brother? What am I saying?! Yuck! Yuck!! Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo!''

    Bai Lian had no idea why she even imagined Ming Feizhen in those roles; she never conjured such ideas before. Perhaps it was the kiss. Perhaps it was the second kiss.

    Bai Lian never considered herself a woman. That didn''t imply she thought of herself as a male, having said that. She simply considered herself unique. That didn''t lead her into believing herself to be superior or inferior. That was her self-defence mechanism.

    When Brilliant Consort brought Bai Lian to the pce from the ruins of a city, she was merely a lowlymoner. Brilliant Consort was kind enough to grant her food and clothing. Brilliant Consort, by all means, could''ve sent Bai Lian back onto the streets with a singlemand and pretended they never met.iving as a eunuch was the only way Bai Lian could keep her shelter; in essence, it acted as her shell. She only ever wanted to hide in that shell so that she never had to face reality. Ming Feizhen, however, pulled her out from said shell all the time and kept her from returning to it.

    Dressing in female attire, being called Madam Hu and being forced to call Ming Feizhen "Dear" gradually disintegrated Bai Lian''s defences. When she stood before the mirror, she tried to persuade herself she was only a eunuch.

    After Ming Feizhen kissed her today, the emotion she felt most wasn''t disgust, to her surprise. She, instead, found she didn''t know what to do. She couldn''t understand why she was besotted with the kiss; that was on flipside of disgust and hate. Her heart palpitated. Her emotions kept telling her, "It''s time." Therefore, she no longer disputed being called a maiden, began to smile and no longer found Ming Feizhen unlikable. She could no longer refer to herself the way she once did. She gained an awareness of things she was never aware of. For instance, she gradually grew aware of what she liked, cared for, could smile and was a girl.

    The emotions weren''t so prominent before Bai Lian shared her heartfelt thoughts with Ming Feizhen. Once she shared them, she felt as though she was naked before him. That was why she felt defenceless against him when he showed care (read: flirted).

    Bai Lian felt her heart race faster than ever. It wasn''t adrenaline; her heart thumped with joy.

    When Bai Lian looked at Ming Feizhen again, she couldn''t stop herself snorting to herself: "Hmph, why does he still look stupid?!"

    Bai Lian had to quickly get away from Ming Feizhen to bring her heart rate down. She hated his unruffled attitude.

    ''Why does he lookpletely unruffled when I''m so nervous? Why is he smiling stupidly as if the sky falling down was no big deal when I''m worried? Doesn''t this mean¡­ Why does it seem¡­ as though I''ve fallen for him?''

    Notes:

    *Bai Lian usually refers to herself as ÔÛ¼Ò. When she changed, she switched to using ÎÒ. In English, they''re both tranted as "I," "My," etc.

 Volume 7 1 Somewhat Different

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 1 Somewhat Different</h4>

    I leisurely walked behind General Manager Bai. The naughty kids taught her how to fish. The view of her smile from the side looked gentler than ever.

    If Bai Lian was a refugee as a child, she wouldn''t have been one of the capital''s refugees; there never were any refugees in the capital. Even if there was a sudden surge in people from other regionsing into the capital, it wouldn''t be as disastrous as she described. If Brilliant Consort adopted her, I would assume it was on the way back to the pce after the former visited her own family.

    ''From Luoyang to the capital¡­ Was she a citizen of the city Guard General Tie sieged during his rebellion? That certainly would be a miserable childhood I don''t even want to imagine.''

    Bai Lian didn''t seem to notice me watching her y fishing with the children the entire time. Out of nowhere, she shuddered. If that wasn''t a startled reaction, it would''ve been a nervous reaction. I didn''t have the slightest clue as to what she was so nervous about. She seemed more bothered the more I looked at her. Was she thinking I''d eat or her or something, I questioned.

    A kid suddenly pointed to me and shouted: "You''re acting weird, Uncle! Do you have a crush on her?!"

    ''You looking for a spanking, Kid?! Open your eyes and look carefully, runt. Even if I''m an uncle, she, he¡­ That''s not a her!''

    Bai Lian turned her red face over to me and lowered her head: "What¡­ are you looking at me for?"

    ''I never looked at you! ¡­ Okay, it was only for a brief moment. I don''t have a crush on you, though!''

    "I''m watching to see if you''ll catch anything," I answered. Since they didn''t catch anything, I smirked: "Not even one? Move aside, kids. Watch a professional in action."

    I gently pushed the small and thin down into the water. With a gentle wrist flick and Tai Chi''s gentle pull method, I flicked a goldfish up, impressing the kids and Bai Lian.

    Bai Lian: "You''re quite good. I couldn''t do it."

    "You''re good, Uncle. You''re a professional goldfish fisherman!"

    "Goldfish Man! Goldfish Man!"

    The hawker manning the goldfish stall was surprised: "Are you the legendary lolicon, Goldfish Man¡­?"

    ''You, you, you and you are Goldfish Men! I hate you whoever came up with using Goldfish Man to mean pedophile! I can forgive the kids, but you run a goldfish stall; are you in any position to be talking about me?! Don''t you think the title is more befitting of you?!''

    Bai Lian titled her head: "Ming Feizhen, what''s Goldfish Man?"

    ''Don''t. Bloody. Join them!! Knowing you, you won''t stay here once you learn what it means!''

    Owing to me being lover and appreciator of life, I took Bai Lian away from the kids. We went to another stall. We were both full; she wasn''t a big eater. As for me, I ate a hundred baskets of buns. As such, we avoided snack stalls and visited stalls with entertainment.

    Bai Lian curiously scanned everything as if it was her first time there. She''d keep asking me about this and that. She tried her hand at every game. When I held my money pouch under a me and looked inside, I sighed.

    ''Is this¡­ the cost of picking up a girl?''

    Subsequently, I dragged General Manager Bai away from stalls with all I had.

    "Wh-What is this?!"

    "Basinball. Just throw the bowl into the basin, and you win. It''s designed for idiots."

    "Let''s y!"

    "No, no, what would we do if the ball hit someone? The people are ugly enough already. Are you trying to turn them into walking monstrosities?"

    "What about that?!"

    "Setting off firecrackers. What''s so fun about that?"

    "Let''s try it!"

    "No, no, you might blow up your hand. Those are counterfeit goods. The ones in the pce are premium quality. Come on, let''s not y that."

    "What''s this?"

    "Martial arts busking. Basically, they put a rock on his chest and smash it with a hammer."

    "Let''s try that!"

    "No Way! You want tomit murder?!"

    We spent over two hours at the temple before we knew it. We practically visited everything they had to offer. Bai Lian dragged me around and yed as if fatigue wasn''t a thing. She had goldfish, prizes, the hammer she used to nearly send a performer to Buddha and a satisfied look. I remarked, "You like games that much?"

    "Yeah," Bai Lian responded with a nod after stopping to think. She shyly added, "I never knew about them. Today is my first time trying them."

    "Hmm¡­ At least I know what you like now."

    It would''ve been better if I didn''t have to spend my money¡­

    Bai Lian, eyes on her goldfish, quietly mumbled, "Thank you."

    There was nobody else around us, so I assumed the thank you was for me.

    ''Did I just here that right?! Bai Lian said thank you?!''

    "What?" Bai Lian asked whilst ncing up at me. "I was angry with you at the start of the day. However, I probably never would''ve known I could smile so much if it wasn''t for you.

    A smile slowly surfaced on Bai Lian''s face. Her eyes smiled, making her smile incredibly sweet. She added, "Today was the happiest day of my life. Thank you."

    That was the first time I saw her smile so happily. Time froze. My heart skipped a beat. I had a strange feeling. I needed to do something; else, I''d fall in a weird direction. I searched my brain for a response: "Y-Y-You''re wee."

    My stuttering was so embarrassing.

    "Eh? What''s that?" asked Bai Lian, turning her attention back to games.

    "This? Just throwing bamboo rings."

    "How do we y it? How do we y it?"

    The owner rubbed his hands and smiled: "Watch closely. You throw this bamboo ring at the prize you want. If you get the ring around it, you can take it home right away. It costs ten coins for three rings. If you want to y, you must pay."

    Bai Lian immediately paid: "Three rings! I want two. Ming Feizhen, you can have one. Let''s do this."

    Bai Lian appeared as if she had a panic attack, and her face was red. I finally realised she turned her attention to games after thanking me because she was embarrassed. I rxed after realising that. I suddenly had an urge to tease her.

    Bai Lian suddenly tossed a ring without even looking, not scoring anything as a result. Somewhat frustrated and seeing me dawdling, she said, "You ying or not? If not, give it to me."

    "Al right." With a smile, I ced the ring on Bai Lian''s small head.

    Bai Lian froze: "Wh-What did you put it on me for?"

    I looked into Bai Lian''s eyes and smiled: "Didn''t the vendor just exin? Whatever my ringnds on, I get to take home."

    Bai Lian''s face went from white to red faster than I could blink. Her cute eyes widened¡­ and widened¡­ and turned violent. I was going to say, "I was just joking," but she alreadyunched a kick straight at my shin. I couldn''t use my qi to shield me. Thus, I had to take the full brunt of it. It didn''t hurt, but I was wearing white pants!

    "What did you kick me for?!"

    Bai Lian wrathfully red: "Your fault for not watching your mouth, glib tongue and shady jerk. If I was a girl, I would never like you."

    Bai Lian took the ring off her head and tossed it. She didn''t score a prize; however, owing to her putting her strength behind it, she snapped the table''s leg. The prizes fell off, breaking five porcin prizes¡­

    On a positive note, Bai Lian showed more emotions than before. I didn''t know what sort of changes happened in her mind, but it was a good sign if you asked me. I was d to see more sides to her. She probably would''ve gone nuts if she kept bottling up of her feelings and thoughts in the pce. The fact she shared her thoughts with me tonight was a huge step for her.

    I only thought Bai Lian''s angry look was particrly cute. Seeing the pitiful vendor, I couldn''t resistughing. Myugh rubbed off on Bai Lian, apparently. She started to smile, too.

    "What are youughing about?"

    I had to catch my breath before I could answer: "The vendor just said he had three generations of his family''s antiques there. I did a count; you broke antiques from all the way back during the Tang Dynasty and beyond."

    The awkwardness between us disappeared as we shared augh. The people around were fearful of us; we did just smash a vendor''s stall, after all. Not to mention the fact we stayed there andughed afterwards. Anyhow, since Bai Lian thought the vendor was pitiful, she decided to give him all the prizes she won.

    "Ah, man, now I have to wash my pants first. Look at this shoe print," I griped as we walked.

    "I''ll just pay you back, whinger. You''re the furthest thing from a gentleman," grumbled Bai Lian, looking at me out of her peripherals. "What''s that?"

    I took a look and replied, "Bamboo tube water dragons. In essence, you fill up the tube with water, and then apply pressure to fire the water."

    "What''s it for?"

    I looked down at my dirty trousers; a prank came to mind. I bought a bamboo tube.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "This." I aimed the bamboo tube and pressed down on it, spraying Bai Lian with water.

    Startled, Bai Lian reacted stupefied. She was totally confused. Meanwhile, I jovially looked at her. My joy onlysted for a brief moment. As I watched the water course down Bai Lian''s hair to her neck, I saw nothing but art. Her white clothes were wet. The material she wore underneath for whatever purpose was also wet, thereby leading to it slipping a little. I could see through her wet clothes. I could see the generous cleavage on her and nosebleed-worthy hips.

    ''W-wait¡­ Did I just see cleavage? Where the hell did theye from?!''

    My bbergasted expression gave Bai Lian a hint as to what I saw. She flipped out: "What are you looking at, Jerk?!"

    Bai Lian shoved me aside and ran into the crowd. As for me, I spaced out in ce. It took a while for my brain to function again. The first thought I had was, "Bai Lian¡­ has breasts?"

    Notes:

    *Goldfish Man - I sneaked what it meant into the body so that you wouldn''t be confused. Feel free to try calling someone Chinese a Goldfish Man and see what happens. I take no responsibility.

    **Basinball - It''s not a real English word. I made it the term up.

 Volume 7 2 Completely Green

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 2 Completely Green</h4>

    ''Bai Lian¡­ has breasts?''

    I couldn''t take my eyes of Bai Lian when the cloth around her chest came undone. I could see the deep valley. Who would expect to see a pair of fruits exclusive to spring when we were in winter? Her narrow hips highlighted her curves on top. As soon as the cloth came undone, the two fruits jiggled. I was totally dumbstruck; the scene reyed in my head over and over.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ording to what old medical manuals stated, men could grow their own version of breasts under certain conditions. I thought it was a profound case hard to prove. Did I just witness proof of it, I wondered. I shook the thought out of my head right after the thought surfaced. That was impossible. Regardless of how she wrapped herself, those were way too much. Su Xiao, on the other hand, could pull it off.

    ''Hmm, I wonder if General Manager Bai''s situation is a rare and hard to treat case. Although the medical manual came from my shifu, so I do have doubts as to whether he mixed it up with one of his porn books, what if the manual was factual? Thinking back on it, the contents were bizarre to say the least. But if it was factual, General Manager Bai might be waiting for me to save her!''

    Okay, I''m done with my bullsh*t.

    Anyhow, Bai Lian blushed and screamed as she shoved me aside and fled. Her embarrassment took up all of her mental resources. After a few steps, she stopped, as she didn''t know which way to go. With her wet hair and pants, especially the wet hair on her face, it''d be unusual if people weren''t watching her as she ran.

    "Hey, no looking!" I shouted.

    I used Yijin Jing''s internal energy technique to give everyone around a headache. I used their moment of distraction to catch up to Bai Lian and drag her by her arm to somewhere with less people around. Because I grabbed one arm, she only had one arm covering her chest, leading to her going red in the face. Frantic and unable to think, she stammered, "D-Don''t look¡­"

    "I won''t. I won''t. Are you just going to stand there in this state, though?"

    I dragged Bai Lian to a wonton stall and sat her down. I shot everyone around a violent re, warning them not to look.

    Bai Lian tried harder to cover her chest: "There are too many people here. I¡­"

    Bai Lian''s voice tapered off until I could barely hear an utterance. She looked at me as if she could die from embarrassment. I tried to scare the people off through shouting, but I couldn''t stop everyone''s right to appreciate a beauty.

    Bai Lian''s natural charm and wet white clothes made her look more alluring than women deliberately trying to unt their bodies. There was enough to see to fantasise.

    "It''s cold. Wear this to warm up first. Hey, Boss, give me two bowls of wonton! Have some warm soup to warm up." I draped my overcoat over Bai Lian before she actually died from embarrassment. I apologetically exined, "I only intended to show you my bamboo tube water dragon skills. I didn''t intend to get you wet. I sweat I don''t have wet-clothes fetish."

    Trying to exin increased my suspicion; however, based on my recent conversations with General Manager Bai as of recent, I figured it was necessary.

    General Manager Bai felt a lot warmer thanks to my coat and the bowl of hot soup, I assumed. I think she was more likely pale because she was startled. Either way, sitting around wasn''t going to solve anything. I looked around for a clothing store.

    I noticed Bai Lian''s hands moving about underneath my coat. I couldn''t say for sure if she was trying to bind her chest again or what. Once she was done with whatever she was doing, she nced over to me furtively and stammered in a soft voice, "I''m not that cold. You don''t need to be so tense."

    Ipletely forgot General Manager Bai''s internal style focused on yin energy, which was cold energy, so she wasn''t as prone to feeling cold as I assumed.

    "Ah," I suddenly eximed.

    Bai Lian looked up: "What''s the matter?"

    I touched my left index finger and grumbled, "I have some bamboo stuck in my hand. It must''ve been when I was ying with the bamboo t-, I meant the counterfeit bamboo tube."

    Bai Lian chuckled: "Where? I''ll pull it out for you."

    "Really?" I stretched my hand out to Bai Lian.

    Bai Lian carefully scanned my palm and pondered. I eximed, "What are you, a hand fortune reader? Look for it, already!"

    Bai Lian heat of embarrassment passed on her face; she seemed tenser than before: "I''m looking for it right now. Stop interrupting me!"

    Bai Lian began searching for the piece of bamboo stuck in my hand. It didn''t take her long to find and extract it. When she pulled it out, though, she saw where my gaze was trained. I was examining the profoundness of the new valley I discovered. I wondered how heavy the mountains were to hold up with the bandage.

    "Pervert." Bai Lian grumpily stabbed the bamboo straight back in¡­ She pulled it out and stabbed it back in¡­ She pulled it out and stabbed it back in¡­

    "What are you doing?!"

    "Your fault! Where do you think you''re looking?!"

    I was speechless. I couldn''t tell the truth, could I?

    Since I didn''t respond, Bai Lian panicked: "Just where were you looking at?"

    "Looking at what? What about just now?"

    "I meant¡­ meant when my clothes were wet. What did you see?"

    I still couldn''t shift my eyes away. Having a retarded moment, I replied, "You talking about your breasts?"

    "¡­"

    I suddenly felt awkward. I also sensed intense killing intent from my side.

    "Wh-What are you talking about?"

    "What are you panicking for?" As a gentleman, I wore on a pitiful look and patted Bai Lian on the shoulder: "Don''t worry. You''ll be able to treat the condition sooner orter."

    I then perfectly timed a thumbs up to give Bai Lian encouragement. You see, you need to be proactive about seeing doctors.

    Bai Lian bit down on her lips as though she wanted to exin something but refrained. Somewhat angry, she lowered her head.

    "General Manager Bai, don''t fret. Growing breasts is nothing to be embarrassed about. See a doctor; they might be able to help. Worsees to worse, just leave it alone. You have bigger breasts than women, so what? If you can''t getid, at least you can y with yourself, huh?"

    Bai Lian bit down on her lips and mumbled a few things, but I only heard, "Go¡­"

    "Go? Where to?"

    "To hell!"

    When Bai Lian looked up again, tears had seemingly welled up in her eyes. She started smacking my face. I covered my face and cried "ouch". Meanwhile, she kept firing off: "Idiot! Stupid! Liar! Go die!"

    Afternding four big ps on me, Bai Lian stamped off. She didn''t look back or show hesitation this time. The pce was closed at that hour; nevertheless, for eunuch out on business, there was sojourn outside the pce. I doubted she''d return to the inn. I sighed, and then I furtively followed after her until she crossed a street and reached amoner''s ce. The eunuchs there were surprised to see her. I was relieved to see them respectfully greet her and let her through.

    Sure, it was bright with all thenterns on the streets. Still, it waste at night, winter and she was wearing wet clothing. I couldn''t let a maiden walk around by herself in those conditions. How could I not be worried?

    What? Why you giving me that look? Oh, about Bai Lian being a girl? I knew that. You call that a secret?"

    "Give me a stick," I arrogantly demanded of the fellow selling candy haws. "Give me the luxurious hawthorn plus snow pear vour. Add some extra honey."

    That vour showed low-key luxury.

    "Sure. Here. I just finished making it."

    I had a lick before I went on an aimless stroll on the street.

    I pretty much knew Bai Lian was a girl from our first meeting. To be precise, I knew she was physically a girl. I hugged and kissed her the first time we met, after all. I''d have to be beyond retarded to not realise she was a girl after being that intimate, right? She didn''t consider herself a girl despite physiologically being a girl. That was a problem.

    Unlike girls who dressed up as boys with a purpose in mind, Bai Lian grew up a eunuch. ordingly, she considered herself a eunuch. Personally, I respect an individual''s choice. If she believed she was a eunuch, then I respected that choice. I, consequently, never intended to put that in the open.

    Bai Lian was out of her eunuch character for the day. As the day went on, she made less and less effort to hide her gender. Her smile and gestures were all expressed as a girl. I was going to take the chance to ask why she disguised herself as a eunuch until the wet clothing incident. I''d have to sacrifice my innocence and deal with being called a creep if I wanted to find out the truth¡­ That''s a rip off! I decided to look for another appropriate opportunity.

    What? Why was I surprised when I already knew? Come on. She was in the pce and among eunuchs¡­ You really expect her to sport such a generous bosom? Without the cloth binding her chest,pared to Princess Hongzhuang, she''d, at least, cough, cough, nothing. That is a schstic discussion.

    Chomping on candy haws and thinking about random things, I eventually found myself already at Liu Shan Men. I still couldn''t return to Liu Shan Men ording to His Majesty''s imperial edict. In saying that, I hadn''t seen Young Shiyi in days. I needed to drop in and say hi. Thus, I sneaked into Liu Shan Men and to Young Shiyi''s door.

    I stopped myself when I went to knock. I had a number of questions running through my mind. I didn''t give Young Shiyi a heads up before I left, and I had been gone for days¡­ Surely she was mad. As long as she didn''t know what happened, I was safe¡­ Once she knew I went to the temple fair with Bai Lian, a girl, and spent time with her on the job¡­ she''d probably skin me. Can you me me for hesitating? In the end, I stood at the door.

    Suddenly, I heard Young Shiyi say, "Yeah? You like me? I like you, too."

    Rumble! The shock wasparable to lightning suddenly striking.

    "I bathed already, so I''m not bathing again."

    ''Bathing? Bath-the-fuck-what?! Wait, who is Young Shiyi talking to? What''s up with the conversation?''

    I heard Young Shiyi giggle: "You¡­ strip first."

    ''Don''t you fucking strip! I don''t want the green hat!''

    "Or I''ll strip."

    ''You''re stripping first?! Don''t do it! I don''t want to have a head of green hair!''

 Volume 7 3 Juese, Tang Ye and Si Fu

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 3 Juese, Tang Ye and Si Fu</h4>

    Ming Suwen needed to have a bath with fragrances added every day, or she couldn''t sleep. Tonight was an exception. After she bathed and got dressed, she headed out, blessing the air with her scent.

    As Shen Yiren''s special new superstar, Ming Suwen was granted her own courtyard in the Female Constables courtyard instead of having to stay in the dorms. Her personal courtyard was clean and eloquent. Fake mountains and flower gardens were erected. Hence, the smell of blossoms was notable despite it being winter. Shen Yiren had someone prepare both of them beforehand. Understandably, people were jealous of Ming Suwen.

    Frankly, the special privileges Shen Yiren granted Ming Suwen were already beyond merely an exception. It was considered a case almost unheard of. Ming Suwen wasn''t a fan of peace and quiet, however. She''d invite her young senior sisters over to admire the flowers or dine outdoors. Every day and all day was practically a pic to them; the once peaceful courtyard turned into a carnival ground.

    Ming Suwen adhered to a disciplined lifestyle. She was no longer nocturnal, but tonight was an exception because she heard Tang Ye returned to the office to report in. News of Ming Feizhen, Su Xiao and Tang Ye being assigned to other offices was no longer news. She hadn''t seen them since they left. Ming Feizhen did send a letter; however, he didn''t pay her a visit. That was uneptable. Since the trio were always together - so she assumed, she had to go and question Tang Ye.

    As soon as Ming Suwen stepped into the front courtyard, she saw someone open the main door and enter. The girl who entered was the owner of a sultry body that the men stered their eyes to. The maiden approximately twenty years old donned a light blue robe with a golden flower sewn onto her satin dress. She dangled her sword from her waist. The charming, yet hearty, maiden was none other than the Qilin Guard''s Si Fu.

    Upon stepping through the doors, Si Fu nced over to Old Huang. She gave him a smile as if he was her family''s manager: "Hello, Grandpa Huang."

    The heat of desire rushed to the faces of the young constables Si Fu passed by. Rumour had it her best skill was setting honeytraps, a strategy shemonly used to recruit new blood for the Qilin Guards, or so they say. Despite her elegant and charming appearance, she was far from being ssified as a moral woman. They imed she had conducted countless shameless deals on beds with young men. Young men knew Si Fu was a devil, but her beauty and gentle voice were irresistible. Principles? They couldn''t ask for anything more than to raise their hand and sign up to be her victim.

    Grandpa Huang was the only man to not ogle Si Fu. They say a man seldom lives until he is seventy, but Grandpa Huang did. He had a son and daughter; in fact, he already had grandchildren. Moreover, as a cleaner, he had seen every type of character that could exist. Even the Emperor had walked on paths he had swept before. As an aplished man, his ability to resist a girl''s charms was heads and shoulders above the young ones.

    Grandpa Huang: "Hello, Miss. What are you here for today?"

    "I passed by Eternity House today and spotted a few pieces of jewellery that looked decent, so I bought them for your vice-captain. I am here to give them to her."

    Si Fu wasn''t on duty for the day. With nothing on her hands, she visited Liu Shan Men to see if she could pry some information out of them. She was allowed to enter the threew enforcement offices, as the Emperor granted her the role of a supervisor. In saying that, there was a time and ce for inspections. Three inspections per month were considered plenty; she dropped in once every three days. Her frequent, not to mention cheerful attitude, gradually convinced everyone except Shen Yiren to lower their guard against her. They, as a matter of fact, considered her one of them.

    Smiling, Si Fu stated, "Your vice-captain is absent, though. I shall ask someone to take it on her behalf. I heard Tang Ye is back. Where is he?"

    Despite knowing Tang Ye didn''t know a lick about jewellery, Grandpa Huang didn''t question the idea. Instead, he answered, "Head to the archives room."

    Si Fu wasted no time twerking her hip and strutting off elegantly. The men behind her forgot to breathe for several seconds. As for Grandpa Huang, he picked his nose and scoffed, "She has a different agenda every time. One visit is to visit Vice Captain. The next visit is to deliver documents, but she''s always running off to Young Tang. Delivering jewellery and documents? You mean delivering yourself to his arms."

    To be frank, Si Fu wasn''t sure why she was so fond of visiting Liu Shan Men, either. She always quarrelled with Shen Yiren and was there for business. Nine of herst ten visits were to see Tang Ye, though. He left a deep impression on her ever since their first sh. When she heard he visited a brothel, she felt frustrated for no reason.

    Si Fu was in her own world as she headed to the archives room. She had no idea Ming Suwen was already watching her and giggling from another corner. Ming Suwen''s qinggong prowess and ability to hide her presence had reached a point where Ming Feizhen wouldn''t have been able to sense her from that distance, let alone Si Fu.

    Tang Ye returned to Liu Shan Men to store a file of Lu Xiazou''s case after he reported in at the Ministry of Rites. Upon seeing Si Fu, he indifferently asked, "Miss Si? What are you doing here?"

    Tang Ye showed no surprise as usual: "Did the Qilin Guards send you to keep tabs on me again? Neither our captain nor vice-captain is present. There''s no news for you to pry."

    Tang Ye''s straight face led to Si Fu grumbling, "I can''t visit if I''m not here to inspect you? I can go wherever I like. I don''t owe you any exnations."

    Si Fu wasn''t a fan of engaging in verbal barbs. Nevertheless, she couldn''t maintain her elegant demeanour around Tang Ye.

    Peeking from outside the room, Ming Suwen easily read the situation between the two. She thought to herself, "My, my, Young Tang, your womanising skills don''t pale inparison to Feizhen''s at all. Tsk, tsk, she''s beautiful enough to be worthy of him."

    Tang Ye ced a scroll down and left: "In that case, I shall not get in your way."

    Si Fu gently bit down her lip. Tang Ye''s indifferent attitude was frustrating: "Wait!"

    Si Fu shoved a container of jewellery into Tang Ye''s hands and grumbled, "This is my present for your vice-captain. Keep it safe and pass it on to her for me."

    After letting it register in his mind, Tang Ye pinched his eyebrows together: "Me again¡­? That''s the fourth time this month. You two sure are good friends¡­"

    Miss Juese felt sorry and frustrated for Si Fu. By the same token, Si Fu''s approach didn''t sit right with her. She thought, "She likes him to the point she''s ready to call him her husband, yet she''s in self-denial. Young Tang is a block of wood. I doubt he''d understand her feelings even if she stripped down for him. Now this is a fun pair."

    Cognizant of the fact she was also in self-denial at one point, Ming Suwen couldn''t help blushing. Her romance with Ming Feizhen should''ve been smooth sailing, but she refused to admit to her feelings back then, so she bore a semnce to Si Fu. She realised Si Fu would deny it whenever an opportunity presented itself, for she was slightly older than Tang Ye and too proud to admit to her feelings. Ming Suwen''s own romance helped her sympathise with Si Fu.

    Tang Ye counted the number of items in the container then intended to leave. Si Fu wanted to stop him. s, she didn''t know what to say. As such, Ming Suwen furtively finger speared a gust of wind at Si Fu''s knee.

    Si Fu gently moaned as her knee buckled, leading to her tripping toward Tang Ye. Tang Ye reactively caught Si Fu in his arms. He instinctively felt a new sensation when he caught her; he was a healthy young man, after all. No matter how skilled he was as a fighter, his natural urges were undeniable.

    "Wh-What happened?"

    "M-My leg is sore. I don''t know what happened."

    Ming Suwen''s usage of Mount Daluo''s technique and exceptional control of her output prevented Si Fu from thinking an enemy ambushed her. Si Fu just felt a burning sensation and ache up her legs. She couldn''t determine if it was due to something within her or an external force.

    Si Fu was going to massage her legs, but she discovered her arms were on Tang Ye. His scent and arm around her waist sealed her strength. He felt her body temperature creep up. As a result, his heart rate gradually picked up. Instead of releasing her as he was supposed to, he couldn''t resist tightening his hold on her.

    "Ah!" moaned Si Fu, looking up at Tang Ye out of confusion.

    Tang Ye blushed: "S-Sorry! I''ll help you over there."

    Si Fu couldn''t manifest any of her strength. Hence, instead of helping her, Tang Ye needed to pull her in tight, thereby increasing their points of contact. That was the first time Tang Ye had to deal with the challenge, and he had no idea where to start.

    Given Tang Ye''s strength, Si Fu''s waist couldn''t stand the pressure around it. There was nothing enchanting about having her waist crushed. Somewhat irate, she questioned, "What now? Didn''t you say you''d help me?"

    In Tang Ye''s mind: "Help you? Where am I supposed to put my hands?"

    Tang Ye didn''t know a thing about romance, nor was he interested enough to research it. When a beautynded in his arms, nheless, he was unable to stay level headed, especially after he touched her cleavage when he caught her. He felt his mouth go dry and knew he needed to release her as soon as possible. Otherwise¡­

    Tang Ye clenched his teeth. He reached down with his left arm and picked Si Fu up into a princess carry. Startled, she wrapped both arms around his neck and leaned against his double-barrel chest. At the same time, her cheeks looked as if they were panted red.

    Si Fu found Tang Ye''s gentle approach and reluctance to hold her unmanly. When they interacted physically, however, she couldn''t describe the magical butterflies in her stomach. Funnily, she would''ve praised other men for being polite and cultured if they avoided touching her. She giggled and mumbled, "Why did you suddenly hug me¡­?"

    There was no way Si Fu could hide her me of desire and smile. She gently poked Tang Ye''s chest. Startled, he staggered back several steps. Seeing his red face had her giggling: "What''s the matter? You''re not afraid to fight me. What, are you scared I''m going to eat now or something?"

    Si Fu loved Tang Ye''s embarrassed reaction. Little did she know her benefactor, Miss Juese, wasughing so hard she was clinging to her belly.

    Awkwardly, Tang Ye said, "Since your legs are sore, I shall¡­ take you to a doctor."

    Si Fu raised a hand to stop Tang Ye: "My legs are feeling better, so there''s no need. Just sit down and have a chat with me."

    Tang Ye sat down, and the two fell into silence, both thinking, "Wh-What should I say?"

    The silence was nerve-wracking. Tang Ye couldn''t maintain hisposure whenever he thought of Si Fu''s enchanting eyes. The problem was he didn''t know to say. As a genuine block of wood, he could interpret Si Fu''s flirting as a challenge and a love letter as a written challenge to a duel. It wouldn''t be surprising if he mistook paying for a meal was swindling. In short, everything in his life revolved around martial arts. Asking him to think of a conversation topic was asking for the impossible. Knowing he was a man of few words, Si Fu didn''t make it hard on him.

    Si Fu, sounding simrly to an elder sister checking on her younger brother, asked, "What job did His Majesty send you on? You appear quite busy."

    Having lost his parents, Tang Ye seldom had anyone care about him. Hence, Si Fu''s question warmed his heart. Si Fu, on the other hand, was embarrassed, judging her tone to be excessively intimate. Unfortunately, she was powerless to alter what was already done. She, therefore, continued with the tone.

    Tang Ye smiled without even realising it as he proceeded to recount the recent events for her. Needless to say, Liu Shan Men''s lesser lord had no clue how to pick interesting parts or spice up his story up to win Si Fu''s smile. He sounded as if he was reporting to his superior. Still, she waspletely drawn in and would asionally grin. She couldn''t have cared less about Kong Duan''s capture. When Tang Ye got to the parts involving him, however, she''d respond. She was furious when she heard he was forced to eat fifty baskets of buns in one sitting. If it was within her power, she''d have the Qilin Guards teach the unscrupulous owner a lesson.

    The two were so immersed in their chatter andughing that they didn''t realise how much time had passed. Since the atmosphere between them was good - rtively speaking, Si Fu suddenly nced at Tang Ye. She coyly stated, "Tang Ye, when I had my medication today, I heard something."

    Tang Ye looked up: "What was it?"

    "¡­" Si Fu grumbled, "Why didn''t you ask me about the medication?"

    Tang Ye nodded: "What medicine was it?"

    In Si Fu''s mind: "Don''t ask me what the medication was! Ask me why I had to take medication! My god!"

    "Are¡­ you sick? Was that why you your legs went weak? Miss Si, you are usually busy with loads of work. You should not force yourself toe here again for some jewellery. You should just send someone instead."

    Si Fu found Tang Ye''s response equallyical as it was frustrating. It couldn''t have been any more obvious she dropped by Liu Shan Men to see him, yet he was oblivious.

    "Cough, cough!" someone outside the door coughed, startling the two as Si Fu went to speak.

    The two were both adepts in their own right and would keep people at arm''s length before verifying they were a friendly. However, they never detected Ming Suwen''s presence. It was as embarrassing as walking into an object with everyone looking¡­ Actually, maybe it was equally awkward.

    Ming Suwen covered her eyes, pretending she was too innocent to view a censorship-worthy scene, but she was tantly peeking between the gaps in her fingers. Giggling, she said, "I''m sorry. I''m sorry. I didn''t want to interrupt, but it seemed you two would be talking for a while. I didn''t want to have to wait until sunrise to ask my question. Sorry. Say, have you seen Feizhen?"

    "N-No!" responded Si Fu, before Tang Ye could answer.

    Si Fu saw something. Though it wasn''t certain what that was, she felt vulnerable and guilty before Ming Suwen. Something told her¡­ Ming Suwen was one person she didn''t want to be on the bad side of.

    Tang Ye hopelessly shook his head: "Big Brother has returned to the capital, but he left for some business."

    "I see." Ming Suwen touched her smooth chin and stopped to think. She then said, "Thanks for that, hihi. Take your time."

    Ming Suwen left the same way she dropped in.

    "Big Brother went to the temple fair¡­" said Tang Ye. "Why didn''t you let me tell her?"

    "I recognise her¡­ She''s Ming Suwen. She''s known as The Demoness in the pugilistic world. I heard she was the Demonness who once ruled the North. She bases decisions and actions based on her preferences. Years ago, she apparently killed dozens of orthodox and unorthodox sects'' adepts, thereby bing notorious in the martial world. Other legends say she goes through men one after another and uses dual cultivation to increase her own strength. I recognised her at first nce when you all attended Liu Shan Men''s recruitment exams. She''s joined Liu Shan Men now?"

    "All I know is she is Big Brother''s aunt."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Si Fu furtively nced at Tang Ye. Tone unfriendly, she expressed, "She''s also the North''s Martial Realm''s most beautiful woman. She''s ranked in the top three of both the Red and Pink Reflections'' Beauties'' Rankings. If you ask me, she''d be at the top of both rankings if her whereabouts weren''t always a mystery, and she didn''t have such a bad reputation. Y-You better steer clear of her."

    Tang Ye furrowed his eyebrows: "What does that have to do with whether or not she is beautiful¡­?"

    "How does it not?! You know¡­"

    While the two began to get rowdy and go back and forth again, Miss Juese headed back to her room.

    "They sure are young." Ming Suwen raised her hands and stretched her back out. She gazed at the dark nket overhead. Whatever came to mind made her chuckle. She remarked, "Feizhen will probably be here soon. How should I wee him?"

    Nobody would''ve been able toprehend how Ming Suwen reached that conclusion. In her case, she knew Ming Feizhen as well as the back of her hand. Since he was back in the capital, he would unquestionably pay her a visit. How could he not miss her when she missed him so dearly?

    Ming Suwen skipped back to her room with a mischievous smile. She behaved the same way a newlywed wife waiting for her husband to return.

    "I know¡­ Hihihi."

 Volume 7 4 Your Beauty Has Made Me a New Man

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 4 Your Beauty Has Made Me a New Man</h4>

    "If you''re not undressing, I''ll undress first," stated Young Shiyi.

    ''Don''t fucking undress! Who''s the son of the bitch who sneaked into Young Shiyi''s room?! And why is she undressing for him?!!''

    I only ever saw Young Shiyi nude¡­ It''s none of your business. In short, no looking!

    "Stop!"

    I stormed into the room. It felt as if it wasn''t even locked. I felt steam hit me in the face. It was warm unlike outside. There was steam whisking up. I saw a pool of hot water resembling those found in bathhouses down allies.

    "Young Shyi, what are you doing?!" I eximed, crushing into the innermost section of the room without checking my surroundings.

    The floor was wet, but there wasn''t much water. Imagine abrupt raining to an abrupt stop. I couldn''t see the situation inside too well through the steam, but there was no time to think. I sted the steam away using a palm strike and imposingly eximed, "No undressing! I shall protect Young Shiyi''s underwear!"

    The scene before me rendered me dumbstruck for a moment. I was in a bath hall. I didn''t notice that fact when I stormed in. There was a rack for hanging clothes as soon as one entered, and there were two sets of clothes hung up there. There were two females, I mean, one girl and one young girl¡­

    Young Shiyi sat against the edge of the pool, arms rested on the edge. The majority of her long legs were submerged. There was a pink tinge on her white skin. She stretched her calves and wore a rxed expression. She gently brushed her wet hair on her corbone. The droplets of water coursed down her body. Good god that sight was¡­

    I then realised Young Shiyi didn''t mean undress her clothes but a thin robe worn exclusively when bathing. As the robe was slightly undone, I could see her supple skin. She probably never realised the thin robe added a sensual element to her beauty, since it subtly revealed her cleavage. Her white, energetic and firm mountains forced the robe apart. How could one not feel grateful for the view?

    Young Shiyi''s hips and lower body proportions were impable and weapons of mass seduction. She cheerfully kicked her feet and wiggled her toes underneath the water; they were naturally adorable. I was grateful from the bottom of my heart to just get a glimpse of her beauty.

    I almost gave in to my urges. Hence, I moulded energy and entered Divine Realm to rey the scene to myself ten more times. I didn''t stop myself because my conscience triumphed; I just couldn''t stop blood pouring out of my nose¡­

    Next to Young Shiyi was the young girl roughly seven to eight. The girl wrapped herself in a cute towel. My abrupt entrance startled her. Eyes bulging, she eximed, "Junior Sister, a baddie stormed in! You, get out! No peeping on girls bathing!"

    Young Shiyi pursed her thin lips and, sounding "surprised", replied, "Feizhen, what brings you here? Did youe here to see me?"

    "I-I-I¡­" Mouth dry, I gulped: "I came in to see, I meant, take a walk."

    Young Shiyi bit down on her lip and narrowed her eyes: "Take a walk? In a female bathroom?"

    ''I feel so retarded right now¡­''

    Young Shiyi looked as if she was smiling, yet not, in silence. I could tell she was enjoying herself, nheless.

    ''Wait a second. When I was outside, Young Shiyi mentioned she was undressing. She was fully dressed and only had her feet in the water when I entered, though¡­ She wasn''t undressing, was she? Don''t tell me¡­ she set me up.''

    Unsurprisingly, tears welled up in the young girl''s eyes: "Baddie! I''m telling my senior sisters! They''ll arrest you! They''ll arrest you! They''ll arrest you!"

    Since the young girl saw me clearly, there was nothing I could do to clear my name. I put on an act, nodding and bowing: "I''m not a baddie. This is a misunderstanding. I mistook you for a vulgar man holding a green hat when I was outside¡­"

    "Stop! Creep! Protect me, Junior Sister!"

    The young girl clung to Young Shiyi''s waist, making her narrow waist narrower, highlighting her thighs and making her mountains jump jovially. The droplets of water above her mountains coursed all the way down to her fingers.

    Seeing Young Shiyi''s mountains bounce, I couldn''t helpparing them to Boss Shen''s. Boss Shen''s mountains were soft, while Young Shiyi''s were firmer, so thetter were probably the best to t-, cough, cough! I didn''t say anything!

    Seeing the new and improved scene, I had an urge to p myself for thinking the previous scene was good enough. I, therefore, recorded a merit for Young Shiyi in my books. It was a toss-up between noting it as "The five blessings descended" or "Your greatness has made me a new man".

    Young Shiyi allowed me to feast my eyes and giggled: "Feizhen, why did you rush in here?"

    ''You think I don''t know that question is a trap?!''

    "I came to pay my respects to you, but when I was outside the door, I heard something about undressing, so I thought¡­"

    "You thought?" Young Shiyi stroked her cheek with her left hand, looking as if she was resisting a grin: "What did you think was going on? This is my senior martial sister. We''re close sisters; what''s so strange about us bathing together?"

    Guilty, I gazed at the ceiling: "N-Nothing at all."

    ''I thought someone was dying my hair green! What else would I have rushed in for?!''

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Young Shiyi giggled: "Of course we need to undress if we''re going to bath. Why did youe in if you heard I was undressing?"

    "I-I thought¡­"

    "I don''t see you for a few days, and you''re trying to watch me bathe as soon as you''re back. You naughty boy."

    ''Hey, hey, hey! Why are you making it sound as if I normally watch you taking baths?!''

    Judging from the fact Young Shiyi emphasised "a few days," I think surmised she was grumpy.

    "I-I came to see you straight away precisely because I had not seen you in days."

    "¡­"

    Young Shiyi silently scooped a handful of clear water and poured it onto her leg. She ignored me and massaged her legs gently. I knew that was her way of hiding her embarrassment. Since the atmosphere was cosier, I took a step forward: "Young Shiyi, I¡­"

    "Baddie! Stay back! Get out, Baddie! Junior Sister, beat him!" eximed the young girl, pointing at me.

    "Pfft." Young Shiyi found it so hrious she was in tears. She shot me a nce that read, "Let''s see if you dare to run off without reporting to me first again."

    I shook my head vigorously.

    "Junior Sister, beat him up!"

    "I can''t. I can''t beat the big baddie." Young Shiyi wore on a pitiful expression, but I could tell she was enjoying herself: "I''m sure he''lle in to watch us bathe."

    ''Who''s that he?! Who''s that he who won''t even spare a seven year old girl?! I want to see you bathing, but it never even crossed my mind to watch a young girl bathe with you!''

    "You want to see us so badly?" asked Young Shiyi.

    Young Shiyi bit down on her lip and nced at me out of her peripherals. My mouth seemed awfully dry. Her question told me she didn''t have anything underneath her thin robe. The longer I stayed in there, the more I could sense my thoughts swirl into a vortex of stupidity. Her scent and the flowers'' scent gradually whisked into my nose.

    "Well, you''ve seen me. I''m going to start my bath now," said Young Shiyi, smiling. "You not going to leave?" You want to join us?"

    Now that snapped me out of it. I fell for it! The loli was so scared she started wailing.

    ''Fuck! Super Fuck! Mega Fuck! Storming into the Female Constable''s quarters is enough tond me in hot water. The loli has also seen me! If she calls the other female constables over, they''ll skin me! Running is the wisest strategy!''

    An hourter, Young Shiyi returned to her room after finishing her bath. Her room was as elegant and tidy as she was. I would also add refined in there. She didn''t have much in terms of furniture, but the colours were well-thought-out. She hadn''t moved in long ago and only set up the room casually, but it had a nice ambience. I hadn''t been there many times before, so I went to the wrong ce before I found her room.

    Young Shiyi came back attired in new clothes and a radiant glow. Smiling brightly, she said, "Kiddo, you''re lucky to have left the bath hall after storming it."

    "That''s rich! You were the one who fooled me, yet you''re saying I stormed into the bath hall?! I''ve barely been here a few times. It wouldn''t even be surprising if I knocked on the wrong door at night!"

    I suddenly there was something wrong with myst statement. Even Young Shiyi didn''t miss it. Knocking on the wrong door¡­ sounded as if we were having a tryst. I don''t know what she associated the statement with, that being said.

    Young Shiyi calmly sat down and groomed herself in the mirror. Her calm demeanour was a cover for her shyness. She gently cleared her throat gently and, in a demure tone for once, authoritatively asked, "What are you waiting for? Aren''t you going to report where you wandered off to for thest few days?"

 Volume 7 5 Sweet as Honey. White Robe.

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 5 Sweet as Honey. White Robe.</h4>

    "¡­ Long Cheng kept working for Kong Duan to protect the altar. I sent him to a vige at the capital''s outskirts. He''s not the type who can sit still, so I''ll probably have to assign him so work."

    I recounted what happened over thest few days in a short and concise format. Young Shiyi nodded as I went. Regarding my activities with Divine Moon Cult, she didn''t know much more than my fellow martial siblings. She, as a matter of fact, never met my former subordinates before. In some ways, Hongjiu knew more than she did. Having said that, I never withheld any information from her, so she only needed to ask if she wanted to know something. More importantly, I didn''t want her to involve herself with Divine Moon Cult in case put herself in jeopardy. She knew what I had in mind, which was why she never pried when it came to the topic.

    "I see. In short¡­" Young Shiyi stopped to think and picked up the most important part: "You went wandering for a few days, married a eunuch and even had a son after!"

    Young Shiyi deftly grabbed my left ear right as she finished. She shot me a scary re at me and smiled: "I was wondering why my eye kept twitching thest few days. Wow, Feizhen, you''re amazing, huh? First Princess, Second Princess and even a eunuch now. Let''s hear it; how many mistresses are you hiding?"

    "I''m sure I recounted the story in Chinese! What exactly were you listening to?!"

    I went on to give an borate exnation. Young Shiyi grudgingly believed me in the end; however, the way she looked at me suggested she believed I was the type who was bold enough to actuallymit thw heinous crime and hide my mistresses around nearby. Thus, I asked her how she was doing as a member of the Female Constables.

    Young Shiyi waved a hand: "Heh, nothing much, just a little tired from beingmanded."

    ''S-Someone has the audacity to boss my Young Shiyi around?!''

    "Heh, they must be sick of living! Who''s bossing you around?! Tell them to step up, and I''ll teach them a lesson!"

    "Pfft, what are you so worked up for? Unlike you, myrade listens, takes care of me, cheers me up and even gave me a small plum blossom."

    ''Huh?! Someone confessed to Young Shiyi? I can''t imagine any male entering their courtyard. Don''t tell me it was Gramps Huang.''

    "One flower?! You''re not dead! That''s unlucky." I shook the image of the scoundrel trying to steal my Young Shiyi''s heart out of my mind: "Bossing you around on one hand and giving you a flower on the other hand. That''s what you call a rat. That''s the worst kind. Don''t fall for his tricks."

    "Idiot." Young Shiyi giggled: "What are you jealous for? Her name is Lu Xiaomeng. She''s seven years old this year. She''s so adorable and keeps calling me ''Junior Sister, Junior Sister.'' She''s so cute unlike you, always innovating ways to get on my nerves."

    "Oh, so the little girl''s name was Xiaomeng," I said in my mind. I was relieved for a second before I was annoyed: "I never got on your nerves."

    "Really now?" asked Young Shiyi, tone sarcastic and standing akimbo with her eyes narrowed. "You just left for several days without any prior notice. You don''t happen to think I don''t know you went to the temple fair before you came back, do you?"

    "Uh, that, uh¡­"

    "Who did you go with?"

    "M-My colleague."

    Young Shiyi didn''t believe me. She stopped herself when she intended to argue. She, instead, remarked, "Wait, I smell a fragrance on you."

    "Where?" I asked before sniffing my sleeve. Tone rxed, I exined, "I went around to several ces today, including eating out. It''s probably the smell of the dishes."

    "Oh? Which restaurant was this? I had no idea there was a restaurant that could produce Jin Gun''s exclusive premium fragrance."

    Because Young Shiyi mentioned it, I could finally smell the faint fragrance when I focused. That said¡­ I suddenly recalled the somewhat lonely smile from the girl who also shared her heartfelt feelings with me. If my memory didn''t fail me, it was Bai Lian''s smell¡­

    Young Shiyi smiled: "My adorable Ming Feizhen, do you mind exining what this is about?"

    ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! Those eyes are menacing¡­''

    "I-I-I, it, that, this, it''s actually General Manager Bai''s scent. I went with General Manager Bai to the temple fair. Umm, eunuchs like to wear makeup, so it''s nothing surprising."

    Well, General Manager Bai was a girl, after all. Judging from the atmosphere, though, I didn''t think I could mention it¡­

    Doubtful, Young Shiyi stared at me with a squint for a while. I felt as though she saw through me, so I had to force a smile. Suddenly, she sighed: "I''m getting on with age and rusty. I guess it''s hard to me you for preferring someone else over me. I''m twenty-five and still not married, after all."

    Young Shiyi stroked her cheek and bemoaned, "I can understand why you''d prefer young girls and eunuchs."

    I instantly railed, "Why do you say that, Young Shiyi? How can those womenpare to you?!"

    Young Shiyi''s poignant demeanour suddenly flipped around: "Oh, so you did find yourself another girl!"

    ''Huh?''

    Young Shiyi pinched my ear: "You refuse to speak unless I trick you, is that it?! Fess up! Who''s your mistress? Eunuch Bai, correct?! How long have you two been together?"

    ''Let''s apply logic, please! Young Shiyi, you set me up! My ear! My ear!''

    "Wait! Where did you learn that from?!"

    Young Shiyi grinned smugly: "Your shiniang''s taught me."

    ''Huh? You learnt how to catch cheaters from my shiniangs?! Why did you choose to take the advanced ss of all sses?! We''re not even married yet! This is the equivalent of learning Yijin Jing when you haven''t joined Shaolin, learning Tai Chi Mental Cultivation before joining Wudang and learning Spring Wind Rainy Night Art before even knowing what Demon Sect is. You think you''re me or something?!''

    I need to digress for a moment. If you want to learn the most authentic and effective Cheater Catching Art in the world, then my shiniangs would be the best of the best. Yan Shisan was a legendary case cracker, but he couldn''t hold a handle to my shiniangs ability to catch my shifu''s affairs. You''re not convinced? Yan Shisan couldn''t catch my shifu, yet they caught him annually.

    Wearing a pitiful expression, Imented, "I finally know what Zhang Fei''s mother''s surname is now¡­"

    Young Shiyi blinked: "What?"

    "Wu."

    "Why?"

    "What else? Starting trouble for no reason."

    Young Shiyi didn''t even feel ashamed; instead, she proudly raised her nose after hearing my homophone joke.

    "Hmph! It''s called creating something from nothing. Pretend it is even if it isn''t to reveal the truth," chortled Young Shiyi. "They taught it to me in the letter they just sent me yesterday. Quick learner, aren''t I?"

    I was dumbstruck for a moment. Once I snapped out of it, I grievously cried innocence.

    ''Truth?! That''s called framing me! I only went for a stroll with a eunuch. How did going for a stroll cause this entire false usation?! Shiniangs, why must you teach her that of all things?!''

    I was wondering why our conversation resembled a scene of my shifu being caught! If they spread their cheater-catching skill, men would never know what good luck was again!

    Young Shiyi smugly said, "We need to keep an eye on you unfaithful men. You have beautiful wife at home, yet you go after girls out there."

    I think Young Shiyi went red in the face when she said "wife" because she was shy. She acted as if she was fine, however. I said it before, and I''ll say it again: my Young Shiyi was adorable¡­

    ''Wait, my Shifu is actually unfaithful, while I''m innocent!''

    Young Shiyi lifted my ear: "All right, answer a question for me."

    "Fire away. Fire away."

    ''My ear ising off! Ease up, will you?!''

    Young Shiyi touched her nose and casually said, "When I took my medication today, I heard something¡­"

    I reactively blurted, "Why did you take medication? Is it serious? Let me check your pulse."

    Young Shiyi didn''t respond. She suddenly released my ear. I urged, "Pass me your hand. I''ll check your pulse. It''s not serious, is it?"

    Young Shiyi gently massaged my red ear instead of passing her hand to me. Worried, I took her hand and asked, "Are you sure you''re okay?"

    Young Shiyi gently pushed me to sit down. She threw herself into my arms and sat on my thighs. She looked up at me.

    "I''m fine," stated Young Shiyi, smiling sweetly. "This is your reward."

    Young Shiyi sped my face with both hands and gently kissed me on my cheek.

    ''My tears. My heart is shedding tears of joy! Woohoo! After all that exhaustion, misfortune and bearing with beingbelled a gue, something nice has finally happened to me!''

    I didn''t know why Young Shiyi gave me a kiss, but all the suffering was worth it!

    ========

    In the capital''s prisonte at night.

    The prison in the capital was referred to as the Celestial Prison. It was also known as the darkest prison. The imperial court''s criminals were locked there. If they didn''tmit serious crimes, theymitted heinous crimes. A new inmate joined the criminals today. He was charged with corruption and training a private military. They were crimes that would keep him locked up in that hell for his entire life. Kong Duan''s crimes and punishment had yet to be officially announced. It wasn''t surprising for him to be locked up, however.

    The Emperor eradicated all of Kong Duan''s pugilistic-world dens near the capital. Ming Feizhen wiped out Feiyun Hall. Long Cheng left. The others went their own way if they weren''t wiped out. Kong Duan was taken back to the capital and incarcerated. It all happened in the span of one day. As soon as news of it got out, the imperial court was in uproar. The majority of officials closely associated with Kong Duan turned on him, testifying against him to avoid being implicated. A small number weren''t forgiven. Kong Duan could only ce his hopes on the two secretaries in his faction.

    Criminals incarcerated weren''t allowed to see visitors; normal prison regtions didn''t apply at Celestial Prison. There were always exceptions, nheless. A minor poption were allowed to visit. For example, officials considered titans in the imperial court or a faction leader in the imperial court.

    The man who visited today fulfilled both of those criteria. He was the Ministry of Rites'' head, Zhang Chunfeng. With so many disciples in the imperial court and his immense influence, he quickly caught wind of Kong Duan''s fall. Hence, he raced in at night to pay Kong Duan a visit.

    Kong Duan''s prison was exceptionally clean and tidy. He was granted a bed, table and book shelf. As a Second Rank official, he was given preferential treatment despite being a criminal.

    Kong Duan sat upright at the table. Having been friends for decades, Zhang Chunfeng was able to recognise Kong Duan despite thetter suffering a severe beating during the day. Zhang Chunfeng silently sat down opposite Kong Duan. Kong Duan continued to leisurely read. Zhang Chunfeng waited for a while before breaking the silence: "Why did you do it?"

    Kong Duan stopped turning the page, but he kept his head down: "For the imperial court''s sake."

    Indeed, Kong Duan never perceived his actions as something done for personal gain. Perhaps the only personal gain he desired in it was hoping to be revered in the future. Every schr shared the same desire since forever; it wasn''t a bad trait by any ount.

    Angry, Zhang Chunfeng shook: "You bribed officials and took bribes. You had people from the pugilistic world assassinate Lu Xiazou and an imperial court official. You also recruited warriors from the pugilistic world to raise your own army to assassinate imperial court officials. For the imperial court''s sake, you say?"

    "Correct, for the imperial court''s sake," responded Kong Duan, looking up at longst. "Xiazou took bribes and bribed officials. The people from the pugilistic world fought in the ring to make money for me. I have never used a single penny from either of them. I raised the suicide warriors so that we could fight back when we were forced to. I did it all for the imperial court, Confucianism and for our Celestial Rankings!"

    Zhang Chunfeng fell into silence again. He was also ready to put his body and soul on the line for his ideals. He, however, never thought about using Kong Duan''s radical means. He shook his head: "Even so¡­ that was foolish. Why were you so foolish? Even if you seeded, once your doings were exposed, you would only be the next Yan Shisan. Why did you not learn anything from his mistake?"

    "I can''t let that be my shackle. Only with Celestial Rankings can we Confucians have a chance at promoting our ideals," contended Kong Duan, showing his tunnel vision. "We don''t have money or manpower. What can we do with just our jaws?"

    "Brother Chunfeng!" eximed Kong Duan, starting to grow emotional. "I was going to put away Secretaries Lie and Lu, rece Liu Shan''s Elites Rankings and establish Celestial Rankings to clinch control of how things are run to fulfil our long-wished dream. Unfortunately, I can no longer fulfil our dream. However, all of the money I earned over these years is hidden at¡­"

    Kong Duan calmed down after he shared the location of the money with Zhang Chunfeng: "I will entrust you and Brother Qian with the money. I believe you two can realise the dream."

    Zhang Chunfeng nodded: "¡­ I have already made an official report to exin the Celestial Rankings idea to His Majesty."

    "What?!" Kong Duan couldn''t believe his ears: "Y-You already¡­. What was His Majesty''s response?"

    "His Majesty hasn''t given a response or even mentioned it," calmly replied Zhang Chungfeng. "That means he is mulling whether or not our Celestial Rankings is a good piece that can rein in the three offices managing the martial world or not. Because he wants to remove the Seven Champion White Princes, if we can contact the Confucian Cult, we can make up for theck of numbers. As such, there is hope for Celestial Rankings."

    "Perfect! Perfect! Hahaha! As long as His Majesty approves, we still have hope. This old one shall wait for the fall of martial artists and rise of schrs!"

    "That day¡­ is not far," a male proimed in a stifled void.

    Startled, Secretaries Zhang and Kong turned in the direction the voice echoed. The man in a white schr uniform was there without them even realising, demonstrating exceptional qinggong. He wore a white mask, a square hat and had a schr''s sword hanging from his waist. He genuinely rocked the stereotypical appearance of a typical schr from books. If one could be more of a schr than Secretary Kong, Confucius'' descendant, the man in white could proudly tick the box. The secretaries found his gaze imposing despite their rich experience in life. It wasn''t fear; it was the panic-stricken feeling triggered when seeing one''s master. The man in white stood unmoving.

    Zhang Chunfeng took a moment to regain hisposure: "May I ask who you are? Why did you infiltrate the prison?"

    The man in white didn''t reply; instead, he reached for his sword. By the time Kong Duan''s hand restraints were cleaved, the shiny de had already been sheathed. The single sh established two facts. Firstly, the de was ordinary. Secondly, the man was a skilled swordsman. He then approached the two and shed a token, wiping away Kong Duan''s suspicions and fear, recing them with jubnce. The cat caught Zhang Chunfeng''s tongue.

    Calmly, the man in white expounded, "I received Secretary Kong''s contact a while ago and watched you two. I am now certain you two are noble and so is your cause. The martial artists have led His Majesty astray; he has wronged the innocent and benevolent. He is sure to pursue this matter further. I came here today to rescue Secretary Kong."

    Kong Duan eagerly peered outside. He was supposed to meet his end in solitude until then. Voice hoarse, he stuttered, "S-So Confucian Association was aware of my dreams. Ar-Are you their envoy? This old one sends you his greetings."

    The man in white politely expressed, "Secretary Kong, you need not stand on ceremony. You are the descendant of the great one. Strictly speaking, we are from the same n. I dare not look down on you."

    Kong Duan performed a cupped-fist salute: "You are being too humble."

    The man in white pivoted over to Zhang Chunfeng and saluted thetter: "Please forgive my rudeness. I must take Secretary Kong with me today."

    Even if Zhang Chunfeng was do try and stop the man with all his might, he wouldn''t even offer a challenge. The man''s request was unnecessary; nevertheless, his sincerity was genuine. After all, how was he going to stop a man who could infiltrate the most heavily-guarded prison and remain undetected all that time?

    "Brother Kong is this one''s close friend. This old one is grateful you could help," said Zhang Chunfeng.

    "Thank you," thanked the man in white.

    The man in white pulled Kong Duan over by his arm and zipped off as if their presence was an illusion all along. That was Zhang Chunfeng''s first time witnessing martial prowess of that calibre. For the record, he didn''t decide to cooperate due to the man''s martial prowess but for the sake of realising a dream.

    They finally returned to the Central in after thirty years of living in recluse. They were the only ones who could put an end to the era of chaos in the martial world. They were Nine Provinces'' Confucianism Association.

    Notes:

    *Starting Trouble for No Reason and Zhang Fei - This is hrious; unfortunately, if you don''t know Chinese, it''s probably not funny.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Starting Trouble for No Reason" is written as ÎÞÊÂÉú·Ç (Wu Shi Sheng Fei). Ming Feizhen used a homophone joke, making it ÎâÊÏÉú·Ç, which, tranted literally, is "Wu n Gave Birth to Fei (Zhang Fei). Éú can be tranted a myriad of ways such as create, spawn, give birth, life, live etc. which is why the joke works.

    Ming Suwen''s response is a rearrangement with a small change to the characters to say, "Creating something from nothing."

    Tranted literally to English, they can mean the exact same thing. In Chinese, there''s a big difference to what you imply with each. One is praise. The other will likelynd you in a verbal tirade with someone.

    **Celestial Prison - This is a literal trantion. It''s never used; we just call it prison in English. For rification sake, I left it in the chapter. Going forward, it will be referred to just as a prison unless necessary for rity.

 Volume 7 6 The Curtain Rises

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 6 The Curtain Rises</h4>

    After a cosy n-, a chat through the night with Young Shiyi, I headed to the vige Long Cheng and the members of Dark Wind Branch were taking refuge at.

    In the past, people said the following of Dark Wind Branch: "Nothing can keep Dark Wind in the dark." In other words, regardless of what secret the imperial pce hid, precious artefact there was in the martial world or secret there was betweenmoners, Dark Wind Branch would find out what it was if they desired so.

    The im gained poprity thanks to their proficiency and secretive nature. They were also reputed as the strongest among the hundred branches of Divine Moon Cult, as they were seemingly experts at survival. No matter how risky a mission was, their team always returned with the most surviving members. Nothing proved that better than the fact there were over a dozen of their adepts still alive despite the years the imperial court invested into hunting them. Few knew they were the furthest thing from "sagacious," though. Their best skill was actually having absurd patience and the ability to bear with hardship under their outrageous leader.

    "I heard the Seven Champion White Princes''¡­ is¡­ illegitimate son. Go and find out what it''s about."

    "The League of Assassins isn''t showing any sense of brotherhood. Find out where their boss is for me."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Shaolin Temple''s Yijin Jing is famous now. The monk won''te out, apparently. Go steal the manual for me."

    "The old Emperor''s rule is too stable. I''m going to give it a shake. Steal the capital''s militaryyout designs. I''m going to be a strategist and teach them how to fight this fight. Huh? Not enough men? Twenty men aren''t enough? I''ll let you take Guardian Long Cheng. That''s twenty-one now. Good?"

    After returning alive from simr suicide missions, they seemingly developed a knack for surviving. Taking on such missions developed their unwavering determination, patience and survival skills for when the odds were stacked against them.

    After leaving Feiyun Hall, Dark Wind Branch dressed in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. They also sported cloth wraps around their head. They resembled farmers getting ready to go out to the fields. As I spoke, they earnestly listened to soak up wisdom.

    "This is called a fork. This is called a dung fork and is used to dig around dung, understood? Yes, cow dung, you''re right¡­ Who just said cow dung is for flowers?! p yourself!"

    I had old men surrounding me, asking me agriculture questions. A group of recluse living as farmers not knowing how to farm and requiring my advice¡­

    Mount Daluo had farnd isted away from the rest of the world. The inhabitants never left the mountain; however, their harvests were the same as everywhere else. When I was a kid, I would y in the vige if I wasn''t training, so I had seen it all. That was how I became a certified agriculture enlightener.

    "The fork is an incredible tool. Once you''ve used, you''ll know what it''s all about."

    Dark Wind Branch''s members came around. They passed the fork around for a touch and sniffed the soil. The environment was new and attractive to them. They fiddled with the fork around for a while before they would pass it on, treating it as if it was a treasure of some sort. One even asked me, "Lord San Shen, is this really a dung fork?"

    "Obviously."

    "What makes you say so?"

    I waved: "I borrowed it from Uncle Niu next door. I borrowed it right after he finished with it for that matter; he hadn''t even had a chance to clean it. It''s the real deal."

    "Fuck, no wonder why it was warm to the touch! Who imed this was the smell of soil?!"

    The "preachers" suddenly lost it and threw away the treasure. The smell dispersed, plunging the room into chaos. Watching them made me muse, "You morons¡­ You can''t even farm in peace?"

    I picked up the lethal weapon and, in an authorative tone, exined, "Long-story short, you need to learn how to farm, or people will be suspicious. Moreover, you''ll starve to death here if you don''t lift a finger. It''s not easy to survive here."

    "What are we doing?" asked Long Cheng,ing out from his room he was recuperating in. He was hurt bad after the events at Feiyun Hall. Still, seeing his subordinates dressed as farmers didn''t sit well with him. He followed up with, "Lord San Shen, what are we doing here?"

    "What are you doing? Lots of things," I answered. I counted my fingers as I listed, "First, buy cattle and thene up with a n to cultivate the field. Then, you''ll be able to buy new crops in January and February. For the meantime, buy some chickens, ducks and whatnot to raise. I like braised pork shoulders, so remember to buy a pig, a big one¡­"

    "That is not what I meant!" thundered Long Cheng. "Lord San Shen, why must we be farmers?"ong Cheng looked stern, but he showed great respect for me. That said, I could sense his urge to punch my face in. Dark Wind Branch was his life. If it was anyone else who told them to farm, he''d likely fight them to the death.

    "We survived bloody skirmishes and worse already, so we can survive even if we do not do thisme work."ong Cheng was wrapped in bandages all over, so he didn''t even need to wear clothes, yet tried to sound tough.

    ''Okay, Hard Ass, you trying to defy the heavens or something?''

    "In other words, you''re aware your brothers have had to risk their lives all this time? You want them to continue risking their lives? What rule states martial artists have to lead violent and stormy lives?" I reproached Long Cheng with my gaze: "Guardian Long, you don''t mean to say you n to continue fighting in underground circuits, kidnapping people, robbing, plundering and hiding on mountains do you? Are you keen on being a bandit chief?"ong Cheng was stunned for a moment. He calmly down and bitterly said, "That is not what your subordinate wishes for, but¡­"

    "Farming is an honest man''s job. Every drop of water you drink and every grain of rice you eat came from your own time and energy investment. What''s so embarrassing about that?"

    I stabbed the dung fork into the ground, dispersing the scent and startling the group. Long Cheng lifted his hand to cover his nose but stopped himself.

    I continued, "Divine Moon Cult had its days of glory, but it failed. We lost. Admit defeat when you lose. Right now, there''s nothing more important than protecting yourselves, not dragging your battered bodies around to challenge the imperial court''s forces. Your urgent task at hand is surviving. Don''t make the mistake of thinking you have plenty of choices. The Qilin Guards are still investigating us. Had it not been for Kong Duan abusing his authority to cover your tracks, your whereabouts would''ve been revealed in less than three days after you revealed your skills."

    Ipletely shut Long Cheng down. All he could do was nod grudgingly. I understood he had yet toe to terms to it, but it was an ongoing process.

    I threw the dung fork to a member: "Uncle Niu from next door wille over and teach you how to cultivate the ground soon. Show him some respect. Guardian Long,e with me."ong Cheng nodded. We left the farmhouse together.

    It was noon. Dapples of winter sunlight illuminated the Earth. The colder air soothed the sunlight''s heat. The breeze was quiet. The world seemed to move slower.

    The vige wasn''t too far from the capital. I could go to and fro within an hour easily on foot. The people there lived simple lives. One could behold and hear the beauty of nature at the vige. There were lots of farmhouses; however, there were also small businesses. As soon as you entered the vige, you could smell cow dung mixed with grass. You could catch a whiff of green onions and cakes being fried.

    I felt fine walking around, but Long Cheng seemed unable to adapt. Perhaps he spent too much time in dark ces. Perhaps he could no longer limate back into society. He found the peace awfully ufortable. Since he held on with all he had, I deliberately took him in a circle. Needless to say, his difort intensified. The atmosphere between us was awkward.

    A middle-aged man opened his doors and stepped outside. Eyes bleary, he poured a basin of water out without checking. I was quick enough to evade it, but Long Cheng was absentminded. As a result, he was dripping from head to toe¡­ The man scoffed: "You not bring your eyes with you?!"

    The man went inside and shut his door without bothering to spare Long Cheng a nce. Long Cheng and I exchanged eye contact. We shared augh. Iughed for so long that I forgot what I wasughing for. Long Cheng was in tears. Panting for air, Long Cheng remarked, "Lord San Shen, your subject cannot believe you wouldugh at his misfortune."

    "Guardian Long, they say your qinggong is unparalleled, yet you were unable to evade a basin of water. Didn''t you find it funny, too?"

    "Your subject did not expect¡­ he wouldugh, either."

    I gave the oaf a big pat on the shoulder. Hurt, he hissed. I advised, "Don''t put too much on your shoulders. Divine Moon Cult''s fall wasn''t your fault. Don''t feel guilty for being happy."

    Still dripping with water, Long Cheng began to think. Once done, he smiled helplessly: "Your subordinate¡­ will try."

    "We left in a rush yesterday, so there was a lot I didn''t have time to say."

    I asked the man for a piece of cloth to wipe Long Cheng''s face. He heartily brought us two cups of tea as a bonus. That said, he still chided Long Cheng for being slow and wouldn''t escape in time when wolves raided the vige. I found the man hrious. After he left, I asked Long Cheng, "Do you have news of any other brothers?"ong Cheng stifled his voice: "Your subject has not. Bright God Faction has returned to the Western Region. You might run into them if you head there. Dark Moon Faction split up ever since our leader passed away. Your subject has been unable to contact any other guardians."

    "I see¡­"

    I had been searching for Divine Moon Cult ever since I decided to retire from the pugilistic world. I searched for some for the past and some for the future. s, I didn''t find anything after years of searching. Orchid Monarch Hollow Bamboo and Dark Wind Branch were the only two branches I found thus far, which was weird. Dark Moon Faction aside, somebody from Bright God Faction should''ve stayed behind even if they retreated to the Western Regions, yet I couldn''t find a single one of them.

    I shook my head to clear my mind andmanded, "I will continue the search for our brothers. I have a mission for your branch."ong Cheng came to life. Apparently, being useful to me was worth celebrating. He dered, "Your subject shall ept any mission you have for him."

    "You''ll divine into the ocean if I ask you to?"

    "Your subject will even jump into an inferno if you ask!"

    "Remember what you just said," I said with a smile. "I want you all to live here for half a year."

    I saw a multitude of facial expressions flit past Long Cheng''s face before he settled on the definition of despair. Watching him made me want to exim, "Is the universe moving?!" Once he calmed down, he suddenly looked delighted: "Are you rebuilding? Are you telling us to bide our time to revive?"

    I waved: "No, not at all. I just want you all to find something you can do here. Find an ordinary job you like and spend the rest of your life in peace."

    Disappointed, Long Cheng respectfully contended, "Lord San Shen, would that not mean we have wasted Leader''s efforts to nurture us all those years?"

    ''Ol'' Ximen nurtured your skills to groom you into information collectors, didn''t he?! Self-awareness not exist in your world?! Look at how risky and difficult your missions were! Notice how much your superior deserves to be punched?!''

    I shook my head: "You boast you are Leader''s eyes and ears, but you have no idea you were only his hands and feet."

    "You mean¡­"

    "Ximen virtually personally fought every battle regardless of the scale of the fights. He wouldn''t leave behind a fallen brother to flee, ever. You think he''d want to see you all dying for nothing?"

    Swayed, Long Cheng expressed it with his trembling body: "In that case¡­ your subject shall obey yourmand."

    "That''s more like it. Your leader will be happy to hear that."ong Cheng suddenly inquired, "Lord San Shen¡­ did you not say you were against Leader rebelling?"

    "I don''t want to define whether his actions were correct or not; that''s out of my jurisdiction."

    "Lord San Shen¡­ you are not with Leader, are you?"

    "That depends on what you want to believe." I smiled nonchntly: "There were a lot of people in the sect who wanted to pummel the old bugger, weren''t there?"ong Cheng hesitantly and doubtfully said, "Lord San Shen, your subject has a question."

    "Speak."

    "Leader went missing ever since the battle at Lawless Cliff back then. Your subordinate was unable to arrive on time that day. However, you were supposedly present. Your subject wants to ask¡­ what happened at Lawless Cliff that day?"

    The air figuratively froze. When I nced up at him, Long Cheng shivered. My piercing gaze was colder than the cold breeze. I didn''t say a word, but I looked away before he died from fright. I understood what he was implying. Because he assumed Ximen and I didn''t get along, he suspected I didn''t put in the effort to save Ximen that day. I couldprehend why he''d think so. Still, I wanted to rip heads off when that day was mentioned.

    "I was there, indeed," I eventually answered. My voice was deeper and raspier than I expected. I borated, "I didn''t make it in time, though. Bai Ma, from The Ultimate Three, stood in my way. By the time I arrived, it was toote¡­ The three great sects, four big sects, the Seven Champion White Princes, all three of The Ultimate Three and several of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons were there. The three Guardian Kings were incapacitated if not dead. Ximen had been knocked off Lawless Cliff. All I could do was ensure Divine Moon Cult could safely retreat¡­"

    I couldn''t forget that day no matter how much time past. That was the day I made up my mind to retire from the pugilistic world and not involve myself with its affairs again. I lost two important people to me in that battle. One of them was my sworn brother. He was a hearty man who lived a life as bright and energetic as his smile. The other was the adorable one I wanted to make it up to but lost the chance to forever.

    After my long pause, I carried on, "I couldn''t answer your question before, but I can now. I don''t think Ximen Chuideng''s approach was correct. I, in fact, would argue he was a failure as a leader. He didn¡¯t care for riches or status. He wasn¡¯t afraid of authority. He valued promises, was a man who valued friendships, boasted as if he was a hero, liked to start trouble, loved to drink, was a battle monger and was a lecher. He fought with Yan Shisan for how many years for a woman? He infiltrated the Forbidden City on his own just to uphold his word. He probably should''ve stayed away from being a leader. If he was a vige head, you could say goodbye to that vige."

    I smiled helplessly. Honestly, not even I really understood what I was trying to imply; I couldn''t tell if I was angry, hopeless, poignant or empty. I finished with, "If he''s dead, however, I¡­ swear to avenge him. That is my oath."

    ========

    After Uncle Niu came over to teach Dark Wind Branch how to cultivate the fields, I returned to Liu Shan Men. I wasn''t actually officially assigned back to the office, but I didn''t have anything to do, so I was going to see Young Shyi and get c(osy)-, ahem, greet her. As soon as I entered, nevertheless, someone suddenly called, "Young Ming, how do you do?"

    "Prime Minister?"

    Prime Minister Li Si was in a casual green robe with a small hat. He resembled an old man out for a drink. He chuckled: "Young Ming, why didn''t you notify me you wereing back to Liu Shan Men when you''re still my student?"

    ''Oh, now I''m your student? You remember the part where you legged it after saying you''d treat me to a meal?! Do you remember the part where you ordered the expensive dishes, too?! Had it not been thanks to General Bai Lian''s intervention, I''d be washing dishes there now!''

    Well, I couldn''t actuallysh out at the Prime Minister. I courteously responded, "I am here to report in. I was going to pay you a visit after. I did not think I would meet you here."

    "Haha, let''s go. Don''t stand on ceremony. Let''s talk inside."

    ''I stood on ceremony? Since when?! You think this is your house now?!''

    Afterward, I found out Prime Minister Li came to tell me how Liu Shan Men helped crack Kong Duan''s case and His Majesty final decision. His Majesty was already back in the capital and awarded us for solving the case. Su Xiao was rewarded most handsomely since he captured Kong Duan when thetter tried to sneak away. Su Xiao''s rank was plenty high already, so a promotion was unlikely. A reward was definitelying his way, that being said.

    Su Xiao started behaving strangely ever since Kong Duan''s capture. He was always out of sorts and would asionally bitterly mutter, "What if Teacher Leng demands I apprehend him?" and "Sob, sob, I can''t decide." There was more, but that was the gist of it. How was I supposed to decipher that garble?

    "I don''t bring only good news, unfortunately," added Prime Minister Li, serious all of a sudden. "I am here on His Majesty''s orders. He has summoned you three to the pce."

    "Yet you want to have tea with me?"

    "I want you to be mentally prepared. Two big things transpired in a single day, so His Majesty is not in a very good mood." Prime Minister Li extended a finger: "First, it is somewhat rted to you three. You captured Kong Duan yesterday, but some adept rescued him from Celestial Prison yesterday. We still have no clue who was behind it. His Majesty is infuriated."

    ''He broke Kong Duan out of the Celestial Prison? Say what? That''s going to take more than martial skills. It''s practically impossible to break Kong Duan out and not be discovered until today. Could¡­ someone in the imperial court have kept it under wraps for them?''

    No wonder why His Majesty was incandescent. All that effort to catch a criminal high-ranking official, only for him to escape was a good reason to be vexed; it''d be odd to not be angry.

    "What is the second issue?" I enquired.

    "The second problem bothers His Majesty even more. ording to sources from Jiangnan¡­" Prime Minister Li wore a grave expression: "Vice-Captain Shen is in peril."

 Volume 7 7 Spring Rain in Jiangnan

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 7 Spring Rain in Jiangnan</h4>

    Jiangnan was still Jiangnan, but the sky was grey since early morning; it was cloudy and gloomy. Those who were experienced could tell the weather was going to be horrible on them if they left their house. Unless one had urgent business, they would kick back at home. It was obvious it was going to rain. Sure, it wasn''t odd for there to be rain during winter.

    Jiangnan was home to lots of rivers, ports,kes and swamps. Because water was essential for nourishing practically everything, bacteria also found perfect ces. Water in Jiangnan was subjected to steam, the sun and moon. Despite it being winter, it wasn''t cold for very long. Not all nts would wither at the end of the year. One could always find lush nts despite the cold. The same applied for grass, particrly weeds by the riversides. They were yellow in spring, but they would grow rapidly again after a few months. That was why Jiangnan was a magnificent sight to behold all year round. Ran in winter, therefore, was normal in Jiangnan. That was the same reason the appearance of a sudden group garnered more attention than the dark sky.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The group arrived as an escort with carriages and over a hundred horses. The group numbered approximately three hundred people. Their origins were unknown. Howbeit, their carriages were big - rtively speaking. Their horses were quality horses, and the people looked tough. Judging from the huge sizes of the various carriages, they weren''t transporting just expensive goods, but also lots of people. If an expert was to take a close look, they would be able to tell they shouldn''t bother the group, for they were dangerous.

    The group travelled in three columns, allowing a column to assist its neighbour if anything was to ever happen in addition to protecting the goods in the carriages. They were clearly trained to follow the specific formation. There wasn''t a single escortpany or martial arts sect that could''ve synchronised their people''s movements to the degree this particr group did. The group mobilised as proficiently as a trained army. Their formation could be considered perfect enough to be a standard passed on to future generations.

    Who in their right mind would pick a fight with such a fierce group of adepts? That was not to mention the group hiding within the carriages. Immediate risk aside, attacking the escort was unequivocally dering hostility on the imperial court. If you were the four biggest unorthodox factions, then perhaps, but otherwise, that was absurd.

    Since the Seven Champion White Princes ruled Jiangnan''s martial world, unorthodox sects never dared to stir trouble within Jiangnan. Strangely, the owner of the escort was awfully cautious. The escort strictly ate only rations they packed themselves. They stayed at posthouses exclusively and refused to stay in residential homes. The escort was on the move day and night; the only breaks they took were for rest.

    The escort''s goal was to deliver the presents to the Seven Champion Princes before New Year. They were sent as the imperial court''s representatives. Needless to say, the presents were unfathomably valuable, so there was no room for carelessness.

    The Emperor provided a very narrow window of time, while the seven locations they needed to deliver the presents to were located in different ces. Meanwhile, the escort was sorge that it was difficult to march fast - much to the chagrin of a certain gentleman. As such, continuous marching from day to night was the only usible strategy.

    The escort put together on the spot didn''t embarrass. With a hot-blooded leader being the brains, the escort was able to stay focused and keep the ball rolling fast. The escort only had onest location to deliver presents to, and they had five more days to finish their mission.

    Among the escort was a handsome man dressed in refined clothing riding atop a quality ck and white horse. Unlike the fierce soldiers, he would sigh, sigh and sigh. He left the capital half a month ago with his fianc¨¦e on the mission. Their rtionship had never been healthy. The Seven Champion White Princes upied the best ces in Jiangnan. Thus, he intended to go sightseeing with her in Jiangnan, since there really had time together. He also nned to take care of her in every capacity. He was sure that would touch her even if she was a rock. He visualised the two of them returning with their romance having ascended to another level, and everyone would enviously watch them. Sadly for him, his ns veered far off course.

    As aforementioned, the journey wasn''t rxing and slow as he predicted. The one forging forward without stopping for a moment was none of than his fianc¨¦e! No matter what the weather was, they''d march through it. He hated the march through the rain, but sleeping in the wild instead of residential homes? The Emperor specifically passed down orders for wealthy locals to take the initiative to wee them fervently as if they were an army. He didn''t expect his fianc¨¦e''s decisions.

    They could''ve taken in the scenery, admired flowers, tried delicacies and gazed at the moon. Instead, however, they were in a rush and ate rations as hard as rocks. Forget a vacation. He never suffered so much in his life before. He put up with all the misery and suffering in silence just for a smile from her. He couldn''t figure out how they were different to every other couple despite also being engaged.

    He wanted to look after her. He wanted to brew a cup of ginger tea for her when it was her bedtime, but she spent all night working through documents until he fell asleep waiting. He couldn''t have pulled her horse for her, either, if he wanted to. His equestrian skills were barely superior to a child''s. How was he going to keep up with her elite equestrian skills? Not even his ck and white horse couldpare to her Battle Cloud Divine Steed. In the blink of an eye, she would be metres ahead already.

    His fianc¨¦e received an urgent report from the capital. ording to what he heard, the new recruit Ming Feizhen was going to be Fuma. He heard about it, and he jeered at the thought. After all, he believed Ming Feizhen won the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament solely thanks to flukes.

    He thought to himself, "I could win, too, if I was lucky. I mean, I narrowly lost in my first fight, but that was only because I was unlucky. It had nothing to do with skill."

    His fianc¨¦e''s attitude to the announcement was sort of ambiguous, though. It should''ve been a celebratory announcement for Liu Shan Men if one of their members was going to be a fuma. His fianc¨¦e was close to the imperial family, but having their member in the role of a fuma would make them even closer, yet she didn''t look as though she was celebrating. When another report stating Ming Feizhen failed to secure the fuma spot, she was jovial. She read the letter over and over and would smile each time as if to say, "I give up on him." She also looked as though she appreciated him.

    The refined gentleman said, "I always thought he was an unreliable one, and what do you know."

    His fianc¨¦e replied, "Yeah, I agree."

    He didn''t like the fact his fianc¨¦e replied with a smile.

 Volume 7 8 Boss

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 8 Boss</h4>

    "Achoo!" Song Ou irritably wiped his nose using a handkerchief.

    Owing to the hasty pace, cold weather and prolonged exposure to the elements, arge number of soldiers fell ill. Song Ou was fortunate enough to only sneeze.

    Song Ou was upset, and a heavy downpour appeared imminent. Out in the open, they felt sticky, didn''t eat or sleep well for two weeks. Song Ou detested having to bathe together with the soldiers in arge bath hall.

    Song Ou eventually lost his patience: "Deputy General, where are you?!"

    "Present!"

    "Where are we?"

    "We are already next to Taihu. We will reach a small town called Canhu Town if we continue south along this course for another half a day. We should arrive before nine at night."

    "We still have half a day to go?!" eximed Song Ou, frowning. "Look. It''s cloudy, and the rain has been brewing all afternoon. If it rains, it''ll rain all night, at the very least. How long would we have to travel in the rain for to reach the town? Aren''t we neglecting the men''s lives and wellbeing? Where''s my exnation?"

    The deputy general scratched his head: "If we do not arrive tonight, though, w-"

    Song Ou pulled his eyebrows together: "So what if we don''t? There are five days to go. We only need to make onest delivery to Huzhou. We aplished our goal ages ago. For what reason do we need to rush today? How many soldiers have fallen ill as a result of marching through the rain? Look at their morale. They''re barely able to move their feet. You do realise we''re representing the imperial court, don''t you? What do you think people would say if we arrived and presented ourselves in an unbing state? Are we just going to neglect the imperial court''s reputation? Furthermore, we need to be considerate of our men''s feelings. I see an estate over there. Let''s sojourn there for the night and continue after the rain stops."

    "Umm¡­ about resting¡­"

    "Men. You, go and ask the estate if they will allow us to stay the night. Hurry on."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Who said we''re taking a break?" asked Shen Yiren, riding over to join the conversation.

    Shen Yiren''s voice was calm and nonchnt, but Song Ou felt a chill down his spine. His words stopped on their way up to his mouth, and he swallowed the fire he intended to spit.

    Shen Yiren was dressed in a blue and white martial arts robe; it looked refreshing on her. Her cleavage stretched the front of her robe so much it wasn''t a stretch to say one could almost see the white globes. That said, the hostility and stern look in her eyes was just as prominent as her arresting beauty. Her contradicting appearance and demeanour was sure to leave a deep first impression.

    Song Ou was intimidated, but he fronted: "I said it. I think we should stop for a break."

    "Exin."

    "Look at the sky. It''s dark; it''s painfully clear there will be heavy downpour. If we don''t find shelter in time, we will have to march through the heavy rain. That is preposterous. Look at the estate over th-."

    "Heavy rain is looming. We must make haste," interjected Shen Yiren, not even bothering to think for more than a second. She looked over her shoulder to the deputy general: "Let everyone know I have given the order to pick up the pace. We must reach Canhu Town tonight."

    Shen Yiren''s voice wasn''t loud; it was firm, nheless. Most notably, her voice was able to calm a frantic army. The deputy general immediately rode off to pass on her orders. Song Ou, on the other hand, didn''t expect her to give amand without even providing him with an exnation.

    Song Ou questioned, "Why are you in such a rush? We''ve been travelling at top speed for three days now. We only arrived in Suzhou yesterday. As soon as we visited Cold Mountain Temple, you immediately had us march toward Huzhou. Huzhou is ourst stop. We have plenty of time; what are we rushing for?"

    "It will rain today."

    "That''s why I said we need to find shelter!"

    Shen Yiren looked at Song Ou as if he was incorrigible. The two were close in age, but their umted experience was reversed. Song Ou grew up as a jaded man, while Shen Yiren went through hell and back over and over.

    Marching through the rain was practically self-inflicted torture; however, there were upsides to using it as a strategy in war. When fighting in groups, weather, timing, terrain andbatants were all equally important, especially when the weather abruptly changed, because it affected thetterponents more than vice versa.

    For example, wet or snowy seasons would be suitable for defensive battles but an atrocious time to go on the offensive. In the context of close-quartersbat, the rain would slow down movement in addition to hamperingbat abilities. Absolutely, it impacted both sides, but the defenders wouldn''t need to dreadfully run through the rain and throw their own formations into disarray. So ordingly, the defensive side was impacted to a smaller degree.

    Marching through the rain went against human nature and normal psychology. It was unlikely anyone could predict the imperial court''s army would opt to march through the rain in the wilderness instead of taking the main paths and resting in luxurious ces. Shen Yiren deliberately had them march through the rain on numerous asions. Thanks to her strategic and cautious approach, they didn''t run into any trouble thus far.

    Shen Yiren heaved a pent up breath: "It''s going to rain all day and night. If we allow it to dy us, we will be in the most perilous situation possible on this entire journey. I don''t want to take the risk."

    "What risk could there possibly be?! Oh, are you in a hurry to return to the capital?"

    Shen Yiren had a feeling Song Ou''s tone was odd, but she nodded: "So what if I am? I''ve left for a long time. What''s so strange about being eager to return and check on things?"

    Song Ou felt more livid than ever. He sternly demanded, "Stop! Stop marching! We''ll resume the march tomorrow."

    Shen Yiren red daggers at Song Ou: "What are you up to now?"

    "Vice-Captain Shen, don''t forget that His Majesty named me themander and you my deputy for this job. I am now deeming your decision to be wrong. I am overruling yourmand."

    "You''re threatening me with His Majesty?" asked Shen Yiren, tone wrathful. She rarely ever changed her decisions: "Try me¡­"

    Shen Yiren reached for her sword as she spoke. If he dared to cancel her order, she had no qualms with puncturing several big holes in him.

    Tense, Song Ou thundered, "Have you forgotten what you promised my parents in Yang Zhou?"

    Shen Yiren froze.

    "I still remember the promise you made. There''s no going back on your word!"

    Shen Yiren mulled over it for a while before slowly raising a hand: "Go and ask the estate owner if we can spend the night there. If not, we shall set up camp here and continue our march once the rain subsides. Have fifty cavalry split up into two routes and scout the area within twenty-five kilometres of the estate. Have two different others conduct searches. Do not neglect any signs of enemies."

    The deputy general soon returned to report that the estate belonged to andlord at Canhu Town. It wasn''t particrlyrge. The good news was it could fit the entire escort. The owner said it was an honour to provide imperial court vassals hospitality, so he weed them.

    Song Ou raised his chin smugly. Shen Yiren narrowed her eyes. Nobody but her knew what was going through her mind. She conceded, "Let us stay there for the night, then."

    Song Ou, smug, boasted, "Exactly. I told y(ou)-."

    Thud! Song Ou had no time to dodge the lightning-fast snap kick straight up his midline. He grabbed his crotch and keeled over, shrivelling up as if he was a prawn left out to dry.

    Ruthlessly, Shen Yiren warned, "The next time you try that with me, I promise you''ll be working in the garden with Eunuch Sui in your next life."

    Shen Yiren then snorted and led the escort to the estate.

 Volume 7 9 Evil Spirits. Beacon Fired.

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 9 Evil Spirits. Beacon Fired.</h4>

    After entering the estate, Shen Yiren apologised to the owner first and foremost. For the most part, civilians didn''t like being affiliated with government officials, especially those in the military. Shen Yiren was cognizant of the fact, which was why she never considered asking civilians for shelter.iu Shan Men was established to work for the people. The highest standard they had to uphold was, "Protect the nation. Not the monarch." In other words, if the nation was ever in peril, they were to sacrifice the monarch for the nation''s sake. Liu Shan Men''s reputation was always decent among the people. For the reason that, unlike the Qilin Guards who lodged at residential homes, they never disturbed the people''s peace unless absolutely necessary.

    The owner of the estate was a wealthy owner in Huzhou and was acquainted with government officials. As such, it wasn''t the first time he opened his doors to government officials. Shen Yiren and Song Ou needed to hide their identities. Nevertheless, the deputy general''s presence was a great honour the owner could brag about. He couldn''t give the female general, who kept apologising to him, grief, either.

    Shen Yiren demanded more out of herself than others demanded of her. She wasn''tfortable with taking shelter there, so she had the soldiers chop firewood, fetch water, fix the roof and so forth to repay the owner.

    The estate wasn''t a stately estate. Though it was located in a rather remote location, it was spacious enough for the escort of three hundred people to lodge at without disrupting the daily life of others.

    Shen Yiren: "I''m going to wash, change and turn in. Don''t disturb me if there''s nothing important."

    Song Ou: "But the owner said he wanted to treat us, so¡­"

    Shen Yiren shot Song Ou admonishing re: "Treat us? Didn''t I make it clear we wouldn''t ept a single grain of food from him and would strictly stay for just the night? Treat us to what?"

    "He said he wanted to provide the three of us with cordial hospitality. It''s hard to turn him down."

    The three individuals Song Ou referred to were Shen Yiren, himself and the deputy general. Shen Yiren didn''t state her rank, so people might assume she was ranked higher than the deputy general.

    Shen Yiren stopped to think for a moment then explicated, "Tell the others not to use any of the owner''s resources. If they''re hunger, eat the rations we brought along. If they''re thirsty, drink the water they fetched themselves. This isn''t just about being a decent guest; this is also taking our safety into ount. Don''t forget we''re still marching. That said, it would be inappropriate to turn down the owner''s offer. I have to go through documents, so you two go¡­ And don''t drink."

    Song Ou was livid his fianc¨¦e wouldn''t let him run things for once or even attend a dinner with him, so off he went in a cranky mood.

    Shen Yiren went to have her bath. Since the weather was stuffy and warm, her wet hair stuck to her forehead, and she was sweating profusely. Consequently, her clothes would cling to her body whenever she moved; it was ufortable to say the least. As the descendant of an exalted n, she was used to being clean and living infort. Being able to maintain her demeanour as a leader and keep her priorities in line demonstrated she was a patient character.

    Shen Yiren removed her dirty clothing. She folded them at the clothes rack before she went to wash herself. She kept her sword on her at all times, since they were at a civilian home they''d never been to before. She spent less than ten minutes in the bath before getting out and changing into clean clothes. Her new clothes were light blue. The arms were tapered. She slipped on light boots and pants that allowed ease of movement; everything she wore was to amodate mobility. She tied up her long hair behind her.

    Shen Yiren had a brief respite before asking for someone to send her the documents she needed to go through. She wrote a report of what happened over thest few days in an ordion. Then, she grabbed Liu Shan Men''s documents to read.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The past few years, Shen Yiren made the final call on all decisions at Liu Shan Men as its vice-captain. She gradually loosened her clutch on the reins more recently, only asking about important matters since Liu Shan Men was beginning to rise again.

    With Shen Yiren away on business, Ming Feizhen was the only one in power at Liu Shan Men''s branch in the capital. The Emperor paid particr attention to him and his two colleagues. Meanwhile, she had no idea when the Emperor''s Entourage or the Qilin Guards would attack them again, keeping her on edge. While away on her mission, she secretly sent pigeons on delivery missions to stay in contact with Liu Shan Men because she wanted to keep a pulse on the situation there. Fortunately, nothing happened.

    Shen Yiren leanred the Emperor assigned Ming Feizhen and his two colleagues to different offices and had them enrolled as students of various secretaries. That implied¡­ he wanted to make an exception to promote them. She, therefore, worried about what sort of challenges awaited them. As she thought about how to support them, her eyebrows gradually came together without her realising. Usually, Ming Feizhen woulde over with a pot of tea, giggling and shamelessly trying to sneak peeks at what she was working on at that hour.

    "Boss, what are you working on when we''re off work? You must be hiding something you don''t want to share with me," Ming Feizhen would say, pulling out a seat to sit down and behavingpletely unlike her subordinate.

    Imagining Ming Feizhen''s mischievous grin helped Shen Yiren rx. She grew used to discussing work in her study, so she instinctively muttered, "His Majesty¡­ must have a big job for you if he''s promoting you. The Seven Champion Princes'' status is unshakable. However, since Jin Wangsun''s fiasco, their foundations have begun to shake. His Majesty must want to capitalise on the opportunity. Your task is likely to be rted to the Seven Champion White Princes."

    Shen Yiren imagined Ming Feizhenzily replying, "We''re not even qualified to carry the Seven Champion White Princes'' shoes! You must keep it together, Boss. You''re Liu Shan Men''s only hope!"

    Ming Feizhen would sound as if he was panicking a little, but his attitude would calm her down.

    "You three aren''t good enough yet for His Majesty to send you to your deaths. Liu Shan Men must be assigned a special role¡­ What do you think it is?"

    "Whatever Liu Shan Men is good at, I guess. In terms of might, the Qilin Guards''bat prowess surpasses our own. In terms of intelligence gathering, The Emperor''s Entourage is miles ahead of us. If Liu Shan Men is good at anything it''s probably the ''for the people'' motto."

    Yes, Ming Feizhen gave his answer with that irritable attitude. He mentioned Liu Shan Men''s motto as if he was selling stinky tofu. However, the motto lit up a bulb for Shen Yiren: "The Qilin Guards maintain peace in the martial world. The Emperor''s Entourage is responsible for internal politics, so they must remain in the shadows. We''re the only group that can boldly collect evidence openly to strip the Seven Champion White Princes of their power. His Majesty must be nning to try and find a breakthrough via this route. I''m guessing he wants us to find evidence to evict the Seven Champion White Princes."

    Shen Yiren then said, "I''m sure that''s it. Feizhen, bring me a brush."

    Shen Yiren stretched her hand out with the corner of her lip tugged up, but no brush every came. She nced up to see the study was empty. It finally urred to her she was so deep in her thoughts that she lost awareness of her surroundings. The mischievous Ming Feizhen wasn''t there. She smiled helplessly to herself and shook her head. It had only been months since they were acquainted. It had only been two weeks since she set out, yet she was already not used to having Ming Feizhen by her side when she was working.

    Shen Yiren picked up her brush and prepared to write when, all of a sudden, she smelt a faint spicy scent. The scent closely resembled chilli to the point it could easily slip under the radar. Thanks to Yan Shisan''s training, however, Shen Yiren was able to distinguish scents better than the average person. If she could further improve her internal skills, she would be able to push the envelope on her smelling sense even further beyond.

    The scent raised suspicion. The scent¡­ wasn''t an aphrodisiac or poison. It was a signal. A certain group dwelling at the outskirts of Beijiang liked to use it as a contact signal.

    Shen Yiren deliberated, "Beijiang''s Evil Spirits'' Evil Spirits signal?"

    Notes:

    *Light Boots ¨C They''re different to the alsomonly worn boots that go up to the shin. Light boots is a term I made up for them since there isn''t one. Tranted literally, they''re called "quick boots".

 Volume 7 10 And So, It Begins

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 10 And So, It Begins</h4>

    Thunder pped. A droplet of water sttered on the ground. A second and third dropped followed¡­ Pit, pat, countless droplets rained down. Mist gradually built up. Jiangnan''s rain was always gentle, but the drizzle would go on for a long time. It was safe to assume the rain wouldst all night. How much filth did the winter rain that night wash away?

    A family servant suspiciously climbed over the wall connected to Shen Yiren''s group''s courtyard. Suddenly, he dropped to the ground with a thud. Shen Yiren choked him by the neck with a vice-like grip and interrogated him: "How many members of Evil Spirits havee? Where are they?"

    Shen Yiren wore on the ck robe and watched him from the darkness when she noticed him behaving suspiciously. When she deemed it appropriate, she decided to subdue him.

    The servant could smell the fragrance of plum blossoms tickling his nose. Though Shen Yiren was attired in a ck robe to prevent the reflection from the water revealing her identity, there was no denying her curves. Seeing the beauty, he felt as if the pain at his neck reduced to a degree.

    "Speak and I shall reduce the pain."

    Shen Yiren tightened her hold. As a decently high-ranking member of Evil Spirits, the servant wasn''t the type to easily surrender. Still, the smooth touch of her white hands was arresting. When she squeezed tighter, restricting blood flow to his brain and oxygen from entering his lungs, the pain turned into an arousing sensation. In the end, he ratted out his team. After that, he said, "I-I-I want m(ore)-."

    "Have this!" Shen Yiren used a finger to slit the servant''s throat.

    The servant died with a desire for more abuse on his face. If the masochists were to learn of his death, they''d praise him for being cultured.

    Shen Yiren was exhausted. When Yan Shisan taught her that particr interrogation method, he did tell her it''d hard for her to be an expert interrogator, because she was already a stunner, yet also tried to keep her feminine charms, namely smooth and radiant skin. As he predicted, when she used the tactic for the first time she discovered shecked the strength to strangle someone to death. Despite her efforts to hurt him, her first victim wasn''t hurt. Instead, he was so happy that he cried tears of joy.

    "What are you so happy about?! Cry miserably or I''ll strangle you to death!" Shen Yiren yelled to her first victim.

    Shen Yiren didn''t realise she loosened her hold, since her hand gradually went numb from squeezing his neck for so long, but she tightened it again. With blood flowing to his brain and oxygen flowing again, she unknowingly turned his experience into an arousing one. In the end, the suspect spilt the beans and was so happy after that he wanted to turn a new leaf. That almost left her, however, with a traumatic memory.

    Whenever Shen Yiren used the interrogation method, she''d always acquire urate information. Howbeit, the suspect would be a ve to the interrogation method. It was essentially addiction to a drug. Not even Yan Shisan possessed the innate potential she did with the method. Every time, Yan Shisan would just remark, "Natural Queen¡­" and stop there.

    Shen Yiren rarely interrogated suspects in recent years. Maybe she found it excessively inhumane or troublesome. She merely had no choice this time. She was strangely frustrated when she found the power of hers had improved since shest used it. It didn''t help that the information she obtained was immensely important: Evil Spirits were targeting them, and they wereing.

    Evil Spirits, a group of bandits in Beijiang, were a force to be reckoned with at what they did. They imed to be capable of stealing anything and everything. True to their im, they never failed before.

    Evil Spirits outnumbered and possessed morebat might than Shen Yiren''s group of three hundred. If Shen Yiren''s group was still travelling in the rain, then they might''ve had a fighting chance. Since Evil Spirits had looked into the group, however, Shen Yiren''s group was going to have to fend off ambushes from behind going forward. On a positive note, she was confident their main forces were hiding over two and a half kilometres away because her scouts conducted a search within two and a half kilometres from the estate but didn''t find anything. The servant was supposed to be their messenger, which meant Shen Yiren still had time¡­

    Shen Yiren suddenly felt a splitting migraine that even she sumbed to, clutching her head. It wasn''t the first time she experienced it; she suffered from the issue a long time ago. Unfortunately, not even the imperial doctors could find a solution for her headache.

    "Damn it, why now of all times¡­?"

    The pain was tolerable during mild onsets; nevertheless, it was still enough to keep her up at night. That was the reason she seldom slept at night and would, instead, opt to work or train during the night. It wasn''t umon for her to not sleep fifteen to sixteen nights a month. She would sleep two to four hours seven or eight days a month. She only managed to get in six to eight hours of sleep five to six days each month. The less she slept, the more frequent the headaches would hit her, unfortunately. Worst of all, it just had to gue her then, when they were in a perilous spot.

    "If we didn''t decide to rest here¡­" Shen Yiren bit down on her lip viciously to fight the pain and forced herself to get up and leave: "I need to take care of things over here first¡­ I''ll have to¡­ trust the rest to him."

    ========

    In the main hall, the owner''s family of sixteen people fervently weed their guests. Song Ou was free of Shen Yiren''s restraints and was able to disy his exceptional socialisation skills he learnt as a young master of a reputable n.

    Brother Bastard shared drinks and pped his gums masterfully. The owner''s familyughed and drank to their heart''s desire. Only the deputy general, an uncultured individual, chomped away on chicken drumsticks without any intent of sparing one for anybody else after two weeks on a vegetarian diet.

    "Amazing, Lord Song, I never knew there were so many magnificent ces to visit in Yangzhou. This old one recently heard lots of fine gold silk and Phoebe Zhennan had been imported in Yangzhou. Your artisans are splendid artisans, too, apparently, which has led to the creation of worksparable to jewellery. Would you happen to have seen them?"

    Song Ou let out a long sigh: "This one grew up in Yangzhou, true. Ever since moving to the capital, though, he rarely had the chance to leave. This time¡­ Ou means, Ou has a chance to visit his parents thanks to work this time. Ou did not have the chance to stay for long, sadly. It has been a long time since Ou has had the opportunity to hear about these things."

    The deputy general was native of the North. He joined the military out of nowhere; nobody knew his background. There were unverified ims he was Lie Jingchan''s student. Whether it was his speech or behaviour, he was never considerate of anyone. The deputy general pulled all sorts of facial reactions as he listened to the conversation because it rendered him befuddled. He kept thinking, "What''s Captain Son''s problem? What the hell does he keep Ou Ou-ing for? I haven''t stopped eating for a second. I thought he was choking."

    They suddenly heard the thunderp outside. The rain poured down loudly. The winds blew violently, rattling the windows. Song Ou peered outside and smiled proudly as if he won a bet: "It has finally rained. How can we travel in that weather? The soldiers would all fall seriously ill if we listened to Yiren."ike a master, yet like a bandit, the deputy general, drumstick in one hand, pped his thigh andughed: "Boy, am I d it rained. Let it all out, son! I''ve been holding it in for days!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Ou didn''t want to stoop down to the deputy general''s uncultured level, so he looked away.

    Noticing the discontent seeping into Song Ou''s tone, the owner said, "Lord Song, you and Miss Shen¡­ seem to have a special rtionship."

    Song Ou smiled proudly: "She is my wife."

    "Oh?!" The owner raised a thumb: "A match made in heaven! A match made in heaven, you are! This old one also thinks you two look perfect together. Miss Shen is as beauty as a deity and straightforward. She is definitely a valiant woman. It''s easy to see why she would like a man as suave as you, Lord Song."

    Song Ou didn''t voice his discontent with Shen Yiren skipping the banquet. The owner''s brown ttery, therefore, was timed perfectly. If Song Ou had a tail, it''d be wagging around. He turned his head as if he was reciting poetry and responded, "Hahaha, we are only engaged, only engaged. My fianc¨¦e ispetent, but she''s still too young and inexperienced, so she doesn''t know where to draw the line. She still needs Ou to stay by her side and remind her."

    The owner nced over to his sixth concubine he just married, who was a girl fifteen years old. She was red in the face. Whilst keeping his hands busy under the table, the owner gave Song Ou a, "You know what I mean as a man" smile before bursting out inughter: "There are some things only the young understand, right? Hahaha."

    Song Ou went along: "Oh? Oh? Oh? Ohahahaha, you have my admiration!"

    Sure, Song Ou''sugh was fake, and he was afraid Shen Yiren would hear him; however, he would never let someone step on his pride even if he lost a fight. He forced down three drinks to calm himself down. Then, he resumed his conversation with the owner. He enjoyed himself so much one would think that he would''ve loved to have been born thirty years earlier to befriend the owner sooner.

    While the deputy general enjoyed the sight of the heavy downpour, he''d asionally nce back at Song Ou and mutter under his breath, "Shameless jerk" but didn''t ruin the ambience.

    Rumble! Thunder pped again. The wind blew a closed window open. Rain drops invaded the room, whilst the window banged against the wall. It wasn''t as cold as it was in the North, but it was cold enough for Southerners Song Ou and the owner to feel a chill down their spins.

    "Blow wind, blow!" cheered the deputy general, pping his hands. "Now this is more like winter."

    Once the wind blew into the room, the deputy general''s smile froze. Concern crept up onto his face.

    "This is¡­" The deputy general suddenly thundered, "Everyone take cover where the owner is!"

    Song Ou, in his drunken stupor, asked, "Wh-What? We dancing now?"

    The deputy general grabbed Song Ou and shook him: "Dancing your dumb ass! I can smell blood in the wind!"

    Notes:

    *The title tranted literally would be "The Wind Rises." That''s one way of saying, "Herees trouble," and anything else you can think of along those lines.

 Volume 7 11 Evil Spiritsâ€™ Abels

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 11 Evil Spirits¡¯ Abels</h4>

    The deputy general scared the owner''s family with his abrupt warning. The owner forced a smile: "Deputy General, please do not panic. We killed cattle to prepare meals for you all, so it is perfectly normal for there to be a scent of blood."

    "You think I can''t distinguish between human and cattle blood? There are assassins on the estate grounds! They''ve already taken lives! If you want to live, move over to the owner''s side." The deputy general smashed the table apart with a thunderous m of his hand and thundered, "Hurry!"

    Frightened silly, the owner''s family looked ghastly pale and hurriedly did as they were told, forming a big circle. They still weren''t sure if the deputy general was deceiving them to demand money. Song Ou, on the other hand, woke from his drunken stupor. At the end of the day, Song Ou''s internal strength wasn''t all talk. He moulded energy inside him to expel the alcohol upon smelling the blood.

    "Everybody stay calm. As long as Ou is still breathing, he will not let any harm befall your family."

    "Pl-Please protect my family, Lord Song, Deputy General."

    Song Ou was going to respond, but the deputy general dragged the former off by his arm.

    "Wh-Where are you two going?"

    "Lord Song and I know how to fight, so we''re going to go check things out. If you want to live, stay put!"

    The owner: "Our family is defenceless. If we encounter the assass-."

    "Put a sock in it! We''re going to kill them, aren''t we?!" eximed the deputy general, dragging Song Ou out the door.

    As soon as the deputy general pulled the door open, a ghost head broadsword came swinging down at him. The deputy general shoved Song Ou aside, and then he swiftly caught the de between his hands. He redirected the force of the swing, pulling the assassin toward him and driving a kick forward, sending the assassin reeling back into his reinforcements behind him.

    Frosty rain vited their faces. There were over a hundred assassins brandishing sharp weapons and attired in clothing with the character "Evil" tantly showing. The des of those in the back were wet, but some had their clothes stained¡­ with blood. Behind them were over a dozen corpses. In other words, they ughtered the family servants as they came in, and the blood scent came from the servants.

    The deputy general wasted no time, howling as he charged into the group of enemies and blew them away with his heavy blows, literally. Two assassins swung at Song Ou from his sides. He reactively slipped the swings, getting in between the two. He reached forward with one arm and backward with the other. He skilfully disarmed the two and took their broadswords for himself. Not a fan of killing indiscriminately, he decided to knock them out with the reverse side of the de. To his surprise, he ended up slicing straight through to the other side of their necks.

    Song Ou didn''t notice their des were curved in a peculiar way. On the reverse side, the top was blunt, but the bottom was sharp. On the customary sharp side, the top was sharp, while the bottom was blunt. The design empowered the wielder with the ability to use four varieties of techniques - not ounting for personal style. Dual wielding the way Song Ou did would grant the user eight modes of attack and defence. Based on the design, it went without saying the assassins weren''t from an orthodox n.

    Song Ou easily took out the two assassins, for his skills were superior to them. If it was his troops who encountered them, it was unlikely they would fair well against the assassins. The realisation was scary, because the soldiers were done drinking and eating. Since they just turned in, they likely threw aside their gear. Without their gear and in their state, they would be fodder for the assassins. Therefore, regret surfaced in his mind.

    Song Ou mused, "Was¡­ Yiren right? No, no, she wasn''t. She wasn''t. If we forced ourselves to travel, we''d be in even more jeopardy if they ambushed us in the rain."

    Brother Bastard had no time to spare on thinking about anything besides staying alive because the next strike came.

    "Heh, Ugly here looks as though he knows a move or two. Let''s be friends!!"

    A man donning a brocade robeunched himself through the air and toward Song Ou so vigorously that it looked as if he''d jump across forty-five metres. Of course, there was a cap to what humans were capable of. In the end, he only leapt twenty-one metres. As soon as hended, though, he bolted and leapt again. By the third leap, he had closed the gap between himself and Song Ou.

    "Hah! Take this!"

    The man pulled his arm back for a crushing punch, creating a vacuum where no raindrops existed or could prate. Song Ou judged it was impossible to block the punch head on when he felt the shockwave approaching. Song Ou took on a defensive stance from Song n''s broadsword style, partially concealing the two des. The technique consisted of consecutive attacks using dual broadswords, one swinging after the other. When switching techniques, the wielder could use the switch as a counter as a means of preventing wasted movement.

    Song Ou''s opponent smirked. Instead of avoiding the des, he pulverised the paper-thin des. ng! Song Ou''s opponent snapped both des in a single punch! The punch was practically a second away from Song Ou''s chest by the time he reacted. The punch that would''ve finished Song Ou ended up hitting thin air. The man threw the punch with every ounce of power he could muster. After missing his target, he felt his blood and qi roiling in his body.

    From roughly one hundred and eighty centimetres away, Song Ou belted, "Who are you?! Do you realise you''re attacking government officials in the Seven Champion Princes'' territory?"

    Song Ou had been practicing against an imaginary opponent specialising in punching styles. He believed his internal energy to be no inferior to the bastard, Long Zaitian, but he lost when they threw hands. Song Oucked the experience and imposing aura behind his blows. Neither of thoseponents could be learnt in a short span of time. Song Ou, therefore, decided to devise an escape tactic in case he ever needed it.

    Fleeing on Wings was Brother Bastard''s ultimate creation. Using two weapons, he would bait the opponent into smashing the weapons to create force travelling toward him. He would then use the momentum of that force to propel himself backwards. This time, he managed to propel himself back eighteen metres. Still, because the punch snapped the des, Brother Bastard was frightened for a second.

    Song Ou''s opponent was tall and stocky. His movements resembled a wild beast; he even forewent shoes, revealing his dirty feet. After missing his punch, he threw another punch forthwith. Brother Bastard knew how powerful his opponent''s punches were, but he didn''t have a weapon to use his brainchild, Fleeing on Wings, again, so he was rendered panic-stricken.

    "What are you just standing there for, courting death?!" Deputy General Hong shouted from behind Song Ou in a masculine voice.

    Deputy General Hong met the punch head on with a hard palm strike. The air could be heard sting as their blows met, knocking Song Ou off bnce with the shockwave generated.

    The owner and his family exited the room and were instantly scared deathly pale. Eyes on his dead servant, the owner fumed, "How dare you viins do this?! This old one will report you! This old one will report you!"

    Song Ou instantly reacted and warned, "Why are you out here? Hurry back inside!"

    The assassins charged toward the owner as if they smelt blood. Song Ou was there in the nick of time to protect them. Unfortunately, he couldn''t protect the entire family at the same time. After a flurry of swings, one assassin cut down the owner''s wife. They yanked his mistresses over and thrust a de through the owner''s newest mistress.

    The enraged and upset owner wanted to avenge his mistress, but Song Ou stopped him: "Sir, as a man, you must not bat an eye even if you are forced to wear a green hat!"

    The owner bit down on his lip and decided to heed the wise and infallible advice worth gold. Song Ou, sympathetic, grabbed the owner by the arm to pull him away with the intent of providing him with more wisdom; however, a gust of wind blew toward them. Deputy General Hong was back.

    "Deputy General Hong, you¡­"

    "Shut up!"

    While Song Ou was dumbstruck, Deputy General Hong thrust his hand in an upward motion,nding his palm strike flush on the owner! Like a geyser, the owner sprayed a mouthful of blood vertically and rolled on the ground. Interestingly, he didn''tnd with a thud but a ng that iron would emit.

    Song Ou wasn''t able to process what just happened. Meanwhile, Deputy General Hong went on a palm strike spree, battering the owner''s family one by one.

    "Wh-What are you doing?! You are the disciple of an orthodox and reputable sect?! Why are you killing innocent people?!"

    "I must be a saint if they''re innocent!" brayed Deputy General Hong, still palming left, right and centre: "They''re together! Are you seriously telling me you still haven''t noticed, you blockhead?! If I didn''t take him out just now, you''d be the one lying dead on the ground."

    "So you noticed? Take this!"

    The stocky man tried a run his fist through Deputy General Hong from behind. Deputy General Hong, sick of fighting the people in front of him, howled and swung his right arm in a circr motion. He tucked his right back and then thrust with all of his body weight behind it!

    Boom! The Deputy General Hong sent his opponent into the air, spinning circles. Once his opponentnded, he staggered behind the others behind him andnded on his bottom once the force dissipated.

    Song Ou had no idea Deputy General Hong was so strong until then.

    "Impressive. I didn''t expect there to be someone of such calibre within the imperial court''s ranks,"mented the owner''s son, sitting up and panting after taking a blow from Deputy General Hong. He was wounded, but his voice was scary calm.

    "Taking a palm strike on your chest from me and still being able to talk¡­ is also impressive."

    The owner''s son took his time sitting up. His muscles convulsed more and more intensely. He inquired, "You shouldn''t have noticed¡­ May I ask what gave us away, Deputy General?"

    Deputy General Hong sneered: "I grew up in the North. I know how people afraid of the cold react as well as the back of my hand. When the breeze blew through the window, Captain Song shivered and flinched despite his internal strength, yet none of you felt cold. You wouldn''t have been indifferent to the cold if you weren''t used to it. That was the first suspicious thing. When I mentioned the scent of blood, you said you ughtered cattle to treat us. Forget the fact that we ordered our men not to consume anything you offered. Beef is not the main staple of Jiangnan cuisine. You wouldn''t have given that answer if it wasn''t an instinctive answer. Youe from Beijiang, where beef is a staple. Did you not realise I didn''t let Song Ou stay with you back there to prevent you from sticking a knife in his back?"

    "I never thought we''d give ourselves away over something so minor. I¡­ I¡­ Woo!"

    The owner''s son suddenly discharged energy, bursting bones, clothing and skin into fragments. It turned out his appearance was abination of a disguise technique and certain materials. His head was the only part of him that belonged to him. The rest of his body was a mash of body parts from several people.

    Song Ou: "So that was a fake body. No wonder why he could still speak. That must''ve barely hurt him."

    Hong Jiu calmly asked, "Disguise material, huh? Human flesh?"

    "Indeed," answered the owner''s son.

    The owner''s son turned out to be a short man unlike his disguise. He wore a delighted look. His ck pupil hardly upied any space in his eyes. He resembled someone who was high and needed to wrap himself up to control his urges.

    "This is the first time I, Mountain Monster, have been exposed. May I ask for your honourable name¡­ Deputy General?"

    Mountain Monster over to Deputy General Hong and thrust his broadsword forward at the same time he was speaking.

    "This general''s surname is Hong. His surname is Longlong. I am Hong Longlong!" Hong Jiu, who took on the name Hong Longlong, replied.

    Hong Jiu struck faster than Mountain Monster. Mountain Monster tried to cut the back of Hong Jiu''s hand to disable thetter''s palm skills. Hong Jiu beat him to the punch again,ing down from above to catch Mountain Monster''s wielding hand as if he was ying tag. There were no more than four people present who could keep up with the rapid and dexterous back and forth.

    Hong Jiu and Mountain Monster picked up their pace as they went. More sophisticated techniques and strategies were also unravelled. Hong Jiu didn''t like how things boded, so he swung horizontally, smashing his hand into the side of Mountain Monster''s broadsword. Hong Jiu proved his speed and improvisation to be superior once again. Both of them felt the impact of the close-quarters exchange.

    Hong Jiu thought, "He looks demented, but his hands are quick and is a tough nut to crack. His internal strength is greater than the big oaf."

    Song Ou: "Who are you people? Do you have any idea how serious a crime it is to brazenly attack imperial court officials?!"

    The big oaf Hong Jiu battered finally managed to catch his breath. He responded with augh: "Haha, we''ve been tailing you ever since you left the capital. We stalked you from Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Longcheng, Yixing and around Taihu, but we couldn''t find any opportunities to strike. That missy sure screwed us over good, travelling through the night and even in harsh weather. You all moved faster than us bandits. We lost track of you on multiple asions thanks to your varying pace. If we couldn''t stop you before you reached Huzhou, we would''ve tailed you for nothing."

    Hong Jiu only joined the escort two days ago under Ming Feizhen''s orders. Ming Feizhen ordered Hong Jiu to track down Night Net Manual and Jin Wangsun''s corpse, so Hong Jiu thought it would be wise to go to Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters at Zhenjiang. The issue was Night Fortress and Gold and Silver Sect just fought tooth and nail with each other. They had settled their previous differences; howbeit, it had yet topletely blow over. Hence, Hong Jiu had no choice but to request Shen Yiren''s intervention as Mount Daluo''s disciple because she visited Gold and Silver Sect''s headquarters no long ago to find out some information.

    Out of consideration for Hong Jiu being Ming Feizhen''s martial brother and her need for manpower, Shen Yiren suggested he join the escort for a few days in exchange for information she learnt from Gold and Silver Sect. Hong Jiu, a wanderer, couldn''t be any happier to travel with the escort and receive special treatment. Little did he know he''d be marching through the cold, rain and windy weather. He even wondered if it was his bad luck that led to them having a run in with bandits.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Before Hong Jiu joined the escort, he was off investigating on his own, yet he never noticed Evil Spirits tailing them the entire way. He was genuinely impressed they concealed themselves so well.

    It finally urred to Song Ou that Shen Yiren kept them safe from harm the entire time. If they were ambushed as soon as they left the capital, they''d have lost so many presents that settling the mistake would be impossible. He was upset with himself when he realised his folly led to the pinch.

    "Wait¡­ Where is Yiren? She should be here when by now," realised Song Ou. He asked, "Where is Yiren? What did you do to her?"

    The oaf was visibly puzzled: "What are you on about? We bumped into you as soon as we entered. Don''t worry, though, we''ll find her once we search this ce after finishing with you."

    "You think I''ll fall for that? You started cutting people down left and right the moment you entered. It''s obvious this was premeditated. You killed my men and kidnapped Yiren. Now, tell me where she is!"

    The oaf nced over to Mountain Monster, who shook his head in response, indicating he didn''t understand what Song Ou was talking about. One of Mountain Monster''s subordinates ran over and reported, "Second-in-Command, we didn''t find any soldiers inside. The goods have vanished, too!"

    "Vanished?!" Mountain Monster fumed at the oaf, "Ox Demon! How are you so ipetent? You can''t kill a single soldier with a hundred men?"

    Ox Demon thundered, "How should I know what happened? Aren''t you supposed to know if there''s an underground passage on these grounds?"

    "Piss off with your bullsh*t! I spent four hours investigating this ce before we upied it, and I didn''t find anything!"

    "Excuse me," interjected Hong Jiu, wearing his signature smile whenever he saw the world burn. "I think our vice-captain haspletely fooled you."

    It wasn''t hard to figure out why Shen Yiren, the soldiers and presents were all missing. Shen Yiren obviously had the soldiers withdraw before Evil Spirits invaded. The looks on Mountain Monster and Ox Demon faces when they exchanged eye contact showed Shen Yiren caught them by surprise.

    Mountain Monster was in charge of weing their prey and subduing themanders to disconnect their forces. They managed to stall themanders, but everyone else escaped!

    Mountain Monster''s eyes darted back and forth quickly. Out of nowhere, he chuckled. He trained his bloodthirsty eyes on Song Ou and Hong Jiu. Voice sinister, he sneered, "They left you two pour souls behind. How does it feel to betrayed? Fantastic?"

    "Was that a trick question?" Hong Jiu clenched his fists then wiped down his hands. Smiling confidently, he added, "I stayed here because I know I won''t die here. You want to test my theory out?"

    Mountain Monster looked thrilled. He maintained his twisted smirk. Hong Jiu didn''t like the smirk; he cautiously surveyed his surroundings, contemting, "What''s he smiling about? Did I miss something?"

    A cold breeze suddenly approached Hong Jiu from behind. Song Ou eximed, "Watch out, Deputy General Hong!"

    Hong Jiu couldn''t put his finger on what was wrong, so he asked, "Watch out for w-."

    A blue sword aura blitzed through the rain. Hong Jiu never even detected the attack. The assassin was none other than the supposed owner''s sixth mistress. Had it not been for the sword wielder in a ck robe intervening, he would''ve been in trouble.

    "Aw, I like burly men like you. Why didn''t you let me kill you?" sarcastically asked the female assassin, in a cute voice.

    Admittedly, the girl was more pleasing to the eyepared to Mountain Monster despite being armed with a sharp sword. She retreated back to Mountain Monster and Ox Demon''s side. Her footwork was drastically superior to her tworades and was likely the most troublesome to fight among the three.

    Hong Jiu: "There was another one¡­? Thanks."

    Hong Jiu''s saviour didn''t respond. Standing in front of Evil Spirits'' three members, she removed her ck hood. The rain coursing down her hair didn''t extinguishing the unwavering fire in her: "River Monster, Mountain Monster, Ox Demon¡­ why isn''t your leader showing himself when you three sub-leaders are here?"

    The swordswoman''s curves, sense of justice and aura could only belong to one person: Shen Yiren.

    Song Ou cheerfully eximed, "Yiren!"

    Shen Yiren subtly nodded and told the three, "My men have left. You won''t have any hope of finding them in tonight''s heavy rain. All that''s left is whether or not you have it takes to subdue us."

    Shen Yiren aimed the tip of her sword enhanced with her qi at the "owner" on the ground and demanded, "Get up, Evil Spirits'' leader."

    The "owner" finally smiled. His smile was the nightmare of Beijiang''s warriors and the despair of nobles in Beijiang. It was the smile of a man who had weathered the desert, political uproots in the imperial court and bloody battles.

    Without realising her tone wasn''t as imposing as it usually was, Shen Yiren firmly demanded, "Get up, Evil Spirits''¡­ Abels!"

    Abels opened his menacing eyes.

 Volume 7 12 Competent Daughter of an Exalted Clan (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 12 Competent Daughter of an Exalted n (Part 1)</h4>

    The victor between the two teams was decided within ten minutes.

    Song Ou killed two henchmen, no adepts and suffered critical internal injuries - defeated.

    Shen Yiren killed seven henchmen and three adepts. She was cut with a de and coughed blood - defeated.

    Hong Jiu killed twenty-nine henchmen and one adept. His index finger broke - defeated.

    Up until Abels made his move, triumph or defeat was still up in there air.

    Shen Yiren''s team tried their best to turn the tides. They ughtered over two dozens of enemies. Nobody expected Shen Yiren to go wild and smash through the wall; on the other side of the wall was a waterway. Shen Yiren left a trail of blood in her wake, trying to create a retreat path.

    As a veteran of the pugilistic word and a quick thinker, Hong Jiu threw a smoke bomb when the enemy was distracted to escape.

    Song Ou showed a sagacious side for once. His two allies drove the enemies back. Meanwhile, he went and hijacked a small boat. Song n was involved with business; therefore, he had travelled across long bodies of water for business before. Thanks to the experiences, he was savvy with boats and knew how to read the water''s behaviour. He could move the boat three metres with each stroke effortlessly and was more technically sound than the average sailor at operating a boat. If they could escape, he would be credited with the biggest contribution. s, their efforts were futile.

    Abels'' movements went unnoticed. In a single leap, he leapt over sixty-six metres. Shen Yiren and Hong Jiu didn''t even realise he was behind them when hended there. The only one who saw it was a horrified Song Ou. He witnessed Abels pick up a bamboo pole for paddling. Abels used it tounch himself over to their boat effortlessly. Song Ou watched the bamboo pole coil and spring, smashing the end of the small boat with the impact of a colossal hammer. Even more unbelievable was the end of the boat wasn''t damaged despite the impact. The small fishing boat should''ve been able to carry over a dozen people. For Abels to drive the boat back to the shore, he must''ve generated five thousand kilograms of force.

    By the time Hong Jiu and Shen Yiren noticed Abels'' presence, he had already circled around to their front side, sacrificing a perfect opportunity to take them down from behind and opted to fight face to face.

    "Together!"manded Shen Yiren.

    Holding nothing back, Shen Yiren''s blue qi started from the hilt and ran up the de. Song Ou''s despair already overwhelmed him after witnessing Abels'' might; still, he still summoned all of his internal strength, adding a golden glow to his hands. Song Ou went all out, using Song n''s Sundering the Nine Heavens'' Rending the Dragon''s Neck, a technique designed to subdue one''s opponent through brute force.

    Although Hong Jiu''s single palm strike was formidable in its own right, he only used half of his strength, saving energy to protect himself. His experience inbat led to the decision; he wanted to ensure he had a chance of finding an alternative option if they failed to subdue their opponent.

    The trio didn''t even have the chance to take a second blow. Actually, they didn''t even have the chance to see how they were defeated. When they moulded internal energy and assumed their fighting stance, there should''ve been a barrier keeping the wind and rain off them, yet they felt the violent wind and raindrops hitting their face. By the time they realised it, all three were already crushed. Thinking back on it¡­ there was nothing they could recall.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    None of them could identify what made Abels'' style special. A punch was a straightforward punch. A palm strike was a straightforward palm strike. He didn''t use feints or disguise his strikes. They were positive he didn''t conceal some otherworldly skill. If anything, his technical skills were the equivalent of a beginner. How they couldn''t defend any of his blows escaped them. His punches were insanely heavy; he could topple top martial artists without even needing to learnbat skills using his sheer might. Perhaps he wasn''t called Beijiang''s God of Monsters for nothing.

    "Sh-Sh*t, he''s too strong¡­" stuttered Hong Jiu, after coughing up a mouthful of blood.

    Hong Jiu''s evaluation held the most weight, for his style was most apt for filling the role of a vanguard - which was the role he assumed. The fifty percent he kept in reserve was useless when Abels swung. He could discern he wasn''t just inferior in terms of martial arts but also in terms of realms.

    Only someone who had ascended to Abels realm could''ve effortlessly put Hong Jiu away and still seem as if he had enough power to reverse the tables regardless of how the odds were stacked against him.

    Shen Yiren, Hong Jiu and Song Ou had all underwent high-level, strict and harsh training. In terms of experience, Song Ou wascking, but Hong Jiu and Shen Yiren were bothbat veterans, yet none of it was of any help in the face of Abels'' overpowering might. In other words, their previous experiences andmonbat knowledge didn''t apply against Abels.

    Hong Jiu deemed Abels to be very simr to his first senior brother, particrly during the time thetter was active in the pugilistic world. For that reason, he felt defeated and saw no hope in winning. The only thing that came to Hong Jiu''s mind was fleeing via theke behind them. If they could sneak into the water, then Abels wouldn''t chase them out of consideration for his status, perhaps. The conjecture was derived from the assumption Abels'' subordinates wouldn''t be good in water due to them hailing from Beijiang. Finding the chance to actually escape against someone of Abels'' calibre was unfathomably difficult, nevertheless.

    Sweating, Hong Jiu muttered under his breath, "Abels sure is¡­"

    Abels didn''t follow up. Maybe it didn''t make any difference to him. He could murder them whenever he wanted to, and there was nothing they could do to stop him. If he wanted to capture them alive, they''d be relegated to that fate. Perhaps the onlymon factor between people who had reached the same realm was the fact that they could do whatever they fancied.

    Abels calmly swept his eyes over the three, starting from Song Ou to Hong Jiu and, finally, Shen Yiren. Shen Yiren was the only one who hadn''t submitted. She kept her sword in front of her to counter anything thrown her way.

    Abels remarked, "You had the chance to escape, but you didn''t."

    Abels was referring to when Shen Yiren smashed through the wall. She surprised everyone. Had she leapt into theke, they wouldn''t have been able to catch up to her.

    Gaze still firm, Shen Yiren rebuked, "They are myrades¡­ I would rather die than abandon them."

 Volume 7 13 Competent Daughter of an Exalted Clan (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 13 Competent Daughter of an Exalted n (Part 2)</h4>

    Voice tepid, Abels questioned, "You must be Shen Yiren, correct?"

    "That''s right."

    Abels nodded: "The rumours say Shen n is a n of officials skilled in martial arts. You certainly are the descendant of a respectable n, Vice-Captain Shen. Your subterfuge was excellently executed. You managed to single-handedly ruin half a month of our arduous efforts."

    "Arduous efforts?" Shen Yiren scoffed, "Nobody pities a petty thief''s petty n failing."

    "What did you say, you bitch?!" fumed a girl who came running over. "Had Master not held back, you''d be in pieces already, you wretched bitch!"

    Shen Yiren was still in the process of using her qi to heal herself and didn''t want to reveal that. She, therefore, had to force a smile: "You''re talking a big deal¡­ after I defeated you?"

    The girl was Abels'' subordinate, River Monster. River Monster was made a fool of when Shen Yiren busted through the wall, which was why the former was vexed. She brayed, "Talking back, are we?!"

    River Monster shed Shen Yiren''s left wrist with a quick strike. Shen Yiren grimaced and softly groaned. Looking at the blood flowing out from her wrist, River Monster scorned Shen Yiren: "Let''s see you talk big when your wrist nerves are finished!"

    Song Ou: "H-How could you?!"

    Hong Jiu was equally surprised. He thought, "Sheesh, she''s feisty for a pretty girl. Once hand nerves are cut, that''s basically the end of a swordsman life. Shen Yiren would''ve lost her life as a martial artist if she wielded swords with her left hand."

    Shen Yiren bit down on her lip to fight the excruciating pain. Her eyes were red, and her wrist was bleeding profusely, but she maintained a strong front. River Monster was skilled enough to easily cut one''s wrist nerves with a single sh; she couldn''t have done it in such a savage manner unless it was on purpose.

    River Monster nced down to Shen Yiren''s breasts, where thetter''s sweat from her forehead dripped. The rain had soaked Shen Yiren''s clothes, stering her attire to her body contour. Trails of rain couldn''t squeeze in between her stuff bosom, forcing them to take the detour. Furthermore, her heavy breathing raised and lowered her cleavage. River Monster''s jealousy for Shen Yiren''s bosom and Shen Yiren''s unwavering attitude led to her snapping, "You ugly bitch, let''s see you keep acting tough after I cripple all your limbs and let our brothers ravage you every night!"

    River Monster attempted to sh Shen Yiren again, but Abels spoke up: "River Monster, stop."

    River Monster puffed her cheeks and switched to an innocent image: "But, Master, her rudeness des-."

    "I said stop." The three words that came out of Abels¡¯ mouth were delivered authoritatively.

    River Monster felt as though Abels''mand could stop her heartbeat. Begrudgingly, she responded, "¡­ Yes, Master."

    Shen Yiren took deep breaths to rpose herself. Her scent, blood and the rain resembled the smell of a slightly fruity aroma. Crouched down on the ground in an art-worthy pose, she clutched her left wrist with her right hand. He hands shook gently, but she tried to hide it.

    Abels admired Shen Yiren''s determination: "Not grunting and making a scene when your wrist nerve is damaged ismendable."

    Abels tone was sincere, but it was unclear why.

    Shen Yiren took a while to assert, "You''ll regret not killing me."

    Abels calmly remarked, "I have more regrets than I could possibly keep count of, so I no longer have any taboos."

    Boom! The thunderp and spark of lightning revealed Abels'' face. He looked approximately forty years old and didn''t have much of a beard. His physique didn''t match the opulent dress-up he wore to disguise himself as the manor master. He folded his arms and inquired, "You recognise me?"

    Hong Jiu knew Shen Yiren was writhing in pain, so he spoke up on her behalf: "Evil Spirits'' leader, Evil Spirits'' King of Bandits, Abels. I''ve heard of your rumours for quite some time now."

    Abels shifted his gaze to Hong Jiu. Instead of looking scared, Hong Jiu looked as though his praise was genuine. Abels responded, "Deputy General Hong, you are quite the man yourself. If you know me, I suppose you''re aware of my rule."

    Hong Jiu snickered: "Heh, survive three punches from me and you may leave. Lose and my ve you shall be. Fucking hell, it rhymes, too¡­"

    "Insolence! Come here and let me hack you!" brayed the midget Mountain Monster, bouncing up and down, as he was eager to have a rematch with Hong Jiu.

    "I''m d you''re informed," stated Abels, ignoring Mountain Monster. Once Mountain Monster stopped making a fuss, Abels asked, "You brave enough to try?"

    Abels'' didn''t offer his "rule" to all of his enemies. He only offered it to those who showed potential he deemed worthy of contributing to Evil Spirits. It also wasn''t offered just because someone refused to die. He didn''t let his opponents deliberately throw the match to die and be done with it. It wasn''t difficult for him to make one''s life more miserable than death.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu couldn''t make the call as their loss would result in all three of them being forced into serving Abels as his ve. Therefore, he nced over to Shen Yiren.

    River Monster licked her lips: "You best join us. I''ll make sure our brothers make you scream tonight."

    Mountain Monster curled his lips: "If Masternds a hit, there won''t even be a corpse left. What''s there to gain?"

    Shen Yiren appeared to have predicted the offer would be made. She didn''t respond immediately to Hong Jiu. She, instead, tore off a corner of her robe to wrap up her left wrist. She had managed to stop the bleeding with the material and her own qi, but she still looked white as a sheet.

    "I told you¡­ I''d make you regret not finishing me," Shen Yiren said. She picked up her snapped sword and imbued the de with her qi. The blue qi condensed along the de and vibrated. Discharged qi dispersed the rain around her. She was more resolute than before her wrist was slit. She expressed, "Since you insist on being generous, I shall take up the offer."

    Abels trained his gaze on the broken sword. With a hint of admiration in his tone, hemented, "Qi Sword Realm, huh?"

    Qi Sword Realm was the highest level one could reach when enhancing their de with their own qi. Unlike lower levels, the qi at Qi Sword Realm was condensed and arguably sharper than a physical de. Furthermore, it didn''t drain internal energy as drastically as the basic form of just enhancing the de.

    It was understandable to not know Shen Yiren''s skills well, but Song Ou only just found out she had reached an entirely new level.

    "ording to what I know, you''re only neen. You have swordy to match your spirit, I see," voiced Abels, in an ambiguous tone. "Since you three are severely wounded, how about we do this tomorrow?"

    "Don''t be wishy washy. If it''s a fight you want, you have yourself one right now," responded Shen Yiren, without hesitancy.

    Abels¡¯ suggestion was actually a psychological tactic. Shen Yiren''s fighting spirit would diminish by the time tomorrow came around, so she would lose the same drive to take Abels on even if it was only three punches; a big part of a fight is in one''s head.

    Shen Yiren rose and, like an unyielding lioness, roared, "Let''s go!"

    Hong Jiu tried to stop her, but all he managed to say was, "Why are you initiating the attack! Are you courting death?! Abels is one of the-¡­"

    Shen Yiren''s after image was left where she was standing a second ago. She rushed forward and was sent reeling back into the wet shrubs,nding as if a proud eagle fell. All that was left echoing was her groan. That was the consequence of initiating when one''s footwork, internal strength and physical strength were all inferior to one''s opponent.

    Only after Shen Yirennd Hong Jiu''s sentence end: "¡­ Supreme Ten Saints."

    Song Ou halted in his tracks when he intended to go to Shen Yiren''s aid: "D-Did you just say he was one of the Supreme Ten Saints?"

    "Evil Spirits'' King of Bandits, Abels, is one of Beijiang''s two members among the Supreme Ten Saints¡­ He''s reached Divine Realm. There''s practically nobody in the imperial court, besides The Ultimate Three, who can hold a candle to him," exined Hong Jiu. He regretted not being able to save Shen Yiren. Eyes red, he smiled and cursed, "Fuck me! I could''ve escaped¡­ Oh, sh*t, now it''s do or die."

    Song Ou was confused: "What do you mean?"

    Hong Jiu gave Song Ou a smile: "If I ran away after somebody gave their life to save me, how would I ever face my first senior brother?"

    "She got me," said Abels, checking his hand. "I only managed to muster up thirty percent of my full power thanks to her swift and brash attack. Is she exchanging her life to create an opening for those two to escape?"

    Abels shook his head: "Either way, that''s one punch."

    Abels took his attention of Shen Yiren and stared at Hong Jiu: "Deputy General Hong, your palm techniques are quite decent. Let''s see how my palm techniques fair against yours."

    "Palm techniques? You''re insulting the ''technique'' part of the phrase."

    Notes:

    *The section about fighting spirit is basically what we now refer to as the adrenaline rush. You often notice this inbat sports. While there are hard blows that can inflict immediate pain, some pain you won''t feel until the round or even the entire fight is over, when the adrenaline wears off. When the adrenaline is there, you can still fight vigorously, but when the pain registers, it''s hard to shake out of your mind, and it haunts you for the rest of the fight. Hence, Shen Yiren says she wants to fight there and then.

 Volume 7 14 Competent Daughter of an Exalted Clan (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 14 Competent Daughter of an Exalted n (Part 3)</h4>

    Hong Jiu silently rose to his feet. His fighting spirit burnt as intensely as it could; his internal injuries were no longer cumbersome. He healed quickly, as his internal energy was potent, and he took the least damage of the trio.

    Abels smiled: "ording to our investigations, you are not part of the escort and not part of the imperial court''s personnel. Your martial arts skills are decent. Have you ever considered life as a bandit?"

    "Sh*t me, where did you learn to be a bandit? You''re persuasion script is more courteous than what a schr''s."

    "I won''t be courteous with my next punch."

    Abels took a step forward. The next step he took was so intimidating it felt as though he was stomping pressure onto Hong Jiu. Hong Jiu was always proudest of his physique apt for martial arts greatness, yet he felt as though he couldn''t stand with his chest up in the face of Abels'' intimidation. Hong Jiu grunted and stomped, parting the mud beneath him and forcing his chest up.

    "Commendable, indeed. You''re worthy of witnessing eighty percent of my full power," enthused Abels, smiling and ending his second sentence in a rather dramatic tone.

    As if he collected the pressure he was emitting around him, Abels concentrated his strength to his hand: "Take this!"

    The wind generated from Abels punch parted the rain and air within a radius of nine metres around his punching arm. The gust of wind created a hemisphere several centimetres deep in the ground. Abels'' arm suddenly glowed blue. There was no convincing anyone Hong Jiu would survive the punch.

    Hong Jiu took in a deep breath and blocked out Abels'' location from his mind. It was futile to locate an adept at Divine Realm, a fact he learnt from being around his first senior brother for so many years. Attempting to pinpoint the enemy could end up confusing him. Unable to pinpoint Abels once he moved, Hong Jiuunched a palm strike before Abels actually tried to tag him.

    Hong Jiu''sunched a barrage of seventy-nine palm strikes from left to right. Once he felt the unstoppable force nine centimetres away from Abels'' body, Hong Jiu felt half of his body go numb. That was when Hong Jiu finished with thetter half of his move.

    "Watch carefully, nimrod¡­ This is palm technique!"

    Hong Jiu palmed toward the sky, flickering the blue energy ball on Abels'' hand. When Abels tried to mould more energy to consolidate his energy, Hong Jiu and thetter''s force up overwhelmed the entire space.

    What happened was Hong Jiu used the seventy-nine palm strikes to narrow the space, limiting both of them to their internal strength. Abels'' internal energy could run through Hong Jiu''s effortlessly, so it was more than what the narrow space could contain.

    Imagine a room that isted only two objects within that space. If one of the two objects was to expand, it would eventually push the second object out. So ordingly, Abels'' second punch decimated the space Hong Jiu created, which was exactly what thetter was aiming for.

    If Hong Jiu and Abels'' blows met, one would take damage; however, due to the small space and the force of Abels'' second punch only being at thirty percent of his full power, the punch only pushed Hong Jiu out. Still, Hong Jiu was dropped and sprayed a mouthful of blood.

    Song Ou ran over to Hong Jiu, thrilled: "Deputy General Hong, you managed to withstand the second punch!"

    "Just¡­ Just shut the fuck up¡­" Hong Jiu puked another mouthful of blood. He suffered severe blood loss and showed gait disturbance. He stammered, "Had¡­ Had I not used Empty Palms, I''d already be dead¡­"

    Instead of trying to attack futilely, Hong Jiu used Empty Palms to reduce the force of Abels'' punch to only thirty percent, although he should''ve credited his own physical strength, for it still would''ve been fatal, otherwise.

    "What palm style was that? That was eighty percent of my full power," asked Abels, checking out his fist and sounding exhilirated. "It''s been many years since I''ve fought someone of your calibre. In saying that, it doesn''t change the fact that you''re unable to continue. What do you say? Will you be my ve?"

    "I''m okay with your mother being my ve," sneered Shen Yiren, rising again unexpectedly. Shen Yiren used her sword to support her off the ground. She was so bloody that there was no telling where the wound was; not even the rain could wash the blood off her. She rhetorically asked, "I''m still alive. I''ll take your third punch, or can''t you stick to your own rules?"

    Song Ou finally understood what Shen Yiren and Hong Jiu''s strategy was. Shen Yiren deliberately stuffed Abels'' opportunity to use his full power and used it to her advantage to preserve some of her own energy. As for the second punch, she had to let Hong Jiu gamble his life and take it. Abels was left with only once punch. Unless he could maim all three of them in a single punch, he''d only be able to kill the challenger and be forced to spare the two survivors. In other words, one of them was bound to be a sacrifice.

    There was no need for borate exnations to exin why Shen Yiren got back up. She simply wanted to protect the other two. Hong Jiu wanted to stop her, but he was busy coughing. Shen Yiren told him, "This has nothing to do with Mount Daluo. You joined us because I requested your assistance. I can''t let you die for no rhyme or reason. As for Song Ou, I promised Song n I wouldn''t let any harm befall him. I must uphold my promise."

    Shen Yiren wasn''t asking for their input. Hong Jiu couldn''t speak much after suffering a lung injury. The best thing he could do was focus on recovering as soon as he could.

    Abels figured out Shen Yiren''s n after the first punch, but he thought very little of life and death after being there so many times himself. He asked, "Are you certain I can''t kill all three of you?"

    Abels took a deep breath and enhanced his fists with the blue energy again. For one to reach a level where they could make their true qi visible to the naked eye was rare. He already demonstrated the might of the energy balls. If he desired, he actually could kill the trio in a single move.

    "I could easily kill all three of you at the same time. Care to try?"

    "I''ll stop you," Shen Yiren stepped forward and answered in a calm voice. She no longer had the requisites to use Qi Sword again. She added, ¡°I will stop you even if it takes everything I have. If I don''t have my sword, I''ll grab you. If I can''t use my arms, I''ll kick you. If I can''t use my legs, I''ll bite you. No matter what it takes, I''ll stop you."

    River Monster looked forward to torturing Shen Yiren. After hearing Shen Yiren''s determined deration, River Monster realised she wouldn''t find any joy in it. If anything, she would only frustrate herself. Shen Yiren''s gaze told her the former was ready to die for what she believed in.

    "She''s out of her mind¡­ I''ve never seen such a crazy woman. What does she want?"mented River Monster.

    Mountain Monster answered, "She''s prettier than you, more skilled with a sword than you and isn''t a coward. I don''t me Master for preferring her."

    "Nobody asked you to confirm you''re not mute!" River Monster red at Mountain Monster: "Who said Master likes her? Master has always liked me the most!"

    Uneasy after hearing Mountain Monster''sment, River Monster ran her gaze over Shen Yiren and thought, "She has narrow hips and a big bust. I must torture her. Actually, a long night is fraught with nightmares. I''m just going to gash her and be done with it."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren was so worn out that merely standing in the cold drain was slowly but surely sapping her life out of her. Her eyelids were heavy; there was no way of telling for sure if her eyes were open or shut. Even her hair on her shoulders felt as though it was weighing her down. Her heavy pants were audible in the quiet night. Her clothes resembled unbing cloth fragments unenviably stuck together. Her blue undershirt was also torn, revealing her globes. Her domineering aura was as visible as oxygen. She resembled a na?ve and adorable young girl. Abels could hear her weak heartbeat from afar, indicating her injuries were worse than Hong Jiu''s.

    Abels calmlymented, "You''ve lost. The third punch will undoubtedly finish you."

    Shen Yiren hung her head. Speaking was no longer within her capabilities. Song Ou wanted to speak up, but he hesitated. He had fully recovered thanks to the other two buying time. Even if hecked experience inbat, there was one thing he could take out of Shen Yiren''s book: risk his life to save the two. He was genuinely afraid of sacrificing himself; but nevertheless, he mustered up the courage to take charge when he saw the state Shen Yiren was in until he heard her quietly mutter, "Big Brother¡­ take care."

    Shen Yiren spoke in a gentle voice Song Ou had never heard before, yet it was the equivalent of thunderp by his ear. Her tone was a clear indication the "Big Brother" she mentioned wasn''t him. He gnashed his teeth and rxed his tense legs. If Song Ou could hear her, Hong Jiu naturally heard her. He disyed surprise but didn''tment.

    Shen Yiren dragged her foot out in front of her. The sword in her hand resembled the sword in an ordinary folk''s hand, but Abels saw itpletely differently. He sensed Sword Qi more violent than before and a spirit that would render even enemies awestruck. He raised an eyebrow and wondered, "Sword Spirit? Did she just level up in the middle of a fight and while on the brink of death?"

    Notes:

    *Gait Disturbance - this is the point a ring/octagon doctor would check an athlete and likely call off the fight as a TKO. It''s not quite stumbling but uncoordinated movements that resemble demented zombies out of a movie flick. If you''re aware of what normal (not ounting for context) should like look, you''ll likely notice it when you see it.

 Volume 7 15 Competent Daughter of an Exalted Clan (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 15 Competent Daughter of an Exalted n (Part 4)</h4>

    The gap between Qi Sword and Sword Spirit Realm was, at the very least, twenty years of training. In some cases, it would take an entire lifetime to ascend to Sword Spirit Realm. For that reason, Abels was surprised. Had it been someone else, they might''ve scoffed at the idea. Despite his surprise, Abels knew it was a feat that could be aplished. To say he had fought a lot of people was an understatement. Among his opponents, he had encountered opponents who pushed themselves to new heights before they died. He, himself, experienced it firsthand in the past. They were the worst type of opponent to fight. Their potential was troublesome but so was Sword Spirit.

    Going from Qi Sword Realm to Sword Spirit Realm was reliant on free-spirited training and the swordsman''s will. Jia Yunfeng demonstrated Sword Spirit Realm in his fight against Ming Feizhen. Abels didn''t deem swordsmen who had reached the pinnacle of swordy his toughest opponents. Instead, the majority of his most challenging battles against swordsmen were against those in Sword Spirit Realm. Why? Because Sword Spirit was the embodiment of change and variation.

    A swordsman willing to go down fighting was one dangerous enough to be a threat to Abels. A swordsman trying to fight whilstcking the confidence they could cut down their opponent was irrational. Shen Yiren kicked fear in the face and forged forward in the face of death, inadvertently pushing her to new heights on the verge of death.

    "Reaching new heights before a fight¡­ I salute that," stated Abels, reconsidering the feasibility of killing the trio in one punch. "Shen Yiren, I respect and admire your courage, but I will respect my rules. If you die, I shall spare the others as promised. If you lose but don''t die, you three must swear fealty to me; no ifs or buts."

    Shen Yiren didn''t seem to hear Abels. The qi on her sword amplified with each step she took. The sub-leaders of Evil Spirits'' noticed the qi by her third step. Again, she decided to initiate the attack: "Fight!"

    Shen Yiren amplified the qi on her sword drastically. The most challenging part aboutbatting Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen was their ability to intensify the qi on their sword at will,plimenting their swordy as if it was part of the parcel. Even Divine Realm adepts faced the same challenge against them.

    Abels''s style focused on transferring energy from inside to outside. Part of his might had to be attributed to said style. Abels, impressed with Shen Yiren''s boldness, concentrated energy to his fists and unleashed it. He erased the qi she went through so much to enhance her sword with.

    Shen Yiren started the attack to force Abels to give up on killing all three of them. She was serious about taking him down with her. She knew his identity as one of the Supreme Ten Saints; therefore, she was aware she had to be willing to put her life on the line to have a chance of winning. Abels was aware she was ready to throw her life down in exchange for his.

    Suddenly, Abels heard horse hooves quickly approaching. Shen Yiren''s "fight" shout was actually a code to summon her battle steed, Battle Cloud. The fight character was a homophone for the character Battle. Battle Cloud, therge and strong steed raced through the rain without letting the rain at full pelt. As a resident of Beijiang, Abels was a skilled equestrian in his own right. He could tell Battle Cloud was no ordinary horse with a single nce.

    Sharp-witted, Battle Cloud raced to Hong Jiu and Song Ou. Song Ou was able to quickly get on the same wavelength. He immediately tried to mount Battle Cloud as soon as it was within distance.

    "Where do you think you''re going?!" brayed Abels.

    Abels punched a shockwave at amazing velocity. Perceptive, Battle Cloud made a swift retreat, getting out of the st range. If Song Ou and Hong Jiu managed to mount Battle Cloud, Abels knew it would be impossible to catch up to them.

    "Die!" Shen Yiren concentrated all of her qi to her de and swung at Abels while he was distracted.

    Owing to Abels turning his attention to Battle Cloud for a moment, Shen Yiren managed to seize the initiative much to his chagrin: "You broke the rules first and tried to escape, so don''t me me for being ruthless!"

    Abels punched the air at Shen Yiren''s de, catching her before she could despite him striking after. Shen Yiren felt the impact of Abels'' true qi that almost sent her backwards, but she stood her ground. As a consequence, she bled from seven orifices. Her blue qi vanished from her sword, and her eyes rolled back.

    "Yiren!" cried Song Ou.

    Hong Jiu was ghastly pale and couldn''t bring himself to watch Shen Yiren.

    Abels snapped out of his rage and tried to reduce his output. He wanted to keep the three as subordinates for their talent, but he identally killed her. It was a pity, but there was nothing he could do. He said, "Out of respect for your loyalty to your colleagues, I shall spare your colleagues."

    Abels turned around and took a few steps then waved to signal for his men to retreat.

    "Master, watch out!" River Monster shouted, noticing danger, since she could see behind Abels.

    Shen Yiren suddenly raised her sword again and swiped Abels'' neck from an unorthodox angle. Abels never thought for a second someone virtually dead would suddenly have the energy tounch a surprise attack, he saw it happen.

    Shen Yiren opened her eyes ever so slightly andcked any sign of life. Besides her right hand gripping her sword, her entire body was wobbly. It was unbelievable, but there was no mistake Shen Yiren, who was on the verge of death, mounted a lethal flurry of swings and stabs.

    "Western Region''s sorcery?! Get back!!"

    Abels had never faced a situation of that kind. After evading three of Shen Yiren''s shes, he sent energy to his hand and delivered a palm strike. She didn''t dodge the attack, much to his delight. He was certain she was history no matter what sort of sorcery she coulde up with. To his surprise, their sh resulted in a draw.

    When Shen Yiren thrust, a white me surfaced on her de. Together, they impaled Abels'' energy ball, slitting his arm. Thest thing he expected was a practically dead Shen Yiren inflicting his first wound in the fight. He eximed, "Who exactly are you?!"

    Shen Yiren was no longer capable of responding. Her swordy was still the same swordy. She was also still Shen Yiren. The difference was the way she moulded energy. She appeared as if she was possessed - by a strong spirit for that matter - because she finally had the right to injure Abels.

    Instead of continuing the bout, Shen Yiren drifted back and mounted her horse. Battle Cloud ignored Song Ou and Hong Jiu once his master mounted him and sped off after neighing.

    Evil Spirits could tell Abels was the only one with a miniscule chance of catching up to Shen Yiren. They asked, "Master, since Shen Yiren broke the rule, shall we kill the other two?"

    Abels stared at the deep cut on him in silence. Eventually, he answered, "¡­ We fought to a draw."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Huh?"

    "Restrain the two, and take them hostage. The three hundred soldiers will report to the imperial court, and then the imperial court wille for us. We will lie in ambush. Shen Yiren will be back for her fianc¨¦."

    Abels covered his hand and left.

    Nobody knew nor understood the reasons behind Abels decision, but he was aware he fought to a draw with Shen Yiren. Her sh wasn''t aimed at his arm in the first ce. She changed the trajectory of her swing from his neck to his arm after a moment of hesitation. The moment she caught him by surprise, one, maybe both of them, would''ve died for sure. However, Shen Yiren switched her intent to escaping. She didn''t lose. Realising that, Abels burned for another fight. He faced up to the sky andughed: "Hahahaha, the Central in is full of interesting people."

    After Abels left the battleground, a lightning bolt shed, illuminating theke and the broken de in the ground, vibrating in the wind. The broken sword Shen Yiren wielded was proof of their draw.

 Volume 7 16 Thereâ€™s a Leader for the Elites

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 16 There¡¯s a Leader for the Elites</h4>

    Wulun Hall was a study reserved for the Emperor and his vassals'' private conversations. The unwritten rule was the Emperor was the pugilistic world''s hero from back then when he was there. So ordingly, they could forego the formalities between monarchs and subjects when conversing there. It was also why the Emperor often reserved Wulun Hall for discussing business pertaining to the pugilistic world. Today was no exception.

    The prime minister read out the report received from the returnees from Canhu Town then finished off with, "That, is the entire report. Vice-Captain Shen had the soldiers flee along a designated route, while she turned back to stall the enemies. Unfortunately, we do not know her whereabouts. Whether she is dead or alive¡­ remains unknown. Abels also pursued our forces solo and robbed the presents for the Seven Champion White Princes.

    "Unforgivable! That is unforgivable!"

    Boss'' situation was unknown for two days before this all happened. Even if I was to rush there at this point, I had already missed out the prime time frame to rescue her. Moreover, I would have to plough through the Beijiang bandits who had a bone to pick with the Central in.

    I mmed the table. Anxious, I fumed, "Abels, you piece of sh*t! Of all the times you could choose, you choose to rob us when Boss is on escort duty?! He must be picking a fight!"

    Prime Minister Li Si touched his white beard: "I agree with you, Young Ming. Robbing an escort Captain Song and Vice-Captain Shen are escorting is tantly challenging our authority. Should people learn of this, it would impact the imperial court''s reputation and likely encourage more brazen robberies. If they join forces with the four unorthodox factions, it will spell serious trouble. Your Majesty, please give the order to march and exterminate them."

    His Majesty: "Uh, you have a point¡­"

    I raised a thumb: "You are on the money, Prime Minister! We need to send our army out! Evil Spirits have always disregarded everyone. They are ruthless and still practice a primitive ve system as they do in Beijiang despite being bandits. They have ves serve them and treat them as goods, switching between ves at their own leisure and killing them if they do not sell them. Their group often makes ves out of skilled warriors. Given they trample on warriors'' pride, if they capture Boss Shen, she will suffer unspeakable torment."

    Knowing Boss Shen''s temperament, she''d bite her tongue before her first day as a ve came to an end. Besides that, there was also the concern of those Beijiang bastards getting aroused! I did nt a safety measure on her, but it wouldn''t activate unless she was close to dying. If she was defeated in battle, the internal energy I transferred into her subconscious would activate, granting her the ability to fight using my style of moulding energy and prioritise escape. If they drugged her or something, however, my insurance policy wouldn''t do anything.

    Worried sick and unable to confirm Boss'' circumstance, I bit my thumbnail.

    The Emperor: "Uh¡­ uh¡­ um¡­"

    Secretary Zhang deliberated prudently before saying, "We do not know much about Evil Spirits, unfortunately. ording to your subject''s knowledge, our three martial world offices have not crossed paths with them, either."

    The Qilin Guards and the Emperor''s Entourage''s representatives, Long Zaitian and Tie Hanyi, respectively, shook their heads.

    "Intelligence on Evil Spirits'' is not difficult to find," I chimed in. "They are one of the top bandit groups in this era. They are among the most fearsome groups when ites to bandits ruling mountains and forests. Foreign kingdoms'' poptions lowered their standing, but they cannot be underestimated. Their four sub-leaders, Mountain Monster, River Monster, Ox Demon and Feathered Serpent, are enough to give many pugilists a run for their money.

    River Monster is a girl skilled at seducing people. It is said that her movement style is elusive, and she specialises in assassination. Not many people are aware she is actually a girl due to her mysterious nature. She is Abels'' topbatant. Mountain Monster is a broadsword wielder also specialising in disguise. He is a bloodthirsty maniac and kills as if he is striving to break a kill-count record. Ox Demon is another one of their formidable fighters who relies on his unreal brute force. In terms ofbat style, he prefers to use wide swings and tight defence moves unlike Abels. Ox Demon should not be underestimated. As for Feathered Serpent, he is currently in our prison.

    Abels is the most dangerous among them. He is a master of Beijiang''s imperial family''s martial arts style called Sun Ghost God Scripture. It is easy to learn but difficult to master. As the name suggests, once mastered, the practitioner will be able to produce five hundred kilograms of force with each blow. He is one of the current Supreme Ten Saints.

    Their group will steal the most petty of things to robbing a kingdom. Beijiang''s power reins have been passed around once, and they yed a part in making it a sess. They gained infamy after the battle and became known as bandits who usurped the throne. The mere mention of their name could incite fear."

    "How are we going to go up against such a fierce enemy?"

    "Regardless of how famous they may be, they are still bandits. It would be difficult to find a single martial arts school capable of dealing with them, but we have an army. As long as our forces can locate their den, eradicating them is not difficult."

    "Detailed and impressive!" apuded Secretary Lu, pping her hands twice. Smiling cordially, she followed up with the question, "What sort of ce would they hide in, then?"

    I waved a hand: "They are used to living on the run. They do not mind how they disguise themselves. At the end of the day, they are bandits. In essence, they swoop in to steal and flee as soon as they hear enemies approaching. It is pointless to search for them in states or counties. You will only find them deep in unpopted forests and mountains."

    Prime Minister Li Si stroked his beard: "What strategy do we use against them?"

    I waved my arm in a big motion: "Emperor''s Entourage?!"

    "Present?" responded Tie Hanyi, raising a hand.

    "Take one hundred scouts. Split your group up to scout the mountains, swamps and eighteen caves by Taihu. In short, if you find a hole, pour scalding hot water in there three times!"

    "Understood!"

    "Qilin Guards?"

    "Me?" asked Long Zaitian, bewildered.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Send support. The Qilin Guards''bat prowess is rather strong, so you willplement the Emperor''s Entourage perfectly. With one working in the shadows and one in the open, we will have better chances!"ong Zaitian was in high spirits the moment he heard he was searching for Boss'' whereabouts. He thumped his chest: "Leave it to me. You can leave it all to me. I''ll pull together as many teams as you say."

    "What sort ofment is that? Take ten or eight teams. Turn the mountain, trees and shrubs upside down. There is no time to waste. Ministry of Military?!"

    "Here, here, here!" responded Secretary Lie, raising his hand.

    "Secretary Lie, send ten thousand men. Have someone you can trust stay on standby at Canhu Town. As soon as you pick up on anything suspicious, send your men in and annihte them! If necessary, kill them before you see them!"

    "Got it!"

    "Good!"

    "Ministry of Justice?"

    "Present," responded Secretary Leng, stoic as ever.

    "Evil Spirits have shown they have absolute no regard for thew this time. Add all of them to the wanted list of criminals in the martial world. You must add Abels'' portrait. Have all of the nation''s bounty hunters chase them at the same time we are hunting them. I want them suffering every day they are in the Central in!"

    "That is wise¡­ But I don''t know how he looks."

    "Hmph." I took out a notebook from my shirt and said, "Abels'' portrait is in here. Find a skilled artist to copy it."

    Unable to watch on anymore, His Majesty spoke up: "Wait, Ming Feizhen¡­ don''t you think you are a bit t(oo)-"

    "Your Majesty!" I cut in and shot the Emperor a displeased re: "This is extremely serious. Do you think your subject is right or not?!"

    "¡­ You are."

    "Then, what are you waiting for?! Pass down the edict! The water is at neck level!"

    The Emperor shot me a re whilst gnashing his teeth furtively. Speaking with his teeth clenched, he said, "¡­ Get down from my throne first."

    "Huh?"

    I looked down to see I was sitting on the Emperor''s throne and mming his gavel, acting as if my heart was broken and eager to save my vassal. You could say I resembled an Emperor more than he did. At some point, I was so riled up I ended up taking the Emperor''s throne. I was so worried about Boss that I started ying master of Night Fortress without realising it¡­ I looked across the room to see the prime minister and secretaries going along with me before with their eyes bulging. Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian looked at me as if they were looking at a freak.

    The Western Region''s beauty, Secretary Lu, had a reputation for being bold. She stared straight at me as if she wanted to skin me¡­ Fuck, I even mistook my ck and White Reflection magazine for an art book and threw it. I felt awkward as I watched the secretaries check out the magazine that recorded what happened before Fuma Jingan won the tournament. Thank heavens we weren''t in the conference hall or the imperial study, or my head would roll. I was lucky the Emperor also had many things on his mind and had no energy to spare on fussing over my mistake.

    I hurriedly stepped down and went to stand next to Long Zaitian. The Emperor shot me several res before sitting down. He then had a brief discussion with the prime minister and secretaries.

    Secretary Zhang, who never crossed paths with me, surprisingly said, "Head Constable Ming''s suggestions are realistic and practical, especially in regards to the search and investigation format. Your subject cannote up with anything better."

    Prime Minister Li Si: "The threew enforcement offices for the martial world are the experts when ites to the pugilistic world''s affairs. Your Majesty, you would probably gain more seeking the opinion of the three."

    Thus, the Emperor sought Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian''s input. In the end, they reached the same conclusion I did.

    Unable to ept I was correct, the Emperor hesitantly questioned, "But¡­ is there any point in painting a portrait of Abels? I doubt any bounty hunter would dare to try and capture one of the Ten Supreme Saints."

    "Hehe, Your Majesty, your subject has an idea." I leaned forward and rmended, "You can pass the job on to the League of Assassins. Did they not ept jobs to kill our men? You can get back at them. Their assassins will die trying. First, that will deal a blow to the League of Assassins'' forces. Second, you will thin out Abels'' forces. You will even have saved yourself the trouble of finding Abels. That is three birds with one stone!"

    Secretaries: "That is brilliant!"

 Volume 7 17 The Emperor Personally Joins

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 17 The Emperor Personally Joins</h4>

    "That is a horrendous n! You want me to work with the League of Assassins?! Are you listening to yourself?!" fumed the Emperor, ring at me.

    "You can use another name! Your surname is Li, and your dharma name is Yuansheng, correct? Here, I wille up with a name for you. Um¡­ how does Li Fangzhang sound?"

    "Tell Li Fangzhang to bugger off!!" The Emperor was so close to flipping the table over. He added, "Also, it''s my reign title. Not my dharama name! Only monks have dharma names!"

    Prime Minister Li: "Your Majesty, deep breaths, deep breaths."

    "My goodness gracious, Amitabha. In short¡­" The Emperor took a few deep breaths before carrying on: "Since you are all here, we need to discuss the details. For instance, how will we surround them in a forest on the mountain, how will we capture them in one fell sw-."

    "Hehe, Your Majesty, set the forest aze!" I rmended.

    His Majesty: "Get lost! Find somewhere I can''t see you and lost get! Ah, I''m so exasperated I can''t even speak properly!"

    The Emperor was seriously angry. I mean, he went at me straight in my face. After he was done raging, he muttered under his breath, "Howe everyone from Mount Daluo is a clown? Are they an orthodox sect or a den of bandits and rogues¡­?"

    I was very, extremely, incredibly displeased. I thought, "Abbot Li, you really are annoyed, huh? Aren''t I giving you the blueprint to defeat Abels? Go on; ask your other subjects. See if they cane up with a superior n. I''ll wait."ooking troubled in many ways, the Emperor asked, "Ming Feizhen, where did you learn all those ideas from?"

    With his eyes narrowed and in a strange tone, Long Zaitian uttered, "I wonder if he knows the way bandits work so well because he was once a bandit."

    I coughed: "Uh, um, I learnt a few tweaked strategies for handling cases from Vice-Captain."ong Zaitian: ¡°Hmph, if you call those tweaked strategies, what do you call people, like us, who don¡¯t know about those tweaked strategies?¡±

    I gave Long Zaitian a condescending nce: "Idiots."ong Zaitian brayed, ¡°Heh! Still spouting so much hogwash in His Majesty¡¯s presence, is you want to fight me?!¡±

    ''Okay, you itchy, are you?! Someone bring me a bread roll. I''ll destroy you even if I only have a string of noodle!''

    The Emperor mmed his gavel and raged, "Enough, enough, I''m getting a headache just listening to you. I called you here, where it''s nice and quiet, so that you could all discuss this with a calm frame of mine. The next person to make a scene will fight me!"

    The Emperor looked stern and firm as a warrior from the pugilistic world. Once we quietened down, he calmly said, "This is more serious than you might imagine. This isn''t only about my pride or the imperial court''s reputation. Yiren is a daughter to me. She is the only descendant of Shen n. Should any misfortune befall her, I wouldn''t be able to face Brother Shen on the other side. Just as importantly, Evil Spirits must have a bigger agenda here in the Central in. We can''t be careless."

    "We agree," everyone responded in unison.

    The Emperor continued, "As for what Head Constable Ming suggested¡­ he is not wrong. That being said¡­ we can''t employ his strategies."

    I blinked: "So, no more League of Assassins, Fangzhang?"

    The Emperor shot a re my way. I swiftly took cover behind the prime minister, or the Emperor would''ve grabbed a weapon and assaulted me.

    "Besides sending out an army, the other details are up for discussion. Keeping our military out of the Seven Champion White Princes'' territories is part of the alliance pledge from a hundred years ago. Huzhou is already part of Luo Sword Manor. They, in essence, are the imperial court''s military industry. They are responsible for producing our militaries'' weapons. Among the seven, they are the most important faction to bring to our side. I cannot defy my ancestors and send soldiers to Huzhou."

    Tie Hanyi calmly debated, "But, Your Majesty, Abels is one of the Supreme Ten Saints. Without arge army, we would not be his match. Your subject is not refusing to sacrifice his life. The reality is the only thing we can see in hindsight if we rely on just our three offices is pointless sacrifice."

    Normally, Tie Hanyi''sments would''ve earned the ire of his master; however, Tie Hanyi said what he said out of loyalty, which matched his cautious nature. His Majesty liked that about Tie Hanyi.

    Tone cordial, the Emperor vetoed, "Not necessarily. We don''t need outside help to subdue Abels. I have someone in mind."ong Zaitian: "Besides The Ultimate Three, few could match the Supreme Ten Saints. Your Majesty, who might you be referring to¡­?"

    "No, not The Ultimate Three," replied the Emperor, smiling. "Luo Sword Manor''s master has always been a good friend of mine. We once crossed paths in our younger years. He is a renowned gentleman who was an erstwhile member of the Supreme Ten Saints during his prime. The Supreme Ten Saints rankings are updated every five years, while he and his Drunken Swordy has been absent from the pugilistic world for thest decade. If he was still active, he would be among the three greatest swordsmen. I can confidently say he could defeat Abels. Regardless of Evil Spirits'' numbers, Abels is the only concern. So, if we add your three offices into our forces, we would likely decimate them."

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I heard of Luo Sword Manor''s Master Luo before. Indeed, he was one of the best swordsmen of his era. Divine Moon Cult''s Old de Demon and him fought to a draw back in the day. Apparently, he was friends with my shifu, too. He went into seclusion by the time I was active in the pugilistic world, however.

    Prime Minister Li Si said, "Your Majesty, would you be referring to Master Luo, Luo Sword Flying God? ording to what your subject has heard, his swordy has reached a level so high he is able to fly on his sword and decapitate opponents from over a hundred and fifty metres away. He has passed on all the logistical duties to his sessor to focus on his own training for a decade. His name may have faded from the world, but he should be more skilled than ever."

    "That is exactly whom I have in mind," replied the Emperor, nodding with a smile.

    The prime minister pulled his eyebrows together: "It is said that he is an imperious individual who refuses to see people he considers menial, though. He did not participate in the battle against Demon Sect back then, either. Your subject would assume it would be difficult to request his aid."

    "That is true. In this day and age, there are no more than three people who could ask him for a favour. One of them is de Demon, who he promised to rematch, and the other is his sworn brother. They both move around frequently, so it would be impossible to find them anytime soon."

    "In that case, he would not b-."

    "Wait, Prime Minister. Didn''t I say three people? The third individual is his sworn brother in life and death, myself!"

    All that drivel just to say that and with a smug look, I might add.

    ''Selling out your buddy¡­ what a sad Emperor.''

    A smile came to Prime Minister Li Si''s lips: "Your subject did consider that. He is an oddball. If you ask for him to help, he mighte. In saying that, if you want someone of his standing to work with our three offices¡­"

    "That won''t be a concern. I''ve already thought about how to ovee that." Emperor Fangzh-, Emperor Yuansheng smiled proudly.

    "I shall personally go and ask him to help." The Emperor stroked his beard and grinned: "I must personally go to Yiren''s aid. I am going to make a covert trip to Jiangnan!"

    Notes:

    *Li Fangzhang = Abbot Li. The joke is Ming Feizhen put no effort intoing up with a name whatsoever, because his naming sense is basically his role. Imagine giving someone the name "Secretary Li" because his surname is Li and you wanted to give him a first name and choose Secretary.

    *Long Zaitian''s, "¡­ Is you want to fight me?!" is deliberately written grammatically incorrect because he adopts a dialect that makes his Chinese grammatically wrong.

    A bit of trivia: in Northern China, people differentiate between s+vowel sounds and sh+vowel sounds, whereas in Southern China, they often don''t. This extends beyond just "s" and "sh" words, mind you.

    Example: In Northern China regions, people pronounce "shi" as "shi" and "si" as "si". In Southern China regions, people often pronounce "shi" as "si" and "si" as "si".

    How can you differentiate? Experience.

 Volume 7 18 Oath

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 18 Oath</h4>

    Luo Sword Manor was the n most tightly associated with the imperial court. There were four ns that made up the crux of the Central in¡¯s military forces: Beihai¡¯s Clear Mirror Pce, Demon Realm Sky Pce, Jiangnan¡¯s Luo Sword Manor and Tang n.

    Sky Pce and Tang n focused on work as artisans; however, they adopted a narrow-minded way of operating. It was rare to ever see weapons they produced. Clear Mirror Pce was the biggest group of cksmiths in the pugilistic world. They produced the majority of the renowned weapons in the North and Central in. As for Luo Sword Manor, they were the biggest cksmith association in Jiangnan. Luo Sword Manor¡¯s fame came from their reputation for producing quality swords for the hundreds of years. During that time, never once did they fall out of favour. Everybody in the martial world hoped to eventually have a sword Luo Sword Manor produced.

    Things changed approximately a century ago, when the nation was first established. The Founding Emperor followed in the footsteps of others and expanded hisnds rapidly. As a consequence, he faced a weapons shortage. Though a courageous man, handling logistics wasn¡¯t his forte. Subsequently, he struggled to think of a solution. Frustrated, he vented on rocks and boulders. Had Hero Shenzhou not stepped in to talk him out of it, he probably would¡¯ve done a lot more damage.

    The master of Luo Sword Manor at the time sympathised with the people suffering from war. He, therefore, decided to aid and offered to cover the military¡¯s gear requirement. The master ignored the n elder¡¯s opposition and broke the rule their n abided by for centuries, which was to not involve themselves with the pugilistic world or imperial court¡¯s affairs.

    The master of Luo Sword Manor enthusiastically got his military workshop up and running. Together with his n¡¯s artisans, they burnt the midnight oil to design new gear with two fundamental requisites: high quality and possible to be mass produced. The fire by Taihu was never extinguished for years, for they were constantly producing gear to resolve the Founding Emperor¡¯s biggest dilemma.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The cksmiths of Luo Sword Manor and their technique were unrivalled, evident from the impable quality of the gear they produced. Besides being tested in the workshop, they were also proven to work on the battlefield, saving countless soldiers¡¯ lives when their lives depended on them.

    Master Luo designed what he termed Heaven and Earth Steel Armour. The ¡°Heaven and Earth¡± part of the name referred to its clever design that left no openings for weapons to sneak through. The creation put him on the map as a major contributor to the military¡¯s sess in battle. To this day, Heaven and Earth Steel Amour still helps keep invaders from Beijiang out.

    In return for all the merits he contributed, Luo Sword Manor was bestowed the rank of third member of the Seven Champion White Princes and assigned the privilege of providingbat gear to the imperial court¡¯s militaries for the long-term. For generations, they were also asked to reside close to the imperial court and be conferred official ranks higher than ck Robe Brotherhood.

    The current master of Luo Sword Manor went by the name Luo Ming. The martial world acknowledged him as the swordsman with the best prospect among three other swordsmen of bing the greatest swordsman in all thend. Under his leadership, Luo Sword Manor developed rapidly and climbed high enough to be said to rival the three biggest sects despite them being located outside of Jiangnan. There had long been rumours Luo Sword n surpassed the second prince among the Seven Champion Princes already and could challenge First Prince. The only reason it remained spective was because Luo Ming had spent thest decade training in seclusion.

    The facts above were derived from the ck and White Reflection, 12th Lacquer Edition.

    I shut the ck and White Reflection then didn¡¯t utter a word.

    The Emperor¡¯s idea wasn¡¯t bad. Based on what I knew about Master Luo, he would¡¯ve been able to fight Abels to a draw if not defeat thetter. The prerequisite was being able to persuade Master Luo toe out of seclusion.

    The Emperor¡¯s deration to go on tour covertly was met with every official¡¯s disagreement. What would an Emperor leave his throne to run to the pugilistic world for? It was absurd, especially when the thirtieth was three days away. If he wasn¡¯t going to attend a banquet with all the officials, he might as well have told the world he wasn¡¯t in the pce.

    In the end, the Emperor argued, ¡°Abels is a foreign viin who has invaded my border and killed my people. Right this moment, I want nothing more than to butcher him and drink his blood! What makes you think I¡¯m in any mood for a banquet? None of The Ultimate Three are in the capital at present. If I don¡¯t go, how will we ask Master Luo toe out of seclusion and help us? Were you friends with him without my knowledge? Moreover, it¡¯s just a New Year¡¯s banquet. Big deal if I¡¯m not there. Empress Dowager isn¡¯t in the pce at the moment, which is perfect. Announce I went to Zisheng Mountain to join her and fulfil my duties as her son. Filial piety is the most important value of all values. Can anybody argue otherwise? Perfect!¡±

    The Emperorughed shamelessly, while the officials could only concede.

    ¡®Listen to the Emperor. Listen to him. He even used Empress Dowager.¡¯

    ¡®Fangzhang, did you think about how you would exin yourself when your motheres home?¡¯

    Nobody could stop the Emperor since he insisted on going. He told us to go home and pack; we were setting out right away. So, I did as I was told and revised the information on Luo Sword n, as well. I also had to bid Young Shiyi farewell; that was the hardest mission.

    ¡°Hmph, you said you wanted to keep me by your side, but how many days have you spent with me since I joined?¡± sulked Young Shiyi, turning away after hearing my story. ¡°Besides the first two days I was here, yesterday was the only other day you visited me¡­ How much have we said to each other? Your shiniangs told you to look after me. We live right next door to each other, yet you¡­ don¡¯t evene over to greet daily now. Is that any way for a junior to ¡®respect¡¯ his senior?¡±

    I rubbed my hands and replied, ¡°Well, you know¡­ Boss Shen is in a pinch. As her subordinate and friend, I am duty-bound to go. I heard the silk at Huzhou is fantastic. The first thing that came to mind was bringing some back for you. You¡¯re going to look more beautiful than beautiful in it.¡±

    ¡°Brown nosing doesn¡¯t work on me. So, you¡¯re ignoring me to save Shen Yiren, is that it?¡± Young Shiyi grumbled. After shooting me a mean re, she pitifully covered her face with her sleeve and sulked, ¡°You unfaithful man. Look at the state I¡¯m in. You¡¯re so heartless that you would aggravate me, too?¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Look for yourself!¡± Young Shiyi lifted her chin and looked aside. She extended her arms out from under her sleeve. She widened her eyes and unreasonably said, ¡°I¡¯ve lost weight.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I carefully inspected Young Shiyi¡¯s arms. There wasn¡¯t a centimetre of difference to what I remembered. As for her body, she always looked after it and trained, so it was always perfect. She said she lost weight, so I couldn¡¯t resist checking her perky bosom. They were as blood-nose inducing as I remembered. I nced further down to see her ample thighs. Her robe for the day highlighted her curves more than usual.

    I gulped: ¡°No you haven¡¯t¡­ In fact, they look bigger¡­¡±

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re looking?! All you¡¯re good at is using your glib tongue!¡± Young Shiyi smacked me over the head, but her face glowed red, and she sounded shy. With a sigh, shemented, ¡°First it was a private job. Then, you had a business. Now you¡¯rebining business with your private matters to rescue your beautiful superior. I really wonder what I am to you.¡±

    I doubt anybody could¡¯ve imagined Young Shiyi being so flirtatious when she was usually so casual and brazen. I was really happy to know she was only ever childish with me, so happy that I walked up close to her before I knew it.

    Young Shiyi looked away and pretended to be indifferent: ¡°Go on. I¡¯m old now, so I won¡¯t stick my nose into the affairs of you young ones; else, you¡¯ll s(ay)-.¡±

    ¡°Young Shiyi¡­¡± I leaned in and said in a soft voice.

    Young Shiyi opened her eyes slightly: ¡°What do you w-, ng!¡±

    Young Shiyi¡¯s eyes flew wide open as she moaned. The moment I kissed her gently on her forehead, my lips were set alight. She looked back at me with a dumbstruck look. Gradually, her face turned red. She did her best to avert her gaze from me as she said, ¡°You didn¡¯t even consider my feelings first¡­ You didn¡¯t even create the ambience.¡±

    I smiled: ¡°Next time, then. We have plenty of time.¡±

    Young Shiyi gently touched her head and giggled. She nodded but didn¡¯tment. I pinched her pink cheek and smiled: ¡°Wait for me.¡±

 Volume 7 19 Su Xiao, Behave

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 19 Su Xiao, Behave</h4>

    I returned to Liu Shan Men''s main courtyard to recruit men for an impromptu meeting after my heartbreaking farewell with Young Shiyi. The team had their jaws gaping after I filled them in on what happened to Boss in Huzhou. I didn''t disclose all of the details since the Emperor going out in disguise was top secret. I simply informed them Boss Shen was missing in action, and we needed to form a team to search for her in Huzhou.

    I had no clue what Su Xiao had been busy with recently. I was with General Manager Bai all yesterday, Young Shiyi and Guardian Long, so I didn''t have time to talk to him. Hearing his voice again seemed as if I hadn''t heard it in a long time. It was also the first time he looked straight at me in thest two days.

    "Vice-Captain is in trouble?! Is Captain Song also in trouble? Those bandits are brazenly breaking thew!"

    Su Xiao sounded anxious, very anxious, which was normal given his personality. That being said¡­ there was something odd. Firstly, he didn''t name me. Secondly, he avoided eye contact with me. If I had to guess, I''d say he didn''t feel as close as before. I was a bit disappointed about that. I hadn''t seen him in days ever since we broke off into three different offices, after all, yet he didn''t appear happy to see me. I couldn''t exin the feeling¡­

    Su Xiao''s face glowed red when he noticed his gaze on me. Maybe he was guilty or something. He muttered, "Big Brother Ming¡­ what are you looking at me for¡­?"

    I shrugged as usual: "Nothing. I just thought I hadn''t spoken to you in a long time."

    Su Xiao lowered his head and sighed gently. He continued mumbling, "The bond between brothers is worth gold in weight¡­ I can''t say it. I can''t say it¡­"

    ''What in god''s name happened?! How does a heartless kid have emotional problems?!''

    I resumed business: "ordingly, His Majesty gave the order to form a rescue team. All three of our martial world offices are taking part in the operation. I need to select team members to join me as Liu Shan Men''s representatives."

    Sir Sui Tuwan narrowed his eyes and smiled. Stroking his non-existent beard as a cultured man would, he expressed, "I owe Vice-Captain Shen for a lot of things. Whoever you need, just say the word, Young Ming. I doubt anyone in the office will refuse."

    As I listened to Sir Sui Tuwan, I noticed him waving to me under the table. I leaned in to hear what he had to say, "You can take whoever you want, but you need to send me a recement for Zha Pi if you take him. We need a gardener."

    Sir Sui Tuwan then sneakily slipped me a silver ingot from his sleeve.

    "Don''t worry. Don''t worry. I''m impartial. I''ll be sure you''re satisfied," I assured. I switched to a deeper voice and continued, "We need a good number of people this time. I need useful people. Head Constable Bai, you are an experienced investigator, and Vice-Captain personally trained you, so you would know her modus operandi better than anyone. Please lead a team of your own to go on ahead."

    "Roger!" responded Bai Yeshuang.

    I knew Bai Yueshuang would''ve gone to Huzhou by herself even if I didn''t tell her to go; she looked worried sick the second she heard Boss Shen was in peril.

    "Zha Pi, we need people on the intelligence team. You''re the best candidate to blend in with the locals, so join Head Constable Bai."

    I chose another few members who''d be useful and assigned them to Bai Yeshuang''s team. Among them was the new constable who decided to step on my toes when I was first promoted to head constable, Luo Huaian.

    I had Bai Yeshuang''s team head out as a separatepany because I needed to keep the Emperor leaving the pce under wraps. Furthermore, we''d be able to get straight into analysing the information if they raced to Canhu Town to begin investigations beforehand.

    "As for my team¡­"

    "I''m going!" dered Su Xiao.

    "There''s no party for you there!" I argued. "You''d end up captured with your skills. I''ll have to go to your rescue, too, in the end. Stay put!"

    Su Xiao pouted: "And you''re skilled? Why would they capture me? Plus, we have Tang Ye."

    Su Xiao ran over to Tang Ye''s rear and averted his gaze from me.

    ''H-Has he grown distant to me?! Why does this remind me of someone taking a cat I raised for a long time?! Su Meow, just you wait!''

    "No, means no," I stressed. "There''s no point in protesting. This is an order!"

    Su Xiao contended, "Your orders hold no weight; my rank is higher than yours!"

    ''What?!''

    I think Su Xiao was promoted again after catching Kong Duan. I was only a rank seven warrior, so he was right! Unable to argue, I turned to Tang Ye: "Then, you, too. The three of us are going together."

    Tang Ye: "Time, ce and luggage?"

    "Assemble two and a half kilometres outside of the city''s South doors. We will need things to disguise ourselves. We''ll eat buns, braised pork shoulders and buy pears¡­. Just¡­ bring lots of money."

    "A thousand gold."

    Tang Ye left after I answered. The "gold" remark was a reference to the phrase, "A man''s word is worth a thousand gold in weight."

    I noticed Tang Ye had condensed his speech more and more recently¡­

    I assigned Liu Yuan as the leader of the office in my absence. I went to pack my luggage with Su Xiao.

    "Pay Su Xiao more attention," Shiyi told me when I bid her farewell.

    "Su Xiao? What''s wrong with him?" I asked, blinking. "He''s been weird recently. He''s been sick or something ever since we returned from Wuhua County, but he doesn''t look sick; he just looks lifeless."

    "Idiot," softly remarked Shiyi. "Can''t you tell he has emotional baggage?"

    "Emotional baggage?" I repeated. I thought, "How does a heartless kid have emotional baggage? I bet he''s just trouble because some girl confessed to him or his fan group of maids chased him around."

    As I watched Su Xiao take out his clothes from the cupboard, I thought Shiyi''s assessment was right. I called, "Xiao."

    Su Xiao juddered and quietly stuttered, "Wh-What?"

    "Are you hiding something from me?"

    Su Xiao looked over his shoulder. His face was red, but he tried his best to shake his head: "N-N-No."

    Clearly, Su Xiao wasn''t someone who could tell lies. I had to do something about the problem, nevertheless; otherwise, who knew how much longer he''d be hung up? I couldn''t always be by his side to protect him. Plus, the uing mission was dangerous. I had to force it out of him one way or another.

    I took two steps forward and pushed a cupboard door shut. Next, I trapped Su Xiao inside the range of my arm. Startled, he hugged his clothing and trembled. He stuttered, "Wh-What?!"

    I wore on a straight face and asked, "Do you know what I''m doing?"

    Su Xiao struggled to lift his chin. Confused, he replied, "K-Kabedon?"

    ''Yuck! What the hell?! The answer is interrogating!''

    Angry, I wrestled Su Xiao onto the bed. He released a high-pitched, "Kyah" as he fell onto the bed despite it not hurting because I controlled my output. I said, "Behave."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    After pressing Su Xiao down onto the bed and staring at him for a brief moment, his face turned more and more red for some reason¡­

    "Xiao," I sternly started. "Who am I?"

    Su Xiao stared and stared. He touched my head as if he was looking at a pitiful retard and answered, "What happened? You''re Big Brother Ming. How pitiful, you''re so stupid that you don''t even know who you are anymore."

    ''You''re the super-ultra,-mega stupid one! Why the hell is this interrogation so difficult?!''

    "Correct. We''re best brothers, right?"

    "Yes."

    I sternly said, "Are you hiding something from me?!"

    Su Xiao''s redness reached its peak. He frantically shook his head: "No, no, I don''t about Lord San Shen!"

    ''Eh? Wait. I didn''t think it was about this¡­ Oh, fuck! He just said Lord San Shen! What do you know?''

    And so, I inadvertently cracked a big case! A case too big!

    Notes:

    *Kabedon - The action of pping a wall fiercely, which you often see in Japanese and Korean media.

 Volume 7 20 Detective Su Xiao (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 20 Detective Su Xiao (Part 1)</h4>

    Su Xiao covered his mouth after what he blurted and revealed a fearful gaze.

    "Lord San Shen? How did that leak?" I wondered, conjuring countless possibilities in the process.

    Kong Duan''s face came to mind. I did knock him out at Feiyun Hall after he overheard Guardian Long''s conversation with me, deleting two hours'' worth of his memories, but¡­ I missed out what he said before that because I was busy engaging General Manager Bai in a verbal spar. If my memory did me justice¡­ Su Xiao was standing over Kong Duan after I knocked thetter out. Su Xiao wasmended and promoted thanks to that.

    I contemted if Kong Duan told Su Xiao about Lord San Shen before he passed out. I was on the edge of my seat, but I didn''t know how much Su Xiao knew or if he told anybody else. It was too dangerous on many levels; hence, I wore on an aggressive expression and tried to pry it out of him: "What do you know?!"

    Su Xiao stubbornly argued, "I don''t know! I have nothing to say!"

    Su Xiao tried kicking me, biting me and wing me fruitlessly because calling it ticklish would be exaggerating. I pinned his hands down and moved on to pinning other limbs until he behaved. I demanded, "Speak! I just heard you mention Lord San Shen! Speak!"

    "Wh-Wh-What are you talking about? I said I don''t know. Release me now!" Su Xiao started fighting back again. His face was red as a result of his painstaking effort. Failing over and over, he began to pant. He brayed, "Ming Feizhen, I''m reporting you to His Majesty for bullying me and reporting you to Vice-Captain to cut your sry!"

    ''This kid is more and more audacious by the day!''

    "Spill it if you don''t want to suffer!"

    Su Xiao puffed his cheeks and looked away: "Hmph! I don''t know anything! I¡­ I refuse to speak!"

    Su Xiao annoyed me, but his mistake was funny.

    "You slipped up. If you don''t know anything, what are you refusing to speak about?"

    Su Xiao had no response. Thus, he resorted to shutting his eyes. Seeing the view of his calm expression, I had to repeatedly remind myself he wasn''t a girl. Since I couldn''t pry the information out of him, he smirked: "How useless can you be? You can''t force me to speak. You''re only good at one thing: blowing your trumpet!"

    ''You would''ve pulled a funny face if I didn''t have you restrained, huh? You think closing your eyes will save you?! Lass, you''re too na?ve!''

    I forced Su Xiao''s thin forearms together and restrained his wrists with a single hand. His arms were long, but his wrist circumference was so tiny nobody would believe he was a male. Imented, "No masculinity at all."

    Su Xiao shot me a re: "Big Brother Ming! Prank me if you will, but don''t insult me!"

    "You think this is a joke?! Either spill it or you can suffer!"

    Scared, Su Xiao began to struggle again to no avail. To add, the narrow space of my one hand meant it would hurt when he tried to wriggle inside. A red circle was visible on his wrists from all the friction. Meanwhile, I was oblivious to Zha Pi''s approaching footsteps outside the window.

    Zha Pi pranced his way to the room to thank me. He already thanked the heavens for finally relieving him of gardening duty with Sir Sui Tuwan. When he arrived at my door, he heard, "Ow! Big Brother Ming, it hurts!"

    Zha Pi froze in ce. The corner of his mouth twitched. Next, he heard me rage, "Then, behave yourself! Cooperate or you''ll suffer even more."

    Zha Pi put on his thinking face, for he believed he chanced upon an extraordinary case¡­

    "It hurts. Stop, okay? Let''s stop ying around."

    "I said I wasn''t ying. Now, behave."

    Zha Pi touched his chin. Sweat collecting on his forehead¡­ He realised he was witness to a major case. He thought, "One of them is my big bro, while the other one is a good buddy. This is awkward as fuck¡­ Hmm, how do two men¡­"

    Zha Pi then heard Ming Feizhen say, "Hmph, still tight lipped, huh? I have my ways of prying open your mouth! Open it and we''re still brothers."

    Zha Pi finally understood how two men did it. He never thought of that! That''s bloody genius, he thought!

    Out of breath, Su Xiao pitifully pleaded, "Big Brother Ming, it hurts. It really hurts. Stop, please¡­"

    "Hehe, it hurts now, but you''re going to be enjoying it soon."

    Zha Pi''s mind: "Now that''s why he''s my big bro. What the elite can''t do, he can do."

    Zha Pi didn''t practice martial arts; however, he did read. Plus, he was known for being witty¡­ and always thinking about women. He once considered bing a schr. s, he was usually too upied with devising scams and lies to be bothered with education. After finding inspiration from his big bro''s enlightening recital, he had a creative urge. He sneaked off. Nobody ever knew he visited. A beautiful and lecherous story gradually penned itself in his mind. The day he put the story from his mind to paper would be the day the pugilistic world knew of his noble contribution to literature¡­

    I had no idea an author was born outside my door and continued on with my interrogation. Still holding Su Xiao''s hands with my left hand, I poked his sides with my right fingers. Upon making contact with one of his fourughing meridians, I imbued true qi into him, causing him to erupt intoughter. My true qi resembled countless small hands tickling him, so it was a hundred times rougher. Heughed so hard that his body convulsed.

    "Hahahaha, Big Brother Ming, I can''t take it! I can''t take it! Stop it! Hahahaha! It''s funny, but it sucks, hahahaha!"

    "If you refuse to talk, I''ll keep going. The technique is called Three Days of Laughing Plus After Effects Epic Technique. Keepughing and you''ll never be able to close your mouth again. When you eat, you''ll drool."

    Su Xiao loved being clean, bathing several times daily and using skincare products. He''d be devastated if he drooled whilst eating. Thus, my threat was effective.

    "You going to talk or not?"

    "I can''t tell you. I really can''t! It''s an important matt-, hahahaha, er!"

    "That''s exactly why you need to tell me! If you don''t tell me, I promise you hell."

    "No, hahaha, I, hahaha, everyone will be in trouble if I say it, hahahaha! I don''t want you to be in danger, hahaha!"

    That was touching. Su Xiao chose to stay silent when he might''ve discovered I was Lord San Shen, stressing himself out. The fact he didn''t rat me out proved he cared about me. He was an upright kid who believed in justice. I couldn''t imagine how he''d feel upon learning I was a member of the Demon Sect and was Lord San Shen¡­ It finally made sense as to why he avoided speaking to me when we met. I really shouldn''t have been harsh on him.

    Switching to an affable tone, I asserted, "Just tell me. I won''t be in danger. The type of people who could put me in danger¡­ are outside your world ofprehension."

    "I won''t tell you, hahaha. I can''t, hahaha. You''ll be in danger. I don''t want to put you at risk, hahahaha. Let me speak to him first, hahahaha!"

    "Speak to him?" I stopped: "Who? Lord San Shen?"

    "Yes¡­" Su Xiao panted. He looked as if was a slovenly kid afterughing and struggling. He finally managed to find somefort after all thatughing and continued, "I''m going to ask Lord San Shen if he intends to change his ways. Big Brother Ming¡­ stay out of this one. We''re buddies, so I''m sure we can talk some sense into him."

    "We¡­ are¡­ Lord San Shen''s¡­ buddies?" Not even I knew what I was saying. I pondered, "Lord San Shen and we are buddies? The only people we both know and consider brothers would be Su Xiao, Tang Ye and me."

    "You mean Tang Ye is Lord San Shen?"

    "Hey¡­ Don''t make wild guesses! Don''t go sniffing him out even if you''re right!" Su Xiao covered my mouth and said. "I knew you''d pry it out of me sooner orter."

    I was utterly speechless.

    "Kong Duan told me. He said he couldn''t remember Lord San Shen''s real name, but he said Lord San Shen was a youth, tall and the strongest among us¡­"

    ''Kong Duan said that?!''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Well, I wasn''t surprised Kong Duan didn''t remember my name since I was insignificant to him. Actually, he probably didn''t remember any of our names.

    I put on the look of a confident detective and thumped my chest.

    "See? I was there at the time, so it couldn''t have been me. Your martial arts are a piece of sh*t, so who else could he be besides Tang Ye? I''m certain¡­ Tang Ye is Lord San Shen!"

    I was dumbfounded. What could I say? All I could do was tip my hat to Su Xiao.

 Volume 7 21 Detective Su Xiao (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 21 Detective Su Xiao (Part 2)</h4>

    "Tang Ye is Lord San Shen¡­? I must be Buddha, then!" I thought in my head. I asked, "Do you seriously think Tang Ye is Lord San Shen? You think he''s a bad guy?"

    Su Xiao rested his chin on a finger and pouted: "I don''t know. We''re brothers. He must have his reasons. His background story might be true. He might really be after information on the Shangri-La massacre. For as long as he''s been with us, he''s never crossed the boundary, which is enough to prove our brotherhood isn''t just a charade. I don''t think he''s hatching any evil ns."

    "Wait, wait, Xiao, you''re missing something¡­ Lord San Shen is arguably quite famous in the pugilistic world, and he established himself a long time ago. Tang Ye is only eighteen. Don''t you think the numbers don''t match up?"

    "Oh, true that," realised Su Xiao, nodding. "In other words, you''re suggesting he can reverse aging? Ew! Do I have to call him Uncle Tang?"

    ''I just want to face palm myself right now¡­ Does your brain grow in circles and loops or something?!''

    "No, think about it. His Majesty saw Lord San Shen at Feiyun Hall. Tang Ye was right beside him at the time. Wasn''t he also by His Majesty''s side during the Orange Prince''s revolt? Don''t forget he was also injured. How could he be Lord San Shen?"

    "Hmph, don''t treat me as if I''m an idiot. I exhaustively analysed it already," griped Su Xiao, puffing his cheeks. "They aren''t called Demon Sect for nothing. I''m sure he has a secret technique of some sort, you know, such as Appearance Alteration, Bone Alignment¡­"

    "It''s Bone Reconfiguration. Bone Alignment is used in massage."

    "Fine, whatever floats your boat. Hmph, you know them well, don''t you? I wonder if you''ve been a demon before."

    ¡­ I was forced to react with a workce smile¡­

    "Great, you made me forget what I was going to say,"ined Su Xiao, pulling a funny face. He then used his fingers to keep count as he continued, "Appearance Alteration, Bone Reconfiguration, Clone Technique and Psychic Communication are all methods that allow one to go under the radar. I bet they''re unbelievably skilled, as well. I think Tang Ye''s injury was pretence. Think about it: what better tactic is there than using a clone to defeat an opponent whilst pretending to be injured? Yep, I knew it. He feigned injury but was actually fighting."

    I was speechless. If somebody wasn''t feeding him all the ideas, then¡­

    "Also¡­" Su Xiao folded his arms and looked serious: "Thepetition with Jin Wangsun was also quite suspicious."

    ''You''re suspicious of me, aren''t you?! Lord San Shen wasn''t there to fight Jin Wangsun, yet Su Xiao can link it back to me?!''

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Su Xiao waved a hand: "Lord San Shen''s presence is only a superficial trick. The Seven Champion Princes im there are never any problems under their leadership. How do they exin Vice-Captain''s pinch in their territory? Most importantly, I have two pieces of evidence to justify my suspicions."

    Su Xiao extended two slender fingers and beamed, "First, your martial arts skills are sh*t."

    Su Xiao looked cute, but god damn what was the insult all about¡­?

    ''My skills are sh*t? Your skills are an insult to the word sh*t!''

    "Hey, listen, will you? I thought long and hard about this."

    "You think anything thates out of your bird brain would be correct?! If it wasn''t for me, you''d be still conducting a search on ground level at Feiyun Hall!"

    "M-Meanie!"

    Maybe I took it too far. Red in the face, Su Xiao bit down on his lip and turned away, refusing to make eye contact with me, speak to me or listen to me - an exemry disy of "The Three Nos Policy." I poked his sides again using my true qi, making himugh. I said, "Sorry, I was too harsh."

    "I''m still angry!" eximed Su Xiao, wearing on his cranky expression forthwith. Once tears welled up in his eyes, he sulked, "You threatened me and forced me to talk. When I talked, you refused to believe me! What do you want?! What do you want?!"

    I put myself in Su Xiao''s skin and added to his whinge, "But it''s okay for me to sulk whenever somebody says one mean thing because I''m Su Xiao."

    "Rubbish! Sob, sob!"

    ''I''m in the wrong after you insulted me?!''

    Su Xiao hugged my pillow and cried on it, executing The Three Nos Policy again. I gave in to his whims: "Fine, fine, fine, go on. I''ll listen."

    Su Xiao stered his face to the pillow, muffling his voice, and said, "No more cutting in?"

    "Yes, no more cutting in."

    "No more finding faults with me?"

    "¡­ No."

    Su Xiao pulled the pillow aside, revealing one eye: "And if I curse you?"

    ''Don''t push it, you little runt!''

    Su Xiao: "Sob, sob, sob."

    I surrendered with both arms: "Fine, fine, fine, whatever. No cursing, no hitting and no touching you. I''ll put you on an altar and worship you, okay?"

    "A man never goes back on his word, got it?! Hahaha," quickly said Su Xiao, smiling brightly without a tear on his face.

    sted kid didn''t learn anything proper since joining Liu Shan Men and learnt to be a woman, instead!

    Su Xiao extended his fingers again: "All right, I''m resuming. First, your skills are sh-."

    "Sh*t, right?! I heard you already! The entire city knows now! You done broadcasting that part?! Can we move on now?!"

    "Why so hasty? You need to do something about that temper," grumbled Su Xiao, curling his lips. "How could you have fought evenly with Jin Wangsun, then? That doesn''t make any sense. You couldn''t hold a candle to Jiangnan''s Sabre King, Jin Wangsun, with your skills. You remember how the fight went?

    You squared off in teams of two. Tang Ye and Jin Wangsun''s exchange was brief, and they were evenly matched. I heard Jin Wangsun''s ve was superior to him. Logically, then, it''s a miracle you two even survived against them. You fought to a draw? It didn''t make any sense until now. The only exnation is that Tang Ye is far more skilled than he lets on. The only way you would''ve won was if Lord San Shen was pulling strings in the dark and hadrades with him. Else, it wouldn''t have been possible."

    "¡­ And your second piece of evidence?"

    "Personal vendetta. For Lord San Shen to take the big risk of fighting in the imperial pce, he must''ve had a personal score to settle."

    ''Hmm? How does Su Xiao know about Young Shiyi?''

    "You''re probably unaware, but when Jin Wangsun first arrived in the capital and caused mayhem on the streets, Tang Ye was the one who stopped him. That''s why the two shed right from then. Jin Wangsun even challenged Tang Ye in the imperial court. His fianc¨¦e was also close with Tang Ye. There was a variety of reasons for them to hate each other. Tang Ye hated Jin Wangsun''s guts! That''s why Tang Ye used his identity as Lord San Shen to help you defeat Jin Wangsun. I also heard someone resembling Lord San Shen appeared in the capital before thepetition and chopped a boat, too! See, plenty of concrete proof, right?"

    ''¡­ Amazing. Phenomenal. Su Xiao''s intelligence is off the charts!''

    All I could say was I''d prostrate myself in Su Xiao''s great presence¡­ Besides the key culprit in question being wrong, his deduction was logical and supported. If he reported that to the imperial court, I bet even the Emperor would believe him.ooking smug, Su Xiao asked, "You think I''m correct, don''t you?"

    "No," I answered with a stern look. "You remember Lord San Shen peeping on Princess Hongzhuang bathing? That had to be him, too!"

    "What?! Uncle Tang is¡­!"

    "Yeah, he even used Zhong Ning''s name to cover his misdeeds. You remember the five elders of the ck Robe Brotherhood were assaulted? Zhong Ning was the culprit. I think it was also him."

    "Why would he do that?"

    I folded my arms and put on a grave look: "I think Uncle Tang''s unorthodox style yed tricks on his mind, triggering him intomitting fraud as Zhong Ning. Don''t me him, though."

    Su Xiao clenched his fists: "I must watch him to prevent him running rampant andmitting mistakes again! What do you think, Big Brother Ming?"

    I gazed up to the sky then patted Su Xiao on the shoulder. Voice solemn, I replied, "Watch him closely. Don''t let him get away."

    "I will!"

 Volume 7 22 Young Ming

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 22 Young Ming</h4>

    Once Su Xiao finished packing, I went to call for a carriage to deliver our luggage to the assembly point.

    Naively, Su Xiao asked, "That''s not a bad carriage. It must''ve cost a lot."

    "Of course!" I gave the coach a hold-fist salute: "The maiden will pay you."

    "Gotcha!" responded the coach, smacking the horse and setting off right away.

    Su Xiao''s iplete "Meow, meow, meow?" sentence tapered off in the wind.

    I furtively used Senses Skill, enhancing the radius I could pick up on things over ten folds. At the end of the day, Su Xiao almost found out I was Lord San Shen because I was careless. To avoid making the same mistake again, I needed to be more cautious. I could hear everything around me within a one and a half kilometre radius as I walked along the streets. I could sense people''s heart beats and walking pace clearly. Once I confirmed there was nobody watching me, I hurried into an alley and took off using my qinggong.

    There was still an hour before we were scheduled to depart. I headed to Old Huang''s ce to pick up my order of hair dye (both colours), Bone Al-, Bone Reconfiguration and Appearance Alteration materials for disguising myself. Also, I nned to dye my celestial spider silk a different colour in the event it was necessary to use as a stealth robe under the cover of the night. I wrapped the vials up into a small bag that was perfect for keeping on me at all times¡­

    Motherfucker! I spent two months of my sry on the junk for disguises. Two months of freebour for the imperial court. Not to mention I had to apany the Emperor to Huzhou. I doubt anybody suffered losses as severe as I did throughout history. My old hooligan buddies wouldugh at me for days if they found out!

    Despite me cursing non-stop, I gradually picked up my pace. The scenery around me resembled shes. It didn''t take long before I arrived at the small vige Dark Wind Branch secluded them at.

    After the Emperor mentioned the rescue mission in the morning, I had a pigeon deliver a mission to Dark Wind Branch. I asked them to collect information on Evil Spirits while I was packing and saying my goodbyes.

    Given how brazen Evil Spirits was, I doubted they didn''t leave any clues behind. I assumed Dark Wind Branch had some information on them since Dark Wind Branch were still operating - not as vigers - when Evil Spirits infiltrated the Central in.

    As soon as I arrived at the vige, I saw Guardian Long unting his muscr physique. He wore the look of a soldier on the battlefield when he was just scarifying soil. Upon sighting me, he raised his pick-axe and wore on a stoic expression: "Your subordinate apologises for not weing you, Lord San Shen."

    "Don''t worry about. Do what you have to. I''ll leave once I pick up what I''m here for."

    One of the members of Dark Wind Branch handed me a letter. From behind, Guardian Long reported, "Lord San Shen, your subordinate personally wrote down the information you asked for."

    Instead of opening the letter, I queried, "When did Evil Spirits sneak into the Central in?"

    Back facing me, since he was focused on his job, Guardian Long answered, "If we are not counting the people who came prior to the main force to set things up, it would be about five months ago."

    That exined why I had no clue Evil Spirits came to the Central in. Five months ago, I was still at Bamboo Forest reading p(orn)-, leading the life of a recluse. I followed up with another inquiry: "Do they usually record what they do?"

    "Your subordinate found records of their seven hundred and seventeen theft cases in an edition of the ck and White Reflection. The time, location, motivation and process were recorded in explicit detail. They seeded on every job. They have no fear and disregard thew. You could say¡­ the things they did in Beijiang do not pale inparison to what we did to the imperial court."

    "I''ve heard about that, as well¡­ How about their leader, Abels? What do you know about him?"

    "He isuded as a force to be reckoned with. He specialises in fighting power with power and has skills toplement his brute strength. Your subject would agree he deserves to be part of the Supreme Ten Saints. Your subordinate is not trying to demoralise you¡­ however, it is a fact they are arge group. You must be careful, Lord San Shen."

    "I will. Don''t worry." I was already metres away when Guardian Long heard my voice.

    The moon had yet to take centre stage, yet it was already chilly. With my speed and the wind blowing against me, frost condensed on my hair.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao happened to arrive at the assembly point the same time I did. There was a group of fake merchants at the spot. There were seven carriages packed to the brim with an assortment of things. They had the appearance of an escort down pact. There were roughly thirty people in total, consisting of males, females, elders and youths, so it looked natural. Everyone was geared up and ready to march. Everyone was positioned strategically to handle any ambushes.

    If we were being conservative, I''d say there were twenty adepts among the group. I saw Long Zaitian, Baiimu and more. There were even Jia Rank warriors, such as Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo, who I hadn''t seen in a long time. Three people stuck by the Emperor''s side; it wasn''t hard to discern they were adepts from his entourage. The other members were elites from different sectors. There were two chefs from the imperial kitchen, four imperial doctors, three coaches, two porters and more.

    The Emperor positioned himself dead centre. He wore a pair of light boots, a ck robe warrior robe and mantle. He dangled a nine-ring broadsword from his belt. He wore his hair in a bun martial artists in the Central ins usually did and tied his ponytail with a red string. His appearanceplemented his rectangr-shaped face. He deliberately exaggerated his physical mannerisms more to give off the vibe of a wandering hero in the pugilistic world. Back straight, hemanded, "Everyone is present! Assemble!"

    ''¡­ Is he going to save someone or trying to satisfy his addiction to ying hero he''s been deprived over for decades?''

    Next thing I saw, my eyes almost popped out of their socket. Long Zaitian clung to the Emperor to brown nose him. He eximed, "How dare you not salute His Majesty?!"

    "Brother Long," called the Emperor,ughing. "It''s fine. I¡­ I am a martial arts'' leader escorting these merchants to Huzhou. Call me¡­ Teacher Li."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Brother Long? Teacher Li? Martial arts'' leader? Oh, fuck, me. Please don''t tell me you intend to personally take to the battlefield, Your Majesty!''

    With a smile, the Emperor said, "As the leader of the warriors, I shall not spare any enemies who dare to attack you. I shall stand at the forefront and raise our morale!"

    ''Stand at the forefront, too?! I''ve never seen an Emperor so generous that he''d travel so far to deliver his head on a tter!''

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao were equally blown away at the sight of the Emperor''sme dress up.

    Tang Ye: "Big Bro, is His Majesty going out to meet his mistress?"

    Su Xiao: "Big Brother Ming, His Majesty is going out behind Her Majesty''s back, isn''t he?"

    Me: "¡­ Say no more. If enemies attack, run as fast as you can. You don''t want to trust your lives to His Majesty''s damaged brain."

    Ecstatic to return to the pugilistic world, the Emperor pointed at us and state, "You three arete. I''ve almost arranging everyone''s identity. Those who don''t have an identity yet,e over! Long Zaitian, you be my coach. You''re skilled enough to protect my carriage. I''m counting on you to have my back when I ride in it."

    That was an honour as high as being the Emperor''s personal coach. After Long Zaitian drowned the seven armies with a lethal st from his hose, the Emperor was finally cordial with him again for the first time. Unsurprisingly grateful, Long Zaitian responded, "Your Sub-, I shall not let you down, Teacher Li."

    Teacher Li stroked his beard proudly: "Tie Hanyi, you''reposed and cautious. You be the escort''s Iron Team leader, Ol'' Tie. You''ll be responsible for coordinating everyone and human resources."

    Tie Hanyi: "Roger."

    Teacher Li kept stroking his beard and added, "You and I have also been friends for decades, and our favourite pastime is ying go."

    "Yes, Brother Li."

    Whatever criticism you might have, there was no denying the Emperor was meticulous with his setting.

    "Tang Ye, you are a martial arts genius. You be my maternal nephew, Xiaotang, my only broadsword-wielding disciple. I''ll teach you my family''s broadsword style on the way so that you''re in rolepletely. As for Ye Luo, she''s your childhood friend. You two have a marriage arrangement in ce, so you''re fianc¨¦ and fianc¨¦e."

    I bet lots of people were envious of Tang Ye. The Emperor''s skills weren''t some magnificent style, but he would be considered a disciple not within the family. That would be considered an honour among honours. Plus, having the beautiful Ye Luo for a wife was a dreame true.

    Ye Luo proved herself the descendant of a venerated n and veteran of the pugilistic world with a heartyugh: "Brother Tang, I''ll be in your care."

    Tang Ye nodded: "As will I."

    "Perfect. You two go perfectly together," remarked the Emperor, back to his beard stroking endeavour. "As for Ming Feizhen¡­"

    I smiled: "I am at your service, Teacher."

    "I already have a role in mind for you. You''re a veteran of the pugilistic world, quick at adapting on the fly and quite astute. I shall assign you the escort''s most important role."

    "Oh? The food tester?"

    "No." The Emperor smiled: "The messenger and handler of misceneous chores."

    "¡­"

    "You are the eldest son of my old wealthy friend, Ming Da. You''re foolish but rich. Your dadined you were useless, so he sent you to me to handle misceneous chores. Cooking, making sure we have seats and rooms at restaurants, picking egg shells and so forth are in your hands. Henceforward, you are Young Ming, the important misceneous worker!"

    "¡­"

    ''Fuck you, Teacher Li! I''ve been running around all day long to prepare to rescue your adopted daughter, yet I''m the misceneous servant Ming?! Fuck you! And, fuck you! Hong Jiu, call the cavalry! We''re rebelling!''

    While I was busy bristling with anger, the Emperorughed and stated, "Su Xiao, you be Ol'' Tie''s younger sister who grew up with him as your only family¡­"

    Su Xiao: "I am a boy!"

    "Silence!" demanded the Emperor. "This is too important for you to be fooling around!"

    The Emperor extinguished Su Xiao''s fire and confused him in the process.

    The Emperor was addicted to his character creation game: "You grew up with Tie Hanyi as your only brother. You two supported each other, but your life is harsh, so you had to¡­ busk for money. The sabre at your waist is used for your busking. Mm, let''s go with that. Because your family was poor, your parents decided to betroth you to¡­"

    The Emperor was probably out of bullsh*t to spew, but, for whatever reason, when he saw me, he pointed at me: "¡­ the foolish son over here as his mistress! Henceforth, you are Young Ming''s mistress!"

    Su Xiao: "Huh?!"

    Ye Luo: "Eeeeh?!"

    Tang Ye: "This is going to be entertaining."ong Zaitian: "For real?!"

    I was the only one who calmed down a little. I touched my chin: "Sounds¡­ interesting¡­"

    Notes:

    *"It''s fine. I¡­ I am a martial arts leader escorting these merchants to Huzhou. Call me¡­ Teacher Li." - The Emperor made the mistake of referring to himself as an Emperor would, hence the self-correction.

 Volume 7 23 Inn Located

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 23 Inn Located</h4>

    One, two, three, four, countless ripples stirred in the once peacefulke. The rain''s veil covered part of the dark nket. The dark clouds blocked out the moon. The city outskirt was considerably quieterpared to in the city. Lights and shadows intertwined. Still, not even the adepts could see clearly in the dark surroundings.

    Thankfully, the darkness didn''t hamper my vision excessively. I adapted to spending nights in the forest, as I often spent nights in the forests back on Mount Daluo. I spotted freckles of light in the distance, suggesting there was a civilisation there. Judging from the size and light count, it was likely a town.

    I reported, "Your Majesty, there is an inn up ahead. Shall your servant go on ahead to inquire with Su Xiao?"

    Emperor: "Perfect! Hurry on."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao blushed: "C-Can I pass¡­?"

    "Of course not," I responded with augh. "You''re my mistress. Is it right for a mistress to not join her husband?"

    "Buzz off with your mistress rubbish! I''m a man!"

    Bang! I wore on my straw raincoat and pulled the defiant beauty in. Then, off we went, into the inn. I flicked my sleeve and domineeringly called, "Waiter!"

    The waiter swiftly ran over with a smile: "Coming. Where did youe from, Sir? Where are you heading?"

    I cackled and posed. Sounding as if I was reciting opera lines, I replied, "I hail from Apricot Vige. Which road do I traverse to reach Huzhou?"

    The waiter froze for a second. Deciding to go along with my opera performance, he put on the shoes of the correspondent role: "The road to the West shall eventually lead you to the scenery of lotuses."

    "Farewell. This shall be a journey of no return."

    Startled, the waiter expressed, "The downpour is merciless. How about a cup tea before venturing on your journey?"

    I waved and pointed to Su Xiao: "My wife is ugly. I don''t want to scare the customers."

    Su Xiao went red in the face: "You''re ugly! You''re so ugly nobody wants to be your friend."

    The waiter nced at Su Xiao and spaced out for a second before asking, "Ma''am, you are gorgeous. Would you like some wine?"

    "One pot will do. If possible, I''d like some pork shoulders braised in soy sauce."

    "I''m sure there is some in the kitchen. Please wait a moment. Judging by how hard it is raining, I think it will be hard to travel in it. How about spending a night here? It''ll make things more convenient for you."

    "Oh? How so?"

    The waiter flipped his towel onto his shoulder and switched to a high-pitched voice: "Our humble inn provides escort services to the North and South. May I ask if you intend to stop for a meal or sojourn?"

    I flicked my sleeve and long hair. I looked over my shoulder and replied, "Noodles are what I yearn."

    From outside, the Emperor thundered, "I''ll have you on a chopping board! It''s belting down outside! You done singing and rhyming?! Hurry and let us in."

    "Ahem, we have a lot of people, so give us a discount. We''ll stop here and continue on once the rain stops."

    The waiter smiled: "Understood, understood, pleasee in."

    We already spent six hours going full pelt on the road. Though the Emperor was a headache, he truly did care for Boss Shen. Hence, despite the hysterics before we set out, he was well-behaved on the journey and never spouted any drivel.

    The Emperor thought things through meticulously. The chests in the goods carriages weren''t empty; he stored clothing, ropes and weapons in there. If the chests were empty, the wheels would leave suspicious clues behind. By saying we were transportingbat equipment, nobody could call us out on it, and it saved us space.

    The inn we stopped at was thergest one in the town. With that said, the town was just one small town within Jiangnan, so it couldn''t hold a candle to big cities. The first floor was packed with people seeking shelter from the rain. Most of them didn''t look friendly, looked intimidating and were armed. As the year wasing to an end, most ordinary folks already arrived home. That was why most of the people still wandering at night were people involved with the pugilistic world. The Emperor wasn''t used to sharing a room with them; not to mention we were hiding numerous secrets. As such, the Emperor asked for a room on the second floor.

    Tie Hanyi scanned the customers on the first floor and quietly told me me, "There aren''t many friendlies here. Brother Ming, you and I need to be more alert."

    "You''re putting me on a pedestal, Brother Tie. You should be saying that to Tang Ye. Don''t you think? I don''t think I''m up to the task."

    Tie Hanyi raised the corner of his lips: "You''re being too modest, Brother Ming. Though Brother Tang is a skilled fighter, hecks experience in the pugilistic world. You are resourceful and decisive. You have more experience to make better judgement; in fact, I can''t name another person who could match you in those departments. Forgive my arrogance, but I would go as far as to say there is nobody more observant than Long Zaitian, you and I."

    Tie Hanyi was right. In a one-on-one fight, Tang Ye had an eighty percent chance of defeating either of them. However, Long Zaitian was observant of even minute details, while Tie Hanyi was one of the Emperor''s Entourage''s secret agents. Su Xiao¡­ he should just stick to being cute.

    "Who do you think is suspicious, Brother Tie?"

    Voice stifled, Tie Hanyi answered, "There are many people involved with the pugilistic world in here. I won''t rule out the possibility of Evil Spirits sneaking into the crowd. As citizens of Beijiang, they presumably share the same tastes, enjoying spicy food, strong alcohol and wielding nine-ring broadswords. They are physically muscrpared to men from the Central in. They often have fierce gazes, too. There are, at least, four people who tick all the boxes here. If Evil Spirits have allied with unorthodox sects from the Central in, not even I might be able to identify them."

    "You''re overthinking, Leader Tie," I said, stretching my neck. "The first thing you should be looking for is theirbatpetence. I''m willing to bet Tang Ye and you could easily wipe the floor with all of them at once. For that reason, they won''t try anything. Whoever tries to report during the night will be the spy we need to worry about."

    Tie Hanyi looked enlightened: "That makes sense. Brother Ming, you really do possess vast knowledge without having to learn."

    "You call that praise¡­?"

    "I was joking. I don''t think the rain will stop untilte at night. I''m off to set up traps to see if we can catch any of Evil Spirits'' members. If we can, we''ll be one step closer to rescuing Vice-Captain Shen."

    Su Xiao and the others followed the Emperor into his room to avoid the people on the first floor. With my listening enhancement skill, I could hear the conversation in the room. The Emperor said, "Why has the pugilistic world be a den for thieves and viins? Back in my day, wandering heroes brandishing long swords and white horses were ubiquitous."ong Zaitian: "You are a refined Gentleman. There is no need to stoop down to their level¡­"

    I switched to a universal level of listening and sneaked into the kitchen. Since nobody noticed me, I stole a pork shoulder. It tasted so-so¡­

    "Sir, let''s speak somewhere else," I heard the waiter say. The waiter led me to a dark spot at the back of the kitchen and, in a muffled voice, stated, "I am Ling Xuan from the League of Assassins. It is my honour to offer you my services, Master Ming."

    "Don''t worry about it." I leaned back onto the wall and folded my arms: "Your boss well?"

    That was why I just couldn''t fathom why there was any reason to worry about the unfriendly people on the first floor. I mean, the big-bad boss, me, was travelling with them.

 Volume 7 24 Origins

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 24 Origins</h4>

    "This humble one is only a messenger stationed at Jiangnan. He would not have the right to meet the boss. He has only heard my seniors mention him in passing. This humble one heard the boss misses you ever since you went your separate ways at Shaolin Temple, and you decided to stop involving yourself with the pugilistic world. He oftenments a talented hero has left the pugilistic world."ing Xuan impressed me with his smart looks and ability to adapt on the fly. He was also able to maintain the same smile he greeted customers with whilst responding to an important question, even cackling.

    "Had Mystery''s Fu Xiang not reported back to our boss, we never would have imagined having the honour of meeting you again. Our master also told us to remember the verbal code, stating you would soon visit."

    The boss of League of Assassins had five generals and twelve deputy generals under his banner. They and their subordinates formed hiswork capable of keeping tabs on everything happening in the world. The master administrated the assassin in the capital and Jiangnan. Jiangnan was the hardest ce for them to survive due to the presence of the Seven Champion White Princes. For them to still be in operation in the area and turn orthodox sects'' members, such as Jia Yunfeng, into their members proved they were not to be taken lightly.

    During my time leading Night Fortress, I struck up a friendship with Ling Xuan''s master. I was surprised he still remembered me after all those years.

    The boss of League of Assassins was known as the four factions'' most mysterious individual as he never revealed himself. Shifu mentioned him during my childhood. ording to what I remembered, the boss wore a smile as mysterious as he was, yet I already met him three times. I met him once as Lord San Shen, once as the master of Night Fortress and the other time was when I was younger. The boss didn''t remember meeting me in my childhood.

    I was sure Fu Xiang would report back to their headquarters after he discovered Ming Feizhen and Night Fortress'' master was one and the same person. Subsequently, I was aware the boss would assign some surveince team or teams to me. The Emperor Chengkong Incident took ce some time ago. If League of Assassins'' Jiangnan branch were still oblivious I had returned to the pugilistic world, they should pack up their circus and retire.

    One of the reasons I refused to take action thoughtlessly was their surveince¡­ The unorthodox factions'' in the pugilistic world were intricately intertwined. If you plucked one string, you would set off a cascade of other consequences. If I was too mboyant, the martial world would be engulfed in anarchy again.

    I silently mourned I couldn''t keep it all under wraps in the end. My name was going to be mentioned in the martial world again since the boss gave themand to mark me¡­ Years of living in seclusion all washed away because I wasn''t careful enough. As soon as I appeared, Lord San Shen put away Mystery during their operation in the capital. Someone perceptive enough was bound to link Night Fortress'' master and Lord San Shen together. If I didn''t watch myself, the world would find out all of my identities soon enough.

    "Let your master know I''ve heard from you and that I will pay him a visit."ing Xuan, ted, responded, "Consider it done, Master!"ing Xuan was the type who was unlikely to ever meet any of the five generals. Since I entrusted him with my message, he had the chance to put an aplishment to his name. That was why he was delighted.

    "You truly are one of a kind. We have always been secretive and struggled to locate you, yet you managed to identify us straight away. This humble one has seen many famous individuals of the pugilistic world on rainy nights such as this. It would take them months to find us, yet you found us in one nce and identified this humble one as part of them. That is a first."

    "You lot run inns as if it''s your main upation. If I can''t identify you from the way you set things up, your boss would''ve caught me, at least, five hundred times."ing Xuan froze for a second: "It is amazing to hear you say Boss would catch you five hundred times. People wish they could meet Boss. If they could, they would be considered among the greatest in all thend. It is absurd to think Boss would let someone escape once he caught them, so a second capture is unthinkable."

    I have to say, Ling Xuan''s ttery rendered me ufortable¡­

    "Enough with the tripe. I have business to discuss with you."ing Xuan instantly switched to a courteous look: "This humble one shall answer anything as long as he knows."

    "Good. Now, since you use this town as a base, surely catch wind of news in the North and South."

    "League of Assassins would like to think they know the majority of major and minor affairs in Jiangnan."

    "Evil Spirits has shown up in Jiangnan¡­"

    Reacting surprised, Ling Xuan responded, "Few in Jiangnan have learnt of it, yet you already know?!"

    ''It wasn''t me who found out. It was the Emperor''s Entourage that found out¡­''

    "I''ve never questioned League of Assassins'' ability to collect information. Bring me a report on what you knowte at night."

    "Of course, of course. Would you like to meet our branch leader?"

    "I don''t want to see outsiders in case anyone suspects me. Don''t let anyone besides your boss know I dropped in."ing Xuan could definitely see the boss since I gave the specific order. Ecstatically, he replied, "Right, right, right! This humble one shall go and write the report now."

    "Also, aren''t you going to ask what''s going on when so many of us are here?"

    "This humble one will not pry into what he should not know."

    I smiled: "You''re a wise one. They''re my subordinates. You know what I mean?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Of course, of course. We will not make things hard for them."

    I pulled over a short stool to sit. Ling Xuan quickly ran over to wipe the stool and blew it, acting as if he was worried it was too cold for my butt or something. It wasn''t going to instantly warm up, though; he didn''t have Tang Ye''s heat skill. He then chuckled: "Master, please sit. Do you have any orders?"eague of Assassins were polite on the surface but couldn''t care less about respecting customers deep down. I felt Ling Xuan was excessively polite even if he was told to be polite to me¡­

    "You''re very courteous with me, huh? Since when were you lot so nice? I know you usually cuss everyone''s family behind their backs. Did your boss tell you to be this polite to me, or am I just that scary?"

    "No, no, Boss did not say anything of the sort! This is all voluntary on this humble one''s part!" respectfully answered Ling Xuan. "Our customer service is split into Heaven, Earth, ck and Yellow. Guests designated the Earth character are to be treated as branch leaders. You see, this humble one would have to risk his life toplete missions for a branch leader, let alone being polite."

    "I remember now." League of Assassins disrespected outsiders regardless of how revered they might be. The only time they were courteous was when they hosted important guests. I said, "I heard you treat VIPs well. Guests designated the Heaven character are treated as importantly as your second inmand. Your second inmand canmand over a thousand assassins at his own discretion. You all must have it tough."

    "You are absolutely right. Who else besides the Supreme Ten Saints would have the honour of being assigned a Heaven character?"

    I grabbed a jug of wine and removed the lute. Before I had a drink, I questioned, "What character am I assigned, then?"

    "Hehe, Boss did not assign a character to you." Ling Xuan rubbed his hands and borated, "He said to treat you as if you were his father."

    "Pfft!" There went the wine I just drank.

    ''Fuck, man, what am I, the demon king of cmity?!''

 Volume 7 25 Surprise Attack

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 25 Surprise Attack</h4>

    The rain developed for the worse, pouring heavier and heavier. Rain in winter was unpredictable. However, rainfall was always heavier in mountain and forest regions. The stores in the town closed shop earlier during the day. The only things visible on the streets were the lights households had lit up.

    There was a drenched drunkard waddling his way along a street. Despite the rain bucketing down, heughed heartily: "Big Head, Big Head doesn''t need to fear getting wet. He has an umbre to shield him from the rain. Still, I can easily smash his brains! Hahaha!"

    The drunkard''s walk almost caused him to trip face first into a pile of dog faeces. He continued marching in a drunken state, knocking on homes futilely.

    "Fuck, man! I just want to use your toilet! Oh, this ce isn''t too shabby."

    The drunkard ended up entering the inn. A man in the inn went over to support the drunkard and dragged him off to speak elsewhere.

    The drunkard was Long Zaitian. The man who helped Long Zaitian was Tie Hanyi.

    Tie Hanyi asked, "What did you find out?"ong Zaitian sobered up a tad and replied, "The thorns are prickly (code for "The enemy is dangerous)."

    "What exactly did you find out?"ong Zaitian furrowed his eyebrows: "Bizarre. I did ap outside, shouting, causing a ruckus and doing tricks, yet not one townsfolk came to check on me."

    Tie Hanyi peered outside: "If my guess is correct¡­ there are no more than ten actual residents in this town."

    "Who are the rest, then?"

    "Maybe¡­ they are all martial world warriors in disguise¡­" Tie Hanyi wore a grave expression as he borated, "There''s no doubt we have enemies on all sides. We need to hurry back to guard His M- , Master Li!"

    ========

    "This endless rain is not a good sign," bemoaned the Emperor, sighing and carving a secret signal on a bamboo pipe with a small knife.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuan Sheng didn''t neglect the imperial court''s business despite going on tour. His entourage already established a secret contact method with those stationed in the imperial pce, allowing the Emperor to send orders even from afar. The majority of those apanying the escort were downstairs. A few followed the Emperor indoors, but he was alone in his room. He couldn''t have others hanging around while he was writing a secret message that could impact the entire nation.

    After deliberation, the Emperor muttered, "Kong Duan suddenly disappeared without a trace from the prison. Secretary Zhang insists there is more to it than meets the eye. I''m sure he''s just shifting me¡­ Feng Sage Faction''s two leaders are schrs and have developed the imperial court''s schrs all this time. Despite Kong Duan''s countless students in the imperial court, since Kong Duan''s status as a sage''s descendant has been dumped, one faction has begun to crumble¡­

    The Ministry of Personnel''s Qian Wuque is a pragmatic individual, so, while he, Kong Duan and Zhang Chunfeng seem to get along harmoniously on the surface, he favours a different approach to them. I can give him a bigger role to y. Kong Duan may be alive, but he''s essentially crippled. His group is no longer a threat with him ousted from power. Zhang Chunfeng has deep roots in the imperial court and is an upright man. Even if he was to have a silly moment, he wouldn''t cause catastrophic damage to the nation. You mustn''t punish him too harshly. You must grasp each individual''s value."

    The Emperor liked reading aloud what he wrote whenever he wrote. The edict he wrote was sincere and unlike amand. Rather, it resembled a lesson. He continued, "Chi''er, when you return to the capital, bear these things in mind. I must stress it again: bear these things in mind."

    The Emperor passed the bamboo pipe to his secret agent once he was done.

    The Emperor prepared sufficient men despite the rush and wasposed the entire trip because he already had a move in mind. He had ns to visit Master Luo even if Shen Yiren didn''t run into trouble. He wanted to discuss the Seven Champion White Princes'' future with Master Luo and see how Jiangnan was doing. At the same time, he wanted to use his absence to test Red Prince, the Prince with the highest likelihood of being enthroned as the next Crown Prince and was on his way back to the capital.

    With the Emperor absent, all matters in the imperial pce would be Red Prince''s duty once he returned. The Emperor''s edict in the pce was for Red Prince to manage the imperial court and nation as a Prince while the Emperor was visiting Empress Dowager on Mount Zisheng. If the Red Prince failed to live up to expectations in that time frame, he would be considered an embarrassment as the oldest Prince. By the same token, he wouldn''t have any qualification to be the next monarch candidate.

    The strategy would''ve been deemed unviable if it was months ago, as Orange Prince was still in the capital. The eldest son and the Empress'' son were two brothers who couldn''t get along. No matter who was chosen as the Crown Prince, turbulence was bound to gue the imperial court. If Red Prince was assigned administration duty, Orange Prince would do everything in his power to give Red Prince grief. Were the nation''s welfare and its military tools for two Princes to y around with in their power struggle? Additionally, the capital was the heart of the nation; there was no room for mistake there.

    The Emperor''s soft-heartedness was evident. On one hand, he wanted Red Prince to tackle problems. On the other hand, he wrote a letter warning his son to be careful.

    The Emperor shifted his gaze to a row of seven copper coins sitting on the table. He was stuck in a long and deep thought.

    "A-Hu is now one of Gold and Silver n''s next patriarch candidates¡­ I guess that means Gold and Silver n are showing gratitude for not pursuing Jin Wangsun''s act of treason and sparing A-Hu. I am the one who instated A-Hu, and he doesn''t have a faction in Gold and Silver Sect supporting him. In fact, his background as a ve is bound to stir the n. He has no choice but to ally with the imperial court. He''s going to be a good piece for conquering Zhenjiang in the future."

    The Emperor grabbed one of the copper coins, leaving six on the table. For some reason, he stared at the remaining six and spaced out.

    "The Seven Champion White Princes collect their own taxes and raise their own private military. Ruling Jiangnan for a century sure isn''t an easy task¡­ If it truly was hard to keep the reigns for a century, my Li n would''ve fallen long ago. Though you seven are said to be guards, how are you any different to an army pressing its attack on all fronts¡­? Your imperious reign hassted for too long."

    Suddenly, the Emperor mncholically murmured, "Yiren¡­"

    Shen Yiren was a perfect example. Besides being Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, she was also a Rank One Warrior, yet she went missing in Jiangnan, thest ce anybody would expect someone an unorthodox sect faction to attack her. It was absurd - even inconceivable - to think they could sneak into Jiangnan and hide there without the Seven Champion White Princes being aware. If the Seven Champion White Princes genuinely wanted to hunt down Evil Spirits, there was no fathomable way thetter could evade capture. More importantly, why would Evil Spirits risk their lives to rob the escort? Yes, the presents were valuable but by no means precious or rare.

    The Emperor wasn''t convinced the entire attack was Evil Spirits'' idea alone. He believed there had to be a bigger goal that required them to ambush Shen Yiren and try to capture her alive. Subsequently, the Emperor had no doubt the Seven Champion White Princes were implicated in the entire plot.

    Angry and suspicious of the Seven Champion White Princes, the Emperor clutched his knife with a vice-like grip and discharged his true qi, lowering the temperature in the room. The knife was no ordinary knife; it was an heirloom passed down to the next monarch in line and used to carve text.

    "I never should''ve had you personally escort the presents¡­ You seven better pray Shen Yiren is safe and sound. Otherwise, I''ll make sure no trace of you remains!" thundered the Emperor.

    Tang Ye and the others outside heard the Emperor''sst remark. There was no doubt in their minds he cared about Shen Yiren.

    "Make sure no trace of the seven remains, you say? I guess the bar for arrogance has been raised," remarked a male outside.

    A shiny de flitted across the Emperor''s eyes. The individual in ck zipped across and unveiled his three metres long de!

 Volume 7 26 Rain Pounding on a Path in the Pugilistic World One Winter Night

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 26 Rain Pounding on a Path in the Pugilistic World One Winter Night</h4>

    Rain sttered against the window all night long. The shiny de cut the crisp wood almost silently. If the people present weren''t adepts, the assant would''ve gone under the radar. Though the inn was situated at a modest-sized town, the wood was unquestionably high quality because the economy at Jiangnan was healthy. It, therefore, was clear what the ability to cut the wood so smoothly implied.

    The silver dragon vigorously spun after it charged in, flicking the countless rain droplets into the room as if they were water sts using internal strength. The Emperor neither looked over nor shifted back. He, instead, sliced the air, catching the attack.

    "Bastard is pretty good!" remarked the assassin, swinging left and right in swift cutting motions, collecting the mist from the rain to impair vision.

    The Emperor kept hisposure and intercepted the horizontal shes with his knife. Each time the Emperor caught the tip, the assant''s movements would slow down a tad. After a number of shes, they were close enough, and the assassin had slowed down enough to make it impossible for him to hide behind the veil of mist. The assassin felt as if he was fighting against arge broadsword with a ghost head as he struggled with distance and weight.

    Four adepts, Liu Shan Men''s Tang Ye, Emperor''s Entourage''s Bai Laimu, Ye Luo and a giggling youth, were already in the room and prepared to intercept the assassin because, when the assassin made his first remark, they instantly raced in. Nheless, they were stopped.

    Coincidentally, of the five members from Seventeen Hidden Dragons the Emperor brought along on the journey, besides Long Zaitian, the others were youthscking experience. The Emperor was a man who treasured talent and wanted to give them a chance to gain experience. They, however, hadn''t served him for long. As such, they didn''t know he liked to personally fight. Had it not been for the youth stopping the other three, they would''ve gone and restrained the assassin already.

    The surname of the youth who stopped them was Dugu, meaning loner; people also referred to him as Dugu. Seldom did anyone ever call him by his first name. Over time, nobody remembered it. He was in histe twenties and a striking young man serving in the Emperor''s Entourage. The Emperor assigned him to ounting duties seeing as he wasn''t much of a threat in battle but was meticulous.

    Because Dugu stopped them, Ye Luo thundered, "Dugu, move! There''s an assassin after His M-, Master!"

    Dugu replied, "We were aware he was camping outside, right, Brother Tang?"

    Tang Ye nodded: "He was there since we entered the room; he''s been there for thest hour."

    Dugu smiled: "I think it''s safe to assume our master was also aware of his presence but let him be to find out what group he was with and to avoid letting him escape. Since Master wants to fight, let him. Look, the assassin''s spear skills are being countered."

    Ye Luo: "He uses a spear style? I get it now. His speedes from the length of his weapon."

    Tang Ye: "Unfortunately, his skills arecking."

    The fight wasn''t intense whatsoever. The Emperor yed a waiting game and countered fast attacks with slow counters. As Ye Luo pointed out, the assassin''s onlybat asset was his speed, making it appear as if he was wearing silver armour. It was an ineffective fighting strategy against the Emperor.

    The Emperor grunted and wielded his short de as if it was a broadsword, swinging down vertically with enough might for the assassin to feel the cleaving wind! Forced to stop and defend, his silver mask was defused on its own.

    Tang Ye lunged over and booted the assassin to the ground, revealing the assassin''s appearance. The assassin was in his mid-twenties and surprisingly striking. Tang Ye disarmed him. The silver spear was exceptionally long, indicating it was designed ording to the spear design from an older era no longer used. The silverponents were soft, while the ironponents were solid. For that reason, the Emperor was unable to cut it with his de.

    "Who are you, sneaking around so impolitely? I promise you misery if you don''t speak," threatened the Emperor, in a polite tone but in thenguage used in the martial world.

    If someone from an unorthodox said, "I promise you misery," the victim was going to be subjected to an assortment of bloody and brutal torture methods.

    The assassin wore a defeated smile: "You defeated me and have captured me, so I, Pi Pixia, havepleted my mission in a sense. You want information from me? Not happening."

    Tang Ye stopped inspecting the spear and asked, "What was your name? Pipixia? You''re called a mantis shrimp?"

    "Fuck you! My surname is Pi, the pi in ''cobbler''!"

    Ye Lou touched her chin: "That''s the same ''pi'' in mantis shrimp¡­"

    It wasn''t hard to imagine how livid the youth was. He eximed, "Kill me if you want, but don''t you dare insult me! Pipixia here is a man. He does not know surrender!"

    "Cut your finger-pointing bullsh*t out. You lost, and now you''re trying to make it sound as if we were after your life?" remarked the Emperor,ughing. "Are you saying you''re allowed to eavesdrop, while we can''t guard against crooks? Were we supposed to just let you attack us? This is my first time hearing this logic."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Pipixia went red in the face and stammered, "Well, umm¡­ You''re up to no good. What privacy do you have any right to speak of?"

    Annoyed, the Emperor was going to ask his next question, but he suddenly heard, "Pixia, don''t worry. Shifu ising for you! I won''t let you hurt my disciple!"

    A group of people filed in through the window. The rain dripping off them pattered on the ground. They were clearly practitioners of the same style.

    "If Patriarch Xia is making his move, this one should join in." Before the man finishing his sentence, he struck the roof.

    "Watch out!" warned the Emperor.

    Bricks rained down from above. The Emperor and his guards retreated out of range. The hole in the ceiling was neat. That meant the man on the roof packed a serious punch. The rain tipped down, leaving ayer of water on the floor. Several more individuals were spotted descending from the roof.

    The five who came through the window each lugged a big bag on their backs. They were attired in different warrior robes; nevertheless, they were simr to Pi Pixia''s robe and designed for ease of movement. The six who entered via the hole in the roof wore schr robes and had their swords dangling from their waists, giving them the appearance of refined swordsman.

    "This one''s surname is Ling. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

 Volume 7 27 Not Letting Go Unless There Is An Order To

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 27 Not Letting Go Unless There Is An Order To</h4>

    The leader of the six who entered via the roof was Young Master Ling. He was the only one donning extra embellished clothing washed in a fragrance and adjusted to fit his body contours. He brandished a folding fan he didn''t hesitate to fan himself with. Smiling, he asked, "Teacher Xia, does this count as having met your match?"

    Patriarch Xia was a man roughly forty years old and one of the top names among Jiangnan''s orthodox sects. His movement was notably fast; he was constantly in motion ever since he entered. He immediately went to Pi Pixia''s rescue as soon as he came in. The average weight of theirrge iron spears was dozens of kilograms, demonstrating their arm strength was incredible. Although fast and powerful, Tang Ye caught Patriarch Xia''s arm when thetter almost reached Pi Pixia in a vice-like hold, making it impossible for Patriarch Xia to push forward or retract his arm whatsoever, startling Patriarch Xia.

    Tang Ye''s handsome looks and conflicting cold demeanour always left a deep impression on people; Patriarch Xia was no exception.

    "Who are you? Get out of this old one''s way," eximed Patriarch Xia.

    Tang Ye ignored the question: "I have restrained him. I will not release him without orders."

    "Get your hands off me, you impudent boy!"

    Patriarch Xia felt as if Tang Ye absorbed his arm''s force when he tried using seventy percent of his power. Normally, iron would''ve been in fragments. Tang Ye didn''t seem fazed in the slightest. He repeated, "I have restrained him. I will not release him without orders."

    "So you know a thing or two about strength, do you?! I underestimated you!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Patriarch Xia tried to summon more energy but, instead, summoned confusion to his face. He was cognizant of the fact Tang Ye''s internal strength surpassed his own and had seized control of his meridians. Owing to his hasty attempt to rescue Pi Pixia, he sprang without putting too much thought into it. Plus, he was confident in his strength. Tang Ye''s intervention wasn''t part of his predictions.

    Patriarch Xia''s main martial arts skill was spear wielding. With his right hand controlled and no spear to wield, he was at his wits end. It was awkward to just stay there, though. Therefore, he had no choice but to proudly request, "Brother Ling, my sect has always followed yours as the leader. You must give me a hand."

    Young Master Ling''s mouth turned up into a smile: "So, at next year''s Myriad Sword Convention, w-."

    "As long time friends, I, naturally, know what I should do," hastily replied Patriarch Xia.

    "Great, great." Young Master Ling folded his fan thenmanded, "Brothers, these people are suspicious and are trying to harm Brother Pi. Kill them."

    The five behind Young Master Ling drew their swords and thrust them toward Tang Ye''s chest in synchrony. The five utilised an identical swordy. Their technique, power and positioning was average. The essence of the swordy lied in its high angle attack. Since Tang Ye restrained Patriarch Xia with his left arm and held therge spear in his right, it was difficult to defend himself against the sword formation.

    The Emperor fumed, "Jiangnan''s orthodox sects would gang up and attack and try to sneak attack someone?!"

    Young Master Ling leered eloquently: "The pugilistic world''s rules aren''t for you hooligans."

    Dugu revealed an angry look: "You had your nsmen attack us without asking who we are. Is this how orthodox sects conduct themselves?"

    Despite joining the imperial court via under-the-table means, Bai Laimu couldn''t stand someone insulting the Emperor as his agent. He brayed, "Have you any idea who we are?!"

    "I don''t," replied Young Master Ling, gently fanning himself again in spite of it being winter and raining heavily. "I couldn''t care less who you are. If I say you''re hooligans, you''re hooligans. If the jade emperor was here in Jiangnan, he''d have to crawl, as well. Once he''s dead, you lot are n-, oh?"

    The five swords dropped to the ground at the same time. The five exchanged eye contact, oblivious as to how they were disarmed. Patriarch Xia was the only one who saw Tang Ye disarm them. The spear''s base was round, meaning it couldn''t stay standing. As soon as Tang Ye released his hold on the spear, he flicked his hand across the five''s hands, triggering a numb sensation. Simrly to jerking one''s hand back when touching something hot, the burn caused them to reactively release their swords. Tang Ye then caught the spear that just began to tip sideways. He remained nonchnt the entire time.

    "Nice! Now that''s why y-," Ye Luo eximed before stopping herself before she blurted something that she would regret. "That''s why I l-love you. Not even my shifu could have done that. Love you, love you!" Ye Luo blushed but still signalled for Tang Ye to be careful.

    Young Master Ling realised he just embarrassed himself, so he frantically said, "What are you doing? Pick up your swords and attack! Patriarch Xia, I am trying to save Brother Pi. Ask your disciples to do something."

    Patriarch Xia judged Young Master Ling''s actions as too shameless, deeming the five to one attack despicable as it was. To have over a dozen people attack one man was as an orthodox sect was dishonourable. With that said, his disciples didn''t think about that. Since their senior brother and shifu were in a pinch, they took out the two parts of their spear strapped to their backs and equipped them to form their sect''s unique weapon. The five swordsmen picked up their swords and resumed their sword formation.

    The Emperor nced over to Dugu. Dugu knew what the Emperor wanted to ask, so he said, "It, indeed, is Yearning for Spring Sword Formation. They are not too trained, but there is no mistake about it."

    Young Master Ling, smiling, remarked, "You do know a thing or two, after all. You still want to fight?"

    The Emperor''s annoyance amplified. He didn''t want to keep fighting; the opponent wanted a fight, though. The Emperor''s origins and the sect teaching the sword formation were closely linked, so he knew the formation was lethal. If he told Tang Ye to stop, he''d expose Tang Ye to greater risk of injury. The formation still packed a punch despite it not being what it could potentially be, especially with four more spears leveraging the sword attacks to their advantage. To add, he was also dealing with Patriarch Xia.

    "Go help! The formation isn''t easy to ovee!" ordered the Emperor.

    Qi from a sword suddenly approached the Emperor. He instinctively stepped back and took a glimpse of Young Master Ling cackling as he thrust his sword: "You''re next. What are you running for? Were you going to beg for food on the way to the other side?"

    "Young man, you''re ying with fire," stated the Emperor.

    "Old man, your threats don''t work. Show me have you''ve got."

    Young Master Ling didn''t see blood and guts flying about as he hoped. The Emperor didn''t see a heavily wounded warrior defuse the sword formation, either. Tang Ye practically had ten arms. He smashed the ground with therge spear he had, sticking it in the floorboard. Next, he deflected the swords with a crimson fist, sending them back at the spears, consequently creating a gap in the formation. He was never thrown off his pace throughout the exchange.

    Bai Laimu, rank fifteen on the Seventeen Hidden Dragons ranking could tell Tang Ye could beat him around forughs if they actually fought. Ye Luo was frustrated. Sheined to Dugu, "Why did you stop me? It''s not as if they could beat me."

    "You''re an archer. Their crime isn''t deserving of the death penalty," replied Dugu, smiling. "Plus, His Eminence asked Brother Tie and I to keep an eye on you. Since Brother Tie isn''t around, the duty falls on my shoulders. Don''t give me any grief on the first day already."

    "Okay, okay, okay. You talk too much. I''ll just stay put, okay?!"

    Tang Ye eventually had to release his hold on Patriarch Xia to keep up with his opponents'' speed. Patriarch Xia instantly went to Pi Pixia''s rescue after he was set free, but Pi Pixia suddenly cried, "Be careful, Shifu!"

    A heat wave took the room by storm. Patriarch Xia frantically dodged; still, he felt the heat seemingly scrape his face. Tang Ye snapped the spears and swords, leaving them resembling weapons dipped straight into a fire furnace.

    Pi Pixia''s spear in Tang Ye''s hands red red. Tang Ye put Pi Pixia under his foot again just as he had thetter not long ago. The rain didn''t cool Tang Ye''s heat. He mmed the spear down again loudly and, in a cold and collected voice, repeated, "I have restrained him. I will not release him without orders."

 Volume 7 28 Grand Event

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 28 Grand Event</h4>

    Long Zaitian and Tie Hanyi led another team to tackle those downstairs. Upon noticing the overwhelming and abnormal number of pugilistic world people in the town when they went out to investigate, they feared for the Emperor''s safety. Thus, they headed back to bodyguard the Emperor. When they returned to the inn, they saw two people behaving suspiciously outside the inn, discussing something, presumably. Thanks to their experience in the pugilistic world, it wasn''t difficult for them to decipher who the two outside were targeting.ong Zaitian approached the two individuals to distract them, while Tie Hanyi summoned his subordinates to catch the enemy off guard. Long Zaitian suddenly belted and decided to execute a pre-emptive strike, sending one individual rolling across the ground with a punch! Tie Hanyi then raced out with their team on the first floor to jump the two enemies. Ordinary imperial court warriors weren''t permitted upstairs, leaving a dozen warriors on the first floor. Owing to the gap in skill, the twelve were able to defeat the forty enemies.

    The enemies certainly didn''t appear to be a friendly bunch. There were two teams after the same target; their appearances and ages differed. They didn''t actually coordinate a joint operation. One was a group of mountain bandits, and the other was a gang of some sort.ong Zaitian and Tie Hanyi went on punching frenzies, making quick work of the enemies. Tie Hanyi was invincible, which didn''t sit right with him. Su Xiao was able to win one-on-one fights - that broke his personal record! Su Xiaoughed as he swung his Ancient Cold sabre; he could be said to be the tiger among the sheep. It took them less than an hour to force the enemies to surrender. Also noteworthy was the imperial court''s forces didn''t suffer as much as a bruise. Despite that, Tie Hanyi wasn''t happy they fought a fight without knowing why. Almost an hour of fighting and they had no clue who they were fighting.

    "Who are you?! Speak or suffer!"

    The enemy leader brashly responded, "You sons of bitches, our Golden Coin Brotherhood was also on our way to Huzhou. We avoided you whenever we could in case you misunderstood! We had to spend the night in this town because it''s bloody bucketing outside! Does it bother you that much?! We might not be a famous orthodox sect, but I can''t think of one time we did something that left us with guilty consciences. I don''t care how strong you happen to be! Is that justification for you to be tyrants?!"

    Golden Coin Brotherhood''s leader conversed with Long Zaitian cordially when thetter approached him. Out of nowhere, Long Zaitian punched him straight in the face, sending him rolling. The punch hampered his fighting abilities thereafter, so it was reasonable for him to be angry.

    The other group leader fumed, "Say no more, Brother Qian! They im to be upholders of justice, yet they''re more tyrannical than us. Luo Sword Manor treats our Jadeite Brotherhood and Golden Coin Brotherhoods as guests. We''re going to ask Master Luo to speak up for us!"

    Tie Hanyi pulled his eyebrows together: "Jadeite Brotherhood? Golden Coin Brother? You are Jadeite Brotherhood and Golden Coin Brotherhood''s leaders Li Gu and Qian Dayou?"i Gu and Qian Dayou: "How do you know?"

    As an agent, Tie Hanyi was familiar with groups in Jiangnan. ording to his knowledge, neither brotherhood was considered a weak group. They could be considered among the top twenty groups in Jiangnan''s martial world. It was hard to ssify them as orthodox or unorthodox sects because the orthodox sects wielded so much power and fervently targeted the unorthodox sects. The orthodox sects often looked down on them. Based on what they said, orthodox sects most likely ridiculed them on their journey and peeked on the imperial court''s group to see if the group was another group of bullies.

    "That means¡­ this is a misunderstand-."

    Before Tie Hanyi could finish, Long Zaitian had already vaulted upstairs. Long Zaitian raced to the Emperor''s room, shouting, "Worry not, Master. Ol'' Long ising" and charged straight into the room¡­

    ========

    Ming Feizhen, who was enjoying braised pork shoulders in the kitchen, heard the riot on the first and second floor. It was quite the spectacle to his ear after Ling Xuan promised to ensure the Emperor''s group would be safe.ing Xuan came back with the promised report on Evil Spirits hastily. He knocked himself on the head and reported, "Master Ming¡­ we have a problem. Your esteemed team is fighting with people from the pugilistic world."

    "I was just going to ask you about that," said Ming Feizhen, folding his arms. "Not even League of Assassins can stop them?"ing Xuan smiled helplessly: "As we are not operating publicly, we can only give warnings. We cannot afford to offend the guests today, though."

    Ming Feizhen had another listen then remarked, "They''re here, too? That sounds like¡­ oh, we have some big names in the house."ing Xuan was impressed Ming Feizhen could identify the groups without having to see them. After contemting, Ming Feizhen asked, "Question for you: why are there so many people from the martial world in this town? I understand it''s absurd to travel in this rain, but I don''t think this is pure coincidence. There are more than a dozen factions in the town, ranging from orthodox to unorthodox. Why?"

    The cat caught Ling Xuan''s tongue for a second: "Y-You must be a god. How do you know so much without having left the kitchen¡­?"

    "Who cares? Answer me."

    "Right, right. The poption in the town had always been small. In spite of this being a small town, the scale it functions at isparable to a city. A month ago, Jiangnan''s orthodox warriors and unorthodox sects'' members came this way for a grand event. They had to pass by the town to reach their destination, therefore crowding the town. The townsfolk moved away due to fear."

    "Grand event? What exactly?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead of answering, Ling Xuan asked, "Would you happen to be going to Huzhou to visit Luo Sword Manor via Lotus Path?"

    "Possibly."

    "That would exin it, then. They, too, are taking the same path." Smiling helplessly, Ling Xuan borated, "They, too, are visiting Luo Sword Manor."

    "Worry not, Master. Ol'' Long ising!!" Ming Feizhen and Ling Xuan suddenly heard from the second floor.

 Volume 7 29 Olâ€™ Long is Coming

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 29 Ol¡¯ Long is Coming</h4>

    Young Master Ling re-evaluated Tang Ye after thetter defused the sword formation. Young Master Ling knew the ins and outs of the sword formation because it was one of his school''s best skills and could dismantle it. ordingly, he realised there was a significant skill gap after Tang Ye defused it the first time thetter challenged the formation and empty handed, no less. Young Master Ling''s confidence evaporated from his face as a result.

    "You are asking for a fight," proimed Young Master Ling, giving everyone with the Emperor an usation frown. Enunciation loud and clear, he added, "We have troublemakers starting fights. Please assist me!"

    More people jumped through a window and from the hole in the roof. It was clear they were affiliated with different groups. One of them wrapped a red scarf around his head and strapped a ghost-head broadsword to his back. He surveyed the Emperor''s group through hisrge and seething eyes. Once he spotted Bai Laimu, he chuckled: "Heh, found me a broadsword user. He''s mine."

    There was also a stoic eighteen to neen year old girl armed with a weapon resembling a staff who entered. Her weapon was totally golden and appeared to be hollow, yet unusually heavy. She made no effort to hide the fact Ye Luo piqued her interest.

    The quartet that entered via the roof consisted of a schr carrying two young schrs on his back. One of the kids carried books and scrolls. The other carried a long sword and their luggage. Based on appearances, the youth was approximately twenty-seven if not twenty-eight years old. Until he saw Dugu next to Ye Luo and smiled, he gave off the vibe of someone level-headed. Dugu chuckled under his breath, as well. Thest member of the quartet was an elder in his seventies, hair and eyebrowspletely white. The elder gave the Emperor an amiable smile and said, "Greetings, Mister."

    Smiling sarcastically, Young Master Ling said, "Pitiful scoundrels don''t know how things work in Jiangnan and ended up in my hands. Remember today''s lesson: Jiangnan is no ce for your wretched schemes. Heed my advice and surrender."

    "Are we going to fight?" questioned Tang Ye, holding the spear whisking white smoke with his left hand and goading the enemies in with his right hand gesture without a tinge of concern.

    There was no way Young Master Ling wouldn''t have qualms about crossing des with Tang Ye after witnessing thetter dismantle the sword formation. By the same token, Tang Ye''s splendid skills and courage also struck a wrong nerve. Young Master Ling''s sword flickered in his hands as he vigntly observed Tang Ye, seemingly eager to take up thetter''s offer.

    The other orthodox sects who decided to involve themselves also selected opponents for themselves and eagerly awaited the chance the cue to spring.

    "Stop!" the Emperor demanded in his voice enhanced with his internal strength, dispersing the gradually intensifying atmosphere.

    The Emperor sharpened his skills daily despite him residing in the most heavily guarded section of the pce. His devotion to training and innate talent helped him develop impressive internal strength in spite of the skills passed down in his family ending up fragmented.

    Young Master Ling was surprised for the first time since his appearance, thinking, "He''s quite strong. He wouldn''t be easy picking even in a one-on-one fight. His friends are no pushovers. There''s no guarantee the one who defused the sword formation is the strongest among them, either. I don''t know of anyone who fits their description in the orthodox and unorthodox sects. What are they doing here in the middle of the night?"

    Young Master Ling gauged his chances of winning were better upon recalling he still had subordinates downstairs.

    The Emperor used his internal strength to keep the enemies at bay. Remainingposed, he exined, "My friends and I stopped here for the night on our journey. We never intended to start any conflicts. However, you have continued to harass us and forced our hand. You all im to be orthodox sects'' martial artists, yet refuse to offer us a chance to speak. Do you not see yourself as being unreasonable?"

    The elder responded before Young Master Ling could, saying, "You are right. You should have had a chance to exin yourselves beforehand. We cannot allow others in the pugilistic world to tarnish our names. Would you agree, Young Master Ling?"

    "You are correct, Elder Shou," Young Master Ling replied without the condescending tone.

    The Emperor stated, "Yan Ling,e back. Release them. We shall re-evaluate the situation."

    "Yes, Master," replied Tang Ye, flicking Pi Pixia over to Patriarch Xia with his foot and swiftly shifting back to the Emperor''s side to prevent anyone trying to attack the Emperor.

    Tang Ye''s speed sessfully impressed Young Master Ling yet again, but thetter decided to front: "Scared, are we?"

    The Emperorughed heartily: "What does a man with reason on his side have to fear? Had you not started a fight, would we have had to retaliate?"

    Patriarch Xia, voice loud, fumed, "You''re the ones who held my disciple hostage. What do you mean we initiated the fight?"

    In a callous tone, Tang Ye answered, "Your disciple was snooping around. He was outside our window for an hour when it is raining cats and dogs outside."

    Pi Pixia flipped out: "What do you mean I was snooping around?! You''re the ones who are snooping around. There can never be too much deception in war. Are you pretending you don''t have scouts? Don''t try and malign me."

    Ye Luo jumped in: "What, you think we''re an unorthodox sect?"

    Pi Pixia: "After Master Luo sent out the heroes'' summon, unorthodox sects harbouring ulterior motives and orthodox sects are making their way to Huzhou. It''s only fair we look into you when it''s unclear who you people are."

    "Heroes'' summon?" remarked the Emperor, confused. The Emperor never heard of anything special from Luo Sword Manor.

    In all fairness, Pi Pixia didn''t sneak attack them. He did make an imperious remark before he decided to attempt an assassination, after all.

    "In that case, who are you?"

    "I am the disciple of Jiujiang''s Great Spear Academy and Patriarch Xia Shangzhou, Pi Pixia!"

    The Emperor didn''t look surprised. Great Spear Academy''s patriarch was supposedly a man with a fiery temper, and he certainly proved the rumour justice. The academy was quite famous in Jiujiang.

    Apanied by a palm and fist salute, the Emperor then queried, "So, Young Master Ling, you are¡­?"

    The man with the red scarf scoffed, "Hmph, you sure proved yourself a stupid scoundrel, not even knowing Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary!"

    Funnily enough, the man had no idea the Emperor recognised Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s sword formation the moment he saw it. Among the Seven Champion White Princes, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had always possessed the most resources and strongestbat force. By all ounts, they qualified to be ssified as the ruler of Jiangnan''s martial world.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary rtionship with the imperial court was incrediblyplex. Though they owed each other favours, there were also grudges they had yet to settle. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s support waspulsory to ensuring bnce and peace in the imperial court when the Emperor was crowned. The reigning Empress was the daughter of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s patriarch, Patriarch Ling.

    The paradox was, despite the Empress having borrowed her n''s influence and power to help the Emperor sort out headaches in the past, they were also his biggest headache among all the sects. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had over ten thousand disciples under their banner. Over a thousand of them were considered adept swordsmen. If all of the three martial world offices came together, they might stand a chance against Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. Having said that, only standing a chance against one sect from the martial world despite the magnitude of the imperial court was insulting. More importantly, that was assuming all of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had been ounted for.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had been in Jiangnan for a millennium; they existed before the current dynasty. Their connections to Jiangnan''s other big sects were a massive and intricate web. Hence, there was no telling how much potential they really possessed under the exterior of a group of swordsmen. How could any monarch sleep in peace when he had such a dangerous snake wreathing around him?ing n was Mount Lu''s biggest n. Young Master Ling should''ve been the Empress'' junior. That was the reason the Emperor wanted to put an end to the fight.

    Palm and fist together, the Emperor said, "This one has always held Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in high regard."

    Young Master Ling''s ire evaporated after the Emperor lowered himself, but he did smirk.

    Once he identified Young Master Ling, Dugu decided to intervene as he knew the Emperor''s dilemma: "It is but a misunderstanding. My master was unaware you were from orthodox sects. We are an escort group."

    "Take the act somewhere else,"mented Pi Pixia, smiling derisively. "After Luo Sword Manor invited everyone to bring their famous weapons, I''m sure the unorthodox sects will send thieves after our weapons. Unsurprisingly, I heard your master drop a verbal tirade about the Seven Champion White Princes. Hmph, you clowns aren''t even savvy enough to collect intelligence. No evil will go unpunished in the White Princes'' territory."

    Dugu froze. Bailu Mu and Ye Luo exchanged eye contact. They, understandably, felt annoyed. Neither side was enemy or friend. Meaning they fought a pointless fight and turned potential friends into enemies.

    The elder suddenly smiled: "I do not see any concrete proof."

    Pi Pixia: "Old Shou! Why are you siding with them? I heard him curse the Seven Champion White Princes with my own ears¡­"

    "It''smonce for us pugilistic world folks to use profanity here and there. This old one has checked them all. They are users of orthodox styles, so they can''t be unorthodox sects'' members."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The fact the silent elder could determine their internal style put hispetence into question.

    "They are not from unorthodox sects. This old one can guarantee that," Old Shou said whilst caressing his beard and before looking over to Young Master Ling.

    Young master Ling was stuck. He didn''t have a legitimate reason to apprehend them, while begrudgingly sparing them would bruise his ego. Not everybody present was his subordinate; ordering them was impossible. If he couldn''t convince them to stand with him, the repercussions of the fight could very well fall into hisp. Suddenly, he heard, "Master, Ol'' Long ising!" The voice didn''te from the door but from¡­ outside the wall? He wondered if a retard was let loose.

    Boom! Long Zaitian burst through the wall. He emerged with eyes on fire, the aura of a lion and fingers scrunched into weapons. Long Zaitian delivered a crushing punch straight into Young Master Ling''s handsome face. A squiggly trail of blood flitted through the air as Young Master Ling went reeling back until he was nted in the wall.

    After driving his fist into Young Master Ling, Long Zaitian gestured for everybody behind him not to worry and maintained his knockout win pose. The room fell silent once everyone stopped moving. An awkward atmosphere gradually took over the room. The Emperor, Dugu, Bai Mu and Ye Luo were lost for words. Only Tang Ye gave Long Zaitian a thumbs up for the punch. The man with the broadsword, the girl with the staff and the schr began to curl their fingers into their palms¡­

    Old Shou said, "This old one gives up¡­"

    Meanwhile, in the head of Long Zaitian, who was still posing: "I thought long and hard toe up with a number of poses, but this one is the coolest. I''m looking forward to His Majesty''s reward, hehehe."

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s disciples bolted over to Young Master Ling, crying, "Senior Brother! Senior Brother! How are you?!"

    "¡­ Fine."

    Young Master Ling''s injury wasn''t too severe, albeit nose looking a tad crooked¡­ He gradually waded his way out of the wall. He grabbed the handkerchief his junior brother passed him and wiped his blood nose before handing it back. He then grabbed a copper mirror and caressed his artistic nose. He ced the mirror back and calmly dered, "This is war."

 Volume 7 30 Battle Royale

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 30 Battle Royale</h4>

    Long Zaitian looked over and smiled as if havingpleted a deeply needed action; expressed by the curves at his mouth¡¯s corner and pearly whites: "Master, please forgive your humble servant foring to your rescuete! Thankfully, your humble servant was able to rescue you from the wrath of these wretched scoundrels. Worry not, it is nothing worth mentioning."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor: "¡­ Switch ces with Ming Feizhen for the rest of the journey. He''ll join my carriage; you take on all of the misceneous tasks."ong Zaitian: "Y(es)-! Huh? Why?!"

    Young Master Ling wiped the blooding from his nose. Expression stoic, he flicked his sword and thrust it toward Long Zaitian''s face. Sensing the breeze blow harder, Long Zaitian hurriedly raised his head and rolled across the ground to avoid the sharp de puncturing him. Young Master Ling mounted his next attack before Long Zaitian could get into position; however, a blistering arrow shot toward him, forcing him to stop and deflect the shot. After Tang Ye saved him, Long Zaitian vaulted up and engaged Young Master Ling.

    "Hahaha, I said we would have to fight! Come on! Let''s roll!" eximed the man with the red scarf. He reached for his broadsword behind his back, freezing the air in the room, thereby indicating his skills relied on exerting his internal energy to boost the physical attacks executed. To do so, he would discharge his qi from his de whenever he attacked. He eximed, "You, with the broadsword, let''s spar!"

    The man with the red scarf was roughly thirty years old and carried the surname "Lie". He was ten years older than Bai Laimu, but he didn''t care about honour. Like a man with a vengeance, he decided to attack Bai Laimu solely because thetter sported a broadsword. His broadsword with a ghost-head design was broad; nevertheless, he was able to wield it agilely. The cutting edge looked dull as if it absorbed the darkness around. It effortlessly cut through the tables and chairs impeding its swing. The most dangerous part was that he didn''t lose speed!

    Bai Laimu grabbed his head and shouted, "Sh*t, what did I ever do to you?!"

    What Bai Laimucked in the skill department, he made up for in the brains department. He wasted no time ducking behind Tang Ye and Long Zaitian. Next, he eximed, "Take this" before drawing his long broadsword and swinging at Young Master Ling. Despite being busy with two opponents already and caught of unexpectedly, Young Master Ling didn''t let his emotions take over. He reversed the direction of his swing and cut on an angle, easily deflecting Bai Laimu''s sneak attack.

    Tang Ye and Long Zaitian, who switched ces with Bai Laimu as a consequence of thetter''s manoeuvre, were stumped for a second until they felt the warning breeze behind them. The two reactively pivoted andunched their quickest attacks, a straight cross and a straight spear thrust. The man with the broadsword felt minimal pushback. He, however, sent Tang Ye and Long Zaitian back a step. Instead of capitalising on the opportunity to push the offence, the man stayed his ground and took a deep breath. The fact that he couldn''t finish them in one sh thrilled him.

    The schr didn''t join the fiasco but kept tabs on Dugu for whatever reason. Dugu and he exchanged a smile and nod. The girl armed with the baton didn''t get involved with the melee, either.

    Worried, the Emperor called, "Ol'' Tie!"

    Tie Hanyi hastily entered: "Present, Master."

    "Call everyone in to bring the situation under control."

    "Yes, Master!"

    Over a dozen warriors filed in after Tie Hanyi summoned them. Pi Pixia wasn''t going to just sit idly by and watch; he turned to the window and summoned over a dozen disciples from various sects in Jiangnan to level the ying field.

    Meanwhile, Young Master Ling''s speed picked up with every exchange once he was only dealing with Bai Laimu. Coming from Valley of Yearning, Bai Laimu''s broadsword style, which was reputedly Jiangnan''s best broadsword style, was easy to identify. Hence, Bai Laimu had to resort to utilising another style. Unfortunately, Young Master Ling found it a breeze easy to counter.

    With no way to stop the fighting, the Emperor eximed, "Stop! Young Master Ling, we are also an orthodox sect!"

    The Emperor''s intervention was wishful thinking. Young Master Lingughed and thrust again. Bai Laimu had six cuts on him before he knew it, proving Young Master Ling could back up his arrogance. The Emperor recognised Milky Way Descends on the Nine Heavens, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s swordy passed down to descendants from the main n. Therefore, the Emperor questioned if Young Master Ling was one of the descendants of the main n.

    "Hahahaha, sh*t, you''re pretty tough. Let''s see if you can handle these next three moves."

    Tang Ye crossed with the broadsword wielder using his spear, but thetter''s arm strength overpowered the former''s, forcing the former into defence mode. Yang Blood True Qi''s pros couldn''t be employed against devastatingly high-speed swings. That meant Tang Ye had to rely on his skills with his spear.

    Tang Ye decided to switch his lead leg and pull his hips through, switching to wielding the spear with both hands. He performed a spear flower, producing a streak of fire that gradually resembled a swallow. His flurry of twirls ended the man''sbo chain, and the two returned to a stalemate.

    Spear expert Patriarch Xia remarked, "Oh! Mount Tian Flying Swallow Spear Style? He must be Flying Swallowing Sect''s direct descendant!"

    Patriarch Xia soon took back the thought upon recalling Tang Ye''s hand-to-handbat skills weren''t part of Flying Swallow Sect''s sybus. After all, the sect, like his own, focused purely on spear skills; they didn''t have their own set of hand-to-handbat skills. The realisation puzzled him.

    The Emperor eventually lost it: "Long Zaitian, this is all because of you. You stop the fight!"

    Heart in pieces, Long Zaitian blindly charged in, thinking, "I thought they were also a bunch of useless punching bags like the lot outside. Man, why did they have to be so darn tough and from orthodox sects. Fuck, man."

    Upon noticing the hole in the ceiling, Long Zaitian had an idea. He called for Ye Luo. The girl in green, the schr, elder, Dugu and Emperor stayed out of the fight. The four fighting wielded weapons in a small room. Tang Ye and the thirty year old man were trying to lop each other''s heads off. As a result, the room gradually started shaking.

    "This is absurd. Why are you fighting at someone''s inn? Where are your manners? Please listen to this old one. It is easy to make enemies; friends are precious. Why are you fighting each other to the death for no reason?" said Old Shou.

    Old Shou generated a gentle force in a low to high trajectory with a flick of his sleeve, ending the scraps.

 Volume 7 31 Luoyangâ€™s Wealthy Young Master

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 31 Luoyang¡¯s Wealthy Young Master</h4>

    Elder Shou was a respectable and skilled individual. Young Master Ling and the man with the red head scarf didn''t want to make an enemy out of Elder Shou unless hopelessly necessary. On those ounts, the two ceased fighting after Elder Shou knocked them off bnce.

    Elder Shou primly reminded, "Young Master Ling, Hero Lie, both of you are established and recognised individuals in Jiangnan. What was the reason we journeyed together? We were aware we would face hurdles on the way to Huzhou. We travelled together as we hoped to reduce unnecessary friction. Thesedies and gentlemen genuinely don''t have a reason to target us. Why are we trying to go out of our way to start conflicts? I hope you have not forgotten the reason we are going to Huzhou this time."

    Young Master Ling and Hero Lie earnestly contemted what Elder Shou said. Indeed, their goal was incredibly important; it was no time to be looking for fights.

    Palm and fist together in front of him, Young Master Ling said, "Thank you for the reminder, Elder Shou. I was thoughtless."

    Hero Lieughed: "Kid, let''s fight again some other time. You might be stronger if you don''t use a spear."

    Tang Ye was disappointed the fight ended before he was satisfied.

    Elder Shou gave the Emperor a smile: "May this old one trouble you to introduce yourselves and explicate your goal? Although this old one can determine you do not practice unorthodox arts, your backgrounds areplex. Please pardon this old one forcking insight."

    Pi Pixia: "Nice! Elder Shou is exactly right. Who exactly are you people? Why are you going to Huzhou? Those variables are the crux of the problem."

    The cat caught the Emperor''s tongue. No doubt, they were going with an escort group story; however, they were confronting veterans of the pugilistic world. If the various sects demanded the "escort" open their chests, all of the light armour and weapons would be revealed. It wouldn''t be surprising if the sects used them of being criminals smuggling weapons.

    Before the Emperor could conjure an exnation, Young Master Ling broke a grin: "He doesn''t even know how to tell a lie. How about you surrender; we''ll spare you some of the misery."

    "Hey, punk, a reward for that potty mouth!" eximed Long Zaitian, from the roof.

    Crack! The roof suddenly started to tremble and crumble. Long Zaitian''s strategy finally had its chance to shine. When he called Ye Luo over, the two sneaked up to the roof and found vulnerable ces to break the roof''s beams at the same time. If the n went ording to predictions, Long Zaitian would be able to catch all of their enemies underneath the roof by surprise.

    "For victory!" cried Long Zaitian.

    The Emperor''s group looked aghast again¡­

    The girl who had yet to speak finally remarked in an aloof tone, "Pitiful worm."

    The young and well-endowed girl could be called the embodiment of grace, with the perfect face shape, skin tone and body. Behind her graceful appearance and aloof demeanour was lethal power. From the first moment she swung her staff behind her and back around, a gale followed its trajectory. After circling behind her to build up momentum, she violently swung back to the front at a blistering velocity. She batted arge beam over to the Emperor, dropping it right at his feet. Fragments of it were strewn. Those standing around could feel the shockwave generated from her swing.

    The girl nced up at Long Zaitian, who was disappointed and stunned, without shifting her head position. Sounding and looking full of confidence, she indifferently stated, "Embarrassments should stay home."

    Young Master Ling dropped onto his bottom unlike the girl. Embarrassed and infuriated for previous reasons and his embarrassment, he gnashed his teeth: "Elder Shou, they are picking a fight again! Men, don''t stop beating them until they stop moving!"

    "Beat what? Beat who? What is this stupidity I''m hearing?" remarked someone outside, in a tone that''d earn him a punch in record time.

    The tall young man in shabby clothing finally appeared. He walked with his chin up as if he was running the show. In his arms was a gorgeous young girl blushing and obediently resting in his arms. As he brazenly strutted in, heughed: "What are you all doing? I can''t even sleep with all this ruckus. Teacher Li, what''s their deal? Are they disrespecting me, Luoyang''s wealthiest Young Master, Zhong N-, are they disrespecting me?"

    Young Master Ling: "Luoyang''s wealthiest young master?"

    The Emperor: "Zhong Ming?"

    "That is this great one''s name." The young man grinned confidently. Apanying a fist and palm salute, he announced, "People in the pugilistic world know this one as the wealthiest young master of Luoyang. Where this onees from, Luo River is on the sunny side. The rivers flow from west to east. The sun is to the south of the river. The sun always shines on the north side of the river. They call this one Young Master Zhong Ming, also known as Young Mingming, a pleasure to meet you. This one hired them to escort his parcels. If you have questions, feel free to ask."

    Yes, it was thendlord''s retarded Young Mingming and his new third mistress, Su Xiaoxiao!

    Young Master Ling repeated, "Luo River is on the sunny side. The rivers flows from west to east¡­ That''s also Luoyang, troll!"

    Brows knitted and in a muffled voice, the Emperor said, "Ming Feizhen, what are you up to? They''re all adepts. Don''t be stupid."

    Ming Feizhen responded with just a smile, worrying the Emperor.

    Hero Lie pointed at Ming Feizhen''s clothing with a derisive grin: "You? Wealthy young master? In that clothing? I thought I''d seen it all, hahaha."

    The corner of Ming Feizhen''s lip tugged upwards triumphantly: "Not as rare as the ''broadsword'' character on the red scarf you have, Hero Lie, Lie Shang."ie Shang''s lips gradually reset to a straight face: "Who told you my name?"

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: "This one goes on holidays everywhere. How could he not know of your name? You wiped out Shandong with your Lie Secret Broadsword style, yet ran to Jiangnan for fun? I think Jiangnan''s heroes have a reason to be worried."i Shang intended to maintain a low profile in Jiangnan, which was why he was silenced once Ming Feizhen exposed his identity.

    Pi Pixia: "I recognise you. You''re the retarded young master who came in and started singing opera with the waiter!"

    "Piss off, retard of retards!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Patriarch Xia questioned, "Really? So, he really is¡­"

    Since Ming Feizhen identified Lie Shang, the Emperor surmised Ming Feizhen knew what he was doing. Additionally, in consideration of the opposition''sbat force, he decided to go along with Ming Feizhen''s skit: "Indeed, he is our young master. He hired our escortpany."ie Shang andpany still had their doubts because of Ming Feizhen''s slovenly appearance. Ming Feizhen noticed their hesitation to believe him. He, therefore, pulled his third mistress in and intimately said, "Xiaoxiao, give me a kiss."

    Miss Xiaoxiao refused to cooperate and pped Young Master Ming: "Piss off! I''m a man!"

    The Emperor tried to suppress his panic. Lie Shang andpany had their jaws gaping and eyes bulging. Only Young Master Ling reacted uniquely. He gently fanned himself and narrowed his eyes, thinking, "Mm, he''s definitely a young master. He knows how to enjoy himself."

 Volume 7 32 I Am Extolled

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 32 I Am Extolled</h4>

    "Teacher Li, how did you end up getting into a fight when I had left for only a moment?"

    "It''s not as though I wanted to fight with them¡­"

    I nodded: "Leave it to me."

    Su Xiao was still thumping my chest from my arms. Thatbined with his drunken look resulted in our people calling me a creep with their gazes and the opposition ridiculing me¡­

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I''m getting tired of those looks! Would I have to put on this act if it wasn''t for you?! How was I supposed to predict you''d destroy the roof during the brief window I went to collect intelligence?! Had I returned a tadter, this inn would be on fire!

    We engaged in an eye-contact exchange, surveying one another, albeit their disciples checking out my third mistress. I couldn''t me them; I mean, look at him. To my chagrin, he refused to stay in role and persisted he was a male even though there was a lot on the line. Ever since hearing Su Xiao dere he was a man, Young Master Ling stared intently at the former.

    In the voice of a stuck-up young master, I scorned, "Hmph, never seen such a pretty boy, have you?"

    "Ew!"

    Those behind me: "Shameless bastard."

    Shut up! This is all for the bigger picture, right, Ye Luo?! Hey, stop pretending! I heard a girl''s voice, and you''re the only girl in our group!

    Young Master Ling was the only one who didn''t hesitate to voice his opinion: "Rosy lips, white pearls, delicate and unblemished skin, curvaceous hips and slender thighs, nice. What a rare catch, indeed. You picked up the entire package. You have my admiration."

    Oi, oi, oi, Professional, don''t scare me! Aren''t you Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Young Master Ling? Since when did you guys start raising gigolos?! Wait¡­ I heard the next sessor refused to marry, let alone have children, when he''s already twenty or thirty. Don''t tell me it''s you! Oh, I get it now. I was befuddled why a thirty year old man who was never part of Demon Sect or never had to fill in as a Fuma for somebody else!

    Sh*t me, I just discovered a secret of the martial world at the inn! Oh, I don''t see any junior sisters with him, either. Yep, it''s confirmed. He''s gay! Control your eyes! You''re scaring Su Xiao! Oh, don''t lick your lips! Last chance before I hit you!

    Elder Shou cleared his throat and brought the conversation back on topic: "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Young Master Zhong. May this old one ask what you are going to Huzhou for? What might it be that you hired the escort for?"

    "That''s what you wanted to know?" I waved a hand: "The carriage is actually empty."

    The various groups were rmed after hearing my response. I borated, "The real job is to escort this one and his third mistress!"

    I saw stupefied looks flit across faces. Lie Shang asked, "She''s okay. I mean, she''s still worth it, but why would you be worth dirt? Why do you need bodyguards?"

    I rolled my shoulders forward: "I am an exalted individual. My n is influential and our business is colossal, yet I am the only sessor. It''s tough being tall, handsome and rich. Please don''t hold it against me, escort team."

    "Your n is influential, and your business is colossal? What does your family do for business?"

    I was going to blow my trumpet louder, but Emperor Yuansheng used ventriloquism to tell me, "Hey, uh, Young Ming¡­ can I have a word with you¡­?"

    I released Su Xiao and rested an arm on His Majesty''s shoulder: "Teacher Li, feel free to speak."

    Emperor Yuansheng fought tooth and nail to maintain his smile. Continuing with ventriloquism, he worriedly inquired, "Young Ming, they are all adepts in the martial world. Are you sure you can handle this?"

    I draped my arm over Emperor Yuansheng''s neck and pulled him in. With a delighted look on my face, I replied, "What other choice do you have? You have torn the roof down. We can only take it step by step now."

    "You need help?"

    "I do. Please lend me something."

    Emperor Yuansheng passed me what I asked for. After stealing a nce at the people behind me, he worriedly reminded me, "Keep the bragging reasonable."

    "Don''t worry. I have worked as a reliable professional for twenty years already," I said as I waved my hand. I took a step forward and dered, "My Zhong n''s business has branches at every ce in the nation. I can''t exin the intricacy and scale in a few meagre sentences. Just bear in mind that I am an exalted individual."

    I reached into my shirt and pulled out a perfect, legendary luminous pearl the size of an egg. Emperor Yuansheng prepared it and simr precious items as gifts to ask Luo Sword Manor to sour. The pearl was enough to buy any mansion along Vermillion Street in the capital. If it was used for business, you could buy an entire street.

    The various sects could tell the pearl was worth a lot of money, helping me convince them I was wealthy. Elder Shou, nevertheless, stroked his beard and expressed, "Zhong n, Zhong n¡­ Which Zhong n in Luoyang might that be? This old one heard there are many wealthy ns in Luoyang, but the wealthiest n is Huang n. This old one has not heard of Zhong n being extraordinarily wealthy."ie Shangughed: "Exposed! Huang n is the richest n in the entire nation. Don''t tell me your n is even richer than theirs."

    "Did you listen to what I said? I said I am the wealthiest young master; I never said we were the wealthiest in Luoyang. Huang n''s daughter is the only one who married into the pce as a concubine. Their male descendant is only ten; you think he can match me?"

    Elder Shou followed up: "Who is your n''s current patriarch, Young Master Zhong? This old one has not heard of your n."

    My eyes darted side to side as I scoured my brain for a response. I calmed down and replied, "Uh, my father is Zhong¡­ Hualiu. He came from Beiping and is now running the family business in Luoyang."

    Shifu, I didn''t mean to name you, "I contracted a sexually transmitted disease". If you''re watching me from heav-, I meant¡­ I was just improvising. I apologise.

    They all started searching their database for Zhong Hualiu, while I was thinking, "Don''t bother. As if there''s anyone called ''I contracted a sexually transmitted disease''."

    The young ones couldn''t recall anyone with the name. Elder Shou, however, said, "If this old one''s memory is still working, he met someone with the name thirty years ago. Oh, yes!"

    What the hell? Are you for real?! How?!

    "Thirty years ago, there was a man by the name of Zhong Hualiu in the pugilistic world."

    "Yes, yes, my father was active in the pugilistic world thirty years ago."

    Elder Shou looked at me bewildered: "He was a burr."

    For a second, everyone held their breaths and looked at me bewildered¡­ Long Zaitian jeered, "Now you''ve done it! That''s what you get for making up names."

    Cornered, I had to use my profound ace: a cordial smile.

    "An exalted individual?"

    I smiled.

    "¡­ A burr?"

    I smiled.

    "¡­ They got rich stealing from people?"

    I smiled.

    "But wouldn''t he be asking to be arrested if he hired an escort?"

    I smiled.

    "He turned a new leaf?"

    I nodded with a smile: "Yes."

    Fuck sakes, you finally came up with an exnation for me! Take your time, will you?!

    "This old one does remember he turned over a new leaf." Elder Shou borated, "The reason this one said he was a burr was because this old one was acquainted with him after he quit stealing. He robbed orthodox and unorthodox sects back then utilising to his advanced qinggong. This old one fought him once, and he certainly was hard to keep up with. He was a money monger; however, he never harmed or bullied the people. He was a thief with morals. Unfortunately, he eventually met his match after a hero chased him over fifty kilometres, and he failed to outrun the hero. He quit stealing henceforth and turned to business, starting from scratch. He did build up a big business, indeed."

    I was sweating the entire time I listened! I wondered if the old man saw through my disguise and merely made up the story to save my behind. Howbeit, he then said, "This old one heard he had a son with the name Ning¡­"

    ¡­ Oh, sh*t, so it was Zhong Ning''s old man? You scared me, man! Zhong Ning, why would you fuck your family over when you came from a rich family, man?! Why go raping girls when you had deep pockets? You''re a one-of-a-kind idiot.

    I cleared my throat: "I, uh, am the younger one. My brother is pretty much done. I''m taking the reins."

    "Oh, I see,"mented Elder Shou. "That exins your wealth. Mr. Zhong''s business really does spread to every corner of the nation, after all."

    I finally smiled without my heart in a knot: "You tter me, Elder. My n and family business truly is vast and enormous. I would be happy to have you over as guests at some point."

    Elder Shou started to look nostalgic as he recalled the past: "Mr. Zhong''s acumen exceeds what words could do justice. When I met him, he was broke. Later on, his growth wasparable to flowers blooming after rainfall. His ambition was to be the Central in''s wealthiest business. Judging from his son''s aura, I would say he was quite sessful."

    "You tter us. It is all thanks to our vast and strongwork of brothers," I said, spouting pointless hogwash. As if I knew Zhong Huaili was so sessful. I tapped Tang Ye on the shoulder. I then hooked my arm around Emperor Yuansheng neck again to show we had a strong brotherhood: "I have Brother Tang and Teacher Li here to thank for all the years of hard work. Right? Right?"

    "Oh, yes, yes. We work well with Young Master," said the Emperor.

    "Yes, yes," replied Tang Ye, trying to keep up.

    Initially surprised, Elder Shou raised a thumb after: "Impressive Young Master Zhong! This old one always thought brothel proprietors kept it strictly within the family. This old one never thought you would be willing to delegate so enthusiastically. Like father like son!"

    The Emperor: "Huh?"

    Tang Ye: "Hmm?"

    Me: "Meow, meow, meow?"

    Su Xiao stared at me: "Brothel?"

    "Of course. You don''t know what your master does? Mr. Zhong opened the first brothel thirty years ago. His record was eighteen brothels along Yangtze River. They called it Yangtze''s Eighteen Rejuvenation Centres! Thanks to the martial realm''s people propelling their sess, Mr. Zhong became known as King of Flower Kingdom. He was gigolo king of the Central in!"

    I could sense piercing gazes on me. Myst resort was to use Mount Daluo''s mental cultivation style to sm-sm-, how the hell was I supposed to smile?!

    Zhong Ning! What the fuck, man?! Your old man ran brothels!!

    Notes:

    *I contracted a sexually transmitted disease ¨C It''s written ÖÐ»¨Áø, which is a homophone for ÖÓ»¨Á÷. The second one can be an actual name, the first one¡­ never. I suppose it wouldn''t hurt to name your son that since nobody would know unless he wrote his name.

 Volume 7 33 Like Lightning, Likeâ€¦

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 33 Like Lightning, Like¡­</h4>

    "Brothel?! Ran a brothel?! You ran a brothel?! Oh, I see how it is, Young Mingming!" Su Xiao viciously tugged my air and smothered my face in beads of saliva firing from his lips: "Yangtze River''s eighteen brothels, huh?! Eighteen?!"

    Neck stretched beyond the safety zone, I hastily exined, "Xiao! Xiao! It''s a misunderstanding! It''s a misunderstanding!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao always found people who treated females as inferior beings distasteful. He despised those who went to brothels with a vengeance, which was why he exploded before Elder Shou was done.

    I didn''t operate them! Listen for crying out loud! Zhong Ning''s old man was the one who started them!

    Su Xiao sulked in a stifled voice, "Hmph, you choose to y a brothel proprietor of all people! Was it on purpose?!"

    What sort of rebuke could I offer? Would he believe me if I said I was a blind rodent that identally ran into cats? Anyway, the people from the pugilistic world admitted to visiting the brothels at some stage. They shared the girls were smoking hot, and the bodyguards were reliable. Then, they took turns greeting me again as Young Master Zhong. The girl with the staff, Ye Luo and Su Xiao shot me res. Ye Luo and Su Xiao waved, repeating, "We''re not that close. We''re not that close."

    Patriarch Xia cleared his throat: "Whether or not Young Master Zhong is part of Zhong n is to be confirmed. In the pugilistic world, lying is uneptable, especially when this pertains to affluent names. Your escort must also identify themselves. Every. Single. One of them."

    These days, news in Jiangnan travelled unimaginably fast. Putting aside the likes of the big names in the pugilistic world, such as Long Zaitian or Tie Hanyi, if Tang Ye, who only just had a taste of fame as a young adept, was recognised, it would instantly reveal the imperial court was taking action.

    I sniggered: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, are you sure you should be saying that, Patriarch Xia?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Elder Xia Dachuan founded Jiujiang''s Great Spear Academy seventy-nine years ago. This is now the academy''s third generation. The academy has always carried itself perfectly and disciplined their disciples strictly. There have never been any poorments about the academy. Great Spear Style is also renowned as a style rarely practiced anymore. That is why the academy is a household name."

    "Hmph, obviously."

    "Unfortunately, the academy was founded at the wrong time and the wrong ce. Of all ces they could''ve chosen to establish themselves, they chose Jiujiang, where Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is also located. As fate would have it, they are forever bound to be subservient to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. With Young Master Ling here, do you not feel you are speaking out of ce by speaking first, Patriarch Xia?"

    I saw a shade of white and red paint Patriarch Xia''s face alternately. Pi Pixia, who was behind him, had an outburst: "What sort of bullsh*t is that?! Great Spear Academy is Great Spear Academy! We don''t need to be subservient to no asswiping sect!"

    "That''s what you said. You shifu would never dare to say that, sadly."

    Pi Pixia looked back at his Shifu. Patriarch Xia, expression solemn, said to Young Master Ling, "Young Master Ling, my disciple did not mean to disparage your esteemed sect. Please forgive him on ount of his ignorance!"

    Young Master Ling''s frosty expression didn''t provide any direction. Pi Pixia didn''t hesitate to exim, "Shifu, why are y-"

    "Idiot, I''m protecting you. Your ''asswiping'' insult was a sufficient reason for Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary to justify dismembering you. Do you think our sect is invulnerable?"

    Patriarch Xia pitifully pleaded, "Young Master Zhong, please spare my ignorant disciple."

    Patriarch Xia knew Young Master Ling well enough to know thetter''s temper was fickle. I never nned to shift the focus. I had no reason to force them against the wall after I achieved my goal. Once the suspicion of my identity blew over, I, in an arrogant tone, demanded, "It''s my pleasure to meet you all today. This calls for a drink. Waiter, bring us drinks."

    "Coming!"

    Waiter Xuan Ling carried up a big jug of wine her prepared beforehand, giggling as he handed it over. I palmed away the lute and forced the alcohol out using my energy. Its hard-hitting aroma was easy to pick up on despite the hole in the roof. The schr finally widened his eyes and remarked, "That''s a good wine."

    I flipped over the jug and snatched over a cup. I poured the clear liquid poured into the cup. I timed the stop perfectly, ensuring the cup was filled to the brim without spilling. I announced, "This toast is to Young Master Ling."

    Young Master Ling smiled: "Why are you offering me a toast?"

    "I have heard of your illustrious name and exploits, Young Master Ling. I admire you; your name is akin to epic thunderp. You are an erudite handsome man and a disciple of the Seven Champion Prince''s Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. Your ''Like the Milky Way Descends on the Nine Heavens'' technique was executed terrifically; one would stop to admire it if you ever performed it. I think that is more than a good reason to offer you the first toast."

    Trying to stamp me into trouble, Lie Shang sarcasticallyughed: "You''re a clown. Your bootlicking skills need work. We already detailed Young Master Ling''s background, and the swordy is so famous it doesn''t need an introduction. You think we''ll believe you just because you said something about ''¡­ your name is akin to epic thunderp?'' You thought."

    I lifted an eyebrow: "You mean to say nobody has head of his name? Are you saying nobody wants to enunciate his name? So, his name is ass?"

    Afraid Young Master Ling would take it to heart, Lie Shang flipped out: "I neverpared Young Master Ling to a chrysanthemum!"

    I shifted my hand up to hide my smile before I could erase it: "I understand now. You mean to say he is a weak ass who cannot even handle a chrysanthemum?"

    "What strong ass weak ass?! I said Young Master Ling shouldn''t bepared to a chrysanthemum."

    "In other words, you are saying he even insults the word ''ass''?"

    "I meant¡­ You done?! Who cares what sort of ass Young Master Ling is!"ie Shang was furious after I led him by the nose. He was eager to rip his de out from its sheath. Had it not been for Elder Shou''s warning, he would''ve attacked me. He looked over to Elder Shou for assistance. Elder Shou, nheless, said, "Please do not spend any longer on the topic. Young Master Ling, in this old one''s opinion, you should not damage the chrysanthemum."

    In Young Master Ling''s mind: "What the?! You were asked to stop the quarrel; not to provide a conclusion! I''ll blind all three of you when I break that rear gate!"

 Volume 7 35 Spirit Possession

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 35 Spirit Possession</h4>

    Those standing on Elder Shou''s side looked Su Xiao and my way. Emperor Yuansheng contracted his brow and muttered under his breath, "Thank heavens I didn''t marry Hongzhuang to him, or she''d start living as a widow already."

    Fuck off! Don''t assume people are gay without evidence! Your nephew, Young Master Ling, is the queer one here! Fulfil your responsibilities as his uncle first! He''s even trying to steal a man from me now!

    I wanted to sort the immediate issue out first, so I poured another cup and tossed it over to Lie Shang. He nimbly caught the cup and begrudgingly said, "I lost. Whatever it is you want me to do, just say the word, but don''t try and make a fool out of me."

    I raised a hand: "Please finish your drink first."ie Shang dallied before having the drink. He then wiped his mouth and chuckled: "I drank the drink as you told me to. Does that mean I''ve kept my word?"

    Get fucked! This old bugger looks stupid, but the motherfucker sure is conniving! If drinking wine was the equivalent of a bet''s penalty, I must have thousands of aplishments under my belt after all the time I spent in the kitchen, you ass clown!

    With a helpless smile, I answered, "Nothing I can do, then. Consider it this one''s loss."

    What I said triggered a thought, leading to Lie Shang querying, "You offered Young Master Ling a drink because you two share the same sick taste. What did you offer me a drink for?"

    "You are known as a brave hero of justice who hates evil with a vengeance. Years ago in Qingzhou, five criminals went missing overnight. That was thanks to you beheading them. You left without asking for any credit after helping the people, which is why few people in the pugilistic world know of the deed. Some may have the impression your hubris is annoying; however, this one has never bought into the rumour. This one hopes the drink will have erased the previous misunderstanding between us."ie Shang nodded: "I am a man of my word, and I will keep my word this time as always."ie Shang took the jug of Spring Fire Ice Burrow from me and chugged it before passing it back with both hands. He said, "This shall be farewell for now. Since your destination is Huzhou, we shall meet again in the pugilistic world," and took off into the rain, quickly disappearing from sight in the curtain of turbulent rain.

    I didn''t know the reason for Lie Shang travelling in a group with them since he was famous for being a solo hero until he implied he was also heading to Huzhou.

    As Lie Shang and the biggest challenge, Young Master Ling, had fallen into ce, I presumed the remaining three weren''t a big deal. I turned my attention to the schr and gave him a smile: "May I ask what your esteemed name is?"

    The schr raised the corner of his lips: "You were able to identify Young Master Ling and Hero Lie. This one, therefore, thought you were informed of all things in the world. Do you not recognise this one?"

    The schr never revealed any of his skills since entering and watched from the sideline whilst assuming the demeanour of some profound being. He attired himself in clothing a schr would when travelling, sporting a rectangle hat and simple clothing. He wasn''t as striking as Young Master Ling, but the schr vibe was definitely there. He was rxed and confident he could handle anything thrown his way without seeming full of himself.

    "Since you do not recognise this one, this one will not need to ept a drink. This one travels the world as the world''s freest man. This one has no interest in you. He would prefer to exchange a few moves with the gentleman over there. Since we are not drinking, please step aside."

    The schr was eager to go after Dugu. Both of them were the cool type of guys. Neither of them liked the other''s guts ever since meeting; it was crazy to think they wanted to punch the other''s face in upon meeting.

    "It is not hard to put a name to your face," I dered with a grin. "Could someone kindly lend me a sword?"

    "Are you nning to test my swordy?" asked the schr, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Folly. Utter folly. There are more than a thousand swordys in the world and eight realms in internal styles. There are some who are skilled with one. More talented individuals might have mastered multiple. Your friend there has grasped Divinatory Symbol, Gold and Instant Realms when ites to internal energies. Perhaps you are underestimating the difficulty of what you are attempting."

    Tang Ye was surprised the schr identified all three of his internal energies.

    The schr continued on, "This one''s n trained him from a young age and has never beenx when ites to swordy. This one believes he will not reveal his background within a hundred moves, yet you wish to test this one in swordy? You seem to be underestimating him."

    "Young Ming, judging from his gaze, I would say he has the skill to back up his words. I suggest letting Dugu take your ce," rmended Emperor Yuansheng.

    "Is there anyone willing to loan me a sword?" I asked again with a smile.

    Irate I persisted, the schr forced a smile: "There is no need to ask for others for a sword. This one shall lend you one. Xiurong, lend Brother Zhong my Mountain Stream and Cloud."

    The schr''s young assistant removed the box on his back and drew out a shimmering sword a hundred centimetres long from a scroll. I epted the offer. The sword was made from some of the best metal I hade across. Its name, Mountain Stream and Cloud, was derived from the metal markings resembling a mountain stream and clouds scene on the de.

    "Nice, this is a good sword," I praised.

    The schr, maintaining his smile, questioned, "What are you waiting for?"

    "You don''t have to fight just because you have a sword in your hand. It''s quite fun ying on your own, too."

    I took a step back. Before starting, I decided on a swordy. I swung right then swung left. I wasn''t a sword expert, though, so I was an unbing sight. All of my left and right swings were aimed upward. I never moved my feet beneath me. Basically, I was performing movements a jitong, a type of shaman, did. I learnt it from Wudang''s absurd style.

    Emperor Yuansheng eximed, "What are you doing?!"ong Zaitian nodded: "Probably scared to the point he lost his mind."

    Tang Ye: "I think he had too much to drink."

    Su Xiao sounded confident: "I think he knows sorcery!"

    "Sorcery?"

    "Yes." Su Xiao touched his face and narrowed his eyes. I was waiting for him to say, "There is always only one truth," but he said, "He''s performing Spirit Possession. He''s channelling a deity to his body!"

    "You guys believe him?"

    Tang Ye: "¡­"ong Zaitian: "¡­"

    "How about you, Teacher Li?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Teacher Li: "You think I''m bloody retarded?!"

    The calm smile on the schr''s face was gone. Noticing his reaction, I began mumbling, "The night sky, the clear sky and the clouds at dawn are ever changing and impossible to illustrate! Ho!"

    I imbued the sword with my qi and hurled it back, almost crushing the assistant, who fumed, "You trying to kill me?!"

    "My bad, my bad. My swordy is not very good, but I do have clues to help me identify you now." I giggled.

    The schr turned hostile and wrathful: "You know now? Please surprise me."

    "This one believes your surname is Kuang. Would that be correct?"

    The schr took a moment to respond, "I want to know how you managed to guess that."

    The startled reactions the maiden in green and Elder Shou revealed upon hearing the schr''s hinted they didn''t know his name despite travelling with him.

    Tang Ye: "Why Kuang?"ong Zaitian: "What the hell? He has a cheat skill to curse people and summon deities now, too?!"

    Emperor Yuansheng: "Wh-Wh-What?!"

    Su Xiao smugly raised his chin: "I told you Big Brother Ming knows sorcery!"

    Schr: "This one is Kuang Lu. You have impressed, Young Master Zhong. Goodbye."

    Kuang Lu gave me a fist and palm salute before departing. I heaved a breath of pent-up tension. I was d we didn''t have to fight; they weren''t fodder.

    Young Master Ling was unable to hold his liquor, resulting in him loudly saying, "Brother Zhong, since we''ve cleared the air, I''ll be taking my leave."

    I did have the idea of getting Young Master Ling drunk if I couldn''t convince them to stop in the back of my mind. Surprise, surprise, he frequented brothels most, yet was also the worst at holding his liquor. Lie Shang was perfectly fine after so much! Anyway, I said, "Take your time, Brother Ling."

    "Let''s go! Let''s go!" Young Master Ling''s juniors helped him out of the inn.ong Zaitian approached Young Master Ling''s group and, in a respectful tone, said, "Young Master Ling, I did not hear your conversation properly from afar, so I have a question I hope you could rify for me."

    Young Master Ling barely enunciated, "Was eez it (what is it)?"ong Zaitian touched his chin: "I just could not figure out what your name should be."

    "Oh, dat (that)." Young Master Lin waved: "My father saw a phenomenon when I was born, so he wrote, ''Ice akin to agate. The thousands of clouds break through the wall'' for mah (my) name. Mah name is bashed off dat (My name is based off that). As for my nickname, it''s¡­"

    "Senior Brother, it is raining cats and dogs; let us get a carriage."

    Young Master Ling''s junior martial brothers were on edge because they couldn''t afford to let their patriarch''s only son suffer in the rain.

    "Ah, we have to go? Figure it out for yourself, then. I''ll tell you next time, next time when we meet in Huzhou."

    Young Master Ling climbed into a carriage with the help of his juniors. He continued mumbling in his drunken stupor, "Mm¡­ You think I, Ling Ruoyun, Like Sword Juntian, would tell you my name so easily¡­?"ong Zaitian analysed the name and nickname. He was the kind of man who was curious about a lot of things and was hungry for knowledge. He would mull on things he didn''t understand until heprehended it. This time, nevertheless, he wasn''t so happy despite finding out the answer to his burning question. He thought, "His dad must not like him. That name sounds horrible. That nickname¡­ You call that a nickname?"ong Zaitian walked back. Tie Hanyi inquired, "What''s his name? Is he Master''s nephew?"

    "I don''t know. His name is ridiculous," replied Long Zaitian, still touching his chin. "His name is ''Like a Piercing a Chrysanthemum'' Ling Mabi. Who calls himself Ling Fucking Retard?¡±

    Notes:

    *Internal style realms - Not to be confused with realms as in levels. These realms are simply sses. For example, Attack ss and Defence ss are reced with Attack Real and Defence Realm.

    **Juntian - Another term to refer to the jade emperor in Chinese mythology

 Volume 7 36 Solid Jade Snow and Argent Moon Qingluan

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 36 Solid Jade Snow and Argent Moon Qingluan</h4>

    Great Spear Sect took it upon themselves to leave after Young Master Ling departed. Elder Shou and the girl in green were the only two left in the room. That was still enough to keep Emperor Yuansheng on the edge of his seat, so he quietly told me, "Of all the hostiles in the room, the girl is the most skilledbatant."

    "Do not fret. I am aware."

    The girl and I locked eyes. Our people loosened up after confirming she wouldn''t reduce me to mincemeat with her staff out of the blue. Actually, perhaps they were just worried my brains would stain their clothing. Eventually, she broke the stalemate: "You know what I want to ask."

    I smiled: "Indeed."

    "Why are you going to Huzhou?"

    "I must go when my friend is in need."

    "Hmph, friend? You have friends?"

    I scratched my head: "Sometimes I have a few."

    "Good-for-nothing friends!"

    Our interaction befogged the audience. Long Zaitian acted as if he was close to Tang Ye and leaned in: "Ye, introduce us, man."

    Tang Ye pulled his eyebrows together: "What?"ong Zaitian raised his eyebrows a few times: "Your sister-inw, obviously."

    I had to stop myself from grabbing the bench and batting Long Zaitian in the head¡­

    Think before you speak, moron! She could kill you without breaking a sweat even if you had two lives!ong Zaitian brainlessly carried on with his eye signals: "Don''t the two of them look as though they''re having a couple''s quarrel? My insight tells me they know each other and have a bit of a dispute between them. Are you going to give me that baloney? When did your big bro find himself such a skilled girl?"

    "I don''t know. I never met her before."

    Thank heavens Tang Ye was helpful.

    "Come on, man. Just reveal a little. Are you really going to continue trying to protect your big bro''s image?"

    Tang Ye shrugged: "I honestly don''t know anything. Big Bro has connections across all thend. How am I supposed to know which one she is?"

    I take that back about Tang Ye helping!

    Put a sock in it! You think she doesn''t understand Chinese?! She''d stomp you two dimwits at the same time!

    "Who is she? You appear to be acquainted, Young Master," inquired Emperor Yuansheng.

    I cleared my throat and introduced the girl: "She hails from the mighty, strong, staff wielding, only female sect wielding heavy weapons I know of, Hangzhou''s Wutong Jin Yuxuan. Jin Yuxuan''s disciples learn an internal styleuded as Jiangnan''s martial world''s supreme power-based style, Solid Jade Snow. Their patriarch, Heroine Zi, Zi Wutong, has seldom appeared in the pugilistic world in recent years. She is Patriarch Zi''s third senior disciple. They call her Argent Moon Qingluan, Lian Qingluan."

    Hangzhou was one of the areas in Jiangnan outside of the Seven Champion White Princes jurisdiction. Night Fortress was the administrator for Hangzhou''s martial world. Thanks to Night Fortress keeping the Seven Champion White Princes'' influence at bay, numerous sects were able to nurture truly talented martial artists. The only sect capable to taking the ce of Night Fortress, the strongest sect in Hangzhou, was none other than Wutong''s Jin Yuxuan.ian Qingluan only started her journey in the pugilistic world two years ago, and her weapon was seldom used, which exined why nobody recognised her. Her shifu, however, was a heroine everyone recognised.

    The Seven Champion White Princes couldn''t rustle Zi Wutong''s status as Jiangnan''s mightiest female adept. Not even powerhouses, such as Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s madam and Valley of Yearning''s Bai n''s heroine, could name a single female pugilist who could match her. She, therefore, was deserving of her status one of the only three women ranked on Supreme Ten Saints. The only reason Night Fortress managed to stay in power was because, unlike Night Fortress, where we epted anybody as if we were bargain shopping, Wu Zitong only epted female disciples and enforced a strict criteria for who she epted.

    "It is a pleasure to meet one of Zi Refines Nightfall''s senior disciples!" effused Emperor Yuansheng, smiling and ying the role of an escort chief perfectly. "Heroine Zi is a terrific teacher, and it shows. Young Master, you should offer her a toast to clear the air."

    I just smiled: "She does not drink."

    I wasn''t making it up. Their disciples didn''t drink alcohol. Lian Qingluan could do serious damage despite being only neen years old tops. Their fervent pursuit of martial arts was more passionate than any other sect I had evere across. Unfortunately for me, Emperor Yuansheng wasn''t educated enough to know that. As a consequence, he jerked back and gave me the same look Long Zaitian did.

    Oh, great, here we go again. Don''t misconstrue the facts! I don''t know her that well! I know her, her two senior martial sisters and shifu, but that''s only because her shifu is my shifu''s ex!

    Knowing my shifu''s character, I bet the fearless man has friends from every type of background across thends.

    Zi Wutong had a reputation for being proud, a loner and strict. Actually, she was pretty much the most ruthless person in the pugilistic world. Years ago, when she had yet to reach her peak in martial arts, she was already showing the strict character she was glorified for today. She refused to show her opponents mercy. She''d turn fights into wars of attrition to exhaust her opponent to death if she couldn''t finish them. After she mastered Solid Jade Snow, she started wielding a blunt heavy sword. With her new weapon, she mowed down the Central in''s criminals in droves. Unorthodox sects attributed her name as the symbol of death. Those unable to match her would even quit and switch their allegiance. Thest thing they wanted was to be another victim on her list. It wouldn''t be a stretch to say that she was a major contributor to cutting down the number of criminals in the martial world.

    Can you believe my shifu had the balls to go and provoke Zi Wutong after that?! But it gets crazier. Maybe someone fatally unlucky rubbed their bad luck off on her. Maybe something went wrong with her eyes. God forbid I ever fathom why in the world such a proud loner developed a crush on my shifu! To this day, I still suspect he cast some sort of unorthodox technique on her. Else, how do you exin why outstanding women from venerated orthodox sects, such as my shiniang, would choose the scumbag?

    Anyway, Zi Wutong and my shifu were in love for some time. Given both of them were patriarchs of two eminent sects and her not being too much younger than my shifu, they were a perfect couple. Sadly for my shifu, he already had three wives. Sure, he could marry a fourth; in saying that, Patriarch Xia''s ego held her back. After a quarrel, she avowed she wouldn''t marry him unless he divorced his three wives.

    My three shiniang''s weren''t pushovers; they weren''t just going to roll over and die. Hence, they formed a united front and reported my shifu to my grandmaster. For all the years they had been at Mount Daluo, they would cook for my grandmaster. Moreover, my grandmaster wasn''t the sort of man you could sway with force. So ordingly, he always supported them. That case was no difference.

    After my shiniang''s reported my shifu, my grandmastermbasted my shifu. I had to give it to my three shiniang''s. They quelled one of the Supreme Ten Saint''s attempts to invade their home of all people. Patriarch Zi''s ego took over again. She yed the card, "You''re dumping me? I''m dumping you!" And so, their rtionship went from rocky to shattered. Wutong Jin Yuxuan swore an oath to never stand alongside Mount Daluo henceforth.

    The fiasco took ce a decade ago. My shifu continued to visit Wu Zitong after the debacle. s, he was never pardoned for he never sorted out his rtionships. For the same reason, her disciples would frequently harass Night Fortress while I was running it.ian Qingluan was only a young girl when Wu Zitong''s disciplesmenced their constant harassment. When I stepped through the door, besides noticing she had grown into the belle of the room, I recognised her at first nce. That was why used a fake name to hint to her I was putting on a show.

    Those with Lian Qingluan only gave me apprehensive looks, while she appeared irate to an extent. She badgered, "I am participating in the convention. Since we''re not together, I shan''t let you go."ian Qingluan clinched her staff tighter and gently twirled it, shaking the ground, demonstrating Solid Jade Snow had the potential to inflict damage with its residue damage.

    Grinning, I shifted a foot forward, dispersing the shockwave making its way toward us. Utilising Voice Transmission, a tactic Lian Qingluan flinched in response to, I pointed out, "Miss Lian, unlike your senior sister, you have only mastered up to the secondyer of Solid Jade Snow. You know how to fire off, but you don''t know how to condense the force, limiting the length of time you can keep up the high output. If I am correct, your limit is three executions per day. That, plus the previous usage, means you are only able to deploy the technique one more time."

    The limited number of times Lian Qingluan could use the technique was a deadly secret. Without the titanic power acting as their armour, practitioners of the style were fatally vulnerable. Jin Yuxuan only permitted disciples to use thest usage to situations where their life was on their line exclusively.

    "Our shifus'' rtionship isplicated, but it''s not our business as the next generation. Why must we fight each other?"ian Qing analysed the circumstances before she jabbed, "Long-term ailments have gued Shizun these years. If someone had a conscience, he''d know what to do."

    I put a palm and fist together before me: "I will be sure to forward the message."

    "Keep your word."ian Qingluan picked up her staff and vanished into the night as a ray of emerald.

    By the time I turned around to my allies, I saw them gossiping amongst each other.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "She has to be one of his exes. I mean, his lines give it away."

    "Didn''t they mention Patriarch Zi is ill?"

    "That must be her way of reproaching him for failing to fulfil filial piety. I mean, you expect a wife to not be angry when her husband won''t visit her sick shifu?"

    "I can''t argue with that!"

    Your brains are missingponents! All of you!

    "Haha, that is your true nature, able to withstand all sorts of trouble," remarked Elder Shou, looking my way. "Would you be able to identify this old one with your vast knowledge, Young Master?"

    "Your identity? Of course." I smiled back and performed a palm and fist salute: "Greetings, Wudang''s Elder Shou."

    Notes:

    *Shizun = shifu. It''s just another term as Shishou and Sensei are in Japanese. This also applies to the broader usage shifu and sensei has. Like a doctor can be called sensei, a taxi driver is also called shifu. Shizun is a rather archaic term and only used for martial arts.

 Volume 7 37 Wudang Elder

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 37 Wudang Elder</h4>

    "Greetings, Wudang''s Elder Shou." Even if I couldn''t recognise other styles, there was no way I could mistake Wudang''s mental cultivation taught only to direct disciples.

    Wudang was home to many venerated elders. Besides Patriarch Daoist Shenfa, there were three senior elders of the same seniority. They were assigned the titles Tortoise, Crane and Deer. Although Wudang was a dao sect, their disciples consisted of daoists and non-daoists. Two of the three senior elders weren''t daoists.

    Elder Shou was assigned Tortoise, but Elder Tortoise just sounded ridiculous, which was why the martial world conferred him the title Shou and called him Elder Shou. The logic behind the title was because the Shou character and first part of the term title of "elder" suggested a long lifespan. He was the oldest among the three elders and was the friendliest amongst them. It came as no surprise, then, that he rarely had any disputes with anyone. He was able to end conflicts between other allies withoutsting consequences - if any at all.

    Emperor Yuansheng silently reflected, "How did I miss that when Ming Feizhen noticed? I''m now sure the hook and then circle hand movement he performed to defuse Young Master Ling and Lie Shang''s internal energy is Wudang''s mental cultivation. It seems the rumours Elder Shou is on par with their patriarch are true. Based on his execution of the technique, Wudang''s Universe Empyrean Style, a style taught exclusively to direct disciples, he must''ve mastered it quite thoroughly."

    "I knew it!" blurted Emperor Yuansheng.

    Get out of here! Had I not said anything, you''d still be guessing this time next year!

    In spite of me easily identifying him, Elder Shou still smiled affably: "Impressive, Young Master Zhong. It seems this old one will have to ept this drink."

    Elder Shou took the cup from me and knocked it back in one chug. He wiped his mouth and pulled the corners of his lips up again, exuding an unfettered and suave aura: "Since this old one epted your drink, he should repay the favour. How about a divination?"

    Elder Shou chortled as he took out a golden tortoise shell from his sleeve. The shell was made from metal. Most people in the pugilistic world would recognise it and know it was an item Elder Shou made famous through his usage.

    Ostensibly, Elder Shou''s divinations were always correct. He, understandably, was renowned for his divination skills even amongst Wudang. Emperor Yuansheng instated a member of Wudang as preceptor of state because he believed in their divination skills. Owing to the same reason, he nudged me over to Elder Shou as soon as thetter offered to perform a divination for me and suggested, "It is not big deal. Consider it some fun."

    Elder Shou pulled out a bench to sit and gestured for me to join him. He took out three copper tes and inserted them into the shell. He shook the shell and tossed them out. He rinsed and repeated six times, puzzling me enough for me to question, "May this one ask what the result says?"

    Elder Shou smirked: "This old one humbly greets you, Master Ming."

    ¡­ His divination was just a ploy to fool everyone! He recognised me from the get-go! I was saying nobody sane would be named Zhong Hualiu. Eighteen brothels by Yangtze River? Damn troll!! I knew he was screwing with me!

    Smiling back, my lips moved ever so slightly as I used ventriloquism to say, "You recognise me, Elder Shou."

    "Though your hair colour and appearance has changed, this old one recognised you as soon as you spoke."

    Elder Shou and I weren''t exactly friends; however, I had visited Mount Wudang a fair number of times, so it wasn''t surprising he remembered me. I owed him a favour for keeping my identity a secret.

    "Please pardon this one''s rudeness. He has to put on the act for this secret job."

    "Master Ming, if you are so polite to this old one, this old one''s next three generations will still be bragging of the honour."

    "Please do not kill this one." I slowed down the rate I poured a drink and smiled helplessly: "This humble one does not carry himself well. The martial world defines him as ridiculous more often than not. Those who would be polite enough would call him Master Ming. In actuality, it is but a title for someone bearing a mountain of trouble."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You are being too humble, Master Ming. Had it not been for Night Fortress taking in Jiangnan''s bandits and rogues formerly belonging to other groups or wandering around, the Seven White Champion Princes would massacre them under the banner of perfection and peace. Even if they drove the unorthodox groups out of Jiangnan, it would still be a bloody massacre no less brutal than massacres unorthodox sects wouldmit. It is best for everyone thanks to your kindness and open mind. When this old one visited Hangzhou during your absence, Night Fortress'' members were somewhat out of line, but nobody actually started trouble without rhyme or reason. Jiangnan should be grateful to have you."

    That was quite touching to hear. Night Fortress'' ssification was always in a grey zone. The Seven Champion White Princes didn''t consider Night Fortress an unorthodox sect due to its affiliation with Mount Daluo. Having said that, they wouldn''t touch Night Fortress with a ten foot pole because of Night Fortress'' ambivalent practices. Few people in the martial world''s orthodox sects were willing to look to Night Fortress'' good side.

    "You are too kind, Elder Shou. That being said¡­ what made you decide to assign this one a father who ran an empire of brothels when you recognised this one¡­?"

    "Oh, that? Hahahaha. Do you still remember your shifu infiltrating Mount Wudang the night this old one and his two juniors were busy with a ritual and stole Changmen Sect''s manual¡­?"

    Wait, you''re trying to even the score now?! I didn''t even know my shifu stole the manual from you three! Shifu, judging from Elder Shou''s expression, I must ask if you beat him back then!

    "And, your shifu has yet to return the secret manual."

    Still?!

    Oh, wait. Right, right, he was right. Shifu never asked me for it back after he told me to learn it. After I finished learning it, I put it¡­ I think I ced it under one of the uneven table legs at the cottage I lived at when I retired. By the way, that manual was solid! Like, solid solid! It was perfect for the job! Well, I couldn''t actually tell Elder Shou that. I doubt even he could remain cordial if I told him that.

    "Hahaha, this old one can overlook him stealing it and even him reading it, but he still hasn''t returned it after twenty years. Look, Master Ming, this old one is not trying to be a jerk, but nobody wants to embarrassed. Am I right?"

    While Elder Shou maintained an amiable smile on the surface, he was seething inside. That had to be why he smeared my image! Bloody bugger screwing with me when he knew I was acting!

    "Absolutely, absolutely. This one will be sure to reprimand him for it. We will be sure to return it to you in one piece and sealed."

    I nodded, poured wine and massaged Elder Shou''s shoulders whilstining about my shifu''s unscrupulous deeds to finally win a small friendly smile from Elder Shou.

    Emperor Yuansheng: "Adding massage to ttery. He''s taking ttery to new heights."

    I kept going, asking how Wudang''s patriarch was doing and promising I''d pay a visit until Elder Shou was satisfied. Voice loud, he stated, "Since this was a misunderstanding, this old one shall leave it there. See you in Huzhou!"

    Elder Shou vaulted through the hole in the roof to leave and needed only one step prior to perform the impressive feat. Emperor Yuansheng raised a thumb: "Wudang''s Cloud Ascending Ladder is truly marvellous."

    Suddenly, Elder Shou came back via the roof. Emperor Yuansheng asked, "What happened? Did you throw your back out?"

    Elder Shou ignored Emperor Yuansheng and gave me a smile: "Young Master Zhong, could you give back the three copper tes¡­?"

    Copper tes? What copper tes?

    I gazed at the dark sky and whistled.

    Wow, I don''t see anything.

    Everyone shot me piercing, scornful gazes¡­

 Volume 7 38 Friends in the Pugilistic World Should Look Out for Each Other

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 38 Friends in the Pugilistic World Should Look Out for Each Other</h4>

    I finally finished clearing out enemies in the room. Sadly, the rain wouldn''t let up and continued showering in via the hole in the roof. Fragments of a broken beam were strewn on the wet floor. Furniture was turned upside down and sideways.

    Ye Luo heaved a pent-up breath: "I was worried to death we''d have to risk our lives against dangerous opponents on our first day. Thanks for the save, Young Master."

    Dugu: "We owe it to you and your vast knowledge, Brother Ming. They wouldn''t have quit if it wasn''t thanks to you. Now we don''t need to worry about dys."

    "Although stealing the copper tes was shameless¡­ Young Ming''s meritspensate for his misdemeanour. You don''t need to take care of the misceneous tasks from now. Swap roles with Long Zaitian. He''ll take charge for those tasks from now." Emperor Yuansheng ignored Long Zaitian''s figurative shrinking and gave me a smile: "You just keep going as Young Master Zhong. Your familiarity and experience in the pugilistic world will be nifty. We also need a customer for the escort. You''ll save us a lot of trouble with your role. But, uh, Young Ming, I''m curious how you figured out Master Kuang''s surname; that was more startling than when you identified Young Master Ling."

    I sped my fist with one hand and held my hands before me: "Thank you for the kind words, Teacher Li! It was nothing special, really. During my time at Mount Daluo, I learnt some divination skills from Grandmaster. That was a pure lucky guess, hahahahaha."

    Su Xiao effused, "See?! I told you he used spirit possession!"

    Tang Ye stared and stared until he eventually muttered under his breath, "Obsolete and superstitious."

    Don''t expose me with a straight face! At least, let me fool Emperor Yuansheng!

    Tie Hanyi focused on scrutinising the results of the short sh. He mumbled, "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s sessor, Red Scarf Broadsword Character, Wutong Jin Yuxuan, Wudang''s elder and an especially seasoned sword-wielding schr¡­ Why are even characters seldom seen attracted to Huzhou?"

    "Ol'' Tie is right. It is quite the eventful period. As you pointed out, it isn''t often we see the five together. Honestly speaking, we have no more than a sixty percent chance of winning if Wudang''s elder and Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s disciple align with the others," Emperor Yuansheng verbalised with a nod.

    Emperor Yuansheng was partially right. At the end of the day, we outnumbered them, and it wasn''t as if our adepts paled inparison to theirs. Emperor Yuansheng continued, "Most troubling is their aim. The year ising to an end; Lunar New Year''s eve is in two days, yet they are weathering the harsh weather to rush to Huzhou. That''s sufficient to conclude something important has happened in Huzhou."

    "Teacher Li, if we are going to ount for people in the martial world, Ol'' Tie missed someone important."

    "Did I? Besides the five I named, I only left out Great Spear Sect."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Did you forget who our target is?" I asked as my gaze sharpened. "Is Evil Spirits'' Abels not in Huzhou at present?"

    Emperor Yuansheng''s brain stuttered for a moment. Once his thoughts caught up, he said, "Young Ming has a point. Huzhou is Luo Sword Manor''s territory. Evil Spirits'' won''t show up unless there is something worth their time, so something must be worth the risk. Their most likely goal is¡­ Luo Sword Manor! The five must be headed to the same destination. All that''s left to work out is what they are after."

    "You are still missing the most imperative piece: that is not their entire force. Their numbers are my primary concern," I added. Since everyone looked confused, I pointed out the window: "Take a look outside."

    They traced my finger to see a cavalry team numbering approximately forty to fifty people ride into the small town and continue galloping through after a short break, which I presumed was solely to replenish their supplies.

    "What happened in Huzhou? Why is everyone flocking there?" queried Su Xiao."

    "That should be obvious enough," answered Tie Hanyi, crossing his arms. "Your subordinate did a count and found there are, at least, twelve different groups in the town. If we add the group that just entered into the town, there are thirteen groups. Considering Young Master Ling suspected we were an unorthodox group, it is safe to assume there really are unorthodox groups making their way to Huzhou. As so many people are moving about together, it is inevitable for there to be opportunities to exploit. Brother Long and I can search for an unorthodox group. We can capture their leader and interrogate him, but¡­"

    "But what?" reacted Emperor Yuansheng.

    Tie Hanyi smiled bitterly: "We might see dys."

    "What?! We''re already running two dayste due to news reaching uste. This is a race against time! We have no time to waste! I can''t imagine what Evil Spirits will do to Yiren if we don''t hurry!"

    Dugu exined, "Correct me if I am wrong, but Brother Tie means to say that, since there are so many people, especially because they are part of the martial world, heading in the same direction, there will be heavy traffic. I think¡­ dys will be inevitable."

    "Ol'' Tie, is that what you meant?" thundered Emperor Yuansheng.

    Tie Hanyi bowed instead of kneeling due to the circumstances: "Indeed. There certainly are multiple paths that lead to Huzhou. It bes an issue owing to the the number of orthodox sects in Jiangnan. ording to my investigation, sects not part of the martial world''s orthodox sects'' system are being ostracised even if they have never been known to havemitted any heinous deeds. They, as a matter of fact, are nowhere to be seen on main roads. When we include the unorthodox into the equation, even more space and roads will be taken up."

    Dugu borated, "Brother Tie means that, if we continue on the main roads, the orthodox sects heading to Huzhou will hamper our movement. If we extrapte from the tyranny they tried to enforce just now, we will likely have disputes. If we opt for alternate paths, the sects forced to take them will mark us. Teacher Li, our escort is not exactly arge group. The size of our group makes us the perfect target. The alternate paths will probably be fraught with dangers."

    "They bully peasant groups, yet they im Jiangnan is the representative region of justice! They can shove their justice up their rear end!" Emperor Yuansheng snapped.

    Nobody noticed I had sneaked back to the kitchen while they were discussing their ns. Ling Xuan wiped his perspiration off his forehead when he learnt we didn''t kill each other. He told me, "This town is not one of our important towns, so we could have abandoned it if need be. This humble one was merely afraid he would sabotage your job. Words fail to describe this humble one''s admiration for you. None of those orthodox sects were easy to get along with, yet you defused the situation without resorting to violence of any shape or form!"

    "That''s not entirely true," I objected in a nonchnt tone. "We have to go to Huzhou, yet the roads are congested when we can''t afford any dys. Do you know what they are going there for?"ing Xuan nodded and gave me a concise rundown of their n. If I could take his word for it, our dys weren''t going to be short. Given their aims, they were bound to be equipped forbat. We wouldn''t stand to gain anything fighting them on the way. Again, there were too many of them, too.

    I had no means of verifying Boss'' status quo, while I knew Evil Spirits loved making ves out of their defeated victims. No matter how strong Boss was¡­ she was only a neen year old girl at the end of the day.

    "Toss it, I can''t let the circumstances control me," I decided in my mind. I requested, "Ling Xuan, get in touch with your leader. I need a favour."ing Xuan''s eyes were alight for a second before he noticed my serious look. Switching to a prim expression, he replied, "Please feel free to speak. This humble one will ry every single word."

    I framed what I wanted to say before I implored, "I want him to notify everyone heading to Huzhou Master Ming needs to go to Huzhou. As friends in the pugilistic world, please do him a favour."

 Volume 7 39 Somewhere in Huzhou

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 39 Somewhere in Huzhou</h4>

    Somewhere in Huzhou.

    Examining his reflection in the mirror, he gently massaged his jet ck muscles. It was a beneficial habit he took up. He didn''t need to massage himself at his level. Nevertheless, it was a habit he practiced since he was young. He always massaged himself after fighting and training for the same reason martial artists massaged themselves after strength conditioning. The massage served to promote blood cirction, in turn promoting recovery. Anecdotally, young beginners performed better thanks to post-training massages.

    After massaging himself, he wore on a form-fitting ck shirt beneath another form-fitting warrior robe over the top. In total, he wore threeyers of clothing on his torso. The threeyers didn''t look bulky. As a matter of fact, they were bing on his physique. He adjusted his hair, revealing his masculine facial features in the mirror.

    The striking man was the man who jumped Shen Yiren, captured Song Ou and Hong Jiu, Evil Spirits'' leader, Great Thief, Abels, a man of many legends.

    Originally a member of Beijiang''s imperial family, Abels was forced to live on the run and turned to pilfering after his father''s younger brother usurped power and falsely incriminated his family. His uncle exterminated his family the year he turned thirteen. Thankfully, Abels devoted family vassal sacrificed his own son for Abels, protecting thetter''s lineage. The young master died that day. Abels was reborn as a small-time thief. Abels'' forged through a tempest to get to where he was.

    Abels didn''t actually undertake official martial arts lessons. He observed martial artists from various schools then mimicked and analysed them until he could use them practically, resulting in him possessing arge database of techniques. During the early days of his martial arts quest, he was a snotty-nosed brat,nky and frail against pugilists. One winter, he broke his ribs and gasped for dear life on the street curb. He ate leftovers wealthy families threw out; live no matter what it took, was his guiding principle.

    At some point, people who knew Abels were astounded when they witnessed him excel in martial arts exponentially and rapidly. By no means was he a genius. Everyone, including his family and teacher, were privy he wasn''t the sort of talented boy who left deep impressions. If he had a talent, it would be not taking things to heart. He faced every challenge thrown his way with a smile that never wilted. In less than a year, he surpassed everyone else in his age bracket. The only person who couldprehend how it was possible was himself. He realised skills he stole via observation were skills he would never forget.ater on, Abels ventured into the desert and began to study the secret martial arts manuals histe father left behind for him. After years of dedicated training and racking up experience in dozens of life-risking fights, his prowess reached an entirely new realm - the realm deemed the peak of martial arts.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The year he turned thirty-seven, Abels infiltrated the imperial pce. The unstoppable force tore through the enemy lines alone to take the head of Beijiang''s Tiezhen Kingdom''s monarch, his uncle. Correct, he single-handedly usurped the kingdom''s power andunched a new dynasty.

    Abels had crossed an arctic where the ever-present cold was his nemesis and wastnds the cruel sun beat down on. His numerous journeys to hell and back forged him into the man he was.

    Abels stared at the mirror and said in his mind, "I can''t wait to test this incredible weapon against the droves of enemiesing."

    The corner of Abels'' mouth tugged up into a confident smile unlike ever before¡­

    Boom!

    ========

    A while ago.

    Thanks to Abels'' rule, Hong Jiu and Song Ou weren''t considered ves or abused until Shen Yiren returned to finish their undecided battle. Hence, despite Hong Jiu and Song Ou having their hands cuffed and being incarcerated in a room, they were fed three meals a day, so there wasn''t much worth crying about. At the end of the day, though, thieves were thieves.

    River Monster and Mountain Monster lived and breathed the life of thieves. Knowing Song Ou''s wealthy family background, they badgered him - technically threatened to amputate his limbs, erase his martial arts skills, jam his bones, castrate him and so forth - until he conceded and agreed to write a letter home, requesting two hundred thousand for pocket money.

    Nobody sympathised with poor Song Ou. He had been away from home for years. He had yet to woo Shen Yiren and marry her. He couldn''t make a name for himself as Liu Shan Men''s captain. His father gave him a harsh scolding thest time he visited home for his failure to establish himself. It would only be surprising if his father didn''t answer, "I don''t have twenty thousand, but you can offer your life." Consequently, he had no appetite. He sighed and sighed, but he couldn''t sigh away his woes. As for Hong Jiu, well, he made himself at home. He merrily ate and drank everything offered.

    A henchman delivered two bowls of cold rice and two cold saut¨¦ed cucumber dishes or something simr. Meat was a luxury they weren''t bestowed. The mere appearance of the food shut down Song Ou''s appetite, yet Hong Jiu wolfed down the food as if it didn''t just banish his hunger but also satisfied his pte.

    "Deputy General Hong, howe you''re not worried when we''ve been detained for two days now?" grumbled Song Ou.

    "Enlighten me as to what worrying would do. As you stated, we''ve been detained for two days. You spent two days worrying. How''s it working for you?"

    Hong Jiu knew Song Ou didn''t want to eat. Thus, the former took thetter''s serve and ate the extra serve. Song Ou found Hong Jiu''s behaviour puzzling: "The food is so poor that I literally choke on it. How can you eat as if it tastes delicious?"

    "Poor, you say?" grumbled Hong Jiu, shooting Song Ou a condescending gaze from his peripherals. "You rich kids don''t even know there are people freezing to death outside your doors while you''re enjoying your meat and wine. Back when I was a beggar, finding food that rat piss or mud contaminated or spoiled one every ten days was considered a blessing. If you''reining about food that tastes this good, you must never have been hungry before."

 Volume 7 40 Prison Break

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 40 Prison Break</h4>

    Tone listless, Song Ou asked, "You starved?"

    "Of course! Is that a trick question?!" eximed Hong Jiu, nostrils red. "When I worked as security at a brothel in Beiping, I identally hit somebody I shouldn''t have. I beat up an old noble. Man, sh*t got brutal¡­"

    Hong Jiu gazed up and heaved a long breath. Song Ou asked, "Beiping''s noble? There aren''t many in Beiping. Was it Lord Zhao, the man who took out six generals alone on the battlefield using his signature Coiling Dragon Staff?"

    "That''s the one! I''m surprised you know him," enthused Hong Jiu, smacking his thigh. "That was when I still sucked. The old bugger was a pretty badass fighter. His staff''s style''sbination of soft and rigid elements almost overwhelmed me. Sucks to be him, though, because his lower back holds him back despite his skills. After a dozen or so exchanges, he started grimacing and revealed a w for me to exploit."

    "I was about to say you couldn''t have defeated a war hero so easily in a fair fight. What happened after? Did you use the opening to seal his meridians and subdue him?"

    "Yeah right. Since he couldn''t rotate his hips, I floored him with a palm strike!"

    "¡­"

    "Old bugger tried to dine and dash on the poor girl. Aplished hero my foot. He''s a lout." Hong Jiu gnashed his teeth, still angry about what transpired in spite of how long it had been. Signalling to forget it with a hand wave, he resumed, "His men than chased me through nine counties before I finally shook them off. When I reached the tenth county, I was stripped. I sped into the city without realising it and had to run into the county magistrate and his wife, who were on holiday together. They cried, ''There''s a creep.'' Thus, the city''s constables chased me. I still don''t understand how I got poorer and poorer as I ran. I don''t understand why more and more people chased me every time I ran, either. Anyway, I was forced to get by as a beggar in the end. Starving was a daily part of life those days."

    "That''s harsh. Also, that''s some seriously scary story. How did you end up running into such helpless situations every time?"

    "Right? My grandmaster read my fortune for me back when I was on the mountain."

    "If I remember correctly, you are on of Mount Daluo''s senior disciples. Your grandmaster must be Hero Shenzhou. What did he say?"

    "He said I''d be unlucky for ten lifetimes and that I had another nine lifetimes to go."

    Song Ou subconsciously dropped his lower jaw and shifted away from Hong Jiu in case thetter''s bad luck rubbed off on him.

    "What?" Hong Jiu shifted closer to Song Ou: "I think I''m quite lucky if you ask me. I''m only a tad unlucky every now and then. Oh, also, wherever I go, it''ll rain a bit harder¡­"

    "So we were caught because of your bad luck?! Now I know why it rained tirelessly when it''s winter. The rain never let up the moment you joined the escort!" Song Ouined to himself. Helpless, he sighed: "We''vepleted our job, but I wonder how Yiren is doing. I''m stuck here in this prison, and it, it, Brother Hong, where are you going?"

    Hong Jiu grinned: "Aren''t you weeping? Keep weeping. I''m going to bounce now."

    "You''re leaving? Your cuffs ar-, what happened to your cuffs?"

    On top of cuffing the duo''s hands and legs, Abels personally sealed their main meridians, restricting them from moulding energy within seven days. That didn''t go ording to n because Hong Jiu managed to remove his cuffs already.

    "H-How did you remove them?"

    "Abels packs a monstrous punch, but that''s all he has. It''s gone to his head, and now he thinks he''s invincible. He knows less than my bum knows about sealing meridians. All he did was an amateur job of sealing our meridians and cuffing us after. Mount Daluo''s Empty Palms was designed specifically to undo meridian sealing techniques of all styles. Abels meridian seals are basically non-existent against Empty Palms."

    While Hong Jiu spoke highly of Empty Palms ability to defuse sealed meridians, the sealer was an important variable to ount for. Hong Jiu required two days to undo the seals despite Abels''ck of skill solely due to thetter''s sheer might.

    "How did you remove the cuffs, though?"

    "Captain Song, can we skip the stupid questions? Fine, have it your way. You know there are eight realms in internal styles, right?"

    "The eight shapes of internal energies, also called Internal Baji, right? What about them?"

    "You do know something, after all, huh? Quiz time: among the eight, which is the sharpest?"

    Song Ou, who obviously knew that basic knowledge, blurted, "Edge''s Edge Realm is sharpest and fastest. My n''s Sundering the Nine Heavens Palm Style is a palm style that incorporates Edge Realm''s internal energy, allowing us to shave gold and rend jade."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Exactly. Your n''s Sundering the Nine Heavens Palm Style is among the best advanced skills out there. I don''t know it, unfortunately, but I can still break the cuffs using Empty Hands sh. It''s not as formidable as your Sundering the Nine Heavens, but it''s good enough for the job."

    Yes, Sundering the Nine Heavens would be able to break the cuffs, but that''d take, at least, four hours. Plus, Hong Jiu amazingly defused the meridian seal without being detected.

    "Half a darn day has gone by. It took me six hours to remove the cuffs."

    "Why did you wait until now to remove them, then?"

    "Think, will you? I don''t know where we are or how many men are outside. I wouldn''t dare to break out until I had something to eat and drink," chided Hong Jiu. He hit Song Ou on the back using Empty Palms, unsealing Song Ou''s meridians and grinned: "If we''re eating, they''re also eating. That''s the window of opportunity we need to escape."

    Blood circted to Song Ou''s arms and legs after Hong Jiu unblocked his meridians. However, he was still cuffed: "I need another four hours to remove my cuffs, though."

    "We don''t have time!" Hong Jiu used Subduing Dragon Palms to rip the chains in two then stated, "I need to use my palm skills and, therefore, can''t wear cuffs. Take the chains off and put up with it for now. You can remove the cuffs once we get outside."

    "All right. But we don''t have the key to the door."

    "Don''t worry about that," replied Hong Jiu.

    Hong Jiu initiated a ruse, groaning and griping the food was dirty. He imed he puked and had the runs. Puking was bad but not the end of the world. Defecating in the cell was uneptable, however. He then started hurling insults at every generation of Abels'' family and even his maids.

    The low-ranking henchman in Evil Spirits was told to "take good care" of their captives'' meals and to look after them. He brushed off the "good" part of themand, treating it as if it was a sarcastic addition. He fed them boring and stale food while saving the nice dishes for himself. If the higher ups heard the prisoners suffered food poisoning, he''d have to pay. Hence, he rushed to the prison.

    The henchman had his guard down since the two were supposed to have their fighting abilities inhibited. As soon as he opened the door, though, he heard, "Surprise, motherfucker!" Next thing he knew, he saw stars and heard buzzing sounds. He spun nine hundred degrees before he flopped onto the floor.

    Hong Jiu: "That''s payback for stealing my food. I''m weaker because of meat deprivation, asshole."

    Song Ou grinned: "Strong enough, I reckon. A one hit knockout is decent power if you ask me. Let''s get going before they find out, Brother Hong."

    Hong Jiu stomped on the henchman twice before catching up to Song Ou. Equipped with skills and wits, the duo stealthily incapacitated all those on patrol. Among Evil Spirits, only Ox Demon, Mountain Monster and River Monster could give them a run for their money.

    The discovered they were inside an enormous prison based off the time of length they travelled since escaping their cell; the exit was nowhere in sight. Torches provided the sole source of dim lighting there. There wasn''t so much as a window, let alone natural light.

    Hong Jiu fumed, "We could escape if there was a window but no. Bloody hell."

    "Most prisons are situated underground. If I''m correct, we''re in a dungeon."

    "A dungeon with a window would be nice. You have a point, nheless. I agree it''s a dungeon judging from the structure. It would cost an exorbitant sum to construct a dungeon, though. Think about it: Evil Spirits are a group that hides in the shadows. How much space would they need to conceal their entire group? We''re talking about a dungeon that can fit hundreds of bandits. When I find out who it belongs to, I''ll be first to report him!"

    Song Ou smiled helplessly: "Am I not a government official? Once I get out, I''ll make sure he''s canned three hundred times."

    The duo soon reached a fork in the road. There were seven paths to choose from, each marked with a stone pir. On the furthest left pir, there was a flying bird painted on. The pir in the centre wasprised of an assortment of images. A bloodthirsty sword was painted onto the far right pir. All of the artwork was painted meticulously.

    Hong Jiu grumbled, "Hell as if I know where to go now. How do we choose?"

    Song Ou scrutinised the bird and suggested, "Let''s go with this path. A bird out of its cage is an auspicious symbol."

    "How is a captured bird an auspicious symbol? Plus, you''re a man, yet you chose a bird?! Real men choose swords."

    "Swords are a symbol of violence. I would say it''s an ill omen."

    "Keep up with the times, and stop being so superstitious! There''s no time to waste. Let''s get moving!"

    Hong Jiu dragged Song Ou down the path with the sword. When they reached a folding door, Hong Jiu booted the door open! The individual on the other side of the door was startled, albeit barely for a second. The tall man still had the faint blue qiyer on his face as per the same time Hong Jiu met him.

    "You escaped? You undid the seal yourself? I must apud your skill." The man folded his arms: "I had no idea you had escaped, but why did youe looking for me? Did you want to challenge me again?"

    Hong Jiu took a long time to snap out of it. He eximed, "Abels! What the fook is you doing here?!"

 Volume 7 41 Never Change (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 41 Never Change (Part 1)</h4>

    "Motherflipper¡­ It was hard enough to escape, yet I ran into Abels'' room? The jerk doesn''t pull any punches. It freaking hurts."

    Song Ou: "me yourself for your poor decision. This is great. Back to the cell we go. Man¡­ I should just pay the ransom."

    "Don''t worry, once I''ve healed, I w(ill)-."

    "You still won''t be able to escape!" River Monster brayed as she tried to hit Hong Jiu''s head with a brutal palm strike.

    The duo was captured in less than five minutes after their great escape - quite an amazing feat.

    River Monster was under orders to ensure the two couldn''t escape again. She decided she would personally force the two into submission.

    Song Ou couldn''t undo his meridian seal after Abels sealed it again. River Monster also restrained Song Ou using tougher iron cuffs and chains. Hong Jiu was Evil Spirits'' biggest problem; but nevertheless, River Monster had an innovative idea.

    "Hey, what are you doing, Lass? Why are you cuffing me up with him?" Hong Jiuined when he tried to touch his swollen head - courtesy of Abels - but couldn''t move his arms or legs.

    "You two had to spoil my mood. I didn''t even get to bathe because of you two, damn it."

    Even without makeup, River Monster was still considered a stunner. Her flustered demeanour, thin clothing, faintly revealed legs and childish, "Damn it" were all considered lethal weapons against men. Song Ou, for some reason, gulped. Hong Jiu, on the other hand, cursed, "Wretched Lass, what is this for?!"

    "What for? To prevent you from escaping!"

    River Monster wrapped Hong Jiu up with a heavy chain as thick and three metres long. From a distance, one would mistake him for an iron ball that came to life. Unable to move, he belted, "Dimwit, are you restraining me or trying to make a Zongzi out of me? Who restrains people this way?!"

    "Shut up. Consider yourself lucky. This is what you get for misbehaving."

    After scoffing, River Monster coiled another seven thick chains around Hong Jiu. The iron chains were used to hold together massive doors. With seven chains weighing thirty-five kilograms and Abels'' meridian seal, Hong Jiu was immobilised.

    "Let''s see you run now."

    River Monster dusted her hands and skipped at the same time. The two petite globes underneath her shirt bounced as she skipped. Song Ou gulped a second time. He wanted to be a gentleman, but his urge triumphed. River Monster spared him no attention, nheless.

    River Monster kept tabs on Hong Jiu for a while before inquiring, "You''re the first person to ever escape from us, but why did you charge into Master''s room when you already reached the exit? Are you missing a part of your brain?"

    "You''re the one missing a part of her brain! How was I supposed to know which of the seven paths to choose?"

    River Monster shrugged: "Besides the one you chose, the other six led to exits."

    "Huh?!" eximed Song Ou, almost frothing. "Why did I trust someone so unlucky? Oh my god!"

    Being wrong when the chance of being wrong was a measly one in seven forced Hong Jiu to ept he was unlucky.

    The fight with Abels ended quickly because he only wanted to swiftly subdue the duo without hurting them. In addition, he imbued six shots of true qi into Hong Jiu to prohibit thetter using his energy to unseal himself.

    River Monster left after cursing Hong Jiu as thetter didn''t respond. Song Ou''s eyes were glued to her rear that swaying left and right despite her not having impressively perky glutes.

    "Stop looking, or you''ll lose your vision," remarked Hong Jiu.

    "I-I wasn''t looking!" snapped Song Ou.

    "Heh, I doubt you would''ve looked if you still had ess to your energy. I don''t me you since it''s hard to resist women when your dantian is sealed."

    "What? You meant she¡­"

    "If I still had ess to my energy, I would''ve revealed her true nature with a howl. She clearly was trying to seduce you. She only spoke to me to make you jealous. She was trying to sow discord so that we''d turn on each other if we did run. She''s a sly one."

    That exined why Song Ou felt himself acting out of character. He vowed to not let River Monster''s sinister tactice to fruition.

    "R-Rodents!" Song Ou shrieked when he saw a ck rodent race across the room.

    The rodent stopped to check its surroundings before fixing its gaze on its two new inmates.

    Song Ou: "Stay back! Stay back! Choose him!"

    The rodent intently stared at Song Ou before turning its attention to Hong Jiu once it was bored. The rodent dashed into the ck ball. Song Ou cried, "Brother Hong, the rodent sneaked into your ball!"

    "Pipe down, will you? You never seen rodents or something?" Hong Jiu watched the rodent who squeezed in. Instead of freaking out, he affably asked, "Long-time no see, buddy. You doing well?"

    The rodent squeaked as if it understood Hong Jiu then squeezed through a hole at the bottom of the wall.

    Song Ou let out a breath of relief: "Thank heavens. Howe it left without putting up any resistance, though?"

    "Simple, his natural enemy scared him off."

    "Natural enemy? Rodents natural enemies are¡­"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Snakes, obviously."

 Volume 7 42 Never Change (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 42 Never Change (Part 2)</h4>

    Song Ou shuddered upon seeing the green, slithering snake flicking its tongue. Its triangr-shaped head indicated it was venomous. His fear of rodents was just one of his irrational fears and abhorrence for dirty things. Though he wasn''t so afraid of snakes, his arms and legs were restrained, leaving him with only the option of waiting for it to leave.

    "Move or I''ll miss," hollered Hong Jiu.

    Hong Jiu extended his right hand out from the chains and gently flicked a stone at the snake''s head, sttering it in one go.

    "Brother Hong, nice going. How did you manage to flick it when your qihai is sealed, though?"

    Hong Jiu smiled: "The main principle of Empty Palms lies in the word ''empty''. Abels thought sealing my true qi meridian wasn''t enough, so he sealed another six meridian points when, in actual fact, it has nothing to do with my true qi. They''re merely corrted. Regardless of how much true qi you have, it''s not practical unless you can understand the idea behind the ''empty'' word."

    Song Ou, knowing Hong Jiu wouldn''t teach him the secret of Empty Palms, inquired, "How long do you need this time?"

    "Ten days," answered Hong Jiu. "I tried again and again, but I''ve only recovered a small amount of energy. My right arm is the only limb I can move at the moment. At this rate, it would take me more than ten days to regain full control over my body."

    "Ten days?!"

    "What''s the rush?" Hong Jiu looked up at the ceiling and lied back in the hay. He chuckled: "If I can''t do it in one day, I''ll do it in ten days. If I can''t do it in ten days, I''ll do it in a year. As long as you''re not dead, you still have a chance. Just be patient."

    Song Ou wasn''t so stupid he couldn''t fathom the logic, and ten days wasn''t exactly a long time. His issue was his fear of rodents: "This is no ce for humans to stay. Damn Evil Spirits, their rodents and snakes. I don''t even know where we are."

    Song Ou had no idea Hong Jiu would drink snake blood and eat their flesh but never harm rodents. Hong Jiu once had topete with a rodent for snake meat, leading to him deciding, "Lady luck helps those who help themselves. Snakes arezy, while rodents are diligent, yet the former is thetter''s natural enemy. There is no greater injustice than this, and I won''t stand for it." Henceforward, he became the expert Snake yer Rodent Guardian.

    After listening to Song Ou''s groaning, Hong Jiu opened his eyes inspected the snake''s corpse meticulously until an epiphany hit him. Hong Jiu studied every detail ever since being incarcerated, from the people who delivered their meals to Evil Spirits'' henchmen. He noticed a unique smell of metal on them, but he couldn''t identify the scent. After scrutinising the snake, however, he realised the snake was to me.

    It was easy for Hong Jiu to kill snakes. What he noticed, though, was thezy snakes were supposed to be hibernating since it was winter. Therefore, it was abnormal for there to be an active snake in the prison. He could only conjure one reasonable exnation: they weren''t in a dungeon but a ginormous crypt. The only ce they''d find active snakes in winter was deep underground, where it was cold, moist and warm. That led to the key question: why was this crypt an exception?

    After Hong Jiu analysed the information further and quizzed Song Ou tob through his thoughts, he dered, "I know where we are now!"

    Hong Jiu then switched to a whisper.

    Though people knew of Mount Daluo, they didn''t know why their disciples lived up on the mountain so far away from the rest of civilisation, what they ate, drank or their lifestyle. On Mount Daluo was an ancient forest, home to the most unique beasts. Aplished disciples had to live in said forest and be one with nature. The other aim was to gain experience fighting against the wild beasts. Besides Ming Feizhen, who effortlessly scared off animals, the others were masterful beast tamers.

    Another chubby rodent darted over to Hong Jiu. The twomunicated somehow before the rodent left. Hong Jiu''s me burnt again. He hadn''t given up on breaking out. No restraint could contain his desire to soar!

    ========

    Emperor Yuansheng delightfully discussed Boss Shen''s whereabouts in the carriage with Dugu, Ye Luo and so forth if he was her. I took the role of a coach, while Long Zaitian went to shoulder the misceneous tasks. My question was, "What happened to the part about me being the young master?!" Unfortunately, hardly any of the imperial court''s warriors dared to order the Qilin Guard''s vice-captain around. It was sad, but life for the Seventeen Hidden Dragons was different. When I was on the job, they heartlessly ordered me around!

    Emperor Yuansheng deemed it appropriate to resume the journey once the rain ceased and sky cleared in the middle of the night. We travelled through the night, so it was another day and night of being on the go.

    Tie Hanyi and I took turns as the coach. Whenever I didn''t have to take the reins at dusk or dawn, I''d stealthily sift through the reports Ling Xuan and Long Cheng gave me. The information I asked for rted to Evil Spirits, when they appeared, where they appeared and where the attack happened; it was mountain of information. The best part was nobody provided me their analysis because that allowed me to judge for myself what was most important and made the information as reliable as could be. After all, I wouldn''t lie to myself.

    I spent the entire day reading up on Abels. Truth be told, it was as if I was getting to know him again. The two things he did sinceing to the Central in illustrated his character urately.

    There were many ways of crossing the border. Those in the underground world would likely opt for disguises as businessmen or enter as smaller groups under numerous disguises. Thetter worked as long as they were patient enough. Abels, instead, chose to flip the bird at Qilin Guards'' grandmander. He charged across the border with all of his five hundred men in the middle of the night. Abels'' subordinates leveraged their fast horses and equestrian skills to cross without sustaining any damage. Abels, who brought up the rear, engaged the grandmander. Before they could surround him, he broke out of the iplete encirclement.

    The first thing Abels did upon crossing the border was challenging Shaolin''s thirty-eight adepts, forcing the abbot to intervene. The two exchanged a single palm strike to a draw. If Abelsid low, heid low. When he decided to do something, he took it straight from zero to one hundred. Maybe it was in his blood.

    Abels wasn''t the type to beat around the bush and was straightforward. Even so, he demonstrated astounding shrewdness when he concocted the n to capture Boss Shen. The part where they disguised themselves as the owner of Yan Manor won my admiration. I didn''t expect someone so rash to be able to design ns as convoluted as strategists. Well, he might''ve had a strategist or someone who preferred to scheme. Part of it didn''t sit well with me, however, because I didn''t believe someone who''d charge across the border without much of a strategy to agree to the n. I wasn''t sure if I underestimated Abels or if something about him changed.

    Upon looking up, the golden medallion was already overhead. The three goods carriages led the vanguard. Three more carriages brought up the rear. Emperor Yuansheng''s carriage stayed in the centre. Coaches rotated every eight hours to keep us moving. As warriors, they could go without sleep, let alone sleeping on a carriage. That wasn''t applicable to the horses, nevertheless. Our horses continued to slow down over the course of the journey. They might''ve frothed and died in another few kilometres.

    "Teacher Li, there is a town we can rest at up ahead. The only rest stop we will have after this town is Canhu Town. The horses will dy our progress if they do not rest. How about buying horses from the town to save our energy?"

    "All right," agreed Emperor Yuansheng.

    We rode into the town and asked around if there were horses for sale. Simrly to the previous town, various vignt sects were in the town. The dreaded tension permeated in the town. Fortunately, nobody gave us any grief. I supposed the favour I asked for had worked its magic.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Relieved, I continued my search for horses until I suddenly heard thirty riders race up to our escort. I thought we were about to be robbed. The leader tugged on his reins and hostilely questioned, "Do you have a Young Master Zhong Ming with you?"

    ''Young Master Zhong Ming? Come on, man, what did you broadcast?!''

    Noticing the bow on his back, I wondered if overdid it.

    Notes:

    *Qihai - one of your acupuncture points simr to your dantian. It''s located below your belly button.

 Volume 7 43 A Favour

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 43 A Favour</h4>

    "May I ask if Young Master Zhong is in the carriage?"

    "I''m the coach right here," I wanted to answer but hesitated due to the look on his face.

    Tang Ye galloped over to me: "Big Bro, what happened?"

    I smacked my thigh: "You''re him!"

    Tang Ye: "?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "This is Young Master Zhong," I dered, pointing to Tang Ye: "Be it poison water or poison gas, give us what you got."

    Tang Ye: "¡­"

    The rider smiled: "We actually already knew you what you look like. Please do not hide from us, Young Master Zhong."

    Eh? The imperial court''s offices need to take tips from you! You already put out a wanted poster for me when I haven''t even done anything, yet? Wait, why are you asking me a question you already know the answer to? That was embarrassing! It''s all your fault for giving me the callous look, Tang Ye!

    "What happened, Young Master?" queried Emperor Yuansheng, rmed. He switched his tone when conversing with me to get into role in the presence of outsiders: "Did you not want to y coach for some fun? Why are we stopping? Who are they?"

    "I do not know myself," I answered. "I am Young Master Zhong, Zhong Ming. What do you want?"

    The rider respectfully put his palm and fist together before him: "We heard he was heading to Huzhou, and you were his vanguard. Would that be correct?"

    "He? Vanguard? Is that what the leader told them? It''s not a shabby idea, I suppose," I thought. I went with the tide and replied, "Correct. What do you want? Who are you, by the way?"

    He smiled cordially: "This humble one is a mere henchman here to deliver a gift from his master."

    "Your master? A gift?"

    "Hand them over!"manded the rider.

    The thirty equestrians behind the team leader dismounted and pulled their horses over to us. Next, they jogged back behind their leader and stood primly. The ck horses brimmed with vigour. They were as good as the horses we selected for the escort. Their fur was sparkling clean, cleaner than our steeds.

    Our escort couldn''t make sense of the situation. I ran my gaze over the steeds and the group. Voice soft, I expounded, "Jiangnan''s best equestrian group, Horse Divine Association. They were thest group we saw ride into the town the previous night. They are the only group capable of raising horses superior to the imperial court''s horses."

    ncing back and forth between the equestrians and horses, I disinterestedly inquired, "What is the meaning behind this?"

    The leader performed a hold-fist salute and proudly appealed, "Our master heard you were after horses. He humbly believed we have an eptable degree of knowledge and experience with horses, so he boldly asked this humble one to rmend you our horses. Please kindly ept our gift, Young Master Zhong."

    "I do need horses, indeed," Imented with a nod. "Pass on my thank you to your master, Ma Zhangbian."

    The leader reacted jubntly, while I remained indifferent and added, "I only need half of these horses, though. There''s no point in me taking extra horses."

    "Um, we¡­"

    I switched to using Voice Transmission: "Tell Ma Lianlong I ept the gift, but if he thinks nobody remembers what he''s done in the past and can sweep it under the rug, then that''s wishful thinking."

    Horse Divine Association once colluded with Beijiang''s horse business and smuggled Beijiang''s horses in to sell so that they could grow their business. Little did they know they weren''t trading with a horse business but horse thieves disguising themselves as legitimate businessmen. After the smuggling and the true identities of the thieves was exposed, I put Horse Divine Association out ofmission and spared Ma Zhangbian. Ever since then, he started doing business ethically and legally. However, during the two years I spent as a recluse, I heard he wanted to pursue crooked designs again. If I didn''t put him in his ce when he sent me gifts, how would I press charges against him down the road?

    "Understood. This humble one promises to deliver the message," solemnly promised the leader, before leaving with fifteen horses and his group.

    "Can you exin? Did they really gift us with horses?" inquired Emperor Yuansheng, skeptical.

    I touched my chin and broke it down for Emperor Yuansheng: "They are likely Zhong Hualiu''s brothels'' patrons and want to get into Zhong Hualiu''s good graces."

    I saw the leader of the group nearly fall off his horse when he overheard my oundish im.

    Though Emperor Yuansheng found my justification unconvincing, he brushed it off and prioritised Boss Shen''s rescue: "Since we have our steeds'' issue sorted out, let''s grab a meal in the town and be on our way."

    "I think this restaurant is dec(ent)-."

    "Is that Zhong n''s Young Master Zhong up ahead?" hollered a girl.

    "What now?" subtly grumbled Emperor Yuansheng.

    The group up ahead was a big one; they weren''t together. The big groupprised of over ten other teams numbering between twenty to thirty people. It was so packed owing to whatever their luggage was. We could smell food aromas from their carriages before they even reached us.

    The lissom girl who called out came over and told me, "Jiaxing Eight Drunk Deities would like to humbly offer you one red, one white, two steamed and boiled, four preserved and fresh fruits, and eight meats and vegetables. In addition, we would like to offer sixteen jugs of premium wine. We also have food and wine for your coaches. Please ept the humble gift, Young Master."

    "What even are those dishes?" questioned Su Xiao, poking his head out from the carriage before I could speak.

    The girl rified, "One red and one white means ginseng with red apricot and date tea as well as ginkgo and white dew nectar. They are best drank before a meal.

    Two steamed and boiled refers to Taihu''s three white types of seafood: silver fish, white fish and white prawn. They apany a flower pigeon.

    The four preserved and fresh fruits are prepared using the capital''s four traditional ingredients: winter snow, green plums, golden nectar, yanjin peach and snow melons. The four fruits are, as the name suggests, stringently selected pears from Beiping (Hebei Province), peaches from Shandong, pomegranate from Suzhou and Zengcheng''s lychees.

    Eight meats and vegetablesprise of delicacies onnd and in the sea. Bear hands, deer ears, rhinoceros'' horns, camel humps, fish fins, shark fins, fish lips and sea cucumber will apany eight different types of vegetables.

    Four jugs of winee from Luzhou Laojiao. Foure from Shandong Daqu. Eight jugs of Young Master Ming''s favourite, Shaoxing nu er hong wine, are also included. Would that be all right with you, Ma''am?"

    "I-I-I-I-I, Big Brother Ming¡­" The long exnation zapped Su Xiao''s brain silly. It was a miracle he could still enunciateplete words.

    I crossed my arms: "Are you sure that''s breakfast and not a banquet?"

    The girl chortled behind that: "Master said that, while the others would need to split the food, you would be able to finish it all."

    Hold up! I thought I said I''m Young Master Zhong, the vanguard! You think I''m going to share with Night Fortress'' Master Ming, don''t you?! You think I''m a glutton, do you?! Are you challenging me?!

    "Damn it, serve it all up!" I demanded.

    Before they were done, somebody else interjected: "Drunk Eight Deities know nothing but food. My master knows better than to provide just food."

    The chubby man adorned with gold and silver led a group of men and a carriage over. I passed a bowl and chopsticks set to Emperor Yuansheng before taking one for myself. I raised my chin. I warned the chubby midget: "Get to the point. Don''t interrupt my meal."

    "This humble onees from a wealthy family in Suzhou. We heard you were his rtive, so we wanted to offer you a present."

    The carriage his group pushed over glowed. There was ten trays'' worth of gold. There were three trays of gold jewels, three trays of gold leaves and four trays of gold ingots. There were also three containers of agate, jade, gold and silver jewellery.

    Grinning, the midget carried on: "Our master said you are a cultured man, so you would not like boring gold and silver. We heard you had your beautiful concubine with you. Therefore, we wanted to gift you what you need topliment her and have the full package."

    Su Xiao''s embarrassment burnt his face. I shoved a lychee in his mouth before he could blurt something uncalled for.

    "We heard you were wealthy and admired you, but you certainlyck ss," mocked a girl.

    "Who just insulted my Qian n?" fumed the chubby midget.

    The girls in their mid-teens dazzled everyone with her appearances and scents. They were attired in robes of various colours. Their youthful and energetic vibes had all the scumbags gawking at them. The thirty-six girls cleared a path. Their scents and luscious legs formed the mighty Soul-Stealing Formation. Perhaps they were chosen to test my resilience. I was fine, but our men''s defences sure crumbled fast. Thank heavens they weren''t guarding a city¡­

    I was good. I was too busy eating to check them out. Believe me. The food we ate thest two days was dreadful. You think I''d bother with them when I was finally bestowed a proper meal? Even Su Xiao was happy with my attitude. He gave me a heart with his hands and fed me a lychee. Tell you what: Su Xiao could be sensible at times.

    The leader of the girls reported, "The master of Hangzhou''s Tea Lake Teahouse sent us to keep youpany in case you were lonely on your journey and to look after you. All of us are virgin girls who admire your outstanding character, so we volunteered to join you. We do not mean to pressure you or impose our will upon you."

    Emperor Yuansheng stopped himself before he could ce the food in his mouth. He ignored the melon that slipped out of his chopsticks andined, "Young Ming, I think your background is bing a bit of an issue."

    Ye Luo: "Do all of them owe Zhong n money?"

    Du Gu mumbled, "Is he¡­ a supreme martial artist in the martial world?"

    I was the only speechless person.

    I only asked you to not give me grief. I never asked you to show me filial piety! Why are you giving me money and women without a heads up?!ong Zaitian ran his hand over his stubble: "Your Zhong n really does do big business. By the looks of it, half of Jiangnan must be your n''s brothels."

    ''Kill yourself, Long Zaitian!''

    Notes:

    *The "he/him" they mention in their speech (those giving ''gifts'') is left ambiguous, but they are referring to his identity as the master of Night Fortress.

 Volume 7 44 Refining Divine Convention

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 44 Refining Divine Convention</h4>

    Six years ago, I descended Mount Daluo after passing the test for Mount Daluo''s disciples. I was officially instated as the master of Night Fortress to take on my shifu''s mess, so I migrated to Night Net Mountain in Hangzhou. I stopped going around as Lord San Shen five years ago after the battle at Lawless Cliff and Divine Moon Cult vanished from the Central in. After I abandoned my Lord San Shen identity, I went about my days as Master Ming, master of Night Fortress, until I led retired to the bamboo forest for two years. I only understood why my shifu forced me to run Night Fortress when I retired.

    My shifu wanted me to have another perspective of seeing my identity rtive to the martial world. I already had two. I had the perspectives as the disciple of an orthodox sect and unorthodox sects'' affiliations. Thanks to the third view, I decided to forego the idea of orthodox and unorthodox, justice and evil. Instead, I adopted an approach that epted both and applied it to my administration strategy for Night Fortress.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Throughout the four years I headed Night Fortress'' operations, it flourished. We certainly had plenty of conflicts in Jiangnan''s martial world, but I would argue we resolved them eptably. I saw alternatives besides orthodox and unorthodox teams. Perhaps that was the answer I always sought to no avail.

    During Night Fortress'' expansion period, I couldn''t resist teaching some people a lesson, earning me the title "Jiangnan''s Face-pping King," but that is a story for another day¡­

    ========

    "Ladies and gentleman," I announced, after I finished breakfast. Standing on a horse carriage, I cleared my throat. Loudly and clearly, I expressed, "He appreciates the thought and is grateful so many friends still think of him after so many years. However, there is an urgent situation, so please do not hinder us."

    Emperor Yuansheng returned to the carriage after he had his fill. Whilst listening to me ther nonsense, he told Tang Ye, "Your big brother knows how to talk. He has expressed his intent without offending the customers. It seems Zhong Hualiu''s businesses will never underperform."

    Tang Ye: "¡­"

    Yes, everyone in the escort believed they were giving gifts out of respect for Zhong Hualiu.

    Why do you all buy into it so easily? I prepared dozens of other lies! What makes you all consider Jiangnan''s orthodox sects frequenting brothels normal?! Did brothels take over Jiangnan without me knowing?!

    "You''re all truly kind and generous, but please make way for this one and his group. Please let the others know this one appreciates the thought; however, this one cannot ept such valuable gifts. Please take them back with you."

    The people looked to each other. The maiden from Tea Lake Manor showed her business acumen, giving me a smile: "As that is the case, we would not dare to dy you or badger you with our humble goods. We shall take our leave now. Please remember, though, Tea Lake Manor''s master shall open the path ahead for you!"

    Tea Lake Manor took off first. It took a second for the others to realise she was a step ahead of them! They followed suit forthwith, announcing their affiliation and hurriedly going after Tea Lake Manor.

    I called out to the maiden who delivered our meal: "Lass, you stay."

    The maiden was the archetype of what girls from Jiangnan were, amiable and gentle. It left me scratching my head because Boss Shen was also from Jiangnan. Unlike the maiden, Boss Shen was aggressive and could whoop some behinds¡­

    The maiden nodded: "Understood."

    "What''s your name?"

    "My father''s surname is Lyu. My humble name is Yaoqin."

    "You''re Eight Drunk Deities'' Chun Yangzi''s daughter? That exins your sagacity and grace."yu Yaoqin pursed her lips into a smile.

    "What are you doing?" Emperor Yuansheng asked with a frown. He leaned in close to my back and asked, "It''s time to get going. Why are you flirting all of a sudden?"

    Voice muffled, I rhetorically asked, "Were you not wondering why so many people were going to Huzhou? Why not take the opportunity to find out?"

    "You have a point."

    I did run it through with Ling Xuan already, but I figured, the more information I had, the better. Secondly, we were handling a sensitive matter; it had an influence on Boss Shen''s rescue. The escort ventured one guess after another since running into the travelling crews. It was better for everyone to know what to expect at Huzhou. I specifically consulted Miss Lyu because she had the gift of the gab, which suggested she''d do a better job exining and it''d be easier to expound my reason for consulting her.

    "Miss Lyu, you must be heading in the same direction as us for you to be able to prepare the food for me. We are going to Huzhou to help a friend. May I ask why you are going there?"

    Though incredibly baffled at first, Lyu Yaoqing eventually jovially asked, "Is that a serious question? Are you not going to Luo Sword Manor?"

    "Of course we are," stated Emperor Yuansheng, exiting the carriage. "We are going to help a rtive who is in a pinch. It is quite befuddling to see so many people rushing to Huzhou so cautiously and stealthily. You just mentioned it is connected to Luo Sword Manor. Would you be able to borate?"yu Yaoqin looked to me for permission. I nodded: "Teacher Li is my senior. Feel free to speak without reserve."

    "Understood. It started three months ago. Three months ago, my father received an invitation from Luo Sword Manor. The invitation specifically invited Eight Drunk Deities to Huzhou''s Taihu''s Sword Ind to attend a meeting. The officialmencement would be at the beginning of thentern festival."

    Thentern festival was on 15th January, going by the lunar calendar, which was half a month away. By convention, they had to be there beforehand, which exined why they were already on their way to Taihu Sword Ind.yu Yaoqin continued, "They reminded us several times not to reveal the invitation to anyone else in the invitation, or Luo Sword Manor would pursue the matter with us. Though the invitation was written eloquently, it was stern at the same time. Given Luo Sword Manor''s influence in Jiangnan, my father could not possibly defy them. As such, we have lied low these past three months. After discussing it with my uncles and aunts, Eight Drunk Deities set out for Taihu Sword Ind."

    Emperor Yuansheng and I exchanged eye contact. Ling Xuan''s recount wasn''t as detailed since League of Assassins weren''t sent an invitation. Lyu Yaoqin''s in-depth recount filled in the holes for me. It also demonstrated another point, which was how influential Luo Sword Manor really was in Jiangnan. People from Jiangnan had trouble keeping secrets, yet none of them made a peep about it.

    "What is the meeting for?" queried Emperor Yuansheng.yu Yaoqin: "The meeting is called Refining Divine Convention."

    Notes:

    *Lyu Yaoqin - Her surname isn''t pronounced as "Loo" in American English. It''s pronounced "Loo" as in Australian English. It''s enunciated the same way as L¨¹ Bu (for those familiar with RoTK). In 2012, the Chinese government standardised its spelling so that L¨¹/lv is spelt Lyu due to confusion and mispronunciation. That¡¯s not how you would write it in pinyin, of course. It''s important to note that the stiption only applies to names.

 Volume 7 45 Sudden and Perplexing Situation

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 45 Sudden and Perplexing Situation</h4>

    "Refining Divine Convention?!" eximed Emperor Yuansheng, shuddering. "Please borate, Miss."

    "This is not a suitable ce to speak, pl-, ah!" Miss Lyu suddenly felt her legs give in and keeled over.ong Zaitian muttered, "Wow, His Majesty''s aura is just¡­ oof."

    "Miss Lyu!" I had another interpretation. I reached out to help Miss Lyu. Her hand was freezing.

    Emperor Yuansheng quickly caught on: "She''s been poisoned and fading rapidly! Call a doctor!"

    By the time the imperial doctor travelling with us came over with his medicine box, Lyu Yaoqin''s lips were pale. When the waiter at the restaurant we were near saw me holding her, he cried, "Murder! Murder!" and ran outside, continuing, "There''s a murderer! Report to the magistrate! Report to the magistrate!"

    I instantly suspected foul y, a trap. Long Zaitian asked, "What do you reckon, Ming?"

    "A waiter waiting by the side of the street to cry murder instead of doing his job, there''s not much room for imagination."ong Zaitian smirked: "Crying murder after seeing someone poisoned, he''s either been bribed or is incorrigibly messed up in the head."

    The doctor hurriedly took out silver needles and pricked four of Miss Lyu''s chest meridians: "May this old one please ask for an expert at internal styles'' meridian sealing? She needs your assistance. The poison is spreading rapidly. This old one cannot stop it spreading fast enough with acupuncture. We need an internal style expert to stop it spreading."

    Tie Hanyi: "I can help."

    The doctor shook his head: "Sorry. To rify, the poison is extremely potent, so we need a Just Realm internal style adept."

    Just Realm internal style adepts were a rare breed and advanced practitioner. They benefited from better health, allowing them to enjoy a longer lifespan, have a stronger immune defence system against poison and mria. Advance further and they would actually be invulnerable to a plethora of toxins and have hope of living to a hundred. Usually, only those who reached the peak of their style could reap the benefits; a patriarch wasn''t guaranteed to enjoy the same benefits. Tie Hanyi''s Iron Palm style was Gold Realm''s rigid style, which wasn''tpatible with Just Realm internal styles.

    Emperor Yuansheng rolled up his sleeves: "I am a Just Realm internal style user. I''ll do it."

    Dugu pulled Emperor Yuansheng over to the carriage and went down on his knee: "Master, the poison is too potent. Please reconsider interacting with it."

    "That is disgraceful! She was poisoned because she helped us."

    Bai Laimu and Ye Luo joined Du Gu: "Please keep the bigger picture in mind and reconsider it."

    Emperor Yuansheng''s Entourage''s primary mission was always to protect the monarch. If anything happened to the monarch in their presence, they would never live down the humiliation and regret. Knowing they were just opining out of loyalty, Emperor Yuansheng didn''t rebuke them. He exined, "Rise. I know what you''re concerned about, but I''m not that fragile at my level. Moreover, a man must not be a coward and be selfish."

    The three remained kneeling. Emperor Yuansheng sighed and prepared to proceed with his agenda until they heard the doctor remark, "Thank you for helping, Young Tang."

    "Don''t mention it."

    Emperor Yuansheng looked back at the trio. None of themprehended how Tang Ye also practiced Just Realm. They hurriedly went out to see how things were. Miss Lyu looked much better and was safe for the meantime.

    Owing to the urgency when it all came crashing down, I shouted, "Tang Ye, that''s your cue to perform. What are you standing there like a block of wood for?" I then grabbed his hand and sealed Miss Lyu''s meridians for her.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn''t believe Tang Ye was behind it: "Young Tang, you learn Just Realm styles? I have never seen you use it before."

    Emperor Yuansheng looked at Tang Ye. Tang Ye looked at me. I rified, "Ahem, Tang Ye told me someone special taught him his Great Elephant Invisible Sound Silent Sound Big Pearl Wrinkly Purple Xiantian Heaven Omnidirectional Six Extremities Immortal Skill, so he could not thoughtlessly use it."

    Su Xiao to himself: "Wow, Lord San Shen strikes again!"

    The doctor hurriedly started his acupuncture treatment in a panic. After, he wiped his perspiration and stated, "The poison is awfully potent, but thanks to Young Tang stopping its cirction, she will be fine for now."

    Emperor Yuansheng bristled: "Just who poisoned the innocent girl?"

    The waiter came back with a crowd from the street in tow. They surrounded us and pped their gums.

    Du Gu: "Master, there is something odd about this. We should leave this ce as soon as possible with Miss Lyu. We will have support in Canhu Town."

    Imented, "I doubt we''ll be able to leave so easily."

    "What happened? How are you? Miss Lyu?"

    The people with the waiter were the same people who left after giving us the gifts. Seeing Miss Lyu''s swollen face, the chubby midget cried, "She stayed to exchange a few words with young master. How did sh-."

    The midget didn''t dare to utter another word after ncing over to me. Fearful, he forced a smile: "She, umm, must have offended you, so she deserves to suffer, hehe. Hehe."

    "Nonsense! Young Master Zhong is not a petty man!" argued the manager from Tea Lake Manor.

    "What happened? I was told Young Master poisoned the youngdy from Lyu n,"mented Horse Divine Association''s rider.

    A tall andnky man yelled, "Hey, Fatty, Eight Drunk Divine'' owner and your master are friends. What are you doing? You too scared to say something? Tea Lake Manor, you''re from Hangzhou. You not going to speak up? You might be cowards, but I won''t stand for it! Nobody here from the pugilistic world can tolerate it!"

    Slowly but surely, they cast all of the me on me. I crossed my arms and chilled as I watched the skit. Nobody else in the escort responded, either. After the tant garbage, they stoppedmenting.

    The manager from Tea Lake Manor asked, "Young Master, how did Miss Lyu offend you so badly?"

    "Did I ever say she was Miss Lyu?" I rhetorically asked and stumped the manager. "You have my admiration. You came from how far away? Her face is this swollen, yet you could recognise her?"

    The chubby midget expounded, "We identified her by her clothing. She has always worn that robe. We could not have possibly identified her by her face."

    "Oh, her clothing?" I pinched my chin and tilted my head: "How did you know she was poisoned?"

    The cat caught the tongues of the four who used me of poisoning Miss Lyu. The manager forced a smile: "The town''s waiter imed so¡­"ong Zaitian suddenly jumped in: "You''re saying you heard him from a kilometre away? You must have magical ears."

    Thenky man who vehemently pushed the me on me sniggered: "The truth is right before our eyes. We didn''t make it up. Don''t turn around and use me!"

    I queried, "And what''s the truth?"

    "Look at Miss Lyu''s face. She''s already d-, eh?"

    Miss Lyu suddenly moaned and sat up from the carriage. There was no sign of her being poisoned whatsoever. The users rubbed their eyes. When I saw the crowding back, I pinched her foot and drained the poison from her, which was why there was no sign of her being poisoned.

    Miss Lyu yawned: "Oh, sorry, I identally fell asleep. Where was I now? Eh? Wh-Why is everyone back?"

    Someone from the usation party: "The waiter called us back. We didn''t know what happened, either."

    "But several people adamantly used me of poisoning you but are surprised you are fine. I''m also quite puzzled why someone would im you were poisoned when you are perfectly fine," I exined with a leisurely smile. "May I ask where and from whom the four of you learnt Miss Lyu was poisoned?"

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    All four were speechless. They exchanged eye contact. I caught a glimpse of the hostility that flitted across their faces. Thenky and tall man brayed, "What are you waiting f-?"

    "Tang Ye!" I summoned.

    Tang Ye thrust therge and heavy spear he kept for himself after our sh with Great Spear Sect. Tang Ye imbued the spear with his true qi and impaled thenky man through the chest, skewering him on the ground and leaving him with a critical injury.

    All hell broke loose. There were over two hundred men with the quartet. Though the men weren''t skilled, it was a riot in the small town. The people who came to send me gifts saw me in a pinch, so they drew their des and charged into the fray to help me.

    I hollered, "There are elderly, women and children here. Please ensure the safety of the defenceless townsfolk first. We will deal with the evildoers."

    "He''s right! Prioritise the people''s safety!" agreed Emperor Yuansheng.

    As soon as Emperor Yuansheng charged into the battlefield, at least another ten joined him. I chased after the manager from Tea Lake Manor who sped into an alley the second the fight broke out. As soon as I entered the narrow passage, I tripped him using a strand of celestial spider silk. Before he could get up again, I dashed over and picked him up with one hand. He was as light as a kid to me due his stature.

    "Pl-Please spare this humble one out of consideration of your friendship with my master."

    "Oh? You recognise me?"

 Volume 7 46 Refining Divine Convention (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 46 Refining Divine Convention (Part 1)</h4>

    The riot was quickly quelled. Thirty of Horse Divine Association''s agile members still weren''t able to hold a candle to one of the imperial court''s warriors. Our escort team''s pugilists were able to take one two men each. The chubby midget from Qian n and Tea Lake Manor brought over a lot of men, but Night Fortress'' surprises outnumbered them. There were fifteen to sixteen teams supporting Ming Feizhen. Each carriage transported, at the very least, thirty men. Furthermore, the midget and manager must''ve taken action of their own volition judging from the fact their subordinates were in the dark and had no desire to fight. As a consequence, the enemy forces weren''t able to coordinate a defence.

    Thenky adept didn''t have a lot of men, but they were a ruthless bunch. He waited for an opening to swing a broadsword at Lyu Yaoqin. Though the girl learnt martial arts, she never used it practically, resulting in her freezing up in a real fight.

    "Get lost!" Emperor Yuansheng brayed, palming the assant just moments before he was about to seed. Emperor Yuansheng sent him reeling over six metres and smashed the blood right out of him. Emperor Yuansheng then supported Miss Lyu and asked, "Are you all right, Miss Lyu?"

    "I¡­ I¡­"yu Yaoqin seldom interacted with males owing to her family background and upbringing. Her face and body were aze when she was suddenly leaning on a tough and handsome man. Emperor Yuansheng''s true qi augmented his masculinity to the point he charmed the maiden, but he was oblivious to the fact. He was lost in his old world, enjoying the thrill of a fight after so many years. He demonstrated exceptional proficiency of Six Harmonies Fist, amonly utilised style in the martial world. The fight also served to allow him to let off some steam.

    "Luo Sword Manor is the trigger in all of this. I must get to the bottom of it," decided Emperor Yuansheng, after he was done thrashing a few more men. "Long Zaitian, keep watch outside. I need to have a word with Miss Lyu in the carriage."

    "Yes Sir! You do what you have to. I will not let even a fly through!"

    Emperor Yuansheng dragged Miss Lyu into a carriage. Lyu Yaoqin''s heart beat faster and faster after hearing Long Zaitian''s response. In reality, Emperor Yuansheng never insinuated anything. Lyu Yaoqin didn''t know how to react. The carriage they climbed into was big enough for seven people and, therefore, spacious.

    Emperor Yuansheng released Lyu Yaoqin''s hand: "Please take a seat."yu Yaoqin felt strange when Emperor Yuansheng released her hand. Her father sent her on the delivery job in hopes she''d interact more with men as opposed to books, musical instruments and go pieces. If Ming Feizhen took a liking to her, he''d even celebrate. Lyu Yaoqin touched her hand, hoping Emperor Yuansheng would hold it again. She let her mind wander and imagined the appearance of her future husband, leading to her lust zing across her face. She couldn''tprehend why she suddenly imagined such bold ideas.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Miss?"

    "Eh? Oh, ah, yes, sorry." Lyu Yaoqin hurriedly sat down after snapping out of it.

    Emperor Yuansheng thought Lyu Yaoqin was still in shock after being caught in the crossfire: "Haha, worry not, Miss. With me here, nobody willy a finger on you."

    "Thank you, Sir¡­ May I ask for your name?"

    "Oh, my surname is Li. My first name is¡­"

    Emperor Yuansheng almost never used his first name since his coronation. Regardless, to avoid anybody who might remember it identifying him, he needed a new name. His title, "Yuansheng" kept smashing against his lips until he remembered the name Ming Feizhen gave him. He didn''t need to dere his name since asking an elder for their name was impolite. s, since he started answering, Lyu Yaoqin followed up with a smile: "Is¡­?"

    "Li, Li, Li¡­"

    "Li?"

    "¡­ Li Fangzhang."

    "Fangzhang?"yu Yaoqin giggled. Emperor Yuansheng cursed in his mind, "Look at the name you gave me, Ming Feizhen! Who uses ''abbot'' for a name?! If he didn''t mess with my head, I wouldn''t havee up with such a ridiculous name!"

    Unable to face Lyu Yaoqin alone with the name, he ordered, "Long Zaitian,e in!"ong Zaitian brushed aside the curtain door and smiled: "Are you already done, Master? That was fast. Do you still have it in you?"yu Yaoqin lowered her head. Emperor Yuansheng gave Long Zaitian a scowl: "Come in and listen to Miss Lyu exin Refining Divine Convention."ong Zaitian awkwardly sat on half of a cushion as he didn''t dare to sit as if he was Emperor Yuansheng''s equal. Emperor Yuansheng then cleared his throat: "Ignore him, Miss. I want to ask about Refining Divine Convention. Please share with us everything you know about it."

    "Well¡­"

    "Please do not worry, Miss! You can trust me."yu Yaoqing stared at Emperor Yuansheng. She took in a few deep breaths: "All right, Mr. Fangzhang!"

    Emperor Yuansheng''s expression looked as if someone hammered him in the face: "¡­ Can you please not mention my name¡­?"

    Sitting with only one butt cheek on the cushion and the other on thin air, Long Zaitian wore a stern and focused expression.yu Yaoqin didn''t hear Emperor Yuansheng''s utterance, unfortunately. She exined, "Mr. Fangzhang, it is as I said before. After my father received the invitation three months ago, he nned to go. The reason it is named Refining Divine Convention is bec-."

    "Because Luo Sword Manor has the longest history, so they treat the n as a mythical sword furnace - Refining Divine Cast, correct?"

    "You know about it, Mr. Fangzhang?"

    Every time "Fangzhang" was mentioned, Emperor Yuansheng felt an urge to hit something. Long Zaitian refrained frommenting; else, he''d burst out inughter if he opened his mouth.

    "I heard about it when I was younger. Refining Divine Cast''s me is capable of refining the entire length of the sword into an extraordinary weapon worthy of being called a divine item."

    "You are not old at all, Mr. Fangzhang. They mentioned in the invitation that they wanted to use the works umted over a decade to forge a rare and extraordinary weapon but are missing materials worthy of the weapon. They said it was impossible to find satisfactory material in nature."

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded: "Long Zaitian, do you know anything about it?"ong Zaitian cleared his throat: "ording to what I know, the body of a weapon can be nurtured from natural material, but the core must be forged in life and death battles of the swordsman. Luo Sword Manor is right, but how does it have to do with Refining Divine Convention?"

    "Luo Sword Manor has tried for many years but has been unable to produce the materials they need. Consequently, they reached out to others in the martial world. They offered topensate anyone who could find the mostpatible body and core."

    Emperor Yuansheng frowned: "How can someone help with that? A weapon''s core and body are the equivalent of the wielder and the weapon. It is not a question of quality; it is as absurd as asking to change one''s arms and legs."yu Yaoqin was reacted astounded: "You are very knowledgeable, Mr. Fangzhang. I do not know so much, but my father said something along those lines. Heughed and set the invitation aside. Besides the invitation, they sent us a metal sword yet to be unsheathed. The invitation apanying the sword stated it was a sword suited for my father as a gift from Luo Sword Manor. They imed it was only a mid-grade sword and toe to the convention if he wanted to see a true divine weapon."ong Zaitian crossed his arms: "They gifted a sword specifically for him? Colour me bewildered."

    A quality weapon didn''t automatically imply it was suitable for someone; it had to suit the wielder''s personal style, as well. For instance, the weight of the weapon and the wielder made drastic differences. Even if they utilised the same style, the sword would need to be different. Most established figures in the pugilistic world already had their own weapon that was usually as famous as they were. If Luo Sword Manor sent someone established a weapon and imed it was the best weapon for them, it would be arrogance at its finest.

    "My father''s renowned Thousand Yang Swordy is categorised as Jiaxing''s best swordy¡­"yu Yaoqin suddenly realised she was in the presence of two martial arts experts; the two could''ve misunderstood she was gloating. She made the additional exnation out of habit. Emperor Yuansheng noticed her embarrassment and suavely smiled: "Hero Chun Yangzi certainly is a heroic swordsman in Jiangnan worthy of being ranked in the top six there, so I would believe he is Jiaxing''s best."ong Zaitian thought to himself, "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s master, deputy master, our grandmander, Yan Shisan, Master Luo and Preceptor of State Lai. Hah, the top six spots are already taken!"

 Volume 7 47 Refining Divine Convention (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 47 Refining Divine Convention (Part 2)</h4>

    "You tter my father, Mr. Fangzhang." Lyu Yaoqin was overjoyed to hear Emperor Yuansheng praise her father, but she still smiled subtly with her lips pursed: "My father is an avid swordsman and, therefore, a fan of swords and swordys. That is the reason we have over a thousand swords in our sword warehouse arranged ording to the seven characters from Lu Dongbing''s poem "With One Sword, I Journey Ten Thousand Miles to Vanquish the Fallen." The swords used for the character "ten thousand" are considered the best-quality swords. The lowest quality swords are part of the "vanquish" character.

    My father spent two hours studying the bluesteel sword before telling me to grab him a sword from "west," which is one of the characters that make up the "fallen" part of the poem. When he struck them against each other, our sword snapped, yet the bluesteel sword was not even fazed. Vexed, my father tried again using a sword from "miles". Our sword snapped again. When he tried a sword from "ten thousand", the two generated sparks but did not snap. My father, therefore, decided he would show off his sword to Luo Sword Manor, lest thetter look down on him."

    Emperor Yuansheng could sympathise with Chun Yangzi, while Long Zaitian thought, "Chun Yangzi is an idiot. You''re given one sword, yet you snap five of your own?"

    "My father was happy with the sword until he recalled the de had not been sharpened. He summoned the best cksmith in the city to sharpen the bluesteel sword. I found the sharp and shiny de a disturbing sight to behold."

    Judging from Lyu Yaoqin lowering her head as she spoke, she must not have been a fan of des. Understandably, her father''s enthusiasm for swords worried her. Emperor Yuansheng felt sorry for her, while Long Zaitian found her sulking annoying.

    "What happened after?" asked Emperor Yuansheng.

    "My father tested the swords again. Our sword snapped. Thus, he tried experimented with all of our swords categorised with the "ten thousand" character. All of our swords snapped, yet the bluesteel sword did not even have a scratch. The only sword Father had yet to try was his personal Pure Yang Sword.

    Pure Yang Sword is our n''s heirloom and the sword Father wielded to establish himself. It was supposed to be passed down to my elder brother. s, Father''s pride would not let it go. My brothers and I knelt before him, imploring him to stop when he drew the sword. It was the first time I had seen Father look so bitter. He is an easy-going man who often says one should not overvalue prestige, yet he struggled to surrender that day¡­"

    Emperor Yuansheng mused, "If even Pure Yang Sword snapped, he would still be picky about what sword he gave away. No matter how generous he may be, he wouldn''t actually risk the sword. If he didn''t, he''d be admitting their sword was superior, though. Even if he stole one from them, it would be obvious he stole. What a strategy, forcing Jiaxing''s best swordsman into a corner with a single sword!"yu Yaoqin exhaled loudly: "Father could not bring himself to try it in the end. He read the invitation again. Besides explicating it was a present for him, they told him he could bring it to the convention if he pleased."

    Emperor Yuansheng: "Long-story short, Luo Sword Manor baited your father with a sword. Men and swords¡­ Luo Ming was an upright gentleman when he ran Luo Sword Manor. They were a disciplined n under his leadership, but this son of his is a tyrant and disregards the pugilistic world''s rules."ong Zaitian: "Indeed, indeed."yu Yaoqin raised her head: "What do you think we should do?"

    Emperor Yuansheng answered, "A martial artist must have the pride of a martial artist. He must not use another''s weapon no matter who it is for weapons are personal items. The best sword in the world is unlikely to be able to rece a sword one has adapted to since a young age, let alone a family heirloom."ong Zaitian: "Flip it, obviously."

    Emperor Yuansheng shot Long Zaitian a warning scowl, shutting his subject up.yu Yaoqin''s admiration for Emperor Yuansheng reached new heights. Quietly, she recounted, "That is what I told my father. Sadly, after he used the sword, it was as if he was possessed. He went into seclusion for a month with the new sword and came out looking pale¡­"ong Zaitian touched his chin: "The sword cucked him?"

    "Enough! Get out!" Emperor Yuansheng gave Long Zaitian the boot.

    Though he was irritated, Long Zaitian stayed by the carriage as a sentry and silently grumbled, "You were the one who told me to go in. Man, people these days prioritise girls over friends. The character for a pale face can also be written using the character for ''green''. Am I wrong? I''m not as pretty as her, but I''m cool, man. I have the smarts, too. I can tell with one nce that she''s a clingy girl. You chose the wrong person to chat with, Your Majesty."

    Emperor Yuansheng apologised, "My subordinate has a bit of a problem with his brain. Please do not mind him."yu Yaoqin giggled: "He is quite cute. Oh, where was I?"

    "You mentioned your father was cuck-, I meant, came out of seclusion with the sword."

    "Ah, yes." Lyu Yaoqin pped her hands and finally looked rxed as a maiden should. She continued, "After Father came out of seclusion, he looked horrible. He went to see my uncle and aunt from Drunk Eight Deities without saying anything to us. We only found out after he invited them to go to the convention with him. Father even asked other obscure ns and schools to join him. Surprisingly, they agreed to join him. All of Jiangnan''s sects, even others located outside of Jiangnan that possessed renowned weapons, were invited. The majority of them were also gifted personalised weapons and did not ask them to bring their personal weapons."

    "Ah, that is why they are going to Huzhou."yu Yaoqin nodded: "Luo Sword Manor was unable to forge the sword they wanted, so they reached out to other ns in the martial world. They are gathering all rare weapons and adepts topete so that they can forge the divine weapon they want. That is what Refining Divine Cast Convention is!"

    Notes:

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    *Poem - It''s not aligned in English. The first character in the poem is "ten thousand", and thest character is "cold". However, that wouldn''t make sense in English, so it had to be rearranged. This affects the entire order you see in English, unfortunately. Also, the character "cold" here does not mean "cold". It is a symbolic for the sword being unsheathed.

 Volume 7 48 Unexpected (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 48 Unexpected (Part 1)</h4>

    "Please spare this one out of consideration for our two factions'' friendship!"

    I refused to meet anyone besides leaders of major sects and factions since I didn''t want anybody to associate Night Fortress'' master with Lord San Shen. I assumed control of Night Fortress soon after Lord San Shen vanished, after all, so I needed to be cautious. I didn''t think the man before me would recognise me. I never intended to kill him, but I did choke him to threaten him. His skills were so abysmal that he couldn''t put up any resistance and trembled as if he''d snap. I questioned, "You recognise me?"

    "M-My surname is also Cha. My name is Cha Bao, Ch-Cha Hao''s younger brother."

    "You''re Tea Lake Manor''s second in charge? I have a hard time believing that." I clutched his throat harder. His tongue crept out and eyes started to roll back. I continued, "Cha Hao is a loyal and just man. Our people have always been on good terms, too. My third junior brother always buys his tea from you. Why would Cha Hao''s younger brother try to harm me?"

    "B-Because¡­"

    I loosened my grip enough for blood circte to his brain. Since that tampered with his mind temporarily, it was the perfect opportunity to interrogate him.

    "Speak!"

    Trembling, Cha Bao replied, "I epted three thousand silver taels to testify."

    "Tea Lake Manor is one of the wealthiest families in Hangzhou, yet you took a big risk just for three thousand silver taels?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "My brother is strict, wh-while I spend a lot. S-Since there were a lot of people in on it, I thought I would not have to do much, so¡­"

    "Great, another spendthrift young master character." I pointed: "Who poisoned the maiden?"

    "H-His surname is Wang. It was him who supplied the poison and poisoned her¡­"

    I shed my teeth sarcastically: "You three sure were helpful. You almost killed her just to malign me for some paltry cash. You''ve ruined your valiant n''s name."

    "Please spare me!"

    "Killing you wouldn''t even be considered punishment. I imagine your brother isn''t too far away. I''ll send him a letter, and he''ll deal with you." I let go and stomped on his chest. I authoritatively inquired, "Whomanded you?"

    "H-His surname is Wang. I have never met him before. He imed to be a wealthy businessman from the North. He was a generous spender, so I decided to befriend him. My brother informed me you were going to Huzhou yesterday and asked everyone to do a favour. My brother knew you would have someplications on your journey¡­"

    I had no idea they considered me a dead beat.

    "Lots of people caught wind of it and imed you must have spent all your money."

    Why do you all consider me broke?! I am broke! Are you going to donate or something?

    "My brother thought he would not need to offer you money if so many people were going to. That was why he asked me to gift you some beautiful women to keep yourpany. As for the others, they gifted you money, citing you would not have en-."

    "Get to the crux of it!" I stomped down, garnering a loud whimper: "I will don''t know who the man with the Wang surname is!"

    Why do you keep stressing I''m poor? You think you''re hot because you''re rich in Hangzhou? You were drooling over three thousand silver taels! Man, I don''t even get three thousand silver taels a month. Now I''m reminded of the hair dye I have to buy monthly. I only earn seventy taels a month, damn it! Now I''m annoyed.

    "I will talk! I will talk! He approached me as soon as I set out. With him was Horse Divine Association''s Ma Jun and Qian Baiwan n''s nephew. They suggested travelling with them since we were all going to see you. I deemed it a good idea. After a few drinksst night, he spilt the beans and offered me money to frame you. I was so startled. I mean, are you someone we could frame so easily?

    I repetitively refused him, but he argued, ''Heh, Master Ming is an exalted individual. He wouldn''t fuss over something so trivial. Please do not misunderstand this is some sort of sinister plot. I am not trying to malign him. I am trying to distract him and deter him from going to Huzhou. Why do you think Master Ming is going to Huzhou? It''s New Year. He must be going to Refining Divine Convention. You three and I know we would not have the fortune of obtaining the weapon produced. On a positive note, Master Luo said that, besides the ultimate weapon they intend to forge, they will forge another twelve quality weapons from the remaining materials and would share them with attendees.

    ''Let''s look at The Big Four cksmiths. Sky Pce''s reputation stinks to the high heavens, so you can never make a name for yourself even if you use one of their best weapons. Tang n''s secret weapons are self-exnatory. How many ns use secret weapons? Name a n that has managed to even exchange something for one of Tang n''s second-rate weapons. Clear Mirror Pce has been supplying the pugilistic world with weapons for years, so there''s nothing special about them. The only way you will stand out is if you have Luo Sword Manor''s weapons. If you could have one of their reputable weapons, your name would be ten times shinier.

    ''We now have an opportunity to obtain a reputable weapon. Luo Sword Manor has produced less than twelve weapons in recent years. There are no more than ten of them still remaining in the pugilistic world. They intend to make twelve in one go this time. Don''t pretend you''re not interested. Who doesn''t covet prestige? We now have a chance.''

    We all agreed with him."

    "He certainly has the gift of the gab. What else did he say?"

    "He then told us, ''Our aim in Huzhou this time is obvious. Of the countless groups in Jiangnan, nobody is really that much stronger than the other. For instance, Tea Lake Manor is one of Hangzhou''s most influential and no less of a force to be reckoned with than any other faction.''

    "He was right. We cannot match the strongest, but we could try our luck for the twelve weapons. So, we saw eye to eye."

    The man with the surname Wang sounded exasperated when he maligned me. I had the impression he refused to take the short end of the stick but deliberately cushioned it. I had to give it to him. He was able to sway with his delivery and content. Businessmen were bound to be liars. Based on that fact, I surmised even his surname was fake.

 Volume 7 49 Unexpected (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 49 Unexpected (Part 2)</h4>

    "The Wang fellow then sighed: ''Unfortunately, despite our united stance, we are mere decoration for others.''

    "So, I asked, ''What do you mean? The convention is a contest of skill. It does not get any fairer than winning through pure skill.''

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "He replied, ''Analyse it more thoroughly. Our chances are slim to begin with. Do you think we could win against the likes of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Wutong Jin Yuxuan or Wudang? No, right? Our chances have gone from slim to slimmer. And now, Night Fortress is also intending to take part. As Master Ming''s old friends, you would have heard of him if you have not met him. Is he a pushover? Remember when Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s master personally went and apologised to Master Ming after Master Ming beat the snot out of their young master? We thought there would be a war, but we were all wrong; he is more respected than the Emperor. If he was to participate, what chances do we have to speak off?''

    "I disputed, ''Even so, that is despicable. Moreover, if we were skilled enough to frame him, we would not be worried about him in the first ce.''

    "He argued, ''Brother Cha, think about this: even the likes of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is going to take a weapon and be out of there. They will be handing out twelve weapons in total. Remove them from the equation, and a few weapons will be left over. We are fish willing to bite the bait to make a name for ourselves. That being the case, what is the issue withpeting with each other? Master Ming, on the other hand, is a totally different beast. He asked his friends in the pugilistic world to do him a favour. Think about what he means by favour. What else could it be besides notpeting with him for a weapon?''

    "Qian n''s fatty said, ''If he was going to vie for any of the weapons, it would be thest one, the divine weapon. Hispetition is the Seven Champion White Princes, Wudang and all those heavyweights. What would he bother with us for?''

    "He imed, ''See? That shows how cunning he really is. Keep in mind he is so skilled that Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary bow to him. How, then, does it make any sense for him to as us to do him a favour? We''re side characterspared to the big names who are striving to find just an ounce of hope from the big factions. To decipher what he means, he means he will be taking the divine weapon and all twelve weapons!''

    "Horse Divine Association''s Ma Jun concurred, ''That¡­ certainly sounds like tyrannical Master Ming. I think you''re right.''

    "Qian Can''s fatty thundered, ''What an unreasonable tyrant!''

    "I asked, ''But there is no evidence to substantiate your im. We cannot be rash. Also, how are we going to frame him given his skills?''

    "''Where there''s a will, there''s a way, Brother Cha. Look at this. This is a special poison I bought off the ck market. Reduce it to powder then scatter it using your energy. In less than ten minutes after it makes contact with the victim''s skin¡­ We can then frame Young Master Zhong, forcing Master Ming to withdraw. He will definitely try to investigate why he was framed. It would take him two to three months before he finds out the poison came from Beijiang. It will be toote for him toe to the convention by then!''

    "The three of us debated it, but we were still afraid of you. We did not trust him, either. That was when he said, ''If you three still do not trust me, here. Please ept these silver taels. Consider it a token of our friendship. As for the n, we can wait and see if he will ept our gifts. I estimate around eighteen ns will try to ingratiate themselves with him. If he needs our help, he will like, at least, one group''s presents and ept them. If it fails¡­ you will know his intention is thetter. We can always strike then.''

    "We deemed it an appropriate approach and agreed. If you epted our gifts, the matter ended there. If you did not, we would enact the n. We were going to choose someone random, but the man decided Miss Lyu was the best target since she hails from a reputable n in the martial world."

    "You still went ahead with it after meeting me?"

    "My humble self has only seen you once when you met with my brother. I was not sure it was you. That was just a fluke, hehehe."

    I stomped on him again: "Clever, are you?!"

    I didn''t expect my broadcasted message to be misconstrued to that extent. I was positive many others were thinking the same thing as Cha Bao. It would exin why Miss Lyu was delighted upon learning I wasn''t going to Luo Sword Manor. The strange part was I couldn''t name many of my enemies in Jiangnan who were so cunning. He formted the entire scheme real quick.

    The sess rate of the n was decent. The mastermind just wasn''t aware Zhong n''s Young Master Ming was also Master Ming and wrongly assumed I couldn''t neutralise the poison. Piecing it together, the mastermind was unlikely somebody I knew. Else, they wouldn''t have assumed incorrectly.

    "You idiots were used¡­"

    "Ar-are you really not going to Luo Sword Manor?"

    "I didn''t receive an invitation. How would I go there? ughter my way in? Attendees need to bring their own famous weapon and invitation with them. You''ve been active in the pugilistic world for years. Whenever have you heard of me using weapons?"

    Cha Bao''s jaw dropped: "The scoundrel tricked me!"

    "You''re the scoundrel!" I booted Cha Bao in the face: "Miss Lyu is your n''s friend, yet you were willing to sacrifice her."

    "No, no, no, I would never dare tomit murder! The man said it was potent but would not kill her as long as we came back in time to help her."

    "That still makes you a scoundrel! A grown man poisoning an innocent girl for his own greed, you''re an embarrassment."

    Defeated, Cha Bao lowered his head.

    It wasn''t difficult to identify the man with the surname Wang. Beijiang was involved again. If I wasn''t wrong, the enemy was going to appear soon.

    "You lot came knocking on my door, so don''t me me for meeting you at the door with closed fists."

 Volume 7 50 Plum Blossom

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 50 Plum Blossom</h4>

    Clip! Snow plum blossom petals. The fragrant branches hit the ground, while the tree vibrated. The scene added an eloquent touch to the courtyard scenery.

    Martial artists from Beijiang liked sophora japonicas, while martial artists from Jiangnan liked plum blossoms. Plum blossoms were resilient against cold weather and exuded a more prominent scent after snowfall. They were a favourite among poets because theyplimented each other as per the saying, "Plum blossoms are the gentleman among flowers as the sword is among soldiers."

    Jiangnan citizens believed plum blossoms was a symbol of their cultured characters. It wasmon to see many swordsman growing plum blossoms in their courtyards. They were also pedantic about having artistic vases. Luo Sword Manor was the most enthusiastic n when it came to plum blossoms. They grew them anywhere they could and even proudly used a plum blossom petal as their n''s crest.

    A gardener was at work, trimming the plum blossoms as usual. There were unique patterns on the white petals. The unblemished white colour was an indication of the premium quality they were. An alternative name for them was snowkes reflecting water, which described the scene of residue snowkes reflecting clear water after winter.

    The gardener was meticulous, able to use a pair of small and thin clippers to boldly trim branches. He wasn''t quick, but he moved gracefully as would be befitting of the scenery and adding a tranquil vibe. It was highly doubtful anyone could tell the white petals were the same petals from yesterday. Anybody who recognised him would be startled to see him there because he shouldn''t have been there as if there was nothing that could trouble him no matter what the reason. Him trimming plum blossoms was an even more inconceivable sight because he was Beijiang''s Evil Spirits'' King of Bandits, Abels.

    Since he never ran into any teaus he couldn''t ovee when learning martial arts, Abels was said to be a master of eighteen arms of wushu, a sayingmonly used to refer to those who excelled at every style or weapon. Though it was an unverified rumour, his skills with the clippers were undeniable. The surprising part was clippers and plum blossoms didn''t fit his physique''s stereotype. His tall stature, bulky physique and the corns on his hands had people categorise him as a brawn head.

    Abels gradually slowed down as he went. Suddenly, he heard, "Reporting in!"

    The booming voice broke the peaceful atmosphere in the courtyard. A man knelt before Abels uponnding. The man was Mountain Monster''s deputy, gue Demon. Each of Abels'' four sub-leaders had their own deputy in addition subordinates who could be considered henchmen. Owing to Mountain Monster killing the most among the four, his subordinates were also cold-blooded killers. gue Demon inherited Mountain Monster''s bloodlust more notably than anyone else, which was why gue Demon was instated as thetter''s deputy.

    gue Demon strapped a bloody andrge ghost head broadsword to his back. He still had his bloodthirsty aura about him. By the time he looked up, the tranquil atmosphere had erased the bloody aura, startling him. If his aura was vanquished without his opponent even budging, he would be ttened in a fight. He said in his mind, "I can''t believe Master has found a way to suppress bloodlust with the scent of flowers. The flower scent is practically a weapon that defeats enemies without even fighting."

    It took a while for gue Demon to snap out of it. He lowered his head again and reported," Master, my leader has news from Changzhou."

    Abels continued pruning the trees as he mulled over something to himself, frowning and rxing alternatively as if he was visualising himself inbat with another adept. It took a while, but he eventually rxed and focused in on something. It looked as though the sunlight, his shadow, the plum blossoms, the clipper, wind and he entered a dimension together.

    gue Demon was sure Abels was before him, yet it appeared as if Abels wasn''t there. It was his first time witnessing Abels'' Ghost Deity Scripture in action. He, himself, deemed it impossible to even qualify to fight Abels, citing thetter could destroy his fighting spirit without even moving a finger.

    gue Demon patiently waited until he heard, "Did you know plum blossoms are considered the gentleman of flowers? Book of Changes consists of originating and prating, advantageous and firm. Those four traits also happen to be plum blossoms'' unique traits."

    gue Demon and books didn''t belong in the same sentence, so he had idea what those things meant or why Abels was suddenly an avid fan of barbaric southerners'' culture. Shaking his head, he replied, "I did not know."

    Abels, yearning gaze on the plum blossoms, continued, "Hengzhi, nted Shadow, Sunder and Proud Snow, the four swords Luo Sword Manor are proud of are impressive, indeed."

    gue Demon had no idea what a hengzhi, nted shadow or whatever was. What would a thief care for those terms for? He loudly responded, "If you like them, we can take them from Luo Sword Manor. They would not dare to oppose us. If they do, we can steal. With your skills, you could take them whenever you decide."

    "If they could be stolen, they would not be worth their reputation."

    "Why?"

    Abels chortled as he shook his head. As Abels'' image from gue Demon''s perspective improved, he saw the four sub-leaders in even better lights. After all, the fact that they could understand Abels was unfathomable to him.

    Mountain Monster and Feathered Serpent were the schemers in Evil Spirits, so they usually had a pulse on what Abels had in mind for the most part. Ox Demon was the only onebelled Demon Deity, their best vanguard. River Monster¡­ her status as Abels'' woman was an open secret. All that was left to do was for them to say their vows, and seal it under the nkets, and the entire group would celebrate. They had been eager to call her "Sister-in-Law" for a long time.

    Abels smiled when he noticed gue Demon spacing out: "Go on with your report."

    "Roger! Leader Mountain Master has arrived at Bishui Town in Changzhou. He is carrying out the n to force Night Fortress'' leader out of Jiangnan."

    "That''s worth discussing. Night Fortress'' master is rumoured to be an adept above many others. He hasn''t been ranked due to the scarce records of his fights, but there are a copious amount of rumours linked to him in Jiangnan. Tell Mountain Master to stay on his toes. Tell him to pull back and seek another opportunity if he fails after one attempt. Don''t be rash and sacrifice men. The most crucial task is to lure Night Fortress'' master away from Jiangnan so that he''s not in my way."

    "Master, is he that great?"

    The corner of Abels'' lips curled up ever so slightly. He ced the clipper down and answered, "I don''t know myself."

    "Huh?"

    "His rise in Jiangnan six years ago was a meteoric rise. There is nobody who even ims to be his match. The Seven Champion White Princes far-reaching power could influence Hangzhou, yet they allowed to him head it. Moreover, he was able to grow Night Fortress to the point that their name shines. It''s bizarre that there are no detailed records of any of his fights."

    "Forgive me for notprehending how that is of any concern."

    "I''ve never heard him lose." Abels began to stroll: "It is never easy to be invincible in the pugilistic world. I lost more fights than I could count when I was younger. Remember, underestimating your opponent is digging your own grave."

    gue Demon didn''t understand why Abels needed to be worried when he was so formidable. He suddenly suspected the internal injury Abels suffered in his sh with Shaolin''s monk was aggravating him again. Both of them coughed blood after they traded. Abels managed to withstand the pain for several days before he couldn''t take it, and his condition worsened. He surmised thest few days weren''t enough time for aplete recovery.

    "Tell Mountain Monster to be cautious if he''s going after him. What''s his n?"

    "He ns to¡­"

    After hearing the n, Abels frowned: "Making someone else the instrument certainly is his style. That n alone won''t be enough, though."

    "He has another n in addition to it."

    Abels felt relieved after hearing the second n: "Clever. He''s disguising himself again, isn''t he? What''s his new character?"

    "Yes, I heard he has disguised himself as a man with the surname ''Wang''."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 7 51 The People of the Central Plain Are Crazy (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 51 The People of the Central in Are Crazy (Part 1)</h4>

    The escort was at Bishui Town in Changzhou, the town that had been plunged intoplete chaos. Bishui Town was under Changzhou''s jurisdiction. Further southeast was Taihu''s coast. It would take one night of travelling around to reach Huzhou''s border. Shen Yiren went from Suzhou to Huzhou, which was the opposite direction, but it was more time efficient.

    The streets in Bishui Town were trashed, yet they were still fighting after an hour of fighting. The townsfolk were terrified and panic-stricken. It was two hundred and twenty-five men from Tea Lake Manor, Qian n and Horse Divine Association against Night Fortress'' allies which numbered roughly seven hundred men. The former team''s men were forced to fight a fight they didn''t even know the reason for.

    Since Night Fortress'' side had more adepts and the escort, it should''ve ended quickly. Sadly, the terrain made for a horrible battlefield. They weren''t on a t in, where they could spread their armies and fight. They wererge men trying to squeezing into a small town. Moreover, most of them were experts at street fighting. As soon as they lost, they''d make a dash.

    When hooligans fought, the loser would flee with the winner in pursuit across eight streets, at the very least. If the grudge was more serious, they''d chase them across half a city. Any stalls they toppled in their frenzy were just considered unlucky. When they bumped into people, they''d drop a quick apology. If they bumped into a maiden, they considered themselves lucky. Those situations were just part and parcel of gang fights. Worse, some of them weren''t skilled butpensated with tenacity. Their unbing fighting style led to them devastating the townsfolk''s homes.

    Since the trio''s team were weaker, had no desire to fight and leaders weren''t present, they only engaged briefly before fleeing. They weren''t formidable fighters, but they sure were formidable runners. Horse Divine Association''s members were the fastest runners; perhaps it had to do with them training horses. They went as far as rubbing oil on the bottom of their footwear to turn tight corners and slip into alleys. It was impossible for groups to squeeze into a single alley, after all. The sounds of their footsteps wereparable to annoying and booming drum beats. The town''syout wasn''tplex, and there were few dead ends, creating an endless game of tag.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Two hundred people couldn''t possibly defeat seven hundred people. With that said, seven hundred people couldn''t necessarily catch two hundred people. The two hundred weren''t unified, but neither was the seven hundred randomly pped together. The seven hundred even quarrelled amongst themselves every now and then, vying to impress Night Fortress.

    Jiangnan''s citizens weren''t used to n wars because the Seven Champion White Princes rarely allowed anybody to run amok in their territory. The odd small skirmish here and there was inevitable; however, they would be quashed before anyone tough to deal with could exacerbate the situation. It had been ten years since a riot of that scale was seen. All the cursing in the world wouldn''t have been able to stop the hooligans.

    Emperor Yuansheng and Miss Lyu were engaged in conversation in the carriage and were oblivious to the unpredicted turn of events. Dugu, Tang Ye, Tie Hanyi and Bai Laimu led a group of pugilists on a mission to evacuate the townsfolk. s, the groups fled into the alleys, leading to fights breaking out in alleys, as well. There was nothing they could do to keep every townsfolk safe from harm in a fight of that scale.

    Bai Laimu: "They''re running without even putting up a fight! How are we supposed to catch them? We''ll never catch them if we chase them down one by one."

    Tie Hanyi: "There are more than two hundred and twenty of them. There are too many from the same group, so I would assume they''re proficient atbined attacks. Those pointsbined with our numbers difference will make it impossible to catch them."

    Dugu sighed: "We had victory in the bag, yet we''re now stuck. It''s been one thing after another since entering this town. I''m starting to question if somebody set us up. If this was premeditated, we''re up against someone astute."

    Tie Hanyi wrinkled his nose: "Wait, are you suggesting we were set up this entire time?"

    "I don''t know, but I''ll argue it''s highly probable." Dugu casually expounded, "Look at their formation. It''s clear they know we''ll prioritise the citizens. Even if this isn''t a setup, it''s a tough pickle to get out of. One thing I can''t figure out is why they''re stalling. They can''t reserve the tables unless he has a backup n."

    "Let''s worry about that after we deal with these guys. Another house over there has been destroyed!" Bai Laimu pointed out.

    Dugu folded his arms: "We need a n to stop them."

    "Have you been listening? There are over two hundred of them!" thundered Bai Laimu. Suddenly, he had a spark of inspiration: "I almost forgot! There''s an internal style technique called Lion''s Roar in Buddhism. If someone with Just Realm energy uses it, they could incapacitate weak opponents!"

    Dugu was stunned for a second before he contended, "How advanced would their internal energy need to be to incapacitate over two hundred people. Plus, nobody here can use the technique. Think before you speak."

    "We can! We can!" retorted Bai Laimu. "We don''t know the mental cultivation, so we''ll have to turn down the intensity, but the strategy is sound. We just need someone with advanced Just Realm internal energy to roar and vo. We have someone who fits the bill, so why don''t we try?"

    Everyone turned their gazes to Tang Ye. Tang Ye, who was busy searching for someone, froze upon hearing Bai Laimu''s suggestion. Tang Ye was only one spear thrust away from pinning the tall andnky man with the surname Wang to the ground. To Tang Ye''s surprise, his opponent somehow slipped away and into the crowd. There wasn''t a single trace on him, and Tang Ye had been searching for the former ever since.

    Tang Ye didn''t know a thing about Just Realm styles. Thest time he used it was actually Ming Feizhen pulling strings behind the scenes.

    Bai Laimu: "It''s your turn to shine, Brother Tang."

    "¡­ Shut the hell up¡­"

    Bai Laimu: "Why did you cuss?"

    Tie Hanyi had interacted with Tang Ye more than the others. Therefore, he thought, "I think he once mentioned that he couldn''t use it mindlessly. I didn''t know he was the type to swear when pressured, though."

    Dugu calmlymented, "We don''t necessarily have to opt for that. They''re not after the townsfolk. They''re just weak and desperate. As long as the pursuers don''t pressure them, they''ll slow down. Let''s split up into two teams. We''ll go dissuade the pursuers and team up with a few people to apprehend Horse Divine Association and Qian n''s leaders. That''ll force them to listen to us."

    The n was easier said than done.

    Tang Ye and Tie Hanyi peered into the distance, where Su Xiao and Ye Luo, Team Brutal Beauties, trounced one after another. The two beauties were the only ones who relished the chaos. Su Xiao and Ye Luo didn''t have much say or fights to join on the journey owing to them being weaker than their allies. In fact, Young Master Ling didn''t even consider them worth his while. They, therefore, milked the opportunity to fight.

    Su Xiao was a peerless pugilist with Ancient Cold. Ming Feizhen did warn him not to use it due to it not being apt for his stature. By the same token, Ming Feizhen told him to keep it with him when travelling in the pugilistic world for safety reasons. Ming Feizhen told him to use the blunt side of Ancient Cold if his sword or fists didn''t cut it. Since he wasn''t a constable, he didn''t have his sword when on duty. He wasn''t proficient in hand to handbat, either. Hence, he had to rely on Ancient Cold, the de that frightened his foes.

    Ye Luo fired iron pills from her silver bow, taking out groups of five at once and staying ten knockouts ahead of Su Xiao.

    Tie Hanyi: "I don''t think we need to bother fighting. The two of them could probably finish everyone in two hours."

    Dugu grinned: "How would they chase down all the enemies? Well, I guess we can leave the chubby bloke to them. The four of us should go and stop the pursuers."

    As they headed off, they used signals to inform Ye Luo and Su Xiao of their n.

 Volume 7 52 The People of the Central Plain Are Crazy (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 52 The People of the Central in Are Crazy (Part 2)</h4>

    Sharing the same duty as Tie Hanyi, Dugu also embodied the former''s astute and calm traits, evident from the results quickly produced thanks to his strategy.

    The pursuers gradually gave up pursuit. The legs on the pursued eventually gave in. They weren''t adepts who could run for ages. Once the adrenaline wore off, they went limp on the ground.

    Ye Luo climbed to higher ground and scouted out the leaders using her keen sight. Su Xiao demonstrated the power of his immense luck, locating Ma Jun and Chubby Qian in no time. The two were too weak to avoid more than three of Ye Luo''s shots.

    Dugu brought the two leaders out to the za and announced the two leaders'' surrender, quickly quelling the riot. Horse Divine Association was a small group, but Tea Lake Manor and Qian n were recognisable factions in Jiangnan. As such, their subordinates were conscious of right and wrong. If they weren''t punched into stupidity, they probably wouldn''t even have fled. The two leaders had yet to exin what was going on, while the spark that triggered the fire was missing along with his dozen or so subordinates. Apparently, they ran helter skelter as soon as the riot broke out. Strangely, someone so tall andnky should''ve been easy to spot, yet there was no sign of him.

    The escort reported that peace had been restored. d to hear that, Emperor Yuansheng stated, "Let''s be on our way once Young Masteres back."

    Su Xiao: "Your M-, M-Master, Big Brother Ming had a pigeon deliver a notice, informing us he was going after the culprit behind the setup. He told us to go on ahead."

    "Oh?" The Emperor delightfully fiddled with his beard: "All right, then. He knows where we are heading, so let''s go."

    A big group was soon spotteding toward the town.

    In Dugu''s mind: "I thought they had another n. I wonder who it is this time."

    Emperor Yuansheng eximed, "Huh? Imperial troops?!"

    There were four teams. ording to the dynasty''sws, a town was only permitted to have one hundred imperial troops, which equated to one team. Four teams meant four hundred imperial troops were there.

    Imperial troops weren''t fearsome fighters as individuals. The four hundred troops might''ve struggled against Emperor Yuansheng''s group of thirty; there were roughly a thousand more pugilists in the town. Though those in the pugilistic world could brush off civil servants'' systems, assaulting imperial troops spelt serious trouble. Nobody in Jiangnan would dare to offend the imperial court. Picking a fight with the imperial court was picking a fight with Qilin Guards and the Seven Champion White Princes.

    "How dare you thugs vandalise my town?!" raged the bearded leader of the imperial troops.

    The leader was dressed in a civil official''s uniform, yet he carried a military official''s broadsword at his waist. That indicated he was a civil and military official. It wasn''t a strange status to hold in the imperial court since the majority of civil officials did value martial arts. However, seldom was there ever one so far away from the capital. That was mainly because the dynasty''s military gear was light and simple. The bearded official was part of them.

    There were only hundreds of troops within fifty kilometres of a county. Those troops rarely handled cases rted to bandits, faction wars or the martial world''s conflicts. They focused on serving the people. Thus, it would''ve been a waste to assign military officials to said areas.

    The official was leisurely treating his ears to music and rxing at his office when he was told over a thousand people were embroiled in a massive fight at Bishui Town, scaring him. He raced over to the town, not even sparing a moment to call for the city''s pugilists to apany him. If the riot got out of control in his territory, his boundless future would be cut short, hence the understandable concern.

    "You pieces of dung! Did your peaceful lives at home bore you?! Who''s in charge here?! Show yourself!"

    They didn''t want to fight with government officials, but the others were Night Fortress'' friends, so they took the initiative to own up to it.

    "Get lost! You think I would believe someone so stupid could be the mastermind?!"

    Noticing Emperor Yuansheng''s aura, the official went after him: "It was you, wasn''t it?! These thugs are your minions, aren''t they?!"

    Su Xiao, in a soft voice, expounded, "Sir, we j-."

    "Shut up! Was I speaking to you?! A girl should be at home being ady. How unbing for a maiden to be around these hooligans."

    Someone furtively watched the next round of chaos ensue. He was the one who concocted the big idea, and he was also the one who reported it to officials. Being the clever man he was, he made sure to study the Central in''s necessary knowledge. He knew Jiangnan as well as Beijiang''s martial world. Whether it was in the North or the Central ins, those in the pugilistic world refrained from affronting officials, except it was more serious in Jiangnan. He also researched the bearded official and learnt thetter was a tyrant within a radius of two kilometres. He bought his official rank and was brash, so he was the type to get into a tussle with everyone.

    The culprit thought to himself, "Night Fortress, see what the imperial court has to say before going to Huzhou, hahaha."

    The official red: "Who are you? Come down here, and answer me!"

    As the descendant of a reputable n, Lyu Yaoqin didn''t fear local military officials. Still, it was intimidating due to her young age. Emperor Huasheng, on the other hand, was unfazed. The maiden, therefore, shifted over to the Emperor. He narrowed his eyes, and a smile came to his lips: "That''s quite the tone you have there. So, what rank are you?"

    Emperor Yuansheng''s appearance, aura, behaviour andnguage were imposing enough to rustle the official. There was no way he could brush off the riot when the entire town bore witness to it. He was hoping to apprehend the culprit straight away to, at least, quickly settle the issue in time for his assessment. s, he was thrown off his game.

    "I¡­ I am Bishui Town, Qingshui, Liangshui and Kaishui''s county military official,pany officer and official in charge of this riot. Who are you? Why did you cause thismotion?"

    "Yeah? Given you are only apany officer at your age, you must not have done well in your end-of-year exam."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "H-How do you know?"

    Emperor Yuansheng grinned and shut his eyes.

    The culprit thought, "Who is he? He''s no simpleton by the looks of it. Few in the pugilistic would be unfazed when facing a government official."

    "Heh, I thought the grand general came or something," sneered Long Zaitian. "You are so amazing."

    The culprit thought, "Who is he now? Why are there so many big mouths in Night Fortress? They have no idea they are burying themselves."

    The others in the martial world, on the other hand, were thoroughly impressed with Night Fortress.

    "What was that, impudent peasant!"ong Zaitian smirked: "I would not be going along if it was not digging your hole a little deeper and wider for you."

    Angry that even a coach would pick a bone with him, the official fumed, "Watch your mouth! I am the official in ch-."

    "Yeah, whatever, piss off, you eye sore."

    The culprit''s eyes widened, thinking, "This ispletely unlike what I had in mind."

    The official flinched in response to Long Zaitian''s remark. On second thought, he figured Long Zaitian''s martial skills were his anchor, so he threatened, "You think I''m scared because you know how to fight? You know who my uncle is? He''s the Qilin Guard''s Rank Seven Warrior and one of theirpany officers!"

    The martial world''s groups certainly didn''t want a piece of the Qilin Guards. The culprit, meanwhile, smugly thought he had it in the bag. Of course, he checked the official''s family bakground beforehand, which was why he chose the official. Unexpectedly, Long Zaitian picked his nose: "Huh? Qilin Guards? Company officer? So what? You going to piss off or not?"

    Ye Luo finally lost it and giggled as she pointed at the official. Su Xiao joined her: "Ol'' Tie, want to beat a Qilin Guard? I can take on five. You can take six!"

    The culprit''s brain stuttered.

    "The thugs rioted and harmed the civilians, yet are refusing to admit to their crimes! Men, arrest them!"

    "You''re not arresting anybody."

    "Ah"ong Zaitian grabbed the official by the cor, popping eyes out of heads. At that point, people thought Long Zaitian wasn''t brave but had a death wish! Instead of releasing the official, Long Zaitian posed his other arm and said, "I gave you multiple chances to get lost. You had iting."ong Zaitian sent the official to the ground with four knuckles to thetter''s face and then added, "By the way, tell your Qilin Guard uncle toe see me. I need to have a word with him."

    In the culprit''s mind: "They''re crazy! They''re bloody crazy! The people in the Central ins are certifiably crazy!"

 Volume 7 53 Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen. My Surname is Wang.

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 53 Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen. My Surname is Wang.</h4>

    "After them! They won''t get away!" A man with arge broadsword belted to those behind him, in a flustered and exasperated tone. His friends were equally on fire.

    Everyone from the Central in but the three conspirators framing Night Fortress'' master put up a united front against the three groups.

    "You have no shame!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Exactly! We were supposed to show our friendship to Master Ming today. What if he misunderstands our kind intentions now?"

    "Given Tea Lake Manor''s influence and wealth, maybe they''re nning a coup to overthrow Night Fortress!"

    "Let''s teach the ignorant fools a lesson with our des!"

    The sky was seemingly painted with scarlet dots as the fight ensued. Howbeit, it wasn''t violent enough. There was shouting and burning urges to fight, but there was no stench of blood or sharp objects capable of puncturing a heart.

    "They ran into the alley! After them!"

    Patriarch Chen, patriarch of Big Broadsword n, suddenly stopped and widened his eyes at the sight of a child bolting out from the alley from an angle: "Where did the kide from?"

    The patriarch stopped, and let his brothers go ahead, while he went to the child: "Come here! I''ll take you home. It''s dangerous to be on the streets right now."

    The kid somehow ran faster and faster, forcing the patriarch to sprint full-pelt to catch the kid. When he caught the kid, he noticed himself panting. As a result, he suspected his martial prowess was regressing.

    "Don''t run around. It''s not safe out here. Tell me where your parents are. I''ll take you home."

    Minding children''s safety in the pugilistic world was apuded. To Patriarch Chen''s surprise, however, the child responded, "Indeed, it''s not safe."

    The kid''s deep, husky voice and the contents he spilt startled Patriarch Chen. That wasn''t the voice of a child; heck, it didn''t even sound human. Patriarch Chen couldn''t name what the voice resembled in the spur of the moment.

    When Patriarch Chen put all the feats the child demonstrated together, the former realised he had fallen for a trap. He tried to pull his hand back fast, but, as he was drawing it back, he saw a spurt of red liquid spray out. By the time he noticed, his wrist and arm had been amputated in an upward motion starting from his wrist.

    Aware he was in danger of meeting his demise, Patriarch Chen mustered every ounce of strength remaining in the tank to draw his big broadsword from his back with his left arm. The first taolu students of Big Broadsword Sect had to learn was the broadsword draw. As a man who had practiced it countless times, his draw was extremely fast, cutting off the kid before thetter could strike again.

    Once he put distance between them, Patriarch Chen questioned, "Who exactly are y-"

    Patriarch Chen went to adopt a stance that would allow him to react as fast as possible,pressing the springs in his knees. Strangely, his hips seemingly refused to move no matter how he tried. Suddenly, everything was a blur as he fell backward. Afternding, he saw a familiar pair of legs, clothing and exclusive secret weapon pouch. Excruciating pain shot from his lower body to his brain. There was no mistake he was looking at his lower body. His torso and lower body were in two separate ces.

    shing someone in half without killing them instantly, yet taking enough energy out of them so that they couldn''t cry out was the hallmark of an adept.

    The kid''s raspy voice akin to venom vited Patriarch Chen''s ears. His mind and body quickly shut down.

    "This is thest moment of your life. What have you recalled?"

    "My son¡­ Nong''er¡­ My Son¡­ My¡­"

    "Perfect. I''ll remember your wish. Nong''er, was it? I''ll kill him next, then."

    "¡­ You¡­ Son of a b-"

    Patriarch Chen couldn''t finish for the kid separated his head from his shoulders. The kid then picked up Patriarch Chen''s head and chased after the crowd. When he spotted the patriarch''s nsmen, he hurled the head into the crowd. Big Broadsword Sect''s members howled the sky down.

    He did it. He finally incited the desire to kill. How could chaos be chaos without ughter?

    I cheerfully and leisurely strolled to find my next target after I heard Big Broadsword Sect begin tearing into Tea Lake Manor''s members. Oh, I apologise. I forgot to introduce myself. The kid who ended Patriarch Chen was me. Due to upational reasons, my temporary surname is Wang.

 Volume 7 54 A Mountain Monster in the Far North

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 54 A Mountain Monster in the Far North</h4>

    Hello, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Mountain Monster, and I hail from Beijiang. Oi, you, don''t group me with bums from the impoverished countryside. We have a splendid city. You can call me Mount Monster-Chan. I think that''s Japanese. Well, it sounds simr to soy sauce in Chinese, but whatever, Sweeties.

    Height: Secret.

    Weapon: Secret.

    Crush: Also a secret.

    Real age: Uh, uh, that''s a secret, too.

    Current upation: A master thief and part-time assassin.

    Don''t look at me with those looks. We''re not petty thieves; we have taste, hehe. It''s not a bad job. It''s easy, and the work environment is rxing. I mean, people give us weird looks, but we have stable ie and get to travel. Don''t they say the best thing in life is working a job you love? Enjoyment is the number one factor for maintaining work motivation. That''s why I chose this job.

    What''s my hobby? Come on, that''s public knowledge. I''m an avid killer. Oooh, you''re making me blush. Killing with broadswords, spears, swords, halberds, poison, fire,va, schemes, contraptions, traps, when they''re standing, sitting, lying, awake, sleeping and anything else you can think of is pure greatness. I absolutely love that stuff. I''m shaking just thinking about it.

    The first time I killed someone was when I was eight. I''ll never forget that day. After being told to kill, I stabbed the child trafficker who attempted to sell me off. I plunged the knife for cuttingmb into his abdomen. I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head, throbbing as if it was drowning in blood. I couldn''t stop twisting and turning the knife around inside him, pulling it out and jamming it back in. I think I recall crying and drooling. What? Oh,e on, I was a kid. Give me a break. I think my snot flushed out, too (blushes). It was as if my entire body was leaking water. I remember barfing, and I recall resuming my shing and gashing until everything in sight was scarlet.

    I felt as if I died and came back to life over and over. I lost count of how many times I kept attacking him until I heard him mumble, "My mother is waiting for me back at home¡­ She¡­" I lost it and shed his throat open. Watching him take his final breath brought me back to life. Until then, I was a zombie aimlessly wandering through life. After I killed him, my world was decorated with roses and rainbows. I began to love life for the first time. You can''t kill if there''s no life in the first ce, right?

    My current job pays handsomely, is fun and I have talented people around me. Although I love it, I do have some gripes. Though my upation is a thief, I''ve never stolen anything. I''m not interested in gems, money or treasures, so why would I steal? Only Master steals. You shouldn''t use me of something I never did. That''s why it''s insulting whenever someone calls me a thief! Where is the justice?! How can people just frame me for something I never did? If only the bounty on my head wasn''t so close to Master''s, I''d report them all for defamation.

    One time, Master wanted to steal a broadsword that was called something something de. We stole it together - sessfully, of course. After we stole it, the government put it all on me. To hell with the toerags. I had never been so ticked off in my life. Another time, I didn''t even take anything - actually, I didn''t even touch it. During the entire operation to steal the broadsword, I didn''t even break aw. If you can name a morew-abiding citizen than me, you''re lying. I wield a broadsword. I love broadswords, but I honestly didn''t even touch the scabbard. All I did was sh and gash the people who tried to stop us! Yet, they still call me a thief.

    I don''t understand the people who call me Mountain Monster the Great Thief. Name one thing I ever stole from you. You can''t! Government, my nice foot. On second thought, maybe that''s why they''re so damn unreasonable. We poormoners can''t do anything but ept the hand fate deals us. It''s tragic, but the people are bullied no matter where they go.

    The imperial court in Beijiang also calls me Mountain Monster the Great Thief on my wanted posters. Sometimes, they write, "Mountain Monster, the Evil Killer." Thetter makes me feel better. I did kill, after all. I don''t mind being called a killer, but the "evil" part is uncalled for. It makes me sound as if I''m a bad guy. I''d prefer they called me, "Sweet Mountain Monster, the Killer".

    If you ask me, I''m doing them a favour. They couldn''t beat me, yet they want to kill my master? They''ll end up dead, anyway. Why not let me enjoy myself and not bother Master, right?

    Sweet Mountain Monster, the Killer, go! And¡­ chop! There goes a head.

    Oh, by the way, my favourite killing method is decapitation. I''m not a fan of long and tedious torture sessions. Moreover, my favourite moment is when their life ends. It''s the same as the moment a me is extinguished. In my opinion, the best magic trick that leaves me breathless without exception is watching a moving person turn into a corpse, a bright life turning into a cold corpse.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I heard monks in Beijiang say, "Death is akin to a light that goes out. The only way to join the sixth paths of reincarnation is to continue believing in Buddha. The dead can return to life." I didn''t understand that concept. A dead man is a dead man. Return to life? Bewildered, I queried them one by one. Sadly, they all gave me the same boring answer. Killing them was equally boring. Why? Because there''s nothing worse than killing someone indifferent to death. Killing them was as uneventful as their ascetic temple life. I didn''t get a thrill out of it. They were annoying as the big bell that perpetually rang.

    Fortunately, thest one waiting to die caved in. In his raspy voice, he cried the six paths of reincarnation was all a lie and told me not to believe it. "Thank heavens there''s finally someone honest," I ted shouted before I sent him on his way. When I saw his me go out, I finally realised I only got a thrill out of it if they wanted to live. I love nothing more than hearing my victim''s final wish to decide on my next target. Thest wish thates out of the mouth of a man about to die is always what''s most important to them.

    I developed a habit after hearing my first victim mention he missed his mother. I wanted to hear my victim''sst wish. Up until now, I''ve heard all sorts of wishes. Some ramble about themselves. Some curse. Some mention their family. Some voice wishes they couldn''t fulfil. I''ll take listening to them over anything. Those my victims missed must''ve missed others, was my reasoning. Someone yearning for another was bound to fear death.

    What do you think? Murder is one heck of an interesting pursuit, isn''t it?

    I''ve considered quitting as part of Evil Spirits to join League of Assassins. Surely they''d want me. I wouldn''t ask for money. Just give me someone to kill. If I could join them and train a group of expert killers, I''d be too excited to sleep at night! Yes, killing people is cannot-sleep-level exhrating!

    I don''t like our master much if I''m being honest. No, I don''t think poorly of him. Our temperaments click. We often dislike the same people, so I don''t have to hold back when I kill. We also share a lot ofmon traits, such as our love for weapons and alcohol. As you can see, we get along well. The thing I dislike most about him is it''s too hard to kill him. Don''t misunderstand I''m burning to kill him. After all, we''re colleagues, and he''s my superior. I wouldn''t do that, hehehe.

    One time, our master was so deep asleep I couldn''t wake him. I, therefore, went and purchased five hundred kilograms of ck power. I stored it all in his room and nned to light it up to wake him. I only remembered people saying it was lethal to do that after I lit it. My bad.

    Anyhow, I blew up the cave Master lived in. Meanwhile, I watched from the best seat in the distance andughed for a few minutes. Before I knew it, he was in front of me without any damage. I still don''t know if he was feigning to sleep or if he detected the threat and made a break long before I lit it up. Since Master was safe, I went to check on him, but he gave me severe wounds that kept me bed ridden for three months. Petty one, he is.

    By the time I returned to the street where the riot took ce, I could hear the deafening chaos. As I monitored my targets, my mouth went dry and heart throbbed. Before I knew it, I was salivating.

 Volume 7 55 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 55 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 1)</h4>

    Listen to the cries. Look at the sttering blood. Have a whiff of the smell of violence. Bones sent soaring through the air. Body parts smash into body parts loudly. Look at the two trying to cut each other. Hahaha, ecstatic, isn''t it? Ah, I want to get my hands dirty. I have this pesky mission, though.

    Master is worried the imperial court will send adepts out to apprehend us, but I think he''s more concerned than he needs to be. We''re specialists at hiding, and none of their adepts could defeat Master. He managed to survive an explosion; I''m not worried about him.

    I''ve killed a couple of people while scouting out the area over thest few days, but I haven''t seen anyone from the imperial court. Out of nowhere, Night Fortress'' master has started to be active again. I heard he''s a new force who''s part of some five pces or some sizzle. Whatever. He''s one of Jiangnan''s five youngest powerhouses besides the Seven Champion White Princes and the mightiest of the five. He''s capable of gaining support from orthodox and unorthodox sects, so I have to do something about him. I''ve only seen his subordinates, however.

    Over thest few days, I''ve found out a bit more about Night Fortress. Night Fortress'' master really is a mysterious man. Stories of hisbat prowess don''t match, and he reportedly uses a variety of styles. I was told the leader was a Young Master Ming with the surname Zhong. His real identity is supposed to be the son of Zhong Hualiu, owner of the Central in''s biggest brothel ring. Young Master Ming is also said to be a phnderer.

    Sometimes, I wonder if we chose the wrong side. I''m the orthodox one, right? Either way, we''re not pushovers. I wouldn''t need to hide here if they didn''t have a few skilled fighters. The guy who threw a damn spear at me scared my wit out of me without batting an eye. I know he could scorch me since I smelt the burning iron spear he threw at me. I''d have died a more brutal death than I dish out if I didn''t use my fake body. That''s why I have to refrain from killing, and wait for them to kill each other.

    Hehehe, ording to what I''ve learnt, Tea Lake Manor, Qian n and Horse Divine Association are the closest to Bishui Town. Blow this incident up enough, and they''ll catch wind of it. Once they show up and find two hundred of their men dead, tsk, tsk, it''ll be hailing blood, hahaha. I can''t wait.

    Wait, the riot is calming down for some reason.

    What the hell?! Why are they stopping?!

    I rushed over to see Zhong Ming''s men stopping the pursuers.

    What are you doing, you useless sacks of bones?! Why are you ruining all of my efforts! They framed Master Ming and framed Young Master Zhong! Why aren''t you killing them?!

    Smiling, Dugu appealed, "Please stop. This is a misunderstanding. We can talk this out. If we hurt each other, Jiangnan''s orthodox sects will all suffer. I beseech you to stop."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    How about you stop bullcrapping?! Don''t stop! Your patriarch just died! Avenge him! Are you all so scared of fighting?!

    "I inspected Patriarch Chen''s corpse and found the culprit used an extremely fast broadsword technique to kill him. As you can see, Tea Lake Manor, Hundred Thousand Qian Manor and Horse Divine Association don''t have anyone so skilled among their ranks. I am willing to bet none of the two hundred people present could defeat Patriarch Chen in a fight, let alone kill him. They are not the culprit. If you can trust me, I am willing to take responsibility for finding the culprit."

    Enhancing his voice using his internal energy, Dugu managed to extend the distance his voice travelled and convinced them to stop. He ran around the town and repeated himself. Thanks to several more internal style pugilists helping out, they were able to call a ceasefire after a few hours.

    Don''t flipping stop! Oh my god!! Why won''t these Central in-ers sh and gash each other?!Your balls shrunk?! Drats! Damn it! Damn it! I want to kill someone! Argh!

    Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths¡­

    Hehe, sorry about that, I almost ended up forgetting about the next phase of my n. Don''t underestimate my genius. I haven''t evenunched the climax.

    The rioters soon peacefully gathered at a za. Little did they know I already put my backup n into motion. I already had my subordinates report to the officials in the neighbouring town. From what I found out, officials have simr authority to officials in Beijiang. They take the same exam and will stop at nothing to pass. No incident would ever remove him from power in Jiangnan since it was so peaceful. However, an unresolved riot might threaten his rank. You think he would sit idly by with the looming threat?

    As expected, the official shut everyone up as soon as he arrived on the scene. I knew they wouldn''t dare to make a scene in an official''s presence. Strangely¡­ the handsome and imposing middle-aged man with Zhong Ming wasn''t intimidated whatsoever. There was also a bloke in his early thirties named Long Zaitian. He looks as ugly as diarrhoea, yet he was pushing the official around and told the official he''d speak to the official''s brother-inw any day. The nut case even bounced the official''s face off his fist, knocking thetter out cold.ong Zaitianughed: "Damn bugger thinks he''s a hot shot when his rank isn''t even worth mentioning. Master, I threw him into a building. The locals recognise him as an official, so they will not harm him. We should be on our way."

    The master replied, "There''s no rush. We went out of our way to stop, so let''s get to the bottom of this. Let''s find out why they framed us and poisoned Miss Lu."ong Zaitian: "Yes, Master! Hey, get over here¡­"

    H-Hold up. Hold the motherflipper up! What the hell is going on here?! They aren''t robbers, and there are so many of them. What gives him the audacity to beat an official? If we hit an official in Beijiang, we''d get on our horses and run for our lives right away. Why is their group standing around and making small chatter?! Why are they investigating this? I poisoned her to frame you, you clods! Be honest with me: are you lot bandits?

    "H-Howe my brother-inw is unconscious?!"

    A new group of a hundred or so guards came over. Every single one of them was clearly a pugilist. The leader came forward and brayed, "Who knocked my brother-inw out?!"

    The leader was the Rank Seven Qilin Guard the official mentioned.

    Ah, now I get it. He had the balls toe here because he called his brother-inw to back him up. Pussy. Well, I appreciate you being a pussy today, pussy.

    Hmm, if they dared to hit an official, I bet they''ll fight even a Qilin Guard. Unsurprisingly, Long Zaitian answered, "I put his lights out. You got a problem?"

    "You are asking for it!" The Qilin Guard scanned the group and settled on the middle-aged man. He blustered, "You look too cultured to be their leader. Who is your leader?"ong Zaitian chortled: "You think you''re qualified to know his name? Huh?"

    The middle-aged man stated, "Long Zaitian, don''t say pointless things. Since he is a Qilin Guard¡­"

    Hahaha, damn straight. Be scared, old man. The Qilin Guards really are something.

    I did my due diligence and researched the Qilin Guards. I learnt they have plenty of influence and would rather kill someone innocent than risk letting a suspect of an unorthodox sect go. We heard about that even in Beijiang. They''ve been ruling the martial world with an iron fist but have been fair with punishments and rewards.

    "So don''t fight," the middle-aged man finished. "Just let him be on his way."

    Huh? They brought a hundred men over, and you think you can just shoo them off?

    The Qilin Guard drew his broadsword and aimed it at Long Zaitian: "Enough with the nonsense! I must be too lenient with you criminals. Men, arrest them!"

    The people from the martial world tensed up. They were worried Night Fortress'' allies would be arrested, but they weren''t sure if they should help or not. If they helped the escort, the Qilin Guards would be on their tails. If they sat back and watched, they''d feel guilty.

    Hah, that''s exactly what I wanted. Fight. Fight! Fight! Kill each other. Finally. Wait, what now?ong Zaitian wrapped his arm around the Qilin Guard''s shoulder and whispered something. He then led the Qilin Guard into a house¡­

    Is he nning to bribe the Qilin Guard? Uncle Long Zaitian, do you think I''m ignorant just because I''m from Beijiang? You think I didn''t ount for that?''

    It''s impossible to bribe any of the three martial world''s offices in the Central in. The Emperor''s Entourage are a bunch of creeps who like to stick around to smell the mentally deficient Emperor, while the Qilin Guards are a bunch of morons who love to uphold justice. I love the Qilin Guards.

    I had to fight the Qilin Guards grandmander when I crossed the border. I can assure you that he''s a monster. He chased five hundred of us all by himself and almost killed us. If Master didn''t bring up the rear, he would''ve decimated our entire group. You know why I like the guy? His violent tendency is crazy. My bad, I digressed.

    Anyway, I chose the official with the big beard because of his Qilin Guard affiliation. Long Zaitian won''t be bribing anybody.

    I didn''t hear any fighting from the house. Soon, they came back out. I thought one of them killed the other in the house. Long Zaitian stepped out first. Behind him was the¡­ what the heck! The Qilin Guard is subservient to Long Zaitian?!

    The Qilin Guard said, "I apologise for not realising we are family."

    You''re a family? Your surname is also Long? What?! Wait. I can''t process this. Wait. Didn''t your brother-inw get hit?

    "No, no, please do not say that. It was not a misunderstanding. It was all his fault. He deserved the beating. I would have hit him if you did not. You did the right thing."ong Zaitian seemed as if he was the superior,ughing andmanded, "I like that you''re honest. Leave the horses for me, and you can head on back."ong Zaitian''s request was absurd, yet the Qilin Guardpany officer reacted as if he was rewarded gold. He pulled their horses over and even offered them his money; he looked as if he''d strip if he was asked.

    Where''s the fight? What happened to the fight? How did they resolve it with only words?! What the hell is with the people from the Central in?!

 Volume 7 56 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 56 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 2)</h4>

    I couldn''t fathom what I saw. How was I supposed to? H-howe the Qilin Guard''s aggression suddenly turned into fawning and pandering?! From experience, the Central ins was supposed to be a ce where an official merely one rank higher could crush those beneath him by a single rank - something along those lines. More importantly, people in the pugilistic world were supposed to fear officials. It didn''t make any sense. I guess he epted the bribe.

    This must be the political corruption spreading. Have the Qilin Guards changed? Curse them! I shouldn''t have believed all of the rumours in the pugilistic world. The people of the Central ins don''t have any principles. Upholders of justice, yeah right! I have a bridge to sell, then!

    I had a lot of things I wanted to rage about, but the impulse to kill kicked in.

    I want to go on a rampage! They''re not even that strong! Why won''t they fall for my traps?! I could skin every single one of you in the chaos! Hmm, what''s that smell? This is the smell of the subordinates I sent to report to the officials.

    The subordinates I sent had been with me for a long time. As you''d expect, they killed a lot. That was why the scent of blood was always on them. The original n was for the official with the beard to get into a physical altercation with the people. The Qilin Guard would then take them all out. I would then use the chaos as my cover to collect their heads. Night Fortress'' master would busy himself with investigating the case and stay out of Huzhou. It was a genius idea. Howbeit, my timing was off.

    The bearded official had no balls. The Qilin Guards epted a bribe. The oue was different to what I expected. It''s now the few of us against officials, a Qilin Guard, a thousand people from the pugilistic world and a dozen adepts I don''t recognise but surmised were linked to Night Fortress'' master. Drats, it was the equivalent of a rabbit trying to devour an elephant.

    I released a signal for my men to escape. They, too, noticed things were odd when they received the signal.

    The stoic young man by the carriage with the middle-aged man quietly said, "I smell blood," and he looked in the direction of my men. For crying out loud, I wonder if he was born in the year of the dog.

    Wait, my men!

    It was simple to find another group of men if this group died, but people in the Central in are weaklings. It would take ages to recruit an actually capable group.

    I wanted you to kill, not for over a thousand of you to demolish my subordinates! Have you no conscience?!

    Fortunately, the official and Qilin Guard didn''t hold equal rankings. The official was still out cold. The Qilin Guardpany officer was busy fawning over Long Zaitian as if thetter was his idol. My subordinates took the opportunity to run. However, the young man just had to mount a horse. Disying equestrian skillspared to my own, he galloped after my men.

    "Halt, you barbarians from Beijiang!"

    Are you flipping Yue Fei?!

    Du Gu and the others chased after my men. My men hurriedly stole horses to skedaddle. They weren''t bad equestrians, but neither was the group of adepts. All I could do was pray for the best¡­ On a positive note, their departure reduced the number of people around. If I''m to venture a guess, the stoic young man should be the strongest around. It would take him fifty moves to finish my men. In the meantime, hehehe¡­ nobody left could match me.

    I cautiously approached the group and pretended to trip. One of the youths quickly helped me up and asked, "What''s the matter, Kiddo?"

    What''s the matter? I''d like your head, please.

    I looked up at him, thinking, "Look at you. Are you in any position to call me a kid?"

    He looked quite handsome, but he also looked ignorant and childish. There was no need to guess. He was clearly an errand boy, yet he had the aura of a rich young master, the type that''s an eye sore.

    I want to barf! I want to kill this prick!

    "They''re scary¡­" I sulked in a child''s voice.

    "I''ll help you find your mother, okay? Ol'' Tie, this kid is shaken. I''m going to help him find his mother."

    Ol'' Tie nodded: "Laimu, don''t go too far. There''s something bizarre about all of this."

    "I know. I know. It''s not a big town, so I can''t go that far. I''ll be back once I drop him off."aimu unsuspectingly took me away. We crossed two alleys and reached a dark ce. He asked, "Does your mother live here? It doesn''t appear as though there are any resident homes here¡­"

    I crouched down and covered my face as I wept.

    "What''s the matter? Don''t be scared. I''ll help you find your m-"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Maybe he was more alert owing to the darkness, or maybe the sudden change to my aura activated his instincts. Either way, my first sh missed Laimu''s throat. When I shed, he raised his chin and drew his metal sabre from his waist. He then rotated using his legs, bringing his sabre along for the ride for a defence and counterattack in a single flow. That was something more advanced than Patriarch Chen could''ve performed. Immediately after, he flowered and came at me with an aggressive offence.

    I''m a broadsword specialist, yet I couldn''t overwhelm him, damn it! I extended an arm to block. I was faster and had more experience, but his style was weird. He stuck to my weapon with his. I couldn''t shake him off my de. I had never seen anything like it before.

    What do they teach young masters these days?!

    I summoned my internal energy to brute force my way through, driving him back somewhat with a whipping motion. Once we had some distance between us, I noticed his look of disbelief and befuddlement.

    "Wh-wh-Why did you attack me? Are you a bad guy?"

    His brain was as stupid as his face. It was hard to believe he was the same man who was able to control his output so well a second ago.

    "You only just realised, idiot?!"

    I thought he was feigning stupid. Angry, I assumed a double-handed style, increasing my output to the point that it was impossible for him to stick to my de again. From then on, I made quick work of him. Once I restrained him and dropped him on his bottom, I finally understood his style was incredibly clever. Instead of letting his mind process what happened and then countering, he trained himself to be able to react before his mind even processed it. I''ll admit I was impressed.

    "Don''t move. Don''t move."

    I choked his throat, dislocated his shoulder joints and sealed the blood meridians in his arms and legs. I never trusted meridian sealing techniques martial artists in the Central in promoted. The trope-worthy idea is basically useless. Every story where somebody seals meridians, it doesn''t matter how profound or strong the sealer is, the one sealed always gets away, while the sealer has to suck it up. That''s why I prefer sealing meridians where blood flows, instead. It''s awfully hard to undo it with internal energy. Yes, they''d end up crippled physically, mentally or die if their flow of blood is restricted for too long, but killing is my hobby, teehee.

    "Your skin is quite nice. You''re quite ugly, but you have the physique to learn martial arts. What style do you learn?"

    Notes:

    *Yue Fei was a Chinese military general, calligrapher, and poet who lived during the Southern Song dynasty. Arguably, his most notable battles were against Jin, hence the Beijiang association. He''s one of my favourite historical figures. His biography (the one Qian Cai wrote) might be a great read for anyone into ancient China''s history and wars. The wuxia novel "ËµÔÀÈ«´«" is not historical - it''s purely a romanticised version, if you can even call it that.

    **Bai Laimu''s style - Video Exnation below

    It''s impossible for the pursuer tond an attack using the limb he sticks to unless he can shake off the de-to-de or limb-to-limb contact. Alternatively, the opponent could outmanoeuvre Bai Laimu, gaining a position where they can attack him, for instance, an inside position. Trying to brute force only works if Bai Laimu''s ability to stick isn''t too developed.

    As Mountain Monster also pointed out, the style method allows him to react before his mind processes things. Experts at this could fight whilst holding a conversation and not even looking once they''re in contact. It''s why we often practice the sticking blindfolded. Of course, to actually do so effectively takes a lot of practice. It''s the reason Tai Chi and Wing Chun are rarely seen used inbat (besides being taught incorrectly) - it takes ages to be proficient atpared to boxing, not to say you''re a Mayweather after a few lessons, in my experience and observations.

 Volume 7 57 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 57 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 3)</h4>

    Laimu''s character wasn''t as weak as his appearance suggested. He refused to answer my questions. Instead, he tried to re me to death. If he thought that would leave me helpless, he was dead wrong. He just hadn''t seen my torture methods. He was lucky because¡­ I had something else to do.

    "Laimu, are you here?" Ol'' Tie hollered from outside.

    "Ol'' Tie, stop with the paranoia. There''s not a single soul in sight. Moreover, Laimu took a kid with him. You think a kid could beat him? Come on," appealed Long Zaitian.

    "The entire town is giving bad vibes. I wouldn''t trust an elder or kid any more than I trust an enemy in this situation. It was faint, but I heard the sound of people fighting with metal weapons. It just doesn''t sit right with me."

    "Great, still paranoid."

    The duo came across a tall and striking man who looked terrified. Long Zaitian inquired, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here? Why do you look so scared?"

    He replied, "I-I just saw a kid lead a young man here. The kid suddenly spoke in an adult voice and fought with the young man. They were super-human fast. I want to run, but my legs won''t move."ong Zaitian and Tie Hanyi regarded each other with a gander.ong Zaitian pointed out, "That doesn''t make sense. Laimu doesn''t have enough brains to suspect people. If the kid was adept, he would''ve finished Laimu with a single sneak attack."

    Tie Hanyi mumbled, "Laimu is Valley of Yearning''s direct disciple. He hasn''t mastered their skills, but he should be able to protect himself. He would be able to fight back even if someone tried to catch him off guard."

    Oho? He''s a descendant of the Seven Champion White Princes?

    I looked back to Laimu in the house through my peripherals. He had petrified written all of his face, putting a grin on my face.

    "This is an emergency. Where are they now?"

    "Ins-inside the house behind me. Be careful!" I stuttered.ong Zaitian and Tie Hanyi were anxious since there weren''t any fighting soundsing from the house. They raced inside to see Bai Laimu sitting on the ground with his limbs still intact. The two quickly scoured the house with their gazes. Once they confirmed nobody was around, they went to undo Bai Laimu''s seals. To their dismay, Bai Laimu didn''t have his meridians sealed.

    Bai Laimu widened his eyes as much as he could and tried to speak in a throat voice. Tie Hanyiforted him: "Don''t be scared. There are no more enemies around. I''ll take you back now. There must be a way to undo this weird seal on you."ong Zaitian, an interrogation specialist, checked Bai Laimu''s seals but didn''t find thetter''s speech meridian sealed. However, Bai Laimu''s jaw was dislocated, so Long Zaitian helped lock it back in ce. Bai Laimu frantically mouthed what he couldn''t voice. Tie Hanyi was able to lip read. Unfortunately, his anxiety made it harder. It took a while, but he eventually he figured out Bai Laimu was saying, "Behind you!"

    Tie Hanyi turned his head but was caught with eight shes, each sh urately delivered at his qi meridians, before he could react. He could no longer mould energy, meaning his hardening skill was rendered useless.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Bai Laimu mouthed: "I''ll teach you my broadsword style''s secret, but you have to let them go!"

    Oh, I loved the sight of Bai Laimu''s lips trembling and the fear brimming in his eyes. I heard what the two said to each other. I stealthily began my mental cultivation technique, transforming my body and shrouding myself in white fog.

    Bai Laimu''s gaze read: "What are you doing?"

    "Your allies will grow suspicious of the whether the child was an adept in disguise if you''re missing for too long. Under other circumstances, it would be a preposterous theory. However, they will suspect the child today. If the child is missing and someone looking totally different appears, what do you think?"

    Bai Laimu''s fear continued to amplify. I don''t know what he was so scared. It was just a transformation.

    As the fog dissipated, my longer limbs,rger bones and wider chest appeared. My size tore apart my clothes, revealing my muscr build. Once the fog clearedpletely, Bai Laimu and my marvellous self were the only ones in the house.

    Tie Hanyi was bewildered when I shed his qi meridians. I managed to cut Long Zaitian''s shoulders twice before he managed to evade my third sh. I intended to amputate Long Zaitian''s arms, but I had burnt through some of my energy after cutting Tie Hanyi, therefore failing topletely bring down his protective true qi.

    I hadmitted murder for years. What I trained most wasn''t my de-wielding skills but my eyes. I thoroughly analyse all of my opponents'' styles, mentality, strengths and weaknesses. Thinking you''re skilled enough to kill anyone without analysing their strength and weakness is called suicide. Master can kill whoever he wants, but how many people are in his league? Don''t even think about it.

    After analysing so many opponents, I unknowingly developed the habit of analysing every opponent. As my internal energy improved, my visual prowess developed until I could see the strengths and weaknesses of my target''s true qi if I tried.ong Zaitian''s arms were his strongest weapons. Hence, I aimed for his shoulders. The match''s results thereafter would be self-exnatory.

    "You people from the Central in think you''re better than those of us from Beijiang at one-on-one fights and strategizing. Wake up and learn that there is always someone better than you. You''ve never seen my disguise technique, Blood Fiend Silkworm Art, have you?"ong Zaitian brayed, "You expect us to know your voodoo tricks?"

    "Evil Spirits are masters at deceit and trickery. Is it my fault that you didn''t notice?" I think they figured out who I was. Their expressions were hrious. I teased, "Can''t argue when you''re inferior, can you? Can you?"

    As I did with Bai Laimu, I incapacitated them and locked them in a few chests I found in the abandoned building. I left a hole in Bai Laimu''s so that he could breathe. As for the other two, if they died, they died.

    I peered outside the window and saw two pretty girlsing over, albeit being several streets away. I remembered seeing them with Young Master Zhong. They didn''t look as though they were up to something, nheless. I didn''t ask for freebies, but could I say no if they were given to me?

    "You two are next, hehehe."

 Volume 7 58 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 58 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 4)</h4>

    The shorter girl looked eighteen. She carried arge and uniquely-designed bow on her back. She could likely have bludgeoned men that grown men couldn''t.

    "Xiaoxiao, those techniques were really sound. I saw you sh, like this and this. It looked as if you were chopping vegetables. You had me spinning. Last time we sparred, I said your skills werecking and wouldn''t survive ten exchanges against me, yet ended up losing to you in a silly way. Your skills have improved by leaps and bounds again. I think I won''t be able to beat you soon."

    "You''re exaggerating."

    The other maiden had the makings of a beauty but shouldn''t have been associated with martial arts. I could seemingly see her supple skin and slender body underneath her warrior robe. She wore a male ck robe over the top of her warrior robe.

    "I haven''t been training this month. I''ve had a mountain of work, patrol and work at Teacher Leng''s ce. I haven''t had proper meals, either. All I''ve done is kept up with meditation Big Brother Ming taught me, allowing me to refresh my mind rather quickly. The breathing method he taught me also dys fatigue."

    It was irritating to wait for the two maidens who kept yapping and yapping. I had to be patient, however, because there were two of them.

    Smiling, Ye Luo expressed, "Really? Mingy looks as though he''s tacky, but I guess he doese from a reputable school and knows lots of misceneous skills. He might''ve taught you qigong to get stronger."

    "Yeah, he usually doesn''t train, and his skills are crap, but he''s really strong. I saw him carry five jugs of wine on his left hand, another five on his right, a duck in his mouth and hang roast pork from his neck whilst running stupidly fast from the storage room manager. I think he attained his strength from the same type of qigong."

    Ye Luo giggled: "Yep, I bet you two are learning the same thing. Usually, brothers or fathers pass on martial arts if not mentors, but there are cases of husband and wife teaching each other. Plus, it''s only fair."

    Su Xiao''s face glowed red: "Wh-what are you talking about?! Husband and wife?!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Wow, Xiaoxiao is going to deny it straight after marrying him?"

    Su Xiao had no argument - not to mention his embarrassment fried his brain.

    She''s Young Master Ming''s wife?! What a lucky man! Shoot! Drats! Die lucky men!

    "Who''s there?!"

    Ye Luo suddenly trained her sharp gaze in my direction from two streets away. Both of us were aware our eyes met.

    Crap!

    I identally leaked my bloodlust while I was cursing. The maiden looked obtuse, but she was sharp. Her enhanced vision was attributed to her archery skills. I knew she had a pair of good eyes since I learnt visual prowess skills.

    I immediately tried to move. s, an arrow cut my path off. The hail of arrows that punctured the wooden boardnded in close proximity, demonstrating the archer''s fantastic eye sight and aim. Arguably, her archery skills surpassed mine despite me growing up in Beijiang.

    "Why did you suddenly shoot at him?" questioned Su Xiao, shocked.

    "He''s fishy! I sensed intense bloodlust from him a second ago. Nobody would have that much bloodlust if they weren''t a mass murderer."

    Su Xiao fixed his gaze in my direction and touched his chin: "Isn''t that where Ol'' Tie and the others went? They should''ve been back already."

    Damn it! I thought she was the stupid type, but she does have two brain cells to rub together.

    Ye Luo smiled: "Teacher Leng has been developing your mind, I see."

    Su Xiao stuck his tongue out: "Teacher Leng is very demanding. He won''t let you sleep until you get to the bottom of cases. Every case took painstaking efforts."

    The two came my way as they conversed. I doubted they were anywhere near as tough as the two I left inside. I was confident that I could take their heads within twenty moves if we were both armed. The problem was one of them was a long-range monster, while the other one was a close-quarters fighter. They could''ve stalled me if they wanted. Even if I could take out the one with the sabre, there was no guarantee I could catch the archer if she fled. If she managed to escape, I would be exposed, and my ns would be doomed. Hence, I bolted after turning around and jumping.

    Ye Luo couldn''t catch up to me, but she could shoot me from far away. Su Xiao, on the other hand, chased after me. It took a while for me to realise Ye Luo''s fatigue pulled her hind leg, so she was unable to pursue whilst shooting. Meanwhile, Su Xiao was only ten metres away from me.

    I didn''t expect the younger one to be even better than her senior. She didn''t look tired; her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. The qingong she learnt had to be from an internal style practitioner who used movement as the basis of their internal strength. Running trained their internal energy, so long runs turned into training sessions.

    I could''ve shaken them off if I ran full pelt. I still hadn''t learnt Yearning Broadsword Style from Bai Laimu, nevertheless. I leapt into a residential home and began to transform again. I changed my mask and hid under a bed, hands to my head, as soon as I heard Su Xiao at the door.

    Su Xiao called out from outside and broke in when he didn''t receive a response. Ye Luo also arrived at the same time.

    "He went in here. I checked the ce he entered through, but he wasn''t there, so he must''ve entered another room."

    "I''ll back you up from outside. Sound out if you need backup."

    "Got it!"

    Su Xiao raided the house and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you setting us up? You colluded with them, didn''t you?"

    She had more than two brain cells!

    Su Xiao checked the room. Suddenly, she nced to the bottom of the bed. I was expecting her to lift the bed and check. To the contrary, she put a string of silver taels on the table. Then, she drew her scary de and swung at the bloody bed!

 Volume 7 59 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 59 Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 5)</h4>

    "What''s the matter? Did you find anything? Ew, what''s that?" inquired Ye Luo.

    Su Xiao exited the house, hand running back and forth on his head: "Strange. He''s not in there. I searched every nook and cranny. I even checked the odd spot but didn''t find the man who framed us. I only found her."

    Su Xiao pulled me over.

    "A girl? I thought she was a boy when she had her head down."

    "Yeah, she was hiding in the house. She told me that her dad went to see what happened. She hid under her bed after hearing someone break through the window. I, uh, found her under the bed after quite the search."

    I was going to speak my mind, but Su Xiao turned to me: "Right?!"

    I nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, yes."

    Ye Luo: "He must''ve escaped. There''s no need for us to give chase. We can''t stick to the same approach for eternity if we want to catch him. Let''s think of something else."

    The reason my face was ashen as I followed behind the duo was because I didn''t even have the chance to make sense of what happened. Thence, I couldn''t tell if Su Xiao saw through me. I was going to move my head up to the bed to listen to what she was waiting for when I felt a chilly and thin breeze graze my nose. By the time I had a proper view, the de was already several centimetres deep in the ground.

    I heard Su Xiao swinging and shouting the style - I think. I heard, "Sl-Sleeve Ripper!" I don''t know how in the world she managed to pronounce Wind and Cloud Splitter as Sleeve Ripper. Her swing looked weak, so I guess it would''ve only been enough to cut a sleeve. I guess that''s where she got the naming from. Anyhow, contrary to how it looked, her breathing and swing were a perfect symphony. She split the bed in four! To be frank, I didn''t expect to escape the same fate as the bed frame. Would anyone expect to?!

    Anyway, she went berserk again. I hurriedly moulded energy to change my appearance since I was in my long-legged andnky form, but the crazy slut was so fast. She shed eight times by the time I went through three appearances. She chopped all the fake flesh, forcing me to abandon the fake flesh collection I had. When she finally decided to lift the bed and check under it, all that was left was me and my terrified expression.

    I had to take several deep breaths to calm down. It''s never easy to go back to normal after a close call with death. Sure, I like killing people, but I don''t like being killed. Getting killed for the sake of a kill is another story. Getting killed when you take cover under a bed or something simr is just dying for no reason! Wretched motherflipping, motherflipped piece of dung! I swear I''ll even the score! I''ll mess the wench up! I was just biding my time. It was simple to kill the wenches in my new form.

    Smiling, Ye Luo assured, "Missy, don''t worry. We''ll take you to your parents now."

    See? People seldom keep their guard up against me for long because my appearance is forever changing. I have all sorts of methods for approaching my target to kill using the quickest and most ruthless methods.

    "I feel a little light headed." I pinched my throat and, in a throat voice, borated, "I was so scared back there."

    I used the puppy-eyes tactic, but the wench, Su Xiao, looked away¡­ook at me! What are you looking away for?! Is your conscience bothering you?!

    "Su Xiao, what''s the matter? Why won''t you look at her?"

    "I¡­ I¡­" Su Xiao covered her red face: "I thought the enemy was hiding underneath the bed, so I started swinging at the bed without checking first. I almost ended up hurting her."

    You did get me! You got me lots of times! I would''ve died five times if I didn''t transform in time!

    "It''s okay. It''s okay. I''m just still nervous," I appealed, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Could you help me over to the alley over there so that I can catch my breath?"

    I virtually never used the young girl disguise. It was the ace up my sleeve when I needed ast resort. Who in their right mind would throw away all of the flesh essence they tirelessly collected and be a little girl?! On the bright side, I don''t recall ever failing when I used this form. Look no further. I just yed the innocent kid to catch a bunch of young men. Once the female heroes drop their guard, they were next. You think I called it my ace for no reason?

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Miss, I feel so dizzy. Please help me," I pitifully bemoaned.

    Su Xiao gave me a response I never would''ve conceived: "Call me ''brother''! I''m a male!"

    ¡­ The hell are you on about, wench?

    Su Xiao sternly admonished, "Hmph, don''t go picking up bad habits at such a young age. Who told you I''m a girl?!"

    The wench knocked me on my head with her scabbard. I don''t know if she was strong or just livid, but it hurt!

    "Why did you hit me, Miss¡­?"

    Su Xiao scrunched her face up: "It''s ''brother''!"

    What has happened to this world? Am I ignorant about something?

    "Xiaoxiao, don''t be mean. You''ll scare her. She doesn''t know your mantra. Be understanding. Otherwise, you''re just unreasonable."

    How should I feel if a woman who tried to kill me saves me? Wench, I''ll have you know I''m bristling with anger!

    The two led me into the crowd where there were civilians and officials.

    "I don''t think we''ll be able to find her parents in this crowd."

    Su Xiao looked at me unapologetically and muttered, "Why¡­ are you so dirty?"

    I''m keeping record of every offence. I''ll make sure you pay for them all! Don''t touch me, wench! Get your dirty hands off me!

    I stared the life out of the crazy wench, but she ignored me and lifted me straight up: "You''re no longer a kid. Learn to stay clean. Let''s go find somewhere brighter to wash the filth off you."

    Filth? You referring to¡­ the flesh essence you hacked before?! Cursed Wench, it''s all your handiwork! That was two months'' of work! You want me to wash with you?!

    I tried to break free of Su Xiao''s hold, but she ced me down and stood akimbo: "Girls shouldn''t be so stubborn! If you don''t listen, I''ll spank you each time you''re defiant. I''ll spank you once for the first time, twice for the second time and three times for the third time. I''ve been overlooking it, but you owe me five."

    Is your brain dead?! Once for the first time, twice for the second time and three times for the third time is already six, you dimwit! How the hell did you get five?! Did you learn maths from a dog?!

    "I just hit you with my scabbard not long ago. Have you not learnt your lesson?!" righteously eximed Su Xiao.

    I''ve had enough. I''ll end you right now!

    I had to off the crazy wench! She was an insult to women!

    I drew a de to my right hand. My weapons were two soft and thin metal des that could be attached to skin. That''s how I stored them in my sleeve. When using other flesh bodies, I''d conceal them in the flesh itself. Hence, they also acted as shields against des. When I wielded them directly off my skin, I was able to attack more than twice as fast. Bai Laimu could try again, and I''d still end him in one sh.

    Die, wench!

    I reflected the sunlight off my thin de, blinding the two girls. Ye Luo''s visual prowess backfired on her, as it intensified the sensation. I hurled my de straight at Su Xiao''s neck, but I heard a faint sound. I think my de hit something. Howbeit, I couldn''t determine what the material was; it wasn''t metal or iron for sure. My de vanished with a trace after it made contact.

    Su Xiao, recovering his vision first, asked, "What just happened?"

    "I don''t know. I think the sunlight reflected off something."

    The two were visibly more vignt. I, ordingly, raised my guard. The true adepts had left the town. Even the Qilin Guards and troops were departing. I didn''t think there''d be anybody skilled left. I had to hide my weapons since there were so many people around.

    I put more than eighty percent of my maximum power behind the attack - not to mention the inherent solidity of the des. The best of the best in the pugilistic world should''ve died even if they shielded themselves with their energy. Evading it? That''d require a miracle.

    Whoever thwarted my attack didn''t use immense true qi or a strong deflect. It was a simple deflect using a weapon. The subtle difference was that I couldn''t see the weapon. I neither knew who was behind it or how they executed it. I couldn''t see anyone resembling an adept. I could confidently say there was nobody in disguise. Masks and whatnot were pitiful disguises; I was a professional at disguise, after all. I was left wondering where the individual was hiding.

    "There are too people many here," expressed Ye Luo. "Take him to Dugu. We''ll decide what to do next after we find her mother."

    Following behind Ye Luo, I struck again when she wasn''t paying attention. Again. I heard the same sound again despite meunching my attack without giving it away beforehand.

    Who is it?! You''ve clearly seen through my disguise and are capable enough to protect my targets the same instant I strike. You think you can kill my momentum just because you''re hiding? Hiding in crowds and waiting for the opportunity to strike is my exclusive trick. I''ll show you, you pest!

    I brought out two thin desparable to thin whips. Weaklings and ignorant fools wouldn''t notice my weapon. Nheless, I had to switch up my strategy to ount for the adept hiding in the shadows.

    I silently stalked the two maidens with a simper on my face. I sneaked the two des practically invisible to the naked eye toward their throats but heard that quiet sound again. The defender was able to match my rhythm and procedure exactly. Still unable to determine how they were doing it, I gulped. I never met anyone capable of doing anything so unbelievable. They showed no desire to counterattack, strangely. I hypothesised they couldn''t be too far away. If they wanted to protect the two without leaving any traces, they would inevitably leave clues.

    I''ll find you.

    I tried over and over, ramping up the intensity of each strike to lure the adept out but none of my des could graze girls. The people around us changed as we moved along. To my frustration, I couldn''t find the person in the crowd. None of the townsfolk could have been the adept, but their angle¡­ I kept trying to calcte the angle of the defender. Surely they had to position themselves somewhere feasible to deflect my attacks. Look as I may, there were only elders, women andmon folks!

    Eventually, my hands started to feel numb enough to make holding my des ufortable. I had a suspicion my des were deflected back to me with some cold qi that gradually built up in my hands. I had to store my des away and quit because they''d be able to tell I was flinging weapons once my attacks slowed down. Still, I couldn''t figure out why my hands felt so stiff.

    "It''s cold poison left over on celestial spider silk. Without the base toxin, you won''tst a single blow," someone suddenly stated.

    I looked over my shoulder vigorously. He was a tall and thin old man. His wrinkly eyes were piercing. I questioned, "Who are you?"

    "You¡­ seem confident in your disguise skills," teased the elder, smiling with the excitement of a youth. He added, "You want to test your mettle against mine¡­ little girl?"

    Drats! He was using a disguise technique, too?!

    Notes:

    *Sleeve Ripper - Firstly, this is not an urate trantion behind the phrase because you would need a paragraph to trante it to English (borate exnation in next paragraph). This trantion is to ount for what it means and the context which it''s being used.

    Mountain Monster thought h-, sh-, Su Xiao mistook Sleeve Ripper for Wind and Cloud Splitter due to the context. "Sleeve Ripper" is actually a reference to a homosexual story. Wind and Cloud Splitter was what he thought he heard because it sounds more like an actual technique. Sleeve Ripper, after all, is the story of Emperor Ai and Dong Xian sleeping together.

    The name derives from the story where Emperor Ai cut off his sleeve to allow Dong Xian to continue sleeping when he woke up and found his sleeve stuck under Dong Xian''s head. The four character phrase, sometimes written as two, is the entire story (a more borate one than what I wrote in the single sentence). You can see why it''s farcical to trante it for a single technique now.

 Volume 7 60 Puppetry

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 60 Puppetry</h4>

    This old man¡­ is an adept in disguise?

    I saw the old man five times as I scanned the crowds, yet I never noticed anything fishy about him. His skin resembled Jiangnan''s elders'' skin condition exactly, wrinkly, yet moisturised. It was difficult to move around deftly in a hunched position. I would''ve mistaken him for a genuine elder if there wasn''t the hostility and calmness on his face.

    Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation was my foundation that allowed me to freely manipte flesh essence and use flesh from others as my body. There was no disguise technique that could hold a candle to it. Admittedly, I hadn''t mastered the skillpletely. Shifu told me that I could give the best in the martial realm a run for their money but was far from truly being undetectable. I could transform my body, but I was still unable to manipte skin and creases. The old man, on the other hand, demonstrated what was the pinnacle of disguise. I couldn''t spot any ws despite there being no way he''d know Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation.

    My desire to murder him reced my shock and indignation: "Who¡­ are you?"

    "You have no need to know who I am," replied the elder, sounding confrontational. "Nobody needs to know."

    The elder''s lips didn''t budge, yet his deep and gruff voice were akin to a hammer smashing at my heart so hard that I actually curled forward and perspired. I had never suffered pain from within and never expected it to feel so dreadful.

    The elder didn''t use some sort of special style; I could also do it. All it consisted of was delivering one''s words with internal energy enhancing it. It worked off the same principle as summoning energy. If you sent your voice several kilometres and the target was within no more than thirty-three metres of your condensed internal energy, you''d drum up the insides of the listeners. Pretty much every internal style practitioner could pull it off. Utilising it with a weapon, however, wasn''t so simple. Hence, nobody did it. There are special styles that focus on amplifying the intensity, such as Lion Roar. In reality, they only turn up the intensity a small notch; it still doesn''t inflict debilitating damage. The simple reason was the difference in internal energy. Trying to create a big enough gap in internal energy between one and their opponent was a daunting task.

    At my level, I could hurt thirty to forty ordinary adults with a howl. It''s no secret I like having fun. I once tried to howl someone to death for theughs. Because my target practiced an internal style, the impact was abated. The only way I could''ve subdued him with just my voice was if my internal energy was over ten folds more potent than his. Since the elder could do it without even moving his lips, he was the real deal. He was an adept among adepts! I never imagined Night Fortress'' master had someone so insane among his ranks.

    I red at the elder. To my surprised, he didn''t look sly or violent. Instead, he smiled as if he was looking at his granddaughter. He even changed his tone when he said, "I''ve been searching for you, Lass."

    Before I could figure out what the elder was up to, that wench, Su Xiao, asked, "Who is he?"

    Su Xiao returned to grab me after noticing I wasn''t keeping up.

    What are you pretending for?! If you can prove you lot aren''t in cahoots, I''ll cut my head off for you to kick around!

    Unable to contain my desire to kill, I reached for the des in my sleeves and vigorously raised my arms: "Motherf-"

    A gentle, yet unstoppable, energy travelled from my neck to my entire body all of a sudden. I didn''t know anything like it, let alone any method of stopping it. There was no time to think, either. My arms involuntarily drooped back down. I couldn''t activate any of my true qi. I lost control of my body before I could even manifest the desire to resist.

    Su Xiao tilted her head: "What are you two doing? Gramps, do you two know each other? Little Girl, what did you just say about your mother?"

    I said, stop motherflipping feigning! I know you''re together!

    I was going to wait and see what the elder had to say as well as how they intended to keep up the act, but, for crying out loud, I had no idea what happened to me. Four meridians on my right arm started to burn before my other arm, legs and stomach felt the same phenomenon. The energy from my neck evoked an itchy sensation wherever it went. I felt as though something was juggling around in my throat. Next, the heat burst and spread throughout my body from five locations. The energy in my throat resonated with it. I could feel my throat and mouth moving involuntarily!

    "He. Is. My. Grandpa. I. Was. Looking. For. Him."

    I somehow articted an entire sentence despite the marite delivery! I then revealed my pearly whites and curled my eyebrows. The childish and innocent smile was freaking disgusting!

    The elder pulled me into his arms and started sobbing: "I''ve been looking for you. Do you know how distraught I felt after I lost you in the chaos?"

    Feeling his white beard touching me gave me goose bumps.

    The hell is this old man ying at?! Has he lost his mind?!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    For some reason, I pulled a touched look. I sobbed until I started wailing in his arms!

    "Oh, you''re rtives. I was wondering why we couldn''t find her parents. Well, since you''ve found your grandpa, be a good girl and go with him," stated Su Xiao.

    What bloody grandpa?! I don''t know this old trout! You flipping Su Wench! You''re handing me over to a dangerous stranger here!

    "I. Shall. Leave. With. Grandpa. Then."

    Su Xiao gave us a sweet smile. She was definitely d she got rid of a burden, yet lied, "Great. We have work to do, so I can''t look after you. Bye."

    Ye Luo: "Oh, you found your family? Life must be tough for you, Elder. Please ept this money to buy some clothes for the young girl."

    Save it for yourself! If it wasn''t for that wench, would I be in this state?! Just you wait. I''ll teach you a lesson sooner orter. Now, who the hell is this old man, and what has he done to my body?! Why can''t I control any part of my body?!

    The elder draped an arm over my shoulder and led me away. I tried my best to resist futilely. My legs moved by themselves, seemingly. We eventually left the small town and gradually picked up the pace. Initially, he controlled my gait. He eventually ramped up his speed to the point that I struggled to breathe. How was I supposed to keep up with a tall adult when I was as tall as an eight year old girl? To make it easier for me, he lifted me onto his shoulders and picked up his pace. I could breathe, but it was ten times more embarrassing! I swore I''d kill him! I swore it!

    It was tedious, but I managed to move my eyes to scrutinise him for openings. After analysing people so many times, I could gradually spot openings even if it was our first time meeting. However, I couldn''t find any of the old man''s openings. I couldn''t figure out how to kill him for the life of me. I felt I was looking at Master. On second thought, Master''s might surpassed human limits and myprehension, but I could figure out how to kill him.

    Master was a battle monger. It was exceptionally easy to kill him if I wanted to. Just pitch him against somebody stronger than him, and he''ll get himself killed. In the elder''s case, I didn''t have the foggiest idea what he wanted. I mean, I was a good analyst, but I wasn''t able to correctly figure out what someone was after. I could effortlessly differentiate between someone with a burning will to fight and someone who lost the will to fight. The elder didn''t fit either category, though. He wasn''t confused about life. He knew what he was doing. He showed the attitude of a careless youth and experience of an elder.

    Why do you have to be so hard to read, damn it?! I''m going to kill you! I need to kill this guy as soon as possible! I''m pissed!

    I couldn''t control even my thumb despite my rage. Once we reached a dpidated shrine, he threw me aside but didn''t unseal my meridians. It took everything to mouth, "Wh-what have you done to me?!"

    The elder didn''t have a foul temper. He answered, "It''s called Puppetry. It''s one of the uses of my Shadow King String."

    I thought he could detect my lip movements. The heat energy I felt had to be from his internal energy he had in every nook and cranny of my body. Nobody would even believe you if you told them he controlled me without touching me and only using his internal energy. You, instead, might have stories of an immortal who descended to the human realm!

    Wait a second¡­ Shadow King String. Is he controlling me¡­ using some sort of string?

    I mouthed: "Are you¡­ controlling me using silk strings?"

    "Not too shabby. I see there is someone with a functioning brain among Evil Spirits."

    The elder''s raspy voice carried a gloating undertone. The grin on his face told me he was usually the type to not take things serious. Serious people wouldn''t be soid back so easily.

    "It''s secret style that hasn''t been revealed to the world. So, what rank do you hold, Lass?"

    I mouthed, "Why did you capture me if you''re not with Night Fortress? As disguisers, we stay in our ownnes. What do you want? Since you''ve captured me, I''ll provide you what I can afford to provide you. If I can''t, then this is pointless."

    The elder teased, "Girls shouldn''t speak in that tone. People might misunderstand I''m imposing my will on you, otherwise."

    I mouthed, "You think I''m a girl just because I have the appearance of a girl? Too na?ve. I have countless forms. It''s embarrassing to think you don''t know that when you''ve been watching from the shadows. I don''t use an amateur-level disguise technique. Shame on you as a disguiser."

    I actually started to feel smug until he revealed, "Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation is a fearsome technique. Collecting new corpses or flesh essence from the living for your own usage certainly is quite the idea. The ''fiend'' character in its name refers to your ability to control blood, thereby preserving flesh for thirty days. I know you can disguise yourself as the other gender and even animals if you want. It''s not an orthodox technique, but it would be a waste for it to be removed from the unorthodox skills."

    "How does he know so much?" I pondered, startled.

    "Since ites from Demon Realm Sky Pce, though, only females can learn it. You wouldn''t be able to have such a solid grasp of it if you weren''t female. Lass, you''re addicted to disguising yourself as a man, aren''t you? Own up to it already."

    I mouthed, "Who¡­ are you? Why did you capture me?"

    "You don''t need to know who I am," answered the elder, smirking domineeringly. "I captured you solely to ask you where Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren, whom you attacked four days ago, is right now."

 Volume 7 61 Whereabouts

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 61 Whereabouts</h4>

    "I caught you to ask you where Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain, Shen Yiren, whom you ambushed four days ago, is now."

    "What are you talking about?"

    The elder mocked my acting with hisughter: "You think Evil Spirits attacking the imperial court''s escort is still a secret? Hundreds of troops returned from Canhu Town safe and sound, you know? Or, are you na?ve enough to think I captured you without knowing you''re with Evil Spirits."

    "So what if you do know? I told you I''d tell you what I can but wouldn''t otherwise. That''s one of the things I can''t talk about. Among Evil Spir-"

    "Among Evil Spirits, you, Mountain Monster, have the least respect for the rules. That''s why I was d when I learnt it was you who came here. You''re the only one I can negotiate with."

    I grinned: "What''s that mean? You going to bribe me?"

    "You''re the kind who can''t be bribed. Unlike the others, you''re a gifted killer."

    The elder''s confidence was as annoying as his advanced disguise skill, but I still answered, "You''re not trusting me because I''m pitiful, are you?"

    "No," the elder answered with a chuckle. "You''re notorious for going back on your word. That''s why the pugilistic world calls you a nut case, a skilled nut case. However, I decided to consult you precisely because you''re untrustworthy."

    What he implied was, "Your untrustworthy nature makes you a double-edged sword. If I perceive you to be untrustworthy, your master could also be distrustful of you." If anyone outright tried to goad me into being forthright, I''d slit his entire family''s throat at night.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I have a condition."

    "I don''t know if you have anything besides your life to bargain with unless you consider the information to be worth two terms."

    "I have two pieces of information I can exchange with you. Besides Shen Yiren''s whereabouts, I can also inform you about other adepts we captured alive."

    "Now you''re speaking mynguage. What are your terms?"

    I pursed my lips into a grin: "You have to remove your mask and show me your true appearance."

    The elder was so bewildered that he forgot to maintain his deep voice: "You''re a weird one. That''s it?"

    "I''ve killed more than I can keep count of, which consisted of those I killed for entertainment and viins. You''re the first one I''ve lost to at this. If I don''t get to find out the appearance of who I lost to, wouldn''t I have lost for nothing?"

    "Your request is as weird as you." The elder pulled off his wig and mask. He rolled his long ck hair into a bun and conveyed, "Easy enough for me. Take a look."

    In my opinion, he wasn''t handsome. I didn''t know how to describe him, nevertheless. His facial features were more ordinary than the one who tried to spear me back at Bishui Town, yett his smile was unique, in that helped him look better than ordinary. He always had his lips tugged up ever so subtly, oozing dangerous vibes.

    He was much younger than I predicted. I thought he''d have had to train as long as Master, if not longer, to be so skilled. I thought the youthful energy in his eyes was part of his disguise, but it was actually his real nature shining through. I thought he''d emit an aura simr to Master''s because I assumed he had to fight countless challenging fights to the death to attain martial prowess of his calibre. By my estimations, he was twenty-seven to twenty-eight years old. If the turbulence in the pugilistic world made him look older than he was, he''d still be under thirty if you ask me.

    Shifu said I had a good aptitude for martial arts but might not excel at the end due to me prioritising Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art. Regardless, I continued focusing on transforming until even adepts struggled to see through my disguises. Even if my skills aren''t up to scratch, I''m still happy about it. For that reason, it was vexing to see the elder surpass my disguise and martial skills at his age. I couldn''t imagine anybody reaching his level even if they started training from the time they were still in their mother''s womb.

    "Now that you''ve seen my appearance, please uphold your end of the deal."

    I proceeded to recount the events and shared everything I knew.

    "Shen Yiren escaped?"

    "Yes. Master said three, so he intended meet the quota. She has to be grievously injured. Once she''s healed up, Master wants to finish thest round."

    "What''s going through Abels'' head? Why does he want Shen Yiren?" He then switched to a mumble: "It''s been four days since Boss has been missing¡­ If she falls off her horse while riding around on the mountain¡­"

    That scene''s too beautiful for you to imagine, huh?

    "What else do you know?"

    Smirking, I answered, "Not even Master knows this. We conducted our own investigations. The three young individuals Master spared that night aren''t strong enough to rival him; however, their identities are mysterious. One of them called himself Hong Sang. I think his hard-hitting palm style is a rare style. We don''t know what school it belongs to, but he could narrow space. My guess is he''s¡­"

    "Wait, Second Brother was part of the team?!"

    Did he just say ''Second Brother''?!

    "Ar-are y-."

    "Wait, someone ising."

    He switched to a refined demeanour. Dugu and the spear-wielding youth came running over.

    "Brother Ming, what are you doing here?"

    "Big Bro?"

    "I, uh, don''t know. I just passed by and saw her tied up here. She doesn''t seem to be a bad girl. Her name is Wang Liang."

    It was clear they were acquainted, yet he tried to hide what happened. Clearly, he was hiding some secret.

    Dugu: "Wang Liang? That''s Mountain Monster, Evil Spirits'' second strongest! Brother Ming, I can''t believe you managed to bump into her. You really are Liu Shan''s gue!"

    Huh?! He''s a gue? No wonder why I was so bloody unlucky as soon as I bumped into him! His jinx skill is overpowered!

 Volume 7 62 Treacherous Lolietâ€™s give Dugu a proper introduction, shall we?

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 62 Treacherous Loliet''s give Dugu a proper introduction, shall we?</h4>

    The fact that Emperor Yuansheng only brought thirty people - even if ounting for the fact it wasn''t a long trip - showed his preparations for the incognito trip werecking. I was sure part of his participation was for his own ends. I could tell he wasn''t pleased with the Seven Champion White Princes based off his recent behaviour. His issue was that he didn''t know where to start.

    A-Hu was going to be one of Emperor Yuansheng''s pawns once he seeded leadership of Gold and Silver Sect. The better a piece was, the longer it should be reserved for. Emperor Yuansheng wouldn''t choose to go after Gold and Silver Sect first. That was why he chose Luo Sword Manor. He had his considerations to ount for as a sovereign on the journey, but he decided to leave the pce in the afternoon he decided to lead an expedition the same morning because of his concern for Boss Shen. If he had another day to prepare, the escort would be several folds bigger. Crap, I digressed so far that I don''t know where I''m going. Let''s get back to Dugu.

    Dugu had a special role in the mission. He had yet to reveal hisbat skills, but his loyalty to Emperor Yuansheng was as unwavering as Tie Hanyi''s, prudence was on par with Long Zaitian, was calm, suave and as cool as me. He excelled in every integral facet. That was why Emperor Yuansheng specifically selected him. In my opinion, his role was simr to the general manager of the interior - which was Eunuch Wang Tushui''s post.

    Among the young gentlemen of the escort, Tang Ye and Dugu were most simr. They were both the handsome type, possessed simrbat prowess and almost equally observational. Though Tang Ye resembled a blockhead, he was actually quite good at picking up on things despite not working as a secret agent. He learnt to hone his focus after dealing with people hunting him down after he challenged their friends or rtives. Tang Ye was able to figure out a way to counter his opponent''s style after three or so rounds, but he couldn''t care less about analysing anything not rted to fighting.

    Dugu had everything Tang Ye did, but his job prioritised observation and adaptability overbat prowess. That was why I was tense as soon as I saw the twoe in and see me with Mountain Monster. Dugu should''ve been observant enough to notice I had changed into an old man''s clothing in a county''s town. It''d exin his suspicious reaction when he saw me standing next to Mountain Master, at the very least.

    Tang Ye had a rough estimate of my martial skills and identity. Thus, he wouldn''t be surprised even if he saw me apprehending the mastermind. Unfortunately, Dugu wouldn''t be able to unwrap Tang Ye''s reaction. ordingly, nobody knew what was going on. To kill the awkward atmosphere and to stop them watching for too long, I blurted, "Perfect timing. I was looking for a help. Come give me a hand. This girl is so clingy."

    "H-help?" stuttered Dugu.

    "Yes, yes, hurry, hurry. She keeps resisting."

    Instead of helping me, Tang Ye gave me the same look Dugu did. I couldn''t tell what exactly was going through their minds, but I could see despise. The two of them were silent. Mountain Monster and I were stupefied.

    "¡­ Big Bro, did you¡­ capture her?"

    I smiled brightly to hide what I did: "Not exactly. I, uh, bumped into her in here."

    Tang Ye: "And struck¡­ because you saw her?"

    "Huh? I¡­ I guess so?"

    I was going to say I found Mountain Monster when she was suffering qi deviation, so I captured her. I thought I pretty much expressed that. Howbeit, Tang Ye took a step back and asked, "Big Bro, you went for a young girl?"

    Huh? Meow, meow, meow? H-Hang on. What the hell?!

    Dugu pulled out handcuffs.

    What the hell do you carry handcuffs around for?! Screw you, Tang Ye, useless teammate. These two a-holes are skipping the spection part and jumping straight to the execution!

    Mountain Monster and I looked at each other. She scrunched her face up in disgust: "Ew, you have a thing for me? You want to bed me? Get the hell out of here!"

    Who said I have a thing for you?! My taste isn''t so bad that I''d fall for you, you arrogant, sicko loli!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Only then did it ur to me the problem was Mountain Monster''s appearance. I couldn''t have looked nice when I was threatening the loli. I guess that was why the two incriminated me as a lolicon as soon as they entered. Luckily for me, her adult voice made her suspicious. Even so, she was sly to the bitter end.

    As soon as Mountain Monster noticed the two suspicious of her, she instantly switched back to try and frame me. I used celestial spider silk to control her into saying, "You. Central. in. Losers. I. Will. Rip. You. All. Apart."

    That confirmed she was a treacherous loli. I then blurted, "I changed my close to try and ambush her. When I saw her meditating in here, I supposed she suffered qi deviation. I remember you threw your spear at thenky Wang bloke, and then a midget ran off. I suspect it''s her."

    Tang Ye folded his arms: "Indeed, I remember he was a midget. He must''ve used a disguise technique to disguise himself as an adult male."

    "I heard her name was Wang Liang or something."

    Dugu: "Wang Liang? That''s one of Evil Spirits'' four strongest. Brother Ming, you just caught a big fish."

    Tang Ye was still suspicious of me.

    Hey, don''t give me that look. It''ll raise suspicion!

    "I see the legends of your feats as Liu Shan''s gue are true," Dugu mumbled and then backed off.

    That''s what you''re putting it down to?! I thought you''re a secret agent. You didn''t even bother to analyse it!

    We decided to take her back to have Emperor Yuansheng decide what to do with her. What could we do? We were civil servants.

    By the time we returned to Bishui Town, the streets had settled down. Carrying Mountain Monster, I whispered, "Hey, Lass."

    Mountain Monster didn''t blush. She even yed thug and red back at me: "What?"

    "Speak to the uncle properly. You better not expose me, or you''re in for it," I warned before removing the silk.

    Mountain Monster still couldn''t use her skills because I had sealed multiple meridians. Emperor Yuansheng could tell there was something odd about her from her aggressive aura.

    "You''re Mountain Monster?" Emperor Yuansheng asked.

    "Hmph, hehe, hey, Uncle, there''s something wrong with that Young Master Zhong Ming."

    Hey! Selling me out already?!

 Volume 7 63 Reassured

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 63 Reassured</h4>

    From his tall seat, Emperor Yuansheng stole a gander my way and queried, "There''s a big problem with him?"

    Emperor Yuansheng''s attitude and tone were inconsistent with what Mountain Monster was told. Being Emperor Yuansheng for so many years, his noble demeanour was difficult for anyone to match. He wouldn''t be a different man all of a sudden just because he was in different clothing. His tone was imposing, while his gaze and tone when he looked at me was void of respect.

    As far as Mountain Monster''s knowledge went, I was Night Fortress'' subordinate''s Young Master Zhong, and those with me were my subordinates. She could clearly see that I wasn''t ranked that highly, and that Emperor Yuansheng was held in higher regard than I was from his response.

    Using Voice Transmission, I warned, "Lass, what are you ying at?"

    Mountain Monster brushed me off with a sly look: "Do you idiots not realise his skills are act-"

    "What happened to her?" asked Emperor Yuansheng.

    Mountain Monster convulsed and tried to fight the pain. Had I not sealed her strength, she''d have busted the carriage open.

    Dugu calmly expounded, "When we found her, she was trying to relieve her qi deviation. Perhaps she did not finish because we interrupted her. It could be acting up again."

    Emperor Yuansheng acknowledged he heard Dugu''s response then transferred a small amount of energy from his hand to Mountain Monster''s back: "Her internal energy isparable to the best of the best in the pugilistic world. Had it not been for qi deviation and sealed meridians, it would be difficult to subdue her."

    I knew Mountain Monster''s qi deviation was hogwash. Yes, her disguise technique came with risks, but the risk of qi deviation as a result of its usage was low since it wasn''t an offensive technique. What was happening to her was hundreds and thousands of different energy sources were rampaging inside her body.

    "This is a conscious." Mountain Monster red at me and mouthed, "You know how to use Dream Invasion! Who exactly are you?!"

    "Good insight. I left my conscious in you. You trigger it whenever you even think of exposing me. I sealed multiple of your meridians. Careful not to let the internal energy attack your meridians. If you refuse to stop, it won''t stop until your dead. It''s called Night Net Celestial Silk. You''re not the first friend it''s had."

    "Night Net¡­ Celestial Silk¡­ You''re Night Fortress'' master?"

    "I told you not to speak thoughtlessly. Who can you me if you court death on your own ord?"

    It took Mountain Monster a while to recollect herself. Realising she had no escape, she behaved and told Emperor Yuansheng everything I said, albeit more short and concisely for she didn''t have the patience to speak to them. Maybe she was just irate. After all, she looked as though she wanted heads on tters.

    "I''m d Yiren is safe," remarked Emperor Yuansheng.

    We thought Abels already captured Boss Shen. Mountain Monster said they couldn''t capture her in time. The game was different if she wasn''t their captive.

    I wasn''t too surprised Boss escaped since the conscious energy I left with her would''ve triggered her maximum hidden potential. Normally, the energy would''ve caught her opponent off guard. She, unfortunately, was up against one of the Supreme Ten Saints, so it wouldn''t be enough to defeat Abels.

    Emperor Yuansheng wiped away his tears and exhaled hard: "Thank heavens! Thank heavens! I haven''t let you down, Brother Shen."

    Emperor Yuansheng unaware of the conscious I nted in Boss Shen. Deep down, he was aware Boss Shen was a goner. As opposed to calling it a rescue mission, it was more urate to call it a march for vengeance. The fact he wanted to ask Luo Sword Manor''s master to fight Abels showed he was raring to fight. Thus, he was so relieved he smiled genuinely for the first time on the journey.

    Those escort who genuinely cared for Boss Shen, such as Su Xiao, also shed tears. Tang Ye was also relieved. Long Zaitian, Boss Shen''s big fan, was on cloud nine after hearing she was safe.

    In response to Long Zaitian''s reaction, Emperor Yuanshengughed: "He''s so used to being unruly that he''s embarrassing me. Keep it up, and I''ll have someone punish you."

    Mountain Monster found the celebrations so sickening that she buried her head between her legs.

    Su Xiao leaned over and handed me a white handkerchief: "Here."

    "What? You''re the one with his face smothered in tears."

    Su Xiao kept staring for a while before finally asking, "Are you not crying, Big Brother Ming?"

    "Why would I cry?"

    In the end, Su Xiao shoved the handkerchief into my shirt: "You''ll eventually need it."

    "Pfft." I left the carriage.

    I pulled my cor down, allowing the chilly air to clear my mind. Su Xiao silently followed behind me.

    Truth be told, I regretted not apanying Boss Shen after I found out she was ambushed. I knew what sort of people the Seven Champion Princes were, yet I let her go alone. I overestimated her and even considered her someone I could depend on.

    "It''s okay. It''s not your fault." Su Xiao picked up on my sentiments.

    I looked up at the sky, relieved.

    Boss¡­ I''m d you''re all right.

    I wiped my snot with the handkerchief Su Xiao handed me then threw it back at him.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Ew, that''s disgusting! Stay away from me."

    "What''s the big deal? We''re bros. Give me a shoulder."

    "Go away. You''re disgusting."

    Boss, hang in there. I''ming with everyone to save you.

 Volume 7 64 Three Swordsmen Convene

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 64 Three Swordsmen Convene</h4>

    At Canhu Town in Jiangnan.

    Canhu Town was famous for raising silkworms and because it was a town people had to pass by to reach Luo Sword Manor at Taihu Sword Ind. As soon as there were a plethora of people from the martial world gathered there, it was bound to be messy, with factions from everywhere crowding there.

    A youth drooling at the sight of a girl raising silkworms said, "Hey, Good Looking, how about keeping mepany on my journey? I''ll make sure to shower you with love, and make sure you have plenty of white fluff. Ow! Why did you hit me? Hey, stop! Not my face!"

    The youth had every visual cue suggesting he was a long-time lecher. Not even nting a big hand mark on his face could reduce the lecherous look he inherently had. It wasn''tmon to see someone with his looks among the various visiting groups.

    Usually, hooligans who took beatings as he did would swear they''de back to challenge her tomorrow or make empty threats. Some would threaten to call someone to destroy her shop, but he''d vanish for years. This youth, however, walked around with an upward curve to his lips. He continued strolling and making suggestive eye gestures. He remarked, "I love that temper of yours. Gimme a kiss."

    They called him the number one scum, Lord Zha Pi. He probably scared her enough to make her consider taking him serious. Heughed and lifted her chin with a finger, acting as if hepleted his mission and was moving onto his next target. He kept up his flirting antics wherever he went. Howbeit, his eyes were darting back and forth.

    Bai Yeshuang, Zhapi and the team of female constables didn''t need to change out of uniform, allowing them to take main roads and switch horses at stations along the way. Ming Feizhen didn''t want them to have a high profile; however, that was exactly what they did. People from the martial world did everything they could to avoid the group.

    Bai Yeshuang''s squad appeared two days and a night ahead of the Emperor''s escort. Once they entered the city, she reached out to official military teams. The troops who were on the delivery mission had spread their forces out to search for Shen Yiren. The issue was theck of a leader, so Bai Yeshuang acted as a coordinator.

    Meanwhile, Zhapi and the constables interacted with shifty people in the city. On one hand, the constables could use their authority to make the underground folks pay attention to things the constables demanded. On the other hand, Zhapi could return to his roots and collect information as a thug.

    There were so many people from the pugilistic world that it annoyed Zhapi. His mouth was going off all day as he flirted with girls. At the same time, he had to memorise every person''s unique traits.

    On a particr day, he was about to give up on teasing a married woman when he heard, "Scum like you need to be removed from Huzhou. Men, get rid of him."

    Two men pulled Zhapi away from the woman.

    The woman wasn''t intimidated when Zhapi teased her; she was merely frustrated. Having someone give him a beating would help her blow off some steam. The young man she thanked for offering to beat up Zhapi was always smiling confidently and spoke in a gregarious tone. Strangely, she was more interested in his sword than his handsome looks. The sword looked ordinary, but not taking a few looks rendered one uneasy.

    The young master had several men with him but wasn''t dressed in opulent clothing. He was from a wealthy family but wasn''t haughty. He had a reserved demeanour befitting of his sword. The young master bowed back after the woman thanked him. Then, he turned his attention to Zhapi: "Let''s not let scum like him dy us. Let''s go."

    The young master went off to an inn with his men without waiting for Zhapi to take the beating. He knew Zhapi wouldn''t cause trouble after the lesson, but he didn''t know who Zhapi was. Before the young master''s two men even reached hitting range, Zhapi unleashed his ultimate technique. He begged for mercy on his knees, bringing their parents and every rtive into it. He swore to the sky and every religious entity that came to mind that he wouldn''t do it again, or lightning would strike him where he stood. Before they couldment, tears and snot were pouring out. They couldn''t bring themselves to hit him when he looked so pitiful. In the end,they let him off without even reproaching him. Little did they know, Lord Zhapi was watching them.

    "Good looks, has money and power, if I don''t dig up something on him, I would''ve used my ultimate technique for nothing." Zhapi spat and then sneaked into the inn.

    The young master had an appointment in a room, so he opened the door and straight in without knocking.

    "Ha, why didn''t you let me know you two wereing to Huzhou? I''m totally unprepared for your unannounced visit. People are going to say Luo Sword Manor cks on guest treatment now."

    "Brother Siming, this ce is perfect already. Moreover, had you note to wee us, we would take a while to get through the Lotus Flower Four Seasons Sword Formation."

    "Hahahaha, you''re still a wordsmith, I see. You¡­"

    The person sitting oppositeughed: "Let me preface it by saying that I''m now called Kuang Lu. Don''t frame me now."

    "Kuang Lu? What about Brother Ling?"

    Another youth replied, "My surname is still Ling, of course. I''m not him. If Kuang Lu didn''t invite me to drink with you, I''d have liked to challenge the lotus flowers and see how incredible the sword formation is."

    One of them was Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Young Master Ling. The other one was the schr Ming Feizhen also met.

    Siming: "Don''t. My n''s Four Seasons Sword Formation is no match for you Flying Thrust Technique and Furong Divine Sword. I dropped what I was doing toe wee you."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Kuang Lu pped his hands: "You''re not honest at all. Have a drink as punishment."

    Young Master Ling: "Says the honest one who now has a glib tongue."

    Siming knocked back the drink and wiped his mouth: "This is good. I have no means of repaying you, so I shall drink the first three drinks to get us in the mood."

    Siming was the current master of Luo Sword Manor and the n''s fourth young master, now called Master Luo, Luo Siming.

 Volume 7 65 Beauty in the Water

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 65 Beauty in the Water</h4>

    The three young swordsmen were old friends. Kuang Lu and Luo Siming knew each other from childhood. The three engaged in a lively discussion on various topics over drinks.

    Slightly drunken, Young Master Ling expressed, "Fourth Luo, you''re a bad friend, man. We''ve been friend from our ancestors'' time. If you need weapons, you could''ve just yelled out. Your n is home to an assortment of unique and quality weapons. My n also has a decent number. Yet, you decided to send an invitation to my n. You were distant in the invitation and constantly provoked us. You even added a bamboo sword to mock us. Sorry, but I don''t want it. You can have it back."

    Young Master Ling brought out aforementioned bamboo sword from his backpack. Calling it a bamboo sword was him being polite as it was merely something a panda from Sichuan would snack on.

    "Are you here to scold me, Brother Ling? Haha, I can''t say I have any responsibility to take ownership for there."

    "What, are you going to deny it even in my presence?" fumed Young Master Ling.

    "No, no. We dare not take the invitation lightly. We sent invitations to all the Central in''s sects that have been active in the pugilistic world for thest three years and wielded weapons. Your n is not far away, but you are important guests. We would not dare to mock you."

    "Why don''t you exin what you were implying in your bizarre invitation, then? What is this bamboo supposed to signify? We''re friends, aren''t we?"

    A curve came to Kuang Lu''s lips: "You know he can''t control himself when he''s drunk. Don''t take it to heart, Brother Siming. That being said, he''s brought up the most important topic. Luo Sword Manor has always been a n that prioritised valour, yet you sent out challenges disguised as invitations all of a sudden and asked ns to bring their own weapons as a means of trampling on their pride. Even I want to know what exactly you and your n are thinking."

    "You have misunderstood me and Luo Sword Manor," Luo Siming asserted, unfazed at the usation. "The invitation clearly stated we are not just searching for a weapon but are looking to forge the weapon''s heart and core. You are both aware they are hard to find, especially weapon cores. Nobody would be motivated to forge a weapon core in this peaceful era. We wanted to have apetition to forge an impressive weapon core."

    Kuang Lu reported, "I know what you mean, but why are you being secretive about it and ridiculing others with your n''s weapons? I came across many sects and ns heading to the convention on my way here from the South. Everybody looked bitter about the weapons you sent them."

    "That is why I said you have misunderstood. Let''s start with the secrecy issue. We, of course, want to make a public announcement. The problem is we are inviting heroes with unique weapons. It took us all our resources and efforts just to coordinate things for them. If we made a public announcement, empty-handed pugilists and those of lower calibres would insist oning. We don''t have enough hands on board for that many people.

    "Secondly, the imperial court has built their forces over thest few years. The Qilin Guards are the head of the five offices; even the martial world is calling them the recement for the White Princes. The imperial court didn''t start it, but it hasn''t stopped. There''s no guarantee the imperial court won''t ride the wave of momentum. We seven can''t be mboyant at this rate."

    It was normal for Luo Siming to speak so calmly and concisely given his pedigree. With that said, his two friends knew he wasn''t the type to consider so much, nor was he the type to use terminology such as, "There''s no guarantee the imperial court won''t ride the wave of momentum."

    "Thirdly, to tell the truth, my second uncle thought of the first two issues. If I was the one who came up with the idea, I''d have announced it to the world already."

    Kuang Lu and Young Master Ling sent each other a smile, acknowledging Luo Siming''s characteristic honesty.

    "As for the weapons, we did not mean to provoke anybody. It was our way of expressing our sincerity. As I mentioned, you willpete with each other using your weapons to forge weapon hearts and cores. You both should be cognizant the heart and core aren''t going to be for disy purposes; we will forge a weapon using them. As such, it doesn''t matter whose weapon emerges triumphant if it''s going to be used to be destroyed in the forging and refinement process.

    "As cksmiths, we know every sect and n values their weapons as highly as their life. No matter what sort of offer we propose, there''s no guarantee they''ll let us use their weapon for refining. We don''t want to impose our will on them, either. For those reasons, we are using our own materials to forge weapons for you in exchange. We chose to let youe to the convention with your own weapon or what we offered to show our sincerity. I don''t know how else we can express the greatest degree of sincerity."uo Siming passed the bamboo sword back to Young Master Ling: "This sword is a gift to your n. You must show your invitation when you show up at the convention. Don''t return it to me now."

    "In other words, I have to look after it for you until then? I must owe you from another lifetime.

    "You have your brothers with you wherever you go. I doubt you''ve even carried it for ten minutes, hahaha."

    The three resumed drinking merrily once the misunderstandings were clear. Once the sun came up in the West, Luo Siming gave his two friends a fist and palm salute: "I am not able to hold my liquor well and have business at night. We have plenty of time in theing days to meet up, so let me provide you both with hospitality. Taihu Sword Ind''s main ind is currently cordoned for the convention; however, you can stay at my ce there for the meantime, which is one of the inds. I promise you fabulous scenery of Taihu and my cherished sword you can feast your eyes on."

    Kuang Lu, a wanderer at heart, liked the idea, but Young Master Ling rejected, citing, "Swords andke sceneries are boring. It''s more fun to stay in town. As for your sword, you can save it for yourself."

    "Haha, there are hundreds of quality wine jugs there, as well. You didn''t think I would forget about that, did you?"

    Young Master Ling was finally sold.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The three went to the lotus garden, which was said to stretch dozens of kilometres along and be home other mystical ims. Its association with the White Princes led to further exaggerated ims. Those who knew the truth were aware that they were baseless ims, nevertheless. The interior of the formation confused those within using a mix of reality and falsehoods. It was the only barrier, or rather, entrance, to Taihu Sword Ind.

    The body of water at Taihu was enormous, taking around an hour to cross. All boatmen who crossed it were aware the southern body of water was exclusively Luo Sword Manor''s. Anyone who trespassed without permission was killed. Taihu Sword Ind sat on the water and was strictly guarded. One had to pass through the formation and receive the guards'' approval to be considered Luo Sword Manor''s guest. In that sense, the garden didn''t protect Luo Sword Manor but outsiders.

    Zha Pi showed up alone at the bank with a bitter look. Tailing the three as an amateur would be impossible - the same went for eavesdropping. The memory of Ming Feizhen mming him into the ground when they first met was still fresh. Thanks to his time at Liu Shan Men, Zha Pi learnt to pick his fights.

    Zha Pi found someone at the inn to question. Owing to Luo n''s fame, news on them was avable anywhere at Canhu Town; locals knew about the lotus garden. Zha Pi then figured out he could tail the trio as long as he kept one and a half kilometres away. The issue was he that couldn''t keep up with their pace, resulting in the gap between them increasing over time. When he finally caught up, he lost his chance to be the highlight reel.

    Zha Pi was about to head back in defeat when he saw a boat approach. He quickly took cover. Someone met up with Luo Siming as soon as thetter returned to shore.

    "Young Master, Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s female heroes have arrived at are waiting for you at Canhu Town."

    "Who are our guests?"

    "Patriarch Zi''s first and third senior disciples, Jinyu Feiyuan and Lengyue Qingluan."

    "That''s quite the show of respect. Let us go see our guests."

    "Wait, they''re female guests. I must be presentable. Luo Siming suddenly stopped in his tracks when he smelt the alcohol on himself. He moulded energy and excreted the alcohol from his pores thenmanded, "Bring me water, and help me wash my face."

    The servant fetched water from theke and lotus leaves.

    "Th-there''s a monster in the water!" cried the servant, running back. "Y-Young Master, there is a monster by the water."

    "You''re embarrassing us. Step back!"uo Siming ced his hand on his sword and went to check. He couldn''t believe he found an entrancing female ghost, skin abnormally ashen. Luo Siming wasn''t convinced she was a ghost and pulled her by her arm. He was embarrassed, but not for long as he saw her grievous wounds.uo Siming hurriedly pulled the maiden out of the water. Her beauty was breathtaking, no doubt. Suddenly, she opened her eyes, revealing her violent re that petrified Luo Siming. Underneath her violent re was her barely-detectable grace and innocence. She started coughing blood and passed out again.

    "Tell Jin Yuxuan''s female heroes I will bete. Take this girl into town. Her internal injuries are grave. Also call a doctor, the best doctor!"

    Zha Pi bit his palm so that he wouldn''t cry out in ecstasy. In spite of the distance from her, he was absolutely confident he saw the gaze of Liu Shan Men''s vice-captain. He found Shen Yiren!

 Volume 7 66 Rearranged

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 66 Rearranged</h4>

    We finally got back on the road after losing half a day. Emperor Yuansheng was relieved to hear Boss Shen wasn''t captured. The others were in party mode. The warriors who didn''t have the fortune of learning secrets were all smiles; even Tang Ye had a subtle smile on his face. Good Ol'' Long was on cloud nine.

    Though Emperor Yuansheng was d Boss Shen wasn''t captured, he didn''t mistake that for her being safe. We assumed she still had strength to defend herself after she escaped and wasn''t on the verge of death for the meantime. With the pugilistic world about to be embroiled in another event, we needed to locate her as soon as possible, lest anything happens. Hence, our objective had changed to collecting information to locate her.

    Rescuing and locating sounded simr but were different. In the former case, we wouldn''t be able to predict what the enemies would do to Boss Shen. It would be a race to locate Evil Spirits and brainstorming a battle strategy for a rescue operation. Consider it a ten-star difficulty mission. I nned to rescue her on my own after pinpointing their hideout. Of course, I''d have to lock horns with Abels in a tough scrap.

    Our objective had changed to information gathering. Locating Evil Spirits and figuring out how to exterminate them was no longer the priority. If Boss wasn''t gravely wounded, I didn''t n to rush head first into the enemy base.

    I would prefer not to fight with any of the Supreme Ten Saints if it could be avoided. Once you engage them in a fight, it''s not just about winning and losing. I intended to let the imperial court deal with Abels unless they couldn''t do without intervention. Either way, it wasn''t my priority.

    Emperor Yuansheng rearranged our escort formation. Ma Divine Society''s horses finally joined our formation.

    As the three strongest defenders, Long Zaitian, Dugu and Tie Hanyi shared the tall andrge carriage with Emperor Yuansheng. Three horses were required to pull the carriage because of the dynasty''s courtesy system.

    Ye Luo and Su Xiao rode in the carriage to Emperor Yuansheng''s left as they made the perfect offencebo. They had two horses assigned to their ssic light carriage. Two horses made it perfect for speed and agility. Thetch was removable so that they could mount a horse each and engage enemies if the situation called for it.

    Bai Laimu rode solo with ten others riding behind him. He was assigned to scout duty, so he rode at the forefront. The reason the role wasn''t assigned to Ye Luo, who was renowned for her visual prowess was that she''d raise rms as a female scout. Female scouts weren''tmon, after all. Bai Laimu was dull-witted, but he did fantastic leading his team.

    Tang Ye led five riders in the rear. Their tall and aggressive horses pulled a small carriage carrying our money, weapons, imperial doctors, artisans and so forth.

    Emperor Yuansheng distributed the thirty-four horses based on martial prowess. The more skilled one was considered, the better their horse was. Needless to say, Emperor Yuansheng took the three best horses for himself. Ye Luo''s steed was superior to Su Xiao, and Tang Ye''s steed was superior to both of theirs. As for me, hang on, let me rub my eyes and check again.

    "Why the hell do I have a mule?!" I griped.

    "Oh, shut up. We don''t have enough horses. I even went out of my way to buy it from the market for you," chastised Long Zaitian, rubbing his temples due to still feeling the after effects of Mountain Monster''s sealing.

    Oh, you went out of your way to buy it for me, did you? Thank you so much. Is that what you thought I''d say?! They gave us thirty-four horses. All of you are riding Beijiang horses even if you suck, yet I have to ride a mule?!

    Su Xiao: "I knew Big Brother Ming''s skills were¡­"

    Tang Ye: "¡­ crap?"

    Is that the name of my style, ''Crap''? How did everyone find out? Su Xiao, you''ve been spreading it, haven''t you? Screw this mule!

    "Gather around. We''re heading out in this formation. We''ll make it to Canhu Town tonight. Thankfully, Yiren is safe and sound. I assigned you identities prior to setting out, but I''m now realising that some of the roles aren''t suited to you. I have to admit my nning wascking. People will see through our disguise at this rate. We will meet even more people from the martial world once we reach Canhu Town. We are going to have to stay there for some time to collect intelligence, so I must make some adjustments," announced Emperor Yuansheng, cutting off our quarrel.ong Zaitian: "Master, this humble one is willing to do anything you ask of him."

    Tie Hanyi: "You are going to switch our roles?"

    "Yes. I assigned myself the captain role, but none of you would let me fight. You are cking when ites to defending the goods, yet worried sick about the captain''s safety. I understand you are loyal. Unfortunately, that is a ring w," Emperor Yuansheng exined as he shook his head to express disappointment with his arrangement.

    I was surprised Emperor Yuansheng didn''t realise that beforehand. As if his entourage would let anyone scratch him, let alone allow him to engage in fights.

    "Henceforth, I will be your master, a businessman from the capital. Since you are my subordinates, we won''t have to worry about you looking out of ce when prioritising my safety. As for the nephews and whatnot, we''re doing away with them."

    Are you sure you want to abandon that department after teaching Tang Ye your n''s broadsword skills for him to y your nephew? I saw him assiduously practicing it, you know?

    Emperor Yuansheng heaved a breath then looked over to me: "Young Ming has promoted himself as Zhong Hualiu''s second young master, so we can''t change that now. You will continue as Young Master Zhong Ming and hold equal rank as I in the escort."

    Now I''m Zhong Ning''s younger brother, too? Hang on, equal my foot. Where''s my horse?! You have three horses pulling your carriage, while I''m pulling a wooden carriage from my mule. Equal?! Who educated you?!

    "I didn''t expect to learn of the Refining Divine Convention this trip. Miss Lyu reminded me it''s not easy to enter Taihu Sword Ind to reach Luo Sword Manor. I can''t reveal my identity, but we have your Young Master Zhong card to y. Why not capitalise on your fame and announce your presence at Canhu Town. Luo Sword Manor would invite you, then."

    You''re a lunatic, Your Majesty. You want me to be my n''s brothel proprietor, and tell the world about it? Did you ever think about what people will say when they see me in the future?!

    "I''ll leave the details in your hands. Come up with a n by the time we arrive."

    You even expect me to n it on my own?

    "All right. Ladies and gentlemen, back into your positions!"

    Wait, wait. For crying out loud! Why on earth would Luo Sword Manor want to invite a brothel proprietor? You think the eighteen brothels are called Pure Breeze Eighteen Techniques?!

    I needed to vent, and the best candidate to be my victim was the vicious loli ced in my custody since I caught her. As soon as I went up to the mule''s carriage, Mountain Monster poked her head out as if she smelt meing. She still had her wrathful gaze on.

    "You''re finally back, you sted turd!"

    It was frustrating Mountain Monster vented on me before I could. Emperor Yuansheng wasn''t worried about leaving her with me because she suffered qi deviation and had her meridians sealed. She could move her limbs. In saying that, she couldn''t produce any harmful strength. Merely sitting up was taxing on her.

    I pulled Mountain Monster into the carriage for carrying goods. I grabbed a broadsword and cut open two holes for light and air. It was a small carriage, but she was a loli, so it wasn''t hard to fit her in there. She, of course, wasn''t happy that she didn''t have three horses pulling her carriage.

    "Son of a monkey, are you seriously making me sit here?!"

    "Hop off if you have a problem."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You''re insulting a prisoner of war! I am an international esteemed guest! I demand VIP-prisoner-of-war treatment."

    "International esteemed guest¡­ You''re lucky you''re not famous here in the Central in. If your old enemies were toe looking for you, they''d dice you up."

    "Hmph, that''s their fault for being weak. Don''t join the pugilistic world if you have a phobia for death. I''m the enemy strategist. You can''t make me sit in this shabby carriage."

    "This is good enough."

    "Are you blind?! This is nothing but a casket without a lid!"

    "Nonsense! Nobody would make holes in your casket for you. Plus, you don''t need to worry about ghosts."

    "Piss off! I want to sit in that carriage!" demanded Mountain Monster, pointing to Emperor Yuansheng''s carriage.

    Mountain Monster''s demand just added oil to my fire. I suspected she heard I wasn''t allowed to sit in Emperor Yuansheng''s carriage and deliberately asked for the impossible. I pped her hand: "Stop pointing. There are people in there."

    "Huh?! Kick his fart-knocking bum off, then! I''m not sitting in this piece of crap! Let me sit in the carriage!"

    To reduce the number of greedy and vain citizens in Beijiang, I decided to perform an act of phnthropy: "A mule is enough to pull twelve of you, Brat!"

    "Shut up! This is my transformed form. I''m actually much taller."

    "Yeah, yeah, you can''t change your weight with your technique. Your height makes no difference to your weight."

    "Wh-what are you doing?"

    "You know, you''re too light. I reckon you''re only thirty kilos or so."

    For an eight year old girl, Mountain Monster''s height and body weight were within a healthy rage. Arguably, she was growing well enough to safely assume she''d be a curvaceous beautyter on. Still, the unchanging height and weight ratio remained unchanged. If she was taller as she imed, she was average height for a female, but her weight¡­

    My eyes ran down her cor bone to where her heart was and its neighbour. Once I saw the wall, I fell silent and touched my nose: "Must protect¡­"

    "Yeah, you better protect yourself! Where do you think you''re looking?! Get over here! I''ll flipping kill you!"

    I gave the kid a look of sympathy and patted her. Man, even her head was rather t.

    "You''re the one who''s going to be t! Get over here! I''ll bite you to death!"

    I shook my head and walked off, heaving a heavy breath.

    Mountain Monster bit her fingernails: "There''lle a day where I kill you, kill you, kill you, kill you¡­"

 Volume 7 67 Emperor

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 67 Emperor</h4>

    The new formation was as fine as the weather. The journey was surprisingly smooth. I was going to invite the cksmith to y dice with me, but I saw someone I didn''t expect to see. Lyu Yaoqin somehow ended up hanging around with our imperial doctors.

    "Miss Lyu¡­ why are you still here?"yu Yaoqin dimpled: "I want to go home; however, I just received a letter from Father, saying they have gone to Taihu Sword Ind. My family was separated during the chaos at Bishui Town. I have you and your friends to thank for escorting me to Canhu Town."

    "D-don''t worry about it."

    That was a bizarre oue. Lyu Chunyang was sick of his four useless sons and treated his only daughter as a precious treasure. Assigning her to deliver wine and food to me was out of character. Leaving her behind to go on ahead was just bewildering.

    "Is that all your father said?"

    "Yes. Oh, he did say to ask you for help if anything came up. He said it would be for the best of Night Fortress'' master could take care of me."

    I bloody knew it! Lyu Chunyang attempted to put his daughter in front of me for self-exnatory reasons. She was a pretty maiden, but I doubt he knew Young Master Zhong''s mistress, Su Xiaoxiao, trumped her in the beauty department. Su Xiaoxiao''s face and b-, ahem, Lyu Chunyang was attempting something futile.

    Face glowing red, Lyu Yaoqin stammered, "Young Master Ming, umm¡­ umm¡­ Mr. Fangzhang¡­"

    "Fangzhang?"

    Why are we talking about abbots again? Did that bald monke here?! Damn the monk! I knew he''d eventuallye after me if he found out I returned to the pugilistic world. Damn bald bugger must want the ''donations'' I owe him.

    Head titled, Lyu Yaoqin stressed, "Mr. Li Fangzhang."

    Hmm¡­ Now, where have I heard that name before¡­? Oh, that was the name I gave Emperor Yuansheng. Your Majesty, I had no idea you were a fan of the name. I see you''ve been using the name behind my back.yu Yaoqin began to tap her face: "I want to know more about Mr. Fangzhang."

    "I assume you heard we''re not that close. The escort is his, so I don''t know too much about him."

    "That is fine. I wanted to ask¡­" Voice quieter, Lyu Yaoqin inquired, "Is Mr. Fangzhang married and have children?"

    "Huh?"

    Only seven sons, three daughters and eight wives - not including his concubines. If we include the pretty maids in the pce and others, I suppose several hundred?yu Yaoqin''s fidgeting really piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know why the question, but I was afraid of learning why.

    Oh, I know what this is about now. Your Majesty, you seduced her after I left for only a brief period! Man, oh, man, you must be getting addicted to this crime of yours.

    "Why doesn''t he join the deities and sun?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Why won''t he go die?!"

    Heavens, are you seeing this? His Majesty has started seducing maidens in Jiangnan. He''s cheating on Her Majesty!

    Meanwhile in Emperor Yuansheng''s carriage, he was in a meeting. He sat inside with his three bodyguards. The new formation was actually morex than the previous one. Well, there wasn''t any real need to be so vignt because they weren''t too far from Canhu Town.

    Besides Long Zaitian, who Emperor Yuansheng had a grudge with after the flooding incident, Dugu and Tie Hanyi had served Emperor Yuansheng for over a decade. Jumping over so many hurdles just to talk to his trusted aides in private was a sign their discussion was something secretive and important.

    In front of Emperor Yuansheng were a small table and several bamboo slips. He carved the names of the various ns, associations and so forth he had encountered thus far onto the bamboo using a small knife.

    "None of them are weak, especially Qian n and Tea Lake Manor. They''re so wealthy that they could rival Gold and Silver Sect''s wealth if theybined their wealth. Today was my first time meeting all of them." Emperor Yuansheng opened his eyes and hiked up the corner of his lips: "Zhong Hualiu''s son Zhong Ming''s name is enough to have theme running to him? Hah, they must think I''m a fool."

    In a stifled voice, Long Zaitian opined, "Your Majesty, although Zhong Hualiu does have brothels all over thends, he only has one son, the one who performed the act of treason and is now missing, Zhong Ning. Your subject has never heard of anyone called Zhong Ming. He is sure that punk made the name up."

    "It wasn''t a bad idea when we were attacked the other night, but it made me question things afterwards. Tie Hanyi, do you have something to say?"

    Tie Hanyi bowed his head: "Indeed, it is bizarre, Your Majesty. Your subject scoured for information when we stopped for a break. He heard they received news Night Fortress'' master asked for a favour because he was on his way to Huzhou. The people who came with gifts were offering them to Night Fortress."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "That''s what I heard from Miss Lyu. We can safely infer Zhong Hualiu is a fake and Master Ming is the real individual moving the pieces." Emperor Yuansheng adopted his thinking pose: "The presents were delivered to Zhong Ming, though. Dugu, what''s your take?"

    When Dugu touched his nose, his gaze changed: "I agree that there is something odd about him. When I entered the rundown shrine, I saw him interrogating Mountain Monster. Mountain Monster''s injuries did not seem fake, but Mountain Monster was slightly afraid of him. Based on what we have seen, Mountain Monster has not shown any sign of submitting even though she has surrendered. For her to fear him, there must be something about him we are unaware of."

    Emperor Yuansheng continued carving as he responded, "His surname coincides with Night Fortress'' master''s surname¡­ He ims to be a disciple of Mount Daluo, yet I have never seen him use their skills. Perhaps it isn''t a coincidence."

    Tie Hanyi: "That certainly is suspicious."

    "Do any of you know much about Night Fortress?"

    For once, Long Zaitian looked serious and astute: "Jiangnan''s martial world''s power bnce has changed drastically in recent years. The Seven Champion White Princes rose as our dynasty''s main force in the martial world. Howbeit, it got to a point where they could not keep up with their desire to expand. As such, various sects, or rather, sects not under any banner formed alliances to grow their influence.

    "There were once a few gentlemen in the pugilistic who theorised who would raze Jiangnan''s martial world, rise from the ashes and rece the Seven Champion White Princes if thetter were no more. They deemed there were five possible factions in Jiangnan that could im sovereignty over Jiangnan in that scenario based on the status quo in Jiangnan. The five of them were called Nan''s Ember Five Pces. Among them, Night Fortress was ranked as having the biggest chance.

    "The im caused a huge stir, yet hardly anyone dared to get on their bad side for some reason. Not even the Seven Champion White Princes bothered with Night Fortress. Night Fortress'' master supposedly defeated anyone who challenged them. Sadly, nobody remembers what is considered small-scale fights. There is still no exnation as to how Night Fortress'' master has that much credibility."

    "He seems enigmatic¡­" Emperor Yuansheng nodded as he picked up a bamboo slip and carved small characters on. He continued, "Launch a thorough investigation into him. One, check his connection to Night Fortress. Two, see if you can authenticate his membership with Mount Daluo and knows their skills. Third, and most importantly, see if he is loyal to the imperial court. Irrespective of who a man is, if he''s not loyal to the imperial court, he can''t stay. Since he has connections with Jiangnan''s martial world, be very cautious when you investigate. If he shows any signs of designing treason, you have the authority to eliminate him!"

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    The three characters Emperor Yuansheng carved were "Ming Feizhen".

 Volume 7 68 A Few Facts about Luo Sword Manor (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 68 A Few Facts about Luo Sword Manor (Part 1)</h4>

    The journey of over ten kilometres was peaceful. That being said, gums in the carriages pped incessantly. To avoid suspicion flourishing in Ming Feizhen''s mind, Emperor Yuansheng deliberately noted the former''s questionable points as merits. Ming Feizhen was a man they struggled to read, and he could''ve been far more skilled than he let on. If he was spying on them, they would reveal the fact they had had doubts about him.

    If anyone were to chance upon the bamboo scroll, they''d mistake it as a record for Ming Feizhen''s merits. If Emperor Yuansheng stamped it and had it sent to the ministry of personnel, the official who read it would be astonished Emperor Yuansheng had such high praise for him.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen capturing Mountain Monster using his poor martial skills was recorded as "Subduing one of Evil Spirits g bearers at Bishui." His inability to perform any of Mount Daluo''s skills was recorded as "A master of skills not taught at his sect. Creator of new skills." ying truant and nowhere to be found when he was needed was note as "Comes and goes like the wind. Quick witted. Appears rxed but is tense." The ability to have countless renowned names send him gifts and have control over the chaos was recorded as "Prudent, able to adapt and manipte the enemy. Calm and collected as a general should be." The countless things linking him back to Night Fortress was recorded as "Strong and vast connections. Acquainted with half of Jiangnan."

    Emperor Yuansheng used up the entire surface area of the bamboo scroll. Flip it over, however, and one would discover there was a lot of nk space for edits. Usually, empty spaces woulde in handy, yet Emperor Yuansheng found it annoying this time. He, therefore, picked up his golden knife again and resumed carving for about another hour, filling up the nk space with all the information he had pertaining to Ming Feizhen.

    Satisfied with his masterpiece, Emperor Yuansheng ran his eyes over it again with the corner of his lips hiked up: "Much better. Ming Feizhen, twenty-eight years old, a citizen of Nanjing. He joined Beiping''s Mount Daluo under Daoist Wushan as a child. He''s not yet married¡­ Perfect. Mm¡­ There''s still too much nk space. The nk space can be nifty, but the bamboo doesn''t look good. Oh, right, I can add his portrait. Let''s see¡­ Ming Feizhen looks¡­"

    A habit gued Li n since their ancestor''s time. The founding Emperor was a martial arts nut and the peerless adept of his generation. His son failed as a martial artist, but he was well-versed in literature. Emperor Yuansheng''s father was a lecher. The man once had all the beauties in thend called into the harem and slept with all of them at once.

    Orange Prince was addicted to a life of crime after reading military books as a child. From then on, he always wanted to use military force in everything he did. He even had a table of sand that depicted the nation. He discussed how to overthrow the nation as he yed with it on the daily. Jingan was a bookworm. Princess Hongzhuang had an obsession with sabres. Zizi loved to call random people his father and championed the stubborn mindset.

    Emperor Yuansheng was always dedicated to improving the nation and aplished manymendable deeds; he didn''t have much of a personal life. If he had an addiction, it would be his addiction to literature, martial arts and managing his nation. Emperor Yuansheng went through documents daily. He forbade anyone from disturbing him during those hours. If nine bulls couldn''t make Zizi budge, ten bulls wouldn''t make Emperor Yuansheng budge.

    An hourter, Emperor Yuansheng finished carving Ming Feizhen onto the remaining empty space and finally called it quits. He set his de down and brushed open the curtain to view vibrant scenery. s, the golden petals spread across the blue backdrop were too harsh for his eyes. He was so lost in profiling Ming Feizhen that the sun hade up. The green was a memory of the season past, and the transient beauty of red and gold was starting to tumble in the frigid winds. Which scene was more delightful on one''s eyes was in the eyes of the beholder.

    Nanjing had its fair share of picturesque scenery, but the people would avoid Emperor Yuansheng if he went on tour there, which wasn''t what he wished for. For that reason, he rarely left the imperial pce for vacations. The majestic architecture in the imperial pce certainly was a standard for aesthetics. Howbeit, humanity''s thousands of years of history couldn''t hold a candle to the beauty of nature that had existed far longer than humanity''s history.

    Emperor Yuansheng let out a pent up breath. The trip wasn''t for nothing in the end, thankfully. The scenery would stay in his memory for a long time as something he could recall from time to time. Memories of riding on his horse in the pugilistic in his youth bloomed in his mind. It was no secret he was fond of that time in his life, where he believed anything was possible. Maybe the memories reversed aging. Either way, he started to feel a weight lift from his shoulders.

    With a smile, Emperor Yuansheng stated, "I had no idea I had been writing for so long. Old habits don''t die. I lose track of time whenever I concentrate on something."

    Dugu smiled: "Your dedication is the people''s blessing."

    "By the way, where were we?"

    Others may not have been able to recall what they were discussing four hours ago, but the three veterans were used to Emperor Yuansheng''s style.

    "Before you set your de down, you mentioned Refining Divine Convention," answered Tie Hanyi.

    "Ah, yes, that''s right," remarked Emperor Yuansheng, caressing his beard with a focused visage. "Refining Divine Convention''s timing is abnormal. Luo Ming is known as a man of his word and revered for his heroism. I know him personally as a friend for decades as I previously mentioned. This convention and everything about it is not typical of him. I''m curious if there''s internal strife in the n.

    "Luo Ming has four sons and one daughter. His three eldest sons have passed away. His daughter isn''t twenty yet. His youngest son, Luo Siming, is apparently mature and capable enough to as a leader; he''s now Luo n''s manager. Luo Ming has been training in seclusion since ten years ago. Luo Siming was unable to inherit the cksmith skills of his father, thereby unable to lead the cksmith department. Even if he mastered his swordy, he would be relegated to leading the swordsmen.

    "During Luo Ming''s training window, his second brother, Luo Xian, is heading the cksmith department. Luo Xian is also known as Soaring Scorching Sun. Based on the fact Luo n''s cksmith department puts food on their table, Luo Xian practically shares authority equal to their leader. Rumour has it Luo Xian is aggressive and tyrannical. I have my suspicions he''s the mastermind behind the convention."

    Tie Hanyi: "If that is the case, Luo n''s internal situation is shrouded in darkness despite its impregnable appearance. It will be difficult to distinguish what their goals are."

    Emperor Yuan Sheng: "No n can escape the fate of corrosion in their ranks after being around for centuries. Their swordsmen and cksmiths have long been at odds. Their internal conflict has been the reason they haven''t been able to surpass Gold and Silver Sect or Yangzhou''s Song n.

    "Luo n is lucky they were gifted with Luo Ming. His swordy prowess, management skills, fame and integrity set the two departments straight. He was also the key to settling their internal and external strife. They didn''t just get lucky overnight and gain enough power to challenge Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. Think about it: Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary wield more power than anyone among the Seven Champion White Princes.

    "Luo n had a string of misfortunes when Luo Ming''s sons sessively passed away due to inexplicable reasons after he began training in seclusion. Some im he decided to seclude himself as he was depressed after his sons'' untimely deaths. As a parent myself, I can imagine his misery, so I wouldn''t rule out the im. If he refuses to take the reins, Luo Siming and Luo Xian will inevitably sh."

    Dugu: "That must be why you said you cannot visit Master Luo under your real identity once we reach Canhu Town and are opting to join the convention.

    "Exactly. If I was to visit using my real identity, it would be difficult to know what to expect. The Seven Champion White Princes'' are Jiangnan''s martial world''s hope. Every move they make has a direct impact on the pugilistic world. If they start trouble, the consequences would be on par with The Four unorthodox Factions going on a rampage."

 Volume 7 69 A Few Facts about Luo Sword Manor (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 69 A Few Facts about Luo Sword Manor (Part 2)</h4>

    Those serving the imperial court hated hearing The Four Unorthodox Factions mentioned because anyonebelled as their equal had the potential to overthrow the imperial court. Their very name was synonymous with treason. Emperor Yuansheng''s decision to reference them was a giveaway he disliked Refining Divine Convention.

    "Yes, we''re deliberatelyplicating the issue and need to monitor Luo Sword Manor before deciding on a course of action. I am happy to reward them for forging an excellent weapon as it could be an event worth celebrating in the martial world. If they have other designs, do not spare them."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," the three pugilists answered simultaneously.

    "You don''t need to behave as though we are marching into enemy territory. At the end of the day, Luo Ming can still rein them in. I doubt Luo Xian would dare to attempt something he can''t fix. His brother would put him in his ce once hees out of seclusion. He''d have to have his head screwed on loose to go there."

    In the minds of the three: "You''re the tense one, yet you''re telling us to not be tense. His Majesty is ying Cao Cao and Guan Yu back to back; he''s the one pping the cheek and the one rubbing the cheek."

    Emperor Yuansheng was trying to reassure himself when he tried to reassure his subjects. Rumours of Luo Ming suffering from bad health spread in recent years. Emperor Yuansheng was worried for his old friend and didn''t want to imagine the worst case scenario. He told himself, "Brother Luo, please be well. I will drink with you once I arrive at Taihu Sword Ind."

    Emperor Yuansheng forced a smile: "What''s with those looks? Ahem, Hahaha, we have Miss Lyu to thank. Had she not risked her wellbeing to inform me of Refining Divine Convention, we wouldn''t be able to prepare for it. We''d be caught off guard if we only learned of it upon arriving at Canhu Town. We also need to thank her for telling us about Night Fortress'' master¡­ Wait. Damn it."

    "What is it, Your Majesty? Is Old Luo Ming really a goner?" Long Zaitian asked.

    "Nonsense! He''s doing well. I''m talking about Miss Lyu."ong Zaitian scratched his head: "What about the l(ass)-, Miss Lu?"

    "Think about where she is!"

    "Did you not say it was inappropriate for a young maiden to be with us? Was that not why you had her share a carriage with the imperial doctors? I noticed she looked unwilling to leave our carriage. I suppose she prefers ourrge and nice carriage, so sh-"

    "Enough with the unfounded libel. Take a look at where Ming Feizhen is!"ong Zaitian poked his head out. Ming Feizhen wasn''t with his mule. He thought he heard Ming Feizhen''s voiceing from Miss Lyu''s carriage. He came back in and answered, "It seems¡­ Ming Feizhen is ying dice with the artisan. The punk uses some sort of tricks. I have never lost a game before, yet I kept losing to him. It was so heartbreak-."

    "Shut up or I''ll drug you mute! Don''t just sit there. Go and break them up."

    Dugu and Tie Hanyi caught on to what Emperor Yuansheng was implying. Long Zaitian wasst to catch on. Once Long Zaitian caught on, he pped a thigh.

    Tie Hanyi: "p your own thigh!"ong Zaitian cackled: "My bad, my bad. Your Majesty, Long Zaitian understands your concern. He shall split them up now."

    "I''m d to see you''re still quick-witted, Vice-Captain Long. Go now."

    "Right away, Your Majesty!"

    Dugu: "Is he really that perceptive? Does he actually understand?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Ming Feizhen is so thoughtless. I can''t stand him even though I''m just a subject. I am duty bound to intervene. How dare he try to cock block His Majesty," Long Zaitian mumbled as he left the carriage. "Ming Feizhen must be out of his mind. You think you can put a green hat on His Majesty just because you have connections with Night Fortress? This dragon will teach you!"

    Dugu and Tie Hanyi turned to Emperor Yuansheng.

    "Did his stupidity infect you two?! Ming Feizhen couldn''t exin the gifts for Night Fortress'' master today and performed an impromptu act, forging his identity to craft his lie. He doesn''t need to exin any further; it''s obvious we''re both lying to each other. If Miss Lyu lets him know she told me the gifts were for Night Fortress'' master, however, he''d start to suspect us. We didn''t let Miss Lyu know about this. She will tell him everything if he asks her. Do you see the problem now?"

    In Dugu and Tie Hanyi''s minds: "Put simply, we missed it because we didn''t spare Miss Lyu that much attention. His Majesty isn''t nning tomit adultery behind Her Majesty''s back, is he?"

    Miss Lyu and I chatted for over four hours. I shared His Majesty''s seven sons and three daughters'' wealthy-family, tragic, intrigue melodrama in three parts. My main aim was to tell Miss Lyu the old timer was off the market. To my surprise, she ignored the story and focused on the part about all the women around him trying to dig his gold, take advantage of his martial prowess and character. That''s why she felt sorry for him after his "depressing" marriages.

    "W-Wait, didn''t I say Mr Fangzhang likes his wives?"

    "Even if they did develop feelings in the process, their motivation for marriage was not initially love. Did you not say they married him for his money?"

    What the hell is this perspective? He was never depressed for a day. You were reciting Li Bai''s Quiet Night Thoughts when he was flirting with Feng Huang! Haven''t you realised the only lonely one was you?!

    "How shameless!" I folded my arms and borated, "Open your eyes. Those types of rich and powerful men start unting how big their carriage is, how cool, suave, gentle, considerate and caring they are as soon as they see a maiden they like, such as you."

    "That is a lie!" Face aze, Lu Yaoqin argued, "Mr. Fangzhang is mature. He would not do that."

    "Hey, Ming Feizhen. Move aside. I''m here for Miss Lu!" Long Zaitian shouted as he barged in.yu Yaoqin flinched.

    "What do you want to see her for?"

    "Hmph, this carriage is squishy and poor quality. Master invited Miss Lyu over to join him. Do we need your permission?"

    My eyesmunicated to Miss Lu, "See? What did I tell you? They''re bragging about their carriage, aren''t they?"

    "What else did Master say?"

    "What''s it to you? Master is cool and suave. You can''tpare."

    I turned to Lyu Yaoqin right away: "What did I just say? That''s literally word for word what I told you. You still have time to change your mind."

    "Look at this carriage. Unlike you, Master is gentle, considerate and caring¡­"

    I didn''t need toment again. Lyu Yaoqin was convinced. Her face was as red as a tomato. She hid behind me and quietly replied, "Th-thanks, but no thanks."

    Stumped, Long Zaitian turned back to see Emperor Yuansheng''s eyebrows together. I exchanged eye contact with Emperor Yuansheng. I saw the eyes of a wild beast staring hostilely and berating his foe. I interpreted his nod as, "You have guts!"

    I nodded back to signal, "Fangzhang is old but strong!"

    Notes:

    *To y Cao Cao and Guan Yu back to back is a reference to Cao Cao''s admiration of Guan Yu''s character and desire to have him join his ranks, but Guan Yu''s loyalty didn''t lie with him. In other words, one is asking oneself and rejecting oneself. I really didn''t want to remove the cultural element here, which is why I didn''t trante the expression straight out.

    **Li Bai''s Quiet Night Thoughts is a real poem. In case you forgot, he''s a poet from the Tang Dynasty. The poem is listed as number 233 in the collection 300 Tang Poems. Sometimes, people refer to its first line instead of its real title.

 Volume 7 70 Every Man Harbours Absurd Ideas

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 70 Every Man Harbours Absurd Ideas</h4>

    We kept our carriage''s curtains up mainly due to it being stuffy inside. Opening the two small windows on the sides wasn''t enough. It was enough and convenient for Emperor Yuansheng tomunicate with us, having said that.

    Miss Lyu''s cheeks were coloured red the second she saw Emperor Yuansheng with his golden dragon knife.

    Hang in there! I can''t let you prostit-, what am I saying? I can''t let you be a mistress when your father entrusted you to me!

    I hate to admit it, but Li n was blessed with exceptional appearances. He was over forty for crying out loud, yet he had Lyu Yaoqin around his finger. Regardless, I scoffed and stood before Lu Yaoqin. I leaned forward a little, covering her from even the breeze. I ran my eyes up, down and side to side on Emperor Yuansheng.

    "Young Ming, what are you doing? Step forward. Do you want to fight with me or something?"

    Huh? This clown is using the framing strategy now. You can''t deny it when you the thirty people around us are all your men!

    Bai Laimu and the ten behind him didn''t move, pretending they didn''t hear Emperor Yuansheng, but they had their hands tightly around their weapons.

    You lecherous old bugger, resorting to unscrupulous means for girls now. If Princess Hongzhuang found out, she''d turn you into a real abbot!

    "Hmph, I do not like trouble. However, I cannot stand certain behaviours, so I have decided to intervene."

    Emperor Yuansheng evidently switched to a high vignce mode and asked Dugu and Tie Hanyi, "Has he found out?"

    Dugu: "Possibly."

    Tie Hanyi: "Not necessarily. He might have caught onto something, though."

    Emperor Yuansheng turned back to me: "Did you find out?"

    "Huh? About what?"

    Emperor Yuansheng turned back to his two aides: "Does he know or not.

    Dugu: "Possibly."

    Tie Hanyi: "Not necessarily. He might have caught onto something, though."

    Emperor Yuansheng mused over my response then grinned: "So, you don''t know."

    Oh, I get it now. You''re worried I saw through your lust for Miss Lyu? You must think I''m blind. You underestimated my shifu and me! He shared his wisdom daily. You think you can be more lecherous than my sh-, ahem. You think you can be more debauched than a deb-, ahem, you think you''re a better yer than my shifu?

    "If I did not notice, I would have disappointed your expectations."

    "You really know?"

    "Miss Lyu''s secret? Of course!"

    Emperor Yuansheng reacted as if humanity''s greatest cmity appeared before him: "It seems¡­ you found out¡­"

    There''s something odd about this atmosphere¡­

    "Long Zaitian!"Emperor Yuansheng yelled .

    From our carriage, Long Zaitian thundered, "Ol'' Ming, are you going to surrender or not?!"

    Bloody Long Zaitian enhanced his voice with his internal strength, nearly deafening the artisans in the carriage. Even Miss Lyu felt her ears ache.

    I flew off the handle: "Long Zaitian, if Boss Shen finds out you''ve been bullying innocent girls, I guarantee you''ll be walking around with empty eye sockets, at the very least!"ong Zaitian''s crush on Boss Shen was genuine, so he flinched, but he could bluff just as I could. He fired back, "Aren''t you worried Master will be angry you''re so intimate with her? To be frank, Master sent me here to take Miss Lyu over. She is Master''s guest. Miss Lyu isn''t yours to bed."

    "What?! Did you just say Fangzhang wants her in his bed?!" I deliberately yelled.

    Miss Lyu grabbed my shirt as if it was her raft.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You decide whether you will surrender her or not. I''ve fulfilled my job. Miss Lyu, Master genuinely likes you. He is an exceptional gentleman. Put it this way, his fart would sound different to even deities''. This is a once-in-a-thousand-lifetimes opportunity. As long as you approve, I may have to start calling you Mistress in a few days."

    "What are you, a prostitution ring leader?! Approve what? Lyu Chunyang and I are old friends. She''s basically my daughter. Shove your bullsh*t up your a-hole, and piss off!"

    "I am here on orders. Even if I can''t make things difficult for you, I must take her with me. Who can stop Master? Think about it."

    Crap¡­ I work for Emperor Yuansheng. A sovereign''smands can''t restrain a general on the field, but the sovereign also happens to be on the field¡­ Drats. Nevertheless, I can''t feed Miss Lyu to a predator when she served me a delicious meal.

    While I was protecting Miss Lyu, Emperor Yuansheng was strategizing with his men.

    Emperor Yuansheng: "He knows. Miss Lu must have informed him. It''s going to be difficult to check his background now."

    Dugu: "If we want to dig up information on him, we need to put it on hold so that he does not turn on us."

    Tie Hanyi: "Dugu is right. If we confront each other now, it will be hard to look into him. How about you pretend to get along with him to calm him down first, Your Majesty?"

    "If we don''t strike, he will strike. We already have enough on our te to be worrying about Ming Feizhen. If we don''t deal with him now, what if he bes the rock in our shoes? Stop!"

    The coach was able to stop on demand along with the escort. Emperor Yuansheng got off his carriage and fixed his gaze on¡­ me.

    What are you looking at?! I wasn''t the one who called halt. I was busy confronting Long Zaitian.

    Emperor Yuansheng ambled over to me with fire in his eyes, a sign a Just Realm internal energy user was moulding energy. Just Realm focused on one''s spirit. It was considered the fastest route to the best internal strength. That was why it was considered the strongest realm among the eight. However, there were few styles that belonged in that category, and not everybody could learn them.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s internal energy wasn''t enough to fluster me, but there were only two possible oues if I decided to butt heads with him.

    Scenario one: expose my identity and kiss my retirement n goodbye. Every soldier under the imperial court''s employment would be sure to recognise me. All of the people with grudges with me from my past woulde back to haunt me. Jingan would be ecstatic to have the chance to finally finish me.

    Scenario two: protect my identity but deal with imprisonment in order to stop Emperor Yuansheng''s phndering business.

    I never nned for the dilemma, damn it!ittle did I know Emperor Yuansheng was thinking, "He''s quaking in his boots? Adepts who''ve reached my level can suppress their internal energy. Those who''ve gone beyond can even feign death convincingly; they''re so proud that they refuse to y possum as a strategy, though. Pretending to quake in one''s boots also has signature traits. In saying that, his shaking is erratic. Is he genuinely afraid? That would mean his skills are poor."

    Emperor Yuansheng started to look smug, easing up the atmosphere. I didn''t have the foggiest idea what he was smug about. Before he could speak, I heard, "Wait."

    Su Xiao''s qinggong was horrid, so he couldn''t jump over to us while the horses were moving. Once they stopped, he came running over.

    A pretty maid-, Su Xiao jumped in between us and questioned, "What are you doing?!"

 Volume 7 71 Encounter in the Mountains

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 71 Encounter in the Mountains</h4>

    Su Xiao followed the rulebook to the "T". Imagine how much further that was reinforced after working at the ministry of justice. He loved to correct me and gave me earfuls when we shared a room. I wouldn''t have been surprised if he lectured me for arguing with my superior. Emperor Yuansheng would turn a three year sentence into a thirty year sentence if Su Xiao convinced him. I was determined to stop Su Xiao, but he pivoted to face Emperor Yuansheng.

    "What are you doing, forcibly kidnapping a girl?!"

    Boy, did I never see that oneing. Su Xiao went crazy-beautiful-maiden mode, going off at Emperor Yuansheng and Long Zaitian.

    "She said no, yet you want to impose your will upon her? Miss Lyu is only a guest, someone hitching a ride with us. What makes you think you can do as you please to her?"

    Confounded, Emperor Yuansheng fiddled with his beard: "What do you mean? Impose my will?"

    "It is in to see that you want Miss Lyu to drink with you in your carriage, but she said no, so you are forcing her. Big Brother Ming kindly defended her, yet you sent Long Zaitian over to force her to join you! You have be a tyrannical man."

    "Watch what you say! Wh-whenever did I ask Miss Lyu to drink with me? ¡­ Long Zaitian! What did you tell them?!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "N-nothing. Did you not tell me to invite Miss Lyu to your carriage? That was all I did."

    I chimed in: "Tell it like it is. You just told Miss Lyu to go with Master. What do we mean? Forcing yourself on innocent girls."

    "Forcing? It''s called inviting. Plenty of mistresses of old distinguished men in the capital were invited girls from other distinguished families. Invite them once or twice, and they be part of the family. It''s called invite, right, Master?"

    "Shut up! Come back here, Long Zaitian!"ong Zaitian jogged back to Emperor Yuansheng with his head down.

    Emperor Yuansheng mused, "Ming Feizhen only wanted to protect Miss Lyu? That means he didn''t overhear us and doesn''t know we suspect him. He knows my temperament after our numerous interactions. I don''t think he''s that troublesome as a fighter. He does have a sense of justice rivalling heroes in the martial world for that matter. As long as he''s willing to devote his loyalty to the imperial court, we could use him."

    Emperor Yuansheng stopped wearing his frown and rified, "Su Xiao, don''t speak without the full context. Long Zaitian misunderstood what I meant. I wanted to let her ride my carriage because she''s a girl, while they''re all men squashed in a squishy carriage. Miss Lyu, I did not mean to offend you. Please forgive my subordinate for offending you."

    Fangzhang''s bow and apology won a nod from Lyu Yaoqin: "I know you are a gentleman, Mr. Fangzhang. Young Master Zh-, Ming was merely sticking up for me. Please do not me him."

    "Of course, of course. I didn''t call a halt and get off for that. I got off for¡­ for¡­" Emperor Yuansheng sent Dugu a signal as he stammered.

    Dugu immediately caught on: "Look over there. That is why Master had the escort stop."

    We looked in the direction Dugu pointed. At the border of Taihu''s lush wild was a rather big manor. I noticed Emperor Yuansheng''s dumbstruck look. He got off his carriage to punch me. How else would anyone exin his bloodlust before?

    There were signs of life in the manor, but there was nobody in there. Outside, however, the scene reminded me¡­ of the day Boss Shen went missing.

    Dugu borated, "We received a letter from Canhu Town. Our people were ambushed at a peculiar manor on their way to Canhu Town. We took a different route, but I think our paths converge here. We''re not far from Canhu Town now. We''re the same distance away and at the same manor. It is hard not to be vignt."

    If we continued on our way, we''d reach Canhu Town at night in the very best scenario since it was already evening. If we searched the manor, we might pick up something. In saying that, we''d be forced to spend the night in the wild. Simply put, our predicament was simr to Boss Shen''s.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s Entourage wanted to head to Canhu Town and investigate the manor on the way back. Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I, to the contrary, insisted on searching the manor immediately. Long Zaitian chose to not take any side.

    "Why not?! We''ll find some clues!" Su Xiao argued.

    Tie Hanyi disputed, "It is getting dark. Staying in the wild is bad enough as it is. That manor is located in the woods. Our risk is magnified many folds if we stay there. Vice-Captain Shen had ten times our numbers, and what happened to her? Master cannot afford to take the risk. Moreover, though the manor is simr, there''s no guarantee there will be any clues. What''s the point of taking a risk with no promised return?"

    I contested, "If there are no clues, why would there be a risk? Are you listening to yourself? If there are no clues, there are no risks. If there are risks, then the manor is evidently suspicious. If you want to find clues, you have to take risks. If your feet are wet, we''ll go by ourselves."

    Dugu chastised, "Brother Ming, think before you speak. Ol'' Tie is being considerate."

    "Being considerate? More like spouting horsefeathers. Easy for you to say when your superior is rxing at home. Our superior''s whereabouts are unknown. You, of course, wouldn''t want to risk your lives for our superior. If you two are so afraid, let''s split up, shall we?"

    Tie Hanyi: "I am afraid. Afraid Master will be in danger. We''ve been afraid for his safety ever since we set out. We''re always looking to reduce his risks. No matter how anxious you are, you can''t disregard Master''s safety, can you?!"

    "Let''s go check out the manor," Emperor Yuansheng dered.

    Ol'' Tie: "Master!"

    The sunlight shone a light on Emperor Yuansheng''s brave visage as he asserted, "We came to search for her, so we must pursue any potential clues. Yiren may not be in Evil Spirits'' grasp, but I''m still vexed we haven''t found her. I can''t ignore clues if they''re right in front of me. Stay vignt and march to the manor!"

    Watching Emperor Yuansheng made me realise it wasn''t so bad working for such a tolerant and loyal superior.

    Though the manor appeared close, it took us an hour to reach it, partially because the paths were narrower and narrower the further in we went. We were lucky we were a small group. Strangely, we didn''t see any traces of horse carriages crossing through.

    The manor resembled a war zone unlike the resplendent manor mentioned in the letter. We didn''t find any signs of physical confrontations despite searching high and low. There was no way they didn''t fight if Mountain Monster didn''t lie. By the time we searched though several times, the horizon was bright red. We had to decide if we were going to continue searching or continue on to Canhu Town.

    My listless gaze gradually turned violent. Some of Emperor Yuansheng''s men imed we might''ve been at the wrong ce and wanted to send another team back to it after we reached Canhu Town.

    "We''re probably going to have to stay here tonight," I interrupted.

    Emperor Yuansheng: "What makes you say so? Did you find something?"

    "I would not say it is a key clue. That being said, they are clear," I replied, casting my gaze over to the carriage Mountain Monster was locked in. I could hear her heart thumping louder and louder, a sign of concern. I added, "I am willing to bet my head Vice-Captain Shen was ambushed here."

    I didn''t go into depth, but Emperor Yuansheng believed my assertion.

    Due to signs of mould everywhere inside for some reason, we decided to set up camp in the woods. It didn''t take us long to set up sevenrge tent frames for we had apetent team. Sustenance, however, was an issue. We, consequetly, had to split up in small teams for various jobs.

    Hunting team: Su Xiao, Ye Luo, Tie Hanyi, Long Zaitian and I.

    Guard team: Tang Ye and Dugu.

    Patrol: Bai Laimu.

    We needed more hunters than other roles as there weren''t many animals on the mountain - not to mention it was winter.

    Emperor Yuansheng watched his people busy at work with a smile: "Not bad. This is quite the experience. Men, add firewood."

    Emperor Yuansheng sniffed the air and thought, "A female''s scent. Why does she have this scent?"

    "What a coincidence to meet in the mountains. Would it be all right for this one to ask for shelter for the night?"

    The tall maiden around eighteen years old, adorning a purple robe, stepped out from the woods. Over ten of the imperial court''s warriors dropped what they were doing and assumed Eighteen Luohan poses. Du Gu took two steps over to cover Emperor Yuansheng from the front, finishing the defence formation. Tang Ye grabbed his great spear and prepared to murder the maiden at the drop of a hat.

    The maiden was inplete control of her emotions and sported subtle dimples: "Are you mistaking me for a monster?"

    Evil Spirits'' were named after transformed mountain monsters, which was why Dugu andpany were worried she was with the bandits. After hearing her remark, hemanded, "Prepare to attack!"

    Emperor Yuansheng, in his deep voice, stopped his men and inquired, "What are you doing here at this hour, Miss?"

    The maiden answered in a serious tone owing to Dugu''s reaction: "I knocked several times but did not receive a response. When I heard sounds from this direction, I came to see what the ruckus was about. I did not intend to rm you."

    Emperor Yuansheng: "I see."

    The maiden nced at the maiden and smiled again: "That is quite the manor. I lost track of time as I was in a rush. It iste, so I wish to seek shelter. Is there any chance I could?"

    Emperor Yuansheng realised the maiden mistook him for being the owner of the manor.

    Since she didn''t receive an answer, the dignified maiden asked, "Have I mistaken you for the owner? Would you be able to introduce me to the owner?"

    Despite the maiden wearing a face veil, Emperor Yuansheng''s brain stuttered. He blurted, "I am the owner. You may stay as long as you like. Men, we''re returning to the manor!"

 Volume 7 72 Hunt

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 72 Hunt</h4>

    "Don''t run! Stop! Just one sh!"

    Su Xiao chased a rtively wild boar around with his sabre raised, albeit in clumsy fashion - evident from him losing it before he could get within range.

    "What are you running for?! You just ate my bait, yet you refuse to stand still for me to chop you?!"

    After fiveps, the boar outran Su Xiao, rendering him short of breath. Pouting, he sulked, "How does a boar run so fast?!"

    I dusted a big rock: "Come over and catch your breath."

    "All right, once I''ve caught my breath, I''ll go after it again."

    Su Xiao smiled as if the exhaustion was nothing to fret about. He carelessly threw aside Ancient Cold and skipped over to sit next to me, heaving a big breath.

    "It''s getting dark. Catching boars will be even harder because we''ll barely be able to see where we''re going."

    The moon and stars plus a torch were enough to traverse the mountain, though barely. We weren''t poor hunters, but that didn''t miraculously lull animals out of hibernation.

    Su Xiao moped, "Howme. I don''t understand why the boars were so afraid. They ate my bait for crying out loud."ittle did Su Xiao know animals bolted¡­ as soon as they sensed my presence nearby.

    "It must be because your ugly looks scared them off," I lied as I touched my nose.

    "Me? I don''t look good?!" Su Xiao pointed at himself with his eyes wide. Convinced due to my stare, he lowered his finger in defeat: "My mother used to always call me ugly and forbade me from ying with other kids¡­ After I left home, however, people stopped saying I was ugly¡­ Does that mean animals can still tell?"

    Su Xiao''s head sunk more and more as his speak. Thest few words were literally hums. Iughed in response his adorable reaction, scaring off the birds in the woods.

    "Big Brother Ming, howe yourugh is so loud, while my voice can''t travel so far? Haha¡­ Hahaha¡­"

    Su Xiao''s attempt wasughable.

    "You didn''t use the method I taught you. That''s why. If you use it, your voice will travel much further than that."

    Su Xiao wasn''t totally convinced, but he didn''t try again. He ran his eyes from my head to my toes. He looked as if heprehended something; he actually didn''t. He leaned over and grinned: "What''s the matter?"

    I sighed: "Xiao, if it wasn''t for you, His Majesty and I would''ve taken the confrontation much further."

    Su Xiao looked surprised for a second. Smiling, he responded, "His Majesty was in the wrong in the first ce. Nobody could stand him trying to force a girl against her will. That said¡­"

    Su Xiao grabbed my hand, speeding up my heart rate. I stuttered, "Wh-What?"

    "Is that what you''re not happy about?"

    "Yeah. What else, otherwise?"

    "You''re dealing with something tough again, aren''t you?" Su Xiao mercilessly exposed.

    I tilted my head and farcically asked, "What do you mean? Why would working for His Majesty be bad?"

    "There are plenty of examples!" Su Xiao argued. He extended his fingers and flexed them as he listed, "Liu Shan Men''s uniform is hideous, and we only have one set. I asked Vice-Captain if we could switch it on many asions, but she said no. When we go on patrol, I notice plenty of citizens living in damaged homes. I''d still be sleeping on the ground on your room if we weren''t on this job. Also, I think I''ve gained weight since joining them¡­"

    "How much?"

    Smoke whisked from Su Xiao''s head: "A lot! Stop asking!"

    "I must," I folded my arms and responded with a smile. "As the head of the family, I must keep track of every child''s wellbeing. Tell me, Miss, how much heavier are you?"

    "Who you calling Miss?! ¡­ I gained¡­ half a kilo."

    "Huh?"

    Half a kilo? You mean¡­ you weighed yourself after eating two miniature buns?

    "What''s with that reaction?! Half a kilo isn''t enough for you?!"

    "That''s hardly anything. There''s more than a five kilo discrepancy before and after I eat."

    "That''s because you stuff your face with too much! Vice-Captain even said you''d eat Liu Shan Men into bankruptcy if we didn''t raise our ie!"

    "Now I''m feeling hungry with all this talk about eating. Xiao, catch a boar already."

    "All you do is eat! Learn to contribute! Why don''t you do something?!"

    "That''s all because you couldn''t catch anything, isn''t it? You stayed too upright when you chased the boar. We''re on a mountain, not a in. You need to move in a crouched position. You also forgot to adjust your breathing. Use the breathing technique I taught you, and you won''t feel tired even if you run tenps."

    Su Xiao puffed his cheeks: "Then, the me falls on yourziness! You''re helping out this time no matter what!"

    Su Xiao dragged me as he ran into the dark woods.ong Zaitian was first to return to the rendezvous point after approximately an hour since the Emperor gave them an hour to hunt. They wouldn''t dare to let him starve, after all. They were to report back in time even if they didn''t catch anything.ong Zaitian had several catches and was grinning from ear to ear. He spotted a female silhouette off in the distance and assumed it had to be Su Xiao or Ye Luo.

    "How''d you go, Missy?"

    Ye Luo answered, "Not much and not too few. I got something, I guess."

    "More than me?" Long Zaitian dropped his catches onto the ground: "Night has nothing on Ol'' Long. These eight rabbits can only me fate for dealing them bad l-"

    Seeing a rain of something, Long Zaitian jumped back. There was a mountain of birds on the ground.

    "No need to count. There are forty-seven," Ye Luo stated with a smile. They hid themselves, but it made no difference to me."

    Ye Luo didn''t necessarily need arrows with her archery proficiency. The birds weren''t adepts, at the end of the day. With just her true qi, she was able to knock them unconscious.

    "Damn, you started with a cheat skill. Unfair bet. I''m not interested."

    Ye Luo giggled: "I never betted with you. Where''s everyone else?"

    "Coming,ing!" Su Xiao called from afar. "We''re back."ong Zaitian wore on a smug mug: "Her gums work full time and over time. What did you catch?"

    Thud! Long Zaitian heard the bones of his rabbits crack. He griped, "The hell?!"

    When Long Zaitian looked down, he saw a bear.

    "My back aches. My whole body is tired. Ol'' Tie still not back?" I grumbled and asked as I sauntered over.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ye Luoughed: "I just saw him. He said he was going to hunt a bear, as well. He should be back soon since you two caught one."

    Out of nowhere, a bloody body dropped down from above. We didn''t even get a good look, but Ye Luo screamed, "Brother Tie!"

    I took a deep breath. What I feared became a reality, and I was faced with a critical decision.

 Volume 7 73 Pinch

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 73 Pinch</h4>

    "This is the front yard. The small flower garden over there leads to the backyard. The book room is over this way. The bedrooms are that way¡­"

    Although nobody informed Emperor Yuansheng what the various rooms were, he could rely on his own judgement to give the maiden a tour of the manor in convincing fashion.

    "Your manor is a work of art. I have travelled to many ces in Jiangnan. This is one of thergest manors I have visited," the maiden shared, yet not reflecting her surprise on her face and from her mannerisms. "I am curious why you set up camp outside of your manor, though."

    "Well¡­ it eventually gets boring if you stay in the same ce for too long. I like to incorporate novelty into life."

    The maiden pursed her lips and lifted the corners: "Either way, I am grateful you are willing to provide me with shelter for the night. I would have had to spend the night in the wild, otherwise. I am pedantic about staying clean, so I would rather travel through the night than stay in the wild."

    "You are very wee. I constructed this manor for the purpose of providing tired travellers with someone to sojourn. It would be nice to travel tonight because the scenery in the sky is pleasant to behold. That said, I would be worried if you travelled alone at night. I will not take up your rest time. I have ordered my people to tidy up a room and fetch hot water. Please make yourself at home after dinner."yu Yaoqin wasn''t a fan of the maiden. First of all, the maiden was ready for marriage at her age, yet was running around. Next, there was only one reason she''d behave so entrancingly.

    I could overlook you seducing other men, but Mr. Fangzhang? Don''t you know he has a wife, mistress, seven sons and three daughters?!

    Emperor Yuansheng had no clue Lyu Yaoqin was shooting him a disdainful re. Instead, he continued with his conversation: "Haha, you can worry about your journey tomorrow. If you need anything, just say the word. My name is Fangzhang and surname is Li."

    "Fangzhang? Do you believe in Buddhism? That is quite the interesting name."

    "Haha, not really. I just chose it forughs?"

    "Eh?"

    "Ahem, I meant to say my parents gave me the name for fun when I was young. Over time, we just got used to it. May I ask what your name is?"yu Yaoqin folded her arms, thinking, "We''re both guests, yet he never exined the origins of his name to me!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Ah, I apologise. My surname is E, pronounced ''uh'' as in Epang Pce. As for my name, I shall not embarrass myself."

    "I apologise for being inconsiderate," Emperor Yuansheng responded with a polite smile. "Miss E, that is a very ancient surname. Would your ancestors happen to be an influential n from the South?"

    "I am impressed with your knowledge," Miss E cheerfully remarked. "It is ttering to hear our n is considered influential. We, indeed, are from the south. We are country dwellers, so I have been worried about my manners."

    "Not at all. You are a well-mannered and graceful youngdy. Had you not told me, I would have assumed you were from Jiangan."

    Miss E''s giggle had Lyu Yaoqin thinking, "Yep, she''s no good. Even herugh is painfully annoying."

    Emperor Yuansheng had someone escort Miss E to her bedroom. He turned around to see Lyu Yaoqin pouting most adorably, prompting him to touch his head and quey, "What is the matter, Miss Lu? Did someone offend you?"

    "No." Miss Lu pivoted and walked off: "You can entertain whoever you please. I am not interested, hmph."

    Emperor Yuansheng was the patriarch of a harem, yes. Those rtionships were the product of packaged marriages, though. For the most part, he got to know them after the adventure under the sheets. Hence, hecked the experience and knowledge the read between Lyu Yaoqin''s lines.

    "Oh, not interested. That''s fine. That''s fine," responded Emperor Yuansheng.

    The n was to have the hunting team prepare the catch and serve it up once they were back. The camp was treated as a rest station for those on patrol. Emperor Yuansheng assembled his subordinates in the main hall to await the hunting team''s return.

    As soon as Miss E ambled into her room, her expression flipped from warm to frosty and rambled, "What a bunch of morons¡­ I thought a monster caught Mountain Monster, but they''re just retards."

    Miss E, born gifted with a graceful visage no matter if she was angry or happy, wasn''t well known in the Central in. Howbeit, in Beijiang, her alias was River Monster. River Monster learnt about Mountain Monster''s capture from her subordinates. Though the two weren''t usually on the same length, she couldn''t turn a blind eye owing to Abels. She monitored the escort on their way to the manor. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find an opportunity to strike. Once she saw them enter the manor they once used, she daringly decided to infiltrate the enemy camp.

    River Monster never failed to seduce a man, and she interpreted Emperor Yuansheng''s tour to be her indication of sess. The purpose behind letting him give her the tour was to try and locate Mountain Monster''s whereabouts. His passionate wee and Miss Lu''s jealousy gave away Mountain Monster''s whereabouts. She imagined arrogant, crazy Mountain Monster pleading her for help and relished it.

    River Monster stole a gander outside to see Emperor Yuansheng gather his people in the main hall. She mumbled, "Night Fortress'' master troubles Master, yet Night Fortress'' master''s people are jokes. I wasted my time being cautious and saving my backup outside."

    The door to the room Mountain Monster was held captive was locked using threerge iron locks. A condescending smile surfaced on River Monster''s mug as she took out a metal tool from her shirt and unlocked the three locks silently.

    River Monster could sense someone inside the chest ced within an iron cage, which was the type they used to incarcerate wild beasts in Beijiang, and assumed it was Mountain Monster. The cage wasn''t locked. Instead, someone violently jammed the door. No level of lock picking would be able to open it. River Monster concluded they had to have an artisan with them to pull it off. Strangely, however, she didn''t see traces of a furnace. How did they start a fire, then?

    Quietly, River Monster called, "Crazy Wench. Crazy Wench, wake up. It''s me."

    River Monster assumed the silence was due to Mountain Monster being unconscious. She quietlyined, "Useless nut case, well-deserved for always yapping too much."

    River Monstercked the internal strength required to break iron. Nheless, she had her means of working the cage. Demonstrating astounding mobility and body maniption she utilised to trick Hong Jiu during their encounter, she gradually squeezed her way through the bars. She shortened herself, shrunk her bosom and used her internal strength to force her head through.

    River Monster opened the chest: "Crazy Wench, get up. I''m here to pick y-"

    "What the hell do you think you''re doing?!" River Monster cursed as she reactively evaded an iing de.

    River Monster thought Mountain Monster''s bloodlust addiction was screwing with her mind, thus the attack on arade. To her surprise, a youth in red brandishing a small knife hopped out from the chest. Further analysing the attack, River Monster realised it wasn''t Mountain Monster''s style.

    "A trap!"

    "Exactly," Emperor Yuansheng responded as they stormed in. "It was necessary to capture Evil Spirit''s other leader, hahahaha!"

 Volume 7 74 Mourning Soul

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 74 Mourning Soul</h4>

    Dugu came in smiling from ear to ear. Tang Ye came in brandishing his great spear.

    "Mr. Fangzhang, your acting skills deserve an award. I admit you had me fooled."

    "Haha, didn''t expect it, did you? You may have a n, but I also know how to use deceit. You have Bone Maniption Skill. I have a short subordinate."

    Bai Laimu, who was engaging River Monster, was frustrated he was called short, especially after having to suffer in the chest for so long.

    River Monster didn''t y any mind games after she was caught. The only reason Bai Laimu was still breathing was because he got the jump on her, and Emperor Yuansheng surprised her. Plus, she was talking as she was fending off Bai Laimu''s attacks. In saying that, he managed to slow her movements down using his sticky style.

    "Don''t think you have me cornered!"

    River Monster formed ws with her fingers and retaliated, hampering Bai Laimu''s manoeuvres. Once she switched to her main style, she had him on high tension and barely hanging on by a thread within the next three exchanges.

    River Monster strived to take Bai Laimu hostage since she was surrounded. Howbeit, she changed her mind after figuring it would take a while to defeat him owing to his tricky style. The longer the contest went on, the slimmer her chances of escape. Furthermore, she wanted to bait the others into attacking her.

    As expected, Tang Ye broke the iron bars and jumped in. River Monster anticipated the attack and was ready to counter her attacker straight away. rmed, she drew her hand back when she felt the iing heat from the red spear. Bai Laimu capitalised on her moment of sluggishness, while Tang Ye pressed the attack to catch her in a pincer attack.

    River Monster used her mobility to her advantage, somersaulting up and bringing her legs to the back of her head. In that one leap, she escaped the cage. Like an arrow, she propelled herself toward Emperor Yuansheng but suddenly changed her direction and vaulted to the roof then immediately bound across several courtyards, rationalising she was at a disadvantage against the four.

    River Monster saw a maiden exit her room, so she called, "Miss Lyu."

    Miss Lyu grouchily asked, "What is it, Miss E? Why are you on the roof?"

    "Mr. Fangzhang invited me here. He said he preferred meeting in private at his room. I have to leave via the rooftop as there are guards outside."

    "How shameless!"

    "You''re right. Look into my eyes."yu Yaoqin froze once she looked into River Monster''s eyes. The eye technique was only effective when the target was emotional. Hence, River Monster used Miss Lu''s affection for Mr. Fangzhang to her advantage. She leapt off the roof and extended her arm toward Lyu Yaoqin. Suddenly, a violent palm strike from below disrupted her force. As a gentle style user, River Monster didn''t stand a chance. The individual who intervened hit straight on, but its crashing-wave style of delivery was impossible for her to dodge. River Monster, therefore, turned and met the blow head on with a palm strike of her own but was driven back eight steps and suffered her first internal injury of the night.

    "Just Realm internal energy? Who are you?" questioned River Monster.

    Emperor Yuansheng pursed his lips into a smile: "Impressive internal energy, Miss. It''s a pity you choose to use your prowess for evil. I cannot let evil go unpunished."

    Emperor Yuansheng turned to Lu Yaoqin: "Miss Lyu, are you all r-"yu Yaoqin pressed her shaky body up against Emperor Yuansheng''s. It wasn''t proper, but he decided to fulfil his duty as a man and gave her gentle pats: "It''s okay. It''s okay now. I won''t let anyone harm you."

    Once Lyu Yaoqin''s shaking subsided, Emperor Yuansheng asked River Monster, "Anyst words?"

    "The winner has thestugh¡­ You can say whatever you please," responded River Monster, panting. "How did you see through my seduction and acting?"

    "Your act was wless. Even so, your calm demeanour and appearing in the mountainste at night raised rms. Your best y was revealing hostility and suspicions to us. You forced us to be suspicious, yet unable to verify our suspicions. You used that to your advantage to take action. I admit I forgot what I was saying several times while giving you the tour against your seduction. In fact, you might have seeded had I not been prepared."

    "Prepared¡­? You were prepared for us? You expect me to believe that when you just said you couldn''t see through me?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "You''re right. Unfortunately¡­"

    "Unfortunately what?"

    The Emperor cracked a smile: "Unfortunately, someone informed me I would find my catch in less than six hours at the manor. He said someone was bound toe to Mountain Monster''s rescue. Ox Demon likes to fight. Hence, he''d charge straight in. River Monster has her charm, so a beauty is bound to be part of her tactic, but she will aim to rescue Mountain Monster. Send men away, and they will act, he said. I decided to trust him. I am lucky to have caught Abels''petent leader of sub-leaders."

    River Monster didn''t expect there to be so much information on them despite their conspicuous thefts since they spent more time hiding. Knowing their personalities so urately¡­ River Monster wondered if it was Night Fortress'' master Abels was wary of.

    "Fret not, Miss. I only have a few questions for you."

    "You think you have me cornered?"

    "This one dares not im so, but it seems you don''t have a choice."

    "Hah, do you know why I am the leader of the quartet?"

    "I assume it is attributed to your intellect and Abels'' direct tuition?"

    "I wish. Only someone obsessed with martial arts, such as Ox Demon, could learn Master''s profound skills. Mountain Monster is skilled with disguise, sabres and broadswords. She has always been at odds with me, so she would never give up her post to me."

    Getting no response, River Monster cackled: "Based on my appearance and seduction skills, it''s safe to conclude I perfected my skills on beds, correct?"

    "Every style requires unshakable determination and concentration to master. Any practitioner''s determination and focus is worthy of respect."

    "You deserve a prize for feigning primness," River Monster teased with an unfettered simper. "But did you know my true skills aren''t under bed sheets but¡­"

    Emperor Yuansheng took a step forward to try and hear River Monster''s softening voice: "What did you s-"

    Emperor Yuansheng stopped in his tracks upon feeling sharp pain at his chest. He looked down to see Lyu Yaoqin scowling and drilling a hairpin into his chest.

 Volume 7 75 Suspicion

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 75 Suspicion</h4>

    "Miss Lyu, you¡­"yu Yaoqin''s scowl turned to a spiritless expression. She tried to push the hairpin deeper in to no avail because Dugu caught up to Emperor Yuansheng and caught the hairpin in his hand before it could stab any deeper than thetter''s skin.

    Since his hand was on Lyu Yaoqin''s back, Emperor Yuansheng discharged true qi onto her back, snapping her out of it.

    "Wh-what am I, ah, what have I done?!" cried Lyu Yaoqin, frantically removing her hands.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn''t me her and defended her. It had been a long time since he red at anyone as aggressively as he stared at River Monster: "That was Mourning Soul Unorthodox Skill. I can''t believe you''d learn that malevolent technique, you fiend."

    "Hihihi, what do fiends learn if not malevolent techniques, Just Realm styles? Ick the patience."

    Mourning Soul Unorthodox Skill, a skill that spread from Beijiang to Nanjiang, manipted one''s five senses and leveraged the target''s mental state to incite hallucinations. It was on par with Ming Feizhen''s Dream Invasion technique in terms of effectiveness, but it was significantly superior to his technique because there weren''t nearly as many conditions to meet for casting.

    Mourning Soul Unorthodox Skill was a high risk technique as the bacsh could hit the user any moment. For that reason, the user targeted those beneath them in wits andbat prowess. At the same time, it was difficult for the target topletely return to their old self once their mental walls were torn down.

    Aptitude and work ethic didn''t promise mastery of Mourning Soul Unorthodox Skill. The only way to master it was practical application, in other words, casting it on people. Orthodox sects despised Morning Soul Unorthodox Skill, citing its inhumane nature. As living sacrifices were required, one needed to gradually practice it on more and more advanced adepts. By that point, it was inevitable lots of lives had been sacrificed.

    "Seeing as it only took a split moment for you to cast, I dare say you sacrificed countless heroes for the sake of your lunacy!"

    "Did you state the obvious to prove your idiocy? I''m with Evil Spirits. What did you expect? Do you count how many meals you''ve had in your life?"

    "You''re right. I should eliminate you for the martial world''s sect even if not for my own purposes."

    "Ooh, I''m so scared. Are you ying heroes of justice? Night Fortress isn''t an orthodox sect in Jiangnan. You think I was born yesterday?"

    "What Night Fortress? You mistook me for being part of Night Fortress?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Are you making a fool out of me? Mountain Monster is head and shoulders above me in terms ofbat prowess and is quick witted. She''s a nut case, but she''s not easy to catch. You think you lot could catch her? Had Night Fortress'' master not caught her, you''d all be corpses already."

    Seeing the surprised reactions, River Monster asked, "They say Night Fortress'' master is on his way to Huzhou, and his representative was with you¡­ What''s with those looks? Do you seriously not know?"

    The escort knew about Night Fortress'' master; however, they never heard anything about a representative. Emperor Yuansheng was sure Ming Feizhen had to do with it.

    Dugu whispered, "We will find out once we capture her."

    Emperor Yuansheng bobbed his head.

    River Monster mused over their responses then inquired, "If you''re not with Night Fortress, why did you capture Mountain Monster? How do you know who I am? We didn''t publicise our presence in the Central in. How did you learn we were here?"

    Dugu grinned: "This is all a misunderstanding, then. Miss, we are not with Night Fortress, and we don''t care what grudge your master has with them. We captured Mountain Monster and will capture you solely for the enmity between us."

    "Enmity between us? Why would there be any enmity between us when we''ve only just met?"

    "Why? If there''s no enmity between us, why did you attack Liu Shan Men''s Vice-Captain Shen?!"

    "You''re with the imperial court?!"

    "Aren''t you tired of talking so much?" Tang Ye blurted.

    River Monster didn''t have any tricks in her bag to fight Tang Ye''s zing and brute-strength style, forcing her to evade the zing dragon swinging toward her. Tang Ye uncoiled his next spear swing to intercept the sh from the imperial court warrior standing by.

    "She cast Mourning Soul Unorthodox Skill on him!" Dugu exined.

    When River Monster evaded Tang Ye''s strike, she darted over to the warrior and wed a chunk of his face off with her bare hands, causing him to scream. The moment he was emotionally stirred, she shed a golden light from her eyes into his, turning him into one of her puppets.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s internal energy could help calm one down, so he struck his subordinate to restore thetter''s state of mind the same way he did for Lyu Yaoqin. Unfortunately, Mourning Soul Unorthodox Sect rendered the subordinate incapacitated as abatant temporarily.

    "After her!" Emperor Yuansheng thundered whilst thinking, "Ming Feizhen is also in the mountains. We''ll find out whether he''s with Night Fortress once we enter the mountain."

    As River Monster ran, she analysed the information on hand: "They''re with the imperial court and here to avenge Shen Yiren. What happened to Night Fortress'' mastering for us? They couldn''t possibly have allied. They don''t appear to know about Night Fortress'' representative. What''s going on here¡­? Why did Master choose now of all times to¡­"

    Hearing the imperial court catching up, River Monster picked up her pace. Irate her rescue mission failed, she cursed, "My puppets and the ck bears I raised have been tasked with eliminating the hunters in the mountains. You''re all finished now!"

 Volume 7 76 Mourning Soul Puppet

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 76 Mourning Soul Puppet</h4>

    The wheezing ck bear king would''ve been dered dead had Tie Hanyi not crashnded on it, garnering a groan. Tie Hanyi, however, was closer to fading than the bear was. Because the bear was double the size of a human being, Tie Hanyi appeared to be in a worse state than he probably was in. Even if the blood spilling from the bear wasn''t visible, the scent couldn''t have gone unnoticed. Tie Hanyi was barely able to raise an arm and gesture.

    "Brother Tie!"

    Ming Feizhen pulled Ye Luo back as she took off. She turned back and raged, "What do you want?!"

    "This isn''t the right time," answered Ming Feizhen, in a chilly voice. "I''ll treat Ol'' Tie. The rest of you¡­ monitor the surroundings closely."

    Ye Luo was exasperated, but, indeed, she shouldn''t have touched him when he was bleeding profusely for there was no telling where his wound or wounds were. Ming Feizhen sneaked over to Tie Hanyi with a torch and checked Tie Hanyi''s wounds. He calmly stated, "It''s an internal injury¡­ The assant is dangerous. Stay alert."

    Working faster than naked eyes could keep up with, Ming Feizhen determined the nature of Tie Hanyi''s wounds, staunched the bleeding, tore off clothing and smeared on herbs procedurally. The trio watching almost changed their impression of doctors watching him in action.ong Zaitian: "You can determine health problems?"

    Ming Feizhen coldly shut Long Zaitian down: "Anyone with eyes can."

    Ming Feizhen''s poorbat skills were public knowledge - courtesy of Su Xiao - but was known for having a good head on his shoulders. At the end of the day, he had to have some redeeming feature. Given he was Mount Daluo''s disciple, he had to have divination, medical or some sort of skill. Of the threergest sect''s, Mount Daluo was strictest with their eptances, after all.

    Su Xiao wouldn''t be surprised if Ming Feizhen showed another misceneous skill since the former had seen plenty from thetter. Nevertheless, he smiled sweetly when he saw Ming Feizhen reveal his medical skills until an ominous wind blew.ong Zaitian couldn''t let it go because he was suspicious of Ming Feizhen, but he refrained from asking since the circumstances didn''t allow. He called, "Who''s there? Please show yourself."

    Su Xiao: "Come out if you''re so tough."

    All they heard was the wind''s howl. Su Xiao was too inexperienced and didn''t do anything but watch. Experienced, Long Zaitian and Ye Luo stealthily summoned their energy to expand their surveince area. s, they didn''t find the assant. They, instead, magnified their fear. It was safe to conclude the person who attacked Tie Hanyi was nearby if they threw him onto the ck bear. If they were unable to pick up anyone, then the culprit wasn''t just a notch or two above them.

    "He''s safe for now," notified Ming Feizhen, rising to his feet. "This isn''t enough to patch him up because the wound is bad. We''ll need to ask Master to liberate the clogs in his meridians in order to avoid other issues cropping upter on."

    "You know who the perpetrator is?" questioned Ye Luo.

    "You think I''m a deity or something? How should I know¡­? That being said, based on the wounds, Ol'' Tie¡­ didn''tst three exchanges."

    "Three exchanges?! They must be the deity!" eximed Long Zaitian.

    The scent of blood permeated the air all of a sudden. A huge ck bear king wouldn''t even have such a strong smell.

    "Bears!" dered Ye Luo. "Bears are closing in on us!"

    The others soon spotted shes of yellow. As if five wasn''t troublesome enough, they saw over ten huge bears that des would have trouble prating. Ye Luo asserted, "They''re ck bears from Beijiang. There''s a tiny chance we''de across even one in the Central in. Someone imported them into the Central in!"

    Inparison to the ck bear king in the middle of the sloth of bears, the others were essentially children.ong Zaitian, a veteran of dealing with pinched, engaged his quick wits and had an inkling. He shifted his gaze to Ming Feizhen and questioned, "Ming Feizhen, how did you beat the ck bear king?"ong Zaitian didn''t want to ask for Ming Feizhen''s help, but he needed Ming Feizhen''s strength to get them out of the pickle. Before he got a response, nheless, Ye Luo called, "Someone ising!"

    "You have to be kidding me¡­"

    Su Xiao looked out of sorts as he muttered, "You¡­?"

    She waddled the way a zombie would, but she had the eyes of a murderer. They recognised the sword in her hand. She was the person they had been searching for: Shen Yiren.

    Notes:

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    * Long Zaitian: "You can determine health problems?" - In Chinese, diagnosing and its variants uses the verb "to look". That''s why Ming Feizhen answers anyone with eyes could. Literally tranted, diagnosing a condition would be "Looking at a condition." I hope the trantion doesn''t cause confusion.

 Volume 7 77 Stunning Strike

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 77 Stunning Strike</h4>

    Su Xiao ignored the odd fact that the ck bear paid no attention to Shen Yiren and ran over to her in tears: "Vice-Captain, I am so d you are safe and sound."

    Get back here!" brayed Ming Feizhen, catching Su Xiao''s arm.

    Ming Feizhen''s pull and the de that grazed Su Xiao''s forehead happened so suddenly that Su Xiao had no chance to be surprised or conjure questions.

    "S-Six Harmonies Swordy¡­"

    Seldom did Liu Shan Men''s constables to use Shen n''s foundation style inbat, including the female constables. Perhaps the young girls would when starting out; otherwise, they used Eight Trigrams Swordy or Profound Swordy, which were superior. Shen Yiren was the only one who was an avid fan of Six Harmonies Swordy - supposedly because her father personally passed it on to her - and used it most often. Even Su Xiao stopped practicing Six Harmonies Swordy after upgrading his existing set of skills and boosting his repertoire with Ming Feizhen''s internal style mental cultivation.

    "Vice-Captain, why¡­"

    The next swing was a textbook strike aimed at Su Xiao straight out of Six Harmonies Swordy. However, Shen Yiren changed the course it travelled mid-attack, resulting in it nging against Ye Luo''s projectile.

    "Vice-Captain Shen, it''s us! It''s us! We''re here to rescue you! Don''t you recognise us?" cried Ye Luo.

    Shen Yiren turned her focus to Ye Luo and mounted another attack. Ye Luo was forced to retaliate, but she had no confidence against one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, especially if it was close-quartersbat. Hence, Ye Luo fired off an arrow from metres away. s, it wasn''t an actual solution as they were surrounded. Ye Luo eximed, "What is this all about?! Is she Vice-Captain Shen or what? Has she mistaken us for someone?"

    "No, I recognise her robe," Long Zaitian corrected. "It''s one of Miss Shen''s favourite warrior robes. That''s the sword His Majesty gifted her when she turned sixteen, Frosty Light. It''s not a super weapon, but it was meticulously forged and is valuable. I''m absolutely certain. Why are you attacking us? Miss Shen, wake up. That''s Ye Luo. We''re here to rescue you."

    Su Xiao noticed the wound resembling a w mark on Shen Yiren''s left hand, so he cautioned, "Sister Ye, don''t be too rough. Vice-Captain is injured. The wound might be clouding her judgement!"

    Ye Luo had a lot to say to the two idiots, but she was too busy trying to stay alive.

    Every single one of Shen Yiren''s strikes packs a punch. Injured? I''m having trouble catching my breath. I''m firing constantly so that my head stays on my shoulders. If Shen Yiren is severely injured, the entire human poption must be healthy! They can''t help me with those ck bears standing around. I''m going to have to count on myself to subdue Shen Yiren.

    Shen Yiren was in the same form as she was during her sh with Abels. Howbeit, Ming Feizhen intently watched the fight between the two maidens with a stoic expression.ong Zaitian couldn''t stop fidgeting. Therefore, Ming Feizhen''s unperturbed reaction got on his nerves. Eventually, he fired, "Piece of turd, what happened to all your usual tricks? Why aren''t you making a peep now?!"

    Only after he ran his mouth did Long Zaitian recall Ming Feizhen was supposed to be a martial arts master. He could understand Ming Feizhen trying to conceal his secrets. In addition, it was justification for not helping his superior. Fuel added to his fire, he shunted Ming Feizhen.

    "What did you push him for?!" fumed Su Xiao, stepping in between them and ring at Long Zaitian.

    "If any harm befalls either of them, I''ll body him!"

    Ming Feizhen staggered, but he maintained his demeanour. In a deep voice, he dered, "She''s not Boss Shen."

    "What garbage is this now?!"

    "Look carefully. She may bear a striking resemnce to Boss Shen, but there are differences. Additionally, she''s only utilised Six Harmonies Swordy. Don''t you find that weird?"

    To be fair on Long Zaitian, it was dark, and anxiety had festered. Nheless, Ming Feizhen''s mentions persuaded him to take a closer look. At first nce, they were extremely simr, but it was akin toparing a portrait to the person in the painting. He thought back on the fight thus far and realised Shen Yiren would''ve already triumphed if she was serious.

    Su Xiao: "You have a point. They''re simr in appearance and brandish the same sword, but their personalities are totally different. Her Six Harmonies Swordy is fast. In saying that, Vice-Captain wears a gentler expression when wielding it in addition to executing the techniques in a more refined manner."

    Ming Feizhen: "Evil Spirits'' River Monster''s speciality is Mourning Soul. At the highest level, she can create puppets, imbuing it with a specific person''s conscious. As long as she has sufficient internal energy, it wouldn''t be tough to create¡­ a Boss Shen puppet."ong Zaitian: "I know of the technique. For as long as the user can supply true qi at fixed intervals, the puppet will be at the user''s beck and call. Considering Abels'' ranking, he could create the puppet for his subordinates. I suppose that means we''re looking at a Mourning Soul puppet, then."

    After the battle that left a deep impression, River Monster sought out a maiden with a simr appearance to Shen Yiren. She had Mountain Monster manipte the maiden''s appearance before turning the maiden into a puppet. New puppets didn''t take orders; the ability to followmands needed to be honed inbat.

    River Monster didn''t have a twisted hobby for creating puppets. She created them as an ace to wipe out the imperial court''s pursuers one day. She didn''t bring them with her on the rescue mission with the intent of catching her enemies off guard just as she didn''t expect to confront the imperial court''s adepts.

    Since she wasn''t a swordy specialist, River Monster wasn''t able to capture Shen Yiren''s swordy. However, Six Harmonies Swordy was well-known enough for her to learn the techniques and install them into her puppet. Abels'' internal energy should''ve done the trick against average fighters, but she had a tougher crew.

    River Monster''s focus and confidence waned as she was poor at prolonged fights. Ye Luo, therefore, capitalised on one of the puppet''s sluggish moment to leap back. The puppet used her fingers to whistle. The ck bears'' suddenly scowled. Ye Luo felt her legs beneath her go.ong Zaitian: "Run for it! Don''t let them surround you!"ong Zaitian raced over to Ye Luo, but three bears formed a barricade. Two charged toward him. He jumped in front of one on an angle and uncorked a barrage of four heavy punches on it. He managed to drive it back; it took no damage, though. He could make contact, but fighting them bare handed was hard to inflict significant damage. His brave attempt meant he had nowhere to escape to from there. The other bears took the exchange as a challenge and quickly ran over.

    Ye Luo''s legs couldn''t keep up with her desperation. A bear bound forward and swung down. She thought she was a goner, but a de sundered the bear''s hand.

    "Careful, Sister Ye!"

    Su Xiao yanked Ancient Cold out from the bear''s hand and hacked away at the bear. Once the bear was bloodied, he raced over to Ye Luo and carried her up.

    Ye Luo blushed in Su Xiao''s arms. For the first time, she felt Su Xiao could provide her with a sense of security. He was always a younger brother, even a younger sister to her. She saw him as an extremely effeminate boy, but a boy was still a boy¡­ong Zaitian was impressed with Su Xiao''s rescue, less so the rescue and more so Su Xiao''s stunning strike. Sure, Ancient Cold deserved credit because Su Xiao couldn''t have cut through the bear''s thick skin with his might alone, but the execution was marvellous. Long Zaitian wouldn''t dare boast he could''ve pulled it off as terrifically if he was in Su Xiao''s shoes. He was physically stronger than Su Xiao thanks to his internal strength, yet Su Xiao''s shes ripped through the air as if there was no resistance.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao surprised himself, too. The breathing technique Ming Feizhen taught Su Xiao was the ultimate mental cultivation style in that era: All-Inclusive. Thanks to Ming Feizhen''s tweaks to the original style, Su Xiao essentially jumped from a third-rate pugilist to a second-rate pugilist. It was only a matter of time before he was promoted to Jia Rank.

 Volume 7 78 I Never Lose Bets

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 78 I Never Lose Bets</h4>

    Long Zatian was forced to retreat because he had stalled for long enough and couldn''t defeat three bears at once. Long Zaitian hadn''t forgotten what Emperor Yuansheng told him, but he chose to prioritise their safety and belted, "Ming Feizhen, you Night Fortress spy, we''re going to be reporting to the king of hell instead of His Majesty if you don''t do something!"

    Su Xiao and Ye Luo looked at each other, hoping for an exnation. Seeing Ming Feizhen''s fearless expression had Long Zaitian thinking, "His brain is either upside down, or he''s stupidly strong!"

    Cornered and out of ideas, Long Zaitian yelled, "Master Ming, Big Brother Ming, Uncle Ming, I don''t care if you''re a spy or not anymore. If you can beat them, help me kill a few before we''re trapped and bodied!"

    Ming Feizhen brushed off the usation and replied, "If you can''t win, hide, idiot."

    "Oh, thanks a lot, genius! Didn''t I say to run from the get go, moron?! Can''t you see them blocking the way?!"

    "I said hide. I didn''t tell you to run."

    "How is that any different?"

    "There are trees you can climb, imbecile."

    "Why didn''t I think of that? Jump up to the trees!"ong Zaitian leapt up a big tree and had to sloppily climb the rest of the way up because of his abysmal qinggong skills. He then transferred to another tree to hide, confusing the bear below.

    Su Xiao wasn''t known for his qinggong. Therefore, when he jumped over seven centimetres higher than Ye Luo, even she was surprised. As for him, he almost startled himself off the tree due to the high velocity. Luckily, Ye Luo caught him in time, pulling him in really close reactively and then wondered why she did so.

    The bear was exasperated, but it couldn''t do much other than slowly wade through the darkness in search of its prey.

    "Ming Feizhen, hurry and climb up!" instructed Ye Luo.

    "Big Brother Ming, why are you just standing there?"

    Carrying Tie Hanyi on his shoulder, Ming Feizhen shrugged his other shoulder: "How? My qinggong is non-existent."

    "He can''t use qinggong aftering up with the idea? We were wrong about him? Did we think too much just because he''s witty? No, I''m the one jumping to conclusions here. He has to reveal his skills now that his life is on the line. Hmph, you''re not fooling Ol'' Long anytime soon, buddy," thought Long Zaitian. As he watched the ck bear close in on Ming Feizhen, he told himself, "Don''t be soft, Ol'' Long. Don''t be soft. He''s trying to force your hand to abscond suspicion. Don''t be soft."

    "Big Brother Ming,e up¡­ Actually, I''lle down to help you. Sister Ye, don''t stop me!"

    "You can''t control your output; how do you expect to carry two men at once? Don''t just charge to your death!"

    Teary-eyed, Su Xiao snapped, "I don''t care!"

    Ye Luo, knowing words wouldn''t get through to Su Xiao, just held him back. Tie Hanyi was down there; of course she wanted to save them. Wanting to didn''t mean able to, though. She suggested, "Vice-Captain Long, you help them, while I support you from here."

    "Take my weapon. Please save Big Brother Ming."

    "Ah, man. He''s annoying, ugly and keeps hanging around Miss Shen, but we have known each other for a while. I can always look into himter. I can''t let Ol'' Tie die for nothing, either," Long Zaitian reasoned.

    "Hmph, I''d like to see you try."

    The female speaker arrived on the battlefield, ck bears docilely approaching her.

    "Yes! Help has arrived!" effused Long Zaitian, recognising the hasty footsteps trailing behind her.

    "River Monster, we outnumber you. You won''t abscond today!" blustered Emperor Yuansheng, catching up.

    "She''s the leader of the four sub-leaders?! Should I be so surprised when she raises bears?" mused Long Zaitian.

    "This is it for you, you witch!"

    "Be careful, Master. There are ck bears spread out around here. Ming Feizhen is trapped. Do note in!" warned Long Zaitian.

    "He''s as cool as a cucumber despite his mire. Does he have some ace up his sleeve? He''s Night Fortress'' envoy¡­ Or is he Night Fortress'' master himself?" contemted the Emperor, sighting Ming Feizhen.

    "Ignorant fools, you didn''t even realised you had entered enemy territory. ck Bear King, heed mymand. ck Bear King, heed mymand¡­ Where is he?" Unable to find her ck bear king anywhere that usually came running as soon as it smelt her scent, River Monster glided over to her puppet and pped thetter to the ground: "Useless tool. Where''s my ck bear king?"

    The puppet looked poignant, leading to River Monster braying, "Just seeing how useless you are annoys me!"

    Emperor Yuansheng thought River Monster was admonishing her subordinate. Upon closer inspection, his nostrils red: "How dare you hurt my daughter?!"

    Emperor Yuansheng vaulted over to where the ck bears were gathered and uncoiled a vengeful palm strike. Unfortunately, "Shen Yiren" stepped in between. Dugu made it in the nick of time to stop the sword that almost lopped Emperor Yuansheng''s head off with a finger and cautioned, "Master, she probably is not Vice-Captain Shen!"

    "Master, she is a puppet! We have verified it. She managed to confuse us at first, as well!" expounded Long Zaitian.

    Furious, Emperor Yuansheng erupted, "What do you intend to do with my daughter''s copy?!"

    Though puzzled to hear Shen Yiren was the daughter of someone in the imperial court, River Monster refused to back down, questioning, "I can do whatever I desire. What''s it to you? Mr. Fangzhang, what is your rtionship with her? Why are you standing up for her?"

    Emperor Yuansheng ran his finger across the puppet''s face even though he knew it wasn''t Shen Yiren: "It''s none of your business. Your business is receiving your punishment."

    "Wow, that''s cute," jibed River Monster.

    Suddenly, Ming Feizhen remarked, "Turns out you don''t like bears at all."

    "What was that?" asked River Monster, taking her first look at the trapped young man. "What do you mean?"

    "Exactly what you heard. You don''t appear to care about the ck bear king."

    "ck bear king? You know where he is?!"

    "Rx. Isn''t that him over there?" responded Ming Feizhen,zily pointing to the bear lying still on the ground.

    "Who hurt him?!"

    Ming Feizhen answered, "You should probably ask me."

    No matter how much one craved credit, there was a time and ce for it. Unsurprisingly, even River Monster was amused: "You hurt him? At least you''re man enough to own up to it. Why not experience my ck Bear Formation since you lot came all the way here today."

    River Monster pped her hands. The bears belted. The entire forest quaked. ck bears charged into the battlefield.

    "When we entered the border, my ck bear cavalry was the vanguard. Let''s see how youpare to the northern border''s elites."

    The only way they could stop the rampage of forty dauntless bears was if they captured River Monster. If she fled again, they would be chasing her whilst trying to fight off bears. If they tried to y the bears, they were privy many of them would have toy down their lives. River Monster loved the dilemma she created. She was confident in her win, but even she thought it was a pity to sacrifice so many precious bears.

    "How about we have a bet?" Ming Feizhen suddenly suggested.

    "Now what? What do you want to bet?"

    Ming Feizhen cracked a grin: "Simple. Since I''m in the formation, let the bears at me. You win if I die, and Master won''t give you any further trouble. If I survive, you lose and must surrender."

    The provocation lit up a fire under River Monster for the formation was her proudest creation.

    "I never lose bets," Ming Feizhen added confidently.

    "This is hardly a bet!" Emperor Yuansheng thought, not liking the proposal.

    Confidence rattled, River Monster reconfirmed, "You sure? I''m warning you they didn''t eat anything yesterday. I don''t know how you intend to subdue them, but one bear and a bear formation are worlds apart. Surely you can distinguish that."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen smiled back.

    "You scared now?"

    Ming Feizhen didn''t budge, challenging River Monster''s pride once again. She eximed, "You asked for it!"

    River Monster delivered amand to her bears with a hand gesture, mobilising them toward Ming Feizhen. The seething bears encircled him and awaited their next order.

    Emperor Yuansheng told himself, "Unless he is Night Fortress'' master, there''s no way he can ovee the formation¡­ There has to be another way to test him. We can''t just throw a life away."

    River Monster used scents to deliver her directions. The hand wave before entailed her final order, which was to rip Ming Feizhen apart. She believed they''d make quick work of him, yet, for some reason, the stalemate continued. Emperor Yuansheng even had time to prepare reinforcements to rescue Ming Feizhen the moment the bears struck. Nobody knew what the other was ying at.

    "You asked how I''d defeat the bears, didn''t you? The ck bear king was nothing¡­"

    River Monster wanted to tear Ming Feizhen''s mouth off his face. Frustratingly, the bears wouldn''tmence the attack despite her using ten times more powder than usual.

    Roar! River Monster celebrated inside the moment one of the bears belted. Strangely, the bears all fled into the forest all of a sudden as fast as they could go.

    The imperial court team had their eyes as wide as they''d stretch. River Monster gripped her chest. Ming Feizhen scratched his head and, in a casual tone, stated, "Animals never liked me."

 Volume 7 79 Dead End (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 79 Dead End (Part 1)</h4>

    "Impossible!" shrilled River Monster.

    River Monster, or rather, Miss E, never adopted a different surname irrespective of the appearance she assumed. Abels never denied her right to keep her surname for it was her pride. The "E" surname was the equivalent of the "Ji" surname in Nanjiang and "Shenzhou" surname in the Central in. The surname''s genesis could be traced as far back as thousands of years.

    Unlike in the Central in, where surnames and more changed with each dynasty, those part of Nanjiang emphasised heritage more than other regions. Those enthroned had to hail from the "E" lineage. Thus, all of the monarchs of Nanjiang''s countries carried the surname "E". River Monster came from the country closest to the Central in. Her bloodline was considered pure and venerated, and her surname was held in the same high esteem as her ability to tame wild beasts, which was a skillset Nanjiang''s imperial family passed down.

    The Central in''s Emperor from three generations ago once attempted to conquer Nanjiang, enlisting a hundred thousand soldiers, including elites from the Seven Champion White Princes, yet they were decimated at the hands of Nanjiang''s beast tamers, who introduced beast soldiers the army of the Central in''s had never encountered in their lifetime.

    Nanjiang''s imperial family wasn''t the only poption who were fans of taming rare beasts. It was the norm for elderly and even children on streets to tame beasts. Some of them honed their taming skills to turn themselves into valuable assets. Furthermore, Nanjiang was reputed for being the home to many precious and rare beasts. As such, the elephants and apes they sent to battle toppled the Central in''s formations in no time andid waste to their invaders. Nanjiang only had two generals in their defence line, yet the Central in''s army were unable to make a dent in their defences.

    Decades ago, two geniuses surfaced in the Central in, one being a literacy genius and the other a martial arts genius. Despite the gifts bestowed on the Central in, they still couldn''t defeat Nanjiang''s beast soldiers. In the end, they resorted to sowing discord amongst Nanjiang''s leaders to finally force Nanjiang''s nations to surrender to the Central in. Even though Nanjiang surrendered, their beast-taming prowess for battle was still perceived to be unbeatable.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A beast tamer capable of taming threerge beasts was ssified as a full-fledged tamer. One who could simultaneously control six was considered elite. One who could control ten at once was called a beast-taming master. Needless to say, those Nanjiang''s military coveted was obvious.

    River Monster''s beast-taming skills were considered in a league of their own even going by Nanjiang''s toughest standards because she was young, yet controlled forty beasts at once - not to mention she tamed bears, a ss that tamers in Nanjiang couldn''t fathom controlling and only found in Beijiang. It would be a miracle if there were more than four others who possessed talent that rivalled hers.

    River Monster''s skills were the product of an early start, an indomitable will and the courage to risk her life taming Beijiang''s wolves. She practiced controlling the beasts using her voice, scents and more daily. Ten years of effort to tame the ck bears, yet they fled helter-skelter against one man. One man. How could she not feel vexed?

    "What did you do, you barbarian?! What poison did you use to scare off my babies?!" reasonably interrogated River Monster.

    "Didn''t I just tell you animals hate me?" Ming Feizhen rhetorically asked with a shrug.

    River Monster juggled probable exnations in her head and calmed down. She hypothesised, "Did you¡­ ever eat a violent wild beast or¡­ ancient rare beast, granting you qi that scares animals off?"

    It wasn''t surprise or mockery that came to Ming Feizhen''s face but praise reserved for when a kid showed improvement in ss. River Monster felt her confidence fading by the second as she sensed the immeasurable power Abels exudeding from him and her fear she denied being dug out of her.

    "When I was young¡­ I ate a rare beast. I then ate some spiders on a snowy mountain. Maybe that''s why?"

    Emperor Yuansheng was speechless as he watched the two converse. Still, he was a monarch, and a monarch had to stand above all others. Snickering, he belittled, "River Monster, you don''t intend to deny your defeat after you epted the bet, do you? You do have a reputation to uphold."

    River Monster''s only ace was her ck bear soldiers'' ferocity. Without them, she was out of moves. She had the qinggong to outrun them. Nevertheless, her stamina was finite.

    "¡­ I didn''t pay much attention at first, but¡­ are you Young Master Zhong Ming, Night Fortress'' envoy?"

    All eyes turned to Ming Feizhen.

    "I am."

    "No, you''re not." River Monster cracked a grin: "I should''ve realised why Master stressed Mountain Monster and I weren''t enough. Young Master Zhong Ming my foot. They called you Ming Feizhen, didn''t they? I think it''s safe to conclude that''s your real name. I heard Night Fortress'' master¡­ shared the same surname."

    The corner of River Monster''s lips curled back down to form a straight line: "You are Night Fortress'' master."

 Volume 7 80 Dead End (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 80 Dead End (Part 2)</h4>

    The escort''s vignce metre maxed out as soon as they heard River Monster''s allegation, something Emperor Yuansheng deemed his line.

    Emperor Yuansheng wanted Liu Shan Men to spearhead the abolishment of the Seven Champion White Princes. However, he was privy Shen Yiren wasn''t ready for the daunting task and required the imperial court''s training. To that end, he demanded Liu Shan Men partake in the rescue mission in spite of Tang Ye being the only effectivebatant. Emperor Yuansheng believed Su Xiao possessed gifts that would be nurtured into something greater. Ming Feizhen, however, was ssified dead weight.

    Besides Ming Feizhen being thebelled as the embodiment of what not one ought to be, he was shrouded in mystery. Who better than Emperor Yuansheng to understand how a man in power for a long time spoke?

    Emperor Yuansheng didn''t buy Ming Feizhen was enlightened and didn''t desire riches at his age. Emperor Yuansheng tested Ming Feizhen''s martial proficiency in the past, and thetter didn''t impress, yet the number of pugilists that approached them didn''t even rustle his feathers when others would be on edge.

    Capturing Mountain Monster, calm despite bears surrounding him and scaring off bears¡­ The burgeoning list of surprises led to Emperor Yuansheng specting Ming Feizhen was Night Fortress'' master. If Ming Feizhen did wield that much power, yet was willing to put himself through the wringer, his intricate and maleficent designs were threatening.

    Dugu and long Zaitian vigntly watched for Ming Feizhen''s reaction. Ming Feizhen''s lips subtly moved. He lowered a brow.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Night Fortress'' master?" Ming Feizhen repeated with his head angled. "Howe I don''t know anything about this?"

    "Cut the act out. You think you''re an award-winning actor? If there''s anything I''m absolutely confident at, it''s reading people. You are no amateur. If you''re with Night Fortress, then you are undoubtedly Night Fortress'' master," used River Monster.

    River Monster cracked a smirk and added, "Ever since we received news Night Fortress'' master wasing to Huzhou, we monitored everyone from the martial world entering Canhu Town. You''re the only group affiliated with Night Fortress.

    "We couldn''t fathom why he''d suddenlye to Huzhou and announced his intention beforehand. Now it''s exinable. Night Fortress is cooperating with the imperial court and used Night Fortress'' name as a cover. Master was right. You''re after us, aren''t you?"

    "You¡­ don''t honour your words, do you?"

    "Don''t try and malign me." River Monster extended her hands, revealing her iron nails she used as weapons and disarmed: "I will keep my word. Arrest me if you will. I just can''t helpughing you didn''t realise you had someone so monstrous in your ranks. I worry for you, Mr. Fangzhang. Night Fortress'' master is hailed as Jiangnan''s Face-pping King. Given your face is ratherrge, I would keep that chin tucked if I were you."

    River Monster sessfully sowed discord. Emperor Yuansheng didn''t respond, but the others monitored Ming Feizhen''s every movement.

    Ming Feizhen slowly retreated a few small steps. Apanying a hand signal, hemanded, "Go."

    Hot qi spun through the air above. Tang Ye was on standby the entire time. He couldn''t apprehend River Monster until then as she stood too close to Ming Feizhen. Thankfully, Ming Feizhen noticed Tang Ye and realised hisrade''s intent.

    "That''s underhanded!" cried River Monster, livid she was caught before her n bore fruit. After a few exchanges, she cried, "Ultimate Eagle w? You''re Eagle w Sect''s, Three Lifetimes w? You''re from Nanjiang? What technique is this now?!"

    River Monster didn''t n to put up a resistance. She merely wanted to see a few more of Tang Ye''s wing styles, but he had her in the palm of his hand within ten exchanges.

    "Nice," apuded Ming Feizhen. He pivoted around to see the suspicious stares on him. He performed a palm and fist salute: "Mast-"

    "Skip the drivel," Emperor Yuansheng cut in. "You have worked in my employment for some time. I don''t want it toe to this, either. However, there are too many coincidences that put your credibility into question. I can''t find any defences for you, so I can''t let you stay by Shen Yiren''s side. Exin yourself now. I won''t let someone suspicious hang around me. Ming Feizhen, answer me."

    "Hang around me," actually referred to the imperial court.

    "Are you Night Fortress'' master or not?"

 Volume 7 81 Dead End (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 81 Dead End (Part 3)</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng''s gaze indicated he had moulded internal energy to prepare for a fight. His men were primed forbat after chasing River Monster around.ong Zaitian hopped off the tree and saluted: "Master, although there are numerous suspicious things about him, he did just save you¡­ That is a merit no matter how you bend it. It does not seem appropriate to interrogate him now."

    Su Xiao also jumped off the tree: "He is right, Master. There must be some misunderstanding. Big Brother Ming''sbat skills are famously bad. His skills are¡­" Su Xiao nced over to the escort team.

    The entire escort: "¡­ crap!"

    "See? There is no way he could be Night Fortress'' master. I have heard of Night Fortress'' master''s name. He is supposed to be formidable and operates alone despite having his own group, which one would seldom see in Jiangnan. Big Brother Ming is a money grubber. If he was Night Fortress'' master, what would he be wasting time with us for?"

    "That''s exactly where the problem lies. I want to know what he''s doing with us. He rejected Qian n''s offer, a fortune enough tost him a lifetime, without batting an eye. Does that sound logical to you?"

    Stumped, Su Xiao pulled Ming Feizhen over by the ear: "Big Brother Ming, what did you do this time? Why is Master trying to interrogate you?"

    "Affronted Lady Luck, I suppose."

    "Why you of all people? You must have offended Master. I''ll speak up for you. He''ll only chew you out. Just put up with it." Su Xiao booted Ming Feizhen over and forced thetter to fold forward: "Always causing trouble, moron, idiot, son of a b-"

    "That''s overkill, no?!"

    "Ahem, Master, he should have learnt his lesson now. He will apologise now."

    "I don''t need him to apologise. I want his exnation. Answer my question," demanded Emperor Yuansheng.

    Ming Feizhen assumed a hunched form: "I am not."

    Emperor Yuansheng curled up the corner of his lips: "Those who delivered the gifts today explicated the gifts were for Young Master Zhong Ming. Ming Feizhen, you only assumed the fake name days ago; how do they know about it? They might not have been aware, but I am no fool. If you aren''t Night Fortress'' master, there is no way they would have identified you as Zhong Ming."

    "Master, this one does not know how they identified him," Ming Feizhen denied, hands in a cupped-fist salute. "This one was equally startled to receive the gifts. Indeed, he came up with the name only days ago, seldomed used it and mostly remained in the carriage. How would this one have had the chance to inform others and request gifts? This one was in the dark."

    Emperor Yuansheng wasn''t convinced just because Ming Feizhen dumped the me on Night Fortress'' master. He questioned, "Your colleagues im you are greedy, yet the money and valuables didn''t sway you. How do you exin that?"

    "I do not like receiving that which I did not earn. When did that be a fault? I only want to spend money I earned through my efforts. I cannot sleep at night if I spend money people give me for free regardless of how much that may be. Is that a satisfactory answer?"

    "I''m not done. How do you exin your connection to Night Fortress'' master? Why did they send it specifically to you, and why are you his representative all of a sudden?"

    "This one once met whom you call Night Fortress'' master. He saved this one and left contact details. He has business to attend to; hence, he asked this one receive the gifts on his behalf."

    Unable to find anything substantial to indict Ming Feizhen on, Emperor Yuansheng tried broaching the interrogation with an alternative question.

    "You im to be a disciple of Mount Daluo, yet I have never seen you utilise their skills. Are you their disciple or not?"

    Nothing could seem to rustle Ming Feizhen.

    "Indeed, this one is. You sound unaware Mount Daluo is split into a direct and indirect system, direct meaning disciples of Patriarch, specifically Patriarch Ming in this case. The direct disciples are the ones who pursue martial arts. This one''s shifu is Daoist Wushan. Shifu has never been too interested in martial arts. As such, he did not teach this one much. By the same ount, this one''sbat skills have always beencklustre."

    "That is not entirely true," interjected Dugu. "Daoist Wushan ranks high among today''s adepts. His disciple can''t be that weak."

    "That is not entirely true. Shifu may not be weak. Howbeit, hecks interest. He prefers to study medicine and divination. This one focused on learning those subjects instead of martial art."

    "What, you''re an elite physician now?" scathingly interrogated Emperor Yuansheng.

    If Ming Feizhen was well-versed in medicine at his age, he''d be a genius among geniuses. By that logic, Emperor Yuansheng deemed his im unlikely.

    "This one''s knowledge is only the tip of the iceberg."

    "Master, your subject can testify in his defence. He was the one who attended to Ol'' Tie''s grave wounds," conveyed Long Zaitian.

    Emperor Yuansheng could discern the peril they were in upon inspecting Tie Hanyi''s injuries. For that reason, it was impressive for Ming Feizhen to supply herbs and bandage Tie Hanyi properly, which is to say that Ming Feizhen was legitimately educated in medicine.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "That drastically lowers the likelihood of him being Night Fortress'' master. Hmm, it doesn''t lend credibility to his story, but it doesn''t falsify it, either. Still, hisposure makes it hard it to believe," Emperor Yuansheng inwardly analysed. "You still have no evidence to prove you aren''t Night Fortress'' master. If you can prove it, do so right here and now."

    "How so?"

    "Simple." A cunning grin flitted across Emperor Yuan''s face: "Take a strike from one of the thirty pugilists present."

    "Take a strike?"

    "If you don''t know martial arts, you won''t be able to withstand it. If you do possess fearsome skills¡­ the strike will expose it."

    Ming Feizhen deliberated the feasibility.

    "Master, that seems inappropriate. We are all pugilists. If he really cannot stand it, we will havemitted murder¡­ Considering he saved Tie Hanyi, we would have repaid his help with ingratitude," objected Long Zaitian.

    "Big Brother Ming deserves to bemended for driving off the ck bears. Even if he does not deserve praise for it, he should not be condemned. Where is the justice in this?"

    "Silly child, this is for Ming Feizhen''s sake. It''s the best way to clear his name. Ming Feizhen, will you ept?"

    "No. He will not be able to withstand it," Su Xiao remonstrated, jumping in front of Ming Feizhen. "I¡­ I will take it for him!"

    "What would he hit you for when we aren''t testing you? I don''t intend to hurt him. I want to test his power. Bring Ming Feizhen over."

    Su Xiao dawdled for a moment and thenshed his de, forcing those approaching to retreat: "Back off!"

    "Su Han, what are you doing?"

    Su Xiao bit down on his lip: "You''ll have to get through me first if you want to hurt him."

    "This is not a personal vendetta. This concerns the safety of many. Su Han, I wish to see you promoted. Don''t ruin your future."

    "I will not stand by and watch you hurt Big Brother Ming. I would incinerate my future in a heartbeat if I must step over my brothers'' bodies!"

    "What do you propose, then?"

    "Let Tang Ye hit him."

    "You three are friends. How do we know if Tang Ye deliberately holds back? Dugu will carry out the attack."

    Ming Feizhen was moved after hearing Su Xiao. In the blink of an eye, he pulled his eyebrows together.

    "How about I test him?"

    The man''s voice walked a thin line between gentle and authoritative. He was far off in the distance, yet they heard his voice loud and clear. The sound of the ck bears charging back through the woods closed in. Once they reached Ming Feizhen, they hastily halted. They turned around but stopped upon seeing the maning from the other direction.

    "Is he finally here?" wondered Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen sensed the man''s presence from the moment they entered the manor''s vicinity. Divine Realm adepts could easily pick up on one another''s auras. The man didn''t bother hiding his presence whatsoever. That was the reason Ming Feizhen judged his persistence to enter the manor''s vicinity the biggest mistake he made. His judgement jeopardised everyone, including himself. He could''ve gotten Emperor Yuansheng off his case. Unfortunately, the enemy''s arrival changed the status on the board.

    There was no doubt Ming Feizhen researched Evil Spirits'' cases and their previous modus operandi. He wouldn''t have designed the n to capture Mountain Monster, otherwise. Even so, he misjudged this particr man. Ming Feizhen couldn''t offer an exnation for why the man changed his usual approach and chose to rock up at a previous crime scene he had a hand in. There was nothing of value left for a bandit at a ce he was done plundering.

    Although Ming Feizhen wanted to avoid a confrontation with the man, he was forced to make a decision in the end. There were two problems with his options. First, he would have to reveal his true abilities if he fought the man. Second, he had to tackle the man for thetter would ughter the entire escort if he didn''t intervene.ong Zaitian recalled Ming Feizhen stating Tie Hanyi was defeated within three exchanges. Long Zaitian was able to wipe the floor with River Monster''s puppetry, so she couldn''t have defeated Tie Hanyi so easily. The ck bears could overwhelm Tie Hanyi but not in a meagre three exchanges.

    River Monster dimpled and, voice stifled, mumbled, "I knew he was watching. I can''t believe he didn''t give me a hand."

    Dugu had an epiphany: "No wonder why River Monster surrendered without much resistance! I never expected him to join the frontlines!"

    "I have heard of Night Fortress'' master''s aplishments in Jiangnan. It is an honour to finally meet you." The tall, fast and muscr man casually grinned: "This onees from Beijiang. His name is Abels."

 Volume 7 82 Despair

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 82 Despair</h4>

    Martial artists from the Central in''s and Beijiang''s martial world hardly ever connected unlike Nanjiang and Western Regions. The Central in wouldn''t know there were adepts in Beijiang if it wasn''t for ck and White Reflection blowing up the Supreme Ten Saints.

    The three offices overwatching the martial world always kept tabs on the Demon Sect, League of Assassins and mysterious Sky Pce. The Qilin Guards, for that reason, invested ny percent of their manpower in the pugilistic world, leaving solely Long Zaitian as vice-captain. Even so, the four unorthodox factions troubled them. Emperor Yuansheng''s targets were the capital''s guards and the seven threatening the capital - the Seven Champion White Princes.

    Had it not been for Abels'' assassination of a monarch and sessful usurpation, he would''ve been irrelevant to the Central n''s imperial court and martial world. His confrontation with the escort was the second major event worth recording since his entry into the Central in.

    As a bandit, disguising himself was something Abels found a thrill in; he never used disguises because for safety purposes unlike others. That said, he didn''t prefer to hide his face. He approached the imperial court''s escort without bothering to hide his appearance or feeling as though they couldn''t do anything about him brazenly getting in their face.

    Abels was a walking nightmare to many. His power was akin to water in the ocean - immeasurable. The escort''s weaker members were rustled without him having to lift a finger. Emperor Yuansheng, having met many adepts in his lifetime, was the best candidate to calm his men down. As a matter of fact, he was most likely to have encountered the most adepts - barring the adepts one could only ssify as freaks of nature.

    The Ultimate Three apanied His Majesty at all times prior to Demon Sect''s eradication. By the same ount, he realised he underestimated Abels. They were unable to discern how dangerous Abels really was - at least, Emperor Yuansheng couldn''t. The best way to describe their perception of Abels was, he didn''t make any sense. Worse, Abels wasn''t even trying to intimidate them, yet there they were, questioning themselves. All Divine Realm adepts had what people coined "Eclipse". Only those who had reached Divine Realm could grasp its precepts.

    "Hargh!" howled Emperor Yuansheng.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s howl erased some of the doubt and fear going through his men''s mind. He howled another five times, amplifying each one more and more to clear the air. When his own qi made contact with Abels, thetter could''ve incapacitated Emperor Yuansheng merely roaring back.

    "Impressive Justice Realm internal energy. You would not be some peon in the Central in''s martial world if you could resist my Eclipse using that method."

    Emperor Yuansheng was in no mood to y along. His legs were jelly. Beads of sweat surfaced on his forehead, hunger for air strong. Emperor Yuansheng was already unable to fight just lifting the pressure off them. Perhaps that was Abels'' n from the very beginning. The result if they hypothetically shed was more evident than ever.

    "You call yourself Beijiang''s Great Bandit. Are you after some treasure here?" Emperor Yuansheng paused to maintain hisposure then continued, "We are poor. We don''t have anything Evil Spirits'' leader would possibly be interested in."

    "Judging from the that fact River Monster was unaware of our identities, Abels wouldn''t be here to personally fight us. What does he want?" deliberated Emperor Yuansheng.

    "I¡­ was hoping to meet one of your adepts. Night Fortress'' master is considered one of the many greats in Jiangnan. I suppose you won''t let me down."

    "Th-that''s not me. You have the wrong person!" cried Ming Feizhen, wagging his hands frantically.

    "I can tell whether I have the right man or not."

    Abels slowed his speech down and shot Ming Feizhen a piercing stare. Unexpectedly, Ming Feizhen leaned his head back as he sprayed blood.

    "Big Brother Ming!"

    Su Xiao rushed to guard Ming Feizhen, who was down on the ground, and red back at Abels staunchly. Su Xiao didn''t even tickle Abels'' interest; Abels was more focused on analysing why Ming Feizhen went down so easily. From what he gathered, Ming Feizhen was unmistakably Night Fortress'' master. However, Ming Feizhen''s reaction and the signs he noticed were all unquestionable indicators of suffering internal injuries. If Ming Feizhen was faking it, he was taking a risk arguably bigger than actually fighting back. If he nned to fight back in an injured state, it was the height of idiocy.

    "I¡­ I have mistaken Ming Feizhen!" Emperor Yuansheng inwardly remonstrated.

    "Don''t say I didn''t keep my word. I yielded. It''s your problem if you don''t have what it takes to arrest me," taunted River Monster, having returned to Abels side.

    Abels still didn''t move from his spot. River Monster whispered in his ear the feeling she sensed from Ming Feizhen not long ago. Though Abels was watching the entire time, he was too far away at the time to notice what River Monster did. Abels took another close look at Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen was hurt severely, but his organs were perfectly fine and seemed to be wearing a grin.

    "Giving me a handicap, are you? I underestimated you. Now I''m dead set on fighting you, Night Fortress'' master," inwardly decided Abels. He burst intoughter: "It seems I have mistaken you for Jiangnan''s Night Fortress'' master. I didn''t expect to meet you all here, either. Let''s see¡­ Wow, what is the imperial court up to? A number of you are among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, no? Is there anyone else?"

    The imperial court wrongly assumed River Monster exposed them when she whispered in Abels'' ear.

    "I would not be interested if you were ordinary pugilists. After all, there''s no bad blood between us. I suppose you are in disguise and heading to Huzhou for me? Since we have met up already, we need to exchange a few pointers."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The escort thought they saw two Abels for a second. The next time they saw him, he was standing in Long Zaitian''s spot, while thetter''s trail of blood already stretched twenty metres from his original spot. Abels cleaned off his fist and dered, "That''s the first strike."

 Volume 7 83 Enlightenment

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 83 Enlightenment</h4>

    Abels indifferentlymented, "Given all the praise heaped onto Qilin Guards, I''m not impressed."

    "Long Zaitian!" cried Emperor Yuansheng.

    If only Long Zaitian was able to finally hear Emperor Yuansheng''s concern for him¡­

    Sparring with one of the Supreme Ten Saints meant risking one''s neck. The only technical difference between it and premeditated murder was that they didn''t even need to try in order to harvest the trophy on the shoulders.

    "The man I fought previouslysted three exchanges," remarked Abels, referring to Tie Hanyi. "He should''ve died after the first strike; however, his determination to protect his master kept him going. Out of respect for that, I fought him at only thirty percent of my full power. He passed, so I shall return him to you out of respect for him."

    Perhaps it was a positive everyone around Abels was too shaken to initiate an attack since it kept them alive.

    "Let''s settle our grudges as well as the issues you had with River Monster and Mountain Monster." Abels sneaked a gander over to Ming Feizhen and extended three fingers: "My rule is, I shall spare whoever can survive three exchanges with me. If you fail, you are to be my ve."

    Seeing Dugu pull Emperor Yuansheng behind him, Abels chortled: "Is there any difference? You think you''re in any position to choose?"

    "A master and his subject cannot be held in the same regard."

    Abels smiled: "My style is called Evil Eminence Scripture. It consists of seven levels we callyers. There are no techniques taught in the scripture, just an internal strength manual teaching its practitioner how to harness their internal strength and energy."

    Evil Eminence Scripture was a secret Tiezhen Kingdom''s imperial family kept within their family. Nobody ever mastered up to the seventhyer in history. Even Abels only mastered up to the sixthyer.

    Abels raised a fist bolstered with faint blue energy enveloping it. He discharged the blue energy, dropping up to twenty times'' the target''s body weight onto them. He was able to spread the effect rapidly because hebined his style with his grasp of Divine Realm.

    "People know Evil Eminence Scripture as overpoweringly aggressive, but they don''t understand the concept of power. I have pitted myself against countless styles and have never encountered any that grasped the concept of power better than Evil Eminence Scripture."

    Nobody could punch Abels in the face in spite of the arrogance he just spat. Nheless, one of them brayed, "Hey, fight me one on one if you''re tough. I''ll split your skull in two!"

    River Monster: "Deluded prick, try it!"

    River Monster zipped over to the pugilist and crushed his skull with a hammer strike using her hand. Though he died straight away, Abels'' pressure still controlled his body, pinning it to the ground.

    "Don''t¡­ Don''t hurt them," stammered Ming Feizhen, struggling to prop himself up. "I''m your¡­ target. Don''t hurt them."

    "Who''s speaking?" asked Abels, grinning. "I don''t converse with peons. If you''re Night Fortress'' master, help them. If you''re a peon, it''ll be your turn soon."

    Grimacing, Ming Feizhen pleaded, "If you want someone¡­ you can have my life, but¡­ you must release the others."

    Abels mused, "Still feigning, huh? Was I wrong? You''re really an ordinary m-"

    Abels repelled a zing spear thrust at his face. He thought he had everyone pinned down, but he was wrong. His opponent''s movements didn''t show any inhibition. Tang Ye retreated and performed five fast spear flowers.

    Abels knife handed the spear, yet Tang Ye continued mounting his attacks, executing swift thrusts as if he was wielding two judge''s brush. Abels snickered and shaved off the spear tips. No matter. Tang Ye switched to a dual cudgel style, namely Henan''s Zhao n''s Coiling Dragon Cudgel. Abels was curious how many more styles Tang Ye capable off. Nheless, he uncoiled a punch, sending Tang Ye back.

    "Not bad. Not bad at all,"plimented Abels. "I don''t know who you are yet, but you have the greatest potential. What''s your name?"

    Tang Ye strived for the Supreme Ten Saints'' level ever since he heard Shangri-La might not have died due to an epidemic but at the hands of an adept. Apparently, the adept was able to kill all of his victims in a single strike and before the victim could counter a second time. It was a sound suspicion as it exined why no traces were left.

    "Did you go to Beihai nine years ago?"

    Abels contracted his eyebrows: "Nine years ago? What are you talking about?"

    "He doesn''t know¡­? Well, at least I can rule one potential culprit out. Just nine more to go," Tang Ye inwardly said.

    "How did you escape my restraints?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tang Ye recalled a conversation he had with Ming Feizhen in the past.

    "Big Bro, what sort of level is Divine Realm?"

    "Why do you care?"

    "I want to know how far I am from the so-called peak."

    Tang Ye trusted Ming Feizhen''s knowledge.

    Divine Realm was but a vague term. Just as there was no style called Flowing and Rigid, there was no such thing as aplete style called Divine. They were just adjectives. Every Divine Realm adept had their expertise and unique characteristics. Calling them a Divine Realm adept was a vague ssification for mental heuristic purposes. The number of individuals who ever reached the realm were far and few between. There were so few of them that anyone who cultivated a unique ability couldbel themselves a Divine Realm adept.

    The individual who coined the term was a martial artist with a keen eye, taking what he perceived to be attributes present in all of the best adepts and preached them as basic attributes qualifying one as a Divine Realm adept. The most well-known ability a Divine Realm adept required was exerting their true qi as an external force, a concept that eluded many.

    Pretty much all Divine Realm adepts'' energy took on colours, varying from person to person ording to their unique physiology and style. For instance, Abels'' was blue as seen when he ensnared the escort. The glow itself was actually internal energy. All that said, there were incidences where people training the same style possessed different glows. Qualifying as a Divine Realm adept was predicated on manifesting one''s personal colour, and the ability to manifest the colourful glow was a concept termed Enlightenment.

    Unlike "Eclipse", which was about tampering with one''s five senses, Enlightenment was for practicalbat. One could kill using just their qi if they learnt how to do so. One''s strength, speed and attributes were markedly upgraded once they achieved Enlightenment. Because of the distance it put between one who had yet to achieve and one who had in terms ofbat, it was used as the benchmark.

    "There''s no such thing as a Divine Realm adept. Technically, they just haven''t grasped Enlightenment. Remember that. Don''t hesitate to ept the opponent is in another league. They are one of the strongest around, after all. That''s the only way you''ll have any chance of surviving," preached Ming Feizhen.

    Evil Eminence Scripture''s notion of power wasn''t strictly limited to rigidity but also the strength to move slow and controlled - otherwise called softness. Thetter was rare knowledge.

    Tang Ye never intended to resist; he didn''t reserve his energy. For that reason, he had energy to resist against Abels'' pressure.

    "I am liking you more and more. I like that you know how to fight against Divine Realm adepts. I''m curious who taught you because¡­ only another Divine Realm adept would know how to counter us." Abels looked back to Ming Feizhen and taunted, "You exposed yourself, Night Fortress'' master."

    Standing still, Abels amplified his output a hundred folds, pinning Tang Ye on his belly.

    "The kid wouldn''t possibly know how to counter Enlightenment. You taught him, didn''t you? Why do you keep pretending? Abels hereby issues you a challenge again."

    Notes:

    Judge''s Brush - They''re actually the oversized brush you''d see in ancient times and still used in calligraphy these days.

    Flowering/Flowers - This is an expansion on what I previously showed you, showing you the more advanced version described in this chapter.

 Volume 7 84 Night Fortressâ€™ Master (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 84 Night Fortress'' Master (Part 1)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen''s fearful countenance and trembling were so convincing that none of his allies suspected him any longer, especially in light of the perilous circumstance.

    Abels couldn''t imagine a Divine Realm adept acting so scared and disgracing himself. Besides that, he couldn''t sense Ming Feizhen donning a shield of qi even at their close proximity. They understood that was the height of idiocy as Divine Realm adepts. Even so, suspicions were mere spections. He refused to quit in case his mind was ying tricks on him.

    Although Abels was gradually persuaded Ming Feizhen wasn''t whom he assumed thetter to be, he remained indifferent. Still, anger seeped into his voice when he taunted, "I came here especially for you, but it seems Night Fortress'' master doesn''t think I''m a worthy opponent. My urge to kill has been triggered, so I must release the pent up desire. Out of respect for Night Fortress'' master, I won''t brazenly attack you. As such, I will have to vent on yourpanions. Let us resume the test."

    Abels increased his output, forming a blue energy ball. The pressure of the ball was no longer pressure but an actual attack.

    "Argh!" One of the escort members bellowed. The pressure exploded one of his arms, injury horrific.

    "I am a busy man and don''t have time to waste here, so I shall challenge all of you at once."

    Tie Hanyi still had enough energy to protect himself in spite of his injuries. s, the more he resisted, the more intense the pressure he was subjected to, groaning and moaning on the ground.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Master Ming, are you going to retaliate?"

    "Just kill me! Why¡­ are you harming them?" Ming Feizhen raged.

    Ye Luo resisted with every fibre of her being and took the vanguard position. Though taxing to speak, she brayed, "What''s your issue?! He already denied he''s not your target!"

    "In that case, death will be relief, won''t it?" Abels sauntered over to Ming Feizhen: "If others can die, what makes him an exception, agreed, Miss?"

    Usually, Su Xiao would be flying off the handle after Ming Feizhen was hurt. Strangely, though, he wasn''t riled up nor did he respond to Abels.

    "I can smell your wrath and resentment. Is he that important to you?" provoked Abels.

    Su Xiao raised his head and sundered the air. Su Xiao''s recent internal energy upgrade freed him from Abels'' pressure. However, Ming Feizhen never taught Su Xiao how to manifest the energy nor did he inform thetter he was learning an internal style. Since Su Xiao was unaware, he didn''t try to resist Abels'' pressure. As such, he didn''t suffer the pain or restriction the others did.

    Abels swatted Su Xiao''s de fearlessly. Normally, the air pressure from his punches would bend iron, but Ancient Cold was sharper than expected. Thus, Abels switched from a head-on punch to a finger thrust, disarming Su Xiao. Abels then detained Su Xiao with his Enlightenment glow as he did with Tang Ye.

    "That was fast¡­ Who taught you?" Abels questioned, seemingly recognising Su Xiao''s style.

    "I have nothing to say. Either you kill me or wait for me to kill you. Your intimidation tactics don''t scare me."

    "Stubbornss," Abels scoffed. He extended three fingers and threatened, "You escaped my restraints and forced me to switch my punch for a finger thrust. I''ll count it as you surviving three exchanges against me. I shall spare you. Now, step away from him. Otherwise, I will have to vanquish another talented individual."

    "Big Bro¡­ What are you doing?" whispered Tang Ye, who took advantage of Su Xiao''s confrontation to crawl over to Ming Feizhen. "Why aren''t you retaliating? Su Xiao is going to die if they keep going. Are you worried about your identity being exposed? I was wrong about you, Ming Feizhen!"

    "¡­ You misunderstand," Ming Feizhen weakly exined.

    Grinning, Abels asked Su Xiao, "You going to run?"

    Abels was asking the obvious.

    "Su Han, run!"

    Tang Ye tried tounch a surprise attack. Abels, without even looking, raised the pressure a third of what he was discharging to pulverise Tang Ye.

    "Tang Ye!" Ming Feizhen cried. "Su Xiao¡­ run. You''ll die."

    Su Xiao wrestled with the urge to run after Abels released him. Clenching his shaking hands, he turned back to Ming Feizhen and smiled: "I won''t."

    Abels looked to Ming Feizhen, eyes asking, "Are you done hiding?"

    Tang Ye: "Are you just going to keep watching?!"

    Ming Feizhen belted, "Don''t you dare, Abels!"

    Su Xiao turned back to Abels and switched to a stern expression: "Not moving!"

    Abels tugged up the corner of his mouth: "As you wish."

 Volume 7 85 Night Fortressâ€™ Master (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 85 Night Fortress'' Master (Part 2)</h4>

    Abels condensed his blue ball and wrapped it around his left fist, imbuing his left fists with a death talisman. Su Xiao became the epicentre for a tornado. The surroundings stood still for a second. It happened so fast that Su Xiao didn''t even have time for fear to manifest. Perhaps he''d only remember the blue sh and shattering pressure.

    The pressure Abels imposed earlier on was child''s y inparison to his Evil Eminence Strike, a strike capable of tearing Su Xiao''s skin off. Abels was never a man who let his emotions drive him.

    There was no impact sound, but Su Xiao went reeling over twenty metres as Long Zaitian did and hit the ground. He never let out as much as a groan.

    "Brilliant! Master''s Evil Strike is back. That punch was silent unlike your previous one. You have recovered your strength you exhibited when you traded with Shaolin''s abbot!" cheered River Monster.

    Something was amiss to Abels because the results produced didn''t meet expectations. He supposedly demolished Su Xiao''s bones, meridians and provoked Ming Feizhen, but¡­ He kept checking his fist in search for an answer. Is¡­ there someone capable of covertly cancelling my punch''s force, Abels wondered.

    "You sted animal!" Ming Feizhen blustered, charging Abels. "Abels, I''ll kill you!"

    Though the escort was released when Abels recollected his energy for the punch, only Ming Feizhen let his anger go to his head.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Abels tagged Ming Feizhen, sending him back upside down: "No. He''s not Night Fortress'' master. He can''t be a Divine Realm adept. Was it just my imagination?"

    Abels never intended to send Su Xiao reeling. Even if River Monster''s im he had returned to his peak was correct, he wanted to verify it. He didn''t likecking control over power the same way a swordsman wouldn''t want his sword controlling him.

    Abels produced the blue glow again, extending its range and intensifying its output, making no effort to suppress the power. As a result, the blue ball started carving out a crater in the ground.

    If there''s someone helping you in the shadows¡­ he''ll show up now. Otherwise, you''re all finished!

    The escort was on the verge of annihtion as Abels raised his output to eighty percent. Suddenly, a white light flitted down from above with the output of lightning strike despite the strike being as thin as a thread. Abels'' pressure wasn''t reduced; therefore, the escort still couldn''t move. Even so, the white projectile prated Abels'' blue glow. In other words, his internal energy wasn''t enough to stop the white object.

    Abels swung a light-enhanced punch using the same power as his Evil Eminence Qi Field technique he imposed on the escort. Despite his high output, he was unable to halt the white light. The friction of the two energy sources generated sparks as it pierced through and sted apart his Evil Eminence Qi Field. His biggest surprise wasn''t the power, but the item imbued with white energy.

    "¡­ A leaf?" Abels immediately red at Ming Feizhen. Seeing Ming Feizhen''s apoplectic expression, he told himself, "No, it''s not him. He couldn''t have done it from his distance and position."

    Voice low, Abels questioned, "Who''s¡­ there?"

    Everyone looked over in synchrony. There he was, standing under the moon as if he wielded absolute authority. If Abels was the immeasurable man, he was the ruler of the world, a transcendent being. His amble through the forest suggested he could wipe out the world with the click of a finger.

    "What¡­? How¡­?" muttered Tang Ye, looking at Ming Feizhen''s back. Ming Feizhen''s countenance perplexed him. He was sure Ming Feizhen was the only one who could stop Abels.

    The male''s appearance could fit in the broad age range of twenty to thirty. He was young in appearance, yet the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes showed he had shed his youth. He was dressed in a long shirt schrs wore and draped a ck and white overcoat as Jiangnan''s pugilists did. His syed long hair gave the vibes of a wild man; reinforced by its ck and white colours. His rxed demeanour exuded absolute confidence that shunned what was considered dangerous. Putting it all together, he met the requirements for Jiangnan''s Invincible Pugilist.

    Emperor Yuansheng whipped his head up as soon as he heard someone mutter, "Night Fortress'' master¡­" It was a reasonable conjecture.

    The man meandered over to Abels and confronted him. His stare was akin to a light revealing Abels. Abels answered the challenge, uncorking a ripping punch at the man''s chest. The man caught the punch in his hands and stopped the momentum dead in its tracks. The catch didn''t create any impact sound just as when Abelsnded his punch on Su Xiao.

    Abels'' confusion was finally exined. Adepts of such calibre didn''t just fall from the sky. He stepped back and asked, "Who¡­ are you?"

    Abels knew the answer, but he didn''t understand why he asked.

    "Weren''t you searching for me? Now you don''t recognise me?"

    The man''s voice didn''t match his age. It wasn''t soft as Abels was. It was difficult to describe, but it could put one at ease.

    Abels subtly simpered: "Try andst three exchanges."

 Volume 7 86 Phenomenal (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 86 Phenomenal (Part 1)</h4>

    Abels had his eyebrows pulled slightly together as he analysed the intelligence on Night Fortress'' master to reach his own conclusion. There was a unified conclusion from those who went to Night Net Mountain and those who relied on meta-analysis intelligence: Night Fortress'' master was an incarnate of confusion.

    Calling Night Fortress'' master a confusion incarnate was quite a polite description. Nobody would open their doors for unorthodox sects'' disciples in the presence of the Seven Champion White Princes, yet he did so alone, and the seven turned a blind eye to it. He would p heavyweights around and dump them in ake, yet none of the seven would ever knock on his doors.

    More recently, Night Fortress'' master supposedly didn''t show up to a duel Jin Wangsun issued him. Jin Wangsun, therefore, assumed control over Night Fortress. In the end, Jin Wangsun''s corpse was never found. They imed Night Fortress'' master was responsible for taking Jin Wangsun out.

    Because Night Fortress'' master got away with all of his deeds, they still called him South''s Five Ember Pce despite him having never done anything major in years.

    Abels expected to see a wild and energetic man based on the intelligence he acquired. In a surprising turning of events, Night Fortress'' master turned out to be a refined and, perhaps, ordinary man. Judging from appearances alone, he wasn''t any different to wandering pugilists in Jiangnan had it not been for his aura.

    Abels knew what his goal for the day was: he needed to verify the true intent of Huzhou''s n''s wild card so that he could plot his moves without the unpredictable factor suddenly introduced. Abels had to reluctantly admit that news of Jiangnan''s Face-pping Kinging to Huzhou threw him off his rhythm.

    Abels tried various means to lull out the adept in the shadows. The only feasible clue he had to work off in the end was Young Master Zhong Ming. He was disappointed to learn Young Master Zhong Ming was just a side character.

    Abels was hoping to converse with the adept, match wits andbat skills under the dark ocean before asking Night Fortress'' master not toe to Huzhou. If talking didn''t fly, he had no qualms convincing Night Fortress'' master with his fists.

    Abels had never been so far off the mark before. He wasn''t the only person to have a difficult time against the enigmatic master of Night Fortress. The enigma would show up whenever he fancied. If he wanted to hide, nobody could find him. He would throw a monkey wrench into someone''s ns in unconventional ways. Therefore, he was the most dangerous threat to Abels'' ns.

    "You are Night Fortress'' Master Ming?"

    The man tilted his head with a simper and extended a finger.

    Abels suddenly felt a sting on his face. He never let his guard down since Night Fortress'' master appeared. He created a barrier of qi almost one hundred centimetres thick around him, yet something as trivial, yet as fast as lightning, managed to prate and cut his face.

    A finger flick is all it took for him to cut me?

    Abels moulded energy and spun to his left three times as fast as he could, moving twelve metres back each spin. Abels lookedical spinning so deftly with his size, yet no one could find it in them tough. Nobody saw what Abels tried to avoid. As a matter of fact, they wouldn''t have understood why he moved away if the gigantic tree behind him didn''t snap so loudly.

    The audience was unaware Abels didn''t have an easy time avoiding the attack. His speciality didn''t lie in reacting. In fact, he only reacted when his barrier was broken. He still had no clue what technique or weapon was used to prate his barrier. The sting, however, told him his potent true qi wouldn''t shield him from damage if the projectile made contact.

    Abels churned up qi and eximed, "As a respected martial artist, do you not think it is shameful for you to sneak attack me?"

    "Weren''t you the one looking for me?" Night Fortress'' master chuckled: "Don''t tell me you were looking for me to have a philosophical conversation. I thought you people from Beijiang like to dive right in. Did I get my facts wrong? Is Beijiang''s Evil Eminence, Abels, a gum-pping coward?"

    Abels smiled back: "I never knew you relished battle. I suppose Jiangnan''s martial world''s peace will soon cease."

    A sickening feeling visited Emperor Yuansheng''s stomach just as Abels'' desired. Night Fortress'' master''s abilities shattered what Emperor Yuansheng imagined. If Master Ming was to turn against the imperial court, it would spell trouble.

    Master Ming easily figured out Abels'' intent upon catching a glimpse of Emperor Yuansheng''s reaction. Master Mingughed it off and asked, "Your sowing-discord strategy was executed carelessly. Here''s a better example for you to learn from: don''t you think it''s wiser for the imperial court to invest resources in capturing a notorious bandit invading our borders, ambushing imperial court military forces, attempting to rob officials'' possessions, starting fights in the Central in''s martial world and targeting Jiangnan''s martial world for whatever reason rather than me for enjoying a carefree life?"

    "Of course! One saved a life, and the other took a life. Even an imbecile can tell who to arrest!" answered Su Xiao.

    "I tried to repay kindness with ingratitude. Who in their right mind would challenge a Divine Realm adept? A child is more sensible than I am," Emperor Yuansheng inwardly reproached. "Master Ming, you need not say more. I shall never forget today''s debt and promise to repay it. I will not allow him to sow discord between us. Show him the imperial court understands reason."

    Master Ming hiked up the corner of his lips: "So, what will it be?"

    "Beautifully yed. You have not let me down," responded Abels, smiling but coldly staring back and slowly bringing his lips down.

    As the two Divine Realm adepts faced off, the qi pressure in the atmosphere plummeted.

    "He seems angry¡­ Why does it feel as though his wrath is aim at me? When did he and I develop a feud?" wondered Abels.

    Master Ming raised an arm and flicked in a fashion that resembled martial arts unlike his initial finger attack. Abels had five, if not six, strategies to counter the finger flicks. All he had to do was boost his arm strength and th-

    What? I need to move!

    In the time it took for Abels to prepare his counter, the qi flicked his way already hit his true qi armour, forcing him to spin out. To his astonishment, he still couldn''t figure out how the attack worked despite seeing it for the second time.

    There must be something to it that I''m not privy to. It can''t be qi. There''s no finger qi technique so powerful out there. He must be using a weapon of some sort, and I doubt it''s another leaf.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Volume 7 87 Phenomenal (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 87 Phenomenal (Part 2)</h4>

    Master Ming consecutivelypressed qi around him, wound up and flicked it. Abels qi armour was inevitably going to crumble if Master Ming wasn''t stopped. The issue was Abels couldn''t create or find a gap between the flick and the moment of impact to turn the tide. To add, Abels was unable to predict the target, which was doubly lethal since Master Ming''s uracy was dangerous.

    Some people were of the opinion that Divine Realm adepts refrained from fighting. In reality, the craving forbat in a true pugilist was insatiable. In fact, those who had reached a level simr to Abels woefully searched for challenges. Perhaps it would be fairer to say that they weren''t just looking for fights but were seeking improvement. One could improve physically all they want; however, some concepts and skills could only be acquired and honed in actualbat. Realbat experience for them was worth years of training in solitude.

    Abels felt he tried to bite off more than he could chew. He had absolute confident in his Just Realm style, yet it took a split second for Master Ming to break through his armour. He had crossed swords with other Divine Realm adepts before, but never had he looked so pathetic; it was as if his impressive entrance was just a skit. Abels was unable to seize the initiative even once for the first time.

    Abels constantly reinforced his true qi armour in hopes of affording himself more time between flicks, allowing him to hang in there. Howbeit, he was merely dying the inevitable.

    "Enough with the tricks!"

    Abels shifted his hips back until he was folded forward and propelled himself forward as fast as an arrow off the bowstring. Master Ming paused. From the perspective of others, standing still against an opponent moving as fast as Abels wasmitting suicide.

    The gale billowing Master Ming''s clothing before the punchnded didn''t scare him. Master Ming changed the trajectory his coiled index finger would snap to adjust to Abels'' movement. For whatever flummoxing reason, he didn''t strike. Once Abels delivered the punch carrying all of his forward momentum, Master Ming finally unloaded. The impact was as loud as two big axes colliding.

    Abels felt as though his left steely mps were pushing against a towering mountain. The stalemate came to a conclusion when Abels'' was sent reeling backward with his feet off the ground! Master Ming curled his index finger again.

    Abels almost never used his Divine Realm might against anyone except for in training by himself. The scrap against Master Ming wasn''t over, yet he had already used it more than any other day.

    Abels uncorked another luminous blue punch that could prove the rumours of Enlightenment. The pressure emitted slowed down anything the pressure caught.

    "A thread? It''s barely visible, but I''m sure that''s a thread," inwardly noted Abels, feeling a sting on his fist. He realised, "No wonder why I couldn''t seem to defend his attacks no matter how much I raised my output!"

    Master Ming''s flick attacks were thin qi needles - forck of better word - using qi and his threads. To put it into perspective, the flicks were needles stabbing into an elephant''s leg.

    "It must be snow spirit spider silk. Actually¡­ it''s tougher than that¡­ Celestial spider silk?" Abels analysed. "That''s unfair! You''re using a legendary weapon against my bare fists! What a disgrace!"

    Master Ming simpered, and off went another flick. Abels wasn''t going to fall for the same trick again. Abels reversed the way he used his mental cultivation, thereby modifying his output type.

    Rings of blue energy disseminated toward Master Ming''s thread. Each ring slowed down the strikes, and the undting motion of the energy impacted the trajectory, consequently veering the strikes off target.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Finally found a counter for that technique.

    Abels confident smile finally returned: "Nicely yed, Master Ming. You almost had me there. May I ask what the name of the technique is?"

    "It''s my self-invented style. I just call it Night Net Celestial Silk."

    That''s like him, even using "thread" in his style''s name just as his calctive mind pays attention to the finest of details.

    "The style provokes deep thought. You are innovative man. Had I not used Enlightenment, I would have been cornered."

    "You tter me." Master Ming''s cold voice somehow sounded joyous. He borated, "The style is nothing special and not worth any attention. It was merely the product of internal energy experiments. It''s only¡­"

    H-he got me?

    Abels felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder and smelt blood

    "¡­ Valuable since it caught the world-renowned leader of Evil Spirits."

    Abels couldn''t believe he was caught without being aware. As he sealed his meridian to staunch his bleeding, he shot Master Ming a fiery re.

    As though he could read Abels'' mind, Master Ming stated, "That technique is called Autumn King Thread. It''s third in my Seven King Thread''s style. I was hoping I could try it with you."

    "Night Net Celestial Silk¡­ Seven King''s Thread? I''ve heard about your style before, but I had no idea you wielded such a bizarre weapon. What does your Autumn King Thread consist of?"

    "Let''s find out." Master Ming flicked again: "Autumn King Thread - Moon."

    Master Ming''s white beam attack broke through Abels'' barrier and the barrier he covertly set up, forcing him to dodge.

    This¡­ is going to be tough.

    The reason Master Ming''s attack wasn''t fazed was because he added Enlightenment. Abels Enlightenment was about ultimate might. As for Master Ming''s Enlightenment nature, it was still a mystery. Abels hadn''t revealed his full power, but neither had Master Ming. If the two of them kept dialling up the intensity, one of them would die, which wasn''t Abels'' goal for the night. Master Ming, to the contrary, fired off fatal attacks one after the other.

    "I don''t want to fight any more for tonight."

    Only River Monster and Abels heard the deration.

    "That wasn''t Voice Transmission. This is more advanced¡­ How many more insane skills does he have up his sleeve?" wondered Abels. "What was that?"

    "We don''t have a feud we can''t settle. Let''s consider thatst strike the one that set us even."

    Feud? Since when did I develop a grudge with him?

    The white beam could be described as a beam of information. Shen Yiren also glowed white when she started fighting Abels with an awkward style. From what he could tell, it was the same as Master Ming''s white beam. Putting together the white glow and supposed grudge, he concluded Shen Yiren was Master Ming''s woman. The conclusion also justified why Master Ming was connected to the imperial court.

    River Monster, out of the blue, used Voice Transmission to bray, "Get your head out of your behind! Are you saying you''re sparing Master?"

    "Precisely. I don''t have a grudge so deep against you that I must kill you. I don''t want to keep making enemies, either. If you don''t scram right now, though, you''ll bite the dust."

    Abels took the threat serious, but River Monster continued, "Shut your trap! Come kill us to avenge your lover if you''re so tough."

    River Monster also reached the same conclusion Abels did after witnessing Master Ming''s Enlightenment ability.

    "I wasn''t speaking to you."

    River Monster felt as if she was stuck in ice when Master Ming shifted his piercing gaze to her.

    "What¡­ was the scar on the puppet''s arm about?" questioned Master Ming.

    River Monster fronted with a smile: "I lopped her arm off, just like the puppet!"

    "Shut it, River Monster!"manded Abels.

    The escort flinched because of Abels sudden belt for they weren''t aware the three were speaking to each other in secret.

    Sensing Master Ming''s qi pressure drop again and seeing his silence, River Monster beamed with dark delight: "What, heartbroken? It''s just a hand. You can still have fun using her other parts. It''s no big deal."

    "I said shut it, River Monster!"

    "What''s the matter, Master?! Why do we have to be scared of him?! He is just bluffing to scare you off!"

    Abels pulled his brows together and then picked up bloodlust.

    "¡­ You''re right. It''s just an arm. It''s no big deal."

    Master Ming raised a thread: "I''ll throw it away, then."

    Master Ming threw a woman''s thin arm away.

    "Aaaahh!"ike a waterfall, blood poured from River Monster''s shoulder.

    Nobody. Nobody saw how it happened.

 Volume 7 88 Divine (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 88 Divine (Part 1)</h4>

    Blood from River Monster''s bottom lip stained the top of her teeth and trickled down as she sealed her meridians to staunch the bleeding around her exposed flesh. The reason the wound wasn''t neat was because her arm wasn''t amputated using a de but torn off using bare hands.

    Huffing and puffing, River Monster belted, "How dare you chop off my arm!"

    Master Ming marginalised River Monster as his attention was elsewhere. Abels advanced as soon as River Monster''s scream drew attention. Nobody but one man caught Abels moving because he masked his movements using Eclipse. Abels had to spring fast before the attention was back on him. He, nheless, didn''t let his desire tond a hit cloud his judgement.ike Abels, Master Ming wasn''t a reaction specialist. He, however, did have the ability to locate other Divine Realm adepts as they did. Master Ming was also extra mindful of Abels as there wasn''t any chance Abels wouldn''t use his ally''s predicament to his advantage.

    When all was supposed to be over, Master Ming raised an arm in a smooth motion to intercept the knuckles heading toward his face. Abels punchcked any concept of technique; call it brawling style if you insist. Simrly, instead of using his mystifying flick technique, Master Ming''s defence was no less unrefined than Abels'' punch. The easiest way to picture Master Ming''s one arm defence against Abels'' punchingbos was an unbridled toy bouncing off Abels'' arms and fists. If there was a contest for fighting in an unbing fashion, Abels and Master Ming would be the top two contenders for the crown.

    Nobody watching questioned the two''spetence as their pace eventually reached a point where the audience was just seeing afterimages stacked on afterimages. Because of the two''s Eclipse ability, those watching hallucinated white mist shrouding the two locked inbat.

    Abels was merely jumping on a calcted opportunity that presented itself. Nobody had any strategy to counter Night Net Celestial Silk. If they traded hundreds of times, then Abels would be able to concoct something. In saying that, he didn''t want to take that route when it meant he had to subject himself to tremendous hardship. Abels wasn''t scared by any means. It was just that style supremacy wasn''t always the key to victory.

    Abels had identified two ws. Firstly, Master Ming was livid. Once one was emotional in battle, they''d unsuspectingly show ws. No doubt, Master Ming severed River Monster''s arm faster than Abels could react and faster than Autumn King''s Thread. That being said, it was physically impossible to consecutively utilise techniques requiring maximum physical output. If Master Ming threw three serious strikes, Abels would hibernate in the dirt for good. Abels'' decision proved to be right. In their entire fight, it was the first time he had gotten so close to Master Ming.

    Abels'' blue energy had gone from light blue to a darker blue, indicating he was cranking up the power behind his punches and not just his speed. Laughing as he revved up his speed, Abels taunted, "What happened to your Night Net Celestial Thread?!"

    Master Ming was unable to use his Enlightenment against Abels while using his threads. Abels'' force, on the other hand, pushed Master Ming back. If Master Ming could put some distance between them, he might''ve been able to win. Abels wasn''t going to let that happen, though, because he discovered Master Ming''s second weakness.

    Ever since his arrival, Master Ming never engaged Abels in close-quartersbat or even used a proper martial arts technique, for that matter, owing to the speed for Autumn King''s Thread.

    Abels'' worst enemy was speed. Master Ming relied on speed to take River Monster''s arm. His Autumn King''s Thread was fast and difficult to defend against, but he didn''t move fast. Furthermore, Master Ming minimised movement. Putting two and two together, Abels concluded Master Ming wasn''t proficient at close-quartersbat.

    There was a saying that went, "Speed sacrifices power." ordingly, as long as Abels could close the distance, he could capitalise on his speciality - power.

    Capitalise, he tried. Seed, he did not. Master Ming''s defence could be summed up in one word: imprable. Master Ming''s arm flowed from one punch to the next and dismantled each strike without fighting against Abels'' force.

    This feels like I''m punching into a marsh. How is he able to keep up without his Divine Realm ability when I''m using Enlightenment and Evil Eminence Scripture? ¡­ What style is this?N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Volume 7 89 Divine (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 89 Divine (Part 2)</h4>

    "You''ve seen Shaolin''s skill, yet you don''t recognise the style of another big sect?" Master Ming questioned.

    "¡­ Wudang? Cosmic Primordial Empyrean Technique?!" Abels'' mind was seemingly read twice already, perturbing him.

    Abels was correct. Wudang''s Tai Chi was only passed on to direct disciple. In the current era, only two had mastered it, and both were household names.

    Master Ming''s flow justified Abels'' guess. Howbeit, Master Ming replied, "This is superior to it."

    Divine Realm adepts were granted four special abilities. Eclipse was one, which impacted one''s five senses. Enlightenment boosted one''s abilities to their max.

    Body Modification was another ability granted to those who had solidified their transcendence to Divine Realm. Simply put, one specific body part of theirs would alter and be different to other human beings. It could be their arm, leg, back or meridians. Body Modification, as the name suggests, allowed one to shift their qi to a specific body part to modify it.

    Thest ability was called Five Apotheosis. Divine Realm adepts'' five senses also developed beyond normal human standards. For instance, their eyes might grant them kilometres'' worth of vision. Unlike Body Modification, the improvements to one''s five senses could be developed. In other words, besides the change they had a natural disposition for, they could hone their four other senses. The challenge was the length of time it took to develop just one more sense to the same degree as their natural one. The fastest record was twenty years for one sense. Given the return on investment, few invested time and energy on developing their other senses.

    Master Ming''s ability to speak to Abels'' mind without his mouth or using qi was Interlinked Minds, which was one of the Five Apotheosis. Abels'' innate Five Apotheosis ability was his brain. Abels ability to analyse and strategize was attributed to his enhanced innate sense. In battle, however, it wasn''t the most ideal tool.

    "Your hands are slowing down," reminded Master Ming.

    Master Ming circled his arm into Abels'' punches and mmed it on Abels'' chest. Abels'' reaction was dyed for a second. There was no questioning his might, but Master Ming defused every st as if he was carelessly ying with a rag doll.

    Voice deep, Abels fumed, "You¡­ are still holding back?"

    "Why don''t you go all out?"

    Abels didn''t respond. Master Ming pointed out, "You seem upset your power isn''t enough. You haven''t shown any intent of killing me thus far. Instead, you keep thinking and holding back. You''re the man I heard you are. If you aren''t holding back on purpose, the only possible exnation is you that can''t use your full power. I heard you were injured during your fight at Shaolin¡­ I suppose the rumour is true?"

    "¡­ Shut up!"

    The wilder Abels'' punches were, the slower Master Ming''s hand movements were. Abels finally opened fire on all cylinders. Master Ming still didn''t even bother using his Enlightenment, yet he was having no trouble picking apart Abels'' strikes. Abels'' conditioning eventually fell behind. Abels first assumed he over-expended his energy, but his Intellectual Knowledge Ability told him otherwise.

    "Y-Y-"

    "Finally realised?"

    Master Ming only broke down Abels'' attacks using gentle redirecting. That was until Abels looked up. Master Ming didn''t just redirect Abels'' force; he somehow collected it overhead.

    Overhead was a colossal blue energy ball. In other words, Abels'' assumption that Master Ming never used his Enlightenment ability was wrong. Master Ming was using it, but he was using it above them, where Abels never looked.

    Just Realm''s internal energy''s Enlightenment was usually blue energy. Extrapting, it was safe to conclude Master Ming was a Just Realm practitioner.

    Abels started to panic. He had thrown over a hundred punches since closing in, and Master Ming collected all of their force in the energy ball overhead. Not even Abels could defend over a hundred of his punches condensed as one st. By the same ount, it could very well kill Master Ming. For his own life''s sake, Abels kept attacking. For his own life''s sake, he also wanted to pull back. In summary, he was cornered.

    "Are you crazy?! We could both die."

    "Die when you should, is what you said, isn''t it?" Master Ming teased. "I''m not doing much with my life, anyway. I heard you''re famous for going to extremes. Why not risk your life to y with me this time?"

    "¡­ You''re insane." Abels decided to retreat in the end.

    The blue energy ball dropped in Abels'' direction. Thankfully, he could think fast enough. He pressed two fingers together, erasing his blue glow. He conjured red energy on his hand and, using his two fingers, cut into the ball, bursting it! It wasn''t a random sh and prayer that made it work. He could identified where the energy was least condensed and cut that spot.

    The expected true qi explosion didn''t happen. When Abels'' burst the ball, Master Ming sent the energy into the ether, thereby preventing it ripping anyone apart.

    Abels'' red energy worked overtime and continued toward Master Ming after cutting the blue ball.

    "Autumn King - Moonlight."

    The Autumn King''s Thread and red energy collided, scattering the residue energy from the blue ball, generating violent gales. The two''s sh created autumn tints. Breaking through the blue energy ball and his gentle force before drawing with Autumn King''s Thread¡­ It was easy to see who won.

    "That must be your true style, right?"

    Despite having won, Abels looked wrathful. He responded, "¡­ You tried to force it out of me?"

    "Precisely." Speaking directly into Abels'' mind, Master Ming borated, "Enlightenment''s real function will evolve as your style and physical attributes evolve. Changing the way you use it produces different results. This style''s Enlightenment is suppression. It requires exceptional qi to use, but you kept holding back. Your Enlightenment doesn''t suit this style."

    "So? What''s your goal?"

    "It''s not normal for your style to change so drastically. What¡­ happened to you? I couldn''t help probing."

    "What''s your point?" Abels stopped responding in his mind and spoke out loud: "Out with it already!"

    Master Ming raised the corner of his lips wryly: "We can end our duel here. You should know the aim of my visit to Huzhou now. I have a rough guess of your n. We''ll stay in ournes. It''s not easy to kill a Divine Realm adept. That also holds true for you. My point is, bear in mind that I can throw your ns off even if I don''t kill you. That''s all I wanted to point out."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Abels finally rxed: "You live up to your alias. Fine, we''ll stay in our ownnes."

    Master Ming nced over to River Monster, leading to hershing out.

    "Master, Ar-are you not going to avenge me?"

    Abels subtly smiled: "It is my fault for not keeping my subordinates in line. I am fortunate enough to have Master Ming teach them a lesson on my behalf."

    River Monster couldn''t believe her ears. Though they maintained a master and subject rtionship, they were husband and wife. She was so exasperated that she wanted to run off with her severed arm that she picked up during their fight¡£

    "Is it all right? I did not mean to hurt your woman."

    "Of course, Master Ming. River Monster is but one of my subordinates. She is not my woman." Abels gave Master Ming a palm and fist salute: "I apologise if I affronted you in any capacity. I shall now take my leave."

    Master Ming smiled back.

    Abels somersaulted in the air and took off toward the mountains.

    Master Ming turned around with a smile. The script went off track for a while, but all was well in the end.

    The escort had no idea what wasing next. Ming Feizhen went from confounded to "what just happened" to pleasantly surprised.

    "Young Ming, it''s been a while."

 Volume 7 90 Aftermath

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 90 Aftermath</h4>

    Thendscape was devastated after the match between two Divine Realm adepts. The ck bears bolted off the moment River Monster left. The true aim of Abels'' visit was left up to the escort''s imagination in the end.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s heaved a breath of relief, was grateful from the bottom of his heart for Master Ming''s life-saving intervention. Emperor Yuansheng was always willing to take risks for gains; however, he almost gave an unwitting Abels a historic aplishment - assassinating two Emperors.

    Understandably, Emperor Yuansheng never really liked factions independent of the Seven White Champion Princes'' influence. It wasn''t an issue of justice and criminal. He just didn''t want any martial world faction to grow to the extent that they could rival the imperial court''s power. He had reasons he didn''t mind the three biggest orthodox sects despite their influence. The three rarely involved themselves with the pugilistic world''s affairs and kept a low profile in recent decades. Howbeit, he changed his perspective of Night Fortress after the ordeal. He didn''t change his evaluation based on gratitude but thorough deliberation.

    If Night Fortress'' master was against the imperial court, he wouldn''t have stepped in to rescue them from someone so dangerous. Moreover, considering the Qilin Guards were still "cleaning" the martial world, for him to not bear a grudge and step in wasn''t something one could reasonably demand.

    The imperial court was on good terms with Luo Sword manor. With respect to the other six, the imperial court wanted them off the grid. The imperial court was in need of help to tackle the remaining six among the Seven Champion White Princes. With The Ultimate Three not around and the Qilin Guards busy holding down the martial world, having Master Ming as an ally¡­

    Night Fortress'' master''s reputation was never that positive or negative. He wasn''t an obscure individual, but he wasn''t considered a name that could hold down Jiangnan for the reason that his whereabouts were always shrouded in mystery. Few people could even put a face to his name unless they had met him when he personally handled business. ordingly, only those familiar with him in Jiangnan would know him. Instead of belonging at either extreme, he was at both extremes simultaneously.

    Master Ming convinced everyone present that he could''ve harvested Abels'' head if he desired so, leaving no room for scepticism of his abilities. Emperor Yuansheng couldn''t name any more than five individuals who could match Master Ming after personally witnessing thetter use Abels for a warm-up.

    Though Emperor Yuansheng didn''t explicate his gratitude, he expressed it through his gaze, which Master Ming acknowledged with a cordial smile and polite nod.

    The first person Master Ming chose to speak to wasn''t surprising and, as a matter of fact, matched the information the escort had on hand.

    Smiling brightly, Master Ming asked, "Long-time no see, Young Ming. Have you been well?"

    "I-it is nice to see you again, Master."

    "They really do know each other," Emperor Yuansheng inwardly remarked, continuing to think, "Why did I even suspect Ming Feizhen? If Ming Feizhen was Night Fortress'' master, Jingan''s husband would be Lord San Shen. What a fool I am."

    "Haha, how many times have we met now, Young Ming? How many years has it been?"

    "Three years, Master Ming."

    "Wow, three years already." Master Ming gave Ming Feizhen an amiable head pat: "Didn''t scare you, did we? Your skills are stillcking, huh? It''s unbing for you to only have medical and divination skills as a disciple of Mount Daluo. I''ll personally teach you a technique or two when I have some time on hand."

    "Thank you in advance, Master Ming."

    Master Ming smiled and then shifted his line of sight to Su Xiao, who was spacing out, and queried, "What''s the matter?"

    "Ah, oh, me? I think I have the wrong person." Su Xiao nced to Ming Feizhen then lowered his head.

    Su Xiao felt Master Ming''s gait, mannerisms and even tone were familiar to the point that he almost called Master Ming "Big Brother Ming." Su Xiao didn''t ask out of courtesy since Master Ming saved him from death before. Su Xiao brushed aside the feeling and graciously expressed, "Thank you for helping me."

    "Don''t mention it."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Master Ming turned to meet with the aggressive stare of Tang Ye, who was still lying on the ground.

    "You truly are incredible, Master Ming."

    Master Ming cheerfully asked, "Is something the matter?"

    Tang Ye sarcastically answered, "Wow, ''ridiculous'' is the only way to describe your prowess. You really resemble someone I once met. He had me napping on the ground in a second after we shared a drink. I think you two would be a close match."

    In Master Ming''s mind: "Just you wait, punk!"

    "Brother Tie!" cried Ye Luo.

    Barely-breathing Tie Hanyi''s eyes flew open when the pent-up blood behind his teeth needed an escape.

 Volume 7 91 String Puppet Show

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 91 String Puppet Show</h4>

    "Ming Feizhen! Brother Ming! Pl-please take a look at Brother Tie!" pleaded Ye Luo.

    Ming Feizhen wriggled ever so slightly, but his legs were in the same ce. Instead, Master Ming made his way over as fast as a sh.

    "Eclipse can hide the user''s presence from those who have yet to reach Divine Realm. Each person''s version of Eclipse differed ording to their personality. For instance, Abels'' Eclipse granted him a presence simr to a burgeoning inferno. Master Ming''s Eclipse granted him a natural presence." Dugu abruptly cut off his own analysis when he saw Master Ming nce over and smile. Dugu''s internal reaction was, "I better stop in case he has the Divine Interlinked Minds and reads my thoughts."

    Master Ming looked as though heplimented Dugu for being wise before turning back and broaching the topic naturally: "What happened to him?"

    "H-he suddenly started vomiting blood. We do not know what happened."

    "Let me see."

    Given Master Ming''spetence and actions, he could be trusted. Even so, Ye Luo begged Emperor Yuansheng with her gaze. From afar, Emperor Yuansheng expressed, "If we could kindly trouble you, Master Ming, we would appreciate it."

    "He''s hurt quite serious."

    Master Ming covered Tie Hanyi''s chest wound with one hand and patted it gently a few times. Nobody understood what the patting was about. It stopped Tie Hanyi spitting blood, nheless. His hectic breathing subsided. Though he still was ghastly pale, his condition didn''t show signs of worsening.

    "Master Ming, Brother Tie¡­"

    "Thankfully, he practices Qi Hardening Skill. Abels wanted to show off, and that''s why he didn''t aim to destroy your friend''s dantian and qihai. Otherwise, he would no longer be able to practice martial arts even if we saved him."

    "Y-yet he is still in terrible condition?" Ye Luo''s favourite word in the exnation was "otherwise". Else, her heart might''ve stopped.

    "I''m not done. Abels could destroy his qihai. That said, he couldn''t do it easily. His aim was to beat your friend through sheer force as a means of proving his might. The three exchanges Abels offers is no joke. Your friend''s meridians suffered serious trauma, rendering him weak. He would already be dead if his will to live wasn''t so unwavering."

    "Master Ming, since you can diagnose him, does that you could als-"

    "I blocked his meridians using my internal energy. It''s not as simple as improving blood cirction. If I could treat him with a click of my fingers, I''d be a god. Forcing true qi into him would be adding to his injuries."

    The imperial doctor apanying the escort, a physician with decades of experience, inquired about Tie Hanyi''s condition and gave thetter a physical check-up, yet he was unable to identify Tie Hanyi''s issue. To redeem himself, he chimed in, sharing, "Damage to meridians cannot be treated aggressively. He requires slow recovery. This old one can treat him in a year or so using acupuncture and herbs."

    "That won''t be necessary," stated Master Ming.

    Master Ming, using a simr approach to before, tapped Tie Hanyi on his left and right. He circled two steps around to Tie Hanyi''s side and added another tap. The best way to describe the taps was the same motion as dusting. Each tap required him to transfer precise volumes of internal energy using Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art. The energy unclogged Tie Hanyi''s qihai, while the force from Spring Wind Rainy Night kickstarted the meridian repair process. Tie Hanyi''s face gradually showed tinges of pink. His blood from before had stained his clothing.

    It''s said that one can harness Spring Winds Rainy Night Divine Art''s style to assassinate targets without forewarning or leaving traces behind. Few people looked beyond it to realise that it could be used as a medical skill in the same vain. Worth noting is that both extremes were only essible to those who had mastered the style. To aplish what Master Ming did, nevertheless, requiredbining Tai Chi and Night Net Celestial Silk with the art in order to thin out one''s true qi until it was as thin as a thread and control it.

    Master Ming used the time it took for Tie Hanyi''s meridians to heal somewhat as an interval between pats. In doing so, he gradually reduced the damage and increased the true qi allowance over time. The process heated up Tie Hanyi''s body, white smoke whisking from him, as seen when one reaches a critical point during energy condensation.

    Master Ming didn''t let the heat impact his work. Twenty-two patster, Master Ming halted and waited. Breaking the abrupt and iprehensible silence, Su Xiao queried, "Big Brother Ming, is Ol'' Tie fine now?"

    Master Ming answered, "Not entirely. There''s a bit of an issue."

    The two of them had an awkward moment. Su Xiao bobbed his head and stuttered, "I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I have the wrong person. Sorry, Master Ming!"

    Su Xiao took cover behind Ming Feizhen, who sighed as if Su Xiao embarrassed him.

    "Haha, don''t worry about it. My surname is also Ming. I''m only a few years older, so I have nothing to lose if you call me Big Brother Ming."

    "Hehe, that was what I thought." Su Xiao poked his head out behind Min Feizhen: "But why is Ol'' Tie still in trouble?"

    Ye Luo questioned, "Is it because he lost too much blood? The blood of warriors flows within all of us. We are more than happy to supply him with blood."

    Following voices of agreement, the escort pulled out des to cut themselves, only for Master Ming to stop them: "Stop. I said there''s an issue, but I never said it''s something that can''t be fixed. If I needed blood, I wouldn''t hesitate to ask. Cutting yourself for no rhyme or reason is just inanity. While others may not be able to bear losing so much blood, your friend is tough. Consider it a detox. His meridians will heal in ten days'' time. It will only take him three days before he can walk again."

    Dugu: "May I ask if there will be any aftereffects?"

    "Mm¡­ His internal injuries just need time to heal. The biggest problem is¡­ him vomiting blood."

    Ye Luo: "Is that not attributed to his internal injury?"

    "No. The internal injury is triggering the violent puking; however, he still would''ve puked blood even if he didn''t suffer an internal injury. Take a look at his blood. It is a winter night, yet his blood on the ground was visible. Since Abels rocked his insides, his blood should be between dark red to ck, yet it''s a bright red. What''s more, there''s a pungent smell oozing from the blood on the ground. There is only one feasible exnation for those features."

    "The poison¡­ is strong!"mented Ye Luo.

    "The poison begins its sabotage once it enters one''s meridians, but you''ll be fine if it just touches your skin. You don''t need to fear it will do more damage deeper in anymore. ording to my knowledge, River Monster is the biggest fan of poison among Evil Spirits. This poison passed down in Nanjiang sabotages the body from within. She''s a big fan of the style," informed Master Ming.

    Though Master Ming was correct, there was an odd factor. River Monster didn''t have time to poison them and even lost an arm. She was still at the manor when Abels bludgeoned Tie Hanyi. Both of them raided the escort with confident mindsets. Therefore, it stood to reason that they wouldn''t need poison. Furthermore, why poison Tie Hanyi when he was already incapacitated? If River Monster wasn''t the culprit, there was only one suspect. Howbeit, that begged the question, why would they need to resort to poison?"

    "I believe your guesses align with mine. River Monster can''t be the culprit. The culprit, therefore, must be the one who fought your friend."

    "Hmm, why would Abels need poison to help?" inquired Emperor Yuansheng.

    Master Ming crossed his arms: "Combining poison with one''s attacks is frowned upon among martial artists regardless of how exceptional they may be with it. Abels skills are decidedly honed legitimately. He could''ve defeated your friend in one punch. Adding poison would be unnecessary."

    Master Ming finished his response as he strode over to Long Zaitian. He lifted Long Zaitian by his cor and hurled him with a rotational force added on. The escort misunderstood Long Zaitian did something to anger Master Ming enough to be thrown into the ether. As Long Zaitian spun in the air, they could hear true qi hissing out from his body. His cheeks were pink after three spins. After the fifth spin, he regained awareness of his surroundings. He opened his eyes when he was close to the ground again. He regained full functioning of his body and was able to spin out tond on his legs.

    "Although Abels also hit this gentleman, he only suffered an internal injury. From this, we can hypothesise that Abels did not mean to leak poison into his punch. I would assume he is unable to control its flow. I can''t say I''m surprised after all the miraculous things I''ve heard and seen in my life."

    Master Ming sauntered back to Tie Hanyi''s side and murmured, "It''s time."

    Master Ming palmed Tie Hanyi on the top of his skull.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Argh!" grunted Tie Hanyi. The poison Master Ming drew to Tie Hanyi''s chest burst out of his mouth in one go, leaving a trail of green smoke.

    Master Ming used his sleeve to direct the green smoke away before it could harm anyone else.

    "A style originating in Nanjiang employs poison as a weapon and to develop their strength. It replenishes arge volume of true energy in a short time frame. In essence, it''s simr to the strength internal style practitioners learn. As long as one can withstand the poison, they will gain decades of strength in a fraction of the time.

    "Theorising from what I have heard, I suppose Abels took the risk of learning it to recover faster. I am never wrong when ites to internal styles, and I am certain I have the right poison."ong Zaitian didn''t have the faintest idea who he was looking at; all he knew was the man was a heavyweight and supposedly saved his life. Upon hearing the man addressed as "Master Ming", Long Zaitian''s eyes asked Ming Feizhen, "Aren''t you Night Fortress'' master?!"

    Ming Feizhen shook his head.

    Ye Luo and Su Xiao examined Tie Hanyi''s condition. He looked as good as new despite the amount of blood lost. Tie Hanyi''s strength would improve upon waking up thanks to Master Ming. They never saw it, but Master Ming popped Tie Hanyi''s dislocated joints back in ce already. From what they gathered, Tie Hanyi would be back to one hundred percent in less than an hour after he woke up.

    Emperor Yuansheng: "You mean Abels is learning another style on top of Evil Eminence Scripture? Hmph, now I wonder what designs he has here in the Central in. Now that we are aware he is plotting something, we cannot let him go."

    "May I voice my opinion?"

    Master Ming carried himself as he pleased, but there was an authoritative undertone in his speech. That being said, he wasn''tmanding them, yet the listeners would feel obligated to respond.

    "Please feel free to speak."

    "Perhaps¡­ I should not be the one to say this. I would like to ask you and the three military offices to punish Evil Spirits leniently. At the very least, I hope you will think twice before you act."

    "Why is that?"

    It was obvious Master Ming wasn''t scared of Evil Spirits when he could beat Abels, adding to the bewilderment.

    "From my investigations, I was unable to find many cases of their evil deeds. They rob affluent ns and families in Beijiang to give back to the poor. There is no arguing that they break thew, but they have their own code of honour. In Beijiang they are called phnthropic bandits.

    "Evil Spirits doesmit murder; however, if you look into their victims, most are bandits or viins. Their subordinates don''t carry themselves well. Despite keeping ves, they are known for treating their ves particrly well. It would be unreasonable for them to abandon the ve practice when it is part of the culture in Beijiang. If you scrutinise their actions on arger scale, you could argue that they purged the evil in Tiezhen Kingdom when they usurped the throne. Before they assassinated the sovereign at the time, human life was treated no different to insects.

    "You might not like hearing this, but both the Qilin Guards and the Seven Champion White Princes kill hundreds of times more people annually than Evil Spirits does. To im they are evil andbel you are just is not fair judgement."

    Thest statement wasn''t weed as expected.

    "¡­ Perhaps you are right," agreed Emperor Yuansheng, firm and still not having epted Master Ming''s opinion. "Nheless, he has snooped around since arriving in the Central in and ambushed the imperial court''s escort. Is he intending to repeat what he did in Beijiang? He almost killed everyone here tonight. Is that what a phnthropic bandit does? I heard he is River Monster''s husband. Is that what a man does? Evil and justice are not judged based on actions, not lip service."

    "Speaking of which, I noticed he is behaving unusually ever since arriving here. He is behaving iprehensibly wild. For instance, I didn''t expect him to use Young Ming as bait to lure me out. Had I not coincidentally been passing by, I would have implicated all of you. I cannot tell what happened since I do not know him. Nheless, I wish to remind you: you all wield unrivalled power. Do not let people exploit you to do something you will regret."

    As Master Ming looked his way when he gave the reminder, it prompted Emperor Yuansheng into suspecting, "Does¡­ he know who I am¡­?"

    Master Ming then offered the escort a palm and fist salute: "If fate allows, I will meet you all in the pugilistic world again."ong Zaitian heard about Master Ming''s match with Abels after Master Ming left. Combining it with the speed at which Master Ming departed, Long Zaitian shivered.

    Dugu: "To step in and help us when we were in a pinch, he can be considered a man of honour."

    Emperor Yuansheng inwardly said, "Today wasn''t the right time, but if Night Fortress needs my support in the future¡­ I could lend a helping hand. Perhaps they can help me tackle the seven."

    The escort was exhausted physically and mentally. There was a team assigned to patrol duty in the wild, while another team stayed in the manor. s, they were barely able to stay awake. They didn''t suffer external or internal injuries. Still, the despair that hit them over and over, the toll of rising again and again, and mustering courage to confront death multiple times whipped them. When the adrenaline wore off, the fatigue bombed them. The one night was more tiring than travelling in the rain; not even Emperor Yuansheng had energy to spare on the patrol team.

    Tang Ye, who held onto his iron spear and sunk into deep thought, was one of the few who didn''t sleep. The match between the two Divine Realm adepts sparked more than just inspiration for him.

    Dugu was Emperor Yuansheng''s bodyguard while thetter caught some shuteye. Ye Luo was a girl, while Tie Hanyi was injured, hence why Dugu took on the duty.

    Thest awake individual was Ming Feizhen, who was assigned to patrolling the wild. Ming Feizhen was the only one plodding along in the mountain as if he had to heave his legs; his expression didn''t match his sluggish movements. There were no signs deep in the woods unlike other woods.

    "You kept me waiting."

 Volume 7 92 Reveal

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 92 Reveal</h4>

    From atop a tree, the man blithered, "They must be exhausted. If they were wise, they''d try to digest what they witnessed in the fight between the two Divine Realm adepts to help their progress in the future. Also, I''m starving. I still haven''t had anything to eat. I wonder if the ck bear king tastes good¡­"

    His blithering was too loud to be talking to himself, but the string of incoherent information gave that impression.

    He jumped down from the tree,nding silently. He was Night Fortress'' master. He was attired in the same clothing as when he fought Abels, but he had a visibly different vibe. He appeared considerably taller than during the fight - as tall as Ming Feizhen. His hair was all ck instead of ck and white. Even his ck and white eyes resembled Ming Feizhen''s.

    "I don''t think anyone saw through us. I have you to thank for helping me get through this," Master Ming expressed while smiling.

    Ming Feizhen stood stiff in ce.

    Master Ming swiped his hand across his face, peeling off his mask. He was Ming Feizhen''s spitting image. If there was a difference, he looked livelier than the Ming Feizhen before. He rubbed his face,menting, "Damn, I''m tired. I don''t know how you can wear these masks for so long. It takes me three days to recover each time I manipte my appearance. No sane man would want to work in this field."

    Master Ming, more precisely, Ming Feizhen, wiped his sweat as he inhaled the fresh air in the woods. Correct, Master Ming, who utilised Night Net Celestial Silk, Yijin Scripture, Tai Chi and Spring Wind Rainy Night Art was Ming Feizhen, himself.

    ***

    Rewinding back to when Ming Feizhen and Su Xiao were chasing the wild boar for supper.

    Su Xiao had tofort Ming Feizhen when thetter was worried about how to face the uing dilemma.

    Ming Feizhen was privy Emperor Yuansheng, Long Zaitian, Tie Hanyi and Dugu were suspicious of him. He wasn''t aware at first. Howbeit, they discussed their suspicions for hours on end. Given his enhanced hearing, it was a matter of time before he overheard them even if he didn''t mean to. Even without it, the events during the course of the day would''ve told him everything he needed to know.

    The attitude plus gifts from the various heavyweights from Jiangnan and his ridiculous Young Master Zhong Ming facade were too conspicuous. Every suspicion Emperor Yuansheng pointed out was valid points, such as him uncharacteristically declining their gifts.

    If Emperor Yuansheng overtly interrogated him, Ming Feizhen would''ve had his means to erase suspicion; he couldn''t just stroll up to Emperor Yuansheng and deny he was Night Fortress'' master if thetter didn''t ask. That being said, Emperor Yuansheng not explicating his suspicions and plotting behind Ming Feizhen''s back was the worst scenario.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn''t need to personally pry. Simply having his entourage stake out day and night or sending someone to tail Ming Feizhen would be nightmare. His life ofzing around would turn into staying alert around the clock just to avoid his secrets being exposed. The more secrets one had, the more frontiers one had to defend. Ming Feizhen wasn''t exactly meticulous or smart, either. If people scrutinised him hard enough, they''d find countless ws. If Emperor Yuansheng lined up scouts, one would eventually identify a loophole or pick up something; it was purely a question of when.

    Ming Feizhen would''vee up with some idea to fight off the suspicions if supplied enough time. By chance, he sensed a Divine Realm adept watching him from the woods when the escort entered the manor. Compiling information he attained from League of Assassins, Long Cheng and River Monster''s Nanjiang style, he concluded Abels was the one monitoring him.

    Abels wouldn''t have stalked the escort to make friends with them, obviously. Under other circumstances, Ming Feizhen would''ve had his hands tied¡­ Abels'' ambush, nevertheless, provided Ming Feizhen with the perfect scenario to script, direct and act out a story. Thus, Ming Feizhen''s brain cogs started to turn the moment they entered the manor and recalled Su Xiaoforting him.

    ording to what Ming Feizhen said, the small boar they lost track of would return to its sounder to recruit help. Su Xiao wasn''t scared of boars. To the contrary, he was thrilled to hear there were more boars. Dragging Ming Feizhen along, he ventured deeper into the mountains.

    Su Xiao wasn''t afraid of death, but he was afraid of being hurt. He wasn''t afraid of blood, but he was afraid of pungent stenches. He wasn''t afraid of danger, but he was afraid of the dark. He had his de drawn and clung to Ming Feizhen''s sleeve as he constantly scanned his surroundings. As soon as he heard an animal''s voice, he stered himself to Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen gently patted Su Xiao''s head: "What are you doing? Aren''t you trying to hunt?"

    Su Xiao covered his ears: "Not listening. Not listening!"

    Ming Feizhen simpered: "You not going to hunt the wild boar anymore? Remind me who dered he wanted to beat the others?"

    "¡­ Okay, okay." Su Xiao drew his de again. After merely two steps, he spun back around and implored, "Big Brother Ming,e with me."

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: "You don''t need to go further in. Look over there."

    Su Xiao looked over his shoulder to see the boar racing toward him. He cheered, "You''re finally going to let me swing at you, huh?"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The boar''s footsteps were unusually heavy. Upon peering up and beyond it, Su Xiao saw a big ck animal zooming toward him. Unlike the boar, its aggression was gushing out of its body. It was none other than the ck bear king River Monster imported. Unlike other bears, it had the freedom to move around at will. It was there for food, and it found its food in the form of the boar Su Xiao targeted and Su Xiao, himself.

    "Th-th-that''s not a mountain boar! That''s a massive ck bear!"

    Su Xiao bolted. Amusingly, the boar overtook him, positioning him as the most convenient prey for the bear because bears perceived fleeing animals to be prey.

    Bears may appear clumsy and slow based on their appearance, but that couldn''t be any further from the truth. An ordinary human racing against a bear in forests was folly. The ck bear king was the best proof that suddenly picking up speed was the quickest way to be dinner for wild beasts.

    It didn''t take long for the bear to close in on Su Xiao. Su Xiao was so hasty that he forgot about Ming Feizhen. He went back to haul Ming Feizhen, but he could barely move thetter. In the end, Su Xiao stumbled. Ming Feizhen covertly poked a spot on Su Xiao''s back, poking Su Xiao''s conscious asleep in the process, and caught thetter before he nted his face in the ground.

    The ck bear had its jaws hanging and ready behind Ming Feizhen. Surprisingly, it stopped abruptly. The wind on the nape of its neck was extra cold. It was almost ready to grovel on the ground before the human.

    Ming Feizhen, still holding onto Su Xiao, locked eyes with the bear. The ck bear king chose to prostrate itself and y dead, albeit trembling.

    "You''re pretty smart unlike animals with no awareness. You''re also pretty cute. What are you, a puppy?"

    Who cares if you understand or not? Nod first! Only someone looking for a shortcut to hell wouldn''t.

    "But, you know, I''m busy right now, so I can''t leave you here. Could you do me a favour and find somewhere to rx for a bit?" Ming Feizhen shifted his eyes over to a mountain rock and grinned. In a friendly tone, he rhetorically asked, "That rock looks decent. What do you reckon?"

    River Monster missed out on the unbelievable sight of an enormous ck bear bashing its head against a rock until the world started spinning. River Monster taught her bear toprehend some simple human speech during the decade they were together. Yet, it was improbable she couldprehend what her bear was doing had she seen him; she probably should''ve sought tips from Ming Feizhen. After all, hismand was implied from beginning to end, yet her bear was capable of understanding it.

    Ming Feizhen left the bear to its own device and continued along the mountain. Out of nowhere, he hollered, "You cane out now."

    "Hmph."

    An individual emerged from the shadows.

    Ming Feizhenughed as he approached the individual: "You really are my spitting image. Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art wows me every time."

    Nobody would''ve been able to tell apart the two Ming Feizhens standing face to face. From appearance to demeanour, they were identical.

    "Cut the rubbish. What do you want?"

    The "Ming Feizhen" who emerged from the shadows had the voice of a maiden¡­

 Volume 7 93 Mystery Unravelled

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 93 Mystery Unravelled</h4>

    "Exin why you decided to release me and demanded I dress up as you."

    Though the expressions weren''t perfect, it was negligible in the grand scheme of things. Ming Feizhen released Mountain Monster out of the blue and told her to go absorb their essence and collect their flesh, disguise herself as him and rendezvous in the mountain.

    "Oi, say something! You expect me to beg you?!"

    "Rx. I wouldn''t know what to say even if you did beg me. I''m surprised you behaved and didn''t flee."

    "Don''t give me that sarcasm. Your conscious in me would attack me if I did, wouldn''t it?" Mountain Monster did try to flee and experienced the mental attack firsthand. A boar took advantage of her weakened state to attack her in mountains, further fuelling her rage. She continued, "Oi, I''m talking to you!"

    "I want to help you. I have a job for you. Complete it and I''ll provide you with a degree of freedom. It''s a win-win deal."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "¡­ Don''t y guessing games with me. Make it explicit."

    "To keep it simple¡­ My identity is under scrutiny. I have to split myself up for another job. I don''t want my identity to be exposed. That''s where youe in."

    "It sounds¡­ as though you''re not the one helping me, but I''m the one helping you."

    "No, if you help me, I''ll provide you with freedom."

    "You just said a degree of freedom."

    "Staying vignt, I see. You''re right. I can''t just let you leave; however, I promise to let you move about freely in my vicinity." The way Ming Feizhen looked at his spitting image was the same way a schemer would: "I''ll tell everyone you escaped tomorrow morning, and then I''ll let you be yourself as a constable under me. That''ll provide you with enough freedom."

    "That''s the same as still being detained! I want absolute freedom! I want out of here, and I never want to see you again."

    "You think I was born yesterday? The moment I let you go, you''ll go assemble your forces toe back and annihte us," Ming Feizhen pointed out, amused. "I don''t know your character too well, but I''m not stupid. This is the best offer I can give you. You decide whether you take it up or not. If you don''t ept, go back into the chest."

    After a long and hard think, an evil smile came to Mountain Monster''s lips: "Master Ming, you must desperately want to hide your identity, huh? The fact that you''re making this offer proves that you''re cornered. Either you release me and remove the conscious in me, or I won''t help you with anything."

    "¡­ Don''t push the envelope."

    River Monster simpered: "I guess you can wait to see everything crumble, then. It takes a lot of energy for me to disguise myself as stupid you."

    "I said, don''t push the envelope."

    River Monster''s simper stiffened. She tried to scowl. Unfortunately, she could barely budge her lips.

    "You¡­ used that technique again?"

    "It''s Night Net Celestial Silk''s Shadow King String. You remember the technique that caught youst time, right?"

    "You¡­ n to use this technique to fool them? It won''t work. Where would you hide? Do you want them to see two Ming Feizhen''s?"

    Ming Feizhen reciprocated the smile: "I can control my target from over three hundred and thirty-three metres away using Shadow King String, so you don''t need to worry on my behalf."

    "I won''t¡­ say a word. I won''t help you."

    "I don''t need your help." Ming Feizhen extended his left hand, revealing fifty or so barely-visible silk threads he manipted using his true qi: "Controlling movement is called Shadow Puppetry. Controlling facial expressions and voices is called¡­"

    "¡­ String. Show," drawled River Monster, in a clunky voice resembling Ming Feizhen''s. "You intend to use String Show to fool them?!"

    "It might not work on others, but it''s perfect on you. Your Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art allows you to imitate anyone''s voice unlike others."

    "You¡­"

    "Using String Show, I can make my puppet utter six words or less in one go. Sometimes I can get more than eight. Keep up with me. I think this''ll work perfectly. What do you think?"

    River Monster was speechless.

    Manipting a living human via threads was an idea Ming Feizhen invented; using true qi to manipte people was something the unorthodox sects utilised in the past. Inparison to River Monster''s seduction skills, it wasn''t that innovative or profound. The ability to control the target merely required time to hone. The most difficult hurdle to get over wasn''t the deftness orplexity but supplying a constant influx of true qi for the puppet.

    Manipting a living human being to perform simple habits required an A-grade adept to use every fibre of his being. Trying to perform actions on top of controlling facial expressions and voices was a different beast all together. Nobody had an infinite supply of internal energy. Otherwise, there''d already be someone peerless without having to waste time getting technical.

    What are you thinking? Why do you want to use this method? Who do you think you are? One of the Supreme Ten Saints? A Divine Realm adept?

    "We don''t have a feud between us. I never wanted to heckle you for anything besides the ambush on Shen Yiren. I can''t do as I please right now, and this is important. If you don''t help, I''ll have to make you cooperate."

    "Big Brother Ming?"

    Ming Feizhen pushed Su Xiao over to Mountain Monster as soon as Su Xiao regained awareness. Ming Feizhen then immediately used his Eclipse to hide his presence and stayed over a hundred and sixty-five metres away to control Mountain Monster.

    Ming Feizhen had Mountain Monster mingle with his allies while he did only what was needed to keep everyone safe from a distance. When Abels put Su Xiao''s life in jeopardy, he had no choice but to intervene. The contest with Abels was merely an unpredicted and unwanted event.

    ***

    Back to the present.

    "It''s probably for the best that we could resolve the debacle with that. Abels is acting weird. You must know why," Ming Feizhen stated, grinning ever so faintly. "I forgot I haven''t undone your seal."

    Ming Feizhen pulled off the flesh and essence to reveal a blood-drained face. Mountain Monster was still her pretty self, but she had grown quite a bit taller and thinner. Mountain Monster trembled and breathed as gently as she could. Her reaction wasn''t surprising to Ming Feizhen, apparently.

    "Why are you shaking so intensely? Isn''t your disguise a nice way to stay warm in this cold weather?"

    Mountain Monster couldn''t find it in her to y along with Ming Feizhen''s joke. She needed time to recover her ability to speak, albeit still shaken. She stuttered, "Y-you could use me to treat someone and defeat my master using just String Show."

    Mountain Monster wouldn''t have been able to perform the hand movements Ming Feizhen had her perform on Tie Hanyi even in her real body. When Ming Feizhen fought Abels using her, she could feel the tremendous supply of internal energy gushing into her body.

    "Y-you''re stronger than one of the Supreme Ten Saints¡­"

    "I never beat your master. He was holding back," expressed Ming Feizhen, whilst thinking, "Not that I wasn''t."

    Mountain Monster didn''t process anything Ming Feizhen said. Even when he lifted her out of her disguise from her armpits, she didn''t resist or show hostility.

    "It''s all over and done with now. Have a rest."

    "¡­ No, wh-who exactly are you?"

    The question stumped Ming Feizhen. His smile wasn''t intended to deride her. Instead, it seemed as though he was trying to mask how he genuinely felt.

    "¡­ If only I could answer you."

    Mountain Monster felt that was the closest she ever got to the real Ming Feizhen. The person she wanted to kill most changed.

    "I also want to know who exactly I am."

    The argent moon highlighted the loneliness and desire for belonging on Ming Feizhen''s face.

 Volume 7.5 1 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 1 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 1)</h4>

    A romantic ambience permeated in every city as it was Chinese Valentine''s Day tonight - at least, that was how it went in Hangzhou. Jiu Shaozhang had to close shop at sunset due to the eatery running out of ingredients by then.

    Jiu Shaozhang, an elder in his fifties, who named his small eatery at the foot of Mount Chenghuang after himself, sported dark hands riddled with callouses earned from forty-plus years ofbour as an apprentice to a professional and a hunched back from leaning over to work. Howbeit, he didn''t have a singleint that he could list. He was over the period where he yearned for fame and riches. That said, he was famous and had enough money to livefortably.

    "Never judge a book by its cover," as they say. His eatery wasn''t on a main street, yet business thrived from the moment the sun was out and when the argent moon was out. His offerings, which went beyond providing tea and snacks, rewarding ptes with the best butter pancake at the foot of Mount Chenghuang.

    There is only one more word in "roast butter pancake"pared to "butter pancake", yet the difference is night and day. Pancakes were amon savoury dish that consisted of unleavened tbread folded with oil. It is said that the secret lies in getting the bread crispy and adding the perfect aroma of oil. Butter pancakes, however, challenged the norm and are consumed as a dessert.

    Jiu Shaozhang''s version of butter pancakes were golden and packed to create a drool-worthy artwork of sunlight sprinkled on snow. Everyyer of the pancake tasted distinct thanks to the perfect texture,bining a crispy, yet slight chewy, texture and varying temperatures outside to inside. Since Jiu Shaozhang didn''t have a name for his signature item, someone decided to name it after a straw raincoat due to its appearance - raincoat pancake.

    Jiu Shaozhang left his shifu, who taught him the original recipe, in the dust behind him. After getting married and having a daughter, he opened his small eatery and invented his new recipe. His new recipe then went on to wow everyone in the social hierarchy, earning praise as the pancake to die for.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jiu Shaozhang was looking to retire at his age and for good reason. His daughter was getting married next year, and his son was growing up; he wanted to be around to see his children marry. To that end, he preferred to close shop early these days and refused to ept guests even though they''dmonlye knocking. Later on, he deemed that the biggest mistake in his life.

    As it waste at night, the lights at Jiu Shaozhang''s eatery were out. The que he hung up on a red string was still there, reflecting the mistake he''d regret for the rest of his life. The people knocking at his door were akin to wild beasts scouring for food a little too soon, yet nobody would''ve done what they would''ve - maybe.ike a gue, the outburst started out of nowhere and seemingly for no reason. Like the victim who had no means of fighting off the virus that suddenly hit them, Jiu Shaozhang had no means of averting the crisis. They weren''t inhumane or emotionless. It was just an unbridled outburst produced from their pent-up urges and out of pure malice.

    Jiu Shaozhang was sinking in his blood on the ground in front of his home that he spent his entire life building. The culprits had brutally mauled him until he could no longer stand. With the scowl of a man hell-bent on revenge, he roared in a throat voice with his head down.

    The barbaric men brought a group of prostitutes with them and dered they were going to take over Jiu Shaozhang''s ce to set up their utopia. He didn''t get to even protest because they wrestled him out of his home. When he pled them, they beat him, wearing condescending simpers, and severed the nerves on the hands he was proud of. He hit the ground before he even realised it, and they whacked his throat so that he couldn''t speak. No previous sense of powerlessness couldpare to the despair inundating him that night. It eluded him as to how they could be so malicious, yet relish it as entertainment. s, it was only the beginning of his nightmare.

    From the front of his house, Jiu Shaozhang could hear women moaning and men guffawing. The smelling from inside the house infuriated him. Jiu Shaozhang''s daughter''s cries, the sound of the brutes tearing her clothes off drove him towards madness.

    Despite the fame of Jiu Shaozhang''s dessert, what he was truly best known for was being gregarious and on good terms with everyone he met.

    Jiu Shaozhang graduated at twenty-five years old and paid off his debts to his shifu. His skills put chefs from big-named restaurants to shame, yet he stuck with his shifu without asking for anything in return until he was thirty, which was when his shifu passed away. Only after his shifu passed away did he start exploring beyond the recipe his shifu imparted. He led a humble life in his small eatery, waking up before the sun to greet it and running his eateryte into the night as if he was fond of keeping the moonpany.

    People called Jiu Shaozhang stupid. He wasn''t just stupid; he was also a man who never had a change of heart. He fell for his shifu''s daughter when she, adorning an ochre robe, treated his eyes to a sweet smile. Honest to a fault, he never let his feelings show, judging himself to be unworthy of her. Merely having what he considered a privilege to exchange a few meaningless phrases with her daily was all he could ask for. Truthfully, she mutually reciprocated his feelings, though he was too dense to notice. Thankfully, his shifu not noticed their feelings for each other when she was twenty and decided to set the two up for marriage.

    Jiu Shaozhang''s daughter was considered the most beautiful girl, even beyond their city. In thest two years, there were so many men who came to ask for her hand in marriage that people mistook her for running a second branch of his business. He was always grateful that fate handed him such a blessed hand in life until it all came crashing down that night.

    That night, Jiu Shaozhang''s daughter had her first taste of a man, and it just had to be in such traumatic fashion. Her tears and pleas didn''t beget mercy. To the contrary, it stirred on the beast''s desire to ravage her. She could never get used to the wicked grin on his face even after three rounds. After he was done viting her, he ogled her splendid body with his eyes and wiped his mouth.

    The only reason she was still hanging on was because she didn''t want to leave her family. If given the chance, she''d skin him alive and mutte him. The maiden had one final glint of hope deep down that help would arrive, and the perpetrator picked up on it as a hunter sensed its prey''s fear and anger.

    The rapist groped the maiden roughly to distract her and climbed onto her. Wearing a Cheshire smile, he authoritatively and rhetorically asked, "You''re my woman now, got it?"

    The maiden refused to respond in any capacity.

    "From this day onward, everyone will recognise you as my woman. You think there''s a way to reim your purity? You''re different to everyone else now. You''re no longer a virgin. Nobody will show sympathy if you weep. Your neighbours, rtives, friends and fianc¨¦ will all find out that I raped you. Your beauty cannot change the reality that you''re now a sullied g."

    The maiden pursed her quavering lips as tears coursed down her cheeks. His voice was gentle, yet all she heard was violence. As he sullied her, he whispered, "Even if they call you a pure maiden now, what do you think they''ll call you in the future? You think you can still marry? You think you can still have another man''s child? Can you ept another man now that you have me? You''re in your prime. Why would you give up on life? You still have a long life ahead of you and can see the beautiful world. Don''t sell yourself short. Since I have taken your body, why not entrust your future to me?"

    The young man was a decent-looking man. She, indeed, was still young. Though she was going through a tragedy, she wondered if she could trust him with her future¡­ Life was life, no? In the end, she reactively nodded.

    "Good. That''s the wisest decision. I shall handle our marriage logistics." He shed his pearly whites and hollered, "She gave her nod of approval. It''s time toe in and fulfil your duty as her grooms."

    Six youths around his age burst through the door, gawking and grinning lecherously. They, in fact, came through with their manhood hanging out of their trousers already.

    "I was tired of this old one. Time for me to feast on a new one. Let''s dig in, brothers."

    A youth threw a naked and beaten woman to the ground. The maiden screamed as her terror escted.

    "Mother!"

    The group ravaged Jiu Shaozhang''s beautiful wife and abused her to death.

    The youth who ravaged Jiu Shaozhang''s daughter got up and stretched out his back: "I already did this slut three times, but she says she still needs some more. You six shouldn''t keep her waiting."

    The six animals proceeded to ravage the maiden, while the seventh youth cracked up.

    People knocked on Jiu Shaozhang''s doors even though he told them he didn''t ept guests after he had closed shop for the day. Some merely wanted to feast their eyes on a glimpse of his daughter. A schr resolved to give a cake to the girl of his dreams tonight, believing he had a chance of touching her with his sincerity. Upon arrival, however, he beheld a catastrophe that had his legs shaking. Cognisant that he was no match for the armed miscreants, he raced off to report them to the local government office.

    Wu Daode, county magistrate of Qiantang, sped to Mount Chenghuang with three teams. The attack on Jiu Shaozhang''s family had just ended by the time Wu Daode arrived. Despite being a schstic official, he was first to rush into the property.

    Hope rekindled, Jiu Shaozhang mustered every ounce of energy he had left to cry in his raspy voice, "Sir, please save my wife and daughter! Please!"

    Wu Daode looked down and jolted. Unlike the sympathy Jiu Shaozhang expected to receive, he received a shoe to the face, instead!

    "Cursed peasants. Die already. Don''t get in my way."

    Wu Daode bolted inside and gingerly knocked.

    "Who the hell is it? You want me toe out and beat your face in?!"

    Wu Daode fixed his clothes and stood straight up, carrying himself more primly than when he met his superior. He stuttered, "I-It is me, Wu Daode, county magistrate of Qiantang. I heard you were sojourning here, so I came to ensure that these peasants did not make your stay unweing and to see if I could do anything for you."

    Wu Daode''s voice sunk Jiu Shaozhang deeper into the marsh known as despair.

    A sweaty youth dressed in just his underpants and draping his outer robe opened the door. The other youths and the ten prostitutes they brought with them were still a mess, though.

    Wu Daode averted his gaze and smiled from ear to ear: "You sure are enjoying life to the fullest, Young Master."

    "Eh, something like that." The youth meandered over to Jiu Shaozhang and crouched down: "Hahaha, your daughter isn''t bad. Her body is soft and smooth unlike your shoddy pancakes."

    "Why? Why? Why?"

    "Are you ying a fool or genuinely ignorant?" Lowering his voice, the youth borated, "You made me line up just as the rest of those hicks from the boons when I came here to buy some pancakes the day before. You thought you were hot. You want me to line up? The hands you''re so proud of, your daughter and wife are gone. Where''s all your bravado now?"

    "That''s the reason?! That''s all it was?!" Jiu Shaozhang''s rage over the ridiculous reason figuratively incinerated him.

    "Cool your pants. I was just having some fun with your daughter, not trying to take her from you. You can have her back. Bloody peons don''t know what generosity is."

    "Coming!"

    Another youth carried something over whilst sporting a wicked grin.

    Thunk! Jiu Shaozhang looked over to the naked body covered in the filth of the young men.

    "Tsk, tsk, what a pity. She''s a goner."

    "Ahahahaha¡­"

    Jiu Shaozhang had nothing left to say. He crawled over to the young master''s feet and bit his leg. Jiu Shaozhang''s feeble teeth were no match for the young master''s protectiveyer of qi, but the former bit anyway until he left red teeth marks.

    "Piss off!"

    The young master kicked off Jiu Shaozhang, yet Jiu Shaozhang continued trying to stare the former to death. The rage in Jiu Shaozhang''s eyes sessfully rattled the young man. Unfortunately, stares couldn''t kill.

    "How dare a peasant threaten me?!"

    The youth drew a sword so swiftly nobody saw it happen and plunged it into Jiu Shaozhang''s skull, leaving the elder to perish with his eyes wide. The youth threw the sword onto the ground in contempt once he was done.

    Wu Daode''s constables had already lined up the family of three''s corpses.

    "Sir¡­ What do we do now?" asked a constable.

    Wu Daode viciously pped his constable over the head and instructed, "What sort of question is that?! Burn it all down!"

    The schr who reported the attack was thrown to the pack of ruthless and sadistic young men. He begged, "Sir, Sir, please help me. I was just passing by! Please help me!"

    Wu Daode''s eyes read, "I''m not ruthless. You just had to offend these walking disasters. You should be aware of what type of people they are¡­"

    "Release him!" The leadermanded, startling his cohorts. "Spread the word. Tell everyone in Hangzhou, plead and do whatever you want. Let''s see who does anything about it. Remember what I said. There''s no need to withhold anything. Tell them what I did. Let''s see who dares to defy me."

    The schr could only quake in his boots. Meanwhile, the constables lined up firewood and the corpses to erase from existence.

    "Don''t you dare burn it!" the youth shouted.

    "Stop! Stop!" Wu Daode hastily cried. He turned around and lifted the corners of his lips: "Hehe, do you think it is not advisable, Young Master?"

    "Obviously. Why would you go burning a house?"

    "Hehehe, you are right. You are absolutely right. Do you like it, Young Master?"

    "You have the eyes of a bat? Is my taste that bad?"

    The scathing remark had Wu Daode''s face alternating between red and ashen.

    "Nobody is to touch this ce. Leave it exactly as it is. Leave the three corpses here for three days and three nights. Let''s see who in Hangzhou dares to oppose me."

    Hangzhou was well-known in the martial world for being a flourishing butwless ce. The youth was obviously trying to establish his dominance in Hangzhou.

    The county magistrate was powerless to stop the young man. Wu Daode inwardlymented, "Jiangnan¡­ Seven Champion White Princes¡­ Without them, we would have peace¡­"

    As expected, many people visited Jiu Shaozhang''s eatery the next day, only to be shocked at the sight they beheld. It took only a single day for the tragedy to reach every corner of Hangzhou and other regions the day after.

    People reported Jiu Shaozhang''s tantly undeserving demise to magistrates, but it all fell on deaf ears. They resorted to reporting to Liu Shan Men, Qilin Guards and even the Emperor''s Entourage. s, nobody stood up for the poor man. They decided to turn to other sects and, at longst, found a ray of hope.

    It was easy for those in the martial world to dig up the truth behind almost anything. As such, they covertly rmed others in the martial world to prepare for a foreign invasion.

    Despite everything that was going on, not one soul moved the three corpses.

    The tragedy took ce during the twenty-fifth year of Emperor Yuansheng''s reign, the year the demon king just fell from grace. The year the Qilin Guards started to bear to their fangs, and the year the Seven Champion White Princes started pushing the envelope.

    It isn''t about survival of the fittest. The martial world can be a purposeless hell, where life is cheap.

    Notes:

    Wu Daode - The name is a y on words. Wu Daode is used to imply, "Amoral" when you change the "Wu" surname for the character "Wu" that can mean "devoid of".

 Volume 7.5 2 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 2 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 2)</h4>

    Arguably, the twenty-fifth year of Emperor Yuansheng''s reign was the most eventful year - in a turbulent way.

    Divine Moon Sect was at their peak and thergest they had ever been. With Ximen Chuideng leading, it was the first time the martial world''s power matched the imperial court''s power so closely. After numerous skirmishes with the imperial court, Demon Sect finally epted the fight to settle it once and for all so as to not involve any more innocent people. That was what led to the battle at Lawless Cliff on 33rd February (ording to Divine Moon Cult''s calendar). Needless to say, both sides presented forces of magnitudes that had never been seen before in the dynasty''s history.

    The imperial court''s forces included The Ultimate Three and all seventeen members of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. That was the third time in the dynasty''s history that both groups were mobilised at once - the first being when they had to conquer thend to establish the dynasty and the second being twenty years ago, when the previous Emperor had to quell a rebellion in the kingdom. Elites from Liu Shan Men, Qilin Guards, the Emperor''s Entourage, Shaolin, Wudang, Mount Daluo, leaders of the Seven Champion White Princes and their countless adepts also took to the battlefield.

    After an epic battle that went down in history, it concluded with the defeat of Ximen Chuideng''s forces. In the aftermath, Divine Moon Cult vanished off the map, leaving just their name behind in history. The remaining three factions that were part of the unorthodox sects'' banner tucked tail henceforth. The imperial court hoped to wee in peace. s, the downfall of Ximen Chuideng only ushered in another rocky era.

    After ousting Divine Moon Cult out of power, the pugilistic got a taste of true chaos as the power bnce found itself again.

    During Divine Moon Cult''s prime, their territory spread to every corner of Shenzhou; there was a branch in every region. Yes, they did call Jiangnan "White Princes'' Jiangnan", but the demon sect''s influence was also prominent there. Demanding the Qilin Guards to handle the area was telling them to bite off more than they could chew.

    Emperor Yuansheng was more than happy to reign over Jiangnan. Nevertheless, he had to reward the orthodox sects and seven white princes. That was where things got messy. "Orthodox sects" was an umbre term for hundreds to thousands of sects. The Seven Champion White Princes already ruled Jiangnan. If he allowed them to expand further, they would be another Demon Sect. Consequently, how he split the pie was vital, leading to him dithering. The rest of the pugilistic world wasn''t patient enough to wait for him to make the call. As a result, the various factions began to divide it amongst themselves the proven old-school way - bloodshed.

    Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo were the only ones to stay out of the contest for Divine Moon Sect''s erstwhile turf. Ambitions were exposed and buried as blood rained and flowed. Frankly, this fight was far bloodier and intensepared to Demon Sect''s reign; the period put countless killers in employment. Four big sects, Nan Embers Five Pce and innumerous new unorthodox sects gained from all the fighting.

    At the same time the turmoil was taking ce, the martial world''s three governing offices were busy chasing down remnants of Demon Sect to nip the threat in the bud. Though the Qilin Guards were given the order to exterminate the remnants of Divine Moon Cult, they found anyone but members of Demon Sect despite the mary investment. We''re talking about over ten thousand members vanishing into thin air.

    After a year of attempts to wipe Divine Moon Cult off the grid, the turbulence in the pugilistic world reached a point where Emperor Yuansheng could no longer leave it be. He only had enough forces to take on one job, putting him in a dilemma. It, therefore, is easy to see how the campaign against Ximen Chuideng yielded an enormous loss. If Ximen Chuideng could defy logic and survive the fall from Lawless Cliff, the imperial court would think Ximen Chuideng''s fall was just a ruse and that his real n was the mire they found themselves in.

    Brotherhoods and friendships, concepts that those in the pugilistic world had to protect were reced with "power". As long as there was power to gain, turning one''s back on his friends becamemonce.

    Not surprisingly, the Seven Champion White Princes coveted power and territory. Among them, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, the faction considered the most powerful of the seven, set their sights on no-man''snd - Hangzhou.

    ***

    Three days after Chinese Valentine''s Day in Hangzhou.

    Inside a room at Night Fortress, a maiden sulked, "Lies. I insist on trying."

    Dimpling, she adopted a rxing pose on the couch and fiddled with a ck weapon of some sort. Because she was sick of holding something sorge, she leaned it on the bed, triggering a creak due out its weight that was unexpected for its size.

    When she entered, Ming Feizhen was reading. ordingly, she helped herself to the couch, deliberately assumed a pose where her thighs were vaguely visible from Ming Feizhen''s angle. Ming Suwen didn''t wear socks when she was in thefort of her own room, yet even the grime and dust around the ce couldn''t bear to sully those glistening feet.

    Ming Feizhen sat with his legs up on the couch, hair abination of ck and white streaks at the time. Despite his exposed thin physique, he had absolute control over every inch of his body and every inch of his movements. Though he wasn''t trying to, he came off as frigid and imposing. The strangest visual feature on him was his sinister scarlet eyes. Even so, he came off as a husband at the mercy of his wife''s tantrum when viewing the two having a yful quarrel.

    Someone mightin that it was inappropriate for the two to be sharing a couch with minimal clothing. Those who knew the pair, on the other hand, wouldn''t be flustered since they knew Ming Feizhen treated Ming Suwen as a Queen for as long as they could remember.

    "Wait, wait, wait, that''s dangerous!"

    "How do you know it''s dangerous unless you let me chop you?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Suwen twirled the long ck weapon that resembled a rod made from firewood.

    "Chop me?! Young Shiyi, why would you test a weapon you furtively stole from Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall to try on me?"

    "Don''t even get me started on it! Why didn''t you tell me you had something so fun to y with? Do you no longer respect me?"

    The more flustered Ming Feizhen was, the more joy Ming Suwen derived from her jesting. He couldn''t be med. After all, even his shifu feared her.

    Ming Feizhen retired to Night Fortress for the months following Divine Moon Cult''s split and refused to see any guests. Ming Suwen, who grew bored of life in Beiping, decided to pay him a visit after stealing from Mount Daluo''s Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall.

    "Every direct disciple has to leave behind an item they created there. Your shifu left his End of the World, which unorthodox and orthodox sects know of, there. I assumed you''d leave your celestial spider silk there, yet this is what I found."

    "If a broadsword name wasn''t carved onto the handle, I''d have mistaken this for a broom someone forgot there. In other words, you picked up something nice, yet didn''t tell me about it."

    Ming Feizhen''s face colour started to match his eye colour as he exined, "It''s not even valuable. That''s the first thing I produced when I learnt smithing."

    Ming Feizhen didn''t have borating on his agenda. When he produced that weapon of his, he blew up the furnace with his "excellent" skills, razing the entire building to the ground. Nobody could produce another exceptional-quality realm for the next decade thanks to him. Ming Suwen only asked about it to tease him.

    "I can''t trust you until I try it."

    "Don''t! It''s heavy. What if you hurt me?!"

    Ming Suwen giggled behind her hand: "I''ll heal you, then. Now, you going to stay still or not?"

    Conscious of Ming Feizhen''s feelings, Ming Suwen gently set down the ck weapon and lined her limbs up in one line. She licked her lips and took her time crawling over to him in a cat''s posture.

    "I can let you off the hook."

    "Then, how sh-"

    Ming Feizhen''s brain turned stupid the moment Ming Suwen ced her chin on his corbone.

    "Let''s¡­ try something fun¡­."

    Ming Feizhen''s breathing picked up: "L-like what?"

    "Stop asking the obvious¡­ We''re on a couch, you know¡­" Ming Suwen whispered in Ming Feizhen''s ear.

    Ming Suwen''s sess rate, when it came to teasing Ming Feizhen, was ten out of ten. She''d always tease him until he was able to cave in and then would stop and relish in his misery. How serious was she? Sometimes, not even she could tell.

    Once Ming Feizhen''s hands started to misbehave, she decided it was time to call it quits, but¡­

    Bang! Hong Jiu Booted the door open and belted, "Big Bro! Big Bro! We''re in trouble! A big group dropped by yesterday; even people from the imperial court were here. I do not know if someone found out we''ve been evading taxes or what, but you need to go take a l-"

    Exposed legs across on hisps, head buried in his neck, their skin touching here and there and Ming Feizhen''s face was red¡­ Usually, people would be scared witless and run before they cop a beating. Hong Jiu was no ordinary man, though.

    "Amitabha, I never saw anything." Hong Jiu covered his eyes, of course, not without an opening between two fingers. With the grin of a pervert and refusing to budge, Hong Jiu adopted Ming Huayu''s signature ''mncholic gentleman'' tone and conveyed, "I don''t see anything. My eyes started ying up yesterday, twitching every now and the. Man, I don''t know what the problem with them is. I don''t know if I''llst another three decades. Big Bro, please make sure to take good care of yourself after I leave. Don''t keep ducking taxes. It''s a serious crime."

    Shameless people? You''re likely to sessfully identify one if you went into the pugilistic world and randomly pointed. They say: Wudang is yin. Shaolin is yang. Mount Daluo is just a preposterous gang. Ever need anything unbelievably ridiculous? Consult Mount Daluo, and they''ll do it with a bang.

    Ming Feizhen scooped Ming Suwen up and gently ced her down on the couch; he''d need another nutsack if he wanted to drop her on the couch.

    "Young Shiyi, I have business to attend to. You should return what you stole from Vast Sea Submerged Pearl."

    Ming Feizhen sped out. Hong Jiu apologised again and followed after his senior. Ming Suwen found Ming Feizhen''s scamper amusing even though it wasn''t the first time she saw it. Anyhow, she picked up the weapon she stole and left.

    Mount Night Net originally didn''t have a name until Night Fortress was established there. Nobody really knew the reason behind the naming. Either way, the people referred to it as Mount Night Net out of habit ever since. The mountain was the second tallest if not the tallest mountain in Hangzhou.

    The groups of people from the martial world intruding on Night Fortress'' territory were there in hopes of walking away with something they didn''t have before.

 Volume 7.5 3 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 3 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 3)</h4>

    Mount Tianmu has always beenplimented as the tree kingdom for there were over eight hundred types on the mountain that also lord over West Lake. The picturesque springs, waterfalls and water streams were also a point of attraction. Thus, it was described as being in nature''s utopia.

    Mount Night Net was located at the outer perimeter of West Lake and the end of the mountain range, blessing it with the refreshing breezeing from the mountains of Hangzhou, the water streams at the foot of the mountain and the green clouds. The rock faces around resembled man-made art. They upied arge expanse ofnd and, thanks to the mountain range, created a region that one could say was the world connecting this realm to heaven. The que on the door read, "Moon Gazing from the Sky".

    There was no consensus on when Night Fortress was built, with some iming a decade ago and others iming two decades ago. Some went as far as iming it was constructed a century ago but wasn''t called Night Fortress at the time. Rumour had it that some heavyweight in the pugilistic world was the one who had the edifice built. Its porcin and white walls were supposed to embody antiquity, matching Jiangnan''s geomancy. The fortress'' exact address was halfway up the mountain, yet the address was written as, "Night Fortress'' postman", which was located at the top of End of the World Peak''s, the tallest mountain on Mount Night Net. Night Net Pce was where Night Fortress'' master resided and convened with his strategic leaders.

    Mountains and rivers had a special ce in the hearts of Jiangnan''s residents, which was why most martial arts schools in Jiangnan utilised bamboo and stones for buildings, the vicinity ofkes as a location for their house or on the water. Few sects located the majority of their sect on a mountain top, let alone the tallest mountain of all the mountains they could choose. For that reason, pugilists frequently made fun of Night Fortress'' peculiar decision. For the leaders of Night Fortress, conversely, it was perfectly normal as they grew up on a mountain over six times higher; what was fearful to others was cosy to them. They say, you can go around the mountain, but you will miss the view from the top. That sentiment echoed the feelings of those who had seen the picturesque scenery down below from the mountaintop.

    That was what was recorded in the ck and White Reflection.

    Based off their clothing, over a hundred people from roughly eight sects, including all of the most renowned and influential people from the martial world, were making haste up the mountain.

    Despite the turbulence, Hangzhou''s martial world was never impacted. To the contrary, they steadily developed their standing in the pugilistic world. Many wealthy ns in the martial world started out in business and were on good terms with the locals. If unorthodox sects tried to run amok, the locals would offer the local pugilist gifts, and the local pugilists would stand up to the invading unorthodox sects. They called the seven sects that did the best "Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes". Putting aside Night Fortress and Wutong Jin Yuxuan, those seven sects could be categorised as the leaders of Hangzhou.

    Following the seven heroes were a group of cheerful youths. It was impossible to make out what they were up to just from their arms and smiles that asionally revealed aggression. It almost appeared as if they were the hunters, and the seven heroes were their prey. In spite of the seven heroes'' fame, nobody recognised them.

    Regardless of affiliation, whenever there was legitimate business, those in the pugilistic world would march with their glossy ques at the front and gs up for people to make way and avoid misunderstandings. In today''s march, though, they didn''te out all with all the conspicuous gear. That was because of a rule that Night Fortress'' master set for outsiders entering their grounds, which was visible at the entrance to their mountain. It read, "Those who peek, speak or interrupt shall be expelled."

    In essence, Night Fortress rule meant that nobody was allowed toe into their territory gloating about who they were or stirring trouble on their grounds. If they couldn''t do that, don''t enter. It wasmon for sects to have their own rules about disarming upon entering their grounds, so people used mental heuristics to disarm when they were told. For as long as martial arts schools had been around, the imperial court couldn''t interfere with the sect''s internal logistics.

    Judging from the cracks on the two towering stone monuments at the top of the winding path, they had been there for a long time. They presumed the carvings were something Night Fortress'' master did when he was in the mood. The text on the left monument read, "Yoho" and the text on the right monument read, "Aha".

    "What the hell?" Qilin Guards'' Vice-Captain Xie Duzhemented.

    Qilin Guards sent spies into various ces in the martial world to maintain the power bnce after Divine Moon Cult''s fall and their rise to prominence. Xie Duzhe, who couldn''t stop sweating cold bullets ever since setting foot on Night Net Mountain, was sent to Hangzhou as the mediator of the area. Frankly, he didn''t want to be there. Merely seeing the holidaying young masters behind him ticked him off.

    Upon entering Night Fortress'' territory, Xie Duzhe saw several westerners that had to be from Western Regions based off their fashion, yet they had Demon Sect''s tattoo on their arms. It immediately set off rms since he couldn''t exin why members of Demon Sect would be in Night Fortress'' territory. If Night Fortress was a refugee camp of sorts, he would have an abundant harvest. Howbeit, he then saw kids giddily ying around with swords. Having read the list of wanted criminals in the nine provinces multiple times, he could remember their faces.

    Xie Duzhe analysed the man teaching the kids, inwardly reeling off, "A tattoo on his left, snake-tipped boots and a jadeite snake sword at his waist, isn''t he Six Yin Slithering Snake Swordsman, Chang Biwan?! I thought he got locked away a few years ago? What the hell is he doing here?!"

    Further up, Xie Duzhe noticed, "This is practically a small town. At a nce, there were over a thousand residents. Hold on¡­ There are over a thousand wanted criminals here. Shouldn''t some of these people already be dead? What the hell is this ce?! There are recluses from orthodox sects, adepts from unorthodox sects, assassins from League of Assassins now, too? I could earn several years'' worth of my sry if I apprehended just one of these guys. Can I get out the hell of here? They could mince me if they wanted to!"

    Only leaders were permitted entry into Night Fortress, so Xie Duzhe followed them in. Upon entering, he thought, "Goodness me, this ce is almost as majestic as the imperial courtroom. As a matter of fact, there are striking resemnces from the guard line up on either side. I bet that couch they have for a throne could easily fit four people even if they lied down."

    Standing beside aforementioned couch were three youths. One of them was a tall, approximately twenty-five year old, man with a square-shaped face. He dressed the way a beggar would, yet folded his arms and wore the visage of a thug. The man to his left was the epitome of a schr - even sporting sses with golden string. The third one was a young sixteen, maybe seventeen, year old with short hair and appeared markedly more childishpared to his cohorts. There were thirty-two guards standing around, seemingly bored out of their skin.

    The youth in the centre cleared his throat for the guards to get into shape. Tone aggressive, he announced, "This one is Night Fortress'' second inmand. The surname is Hong. Please take a seat."

    Instead of being assigned seats in lines, Hong Jiu offered them seats at a circr stone table with a stone bench that could fit thirty-odd people. The scent ofmb and wine still lingered in the air. That exined what the groggy guards were doingst night. More importantly, they were having their guests sit at a dining table. The only ce people would invite guests to sit at a dining table in those days was when visiting family back in the sticks!

    Xie Duzhe ced his palm and fist together: "This one is Qilin Guards'' Xie Duzhe. He would like to have a word with Mas-"

    Hong Jiu strode to the table and jovially pulled a stone bench out to sit on. The stone bench was carved from a rock and was approximately a hundred kilograms, yet it took him no effort to pull out. In other words, his blows packed a bunch. Night Fortress'' reputation wasn''t all talk.

    Hong Jiu reciprocated the salute and caught some by surprise as he eloquently notified, "I assume you all have something to share, but our leader says he will only listen to one issue per day. Although you came here as a group, can I boldly assume you are not here for the same matter? For your sake, I would like to remind you to think it through. Otherwise, you will have toe back in three days'' time."

    Aftermitting an atrocious massacre three days ago, the culprits dumped the mutted corpses in the open and penalised anyone who tried to collect the corpses? What was the penalty? n extermination. Those who couldn''t stand the injustice and tried to seek justice on behalf of the three innocent people were silenced.

    For unknown reasons, Night Fortress'' master offered to resolve one woe per day, which led to folks considering seeking out his help to avenge the wronged family of three. Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes, obviously, weren''t trying to uphold justice but to stop the culprit from expanding their sphere of influence into Hangzhou.

    The same morning Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes set out for Night Fortress, someone moved the three corpses from the foot of Mount Chenghuang, sending the culprits into frenzy. The culprit immediately had someone investigate and learnt Night Fortress'' master was supposedly the one responsible.

    Xie Duzhe visited Night Fortress on behalf of the imperial court to try and mediate between Night Fortress and the culprit for a riot would mean that the imperial court would have to mobilise their military into Hangzhou. The Seven Champion White Princes wouldn''t budge since they weren''t obligated to protect areas not under their jurisdiction.

    "Our leader has not arrived yet, so you should use this time to discuss among yourselves."

    The young men in the rear burst into derisiveughter after Hong Jiu delivered the proposition. One of them asserted, "I had heard Night Fortress'' master is stuck up, and I see that it is true. You hicks from the boonies really think you''re sovereigns out here on this mountain? Cut the drivel, and call your leader out here. Our big bro heard he''ll get involved with everything, so we want to know if he would dare to dip his hands in this."

    Knowing the unbridled youths better than he''d like, Xie Duzhe advised, "Young Master, Master Ming has his own rules, so y-"

    "Shut up. I don''t give a toss what his rules are. Tell him to crawl out right now."

    Hong Jiu gave the young master a smile, leading to the young master firing, "What are you looking at? Do you know who I am? My father is a hero. He is known as Changzhou''s Recoiling Wind de. If your leader doesn''te out this instant, I w-, argh!"

    The young master rolled on the ground, grabbing his head while painting the floor scarlet. The other young masters brandished their weapons and yelled, "What''s the meaning of this?!"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hong Jiu shrugged to express he didn''t move.

    The leader of the youths calmlymented, "Splendid movement."

    The group turned to the bespectacled ountant the leader praised, who remarked, "Some people need to learn to value their life."

    The ountant stealthily tossed away the brick with blood dripping from it.

    Hong Jiu chuckled: "He is our third in charge, Sima Bei."

    "What sort of uncultured swine are you people? Why''d you just hit him?"

    "So what if he''s your third in charge? You hit him first."

    "Hahaha." Hong Jiu''sugh overpowered the arguments. "Please mind your manners. Whether or not out leader takes offence to your criticism is his business. We uncultured swine won''t let anyone disparage him, though. We would dly entertain you if you wish to try?"

    Hong Jiu then aggressively stressed, "I promise: we can make balls out of your heads. Hahahaha."

    Hong Jiu''sugh eased the nerves of the young masters but not without a gulp.

    "You introduced your friends, so it would be rude of us if we were not to speak."

    The leader of the young masters undauntedly introduced hispanions one by one. Hong Jiu listened in cheerfully until the leader stated, "This one is Ling Qingshu, a resident of Jiujiang. His father''s name is¡­ Hanzhong."

    There was nobody who didn''t recognise the name. Among the Seven Champion White Princes, only one of the seven carried the surname "Ling" - the leader of the seven, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Ling n. Their patriarch''s full name was Ling Hanzhong, the younger brother of Her Majesty!

 Volume 7.5 4 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 4 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 4)</h4>

    Mount Lu Sword Manor''s influence in Jiangnan''s martial world was unrivalled if it wasn''t for the imperial court. Only Hong Jiu''s martial uncles and Hero Shenzhou would be qualified to exchange words with Sword Scabbard Clear Sky, Ling Haozhong, as thetter''s youngest daughter was one of Ming Huayu''s wives, a fact that those in the pugilistic news were all aware of. For those reasons, Hong Jiu couldn''t belt him even though he didn''t like his annoying face and rudenguage.

    The group Ling Qingshu apanied up the mountain was equally surprised to learn his identity. They were suspicious of him during the journey as he never uttered a word. If Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary wanted to expand into Hangzhou, nobody would dare to put up a resistance.

    Fief originally being Jiujiang, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary expanded beyond Jiangnan already, almost qualifying to dere sovereignty over Changzhou if it wasn''t for the restriction on levying taxes and the ban on mobilising their military there. They were the only White Prince to have two fiefs under their banner. Their reputation would''ve developed healthily as their territorial ims did if it wasn''t for their poor conduct.ing Hanzhong wore his ambitions on his sleeve, evident from the fact that he married his daughter into the imperial family to be the Empress. His next goal was toy im to Jiangnan, which was still no-man''snd. To facilitate the goal, he ordered his son to start establishing their dominance.ing Qingshu was privy to the weight his father''s name carried, and the panic that painted faces was exactly what he expected.

    That''s Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes in my grasp. Now, Night Fortress'' master has to earn his ce.

    With the corner of his lips tugged up, Ling Qingshu demanded, "Please ask Night Fortress'' master toe out and meet us."ing Qingshu exerted minimal internal energy, yet it was enough to impressive Hong Jiu.

    The quaint candles lined up on either side resembled the altarmp lights in the imperial pce. Judging from their appearance, they might''ve been even older than the dynasty''s history.

    Suddenly, the room was plunged into darkness, and a gust of wind forced the mes to bend to its whims. In the next blink of an eye, the over six hundred candles were back on. The only sign that the mes did once go out was the scent of smoke lingering in the hall.

    "Are these our esteemed guests today?"

    Heads turned in the direction thezy, yet tyrannical, voice originated from. There he was,zing on the couch without any regard for their presence. His face was hidden as he sat further back in the couch, leaving his appearance up to their imagination based on his ck and white overcoat.

    "I can''t see what the big deal is. Why is there so much tension? I wonder if they''re trying to avoid someone."ing Qingshu couldn''t contain his admiration for the maiden in white next to Ming Feizhen.

    "He is our leader!" Hong Jiu announced.

    Nobody but Xie Duzhe recognised the origins of the couch carved from jade and gold that Ming Feizhenzed on because he had been granted an audience in the imperial pce before and was a descendant of Dark Robe Brotherhood. Yellow was a colour legally reserved for the imperial family, yet Ming Feizhen brazenly used it; even a dragon was carved on. There was only one couch in the entire kingdom that would have identical features - the dynasty''s monarch''s imperial couch in The Forbidden City.

    Does he realise what he''s lounging on?!eft hand supporting his chin and right hand holding Ming Suwen''s, Ming Feizhen inquired in a slow, yet imposing, voice, "What can I do for you?"

    Nobody dared to voice their request for Night Fortress to prevent the riot on the cusp of breaking out after learning that the Seven Champion White Princes might''ve been the mastermind. Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes regarded each other with their eyes, signalling for one another to speak, citing the need to defend their prestigious title. Meanwhile, Ling Qingshu watched them hubristically.

    "I shall speak on our behalf," asserted one of the seven heroes, with the other six apuding him insincerely.

    "Brother Cha, as our new member, you should speak on our behalf."

    "Mm."

    Brother Cha was a stubby, tanned and chubby man, yet he had the aura of an honest man. Apanied by his three attendants, he bowed and shared, "This one is Chao Hao, originally a resident of Beiping. He started a tea leaves business twenty years ago in Hangzhou and has seen sess thanks to friends helping and having an ideal location."

    "May I ask if you are the owner of Tea Lake Manor?"

    Cha Hao was a man who never forgot where he came from regardless of his sess.

    "That is correct."

    "You should''ve spoken up if you had a request."

    "Indeed." Chao Hao raised his head to show his steel gaze and borated, "This one came here to inquire about a certain issue. They say you fear no man and nothing, saying there is nothing you shy away from if it is for the people, but there are requests you reject. This one wishes to know if that is true or bullcrap!"

    "You''re bullcrap! Who do you think you''re speaking to?!" Hong Jiu brayed.

    "It is an important question this one must ask."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen found the question and man interesting, hence the hiked up corner of his lips: "The fearless part is bullcrap, but I don''t fear nine out of ten requests from the people. Is that a satisfactory answer?"

    Cha Hao pointed the boy he held the hand of: "This eight year old boy is not this one''s son but a child he adopted."

    The seven heroes eximed, "Chao Hao, have you lost your mind?!"

    "Three days ago, a group barged into his home, abusing his mother and elder sister to death, as well as mauling his father at the entrance to their home. The culprit then dumped their corpses in the fields and forbade anyone from putting the corpses to rest. This one could not stand for it and decided to collect the corpses. That is how this one found this boy hiding in the home, having starved for three days."

    "So, what have youe to see me for?"

    "This one refuses to believe justice does not exist."

    "Who is the culprit?"

    "He is present here." Cha Hao paused for moment and then pointed to a youth: "The culprit is Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s patriarch''s second son - Ling Qingshu!"

    Notes:

    Cha Hao - If you have forgotten, Cha Hao''s brother was one of the people who approached the escort in volume 7 to supply them with food, women and drinks. His brother was one of the people who fell for Mountain Monster''s lie and almost killed Lyu Yaoqing using poison. That''s why Ming Feizhen berated the younger brother for his actions, citing it was a shame he had Cha Hao as a brother.

 Volume 7.5 5 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 5 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 5)</h4>

    Ling Qingshu broke the short silence: "Hahaha, here''s a tip for you: next time you malign someone, think about who you''re maligning first. Is this one someone you can malign just because you''re in the mood?"

    "¡­ And why are you not?"

    "This one may not be worth a second nce, but do you think you can just deride Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s reputation built up over the millenniums? He cannot just let you tarnish his good father''s name. Her Majesty, this one''s aunt, is also not someone you can insult, you bum." Ling Qingshu aimed his sword at Chao Ha and stared thetter down with a piercing gaze, warning, "If you don''t provide evidence for your im, do not me this one for defending his n''s honour."

    Six of Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes backed off, literally, yet Cha Hao showed a hand and instructed, "Show Master Ming the evidence."

    Cha Hao''s threepanions set down their big backpacks and untied them. Had it not been for the special material they used to make their makeshift backpacks, the smell of blood from the three corpses would''ve been bursting at the seams the entire time.

    Hong Jiu yelled, "Who are they? Is he a robber, bandit, military snitch or traitor to the nation? Who are the two women, cheaters, spies or merciless viins?"

    "None of the above," answered Cha Hao. Pointing to the corpses one by one, he expanded, "This gentleman, who has morecerations than a soldier who has been in a hundred battles, is Jiu Shaozhang, a man who operates a pancake store in Hangzhou for a living. ording to this one''s knowledge, he has nevermitted any crimes all his life.

    "The two women with their lips torn, bodies bruised and reeking of filth from male scum are his beloved daughter and wife. Miss Zhang was praised as a gentle maiden with a heart of gold. The greatest sin in her life is embodying beauty that had miscreants drooling over her.

    "Mrs Zhang was always a dedicated wife and mother. Not one soul in the eight surrounding viges has one bad thing toment about her. The only sin she evermitted was calling her husband a block of wood whenever he was dense, only to then joke over it with her husband."

    "I see. I see. Haha," responded Hong Jiu.

    Whack! Hong Jiu casually whacked the son of Changzhou''s Recoiling Wind de, knocking him back to the ground as soon as he got back in his seat, dislodging four teeth.

    "H-how dare you hit me?!"ing Qingshu sarcastically chortled: "Wow. Is that your way of showing your stance?"

    Hong Jiu smirked menacingly: "Your mother is next."ing Qingshu prepared to strike but heard, "Second, rx. Let Young Master Ling speak."

    "Let the twerp bark? What are you thinking?"

    "Mind yournguage. Young Master Ling is our guest. We have yet to see any substantial proof, and this is a serious usation. We cannot convict him after hearing only one side of the story."

    "Fine!" Hong Jiu smiled aggressively and folded his arms: "Boys, bring me my fruit so that I can watch this show."

    When the fruit came, Hong Jiu bit into the peeled lychee as if it was Ling Qingshu''s head.

    "Hahaha, he who knows how to choose is most wise. When Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary rules Hangzhou, Master Ming, you shall be honoured guest."

    "Patriarch Cha, do you have evidence?" Ming Feizhen asked, marginalising Ling Qingshu.

    "I do. Jiu Shaozhang''s son saw the entire event unfold. Young man¡­ tell him what you saw."ing Qingshu didn''t regret what he did and wouldn''t mind owning up to it. However, having others from the orthodox sects lynch him and his actions in public would garner a different reaction. For that reason, he was d Jiu Shaozhang''s son was too scared to utter a word in the presence of the strangers.

    "Your so-called evidence is three corpses nobody knows about and a halfwit? You want to frame me with three random corpses you picked up from the sticks?" Ling Qingshu cracked a threatening smile: "Patriarch Cha, this one shall remember this."

    Trantion: "You''re not leaving the mountain alive once we climb back down."

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The boy seems incapable of testifying," Ming Feizhen stated.

    "¡­ Please give him some time, Master Ming. The trauma must still be terrifying him."

    "No need. Some things don''t require someone''s testimony." Ming Feizhen opened his red eyes nice and slow to inspect the three corpses, reeling off, "The three were harmed approximately three days ago. Men vited the two women. Judging from the wounds and smell on Miss Zhang was tortured before she was murdered. The fatal wound was the finger spear to her forehead. Judging from her bruises, it is evident that she put up a brave resistance. She has my respect.

    "Mrs Zhang¡­ There were one, two, three¡­ six men who raped her and then choked to death. I suppose the culprit has a habit of asphyxiating women he beds but overdid it this time. Different number of men vited them and in different orders. I believe she tried to take all the men on at once to protect her daughter. She, too, deserves my respect as a mother."

 Volume 7.5 6 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 6 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 6)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen narrowed his eyes once he cast his gaze on Jiu Shaozhang. Ming Feizhen wasn''t erudite in the ded-weapons department. Instead, he could use his "Interlinked Hearts" technique to read internal styles of the living even if he couldn''t see them, making him one of three only people in all thend capable of doing so.

    "Men, turn his corpse over," Ming Suwen suddenly directed from behind Ming Feizhen, in a voice distinctly warmer than his emotionless voice. Once a subordinate flipped the corpse over, she elucidated, "The victim bore the brunt of forty-one attacks. Weapons in the Central in adhere to certain cultural specifics and styles. My eyes tell me the attackers stabbed him using des used in Jiangnan. Remove an iron longsword, a long sabre and five longswords, all of simr style¡­ They all match the wounds on the victim."

    Thank god she intervened. Her knowledge and wits really saved me there.

    Ming Suwen slyly tugged up the corner of her lips and tapped Ming Feizhen on the nose with her index finger: "Why did you forget what you taught me? Don''t embarrass yourself in front of our guests¡­ my dear husband."

    "Husband?!" Ling Qingshu blurted first without realising it, clearing his throat after to recollect himself.ing Qingshu wasn''t the only one who had a knee jerk reaction. Everyone had been wondering how to address Ming Suwen ever since she showed up. It went unnoticed, but the thirty-two guards in the hall stood with iron gazes, afraid they''d miss out on an opportunity to impress her. The other man they didn''t notice reacted equally shocked was her so-called husband, whose eyes were nearly three sizesrger.

    The men present saw Master Ming in a new light, envying him, feeling jealous or admiring his taste.

    One young master had a lecherous smile when he heard, "my dear husband", prompting Ming Feizhen to gesture for his fourth brother''s ear. His fourth brother leaned in and nodded away, responding, "Okay, okay, okay, watch closely."

    Fourth Brother jogged down to the three young masters, yanked one over and fed him a hand. As a practitioner of strength-based styles, those hands of his were as tough as iron. The young master turned into a prawn on the ground, tears pouring down his face as if a dam broke.

    The young master cried, "What are you nut cases doing?!"

    "Eh? I hit you for your sake."

    "You hit me for my sake?!"

    The young master noticed loose teeth when he touched his cheeks, scared out of his wits.

    "Leader said to me, ''He looks ugly. It seems to me that he doesn''t want his eyes, and manure grows in his brain. Either take his eyes or beat him into mental disability. Third choice: beat him until I can''t recognise him.'' I didn''t do any of those. I''m nice, aren''t I?"

    Fourth Brother''s sincere tone stumped the young master.

    Cha Hao ignored the skit and carried on with a cupped-fist salute, borating, "You are correct, Ma''am Ming. This one can confirm there are forty-one wounds on the victim."

    Proud of herself, Ming Suwen lifted Ming Feizhen''s chin with a finger andmunicated with her eyes, "How did I do, Dear?"

    "Ahem, uh, the w-."

    "Hehe."

    "Mm."

    Ming Feizhen instinctively groaned as Ming Suwen helped herself to hisp and leaned on his chest, ignoring his drumming heart. Because she heard "Ma''am Ming", her cheeks were flush.

    "Why are you rewarding me, mydy?"

    Ming Suwen didn''t expect Ming Feizhen to go along with her. Nevertheless, she turned aloof as she stared back at the three corpses.

    "Besides the lethal gash, there are no signs the victim put up a fight against his attackers, which goes to show just how cruel the attackers were; there are even wounds intentionally aimed at his nerves. Judging from the traces of blood and width of the cuts, it''s clear that the culprit disabled him before continuing the torture."

    Ming Feizhen added, "That means they left him on the ground and hacked away for entertainment. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter put up a resistance inside the property, exciting the culprits even more. That exins why they would amp up the vicious attacks."

    "Based off the positions of the wounds and angles, there were, at least, eight different styles used. The culprits are weak and can''t aim, so I conclude they are the type who ck on training. However, the culprit who gashed through the victim''s forehead is considerably skilled. Only Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Flying Thrust Style would leave that single red spot. Evidently, something triggered the executor, leading to him forgetting to mask his style."

    "He should''ve been skilled enough to not have to rely on his true skills."

    "That''s exactly why I said something must''ve triggered him. Additionally, we can see that the one responsible doesn''t have much for brains. That exins why he''d use a famous technique. As for what triggered him, that''s beyond me. Dear, you will have to find out yourself."

    "But I''m too stupid to. Why don''t you help me, Honey?"

    "You cker."

    Bashfully, Ming Suwen pushed Ming Feizhen''s head with a finger, yet dimpled. He couldn''tin for her touch was healing.

    "Hmm, let''s see¡­ As Jiu Shaozhang died with his mouth open, we can see that he died in a rage. There''s a bloodied fragment of clothing in his teeth. Surely nobody is going to tell me making people eat clothing is a new torture method. It''s impossible to tell what the material came from in the state it''s in, but it doesn''t belong to him. Hmm, he must''ve put up a desperate struggle before he died, thereby angering the one who finished him."

    Ming Feizhen started pping, breaking the silence.

    "We need a witness to verify my analysis, nevertheless. Boy, do you remember who barged into your house that night, shouting and hitting your mother?"

    "H-him!" The boy pointed to Ling Qingshu and repeated, "Him!"

    Behind his pursed lips, Ling Qingshu bit down on his bottom teeth a tad prior to fuming, "I killed Jiu Shaozhang. So what? I''m also the one who raped his wife and daughter. So what? Who cares about ants'' lives? How much longer are you going to keep making a fuss over this? Draw the line. Patriarch Cha, you want to shake my n''s reputation with this case? I kill over ten times the number of peons a year and have never bat an eye. You''re out of your league. Ask that Xie what''s his name if he dares to touch me!"

    Xie Duzhe juddered.

    Seeing Ming Suwen and Ming Feizhen behave intimately, Ling Qingshu clicked his tongue quietly. He wanted to steal her from Ming Feizhen because she was the most beautiful women he''d ever set eyes on. Howbeit, he contained his lust for the sake of appearances. While he was sitting in his seat, he already nned to demand her from Master Ming since he believed nobody would oppose Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary for a woman. As she was Master Ming''s wife, though, he could only take her by force.

    I want to beat him to his knees and pound that ripe flower of hers, letting him listen to her moan and our flesh pping against each other. Yes, there''s nothing more I could ask for.

    "Ants, did you say?" Ming Feizhen questioned, rubbing his chin. "Indeed, you also must think that way to sign his corpse with Flying Thrust Style. It''s the easiest way to establish dominance. Why not forbid anyone from touching the corpses to amplify the results and scare the peons in Hangzhou''s martial world? That will make it easier for Mount Lu Sword Manor to expand in Hangzhou. That''s very thorough thinking. We raise fifteen mad dogs on the mountain, and I doubt they could stoop as low."

    A young master unsheathed his sword and threatened, "Say that one more time about Brother Ling!"

    Besides the son of Changzhou''s Recoiling Wind de, the others also followed suit.

    "Can I interpret that as Night Fortress challenging us?" Ling Qingshu aggressed.

    Ming Feizhen''s silence was more impactful than any answer would''ve been.

    "I''m disappointed in you. I thought you were wiser than this and was going to offer you a spot in our ranks."

    "When did I ever say Night Fortress was submitting to anyone? You misunderstood."

    "You asked for this!"

    The imperial court passed a decree that absolved Ling Qingshu of any penalties for murder when he was at Mount Lu. Besides his father and elder brother, their n was riddled with unbearably arrogant people who were excessively cruel to the citizens of Jiujiang and Changzhou. None of them had sted them the way Ming Feizhen just did. The hatred he had for Ming Feizhen for "stealing" his Ming Suwen only added oil to his fire.ing Qingshu ran qi down his sword and thrust, generating the sound of flowing water - Flying Thrust Style, the style The ck and White Reflection touted as the best thrusting style in the world.

    Notably, even though there were four levels to Flying Thrust Style, someone who mastered up to the third level wasn''t necessarily superior to someone who only mastered the first level. Some focused on mastering just the four levels once and refused to learn other thrusting styles thereafter.ing Qingshu''s imperious nature didn''t hamper his ability to separate his skills from others in his age bracket, a im that his personal instructor, Ling Fengxing, never doubted. Ling Qingshu, in fact, was heralded as Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s genius of geniuses in thest decades.

    The section Ling Qingshu, the only disciple to master the third level before the age of thirty, performed was called "Flying Ssh", a shy technique that was touted as the technique that could burst droplets of water flying about and the ultimate counter for the ultimate defences. The reason it was described as so was due to the user performing sessive thrusts after the initial thrust, resembling an endless stream of water. At the highest level, one could perform one hundred and seventy thrusts in a single breath.ing Qingshu''s teachers spared no effort to groom him into a splendid swordsman, and their efforts weren''t in vain.

    Bang! The loud echo disseminated the hostility permeated in the air and sword qi. From the second Ling Qingshu extended his arm to the moment the loud bang came, nobody had enough time to catch what happened in between.

    Ming Feizhen held onto a ck object of some sort. Meanwhile, Ling Qingshu, who wasn''t too far away, was incapacitated. Well, incapacitated didn''t really do justice as a description. Judging from Ling Qingshu''s facial expression, he looked as if he had his wits beat out of him.

    Ming Feizhen took his time stowing away his "weapon" and mumbled, "¡­ Same thing different day¡­ The martial world and pugilistic world never changes."

    "What are you five jokes doing?"

    The five young masters with Ling Qingshu attempted to jump Hong Jiu, but two guards behind Hong Jiu bound forward and dished out a pounding, hence the five rolled up zongzis on the ground. Oh, they even had time to tie all five up them up.

    "Of my thirty-two guards here, my worse one is good enough to be in the imperial court''s jia ranks. You five need to learn to choose your opponents before you learn to fight¡­"

    Recoiling Wind de''s son suddenly sprung off the ground and tried to ram a hand in Hong Jiu''s face. Hong Jiu casually flicked his hand, knocking the young master to the ground. Upon looking to his chest, the young master saw an iron bindii in his chest.

    Hong Jiu understood what Ming Feizhen implied and got excited when his senior brother flipped out. Hong Jiu decided to keep going, reproaching, "You sons of dogs listen up. I''ll give you all one free shot each, and then I''ll smash your faces in with one smack. Don''t just lie there. Line up."

    "Wait," interjected Ming Feizhen. "Not yet."

    "Still not?!"

    "Third, what do you say we do with them?"

    Sima Bei was the man you would want to receive guests because he was the most approachable and the brains behind Night Fortress. Nobody ever argued against him because he possessed a trait that nobody could beat - being a miser. In the looks department at Mount Daluo, nobody could hold a candle to Lian Zhuiyue. The wild card and veterans were Hong Jiu and their crafty fifth sister. Trying to get along with them wasn''t wise. In terms of stupid, Fourth Brother took the trophy, no questions asked.

    Unlike his generous parents in Beiping''s martial world who travelled, Sima Bei would chase you down for half a copper coin. As a mentor, Ming Huayu helped his disciples amplify their strengths - that was meant to imply he made Sima Bei stingier than he was born. In order to remember every loss, Sima Bei had to develop his memories, resulting in his practically photographic memory.

    "Can''t kill them," answered Sima Bei.

    "Reason?"

    "There are two. First, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary has their eyes on Hangzhou. Hangzhou''s representatives are Heroine Zi Wutong and an imperial court representative. There are thousands of people this visit, with over a hundred adepts and over twenty elites. If we kill Patriarch Ling''s son here, that gives them an excuse to dere war on Hangzhou. Second¡­" Sima Bei whispered, "His second eldest sister is our first shiniang."

    "¡­ Understood," responded Ming Feizhen.

    Hong Jiu didn''t hear thest part, but he could tell what had to be done. He was a man who could put things aside whenever needed. Hence, he asked, "Leader, don''t waste your time troubling yourself. We can''t kill him, but we can smash him, right?"

    Ming Feizhen replied after thinking, "No need. Just do what must be done."

    "Got it. Killing him is the best option, after all!" Hong Jiu enthused.

    "No, report him to the local official."

    "Y-you''re joking, right?"

    "What else would you do if not report a murder?" Ming Feizhen tilted his head. Nheless, it wasn''t hard to discern where his gaze was cast. "You must be Officer Xie. The seven of them vited women and took three lives in Hangzhou. Please take them to aw enforcement office and see that they are punished for their heinous crimes."

    Oi! I came here to talk you out of this! Why are you dragging me into this mess?!

    "Fine. The county magistrate can interrogate and deal with you scumbags. That saves me the trouble of getting my hands filthy."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hong Jiu hauled Ling Qingshu off his feet and tied him up with his six friends. He then grabbed Xie Duzhe and bolted off with his two juniors.

    "Well, that was quite the headache,"mented Ming Feizhen. "Patriarch Cha, I would like to ask for a loan."

    Stories romanticise the pugilistic world with gant heroes, but that was all fiction. Hence why Cha Hao wasn''t the least bit surprised he was being asked to pay. Cha Hao subscribed to the notion that solving problems with money was always the best solution.

    "As long as you are satisfied, this one has noints.

    "Just a hundred and twenty taels will do."

    "That is all you are asking for?"

    "Please purchase three quality coffins and find a ce with nice geomancy near Mount Chenghuang to put the three to rest."

    Cha Hao jolted and spent the next few moments in deep thought. Suddenly, he offered the ground his knees and pledged, "Should we ever meet again in the pugilistic world and you believe I can be of service, you need only say the world, and this one shall immediately lend you a hand."

 Volume 7.5 7 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 7 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 7)</h4>

    "How I wish to imprint this scenic view to memory. I shall nest myself here as a recluse, casting my eyes on the vibrant colours on Wo Peaks in the southeast of Mount Lu that enamour me." - Li Bai (Gazing at Mount Lu''s Wo Peaks).

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had the second longest history among the Seven White Champion Princes. Mount Sugu''s Cold Temple had the longest history, spanning over a thousand years, making it the only big sect thatsted the test of time. If Shaolin and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary were included in the conversation, then, those two would be the two following after Cold Temple in Jiujiang.

    For recent millenniums, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was used as the measure for what the best swordy, swordsman and sword ideals should be. Never had there been a period in history where their swordsmen didn''t rank among the greatest swordsmen in all thend. If anyone wanted to speak on the theory of swordy, they had to discuss Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary for their teachings had continued to be imparted from one generation to the next.

    All of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s swordy research was stored away in their secretive Sword Immortal Grasshouse, which was why Sword Immortal Grasshouse was touted as one of Jiujiang''s three swordsmanship sacred grounds. Serene Sword Immortal Grasshouse was located below a waterfall and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s shelter as per Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s founder''s wishes. With some of the greatest swordsman teaching there in addition to the materials to study and a reputation for producing swordsmen who went on to be household names, it wasn''t hard to see why swordsmen dreamt of having a chance to study there. Sure, there were the likes of Shaolin, Wudang and Luo Sword Manor, all of which were hailed as great schools to learn swordy, but Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was considered to be in a different league.

    Sword Immortal Grasshouse only opened their doors one every twenty-three years and only epted one disciple of whom had to pass their stringent tests. Once a disciple was epted, it was mandatory for them to study there for the next twenty-three years before they were permitted to leave. Needless to say, their disciples were also given first priority for consideration. Thus, they always had one adept who stood above innumerous others. The reigning patriarch, Sword Sheath of the Clear Sky, Ling Hanzhong, is one of the disciples who was once offered the chance to study at Sword Immortal Grasshouse.

    Despite it being Li n''s dynasty, Bainiao Pce (literally White Bird Pce) wasn''t part of Li n''s assets. The reason there was a pce in Hangzhou was because it was the former capital of a previous dynasty and was then renovated to provide luxury amodation for prominent figures, turning it into a sojourn pce, automatically implying that any guest lodging there was an exalted guest of the imperial court.

    Just as they were stringent when it came to selecting someone to study at Sword Immortal Grasshouse, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary were also strict in every other aspect, demanding seniority be respected and enforced their rules with an iron fist. That, of course, meant that every patriarch had a lot of administrative work given the number of disciples they had - minus Patriarch Ling Hanzhong.ing Hanzhong prioritised merits over all else and only trusted family members, while previous patriarchs who were more lenient. While their sect was known for embodying tranquillity, he went to the other extreme, advocating aggression.

    Over a hundred elite swordsmen from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary assembled at Bainiao Pce. If someone not part of them saw the tension keeping them stiff in ce, they would think they were preparing to squash Divine Moon Cult''s revival. Yet, the elder in charge was oblivious to the tension, ostensibly, and rhythmically knocked on the table with his finger and eyes shut. Though he was seventy years old, people would feel intimidated if they saw him; they''d even think he was about to blow another turbulent gale into the Central in''s martial world. If nothing else, the fact that he personally made a trip to Hangzhou would have the pugilistic world on its toes.

    "The one the imperial court dispatched is expectedly an enigma. This old one has not gotten anywhere despite days of discussion, which hints that the imperial court is not publicly approving of our expansion into Hangzhou, but we knew thating into this, so they don''t need to waste their breath on it. They are focused on the remnants of Demon Sect. They know what we want. They don''t have time to even deploy their forces here to manage Hangzhou. Consequently, speed is of the essence if we are to rule over all of the sects in here in Hangzhou." Without giving his subordinates time to think, Ling Hanzhong added, "I didn''t summon you here to stand there as mutes but to assassinate."ing Hanzhong''s aggressive expansion tactics would bebelled tyrannical if he wasn''t a g bearer for the Seven Champion White Princes because it was exactly how the unorthodox sects would conquer and expand.

    "When shall we take action, Patriarch?"

    "What sort of question is that? Since when do you choose which day you kill someone? Today," answered Ling Hanzhong, ceasing his tapping and adopting dead-fish eyes. "Nobody will expect us to strike before our discussions with the imperial court areplete. If you wait until tomorrow to strike, the chances of sess will have diminished. After youplete your mission, conduct a carpet search here in Hangzhou for three days. You can do as you please with the losers'' wealth and women."

    Ever since Ling Hanzhong rose to power, he allowed his subordinates to indulge after any conquest. As a result, you had swordsmen, who invested so much time in their swordy that they were deprived of everything else, burning to release pent-up desires and emotions. To top it off, they had their status as one of the Seven Champion White Princes as an impregnable shield. Within a matter of time, they crossed the line further and further, even casting the me for their misdemeanour on Demon Sect.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Had it not been for the millenniums Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary spent doing right, there would be nothing to cover their abhorrent deeds. If it wasn''t for Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Sword Immortal Grasshouse, Ling Hanzhong wouldn''t be hailed as the leader of the Seven Champion White Princes. Without those shields, people would''ve probably invaded them instead of Lawless Cliff. Ximen Buxing embodied justice more than Ling Hanzhong ever did.

    "Even if we wish to, there are not many women at the seven sects we are attack-"

    "Take the women from the civilian homes. There''s plenty of wealth and beauties to go around. Are you still not satisfied? Didn''t Qingshu find a beauty the other day?"

    The swordsmen were green with envy when they listened to the moans when their second young master raped Jiu Shaozhang''s daughter.

    "There''s no need to be envious¡­ Do well and you will have your share of joy."

    "Reporting, Patriarch, our elites have all assembled. We will arrive at the foot of Mount Chenghuang around one to three in the afternoon today. We will then spit up into teams to overthrow Hangzhou''s seven most influential factions. We are confident we will wrap up the fighting within ten hours."ing Hanzhong tapped on the table in excitement. Once Hangzhou was in his hands, he nned to instate Ling Qingshu as the ruler of Hangzhou, creating a second base for their n.

    "Patriarch, your subject brings news of Young Master."

    "Speak."

    The subject stammered his way through his report on Ling Qingshu being reported.

    "How impudent of Master Ming! Where is Qingshu now?"

    "Your subject believes he has been taken to a magistrate office."

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s patriarch post would be passed on to grandsons or even outsiders but never to their female descendants. People futilely tried to break the rule before, of course. Ling Hanzhong was the textbook example of a man who made arbitrary decisions, but not even his sons were allowed to seed him because he took the seat by force, and that was also how he earned the right to enter Sword Immortal Grasshouse.

    Ever since Ling Hanzhong surpassed his uncle''s son - his uncle also being his shifu and his son being Ling Hanzhong''s senior - and seized power, his son''s fate was set in stone. Ling Hanzhong could never forget the day he was crowned as he loved the hatred written all over his senior, Wind Passing Dragon Hall.

    Wind Passing Dragon Hall, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s best swordsman in their era, isted himself from others and became a man of few words, marrying himself to swordy for the rest of his life after that day.

    When Ling Yaoshi, eldest son of Wind Passing Dragon Hall, was born, thetter beamed. In contrast, Ling Hanzhong perceived that to be an avenger''s smile, a smile that threatened to remove him from power.ing Hongzhang spoilt his two sons in any way possible unlike his daughter, doting on his youngest son the most until thetter was rotten to the core. A man who downyed morals as burdens wasn''t going to expect his son to abide by any of them. As long as his youngest son excelled as a swordsman, Ling Hanzhong left his son to his own devices.

    The only reason Lin Hanzhong kept his daughter around was because the beautiful maiden could be useful in certain situations. Originally, he nned to marry her off to Emperor Yuansheng, ensuring his people were always in the monarch''s arms. s, Ming Huayu came out from left field and seduced his daughter. By the time Ling Hanzhong hunted Ming Huayu down, his daughter was already pregnant. Needless to say, he harboured extreme animosity to Ming Huayu ever since then.

    "Please do not worry, Patriarch. Young Master has identified himself, so they will not dare to harm him."

    "Night Fortress¡­ Night Fortress¡­ Their leader is that maniac''s disciple, so I wouldn''t be so sure he''s any more normal than his mentor."

    "Send someone! If they dare toy a finger on my son, I''ll chop him limb from limb!"

    Notes:

    Wo Peaks (literally tranted as Five Masters) are five peaks often described with quite a bit of variance from person to person. The legend goes that Li Bai, arguably the most famous poet back in ancient China and the poet referenced numerous time through the series, used to live in seclusion behind it, citing the poetic romanticism of the area as proof of him residing there.

 Volume 7.5 8 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 8)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 8 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 8)</h4>

    Cha Hao took Jiu Shaozhang''s son with him, while Hangzhou''s Seven Heroes went their own way. Ming Feizhen dismissed everyone, staying on the couch with just Ming Suwen, who relished time alone with him. In saying that, she wanted him to be present in both body and mind.

    Ming Suwen boldly rested her hands on Ming Feizhen''s chest and swivelled her legs around, mounting his waist. Unsurprisingly, that was all it took to snap him out of whatever thought he was engrossed in.

    "It must''ve been tough to supress your bloodlust, huh?"

    Ming Feizhen gratefully lifted the corner of his lips: "Was it that obvious?"

    "You leaned back the entire time, refusing to spare them a look to resist the urge to kill them all on impulse."

    "I still don''t believe my anger isn''t justified."

    "You have my vote. Even so¡­ Night Fortress is essentially a fortress of secrets. Therefore, you need to stay off the imperial court''s radar. I don''t think your decision to entrust the case to the imperial court is wrong. What I want to know is what you are thinking¡­ Knowing you, you wouldn''t just leave it at that. What are you nning?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What are you asking for?"

    "Because you''re forcing yourself to do things you don''t want to," answered Ming Suwen, pinning her eyes into Ming Feizhen''s. "Whenever you force yourself to do things, you will adopt silence. Instead of putting yourself through that, how about¡­ leaving it to me?"

    "Hmm?"

    Ming Suwen treated Ming Feizhen to a friendly smile and questioned, "Your woes are my woes. Moreover, if I don''t teach him a lesson, I''ll be doing myself a disservice, won''t I?"

    Thankful, Ming Feizhen warmed up and argued, "I don''t want any harm to befall you."

    "None will." Ming Suwen affectionately caressed Ming Suwen''s face and, like a wife instructing her husband, stated, "Be a good boy, and wait for my return, okay?"

    ***

    "Five kilometres up ahead from here is a Qilin Guard office. Please leave them to us. We shall bid farewell here," expressed Xie Duzhe, leading his group of twenty-plus Qilin Guards. "I believe nobody will impose on us at our office. Moreover, we have our brothers here to watch over them. You can trust them to us."

    After bidding farewell to Mount Night Net, Xie Duzhe quickly regrouped with other Qilin Guards in search of him based on the trails he deliberately left behind. Xie Duzhe was burning to implement a n to shirk off responsibility on both sides without offending Night Fortress or Ling Qingshu. Hong Jiu, perplexed, suddenly halted, resulting in the six young masters behind him crashing into him and flooring themselves.

    "Qilin Guard office? Why not the county magistrate''s office but your slipshod kennel?"

    All of the Qilin Guards wrestled hard with themselves to not jump Hong Jiu for his choice of words.

    "The county magistrate, Wu Daode, who looks after them was present during the incident, yet they still managed to go through with their crimes. If we take them to the county magistrate, you will not hear what you want to hear. The government has always avoided offending descendants of famous ns in Jiangnan''s martial world. As such, they will only be asked to pay a smallpensatory sum even if you trial them - if even that. Jiu Shaozhang''s family has no use for that money now that they are no longer in this world. That being said, if that is your wish, I am willing to go ahead with it."

    Hong Jiu choked Xie Duzhe and raised his other hand, prompting thetter to shut his mouth instantly: "I couldn''t care less for your reasons and analyses. All I want to know is what you will do with them?"

    "Do you know what happened to the schr who reported them that night?"

    "Tell me."

    "That night, Ling Qingshu told the schr to tell the world what he did. Had the schr left fast enough, he would''ve been fine. Sadly, fear led to hesitation. Ling Qingshu changed his mind on a whim and kept the schr around to abuse," recounted Xie Duzhe, shifting his gaze to the ground. "They ripped his nerves out and left them hanging. They pummelled him viciously, dug his eyes out and dislodged his teeth. Imagine a young man in his twenties as crippled as a ny year old man.

    "Tian Xiucai embodied intellect and passion; I evaluated him highly the one time we met in the capital. His teacher is my elder. By the time I arrived on the scene, he barely managed to enunciate, ''Kill me¡­ Kill me¡­'' Do you know that I still see that scene when I close my eyes now?"

    "¡­ Don''t tell me your first reaction was fear when you work in one of thew enforcement offices."

    "I wasn''t scared; I was helpless," corrected Xie Duzhe, in a low voice. "Ling Qingshu is a direct descendent of one of the Seven Champion White Princes. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s ambition is in in sight. They are the only faction with the power to take over the former capital, where martial arts are flourishing most in Jiangnan, Hangzhou. As your third inmand is also aware, they are already nearby. Ling Qingshu''s abhorrent actions are their way of staking their im over Hangzhou. I came to Hangzhou with my superior to speak to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in hopes of reducing the havoc they will leave in their wake."

    "Hmph." Hong Jiu threw an unconscious Ling Qingshu off his shoulder and into the ground, dering, "They can bring it on. There''s no guarantee they can take over Hangzhou in one fell swoop."

    "What if I said, Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s Patriach Zi has assented to get involved? What if the leader of this conquest is Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s patriarch, Sword Scabbard Clear Sky, Ling Hanzhong?" Not receiving a response, Xie Duzhe continued, "My superior has managed to persuade Ling Hanzhong to create any more mayhem. If you kill his son, his grudge-bearing mind will lead him down the path of vengeance and deluge Hangzhou''s martial world in blood."

    "So, what''s your end point?"

    Speaking through his teeth, Xie Duzhe responded, "Send him to the ministry of justice in cuffs for the threew enforcement offices to interrogate. We have a witness testimony and evidence as well as the culprits. We cannot execute him, but we will make Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary pay for killing the innocent. That is the best I can do!"

    If all went ording to n, the imperial court would revoke some of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s privileges as a warning. Requesting them to pay money wouldn''t even rustle their feathers; not even beating sense into him wouldst. A loss of privileges, on the other hand, would be serious damage. Equally importantly, Xie Duzhe wouldn''t be promoted for cracking the case. Instead, he''d have more enemies and a harder time up the rungs. Thus, it was clear to see that he was a dutiful man.

    "Three lives and all it takes is one word from them to¡­ They''re getting a massive return on investment," Hong Jiu processed all the information and bemoaned. He yanked the six over to Xie Duzhe, asserting, "You will regret this one day. What you are doing is not upholding justice. Let''s go."

    Xie Duzhe felt envious of Hong Jiu andpany for thetter was able to exercise chivalry and adhere to his standards. As a Qilin Guard, Xie Duzhe was confined to the imperial court''s will.

    Once Hong Jiu was out of sight, Xie Duzhe''s subordinate hauled the six off the ground and queried, "What should we do with them?"

    "Didn''t you hear me? Lock them up in our prison for now. Send them to the ministry of justice in cuffs, and let the threew enforcement offices interrogate them."

    "Are¡­ you sure? Does this not mean we are opposing the Seven Champion White Princes? I do not think Grand Commander will be pleased about this¡­ He told us we could arrest anyone but the Seven Champion White Princes."

    "I know, but you can''t just let the family die without rhyme or reason, can you? You did not see how pitiful the family was, so it''s easy for you to say; anyone who sees their shape would speak out. This is the best option."

    "I have a better option."

    Xie Duzhe''s face turned ashen as soon as he heard the voice.ing Qingshu was somehow up and kicking - or rather, exuding danger and aggression.

    "How about listening to my suggestion?"

    Xie Duzhe churned qi to call back Hong Jiu, but¡­

    "Die!"ing Qingshu simpered as he imbued his sword in qi and bound forward, leaving a green afterimage where he was a moment ago. Blood coursed out from seven holes in Xie Duzhe''s body before he could utilise Forbidden Lightning Wind.

    An adept would be able to stop Ling Qingshu after two swings from him despite him being adept at Yunsong''s eighteenbos, Jinfu Divine Swordy and Flying Thrust Style. Hence, he hastily released the other six young masters and unsealed their meridians.

    Though Ming Feizhen ced a tough meridian seal on Ling Qingshu, thetter easily unsealed them using three different Aerial Meridian Thrusts to undo them and prevent himself from losing conscious, albeit not regaining full body functioning immediately. He didn''t jump back up to fight because Ming Feizhen only needed one punch to put him away and intended to bide his time for an assassination. He bore with the humiliation afterwards after hearing Night Fortress would deliver him to the county magistrate until he saw the opportunity to bear his fangs.

    With only two Qilin Guards who''d barely qualify as adepts, the group of young masters swiftly disposed of the Qilin Guards.ing Qingshu wore a warped smile of an emotionless killer and aimed the tip of his sword at Xie Duzhe''s throat: "That wasn''t wise of you."

    "¡­ What are you trying to say?"

    "Well, like I said, I also have an idea to deal with us. My idea is to save you the trouble, and I''ll go find some scapegoats for us." Ling Qingshu licked his lips just as he did on the night he showed Hangzhou his viiny: "If Master Ming and Cha Hao were charged with killing government officials, nobody would believe their stories, huh? If a Qilin Guard vice-captain and over twenty more died together near the foot of Mount Night Net. If we supplemented with our testimonies¡­ You reckon it''ll be more trustworthy than the truth? Thank you in advance for your sacrifice."

    "Not only am I a Qilin Guard but also a member of Dark Robe Brotherhood!"ing Qingshu waited for fear to sink in for Xie Duzhe and then guffawed: "You hear him? He''s a descendant of one of the Seven Champion White princes."

    "I''ve killed plenty of orthodox sects'' heroes and banged plenty of descendants from prestigious ns, but I''ve never killed a White Prince."

    "I wonder how it''d feel."

    "Isn''t their style some Forbidden Wind Lightning technique? Why don''t we dig his body out to see where he stores the lightning?"

    They''re nuts! They have no concept of fear! They''re human bloodsuckers living among humans!

    "If you want to see where the lightning is hidden, watch closely," taunted Ling Qingshu, cackling in his deep voice.ing Qingshu flowered, while Xie Duzhe shut his eyes in defeat.

    ng! ng! ng! The sounds of metal nging came from numerous directions. The armed maiden with beauty that gods perfectly weaved together appeared abruptly. Ling Qingshu demonstrated he had more than an insatiable lust, guarding against her heavy swing that saw both of them use retreat as a means of stabilisation.

    "We meet again, Miss. Have you fallen for me?"

    "You know I''m not here to spill drivel," replied the maiden, dimpling. "I want to offer you a deal."

 Volume 7.5 9 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 9)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 9 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 9)</h4>

    One on one, Ming Suwen would maul the young masters. That didn''t mean they were weaklings, though. If Ling Qingshu wasn''t unexpectedly put out ofmission on Mount Night Net, resulting in them losing their figurative spine, they would''ve been a lot more aggressive. After witnessing her sh to a draw with their leader, nevertheless, none of them wanted to initiate a physical altercation with her.

    Putting on his cultured act, Ling Qingshu pressed his palm to his fist in front of him. "This one is Ling Qingshu. I apologise for not asking for your name on the mountain, Miss, but we were in a bit of a rush."

    Ming Suwen giggled as she held her hand on an angle to block out the harmful sunrays: "You have a way with words, Young Master Ling. How can I be a ''Miss'' when I am married?"ing Qingshu suppressed his hatred for Ming Feizhen and kept up his act, replying, "It is only a term for addressing you, Ma''am M-"

    Ming Suwen cut Ling Qingshu off, shaking her head. In a grumpy, yet endearing tone, she objected, "My surname is also Ming. There''s no need to call me Ma''am Ming. ''Miss'' certainly does sound better. I don''t want to sound old."

    "Apologies, Miss Ming."

    "A woman who would ept being called "Miss" when she''s married is no loyal woman. Add that to her bold actions I saw, and I''m sure she''s no proper wife. I can probably lull her into my bed. Perfect, just my cup of tea," thought Ling Qingshu. "May this one ask what you wish to discuss, Miss Ming?"

    Ming Suwen flirtatiously raised the corner of her lips and responded, "I thought you were a wise man, but you don''t seem to be as sensible as I thought."

    "How has this one disappointed you?"

    "Look," gently uttered Ming Suwen, pointing to Xie Duzhe andpany. "We can''t have a fair discussion when you have so many hostages, can we?"

    Rationality still intact, Ling Qingshu politely disputed, "How does our business have anything to do with them? They are prisoners this one personally subdued. He cannot release them just because you demand their release."

    "Hehehe, have you forgotten you were our prisoner a while ago?"ing Qingshu raised his guard in case Ming Suwen was waiting to react to her provocations and attack them. He took a brief silence to rx his shrugged shoulders and forced a gentleman''s smile: "You merely want this one to release thosepdogs. Generosity has always been his forte. Don''t just stand there. Release them."

    They threw aside the Qilin Guards, literally, and sealed their meridians. With time, Xie Duzhe had the skill and strength to undo his meridian seal, however. There was no need for Ling Qingshu to worry about a vengeance as his father, maternal grandpa and sister would protect him from Qilin Guards no matter what. Xie Duzhe would be assassinated down the road if Ling Qingshu already killed, not that the former could do anything about it.

    "I''m starting to like you; you''re obedient. Would youply if I told you to go die?"

    "Why must you try to entertain this one with such questions, Miss? This one is not tolerant, but he released them out of respect for you. Now, can you tell this one why you requested he release the imperial court''spdogs."

    "Is it so hard to fathom?"

    "Naturally. Any wise man could see the secrets Night Fortress harbours. Your husband is Jiangnan''s biggest troublemaker. Once Constable Xie returns to the imperial court, the military will soon sortie. Why did you go to the trouble of saving them?"

    Ming Suwen nodded as if she was listening to a boring lecture: "The logic is right, but the speaker isn''t. That is the duty of a subject. Apdog is one who risks his wellbeing to catch prey. There is no faction in all thend that would define the term pdog'' better than the Seven Champion White Princes. People wouldugh if they heard what you just said."

    Ming Suwen''s sharp tongue prompted Ling Qingshu to lick his dry lips: "This one has already released them as per your request. Can you cut to the chase now?"

    "I don''t like having people make a scene while I speak."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Suwen took out ab made from an elephant trunk from her shirt tob her hair gracefully, ensuring not a strand was misced.

    "What? You trying to shoo us off?!"

    Recoiling Wind de''s son, grinning,mented, "Even if you''re now widow and want Big Brother Ling''s embrace, you don''t have to shoo us off. We can cheer you on from the sidelines and, if you need it, can swap out f-"

    Recoiling Wind de''s son let out bloody fireworks from his mouth as he crashnded on the ground. Meanwhile, Ming Suwen keptbing her hair nonchntly. Five of the young masters weren''t aware their shock was already on their face, and they kept putting one leg behind the other. Ling Qingshu had to signal for them to stop making a fuss and aggressed, "It does not appear you are interested in a business discussion."

    "I was making a point: I don''t need underhanded tricks to kill punching bags. I just don''t like people making a scene. Moreover, secrets are called secrets for a reason."

    "What do you want, then?"

    "Simple: I''ll disarm. Dare toe for a walk?" asked Ming Suwen, throwing her sword into a creek nearby without hesitation.

    Ming Suwen took off while Ling Qingshu was musing, prompting him to give chase after the beautiful smile. From a speed and efficiency standpoint, they were equals in the qinggong department, maintaining a constant gap between them like lovebirds flirting.

    Ming Suwen halted at a quiet bamboo forest and swivelled around: "This ce will do."ing Qingshu stopped easily at the same time and surveyed the area: "This ce will do? Are we not going to travel a few more kilometres?"

    "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary willunch its assault on Hangzhou within two days, correct?" questioned Ming Suwen, cutting to the chase.

    "What do you mean?!" eximed Ling Qingshu, thinking, "We only decided that yesterday, and Night Fortress only met us today. How does she know about it?"

    "It''s not hard to guess. Ling Haozhong''s character isn''t praiseworthy, and his son, whom he personally raised, reflects his character to an extent. Ling Hanzhong is not a man who would be satisfied with being an unknown patriarch. He''s provoked fights more than once using the same tactic. He has done things under the guise of other things more than a few times. All you need to do is mention the surname ''Ling'', and I can be confidently say he ns to swiftly catch the ringleader first in order to capture all the followers again."

    "Astute, you are¡­ How do you evaluate our operation?" Ling Qingshu queried, confident it made no difference to his inexorable victory even if he owned up to their ns.

    Ming Suwen giggled after looking around: "A pointless endeavour."ing Qingshu snapped, "What do you mean?"

    "Considering even the Qilin Guards are here after your conspicuous approach, you think His Majesty''s entourage would be oblivious? There are plenty of ways to assert one''s dominance, yet you chose the most inane method. You think nobody is watching when you''ve taken over Changzhou and Jiujiang?

    "Do you know what will happen while you are marching into Hangzhou? The Qilin Guards waiting for a chance to add a merit to their list of aplishments will jump at the opportunity to elevate their standing. Their grandmander will take to the field to squander your forces. They are no longer the Qilin Guards you knew; they only need an opportunity to shine now. You have every right not to trust me. Nevertheless, it won''t change the reality that you will be famous for being their stepping stone to glory."

    "Enough! I have been very tolerant with you over and over again, but enough is enough. What business do you have to discuss?!"

    As a smile bloomed on Ming Suwen''s lips, she pulled a branch up from the ground as if she could use telekinesis and sped it. She pointed it at Ling Qingshu and elucidated, "It''s simple, really. I said all of that to suggest a deal: give me your head, and you''ll be able to rest in peace."

 Volume 7.5 10 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 10)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 10 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 10)</h4>

    Ling Qingshu thrust his sword without hesitation hard enough to undte his clothing using one of the most advanced techniques of Golden Lotus Divine Sword that he had drilled tirelessly.

    "I knew you wanted to hurt me, you wench!"ing Qingshu liked subduing girls with force, and an easy win wasn''t stimting enough.

    The only rule Mount Daluo members were expected to adhere to in the sect was respecting the seniority hierarchy, a stiption that nobody ever dared to challenge. That was why Ming Huayu would always behave primly in his shifu''s presence even though he was the reigning patriarch, which, in other sects, would be considered the individual with the highest standing.

    Thanks to her extensive direct training under Hero Shenzhou and her authority to ess all learning materials at Mount Daluo, Ming Suwen remained undefeated in the pugilistic thus far, and she demonstrated incredible skill as well as dangerous decisiveness, surprising Ling Qingshu.

    Ming Suwen''s flimsy tree branch stood no chance against Ling Qingshu''s ordinary sword he imbued with internal energy. Nevertheless, she swivelled off his striking trajectory four times, sticking riskily close to his de and then mounted her blistering-fast attack, wearing a poker face.ing Qingshu pressed the attack, executing consecutive thrusts and gradually dialling up the speed, depriving Ming Suwen of any chance to offer a counterattack. Ming Suwen easily twisted, bent, shifted her feet and slipped to evade every attack, turning unbridled movements into poetry in motion. Missing over twenty thrusts was unexpected, triggering Ling Qingshu to summon more internal strength, ramping up his power and speed, yet he still couldn''t even touch her clothing. When he nced at her face, he discovered that he wasn''t going so fast that she couldn''t attack. Instead, she was holding back.

    Among the five styles that made up Daluo Five Divine Styles was "Shadow Steps", a qinggong style that Ming Suwen adopted as her qinggong foundation. Sheter learnt Ming Huayu''s brainchild, "Heavenly Net Sacred Records," and Ming Feizhen''s "Night Steps". As a result, she was better at positioning inbat than the three elites who taught her their skills.

    "Why did she lure me out alone when she''s so skilled?!" wondered Ling Qingshu. "You conniving wench!"ing Qingshu eventually figured out Ming Suwen wasn''t worried about his six allies, even though they''d be helpful if they worked with him but Xie Duzhe, who wouldn''t just watch her maul him because of his position as a Qilin Guard in the conflict. It was unwise for her to affront the Qilin Guards even if she could mangle all seven of them as it would mean she dered war on the imperial court.

    Incensed with Ming Suwen for baiting him into burning himself out, while she hadn''t even broken a sweat, Ling Qingshu switched to his main speciality, Flying Sword Thrust Style, since his current strategy neither worked nor would work. With his new approach, Ling Qingshu was able to predict where she would move next so that he could engineer his winning blow. The abrupt speed boost exceeded her expectations, allowing him to poke a hole in her clothing for the first time. However, his next attacks would seemingly just glide off her skin or shoot through gaps in her strands of hair.ike an archer firing his arrow from behind a waterfall, Ming Suwen suddenly speared an acupuncture point on Ling Qingshu''s thigh, breaking the rhythm between his hand and leg. She strafed subtly to the side of his de and swivelled, creating torque to whip him in the face, enhancing it with her internal energy to rock his brains.ing Qingshu flowered to keep Ming Suwen away as he circled away from her. Standing with her hands behind her back, smiling as if she was waiting for a disciplined student''s reaction, she asked, "Not bad, hey?"

    The blood on Ling Qingshu''s face intensified the savage cackleing from behind his teeth: "Not bad, indeed. Mount Daluo has very few disciples, but none of them are weaklings, huh? Was that Daluo Ultimate Sword Manual? Beautiful."

    Ming Suwen''s yful lips curved down, her gaze piercing: "What are you talking about?"

    "You don''t know? I said, even the women from Mount Daluo sure are admirably skilled."

    Ming Suwen''s reaction was just the thing Ling Qingshu needed after she scratched his face.

    Ming Suwen dimpled again: "Ling n''s ambitions have grown again, I see. Mount Daluo''s patriarch came to an agreement with the Seven Champion White Princes to keep Night Fortress'' secrets. Only those who swore the oath that day and Night Fortress'' leader present that day knew about it, which means Ling Hanzhong broke the oath."

    "So what? Why do we have to keep any promise to your kind?" The drawn-out conversation gave Ling Qingshu''s leg enough time to recover full functioning, but he continued jibing, "My father never cared for your agreement. After we conquer Night Fortress, perhaps we''ll go for Beiping."

    Ming Suwen restored her smile brimming with confidence and stressed, "Henceforward, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is no longer an ally of Mount Daluo. Our patriarch''s promise to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is also cancelled as of today."

    "You think Mount Daluo is qualified to make demands of us? You are behind Shaolin and Wudang; if it wasn''t for a decrepit old man who won''t die, you''d be carrying our shoes in Jiangnan. Your useless kind has no ce running a faction in Hangzhou. Take this!"

    "I''m not interested in taking such a crude sword."ing Qingshu lost track of his target before he could finish his thrust. Feeling a sharp pain shoot up his shoulder, he pivoted around to see Ming Suwen tapping her free hand with the tree branch, simpering at the same time.

    "I''m going to murder you!"

    "Wrong spot," chided Ming Suwen, evading and smacking Ling Qingshu again.

    "Raise your elbow higher."

    "Keep your core tight."

    "Thrust two inches further."

    "Your horse-riding stance is frail."

    "Your foot cement is wrong."

    Ming Suwen smacked Ling Qingshu each time she pointed out a w until his arms were bleeding. He spun and swung wildly, only for her to circle around to his back again.

    "Don''t get cocky, you wench!"

    "That one was better."ing Qingshu bound forward, powering up his sword with qi each step. Though itcked the technical intricacy of "Like the Milky Way Descends on the Nine Heavens", it was more destructive. Executing the third level technique of "Flying Thrust Style" that he had drilled millions of time since childhood, "Flying Three Thousand Inch Descent", Ling Hangzhong''s favourite technique, using all the momentum he built up from his run up.

    The secret to "Flying Three Thousand Inch Descent" was the mental cultivation technique taught in tandem with it, teaching the practitioner to harness their internal energy to their maximum level and trap the sword qi produced. Essentially, they recreated apression effect for an explosive thrust, consequently producing more force than one''s physical attributes in istion could produce.

    Ming Suwen giggled as she drew a circle in front of her and sundered the air, generating a whistling gale where her stick finished. Said gale drew Ling Qingshu''s thrust upward as if she manipted space. Because the output of "Flying Three Thousand Inch Descent" exceeded one''s physical limits, there was no means of redirecting the thrust once it was thrown.

    Sword heading, at least, seven centimetres off its intended target, Ming Suwen let Ling Qingshu into range then whipped him three times in one fluidbo.ing Qingshu floored himself due to hismitment when thrusting, breathing heavily and clothing dishevelled. Ming Suwen didn''t inflict damage to just his exterior; the force of her whips went straight inside, inflicting internal damage that forced him to assuage the pain with qi in order to speak.

    "Dal-¡­ Daluo¡­ Empty Palms."

    "No, Vacant Sword. All I did wasbine Empty Palms with swordy. It''s simple, but it inflicts more damage. You just had to go miss so embarrassingly, though, so you don''t get to see yourself in eight pieces."

    "You behave like people entering the pugilistic world for the first time in their life," ridiculed Ming Suwen, sauntering over to Ling Qingshu, who shut his eyes to regain control of his breathing. "How do youe to the conclusion that Night Fortress shouldn''t be trifled with, but Mount Daluo is fodder? I suppose Ling Hanzhong wouldn''t mind not having to feed such a stupid son."ing Hanzhong crawled to his feet, waddling and groaning. The man with only fifty percent of his energy remaining threw down his sword and raised both hands: "I yield!"

    Ming Suwen stopped in her tracks: "What?"

    "I surrender. I admit defeat. I will do anything you ask of me, Miss Ming!" sardonically borated Ling Qingshu. "Please capture this beast here to console Miss Zhang''s soul in heaven. If you don''t capture me, I will continue harming more people for sure."

    "What are you ying at?" questioned Ming Suwen, pinching her brows together.

    "Surrendering, aren''t I? What else should I do after taking such a convincing defeat?"

    What''s he plotting? He''s so confident that he sounds crazy. Wait, what''s that smell?

    Ming Suwen cast her gaze to the bamboo forest to see over a hundred swordsmen dressed in Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s uniform. She decided to strike before they could, stabbing her sword toward Ling Qingshu''s face. Part way there, she suddenly felt a minor scratch on her skin as four sword qis were aimed her way, forcing her to spin to safety. Had she been a second slower, she would''ve been cut in four as the ground was.

    Six of Ling Qingshu''s martial uncles descended from above and stood around him in a folding-fan formation.

    "So you had a n all along. It''s time for me to get going, then."

    Ming Suwen chose to escape since her chances of winning against all of them were thin. When she tried to lift her leg, however, she found her leg reacting clumsily and arms feeling as though weights were hanging off them. Recalling the smell she caught before, she asked, "What did you do?"

    "My men didn''t show themselves until now because they were spreading numbvine green smoke in your direction. Did you honestly think I was unaware of the gap between our skill? You think you''re smarter than I am? I was just waiting for the numbing poison we concocted to take effect. If your naughty kind doesn''t lose their ability to fight, how do I take you to heaven?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You¡­ had your men on standby the entire time?"

    "Hahaha, you must not be aware of your infamy. You made a name for yourself when you fought at Wudang. They call you the most beautiful women in the North''s martial world. I recognised you at first nce. I may not be a coward, but I don''t fight fights I''m not confident I can win. I can''t believe I fooled you so easily.

    "The original n was to seize Night Fortress immediately if negotiations fell apart. Only an idiot wouldn''t set an ambush when facing Mount Daluo. They were on standby in the bamboo to conquer Night Fortress. You walked into the trap and sprung it yourself."

    The disciples in the forest meandered over, ogling Ming Suwen from head to toe. Ling Qingshu squatted down to caress her smooth face.

    "Now, let''s see if your husband wille to your rescue. He better hurry; else, you''ll have to seek employment at a brothel after all of us have fun with you. You reckon I''ll be one of the wealthiest around if I sell you to a brothel?"

    "¡­ You animal."

    "¡­ I shall show you¡­ what a real animal is."

 Volume 7.5 11 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 11)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 11 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 11)</h4>

    Ling Qingshu''s six martial uncles made no effort to stop the spoilt brat''s violence. They, as a matter of fact, had a burgeoning urge to enact wild behaviours as they watched him engage in violence.

    Ming Suwen''s fragrant scent escaped from her body of art that was revealed after her trousers and sleeves were torn off. The young man who had a reputation as one of the most frequent patrons of brothels - if never paying still qualified him as one - couldn''t fathom why he was starving to dig into her when he had been with more women than he could possibly remember.

    The sadistic lump of lust suddenly stopped after he tore off the lower section of Ming Suwen''s dress and removed her outer robe to ask, "¡­ What''s with those calm and hostile eyes of disdain? ¡­ You''re my captive, a ve I''ll throw away once I''m done with! How dare you¡­ How dare you give me that look!"

    Ming Suwen hiked up a corner of her lips: "¡­ You scared when people aren''t scared of you?"

    "What was that?!" Ling Qingshu sprang to his feet and snatched a metal sword from one of his martial uncles to hold up to Ming Suwen''s throat, threatening, "Take that back unless you want to die miserably!"

    "Maybe you''re not rotten to the core. It''s sad you''re born in the wrong era," Ming Suwen jeered. "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s session system prevents one faction from gaining a monopoly; however, the next generation''s sessor won''t be from the ruling faction. As a result, there''s no guarantee each generation will surpass the next. In fact, it produces mediocre sessors.

    "You know better than anyone else how your father won power. Unfortunately, owing to your ambitious father spoiling you, seeding him is not written in your destiny. That''s why you have an abusive temperament. Everyone working with you has to constantly be wary of you, and you only keep those who fear you around.

    "You''re not afraid of death, but you can''t stand anyone turning your egoid or not cowering before you. You''re not a bad kid; you''re just an immature kid. A dead kid."ing Qingshu''s blood boiled in anger for the first time in his life: "I''m going to kill you."

    "Toote for that."

    Following the response delivered in a booming voice, a gale shook the bamboo forest to its foundation. By the time Ling Qingshu discerned the direction the speaker was at, the speaker was already edging closer. The muscr physique on the man had no bearing on his qingqong whatsoever, zooming through the forest and demonstrating ridiculous aerodynamics with his tumble.

    "Martial Uncle Zhou! Martial Uncle Li!"

    The maning over circled with his left arm and thrust his right hand in an uppercut motion from outside Martial Uncle Zhou''s thrusting arm, pounding the swordsman in the ribs, thereby sending him packing.

    To counter Martial Uncle Li''s Golden Lotus Divine Swordy thrust aimed at his upoint, the man circled with his left arm, paralysing the swordsman''s striking arm with the shockwave generated from the thrusting palm, exposing him to the palm strike that propelled Martial Uncle Li through several trees.

    In the split second it took for Ling Qingshu breathed in to call for the next wave, the man ignored Ming Suwen''s hostage situation andnded two palm strikes in close session. Ling Qingshu''s heart drummed out of control as he pulled his sword back to defend the lethalbo. Ling Qingshu assumed he managed to block the blows sessfully once his staggering feet stopped, only to taste blood in his mouth.ing Qingshu noticed the weight of his sword felt weird when he tried to flower again. Upon checking it, he discovered it had been turned into a ball of useless metal. He erupted, "Master Ming, you kept us waiting!"

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The man stood before Ming Suwen and raised his chin: "Take his title out of your turd-filled mouth."

    Hong Jiu uncorked a dual palm strike, flooring five charging disciples, and thundered, "Open your eyes and look closely. Lord Hong Jiu is enough to smoke you."

 Volume 7.5 12 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 12)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 12 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 12)</h4>

    Still worn out from his scrap with Ming Suwen, Ling Qingshu had no answer for the palm thrust Hong Jiu uncorked, rattling him and adding to his internal injuries Ming Suwen inflicted. Ling Qingshu decisively discarded his contorted sword and sealed meridians to help ease the pain.

    "Y-you?"

    "Who else would it be?"

    "Didn''t you already leave?"

    Revving to go, Hong Jiu scoffed, "Your conscious act resembles a dog suffering epilepsy. Had Leader not ordered me to send you to the magistrate office, I''d have crushed your skull and rolled your copse off the mountain."

    "Y-your departure was all for show?"

    "Those Qilinpdogs won''t listen to me if I told them to abandon you. If they want to protect you for as long as they''re breathing, why not let them take a ss of ''wise the hell up''?"

    "In other words¡­ You''re still careless. We have an ambush set up here to siege your mountain. You think you''re so clever, but you made the same blunder as this wench¡­" Energy returned to Ling Qingshu''s eyes as he brayed, "Kill the sted beggar!"

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary disciples charged down toward Hong Jiu en masse, resembling a human wave, yet Hong Jiu was unnerved despite being unarmed. Hong Jiu drew two circles with his hands, yet he was unable to blow anyone down with the gale generated, promoting him to praise, "Better than your coward leader hiding behind you, but not good enough. Hargh!"

    Hong Jiu''s booming "Dragon Soars the Sky" sent the disciples into Ling Qingshu, forcing thetter to retreat in disgruntled fashion. Two of Ling Qingshu''s martial uncles came to his aid. Hong Jiu dropped Ling Qingshu''s weakest martial uncle in one blow, but his other martial uncle managed to defend Hong Jiu''s follow up strike using his sword.

    Hong Jiu vaulted and uncoiled thirty-seven palm strikes through the air then bound back to Ming Suwen as soon as hended, swiping away the disciples holding her hostage.

    The elder who just crossed swords with Hong Jiu returned to the ground only after Hong Jiu had rescued her. Though the elder managed to take thirty of the palm strikes, sevennded. Uponnding, he erupted into nothingness.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Numbvine green smoke wouldn''t work on Hong Jiu as the gales he produced each time he struck would blow it away. Therefore, the only feasible n was to challenge him in waves and wear him down with their numbers numbering over a hundred. The strategy would be particrly effective against Hong Jiu for such high output required proportionate energy.

    Experienced, Hong Jiu could predict what wasing and initiated the fight, unleashing "The Dragon Fights in the Wilderness", leaving a trail of blood in his wake.ing Qingshu focused all of his internal energy to his fingertips and bided his time to uncork a single fatal strike using his mastery of qi sword once Hong Jiu slowed down. When the two finally came to blows, consecutive cracks reverberated through the air until Hong Jiu demolished Ling Qingshu''s defence and pummelled thetter''s chest.

    "H-how is your internal energy¡­" stuttered Ling Qingshu, bleeding and appearance dishevelled.

    "What are you rambling about? In the pugilistic world, your fists do the talking. I''m just stronger than you, dog turd."

    Hong Jiu started training around the same time Ling Qingshu did, and both were disciples of top schools. Hong Jiu didn''t consume an assortment of dietary supplements as Ling Qingshu did. Hong Jiu trained way up on a freezing mountain. Unlike Ling Qingshu, Hong Jiu wasn''t taught swordy everyone coveted nor was he more gifted than Ling Qingshu. Hong Jiu just redefined what the standard for "hard work" was. He was up and training before the sun was up and didn''t return until the sun was down. He exposed himself to extremely low temperatures when training and challenged the dangerous beasts in Mount Daluo''s woods.

    Hong Jiu''s first rank status as one of Seventeen Wyrms and title of "Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider" at the age of twenty-five was the product of thirteen years of training regardless of hail, sun, freezing or scorching weather, never missing a beat. Though he was seldom active in the pugilistic world under his real name, his fiery sense of justice and style always made a statement, giving fame to him and his style.

    "That''s Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms! What''s your rtion to Beggar''s Sect''s Chief Hong Ba?!"

    "You just called him ''Hong Ba'', ''Ba'' as in Eight''. I''m ''Hong Jiu'', ''Jiu'' as in ''Nine''. The hell do you think? While you''re at it, how about guessing what I''m going to do to you?"

    Owing to his disrupted flow of true qi, Ling Qingshu couldn''t enact his fury on Hong Jiu. Nheless, he provoked, "You wouldn''t dare kill me. Your leader told you to deliver me to the magistrate office. Are you going to oppose your superior?"

    "Leader has his ns. I have my ns. What the hell did their family of three do to you, you twisted scumbag? I want to bash your brain out of your skull, but I will follow Leader''s orders. He told me to deliver you, but he didn''t specify how I deliver you. I''ll amputate your two hands and legs, eunuch you, grind your bones to dust and rearrange your face to look like a dog smothered liquid poo on it."

    "Kill that filthy wench!"manded Ling Qingshu, deciding to pull someone down to hell with him if that was how it was going to go.

    Instead of hearing Ming Suwen''s cries, he saw her take up a sword and assume Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s signature stance. Her movements were sluggish due to the numbvine green smoke. Still, she had enough in her to plunge it through the vital of one disciple prior to cutting down one after another among the dozen or so disciples surrounding her.

    How is the wench still able to fight?

    Though Ming Suwen was revered for her mastery of palm styles, her swordy was actually her superior skill set due to it being what she dedicated her time to ever since she was a kid. As such, she could defend herself using swordy even though she couldn''t muster internal energy for an extra boost.

    "You think you twats could keep up with my martial grandaunt''s swordy?"

    Hong Jiu resumed his assault, smashing his hand onto foreheads with pinpoint uracy. Though they wouldn''t die, the concussion would leave them in a state of retardation once they came to.

    "Stop!"

    Hong Jiu knew the person interrupting him was an adept when the lethal sh aimed at his neck was delivered as calm as if he wasn''t even defending. Because Ming Feizhen gave the order not to kill, Hong Jiu had to reluctantly obey. Hence, he decided to capture Ling Qingshu when he was on the verge of finishing him. Hong Jiu didn''t have qualms taking a blow to kill the enemy. That said, taking a blow tond an equivalent blow was just stupid.

    The individual''s swordy wasn''t based around strength but fluidity, forcing Hong Jiu to thwart one attack after the next.

    "Martial Uncle Liao!" cried Ling Qingshu, picking up an iron sword and spearing it at Hong Jiu despite how taxed he was.

    Hong Jiu had no choice but to create distance and reset since Ling Qingshu forced him into a pincer attack from behind.

    "Who are you?" Hong Jiu questioned.

    "Shiba, be careful. He''s Sword Manual Elder, Liao Baishou, the leader of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Miracle Stone Sanctuary," Ming Suwen shouted from afar.

    Seven inner sanctuaries consisting of Ling n''s seven descendants and sect scions ruled Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. The twenty-one outer sanctuaries consisted of disciples who didn''t carry the ''Ling'' surname.

    At first, Liao Baishou thought Hong Jiu was with the imperial court but shot down the assumption after exchanging blows with Hong Jiu for he knew the imperial court didn''t have anyone with the same skills among their ranks.iao Baishou, a swordsman with a so a wealth of knowledge on swordy that people called him a sword manual was the leader of Miracle Stone Sanctuary, a sanctuary tasked with taking care of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s armoury, stared at Ling Qingshu with his piercing gaze and asked, "Qingshu, Patriarch sent you here to show Hangzhou our prowess, yet why are you in such a pathetic state?"

    "That wench seduced me to try to frame me and tarnish our name!"iao Baishou, who wasn''t very familiar with Ling Qingshu since the former was an outer sanctuary member, queried, "Really?"ing Qingshu stabbed his fingernails into his palm and took advantage of Liao Baishu keeping Hong Jiu upied to sneak up on Ming Suwen¡­

    "You are?" inquired Liao Baishou.

    "Night Fortress'' second inmand. The surname is Hong."

    "It is an honour to meet you."

    "If it''s a fight you want, bring it. I have someone waiting for me to skin."iao Baishou pursed his lips into a smile: "You might not be able to realise your desires. I am here on a rescue mission, but I did note alone."

    "Do borate."

    "Five hundred swordsmen are on their way here. You may be skilled, but how will you fight over five hundred swordsmen at once?"

    "Your point?"

    "Simple: let Qingshu off. I cannot watch anyone inflict harm on the sessor to Moonlit Night Sanctuary."

    Hong Jiu folded his arms.

    "Have you decid-"

    "I didn''t have to think about anything in the first ce. The only ending I will ept is seeing Ling Qingshu brought before the magistrate court."

    "You asked for it!"

    Hong Jiu stood unflinching despite the lightning-fast sword tip inching closer.

    He''s mine!

    ng! Liao Baishou''s sword stabbed a youth, who suddenly appeared in front of Hong Jiu, in the face, yet the sword bounced off as though it struck a rock.

    "Ow, ow, ow, you almost put a hole in my face," grumbled Fourth Brother, rubbing his cheek.

    "How did it go?" queried Hong Jiu.

    Fourth Brother looked over his shoulder and winked.iao Baishou had qualms about attacking again despite the two individuals discussing something that went way over his head.

    "You look flummoxed. I''ll have our men enlighten you. Come on out!"

    A group of seven men donning ck robes lightly stepped out from behind trees.

    "Report?"

    "We have eliminated the two hundred and thirteen people lying in ambush at the bottom southeast of the mountain."

    "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s five hundred and nine swordsmen at Mount Night Net''s northwest have been exterminated."

    "Wh-what?" stuttered Liao Baishou.

    "If we don''t even notice the enemy sneaking into our territory within a five kilometre radius, we deserve to be annihted. However, since we discovered your forces, you deserve to die, so, please, prepare yourself."

    "Qingshu, I shall spearhead our escape¡­ Qingshu?" Neither Ling Qingshu nor Ming Suwen was anywhere to be seen. Liao Baishou brayed, "Where have you hidden Qingsh-"

    "I waited around for ages, and it''s already over. What a bore," bemoaned a tall,nky youth wearing spectacles with a golden string. He threw a heavy mace covered in ck and scarlet liquid onto the ground.

    Meanwhile, the six young masters apanying Ling Qingshu were walking into the figurative sunset, waiting for Ling Qingshu to catch up whilst cursing. All of a sudden, they saw Hong Jiu, Third Brother, Fourth Brother and a group of individuals adorning ck robesing their way. Hong Jiu meandered over, smiling, and then threw Sword Manual Elder Bai Liaoshou into the ground, startling the souls out of the six.

    "What do you want?! My father is Jiangxi''s Fish Intestine Sword!"

    "Really? He''s a man worthy of respect. Fate must hate him to give you to him as a son. Actually, let''s check your blood to see if you are even his son."

    Usually, the young masters would have people apologising, if not grovelling, upon mentioning their parents, yet Hong Jiu raised a hand. As soon as the young master saw Hong Jiu raise his arm, he squatted down with his hands covering his head. Recoiling Wind de''s son dropped to his knees as others usually knelt before him, while the other five hurtled!

    Hong Jiu took a lychee, which he prepared as rations for the war, out from his shirt, watching the four running as he took his time skinning his lychee. He dipped it in fresh water and stuffed in his mouth. Rejuvenated, he hurled three caltrops into the backs of three fleeing young masters.

    "What did you even run for? Did you genuinely think you could escape?"

    The young master who didn''t have caltrop in his back stubbornly belted, "My father, Soul Severing Spearman, will kill you!"

    Hong Jiu stuck a caltrop in Soul Severing Spearman''s son, silencing him. As he continued skinning his lychee with a caltrop, he ordered his men to tie the six up into zongzis.

    "How you feeling, young masters?"

    "Wh-wh-what do you want?"

    "What do I want? You should''ve considered the consequences when you vited the mother and daughter and ughtered their innocent family."

    Despite the six lowering their heads, none of them showed any remorse.

    "What do you want?!"

    Done skinning his lychee, Hong Jiu cracked a smile: "Well, considering how sweaty you must be after all that running, I''d like to help you wash all that sweat off."

    The six had their meridians sealed and were tied up¡­

    "H-Hero, please don''t throw us. Please no. We know we were in the wrong."

    "Wrongs aren''t something you admit to. Wrongs are something to be punished for." Hong Jiu threw the lychee skin onto the ground and smashed back the lychee. "Throw them!"

    "Aaaaahhhh!"

    On that day, six young masters were ruthlessly thrown into West Lake¡­

    ***

    Ming Suwen fought off her pursuers as she fled, sticking to the edge to reduce the number of sides she had to fend off attacks from. The only one she needed to worry about Ling Qingshu, who was hounding her from behind. She knew Third Brother and Fourth Brother were with Hong Jiu, yet never once did she give them a holler.ing Qingshu originally wanted to assassinate Ming Suwen, but she, unexpectedly, started running away from where her backup was.

    You''re an idiot for leaving his side. By the time they find you, you won''t even find her corpse after I drill her! I''ve never been humiliated so much in my entire life!

    Ming Suwen picked up her pace again to shake Ling Qingshu off, creating a bigger gap between them. Owing to the conditions both of them were victims of, Ming Suwen couldn''t sustain arger gap for long, while Ling Qingshu couldn''t close the gap. Ling Qingshu''s blistering rage was all that was spurring him to continue putting one foot in front of the other.

    As soon as they arrived on habited streets, Ming Suwen barged into any building that came into sight. In no time, she sneaked into arge courtyard that was part of a mboyant red property.ing Qingshu cornered Ming Suwen into ady''s makeup room and sported a Chesire smile: "Let''s see you run now!"ike a cat that''d lost its agility, Ming Suwen dropped onto the sofa and undid her hair, biting down on her bottom lip gently, springing Ling Qingshu''s little brother up.

    "An indecent woman suits you best. We have a bed and nkets here. I''ll pound your brains out right here."

    Ming Suwen went through a variety of facial expressions, smiling victoriously to herself. With the majority of his blood dedicated to engorging his rod, Ling Qingshu reached for her exposed legs without a second thought. Suddenly, he smelt her scent zoom past him faster than when they were in the bamboo forest.ing Qingshu wasn''t so brain dead that he couldn''t suppress his lust. s, he already felt Ming Suwen''s kick connect him to the bed by the time he could do anything. She immediately sealed all of his main meridians at a speed he''d only witnessed from his shifu before. As she poked his meridians, she subjected him to numbvine green smoke, ensuring she had him incapacitated for several hours in the event he could unseal his meridians.

    Very few met understood the prerequisites and what it meant for Ming Suwen to rank fourth behind Hero Shenzhou, Ming Huayu and Ming Feizhen as a pugilist.

    "Y-you were putting on an act!"

    "Hehe, so?"

    Now I know why I had an uncontroble urge whenever I faced her! Drats! Nothing I do can sway this wench. I can''t imagine any other woman doing what she does.

    "When I turned three, I started searching for ways to have fun to stave of my loneliness because I realised I was different to others. As a result, I frequently ran into your kind," rambled Ming Suwen, slowly undoing her robe.

    "Wh-what do you want?"

    "Take a guess."

    Instead of feeling turned on as he watched Ming Suwen undo her robe, he felt his spine freeze. After removing her outer robe, she didn''t wear another loose-fitting outer robe on, leaving her contours popping, and draped it onto Ling Qingshu. She gently wiped his sweat and shaved his beard as though he was her husband, yet beads of sweat condensed on his forehead. A hunch flourished in his mind, yet he didn''t want to imagine it was true.

    "Wh-what do you want? Wh-what is this ce?"

    "A ce where people find happiness. You willugh just as you did that night youid your hands on Jiu Shaozhang''s family. I bet you can already imagine it," Ming Suwen cryptically answered, eyes sparkling. "Those with simr tastes all lnow this ce. All the men whoe here are burly men who love gentle ''maidens'' servicing them. You''re pretty cute and handsome; you''d suit their tastes, don''t you think?"

    "Wh-what is this pl-"

    "Rear. Blossom. Brothel. A ce where macho men seek thepany of pretty boys."

    "Y-"

    Ming Suwen jabbed Ling Qingshu''s speech meridian, impeding his speech. In a raspy and quiet voice, Ling Qingshu cursed, "Y-y-you crazy wench!"

    "Don''t be so mean. You and I are one of a kind," teased Ming Suwen. "If I hit you or killed you, you wouldn''t even bat an eye. As a matter of fact, you might even try to go out as a man, and it disgusts me to even think about it. There''s nothing to be proud about if you don''t fear death; dauntless people are somon that it''s not worth bragging about. Execution isn''t the best punishment even if one fears death. I have infinite ways of inflicting trauma worse than death. My cousin always told me, ''Enlightening one is the way to lead.'' You can experience how the mother and daughter felt in the flesh."

    Ming Suwen cleared her throat and called, "Miss Qingqing here is looking to serve a guest."

    "You filthy wench! My father is Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s Ling Hanzhong!"

    Ming Suwen sealed Ling Qingshu''s speech for good: "Save your energy for clenching your chrysanthemum."

    A chubby merchant in Huzhou, notorious for abusing his women and killing three of his wives, burst through the door. Since men were sturdier than women, he found joy in being able to unleash his sadism fetish on men dressed as women - not that any woman ever got together with him again. The merchant energetically scrutinised Ling Qingshu, who had a healthy physique, some light makeup and was still a virgin - his back door, of course.

    The merchant tossed ten silver taels onto the table and gave Ling Qingshu a big hug, smothering thetter in gag-inducing sweat. The merchant ran his hand over Ling Qingshu''s body then dipped it in his mouth for a suck. Ling Qingshu''s legs appeared as if they were diagnosed with epilepsy.

    Hapless, all Ling Qingshu could do was re at the maiden sitting on a chair and relishing his misery.

    "My surname is Ming. My full name is Ming Suwen. If you manage to survive, you''re wee toe seek revenge anytime. I¡­ am more than happy to send you back here."

    Notes:

    Fish Intestine Sword - The namees from the historical sword forged during Eastern Zhou that was said to be small enough to be ced inside a fish, hence the name. Among the ten most famous historical swords in ancient Chinese history, it is ranked eighth most famous and was King Helyu''s favourite sword.

 Volume 7.5 13 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 13)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 13 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 13)</h4>

    Xuanyuan Scarlet Sword was a moniker attached to Xuanyun Sanctuary''s leader, Ling Xuezhao, a man in his twenties often dismissed upon first impression due to his thin physique and pale face. The "scarlet sword" part in his moniker was a reference to him having killed enough unorthodox sects'' members to build a big sect out of. Folks imed they could smell blooding from his sword at all times. Therefore, they, and factually, didn''t ssify him as a heroic swordsman. Ever since he peaked as a swordsman at twenty-five years of age, they called him "Exterminator" in reference to the corpses littering the world in his wake. Some straight up called him "ughter Demon".ing Xuezhao''s definition of swordsmanship was to purge evil, shedding blood every time he unsheathed his sword. When it came to swordy, he cared naught for aesthetics, power, pragmatism or agility; his sole focus was, "It''s good as long as the means are achieved." He deemed all otherponents to be superfluous, much to the chagrin of other swordsman who pursued a different ideal of swordsmanship.

    During the battle at Lawless Cliff, Ling Xuezhao single-handedly cut down three of Demon Sect''s great guardians and over a hundred others, hence his promotion to Xuanyuan Sanctuary''s leader, one of the youngest men to ever be instated as a sanctuary leader in Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s history.

    By no means was Ling Xuezhao the first to pursue a path of bloody swordsmanship or thest, but he was the only current one. Regardless of thements surrounding him or the fact that he would never be viewed as a true swordsman - not that he cared - nobody could deny that he was the greatest genius swordsman Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had seen in thest decade.

    Give him a sword, and he would learn how to wield it in no time. As a matter of act, he never learnt from any renowned mentor or concerned himself with learninguded swordys. Give him an opponent, and he would instinctively figure out how to kill them.

    ***

    In terms of creativity within Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, nobody came close to Heavenly Realisation Sanctuary''s leader, Ling Cong, a youth who carried the "Ling" surname, yet never learnt a single technique from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s styles.

    Twenty-five years ago, Ling n didn''t favour elder children over younger children. Thanks to the stiption that only disciples qualified for patriarch candidacy, Ling Hanzhong was instated instead of his younger twin brother. In order to seed the n, he even gave his invitation to train at Sword Immortal Grasshouse away, preferring to chase authority. He knew just as well as others did that he didn''t want to spend two decades in there and then have his position revoked.ing Hanzhong gave his twin brother, who had just as much aptitude for swordy as he did, the chance to train at Sword Immortal Grasshouse so that his brother could help him consolidate power and expandter on. Since his brother had the luxury to devote all his resources to training, he quickly surpassed his elder brother. Everything proceeded ording to n until his brother fell for a maiden from Sky Pce, igniting the story of star-crossed lovers after their initially bumpy meeting.

    Although Ling Hanzhong didn''t spoil his younger brother until thetter was incorrigible as Ling Qingshu, his brother waspetitive. The couple held a wedding ceremony in secret and returned to Mount Lu as a family of three, their child already six months old.

    There was no way in hell Ling Hanzhong would ept his sister-inw given the animosity between them and the four unorthodox factions. From his perspective, she would bring ruin to his brother. To let his brother have his way, Ling Hanzhong nned to pry Sky Pce''s secrets from his sister-inw and decimate a few of their branches so that he could justify his brother marrying her down the road when other orthodox sects queried them. Unfortunately, it didn''t y out as he envisioned.ing Hanzhong tried the carrot-and-stick method. Nevertheless, his sister-inw was steadfast in her loyalty to her sect. Exasperated, he started to oppose the marriage and set out to exile her from Ling n. In the end, though, he didn''t want his brother to be heartbroken. ordingly, he drugged his brother and hired several courtesans to sleep with his brother then deliberately set up his sister-inw so that she''d "identally" catch her husband having an affair.

    An envoy from Sky Pce lying in wait at the foot of Mount Lu killed Ling Hanzhong''s sister-inw, someone Sky Pce judged as a traitor, in cold blood when she sped out of Ling n. By the time Ling Hanzhong''s brother woke from his slumber and discovered what transpired¡­ He raced down the mountain to find his son still alive next to his wife''s cold body. Ling Hanzhong''s brother ended his life on the spot, going after his wife but leaving behind his son.ing Cong grew up as Ling Hanzhong''s nephew, but people didn''t know how they should treat him. As for Ling Hanzhong, he never put his nephew through any hardships as he was genuinely sorry. Sadly, Ling Cong grew up with mental issues; he still couldn''t speak at five years of age and couldn''t learn even basic swordy at seven. Scratch that. He couldn''t even write his name. It took him another three years to scribble his name in barely legible font. Ling Hanzhong surmised Ling Cong''s stunted intelligence was a consequence of him suffering a concussion when his mother dropped him upon death, a fact he could neither ever prove nor disprove. Having his own children to take care off took up his time, resulting in him leaving Ling Cong to his own devices.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Perhaps it was all the physical activity that Ling Cong loved to partake in within the mountains that led to his developed physique. He had travelled all of Mount Lu before he was twelve years old with hispanions - beasts in the mountain.

    The next year, Ling Cong sneaked into Heavenly Realisation Sanctuary during a thunderstorm, when everybody else had fled the scene. Not even he recalled how many times lightning struck him. Anyhow, they assumed his was dead upon finding him and, therefore, buried him. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes, freaking everyone out with his ck appearance and white eyes.

    Ever since the incident, Ling Cong was a new man, able to speak without stuttering, able to think as per "normal" people and discovered his physical attributes had been amplified. One day, he smacked a dangerous wild beast and reduced the thing to charcoal. It was then that he realised he had a secret power - the power to zap people with an electric element inside him.

    At the usual tournament Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary often held as per tradition, Ling Cong swept the floor with disciples who used to look down on him, bing the youngest sanctuary leader in Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s history.

    Although Ling Cong technically wielded a sword, he never actually used a weapon. Ling Cong mastered "Lightning Sword Character Style", a style that''s secret was the natural lightning imbued in his body and weapons. Since nobody else was ever struck and gained the ability to utilise lightning, it became a style exclusive to him.

    ***

    Murong Song, leader of Pinaceae Sanctuary, was renowned within Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary for his mastery over the sect''s styles, therefore deservingly the leader of the twenty-one outer court sanctuaries.

    Murong Song wasn''t blessed with an aptitude for swordy. Because his mind wasn''t flexible, he simply ploughed through everything with sheer willpower and effort. By the same ount, his mastery of Pinaceae Swordy and physical stats that had everyone green with envy were the product of effort.

    Pinaceae Swordy, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s most freestyle swordy, consisted of eighteen moves that didn''t need to follow any order. That was why mastery of it required the practitioner to be able to flow and improvise. Due to Murong Song''s rigid thinking and textbook approach to things, it''d stand to reason that it''d be impossible for him to master it. Nheless, thanks to his persistent efforts, internal strength and solid swordy foundation, he sessfully modified the style''s intended usage. Instead of flowing, he used the style orthodoxly and in reverse each time he attacked. That, needless to say, meant it cost him more energy to use.

    Normally, nobody had any issues with Murong Song''s version of Pinaceae Swordy. It became an issue when he imparted it as the authentic version to others within Pinaceae Sanctuary, s. Without a formation as solid as his, it was difficult to learn his version of it. As a result of his teachings, the authentic style vanished into the depths of a forgotten history.

    ***ing Xuezhao, Ling Cong and Murong Song were all present in Hangzhou for the big, ruthless operation, raising Ling Hanzhong''s morale to the sky. Ling Hangzhong expected a repeat of their conquest of Changzhou; however, a curve ball was thrown their way, more precisely, a young man.

    Aforementioned young manzed on a rock in the same fashion his long white hair was syed out in the sunlight, one hand holding his charcoal stick, the other golden sweets. As he chewed leisurely, he conveyed, "I just bought a pancake from you three days ago. I never thought this is how we''d meet again."

    Ming Feizhen gazed at his now empty hand as though it was disying the life of the once blissful family at the foot of Mount Chenghuang.

    "Ol'' Zhang, I remember I¡­ forgot to pay you three days ago, again."

    Ming Feizhen sat up, eyes gleaming red.

 Volume 7.5 14 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 14)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 14 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 14)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen''s eyes gave the target the vibe that he was able to see all of their weaknesses, yet they couldn''t exin why they had that impression. They had visions of his murderous intent manifesting inside their bodies, gradually spreading until he tore asunder their body from within. Ling Hanzhong needed several breaths to calm down despite him usually bossing others around.

    "You''re Night Fortress'' new leader¡­ the senior disciple of that old bugger?"

    Anyone would assume Night Fortress caught wind they were among the sects to be conquered and, consequently, wished to put up a futile resistance. If an outsider was listening in, though, they wouldn''t understand what "the senior disciple of that old bugger" meant.

    Only the Seven Champion White Princes would understand what Ling Hanzhong referred to for Night Fortress'' identity as a branch of Mount Daluo was their insider top secret. Ling Hanzhong only divulged the secret to his sons, not because he was afraid, but because he was prudent, trying to avoid alerting Night Fortress. If "Old Bugger" heard of his ns and came down from the mountain, Ling Hanzhong''s ns would likely go down a potty.

    "You''re speaking to him, yes. Greetings, Patriarch Ling," replied Ming Feizhen, sucking his finger he just used to hold his sweet.

    "What''s with your discourteous attitude? Did your shifu not teach you any manners?"

    Based on seniority, Ling Hanzhong would be a rung higher than Ming Huayu, ssifying him as Ming Feizhen''s martial grandfather. Yet, Ming Feizhen looped his left arm around his weapon''s grip and held his chin in his hand, treating Ling Hanzhong as if thetter was asking a stupid question.ing Hanzhong simpered as though his mouth had a cramp, disparaging, "This old one knew his disciple would be as trashy as him given his char-"

    "You like spouting drivel, do you? If you brought all your cronies here just to waste my time on that nonsense, you can show yourself the door now."

    "In the pugilistic world, might makes right. I''ll cut to the chase since you''vee here: Hangzhou is mine. Night Fortress is still nothing despite all the time you''ve been running it, and Hangzhou''s martial world still isn''t united. This old one is more qualified to rule Hangzhou. Not even your shifu could defy me."ing Hanzhong never perceived Night Fortress to be a threat for a split second. Territorial conquests in the martial world were different to pugilists determining who was superior, thetter being a duel and the former closer to a gang war. He had over a hundred elites with him already, and reinforcements were on their way, which was a forcerge enough to quell all of Hangzhou''s martial artists even if they came together. Therefore, an alpha hero was just another troop to squash. Sure, he knew a fight was inevitable, but since when did he ever shy away from ughtering anyone?ing Hanzhong''s true concern was Ming Huayu, the enigma whose whereabouts were less predictable than the weather. Unlike his son, Ling Hanzhong was privy to what the three biggest orthodox sects were capable of. Even with Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s full forceing out en masse, they wouldn''t be able to defeat any of the three big sects without taking severe damage. He desired Jiangnan; he didn''t want to have any conflict with the big three.

    "Night Fortress will inexorably be part of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. This old one understands you are young and hot headed. By the same token, he understands you fervently trying to stop the inevitable. Out of respect for your shifu, I shall overlook your rudeness. Leave now. Don''t get in this old one''s way. If you want to keep Night Fortress in existence,e apologise for your rudeness another day. As long as you apologise sincerely, he is willing to consider forgiving you."

    Ming Feizhen didn''t need to utter a word for his scarlet eyes were all telling.

    "Since you insist on opposing me, how do you want to do this? Call your men here. Demons, devils, monsters or clowns, line them up, and I''ll happily cut all of them down," dered Ling Hanzhong.ing Hanzhong had a meeting with the imperial court''s representative in the morning and then immediately went back on what he said, racing to Hangzhou tounch a surprise raid before the imperial court could assemble their forces to sortie. He had sessfully fooled the imperial court, and all that was left to do was to show Hangzhou''s martial world his might to realise the vision he had repeated in his mind daily ever since the downfall of Demon Sect.

    "I don''t have any."

    The patient predator was eager to make history for Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in perfect and epic fashion. In saying that, he couldn''t do that if they all beat up Ming Feizhen, who was there on his own. What would be so epic about a group ganging up on one man?

    "You didn''t bring any men with you?"

    "They''re busy escorting your son and some other criminals to the magistrate office."

    Assuming Ming Feizhen was trying to win using a hostage tactic, Ling Hanzhong pped: "Now I know you have a spine. Great job. Wise move. In other words, you don''t care about the consequences of being a hero of justice. You came here to have this old one send you to the other side with your courageous brothers, did you? Hahah-"

    "Did I say that?"ing Hanzhong was on the verge of eruption. Literally, he inexplicably had difficulty breathing and felt his temperature soaring.

    "They''re quick to exact vengeances and return favours, going with what their instincts tell them to do, but I''m past that stage of life. That''s why I can only do what I am capable of."

    "And what''s that?"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "They went out for those who deserve to die. I''m here for those who don''t deserve to die."

    Ming Feizhen marginalised the army''s piercing gaze on him and strode forward, each step shutting down their morale.

    "If that rat Ming Huayu didn''t start epting disciples twenty-odd years ago, I''d be convinced this kid has already reached Divine Realm," Ling Hanzhong inwardly analysed. "Couldn''t tell you were such a benevolent man. This person you im deserves to die is Qingshu, isn''t it? So who doesn''t deserve to die? Everyone part of Night Fortress?"

    "Partially correct."

    "Ambitious, are you? You want to save the seven big sects of Hangzhou, as well? Hah, I get it: people don''t want to part with things they''ve been part of for a long time."

    "Not quite there yet."

    "Impudent boy, you mean you want to save the entire martial world of Hangzhou?"

    "Still not quite there yet." Ming Feizhen stared deep into Ling Hanzhong''s smile as he borated, "And all the lives of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. I don''t want to see so many people die."

    "Murong!"

    "At your service! The causes of death on your tomb will be ''arrogance and impudence''!" brayed Murong Song, sword already on its way to its target.

 Volume 7.5 15 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 15)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 15 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 15)</h4>

    Murong Song''s seamlessbo seemingly covered up every inch of space, much to the delight of his allies, who were envious of the speed none of them could match. Howbeit, one person radiated as if he was enjoying himself, while another youth with red hair, Ling Xuezhao, had the corner of his lips hiked up, finding Murong Song''s idiocy to be amusing.

    ng! The ng was the distinct sound of a hammer mming on a de during the forging process, not the sort that would be audible when des shed. A heavy weapon dropped. A body crashed into the ground dozens of metres away and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s group rushing to Murong Song''s aid or cursing, Ling Hanzhong stood still in ce, reying the "ng" sound in an infinite loop in his mind.

    Years after the encounter, Ling Hanzhong would wake up in cold sweat whenever he heard the same "ng" again in his nightmares for he knew that only might beyond human imagination could produce that sound.

    ng! Once the dust settled, there was Ming Feizhen, still looking indifferent. He turned his shoulder slightly to cast his gaze on Ling Hanzhong and called, "Next."ing Hanzhong''s men couldn''t believe their leader took a step back. Little did they know he had forgotten all about fighting back. Ming Feizhen put one foot in front of the other consecutively as though he was walking through a path his subjects cleared for him.

    "I''ll see what he''s got." Ling Xuezhao, a man of immeasurable talent, aimed straight for Ming Feizhen''s eye, thinking, "I want him to spill blood!"ing Xuezhao abstained from killing after the battle at Lawless Cliff, leaving him in a famished state. He did get into fights, but he''d call it quits part way through the duels and disarm, lying down to take a nap, instead. Owing to there being nobody who could pique his interest or motivate him, he eventually stopped training all together.ing Hanzhong took issue with Ling Xuezhao cking off. Nheless, Ling Xuezhao didn''t like anyone telling him what to do. When he went on out jobs thereafter, he''d go on murder sprees, giving Ling Hanzhong a headache again, only through different means. For the first time ever, Ling Hanzhong wanted Ling Xuezhao to kill with every fibre of his being.ing Hanzhong didn''t realise his hands were shaking as he shouted, "Xuezhao, kill that¡­ that¡­" He couldn''t find the word to describe Ming Feizhen.

    Seeing the tip of his de sinking into Ming Feizhen''s throat, Ling Xuezhao inwardly cried, "Yes! Blood! Blood! Deeper! Deep-"

    ng! They heard the ng, yet nobody saw when Ming Feizhen moved or the blood Ling Xuezhao projectile vomited. When their brainsputed Ming Feizhen had extended his arm clutching his armament, they finally realised Ling Xuezhao was missing from their sights.

    When Ling Xuezhao, who saw the world in slow motion as he went reeling through the air, flew past Ling Hanzhong, thetter reactively blurted, "Monster¡­"

    Ming Feizhen lowered his weapon and resumed marching forward: "Next."

    Feeling his ns ebbing away, Ling Hanzhong lost hisposure in his men''s presence.

    That kid can''t defeat all my men at once, but if he defeats all of the cream of the crop, our morale will hit rock bottom! I can''t let historians write he defeated our sect all alone! If we don''t finish him now, I''ll be next!

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Cong''er! Cong''er!"

    "Present!"

    The short-haired youth cushioned Ling Xuezhao''s fall with one hand before anyone noticed, saving thetter from kissing the ground. From his appearance to his mannerisms, it wasn''t hard to ascertain Ling Cong was only a teenager. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s fourth rank top swordsman had his pearly whites visible to all.ing Cong palmed Ling Xuezhao on the back, causing thetter to convulse and cough up clogged blood. Although it wasn''t enough for Ling Xuezhao to regain awareness of his surroundings, he no longer appeared in critical condition.

    "Impressive internal energy. I wouldn''t have been able to help Xuezhao unclog his meridians in even five days, yet Cong''er only needed one palm strike," Ling Hanzhong praised to himself. "Cong''er, work with your Heavenly Realisation Sanctuary''s six elite swordsmen to show him our skills!"ing Cong sympathetically and softly protested, "Uncle, Brother Xuezhao''s injuries are far from fatal. Since he did not intend to kill, that is t-"

    "Get him now before he gets you!"ing Cong offered Ming Feizhen a palm and fist salute: "I do not like to kill people. May I courteously ask you to leave?"

    Hearing Ming Feizhen''s footsteps inch closer, Ling Hanzhong pestered, "Cong''er, hurry! Hurry!"

    "I¡­"

    "Feel free to attack me," verbalised Ming Feizhen, continuing forward with a smile. "I seldom see anyone like you among the Seven Champion White Princes."ing Cong scratched his head bashfully: "P-people often say I''m unbing. To be honest, I''m scared of fighting you."

    "What are you afraid of?"

    "I-I''m weak, and I often kill people."

    "That''s contradictory."

    "It''s true! It''s true!" stressed Ling Cong, actually meaning it. "I''m not skilled. People always say I stole or lied about something andsh out at me. Before I know it, they have already swung at me. I would then reactively retaliate and identally kill them. If you refuse to believe me, don''t me me if you die."

    Not even Ling Hanzhong dared to trypeting against Ling Cong''s lightning style, especially since his nephew had no idea how to control his internal energy.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t die. Give me your best shot. Everything you''ve got."

    "Mm¡­ Okay, but let''s make it clear that you''re the one who asked for this fight. Don''t mock my skills or form a grudge over it. I can''t save you."

    "Sure."

    "Don''t try to fool me. Uncle once said he wouldn''t scold me if I sparred with him, only to give me a tongueshing after five exchanges. He even imposed a rule that I was only allowed to use my left arm and leg when sparring with him."ivid he was publicly shamed - theughter behind him further lighting his fire - Ling Hanzhong fumed, "Stop the yapping, and attack him already! If you fear my nephew, just admit it. Don''t try to y mind games with children."

    "All right, let''s start."

    Somewhat d to hear Ming Feizhen''s confidence, Ling Cong assumed what resembled a random stance, hands suddenly turning crisp ck. His true qi started roiling more intensely than Dark Robe Brotherhood''s signature Forbidden Wind Lightning.

    "Be careful!"

    As Ling Cong shot off from where he stood, Ming Feizhen flowered inward and brought his weapon back down, both moving unimaginably quickly. Ling Cong mmed his hands together to catch Ming Feizhen''s weapon cleaving down.ing Cong was the only capable of stopping Ming Feizhen''s swing because the lightning strike he was hit with as a kid enhanced all of his senses, equipping him with the ability to see Ming Feizhen''s movements.

    "Interesting,"plimented Ming Feizhen. "If you trained for another five to ten years, you''d be hard to match."

    Ming Feizhen gently drew his weapon out from Ling Cong''s sp. Ling Cong stood unmoving, eyes triple their usual side and facial muscles frozen as though Ming Feizhen whacked his soul out of his body. Ming Feizhen pulled Ling Cong along with his free hand.

    "I heard" - Ming Feizhen gently whipped his ck weapon in a circle, prompting thirty-odd swordsman to flinch - "Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is home to talent. I heard there''s a new monster referred to as ''Exterminator'', who killed several of Demon Sect''s guardians. I''m keen to see who this swordsman is."

    Ming Feizhen stepped over incapacitated Ling Xuezhao.

    "There was also the first-rank sanctuary master, a young man with the gift of the heavens, born with immeasurable aptitude and potent internal energy. Why don''t you dispatch him?"

    Once Ming Feizhen released his hold on Ling Cong''s hand, Ling Cong slumped onto the ground, eyes listless.

    "Why do you keep walking backwards?"

    Not one of the swordsmen wanted to hear what they heard next.

    "Who¡­ is next?"

 Volume 7.5 16 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 16)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 16 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 16)</h4>

    If Ling Hanzhong never knew what a nightmare was, he learnt what it was that day, and it would be one imprinted in his memories for the rest of his life. Watching Ming Feizhen march forward, he cried, "K-kill him!"

    Because silence replied to him, Ling Hanzhong righteously shouted, "Be my scapegoat," as, "I said, kill him! Have you forgotten who I am?! Are you disobeying me?!"

    A swordsman advanced on Ming Feizhen, but nobody paid attention to who it was for the order didn''t matter. The rest of the swordsmen sallied forth; however, they didn''t fight to protect Ling Hanzhong even though it was their duty.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s swordsmen could ept their patriarch being evil, underhanded and unskilled, but they couldn''t ept an irresponsible man as their leader. From the moment Ling Hanzhong cowered before Ming Feizhen, they no longer epted him as their leader.

    "Are you all crazy?! Why are you being so stupid?! What makes you think you could match him one on one when he defeated even Cong''er?! Don''t challenge him one at a time! Use your numbers, and hack him to pieces!"

    Knowing how ruthless and unscrupulous Ling Hanzhong could be, it shouldn''t be any surprise that it eluded him as to why his men would challenge Ming Feizhen one on one when they''d clearly lose.

    "You idiots, I said to h-"

    "Shut up," snapped a man behind Ling Hanzhong, eyes shining as he stared at Ming Feizhen.

    "Y-you finally spoke?" stuttered Ling Hanzhong, unable to recall the man ever mentioned a word to him.

    "You will never understand."ing Hanzhong was never a swordsman, and he never excelled with a sword. His moniker Sword Scabbard Clear Sky didn''t refer to his swordy but his ruthless tactics. He never spared a thought for developing his skills with a sword for he viewed it as just another tool in the toolbox. If poison could get the job done, he wouldn''t hesitate to use poison. The only reason he learnt swordy was to harvest fame, something he decided on as a young teenager.ing Hanzhong couldn''t fathom the emotions of training until one was swimming in their sweat, sore, desire for progress and seeing progress. While his men genuinely had an interest in researching different styles and brainstorming ways to counter different techniques, he couldn''t care less. He, as a matter of fact, perceived them to be morons for choosing to dress and dine modestly, preferring to live out of the limelight to have more time for self-development.

    To his credit, Ling Hanzhong was amazing at what he did. Once he was instated as the primary administrator of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, he started implementing changes and devoting his every fibre to building the sect. Instead of training, he spent all of his energy on packaging their swordsmen to market them and eventually conquer Changzhou. Those were things they didn''t enjoy, but he gaily did it all. As everyone knew, he never desired to train at Sword Immortal Grasshouse for a second unlike everyone else.

    After decades at the helm, "You will never understand" plunged Ling Hanzhong back into the abyss of confusion he thought he had covered. He changed a lot of things to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, but the people that made up Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary seemingly hadn''t changed. It was such a vexing emotion that he hated it more than the dents Ming Feizhen put in his ns. What he failed to ever realise was that they weren''t offering their lives to him or some grandeur future for Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. They believed they were Mount Lu Sword Sword Sanctuary. Only then did he notice that there wasn''t a vestige of his lifetime''s investment remaining.

    Why are these men who can''t control their rods the moment they see money or women trying to be heroes against an insurmountable wall and not backing down?ing Hanzhong hurtled, not even bothering to pick up his sword, Five Elders, that fell from his belt. The man who was behind picked up "Five Elders" and held it as a treasure, sighing out of pity, though it would never be known if it was pity for the sword or Ling Hanzhong.

    As Ling Hanzhong showed his clean heels with his qinggong, he could hear the nightmarish "ng" over and over that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Every time he heard the sound reverberating in his mind, he''d wish he was younger so that he could run faster.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In the end, Ling Hanzhong gave in to his urge to look back. As irony would have it, he couldn''t help feeling his swordsmen were true heroes as they bled trying to fight an enemy they didn''t have a diminutive chance of prevailing against. He was so astonished at the sight of Ming Feizhen marching forward without any pause, taking out one swordsman after another that he lost awareness of what he was doing.

    Maybe¡­ Maybe this could''ve been avoided. If I didn''t loosen my reins on them too much¡­ If I didn''t change Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡­ Maybe we wouldn''t have lost¡­ No, no! It''s not my fault!

    The one to snap Ling Hanzhong out of his daze would be the demon he never wanted anywhere near him.

    "It''s your turn now."

    "Y-your shifu is m-"

    "Oh yeah, my shiniang did mention you," interjected Ming Feizhen, shing a corner of his pearly whites. "She said to do her part and beat you up if I ever met you."

    "Aaaah!"

    ng!

    "Three days ago, a defenceless and hapless man shrilled the same way, but he roared with out of anger and determination. That is a roar we ought to respect. Just one left," verbalised Ming Feizhen, casting his eyes over to the woods.

    The one man still standing was older than Ling Hanzong. Howbeit, calling him an elder would be rude. To speak more urately, one should call him a man who had aged. He still had his chest out and head high.

    "You''re the only one from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary who canst more than one strike from me."

    "It is an honour to hear you praise me."

    Seeing the man draw "Five Elders" from its sheath, Ming Feizhen opined, "I''ve always wanted to see Sword Immortal Grasshouse''s touted swordy."

    "Is that a sabre?"

    "What makes you say so? Isn''t it a piece of firewood?"

    "A sabre will always be a sabre. This one does not know the reason the craftsman decided to craft the sabre in that odd shape. In saying that, the weapon he desired to forge is in to see. This one has familiarised himself with countless weapons over his lifetime and has seen four of the seven swords wielded in the quest to carve this dynasty, but that is a first. If this one was to hazard a humble guess¡­ it is not intended to be a ded weapon."

    "It''s just a piece of spare iron that I''ve decided to swing around."

    "Yet you chose it. You are the only one who can wield that sabre."

    Ming Feizhen''s eyes sparkled as though he finally found someone he could feel motivated to fight: "They say Ling Fengxing is Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s best swordsman, a swordsman who dedicated his entire life to honing his swordy. It appears they should have also noted your knowledge of weapons."

    "One''s weapon is part of them. It is my greatest pleasure to cross des with you."ing Fengxing coated "Five Elders" in golden energy.

    "Enlightenment?"

    "I hope I will not let you down!"

    Nobody knew the result of the duel, but they imed it was an epic fight that ended with a "ng".

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s invasion of Hangzhou was dered a failure after Chinese Valentine''s Day during Emperor Yuansheng''s twenty-fifth year reigning. Though over a hundred swordsmen were sorely defeated, no lives were lost. Rumour on the streets that it was thanks to their harsh training that none of the swordsmen lost their lives¡­

    Nobody knew what the injury or death toll for Hangzhou''s martial world was. As for Night Fortress, they were deemed the immovable mountain, the strongest sect in Hangzhou, and granted ultimate authority over Hangzhou''s martial world.

    Ostensibly, Ling Hanzhong''s injuries sustained during his fight with Ximen Chuixue gued him again during his campaign, forcing him to retreat from the frontlines, hence the failure. The imperial court found the story convincing. That being said, there were some other absurd rumours going around, proiming Ling Hanzhong had a severe case of diarrhoea that was diagnosed tost half a year, forcing them to call off their campaign.ing Qingshu was dered missing after the fight, breaking Ling Hanzhong''s heart. The elder decided to seclude himself at Five Elders Peak and leave Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in the hands of his eldest son, Ling Yaoshi, henceforward.ing Yaoshi was a totally different man from his father. Upon rising to patriarch status, Ling Yaoshi enforced a rule that stipted all of their disciples had to undergo a decade of serious training and pass seven tests if they wanted to descend the mountain. Surprisingly, despite him being the strictest patriarch in their history, no disciple took issue with it.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was almost inactive in the pugilistic world during Ling Yaoshi''s reign. Thus, Ling Hanzhong''s retirement saw the curtain close on Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s era of glory.

 Volume 7.5 17 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 17)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 17 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 17)</h4>

    Unlike the usual peaceful start to the day at the magistrate office in Lin''an, this one started off on a rowdy note, crowd jamming the streets due to their eagerness to see how Jiu Shaozhang''s case would turn out. Even Xie Duzhe, whose head resembled a mobile gauze shelf, was there bright and early.

    Hong Jiu dumped the six young masters inside the magistrate court as per Ming Feizhen''s instructions and then waltzed out without a care to soare. Thenceforward was the real hard part. Thankfully, Ling Qingshu''s absence meant that whoever was in charge of the case wouldn''t have to sh directly with Ling n or be humiliated when Ling n brazenly strolled in to take him home.

    The county magistrate hid as well as an assassin, praying to every deity from the earth and in the firmament that a miracle would absolve him of any involvement in the case. A county magistrate lorded over the county he ruled. That being said, when the issue presented linked back to grudges in the martial world, thest thing he would want to do is try to throw his weight around them. They might not publicly confront the magistrate, but who knows what happens at nightfall, when a robber in dressed in dark garments and mask coincidentally decides picks his estate and coincidentally runs a de through him? In this scenario, Xie Duzhe was also present, meaning he was second fiddle to the former.

    Though there was no concrete evidence to prove the im that Ling Hanzhong pulled out of Hangzhou due to an old injury festering again, Dark Robe Brotherhood assumed it was true once Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s forces pulled out of Hangzhou and decided to recruit the erstwhile sects under Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. Frankly, Dark Robe Brotherhood''s move was no different to robbery; it just appeared more cultured than getting into physical altercations.

    Xie Duzhe couldn''t oppose his n''s will. Telling him to just let the murderers of the hook didn''t sit right with him, nevertheless. As such, he was forced to put in a request with the imperial court to withdraw from the case due to severe injury, which he luckily had many witnesses to testify on his behalf. By the same ount, Dark Robe Brotherhood couldn''t force him to exact their will, either.

    Since Xie Duzhe washed his hands off the case, and the county magistrate couldn''t afford to stick his nose in the martial realm''s affairs, he sought another member of one of the three martial worldw enforcement offices to rece him.

    Soon enough, drum beats reverberated from the entrance of the court. The six imperious young masters sauntered in, spirits high. Not long after their initial lockup, they were moved to better cells. Their parents then soon came running for them, informing the warden of their affiliations. From then on, they were treated as VIP guests in a luxury inn.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The six young masters'' rtives sent them eye signals from outside, indicating to them that all they had to do was y along with mandatory procedures before being released. They would''ve been celebrating already if they were told so upon arrest, but they were livid when they thought back on having to spend a night in lockup. ordingly, they intended to heckle the magistrate or inquisitor, humiliating them to vent.

    "Wow, pretty big court room, eh?!" shouted one of the young masters, startling the magistrate

    The six guffawed, driving home the fact that they ran the show.

    "Right, let''s hear what you have to say. Displease me, and I''ll make you theughing stock of the nation!"

    "Ehehe, this one is not in charge of this case," responded the county magistrate.

    The six young masters'' cocky looks turned to nose wrinkles. One asked, "When is the judgeing? I''m a busy m-"

    "I''m here."

    There weren''t just one or two people who blinked, rubbed their eyes and even checked their noses. Had she not disyed her token, Xie Duzhe would''ve chased her off for obstruction of justice.

    The court magistrate got out of the chair for the eye-catching maiden barely fifteen years old. People still couldn''t believe such an adorable girl dressed in a warrior''s, form-fitting blue robe was supposed to be the judge of the case. Usually, one would remove their cloak upon entering a building, yet she swiped a copper pot of tea and poured herself a drink, knocking it back without rinsing the cup first. She wiped her mouth in a crude manner, acting as if she had a drink of wine.

    She picked up the statement and, sounding as though she was taking on an insipid job, questioned, "What crimes did you sixmit?"

 Volume 7.5 18 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 18)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 18 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 18)</h4>

    "Six defendants, what crimes did youmit? Identify yourselves."

    "Why did the imperial court send a clueless maiden here to take charge of this case? This isparable to telling the world that the imperial court is so short on personnel that they have to send her here," thought Xie Duzhe.

    Shen Yiren started eating one of the dry biscuits on the table as though her tastebuds were dead. She knew that asking them anything else or flying off the handle would only encourage the six to slight her.

    The six had an urge to tease the young maiden. As educated young men, they had an obligation to introduce themselves when meeting someone for the first time.

    "My father is Wind Recoiling de. I am the wanderer of Menghezhen."

    "Golden horse rider, Jiujiang''s Bihu''s veteran sabre wielder."

    "Whoever in Huzhou dares to act up, Mo n''s descendent here will spear some sense into him."

    "A reunion in the pugilistic world, Luling n calls this one Zhang Erlong."

    "You know Jiaxing''s Dng? I suggest you stay away from therete at night."

    "The young master who conquered three kilometres of Tanghe''s Fenghuanglin with just one cudgel!"

    The six smugly enjoyed theughter in the building. Their "Ancient Style Seven Wandering Young Masters" poem introduction would''ve been perfect if Ling Qingshu was there to add, "Dragon and phoenix rider, Qingshu can shave hibiscus".

    Xie Duzhe sealed his meridians to notugh, while Shen Yiren spat crumbs all over her table and thumped her chest with one hand while covering her mouth with her other arm. Meanwhile, the six young masters enjoyed the puppies bouncing because of her thumping.

    Shen Yiren guzzled tea from the teapot to calm down: "Fook me, you jokes almost made me choke to death¡­"

    Xie Duzhe wasn''t sure if he just heard a government official using coarsenguage in public.

    "Phew." Shen Yiren returned the statement to the table then queried, "Ban n from Changzhou, Jin n from Jiujiang''s Bihu, Mo Jia from Changzhou''s Jinqiang, Ping n from Jiaxing and Wu n from Tanghe''s Taiping, correct?"

    "Exactly," the six replied in synchrony, nose in the clouds.

    Shen Yiren contracted her brows ever so slightly: "I heard Wind Recoiling de''s Ban n has a son, while Jiujiang''s Jin Hujian''s second son is twenty-three this year. Mo Jinqiang, who is very old now, has a grandson. Luling Jian and Ping n only have one son. Tanghe''s Taiping Gun doesn''t have any descendants, so he adopted his young nephew as his son."

    Shen Yiren swept hernguid gaze over the six: "If this statement is to be trusted, the main culprit is Ling Qingshu, who is currently on the run. Is it true that you six are responsible fortorturing Jiu Shaozhang''s family of three to their deaths?"

    The six all had the corners of their lips tugged up as they ogled Shen Yiren''s body that theypared to Ming Suwen as they responded, "So what if we did?"

    The citizens who with a strong sense of justice unleashed tongueshings, fuelling Xie Duzhe''s concern that Shen Yiren wasn''t experienced enough to say, "Thew may be important, but it is also important to forgive and learn. These six men have realised their wrongs and will not do it again," ideally with her head down to avoid them remembering her face. The way she was showing her face was a sure-fire way for them to give her grief once they were released.

    Bang! Shen Yiren mmed the table with her hand when the gavel was right there; maybe it was her style. Nheless, she brayed, "If you have an opinion, step in here and say it. Don''t stand outside making a ruckus! That''s unbing!"

    "The issue ising in would also be unbing!" Xie Duzhe thought to himself.

    "Are you six the only culprits? No other aplices?"

    "Yes and no," the six answered simultaneously.

    "Any informants?"

    "No!"

    "Is there a witness? Bring the witness up."

    The county magistrate quietly notified, "Ma''am, we have their son''s testimony and the six culprits'' statements. A Qilin Guard inspected the bodies before the dead were put to rest. The autopsy is on the table."

    Shen Yiren picked up the autopsy and dismissively stated, "Mm, this is a big case. I shall personally question them."

    "Thank heavens she knows she has to release them," Xie Duzhe told himself, relieved Shen Yiren was taking the right steps to save everyone.

    It was amon ploy for magistrates to ask a few questions, question a witness to entertain procedure then nullify their testimony. The boy''s age was the best weapon to use against him.

    Shen Yiren went down to meet the boy since he didn''t speak clearly as well as softly. It usually took her three to four sentences to get one back out of him. After an hour of waiting, one of the six young masters cursed, "All right, end the act and release us. I''ll pay you extra, okay? This is more tiring than bedding a girl at a brothel for god''s sake."

    Shen Yiren snubbed the young master and continued with her questions until she sent Jiu Shaozhang''s son off.

    "I''ll ask one more time: do you admit that you are responsible for their deaths?"

    "Yeah, we''re the ones who bloody killed him."

    "Okay."

    Shen Yiren went back to the desk to write her verdict. She brushed her cape and, with a murderous undertone, read aloud, "In ordance with thew, rapists are sentenced to hanging. Murder via rape is punishable by decapitation. Premeditated murder is punishable by decapitation. If the suspect repents and has contributed to societymendably, they shall be hung. Wei Bandu, Jin Luting, Zhang Erlong, Ping Yng, Wu Chang and Ling Qingshu raped and killed two innocent women, killed one man, dumped the three corpses in the wild and have shown no remorse, bragging about their crimes instead. Due to the severity of their crimes, the seven shall be executed in theing days."

    "Wh-wh-what was that you wench? Heh, just you wait. My father ising for you!"

    "I''m not done." In an ice-cold voice, Shen Yiren continued, "Thanks to you identifying your families, you''ve saved me a lot of trouble. In ordance with thews, you will be executed for killing the family of three. Your families must hand over all of their assets to the deceased''s family. Your parents shall be exiled five hundred kilometres from their homes, while your wives and children will be exiled a thousand kilometres from home. You are their family members, correct? Inform your masters that Liu Shan Men will soon visit to check the numbers. If as much as a grain of rice is missing, everyone will take eighty canes as punishment. Prepare handcuffs and ankle cuffs. If any family member absconds, the severity of your punishments will be taken up a notch. Once those who abscond are arrested, their heads will be put on disy to the public."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The servants of the six young masters bolted off to report back to their masters.

    Shen Yiren trained her gaze on the young master who just threatened her and queried, "What did you want me to wait for again?"

    The young master''s mind couldn''t process what was going on.

    "Y-Yan Shisan''s only disciple, Shen Yiren?! Wh-why is she personally handling this case?" wondered Xie Duzhe.

    "Ar-are y-you really sentencing us to decapitation?"

    The six felt as though their cuffs were tightened around their sweaty wrists.

    "You killed three people. Why did you think you wouldn''t die?" Shen Yiren inquired with a brow hiked up. "Where do you think you are? Shouldn''t you have expected this on the first day you arrived here?"

    "But didn''t y-"

    The young master stopped himself when he realised there was no way Shen Yiren had anything to do with the VIP treatmentst night. There was no way it''d have been her when her stare could kill them.

    "This one arranged that," elucidated the county magistrate. "We call it ''thest supper''. Have you not heard of that? This one wanted you to enjoy onest meal and have enough tost you to the other side."

    After sifting through the other documents in her hands, Shen Yiren announced, "Take them back to their cells. They will be officially executed tomorrow."

    The six, sweaty backs practically stuck to their chairs, didn''t want to believe it, but there was no denying Shen Yiren was serious from her indifferent tone.

    "Miss Shen, may I have a word with you?" Xie Duzhe requested.

    "You are?"

    "This one is Qilin Guard Xie Duzhe."

    Shen Yiren barely raised her head to take a gander: "Please allow me to express admiration for your dedication toe here when you are still nursing your injuries."

    Face flush, Xie Duzhe forced himself to press on: "This one wishes to have a word with you¡­"

    "Please feel free to speak."

    Voice stifled, Xie Duzhe notified, "The six of them are from prominent ns in the martial world. If you go through with the penalties you announced, their families will get back at you, and Jiangnan''s martial world will face another period of anarchy. His Majesty stressed many times to prioritise peace and minimise any conflicts.

    Nodding, Shen Yiren dismissively remarked, "True¡­"

    d, Xie Duzhe asked, "So, you will retract your verdict?"

    "Yes. My verdict does need to be adjusted." Shen Yiren fixed her piercing gaze on the six criminals again, dering, "You seven also killed a schr carrying the ''Tian'' surname. You dug out his eyes and subjected him to an excruciating death that words can''t do justice. In ordance with our nation''sws, you are to be crucified for amputating him while he was alive and gouging his eyes out. Men, take them. There''s no need to wait for tomorrow. They will be executed today."

    "Cr- crucifixion?"

    "Five horses dismemberment, kiddo," responded Shen Yiren, huffing through her nose and gesturing with her hand for the six to be hauled out.

    The six bellowed as they were dragged out of the court room.

    "M-Miss Shen!" eximed Xie Duzhe.

    "Yes?" Shen Yiren authoritatively replied.

    Xie Duzhe, intimidated, gulped.

    "Vice-Captain Xie, I have a question for you."

    "Please feel free to ask."

    "Are you literate?"

    Xie Duzhe found himself bemused: "Yes¡­ This one has learnt a little."

    Shen Yiren pointed to the que above them: "Can you read what that says?"

    The cat caught Xie Duzhe''s tongue.

    "Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men have different modus operandi. I don''t expect Qilin Guards to align with my thought process. That being said, as a fellow official, I''d like to give you the following reminder." Shen Yiren sat down and wrote down the text on the gue then read out, "Don''t ever mistreat the people."

    Xie Duzhe would never forget the words that rolled off Shen Yiren''s tongue that day. That very same moment, Xie Duzhe believed Shen Yiren was the hope that would propel Liu Shan Men back into the spotlight.

    Notes:

    Ancient Style Seven Wandering Young Masters - "Ancient style" can also be considered gufeng, which you may have heard me use before. It''s just a term applied to anything deemed to carry ancient characteristics. There''s no English equivalent, which is why "gufeng" is the universally epted term when referring to ancient characteristics in Chinese things (music, movie, literature etc.). For the record, this novel is gufeng style in Chinese.

    There''s a lot lost in trantion. In essence, the seven of them used their n names in their introductions innguage that hooligans would use. That''s how Shen Yiren was able to figure out their ns, yet it doesn''t appear so obvious in English. You just can''t trante it. The stuff left in pinyin are n names and locations (real geographic locations in China). Imagine Shakespeare grammar with "dawg", "whatcha" and Eminem quotes. That''s close to how it sounds in Chinese.

    Gavel - This is the ancient China version

 Volume 7.5 19 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 19)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 19 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 19)</h4>

    People struggled to understand why anyone would want to live on Horizon Peak, the tallest exotic mountain at Night Net Mountain and in Hangzhou, despite being able to appreciate beauty of the firmament, vibrantndscape below and the lives of various living organisms in nature. One slip on the mountain, it''d be the end of them. Yet, Ming Feizhen, the man the servants knew as a man whose hair colour constantly changed, was towering and resembled a cold-blooded demon due to his scarlet eyes, liked to dine on the sky-high mountain.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Maids understandably struggled to climb Horizon Peak, which was why a small row of rooms was constructed for them one and a half kilometres from the peak. Guards would deliver meals to them so that they could then deliver up the mountain. As if climbing to the peak wasn''t enough of a workout in itself, they also had to carry fifteen bowls of rice, seventeen side dishes, fruits and premium wine up to the peak.

    In the past, it took five to six maids to carry the tray up to the peak. As the maids spent months practicing a breathing technique Ming Feizhen taught them, the number of maids required to deliver the meals started to taper down until there were only two. They couldn''t reduce it to one because there was no way one of them could carry a tray that could fit all of the items.

    As the two maids delivering Ming Feizhen''s meals today didn''t hear a response when they knocked, they figured he was training at Lunar Cave on the peak. Therefore, they entered to set down the tray prior to fetching him.

    "Is it dinner time yet?" the two maids heard as they climbed up. Before their answer could roll off their tongue, they heard, "Got it. Sweet and sour fish, lucky wine, soy-sauce preserved duck. Very nice¡­ Dessert is yellow split peas dessert? Ol'' Ting really put some thought into this dinner, huh?

    "I can smell the dishes. Are you two new? Oh, I see. When you clean up, prepare two shirts for me to go out in. Don''t choose mboyant colours. You already prepared ck robes? You two are quite meticulous."

    Those who knew Ming Feizhen knew about his ability to tell discern before seeing or tasting them; however, thest time he left Night Fortress, he went for a long time. The two maids delivering his dinner today were usually delegated cleaning jobs, so they never witnessed his food identification prowess before. Hence, they shook without even realising it.

    "Leave dinner there for now. I''m eating this for now. Leave it there, though, as I''ll eat itter." Ming Feizhen threw out a bone.

    Is that¡­ an arm?!

    The two maids tearfully showed clean heels. And that was how the rumour that Master Ming ate humans came to be. One time, Hong Jiu paid Ming Feizhen a visit and queried, "Hey, uh, Big Bro, umm¡­ You see, a few kids went missing from a vige. Do you recall anything? You know, the chubby kid? I mean, I''m just looking around, you know? Are you hungry? If you are, let me know."

    "Sheesh, I was just eating a pork shoulder. What''s the big fuss all about?" Ming Feizhen sulked and picked up another pork shoulder to gnaw into as the two maids bolted away.

    The pork shoulders came from a pig Ming Feizhen caught and just finished grilling when the two maids arrived.

    Ming Feizhen leaned back on the rock that faced the clouds, a spot he always sat on when visiting the peak. He caressed his weapon the masses coined "ck Broadsword", the same one he used to annihte Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary''s elites singlehandedly as he peered into the distance.

    Normally, a weapon would need to be sharp to stick into a rock. Even if someone could nt it in, there would be cracks, yet Ming Feizhen didn''t leave even a blemish on the rock when he plunged it into the rock he was leaning on.

    Ming Feizhen spent a long time engrossed in gloomy, vengeful thoughts, eyes turning from ck to red despite gazing at the unfettered clouds.

    "Young Shiyi?"

    Smiling, Ming Suwen drifted over from the back of the mountain and draped her arms over his shoulder: "This is no fun. How are we supposed to y hide and seek if you can always tell who''s there?"

    "I never wanted to y hide and seek."

    Though Ming Feizhen''s clothing didn''t have a crinkle or hole, just as when he left Mount Daluo, his eyes were now filled with pity and regret. Ming Suwen couldn''t resist touching his neck, not in a provocative way, but more along the lines of a young girl consoling him.

    "How did things go on your end?"

    "You defeated their vanguard, driving off all of Ling Hanzhong''s best elites. As a result, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary has pulled their forces out of Hangzhou discreetly. Knowing how much Ling Hanzhong values appearances, he won''t mention a word to anyone if we don''t kick up a fuss. Ling Qingshu lost his backing when his father pulled out, so there won''t be any issues with whatever penalty is imposed on him."

    "Sounds perfect."

    Ming Suwen ran her fingers through her radiant hair: "But you should be cognisant of the fact that¡­ you handled this case awfully."

 Volume 7.5 20 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 20)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 20 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 20)</h4>

    "Was I wrong?"

    "You were."

    The change in the breeze expressed the poignant emotion that didn''t show on Ming Feizhen''s visage. Though he didn''t turn to face Ming Suwen, his emotions were running high. He could be called a trapped beast huffing out of its nose, still desiring to unleash carnage.

    "Third told me about your fight with Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. You set your mind on that when I left, didn''t you? Your method was to fight fire with a bigger fire. Although it''s decidedly a simple and direct solution, it''s a blunder from beginning to end."

    "If nothing else, Ling Qingshu''s father deserves to be punished for his son''s despicable deeds. Although Lin Hanzhong didn''t carry out the deeds himself, he is to me. If you listed all of his crimes thus far, Lin Hanzhong deserves to be executed dozens of times. Ever since Lin Hanzhong started leading Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, you could call them an orthodox sect or a den of bandits. I didn''t take a single life¡­" Not detecting Ming Suwen''s bloodlust behind him whatsoever owing to his immense power, Ming Feizhen continued, "What¡­ did I do wrong?"

    "How much do you know about their entire n?" Ming Suwen authoritatively questioned.

    "¡­ Does it matter?"

    "I surmise Third found out about their ns a couple of days ago. You''re just hearing it now. Don''t ask me why I know this crap. I was acquainted with you from the moment I was born; I''m one of the three people who know you best if such a list exists. I can read you like a book," asserted Ming Suwen, cutting to the chase and not pulling punches or being yful unlike her usual speech mannerisms because she was speaking from the bottom of her heart.

    Ming Suwen reproved, "You resolved the entire fiasco within a few hours after hearing about it, so I can understand people calling it heroism. You and I both are fully aware that it wasn''t anything but brash tomfoolery, however.

    "How much do you know about Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary? What, a few pages of scribbles'' worth? How much do you know about their n to conquer Hangzhou? As much as what Third mentioned. You had no idea big their forces were, how strong they were or what their ns were. All you did was vengefully march in and dere war.

    "You should be thankful nobody died. Have you any idea that they are one of the sects that are obsessed with pursuing swordy? They would keep a level head as they dismantle you; they wouldn''t charge in head first, driven by emotions, the way you did. Sure, some might, and they''ll end up victims of your de broadsword.

    "Wind Passing Dragon Hall should be a worthy opponent for you. He isn''t a swordsman who''s out for blood; his calcted approach could pick you apart if you''re not in the right frame of mind. That would keep you in check. Otherwise, I know you would''ve massacred everyone there. You were lucky. Very lucky. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be sitting here, pretending you''re not bothered. You''d be standing on a mountain of corpses."

    Ming Feizhen''s imaginative mind tormented him as he listened to Ming Suwen illustrate what could have been.

    "Why do I have to put up with regret? Don''t they deserve to die?" asked Ming Feizhen, aggressively turning to Ming Suwen.

    "Is that a serious question, or are you trying to test me?" Ming Suwen questioned, speaking through her teeth.

    "Do you know what sort ofmotion you triggered in Jiangnan''s martial world after you defeated one of the Seven Champion White Princes in a single day? If the other six catch wind of it and decide to start dividing amongst each other, how much more anarchy will it give rise to? Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Cold Mountain Temple are on friendly terms and, consequently, will join the fray once it blows up. The worst situation we could have is one to two White Princes scrapping with the others. More people would die in those skirmishes than if Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was to take over Hangzhou. The orthodox sects have yet to recuperate from the campaign against Demon Sect. You think they wouldst another battle?

    "You know the Qilin Guards'' grandmander, and you''re cognisant of the fact that he''s more ambitious than Yan Shisan by miles. He may step in to stop the chaos since the Qilin Guards now lead among the threew enforcement offices in charge of the martial world; however, he will only step in when he can maximise his gains. How many people would have to die to spur him into action?

    "Hypothetically speaking, if the campaign against Demon Sect didn''t take ce, the remaining White Champion Princes would verify the information several times before they sortied against another White Prince. Howbeit, everyone in the martial world could smell blood since Demon Sect''s demise. If the other six White Princes start vying to expand their sphere of influence, they will start swinging their ambitious swords on Jiangnan and then beyond it. The havoc will be far more than what Demon Sect ever did."

    Ming Feizhen dropped his head: "How is that my concern? Since Ling Hanzhong coveted Hangzhou, he has to pay the price. In the pugilistic world, it''s survival of the fittest. His downfall is a consequence of his weakness. Nobody can change that t."

    "¡­ Why did you avenge Jiu Shaozhang''s family, then? By your logic, they deserved to die because they were weaker."

    Ming Feizhen vigorously yanked his head up, fury and mncholy painting his face. He fronted with a giggle and shake of his head, changing the topic to, "I never knew you cared so much about people. What happened to the aloof demoness? Does dressing in white motivate you to be Guanyin, the bodhisattva ofpassion?"

    Slighted, Ming Suwen''s voice turned more chilly: "Was that a jab at me or yourself?"

    Ming Feizhen''s eyes grew an extra size. He wanted to rib Ming Suwen, but there was no telling what the point of that was. Deep down, though, he knew he was grouchy.

    Tone softening, Ming Suwen went on, "Feizhen, you''re much kinder than you think; you don''t know yourself as well as you like to think. You can dodge the question if you aggravate me enough for me to leave. If I do leave, you''ll be the one hurting most. Do you feel more relieved if you suffer more? Instead of trying to act like a big man and makingme attempts to rile me up, why don''t you just fight me? Master Ming, you don''t scare me."

    "I would never dare hit my martial grandaunt," joked Ming Feizhen, loosening up thanks to Ming Suwen returning to her usual self.

    "You calling me old again?! Didn''t we agree not to call me that?"

    Ming Feizhen let Ming Suwen p his shoulder and giggled: "It''s not some alias, you know? It''s the proper term for addressing you."

    Though the atmosphere had lightened up, Ming Feizhen''s gloomy expression reminded Ming Suwen of his visage when she first saw him today. If it were up to her, she''d never want to be so confrontational with him. Nevertheless, she had to get in his face to avert him from taking on an extremist approach in the future.

    "Feizhen¡­ your shifu didn''t entrust Night Fortress to you to remind you to revert back to your fifteen year old self." Despite Ming Feizhen''s hiked lips cramping, Ming Suwen carried on, conveying, "Ever since the mayhem at Lawless Cliff, your eyes have never returned to how they used to be. You''re no longer able to control your emotions once your bloodlust gushes to your head, forcing you to lock yourself up. Had I known Ximen Chuideng and Demon Sect''s downfall would impact you to this extent¡­ I wouldn''t have left your side for so long.

    "Your hatred has left you in the dumps for thest half a year. You refuse to run Night Fortress, be Lord San Shen and a disciple of Mount Daluo. All you''ve been doing, besides recruiting remnants of Demon Sect, all is drinking your woes and rage away in Night Net Pce. The longer you let your resentment and anger simmer, the more prominent your bloodlust is. You will eventually sumb to those emotions and repeat what you did that y-"

    "No, I won''t," Ming Feizhen cut in, eyes listless despite his adamant tone. "I won''t revert back to that version of me bec-"

    "Because Ximen Chuideng helped you, correct?" Switching back to her frigid voice, Ming Suwen disputed, "He helped you ovee your mental obstacle in exchange for you serving as Lord San Shen. He''s no more, though; there won''t be a second Ximen Chuideng to help you."

    "Says who? I haven''t seen his corpse!"

    "Dead people aren''t going toe back to life. Why are you so persistent? Lawless Cliff is higher than Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak. How do you expect to even find an intact corpse after falling from that height? When he was knocked off the cliff, he was running on fumes. How do you expect him to survive a fall from that height? ''I haven''t seen his corpse'' and whatnot are but lies to y your game of denial. You need to ept the fact that Ximen Chuideng is dead!"

    Ming Feizhen discharged qi from his body, generating a dangerous gale and then drawing it with the momentum. If it was anyone else, they would''ve thought they were dreaming. Leaking out between Ming Feizhen''s ashen lips was, "Enough. I don''t want to talk about this topic anymore."

    "Your eyes have turned to demon eyes and won''t revert for you''re living in regret. You regret adopting an opposing opinion to his and believing that he''s invincible. You regret being powerless to do what you want regardless of how much power you wield."

    "Enough¡­" Ming Feizhen demanded in a low voice.

    Ming Suwen also adopted a low voice and let anger seep into her speech: "You''re ming yourself for failing to save Bai Tianbing, Ximen Chuideng and that child, failing to keep your promises to them!"

    "Enough!"

    Ming Feizhen mmed his fist on the ground, shattering a boulder, wobbling Ming Suwen, yet not even fazing his ck broadsword and the rock it was nted in. Though Ming Feizhen had calmed down after his outburst, the emotions still gnawed at him.

    "¡­ I want some time alone," expressed Ming Feizhen, actually implying, "Please leave."

    That was the first time he ever raised his voice with Ming Suwen. That was the first time he ever flew off the handle and demanded she leave. Never had he ever shown any enemy of his rage of that level.

    "I refuse. If I must go, you''reing with me. You can''t keep holing up here."

    "¡­ Is that within your means?"

    "What did I say earlier? If you want to have your way, fight me," dered Ming Suwen, rising up.

    "In that case, use your style to beat me."

    "¡­ What nonsense is that? Why w-"

    "Don''t tell me you don''t bear to. When you''re engrossed in your bloodlust, would you show anyone mercy?"

    Ming Suwen, the female pugilist no other female under twenty could match, lowered her face and cracked a smirk: "Master Ming, you''re unbelievably hubristic. If I can''t force you to get up within three moves, consider it my loss, and I''ll show myself out. Should I win¡­ you owe me a favour."

    Despite Ming Suwen''s prowess and aptitude, neither of them were something that could make for the difference between her and a Divine Realm adept. Thus, Hero Shenzhou and Ming Huayu wouldn''t even make such a bald bet.

    "¡­ All right. Make sure to honour your word."

    "You calling me a crook? Catch this, coward!"

    Combining two styles simultaneously, Ming Suwen performed Sta Palms with her left hand and Sky Net Weaving Palms with her right hand, pulling no punches unlike against Ling Qingshu.

    "That''s one."

    Ming Feizhen dismissively sliced down. Typically, Ming Suwen would have to abandon one attack in order to move off the axis Ming Feizhen''s attack came. She, however, picked up her speed, giving the impression that there was a, convincing identical twin of herself that not even Ming Feizhen could distinguish real from fake.

    Shadow Clone? Young Shiyi has mastered Reversal Manual? Guess this is why she''s confident.

    Sky Net ssics were the toughest series to master among all of Mount Daluo''s styles, especially Reverse Manual for it flipped all logic one learnt on its head. As such, the risk of exposing oneself to qi deviation was exponentially higher than any other style they taught. Those without an aptitude for martial arts would turn down the chance to learn it without a second thought, deeming it impossible for them to fathom.

    Aware thatpeting against Ming Feizhen in a physical attribute contest was the equivalent of throwing a match, Ming Suwen had to opt for a strategic approach. He even sat in the middle of the pincer attack, confident the difference in the internal energy levels would render her attack pointless until he noticed Yijin Jing''s internal energy flowing inside her.

    Ming Suwen''s first strike was intended to draw Ming Feizhen into performing the knife hand to absorb his energy and return it to him, a feat even Hong Jiu couldn''t aplish in spite of his solid mastery of Empty Palms.

    Ming Suwen''s confidence faded as her energy did uponnding it on Ming Feizhen for he used Taichi to give her a taste of her own medicine, almost tripling the force fed back to her.

    "Third m-, you crazy?!"

    Ming Feizhen got off his bottom and, literally, soared as Ming Suwen made no effort to stop her fall, allowing the force he deflected back to send her toward the edge of the mountain. First, the force from Yijin Jing expedited her journey to the edge. Second, he knew she had internal energy stored. If she started resisting¡­ He cut himself off there and went after her. When no other opponent could ruffle his feathers, she had him shaking.

    "You lost," dered Ming Suwen, grinning.

    "¡­ If I didn''t make it in time, you would h-"

    "But you can. I know you can."

    "¡­ Why did you pull this jape?"

    Ming Suwen ran her fingers along the wrinkles on Ming Feizhen''s face, thumbs brushing the bags under his red eyes. Serving the antidote after pricking him full of bloody holes, she expressed, "I want you to know there are people you still care about and those who care about you in alive. If you couldn''t catch me in time, it''s not your fault; you''re not useless because of that.

    "Ximen Buxing couldn''t stand the status quo for another moment. That was the end he was doomed to meet another day or another ce if not at Lawless Cliff. You don''t have to be remorseful for the consequences of his decisions. The same goes for Bai Tianbing and the child¡­ Those are not reasons for you to hate yourself."

    "¡­ Sorry, Young Shiyi. I haven''t treated you like that," Ming Feizhen conveyed, hatred for himself easing upon understanding there was still others important to him living and breathing.

    "You should be. You were so aggressive. It''s okay, though. I''ll allow you, and only you, to shout at me."

    Ming Suwen clung to Ming Feizhen''s neck as he sat back down on the rock, acting coquettish. The two started to chat about an assortment of topics they never spoke about before, including his recent life and his past. Never a believer of "getting it off your chest will help you feel better," Ming Feizhen felt it was so relieving that he spilt everything without realising it.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Let''s talk about Mount Daluo now. From your shifu''s era to your juniors, you''re all unique."

    "Yeah? Shifu is grandmaster''s only disciple. My other martial uncles are all incredible in their rights, aren''t they?"

    "You don''t notice it because you grew up with them. Everyone in the current era is anything but normal. You know what they call your second brother in the pugilistic world?"

    "¡­ Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider, right?"

    "And here you im you have all the information rted to the pugilistic world. You need to pay more attention to those around you." Ming Suwen muttered, "Dark Knight."

    "As in the hero behind the scenes?"

    "He''s meticulous, clever and strong. He could rise to be a prestigious household name even without anyone''s help. See, he saw through Ling Qingshu''s act, but he never exposed it, using it against Ling Qingshu, instead. I''ve always known Shiba is a remarkable man, but I had no idea people in the pugilistic world held him in such high regard. His fellow disciples might have more potential as martial artists; however, none of them are more heroic than he is."

    "Yeah, Second has always been a great guy. He¡­ should''ve inherited the ''Ming'' surname," opined Ming Feizhen, lowering his head as if he was an abandoned dog. "I''m nobody. I shouldn''t take anything, either."

    "You didn''t take anything," contested Ming Suwen, turning Ming Feizhen''s chin her way and holding it there. "Do you still not understand your juniors? Third won''t obey anyone, including your shifu, except for you. Because of Fourth''s inherent different physical attributes, people call him a freak of nature, yet he''s close to you. Fifth is your shifu''s precious jewel, who takes no crap from anyone, yet converses softly and respectfully with you. Sixth would''ve dered war on his martial brothers if it wasn''t for you. Shiba''s valiant character is part of his identity, but he still calls you ''First Brother'' or ''Leader'' to this day because he genuinely idolises you. You''ve never taken from anyone. What you have is yours. Your juniors who look up to you are yours."

    Ming Feizhen mulled on what was said then mocked himself with a nose huff: "Am I worthy?"

    Regret and refusal to resign himself to fate changed Ming Feizhen''s optimism into pessimism and cynicism. Although he appeared fine, he was corroding away. Gradual therapy unarguably works. In saying that, sometimes, a big single dose did the trick.

    "Feizhen, you remember you promised me something if you lost?"

    "You mean when you attempted to jump off the cliff?"

    "You going to honour your word or not?"

    "I will, I will, go on. What is it you want me to do?"

    "Well¡­ You''re the only one who can do it."

    "And it is?"

    "You remember¡­ the unfinished business we had from this morning?"

    It took a while. Nheless, Ming Feizhen recalled the cat-like pose Ming Suwen adopted on him and the heat scorching his body. His body started reacting again. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find where to set her down since he went and cleaved off a chunk of the boulder.

    "Feizhen¡­"

    "Y-yes?"

    "Have you¡­ remembered yet?"

    Hairs perking up, Ming Feizhen stuttered, "Y-yes."

    "So¡­ can we resume?"

    "W-we should not¡­ I think¡­"

    "Why not? You made a promise."

    She must be ying. We''re out in the wild and on a mountain here. It''s nothing too oundish, and I can''t shirk this off. If I don''t resolve this, the next time some ridiculous problem crops up¡­

    Ming Feizhen nodded.

    "Great. I''ve been revving to try."

    Ming Feizhen froze stiff, unsure where toy his hands on the maiden in his arms. She, however, got up to draw the ck broadsword from the boulder.

    "Y-Young Shiyi, what are you doing?"

    "Didn''t you already agree? Why are you asking the obvious?"

    "W-wait, what did I agree to?"

    Ming Suwen bit down on her bottom lip: "You agreed to let me hack you once with this."

    "Huh?! Why?!"

    Ming Suwen, indeed, did ask to hack him with the weapon earlier. s, he eitherpletely forgot about it until then or was thinking with something else thatcked the same thinkingpetence.

    Ming Suwen dimpled: "I asked to try it, but you were being a nag. Now that you''ve agreed, of course I have to test it on you."

    "You don''t have to test it on me!"

    "Indeed. You yelled at me, hit me and shoved me off the edge of the cliff, though. You don''t expect me to pretend those things never happened, do you? No shielding yourself with your true qi."

    Why am I always getting framed?! I must''ve been framed more times than the number of framing cases recorded! You jumped off the cliff yourself!

    "Wh-where are you going to chop?"

    "Head."

    "Huh?!" Ming Feizhen grabbed his head: "What happens if you beat me into retardation?!"

    "That''s not my problem. You''re the one who flipped out at me," replied Ming Suwen, dimpling.

    "W-wait! Let me get ready!"

    "Okay. Close your eyes. I''ll count to three and then swing. Once I''m done, the score is settled."

    Ming Feizhen tensed up every muscle in his body as he watched Ming Suwen raise the weapon overhead, shutting his eyes and praying.

    "I''ll begin the countdown now."

    "Wait! Wait! Can I count?"

    Resisting augh, Ming Suwen answered, "Okay."

    Does counting down yourself put you more at ease? Check out Ming Feizhen''s ghastly pale face.

    Ming Suwen eventually cracked up, unable to resist.

    Ming Feizhen shut his eyes and strove not to focus on the approaching executioner. s, her lingering scent was always so prominent.

    "Three¡­ two¡­ One, stop! I''ll apology-, mm!"

    A soft, sweet and moist pair of lips sealed Ming Feizhen''s ability to say anything that would ruin the ambience. By the time he opened his eyes, he saw Ming Suwen sitting opposite him, radiating. Ming Suwenughed heartily, relishing Ming Feizhen''s stupefied expression, while he felt a warming and secure sensationparable to a hug as he watched her.

    Ming Suwen ced a hand on his chest, asking, "Did that¡­ hurt?"

    "I¡­ I¡­"

    The dark clouds looming over head clearing away and the red eyes softening up were the signs of Ming Suwen''s victory. When she noticed him staring at her lips, though, her cheeks started to burn.

    "I can''t bear to hack you, yet I have to deliver penance somehow, so that''s all I could think of. With that said, you still owe me."

    "I will¡­ fulfil any request you may have."

    "Don''t forget what you just said," Ming Suwen stressed, staring into Ming Feizhen''s eyes. "I want you¡­ to live well. I didn''t jump off the cliff to ckmail you but to tell you that I care about you enough to risk my life. No matter what happens, don''t let yourself fall, and don''t neglect your life. There are people who care for you as much as they care for their life. I can only feel assured if you''ve remembered that."

    Although she would hide her thoughts in her bobbed head, nces, sly smile or healing words, I would be incorrigibly stupid if I couldn''t detect her affection for me in her eyes.

    Ming Suwen''s affectionate and bright smile under the dark dome forced the red in Ming Feizhen''s eyes to recede.

    "You¡­ have my word."

 Volume 7.5 21 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 21)

    <h4>Volume 7.5 Chapter 21 Different Year, Same Thing (Part 21)</h4>

    One man, perhaps, deserved more credit than Shen Yiren, who brought down the gavel, and that was Linan''s county magistrate. He was always a yes-man as far as everyone was concern, yet he managed to call in backup within a day.

    Seeking Liu Shan Men''s aid came as a surprise to everyone as their downfall thest two years was woefully evident, with their numbers dwindling dramatically due to members leaving for one reason or another, while Yan Shisan had vanished into thin air after being fired and ced under internal investigation, apparently. What they didn''t know was that the county magistrate was neither stupid nor crazy but an erstwhile member of Liu Shan Men.

    "I must report this to my superiors," decided Xie Duzhe, galloping back into the city after heading to the gate once he saw and heard the crowds cheer on Shen Yiren for her verdict.

    Although Xie Duzhe hadn''t been in Hangzhou for long, he had visited all of the ces the wealthy and influential had visited, which was why the proprietor of an inn recognised him as he climbed the stairs leading to the backyard.

    Xie Duzhe ambled, though on high alert, over to sit next to a gentleman.

    "So?" uttered the man, unsurprised to have a guest.

    Though the man''s voice was deep and low unlike the vibrant atmosphere, nobody seemed to hear him. Even though Xie Duzhe was cognisant of the fact that the man was an adept, that sort of internal strength was the haymaker of punches. His gaze triggered an irresistible urge to voluntarily genuflect. Xie Duzhe would''ve spent a few more seconds in admiration if he wasn''t aware the man disliked waiting for he deemed it a waste of time.

    "Your subject wanted to settle the matter without being conspicuous, one, to have the six ns be more subservient to Dark Robe Brotherhood and, two, to avoid drawing attention from the imperial court for that might impact your designs for Hangzhou. Unfortunately¡­ an unpredicted variable was introduced. The girl who was invited to stand in for me was Liu Shan Men''s Shen n''s descendent¡­"

    "Shen Yiren."

    "Y-you know her, Sir?"

    "What did she do?"

    "She¡­ She¡­"

    "You must think I have spare time on my hands."

    Feeling a dire hunger for air, Xie Duzhe answered as if his life rode on his response, saying, "¡­ Sh-she gave the order to execute the six, confiscate their ns'' assets and exile their immediate family five hundred kilometres. If they resisted or dodged their penance, their n would be beheaded and put on public disy."

    The man kept his gaze on Xie Duzhe, but the pressure emitted from him reduced as though it was a visual spell he could switch on and off at will. Perspiring and gasping for air, Xie Duzhe stuttered, "Th-thank you, Sir."

    Once he was done deliberating, the man questioned, "What''s your evaluation of Shen Yiren?"

    "Huh?" Recalling he just had a brush with death for dithering, Xie Duzhe blurted with reckless abandon, "In your subject''s opinion, she is very likely to be the next Yan Shisan. With her at the helm, Liu Shan Men can rise from the ashes."

    What the heck did I say that for? He hates Yan Shisan as much as Ximen Chuideng. Curse my stupid mouth! Why didn''t I heed my family''s advice, working as a schr instead of joining Qilin Guards. I''m still not valued, and this looks like the end of the line for me now.

    "¡­ I¡­ agree."

    "Eh?"

    "I''m not surprised with her performance given. Yan Shisan personally mentored her. Her father was Liu Shan Men''s formermander, and Emperor Yuansheng dotes on Shen n. He, as a matter of fact, might even like Shen Yiren more than his own daughters. She''s apetent girl, evident from the ten-odd big cases she''s cracked in less than a year and the order she has instilled at Liu Shan Men. No female official has ever made a name for themselves at such a young age before."

    I see. Knowing how he looks down on everyone, yet happened to know Shen Yiren''s name, he must''ve been monitoring her all this time.

    "She has a sense of belonging to Liu Shan Men and treats it as her pride, so she can ever be bribed. Liu Shan Men''s return to glory is only a matter of time under her leadership."

    "You mean we need to deal with her as our priority?"

    "No, never harm her. Just because His Majesty relies on the Qilin Guards a lot, doesn''t mean he holds them in high regard; he just has no choice since they''re the strongest faction. He has never considered them among the three offices overwatching the martial world. Targeting Shen Yiren is tantamount to hurting a Princess. The Qilin Guards'' are his de, not the imperial court''s poison."

    "Does that not mean we are letting her run wild?"

    The man wagged his hand: "It doesn''t matter. Her twin brother is almost theplete reverse of his sister. In saying that, he will be Shen n''s sessor in the end because Shen Yiren will have to marry. It''s not difficult for me to advise His Majesty to set up a marriage for her when shees of age; there are plenty of candidates in the imperial court to choose from. Therefore, it is impossible for her to revive Liu Shan Men before she must marry into another n."

    Indeed, His Majesty is always generous towards descendants of old friends and, therefore, would never leave Shen Yiren single forever. Should she refuse to marry, His Majesty will infer that she covets her brother''s leadership. Though he may dote on her, His Majesty is not the type to be lenient on the ambitious. This strategy will imperceptibly eliminate Shen Yiren perfectly. Beautiful.

    The man wasn''t keen on continuing with the topic for he believed he already had it in the bag. Never in his wildest imagination did he expect a curve ball from her and her victory. It was then that he finally treated her as a strategist worth taking seriously. Nevertheless, that is a story for another day.

    "Also¡­ Mount Lu''s forces have pulled out of Hangzhou. Ling Xuezhao, Ling Cong, Murong Song and even Wind Passing Dragon Hall were seen amongst those on the expedition."

    "Hmph, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was just marching to their death."

    "Your subject does not follow."

    "I had thirty thousand Qilin Guards nearby a day''s journey away to decimate that old fox."

    No wonder why Ling Hanzhong never noticed the Qilin Guards'' presence. That said, the Qilin Guards would never make it in time to stop Ling Hanzhong from that far away. Wait¡­ wait¡­ He set them a day''s journey away on purpose!

    "The n was to have the Qilin Guards sneak into Hangzhou via a secret path once Ling Hanzhong''s forces were exhausted, taking them out in one effortless fell swoop. With Demon Sect out of the picture, the fall of Mount Lu would spur them to call for support from Sword Immortal Grasshouse and Cold Mountain Temple, inciting a long war between the Seven Champion White Princes."

    Merely thinking I was part of such an borate n will give me nightmares.

    "Wh-what about the dead?" stuttered Xie Duzhe, uttering words only those eager for an early funeral would in that situation.

    "They''re pitiful. However, they would be even more pitiful if we don''t do that¡­ No world needs two orders."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The man walked off with the weight off the world on his broad shoulders. Nobody remembered his appearance or that he dropped by. Howbeit, they would remember the silver ring embellished with a white horse on his left thumb.

    Xie Duzhe breathed as though he was oxygen deprived after the man left. He was trying to adjust himself when a smiling face popped into his line of sight and called, "Constable Xie."

    "You are¡­"

    "It is understandable for a man as busy as yourself to forget about me. It is our inn''s great honour to have you here."

    "How can I help you?"

    "As you would seldom visit, I wish to ask you for a reward."

    Xie Duzhe couldn''t say know to the proprietor smiling so brightly. Unfortunately, Xie Duzhe realised he forgot his wallet.

    "If you could reward me with a few words, it would be my family''s honour."

    Not having a better suggestion, Xie Duzhe grabbed a brush and wrote, "Xie Duzhe''s Reward" dead centre on a sheet of white paper.

    ***ing Qingshu, looking as savage as beasts in the woods, went like a bat out of hell in female clothing that was visibly too small for him and torn as a result of violence, panting and recalling the moments he wished he was rid of his three-day nightmare already. Whenever he heard a sound, he''d instinctively speed up even though nobody was on his tail.

    The proprietor was so pleased with Ling Qingshu after his first night serving customers, which left him covered in clear liquid, stinking and bloody, that he had Ling Qingshu dolled up as a woman because of his appearance. Ling Qingshu didn''t even get much of a rest before he had to serve the next batch of men, and that would continue over the next three days of hell, where the desire for death fostered in his mind numerous times.

    What really destroyed Ling Qingshu''s mind was when he heard people at the brothel mentioning Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary withdrew their forces from Hangzhou. The only thing keeping him from breaking down all together was his deeps-seated hatred for Ming Suwen.

    Once Ling Qingshu could speak and move again on the third day, he discovered that he had also lost ny percent of his martial arts skills. He could''ve recovered from the injuries Ming Suwen inflicted. s, he was busy waiting on customers, costing him prime time to recover and the rest needed to recover.

    I''m going to bloody kill her for this! I was going to spare you damn creeps while I''m in my weakened state, but you had to chase me when I sneaked out. I''ll be back to kill all of you, too! I''ll kill every single one of you!

    Starving, parched and knackered, Ling Qingshu assured, "I¡­ I just need to make it to Hangzhou City, and I''ll be fine. Dad must have already¡­ Food¡­ I smell food¡­"ing Qingshu followed the aroma of food to encounter a group of roughly twenty people, included a stately carriage hurrying towards their destination.

    There are too many of them for me to rob. Wait. I-I''ve seen that olddy before. I saw her when I met with the imperial court''s representative. Yes! I''m saved! The imperial court will lend a hand to me, and I will rise once again!ing Qingshu raced out to interrupt the group, only for two individuals in ck to immediately pin him to the ground.

    "Stop! Stop! I''m a friendly!" cried Ling Qingshu.

    "Are you insinuating we''re bandits?" aggressed the old woman Ling Qingshu recognised. "You are¡­"

    Joy flourished on Ling Qingshu''s visage: "Elder, I am Ling Qingshu. We met at the sojourn pce."

    The granny bobbed her head: "What happened to you Young Master Ling?"

    "It is a long story. This is all because of Night Fortress. May I ask the imperial court to stand up for us?" requested Ling Qingshu, imploring someone sincerely for the first time in his life.

    "In that case, please allow me to report to my master."ing Qingshu had to really focus to hear the conversation between the olddy and the individual in the carriage.

    "Ling Yaoshi''s request has been met. Although the Qilin Guards did not clean up as expected, it matters not to us. At this point, he does not seem to be necessary to us."

    What the hell?!

    "What did he do during this operation? He massacred a family of three running an eatery and idiotically gloated about it, drawing attention from the masses. If we look at it that way, he was only a nuisance the entire time," reported the elder.

    I got involved in a huge conspiracy, ying in the palm of their hands without even realising it? Even my father is just a pawn to them? Curse you! Damn you! How dare you slight me?! How dare you look down on me!

    "Your genius is unparalleled, Your Highness."

    "The only way for Ling Yaoshi to be instated as their patriarch was to force his old man to get out of his seat. Nobody in Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary wants Ling Hanzhong to continue reigning. They would have to strip him of his title even in spite of their n rules after his entire unit was eradicated in Hangzhou. Ling Yaoshi has what it takes to consolidate his rule within a few years. As such, there is no reason to worry about him."

    "Ling Qingshu''s mess almost drove Ling Hanzhong tomit suicide. Had you not cleverly made use of the circumstances, forcing them to act, yet leaving an opening, Ling Hanzhong would not have believed he seeded and hastily called an attack. Ling Yaoshi''s promise to us¡­"ing Qingshu couldn''t hear what the promise was because he was already out of sorts, face ashen.

    "You are without equal in history and now, Your Highness. You brought Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary to its knees when you do not know any martial arts."

    "Elder Rong," Ling Qingshu heard the individual inside the carriage verbalise, voice as gentle as a schr. "You should not say that in our guest''s presence."

    "May your subject ask what we should do with Ling Yaoshi''s brother?"ing Qingshu responded to the scent from the maiden who brushed aside the curtain, beholding the appearance of the exalted maiden. He had lusted for the maiden who was technically his niece before; he ended up releasing his desires for her on an innocent girl that time. He thought he''d have better control over his emotions when he met her again. Instead, though, he realised she was more lethally poisonous than he gave her credit for.

    "Princess Jingan¡­"

    Dimpling withposure and grace as always, she answered, "Off with his head."

    Notes:

    "Reward with a few words" - In case you didn''t get it, the man was basically asking Xie Duzhe to help bring him business, but Xie Duzhe was too dense and took the request literally.

    "Off with his head" - There''s no universal English trantion for this (we also have to ount for context), but if you read the original Chinese text, you will recognise it''s a title of a y for Judge Bao (some of you may know him as Bao Gong/Bao Zheng) that included Chen Shimei. Judge Bao uses it to imply that justice cannot be affiliated with evil.

 Volume 8 1 Yirenâ€™s Whereabouts

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 1 Yiren''s Whereabouts</h4>

    Cold Mountain Temple was an example of a small sect that had a decent education system and the asional one or two exceptionally talented disciples, allowing them to slowly expand. The other type of scenariomonly seen was where someone started their sect and then tried to be as mboyant as possible, ying Shaolin Junior.

    Regardless of how strict or organised an orthodox might''ve been, their founders often had a lot of mistakes to make up for on their way to the top. For instance, nobody would believe Shaolin''s abbot never got into physical altercations under the banner of upholding chivalry; it was a guise for him to answer his boiling blood''s call.

    Regardless, sects in their early stages were always associated with the terms "casual" and "free." The only exception was Luo Sword Manor. Their founder was such an ordinary man that people didn''t even recognise him on the streets. The funny thing was that he couldn''t fight to save his life, yet he implemented stiptions markedly more strict and detailed than many sects. His most memorable quote was, "People can change but rules cannot." Why was their founder so different to others in the martial world? Because he wasn''t one of them.uo Sword Manor was a small family of cksmiths by Taihu Lake. Nobody could recall when they started or the name of their first patriarch. Either way, they made a name for themselves based off their awfully demanding regtions and peerless smithing.

    One fateful night, an apprentice carrying the Luo surname decided he was fed up, consequently running off with their secret smithing knowledge, changing the course they were on. Twenty yearster, there was a second Luo Sword Manor in Jiangnan that produced high-quality weapons at a speed that none other could match, bing one of the cksmiths with the most orders from pugilists in the pugilistic world. They ceaselessly expanded; even hopefuls travelled dozens of kilometres to ask if they could learn.

    The disciple who ran off with Luo Sword Manor''s smithing secrets changed his name from Luo Xiaoer to Luo Beishen, the best sword cksmith in Jiangnan. Henceforth, nobody heard about the smaller Luo Sword Manor, leaving their story up to imagination. Meanwhile, the second Luo Sword Manor went on to flourish for centuries, bing another powerhouse in the martial world.

    Although Luo Sword Manor was one of the Seven Champion White Princes, they still considered swordy a mere extension of their expertise - smithing. Swordsmen usuallybelled themselves as innovators or followers of tradition. Luo Sword Manor considered themselves missionpleters and experts in bringing out potential. In other words, their innovation and research was less focused on swordy but swords themselves.

    The fact that the main family''s sword cksmiths and the artisans divided themselves to create distinct stances was decidedly the best evidence to show how much it meant to them. Whether or not they would ever return to forging renowned weapons, though, was a mystery only they could deny or confirm.

    The above excerpt is taken from Luo Sword Manor''s establishment secrets in The ck and White Reflection.

    ***

    "Siming would like to warmly wee both of you on behalf of his father. Siming has been at Canhu Town recently to take care of a maiden. This one would dly lead the way if you wish," expressed Luo Sword Manor''s reigning leader and fourth young master, Luo Siming.

    "Please don''t say that Brother Luo. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of my shifu and senior sister," One of the female disciples of Wutong Jin Yuxuan in green conveyed, standing at the entrance of an elegant small estate.

    "The pleasure was mine," responded Luo Siming, turning a blind eye to the aggressive undertone from the two maidens and climbing into his litter to depart.

    "Patriarch Zi Wutong doesn''t like getting physical and didn''t state who was responsible, but their sect''s stance is clear based on the three fragments someone shattered the steelblue Demon Subduing Stick. Oh well, we will have an opportunity to clear the air when we meet again at Refining Divine," Luo Siming contemted with his fingers pinching his forehead.

    "I met the two disciples, Brother Kuang and Ling, so I should feel settled, yet why can''t I stop thinking about the girl I found by the bank today? Why is my mind racing? Have I been training incorrectly?" Luo Siming performed a breathing exercise and inwardly reassured, "No qi deviation. I''m all right."uo Siming entered an estate they stopped at and chopped the general manager on the head gently: "Where is the maiden?"

    "Ao Xue is currently taking care of her in the guest room out the back."

    "Ao Xue may be strong, but her internal strength might not be enough. I need to go check on them personally."

    "Wee back, Young Master," greeted Ao Xue, about to get up from the bed to greet Luo Siming.

    The ck sword grip strapped to the back of the ck robe Ao Xue, a maiden in her young twenties, adorned stood out as much as her emotionless beauty.uo Siming motioned for Ao Xue to not make a scene: "How are Miss Sleeping''s injuries?"

    Ao Xue thought nothing of the nickname Luo Siming gave Shen Yiren due to hera, merely bowing her head to answer, "Still not improving. Her breathing swings between normal and erratic. Her body temperature is incredibly high one moment and then freezing the next. It resembles qi deviation. Your subject did not dare to rashly transfer true qi to her."

    "Mm¡­ I have asked a renowned doctor to check her, and he should be arriving soon. My conjecture is that she is no ordinary maiden. Move aside for a second."

    "Mm," Ao Xue responded, not bothering to pry as to what Luo Siming was thinking.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Ahem, I, uh, she seems to be in critical condition, while I do have some basic medical knowledge. I''ll check how she''s doing for now. This is all in the name of saving her. As for taboos about men and women physically touching¡­" Luo Siming continued with a red face, "Her wellbeing is more important than customs and traditions."

 Volume 8 2 Visit

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 2 Visit</h4>

    The rumours floating around about Luo Siming''s characters ranged from heroic, handsome and skilled, but the majority of them were mere word of mouth or based off the corpses he left behind, void of personal testimony. As such, they weren''t the best source of information to form an evaluation of him.uo Siming was often decorated as a young hero others should model because of his strict adherence to his n teachings and scandal-free life with women. Oftentimes, he waspared to Luo Ming and Ling Hanzhong. That being said, when Ling Hanzhong was ced next to Luo Siming forparison, thement was always, "He can go take a hike!"uo Siming would''ve been an obscure name if he didn''t climb to the third rank of Seventeen Wyrms at the tender age of seventeen. People tended to forget that his father basically left him before he turned fifteen because his father sumbed to depression and turned to the life of a recluse.

    Although young Luo Siming inherited his father''s aptitude with swords, he inherited his mother''s cordial charm instead of his father''s proud and solitary personality. As a leader, he was more open to ideas and met expectations. He never tarnished Luo Sword Manor''s reputation or let them sink. Even though his father, Luo Ming, was credited with establishing their foundation, Luo Siming deserved more credit for his efforts, negotiating with the imperial court and fulfilling all of his duties.

    Owing to Luo Siming''s dedication to Luo Sword Manor, strong sense of justice and harsh criticism on himself if he cked off, his personal life was as interesting as watching paint dry. He never touched a girl''s hand after breathing for twenty-four years - unless physical contact with Ao Xue during training counted. As a consequence, people called him an honest and slow-to-warm man, which really meant he was the one person a husband should never model. Nobody, however, could deny that he was genuinely kind to others.

    Checking on Shen Yiren was the first time Luo Siming yed doctor for any woman. The fact that he felt guilty touching her skin said all that there could be said about him. He didn''t expect himself to feel so flustered touching Shen Yiren''s skin, and the more he tried to clear the air, the more uptight he felt. He, as a matter of fact, couldn''t stop clearing his throat as well as looking back to Ao Xue to see if she was shooting him looks of despise.

    "¡­ As for taboos about men and women physically touching¡­ Her wellbeing is more important than customs and traditions."

    "What taboos?" Ao Xue asked with her head angled.

    "W-well, I have to check her pulse, so I have to touch her," stuttered Luo Siming, finding it even more awkward when having to explicate.

    Ao Xue, the maiden whose head was filled with nothing but swords and swordy for as long as she could remember, responded, "Check her pulse properly to make sure you diagnose her correctly. By the way, what are the taboos between men and women?"

    "L-like skinship with a girl as an unmarried young man."

    "Mm, indeed. What happens if an unmarried young man does touch her?"

    "It is considered one of the indecent things scum does and a chivalrous man should never enact."

    Ao Xue stepped back, relieving Luo Siming for a second, questioning, "Are you going to touch her, Young Master? You want to be scum?"ucky the chair caught Luo Siming''s bottom.

    Why have I never felt so flustered and shaky at the mere sight of her when I''ve checked my mother''s pulse? Focus, Luo Siming. Let''s get this over with or Ao Xue is going to pierce me with her gaze.uo Siming locked his brows together - a habit of his whenever focusing on his internal thoughts that his general manager and family kept reminding him not to do so given his status - as he checked Shen Yiren''s pulse. Bewildered, he transferred true qi into Shen Yiren''s meridians.

    "This is baffling¡­"

    "What is the matter, Young Master?"

    "Someone used their internal energy to injure her gravely. You also saw the awful wounds she had when I brought her back, didn''t you?"

    "Yes, she had been shed, gashed, punched and kicks in dozens of spots, including some which she inflicted on herself. Manypetent pugilists hurt her. Her most severe wound was the nerve gash on her left wrist. Had she not staunched the bleeding with a piece of material, she would''ve bled out. I suspect she suffered the wound duringbat," reeled off Ao Xue, breaking character whenever she had a chance to analyse martial arts.

    "I agree. I didn''t see much at a nce when I first saw her. Plus, I shouldn''t be staring at a maiden. What perplexes me most is that the injuries keeping her in aa are the injuries on top of her internal injuries."

    "So you did find the cause after being a scum."

    "Ahem. I surmise she is actually quite the pugilist. Otherwise, she would''ve been ughtered against the odds she faced. Moreover, I can see she was the oneunching the big attacks despite her left hand''s nerve being severed - though that is what led to her suffering such grave internal injuries. If her opponent sealed her meridians, they wouldn''t have needed to m her with thest attack that clearly did the most damage. She has my respect for her determination."

    "Can she be resuscitated?"

    "Mm¡­ Frankly, I don''t know. That''s why I''m befuddled. I wouldn''t be surprised if a physician dered her dead. I wouldn''tst an hour if I lost as much blood, suffered external and internal injuries, and was left to drift in the water. If my estimate is to be trusted, she must''ve spent a day or two drifting in the water."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Could her internal energy be extremely developed?"

    "No. Her meridians are sealed, so my true qi can''t help her at all. Given her age, her internal strength has only had so much time to develop. Else, it''s impossible to exin the wound no her left hand. I''m guessing she isn''t a Just Realm user. We''ll only know if we can unclog her meridians, which is impossible. Honestly, I''m stumped. The seal must be due to thest blow that floored her. I wouldn''t want to cross swords with the one who bludgeoned her for the same reason I can''t see myself defeating my father. This leads me to the next point I can''t wrap my head around.

    "¡­ Judging from thest blow, she was an egg against a rock; they could''ve defeated her without even getting serious, yet they intended to kill her. What must she have done to trigger that sort of violence? That begs the questions, how did she escape from an opponent of that calibre, how did she fall into Taihu Lake and drift here? The only way we''ll find out is by asking her when shees to."

    Just who are you? Who did you fight to end up in this tragic state? Why did you have to fight so hard?

 Volume 8 3 Illustrious Daoist

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 3 Illustrious Daoist</h4>

    Had others part of Luo Sword Manor heard the thoughts in Luo Siming''s mind, they would be more religious than before, thanking every deity under heaven and above the firmament for finally enlightening him to the beauties of romance.

    Unfortunately for all of Luo Sword Manor and, fortunately for Luo Siming, Ao Xue, who couldn''t give two tosses, was upied with analysing, "She''s a swordswoman judging from her hands. I wonder what style she trains; it''s probably one that''d pique my interest. I should spar her the day she heals - maybe the day after."

    "Young Master, the physicians have arrived," the general manager notified from outside.

    "Br-bring them in," stuttered Luo Siming, puzzled as to why he stuttered. He estimated, "If her meridians don''t open up, she''ll be crippled. If she can''t heal from her internal injuries ining months, she won''t make it."uo Siming estimations weren''t credible owing to him primarily studying how to deal with exterior wounds that des inflicted and not internal injuries. That was the reason he sent men to ask for the best physicians at Canhu Town. He believed that, if he couldn''t nurse Shen Yiren back to health with his true qi, surely medication could help. Therefore, he was d to hear "physicians" came and not just "a physician".

    As the four physicians filed in, Luo Siming couldn''t take his eyes off the schr in his eighties dressing as a schr - Doctor Luo, arguably the best physician of Luo Sword Manor.

    Doctor Luo was a branch family member who was born during Luo Siming''s grandfather''s generation. Luo Siming often called the doctor Elder Doctor as a show of intimacy. The two were acquainted from when he was a young boy for Doctor Luo was always working at the n estate as well as helped him in numerous ways to help him improve his physical and mental health. Doctor Luo spared no efforts preparing health supplements for Luo Siming, even going as far as gate keeping Fourth Young Master''s meals to ensure he received the best nourishment. An ill man cannot train. ordingly, it was fair to argue that Doctor Luo had a hand in Luo Siming''s aplishments.

    As a branch family member, Doctor Luo didn''t learn the n''s smithing techniques, focusing on learning medicine and Luo n''s martial arts, instead. His reputation in the field of medicine saw him work as an imperial doctor at one stage until his nephew, Luo Ming, asked him to return to the n in exchange for a handsome sry. As he established his expertise in the field of medicine through treating many ailments and restoring patients to exceptional health, they called him "Hui Chun", meaning "to restore youth", due to the health associated with youths. Over time, the name stuck, and virtually nobody referred to him by his real name.uo Siming was particrly d Doctor Luo was among the physicians who came for the reason that having knowledge in medicine and martial arts meant he was better equipped to deal with conditions resulting from martial arts training or fights than a physician without a martial arts background.

    Behind Doctor Luo was Doctor Zhang, a reputable doctor at Canhu Town in his own right, though not asuded as Doctor Luo. The doctor behind Doctor Zhang was a notch below him and didn''t particrly raise anyone''s hopes.

    "Elder Doctor, I am grateful you could make it here sote at night. I was going to see you tomorrow," expressed Luo Siming.

    "It is no big deal, Young Master. Even if this old one was asleep, waking up to serve you, not to mention to save a life, is worth waking up for."

    "Empyrean Wuliang!"

    Seeing the daoist who announced "Empyrean Wuliang" adorning a big daoist robe, holding a stack of yellow talismans in his left, a half-empty cbash in his right and strapping a mahogany sword to his back, Luo Siming almost blurted, "Who hired the ghost-catcher daoist?"

    Frowning, the daoist passed his talismans to his right hand and whipped his whisk with his left hand, swiping the teapot off the table. Then, he shook his head andmented, "May you be forgiven for your sins."

    I thought I asked for doctors, not a vandalising ghost catcher?

    Ao Xue was close to lodging her sword in the daoist''s neck when he swiped the teapot off the table if it wasn''t for Luo Siming holding her back.

    Assuming the middle-aged daoist was a man who had truly found the truth of the world based off his appearance and behaviour, Luo Siming politely inquired, "Y-you ar-"

    "Empyrean Wuliang!" responded the daoist, holding the "Empyrean" part for extra emphasis. "This one has foregone his daoist title long ago. Faithful followers refer to this one as Reverend Cha."

    "R-Reverend Zha?!" repeated Luo Siming, mishearing "Cha" for "Zha".

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Reverend Zha stroked his beard jovially: "A promising young man, you are."

    "May this one ask which Taoist temple you are from? This one has friends at Taihu''s Three Stars Temple and Purple Void Temple. May he ask what your rank is?"

    "This one is not from Three Stars or Purple Void Temple."

    "Would you happen to be from Taiyi Temple or Dragon Tiger Temple?"

    Reverend Zha shook his head.

    "Zhengyi Dao? Wudang Sect? Qingcheng Sect? Kongtong Sect?"

    Reverend Zha smiled.

    Scratching his head, Luo Siming supposed, "This one does know dozens more temples, but with the esteemed guests present, it is not appropriate to¡­ explicate. Could you enlighten us, Daoist?''

    "This one is from Quanzhen Sect."

    Relieved, Luo Siming smiled affably and inquired, "This one had the honour of meeting Patriarch Feng in the past. How are you addressed if this one may ask?"

    "That is a long story. Perhaps ''Grandmaster'' would not be too impolite."

    Everyone from Quanzhen Sect calls him "Grandmaster"? Does he have his head on right?!

    Doctor Luo couldn''t resist querying, "May this one ask for your teacher''s name?"

    "Haha, this one''s teacher hails from Ninghai in Shandong. His teacher''s surname is Zhou, and his first name is Botong."

    "Your shifu is Zhou Botong?!"

    My shifu must be Zhang Sanfeng, then!uo Siming, a cultured man, didn''t bully the maybe mentally disabled daoist, patiently questioning, "May this one ask how old you are? You look very young."

    "This one has not pursued dao for very long. He spent thirty years getting acquainted with dao in the east, thirty years learning to read the stars, thirty years to attain eternal youth and thirty years to reach the end of the dream. How many years is that?"

    "So, you are one hundred and twenty years old?"

    "No, no. This one is rather slow. He was rather old by the time he met his shifu. By the time he had grasped it, his life had past. He then realised he was still a step away from perfection. That is why he then journeyed Shenzhou."

    How did this nutcase sneak into this group?!

    "Amazing!" praised Ao Xue, the only one convinced. "May this one ask how long a lifetimests?"

    "Not long but not short, either. Only a hundred years."

    "May she also ask howrge is Shenzhou?"

    "Not big but not small, either. Six hundred and sixty thousand hectares."

    Ao Xue gasped: "Incredible¡­"uo Siming pulled Ao Xue back behind him, thinking, "He might persuade her to marry him in a second."

    "You have not stated your age, Reverend. This one is very curious now."

    Daoist Zha narrowed his small and eyes and ced his hands behind his back as immortals weremonly depicted doing in fiction: "This one is two hundred and fifty years old this year. Sadly, he has yet to learn to fly, shaming his teacher and sect."

    In the listeners'' minds: "Yeah, two hundred and fifty as in ng for mentally demented? Yeah, you are."

    Anyone with experience could tell Daoist Zha was a fraud. Nevertheless, Luo Siming was understanding of peculiar and unorthodox people carrying themselves in certain ways to draw attention, so he didn''t want to kick Daoist Zha out.

    "May this one ask what the purpose of your visit is, Reverend?"

    "Destiny calls. Destiny brought me to you."uo Siming politely followed up, prompting Daoist Zha to close his eyes and smile.

    "It was all because of yesterday," answered Daoist Zha.

    We''re finally going to hear his aim.

    "This one enjoyed a game of go with Earth Lord on Mount Kunlun¡­"et''s just tie him up andy him out, shall we?

    Notes:

    Zhou Botong - This is a reference to the character of the same name from Jin Yong''s Condor Heroes trilogy. He is the junior of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect. He is the most senior person in Quanzhen Sect after Wang Chongyang''s death. However, Zhou Botong neither epts any apprentices, which is why Zha Pi''s im sounds ridiculous. The only person he really taught any skill to was Xiao Longnyu, albeit it bing an exchange in the end.

    Zhang Sanfeng - A legendary Chinese Taoist who purportedly invented Tia Chi. He spent several years on Mount Hua before settling in the Wudang Mountains. He''s another character in part of Jin Yong''s Condor Trilogy, specifically "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre", taking on the role of Wudang Sect''s patriarch.

    I do rmend reading Jin Yong''s series, especially the Condor Trilogy, since MKRL does make numerous references to the trilogy in particr. If you recognised them, you''d probably be in tears reading this chapter.

    Earth Lord - I''m taking liberties with trantion of his name. Usually, you''d want to leave his name as Tudigong or Tudishen (pinyin) because he has a bunch of other names that would result in a different trantion. People familiar with the culture will recognise his name in pinyin but react like, "Who the devil is Earth Lord (or any other variant)?" nine times out of ten.

 Volume 8 4 Red Samuume under the Alps

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 4 Red Samuume under the Alps</h4>

    "While this one was ying go with Earth Lord, he suddenly sensed evil qi rising into the firmament in the southeast of Shenzhou, warning us of an imminent cmity. This one sped through the night immediately. This one owes it to his grandmaster''s blessing that his skills have not deteriorated, allowing him to make it in time."

    Doctor Luo, fed up, assumed his duty as a senior and doctor, warning with closed fists, "Who is this mad man? Have you any idea this is Luo Sword Manor''s young master? Watch what you say, or you will regret it."uo Siming''s silence was the tacit approval for those present to do as they saw fit. Therefore, the general manager boldly brayed, "You going to get lost yet, or do I have to make you?!"

    Despite the threats, Reverend Zha''s mind was as calm as still water: "This one recognises this young man and yourself. This one has no issue taking you up on the offer to guide him out; however, the bed-ridden maiden may not see another day."

    "Enough of your nonsensical prattling. Get out!"

    "Wait," Luo Siming interrupted. "How did you know I summoned you all here for a maiden?"

    The guest rooms at the estate weren''t designed ordingly for men nor women, neither was Shen Yiren sleeping on the bed visible from the angle they stood.

    "Haha," - Reverend Zha flicked his whisk, albeitcking any internal energy and so slow that Luo Siming didn''t even need to concentrate to see his movements - "Young Master, this one did tell you destiny brought him here to meet you. Destiny has chosen this one to resolve your woe. You must not question the heavens, Young master."

    Since Reverend Zha sounded sincere, Luo Siming responded in kind, conveying, "This one is not discrediting you; however, your ims are rather too sensationalised topel us to believe you. This one has never heard of anything you have mentioned. Please forgive him, but this one cannot believe you solely based on your ims."

    "Haha, that is nothing hard to prove. May this one ask if a maiden is on the bed behind you?"

    "You have already mentioned that. Though this one brought her back in a carriage, people saw his carriage, while she was unconscious. That does not do justice to your proimed abilities."

    "In that case, let this one mention things he has yet to mention." Stroking his beard and fanning himself with his whisk, Reverend Zha continued, "The unconscious maiden was not possessed, is not ill or poisoned but a victim of grave internal injuries. Is that correct?"

    "Th-"

    "This one was not done," interjected Reverend Zha, gesturing for Luo Siming not to interrupt. "Although you are anxiously searching for someone who can nurse her back to health and care dearly for you, you two are not acquainted, correct?"

    "¡­ You are correct. This one, indeed, only met her today."

    "This one is d to hear his divination skills have not rusted after having not employed them for eighty years," expressed Reverend Zha, gazing to the roof as he reminisced divine times with an old friend.

    "Voodoo tricks cannot be used as an objective measure of anything," wrangled Doctor Luo. "Keep the busking tricks back on the streets where they belong. As a chivalrous young man, there is nothing surprising about my young master rescuing a hurt maiden. You could''ve been stalking my young master to harm him. It wouldn''t even be surprising given Canhu Town is now a den of viins. Since you''ve brazenlye here, we need to see if your fists are as tough as your skin."

    Even though Reverend Zhacked the physical attributes of an adept pugilist and there were plenty of conmen out in the pugilistic world, Luo Siming couldn''t hide his surprise.

    Reverend Zha sighed: "It appears you refuse to believe this one. There is nothing he can offer, in that case."

    By this point, everyone expected Reverend Zha to then follow up with another oundish quote that they could turn into a joke.

    "This one will have to mention things nobody present is privy to, then. Though this maye as a shock, the circumstances necessitate it." Reverend Zha started counting off on his fingers, brows contracted as he recited something under his breath. Unlocking his brows, he announced, "This one needs not to see or to touch. This one can diagnose the maiden from here with his fingers."

    Doctor Luo scoffed, "What a joke. Without even having to put on your little finger fa?ade, this old one can tell she is hurt severely and has her meridians sealed just from listening. Her injuries are most likely the product of attacks she absorbed during her scuffle with an adept. If you don''t know any more than I do, you should quit while you''re ahead, lest you embarrass yourself."

    Elder Doctor sure lives up to his reputation.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Reverend Zha wryly tugged up the corner of his lips: "You certainly possess great listening abilities, Doctor Luo. Would you happen to be able to hear¡­. the barely visible, cinnabar red mole in the shape of a samuume under her breasts?"

    Invoking astonishment with his unprecedented revtion in the field of divination, Reverend Zha advised, "You can ask the maiden with you to verify if you do not believe this one."

    Receiving the eye signal from Luo Siming, Ao Xue nodded and then pulled the curtains to cover her and Shen Yiren. The messy sleeper, who had parts of her body exposed, left Ao Xue thinking, "She truly is gorgeous. I never knew a woman could look so good sleeping."

    Ao Xue gently moved aside Shen Yiren''s undershirt, but it wasn''t enough for her to get inside for a look because Shen Yiren''s assets were pressed up against the material. As such, Ao Xue had to undo the string on the back and out sprung - literally - two snowy mountains.

    Wh-what does she eat to grow them sorge¡­? She must''ve been frowning in her sleep because of how tight the clothing was.

    "Ao Xue, have you checked?" Luo Siming hollered.

    "¡­ Your subject is checking."

    Ao Xue mustered up determination to face the mountains that reminded her of her own inadequacy toplete her mission. She was going to call it quits after a nce; howbeit, recalling Reverend Zha mention it was barely visible, Ao Xue decided to get her hands under them for a more detailed inspection.

    Ao Xue softly gasped upon grabbing Shen Yiren''s globes.

    Since it''s not in the middle, the only other ce is¡­ I knew it. It''s right there under her sternum.

    "Reverend Zhao is correct," reported Ao Xue.

    The cat caught Doctor Luo''s tongue. Luo Siming gave Reverend Zha a hold-fist salute: "Please excuse Siming for his ignorance, Reverend."

    "Those who do not know cannot be med, hahaha," responded Reverend Zha, thinking, "That was close! Had Big Bro not told me Vice-Captain has a red spot on her breast anddy luck thrown me these dunces, I''d have my face rearranged by now. You all betterpensate this reverend, you hear?!"

    Notes:

    Samuume - Is used as a symbol of justice as well as joy, bliss, a long life, luck, friendship, chivalry and peace.

 Volume 8 5 One Night

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 5 One Night</h4>

    Aftering across Shen Yiren and Luo Siming by Taihu Lake, Zha Pi tailed them back to the estate. Since he knew he couldn''t defeat Luo Siming''s two ordinary subordinates, there was no way he was going to fight his way out of the estate. Hence, he reported back to his Liu Shan Men colleagues at Liu Shan Men where Shen Yiren was.

    Had Bai Yeshuang''s subordinates not painfully stopped her, she would''ve already been confronting Ao Xue with her sword drawn. Once her emotional high subsided, Bai Yeshuang could see the folly of her trying to get in the face of a White Prince. None of them were sure if it was Shen Yiren, they had no means of proving it. They, consequently, debated whether or not it was risking themselves to gamble on it.

    ming Zha Pi for not confirming if it really was Shen Yiren, they decided they needed someone to sneak into the estate to verify the unconscious maiden''s identity. Reverend Zha, therefore, cleaned off Bai Yeshuang''s shoeprints from his cheeks and effused he''d take on the infiltration mission.

    Once they caught wind of Luo n searching for the best physicians, Bai Yeshuang came up with the infiltration n. There was no way they could dress Zha Pi up as a graceful, educated man. Thus, Bai Yeshuang opted to have him go with the daoist identity since they could pass him off as a daoist with foresight.

    As there wasn''t much time afforded to them, they stuffed Liu Shan Men''s exclusive healing medicine form into Zha Pi''s shirt, did up his appearance and provided instructions simultaneously. Two hourster, Reverend Zha just happened to bump into Luo n''s general manager as thetter was heading back to the estate.uo n''s general manager wasn''t entrusted with the role for giggles; the man was prudent and educated as a physician. He threw a few test questions pertaining to medicine Reverend Zha''s way only to receive a smile. Reverend Zha then passed him the form given to him, astonishing the general manager enough for him to bring the former along.

    With respect to Reverend Zha''s introduction, Bai Yeshuang didn''t have enough time toe up with one. Reverend Zha, a professional bullcrap artist, was going to tell them he consumed a pill from Laozi Daoist Temple in Sichuan, plucked a peach of immortality from the pce of Xiwangmu and gave Monkey King, Sun Wukong, his chakram. On second thought, though, he decided it was better to be modest in life. That was how the story of him being a half-empyrean came to be.

    Judging from Luo n''s reactions, Zha Pi confirmed they didn''t know Shen Yiren. As for the red mole, it was no secret at Liu Shan Men. Well, it was until a certain incident. Ming Feizhen, the most authoritative pundit on the geology of snowy peaks, coined it Liu Shan Men''s divine assets'' guardian. He told people he nobly sacrificed his face over a hundred times, taking ink stones to the face to learn about it.

    Few people actually knew Ming Feizhen found about the mole thanks to Fu Xiang''s attempt to rape Shen Yiren during Orange Prince''s revolt. He,ter on, had a slip of the tongue during a conversation with Su Xiao over the beauty of flowers. The two red hand marks Ming Feizhen was left with - courtesy of Su Xiao - is a story for another day.

    "I was worried due to the unique nature of the maiden''s wounds. I am afraid there is no means of nursing her back to health and the potential lingering issues afterwards. I never intended to take advantage of her. General Manager Li, please close the door."

    Zha Pi wanted to ask why they needed to close the door, but Luo Siming beat his mouth to the punch, splitting the screen to fragments with a telekinesis-type palm, without making much sound.

    "This is the maiden I would like for you to take a check up on. I do not wish for outsiders to see her."

    Needless to say, all of the doctors wanted to go first to disy their skills. Howbeit, Doctor Luo''s identity empowered him with the prerogative to go first withoutint. To everyone''s surprise, Reverend Zha actually kept his distance as if to remind everyone he didn''t even need to be close to diagnose Shen Yiren. That, of course, didn''t sit well with Doctor Luo.

    Thank god they can''t see my shaking legs under my trousers! I can''t even move them!

    Doctor Luo let the other doctors go first since he believed they''d be quicker. As a specialist in martial arts and medicine, Doctor Luo spent an hour, using orthodox physician methods and then searching inside Shen Yiren with his true qi. Doctor Luo''s silence after his check-up was an answer of sorts.

    Reverend Zha finally stepped forward, spending the majority of his time wearing a look of reverence as he stared intently at Shen Yiren''s face.uo Siming, who refrained from making a peep until all of the doctors were done, inquired, "Please tell me what you found out. Can she be treated?"

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yes," replied a doctor. "She can fully recover in fifteen years."

    "Fifteen years?"

    "Apologies, Young Master, but this one would need twenty years," conveyed another doctor.

    "¡­ If you would trust this old one, he could confidently say¡­ half a year," stated Doctor Luo.

    Joy flitted across Luo Siming''s face.

    As the eyes in the room moved onto him, Reverend Zha, maintaining hisposed demeanour, squinted: "One night."

    "Really?!" blurted Luo Siming.

    Has your mother ever told you that you''re an idiot? When else should I escape? By the way, open the damn door!

    Notes:

    ¡­ plucked a peach of immortality from the pce of Xiwangmu and gave Monkey King, Sun Wukong, his chakram - This is an actual reference to Monkey King''s story.

 Volume 8 6 Symptoms of a Fake Death

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 6 Symptoms of a Fake Death</h4>

    "One night?!" erupted a doctor of Canhu Town. "One night?! Her meridians are sealed, and qi can''t flow. The only way to return her awareness to her is through unclogging her qi. I would feed her ginger to nourish her cardiovascr system to preserve her life. Ideally, that would be premium ginger from a snowy ce. In addition, I would need to deliver acupuncture treatments three times daily and massage her body for two hours on top to help improve her flow of qi return to normal. It''s a slow method, but it will ensure she makes it through after five years. One night?! You''re setting a new standard for boloney!"

    Another doctor admitted his skills with needles weren''t in the same league, consequently needing another five years.

    Doctor Luo snorted. "The only way to restore her awareness is through unclogging her qi, yet you want to feed her premium ginseng from snowy mountains for her cardiovascr system. You''re telling me you''re using an ingredient of that quality, yet you need fifteen years? That''s concrete proof of a conman. Times change, but people don''t, huh?"

    "Th-that is how you permanently c-"

    "Permanently cure? You even evaluated her symptoms incorrectly. If you didn''t bring up acupuncture and massage, I''d have sent you reeling through the door."

    "Elder Doctor, how did you identify her problem? Siming is eager to learn. Siming was unable to diagnose her."

    Stoically, Doctor Luo exined, "When this old one said he could cure her in half a year, it was only half the story. He can treat her injuries but not illness."

    "Is that not the same thing?"

    "No. For what I can tell, she took a heavy punch beyond her ability to shield herself from." Doctor Luo narrowed his eyes as he continued, "Each type ofbat injury takes its own shape and nature. The fist print from the punch she took under her left ribs remains there, which suggests her opponent flung the punch hastily. In addition, we can see that her opponent isn''t just advanced but also splendid at controlling his strength from the fact that he could damage her nerves without damaging her skin, muscles or bones. I can name very few adepts capable of such a feat. Her opponent''s technique is abysmal, but their internal strength is remarkable."

    "I understand. Please continue, Elder Doctor."

    "The force of their punch is what sealed her meridians. She would not be in such a state if her meridians were released in just days after. Unfortunately, she spent a long time on the road after taking damage. The long duration they were sealed is going to give her grief because it is no longer a mere injury. As long as she is alive, this old one can nurse her back to good health regardless of what sort of punch she absorbed. In saying that, he is no longer so confident¡­"

    "I assume she was struck into the water as I found her in theke. Is it not just an injury, though?" queried Luo Siming.

    "No. This unqualified doctor is right when he said that she is unconscious because her nerves are shut and that we must make her qi flow properly in order for her to regain conscious. Though someone sealed her meridians, if you work with this old one, we can undo the seals. This old one will then be able to treat her wounds. Unfortunately¡­"

    Doctor Luo mmed his hand on the top of Shen Yiren''s skull with everything he had, body going up in smoke as he tried to undo the seal on her head with all of his strength. The smoke screen grew denser over time until he pulled his hand back, dispersing the smoke.

    Doctor Luo took a brief moment to bring his heart rate down then exined, "Young Master, that palm strike released the vital essence of her baihui upoint (on the centre of the top of her skull). Normally, my Setting Sun Palm Technique would wake even someone unconscious. As you can see, nevertheless, she did not react. The only situation whereby you would see this is¡­ if she had died a long time ago."

    "B-but she is st-"

    Doctor Luo, knowing what Luo Siming wanted to say, borated, "That was merely a test. Judging from her health, she should be able to recover shortly after unsealing her meridians if logic applies. From what we can gather based on this old one''s experience is that she is gradually entering a fake death state, which is aptly coined fake-death condition. In the medical world, we refer to it as iplete souls.

    "Fake-death condition is a widely debated topic that is impossible to assert conclusions on. In essence, the only difference between them and a normal person is that they are stuck in a slumber and cannot be woken using any medical procedure or antidote. It is mostmonly found in those who escape from the brink of death.

    "The current paradigm of medicine ims that the condition is self-induced. Fundamentally speaking, the victim is convinced they are doomed. Upon being saved from peril, they remember the state of death from the moment it was close to taking ce, persuading themselves they sumbed to their predicament.

    "This old one could work with an adept to unseal her meridians within half a month and can treat her wounds in spite of her staying conscious. We can use internal energy methods to nurse her internal injuries back to a healthy state in half a year. Sadly, her fake-death condition¡­ This one has no solution. For as long as she maintains that she is dead, this one does not have any means of waking her. As such¡­ this one is very curious how Reverend Zha here can treat her within the span of one night."

    "Reverend, how do you intend to cure her?" Luo Siming inquired.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Thanks to the plethora of information Doctor Luo provided, the revered reverend had plenty of nons-, information to unt.

    Smiling cordially, Reverend Zha answered, "This one has a pill form capable of switching yin to yang and vice versa, replenishing souls and calling back one''s conscious, which perfectly fits the maiden''s needs. Once she consumes the pill, she will wake up in a night. The only challenge is that it takes time to produce the pill and requires a lot of herbs. It will take some time to prepare the pill."

    You think you can find me once I go to search for the herbs? Pfft.uo Siming smiled sarcastically, though, remarking, "You are a remarkable man, Reverend."

    "What was that?" Reverend Zha asked.

    "She is in a state no different to death. She can''t open her mouth, chew or swallow. Have you seen the dead consuming pills before? Even if you grabbed her jaws to crunch the pill, she cannot swallow. This old one was not convinced of your skills prior and is now even less convinced."

    "Ah, so this one''s choice of words led to a misunderstanding. What does it matter if she cannot open her mouth or bite? You need only find someonepetent enough to feed her the pill via mouth to mouth and then direct it down her esophagus using their true qi."

 Volume 8 7 A Night of Quality Sleep

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 7 A Night of Quality Sleep</h4>

    "Feizhen, Shifu can be called a veteran of the pugilistic world, yet he has seldom, really seldom seen anyone¡­ as stupid as you! You can''t master Empty Palms, failed to grasp Daluo''s Five Divine Styles Manual and reckon Night Net Sacred Treasure Records is tooplicated. Nheless, there''s nothing as disgraceful as the fact that you''re already seven years old! At your age, Shifu could drive off eight full-grown bulls with a single whip!"

    "Feizhen, there are eight types within internal styles. Come here¡­ You don''t need to learn all of them. You''ll be able to blow away most of the world if you can be elite at just one type. You want to learn Hard Realm? Look how brittle your bones are. Your aptitude is too poor to learn Edge Realm. Just make do and learn Just Realm so that I don''t have to dig a hole for you."

    "Feizhen, how are you going to lead your juniors in your conquest of the pugilistic world when your potential is so awful? This is the simplest secret style centred around Just Realm. I bought it for five coins from a monk. If you can''t get it down pact in three years, don''t tell anyone you''re my disciple."

    "So what if you broke down your martial uncle''s wall? Who cares? Go get a job. Set aside half of it to repay your shifu and shiniang. Then, spend the remaining half to repair the wall. Easy, right?"

    "What''s the matter with Tai Chi? I had to win it in a game of cards with the bull-nosed bloke from Wudang. Are you underestimating Tai Chi? If you can master a portion of it in a year, I''ll reward you with two drumsticks."

    "Of course I''m serious. When have I ever lied to you? Let''s go hear some music. Don''t tell your shiniang abouting here under any condition."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You don''t have to put up with anyone''s attitude. You are my disciple."

    The golden rays woke me up to a vibrant surrounding and bed of fallen leaves.

    I don''t see that bloody lying shifu of mine. It was all a dream? How long as it been since I dreamt of him¡­?

    I wriggled around to st away the inches-thick bed of leaves I created and took my time walking out of my groggy state. I must say, Shifu didn''t sound curse worthy in that dream. Perhaps I started to get careless because I hadn''t been subjected to his cons and absurdity in a long time.

    Never ever let your guard down. That old man is trouble you must avoid. Never get into a situation where you''re alone with him.

    It wasn''t surprising to find Mountain Monster sound asleep after expending arge amount of mental and physical energy to confront Abels. I''ll say this, though: she''s in character all the time.

    Sky Pce''s disciples were known for their grace. You couldpare them to a princess raised to be prim, erudite and textbook. There Mountain Monster was, hugging a log and stering her face to it. Nobody in their right mind would describe her as "feminine". I wouldn''t be surprised if she turned out to be one of their problem kids.

    Since we set out to locate Boss, I had been writing letters, reading letters, analysing and strategizing. Therefore, it was my first night getting six hours of sleep since.

    As I fixed Mountain Monster''s bangs, I started to contemte what to do next. Had it not been for Mountain Monster''s disguise ability, I wouldn''t have been able to erase suspicion already. When he called me over to have a word with me after the scuffle, he sounded as though he trusted me, so I supposed he was no longer wary of me. Knowing him, he might''ve also been apologetic.

    Had they not grown suspicious of me, I wouldn''t have pulled off that show. If I finished Abels, they still would''ve suspected me.

    I need to rethink how His Majesty perceives me, but I can leave it forter.

    I stood up and peered over to the building His Majesty spent the night. Everyone had deep sleep for the first time in days; I bet thunderp wouldn''t have woken them. Most likely, our escort was forced to put themselves to sleep. The invisible enemy when fighting strong opponents is none other than the emotional stress you are under, and there isn''t much you can do to reduce it.

    Put it this way: post-fight against a Divine Realm adept isparable to surviving a natural disaster. You may escape with your life, but the mental toll lingers.

    The fear of possibly dying in the next blink of an eye and the perceived insurmountable odds continue to hack at the brain even after the fight.

    Smiling upon seeing a young man - the very one I''d expect toe see me first - I asked, "Want a match?"

    I certainly didn''t expect him to be awake, let alone brimming with energy.

    "That''s a foregone conclusion."

    Tang Ye enhanced his hands with a scorching energy, adding another luminous colour to the scenery.

    "That''s a big overnight improvement," Iplimented, curving my lips up as my eyes turned scarlet.

 Volume 8 8 Traces

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 8 Traces</h4>

    It was around noon by the time we returned to the abode - not to say that I waste since the others were only just waking up. In saying that¡­ Thank heavens nobody jumped them while they were sleeping in their rooms, or it''d just be Tang Ye, Mountain Monster and I by now! As a matter of fact, I identally tripped over five or so faces, yet they didn''t even wake up. The most I got was some "Screw you" and "You want to fight?!" type of cursing. God forbid I knew what they were dreaming about. I guess I should appreciate not having to exin what Tang Ye and I were doing, though.

    "Big Brother Ming!" Su Xiao jogged over and looped his arm around mine energetically: "Ha, we''re not dead."

    Not the best way to greet someone first thing in the day, but I suppose it was understandable after what Su Xiao went throughst night.

    If the department existed, Su Xiao would be a mental energy genius. If it was anyone else - all else being equal - they''d be suffering post-traumatic disorder after facing off against a Divine Realm adept as Su Xiao did. As far as public opinion went, Tang Ye was the superior pugilist, yet he needed to spend a night meditating before he could show up to spar with me.

    Su Xiao had such sound sleep that he still had drool by the side of his mouth. Having said that, as genius and idiocy are only a thought away, I suppose his state of mind could be a product of thetter.

    "Big Brother Ming, what''s the matter with you?"

    "Huh?"

    "Mm¡­" Su Xiao angled his head and asked, "Did you fight with someone?"

    Okay, maybe he is trending toward the genius side.

    "Hahaha, your face looks is hrious."

    "My face?"

    I rubbed my face to find mud that must''ve smothered itself on me when I was sleeping. Tang Ye''s palms must''ve smeared them into funny shapes or something. I guess that means he grew stronger.

    "Kekeke, wait, Tang Ye, why is your face bruised?" Su Xiao questioned.athering ointment on his face, Tang Ye projectile fired blood from his mouth then answered, "I fell when I was tumblingst night."

    "You tumbled on your face when you were sleeping?"

    "¡­ I fell into a crevice."

    "Must''ve been a tiger''s cave," ribbed Su Xiao, face reading, "Keep acting, Lord San Shen. You got into a fight with someone, didn''t you?"

    Maybe Su Xiao was angry "Lord San Shen" didn''t intervenest night.

    "Can we stop spewing drivel here? His M-, Master must be awake by now," I interjected.

    Boy, did His Majesty take much longer than we imagined to wake up. We waited for an hour before he assembled us. Dugu took east. Long Zaitian was assigned west. Tang Ye and Ye Luo were at the entrances to avoid any eavesdroppers. As he sat at the centre, Emperor Yuansheng heaved knackered and relieved breaths.

    "This journey is a rocky one. Most of our ns have gone nowhere. Had Master Ming not been nearby, we might already be dead¡­ Yan Ling, you don''t look too bad; have youpletely recovered?"

    Though he had bruises after our five rounds, Tang Ye was in decent spirits. He spent as much time as he could recollecting my exchanges with Abels, analysing and breaking down every minutia to advance his own knowledge. His internal energy didn''t improve, but the alterations he made to the way he controlled his output was quite clever.

    Previously, Tang Ye was rather straight forward when he fought, which was why I didn''t ssify him as a first-rate adept. Although he still didn''t qualify as one by my measures, he was starting to exercise their traits. How disappointed he was after the five rounds was beyond me, nevertheless, because it only took me a single technique to drop him.

    For a young man to be strong, he must cut off the unnecessary¡­ Look, I just wanted to sound poetic, okay? I did have pent-up bloodlust after my fight with Abels. Since Tang Ye offered to be my punching bag to stop my eyes changing colours constantly, I didn''t object.

    After hearing Tang Ye spent the night training, Emperor Yuansheng praised, "If Li n''s descendants were as proactive at improving as you are, I wouldn''t be fretting."

    Since Emperor Yuansheng looked bitter, we decided to switch topics, inquiring about his ns. Looking at me much more cordially, he queried, "What do you two think?"

    Assuming Emperor Yuansheng was giving me an opportunity to shine, I strode forward and held my hands in a hold-fist salute: "Your subject thinks we can send Qilin Guards to search for Vice-Captain overtly. As long as there are enough traces, we can find her no matter where she is."

    "You think we should overtly bring a group along?"

    "Yes. As long as we have enough manpower, somebody will catch sight of her wherever she is."

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled deeply then whacked his thigh: "Idiot!"

    Eh?

    "We don''t have the foggiest idea what the situation at Luo Sword Manor, Canhu Town or Refining Divine Convention is. We can''t just strut in there unprepared. Our biggest mistake up until now has been carelessness, yet you would suggest something so careless? I shouldn''t have asked you. Step aside."

    The heck? I thought he stopped suspecting me?

    I think Tang Ye''s nod for me was supposed to mean, "Don''t worry. That''s called normal treatment from His Majesty when ites to you."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Traces, you say?" Emperor Yuansheng erged his eyes as he questioned, "Does this shoeprint on my face belong to you?!"

    Oh, damn! I stepped on you?!

 Volume 8 9 Whereabouts

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 9 Whereabouts</h4>

    How was I supposed to know it was you?!

    Emperor Yuansheng rubbed the shoeprint on his face.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Oh, my, it really is my shoeprint. That bone shape must be from some bone I tossed on the ground while I was walking around.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s eyes read: "Next time, you won''t be let off the hook."

    Wait, that''s it? What happened to all the regret you expressed? Shouldn''t I receive an apology, a promotion and one of your daughters for the usations you pinned on me? Are you telling me not chewing me out is my reward¡­?

    "Ming Feizhen''s idea won''t work. We''re not far from Canhu Town now, so I''d like to hear what you all have in mind?"

    Emperor Yuansheng wasn''t in any rush to voice his thoughts for he wanted to let everyone have as much thinking ce as possible. His style of holding discussions was actually simr to Liu Shan Men''s. Maybe boss was the one who copied his system?

    Ye Luo kicked it off, sharing, "Our goal is now clear - to rescue Vice-Captain Shen. Our approach is also clear - to seek Master Luo''s assistance instead of taking action ourselves. I believe it is best to stick with our initial n. As Brother Ming suggested, we should make haste for Luo Sword Manor and discuss the restter."

    With respect to Ye Luo calling me "Brother Ming", that was because I saved Tie Hanyi, ostensibly. That is not to say she didn''t ever call me "Ming Feizhen"; it was merely dependent on her mood.

    While I''m on that topic, Young Shiyi started asserting herself as my main girl more and more recently ever since she joined me in the capital. She also sounded more feminine than what I was familiar with; the thin veil between us was essentially no longer there¡­

    I never saw General Manager Bai after we visited the night markets. Nevertheless, I swear she was also growing more and more feminine every time I saw her¡­ I''ll admit I thought of her more and more in recent days.

    In regards to Mountain Monster, like Ye Luo, the way she addressed me depended on her mood. She switched between "Jerk", "Cornhole", "Useless Lapdog", "Old Bugger" and "Sicko". Oh, while she was sleep talking this morning, I also heard a new one, "Piece of Crap".

    As for Boss¡­ I thought about her most recently since she was my main concern given her circumstances. I don''t know what it was. Maybe it''s her gant character. Whatever it was, though, it drew people to her. Well, of course there was¡­ her safety. Yes, I do miss her after having not seen her in ages. I had no idea if she managed to find shelter or not after sustaining injuries.

    And as for Su X-, yeah, I''m not falling for that trap!

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded in response to Ye Luo but didn''tment. He turned to Tie Hanyi, who was still injured, instead.

    "In your subject''s opinion, that is unwise. The fact that your subject never knew about Luo Sword Manor''s Refining Divine Convention when they invited so many people goes to show how much effort they invested in concealing it. If they are trying to keep the imperial court out of the loop, they may be harbouring hostile ideas towards the imperial court."

    Dugu: "Your subject concurs. If only a small team was going there, your subject would be willing to risk his life for Vice-Captain Shen. Howbeit, as you are with us, your subject cannot assent to taking the risk."

    "Vice-Captain Long, what do you think? ¡­ Vice-Captain Long¡­ Long Zaitian!"

    "Ah, sorry for spacing out, Master."

    "What are you doing when everyone is brainstorming?"ong Zaitian offered a palm and fist salute: "Your subject was not thinking about our next step but Abels'' group."

    "Go on," instructed Emperor Yuansheng, squinting.

    "Abels'' appearancest night should not be a surprise given his skills. What is surprising was River Monster''s appearance. Luo Sword Manor is known for its strict control over the pugilistic world, yet she was able to raise her ck bears in a wood on tnd; it is rather oundish to think nobody noticed her. Moreover, that was the second time Evil Spirits shed with the imperial court, yet Luo Sword Manor has not mentioned it once. Logically speaking, Vice-Captain Shen''s troops should have reached out to them for support, yet, strangely, they have not mobilised any reinforcements."

    "Excellent points, Vice-Captain Long. Vice-Captain Long is right when he says Luo Sword Manor is strict; they, in fact, adhere to every rule their ancestors'' set. That is why their territory has always been the most peaceful among the Seven Champion White Princes. I''m quite certain something is going on at Luo Sword Manor. Whoever is holding Refining Divine Convention is clearly not on our side. It''s hard to believe Abels'' appearance and timing are mere coincidences."

    "But" - started Su Xiao - "did you not say we could win if we found Master Luo?"

    "That''s the main reason I''ve changed my mind. For someone of Luo Ming''s calibre to find a breakthrough is incredibly difficult. What''s to say he doesn''t decide to continue training in seclusion for another ten years? Plus, the loss of his sons may motivate him to stay in seclusion. Luo Sword Manor has continued to expand in thest decade even without him. At one point in time, I wanted to marry Hongzhung to their fourth young master, Luo Siming. If Luo Ming didn''t seclude himself, perhaps the fiasco with Jin Wangsun could''ve been avoided."

    "Another fuma candidate¡­ Good luck¡­" Long Zaitian looked my way.

    Fook you, Long Zaitian! What''s this ''another'' business?! You think I really am a gue?!

 Volume 8 10 Strategy

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 10 Strategy</h4>

    "Are you worried opposing ideas have flourished in Luo Siming''s mind?" inquired Dugu.

    "I would never think about marrying my daughter to a troublesome man. Luo Siming is the reigning patriarch in name. He''s proved himself a worthy a leader ever since he reced his father. He''s shownmendable prudence when dealing with the imperial court and has never made any mistake. He''s demonstrated he is an upright and humble gentleman.

    "As a pugilist, Luo Siming earned a top-five rank among the seventeen wyrms at the tender age of seventeen. I would argue he could rival Mount Daluo''s Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider if it wasn''t for his obligations to his n consuming his time."

    The information I read from ck and White Reflection reflected Emperor Yuansheng''s ims on Luo Siming. That being said, Luo Sword Manor had started as much trouble as the other six in the pugilistic world thest few years. I dare say I saw their misdemeanours listed in every issue of ck and White Reflection.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I could understand the imperial court turning a blind eye to Luo Sword Manor''s misconduct since they didn''t impact the imperial court. Sure, all of the monarchs in the current dynasty were cognisant of the fact that sects in the pugilistic world would never change their nature. Howbeit, it became an issue when their actions were beyond the pale. Ignoring a problem doesn''t magically make it go away.

    Emperor Yuansheng''s only options were to continue marching to Luo Sword Manor to seek Luo Ming''s help or opt for n B and seek the support of someone else who could tackle Abels. There was no telling which n would be more efficient time-wise. By the same ount, Luo Sword Manor''s ountability had to be questioned.

    If Luo Siming wasn''t shady or terrific at deceiving those in the pugilistic world, then Luo Sword Manor was carrying out an agenda hidden from the public eye.

    "Your subject also agrees that you would have solid judgement for a fuma candidate. In saying that, your subject has not heard many¡­" responded Dugu.

    "Many nice things about Luo Sword Manor''s conduct, am I right?" Emperor Yuansheng, smiling, finished off with, "Don''t be wishy washy."

    Dugu smiled back: "Ultimately, he is not someone your subject can recklesslyment on. In recent years, your subject has heard of usations including dumping their swords Ikes, fighting with people, peddling their famous swords for oundish prices on the ck market and selling bootleg swords that are promoted as the real deal, consequently gettingid out for it when buyers caught them. For that reason, your subject refrains from casting judgement on his character."

    "You''re overthinking. I met him when he was young, and he impressed me as a gentleman. You can say he''s humble, but I''d argue he''s honest to a fault. That''s why I thought he''d be the perfect match for my straightced Hong''er. What a pity¡­"

    Why did you look my way at the end, huh?! I''ll flick your eyeballs out the other side of your head! You think it was fun to fight Jin Wangsun? By the way, you''re the one who imposed it!

    Emperor Yuansheng carried on, "Those who aren''t familiar with Luo Siming may perceive him to be a two-faced man. Are you aware how many contributions they''ve made to our military, though? They are one of the major military arms contributors since the previous dynasty. For them, nothing is more important than their smithing.

    "Those belonging to the swordsmanship branch focus on honing swordy under their elder''s guidance, who is referred to as ''earth worshipper''. Since their disciples don''t necessarily have to be blood rted, they do their best to recruit the best young prodigies outside of the n.

    "Those belonging to the smithing branch must be blood-rted individuals, and the closer they are to being a direct descendant, the greater their chances of holding higher status. If a portion of their bloodes from an outsider, they''ll be stuck as an errand boy for the smithing department for the rest of their life.

    "The smithing department''s hierarchy is based on the Chinese phrase, ''The sky is ck, and the earth is yellow.'' Those in the first half of the phrase, the first independent use, work at the four workshops on Taihu Sword Ind and manufacture weapons specifically for pugilists in the martial world. Those assigned to the second independent use work in the four factories responsible for our armoury at locations we delegated. The leader of the smithing department is referred to as ''great swordsmith''. Directly underneath him is ''sky worshipper'', who handles the logistics of the department.

    "Luo Ming used to be in charge of both departments in his time, and his great swordsmith admired him, thus making it easy for him to keep all the departments in line. Once he went into seclusion, Luo Siming took over but failed to keep the departments in line. Luo Siming''s second uncle, Luo Yan, took over as sky worshipper,mencing the ceaseless sh between the two departments.

    "Do any of you know what the difference between the two departments are?"

    As everyone was thinking, I chimed in, "Those who study martial arts are responsible for protecting the n as that is the duty of servants. Inheriting the skills of predecessors is the duty of the master. It is easy to see who wins when one produces swords and the other wields a sword."ong Zaitian gave me a thumbs up: "Nobody can stop an educated thug."

    The next time you''re poisoned, please die for me.

    Emperor Yuansheng raised the corner of his lips: "What truly concerns me is the uncertainty of who I can trust at Luo Sword Manor. There is no way we can fight off Abels, and I doubt Master Ming will coincidentally be there to save us a second time. For all we know, approaching Luo Sword Manor could be walking into a trap.

    "Myst n was to garner attention in Canhu Town so that Luo Sword Manor would invite us to Refining Divine Convention. Abels ambush, however reminded me that we are powerless to stop them even if we do see what they are up to. Hence, I changed my mind and sent a letter off to Bai Ma, asking him to adapt and proceed ordingly. Although the Beijiang frontier is far away, it can reach anywhere I need him within three days'' time."

    Bai Ma? If he''s summoned, you could consider the job done. The issue was his workaholic personality; he''d snub even Emperor Yuansheng for work. Who, then, could guarantee he''d actually race over after receiving the letter? Knowing him, I wouldn''t be surprised if he stuffed the letter under a wobbly table leg or tried selling it in fragments as "Emperor Yuansheng''s letter, a treasure for antique collectors". I''d bet he wouldn''t even respond to the letter and wait to see what happens. You want to bet on that? Look at everyone else''s fac-

    "If Grand Commander arrives, Abels would plead for mercy!" effused Long Zaitian.

    Don''t worry about what I was going to say.

    Emperor Yuansheng touched his beard: "Don''t get excited yet. He''s just my insurance policy. We will have to do all of the other heavy lifting. For all we know, it might take half a month for him to arrive due to the time it takes to deliver the letter. If he doesn''t make it in time, we will have to spearhead the operation ourselves. As for our designs at Canhu Town, I need to discuss it. Ming Feizhen, you stay behind. Everyone else is dismissed."

    I could understand Dugu and Long Zaitian wrinkling their noses since I wasn''t part of their factions. If I were to venture a guess, I suppose they thought it was an indication that Liu Shan Men was starting to return to its former glory.

    Su Xiao turned back to mouth, "Idiot, you ran your mouth and said something you shouldn''t have, didn''t you? Don''t start spitting vulgarities."ook, I don''t want to give the impression I''m a sicko, but Su Xiao is bloody cute, man. He''s a man. I know. He''s a guy. I get it.

    "Master, may I ask why you asked me t-"

    "Take a seat," interjected Emperor Yuansheng.

    "You speak in jest, Master. I will stay standing."

    "You didn''t tell the truth back there."

    I faked a smile right away: "Which sentence are you referring to?"

    "Are you implying that you lie so frequently that not even you can tell which sentence I''m referring to?"

    "No, your subject is pointing out that he has a poor memory."

    The two of us stared at each other for a couple of seconds then shared augh. Heck as if I knew what he wasughing about. We probably just thought the ambience wasical?

    "Enough of your spiel. Stop making me wait and sit."

    "Thank you. Thank you," I responded, sitting down opposite Emperor Yuansheng.

    "Hahaha, you knew we were suspicious of you?"

    Cutting to the chase certainly spared me effort and tension.

    "I had an inkling, just an inkling."

    "Hmph." Still maintaining his smile, Emperor Yuansheng jibed, "I apud your acting."

    Notes:

    Swordsmith - This is a term I made up for the title of the post. I know there''s cksmith, but they''re specifying swords in particr.

    "The sky is ck, and the earth is yellow" - Because of the nature of the syntax in Chinese defying conventional Chinese grammar (conventional being what is currently popr), the English structure fails to reflect the Chinese structure.

    Essentially, the Chinese would be read as "Sky earth ck yellow, universe primordial". To work around the issue, I split the original phrase into two independent uses and referred to them as "first half" and "second half".

    The reason for the sky being described as ck as opposed to blue is due to the nature of the blue being affected by an array of other factors.

 Volume 8 11 Successor

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 11 Sessor</h4>

    "Wh-what are you talking about?"

    Emperor Yuansheng snorted: "I said, I know all about it."

    "Y-you found out? Okay, fine. Yes, I was the one who ate all of the rations yesterday! Do something about it! I am too broke to pay for it, so mete out my penance, military style!"

    Come on, man, don''t just keep staring. This is getting awkward. Either show your belief or disbelief. People are going to think I''m a useless glutton if you keep this up.

    Emperor Yuansheng finally cracked a hopeless grin: "And that''s why I don''t know what to do with you. You appear dishevelled andme, but you''re not actually stupid and useless."

    "Ehehe, this one is an insignificant peasant. You are merely being the bigger man, not really helpless."

    "You want to be a smart aleck? I always knew you weren''t as useless as you let on. Else, Shen Yiren wouldn''t have trusted you with big jobs. Pry as I may, however, I can never get to the bottom of your story. Scouts I sent to investigate also couldn''t dig up anything worth my time."

    You bet I found ways to bob and weave my way out of his snooping.

    "You cannot find what does not exist, Your Majesty."

    "Indeed. Nheless, it then dawned on me that our thinking wasn''t the problem. The problem is you are a mess."isten, my guy, that''s straight up libel!

    Contrary to the impression his visage gave, Emperor Yuansheng steered the conversation elsewhere, conveying, "Is this really the work of fate? Your patriarch and I married sisters. Coincidentally, you entered the imperial court''s employment." Emperor Yuansheng stopped to gesture "this close" with his thumb and index fingers: "You came this close to marrying my daughter."

    Daughter? Which daughter?

    "To be honest, I can''t see any harm you could''ve done if you had married Hongzhuang, Nevertheless, I can''t force her into a marriage."

    The hell is this man on about? A constable marrying a Princess is harmless? Even if I did send everyone in the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament packing, there''s no way he''d choose someone without a bright future. I swear he''s looking at me differently now.

    "What¡­ do you think about Yiren losing her left arm?"

    I had to cut off my own thoughts to answer the question apanied by a stoic stare: "Boss'' arm will not grow back even if we severe Abels'' left arm. Just amputate both of that wanker''s arms, then!"

    "I like what I hear. Yiren definitely has good judgement."

    I have no idea what you''re trying to say, but I don''t like the vibes I''m getting¡­

    "This debacle with Abels has shone a light on several individuals. Would you be willing to hear me out?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "First, my entourage."

    "You suspect them?"

    "It is not that I don''t trust them but that I have been stabbed in the back more than once. No matter what one''s attainment in martial arts is or how wealthy they may be, natural desires always prevail over loyalty. Some like women. Some like valuables. Most of the time, there is no end to their desires. Sometimes they don''t want to do certain things but are forced to when the choice is no longer theirs to make. Even I have erred before, let alone others.

    "What I want to point out, though, isn''t their problems but their loyalty. These recent events have allowed me to witness their loyalty.

    "The second thing I want to point out is that Yiren really does have an eye for talent. Tang Ye and Su Xiao are brilliant in their own rights. Yiren quite likes you, you know? Huh? Boss Shen has a crush on me? Is you duh stupid or duh stupid?" I blurted upon having my train of thought broken. I quickly held my hands over my mouth and prostrated myself: "Sorry, sorry, it was a habit I developed working in this field. Please do not take it to heart."

    Unbothered, Emperor Yuansheng continued, "There are plenty of astute men who are dense when ites to romance. Yiren, he can''t tell how you feel."

    I was close to blurting out my previous response again. Fortunately, I could control my mouth this time: "B-but, umm, Boss is engaged¡­"

    "What, you have a problem with my daughter?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Your daughter? Which one? Okay, enough with myme jokes.

    Basically, what Emperor Yuansheng was getting to was that I didn''t receive a proportionate reward for my awe-inspiring, epic triumph at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. ordingly, he could easily rig some strings. To unpack that further, he was implying that he could take Boss Shen in as his adopted daughter and betroth her to me.

    "You are spoiling me, Your Majesty. Even if Boss assented, this one is nobody, nor is he worth anything. This one would be doing her a disservice."

    "You are nobody? Are you still trying to humour me?"

    "This one does not understand¡­"

    "Look for yourself!" snapped Emperor Yuansheng, mming a filled document on myp.

    My performance evaluation on this journey, my daily whereabouts thest two months and even my brothers'' visit to the capital was recording on there.

    "Mount Daluo''s sessr has always been known throughout thend. Ming Huayu boasts that his disciples are the best in every department, yet he did theplete opposite this time and chose you, his senior disciple, to be his sessor!"

    Oi! You want to catch these hands?!

 Volume 8 12 Inference

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 12 Inference</h4>

    After "Ming Feizhen, twenty-year old male born during the second year of Yuansheng''s reign, a citizen of Nanjing," there was a chunk of nk space, followed by the events after my participation in Liu Shan Men''s recruitment exam.

    As I ran my eyes through the document, I analysed everything Emperor Yuansheng had said to me to figure out why he inferred I was the senior sessor of Mount Daluo and when he drew the conclusion. Depending on what the answers were, I had to choose between remaining in the capital or ending my recluse n and retiring away in some secluded ce.

    Based on the handwritings, over twenty people had recorded every minute detail, including even the most mundane ones, they saw me engage in. In other words, personnel from different parts of the capital stalked me, and then the information was sifted through. Put it this way: the capital is where recorded secrets were kept. It wouldn''t be surprising if there were no records of me - if I didn''t reside in the capital.

    Worth mentioning is that I became a target for monitoring post-Orange-Prince mutiny for that was when details of my day to day activity started to increase notably. I just couldn''t see anything worth delving deeper into, though.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Upon reaching the end, I evaluated the thorn sticking out to be the part where my junior brothers met up with me.

    I stole a glimpse of Emperor Yuansheng''s grumpy visage. I''d describe his countenance as the kind you would show when you finally call, "Check." In the scenario he actually unravelled my identity, though, he wouldn''t show it. Instead, he''d wait for The Ultimate Three and, without hesitation, instruct them to bring my head to him on a tter. His grumpy visage was a terrible attempt at hiding his affable undertone, you know, the kind when he''s trying to betroth his adopted daughter to me¡­

    "I assume you already noticed that I want to give Liu Shan Men a push back up."

    The wry look on Emperor Yuansheng''s face told me he was smug about his self-conjured feeling of superiority, with him being the genius and me being the halfwit. That was why I kept asking myself, "Should I kill him? Should I kill him?"

    "If those in the imperial court hear about my intent, I imagine it would be huge deal. Be it Qilin Guards or my entourage, be it in the imperial court or out in the wild, they''re all waiting for me to dere Liu Shan Men''s return. Do you think I can trust all of you on something so major?"

    Though I always thought Emperor Yuansheng was a straightforward man, hearing him changed my mind somewhat as I realised that he was as vulnerable to being as impulsive as anyone else. On the surface, sending Tang Ye, Su Xiao and I to the three ministers gave the impression that he was giving us bigger tasks, it was more him testing the waters. Letting people know that he sent the three of us off to the ministries put us to the test and uncovered how many people were colluding with Qilin Guards for profit. In which case, he had to have done more than what we saw on the surface.

    "If I am to give Liu Shan Men big tasks, you must be up to it. Otherwise, Liu Shan Men is but a que hanging on a wall. I have always intended to give Yiren power. For as long as I am alive, Liu Shan Men is hers. I can trust her, but I need to know that I can also trust the others. One cannot trust another based purely off the one side they can see."

    "And that is why you probed into us?"

    "Precisely. Sharp as I would expect from a senior disciple of a reputable sect. Ever since I decided to promote you, I started digging into your backgrounds. Tang Ye and Su Xiao are fine; you''re a bag of mysteries. Even with our resources, we haven''t been able to dig up any details of what you''ve done in thest twenty-eight years. None. From my experience, people with such profiles are either reclusive adepts or suspicious people. Only when we found out Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider, Hong Shiba, calls you ''Leader'' and two others, seemingly also disciples of Mount Daluo, did I confirm you''re a disciple of Mount Daluo."

    "You never trusted me, then."

    "Whether I trust you or not is not important. My personal feelings have less of a role in my decisions concerning the world than you may think. In fact, my opinion is sometimes unnecessary."

    "But¡­ why do you think I am Mount Daluo''s sessor? Did I not tell you my shifu is Daoist Wushan?"

    "Heh, he never named a sessor. If he hypothetically did, his disciple would also be a daoist. Tell me what about you reflects a daoist?"

    Well¡­ I frequently curse monks, so¡­

    "You have been the highlight reel of this journey. You deserve the most credit for resolving the standoff at the inn. Seeing you pick up the copper coins reminded me of your shifu and grandmaster, both of whom are renowned for their divination skills. I started to pay more attention, keeping in mind Hong Shiba''s appearance. I then suspected you were Night Fortress'' master, but that is set aside for now. Last night, it dawned on me that you had to be Mount Daluo''s sessor to know someone of Master Ming''s status. Your shifu is known for having a one hundred percent uracy rate with his divinations."

    Hearing thest sentence brought me to life - with anger.

    You''ve been duped, man! Virtually nothing he ever said to me came true. If it wasn''t for him, I wouldn''t have white hair already! If it wasn''t for him lying to women everywhere he went, would I have to be avoiding even Night Fortress? You know how irritating it is to deal with his women knocking all the damn time?! When I was younger, I thought half of the martial world was his harem!

    "Shaolin and Wudang''s sessors are active in the pugilistic world. Shaolin is known for maintaining a low profile, and some of their adepts are in the imperial court''s employment. Though I am bewildered as to why none of Wudang''s young generation has mastered Tai Chi, they are a school of adepts. Mount Daluo, in contrast, has never released any information on their disciples. Everyone knows that, unlike Wudang and Shaolin, Mount Daluo likes to be ostentatious. Name any one of their sessors who didn''t create maelstrom.

    "After tireless deliberation, it finally urred to me. Ming Huayu''s fame is known throughout thend, yet it''s extremely rare to hear him fight anyone. He''s definitely a fighter to be feared. Having said that, his wits precede his martial prowess. Following that thought, I hypothesise that his disciple wouldn''t necessarily have needed to be a mighty pugilist and could be a strategist, instead. Put two and two together, and there''s one obvious conclusion."

 Volume 8 13 Conclusion

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 13 Conclusion</h4>

    "I, therefore, concluded that Mount Daluo''s sessor this generation isn''t a martial arts expert but an intellect," dered Emperor Yuansheng, speaking in a firm butposed voice.

    "Your Majesty, you have the wrong person. I am but a fool."

    "If you aren''t deliberately ying the fool, then you must have a fetish for hearing me praise you. I suppose you''re going to keep up the act until I expose you. Reports on you have always been shrouded in anotheryer of mystery. Though I''m annoyed with your activities, the worst thing I could possibly do is chase you out of Liu Shan Men. What really triggered my suspicion was your performance on this journey.

    "Even though I was present, I have no idea how you convinced the elites we met at the inn to leave. Do you think it''s conceivable for me to believe you''re an ordinary disciple of Mount Daluo after witnessing the way youmunicated with them? That takes serious guts and wits.

    "At Bishui Town, you bluntly dismissed famous people from the pugilistic world, and none of their offerings could pique your interest. What sort of man could remain so calm in the face of allures that every man is weak to? If I was in your shoes and at your age, those maidens would''ve won me over. That''s what led to me suspecting you''re the master of Night Fortress."

    Guess I now know what sparked his suspicions now. Have I been standing out too much on this trip?

    "Don''t be so tense; I don''t possess godly divination abilities. I shouldn''t have had any reason to keep suspecting you after witnessing your bravery and resolution as well as confirming you aren''t Night Fortress'' master. Nevertheless, you overlooked an aspect that I admit I also overlooked at first. Your mistake, which I''m also inclined to judge consider your praiseworthy trait, is how much you care for Yiren."

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I¡­ do not understand."

    "Mountain. Monster."

    The shock I felt was considerably bigger than the size of my eyes upon hearing those two words. My arms almost shot forward to silence Emperor Yuansheng.

    "You captured Mountain Monster, correct?"

    "I¡­ do not understand."

    "Still feigning but okay." Hiking up the corner of his lips, Emperor Yuansheng explicated, "I find it hard to believe you could subdue someone of Mountain Monster''s calibre, especially in such easy fashion. As an insurance policy, I had someone watch over the ce Mountain Monster was confined when River Monster camest night, yet I found her iron cage empty. My first assumption was that Mountain Monster absconded. When I went closer¡­ Hahaha."

    My brows were locked. What was I supposed to make of Emperor Yuansheng''sughing?

    "Being wise does not mean being infallible. I don''t know what she took umbrage to, but she left behind, ''Piece of dog turd, Ming Feizhen, I must be mentally demented to help you'', hahaha."

    "There is nothing surprising if she cursed me before she slipped away given I captured her."

    "Where could she possibly flee to? Where would she run to when both Abels and River Monster were there, the opposite direction they went? Moreover, ''I must be mentally demented to help you'' is a very informative sentence. My guess is you''ve got her around your thumb and assigned her a task. Let me guess again: she hasn''t returned to Abels. You''ve hidden her, correct?"

    Young Shiyi always said my ns weren''t thought through enough and that I neglected details. I couldn''t argue with her judgement anymore.

    "Additionally, capturing Mountain Monster risks exposing your identity. If you didn''t prioritise Yiren, you wouldn''t have taken the risk. That is what I meant by praiseworthy."

    I honestly couldn''t keep up based off all the information I had to work off. He didn''t sound mad after finding out I''d been deceiving him for months. What was I supposed to think he was thinking?

    "Ming Huayu is known for being an enigma, and this decision absolutely is a splendid move on his part. Shall I say he stunningly used retreat as a means of advance? He''s had me in the dark all this time. Master Ming''s appearance proved you aren''t Master Ming, but it proved your identity as the sessor of Mount Daluo.

    "Night Fortress and Mount Daluo are connected. What you also don''t know is that your shifu shows up on Night Net Mountain annually. That''s why I''ve spected you''re part of Night Fortress for a long time but had no evidence. When I heard Master Ming mention you were acquainted, it all clicked together for me.

    "You purposely entered the employment of Liu Shan Men. That''s a good move. I''ll give you that. It has direct ties to the imperial court, is the simplest and thest ce anyone would expect you to choose. Shen Yiren has the judgement to spot talent. Maybe she has, maybe she hasn''t noticed something. Either way, she saw your strong suit, which exins why she''s constantly pushed for you to be promoted to more significant roles.

    "You encountered Fu Xiang during Cheng''er''s mutiny, yet you managed to escape with your life. There''s no way I''m buying it was all thanks to luck. I certainly did think you were incredibly lucky to have recovered after a month. As I contemted thingsst night, I surmise you identified him prior to your match and, consequently, implemented preparations to survive his strike, correct?"

    I absentmindedly nodded.

    "You managed to winst the three rounds against Jin Wangsun to my surprise. I assume you had some strategy for it. As for the carving not affecting you, I suspect it has to do with your status as a direct disciple of Mount Daluo, correct?"

    I absentmindedly nodded.

    "You''re the one who saw through Kong Duan. So far on this journey, you''ve been the strategist behind the curtains. Am I wrong? The only exnation I can offer for your ability to pull off these would-be miracles is that you are Mount Daluo''s sessor."

    While I was trying toe up with another spiel for why I joined Liu Shan Men, I heard, "It seems you havee to a decision."

    "Huh?"

    "Mount Daluo has always maintained a neutral stance and not involved themselves in the pugilistic world''s troubles; however, Mount Daluo''s decision is clear this time.

    Does this man think I''m here to negotiate forming an alliance with the imperial court as Mount Daluo''s representative or something?

    "I can see your genuine desire to join the imperial court. Worry not. For as long as I reign, Mount Daluo is our friend."

    "Y-you are a genius, Your Majesty¡­"et me tell something. I''ve seen the most ridiculous conclusions peoplee up with, and I can tell you this: it''s not thanks to their genius. It''s thanks to their stupidity!

    How do you people do it?!

 Volume 8 14 Sheet

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 14 Sheet</h4>

    "There''s no mistake you''re next in line to carry Mount Daluo''s mantle." Emperor Yuansheng jovially stroked his beard, expanding, "Ming Huayu, Ming Feizhen, you two had fooled me all this time."

    No, Emperor Yuansheng didn''t sound angry; he actually sounded happy and proud of himself.

    Emperor Yuansheng called me to join him in the carriage so that we had private space to converse. We couldn''t just keep talking in the woods while everyone else was waiting, after all.

    Emperor Yuansheng swamped me with questions about Mount Daluo and even asked about the paradise-like vige on Mount Daluo; he expected every location on the mountain to be described in detail.

    Riding the wave of momentum after exposing my identity, whenever I mentioned something cool, Emperor Yuansheng would smile and cry, "Yeah, that''s h h h." I''d then reveal a plethora of details to embarrass him, and we repeated it until he lost his confidence, ending hisments. You know that sort of situation where there''s always the one guy who has toment on every topic to prove he''s smarter than everyone, even though he doesn''t know squat, until someonees along and schools him? Emperor Yuansheng was basically thatmenter.

    I picked out things outsiders would find interesting to share, albeit having to start from my childhood, such as the thousands of people living in aforementioned vige all their life, how many generations have lived on Mount Daluo and how they were residents of the mountain.

    By the time I got to Grandmaster demonstrating swordy, palm styles, divinations and misceneous knowledge, Emperor Yuansheng was akin to a kid at a toy store. He found Grandmaster so awe-inspiring that he couldn''t resist giving praise and effusing his thoughts.

    After cups and cups of tea, pots and pots of tea, serves and serves of refreshments - courtesy of Long Zaitian, who thought, "How can they keep talking as though they''re long-lost family catching up?" and hours upon hours of speaking, Emperor Yuansheng finally repeated, "There''s no mistake you''re next in line to carry Mount Daluo''s mantle." He was as tired of listening as I was of speaking. Emperor Yuansheng knocked back his cup of tea then drank even mine to quench his thirst.

    "During my younger days, which was when your shifu was letting the world know his name, I did and still idolise him."

    "You idolise my shifu''s martial prowess?"

    "No, I idolise his ability to still lead a carefree life when he has women across the entirend."

    I heard Emperor Yuansheng''s response as him bemoaning. I couldn''t say I knew how it felt, but I could imagine the headache his harem and family gave him when I knew what sort of people a number of them were.

    "Nevertheless, my wish has finallye true. Although I can''t meet Ming Huayu, you havee. I''m d these decades I''ve wrought in politics have paid off. Mount Daluo''s sessor has finally chosen the imperial court."

    Can I say that this is all a misunderstanding?!

    Brightly, Emperor Yuansheng inquired, "Why did you hide your identity? Had I known you''re Mount Daluo''s sessor, I would''ve granted you a high-ranking position as an official even if you don''t want to leave Liu Shan Men. Why did you choose to work as an unknown constable?"

    "Shifu told me that, before I turn thirty, I must travel the pugilistic world, but I am not to start a family, get into pointless fights or pursue glory in politics. Conferring me the rank of a rank seven warrior is tantamount to giving me a title without any actual power, so it is not against the stiption Shifu set."

    "Really? No wonder why you rejected Hong''er faster than anyone ever would. I suppose a man of his calibre has his reasons for enforcing the stiptions. In that case, I won''t confer you any positions involving official posts."

    "My status as the sessor is also a secret. This one implores you to keep the secret for him."

    "Naturally, naturally," effused Emperor Yuansheng. "If people learnt Mount Daluo''s sessor was aiding me, I would have to be wary of nations and the four unorthodox factions. Patriarchs of martial arts sects would be green with envy. The Seven Champion White Princes, in fact, would be an even greater threat. A wise man never tells the world what all of his assets are. You don''t think I''m stupid, do you? Hahaha."

    Nah, I think you''re incorrigibly stupid¡­

    "Nobody besides you and I will know about this."

    Well, that''s reassuring,ing from a monarch.

    "I feel much better if Luo Sword Manor knows you''re apanying me. It''s unfortunate your self-defence skills are sheet."

    Sheet?

    "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

    "Oh, I was saying that your shifu should''ve taught you proper martial arts. I know you''ve learnt a lot from his wealth of knowledge on numerous subjects and learnt to be as astute, but I think you''re past the age where you can be an adept pugilist now.

    "I could never discern who you are because of your abysmalbat abilities. I doubt anyone would ever guess Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider, Ming Huayu''s disciple and Mount Daluo''s sessor''s martial arts would be so sheet."

    "What does this ''sheet'' mean?"

    "Oh, it''s an ancient and eloquent adjective."

    "What is the conventional term now?"

    "Put a ''h'' between the ''s'' and ''I'' in ''sit''."

    You want me to bounce your head off this carriage?! You want to see how ''sheet'' my skills are? I''ll rearrange your face with my arms and legs tied! I''ll spit you to death, Yuansheng!

    Su Xiao, you taught them the term, didn''t you? You''re the one who fights like sheet! Is this the type of stuff they teach in the imperial pce? What happened to all that cultured spiel you all love?! Why don''t you believe me when I say something, yet you all believe Su Xiao''s ims without question?

    "Master, we have arrived," informed Dugu. "Canhu Town is right in front of us."

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Already?" remarked Emperor Yuansheng. "Let''s make our way in, then."

    "And¡­"

    "And what?" griped Emperor Yuansheng, annoyed with Dugu''s dithering.

    Upon brushing aside the curtain and beholding the fragments littering the streets, Emperor Yuansheng no longer needed an exnation.

    With the corners of his lips up, Dugu notified, "It is New Year''s Eve."

 Volume 8 15 Ming Feizhen the Intellect

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 15 Ming Feizhen the Intellect</h4>

    Every household set up rednterns, roses, white plum blossoms and other New Year decorations outside their property. The phrase from Wang Anshi''s "Plum Blossom" poem during the Song Dynasty was, "It was obvious it wasn''t snow for there were dancing flower petals." This scene was, "It was obvious it wasn''t snow for there werenterns saying, ''Hello.''"

    "Big Brother Ming," uttered Su Xiao, suddenly appearing next to me. "It''s New Year''s eve."

    "Is it?" I remarked, folding my arms as I beheld the sight.

    I led the life of a recluse for thest two years prior to joining Liu Shan Men, but it didn''t mean I holed up indoors for the two years. Still, I hadn''t felt this sort of exciting atmosphere in years. Yes, it was all fancy and bustling as the year came to an end all the time in the capital. New Year''s Eve had a different ambience, having said that.

    You only smell drafts carrying this particr scent, the scent of firecrackers and yellow paper being burnt, on New Year''s Eve. You only see so many red candles andnterns during the day on New Year''s Eve. If anyone ever wanted proof that people could be happy even asmoners living mundane lives, they''d find it on New Year''s Eve for everyone''s faces radiated. Judging from Emperor Yuansheng''s countenance, he must''ve known the feeling too well for he was away from his family on a day family''s sat down together. Irrespective of backgrounds, pedigrees and status, everyone on thesends celebrated theing year.

    "I miss my mother," Su Xiao muttered. "What about you, Brother Ming?"

    "Me? I¡­ miss an old bugger," I answered, folding my arms to think. "Just a tad."

    "My mother must miss me dearly," voiced Su Xiao, tearsing to his eyes.

    I scrubbed Su Xiao''s head to cheer him up, yet he shook his head and wiped his tears in frustration. Quietly, he mumbled, "That''s the only time I''m letting you have a touch."

    I take back what I said about everyone''s face beaming on New Year''s Eve. Tang Ye, who lost his family years ago, was clearly bitter.

    First to smile, Emperor Yuansheng recited, "Twilight Xiefang Pce, the beautiful pce, stands the test of time once again. At the march of spring, the cold snow departs."

    "The brilliant golden arc of gold on the candle is akin to flower petalsid out. Everyone merrily drinks and dances to bid farewell to the old and wee the New Year," a maiden finished.

    "That was brilliant poetry. How rare to meet someone who knows this poem."yu Yaoqin pursed her lips into a smile: "It is Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin''s ''Staying Up All Night to Wee the New Year''. I read it by chance and copied it down because I thought it was a nice poem. For you to remember another Emperor''s poem is very admirable."

    Flustered at the sight of Lyu Yaoqin''s grace, Emperor Yuansheng changed the topic, instructing, "Find a ce to stay. Don''t attract attention."

    Emperor Yuansheng''s voice returned my self-awareness to me. I tapped Tang Ye on the shoulder, prompting him to nod back, implying, "I know what you mean."

    I smiled and headed back to the carriage.

    To my surprise, the people who saw us voiced their dislike for us.

    Since I sent Bai Yeshuang here first, they must''ve found a ce to sojourn; I reckoned Qilin Guards and Emperor Yuansheng''s entourage would''ve also found some ce to lodge. Therefore, we added to the crowd.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sure, we could tell the inn owners who we were to demand lodging space. Nevertheless, we couldn''t trust people, and it wouldn''t be "covert" in any sense of the word.

    Emperor Yuansheng assembled us after we spent some time searching for lodging and said, "How unlucky. Well, I do understand it''s New Year''s Eye, and Refining Divine Convention would bring a lot of people here - not to mention we''re probably thest to arrive here, so there''s no ce for us to stay."

    Dugu remarked, "I never expected to have to leave the town after finally arriving, especially on New Year''s Eve."

    "No, that won''t be necessary. Since we tried to maintain a low profile and were victims of circumstances, we even had to hire a farmer''s field to sleep in. Things are different now."

    Brows understandably perked up. Emperor Yuansheng cast his gaze on¡­

    Me?

    "Young Ming, this is your chance to shine?"

    "Huh? What? I am not in real estate."

    "Others might not be able to find lodging, but you can," hinted Emperor Yuansheng, raising his brow as if it was some code.

    This is what he was saying: "This is nothing for Ming Huayu''s senior disciple."

    Mate¡­ong Zaitian blurted, "He''s also andlord now?"

    "Hahaha, don''t worry. Young Ming is a professional at handling these sticky situations. Let the thug try."

    You might as well expose me! Thug? I know you slighted me to feign innocence, you prick! And screw you for the insult!

    "Money?" I stretched my hand out and requested. "I will go find a ce."

    If money can''t solve problems, I''ll change my name to ''gue''.

    As I watched Emperor Yuansheng slowly raise up the corner of his lips, an ominous feeling seized my breath.

    "Here."

    He gave me one. Bloody. Copper. Coin. One bloody copper coin!

    Did your dynasty copse without my knowledge?! You think you can even rent a tree for shade with this?!

 Volume 8 16 Task

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 16 Task</h4>

    "One copper coin¡­?"

    "Hahaha."

    Keepughing because it might be yourstugh!

    "I merely wanted to see your reaction."

    "You. Sure. Are. Humorous," I grouched through my teeth.

    Emperor Yuansheng pulled me in to say, "I do want you to find lodging, but that''s more important. You have any inklings yet?"

    "That? Which ''that'' did you mean, Master? I am a little¡­"

    "Yiren''s whereabouts and infiltrating Refining Divine Convention. Having no roof over our head on New Year''s Eve is trivial. All of us have the warrior spirit. In any case, I must maintain my priorities. We weathered everything for those two things, didn''t we? She may have escaped Abels'' grasp, but she''s hurt, yet we have no other news on her. While I''m worried sick, I can''t conspicuously search for her, either, in Luo Sword Sanctuary''s turf. I think we''ve already been ced under surveince."

    Emperor Yuansheng was dead right. Besides being a big group of fighters, we didn''t resemble an escort group or travelling businessmen. Thus, people were bound to keep an eye out for us but not tail us since they didn''t know how much firepower we packed.

    Emperor Yuansheng expanded, "There''s no guarantee it''s Luo Sword Sanctuary that''s watching us. If a fight breaks out here among all of the groups, it''ll be a riot. We must¡­ take precautions. I''m relying on you toe up with a n to search for Yiren and to infiltrate Refining Divine Convention during our stay in this town. I feel uneasy if I can''t personally see what the event is all about."

    The pause in Emperor Yuansheng''s speech was unnatural to me. Taken in the context of his instructions, I felt he was particrly sceptical of the event or something of the sort. On one hand, he wanted to convince himself that his old friend had things under control. On the other hand, he was putting himself at greater risk. There was missing context in there somewhere.

    The event was on par with a martial world convention, yet they were trying to be secretive. It didn''t take a genius to figure out it was no small event. Yet, our cautious Emperor was trying to charge in with reckless abandon. Luo Ming, a Divine Realm adept, couldn''t possibly be in danger, so I couldn''t fathom why Emperor Yuansheng insisted on risking his wellbeing. If he wanted to confirm Luo Ming''s status, it would be more apt to send in his agents.

    Is there something he wants to confirm in person but can''t let others find out about?

    I snapped out of my thoughts when my eyes picked up two egg-sized pearls tossed my way.

    "Uh¡­"

    "You''re going to need money to rent a ce for this many people. I''m not a miser. Get going,"manded Emperor Yuansheng. "I didn''t bring much money on this trip and lost some at the manor. I was going to give those pearls to Luo Sword Sanctuary as gifts, but whatever. Why did you have to reject Qian n''s offer? Ah, whatever, I can afford this much."

    That''s not the problem. The problem is that they''re tributes! Nobody is going to ept these as payment. Also, what happened to concealing your identity? You realise how much these are worth?! County magistrates would kick citizens out of their homes if a higher ranking official visited, yet you''re unting these giant pearls? Are you logic deprived?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Fine, you can also have this purple dragon jade. I was going to give it to Zizi."

    How does this help? You want them to kick out another person for Zizi?!

    "Phoenix head seven strings instrument. This is a priceless treasure."

    That''s Jingan''s, isn''t it? Come on, even amoner, like me, can recognise it.

    "Nine pattern phoenix cup. Empress Dowager gifted me this at one of her birthday banquets."

    "Your Majesty, if we sell these items, people are going to think your entire family ising to Cantu Town."

    You''re one step away from misleading people into thinking you''re changing capital''s location!

    "One copper coin¡­ so be it. I will think of something to cover the rest," I drawled with my shoulders hunched.

    "Terrific. Now that is why you ar-, ahem, you know."

    Go to hell, Zhuge Liang wannabe!

    "Big Brother Ming! Big Brother Ming, wait up for me!" I heard Su Xiao, who was dressed in male clothing tonight, hollering from behind after taking off.

    I stopped and queried, "What are youing along for?"

    "Master told me to join you because our personalitiesplement each other."

    Your Majesty, did you really have to do me like this? Why the indirect insult?

    "Fine with me," Imented, flicking the coin up to have it make a decision for me. "Let''s go together."

    It was so darn crowded I was worried that, instead of squeezing through the crowds, the crowds would squeeze us out of the town. A few hourster, we had gone from the east entrance to the west entrance, yet I still had no genius ideas.

    Can I quit this job? I can''t think of any strategy to turn one copper coin into thousands of them in the span of a day besides robbery. Curse you, Zhuge Liang wannabe!

    Massaging his shoulders, Su Xiao opined, "They almost squashed me to death. It''s been ages since I''ve patrolled the streets. I''m never patrolling them during New Year."

    As I rubbed my face, I added, "I''m not even going to think about it. If we don''te up with something, we would''ve suffered for nothing. We don''t have much time before nightfall."

    "How about we try a gambling den or something?"

    Whoa! Did Su Xiao seriously suggest a gambling den? Is it my influence?

    "You learnt to gamble?"

    "Never! I hate gambling more than anything."

    "Why did you suggest going to a gambling den, then?"

    "Since they aren''t making money morally, we can purge them and find ourselves a ce to spend the night at the same time. That''s two birds with one stone."

    No wonder why Boss Shen holds you in high regard. You''re as violent as each other.

    "Why aren''t you saying anything, Brother Ming?"

    "I smell blood¡­"

    "I¡­ I don''t smell anything."

    "It''s quite far away. It''s strong and¡­ Let''s go."

    I got up and dragged Su Xiao along in a hurry. If I wasn''t wrong, there were two groups scrapping about two and a half kilometres away. After hearing someone bray, I heard¡­ a de saw a head off.

 Volume 8 17 Huofeng (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 17 Huofeng (Part 1)</h4>

    The sound of a de swiping a head off its shoulders yed out vividly in my head, so I covered Su Xiao''s eyes.

    "Big Brother Ming, why are you covering my eyes?"

    "Be careful. It''s going to be windy. Watch your tongue."

    "Huh? Whoa!"

    I was sure nobody I went passed could even recognise us as humans flitting past.

    Obviously, I had plenty of experiences listening to someone butcher another person. What rmed me was the familiar style I heard someone utilise. Typically, even I would need to listen in closely to read how someone was moulding qi from that distance unless we had interlinked minds. I was able to instantly identify the style because their energy moulding method stood out. I wasn''t sure who it was; however, I could tell they were the ones against the rope.

    I saw nine on the prevailing team and six on the losing team - after losing one of their members - trading in an abandoned temple that came into sight. I found it perplexing for the team of six to be on the back foot when they were one of the toughest groups in amongst the unorthodox sects and were on friendly terms with orthodox sects. I had no exnation for why they would be fighting their friends.

    The team of nineprised of a broadsword wielder from Dragon Tiger de Sect, two daoists from Jiangnan''s Recoiling Wind Temple, three from Sky Sword Sect, one daoist from Nanjiang''s Sky and Human Synthesis Sect, one from a school I had yet to identify but was the strongest one in the temple and,st but not least, someone likely from an orthodox sect that mixed together numerous styles.

    I couldn''t fathom why they''d fight with Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s group.

    The jacked broadsword wielder made big, yet swift, swings with his ten kilogram ghost-head broadsword, creating the impression that he had a silver barrier in front of him. Such a style, his weapon and strength indicated that he specialised in fighting against multiple opponents;bining a heavy weapon plus body weight with a fast and rigid style maximised his force output. They called him Dragon Tiger Heavy de King - Wang Chao.

    Dragon Tiger de Sect''s patriarch was so pleased with Wang Chao, whom joined the sectter on in his martial arts quest, that he dered Wang Chao his alternative sessor.

    The nun in the scuffle with Wang Chao was a legitimate nun - evident from her bald head under her hat. Unarmed, she methodically advanced and retreated when the circumstances called for it. From the way she chambered, manoeuvred and moved her eyes, one could see that she set aside her emotions. Herrge eyes and nted brows embellishing her lips that were pursed in a straight line illustrated her demure, yet staunch, personality.

    Wang Chao had his teeth clenched, face red and was breathing heavily. If he could turn the tides to go on the offence, he''d probably dismember her from the way he was looking. ying a defensive game was no less tiring than mounting an offence, especially if blocking attacks.

    The moment Wang Chao attempted to swing out, he retracted his arm to shield himself again. This time, though, the nun grinned as aggressively as she pressed her hand onto his de. He absorbed a palm strike to his torso that shut his system down immediately and parted the dust on the ground.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 8 18 Huofeng (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 18 Huofeng (Part 2)</h4>

    "She''s strong," mumbled a youth, as Wang Chao''s corpse tumbled all the way to his feet.

    "That is to be expected, Young Master. After all, she is the direct disciple of Wutong Jiyuxuan, Lightning Rain Huofeng," stated one of the daoists donning a ck daoist garb.

    Around the youth were daoists adorned in yellow robes. Off to the side was a man in ragged clothing, eyes shut.

    The youth didn''t even spare Wang Chao''s corpse a nce, instead asking, "Lightning Rain Huofeng¡­ Argent Moon Qingluan''s senior sister?"

    Smiling, the elder in ck answered, "If this old one is not mistaken, then yes. It is unlikely there is a second individual in the martial world who could execute Vajra Divine Might, besides Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s direct disciples who learn Solid Jade Snow, in a sh with that much force and retract the force in the next instant."

    The elder emphasised that only direct disciples of Wutong Ji Yuxuan could demonstrate that level of proficiency because their patriarch''s criteria for direct disciples was even harsher than standard disciples - which many already deemed overkill. Direct disciples not only required innate aptitude but also exceptional beauty.

    The nun, one of the Zi Wutong''s three senior disciples, was the pr opposite of Argent Moon Qingluan, thetter being as cold as ice and the former fiery.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The youth, squinty eyes locked onto the nun''s luscious thighs hiding under her in robe, muttered, "Great. Great. Just my cup of tea, hehehe."

    The elder in ck made it clear that thest thing he cared about was shame, kissing up to his young master in the most ludicrous of ways.

    "Amitabha, do not pollute my ears." Abbess Huofeng flicked her sleeve, dispersing the qi still lingering from herst palm strike. She pressed her hands together in a payer hand posture and conveyed, "It is insulting for you to call yourselves disciples of orthodox sects when you conduct yourself as depraved bandits. You¡­ What are you looking at?"

    "Hehehe, you, sweetie," replied the portly youth with a beer belly his deluxe clothes couldn''t hide.

    In all fairness, the youth wasn''t an ugly man. The issue was his cheeks outgrowing the rest of his facial features. With the ratio of his face out of whack, his would-be striking eyes resembled two ck go pieces. Whenever they moved along Fire Phoenix''s body, he''d look moreical than he did distasteful.

    "Please be wary, Young Master," warned the elder in ck, standing shoulder to shoulder with his young master. "Wutong Ji Yuxuan''s disciples practice a technique that utilises their energy as body armour. As you witnessed, Wang Chao could not tag her once, yet was put away in one strike."

    "A wise reminder, Daoist Chen,"plimented the youth. "That being the case, business first then pleasure. Oi, hand it over, and I''ll let you all off. Otherwise, you''re in for a world of hurt."

    A believer of never judging a book by it''s a cover, Abbess Huofeng never let her guard down after seeing the beheaded corpse of Far East Escort''s young master. In the martial world, they say, "Though the strong can be scary, always beware of the strong and viinous."

    Upon receiving the invitation to Refining Divine Convention, Patriarch Zi decided to leave it to her three senior disciples to handle due to her ailing health. They decided to split their group in two, with First Sister and Third Sister heading to Canhu Town first as a gesture of respect to the inviter and to throw off those coveting their sect''s treasure.

    Huofeng and Far East Escort took the alternate route, which should''ve been considerably safer, yet the youth and his posse ambushed them several kilometres prior to regrouping at Canhu Town. As far as the current evidence went, the group that ambushed them must have attacked them on the spur of the moment.

    The skirmish that erupted saw the loss of members from both parties. Although Huofeng had avenged Far East Escort''s young master already, she did expend a chunk of energy in dispatching Wang Chao.

    As Huofeng was a level ahead of her junior with Solid Jade Snow, Argent Moon, she could perform Vajra Divine Might a total of four times within twenty-four hours. The first use in thest twenty-four hours was when she needed to clear open a path during the abrupt skirmish. She executed it a second time to kill Wang Chao. As such, she could only use it one more time and, as per sect stiptions, could only use it onest time when her life depended on it.

    Notes:uan - Sometimes called a luan bird or Qingluan, is a mythical bird rted to the phoenix, which is why it''s sometimes called a phoenix. The luan''s plumage is blue, as opposed to the red or multi-coloured plumage of the phoenix. Sometimes, they''re considered the mounts or messengers of gods.

    Huofeng - Fire Phoenix

 Volume 8 19 Huofeng (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 19 Huofeng (Part 3)</h4>

    Huofeng nced back at her three martial siblings and the escort team to affirm they could still fight. Unfortunately, the two escorts were in no fighting shape. Nothing worried her more than the containers behind her and between her allies, though.

    I must guard our sect''s treasure with my life!

    Huofeng could be considered Wutong Jiyuxuan itself if it wasn''t for some particr reasons as she was their sect''s main strategist, just as she was on this journey.

    Huofeng imbued her throat with her internal energy to sound intimidating as she admonished, "Why are you doing this as disciples of orthodox sects? This container contains my sect''s sacred item. Without Patriarch''s approval, we cannot let anyone see them. Do you not think you are being unreasonable?"

    Perhaps it was due to her background as a nun that her choice of words didn''t sound intimidating.

    "Judging from your ornaments and sword, you must be disciples of Sky Sword Sect. It is bad enough if you were to stand and watch them attack us, yet you are joining this concert? We have no grudges between us and share ideals as orthodox sect, yet this is how you treat us?"

    The two swordsmen from Sky Sword Sect lowered their heads slightly because they, for a fact, didn''t approve of the chubby youth''s act, but they were entrusted with guarding the fatty. Failing to protect him would mean letting down someone who trusted them. They didn''t mind a sh with Far East Escort since the two never interacted with each other. On the other hand, their sect owed Zi Wutong for a favour she did them in the pugilistic world. Thus, they apologised to the chubby youth, withdrawing from the fight after they were identified.

    The chubby youth didn''t even bother to spare the two swordsmen a look when they bowed out.

    "You three must be daoists from Recoiling Wind Temple. How can you partake in such unscrupulous deeds as one of the most prominent temples in Jiangnan? For the sake of seeing something earlier, you killed several people, including Young Master Shao, who never did anything to you. Have you no shame as daoists of an orthodox sect?"

    There isn''t just one way to plead. Pleading isn''t always giving up, either. Combining her graceful speech, Huofeng aimed at the individuals'' zeal to beuded as heroes, turning what was fundamentally a plea into an offensive strategy.

    Seeing the chubby youth, who took things on whims all his life, believing it was within his rights to do so, start to have second thoughts for reason was no longer a weapon he could use in the debate, Elder Chen stressed, "Young Master, Indecisiveness is the catalyst for disaster. We need the item to attend the convention just as everyone does. Wutong Jin Yuxuan has nobody to me but their own bad luck for bumping into us. If we let them go now and Zi Wutong or her seniores after us, we will be in serious trouble."

    The old man is right. Zi Wutong''s undefeated senior sister, Zi Lianhuang, who''spared to Night Fortress'' master, isn''t someone we can trifle with. If we let them go after affronting them, they''ll try to get even.

    "Daqian, get them, finish them,"manded the chubby youth.

    The man in the corner opened his eyes, violence bounding from his ck eyes. Huofeng deemed him the most dangerous individual in the temple for he had his guardpletely down in spite of the situation.

    Huofeng tried to intercept his palm strike, but he strafed.

    "Wait!"

    Huofeng flicked her sleeve, using her energy to turn it into a solid weapon, and then palmed it, amplifying the output of her first attack. Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s disciples learnt to make weapons out of anything and wield every weapon they could learn.

    "Subduing Dragon Palms?! Are you Seventh Elder Jie Daqian of Beggars Sect''s south branch?"

    "Hihihi, correct, Lass."

    Cognisant of the fact that she couldn''t win against the handbat specialist if she gave a quarter, Huofeng went all out, using Vajra Divine Might for the third time to detonate a palm as violent as apressed tornado, hoping to inflict maximum damage in the shortest time possible.

    Jie Daqian corkscrewed over the top of her,nding with his back to the ck container. He unleashed a dual palm attack, yet Huofeng sted him away with her brute strength. By the time she realised she fell for his ploy, it was already toote. Though he bled from the impact, the force of her st expedited his course to the ck container, and it added so much velocity to him that there was no way that the container''s guards could stop the iing cannonball.

    Jie Daqian caught onto the container with one hand and twisted his body as hard as he could. Unfortunately,tching onto the container turned out to be counterproductive as the container''s weight exceeded the weight he could move regardless of how much rotation and brute strength he devoted.

    "Daqian, pick up the ck. You can put on a circus act once we get back."

    "As youmand, Young Master."

    Face red, Jie Daqian got back to the ground. Butt, teeth and arms clenched, he barely managed to move the container using fifty percent of his strength, leading him to think, "The five standing around mustn''t be guards but the lifters. I suppose it must take five people to lift this thing."

    "Elder Jie, are you done?"

    Jie Daqian moved as soon as he picked up the imminent attack from behind. Howbeit, he had to concentrate energy to his back because he couldn''t bail in time. As a result, he absorbed an attack that scattered even his armour of qi.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Dimpling wryly unlike a nun, Huofeng jibed, "Your reaction was too slow."

    Putting everything into her sleeves, Huofeng unleashed an eighteen hitbo on Jie Daqian, winding him, putting him on his back and his lights out.

    Huofeng had her luck to thank for her triumph for Jie Daqian surpassed her in the realm of martial prowess. All of the fighting ignited Huofeng''s desire forbat and erased her graceful tone: "Are you next?"

    "I-I-I am worth over a million and a descendant of an orthodox sect. I don''t fightmon folks," stuttered the chubby youth.

    I can tell he''s not weak. Maybe he doesn''t have real fighting experience? Either way, if I can end this without a physical altercation, it''ll be best for all of the sects involved.

    "In that case, we shall take our leave."

    "Wait."

    Rather than "wait", perhaps, "Take this," would''ve been a more apt phrase to use.

    Huofeng couldn''t tell where the undting burst of energy wouldnd. The attack didn''t rely on power but protracted energy to win, making it an ideal way to counter Huofeng''s burst attack. The youth watched her hesitant movements as if he was watching a courtesan dance. Frustrated about the attack and the ogling, she smashed the ground and used the cover to retreat behind the ck container.

    "Who was that?!" brayed Huofeng.

    Elder Chen guffawed: "From what I''ve heard, Patriarch Zi''s three senior disciples inherited one of her traits each. Argent Moon Qingluan inherited her sense of justice. Huofeng inherited her violent temper. I wouldn''t have believed a nun could be so aggressive if I didn''t witness it with my two eyes."

    Huofeng returned to her usualposed self: "So it was you, Elder."

    The seventy year old smiled back: "It has been a long time since Subduing Dragon Palms and Solid Jade Snow have been pitted against each other."

    "Elder Jie''s style certainly does its reputation justice."

    Elder Chen chuckled dryly: "Does it justice? All he has learnt is ''The Divine Dragon Swishes Its Tail''. That cannot be used as a standard for our Beggar Sect."

    "¡­ It has been many years since myst meeting with your mentor. I wonder if I have lost my edge¡­"

    Elder Chen let a palm strike rip. Due to the time constraint, Huo Feng shielded herself with one arm. Upon feeling it, she supported her arm with her remaining army, yet she still felt rocked. Elder Chen, in contrast, didn''t even look as though he''d warmed up.

    "It would be a waste for someone at your level to meet their end here. Hand over the container, and this old one shall spare you."

    "More explicitly, you n to put us under house arrest?"

    "Seldom are nuns as stubborn as you. Nheless, this old one has ways of dealing with your kind."

    Still feeling the effects of thest blow that rattled her, Huofeng had no defence to offer to the next palm and, thus, shut her eyes. After what feltparable to several seconds, she opened her eyes in surprise at the painless damage. She was as dumbfounded as Elder Chen at the other six.

    "¡­ Haha, age sure does hurt one''s abilities. This old one couldn''t even send it over such a meagre distance¡­ Catch this!"

    Elder Chen set a foot in front and performed "The Dragon Fights in the Wilderness" with seventy percent of his energy this time, blowing Huofeng''s hat off with its gale alone, but it didn''t clip her. Yes, there were ims that the attacks from Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms wouldn''t kill until three monthster due to damage to one''s blood and qi system; however, hardly anyone believed it.

    "Haha, haha, take this!"

    Elder Chen took two steps forward and tried again. The big wind closed in, only to be a harmless draft by the time it reached her.

    "What are you?! Take this! And this! Hargh! Argh! Grr! Wata!"

    Nobody could fathom what was going on. Huofeng eventually yawned, much to Elder Chen''s chagrin.

    "Is this old man, whose been with me for all these years, a phony?" wondered the chubby youth.

    Panting, Elder Chen erupted, "Is somebody helping you?!"

    "If somebody was helping me, would I have to put up with this?" drawled Huofeng, thinking, "Could Shifu havee? Who else could cancel all of his attacks?"

    "Who''s there?!" thundered Elder Chen, hearing somebody next door.

    Elder Chen smashed the wall down without giving them time to respond.

    "What the hell? This old man doesn''t follow the script. What happened to waiting for a response? Stupid Xiao, didn''t I tell you to be quiet?"

    "I didn''t do anything. Your stomach was what was growling!"

    Although Elder Chen wanted to ask who the duo was, a high-pitched, "What the flip?! Why are you here?! You got a face job?!" silenced everyone else in the temple, prompting Huofeng to cover her mouth after.ightning Rain Huofeng, ''Huo'' meaning ''fiery'' and ''feng'' meaning phoenix,bined with her temper led to people in Hangzhou calling her "Fiery Nun".

 Volume 8 20 Grudge

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 20 Grudge</h4>

    The circumstances we met under was¡­ a little awkward. People these days knew her better as Abbess Huofeng, but she wasn''t a fraction as graceful and regal as she was when Ist met her. Elder Chen was spot on about Patriarch Zi''s recruitment policy. Of all things Abbess Huofeng had to inherit, it had to be Patriarch Zi''s hatred for viiny with a vengeance during thetter''s younger days.

    Abbess Huofeng couldn''t purge Patriarch Zi''s fiery temper from herself even though she became a nun. You know something is wrong when they aren''t cursing or fighting someone for a day. When they walk, they walk as if they''re absconding from a crime scene. I never forgot the one time she went so fast that she crashed into the bottom ledge of the door and then smashed it apart out of anger, iming, "This is a hostile door ledge."

    What Huofeng was best known for, however, wasn''t her aggressive nature but her ability to hold her wine. They said that she could drink eighty percent of the wine avable in Hangzhou if she was bored. Due to her absence at one drinking contest in Hangzhou, people bemoaned the contest was pointless.

    On the other hand, Wutong Jin Yuxuan hated her drinking habits,belling it uncultured behaviour even though they had no qualms about her punching someone''s face in just because they rubbed her the wrong way. I don''t know if they brainwashed her or what, but props to them for convincing her to behave femininely.

    "Y-you jerk! You made me break my taboo! You deliberately decided to show up now, didn''t you?!"

    I mean, could you me her face for resembling her temper when her fa?ade was exposed to those who knew her?

    To calm Huofeng down, I used Voice Transmission to tell her, "Calm down. Calm down."

    "You freaking calm down!"

    Did I force you to curse? Huh? Why is it my fault all of a sudden? You''re the one who embarrassed yourself!

    "Uh, pardon me, but why are you cursing, Abbess?" asked Su Xiao, dumbfounded. "Buddha will punish you."

    "He can do as he pleases. I can curse whoever I want. What''s it to you?!"

    "We came here to help you. We''d still save you even if you cursed, but we''d also give you the cold shoulder after. That''s no fun." Su Xiao, who Huofeng couldn''t identify, shut Huofeng down for once.

    "Are you done yet? Are you marginalising this old one now?" grouched Elder Chen. "Who are you?"

    Su Xiao could use Voice Transmission, albeit only at ranges this close, but it still wasn''t wise to let him know I couldmunicate with the enemy. Hence, I yed dumb and kept silent.

    "Hahaha, this old one must be really old. Not one of you recognises him?"

    "Well, you don''t have deprecate yourself to that extent," responded Huofeng. "You''re Ninth Elder, Chen Wanyun, the vice-chief of the south branch and a man Chief Hong Ba regarded highly. With the six moves Chief Hong Ba imparted onto you, you were undefeated in the southern branch. ck and White Reflection ranked you in 763rd spot inst month''s edition and 54th ce in Jiangnan''s list of adepts. Remaining in the top sixty without having fought in years shows that you are still remembered. It almost sounds as though you are insulting us for ignorance."

    "I''d expect as much from Zi Wutong''s disciple. Having said that, your behaviour just now could bepared to that of monks from Cold Mountain Temple or nuns from Zi Weiguan,pletely unlike your shifu."

    "Shifu once mentioned your Subduing Dragon Palms are so good that you almost hurt her gravely back then. She says she remembers it as though it was yesterday."

    "Hehe, that''s all in the past. Yes, I was close to hurting her, but she almost took my life. I still feel the effects every now and then from that sh. It''s unfortunate that I can''t repay the favour."

    The sardonic conversation told me that the ck container was Huofeng andpany''s token into Refining Divine Convention. Chen Wanyun, who was in the fatty''s employment, bumped into Huofeng on the way to the event and decided to jump the group out of spite for the grudge from back then.

    I was wondering who''d be brain damaged enough to try rob Wutong Jin Yuxuan. If a few more nuns with the monstrous might of Huofeng rocked up, they''d be strong enough to blow holes in all of them forughs. I bet my balls they wouldn''t have jumped Huofeng if she didn''t have just three of her juniors apanying her. Poor fatty didn''t even know this old bugger coaxed him into approving of the attack for a personal grudge.

    "We''ll settle the grudge from back then today. Before that, though, we need to do something about these side characters."

    "Elder Chen, you started this fight, so you have to tidy up yourself. Don''t drag me into your mess!" fumed the chubby youth, figuring out the situation a little toote.

    "Young Master, you wish to have a token of entry to the event, do you not? This is the only chance to obtain said token, not to mention that this is one of the best treasures in the world. Secondly, you want a woman to keep youpany on your journey. As you always see beautiful women, wouldn''t our nun here be more refreshing?"

    The chubby youth scanned Huofeng and assented, "Fine!"

    Chen Wanyun turned to Su Xiao and I with a simper: "Spoiling my agenda, you must be dying for an early funeral."

    I prepared my celestial spider silk as Chen Wanyun concentrated energy to his arms.

    "You''re young, have the looks and quite an impressive pugilist. Getting in an avenger''s way is courting death, sadly. You ready?"

    I nodded.

    "You ready?!"

    I nodded harder.

    "Good!" Elder Chen bound forward: "Kid, draw your sabre!"

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡­ All of those provocations were aimed at Su Xiao?! After all that talk, you pick on a human dummy?!

    Notes:

    Bottom door ledge - In ancient times (China), there was always this ledge that you had to step over doors.

 Volume 8 21 Zhong Ming

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 21 Zhong Ming</h4>

    Chen Wanyun swung his eagle hands as tough as iron, angering Huofeng. Even if she wanted to help, she had already expended most of her energy.

    "Stop! Have some shame!"

    Chen Wanyun deemed Su Xiao and me to be the tallest walls to climb because he recognised how exhausted Huofeng was already. As long as we couldn''t interrupt, he had the luxury of time to steal the ck container.

    What makes your senile mind think Su Xiao is tougher than a born fighter, god ofbat (we''ll skip the remaining hundred-odd other titles)? I''m the face-pping king of Jiangnan! How dare you! Hmph!

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "How does he look so ugly?"mented a maiden.

    Who was that? This is a temple, not a teahouse. This is not the ce for gossip!

    "Freak."

    "Weirdo."

    "Monster."

    "Eyesore."

    You''re notmenting on my appearance anymore! You''re outright insulting me for the sake of insulting me!

    "Give it your best, Handsome. Don''t let the old man get you."

    "Hey, move you tree. You''re getting in his way."

    One silver tael says Chen Wanyun went after Su Xiao because he was jealous of Su Xiao''s looks. I suppose Su Xiao did seem more threatening since he carried a sabre, while I disguised myself in shabby clothing and smeared mud on my face.

    Huofeng''s angry re was a directive to help out, but I shrugged her off for it was time for Su Xiao to prove his worth.

    Su Xiao stepped away from the overhand, puzzling Chen Wanyun for Su Xiao''s movements didn''t appear deft. Su Xiao easily dodged a horizontal hook using purely head movement.

    The reality is, despite the amazement exhibited whenever someone goes from sword qi to qi sword to sword spirit - even though sword spirit realm was more of a mental achievement than the previous two - it was merely the act of manifesting one''s qi outside of their body and imposing it on external objects. Regardless of style, that was always considered an advanced unlockable.

    The best way to put Chen Wanyun''s ability to manifest his qi outside of his body and impose it into perspective was the wall he smashed down. Sure, he made himself a punch line with the way his attacks failed to hurt Huofeng. Nevertheless, anyone who knew what they were talking about could see the power behind them. I''d argue he deserved to be ranked higher than ck and White Reflection ranked him for he was strong enough to deserve being instated as the chief of Beggars Sect.

    After using two moves from Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and still not acquiring his target, Su Xiao capitalised on an opening to whip his sabre faster than Chen Wanyun expected. Chen Wanyun''s dyed reaction meant Su Xiao would clip the former''s shoulder without a doubt, yet Su Xiao stopped.

    "You win¡­ You can decide what you wish to do with me, Young Man."

    Su Xiao swept his gaze over the corpses and, in his attempt of a deep voice, stated, "I''m taking you to a magistrate office."

    "You would humiliate me like that?!"

    While magistrates and the pugilistic world were part of the same gig, they dealt with "fairness" differently. To say one was active in the pugilistic world was tantamount to saying one was an ouw. Thus, being taken to court was a death penalty - for the most part - since the magistrate usually never struggled to list a number of crimes theymitted that''d warrant the death penalty. As such, those in the pugilistic world would often rathermit suicide than present at a magistrate office. To those in the pugilistic world, being interrogated in court was as humiliating as it could get.

    "Humiliate you? You attempted to mug them and then started killing people when they refused to fold over. You think that''s reasonable?"

    "Everyone in the pugilistic world walks around with his neck out. This old one lost. Kill him if you will. Spare him the drivel."

    "Don''t speak of death so lightly! Every person you killed has family waiting for them at home. Do you realise the number of tragedies you''ve created?"

    "This old one repays every favour and avenges every grudge. Nobody has ever pontificated him before. Where did you learn such childish ideas from? If this old one bats an eye in the face of death, he''s a coward."

    "You are old, famous and strong. People have treated you kindly all your life. Your parents gave birth to you and raised you. Your teachers educated you, respected you and promoted you. Your sect members look up to you. Is all of that just for you to kill people?!"

    The maidens'' faces were alight, wishing they could smack their lips on Su Xiao''s face. Chen Wanyun''s face was equally flush, though that was because he was livid he had no retort despite his decades of experience in the pugilistic world - plenty of time to steel his heart.

    I suppose I could score the oue fifty-one out of one hundred. Damn kid takes forever to learn one style. It took months for him to figure out Night Steps - with my help, for that matter - and is still a second-rate user. I would''ve given up if he wasn''t likable.

    Chen Wanyun busied himself with checking his body, partially due to Su Xiao winning the verbal tirade: "Why did I deplete my internal energy so quickly¡­?"

    Busted¡­

    Although I didn''t interrupt the match, I did pull some strings to secure Su Xiao''s victory. Prior to being caught outside, I started my n. Expecting me to magically support Huofeng from the other side of a wall was ridiculous, not to mention how noticeable it''d be. I''d rather storm in andy the smack down on everyone than try to create a true qi armour from her on the other side of a wall. It would be even worse if the indiscriminate armour ended up harming her, instead.

    Not even Hong Jiu could use Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms the way Chen Wanyun did when he was trying to hit Huofeng from a distance because the style rapidly exhausted one''s internal energy. The reason his mighty blows couldn''t reach their target was because I connected a strand of celestial spider silk to his feet. Since I trickled internal energy to him, he felt more and more invigorated after each shot and even blew apart the wall.

    When I stopped dripping him internal energy Chen Wanyun was under the false impression that he still had an ocean of internal energy when, in reality, he didn''t have enough, resulting in him expending more than he should''ve. In addition, he couldn''t notice himself bing sluggish over time for his reaction time was also suffering. Su Xiao wasn''t faster; Chen Wanyun just got slower. I did keep the thread on Chen Wanyun''s foot, nheless, in case he surprised me, and I needed to floor him within one step.

    Using Voice Transmission, Huofeng queried, "That must''ve been your handiwork."

    "The best way to stealthily defeat an enemy is to make him overconfident and waste his internal energy. All you have to do after isy into the depleted opponent - wisdom of the ancients."

    "¡­ You''re referring to the saying, ''Food and fodder should go ahead of troops and horses''?"

    "Get out of here with your literacy finesse!"

    "Sad for you, illiterate one."

    You didn''t even know how to spell ''porn'' when I already read three hundred porn books, you impolite brute!

    Huofeng lowered her head and muttered under her breath, "What do I like about him? He''s just an idiot¡­" Nothing nice came out of her mouth.

    If it wasn''t for my shifu crushing on your shifu and some sparks between us, I wouldn''t havee to your rescue!

    The youth wasn''t flustered despite witnessing Su Xiao subdue Chen Wanyun. Instead, he pped his hands: "Elder Chen was my navigator in the pugilistic world. Without him guiding me, this is going to be harder than a struggle. Is there any chance you could return him to me?"

    Not being able to read the situation is worrying, but¡­ actually delivering his request sincerely was what had me and Su Xiao turn to each other! Su Xiao responded, "Of course not. You two are equally guilty. Both of you areing to the magistrate office with me."

    "Wait," I hollered. "My bro here isn''t the brightest of folks, so let''s put that on the back burner. Could you tell me what your name is, brother?"

    "Big Brother Ming, what are you doing?!"

    I whispered, "If you take him to a magistrate office, how are you going to exin Master''s situation?"

    "We can''t just let them off scot free, though, can we?"

    "That is why negotiation is important. He looks as though he has deep pockets. Let''s have him pay a thousand taels to each of the dead so that their families'' financial situation is under control first."

    "You want to let them go for money?!"

    "I keep stressing that you have to be low key and thoughtful when you handle any situation. Stop being so childish."

    "Lecturing me again¡­"

    "What did I teach you about handlingplicated cases?"

    "Mm¡­ Try to brainstorm as many methods as possible, collect more information and don''t get stuck in a tunnel."

    "Exactly. Find out who they are now. Once this mission is over, I''ll go arrest with you in uniform. Then, you can interrogate them all the same. Any issues?"

    Su Xiao expressed amazement at my strategy with his eyes.

    "Young Master, might I be able to ask for your name?" I requested.

    "Hehehe, it''s a long story," answered the young master.

    "I am all ears."

    "Okay. I am a citizen of Luoyang."

    "They are your bodyguards and servants?"

    The youth sighed: "There is nothing I can do about being born as the only rich, tall, handsome sessor to my wealthy inheritance. It''s perfectly normal for someone of my status to hire some bodyguards."

    I swear I''ve heard this somewhere before.

    "Might I be able to ask which n you hail from in Luo Yang? What does your family do?"

    "My father is the owner of the eighteen brothels along Changjiang - Zhong Hualiu!"

    Hold the fook up! If your old man is Zhong Hualiu, who the flip is you?!

    "My surname is Zhong and my first name is Ming."

    Who am I if you''re Zhong Ming? You''re going to copy my backstory and name? Get original!

    "Haha, what was your name again?" the young master queried.

    "I¡­ I¡­ I¡­"

    You just stole all of my lines! What do you expect me to say?! Come up with something better. I have the copyrights to those lines and the name! If you can prove your identity isn''t fake, I''ll kowtow to you!

 Volume 8 22 Identity

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 22 Identity</h4>

    "Have we run into the real Zhong Ming?" Su Xiao mouthed, not forgetting to pinch me. "This is what happens when you choose to role y antagonists. Of all the people you could choose, you choose the descendant of a scumbag. How are you going to slip your way out of this now?!"

    Real Zhong Ming my good-smelling foot! I made up the name. Even if Zhong Hualiu really is Zhong Ning''s old man and the king of brothels in the kingdom, there''s no way his son is Zhong Ming and around my age, surely.

    "We didn''t run into the real Zhong Ming. They ran into the real Zhong Ming, fool," I rebuked.

    Yeah, look stunned, kiddo. That''s what I thought.

    Zhong Ming was already a celebrity name in the pugilistic world because I met Wudang, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Jiujiang''s Great Spear Sect - not to mention all the witnesses that night. Hell as if I knew why the piglet chose the name Zhong Ming.

    "May I ask what your names are?" sincerely queried the piglet, paying more attention to Su Xiao than me.

    "Pfftkeke, my name is Su Xiao."

    Maybe Su Xiao was going through puberty, or maybe it was thanks to the internal style I imparted to him that his physique started to change. He was a tad taller, but he also appeared thinner. Maybe the more developed muscles could be attributed to the fact that he spent more time meditating and performing breath work bestowed him with more recovery timepared to when he was always swinging his sabre around. He wasn''t growing bulky, but his skin was paper thin. Don''t ask me why his skin improved when I taught him the same thing I learnt, yet didn''t see the same results.

    I thought you had a crush on Huofeng. Why are you suddenly drooling over Su Xiao? The hell, son?!

    "Brother Su Xiao is this one''s sworn brother. This one''sst name is Ming. It is an honour to meet you," I stated, blocking off the piglet''s view.

    The piglet backed off as if I was some human-monster hybrid that made his skin crawl; however, he maintained his courteous air: "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    "This one is merely a wanderer in the pugilistic world and happened to drop by Canhu Town. He interrupted your scuffle for he thought it would not be auspicious if blood was shed right at the start of a new year. Please forgive him if he affronted you in any capacity."

    I made it a point to not address him as "Young Master Ming", and he yed along.

    "Not at all. With your skills, it was within your rights to intervene. The pugilistic world''s policy is survival of the strongest. We attacked when we believed we could win, but you defeated Elder Chen; it is only fair for us to fall back. All is fair. All is fair, hahaha."

    I had to respect him from being able to move on and not hold grudges even if there was nothing else about him to praise.

    "You certainly are a gentleman. Might this one be able to ask what prompted this fight?"

    "Heh, you two must be here for the same reason as me. Luo Sword Manor forgot to send me an invitation which is why I came all the way here to see how skilled these adepts are. I did not expect this."

    Mate, they invited weapon wielders, not adepts. Besides, Huofeng would''ve murdered you if she projectile spat saliva at you. What business do you have testing any adept?

    He must be trying to sneak into the event just as we are but have resorted to banditry due to them not having any alternative method. It''s not an honourable tactic, but I can''t deny it could work.

    "Hehehe, please do not take offence with me for not being honourable as almost half of the people in this town are also people without invitations. What do you think they came all the way here for now? There are sixteen days until the convention, and I can guarantee there will be an abundance of bloodshed before it even begins. I am only making a pre-emptive strike."

    That exins why I felt a number of people monitored us as soon as we set foot in the town. Guess we also needed to be wary of the growing number ofpetitors.

    I wasn''t done speaking, but three adepts closed in outside, rming Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s group - minus Huofeng because of herbat prowess.

    The three were direct disciples of the orthodox sect, Celestial Capital Sect. I could understand why the piglet had no issues with Chen Wanyun losing if he had the support of numerous big orthodox sects.

    I almost burst outughing when I heard what one of the adepts whispered to the piglet and nned to leverage the news against them to pry information out. Howbeit, the next thing I heard killed my desire to grin. Actually, I would have to help put a lid on it for him!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "What?! My wife, Hong Xing, got with another man?!"

    You worried the world doesn''t find out?!

    "I''m supposed to marry her tomorrow, yet she''s having a tryst with a servant and eloped?! That''s the ninth one this year! I''m going to capture the wench!"

    It was our privilege to witness green leaves growing out of the fake Zhong Ming''s head.

    "Please excuse me, but my wife has caught the cold."

    "We understand. We understand."

    We heard everything, you moron!

    "We have seen innumerous doctors, yet nobody has been able to help. I am worried sick."

    "It''s okay. It''s okay."

    "So, I must head back to her."

    "Please do not let us keep you."

    Once he was on his horse, the piglet gave us a cupped-fist salute: "May we meet again."

    "Safe travels, Hero." The piglet left Chen Wanyun around and took off as if his house caught fire.

    Wutong Jin Yuxuan''s group sat down to nurse their injuries.

    "What a weirdo," remarked Su Xiao, turning back to me. "Big Brother Ming, why do you look so pale?"

    "I-I''m good," I responded, wagging my hand.

    The following is what I heard the adepts whisper to the piglet: "The ma''am you fell for has eloped with a servant. What should we do¡­ Your Highness?"

    Besides Emperor Yuansheng''s elder brother, the only Princes in the kingdom were his sons. There was no way the piglet was the elder brother. Based on his behaviour, I could swear on my life that he was Emperor Yuansheng''s fourth son, the one they call Prince Cuck - Green Prince!

 Volume 8 23 Green Princes Legacy

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 23 Green Prince¡¯s Legacy</h4>

    Red Prince, the eldest son of Emperor Yuansheng, the son touted as the prodigy, studied literacy under Prime Minister Li Si and martial arts under Lai Jingzhen. Whether it was thanks to his abilities in both fields or was purely a product of his mother¡¯s wishes, he resided in the capital.

    Yellow Prince, the one prince the military saw greatness in, was considered the best leader among his siblings for his bravery on the battlefield and hunger for battle. During his three-year campaign against Beijiang¡¯s forces, the Qilin Guards¡¯ grandmander was one of his coaches.

    Cyan Prince, the brother with the same parents as Princess Jingan, was known for his advocacy of peace, phnthropy and lent an ear to citizens more than his brothers, resulting in him being the Prince the denizens praised the most; some heralded him as Benevolent King. Sadly, due to his weak constitution, Emperor Yuansheng had no idea who to select in Cyan Prince¡¯s ce for session.

    Excelling in strategy, possessing a vocabry of a thousand characters at the tender age of six, having read a hundred scrolls by the age of eight,posing poetry at the ten years of age and shining as a debater in the adult world was none other Blue Prince. A legend spoke of him writing calligraphy on one hand, drawing on his other hand and winning three simultaneous games of vocal go with three others when he was fifteen years old. He was sent as an envoy to Western Regions when he was neen and leveraged theplicated status quo for seven kingdoms to sessfully sign a peace treaty. The fact that Emperor Yuansheng trusted Luoyang to him was the best proof that his father thought highly of him.

    Orange Prince needed no introduction after gaining notoriety for his rebellion, cementing his name in history with the event named after him.

    The book that recorded the six Princes¡¯ important facts and experiences was probably as thick as the history book.

    Unlike his brothers who made a name for themselves, it would be more urate to say that people made Green Prince famous rather than him making a name for himself¡­ The fourth eldest son was the most generous and easy-going among the Princes. Just as everyone in his family had an obsession with something, such as Zizi¡¯s love for calling random people his dad, Green Prince had an obsession with women - not in the sense that he was loyal in love but that he couldn¡¯t keep it in his pants.

    Green Prince couldn¡¯t go a day without a woman apanying him. Unfortunately for him, his physique wasn¡¯t really popr. He wasn¡¯t a big eater or a couch potato; it was probably a health condition. To be fair, he wasn¡¯t ugly; his bean-sized eyes just didn¡¯t win any belle¡¯s fancy, though. To add, the man couldn¡¯t stay with one woman. One could argue he had no redeeming qualities a woman could like about him.

    They say beggars can¡¯t be choosers. Green Prince was a Prince. A Prince gets to choose, and he chose civilians who had to be virgins. He had no interest in girls from brothels even if they never slept with a man before. That was the reason he had numerous adepts at his estate and would go hunting for girls whenever he had time. There wasn¡¯t much people could do when he leveraged his status and wealth to steal women from men. For a time, Green Prince got to enjoy himself to the max every day until that fateful day.

    During one of his birthday banquets, one of the girls he kidnapped publicly dered that she was no longer a version and then eloped with one of the guests. Thus began the legend of Prince Cuck.

    The first example of a girl eloping galvanized ideas among the other kidnapped girls. They employed various means and strategies that gave rise to the phenomenon coined ¡°Eloping Phenomenon¡±. Ironically, it was the people who worked for Green Prince who eloped with his women. Henceforth, all of the girls he had eyes for would elope with the door guard, gardener and so forth. It probably wasn¡¯t an issue of inadequate security at the estate. After all, over twenty girls eloped in one year, meaning that over twenty employees also ran away in a year.

    As generous and tolerant as he was, Green Prince wouldn¡¯t burn the forest for a few trees. No matter how many girls eloped, he continued eating, drinking merrily and searching for more women. Although things never changed, he was used to it. It got to a point where he called in a doctor to see if he was sick when he was just exhrated that a girl stayed for two days - which was a couple of hours away from breaking the longest record any of them ever stayed. He, instead, felt more rxed when they eloped.

    People spread a story that one of Green Prince¡¯s gardeners saw him bleed green blood when he identally cut himself on a thorn. Some imed he only hired eunuchs and maids because all of his male employees ran off with hisdies. One day, he came home with a god and dered, ¡°Hahaha, now that the only man in my estate is this dog, who will you elope with?¡± They said a maiden actually took off with the dog and never looked back.

    Reportedly, maidens who couldn¡¯t find husbands would deliberately loiter in the vicinity of Green Prince¡¯s estate so that he could kidnap them. Subsequently, they would find a lover in his estate and live happily ever after. People had no idea if they should praise Green Prince for being a benevolent matchmaker or ridicule him.

    Green Prince wrongly assumed adepts who voluntarily offered them their skills saw his gant ambitions buried deep down below thoseyers of fat. In reality, they were there because there were girls the Prince had handpicked for them and a nice paycheque to pocket until they eloped to boot.

    Man, I can¡¯t believe I can¡¯t stop my hands shaking now that I¡¯ve met the legend himself¡­ Is this how it feels to meet legendary men? He¡¯s no brain-dead piglet. Not even an hour after I met the man, he¡¯s already got a new green hat.

    His territory is all the way in Nanjiang, which is over five hundred kilometres away from here. Wait¡­ Does His Majesty already know about this? Now I know why there was the contradiction of trying to remain in the shadows, yet wanting to visit Luo Sword Manor in person! He must be eager to see whether or not his son really is getting involved with this event.

    I guess His Majesty didn¡¯t want to show on the surface that he lost a lot of trust for his sons and now wants to confirm his son¡¯s agenda for himself. I guess he couldn¡¯t mention Green Prince since thetters¡¯ legends are too darn embarrassing. He¡¯ll probably feel let down if he finds out Green Prince dide here.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t just stare at me. Let the man go,¡± I grumbled, noticing Su Xiao staring at me once I was done thinking.

    ¡°We have to take him to a magistrate office!¡±

    ¡°I acknowledge that the escort team died tragically, but do you realise who Elder Chen is? Look at the corpses. Do you see any fatal injuries inflicted using Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? The culprit already absconded. What are you going to incriminate Elder Chen for? Being a bystander?¡±

    Su Xiao despondently removed his sabre. Having had to bear with his fatigue and injuries ever since Su Xiao restrained him, Chen Wanyun¡¯s knees buckled as he had a short ckout. Chen Wanyun quickly sealed several upoints and sat down to recuperate. Chen Wanyun had years of training on Huofeng andpany, which was why he was able to stand again before they could.

    ¡°This old one underestimated you. While he was cooped up in Nanjiang, some excellent young talent has emerged in the pugilistic world, huh. Impressive. Very impressive.¡±

    I surmised Chen Wanyun figured out I was pulling some strings before because he spoke with his gaze locked on me, though he didn¡¯t know what exactly I did.

    ¡°It was an honour to be your opponent, Elder,¡± I expressed.

    Stifling his voice, Chen Wanyun asserted, ¡°I assume you also know his identity.¡±

    I politely smiled back: ¡°We will meet again.¡±

    ¡°You know what to do, then?¡±

    ¡°My motto is, eat, drink sleep and don¡¯t stick your mouth where it doesn¡¯t belong. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°I hope you will honour your word.¡±

    Man, the way you just aggressively saluted me tells me that we¡¯re going to be fighting a grudge match when we meet again. Well, we¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

    Chen Wanyun took off swiftly for the reason that Huofeng andpany were basically at full power by the time they were done recovering. Knowing them, there was no way they¡¯d just let him walk out on two legs.

    ¡°Thank you for saving us. Young Master Su, may I ask where you are from? How many people are in your family? Where do you live? Who is your shifu? What are your favourite dishes? What sort of girl to you look? I¡­ would like to repay you,¡± effused one of Huofeng¡¯s juniors.

    ¡°I-I-I, umm¡­¡±

    You sure you¡¯re trying to repay him and not trying to questioning your husband candidate?!

    I pulled Su Xiao behind and asked Huofeng, ¡°You all right?¡±

    Huofeng was all smiles when she watched her juniors hit on Su Xiao, yet, as soon as I spoke to her, she aggressed, ¡°What¡¯s it to you? We were doing just fine? Who asked you to get involved?!¡±

    ¡°Senior Sister, we would not be here now if it were not for Young Master Su.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only thanking Young Master Su,¡± scoffed Huofeng.

    ¡°Come on now. Don¡¯t be so cold to your family,¡± I remarked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lump me in with you!¡±

    ¡°What happened to thess following behind me all the time back then crying, ¡®Brother, I want some wine¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Who ever called you ¡®Brother¡¯?!¡± Huofeng raised her hand at me.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, you two know each other?¡±

    ¡°Which sect am I from again?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, have you lost more brain cells? You¡¯re a disciple of Mount Daluo!¡±

    What did you just say?! That¡¯s called a rhetoric question, you brain-cell-less kid!

    ¡°Mount Daluo and Wutong Jin Yuxuan are as close as family, right, Abbess Huofeng?¡± I queried.

    The amused smiles on Huofeng¡¯s juniors¡¯ faces suggested that they already heard all the gossip about their patriarch and the old bugger. Nobody would believe one of the top beauty in all thend wasn¡¯t married when she had a line of suitors, right?

    ¡°Oh, oh,¡± responded Su Xiao.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°This one is a disciple of Mount Daluo carrying the ¡®Ming¡¯ surname. It is an honour to meet you, Junior Sisters.¡±

    ¡°Quiet!¡± grouched Huofeng, displeased with her juniors¡¯ giggling in response to my jokey introduction. ¡°I will repay this debt, happy?¡±

    ¡°What are you so cranky for? Sheesh. We got along so well back then. What happ-¡±

    Huofeng stomped: ¡°I dare you to mention it again.¡±

    ¡°Ah, fine, fine, I won¡¯t mention it, okay?¡± Scratching my head, I inquired, ¡°I knew you were in Huzhou already as I met your Third Sister on my way here. Is she in the town right now? You¡¯re the team escorting the ck container, right? You rendezvousing today?¡±

    Huofeng wryly lifted up a corner of her lips: ¡°Yes, she has arrived. I¡¯m going to regroup with her now¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll escort you to the town.¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks. It¡¯s been a while since you two have met, anyhow.¡±

    ¡°We met just days ago.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about my junior sister. I was referring to my senior sister.¡±

    ¡°Y-y-your senior sister is also here?¡±

 Volume 8 24 Two Problems and Two Tasks

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 24 Two Problems and Two Tasks</h4>

    ¡°Y-your senior sister is also here?¡±

    ¡°Why is that even a question? Anyone should assume Luo Sword Manor would invite her given her level of fame in Jiangnan. Shizun made it clear years ago that Senior Sister was in charge if she was absent. She is bound to be our sect¡¯s sessor. You have a problem?¡±

    ¡°No, no, none at all. Great judgement.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, you said you¡¯re close, but I have the impression that you¡¯re afraid of them.¡±

    ¡°Horse feathers. It¡¯s not fear; it¡¯s respect. It¡¯s the same as how you respect cockroaches and ghosts. Would you say you¡¯re scared of cockroaches? Exactly.¡±

    ¡°That is afraid¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahem, ahem,¡± interjected Huofeng, witnessing Su Xiao lodge his argument in my throat. ¡°We¡¯re going to get going, then. Ming Feizhen, we¡¯re leaving.¡±

    I gestured for Huofeng to take her time. I would¡¯ve spared her some spare change if I had some. Suddenly, she vented on the ground with her foot, eximing, ¡°Can¡¯t you say something?!¡±

    Jie Daqian, who was feigning dead, quickly lied back down upon feeling the tremor through the ground and seeing the dent in the ground.

    You should be embarrassed of yourself, Elder¡­

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, say something!¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, right, umm, take care?¡±

    ¡°Not that!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Safe travels.¡±

    Huofeng suddenly swung hard at me: ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for drivel!¡±

    I shifted my weight just back in time, or I¡¯d have whish from that!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What exactly do you want to hear?!¡±

    ¡°A message to pass on!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What else would I have to say to you?¡± Huofeng rolled her eyes at me.

    ¡°That¡­ That¡­¡± I started kicking a stone around and finished, ¡°A message¡­ for who?¡±

    ¡°You done pretending?! All those days of yearning and this is what you say?! You heartless jerk!¡±

    Oi, why are you suddenlymbasting me?!

    ¡°Why do you let her keep on harassing us? Ming Suwen vsited Hangzhou months ago and gloated about her touring the capital with you. Did that happen or not?!¡±

    What in god¡¯s name is this all about?! I mean, I know you two would love to p the face off the other, but sheesh! Also, why are you dragging me into your lie, Young Shiyi? All we did was sign up to partake in Liu Shan Men¡¯s recruitment exam together. Is that even a tour? Didn¡¯t you leave in tears? Oh, I get it now! Mount Daluo and Wutong Jin Yuxuan are in opposite directions. You went to Wutong Jin Yuxuan to vent after that.

    ¡°It¡¯s been years since I¡¯ve heard from you. Are you really not going to give me a message?!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±

    Huofeng folded her arms and titled her arms, inhaling loudly through her nose.

    ¡°Senior Sister, is he the one?¡± whispered one of Huofeng¡¯s juniors.

    ¡°He looks meh, yet First Sister¡­ Young Master Su is leagues above him.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯d be ten out of ten if he didn¡¯t resemble that demoness.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a guy!¡± Su Xiao fumed.

    ¡°Pfft, sorry, sorry. We encountered a water ghost a few days ago and noticed that she resembles you¡­¡±

    Su Xiao narrowed his eyes when he heard theparison.

    ¡°What¡¯s the resemnce between them?¡± I asked.

    ¡°How does a floating corpse in blue resemble him? How does a ghost¡¯s corpse and humans resemble each other?¡± Huofeng snapped.

    ¡°She wore a robe simr to Young Master Su¡¯s. The only difference was their colour,¡± expanded the female disciple.

    ¡°Where did you see her?!¡± I effused, figuring it was Boss Shen.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, could it have been¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s our uniform.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s constable uniform was a modification of a female constable uniform, which was why it bore a striking resemnce to each other. To add, Boss Shen was thrown into the river, which lined up with their description. What troubled me was the usage of the term ¡°corpse¡±¡­

    ¡°Say no more. We¡¯re leaving,¡±manded Huofeng.

    ¡°Wait, we have something we¡¯d like to ask, Huofeng.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not obligated to answer. Shizun instructed us not to associate with anyone from Mount Daluo. Young Master Su, as you are his sworn brother, please forgive this one for refusing to interact with you.¡±

    ¡°This is an important matter; a life is on the line here. Set aside personal grudges, and answer my questions.¡±

    Huofeng gave me a palm and fist salute.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I cut off Huofeng¡¯s path: ¡°State your conditions.¡±

    ¡°What happened to your refusal to speak? Fine, Mount Daluo must do us some favours.¡±

    ¡°Just say the word.¡±

    ¡°I want you to answer two questions andplete two tasks.¡±

    ¡°Consider it done.¡±

    How hard could the two tasks have been, and how hard could answering two questions be? Speed is of the essence. I wanted to just pick Boss Shen up and go home.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you canplete even one of the requests.¡±

    ¡°Among the list of things I can¡¯t do, hehehe¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t explicate myself, so I used facial gestures to deliver my point.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, that¡¯s careless. What if they ask for money? You wouldn¡¯t even be able to offer them two coins right now.¡±

    Yes, His Majesty only gave me one coin, but I also have my own coins. Even if I don¡¯t have any, surely you have some. Did youe along just to be decoration or something?!

    ¡°Whenever youplete the two tasks, everyone in Wutong Jin Yuxuan will wee you with open arms. I¡¯ll also¡­ also¡­ Let¡¯s hear your answers first.¡±

    ¡°Ready when you are.¡±

    Huo Feng held up a finger: ¡°First, when is your shifu going to marry my shifu?¡±

    ¡°Easy, when¡­¡±

    Hold up¡­ How am I supposed to know that? Go ask my shifu! Good luck with that, though, because not even my shininang can find him. Who do I ask if you ask me?!

    ¡°I¡­ have no means of answering a question reserved for the previous generation¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give you a free pass on that question for now.¡± Huofeng extended two fingers: ¡°Second, when¡­ are you going to marry my senior sister? Are you trying to abscond when you two are already engaged?!¡±

 Volume 8 25 Adopted Son

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 25 Adopted Son</h4>

    By I regained awareness of my surroundings, Huofeng had almost dislodged the doors on her way out with her kick.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, what was she talking about?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s¡­ a story too long for now. In a nutshell, her senior was engaged to me from childhood.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god! Someone would actually want you? Is she blind?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Are you insulting even someone you don¡¯t know now?

    ¡°Mm¡­ Abbess Huofeng is the senior of Miss Lian, right? Given Abbess Huofeng¡¯s high standing in their sect, her senior sister¡­¡±

    I figured Su Xiao would know Huofeng¡¯s senior sister¡¯s name since she had made her name for herself in the pugilistic world.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right, she¡¯s Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s interim patriarch, the heroine they call Metal Yu Feiyuan.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me. Metal Yu Feiyuan is your fianc¨¦e?!¡±

    I covered my ears: ¡°What are you screaming for? My shifu set us up when he was drunk! There are no documents to officiate it or dowries. Do you trust a thug? Why would you trust my shifu, then?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your shifu a daoist?¡±

    ¡°So what if he is?¡± I pinched my nose: ¡°You¡¯ve never seen a ruffian daoist, have you?¡±

    I should take you to Wudang some time. I bet they¡¯ll turn your beliefs on their head.

    Our task was to find lodging, and we still hadn¡¯tpleted it. We picked up clues on Boss Shen but had no leads to follow. All that effort and we only ended up with Jie Daqian, who embraced his background as a beggar to the fullest, crawling toward the doors without any embarrassment.

    As Jie Daqian crawled, he counted, ¡°Ten more steps. Nine more steps¡­¡±

    Su Xiao and I refused to give Jie Daqian ground. Smiling, I sardonically asked, ¡°Where are you going, Elder Jie?¡±

    ¡°You know who I am, ignorant runt?¡±

    Cueing Su Xiao in with a tug of my brow, the two of us took one side each, poking Jie Daqian¡¯sugh meridians.

    ¡°Hahaha, you two sons of a hahahaha! How dare you to this to hahaha! I won¡¯t say any haha!¡±

    Fifteen minutester¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk. I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯ll talk!¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t for our sects¡¯ friendship and Huofeng, I¡¯d have made you spill everything.

    And so, Jie Daqian recounted how Chen Wanyun recruited him to help Green Prince. Jie Daqian didn¡¯t know Green Prince¡¯s true identity and assumed thetter was a rich kid. They didn¡¯te from Luoyang but Shangxian City, a ce far off in Nanjiang, which belonged to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s new domain in Nanjiang and was Green Prince¡¯s territory. If anyone wasn¡¯t convinced the fatty wasn¡¯t Green Prince yet, that information should¡¯ve validated it.

    Green Prince didn¡¯te here on a whim; he had nned his trip to Huzhou months prior. What perplexed me was that Emperor Yuansheng only heard about the convention on the way here, yet was worried about his soning here. Also, why ¡°Zhong Ming¡± of all names?

    I tossed a pancake I had to Jie Daqian when I heard his stomach growl. As he ate, he continued, ¡°He came up with the name ¡®Zhong Ming¡¯ himself. Several days ago, a fellow they call Young Master Zhong Ming became an overnight sensation, assembling numerous heavyweights in Jiangnan overnight, yet nobody knew his background. Young Master reckoned Zhong Ming would avoid being conspicuous since he was hiding his true identity. Young Master, therefore, borrowed the name, believing he could leech off it and make the journey more convenient.

    ¡°There¡¯s probably something wrong with his head. People from Luo Sword Manor visited him on multiple asions and were courteous with him. Young Master Luo addresses him as an elder brother. I¡¯m sure he could¡¯ve asked for a ticket into the convention, yet he insists on snatching someone else¡¯s weapon to enter. In the pugilistic world, loyalty and gantry are the two most important things. You can¡¯t go stealing from people just because you¡¯re stronger.¡±

    I hiked up the corner of my lips: ¡°In other words, you deliberately attacked Huofeng?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely. I was pulling my punches, though. She, on the other hand, almost smote me. I doubt I¡¯m going to be able to ask her to repay the favour.¡±

    ¡°A true veteran of the pugilistic world - sly.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    Su Xiao visibly couldn¡¯t keep up with the intricacies we didn¡¯t explicate.

    ¡°How old is the Young Master Luo who addressed your young master as ¡®elder brother¡¯? What¡¯s his appearance like? Is he the direct descendant of Luo n?¡±

    ¡°Not sure there. He¡¯s a handsome man and polite. I don¡¯t care for rich young masters, so you¡¯re throwing hard questions. Oh, his sword is all blue. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±

    ¡°Bingo.¡± I got up and pulled Su Xiao to his feet: ¡°Thank you, Elder Jie. If fate would be so kind, let us meet again in the pugilistic world.¡±

    Jie Daqian held the pancake in his mouth to salute me.

    By the time Su Xiao and I were back outside, the yellow ball of fire had changed to hues of orange and then almost tangerine, merging with the sky. The clouds blushed at the warm touch of the sun.

    ¡°Wait, wait! Big Brother Ming, don¡¯t tell me you smell blood again.¡±

    ¡°I get it now. I know why we can¡¯t go to a government office now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Remember Master said he¡¯s old friends with Patriarch Luo and are partially inws? What other reason might he emphasise ¡®partially¡¯ if it¡¯s not for their children?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Mm¡­ If they¡¯re only engaged?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, but not right. Knowing how wise Luo Ming is, he wouldn¡¯t betroth his daughter to him. Jie Daqian¡¯s description has led me to a spection.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ ampletely lost.¡±

    ¡°The blue sword Jie Daqian mentioned should be the sword of the swordy department¡¯s leader¡¯s sword - Siming. That means the young master he mentioned must be Luo Sword Manor¡¯s young master - Luo Siming. If the fatty is his elder brother, yet isn¡¯t his brother-inw, that means they aren¡¯t inws. The only conclusion you can draw from that is that the fatty has taken Luo Ming as his adoptive father! Hence, Master was immediately rmed upon hearing of this spectacle in Huzhou. He¡¯s worried his son is involved in this. I figured out how His Majesty is connected after the fatty, Green Prince, showed up. Anyway, we need to go collect money now.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Wait! You mean that piglet was Green Prince?!¡±

    Didn¡¯t I already mention it?

 Volume 8 26 I Shall Provide the Best Service I Can

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 26 I Shall Provide the Best Service I Can</h4>

    I inferred Green Prince heard about Refining Divine Convention months ago while in Nanjiang, implying that he had always been in contact with Luo n. His Majesty must¡¯ve pieced together what I did after hearing about the event but kept a lid on it, worried about what role his son yed. Whatever this mire was for, we were already airborne and on our way into it. The next step, then, was to finally eat something. To that end, Su Xiao and I visited the most prim-looking inn - Bright Jade Restaurant.

    Chewing his snack, Su Xiao questioned, ¡°Long-story short, Master wants to sneak in to see his son.¡±

    ¡°Bingo.¡±

    ¡°What a troublesome family. Vice- Capt-, Miss¡­ Miss Shen¡¯s whereabouts are still a mystery, for crying out loud.¡± Su Xiao screened those in the inn and whispered, ¡°Since Vice-Captain was spotted nearby, why don¡¯t we ask the troops in this area to search for her? Why does His Majesty refuse?¡±

    ¡°This convention is most probably shady. The fatty is close to Luo n and has been in contact with them all this time. If a Prince is involved in this event, the imperial court will be rocked. You forgot about Orange Prince¡¯s rebellion? His Majesty might make light of it around us, but it¡¯s a scar deep down. He won¡¯t feel secure until he confirms the deal with his own eyes.¡±

    I refrained from contacting Zha Pi because I was afraid we didn¡¯t have a way of exining ourselves to His Majesty even though I was eager to know if he found out anything. Huofeng definitely had some clues. Sadly, given our respective sects¡¯ rtionship as well as me and her senior sister¡­ that bridge snapped long ago.

    What I needed most was more information, witnesses and clues. Running blindly around Taihu didn¡¯t promise anything no matter how fast I ran.

    To enter the event, we either had to copy Green Prince¡¯s strategy or somehow whip out a rare weapon that¡¯d tickle Luo Sword Manor¡¯s fancy. Simrly to Boss¡¯ situation, we needed information and clues, meaning I had to¡­

    ¡°Big Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Have we eaten too much? Can we even afford this much?¡± Su Xiao queried, pointing to the stack of tes in front of him with his hand not holding the te of green-bean cake.

    Should you be asking me that when you ordered over twenty of the most expensive dishes?

    ¡°If you can¡¯t afford it, don¡¯t eat here.¡±

    ¡°You ate even more than me!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re confusing me with all the stuff you said.¡± Su Xiao turned his full mouth away and continued, ¡°It took a lot of brain power to follow what you were saying. By the time I can wrap my head around it, I¡¯m hungry again, so I have to eat again. You then spout a whole load of moreplicated stuff.¡±

    Lass, snacks fuel your brain now? You trying to be the only constable who cracks cases on green-bean cakes and biscuits?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you we came here to collect money?¡±

    I eyed the inn and then poured some powder from a small bone china bottle in my hand, flipping my hand over and back four times.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Remember what I¡¯m doing. Don¡¯t forget it. I only do this once.¡±

    I closed my fist and then opened it, while Su Xiao watched earnestly since it was one of the few times that I was serious around him. The next time I closed and opened my hand, a pigeon came along for the ride.

    ¡°A pigeon?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time to go.¡±

    I flicked my wrist for the pigeon with brown feathers on its back to take flight. It flew clumsily as though it was flying for the first time, resulting in an awkward flying posture. I turned around and ced a finger on Su Xiao¡¯s lips when he went to speak.

    ¡°Focus. Focus on the air, scenery, sound, things, reasons and changes. Focus on everything.¡±

    The pigeon led us from the second floor up to the sixth floor. The first floor was so rowdy and busy that it was impossible to make out what was being said. Strangely, the second and third floors were deluxe floors, while the sixth floor wasn¡¯t.

    Anky man in a yellow robe, eyes resembling that of a sleazy businessman, merrily drinking with his friends threw the pigeon away when itnded on his table and then resumed his partying as though it was never there. I pulled Su Xiao to a quiet corner to find a vacant room to enter.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention a word of anything you see from now to anyone, not even in your dreams, to your wife kids or your grave.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming¡­ You look scary¡­ What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°This is where your journey in the pugilistic worldmences. Before rejection, you must try to understand what it is you are rejecting. The only time you are to mention what you witness today¡­ is when you find a sessor.¡±

    ¡°A sessor?¡±

    I lifted the corners of my lips: ¡°That¡¯s what my shifu told me back then.¡±

    ¡°Really? Phew. Why do you have to show me what your shifu did?¡±

    I just smiled.

    ¡°Shifu, why do you have to do this?¡±

    ¡°Because my shifu did it.¡±

    ¡°Why can you only mention it once?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to see my dickhead shifu in my mind. I ended up recalling the conversation, s.

    ¡°Also, why can you only mention it once?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I rubbed Su Xiao¡¯s head: ¡°Because things worth remembering only need to be mentioned once.¡±

    Su Xiao lowered his flush face and let me scrub his head.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    Su Xiao recoiled upon hearing the voice behind us and reached for his weapon until he identified it was thenky man attired in yellow.

    Stoically, the man conveyed in a monotone voice, ¡°The encyclopedia that is all knowing, the pugilistic world¡¯s ck and White Reflection is at your service.¡±

    I politely smiled: ¡°Thank you for helping this one time and time again.¡±

    ¡°ck and White Reflection? Isn¡¯t that your favourite book?¡± Su Xiao blurted.

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be what upies your mind right now. You should be trying toe up with a nickname for yourself,¡± I pointed out.

    ¡°What for?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon.¡±

    The man presented a book from his shirt: ¡°This one is the pugilistic world¡¯s ck and White Reflection¡¯s 26,033th guardian. May he ask for a name?¡±

    I answered, ¡°This one¡¯s membership is: 01087267190¡±

    ¡°What the heck?¡± Su Xiao blurted.

    ¡°Tsk, all secrets in the pugilistic world are like that.¡±

    ¡°Found it. May I ask if you are Mrs. Lightning Bolt Mr. Heavenly Overlord?¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s gaze could kill me with embarrassment.

    Stop! When my I opened my ount with my shifu, I was only nine years old! What sort of nickname would you expect a nine year old handsome boy toe up with?!

    ¡°Can you tell me what this is all about yet?¡± Su Xiao inquired, still holding his nose.

    ¡°This is the pugilistic world encyclopedia of ck and White Reflection, the most published magazine in the pugilistic world. They¡¯re most reliable and trustworthy walking bank in the pugilistic world. They¡¯re spread out across the entirend, going all the way to the seven kingdoms in Western Regions, Nanjiang and Beijiang. You can withdraw your savings from them anywhere.

    ¡°All you have to do is pay a small annual membership fee to ess the service. The quality of service, of course, changes depending on who you are. Some people can trust them with ten thousand taels, while there are others who can¡¯t even store a hundred. This is only one of the services they provide.¡±

    ck and White Reflection can procure a book, a bookshelf or even secret manuals if requested. They base the quality of service for their customer based on the customer¡¯s ranking in ck and White Reflection. Members¡¯ rankings indicated their credibility, which impacted how much they could store and the sorts of orders they could put in. Some believe the Supreme Ten Saints have silver and gold mountains stashed with ck and White Reflection.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to dip yourself in the pugilistic world, this is fundamental,¡± I told Su Xiao.

    ¡°And¡­ we withdraw money from them?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Mrs. Lightning Bolt Mr. Heavenly Overlord, you have three taels and two coins, a drumstick you have taken a bite out of off, two pears, five meat buns, fourteen melon seeds¡­¡±

    Su Xiao,st warning about that look, all right?

    ¡°¡­ and two hundred porn books. Would you like to withdraw them?¡±

    Su Xiao tugged on my cor: ¡°Let¡¯s hear about this, runt.¡±

    R-runt?!

    ¡°You n to use your porn collection as mattress, pillows and nkets tonight?¡±

    I¡¯m actually scared!

    I made some big promises to bring Su Xiao¡¯s intense me down to a simmer and then exined to the guardian, ¡°This is a friend. Please open an ount for him.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    The guardian started jotting down information on Su Xiao. He also handed Su Xiao a sheet of paper that detailed their policy and so forth in addition to a form with over a hundred sections to fill out.

    ¡°My membership is ¡®01087¡­ yeah, yeah, that. Something like that. Also¡­¡± I took a step forward and, using Voice Transmission, requested, ¡°Please login to another ount.¡±

    ¡°I am at your service.¡±

    I took his brush from him and wrote down on a nk spot - Ming Feizhen.

    The man nodded and, without needing to check his records, whispered, ¡°Esteemed Customer, what can I do for you.¡±

    ¡°Money, medicine for external injuries and an inn.¡±

    The man bobbed his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m finally done,¡± drawled Su Xiao,ing back after a few minutes. ¡°My hand is as tired as after training. What are you two doing?¡¯

    The man passed me a brocade box: ¡°There are herbs from Shaolin, Wudang, Mount Daluo, the Seven Champion White Princes and sky pce, each of which have been categorised ordingly.¡±

    Su Xiao had trouble keeping up.

    The man pointed to the ground: ¡°This inn will be cleared out in an hour so that you can move in. Please give me a moment.¡±

    ¡°Eh?!¡± eximed Su Xiao.

    The man then took out a stack of papers: ¡°Here are your three hundred thousand taels.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s toe tag: passed away at fifteen years of age due to excessive blood loss from coughing during an encounter with a rich a viin.

 Volume 8 27 Troublesome

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 27 Troublesome</h4>

    ¡°Master, please ept this.¡±

    ¡°Mm?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ This is¡­¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you struck it rich?!¡±

    I really didn¡¯t want to see our starving-bumbling-bum-looking escort¡¯s surprise at the six-storey edifice.

    There¡¯s super efficient, and then there¡¯s ck and White Reflection. Presumably, Bright Jade Restaurant wasn¡¯t ck and White Reflection¡¯s asset because it had been there for ages already. I said it before, and I¡¯ll say it again: ck and White Reflection is my favourite magazine! I knew you guys could get the job done!

    ¡°A generous, condescending mysterious individual just bought out the inn¡± was the reason the customers enjoying New Year¡¯s Eve were forced to leave the inn. As such, they waited by the entrance, seething to see who the ¡°generous, condescending mysterious individual¡± was. It was impossible for them to identify him, howbeit, as a group of thirty-odd rocked up.

    Tang Ye muttered, ¡°Cheating again¡­¡±

    Ye Luo: ¡°Big Brother Ming, how did you do it? This innpares to A-grade inns in the capital!¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Brother Ming, I knew you had it in you.¡±

    Whoa, whoa, whoa, don¡¯t go saying that when you¡¯re a man with muscles and wear a stoic expression. It¡¯s creepy! Stop trying to increase my unfounded male harem!

    Dugu: ¡°And they were still I operation¡­ Brother, what sorcery did you use?¡±

    I proudly enlightened, ¡°It is a famous inn, but thanks to my connections, they were willing to sell.¡±

    Technically, I wasn¡¯t lying. Even His Majesty would just put it down as Mount Daluo¡¯s secret intelligence skills.

    ¡°Connections, huh?¡± remarked Long Zaitian. ¡°Your old man really is Zhong Hualiu.¡±

    Your old man has syphilis, cornhole! I made that all up!

    I heard Ye Luo whisper to Dugu, ¡°Ah, he sold one of the eighteen brothels to buy this ce out.¡±

    Dugu whispered back, ¡°This ce might¡¯ve been a brothel before and was just recently changed.¡±

    I can hear you two, and that¡¯s all libel!

    Long Zaitian, you¡¯re deliberately spouting nonsense because of our factions¡¯ conflict, aren¡¯t you? You want to go, do you? I ept your challenge!

    ¡°It just took some skill.¡± I waved around a stack of money notes and passed them to His Majesty. Stifling my voice, I informed, ¡°There is three hundred thousand there. Please use it for necessities, Master.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Cheating again¡­¡±

    Dugu gave me his back: ¡°His brothels are worth so much!¡±

    Ye Luo: ¡°Bad karama wille for you sooner orter if you earn that sort of dirty money.¡±

    Screw you, and screw you, too! What¡¯s with you two and brothels?

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Brother Ming, please do not forget about us once y-¡±

    ¡°You sold your eighteen brothels!¡± Long Zaitian blurted.

    I¡¯ll sell you to eighteen brothels!

    It finally dawned on me that using Mountain Monster to get me out of my pinch wasn¡¯t as helpful as it appeared at first nce. All I did was turn myself from Night Fortress¡¯ master to Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple. As for everyone else, they were more convinced than ever that I was Zhong Hualiu¡¯s illegitimate son, bloody hell.

    Ecstatic, Emperor Yuansheng whispered to me, ¡°I knew you could do it. I was right to trust you. I never worried for a second, hahaha.¡±

    Show some surprise! What sort of godly being do you perceive me to be? Don¡¯t tell me you think I took over this inn with a snap of my fingers. The three hundred thousand I spent weren¡¯t my savings but a loan I took out with my reputation as coteral.

    How much one was able to loan from ck and White Reflection also depended on their ranking. Though I didn¡¯t know where they ranked me, I suppose I was pretty high up there? I rarely used my ¡°Ming Feizhen¡± ount even though I opened my ¡°Mrs. Lightning Bolt Mr. Heavenly Overlord¡± ount since you have to pay back loans and pay interest!

    One time, I loaned over a million and spent it all within a month to feed the glutton in me. After that, I had to do them two gargantuan favours to repay my debt once I could no longer stand running from debt collectors. Henceforth, I never took out loans unless absolutely necessary. I had no choice this time as we needed to stay in Canhu Town to find Boss Shen and sneak into Refining Divine Convention. Instead of being appreciated, my ownradesmbasted me!

    Head in my hand, I led the group of morons into the inn before I lost another brain cell listening to them.

    I neither knew the inn well nor had the motivation to exin anything, so I told the warriors to go sort out the luggage and clean. I then escorted His Majesty and his bodyguards up to the biggest room for VIPs on the fourth floor.

    Exasperated, once Emperor Yuansheng wanted to begin his meeting, I gave him a palm-and-fist salute: ¡°Your subject shall leave now as he is tired.¡±

    I walked off without waiting for a response, thinking, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you nimrods cane up without me.¡±

    Mistaking I was angry with Long Zaitian andpany for slighting me, Emperor Yuansheng red daggers at Long Zaitian andmanded, ¡°You!¡±

    Long Zaitian nudged Ye Luo. Ye Luo looked to Dugu, and Dugu looked to Tang Ye. Tang Ye tapped Su Xiao on the shoulder.

    Hah, none of them will be able to help you.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Making a speakerphone with his hands, Su Xiao hollered, ¡°You can start preparing our New Year¡¯s Eve dinner.¡±

    I spun back around: ¡°What?¡±

    New. Year¡¯s. Eve. Dinner?!

 Volume 8 28 New Years Eve

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 28 New Year¡¯s Eve</h4>

    It would take a miracle for a physical altercation to not break out when there were over a hundred sects gathered inside and outside Canhu Town, except they gathered for gains, others to exact vengeances. When it did, it was guaranteed to match Divine Moon Cult¡¯s day of reckoning.

    New Year¡¯s Eve was a time for family to gather, a tradition prevalent even in the pugilistic world. ordingly, nobody, regardless of who they usually were, picked a bone with anyone else despite the situation resembling insects in a jug.

    ***

    Luo Sword Manor¡¯s members, whom resided on the main ind- Repository Ind - among the inds of Taihu Sword Indmenced New Year¡¯s Eve¡¯s dinner before sunset unlike many others. That was just them adhering to their n¡¯s rules.

    A month ago, the ingredients were delivered. Starting from two days ago, those working in the kitchen were constantly busy. Everybody in the manor speed walked around. Clearly, the strict demands extended to the quality of their dinner, as well.

    As expected, everyone arrived at the main hall on Repository Ind in time, servants sitting where servants were meant to sit and nsmen sitting in their assigned seats. While some ns werex on rules during such a major celebration, that was never the case at Luo Sword Manor.

    Luo n¡¯s dining system on New Year¡¯s Eve was analogous to a line production system, where sixteen chefs constantly served up dishes as the nsmen ate, which meant they worked from sunset until midnight. Today, however, the dishes on the table were already cold, yet nobody had picked up their chopsticks.

    Luo Yan, a stocky, tall man sporting a long beard on his rectangr face, exuded an aura that left everyone else stressed from his seat. The man the pugilistic world knew as Scorching Sun, the manager of Sun Worshipper¡¯s smithing department, guzzled cup after cup of wine, asionally shooting res at the seat reserved for Luo n¡¯s patriarch. He, understandably, wasn¡¯t the only one trying tobust the empty seat with his eyes. They merely kept a lid on it as Luo Yan, who held higher status, didn¡¯tment.

    ¡°I apologise for my tardiness, everyone.¡±

    The exmation, ¡°Finally!¡± flitted across many faces upon hearing their saviour¡¯s clear voice. Luo Siming, leader of Moon Worshipper, made a beeline for his seat. He waste owing to the mountain of tasks he needed to attend to for Refining Divine Convention, mainly appeasing the sects that arrived. Just prior to his arrival, he had to wee Wudang¡¯s patriarch.

    ¡°Young and ignorant,¡± denounced Luo Siming¡¯s second uncle, Luo Yan. ¡°Since when did we start marginalising rules to the point that nobody knew where our patriarch was on New Year¡¯s Eve?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I apologise, Second Uncle. In my rush, I forgot to notify the servants. I shall drink three cups as penance. Please forgive my oversight.¡±

    Luo Yan knocked back another cup as though he was trying to move the proceeding on at his own pace.

    Luo Siming did as he said he would, finishing three cups and then raising a toast to everyone present: ¡°I offer this toast to Luo Sword Manor. Let it be another prosperous thousand years for Luo Sword Manor!¡±

    Those in attendance raised their cups in response: ¡°For Luo Sword Manor!¡±

    The chefs on standby summoned their spirit to their eyes and backs, promptly serving up new hot dishes, awakening everyone¡¯s appetite and the celebratory atmosphere.

    ¡°It should be my father who is hosting this banquet. Unfortunately, he rarely speaks to us and never steps outside of Sword Spirit House. Elders, I beg your pardon in advance for any shorings tonight,¡± conveyed Luo Siming, repeating the paragraph he repeated every year ever since recing his father.

    Most of Luo n¡¯s nsmen perceived Luo Siming¡¯s speech to be nothing more than a formality as they were no longer convinced Luo Ming could do better than his son if he were to return to his helm.

    ¡°You might not feel embarrassed and disgraced repeating yourself annually, but as your senior, I do feel embarrassed when I hear you repeat it,¡± berated Luo Siding, eldest son of Luo Yan.

    Nobody dared to look over to Luo Yan and his twenty-eight year old son, who bore a striking resemnce to him, yet treated all things indecorously.

    ¡°Could I trouble you to enlighten me, Cousin?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m in no ce to enlighten you. That being said, something does flummox me. You im my uncle has shut himself in at Sword Spirit House, yet there are rumours that he frequently gives out orders. People buy into your story. I, to the contrary feel something is amiss.¡±

    ¡°And that would be?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to this Refining Divine Convention, Luo Sword Manor has now earned the ire of the majority of the pugilistic world, leading to us resolving innumerous conflicts daily. My question is, is this event really Uncle¡¯s idea? Can you swear you didn¡¯t make up his orders?¡±

    Ao Xue drew her sword on Luo Siding: ¡°That is uninvited impudence!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to exchange pointers with such a beautiful girl,¡± provoked Luo Siding, deflecting Ao Xue¡¯s strikes.

    Luo Siming drew his sword, Siming Sword, releasing torrid energy: ¡°Second Uncle.¡±

    ¡°Is this your way of showing that you intend to oppress our branch? Without my me Emperor, your Siming Sword is no longer one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding des.¡±

 Volume 8 29 Ultimate Weapons

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 29 Ultimate Weapons</h4>

    Ranking of weapons primarily followed the information from ck and White Reflection,terpiled into ¡°Longyuan Xuanyuan Enclyopedia¡±, which would be the standard that martial artists of the era approved of.

    ¡°Longyuan Xuanyuan Encyclopedia¡± listed all known weapons, including the forefather of weapon series. ordingly, the ten ancient swords that had yet to be seen were listed as the top ten even though such a ranking was questionable. ck and White Reflection created ranking categories of their own from Longyuan Xuanyuan Encyclopedia, such as famous weapons, sharp weapons, ancient weapons and so forth.

    Without the categories, there were no weapons as famous as the Seven Dynasty-Founding des, the seven weapons that were renowned prior to their appearance during the founding of the current dynasty. Ever since then, few ever heard of their mention again in the pugilistic world.

    One would decidedly have their name rolling off every tongue in no time if they were known to be in possession of one. In saying that, no owner with his mind intact and ego on a leash would unt them for they¡¯d draw the attention of thieves; the search for the seven illustrious des never ceased since they served in Li n¡¯s conquest. At present, the whereabouts of three des were public. The only reason they had yet to be stolen was owing to the owners being able to prove their worth with said weapons.

    Nobody could sell Pacify the World de - Golden Crow Moon Eater - if they ever stole it. Imagine trying to go up against a n that had wealth rivalling the entire nation; it just didn¡¯t work. Moreover, Gold and Silver n were notorious for being sly and petty.

    Heavenly Broadsword was named after it¡¯s wielder, the greatest broadsword wielder - Tian Dao. Unless you are the best, you simply don¡¯t challenge the best.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The third weapon, also dubbed the ultimate weapon among the seven weapons, belonged in Luo Sword Manor¡¯s hands as their n¡¯s sacred treasure. Firstly, it was borderline impossible to name anyone who didn¡¯t want a weapon Luo Sword Manor crafted. Second, try offending the military¡¯s weapon supplier and see what happens.

    The weapon touted as the ultimate weapon actually consisted of two weapons considered yin and yang counterparts - Siming Sword and me Emperor. They were wielded as a pair and were the only dual weapons among the seven. They represented the pinnacle of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s smithing and were the weapons their founder used to establish the n. Heter stipted that only the reigning patriarch would have the authority to possess both swords that, together, were called ¡°Ultimate¡±. As such, until a true patriarch was instated, the two swords were split between the two faction leaders, a scenario that nobody sawing.

    Siming Sword didn¡¯t stand out in its sheath but radiated cold qi from the de a hundred centimetres long, resembling a sword forged from a condensed waterfall. Red me Emperor¡¯s emergence countered the cold with a torrent of torrid energy along the de that was half a standard sword¡¯s de longer.

    Luo n¡¯s founder forged me Emperor from a rare bit of flint that he invested years to learn how to work with.

    Anyone who wanted to wield me Emperor had to develop their Yang Realm internal energy to decent heights, or they¡¯d torch themselves. Luo Yan learnt swordy and smithing from his elder brother since childhood. In addition, he was gifted with the ability to withstand high temperatures from a kid thanks to the traces of heat energy in his internal energy. Upon learning ¡°Scorching Sun Spirit¡±, a style only those part of Sun Character Worshippers could learn, he was essentially the strongest heat wielder before he was thirty. He spent decades after learning tobine that same energy with me Emperor.

    Luo Yan, who was a reticent man, yet was known for his ferocity and ruthlessness against enemies, spearheaded Luo Sword Manor¡¯s growth with Luo Ming in their younger days. Needless to say, Luo Yan couldn¡¯t have been inept inbat given his contributions.

    Luo Yan could quell Luo Siming¡¯s icy style without technique, so Luo Siming was inferior even though he had already spent ages perfecting his swordy.

    ¡°me Emperor and Siming Sword is a pair that Founding Emperor bestowed the title of Ultimate Weapon, yet here we are, pitting them against each other.¡±

    Luo Siming, practicing courtesy, sheathed his de then pressed his palm and fist together: ¡°Second Uncle, I would never dare to cross swords with you. New Year¡¯s Eve is a day for harmony. Please pardon me for rashly trying to end the dispute between Cousin and Ao Xue that arose due to misunderstanding.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Draw your sword,¡± demanded Luo Yan, peering into the sky.

    ¡°Sec-¡±

    Luo Yan whipped his sword, generating a fire ring as though he was a circus busker. Regardless of how polite Luo Siming might be, there was no way he would take that as a joke. ordingly, Luo Siming stepped back and adopted a guard stance.

    ¡°Luo Siming, this old one no longer cares to corroborate whether you are truly honourable and loyal or scheming. I have no intention of mming you with libel. You are not the challenger today; I am the challenger.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ Second Uncle?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you from being Luo n¡¯s patriarch. I won¡¯t stop you if you wish to be the supreme leader of the martial world, either. However, as long as this old one is still in charge of the smithing faction¡¯s Sun Character Worshipper, the smithing department will heed hismand. If you want to host your Refining Divine Convention or whatever, you¡¯ll have to step over my body! Make your move, Young Master!¡±

    Glossary

    Longyuan Xuanyuan Encyclopedia - I get that it¡¯s likely a mouthful for a number of readers, but I can¡¯t do much about the name because it¡¯s a proper name as real geographic locations are.

 Volume 8 30 Visitor on New Years Eve

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 30 Visitor on New Year¡¯s Eve</h4>

    Maybe it was a code word. Maybe it wasn¡¯t. Either way, those with Luo Yan clutched their weapons hidden under the table as soon as they heard, ¡°Make your move¡±, and Luo Siming¡¯s voice was drowned out amongst the sounds of their weapons and booming voices.

    It was normal for there to be less cksmiths on Repository Ind than there were guards from the swordy department. That being said, the numbers between them were fairly even as the dinner was limited to certain personnel.

    The branch family members and rtives knew better than to take any action, especially since the two departments¡¯ members in attendance were those who¡¯d take down as many as they could before they fell even if they were fighting unarmed against a fully-equipped battalion.

    Luo Yan¡¯s aplishments and contributions to the sect granted him prestige in the sect that others wouldn¡¯t dare to challenge. Nevertheless, regardless of his skill, he was always ¡°Second Master¡±. Meanwhile, Luo Siming, a direct descendant of Luo Ming, already had a shoe in the door for session after proving hispetence in thest few years. Still, he was only a ¡°stand-in¡± patriarch. ordingly, there were sound reasons to support either of them, but there was also no point in interfering when the wielders of Siming Sword and me Emperor would unquestionably have the final say.

    ¡°What happened?! Father was the one who gave the order to host Refining Divine Formation. You and I always go to collect his letters from Sword Spirit House and read them together, Second Uncle. You know as well as I do why we are hosting the event. Why are you iming that I decided to host it on my own? What do you mean I have to kill you?¡± Luo Siming erupted.

    ¡°Take up your sword. me Emperor does not cut down unarmed men,¡± asserted Luo Yan.

    Why is Second Uncle making these misleading ims when he knows as well as I do about Refining Divine Convention? Why are they armed when we aren¡¯t supposed to have weapons on us tonight? We have plenty of guards if we¡¯re worried about someone infiltrating. Second Uncle must¡¯ve coerced them with his status. Is he¡­ staging a mutiny due to discontentment with me leading in Father¡¯s absence? Is he jealous Father left the n in my hands when he is superior to me in all facets?

    I¡¯ve done my best to lead. I defused all of your subordinates¡¯ attempts to heckle me for your son without stepping on your toes. I¡¯ve always taken a step back for the sake of maintaining harmony, yet¡­ you refuse to acknowledge me. What is there to think about, then?

    Luo Siming whipped his right hand down and drew Siming Sword so fast that it gave off the impression that the sword drew itself out, whipping out dozens of ice steaks faster than Luo Yan had time to study.

    Luo Yan took the most practical route, swinging me Emperor in the safest arc that would ensure he intercepted Luo Siming¡¯s strike - Mystic me Dead End, a defensive technique from me Emperor Swordy that also coated the wielder in a defensiveyer of mes.

    Luo Siming uncorked a thirteen-hitbo, switching from horizontal to vertical attacks, demonstrating he had learnt more than the apanying manual for Siming Sword.

    The style crafted for me Emperor focused on big movements, thereby being a power style. ¡°Dragon me¡± was the name given to the swinging techniques as it was believed that the trail of mes left behind resembled the movements of dragons. Consequently, regardless of how fast Luo Siming was, prating Luo Yan¡¯s sweeping moves was an ordeal in itself.

    Luo Siming focused the cold energy in Siming Sword to the tip of the sword, resisting the heat to execute his intended attack once he was within a hundred metres of Luo Yan, thrusting onto the body of me Emperor. As a result, the two were saved from each other¡¯s attacks. It was bound to be a protracted fight between for they were too familiar with each other¡¯s style.

    ¡°Please stop.¡±

    They suddenly saw a vague silhouette enter the hall fast enough to hear the wind whistle over the sounds everyone present made. Luo Siming and Luo Yan both waived the exchange for the visitor, hesitant to catch any potential attack travelling that quickly. The speed of whatever it was couldpare to a projectile andnded with a bang! Upon close inspection, it turned out to be a mere plum blossom.

    ¡°Announce yourself!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s gorgeous¡­¡± someone blurted as he watched the maiden make her entrance.

    Luo Yan muttered, ¡°Vajra Snow. Killing with a leaf¡­ May this old one ask if it is Metal Yu Feiyuan?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Indeed, it is,¡± the maiden replied in a monotone voice.

 Volume 8 31 Metal Yu Feiyuan

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 31 Metal Yu Feiyuan</h4>

    To make room for her thick, clunky silver armguards, Yu Feiyuan had no choice but to split her forearm guards off from her upper arm guards, revealing her deceptively thin arms and abating the allure of a womanpletely clothed. In spite of the weight of her metal armour, she moved as though it was mere cloth clothing.

    Yu Feiyuan, the tallest of her sisters in Wutong Jin Yuxuan, had her neck, corbone and t belly generously on disy, yet more attention was devoted to her assets that exceeded what was typically seen on women who pursued rigid power styles.

    Years ago, ¡°The Demoness¡± and Yu Feiyuan were consideredpetitors for the top rank in the northern regions of the martial world. Ever since The Demoness¡¯ news started to fade, Yu Feiyuan rose to stand atop all other female pugilists.

    Yu Feiyan meandered forward, disying the long legs that had be a token of her identity and trait oftenpared to Li Hongzhuang¡¯s famously long legs. Like her upper body, she wore silver-metal boots coined ¡°Feiyuan White Boots¡± after the sound of her footsteps onto battlefields in the pugilistic world garnered fame as the announcement that the conqueror had arrived. Listening to the footsteps of someone who might consider them untouchable, everyone present muffled their voices and paused.

    Piercing straight through with her eyes, wearing her signature aloof countenance and, in a typically emotionless tone, she expressed, ¡°Yu Feiyuan pays her respects.¡±

    While Luo Yan¡¯s booming voice and actions summoned silence to the dining area, Yu Feiyuan¡¯s stoic tone produced the same effect seemingly effortlessly. Unlike when she called for a ceasefire upon arrival, her introduction didn¡¯t echo, creating the impression that she pierced through the silence and delivered her thoughts straight into their ears. Evidently, she had modified her voice using some sort of technique.

    First to regain awareness of his surroundings, Luo Yan cated me Emperor and held it marginally away from his body, grip solid, so that he could intercept any attack if need be: ¡°Greetings Interim Patriarch Yu. Repository Ind has been reserved for Luo n¡¯s New Year¡¯s Eve banquet tonight. If guests are not taken care of in Canhu Town, they are to spend the night on another ind for guests.¡± Luo Yan nced Luo Siming¡¯s way and added, ¡°Might this old one have the honour of asking for what purpose you are on Repository Ind?¡±

    Due to gender taboos, Luo Siming never set foot in the small lodge Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples stayed. Hence, he knew as much as Luo Yan did as to why Yu Feiyuan dropped in. Nheless, he exercised formality, inquiring, ¡°It has been a long time. Have you been well, Stand-in Patriarch Yu?¡±

    ¡°Who is in charge here? This great one does not converse with two people at once,¡± conveyed Yu Feiyuan, slipping in a condemning tone.

    Usually, Luo Siming wouldn¡¯t have responded to someoneing to his ce and making demands of how to do things. Because Luo Yan got on his nerves, however, he performed a palm-and-fist salute: ¡°Luo n¡¯s patriarch has always been in charge of Repository Ind. You can speak to this one.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch, not stand-in patriarch. You have no prerogative to represent the n. I refuse to acknowledge you,¡± scoffed Luo Siding.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°If I can¡¯t subdue you within a hundred exchanges, you can do as you please with me. You ept?¡± Luo Siming snapped.

    Informed that they were closely matched, Luo Siding lifted a foot up to ce in front, only for Luo Yan to stop him. Having crossed swords with Luo Siming, Luo Yan could confidently say that neither Luo Siming nor himself could defeat the other within a hundred exchanges. It would take two hundred exchanges for one to overwhelm the other and over three hundred exchanges to force the other into submission using superior internal strength. In other words, Luo Siding was incorrectly informed.

    The two strongestbatants present were Luo Yan, who had a hunch as to what the purpose of Yu feiyuan¡¯s was, and Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°Oh, so the hundred exchanges were only offered because he has backup. Has an outsider evere here on New Year¡¯s Eve? Luo Siming really thinks he¡¯s the rule now,¡± slighted one of the smithing department¡¯s disciples, the others simpering along.

    The sight of injured disciples of the swordy department, who were caught off guard, spurred Luo Siming to fire back, ¡°When have members of Luo n attacked each other, let alone on New Year¡¯s eve? Would you care to enlighten me, Second Uncle?¡±

    ¡°Listen: bringing in a helper won¡¯t save you. Hand over Siming Sword, or this isn¡¯t over.¡±

    ¡°Luo Yan, you betraying Luo n?!¡± Luo Siming brayed, no longer putting up with the tant challenge issued.

    Luo Yan cockily shook his head and then asked, ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, you always go where there is evil to be purged. Are you looking to vanquish this old one to make your New Year¡¯s Eve more delightful?¡±

    Luo Yan deliberately chose particr vocabry as Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s motto was to vanquish evil - evident from the borrowed Buddhism term ¡°Vajra¡± in Vajra Snow. Their prominence as vanquishers of evil arose from the battle where Zi Wutong stormed into Heishui, Beijiang, in a fit of rage, ughtering evildoers. By the same ount, their disciples were renowned for loving to fight and demonstrating expertise inbat. Legend has it that they trigger fights wherever they go.

    There was a custom among escortpanies in Hangzhou, whereby they pray at Ancient Moon Convent, located five kilometres away from Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s headquarters. Praying to Buddha was a popr custom; what made it special was that they also researched Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples¡¯ whereabouts so that they could swerve around the disciples. The veterans called the practice the life-saving ritual.

    Yu Feiyuan gave Luo Yan a palm-and-fist salute: ¡°You speak in jest. You are a hero and an elder, not evil. This one never fights with those from orthodox sect, and tonight will not be an exception.¡±

    Though Yu Feiyuan was there to assist Luo Siming, he had no means of calling for reinforcements after the group present was caught by surprise and hurt.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, if you want to stick your nose in our n affairs, you need to show us why you should listen to you!¡± Luo Yan blustered, more than willing to pit his skills against Yu Feiyuan¡¯s since they shared a simr style.

    Luo Yanbusted a trail of air that led to Yu Feiyuan and concentrated energy in his hand. Thus, Yu Feiyuan instinctively reacted, flicking her wrist.

    ¡°Why are there no signs of ¡®Imminent Wind and Rain¡¯?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ao Xue queried.

    Imminent Wind and Rain was a phenomenon noticed when one used Vajra Divine Might. More specifically, a suction force would be produced,monly inducing an oppressive sensation in the opponent. Educated fighters looked out for the phenomenon when up against Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples as it was the cue for them to evade.

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t see the phenomenon for the reason that Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t muster up extra energy. Instead of turning to cinders as most expected, Yu Feiyuan stopped Luo Yan dead in his tracks. From far away, it would seem as though they were trying to crush an invisible wall between their hands. In reality, it waspressed air Yu Feiyuan generated with her flick.

    Her internal energy is ridiculous! Wait, no! This is Vajra Divine Might!

    ¡°If we continue fighting, damage is inexorable. Please be careful, Hero Luo.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan exhaled, drawing her energy back a tad and then dispersing Luo Yan¡¯s force away from their bodies. Moments after the force between them dispersed, Luo Yan felt another surge of energy that swept him off bnce, forcing him to back tuck backwards as a means of avoiding damage. To his surprise, the energy wasn¡¯t a burst but a flowing stream, forcing him to tuck higher and higher, matching the roof¡¯s height.

    If she sends me out with this one strike, I might as well walk around with my face covered up, let alone demand Siming Sword!

    Luo Yan countered with his own surge of energy, squeezing himself in between two opposing forces, thereby remaining airborne prior to his slow descent, a feat that had Luo n apuding.

    As far as Luo Yan was aware, Vajra Divine Might basically killed upon execution. Never did he imagine it could be controlled as technically as Yu Feiyaun demonstrated.

    The secret to grasping the essence of Vajra Divine Might was the ¡°snow¡± phrase in Vajra Snow Divine Style because ¡°Snow Technique¡± was theponent for controlling Vajra Divine Might. Theplexity of it took Zi Wutong nearly forty years to control at will. Once one reached Free Realm, every strike one threw would be enhanced with Vajra Divine Might in addition to having the freedom to control their speed of execution. Due to the difficulty of mastering Vajra Divine Might and Zi Wutong¡¯s strict criterion, she only let Yu Feiyuan learn it.

    Luo Yan knew better than anyone that he lost and would die if Yu Feiyuan intended to end him. In fact, he was already meditating to normalise the flow of qi in him and was still unable to speak.

    Glossary

    Yu Feiyuan refers to herself as ¡°This great one¡± or ¡°ore-sama¡± for those familiar with Japanese terms. If it¡¯s not obvious, it¡¯s quite some way of referring to yourself.

 Volume 8 32 Refining Divine Confusion A Blunder Among the Jobs

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 32 Refining Divine Confusion - A Blunder Among the Jobs</h4>

    Worried his father¡¯s injury shut them down, Luo Siding hastily blurted, ¡°What are you standing there for?! Are we just going to let an outsider push us around?!¡±

    One of those staying out of the scuffle between Luo Siming and Luo Yan spearheaded a charge. Yu Feiyuan slowly pulled her brows in - presumably a sign she was contemting how to respond - when, suddenly, another maiden outside blustered, ¡°Just you try attacking my senior sister!¡±

    Argent Moon Qingluan came in armed with her big cudgel, while Lightning Rain Huofeng wore her rage on her sleeve. Following behind the pair emitting pr-opposite auras were another eight disciples equipped with swords or cudgels.

    The group mopped the floor with Luo n¡¯s members, ensuring they did so technically and deftly. The upper echelon of the branch families were the only ones who could hold their ground against the eight, so they were lucky Lian Qingluan and Huofeng didn¡¯t intervene.

    Luo Siming thought the disciples fighting were only there for re since Lian Qingluan and Yu Feiluan didn¡¯t introduce them but surprise, surprise. He changed his opinion, surmising they were an elite team. In reality, the twenty-odd disciples Matriarch Zi chose were chosen with as much thought as drawing names of those who didn¡¯t go out on the previous mission out of a hat.

    Those familiar with Wutong Jin Yuxuan deemed the current generation the strongest in their history. Matriarch Zi only had three direct disciples, while others trained the remaining disciples. Even so, they praised Matriarch Zi for being an excellent patriarch capable of harnessing such talent from disciples she didn¡¯t personally tutor. In truth, Matriarch Zi¡¯s insight shouldn¡¯t have been attributed to their growth but their senior sister, Yu Feiyuan, who was highly demanding, so demanding that they called her ¡°The Devil Instructor¡±.

    Yu Feiyuan wasn¡¯t as cold or strict as people described her to be. She merely followed what her shifu¡¯s instructions to the T and was used to her shifu¡¯s standards. Ever since she took up the mantle as head martial arts coach at the sect, the disciples¡¯ improved at an exponential rate. She also took up leadership when her shifu was training in seclusion or travelling, which were activities that Matriarch Zi often engaged in.

    When Yu Feiyuan led squads on missions, such as raiding bandits¡¯ dens, she would never assist her juniors regardless of circumstances. She never avenged her juniors when they were defeated, either. Instead, she provided advice until they sessfullypleted their job.

    Matriarch Zi once said, ¡°There is time for work and rest.¡± Ever since Matriarch Zi mentioned the quote, Yu Feiyuan demanded disciples assemble in the training grounds at sunset to train their internal strength, swordy and various weapons until the yellow ball of fire changed to hues of orange and then almost tangerine. Right after that, it was time for reading.

    Disciples of Wutong Jin Yuxuan had breakfast before the sun kissed mountain peaks and had lunch at noon; however, they weren¡¯t permitted to eat once the sun prised thest of its amber limbs over the rooftops.

    Disciples had to turn in on time and sleep for eight hours. Should they fail, they were expected to perform one thousand sword swings and a hundred punches as punishment. Some disciples didn¡¯t take the threat serious until Yu Feiyuan forewent sleep to catch those not sleeping at night.

    Matriarch Zi never intended to implement such a strict schedule. Howbeit, Yu Feiyuan kept it up. It might¡¯ve been dull and repetitive, but it worked a treat. Lian Qingluan¡¯s ability to utilise Vajra Divine Might wasn¡¯t because she was gifted but because Yu Feiyuan trained her hard. Those reasons were why nobody, besides Matriarch Zi, was as respected as Yu Feiyuan in the sect.

    ¡°Out of the way!¡± Lian Qingluan threw Luo n¡¯s members off bnce and scared them off with one mighty sweep.

    ¡°Anyone who challenges Wutong Jin Yuxuan will go down!¡± blustered Huofeng, freezing them with her booming voice.

    Since Luo Yan was still recovering, Luo Siding stepped up, ribbing, ¡°All that confidence is because Wutong Jin Yuxuan was backing you, huh? Sure is easy leeching, hey? Life must be good when you can ask a group of nuns to save your behind without any effort.¡±

    The only nun, Huofeng, widened her eyes, osting, ¡°Uncouth people spout uncouth libel. Come see if I need a second breath toy you out!¡±

    Arrogance isn¡¯t a synonym for moronic. Hence, Luo Siding scampered back ever so slightly, still sporting a wry smile: ¡°This isn¡¯t Hangzhou. If you want to start here, you better check to see if you can afford to affront Luo n.¡±

    Luo Siming reproached, ¡°Luo Siding, my guests won¡¯t oppose our n. Should you continue with your insults and provocations, I will put you in your ce. I am Luo n¡¯s young master and patriarch right now. I don¡¯t think I will be challenging all of Luo n if I¡¯m putting someone stepping out of line back in line.¡± Luo Siming needed to put it out there in order to stress to everyone that he was still in charge.

    ¡°Shut it!¡± Luo Yan, having recovered, stepped forward to greet Yu Feiyuan. ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, this old one is grateful you held back.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan had qualms about killing someone from Luo n on Repository Ind. That said, gravely injuring Luo Yan was as simple as snapping her fingers when three Luo Yans wouldn¡¯t offer her a challenge. The fact that she gave him more than a quarter during their exchange was a demonstration of confidence that she could maim them on a whim. He had no reason to remain hostile to them when the three senior disciples had shown up and easily mowed their forces down.

    ¡°May this old one ask how you came to our ind? Was it his nephew who guided you?¡± inquired Luo Yan, obviously prying for Luo Siming and Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s connection.

    Yu Feiyuan shook her head: ¡°No. It is shameful to admit, but this great one and her martial sisters should be attending a banquet on Flying Fish Ind. This one is sorry about trespassing onto the ind without permission, the scene caused here and hurting your disciples. She would like to beg your pardon, Young Master and Elder Luo. This one came here for an enquiry that he would like to seek rification for from your patriarch. She apologises for interrupting your training session¡­¡±

    Only then did it ur to Yu Feiyuan that the disciples of the smithing department were brandishing weapons and aggressive, while the disciples of the swordy department were bleeding and seething.

    ¡°Why are so many people hurt? Were you also training? Mm¡­¡± Yu Feiyuan turned to Huofeng and, with a stoic face, instructed, ¡°Second Sister, they are training on New Year¡¯s Eve and even training with real weapons, only stopping until they are bleeding. This must be why they are one of the Seven Champion White Princes. We must keep up with them. Henceforward, we will also spar seriously.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As cultured as Luo Siming was, even he found Yu Feiyuan¡¯s words scathingly insulting. Her martial sisters knew better than anyone that she wasn¡¯t ying around, though.

    ¡°Good god, we might as well kill ourselves while we¡¯re at it!¡± thought Huofeng. ¡°They¡¯re actually scrapping, First Sister! They¡¯re not training; they¡¯re trying to take each other¡¯s heads off!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re scrapping?¡± Head tilted, Yu Feiyuan questioned, ¡°Why? Aren¡¯t they from the same n?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t let people know my senior sister is a durd,¡± Huofeng inwardly told herself, deciding to step in as Yu Feiyuan¡¯s recement. ¡°We¡¯re equally puzzled as to why they are swinging weapons at a banquet. Young Master Luo, would you mind exining?¡±

    Luo Siming red daggers at Luo Yan and Luo Siding: ¡°I would like to know myself. Second Uncle, could you enlighten us?¡±

    The hall turned so quiet that everyone¡¯s breaths were audible.

    ¡°All right¡­ Luo Siming, Refining Divine Convention will introduce chaos into the martial world and bring a disaster to our n. This old one cannot let you go through with it.¡±

    ¡°That is a preposterous im. First and foremost, I am not the one holding the event; Father is the one who instructed us to hold it. Although he is training in Sword Spirit House, we still deliver letters for him to pen down directives if he has any. You and I open his letters together. Why, all of a sudden, has it be an event I am trying to host? Second Uncle, do you swear in the presence of our elders, disciples and Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples that I have told any lie?¡±

    ¡°That is true. You and I personally open Big Brother¡¯s letters together, and it is his handwriting.¡±

    ¡°Given that is the case, why are you using me of igniting turbulence in the martial world? Also, are you using my father of trying to harm Luo n?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Big Brother ordered it. With that said, I am not convinced it is his will! Ever since we promulgated Refining Divine Convention, how many of our disciples have been challenged and hurt? A hundred at the very least. We are basically challenging half of the martial world. Though we might have a military, the imperial court does not like us mobilising our forces, let alone mobilising them to ughter people in the pugilistic world. Are all of these sacrifices for one weapon worth it?

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have bothered with this if the directive didn¡¯te from my brother. I¡¯d like to see you host the event without our smithing department. Good luck manufacturing a weapon. I have constantly warned you to be cautious and offered advice to reduce the conflicts that would ur. Look at what¡¯s been taking ce in thest month. There have been over a hundred skirmishes between groups travelling to Huzhou. Luo Sword Manor is a n of heroes. What are we doing? Lighting the mes of war? I¡¯ve known Big Brother all my life. He would never like this.¡±

    Luo Siming was privy to theplications arising. He, nheless, believed his father had his reasons for the directive. That was not to mention he was the obedient type when it came to his father.

    ¡°Second Uncle, we both know Father gave themand, though.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it is his idea. Maybe he¡¯s gone senile. Either way, we can¡¯t proceed with it!¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle, you are now publicly defying Patriarch¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch this and Patriarch that.¡± Simpering, Luo Siding went on, ¡°He hasn¡¯t shown himself in ages. If he¡¯s training in seclusion, where does he find the mood to butt into n affairs? This event is massive, yet all the minute details are taken care of. Is he training in seclusion or designing this event?¡±

    ¡°Luo Siding, what are you insinuating?¡±

    ¡°What am I insinuating? It¡¯s not called seclusion if you¡¯re involving yourself in every affair. After giving the order, he hasn¡¯t shown up once. Uncle would be able to give order to this situation if he made an appearance. We could refine deities and spirits if we wanted. How doesn¡¯t this look suspicious? Cousin, you take care of Uncle¡¯s meals, right? You also assign cleaning duties, right? With your status, you could easily slip a bit of something in here and a little something in there, right?¡±

    Luo Siding had no time to react to Luo Siming unsheathing his sword and grazing his neck. All he heard was a crisp sound as Yu Feiyuan stepped in to pull Luo Siding out of Siming Sword¡¯s range and shield herself with her arm guard.

    Luo Siming took in two breaths to calm himself: ¡°Thank you for stopping my rash actions, Interim Patriarch Yu. Luo Siding, if you dare to make baseless usations or throw insults, I won¡¯t give you a quarter. I have enough power to exile people from the n if necessary.¡±

    Forget Luo Siding being rattled, even Luo Yan was shocked Luo Siming could move so fast and ruthlessly.

    ¡°Although Ding¡¯er said things that should not be said, he reinforced this old one¡¯s point. While we may have opened the letter together, your department took care of Sword Spirit House. Now that everyone is here, I want to ask, is my brother still alive? If you im he is, I want to see him to validate your im.¡±

    ¡°Of course he is still alive! Father is a formidable martial artist and is not suffering from any injuries. Where does this senile ime from? If you wish to see him¡­ Father stressed he would kill anyone who trespassed into Sword Spirit House. If you are not afraid, you are more than wee to test him, Second Uncle.¡±

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t have a dispute to offer Luo Siming¡¯s righteous deration. He also knew about his brother¡¯s authoritative nature; his brother wouldn¡¯t let even biological brothers challenge his authority. Still, he locked eyes with Luo Siming, both trying to search for doubt in the other.

    ¡°I will believe you for now.¡±

    ¡°Haha, since when did my father¡¯s healthe into question? Second Uncle, your ims continue to grow oundish.¡±

    ¡°The problem we face remains. Until we can find a solution to these ongoing conflicts, I am vehemently against holding the event.¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle, you are really out of character today. Might I be able to ask if something happened?¡±

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll tell you. In exchange, I want you to answer me. Two months ago, Golden Phoenix Spear Sect, the sect that passes down a spear with a three-legged crow for the spear tip, in Shanxi was exterminated brutally. All the assants took was the spear tip. Last month, Shen Yuan, master of One-Character Quick Sword Sect was killed, and the sword passed down in his family was stolen. Three days ago, someone severed the finger of my friend, Nan Yizhi, also known as One Finger of the South, to take his cold-metal ring. Do these incidents have anything to do with Refining Divine Convention?!¡±

    ¡°I genuinely do not know, although I did hear about them. Even I want to find out who the culprits behind these despicable cases are. I was not involved in them in any shape or form.¡±

    Huofeng pointed out, ¡°Why did you connect the incidents to Refining Divine Convention when none of them took ce in Huzhou?¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s gaze fell on Luo Simingparably to an act of violence, while it was cordial when it shifted to Huofeng: ¡°This old one has obtained the blueprint of the sword intended to be forged at Refining Divine Convention. The weapon requires the four rarest materials, including ck Aurum, Darksteel, Sea Steal and Snow Spirit Spider Silk, to forge. Ever since obtaining the blueprint, this old one constantly hears of cases with precious materials involved. This old one, therefore, isn¡¯t convinced they aren¡¯t rted to the event.¡±

    ¡°That is not enough to suggest Young Master Luo is rted,¡± Yu Feiyuan stated. ¡°This one came to ask about this. We discovered Western Region¡¯s swordsman, Lu Wangshu, passed out on the side of the road in Canhu Town early this morning. His sword, a sword forged from ck aurum, was missing.

    ¡°Initially, this one assumed someone attending Refining Divine Convention was behind it and wished to discuss it with Luo n. It now seems that someone robbed him based on what you said.¡±

    ¡°I suspected my nephew was the mastermind since he is the only capable of aplishing the task and has a motive to do so. If my brother has been harmed as my son proposed, then it could exin the spate of crimes. As my nephew and I are the only ones with the blueprint, I suspected him as it was not me. Now, though, this old one believes Siming is innocent based on his reaction just now. This means¡­ there might be others collecting materials.¡±

    ¡°And, they must be incredibly formidable,¡± added Yu Feiyuan, presenting a piece of torn clothing, the hole in it smothered in blood around the edges. ¡°The only wound on Swordsman Lu Wangshu was where this piece of clothing came from.¡±

    Luo Yan noted, ¡°It would take this old one more than fifty exchanges to defeat Swordsman Lu Wangshu, yet they defeated him and took his weapon in one technique?¡±

    From what everyone assessing the hole could tell, the blow Lu Wangshu absorbed was a punch¡­

 Volume 8 33 A Gentleman Loses His Mind to the Goddess

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 33 A Gentleman Loses His Mind to the Goddess</h4>

    Luo Yan did step out of line, but he had a justified reason. Luo Siming couldn¡¯t actually execute or exile everyone from the smithing department and, therefore, had to drop the case. Nheless, the banquet had to be called off after the scuffle.

    Yu Feiyuan and her juniors nursed the disciples of Luo n they hurt out of guilt for their assault and, consequently, stayed on Repository Ind. Of course, it wasn¡¯t something normal, not that anyone could convince Yu Feiyuan to leave it to them; the disciples of Luo n certainly didn¡¯t have any qualms letting gorgeous maidens take care of them.

    Luo Siming was unwilling to stay on the ind. Unfortunately, he was a resident of the ind. Though he wished to pay Kuang Lu and Young Master Ling a visit, Yu Feiyuan informed him they slept themselves with wine. In the end, he returned to Canhu Town with Ao Xue.

    Though the ce Luo Siming stayed in Canhu Town was called a vi, it was but a sojourn ce for guests attending Refining Divine Convention to use. Typically, no young master of a big sect, let alone the son of a White Prince stay in such a modest dwelling.

    Luo Siming paced back and forth in the backyard, in no mood to appreciate the draft and silver beauty in the velvet sky, for he felt there were so many things he had to deal with, yet nothing would work out as he desired. New Year¡¯s Eve was supposed to be a joyous asion with one¡¯s family, yet he spent it duelling with his family and trying to fend off usations. He seldom faced problems he couldn¡¯t solve and finally realised he couldn¡¯t solve it when it got to him.

    As Luo Siming strolled around, he, to his surprise, suddenly found himself at Shen Yiren¡¯s door.

    I¡¯ve been so busy recently that I haven¡¯t had time to visit her. Wh-why did Ie here of all ces? I-it¡¯s inappropriate for a man to be in a woman¡¯s room at this time of the night. I wonder if they¡¯ve been taking care of her properly. She¡¯ll be in trouble if they don¡¯t take care of her properly¡­ No, no, I mustn¡¯t disrepute her. I can visit during the day.

    Upon hearing quick Ao Xue and a sword servant¡¯s hasty footsteps encroaching, Luo Siming worried he couldn¡¯t exin himself. Thus, he burst into Shen Yiren¡¯s room to hide and held his breath. In the end, the two merely walked past Shen Yiren¡¯s room.

    Thanks a lot, you two! I¡¯ve just sullied both of us!

    Looking over his shoulder, Luo Siming didn¡¯t notice the wrinkles around his nose and forehead smooth out, suddenly feeling relieved Ao Xue only went past.

    ¡°Sleeping Maiden¡­ Today¡­ I¡­¡±

    Luo Siming couldn¡¯t exin why he had an urge to speak to Shen Yiren once he set his eyes on her. Anyway, once he began, words kept rolling off his tongue, one after another, recounting the events of the banquet that ended up a big mess. He then shared his history, starting from when he took up the role of patriarch to the present, never once taking his eyes off Shen Yiren.

    ¡°People look at where I am now and downy, even ignoring, what it took for me to get here. They have no idea how much pressure I felt when I took up the mantle at the age of fourteen. I had to keep motivating myself to keep putting one foot in front of me over and over. I had to set the bar higher for myself than what others set for me. When I discovered my second uncle and cousin were monitoring my every move, searching for every opportunity to pull me down, I realised just how isted I was.

    ¡°As a leader, I can¡¯t show anyone how lonely and lost I often feel. Perhaps I couldn¡¯t tell you this if we met when you are awake. Perhaps speaking to you now allows me to feel secure about you not judging me. ¡°

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I¡­ Did I not mention you thesest few days solely because I¡¯ve been busy, or have I been using work as an instrument to suppress my desire to think about you? Am I just afraid to admit¡­ I have developed feelings for you?

    Luo Siming¡¯s eyes travelled to Shen Yiren¡¯s full, moist lips and gulped. He recalled Reverend Zha saying, ¡°¡­You need only find someonepetent enough to feed her the pill via mouth to mouth and then direct it down her oesophagus using their true qi.¡±

    ¡°Did the heavens¡­ bring her here to me¡­ because the string of fate ties us together?¡±

    Luo Siming nkly took out a pill from his mouth and, after a brief think, put it in his mouth. He moved his face in close to Shen Yiren¡¯s, when he suddenly heard, ¡°Hey! Hey! Luo Siming! Luo Siming! Fourth Brother! Get out here already!¡±

    Luo Siming burst out of Shen Yiren¡¯s room as if it caught fire and raced to the hall the cries came from.

    ¡°Br-Brother, what happened?¡± Luo Siming inquired of the chubby man.

    ¡°Do you really need to ask? My wife eloped!¡±

 Volume 8 34 The Green Hat Donor is Performing at Bright Jade Restaurant

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 34 The Green Hat Donor is Performing at Bright Jade Restaurant</h4>

    ¡°Brother, slow down. Please take a seat first,¡± urged Luo Siming.

    ¡°You need to slow down. Your legs and arms aren¡¯t even coordinated anymore, hahaha. Come sit down,¡± responded Green Prince, beaming. ¡°Why are you so flustered and breathing erratically? Are you really my brother?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ Sorry, I was, umm, changing. I did not want to keep you waiting, so I was in a bit of a rush.

    Green Prince nodded as though he epted the exnation. Upon seeing Luo Siming¡¯s face, though, he blurted, ¡°Lies!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Still feigning? Hahaha. You know how elite and wise I am. I can¡¯t be fooled. Fourth Brother, you didn¡¯t change. What¡¯s the treasure you¡¯re hiding in your room? Sharing is caring.¡±

    ¡°H-how did you know, Brother?¡±

    Green Prince whacked his thigh: ¡°I knew it! What were you eating? Fess up.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what was I eating? Oh, I have yet to have dinner today. I was not eating.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s odd. Adopted Father is always praising Fourth Young Master here for being prim and organised, while I always get denounced. If he was here, we¡¯d be in for it,¡± responded Green Prince, wiping some green, sweet powder from a green bean cake by Luo Siming¡¯s mouth. ¡°My brother knows I like green bean cakes, yet he¡¯s not sharing with his brother. How tragic.¡±

    Luo Siming, of course, knew the sweet powder wasn¡¯t from a green bean cake but the medicine Reverend Zha provided for Shen Yiren.

    Although Luo Siming gave the four doctors the chance to do what they could for Shen Yiren, promising to reward whoever¡¯s approach produced the best results, he hesitated to feed Shen Yiren the concoction Reverend Zhao supplied, citing it would disrepute Shen Yiren.

    Either way, Luo Siming ended up swallowing as he frantically careened from Shen Yiren¡¯s room but only realised it now. He was understandably worried about after effects as Reverend Zha¡¯s introduction of the pill was concerning, to say the least - not that he could do anything about at this point.

    ¡°What did youe here for, Brother?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Oh, right. I was so focused on your green bean cake that I forgot about my green hat. I need your head, Brother.¡±

    Luo Siming smiled, promising, ¡°I am at your service, Brother.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear.¡±

    During one of Emperor Yuansheng covert trips in his younger days, he brought the young Green Prince along to Luo Sword Manor. The story of a maid working at Luo n telling the young Green Prince to buzz off when he tried to court her was a big deal, but Luo Ming¡¯s adoption of Green Prince was also a big deal. Ever since then, Green Prince was close to Luo n.

    Despite being the son of Emperor Yuansheng, Green Prince always addressed Luo Siming¡¯s two elder brothers as elder brothers of his own.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t just leave Green Prince by the wayside because of the Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation prophecy but also because Green Prince was on the meaty side. For the same reason, Green Prince was never regarded as a candidate for the throne. As a result, Green Prince¡¯s mother wasn¡¯t a fan of her own son, either. Since none of his parents of rtives thought much of him, Green Prince treated Luo Ming as though thetter was his actual father.

    Luo Ming, surprisingly, liked his adopted son for being a generous and tolerant man. Consequently, an oath intended to be nothing more than mutual gains ended up having an emotionalponent develop over time, something no one sawing. By the same ount, Green Prince was closer to Luo Siming than his own brothers.

    ¡°My mistress I married not long ago eloped!¡±

    In the past, Luo Siming felt sorry for Green Prince whenever thetter¡¯s wives eloped in less than three days. Eventually, Luo Siming found them somon that he wasn¡¯t sure how to feel.

    ¡°Just let me know what you¡¯d like me to do, Brother.¡±

    ¡°What do I want you to do? I want the ssic penalty imposed on them: cucking stools!¡±

    The cucking stools threat Green Prince made became a fable in the world some time ago. For as many times as he had dered it, he never once caught any of the couples who eloped as he was so tolerant that he would just let them go. Having said that, there were some seemingly magical coincidences. Anyhow, what exnation could he offer besides it not being his fate to find them?

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve dug up, the one who stole my wife is a musician who ys the flute and erhu. Musicians are the type to never get anywhere in life besides putting on airs like they¡¯re able toprehend some abstract nonsense nobody else canprehend. He must have so much free time from unemployment that he came after my wife.¡±

    That didn¡¯t surprise Luo Siming for every man who ever stole Green Prince¡¯s wives was never anyone impressive - such as the gardener.

    ¡°They haven¡¯t left Canhu Town yet. I heard he intends to perform onest time tonight before he leaves. When I get my hands on them, I swear I¡¯ll put them on cucking stools. I don¡¯t have enough men with me. I mean, yeah, I have adepts with me, but I don¡¯t have enough men to be intimidating. Bring a few men with me to capture them.¡±

    ¡°I can do that, but do you know where he will be performing?¡±

    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Green Prince extended three fat fingers: ¡°Bright Jade Restaurant!¡±

 Volume 8 35 New Years Eve A Lucky Sign

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 35 New Year¡¯s Eve - A Lucky Sign</h4>

    ¡°So-called New Year¡¯s Eve dinners are the sumptuous meals in a year¡± - Ming Feizhen.

    So far, I had eight pears, four apples and five tes of refreshments for my entr¨¦e. Crunching peanuts in my mouth, I conveyed, ¡°Thanks to Master¡¯s grace, we are able to enjoy the serenade of the ck and silver choir. Once I have quenched my thirst, satiated my appetite and had my sleep, I shall offer my rested mind to design an immacte strategy.¡±

    ¡°My chopsticks have yet to touch any of the refreshments served up thank you very much!¡± fumed Emperor Yuansheng, not appreciating my sincere speech.

    ¡°This one has a n that promises to please you, Master,¡± I promised, gently pushing over the te with five peanuts left. ¡°Please make do, Master.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like a bird to you?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng clutched the five peanuts to throw at me but stopped himself upon seeing me grin.

    Tch, stingy Emperor.

    ¡°You wish! Would you die if you didn¡¯t have another five peanuts? You think I can¡¯t see through your provocation ploy?¡± castigated Emperor Yuansheng, smashing the five peanuts in his mouth while inwardlyining, ¡°Thank heavens I didn¡¯t betroth Hongzhuang to him, or he¡¯d eat me into bankruptcy.¡±

    To ensure nobody discovered our secret identities or our secrets, I asked for everyone to be chased out prior to handing the ce over to me. The problem was ¡°everyone¡± entailed¡­ the people in the kitchen. Nheless, as there were plenty of ingredients left over, the maidens travelling with us dered they¡¯d cook our New Year¡¯s Eve dinner to reward us for a job well done on this long journey. I swear everyone considers Su Xiao a girl. Evidence? They dragged him off to the kitchen.

    ¡°Ye Luo is Ye n¡¯s young mistress, but she¡¯s been a martial arts fanatic since childhood; she¡¯s never been the demure maiden. If you want her to cook, you might as well kill her. Miss Lyu has someone waiting on her for everything. They¡¯re like my daughters, except one resembles Hong¡¯er more, while the other resembles Jing¡¯er more. It¡¯s, therefore, perfectly understandable if they can¡¯t cook,¡± elucidated Emperor Yuansheng, smiling to himself.

    Quick lesson: you can gamble your taste buds on Princess Hongzhuang¡¯s eating, but you do not eat Jingan¡¯s cookng!

    Jingan tried to poison my meals on numerous asions. When the first attempt didn¡¯t work, she tried aphrodisiacs, poisons that make you lose your mind, poisons that make you stupid, mute and so forth. None of them ever worked on me. One time, I was feeling fine and close to finishing, so I taunted, ¡°Your Highness, today¡¯s dishes are not bad. So far, you have unintentionally dropped crane head red, red head crane and crane red head into my food. What did you identally drop in today?¡±

    ¡°Fuma, please don¡¯t tease me. I know I¡¯m not a good cook. I made sure to not make any mistakes today,¡± Jingan enthused, wrinkling her nose to act cute.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I thought, ¡°Finally an end to the antics¡± and finished up. A fleeting momentter, Jingan giggled and added, ¡°But I think one of the eunuchs misbehaved and spat in your food, though I¡¯m not sure if my eyes saw correctly.¡±

    Get it now?! If she can¡¯t poison you to death, she¡¯ll irk you death!

    Watching Ye Luo and Miss Lyu, I was thankful Su Xiao joined them; at least his porridge tasted decent. A meal consisting of Princess Hongzhuang and Princess Jingan¡¯s dishes¡­

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, Big Brother Ming,¡± Su Xiao hollered as he came jogging back.

    ¡°What is it? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be cooking?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! The thing is¡­ I have some questions, yet I¡¯m too shy to ask them, so¡­ I want to ask you instead.¡±

    Finally realised you¡¯re not good enough to get married,ss?

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Su Xiao held up two jars: ¡°Which is salt?¡±

    My mouth just hung open as the rest of body froze stiff.

    We have a serious issue here. You need to stay away from the kitchen!

    I grabbed pen and paper to createbels for the jars and then exined to Su Xiao what firewood, rice, grease, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea are. While he giddily ran back to the kitchen, I started to worry for dear life. I mean, was I even going to be eating New Year¡¯s Eve dinner or¡­

    ¡°Leave those trivial issues to them. I brought a chef along as you¡¯d expect, and he¡¯s helping out. You¡¯ll have your share,¡± assured Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Hahaha, brilliant. Splendid.¡±

    ¡°Okay now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t just search for lodging today. What arrangements do you have next?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I have a n ready to go.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng whacked the table: ¡°Hahaha, you sly, conniving schemer.¡±

    ¡°You tter me, Master. Could I bother you to write three characters for me?¡± I presented paper and a brush I prepared onto the table, requesting, ¡°Could you please write ¡®Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Dragon Phoenix Inn? That¡¯s simple enough.¡±

    I gave Emperor Yuansheng¡¯spleted work a thumbs up: ¡°Beautiful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected.¡±

    After a few nonsensical exchanges about calligraphy, Emperor Yuansheng inquired, ¡°Judging from the size of these characters and the name, are you nning to¡­¡±

    I nodded: ¡°We will hang this outside as our que.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this Bright Jade Restaurant? Besides, we¡¯re only lodging; there¡¯s no need to buy it out.¡±

    ¡°It will serve us well in the long run. We are currently in need of a base without outsiders. This is a decent choice for that purpose. The problem is that Bright Jade Restaurant is too famous around here and is not involved with the martial world. We need to change the business model. Logically, we need a new name.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this new business model?¡±

    ¡°The existing problem for travellers in this town is not having anywhere to lodge. If we open our doors to them, we will have an influx of people from the martial world visiting. Subsequently, we will have them as news sources.¡±

    ¡°Not too shabby. About this lodging model of yours, are you thinking¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I get it, but I can¡¯t approve.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng mmed the table: ¡°I can¡¯t approve opening a brothel!¡±

    ¡°I was referring to an inn!¡±

    You didn¡¯t understand squat! Why was a brothel even your first thought when I brought up the idea? I thought we cleared the air about that! Have I been wronging Long Zaitian? You¡¯re the root of them believing I own brothels, aren¡¯t you?! Keep messing with me, and I¡¯ll go y some x-rated games with Jingan in Hangzhou!

 Volume 8 36 Su Xiaos Independence. Eloping Birds.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 36 Su Xiao¡¯s Independence. Eloping Birds.</h4>

    ¡°An inn? Why an inn?¡± Emperor Yuansheng questioned.

    ¡°Master, you must bear in mind that we are only roughly fifteen days away from themencement of Refining Divine Convention. It is a daunting task to highlight ourselves for an invitation in the short time remaining. On top of that, we have to search for Vice-Captain Shen, which requires trustworthy intelligence now more than ever.¡±

    First of all, His Majesty wouldn¡¯t permit imperial troops and scouts looking into Boss¡¯ whereabouts. Second, it would be more challenging to investigate from the shadows than to openly investigate.

    I didn¡¯t mention I ran into Green Prince as I didn¡¯t know what sort of terms His Majesty and His Highness were on. I didn¡¯t stand to gain anything if I offended either of them, so I intended to let them sort it out with themselves; it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths.

    ¡°As the owner of the inn, we can advance or retreat at will. I hired some skilled artisans to renovate and decorate the ce. We will be ready to open for business in less than a day. As we cannot afford to hire outsiders, we will have to handle all of the jobs ourselves. Fortunately, we have a number of elites who can easily tackle the duties of running an inn.¡±

    I borated on the other benefits, mainly covering things that would help us move our ns forward. No matter high tight lipped they might be, something, such as how to obtain an invitation, would leak.

    ¡°That is a brilliant n. Proceeding without having to run into personnel from the imperial court is the best oue. You live up to¡­ to¡­ your status as Yuhua of the World¡¯s disciple. I have nothing to fear when I have Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor as my strategist, hahaha.¡±

    If I¡¯m your strategist, how about showing some respect worthy of my status and paying me back? I¡¯ll get three hundred thousand out of you the moment we find Boss. Hell no am I ying hide and seek with ck and White Reflection¡¯s personnel!

    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Su Xiao showed up and gestured for me toe over urgently. ¡°Big Brother Ming¡­ Come here.¡±

    Please don¡¯t tell me you lot havee up with another absurd idea¡­

    I hurried over to ask, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Are you hungry?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If you¡¯re still not done, I¡¯ll be hungry enough to eat eight of you.¡±

    With an ashen countenance, Su Xiao leaned onto the wall: ¡°Ar-are you starving that bad? Luckily for you, I made a small dish that I¡¯ll bring up in a tick, hehehe.¡±

    Spacing out at the sight of Su Xiao¡¯s beam, I absentmindedly replied, ¡°Oh¡­ Thank y-, ahem, what happened? What happened to the dishes?¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s world copsed in his head upon hearing his alternative n fall through: ¡°Um¡­ We¡¯ve¡­ only just started cooking the rice. We¡­ haven¡¯t started on anything else. You might have to wait for another two hours.¡±

    ¡°Say what?! You just started cooking the rice? What have you been doing all this time?!¡±

    Are you cooking dinner or midnight snakes? Wait, that¡¯s not even New Year¡¯s Eve dinner anymore!

    ¡°Ye Luo and Miss Lyu not know how to cook and slow you down? We can swap them out with some skilled warriors. It¡¯s a punishment for them to ask them to cook.¡±

    ¡°No, no, they¡¯re doing quite well,¡± meekly replied Su Xiao, face flush.

    ¡°Why the dy, then?¡±

    ¡°Well¡± - Su Xiao grabbed his robe and twisted his torso back and forth - ¡°the pot blew up.¡±

    Are my ears screwing with me?

    ¡°How does a pot blow up?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The pot I was working on started rumbling, and it was in fragments by the time I knew it. They must¡¯ve been using bootleg goods here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be more convinced if you told me we¡¯re standing upside down right now. This is the number one restaurant in the town! They¡¯re dishes are excellent. You blew up the pot, didn¡¯t you?!¡±

    You came here because you blew it up, I bet! This is what happens when you actpetent at something you¡¯re not!

    I pressed a hand to my forehead: ¡°What in His Majesty¡¯s name did you do when you cooked the rice?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I tossed some seasoning in, did some dicing and then started a fire.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what to st first here. Threw in? Dicing ingredients in a pot? Start a fire? Which of those actions take ce in a kitchen?

    ¡°Wait, what happened to the rice?¡±

    Su Xiao wrinkled his nose: ¡°What does rice have to do with cooking rice?¡±

    ¡°Xiao¡­ h-how did you make me porridgest time?¡±

    ¡°Add water and rice into a pot then bring to a boil. Simple. Cooking rice and cooking porridge aren¡¯t the same.¡±

    ¡°Hold up.¡± I hammered my forehead as I asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t the imperial chef go to the kitchen with you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there are two of them. As soon as they entered, they began working on the prepared ingredients and whipped up over forty dishes!¡±

    That¡¯s what I wanted to hear. Let them work their magic.

    ¡°Since they looked busy, I was afraid they¡¯d starve, so I made a small dish to keep their stomachs happy. After they ate it, though, they stopped speaking.¡±

    ¡°It was that disgusting?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so rude, Big Brother Ming?!¡± Su Xiao folded his arms and gave me his side, sulking, ¡°They neverined it tasted bad! They just stopped speaking and moving!¡±

    ¡°Why are you flipping out on me? I¡¯m analysing the situation for you, aren¡¯t I? Not speaking or eating¡­ Did they also shut their eyes?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°How did you know? So you do know what happened? Oh, man, I was worried they had some disease or something.¡±

    Stop smiling! I¡¯m starting to freak out!

    ¡°They¡­ passed out after eating your dish?¡±

    ¡°Who passes out after eating? They must¡¯ve fell asleep due to exhaustion, hahaha.¡±

    What new skill have you invented now?!

    ¡°B-Big Brother Ming?¡± I suddenly heard from afar.

    ¡°Sister Ye,¡± Su Xiao effused.

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s the matter, Miss Ye?¡±

    Face pale, legs weak, a hand on her belly and leaning on the wall¡­ This looks bad.

    Ye Luo grabbed my arm and, in a breathy voice, conveyed, ¡°Big Brother Ming, I have to, have to tell you. Only you can¡­ can¡­ blegh!¡±

    Ye Luo projectile vomited tomato right past me, yet still looked more horrified than when we ran in to Abels.

    ¡°What happened, Miss Ye?!¡±

    ¡°I-I had a bite of the tomato.¡± Ye Luo pointed to Su Xia and, in a raspy voice, shouted, ¡°He¡­ He¡­¡±

    I saw Ye Luo¡¯s eyes roll back into her head as she copsed, finger still aimed at Su Xiao.

    What the hell happened? Let¡¯s not y this murder game on New Year¡¯s Eve. Is that tomato by your mouth or blood? Are you injured or poison? Wake up!

    I transferred true qi from my fingertips to Ye Luo¡¯s wrist using Yijin Jing, my miracle fix for curing illnesses, extracting poison and exorcising evil. Yeah, I had Shifu¡¯s medical knowledge and other styles at my disposal, but Yijin Jing was my foundation for it all, as it should be for anyone else. I gave her potent qi, yet three serves couldn¡¯t even wake her.

    What ck magic did he feed you?!

    ¡°She said she was hungry, so I made her a snack¡­¡±

    Wait, wait, wait, that¡¯s the snack you also wanted to feed me? Have mercy, you serial murderer! Hold on, why was she stupid enough to eat your snack after the imperial chefs were done in?

    ¡°She told me to make the snacks. She said that failure is the mother of sess, so true men should not fear failure.¡± Switching from cute to serious, Su Xiao balled his fists: ¡°That¡¯s why I did my best!¡±

    Hold back, then! That¡¯s three you¡¯ve downed already.

    I noticed Ye Luo watching Su Xiao more than in the past ever since he saved her that night and would usually blush. I bet thess developed a crush on Su Xiao; that¡¯d exin why she¡¯d give him encouragement and praise when he doubted himself. Poor girl burned herself ying with fire.

    ¡°We need you to exercise patience now that we¡¯re short on hands. Don¡¯t hold it against us,¡± Su Xiao asserted, picking up Ye Luo and making his way to the kitchen.

    ¡°Wait, wait! I¡¯ll go help. I shouldn¡¯t just wait to eat. I¡¯ll give you a hand,¡± I offered.

    ¡°That¡¯s rare. I¡¯m d you¡¯re learning to be a better man, though.¡±

    I just don¡¯t want to die tonight!

    When I ryed the message to Emperor Yuansheng, he told me, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll go with you. I¡¯ve never been into a kitchen; this is a good chance to take a look, especially since we¡¯re going to open an inn.¡±

    I don¡¯t have a problem with you trying to kill time, but I have a bizarre feeling about this¡­

    Upon seeing us all head to the kitchen, Long Zaitian called Tie Hanyi over to query, ¡°Ol¡¯ Tie, what do you think he¡¯s doing? Why does Master trust him so much?¡±

    Tie Hanyi cracked a smile: ¡°I always knew Brother Ming wasn¡¯t just some side character. Had it not been for his insight and morale boost, we would¡¯ve lost a lot of men against ck Winds Thirteen Wings. That was when I saw him in a different light - a character not to be underestimated. His Majesty must have also noticed.¡±

    ¡°A character not to be underestimated my foot. Tell me more about this ck Winds Thirteen Wings thing.¡±

    ¡°When they started the string of assassinations, they killed several Qilin Guads. Thanks to him warning me to be cautious, we avoided losing more members than we had to.¡±

    ¡°I copped earfuls for letting Qilin Guards die, yet he only gave you a heads up?! After he screws me over, he¡¯s trying to get in His Majesty¡¯s good graces? I¡¯m obligated to depose him!¡±

    Apparently, Long Zaitian forgot about him trying to court Shen Yiren and the times he screwed with Song Ou in those days.

    ¡°It¡¯s only right His Majesty hires him as a strategist when he¡¯s proven himself to possess the prudence necessary. What would you and I do?¡±

    Overhearing the conversation, Dugu chimed in: ¡°Though I won¡¯t question his intelligence, he used dubious means to acquire the money and the rights to this restaurant. I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s necessarily a good thing for His Majesty to be around him for too long.¡±

    ¡°See? Every elite can tell he¡¯s a bad influence. What does he do besides drinking, hitting on girls, eating braised pork shoulders and being a bad influence on kids?¡± concurred Long Zaitian.

    ¡°He¡¯s a good guy, though,¡± opined Bai Laimu. ¡°He taught me how to y dice the day before.¡±

    Long Zaitian raised his chin at the others, gesturing, ¡°Told you he¡¯s a bad influence.¡±

    ¡°We have to do something, or His Majesty will be another victim.¡±

    ¡°Long Zaitian, we may have different allegiances, but we share amon enemy. Use your time for something productive. As one of His Majesty¡¯s aides, I won¡¯t acquiescence to you scheming behind the backs of others,¡± Tie Hanyi asserted with the approval of Dugu and Bai Laimu.

    ¡°Why do you all have tunnel vision? When did I ever say I would set him up? Knowing his nefarious brain and gue trait, he¡¯ll curse me dead before I even set him up. You think I¡¯m stupid? I couldn¡¯t ask to be farther away from him, let alone set him up. I was suggesting that we contribute so that he doesn¡¯t walk away with all of the glory. Even if we don¡¯t tick a box off, we can, at least, cheer His Majesty up tonight,¡± suggested Long Zaitian, sparking the discussion.

    When the floor went down to the first floor, they saw a guzheng, erhu, sanxian and flute next to Tang Ye, who guarded the door.

    Since Long Zaitian didn¡¯t have Qilin Guards to back him up, Long Zaitian had no desire to pick fights with Tang Ye, who could give him a run for his money, not to mention Ming Feizhen was around. Over time, he stopped resenting Liu Shan Men so much, even joking around with Liu Shan Men¡¯s trio at times during the journey. Howbeit, recalling the lectures he ate having to do with Ming Feizhen as per the talk with Tie Hanyi, Long Zaitian¡¯s old nature surfaced.

    ¡°Liu Shan Men has the sissy Su Xiao, so having a Tang Ye pretend to be a musician certainly is necessary to form aplete couple,¡± mocked Long Zaitian.

    ¡°May I ask who you resemble as our new door guard?¡± Tang Ye ribbed.

    ¡°You want to catch these hands?!¡±

    Dugu persuaded, ¡°Why are you fighting when we¡¯re on the same team?¡±

    Tie Hanyi inquired, ¡°Brother Tang, why do you have instruments with you when you usually don¡¯t even bring baggage?¡±

    ¡°The musicians previously ying here left them behind.¡±

    The instruments inspired Long Zaitian to propose, ¡°Since Master is fond of music, we could cheer him up and add a joyous touch to the atmosphere if we can y a tune.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡±

    While having musicians perform at parties was a custom in the imperial court, bringing one along on this mission was in silly. Although the idea was nice, music wasn¡¯t their forte - minus Dugu, who could y the guzheng.

    Tang Ye¡¯s closed-arms pose and perceivably derisive visage prompted Long Zaitian to snap, ¡°What, you know how to y music instruments.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Like ying drums with broadswords or cudgels? Catch.¡± Long Zaitian tossed a flute to Tang Ye: ¡°Prove it.¡±

    Tang Ye assumed the ideal posture and yed ¡°Autumn Moon Over Han Pce¡± mesmerizingly from a music and martial arts standpoint. Refusing to lose, Long Zaitian threw Tang Ye a lute that thetter demonstrated he was an adept with, as well. Long Zaitian then threw an erhu over, and Tang Ye yed ¡°A Swallow Couple Soaring in the Rain¡±.

    ¡°Wh-wh-what else can you y?¡± stuttered Long Zaitian, running out of instruments to challenge Tang Ye with.

    Tang Ye scoffed through his nose and broke into song: ¡°Upon opening my eyes, all I see is tall buildings and locked doors. I¡¯m sober, but the dark clouds have yet to lift. The resentment I feltst winter has returned to haunt me. The leaves fall alone, while a pair of swallows soars through the drizzle. When I first met Xiaoping, the courtesan stole my breath in her robe with two ¡®heart¡¯ characters embellishing it. She conveyed the emotions of yearning through her pipa, stealing my heart. The moonlight that night was mesmerizingly captivating. In the end, she disappeared like the cloud that never came back.¡±

    You¡¯re also a singer now?! Did I just give this guy a job and make a fool out of myself?!

    Tang Ye delivered the song in textbook form; however, his voice drew an audience over. Dugu andpany apuded, expressing, ¡°We are hoping you could perform for His Majestyter on.¡±

    Tang Ye kept ying as though he didn¡¯t hear them.

    ¡°Told you so! Told you he¡¯d still be here!¡± Behind the chubby man, who began searching high and low upon storming in, were thirty or so men. Upon spotting Tang Ye, he erupted, ¡°Where is Cui Ping?! What did you do with her?¡±

    While Tang Ye was surprised to the extent of hitting a note too high on the erhu, he switched to singing since the song wasn¡¯tplete: ¡°Explore the heavens together¡­¡±

    ¡°Together?!¡± thundered Green Prince.

 Volume 8 37 Green Princes Faction. A Reunion.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 37 Green Prince¡¯s Faction. A Reunion.</h4>

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember giving you permission to fly off together with her, punk!¡± raged Green Prince.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t epting customers today. Who are you looking for?¡± Tang Ye questioned bluntly, adhering to Ming Feizhen¡¯s orders.

    ¡°Who am I looking for? Who are you looking to fly with?!¡±

    Luo Siming stopped Green Prince and, in a quiet voice, advised, ¡°Why are you so impulsive, Brother? There are a lot of them, while you are an important individual. You must be cautious.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m safer than he is.¡± Green Prince shunted Luo Siming and carried on, ¡°Walk yourself over here, punk!¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± asked Tang Ye.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    At a nce, Luo Siming could discern that Tang Ye packed a serious punch, which piqued his curiosity as to who thetter was. He, therefore, rmended, ¡°Brother, are you sure it is him? He doesn¡¯t appear to b-¡±

    ¡°Who am I? Listen to how hubristic he is. He just asked me who I am!¡± Green Prince stomped as hard as he could: ¡°I am Cui Ping¡¯s husband!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Cui Ping?¡± inquired Tang Ye, adding oil to Green Prince¡¯s rage with the indifferent reaction.

    I¡¯ve confronted dozens of thieves like you, but you¡¯re the first to act the fool with me!

    Green Prince rolled up his sleeve and aimed a finger at Tang Ye: ¡°Bring him to me! I¡¯m going to interrogate him! If he resists, bring me his corpse if you must!¡±

    Five swordsmen Ming Feizhen met earlier in the day, all of whom would usually draw attention if it wasn¡¯t for the mass of other warriors in Canhu Town, advanced on Tang Ye.

    ¡°Let us help you, Brother Tang,¡± voiced Tie Hanyi.

    One of the swordsman Tie Hanyi surprised with his speed hastily extended his arm, but Tian Hanyi strafed, leading to the swordsman bouncing off Tie Hanyi¡¯s tough body, breaking a couple of bones upon crashnding.

    Both Luo Siming and Green Prince recoiled.

    Duguunched one more with a one, two punchbo and then performed light shoulder circles. Long Zaitian bombed another unconscious with his fist, kicking his fallen opponent back to Luo Siming and Green Prince before they rposed themselves then huffed his fist and gave it a rub. Bai Laimu went wild with his weapon, wooing as he drove back the other swordsman.

    Tie Hanyi andpany were itching to test out their mettle as they took away a lot from the encounter with Abels, especially Bai Laimu. The only pugilist in the escort who Bai Laimu could beat was Su Xiao, which was why he hardly ever had the chance to fight and was crushingly defeated when he encountered Mountain Monster.

    Tang Ye continued ying the erhu whilst evading every swing from the best swordsman among the five. After breezing through the attacks, Tang Ye reversed the stick, imbuing it with Yang Blood True Qi and whipping the lights out of the swordsman, starting with disarming thetter.

    Breaking the brief silence, Luo Siming pped his hands, convinced Tang Ye was the one who stole Green Prince¡¯s woman.

    ¡°I should know the invitees as well as the back of my hand, yet I don¡¯t recognise any of them. At the banquet, I remember an unidentified group being involved in jumping those invited to collect information mentioned at the banquet. Who¡­¡± mulled Luo Siming. ¡°Brother, I th-¡±

    ¡°So you can fight, huh?!¡± thundered Green Prince, stunning Luo Siming.

    Green Prince moved to his territory when he was eighteen, while Tang Ye was a mere unnamed scout back then, let alone the others. Therefore, none of them recognised one another.

    ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ve defused the situation. Wood Ye is never going to say crap, while we can¡¯t leave His Majesty waiting,¡± thought Long Zaitian. ¡°Ahem, uh, Chubby.¡±

    ¡°Ch-Chubby?!¡±

    ¡°What do you want? Why¡¯d you suddenly start a fight without exining yourself? You know that¡¯s not the right thing to do? You need me to teach you some manners, kiddo?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t run! Stay right there! Brother, it¡¯s your turn!¡±

    Luo Siming wasn¡¯t the kind to blindly charge in, so he inquired, ¡°Brother, what about your faction?¡±

    Green Prince¡¯s mouth twitched: ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t gather enough information, so I wasn¡¯t sure if he was still in town. I, therefore, had to send my men out to find out¡­ What else would I have brought you along for?¡±

    Luo Siming was reluctant to let his men fight for they would reveal their style within a couple of exchanges. He, consequently, had no choice but to personally take to the front lines.

    ¡°If you would be so kind, please exchange a few pointers with me.¡±

    ¡°You need not bother yourself, Young Master. It is your subordinate¡¯s job to aid you in times of need.¡±

    A man attired in white leapt over Luo Siming¡¯s head and into the room faster at blinding speed. With his sword giving off a dangerous vibe, he greeted the escort with a smile: ¡°This one is Yi Wangyou.¡±

    For the first time in a while, a tinge of surprise seeped into Tang Ye¡¯s voice as he enunciated, ¡°Kunlun¡¯s¡­ patriarch?¡±

 Volume 8 38 Prodigy. A Terrifying Wake-up Call

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 38 Prodigy. A Terrifying Wake-up Call</h4>

    I anticipated the scene of a terrorist attack on the kitchen when I rolled in, but¡­

    ¡°Miss Lyu, hello, hello, it has been a long time. Please pardon this one for not speaking to you in so long.¡±

    ¡°H-hello.¡±

    Your Majesty! Fenghuang! Call the soldiers! Your husband is lolicon-ing!

    ¡°Miss Lyu, have you been well? I apologise for exposing you to even more danger when I offered to have you join us to protect you from harm. I am sincerely sorry,¡± expressed Emperor Yuansheng, not even noticing the constable in me staring at him.

    Raising her head and bobbing it constantly, Miss Lyu replied, ¡°I am well now. Thanks to Young Master Ming¡¯s remarkable medical skills, everyone saw a speedy recovery. I wanted to help you arrest the witch who tried to assassinate you, yet I got in your way. Are you doing well, Mr. Fangzhou?¡±

    Hey, stop bloody ring at me. I didn¡¯t make you introduce yourself as Mr. Fangzhang. I can¡¯t be bothered with you two cheaters. My food is more important.

    I soon spotted two imperial doctors and Ye Luo out cold, with their pupils as white as the froth at their mouth. The only sign they were alive were their faint heartbeats. As for legendary pot that exploded¡­ I couldn¡¯t logically exin how it was possible to blow it to fragments with a fire in the kitchen.

    ¡°What was the procedure you followed?¡± I spun around and questioned.

    ¡°I cooked as I always do,¡± Su Xiao griped.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Demonstrate.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± Su Xiao scooped up a variety of seasonings and exined, ¡°As I told you. First, add the seasoning to the pot.¡±

    Why the hell did you just dump the seasoning in and stir it? Is this ck magic or cooking?

    ¡°Next, cut the stuff in the pot up.¡± Su Xiao whipped out Ancient Cold.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! You chop the ingredients up with your broadsword?!¡±

    No wonder why the pot was in pieces! Oh my goodness gracious! Now I know why your broadsword has the smell of chilli. Your mother would p you to the past if she found out you used your family heirloom for cooking.

    After I stopped Su Xiao, he grouchily threw in tomatoes and eggs; he almost threw the whole egg, shell included, in.

    ¡°That¡¯s about it. Last is adding in the secret weapon and putting the lid on.¡±

    ¡°S-secret weapon?¡±

    Su Xiao hiked up the corner of his lips as he pulled out a small bottle from his shirt: ¡°You want to know what it is? It is¡­ not telling. Hey, don¡¯t snatch! Hey!¡±

    I picked Su Xiao up effortlessly: ¡°Hand it over.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if the fact that Su Xiao was lighter than Mountain Monster or his culinary skills were freakier.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re looking while sighing?!¡±

    ¡°Ahem, hand it over.¡±

    I shook Su Xiao to confuse him then snatched the bottle over. Before I opened the bottle, I stopped upon seeing the text written on thebel - Thunderbolt Explosive Bomb.

    ¡°What in His Majesty¡¯s name did you put an explosive bomb in for?!¡±

    Su Xiao covered his ears as he timidly responded, ¡°I-it¡¯s called creativity¡­¡±

    Creat-, creat-, argh! How do you expect the pot not to blow up? Do you have grass for brain cells? Oh, my head is hurting!

    ¡°Mr. Rong, who works in Liu Shan Men¡¯s kitchen, asked me to buy thunderbolt explosive bombsst time he said he was adding ingredients to the dish.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the mixture of mushroom, chestnut, plum, ham, egg?¡±

    ¡°Wait, is that it?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I can remember the name of thebination.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Su Xiao pped as he drawled.

    Hang on, does this mean I¡¯m the root of the whole incident¡­?

    ¡°Xiao, your culinary skills are terrifying. Have you ever cooked before?¡±

    Su Xiao stroked his chin: ¡°I remember¡­ I cooked once when I was younger. I think I was ten at the time? I don¡¯t remember. It was when my mother and I stayed at Cold Mountain Temple.¡±

    ¡°Cold Mountain Temple?¡±

    It was perfectly normal for residents of Suzhou to visit Cold Mountain Temple as it was for others to visit since they did operate as a temple people could visit to pray and so forth.

    ¡°The monks were quite fond of me and didn¡¯t mind me running about. I offered to prepare their dinner when I chanced upon them working in the kitchen and noticed how rough it was for them. Once they ate my cooking, though, they went silent and were deep asleep the next morning; not even my mother would wake up. In the end, they had to close the temple for two days. My mother never let me cook or visit Cold Mountain Temple ever since.¡±

    p,dies and gentlemen. This kid beat one of the Seven Champion White Princes the first time he cooked a meal. Now you need to thank them for being kind because you¡¯d already be six foot under if they weren¡¯t!

    I hurriedly poured out the contents in the pot upon smelling a worrisome smell oozing from it.

    Emperor Yuansheng popped around to say, ¡°You got it under control? I¡¯ve been waiting for a while and am starting to feel hungry.¡±

    I suppose I should¡¯ve been med for eating all the peanuts before.

    Emperor Yuansheng snagged a ck thing on a big te and smiled upon seeing my wide eyes, signalling, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know there is an amazing array of dishes beyond the pce walls. I¡¯m not the type to be scared about every small thing.

    You¡¯re about to go down as the bravest monarch in history.

    I reached my hand out to stop Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°M-Master, it looks rather unrefined if you eat with your hands. We should wait. Patience is a virtue.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s just stave off my hunger for now.¡±

    How is eating poison fine?! I can whip up some fried rice real fast. Just wait!

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, if you stop me again, I will punish you for obstructing me!¡±

    If I don¡¯t stop you, I¡¯ll be punished for letting you die!

    This voice from the first floor¡­ sounds familiar¡­ Green Prince?! He even brought men? Wait, why is there a Mount Kunlun adept among them? Oi, oi, is that Patriarch Yi Wangyou? Oh, crud. Maybe I should ask His Majesty to go some time for us t-. Wait, Your Majesty!

    I was toote. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s countenance resembled the earth splitting apart as he mped his teeth down on the ck thing in his mouth. Upon opening his mouth, ck fumes escaped while his body went the opposite way, eyes rolled back.

    Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!

 Volume 8 39 Prince Factions. Kunlun Swordplay.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 39 Prince Factions. Kunlun Swordy.</h4>

    Princes factions refer to the elite bodyguards, all of whom were familiar with the martial world, serving each of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s six eldest sons. As Emperor Yuansheng judged it was necessary for each of his six sons to familiarise themselves with the martial world, he went to great lengths, showering each sect¡¯s patriarch or elders with gifts and so forth in order to purchase their loyalty for his sons.

    Since the inception of the current dynasty, the martial world wasbelled a looming threat to the imperial court¡¯s authority. Ultimately, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s strategy provided protection to his sons and also ced a finger on the martial world¡¯s pulse. Once the sects were acquainted with the Princes, they, ideally, would grow closer to the Prince, indirectly growing closer to the imperial court. From the standpoint of outsiders, theybelled the six sects affiliated with the six Princes to be the imperial court¡¯s guardians. The six sects selected obviously were the best by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s standards.

    With Red Prince was Wudang. With Orange Prince was Mount Hua Sect. With Green Prince was Kunlun Sect.

    ¡°Perfect timing, Patriarch Yi. ughter the scumbag for me!¡± demanded Green Prince, confidence replenished.

    The patriarch in his forties looked dashing in his billowing robe and saluting pose: ¡°It is an honour to meet you all today.¡±

    Patriarch Yi had been with Green Prince long enough to know the temperament of thetter better than the back of his hand, so he didn¡¯t take Green Prince serious. Patriarch Yi left the town on Green Prince¡¯s orders earlier but came back aftermuting twenty-five kilometres since he didn¡¯t see the target. Can anyone me him for not taking Green Prince after thetter proved himself such an unreliablemander?

    ¡°The honour is all mine, Patriarch Yi,¡± voiced Long Zaitian, recognising Kunlun¡¯s patriarch at first nce.

    Patriarch Yi glided down next to Green Prince, disying qinggong that proved thepliments surrounding him to be true. Long Zaitian, frankly speaking, couldn¡¯t see them breezing through Patriarch Yi. Therefore, he conveyed, ¡°You are with the gentleman? They say dragons of the same scale flock together, and this one sees that it is true.¡±

    ¡°I thought I was ¡®Chubby¡¯?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it was but a harmless joke. Your glowing eyes and radiant spirit areparable to that of deities. I was so startled that I blurted the wrong word. As a hearty gentleman, you would not hold it against me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s true. That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°May I ask which sect you gentlemen are with and what you are in Canhu Town for?¡± Yi Wangyou inquired with a stoic expression.

    Dugu answered, ¡°We came here from Luoyang with our patriarch for business. We merely passed through here on our way to our destination.¡±

    ¡°Might I be able to inquire what your patriarch¡¯s name is?¡±

    Dugu turned to Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian, calling for help. Dugu was aware Emperor Yuansheng adopted the name Li Fangzhang, but¡­ they couldn¡¯t afford to earn his umbrage for using the name when they weren¡¯t supposed to. In the end, he decided to answer, ¡°His surname is Zhong, and his first name is Ming.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Would he happen to be Luoyang¡¯s richest young master, Brothel King Zhong Hualiu¡¯s second son?¡± queried Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°We¡¯ve run into the real one?!¡± blurted Green Prince.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t make the name up?¡± wondered Dugu, keeping a straight face to reply, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°No wonder why so there are so many of you¡­¡± remarked Yi Wangyou, voice tapering off with each word articted whilst exchanging eye contact with Luo Siming.

    Luo Siming gestured he didn¡¯t know them or send them an invitation with his head, putting wrinkles on Yi Wangyou¡¯s nose.

    The only reason someone not invited to Refining Divine Convention showing up at this point in time would be to pinch an invitation to skip Lotus Root Ground¡¯s Illusion Swords Formation. Even Green Prince was allowed to skip the test despite his status. Consequently, they would have to search for groups that had yet to reach the ind together or eliminate each other.

    Kunlun Sect was among one of the sects that focused heavily on swordy, yet they lost their heirloom - a ck-jade sword - many years ago, thereby losing their prerogative to partake in Refining Divine Convention.

    For whatever reason, Yi Wangyou pointed at Tang Ye and questioned, ¡°Master, is he the one who osted you? Shall this one bring him to you?¡±

    ¡°Great! Your loyalty will be rewarded!¡±

    Yi Wangyou shed a subtle smile then asserted to Tang Ye, ¡°If you are still standing after ten exchanges, we will consider us even. Otherwise, I will have to ask you toe with me.¡±

    Dugu whispered, ¡°Brother Tang, he is extremely tough. Do your best to av-¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not just tough, but this is also a rare opportunity.¡± Tang Ye held his erhu in across his body and stated, ¡°Please make your move.¡±

    ¡°Marginalising my sect will be your biggest mistake!¡±

    As someone who studied numerous styles, Tang Ye recognised the technique Yi Wangyou executed in a single nce. Surprisingly, instead of strafing, Tang Ye performed the same technique - ¡°Punisher¡± from Kunlun Demon Subduing Swordy.

    ¡°Yang Blood True Qi? Who is your shifu?¡± Yi Wangyou asked upon colliding with Tang Ye¡¯s erhu.

 Volume 8 40 Desolate Sword Dance

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 40 Deste Sword Dance</h4>

    Neither Tang Ye nor Yi Wangyou took any damage in the exchange since Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword was an ordinary one, while Tang Ye imbued his instrument with True Blood Yang Qi.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Where did you learn True Blood Yang Qi from?¡± questioned Yi Wangyou, twanging his sword with a flick.

    ¡°That¡¯s ten exchanges.¡±

    Yi Wangyou maintained his clutch on his sword. While outsiders might not have seen the ws of Kunlun Swordy at a nce, Yi Wangyou was aware its ws, yet he couldn¡¯t spot the ws when Tang Ye utilised the style. Yi Wangyou, intrigued, had a desire to see more of what Tang Ye was capable of. Hence, he deliberately slowed down to turn it into a technical bout as opposed to one decided based on physical superiority. Before he knew it, they had already engaged in seventeen exchanges.

    Dugu protested, ¡°Patriarch Yi, you must honour your word as the patriarch of a sect. Now that the conflict has been resolved, you cannot strike again.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I did say so.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yi, you don¡¯t mean to let the scum off, do you?¡± urged Green Prince.

    Long Zaitian let a smile bloom on his face: ¡°Brother Fatty, you are going to dishonour Patriarch Yi if you keep pushing him.¡±

    ¡°The conflict between my master and him is settled; however, my issue with the young man isn¡¯t,¡± asserted Yi Wangyou.

    Tang Ye cracked a proud smile: ¡°I ept your challenge.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll ept punching you into next week!¡± Long Zaitian smacked Tang Ye over the head and stepped in between the two revving to fight. Smiling politely and offering a salute, Long Zaitian opined, ¡°This conflict arose without any reason in the first ce. Might your chubby friend have misunderstood something? He came in cursing and using Brother Tang here of things we have no clue about. Brother Tang may be a handsome man, but he is honest to a fault, not the promiscuous type.¡±

    ¡°I believe that. From the look in his eyes to his decisive reactions, he does not give the impression of a man who would steal another¡¯s wife. I believe my master has the wrong man. That is not the reason I sparred with him, either.¡±

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t believe m-¡±

    ¡°This one is here for the Lantern Festival, which he believes you must also be here for. This one merely chose to fight to eliminate a potential challenge in the future.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s not withholding any information, we must be forthright for we can¡¯t afford to affront him,¡± inwardly analysed Long Zaitian. ¡°It is an honour to see you exercise transparency. In saying that, you must uphold your promise to wipe the te clean after those ten exchanges.¡±

    ¡°Naturally.¡±

    ¡°Hey, are you ignoring me? What Lantern Festival? What about my wife Cui Ping? Yi Wangyou, if you don¡¯t dismember the son of a b-¡±

    ¡°Master!¡± interjected Yi Wangyou, a man known for being upright. Yi Wangyou was one of the few people who could put Green Prince in his ce when thetter overstepped boundaries, thinking he could boss people around. ¡°This is no trivial matter. Please watch over my master, Young master Luo.¡±

    Luo Siming concealed his smile behind his hand: ¡°Understood.¡±

    Yi Wangyou then stated, ¡°This one will uphold his promise. In saying that, this one must find out where the young man learnt his sect¡¯s style from.¡±

    Learning the skills of a school without permission was a serious crime in the martial world, serious enough for sects to wipe out another sect as a means of protecting their secrets. Ming Huayu took a beating when he stole the manuals from various skills. Luckily for him, he was sly enough to dupe people, though he was still a wanted criminal for it. That was the other reason nobody heard from him in decades.

    As not even Long Zaitian knew who Tang Ye¡¯s shifu was, he had no rebuke to offer. To add, the issue had transcended the scope of the imperial court¡¯s jurisdiction. Therefore, nobody with the imperial court helped any further.

    ¡°¡­ I swore to never tell,¡± Tang Ye voiced.

    ¡°Your execution of Demon Subduing Swordy ismendable; I was unable to see any exploitable ws. Who taught you Kunlun Swordy?¡±

    ¡°I learnt it by myself.¡±

    ¡°My sect¡¯s swordy must be child¡¯s y for you to have learnt it in one nce.¡±

    Long Zaitian assuaged, ¡°Brother Tang has an incredible aptitude for learning martial arts, Patriarch Yi. He knows numerous styles; it is perfectly reasonable for him tobine styles.¡±

    ¡°Wow, this one has the honour of meeting the second Hero Shenzhou. Okay, let¡¯s go with the story that you are endowed with remarkable potential and remember anything you see with one look. How do you exin your Yang Blood True Qi?¡±

    ¡°He used one of Kunlun Sect¡¯s three treasures, Yang Blood True Qi? Are you serious?¡± blurted Luo Siming.

    ¡°Yes. Yang Blood True Qi is my sect¡¯s secret internal strength mental cultivation style. As experienced martial artists yourself, can any of you tell me a breathing technique in a single nce? You may not know, but it is an exceptionally challenging style to master, yet he has mastered it at his young age? Young Man, if you treasure your life, you better exin yourself!¡± threatened Yi Wangyou, whipping his sword.

    Mount Kunlun is located close to the western border and snows almost all year round, yet Jiujing Yn City, a city built behind high walls to ward off the cold for disciples to reside in offered four seasons there and a much friendly temperature. Although the city took them years upon years to build, it was undoubtedly worth it.

    Before Jiujing Yn City was built, Kunlun Sect¡¯s disciples had to bear the brunt of the cold, yet they had to sit stationary in order to practice their breathing exercises. As a result, those with weak internal energy would fall ill - if not die. On the upside, those who weathered the harsh training would be elites amongst internal style adepts. All that being said, it wasn¡¯t a feasible or reasonable situation to ept.

    When an ancestor of Kulun Sect started to research the legend of the mountain on Mount Kunlun, an epiphany led to him using his essence and blood as triggers to draw on the yang qi within his body. Unlike refining one¡¯s qi, refining blood was a hundred times harder. Frankly, the idea bordered on unorthodoxy during the era he came up with it. Devoting the remainder of his life to polishing the skill wasn¡¯t enough toplete it, leaving it in the hands of his descendants to continue exploring. It ended up taking generations to finally be perfected.

    Yang Blood True Qi was invented with the intent of providing warmth against the harsh cold, which was why every disciple was permitted to learn it. Had it not been for its conception, they would¡¯ve never had the means to construct the city. Nobody, however, foresaw disciples abandoning it once the weather issue was resolved, resulting in their sect¡¯s power, as a whole, diminishing. In their defence, they wouldn¡¯t have the prestige they had now if the cold would kill them off. Tomemorate its enormous contribution to the sect, it was listed as one of their sect¡¯s three treasures.

    Their disciples stopped learning Yang Blood True Qi for the most part as it was difficult and the risk to benefit ratio, especially when learning the Scorch Blood Yang Conversion method, wasn¡¯t worth it. After all, letting Yang Blood True Qi circte without control would torch the meridians in their body, meaning they ran the risk of losing everything they learned up to that point and never being able to use any internal skills for life.

    The second reason their disciples ditched the skill was because they needed to learn the skill in a freezing environment, such as where it was originally pioneered. They, nevertheless, didn¡¯t want to put themselves through the wringer after the warm weather in the city pampered them. The point of training in the cold was to have the cold negate the torment of having their body suffer the heat during Scorch Blood Yang Conversion. The fact wasn¡¯t detailed in the manual for Yang Blood True Qi since its inventor never factored it into the equation. The pioneer of Yang Blood True Qi presumed those after him would also grow up in the same conditions. In his generation, a world where it was warm enough to melt ice was unheard of.

    Of course, there were some who had the physical and mental gifts, such as Yi Wangyou, to learn Yang Blood True Qi. Sadly, they were far and few between. Even then, Yi Wangyou only just made it over the line when he reached Scorch Blood Yang Conversion phase as he didn¡¯t actually refine all of the blood and essence in his body. That became his downfall in his future development for he couldn¡¯t harvest the equivalent results of someone who more of their blood and essence.

    ¡°I cannot tell you,¡± Tang Ye responded.

    ¡°Thought so. You might be able to seal you mouth, but let¡¯s see if you can hide it inbat!¡±

    Yi Wangyou imbued his sword with Yang Blood True Qi, ready to go all out this time. Tang Ye dropped the erhu in his left hand to reduce some weight, sticking to wielding just the stick fiddle.

    Tang Ye initiated, starting with a judge¡¯s bush¡¯s style and then switching to single-hand broadsword, while Yi Wangyou stuck to Demon Subduing Swordy, shaving off the wooden stick fiddle and letting the wind take the fragments away. Those to the left of the battle zone could feel the heat each stroke produced between the two.

    ¡°Hargh!¡±

    Right after something snapped, Tang Ye performed a swift whip, prompting Yi Wangyou to guard with his sword. Even though Tang Ye¡¯s stick fiddle snapped upon impact, Tang Ye managed to bend the iron sword a tad.

    Yi Wangyou wanted to capitalise on Tang Ye¡¯s unarmed moment, but he suddenly noticed a pain in his right hand¡¯s meridian, loosening his grip on his sword, a sign Tang Ye caught him with Yang Blood True Qi.

    What appeared to be a test of weaponry proficiency was actually a contest of true qi, where the winner was determined ording to whoever was physically stronger. ordingly, Tang Ye proved his version was more polished for he managed to burn Yi Wangyou¡¯s meridian.

    Growing up at Clear Mirror Pce in Beihai, Tang Ye had the opportunity to train at a natural pool of water that was colder than ice - Bone Melting Pool. By their regtions, only the leader of each generation had the privilege of using the pool for their training.

    Although Tang Ye was a tyrant as a kid because nobody in his age bracket could hold a candle to him, he was still a kid at heart. One day, he and a group of friends sneaked into the pool and inadvertently fell in. Had the reigning patriarch not happened to show up right after he fell in tomence her training, he would already be dead. Ever since the nightmare, Tang Ye suffered from the cold qi that prated his body and couldn¡¯t be excreted.

    A visiting adept from Kunlun Sect happened to learn of Tang Ye¡¯s ordeal and took pity on the boy, subsequently teaching the eight year old boy Yang Blood True Qi, hoping the boy could use it to excrete the cold qi from his body once he mastered it. The adept resumed his world tour once he taught Tang Ye what he could teach, never returning to Mount Kunlun. For that reason, not even Yi Wangyou knew about the event.

    As a result of his mishap, Tang Ye was the victim of bouts of torturous cold that only Yang Blood True Qi could counteract. After his father passed away, he began the wandering phase of his life, dealing with starvation and cold weather. The constant exposure to cold weather and his ailment led to Tang Ye focusing his efforts on mastering Yang Blood True Qi, leading to him learning it faster than previous learners. The punishing weather worked in his favour when he reached Scorching Blood Yang Conversion phase for the reason that it alleviated the pain. The results of his training couldn¡¯t be disputed when he convincingly beat Yi Wangyou in a contest of Yang Blood True Qi, much to the confusion of thetter.

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t press the attack while Yi Wangyou was disconcerted, not because he didn¡¯t want to but because Yi Wangyou also rocked him, stalling his blood and qi cirction, resulting in difficulty breathing, let alone moving. While Tang Ye proved his version of Yang Blood True Qi to be winner, Yi Wangyou had over twenty years on him in the internal energy department. The bigger concern for Tang Ye, though, was what Yi Wangyou used to rattle him as it wasn¡¯t Yang Blood True Qi.

    ¡°Who exactly taught you Yang Blood True Qi? Even I can¡¯t figure out your version. Do you refuse to tell me?¡±

    ¡°The person who taught me told me never to tell anyone, and I will keep the promise.¡±

    ¡°That being the case¡­ I won¡¯t pursue the matter any further.¡± Right as everyone was going to drop their guard, Yi Wangyou switched from the aura of an ordinary man to a venerated patriarch, overshadowing Tang Ye¡¯s previous win, and added, ¡°Since you refuse to exin yourself, this one has an obligation to take it from you. It¡¯s not apetition but justice.¡±

    Tang Ye felt as though a weight was thrown onto him.

    ¡°Grab a weapon. I do not fight an unarmed man.¡±

    Yi Wangyou immediately made his move once Dugu kicked a sword up. Tang Ye caught the sword but suffered a short circuit for he couldn¡¯t sight any opening, a feeling he only once felt up against Ming Feizhen to date. Yi Wangyou¡¯s force and speed ostensibly increased with each centimetre it travelled to Tang Ye¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Are you just going to ept death?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hargh!¡±

    Regaining his fighting spirit, Tang Ye retaliated, switching between Kunlun Swordy, Beihai Swordy and Six Harmonies Swordy, styles that were supposed to oppose each other.

    ¡°shy but impractical!¡±

    Yi Wangyou took his sword along an arc and then cut down in the centreline, stuffing Tang Ye¡¯s movement.

    ¡°Do not stop until you find your target once you have started a strike. Did your teacher not teach you that?!¡±

    Like a possessed man, Yi Wangyou¡¯s every movement seemingly moved the firmament, sword exuding the aura of a sword from aeons ago. His mere intent put Tang Ye¡¯s disorderly style to shame with its calcted movements. They called this style Deste Sword Dance - the signature style of Kunlun¡¯s strongest.

    Noticing Tang Ye¡¯s pinch, Long Zaitian inwardly scoffed, ¡°That¡¯s why I keep telling you not to be full of yourself. If he gets serious, none of us can save your behind!¡± In the end, though, Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t just sit back and shouted, ¡°Take this!¡± tricking Yi Wangyou into mistaking the former was going to swing but actually threw the broadsword to Tang Ye.

    Armed with his a broadsword in his left hand and a sword in his right hand, Tang Ye started dual wielding. Yi Wangyou had to rely solely on the sounds of the des to evade for his eyes couldn¡¯t keep up.

    ¡°Impure, ipetent. You think traditional swordy passed down through the ages is inferior to you haphazardly throwing techniques out at random?!¡± To prove his point, Yi Wangyi performed a single swing, sending cold sweat down Tang Ye¡¯s back. ¡°You think the techniques and philosophies of every sect are designed for you to kill time? Every style is structured based on countless experience, test, research and refinement. You can give average pugilists trouble with the variety in your arsenal, but your disorderly approach is useless against an adept.¡±

    Indeed, Big Bro always defeats me before I can determine what technique to use. Patriarch Yi must be seeing what Big Bro sees.

    ¡°So what if you learn every style in the world? Did the one who taught you Yang Blood True Qi not teach you this?¡± Even though Yi Wangyou, who isted himself to Mount Kunlun¡¯s snowy mountains to concentrate on honing his skills, constantly denounced Tang Ye¡¯s style, he kept dialling up his speed, running through the twelve moves of Deste Sword Dance. ¡°Victory is achieved in a single strike!¡±

    Yi Wangyou bound forward, while Tang Ye had been forced into a posture that exposed him to the former¡¯s iing attack. Thus, Tang Ye crossed his broadsword and sword overhead. Still, the downward impact of Yi Wangyou¡¯s swing rocked Tang Ye hard enough to internally damage him.

    ¡°It¡¯s time you gave up my sect¡¯s skill that you didn¡¯t legitimately learn!¡±

    Nobody could move fast enough to stop Yi Wangyou¡¯s next swing as Kunlun Sect was a skill as renowned for their qinggong as their swordy.

    ¡°Young Man, I will severe the nerves in your limbs as penance for stealing my sect¡¯s skills. You have no one to me!¡±

    Thump! Yi Wangyou suddenly went back in the opposite direction he came faster than he advanced. Surprisingly, he blustered, ¡°Who got in my way?!¡± letting others know he didn¡¯t retreat but was knocked back.

    ¡°That¡¯s my question. How do you expect me to rest with this ruckus?¡± A young man ambled down the stairs and fumed, ¡°I¡¯m the owner around here. What do you want?¡±

    Checking his body for injuries, Yi Wangyou curved his lips up: ¡°This one heard Young Master Zhong has been meeting with Jiangnan¡¯s heroes and demonstrated he is an erudite on weapons as well as divination that Wudang¡¯s elder yields to. This one has been looking forward to meeting you¡­¡±

    ¡°Would you happen to be the one they call Sword Immortal Wangyou - Patriarch Yi, Yi Wangyou?¡±

    ¡°This one already introduced himself. Aren¡¯t you j-¡±

    ¡°Zhi Heng, Ying Xie, Ye Shu and Ao Xue must be Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Four Samuume Swordsmen, correct?¡±

    He noticed the four¡¯s presence when I never noticed them?

    Even though he was smiling Ming Feizhen intimidated Luo Siming when they locked eyes.

    ¡°You must be¡­ Luo Sword Manor¡¯s young master.¡±

    Sparks and lightning formed between Ming Feizhen and Luo Siming¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You really ar-¡±

    ¡°This one is Luo Yang¡¯s Mingming. It is a pleasure to meet everyone.¡±

 Volume 8 41 Thirteenth This Month. Fives Matches for an Invitation.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 41 Thirteenth This Month. Fives Matches for an Invitation.</h4>

    I wore on the robe of a rich young master on a whim and yed the part from head to toe, except I held a covered big bowl instead of a bird cage.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Master?¡± Long Zaitian whispered.

    ¡°Ask this,¡± I stated, passing Long Zaitian the bowl.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Upon taking the bowl off me, Long Zaitian cried, ¡°Whoa¡± and threw it, continuing, ¡°What the hell is that?! It¡¯s ck and stinks! What sort of criminal organisation invented that hidden weapon?¡±

    No, Long Zaitian wasn¡¯t exaggerating this time. It was the strongest secret weapon in thest ten years and next ten years - Su Xiao¡¯s dish. There was nothing I could do to save the kitchen after Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t heed my advice and knocked himself out. Hence, I told Su Xiao and Miss Lyu to guard the corpses while I went to slip on more opulent clothing. Thankfully, I made it in time to stop Yi Wangyou with Autumn King String.

    Among the seven king string¡¯s, Autumn King String was the most violent technique and heaviest hitting as the impact was concentrated at a single point. Yes, I did control my output, but I should¡¯ve given Yi Wangyou more credit, evident from how he absorbed the impact without taking any damage, thereby forcing me to reveal myself.

    Judging from Yi Wangyou¡¯s sullen and surprised re, he was dead set I was the one who knocked him back. I had a feeling he was being a ssic Tang Ye. I, however, couldn¡¯t indulge in a match with him owing to all those present.

    I couldn¡¯t work out what was on Luo Siming¡¯s mind based off his¡­ I couldn¡¯t even describe his expression. From a quick nce, I would bet on him beating Tang Ye based on his internal strength since he had a few more years on Tang Ye. With that said, both of them were born to be martial artists. His four bodyguards stood in positions that¡¯d allow them to react to attacks from any direction, and, if I was to be honest, they were more threatening than he was.

    Luo Siming¡¯s four bodyguards were named after the four swords forged on Samuume Ind generations ago, all of which were ssified as the four swords tasked with protecting the n patriarch. The four swordsmen of each generation were taught different styles and inherited the sword they took the name of.

    Ao Xue, the bodyguard closest to Luo Siming, quietlymented, ¡°Young Master, you don¡¯t seem to like him.¡±

    Luo Siming took a step back: ¡°I just heard there¡¯s a group trying to rob groups for weapons while I was at Repository Ind¡­ The pugilists in this group are all savvy fighters, but they don¡¯t have an invitation. I have been watching them ever since Patriarch Yi started fighting, yet I can¡¯t tell how skilled they really are. For them to have forced Patriarch Yi to retreat, they¡¯re either dominant fighters or are using hidden weapons. If the asion calls for it, we will need to intervene.¡±

    ¡°Roger. Do we fight four on one?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I apologise for forgetting you. We will fight them five on one.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Stop kidding. We would be defamed if we did that.¡±

    You do realise I can hear you two? Please stop killing my brain cells with your stupid discussion. Luo Siming does sound like he is a man who respects rules and formalities as they say, though.

    I approached Tang Ye, who had his hair messed up and clothing frayed, to pull his bloody body up: ¡°Can you stand?¡±

    Seeing as I wasn¡¯t going to get a response from Tang Ye in the state he was in, I pulled him up from his shoulder and arm. The qi I transferred to him using Yijin Jing forced him to eject a blob of dark-purple blood from his mouth, restoring his qi to normal status as well as unclogging his jammed qi and blood. All he had to do was actively recover from there. Even though he was in fighting shape again, he wasn¡¯t mentally there, evident from the fact that he refused to look my way.

    ¡°You look like you got the short end of the stick, Overlord.¡±

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t inmed with Yi Wangyou or me but himself for failing to meet the bar he set for himself. Although he never quit training, he joined Liu Shan Men at quite a high level already. Athleticism and technical progress inexorably reach a point of diminishing returns in spite of the effort invested being equal or sometimes more. ordingly, Tang Ye¡¯s progress appeared to improve only by a tiny margin ever since joining Liu Shan Men. The defeat he tasted at Yi Wangyou¡¯s hands perceptively cemented the fact that he wasn¡¯t improving, rendering him bitter.

    Tang Ye set the bar ludicrously high for himself because Yi Wangyou was in the same ss as Abbess Bailou. Even if Tang Ye was provided with elite guidance, he¡¯d still need ten years of blood, sweat and tears to catch up - provided none of the patriarchs of the big three sects and the likes of Mount Kunlun teaued for ten years.

    Tang Ye opened his doors and warmed up during his time at Liu Shan Men, but the defeat closed those doors, turning him back to the aloof young man he was when he first joined.

    ¡°¡­ If you want to blow off some steam, seek me out around midnight.¡±

    Tang Ye refused to reply.

    ¡°I take it you are Zhong Hualius¡¯s son?¡± inquired Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°You¡­ could say that,¡± I jovially replied

    Can we please stop mentioning Zhong Bloody Hualiu? Is mentioning a sexually transmitted disease every time in fashion or something?!

    ¡°Wait,¡± voiced Green Prince. ¡°Aren¡¯t you umm¡­ the one I met at the temple? You¡¯re Zhong Ming?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It has been a long time,¡± I answered with a courteous smile.

    ¡°Oh, no wonder why you reacted as if you were scared but also like you admired me when I called myself Zhong Ming.¡±

    Are you implying Zhong Ming is an idol to you?

    ¡°Hahaha, oh man, I didn¡¯t realise I was trying to iming to be you in your presence.¡±

    Is Zhong Ming that famous already?

    ¡°You recognise him, Master?¡± Yi Wangyou queried.

    ¡°He was the one who stopped me from robbing Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s goods at the temple. Young Master Zhong, you really are a lucky man, huh? After we left, all those chicks were yours.¡±

    ¡°I cannotpare to you, Brother.¡±

    ¡°A man from a brothel chain must know how to talk, hey? Hahaha.¡±

    Though Yi Wangyou knew that offending Wutong Jin Yuxuan was a serious issue, he decided to focus on the matter at hand: ¡°Young Master Zhong, this one hurt your friend. If you wish to get involved, please make your move.¡±

    ¡°I am nobody to ost you, Patriarch Yi. In saying that, I do have something to get off my chest.¡±

    ¡°Please speak your mind.¡±

    ¡°Though I do not know what Brother Tang has done to earn your ire, it seems serious. He had a big fight several days ago and has not had the opportunity to rest. He then had to spar with your subordinates before sparring with you, so it was not a fair match.¡±

    ¡°Are you using me of taking advantage of him?¡±

    ¡°He is an extraordinary fighter. It is not easy to beat him when he is at full capacity.¡±

    ¡°If that is your concern, I shall wait for him to recuperate before running it back. I will give him six hours.¡±

    ¡°Six hours? Matriarch Zi, injuries to nerves and bones would take a hundred days to heal, not to mention he was vomiting blood. He would need, at least, five days to recover.¡±

    ¡°Is there a point to buying time? Not to sound haughty, but the young man would not be a match for this one even if he had ten more years despite his potential and with Yang Blood True Qi fortifying him. If he is going to challenge Deste Sword Dance, how about you personally try on his behalf? Why is there any need to waste time?¡±

    ¡°This one does not know any martial arts. This one does wish to finish getting thoughts off his chest, nevertheless. Brother Chubby, why did you try to rob Wutong Jin Yuxuan?¡±

    ¡°To get into Refining Divine Convention, of course.¡±

    Yi Wangyou and Luo Siming turned to Green Prince.

    ¡°I see. Since you have been candid with me, I shall also be frank: we are also trying to see Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    Luo Siming¡¯s face read, ¡°Say what?!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?!¡±

    ¡°Why are you talking crap when you know they¡¯re with Luo Sword Manor?!¡±

    ¡°Does your brain develop in reverse?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you, too? We¡¯re in the same profession, then.¡±

    ¡°Haha, indeed, indeed.¡±

    Green Prince and I stoppedughing in synchrony.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you had your brother steal my wife, Cui Ping?!¡±

    I bobbed my head with a smirk: ¡°Damn straight.¡±

    Long Zaitian, Dugu and Tie Hanyi and Bai Laimu¡¯s faces read, ¡°You¡¯re scum among scum.¡±

    Why are you jokes giving reactions when you clearly know I¡¯m making this up? You don¡¯t know anything about me, do you? Why do you believe that?!

    ¡°Since we all have enmity with each other one way or another, let us not waste time with pleasantries any more. Young Master Luo, I would like to ask you to be our witness,¡± I requested.

    ¡°I am listening,¡± responding Luo Siming, brows contracting a tad.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to make a bet with our chubby friend here. Neither he nor I have an invitation to Refining Divine Convention. It¡¯s now unbelievably difficult to steal an invitation in Canhu Town. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe you will find a way to permit him entry given your rtionship.¡±

    ¡°Your point being?¡±

    ¡°My point being I want to make a bet as I said. If I win, I will not force my will on anyone. All I am asking is for a chance for my friends and I to expand our horizons.¡±

    ¡°And if I win?¡± questioned Green Prince.

    ¡°If I lose, I¡¯ll return Cui Ping and add a thieving man. I¡¯m on decent terms with Wutong Jin Yuxuan, so how about I give you the address of the nun?¡±

    The promise was dandy and all, but the real allure was catching a man who stole his wife and getting her back for the first time in history, not that I had a Cui Ping to return to him.

    Luo Siming, in contrast, was reluctant to ept the proposal as he hadn¡¯t managed to prove or disprove me of being the one robbing weapons from others. Risky business wasn¡¯t his style.

    ¡°You have yet to state how winning and losing is decided. You are not trying to deceive us, are you?¡± asked Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°I promise you will be satisfied with the terms. As we are people in the pugilistic world and you are fixated on my friend here, why not hold a tournament for an invitation? Both of us have capable subordinates, don¡¯t we? Each of us can delegate five fighters. The tougher man wins. What do you say?¡±

    Yi Wangyou and Green Prince took the offer like robbers finding gold, with thetter answering, ¡°Let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s do it tom-¡±

    Yi Wangyou held his hand up to Green Prince¡¯s mouth as the former believed he needed to be prudent about his line-up: ¡°We need time to prepare. Let uspete on the thirteen of this month.¡±

    ¡°Be there or be square.¡±

 Volume 8 42 Maiden to the Rescue. Su Griefer.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 42 Maiden to the Rescue. Su Griefer.</h4>

    After Green Prince and hispanions departed, we rushed to carry Emperor Yuansheng, who was still out cold, to a room. Tie Hanyi and Dugu concentrated on using their qi to help Emperor Yuansheng out, but they were as helpless as the imperial physician. Meanwhile, Long Zaitian chewed me out.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, why is it that all of your ideas are as trash as you look? We have yet to find Vice-Captain Shen, Abels or any clues on Refining Divine Convention, yet you¡¯ve gone and pissed off someone who could mop the floor with us. Why do you always love ying with the enemy¡¯s nerves? Can we afford to affront Kunlun Sect? Can we? You think the fatso is someone we can offend when he can¡¯t order Kunlun Sect¡¯s patriarch around? Who do you think Luo Sword Manor is? You knew the fatso is friends with Young Master Luo, yet you asked their young master to be your witness? How is that any different to shooting yourself in the foot?¡±

    You think I wanted to go there? I wouldn¡¯t need to jump through all these hoops if any of you could beat Yi Wangyou. Tang Ye had his spirit knocked out of him, while you lot refused to fight. You want Yi Wangyou to beat Tang Ye into a vegetative state?

    I swear I couldn¡¯t figure out what sorcery was at work. How did Green Prince, Luo Siming and Yi Wangyou alle after us right when Emperor Yuansheng happens to be out? Talk about timing¡­ I was still in the fog in regards to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s evaluation of Green Prince. Abels might be so ecstatic that he throws a party if I use Emperor Yuansheng to rein Green Prince in; Green Prince was a speakerphone. You think bandits wouldn¡¯t kidnap Emperor Yuansheng while he was vulnerable to trade him in for mountains of gold or something?

    I couldn¡¯t swoop in as Night Fortress¡¯ master to save them on every asion. Emperor Yuansheng instated me as his strategist after I went through so much trouble to save him. How could I possibly predict what he¡¯d do if I saved him a few more times?

    ¡°His Majesty will scold your ears off.¡±

    ¡°You done? Keeping h, h, h-ing in my ear and I¡¯ll pour boiling water over your mouth.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re useless when ites to strategizing but a pro at cursing, huh?¡±

    ¡°I provided an idea, while you provided what?¡±

    Dugu jogged over as soon as he heard hope roll off my tongue: ¡°Brother Ming, what should we do now that Master is out ofmission?¡±

    ¡°Master just ate contaminated food. He¡¯ll be as good as new in a few days. I¡¯ve already prescribed a form to supplement his recovery.¡±

    Tie Hanyi came over to join the party: ¡°Brother Ming, why did you let His M-, Master eat that stuff?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent¡­¡±

    ¡°Can all of you pipe down?! You¡¯re disturbing Mr. Fangzhang!¡± reproved Lyu Yaoqin, smoke whisking from her head. ¡°Brother Ming, you¡­ you¡­ Why did you let him eat it when you knew it was harmful? Is he less important than Refining Divine Convention?!¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t me me! You saw how destructive Su Xiao¡¯s cooking is. Why didn¡¯t you stop him?!¡±

    ¡°I was busy managing the soup¡¯s me!¡±

    ¡°Your Mr. Fangzhang is less important than a pot of soup, is he?¡±

    Defeated, Lyu Yaoqin stomped her way back His Majesty.

    Long Zaitian crossed his arms: ¡°All right, tough guy, since you¡¯re the strategist, we¡¯re counting on you for ideas. You were the one who talked big, weren¡¯t you? Where are you going to get five fighters from? Your rear?¡±

    Unconfident, I muttered, ¡°Don¡¯t we¡­ have a lot of people here?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Us? What gives you the idea we can be anything more than Patriarch Yi¡¯s warm-up? Do you know why he¡¯s the patriarch of one of the four biggest orthodox sects? You saw with your own eyes how dangerous Deste Sword Dance is. Who do you think can take it?¡±

    Not sure myself, I replied, ¡°Well¡­ isn¡¯t it your job to stake your lives when Master needs you?¡±

    ¡°What you¡¯re saying is, we have to wipe your butt after you had to go and rile him up? Piss off! Even if Dugu and I nod, where are we going to pull another three fighters from? Ol¡¯ Tie has only just healed and can¡¯t fight protracted matches. Laimu and Ye Luo aren¡¯t going to cut it. Tang Ye¡¯s old man just died, or so his face says. You going to throw Su Xiao in? Listen, Strategist Ming: even if you cut and piece us together, you aren¡¯t going to have fivebatants.¡±

    ¡°Am I not a contestant?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It isn¡¯t an ipetencepetition.¡±

    I admit I was careless and impulsive. I irrationally jumped to the conclusion that Green Prince couldn¡¯t pool together a team of five, which would force them to bail out of the bet. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t remember to ount for our circumstances.

    Still, you lot is duh stupid. Just because you challenge someone, doesn¡¯t mean you have to win. We just need to take the invitation from someone else before the date of the tournament, and we won¡¯t have to bother fighting, stupids.

    I couldn¡¯t explicate my idea as the imperial court¡¯s warriors held promises to fight as dear as their lives. ¡°If I make a promise, I have to keep my word. If I agree to a fight, I must win,¡± was their mantra. Instead of spawning extra problems for myself, it¡¯d be far simpler to pinch an invitation and tell them afterwards.

    Besides stealing an invitation, we needed to leverage Dragon Phoenix Inn to locate Boss Shen. I had to go catch up with Zha Pi and the squad once we were in business.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, looking up to see all eyes on me once I was done musing.

    Long Zaitian rubbed his chin: ¡°I get this feeling that you¡¯re being a ssic Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°In that case, what are we going to do about the tournament?¡±

    I whistled and called out to the one under the table, ¡°Hey, if you don¡¯te out and help, you won¡¯t have your name in the list of contributors.¡±

    All I heard was a quiet gyrating of lips from under the table.

    ¡°Stop beating yourself up. You didn¡¯t mean to.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Leave me to be a mushroom under the table.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s even possible?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It just takes time.¡±

    I pulled aside the table, revealing the squealing kid. He lost his nket that he wrapped himself in while putting up a resistance, so he refused to meet my eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been sulking for long enough.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I harmed Master and Miss Ye¡­¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t mean to, though. Attend the meeting properly. Compensate your mistake with a contribution.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t me Su Xiao for possessing the same lethal, incorrigible talent my shifu¡¯s second wife had. Shifu still runs from her cooking to this day.

    Though Tang Ye was absent from the group meeting, the three offices had still convened, technically speaking.

    Long Zaitian voiced, ¡°Master holds you in the highest regard, and you¡¯re the root of this conundrum. How are we going to decide who the five participants will be?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have an answer, while Su Xiao was still processing everything. Hence, I tossed the ball to Dugu: ¡°Brother Dugu, you are aposed and logical man. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Dugu spent a while watching the imperial doctor work on Emperor Yuansheng then answered, ¡°Nothing, to be honest. If we¡¯re short on manpower, though, how about seeking outside help?¡±

    ¡°Can you expand?¡±

    ¡°Bets and fightsmonly go together in the pugilistic world, and calling on every friend you have is the norm. If even Patriarch Yi is here, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to find adepts in Canhu Town.¡±

    Why you so stupid?! If we really wanted to win, the idea was the best possible option; however, we didn¡¯t need to win. Look into my eyes! y dirty, son!

    ¡°Good idea. That escaped me. We may be here covertly, but we can consider the idea as long as the people we ask for help don¡¯t pry unnecessarily,¡± opined Tie Hanyi.

    ¡°Can we find anyone is the question,¡± Long Zaitian pointed out, stating what I was also thinking.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Dugu impugned, ¡°Probably not before. Thanks to Brother Ming, nheless, we have three hundred thousand taels. We can afford to hire anyone now, including even the likes of assassins from League of Assassins.¡±

    Get bent! You want to buy me problems using my body?!

    Long Zaitian, showing surprising patience andposure, disputed, ¡°It¡¯s an idea worth contemting, true. That being said, just because you can hire them, doesn¡¯t mean they arepetent enough. Not everyone treasures money, especially those who¡¯ve reached a high level. I guarantee you couldn¡¯t hire an Yi Wangyou with three hundred thousand. Do we really have to hire someone from League of Assassins? If we want a true adept, we¡¯ll need to do our homework.¡±

    Dugu smiled: ¡°We don¡¯t necessarily to hire their fists. Some people like women or materials. As long as we have money, we can purchase them what they want.¡±

    Long Zaitian executed his signature thigh smack, infuriating Miss Lyu again. Sadly for her, he was too busy to notice.

    ¡°That sounds good. Ol¡¯ Tie, you¡¯re the elite at information gathering. Do you know who our pool of candidates consists of?¡±

    ¡°I heard Mount Wudang¡¯s Elder Shou has arrived.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a good choice. He¡¯s strong and from Wudang. Mount Kunlun is nobody against Wudang.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait,¡± I hollered. ¡°Elder Shou is a no go. First, he¡¯s not interested in money. Second, no materials tickle his fancy. All he does is chase immortality.¡±

    ¡°True. Wudang¡¯s elders aren¡¯t mundane humans¡­¡± everyone verbalised in synchrony.

    I had to sank a pot of tea to calm myself down after the scare of almost being exposed.

    Our silent friend, Bai Laimu, reminded, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Hero Lie owe Brother Ming a favour? He did say he would do anything Brother Ming asked back at the inn that night.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, Lie Shang is an extraordinary broadsword wielder. He also has the weapon advantage over Yi Wangyou.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. That¡¯s like toiling for nothing. He¡¯s bloodthirsty, and his weapon doesn¡¯t help him; the man cleaves people on whims. If he butchers Patriarch Yi, Kunlun Sect will be furious with us. If he loses, what¡¯s the point of hiring him?¡± I contested.

    ¡°True.¡±

    ¡°Those two are high calibre even if we expand our candidate list. I reckon it¡¯s hard to find anyone superior,¡± Long Zaitian noted. Who else do we have¡­?¡±

    Su Xiao raised his hand: ¡°I know! I know! When Big Brother Ming and I were out, we ran into Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group.¡±

    Not long ago, Long Zaitian got his saliva all in my face with his chiding. Thanks to Su Xiao, I had the chance to return the favour with a mouthful of tea.

    Su Xiao, why the hell are you sticking a knife in me?!

    Su Xiao¡¯s face read, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Liu Shan Men is going to get all the credit for this.¡±

    Oh, no, no, no! You¡¯re not helping! You¡¯re screwing me over!

    ¡°Keep going,¡± Long Zaitian demanded.

    Su Xiao beamed: ¡°That fatty attacked Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group today, and we helped Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group out.¡±

    ¡°Oh, fate sure has a way with things,¡±mented Dugu, smiling. ¡°In which case, we might be able to befriend Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group if we express our sincerity.¡±

    Tie Hanyi mumbled, ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡­ Heroine Lian did demonstrate amazing strength. If they could lend us a hand, our chances of winning would be boosted.¡±

    Wiping away the tea at my mouth, I interjected, ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan ar-¡±

    ¡°Put a sock in it, Ming Feizhen!¡± Long Zaitian admonished. ¡°You shake your head at everything. Are you a strategist or a dancer? Also, why the hell did you spray the tea in my face?¡±

    Why the hell are you picking a fight for that right now? Stay on topic, jerk!

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who triggered this mess, so you take responsibility. We haven¡¯t opened for business yet, so you better go find help tomorrow,¡± Long Zaitian osted.

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Who else? You¡¯re the genius who came up with the idea. I also remember that you and Miss Lian are friends.¡±

    Friends? More like creditor and victim!

    Su Xiao leaned an arm on my shoulder and added, ¡°You¡¯re right about that. Even Abbess Huofeng is on good terms with him.¡±

    Everyone tried to skewer me with their res.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you¡¯re responsible for imploring Wutong Jin Yuxuan for help tomorrow.¡±

    Su! Xiao!

 Volume 8 43 Black Robe. Frosty Visage.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 43 ck Robe. Frosty Visage.</h4>

    Everyone showed themselves to their prepared rooms after the official ¡°dismissed¡± announcement. While the streets were rife with perpetual mouring, most of us were worn out and turned in even if we weren¡¯t as we anticipated a busy day tomorrow. We didn¡¯t even need lights in our rooms for the streets were bright.

    I hit the pillow in the room on the top floor, while the others chose to sleep on the third floor, refusing to be anywhere near me. I got rid of Su Xiao, who wanted to sleep with me, using my deafening snores that I liberally exposed everyone to for two hours.

    The two hours of shut eye were my express sleep and probably the only sleep I would get for the night. I boosted my listening sense to cover the entire inn, checking on every minute movement, even their breathing and heart beats, before I sat up.

    I used my celestial spider silk to tug down a bag ck and White Reflection¡¯s storage prepared for me. I had prepared the ck robe, bottles of antidote, poison and a bronze mask beforehand in case I needed to conduct reconnaissance in the middle of the night.

    Unlike the form-fitting ck robes normally worn when performing espionage or assassinations at night, ck and White Reflection supplied me with the loose-fitting version that came in a lower body and upper body garments. It wasn¡¯t the optimal choice as armour or for movement purposes, but it did its job as a camouge set of attire.

    I readied poisons in case I ever needed to interrogate someone and antidote in case I was poisoned.

    Creak.

    I ignored the individual who shunted my door open and kept getting dressed.

    ¡°¡­ Pyjamas?¡±

    ¡°They are if I don¡¯t have to sleep in them.¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s still looked as messy as the clothing he had yet to change out of. Ever since losing to Yi Wangyou, he role yed as the clear-minded and focused statue on the first floor¡¯s hall.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me to visit you at night to join your gang of thieves, did you?¡±

    ¡°If you stepped out the door in that shape, everyone on the street would give you donations without you having to hold out a bowl. Anyone with a functioning brain would fathom you can¡¯t be stealthy when you stand out like that.¡±

    Tang Ye stepped forward and asserted, ¡°What did you want to see me for, then?¡±

    I took my time tying my hair up into a ponytail and checking if there were any white spots in the mirror - to add some hair dye if there was.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have toe if you don¡¯t think there¡¯s any point ining.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why are you¡­ always such a jerk?¡±

    Tang Ye zipped in and double hooked me with scalding fists, one on each side. I shifted my head position to let his fists go by. Knowing the difference in our speed rendered feints pointless, Tang Ye pressed his palms together and knife handed down toward my cor bone.

    I had never seen that technique before. I supposed Deste Sword Dance inspired the technique; told you Tang Ye had the potential to be a great fighter.

    I caught Tang Ye¡¯s knife hand between two fingers, cancelling out his heat energy, and then yanked him off bnce. He bounced off the ball of his foot to go up the wall on an angle and then propelled himself off the wall. Before his momentum tapered off, he rotated tounch himself off a pir.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I casually aimed my right fist in the trajectory he was heading straight toward. Sensing the danger of colliding with my fist, Tang Ye twisted his body vigorously to the side, resulting in him teetering sideways.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± I turned to the mirror to cheerfully adjust my clothing, continuing, ¡°Reflexes and judgement are still there. Yourprehension of techniques has also improved. You¡¯re improving daily.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Where are you off to? We¡¯re not done.¡±

    I alwaysid Tang Ye out in two exchanges, but he¡¯d always pull himself up with sheer determination to fight the pain for he was always eager for another exchange, another learning opportunity.

    ¡°That¡¯s it for today. I didn¡¯t call you here to spar.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    I put on my bronze mask: ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever told you this. My name is Ming Feizhen, a thirty-seventh disciple generation disciple of Mount Daluo. Although my skills don¡¯t belong to Mount Daluo¡¯s style, my shifu did teach them to me. As such, I can¡¯t impart them to outsiders just because I feel like it.¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly bringing that up? I don¡¯t care who you are?¡±

    ¡°Because you want to learn martial arts from me, correct?¡±

    Tang Ye recoiled very subtly.

    ¡°If you just wantbat experience, I can give you as much as you like. That¡¯s not what you need right now, though, is it? No matter how hard and consistent you run, you¡¯ll need a decade to catch up to Yi Wangyou. I¡¯m not overstating; I¡¯m telling you what I¡¯ve concluded based on what I¡¯ve seen. What you need now is something more direct. You need power that can overwhelm him, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want to defeat him so badly? Knowing you, one defeat shouldn¡¯t have you so discouraged¡­ There may be plenty of fish in the sea, but there¡¯s only one Daoist Yuxu.¡±

    Tang Ye began to tremble.

    ¡°He is Kunlun Sect¡¯s senior. More specifically, he holds the same seniority as Yi Wangyou¡¯s shifu. He surpassed Kunlun¡¯s swordy with Weak Water Swordy and is enough to scare off pugilists in the Western Regions. He¡¯s a fan of travelling and once sojourned Beihai¡¯s Clear Mirror Pce. I also heard his traces ended several years ago in the north. Coincidentally, it his appearance and disappearance corresponds to the before and after of Shangri-La¡¯s massacre.¡±

    ¡°You figured it all out¡­¡±

    I folded my arms: ¡°Only that much. Don¡¯t assume I know everything. Let¡¯s hear what it is you desire.¡±

    ¡°He¡­¡± Sounding like a hurt beast - though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to anger or sorrow - Tang Ye continued, ¡°Daoist Yuxu is my father¡¯s friend. He was the one who taught me Yang Blood True Qi.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s your shifu, then?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡­ I saw him go to Shangri-La with my father during the incident, but¡­ his corpse wasn¡¯t found among the dead. There are only two exnations I can think of. He was either strong enough to escape or died elsewhere during his escape. Otherwise¡­¡±

    ¡°Otherwise, he must¡¯ve been one of the culprits, and you find the first two hypothesises to be suspending reality.¡± I ignored Tang Ye¡¯s ashen face and inferred, ¡°You¡¯ve turned him into your imaginary enemy and, therefore, conclude that you can¡¯t have your revenge if you can¡¯t defeat Yi Wangyou.¡±

    I sighed, believing Tang Ye¡¯s silence was a tacit nod.

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong when you presume that my tuitionbined with your aptitude and diligence would expedite your progress; I dare say you could rival Yi Wangyou within two years and stand with the best in the pugilistic world five yearster¡­ But I won¡¯t teach you. Mount Daluo¡¯s styles can only be taught to Mount Daluo disciples. I can¡¯t teach you anything more from the sybus as I have chosen my sessor.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Su Xiao?¡± Tang Ye queried with his face scrunched up.

    ¡°As sharp as I thought.¡±

    Upset and jealous, Tang Ye questioned, ¡°Why Su Xiao? In what capacity does he surpass me?¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t match you physically, aptitude, sprit or fight IQ. The only advantage he has over you is his ability to memorise anything he sees once and¡­ well, is more of ady killer. I¡¯m¡­ just not teaching you.¡±

    ¡°Give me a reason¡­ Big Bro!¡±

    I understood the emphasis at the end was Tang Ye¡¯s way of stressing to me how much he looked up to me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t teach a man who seeks death.¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s legs buckled, dropping him onto his bottom.

    ¡°You n to throw your life away for revenge? You n to live on after you get your revenge? If it¡¯s a ¡®no¡¯, do you think I should teach you?¡±

    No answer.

    ¡°Teaching you would be sending you to your death, brother.¡±

    Trivia

    Daoist Yuxu - He shares the same name as the character from modern wuxia author Liang Yusheng¡¯s å«º£ÐÛ·ç series. It¡¯s not a tranted series if you¡¯re about to ask.

 Volume 8 44 Gentleman on the Beam Waiting for Information

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 44 Gentleman on the Beam Waiting for Information</h4>

    ¡°Brother, you were too impulsive. My father was the one who stipted only those with invitations could attend. You are putting me on the spot by asking me to make an exception,¡± Luo Simingined with a long face in his abode where no outsiders were present. ¡°Every sect must possess a famous and quality weapon to receive an invitation. Even if they win, I cannot afford them an invitation, so the bet is annulled.¡±

    Green Prince responded, ¡°I have everything I want, and I can¡¯t even feel the teeniest bit interested in fighting, which you already know. How do you expect me to have such a weapon in that case? Rx. I¡¯ll do my dues and pinch a weapon in the next two days so that you can justify it.¡±

    ¡°You cannot do that! You must not steal an invitation. If you just want to witness the convention, I can have Ao Xue lend you her Proud Snow Sword as a loophole method because I trust you. I would never loan Proud Snow Sword to an outsider, though.¡±

    Chen Wanyun scoffed, ¡°Do you think they have a chance of winning, Young Master Luo?¡±

    Yi Wangyou verbalised, ¡°We have elite weapons and wielders in addition to sound strategies. If we lose to them even with those advantages, we can only me ourselves for being lousy.¡±

    ¡°Wow, why wasn¡¯t I invited to this party?¡±

    Luo Siming contracted his brows upon seeing Luo Siding wee himself in and rudely let his eyes roam: ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with that reaction, Cousin?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember having a cousin who likes to start with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do as I please. My father told me here to give a report and keep an eye on you. You promised to find out who the culprit is at the banquet, but who¡¯s to say you¡¯re not liaising with them? If you¡¯re in it together, hehe.¡± Luo Siding wiped away his smug expression upon seeing Green Prince sitting there and greeted in a ttering tone, ¡°Hehe, how are you doing, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Is that a trick question? My wife eloped with another man. You have some free time? I¡¯m looking to pound someone to blow off some steam.¡±

    ¡°Aha¡­ Haha¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you here to report in the middle of the night?¡± Luo Siming queried.

    Luo Siming switched his riveted cheeks for curled lips; however, a draft from the door interrupted him with a recoil of the neck: ¡°What the freak is this weather?¡±

    ¡°Did nobody ever teach you that you¡¯re supposed to check your surroundings before you share important news? You¡¯re going to report something important with the door open?¡± Luo Siming admonished, going to close the windows himself.

    Still worried, Luo Siming, one of the very few young masters capable of employing his true qi for reconnaissance, performed three sessive swings into the air, each shot of qi aimed in a different direction. Unless they were inconceivably proficient at concealing their presence, such strikes would trigger one¡¯s instinctive defence mechanisms, thereby giving off their presence. As such, Luo Siming confirmed that there was only the group in the room present when their bodies reacted. He then stated, ¡°We are fine to talk now.¡±

    Yi Wangyou joyously praised, ¡°That was an excellent demonstration of Three Silver Reflections, Young Master Luo.¡±

    ¡°It is an honour to receive praise from a sword master at the pinnacle.¡±

    Mm, these Chinese hawthorns are darn good. If only the chilly breeze didn¡¯t cool them down too much.

    The draft that made Luo Siding shiver was generated when I zipped into the room and lied back on the beam above them. You have to know who your enemy is to devise a counter strategy, right? With the tight lid everyone kept on Refining Divine Convention, it would save me a lot of trouble if I went straight to the source instead of jumping through numerous hurdles for information from a second source. As a bonus, I could find out what their n for our mini tournament would be.

    ¡°Whatever you have to say, say it now,¡± demanded Luo Siming.

    Luo Siding aggressed, ¡°The hell do I look like to you, a messenger? If my dad didn¡¯t tolerate you, I¡¯d have alr-¡±

    ¡°I told you I wee a fight at any time. You¡¯re the one who backed out.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, they say, the louder the bark, the less their bite. This is like challenging a man with your tail between your legs,¡± derided Green Prince.

    It was hard not to believe rumours that the branch family of Luo n coveted leadership over Luo n based on Luo Siding¡¯s attitude toward Luo Siming.

    Luo Siding couldn¡¯t p back at Green Prince and, thus, ryed, ¡°Not long after you left Repository Ind, we received news that someone found that Yin Changmei was beaten and left hanging by a thread five kilometres north of Canhu Town, while his Three-legged Crow Widow Broadsword has gone missing.¡±

    Luo Siming fumed, ¡°Another theft case?!¡±

    Yi Wangyou verbalised, ¡°Yin Changmei is Widow Broadsword Sect¡¯s sabre is he not? The unorthodox pugilist isbelled as a bloodthirsty killer owing to his innumerous ambushes on orthodox sects¡¯ memberste at night.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is him. We do not discriminate between unorthodox and orthodox sects for Refining Divine Convention. I never expected someone to attack him.¡±

    After listening to Luo Siming¡¯s patient break down of Yin Changmei and his history, Yi Wangyou asserted, ¡°We assumed the fights for invitations were decided based on survival of the fittest, which would not be an issue. To think it would be involved with something of this scale was unexpected. Your Highness, you must stop while you are ahead. If you are suspected of being the culprit, it will be a sticky situation.¡±

    Now I get why Luo Siming was so apprehensive in my presence. He must¡¯vebelled me a suspect.

    Luo Siming borated, ¡°Many orthodox sect members have been invited onto the ind. The issue is that the majority of the unorthodox sects can¡¯t trust us due to our status, not to mention that many orthodox sects have enmity with them. An abundance of unorthodox sects¡¯ members now roam Canhu Town. ordingly, your risk is exponentially higher if you try to rob in Canhu Town now, Brother.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a solution at the moment due to theplexity of thework of people. I will personally inspect the town tomorrow and search for clues on the culprits behind the attacks. Luo Siding, if you can¡¯t trust me, you¡¯re more than wee to follow me. If you don¡¯t show tomorrow, don¡¯t go senselessly wagging your tongue afterwards, or you will get youreuppance.¡±

    Green Prince acknowledged he agreed with a nod.

    If I met Luo Siming a couple of years earlier, I¡¯d probably be friends with him. I like his brave and responsible character.

    Yi Wangyou opined, ¡°Let us draw up thorough ns, then. Let us now move on to the tournament on the thirteenth. Young Master Zhong sounded confident he would win, so we must tread carefully.¡±

    ¡°I cannot tell you what exactly it is, but I believe he is not just the son of a wealthy n. There is more to him than what meets the eye; he noticed Samuume Four Swordsman¡¯s presence when they concealed themselves,¡± Luo Siming asserted.

    Green Prince enthused, ¡°That¡¯s perfectly natural. He is the son of the man with the biggest chain of brothels in all thends. Such a man can¡¯t be an ordinary rich young master.¡±

    I thought you¡¯re not a fan of girls from brothels?! Have you developed an interest in the mysterious world of brothels because you¡¯ve been dumped so many times?

    Luo Siming, seeing Yi Wangyou bite his lips, inquired, ¡°Is something the matter, Patriarch Yi?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ This one is just thinking back on what transpired. When this one went to cripple Tang Ye¡¯s four limbs, this one was knocked back. Even though this one only used half of his full power, he needed twenty-four metres to terminate the force. This one could not have knocked himself back over a distance that far and with that speed even if he went all out. If Tang Ye didn¡¯t have an adept in hiding, then Young Master Zhong is hiding his true skills.¡±

    ¡°If someone could knock you back without anyone noticing, he must be as advanced as my father.¡±

    ¡°Although Patriarch Luo¡¯s swordy is among those at the apex, he cannotpare to the one who knocked this one back in terms of brute strength¡­ It would not be a stretch to say that those who possess that level of might can be counted on two hands.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    W-wait, hey! Be nicer to Mingming, will you? Why am I already under suspicion? I exposed myself on my first showing? This is embarrassing! I just used a tad too much strength, didn¡¯t I¡­?

    Luo Siming shook his head: ¡°It is impossible for him to rival Father at his young age, though.¡±

    ¡°This one concurs.¡± Yi Wangyou scoffed, ¡°There must be a trick to it. If he did not use some machinery, he must have used voodoo techniques. He neither budged his shoulder or hand, yet he managed to drive this one back. For someone to achieve that, he would be at the summit of martial artists.¡±

    Shall I start introducing myself as the overlord of the martial world? Basically, none of you believe it¡¯s me? We¡¯re good, then. I would find it hard to believe if I wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen, too.

    After deliberation, Luo Siming conveyed, ¡°I will find time to assign a team to research him. If he really is Zhong Hualiu¡¯s son, then so be it. Else, they must be linked to the recent robberies.¡±

    ¡°How will you do that?¡±

    ¡°If he is the son of a rich n, he must have something about him that stands out frommoners that we can notice. For instance, those in the martial world carry characteristics that allow us to semantically identify their membership.¡±

    So you¡¯re the honest type but also a deep thinker when it counts? Damn, you¡¯re the type I hate going up against. Lucky I came here tonight, or I¡¯d get screwed over without knowing how I died.

    Yi Wangyou stressed, ¡°In that case, let us get back on topic. What are we going to do about the tournament?¡±

    Chen Wanyun, fiddling with his beard, asked, ¡°This old one only learned about said tournament from word of mouth. Patriarch Yi, how do you evaluate thepetition¡¯s strength?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It is hard to tell, frankly,¡± Yi Wangyou answered.

    ¡°Could you please borate?¡±

    ¡°Putting aside our mystery Young Master Zhong, there are several more not to be underestimated. Unfortunately, this one was unable to identify their styles based off the limited exchanges they engaged in.

    ¡°Two of them are heavy punchers focusing on big swings. You should be able to defeat them with standard punches and feints. There was one young man who was quick enough that I could not see his strikes and can still not analyse how skilled he truly is. Another one was a broadsword wielder. He might have a splendid style in his repertoire, but he is not a threat. Based on the limited moves this one saw, his style resembles Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n.¡±

    ¡°If that is Patriarch Yi¡¯s assessment, then myself and Patriarch Yi are the onlybatants under His Highness who are qualified topete.¡±

    Green Prince chimed in: ¡°What do we do, then? We can¡¯t afford to lose now.¡±

    ¡°Worry not, Your Highness. We can hire outside help,¡± rmended Chen Wanyun.

    I expected as much. By the sounds of things, Chen Wanyun is the strategist, while Yi Wangyou the general. One tters with his mouth, and the other tters with his limbs?

    Chen Wanyun, sounding every part a tterer, expressed, ¡°This old one has a candidate you will be happy with for sure. He is Wudang¡¯s Elder Shou. He is currently a guest a Luo Sword Manor. Young Master Luo, could this old one trouble you to pass a letter on to him?¡±

    Luo Siming replied, ¡°That is a surprising name to hear. What are the chances he will lend a hand, though? He has never liked to dabble in the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs.¡±

    ¡°Haha, rx. This old one and he are old friends. He will help for sure. This old one will handle matters on our hand. Sit back and wait, Your Highness.¡±

    Yi Wangyou requested, ¡°Please help this one contact Lie Shang, who is on Sword Ind, Young Master Luo.¡±

    ¡°You mean Dark Broadsword Lie?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He is both a friend and enemy. The two of us have been rivals for a long time. Though we never have anything nice to say to each other, he will never reject this one.¡±

    Smiling, Luo Siming thumped the table: ¡°If that is our lineup, then we can win for sure.¡±

    You¡¯re going to steal everyone I rmended to Long Zaitian? You¡¯re all closer to them than I, as well?

    ¡°Who is ourst participant?¡± inquired Luo Siming.

    ¡°How about your uncle?¡± suggested Chen Wanyun.

    ¡°Yes. You cannot partake for you are the referee. If he could help, we will easily win all five matches.¡±

    ¡°He is too intense and does not hold back. It may be a fighting contest, but we are not trying to kill them.¡±

    ¡°The Four Samuume Swordsmen are also viable candidates. Miss Ao Xue¡¯s swordy is decent.¡±

    ¡°While that is true, she is inexperienced. Moreover, it is better for Luo n not to send in anypetitors since I am judging.¡±

    I swear I¡¯ve seen a simr scene somewhere¡­

    I finished a skewer at that point and moved onto my next skewer. Part of the intermission included Green Prince and Luo Siding spouting absolute tripe that didn¡¯t contribute anything.

    If you lot can¡¯t reach a conclusion, how about heading to bed? Alternatively, open the door, so I can leave¡­

    Ending the interlude were tw-, someone dragging someone else along to the room. Nheless, Luo Siming¡¯s four bodyguards stopped them. Judging from the footsteps of the two, the old one was quite a strong fighter, while the young one was a flick away from a knockout. The young man basically had no internal energy, but his internal strength matched orthodox sects. That being said, I couldn¡¯t tell if he had learnt martial arts or even trained properly. If he was part of Luo n, I¡¯d shed a tear for them.

    The elder blustered, ¡°Move aside. This old one must expose this scum. Young Master, this old one requests an audience!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Elder Doctor. Pleasee in.¡± Once his four bodyguards let the elder in, Luo Siming introduced, ¡°This is our n¡¯s best doctor. He has saved countless lives with his marvellous skills.¡±

    Despite him bristling with anger, the elder exercised pleasantries with everyone present one by one.

    ¡°May I ask what you need to see me for at this time of the night, Elder Doctor?¡±

    ¡°Young Master, this fraud would have killed someone if this old one did not bring him here!¡± The elder threw the young man to the ground, holding back enough so that the young man wouldnd in the chair and not go through it.

    Luo Siming questioned, ¡°Is this not Reverend Zha? Are you using him of being the fraud? What do you mean, Elder Doctor?¡±

    ¡°What do I mean? What do I mean?! He ims his prescription can resolve all of the sleeping maiden¡¯s symptoms but only needs to find a means of feeding her said medicine. He refuses to let anyone see his prescription until this one saw it today. H-he does not know squat about medicine! His prescription is an utter nonsensical slip, slop, p of conflicting herbs. Even a clerk at a pharmacy would note up with anything as remotely as insane. He would not treat anything with it. If anything, people will contract illness from consuming it. Spirit pills my foot; it¡¯s poison, you fraud! Who put you up to this?!¡±

    ¡°Empyrean Wuliang,¡± replied the young man.

    ¡°Empyrean of Rubbish!¡±

    ¡°Doctor Luo, what evidence do you have to use my pill of being poisonous? Have you concocted pills before?¡±

    ¡°What would I create a harmful pill for?¡±

    ¡°Have you consumed it before?¡±

    ¡°You think this is a joke? Is it something safe to consume?¡¯

    ¡°You have never concocted it before or consumed it before, so how do you know it does not work? To add, I hid my prescription, yet you surreptitiously pinched it from my Ultimate Deity Blessing Pouch when I sent my conscious off tomune with Earth God. Young Master Luo, you need to do something about your subordinates.¡±

    ¡°I saw it in your pocket when you were sleeping, you liar!¡±

    ¡°What is this about?¡± Yi Wangyou queried.

    Listening to Luo Siming¡¯s briefing, anyone could figure out the one iming to be Zhou Botong¡¯s disciple was full of crap. I supposed they didn¡¯t expose him out of pity or because they were practicing humility.

    The empyrean drank the tea and rxed in his chair, entertaining the heck out of me. It was hrious when you think about how the empyrean is duping Luo Siming given how clever thetter is. Even better was how convinced the fraud was when I could hear his heart racing as if he was running for dear life. You can¡¯t deny someone who can lie the way he did and hold up an argument using semantics the way he did without biting his tongue is pretty darn good.

    Curious, I poked my head down to confirm my suspicions. I was spot on about the elder. The young man, on the other hand, had the appearance of a middle-aged man.

    Wait. There¡¯s something odd about this guy¡¯s face. There¡¯s a subtle gap between his voice and facial muscles like people wearing a mask¡­ Oh, wait, Zha Pi?! What the hell are you doing here. Hold up¡­ That means the fraud is my subordinate?

 Volume 8 45 From the Earth to the Sky, Supreme Fraud is I

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 45 From the Earth to the Sky, Supreme Fraud is I</h4>

    Why Zha Pi? Reverend Zha? Since when? If he¡¯s Zhou Botong¡¯s disciple, he must be hundreds of years old. Did you run out of money by the time you reached Canhu Town and needed to con someone for money? Who you going to scam next, His Majesty?

    Zha Pi coolly smiled: ¡°Young Master Luo, this one is grateful for the care you have shown him in thest few days. Sadly, all good things muste to an end. Seeing as someone with you suspects this one, haha, let it be a bygone. This one has provided a prescription as per your request and shall bid farewell now.¡±

    Why¡¯d you try to dupe them if you knew you would have to run?

    ¡°Wait, wait, please pardon us, Reverend,¡± urged Luo Siming. ¡°Doctor Luo cares for the patient just as you do. It is merely a case of you not understanding each other¡¯s perspectives.¡±

    ¡°Luo Siming, did you get dropped on your head before I came here?¡± mocked Luo Siding. ¡°You believe the bum? I beat fifty of these swindlers to death annually.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that is quite the im to make,¡± remarked Zha Pi. ¡°Do you mind giving an introduction, Young Master Luo?¡±

    Luo Siming, with a stiff smile, expressed, ¡°Please pardon him, Reverend. Everyone here is this one¡¯s honoured guest. Th-¡±

    ¡°It will not be necessary.¡± Zha Pi held out a hand and maintained his collected smile despite his heart leaping: ¡°Everyone here is famous.¡±

    Seeing everyone exchange derisive nces, Luo Siming exined, ¡°Reverend Zha is skilled at face reading.¡±

    ¡°Only you believe that,¡± Luo Sidingmented.

    Green Prince opined, ¡°Brother, your cousin is full of crap, but he¡¯s right this time. This guy is clearly a fraud.¡±

    Zha Pi took out a folding fan from his belt and gently fanned himself, resembling a strategist: ¡°This one lost interest in superficial glories and stopped minding disparagingments long ago. The pill form this one possesses is a prescription The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord personally imparted. Everyone at Mount Longhu knows about it, yet everyone here is sceptical of it. Hmph.¡±

    ¡°You think you can just walk off?¡± Doctor Luo blocked Zha Pi off from the door and posed his hands forbat: ¡°You should be adept at martial arts if you are Zhou Botong¡¯s disciple. Show me what you¡¯ve got.¡±

    Zha Pi slightly raised up the corners of his lips: ¡°This one forewent fighting long ago. This one came here to save a life. If he engages in a fight, he is going against his goal. Doctor Luo, this one hase to treat you as a friend over thest few days we spent together. Why must we fight on the table and under the table? As you are displeased with this one, he shall take his leave.¡±

    Seeing Doctor Luo step aside - despite not feeling convinced - Zha Pi celebrated in his head and continued toward the door.

    ¡°Wait, Reverend. We can talk this over,¡± called Luo Siming.

    Chen Wanyun whooshed over to the door, cutting off Zha Pi¡¯s path: ¡°Hahaha, I am honoured to meet an empyrean from Quanzhen Sect.¡±

    ¡°Elder Chen, why are you exacerbating the situation?¡± admonished Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°What do you mean I am exacerbating the situation? Were we not just fretting about making up our numbers for the tournament? We have ourselves another adept now, do we not? Are we just going to let him leave?¡±

    ¡°Yes, why did I forget about Reverend Zha?¡± effused Luo Siming. ¡°Although you are a daoist, with hundreds of years under your belt, your martial arts skills would naturally be in another realm. We have a request we would like your aid with. Pleasee back so that we can talk.¡±

    Chen Wanyun conveyed, ¡°Reverend Zha, they might snub you, but I understand you. They might use you of lying, but I believe everything you say.¡±

    Stuck between wanting to run and having to hold up his reverend act, Zha Pi forced himself to smile: ¡°Thank you for understanding. This one understands his background is astonishing to many. Sadly, there is nothing he can do about the truth.¡±

    ¡°How about you show them a skill or two to prove yourself? How about we have a palm strike exchange to demonstrate your strength?¡± Chen Wanyun capitalising on Zha Pi¡¯s silence, added, ¡°Am I not good enough to be worthy of your time, Reverend? Though I am not renowned by any means, I have been training since childhood and am quite confident I can hold my own weight.¡±

    Chen Wanyun flicked his hand, sting the door to the left off its hinges until it bounced off the wall on the opposite side and bounced back, leaving its print on the wall. The only way such a light and thin timber door could leave such deep etched marks was if Chen Wanyun hit it with a lot of power. Emperor Yuansheng was probably the only one in the escort who could rival his strength, to be frank. Zha Pi¡¯s face was probably as white as a sheet underneath his mask.

    ¡°Reverend, you would not be ducking me, would you? If you do not demonstrate your skill, how can you persuade us to believe you?¡±

    Everyone understood what Chen Wanyun¡¯s true intent was after hearing his challenge; the man wanted to teach Zha Pi a lesson.

    Amused, Green Prince cheered, ¡°He is right. One exchange is all we need to prove your authenticity.¡±

    ¡°Instead of staying undecided on whether I can trust him or not, how about just letting Elder Chen test him,¡± Luo Siming decided in his mind. ¡°Reverend, if you do not mind, please show us something to put the spections to rest.¡±

    There was no way Zha Pi would risk his life; however, I doubted he coulde up with a solution.

    Chen Wanyun blustered, ¡°You still going to keep pretending? Die!¡±

    Zha Pi couldn¡¯t find any oxygen to breathe in from the moment Chen Wanyun¡¯s arm started to part the air, so he shut his eyes in surrender.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him intimidate you. Hit him back. I¡¯m right here,¡± Zha Pi suddenly heard.

    Like a man who was hit with an epiphany, Zha Pi went, ¡°Wada!¡± and uncorked a palm strike.

    Cups, tes, chairs and benches titled or turned over. They say that gusts billow whenever Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples used Vajra Divine Might. When Zha Pi palm struck, they would have to describe his strike as a rampaging tornado.

    Yi Wangyou cried, ¡°Reverend, please hold back!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In less than the blink of an eye upon contact, Chen Wanyun detonated a scarlet firework as he snapped a beam overhead and gave a reason to renovate the roof, screaming, ¡°Ah¡± all the way out. They could still his voice echoing a kilometre away.

    Luo Siming¡¯s four bodyguards stormed into the room, swords at the ready, although they couldn¡¯t tell who the enemy was. Upon noticing the light shining through from above and ncing down to see Reverend Zha in his pose¡­

    Zha Pi¡¯s eyes were fixed on his hands, jaw dangling open.

    Luo Siding bolted over to Zha Pi, bowing and expressing, ¡°You truly are in a league of your own, Reverend. Please forgive this one for speaking ill of you.¡±

    The veteran swindler lifted his bottom jaw up whilst pulling his hand back to his beard: ¡°You show promise.¡±

    I removed my Shadow King String from Zha Pi after using the same trick I did with Mountain Monster back in the woods. For the record, I could use roughly fifty percent of my full power when manipting someone else using Shadow King String. Abels would body Chen Wanyun, and I wasn¡¯t exactly concentrating, so¡­

    ¡°Siming never imagined your martial arts prowess was also as profound as your divination expertise, Reverend.¡±

    Green Prince: ¡°Mamma mia, a true empyrean has descended upon us mere mortals. Let me take a closer look. Oh¡­ Oh¡­ These arms, this posture, these eyes¡­ A true empyrean. A true empyrean. Fourth Brother, I can assure you he is a true empyrean.¡±

    Luo Siming cracked a smile in response to Green Prince¡¯s reaction: ¡°I agree, Brother.¡±

    Owing to how familiar he was with Zha Pi, Luo Siming actually found it harder to believe the former was that incredible. Nevertheless, there was no questioning that was real power. Therefore, Luo Siming gave Zha Pi the respect owed.

    As I went to tell Zha Pi what to say to get out, I heard someone¡¯s heartbeat for a second northeast on the roof. I focused my attention in that direction to envision the appearance of the individual. I was surprised I never detected their presence the entire time and never would¡¯ve of they didn¡¯t frantically try to hide his presence after Zha Pi blew a hole in the ceiling. In fact, they were likely there before me.

    I had extended the radius of my enhanced listening to half a kilometre. There was nobody else besides my shifu, grandmaster and those monsters who could enter my listening radius without me sensing them, so it was a testament to the individual¡¯s skill.

    Damn it, they must¡¯ve heard the entire conversation. Whichever team they¡¯re with, it¡¯s going to spell trouble for me.

    I hurled my empty skewer in their direction. By the time they noticed it pierce through the tile, it had already gone through their shirt. They hastily rolled three circles to the right, though my skewer acquired its target.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± brayed Yi Wangyou, prompting Luo The Four Samuume Swordsmen to give chase in teams of two.

    The other one listening in turned out to be a stocky and tall man based on his physique. He had everything but his eyes hidden in darkness. In spite of his size, he nimbly manoeuvred his way out of The Four Samumme Swordsmen¡¯s special sword formation in no time.

    Why did he shoot me a re? Did he notice something?

    The individual pitched a tile at me, though I presumed he merely predicted I was there based on the trajectory I hit him. His uracy forced me to move along the beam to jump out of the hole in the ceiling, startling everyone in the room with the presence of a second eavesdropper.

    The stocky man hastily sealed his upoint to staunch his bleeding: ¡°Sneak attackers are cowards.¡±

    I ribbed, ¡°Eavesdroppers are rats.¡±

    Identifying me from my voice, Zha Pi pointed to the man in ck: ¡°Capture him!¡±

    Thanks to Zha Pi establishing his authority from his exchange with Chen Wanyun, The Four Samuume Swordsmen went for us.

    The individual bridged the gap between me and him to try detonating his fist in my face, only for me to smash him back, destroying the tiles with our sh. Those inside the room had already run outside to chase after us, so they were safe from the raining tiles.

    The individual engaged each other three times, trading blow for blow. As much as he was hesitant to, the strength discrepancy with my force strike forced my opponent to back down.

    ¡°You have my respect.¡±

    Who is this guy? It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve had had to exchange several moves with someone.

    The man evaded two of Luo Siming¡¯s bodyguards and made a dash for it, impelling me to follow him with The Four Samuume Swordsmen in tow. As Green Prince¡¯s bodyguard, Yi Wangyou had to stay behind to guard the former.

    The lengthy chase revealed he had the internal energy to supply bountiful endurance, and his movements allowed him to go fast. While I could keep up, The Four Samuume Swordsmen couldn¡¯t keep up with his tank or speed.

    The man inhaled deeply to dial up his speed once he tired out the enemy. Since The Four Samuume Swordsmen couldn¡¯t catch him, they naturally turned to me, orbiting around me and then simultaneously closing in on four sides.

    I guffawed as I pped my hands together, generating a warm barricade they couldn¡¯t pass through. As a consequence of me terminating their horizontal force, gravity overwhelmed them. I flicked a celestial spider thread to snatch Zhiheng Sword.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you touch my Zhiheng!¡±

    I imposed my agenda, snatching all four swords over, while the four returned to the ground steadily.

    ¡°All right, catch!¡±

    I threw the swords in every direction nice and far away in the woods outside of Canhu Town. As much as they hated me for it, they rushed after their swords whilst cursing me. I then took in a big breath and spotted the man in ck a second or so after, though I kept a safe distance to track him.

    Wait¡­ Is Zha Pi going to be all right by himself?

    ***

    Luo Siming, still suspicious, asked, ¡°Reverend, would you be able to tell this one who those two were and where theye from?¡±

    If Zha Pi could answer, tigers would be flying.

    Luo Siming continued, ¡°How about you demonstrate your amazing divination talent for us, Reverend?¡±

    Though Luo Siming¡¯s unusual attitude confounded him, Yi Wangyou dismissed it and gave Zha Pi a hold-fist salute: ¡°Your talents know no bounds. This one¡¯s sect dabbles in Daoism, so we can be of the same big family. It is shameful to admit, but this one focused on martial arts and failed to inherit our sect¡¯s divination knowledge.¡±

    Besides Zha Pi¡¯s martial prowess being worthy of respect, there was also the fact that he was supposed to be considerably older than Yi Wangyou despite appearances. For that reason, Yi Yangyou showed Zha Pi the highest degree of respect.

    Zha Pi replied, ¡°And if I do not want to?¡±

    They couldn¡¯t force Zha Pi against his will; not after the astonishing palm strike. Yet, that only served to raise more rms for Luo Siming: ¡°Could there be some reason you cannot tell us for your objection, Reverend?¡±

    Cornered, Zha Pi resorted to reversing their roles: ¡°Young Master Luo, what are you insinuating?!¡±

    ¡°Ah, ah¡­¡± Nobody had ever seen Luo Siming so out of character; he had his hands around his belly region and grimaced simrly to someone poisoned or winded. Before anyone could make heads or tails of his situation, he had passed out.

    Doctor Luo rushed to check Luo Siming¡¯s pulse. s, he was unable to find anything besides erratic changes: ¡°R-Reverend, this old one apologises for using you. Young Master always believed in you, though. Please do not hate him for my mistake.¡±

    Even though Zha Pi didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea as to what was going on, he maintained hisposure: ¡°You think this one couldn¡¯t tell you used Young Master Luo to test him? Consider it penance to remember your lesson.¡±

    After Zha Pi whipped his sleeve, the clouds showed themselves out, letting a silver beam shine through. From the perspective of those around, they assumed it was Zha Pi¡¯s work.

    ¡°This one needs to rest now. Let us call it a day.¡±

    ¡°He is¡­ a true reverend¡­¡± Green Prince mumbled as he watched Zha Pi amble off, prompting Yi Wangyou to turn around to see who spoke his mind. The two regarded each other with a nod, acknowledging their agreement. Green Prince then said, ¡°In ancient times, there was Daoist Chen Tuan, the sage credited with creation of the kung fu system Six Harmonies and Eight Methods. Reverend Zha not only possesses inconceivable knowledge but also martial prowess beyond our imagination. We should address him as Rever-¡±

    ¡°Empyrean Zha!¡± Yi Wangyou announced, finishing off Green Prince¡¯s sentence.

    Glossary

    Zhiheng - A type of plum blossom.

    Daoist Chen Tuan - He is an actual figure in legends (some believe he actually existed, though there are varying ounts of his actual biography). Besides being credited with creating Six Harmonies and Eight Methods, he¡¯s also believed to be the pioneer behind Taiji Ruler and a 24-season Daoyin Method, which uses seated and standing exercises for health benefits.

    Immortal Zha - If you have forgotten, ¡°zha¡± in ¡°Zha Pi¡± means ¡°scum¡±. It might not be tooical in English because I can¡¯t do it justice due to syntax differences the twonguages. If you read it in Chinese, it will impel you to read it as ¡°Scum Immortal¡±.

 Volume 8 46 Moonlight Chase. Chick Magnet.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 46 Moonlight Chase. Chick Ma.</h4>

    While some might¡¯ve found the draft in the serenade of the ck and silver choir too chilly forfort, I found the temperature perfect. It had been a long time since I had the luxury of relishing a stroll, especially having the bonus of chasing a rabbit.

    For the two hours we were on the move, he did ap of Canhu Town, which worked out in my favour since I knew the town somewhat. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve had trouble locating him.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The individual in ck boomed as heunched off when the chase was initiated. When he was on my radar again, he had used some sort of method to blend in with the natural wind whilst leveraging it for momentum. Shaking off The Four Samuume Swordsmen, yet still having energy to speed up without tiring, was a testament to both speed and stamina. Having said that, sweating was unavoidable. Furthermore, as he elerated his flow of true qi for speed, I could feel the temperature in the atmosphere heating up as a result of his body temperature rising.

    Eventually, the individual stopped by ake to catch his breath. He screened the vicinity with his eyes then chopped a big lotus leaf into the water. Given his strength, one would expect him to elevate the water if he chopped, yet the lotus leaf slipped into the water as though there was a frame that fit like a glove for it, water quietly rising. To aplish such a task, one needed to strike the bnce between their strength and energy output as a means of confining a section of water within their internal energy. Worth noting was how little time he needed to mould energy, proving his internal energy was potent.

    Now I want to know who you are more than ever. Howe I never heard of someone so incredible in the pugilistic world? I need to spend more time reading and sleeping.

    The man dropped the water back down heavily, sshing himself wet. He heaved a long breath of relief and then checked his surroundings again with his true qi, prompting me to stop chewing too loudly.

    The man dropped his guard once he was certain there was nobody around and stripped off his wet robe.

    Sh-should I stop him from undressing further? It¡¯d be weird if I dumped him stark naked outside after knocking him out, right?

    In the brief window I spent contemting, he had already finished removing all but his fitted undershirt designed for diving. I suspected he wore the extrayer inside because he nned to abscond via a water channel based on the undershirt.

    My expectations were turned on their head. Instead of seeing bulging muscles under the shirt, I saw tantalising curves. Did I mention I did not see thating? She entered the water before she started unbuttoning her undershirt, back facing me. It was hard to imagine her packing explosive power as she didn¡¯t look muscr - rtively speaking. To the contrary, one would think she had refined every inch of her body to be supple and defined in specific ces to emphasise her lines.

    Her legs maised my eyes, reminding me of her long legs that bestowed her with height that men would make men feel inadequate. While she kicked her calf out of the water as a child would, the way she lifted her arms out of the water andthered them with her other were as close to seduction as you could get.

    For whatever reason, she spun around to the shore. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say she wanted to make sure nobody was there. She probably never imagined the consequence of that decision to be disying her ivory curves to me. She scooped up water and let it run down from her cor bones.

    I finally regained awareness of what I was doing as I heard the water droplets return home, but that was only the beginning for her appearance brought out an instinctive exmation.

    ¡°Yu Feiyuan?!¡±

    Like an rmed lion, Yu Feiyuan flicked her hair and manifested her aggression in her eyes: ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

 Volume 8 47

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 47</h4>

    The ¡°Yu¡± in Yu Feiyuan¡¯s name is actually written with the character for ¡°rain¡±, not ¡°jade¡± as it¡¯s poprly used.

    The cold droplets of water streaking down from her cor bone let off steam despite there being a cold wind. Yu Feiyuan had tall peaks, but Boss Shen¡¯s still trumped hers. While Boss Shen¡¯s cushions were the type you that incited an urge to rub them and would sink your hands into, Yu Feiyuan¡¯s had more ¡°oomph¡± to them, so you could feel the pushback but never feel sick of them owing to her diligent training. When women develop their chest muscles, the muscles underneath give their breasts that more perky appearance, and that was the sort of look Yu Feiyuan¡¯s assets had to them.

    The upright posture Yu Feiyuan adopted didn¡¯t resemble a woman trying to borrow the moonlight for a sultrier vibe but a warrior dressed in iron armour, ready to put you away if you challenged her. When Young Shiyi goes naked, it¡¯s a dangerous tease. On the other hand, Yu Feiyuan¡¯s stance was merely an expression of fearlessness because her issue of being seen in the nude was simply, ¡°Shifu said I can¡¯t let men see me nude.¡± She wouldn¡¯t squeal as a young girl did if you identally saw her exposed.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan cast a barrier of qi with a three metre radius around her, pushing away the water covering her body parts in the process, as she couldn¡¯t spot my location since I barely muttered under my breath. Thus began our silence face off in the water and shrubs, though the temperature in the shrubs kept rising.

    It¡¯s only been a ten years since Ist saw her, yet she¡¯s developed s-, hmm? Oh, precious nose blood. I need to do something, or she¡¯ll stand there without any qualms for an hour.

    I popped my head out of the shrubs and, adopting a husky voice, teased, ¡°Hehehe, who would¡¯ve imagined Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s senior disciple would be snooping around at night. Might this one be able to ask since when Wutong Jin Yuxuan started dabbling in the espionage department?¡±

    ¡°So it was you!¡±

    She already identified me?!

    ¡°Sneak attacking me was underhanded!¡±

    Oh, thank god it was just th-

    Yu Feiyuan uncorked a palm strike my way before I could finish my thought, prompting me to retreat whilst covering my eyes¡­ Technically, she did slip on some clothing, but all said clothing was a piece of cloth wrapped around her. I could see her pronounced lines as clear as day due to the water shrinking her attire and fitting material it was made from.

    ¡°Put something on!¡±

    ¡°Pugilists talk with their fists. What does dressing or not have anything to do with it?!¡±

    Who taught you that?! Your shifu tricked you again, didn¡¯t she? I guarantee she didn¡¯t mean it in that sense!

    Out came another big palm from Yu Feiyuan, forcing me to strafe.

    ¡°Coward, fight me face to face!¡±

    Yu Feiyuan switched to Emei Swordy, a style that melded fluidity and rigidness. She wasn¡¯t just the senior disciple of Wutong Jin Yuxuan but also the granddaughter of Emei¡¯s patriarch, Golden Summit¡¯s Daoist Ziguan.

    I gave her three moves the slip and questioned, ¡°What did you sneak into their room for?¡±

    ¡°To gather information. What¡¯s it to you?¡±

    ¡°Information pertaining to the culprit who¡¯s been stealing weapons recently?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You, too?¡±

    Talking with me while scantily dressed¡­ Everything I told you in the past went out the other ear, d-

    Yu Feiyuan caught me off guard with a big palm strike.

    ¡°Oi, why are you attacking as you answer?!¡±

    ¡°I was once taught that there¡¯s no point in speaking to the enemy.¡±

    Karma! Karma hase around!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 8 48 Supposedly. Unbelievable Coincidences.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 48 Supposedly. Unbelievable Coincidences.</h4>

    Ten years ago at Mount Emei.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte,¡± Ming Feizhen cheerfully hollered. ¡°That¡¯s it for today¡¯s lesson. Try stabbing me to see if your strength is enough.¡±

    The stoic fifteen year old beauty had thrust as fast as she could multiple times already, only for Ming Feizhen to use a style she hadn¡¯t ever seen before to disarm her as fast as she thrust. Despite him having disarmed her plenty of times prior to that already, yet she never lost spirit, recollecting herself almost immediately. Every thrust she delivered was clean and purposeful as though fatigue was a concept that didn¡¯t apply to her.

    Although Ming Feizhen was reluctant to take on the task after his shifu dumped the job on him, prompting him to just go through the motions at first, he gradually grew happy to spar with her for he admired her spirit. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t follow a structured teaching curriculum, yet she earnestly soaked up everything he taught and would stand up eight times if she fell down seven times.

    While Ming Suwen was fairly simr to the girl - in that they were both stubborn - the young girl didn¡¯t quarrel with Ming Feizhen as Ming Suwen did.

    Upon hearing it would be herst chance for the day, the girl¡¯s motivation to beat her best attempt soared, resulting in her digging deep enough to give the impression she was drawing on all the power in the atmosphere. From a visual perspective, her posture and the spirit in her eyes highlighted the scenery around instead of the other way around.

    Vajra Divine Might, All-Epassing Snow? Impressive for your age.

    A teenager who feels Vajra Divine Might in their hands for the first time may feel unstoppable, but not the young girl. She wasn¡¯t questioning her mentor; she had just personally experienced insurmountable ¡°divine might¡± too many times - courtesy of Ming Feizhen over thest six months - for her to believe she had the power to carve a fairy tale. Neither he nor her saw the sentiment as a bad thing. She was never disgruntled when she lost to him as he always beat her fair and square.

    For the sixth months Ming Feizhen was grounded at Mount Emei, he took the girl under his wing. Her posture, her eyes and the aura oozing from her proved that he coached splendidly and that she shone as a student. Beforemencing their first session together, he promised her that he would never dodge her attack, or he¡¯d ept any punishment she deemed appropriate. Had she not grasped All-Epassing Snow Technique, he had no challenge terminating her force with his bare hands using Tai Chi. Now that she had grasped it, though, he could only cancel out ny percent of her force, which would cause the remaining ten percent to p back at her.

    Generally, instructors would have their disciple bite the bullet and deal with it. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t so rigid when it came to rules, however. Thanks to his height and a touch of craftiness, he had a solution.

    ¡°Lass, your thrust¡­¡±

    The girl diminished her velocity so that she could hear what was being said, affording Ming Feizhen the time required to slip his hand past the de and flick the sword, thereby disarming the girl. He then swiftly caught the hilt to take her sword from her, demonstrating fluidity and rigidity. At the same time, he also demonstrated quick, economic thinking, disarming his opponent without any wasted any energy.

    White smoke whisked from her head as she tried toprehend how she was beaten to the punch. Ming Feizhen found her reaction adorable enough to want to smile but resisted. He returned her sword to her and sternly asked, ¡°Do you know what error you made?¡±

    Even though the girl was only fifteen years old, she was already taller than her shifu and only a head shorter than Ming Feizhen. The sweat in her hair exuded an alluring aroma that gave the impression she was a girl who took care of her appearances, contrary to her actual character.

    ¡°What mistake did I make? Tell me.¡± Despite the age gap, the girl never spoke formally to Ming Feizhen, not that he minded.

    ¡°You can¡¯t decelerate once you begin your attack; don¡¯t stop no matter what your opponent says or does. If I was your enemy, I wouldn¡¯t have pulled the sword back but extended the de back at you.¡±

    It was a bogus story Ming Feizhen instinctively rolled off his tongue to avert the awkward confrontation. Howbeit, he found himself sounding convincing as he went on. In a way, he implicitly pointed out the girl¡¯spetence in the physical department andcking mentality that had the potential to be her downfall in the future.

    ¡°¡­ I deserve to die if I¡¯m inferior.¡±

    Who teaches her these ideas? Actually, I shouldn¡¯t be so surprised given Matriarch Zi and Emei Sect¡¯s patriarch are experts at aggression. I really wonder if her thinking is the product of them stuffing her brain with their ideals.

    ¡°Death might not be scary, but do you think your opponent will let you die a painless death? Would you be scared if he took your sword, immobilised you and then tore your clothes off?¡±

    The girl tilted her head: ¡°Why would I be scared if my clothes are torn off?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Wouldn¡¯t you have exposed your body?¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    Good grief, help me. No, help her.

    The young girl rubbed her clothing: ¡°Is it because the tailor will be angry if the clothing is damaged?¡±

    The girl often ruined her clothing as a consequence of her training, so she was often scolded despite the dressmaker fixing her clothing for her each other.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Of course not. You¡¯re not supposed to let men see your body. Don¡¯t you get it?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    You know what? I¡¯m going to let Matriarch Zi give herself a headache teaching thisss that stuff.

    ¡°What you need to remember is, losing fights in the pugilistic world isn¡¯t the worst oue. The worst oue is when you¡¯re at the mercy of your opponent. If you don¡¯t want to be in that position, don¡¯t ever show mercy in a fight. If you want to talk or let them fix up their hair, put them on their back first.¡±

    Guess how many people she ¡°put on their back¡±ter in life? Lots.

    ¡°Thatst one didn¡¯t count. Try again. If you can catch a corner of my shirt, I¡¯ll give you a big present that I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love.¡±

    The girl didn¡¯t need time to process her thoughts this time.

    ¡°Mm, not b-, wait, I¡¯m talking! Oi! Oi! Stop!¡±

    ¡°If you want to talk or let them fix up their hair, put them on their back first,¡± he said. So she did. In the end, she didn¡¯t stop until the sun was kissing the mountain peak, and a cloth fragment dangled from the tip of her sword.

    ***

    I do regret teaching Yu Feiyuan those things I taught prior to nearly having a new hole in my head. The reunion showed she was still a prodigy in martial arts. Back then, I remember her learning basics in one try and gaining fluency awfully quickly simrly to Tang Ye.

    Why am I even chasing after her again?

    ¡°Wait, wait,¡± I urged in a husky voice. ¡°We have no grudges between us, and I only hurt you by ident. Besides, it was only a scratch. You would not be so petty to pick a fight with me over it, would you, Interim Patriarch Yu? I am trying to speak to you.¡±

    ¡°If you want to talk or let them fix up their hair, put them on their back first.¡±

    You don¡¯t need to remember it word for word!

    If I used qi armour as I did back then to thwart Yu Feiyuan¡¯s attack, she¡¯d instantly identify me from three metres away. Nheless, my qinggong style had changed enough to give her strikes the slip without revealing my identity.

    Yu Feiyuan kept her cool as she unleashed technique after technique, evaporating the water on her as she went unlike her faultless offence.

    I didn¡¯t want to see her nude twice in a single day, yet my eyes couldn¡¯t stop ogling her limbs. On the other hand, she pressured me with one palm strike after the next, sting every single one with everything she had, causing the cloth in front of her to slide down bit by bit.

    ¡°Get dressed first, will you?! You look indecent!¡±

    ¡°What trick is this?¡±

    ¡°None of them. This old one will wait for you to get dressed. You can¡¯t fight properly in that state. This old one can¡¯t take advantage of you and ruin his reputation. Get dressed.¡± I sat down to signal that I wouldn¡¯t flee.

    Yu Feiyuan subscribed to the false notion that those in the pugilistic world having a good image would keep their promises all the time.

    I turned my head away so that I wouldn¡¯t see her putting on her swimming gear. I already had my visual feast, so it was time for business: ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, I, this old one heard you are an upright individual. Why did you suddenly join this old one¡¯s profession? This old one has been in this line of work for sixty years, yet he has never met such a conspicuous female thief.¡±

    The shady elder identity was designed to prevent others ndering her in the future if they found out a man saw her naked.

    Yu Feiyuan stopped dressing upon hearing my query: ¡°I went with Luo Siding.¡±

    ¡°That troublemaker? That doesn¡¯t add up. Emei Sect¡¯s Yu n and Luo n are on good terms. Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Luo Sword Manor are orthodox sects.¡±

    As Yue Feiyuan tugged up her fitted swimming trousers, I heard a soft ¡°smack¡± as the creases ttened out on those luscious thighs: ¡°I want to get to the bottom of this. I don¡¯t trust Luo n, so I have to eavesdrop. If they¡¯re not responsible, I¡¯ll apologise in person once we clear it up. What were you doing there?¡±

    I scrubbed my head with a smile: ¡°I was looking for spare change.¡±

    ¡°Scum!¡±

    ¡°Haha, a man¡¯s gotta eat. If I want to be scum, don¡¯t you think I should go look for women? I didn¡¯t use my unique skill to take the two Samuume Swordswomen¡¯s br-¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re a panty thief!¡±

    Although Yu Feiyuan was a durd when it came to intimacy between men and women, she, like every disciple of Wutong Jin Yuxuan, was raised to hate lechers with a vengeance. If I knew how many perverts she clobbered to sleep in one strike, I would¡¯ve ran with another story!

    As I was sitting and had my back to Yu Feiyuan, I almost cast a true qi barrier on instinct when she suddenly tried to bomb me with a palm strike. Fortunately, I could stop myself in time and leaned onto my back to let her st go past. She quicklymenced her next bombardment, forcing me to double twist along the ground.

    ¡°Hey, you damnss, you trying to kill your husband?!¡± I reactively blurted before my body froze at the same time as Yu Feiyuan¡¯s.

    I shouted the same line during the time I trained Yu Feiyuan more times than I could count, and it had the same effect on her every time. She¡¯d have hot flushes and scramble to decide what she should do. Blinking just as she did back then, Yu Feiyuan uttered softly, ¡°Brother Ming¡­?¡±

    Unsure how to deal with the mess I just created, I rose to my feet and treaded to my right.

    ¡°Is that you?¡±

    I turned to theke. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m out!¡± I ploughed into the water.

    They say swimming in ake must be close to the joy a bird feels to fly. I was swimming against the current for dear life, though!

    Why the hell did you have to open your mouth, Ming Feizhen?! I have to do something about my urge to speak without thinking!

    ¡°Brother¡­ Brother Feizhen.¡±

    Why can I still hear her calling me? Why?

    I turned around to see the merm-, Yu Feiyuan creating swirls around her limbs. I forgot she grew up in Jiangnan owing to my panic. You know what people in Jiangnan are good at? Swimming!

    It¡¯s now or never. Swim!

 Volume 8 49 Secret Deal. Gui Wa.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 49 Secret Deal. Gui Wa.</h4>

    ¡°Hah, hah, hah¡­¡±

    The man fleeing on foot felt as though the wind blew with passion, taking away his energy with each breath, yet he put one leg in front of the other over and over, seemingly afraid the darkness would swallow him. He had no idea how long he had been running for; he had gone from paved streets to the mountains, but he was convinced he shouldn¡¯t stop.

    He was tough enough to be revered among friends and enemies for being as tough as his armour, yet he showed a clean pair of heals as soon as he came face to face with a certain individual, not even daring to look back until his lungs forced him to stop. He thanked the heavens there was only one trail behind him until he turned around.

    ¡°Did you have to run?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Ah!¡± Frightened, the man threw a punch with reckless abandon,nding it on the individual¡¯s chest.

    The individual didn¡¯t bother to shield himself with the technique he was proud of in his arsenal, putting the man¡¯s reputation as a strong man to shame.

    ¡°If Evil Spirit¡¯s general¡¯s punch is this weak, why run? What difference will running make?¡±

    The man rolled on the ground, beseeching, ¡°I apologise! I¡¯m sorry! I shouldn¡¯t have done that! Please forgive me! Forg-¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The individual killed the man with his unshakable, yet forlorn, eyes.

    ¡°Whatpelled you¡­ to do that?¡± asked the individual, despite knowing the man couldn¡¯t answer and knowing what the answer was. He didn¡¯t need an answer; he already witnessed more greed and cruelty than he wanted to see. ¡°Hahahaha.¡± The man¡¯s maniacalughter was his only relief from the sorrow that gued him. ¡°Let¡¯s go drink! I¡¯ll kill whoever stops me!¡±

    Suddenly, a gust of wind blew as a man and woman dashed through the woods.

    ¡°What are you going to do if we want to stop you?¡± shouted the tall man hiding his appearance in a ck robe.

    ¡°Brother, I have something to tell you!¡± responded the maiden, who was the same age as Ming Suwen, chasing after him.

    Why have you still not dropped your fixation habit?

    ¡°Can you stop chasing me?!¡±

    ¡°Let me see how you look!¡±

    Including the night I met Yu Feiyuan in theke, we had been running for two days and nights straight.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I¡¯m an old lecher? Get back.¡±

    ¡°I refuse.¡± Yu Feiyuan burst forward and asserted, ¡°You resemble someone important to me. Actually, I believe it¡¯s you. Brother Feizhen, wait for me.¡±

    ¡°You have the wrong person!¡±

    Among the marriages dumped in myp, my engagement to Yu Feyuan was the only official one. Custom dictates that engagements and marriages are only official if both parties¡¯ parents arrange it, and the rites are followed.

    The year I was grounded on Mount Emei was the year my shifu met with orthodox sect members from Nanjiang, which was a rarer than rare urrence. Few people wanted to receive him as a guest due to the chaos he caused; curses he spouted; and sisters, wives, aunts, neighbours and friends he had affairs with.

    See why I don¡¯t want to seed the patriarch role of Mount Daluo? I¡¯d drown in spit if all of the enemies my shifu made spat on me once.

    I was eight years old the year I met five year old Yu Feiyuan. Back then, she was petite, sported pink all the time, had soft, full cheeks and was adorable. Until I met her, she was reticent. After we met, she was always following behind me, calling ¡°Brother Feizhen. Brother Feizhen.¡± I brought her along with me wherever I went just as Shifu did with me, considering it to be the natural thing to do. Others, however, didn¡¯t interpret it that way¡­

    Shifu told me to bug off every night when he caroused with the people he convened with at Emei¡¯s Golden Summit, telling me kids should do things kids do. Of course, I didn¡¯t buy his story. ordingly, I led Lass Yu (the nickname I gave Yu Feiyuan) to the conference room because she was a living key to all areas of Mount Emei. I opened the door and heard, ¡°Tianhu!¡±

    Tianhu? The adept? Could Shifu be discussing how to rebel against the imperial court?

    I poked my head inside to see my shifu, Daoist Jinguan, (Emei Sect¡¯s patriarch at the time) Greater Empyrean Sect¡¯s patriarch and Nanjiang¡¯s best pugilist (forgot their name) sitting at a square table usually for eight people to dine at. As a pupil, I decided to sneak in for a closer look and to offer help if it was necessary since the four were partaking in a silentpetition between each other. To my dismay, the four damn old farts were ying mah-jong!

    The Tianhu I heard wasn¡¯t ¡°Flying Fox¡± but Tianhu as in ¡°natural¡± in mah-jong! Inmed, I turned to walk off, only to hear Daoist Jinguan flip the pieces over and chortle, saying, ¡°With this loss, you¡¯ve lost everything you came here with, Brother Ming.¡±

    My shifu responded, ¡°So what? Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you¡¯ve lost what you started with.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ We can¡¯t just call it quits, though, right? We still have twenty rounds to go.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but this old one has a condition.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    ¡°Your disciple is bright. This old one happens to have a five year old granddaughter who is very pretty. This old one thinks they¡¯re perfect for each other. How about being inws? They would surely appreciate it.¡±

    I spun around to look at the loli I was with, only to receive a sweet smile and hear, ¡°Brother Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I mean, he¡¯s my disciple. He goes well with anything. In saying that, you¡¯re ripping me off here. I only lost nine taels, six mace, yet you want my disciple? Do you realise how far away Beiping is? You want my disciple? Pfft.¡±

    As much as I¡¯m touched, I have an equal urge to punch your face in. What the heck am I to you?

    ¡°In that case, how about betting him back for what you owe this old one? That¡¯s fair, isn¡¯t it? Win and we¡¯ll pretend this old one ever mentioned it.¡±

    ¡°Deal! Let¡¯s roll. I¡¯ll deal!¡±

    And so¡­ my shifu lost even his underpants that night. And that was how I ended up as Yu Feiyuan¡¯s fianc¨¦. To pay off his debts, my shifu signed the betrothal papers, ran down Mount Emei and sold a couple of loaves of oven y bread in exchange for some gifts to send up the mountain.

    I neverprehended why Young Shiyi never let the affair go, mistaking that she merely didn¡¯t like the way it happened. I made the terrible mistake of assuring her Yu Feiyuan was nice, pretty, tall, strong, you get my drift. As a result of my mistake, Young Shiyi heckled Yu Feiyuan every couple of days. You know what was crazier, though? Lass Yu didn¡¯t even know she was being heckled because she couldn¡¯t tell when people were bullying her or when they were being yful.

    Young Shiyi doesn¡¯t insult you outright. Instead, she prefers a way of going around, pressing your buttons until you flip out on your own. Unfortunately for her, Lass Yu couldn¡¯t follow those kinds of insults, so Young Shiyi ended up irritating herself.

    When Young Shiyi fed her poisoned snacks, Lass Yu thought she ate something that had gone bad. What annoyed Young Shiyi even more was Lass Yu built up immunity to the poison after a few days of pain.

    Young Shiyi offered sparring lessons to pick apart Lass Yu as an alternative. After sparring each other over and over, Lass Yu picked up qinna techniques and could execute them with her eyes closed. Before she knew it, Young Shiyi could no longer win in fair matches. Consequently, Young Shiyi med me for training Lass Yu¡­ That is why ¡°Yu Feiyuan¡± is taboo in Young Shiyi¡¯s presence.

    I had several opportunities to hurtle with my qingong, except Yu Feiyuan was too close and possessed a good pair of eyes. ounting for her knack to distinguish styles, I didn¡¯t use Night Steps, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to deny it was meter on. Thankfully, I eventually heard a disturbance in the woods and decided to find cover.

    I couldn¡¯t tell how the dead man with messy hair on the ground died. The other man was asrge as A-Hu, making him taller than me. The big broadsword on his back was still sheathed and his clothing was frayed, giving him the vibes of a wanderer.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill whoever stops me!¡±

    Deeming it to be an opportunity, I confronted the man and asked, ¡°Wh-what are you going to do if we want to stop you?¡±

    The big man cast his copper eyes my way through his peripherals: ¡°Kill you!¡±

    Responding to his punch, I smacked his fist with my palm, billowing the trees. Identifying his style, I blurted, ¡°Evil Eminence Scripture? Who are you?¡±

    ¡°You know it? Who are you?¡±

    Interjecting on the intermission, Yu Feiyuan stated, ¡°He has precise control over his internal energy and a domineering presence. He could kill a man with sound alone. If you aren¡¯t Brother Feizhen, you can marginalise him. Otherwise, don¡¯t be a hero.¡±

    You chased me for two days and nights when you¡¯re not even certain I¡¯m Ming Feizhen?

    As inquisitive as I was, I preferred to shake off Yu Feiyuan. nting a foot behind me, I uncorked a palm strike just enough to generate a gust capable of dying Yu Feiyuan¡¯s eleration. That small window was all the man needed to bridge the gap between him and her.

    ¡°Since you wish to stop me, you must pay!¡±

    Thus, Yu Feiyuan had no alternative but to engage the man, affording me time to escape. I still wasn¡¯t out of the red zone even if I ran, in saying that. For all I knew, the man might¡¯ve been someone you could reason with. If Yu Feiyuan could clear the air quick enough, she could catch up just as she did the two days before. Moreover, we might bump into each other since we both lodged at Canhu Town. The only way for me to be in the green zone was to erase her suspicions. To that end, I sped off using Night Steps once I was confident she couldn¡¯t see me. In mere seconds, for crying out loud, I heard the wind howling behind me, meaning Yu Feiyuan had caught up again. I went back to using qinggong to shake off Yu Feiyuan, a tactic that was only feasible because I had created a gap big enough, and my destination wasn¡¯t too far off.

    I pulled over in front of a cavern that was originally the asset of some beast, minus during the winter season, after running for another hour, and pulled off the hay I covered the entrance up with: ¡°Demon Lass,e save me.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no cure for you!¡± Mountain Monster stopped tending to her cooking and attempted to tag my face with a flying side kick as soon as I set foot inside.

    I caught Mount Monster¡¯s thin ankle with both hands, stuffing her forward force and then suspended her upside down with one hand.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you would dare show your face back here again?!¡±

    My official fianc¨¦e is out there. Why are you acting like you¡¯re my wife?

    Rubbing my face on instinct, I queried, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with meing back?¡±

    ¡°You have the gall to ask me that?! You¡¯ve confined me to this hell hole for days! If I didn¡¯t know how to catch snakes to eat, I¡¯d have already died from starvation!¡±

    I admit to forgetting about leaving Mountain Monster with a broadsword to take care of herself due to the plethora of things on my te recently. I brought her food and water daily until the debacles at Canhu Town upied my memory capacity. While it was winter, the cavern wasn¡¯t safe from all snakes, bugs and wild beasts. If nothing else, I passed by two wolves on the way over. To be frank, I didn¡¯t care too much if she ended up dying.

    I didn¡¯t actually confine Mountain Monster to the natural cavern; I just set up a subconscious trap that would trigger, numbing her body if she thought about leaving the cavern. If she did leave, the technique would knock her out. If she woke up outside, it¡¯d thump her head until she passed out again.

    I usually avoid using Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡¯s subconscious restriction because, even though it is unorthodox, it isn¡¯t hard to recognize it is Divine Moon Cult¡¯s style. I merely didn¡¯t bother hiding it from Mountain Monster for she already knew I wasn¡¯t a world messiah or anything of the sort.

    ¡°I¡­ Come on, I¡¯m back now, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    Mountain Monster squinted then twisted her hip, using her free leg to kick me in the face: ¡°You think I¡¯m your woman?! What good does youing here have, huh?! I¡¯m still stick in this crap hole!¡±

    I gave Mountain Monster the free kick so that she wouldn¡¯tin then released her ankle, allowing her to make a deftnding: ¡°You¡¯ve had your kick and rebuke. Can we have a mature discussion now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk however I damn please.¡± Mountain Monster propped herself down on a stack of hay and grass, continuing, ¡°Spare me the drivel. You¡¯re in trouble again, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re here to beg me for help again, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I need to use you.¡±

    ¡°Beg!¡±

    ¡°Use!¡±

    ¡°Go home and use your two remaining brain cells to sob, sob, pindick! Y-you¡¯re using conscious techniques again?! You jerk! I¡¯ll bite your neck off!¡± Mountain Monster stomped off to her pot of soup and guzzled it when nobody else would unless they were trying to burn their mouth. She spat out her third gulp loudly and cursed, ¡°It¡¯s not salty, and it¡¯s not in. The hell?¡±

    ¡°If you want some delicacies, how about listening to my proposal?¡±

    Mountain Monster spun around to me and slowly hiked up the corner of her lips: ¡°I don¡¯t want the useless back story. What¡¯s the reward? Tickle my fancy first, or I¡¯m not interested.¡±

    ¡°Make me a human-skin mask so that I can avoid someone.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, Master Ming, you of all people need me to make a human-skin mask?¡±

    ¡°My disguise skills areparable to yours. Actually, I might be better. The issue is that it would take me a month or longer to make a convincing mask unlike your Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art. You can make your mask on the spot using materials you find. Your handiwork is somewhat lousy, but you can easilyplete a satisfactory one within two hours if I help out.¡±

    ¡°Done with the useless exnation? You¡¯ve listed your gains. What about mine?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll allow you toe with me to Canhu Town.¡±

    Mountain Monster shed a corner of her pearls: ¡°I want to stay at the best inn.¡±

    ¡°Best inn, best room. One hundred taels a night is the standard.¡±

    ¡°Foot massages and a personal steward.¡±

    ¡°Twenty-four hours a day service.¡±

    ¡°A band to keep me entertained.¡±

    ¡°Muscr blokes, detached and handsome men, flower boys and pretty girls, you will have the whole package.¡±

    ¡°The most unique food.¡±

    ¡°Foods that you¡¯ve never tried before.¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡± Mountain Master brightly patted her chest: ¡°You can count on me. Hand over the flesh.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any on me at the moment. What happened to the snake?¡±

    ¡°I already cooked it. How do you expect me to get blood out of it? Wait, what¡¯s that behind you? Two wolves? You son of a¡­ You didn¡¯t even offer me a wolf, and let me drink snake soup, instead? Anyway, we can use one for a mask and roast the other.¡±

    ¡°This is my dinner, though! I¡¯ll eat one, and you enjoy your snake soup!¡±

    After a big back and forth, we conceded on using half of a wolf to make a mask and roasting the remaining half. I got oneplete wolf, and Mountain Master got half. She actually wanted more. Nheless, she decided against eating too much before she had the luxury of enjoying the food at the inn.

    While we ate dinner, Yu Feiyuan patrolled the surroundings.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t make a satisfactory mask, I¡¯ll change my ¡®Gui¡¯ surname.¡±

    ¡°Your surname is ¡®ghost¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to tell me you think my real name is Wangliang, Mountain Monster, do you? That¡¯s my sobriquet in Evil Spirits.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your first name?¡±

    ¡°Why do you care? You will never capture my heart. My first name is Laimeng. My full name is Gui Laimeng!¡±

    ¡°Ruthless Ghost? What sort of name is that?¡±

    Noticing the wrinkles on my nose, River Monster cackled: ¡°What¡¯s the problem with it?¡± River Monster even faked a husky voice of men and women interchangeably, trying to sound extra evil.

    While I watched Mountain Monster drain out the essence and blood of the wolf, something about her waist was amiss to me. I, therefore, reached out and found a small ck string at her waist. I gingerly snatched it so that she wouldn¡¯t notice.

    I recognised the ck piece of jade exclusive to members of Sky Pce that many wouldn¡¯t have recognised due to their secrecy. ¡°5143 - Gui Wa¡± was etched onto the ck piece of jade, putting a grin on my face: ¡°So your name is Gui Wa.¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s lips curved down, and she swivelled around: ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh, serious? I¡¯m right? It¡¯s carved on right here.¡±

    Mountain Monster leapt at me to snatch back her jade token: ¡°Wh-why do you care?! I like being called Gui Laimeng! Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t you dare use that name!¡±

    I folded my arms in triumph: ¡°Oh, your nickname? Wawa?¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s face looked ready to explode.

    ¡°Your nickname really is Wawa as in Doll? Wawa. Wawa. That¡¯s adorable.¡±

    ¡°Adorable my foot! I swear I¡¯ll kill you one day!¡±

 Volume 8 50 Dragon Phoenix Inns Grand Opening. Danger Encroaches.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 50 Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s Grand Opening. Danger Encroaches.</h4>

    Thest batch of Refining Divine Convention attendees rolled into Huzhou after New Year¡¯s Eve, tension between groups rising as ambitions and desires were hauled out from tight lids. Rife rumours of the mysterious weapon hunter on the loosepounded their tension and promoted paranoia, creating a vicious cycle that spread it faster and further, even bing a gossip topic for denizens of Canhu Town.

    To say it was but a rumour wouldn¡¯t be urate for it was a fact that someone or several pugilists were robbed daily, yet nobody could do anything to stop the attacks from taking ce. Nobody was going to help other groups as every group was inpetition with each other.

    There was no way of guessing who the culprit was for nobody had the name list of people invited, not to mention all the pre-existing grudges between people. How could anyone tell who was after a weapon and who was purely attacking others under the guise of robbing a weapon to hide their identity? To speak metaphorically, the pent-up pressure, the invisible enemy, could detonate any moment the culprit decided to act.

    Word on the street was that Refining Divine Convention was another fighting tournament, meaning the pressure of dealing with fights loomed even if they didn¡¯t need to worry about the weapon hunter. Not shying away from fights doesn¡¯t mean one is detached from the pressure of an imminent scrap. ordingly, the pressure of waiting for a challenge to knock on their doors wilted away at their patience andposure.

    In addition to the weapon hunter on the loose, the mysterious group that bought out the biggest restaurant in town for an entrance suddenly reopened it as an inn - Dragon Phoenix Inn. They bought the restaurant on New Year¡¯s Eve, finished renovations over the 1st of New Year and announced their grand opening on the 2nd.

    Anyone who had resided in Canhu Town from Bright Jade Restaurant¡¯s era would know the restaurant didn¡¯t have any rooms, yet the mysterious group could afford to hire all of the town¡¯s artisans and artists on New Year, not to mention giving the interior a remake within a single day. One could argue that there was so much mouring in the building that Bright Jade Restaurant was silent when their tables were filled.

    The proprietor of the inn, who was said to be involved with the pugilistic world, generously offered high sries to win over the best chefs, artists, musicians and dancers from the biggest brothels in Canhu Town to work at Dragon Phoenix Inn. Even the wealthy had trouble believing the proprietor dropped that much money within days without batting an eye.

    The first and second floors were turned into dining floors. Both floors offered a tall tform at the centre for diners to watch performances of various nature,mencing from when the sun was over the mountains and moon found its throne in the ck velvet canvas.

    The decision to start such arge-scale business in a disproportionately small town at a time where there was no promised boom in business had many scratching their heads. Equally befuddling to them was how Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s business exceeded even their most oundish estimates on their first day in operation.

    The sess of Dragon Phoenix Inn was twofold: first, the town was overcrowded, and most visitors travelled in groups, so staying together in one ce was better than splitting up. Second, constantly delivering entertainment befitted the business atmosphere still lingering from New Year -sts about twenty-three days, ending on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Thus, even though it had ¡°inn¡± in its name, Dragon Phoenix Inn was more than just an inn.

    To emphasise again, danger was encroaching upon Canhu Town.

    On the third morning of business since Dragon Phoenix¡¯s opening, it was packed to the gills with customers dying to feast their taste buds on the elite culinary of the inn¡¯s chef and others burning to feast their eyes on the rumoured belles. Anticipation spiralled into disappointment when the six musicians and twelve dancers didn¡¯t please them.

    Concierge Tie, who stood beside Concierge Long, grumbled, ¡°Ol¡¯ Tie, where?¡±

    Unable to find said person of interest, Ol¡¯ Tie yelled, ¡°Su Xiao!¡±

    ¡°Coming,ing!¡± Su Xiao, the most busy and energetic worker, jogged over to heed the call.

    Su Xiao spearheaded the renovations and helped out in every department once the doors were open to customers. It wouldn¡¯t be oundish to say he had a fall back n if life as a constable didn¡¯t work out for him in the end. Part of his motivation to perform and contribute was to make up for knocking Emperor Yuansheng out cold days ago.

    Concierge Long rubbed his chin, asking, ¡°What are you doing, Su Xiao?¡±

    ¡°I am wiping the tables upstairs. The diners on the second floor are here early; however, they are really approachable. Everyone greets me whenever they see me.¡±

    ¡°Bloody crooks already trying to ogle a maiden so early in the morning?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Ahem, nothing. Don¡¯t worry about the second floor. The customers on the first floor need you more.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Su Xiao brightly jogged downstairs, wide sleeves iling around and disying hisnky forearms.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    ¡°Su!¡±

    ¡°Susu! Come take a seat over here!¡±

    Su Xiao giggled in response to the passionate greetings from the men whombasted the dancers and musicians from before: ¡°I can¡¯t. I need to wipe down the tables. Excuse me.¡±

    As he energetically wiped down the tables, winning the hearts of all the male customers, Su Xiao greeted them: ¡°How are you?¡±

    They gasped and then belted, ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re so noisy,¡± responded Su Xiao, covering his ears.

    You haven¡¯t forgotten a danger was encroaching upon Canhu Town, have you?

    ¡°More added,¡± Long Zaitian remarked.

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Ol¡¯ Tie queried.

    ¡°Viins.¡± Long Zaitian could tell the customers on the first and second floor were not people they could dissuade from fighting with Prate-Into-The-Enemy¡¯s-Soul-With-Preaching Style.

    Ol¡¯ Tie acknowledged he understood with a bob of his head.

    Ye Luo, who carried dishes out from the kitchen, added, ¡°Not one of the people on the first and second floor look like good people. The unconventional weapons the majority of them carry are dead giveaways that they aren¡¯t members of orthodox sects.¡±

    Long Zaitian said, ¡°Nobody will argue with you on that. I dare say none of them would conspicuously walk around in Jiangnan as they are doing now or cause uproar. I doubt anti-tradition people would strut around so brazenly if they weren¡¯t invited to Refining Divine Convention. I reckon more people have rocked up in town today than any other day we¡¯ve been here. I reckon we¡¯re not far away now.¡±

    ¡°Not far away?¡± inquired Ye Luo, receiving silence for an answer.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bai Laimu, who was enlisted as their calligrapher for his praiseworthypetence with the brush, had just finished writing, ¡°Harmony is conducive to good business,¡± heard ¡°Young Master Zhong Ming around?¡±

    Bai Laimu almost fell to the ground upon hearing the booming voice that muted the music.

    ¡°Thought so,¡±mented Long Zaitian.

    Tie Hanyi explicated, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, he¡¯s Yin Changmei.¡±

 Volume 8 51 Su Xiao Prays for Ming Feizhens Return. A Friend From Afar Visits.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 51 Su Xiao Prays for Ming Feizhen¡¯s Return. A Friend From Afar Visits.</h4>

    ¡°Brother Tie, who is Yin Changmei?¡± grouched Bai Laimu, aggravated over the shout that startled him.

    Long Zaitian, arms still crossed, ground his teeth: ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know the unorthodox and underground names since you¡¯re one of the big ns in Jiangnan. Yin Changmei is an unorthodox sect member in Nanjiang. They also call him Weeping Night Ghost Widow Cleaver because he leads a group call Widow Broadsword Sect roaming at night. I knew someone would try to start fights from our first day in business.¡±

    Ye Luo set down the dishes and brandished her shortsword at her waist: ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡±

    Long Zaitian answered, ¡°Roll with the punches. Inform Dugu and the others upstairs. When it¡¯s time to throw hands, throw them as hard as you can.¡±

    ¡°What about¡­ Brother Tang?¡±

    ¡°Tang Ye¡­ Forget about him. He¡¯s not any help in this situation. Don¡¯t disturb Master just yet. Leave Tang Ye to guard him; he¡¯ll budge even if he doesn¡¯t want to if Master¡¯s life is threatened.¡±

    While everyone was busy from renovations to operating the restaurant, there two people who didn¡¯t contribute a lick. One was Emperor Yuansheng, who was out cold for two days straight after consuming Su Xiao¡¯s cooking (read: ck magic) but was still bed ridden and under Miss Lyu¡¯s care. Not only was he incapacitated but also took up resources - bodyguards. The other useless one was Tang Ye, who refused to utter a word and sat with his arms around his legs, spacing out, not chewing food he was spoon fed and opting to eat half a mantou in the middle of the night.

    Yin Changmei, a man with skin so white that he did the ¡°ghost¡± part in his nickname justice, also had prominent eye corners, deep indents under his eyes with a dash of light purple, an eagle-like nose and long eyebrows that were dark purple.

    ¡°Young Master Zhong not around?¡± Yin Changmei spoke much softerpared to his shouting prior to entering, but he kept boosting it with his internal energy so that everyone would be exposed to his voice, rendering the musicians and dancers nauseous.

    Long Zaitian belted, ¡°Aha!¡±peting with Yin Changmei¡¯s voice to relieve the performers of their nausea and affording them time to skedaddle. Long Zaitian then went on to say, ¡°Haha, how can we help you, dear customers? This one is the one in charge. Please let him know if he can be of any help.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, I don¡¯t need help. I¡¯m here to¡­ kill,¡± Yin Changmei answered in his voice resembling friction metal grounding metal.

    Long Zaitian smiled back: ¡°We do not sell human flesh.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll just have to butcher everyone in my way. Not hard, is it?¡±

    Yin Changmei sted a gale before his arm popped out from his sleeve, while Long Zaitian used offence as defence, sting back with his own punch, ending in a draw.

    ¡°Patriarch Yin, nice Weeping Ghost Palm.¡±

    Yin Changmei dispersed his true qi and fumed between his mouth, ¡°If a mere manager is thispetent, that means the others are also fighters. Men, kill them!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Long Zaitian howled, tilting cups of wine sideways and surprising himself with his improvements.

    ¡°Anyst words? Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m here for. If you treat me as a three year old, I promise to kill more painfully than I intended.¡±

    Long Zaitian shed some of his pearls: ¡°This one had no intention of reasoning with you. He merely wanted to remind you that you might have to get in line.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡±

    Long Zaitian climbed onto the counter: ¡°It has been an honour to service everyone and see you fill our tables every day. We opened this inn to provide travellers, like yourselves, with dining and lodging, yet you visit every day without asking to stay. Instead, you upy our tables from morning till night every day at the same time daily. Are you all here to see Su?

    ¡°In Patriarch Yin¡¯s words, it is pointless to tell lies reserved for three year olds. Your stares are close to putting a hole in our ceiling. This one must ask: how deep does your hatred run? Why not take the opportunity Patriarch Yin has created to enlighten us?¡±

    The imperial court¡¯s escort moved into position while Long Zaitian addressed the customers, while Dugu regrouped with Tie Hanyi andpany.

    ¡°Concierge Long, if you do not handle the situation well, we will have to fight, so we need to prepare.¡±

    Dugu inwardly analysed, ¡°Most of the hundred or so here are in groups and elites here on orders from different factions. There appear to be several leaders among them. Their upper hand is more than we can handle.¡±

    ¡°What? You want to fight?¡± Su Xia stood akimbo as he whipped his towel onto his shoulder: ¡°I just finished cleaning! Who wants to start a fight?!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe.¡±

    ¡°No, no one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, nobody.¡±

    Long Zaitian palmed his face: ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re actually here to ogle Su Xiao¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Oi, get to the point,¡± demanded Yin Changmei.

    ¡°Ahem, everyone else is here for the same reason as you,¡± continued Long Zaitian. Switching to a stoic voice, he rified, ¡°Everyone here suspects us of stealing weapons.¡±

    That was obvious to Yin Changmei as he had his ownwork of informants spread out across the town since his arrival. That being said, what Long Zaitian pointed out turned some cogs that weren¡¯t spinning his head before, leading to him calming down to ponder, ¡°If everyone here has been suspicious of Dragon Phoenix Inn, why hasn¡¯t anyone done anything in days? I must admit I suspected them aftering to and came here on an emotional high. Let¡¯s see if there¡¯s more to this.¡± Yin Changmei then asserted, ¡°You sound like you¡¯re hinting you¡¯re not the weapon hunter.¡±

    ¡°I believe they are not the culprit,¡± opined the leader of Qinling¡¯s Deer Lion Gang, a group of unorthodox people from Shanxi. ¡°Based on my observations, all of Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s members are blessed with magnificent appearances, especially Susu. The dishes are wonderful, and there is plenty of entertainment. I¡¯ve yet to see any inn that can hold a candle to Dragon Phoenix Inn. I believe they¡¯re innocent.¡±

    ¡°What proof do you have?¡± Yin Changmei questioned.

    ¡°What other proof do you need besides my testimony? Besides, you have everyone else here as witnesses. We¡¯re the kind who doesn¡¯t trust anyone but ourselves. I¡¯m genuinely convinced they aren¡¯t behind it. You¡¯re not going to believe proof that even Jade Emperor provides, are you?¡±

    Deer Lion Gangughed off Widow Broadsword Sect¡¯s protests.

    ¡°It has been absolute chaos recently, with people anding from every direction. I¡¯ve heard nobody from Shaolin hase; they might be designing something. Some say Nanjiang¡¯s Myriad Gu Poison King has arrived, so there should be poison involved. Some im Luo Sword Manor is personally attacking people. Despite the many possibilities, I guarantee Dragon Phoenix Inn is innocent!¡±

    Yin Changmei¡¯s confidence started to sway. Long Zaitian immediately jumped onto the bandwagon: ¡°Patriarch Yin, if you have evidence to incriminate us, you are free to attack us, and I will not retaliate. Until then, it is best you do not let impulse hurt friendlies and y into enemy hands.¡±

    As Yin Changmei brooded, he heard, ¡°It is best you do not let impulse hurt friendlies and y into enemy hands, you say? Fancy hearing that from Dragon Phoenix Inn.¡±

    Yi Wangyou strolled in ahead of another chubby middle-aged man adorning a luxurious robe.

    ¡°Ah, crap, nobody here can beat the guy. Even the unorthodox sect people scooted back into their seats. And who¡¯s the fatty? Is having someone tubby with him a lucky charm or something,¡± inwardly cussed Long Zaitian, maintaining a smile on the surface. ¡°What brings you here today, Patriarch Yi?¡±

    Yi Wangyou feigned deaf and said, ¡°You are all in high spirits, I see. This ce has changed drastically since New Year¡¯s Eve. This one is here today to present a gift for your opening and to clear the air on some matters. Bring it in.¡±

    Several men filed in and ced seven loaded stretchers on.

    ¡°What are you implying, Patriarch Yi?¡±

    ¡°These are the recent injured and¡­ deceased.¡± Yi Wangyou swept his inquisitive gaze over Long Zaitian andpany, expanding, ¡°Among the seven, five of them suffered grave injuries, while two died on the spot. The culprit or culprits used different styles to attack each person. All of them are famous and wield weapons proportionately famous. Simrly to previous attacks, their weapons were missing when they were found.¡±

    ¡°You suspect us?¡±

    ¡°We are merely being fair and as objective as possible. This one wants to prove or disprove your connection to the incidents as you are present in Canhu Town and are all able to carry your own weight.¡± Sporting a sardonic smile, Yi Wangyou resumed, ¡°Frankly, This one strongly suspects your group. It¡¯s not wrong to assume this one is here to bring your group in.¡±

    Dugu, without putting on the air of an imperial court warrior, ribbed, ¡°There is still time until the thirteenth, you know?¡±

    ¡°Different circumstances call for different measures.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s horse feathers. Why are we the prime suspects?¡± growled Su Xiao. ¡°Does knowing people had their weapons stolen position us as suspects? How?¡±

    ¡°I have my reasoning. Call your leader out; I will interrogate him personally.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not here. He¡¯s been out for days,¡± grouched Su Xiao, obviously referring to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°What a coincidence. Of all days, he¡¯s gone when this onees by looking for him? Are you taking this one for a fool? If Young Master Zhong cannot clear his name, this one will apprehend all of you.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! We might have a chance of driving off Patriarch Yi if we all ganged up on him, but we¡¯re heavily outnumbered. Scrapping is the worst option we have,¡± Long Zaitianmented inwardly.

    Yin Changmei hopped onto the bandwagon: ¡°Either hand over Young Master Zhong, or I take him.¡±

    Yi Wangyou belted, ¡°Hand over Zhong Ming!¡± and pressed his free hand to his sword hilt, adding, ¡°Or else this one w-¡±

    ¡°Coming,ing.¡± Ming Feizhen came in with his arm around a somewhat nefarious-looking maiden, jubntly saluting the customers. As he fanned himself blithely, he rhetorically asked, ¡°Wee, wee. Enjoy your food and stay. Patriarch Yi, why all the screaming and shouting? I just went for a stroll; you think I know how to vanish into another dimension or something? Concierge Long, business is booming, huh?¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± roared Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes. In a stifled voice, Long Zaitian erupted, ¡°Where the hell have you been thest three days?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao yanked Ming Feizhen over by the arm and then seized an ear, fuming, ¡°Where have you been causing a mess at?¡±

    Ming Feizhen whispered, ¡°I went to search for clues and find helpers for the tournament.¡±

    ¡°Helpers?¡± Doubtful, Long Zaitian leaned in to query, ¡°You been to Wutong Jin Yuxuan?¡±

    ¡°Of course I have.¡±

    ¡°They agree to help?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ They weren¡¯t they when I visited, so no.¡±

    ¡°Serious? I also visited. Unfortunately, they told me Interim Patriarch Yu wasn¡¯t present and that they couldn¡¯t receive outsiders, so I was sent off.¡±

    Why did you even bother? She was chasing me!

    Ming Feizhen and Mountain Monster ran into Yu Feiyuan not long after leaving the cavern. Fortunately, the veteran liars convinced Yu Feiyuan they were a father and daughter pair who were on their way home after failing to find firewood to chop. The unfortunate part was that Yu Feiyuan¡¯s sense of justice was overbearing, resulting in them yielding and letting her escort them safely back to Canhu Town.

    In a way, the disguise strategy didn¡¯t work out as well as Ming Feizhen thought it would for Yu Feiyuan pried into his background and all else on the way to Canhu Town. He told her his name was Zhong Ning, alias Lumberjack Handlover Flower, descendent of the biggest firewood chopper n in Jiangnan. He imed, ¡°The hatchet I swing is not a hatchet but a bean paste bun Jade Emperor has taken a bite off. Why did Ie all the way out here? That¡¯s because¡­ I climbed the mountain because the moon is out. I wanted to sing when I reached the peak¡­¡± They call it the art of talking so much nonsense that people pretend to have understood.

    As a testament of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s fame, Mountain Monster recognised the name and epics associated. Having said that, it didn¡¯t stop Mountain Monster from adding Yu Feiyuan as the 109th damned woman she was going to murder.

    They exchanged contact details at Canhu Town¡¯s entrance, agreeing to share a midnight snack together the next day before they parted. Ming Feizhen and Mountain Monster then had to spend a day hastily collecting information prior to returning to the inn.

    Finally noticing the maiden beside Ming Feizhen, in a dangerous voice, Su Xiao questioned, ¡°Who is she? You found yourself a woman, have you?¡±

    ¡°She¡­ She¡¯s my distant rtive. We bumped into each other. She¡¯s travelling now. She spent several years learning martial arts and isn¡¯t too bad. She¡¯s smart and a decent fighter, which is perfect considering our situation. That¡¯s why I brought her back,¡± Ming Feizhen exined.

    ¡°What sort of distant rtive?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ My Niece.¡±

    Spotting an opportunity to screw with Ming Feizhen, Mountain Monster immediately grabbed him by the arm, squealing, ¡°Uncle!¡±

    Ming Feizhen bit back, introducing, ¡°This is my niece, Wawa.¡±

    ¡°My name is Laimeng!¡±

    Feeling ufortable with Mountain Monster and Ming Feizhen¡¯s intimacy, Su Xiao pulled thetter over: ¡°I¡¯m not done scolding you.¡±

    ¡°You all done yet?¡± Yi Wangyou aggressed in a low voice. ¡°Young Master Zhong, this one is waiting to speak to you.¡±

    ¡°I apologise for keeping you. Let me finish business first, and then you can reprimand me.¡±

    Convinced and docile thanks to the head pat, Su Xiao responded, ¡°Hurry up, then. I will reprove you¡­ Be careful.¡±

    Ming Feizhen focused on studying those on the stretchers while inquiring, ¡°What do you think, Patriarch Yi?¡±

    ¡°It is a surprise to see you are erudite on Chinese herbal medicine.¡±

    ¡°I have learnt a little. Excuse me, Brother, was your weapon iron rings? A swordsman inflicted your arm injuries, correct?¡±

    The injured man murmured, ¡°Yes¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nced Yi Wangyou¡¯s way with the corners of lips elevated: ¡°His arms are tough, yet his fingers are thin, which are indications that his style focuses on using the arms as opposed to his hands. Judging from the wounds on his upper arm, the attacker must¡¯ve thrust their sword into the iron rings on an angle and slipped them off in one motion. Only a sword would allow the wielder to perform the feat.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for a summary,¡± stated Yi Wangyou.¡±

    ¡°Neither was I answering you. Rx.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯tugh along with those around, focusing on checking the injured and sending enquiries. Besides learning the seven seemingly dealt with seven different assants and weapons, the only other piece of information was their attacker was a stocky individual - virtually useless information given the number of people with physiques that fit the description.

    The leader of Deer-Lion Gang voiced, ¡°In other words, it¡¯s a coordinated group attack, and they only go after one weapon a day? Pieces of crap are organised.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± debated Ming Feizhen, having won credibility with the detailed ounts he provided based on the information gathered.

    ¡°Could you exin your reasoning?¡±

    ¡°Even so, there are people who can use multiple styles on their own,¡± contested Yi Wangyou, prompting grim reactions from Long Zaitian andpany, who knew what the former was implying.

    Someone disputed, ¡°Patriarch Yi, you should not make bold ims without proof given your status. One person capable of utilising seven styles? Is that even human?¡±

    ¡°This one seldom came across anyone who could. He has witnessed one of the inn¡¯s members perform ten styles, though. Honestly, it was an eye opener.¡±

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms across his chest: ¡°I understand where Patriarch Yi ising from, and I think it¡¯s a justified spection. The fatal injury of this dead victim doesn¡¯t appear clear, but I can tell the culprit finger jabbed a fatal upoint using a rarely seen internal strength mental cultivation style that allows the user to add a heat element to the jab. One such style is¡­ Kunlun Sect¡¯s Yang Blood True Qi.¡±

    ¡°You agree it was him, then?¡±

    ¡°No, it wouldn¡¯t be him. I can swear on my life. To be candid, I have not worked out the details.¡± An epiphany hit Ming Feizhen while his eyes didps, searching for evidence to support his oath, and it came from Yin Zhengmei. ¡°Would you happen to be Widow Broadsword Sect¡¯s Patriarch Yin?¡±

    ¡°You know me?¡±

    Combining what he heard at Luo n¡¯s ce and his own brain concoction, Ming Feizhen squinted: ¡°If I am correct, have you always had your Widow Broadsword stolen? You do not intend to tell me you sent it back for maintenance, do you?¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what nonsense is this?!¡±

    How the heck does he know my weapon was stolen?!

    ¡°Rx, Patriarch Yin. While everyone attacked thus far has ended up in this state¡± - Ming Feizhen pointed to the stretchers - ¡°you do not have as much as scratch on you. That goes to show how incredible you are, does it not?¡±

    Ming Feizhen waited for Yin Changmei¡¯s rage - a product of public disgrace - to turn to a smug grin at his ttery before continuing, ¡°I never mentioned it with the intent of disparaging you. I merely wanted to inquire how the fight went.¡±

    ¡°They sneaked up on me and knocked me out in one strike.¡±

    ¡°What are you trying to say, Young Master Zhong, that Tang Ye would not jump Patriarch Yi?¡± questioned Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°Not at all. I would like to ask you, however, could you defeat Patriarch Yin in one strike?¡±

    Yi Wangyou caught on to what Ming Feizhen was insinuating promptly and replied, ¡°Unprepared, I am ny percent confident I could.¡± Yin Changmei, though boastful, couldn¡¯t deny that was a rather urate conjecture.

    ¡°As you have crossed swords with Tang Ye, what do you think his chances are?¡±

    Yi Wangyou furrowed his eyebrows: ¡°Tang Ye¡¯s skills aren¡¯t polished enough andcks an ultimate attack move. He would have less than a thirty percent chance.¡±

    Ming Feizhen whipped open his fan: ¡°Who in their right mind would gamble on a thirty percent chance? For the record, Tang Ye does not have any loose screws. I assume you can see why we could not be the ones responsible for the attacks?¡±

    The unorthodox sects showed their admiration with their apuse, especially because it was Yi Wangyou who took the loss.

    ¡°This one admits he does not have a counterargument and sees a very logical conclusion,¡± responded Yi Wangyou, lifting a weight off Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders.

    Man, it sounds like we might have to find the culprit on top of locating Boss at this rate if we want to clear our name.

    ¡°Young Master Zhong, this one has something else he would like to speak to you about,¡± Yi Wangyou suddenly asserted, appearing to relish the situation. ¡°On Young Master Luo¡¯s orders, I have brought someone with me. Brother Qian, pleasee over.¡±

    The puffy man who apanied Yi Wanyou came forward, confusion bewilderment written across his face.

    Is this the person Luo Siming referred to when he mentioned he¡¯d send someone to test us? I don¡¯t sense any internal energy from him. His legs are barely keeping him upright, let alone allowing him to fight. He sounds as though he has a kidney deficiency from the way he¡¯s breathing. This man¡­ I¡¯ll bet my head he was at a brothelst night. His eyes tell me he¡¯s out of sorts. Is Luo Siming underestimating me?

    Yi Wangyou verbalised, ¡°This one¡¯s young master thought you might be lonely in Huzhou. As such, he invited an old friend here to keep youpany. It took him three days to find Mr. Qian here. Do you not recognise him? He is from Luoyang.¡±

    Luoyang? So? ¡­ Oh, crud¡­

    ¡°Mr. Qian here is a wealthy businessman in Luoyang. He is also in the same line of work as you.¡±

    ¡°S-same line of work?¡±

    ¡°Yes, a brothel proprietor.¡±

    Please stop. Please.

    ¡°Also, he is friends with Elder Zhong Hualiu. You two should get to know each other.

    Please no. Please flipping no!

    The chubby man studied Ming Feizhen then shook his head: ¡°Different.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s different?¡± questioned Ming Feizhen, sticking to his guns to the very end.

    ¡°You look different to Elder Zhong. Plus, I¡¯ve never heard him mention he had a second son in all the years I¡¯ve known him.¡± Mr. Qian leaned in closer and added, ¡°You are not an imposter, are you?¡±

 Volume 8 52 Why Should Depraved Talent Shy From a Scrap?

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 52 Why Should Depraved Talent Shy From a Scrap?</h4>

    You have to be kidding me¡­ I only came up with this name to curse my shifu. I don¡¯t know a lick about Zhong Hualiu. Not only am I hiding my identity but even my fake identity now? No, no, let¡¯s focus on thinking of something first¡­

    ¡°Hahahahaha,¡± Ming Feizhen hystericallyughed in an ufortably loud voice after his eyes didps. ¡°Interesting. Interesting. Young Master Luo really has given me a big surprise this time, hahaha.¡± Ming Feizhen continued pacing back and forth until he saw the dumbfounded performers, to which he started fanning himself and continued, ¡°I don¡¯t remember paying you to stand there. Do what you were paid to do. Don¡¯t ruin my mood. Bai, don¡¯t just space out on me. Start writing.¡±

    ¡°R-right.¡±

    An erhu yer resumed ying, only to be told, ¡°Why are you ying the erhu when you have fine vision? How good are you with your hands? Don¡¯t pretend.¡±

    Ming Feizhen reproved one person after another until the performers and Bai Laimu resumed their tasks. As Long Zaitian listened in to the sh of poems, music and footsteps, Long Zaitian started pping andmenting, ¡°We¡¯re screwed. We have a mad man. I keep telling you the guy doesn¡¯t train enough; all he trains is his gums. Now he¡¯s lost his mind because he¡¯s been outmuscled.¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t need long to work out Ming Feizhen¡¯s n due to how well he knew thetter and pointed out, ¡°Big Brother Ming is nning to pester them perpetually.¡±

    Long Zaitian berated, ¡°Pester them into what?¡±

    ¡°I reckon Su W-¡± Mountain Monster stopped herself from saying ¡°Wench¡± and then finished, ¡°is right.¡± Mountain Monster pulled out a chair to sit in - literally because of her size. Her mannerisms resembled the spoilt youngdy of a rich household, yet nobody felt it was unreasonable owing to her appearance. She went on, ¡°When has he never used bluffs? He¡¯s stalling for time.¡±

    ¡°Xiao!¡±

    Su Xiao reached for the firmament: ¡°Present!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t just idle there. What is the towel on your shoulder for, decoration?¡±

    ¡°On it! Move, move, I¡¯m busy.¡± Su Xiao weaved through the tables and people to clean the tables.

    ¡°I¡¯m also worried about the kitchen. Chef Zhang,e over here¡­¡± called Ming Feizhen.

    Yi Wangyou voiced, ¡°Young Master Zhong, you were just preaching a moment ago, earning my admiration. You were not putting on a bluff, were you?¡±

    ¡°I am doing this so that your friend does not evaluate our service as lousy. The music can create a nice ambience. I have nothing to fear if Young Master Luo is in doubt.¡± Ming Feizhen sauntered over to Mr. Qian and greeted, ¡°How do you do, Mr. Qian?¡±

    Mr. Qian pulled his hands behind him and elucidated, ¡°This is enough to prove you aren¡¯t Master Zhong¡¯s son. Ist met himst year. If you¡¯re his son, you would know me as we address each other as brothers. Moreover, you don¡¯t even address me as Second Uncle Qian.¡±

    Though the hostiles trained suspicious gazes on Ming Feizhen, it wasn¡¯t enough to throw him off his game: ¡°Elder, you im to be my father¡¯s close friend. My father has multiple ¡®close friends¡¯ who visit him on a daily basis. If I had to address all of you as uncle, how big would my family be? Are you going to feed all of us?¡±

    Despite calling Zhong Hualiu a close friend, the two were inpetition at the end of the day for they were in the same industry. Yes, Mr. Qian addressed Zhong Hualiu as a brother, but that was in his drunken stupor. They weren¡¯t as close as he insinuated and shed in numerous ways. Hence, with a ripe tomato for a face, Mr. Qian thundered, ¡°Have you no manners?! How hubristic can you be?! Nobody in Luoyang has heard of Master Zhong having a younger son, you imposter!¡±

    ¡°Have you heard about his eldest son, then?¡±

    Of course people knew of Zhong Ning. His name was taboo within the family, though, due to his deeds, and Mr. Qian was privy of that.

    ¡°You might think you have the gift of the gab, but you¡¯re just being unreasonable!¡±

    ¡°Rx, rx, Mr. Qian. Wait¡­ I did not identally reveal your intent to leech, did I? Even if I did, you can rest assured. We always spare a couple of mantous for the con artists who try to defraud us annually. We don¡¯t mind sharing our wealth with the people.¡±

    Someone scoffed, ¡°You mean, ill-earned wealth doesn¡¯tst,¡± switching up the popr idiom that promoted, ¡°Do not covet ill-earned wealth.¡±

    Mr. Qian erupted, ¡°You im you¡¯re from Zhong n without any proof. This old one must teach you a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Qian, you are in the same¡­ line of work. I see. I see¡­ Which brothel do you own?¡±

    ¡°I own Purity House in this town.¡± Mr. Qian swept his gaze over to the dancers and stated, ¡°They¡¯re from Purity House.¡±

    No wonder why this man is flipping out at me. Long Zaitian and the others must¡¯ve just hired anyone they could.

    ¡°I now see your priority ining here is to pick a bone and catching up is but an excuse. It¡¯s just, hahaha, how are you going to prove I¡¯m my father¡¯s son? My father isn¡¯t here to testify. You use me ofcking proof, yet you are doing exactly that. What proof do you have?¡±

    ¡°Proof? You already exposed yourself with your slips.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you inculpate people without proof?¡±

    ¡°You might think words are you weapon; however, that doesn¡¯t negate anything I¡¯ve pointed out. There¡¯s a quick and easy way to test your lineage. The question is, would you dare to take the test?¡±

    Don¡¯t tell me you have Zhong Hualiu¡¯s blood on hand to conduct a test.

    ¡°I am all ears.¡±

    ¡°As you im to be the second son of Mr. Zhong, you should be educated on the way of ¡®romance¡¯. Let¡¯s test your knowledge on various topics, in that case. If you cannot answer, this old one is proven right!¡±

    You want to test my knowledge on brothels?

    ¡°I think¡­ umm, I do not think it is a wise idea to discuss the topic in the presence of so many people¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s your issue, not mine. First question.¡± Mr. Qian took in a big breath then asked, ¡°What is the biggest brothel in Nanjing?¡±

    ¡°Qinhuai Heavenly Fragrance Garden.¡±

    ¡°Green Shadow Descending Brothel?¡±

    ¡°Old Town Golden Valley Garden.¡±

    ¡°If a man doesn¡¯t know?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Climb up a tree branch in the middle of the night.¡±

    ¡°If there is a red plum tree (if a wife is unfaithful to her husband)?¡±

    ¡°Sneak in.¡±

    ¡°H-h-how¡­ What is Soul Rinsing Formation?¡±

    ¡°The wine is to be poured on top of the pool of hot water. The five inside are dressed. The five farthest away are undressed. The sensational art the eyes see and ears hear spin you around. The smell and taste of wine rinse a man¡¯s soul.¡±

    This guy is more of a professional than a man in the business.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s long response meant, ¡°Rx in a pool/tub of hot water with a tray of wine floating by. Among the ten women in the man¡¯s arm, the five immediately around him are dressed scantily. The five farthest have strippedpletely. The man gets to touch the five immediately around him, but the one he wants is the one with the beautiful voice, far out of reach.¡± It was the mantra for a brothel owner that, in summary, stressed they should coax the customer into forking out big sums with something seemingly unattainable. Very few, including Mr. Qian, were able to actuallyplete the challenge.

    ¡°How many in Beiping?¡±

    ¡°Thirty-two big ones, sixty-seven small ones, two for officials - North Gate Golden House and South Wall Green House. If we include the legally approved ones run independently, there are over two hundred.¡±

    ¡°Were you born and bred in a brothel?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen peered up to the ceiling and, with a sigh, remarked, ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    Long Zaitian blurted, ¡°Holy, his old man really is Zhong Hualiu?¡±

    Ming Feizhen arrogantly fanned himself again: ¡°Any other questions, Mr. Qian?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Regardless of how fast he spun his brain cogs, Mr. Qian was at his wits end. ordingly, he threw a random question: ¡°Miss Ruyan from Jinan Man-¡±

    ¡°Married four months ago and gave birth to a boy right after she joined the family.¡±

    ¡°Xian Manor¡¯s gifted Qingzh-¡±

    ¡°Miss Qingzhu opened up her eighteenth branchst month. I have yet to give her my congrattions.¡±

    ¡°Miss Qingzhu?! D-do you know H-Hangzhou¡¯s biggest broth-¡±

    ¡°Mama Pang not doing well recently?¡±

    Mr. Qian wobbled backward: ¡°My goodness gracious me! Even Jade Brothel?! Y-y-you depraved scum!¡±

    Mr. Qian wiped his tears on his sleeve and ran off without another word.

    ¡°What do you mean I¡¯m depraved scum? Gosh.¡±

    That¡¯s my shifu, not me!

    Ming Feizhen kept fanning himself with his cheap fan, biting the bullet because he couldn¡¯t reveal it was his shifu.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty good,¡± gushed Long Zaitian. ¡°Oh, I get it now. It¡¯s already written in bold font on your fan. You¡¯re a ¡°depraved talent¡¯.¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Depraved talent?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked down at his fan: ¡°It says handsome and talented. Don¡¯t read it backwards, morons!¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s retort didn¡¯t work when he already proved himself knowledgeable in the world of brothels.

    ¡°Ah, so he¡¯s a prodigy in the brothel business. Let¡¯s give him a title so that we can praise him when he¡¯s mentioned. How about¡­ Depraved Talent Zhong Ming?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make whoever says that regret being born!¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°What was that Depraved Talent?¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Please forgive the insensible, Brother Depraved Talent.¡±

    Dugu: ¡°I take back whatever doubt I had. I believe your family owns eighteen brothels.¡±

    Ye Luo: ¡°We¡¯re going to need you to sleep somewhere else, or people will think this is a brothel.¡±

    Mountain Monster covered her breasts: ¡°¡­ Horny cornhole.¡±

    What did Zhong n ever do to earn the love of the god of brothels?!

 Volume 8 53 The Worst of the Worst

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 53 The Worst of the Worst</h4>

    Though Ming Feizhen managed to shake off the doubt cast on his identity, his new nickname

    ¡°Depraved Talent¡± also damaged him. Had the kitchen not served up food, the man would still have had a long face.

    Pointing to the door Mr. Qian bolted out of, Ming Feizhen asked, ¡°Patriarch Yi, are you not going to apany your friend?¡±

    Yi Wangyou nonchntly pulled out a seat at a table, prompting those at the table to scuttle away. Grinning the way a man relishing another¡¯s misery would, he answered, ¡°Boss Qian is Young Master Luo¡¯s friend, not this one¡¯s. Havinge all the way here already, this one might as well broaden his horizons instead of leaving with nothing in return.¡±

    Even though it seemed that Ming Feizhen had averted a crisis, the real challenge was driving off the unorthodox sects¡¯ members, which made up the majority of those in Canhu Town since they had misgivings about travelling to the ind. The customers were all cold-blooded murderers and full-time viins. Those who don¡¯t believe in religion would most likely take up religion if their kind left them alone.

    To say that they were thugs without a sense of loyalty or set of principles would be unfair on them. It was just that they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to uncork a punch instead of discussing evidence, logic or expecting them to reason with you. While others might interrogate a suspect, they would kill anyone they were suspicious in the name of erring on the safe side.

    Ming Feizhen could sense them suppressing their bloodlust as they merrily dined whilst contemting when the best moment to spring was. By no means was Ming Feizhen the only attentive one; Yi Wangyou¡¯s desire to witness some chaos proved thetter was already aware of the brewing bloodlust.

    Although the group could¡¯ve assailed Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s team at any given moment, they were still on the fence for they were in Luo Sword Manor¡¯s territory, while they were far away from their territory. To that end, they were gradually spinning their web as they treaded through Luo Sword Manor¡¯s territory. Secondly, they had noticed a big group of imperial troops stationed in the vicinity, with some assuming Luo Sword Manor requested their service as a security detail for the uing event. They couldn¡¯t afford to make an enemy out of Luo Sword Manor or the imperial court.

    Could Su Xiao have been the reason they hadn¡¯t attack yet? How many were on that boat? There was no way to answer either question, and it wasn¡¯t deemed probable enough to muse over.

    If dozens of groups¡¯ elites executed a coordinated assault, they could aplish their goal, erase their traces and retreat in less than an hour, which was fast enough to avoid Luo Sword Manor and the imperial court¡¯s closest units. In summary, if Yi Wangyou or Yin Changmei did the dirty work for them, then life would be perfect.

    Ming Feizhen, who concocted a n to deal with the hostiles while he dealt with Mr. Qian, asked, ¡°Patriarch Yin, are you also staying here for the same reason?¡±

    Yin Changmei responded, ¡°I didn¡¯te all the way here to be entertained. Just because Patriarch Yi is convinced you¡¯re innocent, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m convinced. Manager Long doesn¡¯t carry himself professionally. Every single one of you wields words as weapons. How do I know you¡¯re not a wordsmith, Depraved Talent?¡±

    ¡°Call me that one more time, and I¡¯ll make a ball out of your head!¡± Ming Feizhen folded his arms and went on, ¡°You seem to have a lot of spare time on your hands. Are you waiting for someone?¡±

    Yin Changmeiughed through his nose: ¡°Prudent, are we? Once my sworn brother is here, we¡¯ll get to the bottom of this.¡±

    ¡°Who is he talking about?¡± queried Ye Luo.

    Dugu enlightened, ¡°His elder sworn brother, Bai Zixuan, call themselves Midnight Ghost Cry. They¡¯re feared unorthodox adepts in Nanjiang. Bai Zixuan, also known as Baizi Xuanye - White ck Night - wields a weapon called ck Night Fork and is stronger than him. It sounds like they made an appointment to meet up here.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sessively whispered directives to Dugu, Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian to deal with the imminent crisis, to which they all shed their pearly whites at and then headed off with their eyes on the ground. The imperial court soldiers stationed around also pulled out, leaving only Ming Feizhen, Mountain Monster and Bai Laimu, who was still writing calligraphy.

    The abrupt and unexined clearance left the hostiles on the edges of their seats because they feared losing the initiative.

    ¡°What the hell is going on? I¡¯m sick of watching you go back and forth while I¡¯m trying to dine! Stay where you are!¡± The disciple of Mad Desert de Sect leapt up to the second floor to seize an imperial court warrior, only to be countered with Heavenly King¡¯s Pagoda, throwing the disciple back to his seat with a non-linear push.

    Having the higher ground inbat always provided the upper hand as the one above could dump their entire body weight on the one beneath them. As such, even an untechnical brawler could give a more experienced fighter trouble if he had the height advantage. Yet, the imperial court warrior overcame the disadvantage, technically and effortlessly throwing the disciple back. Just as importantly, his allies didn¡¯t bat an eye; if it didn¡¯t surprise them, then his technical standard was average amongst them if not beneath them.

    ¡°Did you happen to be a tumbling fan?¡± Ming Feizhen mocked.

    Following the logic of, ¡°If you spill a drop, you might as well spill the entire cup,¡± the disciple drew his shiny broadsword: ¡°Since they retaliated, that¡¯s your cue to get up! Get them!¡±

    Those seated proved that working together was an elusive concept to them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk this out.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing to say to you. You im you¡¯re not robbing weapons when you brought so many adepts with you? My three days of waiting haven¡¯t gone to waste. Let me enlighten you: the majority of people here are here for the same reason as I am. They want entertainment, so let me kick off the dance! Bring it on!¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up the corner of his lips: ¡°Patriarch Chigan, do you intend to let your disciple continue running wild?¡±

    Despite being surprised he was identified, Patriarch Chigan maintained an affable smile: ¡°Young Master Zhong, my disciple has Stupid Disease. When it acts up, nobody can stop him. Since you are well-versed in medicine, could I ask you to treat him?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. Consider it done.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your head is done with your shoulders!¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t budge, yet the disciple went zooming back faster than he closed in on Ming Feizhen¡¯s left, his blood trail¡¯s procession preceding hisnding.

    Mountain Monster rustled some feathers with her aggressive gaze that didn¡¯t defied convention because of her supposed age and swift finish. She berated, ¡°If you want toy your hands on this dastard, you have to get through my brutal de work first.¡±

    Mountain Monster was empty handed, but they understood what she meant for they recognised her strike to be a broadsword style. Let us not explore what Ming Feizhen coerced her with using Voice Transmission and focus on the smug grin he wore. Everything he did was deliberately intended to provoke an attack on himself.

    For the reason that anti-tradition men only preyed when they smelt blood, Ming Feizhen had to give them a fright if he was to ever get through to them with words. With his goal aplished, he loudly verbalised, ¡°I understand what you are all here for now. It is understandable that you would suspect us since we don¡¯t have anything to identify ourselves. It is an honour to have you here every day. In saying that, stealing is not on. Men!¡±

    While everyone was still wearing their confusion on their sleeve, fifteen or so doors upstairs burst open. Since the building¡¯s centre was vacant from bottom to top, it was shaped in a ring. As such, just as those on the fifth floor could hear music from the first floor, the customers on the first and second floor¡¯s dining hall could hear people fighting and grunting. Soon enough, several people were thrown off the third, fourth and fifth floors. Thankfully for them, their allies on the first and second floors caught them before they plunged to their deaths.

    ¡°I was wondering where everyone was.¡±

    Those who revealed themselves when they rescued their allies lowered their heads in silence, much to Ming Feizhen¡¯s glee.

    ¡°You keep tabs on the first and second floor during the day and head back to your groups at night. You have your subordinates stake out around the clock, nevertheless. I can see why you would do so, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal. That being said, it seems that you have bad habits that you can¡¯t break. You often loiter in our storage area or our ounting room. Consequently, I have to remind you to behave.¡±

    Ming Feizhen enhanced his listening radius the moment he entered the inn, passing on his knowledge to his cohorts to have them go capture the thieves.

    ¡°This one offers his apologises for failing to teach his disciples better.¡±

    The other patriarchs followed suit. As they didn¡¯t have anything to leverage and had revealed themselves, the groups who were busted had to give up, less they pile more dirt on the reputation in the casket.

    Patriarch Chigan turned to Ming Feizhen and chided, ¡°Young Master Zhong, you think this is going to make me quit? There are forty-six sects here, all of which are here for their fallenrades. You won¡¯t fool us with cheap tricks. Sorry, but this one cannot believe you are here in Huzhou purely to spectate instead of enjoying your wealth back home.¡±

    ¡°There is one statement you made that does not stand. Even though I am wealthy and eager to travel, that does not directly lead to memitting theft, which I abhor. Frankly, I also want to attend Refining Divine Convention but have not received an invitation.¡±

    The leader of Deer-Lion Gang yelled, ¡°He must be possessed! You just admitted to stealing weapons because you don¡¯t have an invitation, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I have a witness to prove my innocence.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yi, should you not speak up?¡±

    Yi Wangyou flinched and then smacked on a smile: ¡°This one? This one is still suspicious of you, or he would not be here. How can he testify in your defence?¡±

    ¡°While we are seeking a means of entry, we are not the only ones seeking a means of entry. Patriarch Yi¡¯s friend is one such individual. We agreed topete for a chance at entry on the thirteenth this month via a five bouts tournament, where Luo Sword Manor¡¯s fourth young master will referee the tournament. The victor will be granted entry to the ind. Patriarch Yi is one of the contestants in the tournament. Do you have anything to rectify, Patriarch Yi?¡±

    ¡°Forsooth.¡± Yi Wangyou was frustrated at the turn of events as his goal was to put the nail in the coffin when opportunity presented itself, not pull Ming Feizhen out of the mire.

    ¡°If we are the thieves, we would already have a weapon to gain entry. For what reason would we engage in a tough match against Patriarch Yi with our lives on the line? It makes no sense.¡±

    ¡°Reporting: is Widow Broadsword Sect¡¯s second master present?¡± someone outside asked.

    Yin Changmei enthused, ¡°Is Big Brother here?¡±

    Yin Changmei¡¯s subordinate broke down in tears: ¡°Second Master, F-First Master died outside the town!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Yin Chengmei, at a snail¡¯s tempo and in clunky fashion, turned back to Ming Feizhen: ¡°You murderer! I¡¯m going to maim you to avenge my brother!¡±

    ¡°I have been here the entire time, yet I am the culprit?¡± Ming Feizhen rhetorically questioned.

    Mind clouded with mes, Yin Changmei bent his fingers and tried to walk down Ming Feizhen until Mountain Monster stepped in and singlehandedly defused his wild attacks, saving his life only because she wasn¡¯t armed. Once Yin Changmei had a brief stretch to catch his breath, he tensed up every muscle in his body, indicating he was going to go all out in an effort to smite Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Wait,¡± hollered Yi Wangyou. ¡°Do you have his corpse?¡±

    Someone immediately carried Bai Zixuan¡¯s corpse in. Yin Changmei abandoned the fight to dash to histe brother¡¯s corpse and had an emotional breakdown.

    Yi Wangyou quickly furrowed his brows after examining the corpse. Deciding Ming Feizhen was the more apt person to consult in the pathology sector, he inquired, ¡°Young Master Ming¡­ No wounds are the product of sharp weapons. He died with his eyes and mouth wide open, so this one assumes an internal style expert harmed him. In your opinion, what style do you think the assant used?¡±

    ¡°The way he died tells us that he reacted frantically. Patriarch Yin, can you save the sobbing forter? You, where did you find your master¡¯s corpse?¡±

    ¡°I found it just before in his house,¡± answered Yin Changmei¡¯s subordinate.

    ¡°Hmm, there might still be time. Patriarch Yin, step aside.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pushed Yin Changmei aside gently, yet thetter couldn¡¯t stop himself tumbling several metres away. He wasn¡¯t convinced Ming Feizhen was strong due to thetter¡¯s age and his emotional disruption.

    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡± Yin Changmei stuttered.

    Ming Feizhen grabbed Bai Zixuan¡¯s neck with his left hand and then struck multiple upoints with his right hand.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± repeated Yin Changmei.

    ¡°Using my n¡¯s secret method of treating internal injuries,¡± Ming Feizhen expounded.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Wh-why are you healing a c-, you mean my brother isn¡¯t dead?¡±

    ¡°If you keep hindering me, I guarantee he will be.¡±

    Ming Feizhen carried on without more disruptions, releasing Bai Zixuan¡¯s neck and then procedurally thumping thetter¡¯s body with both hands. The actions were but a ruse; the real trick was him providing a true qi transfusion using Yijin Jing¡¯s style. He injected true qi via his left then thumped with his right hand just to hide the purpose of his left hand. Once Ming Feizhen was ready, he palmed Bai Zixuan on the head.

    ¡°Who the bloody hell hit me?! You¡¯re going to catch these hands!¡± Bai Zixuan blustered uponing to.

    ¡°Big Brother!¡±

    ¡°Brother Yin? What happened to the man in ck I was fighting?¡± Bai Zixuan was still weak - evident from his voice. Howbeit, he had sessfully weathered critical condition.

    Yin Changmei turned to kowtow to Ming Feizhen: ¡°Thank you. Thank you so much. I apologise for the things I said earlier. I apologise.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It was a fluke. Brother Bai merely had his qi clogged; he didn¡¯t actually die.¡±

    In reality, Bai Zixuan already had a foot in his coffin.

    Yin Changmei briefed Bai Zixuan on what happened, inming thetter. Bai Zixuan turned out to be fiery unlike Yin Changmei¡¯s more collect disposition.

    ¡°We apologise again for using you of theft and murder when you are so kind that you would save my brother. Everyone, I can vouch for Young Master Zhong¡¯s innocence. You all saw him resuscitate my brother. Should anyone want to harm him, you¡¯ll have to get through us first.¡±

    The hostiles rose up to congratte the brothers for reuniting and gave Bai Zixuan their good wishes - as well as praise Young Master Zhong for his benevolence. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t loosen his guard for it was painfully obvious that the smiles and words weren¡¯t sincere in the least. Rustling their feathers could intimidate them. Bringing Bai Zixuan back from the brink of death ephemerally stopped their provocations. Howbeit, they still suspected Ming Feizhen; rather, they weren¡¯t done until other challengers were incapacitated. The only way he could possibly get the hostiles off his back was if he put them on their backs.

    In Deer-Tiger Gang¡¯s leader¡¯s mind: ¡°He¡¯s a slippery one. I can¡¯t trust everything he says. I¡¯ll y along with now, but I¡¯ll catch your tail, hehehe.¡±

    In Green Snake Valley¡¯s master¡¯s mind: ¡°Can¡¯t do anything now that those two are protecting him, but we have time. I¡¯ll capture a few of your men and coax them into speaking with my beautiful snakes.¡±

    In the mind of Tri-Route Heartless Sect¡¯s patriarch: ¡°We¡¯ll leave for now. I still have men hiding in the inn, so I still have eyes on you at all times. You¡¯ll drop your guard sooner orter.¡±

    In the mind of Mad Desert de Sect¡¯s patriarch: ¡°That girl hurt my disciple and beat Yin Changmei, so I should prepare a few poisoned flying daggers to deal with her.¡±

    In the minds of a certain number: ¡°As if we¡¯re leaving. We¡¯ll leave at midnight and be back at one in the morning. We still don¡¯t have a suspect, so there are thousands of reasons to suspect you. I refuse to believe you¡¯re innocent.¡±

    ¡°Wow, everyone left.¡± Su Xiao emerged again with his hair done up in a bun for the sake of convenience while working. ¡°I didn¡¯t even get to say goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Save it for next time. You¡¯ll definitely get your chance.¡± Ming Feizhen kept conversing with Su Xiao until a certain detail caught his attention.

    ¡°What is it, Big Brother Ming?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± Ming Feizhen swiped his finger gently across Su Xiao¡¯s face, paying attention to the ck filth that smudged onto his finger: ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I wiped my face for a while, yet it¡¯s still on my face.¡±

    ¡°Is this grime from a pot?¡±

    Ming Feizhen discovered he could read Su Xiao¡¯s lips before the vocal chords in Su Xiao¡¯s throat could provide the enunciation, which read, ¡°I just went to help in the kitchen because there weren¡¯t enough people.¡±

    Oh. God. No!

    ¡°Dear customers, please wait, hang on, hold up, one second!¡± Ming Feizhen hollered.

    Thus, ck and White Reflection entered in another event in chapter ¡°Huzhou¡¯s Grand Event¡±.

    On 4th January, 31st year of Yuansheng¡¯s reign, Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s third day in business, there was a severe outbreak of food poisoning that had people developing a phobia of food for some time.

    Kitchen assistant: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything as terrifying before. She just fried some tomatoes and eggs¡­¡±

    Survivor testimony: ¡°The taste reminds me of hell. I was stargazing with my kid back home by the time I came to.¡±

    Testimony of someone who did a meta-analysis of survivor testimonies: ¡°Su Xiao, I thought you only make terrible food, but it turns out you¡¯re a grade-A actor, too!¡±

    People suspected Luo Sword Manor was behind it on the ount that the majority of victims from unorthodox sects. Based on the potency of the poison, nevertheless, it was difficult to support the conjecture. They said that only Nanjiang¡¯s Gu Poison King could achieve the feat. Hence, rumours of his return to the pugilistic world were soon promulgated.

    To this day, Dragon Phoenix Inn still attracts tourists. Apparently, the calligrapher who wrote, ¡°Dukang wine is the cure for problems,¡± also identally wrote dead centre of it, ¡°Fried tomatoes and eggs is the weapon to thwart your enemies.¡±

 Volume 8 54 Well Meet Again

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 54 We¡¯ll Meet Again</h4>

    ¡°Who¡¯s the peasant who poisoned me?!¡± Legs in a horse riding stance on his bed, core braced, hands poised forbat, Emperor Yuansheng belted as soon as he woke up.

    Emperor Yuansheng had numerous nightmares of peasants harming him and bandits kidnapping his daughters, riling him up. He couldn¡¯t get a clear visual of the despicable kidnapper, but the kidnapper looked depraved even when he wasn¡¯t making lecherous remarks. Thankfully, he had Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, Ming Feizhen, to consult, or so he thought. When he turned to his strategist, Ming Feizhen had his arms around the hips of a docile Shen Yiren who wouldn¡¯t heed his call. Instead, she chased Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips with her lips. That was how His Majesty came to and ended on his feet first thing upon waking.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Umm¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng shifted his gaze down to where the soft voice came from. Lyu Yaoqin, who took care of Emperor Yuansheng voluntarily the entire time, had no idea how to respond. Emperor Yuansheng started racking his brains for some means of defusing the embarrassing predicament, when Lyu Yaoqin jumped up to cling to him, adding confusion to his embarrassment.

    Shedding tears whilst beaming, Lyu Yaoqin choked out, ¡°Mr. Li, Mr. Li, you¡¯ve finallye too. I-I have been praying to the heavens and Buddha over thest few days, and they have finally granted my wish.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had an inkling as to what happened and quickly recovered his memories. Rather than being worried about his poisoning, he was worried about what to do with Lyu Yaoqin. Being as inexperienced in romance as he was, it only then urred to Emperor Yuansheng that Lyu Yaoqin had developed feelings for him. He was concerned about what to do as he was old enough to be her father and wasn¡¯t Ming Huayu. He thought he was lucky there was nobody around to see her clinging to his arms with all her might. Otherw-

    ¡°Hook it here, and we should be done.¡±

    ¡°Wow, you know how to draw, Big Brother Ming?¡±

    ¡°If you want to survive in the pugilistic world, you need to be equipped with an assortment of skills. I¡¯m not good at drawing scenery, but I¡¯m a master at drawing geography.¡±

    ¡°M-Ming Feizhen, what are you doing?!¡± thundered Emperor Yuansheng.

    Ming Feizhen looked up from the desk and winked subtly to gesture, ¡°Fret not, Your Majesty. Your subject will not get in your way,¡± and then voiced, ¡°Drawing, Master.¡±

    Lyu Yaoqin ran off with her face on fire to inform the others that Emperor Yuansheng hade to. Once she was gone, Su Xiao grabbed his ears and offered the ground his knees, conveying, ¡°Your Majesty, I¡­ I¡­ I identally knocked you out with my dish, causing you to lose five days. I apologise. Pl-please punish me.¡±

    Perhaps the terrifying vour erased all memories of its taste, so Emperor Yuansheng smiled helplessly: ¡°What shall I do? Get up. We can discuss itter.¡±

    Su Xiao refused to stand up, insisting on taking punishment when Dugu andpany came waltzing in. They called for the imperial doctor to check on His Majesty, provide a prescription and then they checked on him using their martial arts knowledge. While His Majesty dined, Dugu, Ye Luo and Tie Hanyi stood in a triangle formation around him to forbid anyoneing close. Meanwhile, Long Zaitian briefed His Majesty on the recent events and status quo.

    ¡°A five-man tournament? Sign me up,¡± enthused Emperor Yuansheng.

    Once he learned of how Su Xiao beat the throng of hostiles yesterday with a pan of fried eggs and tomatoes, Emperor Yuansheng wanted to know more.

    Those who Su Xiao didn¡¯t knock out with his concoction were repulsed, while those staking out in the inn showed themselves to aid their leaders. Ming Feizhen considerately offered treatment in exchange for a peace treaty, which they epted without much thought given the supposed critical condition their leaders were in.

    Aware that using true qi to resuscitate them was futile, Ming Feizhen slogged the fried tomatoes, eggs and previous day¡¯s dinner out of them. Since it was easy to imitate, Long Zaitian and the others took leisure in pounding the food out of the other victims. Even though the victims came to, they were only thirty percent of what would be their normal condition.

    The hostiles were intimidated after the poisoning, and Ming Feizhen mentioned Su Xiao was the one who poisoned them, dialling up the intimidation factor. Despite being heinous criminals, they praised Su Xiao and requested to be ¡°her¡± underling.

    ¡°Constable Ming, why did you leave me asleep when you woke Ye Luo up?¡± grouched Emperor Yuansheng.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: ¡°Ye Luo had a nibble, while you stuffed your face. Besides, punching you is¡­¡±

    ¡°This is a lot to process in one sitting. By the way, what were you drawing just now?¡±

    Ming Feizhen fetched the map from the table, disying what appeared to be the direction of water current and a red line going through the map: ¡°We have an eye witness ount of Vice-Captain Shen floating unconsciously in water. I surmise she fell into the water during the fight with Abels. The ount should be trustworthy as the manor that she shed with Abels at is not far from Taihu. I, therefore, invested some time scrutinising the outskirts, studying ces that she likely could have shown up. I also interviewed people who might have travelled around the area during the incident.¡±

    The map was visibly illustrated after days of thorough research, and the information gleaned from interviews in the current climate proved dedication, not to mention the anti-traditions required courage to speak to. Thus, nobody interrupted Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen, guiding with his fingers, ryed, ¡°After shrinking the area that Vice-Captain Shen likely ended up based on the information I collected, which includes time, current and more, there are several ces that she might logically end up. The people who provided the eye witness testimony have evaporated into thin air. ordingly, I ruled out this area. Further deduction leads me to,¡± Ming Feizhen drew a circle over a spot and added, ¡°this ce being where she ended up.¡±

    ¡°Have you checked the location?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, there are no remaining traces. Since a number of people purportedly spotted her, I believe it is reasonable to hypothesise that somebody pulled her out of the water.¡±

    ¡°Many people¡­ go by the area usually?¡±

    ¡°Not really as it is close to the entry to Lotus Root Ground. Fishermen, ordinary citizens and even the majority of martial world members avoid going to the area since it is virtually Luo Sword Manor¡¯s territory. Master, owing to the abruptness, I would like to request for several days off.¡±

    ¡°I want to hear what your n is.¡±

    ¡°Before I set out, I asked a few colleagues to go on ahead. They should have imperative information we currentlyck and need. Since you are afraid of being exposed, I shall operate with a disguise on. We have to act on this now if we are to save Vice-Captain Shen.¡± Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t convinced Zha Pi was at Luo Siming¡¯s ce purely out of coincidence.

    ¡°Approved.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Big Boss Sister?¡± Luo Siming repeated as a question after hearing Yi Wangyou¡¯s recount of the fiasco at Dragon Phoenix Inn after thetter rushed back the same night.

    ¡°Yes. This one would not havee back right away to report to you, otherwise,¡± responded Yi Wangyou.

    Luo Siming wrinkled his nose and blinked in disbelief: ¡°They subdued those monsters into obedience? One maiden won over those ruthless murderers? That is unbelievable¡­¡±

    While Yi Wangyou returned to Luo Siming in defeat, Mr. Qian retreated to his newest brothel branch to cry. Had they not beente to the event, they would¡¯ve also been victims to Su Xiao¡¯s fried tomatoes and eggs; Yi Wangyou would¡¯ve had his fight record tainted.

    Green Prince voiced, ¡°She¡¯s that good? I need to visit the inn when I have time to try out their fried tomatoes and eggs.¡±

    Needless to say, Yi Wangyou wasn¡¯t going to let Green Prince risk his life.

    ¡°By the way, how are they managing? We have our five participants, do we not?¡±

    Yi Wangyou expressed, ¡°Lie Shang has agreed to join our lineup. Elder Chen has also convinced Elder Shou to help us. With this one and invincible Reverend Zha, we should have the victory already. Sadly, Elder Chen will be out ofmission for years due to the damage absorbed against Reverend Zha. This one has considered other notable pugilists, such as Jie Daqian, but they are not up to par.¡±

    Simply speaking, Yi Wangyou and Lie Shang were even in the seniority field. Elder Shou was an elder of Wudang Sect. Reverend Zha was a deity. Chen Wanyun shared the same seniority inparison to Yi Wangyou. Hence, they needed someone with the same seniority and was closely matched, which wasn¡¯t easy.

    ¡°Hahaha, I have someone in mind. Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Who might that be, Your Highness?¡±

    Green Prince answered, ¡°Me. Doesn¡¯t that make it five?¡±

    I know you have an itch to scratch daily, but must you scratch one now?

    Luo Siming demurred, ¡°Brother, you cannot lower yourself to their level.¡±

    Green Prince lifted his chest and went on, ¡°We have Shandong¡¯s best broadsword wielder, Wudang¡¯s Elder, Kunlun Sect¡¯s Elder and an empyrean. Who else besides my esteemed self would be qualified to stand alongside them?¡±

    ¡°True, but¡­¡±

    ¡°No buts. Do you think I¡¯m mindless? The four fighting ahead of me are chosen elites. Unless we lose two matches, I don¡¯t even need to fight. Who do you think will win between our elites and Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s punching bags? Can you even fathom us losing? We got this, hahahaha.¡±

    Yi Wangyou tried his hand at what Luo Siming failed at, only to give Green Prince another win. Yi Wangyou was more concerned about Green Prince¡¯s safety than he was about winning. Indeed, it was impossible to see them losing. Nheless, if things really went south, Yi Wangyou figured they could just surrender at thest match.

    Luo Siming wished to see what Dragon Phoenix Inn was capable of solely owing to his suspicions surrounding them. After the debacle at Dragon Phoenix Inn, howbeit, he couldn¡¯t imagine them having what it took tomit such a serious crime.

    Yi Wangyou reported to Luo Siming, ¡°The two of them can make people quake in their boots, yet he was robbed without getting a chance to see his assant. Simrly, other victims who managed to get a glimpse of their assant can¡¯t identify their attacker. All ounts of the assant suggest there are multiple people involved. Young Master Zhong¡¯s opinion is actually worth considering. He said¡­¡±

    Snacking to stave his boredom as he listened, Green Prince suddenly jumped in, querying, ¡°By the way, I heard you have a distant rtive in aa at your ce. What¡¯s that about?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°D-distant rtive? Sh-she¡¯s actually¡­¡± Lying wasn¡¯t a skill that Luo Siming honed.

    ¡°Hehe, why are you stuttering? Which rtive? Do I know them?¡±

    Even though Green Prince saw a green sky, he neverid off his habit of women hunting. Therefore, Luo Siming didn¡¯t want to let Green Prince see Shen Yiren, whom he had unknowingly developed feelings for, and risk losing her.

    ¡°I¡¯m quite certain I know all of your rtives, right? I¡¯ll be waiting for you to tell me. I¡¯m cool with waiting one day, ten days, thirty days or a month. Let¡¯s see who has more time on their hands.¡±

    If there was one thing Green Prince couldn¡¯t be defeated at, it¡¯d be having the time to chase down his ¡°wives¡±.

    ¡°I¡­ will need to start from the beginning¡­¡± Luo Siming, deted, gave Green Prince the story.

    ¡°If Reverend Zha said feeding her the medicine mouth to mouth would wake her from her slumber, why didn¡¯t you take advantage?¡± asked Green Prince.

    As red dyed his face upon recalling how he swallowed the pill when he attempted to feed Shen Yiren, Luo Siming replied, ¡°If you have questions, why don¡¯t you personally consult Reverend Zha? He is staying at the manor, after all.¡±

    With Green Prince finally gone, Luo Siming resumed, ¡°Patriarch Yi, let us continue on from the corpse part.¡±

    Envying Luo Siming¡¯s ability to switch channels so quickly, Patriarch Yimented, ¡°If this one could switch bosses, perhaps he would live for longer.¡±

    ¡°Haha, this one cannot possibly afford your service.¡±

    The twopared the corpses they had examined thus far, discovering that there had been surprisingly only three corpses thus far as well as the fact that their injuries were minorpared to the end. In other words, the assant did their best to avoid killing their target.

    ¡°Stealing weapons is akin to trampling on one¡¯s pride, an offence that the offended would never forgive until they redeemed their pride, yet they held back?¡±

    Yi Wangyou hypothesised, ¡°Perhaps they are confident they will not be caught, or perhaps they are insufferably hubristic.¡±

    ¡°If they were thetter, they would not hide their face. I think I am seeing a pattern that leads me to this conclusion: perhaps they are trying to steal without killing. From what we have seen, they might be killing because they are forced to strain themselves in order to win, thereby forcing them to kill.¡±

    ¡°If your conjecture holds up, then killing is unintentional. They might resort to using their true skills when they are under pressure!¡±

    ¡°Very true.¡±

    Despite their new theory, they couldn¡¯t find anymon points between the corpses. The most suspicious corpse was the one the assant killed using yang energy in their fatal finger jab.¡±

    ¡°Yang Realm is rare. The yang skill they used could be Yang Blood True Qi. Nobody besides Tang Ye would have such precise control of yang qi.¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­ he revealed his true skills? It is hard but not impossible to learn multiple styles. With that said, it would take decades to have that true qi potency¡­¡±

    ¡°What is the matter? Did you think of something?¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not him.¡± Though he denied it, Luo Siming¡¯s expression betrayed him, insinuating he had a suspect in mind.

    Yi Wangyou read Luo Siming¡¯s expression: ¡°Young Master Luo, your spection is justified. Scorching Sun Spirit¡­ is also one of the most advanced styles for Yang Realm users.¡±

    An uneasy feeling permeated in their minds.

    ***

    If it hasn¡¯t been emphasised enough, let¡¯s emphasise it again: once Green Prince, always Green Prince.

    After leaving the main hall, Green Prince, knowing Yi Wangyou and Luo Siming would be stuck discussing business for a long while, reckoned it was the perfect opportunity to go visit the sleeping beauty. There were ample rooms in the backyard. Therefore, he had to check room by room until he saw two sentries in front of a particr room. He meandered over jovially and inquired, ¡°Why are you two here sote?¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Sir.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the pleasantries. What are you two doing?¡±

    ¡°We are protecting a maiden under Young Master¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Young Master has been taking special care of her ever since he saved her; even Doctor Luo was called for. That is why we are also doing our best.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I see¡­ My brother called for you, you know? He said he needed to go out for something and was reorganising personnel. You should hurry over.¡±

    The two guards didn¡¯t question Green Prince as they were told he was a trustworthy and special guest.

    Green Prince waited for them to depart then ran his fingers through his hair and licked his lips: ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s really true you have to kiss her to wake her up. I¡¯m not convinced a beauty is just going to lie on her bed, waiting to be kissed. I don¡¯t believe it. I don¡¯t believe it.¡±

    If Ming Feizhen was there, he¡¯d likely be yelling, ¡°Your feet and mouth don¡¯t correspond!¡±

    Green Prince sniffed the scent of the young maiden¡¯s skin saturated the room as he crept closer to the door: ¡°Smells like roses. I like it. I wonder if her lips have the same scent. I¡¯m not trying to take advantage of your misfortune; I¡¯m just trying to save you.¡±

    That¡¯s what they call misconstruing facts for your own ends. Reverend Zha specifically explicated that they were to pass the pill mouth to mouth. Green Prince was only thinking about tasting Shen Yiren¡¯s lips.

    Wait¡­ A man must¡¯ve once gone to my woman¡¯s room and pushed the door open just as I¡¯m about to. Thanks to him, I grew another strand of green hair. Every single time, I¡¯m the one who has to weep alone in the dark¡­

    ¡°Fourth Brother must¡¯ve fallen for her if he¡¯s gone so far and done so much for her. As his brother, is it appropriate for me to steal her from him? How would I be any different to the men who stole from me if I do this?¡± Green Prince mumbled under his breath. In the end, he removed his hands from the door and walked away without looking back.

    Luo Siding, the one man who couldn¡¯t ever see eye to eye with Luo Siming once in their shared history, stepped out from around the corner within earshot, which he¡¯d been hiding behind ever since he heard Green Prince lie. While his father did instruct him to keep a pulse on Luo Siming¡¯s every movement in Canhu, his male instincts led him to the brothels. To his annoyance, all of the decent-looking girls had moved to an inn. Had Green Prince not used his wiles to dismiss the guards, Luo Siding wouldn¡¯t have been given free rein in the courtyard. With a desire to be fulfilled and a chance to get on Luo Siming¡¯s nerves, Luo Sidings weed himself into Shen Yiren¡¯s room.

    ¡°What is this fragrance? God damn it¡¯s nice.¡± Luo Siding ignited a match, fearing someone might notice him in the room if he lit up the candles. Upon seeing the beauty, who resembled a girl sleeping rather than a sick patient, he gulped as he eyed every inch of her: ¡°So this is his cup of tea, huh? He¡¯s got good taste.¡±

    The pervert didn¡¯t know where to start for every inch of Shen Yiren took over any rational thoughts that¡¯d manifest. Luo Siding rifled through ideas until his eyes settled on her lips, associating them with Green Prince¡¯s muttering. His breathing sounded more and moreborious as he bridged the gap. s, a sudden draft billowed up Luo Siding¡¯s robe when he was so close to those rosy lips.

    As soon as he found out his adopted brother lied to his guards, Luo Siming bolted to the courtyard with Yi Wangyou. Yi Wangyou could tell Shen Yiren was important to Luo Siming based on thetter¡¯s reactions and knew it would be bad news if Green Prince did cross the line. Upon reaching her room, they heard a man shrill, prompting them to storm in.

    Luo Siding, pallor, curled up and with his hands between his legs, rolled about with his hands on his crotch as he groaned in a high-pitch voiceparable to some eunuchs. Upon shifting their line of sight up a tad, they saw a long, smooth and slightly muscr leg stretched out from beneath the nkets.

 Volume 8 55 Helpless, A Hero Sheds Tears of Shame (Part 1).

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 55 Helpless, A Hero Sheds Tears of Shame (Part 1).</h4>

    A man in ck rafted across theke to reach the estate on Taihau¡¯s riverbank, while the chilly wind yed a tune on the water consisting of varying cadences and pitches. The number of yellow lights needed to providing vision in the spacious abode was enough to overwhelm the forgiving fog.

    Upon reaching the estate, the man in ck leapt straight onto the roof tiles almost as light as a feather. The silver rays revealed that he didn¡¯t have any intention of hiding his identity for his ck attire was actually a ck brocade robe that would be popr among wealthy elders. Was it worth painstakingly dressing up for the asion? Hard to say. If someone who knew him ran into him, though, there was no doubt they could identify based on his sword oozing heat as though it needed a release, not that there were many who could identify it.

    Luo Yan jumped straight into a well, indicating he had been there enough times to know his way around. The further down he went, the wider the tunnel opened until he could easily somersault andnd standing, hands held behind his back to assert his dominance. He discharged a small spurt of energy to bring in some silver light to, at least, have the silhouette of the bottom in sight.

    The well was¡­ well, a well, except there was an extra hole on the wall that was justrge enough for an adult to crawl through. Simrly to the well, the hole expanded the further Luo Yan went in until he could stand. He continued on for a little while longer beforeing to a stop as going further down only led to a dead end. He, of course, was privy to the fact as he was in Luo n¡¯s secret passage for ambushing invaders.

    Luo Yan tapped a metal board somewhere along the tunnel three times lightly then five times hard, activating the stone wall¡¯s mechanism that opened two folding doors for him to slip through. Six hundred tall, buff male pugilists were seated inside and evidently not from the Central in. Though severely outnumbered, Luo Yan marginalised the hostile men and made his way to the iron door on the other end of the stone room.

    ¡°Yo, Luo n¡¯s second master?¡± cockily remarked the sentry. ¡°Should¡¯ve told me so that I could give a heads up. I can¡¯t open the door that the door is locked. Go sit on that rock over there and wait.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. I don¡¯t need an outsider to open my n¡¯s door.¡±

    ¡°If you had a key, th-¡±

    Bang! Luo Yan busted the door down with a heat-enhanced palm strike.

    ¡°Y-y-y-¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Luo Yan stopped at the door for he picked up the strong smell of herbs.

    The secret room was supposed to be the temporary resting ce of Luo n¡¯s leader, but the group that took over the ce constantly riddled it with smoke ever since they took over.

    A hunch-backed elder stirred the stuff inside therge cauldron dead centre of the room using a long and thick woodendle, generating pink and green smoke columns. Perhaps it was due to the pink mist smelling nice and intoxicating, while touching the green smoke had the same effects as cutting onions, that the two were cat and mouse with each other. That being said, the elder didn¡¯t show any signs offort as he constantly stirred. As the elder stirred, the end of thedle in the cauldron that could withstand metal or iron hacking it would gradually decay. Luo Yan recognised it as a poisonous mist originating in Nanjiang that required him to use all of his energy to not barf in spite of him standing at the door.

    A tall and tough man sat cross-legged on a stone chair that heyered with a white tiger¡¯s fur at the other end of the room, meditating while keeping his appearance hidden from the light. He raised his chin and inhaled the poison mist in the air, intensifying the red on his cheeks. There was no need to wonder if he practiced an unorthodox style since there was no chance an orthodox style would have such a practice.

    The man revealed his face that was more frightening than the poison mist that he took close to an hour to finish inhaling. The left side of his face swelled up and turned as red as blood, skin looking as though it was having spasms. The right side of his face sunk into a convex shape as his skin aged rapidly until his right side was gaunt that it resembled a painted skeleton.

    The man opened his eyes and threw a dual palm strike, switching over the sides that his face was swollen and sunken. The two conditions started to ease off until his face returned to its concealed state, and the venomous vibe vanished.

    In Nanjiang, they feed scorching scorpions near their volcano poison for every meal of the day and then pit over a hundred of them against each other in a battle royale. The winner, which they called the scorching scorpion king, was then subjected to the same treatment for a second cycle among ny-nine other scorching scorpion kings. They aptly named the resulting pink poison that was produced the way gu poisons were created ¡°crimson scorpion blood¡±.

    The green poison was extracted from snake venom, one that was Nanjiang¡¯s Myriad Gu Poison King¡¯s secret treasure. He raised a ck dove three decades ago and came across a skeleton golden silkworm one day. He had his ck dove hunt the golden silkworm, yet the two kept their distance from each other. It wasn¡¯t untilter that he noticed a small green snake - a jadeite unicorn snake - creeping up behind his poisonous dove. In one sleek motion, the snake bit the two nemeses, killing them both and then draining their respective venoms.

    The glistening snake murdered everything it sprayed its corrosive green smoke onto, so Myriad Gu Poison King decided to subdue it and still raises it to this day, raising it from a tiny snake to a giant snake over ten metres long.

    The man had the elder chuck both venoms into the cauldron after letting them sit for a hundred days prior to simmering them with more venomous herbs. The man¡¯s purpose in consuming the poison was to forcibly remove his limiters so that he could upgrade his strength. Needless to say, the man was one of the few individuals out there capable of employing the method without dying owing to his solid foundation. Even Luo Yan couldn¡¯t see the man eluding the after effects sooner orter as a result of the strategy.

    The man inhaled the lingering poison over the course of fifteen more minutes and then exhaled a breath of relief, his qi having turned red - obviously poisonous. He, however, was immune to the red poison, the proof being in the pudding.

    ¡°What did youe here for?¡±

    Luo Yan finally advanced and sat in a seat several metres away then threw a bag to the ground, giving off the sound of metal rattling upon impact: ¡°Widow Broadsword and White Sword.¡±

    A smile spread across the man¡¯s lips: ¡°They dead?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°One is. I defeated the other one, but he should be up by now.¡±

    The man slouched onto an angle: ¡°What are you here for if he¡¯s not dead?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push it¡­ Abels!¡±

    Abels shed the pearls in the corner of his lips: ¡°Is it really wise to give me that attitude, conspirator? Have you forgotten how to treat your ally? If you have, I¡¯m more than happy to remind you just as I taught you the first time we met at Sword Spirit House.¡±

    After his first defeat at Abels¡¯ hand, which was when he sought out Luo Ming for an exnation as to why they had to host Refining Divine Convention, Luo Yan lost another four times, losing in fewer moves each time, with the best record being thirty exchanges.

    Luo Ming personally told Luo Yan that he wanted to ally with Abels. That was why Luo Yan was still alive.

    ¡°How many weapons do you want until you¡¯re satisfied?! I¡¯ve stolen dozens for you already. Why do you keep forcing me to carry out these dishonourable deeds when you have far more to choose from once the convention starts?¡±

    ¡°Pretty close now. As for your question, I have three things to say.¡± Abels sneeringly raised a finger and enlightened, ¡°First, there will be too many orthodox sects at the event, including Wudang and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, so it¡¯s tough to snatch their weapons there. If you don¡¯t want Luo Sword Manor to be the martial world¡¯s public enemy, you best stop with your pessimism.

    ¡°Second, those who can¡¯t even identify you during your scrap aren¡¯t qualified to produce a sword nerve. Turning back now will save theirpanions¡¯ lives. They should be thankful I¡¯m sparing lives from the orthodox sects.

    ¡°Third¡­ Haha, I wanted to see the proud second master of Luo n reluctantly cut people down for me. I¡¯m happier than I expected to be.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you!¡±

 Volume 8 56 Helpless, A Hero Sheds Tears of Shame (Part 2).

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 56 Helpless, A Hero Sheds Tears of Shame (Part 2).</h4>

    Luo Yan summoned up every ounce of energy he had, boosting his internal energy further with Scorching Sun Spirit. Abels already proved the superior man in a sh of technique; however, Luo Yan believed he could hurt Abels if hemitted one hundred percent to a single strike.

    What Luo Yan first perceived to be teleportation was actually just a zing-fast advance. Abels red fist was akin to the gust of wind that extinguished the fire; shaving off Luo Yan¡¯s output gradually prior to even acquiring its target. Abels extended a finger from his fist once he felt Luo Yan¡¯s palm strike was no longer threatening and gently jabbed thetter on the forehead to announce his convincing victory that only took two strikes.

    Luo Ming had mentioned Enlightenment to Luo Yan in the past, and thetter learnt he had a chance against those who had conceived it, yet he was akin to a de of grass trying to poke a hole in a brick when Abels showed his version of Enlightenment - his red fist.

    Abels is even stronger than thest time I fought him. If he continues developing at this ridiculous rate, who can match him?

    Had Luo Yan not had to carry the honour of Luo n on his shoulders, he might¡¯ve just let himself hit the ground in despair.

    ¡°You¡­ win. You can do as you please with me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re insufferably stubborn, aren¡¯t you? Well, it won¡¯t hurt to spare you a fifth time when I¡¯ve already spared you four times.¡± Abels pulled his arm back and headed back to his stone seat with his back faced towards Luo Yan, using his confidence to add insult to injury.

    Abels expression of confidence screamed, ¡°I can beat you the same way again even if I give you back.¡± Luo Yan would never hit a defenceless man, yet he actually contemted clobbering Abels from behind, a sentiment that left a bitter taste in Luo Yan¡¯s mouth and a sweet taste in Abels¡¯ mouth.

    Abels meant it when he stated Luo Yan was still useful to him, hence the mercy. Abels had to constantly beat Luo Yan mentally and physically, though, for it was the only way to convince Luo Yan to do his bidding. It was a slow process, but Abels started to have control over Luo Yan¡¯s temper; Luo Yan suppressed his frustration and kept on robbing weapons with less and less vociferating each time, totally unaware of how much Abels was in his head.

    ¡°Poison King, how do you score the way I moulded energy?¡± Abels questioned from his stone throne.

    Myriad Gu Poison King - Nanjiang¡¯s legendary poison user, the elder working at the cauldron - tidied his belongings as he answered, ¡°Smooth.¡±

    ¡°River Monster, you cane in now.¡±

    River Monster, who had been waiting on the other side of the door, sauntered in and performed her salute: ¡°Master.¡±

    River Monster¡¯s voice was all business; she still expressed the same respect, albeit without the intimacy once present in her tone, and she made no attempt to disguise it.

    Abels smiled: ¡°These are the new weapons. Take them.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡±

    Luo Yan asked, ¡°How much longer do I have to keep doing this?¡±

    ¡°Why are you acting as though your pants are on fire?¡± Abels questioned.

    ¡°Everyone in Canhu Town is investigating the attacks. I wouldn¡¯t put it past them to start suspecting Luo Sword Manor. How are you going to prove your innocence?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be a concern. We have scapegoats.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You told me one of Midnight Ghost Cry is dead, and the other is injured. The injured one has recovered, and the supposed dead one didn¡¯t die. A skilled physician resuscitated him on the spot. Why do you need to feign ignorance? You held back when you could¡¯ve killed Bai Zixuan. As far as I know, you have friends among unorthodox and orthodox sects. Coincidentally, you¡¯re on decent terms with the brothers. You spared Bai Zixuan to give him a chance at survival, correct?¡±

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t answer. Rather, he didn¡¯t have an argument prepared.

    Abels tugged up the corner of his lips: ¡°Because you had to try and be a smart aleck, they will be no more after tonight.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t see my face! Why does their group have to be exterminated?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking on a potential hazard that I don¡¯t have to. I¡¯m eliminating any potential problems.¡± Abels relished Luo Yan¡¯s aghast countenance as he carried on, ¡°I know about everything that takes ce in Canhu Town. Quit wasting time on fruitlessbour. I¡¯ve met the one who calls himself Zhong Ming. He¡¯s with the imperial court. His medical skills are exceptional, indeed.¡±

    River Monster clicked her tongue under her breath, still bitter that she lost, at least, thirty percent of her original full potential despite having her severed arm reattached. Every few days, the pain would leave her writhing in pain that only copious amounts of anaesthetics could quell. ording to Myriad Gu Poison King, River Monster¡¯s agony was all in her head, products of post-traumatic disorder. He told her it was condition that no existing concoction could heal. The news that she couldn¡¯t be cured only served to fuel her rage.

    ¡°They showed up out of nowhere and refuse to identify themselves. I¡¯m just giving the nudge to move the boat along the current,¡± Abels stated. ¡°I know they came here for Shen Yiren. For all we know, Shen Yiren might also be in town. She¡¯s still useful to me. If you can find her for me, I¡¯ll spare everyone but Bai Zixuan, deal?¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s vice-captain? Why would she be here?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for me to know and not for you to know. Does that mean we don¡¯t have a deal?¡±

    ¡°¡­ We have a deal.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°In addition, I heard the group has opened a restaurant in Canhu Town that they¡¯ve decided to call Dragon Phoenix Inn. All the thugs in the town went there to stir the pot, only to all be poisoned, rather, incapacitated.¡±

    Abels cast his gaze across to Myriad Gu Poison King: ¡°Whatpelled you to be so proactive? Did they ost you?¡±

    ¡°Those shamelessly seeking personal gain are not worth my time.¡±

    Abels took no offence to Myriad Gu Poison; the two had a tacit sense of chemistry between them. Abelsmented, ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone else who could achieve that if it wasn¡¯t you.¡±

    Seeing as neither River Monster nor Luo Yan had any insight to offer, Abels continued, ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for the meantime. We still don¡¯t know where Mountain Monster is, so many operations will be more challenging than if she was here. Although Poison King¡¯s disguise skills are impable, they take time unlike her Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art. I sent a group of people to rescue her from the group after she was caught; however, they never returned.¡±

    ¡°Maybe her disappearance has something to do with Night Fortress¡¯ master,¡± River Monster snidely remarked.

    ¡°What?¡± Poison King queried, breaking the sudden and ufortable silence upon reading the ambience. ¡°You were defeated?¡±

    Abels turned his finger into steely mps: ¡°I will settle the score with Mount Daluo.¡±

    ¡°So he¡¯s not invincible yet,¡± inwardlymented Luo Yan.

    Abels switched the topic, inquiring, ¡°Mountain Monster¡¯s lover wouldn¡¯t just wait to collect her corpse. Where¡¯s Ox Demon?¡±

    River Monster robotically reported, ¡°He left with some men a couple of days ago, saying he had something important to do. If it is urgent, I can call him back with our secret signal.¡±

    ¡°Leave him. Knowing how primitive he is, he must¡¯ve gone off to fight. It¡¯s a good opportunity to send Jiangnan¡¯s pugilists our greeting and find out what they¡¯re made of. Send him the signal to search for Mountain Monster, though.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡±

    Abels pointed out a few things they should pay attention then called in more men to pass on orders. The tasks he entrusted them with should¡¯ve already bepleted had Abels not been upied with training because he wasn¡¯t the type to dally.

    Luo Yan deliberated, ¡°Abels isn¡¯t the type to assiduously train, yet he¡¯s put in all the stops to progress in as short time as possible. Does it have something to do with Night Fortress¡¯ master? Although Night Fortress¡¯ master didn¡¯t win against Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary back then, he did get out of a fight with Ling n unscathed. Is there more to him than what I know?¡±

    ¡°Second Master Luo,¡± growled Abels, unhappy with what Luo Yan¡¯s visage read.

    ¡°What? Aren¡¯t I supposed to find Shen Yiren for you?¡±

    ¡°Naturally. The thing is, you haven¡¯tpleted your mission. I hear Mad Desert Sect¡¯s signature broadsword possesses a three-legged crowponent. Fetch it for me.¡±

    ¡°I told you: I¡¯m going to draw suspicion if I keep going after weapons. My nephew isn¡¯t asinine. He will suspect me sooner orter even if you have scapegoats. If you don¡¯t know yet, then I¡¯ll tell you now: he¡¯s not going to shelter family if it is morally wrong to do so. If I¡¯m exposed, whatever crooked n you¡¯re cooking is also going to rot.¡±

    ¡°Stop with the jaundice. We¡¯re allies. All I¡¯m doing is cleaning up for money.¡±

    ¡°First time I¡¯m hearing of ckmailing and threatening being part of cooperating as allies.¡±

    Abels¡¯ right cheek had a spasm: ¡°Even among allies, there is a hierarchy. Your brother is my equal, and that¡¯s it. Nobody else has the right to bargain with me. There¡¯s one thing I¡¯ll agree on, nheless. Your nephew is unlike your son; he will trace it back to you.¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s heart skipped a beat, afraid he¡¯d realise what he didn¡¯t want to realise.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? Worried I¡¯ll harm your nephew?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t harm my brother¡¯s son.¡±

    Abels condescendingly replied, ¡°You couldn¡¯t be more right. We¡¯re allies.¡±

    The same second Luo Yan found relief, Abels jabbed him on the shoulder with a finger: ¡°Which is why I need you to.¡±

    Luo Yan smacked away Abels¡¯ hand: ¡°Dream on!¡±

    ¡°Rx. I wouldn¡¯t hurt your brother¡¯s son. In saying that, he¡¯s a potential hazard. I¡¯m not asking you to kill him. It¡¯s not that hard to have your elites ce him under house arrest, is it?¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s nightmare came true. The type of order he couldn¡¯t protest was the worse; imagine a knife just sitting there in your body.

    ¡°Should you refuse, I¡¯ll do it as your imposter. For your information, my men don¡¯t know what mercy is. I¡¯m actually feeling inquisitive enough that I might just start seeing what the best method to subdue him is.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luo Yan was detached from Luo Siming, true. Having said that, Luo Yan wasn¡¯t indifferent to his brother. He was aware how aggrieved his brother would be if he lost his son. Worse, he knew Evil Spirits had what it took to make it a reality.

    ¡°¡­ As youmand.¡±

 Volume 8 57 Musing. Yirens Explosive Kick.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 57 Musing. Yiren¡¯s Explosive Kick.</h4>

    Wh-where am I?

    Shen Yiren finally shed the sleep from her brain; however, she found herself in an ocean of darkness with no sense of direction or corroboration that she was still alive. She eventually gleaned that it wasn¡¯t a ckness foreign to her. She wasn¡¯t blind. She couldn¡¯t see. Opening her eyes was an illusion.

    Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take Shen Yiren too long to regain self-awareness and her sharp senses. With time, the recovery of her listening and smell enabled her to illustrate the interior of the room in her mind vividly to the point of almost having personally screened it with her eyes.

    It soon dawned on Shen Yiren that she wasn¡¯t blind, paraplegic or diagnosed with some disease. It was purely a case of her mind and body¡¯s disconnect. She could sense the wall that segregated her mind and body, a feeling that was hard to believe unless one experienced it in the flesh. The more she explored, the more ¡°zones¡± she discovered her body had been divided into. She could search for muscle memory and fragments of her memories. Sadly, the ¡°wall¡± was impregnable.

    Shen Yiren experimented with intense focus and bristling mental attacks to no avail.

    If only this wall was mental trauma. I¡¯ve been through so much that I could easily mow the wall down. Nothing has ever kept me down mentally. Why did my opponent have to be my body this time? Damn fake death condition. I¡¯ve never felt so physically powerless before.

    Shen Yiren never dreaded physical challenges as she embraced ¡°mind over matter¡± arguably better than anyone; not even Abels overwhelming power convinced her to stay down, after all.

    Given she couldn¡¯t do anything about her predicament, Shen Yiren abandoned thoughts that weren¡¯t pragmatic, switching to her analytical mind, coting and studying the information on hand.

    Although Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t quite recollect the oue of her match against Abels, she had the rest of her memories in front of her regardless of how fragmented they were - a rather surreal phenomenon. s, memories of her hedging her life to survive Abels¡¯ challenge onwards would elude her.

    I think I sped off on Battle Cloud and¡­ fell into the water and¡­ I guess I¡¯ll have to ask my body for answers¡­

    Though she couldn¡¯t mould true qi, Shen Yiren¡¯s immobile bodypensated with heightened senses, consequently magnifying that state of her physical damage. The silver lining among the list of inconveniences and unideal circumstances was that her internal injuries were drastically less debilitating than she estimated. She remembered breathing blood and barely feeling her body, yet her internal injuries were negligible.

    I can¡¯t tell what the time is right now, but the aroma the breeze wafting in tells me that it¡¯s winter. Did my body mutate or something? My injuries shouldn¡¯t have healed so fast.

    Shen Yiren was stuck with an unsightly scar on her left wrist, and true qi automatically reversed when it travelled there, indicating that it was disabled.

    At least I have my right hand. I¡¯d rather that than wield a pen on paper all day¡­ Howe¡­ I still have my skills? Howe my qi is more pure and potent than before? Was I training in my sleep? Why is even my qi circting differently to Six Phenomena True Qi that I¡¯ve always trained? There¡¯s only thirty percent of it left.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    While Abels blocked Shen Yiren¡¯s meridians, Ming Feizhen¡¯s spirit, a conscious part of him, still existed, guiding her qi around her body using his style for one cycle to protect her life. The conscious and qi cirction method Ming Feizhen installed in Shen Yiren was derived from one of the three supreme styles that he learnt. Under normal circumstances, it was risky to circte the qi the way Ming Feizhen did. Due to Abels blocking Shen Yiren¡¯s meridians, though, he lowered the risk of qi deviation to the absolute minimum without detracting from the benefits of Ming Feizhen¡¯s qi cirction method.

    Demanding qi to flow through a body with blocked meridians is akin to treading through criss-crossing ravines, where one wrong turn would lead to death even if one was an expert. An easy way to understand the danger of not being a hundred percent focussed when guiding one¡¯s qi would be to imagine walking across a tight suspended over a pit of sharp spikes and falling to one¡¯s death if doubt ever crept in for even a split second.

    Unless one had carved out a correct path and imprinted it to their subconscious, they could never be in two minds while circting qi. Thus, Shen Yiren¡¯s amazement at her new qi cirction method, more potent internal strength, the fading of her original system and intermediate level with her new system was justified because she hadn¡¯t had a shred of awareness for some time. Even now, her true qi continued absorbing her original internal energy to upgrade her internal strength. The only way she could restore her old style was if she deleted all of her skills to start over from scratch.

    I don¡¯t know what style this is, but this internal strength style¡¯s structure is more intricate than any style I¡¯ve ever beared witness to. Just how did I obtain this style? If I ever find out who caused this change, I¡¯ll p him into next week on the spot.

    Even though this new style proved exceptional enough to earn her praise and respect, Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t quick to celebrate as she always took pride in inheriting Liu Shan Men¡¯s styles and skills. Nheless, as it was a moot point to mull over a topic she couldn¡¯t change orprehend in her current state, she moved on.

    ording to the two cases of fake death that I¡¯ve read in the past, I need a stimulus strong enough to reconnect my brain and body. In one case, the wife was euphoric upon giving birth to a child and came back to life when she was supposed to have died. The other case was an elder dying a bitter death. After bursting out in tears, he regained free movement. I wonder if there are even doctors who know this¡­ Damn it! I hate being in a passive situation.

    Shen Yiren spent her time awake on contemting things, so it was vexing for her. She learnt that it was Luo Siming, thest guest she was supposed to visit, who rescued her, popped in twice daily and always stressed to the servants that she was to be taken care of properly. Doctor Luo¡¯s prescription and treatments also proved effective in gradually unclogging her meridians.

    Shen Yiren was shocked to learn that Zha Pi had infiltrated Luo Sword Manor as Reverend Zha. While she was d to know she had such a loyal subordinate, she was annoyed that he ended up trapping himself there with her instead of getting her out.

    Over the course of days and days, Shen Yiren developed respect for Luo Siming as he was kind gentleman. Part of her believed that she could¡¯ve moulded him into an aplished man if he spent a few years as her apprentice. She evaluated him to be somewhat weak until the night he spilled his heart out for she understood the pressure he felt,ing from an influential n and shouldering Liu Shan Men as he shoulder Luo Sword Manor. Shen Yiren¡¯s respect for Luo Siming crumbled, however, when he slipped the pill into his mouth and leaned his face in, finding him repulsive.

    Growing up, Shen Yiren knew next to nothing about romance and habitually ignored men who fawned over her. While dense in romance, Shen Yiren easily distinguished between those genuinely sincere and those defiling her with their eyes due to the number of times she had to be subjected to them growing up.

    The respect and admiration Shen Yiren harboured for Luo Siming wasparable to a granny¡¯s admiration for her grandson or the respect one showed another on the streets, which was why he irked her when he crossed the line.

    Inmed, Shen Yiren regained nominal control over her right leg; she was dead certain she could stomp Luo Siming off if he actually did kiss her, having said that. When he was interrupted, she unexpectedly felt a wave of disappointment owing to her missing an opportunity to regain functioning of her right leg. Regardless of her effort thereafter, no improvements were made.

    At longst, an opportunity finally presented itself when somebody that sickened Shen Yiren more than Luo Siming did ogled her. After proving he ate filth, he boldly leaned his face in. Her nerves jolted, and her muscles contracted the same way a hunter¡¯s did when preparing to prey.

    The two cases Shen Yiren previously read on curing fake death proved correct as her right leg exploded toward its target. She imagined herself swiping her nose with her thumb after and simpering upon stinging her prey.

 Volume 8 58 Insane Angry Signal. Bear King Feizhen.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 58 Insane Angry Signal. Bear King Feizhen.</h4>

    ¡°Weak. Too weak.¡± The victorious man pulled his arm back with his lips going from ear to ear. ¡°Yan Ling Neen shes ims to be the number one in Shandong, yet¡­¡±

    The masked man whipped his hand, lodging droplets of blood into the ground - a sign of immense strength. Like a man with a broken soul after taking one palm strike, his opponent gasped blood moments after taking damage, and the wind blowing fearfully in the silence at the outskirts of Canhu Town dropped his opponent.

    ¡°¡­ he onlysted one punch?¡±

    The man wearing an odd outfit over his buff physique fastened a big weapon on his back with a thick strip of cloth - presumably a broadsword judging from its handle - and another enormous back that appeared cumbersome. He made no effort to hide the variety of weapons hanging out despite the weapon theft case still being investigated.

    Unsurprisingly, it took less than fifteen minutes for virtually the entire town to catch wind of the man strutting around with a weapon collection, drawing people en masse. That was exactly what he wanted and why he mboyantly challenged people as he strolled around. The man started smashing people and then taking their weapons before continuing on not long ago, starting from the south and collecting a dozen-odd by the time he reached the east side. It was the first time that somebody brazenly stole weapons, yet nobody else dared to challenge the man after he demonstrated what ¡°crushing defeat¡± meant.

    The man didn¡¯t celebrate or even smile as he added Yan Ling Neen shes¡¯ weapon - Purple-Gold Yan Ling Broadsword - to his collection, stashing it as though it was just procedure. He swept his gaze over the crowd then haughtily walked off.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you want me to wait?¡± Without looking back, the man continued, ¡°Mad Desert Sect¡¯s broadsword style called among the best of broadsword styles, proven by the fact that Patriarch Chigan is considered the leader in the east of the pugilistic world.¡±

    Patriarch Chigan replied, ¡°You are the weapon hunter? I have wrongly used Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s big boss sister all this time.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Weapon hunter? I¡¯m not a coward who sneaks around, ambushing people and running.¡±

    In other words, ¡°I have no need to sneak up on you punching bags.¡±

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready to be face pped on the spot since you¡¯ve got such a big mouth.¡±

    The man turned back to Patriarch Chigan: ¡°I hear you can slice seven grains of sand precisely in a sandstorm. You are an opponent I dream of crossing swords with.¡±

    Thest statement affirmed that therge weapon the man had strapped to his back was arge broadsword.

    Hearing the praise showered on his style, Patriarch Chigan smoothed out his wrinkles: ¡°So you aren¡¯t just an ignorant bum.¡±

    Patriarch Chigan estimated the big broadsword to be approximately a hundred kilograms. Plus, with all the extra weapons he carried, the man¡¯s speed should logically suffer. Hence, Patriarch Chigan was positive he could beat the man to the bunch, especially since speed was his forte.

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s why I¡¯d like to cross swords with you today.¡±

    Patriarch Chigan had enough experience to understand that the big man possessed immense might and speed that shouldn¡¯t be dismissed when he witness the tall man knock some people over with his violent torque. By the same ount, the big man¡¯s swing would be a burden to intercept. Nheless, due to theck of time to think, Patriarch Chigan executed Sand Deity Broadsword Style - Six Righteous ughters.

    Patriarch Chigan¡¯s six zing-fast strikes all missed their target by a hair¡¯s breadth, while his target beamed.

    ¡°I heard Sand Deity Broadsword Style only consists of one move, but it consists of seven levels called Seven ughters, where progression is less one ughter. Are you telling me you¡¯re only capable of six ughters when you¡¯re the sect¡¯s patriarch?¡±

    Such an ipetent man doesn¡¯t need a weapon.

    The man capitalised in Patriarch Chigan¡¯s astonishment to attempt snatching thetter¡¯s weapon, only for a gustparable to a sandstorm to stall him. Nevertheless, the man disregarded it once it didn¡¯t damage him and blitzed through with a punch. Five tornadoes around evolved into a blue silhouette zipping into Patriarch Chigan. As the two men went backwards, the big man couldn¡¯t snatch Patriarch Chigan¡¯s weapon in time.

    Once the blue streak ceased moving, he revealed himself to be a young man who oozed the aura of a lone wolf. He swiped the bloodstain by his mouth and then threw away the contorted des - courtesy of the big man¡¯s punch - in his hand.

    The big man checked his fist and grinned: ¡°Not too shabby at all. You¡¯re pretty quick. Who are you?¡±

    Patriarch Chigan replied, ¡°This old one¡¯s youngest son who is twenty this year.¡±

    The hot-blooded youth looked down and answered, ¡°Chigan Sha.¡±

    ¡°Chigan Sha, Chigan Sha, hahaha¡­ The apple doesn¡¯t fall far from the tree, I see. Your old man¡¯s maximum is Six Righteous ughters. Your five tornadoes must be Five Tornado ughters, correct? You¡¯ve already surpassed your old man. Old Man, is he the ace that gives you the courage toe all the way here?¡±

    ¡°Who would dare set foot in a White Prince¡¯s territory without a life saver?¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Exactly.¡± The smile on his face didn¡¯t change. His craving for a fight, on the other hand, grew exponentially. ¡°I was going to take your broadsword if you couldn¡¯t prove yourself worthy of it. I¡¯ve changed my mind now. Chigan Sha, you¡¯re not strong enough yet. If you want to beat me, I¡¯ll let you assemble a team of any number and consisting of anyone. I¡¯ll give you a chance to fight me fair and square when you¡¯re ready. Don¡¯t y the hero and turn me down, or you will regret it.¡±

    Chigan Sha shouted after the man who walked off, ¡°How do I contact you? What¡¯s your name?¡±

    The man stopped: ¡°You won¡¯t be able to find me. Everyone in Canhu Town will know of me as of now. As for my name¡­ You can call me Weapon Seeker¡­¡± With power that bent des of grass, he enunciated, ¡°Bodhi.¡±

    Bodhi sped off into the darkness, muttering to himself, ¡°That¡¯s fourteen in a row¡­ Bloody Luo Sword Manor has to hide all of the heavyweights on their ind. Attacking the unorthodox sects won¡¯t be enough to draw them out. Where else¡­ can I find worthy opponents?¡±

    Bodhi abruptly came to a halt and surveyed the first big estate he came across from the east entrance: ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan, huh¡­?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Give me a kilogram of white rice as well as two hundred and fifty grams of salt,¡± requested Bai Yeshuang.

    The owner of the food store kept stealing nces of Bai Yeshuang as he scooped rice and salt into the back until he couldn¡¯t resist inquiring, ¡°Miss, that¡¯s a high-quality sword, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Bai Yeshuang frowned: ¡°I¡¯m not selling it.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you misunderstand, Miss.¡± Wagging his hands, the owner rified, ¡°I was trying to remind you to keep it concealed.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard about the weapon hunter in Canhu Town ever since the horde of people in the martial world arrived? The robber attacks people from the darkness and pinches weapons. Just yesterday, another weapon hunter showed up and tantly stole weapons. You must be careful walking around with your sword.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the kind reminder.¡±

    Sporting a stoic face, Bai Yueshang stood out despite not trying to owing to her praiseworthy looks, especially her rhythmic walk one would see in a military march. I think Bai Yueshuang disliked standing out in that situation as much as I did because it was a damn hassle trying to tail her when there were so many eyes. Some people deliberately tried to walk closer to her, even.

    Eventually, I found an opportunity to get close to whisper, ¡°Miss Bai.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang looked over her shoulder, eyes narrowed: ¡°You are¡­¡±

    Bai Yueshang didn¡¯t recognise the elder with two giant ck bears forpanions. I was a street busker imitating what I saw as a kid, such as having dogs jump through fire hoops and what have you.

    Stifling my voice, I notified, ¡°I¡¯m Ming Feizhen. Act natural. For starters, don¡¯t look my way in case people watch me.¡±

 Volume 8 59 Black Bear. Pre-emptive Strike

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 59 ck Bear. Pre-emptive Strike</h4>

    ¡°¡­ What¡­ is that with you?¡± Bai Yeshuang asked.

    ¡°My pet. I have to have all the props to y the old busker convincingly, or I wouldn¡¯t have been able to approach you.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang wasn¡¯t just a girl of few words but also suffered transient stuttering. If Liu Shan Men wasn¡¯t low on funds, I¡¯d call a doctor for her.

    ¡°Constable Bai, I came to discuss business with you. Find somewhere we can converse.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang slowed her pace so that we could maintain a constant distance between us, a skill that was beginner level to her. The problem was the people crowding around behind me. I swear to god Miss Bai isn¡¯t pretty enough to justify that many people stalking her. Hence, I tried an intimidation tactic: ¡°What are you all looking out? She¡¯s got two eyes and a mouth just like you do. You worried she¡¯d grow wings or something?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m worried you¡¯ll devour her,¡± they all responded.

    We had no choice but to spend a while shaking the stalkers off to meet up at a small residence. Generally speaking, Liu Shan Men had two ces to stay when on missions. The first type was the public type, which was a ce the local government office provided. A private type was the type where the team would provide their own defence system. Since they had a small team for the operation, they only had one constable patrol the immediate streets around daily, while others were on standby or out on jobs.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Constable Bai.¡± After receiving the polite nod of acknowledgement, I continued, ¡°I¡¯m awfully busy at the moment, so I¡¯ll keep it brief.¡±

    Since Constable Bai jotted everything I mentioned in her handbook, I expressed, ¡°You don¡¯t need to record what I¡¯m telling you now. I¡¯ll provide the detailed version when I have time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have the crux of the situation and general points down, so I can report something back to Vice-Captain if you haven¡¯t had time to fill me in.¡±

    That¡¯s Boss Shen¡¯s personally trained elite for you.

    ¡°His Majesty personally ordered us not to contact the local government office. That¡¯s another reason why I have to meet you in a disguise.¡±

    The way Bai Yeshuang scanned me and my props suggested she was berating, ¡°Only you would go around with that ridiculous look.¡± Well, whatever. Can¡¯t expect everyone to appreciate the effort I put in. The ck bear I had was the one I submitted in the woods. Yes, it was the one River Monster raised.

    Speaking of which, the ck bear was a pure-bred ck bear from Beijiang, one that you wouldn¡¯t even find on Mount Daluo. Still, to raise the bear into one twice the height of a human adult had to mean it grew up in a magical environment, or its owner had the magic hands.

    The ck bear was a special breed to me because it could handle me standing next to, albeit being scared for its life. Nheless, it wouldn¡¯t rampage if it stood close to me for a prolonged period. After I tamed it, I hid it in a beast¡¯s cavern andmanded it to stay put. Besides hunting for food, it didn¡¯t dare to venture too far from the cavern. I¡¯d say it was more obedient than Mountain Monster, thankfully.

    ¡°Constable Bai, please do not doubt my professionalism. Shall I show you how well we work together?¡± Ming Feizhen called, ¡°Xiaogou,e over.¡±

    The ck bear, now given the name Xiaogou, stood up as erect as its hairs upon first hearing my voice and forced a smile as it ran over to me. The name? Well, I didn¡¯t think it was the best idea to call a big bear ¡°Little Doggy¡±, so I let it choose between ¡°Xiaogou - Little Doggy¡± and ¡°Zharouwan - fried meatball¡±. I still don¡¯t know why it chose Xiaogou so energetically. If I had to guess, maybe it had to do with me drooling when I suggested Zharouwan?

    ¡°You¡¯re a dog? You sure don¡¯t look like one. I¡¯ve never seen a dog sorge, capable of swimming and barking.¡±

    Xiaogoupressed himself as much as possible and then ran into the river. Bears in Beijiang were terrible swimmers, but Xiaogou learnt to swim that night without needing prior education - and learnt to imitate a dog bark¡­ sort of. After I scolded him, he put on the pitiful act. Given how quick he was to adapt, I decided busking would be the easiest profession that permitted both of us to stick together.

    ¡°Stand at attention.¡±

    Xiaogou immediately stood erect, eyes trained straight forward.

    ¡°Sleep.¡±

    Xiaogou lied down and dozed off in broad daylight.

    What? How much effort did I put in? You think it was easy to intimidate him? Isn¡¯t the writing on the wall? I had to resist eating the bear! You know how much anguish I suffered? Can you understand the pain of having a delicacy in front of you, yet not being able to dig in? You know how much I had to suffer as I prepared ingredients while he was washing up?

    Xiaogou¡¯s sixth sense kicked in as if he could hear my thoughts and reactively rolled coquettishly as a dog, hoping I¡¯d spare him.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to draw attention here if you keep this up,¡± rebuked Bai Yeshuang.

    I coughed and then continued, ¡°We need to keep our identities and locations concealed due to the danger in Canhu Town. We¡¯ve found a super-secretive ce to hide¡­¡± Noticing Bai Yeshuang gyrating her lips, I shed my hand to show, ¡°Don¡¯t ask. I won¡¯t tell you,¡± and then continued, ¡°Don¡¯t ask. The less you know, the better for you. This is for your sake.¡±

    ¡°The old Bright Jade Restaurant, correct?¡±

    ¡°How do you know?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called Dragon Phoenix Inn now,¡± another constable chimed in.

    ¡°Why do even you know? Kid¡¯s need to stay out of adults¡¯ conversations. What¡¯s your number? Which year did you join? Write a reflection apology.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nobody who doesn¡¯t know.¡± Bai Yeshuang rolled her eyes.

    The startled constable softly replied, ¡°Dragon Phoenix Inn has been the town¡¯s highlight in recent days. They have been involved with every major event in the town, including fighting with Kunlun Sect, the rapid makeover, taking employees from other businesses and poisoning dozens of sects overnight. There is also the richest Conceirge Long, the most handsome waiter, Dugu, the mncholic musician, Tang San, the young and beautiful chef, Susu, who has conquered all of the unorthodox groups. Tang San and Susu would be Seniors Tang Ye Su Xiao, right¡­?¡±

    Were we that obvious?! Why did Liu Shan Men¡¯s case-cracking abilities suck up until now, then?

    ¡°Since you know, Constable Bai, please pass on the information. We still need to pretend we don¡¯t know each other, lest we draw trouble to ourselves.¡±

    ¡°I know what to do. Constable Ming, it¡¯s my turn to report now. In regards to Vice-Captain Shen¡¯s whereabouts, at present, w-¡±

    I wagged my hand: ¡°I know how tough it has been on you. I have already made big strides in regards to Vice-Captain¡¯s retrieval. After thorough investigation and interviews, I have a general idea as to where she wasst seen. You would have as much information as I do, so let¡¯s not waste time on that top-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already found her.¡±

    Give me a nket and a corner!

    ¡°Zha Pi happened to see Young Master Luo rescue a young woman from theke who resembled Vice-Captain Shen. ordingly, he slipped into their estate on New Year¡¯s Eve to confirm and has not returned since. I surmise he has found her butcks a means of retrieving her. As Luo n is a White Prince, we cannot raid their ce or impose on them. As such, we have been waiting for your group¡¯s arrival¡­ Constable Ming. Constable Ming? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Bai Yeshuang tried waving her hands before my face to get my attention, but Xiaogou and I just let the wind blow against our faces.

    Boss is with Zha Pi? I thought he was there to scam them! Do you realise I was in their estate?! I could¡¯ve saved myself the trouble of investigating and starting an inn! Oh my money! I could¡¯ve just raided the estate. Man, if I knew she was there, I wouldn¡¯t have had to run from Lass Yu for dear life! Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?! Bloody Zha Pi!

    ¡°Strike while the iron is hot, just like the tacticians of old. Xiaogou, we¡¯re going to retrieve Boss Shen this instant!¡±

    ¡°Woof!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Young Master, the boat is ready to set sail back to the ind,¡± Ao Xue ryed, cooling off Luo Siming¡¯s head with her robotic tone.

    Luo Siming wagged his hand: ¡°Understood. Leave for now. I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±

    Luo Siming couldn¡¯t celebrate or sleepst night after he came to the conclusion that Luo Yan was a potential suspect for the weapon hunter during his conversation with Yi Wangyoust night.

    ¡°No, no, it can¡¯t be Second Uncle. Refining Divine Convention can¡¯t continue if he¡¯s stealing weapons. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s him,¡± Luo Siming mumbled. ¡°He was the one who first brought up the weapon hunter; it can¡¯t be him. But the pot can call the kettle ck. There¡¯s not enough evidence to clear his innocence. Think. Think¡­ I need to return to Repertoire Ind to ask Second Uncle myself.¡±

    ¡°What changes once you see him?¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yi? Y-you realised?¡±

    From the door, Yi Wangyou, who caught on to Luo Siming¡¯s n once he heard Luo Siming¡¯s people preparing a horse carriage, answered, ¡°That is why this one is here to stop you. If Luo Yan truly is the culprit, then Repertoire Ind is the most hazardous ce you could be at. If his men brought weapons to the New Year¡¯s Eve banquet and challenged you with me Emperor, then there is no doubt he intends to oppress you through might.

    ¡°You know both of you are descendants of Luo n, which means that nobody on the ind will dare to oppose Luo Yan even though you two head different departments. They will stand by as you two fight. More importantly, how do you know he hasn¡¯t conquered your men on the ind during your extended absence?¡±

    ¡°No, if he drew his arms on New Year¡¯s Eve due to a misunderstanding, then I do not think he would dare to harm me. Luo n is not awless n yet.¡± Despite his denial, his head didn¡¯t lie when it averted Yi Wangyou¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Brother, you need to stop lying to yourself,¡± Green Prince opined from behind Yi Wangyou, shaking his head over his disillusioned brother. ¡°You¡¯re too nice for your own good.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Brother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it all from Patriarch Yi. I¡¯m sure your second uncle is the most likely culprit. You¡¯re not going home; you¡¯re going to your own death.¡± In response to the hesitance written all over Luo Siming¡¯s face, Green Prince rhetorically asked, ¡°You think I¡¯m a wuss? You think I don¡¯t know your n well enough?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all, Brother.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me those pleasantries. We¡¯re brothers. I know what sort of person I am. I know why Father sent me to Nanjiang. You know what? I enjoy not having to fight with people and do mental gymnastics every waking moment. Be it in literacy or martial arts, I bet any of your workers has a fat chance of flogging me. When ites to scheming against your own kin, though, you¡¯re nowhere near my level.

    ¡°When ites topetition between bothers, I can defend and counter every tactic. I was an expert on all the tricks in The Lore of the War Between Brothers when I was thirteen years old. Besides my seventh brother, you think any of my brothers respect each other?

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Red is Her Majesty¡¯s son, the eldest and is aplished as a martial artist and schr. He hasn¡¯t done squat, yet he¡¯s already the interim overseer of the capital. I heard Orange even added League of Assassins¡¯ second inmand to his forces. With Mount Hua¡¯s patriarch also aiding him, you think he can¡¯t give Patriarch Yi a run for his money? What happened to him? He tried to usurp the throne.¡±

    ¡°His Highness was not forced to revolt?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but people can provoke him into rebelling while they sit back and reap the gains.¡± Eyes narrowed into horizontal slits, Green Prince carried on, ¡°Be it blinded by greed or acting on an opportunity, he was arrested in the end. Say what you want. He was unprepared. in and simple. I know how ambitious he is. There¡¯s no way you can convince me he had any desire to rule, though.

    ¡°You can believe the hearsay, or you can believe us, all of whom have beenpeting with each other for over two decades. He didn¡¯t need to worry about war or money. Why would he suddenly have mental epilepsy and rebel if none of my other brothers didn¡¯t egg him on?

    ¡°My father might sometimes look like a fool or a benevolent man. In reality, he knows what¡¯s happening on the board. Some people might think he spared Second out of kindness. Someone more prudent will realise he was also trying to remind his retainers that he doesn¡¯t give in to pressure. Thest part, well, it won¡¯t dawn on you. The third reason is that he also knows ming Second for the entire mutiny would be unfair because he knows my other brothers also had a hand in it.¡±

    Enlightened upon seeing his brother in a new light, Luo Siming consulted, ¡°What do you think Second Uncle¡¯s purpose is, Brother?¡±

    ¡°Pick up the ck, Brother. He already has aplishments thanks to the length of time he has invested in the smithing department. He is damn famous if you ask me. Luo n might not be the wealthiest n in Jiangnan, but your n isn¡¯t short on money. The only thing left that could motivate him is your n¡¯s patriarch seat.¡±

    ¡°B-but he is Father¡¯s supporter. Father instated me as interim patriarch. Although Second Uncle has never taken a liking to me, he always adheres to Father¡¯s orders. I can tell that he is absolutely loyal to Father.¡±

    Yi Wangyou expounded, ¡°That is precisely why he cannot rely on outside help to seed the seat. Young Master Luo, it is foolish to think that loyalty to one¡¯s predecessor can be transferred to those whoe after.¡±

    After contemtion, Luo Siming murmured to himself, ¡°How can he take the seat, though? How does stealing weapons from various groups help him reach his goal?¡±

    Green Prince shed his white pearls once he finished analysing: ¡°Who¡¯s going to be in trouble if the weapon hunter is never caught?¡±

    Luo Siming replied, ¡°Even if we never find the culprit, then people will me Luo Sword M-¡­¡±

    Are you telling me Second Uncle¡¯s rage at the dinner was merely a rehearsal?

    ¡°Bingo. If the groups who lost their weapons couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Luo Sword Manor, what can they do? If they blow the incident up, on the other hand, you won¡¯t be dealing with just a scuffle on the scale of what you deal with on New Year¡¯s Eve but a massive riot.¡±

    Luo Siming quavered, ¡°S-Second Uncle is harassing my swordy department to hand ball all of the me to me?¡±

    ¡°Second Master Luo has a ster reputation as a hero. He has already yed the hero standing up for the people. What¡¯s stopping him from ying the righteous hero who puts morality above family? You¡¯ve been led by the nose the entire time.¡±

    Yi Wangyou conveyed, ¡°Master, Fourth Young Master just happens to be blinded by his love for his family.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Captain Obvious. I¡¯m lecturing him because he¡¯s not asinine. If he was an idiot, I wouldn¡¯t care what misfortune beset him. You think it doesn¡¯t cost energy and time to criticise people?¡± Almost as if to drive home his point, Green Prince flopped down onto a chair, slyness flitting across his face. ¡°There¡¯s nothing surprising about brothers being nemeses. Between me and my five brothers, all of us are enemies. Although I feel somewhat sorry for Second losing even his rank, I know he wouldn¡¯t show any mercy if I was in his shoes. Your second uncle has his reasons for opposing you, so don¡¯t sulk. If you don¡¯t want to die, learn to be vicious.¡±

    Luo Siming emphasised his exhale once he thought it through: ¡°Thank you for enlightening me. I know what to do now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    ¡°Return to the ind.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Green Prince jumped out of his chair and threw his foot in Luo Siming¡¯s face with a flying sidekick: ¡°The hell did I waste all that saliva for? Was that entertaining?!¡±

    ¡°No, let me finish, Brother. I am not returning to Repository Ind as Second Uncle likely has it wrapped around his finger by now. I am returning to Flying Swallow Ind, where many people from the martial world have assembled. I can ask my friends there in addition to those attending the convention to lend me a hand. I will lead the swordy department onto the ind from the front, while they sneak up from the rear to catch Second Uncle in a pincer attack.¡±

    Yi Wangyouughed: ¡°Very quick thinking, Fourth Young Master. Forsooth, we need men. This one is willing to lend you a hand.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Patriarch Yi.¡±

    ¡°Young Master, I have juste from thekefront!¡± Zhi Heng cried from outside right as Luo Siming finally smiled helplessly.

    ¡°Get on board, then. We¡¯re not returning to Repertoire Ind yet, however.¡±

    ¡°We have an emergency! Our boat has been sunk!¡±

    ¡°Could Second Uncle be a step ahead of us?¡±

    ¡°Calm down. We shall go to thekeside now and capture the culprit first,¡± advised Yi Wangyou.

    Ao Xue stormed into the room to notify, ¡°Young Master, assassin.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Luo Siming questioned.

    With her hand pressed on her wounded shoulder, Ao Xue informed, ¡°Dozens of men in ck robes and wearing face masks.¡±

    ¡°Young Master, someone has barged into the front hall of our estate!¡±

 Volume 8 60 One Mans Sorrow. Flummoxed.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 60 One Man¡¯s Sorrow. Flummoxed.</h4>

    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± I argued with the one of the twelve guards at the front door. ¡°Do people forget what being friendly is when they move from the countryside to the city? What gives you the right to forbid me from going in to look for someone?¡±

    Yes, I could use my qinggong to easily get in. The problem was Xiaogou couldn¡¯t do the same thing¡­ How do you expect him to exercise stealth when he alone takes up the space required to fit four adults? People would approach me if I left him somewhere on the street. Taking him in would no longer be ssified stealthy infiltration but stupidity. Anyhow, I had to stick with my old busker act and test my worth as a wordsmith. As long as I could find Zha Pi, I could locate Boss.

    ¡°Sir, please do not make things difficult for us. We have been ordered not to allow outsiders in.¡±

    ¡°Why would I be an outsider? We used to share socks when we were young. I should be a familiar guest, right?¡±

    ¡°Even if you are, you are unable to identify yourself, so we cannot notify our master.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ He¡¯s¡­ Empyrean Zha, I believe.¡±

    ¡°I apologise. You are Reverend Zha¡¯s friend?¡±

    Zha Pi is such a big deal now?

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, I¡¯m Reverend Zha¡¯s friend.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I apologise for suspecting family. Turns out this is friendlies against friendlies, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay. May I ask what your surname is?¡±

    ¡°Ohohoho, this one¡¯s surname is Gui.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you Brother Gui.¡±

    I¡¯m not your bro, bro! Don¡¯t try to act close with me when your surname is synonymous with coward!

    I rushed inside, only to be stopped again.

    ¡°What now? Do I have to fork over a toll fee or something?¡±

    ¡°As Reverend Zha¡¯s friend, you can go in. In saying that, we must conduct a body search. In addition¡­ people can go in, but weapons must be left outside.¡±

    I waved my empty hands: ¡°I¡¯m unarmed.¡±

    ¡°Y-y-you¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if the other guard stuttered because he was mad or freaked out. ¡°This ck bear of yours doesn¡¯t count! Surely it could fit three people in its mouth at once! If it¡¯s not a weapon, I don¡¯t know what is!¡±

    Xiaogou and I reacted puzzled.

    Wow, people these days are so rude. Xiaogou is no weapon. Even if you don¡¯t consider him a pet, he¡¯s still a food storage! Did you spare me a thought when you decided to vilify my food?!

    ¡°Such a ferocious animal is a weapon!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re twisting logic! You let Yi Wangyou in! You telling me it¡¯s more dangerous than Kunlun¡¯s patriarch?¡±

    ¡°J-just no!¡±

    In other words, I had to leave Xiaogou within their field of view, meaning I would have to contact Zha Pi, rescue Boss Shen and thene back to fetch Xiaogou¡­

    Man, was it the right decision to bring Xiaogou with me today? Ah, toss it!

    ¡°Whatever.¡± I heaved a heavy breath.

    Captain Gui inquired, ¡°Are you leaving?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I looked into Captain Gui¡¯s resolute gaze and rified, ¡°I¡¯ll fight my way through.¡±

    Nobody would know who I was since I had my mask on, so who cares, right? I whipped my hand,manding ¡°Go, doggy!¡±

    Xiaogou effortlessly ploughed through the gate and left the guards strewn, and then I jumped onto Xiaogou¡¯s back.

    Captain Gui yelled, ¡°Elder, we are family. Why are y-¡±

    ¡°To hell with family.¡± I kicked Captain Gui onto a tree branch then pointed up ahead: ¡°Xiaogou, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Thus began the carnage.

    Meanwhile, a group of people donning ck robes and masks gathered at the bottom and outside of the abode¡¯s wall. Though the leader wore a ck robe, he didn¡¯t bother to hide his face as there was no point. Fixing his eyes on the wall, Luo Yan quietly asked, ¡°Have you sent the signal? What was Siding¡¯s response?¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s subordinate answered, ¡°Young Master¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luo Yan pinched his brows together.

    ¡°We tried to make contact with him using our secret pigeon. Unfortunately, Young Master never replied, so our pigeon came back as we sent it in.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to make him learn the hard way!¡±

    Luo Yan palmed his face, disillusioned with his son. Luo Siding was supposed to provide the map of the interior and patrols¡¯yout, yet he failed to deliver any information. Only Luo Siding knew how debilitated the crippling nutcracker kick he absorbedst night truly was - bed ridden.

    A subordinate proposed, ¡°Second Master, how about we storm the estate? With our numbers and your leadership¡­¡±

    ¡°Besides The Four Sasmuume Swordsmen, there are also dutiful guards. Their money storage¡¯s chambein and the front door¡¯s guard, Gui Busheng, are no pushovers. The reason for ¡°Busheng¡± in Gui Busheng¡¯s name isn¡¯t because he can¡¯t win but because he focuses on nothing but defence, creating a defence so solid that nobody can break through. As long as he stalls for long enough, there will be a chance to find an opening. Not even this old one is confident he could defuse his defence within a hundred strikes. If he manages to stall us, we¡¯ll be caught in a pincer attack. You want to take that risk? If we want to win against him, surprise is of the essence.¡±

    Apprehension over the feasibility of the operation started to flourish in their heads.

    ***

    ¡°Charge! Go mad! Run like a dog!¡±

    ¡°Woof! Woof!¡±

    When we came across a group of armed young swordsmen who were likely too much for Xiaogou to handle alone, I covertly flicked out celestial spider silk. Using Water King Thread - Undtion, I redirected the angles of their swords, throwing them off bnce in some scenarios as more and more swordsmen arrived.

    Water King Thread - Undtion relies on taking the momentum of the opponent to turn on them, which meant that the more they resisted, the less stable they were on their feet. Subsequently, more of their force would be used to harm theirpanions. The longer I had control over them, the more I could distort their bnce.

    Xiaogou started backing off and wagging its bottom. Xiaogou nted its leg into the ground, startling the swordsmen.

    ¡°He¡¯s doing a run up!¡±

    Xiaogou charged into the swordsmen all off bnce¡­

    ***

    Luo Yan continued, ¡°You think Gui Busheng is in the top league? I can defeat him within thirty exchanges if I use me Emperor. Having said that, we will then run into Four Seasons Sword Formation, which shares the origins with Lotus Root Ground¡¯s sword formation. Although the former isn¡¯t as troubling, thetter has fallen plenty of people.

    ¡°You need thirty-six swordsmen, at the very least, to perform Four Seasons Sword Formation. Each of the nine teams varies their movements just as the weather does over four seasons, totalling nine transformations in total, with each strike being uniquely representative of nine seasons. You¡¯ve already seen Four Seasons Swordy, so you can imagine what we¡¯re waking into. What do you think will happen if you have to take on nine times one move from Four Seasons Swordy?

    ¡°The formation requires everyone to be connected and work together. If you¡¯re caught in it, it¡¯s a fight to the death; that also goes for me. You¡¯ll lose your heads in the first strike if you¡¯re caught. Stay calm when you have to face the formation and run. As long as you can avoid being caught in it in the first ce, the formation won¡¯t work. Don¡¯t try to be a hero because you¡¯re only proving yourself an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Second Master, whates after the sword formation?¡±

    ¡°If you can get past even the sword formation, then you will be facing the swordy department¡¯s second chambein - Lu Yuluo. It¡¯s acknowledged by all that he is the swordy department¡¯s second best swordsman. If you ask me, Luo Siming is only in first ce owing to his status as my brother¡¯s son. Besides Siming Swordy, Lu Yuluo is permitted to learn all of our other styles, and he definitely learnt them. I would argue he¡¯s the greatest threat in this operation.¡±

    Due to Luo Yan¡¯s reluctance to go through with the ruthless act, he kept demoralising his people as though he subconsciously wanted them to fail despite the thorough preparations.

    ***

    I rode through the front hall, sword in hand. When I passed through the hall, some old man went, ¡°Who goes there!¡± startling me, so I reactively swung my open hand, shouting, ¡°Scram!¡± I identally sent him into a wall, gasping blood. Subsequently, I caught his sword that came back down and casually swung it, scarring the ground. That made it a good sword by my standards.

    Anyhow, someone else confronted me, so I swatted him away with the sword. Having not vandalised somebody¡¯s ce in a long time, I actually enjoyed getting to move around and about.

    I rode around as the invincible warrior, swiping anyone who got in my way whilstughing, yet I couldn¡¯t find anyone who gave clues as to where Boss Shen was. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t there as I didn¡¯t know if she was in aa or sleeping. She wouldn¡¯t have heard me if she was in either state, right? Sadly, I didn¡¯t have any other way of searching for her than starting a ruckus. Hence, my priority became searching for Zha Pi.

    ***

    ¡°Reporting!¡±

    ¡°Go on. What¡¯s the situation inside?¡± Luo Yan questioned.

    The scout enthused, ¡°Fantastic! The main door has been destroyed. Swordsmen litter the floor, while Gui Busheng is stuck on a tree. Four Seasons Sword Formation has been dismantled. Lu Yuluo repainted the wall with his blood. It seems we will seed without leaving a finger.¡±

    A bandit raid?!

    ¡°Let¡¯s get moving, then!¡±

    With that, the men in ck jumped into the courtyard.

    ***

    The people in the backyard had yet to find out Ming Feizhen had raided the estate because of how fast he worked until Luo Yan¡¯s group infiltrated and were detected in the backyard. For that reason, someone reported to Luo Siming, ¡°Young Master, please stay calm when you hear this. The men in ck¡¯s leader¡­ is Second Master.¡±

    ¡°It was him, after all?! Where are our guards?¡±

    ¡°The front hall has been destroyed. The sword formation and Second Chambein have¡­¡±

    ¡°Since I haven¡¯t heard anything, that means they¡¯ve broken through already? They defeated all of my elites? How strong is his force? Second Uncle really ns to kill me!¡±

 Volume 8 61 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 61 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Xiaogou, sit.¡± After Xiaogou docilely sat down in front of a room, I ordered, ¡°I¡¯m going to need a minute, so you can go dig a dog burrow or something.¡±

    ¡°Woof!¡± Xiaogou ran into the small flower garden.

    Since the room to the door was locked and I didn¡¯t want to break it down, I shouted, ¡°A tiger is but a subject to Jade Emperor!¡±

    I heard a sound resembling cups and bowls breaking on the ground before the person inside ran to the door, replying, ¡°This old one is Liu Chiwu!¡±

    ¡°Bajie has two ears.¡±

    ¡°Pushan is sitting in the hall!¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s a bad boy?¡±

    ¡°Close the doors, and let the dogs out. May I ask who it is?¡±

    ¡°Your big brother.¡±

    I heard the lock on the other side open.

    That was the new code I came up with when I was instated as interim manager. ¡°Liu Chiwu¡± covers the ¡°Liu¡±. ¡°Pushan¡± covers ¡°Shan¡±, and ¡°doors¡± covers ¡°Men¡±. There you have Liu Shan Men. Clever, huh? Everyone with Liu Shan Men now uses it. Sadly, I had to get rid of my secret codes once Boss was back, or she¡¯d blitz me.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A domineering, striking daoist pulled open the door, yet I could smell a fraudster right away.

    ¡°Empyrean Wuliang!¡± I teased.

    ¡°How may this one help you?¡± Zha Pi asked in a tone and manner that would pass off as a legitimate elder daoist.

    I pulled off my mask, revealing my grin: ¡°Long-time no see, Zha Pi.¡±

    ¡°Y-y-you are finally here! I have been scared for the life of me!¡±

    I have to give you an A+ for acting, then.

    Zha Pi pulled me inside: ¡°Thank god you¡¯re finally here, Big Bro! My mind has been screaming at me to run for my precious life day and night ever since I got here, but these people are weirdos. They have every damn spot heavily guarded when I can¡¯t beat a single one of them. When I finally made it to the door one time, some Gui punk pulled me back. I told him I was going to stargaze on the mountain, and the idiot decided toe along to bodyguard me. My goodness me, we climbed a mountain on a freezing night for crying out loud!¡±

    ¡°You did well,rade. Backup has finally arrived.¡±

    Sobbing, Zha Pi continued, ¡°My life is so harsh, but I kept forging forward. Thankfully, I¡¯ve earned their trust. Besides having lost a bit of freedom, they believe anything I say now, and I get to enjoy VIP treatment.¡±

    You have the luck of the devil to havested until now around those elites. You did good, my man. I¡¯ll be sure to¡­ give you more challenging missions from now?

    ¡°Do you know where Vice-Captain Shen is?¡±

    Zha Pi looked up, revealing his wet face: ¡°I do. She¡¯s in the courtyard right at the rear.¡±

    ¡°As far as I can recall, you¡¯re pretty far back. Is she nearby?¡± I focused on my listening but didn¡¯t hear anyone breathing in a room nearby.

    ¡°No.¡± Zha Pi, wagging his hands with a smile, borated, ¡°The northwest corner I¡¯m in is actually part of the anterior. Vice-Captain¡¯s room is in the southeast.¡±

    I thought you said you¡¯re receiving VIP treatment. Look at where their female guest is! She¡¯s as far as can be from you! I was wondering why I didn¡¯t see a single servant in sight. They must¡¯ve left you hear alone either because you can¡¯t keep your hands to yourself or think you¡¯re too skilled to need guards. Now I understand why you weren¡¯t exposed. You can¡¯t be exposed when they don¡¯t send anyone to watch over you!

    ¡°I swear I¡¯m innocent. I only touched the maid¡¯s bottom because I was trying to read her bones. I only got an under skirt view because I had to pick up money I dropped. I only did those things to give off an enigmatic vibe so that people wouldn¡¯t test me. I swear I¡¯m innocent.¡±

    You think I was born yesterday? Enigmatic? More like attempt tomit a crime! My shifu started passing on that ¡°how to be enigmatic¡± knowledge from when I was two!

    Zha Pi pressed his index fingers together: ¡°Where are our reinforcements, Big Bro?¡±

    ¡°Reinforcements?¡± I pointed to myself: ¡°Right here, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Just you?! What are we wasting time here for, then?! Let¡¯s go rescue her! Hurry back to call for Qilin Guards, the Emperor¡¯s entourage, Liu Shan Men and eight hundred thousand troops!¡±

    ¡°Eight hundred thousand troops? For this estate?¡±

    ¡°When you fight me, we just y fight. We are now talking about adepts in the martial world. We can¡¯t even provide them with a warm up.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I help you winst time?¡±

    ¡°This ispletely different! I could stomp that old man on my own.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯d bury an army of Zha Pis without breaking a sweat, you clown!¡±

    Biting his finger nails and not listening to me, Zha Pi muttered, ¡°Crap, crap, they¡¯re going to find out what happened now that you¡¯ve stormed the estate so brazenly. We need to run. Wait, running isn¡¯t going to solve anything. Ah, man, I, at least, would have a fifty percent chance of escaping if I was on my own.¡±

    I pointed to myself: ¡°So what? With me here, we have even better odds, don¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Although you are slightly stronger and more cunning than me, there is no way we will escape if you are here?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because you are a gue! Oh my god, I just blurted the truth!¡± Zha Pi covered his mouth.

    ¡°¡­ Haha¡­ Haha¡­ I¡¯m a gue am I?¡± I rolled up my sleeves as I slowly advanced on Zha Pi.

    I¡¯ll show you who the boss is around h-

    Bang! Five men in ck brandished weapons kicked their way in and shouted, ¡°Kill everyone!¡±

    Zha Pi eximed, ¡°What did I say?! As soon as you showed up, five men havee for my life!¡±

    Wait, no, I, uh, why the hell is it my fault?!

    Glossary

    A tiger is but a subject to jade emperor¡­ - there is actually meaning to these phrases, but they¡¯re a code. For instance, that first one means, ¡°Insolence! How dare you aggravate your ancestor?!¡± That also means, ¡°Not matter how ferocious you may be, you¡¯re still a subservient subject in an Emperor¡¯s presence.¡± I didn¡¯t trante either way since they¡¯re a code, and it¡¯s no longer a code if I trante what it actually means.

 Volume 8 62 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 62 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Rx. Don¡¯t act like a panic-stricken plebeian!¡± rebuked Green Prince.

    Luo Siming held his inhale and then exhaled slowly: ¡°Thank you, Brother. I feel a lot better now.¡±

    ¡°Your defence fell, and your uncle ising for your head. Big deal. If you can¡¯t even handle this much, don¡¯t tell anyone we¡¯re rted,¡± Green Prince reproached while hiding behind Yi Wangyou.

    Luo Siming shook his head out: ¡°Brother, y-¡±

    ¡°This one will not allow any harm to befall His Highness,¡± assured Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°Yeah, exactly. At the end of the day, this is your n affair, so it¡¯s not my ce to interfere. I don¡¯t see you losing, so I¡¯ll make my way out. Just be careful of dirty fighters.¡±

    Luo Siming offered a palm and fist salute: ¡°Thank you, Brother. Please go on ahead.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t go through with it, can you?¡± Green Prince suddenly asked.

    ¡°¡­ I admit I don¡¯t have the resolution to be vicious right out of the gate.¡±

    ¡°I knew it. Here¡¯s a suggestion.¡± Green Prince pointed down to the sword at Luo Siming¡¯s sword. Once Luo Siming¡¯s reaction showed that he understood, Green Prince explicated, ¡°If he tries to snatch Siming Sword from you, then it means our suspicions aren¡¯t unfounded. That is your cue to put him away.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±

    After Green Prince and Yi Wangyou departed, the sound of weapons nging perceptively rang louder in Luo Siming¡¯s ears. He was right to assume that the fighting was more serious than on New Year¡¯s Eve, though.

    A contest between users of the same style tends to be fairly even. Today was not one of those ¡°tends to be¡± asions, however, with the raiders mowing down everything in their way.

    Coming face to face with his uncle, who led seven men, rendered Luo Siming sullen and upset even though they never got along affably. No matter how many times he was told his gant and loyal uncle had turned on them, Luo Siming couldn¡¯t get used to it because Luo Siming genuinely respected his uncle as his father¡¯s silent guardian in the shadows for decades, never asking why.

    ¡°Second Uncle¡­¡± Luo Siming choked out, surprising himself with the emotions gushing up. ¡°Why?¡±

    Like his shadow that the sun cast on the ground, Luo Yan didn¡¯t move or give any response.

    ¡°You¡¯re the weapon hunter, aren¡¯t you? Was all of it to frame me? I always believed you would be Second Uncle, the pugilist everyone in Luo n respected, regardless of how much you detested me. What are you doing this for? ¡­ Luo Yan, are you listening to me? The nging and twanging outside is our people fighting each other. The bangs and thuds are our nsmen absorbing blows and falling! We are killing our own nsmen right now! Quit with the deaf and mute act! Hold me Emperor. Hold your pride, and tell me this is all your brainchild!¡±

    ¡°Nothing you say or think will change the oue.¡± That deep, raspy voice was the voice of a dangerous man who had been cornered and was ready to turn around to bite the hand feeding it. ¡°Winner takes all. If you can defeat me, everything will be yours. Should you lose, you ought to return to the ind with me as my subject.¡±

    Though there was no means of confirming whether or not Luo Yan meant it, it didn¡¯t change his goal. He drew me Emperor from his back and lit up the de made from a firecell stone as well as thebination of a three-legged crow and rare beast¡¯s blood.

    Yang Realm internal energy stands out among the seven alternatives as it¡¯s a monster when ites to brute strength; it¡¯s the only internal energy type that can give weapons trouble. Reach the apex of Yang Realm internal energy and expect to melt even your own weapon with the amount of heat energy exuding from your body. It¡¯s the only internal energy type that has that drawback.

    me Emperor was one of the few weapons designed to withstand advanced Yang Realm energy and maximise its wielder¡¯s internal energy.

    ¡°It¡¯s winner takes all, advance!¡±

    The seven elites in ck advanced on Luo Siming with their leader. The Four Samuume Swordsmen, who didn¡¯t lift a finger until the eight were within striking range, performed zing-fast sword draws, intercepting the enemy attacks before their opponent¡¯s even realised it. With that kind of speed, it was no surprise that their next strikes were game over for seven of their opponents.

    Only those who were caught in The Four Samuume Swordsmen¡¯s siege formation - Concealed Sword Formation - would know how challenging it is to tackle their deft strikes thate from unexpected angles. ck and White Reflection ranked Concealed Sword Formation above Mount Hua¡¯s Skydragon Swordy, Kun¡¯s Deste Sword Dance, Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi Swordy and Mount Daluo¡¯s Ultimate Sword Manual.

    Concealed Sword Formation required me Emperor Swordy and Siming Swordy to learn. As with every style, the more advanced it is, the higher stakes involved when executing the manoeuvre. A lucky failure would result in qi deviation. An unlucky failure would be bidding farewell to this world. People believed Luo Ming was trying to master the remaining half of Concealed Sword Formation in his secluded training as he previously teaued at the fifty percent mark.

    To protect Luo n¡¯s leader, the ancestors of Luo n split the style into four parts and enforced the rule that each part was strictly to be taught to a different individual in the head n, each of whom would be bequeathed the four swords that The Four Samuume Swordsmen would go on to wield. Although it made it considerably easier to master as fragments, it wasn¡¯t as lethal as if one individual was to master all four parts. Owing to its lethalness, The Four Samuume Swordsmen were highly regarded within every generation of Luo n.

    From beginning to end, Luo Yanbelled Luo Siming the only threat for the former was positive Yi Wangyou wouldn¡¯t involve himself in Luo n¡¯s internal strife. Leveraging his knowledge of Siming Swordy, Luo Yan brainstormed numerous ways of countering Luo Siming¡¯s arsenal of tactics. The Four Samuume Swordsmen cutting down his men within two strikes was not within his predictions, nevertheless. Going off their young ages, Luo Yan expected them to need five to eight more years to reach the standard they just performed.

    Since me Emperor Swordy derives from Concealed Sword Formation, the former had a significant disadvantage whenpared against thetter. For that reason, Luo Yan had to fall back on me Emperor¡¯s sturdiness and Scorching Sun Spirit, striving to cut down one of the four in order to disable the formation.

    The Four Samuume Swordsmen performed Earth Qi Shroud, while Luo Yan could only hold up me Emperor to prevent himself losing a limb as he charged toward Luo Siming. Before he knew it, however, the four had him moving backwards, putting him three steps further back than prior to their attack. Only when he settled down did Luo Yan notice the four manage to cut his clothing three times.

    ¡°This old one admits he cannot conquer Concealed Sword Formation¡­ That said, you four are afraid of leaving your young master, so you can¡¯t stop this old one from leaving. Even if you pursued him, you wouldn¡¯t be able to catch him with a formation designed for defensive tactics.¡±

    The four had no response as Luo Yan was on the money. Luo Siming, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t done, demanding, ¡°Step aside.¡±

    ¡°Young Master?¡±

    ¡°This is a family issue. You four don¡¯t need to get involved,¡± Luo Siming asserted.

    The way Siming walks and his face are so simr to Big Brother¡¯s. Back when we wandered the pugilistic world and came under attack, Brother would step forward the same way to take on whatever they had to offer.

    ¡°You win for as long as your four bodyguards are protecting you. You sure you want to challenge me?¡±

    ¡°Luo Yan, I have every right and justification to take you down when you are trying to usurp power in the n.¡±

    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking.¡±

    ¡°I have a condition.¡± Luo Siming lodged Siming Sword into a rock and dered, ¡°I won¡¯t use Siming Sword, and you won¡¯t use me Emperor. The swords exist for Luo n, not against Luo n.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ All right.¡± Luo Yan strapped his sword to his back and then concentrated energy to his hands, dousing them in red.

    ¡°You have brought shame to Scorching Sun Spirit with your mutiny.¡±

    ¡°Ignorant runt, you going to fight or just p your gums?!¡± Luo Yan shattered a chair beside him with ny percent of his full power, igniting the strewn, airborne fragments.

    Luo Siming¡¯s swordy rivalled Luo Yan¡¯s, while me Emperor and Siming Swordys had a counter for everything their counterpart had to offer. The difference between Luo Siming and Luo Yan were their internal energy development and experience, both of which Luo Yan had the advantage in. That was the reason Luo Yan had no intention of crossing swords from the beginning. In a drawn out fight, Luo Yan¡¯s superior internal energy development would give him the overwhelming advantage.

    Luo Siming ced his left hand behind his back then glued his right index, middle and ring finger together as a sword.

    As Luo Yan marched forward, Luo Siming swiped white qi across the inferno on Luo Siming¡¯s hand and then jabbed the former¡¯s hand, winding Luo Yan as if hended a liver shot. Luo Yan¡¯s legs buckled involuntarily.

    ¡°¡­ Y-you mastered Th-Three Silver Reflections?!¡±

    ¡°Every patriarch in our history mastered it. I merely learnt it sooner than our predecessors. Why are you surprised?¡±

    The smithing department¡¯s most advanced internal style was Scorching Sun Spirit, while the swordy department¡¯s most advanced internal style was Freezing Scripture; their names bespoke their pr opposites. Luo n¡¯s patriarch, however, would have the privilege of learning a third internal style - Three Silver Reflections.

    Three Silver Reflections, a style designed solely to win through overpowering cold internal energy, not techniques, built off Freezing Scripture and created the chink in Scorching Sun Spirit. In other words, Three Silver Reflections was invented to ensure Luo n¡¯s patriarch would be able to cull traitors from the smithing department.

    Luo Ming mastered Three Silver Reflections at the age of thirty. Luo Siming was twenty-five years old.

    ¡°Y-you have been nning to purge me?!¡±

    ¡°I never did. This is my swordy department¡¯s roots, and it is my duty to master it.¡±

    ¡°You! You!¡± Immobilised after absorbing Luo Siming¡¯s strike with his upoint, Luo Yan was relegated to coughing on the ground until blood littered the ground.

    ¡°Are you all right, Second Uncle?¡± Luo Siming pressed his hand onto Luo Yan¡¯s back to help thetter adjust his qi cirction.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Luo Siming never forgot the days his uncle taught him equestrian and smithing during his childhood. Back then, Luo Yan¡¯s back was erect. Nowadays, Luo Siming could feel the forward arch in his uncle¡¯s back.

    ¡°Why are you doing this, Second Uncle? The thought of harming you has never crossed my mind¡­ Do you really want to be patriarch that desperately?¡±

    ¡°Siming¡­¡± Luo Yan¡¯s hair hung over his face, staining it with blood as he looked down. ¡°You¡¯re a good kid¡­ I¡¯ve always known you¡¯re a good kid. Unfortunately, you¡¯re too merciful. A merciful man isn¡¯t the suitable to lead this n.¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle¡­¡±

    ¡°See, if you finished me off, you would¡¯ve won.¡± Luo Yan caught Luo Siming off guard, clutching thetter¡¯s neck and igniting him. Luo Siming was as good as defenceless without Three Silver Reflections due to the disparity in their internal energy development. Luo Yan, however, didn¡¯t finish the job, tightening his hold as he muttered, ¡°Not yet. Not yet. I shall do it.¡±

    Neither Luo Siming nor his bodyguards understood how Luo Yan could still put up a fight when Luo Siming was supposed to have his upoint sealed. Nheless, duty-bound, they surrounded Luo Yan immediately.

    ¡°Nobody moves or this old one will kill him right away.¡±

    ¡°Traitor¡­ You¡­ You really intend to usurp power?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to talk about it. I need you toe with me. I told you: it¡¯s winner takes all today. You lost, so you must submit. You only have yourself to be being soft. My brother would¡¯ve killed me if he was in your shoes. You wouldn¡¯t be in this predicament if you finished me.¡±

    Luo Siming tried to covertly mould qi. s, Luo Yan had Luo Siming¡¯s meridians on lockdown. In saying that, Luo Yan didn¡¯t have the upper hand yet, not when he was at the centre of Concealed Sword Formation again.

    ¡°Move or I will kill him!¡±

    The four regarded each other then backed off a step,pelling Luo Yan to dial down his vignce, and then bridged the gap right away. Due to evasion being out of the question and the time restraint, Luo Yan brought down his executioner hand on Luo Siming. To his surprise, Ao Xue shoulder charged Luo Siming out of the way and took the blow on her back.

    One person among the fourmanded the others while implementing Concealed Sword Formation. In this generation, Ao Xue was theirmander, a fact that Luo Yan was oblivious to. When the four regarded each other prior to backing off, Ao Xue signalled that she would dive in to free Luo Siming. It didn¡¯t matter which of them dove in for all of them ced Luo Siming¡¯s wellbeing above their own. The reason they agreed to let Ao Xue charge in was purely because she was the fastest among them.

    Unable to tell if the hot liquid on his chest was Ao Xue¡¯s tears or blood, Luo Siming assumed she died and howled, ¡°Luo Yan!¡±

    Luo Siming¡¯s true qi somehow ploughed through his blocked meridians in his right hand, allowing him to fetch Ao Xue¡¯s sword and attempt to plunge it into Luo Yan, forcing his uncle to release his hold. Luo Siming¡¯s three bodyguards promptly tried to capitalise. Sadly for them, Luo Yan had no difficulties slipping out of the iplete formation to find Luo Siming¡¯s back.

    Luo Yan was in position to make one of either decision: option one was to kidnap Luo Siming, sessfullypleting his mission. If he turned around, he could draw Siming Sword, the key to absolute authority in Luo n, from the rocks that Luo Siming slotted his sword before they scrapped. In the end, Luo Yan opted to take Siming Sword, grantingg Luo Siming¡¯s three bodyguards time to get into position in front of Luo Siming and Ao Xue.

    Embracing Ao Xue, who bled profusely, Luo Siming roared, ¡°Luo Yan, you are hereby exiled from Luo n! Should we meet again, I will kill you where you stand!¡±

    That is what you should do every time, Siming.

    With that, Luo Yan departed with the symbols of absolute authority in Luo n.

 Volume 8 63 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 63 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 3)</h4>

    As five assassins stormed in brandishing weapons, I gripped the sword hilt at my waist, contemting whether or not to put them on their prissy backs in one fell swoop. I had never demonstrated my elite swordy to you before. Young Shiyi once called it as worthless as an infant with a feather despite me never having lost to any swordsman before.

    So, I was supposed to be the peerless swordsman of the nine heavens andherworld until the five froze after setting one foot through the door, eyes trained on Zha Pi.

    ¡°The old man looks¡­ strong.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he the new adept Luo Siming recruited?¡±

    ¡°Empyrean Zha?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s supposed to be strong.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get him first, then.¡±

    Are these five with the forty-odd others further out? Why are these people suddenly trying to show up Luo Sword Manor?

    I noticed the group on the other side of the wall eavesdropping when I entered the estate, but I ignored them since I was in a rush to rescue Boss. As a matter of fact, I thought they were with Luo Sword Manor and lying in ambush.

    I moulded more energy to increase my earshot range to the entire estate. I honestly never liked the strategy since I had to rifle all of the voices in order to determine what was useful and what wasn¡¯t despite having used the method so many times.

    I can hear someone injured at a corner of the estate after someone with Yang Realm internal energy sealed their upoint and then fled. Luo Siming is also th-, wait, there are one, two, three people fighting. Why are two of them stronger than even him? Hang on a second. Why is she here?! How am I supposed to fight without reservations now?!

    ¡°Get him!¡± The five assassins rushed toward Zha Pi.

    ***

    ¡°Ao Xue, don¡¯t sleep on me! Stay with me!¡± Luo Siming couldn¡¯t help Ao Xue at all due to Luo Yan sealing his upoints using Scorching Sun Spirit, leaving only three of his bodyguards able to provide some remedy.

    Zhi Heng and Ying Xie provided internal energy transfusions. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t enough to stop Ao Xue¡¯s conditioning deteriorating. Ye Shu, the fourth member of the group, sped off to call for Doctor Luo.

    Knowing what Luo Yan¡¯s attack was capable of, Luo Siming kept crying, ¡°Ao Xue, stay with me. I¡¯ve called for a doctor already. Hang in there!¡±

    Whether it was thanks to Luo Siming¡¯s yelling or Zhi Heng and Ying Xie¡¯s internal energy transfusion, Ao Xie weakly opened her eyes to mumble, ¡°Young Master¡­ Don¡¯t cry¡­¡±

    Ao Xue did her best to run her gaze all over Luo Siming, leading to them assuming she was trying to imprint his image to her memories, only for her to voice with a smile, ¡°I am d¡­ you are okay.¡±

    Most people didn¡¯t know Ao Xue beyond the taciturn bodyguard following Luo Siming since she was five years old, studying, training and going through everything with him. Not many could fathom her undying loyalty to him. There¡¯s no one way to live one¡¯s life, and this was an era where life decisions weremonly in the hands of others. Whether that was a happy thing or not differed on an individual basis.

    Silver trails coursing down his cheeks, Luo Siming choked out, ¡°Ao Xue¡­ Ao Xue¡­¡±

    Ao Xue suddenly gasped blood from internal bleeding judging from its colours.

    ¡°Ao Xue! Ao Xue! Doctor Grandpa! Reverend Zha!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that bellowing?¡± Arge man jumped through the ceiling back first, bestrewing tiles, then continued, ¡°What¡¯s a grown man crying for? You¡¯re Young Master Luo?¡±

    The man didn¡¯t look hurt, was able to speak whilst front tucking andnded perfectly upright despiteing through as though someone mmed him through. With a big grin across his face, the man asked, ¡°This is Luo n¡¯s property, yeah?¡±

    In a stern voice, Luo Siming questioned, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a man passing by on a mission. By the way, the name is Bodhi.¡± The man peered through the hole he just made, mumbling, ¡°Pretty fast, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Dressed in green and armed with her long Vajra Gudgel, Lian Qingluan and Yu Feiyuan, sporting a golden skirt, ck metal armguards and iron boots, descended through the hole. Landing first, Yu Feiyuan effortlessly bridged the gap and delivered a heavy knife hand, forcing Bodhi into a trade.

    Stopping his skid with a stomp, Bodhi questioned, ¡°I already apologised to you in the woods. Why are you still stalking me?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan answered, ¡°You challenged me. I, therefore, must ept and fight until a victor is decided,¡± before smashing four bricks on the ground under the weight of her boots and power as she stepped forward.

    ¡°Int-Interim Patriarch Yu?¡±

    As if she only just realised she was no longer at Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s ce, Yu Feiyuan nced down at the bricks she just broke then apologised, ¡°Sorry. I did not mean to damage your floor. I have some money on m-¡±

    ¡°No, no, Interim Patriarch Yu, it¡¯s me, Luo Siming.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan looked up to confirm it was Luo Siming speaking out to her, confounding her. The twenty-five year old maiden¡¯s mental processing unit didn¡¯t develop as fast as her strength did, unfortunately.

    Luo Siming continued, ¡°This is my estate. We are¡­¡±

    Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t hear a word Luo Siming said thereafter for Ao Xue stole her attention. ¡°She¡¯s hurt,¡± Yu Feiyuan stated, casting her gaze up to Bodhi andmanding, ¡°Sister, lead him out of the room. She needs peace and quiet.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Lian Qingyuan unleashed Vajra Divine Might right off the bat,pelling Bodhi to escape outside after having suffered from thest time he tried muscling his way through Vajra Divine Might.

    Yu Feiyuan took Ao Xue from Luo Siming without as much as a word of exnation and then pressed a hand onto Ao Xue¡¯s chest, using her hand as a medium to relieve the injured maiden of clots: ¡°She¡¯s gravely injured. I need you all to move aside.¡±

    The two swordsmen still offering Ao Xue their internal energy felt a surge of energy burst into Ao Xue, resulting in them pulling their hands off instantly, yet they still felt a numb sensation. Ao Xue juddered as she vomited more blood. Worried, Luo Siming checked her pulse straight away. He discovered that the torrid energy from Luo Yan was gone without a trace, and her countenance gradually improved.

    The secret of Vajra Divine Might was in the word ¡°pration¡±. In essence, Yu Feiyuan sted the heat energy in one quick spurt. Simplistic, yes, but it was extremely difficult to master for it required the executioner to coordinate their eyes, internal energy, speed and uracy. In Ao Xue¡¯s scenario, Yu Feiyuan would¡¯ve killed thetter if any of the aforementionedponents were off even slightly.

    ¡°Thank you, Interim Patriarch Yu.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve also had your upoint sealed? Did the same person hurt you both?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan gently ced her hand on Luo Siming¡¯s chest, yet he felt a burst of energy that hit as hard as a boulder pitched at him. Fortunately, the sensation unclogged his true qi flow instead of taking his life.

    ¡°Leave the talking forter. He¡¯s back.¡± Yu Feiyuan never looked at the two she treated the entire time because she was focused on her Lian Qingluan¡¯s scuffle outside. After all, Ming Feizhen did teach her not to give her opponent an inch until she dumped them on the ground.

    ¡°Is he strong?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Yu Feiyuan replied. ¡°I might not be able to beat him.¡±

    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Luo Siming didn¡¯t expect someone even Yu Feiyuan had misgivings about to show up. Nheless, it was no time for irrelevant questions.

    ¡°Nothing special. Winner takes all is how it has always walked. Either you win or you lose. If I lose, I die.¡±

    I-is she serious?

    ¡°Ah, I forgot I have a dinner appointment tonight. I can¡¯t die today yet, then. What should I do? Brother Feizhen might be nearby. I might be able to meet him again¡­¡±

    What is she mumbling about?

    For the first time in her fighting career, Lian Qingluan had to pull back after failing to take out an opponent using Vajra Divine Might.

    Based on appearances alone, one would infer that Bodhi was a heavy hitter, yet he proved he wasn¡¯t a one-trick pony who relied on asserting sheer might alone, countering Vajra Divine Might through redirecting the force of attacks and then turning it into momentum to strike back. Lian Qingluan had no answer for his counter once she had expended her energy, thus copping an injury.

    Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s advanced levels were no longer solely about exerting one¡¯s strength alone anymore but also adding the opponent¡¯s strength quickly to one¡¯s attack, magnifying one¡¯s output. Vajra Divine Might met its match against opponent¡¯s who could utilise their massive strength against them - all else being equal.

    ¡°Be careful, Senior Sister. He has a counter for Vajra Divine Might,¡± cautioned Lian Qingluan.

    Yu Feiyuan gestured for Lian Qingluan to back down: ¡°May this one ask why you would challenge Wutong Jin Yuxuan?¡±

    Standing coolly at the door, hands behind his back, Bodhi responded, ¡°I have my own goals, and I¡¯ve achieved it. This one holds no animosity toward your sect. Farewell.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t happen to think you can just walk away after challenging us, do you?¡±

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, y-¡±

    ¡°Save it. You can talk after I put you on your back.¡±

    Is she nuts?! I already told her I¡¯m not looking to fight her!

    Yu Feiyuan made closing the gap look effortless; not even Bodhi kept up with her movements. Clearly, she used a different qinggong style to Lian Qingluan. Bodhi quickly intercepted Yu Feiyuan¡¯s punch then ridiculed, ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Emei Sect don¡¯t teach that qingong. It seems that Interim Patriarch Yu saw a need to find an outsider¡¯s style to supplement, huh?¡±

    ¡°This is my husband¡¯s style. Why would it be an outsider¡¯s style?¡±

    Nobody there - besides Lian Qingluan - was close enough to Yu Feiyuan to know she was married, so her response to Bodhi had them blinking as they scoured their knowledge base for any previous mentions of her husband.

    Meanwhile, Yu Feiyuan and Bodhi were unable to seize the upper hand on each other in sessive exchanges from a technical standpoint, forcing them to turn up their output in hopes of winning through sheer physical superiority. As a man proud of his strength, Bodhi didn¡¯t expect Yu Feiyuan to match his power, let alone offer an answer to everything he threw. Her ability spoke volumes about her experience and wide repertoire.

    With his mind split between attacking and searching for windows to careen, Bodhi achieved neither, while Yu Feiyuan finally caught a vulnerable arm with her left hand. He¡¯d have broken out of her hold if she wasn¡¯t Yu Feiyuan. Howbeit, her vice-like grip forced him to rely on his other hand to dismantle her grip, only to have her intercept with her free hand.

    Most of Beijiang¡¯s styles revolved around big swings, making them perfect for jabbing distances, while Yu Feiyuan was still able to perform just as well beyond jabbing range. Consequently, Bodhi¡¯s vitals almost got caught several times.

    Whilst trading with Yu Feiyuan, Bodhi attempted to break her hold the same way he neutralised Lian Qingluan¡¯s might. To create an opening to redirect, one must feint in order to draw the opponent into exerting force so that one can then decide on a path to redirect the opponent¡¯s force. No matter how he tried, sadly, she wouldn¡¯t give him the opening. Once desperation kicked in after three failed attempts, he lost his ability to redirect and make feints, impelling him to outmuscle her again to no avail.

    I didn¡¯te to the Central in to fight with women!

    Bodhi summoned monumental strength out of rage to break Yu Feiyuan¡¯s hold and, using his true kills, uncorked a punch at her abdomen. Even though she knew how to counter the punch, he packed such a punch that he voided her technique. As long as he could get past herst line of defence that was Vajra Divine Might, she should¡¯ve been cornered as all disciples of Wutong Jin Yuxuan would be.

    Yu Feiyuan pushed one side of her hip forward whilst drawing the opposite back for zing twist speed, letting Bodhi hit thin air while she used his punching arm as a bar to turn over on his arm. It¡¯s likely hard to imagine her pulling off the feat at that range and speed when she wore heavy iron boots and had long legs, yet she made it look effortless as she borrowed his stiff arm tounch herself out of his range.

    I thought she was an internal style expert, but her external skills are just as impressive, not to mention her movement and joint locking techniques. Judging from her moves thus far, I can¡¯t outmanoeuvre her. She¡¯s the third person I¡¯ve had to get serious with sinceing to the Central in.

    Perhaps it had so long that someone managed to break her hold that Yu Feiyuan felt her left hand was a tad numb. The only people thus far who were able to break her holds were her shifu, Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen. On the upside, she had pushed Bodhi hard enough for him to go all out, allowing her to devise a more appropriate game n.

    Bodhi finally brandished hisrge broadsword on his back, giving off the vibe that he was going to be much tougher to take down at this point. Yu Feiyuan sneaked her hand under thetches of her arm armour to lighten her burden, judging it necessary if she was to keep up with Bodhi.

    Ready, Bodhi yelled, ¡°I¡¯ll show you wh-, what the h-?!¡±

    Bodhi suddenly absorbed a st that came out of nowhere and gusted up white smoke, sliding him backward against his will. He trained his eyes over to Yu Feiyuan, assuming she sneak attacked him, only to find that she, too, was forced to retreat from a simr attack.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Bodhi shouted, waiting for someone to show themselves. He had faith in his hearing abilities when he devoted so much to developing his internal energy. ¡°Show yourself, coward.¡± Bodhi felt a wave of qi at his face by the time he could detect it and was grazed despite his best attempt to evade.

    Who is it?

    ¡°Is it him?¡± Luo Siming voiced.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Like a voice in the firmament, yet like a voice right beside them, they heard, ¡°Thirty years to establish in the east. Thirty years, emptiness cannot attract emptiness. Thirty years to find eternal youth. Thirty years to end the search for the big dream.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Apanying the poem were ten omnidirectional qi shes, scattering severing trees, buildings and anything else that could be used to cover something with each sh, recreating the Armageddon described in fiction. At the end of the scampering dust was a sage standing upright.

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± roared Bodhi.

    The elder meandered over, ying with his beard: ¡°After spending decades at your sojourn home, your appearance is dishevelled, hair is long and behaviour is odd. Sitting in Begonia Pavillion, Yang Zi meets with Immortal Taiyi, who is in his canoe. Nothing can escape the dao and nothingness. Some can see the previous life and future. There is nothing that cannot be resolved with a smile. The clouds are in the east, while the moon is on the horizon.¡± The elder paused to inhale before announcing, ¡°This one is Empyrean Zha!¡±

    Glossary

    Thirty years to establish in the east¡­ - This poem is as real as Zha Pi¡¯s reverend status.

    The second poem at the end - That is the same poem Wang Chongyangposed in the Condor Heroes trilogy and is the same one Quanzhen Sect¡¯s seven masters recite when they fight Huang Yaoshi. I¡¯ve actually tranted the poem whilst adding the meaning to it rather than literally.

    The goal of the poem is to poke fun at Huang Yaoshi, with Wang Chongyang contrasting his free life whilst pursing the dao to Huang Yaoshi¡¯s reclusive life on an ind for decades. If you¡¯ve consumed Legend of the Condor Heroes¡¯ materials, then you will already know about Huang Yaoshi¡¯s nickname - Eastern Heretic - and understand where the jabes from.

    Bodhi¡¯s Fighting Style Exined (Read caption on youtube description)

 Volume 8 64 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 64 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 4)</h4>

    Ambling onto the scene, Empyrean Zha flicked his sleeve to disperse the dust from the rubble and then, with one hand holding his sword behind his back, announced, ¡°Empyrean Wuliang.¡±

    Luo Siming cried, ¡°Reverend Zha, thank god you¡¯re here. This trespasser is formidable. Please help us drive him off. Wait. Is that not Second Chambein¡¯s sword, Rhododendron?¡±

    Reverend Zha stroked his beard: ¡°This one retrieved this sword from a ck bear. The ck bear was innocent. This one used his benevolent virtue to show the bear how to turn over a new leaf and let it go.¡±

    That must be why Reverend Zha was nowhere to be seen during my fight with Luo Yan. We¡¯re lucky to have him with us.

    Little did Luo Siming and Zha Pi know that Ming Feizhen was merely controlling Zha Pi from a distance using Shadow King String to avoid Yu Feiyuan. Zha Pi remembered sending Ming Feizhen a desperate signal for hope with his eyes as the five rushed toward him, only for hisst hope to pass him a sword and pat him on the shoulder, saying, ¡°It¡¯s all on you now.¡± Zha Pi immediately yelled back, ¡°You¡¯re not going to screw with me in this situation, are you?!¡±

    Zha Pi felt energy gushing through him out of the blue and, in one casual swing, generated a shockwave that sent the five flying. Still feeling so much true qi swelling himself that he¡¯d explode if he didn¡¯t get it out of his system, he then swung his sword again, shattering everything around to smithereens. The five who attempted to assassinate the empyrean where thereupon buried underneath the rubble of the building he blew them into.

    Owing to Zha Pi¡¯s lousy martial arts background, he couldn¡¯t store much true qi in his body, forcing him to release what was excessive. That was why he had decimated almost half of the estate by the time he met up with Luo Siming. In retrospect, Zha Pi did more damage than Luo Yan did.

    (Is this how people at the summit feel? As the only one who fathoms it all, the only one without any challenges¡­ Is being invincible really so lonely? It¡¯s like I¡¯m all alone in a world where only I can s-)

    ¡°Don¡¯t start horsing around! Because your foundation sucks, you¡¯ll destroy all of your meridians if you attack a few more times!¡± Ming Feizhen warned straight into Zha Pi¡¯s mind.

    (Huh?! Where are my meridians?!)

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. You can¡¯t use that destructive power again. There¡¯s an alternative, though. Your body won¡¯t hold up if I control your body to speak, so you wing it. I¡¯ll help out if you get stuck.¡±

    Zha Pi finally trusted Ming Feizhen could help him y any deity from heaven or devil that crawled up from hell, so he could smile confidently: ¡°Do you not think trespassing, fighting and destroying someone else¡¯s property is disrespectful?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bodhi pointed to the rubble. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who did all that?¡±

    ¡°Are you iming you didn¡¯t put a hole in the roof?¡±

    Bodhi looked around: ¡°Which roof, the one you tore down?¡±

    Zha Pi stomped: ¡°Empyrean Wuliang! Are you going to lie to a god?!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I am innocent, though.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan shook her head: ¡°It wasn¡¯t him.¡±

    Luo Siming cupped his mouth with both hands: ¡°Reverend Zha, I do not think it was him.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: (¡°I don¡¯t think it was h-¡±)

    (Enough! I get it! I was just going with the flow, okay? Actually, why are you helping him, Big Bro?!)

    (¡°I have a feeling that helping you would be undermining justice.¡±)

    Reverend Zha continued, ¡°Since we cannot reach a consensus, let us let our fists do the talking?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean we cannot reach a consensus? How is the conclusion not clear enough?¡± questioned Bodhi.

    Of course, Reverend Zha Pi pretended he never heard the question and tried imbuing his sword with true qi but couldn¡¯t find the invincible feeling from before even after finishing his Tai Chi Sword taolu, bewildering those watching on as to whether he was warming up before the big fight or performing his cool down after decimating half of the estate.

    (Big Bro, why haven¡¯t you fired a shot? I¡¯m running out of moves.)

    (¡­ Can¡¯t fight him using that method. It¡¯s too troublesome to fight him. I don¡¯t intend to have you fight him.)

    Zha Pi lowered his sword awkwardly.

    (Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner! That was embarrassing!)

    (I thought you were warming up.)

    Zha Pi cleared his throat and then aimed his sword at Yu Feiyuan, smiling with animosity: ¡°It seems you also had a hand in destroying the roof, Miss.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± replied Yu Feiyuan.

    The beaming Zha Pi had his eyes on Yu Feiyuan first thing upon arriving, so he was more than eager to fight her and, hopefully, cop a touch.

    (Big Bro, she¡¯s smok-, strong. Let¡¯s intimidate her with a big sh.)

    (No way.)

    (Why?!)

    (¡­ Because I don¡¯t want to. If you¡¯d like to die as quick as possible, by all means, challenge her. Their style erases any trace of their body. Most of the people who collect the remains of the dead from fighting their members don¡¯t collect their corpse but blood.)

    Reverend Zha instantly turned his attention to Bodhi and fronted again: ¡°You would dare trespass when this is where this one had the honour of befriending Young Master Luo?¡±

    This daoist is nuts, but his skills are insane, while I¡¯m still injured. Screw it. I don¡¯t back down from nobody.

    ¡°Hahaha, I took disrespect to the max when I trespassed. Might I ask how you will teach this mere human a lesson, Empyrean?¡±

    (He reacted just as you assumed he would. Big Bro.)

    (He¡¯s no pushover, and you won¡¯t stand to gain anything if you fight him. I can tell he doesn¡¯t harbour any desire to keep fighting, but that girl won¡¯t let him go. Shake him up a bit mentally so that he leaves on his own ord.)

    ¡°Slow down. The heavens are virtuous. Let this one share a story with you. This one was wandering elsewhere months ago and decided to head to the border of Nanhai when he recalled an old friend he hadn¡¯t visited in a long time.¡±

    ¡°Nanhai¡­¡±

    ¡°This one caught up with The Old Man of the South Pool over some tea.¡±

    ¡°Are you making fun of this one?!¡±

    Who would believe Zha Pi met up with the daoist deification of Canpous, the brightest star of the constetion Carina?

    ¡°We also talked about the imminent tribtion the mortal world would be confronted with. It is also what I discussed with Earth Godst time.¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡± Already disgruntled about being held up, Zha Pi¡¯s tripe pushed Bodhi over the edge. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can stop this with your nonsense!¡±

    (Wh-wh-what do I do?)

    Zha Pi felt true qi violently coursing through his body, spurring him into action. To counter the quick one two shockwave punches, Zha Pi ran his hand down the de of his sword and then flicked the tip, startling everyone with the loud twang. Zha Pi then performed an overhand chop from roughly thirty metres away from Bodhi.

    Bodhi rocked asparably to a man caught in a giant wave, stunting his advance. Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s style allowed him to turn any force in his favour regardless of how subtle that force may be, so slippery surfaces or surfaces that moved under pressure didn¡¯t merely gave him something to extra to think about, yet the volume of roiling qi was bestpared to a waterfall belting against him, moving him back several steps against his will through daft eleration until he could impose his will on the ground again.

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s not swordy! That¡¯s voodoo crap!¡±

    Everyone present could agree it wasn¡¯t swordy because no swordy worked that way. The four pugilist realms were Perfection, Void Piercer, Manifestation and Divine Realms. Swordy, in contrast, went from a standard sword to imbuing one¡¯s sword (Sword Qi), harnessing the qi into a glow (Sword Energy) and then materialising a sword out of qi (Qi Sword). Swordsmen couldn¡¯t push into new territory no matter how much they further developed their internal energy or refined their swordy thereafter. Next was the mental side of the equation, which different sects had differing views on. As an example, Shaolin¡¯s method was to subject themselves to lives of strict discipline, believing consistently subjecting themselves to harshness developed the psychological traits necessary to see further growth. Once they developed enough mentally and spiritually, swordsmen attained what was known as Sword Spirit Realm.

    The foundation to harnessing one¡¯s qi into a glow on their sword was imbuing their sword with qi, which Edge Realm internal energy developed when one begins to develop their internal strength. Mould your qi for one cycle, and you have a qi-enhanced sword, a symbol that you have learnt tobine your external environment with your internal energy. In essence, being able to imbue qi into one¡¯s sword was the pugilist¡¯s version of true qi development. If a sword enhanced with qi is the wind, then the glowing energy is a de.

    I can tell from the way the old bugger holds his sword that he hasn¡¯t even reached Sword Energy Realm. I¡¯d dare say he doesn¡¯t even know aplete swordy taolu, yet I can¡¯t name anyone with his brute strength. It feels like I¡¯m in a tornado! It doesn¡¯t hurt, but I can¡¯t move against this pressure.

    Cheeks distorted due to the gale, Bodhi shouted, ¡°What swordy is that?¡±

    ¡°Your ignorance shows. You don¡¯t recognise Quanzhen Sect¡¯s¡­ Elephant Swordy? Elephant, elephant, why is your trunk so long?¡±

    (Big Bro, are you sure that line is part of the sword manual? I¡¯ve never seen you read a book!)

    (That¡¯s the only line I could think of I the spur of the moment.)

    Meanwhile, Luo Siming grabbed pen and paper from somewhere to note the line down, mumbling, ¡°Elephant, elephant, why is your trunk so, what?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan kindly informed, ¡°¡­ Long.¡±

    Elephant Swordy my foot! It¡¯s clearly Mad Dog Swordy, refusing to get off me!

    Rather than say Zha Pi wouldn¡¯t let up, it was more a case of Bodhi having no counter. If Zha Pi¡¯s swordy was good enough to conjure a qi sword and execute the same technique, Bodhi would¡¯ve been smithereens the moment it grazed him.

    Wait a second. This sword qi is familiar¡­ Oh, I recognise it now.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, I had no idea Empyrean Zha is your husband. No wonder why he¡¯s so angry.¡±

    While everyone¡¯s eyes were wide, Yu Feiyuan frowned and corrected, ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense. My husband is a disciple of Mount Daluo. My husband¡¯s name is Ming Feizhen!¡±

 Volume 8 65 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 65 The Signs of Battle. A Deity Descends. (Part 5)</h4>

    Luo Siming grabbed his chin, muttering, ¡°Ming Feizhen? The name sounds familiar¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± added Luo Siming¡¯s three bodyguards.

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me!¡± yelled Zha Pi, so astonished that he unknowingly cancelled his attack.

    (Big Bro, the name is familiar!)

    (¡­ I¡¯m going to go buy pork shoulders. Be right back.)

    (Wait! Wait! Wait! You have heard the name of her husband, have you not?)

    (¡­ Yeah¡­)

    (He shares the same name with you and is also from Daluo Three, Daluo Four or whatever.) Evidently, Zha Pi misheard ¡°Mountain, pronounced shan¡± for ¡°three, pronounced san¡±.

    (¡­ Yeah¡­)

    (How are you so calm?! She said her husband, lover, dear, man, kid¡¯s father¡¯s n-)

    (Are you a synonym database?! Yes, she was referring to me.)

    ¡°Are you for real?!¡± Zha Pi surveyed Yu Feiyuan from head to toe and back up again then heaved a breath so heavy that you¡¯d think he was going to bawl his eyes out.

    (What now?)

    (You can¡¯t do this, Big Bro! You eat the flowers, chew the grass and even take a bite out of the fruits! What am I supposed to do? What about Tang Ye? What about Su Xiao? What about Vice-Captain Shen? You are an immoral man. You are not an intelligent man. You are not a virtuous man. Your lifestyle is riddled with issues, sob, sob, sob. I am going to report you using the small ck box for reporting fellow colleagues.)

    (Cut the rubbish out. What¡¯s all this crap about Tang Ye and Su Xiao?)

    (Huh? Does that mean Vice-Captain Shen has not escaped your evil grasp yet? Amazing.)

    I swear to god you¡¯re lucky I can¡¯t show myself right now!

    Bodhi didn¡¯t care why Reverend Zha suddenly stopped his attack. Escaping was his priority, and escape he did, leaping onto a roof a hundred metres away - because it was one of the few buildings still standing: ¡°You are formidable, Empyrean. Bodhi is busy and has to take his leave now. We shall meet again if fate allows.¡±

    ¡°As you no longer have the will to fight, I won¡¯t keep you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Perhaps we won¡¯t be meeting, like this, the next time we meet.¡±

    Zha Pi had no clue what was going on, but Ming Feizhen, who was relieved too soon, did. If Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t control Zha Pi using celestial spider silk andmunicate with Zha Pi, the former¡¯s presence would¡¯ve been more discreet owing to him constantly transferring internal energy. s, Ming Feizhen had no choice since Zha Pi would expose himself without Ming Feizhen¡¯s assistance from the dark.

    Bodhi stood up from a crouch and smiled: ¡°I look forward to scrapping with the real you.¡± Bodhi jumped over thirty metres in his next jump.

    ¡°Not many people can jump that far,¡± Ming Feizhen praised in his mind. In a speed contest on t ground, the biggest factor in winning and losing was internal energy, so Bodhi¡¯s leap bespoke he dedicated a lot of time to developing his internal energy.

    ¡°Mother flipper! You dug this trap for me, you bloody daoist! It freaking stinks!¡±

    ¡°What did I do to him?¡± Zha Pi wondered.

    Oh, don¡¯t tell me he fell into the hole I told Xiaogou to dig. Damn, man, considering the size of Xiaogou, the hole and size of his faeces must be¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll remember this! I¡¯ll get you for this one day!¡± Bodhi blustered after getting out of the ground.

    How did I just make another enemy, for crying out loud? Whatever. Nothing I can do now.

    With Luo Yan¡¯s departure, his forces started to lose their upper and were duly subdued.

    ording to Yu Feiyuan and Lian Qingluan, Bodhi suddenly showed up at Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s ce in the morning and announced he was going to take their sect¡¯s treasure in the most hubristic tone possible, dering he was going to let them experience how it feels to be mashed. To their surprise, only Yu Feiyuan and Lian Qingluan were able to put up a fight against him. After a few exchanges opposite Yu Feiyuan, Bodhi decided to flee. Lian Qingluan went after them as she was afraid Yu Feiyuan might lose or be tricked. Before they knew it, they were in Luo n¡¯s estate.

    ¡°Miss Ao Xue is hurt.¡± Reverend Zha was actually asking how Ao Xue¡¯s injuries were when he sounded as though he was pointed out a fact.

    Luo Siming figured Reverend Zha, who had switched back to his wise act, was inquiring about Ao Xue¡¯s injures and, therefore, informed, ¡°My second uncle hit her in the back with a palm strike. Thanks to Interim Patriarch Yu¡¯s intervention, the heat energy has been removed. Ao Xue only needs proper rest now to recuperate.¡±

    Reverend Zha took another step closer: ¡°That is simple enough. This one can help her modte her qi. That will expedite her recovery to just a few days.¡±

    Reverend Zha thereupon felt internal energy explode inside him. From seven metres away, he picked up several stones and flicked them at Ao Xue systematically, siphoning over true qi using the stones as a medium. Luo Siming caught on and, using his hand on her back as a medium, helped guide her true qi, discovering how potent and pure Reverend Zha¡¯s qi was. Though he couldn¡¯t identify which style Reverend Zha utilised, he could see that the former¡¯s true qi was miles ahead of his own. The soothing flow of qi ironed out the wrinkles on Ao Xue¡¯s nose.

    If I didn¡¯t witness it for myself, I would never believe someone could transfer this sort of true qi over using stones, not to mention his pinpoint uracy at identifying where to flick them. Reverend Zha really is in a league of his own.

    (Big Bro, what are you doing? That was supposed to be my chance to put on a show!)

    (A blind man could tell she only cares about Luo Siming. If he or she wants to dismember you for taking advantage of her situation to fondle her, I¡¯m not saving you.)

    The busted reverend could sense a pair of worrying eyes locked on him; however, he couldn¡¯t determine what their owner wanted.

    (Big Bro, why does that woman keep staring at me?)

    Ming Feizhen frowned: (¡°Woman¡±? Have some respect, will you?)

    (Sure. How can I say no? So¡­ why is Sister-inw staring at me?)

    Ming Feizhen shivered upon hearing ¡°sister-inw¡±.

    Yu Feiyuan slowly angled her head: ¡°Is someone behind you?¡±

    Zha Pi shuddered, almost blurting, ¡°How did you know, Sister-in-Law¡± had Ming Feizhen not stopped the former¡¯s mouth in time.

    Yu Feiyuan pointed in Ming Feizhen¡¯s direction: ¡°I think I sense someone over there.¡±

    If Bodhi was able to pick up the simrities between Zha Pi¡¯s sword qi and Yu Feiyuan¡¯s style in addition to sensing Ming Feizhen¡¯s presence, there was no way she wouldn¡¯t have noticed.

    ¡°Damn it, where do I run now? She¡¯lle chasing after me if she detects movement! I¡¯d rather not spend another three days running from her!¡± Ming Feizhen inwardly growled.

    ¡°Who is it? I¡¯m going to go bring them here.¡±

    (Big Bro, say something! I¡¯m here working my behind off and risking my neck for legitimate work, while you two are ying ¡°catch the cheater¡±?!)

    ¡°Wait, wait, I¡¯lle out myself.¡± An elder around Reverend Zha¡¯s age jogged over to Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°Who¡¯s he? How long has he been here?¡± Luo Siming wondered.

    Ming Feizhen introduced, ¡°Ahaha, I am Empyrean Zha¡¯s friend.¡±

    Zha Pi: ¡°Sworn Brothers!¡±

    Luo Siming queried, ¡°May this one ask why you are here?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes wandered left to right then he pointed to Zha Pi: ¡°He requested an order of firewood, citing there is ack of firewood at the estate.¡±

    Zha Pi huffed a breath onto his that hands he rubbed together.

    Yu Feiyuan nced around: ¡°Where is the firewood.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± A cat caught Zha Pi¡¯s tongue.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: ¡°It was stolen. Miss, it is hard to do business these days.¡±

    The only reason Luo Siming and Lian Qingluan didn¡¯t expose Ming Feizhen was out of respect for Empyrean Zha.

    Yu Feiyuan¡¯s fists shook: ¡°Not only did they break into someone¡¯s home but even robbed someone? They cannot be spared.¡±

    This was exactly why Ming Feizhen encouraged Yu Feiyuan to floor her opponents before engaging in conversation with them.

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head delightfully: ¡°The heavens will punish them one day.¡±

    ¡°Elder, why do you look familiar?¡± Yu Feiyuan voiced.

    Ming Feizhen nced over to Zha Pi, only to receive a gaze of despair.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Can we not p my face here?!

    Yu Feiyuan took a closer look at Ming Feizhen¡¯s face: ¡°I remember meeting you a few days ago on the mountain. You were with your granddaughter.¡±

    ¡°I almost thought you forgot about me, Miss.¡± When Ming Feizhen and Mountain Monster ran into Yu Feiyuan, he told her he was a lumberjack, which was why he told them he was delivering firewood.

    ¡°I remember we ate tofu pudding together. You also invited me to have some tofu pudding with you in the north of the town, telling me that the tofu pudding there had a better aroma. Do you still remember?¡±

    Why did I have to dig myself a hole with that promise? People in the pugilistic world don¡¯t know about Lass Yu¡¯s insistence on honouring her word regardless of how trivial it might seem, but I do¡­

    ¡°Of course, of course,¡± Ming Feizhen responded with a fake smile, thinking, ¡°How can I run the tofu pudding store out of business?¡±

    Luo Siming inquired, ¡°The tofu pudding store in the north of the town? Is it that old one?¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    ¡°That ce has already closed down; even the owner has left.¡±

    Oh, lucky! Thank you for adhering to my wish.

    Luo Siming continued, ¡°Dragon Phoenix Inn recruited him for his splendid skills. You should try the tofu pudding at Dragon Phoenix Inn.¡±

    Nobody asked you! My risk of being exposed would be fifty times higher if we ate at Dragon Phoenix Inn!

    Yu Feiyuan expressed, ¡°We should go to Dragon Phoenix Inn, then. I will make a reservation there tomorrow for you and your granddaughter,¡± then had a few words with Luo Siming before leaving.

    Don¡¯t just walk off on me! You haven¡¯t heard my objection!

    (Tsk, tsk, Big Bro, Sister-inw is one hell of a character. Even her strut is stylish.)

    I¡¯d kick you into a ravine if I could right now! I¡¯ll leave it for tomorrow¡­

    Ming Feizhen exchanged a few words with everyone prior to leaving, instructing Zha Pi to deal with Luo Siming andpany while he went to search for Shen Yiren. Nobodyined about Ming Feizhen showing up in the estate owing to his friendship with Zha Pi. Once Ming Feizhen made it through the main door, he used qinggong to sneak back in to where Shen Yiren was and, using her scent as a guide, Ming Feizhen inhaled and sped over.

    It¡¯s time for you toe home, Boss.

 Volume 8 66 Dragon Phoenix Inn. Master of Mind Games.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 66 Dragon Phoenix Inn. Master of Mind Games.</h4>

    ¡°It sounds like everything is Ming Feizhen¡¯s fault. He is the one who suggested the five-round tournament on the thirteenth of this month for an invitation?¡± Emperor Yuansheng asked from in front of his desk, legs crossed.

    Also in the same room with the windows shut in broad daylight, Long Zaitian replied, ¡°Yes. Ming Feizhen is abusing his rights as a strateg-¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng shed a hand that was only visible thanks to the candles: ¡°You¡¯ve repeated that no less than ten times already. I get the point.¡±

    Concierge Long was busy day in and day out, hour after hour since Ming Feizhen left. Hence, Long Zaitian reported Ming Feizhen behind Tang Ye and Su Xiao¡¯s backs for everything he could when Ming Feizhen was out. Never had Long Zaitian been so earnest about checking up on His Majesty. Just because it wasn¡¯t windy today and the sun was out, it didn¡¯t stop Long Zaitian reporting Ming Feizhen, either. His Majesty didn¡¯tment previous days, so Long Zaitian was on cloud nine when the former stopped him, believing His Majesty was finally going to mete out punishment to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°It¡¯s not Ming Feizhen¡¯s problem. Don¡¯t bring it up with me again.¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what do you mean it is not his problem? Your Majesty, you are the wise descendent of the heavens. You must not listen to the lies of someone condemnable.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng silently studied the report on his table for a brief moment then inquired, ¡°Dugu, what¡¯s your opinion?¡±

    Dugu bowed: ¡°Although it was rash, it does resolve the problem for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Emperor Yuansheng ced the report down then turned back to Long Zaitian: ¡°While the suggestion appears rash, it isn¡¯t. ording to your recounts, I understand what happened. Tang Ye was outssed. We were new in town, so we didn¡¯t know the status quo. How can we expect to get around Yi Wangyou without a bluff - not to mention he has Luo Sword Manor backing him? Nobody can challenge Luo Sword Manor¡¯s authority in Huzhou. You ever hear of an Emperor bowing to someone beneath him? Even if all of our men fought him together, we¡¯d suffer heavy losses. How many others in the town have eyes on us? Can we afford to lose a chunk of ourbatants?¡±

    ¡°But, but he only dyed the problem; he did not provide a solution. Your Majesty, your subject can understand him dissuading Yi Wangyou from continuing, but time is ticking, yet we still do not even have five contestants. Our loss will be inevitable if we do note up with something.¡±

    Dugu impugned, ¡°You are speaking to soon, Vice-Captain Long. If we identify ourselves, the dispute will resolve itself when imperial troops arrive.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng listened to the debate for a while then interjected, ¡°That is reason I believe Ming Feizhen did the right thing. You two earnestly think of how to make things conducive for me, yet none of you understand what I am thinking.¡±

    Long Zaitian and Dugu looked at each other while Emperor Yuansheng pinched his forehead, eyes on the reports.

    ¡°The new report states that Luo Sword Manor has a problem on their hands.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s agents still monitored Luo Sword Manor even when he was in aa. Although Tie Hanyi, Dugu and Ye Luo were also members of his entourage, they were not permitted to view reports from fellow agents without permission.

    ¡°Luo Yan publicly turned on Luo Siming at Repository Ind; the smithing department now controls the ind. The outside world has yet to find out. I specte Luo Siming is still in Canhu Town and is unaware his uncle has taken over.

    ¡°I sleep for just a few days, and even one of the White Princes has made such a radical move. Are the eras about to change hands? The Seven Champion White Princes have behaved for ages; however, trouble in paradise is bing the norm recently. If Luo Siming wants to take back the ind by force, he needs to march the military in Huzhou against the cksmiths supplying my kingdom with arms. They must think national safety is a game.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng then scribbled some text onto a report and tossed it to Tie Hanyi: ¡°We will monitor what Luo n does for now. If they disrupt our military, deploy Qilin Guards to squash their fighting. Luo n owes us an order in February. Nanjiang¡¯s movements have drawn my attention, so we cannot afford to receive our equipmentte. If anyone from the smithing department objects, send Yi Ya to Huzhou, and they will get into ce on their own ord.¡±

    If Emperor¡¯s Entourage were the eyes and ears of the imperial court, then Qilin Guards were their des.

    ¡°Just because His Majesty doesn¡¯t want to move on them, doesn¡¯t mean hecks the power to do so. It¡¯s just that the Seven Champion White Princes are conniving,¡± was a im made solely as an intimidation tactic for it was hard to tell if Qilin Guards could be depended on.

    Emperor Yuansheng passed on missions to Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo then resumed going through reports until noon, when he looked up and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the problem? Do you not understand?¡±

    Long Zaitian, who refused to move since morning, genuflected: ¡°Your subject was merely wondering what you mean when you say, ¡®Your thoughts¡¯, using the formal form for ¡®your¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Lyu¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Green Prince His Highness is involved with the anarchy in Huzhou?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled slowly and exhaled heavily. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to hope not, I have received a report informing me that he has left his territory for a long time.¡±

    ¡°That is not causation to suggest His Highness is involved, though. Knowing his carefree character, he could be jaunting. That is not harmful.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng exhaled through his nose.

    Nobody here would know Yi Wangyou better than I did. I offered enormous mary benefits and pulled the friendship card with many big names in the pugilistic world to hire him for Lyu¡¯er. If Yi Wangyou is here, I don¡¯t need to think to find out where Lyu¡¯er is. I¡¯m still amazed Mount Daluo was able to raise a disciple terrible at fighting, yet is sharp enough to potentially cut himself. He really resembles his shifu from the tone he speaks with to his enigmatic nature; it¡¯s like watching a walking treasure trove slowly reveal its gems.

    It¡¯s been thirty years in the blink of an eye, yet I feel as though I¡¯m still speaking to the deity grinning at me while I assiduously read in the imperial guardian. I didn¡¯t get to speak much to him, yet I can¡¯t forget how enigmatic he was, the affable smile he wore and the posture of a man who would bear the burden of carrying the world on his shoulders despite looking a little asinine. Ming Feizhen also looks as collected as he did, unwavering and unfettered no matter what is thrown their way. I wonder what brought these sentiments on¡­

    Emperor Yuansheng shook his thoughts out of his mind.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t want to disclose what he perceived of Green Prince¡¯s presence in Jiangnan meant. To speak more urately, they, even his own entourage, had the rights to discuss the imperial family¡¯s affairs, which included ¡°The Six Dragons Shall Seal the Nation¡± prophecy.

    Emperor Yuansheng elucidated, ¡°The magnitude of this matter leaves me with no choice but to consider the worst. Since Lyu¡¯er has been Luo Ming¡¯s adopted son for so many years, I¡¯m worried as to whether or not Lyu¡¯er has anything to do with Luo Sword Manor¡¯s circumstances. I need all of you to keep a lid on it and not tell the local government office. Do not contact our military even if they march here. These instructions are intended to not rm the enemy.¡±

    Ye Luo voiced, ¡°Ah, I thought you did not want Abels to know our whereab-¡±

    ¡°Abels? A monarch of a nation would fear a wandering bandit? Evil Spirits would think twice before acting in the imperial court¡¯s presence, let alone in Luo n¡¯s presence. Unless I terminate my ancestor¡¯s promise to not march military forces into the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ territories, it won¡¯t make any difference whether I contact them or not. If Lyu¡¯er is here¡­ the two of us can catch up for the first time in a while.¡±

    Everyone listening in couldprehend the ¡°catch up¡± wasn¡¯t necessarily any better than a torture session. In the best case scenario, it would be dozens of canes.

    Emperor Yuansheng added, ¡°As for the tournament, there is still hope. Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d ask for Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s help in the worst case scenario?¡±

    Long Zaitian answered, ¡°Unfortunately, Ming Feizhen, who is in charge of imploring them to help, is missing in action out of the blue.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not missing in action out of the blue; he¡¯s searching for Yiren, which is equally important. We should be doing what we can to help him. As Ye Luo and Hanyi will be busy, I¡¯ll leave it in your hands to request their aid, Vice-Captain Long.¡±

    ¡°W-wait, why do I have to deal with a mess he started?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say they¡¯re on good terms with Constable Ming? I¡¯ll pen a letter requesting their aid, informing them Constable Ming requested their intervention. If that doesn¡¯t work, then we can look into alternatives.¡± Emperor Yuansheng then wrote a letter as he said he would and left.

    ¡°Why me?¡± Long Zaitian grumbled by himself in the room. ¡°Wait. Someone get me Gui Laimeng!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Volume 8 67 Status Quo. Merely a Pair of Deities.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 67 Status Quo. Merely a Pair of Deities.</h4>

    ¡°Deliver a letter?¡± Mountain Monster leisurely crunched melon seeds and, without looking over, asserted, ¡°I refuse. I¡¯m a busydy.¡±

    Long Zaitian dodged an iing melon seed peel then looked around: ¡°Busy? You don¡¯t even have a job. What are you busy with?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean I don¡¯t have a job? Oi, woman, your voice is different. You drankst night, didn¡¯t you? Oi, tumbler, I saw you sneak into the dancer¡¯s roomst night. Bloody useless man¡¯s legs are still shaking. Go chop down a hundred and fifty kilograms of firewood tomorrow to build up your work capacity. Hey, erhu yer, get your act together, or I¡¯ll have the three-stringed yer rece you while you go do work on a cotton spinning wheel.¡±

    Even though Ming Feizhen left Mountain Monster at Dragon Phoenix Inn and a sentient lock to prevent her from running off, she didn¡¯t behave the way a prisoner would. It isn¡¯t umon for new employees to be working hard and behaving rtively more docile to show they were approachable in a team, yet she refused to budge an inch for anyone, while few of them could beat her in a fist fight. In no time at all, she became the boss of the female dancers at the inn, watching the performances from the first floor while enjoying a te of melons. Though it sounded as though she was only spectating, she proved herself to have a knack for directing the stage over thest two days.

    Is she messing with me? She¡¯s acting as if she¡¯s Her Majesty. What is up with Ming Feizhen¡¯s family? He¡¯s a walking collection of problems, and his distant niece is also a stuck-up, spoilt brat!

    ¡°Since Ming Feizhen brought you here, you have to listen to us. You can¡¯t just eat without working.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, that blockhead was the one who brought me here, not you. You think you can order me around just because you¡¯re also a blockhead?¡±

    I can¡¯t believe the stuff thates out of this girl¡¯s mouth. Man, she¡¯s more foul mouthed and ruder than barbarians in the pugilistic world.

    Since he had to resist getting into a verbal tirade with Mountain Monster, lest he ruin the inn¡¯s reputation, he had to keep it cultured: ¡°This involves Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°We need him to personally go invite an important guest. Since you¡¯re his niece, you¡¯re the best candidate to go on his behalf.¡±

    ¡°Invite a guest? Isn¡¯t that for errand runners? I thought he¡¯s your brains. You clean with your head?¡±

    Long Zaitian would likely be told to bugger off before he even made it to Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s doors as he was a man. Why should he have to deal with their attitude and run an errand due to a problem Ming Feizhen started?

    ¡°He has to deliver a letter today. You just need to tell them that he invited them toe over on the thirteenth of this month.¡±

    Mountain Monster shoved a handful of melon seeds in her mouth without skinning them first and then started deliberating while loudly crunching on them.

    I can¡¯t just stay here forever. Evil Spirits have to be searching for me. There¡¯s nothing I can do here. If I step outside, I might be able to regroup with them. That jerk set it up so that I can¡¯t run off on my own ord and to get along with the people here. If I¡¯m leaving on their orders, maybe it doesn¡¯t trigger the attack.

    ¡°Wait up.¡± Mountain Monster ran down the stairs whilst repeating to herself that she was only running an errand. To her delight, Ming Feizhen¡¯s technique didn¡¯t impact her whatsoever. This was an inherent w in techniques intended to manipte one¡¯s conscious. She ran back to Long Zaitian and thumped her chest, dering, ¡°All right, I¡¯ll help family out¡­ Leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s in your hands. The letter is in the study. It¡¯s the sealed letter with Ming Feizhen¡¯s name on it.¡±

    ¡°Got it, got it.¡± Mountain Monster fetched a letter from the study with Ming Feizhen¡¯s name on it, only to spot another thick letter. ¡°Bloody Longtard didn¡¯t even rify which one it is. I can¡¯t be stuffed consulting him¡­ Since they¡¯re supposed to be an important guest, they wouldn¡¯t write such a short letter. This is probably just his sry. It¡¯s got to be the thicker one.¡±

    Thus, Mountain Monster made off with ¡°Yuansheng¡¯s thirtieth year, Nanjing resident Ming Feizhen¡¯s profile¡±.

    Seeing Mountain Monster leave, Long Zaitian sneered: ¡°That¡¯s what you ought to have done in the first ce. You want topete with this great dragon? You two need to wise up.¡±

    ***

    A group of disciples from Wutong Jin Yuxuan earnestly worked on repairing the roof the Bodhi put a hole in and cleaned up the mess left behind. Abbess Huofeng dropped down into a stool once she was done giving out instructions and peered through the hole that was gradually shrinking.

    ¡°How is she ever going to marry if they two of them are always so impulsive? I didn¡¯t even get the chance to tell them not to chase him.¡±

    Ironically, Lian Qingluan and Yu Feiyuan were the least fiery disciples. If anything, their courage and sense of initiative to spearhead things should be praised, and concern should be offered.

    Even though Huofeng was the only nun among the three senior disciples, it didn¡¯t put up a wall between them. Yu Feiyuan¡¯s disciplined character was close enough to mimic a monk¡¯s lifestyle exactly. Lian Qingluan always loved following in Yu Feiyuan¡¯s footsteps, therefore suppressing her emotions, though part of it was just her inherent nature. As such, Huofeng was arguably the most stereotypical maiden among the three.

    Discussing their romances was a pre-bed ritual between the disciples of Wutong Jin Yuxian despite there being barely anything to discuss. Huofeng was a nun. Lian Qingluan was still on the young side for marriage. Hence, Yu Feiyuan was the only candidate left. In this era, parents would be fretting if their daughter still wasn¡¯t married at twenty-five years of age. ording to rumours in the sect, Huofeng had the most knowledge on Yu Feiyuan¡¯s romance story.

    Huofeng told her fellow disciples that Yu Feiyuan was engaged to a condemnable rascal since she was five. Unlike the romanticised stories out there, they weren¡¯t the sort of couple engaged prior to their births and married at first sight. If they were, Huofeng wouldn¡¯t boil every time she brought up the topic. She heard that the dastard took advantage of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s return to Emei to hit on the ten year old and cohabited with her senior for a year. She¡¯d rage, ¡°She was just ten years old, yet he had the audacity to after her. He deserves to be eunuch-ed!¡±

    Huofeng didn¡¯t care Ming Feizhen was only eighteen at the time. If Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t unbeatable, Huofeng, she would¡¯ve used her version of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s version of ¡°Put them on their back first and then talk¡± - ¡°Castrate them and then talk¡±. That said, that was only part of the story. After all, Huofeng never backed down just because someone was strong. The reason that Lian Qingluan, Huofeng and even Zi Wutong didn¡¯t push him was because Yu Feiyuan. Just mention ¡°Ming Feizhen¡±, and Yu Feiyuan bes restless. For that same reason and his ¡°Put them on their back first and then talk¡± lesson, Huofeng understood just how much her senior liked him. Whenever Yu Feiyuan practiced the swordy Ming Feizhen taught her, which was annoyingly regrly, she would look as though she was refreshed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even bring it up¡­¡±

    Huofeng exhaled a long breath and then took out a thick stack of letters, gradually pulling her browns in. The stack of letters was a collection of letters from various sects and eminent families asking for Interim Patriarch Yu¡¯s hand in marriage. The collection numbering over a thousand was am exhaustive collection of the candidate¡¯s background, martial prowess, personality, aplishments and anything else brag worthy.

    Since Wutong Jin Yuxuan shared origins with Emei and had roots in Buddhism, it came as no surprise that many of their disciples were nuns. Their disciples who didn¡¯t convert to nuns didn¡¯t adhere to taboos, such as following a vegetarian diet or avoiding liquor. ordingly, the disciples who weren¡¯t nuns were eager to enjoy themselves on Flying Swallow Ind, and Yu Feiyuan permitted them to enjoy life until Huofeng alone opposed the decision vehemently, fearing the men would find a way to trick Yu Feiyuan into their beds. Wutong Jin Yuxuan was the beauty pageant winner if they were to line up everyone for a beauty pageant.

    As per Luo Sword Manor¡¯s arrangements, the majority of men were on Flying Fish Ind, while the majority of women lodged on Flying Swallow Ind. As Flying Swallow, Flying Fish and Flying Bear inds were right next to each other, it was simple for those lodging on one ind to travel to another. Huofeng worried that Refining Divine Convention would be Yu Feiyuan Courtship Convention. Yu Feiyuan had already gained enough fame that she was in ¡°danger¡±.

    As a nun, Huofeng adamantly refused to read Pink Reflection. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t stop others from others informing her that Pink Reflection ranked Yu Feiyuan as the nation¡¯s fifth most beautiful, while Heavenly Fragrance Rankings ranked her in third ce. Meanwhile, Leglicious Rankings ranked her in first ce. If only Huofeng¡¯s concerns ended there.

    Huofeng¡¯s main concern was where Yu Feiyuan¡¯s damn, jerk of a fianc¨¦e was when thetter was already twenty-five years old. From the disciples to Matriarch Zi, everyone shared the same concern. Before Matriarch Zi secluded herself to train, she tasked Huofeng with helping Yu Feiyuan find a dashing, prodigious and aplished man, hence the stack of letters.

    After arriving at Canhu Town, Huofeng ¡°identally leaked¡± the stack of letters to Yu Feiyuan, hoping thetter would take a liking to one of them, only for Yu Feiyuan to raise an eyebrow. Huofeng was delighted to see Yu Feiyuan make off with the letter introducing Chang¡¯an City¡¯s Young Master He, a flower boy with the skills toplement his looks. When Yu Feiyuan came back, she wore a wry mug that puzzled Huofeng. Yu Feiyuan, smirking, demonstrated He n¡¯s empty-handed style and swordy and then designed counters for every technique they had. She praised Huofeng for diligently studying other styles to expand her horizons, telling her junior to keep it up. That night, Huofeng, one of the idols at Wutong Jin Yuxuan, had to wear a stiff smile all night long.

    ¡°Shifu¡­ You are pushing me tomit suicide¡­ Why am I the one stuck between two people with excruciatingly-tough-to-deal-with temperaments? Someone take over for me!¡±

    ¡°Senior Sister, someone has a letter to deliver,¡± a disciple knocked on the door to ry.

    Although people often address Huofeng as ¡°Abbess¡± out of courtesy, she was only twenty-two years old and, thanks to her internal strength, resembled a girl eighteen year old at max. As such, her fellow disciples didn¡¯t refer to her as ¡°Abbess¡±.

    ¡°What kind of letter?¡±

    ¡°It appears to be a confidential letter with drawings inside. Senior Sister, why are there letters all over the ground?¡±

    ¡°Great¡­ Is that the eight hundredth one?¡± Huofeng wagged her hand andmanded, ¡°Bin it. There¡¯s no use for it.¡±

    ¡°True that. You already have so many here. I can see why you are so angry. This letter is rather special, though. The material for it is high quality. It¡¯s just that the author¡¯s name is weird. His name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Huofeng¡¯s eyes flew open: ¡°Wait! Who¡¯s letter?! Ming Feizhen?! Bring it here!¡±

    Huofeng thereupon speed walked out to see Mountain Monster: ¡°Missy, are you the one who delivered the letter? Are you here on Ming Feizhen¡¯s behalf, Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Feizhen?¡±

    Missy?! How freaking dare you call me ¡°Missy¡±?! I just knew all the orthodox sects¡¯ are pieces of crap.

    ¡°Yes, him. It¡¯s not like I¡¯d earn a penny for impersonating him.¡±

    Too upied to care for Mountain Monster¡¯s brusque tone, Huofeng pointed to the letter, stuttering, ¡°Wh-what is this about?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°It says it nice and clear on there.¡±

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    This is material only the imperial family would use. I¡¯m not convinced he can be so sincere.

    ¡°I¡¯m just the messenger. I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Mountain Monster couldn¡¯t care what the contents inside were, so she never checked. Walking off, she added, ¡°Ming Feizhen will be waiting for your senior sister at Dragon Phoenix Inn on the thirteenth of this month.¡±

    Huofeng, eyes on the letter, narrowed her eyes and then opened them wide. Mist obstructed her vision as she cried out, ¡°At longst! You¡¯ve finally decided to take responsibility, Ming Feizhen!¡± Huofeng then spun around and instructed, ¡°Send a letter to Hangzhou¡¯s Thousand Hand Divine Weaver and Sanjiang¡¯s Famed Weaver to get to work on a wedding gown!¡±

 Volume 8 68 Exasperated. Undermining.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 68 Exasperated. Undermining.</h4>

    What am I hearing, a fight between adepts? It sounds intense. There are one, two¡­ All three of them are formidable. One of them is overwhelmingly strong. What is that technique? Sword qi? Who can use destructive sword qi?

    Simrly to before, Shen Yiren could hear the sh in Luo n¡¯s estate from her bed and make inferences based on what she could pick up. Even though Shen Yiren learnt to expand her earshot range to five hundred square metres around over time ever since regaining her conscious, the sound wasn¡¯t crisp. As Zha Pi pointed out, her room was far off from the main hall, so it further deteriorated the quality of the sounds. Luckily, her vast experience and analytical abilities were adequate for her to form a general image of what she was listening in to. Speaking of her enhanced hearing exclusive to those unfortunate enough to not have eyesight, it was thanks to her heightened hearing that she was one of the first people to detect the smithing department¡¯s infiltration.

    Huzhou inexorably has a tumultuous perioding as a result of Luo Yan and Luo Siming¡¯s sh unless they can resolve somehow it. Why has Luo Yan suddenly turned, though, when he has been running the Sun Character smithing department from the shadows voluntarily for all these years? While Luo Siming is honest, he isn¡¯t a durd. He¡¯s never suspected Luo Yan despite the fact that he¡¯s been dealing with pressure all these years¡­ What exactly was the trigger?

    The arrival of Bodhi, Yu Feiyuan and Reverend Zha derailed Shen Yiren¡¯s train of thought onto an irreversible course.

    Shen Yiren could tell that Bodhi¡¯s external style emphasised big movements, while he was able to control his output freely, which bore a striking resemnce to Evil Eminence Scripture. Yu Feiyuan¡¯s style was direct, amon trait of orthodox styles, in this case, Emei. Reverend Zha¡¯sck of technique but strength was so destructive that Shen Yiren felt as though she was under its pressure in person; it wasparable to a natural disaster.

    None of the three should have any membership with Luo Sword Manor. If they¡¯re hired help, why are they in the same ce at the same time? Hang on, the sword qi user¡¯s internal style seems¡­ to be familiar to the one that¡¯s imposed itself on my body. Perhaps they can exin why I learnt the internal style in my dreams.

    Anxiety struck Shen Yiren when the fighting ceased and two left. Nevertheless, the anxiety over the situation was soon reced with anxiety over the brisk steps approaching her room.

    It¡¯s not Luo Siming, Miss Ao Xue or anyone else who¡¯s visited. Based on their internal style, they can¡¯t be someone with Luo Sword Manor. What are they doing here? They can¡¯t be here by coincidence if I consider the fact that it¡¯s dangerous to even be on the grounds of this ce at the moment.

    Shen Yiren honed in on the person approaching, studying every piece of information she could to identify him.

    ***

    ¡°Boss!¡± Ming Feizhen shoved the doors open and got worked up for the bed Shen Yiren was supposed to be on was empty. ¡°Where is she? I was sure I could hear a woman breathing from outside¡­¡±

    The bed is as tidy as if someone cleaned up just now. I would be under the assumption that this room is just an empty room if there wasn¡¯t an unconscious maid on the ground, so it should be Boss¡¯ room that Zha Pi told me about, but¡­ The bed is too neat to not be suspicious.

    Ming Feizhen pulled off the nket, giving him the feeling of seeing shattered porcin. He touched the bed, noting, ¡°It¡¯s warm as I thought¡­ st it.¡±

    Of course, the kidnapper couldn¡¯t be faulted as they probably didn¡¯t think someone would arrive so soon.

    Given the bed is still warm, they couldn¡¯t have left long ago. Still, I¡¯m impressed they didn¡¯t leave any traces. I can¡¯t find them even though I¡¯ve widened my listening radius. How am I going to identify one specific person¡¯s breathing amongst so many people in Canhu Town? Damn it! Lost trace again!

    ¡°Boss¡­¡± Ming Feizhen ran his hand along the mattress, imagining all the angst Shen Yiren went through recently.

    It must¡¯ve been painful to be a vegetable in bed for thest half a month when you¡¯re usually energetic, enthusiastic, violent and always first to run to a crime scene. Why was Ite when I had finally found you? I could¡¯ve broken off from the escort and soloed my way into Huzhou to set up everything and got to you sooner.

    The prerequisite for Ming Feizhen to have actually reached Shen Yiren earlier, however, was that he would be willing to expose his true identity.

    I don¡¯t even know who kidnapped her or what they¡¯re going to do this time!

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that¡­ You were scary¡­ Promise me not to kill again¡­ okay?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t save anyone, be it Ximen or that wench.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, for as long as you are Ming Feizhen, you will never see me again.¡±

    Has anything changed since? I forsook power, status, fame, money, my arms, armour, my sense of self-righteousness, left the girl I love, got rid of the resentment clinging to me and chose to retire to the life of a recluse, yet I¡¯ve failed to protect someone I care about again. I failed to protect Xue, Ximen, the kid and now Boss. Why am I always one stepte?

    The fighting outside gradually reached the small room, with roughly twenty men from the swordy department and roughly twenty men from the smithing apartment. Someone from the smithing department peered inside and shouted, ¡°There¡¯s someone here! Who are you, scum from the swordy department?¡±

    ¡°The man is kookoo, staring at a bed. Wait, isn¡¯t this a girl¡¯s room?¡±

    ¡°Smithing department traitors,y down your weapons.¡±

    ¡°Oi, you inside,e out now!¡±

    ¡°W-wait, h-his eyes are red?¡±

    Ming Feizhen slowly looked over and lifted up a corner of his lips: ¡°Having fun¡­?¡±

    Ming Feizhen spent no time burying them in the hole in the courtyard. He then pulled off his mask as though it changed the way oxygen would influence his mood. Heid his head onto the bed while sitting beside it, red eyes on full disy. Those who knew him well enough would be appeasing him with every trick in the book already because those eyes and that demeanour spelt trouble.

    Why did I decide to retire to the life of a recluse? To be this useless version of me who can¡¯t even save a girl?

    In spite of having met a decent number of people ever since ¡°restarting¡±, the one person who came to mind in Ming Feizhen¡¯s enraged state was Su Xiao.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, didn¡¯t you teach me not to be stiff like a mountain and to, instead, adapt like water? You said that, if people don¡¯t use their brain, they¡¯re easy to be killed, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡­ Pretty sure that¡¯s just being shameless.

    Su Xiao brightly responded, ¡°You are certified shameless! Are you going to quit just like that?¡±

    Are you going to quit just like that?

    Ming Feizhen sat up, the red in his eyes receding as silver beads emerged on his forehead: ¡°Why am I giving up? As long as I can still search, there¡¯s still hope. It¡¯s just a town. Besides, I¡¯ve already done twops of it, so why can¡¯t I do a third?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stood up and inhaled to regather himself: ¡°Hmm? This smell¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s fixation on Shen Yiren being kidnapped drew his focus onto the conjecture that she had been kidnapped. As a result, he missed out on the clue lingering in the very air he was breathing. Even though someone used their internal strength and another supplementary method, they couldn¡¯t get rid of the scent. It might¡¯ve been enough to escape the nose of others but not Ming Feizhen when he had boosted his senses¡¯ sensitivity levels.

    This is the scent of a special flower fragrancebining a rose with herbs, which ismonly used to bathe in for health purposes. Whoever kidnapped Boss reduced its scent and then hit the air to disperse it.

    Ming Feizhen left the room and chased after the scent. Since it had travelled quite far away, he elerated himself faster than the human eye could ever keep up with. Head lowered, he muttered, ¡°Look if you want. Search if you want. Let¡¯s see who can see who I am.¡±

    Nobody in town could see or even detect someone speeding around them.

    Speaking from behind his teeth, Ming Feizhen fumed, ¡°Wait for me, Boss¡­ I¡¯ll smash their brains out the other side for you!¡±

    Glossary

    Big swing styles - The first example thates to mind when ites to contemporarybat that you would most likely know is Fedor Emelianenko. He throws his sweeping hooks on that awkward angle that catches many opponents. That¡¯s essentially what it means when it¡¯s a big swing style. In terms of kicks, visualise wide swinging kicks as opposed to more linear ones and using chambers. Let me know if you reckon I should make a video to exin and demonstrate in more depth.

 Volume 8 69 Cowherd and Weaver An Atypical Romance (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 69 Cowherd and Weaver - An Atypical Romance (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Smooth and supple skin just like your silk in the Central in. I really want to scar it. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fake death condition.¡±

    Poison King¡¯s voice stopped River Monster from taking rash action. Well, running the t part of a de along Shen Yiren¡¯s face wasn¡¯t ¡°rash action¡± by River Monster¡¯s standards.

    On the way to her destination, River Monster used her internal style to confirm Shen Yiren had healed, including her sealed meridians loosening up. Besides having her eyes shut and not giving any reaction no matter what sort of abuse she imposed, Shen Yiren was as good as new. For that reason, River Monster suspected Shen Yiren was ying possum, thereby justifying her act of threatening Shen Yiren¡¯s face with a scissor.

    ¡°What¡¯s fake death condition?¡±

    Sitting out the front of the room, Poison King exined in his husky voice, ¡°Physically dead. Mentally alive. It¡¯s a condition where the patient¡¯s mind and body are segregated.¡±

    River Monster pulled her scissor away from Shen Yiren¡¯s face, trusting Poison King, not because he didn¡¯t tell lies but because she looked down him. From his lenses, they were but fools. Not even Beijiang¡¯s state preceptor would answer Abels as bluntly as Poison King did and charge five hundred taels on top of that. Ask him to tell a lie, and he¡¯d charge several thousand silver taels. Poison King couldpetitively vie for a ce as the king of misers.

    Since Poison King was going to charge Abels for the consult, River Monster continued asking, ¡°Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°Sitting, walking, lying, mobilising limbs are subservient to the brain¡¯s control. Some pugilists are able to hone their skills to react before the mind does. Even so, the brain must register a desire in order for their body to move. That is what is meant by the mind controlling the body; it¡¯s a natural phenomenon. Fake death is where the link between mind and body are severed, resulting in the patientcking the capacity to impose their will on their body.¡±

    ¡°So she¡¯s not ying possum but actually unable to wake up?¡±

    Poison King shook his bottle for a while prior to responding, ¡°We can¡¯t force her to wake up even if we tried. Experts of Heart Realm internal styles might figure it out at first nce. Although this old one has touched on the topic, he is not erudite on it. Fake death is an advanced topic beyond this old one.¡±

    Owing to how different Heart Realm waspared to the seven other internal energy systems, some argued that it shouldn¡¯t be qualified as part of martial arts. Interestingly, the best of the best who inherited Heart Realm assented. Having said that, those who didn¡¯t experience it in the flesh ssified it voodoo garbage, while the cream of the crop categorised it as a profound schstic topic.

    In this era, most martial arts focused on physical attributes and measured aptitude based on rate of progress. Internal styles used refining internal energy - the act of improving control over one¡¯s internal energy and increasing its potency - and improving cirction between meridians as criterion for determining where one sat along the progress chart. Heart Realm inheritors focused on developing their minds. Therefore, it should be no surprise that there weren¡¯t many bat¡± adepts among them. That is not to say that they couldn¡¯t kill people from afar without lifting a finger, a feat exclusive to them.

    Heart Realm users also sealed and released meridians differently to what was considered conventional for the former sealed them through mental tactics. Give them to some of the most advanced martial artists out there, and they wouldn¡¯t have any means of releasing a seal ced mentally. That held true even if the caster was a kid still wet behind the ears or there was an enormous gap between the adept and caster, with thetter being inferior. Even if someone had the internal strength to punch holes through several walls in one punch, they wouldn¡¯t be able to pry open the seal, either. Shen Yiren¡¯s condition was pretty much identical.

    River Monster and Poison King had no clue Shen Yiren was listening in to their conversation.

    That must be River Monster, the one who severed my wrist nerve¡­ He must be Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King. Why would someone from the North and someone from the South be working togeth-, ow!

    Pinching Shen Yiren¡¯s face as she giggled, River Monster grouched, ¡°Look at your skin. No wonder why men like you.¡± River Monster wasn¡¯t satisfied even though Shen Yiren¡¯s condition pleased her, so she opened her scissors and poked Shen Yiren¡¯s skin. ¡°Look at your promiscuous body. Master has locked up your fianc¨¦e, and a group of people immediately came running for you. You even seduced Luo Sword Manor¡¯s young master while asleep, you born vixen. Night Fortress¡¯ master severed an arm of mine to avenge you! I¡¯ll make you pay for my loss!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    River Monster¡¯s eyes dted as she pressed down, only for the elder to stop her without her even noticing him move: ¡°Poison King, what are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t kill her¡­ or hurt her.¡±

    River Monster was always under the assumption that Poison King¡¯s only weapon was poison. In reality, martial arts were another weapon in his arsenal. Abels and Ming Feizhen were the only people who had ever caught her hand before she could realise it. Shen Yiren¡¯s enhanced hearing also didn¡¯t catch up in time, only having a guess after River Monster reacted, though she couldn¡¯tprehend why he stepped in.

    With her sense of superiority crushed, River Monster stopped, grouching, ¡°I can¡¯t even hurt her? Why? Did Master say so? What a jerk! He can¡¯t even walk now that he¡¯s seen this vixen!¡±

    ¡°The weapon¡­ The divine weapon in the making requires something from her.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? Like what?¡±

    ¡°During the forging¡­ The blood of five swordsmen who¡¯ve reached Sword Spirit Realm is required.¡±

    Using blood in cksmithing had a long history. Howbeit, that was the first time Shen Yiren and Mountain Monster heard of a weapon specifying the blood of adepts. Shen Yiren was also startled to learn Evil Spirits was involved with the bizarre event Luo Siming mentioned to her. She couldn¡¯t discern who was in what role.

    Poison King took the scissors off River Monster and, in his monotone, sluggish voice, carried on, ¡°Far and few in between, including patriarchs, have reached Sword Spirit Realm, let alone swordsmen. There are only four swordsmen among all of the people invited to the convention who have reached Sword Spirit Realm. We are in luck to have her as the fifth.¡±

    ¡°How does me ruining her appearance have anything to do with that?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s been fortunate enough to have had decent conditions to recover in. If you go and ruin her face, you might trigger an adverse reaction in her essence and blood, disqualifying her blood. If you hurt her, you better be ready to rece her as the fifth.¡±

    Since not even Abels disrespected Poison King, Mountain Monster didn¡¯t impugn.

    ¡°What sort of weapon is Luo Sword Manor forging? I¡¯ve seen plenty of quality weapons, yet I¡¯ve never heard of anything so exaggerated, requiring blood from swordsmen of specific realms, sword cores and sword bodies and whatever.¡±

    Poison King snorted: ¡°If you could imagine it, it¡¯s not a divine weapon. Sword cores and sword bodies are necessaryponents to begin with. Luo Sword Manor¡¯s ultimate weapon consists of a yin weapon and a yang weapon, eachplementing the other. People presume that the two are two divine weapons, believing it would be better to wield them separately. In reality, the two are a pair; their true potential can only be exhibited when they are wielded together. Luo Sword Manor isn¡¯t looking to forge an ordinary weapon but one worthy of being deemed as a peerless weapon.¡±

    Shen Yiren deliberated, ¡°Why is such a knowledgeable man cooperating with Evil Spirits? How does he know even more than Luo Siming? There must be more to this than what the public knows.¡±

    ¡°Done,¡± announced Poison King.

    ¡°What did you make?¡±

    ¡°Soul stealing pill.¡± Poison King opened his hand, revealing a blue pill. ¡°Implement it with your Soul Stealing Sinister Style, and it can heighten your puppets¡¯ power. If they disobey, use your Reverse Flow Evil Style to have them die from an inexplicable death. She¡¯s a determined woman, so there¡¯s no guarantee she will be obedient even if you turn her into your puppet, but she won¡¯t be able to defy you if youbine it with this pill.¡±

    River Monster took the pill and shoved it into Shen Yiren¡¯s mouth as fast as apulsive gambler collecting his prize money: ¡°Serve me for the rest of your l-¡±

    A wave of energy seemingly permeating in the atmosphere out of nowhere cut River Monster¡¯s gloating session short. Poison King and River Monster felt as though the energy froze them in stone and scared light off. The door¡¯s opening sound resembled a dying animal crying out its pain and sorrow with itsst breath¡­

 Volume 8 70 Cowherd and Weaver An Atypical Romance (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 70 Cowherd and Weaver - An Atypical Romance (Part 2)</h4>

    Those standing around thought their eyes were just ying tricks on them when the moving items, mobile people and wind ceased, while Ming Feizhen was the only one silently moving. Ming Feizhen suddenly stopped on a street as the unique scent faded.

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand, ushering a faint pink smoke towards his hand. The fact that there was so little left in a considerably narrower range meant that the kidnapper prepared to enter their hideout once they reached that spot and then dispersed what they could still smell with their hand.

    Given I can still find this much means that the palm strike shouldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    Even though there were flickering mes in his eyes, Ming Feizhen calmly rolled the aroma he collected on his hand starting from Luo Sword Manor¡¯s estate, turning it into a tiny ball. Because of the pink smoke, what should¡¯ve been an invisible ball of gas became a small pink ball. He gently chucked the small ball up then flicked out his celestial spider silk, producing a qi ripple.

    ¡°Demon King Thread - Kill.¡±

    The threads prated through the small ball, spreading true qi thousands of times thinner than Ming Feizhen¡¯s threads. Mist poured out from the ball in an omnidirectional manner as though a hail of arrows punctured it. Ming Feizhen, watching them, robotically pulled his head over and down.

    The light that was devoured moments ago returned, and the flow of time returned, though nobody realised there was an extra person joining them on the street prior to the freeze. He did not use Divine Realm¡¯s Eclipse to hide his presence or appearance. It was not light-speed qingong. It was a mental cultivation technique from the manual that only three people ever managed to learn - Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art.

    Ming Feizhen used aforementioned technique when Baima andpany tried to intercept him as he attempted to descend the mountain after the scuffle at Lawless Cliff. Ever since Ximen Chuideng¡¯s demise, Ming Feizhen never utilised the technique again as he couldn¡¯t control the raging bloodlust that he couldn¡¯t bring under control once it manifested in him.

    Over thest five years since escaping the encirclement at Lawless Cliff, Ming Feizhen¡¯s development allowed him to maintain a bit of the bloodlust after the red glow in his eyes receded, while the mental training he put himself through and the life experiences, lessons taught him enough to maintain his calmness. At the very least, he didn¡¯t need to go on a trigger happy murder spree right away.

    Ming Feizhen silently waited at the entrance to a restaurant, ears tuning in to every movement and brain rifling through information, for the rings of mist he spread to drift to the edge of the two and a half square kilometres boundary - the max distance he could disperse it. Only the kidnapper would be able to smell the scent they left behind. Hence, he needed to wait for said individual¡¯s true qi to react to it in order to locate their position.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? You¡¯re dissuading my customers froming in!¡± A man behind Ming Feizhen tried to pull him away, only to be thrown over Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder, therebying face to face with thetter. ¡°You!¡±

    The man who tried to drive off Ming Feizhen was none other than Mr. Qian, whom challenged Ming Feiyuan¡¯s identity as Zhong Hualiu¡¯s younger son at Dragon Phoenix Inn. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t sitting in front of a restaurant. He was sitting in front of Eternal Stay Swallow Brothel, Proprietor Qian¡¯s new brothel.

    ¡°You¡¯re here to start trouble again?!¡±

    Busy, Ming Feizhen simply replied, ¡°Bye.¡±

    He looks really down unlike thest time I saw him. I wonder if it has anything to with the new Mr. Li at Dragon Phoenix Inn who¡¯s supposedly running the entire ce now. I wonder if Zhong Ming got kicked out, hehehe.

    ¡°Young man, you have to suffer when you¡¯re young. Since you don¡¯t have anywhere to go now, you cane here.¡±

    Upon meeting eyes with Ming Feizhen, Proprietor Qian shivered as if someone poured freezing water down the nape of his neck. Had Ming Feizhen meant to inflict harm in that split second their eyes met, Proprietor Qian would¡¯ve been bed ridden. Despite the spooky experience, Proprietor Qian told himself his mind was just ying tricks on him.

    ¡°Young Master, I wasn¡¯t prepared, while you had the home ground advantage. My loss wasparable to trying to cross the river with a hole in my boat. You have the guts topete again?¡±

    ¡°Whatever.¡± Ming Feizhen dismissed whatever was said as his focus was on analysing the influx of information to locate Shen Yiren¡¯s kidnapper.

    ¡°Brave soul!¡±

    You¡¯re distracted and brain fried because you¡¯ve been kicked out, so I¡¯m going to throw you something you need to concentrate hard for.

    ¡°Since we work with women, we must have an eye for them, so let¡¯s put our judgement to the test.¡± Proprietor Qian pped three times and hollered, ¡°Girls.¡±

    The girls working at the brothel filed out in scant clothing despite the winter chill outside. He whispered something in their ears, prompting them to head inside and thene back giddily with a sheet of white cloth each.

    ¡°Young Master Zhong, look at their¡­ pair of moons behind the white cloths, and let¡¯s see who has better judgement.¡±

    Guessing things behind veils was amon game genre in brothels for entertainment. Using a white cloth was just Proprietor Qian¡¯s way of cheating because they were his girls; he should be expected to know what his girls¡¯ appearances and measurements were.

    ¡°I¡¯ll st-¡±

    Without looking, Ming Feizhen pointed to one of the girls: ¡°First one, hand-sized.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    The maiden¡¯s face resembled a red tomato.

    ¡°Second, light and small. Third, thirteen years old. Fourth, ripe and heavy. Fifth, voluptuous and fragrant. Sixth, round and beautiful. Seventh, hot, soft and blemish free. Eighth, curvaceous and luscious. Ninth, supple and soft. Tenth, perky and firm.¡±

    Ming Feizhen went through them so quick that only one of them managed to enunciate, ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°H-h-how did you know?!¡±

    The answer? Ming Feizhen¡¯s enhanced hearing and smell. He didn¡¯t know the specifics, but he could conjure images with the limited information. Of course, he used his eyes to a degree. Most importantly, though, was¡­ experience.

    ¡°I¡¯m done with your game. Can I leave now?¡±

    Proprietor Qian, excuses exhausted, shrugged his shoulders to his ears, rolled his shoulders forward and plodded to the door, when he suddenly heard, ¡°Wait.¡± His head popped up and turned around.

    ¡°How can I help?¡±

    ¡°This your new brothel?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Did three odd-looking people who demanded they didn¡¯t want girls enter not long ago?¡±

    ¡°Eh? How did you know?¡±

    ¡°Two of them were women, and one of them was a man. The three appeared to be in a hurry and entered thest room on the east side?¡±

    ¡°How did you know?!¡±

    ¡°One of them was a gorgeous girl under twenty with thick eyebrows, a supple skin and was asleep.¡±

    ¡°H-how did you know?!¡±

    ¡°She has curves to die for and lively assets. You don¡¯t have any girl who can hold a candle to her.¡±

    ¡°Are you a god?!¡± Proprietor Qian¡¯s knees kissed the floor.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to waste on you. Move aside.¡±

    Ming Feizhen showed a clean pair of heals, not even generating footstep sounds as he sped inside.

    ¡°Guan Zhong has returned! Guan Zhong has returned! Please allow me to offer you three bows!¡± cried Proprietor Qian, bowing after Ming Feizhen with the belief that thetter was the reincarnation of thete Chinese philosopher and politician who served as chancellor and was a reformer of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen kept dialling up his speed until it appeared as though everything was motionless and then pushed the door open to see River Monster and Poison King at the table. Ming Feizhen wasted no time vaulting up and sealing eight upoints that true qi needed to circte through then whooshed past them to the bed.

    Ming Feizhen, eyes on the maiden who remained domineering even in her sleep, like a sword waiting to be unsheathed, muttered, ¡°Boss¡­¡±

 Volume 8 71 Cowherd and Weaver An Atypical Romance (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 71 Cowherd and Weaver - An Atypical Romance (Part 3)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen felt his throat stung as he uttered, ¡°Boss,¡± prompting him to bite down on his lip, forcing his regret and unease to go back down. s, the dreadful guilt still gnawed at him.

    Had I not been selfish and estimated them, I could¡¯ve rescued you earlier. It¡¯s all my fault. Still¡­ I¡¯m d. I¡¯ve finally found you. Things have changed since thirteen years ago, five years ago. I¡¯ve managed to save you this time.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s disbelief find its way into his hands, wobbling them as he reached for her right hand¡¯s meridian.

    Fake death¡­

    With a background in martial arts and medical practices, it was no surprise that Ming Feizhen knew about fake death or witnessed it before. The good news was that he had a rather easy way of undoing it. His ability to get into someone¡¯s head, literally, would allow him to reconnect Shen Yiren¡¯s mind and body as long as he had enough time. The bad news was that he couldn¡¯t implement the strategy straight away.

    Patients diagnosed with fake death are highly likely to have an active mind. In other words, Shen Yiren could be aware of her surroundings. If Ming Feizhen treated her while she had self-awareness, then she would suspect who he really was. Thus, his only solution was to take her back to Dragon Phoenix Inn and then find an opportunity to covertly do it, crediting someone else with the job.

    Ming Feizhen subconsciously reached for Shen Yiren¡¯s other wrist as he weighed his options, only to feel something abnormally tough,pelling him to keep checking until he find her scarred left wrist. He cast his eyes up to her face, apologetic and taking pity on her.

    She¡¯s a gant heroine, riding on horseback and vanquishing evil with her sword for the people and imperial court. She¡¯s the leader of Liu Shan Men - Shen Yiren. She shouldn¡¯t be sleeping here like a doll. I¡¯m going to save you.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s hand heated up gradually in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hold, and he whispered, ¡°Sorry¡­ Boss.¡±

    ***

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Shen Yiren felt an artificial sense of stillness, as if time had frozen. Yes, she only had her ears, and she was living in her brain, but the foreign feeling couldn¡¯t be described any other way besides feeling as if she was in a different dimension.

    Someone¡¯s approaching with light footsteps. That footstep was considerably louder than thest. Are they stimted about something? Why does it feel as though I have a confident guess as to what¡¯s going to happen next.

    ¡°Boss¡­¡±

    Feizhen?! Why is he here? How did he get in? What happened to Poison King and River Monster? Why can¡¯t I hear where they are? Did he sneak in while they are out? That¡¯s the only way he coulde in here without being carried in as a corpse. Why is he always so rash?

    Despite her chiding, the corner of Shen Yiren¡¯s lips rose in her mind. She was aware she had her emotions still; however, they were unnecessary to her for as long as she was stuck in her head. Try what she may, she couldn¡¯t stop herself smiling. She eventually stopped fighting it since Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t get into her head anyway. Besides, the emotion swirling inside her felt as though it alleviated a lot of weight weighing down on her.

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t believe how happy she was to see Ming Feizhen; she just felt close to him in a way that she couldn¡¯t depict with words. Although she saw through his careless nature upon first meeting, she never expected him to be a bag of surprises in more ways than one.

    He has so much in the pugilistic world that you¡¯d think he¡¯s a veteran from it. He¡¯s twenty-eight years old, yet he¡¯s younger than my fianc¨¦. He¡¯s never aplished anything major, cracked a big case, captured a dangerous wanted criminal or saved Liu Shan Men. Su Xiao, Tang Ye, Bai Yeshuang and the more well-equipped members have been doing all of that, so why has he grown on me the most?

    Perhaps it¡¯s because he¡¯ll bring me a cup of tea right when I could do with a drink, show up with clues when I reach a dead end on a case, show up with a bench when I want to get something off my chest, pretend to yawn when I¡¯m sleepy, smile when I want to fire up and always be there for me. He¡¯s the first subordinate I¡¯ve truly been happy with and feel that I can trust. Maybe others are more capable at work, but they don¡¯t understand me as well as he does despite having been with me for longer.

    Upon feeling Ming Feizhen take hold of her left hand, roses bloomed on Shen Yiren¡¯s face. Nheless, he ignored her panic-stricken state. Though unsure why, she could vividly imagine how he looked as he gently ran his warm hand down her forearm.

    d to know I haven¡¯t been doting on you for nothing all this time.

    ¡°Sorry, Boss.¡±

    H-huh? Wh-what is he apologising so sincerely f-

    In spite of being disconnected from moving her limbs, Shen Yiren still had her sense of touch and, therefore, had no doubts that her lips were sealed.

    He¡¯s forcing a kiss on me?!

    Shen Yiren executed her Manhood-ending Kick. Unfortunately, she missed for the first time, banging it on a solid arm. Meanwhile, the warm lips nted on hers felt more assertive than prior to her throwing the kick. In fact, he pulled her right up against his body with his right arm.

    What is this torrid, ecstatic feeling? Is this a poison? Why can¡¯t I fight it? I shouldn¡¯t be feeling this way. Wh-why do I feel scared that I¡¯m having these feelings?

    ¡°Ng¡­¡± Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t believe the moan she let out in her mind as Ming Feizhen continued imposing on her lips. ¡°B-Big Brother¡­¡±

    I can¡¯t feel any strength in body like my body is melting. My mind is going nk. I can¡¯t think of anything. My vision is fading. All I can feel is my body leaving m-, ah, h-h-his tongue pried its way in!

    Following a rumble, Shen Yiren had no idea what happened after.

    Ming Feizhen leaned away, pulling out a silver string between their lips, the beauty of her rosy lips sending his heart rate into overdrive. He silently monitored Shen Yiren¡¯s state until he heard, ¡°Ming¡­ Fei¡­ zhen!¡±

    ¡°Boss!¡±

    Shen Yiren woke as if sleeping had be dangerous and wrestled Ming Feizhen onto the bed by hispel before reaching into her shirt for an item she had kept on her all the time.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, why do you have an inkstone in your shirt?!¡± Among all the reactions Ming Feizhen imagined Shen Yiren would give, this was not one of them. He expected a reunion with his gorgeous boss, not the inkstone that he could never get along with.

    ¡°You chose the wrongdy to piss off.¡±

    Ming Feizhen covered his cheeks with both hands: ¡°No! No! No! W-¡±

    Smack! Whack! Smack! Whack! Smack! Whack!

 Volume 8 72 Curtain. An Emotion that Provokes.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 72 Curtain. An Emotion that Provokes.</h4>

    Ming Feizhen helped the weeping beauty rub her cheeks, expressing, ¡°I worked so hard to find you¡­ yet you brutally bludgeoned me¡­¡±

    Moments ago¡­

    While Ming Feizhen did expect to get clocked for smooching Shen Yiren for a good fifteen minutes, he didn¡¯t expect the inkstone to two-hundred-hitbo his face. He couldn¡¯t expect the light punishment of a verbalshing after stealing a kiss.

    Ming Feizhen seized Shen Yiren¡¯s arm as she went for the 201st whack: ¡°You done yet?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen recoiled as soon as Shen Yiren shot him a re.

    With her only functioning arm seized, Shen Yiren drove a heel into Ming Feizhen¡¯s chin,ying him t on his back: ¡°No!¡±

    She¡¯s not embarrassed. She¡¯spletely lost it! I nearly bit my tongue off!

    ¡°Wait! Listen to -¡±

    ¡°Listen?!¡± Shen Yiren grabbed Ming Feizhen¡¯s cor then leapt off the bed, using the momentum to m his face onto the ground: ¡°I¡¯ll listen after I¡¯m done!¡± Shen Yiren then proceeded to m Ming Feizhen¡¯s into the floor eight more times, resulting in his head swelling up. Obviously, he didn¡¯t use his qi armour.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to!¡±

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± Shen Yirenunched Ming Feizhen onto the bed with a back kick. She sauntered over to him and grabbed his hair to unleash another beating before lifting it back up, staring straight into his eyes.

    ¡°All your steam gone¡­? L-listen to me¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren titled her head and tugged up the corner of her lips. ¡°Not listening.¡± Shen Yiren pulled his head down and drove her knee up.

    ¡°Ah! Hah! Hah!¡±

    The girls listening in outside, face ashy, questioned, ¡°He¡¯s going to die?! Who¡¯s the tigress? She¡¯s going to kill her husband!¡±

    ¡°Nah, those two are probably just going at it hard, though that¡¯s pretty intense.¡±

    ¡°St-stop! I¡¯m done!¡±

    ¡°Get over here!¡± Shen Yiren thumped and wrestled Ming Feizhen against the furniture in the room while he groaned, screamed and grunted.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as if they¡¯ve been apart for a decade. Do they need to go at it so intensely?¡±

    ¡°Intense? It¡¯s life threatening.¡±

    ¡°Get lost!¡±

    Those eavesdroppers outside careened upon hearing Shen Yiren bray, while two of the girls burst into tears.

    Shen Yiren kept up the assault for approximately another hour before Shen Yiren ran out of energy and had to guzzle the tea on the table to soothe her dry throat. As for Ming Feizhen, he crawled to his feet and didn¡¯t dare to utter another word.

    ¡°Phew.¡± Shen Yiren threw aside the empty teacup then wiped her mouth before ring at Ming Feizhen again.

    Ming Feizhen scuttled backward, inwardly praying, ¡°She¡¯s not going to go for another round is she?¡±

    Shen Yiren gave Ming Feizhen a friendly pat on the shoulder and conveyed, ¡°All right. Ming Feizhen, let¡¯s write it off with that since I don¡¯t think you mean it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I told you I didn¡¯t mean it an hour ago! Why didn¡¯t you listen?!¡±

    ¡°Different situation.¡±

    ¡°How?!¡±

    Shen Yiren shed a corner of her white pearls: ¡°I was angry.¡±

    You have to be kidding me¡­ I probably shouldn¡¯t ever anger her again.

    Still simpering, Shen Yiren scanned Ming Feizhen from head to toe: ¡°Bruises but no blood. I didn¡¯t know you were so robust.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for holding back, Boss.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hold back.¡±

    ¡°Did it never cross your mind to hold back?¡±

    Shen Yiren did neck circles, wrist circles and so forth to check up on her body: ¡°No, I just wanted to bust your head open.¡±

    ¡°What if something worse happened to me?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re fine now, aren¡¯t you? You think it doesn¡¯t tire me or make me sore? I¡¯m a girl, yet I¡¯m notining, so stop whinging when you¡¯re a grown man.¡±

    In Proprietor Qian¡¯s mind: ¡°He does his old man proud. Even his wife is amazing in bed. That¡¯s what you call going all out with total disregard for safety. She¡¯s the idol of women. This old one will probably have to buy their kid a present soon.¡±

    Shen Yiren, aware she was in a brothel, blustered, ¡°Those eavesdropping outside, get lost. Eavesdrop again and I¡¯ll burn your kennel down.¡±

    Proprietor Qian slipped down the stairs, nearly killing himself as he hurtled.

    ¡°What happened to¡­ those two?¡± inquired Shen Yiren, referring to Mountain Monster and Poison King standing awkwardly by the door.

    I remember River Monster fed me a pill against my will. Some sort of force then stopped the flow of time of something, and I lost awareness of everything for a split second. Since the pill was in my mouth and Ming Feizhen stuck his tongue in¡­

    Shen Yiren shot Ming Feizhen a re as fiery as her face, sending him teetering back.

    River Monster and Poison King should¡¯ve been by my side before that sensation. Did someone move the two over to the door? I surmise their upoints are sealed.

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Me what?¡± Ming Feizhen decided to y the fool since he dealt with the two thoughtlessly.

    ¡°Did you subdue the two?¡±

    ¡°They were already, like that, when I came in.¡±

    Who could subdue Poison King without me noticing when I was paying attention, not to mention along with River Monster? I only know of four living people who could pull it off.

    ¡°Big Brother?¡± Shen Yiren uttered in a happy and anticipatory tone. She grabbed Ming Feizhen by the arm to ask, ¡°W-was it Big Brother? I mean, did you see anyone else around?¡±

    ¡°What Big Brother?¡±

    Shen Yiren opened the windows as though she urgently needed oxygen and swept her gaze over the streets before surveying the interior of the room again. Sadly for her, the traces she hoped to find weren¡¯t there.

    ¡°¡­ You¡­ didn¡¯t see a bald man¡­?¡±

    Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t forgotten Shen Yiren¡¯s mumbling when he saved her from Zhong Ning. Assuming the monk was her crush, he curled his lips: ¡°What bald monk? You have daoists and nuns in town but no baldy monks. It¡¯s bad luck for me to run into baldies when I sometimes gamble, Boss.¡±

    ¡°What baldy? He¡¯s handsome!¡±

    She¡¯s never minded something so trivial so much before. I came all the way from the capital to find you. Yeah, I apanied His Majesty, but¡­ I¡¯ve been searching high and low for you day and night. You beat the snot out of me for saving you, and you¡¯re worried about some bald monk, Shaolin abbot or something before you even praised me once¡­

    ¡°Did you see one or not?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s shoulders rolled forward: ¡°I see¡­ It might not have been him even if there was one.¡±

    ¡°Would the baldy have been able to save you?¡±

    ¡°Stop calling him a baldy.¡±

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms, grumbling under his breath, ¡°All I know is that someone switches between friendly and hostile unpredictably. I came all the way here from the capital, foregoing sleep, yet all I got was a beating after saving her. As soon as she recovers, all she cares about is some bald monk, some glossy-head big brother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been eager to see him for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course, I cannot fathom what your great self can fathom. I¡¯m no big man. Wakes up to her saviour and beats him up.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his hands to his head: ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    Shen Yiren raised a hand to hit Ming Feizhen but stopped herself upon seeing the stains on his clothing, his injuries and his shaky hands. Her fiery gaze turned to a tender gaze as she cracked up, stupefying him. ¡°You angry?¡±

    ¡°N-no.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You¡¯re angry I hit you, correct?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. You said it.¡±

    Wryly perking up the corner of her lips, Shen Yiren folded her arms, jiggling her rack: ¡°You had your kiss and your touch. So what if I hit you? How petty.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes made their way to Shen Yiren¡¯s lips, while his attention drifted back to his memories, prompting her to raise a hand and yfully threaten, ¡°Still thinking about it? Want to get hit?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking of anything,¡± Ming Feizhen pleaded as he wagged his hands. ¡°Boss will always be my wise, mighty leader.¡±

    Shen Yiren giggled at the sight of Ming Feizhen¡¯s foolish act: ¡°Better be that way. If you do that again, I¡¯ll skin you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, man, I¡¯m going to need toyer myself with extrayers of skin, then.¡±

    Shen Yiren gently whacked Ming Feizhen on the head: ¡°Stop showing off your glib tongue. How about figuring out what happened to those two. Anything out of the norm happen when youe in? Also, how did you find me?¡±

    Shen Yiren did think of someone who could¡¯ve done what she inferred took ce, but said individual was way too far from Jiangnan.

    Shen Yiren giggled again at the sight of Ming Feizhen¡¯s derp face, feeling relieved. Thanks to her giggle, Ming Feizhen had a spark of inspiration.

    ¡°Probably some adept. I recently met a sage-like adept. Man, he is an exceptional man. He¡¯s also the one who told me you were here,¡± Ming Feizhen replied in the most sincere tone he could fake. ¡°He¡¯s an incredible daoist with knowledge that rivals the heavens. I headed to Luo n¡¯s ce when I heard from Bai Yeshuang that she located you. As luck would have it, I met the daoist. All he needed to do was perform a divination on his fingers to pinpoint your whereabouts.¡±

 Volume 8 73 Watch Yourself. I Have a Black Bear.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 73 Watch Yourself. I Have a ck Bear.</h4>

    Had it been under different circumstances, Shen Yiren would¡¯ve scoffed at the notion that somebody divined her whereabouts on his fingers and used Ming Feizhen of fibbing. He was lucky he told the rightughable lie at the right time because, coincidentally, things lined up.

    ¡°Empyrean Zha?¡± repeated Shen Yiren, chin tucked and nose wrinkled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the fraud at Luo n¡¯s estate?¡±

    I was going to starch him after I came to. If he¡¯s the one who told Ming Feizhen where I was, could he also be the inconceivably advanced adept who joined the fight at Luo n¡¯s ce?

    ¡°In that case, was Empyrean Zha also the one who subdued the two?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Beats me. Probably? He told me that, since fate allowed us to meet, he¡¯d lend me a hand three times. Subduing them probably was the second favour,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    ¡°The first favour was guiding you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was going to nod until he had an enlightened moment and changed it to, ¡°And how to wake you.¡±

    Empyrean Zha did mention feeding me the medicine via mouth to mouth. Although Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have the medicine, maybe Empyrean Zha meant it only as a figure of speech to suggest that kissing was the actual fix? It¡¯s too embarrassing to ask even though I want rification.

    Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen¡¯s grin read, ¡°Yep, I knew it all in advance. I¡¯m a genius. I need to talk to Zha Pi to ensure our story is congruent. I¡¯ll say he passed out as soon as he entered Luo n¡¯s estate, and then some travelling safe reced him. Bai Yeshuang knows where Zha Pi went, so it¡¯s going to be a headache if he¡¯s questioned as to how he pulled off all that crazy stuff.¡±

    With that mystery out of the way, Ming Feizhen filled Shen Yiren in on recent events ever since theter was out ofmission, including Green Prince¡¯s presence.

    ¡°His Majesty is here? Why didn¡¯t you stop him? Monarchs shouldn¡¯t leave the imperial court unless absolutely necessary, let alone during New Year. His absence is going to leave the imperial court in a vtile state.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing. He¡¯s not here purely for you. I think he¡¯s looking to speak to Luo n and has been preparing for a while. I suspect rescuing you was ast-minute addition to the agenda.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m specting. By instating Red Prince His Highness to a supervisor position, His Majesty can put His Highness¡¯ abilities to the test on top of weeding out retainers who have been waiting for an opportunity to stir the ho¡¯s nest or forward an agenda. The excuse he came up with for his departure was apanying Empress Dowager Her Majesty through New Year on Mount Zisheng. For all we know, it might¡¯ve been Prime Minister Li¡¯s idea. His Majesty might not have been the mastermind.¡±

    ¡°You sound more like the mastermind. Why do you make His Majesty sound like some sly strategist with superb foresight?¡±

    The twoughed the way they usuallyughed back at Liu Shan Men whenever inserting jokes into serious discussions, and then Ming Feizhen proposed, ¡°We have no way of telling when those two are going toe to. I suggest we stick a knife in them and then rendezvous with His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ No.¡±

    ¡°You serious? If we fight them fair and square, they¡¯ll murder us.¡±

    ¡°Not only must we keep them alive, but I must also stay.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re noting?! What did Ie all the way here for if you don¡¯te with me?!¡±

    ¡°Behave. What are you even belting for?¡± Shen Yiren poked Ming Feizhen on the head as he kept bouncing up and down. She sat back down on the bed and covered her legs with the nket then continued, ¡°Feizhen, listen carefully to everything I say now. I can¡¯t leave. The two of them are with Evil Spirits. They are nning something big. If they die here, Abels will call off their ns until he can resume when we least expect it. We have to foil Abels¡¯ n, which means we must spare them.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you n to c-¡±

    ¡°I n to continue feigning I¡¯m still in aa. Only when I¡¯m defenceless will they lower their guard and reveal more secrets to me.¡± Shen Yiren beamed with confidence. ¡°I¡¯ll humble them for challenging me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this to me! Boss, how are you going to go undercover with only one hand? Moreover, His Majesty has aged several years over thest two weeks just worrying about you. Are you seriously not going to go cate him?¡±

    Though touched, Shen Yiren shook her head: ¡°I can¡¯t return empty handed. I must get to the bottom of Abels¡¯ n and thwart it.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need you to do any of that. He just wants you back safe and sound.¡±

    Shen Yiren shook his head.

    ¡°Fine, you can stay, but¡± - Ming Feizhen crawled under the bed and got in nice and close to Shen Yiren, draping his arm over her - ¡°I can¡¯t let you take the risk alone.¡±

    ¡°Get. Out.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡± Ming Feizhen scurried out as fast as he could.

    Shen Yiren smiled helplessly: ¡°I can understand why you¡¯re concerned. We don¡¯t have a choice when dealing with this group, however. You may be witty, but undercover work is an entirely different beast.¡±

    A smug grin came to Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips: ¡°Oh, you¡¯re worried about me. I can easily get in. You want to bet on it?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ sound like you really have a n. How you going to do it?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways.¡±

    ¡°What do you want to bet on?¡±

    ¡°If I lose, you can do as you please to do with me. If I win, you owe me something.¡±

    ¡°Owe you what?¡±

    Although Ming Feizhen wanted an answer as to who her ¡°Big Brother¡± was, he replied, ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I decide.¡±

    I¡¯m keen to learn more about Mount Daluo. He¡¯s only going to ask for more days off or an extra meal.

    ¡°Fine, I ept.¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen made sure to seal Poison King and River Monster¡¯s upoints using his internal energy system from Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art so that they couldn¡¯t hear or see. He even sealed their conscious; they were basically inas. They would need ten to fourteen days to undo a seal he set on them.

    Once Ming Feizhen was ready, he sent transparent qi outside to release the duo¡¯s sealed upoints.

    ¡°Once I turn you into my puppet, I¡¯ll have you kill anyone, even your lover, without batting an eye. If I want you to prostitute yourself, you will, hahaha.¡± River Monster was back to her position after force feeding Shen Yiren her pill and had no recollection of the events that unfolded while Ming Feizhen froze her.

    Likewise, Poison King responded, ¡°You are supposed to use her as an assassin, not for something asme as prostitution. She¡¯s the weakest among the five swordsmen we need and barely made it to Sword Spirit Realm. I need you to have her fight at Refining Divine Convention so that she can consolidate her entry into Sword Spirit Realm. If you let any harm befall her, she¡¯ll need more than half a year to recover. If we¡¯re one swordsman short, our ns will be dyed.¡±

    River Monster could feel her hairs perking up as she listened to Poison King¡¯s warning. She could sense that Abels treated Poison King as his equal whenever they conversed. Therefore, if she challenged Poison King¡¯s warning, she had a feeling that he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to harm her. While she had never seen him kill, she did see him feed a deer poison, corroding everything but the bones.

    ¡°Fine. Did you have to pontificate?¡± River Monster red daggers at Shen Yiren to vent. Upon hearing knocks at the door, she questioned, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Poison King bound to the door and opened it violently then had to look up as he saw nothing but a ck screen. Upon seeing the beast over three times as tall as an adult, he was going to assault the monster when he heard River Monster cry, ¡°My ck bear king! That¡¯s my ck bear king!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± An elder popped his head out from behind the ck bear and added, ¡°This old one is here to deliver a bear to you.¡±

 Volume 8 74 Epiphany. I see.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 74 Epiphany. I see.</h4>

    Long Zaitian mused to himself for a long while prior to querying, ¡°What is this?¡±

    Licking a candied haw, Mountain Monster answered, ¡°What else? Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s reply.¡±

    Long Zaitian scanned the five containers of various fruits with colourful silk fabricsid on top and two chests of metal items. Based on what was visible through one of the small openings, there was a knife for butchering pigs. Scratching his head, he asked, ¡°So, where¡¯s the letter?¡±

    ¡°I put it in the container of apples. It should be there.¡± Confused, Mountain Monster fumbled through the container until she realised what she was holding in her hand: ¡°I forgot I was using it to hold my candied haws. Here.¡±

    Due to the sticky stuff on the letter getting on his hand, Long Zaitian grouched, ¡°What is all this? Didn¡¯t you go deliver a letter? What took all day? The sun went down a while ago.¡±

    ¡°I was waiting for the reply letter. You write a letter and then don¡¯t wait for a reply? You¡¯re f-¡±

    ¡°Concierge Long,¡± Su Xiao hollered,ing in with a sheet of paper. ¡°Gui Laimeng requested a reimbursement of four hundred and seventy-seven taels. You need to hurry and pay the owners who¡¯vee to ask to be paid.¡±

    Mountain Monster scolded, ¡°I told you not to tell, you bigmouth!¡±

    Su Xiao innocently blinked: ¡°I didn¡¯t. You have to get your reimbursement, though. How else would you have money?¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°¡­ It costs four hundred and seventy-seven taels to wait for a reply to be written?¡±

    After Mountain Monster delivered the letter to Huofeng, she started devising an escape n, only to lose any feelings in her body upon harbouring the thought. As such, she had to convince herself that she wanted to return to Dragon Phoenix Inn to save herself. She didn¡¯t want to head straight back, nevertheless, so she indulged in food and any entertainment she could find in town. Had Dragon Phoenix Inn not recruited all of the worthy entertainers at the brothels in town, she would¡¯ve gone to a y or something of simr nature. She didn¡¯t expect Wutong Jin Yuxuan to find her in the evening to pass on their reply. She only chose to head back then because she was getting bored.

    ¡°Put it all on my uncle¡¯s tab. He¡¯s loaded, so spend and be merry.¡± Mountain Monster had to avenge herself somehow.

    Since Ming Feizhen paid for all of their experiences, Long Zaitian felt it was only fair that they covered Mountain Monster¡¯s expenses and epted the reimbursement, scratching his head with his clean hand whilst trying to unfold the sticky letter.

    Nobody wanted to read the original text Huofeng personally penned, which was, ¡°Personal letter to Mount Daluo¡¯s Mr. Ming,¡± thanks to all the goo Mountain Monster got on it. Obviously, a major portion of it was illegible due to the creases. The more he tried to read, the more confused Long Zaitian felt, eventually resulting him putting it down and raising a white g.

    ¡°What, they agree?¡± Mountain Monster asked.

    Long Zaitian showed Mountain Monster a hand to indicate, ¡°Please don¡¯t speak.¡± With locked brows, Long Zaitian picked up the letter to try reading meticulously again. He set it back down once he was done and stroked his chin¡­

    Yep, I don¡¯t understand a thing. I have no idea what they¡¯re trying to say. What the hell is, ¡°When it¡¯s time to for the wedding, please take into consideration both parties¡¯ issues and seek harmony. Please forgive¡­¡± Is this some sort of new secret code orthodox sects use in the pugilistic world that I haven¡¯t been updated on?

    Su Xiao came back with currency notes to see Long Zaitian looking anxious: ¡°Isn¡¯t this Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s reply? Concierge Long, you don¡¯t need to cry if you¡¯re illiterate.¡±

    ¡°What garble are you spitting? I¡¯m a dragon of many talents. Who said I¡¯m illiter-¡± Long Zaitian stopped himself to continue reading the text that he could now read: ¡°The wedding gown tailor needs time and cannot make it in time in this rush. Wait, I¡¯ve seen this tailor before. Isn¡¯t she the one who made Grand Princess¡¯ wedding gown? Who¡¯s she making it for this time?

    ¡°Light celestial silk, jade silk veil, amber crystals and the other valuables will take a year toplete, at least. First Sister¡¯s wedding cannot be thoughtlessly put together. You two should have been married earlier, and we do not require a booking for the thirteenth this month. I am not questioning you, but you do have a habit of leaving whenever you please. Your whereabouts are an unknown variable as the years have proven.

    ¡°If you are sincere, invite your friends in the pugilistic world over and host your wedding here in Huzhou, forming a friendship between Mount Daluo and Wutong Jin Yuxuan. Else, we will not be meeting on the thirteenth as friends but enemies. Remember that.

    ¡°I know you are not a heartless man. Please forgive me for getting drunk and causing trouble on the street back then. Sister Huofeng.¡±

    Three people read it meant three confounded readers.

    Long Zaitian read it a few more times and then tranted, ¡°I think¡­ I think they are saying that we have to marry their first sister if we want Interim Patriarch Yu to assist us on the thirteenth. Yeah, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what they mean.¡±

    ¡°But to who?¡± Su Xiao inquired.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, of course. Doesn¡¯t it say so right here? Mount Daluo. He¡¯s the only one with us who hails from Mount Daluo.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, what is there to like about him?¡± Su Xiao derided. ¡°There must be a mistake somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Did I make a mistake?¡± mused Mountain Monster, continuing to think, ¡°Well, I have everything to gain and nothing to lose now. Let¡¯s see if I can sneak into the study to steal the other letter while I¡¯m at it.¡±

    Certain he was right, Long Zaitian thought, ¡°Making Ming Feizhen get married¡­ doesn¡¯t seem to cost us anything.¡± He then voiced, ¡°Approved. Let¡¯s organise Ming Feizhen¡¯s wedding on the thirteenth of this month.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You found ck Bear King?¡± River Monster ecstatically hugged Xiagou, and thetter let River Monster do what she wanted without budging. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have any energy? Are you hurt?¡± River Monster turned to me to remark, ¡°No wonder why you were able to bring him back to me. He would¡¯ve eaten you already, otherwise.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, this old one was lucky.¡±

    Xiaogou shuddered and yed dead on the ground right after I responded. River Monster, oblivious to the situation, inquired, ¡°You are Mountain Monster¡¯s subordinate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this old one is with Ma¡¯Am Mountain Monster¡¯s ¡®Old¡¯ group. This is his token.¡±

    Mountain Monster handed out seven tokens with the character ¡°old¡± on her elder subordinates. More specifically, each token read, ¡°My only job is to kill, not bury.¡± She might appear to be the kind to charge in with reckless abandon, but she was actually a prudent individual, evident from her usage of disguises to lower her target¡¯s guard. The reason she had elders work as assassins was because few would suspect an elder to be a ruthless assassin.

    ¡°Mm, this is her token¡­ Not bad. I shall reward you for retrieving my bear.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, thank you, Ma¡¯am River Monster.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± called Poison King. ¡°How did you find us?¡±

    I replied, ¡°Master sent this old one here to assist.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯ve been to the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Ma¡¯am Mountain Monster instructed us to split up and flee before her n was thwarted. This old one yed a lumberjack in the mountains to slip away and then came to Canhu Town to search for her. She told us that making puppets is not easy, so she told us to await orders. While this old one was ying lumberjack in the mountains, he saw your ck Bear King.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to suspect, then. He has a token, knows our location and even about the puppets, which very few members even know about. What are you suspecting? You think we can¡¯t tell who is with us?¡± River Monster exhaled through her nose derisively since Poison King couldn¡¯t debate: ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Your subordinate, Zhong Ning, is at your service.¡±

 Volume 8 75

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 75</h4>

    Although Poison King didn¡¯t buy my story, he let it go since River Monster was pleased, thankfully. The two would inevitably realise something was amiss when they looked outside to see the time of the day had changed. That was the reason I kept rambling and rambling on a non-existent epic revolving around River Monster¡¯s bear - pandering to her obsession with bears - until my mouth was dry.

    Can I just say that it was a real hassle given that I went to Luo n¡¯s estate, came here, sealed them and then had to deal with their interrogation? The only thing worth celebrating was that I found Boss and that she was alive.

    I could understand why Boss was adamant about going undercover as the events in Huzhou befuddled me the more information I gathered. I had yet to get a grasp on how much Refining Divine Convention influenced and the motivation behind it. Bodhi, Poison King and River Monster¡¯s involvement corroborated with my growing suspicion that the scale of the conspiracy was bigger than I could imagine.

    I had a bold guess that I wished wasn¡¯t correct. I couldn¡¯t test my hypothesis given my identity, so letting Boss go undercover was my only option. As I told her, nheless, I didn¡¯t feel reassured leaving her alone. You expect me to lose her the very day I found her? You must be kidding me. I, therefore, believed I¡¯d be able to keep her out of harm¡¯s way as long as I kept her within my sight.

    Boss stuttered, ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    I blithely threw away down a card: ¡°One ten.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Boss clumsily drew a card from my hand and then smugly threw down her card: ¡°A two!¡±

    ¡°Four fives! Indemnity multiplied. You now owe me fifty taels, Boss.¡±

    Boss lied back on the bed, not taking issue to the fact that I could feast my eyes on her ample thighs: ¡°Did you cheat? Why am I always losing and losing to you, no less?¡±

    ¡°That is the magic of cards. No matter how clever or strong you are, your risk of losing to an experienced gambler is the same as an amateur.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ After we get out of here, I¡¯m going to arrest you.¡±

    ¡°Save that for after you beat me.¡±

    We didn¡¯t feel sleepy, and the night was long, so we ended up ying cards on the bed using a set of popr cards in Western Regions that I used a book in the room to make. I had all the time in the world to teach Boss how to y since River Monster and Poison King left Boss in my care while they discreetly stayed in separate rooms, with River Monster staying in a room in the north and Poison King staying in a room in the south in order to guard the exits. That meant they were far away from our room. Besides, they didn¡¯t trust each other.

    Boss surprised me when she reached the same conclusion as me. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say her experience developed an ability to sense the locations of hostiles.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Precision Scout¡¯. I started practicing from when I was three years old and got the hang of it after twelve years. I could teach you if you want to learn, but your son would probably be able to run by the time you master it. Four cards.¡±

    I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be surprised when she¡¯s Yan Shisan¡¯s sessor. That cornhole must¡¯ve used the same technique to chase me five hundred kilometres to collect a debt back then¡­

    Bugger used to wear a smug, evil grin whenever he found me back in the day and imed that he had sources. I flipped out on Ximen Chuideng several times over it. I believed it for all those years until Boss told me of Precision Scout! Screw that lying cornhole!

    ¡°Move over. I¡¯m about to fall off the bed.¡±

    Whilst shifting over, Boss griped, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have the gall to ask for space when you¡¯re so big.¡±

    Due to the damage to Boss¡¯ left hand, she couldn¡¯t draw cards with one hand while ying cards with the other. Thus, he helped herself to one of my hands, having me hold cards for her. So, I had to hold up cards with the same hand I yed my cards with¡­

    Around midnight, maybe past it, I decided to voice, ¡°Uh, Boss¡­ Um¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop mincing your words and out with it.¡± Boss stared at the cards I held for her, contemting her strategy.

    ¡°¡­ Your hand¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Boss looked to her left hand and opined, ¡°This? It¡¯s severed, so what? I¡¯ll ask an imperial doctor to nurse it when we get back. It¡¯s notpletely useless. I don¡¯t think we need to amputate it.¡±

    Wh-what are you? A veteran soldier who has transcended?!

    ¡°Don¡¯t downy it. You are a girl, after all.¡±

    Boss jerked subtly and then, in a soft voice, asked, ¡°Am I?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Boss looked up while I was looking at her, resulting in us silently staring into each other¡¯s eyes. Perhaps the meeting was unintentional, allowing me to see softness in her eyes that I hadn¡¯t seen before.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am a girl for nobody has ever told me. I have a lot of goals and likely even more people who want me dead in the imperial court and pugilistic world. I don¡¯t have time for trivial things like that.¡±

    Boss never slowed down since she had so many things she wanted to do and things she was willing to sacrifice her life for. She treated improving her skills and climbing the ranks as emergencies. Look no further: she was risking her life to add a merit next to her name as soon as she escaped danger. Her attitude was bound to cost her; perhaps her left hand was one of said sacrifices and many more toe.

    ¡°I need to report back tomorrow morning to let them know I¡¯ve found you.¡±

    Boss Nodded: ¡°Poison King is an entric man; however, most poison creators prefer to be nocturnal, so you should be okay during the day. As for River Monster, you better have excuses ready.¡±

    ¡°I will do what I must.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an even tougher job I¡¯ll need to trust you with, though.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Boss let a charming smile bloom on her lips and then ced her cards down: ¡°King bomb. Multiplied by thirty, that¡¯s four thousand taels. Don¡¯t just sit there. Pay up.¡±

    W-wait a second¡­ How fast do you learn?!

 Volume 8 76 Hello, Im Here to Have Some Tofu Pudding

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 76 Hello, I¡¯m Here to Have Some Tofu Pudding</h4>

    Bang! Blistering, Emperor Yuansheng mmed the table, reproving, ¡°We don¡¯t know how strong the enemy is. How can she stick around when she knows Evil Spirits is involved? She just escaped from a trip to hell, yet she¡¯s going into the tiger¡¯s den again. Does she know how worried I am?!¡±

    Still angry despite reeled off one criticism after another while already after I told him about Boss¡¯ undercover n, Emperor Yuansheng gave me the death stare, continuing, ¡°Why did you assent? Yiren is still young and foolish, but you¡¯re not!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, they say you only need to hold an official rank one spot higher to kill the official ranked directly below you¡­ You need not worry, though, for I have used a disguise to join her. As long as I am with her, her safety is guaranteed to b¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng sprung to his feet: ¡°Be jeopardised!¡±

    Uh¡­ I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s not how the quote goes?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± Emperor Yuansheng wagged his finger pointed at me: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you report back immediately? We could¡¯ve sent someone who can fight if she put up a resistance. You think she has time to bodyguard you while you¡¯re undercover?! You trying to shave off my lifespan?!

    Cursing without profanity isn¡¯t really c-

    ¡°You piece of dog crap!¡±

    I don¡¯t exactly prefer profanity, having said that. Wait, what happened to trusting me?

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have praised you for being bright. You really are mentally stunted.

    You¡¯re too pragmatic, you ungrateful-backstabbing-two-faced traitor!

    Emperor Yuansheng unleashed a verbalshing on me for fifteen minutes staight, so I had to write a letter of guarantee guaranteeing three things before I was allowed to leave. First, I had to ensure Boss Shen¡¯s safety. Second, I had to acquire insider information on the target. Third, I had to use the valuable stuff provided in a bag to make two supplementary drinks for Boss Shen in the morning and at night to help her recuperate and protect her skin¡­

    So, I¡¯m a bodyguard, undercover agent, baby sitter and pay three hundred thousand to work? Toss this Emperor. I¡¯ll be next to revolt after Orange Prince!

    I happened to pass by Tang Ye¡¯s room on the way out of the building, so it dawned on me that I hadn¡¯t had time to speak to him recently due to me being upied with searching for Boss Shen. I listened in close to hear the guy snoring.

    This guy! You think you¡¯re pitiful because you lost?! Stop using it as an excuse to sleep! I¡¯ll kick your door down and wake you the h-, wait. His breathing is different to usual. This isn¡¯t his usual breathing pattern. If I was topare his breathing rhythm to Yi Wangyou right now, they¡¯d be nearly identical. He hasn¡¯tpletely modified his breathing style yet. Nheless, it seems he¡¯s made some drastic progr-, I should say he¡¯s learning a new style. Even though there were conflicts between styles he¡¯s learnt and this new one, there are simrities. Still, I¡¯m astounded with his rate of progress.

    They say it takes eight to ten years for someone without a knack for it to learn an internal style, while someone with an aptitude for them would master them in a year or two. Those withmendableprehension skills in Buddhism would need a solid foundation to master internal styles, yet Tang Ye altered his style more than thirty percent within a matter of days; most impressive was that he could continue training while asleep.

    He couldn¡¯t have progressed so rapidly without a tutor. True Blood Yang Qi isn¡¯tpatible with other styles, typically speaking. Who coached him? Judging from his deep sleep, he must be drained. How can he be that tired when nobody has seen him set foot outside his room? His qi and blood, on the other hand, are roiling as though he¡¯s on the cusp of ascending to a new realm. I can¡¯t figure out what¡¯s going on even using Divine Realm.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming?¡± Su Xiao called.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Snapping out of my focus, I responded, ¡°Xiao?¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t appear too happy after I shared with him what happened while I was gone. Instead, he kept wearing a counterfeit smile and oncemented, ¡°I wonder whose eyes could be so bad.¡± Hell as if I knew who he was talking about.

    ¡°Someone¡¯s looking for me.¡±

    ¡°Me? Zhong Ming?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ Ming Feizhen.¡±

    I cast my gaze over Su Xiao¡¯s shoulder to see a pretty nun with a blinding smile waving at me. I wobbled a step back and eximed, ¡°Who are you, fiend?!¡±

    There¡¯s no way Huofeng could beam so brightly!

    The imposter sauntered closer to greet, ¡°Long-time no see, Brother Ming.¡±

    Sh-she¡¯s pretty tall! Men, bring me a cinnabar, yellow paper and dog blood. This daoist is going to excorcise the nun!

    Huofeng stuck her tongue out: ¡°Why are you so scared, Brother Ming? It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a ghost or something.¡±

    ¡°Why am I scared? Whenever Huofeng addresses me, she tells me to go drown in a well, go to hell or something of the sort. Thest time she called me ¡®Brother¡¯, she scammed me out of wine.¡±

    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if even Yu Feiyuan came here. You expect me to believe you can smile so brightly and call me ¡°Brother¡± in that friendly tone? I know you harbour ulterior motives!

    ¡°Hehehe, let¡¯s leave bygones in the past, shall we? I must say, you, I don¡¯t know. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±

    She¡¯s not angry even after I took a jab at her? Now I¡¯m more scared.

    ¡°I knew you were a faithful man and not the type to feign ignorance after scoring. Everything I said in the past is a misunderstanding. Let¡¯s put the past behind us, shall we?¡±

    Faithful? Feign ignorance after scoring? Where am I supposed to start here?

    ¡°Of course, of course, we¡¯ll put it behind us.¡±

    ¡°Great. Well, you look busy, so I won¡¯t keep you. I¡¯ll see youter for some dr-, discussions on the specifics.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    I turned to Su Xiao, only for him to give me a, ¡°Hmph!¡± and stomp off.

    When did I ever do anything to you? Just what in the world happened while I was gone? Why does Huofeng suddenly want to discuss¡­ details? What details?! Either way, I need to prioritise avoiding Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group at all costs and then confirm Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s status from the shadows. I then need to sneak back to Boss in case I¡¯m suspected.

    To err on the safe side, I hid up and wore on the old-man mask.

    Right, let¡¯s go consult Mountain Monster first to find out what happened recently.

    My ears scoured the ce for Mountain Monster as I walked around. Before I got very far, I bumped into a maiden in golden and silver.

    ¡°You are already here, Elder.¡±

    ¡°M-Miss Yu?¡±

    I¡¯m screwed. I forgot I had an appointment to eat tofu pudding with her as this old man!

 Volume 8 77

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 77</h4>

    This was the first opportunity I had to sit down to have a proper talk with Lass Yu in years since I was either busy or had to avoid her previously. Thest time I dined with her and Mountain Monster didn¡¯t count because I was busy shutting Mountain Monster up with food. We grew apart quite a bit, seemingly, over the past six years apart.

    ¡°Tofu pudding is good for girls¡¯ skin. Eat some more to maintain your radiant white skin.¡± Some people might¡¯ve mistaken I was speaking to my bowl as opposed to Lass Yu, if you know what I mean.

    ¡°Does eating tofu whiten your skin?¡± Yu Feiyuan asked.

    ¡°Of course. Look how white the tofu is. This is what our ancestors meant by ¡®you are what you eat.¡¯¡±

    ¡°My second sister needs to eat more, then.¡± Yu Feiyuan set aside a bowl for Huofeng.

    I wonder if Huofeng would strangle me if she learns I¡¯m the reason¡­

    I could tell Yu Feiyuan wasn¡¯t focusing while we conversed, but I didn¡¯t pry. If she wanted to tell me, then she would.

    ¡°Elder,¡± Yu Feiyuan looked resolutely my way and continued, ¡°I¡­ I have something I would like to consult you about.¡±

    She¡¯s being way too polite if she¡¯s about to expose me, right? Better to not be careless, though.

    Lass Yu is usually the good girl, which was why I often let my guard down around her. Whenever I thought she was harmless, though, I¡¯d end up regretting it. One time, we came across a group of kids ying on the mountain. I wanted to eat big mantous that were just done steaming, so I pulled her off, trying to persuade her with, ¡°You don¡¯t need to look. If you¡¯re envious, you can have a few kids to y withter in life.¡± Little did I know that I dug a hole for myself. When my shifu asked what we did during the day, I told him we went down the mountain and ate mantous. When her shifu asked the same question, she answered, ¡°Brother Feizhen wants to have a child with me.¡± I won¡¯t go into the details of how brutally Matriarch Zi smashed my shifu, but we nearly died at Emei.

    I lifted my bowl to my mouth and utilised silence as a weapon: ¡°¡­ What is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I want to ask if you met a man on the same day I met you and your granddaughter in the mountains. He is roughly your height but a tad thinner¡­ He has white hair.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Now I know why you¡¯d bother dining with an old geezer.

    ¡°I have been searching for him for years.¡± Yu Feiyuan continued in a mellow voice, ¡°Thest time we met was six years ago¡­ I have been searching for him ever since, but I have not been able to find him. Some people told me he has gone to the Western Regions. Some tell me he went to Beijiang. Some people say he is still in Jiangnan. I have been to all of those ces. Sadly, I still have not found him.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan was never one to say anything pointless; she didn¡¯t exaggerate things, ever. If she said she went to Beijiang, she went there no matter how tough it was. I couldn¡¯t really me Huofeng for going off at me upon meeting me after learning how far Yu Feiyuan went to find me.

    ¡°I think I saw him in the woods that day; however, he left as soon as he saw me.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­?¡± I spoke with my head down on purpose to stifle my voice. ¡°Why do you want to see him?¡±

    ¡°I have something to tell him.¡± Yu Feiyuan straightened her spine then went on, ¡°Some things I didn¡¯t understand. Now, I do. I haven¡¯t had the chance to tell him yet, unfortunately. I want to convey my thoughts. I want to tell him I understand what happened six years ago. So, did you see him?¡±

    Because I couldn¡¯t find it in me to answer, I shook my head. It should¡¯ve been the end for us. I couldn¡¯t promise she¡¯d like the oue of our next meeting.

    I finished three bowls of tofu pudding while babbling about random things to kill time, privy to the fact Lass Yu was the type to respond whenever she was asked.

    ¡°Are you engaged, youngdy?¡± I had another small spoon of tofu pudding.

    ¡°I am.¡±

    Why do I not feel as relieved as I thought I¡¯d be? Well, it¡¯s been so long, and she¡¯s now an adult. It¡¯s inappropriate to leave her in an engagement. It¡¯s only natural Matriarch Zi would arrange a new marriage for Lass Yu knowing the former¡¯s temperament. Nheless, I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t harm thess.

    I couldn¡¯t help recalling Lass Yu in her thin light-yellow robe, eyebrows locked as she concentrated during training. It was only her and the leaf in front of her that she was trying to impale until I showed up that she would beam and call, ¡°Brother Feizhen.¡± Every smile and every word always stuck with me. I never expected to feel forlorn upon learning she was engaged.

    ¡°When did you get engaged?¡±

    ¡°Are you inquiring about me or my sect?¡±

    ¡°Is there a difference? Parents and teachers make the decision when ites to marriage.¡±

    ¡°Yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Y-yesterday?!¡±

    I thought you¡¯re here for Refining Divine Convention. How did you find a partner?! Now I know why Huofeng was no longer hostile! Wait. Wait. I didn¡¯t know you were so easy to fool!

    ¡°It was arranged yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, who is he? Is he that perfect? Why did you decide so impulsively?¡±

    ¡°We have known each other for a while, but it has been a long time since west met.¡±

    Wait, wait, wait, wait, there must be some conspiracy!

    ¡°Tell me who he is. I¡¯ll help you evaluate him.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I think¡­ he is in this inn. I have not seen him yet.¡± Lass Yu¡¯s blush seared through her cheeks: ¡°But I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    Oh my goodness gracious!

 Volume 8 78 Still Oblivious. Yearning.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 78 Still Oblivious. Yearning.</h4>

    ¡°Elder, why are you so worked up?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ It¡¯s hot. I have a tendency to get excited. I¡¯ll stand up and do a few stretches.¡±

    Unable to fathom what I meant by ¡°hot¡± in the middle of winter, Yu Feiyuan tried to feel the temperature with her sixth sense or something then remarked, ¡°I did not know this is considered hot.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    My hand holding a te of tofu pudding trembled.

    Lass Yu has been searching for me for thest few days, and she got engaged yesterday? I don¡¯t see a connection. Either way, that¡¯s just impulsive! Could he be some young hero Matriarch Zi chose? Nah, that¡¯s ridiculous. If not even I knew who¡¯de to Huzhou, there¡¯s no way she would. Besides, knowing how much she cares about Lass Yu, there¡¯s no way she¡¯d impulsively throw her precious disciple into the arms of someone she¡¯s never bet. Maybe Huofeng hooked them up? If Matriarch Zi isn¡¯t around, Huofeng is pretty much her recement.

    Wait, why am I fretting when I should be congratting her? I¡¯ve held her up for fourteen years, and she¡¯s finally found her light. Then again, I¡¯m her ex- fianc¨¦, ex-husband, so shouldn¡¯t I look out for her?

    ¡°Um, Miss, m-may I meet him?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan had a small serve of tofu pudding and approved with her head gesture: ¡°I have not seen him yet, though. They told me has left. You may have to wait for a while, Elder.¡±

    Who the heck is this guy? He sounds like a big deal. Wait¡­ Was Huofeng all smiles because she made an appointment?

    Hence, I suggested inviting Huofeng to join us, much to Yu Feiyuan¡¯s joy. Huofeng beamed even around a stranger, though she felt awkward when Lass Yu passed Huofeng a bowl with a straight face and fed her.

    We chatted for a while about random things until I couldn¡¯t resist testing the waters,plimenting, ¡°Abbess, your senior is really kind. She escorted us home from the mountains and even to treat us to tofu pudding.¡±

    ¡°You are right when you say she is kind, Elder,¡± Huofeng affirmed.

    ¡°I heard she is engaged.¡±

    ¡°Yes, she got engaged yesterday. I personally saw to it.¡±

    I knew it was you! What is a nun working as a matchmaker for instead of reciting scriptures?! Why would you introduce some twat to your senior sister when you know she¡¯s honest to a fault!

    ¡°What happens if he¡¯s a depraved man?!¡± I blurted.

    ¡°He is not a depraved man. He might not be handsome, but he is strong and eptable in the literacy department. His personality is perfect. The two of them can be considered childhood friends who don¡¯t hide any secrets from each other. He also treats me¡­ really nice. They have merely been separated for years and only met up again, which is why they got engaged. Am I correct, First Sister?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I haven¡¯t been able to speak to him.¡±

    This sounds fishy. Lass Yu just mentioned searching for me to have a word with me. Is the groom¡­ me? And, besides the part about not being handsome, I tick all the other boxes, especially the part about being separated for years and only having reunited. I can¡¯t think of anyone else who ticks thest box. Crud, what do I do if it is me, marry Lass Yu for real?

    I found Lass Yu concentrating hard to be cute, heart racing¡­ I thought of how she came running for me from afar, how earnest she was in training, how she followed beside me hand in hand when she was younger¡­

    I never married her because I wasn¡¯t ready to ept someone new. I left her six years ago as I couldn¡¯t even look after myself. I decided to pull off a big stunt with Ximen, but I was afraid I¡¯d implicate her. I¡¯m a different man now, though. Why can¡¯t I see her if she doesn¡¯t mind me giving up on an ambitious life and opting to retire from the pugilistic world? I may have made a promise to Young Shiyi, but is that a reason to let Lass Yu down? If I¡¯m honest with myself, I can¡¯t deny I do like her.

    When I thought about how gentle Lass Yu sounded when she said she wanted to speak to me, I had an urge to remove my mask and face her, only for Huofeng to cut me off with, ¡°First Sister, what are you worried about? They told us he¡¯s just out on a job at the moment. You will have the opportunity to see him. You don¡¯t need to worry when he personally proposed.¡±

    Welp, that isn¡¯t me, then.

    There went any motivation to remove my mask. I couldn¡¯t have proposed when I was with Boss yesterday.

    Who¡¯s the bugger who took advantage of my absence to propose? Wait a second. Given how long I¡¯ve been allies with Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡­ I mean, we might¡¯ve had a lot of disputes about numerous matters, and I might¡¯ve been pushing the engagement back time after time; however, they wouldn¡¯t just throw me off so casually.

    ¡°H-he proposed yesterday?¡± I stuttered.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Huofeng jovially answered. ¡°We have not had any news on him for years, but he suddenly had someone send us a proposal letter yesterday. I have had someone rush a letter to a tailor in Hangzhou to get to work on a wedding gown.¡±

    ¡°Overnight? That urgent?¡±

    ¡°We have all been eager for this day for years. If we did not need the best materials and tailor, it would take, at least, a year to finish her wedding gown. We insist on proceeding with their wedding immediately.¡±

    Come on, woman! You should be able to tell there¡¯s a conspiracy here! Why the hell are you blushing and acting like a girl in love? Wait a minute. Those crystal eyes that tell me you¡¯re smiling inside¡­ Don¡¯t tell me you have a crush on him.

    ¡°Hahaha, since you are still young and he is so exemry, how about marrying him, as well? You could take care of your sister.¡±

    ¡°Old pervert,¡± Huofeng cursed under her breath.

    I can tell you didn¡¯t even mean that when two roses have bloomed on the sides of your head! You resemble a shy girl right now instead of a fiery nun. I bet you¡¯d marry him in a heartbeat if he proposed! Just who the devil is his dangerous man?!

    This punk schemed to get close to Lass Yu and Huofeng while dodging me. This rascal trying to take over Wutong Jin Yuxuan? Matriarch Zi would bury his head in the ground if she found out this spit-out dog bone is scheming to take over her sect. My shifu also objects! Even if Matriarch Zi and my shifu ept, I object!

    I picked up a bowl of tofu pudding and slogged it back in one go, startling Huofeng, who urged, ¡°Elder, it is tofu pudding, not water. Be careful not to choke.¡±

    I mmed my bowl down and wiped my mouth: ¡°Abbess, is the grooming today? This old one hase across plenty of people in his lifetime. I want to see if he is worthy of Miss Yu or not.¡±

    I¡¯m going to mess you up, cornhole. You woke the tiger.

    ¡°Perhaps. I saw him just before but left before I knew it. I thought he would have run into First Sister. He seemed to have an emergency to attend to, having said that.¡±

    The corners of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s lips gradually perked up: ¡°He¡¯s always been lively. There¡¯s never a dull moment around him.¡±

    I feel nauseous watching you two smile as you talk about him! Why do you keep gloating around me?! You two martial arts maniacs usually train and train and then train more. I¡¯ve never seen you two care about somebody and know him so well!

    ¡°There¡¯s never a dull moment around him? In other words, he¡¯s a trouble maker,¡± I asserted.

    ¡°That is incorrect, Elder,¡± stated Yu Feiyuan. ¡°No matter where he goes, people pick fights with him even if he does not mean to.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t that make him a gue?! Why would you marry a ma for trouble?! If Huofeng met him just a while ago, he should still be close by. Incredible fighter? Name one jerk besides this one who is an incredible fighter? There isn¡¯t one!

    Inmed for some reason beyond me, I expanded my hearing radius to look for someone oh-so mighty and, as I thought, there was n-, wait. There was one on the third floor.

    ¡°Please excuse me. I had too much to eat and need to use the bathroom.¡±

    Neither Huofeng nor Yu Feiyuan found it odd since I already had twenty bowls of tofu pudding¡­ I sneaked downstairs to the room where the adept was. I took two deep breaths to prepare for a civilised conversation.

    Rx. No stress. No pressure. I¡¯m just here to make sure Lass Yu isn¡¯t duped. This is just a friendly conversation between her ex-husband and fianc¨¦. We¡¯re just being friendly.

    I bounced a leg off the ground, ramming the door off its hinges: ¡°Get your lying behind out here right now, you faggot!¡±

    Bodhi¡¯s mouth hung open as his hand riveted by his mouth¡­

 Volume 8 79 Nyuer Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 79 Nyu¡¯er Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 1)</h4>

    Bodhi arrived earlier than scheduled and meditated at Dragon Phoenix Inn, not because trying to smoke out an ambush or trying to familiarise himself with the environment; he could¡¯ve done both with his ears alone. All he sought was some time to rx because he was privy to the importance of ensuring one was well rested.

    Frankly, Bodhi¡¯s sleep deprivation started to run him into the ground since he had foregone days of sleep while constantly battling at high tension. The only reason he didn¡¯t copse earlier was his sheer determination to achieve his goal.

    Just a little more¡­ Just a little more and I¡¯ll know what his goal is. It¡¯ll be toote if I wait until the officialmencement on Sword Ind.

    Bodhi shut his eyes, releasing the fatigue he withheld to every fibre of his being. There were two reasons he chose to recuperate at Dragon Phoenix Inn. Firstly, he was aware that people involved with the martial world operated it, while he didn¡¯t want to hurt the innocent. He might not have fitted the mould of a normal man, but he wasn¡¯t the violence incarnate. He had no qualms with Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s owner taking umbrage with him for he was keen to take any opportunity to draw attention.

    Bodhi¡¯s goal was to leverage the weapon hunter¡¯s notoriety to draw Luo n¡¯s attention. That being said, he had to manage how much chaos he started, lest the imperial court or other orthodox sects get involved.

    Bodhi prayed his match with Wutong Jin Yuxuan yesterday was enough for people to start initiating challenges with him. Otherwise, his options would continue to wither over time. By the same ount, he would have to continue to push the extremes of violence if it came down to that.

    Bodhi, picturing the four individuals outside his door based on their gait and heartbeats, banished his fatigue through willpower and opened his eyes to prepare for a potential sh: ¡°Pleasee in.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The second reason Bodhi chose to rest at Dragon Phoenix Inn was because his opponents for today knew the ce well.

    Chigan Sha, a man he had already crossed swords with once, entered with a young maiden, a middle-aged monk and an elder roughly sixty years old. Chigan Sha dered, ¡°I am here along with the people I want as promised on the day you took my Mad Desert de Sect¡¯s treasured weapon.¡±

    The elderughed in a high-pitched voice - a sound attack - then said, ¡°Proiming yourself to be the weapon hunter and doing as you please in Canhu Town is directly disrespecting us elders. This old one leads the life of a recluse in the mountains and is not here for a fight. He is merely here to witness the might of the current generation, lest people call him ignorant.¡±

    The elder was once active in Shanxi until he withdrew from the pugilistic world after he lost to someone, concentrating on honing himself ever since. The audio attack he utilised was called Mountain Eagle¡¯s Nine Cries, a technique that turned every word he enunciated into weapons. A strong opponent would have trouble breathing after listening to him, while a weak opponent would be floored and diagnosed with detrimental damage.

    Bodhi hiked up the corner of his lips leisurely and replied, ¡°Mountain Eagle, Elder Fan, this one has heard of your Mountain Elder Hundred Techniques Spear even though he resides far from the popted cities. It is an honour to meet you, hahaha.¡±

    The monk calmly conveyed, ¡°This one is Wuqing. It is a pleasure to meet you.¡±

    In an even more courteous tone than when speaking to Elder Fan, Bodhi responded, ¡°Divine Monk Wuqing, the honour is mine.¡±

    Wuqing was expelled from Shaolin after he wrangled with his shifu. Shaolin hunted him as a wanted criminal for the murders hemitted to no avail. True to the meaning of his name - heartless - Wuqing never stopped when he won fights and would smash his opponent to death with his iron cudgel while wearing an indifferent visage. Some people called him Heartless Fiend Monk. Divine Monk was a title Bodhi merely referenced as a show of respect.

    ¡°Amitabha¡±

    The reason Bodhi encouraged Chigan Sha to bring allies was to catapult himself to prominence. Thus far, he already had two big names among the unorthodox sects.

    ¡°Hahaha, Divine Desert Broadsword Style, Wuqing Cudgel and Mountain Eagle¡¯s Hundred Technique Spear. Fantastic. Let¡¯s party.¡± Hearing the maiden cough, Bodhi inquired, ¡°Miss¡­ Please forgive this one for not recognising you. Might he be able to trouble you to introduce your esteemed self?¡± Bodhi assumed the teenage girl to be an adept since she apanied the other three big names.

    ¡°Who are you calling ¡®Miss¡¯?!¡± The maiden stomped and drew a long sabre, braying, ¡°I¡¯m a guy!¡±

    ¡°R-really? Umm, may this one ask which revered sect you are a disciple of?¡±

    Su Xiao blustered, ¡°I¡¯m a waiter at this inn! Since you four look like you¡¯re going to fight, I¡¯m here to watch over you!¡±

    ¡°A waiter?¡±

 Volume 8 80 Nyuer Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 80 Nyu¡¯er Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 2)</h4>

    Chigan Sha expressed, ¡°Big Boss Sis, if you wish toe in, we would not dare object.¡±

    Big Boss Sis? Isn¡¯t that the title of Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King¡¯s subordinate? His subordinate is a youngdy?

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Bodhi, unaware of the title Su Xiao was bestowed for poisoning the massive group at Dragon Phoenix Inn, barricaded his heart meridians as a safeguard measure against poison and then queried, ¡°How can this one help you, Miss?¡±

    Su Xiao sheathed his sabre and crossed his arms: ¡°I don¡¯t care who dies or lives, but you are not to damage any of my furniture.¡±

    With a smile, Elder Fan ttered, ¡°We apologise for not thinking this through more thoroughly. Please ept this money aspensation for any damage we may cause.¡±

    Ever since the poisoning debacle, some loved to see Su Xiao, while others did what Elder Fan did because Su Xiao had so many supporters.

    ¡°Who asked for your money? What did the furniture do to you? If you want to fight, take it outside.¡± Su Xiao refused to move from between the two factions, resulting in a stalemate.

    ¡°Hahaha,¡±ughed Bodhi. ¡°Worry not, Miss. We can see that you have invested a lot into the decorations of thevish inn. This one guarantees to not damage as much as the China.¡±

    ¡°Easier said than done. What if you do damage them?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, then this one¡­ shall sever his hands.¡±

    Dropping lines such as ¡°I¡¯ll give you three free strikes¡± or ¡°I¡¯ll eat three punches before I fight back¡± was considered hubristic since it was bragging one¡¯s qingong and strength, respectively, were ahead. Guaranteeing you wouldn¡¯t damage anything was setting a new bar for being cocky because it insinuated that the speaker wouldn¡¯t even need to budge. If an adult said it to a kid, how would they guarantee the kid wouldn¡¯t deliberately smash something? Moreover, Bodhi offered to amputate his hands for some abysmal damage.

    Su Xiao knew it was in his best interests to step aside once he saw the inferno in Wuqing¡¯s eyes.

    She¡¯s pretty good to spot the angle my internal energy can¡¯t reach. She has the potential to go very far.

    While Bodhi was engaged in his mind, Wuqingmenced with a swing of his cudgel, while Elder Fan followed right behind with his double-edged spear attached at the centre with a chain. Wuqing¡¯s shockwaves bounced off Bodhi¡¯s defence simrly to an iron wall sttering a wave. ordingly, Wuqing switched from a swing to a jab to counter Bodhi¡¯s straight hand thrust. s, Bodhi¡¯s straight down the pipe sent Wuqing back.

    He countered my first attack with an attack, though I wasn¡¯t going all out. I¡¯m sure I stabbed his leg with my cudgel jab, yet I felt another surge of energy. Is he somehow able to attack and defend simultaneously?

    Wuqing had no idea Bodhi was one of those rare individuals who was a veteran at controlling their energy.

    Elder Fan managed to stealthilynded strikes on both of Bodhi¡¯s shoulders, only for thetter to repel both with a muscr contraction. Elder Fan sensed an imminent attack based on Bodhi¡¯s inhale and decided a retreat was what the strategist ordered.

    Bodhi guffawed: ¡°Excellent. Exhrating. You two are both splendid fighters. This one won with this much output when he was hunting, yet you two are still going strong. It appears that this one will have to amp it up. Young Master Chigan, I hope you are still in.¡±

    Despite being the youngest among the trio, Chigan Sha was the most collected as he needed to exercise observation and critical analysis. His style relied on hiding his presence and then striking when the opponent was off guard. Hide in the blinding sandstorm and then tag the target.

    Elder Fan hurled a shuttle at a flower vase behind him, impelling Bodhi to risk himself and spring for the vase. Chigan Sha whipped out five gusts of wind to cut Bodhi off straight away. Bodhi cracked a grin and dismantled the five shes whilst using his free hand to perform a vacuum palm strike.

    Elder Fan scoffed, ¡°I don¡¯t even need to break it now.¡±

    To Elder Fan¡¯s astonishment, the vase didn¡¯t break and flew three metres away tond safely on the ground, instead - a switch from brute force to minimal output and technique.

    Wuqing eximed, ¡°You¡¯re from Beijiang!¡±

    ¡°Heh, that was a skill from Evil Eminence Scripture? Heh, I had no idea Evil Spirits had arrived in the Central in. You here to see if we¡¯re out of fighters? Heh, arrogance, arrogance, arrogance.¡± Elder Fan¡¯s delivered three versions of ¡°Heh¡± and ¡°Arrogance¡± with surprise, disdain, mockery, sighing and anger, respectively. Elder Fan then performed his signature technique, thrusting one end out.

    ¡°You shall die!¡± Wuqing simpered as he geared up for an attack, imbuing his iron cudgel with enough internal energy to make it glow red.

    Chigan Sha disguised two shes as four shes, focusing on maximising each sh as opposed to his five gales version.

    Due to the positions of the trio, each attack was executed sessively, meaning Bodhi had to dismantle the most lethal strike first before moving onto the next. Elder Fan¡¯s spear attack wasn¡¯t the most lethal. That said, as sly as he was, he leveraged his vanguard position to start with an all-out attack. Chigan Sha, on the other hand, only performed two full-power shes, focusing on his second sh being the finisher. Wuqing was the most dangerous one of the three in terms ofbat prowess as he was on the cusp of ascending to Manifestation Realm.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    Bodhi chortled in his deep voice: ¡°Not quite yet.¡±

    Bodhi reached behind him to draw his big broadsword that appeared as intimidating as avnches emanating from him, not due to the faint markings on it but its sheer size, turning the trio into deer in lights. The shape of the broadsword was simr to rest of Beijiang¡¯s broadsword shapes, except it was four times the size of what wasmonly wielded, so it wasrger than the Central in¡¯s guandao. The hilt would be toorge for someone smaller than Bodhi to effectively wield unless they used a double-handed style.

    The trio heard three quick, sessive ngs before realising Bodhi had cracked their weapons. Had they not felt the tension in their hands changing, they wouldn¡¯t have realised Bodhi already made his move.

 Volume 8 81 Nyuer Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 81 Nyu¡¯er Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 3)</h4>

    The inexplicable shackles that the trio felt came undone after Bodhi cracked their weapons, restoring their ability to move again, though they dropped. The left to right swing drew blood without the three realising until they saw their own blood spray across the room.

    ¡°What a pity,¡± remarked Bodhi. ¡°I was hoping to collect your weapons.¡±

    ¡°Y-you,¡± Elder Fan, possessing vast knowledge of valuable items due to his bandit background, couldn¡¯t quell his shaking as he continued, ¡°Th-that¡¯s Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s treasure - Sea Deer Hunter?¡±

    ¡°What is¡­ Sea Deer Hunter?¡± inquired Chigan Sha.

    ¡°From what I know, it is credited with Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s formation and is their imperial family¡¯s glory. It is the equivalent of our imperial seal. Howe it is in your hands? Who are you?!¡± questioned Elder Fan.

    ¡°Just a failure,¡± answered Bodhi, emotional attachment flitting across his face. ¡°Because of how sharp the de is and howpatible it is with my style, this one always sheds the blood of those he fights, so he seldom wields it inbat. This one is not in his best condition today and needs to reserve energy for other business. ordingly, he has no choice but to unsheathe it. Please forgive him.¡±

    Elder Fan asked, ¡°What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°One, to exchange pointers. Two, to take weapons. Three¡­ to be famous in Huzhou.¡±

    Elder Fan didn¡¯tment again as he couldn¡¯t put his finger on Bodhi¡¯s true aim. Wuqing, on the other hand, verbalised, ¡°This one is willing to join you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± inquired Bodhi.

    ¡°This one is willing to aid you in your cause,¡± explicated Wuqing.

    Bodhi smiled: ¡°This one does not deserve your help.¡±

    ¡°You spared this one¡¯s life. What goes aroundes around. This one is returning the life owed, is all.¡±

    In light of Wuqing¡¯s prowess,petence, promptness and decisiveness, Bodhi¡¯s need for helpers and urgency, thetter replied, ¡°In that case, this one would like to give you his thanks in advance.¡±

    Bodhi then staunched the trio¡¯s bleeding via meridian seals and offered some internal energy to relieve them of the difort keeping them on the ground. Noticing the awkward behaviour of Elder Fan and Chigan Sha, Bodhi expressed, ¡°Please do not worry. As we have had our spar, Bodhi shall not attack you again, hahaha.¡±

    Moments ago, the trio viewed Bodhi as an invader from Beijiang. Listening to his unbridledughter now, though, they perceived him to be a heroic figure.

    Bodhi filled up four bowls with premium alcohol he had prepared in his room and offered, ¡°Hahaha, it is this one¡¯s honour to be acquainted with you three today. This one grew up with an unquenchable thirst for battle that needs to be quenched daily. This is the first time he has had the opportunity to really enjoy a fight since arriving at Canhu Town. This one is euphoric to have got acquainted with you three via a match. Sorry if he offended you in any capacity. Let us be friends henceforth after this drink.¡±

    Bodhi noticed the disappointment on the trio¡¯s face after the drink due to the damage to their weapons and, therefore, conveyed, ¡°Bodhi knows a skilled cksmith. Your weapons can still be repaired. Leave it to Bodhi. Bodhi shall drink three cups to apologise.¡±

    Though Bodhi referred to it as a cup, it was technically a soup bowl, so it wasrger than bowls for drinking wine, yet he slogged them back casually, winning the trio¡¯s admiration even more. ordingly, they also drank another bowl each of equal side as a show of respect.

    Bodhi noticed Su Xiao keeping his head down by the sound and burst intoughter: ¡°Miss, this one did not break his promise.¡±

    ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Su Xiao queried with his eyes still fixed on his feet.

    Bodhi narrowed his eyes. ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    Su Xiao stared up at Bodhi: ¡°When you wielded your broadsword, you deliberately decelerated on the left side, or your swing would¡¯ve travelled even quicker. Am I correct to assume that you can¡¯t use your full power?¡±

    Big Boss Sis really is something else. I don¡¯t think any of us noticed that at all.

    ¡°You seem to have some knowledge on broadswords, Miss.¡±

    ¡°I am a broadsword user. You are markedly superior to me. You must have had a reason for decelerating, so I spected you might be injured.¡±

    ¡°You also know how to use broadswords¡­ Your broadsword certainly is a good one.¡±

    Bodhi flicked a flower petal from a flower in the room at Su Xiao, only for Su Xiao to cleave it in two and return his weapon to its sheath in one zing-fast motion.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m confident I can deal fatal damage with one swing, Big Boss Sis¡¯ speed surpasses mine entirely,¡± Chigan Sha noted to himself.

    Bodhi narrowed his eyes: ¡°That style¡­ Who are y-?¡±

    ¡°Get your lying behind out here right now, you faggot!¡± An elder kicked the door off its hinges and stomped in, blustering, ¡°I was wondering why you kept clinging to her yesterday. Were you trying to innovate a new way of breaking into someone¡¯s estate?¡±

    Before Bodhi could respond, the elder took off his shoe and threw it straight to Bodhi¡¯s face. Bodhi, for that reason, thundered, ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    The elder rolled up his sleeves and stomped in, fuming, ¡°You don¡¯t even know who I am, yet you had the audacity tomit such an indecent deed?¡±

    Bodhi saw the iing kick and expected to easily dodge it even at a hair¡¯s breadth away, yet he got tagged.

    This elder is form-, it¡¯s him!

    Bodhi reached for his broadsword. s, the elder caught his wrist to lock it and rocked Bodhi¡¯s head with his fist as if it was on a swivel, sending Bodhi¡¯s qi into disarray.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    The elder refused to listen, smashing a wine jar on the table over Bodhi¡¯s head.

    Where were you before, Elder? We could have taken both of his hands if you showed up earlier!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 8 82 Nyuer Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 82 Nyu¡¯er Hong. Drunken Heroes. (Part 4)</h4>

    ¡°Wait, what are you doing, Elder!¡± shouted Su Xiao, using his eyes to warn, ¡°Big Brother Ming, why are you hitting him? Do you know how they are?¡± Still concerned, he added, ¡°You can¡¯t even beat them!¡± Thinking it was all a series of fluke shots, Su Xiao dragged me away.

    I didn¡¯t need the reminder to stop since I already stopped and was checking my hand out whilst relishing the high of getting to smack Bodhi around. That said, it didn¡¯t feel the way I expected. It exceeded what I expected in every facet. More importantly, the short scuffle persuaded me that he was unlikely to be Lass Yu¡¯s new fianc¨¦.

    Every time I hit Bodhi, he¡¯d redirect the force of impact throughout his body. Let¡¯s say a punch delivers a hundred kilograms of force. By dividing that force to the rest of his body, one can reduce the force of the impact if the impact is divided over five joints as opposed to one. I stopped when I noticed what happened after my internal energy made its way into his body.

    My discoverypelled me to reanalyse all of the information I obtained from my various sources, pedantically scrutinising every detail.

    The others intended to lend Bodhi a hand but called it off, deciding my lifespan was almost over, anyway. In saying that, Bodhi did dissuade them from attacking whilst waiting for me with a smile.

    Su Xiao asked, ¡°H-how are you? Didn¡¯t you tell me people with advanced internal strength and deflect the force of strikes back to the attacker? Just why did you hit him?¡±

    Oh, I know where I went wrong now. He¡¯s not an ally, but he¡¯s not an enemy, either.

    Eyes narrowed, I inquired, ¡°You?¡±

    Bodhi bobbed his head: ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I stared at Bodhi¡¯s face, etching every detail to my mind and illustrating a familiar face: ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ Well, you should be here.¡±

    ¡°You seem to know no less than I do.¡±

    If you didn¡¯t understand, you¡¯re not alone. As for me, I finally realised the purpose of our trip. Although the drawing wasn¡¯tplete in my mind, I was out of the fog.

    I gave Bodhi a nod that he reciprocated. He then politely told the three others, ¡°It is Bodhi¡¯s honour to have formed a friendship with you three today. Bodhi must leave now. Mr. Wuqing, Bodhi will pay you a visit on another day.¡±

    Voice muffled, I instructed, ¡°Xiao, tell the two guests from Wutong Jin Yuxuan that Elder Zhong had to leave due to business, and tell them to leave.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Though bewildered, Su Xiao did as he was told.

    Once the room was cleared out, my eyes made their way to the thirty wine jars when I was searching for an opening remark. ¡°You are a man who can appreciate alcohol. Dragon Phoenix Inn now supplies the finest wine in all of Canhu Town. Are you not going to try them?¡±

    ¡°Bodhi does not recall mentioning he is fond of drinking.¡±

    ¡°How many men from Beijiang don¡¯t share a love for alcohol? Please be my guest.¡± I generated a vacuum with a hand, drawing a jar to the hand.

    Bodhi pulled his left hand into a rxed position then used a heavy force to snatch the jar from me with his right hand. I chuckled as I retaliated with a palm strike beyond Manifestation Realm¡¯s output, manipting the wine abound in the air into the shape of an arrow, and Bodhi caught it in his mouth, drinking the entire serving.

    I nced down to Bodhi¡¯s broadsword in his left and inquired, ¡°Is that the illustrious Sea Deer Hunter?¡±

    ¡°Correct?¡±

    ¡°I heard the entire broadsword is forged from seasteel and turns blue when imbued with qi. They say the wielder feels that all of their energy flows smoothly when wielding weapons forged using seasteel, therefore supporting recovery from injuries as well as granting unlimited endurance inbat.¡±

    ¡°Impressive, Elder, or shall Bodhi call you, Brother Ming?¡±

    I pulled off my mask: ¡°When did you discover I¡¯m not an old man?¡±

    ¡°Bodhi noticed you working behind the scenes that day at Luo n¡¯s estate. It was unfortunate Bodhi could not fight you.¡±

    ¡°We can always fight now.¡±

    I threw a wine jar up and then knife handed it, catching the released wine in internal energy to pummel Bodhi in the face with it. Bodhi raised an arm, stopping the iing wine in hisyer of internal energy.

    ¡°Bodhi already had a jar. If we are drinking, how about drinking with Bodhi?¡± Bodhi sent the wine back at my face as a cannonball of wine simrly to my wine arrow.

    I drew a circle in front of me with one hand, turning the ball into rows to drink. The fact that there was no wine on the ground confirmed my suspicions, so the two of us regarded each other with a smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s what I thought it was?¡±

    ¡°It is as you think it is. Just don¡¯t inquire about that which I am oblivious about.¡±

    ¡°Damn¡­ I didn¡¯t see thising.¡±

    ¡°But, damn, it¡¯s true.¡±

    Feeling as though I found a bosom buddy, I shouted, ¡°Brother Bodhi, since we can¡¯t decide who the better fighter is right now, how about we see who holds their liquor better?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you actually hit the nail on the head before. This one will drink any alcohol. If you do not fear a blemish on your record, bring it on.¡±

    The two of us picked up a jar each to chug, neither of us looking fazed in the slightest after. We continued to drink as though we were trying to dry out an ocean.

    ¡°Are you going to search for him?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to, but I eventually will find him.¡±

    ¡°All right. This one cannot name many people as hearty as you, Brother Bodhi. I have my reasons for being unable to reveal myself, so I will leave you with good wishes.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you are the only one in this town who Bodhi can call a rival. Bodhi is d to hear that from you.¡±

    ¡°I shall take my leave after this jar.¡±

    ¡°All right, Brother Ming.¡±

    The two of us inhaled another jar each. I stopped myself, however, to ask, ¡°Uh, I¡¯d like to ask if you proposed to Wutong Jin Yuxuan yesterday.¡±

    Bodhi ced down his jar and smiled: ¡°Huh? What?¡±

 Volume 8 83 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 83 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 1)</h4>

    Yu Feiyuan and Huofeng left after Huofeng had a word with Dragon Phoenix Inn about arranging the banquet on the thirteenth. On the way back to their ce, Huofeng, skipping, giddily said, ¡°We were hoping that we could take the weapon to cheer Shizun up and help her with her illness, but now we have this to celebrate, as well.¡±

    The pugilistic world always believed that Ming Huayu, the man rumoured to be so dashing that Matriarch Zi couldn¡¯t help falling head over heels for him, loved his wife dearly, thereby assuming Matriarch Zi must¡¯ve been delusional. The im, in addition to Ming Huayu not showing himself, resulted in chronic stress that evolved into illness that gued the unapproachable patriarch forst six months.

    Even though Wutong Jin Yuxuan thrived under Yu Feiyuan¡¯s leadership, the disciples moped over Matriarch Zi¡¯s chronic depression. Conscious of the fact that their patriarch also had an obsession with anything rted to swords, the disciples decided to try and obtain the weapon Luo Sword Manor nned to forge in hopes of redirecting Matriarch Zi¡¯s attention to the sword instead of the rumours and Ming Huayu.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Huofeng knew what Yu Feiyuan, who stopped to look over her shoulder, was thinking, so she brightly assured, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, First Sister, Ming F-, he will be back. Since he¡¯s with government workers, he must have an emergency to attend to.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ forgot to grab something.¡±

    First Sister is a terrible liar. I can tell she wants to wait for Brother Ming at Dragon Phoenix Inn. I guess I should feign ignorance. Seven years apart and Brother Ming has finally proposed. I guess he would have a lot to say to someone so beautiful.

    With a forlorn expression that Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t notice, Huofeng expressed, ¡°I will go on ahead, then.¡±

    ¡°Be careful on your way back.¡±

    ***

    I went to work on trying to connect the dots between Evil Spirits, Luo Sword Manor and Refining Divine Convention after Bodhi departed.

    I finally figured out why I had the impression Abels was hiding his true strength in my match with him, though many other things then couldn¡¯t be exined. I couldn¡¯t understand why heunched an attack with Evil Spirits. The most important question that required an answer was why he ambushed Boss Shen. The risk was too high even if they were escorting valuable goods. At longst, after sifting through the plethora of intelligence I collected, I finally started to have a general idea of his goal. Returning to Boss for undercover work would give me even more details to work with.

    My priority at the moment was to figure out who Lass Yu was engaged to.

    Even though Huofeng is also head over heels for this guy, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d still give Lass Yu her blessings since Huofeng has always been protective of Lass Yu. Lass Yu isn¡¯t the type to be rebellious; does she really like him?

    ¡°What are you thinking about now?¡± Su Xiao backed off three steps and pinched his nose upon smelling the alcohol saturating in the room. ¡°Just how much did you drink?! You don¡¯t need to risk your life even if you have to apologise for hitting him.¡±

    ¡°Xiao, do you know why Abbess Huofeng was here today?¡±

    Su Xiao stopped tidying up and red over his shoulder: ¡°I do. So what?!¡±

    ¡°What did shee here for?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, to organise her senior¡¯s wedding. Feigning ignorance when you already know¡±

    ¡°Do you know who her senior is marrying?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking when you¡¯re about to get married?!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Me?¡±

    I¡¯m the groom?

    ¡°What else?! It clearly stated in the letter that they¡¯re only helping us because you¡¯re marrying her.¡±

    ¡°Who? What? When? Where? Why? I don¡¯t have the foggiest idea as to what you¡¯re talking about? Helping us out with the tournament on the thirteenth? Where does the marriagee into this?¡±

    ¡°Ptoo, still acting? You were engaged to her in the first ce. Isn¡¯t this just proceeding with the procedure? You personally announced you¡¯re engaged to Interim Patriarch Yu.¡±

    ¡°Yes, true, but, but, is she really asking me to go forth with the engagement?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? If you¡¯re not going to marry her, why get engaged in the first ce? Are you going to go back on your word?¡±

    ¡°No, what I meant is¡­¡±

    Why did Huofeng say I proposed?

    Su Xiao ran it back for me from Mountain Monster delivering the letter to Long Zaitian approving then handed me a sheet: ¡°Vice-Captain Long said your mission details are inside.¡±

    I unrolled the sheet of paper to read, ¡°Ming Feizhen, although it¡¯s not the best time to bring this up, the organisation needs you to get married. - Long Zaitian.¡±

    Are you people myrades or someone else¡¯srade?! Mountain Monster deliberately gave me this problem. How did delivering a letter turn into a wedding proposal?! Long Zaitian! You think I could go back on it afterwards or something?! Wait. You¡¯re jealous I¡¯m close to Boss Shen and want to use the opportunity to get rid of me, don¡¯t you? Toss the lot of you!

    ¡°Uh, did the letter really say we have an engagement we should proceed with? Uh, Xiao, what are you doing?¡±

    Su Xiao stomped: ¡°Ming Feizhen, you didn¡¯t tell me about your marriage to Her Highness!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t marry her.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! This time, you got engaged without telling me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent here! This isn¡¯t an engagement. This is framing!¡±

    ¡°Getting married with the most beautiful maiden in Jiangnan is called being framed? All right, is she pretty? Does she give your heart leap?¡±

    ¡°Uh, th-¡±

    ¡°See? You clearly want to marry her, yet you¡¯re trying to lie to me! Screw you!¡± Su Xiao threw away a jug of wine in hand and walked out.

    Why is he either lifeless or cold today with me? Did Huofeng really tell me to proceed with the engagement? Even if Lass Yu still has feelings for me, hasn¡¯t let go of me, still hasn¡¯t adapted, still is the girl tagging along who I imagine her to be and Wutong Jin Yuxuan hasn¡¯t told any outsiders, the engagement shouldn¡¯t exist. I personally handed Lass Yu a letter breaking off our engagement to Lass Yu six years ago, and she didn¡¯t say anything. How is the engagement still effective?

 Volume 8 84 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 84 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 2)</h4>

    Six years ago.

    A vague white silhouette - Ming Feizhen - and a vague ck silhouette - Yu Feiyuan - streaked back and forth at the bottom of Night Net Mountain¡¯s cliff, trading blows that created vacuums each collision and picking up the pace as they went.

    The tree behind Yu Feiyuan bent over as she charged a punch and unleashed it, swaying the tree behind her. Ming Feizhen smiled in praise and generated a tornado with a wave of his hand. Yu Feiyuan¡¯s force rippled in the atmosphere simrly to an arrow rocketing through a wall of water - decelerating and mute. Ming Feizhen then effortlessly caught Yu Feiyuan¡¯s fist in his extended hand.

    The gaze behind Yu Feiyuan¡¯s ck bangs showed she had no intention of resisting whether that was because she was used to Ming Feizhen holding her hand or she knew she couldn¡¯t break out. Either way, her locked brows indicated she wanted another shot.

    ¡°That¡¯s the ninth time in a row you¡¯ve utilised Vajra Divine Might. From what I know, Matriarch Zi could only utilise it only eight times even after mastering Snow Technique¡¯s Free Realm.¡± Ming Feizhen pressed his palm up against Yu Feiyuan¡¯s and siphoned gentle energy of his own over to her, easing her nerves and demotivating her. Smiling, he stated, ¡°Even though this isn¡¯t an A-grade style, there are few female adepts in Jiangnan who could offer you a challenge. Your biggest weakness is being able to deploy but not withdraw your output. Well, Snow Technique takes time to master. Your shifu wasn¡¯t an expert on it until she was in her forties.¡±

    ¡°Mm,¡± Yu Feiyuan responded half-heartedly. She never felt she could surpass her shifu, hence the unsurprised reaction. Besides, she trusted Ming Feizhen would take care of her if necessary.

    Smiling helplessly, Ming Feizhen inquired, ¡°Have you familiarised yourself with the mental cultivation style I taught you?¡±

    The style Ming Feizhen referred to was the only style he taught Yu Feiyuan. The other things he taught her were merelybat tactics and principles. Yu Feiyuan learnt whatever she was taught and never forgot it once she remembered it. That was how she went on to rack up an undefeated record in Jiangnan at her tender age.

    ¡°Yes, I only mastered itst month even though you imparted it to me four years ago. Brother Ming, it was really hard.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected. Your internal energy is advancing further and further. Vajra Divine Might needs to be trained in conjunction with Snow Technique once you reach a certain point in order to progress as bnce is paramount. You put your nose to the grindstone, surpassing how effective Snow Technique is at bncing out Vajra Divine Might, which is where my mental cultivation stylees in to take over for you. I should¡¯ve spent months to exin it to you, but I¡¯m out of time.¡± Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t hear the emotion seeping into Ming Feizhen¡¯s voice. He continued, ¡°A storm is converging on Jiangnan. Although Matriarch Zi is elite, I do want you to have the ability to defend yourself.¡±

    Ming Feizhen handed Yu Feiyuan a sheet of paper, exining, ¡°This is the continuation of the style. You must be more cautious than cautious without me coaching you by your side. Make sure to learn it off by heart and learn. Vajra Divine Might will only bring you harm at this stage in your development, so don¡¯t train it any further, understood?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Smiling from ear to ear, Yu Feiyuan expressed, ¡°I won¡¯t train it if you tell me not to. Grabbing another sheet of paper Ming Feizhen passed her, Yu Feiyuan questioned, ¡°Is this also a martial arts style?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s a letter to call off our engagement.¡±

    ¡°A letter to¡­ call of our engagement? Brother Ming¡­ What is¡­¡±

    ¡°A letter to break off an engagement is a letter to break off an engagement. Look at me.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yu Feiyuan looked up into Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes. Though the two had been more intimate before, it was the first time she had seen him so serious. Only then did it dawn on her that he wasn¡¯t just a strong elder brother who got along with her but closer to being a biological elder brother. She suddenly found herself unsure how to react and having an inclination to avert her gaze.

    ¡°Do you like me?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    Fondness, disdain, hatred and joy, emotions that needed to be expressed were foreign territory for Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know, right? Our shifus¡¯ joke is what established our engagement. It¡¯s unfair on you because you didn¡¯t have any say in the matter.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan couldn¡¯t find the words to speak despite sensing something that didn¡¯t align with her thoughts: ¡°But I, but I, b-¡±

    ¡°Do you know what Divine Moon Cult has been up to recently?¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to the west and expanded, ¡°The Western Regions¡¯ seven armies will arrive at the border at any moment, while Divine Moon Cult is also waiting to take action. Nobody believes that there¡¯s anyone conceited enough to challenge the imperial court and orthodox sects¡¯ authority. I, however, know that Ximen Chuideng is crazy enough to. I¡¯m sure that the day he decides to challenge Nine Provinces¡¯ empire is close at hand.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t bear to keep going when Yu Feiyuan¡¯s anxiety painted her face. s, he had to continue, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t marry someone you don¡¯t like just because your shifu cracked a joke. Pass the letter to your shifu. She can choose whatever reason she deems appropriate. You¡¯re at the right age to start searching for a husband.¡±

    On one hand was a sheet that expressed care. On Yu Feiyuan¡¯s other hand was a sheet of paper as sharp as a sword going through her heart. She questioned, ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­ What about you? What happens next?¡±

    In a gloomy tone prising his suave strut, Ming Feizhen tugged the corner of his lips up subtly: ¡°I¡­ might not make it back alive.¡±

 Volume 8 85 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 85 Life is Unpredictable. I Wish I Could Restart Yesterday. (Part 3)</h4>

    I spun the mask Mountain Monster made me in my hand and then reversed its direction whenever I reached the nose.

    Notwithstanding Lass Yu taking the letter back then, Huofeng didn¡¯t seem to be informed. I thought nobody gave me a response because Wutong Jin Yuxuan didn¡¯t think it was good for their image. Besides, there was no reason to inform the public of our engagement or cancetion since we never announced it to the public.

    Did Lass Yu never hand the letter over to her shifu? If not, why did she not? How can I find fault with her when she worked hard to hide it from everyone despite being a bad liar?

    Asking Lass Yu whether or not she liked me was also a question I asked myself. From the perspective of a man, I didn¡¯t want to her to marry some random man not worthy of her. From my perspective, though, she wasn¡¯t what Young Shiyi was to me. She wasn¡¯t what General Manager Bai, Princess Hongzhuang or even Princess Jingan was to me.

    I liked Lass Yu but not entirely in the romantic sense. For me, she was a younger sister. She was never good at expressing herself, while I never thought about marrying anyone when we were engaged. If I had to illustrate it, I¡¯d say half of the pie was sibling love, two fifths were a shifu and disciple rtionship, and the remaining three fifths were romantic. The thought of proposing again did cross my mind when I heard how much she went through to search for me. At the end of the day, having said all that, I didn¡¯t believe it was fair on either of us if I married her just because I was touched. I couldn¡¯t even answer whether or not I liked her enough to take responsibility for her feelings.

    My meal with Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯tst long, yet I recalled so many things rted to her that I never imagined I would stay in my memories, albeit them being vaguer than I expected once I saw them. All of a sudden, the only image I saw was the young girl tagging along behind me, smiling sweetly whenever she saw me and calling out, ¡°Brother Ming.¡± My jolting heart beat snapped me out of my memories, but it also left me questioning an assertion I was so confident about before: is she really just a sister to me?

    Xia¡¯er also calls me ¡°Brother¡± and is a younger sister to me, so why don¡¯t I feel this way about her? I felt this rhythm in my chest once over ten years ago and then again with Young Shiyi. What does Lass Yu want to tell me?

    I suddenly heard Lass Yu¡¯s footsteps closing in on me.

    I thought she left. Is it time for us to meet again?

    I looked down to the mask spinning in my hand.

    ***

    By the time Yu Feiyuan returned to Dragon Phoenix Inn, the room she was in before was booked out, showing business was booming.

    Yu Feiyuan¡¯s intelligence gathering abilities were ssified as despairingly bad. She¡¯d reveal who she was and what her goal was without being asked, so the person she questioned wouldn¡¯t even have a question to ask.

    Yu Feiyuan asked people if they saw Ming Feizhen, a young man with white hair, which provided her confusing or iprehensible answers from the first floor. Only those with horse feathers to spit would try answering, only for someone to warn, ¡°She¡¯s Hangzhou¡¯s Metal Yu Feiyuan, you dunce.¡± Nobody from the unorthodox sects who recognised her name and track record would challenge her.

    Refusing to resign herself to defeat, Yu Feiyuan found a pretty girl on the second who she took a liking to and thetter called over.

    ¡°Y-you are Heroine Yu?¡±

    ¡°This great one is, indeed, Yu Feiyuan.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s head titled upon hearing ¡°this great one¡±. Nheless, heposed himself to inquire, ¡°How can I help you?¡±

    Knowing Su Xiao worked at Dragon Phoenix Inn, Yu Feiyuan assumed the former was Ming Feizhen¡¯s friend and smiled: ¡°Have you seen Ming Feizhen?¡±

    Su Xiao pouted: ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to marry him? You don¡¯t know where your husband is?¡±

    ¡°We are not going to marry.¡±

    ¡°I saw the letter you junior sent.¡±

    ¡°That is a misunderstanding. It does not count as I have not seen him.¡±

    ¡°It is effective once you see him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, either. I just really want to see him. Has hee back?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Trying to find him is like trying to predict which way a leaf will blow and when.¡± Su Xiao walked off immediately after answering.

    Because of Su Xiao¡¯s visage, Yu Feiyuan felt impelled to follow him: ¡°Please wait. Can you tell me if he is back yet?¡±

    So annoying! I¡¯m not telling! ¡­ Is it right for me to do this? She¡¯s his fianc¨¦e and my sister-inw.

    Su Xiao was inmed upon realising he¡¯d have to address Yu Feiyuan as ¡°sister-inw¡± and kept walking, only to stop when he thought back on how Ming Feizhen taught him martial arts, literacy, how to crack cases, find thinks and shared survival experience in the pugilistic world.

    Maybe¡­ Big Brother Ming really likes her.

    Su Xiao stopped in his tracks and then slowly raised an arm, pointing up to the third floor: ¡°¡­ He¡¯s upstairs in that room.¡±

    Beaming, Yu Feiyuan replied, ¡°Thank you, Miss,¡± then strode off with big steps.

    Su Xiao, recovering from a trip down the staircase, yelled, ¡°Wait, I¡¯m a guy!¡±

    ***

    Unlike the intimidating sound audible whenever Yu Feiyuan¡¯s iron boots tapped the ground, her heart beat with joy. She wasted no time putting together all the things she had to stay to push open the doors, but the empty table and rows of wine jars wiped away her smile.

    Does he¡­ still not want to see me?

    Yu Feiyuan trembled despite the window preventing the cold from invading the room. Upon feeling a gust of wind behind her, she instinctively pivoted to throw a palm strike. The man strafed to his left to avoid getting caught. Yu Feiyuan spun one hundred and eighty degrees to face the man front on and then struck again. The man shielded himself with an arm, wobbling a little upon taking it on his arm. She immediately knew how dangerous he was if he could still stand after taking a hard attack from her, consequently mounting another attack.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Elder?!¡±

    The elder threw unbridled strikes aimed at fatal locations on Yu Feiyuan¡¯s body. She ramped up her output with each sessive block and then countered with her own palm thrust after defusing ten strikes, throwing it with three times the output of her initial strike. Yu Feiyuan gradually increased her output, yet she didn¡¯t need to max out even after fifteen exchanges.

    When Yu Feiyuan threw another straight thrust, the elder drew a circle in front of him, decelerating the force from her strike. The two pulled back under control so that they wouldn¡¯t be hurt by the impact or recoil. She no longer needed his help to defuse the force of her attack in order to prevent hurting herself.

    Sporting a subtle grin, he said, ¡°This standard stands at the top in Jiangnan. No wonder why you¡¯re invincible in Jiangnan. Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s best fighter will change in a few more years.¡±

    The voice, tone and contents effortlessly took Yu Feiyuan on a trip down memoryne.

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally learnt to withdraw your attacks instead of just firing them now. You¡¯ve also managed tobine the right dose of rxation and rigidity, not to mention the purity of your internal strength. How hard did you train?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan pulled her extended arm back and threw herself onto his chest, locking her arms around his back. She looked up into his eyes and tearfully uttered, ¡°Brother Feizhen, it¡¯s you, it¡¯s you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled off his mask and wiped the tears that he always knew would flow from her eyes when they met again and then brushed her hair aside. With a tender chuckle, he said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me, Lass.¡±

 Volume 8 86 A Wish for His Heart. A Prayer for Eternity.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 86 A Wish for His Heart. A Prayer for Eternity.</h4>

    Even though I knew Lass Yu¡¯s warmer side unlike those not familiar with her, I had never seen her cry for so long. She wasn¡¯t domineering, cold, authoritative of hellishly decisive. She just wanted to do what she wanted to without bothering anyone else. She was taciturn purely because she wasn¡¯t good at expressing herself. She was a kind and gentle girl who actually didn¡¯t know how to refuse people. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have taught her toy people out first.

    Lass Yu clung to my arms while crying as little girl would, afraid I¡¯d run off. ¡°Don¡¯t leave. Don¡¯t leave. Don¡¯t leave¡­¡± she¡¯d keep repeating, worried I didn¡¯t hear. ¡°I won¡¯t go. I promise,¡± I¡¯d repeat, wiping her cheeks.

    Once Lass Yu finished crying, she touched my face with her cool hands and glued her gaze on my face as though she was verifying whether I was an impostor or not, maybe worried she shed all those tears for nothing.

    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ a human-skin mask. It¡¯s real.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m real. I¡¯m sorry for lying to you with the mask. Can you let go of my left cheek now? It hurts!¡±

    Sniffling, Lass Yu muttered, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t want to.¡± Lass Yu grabbed my cheeks even harder, refusing to loosen up no matter how Iined.

    Why has every girl I¡¯ve met up with in a long time hit me recently?!

    I exined that my apparel and avoidance was because our engagement was already cancelled on top of being worried about reminding her of the past. Lass Yu just asionally blinked until I reached the end and started praising her beauty, skills and everything else I coulde up with. I still have no clue which of the millions of things I said was the trigger thatpelled her to let go. That said, she only went from my face to my clothing¡­ I had no means of convincing her I wasn¡¯t going to run off, so I let her have her way and sat down on a chair. Once I stopped rambling, I realised that she wasn¡¯t looking into my eyes but checking to see how I had changed over thest six years.

    With roses blooming on her cheeks and a smile blooming on her lips, Lass Yu suggested, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time. Let¡¯s chat.¡±

    Lass Yu¡¯s cheeks weren¡¯t red because she hugged me a moment ago. After all, her knowledge of skinship was practically non-existent. Remember when she didn¡¯t bother getting dressed to chase me by theke? Her sisters could tell you about her ignoring her frayed clothing and exposed body to hunt down someone. Her burning cheeks weren¡¯t the consequence of the wailing she hadn¡¯t exhibited since twenty years ago, either, since she perceived it to be natural. If anything, it was merely a new experience to her. The only reason her face was flush was because she was nervous to talk after suggesting we chat.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start.¡± I recounted the events that I lived through during the six years after I bid Lass Yu farewell, including the fight in the Western Regions, at Lawless Cliff, Ximen Buxing¡¯s demise and so forth. She finally calmed as she focused in on what I had to say.

    Lass Yu was surprised to hear that I had decided to not get involved with the pugilistic world again. We didn¡¯t feel any distance between us despite the six year gap. She¡¯d nod, smile, shake her head or hold my hand when I sounded sad.

    ¡°¡­ Brother Feizhen¡­ Your hair has turned ck and is done up unlike before.¡±

    I reached up to my bun and responded, ¡°Well, I can¡¯t do everything as I please now that I work for the government. I¡¯ll be chewed out and have my sry deducted if I don¡¯t groom properly.¡±

    Lass Yu pursed her curved up lips. ¡°You still look good,¡± she whispered under her breath then lowered her head.

    Oh, man, now I don¡¯t know what to say. It¡¯s been years since I¡¯ve heard that from anyone. Bloody Su Xiao keeps drilling into my head that I look hideous!

    Lass Yupiled her thoughts then said, ¡°Brother Ming, I¡­ I¡­ have something to tell you.¡±

    Here ites.

    ¡°What do you want to tell me?¡±

    Lass Yu kept gyrating her lips until she steeled her resolve to voice, ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Sorry? Was that just my imagination?

    ¡°Sorry? To me?¡±

    Lass Yu nodded: ¡°I¡­ lied to you.¡±

    Now I never expected to hear someone who¡¯s supposed to only ever be a victim of lies to tell me she lied to me. When did she learn to tell lies?

    Eyes cast down, Lass Yu expounded, ¡°I didn¡¯t show anyone the letter breaking off the engagement back then¡­ I burnt it.¡±

    No wonder why Huofeng treated me more disdainfully than an ex-husband. They must¡¯ve all thought I¡¯m a dastard who led Lass Yu on for all these years.

    ¡°Why did you burn it¡­? You¡­¡±

    Yu Feiyuan looked up to answer in an unwavering tone, ¡°Because you were wrong. You said I shouldn¡¯t marry you because I don¡¯t like you. You, instead, told me to find someone more fitting. That is wrong.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ what is correct?¡±

    ¡°I can answer the question you asked me now. You asked me if I like you¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°If my memory does me justice¡­ that¡¯s the same answer as back then.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°No,¡± objected Yu Feiyuan, shaking her head the way she ddd when she was being wilful back then. ¡°You told me to give up on you since I didn¡¯t know. Could you¡­ just have waited for me?¡±

    ¡°Wait?¡±

    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know what it means to like someone. All I know is that it exists. I¡¯m stupid; I always have been. I¡¯ve never liked anything. My grandpa told me to learn swordy. My aunt told me to learn palm techniques. Shizun told me to learn internal strengthening. And so, I learnt swordy, palm techniques and internal strengthening. When my aunt told me to take a shifu, I did. I coached when Shizun told me to. I got engaged to you when my grandpa told me to. I don¡¯t know what the difference between liking something and not liking it is. I just don¡¯t want people to be upset. Brother Ming, I hope what I said doesn¡¯t anger you. I never questioned how I felt about you until you gave me the letter.¡±

    I smiled helplessly: ¡°I¡¯m not and won¡¯t be angry. I have no right to be. You always were a kind and pure kid.¡±

    ¡°After you gave me the letter, though, I kept contemting the question you posed¡­ I don¡¯t know. I honestly don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t even know what I like¡­ I hope you can wait for me to learn what I want before deciding whether or not to break off the engagement. I was so scared when I held the letter. I don¡¯t know how to lie¡­ I stutter whenever I lie, so I burnt the letter¡­ and then began my search for you.¡±

    With a poignant smile, Lass Yu expanded, ¡°That was the first time I didn¡¯t listen to you and my shizun. For once, I decided to do what I wish and left Hangzhou to search for Hangzhou. Since you pointed to the west, I thought you were going west, so I visited the Western Regions¡¯ seven nations. I took longer than I liked as I didn¡¯t know my way around. When I came back, I learnt Demon Sect was wiped out, and you¡­ vanished into thin air. I then went to Beijiang, but I didn¡¯t find you there, either.¡±

    ¡°I was hiding at Night Net Mountain at that time. I then went to Shaolin and Wudang¡­ I happened to leave around the time you returned to Huzhou.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I thought you left the Central in. Since you¡¯re the type to like having fun, I assumed you were hiding somewhere and woulde back with time. That¡¯s why I went back to Wutong Jin Yuxuan to continue my training.¡±

    ¡°Well, you sure improved at the speed of sound,¡± I jovially remarked. ¡°I heard my Young Shiyi vandalised your ce. She didn¡¯t give you any grief, did she?¡±

    ¡°Your Young Shiyi? Sister Suwen did visit. She came to share some advice with us and identally broke some furniture. She¡¯s really skilled. I sparred with her because none of my juniors could match her. After I used what you taught me, she got grouchy and left. I couldn¡¯t catch up since her qinggong is better than mine. I still don¡¯t know what she was angry about.¡±

    That means Young Shiyi didn¡¯t get sick when she returned to Mount Daluo solely because of me but also because of her match with Lass Yu. That¡¯s not what I was told. Anyway, thank heavens she didn¡¯t hurt anyone.

    For the reason that I personally trained Lass Yu, she was actually slightly above Young Shiyi. If they got serious, one of them was bound to get hurt.

    ¡°You must be well-versed in the style I taught you now seeing as you immediately recognised it.¡±

    Oblivious to what I was thinking, Lass Yu conveyed, ¡°I trained night and day. I practiced it even more frequently while in the Western Regions and Beijiang to ward off the cold. I wanted to train and train so that I could¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Could?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to fight you. I wanted to defeat you fair and square. Then, I nned to kidnap you back to Hangzhou to stay with me.¡±

    You have to be kidding me! I thought you were searching for me with a broken heart! Are you telling me you walked around with a straight face, thinking about how to cripple me?! You¡¯re scaring me!

    ¡°It eventually urred to me that I wouldn¡¯t master the style even if you gave me another ten or twenty years, so I stopped trying to force progress.¡±

    The style I imparted to Lass Yu would only do her good, but, as she noted, it wasn¡¯t a style you could just ¡°hard work¡± through. If anything, trying to force progress would only have the opposite effect. The fact that she had progressed so far showed just how much she also developed mentally.

    ¡°Even though I gave up defeating you, the question you asked me lingers. Every time I think about it, it feels like I am trying to break through a wall with my head. I want to know what liking someone means. I want to know if I like you or not.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t lift my head.

    ¡°On my way to the Western Regions, I asked people what it meant to ¡®like¡¯. Some didn¡¯t answer me, while others gave me answers I couldn¡¯tprehend. In Beijiang, ady collecting cow milk said to me, ¡®Sillyss, whoever you are thinking of when you ask the question is the only one who can answer you.¡¯ Although I didn¡¯t know if she was telling the truth or not, I believed her. Please don¡¯t go. Wait for me. Wait for me to find the answer before we discuss it again, okay?¡± Lass Yu seized my sleeve with both hands just as she did when she wanted candied haws back then. ¡°Please wait for me to find the answer, okay?¡±

    Sillyss, you already found your answer when you decided to go against your shifu. You found your answer when thought of me first when you asked the question. The moment you changed, the moment you decided to kidnap me, you found you answer. Maybe you already had the answer the first time you sparred with me ten years ago. I¡¯m not worth that much effort.

    I still can¡¯t allow myself to have someone so important, be it Young Shiyi or you¡­ All I could ever do was make you wait. However¡­ I never realised you also wanted me to wait. Perhaps it will take us some time to ept each other. I never saw thising. Perhaps I owe you from my previous life.

    ¡°I will wait, even if that means waiting all my life.¡±

    Lass Yu¡¯s eyes narrowed as she spread her lips then shut them, tugging them up with an affirmative nod.

    Lass Yu will only ever smile if she¡¯s with me, huh?

 Volume 8 87 Causality. Putting in the Full Stop.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 87 Causality. Putting in the Full Stop.</h4>

    I pursed my lips: ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. That cornhole, Abels, was being a pain in the neck until I reversed the tables on him thanks to Mountain Monster¡¯s disguise technique. Oh, Mountain Monster is the girl who was with me on the mountain, the one you called cute. She¡¯s actually on the other team and my hostage. Don¡¯t talk too much to her, or she may fool you.

    ¡°We want to get back at Abels, but Vice-Captain Shen is still missing, while His Majesty and I are fraught with concerns to ount for. I¡¯ve found B-, Vice-Captain Shen; however, things aren¡¯t looking good. She insists on going undercover, so I have no choice but to protect her. That said, it¡¯s not urgent enough for you to worry about it. Our first priority right now is the thirteenth of this month.

    ¡°The whole tournament came about in a pretty bizarre way. His Majesty suspected his son has a hand in the events taking ce in Huzhou, and it turned out to be true. Green Prince wants to fight with us for some reason, while we don¡¯t have enough people to match them. Since I can¡¯t reveal my abilities, I sent a letter asking for you to give us a hand. Fighting is your forte, after all. You wouldn¡¯t turn me down, would, you, Lass?

    ¡°As for Refining Divine Convention, I suspect Abels¡¯ group and Luo n are somehow connected. I need more time to draw any meaningful conclusion. You only need to¡­ am I going to fast? Can you keep up?¡±

    ¡°Aha, uhm, uhuh¡­¡± Lass Yu, feeling that extending one finger made her appear as though it was too much brawn and not effort brains, extended three fingers. ¡°Three times. Please repeat three more times!¡±

    What am I, your personal tutor?! I doubt you¡¯d get it even after three more repeats!

    Lass Yu was a slow reader, a woefully slow one. Lass Yu had yet to learn to write her name when Young Shiyi was already reciting books off by heart. Expecting someone with some experience in the pugilistic world to wrap their head around what was going on at Canhu Town was probably a tall order, let alone Lass Yu.

    ¡°In short, just bear two things in mind. First, beware of Luo Sword Manor. I suspect there¡¯s a rat, if not multiple, among their ranks. There are too many coincidences for me to believe they¡¯re innocent. Whenever you meet anyone from Luo n henceforward¡­ minus Luo Siming, you must be vignt of everyone else.¡±

    Lass Yu nodded: ¡°Understood. If I meet anyone from Luo n, I pully them on their back immediately.¡±

    I¡­ don¡¯t think that¡¯s a wise idea. It¡¯s not like the majority of them are crooks, I think.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Uh, you do need to check before you starch them.¡±

    Even though Lass Yu¡¯s face read, ¡°But you taught me toy them out first,¡± I couldn¡¯t be bothered trying to exin the nuances between y them on their back first¡± and ¡°taking context and circumstances into consideration before you light them up¡±.

    ¡°Justy them out, then.¡±

    You reap what you sow, they say. Well, I guess it¡¯s not entirely true since all you innocent folks from Luo n will be on the receiving end.

    ¡°Second, be it that my name is still Ming Feizhen, you can¡¯t tell anyone about my past or skills. Do not let it leak when youe here to help us. Don¡¯t panic when you meet His Majesty andpany.¡± Lass Yu lowered her head, implying she was concerned about her ability to do so. Hence, I ruffled her hair and assured, ¡°It¡¯s only right that you feel apprehensive about lying, and I know that it¡¯s tough for you to lie. That being said, this isn¡¯t a lie. It¡¯s better for them not to know my past. Else, they may be in danger once they know. Besides, I¡¯m not telling you to say anything. You only need to go along with me. I¡¯ll do most of the talk.¡±

    When we continued discussing how to handle the tournament, the two of us had to cut our discussion short when we heard a brisk walk outside. I identified the individual, but he burst through the door before I could speak, shouting, ¡°Oi, Ming Feizhen, I¡¯ve been searching high and low for you, while you¡¯ve been drinking and now dating? You¡¯re an engaged man already, for crying out loud. Mind yourself, will you? Your fianc¨¦e is¡­¡±

    Seeing his gaze glued on Lass Yu, I reproved, ¡°What are you looking at? Someone put glue on your eyes?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Stop making it sound like I care to look. If I¡¯m not wrong, she must be Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s interim patriarch, Interim Patriarch Yu. Long Zaitian humbly greets you.¡±

    Mistaking Long Zaitian for my friend, Lass Yu decided to put into practice what I taught her, smiling back: ¡°Hello, this great one is Yu Feiyuan.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, why are you here? State your business or scram.¡±

    ¡°Wow, no manners whatsoever.¡±

    Long Zaitian helped himself to a chair: ¡°I¡¯m busy for your sakes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, what do you want?¡±

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, although Abbess Huofeng promised us that you would help us on the thirteenth, I dare not report back without your personal confirmation. I have been searching everywhere for you. I did not expect you to be here, hehehe.¡±

    His Majesty doesn¡¯t know about this yet, huh?

 Volume 8 88 Its Not Too late to Find a Way to Compensate

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 88 It¡¯s Not Toote to Find a Way to Compensate</h4>

    Rhetoric of social intervention model is equally paramount, if not more, to the pugilistic world than it is to the rest of the world. Why? Because the pugilistic world is rife with crime. In their circle, they must provide an embellished excuse as to why they attacked someone. Around friends, people unt their gift of the gab in an attempt to one-up each other.

    Not everyone employs words masterfully. Like everything else in life, there are degrees of expertise when ites to utilising words. Some are gifted at word games. Some people are straight forward, such as Hong Jiu. Some people do as they please, such as Young Shiyi. Some people can¡¯t make use of words to save their life, such as my fourth brother. Lass Yu was an expert at the second type and painfully good at the third type, which was why all of her rtives and Matriarch Zi were worried for her.

    Lass Yu¡¯s rtives and shizun taught her how to socialise from the time she was a kid. s, it eluded her. Even though she learnt how to strike up a conversation and get through the trite lines, she was stuck once the conversation advanced beyond that. I remember one of Shaolin¡¯s eminent monks found himself in a quagmire during his chat with Lass Yu, while she still took her time enjoying her tea. For that reason, besides teaching her about fighting, I also taught her about pleasantries.

    ¡°If someone offers to help with something you can do?¡±

    Lass Yu: ¡°Let me go!¡±

    ¡°What are you, a waiter at a restaurant? Again! What do you do if your subordinate speaks before you do?¡±

    ¡°Listen in for a while.¡±

    ¡°Wrong! Where¡¯s your authority?!¡± I sat down on the ground, exhausted, and asked, ¡°What if they ask you to do something you don¡¯t want to do?¡±

    Lass Yu rolled up her fingers.

    ¡°No, no, no, that solves your problem but costs them their life!¡±

    I taught Lass Yu responses to remember off by heart and avoid debates since she¡¯d eventuallyprehend the intricacies once she used them long enough; it was the same principle as learning martial arts, after all.

    ¡°In the first scenario, you say, ¡®I understand. Thank you for helping.¡¯ In the second scenario, you say, ¡®I didn¡¯t say anything. Don¡¯t make a fuss.¡¯ In the third scenario, you tell them, ¡®So and so, you are testing me.¡¯¡±

    Despite Lass Yu nodding, I didn¡¯t know if she really grasped it or not.

    Long Zaitian went on and on, while Lass Yu didn¡¯t seem too interested.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t told Master about this yet?¡± I asked with my eyes squinted.

    Without sparing me a nce, Long Zaitian responded, ¡°Of course not. You think everyone is as mindless as you are? What¡¯s the repercussion for giving false reports? Who¡¯d report unless he was dead certain his intelligence was correct?¡±

    ¡°Good. Listen up: your intelligence really is fake news. If you report it to Master, you can take those canes, and you can bear the consequences.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Abbess Huofeng¡¯s letter clearly explicated in her letter. Don¡¯t set me up.¡±

    ¡°While it¡¯s true that Miss Yu and I are childhood friends who haven¡¯t met in a long time, and our sects are on good terms¡­ Just know that it¡¯s not happening.¡±

    If people found out about my engagement to Lass Yu, all of my old enemies would start eyeing me.

    ¡°Serious?¡± Long Zaitian smirked: ¡°Sister-inw is mad about your promiscuous lifestyle, I bet. Am I right, Sister-inw?¡±

    Lass Yu looked my way for help then looked to her feet: ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not your sister-inw.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Long Zaitian had trouble believing the supposedly indifferent interim patriarch was acting shy. ¡°Look at her! You¡¯re the kind to boss your wife around, aren¡¯t you?!¡± Then, he gave Lass Yu a smile and said, ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, Sister-inw, he is mindless. You must keep him in line after you get married. Use whips, rods, cudgels and hammers. If you don¡¯t have enough tools,e see me. I will supply you with tools.¡±

    Lass Yu nodded: ¡°This great one understands. Thank you for helping, Brother Long.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the right response! Why are you using it now after all these years!¡± my face read.

    ¡°This great one didn¡¯t say anything. Don¡¯t make a fuss.¡±

    ¡°You opposing me, are you?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Long Zaitian smacked his thigh and carried on, ¡°Ming Feizhen, met your match, haven¡¯t you? You¡¯ve enjoyed your unrestrained days without Miss Shen for long enough. Interim Patriarch Yu, please do not hold back on him. He needs to be punished thrice daily. One less is one less too many.¡±

    ¡°Brother Long, you are testing this great one.¡± Lass Yu shed a proud smile, while I wanted to just break down.

    ¡°Long Zaitian, just remember that Miss Yu and I aren¡¯t seriously getting married, okay? I¡¯ll clear up the air with Abbess Huofeng.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m not as senseless as you. By the way, what happened to your mission?¡±

    ¡°What mission?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking me now? Didn¡¯t you go search for¡­ Miss Shen?¡±

    Oh, crap, I totally forgot about that!

    ¡°Hey!¡± Long Zaitian leaned closer to me to whisper, ¡°Remember to tell her that we¡¯ve been working hard to find her, with me having contributed the most.¡±

    The only things you¡¯ve contributed most to are spending my money like a maniac and starting parties! Strictly speaking, the tournament was also my work!

    Long Zaitian gazed upward and ced his hands behind his back: ¡°Tell her that, although lots of promiscuous women have been approaching me, I¡¯ve refused to spare them time of the day because they¡¯re merely rocks to me. Miss Shen will always be the most vibrant, fresh grass to me, the most gorgeous, noble swan, and the most beautiful rose in my eyes.¡±

    ¡°That makes you an ox, a toad and cow manure.¡±

    ¡°Oi! Besides sometimes saying something worth deliberating and sometimes showing some humility, you¡¯re pretty much useless. Have you ever considered entrusting the mission to someone dashing, handsome and genius? ¡­ Say something.¡±

    ¡°Concierge Long.¡±

    ¡°Yes, what it is it Sister-inw?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan pointed in the direction Ming Feizhen ran off in: ¡°He left a while ago.¡±

    Long Zaitian ran after me, shouting, ¡°Remember to tell her! Rose! Rose!¡±

 Volume 8 89 Feigning. Feizhens Coincidental Appearance.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 89 Feigning. Feizhen¡¯s Coincidental Appearance.</h4>

    ¡°I know you can hear me,¡± River Monster asserted in an exceedingly high-pitched voice whilst staring at Shen Yiren.

    Shen Yiren was fully aware that River Monster was taking a gamble since thetter didn¡¯t have any means of being a hundred percent sure the former was pretending to be in aa when Poison King couldn¡¯t. The only reason River Monster would challenge Poison King¡¯s judgement was to test the waters.

    Shen Yiren was also aware that River Monster was holding her breath and resisting a blink in order to survey the former¡¯s breathing, pulse and even skin for a reaction. Anything suspicious would justify River Monster pulling Shen Yiren up by the hair, disfigure her and force her awake. No matter how precious Shen Yiren was to their n, she was also a vtile factor.

    The only movement from Shen Yiren came from her skin, and that was only because River Monster touched her. River Monster wanted to torment Shen Yiren, but what fun was there in torturing someone if they didn¡¯t react? Nevertheless, River Monster simpered and taunted, ¡°Keep acting. It makes no difference to me. The day I¡¯m ready will be the day you be my docile ve that will torture her beloved man without batting an eye.¡±

    River Monster¡¯s method for creating loyal puppets was a mystery even to her allies; however, they all knew she was adroit at torture. Though Shen Yiren was adamant she wouldn¡¯t leak a word regardless of how much she was tortured, she didn¡¯t know anything about River Monster¡¯s Soul Stealing Puppet, meaning Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t be so confident once she was prisoner to River Monster¡¯s will.

    Shen Yiren hinged her hopes on being able to catch River Monster off guard and score a swift win if the circumstances called for it, though it was ast resort due to intelligence gathering being her priority.

    Damn, Feizhen, where are you when I need you?

    ¡°This is the woman who has every jerk head over heels for her? I¡¯m even better than she is, yet they don¡¯t fawn over me. How depraved!¡± River Monster wanted to pinch blood out of Shen Yiren, but if she left a bruise on thetter and someone saw it, she¡¯d be in for it. River Monster grabbed Shen Yiren¡¯s neck, ticking off thetter.

    River Monster¡¯s Soul Stealing Puppet style requires her to invoke fear in her target first then bring them under control using herbs. Lastly, she needs to transfuse her will into her target and overthrow their rule. The style is on the border of Heart Realm¡¯s most advanced styles but didn¡¯t hack it as one of the most advanced due to how diabolic it was, shing with Heart Realm¡¯s principles due to it being a destructive technique.

    Strengthening one¡¯s mind to force one¡¯s way through someone else¡¯s mind was an exceptional skill. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t just coarse but also daring. Forcing one¡¯s way into someone¡¯s mind to wrest control from them would irrevocably damage their mind. An authentic Heart Realm adept would find a way in without harming their target. Owing to the difference, River Monster¡¯s Soul Stealing Puppet would be considered a martial arts style, technically speaking.

    Soul Stealing Puppet first step was the simplest since one¡¯s imagination was the only thing limiting how they could shake up their target, and their courage was the only thing limiting even someone without anybat skills from intimidating someone.

    Learning to spot the moment the target was vulnerable to apply the poison usually took between one to three years. Using poison to subdue someone instead of outright killing them wasn¡¯t something you could master via visceral learning for you needed to dose precisely and learn to handle them in different contexts. For instance, someone who doesn¡¯t know martial arts and someone proficient in martial arts would require different implementation as well as different dosages.

    Even astute people would require two to three decades to learn how to install their will into someone else¡¯s mind, making the third step the most difficult. After all, it took time to obtain data from killing people. Hence, River Monster only had a fifty percent sess rate when creating puppets, not that she didn¡¯t mind messing up and paralysing Shen Yiren for life. On the contrary, she¡¯d beughing hysterically if she put Shen Yiren in that pitiful state.

    Having said all that, the reverse was true in this scenario because Shen Yiren was in aa. Until River Monster could somehow terrorise Shen Yiren, she couldn¡¯t administer her poison, let alone arrogate Shen Yiren¡¯s mind. Trying to invade someone¡¯s mind while they haven¡¯t been weakened is akin to besieging a city on your own, while the city has a refreshed, might army waiting for a challenger. Unlike in physical fights, one error would cost the invader their life.

    Luckily for River Monster and unluckily for Shen Yiren, the former had experience making puppets out of unconscious people. All River Monster had to do was stimte the target¡¯s body enough andbine it with her special incense to lead the target into a nightmare. Fear-induced nightmares produced the same effect as distress evoked in person. In other words, once the nightmare gave the target a fright, River Monster could administer the poison. The bad news was that aforementioned nightmare would usually be slitting the target¡¯s wrist, shaving off their ear or other physical, bloody forms of torture. Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t even be bruised, so those methods were off the menu.

    Thanks to her persistent brainstorming, River Monster¡¯s ingenious gave birth to the idea of surprise attacking Shen Yiren, prompting thetter to have a nightmare of someone exerting their dreadful will on her.

    ¡°Damn it! My hands and jaws are getting tired, yet this wench hasn¡¯t responded whatsoever!¡±

    I¡¯m also tired of you putting your hands on me and polluting my ears! I know you¡¯re trying to humiliate me before you kick my mind out. I¡¯d love to ram my fists into your face repeatedly right about now.

    Both women hated each other as both women lost an arm because of the other. Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t the type to let people walk all over her. In this case, nevertheless, she had no choice but to swallow the bitter and focus on keeping her blood and qi flow from circting too fast.

    With her incense almost done burning, the tired River Monster snapped, ¡°Damn it! I don¡¯t have enough yang qi to drag this wench into a nightmare even if was given ten days.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I¡¯m d to get a break since feigning also exhausts me. Why does she want to pick a fight with me? Ming Feizhen said he¡¯d be back in the afternoon, yet it¡¯s already night time. I¡¯m so bored¡­ Hurry back already. Getting to give him a punch or two could help kill some time, hehe.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t do anything about you as a woman, I¡¯ll get a man to work on you!¡±

    Ming Feizhen happened to walk through the door with his ttering disguise on at the right time: ¡°Your subject is back, Ma¡¯am River Monster.¡±

    Uh, why is Boss Shen¡¯s clothing a mess? There are only twodies here, so¡­

    River Monster eyed Ming Feizhen and then tugged up a corner of her lips: ¡°Perfect timing. Come over, Zhong Ning.¡±

    Why do I feel like Boss is yelling at me not to approach her?

    ¡°Go and grope her!¡±

 Volume 8 90 Guardian of Rabbit Cult

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 90 Guardian of Rabbit Cult</h4>

    ¡°Grope?¡±

    ¡°Grope yourself!¡± I swear I heard Boss Shen scream.

    No wonder why I could smell hostility the moment I strolled in¡­ Why do I have to grope her, though?

    Since I turned my face into a big question mark, River Monster snapped, ¡°Your superiors have to expound their orders to you now?¡±

    How would I have argued that? How was I supposed to answer to the voice in my head telling me, ¡°I¡¯ll take both of your hands if you touch me!¡±?

    ¡°Tch, what are you dallying for? Grope her.¡±

    I regret setting foot in here.

    ¡°I-I, y-your subject is long past the age for this. That is a job better reserved for a young man. Your subject does not have it in him anymore.¡±

    ¡°To be more direct, you¡¯re impotent?¡±

    Do you need to be that direct? You¡¯re the one who turned Mountain Monster into a snobby brat, aren¡¯t you?

    ¡°Yes or no?¡±

    W-wait, you want me to admit it to you? What sort of humiliation fetish is this?!

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± I uttered in a muffled voice.

    Whether it was my imagination or not, I could hear Boss mocking, ¡°Sucked in, hahahahaha.¡±

    Keep taunting me, and I¡¯ll use Subduing Dragon Eighteen Gropes on you!

    ¡°Louder!¡±

    ¡°Yes! I, Zhong Ning, am impotent!¡±

    To my confusion, River Monster grinned: ¡°Perfect. You may be old, but you¡¯re still quite solid. I was worried you might not be able to contain yourself. Since you¡¯re impotent, this is perfect.¡±

    ¡°I do not understand.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to. Quit babbling, ande over here.¡±

    River Monster ced my hand onto Boss¡¯ mountain that was too big for my wide hand span. Even though Boss¡¯ bosom looked smoking when she sat upright, I only realised how tightly pressed up against her clothing it was when I finally had my hands on them. My brain stopped processing anything else to relish the warm sensation in my hand.

    ¡°What use is there if you just leave your hand there? Squeeze them.¡±

    River Monster took control of my fingers to y with Boss¡¯ assets, which sucked my fingers in. Their sacred touch gave me an epiphany; they showed me just how meaningless everything else I¡¯d done in life was. Only then did I discover what I had been missing out on for years.

    Guardian of Rabbit Cult hereby swears fealty to you two rabbits!

    ¡°Wipe your bloody nose.¡±

    I did as I was told.

    ¡°Consider yourself blessed. She¡¯s an important person to the imperial court. Tell me: what do you think?¡±

    ¡°¡­ They¡¯re soft.¡±

    Wait, why did I answer honestly when Boss is listening in?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°That¡¯s not enough. Do it yourself this time. Indulge yourself until I tell you to stop.¡±

    I don¡¯t remember ever doing anything to you, River Monster¡­ Why are you being so nice to me? This bliss is bestowed so suddenly that I can¡¯t distinguish if it¡¯s real or not! That said, if I purposely touch Boss without River Monster forcing my hand, I won¡¯t have any justification to save my life.

    ¡°If you won¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ve had my break. I refuse to believe I can¡¯t win against a virgin.¡±

    You intend to sully my rabbit gods in my presence?! Hell no am I letting you desecrate them!

    I grabbed the two gods with both hands: ¡°Your subject shall oblige!¡±

    ¡°Move as-, wait, wait, hahaha! She reacted!¡± River Monster shoved me aside upon seeing the anger, maybe embarrassment, sear Boss¡¯ cheeks and lock her brows. ¡°Hah, it¡¯s working. It¡¯s working. A man is needed, indeed. Men are animals, after all.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t agree more.

    ¡°Hey, keep fondling her.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    Am I guilty of incitement? More importantly, if I vite Boss now, when we¡¯re in private¡­

    Even though my mind was apprehensive, my hands made their way over impetuously.

    Suddenly, Poison King came in when my hands didn¡¯t even have a centimetre left to their targets and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°What took you so long? You done packing up your vials? How do you expect to keep a low profile when you walk around with so much poison on you? Are you trying to announce you¡¯re Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King?¡± admonished River Monster.

    ¡°Says the one with a big bear that she has no means of hiding. I know what I¡¯m doing, ¡®busker¡¯.¡± Poison King sneered as he took a jab at River Monster¡¯s fake identity as a busker.

    Receiving the message Poison Kingmunicated with his eyes, River Monster nodded and then instructed, ¡°You continue.¡±

    You¡¯re joking!

    ¡°Only y, though. If you dare to take her virginity, I¡¯ll take your life!¡±

    What other reaction besides nodding profusely could I give?

    Boss¡¯ Precision Scout was slower than my senses, but she eventually opened her eyes: ¡°I never knew. Quite soft, are they?¡±

 Volume 8 91 The Walls Have Ears. Spare No One.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 91 The Walls Have Ears. Spare No One.</h4>

    ¡°There you have it for the thirteenth. Wutong Jin Yuxuan has agreed to lend us a hand, so we should have it under control. My marriage to Interim Patriarch Yu is a mimunication issue that we have sorted out.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There was no point in withholding information from Boss when she would look into it at ater date. While she was often reckless in decisions, the same couldn¡¯t be said when it came to research and investigations. Plus, I had no secrets to speak of for as long as bigmouths Long Zaitian and Su Xiao didn¡¯t have their mouths jammed. I¡¯d be in a worse situation if Boss got suspicious and started digging around behind my back.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Since His Majesty doesn¡¯t have any issues, then I don¡¯t need to worry. We shouldn¡¯t be caught with any surprises as long as we keep a pulse on Abels.¡±

    ¡°Boss, do you really trust His Majesty without question?¡±

    All I see if an old man who can¡¯t keep his sons in line. If he isn¡¯t getting cucked, he¡¯s being betrayed. Even Su Xiao knocked him out with fried eggs and tomatoes for two days.

    ¡°What¡¯s with that question? Although His Majesty doesn¡¯t possessed enriched experience in the pugilistic world, he is a sovereign overwatching politics. The old man always takes the bigger picture into ount. If he knows what¡¯s urring, he will have a contingency n.¡±

    Even you call him an old man¡­

    ¡°Ahem.¡± I extended a thumb: ¡°Just as I¡¯d expect from His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­?¡±

    ¡°Just as I¡¯d expect from Boss.¡±

    ¡°If you have something to say, cut to the chase, and save me the lip service.¡±

    ¡°Just as I¡¯d expect from Boss, meticulous and attentive, the ideal individual for me to learn from. I was hoping¡­ you could free me. I would like to scratch my itchy neck.¡± Boss tied my hands and legs up with ropes and left on the ground, banned from climbing onto the bed to speak.

    ¡°Release you?¡± Boss Shen pulled out a whip and whipped the ground, rhetorically questioning, ¡°I have yet to teach you a lesson. What did you do to me before?¡±

    ¡°H-h-how do you have a weapon when you were in aa?¡±

    ¡°You think there¡¯s a shortage of whips at a brothel? I sneaked out to pinch one.¡±

    Youngdy, you know a bit too much! I was wondering why it had the smell of wax candles on it!

    Boss Shen did ap around me with an eerie grin pped on her lips then remarked, ¡°Yu Feiyuan, the best female adept in Jiangnan¡¯s martial world, is close to you, huh?¡±

    ¡°Our sects are close. I am just a side bonus. Just a side bonus.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem that way to me. You won the imperial martial arts tournament and almost married Princess Hongzhuang.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t be more innocent there! Is it my fault all of my opponents lost without me even lifting a finger?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also your aunt, Demoness Ming Suwen, the most beautiful woman in the North¡¯s martial world - with martial arts prowessuded by all. Hmm¡­ you¡¯re really lucky with women.¡±

    I can¡¯t tell if Boss Shen is in a good or sour mood from her visage, but that tone is somehow scary.

    ¡°By the way, you haven¡¯t rified with Wutong Jin Yuxuan that your marriage to Yu Feiyuan is a misunderstanding, have you? What are you going to do if they announce you two are getting married on the thirteenth?¡±

    ¡°Heh, I already factored that into the equation. I have a n ready on hand.¡±

    Boss Shen sighed: ¡°Your sneer suggests you have another unscrupulous trick up your sleeve¡­¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. More importantly, how long do you n to go undercover for? River Monster is trying to turn you into a puppet. You might not even be able to hit me by the time I recover you at this rate.¡±

    Boss Shen passed me the whip handle: ¡°My internal energy is fully recovered; she¡¯s no match for me if we fight. She and Poison King are at odds with each other because they want to use me as a sacrifice. I can take advantage of their incongruent stances to escape.

    ¡°Feizhen, while I was feigning, I heard them n to capture Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s descendent in addition to Wudang¡¯s elder. You and I both know the two groups¡¯ standing. To take such big risks can only mean they are crazy or striving for a big goal.¡±

    ¡°Sadly, the mastermind has everyone else do his bidding, so we still don¡¯t even have a guess as to what he¡¯s nning. Anyone can discern using Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen¡¯s blood to forge a sword isn¡¯t orthodox. Luo Sword Manor has always manufactured weapons for orthodox groups, and a reputed cksmith wouldn¡¯t change his style all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. The way this convention has been designed is uncharacteristic of Luo Sword Manor. I heard Luo Siming mention his second uncle, Luo Yan, has full jurisdiction over the smithing department, yet River Monster andpany evidently have control over it from what they¡¯ve said. Even if Luo Yan isn¡¯t colluding with them, he¡¯s not innocent.¡±

    We believed that we hadn¡¯t seen the full magnitude of Refining Divine Convention. Nheless, we couldn¡¯t make any further hypotheses based on our limited intelligence.

    ¡°They haven¡¯t been gone for too long. I¡¯ll go eavesdrop to see if we can find out anything else.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t. It¡¯s too dangerous.¡±

    While I was in the room with Boss Shen, I was listening in to the conversation in the courtyard next door, even when Boss was speaking.

    ***

    ¡°I have a feeling that someone is listening in¡­¡± Poison King couldn¡¯t spot anyone around contrary to his gut feeling.

    ¡°Age catching up to Nanjiang¡¯s decorated Poison King?¡± River Monster ribbed.

    ¡°¡­ Ever since arriving here, this old one has had the feeling that there¡¯s an invisible pair of eyes on eyes, except he can¡¯t ascertain who it is.¡±

    ¡°How about we go somewhere else, then?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s not safe to leave thiste at night. This old one has set up a poison formation in his room. Not even Abels will hear us as long as wemunicate using Voice Transmission.¡± Restoring pride to his countenance, Poison King added, ¡°Could gods possibly exist?¡±

    Although I¡¯m no god, I am the guardian of Rabbit Cult.

    Unless I moved my true qi source at intervals, thereby changing where I was listening in from, the sharp Poison King would find out where I was. Even then, he was still sharp enough to notice something.

    Poison King resumed his talk: ¡°Where was I? ¡­ Right, Shen Yiren needs to be ready on the thirteenth. On the thirteenth, you need to proceed ording to n. Evil Spirits¡¯ group will be under yourmand. You must annihte Dragon Phoenix Inn, everyst one of them.¡±

 Volume 8 92 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 92 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 1)</h4>

    Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Repository Ind was Luo n¡¯s equivalent of the imperial family¡¯s Forbidden City, a residence and office for Luo n¡¯s patriarch. Contrary to the past, where the ind was reserved for conferences between their upper echelon and important gatherings, the ind was no longer in the hands of Luo n¡¯s supporters. With the exception of those loyal to Luo Siming, all other members of Luo n swore fealty to Luo Yan since he had me Emperor and Siming Sword in his possession.

    For thest century, everyone on the various inds under Luo n¡¯s jurisdiction was assigned a job, such as patrols,munications, security, cleaning, clothing and food. The main branch, for instance, primarily focused on forging weapons and teaching or learning swordy. When required, they would be the steadfast Luo n military.

    In the past, the n didn¡¯t side with neither Luo Yan nor Luo Siming, rendering the two equals. Should they ever ally with either faction, the supported faction would effortlessly win because the neutral main n wielded more power than the smithing and swordy departments.

    Luo Yan leveraged the two swords to give out orders while surreptitiously giving orders to the main n to tamper with food and drinks. Consequently, he squashed the swordy department without costing himself a single subordinate. Luo Yan was careful not to let anyone on Flying Fish, Flying Swallow and Flying Snow inds find out about his actions, while Luo Siming¡¯s powerlessness to return to Repository Ind meant that news of the coup wasn¡¯t shared.

    In one sleep, the swordy department¡¯s role with the smithing department had been reversed, bing the minority, behind bars and unable to put up a resistance. Those from the smithing department who were Luo Siming loyalists werebelled traitors and treated terribly, albeit not locked up.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Luo Siding, who was entrusted with Repository Ind while his father went out for business, trespassed into the most sacred ce on the ind, reserved for only Luo Sword Manor¡¯s reigning patriarch - Sword Repository Hall - with his group of brown-nosing friends.

    ¡°All that enigmatic act over a pile of useless copper and iron?¡± Luo Siding always wanted to see the interior of Sword Repository Hall, so it was the first order of things for him as soon as his father left Repository Ind in his hands.

    ¡°They are the blood, sweat and tears of our previous patriarchs, divine weapons our ancestor sacrificed so much to obtain. H-how can you call them useless?! M-mind your choice of words!¡± fumed Luo Wuchang.

    Being tasked with keeping Sword Repository Hall in mint condition despite being a member of the smithing department, Repository Ind¡¯s chambein, Luo Wuchang, reciprocated the trust Luo Siming showed him, trusting him not to pinch a weapon while counting or cleaning. For that reason, Luo Wuchang didn¡¯t take a liking to Luo Yan, let alone his disgrace of a son.

    ¡°Did you just argue with me? You forgot your ce?¡± Luo Siding cancelled his n to p the elder because he didn¡¯t think it would shake up the elder with nerves of steel. He, instead, picked up a bronze hunting sword and remarked, ¡°What¡¯s this? It looks decent.¡±

    Luo Wuchang proudly informed, ¡°It is Bronze Hunter, an unrivalled sword during its era when our eighth generation ancestor left it behind.¡±

    ¡°Must be good for slicing beef, then. Men, bring me beef!¡±

    ¡°Right away, Young Master!¡± The bootlicker sped off to the kitchen to fetch a big te of beef in soy sauce.

    In spite of the beef already being sliced, Luo Siding ran Bronze Hunter Sword through it and then left the sword to marinate in the soy sauce: ¡°What are you going to do about it? Keep staring and I¡¯ll roast all of the swords here!¡±

    Prioritising the swords over his pride and emotions, Luo Wuchang pursed his lips together.

    ¡°Hahahaha, that¡¯s what I thought, old bugger!¡±

    Meanwhile, a group of people sailed to Repository Ind without reserve, showing up with total disregard for Luo Sword Manor.

    ¡°Luo Sword Manor invited us here, yet your master isn¡¯t even going to wee us?¡±

    Trying not to affront the young man attired invish clothing with a group of servants waiting on him, totalling forty to fifty adepts, Luo n¡¯s servant replied, ¡°Young Master Ling, please calm down. This one is not refusing you entry. He swears Second Master and Young Master are not on the ind.¡±

    ¡°So what if they¡¯re not? I¡¯m a long-time friend of your young master. Your young master wouldn¡¯tin even if I came without an appointment.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ B-¡±

    ¡°No buts!¡± Young Master Ling front kicked the servant onto his bottom and brayed, ¡°I¡¯m going to hold a banquet today. I don¡¯t have time to waste. I¡¯m going to check out Sword Repository Hall and then visit the residence with my friends. Your young master would approve if he was in your shoes. How dare you tell me to leave?!¡±

    ¡°Young Master Ling, please leave with your friends.¡±

 Volume 8 93 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 93 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 2)</h4>

    In the past, if someone thought Prodigy Flying Yan, Yan San - a man so adept with a broadsword that he would still be ranked in the top five amongst Jiangnan¡¯s past and present broadsword wielders - was somebody¡¯s servant, they¡¯d be disparaged for their ignorance. Yet, there he was, facing off against Young Master Ling, who didn¡¯t recognise the man Liu Shan Men once apprehended for attempting to rob Luo Sword Manor¡¯s shipment for a weapon back then. Semantically, Young Master Ling wasn¡¯t wrong to treat Yan San as a servant because thetter loyally served as Luo Yan¡¯s right-hand man ever since Luo Yan rigged some strings to save him from being executed.

    Jabbing his finger on Yan San¡¯s head, Young Master Ling insulted, ¡°I held a banquet for everyone on Flying Fish Ind, praising Luo n with every word in existence. I know Repository Sword Hall houses all of your patriarchs¡¯ divine swords besides me Emperor and Siming Sword. I know you also store my n¡¯s gift, Wind Prating Pine, in there.

    ¡°Your plum blossom garden is a sight to behold every winter, not to mention their intoxicating scent in their prime. I brought my friends here because they don¡¯t believe me. How do you expect me to show my face in public if you kick me off the ind after all my boasting? Huh? Say something!¡±

    The man Luo Yan asked to monitor Repository Ind on his behalf - because Luo Siding was too Luo Siding - calmly responded, ¡°Second Master and Young Master honestly are not on the ind. Please return to Flying Fish Ind to await themencement of Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    ¡°Where did you just tell me to go? You have people watching over our every movement on your ind. What are we, your prisoners? I came here on your n¡¯s invitation as a guest, not a prisoner! You think you can imprison all of the heroes whomuted long distances here?¡±

    Visibly, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s image had yet to improve since the time they were resoundingly defeated five years ago, and Young Master Ling had yet to be convinced to change his ways.

    Young Master Ling is friends with Luo Siming, and the timing of his visit makes me uneasy. Young Master Ling must know who I am given how close he is to Luo Siming in addition to his background, yet he is patronising to the point that I feel he is provoking me into attacking him. As I am now representing Luo Sword Manor, I can¡¯t afford to make an enemy out of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary.

    Yan San politely addressed, ¡°This one does not mean to disrespect you, Young Master Ling. Sadly, unless our patriarch gives the order, we cannot allow you into our blossom garden or Repository Sword Hall for they are both out of bounds areas on Repository Ind. Please be understanding.¡±

    As Young Master Ling started losing to his hesitance, Kuang Lu smiled and politely took over, opining, ¡°You emphasise ¡®Second Master¡¯ to point that I am under the impression that the ind does not belong to your young patriarch. If I did not know better, I would be under the assumption that the smithing department rules the ind.¡±

    Taken aback by the verbal attack, Yan San conveyed, ¡°Owing to this one serving Second Master for longer, it is a habit to name Second Master. He does not mean to undermine Young Patriarch¡¯s authority at all.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s not as if I usurped my nephew¡¯s rule,¡± replied Kuang Lu.

    ¡°What do you mean, Sir?¡±

    ¡°I never expected to Prodigy Flying Yan to have zed a trail for himself as a man who wields words as proficiently as he does a broadsword.¡±

    ¡°You tter him, Sir.¡±

    ¡°You need not be so humble. I would like to humbly exchange some swordy pointers with you.¡± Kuang Lu took out a painting scroll from his backpack and spread it open to draw out the sword embellished with golden patterns along its one-metre-long de.

    ¡°A sword in a scroll?¡± Having served at Luo Yan¡¯s side for years, Yan San gleaned enough to identify the sword, though he still marvelled at the width that was a mere thirty-three centimetres.

    ¡°This sword is name Exotic Flower Valley. I spent six years to invent a swordy as per my mentor¡¯s instructions, centring its theme around the four seasons. This will be its debut; please do not hesitate to share any input you might have.¡±

    Notwithstanding Yan San¡¯s reluctance, Kuang Lu pressured the former into drawing his broadsword via a persistent and fast triple-thrustbo, stunting Kuang Lu¡¯s advance.

    ¡°Many flowers bloom in spring, befitting the exotic word. It is an honour to learn from you.¡±

    Chase as fast as it could, the dust couldn¡¯t keep up with the cadence of Kuang Lu¡¯s thrusts. Calcte as he may, Yan San couldn¡¯t find an opening tounch a counterattack. Inevitably, Kuang Lu found Yan San¡¯s throat, stopping himself short of plunging it through.

    ¡°This technique is called ¡®The Tree Passing Through the Courtyard Bes a Leaf¡¯. I have yet to polished it yet. Might you have any advice for me, Hero Yan?¡±

    ¡°Excellent swordy. This one is no match for you, Sir.¡± Yan San would¡¯ve rather suffered a scrape than to fall prey to the provocation ploy.

    ¡°Staunch even with a sword at your throat. Your self-restraint is admirable.¡±

    ¡°This one is but a servant, not a hero. It is not self-restraint; this one merely has faith you would not take his life in the presence of so many heroes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? In that case, why did you help your second master depose of your young patriarch?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Where did you hear that calumny from? Young Patriarch has only gone out for a few days, leaving this ind to us. Second Master would never hurt his nephew. Please do not believe the libel.¡±

    ¡°Second Master would never hurt his nephew. Really now?¡± A servant behind Young Master Ling stepped forward.

    ¡°Y-Young Patriarch?¡±

    ¡°Yan San, why do you look so pale?¡± Luo Siming¡¯s voice sounded more frigid than ever. ¡°I¡¯m my second uncle¡¯s nephew, so I wouldn¡¯t hurt you, right?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Ling n¡¯s wannabe brought his friends here for a tour?¡±

    Luo Siding, though aware of Luo Siming¡¯s friendship with Young Master Ling, wanted to befriend Young Master Ling for he always envied Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s unbridled descendants. Luo Siding was far too spoilt to resign himself to the ordered lifestyle Luo n imposed forever.

    ¡°The only reason Young Master Ling bothers with Luo Siming is because Luo Siming was in the patriarch seat. From now on, I¡¯m the young patriarch of Luo Sword Manor. They must be here to establish a friendship with me. Let them in. Let them feast their eyes on my n¡¯s legendary Sword Repository Hall,¡± Luo Siding proudly voiced.

    Luo Wuchang appealed, ¡°You cannot do that! This is a forbidden zone on the ind! Outsiders are not permitted in here. Y-you have already broken the rule bying here. You cannot break the rules again!¡±

    ¡°Rules? Luo Siming¡¯s rules or Luo Ming¡¯s rules?¡±

    ¡°Luo Sword Manor¡¯s rules.¡±

    Luo Siding kicked the fiery face in front of him, injuring Luo Wuchang¡¯s back against the swords he crashed into. ¡°From now on, I¡¯m the only rule! I don¡¯t care about whatever Sword Repository Hall.¡± Luo Siding patted his trusty broadsword by his waist whilst sneering. ¡°I wield broadswords. These flimsy things are rusty bronze to me. What use do they serve? Actually, I reckon they might be worth some cash.¡±

    From the ground, Luo Wuchang demurred, ¡°You cannot sell them!¡±

    ¡°Shut your trap!¡± Luo Siding silenced Luo Wuchang with another kick then continued, ¡°Ling n is wealthy and also likes swords. That Ling n punk must be after the swords. I¡¯ll sell all of this useless bronze to him. How much do you reckon Wind Prating Pine is worth?¡±

    ¡°More than your life!¡± three men outside stated in unison.

 Volume 8 94 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 94 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 3)</h4>

    Had Yan San not pulled Luo Siding aside in time, the two entering sessively would¡¯ve created a new aperture in Luo Siding before he knew it. Since Luo Siding moved off the sword¡¯s trajectory, Young Master Ling¡¯s de went through nine goons¡¯ foreheadsparably to a knife through butter. ¡°What are you doing, Yan San?!¡± blustered Luo Siding, not recognising the assassination technique Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary made famous - Flying Thrust Technique.

    Yan San had no time for anything else but shunting Luo Siding aside with his right hand while defending with the broadsword in his left, saving Luo Siding from losing an ear. Although the stab aimed from the side of Luo Siding¡¯s head wasn¡¯t as forceful as the one Young Master Ling executed for his entrance, Luo Siming masked its path using angles.

    ¡°Wh-what the hell?! W-w-wait, what are you doing here?!¡± Luo Siding¡¯s tongue felt paralysed.

    ¡°Uncle Wuchang¡­¡± Luo Siming dismissed his foiled sneak attack to tend to Luo Wuchang, the man who took care of his father and brothers.

    Once Luo Siming freed Luo Wuchang¡¯s clogged blood cirction path, thetter shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t sell them! Those are our ancestors¡¯ rel-, Young Master! Young Master, you are finally back! Sword Repository Hall, Sword Repository Hall¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes I¡¯m back. I will protect our ancestors¡¯ relics, Uncle Wuchang.¡± Luo Siming¡¯s customary warmth left his eyes once he cast his gaze over to Luo Siding.

    Luo Siming has changed. He¡¯s never hurt me before, but those eyes tell me there won¡¯t be any forgiveness. Why did I gulp so hard? I¡¯m not afraid of Luo Siming. I¡¯m not afraid of Luo Siming.

    ¡°Luo! Si! Ming! You¡¯ve lost Siming Sword, so how dare you try to stare me down! You¡¯re a cur who just cries when he¡¯s hit, you wuss! You¡¯re not patriarch any longer! I¡¯m the young patriarch of Luo n! You¡¯re just my punching bag! You came back to kill me?¡± Luo Siding sneered.

    Marginalising Luo Siding, Luo Siming pressed his ring finger between his index and middle fingers, spawning snowkes. Luo Siding instantly used Scorching Sun Spirit¡¯s internal energy style to protect his body whilst extending his arm, only for Luo Siming to plough through his extended arms.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in you. Where is your father?¡±

    That¡¯s the look. That¡¯s the look Luo Siming always gives me whenever I argue, fight or steal from him. Nothing I did ever broke hisposure. He always, effortlessly obtained everything, skills, power, respect and fame. Why is it always him? Why does he always get everything desirable?!

    ¡°Young Master, please do not kill him!¡±

    Yan San ditched the close fight with Young Master Ling to erect a qi barrier around Luo Siding, lest Luo Siming kill his cousin, and then pushed Luo Siding out of the way. Yan San then took three swings each at Luo Siming and Young Master Ling, forcing them to back off. After over a hundred exchanges, the three threw a heavy swing each, sliding each other back along the ground.

    Luo Siming whipped the blood from Yan San¡¯s shoulder off his sword: ¡°If I was to fight Flying Yan Prodigy one on one, I would lose for sure. It is a pity.¡±

    Had it been under different circumstances, Yan San would¡¯ve felt it was a pity to harm Luo Siming. Today, however, Luo Siming implied that he would stop at nothing to take back what was his.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± shouted Luo Siding, terminating his n to flee and extending Wind Prating Pine at the presence he sensed behind him out of the blue, only to release his clutch when he felt a twinge on his wrist.

    ¡°Luo Sword Manor¡¯s descendants are this embarrassing at a simple thrust? Practice a thousand reverse thrusts every day from now on,¡±mpooned Kuang Lu, holding Wind Prating Pine and carrying a basket on his back.

    Yan San beat Luo Siming and Young Master Ling to the punch, but Kuang Lu¡¯s speed dwarfed the two. Aware that his shoulder injury would potentially be his downfall, Yan San pressed forward, regardless. Kuang Lu suddenly folded his arms and grinned instead of hunting down Luo Siding.

    More and more orthodox sects¡¯ members showed up. Apanying them were former prisoners of the swordy department. It wasn¡¯t difficult for Luo Siming to rescue the captives as Luo n didn¡¯t involve themselves in the dissent between uncle and nephew, not when Luo Yan wasn¡¯t present to disy the two symbols of authority.

    Kuang Lu let the smithing department¡¯s members barricade Luo Siding. Howbeit, he immediately engaged Yan San when thetter attempted to regroup with Luo Siding, taking the fight out of Sword Repository Hall.

    Luo Siming stepped forward and dered, ¡°Luo Siding, you and your fathermitted murder, theft, framed people and stole Siming Sword as part of your subterfuge to upy Repository Ind and usurp authority. You are both scum from the perspective of the martial world and Luo n. You entered Sword Repository Hall without permission as well as insulted our ancestor¡¯s relics. No mercy shall be shown for your crimes.¡±

    ¡°Dream on! My father, my father is formidable! My father has an exceptional man aiding him! Defying him is no different to courting death!¡± threatened Luo Siding. ¡°Men!¡±

    ¡°Present!¡± responded the thirty-odd adepts of the smithing department.

    ¡°They have fewer men than us! Butcher them!¡±

    ¡°You never learn,¡± scoffed Luo Siming. ¡°Advance!¡±

    Luo Siming started swinging at iing aggressors. It was almost impossible to see who was killing who with the way they were all clustered up and hacking away at each other.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Kill ¡®em! Kill ¡®em!¡± Don¡¯t spare a single one of them! I rule Luo n! The smithing department rules Luo n!¡± By the time he was done belting, Luo Siding found himself at the centre of his men¡¯s corpses. Worse, Luo Siming and three of The Samuume Swordsmen had him in the centre.

    The sword in Luo Siming¡¯s hand was Samuume Sword, the sword missing from Repository Sword Hall, and the style he utilised along with his three bodyguards was none other than the sword formation that¡¯d give Divine Realm fighters a hard time - Concealed Sword Formation. As the leader of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s swordy department, Luo Siming¡¯s mastery of Concealed Sword Formation eclipsed his four bodyguards¡¯ grasp on it. This generation¡¯s Four Samuume Swordsmen zing-fast improvement was attributed to Luo Siming¡¯s assistance.

    Luo Siming pointed the tip of Samuume Sword at Luo Siding¡¯s throat and coldly questioned, ¡°Where is Luo Yan?¡±

    Luo Siding quavered, ¡°I refuse to tell you. K-kill me if you¡¯re a m-, agh! Hargh!¡±

    Plod! Both of Luo Siding¡¯s hands dropped onto the ground.

    Luo Simingmanded, ¡°Continue rescuing captured swordy department members and my main branch¡¯s people. If anyone from the smithing department resists, execute them on the spot. If they are willing to yield, they shall be shown leniency. My friends, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart for your help today. Please continue working with me to apprehend Luo Yan and publicly execute him!¡±

    ***

    Meditating in Luo n¡¯s secret room, Abels let out a long exhale, apprehensive about performing another excruciating, shaky inhale. Though the daoism breathing method didn¡¯t alleviate his agony or melt the tension in his face, he obstinately tried again and again.

    ¡°Poison King¡¯s method¡­ treats the symptoms but not the root problem.¡± Abels smiled helplessly to himself.

    Poison King offered a style that could heighten the potency of Abels¡¯ internal energy in a short time. Unfortunately, using yin and yang poisons simultaneously while Abels was injured due to using his full power against Ming Feizhen and losing proved to be more excessive. The reason he kept taking the risk was because Refining Divine Convention was right around the corner.

    Abels took the internal energy of yin and yang bugs, striving to utilise it alongside his original internal energy. The problem was that he gradually lost his grip on the bugs¡¯ internal energy, causing him to lose control over his body every few days. Just as potent true qi could damage others, his potent true qi hurt him to the extent that he barely managed to keep a straight face.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Abels did his best to hide his pain from the person closing in on the doors.

    I only left two guards outside to avoid anyone finding out about my condition, so nobody should be visiting.

    ¡°¡­ Is that you, Poison King?¡±

    Blood? It can¡¯t be him, then.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s me.¡± Luo Yan threw two heads onto the ground, drawing two blood tracks along the ground as they rolled. ¡°Luo n¡¯s second-inmand.¡±

 Volume 8 95 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 95 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 4)</h4>

    ¡°Luo Yan¡­ Who let you in?¡± Abels asked in his usual condescending undertone. He ran his angry gaze along the trails of blood up to Luo Yan then, sporting his intimidating bluff, questioned, ¡°Exin why you suddenly killed my men.¡±

    ¡°Talk is pointless at this stage.¡±

    Luo Yan sent out heat energy from a palm thrust that maintained seventy percent of its full output even after travelling dozens of metres from his hand, scaring off the veil Abels hid his face behind. Abels mped his teeth together and hit back with everything he had, yet was still wobbled a little when he stopped Luo Yan¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Does that answer your question?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As Abels¡¯ cheeks faintly shed green and red, he lost his ability to maintain a rxed front. Fighting with himself not to grunt, Abels responded, ¡°Guess I did waste my breath. Since you came with both swords, I assume you¡¯re ready to die. Still, I must ask how you know about my true qi circting in reverse when I kept it a secret.¡±

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t avert his eyes from the pair of eyes brimming withposure once again, not because his opponent was in a pickle but because there wasn¡¯t anything that could shake his confidence. ¡°This is Luo n¡¯s secret ce. Who else but I would know all of the secret passages? You can watch this room from another room, yet you were in the dark.¡±

    Abels¡¯ breathing started to grow heavier: ¡°I see¡­ Strange. My men should¡¯ve be keeping tabs on you; they watched you steal weapons¡­ When¡­ did you see me?¡±

    ¡°What do you think your minions can possibly do? Your men ck off, but I don¡¯t. Your men sleep, but I don¡¯t. Besides meeting with those I have to and sleeping for only one hour, I spend the remainder of my time watching you. Luckily, I witnessed your injury torment you once. Else, I wouldn¡¯t be able to kill you today.¡±

    ¡°You locked up the swordy department¡¯s members to deceive me? That exins why you didn¡¯t kill them¡­ just like the frivolous lot in Luo n. Surely¡­ you¡¯re aware Luo Siming will make his way back. Hang on¡­ You didn¡¯t tell your men to show mercy, did you? I would¡¯ve seen through your ploy, otherwise. Wow, you must have a heart of stone¡­ You not worried your men will kill him? Yan San¡¯s skills¡­ rival your own.

    ¡°You can¡¯t train a leader in three to five years. You don¡¯t create leaders by cuddling and doting on them. Creating a leader is the same process as forging a quality sword. You sure you want to leave your son in charge of Repository Ind? Once Luo Siming repossesses power, your son will be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Luo Siming must go through this test if he wants to lead Luo n. I am Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Sun Character Worship. It is my duty to forge the sword that is Luo Siming. Whether I have to sacrifice myself or my son, I will not run from my duty.¡± Luo Yan whisked more internal energy inside him, preparing himself to fight whilst pressuring Abels with figurative heavy shackles.

    Abels sneered as Luo Yan used his signature intimidation tactic against him: ¡°What about my alliance with your brother?¡±

    ¡°If Big Brother wants to punish me, I will ept death. If I don¡¯t kill you here and now, though, I will have let our ancestors down.¡±

    ¡°You would challenge me just because I¡¯m injured? My injury doesn¡¯t close the gap between us. When did you everst more than five exchanges against me?¡±

    Luo Yan drew the fire sword from his back and brayed, ¡°Let¡¯s see youst five exchanges this time!¡±

    Abels conjured a blue ball around him, catching the spurt of hot qi on the surface and then weakening it. Even though he lost a considerable portion of power due to his condition, realms didn¡¯t hinge on internal energy. Hence, his Divine Realm abilities remained intact. Enlightenment could amplify true qi ten to twenty times what it originally is, so it was just history repeating itself for Luo Yan.

    After shielding himself from Luo Yan¡¯s attack, it dawned on Abels that Luo Yan¡¯s target wasn¡¯t him but the poison mist in the room as he watched the mes vaporise the poison mist. Abels didn¡¯t like the fact that only twenty percent of the poison mist remained in the room for his n was to draw out the battle, making Luo Yan waste enough energy for the poison to be thetter¡¯s downfall.

    ¡°Now you can go die!¡±

    Luo Yan vaulted up and forward, cleaving down as hard as he could.

    Abels raised both hands to defend the mighty sh, inwardly rationalising, ¡°Luo Yan can¡¯t wield Siming Sword because it would do him no good but harm due to the different internal styles.¡±

    Luo Yan drew Siming Sword from its sheath with qi of an advanced practitioner, slicing through Abels¡¯ Enlightenment and scarring Abels¡¯ chest.

    Rolling away, Abels questioned, ¡°Siming Swordy? You mastered Freezing Scripture Manual?¡±

    Brandishing an armour of red mes and blue energy like a deity presiding over the human realm and me Emperor, the sword that illuminated the room in bright scarlet like a pyromancer, Luo Yan responded, ¡°Let¡¯s see who doesn¡¯tst five exchanges this time.¡±

 Volume 8 96 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 96 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 5)</h4>

    Unlike the famous Yang Realm style that was a star among the power styles, Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture - which was attributed to the fame of its practitioners in the pugilistic world - its yin counterpart, Freezing Scripture was rtively unknown. The details surrounding Freezing Scripture were fairly unknown to even Luo n¡¯s members since few of them learnt it.

    Freezing Scripture was considered the master manual, while Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture was the ¡°servant¡± manual, which was why Freezing Scripture was able to negate Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture using Three Silver Reflections.

    In order to master Freezing Scripture and Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture simultaneously, one must learn the former first in order to develop a body capable of withstanding yang qi. Do that and one can expect their strength to upgrade each time they master a level in Scorching Sun Scripture. Once one could bnce heat and cold energy, they could draw out the full potential of the styles. Trying to learn the two in reverse would most probably kill the soul attempting it - if not erase their skills. Thus, only those preparing to inherit leadership of Luo n were permitted to start practicing Freezing Scripture from a young age, while learning Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture first was tantamount to forfeiting hopes of taking over Luo n.

    The prerequisite to learning Luo n¡¯s supreme swordy - Repository Swordy - was mastering both Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture and Freezing Scripture.

    The gap between Luo Ming and Luo Yan¡¯s internal energies was too minute to be noticeable until Luo Ming moved on to learning Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture after learning Freezing Scripture. Luo Yan, nheless, improved, albeit not to the same degree, through assiduously practicing Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture.

    ¡°How do you know Freezing Scripture when only Luo n¡¯s patriarch is allowed to learn it?¡± Abels looked down to the wound on his chest and noted, ¡°To develop this sort of power, you¡¯d need more than ten years. You mastered Freezing Scripture long ago, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Correct. I was forced to learn Freezing Scripture when heat toxins in the smithing workshop troubled me. My brother doesn¡¯t know about it. I never practiced it again until my brother sequestered because I¡¯m not Luo n¡¯s patriarch, but I foresaw this daying. It¡¯s been ten years since I¡¯ve had to resort to it. I¡¯ve dignified your question with an answer, so you can rest in peace now.¡±

    Abels took the risk of qi deviation to force out forty percent of his full power, running Enlightenment again, and expanded his blue ball to block the two attacksing from either side. Even though Abels decelerated his swings, Luo Yan scoffed, ¡°Divine Realm is supposed to be might that drives opponents off with a wave of the hand, isn¡¯t it? All your Divine Realm does is prolong your pathetic life.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Abels had to switch his original n, striving for a short victory owing to his pain, thereby elevating his power to sixty percent and uncorking a punch at Luo Yan¡¯s head.

    ¡°Pathetic.¡±

    Luo Yan produced over five thousand kilograms of force to elerate through Abels¡¯ barricade, forcing Abels to change the direction of his output to a horizontal path, yet Luo Yan grunted and then mowed down Abels¡¯ shields, propelling Abels backwards until a wall stopped him.

    ¡°The¡­ ultimate¡­ weapons¡­¡± Abels uttered weakly while gasping blood.

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t win from a technique perspective. Abels¡¯ skills weren¡¯t the reason he lost. Golden Crow Moon Eater wasn¡¯t a strong weapon, but it had the ability to absorb people¡¯s true qi for the wielder to perform Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s secret technique. me Emperor and Siming Sword possessed the power of yin and yang, doubling their wielder¡¯s power when wielded in conjunction with each other - provided their wielder had mastered a yin style and yang style. Luo Yan¡¯s key to victory and his source of confidence wasn¡¯t himself but the two swords.

    ¡°Time for you to die.¡±

 Volume 8 97 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 97 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 6)</h4>

    Luo Yan lodged his two swords into Abels¡¯ shoulders, piercing through thetter¡¯s Enlightenment to reach his targets thanks to their sharp edges that were renowned for their ability to prate potent internal energy. That being said, Luo Yan did feel as though he had to plunge his swords through a thick iron wall when he stabbed Abels. Staring down at the man now glowing red and with his head hanging down, Luo Yan remarked, ¡°You should¡¯ve expected this oue.¡±

    A red glow emerged on Abels¡¯ arm, recing his blue energy, rather, devouring his energy, while his eyes were an act of violence. The true qi he used poison to temper finally broke free of his shackles, relieving him of consciously manipting it. After a howl, Abels poisonous internal energy restored his full power - even exceeding it.

    A trail of red petals sttered on the ground as the shockwave st Abels generated knocked Luo Yan back, although thetter didn¡¯t take any damage in the process. Every exhale, Abels would expel blood from his mouth. Despite being the strongest he¡¯d even been and forcing Luo Yan to retreat, Abels also suffered serious internal injuries.

    ¡°Why do you refuse to submit? You know you can¡¯t kill me, so why are you so stubborn?! You think I can¡¯t kill you because I have severe injuries?!¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Argh!¡± Abels, now suffering qi deviation, bombed a stone column with his fist, shattering a chunk in the shape of a crescent moon. ¡°I am one of the Supreme Ten Saints, a man pugilists look up to. Your tricks can¡¯t stop me!¡±

    While Abels wouldn¡¯t fall there, he would die if he couldn¡¯t pull himself out of madness state. By the same ount, he still had a chance of killing Luo Yan before he died.

    Luo Yan was ready for Abels¡¯ radical reaction because he didn¡¯t n on leaving Luo Sword Manor vulnerable before he thwarted Abels¡¯ ns.

    Abels relied purely on might and Enlightenment as he lost mobility in his current state, splintering everything that his limbs hit into dust particles. Luo Yan kept his distance without too much effort as Abels didn¡¯t move his feet, but the former couldn¡¯t capitalise due to Abels¡¯ strength rising with each strike even after a hundred strikes.

    ¡°Come here and fight if you¡¯re a man!¡±

    Luo Yan finally advanced, performing a slip whilst advancing.

    ¡°R-Repository Swordy?¡±

    ¡°This style bereft of any technique is the skill of the Supreme Ten Saints? Who couldn¡¯t dodge these attacks after seeing them twice?¡± Luo Yan already bridged the gap by the time he was done speaking, shing Abels¡¯ left lower back and right shoulder simultaneously. ¡°Since our ancestor¡¯s time, we have forged swords and took it upon ourselves to rid the world of evil. We¡¯ve gone through countless catastrophes, including national crises. One of the Supreme Ten Saints is nothingpared to any of that.¡±

    Blood kept spilling from Abels¡¯ mouth as Luo Yan¡¯s qi invaded Abels¡¯ body, and Luo Yan wasn¡¯t going to give his opponent a chance to recover. Soon enough, white strands of hair fell from Luo Yan¡¯s skull to his shoulders. Luo Yan knew better than anyone that all his hair turning white was a sign that he was fading as a consequence of overexertion, yet he pressed on, inwardly praying, ¡°Ancestors, please help mest through this. Once I have eliminated this cur, I will search for my brother¡­ tomit suicide for my wrongs.¡±

    Suddenly, Luo Yan couldn¡¯t dig his swords in any deeper, galvanising Luo Yan to exert himself even further. Luo Yan¡¯s swords went in much smoother than before, leading to him assuming that Abels had lost the ability to resist.

    Wait, I¡¯m not just siphoning my internal energy in faster. Abels is also somehow drawing it out from me.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luo Yan checked to find Abels¡¯ countenance to see thetter rxing: ¡°What have you done?!¡±

 Volume 8 98 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 98 Luo Sword Ling Feng. Falling Proud Feathers. (Part 7)</h4>

    When Luo Yan realised his hair didn¡¯t turn white because his mental fortitude was inadequate but because Abels absorbed the majority of his internal energy, it was toote. Notwithstanding his external injuries, Abels¡¯ green and red qis on either side of his face calmed down. The smoke whisking up from Abels¡¯ head was a sign that he was at an important junction of his energy cirction process. Abels leveraged the fire and ice true qi Luo Yan transferred into him to appease the rampaging yin and yang qis inside him, counterattacking the qi deviation he suffered.

    As much as he tried to fight it, the searing sensation in Luo Yan¡¯s arms left him defenceless against Abels burst of energy. As a result, Luo Yan lost his hold on his swords, depleted of the energy necessary to even stay on his feet.

    Abels¡¯ Evil Eminence Scripture is a style that focuses on utilising power, not defending against ice and fire true qi, which was why the poison style triggered a qi deviation reaction. I know I had a sixty percent chance of killing him using my two true qis and swords. I ounted for everything. Where did I go wrong? I¡¯ve lost; I don¡¯t even have the strength to speak now.

    Abels took his time meditating to recover and then ripped out the two swords in his shoulders once he was done, containing his blood underneath his skin using an unidentified energy. ¡°I told you: you can¡¯t kill me.¡± Yes, Abels¡¯ back and shoulders were bloody, but Evil Eminence Scripture eased out his flow of blood and qi, so the injuries didn¡¯t hinder him. Armed with Siming Sword and me Emperor, he cracked the grin of a savage andmented,¡± I give you credit for outsmarting me. Though I was privy to the fact that you learnt Freezing Scripture, I was taken aback when you demonstrated the ability to wield both swords and definitely wasn¡¯t aware you had learnt Repository Swordy. You nearly had me there. I tried to n in advance for the day you would try to assassinate me while I was weakened, but you acted earlier than I predicted.¡±

    ¡°How¡­ How¡­¡±

    ¡°The reason the yin and yang qis in me went berserk is a consequence of me failing to convert them while using poison to train. Using ice and fire qi to trigger a qi deviation reaction was splendid. Unfortunately, you weren¡¯t aware I happened to need a strong source of energy that could be controlled to reel them in. As a result, you went and helped me when I was stuck. Thank you for helping me ascend to new heights.¡±

    Though there were simr styles to the ice and fire true qis styles Luo n had, none of them shared the same mental cultivation method. ordingly, it made no sense to Luo Yan as to how Abels could convert internal energy the former dedicated decades to cultivating into an energy source of his own - regardless of the fact that Abels¡¯ qi deviation was a result of his yin and yang qis spiralling out of control.

    ¡°I can do it,¡± Abels arrogantly asserted.

    ¡°You¡¯re not hurt.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. If your ice and fire qis were bnced, you probably would¡¯ve exacerbated my injuries. Sadly for you¡­¡± Abels held up Siming Sword and flicked it hard, snapping the sword, then stated, ¡°This sword broke long ago, which is why the boost it offers is notably lesspared to me Emperor. It never urred to you as you are too used to wielding me Emperor.¡±

    ¡°How do you know about that?! Was it my brother who told you?! Where is he?!¡±

    Abels one-sentence response to the questions sent Luo Yan into a frenzy, but it didn¡¯t faze Abels.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough from you.¡± Abels unleashed his signature high pressure, riveting Long Yan, not that it stopped thetter from putting up a futile struggle.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°What are youughing about?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me, pitiful worm. Fool, you think you can kill me? You kept humiliating me, but you can¡¯t kill me. It doesn¡¯t matter that my brother told me to obey you. Without me, you don¡¯t have the smithing department to order around. Without my smithing department, Refining Divine Convention is just Laughing Stock Convention. Good luck forging a divine sword, hahaha.¡±

    The only man who couldmand the cksmiths of Luo Sword Manor was the man who led Sun Character Worship. Unless Luo Ming spoke up, the only way Luo Siming and Luo Yan could force the other faction to submit was via brute force for, while Luo Yan was Luo n¡¯s second in charge, he was he was the real leader of the smithing department, yet Abels didn¡¯t give a perturbed impression in any shape or form.

    Taking advantage of Abels¡¯ misdirected focus, Luo Yan lunged six metres away on all fours, escaping Abels¡¯ pressure barrier.

    ¡°Sneaky, huh? Not even hesitating to resort to drugs, are you?¡±

    Luo Yan saved the physical-attribute-boosting drug as ast resort to take down Abels, never expecting it would be thest resort to get him out of his pickle.

    Abels made no effort to chase down Luo Yan when thetter fled via a secret path that Evil Spirits was never informed of. Rather, Abels¡¯ true qi had only been replenished, thereby limiting his mobility. Luo Yan left whilstughing as though he had thestugh, unaware of the smile spread across Abels¡¯ lips as he restored mobility to his joints one by one.

    Luo Yan, your wick is barely there anymore. At best, I bet you only recovered thirty percent of your full power. In your current state, my foot soldiers could give you trouble.

    Luo Yan took almost an hour to escape outside, and he continued fleeing to the northeast of the ind, where he hid a canoe in case of emergency, not stopping to catch his breath in case Abels caught up. Upon finding his canoe, he heard from behind, ¡°Long-time no see, Second Uncle.¡±

    Luo Yan turned around to see dozens of people, most of whom he could names to faces, apanying Luo Siming: ¡°¡­ You¡¯re back?¡±

    Luo Siming replied, ¡°Back? This is your ind, Second Uncle.¡±

    Luo Yan smiled bitterly: ¡°True, it is my ind. You came here faster than I expected.¡±

    The underground area was built on Whale God Ind, thergest ind at Taihu Sword Ind and the ce where Luo n¡¯s smithing workshop was located. Luo Siming began his search on the ind after failing to find Luo Yan on Repository Ind, finallying across Luo Yan after searching half of the ind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve taken back Repository Ind. If you hand over me Emperor as well as Siming Sword, I will not make life difficult for you.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°At the end of the day, you are my senior and the leader of Luo n¡¯s smithing department. As interim patriarch, I have no prerogative to meddle with Sun Character Worship. Pleasee back to the estate with me. I will let my father decide what to do once hees out of seclusion in a few days¡¯ time.¡± Luo Siming prioritised Luo n¡¯s health over his personal grudge, so he prepared his speech beforehand.

    Luo Yan sincerely extended a thumb: ¡°Superb. That is how a descendant of Luo n must act, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle, what happened to your hair? You seem¡­ hurt.¡±

    Luo Yan, recalling Abels¡¯ taunts, broke character in the presence of everyone and raged, ¡°Bloody hell! Bloody heavens, why don¡¯t you do something about him when he¡¯s such a persistent barbarian?! Screw you, heavens!¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle, please hand over the ultimate weapons.¡±

    Thanks to the energy Luo Siming imbued his voice with, Luo Yan snapped out of his madness.

    ¡°What? Ultimate weapons?¡±

    ¡°I will store me Emperor in Repository Sword Hall so that nobodyys a hand on it. Siming Sword is an important weapon for the swordy department. Please return it, Second Uncle.¡±

    ¡°Siming Sword? Siming Sword has snapped.¡±

    ¡°It snapped?¡±

    ¡°Siming, even your father h-¡± Luo Yan suddenly choked on his words, literally. He heard in his head, ¡°What are you trying to tell him?¡± and felt an invisible hand cranking on his neck, but his entire body was locked in stone - Evil Eminence Scripture.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tter yourself. Be it the smithing department or you, I can kill whoever I please, whenever I please,¡± Abels whispered to Luo Yan.

    Luo Siming, hearing his father mentioned, sauntered forward to query, ¡°What are you trying to tell me, Second Uncle?¡±

    Luo Yan, arm raised against his will, inwardly blustered, ¡°What are you trying to do, you scoundrel?!¡±

    Abels answered, ¡°Commencing your funeral procession.¡±

    Luo Siming assumed Luo Yan intentionally threw the palm strike, therefore seized Luo Yan¡¯s arm. ¡°You refuse to change?!¡± Luo Siming thundered as he smashed Luo Yan¡¯s chest in with a palm hammer of his own.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead of rolling the words he wanted to say off his tongue, Luo Yan spurt blood onto the water surface as he plunged into it. While Taihu Lake¡¯s current wasn¡¯t violent, nor was it a deepke, the current moved zing fast, especially in this northeast section, which was why Luo Yan picked it for his escape route.

    How ironic that my escape route would be my death route.

    Perhaps Abels¡¯ intended to mortify Luo Siming with the guilt of killing his uncle.

    Siming, you must rise above these deep, dark waters. Luo Sword Manor is in your hands from now.

 Volume 8 99 Evil Spirits Internal Affairs. Who is the Shadow Stalking?

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 99 Evil Spirits¡¯ Internal Affairs. Who is the Shadow Stalking?</h4>

    Three days since Luo Yan¡¯s fall from grace, Abels still left the room in shambles and his frayed clothing so that he could devote every second to meditating, Siming Sword and me Emperor in one hand each. The green and red qis on his grimy face had faded for the most part, while the intervals he drew air in and expelled it between his chapped lips had increased substantially and without pain. His external wounds were fine with a procedural bandage job, and his internal injuries healed considerably each meditation cycle. As long as he was granted another three days to recover, he would undergo aplete recovery and possibly expel the residue yin and yang poisons in his system.

    Abels no longer needed to dedicate as much concentration resources to control the yin and yang qis as he previously did in order to control them for he had converted them into his weapons. They amplified his internal energy potency five times his base level, and he predicted he could push that number to eight folds - enviable progress.

    Upon opening his eyes two hourster, Abels felt as refreshed and invigorated as a man waking from a satisfying slumber.

    Everything is ording to n. We almost have all the materials we need, and I¡¯m peaking. All that¡¯s left is to take care of Canhu Town and¡­ the nuisances around me.

    Abels looked to the big copper mirror by his side and spaced out for a second.

    Luo Yan¡¯s removal from the equation is also a problem for me.

    While Whale God Ind¡¯s current was harsh, it wasn¡¯t as rough as out on the ocean, yet Abels couldn¡¯t find even a strand of Luo Yan¡¯s hair, let alone his corpse. Without Luo Yan, half of the smithing operation had to stop their operations; half was because Abels had an alternative idea to rece Luo Yan¡¯s authority. Howbeit, the risk was high enough for him to contemte whether or not it was a viable call to make.

    ¡°¡­ Come in.¡±

    Abels strengthened his guard policy to his secret room ever since Luo Yan¡¯s assassination, forbidding all but one person - his woman. River Monster adorned a sultry ck robe, picking a fit that emphasised her curves. Unlike her usualnguage and personality, she made it a point to imitate the graceful mannerisms promoted in influential households. Had she worn a jade hairpin through her styled hair and befitting a dress, she would easily pass off as the daughter of a wealthy n.

    Breaking the heavy silence that settled over them ever since River Monster lost her arm to Ming Feizhen, Abels questioned, ¡°Why did youe back? Why aren¡¯t you preparing in the fields when it¡¯s right around the corner? ¡­ I asked you a question. You know what to do right now¡­ Evil Spirits¡¯ sub-leader River Monster!¡±

    ¡°¡­ A-Lan,¡± River Monster eventually enunciated with a soft exhale. ¡°You said you could address me by my name when nobody else is around.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ There are lots of guards outside, and we¡¯re also talking business right n-¡±

    ¡°Luo Yan turned?¡±

    ¡°¡­ He did. You heard?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also heard you got hurt? ¡­ Since when did outsiders start to know more about you than me?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just minor wounds.¡±

    ¡°Minor wounds? He hurt you with the two supreme swords? Your Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s weaknesses are ice and fire true qis.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like a crippled man to you?¡±

    River Monster felt even more worried to not see any signs of a severe injury on Abels.

    ¡°What are you here for?¡± Abels asked without giving River Monster a chance to speak.

    ¡°¡­ Shen Yiren might not be any use prior to the thirteenth. I was thinking¡­ we should send her back to Luo Siming. The man who runs the ce we¡¯re hiding at and Luo Siming know each other. Luo Siming has been busy recently, but he cares about her, so he¡¯lle searching for her soon enough. Seeing as you are controlling Luo Siming, he won¡¯t snoop around if he doesn¡¯t need to find her.¡±

 Volume 8 100 Evil Spirits Internal Affairs. Shadow Stalking Me.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 100 Evil Spirits¡¯ Internal Affairs. Shadow Stalking Me.</h4>

    ¡°That¡¯s it? You could¡¯ve had someone pass on such a trivial message. I told you and Poison King to keep an eye on Canhu Town in case Night Fortress¡¯ master tries something again. You know how derelict what we¡¯re doing is, yet you are dismissing priorities? Go back!¡± Abels¡¯ emotions were rather unpredictable recently. True, he was harder to guess the more his martial arts skills improved. Having said that, he was emotional whenever he conversed with River Monster. ¡°Do what you will with Shen Yiren as long as it doesn¡¯t impact my n. I¡¯m done talking, so you can leave.¡±

    River Monster just shook in spot, teeth and lips glued together.

    ¡°What?¡± Abels coldly asked.

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯ve changed a lot.¡±

    ¡°Exin yourself.¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed?¡± River Monster tucked her arms under her bosom and continued, ¡°Ever since¡­ you got hurt at Shaolin Temple, you not only failed to recover your full abilities but also changed the way you approach things. What can Luo Ming provide us with that is worth us risking our lives for? You know how many brothers have died since arriving in the Central in, yet you never spared a thought for them because you¡¯re so fixated on helping Luo Ming forge a sword.¡±

    Virtually skewering River Monster with his eyes, Abels replied, ¡°Since when did you have the right to dispute my decisions? I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±

    ¡°Why do the imperial court members matter? We know firsthand that they aren¡¯t weak. We¡¯re bandits. Are you telling me you don¡¯t know how perilous it is to challenge them to fair fights? Even if we could win fair and square, is it worth the sacrifices?¡±

    ¡°I already mentioned we need to proceed from the shadows. We have to convince Canhu Town that the imperial court¡¯s group is responsible for Luo Yan¡¯s deeds. The opportunity to strike is ripe once they buy the story, and we fan the mes. That¡¯s the task I gave you. Did it go out your other ear?¡±

    ¡°I remember every word you said. I just don¡¯t understand why we have to put our lives on the line when we there was never any animosity between us and the imperial court. If anything, we started the fight. You don¡¯t mean to tell me that we¡¯re fighting them solely because they¡¯re searching for Shen Yiren, do you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t owe you an exnation. Are you¡­ challenging my authority right now?¡±

    ¡°I am. I am challenging your authority right now. My men will die under my leadership. I have the right to know why my men must offer their lives.¡±

    Abels got to his feet and stared down at his woman as if she was his enemy: ¡°Because I, I am your master!¡±

    River Monster stood her ground to reply, ¡°What did Luo Ming promise you? Land or women? How did he buy your loyalty?¡±

    Abels refused to answer for the reason that he couldn¡¯t silence intrepid River Monster with pressure.

    River Monster inhaled slowly and exhaled softly: ¡°Do you know how we got to where we are? Do you know why we have a one hundred percent sess rate? Because of you. Our brothers look up to you. You weathered death and spent dozens of years in a desert for revenge. Every kid in Tiezhen Kingdom knows your story. Every teenager admires your courage. Our men see you as the invincible eagle that the heavens can¡¯t stop from reaching them, not a thief who covets paltry sums. Can you tell me what happened and why you want them to die for you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You came here to spout this tripe?¡±

    River Monster almost recoiled.

    ¡°While I¡¯m busy with pertinent matters, all you do is throw tantrums and get jealous. All you do is get in my way, you disgrace of Nanjiang¡¯s imperial family.¡±

    As if a fire-seed bloomed inside her, River Monster quavered, ¡°H-how did I throw tantrums and get in your way?¡±

    ¡°I merely want Shen Yiren for a sacrifice, yet you harboured jealousy and wanted to kill her. Are you denying that? Mountain Monster only loves Ox Demon and works for me, so why are you doubtful of her all the time? I ordered you to fight the imperial courts¡¯pdogs to get rid of roadblocks in the way, yet you think it¡¯s for Shen Yiren? All you¡¯ve brought up since arriving here today is your jealousy. I¡¯ve had enough of you for some time now.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Abels!¡±

    Abels instantly pushed River Monster¡¯s hand on her sword hilt, sheathing the sword she attempted to draw: ¡°You realise how big the gap between our skills is? Upset? Not satisfied? Leave, then. Before you leave, however, you need toplete your mission as a member of Evil Spirits¡¯.

    ¡°¡­ Fine! Once I¡¯m done killing those imperial courtpdogs, we will go our own ways!¡±

    ***

    River Monster stormed the door down with her foot upon returning to her lodging, stomped over to Shen Yiren¡¯s bed as if she was performing a night raid and plunged her sword into the bed in precise locations - in line with Shen Yiren¡¯s throat, abdomen, heart and between the eyes.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even know how you died. What fun is there to your life? How about I end your life, and we consider ourselves even?!¡±

    River Monster then discarded her sword aggressively before sobbing in her room, the only ce she could cry her heart out without having to worry about her image or her subordinates seeing her. Once her handkerchief was too drenched to absorb any more tears, she threw it on the ground in frustration. Upon seeing a white handkerchiefe into her sights, she took it to wipe her tears.

    Wait, where did the handkerchiefe from?

    River Monster raised her head to see an elder sighing: ¡°Zhong Ning?! What are you doing here?!¡±

 Volume 8 101 Yiren and River Monster. If a Man Cant Think.

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 101 Yiren and River Monster. If a Man Can¡¯t Think.</h4>

    I lost game after game after game to Boss, costing me over ten thousand taels, which would take me around ten years of freebour to pay off, until I sessfully taunted her into putting everything she had on the line without realising she had yed into this veteran¡¯s hand. After ying herst pair, Boss cracked a confident grin in the face of my worried eyes. Noticing her gaze on me, I simpered.

    You¡¯re too na?ve, Boss.

    No way. Don¡¯t tell me¡­

    Yes way. Life is full of surprises. I have two sixes! Quiver, shake, tremble and kneel to Daddy, hahahaha!

    Of all the times she could enter, River Monster had to return to the building right then. ¡°River Monster is back!¡± Boss Shen immediately informed, performing a leg sweep that kicked all of the cards, including those in my hand, away.

    You kicked them on purpose, didn¡¯t you?! Was that leg sweep necessary?! My ten thousand! My pair of six! My ten-plus years! My retirement funds! My youth!

    ¡°Tidy up. I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡± Boss Shen went back to her sleeping position in the blink of an eye.

    Grumbling to myself, I packed up the cards until Boss Shen frowned to express respect for my amazing speed - presumably. She more likely suspected I had been caught in a simr situation a lot of times in the past. Anyway, I expeditiously erased any traces that we had been active in the room, and River Monster came in as I shoved a nket into the cupboard.

    River Monster didn¡¯t notice I was behind her when she stomped in and went to the bed. For Boss to have not budged despite the lethal locations River Monster took aim at was attributed to not just her skills in a fist fight but also her ability to control her mind.

    While River Monster cried, I hastened the cleaning and then handed River Monster a handkerchief. I was quite surprised when she took it without noticing my presence right away.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there without a word, Zhong Ning! You trying to give me a heart attack?!¡±

    ¡°Your subject was standing behind the door, but you were not paying attention from the moment you stepped through the doors,¡± I awkwardly exined.

    Face radiating simrly to heated pans, River Monster put up facade: ¡°You didn¡¯t hear or see anything, clear?¡±

    ¡°Your subject only just arrived and found you here.¡±

    ¡°Good. Now, what were you doing here?¡± Realising her question pointed out the fact that I couldn¡¯t have just entered, River Monster corrected, ¡°What did youe here for?¡±

    ¡°Your subject came here to ry some new information he heard. The imperial court ns to fight with Kunlun¡¯s patriarch on the thirteenth at a vacant ce five kilometres outside of the town. Both parties are currently making preparations for the fight.¡±

    ¡°What a coincidence¡­¡± River Monster murmured, ¡°How unpredictable this world is.¡±

    ¡°Who can predict the future?¡± I remarked with a sigh, prompting River Monster to look at me as though I was homeless.

    Screw your sympathy! If you didn¡¯te back, I wouldn¡¯t have lost so much to Liu Shan Men! I joined them for the benefits, yet I now owe more than a decade of freebour!

    My infectious forsaken tone brought a red tinge to the outline of River Monster¡¯s eyes again. I wasn¡¯t sure what she was so upset about, but I supposed it had something to do with Abels since I witnessed him give her the cold shoulder before.

    ¡°If you have something weighing on your mind, how about sharing with your subject?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?! How are you qualified to ask me about how I feel? One more thing: watch your tongue if you value your life.¡±

    ¡°Understood, understood,¡± I responded with a hopeless smile. ¡°Your subject only wanted to see if he could help you.¡±

    ¡°What can you do to help me?!¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am River Monster, while your status is above this old one, you are young. This old one, on the other hand, is already seventy-two, so he has experience a little bit of everything life throws at us. You cannot bottle up emotions. You can treat this old one as a rock or tree to get it off your chest.¡± Because River Monster wouldn¡¯t talk despite her urge to - evident from her biting her lips - I took a seat on a stool in the distance and went on, ¡°We really can¡¯t beat age. Stand too long and my back feels sore.¡± I took out a piece of cloth from my backpack and started knitting under the candle light. ¡°I wonder how long it will take me to finish this with my poor eyesight.¡±

    River Monster understood that I was implying that she was invisible and that I would keep her secret.

    ¡°¡­ Master¡­ has changed¡­¡±

    That¡¯s what I thought!

    Boss Shen opened her eyes a tad to tell me with her eyes, ¡°I see your ability to trick girls has reached new heights in the short time I haven¡¯t seen you.¡±

    River Monster talked about Abels¡¯ character changing, giving her the cold shoulder and other rtionship issues with him but never touched on Evil Spirits¡¯ secrets. Had her heart not been shattered, she wouldn¡¯t have told me that much, let alone divulging their secrets. Generally speaking, she was markedly bolder than girls from the Central in, which I assumed why she spilled so much about their rtionship.

    Abels, Abels, Abels, you¡¯re mistreating your wife. River Monster, River Monster, you might need a hole for when you discover Boss Shen heard everything you just said.

    I eventually yielded to River Monster¡¯s tears and meandered over with the aim of passing the handkerchief to wipe her face. By some magic she happened to lift her head right into my outstretched hand. I reactively scrubbed her head, only for her to stare at me.

    ¡°Uh¡­ mosquito, mosquito¡­ Th-there is a mosquito, a big one¡­¡±

    Say something! You waiting for me to lie that there¡¯s a toad on your head or something?!

    River Monster threw herself at my abdomen and wailed, fastening her arms around me.

    Ma¡¯am, please mind your manners! What if you want to silence meter on? I can¡¯t use my Zhong Ning identity if you¡¯re hunting me. How about you hug me somewhere else? Can you not cling around my waist? Are you challenging my resistance as a gentleman?!

    I turned to Boss Shen for help on an angle that River Monster couldn¡¯t see. Boss carefully extended her hand out to give me a thumbs up.

    How does egging me on help?!

    Boss slowly formed a fist finger by finger and mouthed something.

    Bag her? How?

    A smile spreading across her lips, Boss Shen thrust her thumb through an aperture she made using her middle and ring finger repetitively.

    You so lewd! And why you beaming as you do make that gesture?! Who taught you that?

    Boss then gave me a thumbs again that I think meant, ¡°Go for it. I support you.¡±

    You can¡¯t do this just because she made me vite your hooters!

    Boss mouthed, ¡°It. Is. Okay,¡± then rejoiced with her lips.

    Smiling isn¡¯t helping me! Do you hate her that much? Okay, I forgot about her crippling your hand and tormenting you, but you¡¯re nuts, woman!

 Volume 8 102 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 102 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°She¡¯s. So. Annoying,¡± Boss mouthed while River Monster cried on me.

    Stop it! Stop relishing her misery! Don¡¯t you feel sorry for her?

    ¡°If I was in her shoes, I¡¯d be fine,¡± mouthed Boss.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Abels hair must be a lush, green in right now. I don¡¯t do that, though. Don¡¯t seduce me!

    Gently patting River Monster on the back, I conveyed, ¡°Miss River Monster, this old one¡¯s experience tells him that what you see and hear may not be real. While this old man does not know the details of your romance with Master, he can say with certainty that humans don¡¯t change so easily.¡±

    River Monster juddered, surprised to hear something she hadn¡¯t heard before. ¡°Thank you, Zhong Ning. Though you may be Mountain Monster¡¯s subordinate, you have been very helpful,¡± she expressed, having a few more sobs and then recollecting herself.

    ¡°Your subject is only doing his job.¡±

    ¡°Gals over pals,¡± I thought I heard from Boss.

    I¡¯d be a real mad man if I listened to your suggestion! I¡¯ll grope you!

    Exchanging eye contact with me tomunicate, Boss pointed to her shirt, which was where her inkstone was, and then pointed to my head, telling me she¡¯d clobber me. I curled my lips and then performed an eagle w, deliberately keeping it open because of Boss¡¯ huge knockers that my hand couldn¡¯t fit. Boss pouted her lips and widened her eyes back at me.

    Having recovered from her emotional distress, River Monster stated, ¡°I was not myself. Everything I said¡­¡±

    ¡°Has decayed. Nobody will know,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    No promises Boss won¡¯t tell, though.

    River Monster plotted her next move then said, ¡°I¡¯m done with the woman. I need you to do something for me.¡±

    ¡°Your subject is at your service.¡±

    A devious smile came to River Monster¡¯s lips: ¡°It¡¯s not a hard job¡­¡±

    ***

    Bang! Bang! Bang! I hammered the door to Luo n¡¯s estate and hollered, ¡°Is Young Master Luo home? This old one has a gift for you.¡±

    I checked the situation at the estate before I knocked and found that they had changed all of the personnel - probably because of the mayhem Xiaogou and I incited. Nobody recognised me for I switched out my beard.

    ¡°Young Master Luo, open up. This is a present for you.¡±

    ¡°Who is it?!¡± Luo Wuchang opened the door irritably and questioned, ¡°Who are you? Why are you screaming and carrying on outside Luo n¡¯s estate? This old one is Luo Wuchang, Luo n¡¯s chambein, Luo Wuchang. If you want to pass on a message, this old one shall pass it on for you.¡±

    ¡°This old one is the best woodchopper in Dongshan - Lumberjack King of this generation. A few days ago, this old one passed by Canhu Town and picked up a gorgeous maiden adorningvish clothing. This old one learned she is Young Master Luo¡¯s. This old one was not sure if she has anything to do with him, so he is here to deliver her.¡± I stepped aside to let Luo Wuchang see Boss sleeping on my cart.

    Luo Wuchang sped back inside to report and came out with Luo Siming, who I didn¡¯t expect to run into considering he¡¯d be the busiest at the moment. His brisk walk and garments worn outside of home were indicators that he rushed over as soon as he heard Luo Wuchang¡¯s report even though he just returned.

    ¡°Miss!¡± Luo Siming beamed as he went over to Boss Shen.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Zhong, long-time no see!¡± Zha Pi was even happier to see me than Luo Siming was to see Boss Shen. I totally forgot about him while I was busy. Had he not once astonished everyone, the man probably would¡¯ve been kicked out already. As such, I was quite certain Luo Siming came back to fetch the almighty empyrean.

    ¡°How are you, Empyrean Zha?¡±

    ¡°Life is not easy.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for bringing her back, Elder. I have been restless ever since she went missing,¡± conveyed Luo Siming. ¡°I came back to invite Empyrean Zha to Repository Ind for a banquet; how about you join us since you two are friends?¡±

    ¡°What banquet would this old one have the honour of attending?¡±

    Luo Siming answered in a confident tone, ¡°My father is finallying out of seclusion.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Finally escaped. You piece of crap, keeping me chained to you for so long,¡± Mountain Monster cursed upon sneaking out of Dragon Phoenix Inn while continuing to race off with disregard for the people who turned to watch her.

    There¡¯s no lock that can restrain someone forever or an internal style that can bound someone forever. With that said, Ming Feizhen¡¯s conscious lock should¡¯vested a lot longer had Mountain Monster not kept trying to break it daily, which was, in part, attributed to all the free time she had on her hands. She noticed that the time frame his technique beset her when she pushed the limit incrementally shortened each time, so she kept at it until today.

    Mountain Monster escaped into the mountain and then entered an entrance.

    ¡°M-Ma¡¯am Mountain Monster?! Ma¡¯am Mountain Monster is back!¡±

    ¡°Someone go report Ma¡¯am Mountain monster is back.¡±

    ¡°Please¡­ Please be all right. I¡¯ll do anything. Please be all right, you jerk!¡± Mountain Monster prayed in her heart.

 Volume 8 103 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 103 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 2)</h4>

    Like it or not, time waits for nobody. Whether or not the significance of the date was in their favour or not, the thirteenth finally came around.

    Emperor Yuansheng watched the march of dawn besiege the stars and sun rise from his window. Contrary to the sun¡¯s victorious rise, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s mood was still in the same darkness he gazed at all night.

    Notwithstanding Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s desire to call his sons back to the capital in hopes of preventing the ominous prophecy froming true after Orange Prince¡¯s act of treason, he had yet to bring it to the table for discussion because thework of people and things that the decision would impact was enormous.

    Emperor Yuansheng wasmitted to ending to the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ reign irrespective of what came between him. It certainly would scar his heart to put away Green Prince if thetter truly ventured to Huzhou as part of a maleficent ambition, nevertheless.

    ¡°Lyu¡¯er¡­ Do not let me down.¡±

    ¡°Master, it is time,¡± Dugu reported in synchrony with the first golden ray to shine through the window.

    ¡°¡­ All right. Where is Constable Ming?¡±

    ¡°Present, Your Majesty,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What is the n for today?¡±

    Ming Feizhen answered, ¡°We are ready for a fight or apetition of wits. We can y dirty or bludgeon them.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled confidence: ¡°What is the probability of winning?¡±

    ¡°Ten out of ten.¡±

    ¡°What makes you so confident? Wudang¡¯s elder, Shandong¡¯s famed broadsword wielder and Kunlun¡¯s patriarch are on their side, while we only h-¡±

    Ming Feizhen elevated the corners of his lips: ¡°You will find out.¡±

    ¡°Master, let us be on our way. Let us lose quickly, so we can buy the ingredients and open the inn for business in time,¡± Long Zaitianmented.

    ¡°Long Zaitian, what are you insinuating with that speech of yours? You trying to jinx us?¡± Ming Feizhen admonished.

    ¡°Should I copy you, then, blowing his trumpet as loud as he can and thening back in a stretcher? Your help from Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Tang Ye only make two fighters. Don¡¯t screw with me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re first¡­ to die.¡±

    ¡°How are we going to win when we¡¯re already fighting amongst each other? Put a lid on it.¡± Emperor Yuansheng stepped out of his room and announced, ¡°Move out.¡±

    After both parties talked it out, Long Zaitian and a team of artisans constructed a small pavilion at the deste, empty ins that innocents wouldn¡¯t pass through. Even though the fiery ball in the sky could provide some degree of warmth during the day, the heavens didn¡¯t blow so mercifully.

    Under Ming Feizhen¡¯smand were Su Xiao, Tang Ye, Long Zaitian, Dugu and Tie Hanyi. The reason the others didn¡¯t attend was because they weren¡¯t street hooligans. In these sorts of shes, only thosementators and referees were permitted if they weren¡¯tpeting. Of course, if Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side yed the thug game, then Yi Wangyou would¡¯ve returned the favour in kind.

    Yi Wangyou was already furrowing his brows in the pavilion because of Green Prince¡¯s wilfulness prior to Ming Feizhen¡¯s arrival. Lie Shang gave everyone on the opposing side a smile but never took his eyes off Tang Ye. Nobody had any trouble recognising Elder Shou from his affable smile, but nobody, besides Ming Feizhen, recognised the other fragile-looking elder with no internal energy signal to speak of. Little did they know the elder had recently be one of the most revered individuals within Luo n, the adept among adepts, god among men, Empyrean Zha!

    ¡°How do you do? You¡¯re quite early,¡± Green Prince condescendingly greeted upon setting eyes on Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°We left early since we didn¡¯t want to bete, yet you still arrived before us,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    ¡°Really? I haven¡¯t left this ce since yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, why are you so nervous? Hahaha, with Elder Shou, Hero Lie and Patriarch Yi on your side, you have the win already.¡±

    ¡°You also have great men, hahahaha.¡± As he was confident, Green Prince saw no point in wasting his breath on Ming Feizhen and went up to Yi Wangyou: ¡°He seems as cool as a cucumber. Are you sure your reports are true?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You sure those unorthodox groups suspecting Dragon Phoenix Inn of stealing their weapons will be here to pick a bone with them?¡±

    ¡°They have already arrived. See?¡±

    ¡°Oh, haha, nice.¡±

    The throng strutting over to Ming Feizhen were armed and spat on the ground as one would expect of uncouth viins. They lined up in front of the maiden behind Ming Feizhen and bowed: ¡°How ya do, Big Boss Sis?!¡±

 Volume 8 104 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 104 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 3)</h4>

    Stupefied, Green Prince whispered to Yi Wangyou, ¡°What¡¯s going on? How did they suddenly have, like, a hundred men join them? Aren¡¯t they supposed to jump them?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ do not understand, either¡­ If they did not lose a weapon, then their friends were robbed, so they have lost their rights to visit Luo Sword Manor. They should be furious with Dragon Phoenix Inn¡¯s group,¡± responded Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°Furious? Look at those bright, boot-licking smiles! They look like they¡¯re bowing to their saviour! They look more ready to toil for Dragon Phoenix Inn than the eunuchs are for my father! We don¡¯t have much time left today. We must win an invitation to the ind to wee my foster father¡¯s return!¡±

    ¡°Understood. Young Master Luo has not arrived, though, when he is supposed to be the host, so we cannotmence.¡±

    ¡°Who cares? We have, what, a hundred witnesses now? They can¡¯t lie about the results. Skip the drum roll, and get started!¡±

    Be that as it may, asking the likes of Elder Shou, Lie Shang and Yi Wangyou to fight without a proper official was tantamount to telling them to stoop to the level of a street brawl.

    Meanwhile¡­

    ¡°Who is Big Boss Sis?!¡± thundered Su Xiao, stamping his feet. ¡°Line up, and stand properly!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Big Boss Sis!¡± The men formed ten columns and twelve rows as you would expect to see in an army.

    Su Xiao moved his hands to p but stopped himself when he recalled how they addressed him: ¡°What nonsense is that? Dops now. Go!¡±

    Grown men runningps with smiles¡­

    Green Prince¡¯s white knuckles were going to be white arms due to having to wait when he heard Lie Shang grouch, ¡°Can we start yet?!¡± Green Prince, therefore, decided to strike while the iron was hot, opining, ¡°Hero Lie, if you would be so inclined, this one will back you up if there are any disputes should you start.¡±

    ¡°Perfect.¡± Lie Shang put down his wine jar and hopped off the beam beforeunching himself as if he was arrow from where he stood - footwork that would be dangerous to deal with in a fight. Howbeit, he belched loudly along the way, ticking off the jogging men with his toxic breath. Heughed over the top of their enraged reactions, convincing them to pipe down if they didn¡¯t want to make an enemy out of him. It took a moment to ur to them that hisughing was a signature wine-spreading technique as he turned up the volume. A droplet of blood flung out of his broadsword¡¯s sheath as he drew and swung in one motion. ¡°Who¡¯s first?¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming, he is not easy to defeat. Who are we going to send out?¡± Emperor Yuansheng questioned from the pavilion with his head down.

    ¡°Leave it to me, Master.¡± Ming Feizhen wobbled out of the pavilion and hollered, ¡°Brother Lie, you remember this one?¡±

    ¡°And if I do?¡±

    ¡°I have looked up to you ever since I met you at the small town. Being able to share a drink with you still feels like yesterday to me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, still the wordsmith I remember you to be, Young Master Zhong. I¡¯m a man with an insatiable hunger for battle, though. This de isn¡¯t going back into its sheath until it gets some blood on it. If you want to y, I¡¯m down. Otherwise, I¡¯ll drink with you after this is over.¡±

    ¡°I am no match for you, Brother Lie. All I have is a request.¡±

    Lie Shang aimed his weapon at Ming Feizhen: ¡°I¡¯ll pass on it. My only question is, who will my opponent be?!¡±

    ¡°Since we are dispatching a junior of yours, I would like to ask you to hold back.¡±

    Lie Shang cast his gaze to Tang Ye: ¡°I heard someone was unable to answer to twelve of Yi Wangyou¡¯s Deste Sword Dance. I¡¯m keen to see how many moves you¡¯llst against me.¡±

    Tang Ye looked to the ground.

    ¡°You are superior to Patriarch Yi,¡± Ming Feizhen imed with a smile. ¡°That is why I would like to ask you to set a cap for how many moves you will use so that people will not speak ill of you.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, since he defeated you in twelve moves, if I can¡¯t defeat you in eleven, I¡¯ll surrender.¡±

    Yi Wangyou shook his head, thinking, ¡°I only achieved that because it was Tang Ye¡¯s first time against Deste Sword Dance. With the experience he now has, I doubt I could defeat him in twelve moves.¡±

    ¡°You do not have to go that far. Let us begin, then.¡± Ming Feizhen paused and then called, ¡°Su Xiao,e over!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what? You trying to kill her?!¡± Su Xiao¡¯s underlings eximed, echoing everyone else¡¯s thought.

    Ming Feizhen just smiled, while Su Xiao gestured for silence with a raised hand and headed to the arena.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ar-are you serious?¡± questioned Lie Shang.

    Su Xiao stared straight into Lie Shang¡¯s eyes with what felt awkwardly long and then uttered, ¡°Three.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°If I can¡¯t defeat you within three exchanges, I¡¯ll forfeit. If I gain the upper hand, please yield.¡±

 Volume 8 105 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 105 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 4)</h4>

    In spite of Lie Shang demonstrating overwhelming movement and internal strength that convinced everyone he could demolish Su Xiao, thetter inhaled deeply and then braced himself, confident in what Ming Feizhen previously told him.

    ***

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sporting a serious countenance, Ming Feizhen woke at dusk while writing down the names Lie Shang, Yi Wangyou and Elder Shou on a nk sheet of paper. He then said, ¡°Lie Shang is on par with the four patriarchs. To put it into perspective, he, at the very least, would be in the top six among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons.¡±

    ¡°Can I win?¡±

    ¡°Win? Tang Ye already proved a point. There¡¯s no way you could grow enough to defeat someone of their calibre in a short time frame at your tender age - and that¡¯s if we¡¯re talking Tang-Ye calibre. Telling you to save your own life in a real fight against someone in Lie Shang¡¯s league is asking for too much. Your goal is to only get through three exchanges.¡±

    ¡°Defend three moves?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯d butcher you in one; he¡¯s thousands of leagues ahead of you. Thanks to his solid foundation, he made a name for himself at a very young age. Nothing you do now will make up for the gap in power between you. The more important question is, do you have to take his strike head on?¡±

    Ming Feizhen swung a knife hand at Su Xiao¡¯s neck, and thetter failed to step off its line despite his best effort.

    ¡°There are many ways to strike with a broadsword. To begin with, your style works better when you get to initiate the attack. Switch to defence against Lie Shang, and I¡¯ll have to fetch your head after the first stroke. There¡¯s a chance you¡¯ll be able toplete three attacks, on the other hand. You don¡¯t have to ept this task, and it¡¯s not the most important fight, but you will be staking your life on the line. You brave enough to ept the challenge?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You bet!¡±

    ***

    If there were any differences between this time and thest time Su Xiao went bear hunting in the woods, it would be that he was stronger and faster this time. Like his bright personality, his style, though lethal, brought hope to his allies. s, having read Su Xiao¡¯s thought, Lie Shang twisted his torso a tad to let the swing harmlessly go by and then stepped to take Su Xiao¡¯s back.

    ¡°Not bad for someone of your young age. You¡¯ll be a star in another ten years,¡± started Lie Shang, ¡°if you live that long, that is.¡±

    Although Su Xiao pulled guard as soon as he missed, he barely made it back to cover himself with his broadsword when Lie Shang countered, albeit still being rocked back several steps and tasting his own blood. Nheless, Su Xiao¡¯s attack and defence evoked surprise for many.

    ¡°That¡¯s one.¡± Su Xiao already lost his mobility and was too groggy to even see Lie Shang properly as thetter advanced.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to teach you a technique. This is the one and only technique I¡¯ll teach you ever, so practice it with your heart and soul. This is the only broadsword technique I know. Once you master it, you might end up dead in one stroke, or you might end up cutting somebody you never imagined you¡¯d catch. Which oue you unlock will be on you. So,st time: are you scared to die?¡± Su Xiao recalled Ming Feizhen asking.

    Su Xiao heaved a breath to depress his shoulders and expel his tension as he adopted a nted stance unlike his signature style, Ancient Cold¡¯s tip on the ground as though he was holding a broom. Lie Shang had never seen anything like it, much less read Su Xiao¡¯s intent. The mental cultivation of the style Su Xiao adopted could only make sense to someone who had foregone their yearning for life and fear of death. It had been a long time since the style was seen in the pugilist world.

    Su Xiao whipped a wave of qi off the ground, catching Lie Shang by surprise via the unthinkable angle. Lie Shang¡¯s best bet at that point was to try and guard against the sh from above. s, he only managed to block half of the attack before Su Xiao whipped back down, forcing Lie Shang to drop to the ground and roll out of the way, astounding even Su Xiao.

    ¡°That¡¯s three. Please stop,¡± Ming Feizhen announced with a smile. ¡°Hero Lie, it seems you do not have the confidence to win.¡±

    Even though Lie Shang didn¡¯t have a rebuke, Green Prince took it upon himself toin, ¡°Nothing has been settled. What¡¯s this garbage about three exchanges? Keep going. Win convincingly. Else, I refuse to ept the results.¡±

    The thundering of hooves interrupted Ming Feizhen¡¯s objection as a lone stallion galloped over to Green Prince.

    ¡°And this is?¡± Green Prince asked.

    Yu Feiyuan dismounted into the pavilion.

    ¡°Hey, hey, what are you doing?!¡±

    Yi Wangjian extended his arm brandishing his sword as the assault unit, while Elder Shou drew two mini tornadoes with his arms to take care of the defence role. Yu Feiyuan, nheless, passed straight through their attempt to stop her and seized Zha Pi, who stuttered, ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Small talk is unnecessary with this great one.¡± Yu Feiyuan somersaulted back to the centre of the arena and sealed all of Zha Pi¡¯s movements via meridian seals, doing as she was taught perfectly. ¡°This great one will fight this round. Who will this great one¡¯s opponent be?¡± Since nobody could answer, she looked over to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Uh¡­ I suppose the oue of this match is clear cut enough? How about we say Hero Lie fought to a draw in his match?¡± Ming Feizhen propounded.

    ¡°Oh, oh, okay, okay, yeah¡­¡± Green Prince uttered without anything but his mouth moving.

 Volume 8 106 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 106 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 5)</h4>

    In concert with his two steps forward, Ming Feizhen transferred two different types of internal energy to Su Xiao, with one covertly neutralising the damage Lie Shang inflicted unto him and the other strengthening Su Xiao¡¯s foundations. It was as easy as clicking his fingers for Ming Feizhen to heal Su Xiao back to one hundred percent. It would arouse suspicion if Su Xiao recovered from Lie Shang¡¯s attack so easily, having said that. Additionally, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t want to rob Su Xiao of an opportunity to improve from his mistake.

    Su Xiao tookboured breaths while sweating cold bullets, unaware Ming Feizhen pulled him up. Ming Feizhen waited for Su Xiao to rpose himself then questioned, ¡°Scared?¡± Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t grab the chilly hand that took hold of his, repeating, ¡°Scared?¡±

    Finally hearing Ming Feizhen¡¯s question, Su Xiao nodded: ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±

    ¡°Still feeling brave?¡±

    All of the fear that Su Xiao should¡¯ve felt before swept through his body, causing him to seize up. Death doesn¡¯t discriminate between wealth, skills, appearances or any other noun. Perhaps only a soldier who had been through countless battles had an answer to tackling death down when it knocked. When death knocked on the fifteen year old¡¯s door, his blood receded from his face.

    Su Xiao took a while to cate his nerves and then, in a staunch voice, replied, ¡°I am.¡± When he looked down because he felt warmth restored to his hands, he saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand fastened around his. Su Xiao¡¯s lips extended up to his ears as he cheered, ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡±

    ¡°Rest up. Who knows how many fights will be left. Try to recall your fight from before as vividly as you can. Search for the feeling from before and make friends with it.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan kicked aside Zha Pi and approached Ming Feizhen, asking, ¡°D-did I¡­¡±

    The original n was for Yu Feiyuan to be matched up against Elder Shou since, even if she couldn¡¯t win, she was the only one who could even give him somepetition. It didn¡¯t matter who they assigned to fight Zha Pi for thetter was on their side in the first ce. Thus, they wasted a strong piece for absolutely no good reason.

    Ming Feizhen gave apologetic Yu Feiyuan a smile: ¡°Don¡¯t fret. Let me introduce you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng expressed, ¡°We are grateful you came to our aid in light of your friendship with Young Ming, Miss Yu. This one appreciates your assistance.¡±

    Ming Feizhen emphasised multiple times to Yu Feiyuan that they were merely childhood friends because their shifus were also friends. Anything beyond that was described as, ¡°Not that close.¡± She gave him nods when he taught her what to say, only to pinch her brows together after hearing what Emperor Yuansheng had to say, asserting, ¡°Brother Feizhen, he has no manners, calling me Miss Yu. Mr. Li, you should address this great one as Interim Patriarch Yu.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Brother Feizhen?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Brother Feizhen?¡±

    Dugu: ¡°Brother Feizhen?¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Who you using of having no manners?!¡±

    Can you three please not call me ¡°Brother Feizhen¡± with the doubled up version of ¡°brother?¡± I can feel my skin crawling! Stop acting so childish, Your Majesty! Why can¡¯t you people learn from Long Zaitian this time? Learn to prioritise His Majesty instead of paying attention to my personal issues! His Majesty just had his face pped. You two want to be next?!

    ¡°Stop. The tournament is still going. We need toe up with a strategy,¡± Ming Feizhen pointed out, steering the conversation back on track.

    Livid about his two losses right from the start, Green Prince cursed, ¡°Son of a duck, chicken, hen, money-wasting-conning-slimy-impotent daoist! How dare you dupe me?! The next time I see you, I¡¯ll slice you into a thousand pieces!¡±

    Had Elder Shou not cleared his throat as a hint for Green Prince to cut it out, Zha Pi, who was still lying on the ground, might¡¯ve wet his pants at the threats Green Prince reeled off.

    Green Prince then conveyed, ¡°Please ept this one¡¯s apology, Elder. This one did not mean to attack Daoism. This one was just infuriated about the lying con artist. If we do not teach him a lesson, he will continue to vite the policies of the pugilistic world. This one will make sure Empyr-, Scumbag Zha pays! This one has nothing but respect for Daoism.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I understand,¡± Elder Shou responded with a smile. ¡°It is understandable to be angry over his conduct.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Thank you.¡± Green Prince heaved a breath then stated, ¡°We must win this next match no matter what¡­¡± Things no longer looked so optimistic for Green Prince. More troubling for them was how to strategically proceed.

    ¡°It is time to show them.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Elder Shou, are you nning to go next?¡±

    Elder Shou chuckled as he meandered to the edge of the pavilion, using the stone seats as support, and then peered at the sun. Bliss came to his lips as he responded, ¡°This old one¡¯s skills have rusted after living in the mountains for too long. He doesn¡¯t even recognise any of the young and uing young talents anymore. How long has it been since this old man swung a weapon? This old one shall demonstrate a chair style for you.¡±

    ¡°What chair style?¡±

    Elder Shou hoisted up a stone chair easily several hundred kilograms on one hand and then walked without his wobble, twirling the chair faster and faster on his hand as a means of spawning a tornado with a thirty metre radius. By stretching fingers out in various directions, he could manipte the air in the vicinity around him. Experts would recognise that he wasn¡¯t exerting that much force. To the contrary, he exerted the bare minimum, relying on the mass of the chair to assert the domineering force.

    Yi Wangyou apuded, ¡°Remarkable Big Universe Primordial Immortal Skill and Crepe Myrtle Swordy!¡±

    Once Elder Shou finished his sword taolu, he plunged the stone seat into the ground and eximed, ¡°Who wishes to be the chair¡¯s victim?¡±

    ¡°I shall ept your chair¡¯s challenge, Elder Shou.¡±

    Eyes holding anger, Elder Shou narrowed his eyes: ¡°Young Master Zhong, this old one does not kill friends. Are you sure you wish to be this old one¡¯s enemy?¡±

    ¡°This one hopes to learn from you.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear! This Red Star Chair Style deriving from Crepe Myrtle Swordy lines up the stars, can divine your fate and more.¡±

    ¡°This one is hoping to learn it.¡±

    ¡°Here we go!¡±

    Elder Shou picked up the chair again and then shed the air from left to right then in reverse ten or so times. Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen started ducking, weaving, bobbing, rolling and shadowboxing randomly and then stopping to sh five fingers. Elder Shou gently spun the chair whilst shaking his head five times then scratched out the number ¡°two¡± on the ground. Ming Feizhen grumpily bent one finger, turning his hand pose into a ¡°four¡±. Elder Shou continued spinning the chair but didn¡¯t make another move. Likewise, Ming Feizhen lowered his hand, and then the two pulled back thirty metres from each other.

    Elder Shou then beat three holes into the ground at the same time Ming Feizhen flicked up three fingers, both regarding each other with smiles.

    ¡°Thank you, Young Master Zhong.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to this one.¡±

    ¡°epted.¡± The two walked off to their teams, respectively.

    Green Prince and Yi Wangyou exchanged eye contact with Elder Shou, waiting for an exnation. Elder Shou suddenly grunted and dropped onto the ground. He pointed back at Ming Feizhen with his arms convulsing and shouted, ¡°Splendid Dyed Bomb Fists!¡±

    ¡°Screw you and your bullcrap! You dove! You flipping daoists are clearly out to screw me over!¡± cursed Green Prince.

 Volume 8 107 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 107 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 6)</h4>

    ¡°Damn daoist, I¡¯ll wreck you! Take this! Ada! Wada!¡±

    Try as he may, Green Prince always missed his fly kicks aimed at Elder Shou because Yi Wangyou held onto his cor and persuaded, ¡°Your Highness, calm down.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to talk me out of it, Patriarch Yi. Are you telling me that not even reason is on my side?!¡±

    ¡°You are in the right, but you cannot beat him.¡±

    Elder Shou probably would¡¯ve reactively whacked Green Prince onto a tree if thetter actuallynded his kick, eliminating himself and sabotaging hisst chance at winning the tournament. That said, it¡¯d be hard to find someone who couldn¡¯t beat him even if he did get a fair fight.

    ¡°What happened, Brother?¡±

    Green Prince turned to Luo Siming, his final ray of hope: ¡°Why are you sote?!¡±

    ¡°Brother, what happened? Why did the tournament start ahead of schedule? Is the first match over already?¡±

    ¡°First match?! The third match is already over!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± After Green Prince gave a briefing, a very brief one, Luo Siming asked, ¡°Even Empyrean Zha and Elder Shou lost?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention those flipping daoist, or I¡¯m going to need to hit someone.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Luo Siming understood what the meaning behind Empyrean Zha blithely chilling on the ground was when he saw thetter.

    ¡°What are you spacing out for?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing.¡±

    ¡°So young, yet already spacing out all the time. What happened to your second uncle?¡±

    Luo Siming always sighed and shook his head when recounting his uncle¡¯s fate, yet he was all smiles this time. ¡°There is good news amid the bad news. I received a letter from Sword Spirit House a few days ago: my father is finallying out of seclusion after ten years.¡±

    ¡°I heard about that. Is there a specific day?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, but likely soon. Attest, he¡¯ll be out on the day Refining Divine Conventionmences.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Green Prince wasn¡¯t in such a pleasant mood for today¡¯s defeat would be a monkey wrench in his ns. ¡°Put it all aside for now. I need you, as the host, to rig the matches for me.¡±

    ¡°Brother, Father¡¯s return is good news for all of us. He will see you given how much he has always liked you. Why bother with this contest?¡±

    ¡°Just do as I say, okay?¡±

    ¡°No. This is supposed to be fair and square. I am duty-bound to ensure fair contests as the host and referee.¡±

    Index finger aimed at Elder Shou, Green Prince fumed, ¡°Fair?! Did he fight fair?!¡±

    Smiling, Luo Siming opined, ¡°Even so. If you are worried about not being able to fight the next match, I have a suggestion.¡±

    ¡°What good idea might you have?¡±

    Luo Siming looked over his shoulder to call, ¡°Pleasee over.¡±

    Upon seeing the individual mummifying themselves in a ck robe, Green Prince rubbed his eyes and titled his head side to side: ¡°The hell is that, a zongzi sprite?¡±

    The individual in ck threw a kick, spurring Yi Wangyou to swing an arm down to guard Green Prince. The kicker pulled back into chamber, while Yi Wangyou prepared himself for the real kick after the feint. Unexpectedly, the kicker uncorked in the same direction of the first kick, merely using the first kick to use the second chamber as a spring. The kicker ended up throwing three bombs back to back, while Yi Wangyou denied all three with his hand to show that he wasn¡¯t inferior in a strength contest, though neither could prove themselves the superior fighter.

    Luo Siming jumped in between the two to break up the fight and exined, ¡°Please cease this. We are on the same team. Brother, this is my friend. As you just witnessed, my friend is qualified to help you in the fifth match.¡±

    ¡°Good rmendation! Way better than those cheating daoists!¡± Green Prince deliberately shouted for Elder Shou to hear.

    Elder Shou chuckled for he already achieved something better than a pointless win number - from his perspective. Others were unaware, but Ming Feizhen and he knew what they were doing. All of the circr motions he performed were to hint at Tai Chi Manual, which Ming Feizhen was in possession of, since Tai Chi works on a circr principle. Ming Feizhen signified five years, and then Elder Shou wrote ¡°two¡±, demanding thetter return the manual to Wudang within two months. They stopped once Ming Feizhen held up three fingers as Elder Shou epted three months as the time frame Ming Feizhen was granted when the former meant three years. Should Elder Shou not feel aplished after achieving what Wudang¡¯s patriarch couldn¡¯t?

    ¡°Big Bother Ming, what were you two telling each other with all of your gestures?¡± Su Xiao queried.

    Ming Feizhen shook his head.

    Three years? Man, Tai Chi manual keeps my table more stable than ¡°The Forbidden Legend of Sex and Chopsticks - Third Edition¡±. Man¡­ This sucks.

    ¡°Please forgive my tardiness.¡± Luo Siming took centre stage to apologise with a fist-palm salute then added, ¡°This one has caught up with what has happened thus far. Please send out your contestants for the fourth round.¡±

    As it was a critical round, Yi Wangyou voiced, ¡°Let me handle this round¡± and entered the arena readily.

    ¡°How about you, Young Master Zhong?¡±

    ¡°That should be obvious enough,¡± Ming Feizhen answered with a smile. ¡°Hey, what are you waiting for? It¡¯s your turn, Tang Ye!¡±

 Volume 8 108 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 108 Finally. Everything Commences. (Part 7)</h4>

    Tang Ye headed out of the pavilion without giving any response to Ming Feizhen, face as stiff as a statue. Tang Ye never spoke to Ming Feizhen after theirst sparring match or anyone else for that matter and still didn¡¯t speak as he passed by thetter. Howbeit, he did hear from Ming Feizhen, ¡°You made up your mind?¡± and shuddered. He couldn¡¯t exin why his friend and teacher¡¯s ck hair had an unexinable gloss that outshone the sun. With his eyes narrowed, he asked, ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Eyes trained on Yi Wangyou, Ming Feizhen replied, ¡°You feel better if you walk a different path to everyone else?¡±

    Tang Ye showed the same gloomy reaction he did when losing to Yi Wangyou: ¡°You¡­ found out?¡±

    ¡°Generally speaking.¡±

    ¡°¡­ But you¡­ didn¡¯t stop me.¡±

    ¡°Should I?¡± Ming Feizhen pushed Tang Ye toward the ring and waved the way a father would when sending his child off to a monastery for schooling: ¡°Come back soon.¡±

    What is Big Bro thinking?

    Yi Wangyou amplified his aura enough to make his target flinch into their guard but not harmful, yet it didn¡¯t disturb Tang Ye. Yi Wangyou, therefore, pulled his sword out on Tang Ye, a gesture that would force even pugilists above Tang Ye to reactively move to defend, yet it still wasn¡¯t enough to draw Tang Ye¡¯s attention. Taken aback, Yi Wangyou brayed, ¡°When are we going to fight?!¡±

    The wind¡¯s response wasn¡¯t representative of Tang Ye¡¯s, resulting in Yi Wangyou snapping, ¡°Your rudeness knows no bounds. First you steal my sect¡¯s skills, and now you show no manners. I shall educate you in your parents ce.¡±

    Tang Ye finally turned around. Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword qi around him involuntarily retreated as he barricaded himself within his Yang Realm internal energy. Tang Ye¡¯s energy alone was adequate to make the wind howl as violently as a mini tornado.

    Somewhat surprised, Yu Feiyuan asked Ming Feizhen, ¡°He¡¯s a Yang Realm internal energy user?¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head.

    Yu Feiyuan focused her gaze on Tang Ye for a while then remarked, ¡°Hard to say,¡± which was a reference to it being tough to predict who¡¯d win between Tang Ye and Yi Wangyou. Yi Wangyou wasn¡¯t an amateur who letmentators from the audience throw him off his game, nevertheless. A moment of doubt or distraction would be enough for the tides to change against him.

    Yi Wangyou started to activate Yang Blood True Qi just as Tang Ye did, albeit the two assuming different stances. The two engaged in a war of patience, each waiting for the other to make a move, subsequently showing an opening to exploit. Eventually, Yi Wangyou decided to draw Tang Ye out, initiating the first attack.

    Although Yi Wangyou¡¯s strike itself wasn¡¯t fancy, Tang Ye knew better than anyone that Deste Sword Dance wasn¡¯t fun and games if Yi Wangyou ever acquired his target. Tang Ye remained inert until Yi Wangyou brought his sword in from the side.

    Tang Ye already stung Yi Wangyou¡¯s body with three palm strikes before thetter could react, yet Yi Wangyou¡¯s swing didn¡¯t lose momentum. While the two were outside of physical striking range, their fight suggested they were engaged inbat in clinching range.

    Tang Ye managed to sustain his performance, answering with punches, ws and palm strikes, notwithstanding Yi Wangyou¡¯s pressure tactic that reduced the former¡¯s mobility zone. Tang Ye chiefly threw his attacks at random instead of thinking as he switched from style to style in the past, even inventing new styles. Yi Wangyou criticised Tang Ye for that random stylest time, yet he struggled to gain the advantage this time around.

    After detonating about fifty bombs each, Yi Wangyou belted upon reaching a ce Tang Ye should¡¯ve been exposed, only for Tang Ye to pivot and drop a back kick with his left foot against the t surface of Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword, creating space between the two once again.

    Yi Wangyou¡¯s high-pressure assault didn¡¯t win, but Tang Ye¡¯s constantly-evolving defence didn¡¯t give him any room tounch an effective attack of his own.

    How did his internal energy improved so rapidly? He would¡¯ve gassed by nowst time. By my estimates, his internal energy has doubled since ourst match. There¡¯s no way anyone could¡¯ve improved this dramatically in such a short time if he didn¡¯t resort to unorthodox methods. You learn my sect¡¯s precious skills and then want to sully my sect¡¯s reputation with wicked methods? I must erase your Yang Blood True Qi to stop you from vilifying our reputation any further today.

    Su Xiao tugged Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleeve and queried, ¡°Big Brother Ming, is Tang Ye about to show his true skills?¡±

    Ming Feizhen kept his eyes focused on the horizon instead of the fight and muttered under his breath, ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±

 Volume 8 109 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 109 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Time for what?¡± Su Xiao questioned.

    Seeing as Ming Feizhen just kept his arms folded, Yu Feiyuan followed the direction Ming Feizhen peered with her eyes and concentrated her on her senses. ¡°Someone is over there,¡± whispered Yu Feiyuan, enunciating only loud enough for Su Xiao and Ming Feizhen to hear.

    Su Xiao saw sky-reaching trees and felt cold winds, unaware thetter was overwhelming hostility. He didn¡¯t have the luxury for questions, though, because Tang Ye and Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword fight stung him with their qi that was changing the temperature around.

    Once again, neither Tang Ye no Yi Wangyou could get the better of the other. The qi from both of thembined turned the surroundings into what could be described as a hot spring.

    ¡°Your unorthodox methods cannot win against my orthodox skills!¡± proimed Yi Wangyou, diving into the white mist and taking big swings at Tang Ye - Deste Sword Dance techniques.

    Deste Sword Dance is a style for offence, relying on varying powerful attacks. Yi Wangyou only mastered up to the seventh move, an alreadymendable achievement. The number of Kunlun patriarchs who mastered all twelve moves could be counted on one hand.

    The ancient style consisted of twoponents: sword soul and sword techniques. Sword soul referred to the mental cultivation aspect, while sword techniques referred to each and every physical move. Learning the techniques without the mental cultivation was close to a pointless endeavour.

    While many mental cultivation styles pursuedprehension of something, Deste Sword Dance¡¯s mental cultivation was about repetition until it was agonising and then more in order to gain fluency. It wouldn¡¯t have been too boring back in the days, where they lived in the harsh cold, because they would¡¯ve learnt it out of necessity simrly to Yang Blood True Qi. The reasoning behind that design was to etch it into the practitioner¡¯s mind as an instinct, empowering them to use the mental cultivation when fighting without needing to consciously think about it.

    As soon as Yi Wangyou whipped out the fourth move - Cloudgazing Armour Severing - he established his dominance against Tang Ye. The reason Tang Ye¡¯s mechanical reactions kept him afloat until then was his innate intelligence. Once Yi Wangyou used a move intended for breaking through defences, Tang Ye was trapped in a flurry of attacks and white smoke.

    Calling on his experience since childhood, where he had elite bodyguards as a young boy and met with big names out in the world, Emperor Yuanshengmented, ¡°If he had twenty more years to train, he would have a ce among the best of the best. I would find it a pity if another loss this time erases his motivation to climb once again.¡±

    ¡°Hargh!¡± Tang Ye lunged and unleashed a fist onto Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword, a tactic unlike Tang Ye. Tang Ye had never utilised a crass style that even brawlers could imitate, and nobody, besides one man, believed it would¡¯ve worked if the two weren¡¯t already so close.

    ¡°Brother Feizhen, that technique resembles yours,¡± Yu Feiyuan noted in a soft voice.

    ¡°Well, learning whatever he sees is what makes him a prodigy,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    ¡°However, his internal energy¡­¡±

    Simply put, Yi Wangyou had years on Tang Ye to develop his strength, so for Tang Ye to think he could muscle his way to a win was sheer arrogance, not to mention the disparity in experience as well as technical refinement.

    Yi Wangyou absorbed the impact with his sword as if Tang Ye had a pillow for a fist, and, as long as he could keep defusing Tang Ye¡¯s simr attacks, he could walk Tang Ye down once Tang Ye was gassed.

    The second Yi Wangyou twirled his wrist, Tang Ye enveloped his fist in mes, prompting Yi Wangyou to guard with his sword. It wasn¡¯t Yang Blood True Qi; it was something that hit even hotter and harder. The surprising speed and power sent Yi Wangyou skidding back a few metres and suffering a dyed injury from within.

    His expedited improvement must have something to do with the glow on his fists, but what is it?

    Green Prince andpany didn¡¯t see how Tang Ye drove Yi Wangyou back since Tang Ye had his back to them unlike Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side.

    ¡°Brother Feizhen.¡± Yu Feiyuan turned to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°You recognise it?¡± Ming Feizhen inquired.

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong,¡± Ming Feizhen stated in anguid tone.

    ¡°How does he know it?¡±

    Given Tang Ye barely wriggled out of doom and Yi Wangyou took damage, the victory hinged on whether or not Tang Ye had any more surprises for thetter.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Unlike everyone else Ming Feizhen was more fixated on the woods than the fight, heaving a big breath and saying, ¡°Here we go.¡±

    ¡°Look who we have here: a group of monkeys fighting each other. Howme,¡± a woman jibed from the woods.

    Yi Wangyou wiped his bloody lips and shouted, ¡°Who goes there?!¡±

    ¡°Well, if I¡¯m not your enemy or friend but someone who wants your head, what¡¯s the term for it?¡±

    ¡°All those who ever wanted this one¡¯s life are now called corpses.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yi, you are putting yourself on a pedestal higher than you are worthy of, don¡¯t you think? I couldn¡¯t bear to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Evil Spirits¡¯ River Monster!¡± blurted Emperor Yuansheng, identifying the voice.

    The tall bear apanying River Monster didn¡¯t rustle Yi Wangyou¡¯s feathers whatsoever. ¡°You don¡¯t want to kill me?¡± he bluntly asked.

    ¡°Of course,¡± River Monster answered with a cackle.

    With a wave of her arm, over five hundred men in ck marched on the group that was oblivious to the enemy ambush the entire time. After they were scattered during their infiltration into the Central in, some of Evil Spirits¡¯ members kept a low profile, while some sneaked in afterwards.

    ¡°My target is all of you.¡±

 Volume 8 110 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 110 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 2)</h4>

    Yi Wangyou, being the vaunted man he was, didn¡¯t engage in a verbal tirade with River Monster. Su Xiao, on the other hand, fired, ¡°Shut your lecherous lips up. You won¡¯t kill anyone!¡±

    ¡°Big Boss Sis, leave her to us,¡± offered one of the unorthodox sect group members.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the missy? I want to strip her, and then take her home as my wife,¡± another onemented.

    River Monster, maintaining her confident sneer,manded, ¡°ck Bear King, kill him.¡±

    Because Su Xiao¡¯s fan base was a group of unaffiliated people pped together, they didn¡¯t have the teamwork to form a defensive formation to stop the ck bear¡¯s speedy, violent charge. They, instead, hurtled their own ways, but the bear stayed locked on to the target River Monster assigned.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Out of nowhere, the ck bear bellowed at the heavens, clearing everyone around it out. Dangling from its mouth was the bloody corpse of the man who expressed a desire to take River Monster home as his mouth.

    River Monster meandered over with a smile: ¡°You need not feel anxious. I did tell you I am here to kill you. You didn¡¯t think any of you would get away with your lives after my deration, did you? Our friend here was first to offer his life in a painless death.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, keep cool. They have a big group, but so do we. Roll up your sleeves, and let¡¯s g-¡±

    An archer on horseback at the rear of Evil Spirits¡¯ forces pierced through the other side of the speaker¡¯s head with his arrow. Emperor Yuansheng cast his gaze over to the archer and thundered, ¡°Abels!¡±

    Abels set down his iron bow and called, ¡°River Monster.¡±

    River Monster, instead of turning back to Abels, ordered, ¡°Get rid of the barbarians.¡±

    Evil Spirits¡¯ group howled ording to their sub-groups¡¯ code to raise morale.

    ¡°Charge!¡±manded River Monster.

    Evil Spirits marched forward like an army avnches, roars blowing leaves off their branches. While there was a case to be made about the martial world¡¯s pugilists eclipsing Evil Spirits¡¯ minions as individual cases, the former had no experience against formations in warfare. In contrast, Evil Spirits always fought against Beijiang¡¯s military due to their profession. Moreover, Abels was a first-ssmander in his own right, while they werepetent enough tost four to five exchanges with the likes of Yi Wangyou.

    The elite pugilists had qingong to fall back on, but that only kept them away from attacks. Those not so proficient were quickly cut down, rather, disassembled effortlessly.

    Evil Spirits¡¯ group remained inside a mobile purple ring that maintained its radius at all times. The elder ambling at the centre of the ring moved the ring of mist along with his steps, keeping himself at the centre. He didn¡¯t need to lift a finger to kill anyone for those who touched the purple mist would bleed from all of their orifices until there was nothing left to bleed.

    ¡°Hahaha, over a hundred dead to collect already, perfect. Thank you for your contribut-, cough, cough, cough, hahaha.¡± Every time heughed, several more men would copse as corpses.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group believed Abels real target was them, and killing over half of those present was just the opening ceremony. Despite not being friends with those who were murdered, anger churned within Su Xiao, hungry for revenge.

    ¡°Everyone get around Master and retreat. They outnumber us greatly, so we¡¯re highly susceptible to being separated. Dugu, you stick to Master. Interim Patriarch Yu and Su Xiao, be ready for anything from the centre. Long Zaitian, you bring up the rear. As soon as I give the signal, go like your lives depend on it,¡± Ming Feizhenmunicated mentally to his team.

    ¡°Roger that!¡± Dugu and Long Zaitian instinctively responded.

    ¡°Wait a second. Why¡¯s he ying themander? Protecting His Majesty goes without saying, you goof,¡± Long Zaitian realised after responding. ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I have something to do, of course.¡± Ming Feizhen broke off from the escort, heading toward the horde of enemies. ¡°Here we go. Your priority is staying alive. If you¡¯re separated from the group, regroup at Dragon Phoenix Inn. Take care.¡± Ming Feizhen reached behind to touch Su Xiao¡¯s head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t die. Disperse!¡±

 Volume 8 111 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 111 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 3)</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng left with Dugu first, everyone else getting into position as per Ming Feizhen¡¯s instructions and retreating in an arc-shape formation. As one would expect from the experienced soldiers of Evil Spirits, they split off into five teams of a hundred men, one hunting their careening prey, three cutting off the three escape routes and thest group walking down Green Prince.

    Yi Wangyou, who took one side while Elder Shou, Lie Shang and Luo Siming guarded one side each of Green Prince, shouted, ¡°Master, please decide what our next course of action should be!¡±

    ¡°I-I-I¡­¡± stuttered Green Prince.

    Had it not for the individual covered in a ck robe, Green Prince would¡¯ve died as he didn¡¯t even see the arrow zooming straight through Green Prince¡¯s defence line.

    ¡°Stuttering when he¡¯s needed. Are all descendants of Li n such wusses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a girl?¡± Green Prince inwardly remarked upon hearing the individual speak,te to catch on unlike Elder Shou. ¡°Where have I heard this voice before? For some reason, I¡¯m terrified to hear her voice,¡± Green Prince noted to himself.

    Annoyed at the dumbfounded look on Green Prince¡¯s face while she was deflecting a rain of arrows with her sword, she, in a low voice, asked, ¡°Lyufei, you don¡¯t remember me?¡±

    ¡°B-B-Big Sis?! Why are you here?!¡± Green Prince almost genuflected out of instinct

    She could be gentle, but she could also be ferocious, two contrasting personalities that was even more prevalent when she was younger - Shen Yiren!

    Although Shen Yiren was childhood friends with all of the Princes and Princesses, her rtionship with Green Prince was different to her rtionship to the others. Owing to hisck of achievements in the martial arts and literacy fields, nobody in the imperial pce liked him, and his big appetite didn¡¯t help his case.

    Every time there was a fight amongst the children in the pce, Shen Yiren was the first one to throw her hands nine times out of ten. Her parents had to plead for forgiveness on her behalf numerous times back when she was younger. Orange Prince and Green Prince were resoundingly pounded in two on one scrimmages back in the day when they challenged her, and Green Prince never forgot the fear of her savage beatings.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing in Huzhou, but there are barbarians from Beijiang trying to invade ournds. Show them the balls and pride of a Prince of the Central in¡¯s kingdom. Swallow your fear, and then tell everyone¡± - Shen Yiren put an end to using her stifled voice - ¡°that we have to fight!¡±

    ***

    Of the three escape teams, Yu Feiyuan¡¯s team was bound to be the safest because of her top-notch qinggong. Plus, she had enough might to frighten off her pursuers on a single arm, so the minions learnt not to get too close. Su Xiao¡¯s Ancient Cold was had the edge that could inflict grave injury even if he just grazed them, and his qinggong level didn¡¯tg behind Yu Feiyuan¡¯s too much. ordingly, they could stay out of harm¡¯s way even though they couldn¡¯t mount a meaningful offence.

    The man carrying the greatest risk, of course, was Long Zaitian, yet he ceaselessly insulted his enemies and provoked them in the name of drawing the enemies away from Emperor Yuansheng. Even though Long Zaitian didn¡¯t have the best qinggong, it was decent. Nheless, it was only good for dodging arrows in his situation since he had to stall the enemy for long enough for Emperor Yuansheng to finish his retreat. In other words, his ability to keep up his pace was the difference between surviving the ordeal and turning into a live acupuncture model.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°If you¡¯re a man, put your pussy bows down ande fight me with a de, sissies! I¡¯lle forward and mush you critters! If I take a single step back, I¡¯ll call myself a pussy,¡± Long Zaitian provoked, ying to the pride of warriors from Beijiang. After all the talk, Long Zaitian ran another direction, albeit in the opposite direction the imperial court¡¯s group ran. Technically, then¡­ he didn¡¯t run backwards.

    The affronted warriors from Beijiang brandished their des and chased Long Zaitian.

    Where the hell did Ming Feizhen run off to? He looked as cool as a cucumber! Did he see thising?

    ***

    ¡°This way, Master!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng and Dugu had the easiest time escaping for the reason that they didn¡¯t have any side missions unlike the others. With Yu Feiyuan¡¯s group assisting them, they shook off their enemies first and continued to Canhu Town.

    Dugu pulled Emperor Yuansheng behind him immediately when an aroma from the green toxic smokescreen ahead rmed him: ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± The poison-wielding elder, who could¡¯ve been anywhere from seventy to ny judging from his appearance, meandered out from behind tree whilst coughing. His ability to have gotten ahead of Dugu and Emperor Yuansheng despite their speed contradicted the impression his appearance gave.

    ¡°Good, good, good.¡± The elder peered into the sky and mumbled, ¡°This mist of mine that can reach the heavens from hell can also induce nausea and loss of movement in adepts even if they inhale just a small amount. To remain level headed and pick up on its smell ismendable, young man. You are blessed with a good subordinate, Mr. Li.¡±

    ¡°You are Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King!¡± Emperor Yuansheng drew the conclusion from Poison King¡¯s reference of his poison mist reaching the heavens from hell.

    ¡°Haha, cough, cough, this old one didn¡¯t expect anyone to remember him after all these years as a recluse.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng adjusted his speech style so that he didn¡¯t breathe too much to be on the safe side: ¡°There are few records on you in the Central in since you have not been here for long. However, this one has known of you for a long time. It is an honour to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, cough, cough, hehehe. Honour? Everyone who encounters this old one regrets not doing more good deeds in their previous life. Do you not wonder what people will say when they learnt you came to search for Shen Yiren, yet cowered away in Jiangnan?¡±

    ¡°You know about what happened to Yiren?!¡±

    ¡°If you wish to know, feel free to investigate. Asking this old one will not get you anywhere.¡±

    I heard Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King is an entric man, so why is he speaking so politely to me. It¡¯s as if¡­ he knows who I am. Ah, I don¡¯t have time for this right now.

    Poison King chuckled as he stepped forward, dismissing Dugu as a threat.

    ¡°Please get back, Master. I will stop him.¡±

    ¡°No, no, haha, cough, cough.¡± Body oozing purple and green mist, Poison King went on, ¡°You should tell him to run and keep running until this old one cannot see him because¡­ everything this old one sets his sights on will be ashes!¡±

    Poison King sent green and purple trails out for the first roar of the day!

 Volume 8 112 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 112 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 4)</h4>

    ¡°Why¡­ did youe here?¡± River Monster from a slouched position on her ck bear king¡¯s back. While her bear was roaring, waiting for an order to go feast, River Monster didn¡¯t join the battle. With her head down, she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave it all to me?¡±

    Abels, eyes on the distance, picked up his iron bow: ¡°Am I obligated to answer to you?¡±

    River Monster¡¯s fists turned white. Before she rode off, she raged, ¡°Fine! I don¡¯t need your concern!¡±

    River Monster didn¡¯t expect around a mere dozen of people at the pavilion to fend off a team of a hundred men for so long because, even though she respected Green Princes¡¯ people¡¯s abilities, she timed her ambush so that she could catch them when they were tired from fighting.

    River Monster signalled for a team to turn back to join her in an interceptive strike. By the time she started to advance on Green Prince, thetter¡¯s forces had formed a formation that empowered them to take out three of her men in a counterattack whenever the opportunity presented itself. She never envisioned men as proud as Elder Shou and Yi Wangyou to be team yers. Only when she came even closer did she hear Shen Yiren, who stood her ground as though the edge of a cliff was behind her,manding, ¡°Three, one, four. Hero Lie defends five and six. Young Master Luo take one and three. Elder Shou, please use Big Dipper Hilt Primordial Palm Technique! Patriarch Yi, please retreat three steps!¡±

    As soon as Yi Wangyou pulled back, Elder Shou caught the foremen with a flurry of heavy palm strikes while Luo Siming and Lie Shang held down the fort from two ends. Elder Shou then retreated, while Yi Wangyou took over to mount a counter along with a group.

    River Monster paused in her tracks for a brief moment, feeling the voice of the swordswoman in ck was familiar.

    It can¡¯t be her. She can¡¯t be her¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Abels is hurt. He¡¯s a paper tiger right now! Stay alert, and follow my instructions!¡± Shen Yiren shouted.

    ¡°We can win!¡±

    H-howe she is here?! How does she know Master is hurt? Only Poison King and¡­ She was feigning the entire time! I sent my hostage right back to Luo Siming! I¡¯ll kill her! I¡¯ll kill her! I¡¯ll kill her and Luo Siming! I must silence them!

    River Monster called back her divided forces, even the forces chasing Emperor Yuansheng since she was confident Poison King could handle it on his own. After all, she had to expedite her victory at the pavilion, or she would lose her chance.

    ¡°Kill them all!¡± River Monster ordered.

    Shen Yiren dished out orders faster and faster until even the elites under her found it a daunting task to keep up, but it was necessary in order to keep up with the mounting pressure of two hundred enemies at once. Of course, the numbers disadvantage saw them cut down only twenty-odd after all that fighting.

    Noticing their defence line edging closer to him, Green Prince yelled, ¡°It¡¯s now or never. If we keep standing our ground, we¡¯ll be mincemeat.¡±

    Shen Yiren kept a straight face: ¡°We¡¯re not retreating. If we retreat now, it¡¯ll be impossible to bring them inter on.¡±

    Whilst backing down, Green Prince argued, ¡°How are we going to win with Abels here? Let¡¯s leg it!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Chubby, bring up running again, and I¡¯ll maul you!¡± Notwithstanding that, Shen Yiren started to see a formation as pointless since pressure from the enemy was all it took to crumble their formation. Her arm started to feel heavier, while their injured personnel started to increase.

    ¡°River Monster, you ugly wench,e here if you¡¯re so tough!¡± Shen Yiren jumped into the horde of enemies, using their heads as tforms to bounce off and pause to evade attacks, escaping the arrows hot on her trail. Uponnding, she swung her sword to create some space then bound away, spending as little time in contact with the ground as possible for maximum distance and velocity.

    Watching Shen Yiren repeat the method over and over to encroach, River Monstermanded, ¡°Kill that woman!¡± However, Shen Yiren had finished bridging the gap, startling River Monster. River Monster, therefore, bluffed, ¡°Thanks foring, wench. I¡¯ll show you what happens to people who lie to me.¡±

    Unlike River Monster, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t bother with verbal threats, trying to shear off River Monster¡¯s face without wasting a moment. River Monster recoiled at how ferocious Shen Yiren was even after losing her left hand.

    Shen Yiren initiated her flurry of shes with a high to low vertical sh from above, forcing River Monster to her disabled left side. Shen Yiren then drove her left elbow across into River Monster¡¯s nose, dismounting thetter from her bear. Shen Yiren propelled herself off the bear¡¯s head to get behind River Monster before thetter couldnd and then mmed her left foot into River Monster¡¯s face, dropping River Monster into the ground.

    Shen Yiren held River Monster at de point and dered, ¡°Your leader is in my hands. Lay down your weapons this instant!¡±

 Volume 8 113 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 113 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 5)</h4>

    ¡°Kill these cornholes!¡±

    ¡°Fire at him! Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±

    ¡°Abels isn¡¯t worth crap! Stupid Spirits have no balls!¡± Long Zaitian slighted.

    It was an absolute circus in the woods with shouting, arrows flying and footsteps that shook the earth spreading in multiple directions. River Monster¡¯s other subordinates weren¡¯t much better offpared to her, though the same could be said for Long Zaitian.

    Because he had to hold back to stall the enemy, Long Zaitian¡¯s task to defend himself whilst taunting and running wore him out faster than if he were to perform just one task. Thus, he noticed the gap between him and his predators gradually diminished after a bigp. What started off as a run and insult mission deteriorated into aborious power jog, stumble, tripping - even rolling on the ground.

    ¡°Wait, wait, let¡¯s talk this out!¡± Long Zaitian urged.

    ¡°Who did you say isn¡¯t worth crap, you loudmouth?¡±

    ¡°My bad, my bad, it was a slip of the tongue. I was saying that Abels isn¡¯t crap¡­ He¡¯s dog constipation!¡±

    ¡°Put more arrows in him than he has blood cells!¡±

    Twenty of Evil Spirits¡¯ archers fired an array of arrows in a specific formation to trap Long Zatian and end him. They guffawed as he dropped to the ground and rolled what appeared to be random directions, scaring off dirt. To their bewilderment, even though mud found its way onto his clothing without an issue, their finishing shots couldn¡¯t find their target, with him dodging hundreds of arrows by millimetres.

    Speed was the only key to survival in a hail of arrows; reaction sped was also paramount. Long Zaitian, who was a step away from knocking on Divine Realm¡¯s doors, evaded the arrows so quickly that one might think he was equipped with foresight or enacting a choreographed routine with his team.

    The person who bequeathed Long Zaitian¡¯s life-saving style to him was a broke daoist whom he donated a pouch of money to after finding himself wanting to help the man at the eatery of a daoist monastery. The daoist at the back of the Guandi shrine at the foot of the abandoned mountain next to Mount Zisheng gave Long Zaitian a thin yellow book - Racoon Dog Tumbling - as repayment for the donation.

    Racoon Dog Tumbling paled inparison to qinggong and movement for close-quartersbat. The style separated itself from the pack through its unorthodox learning structure, requiring its student to start from within - creating an armour of qi as opposed to training limbs. Typically, qi armour strength derived from internal strength reaching a certain extent. The reasons some were impregnable to des, while some were vulnerable to club-type weapons, needed to be assessed on an individual basis.

    Qi armours needed to be consciously manipted and maintained - generally speaking for those who focus on developing an armoured body. The downside to focusing solely on developing armour was that their armour couldn¡¯t match someone who obtained their qi armour via developing their internal strength.

    Racoon Dog Tumbling broke the mould because it only worked when trying to run from something or someone - also because the armour stuck to the user¡¯s body through linking up with their qi. As a result, in exchange for higher sensitivity, since it was linked to its user, it sacrificed a degree of robustness. Whenever theyer of qi protecting the practitioner¡¯s body felt a hit, they¡¯d roll along the ground on instinct. Hence, Long Zaitian avoided the arrows by only a hair¡¯s breadth.

    ¡°Screw it. He has the luck of the devil. Draw your melee weapons, and butcher him!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Butcher him!¡±

    Long Zaitian was literally a magic fish on a chopping board. Regardless, there was a limit to how much internal energy one had. No matter how much energy he had, he was fighting two hundred men who were cycling between squads to ensure they went at him in tip-top condition, while he didn¡¯t have anyone to switch out with for time to recover.

    Unsurprisingly, Long Zaitian could barely roll after constantly dodging for a while. Even if he could still roll, they also had long enough to figure out his pattern, meaning they could divide themselves and conquer; there are only so many directions one can move, after all.

    Exhausted, Long Zaitian let his fatigue put him on his back. Even though he was defenceless, Evil Spirits¡¯ team nervously circled around him, afraid he was ying possum after his stupendous performance.

    ¡°Freaking tired me out. I can¡¯t believe how long it took to corner this guy.¡±

    ¡°I ought to cut him three times, at least.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll start.¡± Evil Spirits¡¯ warrior closed in and said, ¡°Do a better job of picking your opponents next time, dimwit.¡± The soldier then swung down, only to go zooming toward the clouds.

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Long Zaitian blearily remarked from the ground. His extended arm flopped to the ground after he punched the soldier, a sign that he was spent. His pale countenance further reinforced the fact that he was done, though there was not a single trace of fear to be found on his face. Eyes on the ground, he jibed, ¡°I¡¯ll bully you goons any day of the weak. You ever seen a soldier run from a thug?¡±

    ¡°Screw speaking to him. Kill him!¡±

    None of them went in to finish their prey because of Long Zaitian¡¯s tone that set off rms in their heads. From their perspective, they had be the predator staring at them before they knew it.

    With the corner of his lips hiked up, Long Zaitian, in a low voice,manded, ¡°Kill them.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Seeding the simultaneous response from the group in hiding, the sound of sharp des puncturing Evil Spirits¡¯ men and their cries one by one resonated toward Long Zaitian and into his ears. Bloodless husks piled up on top of each other once they let out their death throes.

    ¡°Do a better job of picking your opponents next time, dimwits.¡±

    The strewn bodies revealed Long Zaitian standing at the centre with one of bandits at his mercy, smothered in his own blood. Around them were over three thousand soldiers wearing ck armour doused in blood, the mythical qilin beast on their shoulder armour still begging for more blood and broadswords hanging from their waists, ready to feast on flesh. Qilins are a mythical creature in the realm of man and a creature seldom seen in heaven that only shes its fangs when summoned. Qilins are mythical beings but bloodthirsty Qilin Guards are not.

 Volume 8 114 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 114 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 6)</h4>

    ¡°My three thousand Qilin Guards can be found everywhere you can think of. They¡¯ve been following me the entire time from the imperial capital. Who¡¯s picking a fight with who? You know who you picked a fight with? This is this kingdom¡¯s de, shield, ws and fangs¡­ We go where the heavens call us, and we hunt those heaven wants us to hunt without failure.¡±

    The sole survivor from Evil Spirits¡¯ pursuit team - presumably their leader - dropped onto his knees, not even daring to look up at the warriors in ck.

    ¡°Excellent. Bow to our kingdom¡¯s ace. Tell your master,¡± Long Zaitian patted the survivor on the head, ¡°this is how you make mincemeat.¡±

    The leader of Evil Spirits¡¯ team waited for Long Zaitian was way out of sight then looked back to see his fallen brethren bathing in their own blood.

    ***

    ¡°Hehehe, good, good. This old one hasn¡¯t had to use Five Elements Divine Palms in over a decade. You¡¯re the first worthy opponent in a long time. That said, it is a surprise¡­¡± Poison King rubbed the blood on his mouth onto his hand, not coughing despite his internal injury. The red dot in his palm was a sign that his poison was working against him. ¡°Hehehe, it¡¯s a surprise to learn that Five Elements Divine Palms is now soughable in this generation.¡±

    ¡°You are being too modest, Elder.¡± Dugu had a victorious smile on as part of his ruse to mislead opponents into thinking he was getting arrogant and, therefore, careless. ¡°Five Elements Divine Palms is mastered using five different venoms through abination of the five elements that counteract each other. Should one¡¯s internal energy be inadequate and impure, they wouldn¡¯tst one strike. You can say that it¡¯s considered one of the best palm styles for internal style pugilists.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, are you just gloating now?¡±

    ¡°This one would not have the audacity to undermine the skills you used to build your reputation. This one was merely lucky.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you beat this old one with sheer luck, huh? Remarkable. Remarkable.¡±

    Poison King zipped over to Dugu in the blink of an eye and threw amitted palm strike for the first time in his match against Dugu as pulling punches wasn¡¯t going to cut it, enhancing the lethal factor with two highly-toxic poisons that he supplied Abels with to help thetter train.

    Dugu hooked his arm in order to catch Poison King¡¯s strike without the sting. s, Poison King powered through, forcing Dugu to halt the attack with his own palm strike.

    ¡°Haha, you didn¡¯t expect t-¡± Poison King cut his celebration short when he felt all of the force he sent through Dugu¡¯s arme back as a juiced-up version,pelling him to let go and retreat: ¡°Y-you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for sharing your experience, Elder. Did you want to continue this?¡±

    Poison King turned his scowl into a sneer: ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky, young man. Are you implying that you are going to let this old one go?¡±

    ¡°This one does not mean to make sport out of you in any capacity. This one is merely busy with taking care of his master.¡±

    ¡°I see. In other words, you are letting this old one go?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Not exactly,¡± Dugu responded with a smile. ¡°We are taking umbrage to your actions today and will be sure to pay you a visit in Nanjiang. When we do drop in, I, Dugeye, and you will be in separate worlds thereafter.¡±

    Although startled for a second, Poison King scoffed, ¡°Duguye. Hah, Duguye. Surprise, surprise, hahahaha.¡± He made a dash for the woods whileughing and left the scene as fast as he could.

    Dugu returned to Emperor Yuansheng and ryed, ¡°Please forgive your subject for letting the enemy escape.¡±

    ¡°There is nothing to me you for? Everything is unfolding ording to Constable Ming¡¯s predictions. Long Zaitian should havepleted his assignment by now,¡± Emperor Yuansheng stated.

    ¡°Brother Ming truly is a born to be a strategist.¡±

    ¡°Next¡­ is Abels.¡±

    Poison King pulled over to catch his breath after running five kilometres, gasping blood out as he staggered on his feet due to his world spinning: ¡°I was careless¡­ I never expected to run into him. I would¡¯ve brought my two babies along if I knew he wasing.¡±

    Poison King took serious damage in his second exchange with Dugu, when Dugu reversed the flow of poison back to Poison King, and Poison King had to keep up the bravado, or he¡¯d already be dead.

    ¡±What luck, running into the hidden dragon with the highest chances of bing one of the Ultimate Three, rank three Hidden Dragon, Night Cicada.¡±

 Volume 8 115 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 115 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 7)</h4>

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    River Monster didn¡¯t take too much damage from Shen Yiren¡¯s elbow to the face since she used her qinggong to move away from thetter¡¯s strike at thest moment, abating the damage. s, Shen Yiren immediately used her foot to seal River Monster¡¯s meridian before River Monster could retaliate uponnding. Physically and technically, the two could go tit for tat, but Shen Yiren¡¯s richer experience outshone River Monster¡¯s. Shen Yiren¡¯s mind operated a beat ahead of River Monster during their fight.

    Yes, Ming Feizhen¡¯s true qi saved Shen Yiren¡¯s life when she scrapped with Abels. That being said, it was her daredevil character, quick thinking, wealth of experience and decisiveness that got her through the exchanges with him. Plus, the new style Shen Yiren learnt contributed more than she was aware.

    Using her foot to seal meridians was a technique Shen Yiren picked up from Abels. Had it been any earlier in the past, she would¡¯ve only managed tond her elbow and then restrain her target. The reason she was able to perform an extra move without breaking a sweat was attributed to the potent true qi now flowing through her expeditiously. She found it was akin to her clone, acting in concert with her thoughts without requiring nearly as much conscious effort as in the past.

    I don¡¯t know what style this is, but training in my dreams worked a treat.

    ¡°Hahaha, Miss Shen, you dazzle once again. I suppose my concern was for naught.¡±

    ¡°Long Zaitian?¡± Shen Yiren regarded Long Zaitian with a bob of her head. ¡°Are all Qilin Guards here?¡±

    Long Zaitian smiled proudly: ¡°Look.¡±

    The three thousand Qilin Guards Emperor Yuansheng arranged to protect him from the escorts emerged from the woods, squashing Evil Spirits¡¯ morale with their numbers and presence.

    ¡°Well done, Yiren,¡±mented Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Your M-, Uncle, I am d to see you are well.¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s joy was written all over her face.

    The tigress¡¯ voice sounds so nice when she isn¡¯t aggressing someone in her deep voice.

    This wench must¡¯ve revealed who she was when I returned her to Luo Siming and sought his help.

    River Monster got that right but didn¡¯t realise it was ¡°Elder Zhong Ning¡±, who devised the ruse to lure out all of Evil Spirits¡¯ forces so that they could wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop.

    When Shen Yiren first heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s strategy from him, she questioned, ¡°What are you going to do? I don¡¯t recall you mentioning your role in the n whatsoever.¡±

    Ming Feizhen answered, ¡°Getting the hell out of there as fast as I can, obviously! My fighting skills are sheet. I don¡¯t want to be crushed in the crossover. What would I stick around for?¡±

    ¡°I hope he¡¯s safe,¡± Shen Yiren muttered under her breath as she eyed the battlefield for Ming Feizhen. ¡°Abels, you crossed the border without permission, robbed an imperial escort, colluded with Luo Yan and assembled people to incite chaos in Jiangnan. You will answer to those crimes today.¡± Shen Yiren whipped her sword and continued, ¡°Everyone, he is the man behind the recent spate of events since arriving in the Central in. Please join forces with me to apprehend him.¡±

    The Qilin Guards, brought along tobat Abels in the first ce, reduced the enemies¡¯ movement area without a second word from Shen Yiren.

    Yi Wangyou said, ¡°Thinking you can run amok in the home of a White Prince is equivalent to making light of all of us. Let¡¯s find out if Evil Eminence Scripture can handle all of us.¡±

    Abels, remaining on horseback and showing no desire to fight, slighted, ¡°You weaklings want to kill me? I¡¯d squash all of you even if you could clone yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Your stalling tactic isn¡¯t going to work.¡± Wearing victory on his lips, Dugu added, ¡°Your friend from Nanjiang has already headed for the hills. You won¡¯t be so lucky.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like I need any help.¡±

    If they didn¡¯t outnumber Abels, a lot of them would¡¯ve already showed a clean pair of heels.

    As Shen Yiren prepared to speak, Green Prince cried, ¡°Don¡¯t drag me into this. You think it¡¯ll be fun if you fail to capture him, and hees back for me? You guys can fight. I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    Shen Yiren and Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s right legs twitched, itching to kick Green Prince.

    ¡°We will finish him today, Brother,¡± Luo Siming promised.

    ¡°What makes you so confident?!¡±

    ¡°Because I told you a lie before.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I totally don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about! What does that have anything to do with beating one of the Supreme Ten Saints?!¡±

    ¡°Everything. We haven¡¯t just been counting down the days.¡± Amused with Green Prince¡¯s blinking and head shaking reaction, Luo Siming chuckled. ¡°Pleasee out to prove my point.¡±

    Everyone on Shen Yiren¡¯s side braced themselves upon seeing objects rise into the air from within Evil Spirits¡¯ group because few men wouldn¡¯t be afraid of Beijiang¡¯s hidden projectiles. Whatever they were, though, they never came back down.

    ¡°Those are human heads!¡± eximed Elder Shou.

    Those words would never be forgotten as twenty-odd blood columns rose into the ether from Evil Spirits¡¯ side.

    ¡°Who is it?! Show yours-¡±

    More heads soared into the firmament, blood flow taking seconds to spray after they were decapitated. This was a man capable of murdering a hundred men within seconds without leaving a trace of his appearance behind.

    ¡°Master, run for it!¡±

    ¡°Master, you have not fully recovered yet. We will hold him back while you run!¡±

    There was no holding him back. Speaking was akin to some mechanism that triggered their executions.

    ¡°Show yourself!¡± roared Abels, pulling out his bow only for it to be cleaved in two before he could load it up. What made no sense was that the individual who halved the iron bow was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°It¡¯s him,¡±mented Emperor Yuansheng, triumphantly.

    ¡°Sharp eyes, Brother Li.¡±

    At the same time Abels iron bow hit the ground, a man appeared in a vacant space, yet nobody could look straight at him.

    ¡°Eclipse,¡± Yi Wangyou enunciated in a low voice.

    ¡°Hahaha, you have reached a new level since west met, Brother Luo,¡± apuded Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°We do not need pleasantries between us, Brother Li,¡± the man replied.

    There was only one man in Jiangnan carrying the Luo surname who could be that deadly with a sword.

    ¡°Abels, it¡¯s time you surrender. You are no longer facing only Qilin Guards, Kunlun¡¯s patriarch and an elder of Wudang.¡± Conveying deference in his tone, Emperor Yuansheng dered, ¡°You are also facing Jiangnan¡¯s best swordsman, Luo Sword Flying God, Heavenly Swordsman Luo Ming!¡±

 Volume 8 116 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 8)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 116 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 8)</h4>

    Despite knowing of Luo Ming¡¯s prowess through word of mouth for decades, it was Yi Wangyou¡¯s first time meeting the legend himself. The man whose perfectlybed ck hair stole the hearts of many maidens in Jiangnan didn¡¯t appear to have aged a single day if one were to see his cool and youthful smile. Even Emperor Yuansheng needed a second to not mistake his old friend for Luo Siming¡¯s identical twin brother.

    The legend in the deluxe green robe strode forward and regarded everyone with a palm and fist salute: ¡°Please pardon this one for not weing all of you to Huzhou earlier. To have troubled Wudang¡¯s three elders, Kunlun¡¯s Patriarch Yi and Hero Lie to chase out some trivial bad people from Huzhou for this one, this one feels apologetic.¡±

    Speaking on behalf of Yi Wangyou, as well as Lie Shang, Elder Shou politely replied, ¡°You speak too highly of this old one. He is too old to be chasing out any bad p-¡±

    Sounds of several of Evil Spirits¡¯ members gasping blood and copsing interrupted Elder Shou. Elder Shou realised that, when he spoke up before, Luo Ming added an internal style mental cultivation technique to his voice. The addition extended the reach of Luo Ming¡¯s voice as well as dealt damage to listeners. While Luo Ming¡¯s voice sounded perfectly normal to them, Evil Spirits¡¯ heard explosions go off in their heads. Harming someone using sound doesn¡¯t warrant astonishment. Being able tomunicate and inflict harm simultaneously, not to mention selectively choosing who heard what, was a first for even Elder Shou.

    ¡°You have widened this old one¡¯s horizons, Patriarch Luo,¡±plimented Elder Shou.

    ¡°You are too humble, Elder Shou.¡± Luo Ming pivoted over to Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Brother Li, in spite of all my training, your eyes are still sharper than my qinggong.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng heartilyughed. ¡°Now you are being too humble, Brother Luo. Had you not deliberately shown yourself to me, I would never have guessed it was you.¡±

    Luo Ming kept his thumb and index fingers on his sword hilt elevated unlike other swordsmen; he held it as if he was holding a calligraphy brush.

    Incandescent over the results of the battle, Abels pointed at Luo Ming¡¯s face and, in a deep voice, enunciated, ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°I forgot we still had an unwanted guest to remove.¡± Luo Ming turned back to Abels.

    Wrathfully, Abels howled, ¡°Bring your head over here!¡±

    Luo Ming coolly tugged up the corner of his lips: ¡°Huzhou has been entrusted to this one. Do you think Jiangnan is going to turn a blind eye to your uninvited invasion and mayhem?¡±

    ¡°Brother Luo, he is one the Supreme Ten Saints and undefeated in Beijiang. Be careful not to let him catch you off guard,¡± Emperor Yuansheng cautioned.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Only a small number of people saw the two streaks heading into the woods before they heard a ¡°boom¡± that had leaves hurtling from. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort saw a fight they never thought they¡¯d see in the human realm when Abels shed with Master Ming, so they expected a somewhat simr fight between Abels and Luo Ming. Howbeit, it was entirely different, being a silent, shy fight, instead - in the literal sense. ordingly, nobody could tell what sorts of moves were exchanged. All they saw was the two take off two and a half kilometres away.

    Abels looked as though he was shadow boxing the entire time, trying to prove he had ten horses¡¯ work capacity: ¡°This isn¡¯t what we agreed on! You betrayed us, Luo Ming!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡± Luo Ming drew a silver arc, grazing Abels¡¯ left arm, left leg and then right leg sessively. Abels grimaced as he lost his ability to fight back, while Luo Ming showed no remorse unlike his amiable aura prior. ¡°I have nothing to say to you. Your only mission now is to die here.¡± With that, Luo Ming plunged his sword through Abels body.

    ***

    Luo Ming silenced the masses with something he threw along the ground upon returning an hourter - Abels¡¯ head. Unarmed and smiling as if he just did some refreshing morning stretches, he verbalised, ¡°We must remove hostile guests when theye uninvited. Although it is not pretty, what must be done has to be done. This one would like to invite everyone to stay at his humble abode for a few days to wee you.¡±

 Volume 8 117 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 9)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 117 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 9)</h4>

    ¡°Abels¡­ is dead?¡± someone questioned in disbelief.

    The injured personnel from the unorthodox sects suddenly got up from amongst the corpses, seemingly unharmed and unfazed. From a nce, about sixty percent of the forces who tussled with Evil Spirits were still alive. Anyone expecting them to fight fair and square would be delusional; feigning death was one of their fortes and most employed strategies.

    Paying no heed to the unorthodox sects, Emperor Yuansheng broke into celebratoryughter: ¡°Brother Luo, I have been looking to meet you again ever since we parted. I never expected it to be more than ten years when we would meet again. While I¡¯ve aged considerably, you¡¯re still vibrant.¡±

    Luo Ming responded, ¡°Brother, we cannotpare when you are a busy man, and I am a man with plenty of spare time on his hands.¡±

    People were full of praise for Luo Ming¡¯s skills and believed he¡¯d soon return to his throne as one of the Supreme Ten Saints, when someone asked, ¡°Patriarch Luo, although Evil Spirits are bound to bear painful consequences for as long as you are around, were you not training in istion? Why did you happen to show up so timely, and who are they?¡±

    Sometimes, it¡¯s nice to have the crass men from unorthodox sects around to cut to the chase when orthodox sects¡¯ members would beat around the bush to ask the questions they¡¯re dying to ask. Everyone wanted to know about Luo Ming¡¯s training in seclusion because he left a prime Luo Yan and young Luo Siming to supposedly train some advanced skill.

    While Luo Ming answered with just a smile, Luo Siming expounded, ¡°Several days ago, this one¡¯s second uncle, Luo Yan, started an uprising on Repository Ind to instate himself as our n¡¯s patriarch, leading to the n falling into his hands for several days. This one sought the help of friends to depose of him. After that, this one learnt that his second uncle was the one responsible for the weapon thefts and ambushes in Canhu Town. As he fell into Taihu Lake, it is likely he has met with a misfortunate end. Father decided toe out of seclusion from Sword Spirit House after hearing of what happened. This one apologises for failing to see through the deceit sooner and for disturbing Father¡¯s training.

    ¡°This one thought Second Uncle pinched weapons out of some mental issue, never imagining he had conspired with Beijiang¡¯s Evil Spirits. Had Miss Shen and her friends not informed this one, this one would still be oblivious to the fact that it was Abels¡¯ contrivance. This one decided to work with Miss Shen and her friends upon learning of Abels¡¯ involvement, and Father decided to lend a hand for he would be the only one who couldpete against Abels.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Notwithstanding the risk associated with today¡¯s operation, we have sessfully crushed Evil Spirits. Still, this one owes you all an apology for getting you caught up in the operation and letting you get hurt.

    ¡°As Luo Sword Manor is the root of this unfortunate saga, Luo Sword Manor must clean up its mess. Please discuss yourpensations for this operation with us at ater date. For now, let us celebrate this victory on Repository Ind. This one has invited renowned chefs from various locations in the Central in and harvested seasonal fruits to thank you.¡±

    Despite Luo Siming¡¯s honest, sincere tone convincing of the authenticity of the stories, some didn¡¯t ept his apology, deciding to wait for a future opportunity to take out the vexation of getting injured or losing members in the operation where they became coteral damage. Having said that, some no longer had any rancorous feelings towards Luo n since Luo Ming essentially avenged them when he harvested Abels¡¯ head.

    A number of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s members arrived during Luo Siming¡¯s speech to join him in leading the group to Repository Ind, while Luo Ming and Emperor Yuansheng caught up with each other. Shen Yiren, however, wore a long face as she scrutinised the head on the ground, muttering to herself, ¡°Abels¡­ is dead?¡±

    To say Abels left a deep impression on Shen Yiren was an understatement. For that reason, she couldn¡¯t believe Luo Ming dispatched Abels so easily; however, there was nothing to invalidate the fact that Abels¡¯ head really was there on the ground.

    ¡°Miss Shen, he is¡­¡± Luo Siming inquired, referring to Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°He¡­ is my uncle. He came here in search of me due to me going missing here in Huzhou,¡± elucidated Shen Yiren.

    ¡°I see. It has been a long time since I have seen my father so bright. They must be long-time friends.¡±

    ¡°Where is Lyufei?¡± Shen Yiren queried after surveying the area, impelling Emperor Yuansheng and Luo Ming to nce over through their peripherals.

    ¡°Brother left in a hurry with Patriarch Yi, citing he had important business to attend to.¡±

    Luo Ming nced back at Emperor Yuansheng to see thetter¡¯s urge to sigh, and the two regarded each other with helpless smiles.

    Owing to Shen Yiren concentrating on examining Abels¡¯ head, River Monster had long enough to unseal herself with her internal energy and get out from under Shen Yiren¡¯s foot. River Monster bellowed, ¡°Luo Ming, you conniving scum!¡±

    ¡°I did not realise I missed one.¡± Luo Ming reached for his hilt.

    Noticing the subtle, uncanny upward curve at the corner of Luo Ming¡¯s lips, Shen Yiren cut in between him and River Monster. Shen Yiren hit River Monster with her right palm with nominal output: ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡±

    Maybe Shen Yiren¡¯s words restored rationality to incensed River Monster. Unfounded or not, thetter decided to flee instead of challenging Luo Ming. Long Zaitian didn¡¯t give his Qilin Guards the order to pursue or voice his hunch that Shen Yiren deliberately let River Monster escape.

    Shen Yiren turned to Luo Ming and conveyed, ¡°I apologise for letting her abscond, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Luo Ming fired sword qi so potent that the naked eye could see it from his elevated index finger at River Monster¡¯s back.

    Coincidentally, River Monster happened to slip over, avoiding death by a stroke of luck. She immediately rolled to her feet and kept running.

    Luo Ming¡¯s pride as one of the greatest of his generation didn¡¯t allow him to make a second attempt on River Monster¡¯s life. He lowered his arm and softly enunciated, ¡°She won¡¯t escape.¡±

    A group of people concealing their identities in ck attire went after River Monster.

 Volume 8 118 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 10)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 118 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 10)</h4>

    Su Xiao and Tie Hanyi broke off from the group to escape, while Yu Feiyuan led them on a chase for over two hours thus far, avoiding leaping since it would throw off those she was tasked with stalling. The reason Evil Spirits pursued her and let the others go was due to the two being unknown faces.

    The hundred men on Yu Feiyuan barely had any morale left as they didn¡¯t even have a chance to fire an arrow at Yu Feiyuan, let alone close the gap. If they stopped to fire an arrow, their cohorts behind them would crash into them, self-sabotaging their formation. She tested them to find their top sped and purposely maintained the same pace so that they wouldn¡¯t ever catch up. To add, she didn¡¯t even breathe hard unlike them. All they could do was curse andment their limited tanks while showering in their perspiration.

    Yu Feiyuan¡¯s qinggong derived from Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s All-Epassing Snow Technique, blending in with the environment, thereby making it an effective means of shaking off pursuers.

    Prior to themencement of the mission, Ming Feizhen instructed, ¡°Lead them on a chase. Don¡¯t go too fast or too slow. Just keep them running at top speed so that everyone is safe. Once they¡¯re enervated, you¡­¡±

    Standing up for justice ran in the blood of Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples, even if it came at the cost of their lives, and today was no different, except Yu Feiyuan couldn¡¯t understand why her heart raced when she had only run dozens of metres - nowhere near the distance covered in her morning sessions. The cause of her joy whenever she could help Ming Feizhen, hear or see him eluded her.

    Suddenly, Yu Feiyuan came to a halt, resulting in the huffing and blowing men at the back rear ending theirrades in the front. She faced back to the horde and, in a robotic manner, asserted, ¡°It¡¯s time for me to smash you now.¡±

    They didn¡¯t have a chance against Yu Feiyuan if they were fresh, let alone in their fatigued state. Even so, she put them down faster than they could¡¯ve imagined; she didn¡¯t need anyplicated skills to drop them and then seal their meridians.

    ¡°Is she a woman or a monster?¡± Never had they seen anyone, besides Abels, who could fight as well as Yu Feiyuan, not even Evil Spirits¡¯ sub-leaders.

    Yu Feiyuan dusted herself off after she finished sealing thest individual¡¯s meridians out of habit as her tailor and sisters always scolded her for not taking care of her clothing, yet she resembled a child. ¡°You¡¯ve lost.¡±

    We lost to a girl who can¡¯t evene up with a decent victory catchphrase? How we have fallen¡­

    ¡°So you ought to listen to me.¡± Delivering her child-like lines in an emotionless tone, Yu Feiyuan continued, ¡°I was told to tell you: your lives are still useful, so you can¡¯t die yet.¡±

    ***

    Poison King rested for an hour before his qi and blood cirction were back to normal, though he would need three days to be back to his old self, a bitter pill that he perceived as vexing to swallow. The fact that he lost so quickly and suffered an internal injury without figuring out what moves he was caught with was irrefutable proof that hisbat skills paled inparison to his opponent¡¯s.

    ¡°Leafhopper, Dugu Ye¡­ That tyrant was prepared. He may be an errand boy, but he can save that tyrant¡¯s life when it counts. Seventeen Hidden Dragons¡­ I need to give you more credit.¡± Hearing footsteps outside the cavern while he was mulling over how to defeat Dugu, Poison King voiced, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Poison King had an appointment with a certain individual in the cavern and wasn¡¯t expecting any guests. The zing and tall individual sped inside then performed a knife hand. Had it been anyone else, they¡¯d have jerked their hand back upon denying the chop with their body, but Poison King¡¯s constitution was different to the average man, allowing him to easily stop the hand chop in its tracks.

    ¡°You?!¡±

    Poison King felt torrid energy on him,pelling him to stop blocking the chop head on and slithering around the young man¡¯s arm to grab it, a style the elder used to stick to opponents. Once Poison King stuck to his opponent, he would keep sticking and following no matter how his opponent moved their limbs.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Instead of retracting his arm, the young man used Eagle w to seize Poison King¡¯s arm - the best counter to Snake Style. Yet, Poison King scoffed and imbued energy into his hand, turning it red and releasing a rancid smell that impelled the young man to let go, affording Poison King the chance to stick to the young man again.

    ¡°Tang Ye, it¡¯s going to take more than that to kill this old man.¡±

    Tang Ye brought his hands together, spawning a fire in them - the exact same move he used against Yi Wangyou, albeit without holding back since he didn¡¯t need to hide his background - and then glued on to Poison King. Not shying away from the zing true qi emanating from Tang Ye, Poison grabbed on to Tang Ye. Poison King fought the heat close to an actual fire with the poison in his hands. s, Tang Ye¡¯s heat energy would disperse his poison.

    ¡°Tough kid, you are.¡±

    Poison King removed his hands from Tang Ye, and Tang Ye went along with the moment, extending an arm aggressively forward with fire power hotter than ever before. Poison King, having no choice despite his injuries, retaliated with his best shot, each staggering back five steps.

    ¡°Hahaha, good. Good. He was right about you. You have the physical traits and mental gifts of a prodigy. Nobody this one knows of can withstand his two treasures, yet you can endure. You should be satisfied to have fought to a draw with Patriarch Yi and this old one today.¡±

    Tang Ye took a soothing breath then replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t fight Yi Wangyou to a draw. Had we continued, I most likely would¡¯ve suffered defeat.¡±

    ¡°You were crushed in your first fight without even forcing him to resort to the moves in Deste Sword Dance. You two were fairly evenly matched today not to mention you forced him to push himself. You would¡¯ve been demolished if he went as hard as he did today had you not improved. Can¡¯t you tell when you¡¯ve improved? It¡¯s not that difficult to beat Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°You might not surpass Yi Wangyou on the technique side. Nheless, you possess potent, pure Yang Realm power, so it¡¯s not hard for you to win. He and I invented this internal style. While it¡¯s unconventional, it¡¯s the express route to procuring arge volume of vital spirit. Your internal strength has shown marked improvement after only learning two levels. If you can master the third level, it will be the equivalent of ten years of an internal style user¡¯s training¡­ and allow you to master Scorching Sun Spirit.¡±

 Volume 8 119 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 11)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 119 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 11)</h4>

    Around five hundred years ago, there was a prospering kingdom in the south that went by the name Beussent. The denizens referring to themselves as children of the sun were feared for their speed on the battlefield that waspared to phoenixes in flight. Their poption, vastndscape and military rivalled the Nine Provinces, while their production power eclipsed thetter.

    Unsurprisingly, their denizens worshipped the sun, consequently following their monarch, whom they believed was the sun¡¯s representative in this realm. Under their sovereign¡¯smand, they continued to expand their territory in violent wars. As a result, they eventually came face to face with the Nine Provinces - the Central in.

    Nobody could stop the two monarchs from challenging each other battle after battle regardless of their losses. Eventually, Beussent¡¯s forces pushed the Central in¡¯s forces back. When victory appeared to be within arm¡¯s reach, a devastating incident shattered their dreams of conquest, s.

    Notwithstanding being unable to prove rumours of it being a natural disaster, gue, meteor falling, Bajie descending on the human realm or evil spirits sabotaging them, nobody could deny the fact that half of the resplendent pce was destroyed; Ten Days Pce, the pce the where the sun never set, was consigned to rubble, and everyone in the pce, including their monarch, perished overnight.

    Some imed the Central in¡¯s forces hid under Nieyao City and infiltrated the pce via a secret passage to assassinate thetter¡¯s sovereign, even taking off with his head. That im didn¡¯t need to be proven unfounded as anyone being logical would realise it was impossible for the Central in¡¯s forces to bypass the frontlines to sneak in. Besides, humans couldn¡¯t have possibly inflict the damage seen.

    Whatever the case was, the Central in capitalised on Nieyao Cheng¡¯s misfortune to triumphantly end the five-year war. No matter how brilliant Beussent Kingdom¡¯s military was, they were powerless to stop theirst monarch¡¯s twelve sons from fighting amongst each other in their quest for the throne, costing their kingdom countless soldiers. As the Central in and the twelve sons undid all of Beussent Kingdom¡¯s military¡¯s efforts, they finally towed the line and returned to their ownnds, impelling the Central in to send out a truce request.

    Beuseent Kingdom didn¡¯t hesitate to ept the truce request for it was what they needed in their situation. As per the agreement both parties¡¯ discussed, the south would belong to Beussent Kingdom, and the Central in was to guarantee they wouldn¡¯t invade. Thus, Nanjiang was born.

    The twelve descendants split Beussent Kingdom into twelve, each bestowing a name of their choosing and then continuing to fight with each other. To this day, Beussent Kingdom¡¯s phenomenal army still exists only in history. In saying that, decimated Nieyao City was still considered the ancestral home of Nanjiang¡¯s imperial family. In the same vein, he who upied Nieyao City would most likely be the next ruler of Beussent Kingdom.

    Since then, only one kingdom, Morcher, has sessfully upied Nieyao City, which happened twenty years ago. The most prosperous kingdom of the twelve was confident they could unify Beussent Kingdom, only for another inexplicable disaster to befall them overnight, ending Morcher when the imperial family careened.

    Once people were privy to the fact that the youngest Princess of Morcher managed to survive the ordeal, every kingdom in Nanjiang put a bounty on her head. Shemuted from city to city in Nanjiang under her final guardians, exposing her to an array of skills, such as beast taming. When she inevitably reached a dead end in Nanjiang, she staked her life to escape to the Central in and then to Beijiang, working any odd job she could, eating anything regardless of taste in order to survive. By the time she realised it, all of her brethren had been in, and she was left to wander frosty Beijiang on her own.

    During her aimless wandering in Beijiang, the Princess met a peculiar group fairing just as bad as her. They split one mantou between three people, thrashing those who tried to dig in first. They only had enough garments on them to not freeze to death. Worst of all, though, was that they were on the run from the government, never knowing which day would be theirst. In spite of the mire they were in, their smiles put the sun she worshipped to shame. They¡¯d fight until they were red in the face and ears for thest sip of wine,ugh just because they stepped on a rodent, and it was all thanks to their leader.

    The group¡¯s leader could punch down half a restaurants hall, but he would never let himself owe them a dime. He could fight off the government¡¯s hunters, but he would never hurt the innocent. He was the incarnate of might, but heughed as merrily as a young boy.

    Without realising it, she had joined the cause to rob the wealthy to help the indigent, discovering another side of her in the process. It was only a matter of time before her nickname - River Monster - was more famous than her real name. It was those experiences that taught her what friendship, smiling and romance meant. She knew he was a man she could trust with her heart at first sight.

    Thest Princess of Morcher, A-Lan, loved a man name Abels, the once matchless leader of Evil Spirits, a group that waspared to the wind for their proficiency and efficiency as thieves.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Coursing down from those eyes still shing fantastical scenes were silver trails. She had shed her sorrow, so it was time for her to pick up death and madness.

    ¡°Luo Ming¡­ Luo Ming¡­ Argh!¡±

 Volume 8 120 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 12)

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 120 A Life of Pride. Who is Competing? (Part 12)</h4>

    A-Lan and Abels¡¯ romance was a gift from the heavens for both of them; who could expect to find someone so simr to themselves in such a vast world and be together? While people assumed he was a three-headed monster with six arms, blew away armies with one breath andughed as he obliterated people, A-Lan could literally feel the pain he felt on his journey to where he was and understood that was the reason he had such a big heart.

    Abels¡¯ principle was to never kill the innocent and never kill unless there was no alternative because he had been through hell and back, granting him the perspective on how precious life was that many others wouldn¡¯t have. Ever since Luo Ming approached them a year ago, though, Abels began to change.

    A-Lan didn¡¯t trust Luo Ming, who was supposed to be training in seclusion, for a second ever since thetter approached them on his own ord in Beijiang, dressed as amon wanderer would. Although she didn¡¯t have any evidence to suggest he would harm them, she couldn¡¯t name any reason to trust him.

    Simrly to his sword, Luo Ming¡¯s smile was unreadable, and the fact that it was impossible to word the impression of him further fuelled A-Lan¡¯s unease. If there was anything she gained from years and years of living on the run, it was that anything ambiguous was a hazard.

    A-Lan never expected Abels to readily ept Luo Ming¡¯s offer to cooperate after the two spent hours discussing something in private. Debate as she may, A-Lan couldn¡¯t change Abels¡¯ mind. It was also then that her rtionship with him would change forever; their chemistry vanished without any prior signs. Howbeit, she chose to trust her man. Knowing the ordeals Abels trudged through, A-Lan had faith that her man would ze a trail for Evil Spirits if they were ever cornered, just as he did that night they got past Baima.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Baima truly embodied his description as King of Hell - at least it was true for A-Lan. Never had she seen anyone asposed, methodical and formidable as he was, yet Abels took him on solo to ensure their men could cross the border as living people. Abels¡¯ valiant disy only called into question again why he would coborate with Luo Ming, even taking in the risky factor that was Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King.

    As a former resident of Nanjiang, A-Lan naturally knew of the diabolic deeds associated with Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King; the man¡¯s appearance almost guaranteed bloodshed and tragedy. Be that as it may, nothing she asserted could deter Abels from bringing him on board. Starting from the day Poison King joined them, Abels started to keep to himself more and more, bing too hard for her to read.

    Due to River Monster, A-Lan, forcefully and recklessly unlocking her meridians that Shen Yiren sealed, she harmed herself internally to the point that she wasn¡¯t at ten percent of her former self. Topound matters, she had to run for her life. The weakness in her legs, nevertheless, couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the anger and sorrow inundating her as a result of herrades¡¯ downfall and lover¡¯s demise. Though leaves rained down on her, she thought they were boulders. Speaking while tired and fleeing from death is folly, yet she couldn¡¯t stop muttering Abels name, afraid she¡¯d never get to call him again.

    ¡°You need not continue, Miss. You have reached a dead end.¡±

    Whether it was an environmental dead end or man-made dead end made no difference because the four individuals concealing their appearances in ck garments positioned themselves around A-Lan already - a formation that an expert on team fights, such as A-Lan, would immediately recognise.

    A-Lan knew about the four wielding different weapons - and possibly members of different sects - serving directly under Luo Ming. After all, knowing who you are cooperating with is vital.

    Luo Ming, you¡¯re a phony. Hero, my foot. At the end of the day, you have these four assassins getting their hands dirty for you.

    ¡°Heh, Luo Ming¡­ send you to silence me?¡± A-Lan couldn¡¯t contain the anger gushing out of her mouth and eyes.

    The hunky leader replied, ¡°We dare not make assumptions as to why Master ordered your execution. With that said, would you not be happier if you were to reunite with your fallenrades instead of living an indignant, pitiful life on the run?¡±

    ¡°Happier? Happier you say? Why don¡¯t you let me kill you, and then you cane back to share how much happier you are as a dead man?¡±

    ¡°How enjoyable is life? How painful is death?¡±

    ¡°Easy for you to say!¡± A-Lan tripped on her first stride forward.

    Once the hunky leader closed in without A-Lan even seeing his feet movement, she drew a dagger out and charged the man down, determined to take down one of them if that was all she could achieve before she had to die because she knew she couldn¡¯t defeat a single one of them fair and square. It wasn¡¯t just about her pride or rage; it was about proving to the world that Evil Spirits¡¯ reputation was all a fairy tale.

    The leader caught the de aimed at his chest between two fingers. ¡°You are tired, Miss,¡± he imed as he snatched A-Lan¡¯s dagger from her. She didn¡¯t underestimate them; they were just beyond her expectations.

    Is he an assassin from League of Assassins? He¡¯s clearly a professional assassin from his hunting strategy, tiring me out before swooping in to finish me. Is he¡­

    ¡°How enjoyable is life? How painful is death?¡± he repeated as if he could see what was on A-Lan¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± A-Lan¡¯sugh was all bitterness.

    From him to Luo Ming and then to assassins from the kingdoms in Nanjiang. All these years of running, only to discover I never escaped the ws of fate. Howughable. All I did was take detours to my inexorable end.

    ¡°Why?! Why do all of you want me to die? Why must you kill me, my people, my friends, my lover, everyone I care about?! Hahaha, kill me! Come on! Hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon.¡± The man jabbed his qi through to A-Lan.

    A-Lan knew she would faint when her stomach gave out. It felt close to her innards being reced by some kind of ck hole. Then nausea crept from her abdomen to her head, and the world went ck.

    Is this it for me? It hurts less than I expected.

    ¡°Thanks, Ol¡¯ Ku. You know what to report, yeah?¡±

    ¡°If it is yourmand, your subject shall oblige, my lord.¡±

    Don¡¯t I know this voice? Who is this lord?

    ***

    What happened? Where am I? I¡¯ve never rode a horse that could gallop so smoothly. Thispares to¡­ when Abels took me on a tour of the mountains in Beijiang using his qingong. Did his soule to pick me up?

    After a nk window, A-Lan felt ufortably hot - too hot for it to be winter. She figured she wasn¡¯t dead at that point since dead bodies are cold. She opened her eyes a tad and, to her bewilderment, she saw an elder.

 Volume 8 121 This Old One

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 121 This Old One¡­</h4>

    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    Talk about surprise after surprise. Besides being able to tell A-Lan had opened her eyes without looking her way, sounding different to the voice she was familiar with and appearing much younger than his hunch-backed self that she remembered, the elder had roughly a hundred needles in a girl heid on a haystack and numerous venomous herbs, such as heart corrosion flower in seven days, sorted out on the cavern ground as if he was Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King.

    I¡­ I¡­ That¡­ Where¡­ Why¡­

    A-Lan couldn¡¯t discern what was on her mind, let alone answer the question; more puzzling was what happened to rush of emotions that saturated her mind prior to passing out.

    The person who hurt the woman the elder operated on was beyond just skilled with a sword. If her injuries resembled the barely-visible cuts under her armpits and close to her breasts that prated to her organs, then it would be a nightmare to deal with. If nobody used their true qi to reduce her internal damage promptly, the woman was as good as dead. Rather, she would have to deal with excruciating torture before she would die her unavoidable death.

    The elder not only managed to preserve the injured woman¡¯s breathing but also rescued her from the gates of hell with his acupuncture and herbs.

    Don¡¯t! You¡¯ll kill her!

    Despite not being acquainted with the woman, A-Lan couldn¡¯t bear to see the elder palm the woman on the head and, consequently, kill her. By no means was A-Lan feeling benevolent; she merely admired and sympathised with the woman for fighting on in spite of her injuries.

    A-Lan couldn¡¯t believe the woman epted the elder¡¯s internal energy without any hitches, circting around her body and then to her dantian, even repairing the damage the swordsman done unto her. The elder siphoned internal energy to the woman a total of six times, when A-Lan saw a faint thread wrapped around his finger.

    H-he¡¯s using a thread to close the internal damage to her meridians? What innovation. Just who in the world is he?

    Supplying true qi to nourish meridians was a concept only internal users employed because not even the best doctors could find organs called ¡°meridians¡± in the human body. That was why A-Lan found it preposterous for the elder to close injures to meridians, let alone siphoning qi and stitching up the woman simultaneously.

    ¡°It¡¯s a qi thread,¡± stated the elder, startling A-Lan. ¡°I used needles to control thirty-two qi threads to close her wounds. Snow spirit spider silk is used to stitch up open wounds inside the body.¡±

    A-Lan checked out the woman¡¯s toned legs, thighs almost matching the circumference of her calves. Before long, A-Lan could see a shade of warmth restored to the formerly mangled body.

    ¡°She¡¯s no longer in critical condition.¡±

    A-Lan contemted answering but deemed it nothing more than a remark the elder made to himself on second thought.

    ¡°Are you not interested?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a doctor, so why should I be?¡± fibbed A-Lan.

    Huh? What happened to my injuries? I feel better than before I passed out, perfectly fine, actually. Did he nurse me back to health?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you an odd one? You threw your life into the wind when you saw her die, yet you do not even want to take a look at her now.¡±

    ¡°Wh-why would I care about her life?¡±

    ¡°She fought a swordsman in the woods, lost her limbs and head was used for a trophy. You pried open your upoints through force, injuring yourself before you could fight. Had this old one not lent you a hand, you would have not escaped as far as you did.¡±

    He tripped me over when I fled from Luo Ming, and nobody noticed? Who¡­ Is he saying that is Abels?! That¡¯s a girl, though. I don¡¯t know anyone with those features¡­

    ¡°What do you mean she is¡­ I-is she Mountain Monster? Th-though I¡¯ve never seen her real appearance, not many people can rival her disguise skills. Sh-she was the one Luo Ming killed, right?¡± A-Lan quavered, unable to contain her joyous hope for sce even though part of her was afraid to ask and have her heart crushed a second time.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Silly.¡± The elder shook his head and continued, ¡°Abels is the only one to have learnt up to the sixth level of Evil Eminence Scripture in recent generations. Don¡¯t assume he¡¯s so fragile. He¡¯s not going to lose his limbs that easily. He¡¯s the kind who¡¯d tried to bite his opponent to death if he was just a head. You¡¯re making light of your man.¡±

    Only when A-Lan¡¯s adrenaline wore off did she notice the elder was transferring his internal energy to her without lifting a muscle. More importantly, he was able to transfer potent internal energy in a single second without breaking a sweat. For someone who had met numerous unbelievable adepts, the elder was another beast all together.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to care where Abels is.¡±

    ¡°Where is he? Do you know where he is right now? Has Luo Ming detained him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know where he is. That being said, he should be fine. I don¡¯t think I could kill him for certain. Therefore, I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s someone who can breeze through him.¡±

    ¡°Great. Great. Great¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re either foolish or live a pampered life. Him being alive is satisfactory to you?¡±

    As much as thement ground her gears, A-Lan saw the elder¡¯s point.

    ¡°Hmm, Luo Ming¡¯s sudden betrayal certainly does raise questions.¡±

    Having saved Mountain Monster¡¯s life didn¡¯t mean her treatment was done. While brewing herbs, the elder siphoned varying degrees of true qi into the needles he slotted into her: ¡°The search for rare metals has been ongoing for half a year, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°H-how do y-¡±

    ¡°The n is bound to evoke anger from everyone. Now, what happens if it¡¯s the machination of a bandit from Beijiang who trespassed into the Central in? The Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ influence and authority is loaned from the imperial court, so what will the imperial court think of Luo Sword Manor if Luo Sword Manor holds a gathering that consists of people from the pugilistic world this scale? What sort of narrative can Luo Sword Manor use to convince the imperial court to support them?¡±

    ¡°H-how?¡±

    ¡°Simple: establish amon enemy. An enemy ranked as one of the Supreme Ten Saints is a solid reason for the two to form an alliance against themon enemy.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You mean to say that we¡­ are sacrifices?¡±

    ¡°The borate design involves practically half of the pugilistic world, yet the mastermind doesn¡¯t have to shoulder any of the fault. You have to give a man credit where it is due. The n must¡¯ve taken years of drafting and consolidating it step by step. He¡¯s managed to pique my interest as to what sort of sword he is going to forge now that I see how much time and effort he is pouring into this project.¡±

    For the elder to speak so lightly of Luo Ming and Abels, it was only reasonable for A-Lan to be wary of him. He really did sound genuinely interested and not shaken or deferential when mentioning the two unlike countless others.

    ¡°¡­ Wh-who are you?¡±

    The elder stopped working to look over, while A-Lan shuddered as it dawned on her that she might¡¯ve pried further than she should have. Upon closer inspection, she realised she recognised the face, albeit the aura surrounding him having totally changed. Although it sounds abstract, at best, she wouldn¡¯t question him if he told her that he could alter fate.

    ¡°I believe I¡¯ve introduced myself before, but I don¡¯t mind introducing myself again. Ma¡¯am River Monster, this old one is Zhong Ning.¡±

 Volume 8 122 Who?

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 122 Who?</h4>

    Su Xiao and Tie Hanyi, having regrouped with Emperor Yuansheng just before the only boat heading to Repository Ind set sail, were in luck for only Luo n¡¯s helmsman, who was educated on the signals, could navigate his way to the deep ends of Lotus Root Grounds safely. If it wasn¡¯t a special asion, only Luo n¡¯s patriarch would board the boat daily.

    ¡°We rushed here after receiving a letter Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Interim Patriarch Yu stating that she is safe. To think that today would be the end of Evil Spirits, Y-, Master, the heavens really do smile upon you.¡± Tie Hanyi, of course, skipped the part about Yu Feiyuan sparing those on her tail as he wasn¡¯t there to witness it.

    In light of their decided victory and Yu Feiyuan¡¯s safe retreat, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t concern himself any further with it. His Qilin Guards were out on a search and eliminate mission remnants, so stragglers would soon be exterminated if not already.

    ¡°Vice-Captain, I am d to see you back!¡± Su Xiao effused.

    ¡°You seem to have grown taller, Xiao Han,¡± Shen Yiren replied, chatting jovially with Su Xiao thereafter. That was until her workaholic nature surfaced again - which didn¡¯t take long.

    Maybe it was because of the topic Shen Yiren broached and her superior-like posture that Su Xiao stood erect as if he was reporting back at the office, recounting all of the workpleted since her departure. If it was any other day, they would¡¯ve beenplimented for their dedication to their jobs but not when everyone else was celebrating.

    ¡°Why are you crying all of a sudden?¡±

    Sniffling, Su Xiao wiped the streaks down his cheeks. ¡°V-Vice-Captain, I missed you,¡± he answered before recoiling in fear of a tongueshing.

    Shen Yiren waited for Su Xiao to turn back to her and smiled: ¡°I also missed you guys.¡±

    Everyoneughed as Su Xiao threw himself into Shen Yiren¡¯s embrace for thetter to pet.

    Even though she was beaming, Shen Yiren constantly cast her gaze to the group on the other side of the cabin for the reason that she felt uneasy about Luo Sword Manor, especially after Luo Ming ughtered Evil Spirits. She couldn¡¯t see any reason for him to ughter the entire group. She couldn¡¯t stop specting that he wanted to silence them even if she wanted to. Additionally, about Abels¡¯ anti-climatic death that didn¡¯t sit right with her. She had no time to inspect his head since Luo Ming had someone tidy up. Shen Yiren being Shen Yiren, though, wasn¡¯t above bending norms when it mattered.

    Since I can¡¯t take the head via legitimate means, maybe I can poke a hole in the middle of the boat and check the head out while everyone is panic-stricken? Workable. Catch some fish and deliberately get some sparks on the boat while grilling them over a me? Maybe. If nothing else, watching those waiting on Repository Ind see their boating back with smoke whisking from it would be fun in its own way. If only Ming Feizhen was here; he¡¯s the best at handling these types of jobs.

    Men who saw the smile spread across Shen Yiren¡¯s lips thought they were smiling at them.

    ¡°Miss Shen.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked over her shoulder to see Long Zaitiane over with a long face and pass her a sheet of paper.

    ¡°Qilin Guards¡¯ report¡­ Please do not worry.¡±

    Shen Yiren furrowed her brows after reading the report. ¡°Tang Ye?¡±

    Long Zaitian nodded.

    Shen Yiren went to Emperor Yuansheng at the end of the boat and whispered to him about Tang Ye¡¯s disappearance.

    ¡°Could they still have someone around? Tang Ye shouldn¡¯t be that easy to kidnap, however, right?¡± queried Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Mm, based on what I know about Tang Ye, he is not the type to vanish for no reason. That is why¡­ believe he has been kidnapped if he is not dead,¡± opined Shen Yiren.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± In a stifled voice, Emperor Yuansheng ordered, ¡°Send out a search team. It¡¯s only been four hours, so there must be traces remaining.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Shen Yiren kept her voice down because she didn¡¯t trust Luo Sword Manor, while Emperor Yuansheng spoke quietly because he didn¡¯t want to bother Luo Sword Manor. Emperor Yuansheng understood Luo Ming had more than plenty of things to pick up after secluding himself for all those years. Luo Yan¡¯s betrayal, if nothing else, would be a handful to clean up.

    Voice muffled, Luo Simingmunicated, ¡°Father, almost half of the work at the workshop has ceased after Second Uncle left. As you already know, they¡­ might not obey even you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Luo Ming assured. ¡°I know what needs to be done. I¡¯ve already chosen a sessor to Sun Character Worship.¡±

    ¡°Already? Is it an elder of a branch? Besides the patriarch instating them, they would also need to have mastered Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture. There is no branch family member who has achieved that.¡±

    ¡°You will see. It is not time to reveal them yet.¡±

    The aloof and seemingly distracted Luo Ming didn¡¯t escape Luo Siming¡¯s attention. As far as Luo Siming could discern, his father¡¯s demeanour was identical to when his brothers passed away a decade ago, quiet and keeping everyone at arm¡¯s distance. Luo Siming, consequently, assumed his father¡¯s psychological issues hadn¡¯t improved despite his skills improving. As such, although he was d to see his father again, he could onlyment at his father¡¯s poor mental state.

    Besides Repository Sword Hall, the rest of Repository Ind was still as majestic as it always once since Luo Siming and Luo Yan took care of the ind.

    ¡°Repository Ind is as aesthetically pleasing as I imagined,¡± Emperor Yuansheng praised of the embellished buildings that formed in a v-like-shaped letter (without the connected part) from the main building, which was the tip as if to symbolise the tip of a sword, and numerous rows of houses for disciples to stay.

    ¡°What is there to praise about our barbaric structures, Brother Li?¡± Luo Ming, who emphasised eloquence with his buildings and bamboo to pander to his preference for peace and quiet, humbly remarked with a smile. ¡°Pleasee this way.¡±

    The swordsmen attired in green bowed to everyone who set foot on the ind. When Luo Siming promised a banquet, he really meant it. They found the main building crowded upon entering, with wine being served up constantly.

    As Luo Ming led Emperor Yuansheng to his seat, famous people from the pugilistic world greeted Luo Ming. Luo Ming wanted Emperor Yuansheng to sit in the host¡¯s seat, but Emperor Yuansheng disputed it was inappropriate. In the end, Emperor Yuansheng sat in the neighbouring seat to force Luo Ming to raise the white g.

    Luo Ming saluted Emperor Yuansheng before he went to the host¡¯s seat to announce, ¡°Thankful for epting this one¡¯s invitation anding to his humble abode. This one is grateful to have the honour of hosting you here. It is unfortunate that someone had to try and sow discord between us when you came here as guests, and the culprit is the leader of Beijiang¡¯s bandit group Evil Spirits - Abels. As you were inconvenienced as a result of this one¡¯s invitation, he has done what ought to be done and beheaded Abels.¡±

    Shen Yiren left the building, sick of listening to Luo Ming, only to feel stuffy at the sight of Luo n¡¯s people moving about. Thus, she sneaked off without any specific location in mind until she caught a faint flower fragrance. Interest piqued, she traversed several kilometres toward the scent. Much to her joy was the fact that there were fewer and fewer people around as she travelled.

    Shen Yiren was searching for flowers, yet the flower garden she arrived at was covered in snow, although it was obvious there were hundreds of plumb blossom trees there if one looked close enough. The scent she smelt was the mixture of snow and the dancing leaves. The scent would change depending on how long she spent in the garden.

    ¡°This is Plum Blossom Garden.¡±

    Smiling helplessly upon hearing the voice she recognised, Shen Yiren responded, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to wander into Young Master Luo¡¯s flower garden.¡±

    ¡°The garden is open today. Most guests have had a chance to check it out. As another guest of ours, you have every right to see it.¡±

    ¡°Plum blossoms bloom winter after winter and without withering despite the cold. Most martial artists in Jiangnan like plum blossoms, but Luo Sword Manor is the most famous among the fans. It is a privilege to see the flowers of legend.¡±

    ¡°If you are keen, this one is happy to be your guide.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the kind offer, but I¡¯ll pass on it. I¡¯ve never had an interest in flowers. The nice fragrance merely drew me here.¡± Shen Yiren pointed to a particr pot and inquired, ¡°Who pruned that one?¡±

    The way the white plum blossom with only a few branches remaining was pruned suggested the one responsible was extremely skilled with his hands. Whoever started from the branch pruned it as if he was wielding a sword.

    ¡°Unless stated otherwise, only our n¡¯s patriarch is allowed into this garden. Father never received any guests while training at Sword Spirit House, but he would asionallye here to prune the trees as a means of meditation.¡± Luo Siming pointed to the plum blossom Shen Yiren inquired about and smiled: ¡°The nephrite water illuminator is my father¡¯s project.¡±

 Volume 9 00 (Prologue) Prologue

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 00 (Prologue) Prologue</h4>

    It was daytime, yet ckness had devoured all the light in the firmament, nketing the sky in ck fog. As if there was its prey on the ground, the ck fog cascaded down to the ancient city walls that moss crawled on. Nobody had any exnation for why the ck fog seemingly descended upon mankind, but their legs and mouths went into overdrive as if failing to escape in time would cost them their lives. Luo Ming, however, didn¡¯t have a personal hurricane.

    Luo Sword Manor¡¯s patriarch, a swordsmanuded for his gifts with the sword, always remained in control of his emotions. As much as he wanted to get up and continue fighting, his injuries denied him. Siming Sword had snapped in his proud left hand. His true qi armour had been dismantled. The blood spilling out of his multiple wounds took with them his ability to move. Worse injuries had beset him before, but¡­

    Prior to marching, Luo Ming gathered his sons and elite generals - the total force numbering over a thousand - to march on an enemy ording to ns he dedicated months to drawing up. The n was for him to use his supreme weapons to behead him. s, they were resoundingly defeated, losing almost all the brothers of Yi n they had spent together in thest few months. The vexation of being hurt so bad that he couldn¡¯t continue to fight crushed his pride, confidence and extinguished the fire he had pre-war.

    ck plumes of smoke emerged from the fog shrouding the sky, bringing with them the sound of movement and his rancid smell, almost knocking out the forces he encircled. Sound traces of his footsteps disappeared once his nightmarish smell closed off the paths on the street. Luo Ming knew about his hobby of hiding and frightening his prey once they were within reach.

    Subsequent to a long period of stillness, a giant, turbid, yellow eyeball appeared between two buildings, killing hundreds of innocents with its putrid stench and through frightening them - literally. In reality, the shing the eye of a violent, primordial beast was just a form of mockery.

    Luo Ming¡¯s determination was nowhere near as strong as his hands around his sword hilt. Born as a prodigy, he never found any reason to fear death. The thought of dying from a crushing defeat, nheless, shattered him mentally.

    If only there was a sword that could break his sword.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luo Ming was convinced their defeat was a consequence ofcking a sword that could break his opponent¡¯s sword, not a question of skill. Either way, he had enough already; he was done trying. What he never ounted for when he closed his eyes was that his surrender would be the decision he regretted most.

    Unless they were being sarcastic, nobody would ever im Luo n had a shortage of talent. Luo Yan and Luo Ming¡¯s three eldest sons weren¡¯t the only ones called the future; fourteen year old Luo Siming singlehandedly raided a bandit den in Shanxi sessfully.

    Luo Ming¡¯s second eldest son, Sinian, and third eldest son, Siju, two brothers close since birth due to them being close in age, charged forward. Even though one learnt Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture and the other Freezing Scripture, they were still in training. While they weren¡¯t strong enough to even rustle his feathers, they did manage to incur his wrath. Watching him blow them to smithereens in his first strike while helplessly being sttered in his sons¡¯ blood, Luo Ming almost dented his sword hilt.

    ¡°Father, run!¡± Luo Ming¡¯s eldest son cried as he offered to buy his father time.

    Luo Sijian, Luo Ming¡¯s most beloved son, the only one to learn both Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture as well as Freezing Scripture, was called Luo Ming¡¯s spitting image for he resembled his father in every way imaginable. A fact that not many knew about was that he also never took a day off from training or working on forging swords just as his father did as a young man. That was the reason Luo Ming didn¡¯t want Luo Sijian¡¯s blood, sweat and tears to go to waste.

    Whenever Luo Sijian was exhausted, Luo Ming would cook up a bowl of dumpling soup to share with his son and then continue or move on to working in the smithing workshop. When Luo Sijian became the youngest swordsman in Luo Sword Manor¡¯s history to grasp Repository Swordy, the two celebrated with a drinking session.

    For all those reasons, Luo Ming never imagined this oue. Even in the face of an insurmountable foe, Luo Sijian got into position just as the first time he was taught. Whilst waiting for the finishing blow that he had no answer for, Luo Sijian looked over his shoulder to smile to his father.

    ¡°Dad, please avenge me.¡± That was the first andst time Luo Sijian would refer to Luo Ming as ¡°dad¡±.

    Luo Ming¡¯s eyes greeted the early sun after reliving the nightmare again.

    The peace of this world still sickens me.

 Volume 9 01 Convoluted Machinations

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 01 Convoluted Machinations</h4>

    The nightmare that gued Luo Ming for a decade already might¡¯ve woken another man, but it was no longer enough to get a reaction of any form out of him.

    Luo Ming, eyes on the golden orb outside, eventually uttered, ¡°Jian¡¯er¡­¡± just as he always did every time he woke from the nightmare.

    Ever since the tragic defeat, Luo Ming started killing people for no rhyme or reason, something he never perpetrated before. There was this madness, darkness thrashing inside him that he couldn¡¯t repress. He started to interact with unorthodox sects regardless of the negative influence they brought to Luo Sword Manor when he swore to not associate with them prior or do anything he didn¡¯t want to, pressure or no pressure. Nightmares used to run from him, yet he started having nightmares he couldn¡¯t run from until he learnt it was futile to try running from them.

    When Luo Ming finally escaped the demon in his sleep, he sought out Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King for a form to invite the nightmare back so that he could see his sons once again. Over time, he no longer saw the nightmare through lenses of regret, agony and hatred but yearning. He wanted to go back to when his brother was his right-arm man, when his four children lived under the same roof with him. By no means was the dream leading him astray from reality; he knew what was real and what wasn¡¯t.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luo Ming held his spread, callous hand, the hand that manufactured many swords and wrote the history of swords in Jiangnan over thest decade, out to the sun. With the very hand he once carved his name into history, protected things and people with, he had steeled his resolved to crush them despite knowing the inherent risks.

    Although League of Assassins¡¯ assassins didn¡¯t bring back River Monster¡¯s corpse, it didn¡¯t bother him since it was part of their policy to report honestly. He spent an arm and a leg to hire one of League of Assassins¡¯ leaders, so them failing an assignment was next to impossible, yet there was one person¡¯s whose whereabouts were shrouded in a question mark.

    A man in back softlynded on Luo Ming¡¯s sealing and ryed, ¡°Master, someone has forced their way into Lotus Root Grounds and is currently at the first gate.¡±

    ¡°Finally here, huh?¡± Luo Ming remarked stoically.

    There was only one man Luo Ming could think of who would storm Luo Sword Manor at this point in time, and he was also the most vtile factor in Luo Ming¡¯s n - Abels.

    Had Luo Ming not leveraged Abels¡¯ preeminent desire against him to goad him into stealing Shaolin¡¯s golden Buddhist, resulting in injury, Abels would be a hazard to Luo Ming. Luo Ming wouldn¡¯t prefer scrimmaging with Abels any more than he would with Master Ming - not to say the reverse was true. To add, Luo Ming not only destroyed Evil Spirits but also passed the buck to them. While Master Ming might not have a vengeance against him, Abels sure would.

    Thest time Luo Ming and Abels scrapped in Beijiang, there was no decisive victor. If Abels didn¡¯t stop in time, the two would¡¯ve brought out their Divine Realm skills, wounding them if not killing one of them. Old ailments still afflicted Luo Ming, while his new strength had yet to solidify, so he would¡¯ve lost if Abels used Sea Deer Hunter that day. Now, their roles were reversed, with Luo Ming having improved by leaps and bounds, while injuries suffered at Shaolin had whittled down Abels. Plus, storming Lotus Root Ground solo when it could stop an army in Huzhou wasn¡¯t the brightest of ideas.

    In a muffled voice, Luo Ming instructed, ¡°He is formidable. Capture him alive if you can. If it is derelict, kill him.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡± The individual on the roof vanished silently.

    Luo Ming already saw Abelsing from the moment he chose to do away with Evil Spirits. He learnt firsthand that exchanging words was useless in the face of absolute power when he lost his sons to him.

    ¡°Master, Mr. Li is waiting for you at Windy Plum Blossom Pavilion,¡± reported Luo n¡¯s chambein.

    ¡°Ask him to wait for a moment. I will be there soon.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Luo Ming looked at the reflection that started to resemble those he despised more and more in the mirror as he fixed his clothing.

    I know what I¡¯m doing. I know what the price is, and I¡¯m willing to pay even more to fulfil the request, ¡°Dad, please avenge me.¡± I¡¯ll walk through anything and everything.

    ***

    The watershed outside Lotus Root Ground was close to the smithing workshop, which was why none of the swordsmen guarding the area were surprised regardless of whatever boat showed up until today. Although the name of the ce was pretty, nobody had ever entered the forbidden zone on a canoe. Hence, the swordsmen clutched their sword hilts when the canoe was still a good sixty-odd metres¡¯ away.

    ¡°Y-you sure this is the ce?¡± a woman on the three-section canoe stuttered.

    The man, who almost took up two seats, sitting opposite her replied, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not sure?!¡±

    ¡°How do you expect me to know which direction to row when I¡¯m wobbling on a boat?¡± The man leisurely yawned. ¡°Who even cares if where we start if we¡¯re going to be storming in anyway?¡±

    ¡°D-did he just say, ¡®storming in¡¯?¡± a swordsman on the ind asked.

    ¡°Y-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys agree?¡± all of the swordsmen on the ind heard.

    They had no idea when, but the man on the canoe had vanished from the boat before their eyes. Following that bizarre moment, they heard about a dozen men around them growling and groaning all at once. When they felt their head hurt, they spun around and dropped without knowing how or who was culpable. Thest person they saw had hair contrasting the darkness they gradually drowned in.

 Volume 9 02 Luo Swordsman and Dragon

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 02 Luo Swordsman and Dragon</h4>

    No White Prince ever prayed for the imperial court¡¯s copse or plotted to usurp power despite their rtionship freezing over time. That was not to say they were loyal to the imperial court or ancestors¡¯ promises. If they were topare, the majority of the seven had a longer history than the imperial court. They were purely cognisant of the reality that they were only seven powerhouses in the pugilistic world without the imperial court¡¯s backing. They were more influential than Emei and Clear Mirror Pce. However, they wouldn¡¯t im they were more influential than Wudang and Shaolin or the four unorthodox groups. Thus, they always did what was necessary to protect the imperial court¡¯s rule and spared no mercy to traitors.

    Perhaps the seven were slowly corrupting themselves in their authority, power and ambitions. True or false, recent developments made it clear that they were growing malignant tumours in the nation. Of course, it was too early to rule out the possibility that Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t have a need for them any longer.

    Luo Ming changed into a long robe, polished his appearance and smiled helplessly to the mirror. If Emperor Yuansheng was a despotic Emperor, Luo Ming wouldn¡¯t have any qualms; no tyrant would risk his neck to visit the home of a White Prince.

    ¡°You¡¯re the future patriarch of Luo Sword Manor?¡± Emperor Yuansheng asked back when he got lost for days in Lotus Root Ground after rushing over from Nanjing. He was trapped in a and painted with blood, yet he smiled brightly. ¡°We¡¯re probably going to be friends for a long time, so I came to see you.¡±

    Upon learning the identity of the young man wearing the childish, yet unyielding and victorious, smile, Luo Ming had an omen that Emperor Yuansheng would be the one to end the era of the Seven Champion White Princes. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s visit this time came earlier than Luo Ming predicted. Whether that was something to celebrate or mope about had yet to be answered. Whichever the case, it did imply that Luo Sword Manor wasn¡¯t going to be Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s first choice for a friend. At least, Luo Sword Manor during Luo Ming¡¯s absence wasn¡¯t considered an ally.

    In recent years, the imperial court gave vicious, brutal Qilin Guards more power, recing them as Liu Shan Men¡¯s role as overseer of the martial world. Once they did away with Demon Sect, Qilin Guards¡¯ were even more intimidating. While Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s era wasn¡¯t as violent as the previous era, since the previous era was engaged in wars, the imperial court¡¯s might in the martial world had overtaken the peace Yuansheng Era was known for. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s aim in setting aside his power and venturing to Huzhou couldn¡¯t be any more obvious.

    Edgehearing House was Luo Ming¡¯s favourite ce to sharpen his swordy without any distractions and meet with friends thanks to the serenity it offered. As a monarch, Emperor Yuansheng could be received at the main building on the ind; however, Luo Ming¡¯s decision to meet at Edgehearing House was his way of hinting, ¡°We are only going to catch up as friends, not discuss business.¡± Luo Ming had no doubts he could respond to any sort of ball Emperor Yuansheng pitched at him. Nevertheless, Luo Ming swallowed the words he wanted to say upon seeing Emperor Yuansheng studying the swords hanging on the walls of Edgehearing House, stuck for what move to make.

    Back facing Luo Ming, Emperor Yuansheng voiced, ¡°It¡¯s been over ten years, yet Brave Shine is still enrapturing,¡± referring to the straight sword that the rising sun inspired. It was just a pity that it was forged early on in the forger¡¯s career, resulting in the quality failing to meet the standard of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s top-tier swords.

    The reason for Luo Ming¡¯s silence was that it was the first sword his eldest son, Luo Sijian, forged. Never did it cross Luo Ming¡¯s mind to take the sword off the wall. None would ever even suggest the idea or mention the words ¡°Brave Shine¡±.

    Ostensibly oblivious to the tension suffusing the building, Emperor Yuansheng kept his smile on as he continued, ¡°Sijian was still around and touted as the most ster swordsman when I first saw Brave Shine.¡±

    Unable to lift the corners of his lips as he did during practice, Luo Ming responded, ¡°Yes, Sijian has passed away for a decade,¡± without sounding as though he wasmenting.

    ¡°It¡¯s atypical for you to do start this and even more bizarre of you to dictatorially call so many people to forge a sword without a specific goal. Is it rted to their deaths?¡± Emperor Yuansheng pivoted around, twisting the atmosphere into his figurative hands and taking control of the room: ¡°Ten years ago, Liu Shan Men tried to find out how the owner of Brave Shine died.¡±

    ¡°Br-, Your Majesty, what did you hear?¡± Luo Ming caught on to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s stance from thetter¡¯s tone, understanding thetter was questioning him as Emperor, not as a friend.

    ¡°Nothing. All I learnt was that you went out one day, but Sijian, Sinian and Sijyu never returned. The constable investigating it never found any concrete information, and it still remains a mystery case at Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ investigated this peasant?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I would not audaciously pry into your privacy. If I did not respect you, I would not have entrusted Lyu¡¯er to you. You cannot expect me to be indifferent to rumours of the Seven Champion White Princes being overlords of Jiangnan, but I trust you. I did not bring any men with me today to ask you a question: is Refining Divine Convention a hoax or not? Please dignify the question with an answer.¡±

    Though he is no longer energetic and youthful, his seriousness is just like the young blunt and honest version of himself.

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­ you are silly.¡±

 Volume 9 03 Repository Sword Theory

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 03 Repository Sword Theory</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng, in spite of the ominous draftparable to a hail of arrows on the bowstring aimed at him blowing his robe, didn¡¯t take a step away, avert his gaze or shrink: ¡°I¡¯ve never considered myself sagacious. I am forever learning precisely due to my stupidity just as I kept thinking to learn that your will is to silence me as you did Evil Spirits.¡±

    Luo Ming, eyes fixed on the monarch, inquired, ¡°¡­ When did you start suspecting this peasant?¡±

    ¡°The beginning.¡± Emperor Yuansheng subtly tugged up the corner of his lips, expanding, ¡°Others may not understand, but it is folly for one to think they can do as they please just because they are at the top. Although I travelled covertly, I still have three thousand qilin guards, hundreds of scouts, messengersing from the capital daily. As well, I haven¡¯t stopped going through reports whilst travelling.

    ¡°The Nine Provinces are to me what Huzhou is to you. As such, I¡¯ve never believed you were in the dark about what was happening in Huzhou. The timing of your emergence confirmed for me that the numerous recent events in Huzhou have to do with you. I find it impossible to believe Evil Spirits would start stealing weapons from sects in the Central in when they have no base and no foundation here in the Central in. While it was difficult to find the reason behind it, it isn¡¯t impossible. Where would Evil Spirits hide? Who stands to gain the most in the end? The answer lies right behind those questions.¡±

    ¡°¡­ If you were not an Emperor, you would do well as someone who finds excuses to take things from people. That is a very serious transgression to stick to someone.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you do realise saying, ¡®If you were not an Emperor,¡¯ is enough of a reason for me to exterminate your n?¡±

    The red-jade swords couldn¡¯t subdue the golden dragon hovering over the world in the contest between two Manifestation Realm adepts. Even though Emperor Yuansheng was leagues behind Luo Ming as abatant, as a Orthodox Realm styles learner and Emperor, he had proven time and time again that he wasn¡¯t a man who gave in to pressure without a fight; not even Luo Ming could see any room to deploy mental games on Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Your Majesty, do you know what Luo n¡¯s most advanced styles are?¡±

    ¡°Repository Swordy is the king of swordy styles originating in Jiangnan if Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Sword Immortal Grasshouse didn¡¯t exist. It¡¯s a given that I know that much.¡±

    ¡°Correct. Some call it Repository Sword Style. Some call it Repository Swordy. Some shorten it to Repository Sword. Irrespective of which they term it, they are not quite right.¡± The point of the information was for Emperor Yuansheng to say something pointless along the lines of, ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± Howbeit, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t fall for it and try prying into Luo n¡¯s private matters. Consequently, Luo Ming continued, ¡°Everyone knows the twopare to your family¡¯s signature swordy. Repository Swordy isn¡¯t a sword taolu but a swordy theory. An urate name for it would be Repository Sword Theory.

    ¡°It is known to all that Luo n¡¯s styles rely on fire and ice. Freezing Scripture and Scorching Sun Spirit Scripture are both the cream of the crop that guarantees its masters will win far more than they lose. Even if one fails to take it to the pinnacle, it is enough to establish oneself as a force to be reckoned with.¡±

    ¡°Are they wrong?¡±

    ¡°It is a big facy.¡± Despite Luo Ming¡¯s aloofness taking over his tone and countenance, Emperor Yuansheng felt the counterfeit smile aimed at bringing their rtionship closer was rather simr. ¡°Potent internal energy and profound skills may promise a seat in the martial world; however, enhancing swordy with internal energy does not change the reality that it is still swordy. How do people refer to Luo Sword, though?¡±

    ¡°You mean Repository Sword Theory?¡±

    ¡°People only know Repository Swordy is profound, revering its techniques. They even inanely im it to be the mostplex swordy because every patriarch of Luo n has used it differently. They have not even touched the tip of the iceberg. Luo n¡¯s swordy¡¯s primary value is derivation.

    ¡°Everything has a root if it exists. With yin and yang as the foundation, one can deduce all of the variations in any style. One begets two. Two begets three. Three begets all things. Everything has a root if it exists, all sharing yin and yang as origins. Repository Sword Theory is the equivalent of two begets three. Using that as a starting point, one can deduce all the principles and theories in martial arts. When you canprehend that, you can harness every element on you sword, and the importance of form will no longer matter.¡±

    ¡°Does that not mean swords are capable of infinite variations? If human capabilities are capped, while Repository Swordy¡¯s variations are infinite, who can match it?¡±

    ¡°Infinite is an understatement. If you can grasp it and progress another step, there will be no such thing as a style you cannot learn. At the end of the day, martial arts are just one of many other existences in the world.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng, being the martial arts fan that he was, forgot about the circumstances to have a little celebration on his face.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I was equally delighted when I understood the principle. To actually put it into practice, unfortunately, requires one to face numerous challenges. Because of the depth that the swordsman must explore, a minor mistake is all it takes to be on the receiving end of qi deviation.¡±

    ¡°Understandably so. The sword theory is at the peak of martial arts thoughts in this era. It will be a long road to mastery of it.¡±

    ¡°That is undermining it. Since this peasant¡¯s father left early and did not leave behind any clues, this peasant can only count on himself to research. Even after decades of effort, he only touched the tip of the iceberg ten years ago. It is ironic that this peasant only understood how to deduce styles when he was grievously injured ten years ago, only to thene to another problem he cannot solve halfway through.¡±

    That¡¯s the same time his sons died.

    ¡°For you to be stuck, it must be incrediblyplex. Why not share it? Perhaps not even I can understand it.¡±

    ¡°To im you cannot understand it would be slighting you. It is unlikely other martial artists would understand it. The problem is difficult to fathom, yet woefully simple to describe - ack of internal energy.¡±

    That was a pain that every martial artists shared. To speak more urately, it was a challenge they all faced when they had no reached the requisite realm. Anyone who had ascended to another realm before would understand the difficulty of trying to get that smallst step through the door. Hoping to flog those in the same bracket and of simr skill in the internal energy department was wishful thinking for that reason.

    Could one try to force progress? Maybe. Nobody could be certain it would be productive, nheless, because internal energy isn¡¯t purely about potency. For instance, one¡¯s internal energy may be less potent than his opponent, but if he could concentrate it where he needed faster, he might have the ability topensate for the potency difference. A strong strike is only good if it can find its target. When it boils down to it, the one at the higher realm will win even if their internal energy potency is identical. Consequently, pugilists stop trying to strengthen their internal energy at a certain point, seeking to progress to the next realm, instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple when you think about it, yet hard to believe as someone from Luo n has mastered Repository Swordy in every generation, and they are still mentioned to this day. Why, then, did they never face an internal energy shortage? Because they were wrong. I once thought I would be virtually peerless if I mastered it. Finding a decent opponent would show what I am truly made of.¡± Luo Ming stung Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s ear when he enunciated ¡®decent opponent¡¯ due to him losing his grip on his emotions, thereby leaking true qi into his speech. ¡°After contemting it, it dawned on me that I would need inconceivably potent internal energy to deduce the sword theory.¡±

 Volume 9 04 Li Yuansheng Rules the World

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 04 Li Yuansheng Rules the World</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°You are erudite on Luo n¡¯s ice and fire styles as your fame has reflected all these years, not to mention a Divine Realm master. Is your internal energy still not sufficient to learn the sword theory?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°From what I have heard, you canbine the ice and fire energy once you master Repository Swordy, which would mean your internal energy would climb to new heights. Is that still inadequate?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I see. In thest ten years of your training, you must¡¯ve progressed a fair deal, reaching the level you estimated yourself reaching.¡±

    ¡°Still not enough. At first, this peasant thought his internal energy was decent and even went beyond in thest decade, yet it is still unsatisfactory. To learn the entire theory, this peasant would need to strengthen his internal energy another fifty percent of what it currently is.¡±

    ¡°What Divine Realm adept could possibly heighten his internal energy by half of what it already is? You must be exagerrating.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Luo Ming spawned sword qi, sending vibrations through the walls. He summoned a sword from the wall to his hand, transforming his aura and then stated, ¡°This is the realm this peasant has reached.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng wobbled as though he was standing on an ocean, and the water undted underneath his feet, even giving him a realistic sense of being plunged into freezing water. As soon as the desire to vault out of it flourished in his mind, the water would pull him down.

    Sounding as though he was delivering his voice over ocean waves, Luo Ming borated, ¡°Repository Sword Theory consists of six sections. This peasant slew Beijiang¡¯s bandits using God-Shocking Theory, the first most ferocious movebined with Concealed Sword Formation to make up the first section. This is Abyss Theory - boundless darkness.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that exins why you are proceeding with your big n.¡±

    Being trapped in an abyss with no vision and feeling as though water gushed into his mouth didn¡¯t feel good, yet Emperor Yuansheng keptughing, puzzling Luo Ming. Secondster, space expanded, and Emperor Yuansheng returned to Edgehearing House from the abyss.

    Luo Ming was still in the same pose he was in prior to Emperor Yuansheng being thrust into the abyss: ¡°Tough when you have experienced the frightening power of Repository Sword Theory, have you no fear?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng readjusted his breathing to ount for the switch in environment then responded, ¡°Of what?¡±

    ¡°Death.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s not as if I¡¯ve only heard of Luo Ming¡¯s fame. What? Do you be Not Luo Ming if you don¡¯t have Repository Sword Theory? I realised I couldn¡¯t defeat you decades ago. Grasp the sword theory. Ascend to a new realm. Strengthen your internal energy and what have you. It¡¯s not as if I can suddenly beat you. You can kill me twice or something? I came here knowing full well what I would be dealing with.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ This peasant evidently asked a pointless question. Are you not afraid of his skills, or do you believe he does not have the courage to kill?¡±

    ¡°If death doesn¡¯t exist, what¡¯s there to fear?¡± Emperor Yuansheng had no problem holding his gaze, but Luo Ming¡¯s started to waver. ¡°Brother Luo, please answer my question: is Refining Divine Convention a hoax? If it is, why are you doing this?¡±

    ¡°Are you aware of the inherent risk of knowing the answer?¡±

    ¡°Naturally.¡±

    ¡°Do you trust me, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Despite me trying to kill you just now?¡±

    ¡°A petty monarch has no hopes of ruling the Nine Provinces sessfully.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why did you endanger yourself to ask a question you already know the answer to when you could have one of The Ultimate Three arrest me?¡±

    ¡°Because I want to know the reason. Brother Luo, I have known you since I was a teenager. The reason I have not died ten times over for being reckless is thanks to you. I know what sort of man you are. You wouldn¡¯t change without rhyme or reason. If I apprehend you without asking you for an exnation first, how can I call myself your friend? How can I expect my people to trust me if I cannot show trust in a friend?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Let us make a bet.¡±

    ¡°What bet?¡±

    ¡°This peasant wishes to forge a sword¡­ for revenge.¡± Had it been someone else, they would¡¯ve flinched at the look in Luo Ming¡¯s eyes as he pronounced thest two words of his reply.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t know what exactly the revenge was about. Howbeit, he was positive it included using blood to forge a weapon.

    ¡°To forge the sword, many prerequisites need to be fulfilled. Not only is the process gruelling, but the environment it needs to be forged in is also strict. The winner will probably destroy their weapon. The likelihood of getting injured while forging it is pretty much inexorable, which is why this peasant is setting it as the reward for the convention on top of appropriatepensation at the cost of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s foundations.

    ¡°Through a tough selection process, eight individuals will be chosen topete using their weapons and best Edge Realm skills. The victor will continue on, while the loser will relinquish their weapon as material for the sword to be forged. The final winner will face off against the owner of the divine weapon. In the scenario that they cannot establish themselves, they will bepensated with the divine weapon. Based on the elites you brought along this time, there is nothing to suggest that you have no chance of winning.¡±

 Volume 9 05 Li Yuanshengs Family Rules Him at Home

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 05 Li Yuansheng¡¯s Family Rules Him at Home</h4>

    ¡°If your team wins, this peasant will confess everything. Should you wish to execute or punish this peasant, he will be at your mercy. Luo Sword Manor will also write an official letter to withdraw from the Seven Champion White Princes, acting as your vanguard. That is the bet this peasant proposes.¡±

    The purpose of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s visit to Huzhou was to persuade Luo Ming to help him seize the Seven Champion White Prince¡¯s rights his ancestors bestowed. It was imperative for Emperor Yuansheng to depose of the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ special rights if he was to further develop his kingdom. Howbeit, if Emperor Yuansheng tried to take back their rights using force, he would instigate an uprising, thereby causing unimaginable harm. If an influential entity of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s standing was to take the initiative to strip themselves of their special authority and publicly announce they stepped down on their own ord, they could avoid a war. Most importantly, Luo Ming despised lies. Therefore, he would never renege on a promise.

    ¡°Should you lose, on the contrary, this peasant would like you to make a promise. This peasant wants¡­ a head.¡±

    Politicians consider their losses before they consider their gains. Emperor Yuansheng contemted the offer then questioned, ¡°Whose head?¡±

    ¡°That has yet to be decided; it could be anyone. No matter how difficult, painful, expensive it may be, even if it is Empress Dowager¡¯s head, you must take it.¡±

    ¡°No what impertinence is, Luo Ming! How dare you use Empress Dowager Her Majesty as an example?!¡±

    ¡°This peasant is merely preparing you for what ay coe. He has also put Luo Sword Manor¡¯s past, present and future on the line, even giving up all the contributions made toward your kingdom in the past. It is a fair trade.¡±

    As long as Emperor Yuansheng gave his word, not even The Ultimate Three together could protect the head Luo Ming desired. On a deeper level, it was evident that Luo Ming wasn¡¯t confident he could exact his vengeance, therefore asking for Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s aid. Needless to say, ns do not always proceed as intended.

    Since Luo Ming might not ask for his nemesis¡¯ head - assuming he was telling the truth - Luo Ming could ask for Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head for all anyone knew. If he then ckmailed Emperor Yuansheng with thetter¡¯s own head, then Emperor Yuansheng would be at his beck and call.

    If I refuse, I mayy down my life here. I¡¯m not afraid of death, so why can¡¯t I decide? Is it because of my craving for career aplishments, or is it because I flinched when Luo Ming aimed his sword at my neck?

    ¡°I¡­ ept.¡±

    Wrath, seemingly hidden within the depths of Luo Ming¡¯s heart, manifested on his lips: ¡°This peasant is at your service.¡±

    ***

    Luo Ming wiped Brave Shine after Emperor Yuansheng left Edgehearing House, smiling.

    I didn¡¯t expect him to be so forthright with me. I thought I would have to decide whether or not to assassinate him once my secret was out in the open, but we aren¡¯t enemies yet. His forbearance has stopped me from progressing into a demon. This is bing more and more interesting. Let¡¯s see how you win against me, Brother.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Luo Ming queried upon seeing a scout appear.

    ¡°Master¡­ your subject heard that we failed to apprehend the one who breached Lotus Root Ground?¡±

    Asking the first gate¡¯s swordsmen to stop an injured Abels is an order still too tall for them.

    Up until now, nobody had ever breached the sixth, let alone fifth, gate of Lotus Root Ground, where each gate¡¯s defences were tougher than thest.

    ¡°Has he breached the second gate yet?¡±

    ¡°H-he has.¡±

    ¡°The second gate¡¯s formation¡¯s chief goal is to kill. He might not get through. Send reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Master, that¡­ may be impossible.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Why?¡± Luo Ming stopped wiping.

    ¡°He¡­ broke through the first three gates in one fell swoop and is currently at the fourth gate. When I left, he sent the captain of the third gate into Taihu Lake. Our brothers have been unable to rescue him¡­¡±

    ¡°Three gates already? Bodhi, I thought too lightly of you. I¡¯ll honour you with a personal wee and farewell.¡±

    ***

    Upon hearing Emperor Yuansheng whip his robe and return to their group¡¯s courtyard, Long Zaitian and Dugu went over to wee him: ¡°Your Majesty, did your parley with Patriarch Luo go well?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Emperor Yuansheng asked with a corner of his lips hiked up.

    ¡°That is a foregone conclusion,¡± responded Long Zaitian. ¡°Your striking, dashing demeanour is proof that you easily seeded. Patriarch Luo is not deaf, while you are the ruler of the world. Would he dare to oppose you?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand: ¡°Haha, Dugu, where is Tianhu at the moment?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ is currently on a touring mission, so his whereabouts are unknown. To summon him, you would need to use the Forbidden City¡¯s Nine Phantasmal Stars Ceremony.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Emperor Yuansheng caressed his beard: ¡°Where is Baima right now, Vice-Captain Long?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Purportedly, Grand Commander found a hideout of League of Assassins in Jinzhou some time ago and personally led a team to eradicate them but has yet to return to Jinyong City. Even if he has returned to the border, he has never been the type to answer summons, only reallocations. You would need Golden Pattern Token and your imperial seal to summon him.¡±

    ¡°I see. I need you two, my loyal vassals, to find ways to summon both of them.¡±

    Long Zaitian and Dugu: ¡°Your Majesty, it is toote to call them back for New Year. New Year ended days ago.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng got up to give them a boot each: ¡°Idiots! New Year?! Call them now! A head is going to roll soon! Summon them back. Now! This second!¡±

 Volume 9 06 A Man Who Sucks at Checkers (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 06 A Man Who Sucks at Checkers (Part 1)</h4>

    People don¡¯t know this because I¡¯ve never formally announced it: I am an elite checkers yer. They call me King of Mount Daluo¡¯s Checker Kings. Some people like to shorten my title, but I get it. They¡¯re jealous. If you think I¡¯m good at fighting, know that my checkers skills are the cream of the crop of the best of the elite of the greatest of the masters of the experts¡­ You get the gist. I¡¯m godly at checkers. My checkers skills are in another leaguepared to mybat prowess. If I was to focus on checkers, I¡¯d already be the grandmaster of grandmasters of history, a legend to be remembered for eternity. When we yed cloud-churning, Earth-shaking, star-dropping, thunder-pping matches back on Mount Daluo, be it man, woman, human or not, I never lost once.

    One winter, my shifu told me, ¡°I am going to bequeath to you the way of checkers.¡± Since I didn¡¯t have the faintest idea about my dormant prodigious checkers gift then, I snapped, ¡°Stop distracting me from my martial arts distracting, fool. Keep distracting me and thee will regret it.¡± That earned me five raging ps. So, I set down my porn book and followed him.

    I soon regretted not learning checkers from my shifu sooner and wasting thirteen years on porn-, training, instead. Training isme! I was so regretful that I wanted to be rebirthed.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After watching one game of checkers, I was so enraptured that I was addicted. I remember my shifu also appearing to regret not teaching me the art of checkers sooner. That¡¯s how I knew I was born to be a god at checkers. For the first time, I felt my shifu appreciated me.

    Thanks to my gift for checkers, I was soon ying against my shifu. From what I know, he was good enough to demolish twenty-one national champions at once on Mount Wuyi, even having the luxury of time to y with a chick¡¯s hand on his left side and give the maiden on his right a peck while waiting for them to make a move. He¡¯d be the undisputed checkers world champion right now if my shiniang didn¡¯t show up to catch him for cheating on her, vandalising the ce and terrifying those present in the process.

    My shifu gave my uncles and brothers twenty free moves each time they yed. Only Second Brother did somewhat decent, so he sometimes won when Shifu gave him four free moves. As for me, I drew with Shifu in my first game. He said he could praise my talent for checkers until the sun came up if Second Brother didn¡¯t stop him.

    To sum up, my shifu praised, ¡°Your checkers¡¯ skills are terrible. I mean, so shocking that gods would cry, and hell would fear you.¡± I pointed at my shifu and derided him for being jealous of my performance, so he added, ¡°The situation has changed, though.¡±

    ¡°What and what?¡±

    ¡°You used to suck, but you were fair. Ever since the mid games, you¡¯ve changed. You can be bad, but you can¡¯t be shameless! Why¡¯d you switch my pieces?!¡±

    I¡¯ll have you know I improved by leaps and bounds ever since then. I built up a wealth of experience through my countless games against my shifu.

    One day, I decimated my shifu from dawn until midnight, when Shifu eximed, ¡°Well yed. I can see your strong desire to win. However, I must remind you: regardless of how much you want to win¡­ you don¡¯t win if you switch people¡¯s pieces right when they¡¯re about to win! If you understand, put my pieces back¡­ Hey, stop! Stop! Give it back! Your hands are too quick for me¡­ That¡¯s it. Put it down. We¡¯re throwing hands!¡±

    The only time you should look back is to see how far you¡¯vee. Look forwards, people. By the way, I¡¯m the only person to ever beat my shifu at checkers.

    ¡°I get your point. You suck. Move on. Can we just get to the conclusion of your story?¡± grumbled Mountain Monster, speaking weakly because of her injuries that left her bed ridden after she disguised herself as Abels and Luo Ming tried to kill her.

    To be candid, I couldn¡¯t be certain that I could resuscitate Mountain Monster if we weren¡¯t lucky that Luo Ming didn¡¯t know about Blood Fiend Silkworm Transformation Art¡®s functions. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve realised he only dismembered fake limbs. She would¡¯ve bled out before I could save her if he actually severed her limbs.

    In exchange for saving River Monster and Mountain Monster, they provided me with intelligence, and then we made our way to Luo Sword Manor. I didn¡¯t know my way to Luo Sword Manor, so we caught a ferry. ying checkers was just our means of killing time.

    Since we were on the topic of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Lotus Root Ground beingparably bewildering as a checkers game, Mountain Monster bragged she was a decent yer, igniting my motivation topete.

    ¡°You¡¯re terrible. Can anybody provide me with a decent challenge?¡±

    ¡°Tch, y-you¡¯re the one who is terrible.¡± Mountain Monster panted every time she spoke due to her injuries, yet she always argued with me. ¡°All that smoke blown up your rear, yet you can¡¯t even beat me. King of ch-, wait, I didn¡¯t ce my piece here¡­ You switched my pieces, you cornhole!¡±

    It¡¯s so lonely being by myself at the pinnacle.

    Mountain Monster flipped the board over; probably would¡¯ve jumped to her feet if she wasn¡¯t barely awake.

    ¡°Quiet! You two think this is an outing?!¡± A-Lan snapped.

    ¡°Yeah, naughty kid,¡± I added.

    ¡°Wh-who¡¯d you call naughty? Listen, pin dick,e¡­e here!¡±

    ¡°Your face is as white as a sheet, yet you still insist on finishing your pointless threat.¡±

    ¡°I said, be quiet! I feel like I¡¯ve aged several years around you two¡­¡±

 Volume 9 07 A Man Who Sucks at Checkers (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 07 A Man Who Sucks at Checkers (Part 2)</h4>

    A-Lan, who needed to mediate between Mountain Monster and me ever since Mountain Monster woke up, shook her head to refocus on the stillke around us, uneasy about the smell of death saturating the atmosphere.

    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve arrived,¡± A-Lan opined. ¡°This is Lotus Root Ground. Based on what I know, this is supposed to be a physical manifestation of Luo n¡¯s Repository Swordy. The lotus leaves, fog, shadows of boats, sun and moon create a maze capable of keeping an army out. They call it the insurmountable formation. We¡¯ll never be able to leave unless we know how to solve the formation.¡±

    I wagged my hand, saying, ¡°Being able to stop an army doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it¡¯ll be able to stop mosquitoes, flies or birds. Therger something is, the more obvious its w. Even if a can trap a fish weighing a tonne, can it also catch tiny fish? Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying, fetching water with an iron is a pointless endeavour?¡±

    ¡°Look, I may be a foreigner, but I¡¯m not ignorant. I know the correct saying is, ¡®Fetching water with a basket is a pointless endeavour.¡¯¡±

    Can someone exin to me how all the girls in Evil Spirits have glib tongues?!

    ¡°I¡¯ve researched Lotus Root Ground and know some of their chinks.¡± Noticing Mountain Monster and I anticipating more, River Monster, with a flush face, carried on, ¡°I-I never trusted Luo Sword Manor, so I prepared safety measures.¡±

    Me: ¡°Tsk, tsk, women.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°A¡­ A¡­ A scorned woman is the most fearsome.¡±

    ¡°You two are so annoying! Shut up if you¡¯re injured! Ahem, I only know about the first two gates, and there¡¯s no guarantee my knowledge will be helpful. The Four Seasons Sword Formation is one of the toughest sections to cross. I¡¯m hoping to figure out the architecture of the formation based on the third so that we can get through.¡± Since I didn¡¯tment in any capacity, A-Lan asked, ¡°Master Ming, I suppose someone of your calibre would not care for my drivel?¡±

    A-Lan was still angry about me pretending to be Zhong Ning - courtesy of Mountain Monster throwing a fit after she came to. Therefore, I pretended to be tuning in to appease A-Lan.

    ¡°Abels got stuck at the fourth gate. You may be skilled, but there¡¯s no guarantee you can surpass his record, let alone an army. As long as you are willing to help study the formation, though, we will have hope.¡±

    ¡°Right, go ahead,¡± I responded.

    A-Lan smiled: ¡°You will be interested in solving the mystery because it is simr to checkers.¡±

    Oh? Now you speaking mynguage.

    A-Lan exined what she meant to me until I interrupted her, asking, ¡°I distinctly smell pear flowers?¡±

    ¡°The smell of spring. It means Four Seasons Sword Formation has been activated. How did you row us into the first gate?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re surrounded by water. How am I supposed to tell where we are or going? You want to dive down to check for us?¡±

    White flower petals rained onto the now rosy water upon entering the fourth gate as though we rowed into another dimension. There were fourteen swordsmen on each of the twenty-seven small boats arranged in a specific formation up ahead. It wasn¡¯t a puzzle this time; we were going to have to fight our way through.

    ¡°They wille for us once they¡¯re done reciting their rites. Be careful,¡± cautioned A-Lan.

    Hmm, if the formation is based off the four seasons, I guess it means they¡¯ll be repeating the four seasons just like they¡¯re repeated year after year. Every move is about imposing their will so that their target moves ording to their desire, so plenty have died. Since Abels experimented himself to find out its chink, he should be on the money.

    Three hundred and seventy-eight swordsmen and twenty-seven boats certainly would give people a hard time to deal with simultaneously. I guess this is where the feints in checkerse into y, luring each boat in one by one instead of tackling them all at once.

    I got up to get ready: ¡°I¡¯m going to get started.¡±

    ¡°Remember, use feints,¡± reminded A-Lan.

    ¡°F-f-f-¡±

    ¡°Feints! I know! Just shut up if you¡¯re injured!¡±

    Standing at the bow, I visualised my past checkers games and then saw nothing but a checkers board upon opening my eyes.

    A man broke off from the group and aimed his sword at me: ¡°In Chun City, flowers sc-¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Always capture the King first!¡± I vaulted over to the boat in front.

    ¡°What did you remember?! Ah!¡± A-Lan shrilled.

    I grabbed the swordsman and hoisted him by the head off one hand.

    ¡°What are you doing? Have you forgotten the key?¡± yelled A-Lan.

    Keeping the momentum going, I leapt over their boat with the swordsman in tow. I eyed a boat and then chucked the swordsman at it sending him through the boat and into a dozen of those on board. The boat designed with speed as its priority quickly sunk even though the hole wasn¡¯t that big.

    I twisted my body to descend, catapulting two swordsmen who happened to be on the way, sinking another two boats. I subsequently captured another swordsman and choke mmed him onto the deck of the boat I was on. Next, Iunched myself to the next boat, abusing my strength to perform sloppy wrestling moves and shot put them.

    Finally, I returned to our boat and wiped my sweat: ¡°Checkers really is a profound game. Feints are aplex topic.¡±

    A-Lan¡¯s face: draw a dot between two zeroes.

 Volume 9 08 Mount Daluos King of King of Checkers

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 08 Mount Daluo¡¯s King of King of Checkers</h4>

    We eventually found ourselves at an ind, one that I tried to row around, only to circle back to the first ce we came to when we spotted it. By that point, I didn¡¯t need to be a genius to realise we had to disembark. A-Lan¡¯s injuries didn¡¯t inhibit her mobility, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for Mountain Monster. Although bringing her along was a hassle, it would be impossible to take care of her at all if we left her behind. And so, I carried the featherweight, furiousss on my shoulder notwithstanding her inveighing.

    I nced back at Mountain Monster¡¯s neck and down¡­ I then shook my head and wiped my eyes. Luckily, I saw her bear her fangs and flexed my neck before she could bite it.

    You understand what I motioned?!

    ¡°Is that any way to treat your saviour?!¡±

    ¡°What¡­ What did you look back at me for?¡±

    ¡°I was just taking a look. It wasn¡¯t as if there¡¯s some meaning to it.¡± I shook my head as I added, ¡°Narrow minds are corrted to impeded chest growth.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll bite your neck off!¡±

    As I flexed my neck again, I felt a field of heat wave, so I pulled my head back, returning to a cool field.

    If there¡¯s a hot spring or something of the sort on the ind, I should be able to feel torrid waves even from afar, but¡­

    Also noticing the peculiar atmosphere, Mountain Monster stopped messing around, letting me off with a pinch.

    As soon as I stepped in the direction I flexed my neck, I felt the torrid sensatione across half of my body, which conflicted with the winter breeze on the other side. An invisible wall that barricaded the cold draft outside and contained the heat inside couldn¡¯t possibly be normal.

    Staying outside was just wasting time. Hence, we took a few steps in the direction of the heat. Since there was no flying arrows or ambush, we continued further five hundred metres, noting the increasing temperature that blew against our skin. Around the centre of the ind, it was practically summer, with the greenery around us being those that only bloomed in summer.

    ¡°That¡¯s a big sun,¡± I remarked.

    ¡°We must be at Summer Gate,¡± A-Lan noted. ¡°We¡¯ve reached the second gate.¡±

    ¡°What happened to your sulking?¡±

    ¡°Is that a question you should be asking after you went on a frenzy?!¡± A-Lan used the same hand she flicked her hair with to block out the sun and said, ¡°The heates from the underground heat and sun. You can¡¯t muscle your way through the formation.¡±

    ¡°I remember you mentioning something about locating a needle core?¡±

    ¡°I said formation core! The crux of the formation lies in the mechanisms. It¡¯s hard to find the skilled formation operator unless they show themselves. The challenge is finding the formation core that operates the mechanisms of the formation because of its size and the mechanisms preventing you from proceeding, but it¡¯s our only option. I remember there are thirteen formation cores.¡±

    ¡°Mhm, mhm, wait. Why do you sound so uptight?¡±

    ¡°What do you expect? Haven¡¯t you noticed that the sun¡­ is getting hotter?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡± While I was actually just a tad thirsty, A-Lan was having trouble with the heat.

    ¡°The temperature here gradually creeps up as they¡¯re using a mechanism to ramp it up. Soon, it¡¯ll be the same as being dipped into boiling water, so the longer we dally, the greater our risk.¡±

    ¡°Sounds dangerous. How about¡­ we head back?¡±

    ¡°Are you messing with me?! Does it look like we¡¯re on a vacation?!¡±

    ¡°True.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you think you can just leave after entering the me demon of hell¡¯s gate?¡±

    ¡°You think you can leave?¡±

    ¡°You think you can leave?¡±

    ¡°You think you can leave?¡±

    Though they could be perceived as echoes on paper, they were distinct voices, and over a hundred men armed with bright-red iron rods, attired in green robes for camouging with the environment, emerged from the woods. Hiding in the sunlight reflected off the men¡¯s mirror-like gear, the formation operator threatened, ¡°I shall grant your death wish for trespassing into Lotus Root Ground.¡±

    ¡°Trespassing into Lotus Root Ground!¡±

    ¡°Trespassing into Lotus Root Ground!¡±

    ¡°Trespassing into Lotus Root Ground!¡±

    As if each repeat was some kind of trigger, the temperature increased a little each time.

    ¡°Regret trespassing into the me demon¡¯s hell, hahaha.¡±

    I noticed Mountain Monster grimacing due to the heat.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A-Lan whispered, ¡°We need to find the hidden formation cores. Don¡¯t be rash as you can¡¯t muscle your way through this one like thest one. The people before us are only pawns. If you kill them, another group will rece them, so don¡¯t waste your energy.¡±

    The master of the formation verbalised, ¡°Not bad, youngdy. You¡¯re still a long way off, though. I was expecting a superior trespasser, but all I have myself is an ignorant fool with no checkers skills.¡±

    ¡°No checkers skills.¡±

    ¡°Horrendous checkers skills.¡±

    ¡°Crap checkers skills.¡±

    ¡°Do not forget the principles in checkers. Seek solutions. Do not try to force your way through,¡± stressed A-Lan.

    ¡°It won¡¯t change the oue. You three won¡¯t be leaving alive,¡± the controller threatened.

    ¡°You three won¡¯t be leaving alive.¡±

    ¡°You three won¡¯t be leaving alive.¡±

    ¡°You three won¡¯t be leaving alive.¡±

    Man, you people are getting on my nerves now.

    I gathered white, free-flowing energy in my hand and manipted it into a ball. Since I didn¡¯t deliberately extend my arm, they didn¡¯t notice the energy floating above my hand.

    ¡°Maul the three of them!¡± the operatormanded.

    ¡°Disperse first and then search for the formation cores!¡± A-Lan ducked into the woods.

    ¡°Too slow!¡± The operator chanted, ¡°Fire cloud solid droplet waving p-¡±

    ¡°Moonlight.¡±

    As a white beam streaked past the group, they heard the individual behind them hit the ground, blood leaking from his forehead. Subsequently, cold winds began to billow, driving off the hot air pervading the ind. And¡­ everybody just suddenly went silent on me.

    I motioned at the sky the way an adult would when calling a kid over: ¡°Who was dissing my checkers skills just before? Let¡¯s have a word.¡±

    Thus, I showed them what ¡°hell¡± really is. You can slight the King of checkers, but you can¡¯t slight his skills!

    Anyhow, we then kept searching and came to another ind - the third gate. Autumn Gate, a ce where people must fall just as leaves do I autumn. Every man carried, at least, three weapons on them, polished to the point that they could reflect the sun.

    A-Lan notified, ¡°¡­ This, this¡­ is autumn¡­ It¡¯s the third gate, done.¡±

    ¡°Righto.¡± In one palm strike, I smashed the operator into theke, illustrating an artistic moving scene of bubblesing up to the surface. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-why do you always beat them before they finish their recital?! Don¡¯t you realise that¡¯s rude?!¡± castigated A-Lan.

    A better question is, why the hell are you sticking up for the enemy?!

    The rest of the enemies: ¡°Wh-who are you?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I turned my head onto an angle and flicked them a wry grin: ¡°You know why you lost?¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­¡±

    ¡°Your formation is simr to a checkers game. This ind is a checkers board. Coincidentally, I happen to be the best checkers yer in the world. They call me The King of K-¡±

    ¡°King of Crap!¡± Mountain Monster interjected.

    ¡°The King of King of¡­¡± I started. ¡°What was it again? Anyone want to give me a prompt?¡±

    ¡°The King of Crap?¡± the enemies repeated in reverence.

    I¡¯ll feed you crap!

    ***

    Those apanying Luo Ming to Lotus Root Ground didn¡¯t utter a word for they were aware he wasn¡¯t happy about having intruders. Suddenly, he called, ¡°Luo Zong?¡±

    Luo Zong, a disciple of the swordy department responded, ¡°Present, Patriarch.¡±

    Eyes on theke, Luo Ming instructed, ¡°Hurry over to reinforce our brothers at Lotus Root Ground, fill in any gaps.¡±

    ¡°What about you, Patriarch?¡±

    Luo Ming sliced a rail on the boat with two fingers using the sword qi method. Next, he ejected energy from his hand, blowing the rail off: ¡°I¡¯m going on ahead.¡±

    In one leap, Luo Ming jumped to the rail,nding both feet on it without sinking it and then surfing across theke. Clutching Brave Shine hard to ease his nerves that set in inexplicably, he dered, ¡°You¡¯re not getting away.¡±

    Glossary

    King of King of Checkers - The author uses a homophone joke here. King (one version of it)/overlord almost perfectly rhymes with b*stard (Mountain Monsters way of pronouncing it), so MFZ mishears their pronunciation for Mountain Monsters version. I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re ever going to make homophone out of that in English, so I rewrote the entire section.

 Volume 9 09 Starman Iron Sword

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 09 Starman Iron Sword</h4>

    Although the lot at the third gate were weak, it took me a while to wipe the floor with them due to their sheer numbers.

    ¡°You can¡¯t keep being reckless.¡± Sounding simr to loyal vassals admonishing a dictatorial monarch, A-Lan persuaded, ¡°Abels got through those three gates, but he didn¡¯t get through the fourth one, which is called Starman Frosty Sky. It should be the toughest one right now because it¡¯s winter, and they use frost to hamper you physically, not to mention the skilled guardian. It¡¯s pointless to try and fight¡­ Just find a way to solve the formation!¡±

    ¡°Oh, shut it,¡± Mountain Monsternguidly chided from my back. ¡°You¡¯re the main one to me. Every time you¡¯ve brought one up, he died; you have a higher kill sess rate than me now. If you ask me, you¡¯re cursing them to death rather than him killing them.¡±

    Mountain Monster wasn¡¯t tense in the slightest. In fact, I caught her nodding off when I was fighting, not that she admitted it. Nheless, the drool on my cor sealed her fate.

    ¡°Keep up the indifferent act. Do you know who the fourth gate guardian is?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± I asked.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Starman Iron Sword - Tan Datong.¡±

    ¡°Who? Who is that guy?¡±

    ¡°Sixteen years ago, his Starman Swordy was all it took to deter people from stepping out of line in Jiangnan. Had he not offered Luo Ming his services, he¡¯d still have a ce in the ranks of Jiangnan¡¯s swordsmen.¡±

    ¡°Who are the ranked swordsmen?¡± I inquired. I hadn¡¯t kept up with the rankings in ck and White Reflection due to my recent workload, and I never cared too much for swordsmen since I don¡¯t know squat about swordy, to begin with.

    ¡°Swordy is popr in Jiangnan, so there has never been a shortage of venerated swordsmen there. It¡¯s hard to rank Starman Iron Sword right now as the top ten are constantly changing. We know the top ten include Ling Xuezhao, Bai n¡¯s Emotionless Heroine and Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Drinking Sword Monk.¡±

    Mountain Monster added, ¡°I heard first rank has been vacant for a long time because they haven¡¯t found any suitable. Among those up for consideration are Ling Fengxing and Song n in Yangzhou¡¯s patriarch.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I remarked.

    Ling Xuezhao and Ling Fengxing, where have I heard those names before?

    ¡°We¡¯ve digressed,¡± pointed out A-Lan. ¡°The point is, Starman Iron Sword is a qualified contender for the top spot. Besides his prowess with a sword, he is also erudite in formations. Though neither he nor Abels could beat each other in ten exchanges, he defeated Abels when he caught Abels in a sword formation.¡±

    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t that perfect, then?¡± Imented.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°If Bodhi couldn¡¯t get through then, that means he would fail even worse if he tried now.¡±

    I already confirmed with River Monster that Abels is Bodhi. Beijiang people ce their first name before their surname unlike in the Central in. Abels¡¯ full name was Bodhi Abels. He forewent his surname since he was exiled from Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s imperial family and chose Abels for his new surname. People in the Central in, who were unaware of his background and Beijiang¡¯s culture, assumed Abels was his first name.

    The Abels I met and fought was Luo Ming in disguise. The only exnation for how Luo Ming managed to hoodwink A-Lan was abination of Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King and Mountain Monster¡¯s help.

    Mountain Monster never expounded why she betrayed Abels, so I didn¡¯t probe. Still, it left the atmosphere between her and A-Lan awkward, and their previous differences didn¡¯t help the situation. A-Lan would¡¯ve mangled Mountain Monster if thetter wasn¡¯t already hurt.

    I resumed, ¡°When Bodhi and I went our own ways, he told me he was going to get revenge on Luo Ming. Seeing as Luo Ming exterminated Evil Spirits right after that, he must be trying to silence Abels on top of framing your group. Since Bodhi set out ahead of us, he should already be hiding somewhere on Taihu Sword Ind. It wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to sneak by the third gate and hide given he already conquered it once. It¡¯s likely he¡¯s hiding near the fourth gate as he can¡¯t get past it.¡±

    A-Lan was furious with Mountain Monster and Luo Ming for leading on her for so long, but she was also d to learn that her man never changed.

    ¡°Hey,ss,¡± I hollered.

    ¡°What?¡± responded Mountain Monster.

    ¡°I told you Bodhi killed Ox Demon, and Luo Ming also told you in the woods¡­ I don¡¯t know what you will do when if we run into Bodhi in a bit. That said, you better make your stance clear now.¡±

    I suspected Mountain Monster turned on Abels because he killed Ox Demon. I expected her to give me an eye for an eye response, yet she, sounding as if she had set her grudge down, replied, ¡°¡­ Should he want to kill me, I¡¯ll let him.¡±

    A-Lan stopped herself when she went to speak.

    Mountain Monster snorted at our silence then said, ¡°I backstabbed him, not the other way around, so what¡¯s the big deal? The reason he lost to Luo Ming was Ox Demon poisoned him and gave Luo Ming Evil Eminence Scripture. I didn¡¯t tell anyone about it and even helped Luo Ming with his disguise. Because of our treachery, we got all of our brothers killed. If Luo Ming wants my head, he can have it.¡±

    A-Lan conveyed, ¡°Although you aren¡¯t innocent, you didn¡¯t get our brothers killed. Had I not approved, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to mobilise our forces. Luo Ming intended to renege on his promises from the very beginning, so the oue would be the same even if you didn¡¯t help him. I don¡¯t believe you deserve to die even though you did turn.¡±

    A defeated smile came to Mountain Monster¡¯s lips. In a guiltden, prepared voice, she asserted ¡°Refuting erases my wrong? I¡¯ve got the guts to own up to what I do¡­ If I must die, I¡¯m going down my way.¡± She sounded more loyal to the other members of Evil Spirits than Abels.

    A-Lan had something to add until her nose picked up a scent and eyes saw white sprinkles: ¡°Snowfall?¡±

    Light snow soon turned into a screen of white and howling winds. In just fifteen minutes, the snow was up to our knees. Though we had yet to make it to the centre, there was no question we had reached the fourth gate.

    Casting my gaze up to the ck dome, Imented, ¡°Now I know why Lotus Root Ground is a forbidden area. Magicians couldn¡¯t do this.¡±

    ¡°You have a n yet?¡± A-Lan queried.

    I nced at the two then strolled forward: ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±

    When Mountain Monster leaned on A-Lan to stay on her feet, she shoved thetter away, only for thetter to pull her back and say, ¡°You¡¯re hurt,¡± making Mountain Monster sink into an awkward silence. A-Lan then opined, ¡°Zhong N-, Ming Feizhen has met his match.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I beg to differ. Maybe he does havepetition; however¡­ probably someone on par with the Supreme Ten Saints could make him try.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ suck at praising people.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s thest person I¡¯d everpliment¡­ I only want to kill him. I¡¯ve wanted to kill him from the first time I met him¡­ Thing is, think as I may, I can¡¯t think of any method of killing him. He¡­ is a real monster.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Starman Iron Sword is just as the rumours say.¡±

    There were countless sword marks on the snow behind me, irrefutable indicators of speed and power. If I were to assign a numerical value to the difficulty of the formations I had to crack, this gate was over three times as difficult as Summer Gate.

    It was freezing where I was a moment ago. Here, the gales blew irascibly, and the snow came down as hard as hail. Trying to fight Starman Iron Sword, a swordsman in Yi Wangyou¡¯s league, whilst dodging snowballs isn¡¯t exactly easy.

    Starman Iron Sword thrust thrice, forcing me to shift my head off line three times. He shed horizontally, slicing snowkes so fast that my clothing fluttered. I tapped him with my hand, spinning him in a circle stationarily. Usually, that should¡¯ve kept him going for circles simr to a spinning stop, yet he only needed onep to regain his footing.

    Anyway, I¡¯m done with the nonsense. Ming Feizhen signing out.

    Glossary

    Ling Xuezhao and Ling Fengxing - for those who forgot, they¡¯re two of the numerous swordsmen Ming Feizhen demolished years ago when Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary tried to conquer Huzhou (refer to volume 7.5)

 Volume 9 10 Feign Ignorance

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 10 Feign Ignorance</h4>

    Since Starman Iron Sword retaliated with a stab as I extended my arm, I went for his chest, which was the closest target. To my surprise, I felt my energy go straight through him and into a rock behind him. In other words, there were ice mirrors that confused the target, while the heavy snow impaired vision and listening. He steadied his real body but didn¡¯t mount an offence due to the damage I managed to deal.

    I dusted the snow off my hands: ¡°Could you let me through, Hero Tan? It will make things easier for both of us.¡±

    ¡°My duty is to stop you. This is thest barricade of Lotus Root Ground, so sorry.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t there six gates? How is this gate thest gate?¡±

    Tan Datong inhaled first then rified, ¡°Thest gate is designed to stop an army, not a minor number of invaders.¡±

    Therger a formation, the more financial and human resources required to maintain it, so it stood to reason that thest two formations were reserved for worst-case scenarios.

    ¡°If you can ovee Four Seasons Sword Formation, then you may enter Taihu Sword Ind unobstructed.¡±

    ¡°Should you be telling me that?¡±

    ¡°It makes no difference. You will find out if I lose here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re implying you won¡¯t be losing?¡±

    ¡°Precisely. Come out!¡±

    Swordsmen from the other gates emerged from the snow around us in teams of four, a total of around four hundred swordsmen. For them to have reached the fourth gate already, they unquestionably took a secret path. The four-season-themed sword formations they arranged themselves in were moreplex than the previous ones when viewed as a whole.

    This must be the real version of Four Seasons Sword Formation.

    ¡°What¡¯s this gate called? Gang-Up Gate?¡±

    ¡°¡­ This is the fourth gate - Starman Frosty Sky Gate. The ice mirrors are the cornerstone of this formation.¡±

    The sword formation hadn¡¯t changed a lot; the formation at this gate that created reflections was what changed it. For every four swordsmen, one of them might be real, while the remaining three are illusions or any other possible numericalbination. Hesitation or stopping to think would leave the target vulnerable to their attacks. As for Tan Datong, he was fast enough to give the impression that there were seven copies of him.

    ¡°This sword formation must be your ace. I heard Luo Ming has modified the formation. I¡¯m guessing the ice mirrors are his contrivance. I didn¡¯t realise Four Seasons Sword Formation was actually several hundred.¡±

    ¡°Your formidable skills have forced me to take this step. Please pardon me.¡±

    ¡°No, no, not at all. You have an excellent formation synchronised in attack and defence. With you also leading, it won¡¯t be easy for someone considerably superior to you to breeze his way in.¡±

    If I couldn¡¯t see a chink in the formation with my amazing eyes and godly checkers skills, how would Abels have gotten through?

    ¡°Indeed, it is Master¡¯s design. We appreciate your praise.¡±

    ¡°Thing is, you have made a mistake, Hero Tan.¡±

    ¡°May I ask what I am incorrect about?¡±

    ¡°Only someone who can read the levels has the right to speak of them.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°How does a man speak of strategy when he is fantasising? How does a man know what is outside of a well if he is stuck inside? How can a man know of the ocean¡¯s size when he has not explored it? Do you truly know what ¡®high level¡¯ means?¡±

    ¡°Self-presumptuous! Attack! Winter Night. Cold Night. Ice fusion. W-¡±

    I didn¡¯t stop him frompleting his recital; he stopped himself when he saw a hundred duplicates of me. Who ever said they were the only ones who could utilise the mirrors?

    ¡°Not one of you knows what you¡¯re up against, so how can you talk about levels?¡±

    ***

    Mountain Monster had yet to drink the water she boiled for herself when I returned, while A-Lan forgot how to breathe and move when she saw me without a single scratch.

    ¡°Bodhi isn¡¯t on this ind. I guess we won¡¯t get to see him today.¡±

    The two didn¡¯t give much of a reaction. Therefore, I presumed they predicted that oue.

    ¡°We can travel to Taihu Sword Ind now.¡±

    When we returned to the shore, however, our small boat was stuck in ice because the cold on the ind froze everything in its vicinity. In the distance, there were innumerous whirlpools of varying sizes on our path forward. Vortexes in ake are obviously not normal. The reason for them, then, was Luo Sword Manor¡¯s formations somehow altering the water¡¯s behaviour.

    ¡°Now I get why Abels got stuck here.¡± While we were mulling by the shore, I looked up and notified, ¡°We have a guest.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Luo Ming,¡± informed A-Lan, referring to the individual speeding over from hundreds of metres away. ¡°What now?¡±

    Mountain Monster suggested, ¡°We should return ind. By the time he reaches the ind, we should¡¯ve found an escape route.¡±

    I didn¡¯t get time to opine for I had to warn, ¡°Stay alert!¡±

    Luo Ming charged up energy in Brave Shine and then whipped his sword in an arc with all his might. A wide red breaker cleaved through the water, elevating the water on either side as if it was going down ane, as it chased us down!

 Volume 9 11 One Slash

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 11 One sh</h4>

    From Luo Ming¡¯s qinggong prowess that allowed him to surf a nk of wood while firing water arrows alone, one could see how ridiculously formidable he was as a fighter, yet his anxiety and unease was worn on his sleeve. Without Sea Deer Hunter, Abels had no chance against Luo Ming in his injured state; that held true even though Abels had recovered a chunk of his power using poison because Luo Ming already learnt Repository Sword Theory. If anyone was supposed to be anxious and concerned, it¡¯d be Abels.

    The ability to sense those emotions was an ability that Divine Realm adepts could unlock; call it an extra sense. Any time a threat was within range, they would be rmed. It might bepared to intuition, but it was decidedly urate, inparison.

    At some point, Luo Ming had a feeling that he would find all of his nsmen strewn across the ground if he waste, and he would never even find a clue to trace down the individual who annihted Four Seasons Sword Formation. The individual, if left unchecked, would be akin to a noose around his neck, ready to strangle him when everything was perceptively going ording to n. He decided a boat wasn¡¯t fast enough, which was why he opted to chase the intruder on his own.

    Despite rushing to Starman Snowy Sky, Luo Ming was still toote to stop the man and two women he spotted by the shore of the ind. He couldn¡¯t identify the two women of small stature, but he never doubted the towering man with nothing to exploit when on the move was Abels. Hence, the first thought that came to mind was that the three had conquered and were preparing to leave.

    Taihu Sword Ind was actually a collection of inds, so finding the trio once they made it through would be painfully difficult without ounting for the level of skill the trio had.

    If Abels abandons the two women to flee on his own, it would take several days, at the very least, for me to catch him considering the several hundreds of metres between us at the moment. Curse you, Abels! I didn¡¯t spend all these years training for nothing. If I can¡¯t capture you today, I can¡¯t avenge my sons and brothers!

    ¡°You won¡¯t escape me!¡± The glowing energy on Brave Shine generated dozens of whirlpools around Luo Ming even though he halted his advance.

    Luo Ming disseminated a limpid scarlet energy from his also red body - Enlightenment. The red water ricocheted out of the vortexes as waves. The technique he just executed was God-Shocking Theory, a technique with the theme of expressing despair and emptiness. He sheathed Brave Shine behind him then ripped it out of its sheath with his right hand, sting red energy at the trio at shore from his sword.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The longer an attack travelled the more energy it would lose prior to making its impact. At the same time, the better someone was, the more of the energy that could sustain over the same distance, just as Luo Ming only lost twenty percent of the st¡¯s energy over the hundreds of metres.

    It was Mountain Monster and A-Lan¡¯s first time fathoming Luo Ming¡¯s true power - significantly ahead of Abels. Luo Ming¡¯s Enlightenment was so overwhelming that hope seemed mythical.

    ¡°Abels!¡± A-Lan shut her eyes and cried as Mountain Monster went ghastly white in the face.

    Boom!

 Volume 9 12 One Punch

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 12 One Punch</h4>

    Wind from the explosion tousling her hair, A-Lan shivered and wobbled as she prayed Abels would know that he was thest one on her mind right before her death and that he would remember her fondly.

    Luo Ming¡¯s st had the ability to dismember A-Lan; no two ways about it. Muttion couldn¡¯t possibly be painless¡­ could it? She slowly opened her eyes a momentter, when she didn¡¯t feel any pain despite the qi undting post-explosion, to find herself perfectly fine. She never quit when the odds were stacked against her during her flight from Nanjiang, and there was even less reason to yield after learning Abels was still alive.

    Mountain Monster¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t freeze because she was afraid of death. As a matter of fact, she, unlike A-Lan, felt somewhat relieved to have her burdens erased along with her. Because her attitude regarding her own demise contradicted A-Lan¡¯s, she bore witness to an unforgettable, iprehensible scene.

    ¡°What¡­ just happened?¡± A-Lan questioned.

    Considering the gravity of Mountain Monster¡¯s injuries, it would be reasonable to assume the st aggravated her injuries, yet she was on her feet and able to point to the spot where steam levitated from the formerly frozen spot. ¡°Ov-over there.¡±

    A-Lan couldn¡¯t immediately see the man with flowing white hair in the steam immediately owing to the white smoke emanating from his hand. The ice around him had melted back to its uncondensed form.

    Mountain Monster quavered, ¡°He¡­ stopped the sword qi with his hand.¡±

    One hand. His one hand acted as a shield that stopped the enormous st. What would¡¯ve overwhelmed Abels didn¡¯t even scratch him or them. Although Mountain Monster hadn¡¯t known him for long, she understood what his smile meant; it was the smile of a man who finally found someone worth his time after being deprived for a long time. What really shook her was realising what it took to tickle his fancy at all.

    ¡°Ab-Abels?¡± Luo Ming, the monster on the water, mumbled softly with his eyes locked onto the man with strands of flowing white hair from his head. ¡°Intriguing.¡±

    Ming Feizhen checked out the smoke on his hand: ¡°Sharp sword qi. Old bugger has been hiding his true power and fooling people into believing he¡¯s Abels. He¡¯s still pulling punches, though. He¡¯s significantly stronger when he has a sword, huh?¡±

    Thest time the two monsters met, Luo Ming couldn¡¯t use his Eclipse properly since he was limited to his fists, while Ming Feizhen had to control Mountain Monster¡¯s speech and fight simultaneously.

    Ming Feizhen also got a glimpse of Luo Ming¡¯s swordy when he hid at the outskirts of Canhu Town to rescue A-Lan and Mountain Monster.

    Ming Feizhen, arms folded, contemted how to proceed and then shed a corner of his white pearls: ¡°Let¡¯s scare him. Hey, A-Lan, what boxing style does Abels use?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ His boxing style is his self-invented Ocean Fist Manual because he throws varying hand strikes in a controlled chaos style just as the ocean¡¯s current can alter abruptly. His Evil Eminence Scripture, to begin with, is an internal style that alternates between being rigid and flowing, which is why his boxing style is also freestyle. Why the question?¡±

    ¡°You forget?¡± Ming Feizhen closed his open hand and huffed on it. ¡°It¡¯s my turn to y Abels.¡± At the same time Ming Feizhen spawned blue energy on his fist, it manifested over thirty metres around him.

    Depending on the personality and style of the fighter, their Enlightenment¡¯s physical manifestation varied. Some people are well-versed in offence, while more are more defensive. In terms of defence, some people are better at being elusive, while others are good at guarding.

    Abels¡¯ Orthodox Realm style - Evil Eminence Scripture - was an emtion of the ocean. More specifically, it emted the vastness of the ocean. Simrly, Abels was a generous man. A man with tolerance and generosity of the ocean justifies him manifesting blue energy spreading over a wide radius. Luo Ming¡¯s Enlightenment showed as light-blue energy even when utilising Evil Eminence Scripture. Inparison, Abels¡¯ was ocean blue, while Ming Feizhen¡¯s was sky blue, a colour that symbolised purification but failed to capture his destructive might.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect Tai Chi¡¯s Enlightenment to be useful in this situation.¡±

    Ming Feizhen seldom employed Tai Chi despite how effective it was for it was almost impossible not to identify at a nce. If people erroneously thought Wudang¡¯s patriarch had descended onto a scene, the uproar would be troubling.

    One of the mostmon misconceptions about Tai Chi was that people wrongly assumed it was mainly about being soft.

    ¡°Y-you know boxing styles?¡± A-Lan inquired.

    Ming Feizhen winked: ¡°I invented one when I was young and can still remember it.¡±

    ¡°What style is it?¡± Mountain Monster asked.

    ¡°As you have asked, I shall answer.¡± Ming Feizhen turned back to Luo Ming and started powering up just as thetter was thinking, you want to challenge me after when I crushed you once already?

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s fist started spitting blue energyparably to sparks jumping from a fire and then belted, ¡°Take this: Thunder. pping. Your. Mom. Smashing. Overlord!¡±

    A-Lan and Mountain Monster: ¡°The hell is that bullcrap?!¡±

    Boom! Ming Feizhen¡¯s explosive punch coiled the water around the energyunched from his fist as though there was a cylindrical vacuum at the centre preserving its shape, leaving the surroundings deprived of oxygen for the split second his energy zipped by. By the time it reached Luo Ming, the amount of water pulled alongpared to a wave out to gobble a mountain.

    Paying for underestimating his opponent, Luo Ming was toote to get away by that point owing to the pull from Ming Feizhen¡¯s force trapping him in ce to be steamrolled. Cornered, he resorted to Abyss Theory, fighting water with water as a means of forcibly pulling himself. He then used his qinggong to leap twenty metres away in order to avoid being smashed.

    Luo Ming¡¯s boat that finally caught up didn¡¯t have the same mobility. As a result, Ming Feizhen¡¯s punch splintered it from the bow to the other end and continued for kilometres before showing any signs of energy depletion.

    Trivia

    1) ¡°One of the mostmon misconceptions about Tai Chi was that people wrongly assumed it was mainly about being soft.¡± - This is a real fact.

    2) ¡°Boxing style¡± refers to styles that focus on the hand, not actual boxing with the gloves on. For instance, Southern Fist/Nanquan is also called Southern Boxing (although rare since it doesn¡¯t suit the context) and Praying Mantis is a shortened form of ¡°Praying Mantis Boxing¡± etc.

    The reason we rarely use the ¡°boxing¡± term is because it¡¯s only applied when speaking of it in abat context. Otherwise, we refer to them as Southern Fist, Praying Mantis and so forth, which is even more appropriate in contemporary versions of these that are more acrobatic and for choreography than to clobber someone in a ring/octagon.

 Volume 9 13 Where Tender Grasses Rim the Stream

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 13 Where Tender Grasses Rim the Stream</h4>

    H-he is Abels? When did he gain so much power? That¡¯s not the Enlightenment in his arsenal that I remember from ourst fight, either.

    During the half a year Luo Ming disguised himself as Abels, he followed the descriptions Mountain Monster and Ox Demon provided him with to convincingly y the role and use his injuries as an excuse to avoid interactions with friends and foe alike. While he avoided the front lines, he ordered Evil Spirits to do his bidding, namely stealing materials to forge a sword, consequently sullying the group¡¯s name.

    The one thing Luo Ming couldn¡¯t falsify was Abels Evil Eminence Scripture skills as it would take ages to achieve the same proficiency as Abels in the style. That being the case, Luo Ming used poison as a medium to develop internal energy that couldpare to Divine Realm martial artists¡¯. The internal energy didn¡¯t belong to any particr style, as a result. While it ran the risk of taking on a poison that he couldn¡¯t control, it didn¡¯t interfere with his internal style. For that reason, he couldbine it with Repository Sword Theory to grasp Evil Eminence Scripture, perfecting his imposter game since it was believed that Abels was the only person to be that advanced in Evil Eminence Scripture.

    Regardless, Luo Ming didn¡¯t achieve the same proficiency in Evil Eminence Scripture; learning something so profound in that short time frame would make him beyond a genius. Moreover, he had yet toplete Repository Sword Theory, so his deduction skills were also iplete. He could imitate the general idea, but he couldn¡¯t imitate the details.

    Had Abels not been injured in his sh at Shaolin, he would¡¯ve suspected Luo Ming earlier. As Luo Ming never had the chance to fight Abels at maximum power, the former didn¡¯t know what to expect of Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s full potential. ordingly, Ming Feizhen¡¯s punch misled him into specting that Abels might¡¯ve mastered the seventh level of Evil Eminence Scripture.

    Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s seventh level teaches perfect control over power, as well as defence and attack in one. Attack with everything you have. Cancel out the force of the attack before you block.

    That exins how he managed to conquer Four Seasons Sword Formation in no time at all. I can¡¯t let him go this time. Let¡¯s save those who fell into theke from his punch first.

    ¡°Where did that boate from? They going to be okay?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    ¡°Pr-probably,¡± opined A-Lan, still in a trance of sorts.

    Mountain Monster no longer felt any fear of Luo Ming until Ming Feizhen crossed his arms and stated, ¡°Luo Ming wants to get serious. It¡¯s not time to fight yet, though, so let¡¯s go.¡± And so, she queried, ¡°We¡¯re leaving? Why?¡±

    ¡°More importantly, how? Our boat won¡¯t survive the vortexes.¡±

    ¡°Easy. You two get on board,¡± Ming Feizhen replied. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there. Go, go,¡± he pestered as he pushed the two on.

    ¡°What about you?¡± A-Lan inquired.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m in a rush.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡± Mountain Monster questioned.

    ¡°Just as you want to find Bodhi, I also have somewhere I need to be. Sorry. Hang on tight.¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what are you doing?!¡± the two maidens stuttered as Ming Feizhen picked up the boat.

    ¡°I thought I told you.¡± Brightly, Ming Feizhen repeated, ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m in a rush.¡±

    The two girls screamed as Ming Feizhen hurled them over the vortexes. He then leapt off the ind to drive the boat forward with a kick, sending it zooming past inds since there were no more formations. The two girls didn¡¯t speak for almost two hours - much to Ming Feizhen¡¯s delight - as they needed time to rpose themselves.

    ¡°¡­ Can¡­ you beat Luo Ming?¡± Mountain Monster queried, drawing A-Lan¡¯s gaze onto Ming Feizhen.

    Continuing to row, Ming Feizhen responded, ¡°If you use our exchange just now as an indicator, no.¡±

    Is there nobody who can stop Luo Ming?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Your question tells me you don¡¯t understand what it means to be at Divine Realm,¡± Ming Feizhen added. ¡°Divine Realm fighters can draw out their full potential even with just a shred of energy. As long as they have an ounce left, their desire to fight on cannot be extinguished. In some cases, they¡¯ll be even stronger than when they were losing. Trying to win against a Divine Realm adept is wishful thinking.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So, if they aren¡¯t determined, doesn¡¯t that mean they¡¯re the same as ordinary folks?¡± Mountain Monster consulted.

    ¡°Well, your hypothetical character doesn¡¯t exist.¡± Perhaps owing to educating Su Xiao too much, Ming Feizhen sounded as if he was a lecturer. ¡°Divine Realm adepts go until they or their opponent are dead. That¡¯s why you shouldn¡¯t be asking about being able to win or not. If I had to fight someone in their ss, I don¡¯t think I could win against a single one. I¡¯m not confident I could keep any of them alive.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, you¡¯re not that tough, th-¡±

    It took a moment for Mountain Monster to realise what Ming Feizhen really meant. Upon looking up at him, she saw the golden light reflecting off the white avnche tousling in the wind. She herself didn¡¯t realise that she forgot about her desire to kill him as she gazed upon him.

 Volume 9 14 Reaching the Shore

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 14 Reaching the Shore</h4>

    ¡°Luo Ming and I have a deal. If I cannot win at Refining Divine Convention, I will have to present him with someone¡¯s head. We need Luo Sword Manor¡¯s support. We cannot afford to lose. Please provide me with a feasible n.¡± Emperor Yuansheng omitted his suspicions of Luo Ming, deeming it unnecessary information in the grand scheme.

    The Emperor¡¯s entourage lent their ears and eyes, not their mouths - unless asked. That was why Dugu didn¡¯t have anything to suggest when put on the spot. Long Zatian, who was only looking to ask if Emperor Yuasheng wanted an egg with his noodles or not, had the brains but needed time to think before he would give advice. After all, speaking carelessly around an Emperor on such an important subject was a quick way tond yourself in hot water.

    ¡°Say something one of you,¡± demanded Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°¡­ Something?¡±

    Long Zaitian strode forward and held his hands in salute: ¡°Your Majesty, we cannot win!¡±

    ¡°You think I need you to tell me that?! What have I been feeding you all these years for? I pay you to solve problems, not to tell me the problem!¡±

    ¡°I think my chances are about thirty percent,¡± Dugu opined.

    ¡°Only thirty?¡±

    Dugu shook his head: ¡°I would say my chances of survival are only about thirty percent.¡±

    ¡°Get out! Both of you!¡±

    Dugu exined, ¡°Your Majesty, none of the adepts invited should be underestimated. Among those whom we have met, there is already Wudang¡¯s Elder Shou and Metal Yu Feiyuan. If you wish for me to try, I will give it everything I have without scruple. If you wish me to win, though, I will tell you the truth.¡±

    Long Zaitian added, ¡°Dugu is the strongest among us, Your Majesty.¡±

    The point of feeding the army is to deploy them when you need them, yet I¡¯ve been feeding all of you for what?!

    Long Zaitian sulked, ¡°We are not rusty. If you are using a kitchen knife to chop a tree, you are just asking to fail.¡±

    ¡°If we lose, I¡¯ll deliver your head on a tter as an addition if it¡¯s not your head he wants!¡±

    ¡°If you are willing to risk your dragon head, my dog head is b-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Emperor Yuansheng let Long Zaitian taste a dragon¡¯s foot.

    Someone knocked on the door outside to say, ¡°Please excuse this one for disturbing. This one is Luo Sword Manor¡¯s chambein, Luo Wuchang.¡±

    ¡°How can I help you, Chambein Luo?¡± Emperor Yuansheng inquired. They quite liked the elder who seemed as affable as one could be.

    ¡°A dangerous person has trespassed onto Taihu Sword Ind and has broken through Four Seasons Sword Formation. Master has asked this one to move you to the bank, which is by the shore and also where we dock our boats.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t believe somebody had already ovee the formation only two hours after he met with Luo Ming. ¡°Mm¡­ Brother Luo should be able to handle the situation. Why does he need us to move there?¡±

    ¡°Master has personally gone out and even engaged the invader.¡±

    ¡°He must have caught the intruder by now, I assume. Does Brother Luo want us to see him?¡±

    ¡°No, uh¡­ Since you and Master are friends, this one shall not hide it from you. Master was unable to detain the intruder.¡±

    Someone could escape him even now that he¡¯s learnt Repository Sword Theory? I thought he might¡¯ve gone beyond Divine Realm. Whoever this person could be, he should have a good chance of matching Brother Luo. If I could recruit him to our side, we should be able toe out victorious.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave Luo Wuchang an amiable smile: ¡°In that case, we shall get moving now.¡±

    Wh-why does he seem so happy to hear Master failed? His smile is making my skin crawl¡­

    ¡°Please wait a moment. Your litter is on its way.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hands, still smiling: ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay. We can walk.¡±

    ¡°The road nearby is not t, and it is still slippery from the rainst night. You should not ruin your shoes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡±

    Long Zaitian and Dugu were going to deter Emperor Yuansheng, when thetter spun around and, in a low voice, asserted, ¡°We¡¯re crawling even if that¡¯s what it takes!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng called for everyone else and then walked to the bank as he said he would, meeting up with Shen Yiren, who was already touring the ce with Luo Siming and Ao Xue.

    ¡°Yiren, where is Master Luo?¡± Emperor Yuansheng inquired.

    Shen Yiren pointed to the shore.

    Silhouettes of birds flew home across a sky that was now magenta. The sun was half into the water, but its reflection in the sea made it lookplete. Emperor Yuansheng joined his old friend to question, ¡°How are things looking?¡±

    ¡°He got away,¡± Luo Ming replied in a monotone voice.

    Emperor Yuansheng went back to Dugu and Long Zaitian with a wry grin. ¡°We have a chance,¡± he told them. He then went back to ask Luo Ming, ¡°Why did you call us here, Brother Luo?¡±

    ¡°Repository Ind is the chief ind of Taihu Sword Ind as it has the ability to oversee the current. I noticed a boating this way, so I was worried about your safety. As long as I am beside you, I can protect you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded and then went back to his group to with a long face: ¡°I take that back. The guy might being to offer his own head.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Long Zaitian flicked a thumb to gesture, ¡°Our Emperor is a man who doesn¡¯t sweat the small details. No Emperor before him can match him.¡±

    ¡°Master, s-someone is rowing over!¡±

    Luo Ming immediately trained his gaze on the small boat closing in and muttered, ¡°You must think nothing of me, huh?¡±

    It felt as though it took a long time for the people inside the ck awning, and the feeling was exined when Emperor Yuansheng saw the elder strenuously rowing, though it left him with another question: that elder is the one who escaped from Luo Ming? Even Luo Ming had an inclination to scratch his head.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ He¡¯s¡­ familiar¡­¡± Su Xiao sniffed the air andmented.

    Luo n¡¯s swordsmen brandished their swords, waiting for themand to separate the trespasser¡¯s head from his body.

    ¡°Why are there so many people?¡± The tall young man, smiling innocently, looked totally bewildered as he looked back and forth between the people assembled where he docked. ¡°Is there a festival or something I don¡¯t know about? Why the grand wee?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao threw his arms around Ming Feizhen with total disregard for those around.

    ¡°Xiao.¡±

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Su Xiao clobbered Ming Feizhen over the head.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re here to wee me.¡±

    ¡°Idiot! Moron! Reckless fool! How strong do you think you are?! Why¡¯d you go running around on your own?!¡±

    While taking hits, Ming Feizhen regarded Shen Yiren with a nod, who reciprocated it. How they felt would be something only they knew.

 Volume 9 15 Visitors from Across the Peaceful Lake

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 15 Visitors from Across the Peaceful Lake</h4>

    ¡°Brother Feizhen.¡± Yu Feiyuan charged into Ming Feizhen¡¯s chest, forgetting to hold back her strength. As a result, Ming Feizhen, Yu Feiyuan and Su Xiao plummeted into theke.

    Instead ofshing at Ming Feizhen for seeing her body through her wet golden robe, Yu Feiyuan clung to his arm. ¡°Brother Feizhen¡­¡±

    Fast to catch on upon feeling the pull on his sleeve, Ming Feizhen quietly assured, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll always be back to see you regardless of where I go or howrge the world may be.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A smile bloomed on Yu Feiyuan¡¯s lips until she noticed Su Xiao and her blunder, prompting her to switch to a frown. ¡°He owes this great one money.¡±

    The people watching on could understand Su Xiao behaving the way he did due to his young age, but Interim Patriarch Yu throwing herself at a man¡­ Therefore, her exnation prompted ¡°ahs¡± and ¡°ohs¡± around.

    Su Xiao, sensing the same danger as when Bai Lian shows up upon seeing Yu Feiyuan¡¯s arms around Ming Feizhen¡¯s, grabbed Ming Feizhen¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Xiao?!¡±

    Cheeks searing, Su Xiao stuttered, ¡°I-I¡¯ll help you up.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t know what Su Xiao was ying at, but she did know that she had to do something. Hence, she pulled Ming Feizhen¡¯s arm into her valley. Su Xiao clicked his tongue and copied. Ming Feizhen only had one thing he wished to shout: ¡°Let me get the flying flip up! You trying to freeze me to death in here?!¡±

    Upon receiving Ming Feizhen¡¯s visual distress call, Shen Yiren tugged up a corner of her lips.

    Boss, don¡¯t do this to me! Don¡¯t sell yourrade out now of all times!

    Ming Feizhen was too busy to notice the wrathful disciple who joined Yu Feiyuan to wee him, though the disciple would¡¯ve preferred to do something on the opposite spectrum of weing him.

    Ming Feizhen already forgot about his promise to announce his engagement to Yu Feiyuan on the thirteenth. When Huofeng found out the two were involved in a fight, she was worried upon hearing he went missing. All that worry was for nothing because he was alive and kicking! So much for good news that would help Matriarch Zi¡¯s depression - courtesy of Ming Huayu.

    The old one is an old dastard, and the young one is a young dastard! Mount Daluo is a bunch of liars! News of their engagement should¡¯ve reached Hangzhou by now. If they don¡¯t get married, I¡¯d be surprised if Shifu doesn¡¯t devolve into a worse condition! Ming Feizhen, you¡¯re finished now!

    Seeing Ming Feizhen and Shen Yirenmunicate using their eyes, Long Zaitian ranted, ¡°Why do all the girls like that dimwit?¡±

    Tie Hanyi chortled: ¡°Brother Long, don¡¯t be so petty. Besides, two girls don¡¯t count as ¡®all¡¯.¡±

    ¡°How do you know about me and Vice-Captain Shen?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Vice-Captain Shen? What does this have to do about her? Su Xiao and Interim Patriarch Yu, that¡¯s two.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Somebody is a little too loose¡­¡±

    Xiao Huangquan, a freestyle sixty-year-old man notorious for always reeking of alcohol, strapping two gs to his back all the time and edging on unpredictably crazy, griped, ¡°Patriarch Luo, you do not mean to tell us that you called us here in this cold weather just to watch him flirt with women, did you?¡±

    Luo Ming had summoned pretty much everybody on the ind to the dock Ming Feizhen arrived at. They wouldn¡¯t be there, otherwise. The reason Luo Ming called everyone there was to avoid ¡°Abels¡± slipping in under the guise of one of the groups¡¯ members.

    Xiao Huangquan ignored the irate reactions of Luo n¡¯s descendants, which was him being his usual self, blithely doing whatever he pleased with no regard for anyone, and continued, ¡°Patriarch Luo, what is an alcoholic supposed to do here? I would assume that drinking while watching spring chickens flirt is not your cup of tea.¡±

    ¡°Who are you? Do you realise you have trespassed?¡± Luo Ming¡¯s snark smile was more informative than his words. ¡°You were the one who conquered all four formations? You are quite brave to show up here after that.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid there is a misunderstanding, Patriarch Luo,¡± Shen Yiren voiced. ¡°He is my subordinate, not a criminal.¡±

    Even though Luo Ming already met Ming Feizhen when posing as Abels, he found Ming Feizhen¡¯s advent to be at a suspicious time. More explicitly, he spected Ming Feizhen might know where Abels was hiding.

    ¡°Criminal or not, for him to have conquered Four Seasons Sword Formation, he is no ordinary man.¡±

    ¡°That is impossible!¡± Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort asserted at once.

    ¡°His martial arts skills?¡± Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t pull the corners of her lips down. ¡°His martial arts skills are¡­¡±

    Everyone behind Shen Yiren and Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Sheet!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng jovially conveyed, ¡°Brother Luo, he really is my subordinate and is an average martial artists, at best. iming he could ovee Four Seasons Sword Formation is a joke so far-fetched that it is not funny. Young Ming, exin yourself to Patriarch Luo. Honestly, I¡¯m also curious how you found your way here.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: ¡°It was not easy to escape Evil Spirits¡¯ stragglers; I even got hurt. I hid in a cavern for two days and then came here when I heard where they were. I did not encounter any obstacles on the way in. I never saw Four Seasons Sword Formation or what you call it. I have heard of Lotus Root Ground¡¯s sword formation, but I thought I could notify Luo Sword Manor since my master is a guest of Luo Sword Manor. I mean, there is no reason for me to storm in if I can legitimately enter the easy way.¡±

    ¡°You did not encounter any obstacles? That is absurd,¡± Luo Ming disputed.

    ¡°Abels¡± blitzed through the four gates, leaving Lotus Root Ground in disarray. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that someone sneaked in during the fiasco. Luo Ming had trouble believing Ming Feizhen given the timing of events.

    Ming Feizhen smiled: ¡°But it is not just me. Take a second look.¡±

    Luo Ming couldn¡¯t see through the fog, but frustration festered between his eyes. It took a while for arge boat carrying, at least, eighty people in frayed clothing unlike the exuberant boat.

    ¡°It¡¯s Beggar Sect!¡±

    There shouldn¡¯t be any surprise that Luo Sword Manor invited Jiangnan¡¯s biggest and, arguably, most famous group in Jiangnan. The thing was, Beggars Sect never replied to rify if they would being or not.

    ¡°More areing,¡± Ming Feizhen informed.

    There was somebody engaged in verbal warfare with Beggars Sect on a in boat behind them until a loud bell on the in boat chimed over their voices.

    Luo Ming elucidated, ¡°That¡¯s Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s unique internal style - Dawn Bell Dusk Drum. The style is akin to Lion¡¯s Roar, capable of snapping one out of illusions, albeit not so peacefully.¡±

    As a fellow orthodox sect, Cold Mountain Temple, the second Champion White Prince, shouldn¡¯t have been mming Beggar¡¯s Sect.

    ¡°They aren¡¯t arguing with each other. Beggars Sect is arguing with someone, while Cold Mountain Temple is merely using their bell sound to stop them.¡± Luo Ming saw another small boat by the side of Beggar¡¯s Sect boat, and the passengers on the small one were the ones arguing with Beggars Sect.

    ¡°You thief, give it back!¡± someone from Beggars Sect fired.

    The maiden, dressed in green, responded from the small boat, ¡°If you want it,e take it.¡±

    The seventeen year old maiden then vaulted onto shore, yet none of the guards attempted to stop her. When she ducked behind Luo Ming, he just smiled without any airs. Despite still sounding as one would expect of him, his undertone was different when he said, ¡°Mingzhu, stop being naughty.¡±

    The maiden poked her tongue at Beggars Sect and stated, ¡°Talk to my dad if you have something to say.¡±

 Volume 9 16 Luo Clans Treasure

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 16 Luo n¡¯s Treasure</h4>

    For a long time, most of Luo n¡¯s descendants were boys; there wasn¡¯t a single daughter born in thest three generations. When the first daughter was born to break the cycle, the smithing department took a break for the first time in years. Growing up, everyone in Luo n pampered Luo Mingzhu in every way possible. Although some didn¡¯t believe ck and White Reflection¡¯s report, there was no room for doubt based on the way Luo Ming reacted to seeing his daughter.

    I had been reading ck and White Reflection for Luo Sword Manor¡¯s information recently and gleaned the fact that their n regtion was that they could only teach their most advanced martial arts styles to boys in the n. For that reason, Luo Ming had his daughter study at abroad at another sect ever since she was ten.

    With half of my body still in the water, I licked my lips, narrowed my eyes and bobbed my head as I studied Luo Ming¡¯s daughter.

    Luo Ming wasn¡¯t going to spill his secrets. Most of his family was dead. Luo Yan was gone. Luo Siming and I weren¡¯t too close. Assuming Luo Ming¡¯s daughter wasn¡¯t shrewd, I figured could I earn her trust. As I began to conjure my n, I mumbled under my breath, ¡°You may be mischievous, but you aren¡¯t escaping me, Missy.¡±

    Boss crouched down: ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    I pointed to Luo Mingzhu¡¯s chest, ripped it and then closed my hand with a preening smile: ¡°This.¡±

    Wait, who¡¯s speaking to me?

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! You like eating shoes, don¡¯t you?!¡±

    I spun around toote, seeing only the bottom of Boss¡¯ shoe before it rammed my face.

    ¡°What was that hand gesture supposed to mean, huh?¡±

    ¡°Unlocking her heart! What are you thinking?!¡±

    ¡°You fell out of line after a few days out on your own, is that it?! Lecher! Unlock her heart?! How old is she? How old are you? Alwaysing up with useless, idiotic crap!¡± Boss fumed as she stepped on my face over and over. Meanwhile, Su Xiao and Lass Yu held me down.

    Screw you three women! I mean, screw you two women and man¡­ Why did I¡­ Just move! I¡¯m not really that cold, but this is still a ridiculous position to be in!

    Despite his subtle smile, Luo Ming didn¡¯t give the impression he was too happy to see his daughter: ¡°Why did youe back? I thought I told you to study at Tianshan. Their Departing Water Ice Lake Sword Purification Style is one of the best Edge Realm Styles at the moment. Your shifu¡¯s skills rival my own. Why are you here instead of diligently studying?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu effused, ¡°Dad, how can I note back when you have finallye out of seclusion? I rushed back as soon as I received Fourth Brother¡¯s letter.¡±

    Ah, pfft. How long has Luo Ming been out for? How far is Tianshan from Jiangnan. I bet you sneaked off Tianshan some time ago and came back for some more fun when you heard your old man emerged.

    ¡°You think I don¡¯t know how far Tianshan is from here? I bet you sneaked back to the Central in. You think I won¡¯t tie you up to send you back to you shifu?¡±

    ¡°Kekeke, okay, Dad, you two can meet each other and fight. The North and South¡¯s powerhouse swordsmen, let¡¯s find out who the best swordsmen in the world really is.¡±

    ¡°Oi! Give it back!¡± Beggars Sect wasn¡¯t a group of idiots; they could tell what Luo Mingzhu¡¯s rtionship to Luo Ming with based on the duo¡¯s interaction. They just decided to feign ignorance. Beggars Sect¡¯s disciples approached Luo Ming to asked, ¡°Patriarch Luo, we are guests from afar. Are you going to shelter this thief?¡±

    ¡°Please pardon my daughter¡¯s mischief. May this one ask how she affronted you? Mingzhu, what did you pinch from them? Return their property.¡±

    ¡°I refuse. They deserve it for conspiring against you.¡± Dimpling, Luo Mingzhu stated, ¡°One night, on my way back, I saw a group of people rob a wealthy elder who is supposedly a corrupt businessman, so I decided to continue on my way until I heard them mention your name.¡±

    Catching the concern that flitted across their faces, Luo Mingzhu pulled a zany face at the group: ¡°You don¡¯t want me to expose you? I¡¯ll dly expose you. They said, ¡®I heard Luo Ming has invited all of the biggest groups. Even though he invited us, he specified he wants our Dog Beating Stick. You all know Young Master gave it to his senior three years ago and has yet to retrieve it. We can¡¯t turn down the invitation when we¡¯re the biggest sect in the world. Even though seasteel has been added to this cudgel, it¡¯s still a far cry from Dog Beating Stick. I hope we don¡¯t get busted.¡¯ Because I overheard their n to fool you, I shadowed them until I found the opportunity to steal their fake stick the day before.¡±

    While the Beggars Sect members on the shore cast their eyes to their feet in silence, the remaining members of Beggars Sect on their boat didn¡¯t dare to disembark.

    After I tricked Second Brother into giving me Dog Beating Stick, I remember I used it as a rack to dry clothing on at my small home where I secluded myself¡­

    I should go fetch it to practice swinging around again.

    ¡°Children like to be mischievous. We cannot take what they im at face value. Please do not worry,¡± Luo Ming expressed, throwing a sturdy cudgel back to Beggars Sect after snatching it from Luo Mingzhu¡¯s back.

    Beggars Sect returned to their boat without another word.

    ¡°Dad, are you going to let them off just like that? They tried to defraud you.¡±

    ¡°Quiet. You¡¯re getting older, yet you¡¯re less mature by the day. Take a page out of your fourth brother¡¯s book.¡±

    ¡°Amitabha.¡± The monk with the six urna on his forehead, the one who used Dawn Bell Dusk Drum to assist Luo Mingzhu back on the boats, politely smiled: ¡°This one is Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Mianhua, the leader for this trip. It is a pleasure to meet you, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    As the only Buddhist faction to be a Champion White Prince, everyone recognised this generation¡¯s Mianhua, a heavy drinker, also known as one of their four best drinkers, and the most skilled fighter among The Four Warm Southern Breezes.

    ¡°Hahaha, this one should have weed you sooner.¡±

    ¡°That would be wasted on this one, Patriarch Luo. He has been held up on the way here, while the conventionmences tomorrow, and he saw Beggars Sect making life difficult for Miss Luo, so we came without prior notification. Please pardon our intrusion.¡±

    ¡°It is this one¡¯s fault for failing to teach his daughter better. This one is grateful for what you have done. Else, his daughter would have been in trouble.¡± Luo Ming then shut his daughter down with a re first then let a smile spread across his lips: ¡°Mingzhu, this is an opportunity to introduce you to all the heroes of the world, so I will introduce you one by one. This is Venerable Mianhua, senior disciple of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s abbot, Venerable Monk.¡±

    ¡°So he¡¯s Abbot Jiyi¡¯s head disciple,¡± Boss Shen remarked with a de of hay dangling from her mouth.

    ¡°So he¡¯s Uncle Jiyi¡¯s head disciple,¡± Imented.

    Boss Shen turned my way: ¡°Uncle?¡±

    Me: ¡°Abbot.¡±

    ¡°Weirdo.¡±

    Man, that was close.

    Mianhua ced his hands together: ¡°You tter this one, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu understood her father was trying to clean up her image, so she politely greeted everyone her father introduced to her. Frankly, we were nobodiespared to everyone else if it wasn¡¯t for us being with Emperor Yuansheng, so Luo Ming could¡¯ve overlooked us without copping any k for it.

    ¡°That is Uncle Li¡¯s niece, Miss Shen. That is¡­¡±

    Identifying Luo Ming¡¯s short pause as a golden opportunity to make an impression, I stood up from the water - with two clingy, soggy nuisances on both arms - and tried in vain to perform a palm and fist salute. ordingly, I pressed two fingers together and gave the brightest smile I could in that situation: ¡°Hello, Miss Luo, this old one is-, I am Beiping¡¯s, I meant Hangzhou, I meant Nanjing¡¯s Liu Shan, wait, wait¡­¡±

    I¡¯ve lost track of all my identities!

    ¡°Uh, mm.¡± Luo Mingzhu nodded with a ridiculing expression.

    That¡¯s our first greeting?! How the hell am I supposed to enter her heart now?!

 Volume 9 17 Was the Assembly for this Moment?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 17 Was the Assembly for this Moment?</h4>

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Su Xiao.¡±

    ¡°H-hello, Brother Su.¡± Luo Mingzhu¡¯s cheeks were rosy upon setting her eyes on exuberant Su Xiao.

    What happened to the script?!What happened to the titude moment?! Does everyone judge people based on appearances now?!

    Boss Shen pulled me over and, using Voice Transmission, opined, ¡°Let¡¯s leave the seducing to Su Xiao.¡±

    ¡°You could tell what I was nning? Wait, why the flip did you stomp on my face, then?!¡±

    Boss Shen wrinkled her nose: ¡°So that you remember the consequences of trying to seduce women while on duty!¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao is also on duty, not to mention he holds a higher rank than me!¡±

    ¡°His heart is pure. Yours is infested with pollution.¡±

    Luo Ming nced back to theke to see if there was any other boat out there. I already hid A-Lan and Mountain Monster on a small ind before I came to the main ind, so it¡¯d take them days of scouring to find the two even with a team. Plus, Luo Ming was soon going to have his hands too full to search for the two.

    ¡°¡­ It is a rare asion for heroes of thend to gather. This gathering was scheduled for tomorrow, but due to circumstances, you have assembled against amon enemy. In a way, their interference has acted as a silver lining. Given the assembly here, the miscreants will know better than to step out of line.¡± Not even Luo Ming is above ttering - the ultimate strategy of strategies.

    ¡°We do not deserve such praise, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    Yeah, damn straight you lot don¡¯t. Luo Ming would sleep ny-nine percent of you in three strikes. The only thing you lot would be good for is meat shields.

    ¡°You must be thinking about now, ¡®How much longer is Luo Ming going to keep up with his enigma act?¡¯ Since this one¡¯s daughter has also joined your advent, he shall not keep you in suspense any longer. This one shall now exin the details of Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    The self-deprecating act in addition to his forthright, casual speech won most of them over, even evoking gratitude from them. As they began to mour, Luo Ming requested, ¡°Please follow this one to the main building, where we can converse infort.¡±

    It was understandable that Lass Yu had to follow. I just didn¡¯t understand why Houfeng stepped on my foot when she picked up Lass Yu.

    Jia Tiankui, an elder of Beggars Sect with nine bags, disembarked to follow the group. I didn¡¯t expect to see him still moving about when thest time I saw him was when he served up tes of food and poured drinks for me when I drank with Second Brother.

    In Beggars Sect, each member carries, at least, one pouch-like ¡°bag¡±, and the number of bags they carry indicate their rank. Putting aside the sect chief, the highest rank a member can attain is that of an elder, which is when they will carry nine bags. The Four Great Elders serve as the chief¡¯s deputies, each delegated a specific duty.

    ¡°He must be the reason Luo Ming hasn¡¯t osted Beggars Sect for trying to defraud him. He must¡¯ve been aware the elder would being.¡±

    Is he that awesome? I thought he was a dedicated waiter judging from his service back then. Hang on. Something about this is making me uneasy¡­

    ¡°Feizhen, is something the matter?¡± Since my gait was odd and I huddled up, Boss Shen questioned, ¡°You¡¯re cold, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing. I¡¯m just feeling a little cold¡­¡± I murmured.

    It eventually dawned on me that the people attending the convention were either people I was acquainted with - if my shifu or Night Fortress¡¯ master wasn¡¯t acquainted with them. Venerable Mianhua and I didn¡¯t know each other, but I knew his shifu well.

    ¡°Su Xiao, why are you shrinking like me?!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s copying you?! Cover me. Don¡¯t let them see me,¡± Su Xiao demanded.

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±

    You also have crappy friends you want to avoid?

    ¡°Look at Venerable Mianhua¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ knocked him out with my cooking when I visited Cold Mountain Temple¡­¡±

    Sheet, son, so we can¡¯t even see Venerable Mianhua now?

    Boss Shen suddenly tugged my shirt: ¡°Feizhen, did you offend someone?¡±

    ¡°Wh-why the question?¡±

    ¡°I get the feeling Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciple hates you.¡±

    My eyes tracked along Boss Shen¡¯s finger to see¡­

    Why is Huofeng releasing mes? Oh¡­ Oh, crap. I forgot all about my promise and even went missing for two days.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Huofeng was impervious to lies as she had means of ckmailing me and a fiery temper. Most importantly, she was ready to incinerate me!

    Lass Yu looked back at me, unable to keep up. Right as Luo Ming was about to enter the building, Huofeng hollered, ¡°Patriarch Luo, may I ask you a question.¡±

    Luo Ming turned back to regard Huofeng with a nod: ¡°This one did meet Matriarch Zi once in the past and was lucky enough to receive pointers from her. How can I help you, Abbess?¡±

    Judging from what Luo Ming said, he fought against Matriarch Zi in the past. I wonder who won. Wait, why does that matter right now? Why did Huofeng suddenly call out to him?!

    Huofeng sneaked a quick re my way out of her peripherals: ¡°You introduced everyone but missed out on a young hero with an impressive background. Could you exin why you passed on him?¡±

    Luo Ming wrinkled his nose: ¡°Sorry, this one does not follow¡­¡±

    Huofeng pointed my way: ¡°He is Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple with the Ming surname. He is the disciple of world-renowned Yuhua of the World. Did you not know that?¡±

 Volume 9 18 Feizhen is Forever Grateful

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 18 Feizhen is Forever Grateful</h4>

    Silence hit hard. I would never forget the scene of hundreds of heads spinning back around. It was the equivalent of being pped across the face hundreds of times with their gazes that resembled a tiger spotting a chicken!

    My appearance and attire weren¡¯t the same as what I wore two years ago. Had Huofeng not exposed me, nobody would¡¯ve spared me a second nce.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to disown your shifu and ancestors now, are you?¡± scathingly questioned Huofeng.

    I crossed my arms: ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°Drop the act! Where¡¯s your shifu?!¡± someone brayed.

    Shifu, you really been dining and dashing, huh? You¡¯re breaking your own enemies record!

    ¡°You¡­ You are Ming Huayu¡¯s disciple?¡± Boss Shen red at me for the longest several seconds in a while before casting her gaze gleaming with emotions from somewhere out of the blue upon me. I¡¯d be willing to ept a beating from her. This reaction, on the other hand, was impossible to read. All I could make from it was that she was acting somewhat¡­ childish? It was the first time I felt there was a considerable gap between us. As much as I wanted to exin why I hid the fact that my shifu was Ming Huayu, the asion didn¡¯t afford me the opportunity.

    ¡°Please hear me out,¡± Emperor Yuansheng requested loudly. ¡°Young Ming is a disciple of Mount Daluo, indeed. He did not mean to hide his background; he only did so out of consideration for his own safety in the pugilistic world. He is here as this one¡¯s representative today, not as a representative of Mount Daluo. Can you see why it would be an issue if he were to reveal his background?¡±

    I¡¯m thankful he spoke up for me, but is he implying he is suffering ack of manpower? Is it just my imagination?

    Huofeng stated, ¡°He is not a mere disciple. He is also Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, the sessor of Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch seat!¡±

    Mother! Grandma! Abbess! I¡¯ll call you what you want! Why are youing at me?!

    ¡°I see,¡± Luo Ming remarked with the eyes of a tiger on me.

    I could sense the skill Luo Ming cast on his eyes that allowed him to scan the yin and yang fluctuations in me, so I had to put on an inscrutable, unreadable air. There was no way I could fool him into believing I had no resistance against his technique as a disciple of Mount Daluo.

    Failing to glean anything from me, Luo Mingmented, ¡°Apparently, Mount Daluo chooses their disciples based on only one factor: fate. Mr. Ming is currently Hero Shenzhou¡¯s only direct disciple.¡±

    I ced my palm and fist together: ¡°That is correct.¡±

    ¡°It is said that Mr. Ming¡¯s six disciples of this generation are all aplished heroes. Everyone knows Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider and Moon Chaser Swordsman. As his senior disciple, you must also be quite the man. May this one ask which style from Daluo Five Divine Styles you specialise in?¡± Luo Ming, who knew about Mount Daluo being the owner of Night Fortress but not which disciple ran it, inquired with his counterfeit smile.

    Sixth and Second were pretty much household names as Luo Ming pointed out, while Fifth Sister, Third and Fourth were under the radar. Thetter three went to and fro wherever they liked, yet Luo Ming sounded as though he knew about them.

    ¡°This one specialises in strategy but is disappointingly poor at martial arts.¡±

    ¡°That is strange. This one heard all disciples of Mount Daluo are extraordinary martial artists. Is that an ungrounded im?¡±

    ¡°You seem to be awfully informed of the martial world¡¯s activities for someone in seclusion for a decade.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s brain stuttered for a moment before he tried to keep probing, refusing to buy my story. s, someone interjected, ¡°Patriarch Luo, if we look at rtionships here, you should not receive the priority to question Brother Ming first.¡±

    Hmm¡­ Do I know him?

    ¡°Brother Ming, this old one has finally found you. Do you not recognise this old man from the border?¡±

    I¡­ think I do? I think I¡¯ve tasted your killer wine and equally impressive broadsword skills when I was a kid?

    ¡°Should we know each other?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Heh, maybe not, but this old one and your shifu certainly would know each other.¡±

    ¡°Could this one bother you to exin?¡±

    ¡°Your shifu once offered to help us fight off horse-riding bandits in exchange for some of this old one¡¯s wine when they vandalised our region one year. This old one epted his offer for there was no apparent loss. We went to their den to act as witnesses as per his request to find them asleep. Because our arrival woke them up, we were thrust into a big fight that we exhausted ourselves to settle, yet your shifu never showed up.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he was busy w-¡±

    ¡°Oh, he was busy, busy drinking this old one¡¯s wine! By the time this old one got back, he had finished every jar, but it doesn¡¯t end there. He then went and chucked up everywhere in this old one¡¯s house!¡±

    Beautifully executed luring strategy! I thought I was adept, yet you¡¯ve been exterminating evil without even needing to do it yourself, Shifu. I do feel sorry for the old geezer, though. I was wondering why there was no news of you recently. Damn bugger is starting to go after those by the border.

    ¡°Prior to departing, he told this one to seek out his disciples for anything this old one needed. Brother Ming, are you going to be paying for his debt?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I am only a substitute. The real senior disciple of Mount Dal-¡±

    ¡°Brother Ming, I didn¡¯t know you were here.¡±

    I shifted my gaze over to Xiao Huangquan.

    Oh, crud. I can¡¯t piss this guy off.

    Xiao Huangquan gave me a smile; I looked down. He looked at me; I looked back out of my peripherals.

    Hey, hey, don¡¯t take another step here while sporting that sinister smile! Also, get your arm off my shoulder!

    ¡°Lifees full circle, huh, Brother Ming?¡±

    I don¡¯t know you! Take a hike!

    ¡°Could you have forgotten about us sharing three hundred fishes while drunk?!¡±

    I wagged my hand: ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°Spring Wind Full Moon Brothel¡¯s Miss Qiao can sing and dance, remember?¡±

    ¡°Flower picking is not a gentleman¡¯s deed.¡±

    ¡°Haha, you aren¡¯t going to tell me you forgot about us taking three leaks in Luo Lake, do you?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare bring that up again! I wouldn¡¯t have needed to put on the drunken act if you didn¡¯t drink all of their Luoyang Golden Frost to unt your wealth!¡±

    Oh, crap, slip of the tongue there.

    Hundreds of people behind Xiao Huangquan: ¡°So it was you! When you going to pay back your shifu¡¯s wine (broadsword, sword, secret manual, gambling, brothel¡­) debts?!¡±

    Someone give me a reed. I¡¯m out of here!

    Huofeng flicked a smirk: ¡°You are being too humble. Wutong Jin Yuxuan is familiar with many groups in Hangzhou for it is our home. Did you know that N-¡±

    Stop! Stop! Stop! You¡¯re not listening to yourself! Are you going to even bring out Demon Sect?! Have you lost your mind?!

    ¡°Wait, Abbess!¡± I cried. ¡°I-I have something to say.¡±

    ¡°But I have nothing to say to you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I have something to convey to all the heroes present. Please let me finish first. Everyone, my surname is Ming and am a direct disciple of Mr. Ming Huayu. I believe you have all been informed of the big news concerning Mount Daluo and Wutong Jin Yuxuan.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we received a letter stating that the news would be announced yesterday, but nobody was there.¡±

    ¡°We do owe all of you an apology and exnation for that. We were hoping to announce it in prosperous Huzhou; however, it dawned on us that Luo Sword Sanctuary and Refining Divine Convention would make an even more suitable asion for the announcement. As such, we decided to dy it until now.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what are you going to announce?¡± Huofeng stuttered.

    To avoid Huofeng exposing me, appease her, help Matriarch Zi recover from her depression and shield Wutong Jin Yuxuan from being panned, I had to speak up. Luckily for me, I had a backup n up my sleeve.

    I dered, ¡°The good news is that Mount Daluo and Wutong Jin Yuxuan will be forging an eternal bond!¡±

    Huofeng suddenly burst into tears and walked back to her fellow disciples with her teeth in her lips. All of a sudden, she passed out to my confusion.

    Shifu, I have never forgotten what you taught me. Watch this.

    I inhaled before I announced, ¡°As this one¡¯s shifu is not present, he shall announce it on behalf of his shifu. Shifu is determined to take Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Matriarch Zi as his wife and take care of her even after death! Anyone who hears the announcement is invited to Mount Daluo for the ceremony to join the banquet!¡±

    Ah¡­ Shifu, no need to thank me. You asked for it!

 Volume 9 19 FromThe Perspective of a Certain Someone

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 19 From The Perspective of a Certain Someone</h4>

    ¡°Thank you. Thank you,¡± I repeated with zest even as the congrattory phrases started to grow repetitive and thoughtless for protocol¡¯s sake.

    ¡°May Golden Boy and Jade Maiden share an eternity of happiness.¡±

    ¡°May they both live long and healthy lives with many grandkids.¡±

    ¡°May the man¡¯sher region and the woman¡¯s personality be loose.¡±

    Hey,st one, get back here! You never tasted Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s power, have you?!

    Although they sounded exuberant, I knew better than anyone that they only bothered showing any politeness because they wanted to join the banquet! I bet they all figured it was better to confront my shifu at Mount Daluo rather than deal with my broke bum. They were looking to catch the bigger fish.

    While Mount Daluo wasden with natural obstacles, we, needless to say, would put in the work to ensure they could visit as proper, VIP guests. Bad luck for them because I couldn¡¯t guarantee how my shiniangs would react to the news. From experience, trying to get something out of my shifu¡¯s pouch once he bagged it was¡­ Well, I turned a blind eye to those things since I had no means of predicting who the loser would be, and this was no exception.

    ¡°It is this one¡¯s mistake for not realising Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor had honoured us with his presence,¡± Luo Ming said after everyone left.

    Huofeng and I put Luo Ming in a dilemma, consequently embarrassing him, when she decided to hijack his spotlight and I dyed his ns, stole the limelight with my announcement and made him wait for everyone to congratte me. I wouldn¡¯t me him for raging, yet he wasn¡¯t bothered - at least, he didn¡¯t appear to be.

    ¡°With you here, we have representatives from the three biggest sects dignifying this one and Huzhou. We will have plenty of quality weapons to work with now.¡±

    Three? Shaolin also sent someone?

    ¡°What weapon are you forging?¡± somebody queried.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Luo Ming responded with a smile and then entered the building with his son and daughter in tow.

    ¡°Wait, Patriarch Luo. What sort of weapon are you nning to forge?¡±

    ¡°Did you not say you were going to reveal the details of Refining Divine Convention? Why did you stop there?¡±

    Sly fox, bloody quelled the awkward atmosphere with a couple of words.

    I hurried after Boss to advise, ¡°Boss, don¡¯t go.¡±

    Boss just kept going, but she couldn¡¯t cut in line or leap off the heads of the famous individuals also heading in.

    ¡°Hehe, nowhere to go now, huh? Liste-¡±

    Boss strafed to continue forward.

    Hey,e on! Are you going to overlook Refining Divine Convention just to avoid me?!

    ¡°Xiao, go on ahead. I¡¯ll be there in a tick.¡±

    ¡°Eh? But I¡¯m on my own.¡± Su Xiao grabbed his head.

    ¡°So what? I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy.¡±

    As he watched Boss and I recede into the crowd, Su Xiao grumbled, ¡°If Vice-Captain Shen, Tang Ye and you aren¡¯t around, doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m the only member left of Liu Shan Men?¡± He then grabbed a strand of green bristlegrass to dangle in his mouth and strolled in with both hands behind his head. ¡°Liu Shan Men rests on my shoulders when it counts. Getting paid peanuts for doing all this work is shaving years off my lifespan.¡±

    ***

    Boss Shen refused to stop no matter how I called. Luckily, she couldn¡¯t run off using her qingong, lest she be mistaken for an assassin, granting me the advantage since I had the longer legs. Boss might¡¯ve looked tall, but that was attributed to her proportions, not actual height. She eventually pulled over at a gazebo for she couldn¡¯t cross theke.

    ¡°Boss, what are you running from?!¡±

    Boss spun around, showing resolve to jump into theke.

    ¡°Shen Yiren! Stop right there!¡± I rushed over to seize Boss¡¯ wrist.

    I could feel Boss¡¯ hand shaking with the urge to draw a sword and saw her feet creep my way, ready tounch up at myher region. Nevertheless, she repressed the urges and turned back to me, forcing the words behind my teeth back down my throat. I had never seen that feminine abashment in her eyes. By no means was I denying her as a woman. I was speaking rtively. It would usually be Shen Kuang who wore those eyes. Eventually, I read her reluctance to be consigned to something.

    ¡°Boss, I act-¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Y-you know?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re about to mention you not being an ordinary disciple, then I already knew about it.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Boss Shen¡¯s gaze fell on me as an act of violence: ¡°I¡¯m not so foolish that I can¡¯t tell you aren¡¯t an ordinary disciple. While I epted your job application because of your aunt, your performances did exceed my expectations. Your judgement and creativity surpasses every veteran constable I know of. Why would you think I couldn¡¯t tell?¡±

    You¡­ have a point. Su Xiao is probably the only person who never suspected me. My fault for being stupid.

    ¡°Then¡­ are you refusing to speak to me because you¡¯re angry with me?¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Boss ever showed another person the same tender gaze before, but I saw it a second time, sweeping me off my feet.

    ¡°I¡¯m not angry with you¡­ I just don¡¯t like it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t like¡­ what?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t like the fact that you didn¡¯t take the initiative to confess your identity to me.¡± The forlorn smile couldn¡¯t diminish Boss¡¯ beauty. ¡°Feizhen, based on the time I¡¯ve been your superior, tell me how you evaluate me.¡±

    What¡¯s she hinting at? I need to think instead of blurting honest answers, like mesmerising and having an admirable rack.

    ¡°You¡­ are a good superior.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Boss Shen erased her soft aura and resurrected her indomitable will in its ce. ¡°I¡¯m a lot more unapproachable than you imagine. I won¡¯t keep anyone who cannot bring any merit to the table. I don¡¯t know if you realise it, but you¡¯ve always shone to me.

    ¡°I rarely speak glowingly of anyone and am not good at it. My intuition tells me that you¡¯re more valuable than Xiao Han and Yan Ling. Perhaps you¡¯ve been under the impression that your merry days at Liu Shan Men aren¡¯t out of the ordinary. In reality, I¡¯ve never allowed anyone besides you to have six hours off. I¡¯vepletely lost count of how many times Old Huang has reported you for breaking rules daily, yet I¡¯ve never held you ountable for any offence. You know why?¡±

    Wait a second¡­ Boss knows I stole wine, ate more than my allowance, conned Old Huang of money and peeped on the female constables bathing, yet I¡¯ve been spared all this time? This special privilege is the bomb, son!

    Boss squinted: ¡°When did you peep?!¡±

    ¡­ She didn¡¯t know? Wait, did I voice my thoughts without realising it? I smashed myself in the foot?

    After a lecture, Boss elucidated, ¡°I¡¯ve kept you because you¡¯re useful. You¡¯re clever, knowledgeable, seasoned, scrupulous, attentive and have a knack for sensing danger. Even though cases you handle have nigh absurd resolutions, they¡¯re unimpeachable. Frankly, I sometimes feel inferior to you. There¡¯s no way I can waste someone of your calibre, which is why I¡¯ve kept you.

    ¡°I was under the assumption that you keep behaving slovenly and haven¡¯t opened up to me because you haven¡¯t acknowledged me. For that reason, I¡¯ve been trying to aplish something big enough to earn your respect. I never thought someone would expose you before you could confess to me.¡±

    I always took Boss¡¯ nice treatment for granted, never questioning how she perceived me. ¡°I¡­ apologise¡­¡±

    Boss kicked me in the calf, putting her back into it, no less. I crouched down to grab my calf and yelled, ¡°What was that for?!¡±

    ¡°Your fault for being so easy for them to identify.¡± Arms folded and looking askance, Boss expressed, ¡°I told you all of that to let you know that I¡¯m not angry. I¡¯m just bitter about doing so much for nothing. You¡¯re still my best helper despite your martial arts skills being inadequate.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Wh-what did you just say?¡± I couldn¡¯t see Boss¡¯ face vividly from behind my tousled hair, but I was sure I didn¡¯t mishear.

    ¡°You¡¯re still my best helper despite your martial arts skills being inadeq-¡­ate¡­ Why are you staring at me?¡±

    ¡°How should I know?¡± Really, I didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t rify what the feeling was.

    Boss walked off mumbling for a few steps then verbalised, ¡°Let¡¯s go see Luo Ming¡¯s Refining Divine Convention. This is important. And don¡¯t get lost.¡± Boss suddenly stopped after another two steps and reversed back to me. ¡°By the way, I have more to say to you.¡±

    ¡°Ok-okay, what is it?¡±

    ¡°Not here. Come to my room around nine to eleven tonight.¡± And this time, Boss didn¡¯t back up.

    I heaved a huge breath once Boss was out of sight and used my hand as shade from the sun.

    I never thought there¡¯de a day where I could prove myself without having to rely on hitting someone.

    I turned my fingers into steely mps, basking them in the sun for a second and then rxed them.

    Have I changed my life? Eh, hold up, hold up. Go see her? At night? In her room? Serious?

    ¡°Boss, let¡¯s discuss this! Hey! Hey!¡±

    Glossary

    May the man¡¯sher region and the woman¡¯s personality be loose - The original phrase is, ¡°The man is the dog food, and the maiden is the dog,¡± which is a rhyme on words. I reced it because the joke doesn¡¯t rhyme in English, and, as far as I know, the joke doesn¡¯t hold up in English. I did ensure the intent of the joke/ill-willed ¡°blessing¡± has been maintained. As you may, or may not, know, lots of sexual jokes involve the dog word in Chinese.

 Volume 9 20 Luo Ming

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 20 Luo Ming</h4>

    In the spacious hall, Luo Ming addressed, ¡°The reason Luo Sword Manor has stood the test of time because of its strong martial arts foundation and profound swordy. Our ancestors have contributed very little to protecting justice in the pugilistic world, so it has fallen on your shoulders all these years. This one has been so focused on his own training since being instated as patriarch that he has let down the smithing department and his ancestors. That is why he has been thinking about how to forge a weapon that his great ancestors would be proud of. Refining Divine Convention is something this one came up with from a spark of inspiration. Please reprieve him if he has inconvenienced you in any way.¡±

    Firstly, if Luo Sword Manor wasn¡¯t strong, they wouldn¡¯t be where they were. Secondly, the imperial court wouldn¡¯t hire them as their primary and exclusive weapons supplier if Luo Sword Manor wasn¡¯t manufacturing weapons up to standard. You can blow your trumpet as you like, but there wille a day when your quality will have to do the talking, and there has yet to be any bad reviews of their weapons.

    ¡°Why does he keep beating around the bush? People who don¡¯t get to the point can¡¯t be good people,¡± thought Su Xiao, arms crossed as his head bobbed rhythmically.

    Emperor Yuansheng could see through the fib of Refining Divine Convention¡¯s origins. Sadly, he had no proof to convict Luo Ming or any right to cut in while Luo Ming was addressing the people present.

    Xiao Huangquan, on the contrary, didn¡¯t care so much about how others judged him and opined, ¡°You need not be so humble when we all know you are without equal with a sword in hand. There are no more than three ns in existence that could forge weapons rivalling your n¡¯s. You know that Tang n secludes themselves in the mountain, while Skycloud Pce¡¯s whereabouts are unknown for the most part, leaving only Clear Mirror Pce as yourpetition. It is a pity they are barbaric despite their extravagance unlike your n¡¯s polished background.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Xiao Huangquan¡¯s notoriety for being yful and carefree preceded his reputation for asionally helping as a defender of a justice. Nobody expected an alcoholic, who was already drinking again, to speak as well as a schr based off his notoriety and dishevelled appearance.

    Luo Ming lifted up the corner of his lips: ¡°You tter this one, Hero Xiao.¡±

    ¡°This old one does not know about that, but he does know you are close to the imperial court as one of the Champion White Princes.¡±

    Seldom did heroes of thend associate with the Seven Champion White Princes for they preferred to have their freedom instead of being dragged into the political arena. By the same token, Luo n¡¯s status as one of the Champion White Princes raised a lot of brows, though nobody dared to mention it.

    ¡°This convention of yours had nothing to do with this old man. Out of the blue, your n sent him a sword, saying you wished topare it to his Faithfulness Sword. Hehe, hard not to specte you harbour ulterior motives.¡±

    Su Xiao, finally unable to repress his curiosity, inquired, ¡°So, which sword is sharper, elder?¡±

    Xiao Huangquan answered, ¡°Good question. This old one sold it for ten silvers at the foot of Mount Song to buy dozens of wine jugs.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Thought Su Xiao expressed himself freely, others fought with their lips.

    Since Emperor Yuansheng and his escort went on ahead, they were next to Luo Ming, while Su Xiao was far away.

    ¡°Kiddo, you not worried about trouble finding you for joining this old man?¡±

    ¡°What is there to fear? Patriarch Luo is a famous man. Would he pick on a kid?¡± Unbeknownst to many, Su Xiao had learnt to be shameless when the situation called for it.

    Luo Ming just kept smiling: ¡°Sending you a sword as an invitation was merely this one¡¯s gift. Although it might have been somewhat careless, to say he harbours an ulterior motive is a stretch.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, tell us more, please,¡± responded Xiao Huangquan.

    ¡°Do you not n to take your Faithfulness Sword out from your red cbash to enlighten us?¡± Luo Ming inquired.

    ¡°¡­ Hahaha, all right, all right, that is Luo Ming for you.¡± Xiao Huangquan drew his sword with ¡°Faithfulness¡± etched onto the de from the bottom of his big red cbash. ¡°And? Now you have seen it, what next?¡±

    ¡°You obtained your sword from Faithful Gentleman, Dan Weishan, in Nanjiang. While it is not a well-known sword in the Central in, this one does know it is a fine sword. The sword this one gifted you must have been a disappointment inparison,¡± Luo Ming replied.

    Xiao Huangquan chugged some wine with his eyes as slits.

    ¡°Did you happen to read the small text carved onto the Crimson Pine Sword this one gifted you, Hero Xiao?¡±

    ¡°Text? Never checked.¡±

    ¡°That is fine. This one can remind you. It said, ¡®Butterfly Shadow Shuttle Light. Rain and Dragon Appear with the Clouds. Cold Face, Clear Edge. Sin Weishan.¡¯¡±

    Xiao Huangquan beat Dan Weishan by a hair¡¯s breadth back then in Nanjiang after their three-day duel to obtain the sword, a story that Xiao Huangquan never told. Dan Weishan was one of the three top swordsman in Nanjiang during that era.

    The passage Luo Ming read out, bringing memories of the duel back to the front of Xiao Huangquan¡¯s mind, was the four most advanced moves of Faithfulness Swordy that Dan Weishan practiced. What made Xiao Huangquan stiffen up was the specific order that Luo Ming read them in. When Xiao Huangquan fought Dan Weishan, thetter never used the four moves in that sequence. ¡°No counter. No counter,¡± Xiao Huangquan muttered as he visualised the four moves being executed in session.

    Luo Ming expressed, ¡°Luo Sword Manor is not qualified to challenge the various great weapons wandering the world. That being said, this one does have some opinions he could provide for your research from his martial arts studies. This one assumes you all share the same desire.¡±

    No sane man would attend a shady convention; the only reason they attended was either because their skills or weapon were inferior to Luo Ming¡¯s. The point that Luo Ming tried to make was that Luo Sword Manor weren¡¯t limited to only forging excellent swords. They also had a remarkable swordsman - Luo Ming.

 Volume 9 21 Wangcai, Is That You?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 21 Wangcai, Is That You?</h4>

    I stopped while chasing after Boss to pick up my old nemesis - the inkstone that smashed my face countless times - and stuffed it in my pocket, unsure of why it dropped there.

    Wait. Even if I can catch up to Boss now, all I can do is repeat myself. If I say the wrong thing, she might bludgeon me. Plus, Luo Ming is probably crapping out of his mouth right about now. Although I do want to know why he stated all three of the greatest sects have assembled, it can wait. Besides, somebody else can fill me in. My priority right now should be to draw up a map to navigate Repository Ind so that I can look into what Luo Ming won¡¯t tell us.

    I¡¯d draw attention without a doubt if I suddenly vanished after entering the gazebo given how heavily guarded Repository Ind was. I went with the easiest solution, sleeping the guards and dumping them in theke. Done. No, using Eclipse wouldn¡¯t have made sense since Luo Ming would immediately detect me even though his guards couldn¡¯t.

    I moved about using my qinggong. Howbeit, I asionally had to seal the guards¡¯ meridians using Night Net Celestial Silk to move around because of the tight security. Once I was safe, I would free them. I rinsed and repeated until I had a general idea of the ind. As for discoveries¡­ there were none to speak of. Not even secret passages.

    I guess there couldn¡¯t be too many people who are informed of the ind¡¯s secrets seeing as Luo Ming even fooled his son.

    Damn, what is the old fox nning? How do I predict and stay ahead of him?

    Suddenly, I caught something simr to a small ck animal flit past, puzzling me. I thereupon gave chase, catching up by the side and grabbing it with one hand. I was right. The trembling little guy¡­ was a rodent, one hell of a plump rodent.

    ¡°¡­ Wangcai, that you?¡±

    The rodent was too busy trying to escape its catatonic state to answer me.

    ***

    Su Xiao immediately caught Xiao Huangquan, who the former admired for also being forthright, when thetter started barfing blood and convulsing perpetually. Xiao Huangquan¡¯s injuries came from his own mental wall disrupting his flow of true qi. Su Xiao could feel his left arm going numb as he held Xiao Huangquan up.

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, can you help him?¡± Su Xiao requested.

    Luo Ming just smiled; it made no sense to save someone he just put in ce using. Butterfly Shadow Shuttle Light. Rain and Dragon Appear with the Clouds. Cold Face, Clear Edge. Sin Weishen. Nobody sided with Su Xiao for they believed Xiao Huangquan deserved it after running his mouth.

    Afraid Xiao Huangquan would suffer qi deviation, Su Xiao, in a muffled voice, eximed, ¡°I apologise in advance, Elder.¡±

    Su Xiao drew Ancient Cold, spreading his cold energy as he swung it overhead - not in any specific style. The purpose of the draw was to use its sound as a means of negating the attack Xiao Huangquan was at the mercy of simrly to Shaolin¡¯s Lion¡¯s Roar. As if Su Xiao actually cut down on him, Xiao Huangquan¡¯s trembling ceased, and his brows split apart.

    ¡°The young m-, l-, uh, that was a tremendous Voice Transmission cancetion method,¡± someoneplimented.

    Not all sound techniques were created equal. For example, Shaolin¡¯s Lion¡¯s Roar might¡¯ve helped Xiao Huangquan, but Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Dawn Bell Dusk Drum would be too mild to have had a positive effect.

    While Su Xiao used Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Voice Transmission style, he employed purely Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal strength system, resulting in his draw also being rooted in the mental cultivation style Ming Feizhen taught him. Su Xiao surprised even himself when his attempt worked out on his first try.

    Luo Ming¡¯s gaze alternated between Ancient Cold and Su Xiao¡¯s body to try and deduce thetter¡¯s mental cultivation style. Su Xiao¡¯s physical motions didn¡¯t tickle Luo Ming¡¯s fancy as anyone could perform what he did with a few years of training under their belt.

    Luo Ming could reverse engineer the techniques if he could grasp an individual¡¯s mental cultivation style thanks to his understanding of Repository Sword Theory. If he could spar with the target himself to analyse, then he could even deduce their internal style. It was the very trick he used to find the chinks in the styles of those invited, consequently lulling them to the ind, though it took him years to gain the strength to perform deductions consecutively. It would take him another five years of studying at his current pace in order to understand the intricacies of his opponent¡¯s style.

    It¡¯s almost as if the style goes beyond myprehension of martial arts. It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at a ck screen no matter how I analyse his draw. It should be impossible for him to utilise such aplex style at his young age. Who¡­ taught him that?

    Thanks to Venerable Mianhua using Voice Transmission to help Xiao Huangquan steer his qi back on course, Xiao Huangquan managed to pull himself together in five minutes.

    ¡°That was close. This old man nearly died there,¡±mented Xiao Huangquan. ¡°Luo Ming, you really are something else, huh? Had it not been for this kind kid, this old one would have perished here.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Luo Ming never let his counterfeit smile leave his face the entire time. ¡°This one was merely pointing out the fact that he never meant any ill will when he invited you. If you were not convinced that you had no answer for those four moves, you would not have taken any damage. As your patience is likely drying up from listening to this one ramble, he shall sum it up for you. The reason for the invitations is simple: you need Luo Sword Manor, while this one needs you.¡±

    Luo Ming had the procedure for delivering the details nned out well in advance. Had he said what he just mentioned earlier, he would¡¯ve riled up a lot of people. Through showing courtesy and then subduing Xiao Huangquan, he forced them to go along with him whether they liked it or not as he added an enigmaticponent to the fishy convention.

    ¡°It would be arrogant to im Luo Sword Manor¡¯s swordy is superior to all of yours, and the same can be said for our swords. If we were to break it down, though, this one would win. As martial artists, are you not inquisitive? Do you not have any desire to win? Do you have no desire to improve? ¡­ This one does and with passion.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, you should just be explicit at this point,¡± someone demanded.

    ¡°In that case, this one shall not hold back. This one found a demanding method to forge an ultimate weapon from the ancient books on cksmithing. Therefore, this one requires your help to forge it. For that reason, this one has done everything in his power to invite all of you here. This one has not withheld any information. Anyone who aids this one shall be rpensed. If they are the final winner, the divine sword shall be theirs to keep.¡±

    Someone: ¡°Is that the only reason you invited us here?¡±

    ¡°No. The victor must agree to do something for this one¡­ Should they be able toplete the task, not only will they be gifted the weapon, but this one shall also betroth his daughter to them, with half of Luo Sword Manor as the dowry.¡±

 Volume 9 22 I Went to Fetch Something From My Room

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 22 I Went to Fetch Something From My Room</h4>

    Luo Mingzhu¡¯s cheeks were suddenly kissed pink, and she coquettishlymunicated, ¡°Dad, why did you suddenly bringing this up?¡±

    ¡°My daughter has learned to tweak like ordinary girls now? How can we waste an opportunity to find you a husband from the heroes present? Why are you acting coy when it¡¯s perfectly normal for you to marry at your age?¡±

    ¡°You are being rash. You do not even care.¡± Luo Mingzhu pouted, albeit her primarily being bashful. In spite of her whinging, Luo Mingzhu epted the reality that her father would be electing her husband on her behalf from a young age as it was a long-practiced custom for affluent families.

    ¡°You¡¯re better off watching the heroes present. All of them are true heroes. It might be thest time I can gather so many exemry individuals.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu was already scoping out every man present. Unlike Luo Siming, who grew up with the mentality of seeding his father, or her other brothers, Luo Mingzhu grew up spoilt, not to mention the natural crafty blood coursing through her.

    Every sect has young disciples. Thing is, Luo Sword Manor was after weapons or Edge Realm style adepts, which narrowed the list of candidates down to middle-aged men who were n leaders or patriarchs. Of course, elders would also be among those likely in possession of either. The likes of Xiao Huangquan, unorthodox sects¡¯ members or second-rate martial artists, such as Chigan Sha, wouldn¡¯t tickle her fancy, leaving her with a pitifully small pool to choose from. The only ones she had any interest in were Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Young Master Ling, Kuang Lu, Dugu and Venerable Mianhua.

    Owing to the silence everyone exercised to listen to Luo Ming, Shen Yiren¡¯s entrance stole all of the attention during Luo Ming¡¯s pause.

    ¡°I, uh¡­ went back to my room to fetch something,¡± Shen Yiren expounded.

    Ny percent of the people there: ¡°Oh¡­ Okay¡­¡±

    ¡°V-, Sister Yiren, over here.¡± Su Xiao was reminded not to address Shen Yiren as Vice-Captain outside of business.

    The moment Su Xiao called out and waved, Luo Mingzhu¡¯s eyes instantly made their way to him. He didn¡¯t stand out as an exceptional manpared to the others, but hisdy-killer reputation wasn¡¯t bestowed upon him on unjustified grounds.

    Luo Mingzhu purposely tried to not pay attention to Su Xiao ever since first meeting him, lest she feel bothered. s, his ability to maise her eyes surpassed her resistance. Noticing her gaze on him, Su Xiao shed his pearly whites: ¡°Hi.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu¡¯s blush seared through her cheeks. For a minute she thought her face was on fire. She suddenly felt awkward, demure, and coy; even going as far as attempting to hide her rosy features behind her father.

    Shen Yiren pulled confounded Su Xiao over to fill her in on what she missed out. The more she heard, the closer her eyebrows came together. As Luo Ming began to inform them where the event would be held tomorrow and what time, Shen Yiren voiced, ¡°Patriarch Luo, may I ask a question?¡±

    ¡°How can this one help you, Miss Shen?¡± Luo Ming never underestimated Shen Yiren¡¯s sagacity.

    ¡°I am purely curious as to what sort of sword you are forging that would motivate you to pull out all the stops in order to ensure its sess?¡±

    Luo Ming tugged up the corner of his lips ever so slightly: ¡°This one was going to get to that.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled back at Luo Ming despite seeing through the shameless lie.

    ¡°As this one mentioned, the methodologyes from an ancient book, and this one has never seen it before. This one spent ten days staring straight at the page to study it when he first discovered it. You know about this one¡¯s cksmithing knowledge. He swears on his head that the sword has never been forged before and will never be replicated.¡±

    Luo Ming would seed as a businessman - easily. His oath added to his credibility, while his trumpet work had them dying to see what sort of sword would have someone with one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding desuding it.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°How is it forged, Patriarch Luo?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu scoffed, ¡°That¡¯s an awful lot of questions. Win thepetition, and nobody will bother you no matter what you do with it. You¡¯re being a nuisance.¡±

    While perplexing to most, Shen Yiren had no trouble discerning why Luo Mingzhu wasn¡¯t polite to her - jealousy.

    ¡°That is not a very good deal to me. Would I not have to marry you if I win? I cannot afford to raise a pampered missy.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu pulled her sword on Shen Yiren: ¡°I dare you to insult me again¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting married, Boss?¡± Ming Feizhen, unflinching at the individuals who turned to the entrance, remarked, ¡°What? I went to fetch something from my room.¡±

    They say weak characters are forgettable, but Ming Feizhen was memorable because Luo Ming mistook him for an intruder.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he on the ind just now? Did he say he fetched something from his room?¡± everyone thought. Everyone shifted their gaze back to Shen Yiren, who said the same thing, and then shook their heads.

    Shen Yiren was stuck with tormenting blushes for there was no way to exin the coincidence. In the end, she turned her head to the side to avert her gaze.

    Ming Feizhen ambled over to Shen Yiren to pass her something wrapped in red silk. At a nce, the silk resembled a dudou. He said, ¡°Boss, you left this at my ce.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng formed to cannonballs with his hands and muttered under his breath, ¡°Bring him here.¡± Others chortled or showed disdain.

    Baffled, Ming Feizhen whispered, ¡°Boss, what¡¯s with them? Those look like depraved grins.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You idiot!¡± Shen Yiren snatched over the inkstone wrapped in red silk and whacked Ming Feizhen as if his head was on a swivel.

 Volume 9 23 What Does it Mean to be a Person of Distinction? (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 23 What Does it Mean to be a Person of Distinction? (Part 1)</h4>

    Subsequent to Su Xiao¡¯s recount and a quick eye exchange with Xiao Huangquan, I opined, ¡°Patriarch Luo, that will not do.¡±

    ¡°Might you be able to enlighten this one?¡± requested Luo Ming, fully aware that I was getting on his case.

    Whilst rubbing my sore cheeks, I exined, ¡°It is obvious. What if a formidable maiden wins? For instance, Su¡­ Su¡­ Shen¡­ can you two stop stomping on my feet?! Yeah, so I was saying: a maiden cannot marry your daughter if they win, so how are they supposed to receive the dowry? You are unarguably cheating us.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. There are a number of strong maidens here. Women are not weaker than men.¡±

    ¡°There is even an idiom for that, so it is a possible oue.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, Metal Yu Feiyuan is here. Who here can confidently im that Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples have no chance of winning?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Why does it sound like you people are now leveraging my objection to sow discord between Luo Sword Manor and Wutong Jin Yuxuan? Well, let¡¯s see how Luo Ming reacts.

    If they knew Lass Yu well enough, they¡¯d know that she wouldn¡¯t put in the effort to vie for the weapon since it neither interested her nor corresponded to her code of chivalry.

    I didn¡¯t doubt they heard about Matriarch Zi snapped the Vajra Demon Subduing Staff Luo Sword Manor sent to Hangzhou in one chop without ever using it. Wutong Jin Yuxuan still attended the convention staunchly as they were one of the few sects that had the prerogative to challenge Luo Sword Manor. If anything, they¡¯d be more than happy to throw hands for trying to disparage them.

    ¡°You misunderstand, Young Hero Ming.¡±

    All right, what are you up to, you fox?

    Seldom do I, King of King of Checkers, have moments where I cannot fathom what someone is nning. As far as I could tell, Luo Ming might¡¯ve surpassed my realm since thest time I met him. In ourst match, he wasn¡¯t that hard to read. This time, I couldn¡¯t read him.

    A crafty smirk came to Luo Ming¡¯s lips as he pulled his son over and patted Luo Siming¡¯s shoulder: ¡°This one¡¯s son is also up for grabs.¡±

    Sheet me, are you a cksmithingpany or a human trafficker?! The deal is horse crap! Instead of going home with a beautiful wife as a trophy, you expect the winner to marry into your family?! Thank god I asked. If I had to marry your son after winning the toughpetition, I¡¯d stick a knife in your son to liberate myself! Everyone here knows that your son wouldn¡¯t be able to beat ady if she could win the tournament, you con artist. How bad do you want to sell your son?! Are they even your biological children?!

    Luo Ming continued, ¡°You came at the right time, Young Hero Ming. This one was about to mention something relevant to you, so he can ask you now.¡±

    No matter how suspicious he is of me, today is our first official meeting. What can I do for him?

    ¡°This one could not possibly leave out the three great sects when sending invitations out. As such, in addition to personally penning their letters, this one also delivered three swords second only to supreme weapons to the three sects. Does anyone happen to know what response this one received? ¡­ Wudang sent two letters and three snapped swords.¡± Luo Ming waited for everyone to conjure a shocking visage prior to shaking his head and wearing on a helpless smile. ¡°The three great sects¡¯ patriarchs used superior des to snap the swords this one sent. The three great sects really are distinguished¡­ distinguished¡­¡± Luo Ming seemed to be recalling the sight.

    Besides Grandmaster and I, only Shifu manages the weapons on Mount Daluo. Grandmaster is unlikely to respond or bother since he¡¯s always sleeping. Does that mean Shifu replied?

    ¡°Although Daoist Shenfa is too busy to personally attend, he sent Elder Shou and a famous weapon. Elder Shou, could you confirm or correct this one?¡±

    ¡°You are correct.¡± Elder Shou ejected a wooden sword from his body, prompting everyone to try and name the scent it excreted. When the sword was finally within six centimetres of Luo Ming, it plugged itself into the ground perpendicrly to the ground.

    Wudang¡¯s Omnidirectional Force¡¯s mental cultivation empowered its practitioner to exert force from any part of their body - somewhat simr to Evil Eminence Scripture. Elder Shou¡¯s precision was product his ability to control every inch of every movement he performed.

    Because I¡¯m Ming Feizhen and the others aren¡¯t, I saw Elder Shou eject the sword from the precious ce of a man - his pants. Had they seen that, they probably wouldn¡¯t have apuded so zealously or tried to figure out what the smell it oozed was. Luo Ming, needless to say, was stumped for what to do besides show the same admiration I did¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s Ancient Tree Sword, the wooden sword that can break metal and iron, isn¡¯t it?

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s Ancestor Sanfeng¡¯s signature weapon. Damn, to see it in the flesh.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, pick it up so that we can see.¡±

    Luo Ming just stood there.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Are you worried you cannot find a weapon sharp enough to match it?¡±

    ¡°Say something. Say something.¡±

    Leave the man alone; even I¡¯m feeling sorry for him now.

    At longst, Luo Ming stated, ¡°Shaolin¡¯s abbot mentioned in his letter that he sent his item to Cold Mountain Temple. As Venerable Mianhua is Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s representative, can this one safely assume it is on you?¡±

    You ducked?! You wuss!

 Volume 9 24 What Does it Mean to be a Person of Distinction? (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 24 What Does it Mean to be a Person of Distinction? (Part 2)</h4>

    In Luo Ming¡¯s defence, we were fodder when up against absolute power.

    The supreme strategy in the art of war is to win without fighting.

    Elder Shou, you don¡¯t utter a word, but you¡¯re the real boss, huh? I see you haven¡¯t lived so long for nothing. What youck in fighting prowess, you make up for in wisdom. Actually, all of you from Wudang are experts at profiting with the minimum investment! Wudang must¡¯ve sent the old geezer knowing how dangerous he would be.

    Venerable Mianhua ced his hands together: ¡°Amitabha, this one brought two items as her Abbot¡¯s instructions.¡±

    Luo Ming pretended to forget about Ancient Tree Sword and meandered to Venerable Mianhua in three steps.

    Tsk, pussy.

    ¡°Wow, Dragon Tiger Arhan Prayer Beads. It is an absolute privilege to be granted an audience with it,¡± Luo Ming effused at the sight of the two strings of prayer beads that hadn¡¯t been seen for a century - a fake reaction that the circumstances ordered, of course. The act was easily convincing for even others reacted equally delighted.

    The legendary weapon used to be a single weapon that carried a hundred and eight prayer beads made from purely ck aurum. When you have a weapon that not only has innate repel ability but could also break ordinary weapons, an ordinary man can be an adept with some knowledge of attack and defence. It became a legendary weapon when its wielder was killing opponents from ten metres away back then. When the owner passed away, the beads went missing for some time. When they returned, they had been modified and were in two different locations.

    Shaolin kept fifty-four ck beads at Dharma Hall and called them Subduing Dragon. Cold Mountain Temple kept the fifty-four golden beads and called them Crouching Tiger. Both groups imed to have the rights to the beads. The only reason they didn¡¯t get into physical altercation was that both of them were Buddhists.

    Seeing as Venerable Mianhua had two strings meant that he Cold Mountain Temple doesn¡¯t have the means of merging the two. Maybe Shaolin wants to have Luo Sword Manor fuse the two.

    ¡°Thank you for giving this one the privilege,¡± expressed Luo Ming, taking the beads into his shaky hands. As soon as he grabbed the string with ck beads, it snapped, prompting him to catch the beads before they dropped.

    I saw the minute change in Luo Ming¡¯s expression when he held the beads in his hand.

    Why¡­ does he¡­? Hmm, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve seen those beads somewhere before. Oh, I remember the beads now!

    Shaolin¡¯s abbot lost his beads to my shifu in a game of mah-jong. When Dharma Hall¡¯s leader demanded it back, my shifu sent them a bootleg version. That exined Luo Ming was mouthing, ¡°Fake, fake, also fake. This is also fake. How many are fake?¡±

    ¡°If you do not want it, this old one shall take it back,¡± Elder Shou suddenly verbalised, condescendingly drawing Ancient Tree Sword and waltzing off.

    Sucked in, Luo Ming. You failed to invite the three biggest sect¡¯s patriarchs and didn¡¯t get their weapons, either. The only one you¡¯re given, you refuse to touch. As for you three big sects, you really are people of distinction,ing with these schemes.

    Not everyone present had the chance to get a good look at Ancient Tree Sword, so they inhaled hard when Elder Shou fetched it.

    Sheesh¡­ Is this hell? Can¡¯t you recognise the odour of piss?

    Su Xiao patted me on the back: ¡°Big Brother Ming, how are you?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Boss Shen: ¡°What? You also want to see the sword?¡±

    ¡°Blegh!¡±

    Stop. I don¡¯t have enough in my belly to chuck up!

    ¡°Young Hero Ming.¡±

    What, pussy?

    ¡°This one has a question for you.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Luo Ming was still a little out of it after Shaolin and Wudang¡¯s mind games. ¡°This one sent Yan San to Mount Daluo as his qinggong is not too bad. This one was told Patriarch Ming received the letter and then had Yan San bring back a broken sword without any exnation.¡±

    Six members of Luo n carried in a brocade box from Mount Daluo upon hearing Luo Ming p. Luo Ming then expanded, ¡°This one was hoping you could enlighten this one. This one has had this item for a while but has not been able to determine what it is. Everyone, please spare it a look and thought. Open the box.¡±

    No blemishes. in jet ck. Look straight, sideways or upside down, the only thing that came to mind was a burnt stick.

    By the way, I haven¡¯t mentioned the most loathsome person from the three biggest sects, have I?

 Volume 9 25 Ten Rodents

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 25 Ten Rodents</h4>

    That year, the gentle wind conducted a snow ballet that should¡¯ve been held three days earlier.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to teach you smithing today.¡±

    As a twelve year old boy, I was sensible and understood the importance of respecting morals and my mentors, which was why I did as my shifu told me. Since ¡°smithing¡± is literally written as ¡°hitting iron¡±, thumped an iron bar with my fist and stated, ¡°Done, Shifu.¡±

    When I think back on it now, the only time he was speechless longer than that day was when I gave him a checkers clinic.

    ¡°From now on¡­ if you literally hit iron, I¡¯ll hit you!¡±

    As a twelve year old boy, I was sensible and understood the importance of respecting morals and my mentors, which was why I did as my shifu told me and stopped learning.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A yearter, my brothers and I partook in a smithing test, which was when I blew up a cauldron.

    Every man has his strengths and weaknesses; I¡¯m no exception. I may be godly at checkers, but smithing isn¡¯t my forte.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s ss schedule is packed, individualised and the standards we have to meet are awfully high. We¡¯re expected to be good at throwing hands, proficient with a hammer, sword, brush and bow. We¡¯re expected to ride horses as though they were an extension of our limbs. Like Shifu, Third was the best at learning. For that reason, he was the best cksmith amongst us.

    Thus far, Third forged a hundred and seventy two weapons. Sixth forged a hundred and eight. Fifth only forged seventy-two since she¡¯s a girl. Fourth is too much of a dunce, so he only forged seven simple hammers, five big broadswords and twelve spiked maces. Second¡¯s luck¡­ Yeah, he wasn¡¯t suited for smithing, so he only forged five scissors. As for me¡­ I digress. The weapon Luo Ming was given was my first, umm, uh, erm, my first and only weapon, the only thing remaining after that explosion I was credited with.

    ¡°As far as this one is aware, Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch wields Horizon Edge, not this.¡±

    Luo Ming carefully hoisted the weapon out of the container, while I was thinking, ¡°Stop! It¡¯s just a burnt stick!¡±

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, could you enlighten us as to what this is?¡± Luo Ming requested.

    A bloody burnt stick!

    Bing an exhibition himself, Luo Ming opined, ¡°It resembles a sabre, yet it defies the traditional definition of it. Initially, this one thought it was a de that had yet to be sharpened but then noticed the inventor never intended to. Perhaps it is a blunt weapon.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what you expect! I was busy trying to save my brothers and sister. You try sharpening a de while sitting an inferno, genius.

    ¡°Interestingly, there is text that resembles ancient text in a way but also resembles the current era¡¯s text in another way. Either way, this one cannot read it despite having read plenty throughout his life. This one presumes it is the name of the weapon.¡±

    Neither can I. If you can understand it, something¡¯s wrong.

    I¡¯ll have you know, that weapon is so damn solid that it took virtually all of my strength to carve the text on. It¡¯s so solid that it ruined my shifu¡¯s Horizon sword.

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, could you teach us how to read the text?¡±

    When I first forged the ck de (burnt stick), Grandmaster asked to see it, so I told Second Brother to fetch it from the pile of coal in the kitchen. Grandmaster stared at the weapon for several hours straight. I, therefore, got bored and waltzed off after covering him with a nket. When he summoned me the next day, he had written some text, which was the inspiration for what I carved on. As well, he told me that I needed to be careful with it because it¡¯s lethal. In order to remind me to remember what he said, he had me carve the reminder onto it. What does it say, you ask? That¡¯s¡­ not really something we should discuss so liberally.

    ¡°If you cannot make out what it is, Patriarch Luo, there is no way I can,¡± I replied.

    Luo Ming bobbed his head: ¡°Is this one right to assume that it is a broadsword?¡±

    I nodded: ¡°You wish to know how to wield it? Without it, Mount Daluo is in grave danger, not to mention the shame it would impose upon us. Please allow me to demonstrate how to wield it.¡±

    ¡°This one is in awe. Please do show us.¡±

    I took the ck sword off Luo Ming and confirmed it was the one I created.

    Shifu, why would you send them my first magnificent creation? I¡¯m embarrassed!

    ¡°So that I can demonstrate, please prepare¡­¡± Luo Ming sent people off to collect what I asked for while I warmed up. Once they came back, I took off my shirt to disy my jacked physique. ¡°Shifu often said, ¡®Humbleness is what allows one to constantly expand their horizons.¡¯¡± I swiftly set up a cauldron and started a fire. ¡°Watch closely!¡± I poked the firewood around using the ck sword and carefully added more one by one. ¡°Patriarch Luo, it would be unbearable for us on Mount Daluo during winter if it were not for this. To that end, we have produced hundreds of copies of it. Would you like to see them?¡±

    Luo Ming gave me the most condescending look I¡¯d ever been given: ¡°It is winter right now, so take care of it.¡±

    Why are you disappointed?! I¡¯ve repeated numerous times that it¡¯s a burnt stick.

    ***

    Notwithstanding the days spent in pitch ckness and the thick chains around his limbs, Hong Jiu was all smiles as he conveyed to the rodents, ¡°Fugui, Laifu, Jixiang, Ruyi, Jinbangtiming, Kufengchenglong, Yushulinfeng, wait, where did Sanyuanjidi and Wugufengdeng go?¡±

    ¡°What sort of names are giving them?! They New Year mascots?!¡± roared Song Ou.

    ¡°You do realise we need them if we want to escape? You¡¯re not even a fraction as useful as them, so how about you shut your trap? Wugufengdeng probably went out to y and should be back soon.¡± Hong Jiu gently picked up the fattest rodent: ¡°Yidunbaofan, you¡¯re my gift to First Brother, so don¡¯t mindlessly run around.¡±

    Glossary

    New Year mascots - The names Hong Jiu gave his rodents are phrasesmonly expressed to others at New Year as good wishes.

    ck sword - In case I haven¡¯t mentioned it or you missed it, the sword is a katana, but since we¡¯re in China and it hasn¡¯t existed prior in this world (as you saw from the reactions in the chapter), I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair to use the term.

 Volume 9 26 Invincible in the Ring

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 26 Invincible in the Ring</h4>

    Hong Jiu¡¯s verbal attack ended Song Ou¡¯s outrage.

    Hong Jiu used their free time to educate Song Ou on various ways of stealthily reserving energy when escape was impossible since Luo Ming wasn¡¯t going to let Hong Jiu recover. The only sustenance provided daily was a small amount of dry rations and a small cup of water each. The first reason Luo Ming didn¡¯t torture them was because he didn¡¯t trust Evil Spirits. The second reason was that the duo wasn¡¯t too important in the grand scheme of things.

    Feeding them minimally was Luo Ming¡¯s approach to ensuring they didn¡¯t have the energy to escape. The blunder he made was formting his strategy in the context that he had grievously injured Hong Jiu - an erroneous assumption. Though wounded, Hong Jiu managed to use Daluo Empty Palms to redirect a chunk of Luo Ming¡¯s attack before impact and then leveraged the moisture from the soil to expedite his recovery.

    Owing to Hong Jiu making use of the moisture from soil around them, he drew out insects, rodents, snakes and what have you, species that Hong Jiu used to supplement his recovery. Song Ou refused to consume any of them until his starvation beat him, and he gradually learnt how to enjoy them from Hong Jiu once he realised they didn¡¯t taste as repulsive as he imagined. That being said, Song Ou did concede to a lizard unlike Hong Jiu. The good news was that Song Ou was back to fifty percent of his full power and was grateful to Hong Jiu for thetter¡¯s guidance.

    ¡°Brother Shiba. How¡­ are the rodents you raised even chubbier than us?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a raising method I invented. Ibine massage that stimnts their upoints on top of transfusing them with internal energy at fixed intervals. Supplement their diet with some ginseng, and you¡¯ll have big rodents in less than a month.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s ginseng here? Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner? Share some with me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been consuming it this whole time. What did you think the powder I mixed into the water you drank daily was?¡±

    ¡°That bitter powder is ginseng? How did you sneak it in? They confiscated everything from me.¡±

    ¡°Easy.¡± Hong Jiu wagged his hand: ¡°The pills I gave you are old mud pills I keep in me. With too much time on his hands, my dad used to feed me ginseng balls, so I¡¯m a walking ginseng. ¡°

    Song Ou started barfing.

    ¡°How painfully ignorant. These rats I raised can now bite a cat to death. Give them some more time, and they¡¯ll decimate even dogs.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bite you to death!¡± With a pallor countenance, Song Ou raged, ¡°Who cares if they can bite a dog to death?! I can, yet I¡¯m still trapped here!¡±

    ¡°Duh. It¡¯s useless even if your family is a dog-eat-dog family. If my rats are strong enough to travel far to call for help, though, would you still argue that?¡±

    ¡°Th-the rodents you¡¯re raising can call for help from outside.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a foregone conclusion. This is Mount Daluo¡¯s exclusive, secret rodent raising method. If any of my Mount Daluo siblings see my plump rats, they¡¯ll recognise them right away. My precious rats will lead our saviour here.¡±

    ¡°B-but the enemy is a force to be reckoned with.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. You know what the spring festival couplet hung outside my door says? It reads, ¡®As long as one has the universe in their heart, they cannot be mentally demented.¡¯ Trust me and my n. I¡¯ve nted a secret signage on the rats, so my first brother will instantly understand once he sees them. If one of my other siblings finds them, they¡¯ll pass the rat onto my first brother. Once First Brother is here, impossible is just a word.¡±

    ¡°Your first brother? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d call that waste of oxygen, Ming Feizhen, your brother. What can he do?¡±

    Hong Jiu came close to rearranging Song Ou¡¯s face. ¡°You know my grandmaster?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Hero Shenzhou.¡±

    ¡°Good. You know his divinations are urate enough for people to consider him a deity? When he read my fortune, he told me, ¡®Nine lifetimes of misery. You have eight more to lives to go.¡¯ What do you think?¡±

    Song Ou gave a thumbs up: ¡°Godly. I respect him with every fibre of my being.¡±

    ¡°Too kind, too kind. He also read my first brother¡¯s destiny. First Brother ran off before he heard the whole story when thest half was the most important part. My grandmaster said, ¡®He is fated to be invincible in every ring he ever sets foot into¡¯! My first brother is born to be invincible in the ring!¡±

    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s crazy! When can we escape, then?!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I don¡¯t know where we are. To pinpoint our location, identify each other and thenmute, if I¡¯m being conservative¡­ probably three years, hahaha. It¡¯s no big deal. Treat it as a tour. Be open-minded. There¡¯s always hope.¡±

    Song Ou silently sat back in his spot and chewed on a lizard, musing, what is life?

    ***

    ¡°Those are the three weapons the three great sects are bringing to participate in the convention,¡± Luo Ming stated.

    Colour me surprised. If I was him, I¡¯d already be getting friendly with a hole that not even air could reach. You have to give the man credit where it¡¯s due.

    Someone hollered, ¡°While a number of groups brought their own weapons, a number brought weapons you sent them. Please expound why you asked us to bring weapons.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Yes, this one was getting to that. In a nutshell, this one wishes to invite you all to partake in a martial arts tournament. This one shall rify why it is necessary now. Siming, bring the sword core and sword nerve.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father.¡±

    Once the attention had been diverted to Luo Ming and Luo Siming, Ming Feizhen sneaked off to the side to scrutinise the portly rat.

    This fellow bears a striking resemnce to Second¡¯s Wangcai, but why would he be here?

    I carefully studied the rat¡¯s fur for clues and eventually found written in blood ¡°Wugufengdeng.¡±

    ¡­ The hell is this? A curse phrase?!

 Volume 9 27 Determining the Eight Worthy Sects

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 27 Determining the Eight Worthy Sects</h4>

    Hang on¡­ This handwriting resembles Second¡¯s. I thought he was supposed to be searching for Night Net manual and Jin Wangsun¡¯s whereabouts. How does he have time to let his boys out? There¡¯s no doubt this rat and handwriting are exclusive to him, though. If he¡¯s here¡­ did hee with Beggars Sect? Nah, that can¡¯t be right. This is blood, and the handwriting tells me he¡¯s hurt. This is a distress call. If Second sent this fellow out to call for help, he must¡¯ve supplied more secret signs. There are too many people to study this fellow for now. Hide in my shirt for now, Wugufengdeng.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    I jolted the moment Long Zaitian put his face in mine, resulting in Wugufengdeng sneaking out from my shirt.

    ¡°You son of a Wugufendeng!¡±

    Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes closed and open as if they suffered a spasm: ¡°Your insults have transcended into a realm that not even I can understand now. Why does your insult sound like a New Year greeting?¡±

    I clicked my tongue in frustration: ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Master told you to go see him at night so that he could fill you in on what Luo Ming said since you were missing for half of the discussion.¡±

    ¡°You came here to tell me something so trivial?!¡±

    ¡°Master¡¯s orders are trivial now?¡±

    I¡¯d sidekick you out of the building right now if I wasn¡¯t busy trying to trace Wugufengdeng¡¯s footsteps.

    ¡°Fine, fine, got it.¡±

    ¡°Father, I have brought the sword you requested.¡± Luo Siming passed Luo Ming a sword with a gold de one metre long.

    Luo Ming took the sword off his son and reflected the hall off it: ¡°This sword is called Cyan Water, our n¡¯s best product this year. Almost half of the sword that took seventeen is forged from cold iron and fine iron that took seventeen months toplete. While this one did sequester for a decade, Luo Sword Manor¡¯s smithing standard has continued to advance year after year. Luo Sword Manor¡¯s sword today has already exceeded yesterday¡¯s standard and is the highest it has ever been.¡±

    Luo Ming mmed his right hand into the centre of Cyan Water, the qi flowing from his finger sending the guests closest to him back several metres. Boss and I also retreated a few steps before he snapped Cyan Water. Boss even pulled me back and warned, ¡°Careful. He¡¯s utilising a power swordy with his finger. Watch out not to let his qi damage your meridians.¡±

    ¡°This one only used fourty percent of his full power.¡± Luo Ming held up the snapped sword for all to see. ¡°Please do not misinterpret it as this one being equipped with unspeakable skills. The sword is also truly our best product this year. This one merely knew the location of the sword nerve. A sword core is what maintains the attributes of a sword, while the sword nerve is the killing essence of a sword. To break its core and nerve is to break the sword.

    ¡°Just like the saying, ¡®Man among men,¡¯ there are cores among cores and nerves among nerves. The twoponents arepulsory - in addition to the materials of the sword. It is not difficult for a cksmith to locate eitherponent. Going back to the first point, there are cores and nerves that are not easy to damage. In fact, they should be the most robust parts of the sword. A truly exceptional de is one where its sword core and sword nerve can harm the target. That is what is called a divine weapon.

    ¡°Perhaps you do not quite follow. If we include the Seven Dynasty-Founding des, there are no more than twenty-one weapons in existence that should be categorised as divine weapons. This one wishes to forge the twenty-second divine weapon.¡±

    Not all swordsmen understand what their sword is or how they are forged just as not everyone questions the origins of their eating utensils that they eat with daily.

    As they begun to start going mouth to ear, Luo Ming continued, ¡°The sword nerve this one seeks is already on you. The sword core this one desires must go through a tempering process. Be it the sword core or sword nerve,bat is the only method to temper them into the essential standard. Fighting with your weapons nourishes the sword nerve. This is the same process involved in the production of every divine weapon.¡±

    Luo Ming swept his unnerving gaze across the hall: ¡°This one already mentioned a fightingpetition as part of Refining Divine Convention. Owing to your skills and numbers, however, it would take ages to get through everyone in a tournament fashion. Such a slow procedure serves no purpose, either. As such, this one is limiting those who are qualified topete in the ring to the eight great sects or individuals. Who those specificpetitors will be shall be decided based on your performances in theing three days.¡±

    ¡°What are the specifics of the threeing days?¡± Emperor Yuansheng inquired, showing no signs of backing down when his old friend focused his gaze over.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°This one will be escorting you to Taihu Sword Ind¡¯s abandoned ind topete with each other. The eight sects that emerge as the victors will be the eight sects this one invites to the arena.¡±

    Glossary

    Wugufengdeng - It¡¯s a phrase often used to wish people a good harvest.

    Cyan Water - While the character used for ¡°cyan¡± can be argued to be tranted as green, the author confirmed it is meant to be cyan here.

 Volume 9 28 Feizhen Must Perish

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 28 Feizhen Must Perish</h4>

    Luo Ming provided a time and location for arriving on the ind topete, only to reserve the details for the day of the battle royale. As for the rules, every sect was permitted to bring in only three people, citing there was no reason for unnecessary sacrifices as the reason for the cap. It also circumvented ganging up on other sects. Using overwhelming numbers isn¡¯t exactly an act of valour. Although that sounded reasonable, it wasplete hogwash. If the man was so concerned about sacrifices, why the hell did he invite so many people? All he needed was some bones, entrails and flesh to dance in the sky.

    Nobody noticed Luo Ming depart because they were so busy nning their strategy in the hall. Anyone see the paradox? If you¡¯re going to draw up your game n in the hall, the others would eavesdrop! That was why everyone stuck around!

    Thepetition is tomorrow, you fools!

    Emperor Yuansheng and Boss left since they had too many secrets that they couldn¡¯t afford to leak. As for me, I loitered because I was busy trying to trace Wugudengfeng¡¯s tracks.

    ¡°Brother Ming.¡±

    I spun around to see Xiao Huangquan with his signature grin.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Come see this one at three fifteen in the afternoon for a drink.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little too early to be tipsy?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. If this one drinkste, he might not make it in time for tomorrow¡¯spetition.¡±

    How much are you nning to drink?!

    ¡°We¡¯ll see. We¡¯ll see.¡±

    As I tried to walk off, Xiao Huangquan stepped forward: ¡°When Night Fortress¡¯ Master Ming drank with this old one back then for days, he never griped. Why are you trying to refuse, Brother Ming?¡±

    I knew what my scoundrel buddy was going to say next, especially this crafty bugger.

    ¡°I dare you.¡± Voice stifled, I threatened, ¡°You try to expose me, and I¡¯ll put a gaping aperture in your throat. I¡¯d like to see you drink again after that.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I see you¡¯re better at throwing your weight around now. I have business to discuss with you. If you¡¯re a true friend, be sure toe.¡± With that, Xiao Huangquan walked off.

    So I have to meet with Boss, report to His Majesty and now meet up with Xiao Huangquan at three in the afternoon? Is Luo Sword Manor some holy location? God damn.

    I met up with Emperor Yuansheng at thergest courtyard, which Luo Ming arranged for since Emperor Yuansheng is, well, the ruler of the Central in. Emperor Yuansheng had everyone leave so that he could converse with me in private.

    After recounting my ¡°tragic misfortune¡±, I went on to say, ¡°And so, I spent all day yesterday fleeing. I came to rendezvous with everyone once I verified it was safe. Luckily for me, whoever the suave, strong, handsome man who tore down Luo Sword Manor¡¯s formations made it a breeze for me to row through.¡±

    ¡°That exins. I did notice that there were a few corpses short among Evil Spirits missing. They must¡¯ve been the ones chasing you and escaped execution.¡±

    He sounds as though he¡¯s relieved some of Evil Spirits survived. If I¡¯m not wrong, he must know what I also found out.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. I know Luo Ming is still hiding something. I made a bet with him. If one of you wins Refining Divine Convention, he will fulfil a request of mine. Conversely, I will have to present him with a head irrespective of who it is should I lose. I summoned you here to ask you to participate as a disciple of Mount Daluo.¡±

    Hmm¡­

    My pores started to release energy in response to a threat, impelling me to suppress the instinctive urge. Emperor Yuansheng thought the burst of qi in the room was just his imagination. I couldn¡¯t stop the instinctive reaction before it surfaced for I sensed an adept outside, one skilled enough to rm me, and their target was me.

    ***

    The stances of the three great sects were imperative to Luo Ming, which was why he inspected Ming Feizhen from outside the room. For an adept of Luo Ming¡¯s level, there weren¡¯t many others out there who he would deem worthy of his attention. Friends and enemies were pretty much mere words to him, so his attention was a testament to one¡¯s worth.

    While seemingly indifferent to the three great sects¡¯ responses back in the hall, Luo Ming, in truth, was delighted for he did not send letters seeking their agreement but their silence.

    Shaolin, considered the leader of the three great sects, never changed their ways since ancient times, advocating for stability and peace to take precedence. As an example of the extreme degree they promoted those ideals, not even Mount Daluo wasst to join the campaign against Demon Sect. Thest one to send a letter in, supporting the extermination operation, was Shaolin. Further proof was the fact that they didn¡¯t even send a representative to Refining Divine Convention, sending only the fake prayer beads.

    Wudang, in contrast, remained active in the pugilistic world, though that shouldn¡¯t be misconstrued as them being ambitious since they had always perceived themselves to be enforcers of justice. For that reason, Daoist Shenfa went all the way to the Western Region to dissuade the seven nations there from continuing with their dispute. Hence, they could only trust Elder Shou, whom Luo Ming didn¡¯t fear, to represent them.

    Enigmatic Mount Daluo¡¯s appearance at Refining Divine Convention came as a surprise to Luo Ming. As long as Ming Huayu and Master Ming didn¡¯te, nevertheless, then that was the best oue Luo Ming could ask for.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s presence and mannerisms rendered Luo Ming uneasy ever since thetter met the former. Luo Ming had scrapped the suspicion that Ming Feizhen was Master Ming because he ran into two Ming Feizhen¡¯s already. Howbeit, Luo Ming didn¡¯t feel Ming Feizhen was harmless when nobody could do anything about thetter notwithstanding his lousy fighting abilities. Worse, Luo Ming couldn¡¯t find anything suspicious about Ming Feizhen.

    Sick of being worried, Luo Ming decided it was time to throw the rock out of his shoe. He didn¡¯t need evidence to kill someone; his sword was the judge. As they say, ¡°Better safe than sorry.¡±

 Volume 9 29 You Shall Rule the Pugilistic World Forever

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 29 You Shall Rule the Pugilistic World Forever</h4>

    Luo Ming¡¯s hostility receded once I confirmed it was him targeting me. Thest time we fought, he hid behind the fa?ade that he was Abels, an aurapletely unlike when I met him as Luo Ming again. It would be erroneous to describe his aura as someone capable of using two styles as his aura was different through and through. Furthermore, the bloodlust I sensed switched at his will, telling me he was capable of switching between internal styles whenever he fancied.

    Identifying and judging a hostile based on their bloodlust isn¡¯t a reliable method for the reason that the nature of their bloodlust hinged on their mood. In my case, I was only thirty percent confident I could manipte it - around the same as Shaolin¡¯s abbot. My shifu, who has a fifty percent probability of manipting his bloodlust, would be considered the best in thends.

    That was why Luo Ming brazenly targeted me, unaware that he gave himself away because of that. Granted switching internal styles at intervals concealed his identity, he wasn¡¯t cognisant of the fact that he didn¡¯t change the way he retracted his bloodlust. Worth noting is that this is my exclusive way of identifying people.

    It¡¯smonly misunderstood that the aura one gives off or their bloodlust is something that a mere will spawns. In reality, it¡¯s attached to the mental cultivation they practice. Since it¡¯s nigh impossible for two people learning the same style to be at the exact same level and impossible for someone to copy paste another¡¯s progress, you can identify people if you can read the specifics.

    Buddhists don¡¯t ooze strong bloodlust before they fight; some don¡¯t even give off any. Once they throw hands, nheless, it¡¯s beyond them to control. When they pull back and calm themselves, you can immediately identify them due to how individualised it is.

    I can sense the flow of qi in other people as if it¡¯s ced right in front of me, erged and focused even if I don¡¯t try to. Put it this way: Luo Ming retracted his bloodlust as though he was sneaking on his toes, yet I sensed it as if he was howling and stomping. It was even easier for me to identify him because we already scrapped once.

    Luo Ming was careful when he exerted his bloodlust for there weren¡¯t many others on the ind who would survive a flick from him. His bloodlust was faint, yet sharp, enough that Emperor Yuansheng wouldn¡¯t react but enough for a Divine Realm adept around thetter to notice. As skilled at remaining collected as one may be, instinctive reactions don¡¯t lie; true qi will rush to protect its owner the moment that sort of bloodlust is detected. Hence, Luo Ming could probe to see if I was hiding my abilities or not.

    Had I not cut myself off in time, I really would¡¯ve spun around and uncorked a punch. Thankfully, I made it in time to convince him to remain still outside at the door. I wasn¡¯t in the safe zone yet, having said that. The power that pressured my true qi was stronger than if I was to hit back, while I had to hide the change in qi within the room. Thus, I transferred my qi along transverse and sagittal nes, rattling the furniture. Luckily, my qi only snapped the chain holding them together and didn¡¯t blow the furniture over.

    Creak¡­

    Rx, buddy. Don¡¯t snap on me now!

    I ran my eyes around to see seven of eight chains already snapped, and thest one was on itsst leg. Afraid I¡¯d blurt something wrong, I covered my mouth.

    Misunderstanding, Emperor Yuansheng patted me on the shoulder and expressed, ¡°I know you¡¯re shocked. I understand you¡¯re lost for what to do when this is so sudden. I promise to keep you safe.¡±

    You mean I¡¯m worried for your safety. Your bro is sharpening his de outside while contemting how to kill us. You realise you¡¯re standing below a swaying copperntern that weighs a tonne? By the way, I happen to be a leader of Demon Sect!

    ¡°Even though we have quite a number of people with us, the problem is that only three people are permitted topete. We are lucky to even be here when we did not receive an invitation. No other group is going to lend us a hand. However, you are a disciple of Mount Daluo and have your shifu¡¯s fire st-, broadsword. Instead of putting all our capital in one basket, why not split up. That grants us sixpetitors as opposed to only three, thereby increasing our chances.¡±

    ¡°Mm, mm, mm,¡± I murmured while watching the hangingntern overhead. If it dropped, Luo Ming would know I was behind it. More importantly, Refining Divine Convention only involved the pugilistic world. If thentern fell, we might need a new Emperor. Dilemmas love mypany.

    ¡°I was thinking Dugu, Long Zaitian and I can form a team, while Tie Hanyi and Yiren can join you as another team.¡±

    ¡°Mm, mm, mm.¡±

    ¡°I understand you¡¯re reluctant to ept this job since fighting isn¡¯t your forte. Without you, however, we can¡¯t form a Mount Daluo team. I¡¯m trusting you with this, Young Ming¡­¡±

    I can¡¯t just keep deliberating. I need to make my decision now.

    ¡°Your Majesty, serving the nation is my honour. I am at your service. I have noints. I have only one mind. Once a word has been spoken, an aunt cannot retrieve it. That being said, I just remembered there is something I must do, so I shall take my leave now. You shall rule the pugilistic world forever.¡± I bowed and then darted out, with Luo Ming tailing me.

    Luo Ming would hold back as long as I apanied Emperor Yuansheng, so I essentially exposed myself, not that I could choose. Nevertheless, I was tuning in to Emperor Yuansheng after I departed.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor Yuansheng mumbled, ¡°Huh? He agreed as quick and easily as a dog and ran faster than one? Isn¡¯t the idiom supposed to be, ¡®Once a word has been spoken, a team of four horses cannot retrieve it?¡¯ What is this about an aunt? I shall rule the pugilistic world forever? Hmph, Ming Feizhen is growing worse by the day. Once we get back, I¡¯ll make sure to separate Yiren from him before he can corrupt her. Let¡¯s see who can stop m-, ow, a projectile!¡±

    I could hear the sound of things smashing Emperor Yuansheng as abo. I know it¡¯s not nice of me and inappropriate considering Luo Ming was chasing me, but I couldn¡¯t helpughing hysterically as I listened to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s cries.

    Glossary

    ¡°You Shall rule the pugilistic world forever.¡± - This is a part of Sun-Moon Holy Cult¡¯s mantra/catchphrase in Jin Yong¡¯s ¡°The Smiling, Proud Wanderer¡±. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a universally epted trantion for it; I couldn¡¯t find one. If you do know it, let me know. I¡¯ve never read/seen the English versions of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

    ¡°Once a word has been spoken, a team of four horses cannot retrieve it.¡± - A much more ¡°English¡± trantion would be, ¡°A man never goes back on his word.¡± As you can see, however, the aunt line falls through if we use that trantion, so I had to stick with a literal trantion.

 Volume 9 30 Laughing Finger Tiannan

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 30 Laughing Finger Tiannan</h4>

    Luo Ming removed more and more self-imposed restrictions as he closed in and boldly exerted his desire to kill me. If he wanted, he only needed to leap in order to lodge a sword through my head, add some seasoning and then fry it up in an iron pot for a dish of Ming Feizhen, all of which would take him a few seconds toplete.

    Breathing is paramount information to assassinations. You need to find thepse, which is in between movements, to strike because apse can only exist between two linked motions. The counter, then, is straightforward: don¡¯t connect motions and make them inconsistent.

    As a result of me constantly breaking my own rhythm, the old bugger would reach for his sword, only to then shake his head. He¡¯d poke his head out and start charging, only to then duck back behind cover a momentter. You might think he lookedical, but I wasn¡¯t much better off, walking, jogging, stopping and then jogging. You tell me what that resembles. But you know what? Better looking stupid than fighting the bugger!

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t fear me; he purely needed a reasonable excuse to exin why a disciple of Mount Daluo died at Luo Sword Manor¡¯s ce. If he failed to assassinate me in one fell swoop while I was roaming wherever guards went, risk of exposure upon performing a second attempt would jump exponentially. If nobody was around, he could write whatever he wanted on my toe tag. Otherwise, he wasn¡¯t going to take the risk.

    If I did everything right, I should¡¯ve shrouded myself in a mysterious cloud. The fact that I was Ming Huayu¡¯s disciple instilled the belief that I couldn¡¯t be a martial arts ¡°cripple¡±, especially when factoring in the im that I was the sessor of the sect. By the same token, he wouldn¡¯t be reckless in public.

    Now why the hell does Xiao Huangquan want to meet around three?!

    Since I couldn¡¯t just dog Xiao Huangquan but regrettably couldn¡¯t shake off the reaper behind me who could crush a fly between his brows, I had to embarrass myself in front of all the guards.

    Man, if you don¡¯t want to assassinate me, then don¡¯t! Why do you stalk me and thenin that I¡¯m tough to kill?! The logic of some people, I swear.

    Contrary to Xiao Huangquan¡¯s vibe of a mad man due to his unkempt mannerism, he was quite educated. That¡¯s why the broth-, flower society that he took me to wasn¡¯t too shabby. The musicians there knew what they were doing. The girls were pretty and a good reward for the hand. It was a pity I never grasped what was so cool about flowers.

    Upon arriving at the meeting ce - Green Spring Bamboo Lodge - I heard Xiao Huangquanmuning with somebody. I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised to know someone met up with him to drink and cuss, but they were someone I knew.

    ¡°Are you happy to live the rest of your life like this?¡± Only one person would sound so hardened - Boss Shen, and I saw her standing outside the bamboo pavilion upon approaching them,

    ¡°Hahaha, this old one begs your pardon. He does not understand what you mean,¡± responded Xiao Huangquan, nipping on wine inside the pavilion.

    ¡°Laughing Finger Tiannan back then was the third-rank adept of Liu Shan Men¡¯s rankings. While you were not ranked on Liu Shan Elite Rankings, I heard of your prowess from the time I was a child. I religiously read the cases you solved and learnt so much from them.¡±

    ¡°This old one is but a wanderer. To call him an adept is insulting literature, Miss.¡±

    ¡°Shifu mentioned you many times and told me that I must call you back if I ever meet you.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your shifu?¡±

    ¡°His surname is Yan as in wild goose. His hometown is Zhongzhou. He also has a lot of nicknames that people gave him, such as Martial God, Sword Demon, Greatest Constable and so forth, but he always s-¡±

    ¡°¡¯Yan Shisan is Yan Shisan. Yan Shisan is only ever Yan Shisan,¡¯ correct?¡± Xiao Huangquan¡¯s were still close to shut, although he looked a tad more tired than he did drunken. Instead of an infectious smile, his smile carried a forlorn undertone that would spoil any merry atmosphere. ¡°He¡¯s right. No matter where, there is only one Yan Shisan. Only he can be Yan Shisan, and he is only Yan Shisan. You¡¯re Yiren?¡±

    Boss Shen ced her fist and palm together: ¡°Yes, Elder.¡±

    ¡°He always said his only sessor was quite the fiery girl. Guess this old one is fortunate to meet you before he has to bid this world farewell.¡±

    ¡°Shifu never forgot you. Liu Shan Men has continued to plummet ever since the imperial court put it in limbo several years ago. I wish to invite you back to resume your duties as a constable.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You have an option. Reviving Liu Shan Men isn¡¯t a shabby idea. If you could call back Brother Yan¡¯s subordinates from back then, Liu Shan Men¡¯s forces would be several folds stronger than it currently is.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re on the right track, but it can¡¯t include me for the chivalrous Xiao Nantian is no more. There is only the handsome but useless Xiao Huangquan.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I will be back.¡± Boss Shen left after saluting Xiao Huangquan.

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t strike me down despite me dawdling there, arms tucked under my armpits during the conversation - presumably because he heard a name he hadn¡¯t head in a long time. After all, that was the name of a man who supervised Jiangnan¡¯s martial world on his own.

    Back in Yan Shisan¡¯s era, Liu Shan Men was basically what Qilin Guards are now, so they were allowed to appoint members internally. My old friend, Xiao Huangquan, was once promoted to one of the three vice-captains of Liu Shan Men and themander of the branch in Nanjiang, reporting directly to Yan Shisan. Strictly speaking, Xiao Huangquan would be more uratelybelled as the brains of a pugilistic world organisation than an administrator. He, ordingly, never met Emperor Yuansheng.

    If Boss Shen brought Xiao Huangquan back to Liu Shan Men¡­ If it hasn¡¯t been obvious enough, let me spell it out: I couldn¡¯t trust his mouth. You might as well give him a speakerphone to expose me on the main street.

    Luo Ming¡¯s hostility started to intensify as he stalked me into the pavilion since there was only Xiao Huangquan and me around.

    Great, what shall I do now¡­?

 Volume 9 31 Like a Fleeting Dream

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 31 Like a Fleeting Dream</h4>

    The mere sight of the of the emerald wine pot and apanying cups on the stone table were enough to intoxicate one before a drop of wine could make it into one¡¯s mouth. Xiao Huangquan faked a smile and waved upon catching sight of me entering: ¡°Long-time no see, Brother Ming. How do you do?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a beautiful reunion scene, not when there was a Divine Realm adept behind me, who was churning energy with a smirk on his face, deeming us fishes on his board.

    ¡°Brother Ming, this bamboo leaf green is twenty years¡¯ old. You have to try it today.¡±

    Try a sword! You want to die, but I don¡¯t want to be exposed!

    ¡°¡­ Mm.¡± I slowly made my way into the gazebo.

    Strong foes who¡¯d fight until the death were luxuries to me now because there was a risk of exposure even if I fought under another identity, let alone as Ming Feizhen. Moreover, I couldn¡¯t mindlessly attack a White Prince for, if one fell, there would be serious consequences. I was lucky when I went wild on Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. If I dropped Luo Sword Manor, disastrous aftermaths were inexhaustible. Emperor Yuansheng taking down Luo Ming and me taking Luo Ming down would produce two drastically different ramifications in spite of them now opposing each other. I had to avoid influencing any group or person in the martial world, so how would opposing Luo Sword Manor be conducive to that?

    ¡°I must¡¯ve surprised you today. Have a seat. Have a seat.¡±

    I walked in looking as if my aunt came with me to a drinking party¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll punish myself with three cups forck of manners.¡± Xiao Huangquan guzzled three cups of wine then continued, ¡°It¡¯s been pretty lonely without you in the pugilistic world thesest few years. To apologise for not searching for you, I¡¯ll drink another three cups.¡±

    I snatched the pot of wine from Xiao Huangquan and guzzled mouthfuls: ¡°Enough. You called me here in the afternoon to put on a performance? Twenty year old Bamboo Leaf Green? What a job.¡±

    ¡°Why you feigning when you heard everything.¡± Xiao Huangquan exhaled. ¡°She resembles Brother Yan. Liu Shan Men will return to what it once was under her lead, but I don¡¯t have the shame to go back.¡±

    For as long as I¡¯d known Xiao Huangquan, he¡¯d always be optimistic about the future whilst mncholic.

    ¡°By the way, why are you at Liu Shan Men? Why would you deign yourself?¡±

    Back then, he, Yan Shisan and I did lots of ridiculous stuff together, so he knew my background well. I just wished he¡¯d realise the Luo Ming creeping in my background!

    ¡°Life at Mount Daluo may be nice, but a man must have a career. You and Yan Shisan served the imperial court, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I never imagined there¡¯d be a day you¡¯d say something like that. I thought you¡¯d just wander the pugilistic world forever without any ambition.¡±

    I tapped the table: ¡°Get to down to business. Why are we talking about me? What did you want to see me for?¡±

    Xiao Huangquan bobbed his and then copied me, mming the table: ¡°What else but that piece of crap, Luo Ming?!¡±

    I jumped to my feet: ¡°Brother Xiao, I don¡¯t think you mean this!¡±

    ¡°Th-this?¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve have a bit too much to drink. I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t mean this!¡±

    He¡¯s drawn his sword! Your insult justpelled him to draw his sword!

    Huang Xiaoquan nodded in confusion: ¡°Y-yeah, that¡­ Refining Divine Convention is suspicious. I cannot turn a blind to this. You know I don¡¯t affiliate with any group. Since you know a lot of people, do you have people you can rmend to me for tomorrow¡¯spetition?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so this is what you wanted to see me for.¡±

    Can you do something about the man behind me? I don¡¯t see him showing any signs of sheathing his sword. Why should I get chopped up when you name called him?!

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Leave it to me. I promise to find two people you¡¯ll be happy with.¡±

    I just wanted to move along so that I didn¡¯t need to be butchered. s, by the time I spun around, the beautiful sunset had be a figurative volcano blowing hot winds in my face. I wouldn¡¯t believe for a second that it was normal when we were in winter, especially not after tackling Four Seasons Sword Formation earlier in the day.

    I didn¡¯t need to ask who was responsible for causing the temperature change in the fraction of a second as the caster stated, ¡°It¡¯s understandable for you not to recognise this style as your shifu doesn¡¯t know much about this swordy, either. Maybe your erudite grandmaster might know more, not that it will help you. This is Repository Sword Theory¡¯s Fleeting Theory - employing one¡¯s intent to deduce every fleeting existence and ensnaring the senses of the target.¡±

    Xiao Huangquan had seemingly disappeared, though I didn¡¯t know what the swordy did to him. What I did know was that his existence had been erased from my senses.

    ¡°I am using Repository Sword Realm to speak. Only Divine Realm adepts can hear me. Whether or not you can hear me, I¡¯ve said what I have to. Ming Feizhen, bow out and take yourst breath.¡±

 Volume 9 32 Primordial. The Line Between Illusion and Reality. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 32 Primordial. The Line Between Illusion and Reality. (Part 1)</h4>

    Repository Sword Theory has existed for, at least, a millennium and was once one of the three most extoled swordys thanks to a group of martial artists who never had anything to identify them by, although a case could be made for their constant introspection. Luo Sword Manor is one of six branches that the original group divided themselves into and passed the style down to. Unfortunately, Luo Sword Manor is the only lineage to remain of the six over the course of history. That is how it became a style exclusive to Luo Sword Manor.

    Suffice to say, it was difficult for one branch to harness the full essence of Repository Sword Theory when it took the knowledge and insight of six branches to formte it until Luo Ming came along, though his brush with death was the trigger that enlightened him and not his intellect.

    God-Shocking Theory, Abyss, Mountains, Fleeting, Seven Emotions and Millennium, are six questions that the six swordsmen, who invented the Repository Sword Theory, asked of the world and studied until their deaths. Grasp all six theories and one will be able toprehend things in a realm beyond what martial artists who don¡¯t can, a dream of all martial artists.

    In spite of improving his internal strength eighty percent and grasping the overall picture of Repository Sword Theory, Luo Ming only mastered one of the six theories. He teaued at certain points of every other and couldn¡¯t force his progress as doing so after the third theory would result in him hurting himself with his sword qi. What he needed was the other five branches¡¯ mental cultivation styles to understand the minute, yet indispensable, alterations. If you make a deduction based on an incorrect data point, your deduction will be wrong. What¡¯s more, he was out of time and patience.

    Although regrettable, Luo Ming had every intention of pitting his iplete version of Repository Sword Theory against the rest of the world in a gamble for more power. Additionally, he found a recement in Repository Sword Realm, aponent that isn¡¯t part of any theory but aponent that only those who understood its secret could employ.

    In a nutshell, Repository Sword Realm is a world that the wielder produces while deducing the origins of all things. Each theory can be used to manufacture a different type of Repository Sword Realm. For example, Abyss Theory can produce Abyss Realm. Luo Ming leveraged his knowledge of God-Shocking Theory - the only theory he mastered - to deduce the remaining five theories at the expense of the remaining five only being a third of what they could be.

    Luo Ming cast Fleeting, a theory that changed what one saw, only to trap Ming Feizhen in the autumn mountains as any Divine Realm adept would soon see through the illusion in no time. Besides, killing Ming Feizhen using Fleeting Theory would leave traces behind even if he was fodder.

    Luo Ming stepped into stepped into a field of snow and harsh winds that he deduced: ¡°This is the mind of Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, huh?¡±

    Theplete version of Seven Emotions Theory equipped the user with the ability to kill using their gaze. More specifically, they use their gaze to upy the mind of their target. Luo Ming, however, was only capable of deducing Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind. Nheless, as long as he killed Ming Feizhen¡¯s consciousness, then Ming Feizhen would physically perish.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For Luo Ming, deducing Seven Emotions Theory wasn¡¯t too difficult because, while he was subjected to plenty of ordeals growing up and possessed a personality, he had plenty of hate to draw on.

    One¡¯s mind doesn¡¯t have a background but will have their life on disy. Luo Ming walked past jugs of wine, weapons, the four treasures of study, numberless misceneous items strewn across the ground as if he was living life for several people. Upon opening a door, Luo Ming wondered how Ming Feizhen was still even alive. A hundred and eight thousand porn books were piled up inside aforementioned room¡­

    Luo Ming disintegrated the room then kept sauntering until he came to a jet-ck mountain that rose up to confront the clouds.

    I heard Mount Daluo is a towering mountain, but I never heard anything about it being ck¡­ There isn¡¯t anything cast a shadow over it. I smell¡­ soy sauce from it?

    It took a while for Luo Ming to realise the mountain was actually braised pork shoulders stacked up that high¡­

    Despite having yet to use Repository Sword Realm on anyone since mastering it, Luo Ming knew that one¡¯s consciousness was the only mobileponent. Put another way, the ck hole at the bottom of the mountain that oozed tonnes of pressure had to be where Ming Feizhen¡¯s consciousness was, except he couldn¡¯t exin where the pressure wasing from.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since anyone hase here.¡±

    One¡¯s consciousness is not them but another them, a self whom lives in the depths of one¡¯s mind, possessing all of the same thoughts and experiences. By no means is itmon for one to ever locate where their consciousness is.

    Why does this consciousness sound like it knows where it is and has lived for a long time here?

    Luo Ming sted his hostility upon seeing a pair of eyes emerge from the ckness. If he was in the outside world, he would¡¯ve imploded everything within ten metres using that same sword qi. The stare was different to the stare of his nemesis, but he recognised the terrifying cruelty and power that filled those eyes of the most primeval entity.

    ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my question. You must be quitepetent to have made it here.¡± That wasn¡¯t the voice of azy young man; that was the voice of a reaper. ¡°If you want to know who I am, how about youe inside?¡±

    Luo Ming loathed being subjected to someone else¡¯s will; however, the light that eradicated the darkness in the cavern convinced him to do as he was told even though he was a genius who defined ¡°under someone else¡¯s control¡± considerably different to others.

    Once he was at the entrance, Luo Ming discovered the unspeakably congealed liquid was from the ubiquitous blood inside the cavern; every breath induced a choking sensation. The only distinct features he could see of the youth on bone throne in the centre of the scarlet ocean were the red eyes and slight upward curve on thetter¡¯s lips.

 Volume 9 33 Primordial. The Line Between Illusion and Reality. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 33 Primordial. The Line Between Illusion and Reality. (Part 2)</h4>

    Luo Ming¡¯s wless n went off track when he decided to enter Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind as he didn¡¯t expect to see the Mount Daluo, bamboo house, ck mountain or white hair flowing down to the youth¡¯s ck robe that he saw.

    ¡°Are¡­ you challenging me?¡± The physical form of violence brandished his bizarre ck broadsword loosely in one hand and had the corner of his lips pulled up just enough to make it clear that he was the lord presiding over this world, reinforcing it with his slouched sitting posture. The ckness surrounding him devoured optimism in its pressure that¡¯d suffocate one to death. His voice was an rm warning the listener of forting danger.

    Who are you?

    rmed by the youth¡¯s voice, Luo Ming immediately ran crimson qi - Enlightenment - down the de of his sword and dispersed it disorderly, yet systematically. As a result, he found a hole in the ck nightmare to breathe and cool down.

    This world should be Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind, so there shouldn¡¯t be anyone else here unless¡­ There can¡¯t be more than four types of demonic pupils like that. Why¡­ would he have those eyes?

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be the master of this ce. Who are you? Why are you entrenched in his mind?¡± Luo Ming calmed himself to create a piercing gaze.

    The youth remained unfazed in spite of Luo Ming¡¯s gaze an active Enlightenment qi. The only emotion in detectable in the youth¡¯s eyes was loneliness.

    ¡°Seems you can put up a fight. I¡¯ll ask again: are you here to challenge me?¡±

    Luo Ming clutched his sword hilt. ¡°Die!¡± Luo Ming generated waves along the trajectory toward the white bone throne.

    ¡°A swordsman, huh?¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s crimson energy banged against an invisible wall that dispersed all his energy and force away. ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Luo Ming transformed the environment into a field of swords plugged into the ground via Fleeting Theory again. All of the swords rose in synchrony, augmenting his sh two times the previous sh.

    Lines started to crawl across the surroundings simr to ss cracking. Blood seeped through the cracks to dye the aerial swords and washed them under.

    ¡°Your swordy is decent. I¡¯d rank you third among all of the swordsmen I¡¯ve encountered. Is that the power of a Divine Realm swordsman?¡± The youth was revealed to still be where he was, unflinching. He sounded as though he wasnguidly saying, ¡°Not bad. Just a little on the expensive side.¡±

    ¡°Fiend, would you dare try intercepting a strike from this one?¡± Luo Ming challenged in a low voice.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    By the time Luo Ming heard the amicable voice, his defence line had been breached.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ die on me.¡±

    The word ¡°invincible¡± flitted into Luo Ming¡¯s mind as fast as the youth¡¯s movements for no exinable reason,pelling him to howl and swing out Mountains Theory subsequent to Abyss Theory, two explosive attacks in session. Due to his own attack ricocheting off the invisible wall, Luo Ming had to unleash a stronger attack - eighty percent of his full power, to be specific - to absorb the force of the returning sword qi.

    A mere illusion cannotpare to my profound Repository Sword Theory!

    Because Luo Ming¡¯s Seven Emotions Theory was iplete, the umtion of energy from the two gradually exceeded its limits. Ming Feizhen dying as a result of his mind being destroyed wasn¡¯t the assassination Luo Ming strove for. For better or worse, the youth¡¯s invisible barrier around him protected him from any harm.

    ¡°Your swordy ismendable. I¡¯ve never seen any swordy with infinite variations like this,¡± Arms tucked under his armpits and bobbing his head, the youth praised. ¡°You haven¡¯tpletely mastered it, though, have you?¡±

    That¡¯s a pointless statement. If I had mastered it, Fleeting Theory would be three times as powerful as that.

    ¡°Indeed, if you had mastered it, I would have to praise your swordy as profound.¡±

    If I could master all of Repository Sword Theory, you¡¯d already be dead, you monster.

    ¡°You¡¯re suspending reality too much there.¡±

    Like a ck tide rising from the depths of the ocean, a gale sted the darkness across the surroundings.

    ¡°Profound isn¡¯t synonymous with ¡®strong¡¯.¡±

    A ck de severed Luo Ming¡¯s head from his shoulders.

 Volume 9 34 Father and Son

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 34 Father and Son</h4>

    ¡°Am I¡­ dead?¡± was the thought that followed after Luo Ming felt startled and plunged into a ck void. Wherever he was, his senses were either dysfunctional or useless.

    Luo Ming visualised his match against the youth and discovered all of the ws in his movements that he never noticed before. At the same time, he could finally see the youth¡¯s movements as everything moved in slow motion. Ten years of grinding at Repository Sword y took mere seconds to y out in his mind. The youth wasn¡¯t a monster; he was human - minus the absence of a physical body. ordingly, Luo Ming understood better just how powerful the young man was and, in the same vein, all of the chinks in Repository Sword Theory that never urred to him.

    Why did it take me until now to see the depth of Repository Sword Theory¡­?

    Upon finding the key to the six theories, he¡­ The ocean of information inundating his mind left before he could digest all of it. The darkness didn¡¯t devour his consciousness and thrust him into genesis but¡­ The eyes on his pallor face narrowed to focus in on the bamboo forest Ming Feizhen and Xiao Huangquan were drinking at. The falling red ball was proof that he was where he was supposed to be. He heard an indistinct voice that took a while to be distinct.

    ¡°Dad¡­ Dad, what is the matter?¡±

    ¡°Ming¡¯er¡­?¡±

    ¡°Dad, you have finallye to.¡± Luo Siming used his hand as a medium to regte his father¡¯s flow of energy.

    He wiped out my consciousness and left me as a lifeless body¡­

    Owing to the discrepancy between Luo Ming and Luo Siming¡¯s levels, thetter¡¯s strength didn¡¯t help. What retrieved Luo Ming¡¯s consciousness was that Luo Siming was an external entity. In saying that, Luo Ming¡¯s consciousness wouldn¡¯t have made it back safely if the youth hadn¡¯t practically destroyed the illusion world that the former generated. Suffice to say, Luo Siming only managed to approach his father thanks to his own study of Repository Sword. Had it been anyone else who tried to approach, they would¡¯ve had their head torn straight off.

    Luo Ming peered into the pavilion and saw Xiao Huangquan trying to haphazardly wake up an unconscious Ming Feizhen on the ground.

    It¡¯s understandable he can¡¯t stand it while we fought our fight in his mind given his level.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Dad, what happened?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I saw you hiding in the forest for some reason and grimacing, so I helped you regte your qi.¡± Realising he addressed Luo Ming as ¡°Dad¡± as opposed to ¡°Father¡± in his panic, Luo Siming corrected, ¡°I mean, F-Father, you w-¡±

    Luo Ming smiled: ¡°I¡­ returned too soon. Since I made some errors while practicing Repository Sword, I decided to find somewhere quiet to meditate. You need not be apologetic when you helped me.¡±

    ¡°That is dangerous to leave it as it is, then¡­ I have a suggestion that may be conducive to you, but¡­ it is rather unconventional.¡±

    Siming of all people is learning to break convention?

    ¡°Feel free to speak.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Having spent so long learning Repository Sword, I have seen how deep it is. Still,pared to Huashan¡¯s Skydragon Swordy, Kunlun¡¯s Deste Sword Dance and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary Immortal Swordy Manual, I believe Repository Sword Formation is more than a notch inferior. Perhaps the solution to your problem lies in the intents.

    ¡°Despite our n producing numerous adepts throughout our history, seldom has anyone dismantled Repository Sword Formation on their own. Is it not bizarre that Repository Sword practitioners are unable to defuse Repository Sword Formation when thetter is a branch of the former? I believe there is more to Repository Sword than what our ancestors have imparted.

    Luo Ming mused to himself and then pped the blood out of Luo Siming¡¯s mouth, flooring thetter: ¡°Ignorant and hubristic! How dare you defame our ancestors¡¯ blood, sweat, tears and wisdom?! I trusted you with Luo Sword Manor while I sequestered, yet you¡¯ve let your ego grow so big that you¡¯ve forgotten your ancestry? What are you looking at? Get up and scram! Lock yourself in your room and reflect until I let you out. You are not to eat or drink anything for three days.

    Doesn¡¯t that mean he has to miss out on Refining Divine Convention?

    Long after Luo Siming left with his teeth gritted, Luo Ming burst out in proudughter. ¡°What more can I ask for when I have such an astute son?¡±

    Repository Sword Theory¡¯s swordyponent consists of diagrams, while the intents, which was what Luo Siming referred to, are text.

    I spent all my life learning swordy, yet I only noticed the oddity of Repository Sword when I was on the brink of death. Inparison, Ming¡¯er noticed it without any guidance. What a gifted boy. Let me avenge your brothers and carry the burden of killing your uncle. You should stick to the righteous path.

    ¡°¡­ Who was he?¡± Luo Ming murmured as he recalled the uneasy, even terrifying, aura that the youth gave him in the illusion world.

    It was impossible to get a clear visual of his appearance. Maybe I couldn¡¯t see it properly because Ming Feizhen doesn¡¯t have a clear visual, either. Why do I feel I¡¯ve met him somewhere before, though? Yes, I¡¯ve seen that de weapon somewhere before. The two of them bear a striking resemnce.

    I have my hands too full now to think about it. I will have to wait until Refining Divine Convention. My priority is to refine Repository Sword Theory as much as I can in preparation for the big battle; it¡¯s time to address the imperfections I gleaned from my duel with him.

    ***

    I heaved a long breath. Xiao Huangquan, wearing a bitter visage, asked, ¡°He gone?¡±

    I nodded. Xiao Huangquan stood straight up, while I wobbled.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to hide your identity, be more alert. Why are you being so conspicuous?¡±

    ¡°Coming from the man who draped his shoulder over me in front of everyone and wanted to chat.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what style Luo Ming used to infiltrate my mind, and I wouldn¡¯t have known what happened inside if I didn¡¯t sneak into the illusionary world since one¡¯s consciousness is an individual identity. Luo Ming, on the other hand, actually stopped budging, affording me a small window to tell Xiao Huangquan to go along with my act.

    ¡°I¡¯m not ying around with you. I understand your decision to quit, but if you continue down this path¡­ You¡¯ll kill everyone. Look at your eyes!¡±

    I opened my eyes.

    ¡°Those red eyes and that ck broadsword shouldn¡¯t exist in this world. If you want to retire, clean up and then retire.¡±

    ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing¡­¡±

    Xiao Huangquan wasn¡¯t done. Unfortunately for him, we heard voices, so we quickly ducked into the forest.

    ¡°W-wait up.¡± Luo Mingzhu chased after a lean man.

    The lean man spun around and asked, ¡°Miss Luo, what do you keep following me for?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu¡¯s lover is Su Xiao?!

    Luo Mingzhu inted her cheeks: ¡°Why do you go faster if every time I call you?¡±

    ¡°These are my legs. I go when I feel like going. What gives you the right to tell me what to do with them?

    Xiao, she¡¯s lowering herself, so why are you being so ruthless?!

    ¡°I¡­ I just thought you¡¯re not very skilled, so I want to help you. Take this token with you to thepetition, and someone will help y-¡±

    ¡°Miss Luo, please have some respect for yourself. As a girl, you should cherish yourself more.¡± Su Xiao extended an arm in a ¡°stop¡± gesture: ¡°Do not seduce me. I am not the sort of man you take me for!¡±

    ps for you, Xiao!

 Volume 9 35 Sister-in-law, Its Me

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 35 Sister-inw, It¡¯s Me</h4>

    ¡°Bro, what are those two girls doing at this time of the day? This old man is baffled watching them,¡± Xiao Huangquanmented.

    Why you asking me? I¡¯m more befuddled than you are.

    Luo Mingzhu mmed her foot onto the ground: ¡°Th-that¡¯s not what I was trying to do.¡±

    ¡°Then, what were you trying to do? You stalked me all the way here from the hall. I knew all along you were behind me. You¡¯re also the one who tripped me, aren¡¯t you? How else could you exin you coincidentally appearing the moment I fall?¡±

    ¡°I did not! I just went to help you out of the kindness of my heart when I saw you fall from behind.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Su Xiao squinted: ¡°Can¡¯t deny you were tailing me now, can you?!¡±

    Nice, Xiao, throwing a long line to catch a big fish. You¡¯re getting smarter, I see.

    With rosy cheeks, Luo Mingzhu rified, ¡°I-I was following you, but that¡¯s only because I have something to tell you.¡±

    Miss Luo, now you¡¯re just being insulting. If you followed a man from dawn until dusk, unless he owes you money, you¡¯re basically calling us morons if that¡¯s not evidence you have a crush on him.

    ¡°You gave me your n¡¯s token so that I can demand your n¡¯s swordsmen to aid me.¡±

    Oh, you little foxy. You want Su Xiao to feel grateful for the help even if he doesn¡¯t win. Unluckily for you, you yed your cards wrong - terribly wrong.

    ¡°You are encouraging me to cheat. I am a man of honour¡­¡±

    I quickly sealed a meridian on Xiao Huangquan as he went to reactively scream after tugging his beard stupidly hard.

    ¡°¡­ As a man who carries himself with honour, I cannot cheat. If I lose tomorrow, so be it. If I must lose, I will lose honourably.¡±

    While Luo Mingzhu¡¯s heart palpitated at Su Xiao¡¯s stubbornness that was synonymous with stupidity, it also hurt.

    ¡°Your kind offer is not helping me but insulting me. Further, it is inappropriate for you to be chasing me when you are a girl. Please have some self-respect.¡±

    ¡°I-I was just worried for you because you¡¯re young and not very strong. I would help anyone, even hopeless pets, if they were in a simr situation. What¡¯s so inappropriate about that?!¡±

    ¡°Who said I¡¯m not strong?!¡±

    As a veteran of life, I could tell the twosses hadn¡¯t and weren¡¯t getting to the heart of the problem. Firstly, we only had two teams that qualified to partake in thepetition: His Majesty¡¯s Li n team and my Mount Daluo team. Su Xiao wasn¡¯t in either team! It clearly never urred to Luo Mingzhu, and Su Xiao was probably too delusional to realise it.

    Bloody idiots!

    ¡°You are unappreciative. You make it sound as if I am trying to court you. Stop spreading gold on your face.¡±

    Even though they just gave each other a tongueshing, I was pretty certain Luo Mingzhu left a deep impression on Su Xiao thanks to it.

    ¡°A decent-looking girl chasing after a man at night, hmph! Promiscuous girl!¡± Su Xiao headed in the opposite direction Luo Mingzhu went off in a huff.

    Su Xiao is going to be hacked to death sooner orter because of his attitude. I should teach him some women¡¯s self-defence when I have a spare minute.

    ¡°Is that your current partner? Hoho. Hoho.¡±

    I answered, ¡°Yeah, and the future leader of your Liu Shan Men, Shen Yiren¡¯s favourite subordinate.¡±

    Xiao Huangquan recoiled, afraid for Liu Shan Men¡¯s future. I knew he was still worried about Liu Shan Men. Consider it my little assist for Boss.

    ¡°You leaving?¡±

    ¡°The assassin after me has left. I¡¯ve caught up with my friend. I¡¯ve also watched a show, so what should I stay for? I¡¯ll send you the help you need tomorrow. I¡¯m busy. Laters.¡±

    ¡°And what can you do when you still have those eyes?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways.¡±

    I still have plenty of time until eleven, but I have plenty of things to keep me busy until then. First and foremost, I need to catch Wugufengdeng!

    ***

    I spoke to several until my throat was dry prior to dropping by Boss¡¯ room, which I made to at the appointed time. When it was time to knock, however, my nerves suddenly felt frayed, though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of the nice scenting from her room or the fact that it waste at night. It was strange to me since it wasn¡¯t the first time I had been alone with a woman in her roomte at night.

    Think of our principled ancestors. Be upright. Be upright, Ming Feizhen.

    Upon hearing knocks on her door, Boss questioned, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    I was going to wee myself in; I didn¡¯t expect the question. Owing to me still focusing on our ancestors¡¯ teachings, I replied, ¡°Uh, Sister-inw, it¡¯s Wu Song.¡±

    Boss Shen yanked open the door and whacked me across the face with her inkstone. I grabbed my cheek and squatted down.

    ¡°What nonsense was that?¡± Boss had on a in white dress, putting Luo Mingzhu to shame. She tucked her arms under her mountains and questioned, ¡°Wu what?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I was just trying to lighten up the atmosphere,¡± I mumbled under my breath whilst rubbing my cheek.

    ¡°¡­ Come in.¡± Boss spun around and ordered, ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s team has been decided. It¡¯ll be you, me and als-¡±

    ¡°Us and Tie Hanyi, yeah? I already know.¡±

    ¡°No, Tie Hanyi has to join Dugu¡¯s team, so Su Xiao is joining our team.¡±

    ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°A light¡­ dropped on His Majesty, so he can¡¯t fight tomorrow. Do you know what happened? He was saying something about, ¡®He jinxed me. Whatever he said was the incantation that dropped the light.¡¯¡±

    I switched from a straight face to a stoic face: ¡°You misunderstand, Sister-inw, Wu Song does not know anything about that!¡±

    Whack!

    Glossary

    Wu Song and Sister-inw joke - For those who recognise the name Wu Song, it, indeed, is a reference to Wu Song and Pan Jinlian (Water Margin).

    For those who don¡¯t know (this is a brief summary of the relevant arc), Pan Jinlian, originally a maid of a rich man, marries Wu Song¡¯s elder brother, Wu Dng, to escape her boss¡¯ advances. She immediately falls for Wu Song upon meeting him due to his looks. Upon returning from an escort job, Wu Song discovers Pan Jinlian (his sister-inw) was having an affair with Ximen Qing (a merchant). Wu Song¡¯s suspicion that his brother didn¡¯t die from a sudden illness as his sister-inw ims is proved correct after a guy named Brother Yun tips him off that Pan Jinlian murdered Wu Dng. Wu Song seeks out the local magistrate in hopes of seeking justice for his brother. Unfortunately, Ximen Qing had bribed the magistrate, so the couple gets off scot-free. Wu Song, therefore, takes matters into his own hands. At his brother¡¯s wake, he holds Pan Jinlian at knife point to make her confess to her crime then beheads and disembowels her. After that, he goes off to kill Ximen Qing.

    So, if Ming Feizhen is Wu Song and Shen Yiren is his sister-inw, then she is Pan Jinlian. See why she used her Divine Inkstonesmanship now?

 Volume 9 36 Boss Condition

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 36 Boss¡¯ Condition</h4>

    I always thought Divine Inkstonesmanship didn¡¯t sound too good even though I was the one who invented it. Boss, upon hearing the name, felt her skills with her inkstone weren¡¯t sleek, fast and strong enough to be worthy of the ¡°Divine¡± description. Thus, she began researching smacking techniques, even taking it with her on business trips so that she had more time to study. Nowadays, she had developed ¡°Face-Smacking Combo¡±, managing seven sessive strikes without dropping it.

    ¡°The n for tomorrow is¡­¡±

    Boss probably called me over at night toy out her ns for thepetition, but I wasn¡¯t listening; one, I had my own ns that I intended to follow; two, I looked as if I had two meat buns stuffed in my cheeks because I repressed my true qi armour when she smacked me.

    ¡°You listening? ¡­ Where are you looking?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I was looking through slits due to my cheeks swelling up to my eyes; I didn¡¯t have the faintest clue what the white stuff I was looking at happened to be. When I stretched my eyes as wide as they could go, I saw Boss shielding her mountains with an arm, her despise on her face and her other arm reaching for the inkstone on the desk.

    The white things I saw were her knockers?!

    ¡°Y-you misunderstand! I wasn¡¯t peeking at your knockers. Besides, one arm of yours isn¡¯t enough to cover them even if I was!¡±

    Uh oh, I said too much!

    I lifted the bench to head level so that I wouldn¡¯t have my blood pouring down my face.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you give it a rest for a while? Tomorrow is an important day for you. Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo will be public enemy in tomorrow¡¯s contest. You¡¯ll be in for it if you fail to avoid all sorts of forting sneak attacks.¡±

    It had been a long time since I had heard that lecturing tone from Boss, let alone a proper conversation, after reuniting with her thanks to Evil Spirits, Luo Ming and my identity issues.

    ¡°Yes. Yes.¡±

    ¡°Although I summoned you to warn you, it seems I¡¯ve wasted my time. While you are weak and careless, you have the luck of the devil and an unscrupulous mind. You¡¯ve been the only one able to jinx his opponents. I can¡¯t remember anyone ever harming you.¡±

    I offered a palm and fist salute: ¡°You tter me, Sister-inw. I am honoured.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, here we go again. Since you don¡¯t want to hear me out, I won¡¯t waste my breath. Just follow my orders tomorrow. Now, business time. I was busy designing a strategy to deal with Evil Spirits, so I didn¡¯t have time to give you the details. I remember telling you we had a formidable hero on our side when we encountered Abels. I was curious who came to our aid, but I suppose he was there thanks to you. The one who went missing with Captain Song is your junior, Hidden Hero, Ten Thousand Mile Dragon River, Hong Jiu, Hong Shiba. Tsk, people have one nickname and one name, so why does your second brother have two of each? What exactly is his name?¡±

    ¡°His¡­ surname is Hong, name is Jiu and courtesy name is Shiba.¡±

    As for the two aliases, those are the product of the hole in his brain. Whenever he introduces himself, he insists on dering every name he has. As a result, his introduction extends endlessly.

    I did have a feeling Second was calling for help from what I gleaned from Wugufengdeng. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t need to investigate further thanks to Boss proceeding to tell me all about how they worked together tobat ¡°Abels¡±.

    ¡°In addition to finding Captain Song, we must rescue Hero Hong to repay him for saving our lives. If he wanted to flee, I¡¯m sure he could¡¯ve that day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we need to rescue them. Do you have any clues, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Not at present. That said¡­ I¡¯m not convinced Luo Ming is innocent¡­ You also suspect him, don¡¯t you?¡±

    I gestured consensus.

    ¡°The timing of his return suggests he arranged it if you ask me. Having crossed swords with Evil Spirits, I¡¯d say theirbat abilities and chain ofmand paled inparison when he showed up. You couldn¡¯t convince me they were the same group I shed with.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been deliberating who stands to be the final victor in all of this. It can¡¯t be Evil Spirits now that they¡¯re basically wiped out; they could be a stepping stone, though. No matter how I look at it, sequestering for ten years, yet keeping a pulse on everything going on and hosting Refining Divine Convention makes Luo Ming the fishiest. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Indeed. I stand by your reasoning.¡±

    As I was rubbing my chin, I saw white again before I realised it. Boss lifted an arm up to cover her breasts: ¡°¡­ Where are you looking?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± I covered my eyes and eximed, ¡°Nothing! Nothing! I didn¡¯t see anything! Besides, one arm of yours isn¡¯t enough to cover them even if I was!¡±

    ¡°More gibberish!¡±

    I raised a bench to guard my head, prompting Boss to chuckle.

    ¡°Dork,e here. If you know you¡¯ll get hit, why do you provoke me in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I did it on purpose because you look good when youugh. Ever since meeting you again, you¡¯ve always been frowning or wearing a long face.¡±

    Despite being taken aback, Boss said, ¡°There is a time and ce for smiling andughing. Now is the time to be serious.¡±

    I disagree.

    ¡°Boss, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°When was thest time you had any shuteye?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why do you ask? You nning to unt the medical skills you¡¯ve been demonstrating on your journey here?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you sleep once since we¡¯ve met up.¡±

    Boss didn¡¯t answer.

    As I mentioned, I had ns of my own for tomorrow, therefore didn¡¯t n to follow Boss¡¯ orders. I only came here tonight to ask about her health.

    ¡°I thought it was weird for you to summon me here sote. Is day and night the same thing for you now? What¡¯s¡­ the problem?¡±

 Volume 9 37 Break

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 37 Break</h4>

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡± Boss¡¯ eyes were hard-rimmed and fixed as though they¡¯d rusted into ce. ¡°Don¡¯t put yourself on a pedestal. Is this time to be worrying about this kind of trivial stuff?¡±

    I held my gaze: ¡°I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s anything that requires you to sacrifice your life for. Letting you venture into the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ territory on your own was the first time. Disregarding your safety to stay with River Monster and Poison King was the second time. If I let you risk your life a third time, I¡¯d be irredeemably stupid.¡±

    ¡°As vice-captain of Liu Shan Men, it¡¯s not called risking my life but doing what¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Your definition of ¡®right¡¯ doesn¡¯t align with mine. I can¡¯t turn a blind eye to your condition.¡±

    Boss Shen didn¡¯t argue once I mentioned her condition or give a reaction.

    ¡°Mm, insomnia could be minor or serious. For as long as I¡¯ve known you, you always work until the middle of the night and sleep no more than six hours. Your average is even less than that. I haven¡¯t seen you sleep once since meeting up with you. You¡¯re not Su Xiao; you don¡¯t need me lecturing you about how vital sleep is, do you?¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Still holding onto her brush and leaning on her desk, Boss asserted, ¡°I¡¯ll ask the imperial doctor with His Majesty to check me. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve said what I have to, so you can leave now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. I can answer on the doctor¡¯s behalf. I can prescribe any medication he can. Thing is, none of the medications we can prescribe now are fit for your condition. To treat a condition, it starts with a correct diagnosis. Boss, I need you to answer my question: what happened to you? While you can soldier through it, you have two eyes and a mouth just as every other human does. No human is immune to sleep deprivation¡¯s consequences. We will be surrounded by danger on all sides starting from tomorrow. If your sleep deprivation affects you for even a second, you could lose your life. That¡¯s what I mean by risking your life. It¡¯s not the right thing to do; it¡¯s just being asinine.¡±

    Seeing Boss¡¯ face turn white as though it was the moon¡¯s work, I borated, ¡°Though your insomnia is showing up now, it must¡¯ve been gradually deteriorating until what it is now. Commonly, insomnia has to do with psychological issues. I¡¯m sure you noticed signs of its onset until it reached the current stage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s merely your conjecture. I¡¯ve never been one to sleep much and have been busier recently. Not everybody sleeps as much as you do. I take naps when you¡¯re not around. I¡¯m just being vigil nowadays since we¡¯re in foreign territory.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the cause of your condition, but I suspect it worsened recently. It might be due to your injuries¡­¡± I gazed down to Boss¡¯ left hand. ¡°Or¡­ stress you never shared.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Enough.¡±

    ¡°The impact of your left hand¡¯s injury is more troubling than I imagined.¡±

    ¡°Enough! I don¡¯t need your diagnosis. Ming Feizhen, just take care of yourself.¡±

    I think I poked a sore spot or something for Boss to be that sullen.

    ¡°You live blithely. You are negligent at work, and now you¡¯re not even seeing the priorities here. I don¡¯t need you here. Get lost, and reflect on yourself.¡±

    I also started to feel frustrated. ¡°Think before you speak. I forewent eating and sleeping to rescue you, yet you¡¯re going to use me of making light of negligence of duty?¡±

    Boss cracked a sardonic smile: ¡°What about Wutong Jin Yuxuan? Yu Feiyuan and Abbess Huofeng are your childhood friends, aren¡¯t they? You¡¯re engaged to Interim Patriarch Yu, aren¡¯t you? You found me and happened to meet with your lover. Wow, what a tough job. Must¡¯ve been hard on you.¡±

    ¡°The reason for our engagement is a misunderstanding between our elders. She and I¡­ My personal business doesn¡¯t have anything to do with work. Are you telling me you don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve been negligent of my duty or not?¡±

    ¡°I thought you only had eyes for your aunt, but what do you know? You even have a fianc¨¦e? That¡¯s Mount Daluo¡¯s future patriarch for you, one woman in each arm.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your point? Weren¡¯t you the one who said she doesn¡¯t care about my background?¡±

    ¡°I can ignore it, but does that change the facts? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re condescending yourself to work as a small-time constable at Liu Shan Men for; however, it can¡¯t be to uphold justice, can it? How about you confess why you joined? How much of what you tell me is true? I don¡¯t even know who you are?!¡±

    I stomped to my feet and took a few shallow breaths before I calmed down. ¡°¡­ True, I joined with my own agenda. I know what I¡¯m doing, though, and I know what the path I chose is. Have I ever betrayed you once since joining? Have I really been negligent in my duties?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ Where is Tang Ye right now?¡±

    Tang Ye¡­ I admit to negligence. I doubted anyone could understand the bet I made on Tang Ye, nevertheless, so I couldn¡¯t bring it up.

    ¡°¡­ Instead of worrying about my private issues, how about you focus on fulfilling your responsibilities, Future Mount Daluo Patriarch. Although Liu Shan Men has fallen from grace, please do not treat it as your yground.¡±

    ¡°You said¡± - my throat suddenly felt excruciatingly dry - ¡°that, no matter who I am, I am your reliable subordinate. Is that¡­ true?¡±

    Boss hung her head. ¡°Just formality. Who¡¯d take it serious?¡±

    I exhaled slowly through my nose and walked out.

 Volume 9 38 Yirens Views

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 38 Yiren¡¯s Views</h4>

    Shen Yiren wrote in silence, blocking out the past, present and future, after Ming Feizhen left until she noticed she wrote a line wrong. She circled the mistake and wrote again, but the more she wrote, the more irate she grew until she snapped her brush. She stared at her brush for a while before hurling it at the ground. In contrast, she meekly pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh.

    If one judged Shen Yiren from her behaviours alone, they might perceive her as a violent individual who¡¯d erupt at any given moment or challenge authority whenever it inconvenienced her. In truth, she was a lot more collected than they imagined. Labelling her unbridled was thoughtless because there was no way she wasn¡¯t cognisant of her position rtive to everyone else in the imperial court if one was to remember she began her career at twelve years of age. When Ming Feizhen made her snap, it almost drained her to bite back.

    Shen Yiren was conscious of her body¡¯s state, especially her long-term insomnia and headaches that started in puberty and worsened correspondingly with her workload, since imperial doctors examined her at fixed intervals annually. Naturally, then, she was aware of how proficient Ming Feizhen was in the medical field.

    Although Shen Yiren was right-handed, she couldn¡¯t be indifferent to her left hand¡¯s condition for bnce is integral for martial artists. She didn¡¯t seek to excel in the world of swordsmen, so she didn¡¯t endeavour to be as proficient as she possibly could with her right hand, epting the reality that she would never be among the greatest swordsmen.

    On the more human side, nobody could lose a hand and casually brush it off as, ¡°Meh, just one hand less.¡± Shen Yiren was equally vulnerable to the trauma of losing a hand, but she was Shen Yiren. Plus, there was no time for her to mope about it. s, the stress that came as part of the fronting parcelpounded her insomnia condition.

    Shen Yiren minded Ming Feizhen¡¯s background; she wasn¡¯t as tolerant and hearty as she might appear. Despite tacitly acknowledging Ming Feizhen¡¯s exceptionalpetence, it never crossed her mind that he was a direct disciple of Mount Daluo or their head disciple.

    The sessor of Mount Daluo for this generation had been under the radar for a long time. On one end of the spectrum, there were people who imed the sessor was so pitifully bad at fighting that they couldn¡¯t be bothered talking about them. On the other end of the spectrum, the sessor was so mysterious and dominating that mentioning them would send chills down spines.

    The ims depicted Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor as either someone who was indifferent to glory and fame or was hiding themselves via nefarious means. If their sessor was easy to get along with, why would the second senior disciple, Seventeen Wyrms¡¯ first rank, be resigned to his status as ¡°Hidden Hero¡±?

    Who would¡¯ve thought Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple and sessor would be working under them as a low-ranking constable, exposing himself to their censures and beatings? Who would¡¯ve expected him to be the workce clown?

    Shen Yiren strode off upon learning Ming Feizhen¡¯s status because she felt he signed up as a constable just to entertain himself; she already met her fair share of peculiar adepts who misbehaved all the time. She couldn¡¯t banish the suspicion that he would up and leave without a word once he was done hiding, but she couldn¡¯t describe the precise emotional reaction she had as there were contradicting feelings.

    Shen Yiren thought she finally met somebody who could understand her, only to discover she could no longer trust him. She thought she finally found arade who would march alongside her, only to realise she didn¡¯t know who was marching next to her. She couldn¡¯t find it in her to continue treating him the same way she always had, implore him to stay or reveal her timid side to him.

    Evaluating Ming Feizhen from his deeds wasn¡¯t enough to convince Shen Yiren he harboured ulterior motives just because he hid his identity. Even if she didn¡¯t want to admit it, she couldn¡¯t deny he nevermitted anything despicable. To speak more explicitly, she didn¡¯t dislike him.

    All Shen Yiren could do was throw Ming Feizhen some harmless praise and pretend she indifferently threw the information into a fire. When he kept harping about her condition and reading into her secrets, though, it felt as though he was unting his medical knowledge and his ability to remain undetected; it rubbed her the wrong way enough for her to erupt.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren was informed about the misunderstanding between Ming Feizhen and Yu Feiyuan but couldn¡¯t stop herself fromshing out. She knew he wouldn¡¯t be happy if misfortune befell Tang Ye, yet she still used it to shut him up. Whether it was for a transient moment of vengeance or not, she found sess - at least, until emptiness and regret took over.

    Shen Yiren vividly remembered the darkness in Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes that distinctly contrasted the brightness during the day when he walked out.

    ¡°Is being my subordinate something for you to be so happy about?¡± Shen Yiren muttered. ¡°Will you stay¡­ if I acknowledge you¡­?¡±

 Volume 9 39 Refining Divine Commences With a Splash of Blood (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 39 Refining Divine Commences With a Ssh¡­ of Blood (Part 1)</h4>

    Running around in Luo Sword Manor¡¯s ce was considered unbing for beingposed was considered a virtue. Howbeit, Luo n¡¯s chambein sprinted across Repository Ind in his declining ages at sunset and went straight through the estate without knocking to announce, ¡°Everyone, it is time to depart!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting to hear that.¡± Emperor Yuansheng called, ¡°¡­ Men.¡±

    ¡°Present!¡±

    Luo n¡¯s chambein stepped outside to allow them to speak in private.

    Dugu expressed, ¡°I feel uneasy leaving your side for three days. Please take care, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll do my best to stick to Patriarch Luo. Is there anyone to fear with him apanying me? My six warriors¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng nodded as he surveyed his sixpetitors - barely nodding due to his neck injury. ¡°We are not fighting this battle for ourselves but our homnd. Give it everything you have, and fight to the death. Should you fall, your family will be my family. Your parents will be my parents. Your assets will be my assets. Go, my warriors!¡±

    ¡°You should go, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Ahem.¡± Emperor Yuansheng straightened up his neck and continued, ¡°I was trying to lighten the atmosphere with a joke. I was supposed to fight, but I had an ident¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng looked over to Ming Feizhen, who looked up to the ceiling, and then resumed. ¡°The road ahead is wrought with danger, so prioritise your safety. Don¡¯t always try to be a hero. Use your head when the situation calls for it. Losing any of you is a big loss to the nation. If you cannot beat your opponent, search for alternatives. Don¡¯t risk yourself. Yiren, you must be careful. Leave the dangerous stuff to these stupid hooligans. You just focus on protecting yourself.¡±

    ¡°As youmand!¡± Shen Yiren caked her face with make-up and wore a pink warrior robe. The red dot between her eyes highlighted her warrior spirit. ¡°I promise you a victory!¡±

    Unable to voice his concern, Emperor Yuansheng red daggers at Ming Feizhen. ¡°Prioritise your wellbeing. Don¡¯t ruin your health.¡±

    Shen Yiren gently shuddered: ¡°¡­ Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Eyes teary, Long Zaitian stepped forward: ¡°Your Majesty, please take care. I do not have a lot of assets. I have five coppers here in my pocket¡­ Take it!¡±

    ¡°You going to get lost, or will I have to make you?!¡±

    Under the lead of Luo n¡¯s chambein, the group, each in their own world, arrived at the shore, where two kakams and two individuals dressed simr to assassins in the night awaited them. Luo n¡¯s chambein shouted at the two wearing bamboo hats with ¡°Luo Sword¡± written on them, ¡°Mount Daluo and Li n¡¯s teams are here.¡±

    Long Zaitian questioned, ¡°Why are there two boats?¡±

    Luo n¡¯s chambein let the question go out his other ear and led Li n¡¯s team to one individual: ¡°Although allpetitors aremuting to the location via the same means, every team is transported to the ind differently. Since we have two teams here, one shall depart ahead of the other. Irrespective of how close you may be with each other, you must abide to the rules.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°What rule? My fist is the rule! Separating us is like lopping off part of me! You want to duke it out to see who gets the final say?!¡±

    ¡°You reserve the right to withdraw now if you do not wish to oblige.¡±

    Long Zaitian spat on the ground, then turned to Shen Yiren with his joker face: ¡°How about joining our team, Miss Shen?¡±

    ¡°You going to get lost, or will I have to make you?¡± responded Shen Yiren.

    Long Zaitian spun around and pointed to one of the individuals in ck: ¡°Hear thedy? She told you to get lost!¡±

    The individual replied, ¡°Once you reach the ind, you will have absolute freedom. We will not interfere with what you do.¡±

    Subsequent to the six¡¯s discussion, Tie Hanyi saluted Luo n¡¯s group: ¡°Understood. Where will we be going?¡±

    ¡°Each Luo Sword navigator will lead teams to the ind differently. This one shall answer any question you may have once you have boarded.¡±

    Tie Hanyi and Dugu boarded silently, while Long Zaitian kept verbally attacking the individual even after boarding.

    Su Xiao could feel the cold from the two on either side of him. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t have stormed into Shen Yiren¡¯s bathroom or something when he didn¡¯t have finger marks on his face or broken bones. The inkstone mark wasn¡¯t informative since it was seen too frequently to be considered abnormal.

    ¡°Please board now.¡± Once the trio boarded, the individual with the bamboo hat let a smile spread across his lips: ¡°Wee to Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    Glossary

    Kakam - (Visual). Sampans are the ones with t bottoms and used mainly for travel on rivers and by fisherman and function simrly.

 Volume 9 40 Refining Divine Commences With a Splash of Blood (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 40 Refining Divine Commences With a Ssh¡­ of Blood (Part 2)</h4>

    Following another sleepless night, Shen Yiren¡¯s body and mind felt exponentially more fatigued, forcing her to focus harder than usual to not drop. s, even her usual dominance was nowhere to be seen. She deted once she boarded but maintained ready to fight at the drop of a hat - a state she learnt to enter when she was once hunted and had saved her on numerous asions.

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t change her makeup style to hide her poor condition as she was confident nobody could see through her; she did it out of spite. Psychologically, it acted as a shield against anyone reading her as Ming Feizhen was able to.

    ¡°It must be tough working your job. Living without a name isn¡¯t easy,¡± Ming Feizhen said to the man with the bamboo hat. Ever since boarding, Ming Feizhen studied the boat as though it was some miraculous work of magic, discussing its materials, designs and whatnot.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s temper burned as she watched and listened to Ming Feizhen¡¯s yful attitude while she was worked upst night after their spat. It eventually reached a point where she chose to close her eyes and rest.

    Su Xiao was hoping to help Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen reconcile once they were on the boat since they had nowhere to go. He was totally baffled as it was the first time he had seen the two pretending each other didn¡¯t exist. ¡°Miss Shen, are you tired today?¡±

    ¡°I am. Let me have a short rest.¡±

    ¡°You are tired, and Big Brother Ming is.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What¡¯s¡­ his issue?¡±

    ¡°I saw him yawning by the bow. He must have not slept well. It does not make sense to me, though. Master told us to turn in early, and he never wakes up until noon. How could he be sleep deprived?¡±

    Shen Yiren carefully and subtly opened one eye, wondering, ¡°Could he¡­¡± She used Precision Scout to eavesdrop on Ming Feizhen¡¯s conversation.

    ¡°Every man has his struggles, huh?¡± Ming Feizhenmented.

    ¡°That is very true,¡± replied the man with the bamboo hat.

    ¡°You mentioned every teamnds on the ind differently, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Everyone else also crossed by boat?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Which means that the difference is not ¡®how¡¯ we get to the ind but where wend and what tie, correct?¡±

    The man didn¡¯t answer.

    ¡°Given your getup, you must follow the same code even if you are charged with different missions. I can safely assume that you are leading us to our destination by the same standard and wouldn¡¯t make any ¡®special¡¯ exceptions for me because I¡¯m the sessor to Mount Daluo, correct? I heckled you with a plethora of questions, yet you weren¡¯t bothered in the slightest. You answered every question without reservation. I¡¯m assuming you aren¡¯t that patient but was told to answer every enquiry, correct? There¡¯s only one reason you didn¡¯t answer myst query: your superior told you that you can¡¯t talk about certain topics, correct? ¡­ Your silence right now is an answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mount Daluo never ceases to awe one. I can answer your questions; however, I can only answer them once we arrive. In saying that, as you have already figured it out, I can answer you now: your guesses are correct.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ The different ¡®way¡¯ also means that every group isnding at different times and locations.¡±

    ¡°Precisely. Both factors are randomised. We will disembark at the end of the east side - Dragonroot Ind, which connects to Flying Fish, Flying Flower and Flying Inds.¡±

    ¡°Say what?!¡± Ming Feizhen mumbled, ¡°One root and three flying¡­ One rod and three¡­¡±

    The escort: ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Arriving at different times can mess with the program and tire themselves out before others get to them. I suppose it won¡¯t be easy to find outrades. If we¡¯re going to Dragonroot Ind, ourrades must be going to one of the three flying inds. Since Dragonroot Ind is in the far east and we¡¯re heading southwest, we should disembark north of the ind. North should be the dragon¡¯s head. The dragon¡¯s root should connect to the fish¡¯s tail. Ourrades will bending at the rear of Flying Fish Ind, I bet.¡±

    The man with the bamboo hat was stupefied, to say the least.

    Ming Feizhen chortled and yawned. A corner of Shen Yiren¡¯s lips helplessly rose a tad.

    Perhaps¡­ he¡¯s not as careless as I thought. Maybe¡­ he won¡¯t leave.

    Suddenly, Shen Yiren felt her head throbbing, a sensation she was more familiar with than she would¡¯ve preferred. She wanted to finish discussing her n with Ming Feizhenst night because she wanted to grant herself time topensate for her sleep deprivation.

    Shen Yiren wanted to inform Ming Feizhen as her condition rendered her uneasy, and he was well-versed in medicine, but they had docked.

    Exotic. Every sense of nature converged on Dragonroot Ind, foiling numerous ns Shen Yiren set out prior to their arrival and introduced unknown dangers that could be hidden under the woven tree roots, bouquets of foliage above or forest of trees that nurtured a sense of ustrophobia.

    ¡°Fei¡­¡± By the time Shen Yiren reached the bow, Ming Feizhen had already disembarked. When she and Su Xiao got off, Ming Feizhen would take a stride every time she took one. When she stopped, he stopped, maintaining a constant distance that she couldn¡¯t reach but could see.

    They kept a consistent distance for ten kilometres, when Shen Yiren strode wide and heavily up to Ming Feizhen. When she confronted him, he shut his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Someone told me to reflect. Our predecessors face walls when reflecting. I have no home, and nobody wants me, so I have to face my hands.¡±

    How childish can you be?! I¡¯d love to clock you right now.

    ¡°By the way,¡± the man with the bamboo hat suddenly verbalised. ¡°Please do not forget thatnding locations and times are randomised. In other words, some people are arriving now, while some have already arrived.¡±

    Shen Yiren wrinkled her nose: ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°There is an equal chance of one team never encountering another team as there is of them running into each other. Put another way, there is a chance that, as soon as we disembark¡­¡± - the pause came almost as though it was intended to let them notice the smell of iron and blood floating through the air - ¡°we encounter hostiles.¡±

    Three men leapt out from behind the trees, big broadswords at the ready. Shen Yiren and Su Xiao intercepted one each. Shen Yiren subsequently thrust her sword at the third assant to convince him to back off.

    ¡°That one over there is Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple! Get their leader first!¡± yelled the man stuck with Su Xiao.

    The trio broke off from Shen Yiren and Su Xiao to make their way to Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t evade at that distance, so Shen Yiren wanted to go to his aid, yet she could barely find her bnce in the spinning world.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Feizhen¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­If I let you risk your life a third time, I¡¯d be irredeemably stupid.¡±

    ¡°¡­We will be surrounded by danger on all sides starting from tomorrow. If your sleep deprivation affects you for even a second, you could lose your life¡­¡±

    ¡°Boss¡­ You said that, no matter who I am, I am your reliable subordinate. Is that¡­ true?¡±

    Warm blood sttered across Shen Yiren¡¯s face, but all she could see were red swirls telling her that she wasn¡¯t dreaming. She saw him copse, yet she was powerless to do anything.

    ¡°Feizhen!¡±

 Volume 9 41 The Feelings That Her Madness Gouge Out

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 41 The Feelings That Her Madness Gouge Out</h4>

    Thought it wasparable to a bonfire, it was no celebration. With each re, another souvenir of her life, another memory was alight. The cries of its residents echoed into the night. Tendrils of smoke reaching desperately into the sky as if trying to escape the zing inferno below, yet hundreds of people tried to beat the scorching violence. Even the military was dispatched when it wasn¡¯t the imperial pce that was aze.

    Regardless of whether it was the heaven¡¯s punishment or someone¡¯s diabolic wrath, it eventually reached a point where even the dispatched military had to reluctantly abandon extinguishing the mes and resort to preventing the firestorm spreading any further, prioritising the evacuation of citizens caught in the fire as coteral damage. Sadly, the estate that the cultureless red, yellow and orange originated at was beyond saving; it was impossible for anyone to have survived the disaster.

    All that remained of the once busy, colourful and upscale estate was inorganic wreckage. A nine year old girl roared at the fallen estate from the arms of her father, tearfully ruminating biting her tongue to be reunited with her parents, but a bald monk had her banish the thought. He siphoned energy into her via the hand he caressed her head with to put her to sleep and, in a soft voice of a young man, urged, ¡°Live. You must live¡­ to know what your life is like.¡±

    The only survivors of the awfully dubious fire among the seventy-seven residents were the young siblings. Firstly, Shen Wuzheng wasn¡¯t so helpless that someone could just set him alight so easily. Second, Captain Yan Shisan happened to coincidentally be out of the capital, leaving him guilt-ridden for the rest of his life for failing to rescue his sworn brother. Ostensibly, no investigators could get to the bottom of the case, leaving it as one of the mystery cases in the imperial court¡¯s archives.

    The incident waster proven to be connected to Demon Sect,pelling Emperor Yuansheng to exterminate them - though it wasn¡¯t his only motivation.

    By the time the girl came to, only one possession from her family remained beside her, a que that read ¡°Loyal n¡±. Drawing energy and motivation from the words, she got up onto her two legs that would carry on the legacy of Vice-Captain Shen Wuzheng, a man who served the imperial court with the utmost loyalty from day one. That fire forced Shen Yiren to grow up, to learn what restraint and discipline were.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s high demands of herself drove her to exercise discipline regardless of straight balls or curve balls, busying herself with work and training until now¡­

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s with her? Where did she suddenly get all her energy from?!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get out of here!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s cr-¡±

    Hisrade behind him had a new hole in his chest before he was done talking. Shen Yiren shed her victim through the torso before the blood could spill out from the first wound, snapping her sword due to her wielding a sword as a broadsword or axe.

    ¡°Dianzi, Zhashou,e out!¡± the leader cried as he showed a clean pair of heels.

    The three who jumped out were from an orthodox sect, while the trio that initiated the ambush were from an unorthodox sect. Affiliations didn¡¯t matter to them once they were on the ind.

    Stter! Shen Yiren cleaved a head in two as soon as one was within reach.

    ¡°She¡¯s a monster! Run for it!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re all dead.¡± If ¡°heartless¡± had a sound, then Shen Yiren¡¯s voice was it. It was as though the blood coursing down her de counterattacked her throbbing headache as she marched forward.

    ¡°Vice-Captain!¡± Su Xiao¡¯s cry drove off the darkness shrouding Shen Yiren¡¯s mind. ¡°Big Brother Ming is bleeding incessantly. Come back and help him, or he¡¯ll die!¡±

    Shen Yiren blinked for the first time since beginning her rampage: ¡°H-how is he doing?!¡±

    ¡°Still bleeding.¡±

    ¡°Seal his upoints to staunch it!¡± Shen Yiren sped back to seal nine of Ming Feizhen¡¯s upoints, yet the powder she threw onto his wounds barely worked owing to his blood gushing out. ¡°You¡¯re deliberately trying to trigger me! I refuse to believe you couldn¡¯t have dodged that when you¡¯re packing entric ideas! Are you trying to do this out of spite?!¡±

    Voice hoarse, Shen Yiren eximed, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. I¡¯ll tell you everything. I¡¯ll take medication and eat as you advised. I won¡¯t push myself again, but I¡¯ll only honour the promise if you live! As my subordinate, you must follow my orders, and I hereby order you to live!¡±

    Colour Su Xiao dumbfounded. Nheless, he kept throwing on the expensive powder while his tears uncontrobly rained down as if they were bricks.

    Streaks of heat spilt from Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes for the first time in years: ¡°Don¡¯t die! You¡¯re not allowed to die yet! Come back! Come back!¡±

    To the bewilderment of both of them, Ming Feizhen stopped bleeding as if the upoint seals were deferred until then. Regardless of the cause, Shen Yiren cried, ¡°Medicine! Patches! Something!¡±

 Volume 9 42 Goodnight, Vice-Captain

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 42 Goodnight, Vice-Captain</h4>

    While Shen Yiren and Su Xiao carried Ming Feizhen along with urgency subsequent to stopping his profuse bleeding, their escort informed, ¡°I shall be awaiting your return¡± and hid in the forest, giving the impression that he wasn¡¯t permitted to retreat after dropping them off. In any case, the two had to get moving.

    Shen Yiren chose to take shelter inside a rtively concealed cavern and put in some extra work to obstruct the interior from outside view.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Fezhen¡¯s bloody wound started at his left shoulder and extended to his lower abdomen. Had he not taken the step back that he did, it would¡¯ve cut deep enough to end him. He was also lucky his assant sliced down in one smooth motion instead of sawing down. His life was safe and, luckily, didn¡¯t suffer a fever while moving him. With that said, each breath he took was shallow and barely noticeable.

    Shen Yiren boiled water to disinfect and bandage Ming Feizhen again since they were in rush prior to escaping. Expecting to find boiled water in the wild was borderline delusional. Fortunately, Ming Feizhen always carried pots, bowls, melon seeds, pork shoulders, a checkers set and a heap of other stuff with him at all times. It went without saying that nobody could understand how he managed to lug around so much weight on his back.

    Shen Yiren, using her emergency first aid knowledge and training, tore off some clothing to cut it into bandages, using the remainder to wipe Ming Feizhen¡¯s wounds. Since the injury went down to his lower abdomen, she had no choice but to see his private part. She, of course, didn¡¯t mind and did what needed to be done.

    Unlike Shen Yiren, Su Xiao didn¡¯t dare to look at Ming Feizhen¡¯sher region. More pertinently, he thought she was better at providing first aid than a woman taking care of her beloved husband.

    Knowing what was on Su Xiao¡¯s mind, Shen Yiren expounded, ¡°I joined the military at five years of age to help my parents take care of wounded personnel; I couldn¡¯t be more familiar with first aid. Watch over him while I get some rest.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Did¡­ Vice-Captain just say she was going to rest?

    That was the first time Su Xiao heard Shen Yiren talk about resting. It was actually her first time ever thinking about actively resting.

    Shen Yiren propped herself down on a rock by the cavern entrance and then heaved out her exhaustion. She gently wagged her paralysed left hand and bitterly dimpled. She believed she could¡¯ve demolished the trio who ambushed them, yet it was her weariness and headache that stunted her movements severely. If she still had her left hand, she was positive she could¡¯ve protected herrades even if her headache acted up.

    On the flipside, had Ming Feizhen not absorbed a sh, Shen Yiren would still be fashioning denial, not that she should be med. After all, losing her left hand was the equivalent of an undefeated pugilists waking up to learn he humiliatingly had his lights put out inside one round. Sometimes, one failure is enough to change a former champion forever. In her case, she proactively chose to use her responsibilities as a means of marginalising her problems, not that denying a problem undoes it. It was painfully clear to her now that she was crippled every time she engaged in a fight. Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°death¡± and her left hand forced her to face reality.

    All was not loss. Shen Yiren was fortunate to have her weaknesses and limits exposed early. As a bonus, she found justified reasons to cry on her quest.

    Shen Yiren inhaled slowly and deeply. Strangely, the weather on this ind was warm despite it being winter. The foliage-enhanced air refreshed her mind.

    It really has been ages since I cried.

    Lifting her lips didn¡¯t feel as if they were fighting a downward pressure for once in a long tie. There was no more weight on her shoulders, no more noose around her neck for she finally understood that people have strong and weak moments.

    And he¡­ There¡¯s no way he couldn¡¯t have avoided that strike. If he purposely took it, perhaps my suspicions aren¡¯t unfounded. I don¡¯t have evidence, but I can¡¯t help feeling he let himself get caught for me to witness. Well, I won¡¯t bother trying to prove my theory or give a ¡°thanks.¡±

    Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t ungrateful. She just knew what he would appreciate instead of hearing ¡°thank you¡±.

    Shen Yiren cast her gaze to the exotic scene of nature outside, gradually letting her eyelids fall. Upon hearing light and steady breaths behind him, Su Xiao looked over his shoulder to see her smiling in her sleep. ¡°It has been rough on you.¡± Su Xiao added a small bow. ¡°Goodnight, Vice-Captain.¡±

 Volume 9 43 Why Not?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 43 Why Not?</h4>

    ¡°¡­ Idiot.¡±

    Maybe the moon¡¯s silver light cast down a revtion, or maybe it was just because he knew Ming Feizhen was neither skilled nor gusty enough to offer himself up in a vanguard position. Whatever the case, Su Xiao concluded Ming Feizhen meant to let the enemy hack him. Perhaps it was also why he didn¡¯t fly into frenzy as Shen Yiren did and was, instead, able to expel the rage from her.

    The unorthodox mental cultivation Ming Feizhen imparted to Su Xiao was the very style the former gave adepts trouble with back in his active days. Instead of following a universal method, the style required the practitioner to practice different mental cultivation methods depending on the status of their qi, blood and the time at that specific point in time. It was impossible to learn it using orthodox styles; unorthodox style adepts aspired to study it using their unorthodox mental cultivation, but they teaued partway through despite improving their internal energy by leaps and bounds.

    It¡¯s anything but easy to change a style¡¯s mental cultivation style; trying to switch it by the second borders on impossible. Every previous practitioner of the style was touted as one of the best of their generation. The notes they left behind would pack Shaolin¡¯s manual hall, thergest manual hall in thends, to the brim. For as long as it had existed, hardly a soul would argue it isn¡¯t the most intricate and rewarding style - once mastered. Tell anyone Su Xiao was on the cusp of mastering the firstyer, and people would tell you to speak when you¡¯re not intoxicated.

    Su Xiao learnt the style the same way Ming Feizhen did. Su Xiao¡¯s true qi wasn¡¯t potent yet, but he was on right track. At Su Xiao¡¯s current level, breathing was the most imperative facet, which was why Ming Feizhen taught him to breathe first and foremost to grasp the keys - in and thoughtless.

    The sound of the breeze outside, the silence inside, the faint veil of light at the entrance and the darkness at the corners inside, the soft snores from Shen Yiren, the small breaths from Ming Feizhen, movements and stillness, light and shadow¡­ Su Xiao sensed a regtive system to it all after repeating several cycles of the breathing technique; it was as though he was viewing phenomena from another realm. The line between light and shadow, movement and stillness became vague. The world moved in slow motion until everything ceased to move. Su Xiao was oblivious to the fact that he was casting a long-lost mental cultivation style.

    Su Xiao, upon ncing down to Ming Feizhen, noticed his focal length perception was off when he budged, and then he felt himself inexplicably rivet without detecting the hand that jabbed him.

    ¡°Rest up now.¡± Ming Feizhen opened his eyes once he sealed Su Xiao and Shen Yiren¡¯s upoints. ¡°Leave the rest to me.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You told me Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor is a punching bag and told us to strike him as soon as we spotted him.¡± The leader of the ambush team chopped the air with his ghost-head broadsword. ¡°He might be a punching bag, but he has a crazy woman with him! My third brother lost his life to her! How do you exin your erroneous information?¡±

    ¡°Oh, and my second brother didn¡¯t lose his life? Had you not dropped your balls, how could six of us fail to subdue one woman?¡± Ma Liang argued.

    Ma Liang was an official and as ordinary as they came if it wasn¡¯t for his n¡¯s ck aurum iron spear that garnered Luo Ming¡¯s attention. He immediately teamed up with the man wielding the ghost-head broadsword, Ghost-Head Dragonwind, when he learnt thetter wasing. He was always one to prefer staying out of the limelight.

    Ma Liang continued, ¡°We agreed to aim for big sects, and I would pretend to help as an orthodox sect if we couldn¡¯t wind while biding our time to jump them. Sects like Cold Mountain Temple and Wudang are the easiest prey because they¡¯re the easiest to fool with that gimmick, but Mount Daluo is a free kill that just fell in ourp, yet you let one woman scare the crap out of you. We wouldn¡¯t have had to retreat if you didn¡¯t expose me.¡±

    ¡°You must eat crap because all you¡¯re spewing is crap. You go fight her. See how many of us will still be alive by the time you¡¯re done with your heroic act.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°At the end of the day, it boils down to you chickening out.¡±

    ¡°Why not just give it another go?¡±

    The two in argument shuddered and looked up to see a man sitting on the tree stump, torso exposed enough for the bandages inside to be visible. It wasn¡¯t his muscles or nonchnce that concerned them but his covert arrival. They reached for their weapons but stopped for they didn¡¯t remember there being a tree stump there. Lying to the side of the tree stump was the top half of the tree stump he chilled on.

    ¡°So, can we get down to business now?¡±

    There wasn¡¯t going to be a fight; it¡¯d be a one-sided pounding, and he¡¯d be swinging the hammer if they showed any aggression.

    ¡°Though I don¡¯t want to do this, I do need some helpers. You guys just happen to be free.¡±

    The four saluted the man on the tree stump: ¡°We are at your service.¡±

    The broadsword wielder was upset that he deluded himself into believing he could hurt Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor, despaired he had been training for nothing all this time. Thing was, he was certain he hurt Ming Feizhen because of the bandages and the sensation he felt when he shed Ming Feizhen.

    Still not focusing on the four, Ming Feizhen remarked, ¡°No need to doubt yourself. The wound is real.¡±

    ¡°H-how could I have possibly hurt you?¡± The man reflected on how the event yed out and then inquired, ¡°D-did you deliberately let me catch you for the woman to see?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled up a corner of his lips without scaring them for the first time since his arrival. He instructed the group then left.

    That woman isn¡¯t the crazy one, he is! He¡¯s a nut job!

    When Ming Feizhen smiled, what he said was, ¡°Why not?¡±

 Volume 9 44 Groundhog and Su Xiao (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 44 Groundhog and Su Xiao (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Eh?¡± Su Xiao couldn¡¯t put his finger on what was peculiar when he came to. Ming Feizhen was still deep asleep. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡­ Huh? Why does this remind me of when a man tried to grope me while I was on patrol?¡±

    Vice-Captain is so deep asleep that she wouldn¡¯t even know if the cavern toppled down. Guess I have to assume guard duty. The burden of being the second strongest here¡­

    I beat Ye Luo fair and square at the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, while Big Brother Ming was just lucky. Big Brother Ming needed Tang Ye¡¯s help against Jin Wangsun. He¡¯s been relying on his mouth to save him since we arrived in Huzhou. He was only a doctor in the fight against Abels, and he¡¯s been ying dead since. What a guile groundhog, he is. Even if he deliberately let himself get hit before, his footwork when he evaded sucks. When will he learn how lousy he ispared to others? He¡¯s going to get himself killed if he continues to underestimate strong people.

    Even though he remembers all these cool manuals, you need to have talent, like Tang Ye or me. Maybe he should learn how to be a prim and avoid trouble before learning martial arts. That money he pulled out of nowhere is also fishy.

    Su Xiao wasn¡¯t concerned for Tang Ye since Tang Ye was Demon Sect¡¯s Lord San Shen.

    Su Xiao felt he was brimming with infinite energy as he guarded the cavern entrance, oblivious to the fact that he obtained a key to a vault of unbelievable power thanks to the mental cultivation he was practicing earlier. Having ascended to its firstyer, he only needed a bit more of a push to obtain power on par with actual adepts in the pugilistic world.

    Su Xiao had yet to figure out why he was ejected from the surreal world when he was about to see the whole picture. He didn¡¯t try; it was the bnce in the cavern that stirred autonomously. It¡¯s what people call ¡°luck¡± in the martial arts world, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hence, nothing he did could reproduce that bnce, that realm he entered. Nevertheless, as he didn¡¯tprehend the style¡¯s depth, even a setback was something to celebrate to him if he moved an inch forward. As such, he wouldn¡¯t push the envelope and risk his wellbeing.

    ¡°Excuse me. Is Mount Daluo¡¯s team inside?¡±

    Su Xiao opened his eyes upon hearing the voice of their escort: ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°You have been challenged.¡±

    ¡°An enemy attack?!¡± Su Xiao had an impulse to turn around and cry, ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± but resisted out of consideration for thetter¡¯s condition. That said, he finger jabbed Ming Feizhen¡¯s nose and grumbled, ¡°Stupid groundhog, always missing in action when it counts!¡±

    Standing behind the escort were six men, six of whom were from the previous group of assants and two escorts.

    ¡°How did you locate us?¡± Su Xiao questioned.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s escort exined, ¡°It is Refining Divine Convention¡¯s rule.¡±

    ¡°What rule?¡±

    ¡°One of the rules state that, should a team not be able to locate their opponent, they can ce an enquiry with an escort and issue a challenge to the closest team. That is why we brought them here.¡±

    ¡°In other words¡­ you will find us regardless of where we hide?¡±

    ¡°If that is how you prefer toprehend it, then yes.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not our escort, then! You¡¯re traitors, rats!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao¡¯s first idea was to call Ming Feizhen for help. His second idea was to call Shen Yiren for help. Ming Feizhen was out ofmission. Shen Yiren was mentally unstable due to her fake death condition that gued her previously.

    ¡°Hey,ss, if you¡¯re not ready, what are you here for? I suggest you pull out,¡± shouted someone amongst the enemy group.

    Su Xiao always had support when he fought in the past, whether it was in the form of physical help or pointers. Although his teeth were chattering, his grip wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Heh, careful not to cut yourself.¡±

    ¡°You fight with your mouth or your hands?!¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s attempt at a surprise attack failed miserably. The man flowered Su Xiao¡¯s chop as he turned his body to the side then knocked Su Xiao¡¯s Ancient Cold to destabilise Su Xiao. To the man¡¯s surprise, he felt a shock up his hand.

    How is her internal energy so advanced at such a young age?

    Su Xiao shed backward in a panic.

    ¡°You trying to kill me, you wench?!¡± The man clumsily retreated from Su Xiao¡¯s lethal sh and donned silver qi armour.

 Volume 9 45 Groundhog and Su Xiao (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 45 Groundhog and Su Xiao (Part 2)</h4>

    Why has the fight escted from a match to a life-and-death match?! We were told to subdue her without hurting her? How are we supposed to do that when she¡¯sing out with haymakers?! She¡¯s on the young side, but she¡¯s pretty. I guess that¡¯s why he was willing to take a hit in her presence.

    Su Xiao repelled the metal broadsword swung at him. Another swing came through the defence line to go for Su Xiao¡¯s neck.

    ¡°What are you doing?! Help!¡±

    How?! Whatever, it¡¯s do or die now. I¡¯ll kill this chick and then get the hell out of here!

    Su Xiao wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to dodge the sh; even his hairs wanted to eject from his skin. Only he, however, could see the metal broadsword inching closer in slow motion. To speak more correctly, everything within his field of vision moved so slow that he could even had time to count the number of wrinkles on his adversary¡¯s forehead. While everything and everyone moved at a crawl, he felt himself moving at a sprint.

    Su Xiao ducked under the de and, catching the de in his teeth, retreated seven steps prior to twisting his body to terminate the force of the swing. He couldn¡¯t even conjure a counterattack strategy, yet he could see the follow up punch in slow motion.

    Strange¡­ Why is he¡­?

    Su Xiao spotted innumerable openings on his opponent to the point that he had trouble choosing where to hit until determining a strike to his opponent¡¯s rib would end the fight.

    It must be my breathing. Big Brother Ming did say this breathing style is most apt forbat.

    Su Xiao drew Ancient Cold, whacking his foe to the ground on an angle: ¡°I¡­ used the reverse side of my de.¡± Su Xiao couldn¡¯t exin the feeling, but it was as though he was holding something else.

    As Su Xiao stared down one man, the man stared back, confident his broadsword skills were superior. Little did he expect Su Xiao to shoot over as fast as an arrow. Three metres away from each other, the man blustered, ¡°You won¡¯t catch me!¡±

    Su Xiao had shot past his target and drew his weapon before thetter realised it. In an arc, Su Xiao mmed his hilt into his opponent¡¯s head, sleeping thetter. Even though he wasn¡¯t the brightest tool in the shed, even Su Xiao could discern he had grown stronger.

    The spear wielder, Ma Liang, pped: ¡°Splendid, Miss.¡±

    Su Xiao blew air into his cheeks and yelled, ¡°I¡¯m a man!¡± spoiling the rest of Ma Liang¡¯s praise speech.

    At this point, Ma Liang realised that Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t going to give them a second order after subduing Su Xiao for the point of the mission was to help refine Su Xiao¡¯s skills.

    Arrogant prick. She may be fast, but she¡¯s no much for me alone, let alone with help.

    Ma Liang provoked, ¡°If we don¡¯t do anything, she¡¯s going to drop both of us.¡±

    The broadsword wielder responded, ¡°Though she¡¯s half decent, she¡¯s still got a long way to go before she reaches my level. Anyone can mop the floor with her. To show gratitude for not hurting my brothers, let¡¯s get her together but not hurt her.¡±

    ¡°Miss, I don¡¯t have anything against you. I¡¯m somewhat known in Nanjing¡¯s martial w-¡±

    ¡°You are Ma Liang from the ministry of justice? What is a rank seven government official doing here?¡± Su Xiao questioned upon recalling where he heard the name Ma Liang before.

    If Su Xiao reported Ma Liang for allying with unorthodox sects, thetter would be in trouble.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    While Su Xiao managed to guard against the spear thrust in time, he lost the initiative.

    I¡¯m still superior to her even if she is superb.

    Su Xiao tried his hand at gaining ground but was denied until he reached the cavern entrance.

    ¡°Have you lost it?! What are you doing?!¡± The broadsword wielder saw through Ma Liang¡¯s intent to take Su Xiao¡¯s life.

    Ma Liang bore fangs in his smile: ¡°This is a lesson to remember. Remember to tell King of Hell you died because you talk too much.¡±

    Losing his bnce, Su Xiao cried, ¡°B-Big Brother Ming, I¡¯m being bullied!¡± s, he didn¡¯t receive an answer. Ming Feizhen, on the other hand, almostughed.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Something knocked Ma Liang¡¯s spear off its trajectory, granting Su Xiao a brief moment to roll out of range. As much as he was anxious, Ma Liang knew better than to press the attack when he wouldn¡¯t have been able to avoid the attack if it was aimed at his face.

    ¡°Who is it? Ma Liang requests an audience.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not qualified to carry our shoes, let alone be greeted an audience with us,¡± a maiden replied. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the opportunity to scram.¡±

    ¡°What makes you think I should scram just because you demand so?¡±

    ¡°Three words: Yu Feiyuan.¡±

    Glossary

    Yu Feiyuan is three words - In Chinese, each character is only one syble. For syntax reasons, ¡°Fei¡± and ¡°yuan¡± are attached, but they¡¯re technically considered two words.

 Volume 9 46 Death Junction? Opportunity Junction?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 46 Death Junction? Opportunity Junction?</h4>

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to identify the trio of beauties when it was hard not to see her splendour that covered every inch of her.

    ¡°What are you looking at?!¡± Huofeng, in her ck robe, didn¡¯t need another word to tear Ma Liang¡¯s eyes away from her armoured senior sister.

    Ma Liang saluted Yu Feiyuan: ¡°Greetings, Interim Patriarch Yu. May this one ask why you¡­¡± Ma Liang stopped when he recalled the rtionship between Mount Daluo and Wutong Jn Yuxuan. He and his ally weren¡¯t a match for Huofeng even if they ganged up, so fighting Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s trio was folly. Just in case Wutong Jin Yuxuan was passing by and trying to be heroes, though, he asked, ¡°May this one ask if you know her¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Feiyuan nodded.

    d, Ma Liang replied, ¡°As that is the case, we shall take our leave now.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan went to press her heavy hand on Ma Liang¡¯s shoulder; however, thetter was prepared to pull his left shoulder back as he pushed his right shoulder forward to catch Yu Feiyuan. Due to their close proximity, Yu Feiyuan easily dispelled the force of the thrust with her extended hand. She circled her hand around the spear three times, subsequently directing upwards. Ma Liang let go to stop the spear¡¯s movement, only for Yu Feiyuan to deftly snatch his spear over more technically than he expected of someone known for their herculean strength.

    ¡°What is this about, Interim Patriarch Yu? Does our client want to silence us?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan cast the spear and shook her head: ¡°This is a contest. If you can attack others, why can¡¯t this great one steal from you?¡±

    ¡°You ssify yourself an orthodox sect, yet you would y dirty? How do you expect anyone to respect you?¡±

    ¡°Are you saying you will exercise respect if we do not sneak attack you?¡±

    ¡°Naturally.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Ma Liang¡¯s hair blew behind him as his spear flew back to him. It took everything out of him to catch it without flying and to stand his ground.

    ¡°Hold it as tight as you can.¡± Yu Feiyuan was already in Ma Liang¡¯s face by the time he caught his weapon. ¡°Try stopping this great one from taking it.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As fast as she was, Ma Liang clearly saw every movement that took Yu Feiyuan¡¯s hand from her side to his spear. Confident she couldn¡¯t take it from his vice-like grip, he ended up letting go when he felt his fingers would crumble. As he let go, so did the blood inside him. While he was spewing blood, she threw the spear to Huofeng and instructed, ¡°Take care of it.¡±

    Now that was an authentic Wutong Jin Yuxuan skill executed proficiently enough to render Huofeng and Lian Qingluan in awe.

    Su Xiao, having ducked behind Huofeng, asked, ¡°Why are you here, Interim Patriarch Yu?¡±

    Although Yu Feiyuan ¡°defrosted¡± when smiling at Su Xiao, her answer was, ¡°This great one is here by pure coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Return my heirloom to me!¡± thundered Ma Liang.

    ¡°Why?¡± Yu Feiyuan questioned.

    ¡°Th-that is my family heirloom. How can I live it down if I lose it?¡±

    ¡°Do you have what it takes to protect it?¡±

    ¡°You pick on someone weaker than you, yet you im you¡¯re an orthodox sect.¡±

    ¡°So why did you join hands with Ghost-Head Dragonwind Broadsword to do evil? Your ancestors were generals. Five Crowns Spear was formted during the war and is still a respected style. Had you been training it instead of colluding with unorthodox sects for wealth, how would this great one have defeated you in one move?¡±

    ¡°¡­ This one did not expect you to know that much about him.¡±

    ¡°This great one didn¡¯t.¡± Yu Feiyuan pointed to Ming Feizhen. ¡°He told this great one.¡±

    ¡°H-he did?¡±

    ¡°He said that Nanjiang¡¯s Five Crown Spear is the descendant of great men and doesn¡¯t want it to end up in the wrong hands. That¡¯s why Wutong Jin Yuxuan will take care of the spear for the next decade. Come see this great one in Hangzhou in ten years. If you canst thirty exchanges, you can have it back.¡±

    Ma Liang, face red, kowtowed to the cavern and then left. From the forest, he stated, ¡°Please take care of the spear. This one will test his mettle with Interim Patriarch Yu in ten years from now.¡±

    The man with the broadsword picked up his men and also skedaddled.

    Yu Feiyuan exined why she showed up by the cavern to Su Xiao, but¡­ the summary was, ¡°We just coincidentally passed by.¡± It never even urred to Su Xiao that the groundhog sleeping inside orchestrated it all from beginning to end.

 Volume 9 47 Thank You, Crisis

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 47 Thank You, Crisis</h4>

    Ma Liang was correct to assume Ming Feizhen ordered him to endanger Su Xiao to provide Su Xiao with a chance to develop experience fighting alone. After subduing Ma Liang andpany, Ma Liang¡¯s spear inspired Ming Feizhen to request Yu Feiyuan¡¯s aid in protecting Su Xiao and Shen Yiren,ing out when Su Xiao needed help, since Su Xiao wasn¡¯t a match for them.

    If Shen Yiren took her abilities up another notch, the girl group had a distinct probability of being the toughest group on the ind.

    ¡°I see. So that happened to Brother Feizhen,¡± Yu Feiyuanmented once she heard Su Xiao¡¯s recount, trying to feign ignorance as best as she could.

    Huofeng cleared her throat to prompt Yu Feiyuan and then dimpled: ¡°Brother Su, we all know each other, and we are family with Mount Daluo, so we how about we team up?¡±

    ¡°That would be fantastic! We will be safe as long as Wutong Jin Yuxuan is with us!¡±

    ¡°Having said that, I have another suggestion.¡±

    ¡°My ears are yours.¡±

    ¡°ording to what you told us, Ming Feizhen will be bedridden for the next three days and may require half a month to recover.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Yes, his injuries are bad and likely needs more than three days to recover.¡±

    ¡°That being the case, he can¡¯t travel with us. If travelling aggravates his injuries, his life will be in peril.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ What if someonees here?¡±

    ¡°It sounds like you don¡¯t know the rules. Do you know what they attacked you for? Do you know why your escort sticks to you?¡±

    ¡°For¡­ a weapon?¡±

    ¡°Precisely. They just want Ming Feizhen¡¯s broadsword.¡±

    ¡°Are you referring to the burnt stick?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes, yes, that¡¯s the one.¡± Huofeng pinched the top of her nose. ¡°The rule of issuing challenges here is dependent on the location of a sect¡¯s weapon. If you¡¯re in possession of it, they¡¯lle for us instead of Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see, I see¡­ Still, we cannot just leave him here for the next three days¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a solution.¡± Huofeng presented a brocade box. ¡°This is my sect¡¯s life preservation soul retrieval pill. If the name doesn¡¯t give it away, it¡¯s as close to resurrection as you¡¯ll get, but it requires the consumer to rest for three days. During the three days, they stop breathing and cannot be distracted. I¡¯m going inside to feed him and bury him in a hole now so that nobody can find him. We¡¯ll return to dig him out after three days. What do you say?¡±

    It went without saying that it wasn¡¯t Huofeng who knew Su Xiao¡¯s character so well to have an answer for nothing.

    As the group was some distance from the cavern entrance, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have any hassle sneaking out. He whistled at a deste location and then waited for Wugufengdeng to heed his call.

    Although animals didn¡¯t like Ming Feizhen, he did learn how tomunicate with rodents under Hong Jiu¡¯s tutge - to an extent and provided Hong Jiu trained them. In saying that, Wugufengdeng didn¡¯t respond to Ming Feizhen¡¯s call at any given moment because they were close but because the former was terrified of Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Good boy.¡± Ming Feizhen picked up Wugufengdeng to pet. ¡°Don¡¯t quiver. Don¡¯t quiver. I need you to help me find Second. Let¡¯s get going. We have a lot of ces to go to. Any opinion, Wugufengdeng?¡±

    Wugufengdeng: Can I not go?!

    The conversation Ming Feizhen had with Wugufengdeng as they sneaked back to shore would likely have an animal welfare association on his case for animal cruelty. Ming Feizhen was ready to drug Shen Yiren into facing her problems if it came down to it so that he could run off to other inds. Thankfully, the ambush gave him an alternative approach. Things didn¡¯t work out because he had a genius n; he was just unbelievably lucky this time.

    ¡°Boss needs to learn how to stop acting tough so much. Why push herself into a corner all the time, agreed?¡±

    Can I just leave?! Why does my opinion even matter?!

    Unlike Su Xiao, Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t fall for the pill gimmick. That being said, she wouldn¡¯t dig him out of the hole, either. After all, what if disturbing him during the three day window really did harm him? Ming Feizhen, having healed to almost a hundred percent, could just return three dayster and await rescue in the hole.

    ¡°I¡¯m a genius. Only I¡¯de up with such a genius idea,¡± Ming Feizhen preened.

    ¡°Feizhen?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shivered, affording Wugufengdeng an opportunity to slip away.

    ¡°Y-you¡­ already recovered?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was so upied trying to understand Wugufengdeng that he didn¡¯t notice Shen Yiren was tailing him.

    ¡°What¡­ are you¡­ boarding the boat for?¡±

    I¡¯m a genius. Only I¡¯de up with such a genius idea to shoot myself in the foot!

 Volume 9 48 Refining Divine Rules

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 48 Refining Divine Rules</h4>

    ¡°What a surprise. Who¡¯d have expected this sort of wee?¡± Long Zaitian stomped on his fallen foe¡¯s face. ¡°Since they jumped out at us, that means they arrived some time ahead of us. Hey, Bamboo Hat, exin.¡±

    ¡°Your arrival times and situations are determined randomly. Some arrive earlier than others,¡± rified the escort.

    ¡°I knew you were plotting something. Fight me!¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Dugu threw aside his fallen opponent and, in a frigid tone, questioned, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you exin the rules to us if you¡¯re our escort?¡±

    ¡°The rules state that we are only permitted to inform you of the rules upon arrival under the condition that you ask.¡±

    Dugu sauntered up to the escort: ¡°Youck respect for your guests, regardless of who they are, just as your patriarch does. You need to be humbled and schooled on respect, it seems.¡±

    The escort had an urge to get away, but he felt winded and was unable to make a whimper before he could act on the impulse. He quickly recalibrated his breathing and warned, ¡°If you do this, you will be disqualif-¡±

    The escort¡¯s knees snapped under him, flooring him. Dugu forced his immense pressure on the escort and fumed, ¡°You people have expended all of my patience for this Refining Divine business. Ever since your patriarch decided to slight everyone, every rule lost its worth. I want every rule explicated right now.¡±

    Pain was ufortable, but the escort would take pain over Dugu¡¯s re any day. ¡°First¡­ There is a challenge system on Dragonroot Ind. Competitors can seek us out to challenge the closest team.¡±

    ¡°In other words, the chances of bumping into prey are as high as running into predators,¡± Tie Hanyi summarised.

    ¡°That¡¯s one. Keep going,¡± demanded Dugu.

    ¡°Second, a team can depart early if they rack up eighteen wins to prepare for the final match.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s ssified as one win?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Taking another team¡¯s item, which is their sect¡¯s prized weapon, and passing it to their escort constitutes as one win. The alternative option is to kill the entire enemy team.

    ¡°Third, every team can call time once to gain a six hour pass from any fighting. If another team attacks the team on break, they shall be penalised for breaking the rules. Needless to say¡­ if those pausing fail to convey it to the assant in time, then the attacker shall not be penalised.

    ¡°Fourth, so there is no point in exining it now as it only applies if there are too many sects remaining.¡±

    ¡°How many sects are participating?¡± Dugu inquired.

    ¡°One hundred and eight.¡±

    ¡°And we have to reduce that to eight. On average, each team will need to win more fourteen times or more, then. In those fourteen battles, the teams we need to evade¡­¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Wudang and Cold Mountain Temple.¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary.¡±

    Dugu: ¡°Mm¡­ It¡¯s hard to predict Beggars Sect¡¯s forces, and they are an orthodox sect, so it¡¯s best we avoid conflicts with them.¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°There may also be elites among the unorthodox sects. We can only proceed carefully. In short, we need one of our two teams to pass.¡±

    The injured escort regretted underestimating the three he didn¡¯t recognise.

    ¡°Thank you, Captain Obvious,¡± jabbed Long Zaitian. ¡°I wonder how Miss Shen is doing. We were on the waters for a long time. I wonder where they are.¡± Long Zaitian looked up and askance. ¡°Also, we¡¯re surrounded already. Looks like we won¡¯t get many breathers.¡±

    Dugu cascaded waves of qi down his sleeves: ¡°Let¡¯s starch them, then.¡±

    ***

    Having retrieved Wugufengdeng, I ruminated how to exin myself to Boss without arousing suspicion and continue my investigations. Boss didn¡¯t pester me since she didn¡¯t have any means.

    Because it was my first time being busted, I cast the same mental cultivation I used on Poison King to seal Boss¡¯ upoints before she could react. I hastily carried her on board and took off when I heard Su Xiao and Huofeng yell they¡¯d search the shore since Boss was missing. Subsequently, I deliberated how to exin myself while having Wugudengfeng identify the inds, and¡­ I still had no exnation to offer by the time we arrived at the ind he came from.

    I didn¡¯t know how long it would take to find Second. Boss would figure out there was a nk window if I left her in that hypnotised-like state for too long. I couldn¡¯t dawdle as the clock was ticking. Thus, I ced her on the shore and recreated the scene prior. I then assumed the same posture and cool expression before I undid her seal.

    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ with that grotesque look on your face?¡±

    What do you mean it¡¯s grotesque?! Isn¡¯t this the same look I wore before?!

 Volume 9 49 Journey to Whale God

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 49 Journey to Whale God</h4>

    My exnation was¡­ none. When people encounter unexinable phenomena, they conjure their own exnation because they need to make sense of the world around them. If I tried to lie, I¡¯d only increase the likelihood of being suspected. Thus, my strategy was to be ignorant and answer questions with my own questions.

    ¡°How ya doin¡¯, Boss. What brings you here?¡± I rubbed my face into a new expression.

    ¡°I just woke up¡­ I forgot something, so I came to fetch it. How about you?¡± Boss¡¯ frown told me she wasn¡¯t happy. ¡°Who is going to take care of you if you hurt yourself again? What did youe here for?¡±

    I reached into my shirt to fetch a pocket knife I had prepared. ¡°I forgot my knife for pork shoulders on the boat.¡±

    Boss snatched the knife from me and hurled it into theke: ¡°Where would you find a pork shoulder to eat here in the wilderness?!¡±

    My knife! That really is my knife for eating pork shoulders! I still have two braised pork shoulders in soy sauce in my bag that I pinched from the kitchenst night! Guess I should be grateful Boss hasn¡¯t called my bluff, though.

    ¡°I saw you head out when I came to, while Xiao Han was in conversation with people from Wutong Jin Yuxuan. Did you call them over?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I just remember being fed something and then felt rejuvenated. I got hungry after waking up, so I stumbled out to find a knife.¡±

    ¡°I see. To summarise, somebody nursed you back to full health, well, good enough to walk on your own, while I was asleep.¡± Boss bobbed her head and eventually let a smile bloom on her lips. ¡°d you¡¯re well.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Thanks for taking care of me, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Well, it was the one who fed you the pill who saved your life. We are indebted to Wutong Jin Yuxuan.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, uhm.¡±

    ¡°From here on out, we¡¯ll be walking a tightrope between life and death, so brace yourself. Don¡¯t y stupid pranks like that again. You are not to let someone hack you as a constable of Liu Shan Men. Am I clear?¡±

    Imagine a knife being able to cut so gently that it felt good. Imagine a cold de cutting warmth into you. I don¡¯t know why, but that was image I envisioned.

    I nodded.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡±

    Boss front tucked off the boat, while I quickly slipped Wugufengdeng into my shirt before following suit - minus the somersault. We got lost once we were in the forest, though. Sure, the climate and scenery resembled Dragonroot Ind, but Boss didn¡¯t get much of a chance to explore the ind.

    ¡°Where did the cavern go? Where is Xiao Han?¡± Boss questioned after a search. ¡°Why does this ind¡­ seem different to before? The topography is a tad different and doesn¡¯t give off the same dangerous vibe.¡± Boss then looked my way as if to say, ¡°It¡¯s like we¡¯re on a different ind. What¡¯s your opinion, Feizhen?¡±

    Because it is a different ind! Your eyes are too discerning! Teach me how you can distinguish with just a few nces!

    Boss folded her arms to think and then said, ¡°Our cavern was by the shore, yet there¡¯s nobody around. They must¡¯ve gone with Wutong Jin Yuxuan or¡­ run into an enemy and had to leave so that we wouldn¡¯t be imperilled.¡±

    Wugufengdeng led me here, but I don¡¯t know what to do next. Although he can help me locate Second, how do I exin all this to Boss? Given there are no Refining Divine Convention participants on this ind, Boss is going to catch on sooner orter.

    ¡°Feizhen, stay alert.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Someone ising.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Must be someone passing by?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They¡¯re armed and not friendly.¡±

    Huh? Aren¡¯t we on a different ind? What¡¯s with you nuisances?! Wugufengdeng, we need to have a word in private. Did you just take me to another dock of Dragonroot Ind?!

    That suspicion soon proved itself false when there around a dozen of armed swordsmen in ck confronted us. Their uniform gear and internal style made it clear they were disciples of the same discipline. Unless a sect bought out Dragonroot Ind, they couldn¡¯t have that many members of their sect there.

    ¡°Which¡­ sect are they with? Banding together is ridiculous.¡±

    Goodness me, they clearly aren¡¯t here to challenge us. They¡¯re here to apprehend us.

    Noticing the ¡°Whale God¡± text etched onto their swords, I figured we had to be on Whale God Ind, which was where Luo Sword Manor¡¯s big cauldron that they passed down in the n was located - ording to ck and White Reflection, issue five hundred and twenty. The cauldron¡¯s presence was also why the ind was the biggest ind among Taihu Sword Ind and the most heavily guarded. Whale God Ind, therefore, was the ind they manufactured their best weapons. The reason few tourists visited the ind that was under the jurisdiction of Sun Character Worship despite it being the second ce rmended to check out amongst Luo n¡¯snds was due to it also being the most dangerous ce to explore.

    It shouldn¡¯t be surprising that Luo Sword Manor heavily guarded their workshop even prior to forming their business contract with the imperial court given their background. Luo Ming went and buried aforementioned their heirloom cauldron deep down in the ground for the heat and something else. I would hedge my fortune on us having to fight more guards here thanpetitors on Dragonroot Ind.

    The guards had no desire to talk, not that I could me them when I trespassed into an out-of-bounds area. In the same vein, it was pointless for me to try and reason with them.

    ¡°Oi, weaklings should bugger off,¡± Boss warned. I stood there and waited for the group to step aside, prompting Boss to suddenly kick me backwards. ¡°You deaf?¡±

    How was I supposed to know you were talking about me when you said, ¡°Weaklings?!¡±

    They weren¡¯t exactly dangerous opponents, but there certainly were a lot of them. Should we take too long to dispatch them, we¡¯d run out of energy and afford their reinforcements time; it¡¯d be no different to fighting an army solo.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make it snappy.¡± Boss grinned jovially. ¡°This is an opportunity for me to test my new moves.¡±

 Volume 9 50 Wielding Sharp Weapons as Blunt Weapons

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 50 Wielding Sharp Weapons as Blunt Weapons</h4>

    Using my hands as speakerphones, I inquired, ¡°Boss, where should I go?¡±

    Whilst advancing, Boss shot me a re. As a diagonal thrust closed in on her, Boss made a beeline for her adversary and drove her knee into his face. See why I wasn¡¯t worried?

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°The farther the better! Get out of the way!¡±

    I merrily ran off. Of course, there is always that one person who has to give chase. Unfortunately for them, they couldn¡¯t bypass Fortress Shen Yiren. Meanwhile, Wugufengdeng started squeaking exuberantly; he was high once we embarked onto the ind.

    Following Wugufengdeng¡¯s navigation, I came to a rocky wall. It was a dead end, yet the fellow insisted he was in the right ce. He dashed over to the wall and stopped at a specific spot, telling me, ¡°This is the ce.¡± I did see a path when I went over, but it was a hole for a rat. How was I supposed to fit through a fist-sized hole?!

    Hey, shut up, chubby! You wouldn¡¯t fit me in there even if Boss beat all my snot out of me! Guess I shouldn¡¯t me you when you¡¯re just showing your usual path.

    I lost all apologetic feelings when I nced over to see Wugufengdeng boasting through his eyes and even slighting me. I was going to give him an earful when he decided to run inside.

    Don¡¯t run off! How am I supposed to find Second without you?! Great, how am I supposed to get in now? ¡­

    I stared at the rocky wall for a good while.

    Man, I never wanted to be so conspicuous.

    Boom!

    ***

    After putting away the swordsmen, Shen Yiren picked up an imminent attack behind her and pinpointed her assant¡¯s position using Precision Scout. She advanced three steps and then blocked her forward momentum to recoil in the opposite direction, yet she still went back three steps when her sword shed against the blunt weapon.

    ¡°A hard hitter, huh? Finally somebody worth my time. You deserve better than to go down without anyone remembering. Announce yourself,¡± Shen Yiren asserted.

    ¡°The name is Hua Jian.¡± The tall and chiselled man, sporting grey robe, wielded a heavy monk spade. Though they were hallmarks of monks, his tanned body and unblemished bald head indicated he was actually active in smithing workshops for the most part.

    Shen Yiren immediately got out of the way when Hua Jian whipped down, barely saving her skull from being as deformed as the point of impact on the ground. While putting a hole in mud was nothing special, the speed of execution and retraction wasn¡¯t something tough about. If nothing else, Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t have imagined herself being that quick not too long ago.

    Shen Yiren adopted a guerri warfare strategy as Hua Jian¡¯s weaponplimented his style, denying her a close-quarters fight. Moreover, he was excellent at counter striking every time she probed him. Just as body weight differences matter in fights, so do weapons; a thin sword would struggle against a monk spade, let alone a heavy one.

    Hua Jian was one of seven people Luo Ming chose to train personally. Owing to his time in the smithing workshop, Hua Jian had plenty of chances to refine his breathing, effectively developing his internal energy. Privy Hua Jiancked the aptitude for intricate swordy, Luo Ming had the former spar with thirty swordsmen daily, consequently developing muscle memory for offence and defence.

    Shen Yiren suddenly reversed the tables in one motion, forcing Hua Jian to hastily heave his monk spade up. s, Shen Yiren glided her de along his monk spade to prick his shoulder.

    ¡°What swordy is that? I¡¯ve never seen it before.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not swordy. I¡¯ve never been one to be hung up over swordy. As long as it wins fights, it¡¯s a good style to me. If nothing changes, you¡¯ll break my sword in two, and that¡¯s going to be troublesome for me.¡± Shen Yiren transferred qi to her sword as she assumed her stance again. ¡°I¡¯m not wielding a sword. I wield cudgels, hammers, axes, rocks, wood¡­ Wielding sharp weapons as blunt weapons.¡±

    Shen Yiren took her swordyered in qi to manipte it into a blunt weapon and smashed it into Hua Jian¡¯s monk spade, rumbling his viscera!

    Glossary

    Monk Spade - This ismonly tranted as crescent moon shovel, which is usually a sign the trantor didn¡¯t bother to research. Yes, monks supposedly often carried shovels with them, but this is a specific weapon, not a shovel. Some also call it a Shaolin spade because it¡¯s almost exclusive to monks from Shaolin.

 Volume 9 51 Cloudy Secret Chamber

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 51 Cloudy Secret Chamber</h4>

    On average, a swordsman needs one to five years of technical training to harness sword qi - not ounting for potency. They then umte internal energy over the next seven years to harness that as sword energy, which is achieved when their internal energy and swordy be one. Those at the top of their game can generate qi swords after another seven years of training. For the record, moving from one realm to the next doesn¡¯t just unlock new abilities but also means their physical attributes that contribute to their swordy performance undergo augmentation - without expending as much or more internal energy. At the end of the day, efficiency needs to be a part of improvement.

    To go beyond Qi Sword Realm and reach Sword Spirit Realm, which only around ten percent of swordsmen achieve, the swordsman must make it a life pursuit. Even then, there¡¯s never any guarantee of sess, though it didn¡¯t deter some from attempting to gain the glory that would have themuded across all thend. Think of it this way: Sword Spirit Realm is the most prestigious gold medal a swordsman can obtain.

    Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen have shed the rigid restraints of styles and techniques, able to adapt to whatever is thrown at them. Swordsmen who ascend to Sword Spirit Realm have surpassed the limits of their style. ordingly, they develop a mental cultivation style unique to them. In essence, they imagined the same swordy as before differently just as someone proficient in calligraphy could add different irs to their handwriting whenever they pleased.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The primary trait of Sword Spirit Realm is freedom, meaning the swordsman excels in, at least, one areapared to other swordsmen, has foregone discrimination of styles and let go of mental walls they encountered on their journey to the realm.

    Shen Yiren took a maverick¡¯s approach in terms of her progress. Instead of polishing and polishing, solving and solving, she threw everything aside when she fought Luo Ming disguised as Abels, effectively breaking through via a different approach. As a side note, most young swordsmen who seemed to excel beyond their years also ascended to higher realms via unorthodox means.

    As Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have a desire to be a cream-of-the-crop swordsman, she had less mental hurdles - regarding swordy - to climb over. On the other hand, some swordsmen struggled to let go of things because they were so fixated on their swordy and trying to ¡°pull themselves out¡±. It¡¯s the same as being told not to think of something, only for you to struggle not to think about it. To put it another way: their swordy dictated them as opposed to them dictating their sword. That¡¯s anything but being ¡°free¡±. Shen Yiren using a sharp weapon as a blunt weapon was a hallmark of her understanding the idea behind Sword Spirit Realm¡¯s freedom.

    Shen Yiren cut from left to right, nging against Hua Jian¡¯s monk spade deafeningly. Hua Jian lost his grip on his monk spade and suffered whish from the impact.

    ¡°Heh, too kind.¡± Shen Yiren proceeded to bludgeon her injured and unarmed opponent dozens of times. A match that would¡¯ve taken her two hours was settled in a fraction of that time and with minimal damage.

    Barely possessing any awareness of his surroundings, Hua Jian murmured, ¡°You won¡¯t find the secret passage¡­ You¡­ you won¡¯t find¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren turned back to her fallen opponent: ¡°What secret passage?¡±

    ¡°My first brother guards the first floor, and he¡¯s superior to Yan Shisan¡­ None of you will¡­ escape with your lives.¡±

    A secret passage? This is getting more bizarre by the minute. Judging from this guy¡¯s style and skill, he¡¯s unmistakably been training under Luo n since childhood. How can he be with Luo Sword Manor if he¡¯s partaking in Refining Divine Convention, though? Luo Sword Manor must be hiding something. Maybe this is a good chance to unearth the secret plot behind this event and where Evil Spirits fits into all this.

    If Hua Jian is bringing up the secret passage, doesn¡¯t that mean he ambushed us to stop us from finding the secret passage as opposed topeting as apetitor? Since he¡¯s a guard, we must be here the secret passage.

    ¡°My first brother guards the first floor, and he¡¯s superior to Yan Shisan¡­ None of you will¡­ escape with your lives,¡± Shen Yiren recalled Hua Jian saying. ¡°None of you¡­ Drats! Feizhen!¡±

    Glossary

    Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen have shed the rigid restraints of styles and techniques, able to adapt to whatever is thrown at them - Think of it like this: in boxing, beginners are taught both hands up. When you get more advanced, you can adjust your stance (e.g. Philly Shell) to suit different situations better.

 Volume 9 52 For Freedom

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 52 For Freedom</h4>

    How many days has it been? Where are we, even? If I could call Dad or Second Brother here¡­ I¡¯d already be out of this crap hole. Can Hong Jiu¡¯s rat really bring help? How is he even sleeping so soundly in this situation? He¡¯s tried to break out seven times already, catching them off guard each time. Is he overconfident, or does he not have any confidence to begin with? Props to him for being ballsy, though.

    That said, how the hell do you fail to finish the warden and let him call for reinforcements? Never mind. I forgot you managed to dig your way into the loo while the man was doing his business¡­ How the heck can you be so tough, yet trip over a banana peel and be brought back?

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thanks to Hong Jiu¡¯s failed attempts, Song Ou and he put on a diet of hay. On a brighter note, a fat rat came through a hole, moving the hay they had stacked up.

    ¡°Ar-aren¡¯t you Wugufengdeng?¡±

    Hong Jiu sprung up from his sleep as though as if he was trying to do a kip up in his sleep, true qi roiling as though it had been waiting for its moment to shine.

    ¡°Do you need to wake up with so much style and so abruptly? You trying to give me a heart attack?¡±

    Hong Jiu inhaled simrly to a man out of water and beamed: ¡°It¡¯s Leader!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I smell Leader!¡±

    ¡°Does he not wash or something?¡±

    ¡°Want to get hit?! Gods would pay to smell his fart. They call him man among men. You¡¯re not even qualified toy eyes on him.¡±

    ¡°Please never introduce me to him. More pertinently¡­ what do you mean? Is help reallying?¡±

    After conversing with Wugufengdeng, Hong Jiu burst out inughter: ¡°It really is Leader! Finally! At longst.¡±

    The hell is he on about?

    ¡°Heya, Warden Li, it¡¯s me, Jiujiu, buddy.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t repaid you for knocking me out this month yet! What the hell do you want now?!¡± Warden Li walked over and mmed on the iron rails: ¡°What the hell do you want, you wanker?!¡±

    ¡°What else, bro?¡± Hong Jiu shed the pearly whites in the corner of his mouth: ¡°Prison break, bro.¡±

    Hong Jiu broke free of the iron ball weighing him down and then extended his arm outside the iron rails, mming his palm into the warden¡¯s head. Hong Jiu had done the same thing on previous asions, luring them to the iron rails and then knocking them out to escape.

    ¡°Wugufengdeng!¡±

    Wugufengdeng slipped outside to search the warden.

    ¡°Is help reallying? Can we finally escape this time?¡± queried Song Ou.

    ¡°Hahaha, with Leadering, who could possibly stop me? Song Ou, we¡¯ve put up with enough. It¡¯s time to get out of here.¡±

    Wugufengdeng came back empty mouthed and squeaked, ¡°No key.¡±

    Even if Warden Li wasn¡¯t the brightest tool in the shed, surely he¡¯d be smarter than to keep his keys on him after Hong Jiu pulled the same stunt multiple times already.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why aren¡¯t you opening up?¡± questioned Song Ou.

    In a deep voice, Hong Jiu ordered, ¡°Step back.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What?¡±

    ¡°I said step back. I¡¯m not taking any me if you get caught.¡±

    Hong Jiu pulled his hands back to his hips. Song Ou started gasping for air as all the air in the room concentrated around Hong Jiu¡¯s hands.

    ¡°The. Dragon. Fights. In. The. Wilderness!¡± Hong Jiu thrust both arms forward at full throttle, sending their iron rails into the iron rails of the prison opposite them, though their rails werepletely contorted by the time of impact.

    The strategy worked, though the drawback was that they sessfully alerted every guard without the enemy needing to call for backup.

    ¡°It¡¯s him again!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get him for breaking my nose!¡±

    ¡°Bring it on! My hands versus your heads!¡± Hong Jiu smashed and pummelled his way through the narrow path, crying, ¡°For freedom! Here Ie, Leader!¡±

 Volume 9 53 Destiny

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 53 Destiny</h4>

    Luo Sword Manor poured money into renovating and fortifying Taihu Sword Ind every year, including adding or updating formations - which varied from ind and ind. Luo Ming chose to designate Dragonroot Ind as the preliminarypetition location because it was the ind closest to Taihu Sword Ind and was one of the few inds notced with formations.

    A Supreme Ten Saint once attempted to plunder from Whale God Ind in the past and failed miserably. He never would¡¯ve found Ancient Cauldron Zhurong on the surface when it was hidden deep underground to leverage the earth¡¯s mes. Besides often relocating the cauldron, a thief would have to learn invisibility to spend five nights searching. Good luck with that. In the hypothetical scenario that someone does manage to pull off the impossible, they¡¯d have to fight their way through the army leading underground and the cksmiths from the smithing department. Let¡¯s suspend reality further and pretend anyone could do that. How were they going to surreptitiously hoist out a cauldron taller than several adults stacked on top of each other and weighing tonnes - not to mention without burning themselves? But¡­ exceptions to the rule always exist when you introduce freaks of nature to the equation¡­

    Two young, newly-instated cksmiths couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the dust still emanating from the rocky wall when they visited the toilet at the firstyer.

    ¡°¡­ Wh-who is that? Why is heing out from inside? Isn¡¯t there a mountain outside?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose he¡¯s the new leader of Sun Character Worship here to check on the progress of things?¡±

    ¡°You ever seen any of theme out from rocks? What happened to Master Hua? Isn¡¯t he guarding the first floor?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ is probably under the rubble¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, the guards have arrived. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯sing this way! It¡¯s toote!¡±

    Not only did the swordsmen fail to touch the intruder but also would drop whenever he meandered past them and fall into a catatonic state, yet nobody saw the intruder retaliate. All the intruder did was survey the surroundings, seemingly searching for something. When the supposed best swordsmen somehow stayed standing to charge at the intruder, he swatted them as though they were actual flies.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t any guards from the second or third floorsing to help?¡±

    ¡°Hey, guys,¡± hollered the intruder. ¡°Have you two seen¡­ a chubby rat?¡±

    Yeah, this guy is a nutcase!

    I¡¯m never procrastinating again!

    ***

    Shen Yiren, equally as bewildered as everyone else who saw the wreckage, moved the bits and pieces aside to find the entrance to a secret passage.

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve been captured. Requesting assistance.¡±

    In front of Ming Feizhen, who had his hands tied, were two young men with chattering teeth. It took a while for Shen Yiren to ¡°Oh¡­¡± and then knock out the two young men to ¡°rescue¡± him.

    Ming Feizhen failed to find Wugufengdeng from the two cksmiths or at the first floor from his search by the time he heard Shen Yiren catching up. Hence, he hurled the swordsmen down before she arrived. He then exined that he identally stumbled into the secret passage, leading to his arrest.

    ¡°Feizhen, we might have chanced upon Luo Sword Manor¡¯s secret. Stay alert because this could be the most dangerous ce.¡± Shen Yiren drew her sword.

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    After walking through an unguarded area, Shen Yiren asked, ¡°We¡­ have a fork in the road. Which way should we go?¡±

    Ming Feizhen extended the range of his senses.

    It¡¯s a riot down the left path. I assume the heating from further down is the big cauldron¡¯s work. I don¡¯t sense anything on the right side, so there¡¯s likely a heavy stone door or a hidden room even deeper down preventing me from hearing anything. If there¡¯s a secret, it should be hidden down the path on the right. Well, there are also the unconscious swordsmen piled up on the staircase down the left side¡­

    ¡°What, you have something in mind?¡± Shen Yiren questioned.

    Ming Feizhen pretended to perform a divination on his fingers: ¡°This year, good luck is found on the right, and misfortune is to the left. Based on my profound knowledge of yin yang, the five elements and eight trigrams, we should go down the right path.¡±

    If nothing else, he sounded serious enough to convince Shen Yiren he had a n, though she couldn¡¯t tell if the contents of the speech were legit or not.

    Ming Feizhen suddenly stopped and looked in the opposite direction.

    ¡°What is it, Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I just thought someone was calling me.¡±

    ¡°And who would that be here? Get a move on before we run into patrols.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Meanwhile, on the other side - third floor¡­

    ¡°Again?! You two never learn to give up?! One more time and I¡¯ll skin you.¡±

    ¡°Scream now! Hit me now!¡±

    Buried in a barrage of punches, Hong Jiu cried, ¡°Leader! Big Bro! Where are you?! I can¡¯tst much longer!¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s eighth attempt at breaking out - fail again.

 Volume 9 54 The Worlds Evil Beasts (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 54 The World¡¯s Evil Beasts (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t just carelessly touch things!¡± Boss whacked my hand reaching for the stone door. ¡°What are you going to do if there are hidden weapons or traps on the door?¡±

    I pulled my hand back: ¡°What is there around us besides doors, though? How are we supposed to know where to go if we don¡¯t try opening them?¡±

    Turned out we went down the misfortunate, dark path. Firstly, it was so hidden that not even their own people could enter; we didn¡¯t see anyone after an hour of exploration. I¡¯d think we were in a sewer if I didn¡¯t know we were on an ind due to how long the path stretched. Secondly, it was so damn dark that Boss could barely see where she was walking, and I could barely see her face. If this ce doesn¡¯t turn out to be fishy, I¡¯ll call myself Groundhog!

    Quietly, Boss opined, ¡°It¡¯s going to be tough to find clues when it¡¯s almost pitch-ck down here. If we start a fire, we might give off our location, however. Since we haven¡¯te across anyone, there¡¯s a chance that patrols have been reced with hidden sentries.¡±

    There were sixteen stone doors around us, at least, each of which were rather far; we¡¯d require more than hours if we were to explore each option one by one. I did use my own means of hearing where air blew fastest to conclude that heading downwards would be the right choice. Boss¡¯ mention of traps shouldn¡¯t be disregarded, nheless. Though I couldn¡¯t hear any mechanisms at work, I wouldn¡¯t be able to hear squat if the doors were smeared with poison.

    ¡°We can only go door knocking. I¡¯ll start from that end. If there were no traps or poison, I¡¯ll open the door,¡± Boss stated.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see if there are alternatives paths, then.¡±

    Once Boss left, I went back to the correct door. Through enhancing my vision, I could see the door as if the sun was shining on it. I slipped true qi from my hand onto the door to project the view on the other side into my mind.

    God damn, you have a lot of space behind this door. Tell me you¡¯re innocent again.

    Luo Ming must¡¯ve been nurturing soldiers and putting his big n in motion in shadows for years. While there are plenty of ces he could¡¯ve done business, I was positive Whale God Ind was one of them. Where else would he stash all the weapons he robbed and precious materials? Why would he take the risk of having someone smuggle a batch to him every time he failed once? That¡¯s insane.

    As Wugfengdeng also pointed inside, Second must be inside. I thought I heard Second cry for me before, having said that. Was it just my imagination?

    The door didn¡¯t have any traps installed or poison spread on it. If there was a trap, it was the door itself. I deliberated how to proceed prior to pushing the door open. ¡°Boss, I found an entrance.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Boss came back. ¡°Oh, it does seem to be an entrance¡­ Why didn¡¯t I notice it when I looked before?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I found it just now!¡±

    Boss brought her eyelids close together as she eyed me but nodded in the end. I had this feeling that Boss didn¡¯t mind the fishy things I did so much ever since she came to.

    The further in we went, the narrower and more winding the path became. As we gradually descended the declining path, the temperature climbed to the point that the walls could burn hands. When we stepped into the first lighted location in a while, we had reached the end of the passage.

    Over a hundrednterns were left on. On the other side of the area, the reflection of des acted as light boosters for the candles.

    ¡°What is¡­ this ce?¡± Boss uttered.

    The stone door I pushed open didn¡¯t need any traps or poison because it weighed tonnes already. The design of the passage was designed for very specific people. The fact that there were numerous scrapes on the ground by the door informed us that nobody from the smithing department was aware of the path behind the door they couldn¡¯t move. In the scenario they did, they must¡¯ve concluded it was an abandoned passage. We, therefore, could confidently say that this was Luo Ming¡¯s secret chamber. There was no need for him to hide his entry if people thought it was abandoned, and he was the only one capable of opening the door. This conclusion also pointed out that Luo Ming didn¡¯t sequester in Sword Spirit House but spent the majority of his time here. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be a bookshelf, futon and Buddha¡¯s seat in the form of a lotus flower behind the night lights. Besides, who else would have the right to ess this area?

    ¡°This¡­ is most probably Luo Ming¡¯s secret chamber.¡±

    Boss probably reached the same conclusion as I did in the same time I spent analysing the room.

    I studied the bookshelf for clues that could exin Luo Ming behaviour, while Boss purely wanted to brush up on her knowledge of Divine Realm martial artists. Disappointingly, there were only literacy texts. Howbeit, one particr book caught my attention - Six Evil Beasts Chronicles.

 Volume 9 55 The Worlds Evil Beasts (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 55 The World¡¯s Evil Beasts (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°In ancient times, six dangerous beasts existed, with one in heaven, six on earth, three in the south, four in the north, two in the west and five in the east. They are the ancestors of beast kin, mythical beasts of mythical beasts, evil among evil.¡± - First paragraph in Six Evil Beasts Chronicles.

    Even though there are many stories, poems and what have you pertaining to the mayhem involving them, ¡°¡­ mythical beasts of mythical beasts, evil among evil¡± remained the line that left the deepest impression on me.

    Six Evil Beasts Chronicles is an ancient book that speaks on the six evil, ferocious ancient beasts that have wandered the Nine Provinces since ancient times as the incarnations of evil, embodiments of immortality that assert catastrophe unto the human realm at certain points in time. The book had been around for so long that there was no means of tracing back when it was first authored, but many imed it was a millennium ago - if not longer back. Though it wasn¡¯t a hotmodity, there was guaranteed to be buyers every once in a while, which was why every book shop would keep copies of it even though it¡¯d be collecting dust for some time before it was picked up.

    Up until now, no soul has provided a convincing argument to attach a genre to it. Unlike mythical stories, it failed to deliver a story that enthralled. Itsnguage and contents didn¡¯t fit an encyclopedia or monster story, and it was misced in time.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Six Evil Beasts Chronicles?¡± Boss queried.

    ¡°You also into this sort of stuff?¡±

    ¡°No. I used to scare my brother with monster stories when he was younger because he was naughty. It worked a treat every time.¡± Boss treated the book the same way pretty much everyone else in this era did - as reading material for children. Besides its writing style being moreplex and over ten times longer than a children¡¯s book, yeah, there was nothing else to say about it in this era. ¡°This one is a tad different, though. It¡¯s a lot thicker than the version I used to read to him, and the writing style is more archaic. Judging from these pages¡­ this must be an antique.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because this is the edition from before the current dynasty.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ this is a taboo book?¡±

    ¡°Ten out of ten. This is as illegal as it gets. You won¡¯t find this edition anywhere on the market. There¡¯s never been an era where the book has been as obscured as the current era. No bookshops have sold the original edition for thest thirty years. Every copy on the market right now is a simplified version for children.¡±

    Boss tugged up an eyebrow at my stern visage, while Iughed to myself.

    ¡°This is a valuablemodity. You can find hand-copied, fragment versions of it being traded on the ck market. I recognised it because Mount Daluo has an identical copy.¡±

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re an orthodox sect?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Mount Daluo is made up of individuals. My grandmaster is a legit, ancient man of the previous dynasty through and through. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s perfectly normal for him to have the book, then?¡±

    Boss chuckled and lifted a hand to hit me: ¡°Is that any way to talk about your grandmaster? I¡¯d love to punish you on his behalf.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I shut the book. ¡°It¡¯s not surprising for children to read it. Is Luo Ming a child?¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡± Boss got what I was insinuating.

    As far as we knew, Luo Ming was straightforward and pragmatic. Why would he keep this sort of book around? Luo Ming hiding fictional books in his secret training room? What would he be training, how to imitate animals?

    ¡°He must have his reasons for researching these topics. I¡¯ll share what I know first, and then we can discuss. We, after all, don¡¯t have much time to talk these days¡­¡±

    Noticing the pink tingee to Boss¡¯ cheeks when she remembered our spat, this old one chuckled: ¡°Boss, never mind it. I don¡¯t resent you. It¡¯s not your fault alone, after all.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s all your fault. I¡¯m deducting half a month of your sry.¡±

    Stop practicing your Sry Deduction Technique! When did I ever mention a word about money, let alone my sry?!

    Boss ignored my pleas and shared everything she suspected about Luo Ming and her deductions of his agenda. For Boss to draw a conclusion close to mine despite me possessing far more intelligence and knowledge went to show how far behind she left me when it came to analysis abilities.

    When I provided a brief summary of my knowledge, I purposely slipped in details of my first scrimmage with ¡°Abels¡±. Yes, mentioning Master Ming¡¯s involvement would give Boss something to suspect, but it wasn¡¯t as if she wouldn¡¯t find outter via someone else. Why not let me tell her my version? You know, a bit of pepper here, a bit of soy sauce there and a tad of something else in the mix.

    ¡°ording to your description, there¡¯s something odd about that Abels. Everyone knows Abels punches are a force to be reckoned with, yet he got stomped? Moreover, Evil Eminence Scripture is supposed to be a Orthodox Realm style, so his Enlightenment should be azure, not blood red. I wasn¡¯t good enough to push the Abels I fought to his limit, though that now raises other questions.¡±

    In reality, most people describe fights between Divine Realm elites as shes of light, gusts of winds and all those fancy, verbose descriptions. Those who witness what actually took ce usually just happen to be at the right angle.

    Neither Boss nor I could extrapte reliably from any of the information we had avable.

    ¡°Given this is Luo Ming¡¯s secret training location, there might be some trap¡­ Try sitting on his futon.¡±

    Why me?!

    When I cautiously sat down, mist burst forth - Boss told me.

    ¡°It¡¯s a formation!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± I was honestly surprised because I didn¡¯t see any changes. The futon was still a futon, and the room was still the same room¡­ By the way, did I ever mention formations don¡¯t work on me?

    Glossary

    Mythical stories - This should be considered as a genre itself in Chinese literature. We have xuanhuan for a broad range of fantasy genres. The mythical genre in Chinese literature refers to stories such as Journey to the West, Nezha, Investiture of the Gods, Fuxi¡­ because they actually explore Chinese myths and so forth as opposed to conjuring new fictional characters or throwing terms in to sound mystical. It¡¯s been a long time since anyone added to the genre.

    Language of Six Evil Beasts Chronicles - This is a reference to writing styles such as conventional Chinese now versus gufeng and even back longer. It¡¯s hard to put this into perspective correctly. Think of it this way: conventional Chinese now is understandable to everyone (most webnovels now). Gufeng would be something senior high school students or higher (in China) would befortable with since some of thenguage is no longer used, breaks a lot of convention and requires a degree of knowledge in past literature. The style dated back even longer would carry traces of gufeng but likely break even more conventional Chinese grammar than gufeng. Have you tried reading RotTK¡¯s early Chinese editions (not the inte abridged versions) or Confucius¡¯ analects? You¡¯ll see how much conventional Chinese (current paradigm) it breaks. This is why Shen Yiren says Luo Ming¡¯s edition of Six Evil Beasts Chronicles is more archaic style.

 Volume 9 56 Six Evil Beasts

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 56 Six Evil Beasts</h4>

    Buddhist martial arts have always empowered practitioners to expel and exterminate demons. Ever since I mastered Yijin Jing, hardly any formation gave me grief. Once I mastered Tai Chi, only Demon Sect¡¯s Blood Formation could trouble me. Later on, as you already know, all of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s martial arts secrets are recorded in Spring Wind Rainy Night, so¡­

    ¡°Boss, how are you? I can¡¯t see you. Where are you? ¡­ I¡¯m okay. Be careful.¡± I asionally threw a line or two out while reading on Luo Ming¡¯s futon. I was no help since I didn¡¯t even know what was going on while Boss was trapped in his formation. I didn¡¯t need to worry about her since I could see her focusing on whatever was in her mind.

    Although I knew what happened, I had to enter the formation if I wanted to know what Boss was facing. Once you¡¯re caught in a formation, you have to break out. I wasn¡¯t supposed to do that in this situation. Besides, I could intervene if she was ever in jeopardy.

    I did mention Luo Ming should be the only one who could¡¯ve been in this room. Seeing as how strong he is, there aren¡¯t that many people who he would need to trap. While the futon did stand out, how many people would go sit down on it if they sneaked in? If he wanted to keep infiltrators out, why let theme this far in before ensnaring them? Why not nt the formation on the bookshelf, where people are more likely to touch? I, therefore, moved the futon to test my hypothesis.

    Upon hearing the sound of me splintering the solid rock floor under the futon, Boss cried, ¡°F-Feizhen, are you in danger?¡±

    ¡°No, I just saw an aggressive mountain boar, so I scrapped with it.¡±

    ¡°Mountain Boar?¡±

    Why you so surprised? What do you even see in that formation?

    ¡°Yeah, I cooked up his wife for some pork shoulders, so he went mad. We¡¯re still going at it. Boss, take care.¡±

    Mount Daluo¡¯s storage is always guarded. My shifu has a myriad of tricks and traps for hiding his treasures. I learnt to see through all of them by the age of six and never fell for any of them again. Luo Ming, you¡¯re making light of th(ieves)-, me.

    There was a thin silver book sitting under the rock I shattered, yet it didn¡¯t feel light at all as it was a metal book; every page was a thin sheet of metal, and the text was carved on in tiny font. From what I could tell, the book with ¡°Repository Sword Theory¡± carved on the left of the first page was a martial arts manual.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    What the heck is this? Why is it here? Well, since I don¡¯t know who it belongs to, finders keepers. In my pocket you go. What is a sword theory? Who knows. I didn¡¯t steal. I just happened to pick it up.

    I pieced the shattered rock back together, then set the futon back on top. To aid in my rescue and investigation missions, I went over to the bookshelf. I didn¡¯te here to pinch their secret manuals.

    I wonder how much Repository Sword Theory is worth on the ck mark-, cough, cough.

    All the books on the bookshelf pertained to monsters, fiends and whatever in the past or folk tales. As for what Luo Ming was researching, it was unquestionably the existence of the six evil beasts. I could imagine him sitting on his frayed futon and reading over the books, perusing every detail until the paper turned yellow.

    There weren¡¯t many books left talking about the six evil beasts for the imperial court burnt them long ago. It wasn¡¯t just this dynasty that burnt them but also every dynasty before this one because imperial courts have always been averse to the power of things being spread through stories. They, instead, turned the monsters into stories to scare kids. The only exception was one of the dynasties that existed a hundred years ago - the previous dynasty.

    Aforementioned dynasty made no effort to prevent the retelling of legends and even transcribed the majority of them. Unfortunately, this dynasty put in all the stops to erase all of the previous dynasty¡¯s creations. Only around twenty to thirty books managed to escape and are still extremely difficult to find. However he did it, Luo Ming managed to get his hands on all of the books that survived. As far as I was aware, he was the only one to have this much on the topic of mythical creatures.

    Why did he spend his time researching the six evil beasts for thest decade?

    Personally, I supported the reigning dynasty¡¯s stance. In every era, there are always some nutcases who attempt to obtain power beyond the limits of what humans can control to overturn the world, rule the world and simr lunatic endeavours. The imperial court can¡¯t stop every maniac out there. As a matter of fact, trying to stop them is tantamount to reinforcing the fact that pursuing said power could grant them their wish.

    If Luo Ming is forging a sword to target one of the six beasts, I will have to kill him even though it will disturb the bnce in the pugilistic world.

    I take back what I said about there being no ce that had more information than here. There¡¯s one more ce with over a hundred times more than this - Mount Daluo.

    The six evil beasts are not mythical.

 Volume 9 57 Slaughter in the Hail (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 57 ughter in the Hail (Part 1)</h4>

    Although no formations were installed on the ind, the various formations of Taihu Sword Ind disrupted the natural climate of the area. Golden rays were hitting the ground a moment ago, yet silver droplets suddenly belted down on Dragonroot Ind, washing away thepetitors¡¯ motivation to throw hands. They could even afford to becent for it should¡¯ve been impossible for anyone to move through the hail.

    While over a hundred scrimmages took ce on the first day of Refining Divine Convention and fights were audible ubiquitously, hardly any decisive victors emerged due to the three-people system reducing the discrepancy between big groups and small groups. At the end of the day, a small sect may have several elites, but being elite at one-on-one fights doesn¡¯t automatically make one elite at tackling more than one opponent simultaneously. As such, smaller groups had better chances when they weren¡¯t outnumbered - even on par with more prominent sects. That was not to say there weren¡¯t any one-sided thrashings.

    Over the course of the first day, the unspoken rules, as well as the host¡¯s rules, were gradually established. If there was something that everyone could tacitly agree on, it was that everyone, besides those who didn¡¯te with Luo n¡¯s weapons, shouldn¡¯t be affronted. Refusing to ept Luo Sword Manor¡¯s weapon and even breaking their weapons made it clear that they could afford to get on Luo Sword Manor¡¯s bad side, after all.

    ¡°Big Brother, why are you wearing a long face when Yaoqin is back, and we just won?¡±

    ¡°Yaoqin may be back, but she also brought back an ailment,¡± replied Lyu Chunyang, taking shelter under a tree by the side of the tree.

    ¡°Is she sick?¡±

    ¡°If only. She¡¯s diagnosed with lovesickness.¡± Because Li Tiegua and Zhong Lihan looked bemused, Lyu Chunyang expounded, ¡°I feigned ignorance when she came back shining brighter than the sun. The way she went on and on about a Mr. Li while beaming is a dead giveaway that she¡¯s fallen for him. I sent her in hopes of helping her get closer to Master Ming. She should¡¯ve remembered him from when she met him as a kid. No matter how elite a man is at fighting, he¡¯s still a man; if she could marry him, there¡¯s nothing more I could ask for. Whoever this Dimwit Li is just had to steal her heart!¡±

    Li Tieguai: ¡°Big Bro, I¡¯m not trying to criticise you; however, you really are making light of this, aren¡¯t you? We¡¯re risking our necks, yet you have the spare energy to worry about Yaoqin¡¯s romance life?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t give a toss about Refining Divine Convention. I could be blind and still tell Luo Ming is up to no good. I¡¯m not going to dance to his tune. I¡¯m just ticked off with the way he invited me. Can you even call that an invite? It¡¯s straight derision towards every hero in thend.

    ¡°Master Ming is present but has yet to show himself. We shouldy low and seek an opportunity to coborate with him. If we can win this, cool. If not, who cares? As long as we can get a glimpse of the legendary cauldron, then we broadened our horizons and didn¡¯t waste our time.¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯s ego is outgrowing their skull.¡± For the speaker¡¯s voice to sound so clear in the hail, he was easily superior to Lyu Chunyang.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there? How about we talk face to face?!¡± responded Lyu Chunyang.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see who¡¯s slighting Luo Ming.¡± His onlypanion was a big broadsword that had the identical colour of his scabbard and an asura face painted on.

    Lyu Chunyang squeezed his shaky hands to shake out the unnerving chill and then held them in salute: ¡°May this one ask for a name?¡±

    No answer.

    ¡°This one is Lyu Chunyang from Jiaxing. His brothers are Li Tieguai and Zhong Lihan. How can this one help you?¡±

    The man reached for his broadsword and mischievously grinned. ¡°Hey, bring it.¡±

    Jiangnan¡¯s Thousand Yang Swordy, one of the top six swordys in Jiangnan, was totally overwhelmed in less than ten exchanges. Before Lyu Chunyang fell into his puddle of blood, he uttered, ¡°¡­ de¡­ Demon¡­¡±

    Note

    ¡°In ancient times, six dangerous beasts existed, with one in heaven, six on earth, three in the south, four in the north, two in the west and five in the east¡­¡± - First paragraph in Six Evil Beasts Chronicles.

    To clear up some confusion, the ¡°one, two, three¡­¡± in this are the number of the six beasts, not the number of total beasts (i.e. one in heaven means that number one is in heaven).

 Volume 9 58 Slaughter in the Hail (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 58 ughter in the Hail (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Nine Nether Sunless Gorge, a gorge where the evil wind forever looms. When the moon shines on a void, the de ughters countless men.¡± This was how they praised one of Demon Sect¡¯s three guardians and the second greatest broadsword wielder in all thend. Even though Demon Sect¡¯s prime is now history, de Demon remains a taboo name in the pugilistic world, and anyone who mentioned it would suffer a vicious beating.

    de Demon had enemies across the Central in, in Nanjiang, Western Regions and over twenty kingdoms of Zongyue. The only things deterring them from hunting him were the difficulty of finding him and finding a way to beat him. Those who had tried to hunt him ended up with their head and body in separate ces. Not even Emperor¡¯s Entourage, Qilin Guards or Liu Shan Men wanted to take responsibility for taking him into custody. As a result, those bearing grudges against him decided to take it on those affiliated with him. The only person he could get along with is the man who was his equal in Demon Sect, Lord San Shen, though. Ask them to sign a contract to fight Lord San Shen, and they¡¯d shatter their four hundred metre record. Hence, they went after the man¡¯s disciples.

    While Zhong Hanli hastily bandaged Lyu Chunyang¡¯s wounds, Li Tieguai watched the man armed with the broadsword he finally had a clear visual of. ¡°M-may this one ask if you are from the west or south?¡± inquired Li Tieguai, trying to hold his gaze with the man¡¯s emerald eyes that petrified him.

    Although de Demon passed on his broadsword style to four people, only two of them were spoken of in the pugilistic world, one of whom came from Western Regions and the other Nanjiang. One of them was renowned for his expertise, while the other was notorious for his depth of knowledge of the style.

    The man let a smilee to his rather pale face. ¡°Not bad. South.¡±

    Sombre would be putting Li Tieguai¡¯s thoughts lightly. ¡°Is your surname Moyan?¡±

    The Moyan surname originated from Nanjiang¡¯s Myriad Feathers Moyan Broadsword Sect - which was Nanjiang¡¯s equivalent of Luo Sword Manor. Demon Eyes Sect used a broadsword as their emblem and etched an asura demon eye onto all of their broadswords, even naming their broadswords asura broadswords. That was the reason there are dozens, if not a hundred, variations of asura broadswords in Nanjiang¡¯s martial world.

    Moyan Broadsword Sect¡¯s patriarch - Moyan Luohou - was once ranked fifth among the best broadsword users in all thend, yet Nanjiang was displeased, citing regional discrimination because he actually came from far away.

    Twenty years ago, Moyan Luohou challenged de Demon for three days, but nobody besides them knew the oue. After their duel, de Demon broke his rule to only ept only one disciple and took in Moyan Luohou¡¯s only son, who was nine years old, as his disciple.

    ¡°Haha, you sound like you¡¯ve heard the name Moyan Xiuluo. That being the case, I suppose you also know you can¡¯t leave alive.¡±

    Li Tieguai and Zhong Hanli didn¡¯t need tomunicate to know the other would do everything in their power to protect Lyu Chunyang. Their silent escort who remained in earshot the entire time voiced, ¡°Please wait. As you have taken Lyu Chunyang¡¯s weapon, you have won. You are not permitted to continue attacking them if they do not resist. Otherw-¡±

    A gale blew the escort¡¯s veil up, and a sonorous travelled into his ears from behind. Lyu Chunyang would¡¯ve had to chop the tree to cut through it so smoothly, yet Moyan Xiuluo did it without needing to physically cut the tree.

    ¡°Thest bamboo hat chatterbox yapping about rules this and rules that is now headless.¡±

    ¡°Y-you killed him?!¡±

    ¡°And?¡± Moyan Xiuluo zipped in and grabbed the escort¡¯s face with a hand. ¡°Remind me what noble means Luo Ming used to invite everyone? Demon Eyes Sect lost fourteen asura broadswords and fourteen members in three consecutive years. You think you can convince me Luo n is innocent?¡±

    While the escort shrilled, Moyan Xiuluo continued, ¡°I will be disqualified for breaking the rules? I need to make it to the finals to collect Luo Ming¡¯s debt. I don¡¯t have time to waste on qualifications. I can¡¯t hear this rule you¡¯re talking about, nor do I know what you¡¯re trying to say. Tick me off, and you deserve to lose your head. That¡¯s the rule. If I don¡¯t know the rules, I can¡¯t break them, right? Don¡¯t you people from the Central in say the ignorant are innocent?¡±

    Moyan Xiuluo stopped himself when he could¡¯ve made good on his promise and looked over his shoulder. ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a fight¡­¡±

    Nobody but Moyan Xiuluo sensed the energy rampaging through the woods or heard the ¡°Amitabha¡± and ¡°Empyrean Wuliang¡± rolling off the tongues of the two locked inbat.

    ***

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Correct.¡± That was genuine praise from Yu Feiyuan.

    Su Xiao sheathed Ancient Cold and wiped his sweat exuberantly. ¡°Thank you, Sister Yu.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan took another nibble of her roast potato skewer, a mannerism that wouldn¡¯t typically be associated with her terse character. ¡°Your internal energy is quite potent, but you overemphasise speed. Always bear in mind that swinging without having the control to pull back means you are not in control. If you are fric, you cannot be proficient. It is no different to taking wild swings and not being able to pull back to cover yourself when needed.¡±

    Hours before the downpour, when Shen Yiren went after Ming Feizhen, Huofeng decided to lie that she also fed Shen Yiren the same pill as Ming Feizhen and needed to keep her buried for three days to cover for the two. Neither Su Xiao nor Yu Feiyuan was worry-free about burying them, especially given the image of the two being buried together. To distract them, Huofeng urged Yu Feiyuan to teach Su Xiao as repayment.

    Staying true to character, Yu Feiyuan agreed to coach Su Xiao as an act of honour, but that also culminated in a daylong session. Su Xiao got the most out of the session thanks to Huofeng and Lian Qingluan wiping out any challengers that could¡¯ve distracted the two from the session.

    Yu Feiyuan was the perfect teacher for Su Xiao as, unlike Ming Feizhen or Ming Suwen, she got to the point and delivered lessons explicitly. Thus, Su Xiao started addressing Yu Feiyuan as Sister Yu, much to the chagrin of her two jealous sisters.

    In spite of foregoing sleep for a day, fatigue was a foreign feeling to Su Xiao, who learnt to control his internal energy better. Harnessing the full potential of Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Solid Jade Snow was predicated on being able to control one¡¯s output just as jumping and spinning haphazardly without bncing the two led to failure. That was another reason Yu Feiyuan had a way of teaching Su Xiao the art of control.

    ¡°A thousand more repetitions before you are allowed to rest.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I can only teach you how to control your internal energy. The broadsword style Brother Feizhen taught you is unique. I can¡¯t responsibly teach you since I don¡¯t know what style it is.¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t question Ming Feizhen¡¯s identity only because he knew about Yu Feiyuan and Ming Feizhen¡¯s friendship - as well as previous engagement. ¡°Brother Ming taught me this, but I can¡¯t figure it out, and he refuses to borate.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, I don¡¯t understand what he says, either.¡±

    The two had a cosmic moment, grabbing their chins and musing.

    ¡°Indeed, his broadsword style is different.¡±

    Su Xiao cowered upon seeing who spoke.

    Huofeng sprang to her feet and clutched her sword: ¡°If you three know we are from Wutong Jin Yuxuan, are you deliberately picking a fight?¡±

    ¡°I have no issue with Wutong Jin Yuxuan, but I do have a grudge with Su Xiao. Please do not get in our way,¡± Lie Shang responded.

    Lian Qingluan offered a palm and fist salute: ¡°It is an honour to meet you, Hero Lie.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Elder Xiao,¡± Huofeng greeted.

    Su Xiao pointed in the face of the third individual and thundered, ¡°What are you doing here, Zha Pi?!¡±

    Yu Feiyuan jolted and then peacefully nibbled on her potatoes.

    Ming Feizhen rmended Zha Pi, Xiao Huangquan and Lie Shang join forces since Zha Pi would be safe with Xiao Huangquan. Unfortunately, Xiao Huangquan couldn¡¯t stop Lie Shang from trying to get revenge on Su Xiao.

    ¡°Come over here, kid. Let¡¯s see how good you are.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan stated, ¡°Hero Lie, Su Xiao is this great one¡¯s friend. Wutong Jin Yuxuan insists on protecting him. Weigh your decision carefully.¡±

    ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan is a Buddhist sect, yet they are shielding a man. Are you not worried about people defaming you and your sect, Interim Patriarch Yu?¡±

    Huofeng scoffed, ¡°If you think that¡¯s how you implement a provocation technique, you wouldn¡¯t even trigger a foot soldier. If it¡¯s a fight you want, do your worst. We may be women, but you don¡¯t scare us. What sort of man just rambles all day long?¡±

    ¡°Please heed this old one¡¯s advice.¡± Xiao Huangquan voiced, ¡°Though Brother Lie and this old one are on a team, we are only working with you to make up the numbers. Frankly, he does not like this old one¡¯s drinking habits, while this old one does not like his inclination to pick fights. If you three wish to fight him, feel free. This old one will not help either side.¡±

    Reverend Zha: ¡°This one shall not involve himself, either. He shall retreat a hundred steps to show his stance.¡± In other words, ¡°I¡¯m getting out of the danger zone.¡±

    ¡°Everyone done talking? Let¡¯s fight!¡± Lie Shang drew his broadsword. ¡°Let¡¯s see if Wutong Jin Yuxuan is as good as they im!¡±

    Lie Shang was a fast mover. Yu Feiyuan was an unmovable fortress. Lie Shang had no alternative but to follow the momentum Yu Feiyuan projected forward on one hand to absorb her force.

    I never believed the rumours that she¡¯s undefeated in Jiangnan and catching up to her shifu, but I can¡¯t brush her off now.

    Lie Shang inhaled and bound forward: ¡°This is this one¡¯s ultimate move. Beware, Interim Patriarch Yu.¡±

 Volume 9 59 Slaughter in the Hail (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 59 ughter in the Hail (Part 3)</h4>

    Dark Sun in the Sky - Lie Shang¡¯s ultimate move that entailed swinging down his crimson broadsword. Never did he need a second move to assert his dominance.

    Growing up, Lie Shang developed his discerning eyes forbat through his insatiable hunger for fights. From experience, he concluded that using his wits was the only way to ovee a foe markedly stronger than him, so he put everything into his second attack.

    Dark Sun in the Sky was designed to trap and conquer the opponent, but Yu Feiyuan dismantled feints and real attacks alike without breaking a sweat. Conversely, Lie Shang¡¯s weapon felt heavier and heavier with each swing. Feeling as though his grip was sticky for some reason, Lie Shang looked down to find blood leaking from his fingers.

    Although Lie Shang was equipped with the strength to withstand the recoil when mming against Yu Feiyuan¡¯s metal armguards, the same couldn¡¯t be said for his hands.

    Deflecting all of my attacks and inflicting damage furtively, she¡¯s mastered the essence of Solid Jade Snow.

    ¡°Since you like to block, I¡¯ll give you something you can¡¯t block!¡± Lie Shang powered up the surface area of the crimson energy enveloping his broadsword.

    Regardless of how intimidating Lie Shang¡¯s energy appeared or how dangerous his swings looked, Yu Feiyuan remained an unflinching fortress. Lie Shang was thoroughly impressed she with herser-like focus when he¡¯d already have overwhelmed pugilists stronger than himself in the past. When surrender crossed his mind, though, so did another thought.

    ¡°Hahaha, I apologise in advance, Interim Patriarch Yu!¡±

    Lie Shang switched from a procedural style to a free-flow, sacrificing his defence to amplify his offensive speed more than twice what it previously was. Yu Feiyuan, who assumed a defensive role, picked up her speed, ordingly.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xiao Huangquan pulled his eyelids apart and cursed, ¡°Lie Shang, have some shame!¡± at the same time as Huofeng.

    Cognisant of a problem presenting itself but unsure of what it was, Su Xiao queried, ¡°Abbess Huofeng, Hero Lie¡¯s style¡­ seems to be a mess?¡±

    ¡°Hero my foot! He¡¯s a scoundrel! He¡¯s capitalising on First Sister¡¯s character. Forcing her into a cyclic fight at full speed means that one of them will eat a full-power blow if one slips, and both will be injured if both slip up! He¡¯s less likely to make a mistake because he¡¯s randomly hacking away, while First Sister reads movements to defend! He¡¯s shameless!¡±

    ¡°Ling Mabi, are you seriously going to chase me?!¡± The man running, rolling, slipping, ducking, skipping and hurdling in his signature gaudy pink robe could see his reflection in the sword each time he evaded. ¡°Ling Mabi, you¡¯re supposed to be Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s heir apparent. Have some shame.¡±

    Young Master Ling and Long Zaitian¡¯s group had qualms about scrapping since both of them already gleaned a little about each other from their previous encounter until Long Zaitian had to run his mouth. ¡°Young Master Ling Mabi is a friend. Friends don¡¯t fight friends, right? Even if you pop your head over, he¡¯s not going to do hit you.¡± Thus, Young Master Ling went for Long Zaitian¡¯s head. Kuang Lu and Dugu jumped in. Tie Hanyi and Great Spear Sect¡¯s patriarch came to blows.

    Ling Mabi blustered, ¡°I¡¯ll fix your mouth up!¡±

    As Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t belt a rtive of Emperor Yuansheng, he kept fleeing and evading until he rolled his way into the sh between Lie Shang and Yu Feiyuan. Under other circumstances, Long Zaitian wouldn¡¯t have dared to roll into the middle of a fight between those two. His evasion style, fortunately for him, ensured guided him to safety whilst running around in the middle of the scrimmage.

    On the other hand, Ling Mabi couldn¡¯t evade, running into the middle of a trade. He, therefore, had to change the target of his stab, only to tag Yu Feiyuan¡¯s armguard. His entry also forced Lie Shang to re-angle his sh toward the side of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s neck. Ling Mabi repelled the sh.

    The inevitable oue that one if not all of them would get hurt hadn¡¯t changed. The only thing that changed was the number of people who could potentially get hurt.

    Glossary

    Ling Mabi - In case you forgot, Ling Mabi is the name Long Zaitian misheard when Ming Feizhen put on his spirit possession act (Vol. 7 Ch. 35) and is a homophone for a phrase that means Ling F***ing tard. Since we call Long Zaitian Longtard, I guess Ling Mabi and be Lingtard.

 Volume 9 60 Slaughter in the Hail (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 60 ughter in the Hail (Part 4)</h4>

    Lie Shang is ferocious. Young Master Ling is precise. Yu Feiyuan is flexible. Nheless, all three had to defend and attack simultaneously in order to have a fleeting respite. A way to imagine the situation would be to imagine the three passing around an explosive that would implode the moment it wasn¡¯t in motion. They didn¡¯t have the luxury to choose who they passed it to as they couldn¡¯t afford to let anyone make a transgression, lest everyone wound up gravely hurt. By the same ount, they had to work together, or the subtle bnce keeping the bomb in motion would break. To make matters worse, each time they touched it, the bomb would umte their energy into itself.

    If an amateur cut in between Yu Feiyuan and Lie Shang, the two could¡¯ve broken apart, though the damage they took would be impossible to forecast. s, Young Master Ling engaged them on his way in to catch Long Zaitian.

    ¡°My, my, what a match. Did you decide to put on this show to ignite this old one¡¯s motivation to drink?¡±

    Huofeng ghost Xiao Huangquan a re and then asked as calmly as she could, ¡°Hero Xiao, do you have a solution to split them apart? This is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you asked the right man.¡±

    ¡°You can help them?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Before Huofeng could choke him, Xiao Huangquan added, ¡°Oh, no, you misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°There is a way, except it is beyond this old one.¡± Xiao Huangquan pointed to the scene. ¡°See how they keep turning up the pace? They can only afford to go faster now, but that also means they¡¯ll continue amassing true qi. If you want to break them up, all three need to gradually taper off. To undo this knot, you need three people of simr levels to them, or it won¡¯t work. While both of you aremendable in your own right, your senior is superior to you, right?¡±

    ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    ¡°Empyrean Wuliang!¡±

    Right when Huofeng was moping over where to find three people close to the three locked in a coliseum they erected themselves, the two voices sounding out in synchrony gave life to hope.

    Elder Shou and Venerable Mianhua, who was avoided as much as he avoided others since arriving, meandered at a zing-fast speed. Sporting a polite smile, Venerable Mianhua expressed, ¡°You seem to be troubled, Abbess. If this one can be of assistance, please let him know.¡±

    Wudang didn¡¯t need much of an introduction when they were instated as state proctor and had Daoist Shenfa as their patriarch. Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s prestige was hot on Shaolin¡¯s trail after hosting Empress Dowager¡¯s instatement and owing to their status as a White Prince. Ever since then, the rtionship between Wudang and Cold Mountain Temple soured. Consequently, Elder Shou and Venerable Mianhua only had pleasantries to exchange.

    As Venerable Mianhua wanted to exercise magnanimity as a Buddhist, Elder Shou had to follow along.

    ¡°¡­ You are both skilled enough to stop their fight without hurting them. Please save them for the sake of the martial world,¡± Huofeng beseeched after exining the situation.

    ¡°This one is duty-bound to help.¡± Venerable Mianhua halted a few metres away from the trio and shut his eyes. Upon opening them again, he recited, ¡°When the bodhisattva Avalokite?vara had deeply understood the Supreme Wisdom, he realised that the five aggregates (skandhas) making up a person were but an illusion. With this, he was delivered from all sorrow and suffering.¡±

    Venerable Mianhua recited Heart Sutra, a Buddhism ssic and the simplest of them. Chanting the phrases wasn¡¯t going to magically break the three up safely; however, adding his manipted voice to it evoked drowsiness in the listener through rxation. As long as the three slowed down in unison, then his third-party interference would protect them from harming each other.

    ¡°There are plenty of ways of helping them. Why do you opt for such a slow option? Watch me.¡± Elder Shou couldn¡¯t stand Venerable Mianhua taking the limelight.

    Elder Shou, from outside the danger zone, poked one¡¯s elbow and nudged another¡¯s foot with his foot. As a consequence, the three went faster and faster - Cosmic Empyrean Style¡¯s mental cultivation. Once they exceeded their manageable speed, he would be able to redirect the trajectory of their forces away from each other.

    ¡°What are you smiling about? They¡¯ve justpounded the problem,¡± Xiao Huangquan admonished when he spotted Huofeng dimpling.

    There was no need to be confounded for long as the trio¡¯s output increased by twenty percent all at once. Venerable Mianhua and Elder Shou¡¯s shing methods slowed alternated the trio¡¯s speed, increasing their risk.

    ¡°Hyah!¡± All three of them targeted their attacks at Elder Shou.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Elder Shou drew air circles with both arms, sending their force toward Venerable Mianhua, giving thetter with no choice but to defuse the bomb with all his might. Though the two weren¡¯t so fragile that they were at risk of blowing themselves up, they ended up adding themselves to the ongoing ping pong match.

 Volume 9 61 Slaughter in the Hail (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 61 ughter in the Hail (Part 5)</h4>

    Unlike the three first in the deadlock, Venerable Mianhua and Elder Shou were experts at internal styles because the former specialised in it, and thetter was too old to be trading with younger pugilists. Fighting the way Yu Feiyuan, Lie Shang and Young Master Ling did was impossible for them.

    Although Venerable Mianhua and Elder Shou didn¡¯t create abrupt, drastic changes in speed, the more internal energy they added, the more the other three had resist. As such, the gushing true qi grew easier and easier to stabilise.

    To put it into perspective, the trio were filling up a pool with water, and said pool had a limit that would inexorably be exceeded. Venerable Mianhua, focusing on stability, and Elder Shou, focusing on bnce, spawned a vortex in the pool of still water.

    Huofeng andpany could feel their feet sliding toward the centre of the vortex, let alone Zha Pi. Xiao Huangquan grabbed Zha Pi and face palmed himself: ¡°I knew it. Now that those two have crashed the party, no living organism not eager to test their mortality would try approaching.¡±

    ¡°What shall we do, Elder?¡± queried Huofeng.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Don¡¯t fret yet. Despite the force of the tornado, it¡¯s stationary. That¡¯s not a ticket for you to carelessly move, though. None of them has what it takes to control the ball of energy at this point. If we poke it thoughtlessly, thus moving it, then we can only say our prayers.¡±

    Su Xiao swiped his nose upon feeling a tickle: ¡°I think it¡¯s raining.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ no¡­¡±

    The amicable sky suddenly grumbled and poured down as though it wanted to sink the ind - though it was unable to invade the pool of energy revolving at breakneck speed.

    ¡°The worst hase! The worst hase!¡± eximed Xiao Huangquan.

    The five in the deadlock were too focused to know or care for any rain.

    The tornado didn¡¯t discriminate against them - or anyone else.

    ***

    On the east end of Dragonroot Ind, Jia Tiankui, Nine Heavens¡¯ Solo Challenger, released his coarse hands on an escort he slept: ¡°Escort? Keeping track of our location to inform other escorts, you¡¯re just worried we won¡¯t decide the winners in three days, aren¡¯t you? You want us to ve away for Luo n?¡±

    Dozens of Beggars Sect disciples came out from hiding in the bushes and genuflected before one of Beggars Sect¡¯s elders, White Tiger Elder. ¡°We are at your service, Elder Jia.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re all here?¡±

    ¡°There are fifty-three of us here. Another twentyrades are on scouting missions.¡±

    ¡°Good. Luo Ming wants us to kill each other, but he fears our numbers, so he came up with this idea to handicap us. He must on something if he thinks our thousands upon thousands of members can¡¯t do anything about him.

    ¡°We are here to find Young Master, not to tussle with Luo Ming. If you encounter people from Luo Sword Manor, do your best to not engage them. If we hurt them, it¡¯ll be tough to bargain for our captured brothers. As for Luo Ming, he¡¯s gone and made an enemy out of so many people that someone will serve him his penance on our behalf.¡±

    When Four Seasons Formation fell, Jia Tiankui smuggled in five hundred Beggars Sect disciples and ordered them to hide out on the various inds. A number of them were detained; however, plenty slipped away. Evading Luo n on Dragonroot Ind was even simpler as there were no formations on the ind.

    ¡°Yes, Elder.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for our scouts, then¡­¡± Jia Tiankui felt a qi tornadoing from the direction their scouts were in tickle his skin. Some leaves lost their grip on their branches. ¡°What the heck is that?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hehehe, our n is wless. We escort them to each other as ¡®Luo n¡¯s escorts¡¯, and then we finish them after they¡¯re tired.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all imbeciles. How can they not tell? How stupid do you need to be to not see that the bamboo hat escorts are the most vtile role in the early stages of thepetition? Luo Ming¡¯s idea is so easy to leverage to our advantage. Stupid orthodox sects, hohoho. Calling us unorthodox sects doesn¡¯t do our genius justice.¡±

    The men gathered on Flying Fish Ind, dressed identically to Luo n¡¯s escorts, suddenly felt a wild wind blow them off bnce.

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s with this wind?¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi, look up!¡±

    A ten metre tall, revolving column was edging their way.

    ¡°What the hell is that?!

    ***

    After slitting the throats of three men without scruple, the leader of the masked group on Flying Swallow Ind used a hand code to deliver news of their victory to the escort nearby.

    ¡°There is irrefutable proof that Cloud ck Sword Sect attempted to escape. They have been executed.¡±

    The team attired in ck and hiding their faces was Luo n¡¯s extermination squad that was sent in to eliminate anyone trying to sabotage the event.

    ¡°Captain, Miss warned us against killing Mount Daluo¡¯s team and to protect them if they are in danger. Do you¡­¡±

    Luo Wunan, one of Luo n¡¯s elites known of his buff physique and Luo Mingzhu¡¯s uncle, replied. ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll lend a hand if the opportunity presents itself.¡±

    The team felt a weight lifted off their shoulders when they saw their captain crack a smile. It was a good thing for being too tense only slows one down.

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it, Captain?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a big fight taking ce nearby between one, two¡­ five, six¡­ seven¡­ When did such a big fight break out? Why was there no report?¡±

    ¡°W-wait, Captain, wh-what is that up there?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Young Master! Young Master!¡±

    Already irate over being grounded, Luo Siming yanked his door and erupted. ¡°Where are your manners, mming on the door?! I¡¯m grounded. I can¡¯t leave for the next three days! Are you disregarding Patriarch?!

    The typically decorous man from the swordy department elucidated, ¡°I apologise, Young Master, but¡­ but we have trouble. We cannot reach Patriarch at the moment because he has secluded himself, so we have no choice but to consult you. Refining Divine¡­¡±

    ¡°Refining Divine? ¡­ Okay, tell me what happened. Is there not enough fighting?¡±

    ¡°N-no, there are a lot of physical altercations.¡±

    ¡°What are you panicking for, then?¡±

    ¡°-ording to our people on the ind, there are only half of the one hundred and eight sects remaining for some reason.¡±

    ¡°Only half? It¡¯s only been a day.¡± Luo Siming kneaded his forehead then instructed, ¡°There must¡¯ve been an ident. Send our team out. If anything is out of the ordinary, have them quell the disturbance.¡±

    The man bit down on his lips, but there was nothing he could do about his shaking body. ¡°W-we have lost contact with all of our teams¡­ They may already¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ***

    ¡°Wh-what is that?¡± Moyan Xiuluo stopped his feet when he heard trees creaking and dust whipping up into a ten metre column twisting - every soul be damned.

 Volume 9 62 Void Spawning Slash

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 62 Void Spawning sh</h4>

    Amateurs who failed to escape the qi tornado went flying as if a bull speared them to the sun. More impressive martial artists were able to enter thebat zone but would end up with grievous injuries under the onught of attacks traded. Elites, such as Jia Tiankui, Luo Wunan, Kuang Lu and Dugu, fed the tornado. Nevertheless, nobody¡­ nobody could steal the spotlight from the self-proimed dragon - Long Zaitian.

    While all those adepts were throwing strike after strike, Long Zaitian had yet to engage anyone once, which was also the reason he was still alive. First of all, he wasn¡¯t just a notch below the level of those trading in there. Second, he was unarmed, while a number of people in there were wielding their best weapons, if not Luo n¡¯s approved weapons. Was it tiring to constantly dodge? Yes, but the tragic consequences that befell those who were implicated as coteral damage stoked his fire to stay alive.

    Moyan Xiuluo regretted deciding to jump in recklessly, trusting the mental cultivation de Demon imparted, only to be mired in the inescapable cycle. For the record, he didn¡¯t regret trying to chop the tornado; he would never regret chopping someone or something. Soon, though, he was a fish to water for the essence Demon Eyes Sect¡¯s style lied in their eyes.

    Every disciple of Demon Eyes Sect aptly trained their eyes to develop ¡°demon eyes¡± that were capable of seeing one¡¯s internal qi, equipping them with the knowledge to see ws in their opponent¡¯s style.

    Demon Eyes Technique is split into seven levels (from lowest to highest): blood, white, purple, green, yellow, red and blue. Those who had developed blue demon eyes could see the flow of true qi manifested outside of the body.

    Moyan Xiuluo had mastered up to the fourth level, so he didn¡¯t need to fear them. That being said, being able to see something and being able to escape it are two different things. Through his demon eyes, he discovered that pulling out of it would result in over eighty percent of the amalgamated energy smashing into him. He couldn¡¯t outrun the speed of the true qi, nor could he withstand the umted qi unless he could magically double his strength. The same applied to everyone else.

    ¡°Where is that monk and drunkard?! I wouldn¡¯t be here if it wasn¡¯t for them!¡±

    Hours had gone by, yet nobody still standing in the fight had a solution to pull out safely. On the contrary, more and more neers joined the party, increasing the probability of death. Nobody there had qualms about killing another person. The elites could keep going for another three days, which would be when they burnt out. If they were burnt out, they were only defenceless people, let alone partaking in the convention. Yu Feiyuan was the only one who hadn¡¯t lost her temper and was countering methodically.

    Huofeng, following the tornado from a safe distance, opined, ¡°If this continues, there will hardly be anyone left to hold a convention.¡±

    Xiao Huangquan said, ¡°The tornado has pretty much reached its peak. The only way to defuse it from inside is for someone to sacrifice themselves and pull out at the risk of their own life. Taking blows from over a dozen adepts will probably kill them so catastrophically that they go down in history. The only other alternative is to have someone far above their level smash the tornado from the outside. They won¡¯t need to terminate the true qi. Knowing the types of people who are in there, opening an aperture is all that¡¯s needed for them to slip.¡±

    Noticing Su Xiao and Huofeng celebrating, Xiao Huangquan added, ¡°Don¡¯t delude yourselves. Throw a stone column in there and it¡¯ll be in fragments faster than you can count to one. There are only a couple of people out there in this generation strong enough to do it without killing themselves.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be okay, then!¡± effused Huofeng.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Huh? Look,ss, your Vajra Divine Might may be a force to be reckoned with, but it¡¯s not like everyone is equally strong once they learn it. Unless it¡¯s your shifu, this old one wouldn¡¯t even pretend he could do it. As for you, well, this old one can¡¯t be bothered stopping you from marching to your own death.¡±

    ¡°No, not me. If First Sister cane out, she¡¯ll be able to do it. First Sister! First Sister, can you hear me?!¡± Huofeng wanted to yell ¡°Ming Feizhen¡± out to get Yu Feiyuan¡¯s attention, but there was his identity to ount for. With no other idea, she yelled, ¡°Br-Brother Feizhen said he¡¯s treating us to drinks! Youing?!¡±

    Yu Feiyuan came to life as if cold water was poured on her face. ¡°Yes!¡±

    Glossary

    There¡¯s a joke that¡¯spletely lost here. In Mandarin, ¡°I¡¯ll go¡± can be used as a cuss word. When Huofeng asks Yu Feiyuan if thetter ising or not, Yu Feiyuan answers, ¡°Yes¡±, which is written as ¡°I¡¯ll go¡± in Mandarin. For everybody within earshot, that sounds like she suddenly went, ¡°F***!¡± out of the blue - also atypical of her.

 Volume 9 63 Heavy Sword Fool

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 63 Heavy Sword Fool</h4>

    Wait, drinking now?

    From the moment of engagement, Yu Feiyuan defused all of the iing attacks instinctively and wasn¡¯t even aware of the perilous predicament that she was in until then.

    ¡°Huofeng, tell Brother Feizhen to wait for me! I¡­ I¡¯m busy at the moment.¡±

    She¡¯s too innocent for her own good¡­

    ¡°Hero Xiao, please switch with me,¡± requested Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°Lass, I¡¯m happy to help, but it¡¯s too dangerous. One transgression is all it takes to obliterate you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I can handle it.¡±

    Xiao Huangquan hesitantly drew his sword from his big cbash.

    ¡°Hero Xiao, are you sure you can switch?¡± Huofeng inquired.

    ¡°Beats me. Sometimes, you have what it takes, but the heavens defy you. Let destiny take its course. We can¡¯t just leave them to all die. Lie Shang started this. I brought him here, so I am partly to me.¡±

    Switching and storming in are different. If either of them made a miscalction, the two switching would perish - unless Yu Feiyuan is faster. Nobody besides Yu Feiyuan had the capacity to pull of the stunt despite their ability to demolish someone¡¯s skull because qinggong proficiency was the cornerstone factor to the stunt¡¯s sess.

    Yu Feiyuan prepared to jump once Xiao Huangquan advanced, only for Moyan Xuiluo to extend his arm out in her way and stick his bronze eyes in her face. ¡°You think you can just leave when you please?¡±

    Switching spots inside the tornado would take any of them, at least, fifteen minutes. Those locked in the tornado could now target specific individuals as the mass of qi had be the main concern as opposed to the strikes thrown - not to mention Elder Shou and Venerable Mianhua¡¯s intervention.

    Moyan Xiuluo didn¡¯t have a feud with anyone there and was purely waiting for someone unlucky enough to sacrifice himself. He, however, didn¡¯t want to let the maiden, who unintentionally seduced him with her natural beauty, go.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t even given me a smile. I¡¯m not letting you leave until you call me ¡®Hon(ey)-¡¯¡±

    Yu Feiyuan¡¯s cannon ball was already an inch away from Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s face before he saw it. She redirected it to his extended arm to use it as aunch pad to eject herself from the tornado, though she was slower than if he didn¡¯t stuff her first attempt. As a result of the speed difference, her switch timing with Xiao Huangquan was minutely off. Topensate, she rotated herself so that she¡¯dnd feet first on the ground, maintain straight legs in position to block herself and then use her hand as a spring to elerate Xiao Huangquan¡¯s entry.

    ¡°Third Sister, do it,¡± yelled Huofeng.

    Lian Qingluan unstrapped the iron case on her back and hurled it to Yu Feiyuan, who quickly moved out of the tornado¡¯s range. Without needing to look over her shoulder, Yu Feiyuan caught the case. When a flip in her seemingly switched, Huofeng bolted off with Su Xiao, Lian Qingluan following closely behind.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao¡¯s confusion prompted Huofeng to ask, ¡°You¡¯ve yet to see First Sister¡¯s Vajra Divine Might, right?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that when she drove Lie Shang back with one punch?¡±

    ¡°That was just her measly punch. There¡¯s nobody who can get away unscathed if she uses Vajra Divine Might. Watch, you soon won¡¯t see a cloud in the sky.¡±

    ***

    Inside the case weighing four hundred kilograms was another two thousand and four hundred kilogram weapon - Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s sacred sword that was seldom taken out from the case. Only ten people from Wutong Jin Yuxuan were allowed to carry the sword on their sash. Lian Qingluan, a direct disciple of Matriarch Zi, was still only allowed to carry it for Yu Feiyuan because carrying it was a form of training, let alone opening the case to wield the sword.

    The only way to open the case was to infuse it with one¡¯s internal energy. Despite its size, the part to unlock it was located in the centre of the case, which meant that one needed thepetency to transfer their true qi over half the length of the average human height and pry open the lock. In another words, only Vajra Divine Might masters could unlock it.

    Xiao Huangquan regretted switching ces with Yu Feiyuan as soon as he saw her smack the case and before she drew the giant sword slumbering inside. In spite of the abrasive, long hilt, it didn¡¯t appear clunky to wield. Rather than be concerned about how to wield it, someone who knew a thing or two about swords would suspect the sword to be decoration for it was toorge to be categorised as arge weapon.

    There was always a moment of silence prior to Vajra Divine Might detonating due to the pressure building up and vacuum that disrupted one¡¯s stance to make them more vulnerable, but Imminent Wind and Rain never came this time. Instead, they witnessed an inexplicable ck hole spawn on the tip of the sword that Yu Feiyuan raised.

    Water droplets, soil, dirt, des of grass, leaves, anything with a physical form shifted towards the raised sword, while stationary objects snapped as the sword ushered them toward it. Even the tornado steered towards Yu Feiyuan.

    Thest time the sword made an appearance to exterminate viins, the same phenomenon urred; people termed this version of Imminent Wind and Rain, Void Spawning sh. The only way to condense all that energy around the sword was through Vajra Divine Might. Its threatening appearance was what earned its former wielder, Zi Wutong, the title ¡°Great Sword Maiden¡±.

    ¡°Son of a bloody dog, Everyone stop and run!¡± Xiao Huangquan yelled.

    ¡°So what if she has a big sword? What can she do?¡± slighted Moyan Xiuluo.

    ¡°Anyone who doesn¡¯t want to die, run!¡± Xiao Huangquan was first to run. ¡°That is one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding des - Heavy Sword Fool!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, do your best,¡± Yu Feiyuan muttered under her breath as a golden light flitted across her eyes. ¡°Do your best to survive.¡±

    In one sh, Yu Feiyuan absorbed all of the coalesced qi into the ck hole, stopped the rain and broke through the charcoal clouds so that the golden orb could shine once again.

    ¡°Junior Sister, wait for me. Where are we drinking? Where is Brother Feizhen?¡±

    Behind Yu Feiyuan was a scene that resembled a carpet bombing.

 Volume 9 64 Love and Separation

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 64 Love and Separation</h4>

    I shut Six Evil Beasts Chronicles once I finished reading thest page and stowed it in my shirt. Luo Ming had to have jumped through plenty of hurdles to procure the same edition as my shifu¡¯s. Hence, it was something worth thinking about.

    The six evil beasts are walking catastrophes, the enemy of life and the most terrifying, emotionless power. Irrespective of one¡¯s purpose when letting them out, the oue would always be the same - mayhem. I will kill any soul that tries to use them.

    Seeded in my analysis of Luo Ming¡¯s entire library, I had two conclusions that I could be confident about. Firstly, Luo Ming was searching for a specific evil beast¡¯s information. The books he had for research were the worst information sources. Still, all books rted to them were on his bookshelf. He also researched terrain and domains, suggesting he was scrupulous in his study.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Secondly, Luo Ming didn¡¯t set up the formation to protect Repository Sword Theory. Based on what I could see Boss doing while I was reading, the formation wasn¡¯t designed to attack intruders but trap them in an illusion. If he wasn¡¯t positive the room was immune to thieves, he wouldn¡¯t have set an illusion formation.

    When I was searching for the odd spot of the formation, I chanced upon a crystal under the floor at the most outer section. How did I search? Old-school style - pull everything apart. Carved on the egg-sized jadeite crystal was, ¡°The deeper love is, the more painful parting is.¡± On the other side was ¡°Emotion Barrier¡±. I don¡¯t know. Maybe the crystal was called Emotion Barrier Stone?

    If I were to hazard a guess, the crystal was the medium. ording to Shifu, you need rare mediums for certain formations to work. In the same vein, crushing it would defuse the formation. I held back, howbeit, for the reason that Boss wasn¡¯t evading danger or speaking. On the contrary, she had a smile on her rosy lips while she was looking at or watching something. From what I could interpret, that was a smile of someone reminiscing and indulging in nostalgia.

    I¡¯ve never seen that smile from her. What does the illusion do?

    I could¡¯ve just crushed the crystal; however, my curiosity got the better of me. I closed my eyes and shut down my protective mental cultivation so that the formation would work on me.

    ¡°You disregarded me again. All you do is train, train, train. I hate you.¡±

    Upon parting my eyelids, I was in a forest on a mountain I recognised at first nce, and there was eight year old young shiyi whining at my eleven year old self in her signature akimbo stance.

    ¡°Grandaunt, wait for me. I¡¯ll piggy back you after I¡¯m done training,¡± my young self promised as he continued throwing his fists.

    Young Shiyi watched me for a long while and then decided to roll around on the ground, disregarding the fact that she¡¯d smear her clothing in mud and dust.

    ¡°¡­ Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Yesum.¡±

    ¡°Pffthehe¡­ Feizhen. Feizhenah¡­ Feizhen, Feizhen, Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Grandaunt, I can¡¯t respond if you call me that fast.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, Feizhen, Feizhen, Feizhen.¡± Young Shiyi just lied there,ughing as she called my name for the giggles.

    I remember that was when I could always feel blood in my oesophagus, hands and feet immobilised. I really suffered when I trained as a kid, yet I saw my young self smiling jovially. Seeing as I didn¡¯t realise it until now, I probably didn¡¯t notice having Young Shiyi keep mepany while I train was so much fun back then, either. I suppose that exined Boss¡¯ smile.

    In the subsequent scene I was shown, I was even younger. Second, who is two years older than me, was the only disciple in my age bracket who could spar with me. Because I was horrible at controlling my power back then, I floored him in no time.

    After getting up to his feet, Second burst out wailing as he ran off. ¡°Eat crap, Shifu. Eat dog crap, Grandmaster! Why does he get to be the senior disciple?! I refuse to acknowledge him! Eat crap! Eat crap! Eat cr-¡± And I will never forget him tripping, pulling off a triple cork and¡­ beautifullynding in a pile of manure. I still remembered the breakneck-speed p yourself moment as if it was yesterday.

    As I surmised, the formation wasn¡¯t harmful. It was merely a formation stored in the crystal and activated when a certain condition or conditions were met. I suppose what it exhibited was moments where we were touched in our lives given I saw Young Shiyi, Second and my youth at Mount Daluo. That would justify the ¡°Emotion Barrier¡± name. I have little doubt people struggle with their emotions.

    Memories from long ago and more recent ones shed before my eyes in no particr order, and I just treated it as a revision session until an unforgettable roar the shook the air and brought back a memory that still ground my gears. Although I was aware it wasn¡¯t happening in real time, my hairs jumped up, and I almost swung. It was one of the few fights I put my life on the line.

    The young me charged at the beast bathed in blood with reckless abandon. Behind him was Young Shiyi, lying in her own blood. I still want to hit something every time I recall the vivid memory. At the same time, it still shakes me, especially when I first got to know the monster stronger than my shifu and grandmaster. My uncles, shifu and grandmaster looked mutted in their bloody red robes. Rather than a conquest, Mount Daluo fought for their lives. There are fewer than few who can match its power, and a victory wouldn¡¯te for free.

    Being exposed to the memory again reinforced the need for me to ascertain what Luo Ming¡¯s real aim is in researching the six beasts. Mount Daluo may not stand for eternity, but I wasn¡¯t going to let it fall, not in my generation.

    Motivated, I squeezed the crystal in my hand but stopped when I heard my name enunciated in a tone that I should never have heard again.

    ¡°Impossible¡­¡± I choked out, feeling the pain of old wounds opening, yet relishing it at the same time. Every breath became heavy. Every heart beat thumped sonorously. I turned around to see what I buried in the depths of my hearts many years ago. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me.¡±

    The red leaves dancing to autumn¡¯s wind were as red as my fourteen year old face¡¯s cheeks. She was still the elder-sister character blessed with a breathtaking smile who would read and y music to me.

 Volume 9 65 Trapped for Eternity

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 65 Trapped for Eternity</h4>

    I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know what the stiff expression on my face was. I don¡¯t know how long I stood there for, but one thing was for sure: she was still as perfect as I remembered her. I never thought - or maybe just didn¡¯t have the courage to - I¡¯d see her again.

    The crystal said, ¡°The deeper love is, the more painful parting is.¡± My heart said, ¡°There¡¯s so much I want to say that I don¡¯t know where to start.¡± Nevertheless, for the moment, I just wanted to watch her gently y with the water and smile at me from the other side of the boat.

    Deep down, I knew that she couldn¡¯t hear me, couldn¡¯t see me and couldn¡¯t respond to me. Still, her appearance had petrified me. I had enough awareness to crush the crystal and knew how to escape, but I didn¡¯t want to. I can only assume that anyone who met someone they knew they¡¯d never get to see again no matter how much they desired it would react as I did.

    ¡°Feizhen, wake up, or I¡¯ll start.¡±

    The voice reverberating in my head caused the rity of my memory to ripple and fizzle out. Recing theke and autumn leaves was Boss¡¯ face shaking due to her shaking my shoulders.

    ¡°Finally.¡±

    ¡°Boss? Y-you escaped already?¡± I looked side to side. ¡°How did you wake me?¡±

    ¡°I just got out. The formation isn¡¯t harmful, but it can keep your mind enthralled. I tried to wake you after I escaped. I was going to shoulder throw you six times, but you woke up just as I got into position.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Don¡¯t shoulder throw someone asleep six times! You a monster?!

    Judging from how easy it was to ovee it and the attention to detail, the formation isn¡¯t intended for intruders.

    I was stuffing Emotion Barrier Stone into my shirt - because I still clung to the memory of her - when an ominous approached my mind. I had this feeling that the stone might bring me bad luck, prompting me to stop.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to dither,¡± Boss stated. ¡°We¡¯ve wasted enough time. I think¡­ we turned this ce inside out by ident when we were caught in the formation.¡±

    Correction: that was me trying to find the crystal¡­

    ¡°He¡¯ll have to tidy himself because we¡¯re out of time. We have yet to fully explore the secret passage. This exit leads elsewhere, and we need to keep exploring to get to the bottom of Luo Ming¡¯s ns.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    I didn¡¯t think the passage was very deep after walking several kilometres. The secret library weighed on my mind as it sat dead centre of the passage. It wouldn¡¯t be built there if it wasn¡¯t an important ce.

    When I saw a stone door at the end of the passage, I sped ahead to open it before Boss could. She didn¡¯t take issue with me since she was upied with inspecting her surroundings.

    Some rooms were armouries. Some were for rations. Some were for water. Some were for soldiers to rest. The room at the centre was most probably a ce for leaders to convene. I¡¯d imagine this secret passage was also where Luo Sword Manor would retreat to if they couldn¡¯t drive an invader off and to n their return.

    ¡°Unlike the previous room, this one is quaint and formal instead of being murky.¡±

    I sneaked over to the stone chair at the centre of the council room for the patriarch.

    Scouting the outer perimeter of the council room, Boss stopped in front of a room and mumbled, ¡°There¡¯s poison mist travelling outside from here. Someone without martial arts would die if they caught a whiff. It¡¯s not safe here with all the poison linger-¡±

    ¡°Boss, check this out. There are signs of a fight taking ce here, and they seem to be from around ten days ago.¡±

    Boss looked as though she couldn¡¯t be bothered reproaching me. ¡°¡­ Careful. There¡¯s poison mist in here.¡±

    ¡°Is there? I don¡¯t notice it.¡±

    Boss scurried over to me. ¡°Oh, this really is the only spot in the room without any poison. But why?¡±

    That¡¯s because I breathed it in!

    By no means am I immune to poison. I just happen to be more resistant. I¡¯m fine as long as I can expel it from my body while trying to contain it. While I was probing around, I asionally touched things to transfer the poison to those objects.

    Boss quietly read the text etched onto a wall behind the chair.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this is a secret chamber Luo n¡¯s ancestors have passed down for the purpose of sheltering n members during disasters. The text here says that this ce is considered out of bounds unless the n patriarch explicitly grants permission to enter. All trespassers will be executed.¡± I shed Boss an eye gesture to show understanding and then continued reading, ¡°Outsiders who trespass into Luo n¡¯s secret chamber and desecrate our ce shall stay here with eternal rock forever. What¡¯s eternal rock?¡±

    ¡°A type of stone that can¡¯t be broken. If you want to shave it, you need to steep it in a specific form for half a year or longer to have any chance. Should the form dry out before it takes effect, there won¡¯t be any means of damaging it, so you only have one chance. It¡¯s the same type of material used in the imperial family¡¯s cemetery. It¡¯s supposed to be illegal formoners to have it; anyone caught with it is sentenced to death. Therefore, I surmise Luo n obtained it prior to the current dynasty¡¯s establishment. Feizhen, careful not to set off any traps. The text clearly states not to vandalise their ce, or the stone door will fall.¡±

    I thumped my chest: ¡°It¡¯s always been a principle of mine to respect predecessors.¡±

    Rumble! Rumble! Bang!

 Volume 9 66 A Man and a Woman Alone in a Room

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 66 A Man and a Woman Alone in a Room</h4>

    ¡°Boss, just quit. Didn¡¯t you say there¡¯s nothing we can do once the stone door drops?¡±

    It had been over two hours since the stone door came down on us.

    ¡°Shut up! If it wasn¡¯t for you activating it, would we be stuck here?!¡± Boss kept trying to find a chink with her sword.

    From my own research, the door was heavy and impossible to smash apart even if one was to repetitively hammer one specific spot. Not even my genius could offer a solution.

    Four hourster, we were still stuck, but Boss¡¯ mental state was deteriorating. Her sweat pasted her hair to her face. She was breathingboriously. She was still shaving away her sword¡¯s lifespan.

    Can¡¯t be broken, you say? If I could throw a full-pelt punch at it¡­ Hmm, sounds like it would be fun.

    ¡°Why did you just lick your lips? What are you plotting?¡±

    I totally forgot I was trapped in together with only Boss, her rosy cheeks and drenched shirt¡­ When I looked up at her, she averted her gaze.

    Is she scared? Hah, you¡¯re always bossing me around. You finally understand who the true master is now?

    I crossed my arms: ¡°Miss Shen, there is only you and I in here. If the warrior in me was to awaken, what would you do?¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡± Boss lodged her sword a few centimetres in front of my legs - between them, for that matter. ¡°To prove I¡¯m still a virgin, I¡¯ll castrate you. I promise: nobody will speak ill of me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mom!¡±

    ¡°Good boy.¡± Boss mmed up on the ground as she leaned onto the door and appeared less stressed.

    I ate three biscuits, two pears, all of which I pinched from the kitchen, and try to think of something to say when my hunger pang kicked in. Meanwhile, Boss only had one biscuit and a sip of water. When I tried to start a conversation, she didn¡¯t sound enthusiastic.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like talking.¡± Boss shut her eyes.

    We should¡¯ve had topics to talk about since our goal was to rescue Second and get to the bottom of Luo Ming¡¯s secret. The silence reminded me of our quarrel not too long ago.

    The fact that Boss could sleep meant that some of her psychological issues had subsided. What it didn¡¯t mean, though, was that she had no doubts about me. As Yan Shisan¡¯s disciple and a user of Precision Scout, she had to have misgivings about me. If nothing else, the multiple times she withheld her thoughts when she had something to say today was a sign that she was resisting the urge to pry. I understood she was being tolerant and letting me confide in her, but I didn¡¯t know what to do.

    If I revealed everything, Boss would be ced in a dilemma due to Liu Shan Men and Demon Sect¡¯s stances. In the scenario that I revealed my true skills, I could kiss my life of a recluse goodbye.

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Boss?¡±

    Boss ducked her head right as I lifted my chin. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± I went back to eating my pair.

    ¡°¡­ Your injury¡­ still hurt?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it was just a scratch.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I know¡­ you took the shot on purpose¡­ Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d see through me with your genius. If you¡¯re grateful, how about a reward?¡±

    ¡°Can you not joke around for once?¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing: I tend to joke. You¡¯ve never seen me flip the table when I¡¯m on my back foot in mah-jong. If you had, you wouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡±

    ¡°Just¡­ don¡¯t do it again.¡±

    The silent interlude didn¡¯t feel awkward this time. Actually, the sight of Boss¡¯ face and her fragrance brought on something inside me.

    ¡°Boss, if you want to thank me, tell me who your ¡®Big Brother¡¯ is.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Boss jumped to her feet and stomped over to pull me up by mypels. ¡°Where did you hear that from?¡±

    I tugged up a corner of my lips: ¡°You mentioned it in the formation. Based on your artiction, you must be close, huh?¡±

    Boss flicked her hair to pretend she was nonchnt. ¡°Th-that¡¯s just a childhood memory¡­ Just a fantasy.¡±

    ¡°Well, that must be one hell of an unordinary fantasy.¡±

    ¡°So? I was only nine!¡±

    ¡°The monk is a lolicon, then! Stay away from men who try toy their paws on nine year old girls!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a gentleman. He doesn¡¯t discriminate. As well¡­ he wouldn¡¯t have known how I felt. W-wait, I wasn¡¯t thinking of anything.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, so he does have some strengths, then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s obvious. He¡¯s godly strong and erudite. If it wasn¡¯t for him, I¡¯d just be a sack of flesh now. I take that back: I¡¯d already be dead.¡±

    Personal feelings aside, this ¡°godly¡± prowess piqued my fancy. ¡°I feel like getting to know him. When are you going to introduce him to me?¡±

    ¡°We¡­ haven¡¯t met since¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me. Yet you still yearn for him?¡±

    ¡°Sh-shut up! Every girl has a crush during her childhood. It¡¯s all in the past. Don¡¯t you dare mention it to anyone else.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, yes, right, understood. I dare not test your threat¡¯s authenticity. It¡¯s a good thing. Having someone you luck and blushing is what makes you normal. Boss, you¡¯re usually too tense.¡±

    Boss bit her lips and asked, ¡°What did you recall, then?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What?¡±

    ¡°When you were in the formation. You seemingly looked at someone, yearned for them and al-¡±

    I raised both hands in surrender. ¡°I won¡¯t mention your monk, so you don¡¯t mention mine. I¡­ can¡¯t talk about it.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t ask, then.¡±

    I extended my neck forward and blinked.

    ¡°I won¡¯t ask.¡± Boss cracked a hearty grin. ¡°Buy me drinks when you¡¯re ready to share.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Boss, there are some things I want t-¡±

    ¡°I see we have unexpected visitors.¡±

    Boss raised her sword. ¡°Who goes there? ¡­ What are you doing here?¡±

    Neither Boss nor I proactively searched for anyone while we were trapped here. I didn¡¯t expect to see the elder with the snake-shaped walking stick emerge from one of the rooms.

    ¡°Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You recognise this old one?¡±

    I hubristically shed my white pearls: ¡°This one is Zhong Ning. Would you happen to be losing brain cells as your age climbs? Would you like to have that number knocked back down?¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s you! Hohoho, this old one thought it was fishy for there to be an extra member in Evil Spirits. He received a letter informing him two rats from Mount Daluo¡¯s group had gone missing from the ind. No wonder why nobody could find you.¡± The victory celebration of a predator came to Poison King¡¯s lips. ¡°Lady Luck is quite nice to this old one. This is a chance for this old one to redeem himself for letting the broad go and to test this Binary Poison Style. Hope you¡¯ve said your prayers.¡±

 Volume 9 67 Poison Kings Mishap

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 67 Poison King¡¯s Mishap</h4>

    ¡°Feizhen, stay alert and retreat.¡± Shen Yiren parted the venomous green mist oozing out of the hunched-back elder down the centre and then bound toward her target.

    Whoa, that¡¯s a lot of force you¡¯re putting into such a thin sword, yet you haven¡¯t snapped it. Nice.

    Poison King promptly blocked, yet his feet skid back as though Shen Yiren rammed him with a battering ram when his internal energy was supposed to be more potent.

    Do I know that style?

    Shen Yiren followed up with a flurry of varying hammer-like attacks before Poison King had the chance to catch his breath.

    Oh, she¡¯s not using her internal energy but the benefits of being explosive. Must be her own mental cultivation style that¡¯s helping her move so explosively.

    Shen Yiren switched between stylistically using a hammer and sword at will. Meanwhile, her sharp eyes spotted her timing so that she could explode at an opening whenever her opponent moved to attack. Unless one was quick to spot opportunities and possessed the explosiveness required to capitalise on it, the strategy simply wouldn¡¯t work.

    ¡°What are you smirking about?¡± Shen Yiren questioned.

    ¡°Have you seen this green mist before? It¡¯s one of the most poisonous snake venoms in the world. It takes but moments to freeze organs. You ignorantly charged forward and breathed it in.¡±

    Shen Yiren swept horizontally and then entered Poison King¡¯s jabbing range to whack him back. He could nurse cuts, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do about damage that went deep inside.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°¡­ You think you can still win after what you¡¯ve done?!¡± Poison King reached for Shen Yiren with his right hand.

    Though Shen Yiren moved her head off the line, a faint pink mist dispersed.

    ¡°Hihehehe, that¡¯s a poison thates from scorpions living in molten. Let¡¯s time how long youst as heat and cold poisons ravage your insides. Your limbs feeling immobile yet?¡±

    Shen Yiren threw a front kick up the centreline, kicking Poison King back and then supplementing it with another whack using the t side of her sword. As she rubbed her ears, she responded, ¡°h, h, h, h, you sure you¡¯re not Babbling King? You here to fight or chat?¡±

    Poison King barely got to his feet due to his broken ribs. There wasn¡¯t much he could do about the blood pouring down his face after absorbing a kick, nheless. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you poisoned?!¡±

    Well, how do you expect her to answer that when I¡¯m the one interfering with it?

    Since Poison King started releasing poison, I inhaled everything he offered, so all of it flitted straight past Boss. He was right that it should¡¯ve incapacitated Boss because even I could feel the two contradicting temperatures ying inside me.

    Poison King¡¯s suspicious gaze came my way, cueing me to look up and whistle.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been interfering!¡±

    The fact that Boss didn¡¯t look over her shoulder hinted that she already knew I was tampering with the poison.

    Poison King wiped the blood streaming down his face and cackled: ¡°You¡¯ve been hiding yourself the entire time. This old one has been waiting for you to show your skills, but you¡¯ve been showing them all this time, Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple. Hehehe, they were right. Poison alone isn¡¯t enough to deal with you.¡±

    ¡°Who is ¡®they¡¯?¡± I didn¡¯t think he was referring to Luo Ming as his tone insinuated that he knew more about my background than my status as Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple. It didn¡¯t make sense for Poison King to know more about me than Luo Ming. Although Luo Ming had doubts about me, it was different to the certainty in Poison King¡¯s tone.

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Poison King shrugged and eyed Shen Yiren before shing a grin at me. ¡°This old one knows what you don¡¯t want people to know.¡± He subsequently mouthed, ¡°Night Fortress¡¯ master.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, did he do something to you?¡± Boss asked in response to my silence - which was actually me recounting things to try and find where I went wrong.

    ¡°No, nothing¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Poison King pulled back faster than Shen Yiren could chase. ¡°Keep revelling in your trivial win. You¡¯ll soon regret osting this old one. Rot in this room. Heh!¡± Poison King unleashed a barrage of palm strikes at the wall to activate a trap and then prepared to leave, only to wait and wait until Shen Yiren was on his tail. ¡°Why isn¡¯t the door working? Hmm? Isn¡¯t this Eternal Stone?! Why is it down?!¡±

    Shen Yiren folded her arms: ¡°You only noticed now?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you two?! Is this funny to you?! I was going to lower it to trap you, but you¡¯ve trapped me now!¡±

    Wow, this man sure has a knack for passing the buck.

    ¡°Nobody can get out now. Nobody is going toe here¡­¡±

    ¡°Rx.¡± I never heard that much despair from an elder before. ¡°Instead of worrying about how to get out, you should find a way to survive against Boss.¡±

    Boss heaved breaths onto her fists and polished them.

    ¡°Young man¡­ relishing the mortifying situation of another is not a virtue! If I must suffer, so will you!¡±

    Hey, what are you trying to say?!

    ¡°Lass, do you know who he is? Besides being Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple. He has another identity!¡±

 Volume 9 68 Ming Feizhen

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 68 Ming Feizhen</h4>

    Poison King conceitedly dered, ¡°His real identity is M-¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s foot exploded up to Poison King¡¯s face.

    Wh-what the? Boss isn¡¯t going to listen to him?

    Even more surprising was that Poison King could get up again, albeit with a wobble and blood gurgling out of his mouth.

    ¡°Wh-wh-what are you doing?!¡±

    Shen Yiren dusted her shoe¡¯s instep. ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. I won¡¯t listen unless it¡¯sing from him personally. I know he¡¯s hiding secrets, but who doesn¡¯t have secrets? I know him as a person. He must have his reasons for not telling me or it might not be time for me to know yet. I¡¯m cognisant he¡¯s not hiding to harm me. What should I do if not hit someone trying to sow discord? I¡¯ll clobber anyone who tries to copy you.¡± She locked her eyes onto his and added, ¡°I refuse to listen even in the event the sky falls.¡±

    Poison King gasped blood onest time prior to passing out. I tore off some of his clothing to bind him straight away and sealed eight major upoints to immobilise him for the next forty-eight hours. Then, I shoved him in a corner. I decided to keep his wine cbash for hydration when necessary.

    Breaking the long silence permeating the room, Boss started with a helpless smile, ¡°And we¡¯re still stuck.¡±

    I just bobbed my head. I assumed Poison King knew another way out since he could get in, only to learn he just happened to enter before us.

    Once we had a short breather, we started searching for brittle spots - rtively speaking - in the spaces between the immovable door to no avail.

    Boss inquired ¡°You¡­ okay? I don¡¯t know what you did, but Poison King¡¯s poison is¡­¡±

    ¡°I ate some anti-poison stuff when I was a kid, so poison doesn¡¯t do much to me. I still feel fine.¡±

    Fact of the matter was that my shifu did feed me an assortment of pills without telling me their effects beforehand, so I suppose I must¡¯ve consumed stuff to build immunity to poison somewhere in there, right?

    After chatting over random topics, including events during Boss Shen¡¯s leave from the capital, she said, ¡°I slept.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°And well.¡±

    Only then did it click for me that Boss was referring to her insomnia.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had a nagging headache prior to losing mynd. I think it was around twelve or thirteen, maybeter, that it started guing me. Ever since beginning work, I started turning inte, and that¡¯s when the headache became routine. When sleepless nights eventually became the norm, the headaches beset me worse and worse, leading to me sleeping less and less.¡±

    ¡°I often notice your candles still on when I go drink in the storage at night.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, a brave soul, you are, even bringing it up with me.¡±

    Your eyes and smile are telling different stories! Wait, why did I not keep my mouth in check again?

    ¡°I think you¡¯re right. My insomnia is a psychological issue from long ago. You¡¯re already aware that my parents have passed away, but are you privy of how they passed away?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I heard someone associated with Demon Sect in the capital was responsible. That¡¯s the extent of what I know.¡±

    ¡°It is one of the mystery cases, after all. The imperial court has never mentioned a word of it. My parents¡­ were burnt to death.¡±

    ¡°A fire? What?¡±

    Yan Shisan told me Shen Wuzheng had the whole package and qualified to lead Liu Shan Men. Therefore, he promoted Shen Wuzheng to Emperor Yuansheng. You can imagine the imperial court wouldn¡¯t let an outsider lead Liu Shan Men, otherwise. How does it make sense for a man who could hold his own weight inbat and mind games die in a fire?

    ¡°The congration took the lives of all seventy-five people; it was as though everybody was unconscious and just waiting to burn. No ordinary fire could stop my father. That¡¯s why I¡¯m convinced somebody did something to him prior to the arson attack. Sadly, I have no guess as to who it could be or why they would target him.

    ¡°I feel a connection with Tang Ye when I watch him train as he reminds me of myself. I would even say we¡¯re identical because we live for the past and revenge. We¡¯re hunting down our enemy with everything we have even though we don¡¯t have any clue on who we are supposed to hound. Owing to our repressed rage, we struggle to sleep and find food tasteless. Dawn is but an rm for us to rise and train until we are spent. Every time we feel joy, it quickly degrades to guilt.

    ¡°After my parents passed away, Uncl-, His Majesty didn¡¯t eat and wallowed in sorrow for three days, culminating in him being bed ridden. While it arguably was the trigger that galvanised him to proactively target Demon Sect, other reasons also contributed. When I saw him mope and cry, I decided to serve him with my life, believing he is worthy of my effort.¡±

    ¡°Have you found any hints yet?¡±

    ¡°Though I was young when it happened, I remember every detail. A group of people led my brother and me around the city; however, they didn¡¯t seem to be experienced child kidnappers. I suspect their goal was to put us to sleep and then nt us back inside. Thankfully, Big Brother saved our lives, though it also made me witness my house turn into something reminiscent of a horror story, nothing to salvage.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So¡­ that¡¯s when you started seeing your Big Brother in a positive light? Does that count as a first crush?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ He¡¯s my idol. He¡¯s strong, just and staunch. I want to be like him, fearless of whateveres my way.¡±

    I had the privilege of watching red roses bloom on two fields of snow.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all from me.¡± Boss extended her arms overhead to stretch, and my eyes stretched as I watched her two globes move. ¡°That¡¯s my secret that I¡¯ve never shared. Keep a lid on it.¡±

    ¡°Why did you tell me?¡±

    Boss looked at me as though it never urred to her. ¡°Hahaha, you took a sh for me. Shouldn¡¯t I pry myself open to repay you? Else, somebody mightin I pick on him.¡± Noticing me nk out, Boss leaned in and asked, ¡°What? Not enough?¡±

    I shook my head profusely.

    ¡°Pffthaha. The point I¡¯m trying to make is that I know how difficult it is to open up about your secrets. I wouldn¡¯t have told you all of this if you didn¡¯t cop the sh for me. Well, I probably wouldn¡¯t have told anyone else, either. For that reason, I can fathom how hard it is for you to confide in someone else. Don¡¯t force yourself. I have plenty of patience. When you¡¯re ready to talk,e see me whenever that may be.¡±

    ¡°Long, long ago, there was a sect that existed on a dangerous, snowden peak, and they never left.¡±

    ¡°What are you bringing this up for?¡±

    I took out Poison King¡¯s wine cbash and guzzled mouthfuls then passed it to Boss.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I thought you said you¡¯d drink when I¡¯m willing to talk.¡±

    Boss pped her eyelids.

    ¡°I am withholding things from you, and I can¡¯t tell you everything about me. In saying that, I¡¯m only withholding information for certain reasons.¡±

    ¡°I get it.¡±

    ¡°I can tell you everything about some things now, nevertheless.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Boss took the cbash for a drink. ¡°My ears are yours.¡±

    I lifted up the corners of my lips a tad: ¡°I¡¯ve never mentioned this to anyone outside of my sect, but I feel that you need to know. The grave consequences that could befall everyone due to Luo Sword Manor¡¯s agenda has exceeded my expectations. Luo Ming is researching something troubling, to the say least.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ Six Evil Beasts Chronicles?¡±

    ¡°While this maye as a shock, the legendary six do exist. Frankly, I¡¯ve done all that I can. Without assistance, I can¡¯t dig any deeper. I have to share my secret with someone at this point, and you know who I¡¯ve chosen to trust with it.¡±

    Boss¡¯ eyes flew open instinctively until she brought them back down. ¡°¡­ Go on.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll start from the end, then.¡± I exhaled as deliberately as I inhaled. ¡°I am Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor for this generation, Ming Feizhen, and Hangzhou¡¯s Night Fortress¡¯ master.¡±

 Volume 9 69 Long Ago, There was a Mountain (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 69 Long Ago, There was a Mountain (Part 1)</h4>

    Ages ago, there was an ancient mountain range in the north that was always shrouded in charcoal clouds and a dark miasma. They called the nameless mountain riddled with natural dangers, extending across fifty thousand deste square kilometres ¡°Lifeless grounds, the genesis of miasma¡±. Only fierce beasts and poisonous snakes or wild deer, boars and the sort would venture to the mountain in herds.

    Over time, the mountain became the den of wild beasts. Purportedly, feeding on the miasma triggered growth that had the normal animals grow several times their usual size and resemble flesh-eating monsters. Whenever they descended the mountain, they¡¯d hunt on humans. It took dozens of people to catch a deer, and hundreds couldn¡¯t hold a candle to a tiger.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Owing to theck of sustenance from insufficient sunlight, the beasts had no choice but to hunt off the mountain. Once they had a taste of meat, they went wild, ransacking viges for food and always leaving every vige a ghost vige by the time they were done. The blood of humans fostered bigger and stronger bodies, rendering even acimed fighters nothing more than hopeless victims.

    The beasts¡¯ advent was no different to a nation-wide shockwave,pelling the monarch to dispatch the military. The military thought they were just dealing with exaggerated folk tales about ordinary beasts running amok. Little did they know they were facing fiends that their weapons didn¡¯t scare. The soldiers made bets amongst each other, seeing who would be able to hunt down the most beasts, and the loser would have to sponsor their trip to the mostvish brothel in the capital.

    The army only realised the severity of the situation when one of them had his head gnawed off upon contact. s, it was toote. Three thousand soldiers became snacks for the beasts in no time at all. Due to theck of amander, the only strategy the military coulde up with was trying to make up for their weakness in numbers, costing hundreds of lives in exchange for one beast. Besides being an unsustainable n, they didn¡¯t ount for the reproduction rate of the beasts.

    A cmitous beast gives birth to four to five fledglings a year, and it only takes a year for them to grow into adults, not to mention their proficiency at conquering humans.

    What was originally ¡°Quell the superstitions¡± and ¡°Monster hunt¡± decrees quickly became ¡°Defend our homnd¡±.

    As their avable information grew, it dawned on the military that the fiends had amander and even a sovereign.

    Among the beasts, particr types were the most challenging to defeat owing to their inconceivable body shapes and strength. Unlike their same kin, their defensive and offensive abilities put the elements and weapons to shame. Some went as far asparing them to a gue for they couldn¡¯t fathom stopping the beasts if thetter were to raid cities or towns. Given they could also call for their kin or subordinates to fortify their ranks, those specific beasts were the core members.

    People theorised that most terrifying beasts were never seen mating due to theck of a partner that could handle their size. Nheless, it didn¡¯t matter that they couldn¡¯t mate as they outlived generations.

    The six beasts leading the others could soar through the sky or tread across the earth would eventually be called ¡°Six Evil Beasts¡±, often shortened to ¡°Six Evils¡±.

    The doors to the capital were once broken down - technically wolfed down - impelling the reigning Emperor to reach out to neighbouring states and his own people for support despite that denouncing the system his predecessorsid out. As a result, his vassals knelt outside his pce for three days to protest the decision. Livid, the Emperor had those objecting suspended from the city walls to parley with the six. Half of those who returned, who were also the sole survivors, changed their tone upon returning.

    The young monarch, notwithstanding his near non-existent smithing knowledge, personally forged an iron arrow and offered it his blood for the sake of motivating people to join his cause. World Dragon Guardian arrow would go on to be a symbol and source of motivation for warriors across the Nine Provinces to enlist in his cause.

    To the Emperor¡¯s delight, one after another, regardless of orthodox or unorthodox affiliation, enlisted in no time at all. Even recluse schrs, cksmiths, thieves, self-proimed golden children of Buddhism, deities, sword saints and so on signed up.

    Years of tyrannyter, after innumerable warriors had fallen, after the Emperor¡¯s hair had gone from ck to white, they finally slew thest of Six Evil Beasts.

    The only viable strategy when they came up against Huohu, the mammoth that was impervious to des, was to trap it inside a wall of eternal stone shields and set up an electrical conductor formation to zap it with natural lightning.

    Huohu remained standing after ten shocks and decimated a third of the human forces when it turned into a melee battle. Had the best in thend not finished Huohu with a palm strike in time, more lives would¡¯ve been lost.

    The entire capital was used for a nation-wide banquet to celebrate their liberation, as well as to acknowledge and reward the brave souls who staked their lives on the frontlines. Some heroes decided toy down their arms for good, while some decided to continue serving the imperial court in glory.

    The nation gradually recovered from the anarchy and appeared to be on track to prosperity again when news of Six Evils terrorising thends came after only a ten year respite.

 Volume 9 70 Long Ago, There was a Mountain (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 70 Long Ago, There was a Mountain (Part 2)</h4>

    Since the beast invasion waspared to a curse that human civilization couldn¡¯tpletely recover from in a decade, they called the long three decades ¡°Fiend Cmity¡±.

    It¡¯s believed that the six evil beasts returned because they are born from natural miasma, therefore can never be exterminated. Howbeit, when the leaders returned, they no longer appeared the same, had an army at theirmand or decades to umte power. As such, it took only a few months to put them away when the reigning Emperor personally went to the battlefield, polishing his reputation. Subsequent to their victory, the Emperor discovered that he had not killed them for good. Consequently, he asked someone to investigate so their origins.

    The individual the Emperor sought the aid of was an entric active in the pugilistic world and a myth in the martial world for his unmatched prowess - Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean. He was the man who delivered ten lightning bolts unto the beast that survived it - Huohu. Because the two of them went through life and death together, the Emperor decided to be sworn brothers with him and trusted his new brother with World Guardian Dragon so that thetter couldmand people with the same authority as himself.

    The fiends didn¡¯t give mankind anytime to prepare for their invasion. Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean, fortunately, found the mountain that the miasma came from after a three-year search. Finding that the thick miasma was more poisonous than any other poison he had ever witnessed and divining it was the home of evil, he called it Six Evil Beasts¡¯ Genesis Grounds.

    He thought climbing to the peak was tough, only to then fight the toughest, most dangerous battle of his life. He had no time to marvel the scalding-hot, elephant-sized egg on the peak for it cracked upon sensing his presence. Although the newborn beast had yet to grow into an adult, it already had a stare that could petrify its prey and a resentful howl. It took him ten days of outwitting the beast and guerri warfare to wear it down.

    Exhausted, barely conscious and thirsty, he reactively swallowed whatever the liquid on his dry lips happened to be, thereby replenishing his true qi. By the time he came to, it dawned on him that drinking the Colossal Chaofeng¡¯s blood saved his life. When he resumed exploring the mountain, he noticed that the miasma no longer impacted him, and all the beasts would bow in servitude to him, keeping him arms¡¯ lengths away.

    He resided on the mountain for a prolonged period to research the roots of the six evil beasts, confirming they were born from natural miasma and manifested inside ordinary beasts. Whenever the miasma was thick enough, one of them would spawn. In other words, there was no means of exterminating them permanently. Give them a few decades, and they would¡¯ve built a military in the mountains they resided.

    He sent a report of his findings back to the capital but stayed on the mountain for¡­ he discovered another egg where he fought the Colossal Chaofeng, except there were no odd attributes. Unsure if it was malignant or not, he called his five other brothers, all of whom were exceptional fighters, to the mountain. Together, they were known as Six Luo Empyreans.

    The six of them cast a formation to disperse the miasma on the mountain, allowing humans to inhabit it. During the window they were afforded, they left the mountain to recruit disciples in preparation for the next cmity. Ever since then, they resided on the mountain to train themselves and study the beasts, awaiting the day they would have to take up arms again to guard the human realm.

    It took him thirty years toprehend the evil beasts¡¯ birth system, inspiring him to find a means of repressing their violent urges.

    Thanks to his time on the mountain, he was able to consume natural, fresh dew, water from snow, ginseng and avoid toxic people, blessing him with the appearance of a forty year old when he was close to a hundred. On the other hand, the Emperor had already passed the reins on to his grandson. Thus, he left the mountain to pay his respects to the imperial court and pass on his method for repressing the beasts¡¯ violent urges to the reigning Emperor. His old friend¡¯s grandson saluted the elder on his knees and showed the utmost respect.

    He returned to the mountain to resume his research, hoping to find a method to stop the cmity once and for all after. Unfortunately, only a few yearster, he was asked toe down the mountain because the six evil beasts were back and as hazardous as the first time they descended. The elder didn¡¯t see the egg hatch. Moreover, ording to his calctions, it should¡¯ve been sixty years before the next invasion.

    When he headed out to investigate with his brothers, it turned out that the young Emperor he trusted had utilised the method to have his men fetch eggs of the six evil beasts, using them as soldiers to attack the nations to the west. The young Emperor only managed to hatch two eggs - which were from the two his grandfather slew. Once he raised them into fiends capable of besieging cities, he could no longer rein them in.

    Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean was left with no choice but to bring out World Guardian Dragon to recruit help. With his newfound knowledge and more refined skills, they managed to quell the mayhem in a shorter time frame and reduce their lossespared to the first round of carnage. Nevertheless, when the infuriated ruler in the west retaliated, Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean walked away. The hubristic Emperor thought he was born as tough as his grandfather and rode into battle, only to be knocked off his horse and stomped to death under horse hooves on his first battle. By the time peace was restored to the imperial court and Central in, Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean had left the mundane world for dozens of years already.

    When Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean returned to the mountain post-war against the two rampaging beasts, a disciple reported there was another egg on the mountain - another Colossal Chaofeng. He had no spare time or energy to spend on the other four, but he made it his mission to watch over the two evil beasts on the mountain.

    To avoid history repeating itself, he kept the existence of the two evil beasts on the mountain a top secret from the rest of the world. In addition, he passed on all of his skills and knowledge to his disciples, entrusting them with the task of continuing the job he dedicated almost half of his life to. He never left the mountain again until the day he took hisst breath.

    Not avoiding a natural disaster despite knowing about it. Notining when he knew the undertaking meant he¡¯d likely be stuck on the mountain for the rest of his life. His surname was Ming. He was the founder of the sect that flourished on the mountain that wouldter be named Mount Daluo just as the sect was.

    Regardless of how the stars moved, how many times the sun rose, Mount Daluo was attached to the martial world¡¯s history. Regardless of how much time went by, they were always hailed as one of the leaders of the orthodox sects. Regardless of what heinous crimes theymitted, they would were granted indemnity as they sacrificed their life, and the lives of their descendants, to ensure mankind would live to see another day. Because they gave their lives to stop the natural cmity, the world still stands today.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Glossary

    Colossal Chaofeng - The ¡°colossal¡± word is a made up addition, but the Chaofeng is an actual savage beast in Chinese mythology known for its fearlessness and love of high ces. The legend says that it¡¯s one of Dragon King¡¯s nine offspring. That being said, there are arguments that im otherwise as not all sources agree which creatures make up the nine offspring.

 Volume 9 71 No Regrets Left

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 71 No Regrets Left</h4>

    Although she did furrow her brows, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t seem puzzled. I never questioned herprehension skills or would think I¡¯d need to repeat everything three times as I did for Su Xiao. She was the type to deduce things even without people mentioning it. That¡¯s one reason I chose to tell her the secret. That being said, I did need confirmation on one thing.

    Thwarting the conquest of Six Evil Beasts wasn¡¯t a brief mission; it was an undertaking that had been passed down for generations. Once Luo Ming was cold in the ground, their threat still loomed in Shen Yiren¡¯s generation. Thus¡­

    ¡°That is the story Mount Daluo has passed down for generations.¡±

    The specific ending was my test for Shen Yiren. Only when she could discern what I wanted her to could I continue to the end. Else, I could only do my best to bluff in order to protect her from further danger. It wasn¡¯t intended to be easy, not after I just fed her so much information to digest.

    Shen Yiren took a long time ruminating and then questioned, ¡°This is Mount Daluo¡¯s secret, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct. We have been strictly ordered not to mention it to anyone outside the sect.¡±

    Shen Yiren hiked up a corner of her lips: ¡°And if an outsider finds out, you¡¯ll silence them?¡±

    I was disappointed Shen Yiren didn¡¯t answer what I wanted, but I went along and smiled: ¡°Pretty much. If you don¡¯t wish to die, let Master Ming feel your hand.¡±

    Shen Yiren gently massaged my index finger whilst maintaining her dimple.

    We¡¯re touching hands and skin on skin! Don¡¯t think this is enough to seduce me!

    Shen Yiren suddenly tightened her hold on my finger and bent it backwards.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡±

    ¡°Kekeke, you done touching, Master Ming?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, my finger is nearly done for! It¡¯s going white!¡± I pulled my finger back and blew it. ¡°What the hell?! It was just a joke! You almost ruined my braised pork shoulders eating utensil.¡±

    ¡°And who was the one who tested me?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Y-you realised I was testing you?¡±

    ¡°I understood it thoroughly, especially the word ¡®story¡¯.¡± Shen Yiren didn¡¯t avert her eyes from mine, but I couldn¡¯t tell if she was using Precision Scout of not as a lie detector. ¡°The story sounds unquestionably authentic. Having said that, the storyes from back when Mount Daluo was founded, which is two thousand, if not a thousand, years ago. If you¡¯re telling the truth, then the legendes before Six Evil Beasts Chronicles was published. A story that has been passed down for thousands or hundreds of years is probably as diluted as Six Evil Beasts Chronicles. You want me to ask, ¡®How can I trust its authenticity,¡¯ correct?

    ¡°The fact of the matter is Mount Daluo has stayed on the mountain as the legend states. I¡¯m not convinced you¡¯d just stay there for generations without rhyme or reason. Therefore, there is persuasive evidence. At the same time, I can¡¯t just believe everything I hear. A story is insufficient evidence. I need cases and testimonies to have faith in it. Unless you¡¯re going to providepelling examples and evidence, I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t meaninglessly test me.¡±

    I tucked my index finger in and extended my thumb: ¡°Brilliant, Sister-inw. That small head is functioning! Wu Song is ashamed he cannotpare!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Whack!

    N-no hitting my face again! Curse that inkstone!

    Shen Yiren suddenly went dead silent on me for a while. When she squatted down and rested her face in her hands, she asserted, ¡°No lying to me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ No hitting my face, then!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. Strictly no more lying to me.¡±

    I think she was mad I tested her and foresaw my intent to lie if she didn¡¯t pass. I couldn¡¯t think of any other reason for her to be grumpy.

    Shen Yiren walked two steps over and crouched down again. Obviously, that¡¯d leave me taller than her. ordingly, she pulled me down by mypels, almost sticking her face in mine so that we were eye to eye. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me even if it¡¯s for my own good.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    ¡°Do not lie to me,¡± Shen Yiren demanded in a louder voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to lie to me for my sake. If you have reasons you can¡¯t tell me, you can tell me it¡¯s a secret or even straight up say, ¡®I can¡¯t tell you.¡¯ What I don¡¯t want is for you to deceive me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Given you know it¡¯s a lie, does it even matter whether or not I tell it?¡±

    ¡°It does.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Shen Yiren nted her gaze on my bandages. ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to doubt you. I prefer logic and evidence. Every case I work on, I always judge it based on irrefutable evidence, or I won¡¯t close the case. Friendship, oaths and faith are intangible; they cannot be reasons, standards for me to act. For the first time, I¡¯m choosing to ignore all of that to ce my trust in you.¡± Continuing in her tapering-off voice, Shen Yiren stated, ¡°I don¡¯t want my unconditional trust in you to be my most foolish decision. Should you ever lie to me¡­ I can never trust you the same way.¡± Her hand on mypels started to shake. ¡°And that¡¯s thest thing I want to witness, understood?¡±

    It never urred to me how weak Boss was grabbing on until I took her tiny hands. Owing to the drastic size discrepancy, she was unable to wrestle her hands free once I grabbed hold.

    Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t good at trusting people due to her experiences and her environment. Cooperation may not be a challenge, but trusting another person was a foreign feeling to her. Being as close as family to His Majesty and swearing fealty to him wasn¡¯t a cause or effect of understanding him. The only people in her life who she could unconditionally trust were her brother¡­ and maybe me.

    ¡°You have my word.¡±

    Shen Yiren cast her eyes down and whispered, ¡°¡­ You¡¯ll keep your promise?¡±

    I shrugged: ¡°If I fail, I¡¯ll be forced to marry a tigress wife and be at her mercy for the rest of my life.¡±

    Shen Yiren jolted, and a pink tinge spread on the nape of her neck. ¡°Breaking a promise wins you a wife? You nning to fail deliberately?¡±

    ¡°Swearing oaths isn¡¯t my speciality. I can¡¯t even remember thest time I had to bear any of the consequences, so it¡¯s no different to telling a lie.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked up and fumed, ¡°Your punishmentes at a woman¡¯s cost. I want a decisive answer now: will you lie to me again?¡±

    ¡°Listen closely, Shen Yiren.¡± I squeezed her chilly, shaky hands and chased her gaze that was on the verge of running away. ¡°For the rest of my life, I will never lie to you again.¡±

 Volume 9 72 What Do I Learn Martial Arts For?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 72 What Do I Learn Martial Arts For?</h4>

    ¡°Okay, since you¡¯ve promised to not lie to me¡± - Shen Yiren crossed one leg over the other and slouched to the side in the stone chair, lips d in victory - ¡°sit up straight and answer what you should answer.¡±

    What happened to my bashful superior?! Women. Women. Women! Always changing their tone so darn fast!

    I sat on the ground, yet I wasn¡¯t much shorter than her.

    Annoyed with my height, Shen Yiren blew her cheeks for a fleeting moment. ¡°Night Fortress¡¯ Master.¡±

    I felt my spine shiver. ¡°Wait. Try something else.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, Master Ming, you are speaking more than necessary.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You will answer only what I ask.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°The six evil b-¡±

    ¡°All of it is true!¡±

    ¡°I know. Telling such an borate lie is beyond your story-telling skills. What I want to ask is, you will tell me more if I ask, correct?¡±

    ¡°Fire away.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard numerous versions of the legend growing up, but yours is the most detailed version. I want a testimony that can prove the authenticity of the story. I¡¯ll cut to the case: I don¡¯t want hearsay. I want your interpretation. Do they really exist?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Proof?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my interpretation.¡± I pointed to my eyes. ¡°I saw it with my own eyes.¡±

    ¡°I believe you are implying they have been sighted on Mount Daluo before?¡±

    ¡°Yes, once ording to my memories.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Based on your understanding and experience, how much truth do you think there is to Mount Daluo¡¯s legend?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The question proved to me that Shen Yiren could draw independent conclusions even if I were her source of information. In other words, she didn¡¯t take my recount or opinion as objective facts.

    ¡°Half,¡± I answered post-thinking.

    ¡°borate.¡±

    ¡°The six evil beasts aren¡¯t mythical monsters with magical powers, capable of flying, digging underground, you get my drift. If you want topare, humans are far superior at voodoo and ¡®magic¡¯. My guess is that my ancestors came up with tales of them spitting fire, toxins, breaking down cities to deter fools from trying to challenge the six evil beasts or manipte them as the young Emperor once did. I believe ¡®Six Evil Beasts Chronicles¡¯ is intended to serve the same purpose.

    ¡°Speaking from experience, the six are still ssified as ¡®beasts¡¯, not fiends, demons, devils or what have you. With that said, they shouldn¡¯t be categorised asmon beasts. Their physiques are significantlyrger, and their lifespan is extensively longer. They¡¯re more urately described as unique creatures of nature. I don¡¯t know how much the miasma contributes. What I do know for certain is that they pack a serious punch.

    ¡°I came across one fifteen years ago. Everyone at Mount Daluo, including my shifu and grandmaster, convened to subdue it, yet we still barely edged out a victory. Many of my uncles died or were left with debilitating injuries. And they were only dealing with a child.¡±

    Noticing Boss show pity for me and almost voice it, I smiled bitterly. ¡°Though it was a tragic win, a win is a win. While you shouldn¡¯t view them as undefeatable monsters, you shouldn¡¯t underestimate them, either. The correct attitude is to treat them as mammoths that can¡¯t be dealt with usingmon sense.¡±

    ¡°Mm, in that case, stories of them being the children of natural essence, wood, grass and rocks are unfounded. In Six Evil Beasts Chronicles, it states that they are born in evil grounds from a thousand infant sacrifices. I¡¯ve always thought those are ims thatter generations have blown out of proportion.¡±

    ¡°It is horse feathers. There¡¯s nobody who has researched them as extensively as Mount Daluo. All those wild rituals are hearsay from morons inter generations. The six evil beasts hatch from eggs as per the story. I¡¯ve seen an egg before, and it corroborates with the legend our predecessors passed down.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen one? You said you saw one of the beasts, which means it had already hatched.¡±

    ¡°Boss, what do you think our guarding process entails? You think we camp on the mountain. Wait for one of them to spawn in some unknown location and then hurry over to it when it hatches? We always know where they will hatch and even have rough estimates of when they hatch. We always know where the egg is.

    ¡°At Mount Daluo, there is an uncovered cavern that is impossible to climb out of unless your qinggong is up to standard - Six Evil Beasts¡¯ Genesis. That¡¯s where they absorb the natural miasma and hatch.

    ¡°My shifu showed me the tiger-sized egg when I was seven. When I saw it a yearter, it was bigger than a bull, and it only ever continued to grow until hatching.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you prepare to destroy the egg beforehand since you know its location? As well, given you know where theye from, why do you¡­¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s not easy to purge them permanently. Once there¡¯s an egg, there¡¯s a slumbering evil beast inside. Breaking out is taxing, which is why it¡¯s at its weakest when it first hatches. Should you break the egg prior to its due date, you¡¯ll be facing a stronger and more aggressive beast. As for their genesis¡­

    ¡°My grandmaster often said, ¡®How can humans beat nature?¡¯ How can we get rid of natural miasma even if we can erase the miasma on Mount Daluo? If we destroy their breeding ground, they¡¯ll just give birth elsewhere. Sure, it might take them some years to set up, but it¡¯s an inexorable oue. Who can guarantee we¡¯ll know where theye from if they move? For all we know, the first cmity might repeat itself. If we don¡¯t know where theye from, we won¡¯t have any means of stopping them. As long as there¡¯s a chance, we will have a means of dealing with them. Why the long face?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­ Mount Daluo will have to sacrifice lives whenever an egg hatches, then? You¡¯re all guarding Mount Daluo despite knowing it¡¯s a trap you can¡¯t avoid or escape?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Prior to being allowed off the mountain, all our disciples must take a test that is our ticket to leave the mountain. My brothers and I were no exception. I was tested at fourteen, when I was still brimming with the ambition of being a young hero, but¡­ I failed.¡±

    Though not surprised, Shen Yiren had that look telling me that she didn¡¯t understand where I was going with it.

    ¡°All my siblings left the mountain one after another, while I was twenty-two by the time I was allowed off the mountain legitimately, so I was an old hero by then. The test that kept me stuck there for all those years is the reason Mount Daluo has persisted over all these generations.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the test?¡±

    ¡°Nothing special. My shifu just asked me a question.¡±

    ¡°What did he ask?¡±

    ¡°He asked¡­¡± I shifted my gaze to the ceiling, where I projected memories of the old bugger¡¯s grin when he asked me a question that was dark in a bright tone, and smiled to myself. ¡°For what reason do we learn martial arts?¡±

 Volume 9 80 Terminating Evil in the Name of Justice

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 80 Terminating Evil in the Name of Justice</h4>

    Yu Feiyuan already sted the door down before Luo Siming could get to his feet. Once he did stand up, he thundered, ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, Sword Spirit House is out of bounds. If anyonees here without permission, they will be executed, and that applies to even me. This one will pardon you this time for you once helped him. Leave now!¡± Luo Siming, knowing he wouldn¡¯t get off scot-free, genuinely wanted to give Yu Feiyuan a way out to show gratitude for her help in the past because he knew she was trespassing Luo Ming¡¯s bottom line.

    Yu Feiyuan kept her gaze affixed to the screen and stood outside the door, puzzling Luo Siming.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, do you need this one for something?¡± Luo Ming inquired.

    When she clutched her sword, Yu Feiyuan, with her as the epicentre, generated an omnidirectional qi st, winding Luo Siming.

    Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s mental cultivation can¡¯t even be blocked.

    Luo Ming sent Luo Siming instructions via Voice Transmission, helping his son recalibrate his flow of qi.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, what is the meaning of this?!¡± Luo Siming fumed.

    Yu Feiyuan plunged her ck sword into the ground effortlessly: ¡°As per Shizun¡¯s instructions, Fool shall y with Patriarch Luo for three days as promised back then.¡±

    Zi Wutong once pitted her weapon against Luo Ming¡¯s best weapon and prime when she was a few years older than Yu Feiyuan solely for the sake of a fight. The two proud martial artists didn¡¯t hold back in the slightest, but neither could win.

    Zi Wutong grew stronger and stronger instead of tiring out from using Vajra Divine Might, while Luo Ming¡¯s heart pounded away, and his output couldn¡¯t keep up with his mind - insufficient internal energy. Even though she could¡¯ve won in the next five hundred exchanges and had All-Epassing Snow Technique supporting her, the reciprocal punishment of her own attacks wore her down until Luo Ming turned the tables to seize a win. Deeming such a win unfair, Luo Ming sent Zi Wutong to Hangzhou for treatment to protect her skills.

    The two weren¡¯t on bad terms since their fight in spite of their different stances on swords. During a discussion, Zi Wutong asserted she¡¯d lend Fool to Luo Ming for three days to convince him of her stance. It fell through due to the misfortune that befell Luo n, unfortunately.

    ¡°It is most surprising to know Matriarch Zi still remembers.¡± Luo Ming didn¡¯t think Yu Feiyuan would¡¯ve been able to safely escort Fool to Huzhou for the sword would only impair one¡¯s performance.

    Luo Ming was interested in Fool and even contemted taking it to carry out his revenge. Its visit was at a bad time for the reasons Luo Siming pointed out, however.

    The sword never made sense to Luo Ming as it was ordinary by all ounts, yet someone who could wield it would possess might only giants might have. Additionally, he was after a sharp de for his sword, while Fool was blunt.

    ¡°The finals will be dangerous. Every sect has a sharp weapon. It is not wise to fight unarmed. You need not lend the sword today. You can use it in the finals.¡±

    ¡°No need.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan performed a palm-fist salute: ¡°Feiyuan cannot ask for a favour when she is under her shizun¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your order to lend the sword to me?¡±

    ¡°Those were Shizun¡¯s orders when Feiyuan left. The order Feiyuan is adhering to is the one Shizun mentioned when Feiyuan was a child. For generations, Wutong Jin Yuxuan has made punishing evil and defending justice their undertaking. We will exterminate evil without mercy. Therefore, Feiyuan cannot ept any favours from you.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ is that supposed to mean?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan pulled her brows in, confused as to what was so hard to understand about what she said. ¡°Everything here is dubious andcks transparency. The so-called duels are duels on the surface but, in truth, is theft. There are ploysyered on top of ploys. The air reeks of evil. I am duty-bound to vanquish it.¡±

    Luo Ming tugged up a corner of his lips: ¡°Why have you not vanquished the devil, then?¡±

    ¡°Shizun said you could y with Fool for three days. Feiyuan cannot disregard orders.¡±

    ¡°In other words, Luo Sword Manor will be your ughter ground once your shizun¡¯s instructions have been fulfilled? Why not just get it over and done with now?¡±

    The building was only one move away from turning to ice.

    ¡°Fighting when you are injured is not the best course of action. I¡­ do not kill the wounded.¡± Yu Feiyuan walked off.

    In his low voice, Luo Ming uttered, ¡°She¡­ must go.¡±

 Volume 9 74 A Rare Sumptuous Meal

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 74 A Rare Sumptuous Meal</h4>

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you believe me?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay, how skilled are you?¡±

    I had spent ages contemting how to answer the question already. ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t want to talk about my martial arts skills. For all questions pertaining to my martial arts, I can only say, ¡®See for yourself, and make your own judgement. Do not tell anybody.¡¯ I only ask that you keep to yourself whether you see me as weak or strong,petent or ipetent. Do not share. That is my only request.¡±

    Shen Yiren came forward and tapped me on the shoulder: ¡°It¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t asking you to keep me being piss weak a secret! Stop giving me that pitiful look!

    ¡°That¡¯s all I have to ask for today. We have plenty of time in the future to converse more. For now¡­¡± Shen Yiren got up to stretch out and scrutinise the room. ¡°We need to find a way out of here.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I folded my arms. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say there¡¯s no escape once eternal stone descends?¡±

    ¡°Though eternal stone is indestructible, this is only a stone door. Humans make trap mechanisms, so¡­ We only have enough water and rations tost for seven days, at most. Therefore, we should have enough time to find clues. We¡¯ve only been searching in this main room. I¡¯d say we have a chance of finding clues in the other rooms. What say you?¡±

    ¡°You have my vote. You¡¯ve forgotten something, though.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°When Poison King came out from that room and discovered the eternal stone had been lowered, he looked more despaired than witnessing his mother have an affair.¡±

    ¡°I get it, b-¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not implying that, just because he can¡¯t find an exit, we can¡¯t find one. All I¡¯m trying to point out is that, since he wasn¡¯t cognisant of the fact that it had already dropped, he must¡¯ve entered ahead of us. Why would he be here if he entered prior?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ You make an intriguing point. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see us. What would he be doing here?¡±

    I waited for Shen Yiren to look me in the eye then led her eyes to the room Poison King came out from.

    ¡°Mm¡­ There must be something hidden in there but what?¡±

    ¡°Two animals if I¡¯m correct.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Judging from the sound of the rtively long animal, I¡¯d bet it was a snake. The tiny one had to be a bug, insect or somethingparable. I guess it didn¡¯t matter since Boss went straight in - until the smell of poison permeating the air prompted her to stop, that is.

    ¡°Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Absorb!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You said you¡¯re immune to poison, right? You can neutralise this if you could digest Poison King¡¯s poison back there, yeah?¡±

    ¡­ Yeah, I can, but can you not get into the habit of making me a poison solution so fast?! Name one person who¡¯s ever signed up for this!

    Despite my protests, Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t actually ruthless; she constantly monitored my reaction when I absorbed the poison in case it harmed me.

    Once I was done, I pped the wall to transfer it out of my body.

    Shen Yiren came in with a candle. ¡°What is this ce? ¡­ Why are there so many bones of, I don¡¯t know, littered here?¡±

    ¡°Judging from their states, I can conclude they died in thest six months from skin corrosion,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Ah, I remember hearing one of Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King¡¯s two primary poison animals is a giant green python that spits out an erosive toxin. It wasn¡¯t on him when he found us, so be careful, though I doubt he left it here. Seeing as there is poison mist in here, there must be poisonous things.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I felt ticklish ever since setting foot in here.¡±

    p!

    Bloody mosquitoes!

    We had to split up due to investigate therge space.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    As Shen Yiren investigated a route, she learnt that the secret chamber was linked to other ones in a big ring design. If Poison King¡¯s tools and books weren¡¯t enough evidence to indicate he concocted his wicked forms here, then there was plenty of poison to nail him.

    Every step she took, Shen Yiren prayed she wouldn¡¯t bump into Poison King¡¯s yang-poison scorching scorpion or yin-poison giant green python. If someone wanted to earn ten years¡¯ worth of internal energy potency overnight, they¡¯d want those two. Otherwise, they were more threatening than Poison King because one drop from them was enough to kill.

    Subsequent to checking out a number of rooms, Shen Yiren found a cauldron in one, albeit only with traces of poison still lingering - not that it was less any nauseating. The room looked more private and closer to Poison King¡¯s personality. Sadly, there were plenty of pills but no clues for an exit.

    Shen Yiren briskly made her way to the end of the room to find a shiny, solid sword that was light enough to be perfect for swordswomen. Since even its length was perfect for her height, she decided to make off with it. When she went to grab it, however, she found there was a sheet of paper attached to it. She wrapped her hand up to take the letter, consequently learning the reason Luo Ming decided to host Refining Divine Convention.

    Most probably, this is a letter Luo Ming wrote for himself and gave to Poison King as a symbol of faith for their coboration. This quality sword must be what he gave Poison King to ckmail him with if he ever rescinded on their agreement. I need to show Feizhen this.

    Ming Feizhen was nowhere to be seen when Shen Yiren went back the way she came. Instead, she spotted a small, red insect among the pile of white bones - the crimson-blood scorpion, except it was a squashed version.

    I knew Poison King would¡¯ve had his pets here! That being the case, where¡¯s his python? As I didn¡¯t see it on my route, it must be this way.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Feizhen!¡±

    Shen Yiren made a beeline to the source of the scream to see a green python - a dead one - coiled around Ming Feizhen. She had her hand ready to draw her sword, only to hear him order, ¡°Open your mouth.¡± She did as she was told and then had something squeal-worthy bitter shoved into her mouth.

    ¡°Oh, Boss, you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what did you just feed me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I found a snake. Its gall was fresh, so I dug it out. I swear it¡¯s marvellous for neutralising poison and even better here because of all the poison around. It¡¯s good for you.¡±

    Shen Yiren gulped down the gall as if it was a rock. ¡°How did it g-¡±

    ¡°Oh, this long, shiny, green, three-horned python was coiled up by the corner when I came in, and it suddenly spat at me, so I had to hack it.¡±

    The sum of the severed part on the ground and part wreathed around Ming Feizhen would easily be ten metres long.

    This guy is ser-

    ¡°This is several days¡¯ worth of food. I was going to cook up some snake soup. Boss, how do you prefer your snake?¡±

    Shen Yiren decided to withhold her opinion after contemtion.

    ¡°See for yourself, and make your own judgement¡­¡± Don¡¯t tell me¡­

    Shen Yiren spotted a crimson scorpion w on Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck.

    I¡¯m pretty sure the scorpion is lethally poisonous¡­

    ¡°¡­ Steamed¡­ plus some alcohol.¡±

    Trivia

    Chinese sword (jian) lengths - When ites to single-handed Chinese swords/broadswords, you want the tip to reach up to your ear lobe or, at most, the top of your ear when hold the sword in bingbu (stand to attention), which is the starting position you usually see in taolus (i.e. feet together, hands by your sword, hand at the sword guard).

 Volume 9 75 A Song so Tragic that a Heart Breaks

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 75 A Song so Tragic that a Heart Breaks</h4>

    ¡°Wow, you actually managed,¡± Shen Yirenplimented.

    ¡°Poison King pretty much has anything bizarre and rare you could ask for, let alone pots; he has a stack of them. There¡¯s also plenty of spring water. All we have to do is be careful not to contaminate things with the poison floating around.¡±

    Well, it wouldn¡¯t have harmed Boss when she already consumed the snake gall I fed her.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s good. Good job when this snake lost a chunk of its body. You¡¯re better than Liu Shan Men¡¯s chef. Actually, I¡¯d say you¡¯re not far from an imperial chef. Ever considered employment as a chef?¡±

    ¡°To quote the sages of old: a glutton is bound to be a good chef. Our ancestors¡¯ wisdom is reliable.¡±

    ¡°You actually think you¡¯re all that just because I praised you a little?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even have all my necessary utensils. If I had a proper kitchen, the heavens would cast a beam of light down on me.¡±

    ¡°Light?¡±

    ¡°Clouds inside the light.¡±

    ¡°Clouds?¡±

    ¡°An elder jumps out of the cloud and introduces himself as Taibai Jinxing, here on Jade Emperor¡¯s orders to invite me to heaven as their celestial chef.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. That¡¯s how far you¡¯re taking it? You better pray you don¡¯t run into a rabbit-raising maiden who boots you into a field.¡±

    I grinned back: ¡°I only know one maiden who raises rabbits, and she¡¯s right in front of me.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Shen Yiren tilted her head to the side. ¡°I don¡¯t raise pets.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, people don¡¯t recognise their strengths and weaknesses. As the guardian of Rabbit Sect, I¡¯m v-, stop going for my face!¡±

    Shen Yiren nced down to her cket and pulled it up. ¡°I don¡¯t understand you men, always gawking at the same spot. It¡¯s just flesh, big deal. It¡¯s a nuisance when walking and an obstacle in training. Don¡¯t you find it burdensome?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I got to my feet then continued, ¡°The heavens must have a reason for giving us what we have. Flower fragrances, lush grass, green and fat, red and thin, everything has its reasons for being the way it is. The heavens must¡¯ve given you extra for good reason. You love your body deep down. Open your heart. Open your arms. Embrace your heart. Do not let the bright sun blind you¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why do you get verbose whenever you talk about this sort of stuff? Who taught you these crooked logics?¡±

    I lifted my chest: ¡°My shifu.¡±

    I swear to god I could literally see Shen Yiren¡¯s respect for Mount Daluo drop.

    I had no problem finishing my share, but Shen Yiren stopped eating after a few bites to deliberate, so I assuaged, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re not stuck yet. We still have food and water.¡±

    ¡°That just means we¡¯ve extended the length of time we¡¯re stuck here. Surviving isn¡¯t the issue. Somebody is bound toe in search of Poison King if he does not report back. If there are other mechanisms to open the door, somebody cane in. Thing is, what if Luo Ming doesn¡¯t care if Poison King dies? If we don¡¯t make it out in time, Luo Ming might¡¯ve seeded in his n by the time we get out.¡±

    True, I think it¡¯s already the third day of the preliminaries, yet we still haven¡¯t found Second¡­

    ¡°There is a way out.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I have an idea, except¡­¡±

    ¡°Quit the guess-what act and out with it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget what you said. I¡¯m going to need you to suffer a bit. You okay with that?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    After I exined my n, I had Shen Yiren go back to the main hall.

    ¡°I¡¯ve moved everything as you requested. What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Shut your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Just close them.¡±

    And¡­ I had to wait for Shen Yiren to finish shooting res first before she obeyed.

    ¡°If you dare to take undue advantage of me, you¡¯re going to get a taste of hell.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I just need you to sing a song.¡±

    Shen Yiren opened her eyes again. ¡°You want me to what?¡±

    ¡°Sing.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You want to summon wolves here to bite the door down?¡±

    Well, that¡¯s not remotely close to what I had in mind, but you did just reveal what your singing standard is.

    I merely didn¡¯t want Boss to see me open the door.

    ¡°Look, just close your eyes and sing a song. Don¡¯t open your eyes until you¡¯re done. By the time you¡¯re done singing, the door will be open.¡±

    ¡°How? What¡¯s your method?¡±

    I ced my index finger over my lips curved upwards: ¡°Secret.¡±

    ¡°Whatever¡­ Disimer: I can¡¯t sing. If youugh at my lousy singing, I will smack you to death. You ept?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I won¡¯tugh even if you beat me to death.¡±

    Why do I have to suffer if you can¡¯t sing?!

    Shen Yiren closed her eyes and started to sing with rosy cheeks, ¡°With a cup of wine in hand, I ask the clear sky, when will the moon be clear and bright? In the heavens on this night¡­¡±

    I listened to Shen Yiren¡¯s earnest singing until she opened her eyes. Since I was still standing where I was before she started singing, she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say the door would be open once I finished my song?¡±

    ¡°ce your hand on your heart and tell me: does that qualify as singing?!¡±

    Hah, silenced you for the first time!

    ¡°Boss, be honest, are you tone deaf?¡±

    ¡°H-huh?! Did you just diss me?!¡±

    ¡°You call that singing?! You just recited Song Dynasty poet Su Shi¡¯s ¡®Water Melody¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do you expect me to do when I can¡¯t pitch?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but you can, at least sing Water Melody, can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I hardly had time for literacy when I focused on training when I was a kid. How do you expect me to sing? I only knew a song or two when I was younger.¡±

    ¡°Like?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t remember the name, but I remember the first line was. ¡®There¡¯s an old ox by the riverbank.¡¯¡±

    ¡°I heard you were educated! How old were you when you sang that?¡±

    ¡°Five? Six?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Sing something famous, like Melody of the River or Hillside Sheep. Can¡¯t you sing any of them?¡±

    ¡°I know two lines from Hillside Sheep, but I can only recite it.¡±

    ¡°Like?¡±

    ¡°The peaks and ridges are gathering. The waves are violent. The Tongguan road is in the mountains and rivers. The man with a broken heart only passes by pce ruins. In an empire¡¯s prosperity, the people get the worst of it. In an empire¡¯s downfall, the people get the worst of it.¡±

    I¡¯ll give it to Shen Yiren for having a charming voice even though she couldn¡¯t sing. As a matter of fact, had Yan Shisan not ruined her with his northern dialect, she¡¯d probably have made it rich as a storyteller.

    ¡°I know it. I¡¯ll write it out for you. You can sing my version.¡± I carved my lyrics for it down on the ground using my pocket knife.

    ¡°The shifu of the twenty-eight year old nun in her prime shaved her head¡­ When I cheered him up. Two gestures were full of yearning. Enemies¡­ What the devil is this?¡±

    ¡°Heh, ¡®Hillside Sheep - Twenty-eight Year Old Nun¡¯, duh.¡±

    Whack!

    Leave my face out of this!

    ¡°Just sing something, even children¡¯s nursery rhymes. If you prefer, sing the song you sang in your childhood.¡±

    ¡°D-do I have to sing?¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s face was on fire.

    ¡°If you want to get out.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked over to the door and finally nodded. She cleared her throat and then started after a pause. ¡°There¡¯s a big ox by the riverbank. There are two turtles at the bottom¡­¡±

    I take back what I said. She¡¯s not just tone deaf. She can¡¯t even produce a melody. She¡¯s as bad at singing as Su Xiao is at cooking! If she ever lost both hands, she could ¡°sing¡± her opponents to death!

    ¡°The turtle slowly makes its way home. February¡¯s moon illuminates theke.¡±

    I better get on with this before I get knocked out.

    I rolled my sleeves up and went over to the door. As I said, it¡¯s simple, but most people don¡¯t think of it.

    ¡°¡­ Flowers rain down in Chang¡¯an.¡± When Shen Yiren opened her eyes, she had her hair blowing in her face. The eternal stone door was open. ¡°How did you do it¡­?¡±

    I just smiled.

    A mechanism lowered the door, so we just need to reverse engineer it. It was a little tiresome, but I got the job done. All I did was lift the door back up and stick it back in the rock.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for us to leave.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Glossary

    Taibai Jinxing - In this context, MFZ is referring to Jade Emperor¡¯s envoy in Journey to the West, not the Chinese name for Venus in Chinese astronomy.

    Hillside Sheep - Even though Shen Yiren mentions two lines, it¡¯s impossible to trante it as two lines, so ignore the fact that it doesn¡¯t correspond. I can¡¯t change the number as it¡¯s a legit song, and changing her line count is disregarding the original.

 Volume 9 76 Self-Recount

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 76 Self-Recount</h4>

    ¡°In summary, your hints led you here. Your second brother and Captain Song are detained here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, man. I thought I heard his voice when we first came in; however, I found this side more suspicious. Since we haven¡¯t found him after two days, he should be held underground on the other end. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t make sense for people to enter Luo Ming¡¯s secret chamber.¡±

    There was no need to hide my goal after confiding a whole bunch of other stuff, especially in lieu of the potential ramifications. To specify, I told her everything that happened since leaving the capital while we headed to the other end. I already gave her reports on the same topic before, but this was the most detailed version.

    Shen Yiren, showing excellent memory, asked for verification on details I previously mentioned. I couldn¡¯t remember some of the vouring I sprinkled in there, yet she remembered all of it.

    ¡°I was wondering how Zha Pi could suddenly stomp people as Reverend Zha. Poison King and River Monster took off with me right when you found me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, man. I lost it; I nearly went after Abels. Had you not had the scent on you, I¡¯d probably have gathered up men and razed Luo Sword Manor to the ground already.¡±

    Unable to tolerate my speech style, Shen Yiren pped me over the head: ¡°How many men you have? Why didn¡¯t you rescue me if you already found me?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean I didn¡¯t rescue you?! You wouldn¡¯t be here if I didn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°I only have a memory of someone forcing a kiss on me when I came to.¡±

    ¡°That happened? That hero is brave. This old one adm-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Shen Yiren punched me in the dome this time. ¡°Still not going to honestly exin why you kissed me?¡±

    ¡°To save you! You told me you don¡¯t mind it anymore after you pieced me up! You just went back on your word!¡±

    ¡°Was everything you told me then the truth?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know how many hundreds of lies you¡¯ve told me since day one, so I need to question you. Furthermore, why would you need to stick your tongue in someone¡¯s mouth to save them?¡±

    The ceiling is nice.

    ¡°Hey, answer the question.¡± Shen Yiren pretended to be angry.

    I didn¡¯t n to lie. Thing is, she clearly wasn¡¯t as nonchnt about it as she let on.

    ¡°Oi¡­ Did you just take advantage of the situation?¡±

    ¡°Hell no!¡± I waved my hands frantically. ¡°Indeed, I didn¡¯t need to kiss you to cure your fake death condition¡­ I was worried you¡¯d find out about me, though. I knew you had your awareness, so I had to mislead you, and there weren¡¯t many options to choose from in that situation. You have no idea how much I wrestled with myself when I chose tongue warfare.¡±

    ¡°Must¡¯ve been hard on you.¡±

    ¡°Just double my sry and triple my time off. Thank you in advance.¡±

    ¡°You can thank me after I knock your socks off!¡± Shen Yiren curled her lips. ¡°I¡¯ll pardon you this once. Next time, you¡¯ll be three legs less.¡±

    See? Boss is nice to me.

    ¡°By the way, the reason I left thest few days was to find two people¡­¡± I went ahead and filled Boss in on how I assisted Mountain Monster and River Monster.

    ¡°No wonder why you arrivedte and happened to arrive right when Four Seasons Formation was dismantled.¡± Shen Yiren nodded a few times and then looked away from me.

    ¡°Stop giving me that look! I beat it!¡±

    Why are you still not convinced that I¡¯m not weak?!

    ¡°Okay, okay, you beat it. If you were born tens of thousands of years earlier, you would¡¯ve created the world and put Pangu out of a job.¡±

    You¡¯re just taking a dump on me!

    Shen Yiren took out a sheet of paper from her shirt: ¡°I found this in one of the rooms but never had time to mention it while we were looking for an escape route.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Some notes pertaining to Luo Ming¡¯s Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    We didn¡¯t know who the alliance letter was for. Nevertheless, there was no question they were integral to Refining Divine Convention, and it ended with, ¡°This one will never forget the favour. This letter is proof.¡± Proof meant that Luo Ming¡¯s conspirators could pass the letter on to the imperial court or personally publicise it if he ever betrayed them.

    Who could be worth Luo Ming staking his future like this, and how many people alive are even fit to help him?

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep the letter for now,¡± suggested Shen Yiren. ¡°As for whom his conspirators are, we can worry about thatter.¡±

    I tucked the letter away.

    ¡°Based off what you told me, we aren¡¯t on Dragonroot Ind, correct? How did you bring me here?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ sealed your upoints.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine. How did you find this ind?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce myrade, Wugufengdeng, to youter.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, what sort of name is that?¡±

    ¡°One befitting a rat.¡±

    ***

    ¡°It appears the finalists have been decided.¡± By the time Luo Siming arrived on the scene, there was hardly anyone standing after Yu Feiyuan unleashed her sword, much to his surprise. ¡°You have all had two tough days. Everyone here is going into the finals. Please follow this one.¡±

 Volume 9 77 Sun Character Worship

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 77 Sun Character Worship</h4>

    ¡°You put excessive internal energy into your strike. That doesn¡¯t resemble Luo n¡¯s mental cultivation and is more like Kunlun Sect¡¯s Yang Blood True Qi. Always bear in mind that Luo n¡¯s style is about profoundness. Even if you want to be more rigid and focused on power, you need to exhibit control and overwhelm. Do not chase power through aggression.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In addition to Sun Character Worship, cksmiths of Luo n could also be found at their smithing workshop on Whale God Ind and had everything they needed underground since they spent so much time there. At Whale God Ind, they had fifteen big training rooms. The thirty-two on the smaller side were for nurturing the physical attributes to endure the heat in the smithing workshops and abilities to protect the weapons forged were as important as forging them.

    Tang Ye¡¯s swordy and internal style was simr enough to convince disciples of Luo n that Luo Ming had taken in a personal disciple, but simr isn¡¯t synonymous with wless.

    ¡°Your strike was a tad high and slow. Don¡¯t rush your strikes. me Emperor Swordy has ¡®Emperor¡¯ in it for a good reason. An Emperor needs to be in control without needing to impose his authority. Think about that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It resembles Kunlun Swordy?¡± Tang Ye questioned in a deep voice.

    ¡°No. Not even Kunlun¡¯s Swordy would be that unbridled.¡± A-Ji, practically lying in a chair, crossed his legs over nice and high forfort as he read a book titled ¡°Theory¡±. Despite his age showing at the corner of his youths, his grin brimmed with youth. ¡°It¡¯s not that you utilised it wrong. Rather, you seem distracted.¡±

    Meeting Tang Ye was a gift that fell in Luo Ming¡¯sps because the former focused purely on heat, sponged everything up quick and had the avenger¡¯s eyes that Luo Ming almost mistook as his own eyes seen whenever he recollected the nightmare of Nanjiang. If there was someone who knew best how to lead Tang Ye down the ¡°dark¡± path of an avenger and manipte him, it was Luo Ming. It didn¡¯t matter that he didn¡¯t know how long Tang Ye had been swimming in hatred; all Luo Ming had to do was take Tang Ye down the same path he had walked for thest decade.

    Tang Ye epted Luo Ming¡¯s terms without hesitation and even consumed Poison King¡¯s binary poison to push past his limits, catching up to Yi Wangyou. In ordance with their agreement, Tang Ye¡¯s advent resurrected the frozen smithing department. Unsurprisingly, it was impossible for him to earn everyone¡¯s acknowledgement.

    A-Ji, although a man without a surname, was assigned to assist Tang Ye consolidate himself as the new head of the smithing department for time wasn¡¯t a luxury that Luo Ming could afford. Luo Ming didn¡¯t expect A-Ji, an affable man at heart, to get along so well with the block of ice that is Tang Ye. It was a risky move on Luo Ming¡¯s part since Tang Ye didn¡¯t even hail from Luo n - not that he had much of a choice. Luo Ming¡¯s internal style tended to yin - cold - so it would take him ages to make the switch to the other extreme. That is not to say he would¡¯ve made the move even if he could.

    Weapons A-Ji forged surpassed the quality of Beihai¡¯s Clear Mirror Pce, but the real testament to his talent for smithing was his status as the youngest cksmith captain of Luo n¡¯s smithing department. Besides Clear Mirror Pce¡¯s leader, Luo n¡¯s head cksmith - Luo Butong - were the only people superior to A-Ji from Tang Ye¡¯s experience.

    ¡°The leader of Sun Character Worship has always been from Luo n up until now. I bet we¡¯d be quelling a riot right now instead of chatting here if your Scorching Sun Spirit wasn¡¯t pure.¡± A-Ji was the one whobed through Tang Ye¡¯s swordy to polish the details.

    ¡°I have you to thank. Had you not killed all the leader of the previous cksmith¡¯s opposition party and everyone taking part, I wouldn¡¯t be here, either.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a job and improvisation. I¡¯m not fond ofmitting murder.¡±

    ¡°Do you believe Luo Ming will unquestionably win?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re still not confident in his abilities.¡± When A-Ji sat up to get serious, the fake book cover peeled off, revealing the nude woman on the cover of his book. ¡°Hahaha, well, crap, hahaha. Like the girl and mistress in this ¡®Forest of Apricots¡¯ book of mine here, everyone on Dragonroot Ind has revealed what they¡¯re made of. On the other hand, besides myself, our swordsmen, ¡®Wind, Fire, Lightning, Rain¡¯ swordsmen, we also have Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King on our side. You think he¡¯d fail?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Tang Ye whipped out a perfect strike and added, ¡°Some things aren¡¯t just what they appear on the surface.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± A-Ji studied Tang Ye for a second then lied back down and smiled: ¡°I hope it won¡¯t be too predictable.¡±

 Volume 9 78 Finalists

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 78 Finalists</h4>

    A section of the green oasis had been shaved off, leaving nothing but vacantnd - courtesy of the qi tornado¡¯s explosion.

    ¡°Empyrean your mom Wuliang. If you don¡¯t fight back, this old one will capture you, shaming your shifu.¡±

    ¡°Amitabha, why do you say that, Elder Shou? Both of our sects are orthodox sects; why is superiority so important?¡±

    ¡°d you say that. This old one insists on determining whether your four divine monks or Wudang¡¯s three elders are superior.¡±

    In a tit-for-tat fight, where both sides advanced and retreated orderly, it¡¯s tough to decide who has the upper hand.

    ¡°Nice swordy. Young Master Kuang, each of those three techniques were executed in control and found their marks precisely like ocean waves trapping and then devouring.¡± Dugu turned and poked with his hand to get out of range. ¡°How about we call it a match once we convincingly catch the other instead of turning it into a fight to the death?¡±

    Kuang Lu ced a hand behind his back and smiled: ¡°You speak in jest, Brother Dugu. You have not removed your hands from your back once this entire time. This one has utterly failed to force your hand, let alone ept your praise.¡± While he sounded affable, his sword was rattling as it tried to expel the anger running through it.

    ¡°Please cease this and listen!¡± shouted Luo Siming, using his internal energy to stop the four who refused to halt despite his arrival unlike the others. Luo Siming saluted those resting and those fighting: ¡°We have achieved the goal of this round. The eight teams present are the victors of the preliminary round.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to mention teams when every team is in tatters,¡± eximed Elder Jia of Beggars Sect, referring to the fact that the teams were iplete due to the qi tornado¡¯s rampage. ¡°You must be referring to us eight individuals. Among the dozens of elites still standing here, which eight individuals are the finalists?¡±

    ¡°This one speaks of Interim Patriarch Yu, Brother Moyan Xiuluo, Venerable Mianhua, Elder Shou, Brother Dugu, Brother Kuang, Hero Xiao and Brother Su.¡±

    Elder Jia signalled for a pause with his hand: ¡°What is the meaning of this, Young Master Luo? This third day ofpetition has yet to draw to a close. We are still armed. ording to the rules, no victors have been determined.¡±

    ¡°This decision is made for your sakes. Victors have been decided.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°What criteria were employed to select the winners?¡± Elder Jia pierced through Su Xiao with his gaze. ¡°She was merely lucky enough to not get caught in the tornado. This old one refuses to ept her admission.¡±

    ¡°Forsooth, it is not fair. Howbeit, this round¡¯s criteria are not strict. After the sh, most of you are hurt to some degree, but that is not due to insufficient skill. Rather, it was a consequence of your positioning, and your positioning was a matter of luck. This one chose the eight based on who the eight in best condition are among those present. This one would like to ask, who here can still put up a fight? Who is confident they can win? This one¡¯s decision was made in consideration of your safety. This one does not wish for you to spill blood.¡±

    Although Moyan Xiuluo was rxing and recovering, he would be able to perform as well as he did before. The same, however, couldn¡¯t be said for the others.

    Luo Siming spoke with his hands in salute again: ¡°Please depart the ind via the boats to rest and recuperate. The finals willmence the day after. As per this one¡¯s father¡¯s instructions, the finals are typical ring duels held between your respective sects. While you can either choose one of yourpetitors today or someone else, you must stick to wielding the same weapon that you wielded in the preliminary round. It is still early, so you have plenty of time to strategize. Your boats have also been arranged. Please head to your boats now.¡±

    Nobody boarded. Instead, Luo n¡¯s people disembarked to treat the wounded and help them up. The only people not incapacitated were the top adepts or the lucky. Regardless, the star of the preliminary round was Long Zaitian, who never got tagged once even though he was at the epicentre of the tornado and dozens of adepts. Notwithstanding him passing out once he was safe - overexerting his internal energy - his performance left no room for doubt.

    ¡°What are you looking at? Move.¡± Su Xiao, the only member left of Liu Shan Men¡¯s team, had his brows together.

    ¡°Please step aside. We must be on our way.¡±

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t intimidate them, but nobody was going to confront Yu Feiyuan, not after beholding her disy.

 Volume 9 79 Mission

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 79 Mission</h4>

    Su Xiao stayed at Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s ce upon returning to Repository Ind because he needed to wait for the third day to dig Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren out with Huofeng. This left Huofeng a nervous wreck as she hadn¡¯t heard from Ming Feizhen ever since his disappearance.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t dig a very deep hole; your vice-captain should be able to dig herself out. Though the medicine works like magic, there are scenarios where the consumer wakes up a day or twoter than scheduled.¡± Huofeng had to give herself some leeway, lest Su Xiao throw a tantrum and dig up the holes prior to Ming Feizhen¡¯s return.

    Why the heck is he still not back yet? What could possibly hold him up? Why did Shen Yiren also go missing? Are they sleeping and eating together? Why is this annoying me? Shen Yiren is so pretty and his cup of tea¡­ I swear to god his shifu better have not led him astray, or else¡­ W-wait, why should I be jealous about who he¡¯s with? Amitabha. Amitabha. How random. How random.

    Huofeng was oblivious to how perturbing she appeared in the eyes of others as she had emotional spasms between worrying and bristling with anger.

    ¡°Senior Sister? Senior Sister?¡± Unsessful, Lian Qingluan yelled, ¡°Senior Sister!¡±

    Returning to see a room of people looking at her, Huofeng cleared her throat: ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°What do we do about these weapons?¡±

    The eight victorious teams took an average of eight weapons from Dragonroot Ind that Luo n forced them to take regardless of objections in exchange for providing medical aid. Luo nbelled those weapons useless as their nerves had been ruined.

    Huofeng felt sorry for the weapons when she saw the marks, blood stains and conditions of the weapons because what she saw weren¡¯t just weapons but symbols of a sect¡¯s history, their stories and their styles¡¯ tales.

    Nobody felt easy about taking the weapons since it was predictable for their owners to eventually demand them back; Su Xiao would¡¯ve been in trouble if he wasn¡¯t hanging around with Wutong Jin Yuxuan.

    ¡°What sort of n are they fostering?¡± mumbled Huofeng. ¡°¡­ First Sister, please decide what to do with them.¡±

    ¡°Return them,¡± Yu Feiyuan answered.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan headed to the door: ¡°We don¡¯t take what¡¯s not ours. Return them.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Where are you going?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan pushed the door open: ¡°Shizun entrusted me with a task. I¡¯ll be back once I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why¡­ does she need to take Fool with her?¡±

    ***

    ¡°¡­ As such, I left before I received your approval. I am here to ept my punishment.¡± Luo Siming, on his knees, provided an in-depth report of the events on Dragonroot Ind from the other side of a screen at Sword Spirit House.

    ¡°¡­ Understood. Leave now.¡±

    Father¡¯s energy signal has changed somehow, but he¡¯s improved yet again.

    ¡°You have something else to ry?¡±

    Snapping out of his daze, Luo Siming expressed, ¡°Yes, I am worried about Refining Divine Convention.¡±

    ¡°Worried about what?¡±

    ¡°¡­ The refining method is inconceivable. Our n has never seen a form for stealing sword nerves, let alone pitting a hundred weapons against each other to harness their spirit.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret method I researched. There¡¯s no need to doubt. Just do as you¡¯re told.¡±

    ¡°But I th-¡±

    ¡°Be forthright if you¡¯re my son.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I am worried there is one weapon we cannot get our hands on.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s heavy sword - Fool.¡± Luo Siming interpreted his father¡¯s silence as an indication to continue, so he expanded, ¡°It is one the Seven Dynasty-Founding des. Three generals in the past have wielded it in battle to overwhelm armies of thousands of elites. Nevertheless, owing to how hard it is to wield it, few people in history have managed to own it. When Wutong Jin Yuxan eventually obtained it, Matriarch Zi made a name for herself using it.

    ¡°If we were to smelt it for our own ends, we may make an enemy out of Wutong Jin Yuxuan. At New Year, Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Mount Daluo announced they will be inws. Mount Daluo¡¯s Patriarch Ming has always been unpredictable and unrestrained. osting them now is not wise.

    ¡°Secondly, we do not know what materials were used to forge it. It might take us half a year to analyse its method andponents. In my opinion, that is too long. The day after is the best day to forge a weapon for it is the Fire Gathering Day once every decade. As such, I believe the sword will be our biggest obstacle.¡±

    Luo Ming was d to hear his son point that out. Luo Siming was never his favourite or most outstanding son. Luo Siming was the son he worried for most because he was too pure to lead a n. While it was true Luo Ming had to entrust someone else with Luo n¡¯s reins for thest ten years, he left it with Luo Siming for the reason that he wanted to give his son a chance to learn. At longst, the ten years and Luo Yan¡¯s supposed betrayal finally forged maturity.

    ¡°Understood. I will think about it. Leave now. I¡¯m still in my training period; don¡¯t disturb me again.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Father.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Miss, you cannot be here!¡±

    Before Luo Siming could ask what the shouting was about, he heard weapons shing followed by a voice. ¡°Yu Feiyuan?¡±

    Trantor Note:

    I have filmed a video to demonstrate recurring techniques and manoeuvre in the series so that you have an easier time visualising the fights, as well as understanding some of the specific terminology. I¡¯ve also ced the video on the ToC page in case you ever want a refresher. If I can get my hands on more weapons, I¡¯ll make videos for themon weaponry, as well.

 Volume 9 80 Terminating Evil in the Name of Justice

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 80 Terminating Evil in the Name of Justice</h4>

    Yu Feiyuan already sted the door down before Luo Siming could get to his feet. Once he did stand up, he thundered, ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, Sword Spirit House is out of bounds. If anyonees here without permission, they will be executed, and that applies to even me. This one will pardon you this time for you once helped him. Leave now!¡± Luo Siming, knowing he wouldn¡¯t get off scot-free, genuinely wanted to give Yu Feiyuan a way out to show gratitude for her help in the past because he knew she was trespassing Luo Ming¡¯s bottom line.

    Yu Feiyuan kept her gaze affixed to the screen and stood outside the door, puzzling Luo Siming.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, do you need this one for something?¡± Luo Ming inquired.

    When she clutched her sword, Yu Feiyuan, with her as the epicentre, generated an omnidirectional qi st, winding Luo Siming.

    Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s mental cultivation can¡¯t even be blocked.

    Luo Ming sent Luo Siming instructions via Voice Transmission, helping his son recalibrate his flow of qi.

    ¡°Interim Patriarch Yu, what is the meaning of this?!¡± Luo Siming fumed.

    Yu Feiyuan plunged her ck sword into the ground effortlessly: ¡°As per Shizun¡¯s instructions, Fool shall y with Patriarch Luo for three days as promised back then.¡±

    Zi Wutong once pitted her weapon against Luo Ming¡¯s best weapon and prime when she was a few years older than Yu Feiyuan solely for the sake of a fight. The two proud martial artists didn¡¯t hold back in the slightest, but neither could win.

    Zi Wutong grew stronger and stronger instead of tiring out from using Vajra Divine Might, while Luo Ming¡¯s heart pounded away, and his output couldn¡¯t keep up with his mind - insufficient internal energy. Even though she could¡¯ve won in the next five hundred exchanges and had All-Epassing Snow Technique supporting her, the reciprocal punishment of her own attacks wore her down until Luo Ming turned the tables to seize a win. Deeming such a win unfair, Luo Ming sent Zi Wutong to Hangzhou for treatment to protect her skills.

    The two weren¡¯t on bad terms since their fight in spite of their different stances on swords. During a discussion, Zi Wutong asserted she¡¯d lend Fool to Luo Ming for three days to convince him of her stance. It fell through due to the misfortune that befell Luo n, unfortunately.

    ¡°It is most surprising to know Matriarch Zi still remembers.¡± Luo Ming didn¡¯t think Yu Feiyuan would¡¯ve been able to safely escort Fool to Huzhou for the sword would only impair one¡¯s performance.

    Luo Ming was interested in Fool and even contemted taking it to carry out his revenge. Its visit was at a bad time for the reasons Luo Siming pointed out, however.

    The sword never made sense to Luo Ming as it was ordinary by all ounts, yet someone who could wield it would possess might only giants might have. Additionally, he was after a sharp de for his sword, while Fool was blunt.

    ¡°The finals will be dangerous. Every sect has a sharp weapon. It is not wise to fight unarmed. You need not lend the sword today. You can use it in the finals.¡±

    ¡°No need.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan performed a palm-fist salute: ¡°Feiyuan cannot ask for a favour when she is under her shizun¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t your order to lend the sword to me?¡±

    ¡°Those were Shizun¡¯s orders when Feiyuan left. The order Feiyuan is adhering to is the one Shizun mentioned when Feiyuan was a child. For generations, Wutong Jin Yuxuan has made punishing evil and defending justice their undertaking. We will exterminate evil without mercy. Therefore, Feiyuan cannot ept any favours from you.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ is that supposed to mean?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan pulled her brows in, confused as to what was so hard to understand about what she said. ¡°Everything here is dubious andcks transparency. The so-called duels are duels on the surface but, in truth, is theft. There are ploysyered on top of ploys. The air reeks of evil. I am duty-bound to vanquish it.¡±

    Luo Ming tugged up a corner of his lips: ¡°Why have you not vanquished the devil, then?¡±

    ¡°Shizun said you could y with Fool for three days. Feiyuan cannot disregard orders.¡±

    ¡°In other words, Luo Sword Manor will be your ughter ground once your shizun¡¯s instructions have been fulfilled? Why not just get it over and done with now?¡±

    The building was only one move away from turning to ice.

    ¡°Fighting when you are injured is not the best course of action. I¡­ do not kill the wounded.¡± Yu Feiyuan walked off.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In his low voice, Luo Ming uttered, ¡°She¡­ must go.¡±

 Volume 9 81 Wind, Rain, Lightning, Fire

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 81 Wind, Rain, Lightning, Fire</h4>

    Luo Siming spun around in astonishment after faintly hearing what his father uttered, but his father ordered, ¡°You can leave now.¡±

    ¡°But, Father, she said you are h-¡±

    ¡°I said, scram!¡± Luo Ming¡¯s stifling tone gave the connotation that Yu Feiyuan hit the hail on the head.

    ¡°F-Father, y-¡±

    ¡°Scram!¡±

    Luo Siming shut the door behind him on the way out.

    Luo Ming stared and stared at Fool when, suddenly, he gasped up blood. ¡°Damn monster¡­¡±

    Although Luo Siming rescued Luo Ming from Ming Feizhen, Luo Ming did not get out of his self-produced realm unscathed. The positive news was that he gleaned a weakness of Repository Sword Theory, galvanising him to start training as soon as possible topensate for said weakness.

    Owing to the convoluted background of Luo Ming¡¯s true qi, forceful consolidation and injuries, forcing himself to practice something advanced would result in qi deviation. Even beginners knew that. Consequently, he aggravated his internal injuries to a degree worse than when Luo Yan fought him.

    Thest time his true qi spiralled out of control was because of him trying to refine too much ice and fire poisons in a short window, unbncing yin and yang. This blunt-force injury would take him one to five years to recover from.

    ¡°If I could see that sh again¡­ Just one more time¡­¡±

    Analyse as extensively as he may, Luo Ming couldn¡¯t find any other oue, besides death, if Ming Feizhen were to throw the same attack again. He believed he only needed to experience near death again to figure out Repository Sword Theory. s, he couldn¡¯t reproduce the moment in his mind.

    Give Luo Ming ten years, and he¡¯d perfect Repository Sword Theory thanks to Ming Feizhen. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t wait. Even a beginner would fathom it¡¯d take more than days, let alone a moment of inspiration, topletelyprehend something so profound, yet this genius failed to realise it.

    ¡°Shifu.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Come in.¡±

    Four swordsmen d in ck from head to toe - minus their eyes - came through via a secret path behind the left wall of Sword Spirit House. The tallest,rgest man did ap around Luo Ming¡¯s blood and Fool as a safety inspection prior to helping Luo Ming regte his qi. When he touched Luo Ming¡¯s back, though, he felt a wild energy fight back that required him to exert more internal energy to suppress.

    Keeping his eyes closed, Luo Ming remarked, ¡°Wee.¡±

    The Four Samuume Swordsmen were the bodyguards for Luo n¡¯s patriarch in every generation. Luo Ming chose four more swordsmen to personally train and named them literally after Wind, Rain, Lightning and Fire, respectively.

    Feng Jian, the tallest man with one eye and the inheritor of ¡®Wind¡¯, was the top swordsman among the four and Luo Ming¡¯s closed-door disciple for thest decade.

    ¡°Shifu, are you all right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Suffice to say, the four could tell that wasn¡¯t the case. Nheless, they, too, knew there was a tight window to operate in. For the same reason, Luo Ming wanted to get rid of Yu Feiyuan when she pointed out he was injured based purely off his voice.

    Though confident I can defeat Yu Feiyuan as a Divine Realm swordsman, there¡¯s no telling how far she is away from Divine Realm. Judging from her gaze back there, she is probably a lot closer than I predict.

    ¡°Shifu.¡±

    ¡°Have you brought the sword I asked for?¡±

    Feng Jian unstrapped a golden case from his back: ¡°I have not let you down.¡±

    Luo Ming just bobbed his head instead of taking the case sheathing the ancient sword: ¡°Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s ¡®Five Elders¡¯. Wo Song forged his undefeated record and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary with it in his generation. Now¡­ it¡¯s mine. How is Ling Fengxing?¡±

    ¡°Skilled. I almost lost to him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine¡­ A win is a win¡­ I need you to assassinate someone.¡±

    ***

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Yiren, you¡¯ve finallye to rescue m-, argh!¡±

    While Ming Feizhen blew on the de of his hand, Shen Yiren hurried over to check on Song Ou, who the former just chopped out cold.

    ¡°What did you hit him for?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to do it, but more and more people are swarming this ce. If I don¡¯t knock him out, we won¡¯t escape,¡± Ming Feizhen answered.

    Shen Yiren continued further into the dungeon with Ming Feizhen, understanding what he meant.

    Among the group swamping a man with a ck and purple face, one of them threatened, ¡°St-stay back, or we¡¯ll kill this panda!¡±

    ¡°Leader! Save me!¡±

 Volume 9 82 Brothers

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 82 Brothers</h4>

    Thirty-odd men trying to grab something on Second as if his body parts are talismans against me¡­ I¡¯m speechless.

    While Second was belting, he was worn out mentally. Every word out of his mouth stoked Shen Yiren¡¯s fire because he saved her. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you helping him? If you don¡¯t go, I¡¯ll go.¡±

    Once Shen Yiren saw me mop the floor with the guards upon entry, she also let loose, and she was even more dangerous than before with her new sword. Can¡¯t say I felt sorry for the guards, though.

    ¡°Boss, you heard of three fists and five palms?¡±

    ¡°They were ssified as the best eight styles back then and still are regardless of what new styles emerge. Why are you suddenly bringing them up?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s important. Do you know one of the styles, Empty Palms?¡±

    ¡°Obviously. It¡¯s your sect¡¯s secret style and the best defensive palm style since it was conceived.¡±

    ¡°Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?¡±

    ¡°Beggars Sect¡¯s signature ace style.¡±

    ¡°Why does your answer sound so dismissive?¡±

    ¡°Do I need to borate when everyone knows it?¡±

    True that.

    ¡°What do you think if someone is well-versed in Empty Palms and Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, then?¡±

    Shen Yiren nced over to Hong Jiu: ¡°I know what you¡¯re implying. I¡¯ve seen him use both proficiently. I¡¯d be dead if otherwise. Isn¡¯t he injured badly right now, though?¡±

    ¡°Injured badly? Haha, if masters of Empty Palms were so fragile, my shifu would be in eighteen different dogs¡¯ excrement piles by now.¡± Utilising my hands as speakerphones, I hollered, ¡°Oi, stop pretending. Get your butt off the ground.¡±

    Those holding onto Hong Jiu felt a numbing sensation hit half of their body as energy coursed through his body. ¡°Y-y-y-you.¡± Yeah, they had no idea what was going on.

    Hong Jiu inhaled and then performed a wheel arm. ¡°Hargh!¡± Hong Jiu lifted them off their feet and hurled them aside.

    It¡¯s not easy to hurt a master of Empty Palms for the apanying mental cultivation can transfer external forces straight out the other side of their body.

    Upon removing the obstacles, Hong Jiu opened his arms to me tearfully. ¡°Leader, I need to give you a hug!¡± He stopped himself when he came close enough to notice Shen Yiren and then picked up a plump rat on the ground. ¡°Leader?! Why are you here? You sure are tough to find. What a coincidence, running into you two here.¡±

    How coincidental must it be for us to chance upon where you¡¯re held captive?

    ¡°Were you two also apprehended?¡±

    ¡°¡­ We¡¯re here to rescue you.¡±

    Enlightened, Hong Jiu responded, ¡°Thank you foring to my aid. Mount Daluo is indebted to Liu Shan Men. Um, Senior Brother Ming, I will tell Shifu to stop making you cook, handle the fire, promote you and let you handle the ledger.¡±

    Shen Yiren pressed a hand to her forehead: ¡°You can stop acting. I know everything now. He¡¯s your senior, correct?¡±

    Hong Jiu pped his thigh and jumped to his feet. Whilst finger jabbing my face, he reproached, ¡°Ming Feizhen, what rubbish did you spout this time?! Do you have an addiction for posing as our patriarch¡¯s senior disciple?! You want to clean the toilet more? The brothel at Yanjing City needs a door guard. Pack your stuff and piss off to there. I don¡¯t want to see you again.¡±

    I did tell Second to deny everything to the end if someone around me every discovered my secrets, so it was touching to see him try so hard. Moreover, his acting skills were superb.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t need to act. She really does know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Second folded his arms. ¡°I see how it is. No wonder¡­ Is that what you thought I¡¯d say? You think that¡¯ll get you out of loo-cleaning duty? Second floor of Yanjing City¡¯s Jade Brothel!¡±

    Ah, crap, I forgot I told him not to give in even if I admit to it as a secondyer of insurance! I pulled Hong Jiu aside to exin what happened.

    ¡°Man, you scared me.¡± Second thumped his chest. ¡°I thought it was bizarre for Miss Shen to be so tolerant.¡±

    ¡°Of course she¡¯s tolerant. A big chest is for a big heart. Can anyone elsepare?¡±

    ¡°No, absolutely not.¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Why do I feel like you two deserve to be clobbered?¡±

    I told them to head down first while I cleaned up.

    ¡°Ar-are you still not leaving?!¡± cried one of the guards.

    I hiked up a corner of my lips: ¡°I did mention none of you could stop him if he wanted to escape; however, I never said those who hit my brother will get off scot-free.¡±

    The subsequent scene is not safe for children.

    Anyhow, as I began my descent, I heard, ¡°I apologise, but I am the type to blurt things without thinking. In any event, you finally know who my first brother is. You have no idea how hard it has been to hold it in. I feel like I could barely talk in Nanjing because of the restriction. Thank you for making him open up, Miss Shen. First Brother seldom speaks about himself to anyone. You are the only person good enough to draw him out of his shell. That being said, you really are tolerant. You do not mind he is a fuma?¡±

    What¡­ did he just say?

    Glossary

    Arm Wheel - This is how it looks in training/taolu. Some people refer to it as wheel arm. Arm circle is nonsense. Hong Jiu obviously doesn¡¯t perform it textbook style - neither does anyone else in fighting for that matter - but that¡¯s the idea. There¡¯s no point in me demonstrating it because the exact way you perform it should vary depending on the scenario. It¡¯s the same logic as throwing your hook somewhat differently depending on the situation (e.g. more high to low, more extended at the elbow, less extended at the elbow, snappy, whipping, sweeping and so forth).n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 9 83 A Quick Glance that Leaves a Deep Impression

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 83 A Quick nce that Leaves a Deep Impression</h4>

    What the hell are you telling her?!

    I shoved Song Ou to the ground and briskly sauntered over.

    ¡°Fu? Ma?¡±

    I reactively tugged back my foot extended forward when I spotted the violence permeating in Boss¡¯ eyes.

    ¡°Huh? Y-you did not know?¡± Hong Jiu pursed his lips, slowly turned his head over to me and showed his resolve to ept capital punishment. ¡°M-Miss Shen, Leader seduces women behind your back, and one of them is a Princ-¡±

    Don¡¯t smash the pot just because it¡¯s cracked!

    ¡°Rx.¡± Shen Yiren raised an open hand to signal for Hong Jiu to stop. ¡°If you are referring to Princess Jingan, he has already told me.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Really?!¡±

    Yes, you twat!

    I confided in Shen Yiren all about the fuma stuff already. Frankly, I knew less about Jingan than what I knew about her. For instance, I knew she was venomous, but that was the extent of it. Nobody could predict when she¡¯d harm someone when she maintained her virtuous public image at all times. If I didn¡¯t inform Shen Yiren when she had an intimate rtionship with the imperial family, she might end up with knives in her back without even knowing why.

    The only reason I didn¡¯t want Hong Jiu to bring up the fuma business was¡­

    Hong Jiu scratched his head: ¡°Why do you look so angry, then?¡±

    ¡°That should be obvious.¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s lips took on a menacing image despite their upward curve as she turned to face me. ¡°Because I¡¯m still contemting how to punish this cornhole whomitted a grave mistake.¡±

    ¡­ I told it¡¯s all my shifu¡¯s fault!

    Let¡¯s rewind to when I first told Shen Yiren about the whole ordeal.

    After round one, Shen Yiren grabbed her chin and conveyed, ¡°Yan Shisan did caution me about Princess Jingan long ago in private, telling me to keep my guard up around her because of how dubious she seemed. You may be right. To think His Majesty loves her so much, yet sh-¡±

    ¡°Then, why did you hit me so hard?!¡±

    ¡°Regardless of whether or not you¡¯re bearing the burden of someone¡¯s wrongdoing, do you realise how serious the crime of posing as a fuma is?! Also, you two went through the rites to legalise your marriage. You¡­ You¡¯re messing with His Majesty¡¯s daughter. Pop your face out. Just one shot!¡±

    Thus, round two concluded before I could rify that I never fulfilled my duties as a husband and never got anything out of her besides dozens of meals, hundreds of jugs of alcohol and the asional intimacy I couldn¡¯t refuse.

    ¡°There¡¯s still hope for you, then. Devote yourself to your work and make some big contributions, and then I¡¯ll find an opportunity to elucidate what happened to His Majesty so that you¡¯re not incriminated for deceiving him.¡±

    As you can see, I cleared everything up with Shen Yiren. Man, I somewhat regret confessing now that I think about it. I mean, she¡¯s still mad about it.

    Anyway, we changed into the cksmiths¡¯ apparel despite it not being the best disguise so that we could infiltrate further in. Needless to say, Shen Yiren only gave her approval to continue owing to Hong Jiu¡¯s high spirits.

    There was nothing we could do about the rising temperature, so I had plenty of time to analyse the status quo.

    ¡°Besides us, there are, at least, three more unidentified groups lurking on Taihu Sword Ind.¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°¡­ The first group must be River Monster and Mountain Monster. Feizh-¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Huh?! River Monster?! Mountain Monster?! Why are we working with them?! Hang on. Isn¡¯t Mountain Monster a man?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exinter. The second faction should be Bodhi, also known as Abels. He must be furious over Evil Spirits¡¯ eradication and hiding somewhere to avenge his brothers. He told me he¡¯de for Luo Ming after I parted with him at Canhu Town.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So you¡¯ve met the reals Abels. If his goal matches ours, he could be helpful. Have you¡­¡± Shen Yiren had spent the better part of the journey leaving her questions and statements iplete.

    ¡°As for the third group, I believe there¡¯s a group on Repository Ind, and I don¡¯t mean just Beggars Sect and so forth. I can¡¯t put my finger on who it is.¡±

    ¡°No, I meant¡­¡± Shen Yiren stopped to speak to Hong Jiu. She pointed my way and asked, ¡°¡­ Is he always like this?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Like what?¡±

    ¡°You know¡­¡± Like she was trying to get to know me all over again, Shen Yiren pointed to the guards littered all over the ground. ¡°Is this what he does whenever he¡¯s not being an idiot?¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Wagging his hand, Hong Jiu responded, ¡°This is nothing. Back then, he crushed innumerable elites in the north, south, east and west. If he was born before Pangu, he¡¯d have been the one to create the world!¡±

    Why do I feel like I¡¯ve heard something simr before¡­?

    I admit to being too unbridled ever since confessing to Boss, so I decided to rein myself in a bit. ¡°I just don¡¯t like people cutting me off when I¡¯m speak-¡±

    ¡°Who goes th-¡±

    m! I ran my fist into the face of the big man carrying the big broadsword, punishing his face until the wall stopped my momentum. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t hold back when people cut me off. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m strong or anything.¡±

    Shen Yiren stood there with an expression of disapproval for a while and then walked up to my side. I saw her puff up her cheeks a little and heard her mumble, ¡°¡­ He has the face of a coward, yet he¡¯s a decent fighter¡­¡±

    How the hell does the face of a coward look?!

    ¡°Behind this door is the cksmiths¡¯ workshop. Until His Majesty gives an edict, Luo Sword Manor is still one of the Seven Champion White Princes. Our mission is to investigate and pinch the blueprint.¡± Shen Yiren opened the door.

    Only a few of the hundred-odd cksmiths in the spacious workshop spared us a nce and then returned to focusing on their jobs once they saw our clothing. The sweat runningparably to condensation off winter panels didn¡¯t distract them from their task for a second.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Shen Yiren squinted to see a blueprints room on the far left and made her way in, so five men with their faces concealed confronted her straight away. I swatted the five men to the ground while Boss soldiered inside to grab and leave without bothering to guard herself.

    After we left, one of themmented, ¡°Who the hell was that¡­? I didn¡¯t even see how I got caught.¡±

    ¡°What do we say if Patriarch mes us for this? We should give chase,¡± urged a subordinate. ¡°What do you say, Sir?¡±

    The new head of Sun Character Worship, whilst rubbing his swollen head, smiled to himself: ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die yet, I suggest you don¡¯t pursue them.¡±

    Glossary

    Pangu - the first living being and the creator of all in some versions of Chinese mythology

 Volume 9 84 Nine States Enervating Weapons

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 84 Nine States Enervating Weapons</h4>

    Yu Feiyuan started digging around ever since she first arrived to find Luo Yan and Luo Siming in each other¡¯s faces. Had Ming Feizhen not distracted her, she¡¯d have butchered Luo n ages ago for their dubious doings.

    Unlike Zi Wutong, Yu Feiyuan wasn¡¯t bloodthirsty and, as such, didn¡¯t have a mention-worthy record of people she hurt. In recent years, though, she established herself through her undefeated record and constant eradication of viins. She didn¡¯t search for evidence or care who her targets were. She just relied on her innate keenness for catching fishy people and vanquished them out of duty. Likewise, she only wanted to crush Luo Ming out of her sense of justice.

    Yu Feiyuan stopped her amble for a quite a while and then discharged energy behind her, prompting the assassin hiding behind the tree to jump her. She pivoted around and extended an open hand, knowing where her assant was. She let her assant push her back and effortlessly caught herself. On the contrary, blood trickled from her opponent¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What do you want from this great one?¡±

    ***

    On our way to catch up with River Monster and Mountain Monster, we recalibrated our intelligence. We had the sword Boss stole, dozens of blueprints, Repository Sword Theory, a Hong Jiu, an unconscious Song Ou and ten-odd chubby rodents. Well, the rodents had to stay in the cabin at the back since Boss refused to be near them. Oh, I also had the stone that could produce illusions. I don¡¯t know why, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to throw it away.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Boss looked confused, not that I could me her. She never studied smithing, after all. So, being as erudite as I am, I voiced, ¡°Let me see,¡± and took a sheet. I can confidently assert that the diagrams and calctions on the sheet of paper are the source of evil in this world. I rolled it into a ball and then threw it at the floor. ¡°Stupid! Idiot! Moron! Who do they expect to understand this?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t scrunch it up!¡± Boss clobbered my forehead. ¡°It¡¯s important. If you ruin it, you¡¯re taking all of the me.¡±

    Massaging my forehead, I grumbled, ¡°You know what it is, then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself. I¡¯ve seen this drawing from ancient books, though¡­ It¡¯s Nine States Enervating Weapons¡¯ diagram.¡±

    Hong Jiu and I: ¡°Say what?! ¡­ What is that?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m barely holding myself back from kicking you both off this boat right now,¡± Shen Yiren grouched through her teeth. ¡°Well, you probably don¡¯t know as the words were never recorded in legal books. It¡¯s a story my father told me. I usually search for the original version of stories my father told me whenever I miss him, and this Nine States Enervating Weapons is one of them. cksmiths from famous workshops would scoff at it because it¡¯s the stupidest idea any cksmith has ever heard of. In any event, people don¡¯t believe it¡¯s a true story.¡±

    Hong Jiu questioned, ¡°Is it some sort of divine weapon or something?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no shortage of quality weapons in the pugilistic world, is there? In thest century, we have the Seven Dynasty-Founding des if nothing else; you could spend three days listing out premium weapons. This story is a joke since the cksmith only produced nine weapons.¡±

    ¡°What is Nine States Enervating Weapons, then?¡± I queried.

    Shen Yiren set the blueprint down. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s stupid to invest an entire state¡¯s resources and all of its people to forge one weapon?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡±

    ¡°ording to the legend, that was what was done, hence the name ¡®States Enervating¡¯.¡±

    Hong Jiu smacked his lips: ¡°If I had all of a nation¡¯s resources, I¡¯d be an Emperor if not his father. Spending all those resources for one weapon instead of enjoying the luxuries is just being sick in the head.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s considered stupid. What good is a weapon that could carve out a new world if it drained the entire world in the first ce? That¡¯s why it¡¯s always been nothing more than a story, just like the legend of the six evil beasts¡­¡± Shen Yiren slowed down as she reached the end of her exnation and looked my way.

    ¡°Those six really exist, however.¡±

    Shen Yiren bobbed her head. ¡°These sheets are likely only a portion of the whole story, a conjecture I¡¯m basing on the fact that these blueprints only refer to a sword hilt. There must be hundreds of sheets toplete the design. Nine States Enervating Weapons may be a myth; however, it¡¯s a fact that these blueprints exist.

    ¡°Regardless of their authenticity, the question remains: what does Luo Ming want to forge the sword for? You remember he mentioned he found the method from an ancient book? He imed to study the fragments for ten days without eating.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s clearly him crapping out of his mouth. He wasn¡¯t studying fragments but detailed smithing blueprints. I still can¡¯t wrap my head around what his research on the six evil beasts has to do with forging this mythical sword, though.¡±

    All of us folded our arms to dive deep into our own minds. Unfortunately, we couldn¡¯t figure it out even by the time we arrived at our destination.¡±

    ¡°This sure is a secluded ind. Quite the nice hiding spot,¡± remarked Shen Yiren.

    ¡°I selected it after factoring in the geography of Taihu Ind. This is the best ce to hide since outsiders won¡¯te h-¡±

    ¡°Who¡­ Who is there?¡±

    Hearing the cry of an injured individual, Shen Yiren cast her gaze my way to imply, ¡°You were saying?¡±

    ¡°Hey, men make mistakes; horses can stumble.¡±

    Upon disembarking, we found Yi Wangyou lying in blood by the shore.

    Shen Yiren pointed out, ¡°Sword wounds. Whoever the assant was is an A-grade swordsman.¡±

    Yi Wangyou, barely aware of where he was, clutched my wrist and murmured, ¡°Help¡­ Help¡­ Help His Highness¡­ He¡­ He is¡­¡±

    ***

    Feng Jian crept out from the darkness and reported, ¡°Shifu, missionplete.¡±

    ¡°Good¡­ It¡¯s time. Let¡¯s go.¡± Luo Ming, from his cushion, fumed, ¡°Time to pay that cur a visit.¡±

 Volume 9 85 Blood Debt

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 85 Blood Debt</h4>

    ¡°His¡­ His Highness¡­¡±

    Every word burnt away at his life force, yet Yi Wangyou wouldn¡¯t let up. Whatever he was trying tomunicate at that point had to be important, but I had no time to listen to him. Instead, I transferred internal energy from my hand to him, confirming that he only had a few words left in him.

    ¡°How is he?¡± Shen Yiren asked.

    ¡°The swordsman precisely stopped half an inch away from his heart but deep enough to ensure he¡¯d only be able to move for a while longer until sumbing to the injury. This is the work of a master swordsman.¡± I sealed all of Yi Wangyou¡¯s major meridians and used my internal energy to staunch his bleeding. ¡°He¡¯s only going to survive a little longer at this rate. I need to operate on him now.¡±

    ¡°River Monster and Mountain Monster wouldn¡¯t have the swordcraft to pull that off. It must be someone else.¡±

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re implying. I can¡¯t guarantee they¡¯re safe. Let¡¯s go see.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hey, isn¡¯t he Kunlun¡¯s patriarch, Yi Wangyou?!¡± Hong Jiu finally pointed out. ¡°Why is he lying dead in the middle of the road?!¡±

    ¡°You keepmentating. We have to get going.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Wait up! Wait! I¡¯ll clear the path!¡±

    I threw Song Ou to Hong Jiu and put Yi Wangyou on my back. The two of us sped to a big tree, and then I knocked on it in my special code. Mountain Monster poked her head out behind the leaning tree trunk opposite the tree I was at. ¡°Bloody hell, what took you so long?! Eh, isn¡¯t that Kunlun¡¯s patriarch? Eh, Shen Yiren is also here? Hey, isn¡¯t that the big idiot we locked up?!¡±

    Hong Jiu had no idea who he was looking at.

    I grouched, ¡°We don¡¯t need any more of your astonishmentmentary. Get down here and open the door. There¡¯s a life waiting to be saved.¡±

    ¡°Fine. What you acting tough for?¡± Mountain Monster grumbled as she climbed down the tree.

    I had them hide under the big rock that the tree leaned back on, then covered up the tracks of my maniption to protect them.

    Yi Wangyou couldn¡¯t wait any longer, so I hollered, ¡°Move, we¡¯re out of time!¡± and kicked the tree door in half instead of opening it¡­ Luckily, River Monster, who was inside the cavern beneath, opened up. ¡°Hurry in. People came to this ind.¡±

    I rushed inside, heated up a small knife, then used my internal energy tomence surgery on Yi Wangyou. Boss went to fetch hot water and other tools for me.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you twat! How dare you leave me stuck under the three?!¡± Mountain Monster thundered from outside.

    ¡­ Oh, stuff happens.

    I couldn¡¯t leave Yi Wangyou as I needed to concentrate for his surgery, though. He was mauled, but it was the injury near his heart that was hard to deal with even if the doctor was better than me and their internal energy was advanced. Stitching him up would only, at most, preserve his life for a few more years, and his skills would nose dive. It all boiled down to one reason: his heart was awfully weak.

    I managed to save Yi Wangyou¡¯s heart using my celestial spider silk and snow spirit spider silk before his heart stopped beating, then unclogged his meridians via internal energy transfer to safeguard his martial arts. Having said that, he would need up to five years before he could throw any hard punches - provided he was taking supplements daily and living stress-free.

    I wiped my sweat off my forehead and announced, ¡°Saved at longst.¡±

    River Monster inquired, ¡°What happened? I can¡¯t keep up. You said you were going out to scout, only to leave for days. Do you have anything on Abels?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I summarised the recent events I was part of, eventually steering the discussion back to Yi Wangyou.

    ¡°My n was just to meet up with you two and then make haste for Dragonroot Ind since the first round should be over around now. Bumping into this guy was pure coincidence. As for why somebody almost impaled his heart eludes me.¡±

    Shen Yiren verbalised, ¡°I think I know why.¡±

    ¡°You do?¡±

    ¡°She probably also knows.¡± Shen Yiren tilted her head toward River Monster. ¡°When you were operating on him, I recalled you and Poison King mentioning a sword that would require four Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen¡¯s blood to finish off the sword. We now have proof that Luo Ming and Poison King are in cahoots, with thetter being the designer from beginning to end. In other words, Luo Ming is the one who wants blood. That being the case, the culprit must¡¯ve been him or one of his trusted aides.¡±

    River Monster gestured agreement. ¡°¡­ I was also astonished when Abels showed so much knowledge of smithing. I would still be in the dark if I wasn¡¯t informed Luo Ming had switched ces with him. He ordered us to search for four swordsmen as you described as well as demanded we couldn¡¯t take them in by force. He wanted the four to fight in his tournament to collect enough fighting spirit, which was the optimal time to extract their blood. We barely managed to make up the numbers, and the candidates we found were Wudang¡¯s Elder Shou, wanderer Young Master Kuang, Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Yu Feiyuan and Shen Yiren.¡±

    ¡°Yi Wangyou isn¡¯t on your list and didn¡¯t partake in Refining Divine Convention, so why would he suddenlye here, and why would he suddenlye under attack?¡± Shen Yiren questioned.

    I opined, ¡°His participation doesn¡¯t make a significant difference. He was on the ind and engaged in a tough fight, so his blood should suffice, thus reaching the same ends via a different means. I was wondering why they didn¡¯t just behead him, but I suppose you¡¯ve answered that for me.¡±

    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t add up. Why not just kill him after extracting his blood?¡± Mountain Monster inquired.

    ¡°Probably¡­ because of Green Prince? Yi Wangyou and Green Prince are inseperable; I¡¯m sure Green Prince was present at the scene. Yi Wangyou wasn¡¯t in this state right after he had his blood extracted. The culprit had to take Green Prince hostage, so fighting Yi Wangyou was unfeasible. I just don¡¯t understand why Luo Ming has to adduct Green Prince when thetter is supposed to be his adopted son, and they¡¯re on good terms.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because¡­¡± began Yi Wangyou, looking out of his slits. ¡°His Highness owes him a debt¡­ a blood debt.¡±

 Volume 9 86 You Owe Me Sons!

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 86 You Owe Me Sons!</h4>

    ¡°Brother Luo, why are you doing this?¡± Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t let his livid feelings regarding his old friend¡¯s betrayal override hisposure as a monarch even though he had a de up against his neck.

    ¡°Because you and I agreed to let Refining Divine Convention be the judge. In the pugilistic world, credibility is as important as life. Have you be a scoundrel now?¡±

    Tie Hanyi had to cut short their strategy meeting for the next round when somebody outside hollered at them and never returned when he went out. Ye Luo, therefore, ventured out and never came back, either. Long Zaitian subsequently set the room alight, attempting to use the fire and smoke as cover for them to sneak away. Never did he expect the leader of the group outside to be Luo Ming.

    Despite his best efforts, Feng Jian quickly subdued Long Zaitian, and Luo Ming subjugated Dugu after a hundred exchanges. Emperor Yuansheng eventually gave up resistance when it was clear that he wasn¡¯t escaping Thunder, Rain and Fire - Lei, Yu and Huo, respectively - and opted to talk to Luo Ming.

    ¡°Luo Ming, why won¡¯t you answer? Too ashamed to face me?! Show yourself, Luo Ming! I know you¡¯re outside!¡± Emperor Yuansheng was stuck alone in a room, meridians sealed, and Feng Jian was the door sentry.

    ¡°Huh,¡± scoffed Luo Ming, in a tone that Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t recognise. ¡°It has been so long that I cannot remember when I wasst tagged. Third rank Hidden Dragon, Duguye, he will be one of the people I never forget. Long Zaitian isn¡¯t a proficientbatant, but he has keen senses. If I wasn¡¯t able to hear what you were doing, his strategy would¡¯ve let one or two of you slip away.¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re talking about talent, you also have a stable of exceptional men. Who is the swordsman who subdued me? He¡¯s a magnificent swordsman. I don¡¯t know about the others, but he used Luo Genesis Celestial Swordy, the style you created in your younger days. When did you train up that disciple? Nobody in the pugilistic world has ever heard of him. Quite the ambition you have, huh?¡±

    Feng Jian kept a straight face as the two continued to trade barbs.

    ¡°Luo Ming, since when did you be a coward? You spent ten years cultivating cowardice? You sounded as proud as ever when west talked, so why are you scared of looking at me in the face now?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You have a point.¡±

    Once the doors opened, Emperor Yuansheng was beholden to Yu Jian pushing an ashen-haired elder in a wheelchair. ¡°Br-Brother Luo, wh-what happened to you?¡±

    It took Luo Ming a while of meditation to restore aparatively healthy glow to his ghastly-pale face, rendering Emperor Yuansheng wordless.

    ¡°I was supposed to capture you in one breath. I didn¡¯t expect you to have a subordinate capable of surviving a shot from Repository Sword Theory. Duguye, Duguye, truly a man worthy of udit.¡±

    ¡°What happened to you? Have foreigners attacked your inds? You should know better than anyone that we wouldn¡¯t hurt you. There¡¯s no need to suspect us.¡±

    ¡°My injury is not your fault. I know why I¡¯m in this condition.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng could never determine if those barely-parted eyes were eyes of admiration or hunger for battle.

    Luo Ming erased whatever was on his mind to look up with a warmer gaze. ¡°Frankly, we should never have had toe to this standoff given our friendship. If you were to dere you would strip our title as one of the Seven Champion White Princes, I would be first to support you.¡±

    ¡°Even after what happened, I don¡¯t hold you ountable. I just don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re a different man ever sinceing out from seclusion - violent and cruel, shady instead of upright, overbearing and scheming. It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s not you. What happened? ¡­ Does it have to do with your sons¡¯ death?¡±

    Luo Ming unleashed a sword qi breaker, barely giving Yu Jian enough time to turn her face sideways before seeing her own blood, while Emperor Yuansheng felt his skin sting. Only Feng Jian remained unmoving.

    ¡°Take them out of your mouth.¡±

    ¡°What is this about? I do not know anything about it.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. I¡¯d already be dead if you did. In fact, you would¡¯ve razed Luo Sword Manor to the ground a decade ago if you did.¡± Luo Ming¡¯s voice was strangely raspy, and he spoke atypically fast. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time left. Even if I don¡¯t have these injuries besetting me, I nned to die a martyr after I forged the sword. I was going to tell you then to see your reaction, but it seems I¡¯ll be too busy for that.¡±

    ¡°What exactly are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°You remember when you came to me, seeking to form an alliance to remove the other six?¡± Luo Ming¡¯s bitterness rubbed off on even Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Do you realise how ridiculous your request to strip us toplete your imperial kingdom and set your descendants up for sess sounds? Huh? Hahah-¡±

    Blood spurted in burst from Luo Ming¡¯s mouth, running down the sides of his mouth as heughed at the sky that every Emperor always imed as his own. Composure, control of one¡¯s emotions was always vital for martial artists, even more so as they advanced, because extreme joy or sorrow were both stressors that effected their physiology.

    ¡°Bring him in.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s subordinate brought in someone stuffed inside a sacked and then pulled them out.

    ¡°Lyu¡¯er!¡±

    ¡°F-Father¡­¡± Green Prince mumbled with his head down. He then turned his head to Luo Ming and, in a far more firm tone, called, ¡°¡­ Adoptive Father.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Luo Ming thundered, pointing to Green Prince with fully scarlet mouth. ¡°Emperor Li, you asked me how my sons died, didn¡¯t you? Let me tell you: your sonpromised my sons. Since your son got my sons killed, I want you to personally kill him.¡±

 Volume 9 87 Theres a Reason for Everything

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 87 There¡¯s a Reason for Everything</h4>

    Although the reasons for the frequent natural disasters in Nanjiang ten years ago were unknown, they triggered a panic in refugees. In turn, the general stationed there had to offer them his supplies, send envoys to reassure them and distribute funds the imperial court entrusted him to distribute to victims.

    ording to reports from the eleven sovereigns of the eleven states in Nanjiang, there were water, fire, wind disasters, earthquakes and all sorts of other testimonials that made it impossible to determine the legitimacy of what was taking ce. The imperial court¡¯s vassals at the border, consequently, were used of scamming the imperial court for money.

    Nanjiang had been a vassal state to the imperial court for thirty years. Howbeit, they had since raised their own military, procured taxes through their own system and prospered thanks to them eschewing war for three decades. Needless to say, the imperial court didn¡¯t take kindly to their development, while Nanjiang gradually saw no reason to bow their heads all the time.

    Owing to the refugees¡¯ situation, Nanjiang and the imperial court started doubting each other, ultimately plotting against each other until it became open hostility. As such, Nanjiang¡¯s leaders convened to prepare for imminent war. Fearing a repeat of perpetual warfare, Emperor Yuansheng dispatched Yan Shisan to assassinate, assault or employ whatever other means necessary to thwart the eleven leaders of Nanjiang if they showed signs of mutiny.

    To the imperial court¡¯s astonishment, instead of mobilising troops, the eleven leaders sent letters and gifts to the imperial court for a month straight as an apology for their previous actions. They, in fact, increased their tributes. The imperial court assumed it was some sort of ploy until the states of Nanjiang asserted they truly never intended to challenge the imperial court three yearster.

    To this day, Emperor Yuansheng still doesn¡¯t understand what the whole fiasco was about and is still puzzled whenever he thinks about it. He wasn¡¯t informed that one of the people attending and contributing considerably to the conferences back then was his fifteen year old son.

    Green Prince, prior to officially being bestowed the rank of Prince, visited the border to find out about the natural disasters and attended the meetings on his own, promising the eleven leaders that he would sort the matter out.

    Subsequent to considering the ces that the disasters urred, Green Prince noticed one ce everyone ignored, the former capital of Beussent - Nieyao. The men Green Prince sent there to research came back reporting that it was where the refugees stayed and they¡¯d quiver as they uttered, ¡°Monster.¡±

    ¡°Without a shadow of doubt, these natural disaster sagas are the works of beasts.¡± When the heads heard that confident assertion from Green Prince, they were nched in fear.

    People of the Central in can¡¯t fathom why the states of Nanjiang are close. In spite of borders dividing them, their culture shares the same roots. Their beliefs are the same, and their people are allowed to interact with each other. By the same ount, they share the same fears.

    Since Morcher¡¯s demise, the imperial court has designated Nieyao as their territory, so the people of Nieyao City naturally fell under the imperial court¡¯s jurisdiction. That was how Nanjiang¡¯s twelve states were reduced to eleven states. None of the eleven remaining states wanted to be the next Princess on the run.

    There was a rumour going around that the Central in¡¯s monarch sent a titanic beast to Nanjiang to prevent the rise of a second Beussent, thereby wasting all of their nation¡¯s resources. No matter if the reins change hands in the imperial court or not, the beast would continue to guard Nieyao, mortifying the warriors of Nanjiang. If someone could set aside their emotions to look at the im objectively, they¡¯d realise it was nothing more than an effort to sow discord.

    The eleven leaders piled praise onto Green Prince, oblivious to the fact the credit belonged to Yan Shisan.

    ¡°Rest assured. I have a n to subdue the beast. All I ask is that you agree to return it with a favour.¡±

    Green Prince asked the leaders to serve him once he was stationed in Jiangnan the same way they would an Emperor. Otherwise, he¡¯d be no different to any other official Prince.

    The leaders agreed to the deal because what could have been more fearsome than the beast of legends? Green Prince high fived all of the leaders as a token of good faith andughed his way off, assuming it would unfold the way he hoped.

    ***

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Why did he do that?¡± I questioned.

    ¡°His Majesty¡­ has never liked His Highness. People in the pce imed His Majesty was going to banish His Highness to border guard duty since the term of the individual guarding the southern border wasing to an end. His Highness was concerned he¡¯d be at the mercy of others since he didn¡¯t have any associates there. Furthermore, while his siblings were still young, all of them were establishing their own factions. In contrast, he didn¡¯t have a faction of his own, and his parents didn¡¯t value him. Hence, the idea of decreeing himself sovereign of Nanjiang and building his own faction flourished in his mind,¡± Yi Wangyou elucidated, breathing and speaking much smoother thanks to my internal energy supporting him.

    Both Shen Yiren and I were reminded of Orange Prince.

    ¡°The helper he sought out to y the beast was Luo Ming.¡±

    Yi Wangyou signalled I was on the money.

    ¡°I don¡¯t me Luo Ming for coveting his life after he did something so contemptible.¡±

    Yi Wangyou looked more stunned than when he sensed my internal strength. ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°What sort of man is Luo Ming? Would Luo Ming have aided His Highness in his personal conquest if he didn¡¯t deceive Luo Ming? Poor Luo Ming had no idea what he was walking into and even brought his sons along, resulting in him losing almost all of his family in a foreignnd. If Luo Ming isn¡¯t vengeful after that, I¡¯d question if he¡¯s even human.¡±

 Volume 9 88 Green Princes Green

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 88 Green Prince¡¯s Green</h4>

    Despite Yi Wangyou wobbling and breathing heavily for a while before he could converse again, he deserved to be credited for that long recount without any breaks in his condition.

    ¡°His Highness¡­ did not mean to implicate Luo n.¡± Yi Wangyou ran from my gaze and quietly added, ¡°His Highness personally went to Jiangnan for the sake of keeping his promise. He told Patriarch Luo about the hostility between him and his five brothers, his parents¡¯ depriving him of chances and that they sent him to Nanjiang as a form of disavowing him. The only way he would have a better life if he could establish himself among the sovereigns of Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like he knows he needs to tell nine truths to tell one lie to deceive the likes of Luo Ming.¡±

    ¡°Convincing Patriarch Luo is even harder. Perhaps he only agreed to help in consideration of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s future, but his main reason for helping was because he is His Highness¡¯ adopted father. What happened was an unexpected, unwanted oue. His Highness is not as useless as he may appear.¡±

    ¡°I know. He gives the impression of a lecher who doesn¡¯t do anything but live as a sloth. In reality, he¡¯s quite brave and even more cognisant of his surroundings than I gave him credit for.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t only have a good head,¡± Shen Yiren interjected. ¡°He always memorised what he read without needing to read it a second time and pays attention to details contrary to what his appearance may suggest. In saying that, his brothers all excelled themselves, were born with more affluent backgrounds, while he only has extra weight. Plus, his mother didn¡¯t like him. All of thosepounding factors whittled away at his confidence over time.¡±

    I cracked an amused smile: ¡°The fact that he had the balls to enter Nanjiang with Yan Shisan and convince all their leaders on his own is a testament to hispetence. And, like I said, convincing Luo Ming isn¡¯t an easy task.¡±

    Yi Wangyou recounted, ¡°In lieu of digging deeper into Nieyao City, Yan Shisan warned all of his constables and His Highness not to go anywhere near there. His Highness should never have involved himself in it; he never had what it took to. His Highness would never have predicted the subsequent events in his wildest imagination. All of this is what His Highness told me afterwards. Even now, he cries and gets drunk for days whenever he recalls what happens. We can¡¯t do anything but leave him to his own devices.¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°In recent years, people haveined His Highness has been running amok and swimming in luxuries ever since moving to Nanjiang. Some im he has kidnapped women for his own pleasure, inciting anger from his family. My scouts, to the contrary, reported that, although he didn¡¯t do well, he didn¡¯t abandon his duties, so people under his jurisdiction have enjoyed stable lives. While people in the imperial court do speak of his misdemeanours, few ever st his performance.¡±

    ¡°Ever since the tragedy, His Highness has just been going through the motions. He spends his nights indulging in entertainment, eating and drinking so frequently that he continues to put on weight. It¡¯s rare for him to be sober for even two days in every ten days, which are only because he has to go out for business meetings.

    ¡°His Highness has things he excels at; he merely has qualms about showing what he can do. He believes he doesn¡¯t deserve happiness of fame after what he put Patriarch Luo through. He, therefore, maintains an average standard just to get by. His slovenly days gradually bored him, leading to his abject behaviours worsening, ultimately culminating in the kidnappings.¡±

    Shen Yiren reproached, ¡°And you just let him?¡±

    ¡°I was furious at first. His Majesty paid me handsomely and gave me a status to protect Kunlun Sect. I loathed myself for failing to guide His Highness properly and letting His Majesty down. I had every intention of reprimanding him, but I soon noticed that he never did anything to the maidens. After he sent them to his room, he didn¡¯t lock the doors, windows or assign guards. He drank until he passed out, instead. I once nned to go after a dancer who ran away with a guard; however, His Highness stopped me. As a result of that, everyone under his administrative sector called him a cuck.

    ¡°Even though he was being ted, His Highness kept kidnapping women and letting them get away until everybody knew about the events. His Majesty sent letters criticising him, but it didn¡¯t deter him. It took a while for me to understand that His Highness was punishing himself to abate his guilt.¡±

    Damn, so he wasn¡¯t born green and rolled around on lush grass all his life.

    ¡°Patriarch Luo sequestered, and leadership of the n was passed on. Though His Highness visited several times, Patriarch Luo didn¡¯te out. We had heard a weapon hunter was on the loose for thest few years, but we had no guess as to who it could be prior to the big challenge from Luo Sword Manor this year. I, like His Highness, came here with our most elite group to check if our suspicions that Luo Sword Manor is involved with the weapon theft are warranted.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°His Highness genuinely loves his fourth adopted brother. That¡¯s why he hid his history with Patriarch Luo. He wanted to pinch a weapon in Canhu Town and agreed to your challenge so that he could speak to Patriarch Luo in private. Upon learning of Patriarch Luo¡¯s emergence, His Highness asked me to smuggle him onto the ind. I didn¡¯t have a safe n until I heard Lotus Root Grounds¡¯ formations were gone.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ maybe they haven¡¯t been keeping up with maintenance.¡±

    Now I know why I couldn¡¯t make any sense of His Highness¡¯ behaviours or predict his end goal.

    ¡°I must ask: what happened at Nieyao City?¡± I inquired.

    Yi Wangyou heaved a heavy breath: ¡°Luo Ming went into Nieyao City to scout on his own and confirmed the existence of the beast His Highness mentioned. He then spent three months drawing up a n and recruiting local warriors from Yi n to march into the city. He was a terrificmander and swordsman, as were his brave sons. Still, he broke Siming Sword before they could y the beast.¡±

    ¡°They slew it? His sons were¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, they slew one. That was what His Highness promised. His Highness told Luo Ming there was only one beast upying Nieyao City, so that was what Luo Ming believed. In reality, there wasn¡¯t only one.¡±

 Volume 9 89 Time Flies By. A Monarch and His Vassal.

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 89 Time Flies By. A Monarch and His Vassal.</h4>

    You¡¯re just done fighting a big fight. You¡¯re exhausted, but you finally exhale relief, letting the pent up fatigue circte to every fibre of your being as you crack a victorious smile. Before you can relish it, nheless, you¡¯re faced with the fact that you had only just defeated one enemy, and there¡¯s a second one equally strong already waiting for you. That was Luo Ming¡¯s unforgettable experience.

    ¡°What sort of fiend was in Nieyao City?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. His Highness never entered, and he never met up with Luo Ming after the Luo Ming scouted the interior. One person who managed to escape the city in time was the one who told others that Luo Ming¡¯s three sons perished in battle,¡± Yi Wangyou answered.

    I turned to River Monster: ¡°You know what it is?¡±

    River Monster recoiled.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only survivor of Morcher¡¯s imperial family and the only one who escaped. What attacked your city? You can¡¯t tell us you don¡¯t know when you were there, can you?¡±

    River Monster grabbed one shaky hand with another shaky hand. ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of the memory. This is your chance to shake off your demons. You have to face your demons to conquer them,¡± I asserted.

    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ It¡­¡±

    ¡°You do. You can tell us.¡±

    ¡°It¡­ It was¡­ a dragon.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You cur! How dare you?! How dare you strike a deal with the leaders of Nanjiang in private and use your adopted father?! You¡­ you¡­ You wretched cur!¡± Emperor Yuansheng would¡¯ve bludgeoned his son to death if he wasn¡¯t immobilised.

    Green Prince hid his face as best as he could and murmured, ¡°¡­ Father, you have never liked me and exiled me to Nanjiang, so I got scared and came up with the idea as a self-defence measure. I asked Adopted Father to help me ze a safe trail. I never¡­ I never wished topromise my brothers.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was never fond of Green Prince owing to his plump physique, but Green Prince was assigned to Nanjiang as it would keep him out of harm¡¯s way from the contest in the capital. Nheless, the thoughtful decision wasn¡¯t interpreted urately for Emperor Yuansheng never implied or explicated that. Instead, Emperor Yuansheng always maintained a blunt, stoic tone with his son, scaring thetter.

    ¡°Using me to procure power is wrong, but his biggest sin was providing false information on the situation in Nieyao.¡±

    Green Prince raised his head and brought it to the ground. By the time he lifted it again, his blood had stained the floor. ¡°Adopted Father, I have not dared to indulge once in thest ten years and have been gued with insomnia. On all of my three visits, I came prepared to die. I always wrote a letter to Father, one to Mother and one to Fourth Brother every time I came to Jiangnan. Once again, I am here to offer you my life for what I did ten years ago, but please spare my father,¡± Green Prince implored, banging his head on the ground again.

    ¡°Brother Luo, whatever the error is, it starts with me failing in my duty as his father. If someone must pay, I will pay.¡±

    ¡°No, this is my fault, Father. This is my responsibility. I have no reason to stay. Adopted Father, please take my life.¡±

    Instead of sparing Green Prince a nce, Luo Ming kept his gaze and grin on Emperor Yuansheng. Speaking from behind his syed ashen wall and chattering teeth, Luo Ming rasped, ¡°Because I believed your son¡¯s ims, I lost Yi n¡¯s brothers and my three sons in Nanjiang. My family heirloom broke in the line of duty for him, costing my n its reputation. Nobody has been able to learn my n¡¯s ice and fire internal style or inherit it.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t even collect my sons¡¯ corpse; they didn¡¯t even die with their bodies intact. All they left me with is a nightmare that has tormented me ever since. Because of your son, I¡¯ve spent thest decade plotting, stealing, spheming my name, betraying people and I¡¯m now on myst legs as a cripple. Who else but Li n should pay for my n¡¯s suffering?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I should pay.¡±

    ¡°Sword.¡±

    At first, Yu Jian thought Luo Ming¡¯s hand shook with anger until it dawned with him that he was mistaken. Luo Ming aggravated his existing injuries during his affray with Dugu. Nheless, he worked with what he had to aim the sword at Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Any reason you would argue I shouldn¡¯t kill you now?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We are sworn brothers. An elder brother cannot kill his younger brother.¡±

    Luo Ming sliced of several strands of his hair. ¡°That brotherhood is no more henceforth.¡±

    ¡°Luo Sword Manor is tasked with protecting the monarch. A vassal cannot kill a monarch.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll even kill ten Emperors should I hate them.¡±

    ¡°You have a sword. I am unarmed. Can you kill unarmed opponents in the pugilistic world?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ want to fight?¡±

    ¡°A fighter cannot go down without a fight. I will fight even if I am bound to fall.¡±

    Luo Ming mulled over the dispute, then decided to release Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Give him a sword and leave us.¡±

    ¡°But, Shifu, y-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡±

    Once the four swordsmen left, Emperor Yuansheng picked up the sword projecting his younger appearance. ¡°I never thought our second duel would be a fight to the death.¡±

    Luo Ming cut Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s cheek without letting the other catch what happened. ¡°If you¡¯re done talking, theny down your life.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Glossary

    Luo Ming cutting his hair - Cutting one¡¯s hair used to be a serious issue in cultures/people who believed in Confucian values because it¡¯s something you get from your parents. There¡¯s also using it to symbolise the end of a marriage as one way of describing marriage is (tranted literally) ¡°tying (insert subjects) hair together¡±, but that¡¯s clearly not the context here. Hence, Luo Ming essentially severed his brotherhood with Emperor Yuansheng with this action.

 Volume 9 90 Night Net Flash

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 90 Night Net sh</h4>

    Having known each other for so long, Luo Ming and Emperor Yuansheng knew what the other¡¯s style was and howpetent they were. As such, Emperor Yuansheng knew how big the gap between them was, let alone when he was injured.

    Emperor Yuansheng flicked his sword andmenced the fight, trying to sting Luo Ming in four different locations as fast as he could.

    Dragon Ritual Swordy is Li n¡¯s signature style that the founding Emperor modified for the better, cing it side by side with Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Sword Immortal Grasshouse in terms of prestige.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s internal energy was superior to his swordy, but he chose to go out on his sword if he had to choose because his martial arts quest started from swordy.

    ¡°Your swordy is decent, but you have sealed your fate. Have you ever seen a monarch with his head screwed on sideways and carrying himself frically?¡± Luo Ming¡¯s verbal jab from his wheelchair wasn¡¯t just knock at Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s character but also at the ws of thetter¡¯s swordy.

    Emperor Yuansheng adopted a defensive strategy after his third failed strike. Luo Ming assumed the offence role, casually pressing Emperor Yuansheng to a corner of the room. In no time at all, Luo Ming disarmed Emperor Yuansheng and had his sword at thetter¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you employ a hit-and-run strategy? ¡­ You wouldn¡¯t have lost so fast.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt, and your legs are hampering you. If I take advantage of your injuries and legs, I¡¯m just asking to be denounced. I¡¯m not a coward or someone who refuses to admit to things. As long as I am a monarch, I must do my throne justice.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I held back thirty percent. I could¡¯ve killed you within seven strikes if you tried to hit and run.¡±

    ¡°A loss is a loss. Do as you see fit.¡±

    ¡°¡­ The more upright you are, the more of a scoundrel I am. You wanted a fair fight to provoke me, forcing me to keep my word, correct?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Luo Ming received silence for an answer.

    ¡°Y-Your Majesty, wh-what¡­¡± Su Xiao briskly arrived on the scene. ¡°I saw the mess outside, so I thought there was an attack and came in¡­ Patriarch Luo, y-¡±

    ¡°Run!¡± Emperor Yuansheng was d it wasn¡¯t Shen Yiren who came back, but he didn¡¯t want to see Su Xiao die, either.

    Su Xiao brandished his de and took aim: ¡°You won¡¯t hurt my master.¡±

    Luo Ming turned around nice and slow. ¡°The flurry of swift strikes was yourst opportunity, but you let it slip through your hands. You¡¯ll regret not dying sooner.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what that was supposed to mean.

    Stunning Emperor Yuansheng and Luo Ming with his markedly-improved speed, Su Xiao grazed Luo Ming¡¯s neck. Luo Ming knew how he was caught; he had time to analyse the swing from start to finish. Su Xiao¡¯s swing demystified the one swing that he could never make sense of since falling prey to it.

    In the blink of an eye, the roles reversed as Su Xiao hit an invisible barrier that not only stopped his swing advancing but also sent him reeling back.

    Like a patient suffering a seizure, Luo Ming¡¯s limbs trembled, while his face performed contortions. The only difference between his state and qi deviation was that his disrupted qi was flowing in a particr direction. As his chest inted, he cried, ¡°Aah, hah!¡± and jumped to his feet, discharging qi from his right arm.

    The room fell into silence for a brief second as though the ck qi devoured sound. A series of rumbling started from the walls, and then the ceiling blew off.

 Volume 9 91 Refining Divine Convention

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 91 Refining Divine Convention</h4>

    ¡°Who did you learn that from?¡± Luo Ming questioned, taken aback.

    Su Xiao bit down on his lips to use pain as a means of staying conscious as well as to signify that he wouldn¡¯t tell.

    Luo Ming turned to Emperor Yuansheng and Green Prince condescendingly: ¡°You two don¡¯t seem to know what happened.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng grouched, ¡°You used me to heal yourself?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Nice to not have to beat around the bush.¡± Luo Ming poked the air, sealing Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s upoint again. ¡°I was going to kindly end you, but I don¡¯t feel like it anymore. We¡¯ve known each other for decades. I shall abide by our promise as you wish, though I assure you will regret not taking up myst shred of kindness for you. As promised, if you can¡¯t win Refining Divine Convention, you¡¯ll have to bring me a head¡­¡± Luo Ming cast his gaze to Green Prince for the fast time. ¡°Once my sword is done, don¡¯t forget to honour your word, Brother.¡±

    ***

    Everyone who was initially invited to Refining Divine Convention was invited to Taihu Ind for the finals. Nheless, nobody expected all restrictions on Whale God Ind to be lifted or all traps and contraptions to be revealed.

    Hundreds of small iron tes and cauldrons were lined up on either side of the cauldron that reminded people of Zhurong in the crater. Unlike the ancient stoves from, at least, a generation ago that the cksmiths silently worked at, the stairs leading down to the sweltering workshop were evidently newer. Because the cauldron and, by extension, the workshop were exposed to the elements, Luo Sword Manor had to set up various formations to control the weather all year round.

    The audience around the massive rectangle ring were in uproar over thete start. ¡°Refining Divine Convention! Refining Divine Convention! Refining Divine Convention!¡±

    ¡°Please allow this one to express his appreciation foring to Whale God Ind.¡± Luo Ming, sporting grey garments, vaulted onto the ring. ¡°This one cannot keep you waiting any longer after hearing your cries. Please allow this one to announce: Refining Divine Convention hereby officiallymences!¡±

 Volume 9 92 Caitian Addresses the Nine Teams

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 92 Caitian Addresses the Nine Teams</h4>

    A refined man in his thirties ascended to the ring and nodded to Luo Ming prior to saluting the audience: ¡°Ladies and gentleman, please let this one speak first.¡±

    ¡°Would you happen to be All-Knowing Schr of the Nine Provinces - Jin Caitan?¡±

    ¡°You recognise me?¡± The schr on the ring responded, seemingly unable to understand the reason for theughter. ¡°Patriarch Luo asked this one to host and referee Refining Divine Convention. Please pardon him for any amateur mistakes,¡± Jin Caitan added with a bow.

    Six Harmonies Schr, Jin Caitan, was called an all-knowing schr because he was erudite on many topics, but most importantly, he had eyes able to identify every style in existence and a mouth that could urately reveal the level ofbatants or spell the end of someone should he ever choose to divulge how to exploit someone¡¯s style. His knowledge didn¡¯t stem just sticking his nose in books but also in actually viewing fights across thend. This was why he was a credible pundit on martial arts as well as the most popr referee in the Nine Provinces.

    Aside from his membership of Gold and Silver Sect holding him ountable, Jin Caitan insisted on exercising faithfulness and impartiality irrespective of who he was dealing with, let alone bribing him. Nobody would suspect foul y if he was trusted to referee and judge matches, so there was hope that they could behold some true fights worth the trip.

    ¡°Please allow this one to begin with exining the rules first.¡± Smiling amicably, Jin Caitan informed, ¡°Today¡¯s tournament consists of two rounds. Matches will be conducted as three way matches, with one individual representing one group. They will then go on to fight until there is only one victor. Thest man standing among the three finalists will be crowned the final winner.¡±

    ¡°How are you conducting three on three matches if there are eight sects in total? Is that two three on three matches and then one on one bout? It¡¯s not fair.¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± Luo Ming avowed.

    Jin Caitan signalled for Luo Ming to take over.

    Luo Ming brightly borated, ¡°Luo n will also partake in the tournament.

    That exined why there were nine pavilions, each spaced apart at varying distances, next to the ring that could fit dozens of contestants from the finalists behind the curtain between matches.

    In response to the protests of in-house fixing, Luo Ming debated, ¡°My n is one of the Seven Champion White Princes. We established ourselves with our swords. Are we not qualified to participate when you are? Furthermore, this is a rule of Refining Divine Convention. You want my n¡¯s weapon without passing our test? This one never imed Luo n wouldn¡¯t participate. There is no deceit in any shape or form.¡±

    ¡°¡­ We can ept your members participating, but we cannot ept you participating in consideration of your prowess and that you are the organiser of this tournament. Never has a host fought in a tournament they organised.¡±

    ¡°Worry not. This one will not partake.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±

    ¡°Wait, Young Master Luo is also an organiser, so he can¡¯t be permitted topete, either.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Have you forgotten what the rewards up for grabs are? This one¡¯s children cannotpete¡± Luo Ming, needless to say, was referring to the fact that the winner would get to marry one of his kids.

    Of the nine groups taking part, every group was allowed to dispatch a number of contestants of their choice under the condition that they offered a tribute - from the pool of fifteen weapons they won in the preliminary tournament. Not ounting for the contestants¡¯ weapons, they would have to offer seven weapons up each time they entered the arena. If they lost, they¡¯d have to offer the big cauldron the weapon they wielded as material for the ultimate weapon. In other words, each sect could only send out two contestants. For the second round, though, they didn¡¯t require any weapon offerings.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Since there was no strict stiption on when teams could send their contestants in, it wasn¡¯t a vition of the rules if they sent two members in to outnumber one opponent from another group. That gave hope to smaller groups that would prefer to not to take on Wudang or Wutong Jin Yuxuan solo. At the end of the day, makeshift teams couldn¡¯tpare to teams that had trained together.

    Because of the rules in the first round, there was a probability where two of the three finalists being from the same team existed. Nevertheless, they still had to duke it out until there was only one man standing.

    ¡°¡­ Thirdly¡± - Jin Caitan raised a finger - ¡°First, if you die, you lose. If you are still standing when your opponent perishes, you win.¡±

    In other words, Luo Sword Manor was going to allow fights to the death, surprisingly.

    ¡°Second¡± - Jin Caitan extended a second finger - ¡°You can win or lose by ring out. Third, this one¡¯s decisions will not be questioned. Having judged thousands of fights, he has never made a wrong call. Whether you win or lose, this one knows. To prevent unnecessary bloodshed, this one will have the final say.¡± Jin Caitan¡¯s third rule counteracted the license to kill without consequences.

    ¡°We shall now wee our contestants.¡±

    The curtain rose, revealing Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s predatory sneer and his two allies. Elder Shou was a bag of mysteries as usual, smiling as he enjoyed nips of tea. Venerable Mianhua recited a sutra to himself. Yu Feiyuan couldn¡¯t enter the ring even once because she had her juniors return the weapons to their respective owners. Kuang Lu joined Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary as one of them. Xiao Nantian and other bandaged warriors from the preliminary tournament only needed some snacks for aplete cinematic experience.

    Owing to what transpired yesterday, Dugu only recovered about 50% of his usual level. On top of that, he was concerned about Emperor Yuansheng and Green Prince. Long Zaitian was irate he couldn¡¯t call in his Qilin Guards to maul Luo Ming.

    The person who stood out most, nevertheless, was Su Xiao as he was the only one representing Mount Daluo.

 Volume 9 93 Dont Count Out Mount Daluo

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 93 Don¡¯t Count Out Mount Daluo</h4>

    ¡°May this one ask if you are Mount Daluo¡¯s representative?¡± Jin Caitan inquired.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Su Xiao¡¯s voice couldn¡¯t travel far owing to the injuries he suffered yesterday.

    ¡°¡­ Your skills are far from the standard of otherpetitors, and you are alone. Why are you recklessly throwing away your life at such a tender age?¡±

    While Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort was humiliated and livid about Luo Ming not even bothering to keep tabs on them now, Su Xiao was purely disillusioned with himself; he wanted to grow more than ever. Su Xiao didn¡¯t need enlightenment to figure out he helped Luo Ming yesterday.

    ¡°I must fight,¡± Su Xiao avowed. ¡°Everyone will eventually die. It¡¯s just a question of when and for what.¡±

    ¡°In that case, this one shall disqualify Mount Daluo now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because this one can tell you have seven wounds at first nce, and the one on your back is the worst. You wield a broadsword, do you not? Every martial artist knows the importance of the hips in power generation. There is nobody here you can beat. This is for your sake.¡±

    ¡°What do my injuries have anything to do with fighting? This is important to me. Mr. Jin, you are a judge, yet you want me to duck a fight?¡±

    ¡°This is not ducking. This is a fight we already know the oue to. Do you still remember the three rules? This one has the final say. Even if you enter the ring, this one will still dere you the loser at the end. Why indulge in pointless endeavours?

    ¡°The reason Patriarch Luo chose this one and everyone here trusts him to judge is because he understands the persistence of martial artists and what pointless deaths are. You are decent for your young age and have the potential to see a bright future. Why cut that off for no reason? Would you agree, Patriarch Luo?¡±

    Situational circumstances forced Luo Ming to nod even if he didn¡¯t agree. He would¡¯ve preferred to let the others torture Su Xiao to force out the style that he couldn¡¯tprehend for his own entertainment and learning purposes. Plus, Su Xiao¡¯s spirit was perfect for adding to the sword he wanted to forge.

    ¡°W-wait¡­¡± Su Xiao grabbed his wound and winced because trying to belt aggravated it.

    ¡°This one can also tell you are not a disciple of Mount Daluo, so you cannot represent them. As there is no representative from Mount Daluo, please take this young gentleman off the ring.¡±

    Watching men climb up to drag Su Xiao off, Huofeng protested, ¡°First Sister, let¡¯s go teach the bullies a lesson. We can¡¯t take part, so why not make a fight for ourselves?¡±

    ¡°There won¡¯t be necessary,¡± responded Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°Wh-¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s counting out Mount Daluo?!¡± Hong Jiu crashed several Luo n members aside as part of his party-crashing entrance.

    ¡°Daluo Divine Palm Manual?!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Do you not see him?¡± Despite his size, nobody noticed when Ming Feizhen or Shen Yirennded. Hong Jiu belted, ¡°This man is Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple!¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded with a dumbfounded face.

    ¡°Strange, he does not possess Mount Daluo¡¯s styl-¡± Upon shifting his gaze to Hong Jiu, Jin Caitan pped sonorously: ¡°Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider! There is no room for doubt, then! Please rest up. Refining Divine Convention shall shortlymence.¡±

    All the contestant pavilions¡¯ curtains rolled down to signify preparation time.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty respected,¡± Shen Yirenmented.

    Hong Jiu scratched the back of his head: ¡°I didn¡¯t know I was so famous, either. Man, I wouldn¡¯t have paid for meals if I knew I was this famous. God dang it, I want refunds.¡±

    I derided, ¡°You ever paid? Didn¡¯t you always wash dishes in exchange for meals?¡±

    ¡°Says the one who steals from the kitchen in the middle of the night,¡± Shen Yiren scoffed.

    Up close, Su Xiao looked gauntpared to usual, so I petted his head: ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Got bullied?¡±

    Su Xiao wailed and clung to me.

    ¡°Wh-what are you crying about?¡±

    ¡°I thought you died! Sister Huofeng said you wouldn¡¯t wake up. I was worried you¡¯d be hungry when you woke up, so I always carried meat buns on me, but I couldn¡¯t go.¡±

    I had no idea what Su Xiao was on about, but I knew how scared he was from how tight he squeezed me.

    Once Su Xiao recollected himself, he gave us a brief overview of recent events.

    ¡°Pretty much what we assumed would happen,¡± Shen Yiren remarked, biting her nail.

    We gathered Luo Ming would go for His Majesty after getting his hands on Green Prince. Plus, it wasn¡¯t a random guess once I heard Luo Ming wanted His Majesty to harvest a head for him. One way or another, Luo Ming wanted His Majesty to share his pain.

 Volume 9 94 Wudangs Request

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 94 Wudang¡¯s Request</h4>

    ¡°We have to rescue His Majesty.¡± Song Ou said to all of us, ¡°Feel free to share your opinions and ideas. Reservation is the bane of advancement and is fruitless.¡±

    Because Shen Yiren turned to me without a moment of hesitation, Song Ou voiced, ¡°However, there are some things you should be reserved about. Men and women should keep a respectable distance from each other. Yiren, stay close to me.¡±

    ¡°Is this the right asion for this nonsense?!¡±

    Things didn¡¯t work in my favour if I showed off in front of Song Ou, so I abstained from speaking. Though I did consider sleeping him for longer, we were short on manpower as it was, and he was stronger than Su Xiao.

    Candidly, I didn¡¯t have any strategy. ¡°Mm¡­ My opinion is we roll with the punches. Well, it¡¯s the only way when there is no way. You know I¡¯m not a fan of average ns. Second, what do you reckon?¡±

    Hong Jiu crossed his arms and vigorously nodded: ¡°Yes, average. There¡¯s small, big, old, medium average.¡±

    And everything else that came after was equally irrelevant.

    Shen Yiren disputed, ¡°Luo Ming must¡¯ve set today up ording to his designs and has confidence in it. Crossing bridges when wee to them is the equivalent of waiting for him to win.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s thrust Luo n¡¯s descendants into the fray. Maybe he¡¯s hoping one of them will win since he said he¡¯s not participating. At least, I think that should mean he won¡¯t be so direct.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    Can you stop?!

    Luo Ming headed to his preparation area withoutmenting on my appearance, but I could feel him stealing ganders our way, not that he would¡¯ve seen anything since our pavilion was opposite his, meaning it was super-far away. How was he going to see me if I couldn¡¯t see him?

    I bet Luo Ming wanted to erase me from existence after he got injured in my mental ne. To be honest, I¡¯d like to throw down with him candidly. It was impossible when there were so many people, though. I mean, if I did get serious with him here, they¡¯d drop the arrest warrant for Luo Ming to arrest me instead.

    ¡°How can we escape and throw off Luo Ming¡¯s ns?¡±

    Nobody could answer because Luo Ming was probably also going to determine when we were called into the ring. Somebody needed to do something that Luo Ming couldn¡¯t predict to ruin his program.

    ¡°Oi, someone is looking for you,¡± Mountain Monster suddenly hollered.

    ¡°Hmm? Who?¡± I asked.

    ¡°How sh-¡±

    ¡°Ahem,¡± interrupted Song Ou, signalling he was the highest-rankedmander in our group. He gave Mountain Monster an affable smile: ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°How the hell should I know who it is, you stupid nuisance? Your mother not give you legs?! Piss off and see for yourself.¡±

    Song Ou went to the entrance to with a face smothered in saliva and came back to me with his head down: ¡°He¡¯s looking for you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said from the start. You don¡¯t understand what humans say, you twat?!¡± Mountain Monster raged.

    ¡°Ahem, ahem, please don¡¯t arg-. I mean, Wawa, please stop sting him. I¡¯ll go see who it is.¡±

    ¡°Who you calling Wawa?!¡±

    ¡°Elder Shou?¡± I greeted.

    ¡°Forsooth,¡± replied Elder Shou.

    ¡°Pleasee on in.¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re tight on time. This one will leave once he is done speaking. This old one came here to ask for your aid.¡±

    What does Wudang want when Luo Ming is public enemy now?

    ¡°This old one¡¯s request has to do with this.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Let us hear it.¡±

    ¡°Young Ming, do you know who Wudang¡¯s senior disciple for this generation is?¡±

    ¡°Wu Yunqi. He¡¯s the most advanced disciple among the second generation of Wudang¡¯s disciples and is literate. Oh, he also looks pretty good.¡±

    ¡°Correct. He is our top candidate to take over leadership, but there¡¯s another person. Back then, he trained on Mount Wudang. H-¡±

    ¡°Pause, pause, pause. Get down to business. Stop bringing up the past. I may have been insensible back then, but you all banged me up already, did you not?¡±

    ¡°This old one just wants to say that, if he or Wu Yunqi were here, it would solve this one¡¯s problem.¡±

    ¡°What is the matter, Elder Shou?¡±

    ¡°This old one is afraid Wudang will not survive this tournament.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Wudang has you, no?¡±

    ¡°Originally so.¡± Elder Shou gazed up solemnly: ¡°When this old one was sleepingst night h-¡±

    ¡°Fell through the bed?¡±

    ¡°Worse. When he kicked, his back w-¡±

    ¡°An assassin came after you?¡± I asked with a stoic look.

    ¡°No. This old one¡­ identally threw out his back.¡±

    You threw out your back?! Say that again. You? You of all people threw out your back?! Who you fooling?!

    ¡°It still aches, and this old one cannot move properly, so he cannot fight. This old one needs a young hero like Wu Yunqi to help.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, w-¡±

    Elder Shou forced a mask into my hand: ¡°Thank you, Young Huan. Wear this mask on and fight. When we chase up the five deaths on Mount Wudang, you will get a 99.9% discount without needing to say a word. Empyrean Wuliang! This one shall now take his leave.¡±

    ¡°I never consented! Hey! Get back here!¡±

    How you running so fast if you threw your back out?!

    ¡°The first round, which shallmence in two hours, will be between Cold Mountain Temple, Moyan Sect and Wudang. Contestants, please prepare,¡± announced Jin Caitan.

    ¡°Wait, who¡¯s first? Wudang?¡±

    Oi, you old fart, get back here!

    Note

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Young Huan - This is not a mistake. You will soon find out why.

 Volume 9 95 Wudangs Huan Xinglai (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 95 Wudang¡¯s Huan Xini (Part 1)</h4>

    A crimson me burst out of the cauldron¡¯s mouth simrly to an erupting volcano as it devoured the twenty-one weapons fed to it.

    ¡°The weapons have been offered. All three teams may enter the ring,¡± announced Jin Caitan. ¡°First match: Moyan Sect versus Wudang versus Cold Mountain Temple!¡±

    Moyan Xiuluo decided to vault up from his pavilion and m into the ring as if to brag about his might, going as far as to show his muscles the way beasts bear their fangs to intimidate prey.

    Venerable Mianhua carried himself gracefully into the ring on a bed of transparent energy andnded lightly after spinning in.

    Wudang¡¯s young representative walked with a straight posture and kept looking back the way a man hopelessly walking to an execution tform would. The disciples behind him shunted him over and over to get him to move along; some looked ready to hurl him up there.

    Boss spent about three seconds mulling over my report and then told me to go along with Elder Shou¡¯s request, and she¡¯d go speak to himter. Not a single person came to my rescue! I never knew Boss was so good at coaxing me into things! Why did I even need to put on the act if she was going to settle it with Elder Shou?!

    When I sneaked a re back Boss¡¯ way, she angled her chin, ced her index finger over her lips and gave me a wink.

    Mm, now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talk ab-, wait, don¡¯t try to fool me a second time already! Have some decency, damn it! Why is nobody stopping me? What makes any of you think I can pass off as a disciple of Wudang? Hell, look at all those faces, and tell me who believes it. The crap I¡¯m taking from the audience is louder than the support for my two opponentsbined.

    I knew what Elder Shou was thinking. He wanted me to waste their energy so that he could score an easy victory.

    ¡°People sent elites, and you send a punching bag? Show some respect for your opponents.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have the shame to be in the ring.¡±

    I¡¯ll whoop you on the way back to my pavilion and whoop you on the way to my after party!

    I could see both of my opponents thinking, ¡°He looks fragile and weak. He must be their sacrifice in dire times,¡± as they tried to stare me down. The only reason they spared me a thought was because they were thinking how my participation would affect their fight with each other.

    Moyan Xiuluo simpered: ¡°Wudang out of capable people or don¡¯t they have anyone besides old men? Why would they put a punching bag in a ring?¡±

    Venerable Mianhua¡¯s silence was tacit agreement. As a matter of fact, he nodded when Moyan Xiuluo looked over with a grin. He even shut his eyes as though he was reluctant to see the oue and nodded.

    Prick!

    I bet their n was to knock me out as fast as possible so that Elder Shou couldn¡¯t jump in while they were tired or distracted.

    ¡°Fight!¡± dered Jin Caitan.

    Moyan Xiuluo took off toward my back at zing speed and brought his de from his right hand toward me at a blind angle. Venerable Mianhua readied a Buddhist-prayer hand at his chest when he closed in on me from the front, then extended his prepared arm. Although Venerable Mianhua chose that specific technique to subdue me and stop Moyan Xiuluo from killing me if thetter ever attempted to, he wasn¡¯t holding back, either.

    Elder flipping Shou relished his tea as though losing was an impossible oue for Wudang. Instead of avoiding my gaze, he performed a hand gesture performed prior to fights, leaving me speechless¡­

    ¡°This is Wudang¡¯s renowned style. What do you think?¡±

    Elder Shou¡¯s gesture reminded me of Wudang¡¯s ugly hand-to-hand style that was imparted to me back then.

    Well, since you two want to see Wudang skills, don¡¯t blink now.

    Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s lightning-fast sh collided into Venerable Mianhua¡¯s palm, throwing their arms and bodies back. The two of them were both asking the same question: where did he go?

    ¡°Please do not hesitate to share your opinion of Wudang¡¯s style.¡±

 Volume 9 96 Wudangs Huan Xinglai (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 96 Wudang¡¯s Huan Xini (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    That¡¯s the first time I ever heard him lose hisposure, I thought in my half-conscious state.

    The elder was simr to my shifu in character and always stuck to his signature appearance: coarse cloth clothing caked in dust and a daoist hair bun. Nevertheless, he was always jovial. Even though I met him in the past already, my shifu never introduced him, so I kept calling him Ol¡¯ Daoist, cracking him up. The daoist always told me my future was immeasurable - whatever that was supposed to imply. I think it took two years before we were properly introduced. I just remember him resembling a monk clinging to my leg and telling me I have the wisdom to discern all truths.

    ¡°Where did he get such immense strength from? If he hadn¡¯t learnt Yijin Jing to convert the energy, he¡¯d be smithereens after absorbing that energy. Nheless, the energy is so overwhelming that his skin is splitting and bones are growing. Even though his organs aren¡¯t damaged, it¡¯s going to kill him within two weeks.¡±

    I could hear every word he said, but I didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what he was on about.

    The man sighed: ¡°If you can¡¯t treat a condition, how can this old one treat it? Even if this old one mobilised his true qi throughout his body, it would only extend his life by a hundred days. You¡¯re innovative enough as it is. If he¡¯s lucky, he might be able to use his mastery of Yijin Jing to use the power for himself. It¡¯s merely a question of who will win the tug of war. If he¡¯s lucky, he¡¯ll preserve his life. Having said that, it¡¯s still going to be a tall order for any human being to control the energy. The potent true qi will render him a vegetable as long as it upies his body.¡±

    ¡°I need to loan something from you.¡± Yes, that was my shifu speaking; however, I questioned if it was him because of how different he was to his usual self. ¡°¡­ Iplete Tai Chi.¡±

    Even after spending all these years piecing my fragmented memories of the conversation together, I still only have an overall picture. After the conversation, I felt true qi coursing through my body simrly to a fountain spraying straight into my body, reducing my pain until I passed out. Uponing to, I couldn¡¯t lift a finger.

    My shifu, who was the first person I saw upon opening my eyes, appeared as exhausted as a man who just scrapped, yet he made fun of me as he always did. He then chucked me a book and told me to train. I immediately started training to catch up on lost time.

    Shifu told me my nigh immobile condition was due to me making a mistake during my training, thereby breaking my own arms and legs, but I¡¯d recover once I was advanced enough. For that reason, I trained in my room during those days.

    The daoist helped rify any mistakes or struggles for me during his frequent visits, so my days spent there weren¡¯t too bad. As the difficulty ramped up as I advanced, though, I needed to endure correspondingly more pain to the point that I consideredmitting suicide. The most severe event was when the true qi I couldn¡¯t control sent me through walls and, well, my shishu became impotent¡­ Luckily, I managed to return from the gates of hell each time I thought I was a goner and would see my shifu first thing upon waking.

    After a year of training, Shifu sent me to a deste mountain - deste unless you count the stone monument there with an iplete carving of Tai Chi. Though I had no clue what it was, my eyes were glued to it once I saw it.

    Shifu never visited me again. Instead, the daoist would bring me three meals a day and share stories in the pugilistic world with me. One day, he suddenly told me, ¡°Even though you have an ailment, you can¡¯t just spend all day sleeping. You have to keep active when you¡¯re young. I have a style that can keep you fit and healthy. Spend some time training it.¡±

    I had never seen any style so ugly that stressed the importance of going slow. Nevertheless, it suited me due to my difficulty with moving. And so, I practiced day and night as I stared at the Tai Chi diagram - minus eating, drinking and sleeping.

    Two yearster, when I fully recovered, I discovered I had the mental cultivation of the internal style Shifu gave me down pact. I was able to control my energy as I willed it. As for Tai Chi, I only realised it was Wudang¡¯s exclusive Tai Chiter on.

    ***

    ¡°Watch closely. If you miss this opportunity, you may never see it again,¡± Elder Shou sternly stressed to his disciples.

    ¡°But he is not even one of us. What is there to see?¡±

    Everyone would agree Wudang¡¯s elder generation were and are still heroes of the martial world. Arge number of those in their thirties and forties were also considered heroes. When it came to the younger generation, in contrast, even Elder Shou wouldn¡¯t be able to crack a smile.

    Nobody in the three current generations of Wudang understood the essence of Tai Chi. Only five disciples had what it took to learn Cosmic Primordial Empyrean Style and Yin Yang Primordial Style. At the current rate, Wudang was going to lose its ce in the martial world.

    ¡°Do you know how your Brother Yun picked up some of Tai Chi¡¯s essence?¡± Elder Shou derisively pointed to Ming Feizhen. ¡°He was the inspiration.¡±

    ¡°He is not one of us, though. Regardless of how skilled he may be, there is nothing we can learn from him. Plus, Moyan Xiuluo and Venerable Mianhua are both stronger than him.¡±

    ¡°There are only two people who can be said to have mastered Tai Chi. One of them is our patriarch, and the other one is that punk. Both of them are prodigies at martial arts. I won¡¯t say anymore. Focus. Don¡¯t blink or¡­ you will miss the moment.¡±

    ***

    Only Hong Jiu and Boss Shen knew about me standing in for Wudang. Luo Ming wasn¡¯t going to identify me since I had no intention of expending much internal energy.

    I gestured for my opponents toe.

    Mianhua and Moyan Xiuluo regarded each other prior to double teaming me in a pincer formation. I sunk my shoulders as I waited for their attacks to approach. When they expected to finish me, Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s horizontal sh mmed into Mianhua¡¯s palm, but they were able to control the recoil this time thanks to their previous experience.

    Smiling, I circled my hands around their arms and redirected Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s momentum heading to Mianhua¡¯s dome and Mianhua¡¯s hand to Moyan Xiuluo¡¯s chest. At thest opportunity to escape, the two sent an aerial each to get to safety. The two blocked uponnding tounch themselves back at me, this time without the testing part.

    ¡°There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it.¡±

    What resembled a casual, thoughtless wag of my arms was all it took to slide their attacks straight past me. Their attacks didn¡¯t stop, nor could they stop them. As my added force elerated them to exceed the limits they could control, their unbridled speed terminated their offence. Leveraging their momentum, I whipped one on the back and one on the shoulder, sending them left and right.

    Though Moyan Xiuluo rolled back up to his feet, the residue force brought him back down. ¡°What is this voodoo crap?! This is not martial arts! You didn¡¯t even use any strength, so why d-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s technique over power,¡± Mianhua answered in an equally fraught state. ¡°Do you happen to be using the style Wudang hasn¡¯t shown in a long time - Tai Chi?¡±

    I took out a hair essory to put my hair in a ponytail, then dangled a strand of green bristlegrass from my mouth: ¡°Any opinions?¡±

    Mianhua ced his palms together: ¡°It is said that nobody has inherited Tai Chi, so it is a surprise to witness it today. This one cannot see himself winning and hereby concedes.¡±

    Moyan Xiuluo just hopped off the ring.

    ¡°Miss Shen, why do you look like you¡¯re choking?¡± Hong Jiu queried.

    Shen Yiren ced her face down onto her hand and, in a monotone voice, replied, ¡°I¡¯ve seen him use that style before, but I couldn¡¯t understand if it was profound or if he was just egregious. As long as he has that style at his disposal, it¡¯ll be hard to hurt him even if his internal energy is inadequate. Perhaps it¡¯s I who needs to clean the te and try to get to know him again.¡±

    ¡°That level of proficiency in Tai Chi deserves acim. Could he be Wudang¡¯s hidden ace? Daoist Shenfa, you are more calctive than you let on. Who among the youths throughout the martial world could hold a candle to him?¡±

    Hearing Luo Ming¡¯s mumbling, I spun his way and held out a supinated hand: ¡°This one is Wudang¡¯s Huan Xini. Please go easy on him.¡±

    Yes, yes, I like that reaction. Let the anger flow through you.

    Glossary

    Aerial - Refer to the basic moves sybus video on the ToC page.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Block - Landing with your feet in a position that blocks momentum travelling in one direction in order to travel in another direction. In this example (), myst step onto my left foot is blocking forward momentum to transfer it into upward travel.

 Volume 9 97 Invincible in the Ring

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 97 Invincible in the Ring</h4>

    The fact that Luo Ming could look so intimidating was a sign that he had recovered and improved.

    I licked my lips: Tsk, tsk, if we could let loose we w-

    ¡°Stop! Please curb your urge!¡± Jin Caitan intervened upon seeing Luo Ming¡¯s stare down with me. ¡°It is only the first round. We must proceed ording to procedure. Please keep unrted fights outside of the event. Should you vite the rules, both of you will be disqualified.¡±

    The warning was obviously for me since Luo Ming never was allowed to participate.

    ¡°Although Brother Moyan Xiuluo and Venerable Mianhua have conceded, that does not equate to their groups pulling out as each group has two chances topete. May this one ask if your groups are continuing?¡±

    Upon returning to his pavilion, Mianhua held his hands in a prayer and replied, ¡°This one gave it everything he had, yet he could not touch Brother Huan once. Cold Mountain Temple hereby withdraws from thepetition.¡± He then whipped his hand, hurling thest nine weapons behind him onto the ring using his internal energy.

    I couldn¡¯t tell if I hurt Mianhua or not because he clearly seemed to be full of energy.

    ¡­ Did I really just win?

    Jin Caitan praised, ¡°This one has seen more tragic deaths to the fight than he can remember. He admires you for taking your loss humbly and honourably, Venerable Mianhua.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If Mianhua wanted to, he could¡¯ve worn me down and then sent someone in for the second match to capitalise on my fatigue, so I¡¯d agree with Jin Caitan¡¯spliments.

    ¡°How about you, Brother Moyan?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re done.¡± Moyan Xiuluo sat down onto his wooden chair heavily, wagging his hand. ¡°If I can¡¯t beat him, it¡¯s not even going to be a fight. If Cold Mountain Temple can take a loss like real men, why can¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Truly a man of honour.¡± Seeing Moyan Xiuluo massage his shoulders instead of nning to offer his weapons, Jin Caitan ordered a few men around, ¡°Please retrieve Demon Eyes Sect¡¯s weapons.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Who gave you permission to take our weapons?¡±

    ¡°Did you no say you were not continuing, Brother Moyan? Did this one mishear you?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t mishear. I don¡¯t remember anyone saying we had to return the weapons if we quit, though.¡± Jin Caitan¡¯s moment of brain stutter prompted Moyan Xiuluo to smugly add, ¡°Mr. Jin, you said every group has sixteen weapons and must exchange seven weapons for the right topete, but you never told us what happens if we don¡¯t want topete. We paid the toll when wepeted, but why should we return the weapons to you if we are notpeting?¡±

    Maybe someone should coin a saying that goes, ¡°Live long enough and you¡¯ll see yourself be a hero.¡± The big, fat middle finger Moyan Xiuluo gave Luo Ming actually felt satisfying to those who were displeased with Luo Ming.

    ¡­ By the way, did I really win?

    ¡°Mm¡­ That issue is not in this one¡¯s hands. You will need to consult Patriarch Luo regarding the matter.¡±

    ¡°Heh, fine by me. Why would I shy away?¡± responded Moyan Xiuluo.

    Congrattions on finding the door straight to hell. You think Luo Ming would break a sweat taking the nine weapons from you?

    ¡°While we did run into some issues, the oue of the first match in the first round is decided.¡± Jin Caitan pivoted and then gestured toward me. ¡°Wudang¡¯s Huan Xini is first to blow our audience away.¡±

    I closed my eyes to relish the apuses until I heard, ¡°Nice, Moyan Xiuluo. I respect you for taking your loss like a man!¡± and ¡°Venerable Mianhua, this one respects you for your humbleness!¡± While the two acimed men saluted those apuding them, I was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the ring. Jin Caitan even ced his hands behind his back and signalled for me to sneak off the ring without drawing attention to myself.

    ¡­ You might as well dere me the loser! Why am I being more humiliated when I¡¯m the winner?!

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Winning begets the same oue is losing. Why even bother getting in the ring?¡±

    Song Ou was told Ming Feizhen had to resolve a stomach ache. Mountain Monster identified Huan Xini was Ming Feizhen in disguise despite anyone telling her since she recognised his style and was a professional disguiser herself.

    Hong Jiu cackled: ¡°All that dissing, yet you still came to see him perform. You do care about him.¡±

    Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t going to pass up an opportunity to throw a verbal jab at Mountain Monster just because they were on the same side now. For the same reason, in addition to Mountain Monster being Mountain Monster, she considered side kicking Hong Jiu but, one, her chances of beating him fair and square were slim, at best; two, she couldn¡¯t afford to draw attention.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t worried he¡¯d lose, what you be watching for, then?¡±

    ¡°My brother would lose? I¡¯m only sparing you because you¡¯re woman and a gnome. Otherwise, I¡¯d have you cough up a thirty metre trail of blood.¡±

    ¡°Thirty metres? I¡¯d be mincemeat, then!¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°All right, tough guy, I¡¯d like to see you act so smug after Ming Feizhen loses.¡±

    Hong Jiu tugged up a corner of his lips as he shook his head: ¡°Haha.¡±

    ¡°You dare to bet?¡±

    ¡°Ten thousand silvers says he won¡¯t lose.¡±

    Mountain Monster was bristling with so much anger that she forgot she stood to gain nothing if Ming Feizhen lost. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do it. What makes you think he won¡¯t lose?¡±

    Hong Jiu crossed his arms. ¡°I no longer had any apprehensions once I saw the ring.¡± Hong Jiu then cast his gaze to Ming Feizhen and added, ¡°One day, you, and everybody else, will realise that, once my first brother is in the ring, losing is not an option. He is invincible in the ring.¡±

 Volume 9 98: He Is

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 98: He Is¡­</h4>

    ¡°They say Wudang disciples are losing their edge and will no longer be as revered in another ten years. In my opinion, as long as he remains with Wudang, Wudang will continue to thrive,¡± Tie Hanyimented.

    Dugu, the only person in his group who could still put up a fight, was busy removing his shirt to rece the medicine patches on his wounds.

    ¡°Why do you all look depressed? Can His Majesty trust you to rescue him if he were to see you?¡± Shen Yiren questioned, strolling into the pavilion.

    ¡°Wh-why are you here?¡± Long Zaitian finally loosened his grip on his wine cup. ¡°Miss Shen, you were just over there. Where have you been? We have been worried sick.¡±

    As Su Xiaocked experience and arrived on the sce, the information he could provide was limited. Consequently, Shen Yiren sneaked over to Long Zaitian¡¯s pavilion during the intermission to gather more information.

    ¡°I see¡­ Feng Jian. I better remember the name. I came to tell you I have a n to sabotage Luo Ming; however, we need time¡­¡±

    ¡°W-will it really work?¡± Long Zaitian asked after hearing Shen Yiren¡¯s n.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only way when there¡¯s no way. It¡¯s the only chance we have at extracting His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°The second match in the first round will be between Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Wutong Jin Yuxuan and Nanjing¡¯s Li n. Please prepare,¡± announced Jin Caitan.

    The worst possible oue was Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group having to fight early because, if they were eliminated in the next round, then Shen Yiren could cover for them. Unfortunately, their wounded personnel were the only ones who could buy time, while she was the only one who could proceed with the operation to thwart Luo Ming.

    Long Zaitian voiced, ¡°Worry not. Wutong Jin Yuxuan is also taking part, and they¡¯re good, close friends with Ming Feizhen. How about asking him to ask Interim patriarch Yu to smash that Ling Jerk on our behalf?¡±

    Huofeng was already in the ring: ¡°Wutong Jin Yuxuan has no weapons to offer and, therefore, cannotpete.¡±

    People were disappointed in Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s decision as they were looking forward to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Wutong Jin Yuxuan going head to head. After all, they didn¡¯t give a toss about some Li n that popped out of nowhere.

    Wutong Jin Yuxuan weren¡¯t happy, either, since they heard Luo n took the weapons from their owners right after Wutong Jin Yuxuan returned them. Perhaps nobody dared to speak out owing to what they witnessed on Dragonroot Ind from Yu Feiyaun.

    ¡°¡­ We can only reveal His Majesty¡¯s identity, then. As inws, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary wouldn¡¯t dare to oppose us. I know it¡¯s dangerous, but it¡¯s our only recourse,¡± opined Long Zaitian.

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t decide how to proceed.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Agreed.¡± Upon spotting Kuang Lu enter and flick Dugu a challenge using his eyes, Tie Hanyi changed his tone. ¡°He is not with Ling n, so¡­ I don¡¯t think that is going to work.¡±

    Engaging Kuang Lu¡¯s gaze, Dugu dered, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    Shen Yiren argued, ¡°But you¡¯re inj-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± Dugu pulled his shirt back up and walked off. ¡°If I die, tell His Majesty that I¡¯m sorry for failing him.¡±

    ***

    ¡°The view is nice from here, is it not, Brother?¡± Ever since Emperor Yuansheng was detained, all he could do was sit in a blind spot behind Luo Ming. Luo Ming might¡¯ve sounded smug, but he never shamed Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Golden Cicada, Duguye¡­ Auspicious beasts have always been titles reserved for The Ultimate Three. If you¡¯re calling him a cicada, he must be close to their level. Good judgement. He really does have immeasurable potential.¡±

    Immobilised, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°¡­ Compared to Feng Jian?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re only going to know if they fight. You must be bleeding inside as he is bleeding outside right now. A young elite you raised is about to sacrifice himself for you. It¡¯s quite heart-warming.¡±

    Kuang Lu was doing all the attacking, and Dugu was just deferring the inevitable.

    ¡°If just one of The Ultimate Three were here, you wouldn¡¯t be able to enact your ns.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s always been a fact. Your forefather established the three offices as well as Liu Shan¡¯s Elites Rankings to help him manage the martial world -mendable foresight, I must admit. You may have inherited the surname, but you¡¯ve been Emperor for too long that you have forgotten your family is originally a family of soldiers. Your forefather and Hero Shenzhou were venerated vassals of the imperial court back then.

    ¡°Your forefather was skilled and quelled all of the rebellions in the Nine Provinces. When he decided to revolt, everybody joined his cause. Together, they won so convincingly that people gradually turned to him without a fight. It¡¯s tragic to see the state of Li n now when one thinks back on the days of your n¡¯s glory.

    ¡°A hundred years ago, Luo n was already considered one of the main powerbrokers of the martial world. Although not as revered as in the present, Luo n stood tall all these years and is still respected. In contrast, the imperial family is closer to its erstwhile status as a vassal and is gradually bing a part of history. Even though you are aware of it, you¡¯re in denial.

    ¡°The reason your forefather kept The Ultimate Three system is purely because he didn¡¯t believe his descendants could inherit his peerless skills, consequently seeing the need for an alternative measure to protect Li n. There¡¯s nothing wrong with the system.

    ¡°Nobody in the pugilistic world can hold a candle to them, and I wouldn¡¯t have such an easy time if just one of them were here now. You, however, have them guarding the borders, far, far away from you. What you¡¯ve done is the same as a swordsman discarding his sword. I doubt your forefather ever foresaw his descendants losing wisdom along with his martial prowess.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s scowl fed Luo Ming¡¯s joy.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t like it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ The people¡­ The people¡­ need them more than I do.¡±

    Luo Ming brought his eyelids closer together.

    ¡°I have imperial guards and White Princes protecting me in the pce. If The Ultimate Three are kept as my bodyguards, it is just wasting their prowess. How can I waste their ambitions, talents and rob them of their goals for my own selfish ends? It¡¯s called a monarch¡¯s loyalty to his vassals.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never starved or been worried about basic needs in my life thanks to my people. If I don¡¯t lend them my best shield in return, I don¡¯t deserve their blessings. That is called a monarch¡¯s loyalty to his people.

    ¡°You are a peasant who is good at fighting, so I don¡¯t expect you to understand a sovereign¡¯s inner workings.¡±

    ¡°You have a lot to say, don¡¯t you? Do you know why Kuang Lu is representing Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary?¡± Luo Ming whispered something that had Emperor Yuansheng in disbelief and lost for words. ¡°That¡¯s why Duguye needs a funeral for sure.¡±

    ¡°Shizun, Moyan Xiuluo requests an audience,¡± Feng Jian reported.

    ¡°Moyan Xiuluo?¡± Upon recalling the fearless man who refused to hand over a single weapon, Luo Ming said, ¡°Let him in. I¡¯d like to see what sort of man de Demon¡¯s disciple is to oppose us in our territory.¡±

    Moya Xiuluo and his two buddies refused to salute Luo Ming, just dropping a casual, ¡°Hey,¡± as a greeting. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s appearance did catch Moyan Xiuluo by surprise, though he didn¡¯tment or seem to care.

    Luo Ming, smiling weingly, inquired, ¡°May this one ask how he can help you?¡±

    ¡°Just not liking some things, so I came to hear from you.¡±

    ¡°Not liking some things? After you refused to return the weapons?¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± Moyan Xiuluo responded as he wagged his hand. ¡°It is not I who wishes to opine but mypanions.¡±

    ¡°Yourpanions? Who?¡±

    ¡°Have you already forgotten this gentleman next to me?¡±

    One of them had his face concealed under the hood of his mantle. The other was a bald monk with a green dragon tattoo extending from his face to the side of his neck.

    ¡°Venerable Wuqing?¡±

    Wuqing pressed his hands together: ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°So, how can this one help you?¡±

    ¡°It is not this one who wishes to see you.¡±

    Confused, Luo Ming looked to the third individual with Moyan Xiuluo. ¡°You are¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s me.¡±

    He generated a navy field around him, enveloping the pavilion inside the blue sphere. Those within felt a heavy weight shunt them toward the ground as though they were being washed under the ocean, prompting them to resist with their true qi.

    If anybody was going to identify the sensation, it was Luo Ming. He couldn¡¯t reproduce the full potential of the skill or control it with as much precision even though he had Repository Sword Theory.

    The man pulled off his mantle and howled, ¡°Luo Ming!¡±

    Some call him Evil Eminence. Some call him a hero. Others call him a bandit. His name is all it takes to strike fear into the heart of a certain royal family. If you ever want to empty out their pce, you only have to mention his name - Bodhi Abels.

    Glossary

    Auspicious beasts - creatures associated with good luck, such as dragons, phoenixes, qilins, turtles¡­

    Golden cicadas - In ancient times, people associated golden cicadas with purity because they flew, didn¡¯t care for food in the ¡°mortal realm¡± and were proud. So, they (usually business people) believed, one, they would bring in endless wealth (the pronunciation); two, they say golden cicadas had premonition abilities - usually those with interests in mystical stuff would say this; three, students use it to describe their evolution from student to graduate (this is a new-age thing).

 Volume 9 99 Evil Eminences Fire (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 99 Evil Eminence¡¯s Fire (Part 1)</h4>

    Unlike Kuang Lu, Dugu had a difficult time fending off the former¡¯s waves ofposed attacks, resorting to jumping, crawling and rolling pathetically. Howbeit, if one was to think of it from another angle, they¡¯d see that Dugu was doing an amazing job of not letting Kuang Lu tag him.

    As Kuang Lu found Dugu¡¯s centreline, Dugu stopped the sword¡¯s forward momentum between a vacuum he generated between his hands. Kuang Lu quickly adjusted his tactic ordingly, retracting and shing. Dugu pivoted and checked the de on his elbow, parting the dirt on the ground at the moment the ¡°ng!¡± was audible. Separated again, there was a dent in the ground where they previously stood.

    Dugu¡¯s strategy for his goal to stall was sound. The only problem was that Kuang Lu was too closely matched for him. Plus, Dugu could feel the sweat coursing down his spine while trying to hide the fact that his injuries were bothering him. The reason Dugu avoided catching attacks was because Kuang Lu¡¯s internal energy was potent enough to give him trouble as he could feel right now.

    Emperor Yuansheng adopted the war orphan on a trip and raised the orphan to be his agent from a young age. Dugu was only one of the many war orphans Emperor Yuansheng adopted after the war. If he wanted to, Emperor Yuansheng had enough adopted children to form an army.

    Dugu wasn¡¯t the type to deliberately shroud himself in mystery or withhold his skills. His decision to stay out of the spotlight was merely a behaviour that secret agents should adopt. He had stained his hands with as much blood as any other member of the Emperor¡¯s Entourage - not ounting for different levels of opponents. The only difference between him and his colleagues was that he¡¯d finish his targets with their own specialty. Thus, his true expertise had always remained an unknown part of his profile.

    Not many people nowadays would think Dugu¡¯s speciality was Shield Style since nobody had inherited it in a long time. The most difficult part of learning the style was that one had to use their body and true qi as a shield. If the name wasn¡¯t a dead giveaway yet, that information should be enough to pick up that it¡¯s a style that focuses predominately on defence.

    Shield Style was Dugu¡¯s shield. Dugu was the shield of the man who adopted, fed and raised him. When he was given the choice, Dugu didn¡¯t hesitate to choose Shield Style.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Kuang Lu¡¯s sword was ordinary to the eye, but nobody could identify his style, either.

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt.¡± Kuang Lu couldn¡¯t have missed the smell of herbs oozing from Dugu when they had spent so long tussling and getting in each other¡¯s personal space. ¡°This one was trying to find your injury¡­ Fighting when you are covered in wounds, are you making light of this one?¡±

    ¡°In that case, are you going to yield to appease yourself?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a viable suggestion.¡± Kuang Lu raised his sword again. ¡°This one shall beat you until you yield.¡±

    ***

    Owing to the suspenseful scrap in the ring, nobody noticed the one set of curtains standing erect instead of billowing.

    ¡°Luo Ming!¡±

    ¡°Evil Eminence¡­ the bane of all weapons,¡± Luo Ming muttered, unable to lift an arm.

    Abels cleaved down at an angle that should¡¯ve sealed Luo Ming¡¯s fate, forcing Luo Ming to discharge red energy to catch Sea Deer Hunter. As Abels amped up his output, the floor beneath Luo Ming split, though Abels couldn¡¯t cut any deeper. Rumble! The two dropped below the pavilion when the floor finally gave in, dropping them into a spacious secret chamber that the pavilions were built atop for thepetition.

    ¡°You¡¯ve improved again in the time you¡¯ve gone missing, Brother Bodhi. That chop was a lot fiercer than I remember.¡±

    Calling Abels¡¯ attack ¡°cleaving¡± would be semantically erroneous because he actually mmed with Evil Eminence Scripture enhancing it. Luo Ming employed his internal energy to separate himself from the ground and Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s force - the same concept as hammering a block of diamond on a thin piece of nk.

    ¡°I owe Ox Demon my thanks. Had I not grasped Evil Eminence Scripture, you probably tagged me with the surprise attack. I heard you already executed him. Ruthless, aren¡¯t you? I would¡¯ve killed him even if you didn¡¯t. There¡¯s nothing to gain from keeping someone who¡¯d sell his friends out for riches.¡±

    Abels personally taught Ox Demon Evil Eminence Scripture because thetter was the second strongest in Evil Spirits in addition to always spearheading fights.

    Since provocation wasn¡¯t getting him anywhere, Luo Ming drew his sword strapped to his sash. ¡°Remember our conversation in the desert? This one said to you, ¡®In terms of weapons, you cannot win, but what about skill?¡¯ Then, this one went and loss to you when his injuries beset him.¡± Luo Ming sent the dirt on the ground up to the walls with a flick of his sword. ¡°This time, your weapon is superior to mine again, but¡­ what about skill?¡±

    Though he wasn¡¯t looking down on Abels at all, Luo Ming tugged up a corner of his lips upon trapping the former in a qi tornado that rose forth from thin air - Ocean Theory. The shrinking tornado could bepared to a formation of soldiers ready to attack from anywhere and at any time.

    Contrary to the belief that Evil Eminence Powerfield was an expanding field, it was actually a condensed blue column, just as Abels retracted his blue energy to his de exclusively.

    Abels burst through the qi tornado, giving Luo Ming hardly any time to react.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for your mindless ramblings!¡± From above, Abels pressured Luo Ming on all sides.

    Luo Ming had no alternative but to churn out more internal energy as a shield whilst countering with God-Shocking Theory, cing them in a deadlock.

    Syed hair billowing, eyes red, Abels scowled as he stared straight into Luo Ming¡¯s eyes: ¡°I¡¯m here for revenge.¡±

 Volume 9 100 Evil Eminences Fire (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 100 Evil Eminence¡¯s Fire (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Set goals that are suitable for your level.¡± Luo Ming pierced the dark-blue field with a red beam.

    Abels, still disregarding defence, forged forward. Even with his excellence, Luo Ming would have trouble against a strong opponent who just charged forward with total disregard for his life.

    The constant sparks generated from their Enlightenment sh created a little starry world of their own in the room. Those above ground could feel the floor shifting beneath their feet, but the walls of the chamber remained unmoving.

    ¡°You¡¯re deliberately goading me into attacking?¡±

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, what good does being so aggressive do you?¡± Luo Ming¡¯s calm demeanour was the best indicator that Abels had fallen for Luo Ming¡¯s ploy.

    Luo Ming turned his dark-red energy into a luminous red energy, thenunched it off his sword. Abels held his weapon as a shield to prevent gaining another hole in his body, but the impact had him skid back several metres.

    ¡°That is from God-Shocking Theory - one of the six theories I mentioned to you.¡± Luo Ming ran his hand over his cracked sword. ¡°Sea Deer Hunter, huh? Only several exchanges and this one¡¯s sword is already done. This one expects nothing less from one of the Nine Nations Enervating des.¡± Watching Abels¡¯ face turn pale as he spat out filth and get back in position, Luo Ming added, ¡°As for you, you underestimate yourself. You¡¯ve always been on this one¡¯s list of worthy opponents to kill.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m not after your head. Verily, you are a dormant problem; however, you are public enemy, so Jiangnan¡¯s martial artists will hunt you for me. Your Sea Deer Hunter is a treasure for us fighters because it¡¯s like having a second life.

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, you¡¯re a great man, brave, smart and strong. This one respects you as a person. Regrettably, you¡¯re too hasty and neglect details. By the way, that¡¯s what Ox Demon shared. Your brothers and woman didn¡¯t need to die. I even had to execute River Monster in public to draw you out. Thankfully, all the effort has borne fruit.¡± As Abels didn¡¯t fire back, Luo Ming went on condescendingly, ¡°You needed three to five years to recover from the injuries suffered at Shaolin. I then hurt you again; how much is left of you? Without your Sea Deer Hunter suppressing your internal injuries, you wouldn¡¯t survive one trade with me. Your assassination has failed. What do you have going for you now?¡±

    ¡°Anyone ever told you that you talk too much?¡± Never had Abels wanted to tear a head off so badly. His desire for vengeance had found him once again. ¡°I told you I don¡¯t have any desire to listen to your mindless rambling.¡±

    Abels hoisted his weapon up and imposed his pressure once again.

    ¡°Hmph, I told you it¡¯s us-¡± Luo Ming hastily started up Abyss Theory to stop the blue wave with his own version. s, Abels broke through, prompting Luo Ming to diffuse the crisis with Mountains Theory. ¡°Evil Eminence Scripture¡¯s seventh level¡¯s mental cultivation?¡±

    Luo Ming could only imitate up to the sixth level as the seventh level went against the grain of everything he had learnt all his life.

    Pinned inside Abels¡¯ territory, Luo Ming could only use God-Shocking Theory to sh back at the barrage Abels¡¯ offered. Abels lunged in closer to take Luo Ming¡¯s attempt at escape head on. Luo Ming twirled his sword horizontally to hook onto Abels¡¯ hilt, and Abels let Luo Ming disarm him so that he had a free cannonball to ram Luo Ming with.

    Luo Ming, believing Sea Deer Hunter was keeping Abels¡¯ internal injuries in check, focused on securing Sea Deer Hunter in his left hand. Once he was certain Luo Ming couldn¡¯t evade, Abels expanded the surface area of energy on his fist, knocking the blood out of Luo Ming.

    Injured for the first time in a serious fight, Luo Ming blurted, ¡°Your internal injuries¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, your internal injury is pretty bad. Let me see if we can do something about it.¡±

    Abels didn¡¯t know what Ming Feizhen did to him after their drinking session, but his injuries healed noticeably on a daily basis. The residue energy of Yijin Jing gradually excreted from his body without deliberate effort on his part, empowering him to reach higher levels of Evil Eminence Scripture.

    ¡°Brother Ming, I shall repay the favour in our next life.¡±

    ¡°Luo Ming, you¡¯re finished!¡±

    Moments ago, he was flustered. As Abels forged forth once again, though, Luo Ming cracked a bitter smile. ¡°You know, this isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve failed. If there¡¯s something I learnt after my failure¡­ it¡¯s how to be underhanded.¡±

 Volume 9 101 Evil Eminenceâ€™s Fire (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 101 Evil Eminence¡¯s Fire (Part 3)</h4>

    Luo Ming faded¡­ No, he disappeared, whisking away as tendrils of green smoke.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way there¡¯s such a technique or qinggong in existence,¡± Abels thought.

    Abels retrieved his energy from Sea Deer Hunter and protected himself using Evil Eminence Powerfield, ensuring nothing inside his field could escape him or harm him. No matter how long he waited, though, Luo Ming was as good as gone.

    ¡°Come out, coward! Come out!¡±

    Abels still had his fists if he lost Sea Deer Hunter. Livid and having lost hisposure, he rammed a white wall, yet he barely left a mark or blew off any dust.

    ¡°Coward, and you call yourself a respected master?! Come out!¡±

    Why do I hear water?

    Abels looked down to discover water rising fast; it was already past his knees, although not cold enough to cool him down.

    Did he prepare a trap?

    As a thief, Abels had to be a bank of knowledge when it came to mechanisms and traps. As an elite martial artist, he had keener senses than the average man, yet he didn¡¯t hear any trap activate or notice where the water came from.

    Is there a trap that can hide the direction water is flowing to and fro?

    There was no time to worry about that as the water soon went over Abels head. Though breathing underwater was an easy task for Abels, Luo Ming grew up around water, while Abels grew up in the desert. When Abels wanted to head back up, the ceiling he tore down was blocked.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Upon spotting Luo Ming shoot for his shoulder, Abels swam forward as fast as he could and splintered the sword with his fist. s, Luo Ming¡¯s advantage in water showed as he propelled himself back and then advanced on Abels again. Despite the disadvantage, Abels advanced and unleashed a seven-hitbo.

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got?¡± Abels stopped to ask.

    Luo Ming expected to have a lopsided advantage, not to discover Abels could speak in water. Simply put, Abels generated his blue sphere to keep barricade the water outside it. Abels had reversed bad situations into victories time and time again, so giving up when things were heading south was thest thing he¡¯d do.

    Abels transformed the water into a broadsword and enveloped it in blue energy. Just as Evil Eminence Powerfield could alter the wall around to stay away from him he could manipte the water into weapons. In other words, he was in an armoury.

    ¡°Catch this!¡±

    Luo Ming stabbed and stabbed to break down Abels¡¯ flurry of flying des. Abels edged closer with each attack and then, once in range, sted Luo Ming in the chest with his fist to start, then drove another punch at Luo Ming¡¯s face.

    ¡°Luo Ming, the only way you can pay for what you did is with your life!¡± Abels let loose on Luo Ming¡¯s face, roaring as heid into Luo Ming.

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless.¡±

    Again.

    Abels should¡¯ve had the senses to detect the direction of Luo Ming¡¯s voice, yet he couldn¡¯t.

    Meandering with Sea Deer Hunter in hand, Luo Ming continued, ¡°Regardless of how mighty or intelligent you may be, none of it holds any weight here.¡±

    Abels seemingly couldn¡¯t see Luo Ming or hear him. Perhaps Abels was so invested in shouting and punching that he didn¡¯t notice. When Abels finally stopped to catch his breath, ¡°Luo Ming¡± was as bloody as he was. ¡°Ha, ha, hahaha, you¡¯re dead! Hahahaha, you¡¯re finally dead! Hahahaha!¡±

    There was no jubnce in Abels¡¯ugh. To the contrary, he keptughing andughing as though the morose feelings caught up to him and needed liberation. After a while of this odd behaviour, he slumped onto the ground and then started sobbing in addition to howling. No matter how many tears he shed, sadly, he couldn¡¯t banish the sorrow welling up inside.

    Abels didn¡¯t know what to do now that he avenged his brethren and lover. Where was he supposed to employ his skills next?

    Luo Ming lifted his hand and moulded qi.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°Abels¡­ Abels¡­ Can you see me?¡±

    Abels¡¯ head jerked up upon hearing the voice he¡¯d been yearning to hear in forever. There she was behind him, as bright and beautiful as he remembered.

    ¡°A-Lan! You¡¯re okay! You¡¯re okay!¡± Abels checked to see she had a body temperature and her signature scent in his embrace.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. We¡¯re all okay¡­¡±

    ¡°A-Lan¡­ A-Lan¡­¡±

    Fatigue melted his nerves and quelled his anger. Just like there¡¯s a limit to one¡¯s wealth, there¡¯s a limit to one¡¯s energy. No matter how determined one may be, an overdraft will take its toll if not paid. The constant fighting, training, assassinations and emotional turmoil relied on an energy loan to keep Abels afloat; those fumes he was running on had also run out. His eyelids fell, and his awareness of his surroundings shut down with them.

    They were still in the same chamber. Luo Ming was still Luo Ming and not a mush of blood as Abels saw. Nothing had changed.

    ¡°Sleep, young, unyielding, angry Evil Eminence¡­¡± As he strolled deeper into the chamber, Luo Ming continued, ¡°When you wake, you will drown in madness and bellow. Your destructive craving for vengeance against this cruel world will disappear. You will pretend you¡¯re okay and face the light,ing up with every excuse under the sun to convince yourself that there is salvation for this world. That¡¯s cruelty and a fate that can¡¯t be altered.¡± This calm speech was what he had spent almost a decade crying out. That sunlight he walked away from was the one that he believed couldn¡¯t serve him pragmatically. ¡°This world¡¯s peace is still repulsive.¡±

 Volume 9 102 Bizarre

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 102 Bizarre</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng desperately tried to open the meridians Luo Ming sealed. Had it not been for Luo Ming¡¯s true qi being impure and his miscalction of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s improvement over thest few decades, Emperor Yuansheng wouldn¡¯t have any chance of breaking free. See, skill requires sparring and fighting to polish. In contrast, internal energy potency can improve with age.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng expected to hear who would win below him since Abels¡¯ first roar was resoundingly loud, yet he couldn¡¯t hear anything once they plummeted to the chamber below. Thus, it was a tense race against time to regain freedom before Luo Ming returned.

    Emperor Yuansheng saw hope when he almost regained functioning of his right arm. s, a surge of energy made it through his body, reinforcing the seals he had loosened.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. You¡¯re too old to try something so childish, and that¡¯s not the sort of person people can respect as a leader.¡± As A-Ji spoke, he stabbed all Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s upoints again. Instead of leaving, A-Ji stuck around and shed his pearly whites.

    ¡°D-do you know who I am?¡± Emperor Yuansheng questioned.

    ¡°Of course. I have been eager to meet you, Your Majesty.¡±

    A-Ji reminded Emperor Yuansheng of someone, but thetter couldn¡¯t specify who it was.

    A-Ji ran his eyes over Emperor Yuansheng,menting, ¡°Tsk, tsk, so this is how the current Emperor looks. Hmm. Hmm,¡± not forgetting to touch an arm, a head or tap a leg to confirm Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t a doll or something. ¡°The name is A-Ji. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°A-Ji, stop ying around. Shizun said we can¡¯t touch him,¡± Feng Jian chided from the other side of the pavilion.

    Moyan Xiuluo and Wuqing were both out on the ground in their blood. The mouring outside and fact that nobody came over was the best proof that Moyan Xiuluo and Wuqing were put away without anyone noticing their tussle.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I could kill him. Why so uptight?¡± A-Ji responded with a smile going from ear to ear. He then pressed his hands on Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s cheeks hard. Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t fight A-Ji¡¯s strength at all. ¡°Since you havee all the way here, please watch¡­ your subordinates die.¡±

    Dugu was still in the game thanks to his experience and ability to adopt on the fly, though he was cut up badly. This time, Kuang Lu had impaled Dugu through the left shoulder.

    ¡°If you try to shut your eyes, I will use needles to keep your eyes open. Believe me¡­ That is the more painful option,¡± A-Ji whispered. ¡°Just kidding. I would never do that.¡± He rested his chin on his hand and added, ¡°You must want to see this. We cannot let you out because of your identity, though. Fret not, I have a solution.¡±

    A-Ji swiped the tablecloth over to wrap Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head in, ignoring the fact that it was hot due to the boiling tea that was just spilt on it. All Emperor Yuansheng could do was grunt and suffocate.

    ¡°A-Ji, that¡¯s enough!¡±

    ¡°Yes Sir, hahaha.¡± A-Ji sliced open a few holes on the tablecloth for Emperor Yuansheng to breathe through his nose and see. He then shoved Emperor Yuansheng to the front of the pavilion and asked, ¡°Better? Clear view? While Young Master Kuang is strong, he has a lot of openings. If your secret agent can find them, he might have a chance.¡± A-Ji grabbed a melon to bite, and then his eyes sparkled. ¡°Whoa, nice.¡±

 Volume 9 103 Kuang Lu

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 103 Kuang Lu</h4>

    Lifting his left arm was a luxury to Dugu at this point. He inhaled and used what energy he had remaining to seal an upoint, stopping the bleeding from his left shoulder.

    ¡°What happened to Shield Style?¡± Kuang Lu took his time wiping the blood off his sword and didn¡¯t even spare Dugu a nce. ¡°There are less people who know Shield Style than people who understand the advanced styles of Orthodox Realm. From what I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯s a counterattacking style. I was hoping to glean something from you, but you¡¯ve let me down.¡±

    Dugu lifted a corner of his lips and got up, raising his arms as though he wasn¡¯t even scratched. ¡°Quite the insight, Young Master Kuang. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg. Mastery is by no means easy.¡±

    Though Kuang Lu disregarded Dugu a second ago, that smile reminded him he shouldn¡¯t let his guard down against someone ready to die fighting. ¡°I heard learners of the discipline can deflect their opponent¡¯s technique. I have seen you perform it before, so why are you not using it today?¡±

    Dugu refused to rify.

    ¡°From our exchanges, I am certain the premise for deflecting techniques is to identify them first. You cannot deflect what you cannot understand, correct?¡±

    ¡°You are amazingly perceptive. You easily make the top three most judicious opponents I have encountered.¡±

    ¡°You amazingly have a knack for spouting drivel when you can¡¯t even lift your arm. I shall spare you out of respect for you. Quit and leave.¡±

    Dugu shifted his eyes to Kuang Lu¡¯s borderline-white sword: ¡°May I ask what the name of your sword is?¡±

    ¡°Lufeng Snow. It¡¯s made from cold iron, giving it cold energy. It¡¯s the very reason you can¡¯t lift your arm.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°It¡¯s a great sword.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t take chances for granted.¡± Kuang Lu sheathed his sword and took out a scroll from his case on the ground. He turned the knob on it to draw a sword that dropped the temperature around it. ¡°This is Huxi Moon, my main sword. If you don¡¯t want to die, leave now.¡±

    Dugu just stood there with his smile.

    ¡°You had your chance.¡±

    Technically speaking, Kuang Lu simplified his style. Howbeit, he dialled up his output enough to wobble Dugu.

    ng! Kuang Lu furrowed his brows upon hearing a sound that shouldn¡¯t have been made when he prated Dugu¡¯s body.

    ¡°¡­ Shield Style¡¯s foundation does lie in seeing through techniques; however, execution is not predicated on it. Even if the user cannot identify the style, Shield Style can still be used without drawbacks. The reason we must identify the style is to avoid deflecting the technique without our control, causing coteral damage. In other words, it¡¯s just for uracy purposes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you let me strike you?¡±

    ¡°A shield¡¯s primary job is to shield. If it¡¯s used to impose harm, it should be named something else. Have you heard of anyone forging a shield to use it for harming someone?¡±

    Kuang Lu already missed fourteen strikes in the span of time it took for Dugu to reply. After missing his even faster neenth thrust, Kuang Lu went for an all-out thrust. Halfway to his target, though, he felt his force diminish. He had no time to react for his sword reversed into his chest far too quickly.

    Thud! From his knees, Kuang Lu muttered, ¡°You couldn¡¯t have figured out my style¡­ How did you¡­¡±

    ¡°But I have.¡±

    ¡°H-how¡­?¡±

    ¡°There are innumerable variations to the brightness on a clear day, the darkness on a dark day, dawn driving off the dark, dusk swallowing the light. There is no means of remembering all of it to illustrate¡­ This is an excerpt from Tang Dynasty Poet, Bai Juyi¡¯s ¡®Lushan Herb Cottage Record¡¯.

    ¡°When Brother Ming put on his divination act to guess your profile, we were unaware he had pointed out who you were as we were so focused on his enigmatic behaviour. It had been on my mind for some time as to why he chose to recite those lines in particr. I suspected you are a member of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, but you and Young Master Ling are clearly not together, so I was lost until¡­¡±

    Dugu cast his gaze to the basket with three scrolls still in there and borated, ¡°I heard the name of your sword. You only carry four scrolls in the basket at all times, and it¡¯s obvious they¡¯re swords. Connect that with what Brother Ming recited¡­ ¡®The four ces nearby that the eyes can see and ears can hear; in spring, flowers decorating valleys; in summer, the golden orb is visible through stone doors; in autumn, the argent light reflects off the creak; in winter, there is snow on Lufeng.¡¯

    ¡°On our first meeting, you wielded Misty Mountain. Today, you drew Lufeng Snow and Huxi Moon. Thest one must be Scenic Valley Flower, I suppose. All of your swords derive their names from Bai Juyi¡¯s Lushan Herb Cottage Record.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°You identified yourself as Kuang Lu after Brother Ming¡¯s divination. It has dawned on me that the ¡®Lu¡¯ in your Kuang Lu is not ¡®Lu¡¯ as in ¡®deer¡¯ but as in ¡®cottage¡¯. Mount Lu is also known as Cottage Kuang. I am now sure you did note up with the name; it is a name Brother Ming pped on for you when he pointed up at the centre of the room to conceal your identity. In other words, he pointed out that you are the leader of Mount Lu.

    ¡°Everything Brother Ming said points to one thing¡­ The Young Master Ling we know is either a branch disciple or your cousin. As for you, you are the next patriarch of Mount Lu - Ling Ruoyun.¡±

    Glossary

    Huxi - It¡¯s the name of a creek in front of a temple in Shandong. It can also be a title to address monks/daoists with courtesy.

    Bai Juyi¡¯s Lushan Herb Cottage Record - This goes back to the reference in Volume 7, Chapter 35. For the record, it¡¯s a real piece of writing. In summary, it was Bai Juyi¡¯s recount of the herb cottage and scenery.

    Kuang Lu/Ling Ruoyun¡¯s four swords - Some of them have gotten lost in trantion, but they¡¯re all from Bai Juyi¡¯s work, using the seasons as themes. What Ming Feizhen did was cover the fact that he was giving away the names of the swords by reciting irrelevant stuff. Of course, it was on the listener to parse it for themselves and figure that out.

    You know those secret messages where you need to read every third word or whatever to make out the real hidden message? This is simr to it, except you do need to know what Ming Feizhen was referencing and catch on as Dugu did to parse it. And, no, it¡¯s impossible to keep that in the English trantion.

 Volume 9 104 Return of the Renegade

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 104 Return of the Renegade</h4>

    ¡°Ever since Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was crushed five years ago in Hangzhou, they kept to themselves and remained untouched until Jin Wangsun decided he was above everybody. Gold and Silver Sect had to withdraw their forces not long after gaining momentum just as what happened with Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary back then, and Master Ming is still credited with Jin Wangsun¡¯s mysterious disappearance.

    ¡°Had it not been for Qilin Guards, the imperial court¡¯s representative, subduing Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary after Night Fortress crushed them overnight, Night Fortress would¡¯ve been the head of South Ember Five Pces instead of Qilin Guards.

    ¡°Since Patriarch Ling Hanzhong sequestered, renowned steward, Ling Yaoshi, also Ling Hanzhong¡¯s son, handled everything in his father¡¯s stead. Ling Yaoshi kept a tight leash on his people unlike his father, modifying their n rules. Most notably, he raised the bar for leaving their sect grounds unbelievably high, thereby reducing their activity in the pugilistic world.

    ¡°Jiangnan¡¯s martial world looked forward to feasting their eyes on Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s sword prowess again after many years at the tournament.¡± - ck and White Reflection, Second Press Release, Yuansheng¡¯s 31st year.

    ¡°Young Master Dugu wins!¡± announced Jin Caitan, descending into the ring to get in between the twopetitors before more damage could be done.

    Though the twopetitors wobbled, both were d Jin Caitan stepped in. Contrarily, the audience protested Jin Caitan stepping in just when the fight was just getting exciting - their perspective.

    ¡°What sort of judging is that?¡±

    Jin Caitan exined, ¡°Both of them are injured as much as the other. Young Master Kuang took a heavy blow. Young Master Dugu is running on fumes. If they continue, even if one of them manages to kill the other, neither will be able to continue to the next round. How can this one let them die for nothing if it is right in front of him? Does that sound right to any of you?¡±

    ¡°Okay, exin how you dered him the winner? Young Master Kuang¡¯s swordy is spectacr. Had Dugu what¡¯s-his-face not cheated, Young Master Kuang would still be fine. If neither of them can continue, why isn¡¯t Young Master Kuang the winner?¡±

    It¡¯s not umon for people to think thepetitor spending more time on the offence is a winner of a fight, disregarding the sound ys from the other corner.

    ¡°Please hear this one out!¡± Jin Caitian inhaled and belted, inducing brief headaches in some people. ¡°Even this one can only say both of them are experts in their fields, making it impossible to say who beats who.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, so why not dere it a draw?¡±

    ¡°That would have been this one¡¯s decision if Young Master Dugu did not enter the ring with existing injuries.¡± Jin Caitan gave politely smiling Dugu a nod of respect. ¡°Young Master Dugu was hurt quite bad prior to this match. Surely you could tell with your experience. He entered this match ready to die. Regardless of what he was met with, he reserved enough energy so that he could turn the tables in one stroke. He even took a strike from someone of Young Master Kuang¡¯s calibre to create an opportunity for himself. Hence, he demonstrated strategic thinking and courage. If the fight were to continue, he would have searched for an answer to everything offered and won. Since this one is here, that will not be necessary.¡±

    Ling Ruoyun had done his best from a young age, travelling and learning in hopes of filling the shoes he would eventually have to fill. It still hadn¡¯t urred to him how much of his defeat was the product of him underestimating his opponent.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°C-, Brother Kuang, I shall help you,¡± Young Master Ling voiced.

    ¡°Sit down, Ling Mabi,¡± Long Zaitian derided. ¡°If you get in the ring, I¡¯ll whoop you back out!¡±

    Ling Mabi: ¡°You think you can handle my Flying Thrust Style?¡±

    ¡°Can you even catch me?!¡±

    ¡°Stop¡­¡± Ling Ruoyun pushed himself to his feet slowly and weakly, yetmandingly, asserted, ¡°Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡­ yields. We pull out.¡±

    ¡°Wait. W-we do not need to fear them. Worry not. That cat is no match for m-¡±

    ¡°Listen to me¡­¡±

    Only Ling Ruoyun knew what he himself was thinking. His cousin¡¯s swordy wasn¡¯t up to scratch yet. He couldn¡¯t see himself beating Huan Laixing - not now that he was injured, at least. Prior to scrapping with Dugu, Ling Ruoyun was eager to test his four self-invented styles against Tai Chi, but one would have to be a ninny to not keep strength in reserve given where they were and who the people around were. It was better to take the loss than lose everyone.

    Ling Ruoyun could no longer support himself once he saluted Jin Caitan and Dugu, requiring his cousin to help him. On the other hand, Dugu was able to walk over and expressed, ¡°Brother K-, Ling, thank you for sparing my life.¡±

    Ling Ruoyun barely managed to lift the corners of his lips: ¡°Let us spar¡­ again at another time.¡±

    At this point, smiling subtly was the best Dugu could do.

    Ling Mabi handed over their eight remaining weapons whilst grumbling to himself.

    Xiao Huangquan handed over their eight weapons without being asked: ¡°Hahaha, you can bite each other all you like, but spare this old man. We don¡¯t have enough people, so we¡¯ll pass.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Oof, that was dangerous.¡± A-Ji held out two bits of tablecloth to Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Look at your subordinate. Why so serious? I just wanted to let him see his master, yet he flicked the sword qi at me. Thankfully, I have quick reactions.¡±

    When he saw Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s predicament, Dugu redirected Ling Ruoyun¡¯s sword qi at A-Ji¡¯s face, resulting in the tablecloth splitting in two.

    ¡°Stop celebrating. Your Majesty, you want to know who else we have on our side?¡±

    Following behind Feng Jian on the way down was another swordsman.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Tang Ye!¡± eximed Emperor Yuansheng, recognising the voice. The me Emperor strapped to Tang Ye¡¯s belt caught Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s attention when the former was finally in sight. ¡°You¡­¡±

    Tang Ye made no attempt to exin.

    ¡°And there you have it.¡± A-Ji draped on a cloak a size too big for him. ¡°The three of us will be back in a jiffy. In the meantime, enjoy the show¡± - A-Ji¡¯s white pearls suddenly seemed as if they were oozing darkness from them - ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

 Volume 9 105 A Free Lesson (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 105 A Free Lesson (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Elder Xiao, this one would like to ask again: are you pulling out?¡± Jin Caitan inquired.

    Xiao Huangquan guzzled a mouthful of wine, then snapped, ¡°Look, fool, do any if us appear to be in any shape to fight?! My back has been aching ever since Dragonroot Ind! In any event, our firstpetitor has pulled out, full stop.¡±

    As the invited guest of the event, Jin Caitan was already introduced to the young man who quickly drew attention for his good looks in the ring. Jin Caitan took it upon himself to convey, ¡°This is Luo n¡¯s Sun Character Worship leader. Master Tang may be young, but he is Luo n¡¯s first department head not from their n.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Who is he? Since when was outsiders allowed to head the smithing department?¡± The man¡¯s hands did as much talking as his mouth did. ¡°How can he represent Luo n when we don¡¯t even recognise him?¡±

    A-Ji, who wasn¡¯t in the ring, had his eyes as curved slits simrly to his lips: ¡°I really do get whatever I wish for. The moment you need a dummy to demonstrate on, someone offers himself up. A-Ye, show them what you got.¡±

    Tang Ye could only consider A-Ji, among all of those in Luo n, his friend, which was more or less the result of A-Ji providing him with answers or keys to his answers whenever he had questions.

    Tang held his right arm parallel to the floor and cooked up the air around it. The heat and the fluorescent orange could only belong to one style those present could name - Scorching Sun Spirit Manual. Even though he had convinced them his internal energy could rival Luo Yan¡¯s, Tang Ye decided to turn it up a notch, expanding the formless internal energy coalesced in his hand until it developed into a crimson sphere.

    Poof! Tang Yeunched the fireball at the protestor. The man smashed it with his hammer as a desperate reaction, only for the me to ravage the length of his hammer and incinerate him. By the time people beside him turned to aid him, the fire had already prated his body. To their bewilderment, the man froze and zoned out, resembling a doll.

    One of Luo n¡¯s elites checked the man¡¯s pulse to find Tang Ye burnt all of the man¡¯s meridians. In short, the man was now a vegetable. Tang Ye¡¯s shocking ruthlessness was one thing, but to manifest internal energy as fire and inflict damage without direct contact? It was akin to something out of a fantasy story.

    Tang Ye only gained the ability thanks to his proficiency with Yang Blood True Qi, Scorching Sun Spirit and Poison King¡¯s supplements. For someone to replicate that without all threeponents should be impossible.

    Tang Ye¡¯s still-warm hand didn¡¯t just tell him he had improved by leaps and bounds since joining Luo Ming. It also reminded him that he hadn¡¯t decided on whether he was doing the right thing - and reminded him of Shangr.

    Jin Caitan observed Tang Ye staring at his own hand and rolling it into a fist: ¡°Mount Daluo, please send in your contestant.¡±

    Insouciantly relishing his tea, Ming Feizhen scanned their revving-to-gopetitor: ¡°Not too shabby. Head high and chest out. Now go.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°You sure about this? Can he really hack it?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°I don¡¯t think he can win.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand: ¡°If he doesn¡¯t win, you can call me Ming Dogpoo.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Big Brother Dogpoo, wh-¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t lost yet!¡± Ming Feizhen turned around and nodded: ¡°Your turn.¡±

    It would sound odd to describe the man with the crown, cloud boots and coat as a dark cloud crashing the bright day¡¯s party, but that really was the vibe he gave off as he entered the ring.

    ¡°Yi Wangyou?!¡± Tang Ye¡¯s pitch went up.

    Yi Wangyou drew his sword at his sash and pointed it at his foe across from him. ¡°And?¡±

    Feng Jian mumbled, ¡°How is he still alive¡­?¡± He then used Voice Transmission to tell Tang Ye, ¡°I caught his heart already. Even with the best medical attention, he can¡¯t have recovered his full power in such a short time. Go all out. You only need to win.¡±

    Tang Ye pulled his eyebrows even closer together.

    ¡°Fight!¡± Jin Caitan announced.

    ¡°Hey, Leader, what¡¯s the big idea behind having Yi Wangyou dress up as a sage or something? Also, what¡¯s Tangy doing over there?¡± Hong Jiu asked.

    Ming Feizhen moistened his throat with another sip of tea: ¡°Like a bull charging with its eyes on the ground, he took someone¡¯s advice and decided cutting corners was something to fashion. Since he thinks he can cut corners, I¡¯ll fry his brain. I¡¯ll show him what a real shortcut is.¡±

    Glossary

    Yi Wangyou¡¯s appearance - For the crown, imagine Lu Bu¡¯s antler crown without the antlers. For the coat, imagine the huge coats nobles often wore in the Han dynasty. The following image is only a general reference and shouldn¡¯t be taken as exact replicas of what Yi Wangyou has.

    Coat -

 Volume 9 106 A Free Lesson (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 106 A Free Lesson (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°How¡­?¡± Feng Jian didn¡¯t even realise he wrinkled his nose.

    ¡°Nice, nice,¡±mented A-Ji.

    ¡°Enough with the jokes¡­ How is he standing there?!¡±

    Tang Ye lunged up to Yi Wangyou and brought me Emperor down diagonally using me Emperor Swordy. Despite Tang Ye demonstrating fluidity that would take years to achieve. Yi Wangyou drew his sword and yelled as he intercepted Tang Ye head on. With hisrge sword, Yi Wangyou effortlessly whipped Tang Ye back so fast that thetter had to use his sword as an apparatus to decelerate. Had the ring been smaller, Tang Ye would¡¯ve already lost.

    In the two subsequent engagements, Yi Wangyou overwhelmed Tang Ye.

    ¡°This is impossible,¡± Feng Jian verbalised. ¡°Shizun personally opened his meridians, and Poison King used his Binary Poison Style to upgrade Tang Ye¡¯s internal energy. His imitation of Scorching Sun Spirit is second only to Luo Yan. How can he be losing to an injured man after we invested so much into him?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s impossible? If we can cheat, so can they. If their cheats are better than ours, it checks out,¡± disputed A-Ji, casting his gaze over to Ming Feizhen.

    Tang Ye: I lost the first time due to our difference in level. I caught up and drew with him the second time after Poison king helped with my internal energy. How can I be losing now that I¡¯m even stronger, not to mention he is injured?

    ¡°If we¡¯re going to fight¡­ Let¡¯s see who¡¯s stronger between us after I risked my life for this power.¡± Tang Ye took in a big belly of air and raised me Emperor, dousing it in enough heat to cover the entire perimeter of the ring.

    Yi Wangyou didn¡¯t seem bothered in the slightest. To the contrary, he appeared bored. He sheathed his sword in the floor again, waiting to knock Tang Ye off whenever thetter attacked. Though Yi Wangyou had yet to use any specific style in the match, the discrepancy between him and Tang Ye didn¡¯t require an exnation.

    Tang Ye charged in with anger gushing up to his skull. Yi Wangyou drew his sword out of the ring to engage once again. After a hard shove from both of them, they scraped off to the opposite side of the other, neither winning the internal strength contest. Due to the difference in sword quality, though, Yi Wangyou¡¯s sword chipped and was disced off centre further than Tang Ye¡¯s, affording Tang Ye the head start upon restarting.

    Tang Ye brought me Emperor around one hundred and eighty degrees to find Yi Wangyou and opted to stab, reducing the window Yi Wangyou had to react even more. Yi Wangyou, however, let Tang Ye close in until me Emperor couldn¡¯t gain another inch of ground.

    ¡°Not even one of the Supreme Ten Saints¡¯ true qi armour should be able to block one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding des! What is this?!¡±

    Yi Wangyou finger speared Tang Ye¡¯s right arm, short circuiting thetter¡¯s true qi flow, then secured me Emperor for himself. Tang Ye directed his true qi to his left hand immediately to sting Yi Wangyou on the chest. Yi Wangyou traded with a left of his own. Contrary to what Tang Ye expected, the heat didn¡¯t burn Yi Wangyou. Instead, Yi Wangyou exhaled a short breath, sending Tang Ye reeling out of the ring.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Isn¡¯t he on the cusp of death? Jeepers creepers, he just stomped¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen set his teacup down smugly: ¡°His Sacred Armour has been modified using Demon Sect¡¯s guardian Blood Demon¡¯s Blood Demon Armour. Since it can maintain one¡¯s qi and blood bnce, the only way you¡¯ll beat the wearer is if you kill them.¡±

    ¡°How did he withstand me Emperor?¡±

    ¡°I wove the undergarment of Blood Demon Armour using celestial spider silk. You couldn¡¯t dent it with me Emperor and Siming Sword together.¡±

    ¡°What about the sword?¡±

    Ming Feizhen flicked a thumb up: ¡°It¡¯s Wudang¡¯s Prodigy Sword. Yeah, it¡¯s inferior to me Emperor, but it¡¯s good enough to get him through this match.¡±

    ¡°How did he take the heat of Tang Ye¡¯sst palm strike?¡±

    ¡°The glove he has on is woven from snow spirit spider silk. The cold poison on it is the bane of Yang Realm internal energy users, so only twenty percent of the heat got through. As for his boots, I stuffed our sect¡¯s Leaping Fragrance in, so he could cover over fifteen metres in one jump.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is he supposed to be the terminator? He could take on an army with that gear. Still, Tang Ye shouldn¡¯t be that far behind.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged: ¡°I also fed him my secret resurrection pill, so his internal strength will be double his usual for two hours.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s gear gave Yi Wangyou a massive power up, but it didn¡¯t grant him his normal mobility. If Deste Sword Dance wasn¡¯t rooted in strength and, instead, relied on mobility, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to use it. Stuffing Leaping Fragrance into his boots, therefore, was an insurance policy.

    ¡°¡­ Did you need to be so harsh on Tangy?¡±

    ¡°The Tang Ye we knew wouldn¡¯t have lost. Besides being able to swing his sword around, Yi Wangyou can¡¯t do anything else for the meantime. If it was the Tang Ye we knew, he¡¯d have used his head instead of trying to outmuscle Yi Wangyou.¡± Ming Feizhen got up to walk off and added, ¡°What Tang Ye acquired is the equivalent of what I gave Yi Wangyou. Since he couldn¡¯t understand something so simple, I gave him a live demo.¡±

    Hong Jiu looked over to the superman gear on Yi Wangyou: ¡°Leader, you sure racked your brains, huh?¡±

    ¡°Less talk, thanks. I¡¯m out. You¡¯re in charge here.¡±

    Su Xiao scurried over to query, ¡°Where are you going, Big Brother Ming?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been to Wudang, so we now need to visit the other sects. You should also go help Boss. We¡¯re about to have our hands full.¡±

 Volume 9 107 A Deity

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 107 A Deity</h4>

    ¡°On behalf of everyone in the pugilistic world, please allow me to thank you for your magnanimity.¡± Shen Yiren gave Elder Jia a palm and fist salute as well as a small bow.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Elder Jia reciprocated the polite gesture: ¡°You need not thank this old one, Vice-Captain Shen. If Luo Ming really has been deceiving, murdering, stealing, framing everyone and nning to exterminate us, we cannot sit out. This old one was saying he was behaving suspiciously. Had you not informed this old one, this one would still be in the dark. This old one has no means of repaying your kindness. Please ept three bows and a performance of Falling Lotus.¡±

    ¡°Elder Jia, your promise to coordinate with us is more than enough. I must be somewhere else now. Please excuse me.¡±

    Resembling a besotted man, Elder Jia waved as he softly said, ¡°See you. Come by whenever you can.¡± He wasn¡¯t drooling over Shen Yiren. The main reason he respected her was because Shen Yiren passed him a letter from Ming Feizhen.

    Shen Yiren only recalled Hong Jiu spitting on a finished chicken drumstick to write on a random sheet of paper. She couldn¡¯t be bothered studying such a ¡°special¡± letter and just passed it on. She couldn¡¯tprehended why the elder shook and wailed upon seeing the letter, but she did catch a glimpse of the, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Follow her instructions. Check on Dad every once in a while. Stop worrying about things you don¡¯t need to. It¡¯s annoying.¡± Elder Jia then nodded and agreed on everything she said thereafter.

    Who are Feizhen¡¯s brothers¡­?

    It was impossible to deal with Luo Ming on his turf without assistance. Luckily, Shen Yiren easily convinced around 70% of the factions present to join forces with her in subduing Luo Ming. Although the chaos on Dragonroot Ind did a number on them, having crossed paths with each other made them confident that they could work together now that they knew what everyone was packing.

    I hope I make it in time.

    Shen Yiren ducked behind a blind spot and wore on the mask of a man with scars so that she could grantly strut out. She expected to see River Monster and Mountain Monster, who were her assistants, but¡­ ¡°Xiao Han, why are you here?¡±

    Whilst letting Mountain Monster work on giving him a long face, Su Xiao replied, ¡°Big Brother Ming told me toe help. By the way, he was wearing Wudang¡¯s uniform and said he was done on their end.¡±

    ¡°Wudang¡­¡± Shen Yiren recalled Ming Feizhen performing Tai Chi. ¡°He should be able to talk to them. Now¡­ what did he ask you to help with? You are inexperienced, so be careful not to get busted.¡±

    Su Xiao flicked up a peace sign: ¡°All thirty sects on this side have agreed to work with us!¡±

    ¡°Huh? They¡¯re all unorthodox sects. How did you¡­¡±

    All of the unorthodox bosses sat as if they were at a poet¡¯s party or lecture to prepare them for a schr examination.

    ¡°There you have it.¡± As Mountain Monster stayed with Su Xiao in Canhu Town for some time, she knew what the fuss was all about.

    Practically half of the mission had beenpleted already. Shen Yiren peered into the distance and uttered, ¡°How many steps ahead did you read¡­?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Mount Daluo wins!¡± announced Jin Caitan.

    ¡°Luo n has yet to lose, though.¡± By the time he drew attention to him, the sounds of weapons nging into the cauldron were just echoes. Nobody could identify him due to the face wrap that hid his face.

    A-Ji helped Tang Ye up: ¡°What happened to rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first?¡±

    ¡°Can we start yet?¡± questioned Feng Jian.

    Before Yi Wangyou could respond, Jin Caitan called, ¡°Wait!¡± and then sauntered over to salute Yi Wangyou. ¡°This one did hear you came to Jiangnan. In saying that, he does not recall Kunlun Sect being among the eight approved groups. This one, nheless, is blessed to behold Deste Sword Dance in this lifetime.

    ¡°Having said that¡­ you are not with Mount Daluo. Nobody¡¯sment regarding Mount Daluo taking in people should be shown any regard, but that does not apply to you for you are Kunlun Sect¡¯s patriarch, nor do you use their style. Therefore, Luo n¡¯s defeat cannot be considered your victory.¡±

    ¡°I shall withdraw, in that case,¡± Yi Wangyou expressed.

    ¡°Mount Daluo withdraws from this bout,¡± Hong Jiu confirmed. ¡°We are about facts. A vition is a vition. An elimination is an elimination, my foot.¡±

    Nobody understood what Mount Daluo was ying at ever since Yi Wangyou showed up as their representative. Calctive people shut their eyes to indicate that Jin Caitan should sort it out himself.

    Jin Caitan, encountering a rule vitor who¡¯d own up to it without resistance for the first time, stammered, ¡°That, that being the case¡­¡±

    ¡°We win, correct?¡± Feng Jian asked.

    ¡°Y-yes, the victory of this bout goes t-¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    He had two gs across his back - as diviners in the pugilistic world carried them - and a humble smile that rendered Jin Caitan stupefied.

    ¡°Y-you are¡­¡±

    ¡°Who is this empyrean?¡± His internal energy was too much for anyone to listen to him with their naked ears. ¡°Thirty years to establish in the east. Thirty years, emptiness cannot attract emptiness. Thirty years to find eternal youth. Thirty years to end the search for the big dream.¡± He whipped his sleeve and eximed, ¡°Bow down to Empyrean Zha!¡±

 Volume 9 108 Everything is Under Control

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 108 Everything is Under Control</h4>

    Luo Ming let out a rxed breath after a long meditation session. Using Seven Emotions and Fleeting in conjunction to manipte Abels¡¯ five senses was an amazing aplishment, but it also cost an amazing volume of true energy. The fact that he epted the risk of suspicion to recover in his secret chamber before returning to public view showed just how taxing it was on him. That being said, taking down Abels with just loss of energy was easily one of the highlights of Luo Ming¡¯s legend.

    ¡°Sea Deer Hunter, truly deserving of its legendary status as one of the Nine Nation-Enervating des.¡±

    The de doused in sea-blue energy already proved its worth in the short scuffle between two feared men. It proved its worth once again from the fact that it was credited with Luo Ming¡¯s quick recovery.

    Despite Poison King¡¯s poison effectively boosting Luo Ming¡¯s internal energy, at the end of the day, it wasn¡¯t an equivalent for cultivated strength. An imitation doesn¡¯te without its ws. Poison King¡¯s boost could only be utilised once every three days and for only two hours tops, or the poison would harm the user. If it was so omnipotent that it could provide a permanent boost, Luo Ming would¡¯ve had a fat chance of grasping more of Repository Sword Theory already - not to discount other factors.

    The surprises Luo Yan, Ming Feizhen, Emperor Yuansheng gave Luo Ming in their exchanges, including his other failures, reminded him of how unstable his foundation was; escaping each time by strokes of luck that were borderline humiliating. Like a building built on a wobbly foundation, Luo Ming was fully aware of the risks he was carrying on his path to vengeance. His only option was to start Repository Sword Theory and master it without cutting corners. s, he didn¡¯t have the patience to wait for another dozen years, nor did he have that luxury anymore.

    Sea Deer Hunter empowered Luo Ming to continue fighting no matter how severe his internal injuries were. Most importantly, it allowed him to manipte the venom inside him at will.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ next.¡± Luo Ming cast his gaze up at the ck case inside the furnace that was absorbing all of the energy from the matches to forge a sword nerve.

    Luo Ming originally nned to have Feng Jian overwhelm all thepetitors until Yu Feiyuan¡¯s performance on Dragonroot Ind forced him to change his ns. To prevent Wutong Jin Yuxuan frompeting, Luo Ming set thepetition up so that Wutong Jin Yuxuaun couldn¡¯t influence the results of thepetition, cognisant of the fact that Yu Feiyuan¡¯s absence meant that he wouldn¡¯t get to gather as much fighting spirit for his sword nerve. No matter, though, for Abels followed him into the secret chamber topensate - proximity rtive to the cauldron mattered. After their match, the fighting spirit in the ck case had reached ny percent of itspletion.

    ¡°Everything is under control.¡± Luo Ming didn¡¯t react surprised to the presence of the elder approaching from behind as thetter¡¯s appearance was part of his ns. ¡°It is proceeding as nned. Have you recovered¡­ Poison King?¡±

    Luo Ming realised the risk of his secret chamber being exposed once Hong Jiu and Song Ou were extracted, which was why he checked high and low, thereby finding Poison King along with the fact that many of his secrets had been dug up. It wasn¡¯t bad news entirely, however, because he learnt Ming Feizhen¡¯s secret - Ming Feizhen escaping from the eternal stone door.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you think everything is going ording to your designs? How na?ve¡­¡±

    ¡°That prick¡­ ate two of my babies! I want him to go to hell!¡± fumed Poison King.

    ¡°Rx, Poison King.¡± Luo Ming made his way out of his secret chamber. ¡°Everything is under our control. He¡¯s already shown his ace; he¡¯s out of moves. Watch the progress of the sword nerve. I need to show the public I am still present.¡±

    There was a guard in the pavilion and Emperor Yuansheng, but A-Ji andpany were gone. Luo Ming cracked a grin when he saw Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s astonishment as he watched the ring without blinking.

    Indeed, Feng Jian should have seized victory by now.

    ¡°Ahahahahahahaha, take this! And this! And this!¡±

    Some dishevelled daoist dressed up as though he picked a garment from here and there to p together sent sword qi after sword qi st whooshing at Feng Jian, gusting up small tornadoes in the arena. It was one-way traffic, with the daoist doing all of the attacking and Feng Jian wobbling on his knees, unable to even draw his sword.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Coward¡­ Coward, fight me in a sword fight¡­¡±

    ¡°Catch!¡± The daoist¡¯s next big st blew Feng Jian across the ground.

    Luo Ming: What in the world?

 Volume 9 109 What in the World?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 109 What in the World?</h4>

    Jin Caitan would¡¯ve been diagnosed with epilepsy if a doctor saw the way he opened and closed his mouth repetitively.

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡±

    On the left of g on the empyrean was ¡°piss off¡±. On the right g was ¡°riot¡±. Both were masterpieces of Xiao Huangquan. In the empyrean¡¯s right hand was Xiao Huangquan¡¯s Core Sword. In his left hand was a swordy manual. As he paced around in circles in ce, he recited, ¡°Heavens, please show mercy on the humans suffering from this disaster.¡±

    Elder Shou sat erect as a student would in his teacher¡¯s presence, stroking his beard: ¡°Motherflipper, we¡¯ve found ourselves a professional. I need to ask him for some pointerster.¡±

    Even though nobody had heard of Feng Jian before, the way he silently and swiftly entered the ring was a testament to his speed. His style stressed speed, which meant that he forewent superfluous movements and aimed to finish his target in his first strike, yet he was unable to close the gap by even one step due to the gales battering him.

    Cornered, Feng Jian resorted to a style reserved for assassination missions, seemingly teleporting. Yet, Empyrean Zha apparently saw Feng Jian in slow motion, whacking thetter into the ground to reveal his location. The spectacle left everyone speechless, well, except for one person.

    ¡°Empyrean Zha is peerless. Empyrean Zha is unparalleled! I knew you would fight! I have been waiting for this day!¡±

    Empyrean Zha¡¯s fan - Luo Siming - was the impetus for the next man to cheer, ¡°Empyrean Zha is a wizard!¡± and the next one to shout, ¡°Long live Empyrean Zha!¡±

    ¡°You know why I¡¯m called Wind Sword?¡± Feng Jian queried out of the blue.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ I can read the wind.¡± Feng Jian charged forward at a higher velocity. Empyrean Zha performed an ugly swing once again, but Feng Jian found a way through the wind this time. ¡°Your style is simple and straightforward. It didn¡¯t take me long to read the trajectory of the wind!¡±

    Feng Jian sent Core Sword out of Empyrean Zha¡¯s hand and the ring. Having seen Empyrean Zha wield a sword, everyone expected him to be a swordsman, so they were taken aback when he lost his grip on it. Meanwhile, Feng Jian rode his wave of momentum to chase down Empyrean Zha¡¯s chest. Unfortunately, he hit a wall of wind that was even stronger than previous gusts.

    ¡°You jerk! I rented that from Ol¡¯ Xiao for twenty-five taels an hour!¡± With one flick of his sleeve, a wind st came out and blew Feng Jian into the air.

    Everything proceeded as Shifu nned, so why did this randome out of nowhere toe after me¡­?

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s him.¡±

    Xiao Huangquan turned to see thementer was Shen Yiren, who was standing at the entrance of their pavilion. She red at Zha Pi, who served Xiao Huangquan a cup of tea. ¡°I haven¡¯t had time to sort you out. You¡¯ve fooled me for long enough.¡±

    Zha Pi profusely shook his head: ¡°Big Bro forced me!¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡± Shen Yiren walked up a bit closer to get a clearer view of the Empyrean Zha in the ring. ¡°He¡¯s back in the ring¡­ What¡¯s he thinking?¡±

    Xiao Huangquan chortled: ¡°Does it matter? It¡¯s a good thing whatever his reasons are. Haven¡¯t you noticed the look on Luo Ming¡¯s face?¡±

    Shen Yiren hadn¡¯t had time to pay attention to Luo n¡¯s pavilion. Luo Ming¡¯s face had ¡°confounded¡± written all over it.

    Feng Jian barely stuck hisnding, eyes still on Empyrean Zha at all times.

    I should have the chance to mount an offence as long as I don¡¯t let him fetch his sword, but¡­ why hasn¡¯t he even tried to retrieve it?

    Empyrean Zha pulled out the two gs: ¡°Let¡¯s roll like this.¡±

    What is he up to now?

    ¡°Piss off! Riot! Piss off! Riot!¡± Empyrean Zha chanted as he waved his gs side to side, generating criss-crossing gales. As a consequence, Feng Jian had to restart his reading from scratch whilst trying to stay grounded in the ring.

    Since he keeps trying to keep me away and considering the fact that I managed to disarm him once I bridged the gap, he must not be good at close-quartersbat and is trying to avoid it.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Using almost his full power, Feng Jian propelled himself through the wind. Seeing as Empyrean Zha stopped his motions, Feng Jian saw it as an opportunity to go for the finishing thrust. Empyrean Zha reacted even quicker, catching Feng Jian¡¯s extended arm and wrestling him into the ground on one hand. Feng Jian arched into a bridge uponnding to get up, only to feel internal energy gush into his body. He saw the smile of a cunning viin prior to being thrown up.

    Empyrean Zha swung his other arm over at full power: ¡°Son of a Doggy Kid¡¯s Ruthless Dog- Father -ying sh!¡±

    As Feng Jian went through the ring, the audience, the woods¡­ he questioned, ¡°Who in the world is he?!¡±

    Luo Ming: ¡°Yeah, so, what in the world?¡±

 Volume 9 110 Invincible in the Ring

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 110 Invincible in the Ring</h4>

    Empyrean Zha stayed in the ring, beaming. ¡°Crane!¡±

    They patiently waited, but no crane ever came. Empyrean Zha stopped budging when he saw the yellow crane he prepared in Shen Yiren¡¯s hand, and she was giving him a prankster¡¯s smile.

    Why is Boss at Xiao Huangquan¡¯s pavilion? Oh, sheet, she must be ticked off I didn¡¯t notify her. Okay, guess this crane-riding gig is cancelled. Let¡¯s just strut out like a boss.

    Shen Yiren performed a palm strike, sending a sparrow to Empyrean Zha. Empyrean Zha appeared as though he was weighing the feasibility of riding the crane as he watched it fly over.

    ¡°Hyah!¡±

    The sparrow tried futilely to escape from Empyrean Zha; however, an imperceptible energy forced it onto a trajectory it didn¡¯t want to go. To its dismay and everyone else¡¯s amazement, Empyrean Zha rode atop the sparrow back to his pavilion. Nobody thought it was odd to hear howling and grunts from behind the curtain, assuming it was Empyrean Zhamunicating with deities or something.

    ¡°Siming?¡± Luo Ming¡¯s brain was flooded with questions upon hearing his subordinate mention his son¡¯s name. He regretted dismissing Empyrean Zha as a fraud when he heard about thetter¡¯s appearance at his n¡¯s manor, but it still didn¡¯t answer where Empyrean Zha came from.

    Luo Ming¡¯s initial conclusion was that Empyrean Zha was some elite posing as a disciple of Quanzhen Sect and Zhou Botong as it was a preposterous story. Thing was, Luo Ming couldn¡¯t name anyone with the style Empyrean Zha used. He could defeat Feng Jian without revealing his own style, but that was predicated on the fact that he knew all the ws of Feng Jian¡¯s style and as another individual. If Abels was Feng Jian¡¯s opponent, the former would¡¯ve only won after several hundreds of exchanges.

    Jin Caitan, despite his wealth of experience, couldn¡¯t provide anymentary. In his defence, that wasn¡¯t even a fight; it was a deity fighting a measly human. He even rode a sparrow¡­

    ¡°Elder Xiao¡¯s group wins the third round. If there are no objections, the first round of Refining Divine Convention is hereby over. The second round shall be between the three victors.¡± Remembering Dugu was injured, Jin Caitan looked over to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group and continued, ¡°Injuredpetitors can switch.¡±

    The reason that switchingpetitors was allowed was to ensure enough fighting spirit would be collected for the sword nerve. After all, if one couldn¡¯t fight, how could they produce fighting spirit in a scrap? As for Jin Caitan, he only encouraged it out of the goodness of his heart.

    While the audience was busy discussing thepetition, Ming Feizhen was changing as he went on the move again. ¡°Everything is set, then?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    Shen Yiren helped Ming Feizhen with his clothing. ¡°Yep, we¡¯ve made contact with all factions present and read out what you penned. Everyone has agreed to join once someone ignites the me. Where¡­ did you get the secret code on the sheet from? Why were they all inconsbly dreaded upon hearing the code?¡±

    My shifu owes all of them. If they didn¡¯t freak out when I threatened not to pay back any of the debts, the sun would rise from the west.

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    Shen Yiren gave up on the topic since it was evident Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t going to tell the truth. ¡°ording to Dugu and the others, His Majesty is held on Luo n¡¯s tform, and it¡¯s heavily guarded - not to mention Luo Ming¡¯s presence. It¡¯s likely he¡¯ll leverage His Majesty as a hostage when his n goes south.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stripped his outer garments, returning to his usual dress up and then joined Shen Yiren in the crowded passage. ¡°I¡¯ll stall Luo Ming after the second round. Use 20% of the gathered forces to rescue His Majesty. We should be able to outnumber Luo n with this many elites.¡±

    ¡°What are the others going to be doing?¡±

    ¡°Saving me. What else?! You telling me hundreds of you are just going to watch Luo Ming make a spectacle of me until I die? Does your heart not know pain?!¡±

    Although Shen Yiren had yet to grasp Ming Feizhen¡¯s true abilities, she was sure he wouldn¡¯t offer to stall Luo Ming if he couldn¡¯t hack it. ¡°¡­ Just don¡¯t die. I¡¯ll speed over to help you as soon as I free His Majesty.

    ¡°Long Zaitian told me there were another three swordsmen in addition to Feng Jian on the day they were assailed, all of whom are Luo Ming¡¯s disciples. If Luo Ming is absent, they must be the ones keeping watch over His Majesty. We must remove them if we are to save His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve already dispatched a team.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve already worked it out with someone? Who can beat those three?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, they¡¯ve already set out. Just enjoy the show.¡±

    Mountain Monster and River Monster¡¯s faces upon seeing Ming Feizhene back with Shen Yiren read, ¡°Is he really not mentally handicapped?¡±

    Hong Jiu, wiping his tears and runny nose with a handkerchief, eximed, ¡°I told you he¡¯s invincible! The only person he can¡¯t beat is himself! Oi, a hundred thousand! Don¡¯t think you can get away,ss!¡±

    Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen regarded each other, then turned to the ring.

    Jin Caitan dered, ¡°Okay, this one has finalised the finalists. The champion of today¡¯s tournament shall be decided among the following three people. Please wee Wudang¡¯s direct disciple, Huan Xini, impromptu team member Empyrean Zha and Li n¡¯s ace, Ming Feizhen!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen turned back to the others: ¡°Who, who and who?¡±

 Volume 9 111 Confrontation

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 111 Confrontation</h4>

    ¡°It is time!¡± Jin Caitan announced. ¡°Competitors, pleasee into the ring.¡±

    Elder Shounguidly said, ¡°We can proceed, but this old one has something he would like you to understand.¡±

    Jin Caitan saluted Elder Shou: ¡°My ears are yours, Elder.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    From Li n¡¯s pavilion, Ming Feizhen voiced, ¡°I also have something to say! Do not say I did not warn you beforehand.¡±

    ¡°Please speak freely.¡±

    ¡°I, Wudang Sect (Li n), hereby dere I am pulling out! We are not participating any further!¡±

    Thank god I told them Empyrean Zha is an ally in time.

    How else was he going to fight? Right hand versus left hand versus his head? Mountain Monster and Zha Pi certainly could go into their ring as substitutes, but there was no leash to keep them on, and Jin Caitan was far too perceptive for Ming Feizhen to manipte them using Shadow King String. Besides, Luo Ming already witnessed the style once, so it was even easier for him to recognise it the second time. In addition, it was risky for the two since they had yet to see what other tricks Luo Ming had up his sleeve.

    Empyrean Zha (Ming Feizhen) returned to the ring, greeting everyone affably as though he was heading in to collect his trophy, though his attention was actually dedicated to monitoring Luo n¡¯s patrols, especially the head count at Luo Ming¡¯s pavilion. The change there was an indicator that Luo Ming had switched to a substitute n due to Feng Jian failing toe out on top.

    ¡°In that case, the winner of thispetition and the recipient of Luo n¡¯s divine weapon shall be Quanzhen Sect¡¯s Empyrean Zha!¡± Jin Caitan broadcasted.

    As cheers began to rise to the firmament, Luo Ming glided in, performing the same qinggong Feng Jian employed with better execution. There was no chance Ming Feizhen was going to be able to billow Luo Ming out of the ring.

    Continuing with his fa?ade, Ming Feizhen politely expressed, ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    Once Luo Ming acknowledged the greeting, Jin Caitan conveyed, ¡°This one has not let you down, Patriarch Luo. Regretfully, we did not have the privilege of viewing another marvellous spectacle. Nevertheless, Empyrean Zha has proven himself worthy of the victory. This one is ashamed he was unable to identify any of your techniques despite his experience as a referee and his studies, Empyrean Zha.¡±

    ¡°You need not berate yourself. This one could not identify his magnificent techniques, let alone you. If you are ashamed, this one might as well retire.¡±

    Luo Ming spoke with a smile, but his interrogative gaze on Ming Feizhen was all-telling; even Jin Caitan could hear the scathing sarcasm.

    ¡°This one heard you have lived for hundreds of years, Empyrean?¡±

    ¡°This one is only meeting you for the first time today. Who is this person you heard from?¡±

    Since Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t down to engage in his game, Luo Ming changed the topic: ¡°Congrattions on your victory. In saying that, this one does not recall sending you an invitation.¡±

    Ming Feizhen politely replied, ¡°From this one¡¯s observation of the stars, he gleaned an ominous fact that a demonic star had infiltrated Huzhou and, therefore, invited Eng down from heaven to consult him. He stated that one of his own kind had evil intentions. This one, consequently, came to investigate and decided to join thepetition while he was at it. This victory is all the work of the heavens.¡±

    ¡°Which means that you invited yourself?¡±

    ¡°As it is divine providence, what difference does it make if you invited this one or not? Patriarch Luo, let us not concern ourselves with trivial appearances. How about we discuss the fact that you never intended to give the divine sword to an outsider? Are you emotionally attached to the sword?¡±

    To the audience, it was nothing more than a bewildering exchange. To the two conversing, though, it was mental warfare. If any of them could not keep up with the pressure, they would not have any opportunity to speak. The internal energy Luo Ming oozed from his sword was unable to shake up Empyrean Zha, signifying thetter was the real deal.

    ¡°Luo n shall honour the promise as you have won. That being said, everyone might doubt your victory as Li n and Wudang both pulled out. Additionally, it has ruined the entertainment aspect. How about we have three exchanges as an exhibition match? Whatever the oue happens to be, we shall proceed with forging the sword. Our match can be considered the warm-up for the main event.¡±

    The audience certainly wouldn¡¯t turn down an opportunity to witness a fight between two martial artists of their calibre. Ming Feizhen was cognisant of the fact that Luo Ming proposed the idea in hopes of identifying him.

    My job is to stall him. Besides, nobody will suspect me in this appearance¡­

    ¡°If we¡¯re going to have a match¡­ why stop at three exchanges?¡± Ming Feizhen reached for the sky, sending a thin white thread heaven bound whilst brimming with passion for a fight on his face. ¡°If we¡¯re going to fight, how about we go until there¡¯s no doubt who the winner is?¡±

    Ming Feizhen whipped the thread down the same way a whip wielder would, Ancient King Thread - God Whipper! Luo Ming had no time for analysis, raising his sword overhead from his side. The shockwave generated from the impact battered Jin Caitan out of the ring. Eight bricks at Luo Ming¡¯s feet failed to withstand the pressure.

    ¡°¡­ They say Night Fortress was able to rise so fast because a reclusive demon of the pugilistic world was running it behind the scenes. I assumed it was your shifu¡­ You¡¯re good at keeping secrets, Night Fortress¡¯ master, rather, Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Saves me trouble if you¡¯re going to be so straightforward. How about we finish the fight that we didn¡¯t see to the end that night¡­ Patriarch Luo?¡±

 Volume 9 112 What?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 112 What?</h4>

    Nobody could¡¯ve convinced Luo Ming someone so savvy at fighting lived until today. From the moment theymenced, he was unable to assert a single counterattack. He had never seen such an odd style in his life, but that didn¡¯t imply he couldn¡¯t see anything to exploit or contain anything profound about it. Technique-wise, Ming Feizhen¡¯s attacks wereparable to spray-and-pray haymakers a street thug throws in a brawl. What he had to praise was his opponent¡¯s decision-making skills.

    When a martial artist reaches a certain level, they will personalise their fighting style based on their personality, experiences, teachers and personal training. Luo Ming would describe Ming Feizhen¡¯s style as high-pressure and effectively cold. More literally, it was straightforward and disregarded the possibility of a counterattack - basically how he felt.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s style wasn¡¯t shy. His reactions were sharpened, and he never hesitated when making any decisions inbat. He always went with the option that suppresses his opponent¡¯s options and movements. Abels and Zi Wutong were both high-pressure fighters, but Ming Feizhen was even better at the style.

    High-pressure fighters need a lot of experience to be effective as experience equipped thebatant with better decision-making skills. What caught Luo Ming¡¯s attention was that Ming Feizhen was so good at it at his young age. More explicitly, how much fighting had he been involved in?

    That young man on the bone throne couldn¡¯t have spawned out of thin air. Perhaps the answer has been in front of me all this time, but I¡¯ve refused to face it. Could he¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve been as underestimated as I could possibly be, huh?¡±

    For nobody but Luo Ming to hear Ming Feizhen indicated that thetter wasn¡¯t a phony because you can¡¯t fool a Divine Realm adept with petty tricks.

    ¡°You seem to still be warming up, Patriarch Luo. How about we get serious?¡±

    Ming Feizhen retreated ten steps, giving Luo Ming some room to manoeuvre for the first time in their duel. He who can move in and out or any other direction at will in a fight is he who is dictating the distance as well as the pace of the fight.

    Grinning, Ming Feizhen dered, ¡°Here¡­ Ie,¡± and closed the gap in a sh once again.

    Having to adjust one¡¯s distance constantly in a fight is incredibly taxing on their mind - regardless of level or experience - because the brain must process an influx of information fast, decide on a course of action and act on it.

    He really is¡­ a superb fighter.

    Luo Ming whipped out a vortex from his sword.

    ¡°Water King Thread - Reverse Waves.¡±

    Ming Feizhen generated a vortex prising Luo Ming¡¯s on his left hand, neutralising thetter¡¯s.

    I only used Abyss once against him, yet he already has a counter for it?

    An outsider may interpret it as a draw. Luo Ming, nheless, understood his technique was effortlessly defused. Although Abels countered the technique using the same approach, Luo Ming and Abels spent more time fighting each other - not ounting for Luo Ming knowing Abels better.

    Ming Feizhen flicked a series of threads out from his right hand: ¡°Ancient King Thread - Fury.¡±

    Indomitable winds billowed against Luo Ming, prompting him to raise his head out of its trajectory. By the time he looked back at his opponent, Ming Feizhen¡¯s left finger was already at his forehead.

    ¡°Autumn King Thread - Moonlight.¡±

    Luo Ming ripped his sword back in front to save his head from bing a pincushion.

    ¡°How about¡­ a strength contest?¡±

    Ming Feizhen imposed a force on Luo Ming¡¯s sword, forcing Luo Ming¡¯s feet back to the hot cauldron. Luo Ming, due tocking time to veer himself off course, propelled himself sideways using the edge of the cauldron.

    Since Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t retract his threads in time, they mmed into the cauldron, shifting it off its spot a tad and sending a burst of mes at the sky.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Dang, dodged it, huh?¡± Ming Feizhen still sounded as though he was the man holding the reins to victory.

    ¡°Feizhen is¡­ To think I believe I have a good eye for people, yet I never realised how big of a boost he is to Liu Shan Men. Wait¡­¡± Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t identify the source of her burgeoning unease, but the more Ming Feizhen dazzled, the more that unease festered. ¡°Wait, wait, wait¡­ In the secret chamber¡­ We¡¯ve fallen for Luo Ming¡¯s trap. Feizhen must stop fighting now.¡±

    ¡°Miss Shen, we ar-, Miss Shen?¡±

    Shen Yiren sprinted out, ignoring Long Zaitian.

    Feizhen needs to stop now!

    Even though Luo Ming had a hole in his shoes owing to him kicking the scalding cauldron, he looked unfettered. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°You see what?¡± Ming Feizhen inquired with the corner of his lips still up.

    ¡°I see that I ought to give you more credit. Not only do you have the attributes of a Divine Realm martial artist but would even have a ce among the Supreme Ten Saints. I do beg your pardon for dismissing you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± Ming Feizhen frowned: ¡°It makes it sound as if I¡¯ve already lost.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re close enough, haha. When ites to tough opponents, I typically have more than one option.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Feizhen!¡±

    Ming Feizhen moved his line of sight over to Shen Yiren. Her anxious movements not too far away and shaky expression bordering on tears lit up a light bulb for Ming Feizhen¡¯s question.

    ¡°Stop fighting! It¡¯s Luo Ming¡¯s trap!¡±

    ¡°You still have that emotion barrier stone on you, don¡¯t you?¡± Luo Ming asked.

    ¡°Feizhen, can you hear me?! Feizhen!¡±

    Cry as she may, Shen Yiren¡¯s voice wouldn¡¯t reach Ming Feizhen. His eyes resembled the eyes of a man in a trance, and he resembled someone petrified.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who suggested we go all the way, so¡­ you shouldn¡¯t have anyints about dying.¡±

    Luo Ming meandered up to Ming Feizhen and, with one palm strike, sent Ming Feizhen into the giant cauldron.

 Volume 9 113 Operation Evil Purging Commences

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 113 Operation Evil Purging Commences</h4>

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t celebrate despite having removed his strongest opponent yet. Needless to say, the crowd was mouring, yet their voices didn¡¯t seem to reach him.

    ¡°Bitter, aren¡¯t you, Ming Feizhen¡­? I acknowledge you are strong. You exceeded my expectations by far. While I don¡¯t know how you polished yourself into the formidable man you were, I know for sure that you¡¯ve paid your price for it. How formidable you are is irrelevant in a fight to the death, nheless. If there¡¯s anything I took home from my numerous failures in thest decade, it¡¯s that, when you need to win, sometimes you need to sin.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had almost plummeted into the inferno when Shen Yiren tried to dart past Luo Ming. Luo Ming thoughtlessly caught her with his right and mmed her into the ground. Howbeit, she bore the brunt of the impact with her left arm so that she could throw a raven-ck rod behind her. The ck weapon went through the mes and caught Ming Feizhen¡¯s cor before it was caught in the cauldron, thereby suspending Ming Feizhen above the mes.

    ¡°He¡¯ll dieter if not now. Zhurong¡¯s mes shouldn¡¯t bepared to ordinary mes because they are toxic. How hot do you think the spot he is hanging from? Even if he doesn¡¯t fall into the mes, the heat will cook his organs. Even that weapon will melt in a matter of time.

    ¡°Dividing twenty percent of your strength to negating my attack so that you have eighty percent left to save him, running past me was part of your n. Devising a n in a single moment, you¡¯re calmer and better at judging than I gave you credit for. This is our second conversation. How about joining me? Emperor Yuansheng will only waste your talents.¡±

    ¡°This is also my second time discussing this with you.¡± Shen Yiren wiped away the traces of blood at her mouth. ¡°Write your offer on a sheet of paper. Roll it up into a ball, and then shove it up your hole.¡±

    How Empyrean Zha and Luo Ming¡¯s intense fight ended in one strike, why Luo Ming immediately killed his opponent and why Shen Yiren went to Empyrean Zha¡¯s rescue were questions that befuddled Jin Caitan, who just returned to the ring, and everyone else not directly involved.

    ¡°Hahaha, you really resemble your father.¡±

    The remark that came out of left field rendered Shen Yiren forgetful of where she was.

    ¡°Perhaps people will say you resemble your mother. They¡¯re not wrong if they¡¯re referring to your temper, that is.¡± Luo Ming genuinely appeared as though he was feeling jovially nostalgic as he continued, ¡°But they¡¯re discrediting your attention to detail andposure. There¡¯s also the trait that you and your father share, namely surprising people at important junctures. When you exude dominance whilst keeping cool, you¡¯re his spitting image.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You knew my father?¡±

    ¡°Why your father would marry your mother was a popr question. In my opinion, they¡¯re a match made in heaven.¡± Strolling off, Luo Ming added, ¡°You inherited both of their unique traits, reminding me of the past. If only you¡¯d join me.¡±

    There was no regret in Luo Ming¡¯s tone even though he sounded sincere about missing the opportunity to convert Shen Yiren.

    ¡°You think you¡¯ve won?¡±

    ¡°Shen Yiren, your n is doomed to fail. I know you better than you think I do. Why don¡¯t I tell you how this will pan out? Your army of martial artists will sit on the fence once they hear what I have to say. My people will leverage their hesitation to operate. Poison King is also on my side. When it¡¯s time to rumble, you can already imagine the oue. As for rescuing Emperor Yuansheng, I can tell you Feng Jian, Yu Jian, Lei Jian and Huo Jian are watching him. If you feel you can defeat all four of them, be my guest.

    ¡°You think your spontaneous n will seed? I have spent ten years preparing for this day. I subjected myself to the worst torment imaginable. I¡¯ve cast aside my pride as a swordsman and my role as Luo n¡¯s patriarch to be a scoundrel.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you side characters. Not one of you can even be considered obstacles for me. Nobody can stop me frompleting my sword.¡±

    Luo Ming heading straight to the cauldron could only mean one thing: the sword nerve was ready.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Scions of Luo n,¡± Luo Ming hollered as he ambled into the smithing workshop.

    ¡°Yes, Patriarch.¡±

    ¡°Apprehend anyone who tries to leave. If anyone tries anything, you have permission to kill.¡±

    ***

    Ever since thepetitionmenced, Huofeng couldn¡¯t stop pacing back and forth in her group¡¯s pavilion, privy to Luo Ming¡¯s intent to keep Yu Feiyuan from partaking. When she thought Empyrean Zha had finally exposed Luo Ming, Luo Ming sent the former into the cauldron. Topound her anxiety problem, Yu Feiyuan just sat there with her eyes shut from the start.

    ¡°First Sister, can you pl-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Yu Feiyuan suddenly walked off, confusing her fellow disciples.

    When Yu Feiyuan got outside, a Luo n member blustered, ¡°Get back ins-¡±

    Bang! It looked as if somebody took a long whip drenched in blood and whipped the ground from where Yu Feiyuan stood and where the Luo n membernded.

    On her way to Luo n¡¯s secret chamber from the outer perimeter, Yu Feiyuan bumped into a familiar face.

    ¡°What a coincidence,¡± Elder Shou greeted cheerfully. ¡°Where are you off to, Interim Patriarch Yu?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan offered a palm and fist salute: ¡°To purge evil.¡±

    ¡°Well, this old one happens to be sharing the road. Could this old one have the honour of following your lead?¡±

 Volume 9 114 Wind

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 114 Wind</h4>

    Until the encounter in the forest of Nanjiang ten years ago, he couldn¡¯t name anyone he could put a face to in the Central in. He had seen businessmen from the Central in pass by his vige, but he¡¯d always be observing them from afar. He heard them converse with vigers in a broken version of their dialect as they disyed one luxurious item after the other; it was as though they were performing magic tricks. For that reason, the foreigner piqued his interest, especially since the foreigner exceeded what he deemed human limitations.

    The man he met could answer any question and perform any feat, cutting down trees as he ughtered the treacherous bandits from the neighbouring vige for harassing their vige once again - just as they had been for over a decade.

    The bandits¡¯ leader, also the culprit responsible for murdering the boy¡¯s family, was oblivious to the fact that hundreds of his underlings had already fallen prey to one man¡¯s sword. The swordsman picked up a sword by the side and effortlessly harvested the leader¡¯s head as if it was just another mundane chore.

    As the foreigner ventured further south, the boy prostrated himself on the ground to beseech the foreigner to take him along, swearing to follow the swordsman no matter where they went.

    The boy never forgot the sensation of the sword used to avenge his family dropping on his head that sunny day. He never forgot looking up to see a man so bright that he barely made out thetter¡¯s details.

    ¡°This is a dangerous quest to the south. It won¡¯t be a smooth ride, and only warriors can enter the destination¡­ I only have a few months to train you. If you can keep up,e along.¡±

    Ever since then, he became the swordsman¡¯s reticent and efficient aide. The swordsman¡¯s eldest son was impressed enough with the rate the boy picked up swordy that he praised, ¡°Had he met Father a few years ago, he would arguably be Luo Sword Manor¡¯s top swordsman in his generation by now.¡± Although his swordy improved by leaps and bounds fast, his taciturn and honest character never changed.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Luo Ming never mentioned it, but he alwayspared the boy to his eldest son, even deciding he¡¯d entrust their swordy department to the boy as well as appointing him the next patriarch¡¯s aide.

    On the day the boy hunted down a tiger, Luo Ming said, ¡°You need a name, a name for a resident of the Central in. Your swordy is just like you,parable to the wind. Let¡¯s call you Feng.¡±

    Feng Jian beamed, understanding that Feng meant wind. As for the Jian - sword - part of his name, that was ater addition.

    ***

    ¡°First Brother. First Brother. Please wake up.¡±

    Yu Jian, Luo Ming¡¯s only direct female disciple, always spoke softly to Feng Jian, but not because she feared him as others did. Whenever she called him, she always apanied her soft tone with a smile as captivating as her rosy cheeks.

    One-eyed swordsman Feng Jian, sitting up with a bizarre memory of his defeat, developed a fear of her before he realised it and, consequently, abstained frommunicating with her wherever possible.

    Mayhap owing to the ¡°fire¡± meaning of his name, Huo Jian¡¯s speech speed was sometimes used a figure of speech when describing speed, which was why he was tasked with filling in Feng Jian on what took ce after he passed out.

    ¡°First Brother,¡± Lei Jian hollered in his deep voice. ¡°Shizun entrusted this to you.¡±

    Feng Jian believed an exemry weapon was dormant inside the long brocade container. Lei Jian opened it up for Feng Jian, revealing Five Elders, Wind Passing Dragon¡¯s sword until Luo Ming¡¯s five disciples ambushed him in the rain after lying in wait for half a year at Mount Lu.

    ¡°Shifu entrusted Five Elders to you.¡± Lei Jian admired Feng Jian as much as he admired Luo Ming - evident from his tone. ¡°The only thing you have ever been missing is a sword worthy of your prowess. Nobody besides Shizun can match you now.¡±

    Luo Ming even ced Feng Jian beside him when it came to technical prowess with a sword. Howbeit, Luo Ming ced Feng Jian above him when it came to speed. Regardless of what style Feng Jian employed, he always found a way to augment its speed. The first person he killed was more experienced and trained than him, yet he blitzed his opponent before his opponent could even see the iing attack.

    ¡°Shizun ordered us to stay here and watch over the man inside.¡± Lei Jian was referring to the secret chamber reserved for the n¡¯s most important treasures in front of them. Prior to today, the blueprints for today¡¯s divine weapon were stashed there. ¡°We have been ordered to draw the blood of anyone who can reach this ce. First Brother, please take Five Elders to make our enemies bleed.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, you¡¯re going to drain our blood out?¡± Elder Shou repeated in a joking manner. ¡°An old man doesn¡¯t have any blood for you. I had a lot of tea to drink before, though. Would my urine do?¡±

    Only two of them, yet they were able to get through all of our guards in hiding without us even noticing?

    Feng Jian cast his gaze back to Five Elders, staring for an eternity: ¡°I won¡¯t use it.¡± Without giving Lei Jian time to react, he told Yu Jian, ¡°You¡¯re weak; you wield it,¡± and shoved it into her hands.

    ¡°None of us need to hold back anymore.¡± Feng Jian lifted his scarred sword that could eptably be called an iron bar.

    The proudness of Feng Jian despite his shabby-looking sword had Elder Shou turn his upwardly-curved lips back down: ¡°Dang, didn¡¯t expect someone like him.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan prepped her hands in Wutong Jin Yuxuan style: ¡°Bring it.¡±

    Feng Jian: ¡°Kill them.¡±

    Glossary

    Huo Jian¡¯s speech speed was sometimes used a figure of speech when describing speed - In Mandarin, fire, wind and lightning can all be used to illustrate fast. I suppose English equivalents would be zing-fast, like the wind and lightning-fast, respectively.

 Volume 9 115 Quasi-Divine

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 115 Quasi-Divine</h4>

    Feng Jian¡¯s speed really didpare to teleportation. Yu Feiyuan could also hardly sense his hostility. Upon sensing a de approach, she slipped back and then pivoted to the side. Feng Jian flexed his extended wrist to mount abination. Yu Feiyuan guarded all of the shes with gauntlets and had to abandon her n to attack in order to retreat, yet Feng Jian got a step ahead of her.

    Despite Yu Feiyuan finding herself fending off another stream of attacks, she was Yu Feiyuan. She countered his speed with controlled fluidity, intercepting all of his rigid strikes with both arms one by one.

    Feng Jian had travelled with Luo Ming before. Howbeit, very few ever identified him as being with Luo Ming for the reason that he didn¡¯t execute the same style with the same ir.

    Luo n¡¯s swordy emphasised their regal characters, meaning that masters of the style dominated with order and control, traits deemed ¡°graceful¡±. If anybody said that, they would be called failures - if not pped silly. Luo n started off as a n of cksmiths, and Repository Sword Theory originated from it. What¡¯s so graceful about being a cksmith? Luo n¡¯s swordy¡¯s true emphasis was bound to the concept of ¡°principles¡±.

    While Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary was a living library of swordy styles in the Nine Provinces thanks to their millennia of history, they never dove as deep as Luo n did when it came to principles. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary devoted themselves to studying every swordy in existence. Conversely, Luo Sword Manor focused solely on Repository Sword Theory through the ages.

    Luo n¡¯s scions inherited their predecessors¡¯ determination and patience to continue digging and digging into the principles and systems of all existing things. After being bestowed the title of the a Champion White Princes, though, the future generations gradually discarded the pursuit, opting to denote their style as being graceful.

    Feng Jian was lucky to see the undiluted version of Luo n¡¯s swordy when Luo Ming slew a beast in his presence, a feat he referred to as a miracle for the rest of his life. At the end of the day, nevertheless, principles and systems are inexorably subjected to one¡¯s interpretations to some extent. As a result, the conclusions Feng Jian drew led to a style that deviated from Luo Ming¡¯s.

    With each strike, Feng Jian sought improvement from the previous one - hence the aggression - prising his reserved personality. If his style was a personality trait, it¡¯d be ambitious - a physical manifestation of his desire to reach the realm every goal-oriented swordsman would seek.

    Yu Feiyuan, resetting after putting a few steps between them, judged it necessary to get serious for the first time in years. ¡°You¡¯re strong,¡± sheplimented as she looked down to her left shoulder armour that had been disced and the trail of scarlet liquid that she hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.

    Feng Jian inflicted the wound so quick that Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t even feel the wound that exposed her shoulder bone until she pulled back.

    Yu Feiyuan tore off part of her dress to use as a bandage. ¡°But I won¡¯t lose to you.¡± After her deration, she put one leg back, then extended her front arm - the same pose ¡°Huan Xini¡± adopted when he taunted Luo Ming. The only other time either of them adopted the stance was when they were training together.

    While Yu Feiyuan and Feng Jian¡¯s duel would have an audience on the edge of their seats, Elder Shou¡¯s fight with Lei Jian, Yu Jian and Huo Jian would have an audience gnashing their teeth. Elder Shou exchanged a few moves with them at first and then used his advanced internal strength to create a field with a three metre radius around him so that they couldn¡¯t touch him. Subsequently, he took out refreshments to enjoy whilst watching Yu Feiyuan and Feng Jian go at it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of us fighting? You think you could stop us if she wins? If he wins, you think these old, squeaky bones can beat the four of you? Why waste our energy? Just watch the match.¡± Elder Shou took out half a green-bean cake without even sparing the three a look. They couldn¡¯t see any ws with his logic, either. ¡°Looks like we have Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s next matriarch. My niece isn¡¯t a shabby fighter. If we were to rank her among those in her generation, including that heartless brat, she¡¯d still be in the top three. To fight without aggression is deviating from Zi Wutong¡¯s style.¡±

    As he snacked, Elder Shou nced over to Yu Jian¡¯s sword: ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, that¡¯s Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Five Elders, isn¡¯t it? Sessfully stealing from Ling Feixing is worthy of praise. You three don¡¯t understand, do you? Your senior definitely does.¡± Elder Shou turned back to the fight and borated, ¡°There¡¯s a realm called ¡®Quasi-Divine.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 9 116 A Step Away from Divine Realm

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 116 A Step Away from Divine Realm</h4>

    ¡°Divine Realm, touted as the pinnacle realm of martial arts, was and is subject to personal interpretation. Because of that, people startedbelling tough opponents as Divine Realm pugilists, and everything odd to them would be associated with Divine Realm. For instance, they im daoists cultivated immortality and, therefore, learnt to fly, arguing that daoists have to be Divine Realm elites or they wouldn¡¯t be able to fly. It isn¡¯t entirely wrong, but it isn¡¯t correct because the correct answer is, ¡®Don¡¯t know.¡¯

    ¡°Nobody can go back in time or establishe anything but theories regarding whether or not past phenomena had anything to do with Divine Realm. Aforementioned example is one of the more logical ims unlike some of the more preposterous ims, and there are few who could correct them since few ever reached the realm.

    ¡°If one was tobine all of the knowledge of current and former Divine Realm adepts, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough to write a textbook on the topic. The only consensus thus far is that those who reach Divine Realm can manifest what is coined Enlightenment, a coloured energy that enhances their physical attributes. That being said, still nobody has provided a concrete definition for what Enlightenment is.

    ¡°The story goes that Enlightenment is the product of their body and nature forming a mystical connection, empowering them to produce the unnatural glow. For those who believe in ¡®being one with nature¡¯, the theory is eptable. Howbeit, the problem is that not every person who reached Divine Realm has a visible form of Enlightenment. Assuming the hypothesis of connections is true, how do we exin those who connect to nature, yet fail to reach Divine Realm?

    ¡°The light of Enlightenment doesn¡¯te with destructive might. In saying that, everyone who manifests it has always possessed impressive might. Perhapsbelling Enlightenment a phenomenon instead of a type of energy is more urate. Though subjective and circumstantial, this phenomenon might even be more precisely defnied if one were to check history and see that it wasmonly a symbol for an imminent lopsided, dominating victory - or death.¡± - ck and White Reflection, Pugilistic World Secrets, Issue 101.

    ¡°You three know what Quasi-Divine is?¡± Elder Shou took a bite out of his green-bean cake and smacked his lips.

    The three didn¡¯t drop their guards for a second as he had spent more than twenty years being renownedpared to them. He might be old, but who could guarantee he wasn¡¯t dangerous? Besides, would he just stroll into enemy territory if he wasn¡¯t confident he could win? He already proved himself a threat when he forced all three out of range in just a single palm strike.

    ¡°Somebody respond.¡± Elder Shou scowled at the three for theirck of manners. ¡°Why are young people so forgetful these days? Where is your answer?¡±

    ¡°Quasi-Divine¡­¡± Yu Jian hesitantly asked, ¡°What is that?¡±

    ¡°You three don¡¯t know, either? This is going to be fun, then, Watch closely.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Feng Jian used everything in his arsenal - speed, aggression and technique. Yu Feiyuan decided to forego her sight, yet her remaining senses proved sufficient to de-glorify the silver field.

    Before Feng Jian could turn up his speed again, Yu Feiyuan abruptly elerated, forcing him to step down harder on the pedal. Following his boost, she¡¯d kick her speed up another notch. Though her speed looked less impressive than her first time thwarting his attack, Feng Jian also didn¡¯t appear as fast as when they started. Only he knew she was snatching the reins from him.

    Every time Feng Jian struck, he felt an interruptive force. After a hundred strikes, he could only describe the sensation as trying to strike through a wall of water; it was as though Yu Feiyuan was slowly dragging him into the depths of the ocean, where she ruled, to wrest control of the match from him.

    ¡°Quasi-Divine is also a realm.¡± Elder Shou startled the tense three when he sounded out all of a sudden. ¡°It¡¯s a realm for those just a step away from Divine Realm and a realm they must tread through. Plenty have elite internal energy, but they can never find the path. What I¡¯m getting at is that, though there aren¡¯t many inside the door, there are also scarcely any outside. Ling Fengxing is one of them.¡±

    Ling Fengxing was the second most formidable swordsman they knew of. After all, he nearly killed all four of them when they robbed him.

    ¡°Those at Quasi-Divine can ephemerally utilise Enlightenment to the same extent as a true Divine Realm adept. Semantically speaking, they are a Divine Realm elite for that one technique or that one moment. Because of how close they are to Divine Realm, they have ess to Enlightenment for that one instant. As swordsmen - and swordswoman - you should all be privy to how much difference a split second makes in a fight. That one instant they draw out that power will be the moment they decide who lives and who perishes.¡± Elder Shou scrutinised Feng Jian as he enlightened the trio: ¡°This old one is old, yet he can count the number of Divine Realm martial artists he has met in his life on two hands. Now he has to remember another name among the candidates. What a drag.¡±

    A faint, very faint, crimson glow wreathed around Feng Jian¡¯s sword as he staggered back.

 Volume 9 117 Clash Between Two Divine Realm Candidates

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 117 sh Between Two Divine Realm Candidates</h4>

    Martial artists¡¯ skills don¡¯t significantly develop with age once they reach Manifestation Realm. Although their skill and internal strength are no longer barriers for them, they aren¡¯t at the apex. Climbing to the apex isn¡¯t something that can be achieved in a short time. To expedite the journey as much as possible, it¡¯smon for sects to send their disciples out into the world. Using Wutong Jin Yuxuan as a reference, Patriarch Zi had her disciples go out and purge evil as a means of exposing them to more opportunities for development.

    Feng Jian was both lucky and unlucky. He lugged his own body covered in wounds while carrying a borderline mad Luo Ming out from the frontlines of Nieyao City one wobbly step at a time. He was the one who begged Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King on his knees to save Luo Ming, which was the spark that led to their eventual coboration. Had he not saved Luo Ming¡¯s life, Luo Ming wouldn¡¯t have taught him everything he knew, including Repository Sword Theory.

    Baring witness to one swordsman fall after another to the primitive might galvanised Feng Jian¡¯s growth as a swordsman. The event showed him a different path to the conventional. Thanks to Poison King¡¯s supplements and Luo Ming¡¯s teachings, Feng Jian reached Quasi-Divine Realm at his young age.

    Seemingly able to pass through any defence, Feng Jian sliced in the gap between Yu Feiyuan¡¯s arms before she could pull back. If one had zoom lenses, they wouldn¡¯t even see the hairs on Yu Feiyuan¡¯s neck, yet not even Feng Jian could understand why his de couldn¡¯t cut her when his crimson energy expanded. Tense until his veins surfaced, yet he still couldn¡¯t get his de to cut a fraction of a centimetre deeper.

    Yu Feiyuan, needless to say, didn¡¯t have skin impregnable to Enlightenment attacks. She wasn¡¯t pushing his sword off her skin but pulling it sideways. If Lei Jian, Yu Jian and Huo Jian were almost fighting to not be drawn in the direction of the suction force, it was no wonder Feng Jian couldn¡¯t forge forward. Elder Shou would¡¯ve been able to finish everyone with a palm strike each if he was able to stay bnced - stability is integral to force production.

    Besides the toll it took on disciples when employing Vajra Divine Might, the other reason for Patriarch Zi warning them to refrain from utilising it was the damage caused. They weren¡¯t afraid of people. The problem was that vengeful people woulde to Hangzhou, forcing them to kill those seeking vengeance, a bloody endeavour the benevolent heroines of Wutong Jin Yuxuan would prefer not to indulge in. Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t have the same restriction on her, but she deliberately didn¡¯t use it because of the golden light in her eyes that Feng Jian didn¡¯t miss.

    Like Ling Fengxing¡¯s Enlightenment, she¡¯s also reached Quasi-Divine Realm. I can¡¯t hold back any longer.

    When you pit two people of the same realm against each other, the only way to decide who wins is skill. Due to said gap, the four almost died at Ling Fengxing¡¯s hands even when they outnumbered him.

    Feng Jian retreated ten steps, while Yu Feiyuan pulled her right arm back to chamber a punch.

    ¡°Hargh!¡± Feng Jian¡¯s sword rattled across his path as though he was running against iron railings when he flitted back to Yu Feiyuan.

    Yu Feiyuan uncorked her punch once Feng Jian was in range, sending air smashing into the walls from their point of impact. The four standing around did all that they could not to let the shockwave injure them internally. Neither the golden energy nor crimson energy could gain ground on the other no matter how much space they took up.

    ¡°Both are exceptional¡­ No victor?¡± Elder Shoumented post-analysis.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Feng Jian and Yu Feiyuan¡¯s energies gradually faded until they werepletely gone, reverting them both back to average human beings.

 Volume 9 118 Feiyuan (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 118 Feiyuan (Part 1)</h4>

    There¡¯s no fixed number of times or how long the intervals are in between using Enlightenment for Quasi-Divine Realm people. In Ling Fengxing¡¯s case, he could only apply it to one technique, but he could perpetually cast Enlightenment in conjunction with his execution of the technique.

    It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say people would be boasting for years toe if they could fight to a draw with Yu Feiyuan, yet Feng Jian was livid he failed to finish her with his ace. He could deploy Enlightenment once every three days and was restricted to only adding it to one technique, which meant that he had to win in one fell swoop once he cast it. Today was his first time failing to finish his target with it. The only constion was that Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t show signs of using Enlightenment a second time.

    ¡°Get into formation!¡±

    As soon as the three snapped out of their daze and advanced at Feng Jian¡¯s behest, Elder Shou reached for Yu Jian¡¯s back straight away; however, a sword tip licked the middle of his palm, and then another follow up attack forced him to move his hand, lest it pop the same way his disced scarlet droplet of life did.

    Ensuring Yu Feiyuan couldn¡¯t advance, thrusting at Elder Shou, then resuming his offence on Yu Feiyuan took, Feng Jian close to only a second.

    ¡°Fantastic skills but used for unjust reasons.¡±

    That short dy was all the quartet needed to form their formation, besieging Yu Feiyuan at the centre just as The Four Sasmuume Swordsmen trapped Luo Yan - Concealed Sword Formation. To reiterate, without Yu Feiyuan, Elder Shou couldn¡¯t imagine himself beating the four. If they were going to use the formation, they¡¯d rival a Divine Realm elite, so they¡¯d demolish him.

    ¡°What now? Shall I go call him in? I mean, it¡¯s a husband¡¯s duty to rescue his wife, right? This is all spiralling to hell afterwards, otherwise,¡± mumbled Elder Shou, no longer able to lounge around. He was unaware of the situation outside since he sneaked off before Ming Feizhen was left to simmer at the top of the cauldron.

    A shockwave at the epicentre of the formation stopped the flurry of sword strikes and drove the quartet back.

    ¡°Did she¡­ use Vajra Divine Might?¡±

    Even though Yu Feiyuan had the might of a hundred people when using Vajra Divine Might and could utilise more times than Huofeng, there was a limit. If she couldn¡¯t finish the four before she hit her cap, she was doomed to be fodder.

    Yu Feiyuan retracted her arm and, instead of using the space to escape, stood her ground. ¡°I have a question.¡±

    Elder Shou: This is no time for questions,ss!

    Feng Jian pinched his brows: ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    ¡°Why did you frame and exterminate Evil Spirits?¡±

    How does she know about that?

    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ met Abels?¡±

    ¡°Yes, on your ind.¡±

    ¡°What did you tell you?¡±

    ¡°Everything. He said he wants revenge. He asked for the truth to be broadcast to the world if he came up short.¡±

    ¡°How many people have you shared it with?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°None yet. I haven¡¯t had time. I was hoping to personally ask Patriarch Luo for confirmation, but I was asked toplete a rescue request, so here I am.¡± Yu Feiyuan sincerely felt it was regretful she didn¡¯t get to ask Luo Ming for confirmation personally.

    ¡°Sadly, you won¡¯t have the opportunity for you will die here.¡± Feng Jian positioned his sword parallel to the ground for a thrust. As long as he could stall Yu Feiyuan, the others could encircle her again.

    ¡°You¡¯re skilled, so why do you do this?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re remarkable. Evil Spirits is innocent. Why did you kill them after framing them?¡± Nobody was checking out Yu Feiyuan¡¯s extended arm because all the energy coalesced there distracted them. ¡°Why did youmit those sins as though it¡¯s perfectly normal? You find it eptable just because they¡¯re weaker than you?¡±

    Feng Jian flicked his sword, stting the floor with a trail of blood: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s interim matriarch to be an ignorant three year old. Is the pugilistic world a children¡¯s yground? In the pugilistic world, the strong rule; that¡¯s how it¡¯s always been. What sort of question is that?¡±

    ¡°Being stronger gives you the right to trample on those weaker than you?¡±

    Feng Jian reflexively fastened his hold on his sword, recalling the bandits once did the same thing to his vige and family using the same line of reasoning: ¡°The strong rule¡­ If you can¡¯t get that through your skull, don¡¯t step into the pugilistic world, or you¡¯ll only disgrace your school.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I was told I charge like a bull, so I should put enemies on their back before talking.¡±

    Elder Shou: God dang, whoever said that couldn¡¯t be more correct. Can you even worry for her more than I do?

    ¡°I still asked as I wanted to¡­ I still don¡¯t understand after hearing your answer, though.¡± Yu Feiyuan churned out the suction force that almost dismantled the formation again, condensing energy in her arm. ¡°Forgive me for digressing during the fight. Let¡¯s begin.¡±

 Volume 9 119 Feiyuan (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 119 Feiyuan (Part 2)</h4>

    The quartet was lucky Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t have Fool on hand to utilise Void Spawning sh, but it didn¡¯t mean they could ck. Knowing this, Feng Jian ordered, ¡°She¡¯sing with everything she¡¯s got. Defensive formation!¡±

    One punch from Yu Feiyuan was all it took for the quartet to feel their organs jumbled around even though they were in a defensive formation, only for her to surprise with a second, third¡­ seventh consecutive punch of the same magnitude. The defensive formation deserved equal praise, nheless, for not crumbling.

    When Yu Feiyuan retreated three steps, Feng Jianmanded, ¡°She¡¯s spent! Attack!¡±

    Once the four broke out of their defensive formation, Yu Feiyuan thereupon uncoiled another bomb harder than before - still augmenting with Vajra Divine Might. Had they not been in another formation, she would¡¯ve finished them.

    Elder Shou rushed over to Yu Feiyuan sour: ¡°¡­ Are you out of your mind?! You can¡¯t use Vajra Divine Might consecutively!¡±

    Yu Feiyuan put one leg in front and extended her left arm before fully retracting her right arm, using energy from her left hand to draw them in again - Imminent Wind and Rain. The four couldn¡¯t get into any formation this time as they were stumbling back, while she was imposing even more pressure. Consequently, the pressure she generated suffocated them.

    Is she¡­ a monster?!

    ¡°Ultimate God-Shocking Formation! To the death!¡±

    Ultimate God-Shocking Formation derived from Repository Sword Theory¡¯s God-Shocking Theory¡¯s phrase ¡°Peerless edge, void of despair¡±. Among the six theories, it was the first choice for offensive strategies. That was why Feng Jian used the same theory for his Enlightenment, except that he hadn¡¯t refined it enough to be ¡°shocking¡±.

    ¡°Crap! Freaking kids these days!¡± cursed Elder Shou, as he witnessed the sword qi surpass Vajra Divine Might in power.

    ¡°Elder, please take cover behind this great one to stay safe.¡±

    Despite having heard of Yu Feiyuan¡¯s stories and seeing her in action, she continued to wow Elder Shou with her reveals. This time, golden energy enveloped her silver armour, gradually growing more visible. Not even he could remain in the same spot when the shockwave at the point of impact emanated, yet both parties hadn¡¯t budged an inch once the dust settled.

    Yu Feiyuan was far stronger than Feng Jian and their imaginations. Imminent Wind and Rain¡¯s pressure was still there in the room, and it was still as suffocating as before.

    ¡°Na.¡± Yu Feiyuan dispersed the dust with a voice and then recollected energy in her right hand for another round of Vajra Divine Might. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan was brimming with energy and without a blemish after using Enlightenment twice in addition to Vajra Divine Might eleven time. It wasn¡¯t the four who were most astounded but Elder Shou.

    ¡°You learnt¡­¡±

    ¡°Freedom Realm¡­¡± Feng Jian enunciated on his shaky legs. ¡°You¡¯ve reached Freedom Realm, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan¡¯s nod evoked despair. It would no longer be a contest if they were to continue as they were no longer in any condition to enact the formation, not that they stood a chance against her when she was going all out, anyway.

    The idea of Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Vajra Divine Might and their most advanced style, All-Epassing Snow Technique, is that they act as counterbnces for each other. In other words, practitioners needed to progress both in correspondence with the other. Zi Wutong lost to Luo Ming by one exchange and almost crippled herself precisely because her Vajra Divine Might was too dominant.

    Freedom Realm is the point in which the practitioner can harness Vajra Divine Might even if they were to casually flick their fingers; it¡¯s akin to having superhuman might at one¡¯s fingertips at any moment.

    ¡°This old one missed it. The defensive stance, the way she defused iing forces without sustaining damage, this old one cannot face his great patriarch.¡± Elder Shou heaved a heavy breath. ¡°How is she already so proficient at it? It takes a decade, at the very least, to be as proficient as she is. When did she start learning it?¡±

    Yu Feiyuan hadn¡¯t mastered All-Epassing Snow Technique to the same degree as Zi Wutong purely because she hadn¡¯t lived as long. To work around the time issue, Yu Feiyuan learnt another style that taught her how to control her output to her heart¡¯s content.

    ¡°Lass, you can¡¯t thoughtlessly use Vajra Divine Might from now on,¡± Ming Feizhen cautioned when he coached Yu Feiyuan one day.

    ¡°Why?¡± Yu Feiyuan looked up to see Ming Feizhen preening with his lips.

    ¡°Because I taught you.¡± Ming Feizhen tapped Yu Feiyuan on the nose, amused by her nk face. Switching to a serious tone, he expounded, ¡°As long as you follow my method, your version of Vajra Divine Might will leave everyone else¡¯s version in the dust. Once you have it down, one strike is all you¡¯ll need to kill someone; you¡¯ll likely kill multiple people in one strike. You don¡¯t like killing people and don¡¯t want to see people die, so you should refrain from using it. Else, you¡¯ll be sad.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan didn¡¯t understand everything Ming Feizhen said. Nheless, she always obeyed him, and that advice was no exception.

    Back then, Ming Feizhen imparted to Yu Feiyuan his understanding of Tai Chi¡¯s mental cultivation and training method so that she could use it to bnce the brute force of Vajra Divine Might. Ever since she mastered it, Ming Suwen had constantly chided Ming Feizhen for teaching Tai Chi to Yu Feiyuan for not even Ming Suwen was a rival any longer. That is also the origin of how Yu Feiyuan¡¯s unblemished fight record came to be.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Two people at home can use Tai Chi, and two outsiders have mastered it. Which school owns Tai Chi now?¡± Elder Shou mumbled. As Yu Feiyuan came over and sat down against a wall, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Once I use Freedom, I feel weak, so I need to sleep for a few hours to recover.¡± Yu Feiyuan let her heavy eyes fall and added, ¡°The rest is in your hands.¡±

    ¡°This old one doesn¡¯t want to be a nag, but you could¡¯ve justid Feng Jian out right from the beginning. Why waste your time and energy asking him those questions? You wouldn¡¯t be so exhausted if you had done that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I wanted to ask.¡± Elder Shou was going to shake his head upon hearing the wilful answer. Howbeit, Yu Feiyuan added, ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve crossed deserts, swamps, rivers and oceans. I¡¯ve seen people with blue eyes and blonde hair. I¡¯ve worn clothes I¡¯ve never imagined existed, heard anguage I can¡¯t understand and lived in foreignnds far from here. I¡¯ve spent so many nights pondering: don¡¯t we learn martial arts to protect people? Why do people kill others for entertainment? Why do people feel entitled to bully others because they know how to fight? I¡¯ve seen what people call hell. I¡¯ve seen fields of blood. Why do they think that¡¯s normal? Regardless of how far I travel, how many people I meet or how long I ponder, I cannot understand or answer those questions.¡±

    Almighty Yu Feiyuan entered a slumber, leaving behind pure Yu Feiyuan, who looked as pure as she was when she was a child.

 Volume 9 120 Loyalty

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 120 Loyalty</h4>

    Rewinding a little.

    ¡°You really resemble your father. Even your ns are identical. Had I not crossed paths with your father before, I might¡¯ve suffered a little today thanks to you. Do you still think you have a chance, though?¡± Shen Yiren recalled Luo Ming saying over and over in her head as if someone was chanting a curse.

    Because Shen Yiren¡¯s father was a taboo topic in her presence, anyone who mentioned him at Liu Shan Men would have to fetch ten buckets of water and chop five logs of wood - same punishment for not being punctual. On the day anyone was caught mentioning him, even the group who often demanded a raise would keep their mouths shut.

    Long Zaitian patiently waited for a reaction from Shen Yiren, but she never budged, prompting him to query, ¡°Miss Shen, why have you still not dered themencement of the operation? Luo Ming has been gone for a while now. From his wobbly gait, Empyrean Zha must¡¯ve really pushed him. Should we not take advantage of his poor condition?¡±

    ¡°The n¡­ is remitted. Luo Ming already knows what our n is.¡±

    Convincing everyone present to turn on Luo Ming was predicated on two things, the first being the premise that Luo Ming couldn¡¯t be trusted. Nobody in their right mind would oppose Luo Sword Manor if they weren¡¯t 100% confident Luo Sword Manor plotted against the imperial court. Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t disclose Emperor Yuansheng was in Luo Ming¡¯s hands since there were factions that wouldn¡¯t consider the imperial court a friend. If they found out Emperor Yuansheng was held captive, they could very well take advantage of the chaos, instead.

    The second requisite for Shen Yiren¡¯s n to be usible was that Luo Ming didn¡¯t expect it. Since he was prepared, Luo n could form an effective formation within minutes to quell their riot. The only thing they¡¯d be doing is springing their own trap and falling for it.

    ¡°We can¡¯t give up yet.¡± Shen Yiren gazed at the big cauldron, not forgetting Luo Siming and his bodyguards to their rear. ¡°¡­ Notify the leaders to act on my signal. We will extract His Majesty and prioritise retreat. Whoever dallies on the ind will perish¡­ We need to minimise the sacrifices.¡±

    Out of reflex at the word ¡°sacrifices¡±, Long Zaitian voiced, ¡°Who won¡¯t be able to¡­¡±Hearing an unnatural wind blow, he turned to find Shen Yiren already making a beeline to therge cauldron.

    ***

    ¡°What¡¯s your deal?!¡± Su Xiao thundered at Tang Ye in a small room neighbouring the ring. ¡°Still fancying silence, are we?¡±

    Tang Ye was supposed to wake up by himself, but Su Xiao¡¯s ¡°agents¡± spotted Tang Ye and slept the guards, allowing Su Xiao to sneak in.

    ¡°Say something. You and Big Brother Ming have been behaving weird ever since then. What happened between you two? Why did you go missing and the suddenly return as part of Luo n? As well, why are you their Sun Character Worship or whatever?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t want to answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay, fine. I only have one question I want answered: do you know Luo Ming kidnapped His Majesty?¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°So you do know.¡± Su Xiao delivered a sonorous p across Tang Ye¡¯s face and then pulled thetter in close by the cor. ¡°You¡¯re rotten! You know how many people His Majesty sent out to search for you after you went missing? Do you remember the alias he bestowed you? The aliases he bestowed Big Brother Ming and I are nonsense, yet he gave you Heaven Shocker Holy Hands to show that you have a pair of hands that catches a sovereign¡¯s attention. What do you want?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye¡¯s cheek started to balloon, yet he just let Su Xiaosh out; he probably would¡¯ve let Su Xiao behead him judging from his bodynguage.

    Speaking in a low voice, Su Xiao fumed, ¡°You know¡­ I¡¯ve always envied you? You¡¯re strong, collected and able to tackle anything. Vice-Captain Shen gives you priority when handing out jobs. You¡¯re the only one she allows to live outside of the office. I know you and Big Brother Ming have been keeping secrets from me. Do you know how much I envy the fact that you two don¡¯t have any secrets between you?¡±

    Tang Ye mped down on his teeth and finally erupted, ¡°Do you know who he truly holds in higher regard?¡± and shunted Su Xiao. ¡°It¡¯s you! He¡¯s always given you priority over me! What do I want? I want martial arts prowess! I want to be invincible! I want strength to have revenge! I want power to defeat Yi Wangyou!¡±

    ¡°¡­ And have you obtained it?¡±

    Tang Ye looked as hopeless as a man at the guillotine.

    ¡°What have you obtained since discarding us?¡±

    Even if Tang Ye didn¡¯t voice it, he did learn his lesson in his defeat.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what loyalty to the imperial court is, okay. Do you know what loyalty to brothers is?¡± Su Xiao drew Ancient Cold, prompting Tang Ye to instinctively move away, but Su Xiao just passed it over. Su Xiao pulled his cor down. First, he pointed to Ancient Cold and said, ¡°That¡¯s a de.¡± Next, he pointed to his neck and pointed out, ¡°This is your brother. Make your choice here and now.¡±

 Volume 9 121 Return

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 121 Return</h4>

    In spite of his improvement recently, Ancient Cold felt unbearably heavy in Tang Ye¡¯s hands. In the end, the memories at Liu Shan Men piling on eventually dropped his arms. ¡°¡­ Can I still go back?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Su Xiao stomped. ¡°At most, you turned transiently. As long as you help rescue His Majesty, you¡¯ll have made up for your mistake and keep your head.¡± Su Xiao grabbed Tang Ye by the hand to cajole, ¡°If that¡¯s not enough to appease His Majesty, you can also have my credit. His Majesty is a magnanimous man. Even if he¡¯s mad, I can kneel for a few days. If that¡¯s not enough, I¡¯ll have Big Brother Ming kneel with me. It¡¯ll work out.¡±

    As he watched Su Xiao inte his cheeks while pondering how to assuage His Majesty and then worry about his knees hurting, Tang Ye smiled to himself without realising. Catching the smile on Tang Ye¡¯s face, Su Xiao quietly gasped: ¡°Th-think it through. You¡¯re not going to chop me? No going back on your word now.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I know why he chose you over me now. You¡¯re simple and follow your heart. In contrast, I only care about myself. Perhaps he saw the difference from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°He¡­ does care about you.¡± Even though Tang Ye never explicated who ¡°he¡± was, Su Xiao somehow knew. ¡°I don¡¯t think Patriarch Yi could¡¯ve beaten you, otherwise. While he doesn¡¯t voice it, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s worried if anything happens to you.¡±

    Thinking back on the gear Yi Wangyou was equipped with, Tang Ye chortled: ¡°True¡­ Trust him to find a way grind your gears.¡±

    ¡°That means you¡¯reing back with me, right?¡± Su Xiao thereupon asked as fast as he could.

    ¡°Y-¡±

    ¡°Grow a pair, and stop being so wishy washy.¡±

    ¡°Who goes there?¡±

    The party crasher was practically at the door, which could only mean that he had to have put the guards to sleep without either of them noticing.

    ¡°Someone sick of you.¡±

    Apanying the opening of the stone door was a violent heat wave from the man¡¯s hand. The heat fell shortpared to Tang Ye¡¯s, but his force exceeded Tang Ye¡¯s.

    Tang Ye jumped in front to shield Su Xiao, resulting in himself staggering five steps back.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to protect something, why abandon it? How does that require any thinking?¡±

    Upon seeing who their visitor was, Tang Ye stuttered, while Su Xiao took back Ancient Cold and roared, ¡°Old man, do you not have eyes?! Why are you randomly starting a fight?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to dither with you two brats.¡± The man grinned. ¡°This old one is here to retrieve a sword.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Miss Shen, please leave,¡± Luo Siming expressed with his hands in salute. ¡°The sword nerve will soon beplete, so nobody is permitted near the cauldron. In the same vein, please do not make things hard for this one.

    ¡°¡­ If nothing else, let me see the top,¡± Shen Yiren requested. ¡°You know someone was thrown in there, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Empyrean Zha would only be ashes now. He is only human, after all. He is this one¡¯s friend. Moreover, technically speaking, this one invited him to join. This one is also heartbroken that we are now separated forever.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange?¡±

    Luo Siming stopped in his tracks and turned back: ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Your father has never had a bad reputation, yet he offended the majority of the martial world in this operation of his. Don¡¯t you find it strange for him to suddenly have a change of character? Your n invited so many heroes across thend when it¡¯s your n that wants to forge a weapon. For years now, people across thend have lost their weapons. Do you truly believe your n isn¡¯t involved in some capacity? When your father massacred Beijiang¡¯s Evil Spirits in the woods¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Calling you ignorant would be disparaging you. No matter how exceptional Luo Ming may be, it¡¯s a daunting task to hide everything from you.¡±

    Luo Siming couldn¡¯t be ignorant or incorrigibly na?ve when he had run Luo n¡¯s weapons business for thest decade sessfully. The traits and aplishments go hand in hand. When Luo Yan parted, Luo Siming even handled the smithing department¡¯s logistics.

    Luo Siming noticed the smithing department had been withholding records of massive iron purchases in thest decade from him and had been on their case for a while. He suspected Luo Yan was the reason a section of the ledger was left out annually and stopped investigating out of consideration of their rtionship. He resumed his investigations after Luo Yan supposedly turned for good and learned it was Sword Spirit House that was putting in the orders.

    Luo Ming deliberately left some tracks of his doings behind to see if Luo Siming could catch on, though he underestimated how attentive his son was.

    ¡°What can this one do when it is his father¡¯s wish? Whatever his father¡¯s burdens or penalties are, he shall share them with him. Miss Shen, are you mentioning this to this one because you feel he covets wealth?¡±

    ¡°No. The Luo Siming I know is a chivalrous gentleman. He took care of me when I was unconscious; for that, I have always been grateful. That being said, it does not excuse wrongdoings.¡± Suddenly hearing a Buddhist phrase, Shen Yiren looked over. ¡°Venerable Mianhua?¡±

    Venerable Mianhua ced his hands together devoutly: ¡°Greetings. This one came here to introduce someone to you two.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Xiao Han!¡± It wasn¡¯t hard for Shen Yiren to discern what happened when she saw Tang Ye¡¯s swollen cheek. Unlike Su Xiao, she wasn¡¯t angry even though Tang Ye¡¯s turn dide as a surprise - in addition to upsetting - for she understood why he made the choice. ¡°Wee back.¡±

    The warm wee zapped Tang Ye. Teary-eyed, he softly uttered, ¡°¡­ Thank you.¡±

    Luo Siming¡¯s eyes travelled up me Emperor to the face of the man clutching it: ¡°Second Uncle?!¡±

 Volume 9 122 Nation-Guardian Treasure

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 122 Nation-Guardian Treasure</h4>

    The Four Samuume Swordsman and Luo Siming had yet to forget their respective fights against Luo Yan. Luo Siming¡¯s four bodyguards were ready to cut a limb of Luo Yan each if thetter ever showed any hint of intent to harm Luo Siming. Luo Yan, nevertheless, didn¡¯t care about their feelings. Others in the distance simply thought Venerable Mianhua and Luo Siming were confronting each other, unable to tell it was Luo Yan underneath the grey mantle.

    Luo Yan said, ¡°I have a lot to say, but you appear to already know what I want to say. All I want to say is that he is the one responsible for wounding me on the day I fell into theke.¡±

    Luo Siming¡¯s pallor face was the best evidence that he knew who the ¡°he¡± Luo Yan referred to was.

    ¡°When I fell in, Venerable Mianhua happened to be visiting¡­¡±

    Visiting, of course, was only a nice way of putting it because Cold Mountain Temple arrived only after Luo Ming resurfaced.

    Venerable Mianhua conveyed, ¡°Buddhists do not tell lies. This one¡¯s teacher instructed him to investigate Refining Divine Convention. This one chose to investigate Whale God Ind for it is where smithing takes ce, thereby chancing upon your confrontation. Because of the thin defences, nobody noticed this one on the ind.¡±

    As Cold Mountain Temple and Luo Sword Manor had always been on good terms, Luo Siming didn¡¯t expect to hear they didn¡¯t trust Luo n.

    ¡°But¡­ how did you get through Lotus Root Grounds?¡±

    ¡°This one was on the ind, not outside of it. This one mixed in with one of the groups invited to the ind.¡±

    There were many holes in Luo n¡¯s security system due to Luo Siming and Luo Yan taking orders from the same person but different types of orders.

    ¡°This one was hiding in an underwater cave when he saw a human silhouette plough into the water. Thus, he extended a hand. Mr. Luo was gravely wounded when this one found him, so we were forced to leave immediately.¡±

    After recounting how a fake Abels used him as a pawn, Luo Yan grouched, ¡°Now that I think about it, Brother incited our rift and led us both by the nose. When he wasn¡¯tmitting theft as Abels, he was designing this event over thest decade in seclusion. That son of a¡­ Father entrusted him with the n, yet he has trampled all over our name. Luo Sword Manor will never recover its dignity in the martial artsmunity.¡±

    ¡°And hemitted a crime that has set the extermination of your n in stone,¡± Shen Yiren interjected before going on to inform them of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s visit and his kidnapping.

    Silent Luo Siming looked as if he had blood drained out of his face. Despite being aware his father had taken a wrong turn, he didn¡¯t expect his father to have steered them toward the edge of a cliff.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye followed behind Shen Yiren to the next location. Su Xiao inquired, ¡°Vice-Captain, are we not going to listen to what they talk about?¡±

    ¡°Talk? They¡¯re about to purge the tumours of their n.¡± Shen Yiren expanded, ¡°Luo Yan is back for payback. If we don¡¯t strike now, when the iron is hot, when should we strike?¡±

    Tang Ye shuddered upon espying the long purple slip Shen Yiren took out. When she lit up the slipbelled ¡°Qilin Nation Guardian Treasure¡± and held it up to the sky, a spark flitted toward the firmament following the rise of a purple smoke tendril, exploding upon reaching a height anyone could see. The various leaders at the venue sprung to their feet and initiated riots.

    Nature spread the purple smoke called ¡°eastern purple qi¡±, the child of mankind¡¯s greatest artisan, enthusiastically. One slip of the smoke would fetch an exorbitant price - if you could even find it. Putting in an order for it was next to impossible when the artisan wouldn¡¯t even receive guests.

    Everyone in the pugilistic world knew the Qilin Guards weremanded using ¡°treasure¡± - a signal.

    Red¡¯s ¡°Crimson An Treasure¡± is to mobilise the three hundred Qilin Guards in the capital when the capital needs them.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Cyan¡¯s ¡°Cyan Luan Treasure¡± is used to call five hundred Qilin Guards nearby to break a city siege.

    Blue¡¯s ¡°Beacon Treasure¡± is used to summon two vice-captains of the Qilin Guards and a thousand Qilin Guards for an escort mission.

    White¡¯s ¡°White Lin Treasure¡± is used to summon two Qilin Guards¡¯ captains with three thousand Qilin Guards.

    When the purple ¡°Nation Guardian Treasure¡± is used, Qilin Guards from any ce in the Nine Provinces will race to the location the signal was sent to work as killing machines until they are given the order to stop.

    ¡°This is an item only His Majesty is allowed to employ. Within an hour, Qilin Guards will storm Luo Sword Manor.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Su Xiao inquired.

    Shen Yiren informed, ¡°If the revolt isn¡¯t quelled within the next two hours, Qilin Guards within two hundred square kilometres will rush here to aid us, and the number of Qilin Guards will only increase. In six more hours, all of the Qilin Guards in the Nine Provinces, ten thousand, at the very least, will have gathered here to ughter everyone, men, women, elders, children, any living human besides His Majesty and their own members. In one day¡¯s time, an army of thirty thousand will have wiped Luo Sword Manor out from this world.¡±

    ¡°D-doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, if it reaches that stage, it means the imperial court is dering war on Huzhou. Luo n¡¯s armies from afar will also return tobat the Qilin Guards. While Huzhou¡¯s military can¡¯t stop the Qilin Guards, everyone will find out the imperial court attacked on the Seven Champion White Princes. Nobody can predict how severe the consequences of that will turn out.¡± Shen Yiren peered into the smithing workshops with a me in themparable to the me in the workshops. ¡°This is thest resort¡­ We don¡¯t have a choice, though. If you don¡¯t want people to die, you have to rescue them.¡±

    Shen Yiren unsheathed her sword as their reinforcements arrived. Meeting the Luo n members charging toward their pavilion head on and first, she belted, ¡°Charge!¡±

    Glossary

    An - Shortened version of Bi¡¯an, a hybrid of a dragon and a tiger, one of the nine sons of the Dragon King; known for its awe-inspiring presence and love of justice.

    Luan - Also known as Luan Bird, a mythical bird rted to the phoenix, except that its plumage is blue instead of red or multi-colour.

 Volume 9 123 Purple Forbidden Enclosureâ€™s Nerve Nurturing

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 123 Purple Forbidden Enclosure¡¯s Nerve Nurturing</h4>

    ¡°Patriarch!¡± A servant of Luo n burst into the smithing workshop, risking his neck, and prostrated himself on the ground to report, ¡°Th-the situation outside has devolved into utter chaos! That Shendy shot a firework, and then everyone started a riot. We outnumber them, but, for some reason, Young Master stopped us, and Mr. Tang demanded the smithing department surrender. Nobody dares to oppose them because they have both supreme weapons. They will soon outnumber us at this rate. Patriarch, please take control!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Really? Sounds like quite the pickle,¡± an old man responded. ¡°You should hurry back to help, then.¡±

    ¡°Wh-who are you? Where is Patriarch?¡± The servant saw a sinister sneer a human being shouldn¡¯t be capable of showing in the darkness.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who I am. Your patriarch is upied; you can¡¯t interrupt him.¡± Poison King flicked out a smoke bomb, killing the servant before thetter could make a peep. ¡°Situation is deteriorating by the second, eh? Guess it¡¯s time for me to get going.¡±

    Inside the workshop was a passage leading to a ce underground, which was also connected to the big cauldron. Only the highest-ranked cksmiths in the n were allowed inside the only room that they could forge the divine sword.

    Poison King was charged with the smithing workshops¡¯st line of defence and when Luo Ming was at his weakest. To make an extreme example, Poison King wouldn¡¯t have known Luo Ming was beheaded outside if nobody told him because the only sound audible was the hammering underground.

    Hearing a cksmith hammer away was nothing unordinary. What made this sound special was that it felt as though the sound was travelling through the human body - simr to suffering an internal injury. The reason Luo Ming was personally working on it was due to him being the only individual who could produce the sound.

    To assume that Luo Ming only trained internal styles based on his refined appearance would be an erroneous assumption. He grew up in the smithing workshops and did all the manualbour associated. Yes, he started learning how to wield a sword at a young age, but he learnt how to forge swords at an even younger age. At five years old, he began hammering away to forge swords and his body. At fifteen years of age, he was up to the standard of cksmiths focusing exclusively on forging weapons. By thirty, he was the n¡¯s best cksmith, hence his chiselled physique.

    Over thest decade, Luo Ming distributed his design of Nine States Enervating des¡¯ blueprints to various cksmiths and spent a steep sum on tap to purchase materials, demanding each part was perfectly controlled for. Few people knew that he was the sole person running the operation behind the scenes. Furthermore, he went to the effort of masking the fact that only a small part of the blueprints followed the ancient designs.

    The first blueprint Poison King supplied Luo Ming with was a single sheet - if an iplete sheet still counted. The design required twenty years toplete, not ounting for theck of a procedure. For that reason, Poison King never believed anyone could forge the fantasy sword said to grant its wielder the blessed destiny of a sovereign. All Luo Ming gleaned from that blueprint was what sort of sword core and sword nerve was needed - in addition to how tobine the two. It took Luo Ming a year of peruse to start working toward it, beginning with designing, which took up three years.

    All the best assistant cksmiths needed to do was aid Luo Ming where he needed them so that he could merge the prepared hardware into the sword. So far, the sword nerve had already been inserted into the sword a hand wide, a hundred and sixty-six centimetres long. It was finally time to find out if the fragmented sheet from ages ago could turn the sword forged from four rare metals. It was time to see if the dragon head with an open mouth at the de of the quaint sword was worthy of being there.

    ¡°Not enough¡­¡± Whether Luo Ming¡¯s red eyes were due to the reflection of the sword or something of his own will was unknown, but his hammering speed eerily contrasted his slow muttering. ¡°Not enough¡­ Not Yet¡­ Not enough!¡±

    Luo Ming aggressively hammered faster and faster until he snapped his hammer. The biggest taboo in smithing is to cease hammering before one should as it would ruin the weapon.

    ¡°Patriarch, how about using that?¡± The cksmith pointed to Fool.

    Luo Ming lifted Fool up and used it as a hammer: ¡°This will work. Continue!¡±

    Though there was a redyer of energy coating Fool, startling the cksmiths, Luo Ming ostensibly didn¡¯t notice it, focusing solely on forging the sword.

    Almost there. Almost there¡­

    Luo Ming worked as though he was back at Nieyao City and was racing against the enemy to forge the sword before he was done in. The increasing visibility of the dragon pattern on the sword as they added materials eluded him until thest m.

    ¡°Done! The sword core is done!¡±

    A cksmith fetched a rosewood case that was supposed to have evil-repressing attributes, yet he still felt cold in the hot workshop. Luo Ming extracted the snapped arrow covered in frost. He stared intently at the ¡°Emperor¡± text on the ck arrow exuding heat. He unscrewed the iplete hilt of the sword he was forging, revealing an arrow sleeping inside.

    ¡°Since you were born in thend of an Emperor and to y a dragon¡± - Luo Ming slotted the de into the hilt and then the bottom of the furnace - ¡°You shall be called Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.¡±

    The big cauldron sprayed its biggest me in Luo n¡¯s history!

    Glossary

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure - one of the three enclosures that are part of Chinese constetions. The other two are Supreme Pce enclosure and Heavenly Market enclosure. From the viewpoint of those in old times, the Purple Forbidden enclosure lies in the middle of the sky and is circled by all the other stars, which was why Purple Forbidden enclosure is used as a synonym of sorts when referring to a capital.

 Volume 9 124 Purple Forbidden Enclosureâ€™s Blood Tempering

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 124 Purple Forbidden Enclosure¡¯s Blood Tempering</h4>

    Elder Shou and Yu Feiyuan already rescued His Majesty. Luo n¡¯s forces had been subdued.

    ¡°Hurry,¡± Shen Yiren urged of the three men trailing behind her, eager to go to Ming Feizhen¡¯s aid as it had been a while since he had been thrown into the cauldron.

    Though the three weren¡¯t particrly terrifying as fighters, they were experts at soft weapons, such as whips. The reason Shen Yiren needed the trio was that she needed their implements in order to pull Ming Feizhen up from the face of the cauldron. Everything was proceeding as she hoped when the cauldron breathed a breath of fire, scaring off everyone near the cauldron.

    ¡°Feizhen!¡± Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t imagine anyone surviving when the heat distorted the air. Unlike when she snapped on Fu Xiang, Shen Yiren¡¯s brain and body froze for several seconds. She felt an ominous chill that impelled her to wrap her arms around herself reflexively.

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ dead? No¡­ No, he can¡¯t die.¡± Adrenaline flooded Shen Yiren again, pumping and spurring her forward again, but an energy signal, the type that would be associated with a primitive savageing out of the woods, caught her attention.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The mes from the cauldron had gone dormant, yet it felt as though ants were crawling on their skin. All the fighting ceased; their bodies wanted to run fast for the safety of the hills or to a crate of weapons, yet their legs wouldn¡¯t move. The cauldron absorbed all of the sound around, letting dead silence permeate in the air. The encroaching footsteps elevated their primal fear and decreased logic.

    When everyone expected the door to the workshop to fling open, they heard the sound of paper ripping. Like time froze for a few seconds, the doors then fell apart in four fragments moments after the sounds.

    Nobody could resist the urge to gaze at the white smoke still whisking from the sword in Luo Ming¡¯s hand. If Fool was considered heavy andrge, Luo Ming¡¯s sword was the titanic of swords. Nobody would want to try and catch the weight of it head on even if their weapon was robust.

    ¡°Not enough.¡± Without granting anyone time to interpret what he was talking about, Luo Ming whipped his sword, separating twenty heads from their bodies. In spite of how easy it was for him to take off that many heads in one go, he didn¡¯t look emotionally moved in any capacity.

    ¡°Luo Ming, you would kill the innocent?!¡± Shen Yiren howled.

    Hong Jiu andpany rushed into the ring: ¡°You don¡¯t deserve any of the renown you¡¯ve been showered with, you brute.¡±

    Luo Ming stared at Shen Yiren and those around her the way a predator would: ¡°It craves blood, so sacrifices are necessary.¡±

    ¡°Oh, necessary for sure!¡± roared Luo Yan, yanking off his mantle. ¡°I¡¯m back¡­ Brother.¡±

    ¡°Mm, still alive, I see,¡± Luo Ming indifferently replied.

    ¡°Yeah, I am. Disappointed?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± answered Luo Ming, only interested in his new sword. ¡°The sword isn¡¯tplete yet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already thirsting for blood upon birth, which goes to show it¡¯s an incarnation of evil. How could you forge that sort of weapon? Luo Ming, did you feed Father¡¯s smithing teachings to a devil?!¡±

    ¡°Incarnation of evil?¡± Luo Ming finally nced up at his brother, although he still seemed indolent. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ strong enough.¡±

    When Luo Ming reached into his shirt, everyone stepped back and prepared to shield themselves, albeit not knowing how to when they couldn¡¯t work out how he beheaded twenty people in one stroke.

    Luo Ming insouciantly opened two small ss bottles and poured the blood onto the de. His Enlightenment had reached new heights and so did the ominous feeling everyone else felt.

 Volume 9 125 May You and Their Sword Never Lose Their Edge

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 125 May You and Their Sword Never Lose Their Edge</h4>

    Not a drop of blood fell from Luo Ming¡¯s sword. Instead, they resembled crimson snakes slithering along to the dragon design on the de and then stopped, dying two-fifths of it red. As if the dragon was enraged enough to spit energy, a red sleeve of energy ran up along the blood, vibrating ever so slightly as though it was asking for more blood. His opposition felt as though their blood was collected in their head, waiting for the sword to harvest.

    ¡°What a sinister sword.¡± Venerable Mianhua had his brows locked tight.

    ¡°You misunderstand,¡± Luo Ming casually amended, still showing obsession with his sword through his gaze. ¡°It is not sinister at all. Its name is Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, a product of this one¡¯s blood, sweat and tears. Henceforward, it shall be the sword of swords.¡±

    ¡°Is he possessed or something? Even if he¡¯s changed paths and forgotten our ancestors¡¯ teachings, he couldn¡¯t have changed his character, too, could he? He doesn¡¯t talk like that.¡±

    Like Luo Yan, Shen Yiren had a strong suspicion that the sword was influencing Luo Ming to a degree, so she honed in on where the doors of the smithing workshop used to stand: ¡°Poison King, show yourself if you¡¯re not a coward! Get the hell out here right now!¡±

    Poison King was expecting to find out whether the legends surrounding the sword were true, not to be named. Nheless, he sneered to himself as he responded, ¡°Mind your manners, girl. This old one is old enough to be your grandfather¡¯s dad. Who are you to criticise him?¡±

    Having achieved her goal - to confirm Poison King¡¯s presence - Shen Yiren turned back to Luo Ming: ¡°Luo Ming, exin the sword.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, they spent years searching for rare metals, mountains of money and sought the aid of Evil Spirits from Beijiang to forge the divine sword - Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. The sword corees from a real dragon, but it¡¯s been contaminated in corrupt qi for twenty years where sword spirit is highest in the world. You could say it¡¯s the coldest, most savage product in the world. It¡¯s perfectly understandable for it to lend its corrupt qi to the sword when he used it for the sword¡¯s core. He¡¯s a very advanced martial artist to remember to temper the sword with blood and not immediately mince all of you. If it were anyone else, they¡¯d already be the perfect character for another sher story.¡±

    Shen Yiren asked just to test her luck, not actually expecting Poison King to share details. ¡°Not worried your master will hack you for running your mouth?¡±

    ¡°Luo Ming never was this old one¡¯s master. Look at him. Does it look like he can hear this old one? As for the rest of you, it doesn¡¯t matter if you know some secrets since you¡¯ll be taking them with you to the grave very soon.¡±

    The only words that Luo Ming heard were ¡°blood¡±, ¡°to the grave¡± and ¡°temper¡±. They were also the only words that could draw his attention away from his red sword. ¡°Temper the de¡­ Temper the de with blood¡­ Three more people,¡± he mumbled as he swept his bloodthirsty gaze over everyone present.

    Luo Yan didn¡¯t duck Luo Ming¡¯s gaze, though he couldn¡¯t control his adrenaline. Luo Ming cracked a smile and questioned, ¡°Brother¡­ how much of your skills do you have left?¡±

    There really wasn¡¯t any room for guessing what Luo Ming implied.

    ¡°Even if I only have 1% left, I¡¯ll make it my undertaking to apprehend you!¡±

    Luo Ming did a rapid switch from disillusioned to normal. ¡°Guess there¡¯s no harm in trying¡­¡± He pulled his sword back slowly, eyes still on the de as he muttered, ¡°Don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Second Uncle!¡±

    Luo Yan¡¯s blood sted out of his chest as though a geyser¡¯s lid was punctured, and he fell to the ground, but not a soul could discern how it happened.

    ¡°Father, you¡­ you killed Second Uncle!¡±

    ¡°Strange¡­¡± Luo Ming looked to Luo Yan¡¯s blood trickling from the sword instead of the body on the ground. ¡°Why didn¡¯t it work¡­?¡±

    If ¡°monster¡± was attributed to people with iprehensible physical abilities, then it could now also be used tobel Luo Ming¡¯s character.

    ¡°S-Second Uncle¡­¡± Luo Siming discovered Luo Yan¡¯s heart was still okay despite the debilitating injuries suffered.

    Because Luo Ming didn¡¯t prate Luo Yan¡¯s heart, the blood didn¡¯t merge with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. Otherwise, the other exnation would be that Luo Yan had been too weakened for him to be considered a Sword Spirit Realm swordsman.

    ¡°Use this.¡± Poison King chucked Luo Ming a small bottle identical to the two Luo Ming had before.

    Luo Ming sliced the bottle open instead of catching it, letting the blood find its way to the dragon.

    ¡°Hehehe, that¡¯s Ling Ruoyun¡¯s. I leave the clean up to you, Patriarch Luo.¡± Poison King couldn¡¯t convince a child he wasn¡¯t aware Ling Ruoyun was Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s sessor; nobody would believe he didn¡¯t assassinate Ling Ruoyun with another motive in mind, either.

    ¡°Consider it done,¡± Luo Ming asserted.

    ¡°Pyscho!¡± Shen Yiren drew her sword and thundered, ¡°Valiant heroes, Luo Ming can no longer be considered human. There is no need for honour when dealing with his kind!¡±

    Everyone armed themselves, though it would never be clear if that was to protect themselves or to starch Luo Ming. Whatever the case was, they just stood their ground. They weren¡¯t afraid; they just didn¡¯t know how to strike when Luo Ming just stood there without any openings. As for Shen Yiren, she couldn¡¯t stop worrying about Ming Feizhen to devote all of her resources tobating Luo Ming.

    ¡°What in the zes is everyone standing there for? You all waiting for nature to knock him out or something?!¡± Hong Jiuunched the first strike - a massive palm strike.

    ¡°Be careful, Young Chief!¡± Elder Jia yelled, prompting others to join him as the follow-up unit.

    Luo Ming shaved Hong Jiu¡¯s shockwave faster than the human eye could follow, barely giving Hong Jiu enough time to brake in time. Hong Jiu subsequently had to pull his head back to keep it on his shoulders as Luo Ming swept his sword around. Their exchanges went by so quick that Elder Jia had to swallow the profanity that came to his tongue when he thought Luo Ming caught Hong Jiu.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Hong Jiu never deluded himself into believing he could defeat Luo Ming; trading didn¡¯t even cross his mind. Hong Jiu focused solely on Luo Ming¡¯s shoulders as nobody can strike without moving their shoulders; try to throw a punch or a kick without them moving.

    Having sparred with Ming Feizhen so many times, Hong Jiu knew better than to trade with Divine Realm martial artists and to refrain from attacking unless necessary. Hong Jiu actually had more experience against a Divine Realm fighter than Luo Ming did.

    The pugilistsing up from behind uncorked a united attack, forcing Luo Ming to deal with them, thereby giving Hong Jiu a window to escape out of range.

    ¡°Hero Hong, what do you suggest we do now?¡± Shen Yiren inquired.

    ¡°Stall him! I don¡¯t know what he did to mess with Leader, but we need to buy enough time for him toe up.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ believe Feizhen¡­ is still alive?¡±

    ¡°Why you asking the obvious? He¡¯s Tath¨¡gata¡¯s descendant. You think he¡¯s that feeble?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless to kill you people,¡± Luo Ming remarked insipidly.

    Hong Jiu waited for an opening to throw another palm strike, only to run into Feng Jian¡¯s de that forced him to move his hand. The four had juste to since their fight with Yu Feiyuan, when they witnessed everyone attacking their mentor together.

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless to kill you people.¡± Luo Ming shifted his line of sight to the young man shielding him in front. ¡°Not bad.¡±

    Feng Jian¡¯s intuition sent him a warning,pelling him to spin around and see Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer making a beeline for Yu Jian. Realising what Luo Ming¡¯s intent was, Feng Jianunched himself at Yu Jian, pushing her out of the way. Even when the sword had run through his chest, he only cared about confirming her safety. As she looked up at Feng Jian, Yu Jian finally understood everything.

    Yu Jian finally understood why she¡¯d sometimes meet Feng Jian¡¯s eyes when she looked back, why he wouldn¡¯t look at her when speaking to her, why he was able to show up on time whenever she was in trouble, why¡­ All the ¡°whys¡± finally clicked for her. He never said it with his lips, but his heart told her too many times already and loudly, just as his sword.

    I heard you. I heard your feelings for me¡­

    ¡°This is a necessary sacrifice,¡± stated Luo Ming.

    For the first time, when Feng Jian turned back to Luo Ming, there was hatred, anger, persistence, sorrow, but there was also sympathy and pity.

    A gentle breeze brushed his face. It had been ten years since he set foot in the Central in. Nevertheless, he was still the honest and determined young man he was before he left home, the youth who silently ran as fast as the wind.

    Feng Jian fought with the frigid sensation spreading into his bones to express, ¡°Shizun¡­ may you and your sword¡­ never lose their edge.¡±

    The wind took the young man¡¯s dreams to another ce and then stopped.

    Glossary

    ¡­ Luo Ming just stood there without any openings - In essence, it¡¯s the same as standing in one spot with both hands up by your side, sometimes barely even turning when the opponent circles around. While the person is full of openings, it¡¯s quite obvious they¡¯re drawing you in to attack, and they have so many options that you don¡¯t know how to attack without getting caught by the counter.

    Trading in fights - Just in case we¡¯re not clear on this, trading means you ept getting tagged and its consequences to tag them back. For instance, you might put your weight into your front leg, taking a kick to it so that you could throw a counter jab/hook with your lead hand.

 Volume 9 126 Suppression

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 126 Suppression</h4>

    ¡°Brother,¡± Yu Jian called tenderly called as she caressed the face of the young man on the ground.

    Nobody knew Feng Jian better than Yu Jian. Whenever she saw him, he was training. Never did she see him ying. When she asked, he brightly replied, ¡°I¡¯d rather spend my time polishing the swordy Shizun taught me.¡± She couldn¡¯t fathom his feelings because her fear of Luo Ming, who inspected their progress daily, exceeded her respect for him. Nobody had ever revered Luo Ming out of their own will as much as Feng Jian. Even in hisst moment, he showed he was willing to sacrifice himself for Luo Ming.

    Upon seeing a blistering gaze from the girl who always obeyed his every whim, Luo Ming pontificated, ¡°I raised him. It¡¯s only fair I kill him,¡± even though nobody asked him.

    Yu Jian had the most potential among Luo Ming¡¯s four personal disciples. Unfortunately, she was also the meekest among the four, holding her swordy back. If a good teacher and gifted student was all it took to forge an elite, everybody would¡¯ve just followed the form.

    ¡°¡­ Why don¡¯t you kill me, too?¡± Yu Jian drew her sword and pointed it at Luo Ming¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Put your inferior sword away. Don¡¯t insult my sword¡­¡± Luo Ming sounded peeved for the first time, well, emotionally invested in something for the first time besides his sword.

    Judging from the shape of Yu Jian¡¯s sword hilt, it should¡¯ve been designed in Nanjiang and wrapped in beast leather as well as bamboo strips. In terms of appearance and material, it paled inparison to Luo Ming¡¯s excellent sword. Regardless of his opinion, though, Yu Jian advanced, asserting, ¡°At least, this sword knows what it means to die standing than live ignobly. Your sword is just sturdier scrap iron.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Since you want to die¡± - Luo Ming¡¯s swing came so quick it resembled red mist proliferating - ¡°I shall oblige.¡±

    Yu Jian made no effort to dodge the first sh that grazed her neck or the sessive straight thrust aimed at impaling her throat.

    ng! Using a sword designed mainly for thrusting, Shen Yiren chopped Luo Ming¡¯s sword off its trajectory, yet she surprisingly managed it without halving her sword. That being said, the difference in strength sent her sliding back with half of her body feeling as if she was zapped.

    Yu Jian resumed her charge, speeding forward faster than even Feng Jian¡¯s top speed to pierce Luo Ming¡¯s true qi armour. Luo Ming only reacted once his blood got onto his clothing, retreating out of the way but letting his blood trickle onto the ground.

    Getting through the true qi armour of Divine Realm adepts is the biggest challenge for opponents a notch below them. In saying that, to say Divine Realm martial artists¡¯ true qi armours are impregnable is incorrect for it¡¯s not attributed to potent internal energy that opponents can¡¯t break them. What they do is mobilise their true qi, turning the chinks in their armour into solid defences. Therefore, the reason Yu Jian managed to graze Luo Ming was a consequence of him reacting too slow to mobilise his true qi.

    Shen Yiren informed, ¡°The sword is impacting his mind. His offence may be fearsome, but his defence is poor! Everyone specialising in defence shall work with me to hold him down! Everyone else, attack with all you¡¯ve got!¡±

    Watching Venerable Mianhua and Elder Jia charge at him together irritated Luo Ming enough for him to generate a scowl. As soon as Luo Ming swung, the two pulled back straight away. Luo Ming still had enough of his logic intact to remember it was Yu Jian who cut him, galvanising him to go after her.

    ¡°Simmer, Brother Luo.¡± Elder Shou intercepted Luo Ming¡¯s sword, pulling it off course. ¡°She¡¯s one of your best subordinates. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be a waste to kill her?¡±

    Luo Ming roared as he discharged internal energy, slicing everything within three metres around him. Elder Shou pulled his sleeves together and let the wind blow him out of range with Yu Jian. As he escaped, Elder Shou taunted, ¡°I forgot to mention I have rescued the man you took hostage. Thank you for giving Wudang such a nice present. We were worrying about how to remain relevant until this. Being as shameless as I am, I had to be an opportunist.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡­¡± Luo Ming¡¯s hand shook. ¡°¡­ will die!¡± Luo Ming failed to intimidate his enemies with his swings this time.

    ¡°Elder Jia, get back. Elder Shou, Venerable Mianhua, please defend three strikes. Hero Hong, please switch with Venerable Mianhua after he blocks three strikes,¡± Shen Yirenmanded, gradually plunging Luo Ming into confusion, allowing them to catch him multiple times.

    ¡°Rargh!¡± Luo Ming violently swung apart their defence formation and then extended his arm on an angle at Elder Jia.

    Elder Jia: Oh, sheet me!

    ng! Shen Yiren intervened just in time to save Elder Jia, hammering down on Luo Ming¡¯s stabbing motion. ¡°He¡¯s panic-stricken and, therefore, weakened. Kill him now!¡±

    Luo Ming wouldn¡¯t call anyone of the opponents there strong, but he couldn¡¯t shake off the threatening feeling encroaching on all sides. Boiling, he started swinging with total disregard for structure. While an opponent who swings at random is hard to predict, Luo Mingcked the crispness he once had despite his increase in speed - consequently power.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget me!¡±

    Luo Ming felt a gale tousle his face out of shape and then went reeling.

    Abels¡¯ entrance started with a bang, literally, to Luo Ming¡¯s face. Behind him were River Monster and Mountain Monster.

    ¡°Your biggest mistake was not finishing me!¡±

    Glossary

    Chop, sh - They¡¯re not synonyms in the Jian sybus. Thetter uses more wrist and shoulder than the former.

 Volume 9 127 Waking from a Dream

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 127 Waking from a Dream</h4>

    Only those touted as great hunters were able to hunt tigers. Usually, elites from the threew enforcement offices were sent out to hunt tigers; ten elite hunters would be sent out to handle setting traps, baiting, settings and so forth to capture one.

    A tigercently ambled along a small creek, ignorant to the threat inching closer. Its hunter, who had been lying in wait for a long time, released his charged-up arrow, piercing the most vulnerable part of the tiger¡¯s neck, yet the tiger refused to fall. Instead, it steadied itself after being startled, then sprinted down the mountain.

    A horse burst out from behind the trees, carrying the archer at breakneck speed. They say, Beijiang equestrians among equestrians, Abels among archers on horseback. As an expert at shooting from a horse, he ended the chase in less than five hundred metres.

    Abels strapped two bags of tiger flesh and another bag of tiger fur to his horse, then rode down as the sun headed west. In the vige shared between hundreds of inhabitants, Abels lived in a small house by a big banyan tree toward the north of the vige. The front courtyard was decorated with fresh flowers when the sun had covered the ground. The garden was a sight to behold, but it was iparable at sunrise. He personally groomed the garden outside the face, while his wife took care of the flowers inside the fence.

    Hmm, today¡¯s dinner must bemb over steamed rice judging from the aromaing from inside.

    Upon sensing their owner return home, several grey dogs raced out to wee them, and he jovially chucked down a big piece of tiger meat for them to indulge in.

    ¡°Wee back.¡±

    No matter how many times he saw his wife¡¯s smile, Abels could never grow sick of it. He hung his bow up on the wall and greeted the former Princess of Nanjiang, the woman of his dreams.

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    Abels knew the four year old boy was going to try and catch him by surprise, so he grabbed the boy clinging to his knee and lifted the energetic, plump boy onto his shoulder: ¡°Hahaha, you been a good boy at home?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    A-Lan sulked, ¡°Says the one who refused to read and threw a tantrum about wanting to hunt with his father.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if he isn¡¯t illiterate. My son is going to be the mightiest warrior in all thend, right? Let¡¯s go check out the tiger fur, Son.¡± As soon as he passed his son the tiger fur, Abels gave A-Lan a shoulder massage, assuaging, ¡°We can take our time teaching him.¡±

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re actually admitting you¡¯re wrong. I thought you were the head of the family.¡±

    ¡°That is you, Your Majesty!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It had been seven years since Abels was reunited with A-Lan. Instead of returning to Beijiang, they decided to join their friends, Luo Ming, Ming Feizhen andpany, to exterminate the unique beast in Nanjiang, avenging A-Lan¡¯s ancestors and Luo n¡¯s fallen warriors. It wasn¡¯t easy, but Luo n¡¯s divine sword and Abel¡¯s Sea Deer Hunter finally brought it down.

    Abels heartily drank with Ming Feizhen at the after party and announced he was going to marry A-Lan. Over the next few days, their friends stayed to help until she melted his heart in her wedding gown. The two spent the next year in Nanjiang as part of their honeymoon.

    Abels disbanded Evil Spirits, then came to an agreement with Tiezhen Kingdom, allowing hisrades to enlist as soldiers or officials if they wanted. Otherwise, he gave them a handsome retirement sum to do as they liked.

    Abels and A-Lan eventually settled down at a quiet vige by the border of Nanjiang and the Central in asmoners.

    ¡°Abels?¡± A-Lan turned her attention to her husband on the bed once she put their son to sleep.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    Abels shook his head with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie. You often zone out. You still¡­ miss life in the martial world, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Nah.¡±

    Abels was happy and cherished the life of peace that they considered a blessing. Before they settled down, he couldn¡¯t have even imagined a more fulfilling life. Nowadays, he couldn¡¯t imagine himself without his wife or son. Having said that, he was perturbed.

    ¡°¡­ You still remember how I found you at Luo Sword Manor seven years ago?¡±

    ¡°I do. It was thanks to Patriarch Luo that we were reunited, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ Thing is¡­ I can¡¯t recall why we were separated in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Why does it matter? Isn¡¯t our life perfect as it is now?¡±

    ¡°A-Lan, will you hear me out?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°There are some things I can¡¯t recall no matter how hard I try, but it¡¯s like a nightmare that¡¯s constantly chasing me, waiting to devour my consciousness when I¡¯m most prone or something. It¡¯s like I can see cracks, yet I can¡¯t see what¡¯s on the other side of that darkness. This mental dislocation often gnaws at me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s run with the ¡®what if¡¯ scenario that I failed to rescue you and lost to Luo¡­ Ming¡­ Why would I fight Luo Ming? Strange¡­ Strange¡­ I can¡¯t stop myself from imagining it¡­ The person I fought with that day¡­ His swordy and strength were equally formidable, and I can only think of one person who fits that description.

    ¡°What if I lost to him that day? Is this¡­ all a dream? Despite often watching the floating clouds, I can¡¯t imagine an eagle flying freely. Does the creator of this dream not see eagles often? Why is this vige situated in the Central in? Why didn¡¯t we return to Beijiang to raise cattle for a living? Could it be that the creator of this dream isn¡¯t familiar with Beijiang¡¯s culture?

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m happy here, there¡¯s this hole in my heart that I can¡¯t fill, which is that¡­ I¡¯ve never seen you happy despite smiling. This¡­ is all a dream, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    A-Lan didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°I think someone¡¯s calling for me.¡± A smile came to Abels¡¯ lips. ¡°It¡¯s a gentle voice¡­ She¡¯s calling for me. I have to go.¡±

    Even in his dreams, A-Lan didn¡¯t stop him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ bels¡­ Abels! Abels!¡±

    The warm touch on his face was her tears. Although his eyes were still closed, the corners of his lips had curved upwards.

    ¡°¡­ I told myself that, if the first person I saw upon waking wasn¡¯t you, I must be in another nightmare. Thankfully¡­ the dream is finally over.¡±

    The first sight Abels beheld was the same smile that weed him home in his dream.

    ***

    Once Abels joined the fray, Shen Yiren told Long Zaitian, ¡°Get them out.¡±

    ¡°How many?¡± Long Zaitian questioned.

    ¡°Everyone. Escort everyone out.¡±

    ¡°W-we can¡¯t leave you behind.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t interfere in the next stage of this fight. Don¡¯t forget what our duty is. We¡¯ve rescued His Majesty. If we keep him here, though, we¡¯re only putting him at risk. As his vassals, we can¡¯t afford to take risks.¡±

    Long Zaitian, therefore, begrudgingly gathered a group to escort Emperor Yuansheng out. Watching them leave one by one, Shen Yiren called, ¡°Yan Ling, Xiao Han.¡±

    ¡°Present!¡± the duo responded in synchrony.

    ¡°Afraid of death?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°d to hear. Remember what our three offices¡¯ duties are?¡±

    Su Xiao answered, ¡°Emperor¡¯s Entourage serves His Majesty. Qilin Guards guard the nation. Liu Shan Men protects the people.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty¡¯s entourage is now escorting him. Qilin Guards are marching in. They¡¯re fulfilling their duties.¡± Shen Yiren pointed behind her and asked, ¡°All of the martial artists here are citizens of our nation. Nobody deserves to die at the hands of a nutcase. We are bringing up the rear. Any objections?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°¡­ No.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Shen Yiren had onest nce at the scalding cauldron prior to wearing on the smile of a warrior: ¡°If we must go out, we¡¯ll go out on our sword. That¡¯s how a warrior is meant to die.¡±

 Volume 9 128 The Forest is More Peaceful When Cicadas Are Chirping

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 128 The Forest is More Peaceful When Cicadas Are Chirping</h4>

    ¡°Thought you were told to leave?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xiao Huangquan took out three Luo n members upon reinforcing Liu Shan Men¡¯s trio: ¡°This old one is getting rusty after two days of rest. Besides, how can he just watch on if Liu Shan Men is bringing up the rear? Even without the uniform, this old one is still a member of Liu Shan Men, no?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right. If you kids are going to fight, how can we old men just sit back?¡± added Elder Shou.

    ¡°Oi, oi, don¡¯t lump me in with you. We¡¯re a generation apart!¡± grouched Xiao Huangquan.

    ¡°Could this one bother you two to stop bickering? He is having a hard time and would be grateful for some help.¡± Venerable Mianhua stedpressed air from his sleeves as though he was firing air cannons. Luo Siming had already brought most of the situation under control. Venerable Mianhua merely requested support to squash the unnecessary quarrel.

    ¡°Vice-Captain, I have something to resolve.¡± Tang Ye went after a member of Luo n in the distance.

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t stop Tang Ye since his loyalty had already found its way back to them.

    Elder Shou glided onto the ground once they had cut off the pursuers: ¡°How do we end this? Lass, you¡¯re a clever one, so let¡¯s hear you have in mind.¡±

    ¡°We need to return to the ring first; however, we have no ce in that fight, so we can only wait.¡±

    ¡°It probably will be a splendid show given Abels and Luo Ming make for an interesting match.¡±

    ¡°Mayhap¡­ we are waiting for someone else.¡±

    ¡°Luo Ming, get up. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re already done,¡± Abels belted.

    Abels stung Luo Ming square in the face for sure. In saying that, the reciprocal force that went back into his body would¡¯ve wrecked his right hand had he not mastered the sixth level of Evil Eminence Scripture.

    It¡¯s only been half a year since west met, yet his internal energy has improved so much? What has he been doing? I never imagined he could match my strength given our age difference and fields of specialty.

    The dust on the ground whirled together to rise in simr fashion to a war beacon. The red energy coating the sword was now glowing bright enough to trick one into believing dust was red. Luo Ming vaulted up, dragging along a trail of red smoke and cleaved down.

    Abels tugged up a corner of his lips as he prepared to meet Luo Ming head on. ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯ve got.¡± Abels spawned a water-like, yet solid, blue sphere of three metre radius encasing him.

    Luo Ming breathedboriously, unable to tag Abels at all no matter how much strength he exerted, personifying the phrase, ¡°To lose without fighting.¡±

    ¡°Coming down from the sky was cool and all. You remember what you told me about the concept behind swordy? Is that how Luo n¡¯s swordsmen hold their swords? What is that? A broadsword? You think brute strength is all it takes? Look at you. I guess you¡¯re enlightening me as to why I lost to you. People not in the right frame of mind really are easy picking.¡±

    Luo Ming had strength, yet he couldn¡¯t cast Enlightenment because you can¡¯t use it while seething with rage. No matter how potent your internal energy may be or how masterful you are with a sword, charging blindly against a Divine Realm fighter is just asking to be starched.

    ¡°You¡¯re an embarrassment to martial artists.¡±

    Without lifting a finger, Abels made the front of his sphere spiral, pulling Luo Ming in, then taking him for a spin. Luo Ming was hopeless to the waves of energy invading his body and would¡¯ve lost his sword if he wasn¡¯t holding onto it for as though it was his life. Luo Ming, rather, his sword sensed the danger its wielder was in and, consequently, ejected its own energy to speed up the rotation until Abels could no longer control it, thereby breaking Abels¡¯ hold. Nheless, Abels didn¡¯t regret losing his hold for Luo Ming was no longer a worthy opponent.

    Luo Ming¡¯s blood spiralled as he flew out of the spiral. Uponnding, he bounced off the ground to go for Mountain Monster and River Monster, two free targets he sighted while spinning out. Abels, instead of going to their aid, folded his arms. Luo Ming felt a strong breeze overhead before he could reach them, impelling him to draw his sword back to repel Shen Yiren¡¯s intervention.

    ¡°He has weakened,¡± Shen Yiren noted, finding her bnce without any residue pain.

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t cut his charge short because he gave up on killing the two maidens but because he noticed the sword in Shen Yiren¡¯s clutch. ¡°Yujing¡­ Yujing¡­¡± And, sounding ¡°human¡± for the first time since appearing with his sword, Luo Ming roared, ¡°Where did you find that sword?!¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have the faintest idea about the sword she picked up from Poison King¡¯s secret room in the underground area, while the text ¡°The forest is more peaceful while cicadas are chirping¡± on the sword wasn¡¯t exactly informative. The only thing she knew for certain was that it was a high-quality sword - evident from the fact that it was still fine after colliding with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.

    Elder Shou pointed out, ¡°Mrs. Luo¡¯s nickname was Yujing. Based on the thin design of the sword, it should¡¯ve been forged for a woman. It might actually be¡­ Mrs. Luo¡¯s sword.¡±

    Trivia

    Yujing - It¡¯s in the chapter title; ites from a poem.

 Volume 9 129 Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon Slayer

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 129 Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer</h4>

    If celebrity couples were in a thing in the martial artsmunity, then Luo Ming and his wife were the model couple fifteen years ago. The two childhood friends grew together and saw the rest of the world together until an unkind illness struck his wife by surprise. Unfortunately, it was too much for his martial prowess or doctors¡¯ knowledge. Their worst challenge was suppressing it when it set in so fast.

    Luo Ming would¡¯ve exchanged Luo Sword Manor for his wife¡¯s life, so it was no surprise that he set his eyes on Beijiang¡¯s Sea Deer Hunter, a broadsword capable of loaning internal energy to suppress any ailment, which would provide them with more time to search for a cure. Sadly, she sumbed to her condition without a final goodbye on the very day he was scheduled to set out for Beijiang.

    After Luo Ming mourned histe wife in his secret chamber for ten days straight, he emerged with a new thin, exquisite sword. He ced the sword in Sword Spirit House until he reced it with his eldest son¡¯s sword. During his period of mourning, he spent his days with the new sword and seldom involved himself in the n¡¯s affairs again, let alone smithing. Had Green Prince not asked for his help, Luo Ming would¡¯ve retired early as he lost his motivation ever since he lost his wife. As such, Shen Yiren taking Yujing could be considered removing Luo Ming¡¯s seal.

    ¡°Give¡­ Yujing back!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boom!

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Shen Yiren only realised Abels punched Luo Ming back, which took ce when Luo Mingunched himself at her, after she saw Luo Ming tumble across the ground. Else, Luo Ming could¡¯ve decapitated her without her even being aware when or how.

    Luo Ming bellowed as he got to his feet, elevating the dust around him. Huffing and puffing, he repeated, ¡°Yujing¡­ Yujing¡­ Yujing!¡±

    Abels locked on to Luo Ming as thetter took off toward them again.

    He¡¯s even stronger than before? How can someone¡¯s internal energy climb so rapidly? Wait a minute. Don¡¯t tell me his primitively violent energy ising from his sword.

    Abels stopped Luo Ming once again; however, despite Abels holding down Luo Ming¡¯s body, Luo Ming was still able to swing the sword in his right arm, the sound of it whizzing through space resembling a beast¡¯s howl.

    Shen Yiren had limited options when Abels and Luo Ming were so far ahead of her; it was the same situation as fighting someone with an enormous weight and height difference. Regardless, she instinctively drew her sword and thrust at Luo Ming.

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer hit Yujing harder than ever. Abels couldn¡¯t save Shen Yiren even if he could end Luo Ming in one punch because Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer possessed Enlightenment attributes.

    ¡°¡­ Yujing¡­ Stop!¡±

    Luo Ming wrenched his sword off its path, hitting the ground instead of cleaving Shen Yiren, consequently suffering an internal injury. The world suddenly came to a pause once Shen Yiren¡¯s sword came out the other side of Luo Ming¡¯s chest.

    ¡°¡­ You¡­¡± Luo Ming fell to the ground.

    Shen Yiren stared at the blood on her sword, unable to believe she stung Luo Ming.

    ¡°He can¡¯t be spared after all the heinous deeds he¡¯smitted. Leave him to me. You go rescue him first,¡± Abels conveyed. ¡°I only just woke up from his hypnotism, or rather, a nightmare he cast on me. Those inside it don¡¯t know they¡¯re trapped inside an illusion. Seconds in real time are equivalent to years inside. I don¡¯t know when, if ever, I¡¯d havee to on my own. If Brother Ming is caught in the same spell, he won¡¯t be able to wake up without help.¡±

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t resist looking back at Luo Ming, bbergasted, and then made haste for the cauldron.

    Abels figured Luo Ming was unlikely dead when he still had Sea Deer Hunter on him: ¡°Luo Ming, you beat me once and spared me once. I can¡¯t call myself a fair man if I kill you in your current state. At the same time, given what you did to my brothers, you don¡¯t deserve mercy. I¡¯ll take an arm and a leg from you. Then, I¡¯ll kill your fourth son, destroy your cauldron and burn down your home. You kill a thousand of my people, and I¡¯ll kill two thousand of your people. If you want revenge, I¡¯ll take you on anytime.¡± Abels then detained Luo Ming in his blue energy, empowering him to take a limb if he willed so.

    ¡°Kukuku.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny? You¡¯re next.¡± Abels zipped over to Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King and apprehended thetter. ¡°As Luo Ming¡¯s strategist, I¡¯m sure you were involved in the massacre of my brothers. You think I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    ¡°You have any idea what you¡¯re dealing with?¡± Poison King queried with a sneer that convinced Abels to tune in. ¡°We spent around two decades nurturing the sword core that was sealed for twenty years since it¡¯s contaminated with sinister, frosty energy. Even the best martial artists aren¡¯t immune to its influence. At the end of the day, though, its sinister qi was collected from external sources. That¡¯s why there¡¯s a limit.¡±

    It had been years since Abels had felt dominated. Thest time he felt the adrenaline pump so distinctly was when a Divine Realm warrior shocked him, which was before the days he reached Divine Realm. The difference between this time and previous times was that he even he had a spark of doubt he could ovee it.

    A faint golden glimmer coated Luo Ming, almost making his body appear transparent. Luo Ming¡¯s Enlightenment was red, not golden. This was the golden glow of a sovereign.

    ¡°Finally.¡± A symbol of victory flourished on Poison King¡¯s lips.

    Abels blue prison on Luo Ming split in two, revealing the dragon on Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer had beenpletely dyed red.

 Volume 9 130 Luo Ming

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 130 Luo Ming</h4>

    The golden light impelled those present to avert their gazes from the blinding light. The sparks from the cauldron resembled raining light fragments within the golden light¡¯s ten metre circumference.

    A-Lan expressed, ¡°What a bizarre sword, nefarious one moment and now¡­¡±

    ¡°Like the majestic sun driving out the darkness at dawn,¡± Abels chimed in. ¡°Luo Ming¡¯s sword is a sovereign¡¯s sword. It¡¯s hard to believe how they nurtured the sword core like that.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Abels had every intention of forcing Poison King to confess. Unfortunately, Abels found out Poison King couldn¡¯t speak. Theparison of the sun at dawn wasn¡¯t just figurative speech; Poison King really was perspiring profusely, and his body was conceding to the pain owning his body since he was a user of poison - a dark art.

    Luo Ming rose ¡°from the ashes¡± and showed he was a different man from before - inside and out. His hair and skin sumbed to the vicissitudes of time, grooming him in an appearance more befitting of his age. This was the same appearance Luo Ming first met Abels with in the windy desert, albeit with a worn out visage and shabby cloak back then that a man who didn¡¯t care for another¡¯s opinion of his appearance would wear.

    Just as the majestic dragon qi harmed Poison King; it purged the Binary Poison Style¡¯s effects inside Luo Ming¡¯s body, consequently cancelling the poisons¡¯ ability to maintain his youthful appearance in addition to restoring his enviable internal energy and true personality, that bitterness one wouldn¡¯t think someone who seemingly had it all would wear.

    Luo Ming spent a moment marvelling each and every red trail on his sword: ¡°Is that so¡­? Feng Jian died?¡±

    Having ran as fast as he could and employing any means necessary to reach his goal of revenge, Luo Ming no longer had anyone behind him. Mayhap that was a predetermined oue when he chose to seek revenge ten years ago.

    ¡°What a warm day.¡± Luo Ming raised his sword at the sun: ¡°Feng¡¯er, do you really think¡­ this sword will never lose its edge?¡±

    Besides Abels, people were astonished Luo Ming could stand up after being punctured; even the thought of him being immortal crossed their minds for a second. In truth, regaining himself meant regaining his progress in Evil Eminence Scripture. Combining its fifth level with Sea Deer Hunter, the two closed his chest wound.

    ¡°Finally awake.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Luo Ming didn¡¯t even spare Abels a nce.

    Abels didn¡¯t mind Luo Ming¡¯s dismissive attitude. To the contrary, he could sense Luo Ming was dangerous enough for him to signal for A-Lan and Mountain Monster to get out of the ring. ¡°Congrattions on forging the ultimate sword.¡±

    ¡°Forsooth, it is a good sword.¡± Luo Ming ran his hand up the de. ¡°Sadly, I am not worthy of it.¡±

    Abels paid no heed to thement, focusing on conjuring a defensive barricade around himself: ¡°I was annoyed I couldn¡¯t beat you fair and square. Now we can set the record straight.¡±

    ¡°In that case, how about releasing this one¡¯s guest first?¡±

    The moment Luo Ming looked up, Abels released Poison King and thereupon bound backward. Luo Ming reced Abels¡¯ hold on Poison King¡¯spel and Abels¡¯ feet a second ago with his own. Abels had seen plenty of fast people, but that was faster than anything he had witnessed in his lifetime. Had he let go a fraction slower, Luo Ming would¡¯ve lopped his hand off already.

    ¡°What¡­ did you do? For what purpose did you forge the sword?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been wrong for ten years. My sword is a principle. Strength is a principle just as powerlessness is. To exert or not is a swordy principle.¡± One casual swing from Luo Ming gave the impression a giant just parted clouds. ¡°Henceforth, this one shall be a sinner. All he can do is avenge and then perish.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°¡­ never lose its edge¡±. - The phrase used here can refer to one¡¯s skill with a sword but also an actual sword. So, the phrase Feng Jian used points to both usages.

 Volume 9 131 Give Me One Songâ€™s Time

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 131 Give Me One Song¡¯s Time</h4>

    ¡°Before we begin¡­ Miss Shen, you have yet to return the sword to this one.¡±

    Shen Yiren felt a draft at her neck and would¡¯ve felt cold iron had Abels not caught Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer with both hands in time. She promptly squatted to roll behind Abels. Abels was hoping she could save Ming Feizhen so that they could boost their fighting power, but Luo Ming forced her to back track as he saw through their intention.

    ¡°Thest two strikes from Repository Sword Theory¡¯s God-Shocking Theory?¡±

    Abels, donning a blue cloak of energy, didn¡¯t let himself blink, lest he lose track of Luo Ming. Abels couldn¡¯t risk essing level seven of Evil Eminence Scripture since he had just learnt it. He might be able to bluff that he had mastered it against someone inexperienced. Luo Ming, on the other hand, would likely see through the ruse and capitalise on Abels¡¯ vulnerability. Until he could figure out the techniques in Luo Ming¡¯s arsenal, Abels could only rely on brute strength.

    ¡°It was just a conventional thrust¡­¡±

    If the person unlocking upoint seals¡¯ internal energy is closely matched to the sealer, the former can undo thetter¡¯s seals with one palm strike. Luo Ming, instead, cut open the seals in Poison King¡¯s body using sword qi and then forcibly expelled Abels¡¯ internal energy using his own. That could only mean Luo Ming¡¯s internal energy was inferiorpared to Abels¡¯.

    ¡°Luo Ming, are you saying that wasn¡¯t even a thrust with technical consideration?¡±

    ¡°Why do you think I¡¯d lie to you?¡± Luo Ming set Poison King down, then turned back to Abels: ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing the same technique daily since I was a child. If we were topare, my most polished technique among all of the swordys in my repertoire would be that thrust. That being the case, does it make sense for it to be an ordinary thrust?

    ¡°If practicing Repository Sword Theory is training martial arts and so is practicing thrusts, why can¡¯t thetter be a style? That thrust was the best option to deal with you in that situation. Whyplicate things?¡±

    Whenever one learns a style, they always have stylised interpretations of things. If thrusting is the most useful despite all the glorified stuff, doesn¡¯t that mean all styles are useless?

    The fact of the matter is, context determines how suitable a technique is. By the same ount, a style¡¯s interpretation is only as good as the context it is employed in. Even the most unadorned straight thrust can be the most dangerous weapon if applied at the right moment.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can back up your profound talk.¡±

    Having noticed the discrepancy in their internal energy potency, Abels started with a smashing palm strike of blue energy, striving to crush Luo Ming under high pressure and might. In a speed contest, Luo Ming would catch Abels whenever he fancied. Going slower but emphasising strength, however, Abels could disrupt Luo Ming¡¯s rhythm.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to gain respect if all you do is rely on brute force.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s golden sh halved the blue whale. Prepared ahead of time, Abels pped his hands together, attempting to catch Luo Ming in a pincer attack from left and right of qi walls. s, Luo Ming sliced the two walls into pieces.

    Although the only counter for Enlightenment is another Enlightenment, one does have to cast Enlightenment into their techniques to ¡°tear apart¡± another Enlightenment, yet Luo Ming didn¡¯t even resort to Enlightenment.

    His sword can cut Enlightenment!

    Only once he was within ten metres did Luo Ming cast his golden Enlightenment.

    After Abels strafed away from the red sh, he heard wood and stone toppling down, saw dust ubiquitously. A quick nce behind him informed him that Luo Ming just sliced apart a pavilion far from them.

    ¡°That was God-Shocking Theory. Still, nothing impressive.¡± Luo Ming wasn¡¯t making light of Abels. Perhaps if would be more correct to say that he didn¡¯t seem to care about the oue of the match.

    ¡°If practicing Repository Sword Theory is training martial arts and so is practicing thrusts, why can¡¯t thetter be a style?¡± Repository Sword Theory doesn¡¯t promise superior skills every sessive theory. Repository Sword Theory is the principle of all things in the world. Everything shares the same genesis. By natural selection, the strong live, and the weak die. To covet power avable at the apex means to covet the power of nature.

    Luo Ming only understood the true design of Repository Sword Theory once he excreted all of Poison King¡¯s poison from his body. While he couldn¡¯t master all of the theories overnight, his understanding of its essence was enough to transform his power exponentially as he just demonstrated.

    With his new abilities and a sword that can cut Enlightenment, I might not be able to beat Luo Ming even if I had Sea Deer Hunter.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As soon as Abels felt a threatening wind, he coated himself in energy using Evil Eminence Scripture and pivoted to reduce the impact he would have to absorb.

    Thud!

    ¡°Abels!¡± A-Lan bellowed.

    ¡°Believe it or not, I don¡¯t want to kill you, Bodhi Abels.¡± Luo Ming sauntered over to Abels¡¯ still body on the ground, blood still seeping out from several vitals. ¡°You¡¯re one of the true chivalrous men I¡¯d consider a hero. You have my respect and admiration. Unfortunately, this one has no means of trapping you again since you could escape Seven Emotions. Hence, you cannot be spared.¡±

    Abels¡¯ body wouldn¡¯t heed hismand to get up.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Shen Yiren shouted.

    ¡°Miss Shen, this one also admires your courage, but don¡¯t delude yourself into thinking you deserve to share the ring with us. As well, this one still has business with you and Yujing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking to challenge you.¡± Despitecking confidence, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t let it show via any detectable senses. ¡°Give me some time. I¡¯ll give you an opponent you can be happy with.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Him? In the hypothetical world that he isn¡¯t dead, it would take you two hours, at the very least, to get him out from the cauldron. This one doesn¡¯t have that much free time.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t take that long. I only need¡­ one song¡¯s time.¡±

    Shen Yiren shut her eyes and cleared her throat: ¡°There¡¯s an old ox by the riverbank. There are two turtles at the bottom¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is this some sort of joke?¡±

    ¡°The turtle slowly makes its way home. February¡¯s moon illuminates theke.¡±

    Listening to the miserably off-pitched, yet earnest, singing, Elder Shou and Xiao Huangquan¡¯s faces read, ¡°How tragic, to lose your mind in this situation.¡± Because it was such an unorthodox - if you could even call it that - strategy, even Luo Ming was stupefied to the point that he forgot about Abels and actually let Shen Yiren finish.

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t fear Luo Ming when she confronted him. Howbeit, the silence that permeated the air once she was done singing choked her. Her heart raced. A choked cry forced itself up her throat and almost rolled off her tongue when she heard, ¡°I thought I told you to shut your eyes when you sing.¡± She glued her eyelids and lips together to not let her tears roll down her cheeks. ¡°¡­ You didn¡¯t¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have unfaltering confidence in Ming Feizhen as Hong Jiu did. Believing Ming Feizhen was still alive was tantamount to denying reality based on circumstantial evidence. Her heart wanted to go to his aid, but her mind told her that her duty, His Majesty¡¯s safety needed to take precedence because she¡¯s Shen Yiren. By no means was it easy to firmly believe he was still alive and not give in to her emotions. You could even say that the song was a curtain call song for her before she went down in the line of duty to reunite with him on the other side.

    Just as nobody heard Ming Feizhen whispering into Shen Yiren¡¯s ear, nobody noticed when he exited the cauldron or when he crossed over to her side. To say Luo Ming wasn¡¯t surprised was wrong as he actually didn¡¯t react in time. Nheless, Luo Ming knew where he had seen the white hair, frosty face and the night-sky weapon before - his nightmare. If the same young man in that nightmare was given ten more years to grow, there was no question the youth would be the same man before him now.

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, that¡¯s a pretty wicked broadsword!¡±

    Prior to raising Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, Luo Ming had a brain stutter: ¡°It¡¯s a sword!¡±

 Volume 9 132 Together Forever

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 132 Together Forever</h4>

    Thirteen years ago, a young couple lived by Autumn Frost Lake. Theke less than two hundred kilometres from Beiping only exists because of the unique geography. Theke in the centre of the forest is as cold as it gets. When golden rays illuminate the surface and winds blow, the surface of theke resembles ripples of crushed ice even in summer. Like the moss on the stone monument that disyed theke¡¯s name, it had been named so long ago that no soul could recount its history urately. When autumn walks in, a chilly breeze covers the mountain and foothills in a tinge reminiscent of sunset.

    The maiden pulled her brows together whilst using the freezing water as a mirror when a draft tousled her hair. It would be impossible for anyone to imagine she could be unhappy with her experience when she had it all from front to back, top to bottom; they would call her a water deity if they saw her sitting next to theke. She didn¡¯t possess mesmerising beauty, but it would be difficult not to marvel or move one¡¯s gaze off her, especially her luminous eyes that contrasted her reserved decorum more befitting of her age.

    She started to get frustrated with her unsessful attempt tob her long hair, resulting in herughing at herself.

    ¡°Smiling suits you,¡± he always told her. Be it dimpling with her lips pursed,ughing, evenughing hysterically, she was always charming, albeit in different ways. When she asked him what was so nice about her smile, though, he couldn¡¯t answer. That didn¡¯t change the fact that he genuinely liked seeing her smile, nevertheless.

    ¡°How much longer are you going to keep staring at me, silly?¡± grumbled the woman, almost sounding simr to a bickering newlywed couple.

    ¡°For as long as I live,¡± the youth with white hair blurted,zing around.

    She didn¡¯t hide her rosy cheeks. Instead, she brushed her hair back: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t youb my hair? What¡¯s the point of marrying you if being a husband is just an excuse for you to lounge around?¡±

    He might¡¯ve been younger than her, but he was taller than her, even when he sat behind her with the corners of his lips in an upward curve.

    Even though he sometimes hurt her whilebing her hair and wasn¡¯t exceptional atbing her hair, she liked letting himb her hair. She liked seeing the youth, who was staunch in the face of any adversity, lose hisposure whenever he hurt her. She liked leaning back on him whenever she was tired during their conversations. She couldn¡¯t ask for anything more if she could rest on him by the redke. She certainly didn¡¯t care what others thought of her behaviour.

    Once he finished tying her hair up, he queried, ¡°Why did you sigh?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Although it¡¯s not noticeable now, when I age, you¡¯ll fall for another woman.¡± She let him continuebing her hair while she continued, ¡°When you turn twenty, I¡¯ll be twenty-six. When you turn thirty, I¡¯ll be thirty-six.¡±

    ¡°True¡­¡± His pause could almost be interpreted as deliberate to leave her hanging. ¡°You¡¯ll be eighty-six when I turn eighty. You¡¯ll be ny-six when I turn ny.¡± He pulled her into his arms. ¡°We won¡¯t even have our teeth anymore. We won¡¯t be able to walk anymore. Even so, I¡¯ll stillb your hair.¡±

    She leaned her head onto the space between his shoulder and chin: ¡°Uhm. We¡¯ll just stay here. I¡¯ll y music and read while you train. I have noints if we can stay together until we¡¯re in our nies.¡±

    Despite their rocky journey to finally be together, they didn¡¯t desire a tear-jerking or fairy tale love. All they wanted to do was lead a quiet, peaceful life together until the end of their lives.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was only a dayter, yet everything changed after that day. Having experienced it once back then, he never wanted to witness their heart-wrenching separation a second time.

    His mature consciousness took over his young self, bringing an unprecedented calmness to his eyes: ¡°I should get going now.¡±

    She shifted her head slightly, which would¡¯ve been a head tilt if her head was leaning against him.

    ¡°You won¡¯t understand because you weren¡¯t here for those times.¡± Ming Feizhen rose to his feet and peered across the redke. ¡°You may not believe me, but this world isn¡¯t real. Someone used a skill to conjure it. He¡¯s strong mentally, physically and is equipped with a weapon bordering on a weapon out of a fantasy story. That¡¯s the only reason he could produce this world.¡± He looked back down at her and borated, ¡°I¡¯ve been searching for you ever since we parted. I¡¯ve gone to Beijiang, Nanjiang, the Western Regions¡­ I¡¯ve searched every ce you and others have mentioned. I even searched ces where there were reports of someone resembling you. It¡¯s a world I haven¡¯t seen, but you¡¯re not there. I should give him my thanks. Had it not been for him, I don¡¯t know when I¡¯d ever see you again¡­ Let¡¯s speak in person next time.¡±

    ***

    ¡°It¡¯s you¡­ right?¡± Shen Yiren choked out.

    Ming Feizhen wrapped his arms around Shen Yiren and pulled himself in next to her ear: ¡°Sorry for making you worry.¡±

    Notwithstanding shutting her eyes as tight as she could, a silver trail still escaped at the same time she let her emotions out of her lips: ¡°Jerk¡­ Big jerk¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen moved his gaze up to lock with Luo Ming¡¯s and gently whispered again, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll be over¡­ in a jiffy.¡±

    Trivia

    Autumn Frost - Can be used as a means of describing high-quality, prosperity and even heroic. However, here, it¡¯s a reference to white hair - Li Bai¡¯s Snow Shore Bad. One of the phrases of the poem is, ¡°Autumn frost is everywhere¡­¡± which is to say that all of one¡¯s hair has turned white. This is further emphasised if you notice the emphasis on aging together in the chapter.

 Volume 9 133 Divine Blade

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 133 Divine de</h4>

    Besides Xiao Huangquan, Abels and the some others nearby, those far away had no idea who the white-haired youth was.

    Ming Feizhen released Shen Yiren, then walked toward Luo Ming: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a pretty wicked broadsword.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a sword.¡±

    Unless their name was Bodhi Abels, they would think the two were swinging their weapons at each other, not staring each other down, as they could feel the stirring wind around stirring unnaturally.

    Shen Yiren could feel adrenaline flooding her system and showing no signs of stopping until a dose of qi came through from her toes, relieving her contracted muscles. She could tell it was him who helped her. Although she felt her heart thumping fast again, it didn¡¯te with the ominous tension this time.

    Smiling, Ming Feizhen remarked, ¡°Patriarch Luo, what reason is there to get others killed as coteral damage in our duel?¡±

    Sort of odd for two armed individuals to try and stare each other down instead of fighting, but it was one way of separating those who couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure from the mayhem brewing to ensue. Additionally, it reduced the risk of distractions. It only took a moment of distraction forbatants to lose their life, after all.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s sonorous voice might¡¯ve startled anyone but Luo Ming for thetter finally had a chance to put his new sword to the test. Furthermore, precisely transferring his voice into ears was a sign that Ming Feizhen¡¯s control over his internal energy was as advanced as humans could imagine it being.

    Smiling back, Luo Ming responded, ¡°A perfect suggestion.¡±

    Without taking his eyes off Luo Ming, Ming Feizhen ordered, ¡°Everyone behind me, get away as far as you can.¡±

    ¡°Luo n descendants, assemble in the east and await orders!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Patriarch!¡±

    Shen Yiren only opened her eyes once she had turned her back on Ming Feizhen: ¡°Can you win?¡±

    ¡°I promised not to lie to you.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Luo Ming paid particr attention to only Shen Yiren among those who departed: ¡°She will be able to revive Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    With that, falling leaves froze, and the world was put on mute.

    By the time the two were within sight again, the only things between them were their weapons. A windstorm cleaved the silence and stillness. As if their energy transformed into hundreds of wind des, the ring that was once one block was now strewn concrete fragments.

    ¡°Really impressive,¡± Ming Feizhenmented with delight. ¡°Abels would be out for the count now if he didn¡¯t have Sea Deer Hunter. It¡¯s only been a few days, yet you¡¯ve levelled up even without the poison.¡±

    ¡°The sword was originally designed to purge evil. I need to do some introspection. Mount Daluo has always produced exemry individuals. I should never have questioned if a man of Ming Huayu¡¯s calibre would produce a useless disciple.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen pushed his ck de forward a little: ¡°Don¡¯t be so modest, Patriarch Luo. Few souls could possibly trap me. You deserve to be proud of your aplishment.¡±

    ¡°There is no greater honour than to receive praise from Master Ming. It seems you do not learn from mistakes, though. You still have¡­ Emotion Barrier Stone on you.¡±

    A crimson energy manifested on Luo Ming¡¯s sword as he cast Seven Emotions Theory, prompting Ming Feizhen to imbue his de with more energy. Luo Ming flexed his wrist at an angle, dragging his sword back along Ming Feizhen¡¯s de, and then the two jumped back to give themselves room.

    Emotion Barrier Stone enhances the strength of Seven Emotions Theory multiple folds, yet Ming Feizhen broke out without any help. It¡¯s going to take more than what I used on Abels to beat Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Hahahaha, congrattions on oveing your emotional obstacles. There is one thing I am curious about, having said that.¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his de at Luo Ming: ¡°As long as I know the answer, I shall indulge you.¡±

    ¡°While I am surprised you broke free on your own, I am sure I trapped you. I don¡¯t understand how you managed to survive the heat of the cauldron, however.¡±

    ¡°My clothing is sewn from celestial spider silk. The cold from venom of celestial spiders¡¯ is as cold as anything will get. If I don¡¯t supress it with my internal strength, everything within thirty metres will be solid ice in three days. In my moment of panic, I coated myself in cold qi. Thanks to the heat, I did not freeze. My hair dye can¡¯t withstand heat, sadly, so it¡¯s melted off.¡±

    Not even Luo Ming thought it could be celestial spider silk because, as it¡¯s one of the four treasures in smithing, it¡¯s incredibly rare, yet Ming Feizhen had enough to sew clothing out of it.

    ¡°You can¡¯tin, though, can you? I mean, you have an armoury of special weapons.¡± Ming Feizhen cast his eyes to Luo Ming¡¯s sword. ¡°The name of your broadsw-¡±

    ¡°The sword¡¯s name is Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. It took this old one ten years to collect the rare models, majestic qi for the core and countless battles for its nerve. We needed the core of the earth¡¯s fire and the blood from the hearts of five Spirit Realm swordsmen to forge.¡± Luo Ming returned the favour, asking of the unblemished ck weapon, ¡°May this old one ask what the name of your weapon is?¡±

    Ming Feizhen held his de overhead and grinned: ¡°Beat me, and I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

 Volume 9 134 Mountains and Oceans

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 134 Mountains and Oceans</h4>

    ¡°Hahaha, since you¡¯ve been in my secret chamber, you should be aware I have a vengeance to take.¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°After grasping Repository Sword Theory and forging this sword, I, after ten years, finally see a chance of sess for the first time.¡±

    For anyone to im they see ¡°a chance¡± of winning against the cmitous monstrosity mentioned as calmly as Luo Ming did was worthy of admiration.

    ¡°So, what gives you the right to preach to me?¡±

    Luo Ming, still confident after failing to overwhelm Ming Feizhen, smiled: ¡°You saw the previous version of Repository Sword Theory. Ever since obtaining this sword, I¡¯ve redefined myprehension of Repository Sword Theory. You¡¯ve seen Seven Emotions Theory already. Since it won¡¯t work, I doubt Fleeting Theory will work, either. I shall not embarrass myself again.¡±

    ¡°Pragmatic. I like it.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear what you think of this theory.¡± Luo Ming awoke red energy on the de, reinforcing it to be a castle wall. ¡°This is Mountains Theory. In the sword is Mountain Yin, Mountain Yang, Mountain Cover and Mountain Phenomena. Sword strikes are heavy as mountains and never ending like a mountain range.¡±

    Any other sect¡¯s swordy would be more convoluted than Luo Ming¡¯s straightforward thrust. The reason for the ¡°Mountains¡± name is to imply the innumerable calctions the opponent can make. Just as one cannot move a mountain to take the route of their choice, regardless of what variation the opponent tries to answer with, they will find they are restricted, therefore must deal with the thrust. For the theory to work, the user must have knowledge of all swordy in existence.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Ming Feizhen offered an equally straightforward chop. The difference between Luo Ming¡¯s thrust and Ming Feizhen¡¯s chop was thattter, unlike the former, didn¡¯t run any calctions.

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer vibrated as though it was baring its fangs at a mighty foe, while Ming Feizhen¡¯s ck de didn¡¯t vibrate or leave sparks when it collided with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.

    Ming Feizhen expected Luo Ming to try somethingplicated, but thetter really didn¡¯t.

    Luo Ming summoned more energy, activating the golden energy of his sword, battering Ming Feizhen with bomb after bomb before thetter could react. Mountains Theory wasn¡¯t about ¡°profoundness¡± or being shy. It was about burying the opponent under increasingly heavy blows as though you were piling mountains onto the opponent.

    ¡°Your internal energy is astounding; it even puts Abels¡¯ to shame. Still, no amount of strength can surpass thews of nature. Water may be soft, but it can work around rocks. My internal energy may not be as potent as yours, b-¡±

    ¡°I like it.¡±

    He¡¯s¡­ smiling?

    Ming Feizhen started pushing Luo Ming¡¯s sword back.

    H-he can push me back?!

    ¡°It takes ages for water to prate rocks. If we¡¯re talking about a moment in time, though, smash the water with a rock, and all you get is droplets of water. Have you ever envisioned your downfall? Hargh!¡±

    Because Ming Feizhen abruptly ejected himself from the deadlock, Luo Ming¡¯s sword automatically chased its target. Logically speaking, someone retreating cannot deal with so much pent-up force. Nevertheless, Ming Feizhen blocked his backward momentum, using the ground as a springboard to travel forward again. He pulled his ck weapon behind him and then swung out in front at Luo Ming¡¯s iing sword.

    Luo Ming couldn¡¯t believe Ming Feizhen terminated his force and still had enough forward force to drive him backwards. In the spur of the moment, Luo Ming spawned two qi vortexes on either side to redirect Ming Feizhen¡¯s forward force sideways. Even so, Ming Feizhen¡¯s force dismembered the vortexes and splintered three bricks on the ground.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Be careful.¡± Luo Ming confidently lifted his sword overhead, generating one vortex on his sword tip and another three metres in front. ¡°Try Abyss Theory.¡±

    Both Abels and Ming Feizhen already figured out they needed to reverse the direction of the vortexes¡¯ rotation to counter Abyss Theory, but that was prior to Luo Ming¡¯s recalibrated version. This time, Luo Ming had two rotations in opposite directions happening simultaneously, making it impossible to reverse what¡¯s already being reversed.

    The vortexes¡¯ depth increased rapidly, dragging Ming Feizhen toward it - reminiscent of a wrathful ocean as soon as he harboured theparison. Abyss Theory alone wouldn¡¯t have as much force, but, whenbined with Fleeting Theory, it would pull mercilessly the moment one had the thought.

    ¡°Having improved the theory¡­¡±

    From the bottom of the vortex, Ming Feizhen swatted through to the surface, sending a column of water shooting up at the clouds and pulling all the water along for a ride. At the bottom of the now dry ocean was Ming Feizhen and his disinterested look.

    ¡°What were you saying? How did you improve your broadswordy?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s a sword.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rested his weapon on his shoulder: ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Luo Ming reduced his eyes to slits: ¡°I do know of people who could defuse Mountains and Abyss theories. In saying that, it¡¯s hard to even name a few people who could dismantle them through sheer force as they would need more might than mountains and oceans.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Ming Feizhen yawned.

    ¡°¡­ Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing consists of tenyers.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Mountains¡± in Mountains Theory - It¡¯s also the term for the oldest form of divination. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, read ¡°Book of Changes¡±, which is also tranted as ¡°ssic of Changes¡±. Be warned that the rabbit hole will lead down more rabbit holes. You¡¯ll need to go down two to find ¡°Mountains¡±. I don¡¯t know what the trantion quality is, but I can tell you the Chinese is hyper-deluxe-paimonly-extremely difficult toprehend. I believe these theories will y a more important role in the story than mereponents of a martial arts manual.

 Volume 9 135 Two Stories

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 135 Two Stories</h4>

    ¡°Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing consists of tenyers.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Your point being?¡±

    Whilst performing visual recon on Ming Feizhen¡¯s reaction, Luo Ming answered, ¡°Yijin Jing is Shaolin¡¯s treasure. One of their eminent monks once said, ¡®You cannot exchange the seventy-two arts of shaolin for Yijin Jing.¡¯ That goes to show just how cherished Yijin Jing is¡­

    ¡°Yijin Jing¡¯s tenyers are more difficult to learn than anything. Once one master¡¯s the fifthyer, they enter a realm called Mountains and Oceans Realm for their brute strength ispared to ocean waves and crashing mountains. The reason for choosing ¡®mountains¡¯ and ¡®oceans¡¯ as descriptive analogies is due to their religion associating the two entities as almighty things.

    ¡°After the fifthyer, eachyer is harder to master than thest. Every time you progress to the nextyer, you gain the might of two more mountains and two more oceans. Once you master the ninthyer, your internal energy is in a league of its own, one that cannot be described with words, so they simplybel it as being the equivalent of ¡®nine mountains and nine oceans¡¯. If someone could produce that much force in each strike, mayhap only mythical beings could match them.

    ¡°In Shaolin¡¯s thousand years¡¯ history, there have only been eighty-three eminent monks who mastered up to Yijin Jing¡¯s fifthyer, each of whom have gone down in history for their incredible skills. Twenty-four people mastered up to the seventhyer. Fifteen people have mastered the eighthyer. Only four people have mastered the ninthyer since Shaolin was established.

    ¡°Shaolin¡¯s current abbot isuded as an incarnation of Buddha for he has mastered the ninthyer. Despite themendable attributes of Divine Realm martial artists, Abbot Kongxu still takes the top spot for internal energy. As expected, Abels suffered injuries that he struggled to recover after challenging Abbot Xukong, yet thetter did not suffer any harm.¡±

    ¡°If Brother Bodhi hears that, he¡¯s going to flip out. Anyway, you¡¯ve spouted a lot of drivel. How about you stop beating around the bush?¡±

    Luo Ming drew his discharged energy back, believing his question would trigger the next exchange: ¡°What¡¯s your father¡¯s name?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m an orphan. How should I know when my shifu raised me?¡±

    ¡°Where¡­ did you learn Yijin Jing from, then, to know it so well?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why don¡¯t you take a guess?¡±

    Luo Ming cautiously dropped his guard and then held his hands behind his back, peering into the heavens whilst alternating between musing and shaking his head. ¡°¡­ You may be strong, but you¡¯re not invincible.¡±

    ¡°Show me in a fight. Or, let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    Luo Ming shook his head: ¡°I have two stories to share with you.¡±

    ¡°You seem to be in a jovial mood, huh? It¡¯s almost as if you¡¯re unaware I¡¯m here for a fight.¡±

    Luo Ming just smiled back.

    ¡°Share your stories, but I can¡¯t promise I won¡¯t pulverise you.¡±

    ¡°The first story took ce thirty-three years ago.¡±

    Ming Feizhen paused his preparation to attack, informing Luo Ming that he hit the nail on the head.

    ¡°I was Luo Sword Manor¡¯s representative, charged with defending the capital, in the war between the Nine Provinces and Youtu back then, so I¡¯m not privy to what took ce on the frontlines. Nheless, the war eventually reached an end.¡±

    Youtu, and of snow, is further north of Beijiang. Rumours im that, instead of humans residing there, fiends, monsters and demons are buried beneath the cold darkness. If anyone were to witness their soldiers in battle, they would understand how the myths came to be.

    Tiezhen Kingdom had yet to recover from the Youtu¡¯s invasion back then. Abels¡¯ exile from the royal family was also a product of the Youtu¡¯s quest for supremacy.

    ¡°The previous Emperor was a wilful one and for the worst. During his reign, he failed in his three attempts to capture Beijiang, forcing him to retreat to the capital of Nanjing. On his third attempt, he encountered Youtu¡¯s forces while they were at the border. As soon as he saw them assaulting Beiping, he wanted to open the city doors to flee for his life.

    ¡°As always, war is an opportunity for heroes to be made. Two men, one born to be a star on the battlefield, refused to abandon his city and surrender despite being a mere rank sevenmander. One of the deeds he will always be remembered for is killing the brownnosing state proctor for diffusing false rumours.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Themander recruited soldiers in the city and rode out with three thousand equestrians against Youtu¡¯s army of forty thousand. Over the length of one month, he slew thirteen generals and drove the enemy back to Beijiang¡¯s borders. If Youtu¡¯s horses weren¡¯t faster than his forces¡¯, they would have had toy down their lives in foreignnds. Nheless, he rode alone into the enemy camp to y theirmander, Mogong Luohou.

    ¡°When he returned victorious to the capital, there was an ocean of people by the city doors to wee him, cheering, ¡®Flying General¡¯. He is the hero among heroes I have seen in my life. In one year¡¯s time, he rose up twelve ranks to be a general. He didn¡¯t just have a long list of aplishments to his name; the mere mention of his name in the north would stop infants crying.

    ¡°Later on, he joined hands with another warrior equally praised to aplish many feats still spoken of positively today, including conquering Nanjiang, forming an alliance with the Western Regions seven states and sowing discord in Beijiang. If the two of them were still alive¡­ the imperial court probably wouldn¡¯t need to worry about the Seven Champion White Princes or the four unorthodox factions.

    ¡°It¡¯s sad that good times don¡¯tst. After the previous Emperor passed on, his sons waged war on each other. To prevent a full-scale war from breaking out, Flying General quelled riot after riot, adding to his ever-growing list of aplishments. He is the one who helped Yuansheng establish the foundations for thirty years of peace. s, he upset a highly authoritative individual, resulting in him being framed for colluding with another nation and killing members of the imperial family.

    ¡°Those who wanted to get rid of him started bringing up old issues. The most ridiculous one was someone defended the dead state preceptor and tried to retell the story in apletely different light. Flying General was not even buried in the end. After he passed away, ¡®Flying General¡¯ became an illegal phrase to mention; those who mentioned the name would be executed on grounds of treason. If they were lucky, they would only have their entire family executed. Every record pertaining to Flying General was erased from history. It¡¯s tragic to think it¡¯s unlikely anyone will remember him in a few more decades from now.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like quite the man,¡± Ming Feizhenmented.

    ¡°Indeed. His martial prowess is even greater. His ster skills battle earned the title ¡®God of Battle¡¯. Even fifty yearster, people still firmly believe nobody fifty years before him or after him can be called his equal. He is skilled enough to rival this nation¡¯s patriarch and Hero Shenzhou. Even though I consider myself decent, I do not deserve to be ced beside him. If we were to fight fair and square, I can¡¯t imaginesting more than a few exchanges.¡±

    ¡°¡­ And the second story?¡± Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t sound interested in God of Battle¡¯s skills.

    ¡°The second story is also rted to him. His style was Shaolin Temple¡¯s Yijin Jing. As I previously mentioned, Yijin Jing is a guarded treasure of Shaolin. The only time they lost it was over thirty years ago to a female thief. Shaolin still doesn¡¯t want to talk about her being able to steal it from under their nose. The gorgeous thief¡¯s name was a Tianfeng Yu, the only woman to be ranked among Supreme Ten Saints.

    ¡°Tianfeng Yuter met Flying General and married him. It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say they had people green with envy. It¡¯s safe to assume that¡¯s how he obtained Yijin Jing. The only way for Yijin Jing to have been passed down to someone outside of Shaolin is through his family.

    ¡°Subsequent to Flying General¡¯s execution, his family was executed. Of course, that included Tianfeng Yu. The story goes that she resisted until the imperial court dispatched The Ultimate Three to finish her. For them to meet their ends like that really is unfair.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ done?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Luo Ming studied Ming Feizhen from head to toe. ¡°I do believe they had a son, and I do not recall hearing anything regarding his death after their family¡¯s execution. If¡± - Luo Ming slowed his pace to have more time to monitor Ming Feizhen¡¯s reaction - ¡°their son is still alive¡­ he should be around your age.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Luo Ming wasn¡¯t disappointed for that was also a type of reaction, one that satisfied him: ¡°Tianfeng Yu was one of your shifu¡¯s bosom friends. I have not interacted with Ming Huayu much. That being said, there is no man who does not know of his exploits. Nobody would believe he is a human being if they heard the things people say about him. The most famous rumour regarding him is that he is willing to do anything for women. There aren¡¯t many people in the world who can shelter a criminal¡¯s descendant, are there?

    ¡°¡­ Allow me to make a bold conjecture. Let¡¯s hypothesise that Tianfeng Yu asked Ming Huayu to take care of her son prior to her end, and Ming Huayu raised her son as his disciple. It clicks, does it not? Is it not reasonable for a boy to learn his parents¡¯ martial arts? I should not be surprised to meet a young man carrying the Ming surname and know Yijin Jing, should I?¡±

    Luo Ming cracked a smile at Ming Feizhen¡¯s silence: ¡°You are not invincible. Your mind has swayed. Your expression is the proof.¡±

    If wrath had an incarnation after the story, its human form would be called Ming Feizhen.

    Glossary

    1) Shaolin¡¯s 72 arts - Some people divide the 72 styles into 36 external styles and 36 internal styles (not to be mistaken as ¡®hard¡¯ and ¡®soft¡¯ styles), making up the foundation of Shaolin¡¯s styles. That being said, it¡¯s not all that they have to offer. It¡¯s more of a religious thing; you might have noticed this from their choice of numbers, such as ¡°Eighteen Luohan Hands¡±.

    They aren¡¯t all fighting styles, and some people take the names far too literally. If you were to find an equivalent in today¡¯s more popr system, they would be something like leg training, shoulder training, foot training, stretching, anal mobility drills and so forth. Put all your physical preparation and skill work together until you get 72 things to train. That¡¯s basically how it works.

    2) ¡°Where¡­ did you learn Yijin Jing from, then, to know it so well?¡± - Luo Ming is pointing out that Ming Feizhen¡¯s version isn¡¯t diluted; diluted here means that it hasn¡¯t been altered. The first example thates to mind is Yip Man learning from his uncle but neverpleting his training, though thetter also did practice ¡°idental¡± negligence in his coaching. Yip Man then learnt from Leung Bik, furtherpounding the existing problems with his wing chun pare Yip Man¡¯s to Sum Nang and Yuen Kay Shan¡¯s), thereby diluting it twice. Jim Fung then diluted the already-broken wing chun of Yip Man into a more broken version with his misunderstandings, so broken that it¡¯s nonsense. Ming Feizhen, therefore, learnt what he was supposed to learn instead of mistakes resulting from dilution.

    3) Flying General - This is also the title given to Lyu Bu/Lv Bu (tranted as Lu Bu in Koei¡¯s Warrior franchise), a general during thete Eastern Han dynasty of China.

 Volume 9 136 Ten Mountains and Ten Oceans

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 136 Ten Mountains and Ten Oceans</h4>

    ¡°Is Ming Feizhen your real name? I suppose it must be a mystery, one you can¡¯t share with others. Who are you? Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Feizhen or Night Fortress¡¯ master? Neither, I would say.¡± As Luo Ming whispered poison into Ming Feizhen¡¯s ears, he observed every minute reaction out of Ming Feizhen so that he could figure out where to probe, what to feed and in what dose. ¡°What¡¯s your father¡¯s surname? What should your surname be? Not being able to carry your ancestors¡¯ family name must be vexing, huh?

    ¡°The imperial court is to me for Flying General¡¯s tragic death, yet you¡¯re offering them your services? Are you nning to avenge your parents? Based on your abilities, how can you still be alive? What exactly are you after? Are you sucking it up so that you can find a chance to overturn the ruling?¡±

    When Ming Feizhen¡¯s face no longer showed any emotions, triumph came to Luo Ming¡¯s lips: ¡°I finally understand why you can¡¯t disclose you¡¯re Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple or being Night Fortress¡¯ master: you¡¯re not supposed to be alive. You fear The Ultimate Three finding you if you publicise your existence, which will bring upon you the same fate as your parents. How sad. All this skill, yet you have no means of putting them to use. How about I kindly share your story with the world on your behalf?¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned his head so that he was looking at Luo Ming out of his peripherals and, in a forlorn tone, responded, ¡°¡­ You done?¡±

    Why does he still sound as though he will still win?

    Luo Ming kept up his victorious front, taunting, ¡°You¡¯re just like your shifu. He failed to court Tianfeng Yu; all he could do was take care of her man¡¯s son. You possess prowess at the top of this generation, yet you don¡¯t have the spine to avenge your parents. Living above the clouds on Mount Daluo, far away from the rest of the world, certainly suits you cowards.¡±

    Luo Ming sprawled and scrambled across the floor right after hisst word the way a fighter would when caught out and trying to escape via whatever means possible. Once he had moved away, he realised that there was no actual iing attack. What he felt was nothing more than pure bloodlust down his neck that could undoubtedly prate his true qi armour.

    There¡¯s only one universal way to get to someone in Divine Realm - via their mind. Anytime someone loses their calm in a fight, they¡¯re highly vulnerable. Like every human being, Divine Realm adepts also have human emotions. Ming Feizhen had finally cracked.

    ¡°Pretty moving story.¡± Ming Feizhen plugged his weapon into the ground, then pped. ¡°Allow me to also share you a story that will surely also move you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes on the massive cauldron read, ¡°Looks sturdy enough.¡± He braided thin threats inside his sleeve together into a rope and then prepared another five identical ropes, flummoxing Luo Ming. Ming Feizhen then wrapped his clothing around his ck de. In one wave of his hand, Ming Feizhen made six knots on the big cauldron.

    ¡°My story is short¡­¡± Ming Feizhen simpered: ¡°Have you heard ¡®Ten Mountains and Ten Oceans¡¯?¡±

    The tension Ming Feizhen imposed on the six ropes made from celestial spider silk tugged them straight. The grinding sound from the ground wasn¡¯t scary. The possibility that the sound proposed was what shook Luo Ming.

    Luo Ming always believed the cauldron was akin to a guardian of Luo n as it had apanied the n¡¯s growth for a millennium. When he realised what Ming Feizhen was up to, he was at a loss for what to say or do. He always harped on about Repository Sword Theory epassing all principles of all things in the world. Howbeit, even if he were to read it backwards, upside down or study every stroke in there, he would never find an answer for, ¡°What to do when up against one man who can move an object several tonnes to use as a weapon.¡±

    ¡°Hargh!¡±

    The huge cauldron that was used as an entrance to the underground area was connected to the ground with innumerable pipes, and there was also the cauldron right at the very bottom drawing on fire from Earth¡¯s core.

    ¡°Haaaa¡­¡±

    His arms and face looked as though somebody painted dark green patterns on them. Thest time Ming Feizhen showed that unbing, monstrous appearance was years ago. Regardless, he moved the so cauldron so little that using the adjective ¡°mildly¡± would be an exaggeration.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s voice and strength died down gradually.

    Luo Ming squeezed his sword hilt: Your arrogance knows no bounds. I shall teach you a lesson on reality.

    Ming Feizhen inhaled and extended his arm holding his weapon harder than previous times: ¡°Hargh!¡±

    The cauldron started grinding against the ground increasingly louder as its sliding speed sped up ordingly.

    ¡°Garble, garble, garble, h, h, h. You the flipping census department? What the hell is my parents¡¯ business to you?! I haven¡¯t forgotten about you chucking me into the cauldron!¡± Ming Feizhen retracted his shoulders and grounded himself. As he released all his might in one go, he belted, ¡°Go eat crap!¡±

    The extreme heating closer and closer blew as hard as a tornado. The huge objects erged before his eyes. It wasn¡¯t Luo Ming¡¯s imagination. The monster he had strove to y for thest decade didn¡¯t seem so intimidating anymore upon witnessing the gargantuan cauldron zooming through the air.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    What can one man do with a sword against a real monster? The beast of Luo Ming¡¯s nightmare wasn¡¯t so terrifying anymore. Monster? How about a Ming Feizhen? If you have a nightmare, there¡¯s one guaranteed way to ovee it: rece it with a worse nightmare.

    Until today, the gargantuan cauldron only remained on the ground in Luo Ming¡¯s realm of reality. Henceforth, he would believe it was capable of flight.

 Volume 9 137 Advent

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 137 Advent</h4>

    Prior to Ming Feizhen throwing the cauldron into the ether.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort escorted him under Shen Yiren¡¯s orders, while the rest of the martial artsmunity tailed along to theke. s, somebody had already moved the moored boats they arrived on.

    Although Luo Siming and Shen Yiren¡¯s respective groups stopped a number of Luo n¡¯s dissidents, their pursuers still heavily outnumbered them. Emperor Yuansheng took the reins since he wasn¡¯t tortured despite having his upoints sealed, setting up a defensive formation. Utilising his knowledge gleaned from war strategy books, he levelled the ying field through strategy.

    ¡°Luo n¡¯s reinforcements areing!¡±

    There were a throng of small, ck Jiangnan-style boats with Luo n¡¯s embleming, and the twenty men on them were paddling faster than desirable. The end of them still weren¡¯t in sight even from five hundred metres away.

    Luo Ming had to have factored in their escape to arrange for a force of that size to be lying in wait. They were at a stalemate at present, but Luo n would overrun them if Luo n received reinforcements.

    ¡°Hahaha, perfect timing. Murder them!¡± Long Zaitian hurled a silver shuttle through one of Luo n¡¯s members.

    The fallen warrior¡¯srade roared as he charged toward the enemy against hisrades¡¯ behest. A squall of ck arrows turned the lone warrior and his seventeenrades who couldn¡¯t escape in time into pin cushions.

    ¡°You can work on your uracy,¡± Long Zaitianmented as he took out another seven silver shuttles. ¡°All right, who wants to go next?¡±

    ***

    ¡°¡­ As soon as your subordinate received the order, he brought all of the stationed Qilin Guards in Huzhou here. Our Qilin Guards in Huzhou are constantly trained and familiar with navalbat. Taihu Lake is too shallow, so ships do not sail well. Due to the urgency, your subordinate took fishermen¡¯s boats to storm Luo n¡¯s boatyard. At present, we have confiscated all of their boats. Your subordinate is to be med for failing to be there for you.¡±

    ¡°If I were to punish you for saving me, I would be an unreasonable tyrant, not an Emperor. Get up. Wuxian, it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng referred to Xie Duzhe by his courtesy name despite Xie Duzhe holding the same rank as Long Zaitian because they were inws.

    Xie Duzhe rotated stations once every five years and was recently stationed in Huzhou asmander. He covertly mobilised men and paid particr attention to news in Huzhou ever since learning Long Zaitian mobilised three thousand Qilin Guards from the capital. He was able to contact Long Zaitian¡¯s unit and march on Taihu Sword Ind with an additional three thousand men of his own in no time at all precisely owing to his preparations.

    Though Lotus Root Ground¡¯s formation had been repaired after Ming Feizhen stormed it, its former glory wasn¡¯t restored. Furthermore, the six thousand Qilin Guards used arson, demolition and genocide tactics.

    The six thousand Qilin Guards split up into six teams andnded on the ind at different intervals to make the most of their time. The teamnding at the ind¡¯s dock in the east annihted Luo n¡¯s reserve forces on the ind in no time at all due to the difference in fighting power.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave Xie Duzhe the order to cease fighting. Hence, Xie Duzhe sent out a signal there was no need for more reinforcements. Nheless, those on their way wouldn¡¯t heed themand.

    By no ount was Emperor Yuansheng d to hear how many members of Luo n had fallen for they were the people who armed the nation¡¯s forces. The extermination wasn¡¯t just Luo n¡¯s loss but also Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s loss.

    ¡°Even though Yiren has resorted to force, she cannot be med as it was for my sake.¡± Emperor Yuansheng stopped himself from saying, ¡°The fault is all mine,¡± reasoning a monarch can¡¯t be weak or imperfect in the presence of his vassals - never. ¡°Now that all of you are here, our victory is at hand. Wuxian, you and Vice-Captain Long divide your men up in half to provide backup for the others. They all stayed behind to provide me with safe passage, so I cannot let them be sacrifices.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Long Zaitian and Xie Duzhe replied.

    Emperor Yuansheng, seeing Ye Luo covered in the blood of those she punctured today, breathing heavily and sprinting over, asked, ¡°How does it bode? Has¡­ Luo Ming caught up?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng understood why Shen Yiren made her decision to bring up the rear. Still, he couldn¡¯t just turn a blind eye to her sacrifice. If Luo Ming had caught up when she was stalling him¡­

    ¡°No.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng exhaled a breath of relief.

    ¡°Someone ising across theke.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Is there something worth noting about that?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ is lying on his boat, yet the boat is sailing here on its own¡­ and fast.¡±

    A boat is automatically drifting on a stillke?

    From his feet, Emperor Yuansheng could see the ck boat moving on its own. The man lounging in it had a leaf covering his face and his legs crossed as though he was sunbathing by the beach. When Qilin Guards tried to intercept him, his boat would steer away. Upon docking, he sat up and yawned. His silk attire with golden rims was hardly befitting of hisx attitude. The only part of his appearance matching his behaviour was his dishevelled hairstyle. Being taller than Ming Feizhen, his height demanded attention, but this skinny physique cancelled the intimidation his height granted.

    ¡°Oi, I asked you a question,¡± badgered a Qilin Guard.

    He stared back at the Qilin Guard and frowned: ¡°Who am I?¡±

    ¡°How should I know?!¡±

    He took out a woodenb and zoned out for a while. Once he ced theb in his hair, he turned to the Qilin Guards to query, ¡°You¡­ thought I was going tob my hair?¡±

    Sort of hard to me them for nodding, no?

    ¡°You¡¯re all wrong.¡± Yet, he startedbing his hair. ¡°I was just going to run theb through my hair.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s not the same thing?¡±

    He interrupted his ownbing session to inquire, ¡°Oh, by the way, what¡¯s the term, umm¡­ the one you ascribe to people who call the shots?¡±

    ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°No, leader.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same th-¡±

    The man disappeared without arousing the wind, standing in front of Emperor Yuansheng when they saw him again: ¡°I believe I¡¯ve found the boss here.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng signalled for the Qilin Guards not to attack: ¡°Even you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°No, I am not here. I arrived.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What are you here for?¡±

    ¡°By order of the Supreme Saints Government, I am here to pass a notice on to Bodhi Abels. I heard he has been hanging around with Luo n recently. Where is he now?¡±

    Coming to Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Whale God Ind just because ¡°Abels has been hanging around Luo n¡± could only mean he was ignorant or had balls of steal.

    Emperor Yuansheng pointed in the direction of the ring: ¡°There.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± He yawned and strutted off. ¡°By the way, did I forget to introduce myself?¡± As he continued, he waved at everyone he passed by. ¡°Hello, hello, I¡¯m just an ordinary man. My upation? I guess that¡¯d be being one of the ten best fighters in the martial world.¡± He stopped and turned back to add, ¡°Oh, if you didn¡¯t catch that, I¡¯m one of the Supreme Ten Saints, Lai Jingzhen.¡±

 Volume 9 138 Forgiveness

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 138 Forgiveness</h4>

    What resembled charcoal fluffs descending was actually musky coal. The sky resembled a dust and smoke bomb¡¯s testing ground. The only light in the vicinity was the burning me ravaging everything on the mangled ground connected to the cauldron.

    Luo Ming, now outside of the ring, choked on the debris¡¯ particles when he inhaled, but he couldn¡¯t fight his hunger for oxygen as it was his brain¡¯s only way of confirming he was alive. Notwithstanding the heat emanating from the cauldron, he felt as if he was incarcerated in an ice block. He wasn¡¯t scared, but his body remembered the nightmare from ten years ago when he witnessed the cauldron soar.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ming Feizhen was still standing on the other side of the floating particles. ¡°Still alive?¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s legs jolted against his will. Despite how many years he had sharpened his reflexes, it hadn¡¯t forgotten its primal survival instincts. Even he was startled to learn that his subconscious could only see one viable decision.

    Ming Feizhen closed in with confidence written on his face: ¡°Ten out of ten for escaping in that situation.¡±

    Luo Ming understood what Ming Feizhen meant. That sort of wild, aggressive attack could stun one in spot. Had his body not moved on its own, Luo Ming would already be cinders or smithereens below the cauldron. That said, Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer also deserved credit for saving its owners life.

    Luo Ming, having cleared up his thoughts, held his breath and walked away with his head down.

    There¡¯s no winning. Not the slightest chance.

    ¡°Hoh?¡± Ming Feizhen watched Luo Ming no differently to a man watching someone take a beating for their entertainment.

    Although Luo Ming wasn¡¯t hurt or tired, his determination had been uprooted and hurled into a bottomless pit.

    He¡¯s a monster. There¡¯s no beating him.

    Luo Ming only had one thought going through his mind: ¡°I have to get out of here.¡± He could feel the shaking in every step. Upon feeling a force holding him back - not Ming Feizhen - he nced down to Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.

    ying a dragon was its wish. Rare metals were its bones. A sovereign¡¯s arrow was its heart. The condensed qi of a hundred battles was its nerve. It was the sword of swords and rightfully proud. Hence, Luo Ming could feel it protesting to be let go of for it refused to serve someone who¡¯d run away.

    Even you¡­ are going to betray me?

    Like an inescapable nightmare creeping up from behind, Luo Ming could hear rhythmical steps inching closer. This ce was no longer Luo Sword Manor; it was Nieyao City ten years ago. Every step Ming Feizhen took would gouge out the fear carved into Luo Ming¡¯s bones.

    Ten years¡­ I haven¡¯t changed at all. Nothing has changed at all in these ten years. Improving my swordy has been but a specious endeavour. I haven¡¯t ovee my fear at all. This time, though, my sons won¡¯t be there to save me, nor will you be, huh, Feng Jian?

    Luo Ming stopped running as there was no reason to run. So what if he absconded with his life today? He¡¯d still just be a snack for the beast in Nanjiang. If even a swordsman¡¯s sword shows disdain for him, he¡¯s only wasting oxygen.

    ¡°Done running?¡±

    Luo Ming turned back, fear still crippling his legs: ¡°¡­ I¡¯m a swordsman. If I must die¡­ I will die without letting my sword rust.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The sound of the golden de on the ck de sounded akin to blunt weapons. Luo Ming gave it his all, illuminating his de in the brightest energy yet. He was not going to let his swordy embarrass his best sword, either.

    ¡°Still have new moves up your sleeve at this point¡­ Luo Sword Manor¡¯s patriarch¡¯s swordy truly is profound.¡±

    Where have I heard something like that before?

    Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls: ¡°Profound isn¡¯t synonymous with ¡®strong¡¯.¡±

    Luo Ming then saw a starkly contrasting ck whip. Ming Feizhen¡¯s might was a force to be reckoned with, but his ability to harness oceans of energy onto a single de was even more frightening.

    There was no deadlock. The proud golden dragon soared toward the ether andnded somewhere unbeknownst to Luo Ming. Though the ck de stopped an inch from his skull, his soul was shattered. The fear that sliced through severed his connection to his body.

    ¡°¡­ What in the world is it?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Your weapon.¡±

    Having smashed into Luo Ming¡¯s prized sword several times, Ming Feizhen¡¯s de didn¡¯t even have a scratch on it. Luo Ming never felt as though he hit a sword, either. Looking back on it, he could only describe the sensation as hitting an unbreakable weapon.

    ¡°At least¡­ tell me its name.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I forged it. The seven characters carved onto it are my grandmaster¡¯s wisdom for me to bear in mind. The first two characters are the name of the weapon.¡± Ming Feizhen strapped his weapon to his sash and borated, ¡°Its name is Forgiveness,¡± and then left.

    Luo Ming juddered: ¡°¡­ Matchless since birth. Where possible¡­ forgive them¡­ What arrogance.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s eyelids and body fell.

    Glossary

    Forgiveness - Just in case this happens (and I have a feeling it will), the name Forgiveness doesn¡¯t take into ount context. By that I mean that the characters in Chinese might have a more apt English trantion in English, such as ¡°lenience¡±, ¡°forgiven¡±, ¡°mercy¡±¡­ I can¡¯t think of any word that will epass all possible meanings in all contexts in English. If you can provide one with rationale, hit me up.

 Volume 9 139 Immortal

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 139 Immortal</h4>

    ¡°Your Majesty, Luo Ming is still there. Returning now is¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng disputed, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine with him apanying us.¡±

    Long Zaitian felt nothing but scepticism toward the bouncing bamboo in front of them. If anything, he questioned, that blithering skeleton, who can¡¯t even recognise His Majesty, is the state preceptor people revere as a deity, Lai Jingzhen?

    Shen Yiren and Emperor Yuansheng were mutually surprised when they ran into each other, and both of them started checking on the other immediately.

    ¡°State Preceptor Lai F-, Lai is also here?¡± Shen Yiren only recalled Lai Jingzhen from her childhood as he was on good terms with her father, often dined at their ce and performed divinations for them, though his prophecies were difficult to grasp due to his habit. People called Lai Jingzhen Mad Daoist because he supposedly couldn¡¯t construct a coherent paragraph when he his second sentence would deviate from the topic of his first sentence.

    ¡°With State Preceptor Lai here, there is no need to worry for Luo Ming is not his match.¡±

    ¡°You are looking for¡­ Abels?¡± Shen Yiren and Emperor Yuansheng saw Lai Jingzhen strut over to River Monster and Mountain Monster, performing seals or something with his hands.

    ¡°Hello, hello, hello, this old daoist has a question for you.¡± Lai Jingzhen looked in his early thirties, at most, despite referring to himself as old and arguably was more of a stud than Ming Feizhen. ¡°Hey, uh, Bodhi Abels around?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± River Monster wasn¡¯t going to trust someone she didn¡¯t recognise all of a sudden.

    ¡°Who gives a toss? Buzz off,¡± responded Mountain Monster.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure my divination is correct. We should¡¯ve met by now,¡± Lai Jingzhen mumbled with his head in his hands, walking straight past Abels.

    ¡°¡­ You sure we can rely on him?¡± Shen Yiren inquired.

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°¡­ I think?¡±

    They could see the dense smoke connected to the sky from kilometres away and feel the heat.

    ¡°What happened? It¡¯s like¡­ a natural disaster urred here,¡± Emperor Yuansheng uttered.

    Shen Yiren feigned deaf.

    Upon seeing the state of the ring¡¯s exterior, the Qilin Guards thought they were in their of a beast. Never had they seen molten, mes and smoke blend together with the sky and earth so naturally. That definitely couldn¡¯t be how the human realm was supposed to look.

    ¡°Someone is lying in the ring!¡± Ye Luo yelled.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s heart paused for several seconds as she imagined the worst. Lai Jingzhen already went up to the person on the ground, covering her line of sight, much to her chagrin. Hemented, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Luo Sword Manor¡¯s cksmith? Why did he smash his own cauldron, and why is he lying on the ground?¡±

    Abels and Shen Yiren regarded each other with their gaze: Ming Feizhen won!

    ¡°I heard this punk has been out of it ever since hisdy died, but this is a whole new definition of abnormal,¡± Lai Jingzhen said to Mountain Monster behind him whilst nodding. ¡°Yep, that means he¡¯s crazy.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°That¡¯s the same crap, nutcase!¡±

    Yu Jian arrived at Luo Ming¡¯s side and set down Feng Jian¡¯s body. Despite her poor condition due to her injuries, she was piercing Luo Ming with her eyes. ¡°Move¡­ I¡¯m going to kill him.¡±

    ¡°State Preceptor Lai, keep Luo Ming alive!¡± Emperor Yuansheng ordered.

    ¡°State Preceptor Lai? Who is that? The name sounds familiar.¡± Lai Jingzhen stroked his chin.

    ¡°Nutjob! Useless when needed!¡±

    Shen Yiren understood what Emperor Yuansheng was thinking and, consequently, flew up to the ring to stop Yu Jian creating a hole in Luo Ming¡¯s throat. Mountain Monster, not wanting to owe Shen Yiren andpany, reached for Yu Jian¡¯s hand. Meanwhile, Ye Luo drew back her loaded bowstring. Unfortunately, Yu Jian had inherited Feng Jian¡¯s incredible speed. Luo Ming¡¯s fate was sealed when Lai Jingzhen suddenly eximed, ¡°Aren¡¯t I State Preceptor Lai?!¡± and kicked the blood out of Yu Jian, sending her up and away.

    Lai Jingzhen slowly chambered his leg and set it back down. He whipped aside the bottom part of his shirt and saluted Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Your Majesty, your loyal vassal, Lai Jingzhen, is present!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Y-you can be at ease,¡± replied Emperor Yuansheng. It¡¯s never easy with him¡­

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re with him?¡± Yu Jian¡¯s speech was tough to discern with the blooding out together with her words. Lai Jingzhenpletely floored her with his kick.

    Lai Jingzhen shook his head: ¡°No. Although I¡¯ve known the cksmith for a long time, we don¡¯t meet a lot and aren¡¯t friends. Why do you want to kill him again?¡±

    ¡°He killed my senior!¡±

    Lai Jingzhen tapped Feng Jian with his foot: ¡°You mean this guy?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch him!¡± Yu Jian¡¯s anger only further restricted her movement.

    Lai Jingzhen didps around Feng Jian: ¡°He was caught in the chest, and it¡¯s the work of the cksmith. This is going to cost two silvers.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen snatched Yujing from Shen Yiren¡¯s belt without her even being aware until she saw it. He performed a finger divination whilst muttering, ¡°Blood lost from the heart must be reced with blood from a heart. This senior guy¡¯s blood doesn¡¯t counteract mine. Perfect. You a lucky guy, but this old daoist isn¡¯t so lucky.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen suddenly thrust Yujing through his heart, yet none of the blood spilling onto his clothing even bothered him. ¡°Smooth sword,¡± he praised. Upon seeing everyone taken aback, he added, ¡°I meant that it¡¯s not that bad.¡±

    ¡°Enough of your drivel! Wh-what are you doing?!¡± cried Yu Jian.

    ¡°Nothing ventured, nothing gained.¡± Lai Jingzhen pulled Yujing out of his body. To their amazement, his bloody stuck to the sword, never dripping anywhere else. ¡°Which means I¡¯m resuscitating him.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen pulled Yujing out so slowly that they could see the change to his flesh as he pulled it out. The bloodstains on his clothing erased themselves as he pulled the sword out; it wasparable to watching him reverse time. Scarlet droplets made their way into the hole in his chest once he finished pulling the sword out, and his chest aperture closed itself.

    The blood on Yujing dripped onto Feng Jian¡¯s chest wound, repeating what they witnessed happened with Lai Jingzhen. That being said, Feng Jian¡¯s chest wound had yet to fully close once Lai Jingzhen pulled Yujing out.

    ¡°Dang, this is going to take a bit of effort. His foundation may be decent, but the onus is on him to decide if he lives or dies.¡± Lai Jingzhen, now glowing white, struck eight of Feng Jian¡¯s upoints with his hands to siphon internal energy over, thereby expediting the closing of Feng Jian¡¯s chest hole.

    The hole in Feng Jian¡¯s chest didn¡¯t close as fast as Lai Jingzhen¡¯s. Nevertheless, in the best case scenario, he would only have a scar there in the future.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t find the exhibition surprising in the slightest since he already knew what Lai Jingzhen was capable of. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s concern was on Lai Jingzhen¡¯s mention of Supreme Saints Guild for, if it was true, then another fight was likely to break out.

    Calcting using his fingers, Lai Jingzhen took two steps to the left and then two to the right before stopping in front of Abels. ¡°Bodhi Abels?¡± he asked without looking down at the person in question.

    Abels grabbed River Monster, who was going to deny, and answered, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Good. Bodhi Abels, per orders of Supreme Saints Guild, I am here to pass a notification on to you.¡± Lai Jingzhen took out a scrunched up sheet of paper with smothered text, forcing him to squint: ¡°By decision of Supreme Saints Guild, your rank as one of the Supreme Ten Saints is hereby revoked. In other words¡± - Lai Jingzhen looked down at Abels - ¡°You¡¯re fired.¡±

    Mountain Monster blustered, ¡°You done yet?! Do you have anything pertinent to say?!¡±

    Seldom were the rankings in Supreme Ten Saints altered owing to howpetent each one of them was - not to ount for their backing. Whenever one of them was removed, they would be slowly removed.

    Nobody questioned Abels¡¯ ce on the ranking as he was part of Beijiang¡¯s imperial family, possessed Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s national treasure, was the uncle of Beijiang¡¯s reigning monarch and was undefeated in Beijiang. The trip to Jiangnan cost him his undefeated record and Evil Spirits. Consequently, Supreme Saints Guild perceived his influence in the pugilistic world to no longer be close to what it was.

    Abels looked down: ¡°Rescind it, then. I have my own life to live. I don¡¯t need a title to live.¡±

    ¡°d to hear. d to hear. Okay, moving on. Second¡­¡± Lai Jingzhen stretched his hand out: ¡°Hand over your Supreme Saint Dark Iron Token. Should you refuse, you will be executed here and now.¡±

    Glossary

    State Preceptor Lai F- - Shen Yiren was about to say Lai Fengzi (Nutcase Lai)

 Volume 9 140 An Increasingly Audible Voice

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 140 An Increasingly Audible Voice</h4>

    Electing the ten individuals to bestow with the highest status in the martial world is understandably a stringent process. Candidates from outside the Nine Provinces also have to be factored in for a chance, and the timing of their coronation is equally rigorous.

    Luo Ming was stripped of his rank when he had just returned from Nanjiang and was barely conscious. Emperor¡¯s Entourage would¡¯ve struggled to know as much as Supreme Saints Guild did on Luo Ming¡¯s trip south even though they always kept a pulse on the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ activities.

    Supreme Saints Guild is the name of the body governing Supreme Ten Saints. The person controlling the governing body, why the body was established or where the concept of Supreme Ten Saints came from is shrouded in mystery to all.

    All that is known about Supreme Ten Saints is that they always chose the most influential adepts and hand out ten Dark Tokens to the chosen ten. When they hand out the tokens, they treat the chosen candidate with courtesy. When it¡¯s time to retrieve the tokens, though, their attitude is abrasive. Rarely did anyone refuse them because, one, it¡¯s hard to turn away the glorious title; two, they desire the token.

    Each of the ten Dark Tokens are different in shape and manufactured using different materials. Legends im the ten tokens used to be the tool an ancient dynasty used to hide one of the biggest secrets in the world. The one who ended up obtaining the token split the instrument in ten because they weren¡¯t confident they could hang onto it when peopleid down their lives to obtain them in those days. It made sense to trust something so important to the ten strongest people. It¡¯s a reasonable exnation for how Supreme Ten Saints was established.

    Assuming the authenticity of the story, the strategy worked based on the fact that nobody had collected all ten tokens after so many generations of Supreme Ten Saints. The ten didn¡¯t fight amongst each other unless there werepelling reasons. Instead, they used their swaying power to squash a lot of bad blood in the pugilistic world. Owing to the prestige that came with the territory, howbeit, people started chasing a seat among the ten, which was something that presumably wasn¡¯t foreseen whenunching the concept.

    ¡°¡­ If I refuse?¡± Abels rhetorically questioned.

    Before Lai Jingzhen could prate Abels¡¯ throat, River Monster yelled, ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Miss?¡± Lai Jingzhen stopped the de an inch away from Abels¡¯ throat.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    River Monster couldn¡¯t imagine Abels defeating someone who could take a sword through the chest without batting an eye - even more so when Abels was already exhausted and hurt. She took out a ck token that resembled hardware of something more than an actual token and stated, ¡°I¡­ am holding onto it.¡±

    ¡°A-Lan, what are you doing?!¡± snapped Abels.

    ¡°Keeping you alive!¡± River Monster passed over the token.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be deciding on my behalf.¡±

    ¡°My man is without equal and ducks no fights. If you want to fight, fight. I will let you fight even if you will die, but I won¡¯t let you die such an unwarranted death. He¡¯s brimming with energy, while you still have injures besetting you. That can¡¯t be a fair fight. Once you¡¯re at a 100%, you can do as you please.¡±

    Abels couldn¡¯t see any chance of taking back the token now in Lai Jingzhen¡¯s hand. Additionally, he agreed with River Monster¡¯s reasoning. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll fight him once I¡¯ve recovered.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen went back to Emperor Yuansheng and saluted thetter three times. Emperor Yuansheng responded, ¡°State Preceptor Lai, when I went to search for you, you went missing for eighteen months. You probably wouldn¡¯t have ever returned if Empress Dowager Her Majesty didn¡¯t go to pray at Mount Zisheng. You must have a lot of time on your hands if you are on an errand for someone here instead of guarding her on Mount Zisheng.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, Your Majesty. However, please allow your servant to ask, who is State Preceptor?¡±

    While Emperor Yuansheng was trying not to fly off the handle, Shen Yiren surveyed the area with her new and improved observation and retention abilities. There were sword scratches and splits on the ground. The stone ring was in fragments. There was something at the centre emanating heat that deterred anyone from approaching.

    What did Feizhen do¡­ to disfigure this ce?

    Shen Yiren had been into the demolished smithing workshop with Ming Feizhen previously. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t hard to navigate. Upon opening the door to a room, there he was - half-naked and with his head dipped into a wooden tub.

    Until then, Shen Yiren assumed that, when she saw Ming Feizhen again, he¡¯d be roughed up and covered in blood. She spected he¡¯d be hiding from Emperor Yuansheng or lying somewhere and sulking about being hungry or waiting for her to fetch him. She thought he¡¯d crack a smile as he always did and do something shameless¡­ as he had a knack for.

    ¡°She¡¯s eighteen this year, the perfect age f-¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen! What are you doing here?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen ripped his head up, sshing ck water left, right and centre. ¡°B-B-Boss, wh-why are you here¡­?¡±

    Shen Yiren tucked her arms under her twin mountains and narrowed her eyes: ¡°What were you singing?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s eighteen this year. She¡¯s looking for a m(an)-, I mean, she¡¯s enlisting in the army in her father¡¯s stead!¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m¡­ washing my hair.¡±

    ¡°Washing your hair?¡± Shen Yiren pulled a face of revulsion as she eyed the ck water on the floor and lunged backward. ¡°How filthy does your hair have to be to turn the tub ck?¡±

    I promised not to lie to her, and I¡¯m technically washing my hair, but¡­ how do you expect it to not be ck when that¡¯s hair dye?!

    ***

    ¡°Why is Yiren still not back? Could some mishap have befallen her? State Preceptor Lai, go check on her,¡± instructed Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°As youmand.¡± Lai Jingzhen showed his hare feet right away.

 Volume 9 141 Who is the One with the Sword?

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 141 Who is the One with the Sword?</h4>

    Tang Ye discerned the ear-splitting that he heard sound from the ring¡¯s direction was a product of Ming Feizhen returning to fight Luo Ming. Never once was he convinced Luo Ming would seed, even when he joined Luo Ming, for one reason: Ming Feizhen was on the other team. Tang Ye had never seen anyone on Ming Feizhen¡¯s level despite the mileage he had clocked and the wide circumference of his travels. For the above reason, he felt he couldn¡¯t return to Liu Shan Men as casually as he joined Luo Ming.

    As Tang Ye raced across Whale God Ind, his rms wailed to him. The only clue he had of his target was the one glimpse he had a while ago. He finally found a faint trace of his target in the forest; the trace of his target impelled him to run as fast as he could, lest he bete. When he found his target near the rearrangedndscape of the ring, he called, ¡°A-Ji, what are you doing?¡±

    Whether it was an act or not, A-Ji burst outughing hysterically at the heavens: ¡°Why are you here? For me? What do you want me for, bro?¡±

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t the only one who didn¡¯t believe A-Ji was as amiable as the smile he always wore suggested; Tang Ye had seen the fangs behind A-Ji¡¯s smile more than once. Although Tang Ye was grateful to A-Ji for teaching him how to utilise his new internal energy and imparting Luo n¡¯s swordy, he judged A-Ji to be more dangerous than Poison King. Hence, he chose to nip A-Ji in the bud instead of Poison King to make up for his betrayal.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What are you doing here? This fun?¡± A-Ji wore on the sort of a straight face an elder brother would when pestering his younger brother to leave. ¡°Whale God Ind is now fraught with danger. Since he finished his sword, Patriarch Luo has been on an indiscriminate killing spree, and we¡¯re close to the ring. What did youe here for? Leave. I can handle this.¡±

    ¡°That being the case, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°As a head smith of Luo Sword Manor, I can¡¯t walk off when they¡¯re facing a crisis. You¡¯re not one of us. Actually, it looks to me like you n to go back to eating the government¡¯s forage. Oh wells, there¡¯s nothing to gain from following us suicidal pugilistic world folks around.¡± A-Ji wagged his hands, acting as though the ¡°government¡¯s forage¡± and being ¡°suicidal¡± weren¡¯t part of the gig with his identity as a cksmith of Luo n.

    ¡°That thing in the ck cloth on your back is Luo n¡¯s Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Though A-Ji¡¯s smile was still there, he stopped pping his hand.

    ¡°I spotted you hiding near the ring, but I lost track of you when I went after you. I¡¯ve been in the smithing workshop and witnessed the sword¡¯s power in Luo Ming¡¯s hands, so I remember it oozes freezing energy¡­ I don¡¯t know how you obtained it¡­ You¡¯ve been after it from the beginning, though, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    A-Ji spread his eyes as wide as he could, huffing and puffing simr to someone about to pass out from shock. ¡°How did you guess so urately?¡± He still had his signature smile, but those diluted pupils contrasted it. ¡°How did you find me? Just based on the sword? Weird. I used a special material to wrap it up; nobody should¡¯ve been able to sense it unless they¡¯re close.¡±

    ¡°Blood¡­¡± Tang Ye¡¯s gaze made its way behind A-Ji. Whether or not it was A-Ji¡¯s intent to cover the scene, Tang Ye could see a lifeless hand on the ground. ¡°Even though Luo Ming did kill a lot of people, for some reason, only smoke could be smeltter, so the smell of blood shouldn¡¯t be so prominent here¡­ Who did you kill for the sword?¡±

    A-Ji pped in praise: ¡°I should¡¯ve expected as much. I knew you had a knack for this. That said, I didn¡¯t expect to slip up on something so minor. I should¡¯ve been more forgiving. Bro, can you not falsely use me, though? What do you mean I killed? I¡­¡± A-Ji used his foot to flick up a young man and seize him by the hair - dishevelled and bloodied Luo Siming. He shook Luo Siming around while thetter could barely groan, yet he acted as if he was being wrongly med. ¡°He¡¯s our boss¡¯st son. I wouldn¡¯t be so mean as to kill him. You don¡¯t think I¡¯m that heartless, do you?¡±

    All the mud, blood and tears and Luo Siming¡¯s face suggested he was extremely worked up prior to being starched.

    ¡°¡­ Where¡­ are The Four Samuume Swordsmen?¡±

    As Tang Ye pointed out, the smell of blood in this direction was far too prominent to be normal. One person couldn¡¯t possibly have that much blood to bleed. Provided A-Ji wasn¡¯t hiding more, there were a dozen bodies scattered behind him, some still breathing, some headless. Based on the wounds, Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer should be credited. Going off the circumstantial evidence, either Luo n must¡¯ve chased A-Ji down after hemitted theft or he lured them out to murder.

    ¡°The Four Samuume Swordsmen? Are they even human beings?¡±

    No surprise from Tang Ye. The nefarious blood flowing in A-Ji¡¯s blood was always under a microscope to Tang Ye. If A-Ji was going to be arrested one day, Tang Ye wanted to be the one to apprehend him.

    ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    The unfathomable curve at A-Ji¡¯s lips suggested that maybe all of his actions were predicated on a single impetus that he explicated: ¡°Because it¡¯s fun?¡±

    Tang Ye ejected heat energy into the room.

    ¡°Yo, what¡¯s this about?¡± A-Ji caught Tang Ye¡¯s hand on its way in.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ wrong.¡±

 Volume 9 142 Silent

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 142 Silent</h4>

    Tang Ye was unable to identify what A-Ji tagged him on his scap with. Nevertheless, Tang Ye felt energy sneak in, cutting off his true qi cirction. A-Ji retracted his arm casually, still smiling as always.

    ¡°Brother Yan Ling, why are you giving yourself grief? Don¡¯t forget I taught you everything you learnt from Luo n. If you think you¡¯re going to beat me with that level, you¡¯re insulting me, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I may be the inferior fighter. Still, I can¡¯t let you go for homicide.¡±

    Stepping back, Tang Ye simultaneously circled his arms and ejected a droplet of blood. By the time he tore off the material by this shoulder, his injury no longer bothered him.

    ¡°Ho?¡± A-Ji didn¡¯t show it, but he was surprised Tang Ye could expel his energy so soon. ¡°You¡¯re fighting me because Imitted murder? Name one person in the pugilistic world who doesn¡¯t stain their hands with blood. Constable, is it really so new to you?¡±

    A-Ji¡¯s mordacious words failed to extinguish Tang Ye¡¯s motivation. Tang Ye,bining his knowledge of Luo n¡¯s style and Yang Blood True Qi, went on the offence again, finally forcing A-Ji to move away from the heat.

    In the moment, Tang Ye forgot about his initial motivation to capture A-Ji for thetter showed he was the real prodigy among the two of them. Regardless of how much peoplebelled him a genius, Tang Ye never considered himself to have much innate potential, believing his sesses to be the fruits of toiling tirelessly. If someone else were to put in as much repetition as Tang Ye, they would likely feel offended that all of their effort is put down to one word: talent.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    From Tang Ye¡¯s perspective, A-Ji was the real definition of a prodigy because he was the only other person to give him the same vibe as when he spars with Ming Feizhen. The only real match between Tang Ye and Ming Feizhen that qualified as a fight was their first match - the time Ming Feizhen slept him with one kick. That was the first time Tang Ye felt he was witnessing talent.

    Fighting to Ming Feizhenes as natural as eating and drinking; he strikes without telegraphing in any capacity. That¡¯s an ability that only fighting and fighting and fighting more can hone.

    While Ming Feizhen floored Tang Ye without letting thetter know how he got caught, A-Ji neutralised attacks as though he could read his opponents like a book. There isn¡¯t always a single way to counter a technique, and not all counters are equal. For instance, slipping inside can be counted as evading a jab; however, it also means running the risk of walking into the rear hand. Conversely, slipping outside the jab would empower the one slipping with a big opportunity to capitalise on because the jabber¡¯s rear leg and rear hand can¡¯t stop them unless they spin the opposite way.

    A-Ji always selected the most pivotal counter whenever Tang Ye tried to catch him. This fact stood out to Tang Ye, especially owing to his extensive knowledge on numerous styles and the fact that he was never repeating techniques. It was the equivalent of a teacher dismantling his student¡¯s attempts as though he knew the routine. Furthermore, A-Ji never stepped back.

    By all ounts, stepping back to evade an attack is a viable means. In saying that, it¡¯s usually ast resort as, ideally, defusing the technique without moving or circling would keep you in range to spring on the opponent right away as opposed to having to work back into your range.

    Though Ming Feizhen and A-Ji both being so masterful at making techniques seem meaningless in different ways, they shared amonality: putting it mildly, their offensive abilities were nightmares for their opponent.

    When Tang Ye used Squall Palms, he missed. When A-Ji used it, to the contrary, it came out as smoothly as someone who had practiced it a thousand times - not to mention A-Ji hit harder. Extrapting from A-Ji¡¯s analytical skills, Luo Siming and The Four Samuume Swordsmen couldn¡¯t have even held him off. If there was anyone in Luo n who would¡¯ve stood a chance against A-Ji, there was only Luo Ming.

    Where technique fails, one can only hope topensate with superior physical attributes. It¡¯s not an umon strategy to employ when one feels that they don¡¯t have the skill to outmanoeuvre their opponent to win. Besides ramping up his speed and power, Tang Ye disseminated heat energy in hopes of hiding his movements. The caveat to Tang Ye¡¯s strategy was that he had to keep up the pace - if not speed up - because, the moment he slowed down, A-Ji would have the opportunity to finish him. As such, prior to Tang Ye speeding up, A-Ji had plenty of chances to take Tang Ye down. With that said, A-Ji could¡¯ve pulled Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer on Tang Ye if he really wanted an express route.

    ¡°You and I¡­ resemble each other,¡± A-Jimented whilst making Tang Ye resemble an amateur. ¡°You and I share simr goals. Both of us are challenging an unknown ¡®titan¡¯ with our lives on the line, indifferent to death and the opinions of the rest of the world. The difference is that your end goal is vengeance, while mine should be called ambition.¡±

    Tang Ye could¡¯ve easily reced Shen Yiren or Luo Ming with A-Ji as he brought up the topic. The difference was their tone. Luo Ming was an indiscriminate inferno. Shen Yiren was calm-flowing water, calctedly zoning in on her target. A-Ji was pure ckness for he gave off the vibe that he had seen beyond what others had seen.

    At first, Tang Ye deemed A-Ji simr to Ming Feizhen. As he spent more time with A-Ji, nheless, he noticed that Ming Feizhen was emotionally older than his chronological age due to the abundance of experience he had in a short window. Aside from that, however, Ming Feizhen was still a kid at heart. To the contrary, A-Ji¡¯s darkness was more of an old man ying a young man - collected, yet deranged. Mayhap his fakeughter and blithe behaviour was his way of keeping his youth.

    ¡°Perhaps you can¡¯t understand,¡± A-Ji began again, ostensibly reading Tang Ye¡¯s mind. ¡°It should¡¯ve been Luo Ming who taught you, not me. I requested permission to train you. What I didn¡¯t expect was how fun it turned out to be. No matter what I taught you, you picked it up right away and didn¡¯t need me to say much. You¡¯re a treasure that just needs to be polished. I probably can¡¯t beat you if you had a few more decades to train. We¡¯re simr, yet different. Your hatred is your impetus to grow, but your hatred never corroded your pure heart - even when I helped you. Well, it¡¯s not bad, I guess.¡±

    A-Ji could tell Tang Ye was done based on thetter¡¯s facial expressions. The cold energy A-Ji sneaked into Tang Ye while they were going at it had done its job. A-Ji whisked himself out of Tang Ye¡¯s line of sight as thetter fell and returned with Su Xiao before Tang Ye touched the ground.

    ¡°Bruh, if you¡¯re both going toe visit me, why split up?¡±

    Su Xiao was supposed to call for help if Tang Ye was in over his head. s, A-Ji somehow already detected Su Xiao¡¯s presence.

    Tang Ye waspletely incapacitated due to A-Ji¡¯s cold energy screwing with his heat energy. Likewise, A-Ji crippled Su Xiao¡¯s movements with his cold qi.

    Eyeing Su Xiao, A-Ji said, ¡°You¡¯re Su Xiao? I¡¯ve been dying to meet you. You been growing up well, huh?¡± A-Ji¡¯s eyes stopped on Su Xiao¡¯s chest. ¡°Except for one spot.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s roiling blood unlocked his cold shackles, allowing him tounch his foot at A-Ji. Unfortunately, A-Ji caught Su Xiao¡¯s leg without even trying.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, your internal energy is pretty potent, eh? I¡¯m not done speaking yet, however. How rude,ss.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­ sicko! I¡¯m a guy!¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± For a brief moment, A-Ji¡¯s smile disappeared. A momentter, he curved his lips back up and licked them. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to confirm that for myself.¡±

    ¡°Weird¡­ They clearly should be here.¡±

    A-Ji flinched upon hearing the voice of a fourth person he never picked up on: ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, have any of you seen a double-edged de with a pointy tip and dragon on it?¡± To ensure he was being clear, the tall andnky man stressed, ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a sword with a dragon on it.¡±

 Volume 9 143 First Meeting

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 143 First Meeting</h4>

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Fickle as A-Ji was, he couldn¡¯t make any sense of the things Lai Jingzhen said. It wasn¡¯t a case of A-ji not paying attention to his surroundings; A-Ji would¡¯ve thought it was merely draft blowing in if Lai Jingzhen was lurking outside of his vision.

    Concerned for Lai Jingzhen¡¯s wellbeing, Su Xiao cried, ¡°Run! He¡¯s a cold-blooded killer! Go call for help.¡±

    A-Ji: Who is teaching him his internal style? He shouldn¡¯t be able to speak so coherently.

    A-Ji used his internal energy to mute Su Xiao, though Lai Jingzhen didn¡¯t appear to have ns of running or even hear Su Xiao, for that matter. Lai Jingzhen just swept his gaze around at the same time as mumbling calctions. Only one name came to A-Ji¡¯s mind that would fit the characteristics of the fengshui practitioner in front of him.

    Why is he here now of all times? Is someone¡­ leading him? Whatever, there¡¯s only one way to deal with him now that he¡¯s here.

    ¡°Is my guest the current daoism leader, Wudang¡¯s immortal, State Preceptor Lai?¡±

    ¡°This old one came here for two reasons. The first was to find Abels, and the second is to retrieve Luo n¡¯s sword. He¡¯s found Abels. The sword should be here, so why doesn¡¯t he see it?¡±

    A-Ji had more faith in his spections now as Lai Jingzhen didn¡¯t answer the question. Reintroducing his smile, he asked, ¡°Could this be the sword you are looking for?¡±

    Lai Jingzhen removed his eyes from his fingers: ¡°It¡¯s an incredible sword, the sword of a sovereign, the greatest sword among swords, a monarch¡¯s weapon, a sword that can help its wielder evolve into a dragon, a formidable sword. Back on Mount Zisheng, this daoist¡¯s divination told him a dragon weapon would be born in Huzhou. There is already a true dragon, so the sword must go to His Majesty. As state preceptor, this old daoist has a duty to aid His Majesty. Since this trip¡¯s purpose was to meet Abels, retrieving the sword is conveniently on the way. As for that sword, let¡¯s see¡­¡± Lai Jingzhen manoeuvred behind A-Ji and stripped off the ck cloth, revealing Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. ¡°It should be the sword on your back¡±

    As A-Ji torqued away, Lai Jingzhen spun after him. As a result, A-Ji moved away from Tang Ye and Su Xiao, while Lai Jingzhen remained behind A-Ji just as before A-Ji tried to flee.

    ¡°Young man, you shouldn¡¯t move like that. What if this old daoist hurts you while trying to take the sword?¡± Lai Jingzhen chided with a straight face.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± A-Ji gave up on running and folded his arms. ¡°So, State Preceptor, how do you evaluate the sword?¡±

    ¡°An Emperor¡¯s sword cannot be ordinary.¡± Lai Jingzhen brought his face right up to the sword and, starting to calcte on his fingers again, uttered, ¡°Incredible. Incredible. How did such an exceptional sworde to be?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, indeed, it is a great sword. Thing is, it is not yours, so how can you take it?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Everything in the universe has its destiny. Should it not be within this old daoist¡¯s destiny to possess it, he will never be able to possess it. Else, you will give it to him.¡±

    ¡°Can I assume you are going to snatch it, then?¡±

    Lai Jingzhen¡¯s blinking suggested he never thought about that: ¡°Snatch it? A sword is a sword. A person is a person. The two are not rted. How does snatching have any part of this?¡±

    Lai Jingzhen stretched his arm out fast for the sword, but A-Ji pivoted and moved away at the same time, positioning them face to face.

    ¡°That does not make sense. People produce swords, which makes them the sword¡¯s master. State Preceptor, this act of theft is deigning yourself.¡±

    Taken aback, Lai Jingzhen shook his head: ¡°The universe produces everything, but who is their owner? People may create things. Howbeit, that does not qualify them to be the owner. Since the sword was born in this world, nobody can be its owner. Whoever it deems its owner is its owner.¡±

    ¡°Fair argument. Why have you not taken it yet?¡±

    A-Ji struck out with one open hand in a w shape and another in a fist. Lai Jingzhen, still musing, caught both hands thrown at him. A-Ji saw five sessive palm strikes without any system to them, but he saw that as an intelligent style.

    Lai Jingzhen¡¯s style really didn¡¯t follow a specific system. In saying that, he did meld together daoist and natural mental cultivation for effective counter hitting.

    Due to Tai Chi no longer being in Wudang¡¯s possession, all of the seniors, save for Lai Jingzhen, were impacted negatively. The reason Lai Jingzhen was an exception was because his specialty didn¡¯t derive from Tai Chi but Prisation Style. Lai Jingzhen¡¯s shifu is the junior of Wudang¡¯s current patriarch. Only Wudang¡¯s patriarch could understand how Lai Jingzhen was so sessful. Because he was able to eat meat, consume alcohol, gamble and visit brothels, he had more opportunities to train himself to not let anyone or anything get in his head.

    The madness Lai Jingzhen exhibited was a consequence of learning the style that turned contradictions into weapons. Even so, it was ranked as one of the four greatest styles ever invented for it enlightened its practitioner to the highest level of thinking. Lai Jingzhen had yet toplete his training, yet he was already one of the Supreme Ten Saints.

    Every sessive strike, Lai Jingzhen corrected the mistakes of the previous ones to inch closer to acquiring his target. A-Ji could see himself struggling to repel the sixth one and, unsurprisingly to him, Lai Jingzhen finally stung him in the chest as well as snatched Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer simultaneously.

    From the ground, A-Ji burst out inughter: ¡°How lucky for Wudang to still remain the greatest of all sects to this day. The greatest daoist lives up to his fame.¡±

    ¡°This sword has the power to alter the world¡¯s destiny. As such, this old daoist must take it. Umm¡­ Who are you again?¡± Lai Jingzhen scratched his head and then pped. ¡°Ah, this old daoist apologises for not introducing himself. My name is Lai Jingzhen. I¡¯m a daoist.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a secret.¡± A-Ji chuckled.

    Eyeing the sword in his hand, Lai Jingzhenplimented, ¡°You¡¯re an exemry martial artist. In fact, you are the best among all of the people this old daoist haspeted against.¡±

    Still lying on the ground, A-Ji cracked a grin to himself: ¡°You¡¯re a bully, don¡¯t you think? You going to hit a downed man?¡±

    Lai Jingzhen, reflecting on the short fight, knitted his brows together and then shook his head: ¡°It must be my imagination. No human being could be capable of that.¡± Upon turning to leave, a sense of danger impelled him to run a calction on his fingers. ¡°Hmm? A very ominous sign. Where? It¡¯sing closer¡­ It m-¡±

    ¡°Behind you!¡± Tang Ye mustered up everything he could to yell upon regaining a little control over his body.

    ¡°What a hassle.¡± A-Ji¡¯s voice drowned out Tang Ye and Lai Jingzhen¡¯s.

    A scarlet firework went off from Lai Jingzhen¡¯s chest as something ck streaked through. The Enlightenment hit so fast that Lai Jingzhen hit the ground without feeling a thing. His blood spilt from his chest as fast as though he had a gaping hole there.

    ¡°It sure isn¡¯t easy to take down one of the Supreme Ten Saints. Why did you have to show up here now of all times?¡± A-Ji spread his arms to the side as an exaggerating stage actor would prior to beginning an announcement. ¡°Ah, apologies. I also forgot to introduce myself when we are meeting for the first time.¡±

    Once he regained awareness of his predicament, Lai Jingzhen felt as if all of his upoints had been pricked with needles. He was confident he had the strength to force needles out of his upoints, but he didn¡¯t have the faintest idea how A-Ji caught him. Immobilised, he could only wait for the finishing blow.

    A-Ji swiped his face, revealing his face was a mask. Under that mask was another mask, a jet-ck mask. Gazing down on the fallen daoist, he condescendingly, yet exuding a menacing aura, said, ¡°I don¡¯t have a name, but maybe you can call me¡­ Mr. An.¡±

 Volume 9 144 Hidden Versus Darkness

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 144 Hidden Versus Darkness</h4>

    ¡°¡­ Mr. An?¡±

    Tang Ye could still feel the invasive cold qi in him when he rose. ordingly, Su Xiao was out cold. Tang Ye owed his ability to move to his two Yang styles and enriched experience in dealing with the cold.

    ¡°You¡¯re not Luo n¡¯s cksmith or¡­ Luo Ming¡¯s subordinate, are you? Who exactly are you?¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, don¡¯t do this to me Ye. Don¡¯t ask the obvious now. Didn¡¯t I already tell you? I¡¯m¡± - Mr. An waved his limbs around as he skipped over to Tang Ye and leaned in to breathe down thetter¡¯s neck. ¡°¡­Mr. An¡­ Hahaha.¡±

    The hystericalughter was identical to A-Ji¡¯s bright smile; Tang Ye wished it wasn¡¯t even though he couldn¡¯t give a reason for why he felt that way. From Tang Ye¡¯s perspective, he watched a bright youth gradually descend into diabolical madness.

    ¡°Rx, Ye. I won¡¯t be killing any of you since none of you are a threat to me. This bloke, however, doesn¡¯t get the special treatment.¡± Mr. An went over to smash Lai Jingzhen¡¯s body with his hand again, wringing out more blood. He then turned back to give Tang Ye a smile. ¡°You think I¡¯m defiling his corpse? While I admit it¡¯s a nice form of exercise, he¡¯s not dead, far from dead.¡± It wasn¡¯t all sarcasm with Mr. An. There was some genuine respect in his tone at the end.

    Up until today, there was no record of Prisation Style practitioners dying. That being said, it wasn¡¯t a ticket for immortality for whoever picked it up as it chose its student instead of the other way around, and its criteria weren¡¯t something many could tick off.

    Prisation Style once fell into Violet Lotus Sanctuary¡¯s hands. In that era, their patriarch was one of the Supreme Ten Saints, whom Lai Jingzhen is oftenpared to now. Violet Lotus Sanctuary¡¯s patriarch was known for being humble and only had a desire to learn more martial arts. Once he got his hand on the manual, he spent three months training in seclusion.

    When Violet Lotus Sanctuary¡¯s patriarch emerged, there were corpses strewn all over the ce. Because there were only corpses of disciples within the sect, it could only mean the enemy was too strong for all their disciples to defeat even when working together. Upon descending the mountain, there were no outsiders present; the ones murdering the sect¡¯s disciples were their very own fellow disciples.

    When their patriarch was reciting the manual at the rear of the mountain, he was so focused on it that he didn¡¯t notice his internal energy¡¯s activity. Even though there were walls, he was one of the Supreme Ten Saints for good reason. The mental cultivation he read aloud ended up reaching his disciples. Since they weren¡¯t chosen ones, the thoughts that poured in gradually influenced their minds.

    Ever since the event, Violet Lotus Sanctuary has been removed as a sect in the pugilistic world. People losing their minds over something they train ismon, but losing their mind over something they heard never happened until then. As a consequence, Prisation Style wasbelled as menacing as Demon Sect¡¯s Spring Wind Rainy Night Art.

    ¡°I won¡¯t kill him. First, I can¡¯t kill him when he¡¯s covered in energy; poking him might even wake him. Secondly, as a qualified-exceptional viin, I¡¯m not going to bebelled as the culprit who killed the state preceptor.¡±

    By no ount did Mr. An delude himself that Luo Ming was going to keep his secret for him. If he also had to carry the burden of killing the Daoism leader and state preceptor on top of being a sinister viin, though, then things would be different for him.

    Mr. An took the sword in Lai Jingzhen¡¯s hand: ¡°After ten years, I¡¯ve finally obtained you. No sword is worthy of a sovereign unless it¡¯s one of the Nine States Enervating des¡­ Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, huh? You haven¡¯t even been sharpened yet, yet you have proven yourself outstanding. I think I can look forward to you impressing me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯vee across your freezing internal energy somewhere before.¡±

    Mr. An stopped ying with the sword to look over to Tang Ye. His eyes were hidden behind his ck mask, but the unnerving gaze could be felt through it. ¡°Yeah? Where might that be?¡±

    ¡°Deep inside the pce, specifically¡­ Zhaixing Hall.¡± Tang Ye¡¯s mention petrified Mr. An. ¡°A sword spirit tried to stop Big Bro and I. I sensed a¡­ freezing qi in there¡­ It was identical to what you emit.¡±

    ¡°My, my.¡± Mr. An sauntered over to Tang Ye. ¡°You think the two might just be simr.¡±

    ¡°Impossible. I do admit I¡¯m not erudite on internal styles. Nheless, I¡¯ve been surrounded by cold growing up. While I may misidentify Yang Realm styles, I will never mistake cold¡­¡±

    ¡°Ye, Ye, Ye.¡± Mr. An rested Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer on Tang Ye¡¯s neck. ¡°Aren¡¯t you forcing my hand? Whatints do you have about living? What makes death better? Don¡¯t you want revenge?¡±

    ¡°¡­ An avenger can¡¯t be an upstanding man¡­ I don¡¯t n to chase the path of vengeance any longer.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a true man. Had I met you ten years ago, I would¡¯ve made sure to recruit you. It¡¯s unfortunate I have to turn you into an upstanding ghoul now.¡±

    ¡°Leader told me not to meddle with anything and to just¡­ watch your dumb behind. I thought leader was suffering mental degradation again. Turns out we really do have a big rat to catch.¡±

    Tang Ye couldn¡¯t believe his eyes when Mr. An disappeared into thin air. He heard a couple of collisions between people, and then someone entered. ¡°Brother Hong?¡±

    Panting, Hong Jiu cursed, ¡°Shut up. Does it look like the right time and ce for chit chat? You think I also brought a second sister-inw for you or something?¡±

    ¡°What a surprise. I didn¡¯t think there was anyone watching in. Good job hiding, Hidden Hero.¡± Mr. An returned to the room that he had now turned into a locked room.

    ¡°Who do you think I am? You think I¡¯m fodder like these brats? As long as I¡¯m alive, you won¡¯t be killing anybody.¡±

    Mr. An scoffed, ¡°What difference can you make?¡±

    Someone at the door scoffed in the same tone, ¡°What about if I join the party?¡±

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer vibrated. Mr. An turned back in surprise. ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 9 145 Past

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 145 Past</h4>

    ¡°My, my, what brings you here? This one apologies for not weing you earlier.¡± Mr. An¡¯s ck mask gave the impression he was wearing seven emotions on at once.

    Ming Feizhen let Mr. An have his fun: ¡°You sound like you know me.¡±

    Mr. An flicked up a thumb: ¡°Who does not know of Night Fortress¡¯ master? This one has been busy and still is. He would have offered you a drink when you arrived, otherwise.¡±

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms and leaned back on the wall, fully aware he was watching a charade. The longer he left the man of the darkness to his devices, the more threatening Ming Feizhen felt him grow. Ming Feizhen yawned and said, ¡°Take your time speaking. If one hour isn¡¯t enough, you can have two. If one day isn¡¯t enough, you can have two. The celestial prison¡¯s food is pretty good, I hear. I¡¯ll be happy to have three drinks with you when you¡¯re there.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Guess we¡¯ll cut to the chase, then.¡±

    Although Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t budge, it took Hong Jiu and Tang Ye everything they had to not suffocate themselves from shock when Mr. An discharged his cold, diabolic qi.

    ¡°Master Ming really is Master Ming. This one has something he would like you to enlighten him to.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pinched his nose: ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. The imperial court¡¯s reinforcements have only just arrived when you already beat Luo Ming, so you should be busy. Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Are you telling me you can¡¯t figure that out for yourself?¡± Ming Feizhen joined the game of farces and wore on a disillusioned look.

    ¡°I¡¯m a stupid man and can¡¯t stand it when I don¡¯t have a clear-cut answer to my queries. Please indulge me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ There seemed to be more than what met the eye, so I had Second watch for anyone present trying to reap the fruits of someone else¡¯sbour. If there was, then he was to notify me.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°It is an honour for a minor character, such as myself, to catch your attention.¡± Mr. An scratched his head as though he was embarrassed until he heard, ¡°I wasn¡¯t referring to this event but further back.¡± He responded, ¡°¡­ Oh?¡±

    ¡°If this minor character you speak of is A-Ji, then, no, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to him. You did well to conceal yourself. I never would¡¯ve suspected a young man with Luo Ming; I just drew conjectures based on the bigger events.

    ¡°Since my fight with Jin Wangsun in the imperial city, I¡¯ve had this suspicion that someone has ensnared me in their trap. There¡¯s no chance somebody can spy on me without my awareness, but Jin Wangsun was a different case. All they had to do was instate him as the spy, and use him to predict my moves. After he went missing, I¡¯ve been trying to figure out what was really going on. No matter how I tried to reverse engineer it, there were always two conditions that had to be fulfilled regardless of what the truth was. First, there had to be something enormous to gain from the risky operation. Second, the one who pulled it off¡­ had to be an extremely skilled adept working behind the scenes.

    ¡°In Luo Ming¡¯s underground secret chamber, I learnt about his revenge n, and it was surprisingly simple. Forge a Nine States Enervating de and then go to Nanjiang. There¡¯s nothing surprising about his motive. The important question was, who supplied him with the blueprints? He nearly dies in Nanjiang, and then not only does he suddenly possess the blueprints, but he also colludes with Abels, frames people and a whole series of other things. The inherent high risk of the n reminded me of my match with Jin Wangsun. Coincidentally, the n also required the exact same two prerequisites to work.

    ¡°When I was still questioning if it was pure coincidence, Luo Ming swiped all my doubt away and gave me the confidence to conclude I was onto something with his sword. A-Hu took something from Zhaixing Hall, though I don¡¯t know what it is. The cold qi¡± - Ming Feizhen fixed his gaze on Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, making it vibrate as though his gaze rustled its feathers - ¡°is identical to the oneing from the sword. When I saw the sword, I realised that defeating Luo Ming was only the beginning of the real show.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You mean to say you purposely sent the sword flying? No wonder why it happened tond in such a convenient spot, yet well out of sight.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ stupid¡­?¡± Ming Feizhen asked with a sigh. Slowly but surely, his eyes glinted red. ¡°Given I could beat Luo Ming when he had the sword, a clear mind and polished skills, why didn¡¯t I just finish him when he was injured? Was there any point in waiting for him to finish his sword?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why, then?¡±

    ¡°I was luring you out, Mastermind.¡±

    I¡¯ve been dancing to his tune all this time? How amusing. So I¡¯m still human, huh?

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± As heughed, Mr. An¡¯s appearance contorted along with the mes flickering on the candles. ¡°Ming Huayu must be proud to have raised such apetent disciple. Now this is entertaining, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you still don¡¯t get it.¡±

    Mr. An fossilised.

    By the time Ming Feizhen raised his head again, his red eyes were drilling a hole their target¡¯s heart. ¡°Let me repeat myself.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s fingers cracked as they curled up. ¡°The reason I¡¯ve had to endanger people I care about and helplessly pray they will be fine, as well as resist the torment to raze this manor to the ground, is to lure you out and capture you. Get it now, dimwit? I don¡¯t care what your machinations are. It doesn¡¯t matter to me anymore. Walk your behind over here. I¡¯ll happily kick it for you, you snollygoster.¡±

    H-he¡¯s making my brain stutter?

    ¡°¡­ Just putting it out there: I always felt we¡¯d meet face to face when we least expect it and say what you just did. Only, I didn¡¯t expect to meet so soon. My, my, Ming Zhen, you no nice. Why did you have to expose me already?¡±

    Ming Feizhen hiked up a corner of his lips: ¡°How about you stop trying to sound friendly with me? I don¡¯t know any slimeballs, like you.¡±

    It¡¯s not time to fight him yet. If we fight, it won¡¯t end until one of us dies¡­

    ¡°You want to party, huh? ¡­ Hahaha, all right, let¡¯s make this an even bigger party.¡±

    Mr. An zoomed back into the room, reaching the end in no time, thereby cornering himself.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Is he really going to charge into a wall?!¡±

    Boom! Mr. An crashed through the thick wall and made a beeline to the ring,nding fifteen metres away from Emperor Yuansheng, who had Qilin Guards all around him.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Mr. An spread his arms and bowed in an exaggerated motion once again. ¡°Reigning Emperor, this one¡¯s name is¡­ Mr. An.¡±

    Glossary

    Pinching nose - When you¡¯re trying to be rude (whether as a joke or not), you might use the phrase that¡¯s used when saying, ¡°Fart¡± in Chinese, implying whatever someone says is utter bullcrap. Yes, you literally substitute the word ¡°fart¡± for ¡°speak¡±. Ming Feizhen is implying the same thing when he pinches his nose. I changed Mr. An¡¯s response, which was, ¡°Please smell it,¡± to ¡°Don¡¯t be like that,¡± since there¡¯s no way it can make any sense to you unless you know that fact.

 Volume 9 146 Revealing Sword Flash

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 146 Revealing Sword sh</h4>

    ¡°Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer wins through might. Mr. An wins through psychological attacks¡± - the impression that those who witnessed the appearance of the man who waspared to a ckness that drew attention despite the fear of looking at it. You don¡¯t want to look at a venomous snake, but you¡¯re afraid of letting it out of your sights because it could have coiled around you the moment you avert your gaze. All you can do is look and wallow in fear.

    Perhaps owing to the new and unforgettable memory, Emperor Yuansheng suddenly felt the pain of boiling tea scalding his face when he saw the reminder of why darkness is considered scary. ¡°It¡¯s you! What do you want? You think I can¡¯t recognise you just because you¡¯ve changed into ck clothing? I wanted to let this go because of Luo n¡¯s fate, but I refuse to let you go. Men, fire on him. Let¡¯s see you act arrogant in a squall of arrows.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng no longer hid his identity, referring to himself using the term exclusive to Emperors.

    There was nothing strange about Qilin Guards urately finding their targets. What didn¡¯t make any sense was how they went straight through their target as though Mr. An was spawned from thin air.

    ¡°Ow, ow, that hurt. Your Majesty, how can you treat your citizen like this? Your people would be disappointed if they found out you did this.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: Hardly ever do we see Divine Realm adepts, yet five of them, if we include our mystery man who defeated Luo Ming, are here for the sword?

    ¡°What¡­ was that?¡±

    Mr. An raised his sword, then cracked a grin. ¡°They say it is impolite to not return favours. This peasant shall return the favour now, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to get through us first!¡± Long Zaitian shielded Emperor Yuansheng behind him.

    ¡°Hehe¡­ Okay, get ready¡­¡± Mr. An carved a golden arc. The fortress guarding Emperor Yuansheng proved useless when he severed Qilin Guards¡¯ body parts in the one motion.

    ¡°¡­ You will pay with your life for taking my warriors¡¯ lives.¡±

    ¡°Ah? This is embarrassing, so embarrassing!¡± Mr. An started throwing a tantrum when a blue qi wall denied him further lives and ground. ¡°Why?! I¡¯m not pulling punches, so why can¡¯t I cut an over-the-hill Supreme Ten Saints¡¯ qi wall? This doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±

    Standing by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s right side was none other than Bodhi Abels.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you cannot trust a thing he says for he is capricious,¡± Shen Yiren cautioned.

    Having had a brief discussion with Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren returned to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side at his behest and requested Abels¡¯ aid. Abels, in consideration of what Ming Feizhen did for him and the various offences of Evil Spirits, elected to lend a hand. Of course, Shen Yiren had to vouch for him, or Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t going to suddenly trust his life to a notorious ouw.

    Shen Yiren was exining how Luo Ming¡¯s n was thwarted when Mr. An entered the fray uninvited.

    Gaze elsewhere, Mr. An bemoaned, ¡°Man, doesn¡¯t it really have to be this way? This is¡­¡±

    Zipping out of the smithing department was an elderly pair - Lai Jingzhen and ¡°Reverend Zha¡±. Though they didn¡¯t appear as oddly as Mr. An, their speed was above anyone else present. They cornered Mr. An forthwith to force him into a confrontation. If Mr. An couldn¡¯t really transform into wind, his chances of slipping away were next to none.

    ¡°¡­ This is¡­ bing more and more fun!¡±

    Mr. An didn¡¯t put much force into his swing or apparently swing fast, yet the two still-aerial elites wobbled, forcing them tond. Converting himself into thin air again, Mr. An reappeared as a solid entity twenty-four metres away, celebrating the fact that he left the two elites stunned.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng belted, atypically enraged. ¡°How do you know that swordy?!¡±

    Nobody in Li n would mistake the style that their ancestor employed to establish their n¡¯s reign and earn them the honour as descendants of one of the three greatest swordys in existence.

    ¡°Where did you learn Broken Sword Eight Layers Light from?!¡±

 Volume 9 147

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 147</h4>

    Over a century ago, when the previous dynasty still stood, the people formed a militia to revolt against the ruler for his dream of conquest cost them their livelihood, peace and lives. Unsurprisingly, there were generals, marquises, Princes and more who weren¡¯t happy, either. As a result of the rebellion, the ruler lost control over the military, economy and human resources.

    During the turmoil, Li n, a military family, gave birth to a swordsman who surpassed his predecessors and would remain almost unrivalled even after he left. On the day he spearheaded the attack on the capital, he convinced everyone to serve him as his vassals when he exhibited his prowess with his iron sword.

    Back in the day, there were plenty more Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen since it was a war-torn era. Ambitious swordsmen flocked to Li Dynasty¡¯s patriarch¡¯s door to challenge him daily. Despite how annoying it was for him, his vassals kept urging him to be polite and lenient. Eventually, he sneaked off alone one morning for Jiangnan, when he was too irate to continue entertaining his endless stream of challengers.

    He returned three monthster with three men - Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Cold Mountain Temple and Luo Sword Manor¡¯s patriarchs. All three men had bruises on their faces, but nobody would forget the ck eye Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s patriarch sported as it looked as though it¡¯d take months to settle down.

    Still in histe thirties, the founding Emperor pointed to the three and told a servant, ¡°Provide the three with armour. It¡¯s war.¡± The three famous swordsmen strapped up and went to war by his side just as every other soldier he rallied around his cause did.

    In the one month he went missing, he challenged the three strongest sects in Jiangnan on his own. Ever since then, nobody challenged him again. The only person who could give him a run for his money was a man who he fought to a draw multiple times. After one duel on Mount Tian that neither of them disclosed the results of, his rival joined his cause. His rival wouldter be instated as the grandmander of his twelve generals and hailed as the greatest fighter.

    The grandmander hung up his sword at seventy years of age and sequestered; however, his aplishments weren¡¯t forgotten. People eventually called him Hero Shenzhou - meaning, hero of the Central in.

    The swordy Li Dynasty¡¯s patriarch employed to carve out their dynasty, Broken Sword Eight Layers Light, was locked in his tomb after he passed away, and a respected elder in their n was entrusted with watching over it. For that reason, people often called his tomb Broken Sword Imperial Tomb. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Sword Immortal Grasshouse represented years and years of swordy collected, while Broken Sword Imperial Tomb was the representative of unparalleled swordy.

    Because the location of Broken Sword Eight Layers Light and everything relevant were secrets of the imperial family, Emperor Yuansheng calmed himself so that he wouldn¡¯t make the mistake of mentioning it again and asked, ¡°Who¡­ are you?¡±

    Mr. An performed another bow with one leg crossed behind the other and one arm across his chest: ¡°This peasant is the man with the most time on his hands and dabbles in every matter. ording to the stars¡¯ providence, a dragon was due to be born here. As such, this peasant came to investigate. To his surprise, both the real dragon and fake dragon have convened.¡±

    The sincerity of a vassal worried for his monarch didn¡¯t cancel out the snarky content, but it did calm Emperor Yuansheng down. Until then, Mr. An was a blob of mystery. The tant distaste for him, however, guided Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°State Preceptor Lai!¡±

    ¡°Present!¡± Lai Jingzhen was already by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side with his chest out. ¡°Your subject is at your service. That being said, your subject would sever him limb from limb even without your orders because he is uneptably hubristic. He will also crush his bones to ashes, pin him, gouge his ey-¡±

    ¡°¡¯Kay, ¡®kay, ¡®kay, stop¡­ State Preceptor Lai, is your chest wound all right?¡±

    ¡°Wound? You need not fret, Your Majesty. Your subject cannot be wounded. Even if he does, it would only be a minor wound.¡± As soon as he looked down to his chest, though, Lai Jingzhen eximed, ¡°Eh?! Blood?! Who prated I, this one¡¯s impregnable defence?!¡±

    Truthfully, Emperor Yuansheng was worried about Lai Jingzhen¡¯s chances as he was practically invincible when he was rational. When he was having anotherpse of madness, unfortunately, he was as suicidal as he was strong. The key to killing him was never in his opponent¡¯s hand but his.

    Upon casting his eyes over to the daoist attired in a ck garb, Emperor Yuansheng inquired, ¡°You are¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren stepped in right away: ¡°This is Reverend Zha, the one I told you defeated Luo Ming. He survived being thrown into the cauldron and subdued Luo Ming.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Despite having witnessed Reverend Zha in action, Emperor Yuansheng was bereft of confidence since he couldn¡¯t imagine anyone present standing against a monster who could utilise Broken Sword Eight Layers Light.

    If I let him escape, I¡¯ll have to call Tianhu, no, I¡¯ll also have to call Baima in order to kill him.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Using Voice Transmission, Shen Yiren asked Ming Feizhen, ¡°He¡¯s the mastermind you mentioned? What sort of mastermind reveals himself?¡±

    The answer to that question was simple: it was because Ming Feizhen was also a character who couldn¡¯t walk in the light.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you appear to have an answer to your query. It is a pity we cannot chat more.¡± Upon showing himself again, Mr. An was already under the moonlight. ¡°Let us meet again when the dragon roars.¡±

    ¡°Where are you off to?¡± Ming Feizhen, out of nowhere, draped his arm over Mr. An¡¯s shoulder as though they were buddies and even cracked a smile: ¡°Let¡¯s continue our chat.¡±

 Volume 9 148 Sword and Life

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 148 Sword and Life</h4>

    Boom! Dust and debris waltzed around after Ming Feizhen shoved Mr. An back to the ground.

    ¡°Well¡­ This is a surprise.¡±

    Ming Feizhen draped his unmovable arm over Mr. An¡¯s shoulder and jovially asked, ¡°If I¡¯m correct, you¡¯re with you-know-who, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You demonstrate great insight, Fuma¡­ working out master from the scarce clues. I am but a pawn taking orders from Her Highness.¡± As much as he hated to give in, Mr. An didn¡¯t have options. Still, he managed to hide his surprise.

    Jingan and Mr. An¡¯s alliance was a secret known only to those highest in the organisation, not a tool for him to slip away with. Knowing her, he had no doubts that she could find a way to resolve any problems he caused. Having his ns ruined was what he hated the most, nevertheless.

    ording to their n, Mr. An was supposed to have rendezvoused with Poison King at the agreed time and ce already. Mr. An, known for being punctual and demanding the same of others, was going to have to bete this time.

    He really is tough to deal with. I had taken the worst possible oue into consideration, yet he countered it right away and effortlessly.

    ¡°Brilliant, Sir.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about Jingan but the leader of Demon Realm.¡±

    Simr to how extreme heat could visually distort space, Mr. An contorted space with his bloodlust.

    ¡°Stay there.¡±

    As if those two words Ming Feizhen enunciated were a magical chant, he restored Mr. An¡¯s contorted form to his normal form and fossilised his body.

    Nobody could tell just from watching that the hand on Mr. An¡¯s shoulder was essentially a lock as heavy as a mountain. Mr. An tried to break Ming Feizhen¡¯s hold three times using his internal energy to no avail. That is not praise for Ming Feizhen but for Mr. An as it was a miracle he hadn¡¯t been ttened yet.

    Do I have to reveal my true skills? No, it¡¯s not time to yet. Let¡¯s entrap him¡­

    ¡°Hahaha, fantastic skills. This one yields, Master M-¡±

    In a gentle voice that drowned out Mr. An¡¯s, Ming Feizhen asserted, ¡°If we¡¯re going to chat, let¡¯s take it somewhere else.¡±

    Ming Feizhen dragged Mr. An along against thetter¡¯s will using strength in excess of what thetter could resist against. Unlike Mr. An¡¯s style that made him resemble particles of air that couldn¡¯t be erased, Ming Feizhen¡¯s style left a field of dust behind because Ming Feizhen¡¯s style was all about brute strength.

    Emperor Yuansheng was nning to have Lai Jingzhen listen to what the two were saying. Howbeit, he had to scrap the n when the two of them vanished out of sight. ¡°Empyrean, be careful! He¡­ He is strong! Do not go out too far! State Preceptor Lai!¡±

    ¡°Present! Your subject shall go assist him immediately.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No. I want you to stay here and protect me. Have I not been thrust into jeopardy enough times today yet? If he¡¯s trying to lure you away to harm me, what am I to do? Stay right by my side.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Oh.¡±

    ¡°Yiren, will Empyrean Zha be all right?¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t be med for his anxiety after all the shocks back to back in one day.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Shen Yiren confidently replied. ¡°¡­ I think.¡±

    Abels, observing Emperor Yuansheng and Shen Yiren for a while, finally realised what they were peering into the distance for. ¡°You are looking in the wrong direction. They went the other way.¡±

    Regardless of who the mastermind behind the scenes were, the sole fact that they could recruit Luo Ming as a pawn and stir chaos on this scale was troubling, to say the least. Judging from Ming Feizhen¡¯s tone, Shen Yiren spected they were facing something more dangerous than Luo Ming and his Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t like talking about his past or experiences, while Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t the type to be wishy washy. Thus, she trusted he could make his own judgement as the master of Night Fortress. In saying that, she knew that he had always been the same person deep down regardless of whether that was before or after she learnt of his true skills. The fact that he was barely any different as a person surprised even her. Put it this way: whatever skin he was wearing, he was still the same man. If there was something he was embarrassingly lousy at, it was acting. Irrespective of what shoes he was in, ¡°danger¡± was a concept that eluded him, and he was always nosy. In the pugilistic world, they call that sort of nosiness ¡°chivalry¡±.

    ¡°You confident you¡¯ll survive?¡± Shen Yiren questioned prior to letting Ming Feizhen go.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ming Feizhen casually answered.

    ¡°Will you be back?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Definitely.¡±

    Shen Yiren still remembered the smile on his face when he left. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. He won¡¯t lie.¡±

    ***

    Crossing dozens kilometres in mere seconds made it difficult even for Ming Feizhen to maintain his hold on Mr. An, therefore affording thetter the chance to regain freedom. Since he couldn¡¯t stop Mr. An even if he tried, he decided to show Mr. An that choosing to break free while they were moving was a bad decision: leveraging Mr. An¡¯s momentum against him, he hurled Mr. An straight into the ground.

    Mr. An had full confidence in his manoeuvre and had been relying on it to remain elusive thus far, yet it was countered twice in a single day for the first time since mastering it.

    By the time Mr. An got up, Ming Feizhen was already standing in front of him. Cornered, he lunged at Ming Feizhen. Mr. An, being more dangerous than Luo Ming with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, prompted Ming Fezhen to creep one foot back as he evaded attack.

    ¡°The sword or your life? You can only choose one.¡±

    ¡°Mingming Zhen, don¡¯t troll me. Would I be able to keep my life if I lost the sword?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smirked: ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that quite the fascinating thought process. Can you keep the sword if you¡¯re not alive?¡±

 Volume 9 149

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 149</h4>

    Despite Mr. An noting off as dominating as Luo Ming, Ming Feizhen never doubted the disorganised-flitting ck silhouette would jump him faster and more precisely than Luo Ming.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a grudge we can¡¯t talk out, do we?¡± Mr. An gave the impression he was beaming affably underneath his mask with his tone, but he was actually hiding the niggle at his shoulder. Ever since mastering his signature style, it was first time experience an ache again.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Has he already reached Mountains and Oceans Realm? Yijin Jing¡¯s inheritors really are tough to deal with. Well, on the flipside, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to off Luo Ming for me so that I could pick up the sword for free.

    Even though Luo Ming was in power, Mr. An would still stick out because he was a new face that showed up out of the blue ten years ago. He had Luo Ming take in three more disciples on top of Feng Jian when he came back from Nanjiang, which was great news for the n, so nobody objected. The n helped him slip even under Luo Yan¡¯s radar. In the ten years at Luo Sword manor, Mr. An got a sneak peek at Luo n¡¯s swordy and learnt their smithing techniques. Therefore, he nned to forge the sword if Luo Ming failed.

    Everything unfolded ording to n. For the record, though, neither did the organisation nor Mr. An expected Luo Ming to be sopetent. Due to the cost involved with the project, Luo Ming quickly burnt through his capital, leaving him with no choice but to seek out Evil Spirit¡¯s help. If that was hard, then inviting so many heroes across thend was an even more ludicrous idea that Mr. An couldn¡¯t see seeding. It took Luo Ming years to set it up as it impacted the internal strife between the Seven Champion White Princes and martial artsmunity. This all had to bepleted without the imperial court catching on. Frankly, Mr. An would¡¯ve preferred to keep Luo Ming around for his service. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t feasible anymore.

    The only mistake in the n - if it could be considered part of the n - was Ming Feizhen¡¯s involvement. Mr. An had been watching Ming Feizhen before the organisation even knew of thetter. He monitored Ming Feizhen¡¯s every move, coting his exploits and examining every piece of information on him. While Mr. An couldn¡¯t im to know Ming Feizhen, one could say he was practically the consistent audience member of every event Ming Feizhen had involved himself in. If he was ever interviewed on how he evaluated this n, he would assert with his chest that it would¡¯ve been significantly more chaotic had Ming Feizhen not stepped in, and the world wouldn¡¯t be the way it is now.

    The first time Mr. An saw Ming Feizhen in the capital, he had an impulse to race back to headquarters right away. He had his subordinates investigate the recent history of Demon Sect, League of Assassins, Mount Daluo, Wudang, Shaolin and Western Regions. It took him seven days to confirm that their most recent reports were still valid.

    When Ming Feizhen joined Liu Shan men, Mr. An took over and investigated Ming Feizhen personally for he was the only one who couldplete the task without Ming Feizhen catching on. Ming Feizhen travelling to Huzhou with Emperor Yuansheng was within Mr. An¡¯s predictions.

    The sole reason Mr. An never had any motivation to attempt assassinating Emperor Yuansheng in spite of crossing thetter multiple times was because he knew he¡¯d never seed for as long as Ming Feizhen was on the ind.

    If anyone could feel for Mr. An, it was Ming Feizhen because thetter still only had a skeleton - an iplete one - of the organisation¡¯s ns.

    The approach Mr. An used to manipte Luo Ming was the most vile, though undoubtedly most effective. The n would only work if Mr. An was incredibly patient as it demanded a mental and physical investment.

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t going to hold his breath, hoping to chance upon some evidence Mr. An happened to identally leave behind. From what Ming Feizhen gathered, Mr. An might be mentally warped, abnormal and violent; however, Ming Feizhen could still detect a human part living inside. That human part was a valuable clue and, as of current, the only means of seeing through Mr. An¡¯s fa?ade.

    ¡°Still not going to attack?¡±

    ¡°All righty, haha. Let¡¯s see how much you¡¯ve improved over these years.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve known me for years?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, does it¡± - Mr. An curved his torso to charge up for an attack - ¡°even matter anymore?!¡±

    For the first time, Mr. An used his elusive manoeuvre as a means of advance, slinging himself forward. Ming Feizhen uncorked a quick punch to keep up, colliding with Mr. An¡¯s open hand. After two more heavy blows each, the two stepped past each other.

    As soon as Mr. An reset, he sneered: ¡°Not having a challenge for many years has made you rusty, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    Once Ming Feizhen stopped, blood sprayed from his chest.

    ¡°You know, I always thought you were tough, but¡­ killing you doesn¡¯t seem to be so difficult.¡±

    ¡°You sure talk a lot.¡±

    ¡°You never learnt any style to strengthen your body and barely have any defensive skills. All you do is count on your potent internal energy to do the heavy lifting. You think that¡¯s enough to save you from the best techniques out there? Combine skill with one of the Nine States Enervating des, and you¡¯ll die here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? You talking about¡± - Ming Feizhen pointed the tip of a shiny sword at his opponent - ¡°this one?¡±

 Volume 9 150 Stay Away

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 150 Stay Away</h4>

    When did he¡­?! How did he take it without touching me? He must have something that is sharp and can move fast to have snatched it from my soft golden belt.

    ¡°I took it when you felt you stung me with your fingers and retracted your arm, using my Night Net Celestial Silk.¡± Ming Feizhen extended five fingers as though he read Mr. An¡¯s mind, revealing the faintly visible threads.

    Interlinked Minds!

    The name of the concept came from the belief that a Divine Realm martial artist could refine a sense until they could read their target¡¯s mind. The caveat was that there was a cap to who they could read. In this case, Mr. An should¡¯ve been immune given how advanced he was.

    Mr. An was trusted with the pivotal operation because he was calm and controlled all the variables. Therefore, losing Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer and letting Ming Feizhen read him were blunders that he shouldn¡¯t have made.

    Mr. An didn¡¯t panic for he knew he lost the sword without realising due to his focus on throwing hands with Ming Feizhen instead of himself - not that he had an alternative. He knew better than anyone the consequence of apse in concentration against Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Mingming, you¡¯re a meanie, stealing my sword and making fun of me.¡±

    Mr. An squirmed with his body, only to receive an indifferent, ¡°What nonsense is that? Didn¡¯t I get hurt? I was bleeding.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had stopped bleeding and bandaged himself to look as good as new. Mr. An, who never removed his interrogative eyes once, started to lose his yful tone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in trouble if I don¡¯t take the sword.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s your problem, isn¡¯t it? You only have two choices. Walk away with your head down in shame or walk away with your head down in shame after you have a taste. Of course, what I mean you¡¯ll be tasting is¡­¡± Ming Feizhen stared straight at the ck mask, sure he was locking eyes with his foe. ¡°You going to show your true skills?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Haha, true skills? No, no, no, I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t. It¡¯s been ages since I¡¯ve fought. You get rusty once you quit. Allow me to revise¡­¡± A mild - and surprisingly pure breeze - stirred. ¡°Master Ming, you are so young, yet so skilled. One cannot help but respect you. Do you believe martial arts prodigies exist?¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re a scoundrel only interested in his gains. Where did the desire to discuss martial artse from?¡±

    ¡°Had I not met you, there would be no final answer to the question. Only when someone meets you will it dawn on them what a martial arts¡¯ prodigy is. There¡¯s another type of prodigy that¡¯spletely different to you, though.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± The upward curve at Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips spoke of an obvious craving for a challenge. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯ve been waiting for you?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When the ck mist condensed again, it was beside Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen was surprised with the Buddhist internal style in the straightforward sword strike.

    Ming Feizhen: Y-Yijin Jing?

    Capitalising on Ming Feizhen¡¯s distraction, Mr. An sped up as though he had fused with the wind. After a quick three exchanges, Mr. An ceased and grinned. ¡°The sword is mine,¡± Mr. An missed when he went to grab the sword, ¡°if I could snap the celestial spider thread at your waist.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was fast enough to snatch the sword without Mr. An realising, yet Mr. An had already analysed and copied his technique. Indeed, the ability to mimic a technique seen only once qualifies one as a martial arts prodigy.

    Ming Feizhen re-enacted the exchange in his head again and then dered, ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± then walked off. ¡°I¡¯ve got the sword, so do as you please.¡±

    Taken aback, Mr. An needed a moment before responding, ¡°Wow, what a surprise¡­ You¡¯re sparing me?¡±

    ¡°You know me.¡± Ming Feizhen halted in his tracks. ¡°Though I don¡¯t know who you are, you know me - the past me. I surmise you know every single ¡®me¡¯¡­ I¡¯m well aware I can¡¯t kill you. You move faster without the weight of Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer on you. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll struggle to locate you without the bloodlust oozing from this sword, so catching you will be tough. In the same vein, you can¡¯t kill me without the sword. Plus, your Broken Sword Eight Layers Light looks authentic but isn¡¯t - different to what I¡¯ve heard about it, at least. If I¡¯m not wrong, that imperfect technique is the only one you can execute, correct?¡±

    ¡°Do you think¡­ I¡¯ll spare you, though? I could expose y-¡±

    ¡°Not having to keep up a farce does make things easier in a way.¡± Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m Ming Feizhen, not Wudang¡¯s Huan Xini, not Demon Sect¡¯s Lord San Shen, not Night Fortress¡¯ master and not any other version of me that you know. I don¡¯t have any interest in what you¡¯re up to. Just make sure you do one thing: don¡¯t annoy me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ A man¡¯s gotta eat. You¡¯re costing me a job, Master Ming.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a simple solution.¡± Ming Feizhen resumed walking off. ¡°If you want to live, steer clear of me.¡±

 Volume 9 151 Iâ€™m Back

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 151 I¡¯m Back</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng had Beggars Sect, Wudang and other sects head off to report to their leaders, penning a letter for every sect so that the Qilin Guards wouldn¡¯t attack them during their departure. As the incident involved the Seven Champion White Princes, nobody would defy Emperor Yuansheng.

    Lai Jingzhen had recovered from his injuries, while Abels maintained his condition, so Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s safety was of no concern. Furthermore, since Mr. An and Reverend Zha still weren¡¯t back after so long, Emperor Yuansheng started going through reports from his intelligence units to make the most of his time. By the time he was done working, Lai Jingzhen was yawning, and the silver choir was out, though the darkness failed to impose its will on Whale God Ind for the mes at the ring denied it the stage. Luckily for Lai Jingzhen, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t pursue his misdemeanour.

    ¡°This peasant does not understand one thing. Could you possibly enlighten him, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, you are the uncle of Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s ruler; you are no peasant. As I am in the pugilistic world right now, I should abide by its customs. I am a few years older than you. If it is not too much, you can just call me Brother Li.¡±

    Abels: If this man wasn¡¯t ruling the Nine Provinces, they probably wouldn¡¯t have seen two decades of peace.

    ¡°In that case, I shall oblige. Brother Li, although Luo Ming has been defeated, why do you not capitalise on the opportunity to march on them? After all, his forces are still intact. Are you not worried¡­?¡±

    ¡°You make a valid point; Huzhou¡¯s military is a concern. That being said, I have not received any reports of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s forces and my Qilin Guards entering Huzhou confronting each other. It is clear that Luo Sword Manor¡¯s forces were never given an order ahead of time or privy to the ind¡¯s events. Those not informed of the circumstances will mistake it as me disobeying my ancestors to march on Huzhou.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As someone involved in the political arena, Abels pulled his brows in: ¡°Luo Ming kidnapped you as part of his revolt. That is the best justification. Why would people mist-¡­ You must be trying to keep Refining Divine Convention¡¯s true purpose a secret. If I am not wrong, there is something else inside the letters you gave to the sects.¡±

    ¡°I thought you would be angry with my decision.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I was the inferior man. If I am going to avenge my brothers, I will beat him fair and square. Real men do not stab people in the back. Besides¡­¡± Abels gave A-Lan a smile and stopped there.

    What Abels didn¡¯t voice was, ¡°Your subordinate, Ming Feizhen, helped me twice, rescued A-Lan and some of my brothers. I am grateful for his help from the bottom of my heart. To express gratitude, I shall spare Luo n this time.¡±

    Though he didn¡¯t know what Abels was going to say, Emperor Yuansheng smiled back because he was d Abels was no longer hostile. The two then went on to discuss other topics, while the others were left to their own devices.

    Qilin Guards were on duty and all business. In contrast, the unorthodox sects that initially showed courtesy found wine and dice, and the rest was history. When Long Zaitian found them drinking and gambling, he flipped out, albeit not for the reason one might think. He raged at them because he wasn¡¯t given an invitation to the party.

    Song Ou: ¡°A man with nothing other than a ding dong in his pants and air in his head.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Get out! Clothing caked in dust. Who was rolling in the dirt?¡±

    ¡°Some people¡­¡± Shen Yiren shook her head with a helpless smile. Upon gazing toward the direction Ming Feizhen went again, she espied a tall maidening over. ¡°Greetings, Interim Matriarch Yu.¡±

    Seemingly exhausted, Yu Feiyuan sat down next to Shen Yiren without a word. Given her height, she would intimidate some people into silence even when seated, but Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t affected.

    ¡°I have not had the opportunity to thank you for saving His Majesty. Had it not been for you, none of us could have seeded as nobody amongst us can defeat Feng Jian.¡±

    Yu Feiyuan studied Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes and then shifted her gaze southward: ¡°¡­ You¡¯re gorgeous.¡±

    ¡­ Uh¡­ I know she¡¯s Ming Feizhen¡¯s childhood friend, but¡­ Did he identally court a girl Interim Matriarch Yu likes or something? What is this about?

    ¡°Brother Ming¡­ seems to have taken a liking to you.¡±

    Umm¡­ Brother Ming? ¡­ Oh¡­

    ¡°¡­ I envy your rosy cheeks. You¡¯re really cute.¡±

    I, uh¡­

    Saving Shen Yiren from the awkward conversation was a shooting star; it was a shooting star until itnded dead centre of the ring. The wooden tab hanging on Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer¡¯s hilt had ¡°It was nothing. No need to thank me¡± written on it.

    Thankful, Emperor Yuansheng cried, ¡°I shall never forget what you have done for us today. Should you ev-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t rescind your wordter on, then!¡± everyone heard from indefinite location.

    ¡°He is over there! After him!¡± Emperor Yuansheng enthused, running off with his guards.

    ¡°Not going to go see a deity?¡±

    Shen Yiren turned in the direction of the speaker and simpered.

    ¡°Told you I¡¯d be back. I¡¯m back.¡±

 Volume 9 152 Yellow Springs

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 152 Yellow Springs</h4>

    The fireflies¡¯ journey came to an abrupt end when a draft blew them onto the dark water surface. Nobody would¡¯ve expected there to be a ck ship under theke two and a half kilometres north of Whale God Ind. Obviously, there were no winds underwater, yet the ship was able to move. Schools of fish would scramble to get away as soon as they noticed it approaching their direction.

    When several fireflies entered the ship, the elder meditating opened his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡± His voice fossilised the fireflies and dimmed their glow.

    The only darkness in the luminous interior was him, a man shrouded in darkness. He spread open his arms and let himself fall back onto the mattress,ughing at the ceiling. While the elder sitting on the timber floor didn¡¯t care for the interior¡¯s d¨¦cor and furniture, Mr. An adted, ¡°Hahahaha, it¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve had the chance to ride Boundless Voyager. Demon Realm¡¯s inventions never cease to amaze me. I never get bored of them.¡±

    They never had any qualms about people finding them since they were all elites who were veterans at hiding their tracks, and they always carried tools considered magic to the uninformed. This Water Wave ship could travel to the bottom of a river and transport fifty people in its biggest model. In a naval war, they¡¯d be catching their opponents by surprise.

    Focusing on the school of fish outside, Mr. Anmented, ¡°If I was born with these machines, I¡¯d probably be in love with researching them all day. It¡¯s a nice carefree life if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°Visit the castration room, and you¡¯ll be allowed to join Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°Good idea. If I ever feel like it, I¡¯ll copy Zhong Ning. I might even be able to hook up with a cute chambein when I visit.¡±

    ¡°Hand it over.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The monarch¡¯s sword. I¡¯m pretty sure I heard it named Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. Given you arrivedte, you must¡¯ve had enough fun. It¡¯s time you let this old one see it, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Wow, magnificent hearing, Poison King. You must have concocted a new supplement.¡± Mr. An gave Poison King a thumbs up.

    Since Mr. An was dressed in thin and light clothing, there was nowhere to conceal such arge sword. As such, Poison King concluded his rade¡± had hidden it somewhere else. ¡°Where¡¯s the sword? Where did you hide it?¡±

    ¡°The sword? Lost it.¡±

    ¡°Lost it?¡±

    Chilling on the soft mattress, Mr. An supinated his hands. Poison King still detested his chortle as always. There was no means of discerning how honest Mr. An was given his nature and track record. Poison King leaned toward Mr. An telling the truth this time based on experienced, nevertheless.

    ¡°Is this the right asion for jokes?¡±

    Poison King tore Mr. An¡¯s ck mask off, revealing A-Ji¡¯s face, the very same face that Mr. An tore off to reveal the ck mask. In spite of Poison King¡¯s insight, experience and discerning eyes, he was never able to see through any of Mr. An¡¯s masks. During their time together, Poison King had seen Mr. An pose as more than twenty different people, each sporting original appearances and profiles.

    Mr. An had never shown subordination to the head of their organisation even in the leader¡¯s presence; Mr. An was always the enigma to everyone. Nobody knew what his real appearance or identity really were.

    ¡°Where is the sword? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re hiding for someme reason, like hogging the credit.¡±

    Poison King started churning up qi as he took another step, but he immediately yanked his foot back when he felt a breeze only a sword could generatee toward his neck. Poison King didn¡¯t see the strike or his attacker at all until thetter stopped, revealing his silver dragon mask.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hahaha, Longdan, don¡¯t be rude to elders now.¡±

    Longdan stepped aside, going back into hiding his presence. Had Poison King not watched Longdan retreat, he would never have known thetter was there.

    ¡°Poison King, rx. I mean it when I said I lost it. I¡¯m not ying around.¡±

    ¡°Ten years of work all gone overnight, yet you¡¯reughing about it? How did you lose it? Retrieve it.¡±

    ¡°Well, I encountered someone who fights well. He called it quits after a few exchanges.¡±

    ¡°And you quit because of that?¡±

    ¡°He started walking off when I had yet to make up my mind, only to spin around and try to behead me. I barely responded in time since he caught me off guard; all I could do was evade. Had I not used my secret technique, I probably wouldn¡¯t be here right now.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Someone can survive against you in a duel? Is he even human?¡±

    ¡°Ask Longdan. He¡¯s scrapped with him more than I have.¡± Mr. An propped himself up. ¡°There are some things that will have to wait until we see our leader¡­ Let¡¯s go. Back to Yellow Spring.¡±

    Glossary

    Yellow Spring - You should be familiar with this name if you¡¯ve consumed other wuxia, traditional xianxia and mythology series or gufeng music. For rity sake, Yellow Spring is not Yellow River. Yellow Spring is the underworld.

 Volume 10 01 True Story in the Capital

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 01 True Story in the Capital</h4>

    Sun rays came as nature¡¯s easel, but the fog fromst night¡¯s rain obscured the brilliant colour. Mornings were always bustling with life in the capital, though the energy slowly started upparably to one dragging themselves out of bedzily in the morning.

    Cause always creates an effect. Effects always have a cause.

    Seldom has any event negatively affected the livelihood of the people during Yuansheng Dynasty. So far this year, things have been looking positive on all fronts.

    Although resident homes in Nanjing were considered elegant whenpared to the standard of the era, who could say for sure how it was behind the blue-brick walls?

    The owner of Dai Manor, subordinate of the secretary of work, had enough ie to start feeding a concubine next year and begin construction on a new section in his manor for her. When he married her, his guests had the chance to feast their eyes on his manor that would be better described as a mansion given its tall ceilings, pavilions and spacious stacked buildings.

    Loitering on the streetste at night is illegal and, though not as strict as previous dynasties, drinking on the street curb before the sun rose would result in a caning during Li n¡¯s reign. In previous dynasties, vitors would be whipped with bamboo strips if the city guards were feeling lenient. Otherwise, the guards had the authority to execute vitors on the spot. During aforementioned dynasties that existed prior to thest three hundred and sixty years, city guards never hesitated to whip offenders, making sure to be ruthless enough for those nearby to hear and take note.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Owing to thews, the three employees of Dai Manor whispered as they drank out the front of the manor. They had nowhere else to go for they finished uptest night - a product of their low work productivity. Alcohol was their only means of denying the cold, and ducking behind the shrubs was their only means of avoiding detection from guards. Thankfully, the long night wasing to an end.

    ¡°Someone say something. It¡¯s almost daybreak. We can¡¯t fall asleep now after weathering hell all night.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know. Have you heard about Bei¡¯s Iid Silver Gems?¡±

    ¡°Wha? Waz ¡®hat?¡±

    The storyteller shed his two yellow teeth: ¡°Within a radius of a hundred and eighty kilometres, jade is a hotmodity. Hawkers are calling out for leads, yet jade merchants don¡¯t bother; they even let customers fiddle with their jade since they won¡¯t find any premium jade products. Only when they catch a customer they¡¯re after will they bring out a real premium good for their customer to check out, only to ask for a ridiculous price. Once the deal is sealed, they put their premium one away and then sit back again. Their indifferent fa?ade is what gives them their air of mysteriousness that draws people in.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t many stores selling jade items in the capital, so they¡¯re easy to find. Among the stores in the north, east, south and west of the city, everyone agrees Bei¡¯s Iid Silver Gems, the store in the west, uses the best materials. Even though they¡¯re a small store, their golden que out front has existed for longer than the current dynasty.

    ¡°Seven generations of Bei n have been in the jade trade in the capital, and nobody has been able to take away their reverence as the King of jade trade despite them not being among wealthy jewellery merchants. When you talk about jade, you¡¯re speaking Bei n.

    ¡°There¡¯s no shortage of rising stars among jade shops in the capital. We have Emerald Boat City and Verdant Mountains in thest decade. The first choice for officials and the imperial pce is Snowfall Store since they interact the most, but their second choice is always Bei n¡¯s store because, ¡®You can¡¯t go wrong,¡¯ as they say. It¡¯s only fair when they inherited even the most traditional artisan business. Most don¡¯t have the patience to wait two or three decades, but they have the patience to start their training program, from nurturing an artisan into one up to their standards.

    ¡°Unfortunately, this generation of Bei n isn¡¯t so glorious. Their head is soft-hearted. His wife is a tyrant who beats him with words. The good news is that their artisan, who carries the Chai surname, has remained loyal.

    ¡°The story goes that Bei n¡¯s current patriarch pleaded his parents to keep the artisan when the artisan was homeless. In their patriarch¡¯s presence, peoplemend him for finding such apetent and loyal artisan. Behind his back, they call him useless. Nheless, things have been operating as per usual until recently¡­

    ¡°Artisan Chai has a pretty daughter who is turning fifteen this year, so he¡¯s worried about Mrs. Bei giving her a hard time, but he gave in to his daughter whims like always. He tried to talk to Mrs. Bei to no avail. In the end, though, he lets her continue to be with Young Master Bei since the two are childhood friends, and Young Master Bei does take care of her.

    ¡°Last year, the two of them went to thentern festival, yet Young Master Bei came home alone with his face covered in blood and bruises. Let me correct myself there: a pedestrian recognised him and carried him home because he was already unconscious. They had to carry him since, when they went to help him to his feet, he cried out in pain due to a broken leg.

    ¡°Mr. Chai went to Bei Manor to ask for his daughter, only for Mrs. Bei to ssh alcohol on his face and drive him out with a pole. He tried to reason with her, only for her to scream, ¡®Thanks to your daughter, my son is on the verge of death. You want to question me now? If you lost your daughter, give birth to another one!¡¯

    ¡°Mr. Chai replied, ¡®How can you say something like that? What did Ning¡¯er do? She went missing when she went out with your son. How can you shirk responsibility?¡¯

    ¡°Mrs. Bei derided, ¡®Without my husband, where would you be today? If you don¡¯t want to die, scram!¡¯

    ¡°Mr. Chai didn¡¯t even get to see Patriarch Bei in the end. He knew something wasn¡¯t right when he caught of glimpse of Young Master Bei¡¯s condition on the way out. He, therefore, went to the local magistrate for help. Sadly, they ignored his distressed pleas. All they ever did was entertain him for procedure¡¯s sake.

    ¡°Half a monthter, everything went back to normal for Bei n. Young Master Bei was back in the shop, albeit on crutches, to help his father with ounting jobs, while Mrs. Bei was still scolding her husband all the time. Everything went back to normal, except Mr. Chai¡¯s daughter was still missing. It was then that he realised she didn¡¯t go missing. She was kidnapped.

    ¡°What do you think of the story, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡¯hat¡¯s it? ¡®hat¡¯s duh end? What happen to Miss Chai? Was she killed?¡±

    ¡°Kukuku, use your brain. I hear Emperor Yuansheng has a jade sculpture from Mr. Chai. If he didn¡¯t stay with Bei n, his worth would be ten times what it is. You know how many people are dying to hire him? You think a magistrate would brush him off? If he requested aid, there should be lines of people eager to help him; hell, they¡¯d even send him presents after helping him. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s odd the way he was treated? Furthermore, Bei n is famous, as I pointed out, yet they¡¯re just going to pretend nothing happened after their young master¡¯s leg was broken? Would you forgive me if I cut your balls off?¡±

    ¡°Whoever touches me willy, me fight him to duh death!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. So why would Bei n do nothing about it?¡± He knew there was nobody around at this hour, yet he couldn¡¯t resist the urge to check before whispering, ¡°The kidnapper must either be affluent or a scary ouw.¡±

    ¡°Who would it be?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡­ only heard this elsewhere, so I only know this much. If you want to know more, pay Jianan House a visit. Hey, I¡¯ve been doing all the talking. You say something.¡±

    The man who kept silent the entire time had another nip of wine. ¡°I do know what happened next.¡±

    ¡°You do?!¡±

    The man smiled but somewhat poignantly in contrast to the other two: ¡°I happened to witness it with my own eyes when I carried bales of rice to Jianan House and passed by Bei n¡¯s entrance.

    ¡°Mrs. Chai searched every nook and cranny of the city for her daughter, implored people she knew for help, eventually resorting to even consulting gods and diviners who scammed her family a chunk of their savings. The stress and depression took its toll on her, culminating in her passing out one day on her way to pray at a shrine.

    ¡°Subsequent to helping his wife settle down, Mr. Chai headed to Bei Manor. The first thing to enter his line of sight upon entering was the jade bowl he crafted for his first project. As his life shed before his eyes, he took out a short de in his left hand and shed his hand. As Patriarch Bei cried and bled, the elder kowtowed in silence despite the blood gushing out. He didn¡¯t know what else he could do besides return the skills Patriarch Bei allowed him to acquire.

    ¡°Patriarch Bei helped him up and went inside. His wife could be heard nastily castigating him from the front of the house, perhaps even more than usual. She pped him so hard that it you could hear it from outside, sending him into furniture. He came back out with his eyes red and a heavy sack in his hand.

    ¡°Through the small opening of the pouch, the gold ingots inside were visible. Equally eye-catching, though was the small wooden token in there, but you know I¡¯m not literate, so I don¡¯t know what the character on there was.¡±

    The character on the wooden token was ¡°Yan¡±.

    ¡°Anyhow, Patriarch Bei shoved the gold and token into Mr. Chai¡¯s shirt and said, ¡®Use the money to pave the way; you¡¯ll need it. The token¡­ is something a hero gave my father. He said it can be used to request aid when needed.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ask who for help?¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Bei told him, ¡®Take them. Go to Liu Shan Men.¡¯¡±

    It was time for the trio to get moving. The man with the yellow teeth hiked his brows and contorted them in an assortment of shapes. The man who delivered the bale of rice still looked solemn. Meanwhile, the buckteeth man couldn¡¯t stop smiling to himself.

    ¡°Why are you all giddy when it¡¯s such a tragic story?¡±

    ¡°Dun make me sound like a bad guy. Of course I feel sorry for her when I watched her grow up. Duh thing is, Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°What do you know?¡±

    ¡°Last time I made a delivery to Liu Shan Men, a girl opened up.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so?¡±

    ¡°Boy oh boy, I ain¡¯t ever seen a girl as beautiful as her! Her unblemished skin. Her beauty¡­ What, you don¡¯t believe me? She does exist! She¡­ she¡­ man¡­ She looks like that!¡±

    The other two followed his finger and then forgot to breathe. Their leaping hearts weren¡¯t the reason they didn¡¯t hear her footsteps; she really did tread lightly. Never did they think anyone could have such an elegant gait. She was unmistakably gorgeous, but it was her behaviours, that faint upward curve at her lips that teased their hearts that had them in the clouds. Given the choice, they wouldn¡¯t spare an inch of their hearts for all of the girls behind her if they had to choose between just her or all of the maidens.

    ¡°Kn.¡±

    ¡°At your service.¡±

    ¡°Smash it open.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    The girl in blue next to their leader bound toward Dai Manor¡¯s door and shattered the timber doors with her iron hammer. The guards were too busy quaking in their boots to do a thing upon seeing the group in uniform and having just witnessed the door break down.

    ¡°Who dares vandalise Dai Manor?!¡± Bei n¡¯s steward rushed to the door. Howbeit, he shut his trap upon discovering who their visitor was.

    ¡°Report to your master that Liu Shan Men¡¯s female constable, 0807007, Ming Juese is here for tea with him.¡± Ming Suwen had the dimple of a woman who expected that reaction from the men.

    The steward couldn¡¯t exin properly what happened to his master, almost resorting to dragging thetter out of bed. Nheless, he eventually came back out to invite the group in.

    Ming Suwen headed in with a few constables, while others stayed outside. The three men by the door werepletely stupefied until she disappeared, where they then felt the world lost its purpose. Suddenly, Ming Suwen poked her head back out, giving the world meaning again and reviving its wilted flowers. With a cheeky smile, she instructed, ¡°They were drinking prior to dawn¡­ Don¡¯t forget to bring them back with us to cane, ¡®kay?¡±

 Volume 10, 02 Lawless

    <h4>Volume 10, Chapter 02 Lawless</h4>

    Dai Youming was a schr whose hometown is a month away from the capital on foot. While his hometown wasn¡¯t derelict, his family lived on pennies. For that reason, his only means of improving their life was through assiduous studying for ten years. Seeing how deprived his family was, the people in his hometown donated their savings to sponsor his trip to the capital. s, he encountered problem after problem.

    Dai Youming finally qualified in the schstic examinations in Yuansheng¡¯s thirteenth year, winning Prime Minister Li¡¯s approval for his determination and spent the next seventeen years to rise to fourth rank.

    In the nine years prior to Dai Youming¡¯s sess, his rtive kicked him out after his first failed attempt in the exams, leaving him to sleep with the cattle. Subsequent to his second failure, his uncle forced him to purchase the only inkstone his father left him even though it wasn¡¯t worth squat.

    To make ends meet while studying and taking examinations, Dai Youming wrote letters, sold paintings, toiled in manualbour and even worked in the kitchen. The day he received news he had passed, he was begging for food and donations on the street. On the same day, people started being friendly with him again. That was also the day that he realised his naivety. ¡°This is the true nature of humans,¡± he realised.

    It didn¡¯t take Dai Youming long to learn the rules of the political arena when he had already witnessed people throwing morals to the curb or twisting them whenever it was convenient.

    Dai Youming¡¯sst seventeen years of service didn¡¯t benefit the nation. He ttered his superiors, partook in dirty businesses, recruited local officials into his faction and made money whenever the opportunity presented itself. Anytime the imperial court could dip their hands in something, his hand was in the dip. As such, he knew who to tter and who was at the heart of the hurricane in the capital.

    Over a month had gone by since Emperor Yuansheng instated Red Prince in his stead while the former ¡°joined Empress Dowager on Mount Zisheng¡±, and it was apparent that thetter wasn¡¯t up to standard.

    Despite having been in the capital for a long time, Red Prince hadn¡¯t made any noteworthy aplishments thus far for two reasons. Firstly, there was no opportunity for him to demonstrate his abilities when his father was around. Secondly, his constant conflicts with Orange Prince didn¡¯t help either of them create a good impression. As a consequence, Red Prince was never given any duties. This was perfect for Dai Youming. After all, where there is a problem, there¡¯s room for someone to ¡°fix¡± things.

    Red Prince once said, ¡°I must always have jade on me if there is no sound reason for me to discard it.¡± What jade item could a fourth rank official possibly offer a Prince? Who would have likely seen a wider variety of jade goods? No matter, though, for Red Prince had another hobby that a fourth rank official could capitalise on - women, especially young ones from Jiangnan. Though there were no rumours of Red Prince having a concubine, which Orange Prince was notorious for, if you think about it, it made sense for them to keep up appearances for the throne¡¯s sake.

    As luck would have it, Dai Youming happened to spot a lively, graceful maiden at Jianan House¡¯s jade store with her lover. Judging from her pronunciation, she had to be from Jiangnan. Heter found out she was even the daughter of a jade artisan. For a fan of jade and young girls from Jiangnan to be packaged into one girl, that would be the most ideal gift. Thus, Dai Youming ambushed the couple when they went out during thentern festival to break her lover¡¯s leg, kidnap her and then silence Bei n.

    It took a while to pave the way to Red Prince¡¯s manor, so Miss Chai was locked in Dai Youming¡¯s secret chamber. Needless to say, she was provided with the best treatment to ensure she was presented to His Highness in her best condition.

    Red Prince expressed interest upon hearing from Dai Youming. Red Prince sent an envoy to Dai Youming¡¯s cest night to retrieve her today. The ship was sailing smoothly until a group stormed the manor when only a few golden rays were on the horizon.

    As he got dressed, Dai Youming thundered, ¡°You think you¡¯re above thew?! How dare you vandalise my manor?!¡± He booted his steward and added, ¡°And you! How dare you drag me out?!¡±

    The steward, zoning out as though he couldn¡¯t feel the pain from the kick, only muttered, ¡°So pretty¡­¡±

    Dai Youming no longer needed rification or questioned the mental health of his steward when he saw Ming Suwen dimpling despite him raging, seducing with her subus eyes. Had it not been for the tall man beside him, he would¡¯ve fossilised.

    The intuition of Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables warned them not to take their eyes off Red Prince¡¯s towering envoy dressed in red attire that looked old.

    Dai Youming¡¯s guards were just roving warriors he hired. Therefore, they stood no chance against Liu Shan Men¡¯s female constables who had been polishing their reputation through the several cases they recently cracked. With Zhu present, however, Dai Youming had no need to fear the constables.

    ¡°S-Sir Zhu, you must help this one.¡±

    Without looking back at Dai Youming, Zhu responded, ¡°If she vites thew, I shall aid you.¡±

    ¡°How dare you trespass into an official¡¯s property without an edict?! You think you can do as you please just because you¡¯re constables of Liu Shan Men? I¡¯m reporting you to His Highness now.¡± Because he couldn¡¯t get a response out of Ming Suwen, Dai Youming erupted, ¡°You deaf?! I¡¯m talking to you!¡±

    ¡°I heard you.¡± Ming Suwen plugged her ears with her fingers and frowned. In spite of being cognisant that he was being treated as a fool, Dai Youming couldn¡¯t find it in him to yell again. ¡°I apologise for entering without notifying you first,¡± she added, sping her hands but showing no intention of getting up to show sincerity.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Since you know you were impulsive, you shouldn¡¯t have made the mistake. What¡¯s your n-¡±

    Ming Suwen pursed her lips into a subtle upward curve. ¡°I am a constable of Liu Shan Men. My surname is ming.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Female Official Ming.¡±

    ¡°Female official¡± is a term created for female officials in the imperial court. Since Shen Yiren established the female constable division, there were bound to be rankings within, so Dai Youming deemed it safest to opt for a general term than to mistake Ming Suwen¡¯s rank.

    ¡°You need not sound so distant, Sir. You are of the same rank as our vice-captain. We will be looking up to you as our exemr.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I do have to respect Vice-Captain Shen and Captain Song.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Sir.¡±

    Seeing as Ming Suwen was polite, Dai Youming stopped yelling and toned himself down to a voice appropriate for discourse.

    ¡°May I ask what the purpose of your visit is that you could not even wait for me to be notified first? If I am not happy with your exnation, then¡­ whew.¡±

    ¡°Reporting! Nothing in the eastern buildings.¡±

    ¡°Reporting! Nothing in the western buildings.¡±

    ¡°Reporting! Nothing in the garden.¡±

    ¡°Reporting! Nothing in the study.¡±

    Ming Suwen regarded the four constables who flitted in too fast for Dai Youming to see. ¡°Keep searching.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    She had her subordinates search my ce without my permission?!

    ¡°Female Official Ming, wh-what is the meaning of this?¡±

    Ming Suwen grabbed her chin and leaned back in her chair, still not sparing Dai Youming a nce: ¡°I am searching for answers at your manor. Is it not obvious? We will be done soon.¡±

    Who does she think she is?! Wait, wait, wait¡­ If she finds out¡­

    ¡°Y-you are disregarding thew! You call yourself a constable, yet you are searching an official¡¯s property?!¡±

    ¡°Eh? Am I not allowed to? Kn.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Kn passed Ming Suwen a stack of paper thoughtlessly, and thetter chucked them out front, bereft of thought. As a schr, Dai Youming didn¡¯t understand martial artists. When he saw the seal of the ministry of rites, nheless, he freaked out, fearing his secret agenda hade to light. He shakily picked up a sheet and stretched his eyes apart. He picked up another sheet and then turned pale. Meanwhile, Ming Suwen started grinning to herself as she lifted her hands to her ears.

    ¡°Are you out of your minds?!¡± Dai Youming belted as he waved the sheets around. ¡°You trespassed on all thirteen officials¡¯ estates to investigate a case?! Every single one of these isints about Liu Shan Men, aren¡¯t they?! How do you rack up a mountain ofints?!¡±

    Ming Suwen poked her tongue out.

    ¡°You even vandalised the secretary of ministry of works¡¯ ce? You people are crazy!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Lu is my sister. We get along like best friends.¡±

    She¡¯s acquainted with the Secretary of Work¡¯s family? This is bad¡­ If she didn¡¯t have any qualms about searching his ce, what am I to her when I¡¯m only his subordinate? I doubt the legal repercussions even crossed her mind!

    Ming Suwen narrowed her eyes, causing Dai Youming to devolve into further panic. ¡°So you are hiding a secret at home, Sir.¡±

    ¡°N-no, I am not! Sir Zhu, you must arrest her.¡± Dai Youming tried to take cover beside Zhu, but thetter moved away. ¡°You are his subordinate, and you are here to retrieve your guest, no? Look at her. She¡¯s thousands of times prettier than the other girl. She might be a better fit for his tastes. If you offer her to him, our futures m-¡±

    ¡°Unless there is a vition of thew, I will not intervene.¡± It¡¯s notmon to associate red, the colour Red Princes¡¯ people liked to sport for uniform¡¯s sake, with calmness, yet the tall swordsman with an iid ruby in his sword hilt and red bandana came off as the most frigid man Dai Youming had ever met.

    ¡°How has she not? Did you not see the sheets? They clearly state her vitions. Moreover, they are searching this one¡¯s property. Thew does not permit that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±

    Zhu turned to Ming Suwen: ¡°Woman, you have stepped out of line.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and so?¡±

    When Zhu walked over, Lan Kn immediately clutched her sword hilt: ¡°Sis¡­ let me¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not his match.¡± Ming Suwen got out of her seat and performed wrist circles, though Lan Kn could tell the former was serious for once. ¡°I might not be, either, but we¡¯ll have to try.¡±

    Zhu chose not to draw his sword from his red-scaly belt, responding to Ming Suwen¡¯s palm thrust with his own. As soon as they made contact, Ming Suwen immediately moved out of Zhu¡¯s counterattack position. Based on her movement, the superior pugilist was already clear to them.

    ¡°Before you act, measure yourself up to the task. Challenging an obstacle you cannot climb over will only result in you falling to your death,¡± Zhu asserted in a stoic voice.

    ¡°Why so serious, punk?¡±

    ¡°This is outside of your jurisdiction.¡±

    ¡°And if I insist?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tell your people to leave.¡±

    ¡°I refuse.¡±

    Zhu initiated this time,ing out harder this time, yet Ming Suwen smiled despite her previous loss.

    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking.¡±

    Ming Suwen circled around to Zhu¡¯s back and pushed her energy through him after pressing a hand on his back. Their energiesbined to tear apart the floor, revealing the hollow section below. The rumbling prompted the other female constables to race back to the main hall.

    Underground were eight cells, where three young maidens were held prison in each - save for thest one, who was already dressed up as a bride.

    Dai Youming, who fell through, pleaded, ¡°Sir Zhu, please help this one¡­¡±

    Zhu¡¯s freezing gaze was focused solely on Ming Suwen.

    She borrowed my force to break the ground¡­ No, the first exchange was a ruse to deceive me. Who is she¡­?

    ¡°Hehe, Sir Dai, I did not know you had residences who have a hobby of living underground,¡± Ming Suwen teased.

    ¡°They¡­ They¡­ They are actually pitiful girls. I, this one rescued them from their kidnapper and was¡­ was nning on having them testify as witnesses. We just haven¡¯t brought them up fr-¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Ming Suwen offered a thumbs up. ¡°Now that is why you are a true friend, preparing everything for us to sweep in and take the credit. We shall save you the hassle of reporting. Bring them up.¡±

    Desperate, Dai Youming took out a knife and pointed it at Miss Chai from outside her cell. ¡°Nobody moves, or I w-, kgh!¡±

    As agony flourished in his hand, Dai Youming watched his hand fall to the ground. ¡°Y-you would dare?!¡±

    ¡°Sir Dai, you seem to misunderstand something important. I am not interrogating you as an official from Liu Shan Men, so you don¡¯t need to worry about losing your status. I¡¯m just here to help some moping parents find their daughters. What you should be worrying about is whether or not you¡¯ll be alive to continue holding your status after conducting this odious deed. I shouldn¡¯t need to expound any further.¡± Ming Suwen spun around and, once again, added in a soft tone, ¡°I hear¡­ you¡¯re a schr.¡±

    Prime Minister Li¡¯s praise for Dai Youming returned to his mind. He gasped up a mouthful of blood and then passed out. Whether that was permanent or not is for another to tell.

    Thus, the kidnapping case was solved overnight.

    ***

    ¡°Dad! Dad!¡±

    ¡°Ning¡¯er! Ning¡¯er! You¡¯ve finallye home.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, what a touching father and daughter reunion.¡± Ming Suwen pointed to the other maidens. ¡°Huahua, choose a couple of sisters to join you. Ask them for their address and escort them home. Ask them for a testimony once they¡¯ve had their rest.¡±

    On their way out of Dai manor, Lan Kn inquired, ¡°Sister Suwen, how was this case?¡±

    Ming Suwen raised her head to let the golden light illuminate her beautiful face and squinted. ¡°¡­ Pretty boring.¡±

    Ever since Ming Suwen joined Liu Shan Men, she spent more time bored than any other emotion, ostensibly dissatisfied and yearning for something the same way she¡¯d peer into the distance as though what she yearned for was found at the end of the world.

    ¡°That said¡­¡± Ming Suwen looked back to Miss Chai and her father with a smile. ¡°Nothing is more important than their safety.¡±

    Glossary

    Kn - Pronounced like ¡°kern¡±.

    Female officials - this is not a real thing as far as the history we know. Depending on which era we¡¯re talking about, the term can entail more thandies-in-waiting (which were also referred to as pce women, pcedies or courtdies). This is why the author added in the exnation.

 Volume 10, 03 Tingzhu

    <h4>Volume 10, Chapter 03 Tingzhu</h4>

    Each of the six Princes have their own strengths - in good and bad ways. Thus far, Orange Prince buried his reputation with his rebellion. Green Prince ruined his name with his unwee behaviour in Nanjiang. Yellow Prince irked the people when he spent a mountain of money to buy a city and continues to fuel hisvish lifestyle. Collectively, people referred to them as Three Idiot Princes. The other three were referred to as Virtuous Princes for the people were pleased with them.

    Among the three Virtuous Princes, Teal Prince stood above his brothers in terms of character despite his brother defending the border in Beiping. Nheless, the one perceived to have the best chance of being crowned the next Emperor was Red Prince.

    While news of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s departure from the capital was kept under wraps, most had caught wind of Red Prince presiding over the capital, which led to strong suspicions that he had the throne in his grasp.

    For the most part, there had been very few riots since Emperor Yuansheng took up the mantle. When riots did start, he put them to rest without affecting his people just as when he exterminated Demon Sect for it was his principle to not disturb his people¡¯s daily life. There was a strong case to make for crowning him as the monarch most deserving of adtion for protecting peace. If there was something he deserved to be panned for it would be for not crowning a Prince.

    In the political arena, vassals always say, ¡°The Crown Prince is the foundation of a state. Without him, the state is in jeopardy.¡±

    The previous Emperor was a glutton for credit, hence his tendency to start wars. He quelled the fighting in Nanjiang, drove back Beijiang and drove back Youtu¡¯s forces. Among all of Li n¡¯s Emperors, he was the one who came closest to rivalling Li Dynasty¡¯s Founding Emperor¡¯s prowess in martial arts. Unfortunately, his people live as though they were trapped in a famine under his rule due to his horrible governing policies; his unscrupulous money-hoarding didn¡¯t help. When his health declined, it was his sons¡¯ turn to give the people grief with theirpetition among each other.

    Had Emperor Yuansheng not dered he would execute anyone who kept badgering him to choose a Crown Prince, the six ministries, especially the ministry of rites and ministry of personnel, would¡¯ve kept advising him to choose a Prince.

    Prime Minister Li was the only to agree with Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s decision. For that, other vassals imed he was just shamelessly licking Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s boots. What they didn¡¯t know was that, the moment Emperor Yuansheng and Prime minister Li made eye contact that day, Prime Minister Li caught on to what Emperor Yuansheng was thinking, consequently going along. All of those present that day had yet to forget the disaster not long ago, though maybe some of them didn¡¯t think of the consequences due to the peaceful days since then.

    The cause of the disaster wasn¡¯t the absence of a Crown Prince. Conversely, it was because thest Emperor selected his favourite, his third son, the neutral Prince among his sons that triggered the other two flying into frenzy, leading to wars that took years to end. Once they drove off their foreign invaders, the in-fighting reignited, costing the state decades to recover. Those involved in the eventter called ¡°Princes¡¯ Rebellion¡± prohibited the mention that dark history henceforth.

    Prime Minister Li was cognisant of the fact that Emperor Yuansheng feared a repeat of that disaster. In terms of abilities, rtionships and under-the-table alliances, all six current Princes were practically reincarnations of their predecessors, the only difference being thest three got along until the youngest one was announced as the sessor, while the current six have been fighting since forever.

    Nobody had any means of protecting the Crown Prince from all the schemes that would be thrust upon him as soon as he was crowned. ordingly, crowning one was the equivalent of putting him in a casket. As long as none of them were crowned, they would have to pull punches to get in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s good books. Emperor Yuansheng, therefore, was constantly irate that none of his vassals could fathom that. Having said that, it was only a way of deferring the inevitable.

    Emperor Yuansheng granted four Princes fiefs in four different directions to put them to the test and let their deeds speak for themselves. By assigning adepts from the martial world, he hoped they would not only maintain good health but also learn how to live as decent human beings. The only two Princes he didn¡¯t request annual feedback on were the two who resided in the capital - Red Prince and Orange Prince. Hence, being bestowed the opportunity to work as state proctor was a blessing that Red Prince needed to capitalise on. After all, it afforded him a big opportunity to build his resume and build rtionships with the vassals.

    Just as Red Prince was given an opportunity, so were keen-eyed vassals, in the sense that they could earn themselves a spot under him if he didn¡¯t actively recruit them. In the same vein, he was also afforded the chance to cull the tumours in the arena. Trying to convince anyone with a brain that there weren¡¯t any corrupt officials is as ridiculous as it gets. Depending on how they design their approach, then, they could be climbing the staircase to heaven or descending the staircase to hell.

    Dai Youming didn¡¯t wake up to find himself in prison or at the ministry of justice. He had never been to hell, but he sure didn¡¯t believe the uniform he saw belonged down there; the ministry of justice sure wouldn¡¯t arm themselves with such scary broadswords. As far as he knew, he¡¯d only see men like them in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s personal army.

    ¡°Dai Youming!¡± A guard dragged Dai Youming out.

    Fire clouds on his shoes? His Highness¡¯ crest! I¡¯m at His Highness¡¯ ce! Did Sir Zhu save me?

    Red Prince¡¯s estate was barely more opulent than Dai Youming¡¯s and a far, far way off from Orange Prince¡¯s, just as Zhu¡¯s old clothing was - in and old. Therefore, doubt of his conjecture manifested in his mind.

    ¡°Reporting! Dai Youming has been delivered!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Release him.¡±

    ¡°S-Sir Zhu! You saved this one?¡± Dai Youming looked up to see Zhu sitting in the master seat. He still wore a fire cloud crest on his robe, but this one had three fire dragons wreathing around sewn on.

    ¡°How dare you stand in His Highness¡¯ presence!¡±

    Indeed, the person who discussed with Dai Youming at his manor was none other than Red Prince - Li Tingzhu.

    Dai Youming dropped to his knees right away: ¡°Sorry, sorry, Your Highness! Sorry for no recognising you. This one¡­ This one¡­ This one¡­¡±

    ¡°You should be sorry, but not because you didn¡¯t recognise me.¡± He was still cold, but his tone made it clear that he was the lord presiding over the ce. ¡°You want to bribe me so bad that you¡¯d kidnap innocent girls? Dai Youming, do you know what the penalty for your crime is?¡±

    ¡°This one hasmitted more crimes than that¡­¡± Dai Youming kowtowed and reeled off every crime he hadmitted without withholding anything. ¡°ording to thew, this one should be exiled north for forty years.¡±

    Caught with the unexpected response, Red Prince couldn¡¯t find it in him to dere Dai Youming¡¯s punishment. Instead, he questioned, ¡°You are a schr, a student of Confucius. Why would youmit such sins?¡±

    ¡°Because this one was born into poverty, he has always wanted to build himself into someone aplished. In the end, he only indulged in a profligate lifestyle and did nothing for the people. However, Liu Shan Men¡¯s female official brought him back to his senses. Despite all that studying, he forgot all about Confucius¡¯ teachings and to live an upstanding life. He is a sinner.¡±

    Dai Youming was taken away to be publicly trialled at ater date.

    Ever since being delegated the task of supervising the nation, Red Prince was always actively searching for a break. Sadly, every time he found clues, someone always beat him to the punch; for one month straight, he had beening up short every time. To solve the case concerning Dai Youming, he posed as his own subordinate to find the chance to rescue the kidnapped maidens. s¡­

    ¡°Liu Shan Men¡­¡± Red Prince rubbed the ruby on his sword as he redrew the image of Ming Suwen in his mind. ¡°Humph!¡±

 Volume 10, 04 Yearning

    <h4>Volume 10, Chapter 04 Yearning</h4>

    Notwithstanding being asid back as Ming Feizhen, who refused to rise until noon, Ming Suwen was a proponent of routine. Before the sun came up, she¡¯d wash her face, get changed and put on her makeup in that order, following specific specifications for how to wear her clothing and makeup. Before she knew it, it was in her blood. Since joining Liu Shan Men, Miss Juese routinely opened her window and leaned on the frame to wait for the sun to split the ck dome. She¡¯d mutter, ¡°How many days has it been¡± as she spaced out until a draft impelled her to whinge about the ufortable chill.

    Miss Juese was pampered more than a Princess or concubine in the pce on Mount Daluo. She always had five to ten Ming Feizhen¡¯s uncles apanying her where she went and waiting on her. Every time she shed a tear orughed, it was newsworthy on Mount Daluo. At Liu Shan Men, she was still given the same treatment.

    Sixteen-year-old Chu Yinghua, who wasmonly called the clone of the younger Shen Yiren, in the room next door got to her feet when she heard the door open. Although a martial artist and upfront girl, she was always timid in Ming Suwen¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Yinghua, you¡¯re up?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sister!¡± Despite not being a fan of the soft way Ming Suwen pronounced her name, there was nothing Yinghua could do about it. Like always, Yinghua would go red in the face at practically anything, and it was even tougher to fight at the sight of Ming Suwen¡¯s bed hair. ¡°I-I-I shall help you change.¡±

    ¡°Pffthaha. I-I-I¡¯ll sit still.¡±

    Yinghua¡¯s embarrassment seared through her cheeks.

    Lan Kn and Chu Yinghua were arguably the toughest for Ming Suwen to get through to at the start among all of the female constables. Nheless, it took Ming Suwen less than seven days to tame them.

    There were only three people who didn¡¯t fear the number one troublemaker in the martial world - Ming Feizhen, her childhood friend, Hero Shenzhou, her cousin, and the one man you never trust, with your money or wife, Ming Huayu.

    Ming Huayu was the one who taught Ming Suwen, ¡°Use traps. Clobber them before the bell. Take hostages. Anyone you can irk isn¡¯t that strong. Aim for the eyes. If you¡¯re going to kick, aim between his legs. When they all decide to charge, back out. Being knowledgeable is the express ticket to death. If you¡¯re caught red handed, deny it no matter what because someone will suffer in your ce sooner orter.¡± He called it, ¡°Survival tactics in the pugilistic world.¡± You could say he deserved to be credited with half of the credit for creating The Demoness¡¯ unpredictable character. For Ming Feizhen to have grown (read: survived) around them until now is another miracle story for another day.

    Miss Juese usually liked to go for a stroll in the capital after adorning her appearance, enjoying the morning tea as she searched for something fun (also known as patrolling the streets). Thanks to her hobby, Liu Shan Men¡¯s female constables were on a roll for thest month, cracking case after case. While their methods tended to be destructive, aggressive and walk a thin line between protecting justice and being ouws, they typically solved cases they received in less than two hours. Due to the hassle of running around to their ce all the time, officials from the six ministries have been very reluctant to bother with Liu Shan Men as ofte.

    Miss Juese bought candied haws again after catching two thieves at the market, though she just stared at the candied haw and smiled to herself. For some reason, Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables had gathered around in the main building when she returned.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is there an assembly?¡± Miss Juese questioned.

    ¡°We received news from Huzhou!¡± someone inside answered.

    Miss Juese dropped her candied haw. She hadn¡¯t heard from Feizhen ever since he left. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had disappeared without a trace. Every time he left Mount Daluo, he¡¯d only contact them once per month, then remain elusive again until the next month.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s members refrained from contacting each other in the capital since it increased the risk of the imperial court eyeing them. At the end of the day, Mount Daluo and the imperial court didn¡¯t mutually trust each other unconditionally. If they needed to contact each other for emergencies, Ming Feizhen would choose methods that would be hard to trace back to him, such as hiring the services of League of Assassins or walking banks.

    Knowing Ming Feizhen¡¯s personality, something big must¡¯ve happened in Huzhou for him to contact me like this. Based on the fragmented information I have on hand, it¡¯ll be another two to three months before hees back.

    Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t worried Ming Feizhen encountered a problem he couldn¡¯t stop - not because she had blind faith in him but because she knew nobody could kill him even if his opponent was a threat to him unless he wanted to die. Liu Shan Men was supposed to be where their future home was - at least that¡¯s what he believed. Her body wanted to make haste for Huzhou; however, her rationality told her that she should be in Beiping for she couldn¡¯t be of any help.

    ¡°Yinghua¡­ let¡¯s go see.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Wang Tietui, seated at the table, fired bullets of tea as he reported, ¡°Huzhou has been plunged into chaos. Luo Sword Manor ended up shing with Beijiang¡¯s Aboluo Bomb or something. Luckily, our vice-captain showed them who¡¯s boss.¡± He extended a thumb up and continued, ¡°Sir Ming andpany also scared the daylights out of those Beijiangers. Bloody Qilin Guards had to get involved, though, thereby dividing the credit evenly between Liu Shan Men and them. I hear they¡¯re still fighting for credit. Luckily, Captain says the turmoil hase to an end, but they¡¯ll be away for another three months to contact all our other members across thends.¡±

    Wang Tietui didn¡¯t leave after delivering the letters as some of the letters on the table needed him to deliver to specific individuals. The other people sitting around in high spirits were friends of the other constables joining Ming Feizhen on the escort mission.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Does writing some more cost this block of wood his lifespan or something? Who cares what new style you learn or lost to who¡­ Yi Wangyou is Kunlun¡¯s patriarch. Did you get hurt¡­? Who writes letters and leaves people hanging like this? Is this supposed to inform me or worry me?¡± Si Fu grumbled as she stamped her feet.

    ¡°Miss Si, what brings you here?¡± queried Ming Suwen, pursing her lips into a teasing smile.

    ¡°M-Miss Ming.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re here first thing in the morning. You haven¡¯t been visiting frequently this month, so this is a surprise. Did someone have a letter for you?¡±

    Si Fu hid her hands and confidence behind her back. ¡°Whatever do you mean, Miss Ming? Who would¡¯ve written me a letter?¡±

    ¡°How should I know? All I know is that it couldn¡¯t be Mr. Yan, Mr. You, Mr. Cu¡­¡± And Ming Suwen proceeded to list all the daily necessities for surnames.

    Si Fu, aware she was not Ming Suwen¡¯s match in verbal duels, called it quits and instructed Wang Tietui to drop by the Qilin Guards¡¯ officeter to pick up her letter.

    Truthfully, Ming Suwen envied Si Fu because the former knew she didn¡¯t have a letter among those delivered. Letters delivered from outside the capital to offices with the nature of Liu Shan Men would be subject to secret agents¡¯ inspections upon arrival, and they¡¯d make sure to read every letter twice. If Ming Feizhen was to send a letter back to Ming Suwen, he would have to make the secrets in the letter even more secretive. Even though she was privy to that obstacle, she still found herself forlorn.

    Upon spotting Ming Suwen, Wang Tietui ended up pouring his tea into his nostrils and choking for a while. ¡°M-Miss, this is a secret letter from Huzhou for you.¡±

    ¡°Secret letter?¡±

    Ming Suwen opened the letter as quick as she could, only to then smile bitterly to herself. The letter was a letter of gratitude from Shen Yiren. In spite of Ming Suwen not having an official ce at Liu Shan Men, Shen Yiren knew who the authority was in her absence. Consequently, Shen Yiren expressed she had full trust in Ming Suwen and would back thetter¡¯s decisions. Though Shen Yiren didn¡¯t go into detail about Huzhou¡¯s events, Ming Suwen had a general idea of what took ce based on the avable information.

    Wang Tietui waited for Ming Suwen to set the letter down then inquired, ¡°Do you have anything you would like me to ry?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go pen a letter now, and you can take it back to Huzhou. Be sure to pass it on to Vice-Captain.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Wang Tietui finally beamed after his nerves settled down. ¡°That is business done. I have another letter for you from Sir Ming.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen?¡± Ming Suwen¡¯s eyes looked as though a flipped switched on.

    ¡°Yes, he said it was for you. It must be a personal letter.¡±

    Huh? Now I¡¯m confused¡­ Considering the risks of a secret code, the only topic he could write about is¡­

    Ming Suwen identally bewitched the crowd when she brushed her hair and took the letter. ¡°Did he say anything to you? Did he tell you to tell me anything or the sort?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ He only wrote the letter¡­ Oh, he did stress not to lose the letter, or he would frame me to imprison me if it came down to it. Ruthless, huh?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Ming Suwen froze up upon ncing at the contents of the letter, giving Chu Yinghua the itch to ask, ¡°Sister, what does it say? Is Vice-Captain all right? Sister¡­ why is your face red?¡±

    Ming Suwen ced the letter down and red yfully at Chu Yinghua. ¡°It¡¯s just red, okay?¡±

    Ming Suwen briskly headed to the study, humming a cheerful melody as she walked. Following behind, Chu Yinghua wondered, ¡°How did she finish reading it in one nce?¡± It didn¡¯t seem as though Ming Suwen didn¡¯t care to read the contents when she tucked it away with more care than Shen Yiren¡¯s letter.

    In truth, there was no secret in the letter. The inspectors slipped it back in the envelope when they saw it, unable to make any sense of it. The letter didn¡¯t convey anything, yet it also conveyed everything. Theposer and recipient were the only ones who understood what wasmunicated. There was no introduction or conclusion. From beginning to end, there were only two words: ¡°Miss you.¡±

 Volume 10, 05 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10, Chapter 05 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 1)</h4>

    It had been a long time since I had seen morning. The sun was as shiny as honey rubbed onto pork shoulders, yet it only spurred me on to keep sleeping. Had it not been for the mouring by my ear, I would¡¯veid back down instead of staring out the window, waiting for my brain to logon.

    ¡°Get up. The sun is about to head to bed.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Can you shut up?! Is the price of pork in the entire nation gong to increase if you let me act cultured while sitting on my bed for a while or something? God damn!¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less if you¡¯re losing brain cells!¡± Su Xiao sounded as if his thoughts were in disarray for some reason. ¡°Y-you¡¯re clinging to me!¡±

    I remember hugging an iron coffin in my dream - stiff, disappointing¡­

    p!

    ¡°Iron Coffin, I mean, Xiao, what a beautiful morn-, noon.¡±

    Su Xiao, face as red as the hand mark on my face, fixed his attire to ensure there wasn¡¯t as much as a wrinkle on it. ¡°Always with you. Don¡¯t you know how strong you are? It hurt.¡±

    ¡°How long did I hug you for?¡±

    Face even redder somehow, Su Xiao bellowed, ¡°I spent an hour trying to wake you up!¡±

    I chuckled as I yfully pinched Su Xiao¡¯s shoulder. At first, he was all grumpy, but he eventually got into the mood for a shoulder tapping game.

    Ever since the end of Refining Divine Convention, which had been over two weeks ago, we got to kick back and rx. His Majesty generously rewarded everyone and promised more rewards toe for those who contributed majorly. Our mini vacation was sponsored, so we only had to return what we didn¡¯t finish spending. We, needless to say, didn¡¯t let his kindness go to waste. Therefore, we endeavoured to stimte the economy of Jiangnan.

    Since Huzhou has high-quality silk, Su Xiao ordered himself an entire bed set for summer and winter, which he had to pay for delivery as it¡¯d take three months to fulfil his order. His majesty didn¡¯t spend too much time on work, touring Huzhou daily as though he was catching up on missed holidays andpensating for what he¡¯d lose out on once he was back on duty. It was fair game. The entire escort was put under immense stress for thest month. They ran into Divine Realm opponents over and over again, constantly lived in trepidation and high-strung mode.

    The trip to Jiangnan brought to light that not only Huzhou but also Jiangnan, the imperial family and the rest of the nation would be facing big changes. Thus, His Majesty needed to work out who had the reins in the process. Even I needed time to digest and analyse the surprises that caught me; I was thankful for the break.

    For thest few days, I had been strolling through the streets, teasing cats and dogs, duping Long Zaitian out of money or training with Lass Yu. I expected her to take another seven years to reach Divine Realm at her current standard, let alone meld it in with her original style. If you ask me, I don¡¯t think anyone twenty-five and under was her match in the Nine Provinces.

    Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s group departed for Hangzhou after ten days of rest, probably because she was worried about her shifu. Plus, their situation wasparable to the vice-general and the elites of a fortress leaving it.

    Prior to leaving, Lass Yu said, ¡°Brother Feizhen¡­ I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    ¡°Good luck. I¡¯ll visit you in Hangzhou when I have time.¡±

    Lass Yu clenched her fists: ¡°I shall prepare Shifu¡¯s betrothal gifts in anticipation for your shifu¡¯s arrival!¡±

    ¡­ Oh, crap, Ipletely forgot about selling Shifu to Matriarch Zi! Uh¡­ I think it¡¯s toote to do anything about it now¡­

    ¡°I heard Shizun recovered for the most part ever since catching wind of that. She went and killed the bandits running rampant in Hangzhou just a few days ago.¡±

    Yep, toote. No exchanges and no refunds.

    Besides, Shifu deserves it. The two of them have been flirting for years now. It¡¯s time for him to grow up, and learn to take responsibility. That being said, I had a feeling things were going to be violent at my next reunion with Lass Yu.

    Wang Tietui visited two days after Lass Yu left, so I wrote a letter to Young Shiyi, hoping she wouldn¡¯t suffer too much while waiting for me. I can tell you I was dying to run back to her, but¡­ Anyhow, I then slept until now.

    ¡°In any event, our good days areing to an end before we know it.¡±

    ¡°What good days? You mean boring days. If His Majesty doesn¡¯t have us go back, I¡¯m requesting to head back first,¡± Su Xiao sulked. ¡°I¡¯m getting fat from all this eating, drinking and ying.¡±

    As I massaged Su Xiao¡¯s shoulders, I recalled the sensation of his body moments ago.

    I don¡¯t feel any difference. Wait¡­ Has he started to grow?

    My eyes made their way south.

    Su Xiao speared my eyes. ¡°Where are you looking?¡±

    ¡°Your fingernails.¡±

    ¡°Wong?¡±

    ¡°Wrong.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°¡¯Look¡¯ is the incorrect verb. It should be ¡®touch¡¯.¡±

    Su Xiao shoved my head back with his fingers. ¡°These days are making youzier and worse than you already were.¡±

    ¡°Worse? You haven¡¯t seen me back then. By the way, why did you wake me?¡±

    ¡°See? You even made me forget about it. Vice-Captain told you to go to her room.¡±

 Volume 10 06 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 06 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 2)</h4>

    During the break, the only person to not rest was Shen Yiren. The day after I slept Luo Ming, Boss Shen started reaching out to sect leaders and Huzhou¡¯s officials. She discussed with the main authorities how to circumvent the risks arising as a result of Refining Divine Convention, meaning that they needed to decide what to censor, what could be publicised, how to leverage the oue and more. I was tired after dealing with Luo Ming and Mr. An, yet she was able to hold meetings every day; how can I not respect her? With that said, there were some questions that came to mind when you think about why she would be so persistent.

    I hadn¡¯t seen Boss since the end of Refining Divine Convention, and it was the first time she summoned me since. Just as I purposely avoided approaching her, she was probably avoiding me. Guess you can call it good chemistry in a way. In my opinion, it was a good way to give us both some space because, the day I gave my oath to never lie to her again, we had to redefine how we defined each other.

    Putting aside Shen Yiren¡¯s view of me, as I had no ce speaking on her behalf, she was the first person to acknowledge me for who I was now and the first person I opened up to. Hence, the weight of her words tended to ¡°important¡± on my scale. Owing to the abrupt change to our superior and subordinate rtionship, the atmosphere between us was weird whenever we spoke in private. For instance¡­ it was akin to two people not yet in an official rtionship identally falling asleep and then waking up to¡­ Let me amend that. It was akin to falling asleep, so it doesn¡¯t change the fact that they were eloping. No scratch that. It wouldn¡¯t be awkward between us if we eloped¡­ Well, I¡¯ve arrived at my destination, so we¡¯ll leave that there.

    I went straight in as the door was already open. Boss looked up from her table to greet me, drawing all of my focus onto her. ¡°Boss, have we done it?¡± I asked as a fragment of what was on my mind on my way over crept in.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, what do you think you¡¯re saying to Vice-Captain?!¡± Song Ou hit the table and stomped to his feet, piercing me with his eyes and finger from a distance.

    Shen Yiren held her hands in her face, wondering what to do about the two of us.

    ¡°What is the matter with you, saying something like that in my presence?¡± Song Ou grouched.

    ¡°Uh¡­ I was asking if we had done my wage taxes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Y-yes, it has been.¡± Song Ou had no counter for that.

    ¡°Nice. Nice.¡±

    ¡°Can we put an end to this yet? You will have ten taels subtracted from your sry for using inappropriatenguage with your superiors,¡± Shen Yiren stated.

    Again?! My pay had already been cut to thirty!

    ¡°Also, what happened to manners? You have yet to salute your superiors.¡±

    I had no one to pass the buck to, so I had to bitterly salute them: ¡°Reporting, Captain, Vice-Captain. May I ask what you summoned me for?¡±

    I thought Boss was meeting me in private. Why is that ugly here? Wait, why am I disappointed? And what you acting smug for, Ugly? Why do you even hate me when I never did anything to you?

    ¡°Captain, please step outside. I need to speak to him.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hear that? She told you to step out.¡± Song Ou¡¯s facial spasm preceded, ¡°I have to leave?!¡±

    ¡°I need to speak to him. Outsiders cannot listen in to Mount Daluo¡¯s secrets.¡±

    Don¡¯t re at me, you knob. Why is it my fault when you two summoned me?!

    ¡°Yiren, what can you not share with me? Why must you speak to him?¡±

    ¡°Do I have to repeat myself? It¡¯s a secret.¡±

    ¡°Secret? Heh? You have a secret between you and him that you can¡¯t tell your husband? Wow, what a story.¡±

    What did he have for breakfast? Somebody piss in his tea? I don¡¯t recall him ever giving Boss Shen that attitude.

    ¡°Captain Song, we are still in office hours. Please respect your role. I have something to discuss with him. Can you please give us room?¡±

    Usually, Song Ou would¡¯ve lowered his head and muted himself already, yet he questioned, ¡°Can you prove it?¡± Were his legs not shaking, I would¡¯ve thought he had a metal groin guard under his trousers.

    Boss Shen wriggled her fingers on the table, seemingly fighting with herself not to curl them into a rock. ¡°¡­ I would ask His Majesty to leave us even if he was the one here. This is an issue of my attitude toward this matter. Can you leave now?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Song Ou refused to give ground, hiking up a corner of his lips, only for Boss Shen to m the table and threaten, ¡°If the answer is no, you better have learnt to walk on your hands.¡±

    Song Ou crankily shut his mouth and the door on his way out, though he didn¡¯t forget to make it clear to me that I was the root of his irritation.

    Judging from Boss¡¯ fatigue, it was evident that it wasn¡¯t due to workload alone. Arguments with Song Ou clearly had been frequent. I gave her time to reset her mind, but the two of us still only looked at each other after she did.

    I hiked my shoulders up and turned my hands to the ceiling.

    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±

    ¡°Captain Song is an ice-cold killer.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± Shen Yiren finallyughed off her tension. ¡°¡­ He¡¯s been in a foul mood recently; don¡¯t mind him.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t. I¡¯m just worried about you having to put up with him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I called you here to discuss something important.¡±

    ¡°Figured. It must be important if you wouldn¡¯t even let your extolled Emperor listen in.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You remember what you told me about Six Evils?¡±

    ¡°Of course. His Majesty finally ask you to consult me?¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Done it¡± and ¡°taxes¡± - the two are homophones. Mind you, ¡°done it¡± can also mean ¡°to have slept¡± or ¡°to have slept with (in the intimate sense)¡±. I went with ¡°done it¡± because it was the only way to rewrite the situation to include the word ¡°done¡± in there.

 Volume 10, 07 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 10, Chapter 07 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 3)</h4>

    Shen Yiren dodged the question. ¡°You know I¡¯ve been discussing how to contact Grand Commander Baima or Tianhu, Secretary Lie¡¯s military training results, Red Prince¡¯s state proctor duties and so forth in my meetings. The one conclusion they all reached is that we have to return to the capital.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re against the suggestion?¡±

    ¡°Exercising your wits for your own gains? I refuse to believe you¡¯ve only beenzing around. Let¡¯s hear what you think.¡±

    I guzzled a cup of tea loudly: ¡°Your opinion doesn¡¯t hold weight. His Majesty¡¯s stance is what matters. Judging from him touring Huzhou, instructing us to rest and keeping State Preceptor Lai with him at all times, it¡¯s obvious that His Majesty hasn¡¯t given up on Luo Sword Manor.¡±

    His Majesty came to Huzhou with the goal of rescuing Boss, true. Having said that, his primary goal was to chip away at the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ system. He assumed Luo Ming was the best ce to start in light of their friendship. Even though he nearly cost even his son¡¯s life, he only locked Luo Ming and the hundreds involved with him. The rest of Luo n were spared even criticism.

    Luo Siming and Luo Yan took the reins of Luo Sword Manor, which included Huzhou¡¯s military, once again. If insurrection was their goal, they only needed to act on it. If His Majesty wasn¡¯t still hopeful Luo Sword Manor would stand by him, then he was just in inane.

    Boss refilled my empty cup. ¡°What makes you say he hasn¡¯t given up on Luo Sword Manor. Take your time drinking. Take your time choking.¡±

    I chuckled cheekily as I passed my empty cup to Boss again and, in spite of it garnering a head shake, earned another refill. ¡°Question: where has His Majesty been recently?¡±

    Boss tucked her arms under her globes, elevating them up closer to my eyes: ¡°¡­ He¡¯s been to the underground secret chamber we visited and the rest of Luo Sword Manor¡¯s inds. He¡¯s also been to their factory outside their manor. I¡¯m not sure where he ns to go next, but he¡¯s frequently with Luo n¡¯s people.¡±

    ¡°So he is surveying them.¡± I set my cup down and titled my head.

    ¡°What was the point of your question?¡± Boss grabbed a hot meat bun from the basket behind her to feed me.

    With rotund cheeks, I expounded, ¡°His Majesty visited Luo Sword Manor in his younger days. Technically, he was captured and brought in. As he relived his youth, I¡¯m sure he reminisced all the small things, like the rock heid on, the fish he was trapped in and so forth. He¡¯s probably so deep in his memories that Luo Ming doesn¡¯t need to use Emotions Gate Stone on him. His Majesty is aware that his punishment that doesn¡¯t even count as one can¡¯t be maintained for much longer.¡±

    There was no chance anyone could cover up what Luo n did. Regardless of how much each sect was able to glean from what they witnessed, the fact of the matter was that they had some clue that Luo n had osted the majority of the martial world and opposed the imperial court.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Since the end of the event, I had been keeping a pulse on activity in the pugilistic world as well as asking ck and White Reflection to keep under wraps whatever they could. His Majesty¡¯s secret agents also had to put in a tonne of effort to reduce the spread of information. At the end of the day, nheless, there¡¯s no way you can censor the entire world. Once a second person finds out, a third person will find out, and then it¡¯s only going to continue spreading. From there, it¡¯s just a matter of someoneing this way to search for clues. Once someone finds evidence, there¡¯s no means of censoring the incident.

    Once word hit the streets, Luo Sword Manor only had two options: revolt or surrender. That was only the beginning, though. Once one White Prince fell, the entire foundation of the nation would be shaken up.

    Hearing the screen behind me flutter, I stole a gander out of my peripherals, and Boss smiled back.

    ¡°That¡¯s why the only thing he can do is to resolve the issue with Luo n before ites to that.¡± Boss wiped the food on my face with her handkerchief. ¡°We have limited time. Stop moving.¡±

    ¡°Three months.¡± I leaned in for Boss to have an easier time wiping my face and held up three oily fingers. ¡°Three months at most. If His Majesty doesn¡¯t return to the capital in three months, Red Prince will march on Huzhou. I guarantee Secretary Lie will write, ¡®Huzhou¡¯s military is attempting mutiny. Your subject owes you, so he shall remind the rebels who rules this nation. Your Majesty, your subject has ten thousand soldiers ready to sally forth. All you need to do is give the order, and your subject shall flood Huzhou in blood, scatter thend with corpses, disfigure theirnd and ughter their souls. Henceforth, Huzhou will be a field of bones, a spookynd that can be renamed as Guizhou, thend of ghouls. Henceforward, you can call yourself Zombie Monk Monarch. Henceforth, you will go down in history for your epic, amazing, incredible, abb, abracada-¡¯¡±

    ¡°Enough, enough, enough! My goodness me!¡± Out from behind the screen came Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Ming Feizhen, I had Yiren summon you to help me analyse future development, not to spout useless nonsense. You a storyteller now?!¡± Upon circling to the front of the table, he saw Boss and I grinning ear to ear. ¡°Y-you used a ruse to lure me out?¡±

    I licked one finger at a time, taking my sweet time: ¡°Long live Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Heh, gutsy punk. Yiren, you told him?¡±

    Shen Yiren got out of her seat. ¡°The rest of the discussion shall be between just you two. I shall guard the door. Take your time consulting Constable Ming.¡±

 Volume 10 08 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 08 May I Ask Which Way to Go? (Part 4)</h4>

    I only noticed His Majesty¡¯s presence after entering the room. Based off of Boss Shen and Song Ou¡¯s reactions, His Majesty needed to consult me, but it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to consult me personally. Boss went along with me when she discerned I had picked up his presence behind the screen.

    I didn¡¯t mind if Boss sat in to listen since, although Six Evils were a sect secret, the nation was also involved. Moreover, I wouldn¡¯t make many mentions of personal information as long as His Majesty was around. I suppose she didn¡¯t want to hear anything I didn¡¯t take the initiative to tell her as a means of maintaining our rtionship.

    His Majesty seated himself in Shen Yiren¡¯s erstwhile seat and cleared his throat: ¡°Constable Ming.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°May I ask which way to go?¡±

    ¡°Good question,¡± I replied with a sneer. ¡°If you asked me this tomorrow, I would have told you to head back to the capital.¡±

    ¡°What makes the difference?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I looked up and copied His Majesty¡¯s beard stroking motion. ¡°It just felt cool to say.¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°You know, if I didn¡¯t have a question for you, I¡¯d have sttered your head with my foot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know. It was on purpose.¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    ¡°Hey, gentlemen do not speak with their feet!¡± I ran to the middle of the room to dodge the eagle kick.

    ¡°Come here! Come here!¡±

    ¡°An Emperor cannot kick his people! Keep this up, and I will not tell you anything!¡±

    After our mini game of tag, His Majesty grouched, ¡°Sit!¡±

    I saluted His Majesty: ¡°Thank you!¡±

    His Majesty burst outughing until his sides ached subsequent to sitting down. Man, I was worried the old man was going to have a heart attack. I was just ying him for my giggles, while he wasughing as if we nurtured some romantic feelings.

    ¡°How bloody dare you use me for your own entertainment, you punk?¡±

    Didn¡¯t know you knew me so well.

    ¡°I bet this is the real you, and the usual respectful version is just your acting. What¡¯s changed? Not even willing to put on a front anymore?¡±

    ¡°There is nobody else. Whatever we say will remain between us and this room. I have nothing to fear unless you are the petty sort of person to try and get back at meter.¡±

    ¡°Witty, aren¡¯t you? Are you backing down to save your hide? Whatever. I¡¯ve had enough of these days. I¡¯ve had my stretch,ughs and cursing.¡±

    ¡°How about I apany you on a stroll?¡±

    ¡°Do I need you? Where have I not been to in Huzhou?¡±

    ¡°Never-Returning Spring Swallow?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°The home of entertainment and flowers.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Boss, from outside, cleared her throat as loud as a tiger¡¯s roar.

    ¡°Ahem, Your Majesty, may your subject ask what you wish to consult him on?¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming, the nation now faces a crisis. You are needed. Here, have a drink. Let us discuss business. Let us discuss business.¡±

    The two of exchanged eye signals to move the table further into the room so that Boss shouldn¡¯t be able to hear us.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you need to say something.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Never-Returning Spring Swall-¡±

    ¡°No, I meant Luo Sword Manor.¡± The name summoned all of the stress back to His Majesty¡¯s shoulders, but I continued, ¡°There is a time for a jokes, but everything your subject stands by everything he said before. While his choice of words may have been exaggerated, Huzhou¡¯s fate lies in your hands.¡±

    His Majesty sat back in his seat, as tired as though we were the only ones who got a break. ¡°You¡¯re correct. I assume you¡¯re aware of why I¡¯m seeking your advice.¡±

    The most knowledgeable people on Six Evils hail from Mount Daluo. Second to them were the imperial families of countries. Being privy to my future leadership of Mount Daluo meant being privy to what knowledge I inherited.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s duty was the exterminate Six Evils regardless of time and ce. Howbeit, Mount Daluo was a lethal weapon that should only be deployed if all the boxes were ticked. Even a monarch must think twice and then twice again before he involves himself with either.

    ¡°It will depend on whether you are serious of not.¡±

    ¡°Of course I am.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, until you see one for yourself, you will never fathom the might of Six Evils or how many lives you will sacrifice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m reaching out to you precisely because I don¡¯t want Luo n¡¯s tragedy to be repeated. Nobody knows how to y them better than your sect does. The only way we can avoid needless deaths is if you aid me.¡± Emperor Yuansheng stretched a hand out to me. ¡°Lend me your strength, Ming Feizhen. I will pay you back ten times over.¡±

    I reclined and crossed an arm over the other: ¡°What is your motivation?¡±

    ¡°For the greater good.¡±

    Why does it feel as though I¡¯m speaking to a wall of ice? Is it just me, or is Ming Feizhen imposing?

    ¡°You can shove your ¡®greater good¡¯ up your behind. Mount Daluo does not act for ¡®the greater good¡¯. We have cut ourselves off from the rest of the world and do as we wish. We decide how we will spend our lives. We¡¯ve never cared about what happens to the world and people¡¯s greater good. Likewise, the world has no business telling us what to do.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t surprised His Majesty thought long and hard prior to debating, but I never expected to hear, ¡°I had a crush on Yujing before she got married.¡±

    Why the hell are you sharing your thoughts on Luo Ming¡¯s wife with me?! I knew you Emperors have a fetish for stealing men¡¯s wives! I¡¯m about to go back Luo Ming, you sick, perverted, despicable creep!

    ¡°Nevertheless, my respect for Luo Ming exceeds those feelings. He is more educated than any of my vassals, is a ster swordsman and a man worthy of adtion. Nobody can say they don¡¯t respect him. His n thrived under his leadership. Women flock to him. I was jealous when I found out Yujing liked him, but then I was d because he¡¯s the only man worthy of her. The proof is in the pudding.

    ¡°I held Sijian, Sinian and Siju when they were babies. Thest time I saw Sijian, he was only this tall.¡± Emperor Yuansheng gestured with his hand for me to see. ¡°Luo Ming was still approachable back then. I let Lyu¡¯er take him as his adopted father as I knew Luo Ming would be a better father than I can be.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ you want to avenge your nephews?¡±

    ¡°When I met Luo Ming again, I hated to admit that I could see a demon of hatred had consumed him and gradually possessed everyone else around him. Regardless of how studied, how strong or how much determination he had, they were only feeding the demon. He died when his sons died. The one moving his body is just a demon of hatred.¡±

    ¡°You want to avenge your brother.¡±

    ¡°Lyu¡¯er used him to secure his status, yet he never killed Lyu¡¯er to avenge his sons. He could¡¯ve killed me when he took me hostage, yet he didn¡¯t. I know I¡¯m right: he can¡¯t steel his heart to kill us.¡±

    ¡°You want to avenge your nephews, former crush and Luo Ming as well as atone for your son?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng clenched his teeth as though it owed him money. ¡°No, I want to protect mynd.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°The Seven Champion White Princes system impacts the people¡¯s lives tremendously. To remove them, I have to start with Luo Sword Manor. If Luo Ming doesmit treason, both the imperial court and Luo n will have to spill blood.

    ¡°Nanjiang and the Central in are harassing each other, with neither of us truly submitting to the other. Over thirty years ago, we were blessed to have two saviours finally win. Nieyao City is an ancient city of Nanjiang, so why leave it?¡±

    While the two of us were never on the same wavelength when we spoke, our eyes met. Starting with a smile, I asked, ¡°Are you aware how contradicting your facial expressions and vocal expressions are?¡±

    ¡°I do. However, I am an Emperor. As an Emperor, I cannot mix personal wishes with the nation¡¯s wellbeing!¡±

    I closed my eyes, allowing the silence to permeate for a while. ¡°¡­ You are telling me you wish Mount Daluo to lend its power for your personal desires?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is that I want Nieyao!¡± Emperor Yuansheng waited for a response, only to receive a mantou in his extended hand. ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    I looked to the ceiling and cupped my mouth: ¡°Second.¡±

    Hong Jiu hopped off the ceiling,nding next to me: ¡°Yes, Leader.¡±

    ¡°Notify scattered disciples of Mount Daluo it¡¯s time for work.¡±

    ¡°On it! ¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng watched Hong Jiu zoom off in bafflement: ¡°Wh-wh-what does this mean?¡±

    ¡°It means that Mount Daluo¡¯s third-generation disciple shall aid you.¡±

    ¡°You, I, you, I¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, although your motivation is selfish, childish and painfully stupid, Mount Daluo wees your kind.¡± I stopped at the door so that the eavesdropper with her ear stered to the door could hear me and smiled. ¡°Prepare to head out¡­ to Nieyao City.¡±

    Note

    ¡°You can shove your ¡®greater good¡¯ up your behind¡­¡± - Ming Feizhen actually does use rude speech here.

 Volume 10 09 Collision

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 09 Collision</h4>

    Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen headed to Luo Ming¡¯s cell together for only those she personally took there were permitted a visit. Emperor Yuansheng needed to remain out of public eye because he had yet to return from the public¡¯s knowledge.

    For a reason unbeknownst to Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t engage in conversation with him when he tried to strike up a conversation; her attitude was the same as when he entered the room. He was unaware of the rumours surrounding her and him that were circting in the imperial court¡¯s camp. They all knew he was the one who rescued her, and the two of them were absent from the tournament leading up to it.

    When people consulted Su Xiao, he puffed his cheeks, stamped his feet and sted Ming Feizhen for tricking him. When they consulted Hong Jiu, he put two jugs of wine on the table, apanying it with a te of beef, took his time enjoying both as he told the confusing, unhelpful story: ¡°Leader and His Beautiful Superior¡¯s 48 Hour Disappearance.¡±

    Shen Yiren noticed people sending well wishes with their gazes, while Song Ou saw them sending him smug ¡°Hang in there, buddy¡± looks. Once he found out what it was all about, he evolved into the spiteful man he is now, while Shen Yiren erected a wall between her and Ming Feizhen. Walls and Ming Feizhen, though¡­

    ¡°Boss, you know the pork shoulders in the north and south are different? First, they choose different types. The taste of pork in the north is refreshing¡­¡± Ming Feizhen just kept going and going, seemingly oblivious to Shen Yiren¡¯s intensifying fire.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Why is he so perceptive except when ites to this? I just want to choke him right now instead of keeping up this indifferent fa?ade.

    Ming Feizhen liked to read, but it had to be gossip, or he wouldn¡¯t read. His favourites were stories rted to the pugilistic world, legends and so forth, but romance was not his cup of tea. The only reason he skimmed the romance sections were to show appreciation as a fan of the magazines.

    Shen Yiren never cared what others thought of how she treated her subordinates or what baseless rumours they¡¯d associate her with. Had it been Tang Ye who was walking beside her, she wouldn¡¯t have batted an eye, though she might¡¯ve scared off those who kept rambling. Ever since the day Ming Feizhen promised to never lie to her again, however, something deep down inside her changed. She could no longer be indifferent to his antics, be rxed or see him as just another subordinate.

    The more peoplee into contact with each other, the more ¡°ideas¡± are born. The more we want to understand someone, the closer we try to get to them. The deeper down the rabbit hole we go, the harder it is to pull ourselves out. What sort of emotions develop as a consequence is anyone¡¯s guess.

    Knowing how tough it was to handle the rumours, Shen Yiren was determined to prove them false.

    Ming Feizhen cut off Shen Yiren¡¯s path. ¡°Boss.¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly pulling over?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re acting weird. I¡¯m getting embarrassed telling theseme jokes, yet you haven¡¯t even whipped out your inkstone yet. I know you¡¯re busy, but you don¡¯t need to be contemting work even when you¡¯re walking, do you?¡±

    Shen Yiren walked past Ming Feizhen. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    Ming Feizhen went after Shen Yiren. ¡°What are you thinking about? Sharing is caring.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s for dinner?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    ¡°You could put a bit more thought into your rejection, couldn¡¯t you? Try another line.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s none of your bloody business.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re fine, then. I was worried some evil spirit possessed you, but you can still be rude.¡±

    Based on his tone, Ming Feizhen was undoubtedly expressing care and worry even though he expressed it through nonsensical words. The look of relief that came to his lips stole a second of Shen Yiren¡¯s heart.

    I, I can¡¯t let my guard down around him!

    ¡°G-get behind me. It¡¯s beyond the pale for you to walk beside me.¡± It was an order, yet nothing about it resembled one. If anything, it was meekly delivered.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    What¡¯s with her today?

    Shen Yiren: Finally. My job will beplete once we reach his cell. Just a little further.

    Shen Yiren proudly led Ming Feizhen through the prying eyes around them. When the thought of turning around to him surfaced, she noticed he was staring at her with his arms crossed. From what she could tell, the most likely spot his gaze was on was between her legs. Feeling her hips go numb and body temperature begin to soar, she lost focus on her footing, thereby tripping. She immediately caught herself when Ming Feizhen put a foot forward to catch her.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. St-stay where you are.¡±

    ¡°Ok-okay.¡±

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t cull the perception of a ticklish, warm and gentle touch on her hips that was the same size as Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand despite never remembering him ever touching her that way. The more she imagined the gaze on her backside, the more erratic her gait grew until she decided she had to stop and address it.

    ¡°I told you to behave. Wh-what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Cheeks rosy, Shen Yirenmanded, ¡°Y-you keep on¡­ behind me¡­ In any event, it¡¯s uneptable!¡±

    ¡°How is ¡®in any event¡¯ uneptable?¡±

    ¡°Walk beside me.¡±

    Just what in the world is going on here?!

    Sitting beside the two rows of buildings at the centre of the estate was Bodhi Abels. ¡°Brother Ming, Miss Shen, it¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Brother Bodhi?¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Sir Yuying.¡±

    Behind Abels was the room that had been modified into a prison cell for Luo Ming and his conspirators. Emperor Yuansheng took Abels up on his offer to guard Luo Ming because Emperor Yuansheng needed Lai Jingzhen¡¯s protection. Nobody else besides the new newly-instated second rank Flying Eagle could possibly be more qualified to watch over Luo Ming.

    Besides repaying Ming Feizhen, Abels only made the offer because he happened to be there and wanted to get to the bottom of this trap he fell in before leaving Huzhou.

    Emperor Yuansheng entrusted Ming Feizhen with persuading Luo Ming to join their campaign to Nieyao City as Luo Ming refused to utter a word, eat, drink or spare anyone a look after waking up.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been ordered to visit the man inside.¡±

    Abels smiled: ¡°Your master said nobody is permitted to visit him. In saying that, I can¡¯t stop you even if he never gave the order.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s drink after Ie out.¡±

    ¡°I shall be waiting.¡±

    Shen Yiren was relieved to see Ming Feizhen enter, only for Emperor Yuansheng to give her a fright when he popped out and told her and Abels to hush. He exined, ¡°I¡¯m worried, so I¡¯m here to observe.¡± He then sneaked in on his toes and stuck his face up the gap in the doors.

    Ming Feizhen opened Luo Ming¡¯s cell and sat down behind thetter. Instead of speaking, Ming Feizhen yawned and that was it for a while.

    ¡°¡­ That broadsword really isn¡¯t all that.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s eyes flew open: ¡°It¡¯s a sword!¡±

    Glossary

    Yuying (Flying Eagle) - There¡¯s a chance that this title will transform ording to usage because the ¡°flying¡± character can mean a plethora of other things, all of which would make sense for him. For instance, it could also mean ¡°guardian eagle¡±, ¡°dominant eagle¡± and more.

 Volume 10 10 Raising the Flag

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 10 Raising the g</h4>

    With the corners of his lips tugged up, Ming Feizhen said something that prompted Emperor Yuansheng to move his ears closer to the door.

    Although I know he¡¯s capable of sensing His Majesty¡¯s presence, he¡¯s also careless. I can¡¯t tell if he notices His Majesty or not.

    Thus, Shen Yiren drew in a big breath of air and began, ¡°Pull up the curtain. The water out the front is ying with the light. Who¡¯s the blushing maiden hiding by the koi lotus pond¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng shivered. ¡°¡­ What is that voice? Is there a ghost here? I recognise this voice¡­¡± He looked over in the direction of the voice to see Shen Yiren¡¯s face looking as though it was bleeding and her eyes shut. ¡°¡­ Yiren, snap out of it!¡±

    Shen Yiren opened her eyes. ¡°Huh? Y-yes, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Wh-what were you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ am practicing. Recently, Liu Shan Men has had nothing to do in our free time, so we decided toe up with a program for fun.¡±

    ¡°A program? For fun?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Why did you choose singing?¡±

    In a tiny voice, Shen Yiren answered, ¡°¡­ Because someone said my singing sounds nice.¡±

    ¡°What a liar. Stay away from him. He¡¯s a liar. Yiren, I¡¯ll discuss that with youter. This is important.¡± Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s face went back to the door.

    Shen Yiren lied to His Majesty for the first time ever that day. Plus, the embarrassment of her singingpletely robbed her of any strength to continue covering for Ming Feizhen. All she could do was pray her singing cued him in on Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s eavesdropping. Fortunately for her, the two conversing inside spoke too softly, were too far away and had the thick door covering them.

    I could hear them before. Why can¡¯t I hear them now?

    Emperor Yuansheng softly called, ¡°State Preceptor.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen showed up beside Emperor Yuansheng out of thin air and raised both arms overhead, ¡°Your subject! Gr-¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng rammed his fist into Lai Jingzhen¡¯s gut.

    ¡°Your Majesty, why would you do that? Does your hand not hurt?¡±

    Cupping his fist, Emperor Yuansheng snapped, ¡°You tell me!¡±

    What could be worse than wanting to hit someone out of anger, yet not being able to because it¡¯d cost you broken bones?

    ¡°Skip the rubbish, and tell me what they¡¯re saying.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen thumped his chest, asserting, ¡°Your subject shall go to hell for you!¡± and then leaned onto the door. ¡°And back.¡±

    ¡°You can go to hell after you tell me what they¡¯re saying.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen bobbed his head and then tuned in to the conversation inside. ¡°¡­ Mama, oh my!¡±

    ¡°What? What¡¯d they say? Is Luo Ming starting again?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Ming¡± - Lai Jingzhen looked over his shoulder - ¡°is reciting a scripture.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°Read his lips. Heart Sutra: when the bodhisattva Avalokite?vara had deeply understood the Supreme Wisdom, he realized that the five aggregates making up a person were but an illusion, and with this, he was delivered from all sorrow and suffering¡­¡±

    ¡°Enough of that! What does that even mean?!¡±

    Needless to say, Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t reciting a sutra, and he didn¡¯t have the skill to fool Lai Jingzhen. The deceit was courtesy of Luo Ming.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ming Feizhen leaned his head back on his sped hands and, hanging a straw from his mouth, cracked a smile. ¡°That¡¯s a handy skill to have. We should coborate to open a gambling shop. Man, we¡¯d have infinite pork shoulders to eat.¡±

    Still facing the wall, Luo Ming stated, ¡°Lai Jingzhen is better than me. If he wants to, he¡¯d easily see through my technique.¡±

    ¡°You implying he¡¯s deliberately withholding it from His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°¡­ When he¡¯s not having apse of madness, he can get a glimpse into the future. When he is having apse, nothing he says or does contains the slightest ounce of logic; even a ten year old kid could harm him. When he¡¯s feeling murderous, nobody can stop him going on a spree.¡±

    ¡°I see. I see. Daoism is lucky to have him as its forerunner. Else, the world would be in chaos. His Majesty chose the right man.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I lost to you. Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer lost to Forgiveness. There¡¯s no room for debating the results. I am still alive because you spared me. I will take my loss as a man. If you want my head, it is yours to take.¡±

    ¡°My shifu told me that, besides the three most famous swordys, Repository Sword Theory deserves a ce for its infinite variations and the profoundness it epasses.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to ask,¡± Ming Feizhen sat up in a prim posture, ¡°this swordy or whatever of yours worth a lot of money?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°How much do you want it to be worth?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Three hundred thousand taels.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What did you steal?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t steal anything. I was just asking. Don¡¯t worry if it¡¯s not worth much.¡±

    ¡°¡­ If you¡¯re referring to Repository Sword Theory, a million would be too little for it.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. Fantastic.¡±

    Luo Ming: ¡°???¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re here for trivial chatter, th-¡±

    ¡°My shifu didn¡¯t mention you¡­ My shifu only praised Repository Sword Theory. You never got a mention. Reflect on yourself.¡± Ming Feizhen then went to the neighbouring cell. ¡°Tang Ye.¡±

    Tang Ye refused to budge.

    ¡°Until when are you going to hole up in there?¡±

    ¡°Until I have repaid what I owe.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty serious.¡±

    ¡°I always am.¡±

    ¡°What do you want for dinner?¡±

    ¡°Mantou and salted vegetables.¡±

    ¡°Consider it done.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡±

    ¡°By the way¡± - Ming Feizhen stopped at the door on his way out - ¡°His Majesty wants to go to Nanjiang and to bring you along.¡±

    ¡°Not going.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a request.¡± Ming Feizhen looked back and grinned. ¡°There¡¯s something cool you have to see.¡±

 Volume 10 11 Thereâ€™s More to it than What Meets the Eye

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 11 There¡¯s More to it than What Meets the Eye</h4>

    How they were going to reach Jiangnan and then prepare in addition to what they were going to do with Luo n was unanswered aloud.

    Hong Jiu made it to Nanjing in the evening of the same morning he set out from Huzhou. Mount Daluo members certainly had signals and codes to send messages over distances, but they delivered important messages in person. Besides, Hong Jiu wanted to help Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen get together.

    ¡°Six Evils dwell at Nieyao?¡±

    Mount Daluo couldn¡¯t neglect their duty if they knew of a Six Evils¡¯ existence. Ming Suwen knew more about them than even Ming Feizhen, so she also knew they would still lose people even if they had their entire sect just asst time. It was folly for a group of warriors from the imperial court who had no idea what they were going to be up against to challenge the mutants. Therefore, she understood why Ming Feizhen summoned Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples. Hong Jiu was aware Ming Suwen would make the best general against the monster, which was the second reason, arguably the primary reason, he reported to her.

    ¡°What do you think, Grandaunt?¡±

    ¡°Is that a question you need to ask? If Feizhen says we have to go, we have to go. Since when were disciples allowed to ignore the instructions of our patriarch?¡±

    Because Ming Suwen osted powerbrokers in the imperial court whilst cracking cases in Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen¡¯s absence, those people were trying to get back at her using shady means. Outside Liu Shan Men¡¯s office were secret agents from several different groups monitoring their every move. Training the female disciples into her arms is one thing. Training them to be able to replicate her abilities is a totally different beast. If she left them behind to go hunt with Ming Feizhen, it would be tantamount to sending them to the ughter.

    ¡°Grandaunt, there¡¯s no reason for you to feel stressed. This mission is our job as young disciples. Leader is not our patriarch, so he cannot order you around.¡±

    ¡°Shiba, you have the wrong idea.¡± Ming Suwen shot Hong Jiu a re. ¡°Even if Feizhen does be patriarch, I won¡¯t obey him.¡±

    ¡°I have no doubts about that.¡±

    ¡°Having said that, I will be worried sick if he goes on his own. You guys go on ahead, and I¡¯ll catch upter. We¡¯ll rendezvous before entering Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°Third and the others are rather far. I heard Xia¡¯er is way off in Luoyang. I shall return to Huzhou to report to Leader tonight. Do you want me to pass on anything to him?¡±

    ¡°Two words: me too.¡±

    Nobody heckled Liu Shan Men as days went by. Ming Suwen deliberately leaked to the six ministries and threew enforcement offices that Liu Shan Men was preparing for a journey to Nanjiang. In addition, Liu Shan Men interviewed arge pool of people from the south to recruit. The six ministries and threew enforcement offices knew what they had to do since His Majesty would notify all his vassals of his ns sooner orter.

    Ming Suwen sessfully created the impression to those who didn¡¯t know the whole story that His Majesty was giving Liu Shan Men special treatment and promoting them. The other offices must be out of brain cells if they were to impede Liu Shan Men¡¯s work now when they were working for His Majesty. At the same time, it led to spection that Liu Shan Men had been aggressive recently because His Majesty was backing them. When the time was ripe, she caught one of the people spying on their office, galvanising all those who nted scouts to call back their scouts.

    When Ming Suwen felt she had erected a safety around Liu Shan Men, she started looking forward to travelling to Nanjiang with Ming Feizhen. s, another batch of scouts - more than double the previous number - started spying on Liu Shan Men after the fifth day. She noticed the spies came from various backgrounds and were much superior to the previous batch. Despite there being a lot of adepts in the capital, it didn¡¯t make it any easier to organise a group of spiespromised of disciples from various sects.

    Curious, Ming Suwen interrogated two spies, consequently discovering the six ministries sent them, though they refused to disclose who it was specifically.

    ¡°Tell whoever sent you that I know what they are ying at. I want to know what they want.¡±

    Having been subjected to Ming Suwen¡¯s torture, the two sprinted off as fast as their legs could take them. Subsequently, the other spies also pulled out.

    At noon two dayster, Ming Suwen went to the female constables¡¯ dining hall, which was unusual for her since she usually ate in her own room, burning Chu Yinghua¡¯s face. Shen Yiren never deprived her subordinates of food, and thanks to Ming Feizhen¡¯s advice, the taste of their food was better than ever. As a growing maiden with many jobs to tackle daily, Chu Yinghua had to stoke her fire with food. When Ming Suwen entered, Chu Yinghua had rice on her face and a bowl of rice that had been filled beyond the top.

    ¡°I-I usually eat¡­¡±

    ¡°Puhahaha, you should eat or you won¡¯t grow, Yinghua.¡±

    Yinghua set her bowl down and ducked behind Lan Kn upon noticing Ming Suwen¡¯s gaze fixed on her growing breasts.

    ¡°Did somethinge up, Sister?¡± inquired Lan Kn, surprised to see Ming Suwen at the dining hall at noon.

    ¡°Yeah, someone ced some stuff at our front door.¡±

    The female constables assembled as fast as lightning.

    At the forefront, Lan Kn queried, ¡°Do you know who ced it there?¡±

    Unexpectedly, Ming Suwen shook her head: ¡°I¡¯ve interrogated them. They hire coaches who aren¡¯t privy to deliver the items. There are no clues to work off.¡±

    ¡°What did they deliver?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Go see for yourselves.¡±

    As they couldn¡¯t derive anything from Ming Suwen¡¯s expression, they headed to the office entrance. Despite constables having gathered there, nobody inspected the goods.

    ¡°Move aside. What are you? Commoners or constables? Men¡­¡±

    The male constables instantly skedaddled when they heard Lan Kn for they all feared the female constables. Now it was her turn to stand there stunned at the sight of the horse cart transporting three big chests, one of which stored premium-quality silk. Inside the other open chest were nine items all made from top-of-the-line jade, pearls and so on. In another chest were a red phoenix cor and wedding gown for a bride.

    Although they may look down on thezy men, at the end of the day, the female constables wanted to be pretty, doted on, loved and have a charming young man riding on a white horse beside them.

    Chu Yinghua squeezed through the crowd to quietly ask Ming Suwen, ¡°Sister, the items are all for women. What would they send them here for?¡± In any even softer voice, she then questioned, ¡°Is it from your admirer?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not this rich. If it really is from him, I¡¯ll grab him by the ear and teach him a thing or two about being a spendthrift.¡± Anyone there could¡¯ve picked up the affection in Ming Suwen¡¯s tone.

    ¡°Who would it be then?¡±

    ¡­ The spies can¡¯t be from different factions but one person. My strategies weren¡¯t ineffective. They just don¡¯t care even if His Majesty is shielding us because they¡¯re not after Liu Shan Men but someone specific at Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°What¡­ are they after?¡±

 Volume 10 12 What About Sword King? (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 12 What About Sword King? (Part 1)</h4>

    More and more gifts were delivered to Liu Shan Men in the following days, all of which were high-quality jewellery, silk, perfume, rouge and health supplements¡­ Colleagues of Shen Yiren and Song Ou thought they were about to tie the knot. Ming Suwen wished should she could just knock the lights out of everyone because they were constantly asking her the same thing.

    Ming Suwen ignored the reluctance of the female constables, ordering all chests sealed as soon as they were delivered and collected in their training courtyard, prohibiting them from touching them. If someone was using it to frame Liu Shan Men for epting bribes, then all those chests were enough to incriminate them for multiple lifetimes. The sender disregarded her response and kept sending carts every day. By the twelfth day, Liu Shan Men ran out of room in their training grounds.

    All right, if you want to send gifts, I¡¯ll kindly ept them.

    Ming Suwen epted the gifts delivered on the thirteenth day, then summoned several wealthy families in the capital. Though they didn¡¯t disclose who bought the goods, she confirmed the buyer had very deep pockets. She sold the items back to the owners at 30% less than their original prices to clear out their training area.

    The next day, more gifts were sent, one of which was a chest of copper coins.

    ¡°Who needs a life?!¡± Nobody dared to utter a word when they saw Ming Suwen ring up for the first time. ¡°Sending whatever I hate. Are they a prankster?¡±

    Ming Suwen interrogated the unlucky spy she thrashedst time, but she used torture this time as part of her interrogation regime. He eventually gave in, though he only divulged it was the ministry of personnel and military. To assure her, he showed her everything he had on him. Frankly, the confession wasn¡¯t any help; she interrogated another spy to be told it was the ministry of justice. Evidently, asking them wasn¡¯t going to get her anywhere because they were told what to say beforehand.

    ¡°Sister, rx.¡± Chu Yinghua raised a hand. ¡°Did you not teach you us, ¡®Learn to adapt¡¯? Mayhap this is their attempt to cause us distress and then strike.¡±

    ¡°Yinghua¡­¡±

    His Majesty couldn¡¯t have taken over a thousand men with him if he¡¯s travelling covertly. ording to Hong Jiu¡¯s report, they should have around two thousand people if the remnants of Evil Spirits will join them. If he needs more men, it¡¯d only take five days to mobilise troops from the capital to Huzhou. It takes a month, at least, to reach Nieyao City from Huzhou, but it¡¯ll be hard to predict how their journey will look as they close in on Nieyao City. I was going to settle things in seven days and then set off. Damn it.

    Lan Kn opined, ¡°Given the six ministries sent the spies, the secretaries must know who the mastermind is. Unfortunately, we cannot question them as meagre constables. Even if we did, I doubt they would tell us.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hmph.¡± Ming Suwen inhaled confidence and showed the signature look she sported whenever she was about to pull something that¡¯d be legally questionable. ¡°Let¡¯s go have a word.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Chu Yinghua: ¡°¡­ With who?¡±

    ¡°That would be some high rankers.¡±

    ***

    Red Prince liked to polish his swordy upon waking since it was a routine he adopted from childhood. He always set aside two hours daily to refine his swordy as, from a young age, his father taught him to practice with discipline and not indulge in wealth. For the same reason, after he turned eight, he always slept sitting and meditated in his sleep. As a result, he received adtion for his martial prowess and was said to have eclipsed his father from years ago.

    From twelve years old onwards, Red Prince went through mentors monthly since that was all the time he needed to surpass them until he eventually found someone he couldn¡¯t overtake. Owing to his prowess, his father allowed him tomence training their n¡¯s signature style once he turned sixteen. This was how he came to be called ¡°Sword King¡± among his siblings.

    If Red Prince wasn¡¯t training or tending to his daily necessary routines, he devoted his time to national affairs nowadays, meeting with officials after a short break post-workout to start. In thest few days, Red Prince had cracked several big cases and cracked down on corrupt officials, so meetings hadprised primarily of good news.

    Administrator: ¡°Your Highness, your rising reputation and delegation are good signs.¡±

    Whilst writing, Red Prince questioned, ¡°How are things¡­ at Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Administrator quietly answered, ¡°They have stopped investigating any cases and reduced their patrols. Your strategy must be taking effect, Your Highness.¡±

    Can¡¯t have time to investigate cases when you are paranoid about what¡¯s happening at home, can you?

    Victory came to Red Prince¡¯s lips: ¡°Good. Women should stay at home.¡±

 Volume 10 13 What About Sword King? (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 13 What About Sword King? (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Keep sending them gifts. If I¡¯m going to be sending gifts, I won¡¯t stop after just a few days. You can decide what to send. Just make sure to be generous and sensible.¡±

    Administrator bowed whilst pointing to the two chests beside him. ¡°Understood. This time we are sending bloody swallows from Mount Tian and ginseng from Mount Bai. We deliver to their building as you instruct and with the budget you provide.¡±

    ¡°Good choice. Choose another secret agent from the six ministries to deliver the presents again. Remind the secretaries to protect the secret.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±

    Studying where Ming Suwen liked to go and what she liked had been added to Red Prince¡¯s daily to-do list so that he could send her gifts. For instance, he sent supplements subsequent to learning she trained martial arts and jewellery since she, like all other women in his eyes, liked them.

    ¡°By the way, the batch of copper silvers manufactured ording to her birthday, did she love them?¡±

    If you can court a girl with your tactics, I¡¯ll castrate myself.

    ¡°Well, umm¡­¡±

    ¡°You just can¡¯t be honest, can you? You¡¯re usually full of tricks, so why are you stuttering now? If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll cane you¡­¡±

    Interrupting them, a man sprinted toward their room and slid in on his knees. ¡°Your Highness, I have an urgent report!¡±

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    The spy Red Prince personally sent to keep tabs on Liu Shan Men reported, ¡°I do not what crazy has possessed the woman at Lui Shan Men today, but she raided the ministry of personnel, iming there is a criminal there and demanded the secretary hand over the criminal.¡±

    ¡°They haven¡¯t even been investigating any cases for days. What crimin-¡­¡± Red Prince mmed the table. ¡°She¡¯s taking the firewood from the cauldron. What a woman.¡±

    ¡°You understand what she is doing, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t? She¡¯s forcing him to divulge my identity. Smart but too brash, unfortunately. Rx. Since I¡¯ve given him an oral decree, he won¡¯t ever testify against me. Besides, she¡¯s a mere constable. What can she do against the secretary of the ministry of personnel? If she doesn¡¯t want to be apprehended, she¡¯ll walk away in shame.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, they have raided the ministry of defence, iming there is a criminal there and demanded Secretary Lie hand them in.¡±

    ¡°What? I was just told she went to the ministry of person-?¡±

    ¡°Your Highness!¡± In came another a third agent. ¡°Ming Suwen has stormed the ministry of justice, iming there is a crimin-¡±

    ¡°¡­ iming there is a criminal there and demanded Secretary Leng hand over the criminal, correct?¡± Red Prince cut in.

    ¡°Oh, so it was your n, Your Highness. You are my idol, Your Wise Highness.¡±

    Red Prince was going to go off at his subordinate when something more pressing stuck out to him. ¡°The ministry of defence? Secretary Leng would let her off after she broke thew? Wait, wait¡­ You¡¯ve been fooled! Hurry and shut our doors! Turn away everyone who requests an audience tod-¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Your Highness, Liu Shan Men requests an audience.¡±

    ¡°Tell them I¡¯m not well. Go!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a smart woman.¡± Red Prince exhaled relief. ¡°She knows I can¡¯t have sent only scouts from the six ministries, but it¡¯s difficult to tell who my direct subordinates are - as well as who belongs to who. She ignited these mes so that my subordinates would rush back to me. From there, she just needed to observe the agents movements. If once wasn¡¯t enough to confirm her suspicions, she just needed to repeat. Luckily, I responded fast enough to stop her.¡±

    Administrator: ¡°Your Highness, do not fall for her tricks.¡±

    ¡°If I deny her an audience, what can hee do? Hmm? Why do I smell smoke?¡±

    Upon peering outside, Red Prince heard people at his ce crying, ¡°Put the fire out!¡± prompting him to cry, ¡°What is going on?!¡±

    ¡°I was told you are not feeling well, but your voice is loud and clear.¡±

    Espying the festive curve at Ming Suwen¡¯s lips as she approached with her colleagues, Red Prince stuttered, ¡°H-how, y-you, wh-what, wh-who let you in?!¡±

    ¡°A criminal I was after sneaked into your estate, so I nned to search your estate. However, I changed my ns to help you put out the fire vandalising your manor.¡±

    Red Prince¡¯s estate had never caught fire since it was constructed. Ming Suwen happened to coincidentally be paying a visit, coincidentally be denied an audience and coincidentally came when his estate was coincidentally on fire.

    ¡°I did not believe you were sick, but I do now judging from how pale you look.¡± Ming Suwen reced her salute with a head bob. ¡°Greetings, Your Highness.¡± Upon sending her gaze to the two timber chests on the ground, she dimpled. ¡°Our target has gotten away. Let us not disturb His Highness any further.¡±

    ¡°Stop right there!¡± Red Prince couldn¡¯t believe Ming Suwen feigned deaf and kept walking. ¡°Woman, how dare you make a fool of me?¡±

    Ming Suwen halted, then looked over her shoulder with the corners of her lips slightly pulled up. ¡°First, I thought. Then, I acted. What about it?¡±

    Many yearster, Red Prince would still shiver when he remembered her smile.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to bring it on, Ls King?¡±

    Glossary

    Taking the firewood from the cauldron - I used a literal trantion so that it justifies the agent not understanding what Red Prince said. In this context, it¡¯s supposed to mean to get to the root of a problem to get rid of the problem.

    Sword King and Ls King - I regret that there¡¯s no way to trante this and keep theedy. The two titles share the same pronunciation. For the record, the ¡°Ls¡± part could be tranted into a plethora of other words, such as the b-word, and the original character for it really is that rude when used as an insult. In essence, it¡¯sparable to someone saying, ¡°I am the King of DOA¡±, and someone else replies, ¡°Yeah, the King of Taking Ls in DOA¡±.

 Volume 10 14 His Highness Met Her

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 14 His Highness Met Her</h4>

    Unlike his brother, Orange Prince, Li Tingzhu was a lone wolf who often travelled to help people in need without asking for anything in return. Perhaps growing up in thepany of Dark Robe Brotherhood motivated him to traverse the pugilistic world as a vaunted hero the moment he felt he was adroit enough. It was the only trait he shared with his siblings, namely his sister, Li Hongzhuang.

    No more than ten people were privy to the secret that fourth rank on Seventeen Hidden Wyrms, Cloud Comb Wind Hairpin Hero Wang Zhu, is actually Li Tingzhu. Part of the reason he brushed off people trying to get friendly with him, during his assignment as state proctor, was because he felt purging corruption was part of his dream of being a hero. He had no interest in wealth or authority; he was interested in the people¡¯s problems and was willing to lend them a hand. In this aspect, he was most like his father among his siblings. For him, helping those in need wasn¡¯t noblesse oblige but a genuine desire to do good from the bottom of his heart. Unfortunately, he, in contrast to his father, didn¡¯t understand women.

    In the twenty-five years Li Tingzhu had been alive, the women he came into contact with most were his sisters and mothers for the rest of his life had been dedicated to martial arts, with the aim of mastering all swordy, and his career. If you were to split his brain, you¡¯d find sword manuals and lists of jobs waiting for him to attend to.

    It¡¯s typical for affluent families to teach their kids about romance to ensure their offspring were outstanding. Li Tingzhu spent all that time on learning how to wield a sword, nevertheless. Back then, you could mute him if you put a girl in front of him. As he grew older, his ability to deal with women worsened. These days, you could mute him and make him feel ufortable if you just told him a woman was around. Nheless, all hope was not lost as he finally met the one destined for him at Dai Youming¡¯s manor.

    Ever since seeing her smile, he could never get her or every word she said out of his mind. Thus, he decided to break his stereotype and assigned agents to Liu Shan men to keep tabs on her and send gifts daily. His n ¡°worked perfect¡± until running into today¡¯s bottleneck.

    ***

    ¡°Stop right there!¡± Red Prince chased after Ming Suwen.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Suwen looked over her shoulder and gave a, ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Red Prince, still a few metres away, backed up when he caught a whiff of Ming Swen¡¯s scent, starting a domino effect when he crashed into one of his subordinates.

    ¡°What do you want now?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, why are you asking the obvious? Stop feigning ignorance. Wh-why did you trespass into my estate?¡±

    ¡°How do you expect me to know what you want, weirdo?¡± Ming Suwen was full of glee simr to an experimenter watching her test subject. ¡°Since you asked, I shall rify. Your stuff is in the way. Don¡¯t send stuff to Liu Shan Men again. That¡¯s all I had to say. Thanks and bye.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Why can¡¯t I send gifts?¡±

    Ming Suwen pped her eyelids in quick session. ¡°Because they irritate my eyes.¡±

    Red Prince¡¯s hand pointing at Ming Suwen had a seizure upon hearing her response. ¡°Why¡­ Why are you so rude? I can understand others not understanding me, but why don¡¯t you understand?!¡±

    Ming Suwen pushed a side of her chin to tilt her head: ¡°Meow?¡±

    While his men were trying not to bleed from their noses, Red Prince was furious, thinking, how can she have forgotten?!

    ¡°That day¡­ You told my subordinate you understand me. That¡¯s why I sent so many gifts. How can you be so heartless?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± Deliberately raising her voice, Ming Suwen added, ¡°You just want to make things difficult for Liu Shan Men, don¡¯t you? How are you innocent now?¡±

    ¡°What a joke! Why would I, a Prince, bother with an office that can¡¯t decide what it is?! I sent gifts because¡­ because¡­¡±

    ¡°Because what?¡±

    Red Prince thought his heart was going to tear its way out of his chest as he held his gaze against Ming Suwen¡¯s. There was no way he could answer that question in public if it would be hard for him to answer in private.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Desperate, Red Prince pointed to the female constables behind Ming Suwen. ¡°Pretend you don¡¯t understand, then. Surely you people would understand why I¡¯ve been sending presents daily. You¡¯re not stupid, are you?¡±

    ¡°We do understand.¡± Sounding condescending, they rhetorically questioned, ¡°You just want to make things difficult for Liu Shan Men, do you not? You just want to stop us from working on cases, right?!¡±

    God damn it! Why does nobody get it?!

 Volume 10 15 Woman, I Challenge You

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 15 Woman, I Challenge You</h4>

    ¡°Sister, I understand what he means. Let me exin.¡± At the end of the day, Lan Kn wasn¡¯t involved in the story, so she could see things from an outsider¡¯s perspective. Plus, she had overheard the maidens of Liu Shan Men discussing things between men and women recently, so she wasn¡¯t as dull as her colleagues.

    Red Prince was grateful to have someone understand him and whisper into Ming Suwen¡¯s ear for his sake. At least, that was until he heard Ming Suwen voice, ¡°Oh¡­ Oh¡­ Oh¡­ Ew. Scumbag.¡±

    ¡°How am I a scumbag?!¡±

    Ming Suwen massaged her sore ears: ¡°I get it now. You were sending betrothal gifts, correct?¡±

    Technically, she was right. Technically, she was also not right. Hence, Red Prince was stumped.

    ¡°We first met at Dai Youming¡¯s ce, didn¡¯t we? You posed as your own subordinate. We¡¯ve never met before or since, let alone spoken. What gives you any right to send all those gifts to Liu Shan Men and discuss marriage? Just because you¡¯re a Prince? You think we¡¯re powerless women and pushovers? What? You can toss us some money and take one of us as your wife without our permission if you fancy? I heard you were good with a sword, but I didn¡¯t think they meant good with the sword between your legs. Yinghua, see that? That is the definition of scum.¡±

    Chu Yinghua affirmatively nodded: ¡°I shall take a detour if I ever see his kind in the future.¡±

    Livid, Red Prince pointed at Ming Suwen and dered, ¡°Woman, I challenge you!¡±

    Ming Suwen shrugged: ¡°I refuse.¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°Why should I? I¡¯ll be upset if I lose, and I don¡¯t gain anything from winning. Measuring your worth based on brawn is something only you egotistical men do. I¡¯m just an innocent, poor girl. I¡¯m not taking part.¡±

    Administrator whispered, ¡°Your Highness, we are embarrassing ourselves¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Where were we¡­?¡± Stuck, Red Prince fell back onto his specialty to avoid ying further into Ming Suwen¡¯s traps. He unsheathed his sword from his waist and asserted, ¡°As a fellow martial artist, I challenge you to a duel. If I defeat you, you must do as I ask. Wh-what do you say?¡± The man¡¯s face was so red it was as if he needed to strangle the words out of his throat.

    Ming Suwen¡¯s eyes wandered around Red Prince as she contemted the offer and then cracked a grin. ¡°Sure, fine by me.¡± Just as Red Prince went to lift up the corners of his lips, she added, ¡°If you lose, though¡± - Ming Suwen pointed to Administrator - ¡°you have to marry him, deal?¡±

    ¡°Why should I have to marry him?!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Why should we ept your betrothal gifts, then?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ He¡¯s a man.¡±

    ¡°So are you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense! Why should I marry a man?!¡± Red Prince turned around to his innocent administrator, curling his lips. ¡°And he¡¯s an old man!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine?¡± Ming Suwen preached, ¡°If you want an inch, you must give an inch. See, you are forcing a maiden to marry a man she doesn¡¯t like, so you also need topete whilst carrying the burden of marrying a man you don¡¯t like to be fair, true?¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re a woman; you¡¯re supposed to marry a man! Men aren¡¯t supposed to marry men! The risk is not equal.¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡± Ming Suwen flicked up a thumb and then hugged Chu Yinghua around the waist.

    ¡°S-Sister, what are you doing?!¡± cried Chu Yinghua, face as red as a tomato.

    Ming Suwen lifted Chu Yinghua¡¯s chin with a finger. ¡°If I lose, I shall marry Yinghua. How¡¯s that?¡±

    Female constables: ¡°Eh?!¡±

    Lan Kn was the only one biting her handkerchief, disillusioned with herself for not stepping up faster to take Chu Yinghua¡¯s spot.

    ¡°What nonsense is this now¡­? I¡­ You¡­ We¡­ I¡¯m an upright man.¡±

    ¡°What? An upright man suits an upright man?¡±

    Utterly defeated, Red Prince hurdled over the verbal warfare part.¡°Do you ept the challenge or not?¡±

    ¡°Well, that depends if you¡¯re going to marry him or not.¡±

    ¡°You ept if I do?¡±

    ¡°You do if I ept.¡±

    ¡°Deal! In short if you lose to me, th-¡±

    ¡°In short, if you lose to me, you will marry the elder.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    ¡°Seal it with a high five!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± cried Administrator. ¡°We can talk this out! Do not be rash!¡±

    Why are you two dragging me into your argument?! Who did I ever offend?!

 Volume 10 16 Sword King

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 16 Sword King</h4>

    Only two female constables and two of Red Prince¡¯s guards were present at the small hill outside the city to witness the duel. Administrator wasn¡¯t counted since he was one of the involved parties.

    As Administrator was writing, ¡°This old one has an eighty year old mother, a wife and son. Sadly, a misfortune has befallen this old one.¡± Red Prince snatched the sheet from him and ripped it up, griping, ¡°What are you doing? Do you think I¡¯m going to lose?¡±

    ¡°This old one feels the deal is inappropriate!¡±

    Red Prince had no retort for it was his loss that jeopardised Administrator; all Red Prince could do was offer sympathy. ¡°Worry not. I won¡¯t lose.¡±

    ¡°It is not a question of winning or losing. If people hear of this, it will hurt this old one¡¯s name¡­¡±

    ¡°Fret not. Once I win and get fulfil my wish, I will find a way to clear your name.¡±

    ¡°You mean this old one¡¯s reputation will only be cleared if you also fulfil your wish?¡±

    By the time Empress Dowager returned, Red Prince submitted his marriage proposal, decided on a date,pleted all the formalities and sealed the deal, years would¡¯ve gone by. By then, Administrator¡¯s reputation would be unsalvageable.

    ¡°Wh-what are you saying?! Wh-what marriage? When I said get what I meant, I meant¡­¡± Red Prince stole a nce at Ming Suwen and then softened his voice. ¡°¡­ I just wanted to go watch a show with her. Marriage is a long way off.¡±

    ¡°¡­ All this just to watch a show?¡± asked Administrator.

    Administrator: Are you freaking kidding me?!

    ¡°Is¡­ that really the extent of it?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ If possible, it would be perfect if we could have some wonton soup after the show.¡± Catching Administrator grounding his teeth and exhaling heavily from his nostrils, Red Prince snapped, ¡°What¡¯s with that look?! Why are you looking down on me?!¡±

    Administrator shook his head as he sighed and went to sit on a rock. ¡°Have your duel, and then do what you must. This old one is busy; please leave him alone. He took out a new sheet and began writing, ¡°This old one has an eighty year old mother¡­¡±

    Opposite them, Ming Suwen performed hip circles and other movements to warm up. The two apanying her joined her as they had nothing else to do.

    Lan Kn twisted her torso whilst voicing, ¡°Sister, why did you agree to the duel? If you lose¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen replied, ¡°If I lose, then so be it.¡±

    Chu Yinghua moved from her spot to cover Ming Suwen, lest the thirsty men see thetter¡¯s legs as she moved. s, solving that problem created a dilemma: she now either had to let them gawk at her in Ming Suwen¡¯s ce or let Ming Suwen be the victim.

    ¡°What about the stakes¡­?¡±

    ¡°What stakes?¡± Ming Suwen asked with a stoic face. ¡°We are public servants. The imperial court does not approve of gambling, you know?¡±

    This is the first time I¡¯ve seen someone so righteously shameless¡­

    ¡°I have only been eating recently. If I don¡¯t exercise, I¡¯ll get fat. I¡¯ll just consider it some exercise and a way to kill time.¡±

    Truthfully, Ming Suwen wanted to get rid of Red Prince as quick as possible so that she could be reunited with Ming Feizhen.

    Red Prince locked eyes with his opponent. ¡°Ready?¡± he asked as he slowly drew his sword from his sheath. ¡°Chilin here is the treasure passed down in my n. What weapon are you going to use?¡±

    Ming Suwen waved her empty hands: ¡°Right here.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t fight an unarmed opponent with a sword.¡± Red Prince sliced a bamboo tree and chucked his sheathed sword to a guard. ¡°I shall use this as my weapon.¡± Red Prince adopted a neutral stance that rendered it impossible to read his intent. ¡°Make your move.¡±

    Ming Suwen was within striking range by the time Red Prince finished his sentence, drawing an arc with her arm and releasing at the right moment for a violent snap. Red Prince stabbed her open hand with his bamboo stick from a dead stop, also finishing the transfer of energy upon impact.

    Ming Suwen performed a back hand, whacking the bamboo off trajectory without direct contact. She was going to advance on Red Prince while he had to deal with his horizontal force when she felt a need to torque aside, avoiding the returning bamboo.

    Ming Suwen was able to redirect Red Prince¡¯s force a tad, but he remedied it using more force.

    ¡°¡­ That was Mount Daluo¡¯s Moon Weaving Palms.¡±

    He¡¯s a totally different man when he¡¯s wielding a sword.

    ¡°Watch out now!¡± Red Prince started targeting upoints, which would be a gentleman¡¯s way of fighting, yet he threw each strike with intent to harm.

    Ming Suwen had long gotten used to employing styles Mount Daluo didn¡¯t teach to avoid causing trouble. Moon Weaving Palms is also an internal style, which means it doesn¡¯t consist ofbat techniques. For Red Prince to discern her background based on her intent alone, his ranking was clearly not something he bought. Since he already figured her out, she saw no point in hiding her skills any longer.

    Their colleagues - and subordinates - had never seen the two go so hard before. Red Prince might¡¯ve been clumsy with words, but he wasn¡¯t clumsy with a sword.

    Red Prince finally found Ming Suwen¡¯s ribs. What appeared to be his force sending her reeling was actually the afterimage she left behind, however. Ming Suwen had already gotten away by the time Red Prince thought he caught her.

    Red Prince stopped pressing attacks to give himself time to analyse. While Ming Suwen had brilliant movement, it was clear he was dictating the direction of the match.

    ¡°Shadow Clone¡­ You must be a direct disciple of Mount Daluo.¡±

    All the skills within Heavenly Sacred Records were designed for practicalbat, many of which were unorthodox in thought, and the Shadow Clone discipline was no exception. If there was a sure-fire form to forge a proficient fighter, Heavenly Net Sacred was it. The onus of practicing was on the individual, of course. The real challenge was understanding what the eyes saw. Hero Shenzhou had an express method of learning the disciplines within Heavenly Net Sacred Records, yet his only disciple learnt it using the opposite way.

    Forcing me to use Shadow Clone so soon, he¡¯s tougher than I thought.

    ¡°¡­ You left two openings when you moved. If we were to repeat the same exchange again, I will defeat you.¡±

    Ming Suwen may base her actions on whims, but she never blindly moved. She routinely used her analytical abilities to figure out her opponent and then utilised the best strategy for the context to win. This time, she made the mistake of underestimating the strongest member of the imperial family.

    Glossary

    ¡­ violent snap¡­ and energy transfer - For those who know, it¡¯s that snap at the end of your strike. For those who can¡¯t imagine it, think about throwing a punch as loosely as possible (entire body) and then contracting every muscle in the body right before the moment of impact.

    Completing the energy transfer from your feet all the way up to your striking limb at the right time is a sign of lots of perfect practice. Without practice, the nervous system can¡¯t connect everything to do that. Using an extreme example to illustrate, imagine going outside and being expected to throw a standing back full (back flip with a 360 rotation at the top) right off the bat. Chances are you¡¯re not going tond it because you need to vault, turn the torso, pull the hips under, kick toes over as your wrap your arms in then extend your legs to catch yournding after flipping and spinning. This =>

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Easy on paper, hard to actualise in real life.

    Striking upoints is a gentleman¡¯s way of fighting - An equivalent in real life would be striking with taps as opposed to full pelting someone. If the sparring opponent respects reality, they will treat the tap as getting hit/stopped. If not, you get those jerks who just march forward, and you have to hit them hard back so that you don¡¯t get hurt.

 Volume 10 17 He Was Once a King (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 17 He Was Once a King (Part 1)</h4>

    While Mount Lu was imagined as a secret ce tucked away in a mountain range, Broken Imperial Sword Tomb, a ce of hope as well as despair, was associated with sandy battlefields, warfare, bloody mantles and always the man who united the Nine Provinces.

    He wasn¡¯t some abstract ¡°sword immortal¡±. Li Dynasty¡¯s Founding Emperor was a real man who proved his skills only a century ago. It would be extremely difficult to find a martial artist, even those with no interests in swordy, who wasn¡¯t interested in the swordy he bequeathed to his descendants. For them, Broken Imperial Sword Tomb would be envisioned as a sanctuary for finding the road to the apex of martial arts.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sword Immortal Grasshouse recruited disciples once every few decades, but nobody outside of Li n was permitted into Broken Sword Imperial Tomb for it was the imperial family¡¯s property, not because of the secrecy of Broken Sword. ording to the word on the streets, not even Emperor Yuansheng knew the exact location of Broken Sword Imperial Tomb. Some imed he knew even less than what people assumed.

    Ever since Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor passed away, Broken Sword Imperial Tomb became the imperial family¡¯s top secret, restricted solely to the eldest elder in the n¡¯s knowledge. Each generation, the elder would choose one Prince to enter the tomb to learn under the condition that they never disclose anything pertaining to it, lest they be punished.

    For the above reason, every generation¡¯s Emperor had qualms about Broken Sword Imperial Tomb. Thankfully, it had never been used to threaten any of their rules. It wouldn¡¯t be far-fetched to assume that it would tear apart their rule before a prophecy could.

    Every Emperor desired to find out more; however, the elder in charge of guarding the tomb would swiftly end the research whenever they found out someone was prying around. Ironically, the most tyrannical and worst Emperor in their history was the one who came closest to digging up the tomb¡¯s secrets.

    The previous Emperor behaving however he pleased in the moment was no secret. The only reasons his actions that could¡¯ve brought ruin to their nation didn¡¯t lead to its demise was thebined efforts of his vassals dissuading him and the pressure his n gave him. One time, he red up because he couldn¡¯t have his way and threatened them with his ancestor¡¯s tomb. All of a sudden, his indulgent, spendthrift uncles, who spent more time grabbing women¡¯s buttocks than swords, refused to give him a fraction of an inch. Usually, he could sweet talk them, but they refused to budge when it came to the tomb. He, therefore, banished his usual temper to investigate, subsequently discovering it was their elder who demanded his uncles oppose him.

    The paranoid Emperor ordered his men to tail their elder for three months. Because the elder refused to move to the capital, the Emperor surmised it was rted to their n¡¯s top secret. It turned out that Broken Sword Imperial Tomb was located in the capital. Still, nobody knew where exactly it was located in the capital.

    The previous Emperor had little interest in martial arts, preferring women, alcohol and fame. ordingly, he sent his men to investigate but lost motivation after a few months, just as his fickle feelings for women at brothels.

    In Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s generation, his elder brother was chosen. In the next generation, Red Prince was elected when he was sixteen years old.

    Li Tingzhu was unable to make out the details of the apanying eunuch¡¯s face owing to the ck cloth obstructing his vision during the three day trip on a horse carriage and boat.

    There was no sky or earth in the tomb; be it below or above, there were only swords that elite swordsmen had previously wielded until they were snapped and abandoned. There were eight tombs around the field of swords, all of which were constructed from swords. Li Tingzhu didn¡¯t need anyone to tell him the elder resembling an ill patient was his n elder. He didn¡¯t have evidence to prove his point, but he never doubted the elder sitting in front of the tomb was guarding it.

    Life in the tomb was as fulfilling, if not more, than in the imperial pce for there were no rules in the tomb, where servants were masked. Li Tingzhu could explore any nook or cranny of the tomb, including leaving - provided he could find the exit. Nobody made any demands of him. Sometimes, the elder wouldn¡¯t say a word to him for a month. Sometimes, the elder would spare him a pointer or two; it was hard to imagine they were family.

    Secrets of Li n¡¯s swordy were carved on the sword tombs. How much someone could learn in the three years they were granted inside hinged on them. On the first day Li Tingzhu arrived in the tomb, the first thing he did was draw a sword.

 Volume 10 18 He Was Once a King (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 18 He Was Once a King (Part 2)</h4>

    Li Tingzhu couldn¡¯t exin why he was a different man when he fought, though his father might have a good guess. The moment he picked up the sword in Broken Sword Imperial Tomb, he entered a different mode with tunnel vision on polishing his skills.

    Li Tingzhu returned to his feet, spitting qi from his sword. ¡°I shall make my move.¡±

    It was wise of Li Tingzhu to not give Ming Suwen time to recover or think when she clearly wasn¡¯t prepared.

    Over thest three hundred years, Li n¡¯s descendants had been mending and refining their n¡¯s original swordy. War gave birth to their ¡°Seventy-Two Intense Techniques¡±, and Li Tingzhu inherited them from Broken Sword Imperial Tomb.

    ¡°Swordy has been my calling. When a life is on the line, I do not hold back. Take care!¡±

    Fighting him with Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual¡­ isn¡¯t enough.

    Ming Suwen surrendered her ground, but Li Tingzhu didn¡¯t stop.

    If I use strategy, I¡¯ll have to kill¡­

    Ming Suwen stepped and slipped a strike.

    Guess that means¡­ I¡¯ll have to get a little serious.

    Ming Suwen gave each strike the slip, only moving just enough to avoid getting caught, generating the illusion that she was moving in slow motion, while he had his foot all the way down.

    ¡°Defence cannot win against offence!¡± Li Tingzhu started emphasising explosiveness, using his internal energy to confine Ming Suwen¡¯s area of freedom. As a result, her movements turned sluggish. He repeated the process until he spotted an opening at her abdomen, tagging her once and then using the recoil for a faster second stab to the same spot. ¡°I told you that your Shadow Clone won¡¯t work again!¡±

    Based on what he saw before, Li Tingzhu worked out he only had to send attacks to where she would move to. Thus, he withheld on the feign designed to force her to move and then amped up his second strike as the finishing blow.

    Despite getting stung on her obliques, Ming Suwen cracked a smile. ¡°You sure¡­ you know what Shadow Clone is?¡±

    Li Tingzhu¡¯s knack for martial arts, attention to them and the support of Fragmented Heart equipped him with the ability to analyse techniques on a deep level. When it came to Shadow Clone, though, Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t fully grasped it, let alone Li Tingzhu.

    How do people create two clones? She¡¯s creating an illusion. When she uses the technique again, I¡¯ll attack both simultaneously.

    Li Tingzhu got into position but then was stumped.

    ¡°If you do, you should know there isn¡¯t just one.¡±

    The five Ming Suwen¡¯s before Li Tingzhu didn¡¯t sustain their form for long, gradually returning to one body. He observed the five as carefully as he could, yet he couldn¡¯t tell where her real body was.

    ¡°This is Night Net Sacred Treasures¡¯ Shadow Clone. Until now, I¡¯ve yet toe across anyone who can distinguish between reality and illusion. Don¡¯t im you know something without using your brain first.¡±

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    ¡°What the?!¡±

    Li Tingzhu couldn¡¯t react in time to Ming Suwen chopping his bamboo sword up into short fragments. When she stepped past his attack, she wrecked his weapon at the same time. Had she targeted his upoint, he would¡¯ve been tagged - under the condition she meant to kill him. Else, he would¡¯ve been able to get away.

    ¡°Done. Fight¡¯s over.¡± Ming Suwen stretched out at her own pace. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve had to chance to brush the rust off. That was fun.¡±

    ¡°W-wait! It¡¯s not over! How is it over?!¡±

    ¡°You want to continue when your weapon is broken?¡± Ming Suwen shook her head. ¡°What an embarrassment to gentlemen.¡±

    ¡°I still have plenty of moves. I couldn¡¯t use them because the bamboo can¡¯t hold up. How can you dere your victory?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who insisted on not using his sword. Did I ckmail you?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ Although that¡¯s true, you¡¯re a palm styles user, while I need a sword to demonstrate my full capacity.¡±

    Chu Yinghua insulted, ¡°And you call yourself a man. You¡¯re the one who refused to use his sword, and now you¡¯re throwing a tantrum about it. What was the point of the match if you¡¯re just going to talk your way out?!¡±

    Ming Suwen added, ¡°Scumbag being true to himself. What do you want, then?¡±

    Perhaps his father gave Li Tingzhu the title of Red Prince because he foresaw his son¡¯s face could be beet red.

    ¡°¡­Forget it! I will take my loss like a man. I was the one who didn¡¯t use Chilin¡­ but we can only call this a draw. Though my weapon broke, I wasn¡¯t defeated. I don¡¯t have any injuries, so you can¡¯t have won me.¡±

    Ming Suwen stroked her chin. ¡°Since you look so pitiful and want to use Chilin so badly, I can let you use it.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What¡­ do you mean?¡± Li Tingzhu raised his hope.

    ¡°But you have to use your best move.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Ming Suwen angled her head. ¡°Draws don¡¯t exist in my world. If you don¡¯t want to lose, I¡¯ll give you a chance. Use your sword; however, I¡¯ll only ept one exchange. If you don¡¯t use your best move, don¡¯t me me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re fine with letting me use my sword against you?¡±

    ¡°What? Suddenly run out of moves?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve only shown 10% of my skills thus far.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less what percentage you¡¯ve used or haven¡¯t. You still have any secret techniques you haven¡¯t used?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± Li Tingzhu unsheathed Chilin. ¡°And it¡¯s a technique that¡¯ll teach you what regret is.¡± As he powered up, he added, ¡°Don¡¯t me me after you lose. As requested, I shall show you the most lethal sword technique.¡±

    Li Tingzhu shut his eyes, then began melding his internal energy and sword qi together. Upon seeing feint dark-green light envelope his body, Chu Yinghua stuttered, ¡°What sorcery is that? Howe he¡¯s glowing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not sorcery,¡± Ming Suwen stated. ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Quasi-Divine¡¯, a sign of an elite martial artist in this era. He must¡¯ve trained really hard to reach that realm at his age. Without Vixen Yu and I, he¡¯d likely im the top spot¡± - She softened her voice - ¡°and possibly be ranked higher than Shiba¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen furtively prepared herself as she watched Li Tingzhu gather his strength. Frankly, she was also excited to see the skills hidden away in Broken Sword Imperial Tomb, and she was sure he was the chosen one of this generation based on his proficiency.

    ¡°Myriad Sword Prison.¡±

    Ming Suwen imagined innumerable invisible swords pinning down usable true qi in her body. In essence, Li Tingzhu created thin needles out of energy and thrust them into her meridians, interrupting her flow of energy. No matter how she tried to mould internal energy, the energy would cut off once it hit the walls.

    ¡°I did tell you that you¡¯d regret your decision.¡± Li Tingzhu raised his sword wreathed in green energy. ¡°Catch!¡±

    I see, I see.

    A smile spread across Ming Suwen¡¯s lips. ¡°That¡¯s not enough to beat me, though.¡±

    Ming Suwen donned white energy much clearer than Li Tingzhu¡¯s green energy. ¡°Eh?¡± The sudden exmation as she prepared to counter came out without thought, letting her pleasant surprise and shyness out at the same time.

    Li Tingzhu suddenly saw a man appear in front of Ming Suwen as though he spawned out of thin air. The man pulled her into his arms as if they were on a honeymoon and in a world of their own.

    This is a duel, you despicable couple!

    ¡°Move!¡±

    Li Tingzhu couldn¡¯t stop his momentum at this point. s, his warning came toote. Upon striking his target, his world was turned on its head. His Fragmented Heart went into overdrive to help him find an exnation for the oue. The man couldn¡¯t have used Shadow Clone as he was unmistakably there, and Li Tingzhu definitely hit something solid. Howbeit, it was too solid to be human. By the time it had dawned on him that the man caught his de between two fingers, the man was staring down at him vindictively.

    ¡°Oi.¡±

    He¡¯s right in front of me, yet he sounds like he¡¯s speaking to me from kilometres away. Is¡­ he human?

    ¡°What are you aiming a de at my young shiyi for?¡±

    Every single word the man enunciated sounded as though it entered Li Tingzhu¡¯s ears slowly so that he¡¯d hear clearly. After thest word, Li Tingzhu felt overwhelming pain in his head that put his lights out. When he came to, an entire day had already passed.

 Volume 10 19 Despicable Couple

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 19 Despicable Couple</h4>

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s female constables may have been fierce at work, but they switched personalities once they removed their swords and uniforms. They only speak when necessary on duty, but they¡¯ll chatter endlessly once they¡¯re off duty, especially when romance is the topic of discussion. Shen Yiren made them train for two hours when she caught them staying up after curfew to chat on more than a few asions.

    ¡°Oi, what¡¯s good on the female constable¡¯s side? It¡¯s as quiet as a ghost town over there,¡± one of the male constables asked.

    ¡°They¡¯re possessed!¡± another imed.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There were twenty-odd female constables in the dining hall, yet the usually mouring of eating utensils and voices were nowhere to be heard. Instead, they were nibbling so slow that a single peanut would take them ages to finish. They had their heads in their bowls to hide their faces, but they were all cognizant that their gazes were fixed on the direction of Ming Suwen¡¯s room.

    Rumours of Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen being in a rtionship were rife at Liu Shan Men ever since she joined, though a number of members weren¡¯t convinced due to Ming Feizhen being almost a decade older than her and the way he carried himself. Thing was, one letter from him - if a sheet with only two words on it could be ssified as a letter - had her giddy for days as if oxygen was sweet. To add, the female constables were told Ming Feizhen hugged Ming Suwen right in front of Red Prince, while she was nothing more than an enraptured woman in his arms, angering Red Prince to sleep.

    ¡°It¡¯s hot, huh, haha?¡± remarked a female constable, fanning her face as she imagined what was taking ce in Ming Suwen¡¯s room with Ming Feizhen in there.

    ¡°Y-yeah, it¡¯s really warm today, hahaha.¡±

    Meanwhile, Lan Kn stabbed through a chicken thigh, all the way to the base of her bowl, with her chopsticks as though it owed her money, muttering, ¡°How dare he hug her so tight¡­ Wait, Sister shouldn¡¯t have let him hug her, either. Damn it, damn it.¡± She then eximed, ¡°What¡¯s so good about him? Xiao Han is right. He¡¯s only got a glib tongue and no sincerity, has peanuts for ie, is old and freaking ugly! Ying¡¯er, you listening?¡±

    Chu Yinghua jolted and slowly raised her head, revealing her oily lips and face blemished with several grains of rice. Lan Kn wiped Chu Yinghua¡¯s face with her handkerchief as she questioned, ¡°Did you hear what I said?¡±

    Chu Yinghua shook her head.

    ¡°What are you upied with?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Do you think we were too mean to His Highness? Yes, he did give us a headache, but his feelings for Sis are genuine. We hit him¡± - Chu Yinghua nced out to the heavily-guarded room - ¡°until his lights were out. Was it overkill?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡± Lan Kn looked askance and softened her voice. ¡°He deserved it. What? He can send betrothal gifts just because he spots a girl he likes on the streets? Isn¡¯t that just abusing his status? Who but Sister would dare to teach his kind a lesson?¡±

    ¡°Technically, it wasn¡¯t Sister who taught him a lesson but Brother-in-Law.¡±

    ¡°What baloney is this about a brother-inw?! I don¡¯t approve. He doesn¡¯t even have money for betrothal gifts.¡±

    Chu Yinghua lifted her bowl up again to resume eating. ¡°If you ask me, they¡¯re a couple deeply in love. Amhitbha. As long as she¡¯s happy, then that¡¯s all that matters. If you don¡¯t want your chicken thigh, pass it here!¡±

    ***

    Slouching on her bed, Young Shiyi had her uncovered legs crossed over and bare feet on the bed without reserve despite me being right there. Taken in as she wriggled her toes, I stopped speaking to gulp, prompting her to look my way out of her peripherals. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop?¡±

    ¡°Ah, oh, umm, on the twentieth day, I went to search¡­¡± I managed to get out a few sentences before pleading, ¡°Young Shiyi, I request!¡±

    ¡°Request what?¡±

    ¡°Can I¡± - I raised my head - ¡°speak without holding my ears at the bottom of a squat?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Young Shiyi pointed her now-done fingernail at me. ¡°One letter since you¡¯ve been gone and only two words, at that.¡±

    ¡°I heard you loved it¡­¡±

    Young Shiyi hiked up her chin. ¡°So? I like to be happy. You want me to be unhappy?¡±

    My fault for forgetting you can¡¯t reason with women.

    ¡°My joy is one matter, and what you do behind my back is another story. Repeat the reporting rules again.¡±

    Folding my fingers one by one, I listed, ¡°Report the time, people involved, where I went, what time I went, what I ate, what I wore, what I bought, how many times I visited the loo¡­ Most importantly, who I met, whether there were women, whether or not they¡¯re pretty, what I said when flirting, if I evermitted the great sin of behaving intimately, if I ever shamelessly sweet talk-¡±

    ¡°Enough. Continue from the twenty-second day.¡±

    You expect me to withhold information when that¡¯s Young Shiyi¡¯s style? So, I told her everything, including my earth-shaking fight with the Abels imposter, Luo Ming¡¯s n, his kidnapping of His Majesty, my epic fight with Luo Ming¡¯s Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, the machinations in the capital, how Luo Sword Manor had been taken over long ago and about Mr. An, who engineered a string of events.

    ¡°Ah, I see, so you went behind my back to start an affair with Shen Yiren!¡±

    Why do you keep biting at that when I just told you all those epic, dangerous battles?! Also, what affair are you talking about?! I spoke Mandarin, didn¡¯t I?! I only said I divulged some things!

    ¡°Come here!¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I held my shaky hands up to my face, lest she hurt her hand, and then shifted toward the bed.

    ¡°Closer.¡±

    ¡°This is as close as I can get to the bed.¡±

    Wearing the smile of a devil, Young Shiyi answered, ¡°Onto the bed.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Young Shiyi dragged me up unto the bed by my arm and pressed me down. As her ck waterfall tickled my face, she smugly queried, ¡°Am I¡­ pretty?¡±

    ¡°If you aren¡¯t, nobody qualifies to use the adjective,¡± I answered with a nk face.

    ¡°Compared to your big-bust, beautiful vice-captain? Compared to your invincible fianc¨¦e, Interim Matriarch Yu?¡±

    ¡°You are without equal.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I demand main.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Young Shiyi triumphantly let me go and told me, ¡°Let¡¯s talk business now. Shiba told me you¡¯re going to Nanjiang. I¡¯m going with you.¡±

    I nodded sternly. ¡°Not taking you.¡±

    ¡°Say that again.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t think you can¡¯t go. I can¡¯t stop you if you insist on joining the hunt; however, you must obey mymands. I¡¯m not certain if one of them is in Nanjiang. If it is¡­ you know I¡¯m ready to abandon anyone and anything to protect you, but we¡¯llpromise everyone else. Follow my instructions, okay?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it.¡± Young Shiyi poked my forehead. ¡°Am I that insensible? I will heed instructions. That said, you are not to force yourself if you can¡¯t seed. As members of Mount Daluo, my cousin and nephew also share a responsibility in their extermination. It¡¯s just that only one of them can leave the mountain to aid you. Then again, if just one of them is helping you, impossible should just be a word for you.¡±

    ¡°It would take a few years for them to arrange a trip off the mountain. ording to my research, there¡¯s more than a seventy percent chance that the reports at Nieyao City are true.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but aren¡¯t you His Majesty¡¯s strategist? Why did youe back here?¡±

    ¡°I told them I had something to do and would regroup before entering Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°What would that be?¡±

    I cracked a grin and picked up Young Shiyi, draining her strength out of her as I lifted her up to my chest.

    ¡°Yah! What do you think people will think if people saw us, with me dressed, like this?¡± Young Shiyi always did the teasing, so asionally teasing her always made her bright red.

    ¡°That would be the most important task: picking up my young shiyi from the capital.¡±

    ¡°You have no regards for seniority. Where¡¯s the respect for your aunt?¡±

    ¡°So? Your fault for teasing me.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that you n to tease me?¡± Young Shiyi finger jabbed at my chest as she studied my eyes. ¡°How are you going to tease me?¡±

    I was dead sure it wasn¡¯t my body that was burning but Young Shiyi¡¯s.

    ¡°Answer the question. How¡­ are you going to tease me?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll tickle you.¡±

    ¡°Pfft you have a perverted mind, but you don¡¯t have a pervert¡¯s audacity.¡± Young Shiyi pressed her hand up against my chest. ¡°Don¡¯t go¡­ You hold back because¡­ you care about me. While you do have a perverted mind, you don¡¯t have a pervert¡¯s audacity¡­ I like that about you¡­¡± Young Shiyi started fanning herself with her hand. ¡°Feizhen, do you know who you knocked out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a rich jerk who kept clinging to you, no? He¡¯s not a bad fighter.¡±

    ¡°Y-you knocked him out without knowing who he is? He¡¯s¡­ Red Prince¡­ His Majesty¡¯s eldest son, Li Tingzhu.¡±

    ¡°What a strange name, His Majesty. I¡¯ve never heard that surname before. Li Dingzhu, don¡¯t know him, either.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen¡­ stop trying to escape reality, okay?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not okay! Why did the guy I clock have to be a Prince?! Why didn¡¯t you give me a heads up?!¡±

    ¡°Would you have left him alone if I did?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Still would¡¯ve belted him. I don¡¯t care what Prince he is. Pointing a de at my young shiyi is unforgivable.¡±

    ¡°You are excused¡­ We have a bit of a problem, though. His people followed him here and instructed us to treat him. He¡¯s skilled and got a discerning eye, so he might remember you. I haven¡¯t told you until now because I¡¯ve been trying to think of a solution.¡±

    ¡°I had no idea¡­ We need to give him a scare, you know, shut him up. How shall we scare him?¡±

    Young Shiyi tugged up a corner of her lips.

    ***

    When he opened his eyes, Li Tingzhu smelt alcohol, and he felt as cold as if he was lying on solid ice in the nude. The single lit candle and dozens of wine jugs on the table vaguely visible in the darkness evoked a sense of danger deep inside him. He squinted in hopes of identifying the man in histe twenties with long hair by the table.

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± I announced from the head physician¡¯s chair. ¡°Your castration procedure is a sess.¡±

    Note

    There¡¯s a joke I removed from the chapter and reced with Ming Feizhen going on about the weird surname because it was impossible for me to replicate in any capacity. When Ming Suwen tells Ming Feizhen he knocked out Red Prince, Ming Feizhen mistook ¡°Red¡± for ¡°wing¡± because they share the same pronunciation. Ming Feizhen goes off on a tangent, wondering if Emperor Yuansheng conferred his son the title of ¡°Wing Prince¡± because his son likes chicken wings. I¡¯m not sure what sort of misunderstanding you can create out of ¡°Red Prince¡± in English.

 Volume 10 20 Elaborate Spate of Lies

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 20 borate Spate of Lies</h4>

    ¡°****! ****! ****!¡±

    I had to cover Red Prince¡¯s mouth when he started reeling off cuss words in four differentnguages. ¡°Shut up or I¡¯ll shut you up.¡±

    I let go when Red Prince tearfully nodded, only for him to st, ¡°What have you done to me?! How dare you hurt my dragon?! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll make you more dead than dead!¡±

    Had I not restrained Red Prince with celestial spider silk, he would be strangling me. Sadly for him, I could sit back and have a sip of tea. ¡°I was just kidding.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Try squeezing your legs.¡±

    Red Prince hesitantly shut his eyes to heighten his sense of touch and then opened them along with his thighs. ¡°It seems¡­ my manhood is still there.¡±

    ¡°Remember who I am?¡±

    Young Shiyi would keep the two female constables present silent, while those with Red Prince didn¡¯t get a clear view of me because Young Shiyi dragged me off fast. Hence, only Red Prince needed a sock in it.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who hit me!¡±

    Bonus points for you.

    I had added a few strands of beard, grey hair dye and lots of wrinkles to my face. As long as Red Prince remembered this appearance and put out wanted posters for the man with this appearance, I couldn¡¯t care less if he put them up all over the Nine Provinces.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°You hit me when you don¡¯t know who I am? I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯ve got one hell of a backing.¡±

    Good boy.

    As long as he didn¡¯t admit he was a Prince, my sentence would be reduced. I could see him thinking, ¡°I¡¯m a genius. If he knows I¡¯m Prince, this scum of the martial world will demand a ransom.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the son of the owner of dozens of buildings¡¯ second chambein¡¯s gardener!¡±

    One hell of a backing my foot! You altered your background three times so that people wouldn¡¯t mistake you for being rich! I hope your father finds out you called him a gardener!

    Speaking of which, I finally know what sort of hereditary characteristics you Lis inherit now. His Majesty is always calling me his strategist, yet he hasn¡¯t even paid me a peanut. Orange Prince had a mini treasure trove tucked away in his home, yet he requested the aid of League of Assassins whilst telling his men he didn¡¯t have money. Princess Hongzhuang hardly spends money as a wanderer. Jingan never gave me a penny when I was her husband. Besides you Lis being annoying, you¡¯re misers!

    ¡°And who are you? How dare you kidnap me, you ouw?! Once I escape, I¡¯lle back with elite¡­ elite cooks to cook you a bowl of noodles.¡±

    ¡°Extrarge with extra garlic?¡±

    Okay, I need to get back on script.

    ording to Young Shiyi¡¯s script, I¡¯m a reclusive adept who stepped in because Red Prince was bullying her and then am to show him my sense of justice here so that he feels ashamed of his actions.

    Wearing a grin, I answered, ¡°This old one is Zhong Ning, a wandering hero.¡±

    ¡°Zhong Ning¡­ Isn¡¯t that the name of the one four most notorious rapists?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, this old one saw you forcing yourself on a girl, huh?¡±

    How did you know the name?! Director, how do I adlib this now? He knows who I am!

    Young Shiyi already turned in because she trusted me.

    Calm down. Calm down. Red Prince grew up behind the walls of the pce. He shouldn¡¯t know much about the world outside. He must only know of Zhong Ning¡¯s notoriety. I can salvage this.

    ¡°Zhong Ning is one of those who abetted Orange Prince¡¯s insurrection and was arrestedst year. His allies rescued him after he was castrated and has been missing since then. However, his reputation has continued to rise among martial artists ever since. Most notably, he infiltrated Jin Wangsun¡¯s estate to thrash him and his allies. Zhong Ning wasst mentioned in Huzhou.¡± Red Prince gave me a simper. ¡°Correct?¡±

    ¡­ Who you trying to be friendly with?! I¡¯ll smack you back to your father! What are you? My fan?! Howe you can recite my resume better than even me?!

    ¡°Haha, I heard it from story tellers. So¡­ what did you kidnap me for?¡±

    Ah, whatever. I just need to terrify this guy.

    ¡°This old one does as he wishes and does not follow rules. Today, he saw you on the mount-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you to not kidnap the prettiest woman.¡± Right after his remark, Red Prince recalled I said, ¡°This old one does as he wishes and does not follow rules¡± and freaked out. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me liking women is just a cover¡­¡±

    You¡¯re freaking out for the wrong reason, young man!

    ¡°Rubbish. This old one has always and only loved women. Should he not defend a woman when you¡¯re pushing her around?¡±

    ¡°What nonsense is that? She fights better than I do!¡±

    I showed a disgusted face: ¡°Your fault for swinging that sabre of yours again.¡±

    ¡°I wield a sword!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. What¡¯s your issue, pointing a sabre at a girl for?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a sword! I only wield swords!¡±

    ¡°My bad. So, what¡¯s your issue, pointing your sword between your legs at ady for?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t! I was duelling with her; it was an honourable duel.¡±

    ¡°Duel my foot. A grown man duelling with a girl? Have some shame.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing to say now that I am at your mercy. Do as you will with me.¡±

    I like that you have more backbone than your brothers.

    I got up and scoffed, ¡°This old one doesn¡¯t want you dirtying his hands. I don¡¯t know the entire story, so you can suffer fifty canes each. Yes, I didn¡¯t capture just you.¡± I pointed to the side of Red Prince.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lying on the iron te next to Red Prince was a teenage girl - Young Shiyi¡¯s favourite Chu Yinghua.

    ¡°I shall question you twoter.¡±

    Chu Yinghua, who was dragged into the n as part of Young Shiyi¡¯s ploy, was supposed to befriend Red Prince as fellow captives and then find a way to escape together, eventually naming Zhong Ning the one responsible, not Liu Shan Men. Well, that was about to change since Red Prince didn¡¯t perceive Zhong Ning to be affiliated with justice. Hence, I changed the script to kidnapping him for a ransom and Chu Yinghua to extort Liu Shan Men.

    If hundreds of wanted posters for Zhong Ning really are stered up, doesn¡¯t that mean I can¡¯t cast the me on him again? That sucks.

    Red Prince tried to roll over to call out to Chu Yinghua after I left the room. ¡°Wake up! Hey! Hey! Wake up!¡±

    No response from Chu Yinghua.

    Young Shiyi told me Chu Yinghua is supposed to be innocent, so how is she good at acting?

    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re in danger! Wake up!¡±

    Wake¡­ up?

    I peeked through the secret door to see drooling out the mouth of Chu Yinghua, who was asleep before I started intimidating Red Prince.

    ¡°Ahaha, chicken thighs¡­ duck thighs are also good. Feed me, Sister¡­¡±

    She¡¯s actually sleeping?! I can forgive you for making Young Shiyi feed you, but I¡¯ll have you know that all the duck thighs at Liu Shan Men are mine!

    I used Voice Transmission to scream into Chu Yinghua¡¯s head, waking her up.

    ted, Red Prince hollered, ¡°Hey, you¡­ you¡­ you¡­ you¡­¡±

    Yes, hit on her. Hit on her, son!

    ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡±

    Come on, don¡¯t waste that handsome face!

    ¡°You¡­ I¡­¡±

    Yes, one more push. Come on.

    As soon as Chu Yinghua looked over, Red Prince turned away.

    Say something, you flipping sabre-wielding wuss! Why are you so shy when you just have to talk to a girl?! You a virgin?! Having a brand new, untouched weapon down there isn¡¯t anything to brag about!

    Thankfully, Chu Yinghua wasn¡¯t shy around him. She asked, ¡°Eh? Your purification operation done?¡±

    Note

    A tonne of jokes are missed out in this chapter because of the homophones used. I won¡¯t list them all because there are multiple, the sword and scoundrel one being another repeat.

    Purification - in this context, it means castration. It takes on a different meaning if used for ady

 Volume 10 21 Dragon Down (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 21 Dragon Down (Part 1)</h4>

    Once upon a time, a wretched old man caned both of his disciples, who were always fighting, fifty times each and then locked them in the a dark room together to reflect on themselves. When the two were released, they were good buddies. The senior brother helped nurse his junior¡¯s injuries, and the junior was finally respectful to his first brother. Correct, that old man was my shifu. Back then, Hong Jiu deliberately blocked the door after ss because I was given the senior disciple seat instead of him.

    The actual story goes like this: I just happened to be ticked off I was locked up for nothing, and Hong Jiu happened to be the only one for me to seek therapy from, so I knocked his socks off. I then nursed his injuries because I felt bad about what I did. He wasn¡¯t feeling more respectful; he was just beaten into submission.

    The strategy works. It¡¯s easier to resolve conflicts when there¡¯s amon enemy; it¡¯s still sound even if it¡¯s only transiently effective.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a purification. Do you need to be so freaked out? You¡¯re a Prince.¡± Chu Yinghua found Red Prince¡¯s repetitive, nervous leg squeezes amusing.

    Red Prince looked away to maintain his stoic tone. ¡°Th-thisis is about pr-pride. D-don¡¯t mess with me, or I¡¯ll do that to you.¡±

    ¡°Ew, what?¡± Chu Yinghua¡¯s legs reactively got into position to perform Shen Yiren¡¯s signature Manhood-Ending Kick if Red Prince ever tried topromise her wellbeing.

    Red Prince cast his gaze to the ceiling, oblivious to the danger his manhood was in again. ¡°I¡­ I will teach you a lesson on behalf of Confucius! Women have no business talking about purification. What an insult to decorum.¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I talk about it? What¡¯s the big deal about washing up? Does the imperial family never wash or something?¡±

    Are you two children? Can¡¯t you talk like adults?! Now I know why Su Xiao gets along with Chu Yinghua. I didn¡¯t know teenagers these days are like this.

    ¡°¡­ Why were you captured?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I don¡¯t know, either. Maybe he has the hots for me.¡±

    ¡°What a sicko, scum, scoundrel!¡±

    Do you need to curse me to nurture your rtionship?!

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t worry. He said he¡¯d interrogate uster. Just y along with what I say. I¡¯ll protect you.¡±

    ¡°Why are you protecting me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of course!¡± Red Prince then mumbled under his breath, ¡°It¡¯s what a man ought to do.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ By the way, why are you pranking Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to prank you!¡±

    ¡°I know. I know you did it because you have a crush on someone, right? That¡¯s not a license for you to send gifts to the office daily, though. The office has its own regtions, you know?¡±

    She¡¯s around ten years younger than him, yet she sounds more mature. Is it just a motherly nature inside her? Reminds me of when Xiao goes off at me¡­

    ¡°Understood¡­ You¡¯ve already epted them, anyway. I won¡¯t send any more presents.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. And stop pestering my sister. She¡¯s kind, generous and lenient, but,¡± switching to a stern tone, Chu Yinghua asserted, ¡°I have a brother-inw.¡±

    Brother-inw?

    ¡°Sister told me Brother-inw is the Vinegar King, an elite martial artist whose main course is tigers.¡±

    ¡°He eats tigers?!¡±

    When did I eat a tiger?! I adore tigers! How could I bear to eat one?! And what¡¯s this about a Vinegar King?

    ¡°She told me he stands nearly seven metres tall!¡±

    What the hell?!

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°He can move five hundred kilograms with his bare hands, ughter wyrms with his fists, bears with his kicks and drinks their blood. When there aren¡¯t any tigers avable, he has to have threembs, two bulls and five pigs as a substitute. Oh, he also has to have,¡± running out of things to reel off, Chu Huaying blurted, ¡°two humans.¡±

    My face: 0.0

    Vinegar King, my foot! That¡¯s a murderous, barbaric freak of the jungle!

    Red Prince stuttered, ¡°I-I will never pick a fight with him.¡±

    Even I¡¯m freaking out!

    ¡°Leave my married sister alone.¡±

    Red Prince bobbed his head: ¡°Out of respect for you, I won¡¯t fight with her again¡­ Do you¡­ like Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s my second home. Whoever gives Liu Shan Men grief is my enemy,¡± Chu Yinghua red daggers at Red Prince and tacked on, ¡°even if he¡¯s a Prince.¡±

    Although Red Prince didn¡¯t see the re, he sincerely expressed, ¡°I won¡¯t send gifts again. I swear it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need an oath, hehehe. What a weirdo.¡±

    Reacting as if he had eyes on the side of his head that could see the flower beside him, Red Prince asked, ¡°Um, so, why did you join Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°Every time I¡¯m reminded, I seethe with anger! My family ran an escort business. There was this tyrannical young master who¡­¡±

    To sum up the story delivered in clumsy fashion, it went like this: the rich son of a wealthy family in Nanjiang was one of those kinds who did squat besides leeching of his parents. To entertain himself, he decided to hire an escortpany as his food delivery service, demanding they deliver roast duck from Drunk Immortal Restaurant to his ce every day. People obviously would mock thepany if they epted the job. Because Chu Yinghua¡¯s father refused, the young master started a fuss at their ce. He was a surprisingly decent pugilist, but his attempt to act tough went to hell when a dozen men rocked his socks.

    In retaliation, the young master turned to thew, reporting Chu Yinghua¡¯s father to the local magistrate - with a bonus gift of several hundred silver taels. Thereafter, the magistrate caned her father until his life was hanging by a thread. Had Boss Shen not passed by, he probably would¡¯ve died.

    ¡°What scoundrels! If I get my hands on them, they¡¯ll never walk again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, true that. You¡¯re a Prince and the current state proctor. You could do something about them. Would you be willing to bother with cases ofmoners, though?¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Red Prince turned his head over, running into Chu Yinghua¡¯s smile, so he turned away. ¡°Of course I would. As martial arts practitioners, it¡¯s our duty to aid those in need, not to mention it¡¯s my duty.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear. There can never be too many fair civil servants. Nevertheless, that ouw received his penance in the end.¡±

    Based on what I heard, Boss Shen hung the young master up and caned him forty times just because she didn¡¯t like his face. He decided to belt during the trial, so she whacked him another forty times. After convicting him of framing the escortpany and bribing the magistrate, she gifted him another forty canes.

    ¡°Out of respect for Vice-Captain, he joined Liu Shan Men. Mr. Liu has truly turned over a new leaf.¡±

    You¡¯re tripping! I didn¡¯t know that young snob was Liu Yuan! No wonder why he¡¯s a professional at digging his own grave.

    ¡°Vice-Captain apprehended the culprit and cleared my father¡¯s name. I look up to her, so I immediately signed up when Liu Shan Men recruited female constables.¡±

    ¡°I-I also had a simr experience two years ago.¡±

    Although bereft of literacy finesse and iprehensible to her, Chu Yinghua earnestly listened to Red Prince¡¯s recount of his pilgrimage in the pugilistic world over the next few hours. Theughter broke the ice between them and built his confidence to speak without stuttering or going red in the face.

    When are you two going to wrap up and start the prison break arc?! I¡¯ve finished over thirty mantous, several pots of teas and a jar of salted vegetables! Are you trying to kill me with time?! I¡¯m done with this.

    I grabbed a ringed iron broadsword and kicked the door open. I pointed to Chu Yinghua and thundered, ¡°I¡¯ve decided. I¡¯ll start with you!¡±

    Chu Yinghua recoiled out of genuine fear and blurted, ¡°What are you doing, Brother-in-Law.¡±

    Well¡­ This is awkward¡­

    Red Prince: ¡°You two¡­¡±

    No point crying over spilt tea. Let¡¯s go all the way.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first!¡±

    ¡°What would you kill her for?¡±

    The script I had didn¡¯t have a response for that line. Therefore, after thinking it through, I replied, ¡°To make hotpot out of her.¡±

    Glossary

    Vinegar King - In case we¡¯ve forgotten, ¡°(eat) vinegar¡± is a way of saying someone is jealous. In the context they¡¯re working in, an airhead could mix the two up. You can say, it¡¯s lost in trantion.

    Hotpot - This specific term for hotpot is a mild-tasting hotpot (not very strong vours)pared to the more generally used variant you might imagine. Needless to say, we¡¯re speaking rtively.

    Ringed broadsword -

 Volume 10 22 Dragon Down (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 22 Dragon Down (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Enough! I¡¯m going to kill her first!¡±

    Red Prince didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but he knew I was stronger than him, so I was naturally stronger than Chu Yinghua. Hence, he writhed around to try and get over to protect her whilst eximing, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going to interrogate us? Why are you trying to kill her without asking a single question?!¡±

    Did I say that? Whatever. I just need to get them to escape. Toss what psychological trauma he¡¯ll be left with.

    I responded, ¡°If you want to save her, hand over three hundred thousand taels.¡±

    ¡°D-didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re a hero? You¡¯re ckmailing me.¡±

    ¡°You falsely imed to be some gardener¡¯s son.¡±

    ¡°It was a lie told with good intent. If you find out I¡¯m a Prince, the situation for you will be bad! Ah¡­¡± An advocate of not crying over spilt tea, Red Prince flipped out. ¡°Toote now. I¡¯m Red Prince, the reigning Red Prince. If you know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯ll release me now. Else, my men will destroy you when they get here!¡±

    If I really am Zhong Ning, you¡¯d already be red braised pork belly and end up in my gut regardless of what I chop off.

    ¡°¡­ And why specifically three hundred thousand taels?¡±

    Because your old man scammed three hundred thousand taels out of me! Several hundred thousand taels to open a restaurant and Long Zaitian wasted a bunch! All my hard-earned money has gone to the national treasury!

    ¡°You paying or not?¡±

    ¡°She called you brother-inw! Oh, oh, I remember now! I remember now! Before I passed out, you and that Ming woman were in an embrace! You must be her lover and her brother-inw, the blood-drinking, human-bone-eating,¡± tapering off until his voice was barely audible, Red Prince finished, ¡°brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°If you want to rescue her, money!¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-why should I pay when I just got to know her?!¡±

    I set my broadsword down, then berated, ¡°You¡¯re heartless, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Red Prince was visibly bewildered as to where he went wrong.

    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t you spend money when you two have been talking for so long? Have you not heard the saying that saving a life is more meritorious than donating money to shrines? Three hundred thousand taels for the safety of two lives is a bargain and meritorious deed, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Is your brother-inw derailed? Is he really going to kill you?¡±

    Chu Yinghua being as inflexible as she is, answered, ¡°He¡¯s¡­ possibly hungry.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have money, but I have a life. If I give you money to eat people, how can the people feel any sense of security?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t eat humans!¡±

    ¡°Steamed or roasted?¡±

    ¡°Amateur. If you¡¯re going to ask that question, you should ask steamed in garlic butter or char roasted. You need to pay attention t-¡±

    ¡°And you im you don¡¯t eat humans?!¡±

    When did I ever mention humans in my response, you sly minion?!

    ¡°Okay, tough guy, rescue her yourself, then.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡­ I won¡¯t let you eat Miss Chu.¡±

    Red Prince kipped up, having leveraged the time I granted to gain the flexibility to slip out of the celestial spider silk, thrust four fingers at me. He was so vulnerable, especially his face, that I effortlessly kicked him into the wall. Given our difference in skill, I¡¯d smack him like a rag doll every time I wanted to, so I didn¡¯t hit so hard that he¡¯d get hurt but hard enough to demonstrate warn him.

    Red Prince got up right away, ran over to the iron te and posed in front of Chu Yinghua. He actually would¡¯ve looked dashing if he didn¡¯t have a bloody nose.

    Chu Yinghua cried, ¡°Your Highness, y-y-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can handle this.¡±

    ¡°Your nose is bleeding.¡±

    Chu Yinghua, Chu Yinghua, at least let the man look cool. You¡¯re killing him inside.

    Red Prince wiped his blood, but¡­ only two more trails coursed down.

    ¡°¡­ Your Highness, y-¡±

    ¡°I know I have a blood nose! I¡¯m trying to stop it, aren¡¯t I?!¡± Red Prince raised his head and yelled, ¡°I won¡¯t let you harm her!¡± He then turned his face and, resembling a soldier about to leave his wife behind for the front lines, timidly expressed, ¡°As long as you know how I feel, I have no regretsying down my life here for you.¡± He subsequently turned back to me and belted, ¡°I¡¯m taking you down!¡±

    ¡°Uh, what are your feelings?¡± Chu Yinghua asked.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Protect yourself at all times.

    Bam! I kicked Red Prince into the wall again, creating a second scarlet st on the wall.

    Didn¡¯t your parents teach you not to draw on walls?

    Red Prince crawled to his feet, ignoring me. ¡°You don¡¯t understand?¡±

    Chu Yinghua pped her eyelids: ¡°Wh-what am I supposed to understand?¡±

    Yeah, what¡¯s she supposed to understand?

    ¡°We just spoke so much, and I sent so many gifts to Liu Shan Men¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, I told you not to give us grief.¡±

    Red Prince¡¯s ears put the ¡°red¡± in Red Prince. ¡°Do you still not know I feel about you?¡±

    ¡°No, how should I know?¡±

    Me: ¡°Yeah, how should she know?¡±

    ¡°When¡­ When¡­ When I first sent gifts, that Ming woman said my feelings had been conveyed, didn¡¯t she? Didn¡¯t she tell you?¡±

    ¡°She did. She told me you¡¯re deliberately making things hard for us.¡±

    ¡°I thought we cleared that up at my residence! I didn¡¯t mean to make things hard for you. I¡­ I¡­ Don¡¯t you know?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± Just as Red Prince exhaled relief, Chu Yinghua borated, ¡°You kept sending gifts because you like Sister Suwen. I already talked about that.¡±

    Hey, bro, we need to talk. Char grilled or steamed in garlic butter?

    ¡°I don¡¯t like her! Why in god¡¯s name would I ever like her?!¡±

    What¡¯s that supposed to mean, huh?!

    ¡°Exin yourself, or you¡¯re going to find out why they call me Vinegar King.¡±

    ¡°Fine! She¡¯s the physical manifestation of insidious! From the first time I saw her, my hairs stood up! She¡­ she has the appearance of a devil. Just looking at her gives me the creeps. I¡¯ve feared those with her appearance since I was a kid. Jingan¡¯s mother and Empress Dowager are both the same. My skin crawls whenever I see them. I¡¯m scared of their kind when ites to work. She came into my manor uninvited and set fire to it. Is there anything she wouldn¡¯t dare to do? What makes you think I¡¯d like her?! Also, who would dare to search a secretary¡¯s manor for a petty thief? She¡¯s been reported more times in a month than the number of rice grains I ate. By the way, Miss Chu, do you like wanton soup?¡±

    Chu Yinghua beamed. ¡°Yeah, I like it.¡±

    ¡°With green onions?¡±

    ¡°Lots of green onions, but not spicy.¡±

    I questioned, ¡°What are you now, a waiter?¡±

    ¡°S-so, sh-shall we, my treat next time¡­¡±

    ¡°Oi, you think this is the ce for you to flirt?¡±

    Red Prince blurted, ¡°In short, those gifts were for you!¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to fool me now?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Go flipping investigate if you don¡¯t believe me! The copper coins I sent were all manufactured on her birthday! All of them were forged on 3rd, July, 15th year of Yuansheng¡¯s reign. Why would I send so many coins manufactured on the same day if I don¡¯t like her?! I fell for her at first sight when I saw her at my manor.

    ¡°Ever since then, I¡¯m constantly thinking of her at work, in bed and even in my dreams. I can¡¯t get her smile out of my face. I know it¡¯s inappropriate to send presents to Liu Shan Men, but I feel like it. I¡¯m not trying to prove how great I am but to tell you that I will get back what I lost!¡±

    Wow, we have a real man here,dies and gentlemen.

    Huffing and puffing due to breathlessness from yelling, Red Princeboriously enunciated, ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is, what I¡¯m trying to say is, I¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you want? Either make yourself clear or I¡¯ll be taking her.¡±

    Red Prince inhaled as much oxygen as he could and dered, ¡°I want everyone to know that I, Li Tingzhu, like Chu Yinghua!¡±

    It felt as though the subsequent silencested ages whilst watching Chu Yinghua¡¯s embarrassment paint her neck, face and ears as red as raw human flesh, I mean cooked octopus. Octopus. Her heart beat as loud as a drum on a battlefield, bashing away Red Prince¡¯s courage.

    Yuck, the smell of love. Yuck. Guess it¡¯s the best proof that he¡¯s not lying, though. Director Young Shiyi, cut! It was all a misunderstanding.

    Red Prince never developed a crush on Young Shiyi; he¡¯s a nice guy. He¡¯s respectful, deserves to be respected and a good Prince. Even though his gifting ploy was painfully inane, he¡¯s a genius if youpare it to the stuff Orange Prince and Green Prince did. Most importantly, he likes Chu Yinghua, not Young Shiyi. No more reason for me to feed him to piranhas. Besides, Chu Yinghua seemed to reciprocate his feelings.

    Guess it¡¯s time to let him defeat me so that they can escape.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Freak, I won¡¯t let youy a hand on her!¡±

    Come on now¡­ Can¡¯t you see my kind will here? As well, I suggest you stop creeping her way.

    Red Prince rushed to Chu Yinghua¡¯s side. Still addled, she freaked out. ¡°G-g-get back!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll rescue you. I won¡¯t let him hurt you.¡± The man had no idea Chu Yinghua¡¯s restraints were loose¡­ As he made his way over, he asserted, ¡°While I never had the courage to convey my feelings, while I have said enough, this may be ourst moments together, so I have to tell you!¡±

    ¡°St-stop! St-stay back, ah!¡±

    Wham!

    I saw a charged-up kick uncork and Red Prince jump up on two feet.

    ¡°I¡­ seldom¡­ you¡­¡±

    Your Highness! Your Highness! Dragon down! Dragon down, hahahahahaha!

    Glossary

    Kipped up - Refer to the technique sybus video if you forgot.

 Volume 10 23 Striking Broadsword Wielder (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 23 Striking Broadsword Wielder (Part 1)</h4>

    The rain and snow hindered the business escort¡¯s journey across the rugged mountain path that they had to take to reach Nanjiang from Huzhou, forcing them to take shelter in a small vige for the night.

    They dropped by Xiuyu City, which was under Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s jurisdiction at the border of Nanjiang to ept a job from apany there. They were to exchange ten carts of goods for Nanjiang¡¯s fragrances, jewellery and sea products with hard shells.

    Transporting goods to Nanjiang is a highly lucrative industry that promises earnings ten times that of one¡¯s capital. In exchange, they must be brave enough to traverse high roads and fight off blood-drinking barbarians, all whilst the dense fog handicapped their vision. Up until now, the sess rate of returning from a delivery to Nanjiang is a meagre 10%. Hence, only bigpanies can afford the risk and cost of hiring a reputable escortpany.

    This escort numbered only around sixty people, though their stares were enough to frighten people off, and transported few goodspared to whatpanies would usually order for delivery. Judging from how deep the prints in the ground were, it would be safe to assume they were transporting silk, tea leaves, daily necessities and a drool-worthy amount of gold or silver.

    The Central in¡¯s currency can¡¯t be used in Nanjiang, but they do use gold and silver. In the Central in, businesses stick to using notes for safety and convenience purposes. Therefore, a bandit would conclude that the escort was unquestionably headed to another region.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escortmenced the pilgrimage three days ago after spending nearly two weeks to prepare everything, choosing to travel under the guise of a business escort to avoid dangerous foes targeting them. As for bandits, it was part and parcel of travelling as an escort, particrly outside of Jiangnan.

    Knowing they weren¡¯t just going to return to the capital, Long Zaitian had a pigeon deliver a letter to the northern border, requesting the aid of eight hundred Qilin Guards from their grandmander, and Baima had them set out the day after, taking twenty days to reach Long Zaitian.

    The eight hundred hand-picked Qilin Guards werebat veterans, stealth experts and familiar with fighting in any terrain thanks to their experiences in the north. To put it into perspective, the warriors from the cold north could give any of the imperial court¡¯s Yi Rank warriors a run for their money. More than forty of them could rival Long Zaitian in a fight. Most importantly, they had experience dealing with beasts that heckled civilians by the northern border. Thus, Long Zaitian entrusted them with keeping surveince from the shadows.

    Emperor Yuansheng had another two hundred agents from his entourage join the escort, with a portion of them delivering messages to and fro the imperial court, while another group was tasked with handling his domestic needs, which meant that they had to scout the path up ahead at all times.

    Besides the hundred-plus men Ming Feizhen managed to rescue, all that remained of Evil Spirits were Mountain Monster and Feathered Serpent¡¯s assassination and intelligence teams, respectively, because they were absent when Luo Ming ughtered the others.

    Feathered Serpent¡¯s scouts were more loyal to Abels than they were to the former. In saying that, the mainbat unit was still the hundred-odd soldiers, who directly answered to Abels, that Ming Feizhen released. Overall, their morale was high thanks to Abels¡¯ presence.

    River Monster could be trusted but didn¡¯t have any manpower. Mountain Monster and her dozens of subordinates, team ¡°I only kill. Don¡¯t ask me to bury them¡±, were an issue. Under her guidance, they¡¯d give her their hearts if she asked. Though she took orders from Abels in the past, their rtionship had changed since, yet, for whatever reason, Abels didn¡¯t kill her despite her betrayal.

    Alhough Emperor Yuansheng was initially against trusting Abels as his coach, Abels was the best choice for the role as he could handle any situation and was a sturdy first line of defence. Abels, leading a mobile brigade near the main forces to handle any impromptu situations, reorganised the remaining two hundred-odd members of Evil Spirits into a force that could tackle an array of situations. Emperor Yuansheng ordered a maid to wait on Abels as an expression of gratitude. s, River Monster kicked the innocent maid off. Riding with them was their physician, cooks and artisans.

    Abels assistance was the equivalent of adding fire to arrows considering his own skill set, forces, experience in addition to his leadership. In light of his knowledge and experience as a war leader, Emperor Yuansheng asked him to formte their escort formation.

    Long Zaitian was promoted to his former rank after disying his loyalty andpetence in Huzhou as well as being granted the post of vice-strategist. As vice-strategist, he was trusted with mobilising their forces and had His Majesty¡¯s authority in battle. That said, his smug fanning and lips-tug didn¡¯t sit well with anyone.

    Having been on the receiving end of his friend¡¯s betrayal once, Emperor Yuansheng tightened security for himself, trusting Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo, who rode with him, to take care of anything he consumed and daily security checks. Tie Hanyi was as good as dishing out as taking hits, while Ye Luo was empowered with brilliant visual prowess, making them the perfect guards.

    Additionally, Emperor Yuansheng had Lai Jingzhen stay beside him around the clock. Lai Jingzhen wanted to run back to Mount Zisheng, but being as crazy as he was, he had forgotten about the excuse until now. As for Dugu, he had recovered thanks to Ming Feizhen¡¯s treatments and was responsible for sweeping out any danger that came within three metres of Emperor Yuansheng since Lai Jingzhen couldn¡¯t replicate Dugu¡¯s proficiency in that field.

    Bai Laimu had returned to the capital under orders of His Majesty for another job.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave Shen Yiren the reins to n things because he trusted her the most among those present and happened to know the most about what was going on. Su Xiao was her only avable subordinate from Liu Shan Men, and he did a praiseworthy job of waiting on her. Shen Yiren, Su Xiao and Ye Luo disguised themselves as Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s servants to avoid arousing suspicion. As well, they had a few more girls join them.

    Luo Yan and Luo Siming decided to offer Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort top-quality gear that Emperor Yuansheng was very pleased with, on top of instructing a thousand men to meet up with the escort prior to entering Nanjiang.

    Luo Siming, Luo Mingzhu, Ao Xue and Yeshu, the only two survivors of Mr. An¡¯s attack on The Four Samuume Swordsmen, also joined the escort. Luo Siming and Ye Shu posed as convincing cksmiths. Luo Mingzhu and Ao Xue yed the roles of maids.

    In one carriage, there were only two cells, one for Luo Ming and another for his warden, Tang Ye. The Luo siblings had no intention of raiding the escort to free their father. Emperor Yuansheng was aware they insisted on travelling with the escort for it could very well be thest time they see their father.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t dare to probe Shen Yiren for where Ming Feizhen went off to or what for as, when she frigidly told him Ming Feizhen went back to the capital. he could hear his pulse beating in his ears and feel sweat course down the side of his face.

    The rendezvous point ahead of entering Nanjiang was thest ce under the Central in¡¯s jurisdiction in the south - Xiuyu.

    ***

    ¡°Mm, not bad at all.¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t hide his joy as he checked his escort again.

    ording to Abels, while marching through the snow wasn¡¯t impossible for the escort, the risk of revealing their true identities would be higher than eptable.

    ¡°Master Huang.¡± Long Zaitian, still giddy since his return to glory, came inside brightly. ¡°Everyone you asked for is here.¡±

    ¡°Great. Come on in,¡± hollered Emperor Yuansheng.

    At first, the vigers told Emperor Yuansheng to buzz off when he asked for the house that could house dozens of people. Thankfully, he managed to settle it with some cash, earning them a generous amount of nkets and firewood as a bonus.

    The group outside stepped inside and lined up in three lines.

    Stroking his beard, Emperor Yuansheng chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not really anything important. The reason I called you all here is,¡± he ced a book from his shirt onto the table, ¡°to create your character settings.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s faces: Not this again!

    As someone who didn¡¯t know the Emperor Yuansheng way of character design, Abels shrugged it off: ¡°A wise decision. So¡­ are you the master of the escort?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not the only one who can fulfil that role.¡± Emperor Yuansheng drew a shiny broadsword from his belt and twanged it. Wearing a sideways ¡°3¡± for a smile, he asserted, ¡°I believe I can be a. Striking. Broadsword. Wielder.¡±

 Volume 10 24 Striking Broadsword Wielder (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 24 Striking Broadsword Wielder (Part 2)</h4>

    The man sporting ck attire and a bamboo hat coldly split the table before him without direct contact when he shed down at it, and then he sheathed it before flicking his sleeve as stylishly as he could to unt his speed. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of my gloomy broadsword wielder with a cold de image?¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°¡­ Bed time, everyone. We have to get moving tomorrow morning.¡±

    Everyone else familiar with Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s antics: ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Wait! We¡¯re not done! Yiren, what do you think?¡±

    Shen Yiren looked back at the fragmented table on the ground and responded, ¡°Remember to leavepensation for the table.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even touch it, though. The de¡¯s qi is to me.¡±

    Shen Yiren squatted down to grab a section of the broken table and studied the cut. ¡°Uncle, for your image¡¯s sake, I shall not tell them you chopped their table apart and then glued it back together. Having said that, you still must pay the vige chief for damages.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng faked a cough: ¡°Does nobody have the refined taste to fathom the beauty of my image? Xiao Han, you have something to say?¡±

    Su Xiao pursed his lips and wrinkled his nose as he approached. Pointing to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s belt, he questioned, ¡°Elder Huang, can I have my weapon back yet?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I would make off with your weapon? Hey, wait! Don¡¯t snatch it! Three days! Okay, two days! Lend it to me for just two days! Hey!¡± Upon losing Ancient Cold, Emperor Yuansheng griped, ¡°Moral degeneration is real¡­ Ahem, uh¡­ I¡¯ll role y as an elite broadsword wielder until we set out. It¡¯s a pity I won¡¯t have a chance to disy my brilliance. I n to restart my old career. Any thoughts? Siming?¡±

    Luo Siming replied, ¡°All of the broadswords among Luo Sword Manor¡¯s provisions were given to the Qilin Guards. Nobody in the retinue uses broadswords, so¡­ how you will pose as a broadsword wielder?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ realise it is a sword, right?¡±

    ¡°I do. So?¡±

    ¡°Never mind. I am just traumatised whenever I am reminded of Brother Ming¡¯s inability to distinguish between the two.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Reflect on yourself, then. Brother Bodhi.¡±

    Although Emperor Yuansheng imed he wanted to repay Abels for defeating Luo Ming, it was Reverend Zha who defeated Luo Ming. Therefore, Abels was technically bestowed honoured-guest treatment without rhyme or reason. Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t treat Abels as a vassal for thetter was the uncle of Tiezhen Kingdom¡¯s ruler, so a guest of honour was the next most eptable decision. Addressing Abels as a brother was befitting for Emperor Yuansheng was a tad older.

    ¡°What do you think, Brother Bodhi?¡± Emperor Yuansheng enthused, overflowing with confidence.

    ¡°Brother, Li, pardon me for being candid¡­ You are putting yourself on a pedestal.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng crouched down and started drawing circles on the ground.

    Shen Yiren grumbled, ¡°Uncle, can you cease this? If you do not have any legitimate issues to address, we will dismiss ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Had it not been for his slicked-back hairdo, Emperor Yuansheng would¡¯ve been more convincingly serious when he got back up. ¡°We can put my broadsword wielder character aside for the meantime. What I want to stress is that we rushed our trip. Despite having split our escort into different teams as per Brother Bodhi¡¯s suggestion, we have only discussed what to do in the face of danger and our roles in battle. We have to hide our identities whilst fighting off problems. On top of that, it will take us nearly a month to reach our destination. If we do not draw up proper profiles, everything else will be a struggle.¡±

    Shen Yiren opined, ¡°You are right. Without proper profiles, people outside of Jiangnan will suspect us of posing as merchants.¡±

    I¡¯m so d. Yiren really is the only one who understands me.

    ¡°This is why I have been tirelessly toiling away at this ¡®Character Database¡¯ - codename: Dapeng to the South¡¯.¡± Emperor Yuansheng chucked a small but extra thick book down. ¡°Please examine it.¡±

    There was only one copy, making it impossible for an entire group to read at once. Thus, Shen Yiren cleared her throat and read out, ¡°Story setting: Yizhen Company h-¡±

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop!¡± cried Song Ou. ¡°What is this Yizhen Company business?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng reproached, ¡°Will you quit yapping?! Why are you interrupting a perfect reading? I came up with the name. It¡¯s an auspicious name. We owe a lot to Constable Ming for our sess, and Yiren is the one I trust most here. The name is fine. You can criticise, but the name will stay as it is.¡±

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t continue reading once steam starteding out of her head, so Emperor Yuansheng took over.

    ¡°In thest four-odd decades since Yizhen Company¡¯s inception, three owners have operated it. Mr. Ming Feizhen, who left home due to his strained rtionship with his father, has been the chairman for thest three years. Owing to the economic decline taking its toll on Yizhen Company, thepany has decided to take the risk of delivering goods to Xiuyu City. Thepany has invested all it has in this gamble. Therefore, they do not have the capital to hire a reputable escort. As ast resort, they have brought everyone in thepany and home along to make up the numbers¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng even wrote borate profiles for everyone.

    Chairman Ming Feizhen: Fifth son of wealthy businessman Ming Daming in Luoyang. A zy glutton who failed to achieve anything noteworthy after pocketing money to purchase thepany and now needs to take this risk in hopes of staying afloat. He has en elder brother apanying nicknamed Second Fifth Son.

    Su Xiaoxiao: Chairman Ming¡¯s mistress who was a former famous hooker in Suzhou. She has no redeeming qualities other than her pretty face. To put it into perspective, she is so stupid that she has forgotten she is a woman.

    Tang Ye: Chairman Ming¡¯s distant cousin suffered a serious fever when he was a kid that did a number on his mental wellbeing. Because he bites people whenever he has apse, he needs to be isted and is named Ye Bei.

    Song Niaoren: Chairman Ming¡¯s useless elder brother, who is trusted with security of their goods. The reason for not sharing the Ming surname is because he is Ming Daming¡¯s illegitimate son. Since he is technically Ming Daming¡¯s fifth son, he is referred to as Second Fifth Son.

    Long Gundan: head of the guard unit of a small escortpany in Huzhou. Due to unspeakable reasons, he must piss off, hence the name Gundan.

    Tie Hanyi: also known as Ol¡¯ Tie, a lousy misceneous worker at thepany.

    Ye Xiaoluo: Chairman Ming¡¯s personal maid - in more ways than one.

    Luo Zhu¡¯er: another one of Chairman Ming¡¯s personal maids and reportedly in an ambiguous rtionship with Su Xiaoxiao.

    Luo Xiaoming: artisan responsible for fixing thepany¡¯s carts and carriages.

    ¡­

    Li Fangzhang: a mysterious, striking broadsword wielder who chose to lend thepany a hand after hearing of their plight.

    Abels: ¡°Brother Li.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Brother Bodhi.¡±

    ¡°Impetuous.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I shall be more modest.¡± Raising his voice once again, Emperor Yuansheng resumed, ¡°This is just my general idea. I am still deciding on the details. We shall leave personal stories forter. Our priority is to sort out your rtionships. I have not yet mentioned Brother Bodhi¡­¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°You are unquestionably the coach.¡±

    River Monster looked up, ready to stick knives in Emperor Yuansheng,pelling him to immediately borate, ¡°And my younger brother, Li Bodhi. You are the coach, while I am Chairman Ming¡¯s bodyguard. Since we are close in age, nobody should catch anything as long as we are conscientious.¡±

    Apanying a fist-palm salute, Abels expressed, ¡°It is my honour.¡±

    ¡°Now, for my precious daughter. Yiren is about the right age, so it¡¯s not convincing if she¡¯s not married.¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Indeed, even Su Xiao has gotten married.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°You¡¯re married to dogs! I¡¯m a man!¡±

    ¡°Yiren is most suited to y the role of a wife, but I have not figured out how to arrange her role, so let¡¯s go with what makes sense.¡± Emperor Yuansheng cast his gaze over to Song Ou. ¡°Her role would fit with Song Ou¡¯s.¡±

    Song Ou nodded profusely.

    ¡°But you two are only engaged, so it¡¯s inappropriate for him to stay with her at night. Given there are over a thousand people travelling together, rumours will inexorably rise and damage her reputation.¡±

    ¡°Fret not, Your Maj-¡±

    ¡°What did you just call me?¡± Emperor Yuansheng questioned with a frown. ¡°How many times have I stressed for everyone to be careful?! Are you being dismissive?!¡±

    ¡°Eld-Elder Huang, this one has been taught etiquette for as long as he can remember and is a gentleman whom respects them. Besides, there are no opportunities for him to step out of line. Being the victim of physical assault is not enjoyable in any shape or form!¡±

    Shen Yiren yawned: ¡°Take your time. Just tell me what you decide tomorrow. Bye.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± called Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°We haven¡¯t decided who you are staying with yet.¡±

    ¡°Does not make any difference to me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, where will your husband sleep?¡±

    ¡°In the snow outside of my door.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng pressed a hand on Song Ou¡¯s shoulder: ¡°The journey ahead is long. Stay strong.¡±

    After musing over it, Emperor Yuansheng picked up his book to pen down Song Ou¡¯s name since he couldn¡¯t think of anyone more suitable, when he heard, ¡°Wait, Hero Li.¡±

    ¡°Hero Li¡± was the equivalent of an aural orgasm for Emperor Yuansheng, evident from his prompt salute: ¡°Please speak, Vice-Captain Long.¡±

    Song Ou¡¯s eyes stretched as wide as they possibly could.

    Long Zaitian ced his hands together in a prayer and saluted everyone around: ¡°In my opinion, the rumours are of no consequence. Although we have over a thousand people travelling with us, we are not operating together and are focused on our individual tasks. Additionally, we are all loyal, and loyal men can discern what they should and should not say.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you make a good point.¡±

    ¡°In saying that, my concern is not without reason.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    It dawned on Song Ou that he was in danger when he met eyes with Long Zaitian. Long Zaitian then wasted no time opining, ¡°Talk is cheap in this day and age. Think about it: a self-proimed gentleman sharing a room with a beautiful woman every night. If it was a man who respects her and is sharing a room with her for legitimate business, then it is of no concern.¡±

    ¡°What do you want, Long Zaitian?! What are you trying to insin-¡±

    ¡°Second Fifth Brother, don¡¯t interrupt me. Let me finish exining to Hero Li.¡±

    Hero Li voiced, ¡°He has a strong argument. Let him finish.¡±

    Long Zaitian continued, ¡°If it was someone close, such as a fianc¨¦¡­ I am just making an example, not singling out anyone, if anyone feels I am attacking them, it is only a coincidence. So, what I am saying is, her fianc¨¦, the sick-¡±

    ¡°Long Zaitian!¡± erupted Song Ou.

    ¡°I meant¡± - Long Zaitian pushed Song Ou back with his fan -¡°the man in the example. My bad. Imagine this man spending every night by Miss Shen¡¯s bed, every night yearning for her, believing she will be his future wife, believing they will be living under the same roof and harbour indecent thoughts, one or two nights might be fine, but a month¡­ There is no guarantee he will be able to resist his urges. There is no guarantee he will not spike her drink one night and rock a carriage. By the time you wake up in the morning, we will find a corpse on the ground. Nobody can guarantee this will not happen, can they?¡±

    ¡°How dare he?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t imagine Song Ou enacting the proposed scenario when thetter flinched as soon as he looked over. Having said that, Long Zaitian had a point. ¡°Is it really that big of a deal, V-, I mean, Guard Captain Long?¡±

    Long Zaitian, fanning himself, rhetorically asked, ¡°What happened when Sun Wukong was stationed as Protector of the Peaches?¡±

    ¡°Convinced.¡± Emperor Yuansheng turned over the page with Song Ou¡¯s name and then stopped to think. ¡°¡­ I know. This is perfect.¡±

    ¡°You are most wise! Thank you for your grace, Hero Li!¡±

    ¡°No need for thanks. Ol¡¯ Tie is perfect!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Tie is unwaveringly loyal to me and upright, so there is nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ But you have to consider his appearance. Do you think it is appropriate to put someone who has a face resembling a dog¡¯s bitten toy next to Miss Shen?¡±

    The unwarranted low blow that came out of nowhere had Tie Hanyi pping his eyelids.

    ¡°The fact that he is still not married at his age is all telling. Is this not tantamount to trusting a dog with guarding, uh, what was the word you used?¡±

    ¡°Sheet?¡±

    ¡°Please keep it down, or Miss Shen will have me sleep in the snow tonight.¡±

    ¡°I guess you have a point¡­ ording to you¡­ this person who is handsome enough to fit Yiren¡­¡±

    Long Zaitian inhaled to inted his chest.

    Emperor Yuansheng whacked the table: ¡°Siming! Siming is upright, honest, can withstand his primal urges and has a good reputation.¡±

    ¡°Hero Li, can you not see how he feels about Miss Shen?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had noticed Luo Siming stealing nces at Shen Yiren for some already but just didn¡¯t point it out.

    ¡°Ahem, mm, good point.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Besides, trusting him with Miss Shen is tantamount to, uh¡­ trusting Ming Feizhen with protecting pork at a pork banquet.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ True that¡­ Wait, who did you just say?¡±

    ¡°Ming F-,nobody.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°No, I did not mention Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°You have a point!¡±

    ¡°Stop! Hero Li, I did not mention Ming Feizhen. I mentioned me, Ol¡¯ Long!¡±

    ¡°Perfect! Yiren is Ming Feizhen¡¯s superior, so he wouldn¡¯ty his paws on her. Plus, he¡¯s too weak to beat her. As well¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng nodded with confidence in his judgement, ¡°Thepany name fits perfect! Okay, Ming Feizhen it is!¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait!¡±

    With one final stroke, Shen Yiren¡¯s profile wasplete.

    Shen Yiren: Chairman Ming Feizhen¡¯s main wife.

    Glossary

    ¡°In saying that, my concern is not without reason.¡± - The second part in Chinese is conveyed in an unconventional way, which is why Emperor Yuansheng doesn¡¯t understand it. It¡¯s one of those times where vagueness and unconventional grammar makes it hard to understand.

    Sun Wukong was stationed as Protector of the Peaches - Long-story short, as the guardian, Sun Wukong (in Journey to the West) soon realised the effects of the immortal peaches if they were to be consumed - over 3,000 years of life after the consumption of a single peach - and consumed one. The rest is a story for another day.

    Long Zaitian saluting everyone with his hands together - This is an ancient way of saluting people, and the term is no longer used. You¡¯ll onlye across the term if you read transcriptions of ancient texts, some wuxia novels or pce novels (it¡¯s rare even among them if you¡¯re reading webnovels), so don¡¯t expect native speakers, who don¡¯t consume those reading materials, to know what the term is; they should recognise the salute if they see it, though.

    Men ce their hands together before their chest and bow their heads a tad. Women ce their right fingers up and left fingers down on the right side of their waist, bending at the knee. The salute is used more when there are lots of guests/visitors. Regardless of gender, you must salute the east, south, west and north.

 Volume 10 25 Dereâ€™s a Diger

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 25 Dere¡¯s a Diger</h4>

    The starry night still loomed above, yet Shen Yiren had already ventured into the cold. Although her regr length of sleep had only increased to six hours per night, its benefits showed on her skin. She also enjoyed theforting lull of being drawn into a deep slumber and then waking up refreshed.

    Yan Shisan had a training method that required the practitioner to resist the cold using their internal energy at all times. It sounds simple on paper, but it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for people to quit before the end of their first session. Because Shen Yiren diligently followed the prescribed exercise, she didn¡¯t need to wrap herself up when it was cold. Contrarily, she saw it as an opportunity to train herself.

    Using what is termed ¡°internal inspection¡±, Shen Yiren shut her eyes and meditated on the flow of energy inside her. The silver lining of going through a phase of being trapped in fake death was gaining ess to that dimension on a mental level. Combining it with Precision Scout empowered her to ess a depth that she previously wasn¡¯t even aware existed.

    I knew it. I have qi flowing differently to the qi flowing normally, and it¡¯s definitely not Six Phenomena Heart King Style¡­

    Shen Yiren still hadn¡¯t figured out the nature of the second qi flow inside her because it contradicted her knowledge. When she was asleep, it¡¯d circte autonomously and feed off her Six Phenomena Heart King Style¡¯s internal energy. She was aware of the second flow¡¯s activities. Howbeit, she couldn¡¯t stop it.

    There¡¯s no telling if keeping it is conducive or detrimental. Guess I¡¯ll talk to him when he returns, but¡­ he probably won¡¯t be returning alone. The two of them are childhood friends and seem to have feelings for each other. They¡¯d probably be married with kids if it wasn¡¯t for their seniority issue.

    Ming Suwen is called the Demoness, yet she¡¯s gentle toward Ming Feizhen unlike the prevalent rumours surrounding her in the world. He¡¯s like a gentle wind and drizzle apanying the flying swallow. He¡¯d admit he went to Ming Suwen if I asked, I bet. It¡¯s understandable for him to bring her along. Well, His Majesty already requested her intervention. She¡¯s probably stronger than me, and we would have better chances if she aids us. Liu Shan Men would also receive more credit from this. So, why¡­ why do I feel irritated?

    Shen Yiren returned to the real world upon hearing someone trudging through the snow behind her. ¡°Good morning, Vige Chief.¡±

    The vige chief shuddered when Shen Yiren suddenly greeted him and then, in a heavily-ented style, conveyed, ¡°Dere¡¯s a diger.¡±

    ¡°Um, sorry, what diger?¡±

    The vige chief pointed to the dark forest behind him: ¡°Dere¡¯s a diger on zee moundain. Dell zee people to be carefall.¡± The vige chief then walked off.

    ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    When Shen Yiren wrapped up her training at dawn, Su Xiao rose to start his training despite his hunger for sleep. Thankfully, some cold water on his face woke every fibre of him up. He greeted the first golden rays with augh, then sprinted over to keep Shen Yirenpany.

    Though the snowfall had ceased, it wasn¡¯t wise for them to continue travelling. In Huzhou, Luo Siming was a trusty navigator. Once they left Huzhou, however, they needed scouts to report back before advancing. At this point in time, Shen Yiren was awaiting a report from the scouts she sent offst night. Emperor Yuansheng viewed scouting the way Shen Yiren proposed to be a waste of time and unbearably boring, but one re from her was enough to make him obey. In her opinion, the way he travelled to Huzhou was unnecessarily reckless.

    Shen Yiren went off at everyone after she studied the reports Emperor Yuansheng recorded of his journey to Huzhou. When they argued Liu Shan Men¡¯s Ming Feizhen was the brains of the operation, she hit a man over the head with the stool she was sitting on.

    ¡°Are your brains shrinking?! How stupid do you have to be to trust that glutton as your strategist?!¡±

    Nobody dared to make a peep when Shen Yiren flew off the handle. After she found out it was Emperor Yuansheng who instated him as strategist¡­ Well, that¡¯s another day¡¯s story.

    Owing to her more-informed understanding of Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren was aware that Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s wellbeing wasn¡¯t factored into his equations. In contrast, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s wellbeing was her top priority. For that reason, she insisted on exploring all possibilities despite the time it consumed. As such, Shen Yiren appreciated having Abels wealth of experience and knowledge - as well as Long Zaitian¡¯s attention to detail and risk-taking nature - at her disposal to promptly address any issues.

    Shen Yiren rocked up at the small conference room prior to the scheduled time as per usual, but the person following closely behind today wasn¡¯t a usual member. ¡°Can I help you, Vige Chief?¡±

    The vige chief fumed, ¡°I Dol¡¯ you dere¡¯s a diger on zee moundain, why you no listen? Some peeps went up zee moundain and h¡¯ve no redurn.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Han, you understand?¡±

    ¡°I think he is telling us there is a tiger on the mountain, and our scouts have yet to return since going up there.¡±

    ¡°A tiger? On the mountain? Active in the middle of winter?¡±

    Shen Yiren brushed off the warning and opened the door. Those sitting inside immediately greeted, ¡°Good morning, Ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Han, you understand?¡±

    ¡°There must be a reason for the term of address.¡± Su Xiao narrowed his eyes to summon the knowledge and experience he umted from the journey with Ming Feizhen. ¡°I believe they have the wrong person.¡±

    Shen Yiren: Seems there are a lot of people who want me to scratch their itches today.

    ¡°Long Zaitian, exin,¡± Shen Yiren demanded.

    ¡°I refuse. I will never, never speak of it.¡± With that, Long Zaitian ran off sulking.

    Luo Siming and Song Ou¡¯s distraught appearances only befuddled Shen Yiren even more.

    Trying not tough, Abels covered his mouth to enlighten Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Ye Luo asked, ¡°Sister Shen, do you not mind sharing a room with Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve even yed a prostitute before, so what¡¯s the big deal? Doesn¡¯t bother who I y wife to. You guys,¡± Shen Yiren swept her gaze over everyone in the room, ¡°don¡¯t let it bother you. At the end of the day, the false identities are our armour. Our mission takes precedence. Are we clear?¡±

    Notwithstanding their displeasure with Emperor Yuansheng trashing all of them for his entertainment, they felt guilty about their discontent when Shen Yiren didn¡¯t mind it all.

    Preceding the meeting, Su Xiao, standing at Shen Yiren¡¯s rear, noticed her ears twitch as though they were cheering, albeit not being sure if it was just his imagination.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss our direction today and where our next stop station should be before Hero Li wakes up. Who wants to go f-¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± interrupted Tie Hanyi. ¡°I need to mention something first. I heard from several vigers that there¡¯s a tiger.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that. You believe there would be a tiger in a vige home to hundreds of people, active in this cold weather?¡±

    ¡°Dere is!¡± eximed the vige chief. ¡°Dere is a diger!¡±

    ¡°Why are you here, Vige Chief?!¡± grouched Shen Yiren. ¡°I thought I told you nobody is allowed here without permission. What happened to the sentry?!¡±

    ¡°I told them to let him in,¡± answered Long Zaitian. ¡°We have trouble, Miss Shen! Our scouts got hurt on the mountain!¡±

    ¡°I believe it is the work of the tiger,¡± asserted Tie Hanyi.

    ¡°I say do y¡¯all dere is a diger on zee moundain!¡±

    ¡°Can y¡¯all put a sock in it?!¡± Shen Yiren mmed the table. ¡°Stop spreading false rumours! ¡®Dere is a diger. Dere is a diger.¡¯ I¡¯s winter! Can y¡¯all stop?!¡±

    Nobody said another word when Shen Yiren let the vige chief¡¯s dialect slip in, while she lowered her red face.

    Glossary

    Dere¡¯s a diger - The dialect difference is more distinguished in Chinese because of thenguage¡¯s use of tones. Remember how I mentioned it¡¯smon for people in the South to pronounce ¡°sh¡± without the ¡°h¡±? Some dialects pronounce ¡°h¡± closer to ¡°f¡± - whilst still pronouncing their ¡°f¡± as ¡°f¡±. There¡¯s a part in there that Shen Yiren mishears as ¡°fat¡± because the vige chief pronounces e¡± like ¡°fat¡±. Impossible to replicate these misunderstandings in English.

 Volume 10 26 Die Diger

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 26 Die Diger</h4>

    Under Long Zaitian¡¯s orders, Five Qilin Guards, disguised as escort guards, surrounded the ferocious tiger on the mountain to y it and then bring its fur back to make a cushion for Emperor Yuansheng. While they weren¡¯tbat experts, rtively speaking, they did undergo rigorous training, so five of them against one tiger should¡¯ve given them a lopsided advantage. Yet, one growl from the ck and white tiger turned their legs to jelly. Regardless, in the name of His Majesty¡¯s buttocks, to battle they went.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In no time at all, there were only two stunned Qilin Guards still standing. The tiger was the size of an adult, therefore probably an infant tiger, yet it exhibited unbelievable dexterity. It didn¡¯t bite them, but one w attack was all it took to immobilise them.

    Three superior Qilin Guards soon showed up on the scene, yet only one managed to return to report - still better than the previous team. The trio managed to tag the tiger. Sadly, they weren¡¯t able to inflict any damage. Instead, the tiger fell them with its ws and tail. The only guard standing, seeing no hope after his colleagues dropped, ran off to report.

    The sleeping dragon, Long Zaitian, was finally enraged enough to personally take to the battlefield. In his younger days, he went into a mountain to test his mettle on tigers, ughtering eight of them back to back. Had the locals, who worshipped tigers, not gone after him with axes and sickles, Pissing Dragon would¡¯ve also been conferred the title of Tiger yer.

    When Long Zaitian encountered the tiger, he tore off his clothing. ¡°Wine!¡± Long Zaitian took the wine jug off the man next to him and knocked off the cork. With every drink, his eyes glimmered brighter and brighter.

    ¡°They call me Three Bowls Erection! The more I drink, the stronger I be. You probably haven¡¯t heard of Wu Song ying the tiger!¡± Long Zaitian flexed his arm muscles and twirled his wrist. ¡°See this casserole-sized fist? Have y, oi! Screw you! Don¡¯t just bite me out of nowhere! Let go, or I¡¯ll hurt you! All right, let¡¯s throw down!¡±

    Thus began a short skirmish.

    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s Shaolin¡¯s Damo Palms!¡± Long Zaitian spun to block another two w attacks, though the left one was actually a finger attack. ¡°Have some shame! Shaolin¡¯s Yizhichan?! You raised at Shaolin Temple?!¡±

    Has this tiger evolved or something?!

    Long Zaitian finally caught a thrust and scoffed, ¡°Prajna Palms, huh? Eh? Sweep?! y fair! How the hell does a tiger use kicks now?!¡±

    In the end, the tiger used its tail to swoop Long Zaitian to defeat, though the two hour match bought enough time for the other elites to arrive.

    ¡°¡­ This is the tiger of legends?¡± Shen Yiren shoved Long Zaitian¡¯s face away with her foot when he tried to cling to her leg.

    ¡°Miss Shen, hit the tiger, not the wounded!¡±

    ¡°Your mom is the tiger, you inbred! It¡¯s a human being!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    The ¡°tiger¡± indifferently licked its ws. Judging from the length of its tongue, it was a human tongue - if not shorter than the average human tongue.

    ¡°It¡¯s clearly a man in a tiger¡¯s fur. I¡¯ve been saying there can¡¯t be an active tiger on a mountain in the middle of winter,¡± grouched Shen Yiren. ¡°Who¡¯s the fag who imed it¡¯s a tiger?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Long Zaitian answered.

    All the Qilin Guards: ¡°Vice-Captain Long!¡±

    ¡°Will it cost you a leg to tell a lie, you nimrods?!¡± Long Zaitian reproached.

    Su Xiao: ¡°Stop sulking. Sister Shen hasn¡¯t even hit you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve this. It¡¯s embarrassing enough to have my rear handed to me, and now I¡¯m being told it¡¯s not even a real tiger?! I¡¯m going to kill myself.¡±

    Shen Yiren voiced, ¡°¡­ They might be a decent fighter, but they¡¯re not tough. Mountain Monster, I leave them to you.¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s giggling came to an abrupt stop. ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re ordering around? Daddy here has quit Evil spirits and isn¡¯t your underling.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Shen Yiren amiably dimpled. ¡°I might not intervene when you beg me to, though.¡± She then mouthed, ¡°Consciousness. Restraint.¡±

    ¡°Fine, Shen Skank! Sleep with your eyes and ears open! Wait for the day I blow you all into mincemeat!¡±

    ¡°Make sure to use more than one bag of powder, then.¡±

    ¡°Tch! Team One, give me a weapon!¡±

    The leader of Team One offered up a broadsword: ¡°Master, your broadsword.¡±

    Mountain Monster kicked her subordinate down the mountain and brayed, ¡°Why the hell would I waste my precious weapon on a tiger?! Give me a big manure fork!¡± She then turned back to the tiger and fumed, ¡°Daddy is going to put a new hole in this tiger!¡±

    Glossary

    Wu Song ying the tiger - Water Margin anyone?

    Yizhichan - Literally, one finger zen. From the official Shaolin sybus: ¡°Start by going from open hands to fingers. Next, do not use your hands. Every day, practice piking off the wall on two fingers to build strength in the fingers ( but fingers on the wall and feet behind your torso). ¡­ Once you have practiced daily for more than 30 years, move on to the next stage - get in the same position as a tiger¡¯s stretch (). Once you can perform dozens of repetitions of pushups in this position, you have mastered the skill.¡±

    Originally, it had no connotation with a martial art skill but the study of zen. As an extra piece of information, unlike other zen-based systems, which focus on isometric training, Yizhichan also incorporates movement (as you can see from the instructions to perform pushups).

    Mountain Monster and ¡°Daddy¡± - Yes, she refers to herself in a condescending tone and using a masculine form.

 Volume 10 27 Evil Spirits

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 27 Evil Spirits</h4>

    The tiger waited for Team One to run down the mountain and request an iron fork that could be wielded as a weapon from Luo Siming - even though it took a while. Despite being outnumbered and having a chance to flee, the tiger chopped up firewood and started a fire to roast three potatoes it dug up. Su Xiao wanted to ask for one, but Shen Yiren stopped him. By the time they came back with a fork, the tiger was done eating two potatoes and burping.

    Upon seeing her henchmen watch the tiger take its time peeling thest potato, Mountain Monster thundered, ¡°The hell you looking at?! Hand over the fork!¡± As soon as she got her hands on the fork weighing roughly twenty kilograms and almost three heads longer than her, she aimed it at the tiger and demanded, ¡°Get up, fool!¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen exposed Mountain Monster¡¯s real appearance, she seldom used her disguise technique again because she didn¡¯tmit any more murders.

    ¡°I¡¯ll grind your bones and flesh to dust!¡±

    The only one who wasn¡¯t astonished with Mountain Monster¡¯s disy of potent internal energy was Abels.

    ¡°Keep the fur! The fur is worth a lot!¡± Long Zaitian cried from the ground.

    The tiger strafed away, albeit barely, falling for Mountain Monster¡¯s feint. Mountain Monster caught the tiger moving sideways via interception and then plunged the fork through the unstable tiger.

    ¡°She won!¡± Su Xiao cheered.

    Long Zaitian: ¡°The fur! That¡¯s authentic fur!¡±

    Shen Yiren stomped on Long Zaitian¡¯s face. ¡°Give it a rest¡­ How¡­?¡±

    The tiger rolled up, then immediately targeted Mountain Monster¡¯s neck with their ws. Their disguise sure was shoddy, but their speed and willpower certainly matched wild beasts. Mountain Monster reacted with a measured sweep and then flowered. The tiger rolled across the ground, subsequently uncoiling a left palm strike, followed by a right, keeping the fork at bay.

    Prajna Palms was one of the most advanced disciplines among Shaolin¡¯s seventy-two arts in addition to being their most advanced palm style. Shaolin monks didn¡¯t start learning it until they¡¯re thirty years old, at earliest, which would then take decades to call themselves a master of it. For an elder to move at the speed the tiger was defied human evolution.

    Dozens of exchangester, neither could defeat the other. Perhaps that was why the tiger got up on their legs as a human would, forcing Mountain Monster into cowering behind her fork. There was no blood at their belly, but there was torn fur, which could only mean that Mountain Monster never managed to prate her opponent.

    Shen Yiren analysed the fight and then turned to Abels, who regarded her with a head bob. Both of them noticed Mountain Monster¡¯s sluggish true qi flow due to her opponent¡¯s discipline. Had they been a more advanced practitioner of Prajna Palms, Mountain Monster would¡¯ve already bitten the dust.

    Mountain Monster gradually lost her cool as she struggled to find a window for a counter; the desire to ask for her dual des from Luo n even flourished in her mind. As a dual-wielding broadsword specialist, she became the owner to the only pair of broadswords Luo Siming brought along, one of which she called ¡°b****¡± and the other ¡°b******¡±.

    ¡°Let me.¡±

    By the time ¡°me¡± hit Mountain Monster¡¯s ears, Abels had taken the fork from Mountain Monster. The gap between Abels and the tiger¡¯s abilities needed no description for the former had already found thetter¡¯s back within the next second.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I remember teaching you to strike without mercy. You forgot everything I taught you after Ox Demon died?¡± Abels, expert at Beijiang¡¯s renowned speary and Mountain Monster¡¯s spear teacher, added, ¡°This is how you¡¯re meant to utilise a spear.¡±

    The pressure emitted from Abels¡¯ straight thrust restrained the tiger in ce, rewarding Abels with free rein to smash the fork into the tiger¡¯s neck, sending the tiger rolling for several metres. Abels ambled over to Mountain Monster and whispered, ¡°Stop waiting for someone to tell you what to do with your life. Ox Demon is no more¡­¡±

    Mountain Monster neither disputed nor looked up.

    Bam! Abels caught the iron hammer Mountain Monster swung at him out of nowhere between two fingers. While perceived to be a foolhardy act in the eyes of outsiders, everyone in Evil Spirits had witnessed a simr scenario between the two more times than they could remember.

    ¡°d to see you haven¡¯t given up on trying to kill me.¡± Abels set the hammer down. ¡°From now on, kill for your own sake,¡± he said prior to walking off, leaving Mountain Monster to stand there poignantly.

    Note

    I apologise for the name censorship. It¡¯s Google Adsense¡¯s annoying policy.

 Volume 10 28 Mountain Monster

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 28 Mountain Monster</h4>

    Six years ago, Evil Spirits took in their second female member, their first being A-Lan. Their second member greeted them for the first time as the strategist for a band of horseback bandits. While she was impressive inbat, possessed sharp senses and a good head on her shoulders, none of those assets left the deepest impression.

    In terms ofbat skill, she didn¡¯t qualify superbpared to their previous enemies. She had a good head but was far a long way off from a schemer given her aggressive and impulsive temperament. Her affiliation with Rakshasa made her Abels natural enemy, yet he insisted on keeping her.

    What Abels saw in her was her gaze, the aggressive gaze of someone who persisted through fields of corpses no matter how challenging it was. As someone who went through simr experiences, he identified with her aggression.

    Living up to Abels¡¯ expectations, she dragged herself across the ground - a consequence of breaking her legs - to assassinate him on her second night with them. The only reason she didn¡¯t attempt to slit his throat the first night was because she poisoned his food when she stole from the kitchen, but that didn¡¯t kill him.

    She didn¡¯t have a means of making a living in the desert, so she stayed with them. On her first mission with them, she went back to the location they ambushed their target for their robbery to behead the corrupt official and all his associates. By no means was it an act of spite or upholding of justice; she was purely a murder monger, yet nobody deemed her savage for she shed tears when she killed.

    Combat skill wasn¡¯t something she was known for. Nevertheless, whenever they encountered an enemy, she would be first to charge at the enemy, throwing analysis and risk aversion to the wind. Blessed with the ability to analyse and adapt on the fly, fortunately, she would always find a way to kill her opponent, though she would shiver after the act.

    Abels once witnessed her convulsing, veins surfacing on her arms and face when she went three days without killing someone. When she was forced to cold turkey against her will, she¡¯d lock herself up and mangle livestock until the symptoms subsided hourster. Grown men used to freak out about eating the livestock¡¯s flesh after, but it soon became praise for her de work. Because of how derailed and unstable she was, Abels paired her up with Ox Demon.

    On one asion, she overextended herself, getting trapped deep inside an enemy formation on her own. In the end, Ox Demon went on a solo rampage to rescue her, and that was the first time she was pped so hard that she dropped.

    ¡°Stop making a fool of yourself. Someone who is afraid of killing people has no ce on a battlefield. You think having the highest kill count makes you brave? You¡¯re afraid! The more your fear suffocates you, the more blood you need to appease your nerves. You think wielding your weapons out of fear makes you invincible? Don¡¯t sphemebat!¡± Ox Demon snapped the long broadsword at her belt and walked off.

    She spent the rest of the night crying, no longer demanded to fight on the frontlines. She went to Abels¡¯ tent and implored him to bequeath her martial arts knowledge, finally addressing him as ¡°Master¡± and restarting her training from scratch. When she returned to the frontlines, she was a new person.

    Ox Demon used realbat to teach her the meaning of murder. ¡°Murder is the noblest deed in this world.¡± Ox Demon grabbed her slim shoulders to fix her shooting so that she¡¯d hit the head in the distance. ¡°If you are going to kill, make sure you get the kill and savour it. There¡¯s no point killing if you don¡¯t enjoy it. Remember: you are the master of murder, not its servant.¡±

    Ox Demon¡¯s teachings gave her bloodlust a direction.

    He has a point. If I can¡¯t escape it, why not ept it?

    As she released the arrow, as her arrow go out the other side of her target¡¯s head, the trepidation that had agonised her until then also whisked away. From then on, her skills and prudence improved exponentially under Ox Demon¡¯s guidance until she also gained an alias. To her, Ox Demon was a father as well as an elder brother in spite of her constant cussing.

    She was well aware that their chances of dethroning Abels and obtaining Luo Ming¡¯s martial arts manual were slimmer than their chances of failing, yet she didn¡¯t hesitate to assist Ox Demon when he chose to take up Luo Ming¡¯s offer because she felt she owed him.

    Until this day, Ox Demon¡¯s departure hadn¡¯t sunk in. Not once had she reacted emotionally since hearing of his demise, not because she was indifferent but because she had yet to move on from the stage of shock.

    ¡°¡­ that is her past.¡± River Monster recounted Mountain Monster¡¯s history in a quiet voice for Shen Yiren on their way back from the hunt.

    ¡°Why are you telling me so much?¡± Shen Yiren queried.

    ¡°Oh, not interested? I thought you wanted to know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the case. At least choose better circumstances, though¡­¡±

    A-Lan shrugged: ¡°You have nothing to lose if you know more about her when interacting with her in the future, do you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Uhm. I¡¯m curious why she hasn¡¯t had any withdrawal symptoms when she hasn¡¯t killed anyone since learning of Ox Demon¡¯s death.¡±

    A-Lan leaned in close to whisper, ¡°I heard she stopped carrying on about killing people after he locked her up for half a month. You know anything about it?¡±

    ¡°He? Who?¡±

    ¡°Asking the obvious.¡± A-Lan covered her impish dimple. ¡°In Mandarin, his surname is often used in the word ¡®obvious¡¯.¡±

    Shen Yiren immediately grabbed A-Lan by the ear.

    ¡°Ow, ow, ow! What sort ofdy are you?!¡±

    ¡°You also have an itch you want scratched?¡± For some reason, though, Shen Yiren¡¯s ears were redder than the ear she was wrenching unlike her straight face.

    ¡°Umm, I didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop, but I do have a question I¡¯d like to ask,¡± Long Zaitian formally requested from the ground. ¡°Where is the tiger?¡±

    Now that they looked again, the tiger was gone, not that it was surprising considering the fact that Abels managed to prate a mountain rock. The question was, who took the dragon¡¯s tiger skin?

    ¡°Miss Shen, this is important! Search for my fur!¡±

    ¡°Hear that?¡± Shen Yiren tugged River Monster¡¯s ear. ¡°Still want to misbehave?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I was just joking! Sheesh!¡± River Monster threw herself into Abels¡¯ arms to act coquettish as soon as Shen Yiren released her.

    Shen Yiren dusted her hands: ¡°Rx. I know where he is. No need to look so surprised. I even have a rough idea of what he¡¯s up to. It¡¯s just¡± - Shen Yiren turned to Abels - ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t finish him.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t pulling punches. I know I found my target. It¡¯s just,¡± Abels looked to his hand, ¡°it didn¡¯t feel like¡­ it was human.¡±

    ¡°I told you it¡¯s a tig-, ow!¡±

    This time, it was Mountain Monster who stomped on Long Zaitian stoically. ¡°My match with him isn¡¯t over. Where is he?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about time. Let¡¯s head down to H-, Hero Li¡¯s ce.¡±

    At their level, they easily descended the mountain in no time using their qinggong. When they returned, all of their men were scattered across the ground, top of their heads swollen.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°We need to go check on Hero Li!¡± cried Long Zaitian.

    Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo were out cold and had an extra lump on their head each when the group arrived.

    ¡°See, even Ol¡¯ Tie lost. I told you it¡¯s an evolved tiger!¡± Long Zaitian asserted.

    Upon entering the room, Dugu, as well as Lai Jingzhen, acted as barricades between Emperor Yuansheng, the tiger and elder brandishing a spiked mace.

    Su Xiao and Long Zaitian, upon seeing the elder, blurted, ¡°You!¡±

    Shen Yiren tugged up a corner of her lips and domineeringly pointed at the elder, ¡°I knew it was you, Vich Chieth!¡±

    ¡­

    Shen Yiren meekly retracted her arm to cover her rosy cheeks: ¡°What?! Never bitten your tongue before?!¡±

    Glossary

    Obvious - It¡¯s often written with the ¡°Ming¡± character in ¡°Ming Feizhen¡±. In the original text, A-Lan says, ¡°The first character,¡± which refers to the first character in ¡°Asking the obvious¡± (Asking the Ming).

 Volume 10 29 Incomprehensible

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 29 Iprehensible</h4>

    ¡°Yiren, perfect timing.¡± Confused and indecisive, Emperor Yuansheng reported, ¡°The elder attacked everyone as soon as he came in. Dugu got clobbered three times trying to reason with him. I would have several bumps on my head by now if State Preceptor Lai didn¡¯t protect me.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen, with a straight face, expressed, ¡°It is your subject¡¯s duty. There is no need for thanks. What is this about a thousand taels? What is this about a thousand taels?¡±

    Shen Yiren simpered at the shaking tiger and cool vige chief: ¡°Why don¡¯t you show your real self? Your plot has been unearthed.¡±

    ¡°What plot are you talking about?¡± inquired the indifferent vige Chief.

    Emperor Yuansheng tapped his empty scabbard at his belt: ¡°Don¡¯t feign ignorance! Want me to do the maths for you?! We agreed to pay you one hundred taels to rent your ce for a night and would settle it once we check out, correct? We never vited any of the policiesid out during our stay, correct? What warrants this attack?! If you can¡¯t justify your attack, my broadsword won¡¯t spare you even if I do! Men, bring me my Five-Rings Dragon Head Great Broadsword!¡±

    In response to Li Fangzhang¡¯s scripted speech, all the vige chief had to say was, ¡°How did my table end up in parts.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Ahaha¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng ducked behind Lai Jingzhen.

    Lai Jingzhen swept his eyes around. ¡°Don¡¯t look, or don¡¯t me me for gouging out your slits¡­ In other words, your tiny eyes.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Yiren takesmand. I¡¯m going to do up my shoces.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to say anything. The clown in the tiger disguise is with you. You told us there¡¯s a tiger on the mountain and had him lure us up there so that you could attack my uncle while we were gone,¡± Shen Yiren exposed.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious: how did you find out?¡± questioned the vige chief, no longer speaking with a heavy ent.

    ¡°Will you show your true faces if I tell you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    ¡°First, how do you know there¡¯s a tiger on the mountain when you¡¯re not on the mountain? Most likely, I¡¯m first to wake up in the vige, so how do you know there¡¯s a tiger before I do when you don¡¯t know how to fight?¡±

    ¡°A valid point.¡±

    ¡°Second, the two times you showed up, you showed up without a sound. Your qinggong proficiency gave you away. Perhaps you did try to hide your abilities, but choosing to pose as an elder ruined that. How can an elder tread so lightly. Brother Bodhi and I can discern you¡¯re hiding your true age based on the sounds of your footsteps.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t help it. Where I trained, heavy steps would¡¯ve cost me my life. I can¡¯t change a habit ingrained since childhood.¡±

    ¡°Third, your Jiangnan dialect, can you stop embarrassing yourself?¡±

    ¡°Not too shabby.¡± The elder, grinning, pped. ¡°I thought I had it in the bag, but the trapped heroine has turned the tables on her enemy, while the heroes have gone to zeroes. You¡¯re very sharp, Miss Shen.¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap. Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I have another question. Why did youe up the mountain when you knew those three facts prior to ascending?¡±

    ¡°Ever heard of throwing a long line to catch a big fish? Would you have revealed your true nature if we didn¡¯te up? If I didn¡¯te up, I wouldn¡¯t have known you have a death wish. You¡¯re overestimating yourself.¡±

    The elder raised his hand, misleading them into thinking heunched a projectile. Upon lowering his hand, all of his wrinkles had smoothed out, unraveling his young face.

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Looks pretty handsome.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Haven¡¯t I seen him somewhere before?¡±

    The vige chief¡¯s most notable features were his cold eyes and the sense of mystery surrounding him. Whenever anyone in the room locked eyes with his squinted eyes, they felt they were facing off against their predator.

    ¡°This is just how my eyes are when I look at people.¡± The vige chief smirked and then whipped his hand, scaring them back a step. He slipped his hand into his shirt and wore on a pair of spectacles from Western Regions. ¡°Because I have bad eyesight.¡±

    Numerous people: ¡°You want to get smashed?¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Shut up! Stay on task. Who are you? Why are you hindering us? How did you know our whereabouts? Seeing as you targeted Hero Li, you should be aware that you won¡¯t leave this ce alive unless you exin yourself.¡±

    ¡°I need to take my time responding given how many questions you posed. Where shall I start? How about starting with self-introductions?¡± The young man stroked his chin and then yanked the tiger fur off hisrade, revealing the glossy head of thetter.

    His baldness was a foregone conclusion since he employed Shaolin¡¯s disciplines. What nobody expected was that he didn¡¯t even look twenty years old; hisbat prowess wasn¡¯t something that anyone in his age bracket could replicate.

    Long Zaitian: ¡°My fur!¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°I lost to a snotty-nosed brat?!¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Haven¡¯t I seen him somewhere before?¡±

    As usual, Shen Yiren showed respect to all monks: ¡°May this one ask which temple you are with?¡±

    The baldy frantically waved his hands and, letting his nervousness around strangers slip, replied, ¡°I¡¯m not a monk! I just had to shave because I lost a bet! I drink and eat meat. By the way, do anyone of you have food on you? I¡¯m starving¡­¡±

    Hisrade said, ¡°We are from the same sect. I¡¯m third. He¡¯s fourth. Let us not waste your memory remembering his modest name.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Hahaha, his name isn¡¯t God something, is it?¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s junior¡¯s surname is Tianfeng. His name is Xuanyuan. His alias is Vajra Indomitable Empyrean.¡±

    ¡°He really is a god?!¡±

    ¡°As for this one¡­ His surname is Sima.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Prior to the pause, they heard his voice from directly in front of them. Everything enunciated after the pause came from Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side. Had Lai Jingzhen not dispersed his energy, the young man would¡¯ve taken Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head.

    Upon returning to his original spot, the young man finished, ¡°First name Huai. This one is a nobody. You need not remember him.¡±

    Dugu, next Emperor Yuansheng, rubbed his head as he roared, ¡°Why does your self-introduction require hitting me?!¡±

    ¡°When the tall gentleman there discharged his energy, he sted everyone outside away but also trapped those within. The two of you couldn¡¯t move. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t tag Mr. Li, while you happened to be in the right ce, at the right time, at the right distance. I couldn¡¯t resist.¡± Sima Huai tried to sneakily hide his spiked mace behind him.

    ¡°That¡¯s no reason to hit someone with a spiked mace! Hero Li, requesting permission to challenge him!¡±

    ¡°You can stop with your act.¡± Shen Yiren folded her arms, fixing her gaze on Sima Huai at the same time. ¡°Your first brother has mentioned your names to me already. Is this mutiny?¡±

    Sima Huai held his gaze against Shen Yiren¡¯s for a while, then voiced, ¡°That being the case¡­ Hmph, Fourth.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Retreat.¡±

    ¡°Wait up!¡±

    The two burst through the windows behind them, showing a clean pair of heels along their predetermined escape route. Shen Yiren stopped their members from giving chase, expounding, ¡°They¡¯re not hostiles, though they aren¡¯t allies, yet. They¡¯ll be back, and there may be more of them. Leave them. Get some ointment to treat our wounded¡­ Give Dugu extra because he¡¯s¡­ taken rather a lot of damage.¡±

    ***

    ording to their n, the two runners hid inside a location of the mountain, though Tianfeng Xuanyuan was wheezing on the ground since he struggled to keep up with his senior boasting superior qinggong.

    ¡°¡­ Third Brother, why do we have to fight them? I¡¯m starving. Let¡¯s make peace with them.¡±

    ¡°Not possible,¡± Sima Huai calmly objected. ¡°They want to exterminate Six Evils. If they don¡¯t have what it takes, they¡¯re going to be more of a hindrance than helpful. If they want to work with Mount Daluo, they better be qualified.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m really hungry.¡±

    ¡°Hungry? You think your brother would let you starve?¡± Sima Huai took out a handful of money. ¡°Go buy something to eat and some new clothes.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan rubbed his eyes as he flipped the coin around. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, isn¡¯t this a penny?¡±

    Sima Huai nodded: ¡°If you prefer, you can call it one copper. Go buy some food. I¡¯m also hungry. Don¡¯t forget the change.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan started musing deeply.

    Trivia

    Iprehensible (literally tranted), ¡°Not three, not four,¡± which is also a y on Third and Fourth¡¯s denial in addition to referencing the confusion of those partaking in their scheme. I don¡¯t know of any English phrase that can replicate that, so¡­

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan - His surname means ¡°heavenly wind¡±, while his first name is the name of a deity in Chinese mythologies (Yellow Emperor) - Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, plus Five Forms of the Highest Deity.

 Volume 10 30 Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak Snow

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 30 Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak Snow</h4>

    The way Beiping¡¯s Mount Daluo raised their sessor would be defined as ¡°ying around¡± by the standards of the rest of the world. Some know, and some don¡¯t, that Mount Daluo wasn¡¯t established to be a martial arts academy but a school of thought. To speak in less abstract form, their goal was to impart their sessors with knowledge and a thinking system to exterminate Six Evils.

    Before Mount Daluo attained the name, the sect¡¯s founder personally carved on the sky-reaching mountain ¡°Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak¡± and moved onto the mountain peak with his five brothers in arms. Because all six of them came from different schools, they couldn¡¯t just mash together their disciplines in the name of starting a sect for it¡¯d only do harm.

    It¡¯s difficult for one to not be prejudice towards another discipline, let alone a school. For that reason, sects either elect one discipline to be their primary discipline orbine the others. The six, however, didn¡¯t hold back for the sake of protecting their secrets after witnessing the threat to mankind that the mutants posed.

    When they descended the mountain to recruit their sessor, they didn¡¯t care which discipline their sessor learnt as long as they could thwart the mutants¡¯ havoc. Owing to this approach, it was difficult to state exactly who a disciple¡¯s mentor was. By the same ount, besides the few direct disciples, the other disciples disregarded seniority when it was impossible to tell who was whose senior and if they were an uncle, brother, aunt, sister¡­ If they wanted to create an official ¡°family tree¡±, they¡¯d require permission from the senior disciple.

    Hero Shenzhou and Ming Suwen were the only disciples alive from the 27th generation. While Ming Huayu was Hero Shenzhou¡¯s only direct disciple, there was no shortage ofpetent disciples in Ming Huayu¡¯s generation whom were considered his juniors because, until Ming Huayu was instated as senior disciple, official intake of disciples was forbidden.

    During Mount Daluo¡¯s 29th generation, the three biggest orthodox sects showed signs of degrading into shadows of their former selves, while the other four orthodox sects saw a surge of growth. The difference between Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo, though, was that Mount Daluo wasn¡¯t facing a shortage of talent but too many as they recruited five exemry disciples at once.

    Prior to Ming Huayu anointing Ming Feizhen as the senior disciple, Hong Jiu was educated in literacy, martial arts, psychology, reactions and had his character honed so that he would go on to be the senior disciple. Well, luck was something that eluded him no matter what¡­ Ming Huayu decided Ming Feizhen would be his sessor from the very beginning and never swayed on that.

    If there are two equals in a sect, there¡¯s bound to be conflict over leadership. This dilemma manifested before Ming Huayu even had the chance to worry about it. The moment Ming Huayu announced Ming Feizhen was his sessor, Hong Jiu jumped Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen, out of instinct, uncorked a zing-fast back kick that dropped Hong Jiu into a pile of manure. Nobody saw how the exchange took ce. Nheless, they congratted Ming Feizhen and forgot Hong Jiu in the ditch of manure.

    There were five other direct disciples when Ming Feizhen was appointed as senior disciple. One was in a manure ditch. Another was running. The other remaining two were nine year old Sima Huai and five year old Tianfeng Xuanyuan.

    When people talk about broadswordy in the north, they must mention vaunted Sima n in Beiping. Patriarch Sima Yan, also hailed as Shadowfallen Greeneaves, sent his only son to the top sect in Beiping when thetter was just a kid.

    Sima Huai, blessed with a head and body that only required tempering to hold his own weight among the elites of martial arts, proved his worth and lived up to his father¡¯s hopes when he soaked up everything he was taught right away. He smashed the previous learning record, which was three months, for learning Dream Stirring¡¯s Heavenly Peak White, mastering it in only ten days, and had overtaken the best user of the technique. What¡¯s more, the technique was his weakest subject. Unfortunately, although Sima Huai exhibited spectacr gifts for swordy, his mind seemed tog behind his movements due to some emotional issue.

    Among the five most promising disciples, there was one wasrge, rowdy, dressed slovenly and oftenughing heartily. No matter howte he turned in, he was always bouncing off walls. When he got hurt in training, he¡¯d be back and kicking after three days of rest. He was considered the freak of nature for his iprehensible reaction times.

    There was also the guy spacing out - always. The only time he¡¯d be smiling was when he was munching on a sesame seed cake. There wasn¡¯t much they could reproach him for since he was only six years old, but his zoning out warranted concern. For this reason, Sima Huai thought his fourth brother was also selected owing to his surname.

    Tianfeng was a rare surname - not in the same sense as Sima or Hong Jiu¡¯s Hong. Tianfeng n was the descendants of the previous dynasty. Among the thirty-one Emperors of the previous dynasty, thirteen Empresses carried the Tianfeng surname. In this era, the Tianfeng surname no longer held any weight in the martial artsmunity unlike a century ago. After the downfall of the erstwhile dynasty, their n was executed along with other criminal officials. If there was anything that kept the Tianfeng surname relevant anymore, it was that one of Ming Huayu¡¯sdies inherited the surname. Nobody took any issue to Ming Huayu lowering standards to take in a descendant of Tianfeng n.

    On a windy day, atop Stirring Dreams Rainy Heavenly Peak, Sima Huai underestimated the influence of the wind, identally cutting Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s face. Sima Huai¡¯s first reaction was to freak out. Once he recalled the sensation upon impact, however, he had a kneejerk reaction. There wasn¡¯t as much as a scratch on Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s face. Befuddled, Sima Huai tried pinching Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s cheek, but he couldn¡¯t move thetter¡¯s skin.

    Sima Huaiter learnt that, as Tianfeng n¡¯s only descendant, Tianfeng Xuanyuan was nourished with various supplements, bathed in medical concoctions concocted from herbs over a hundred years old, and an elder of their n opened his meridians to consolidate his foundation. In short, their n stopped at nothing to ensure he would grow up strong. Thus, he was already as solid as rock at five years of age and internal energy that would take thirty-plus years to cultivate without all his supplementary nourishments.

    Another seven year old child, rather, another monster, came running up to Sima Huai at full speed. Since Lian Zhuiyue joined after Tianfeng Xuanyuan, he was sixth in terms of seniority notwithstanding him being older than Tianfeng Xuanyuan. Lian Zhuiyue was literate, learnt martial arts equally fastpared to his seniors, wasn¡¯t entric as them, had the best aptitude for swordy among them and didn¡¯t do poorly in any other subject. Howbeit, he was excessively inquisitive, disregarding the consequences in order to acquire the answer he sought once his interest was piqued.

    Because Lian Zhuiyue was a kid, he was always given the answers to his queries. One of the questions he asked when he was six was, ¡°Why can¡¯t we grab the moon?¡± His uncles had no clue how to respond. His shifu responded, ¡°Catch it if you can.¡± And that was how his aspiration to chase the moon came to be. Lian Zhuiyue surpassed his fellow disciples because he ran all over the mountain at night and trained during the day. Hong Jiu once sparred him to a draw.

    Thest one yet to have an honourable mention was Fifth Sister, Ming Huayu¡¯s daughter. Hong Jiu was a monster. Sima Huai wa also a monster. Tianfeng Xuanyuan was another monster. Lian Zhuiyue was a monster, too. What was Ming Huayu¡¯s daughter? A monster, as well. They were all monsters! When every disciple of a certain teacher is a monster, what¡¯s their teacher likely to be? A shifu with a hole in his brain.

    On the day their training officiallymenced, the six of them were procedurally taken to different ces. Hong Jiu was thrown into a mountain - not any run-of-the-mill mountain, for that matter. The mountain Hong Jiu was thrust into was home to extremely dangerous ¡°forbidden beasts¡±, a ce only Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch and Hero Shenzhou were allowed to venture into. Unless given permission, nobody else was even granted a glimpse of the cordoned area. For all he knew, he was dragged off in the middle of what could¡¯ve been hisst meal. Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t supplied with anything besides a martial arts manual and a bamboo cudgel when he was chucked into the mountain.

    Sima Huai was tossed into a deste valley so dark that the horizon was barely visible. The barren windy valley was almost impossible to stand steady in.

    ¡°This ce is called Windless Valley.¡±

    Sima Huai asked, ¡°¡­ Windless, you say? Shifu, is your brain leaking out of your skull?¡±

    Ming Huayu gave Sima Huai a beating prior to enlightening, ¡°Windless Valley is one of Mount Daluo¡¯s valleys, and its name derives from the fact that no other wind can counteract the wind in the valley. The chances of survival in here are 10%; bears are sliced under its pressure. On certain days, the wind billows as violently as eight elites attacking you at once. If you¡¯re here on those days, you¡¯ll only leave this valley in pieces.¡±

    ¡°Sh-Shifu, how do we get back?¡±

    ¡°While it¡¯s simple toe down here,ing up¡­¡± Ming Huayu pointed to the vaguely visible ck lines on the face of the mountain. Each bar was spaced out anywhere between a hundred metres to a hundred and eighty metres, with the longest line stretching several metres. ¡°The only way back up is following that irondder your ancestor left behind.¡±

    ¡°Sh-Shifu, what am I supposed to learn here? Let¡¯s leave as soon as I am done. It will be tough to find the way back once the sun goes down.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t be leaving that soon. You know why you are here today?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Huayu gazed over to the iron trail up the face of the valley: ¡°Because the wind is most forgiving today.¡±

    This is forgiving? I barely feel the ground. I wonder how strong it blows on its most ruthless day. Stop, stop, focusing on learning and then getting out of here.

    ¡°Shifu, you chose today so that we would have the easiest time heading back, right?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Ming Huayu passed Sima Huai a bag of stuff. ¡°So that I would have the easiest time heading back.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Wh-¡±

    Ming Huayu had already begun his desperate climb up thedder.

    It took a while for Sima Huai to process everything. ¡°Shifu! I am still here!¡±

    ¡°You can stay there.¡± Ming Huayu looked over his shoulder and shed his teeth. ¡°When you can climb back up, you graduate. I have a mah-jong game I need to get to. Bye.¡±

    Glossary

    Back kick -

 Volume 10 31 Dark and Windy Border

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 31 Dark and Windy Border</h4>

    Not once did Sima Huai have a hankering to climb out of the valley in his first year at the bottom. He stared at the spot Ming Huayu wasst visible for a long time when thetter ditched him then cradled his knees and sobbed. After he was done crying, Sima Huai grouched, ¡°He¡¯s left, huh? Bloody cried for nothing.¡±

    Sima Huai performed visual recon. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to find my own way back. Is there anything to eat here?¡±

    After Sima Huai did ap of the valley, he gave up on climbing the iron rails the way Ming Huayu did for, by his estimations, he would be blown off around three steps up based on his current qinggong and internal strength levels. If he climbed with reckless abandon, he¡¯d likely make it to the fifteenth step before plumetting to his death.

    Inside the bag Ming Huayu gave him, Sima Huai found a book that, although he couldn¡¯t read in the darkness, he luckily could make out owing to how hard the writer pressed down onto the paper. He couldn¡¯t see how the book woulde in handy subsequent to feeling out the word ¡°Shadow Steps¡±, so he set it aside. Upon finding arge wooden bowl, a water pouch, an iron pot and a jar of salt, he concluded Ming Huayu was set on having him spend a long time in the valley.

    Sima Huai neither gave up hope, wallowed in his predicament nor wasted time whining. There was no point betting on luck getting him home on the day; he decided to make the most of the day that the wind was kindest to research the valley as much as possible.

    Although being careless was seemingly hereditary for Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples- to varying degrees depending on individual - they always felt morefortable in danger and, therefore, were more scrupulous. The most distinguishing characteristic of Sima Huaipared to his brothers, though was his organisation. When cornered, he would be able to figure out what conditions must be adhered to in order for him to survive. He would reverse engineer his primary goal to take the small steps that eventually led him to the big goal. In this scenario, his small goal was to climb out. His primary goal was to give his wretched shifu hell!

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Without survival, there was no revenge. Hence, Sima Huai spent the next few hours searching for shelter. He made a cavern with a natural pool of water deep inside his home as it supplied him with drinking water, and there were fish swimming down there. Unless it was hisst resort, nevertheless, jumping into the water was out of the question since it was unbearably cold.

    The problem with the cavern was that it was pitch-dark outside and wasn¡¯t a perfect barrier against the wind. If he was struggling to bear the winds on its most forgiving day, he was history when it feeling nasty.

    Sima Huai filled up his water pouch and then made haste for the outside to capitalise on what little time remained of the day. Only when the gales started blowing more savagely did he chance upon a small cave that kept the winds out. Furthermore, there were skeletons of animalsrger than him within, indicating it was safe for him to use as a home. That being said, if the animals residing there wilted to bones, then it could only mean there was no edible food or water. Venturing into the cold pool to fish wasn¡¯t a long-term solution when there was a limited number of fish there.

    Sima Huai, worn out from the long day, decided to stay in the cave where only the eerie wind was audible. He wiped his wet eyes and scolded, ¡°You expected this¡­ What are you crying for, wuss?¡± He then dragged his body through the windy valley once again, only giving up and returning to the small cave when the wind made it impossible to breathe properly. He took apart his bag to use as a nket and spent a few hours resting.

    The wind speed was significantly faster by the next morning, so Sima Huai needed to exercise precise qi maniption to stay grounded with each step.

    Over the next few days, Sima Huai refrained from eating as he couldn¡¯t source any food, resorting to catching fish from the pool when he could no longer bear with the hunger pangs. Catching fish in the chilly pool would¡¯ve been absolute hell if they weren¡¯t poor runners due to the prolonged peace. Satiating his hunger signals led to a fever immobilising him, unfortunately. In his dreams, he felt a familiar, yet foreign, warm hand on his forehead. Strangely, he was alive and kicking upon waking up.

    It took Sima Huai a month to find some herbs in the cliff face to eat; it took another six months to find something akin to ginseng.

    As there was no sunlight in the valley, Sima Huai had to use his internal circadian rhythm as his clock, carving onto the stone walls to keep track of how many days went by.

    Surviving on its own was straining. As such, Sima Huai had next to no energy to spend on thinking of an escape. The main virtue of the harsh winds was being forced to alter his breathing pattern, which was the opposite of his internal style up until that point. If you can¡¯t breathe, you can¡¯t do anything else. A year into his stay, he could breathe perfectly fine. When he thoughtlessly bound, he discovered he was capable of covering metres in one leap. At longst, he remembered he hadn¡¯t read the manual he was provided.

    Glossary

    Bag - Back then, bags were essentially one piece of cloth folded up as you can see. When Sima Huai takes it apart, it means he¡¯s taking everything out and unfolding it.

 Volume 10 32 Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall Moon â€“ Moonlight

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 32 Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall Moon - Moonlight</h4>

    Hero Shenzhou braided together the best andpatible qinggong of other schools with his own innovations to invent Shadow Steps Manual, which went on to be inducted into Daluo Five Divine Styles. As the name suggested, the discipline taught the practitioner to position themselves in their opponent¡¯s blind spots at blinding speed, making it ideal for assassins and burrs.

    As an individual who took his time, Sima Huai never thought about learning to move exceptionally fast. If he didn¡¯t want to live a primitive life at the bottom of the valley for the rest of his life, nheless, he needed to excel at qinggong.

    That old fart must¡¯ve left me down here to force me to learn this manual.

    The further his finger scoured, the more despair Sima Huai felt. Among the numerous qinggong variations within, not one of the mental cultivationponents made sense to a twelve year old. With nothing else to do, though, he devoted all his free time to studying the manual.

    Amazingly, Sima Huai breezed through the initial few basics. Though he couldn¡¯t fathom why, the qi cirction method seemed to be created specifically for him; he was even able to guess what the next sentence was on several asions. Some may find they have to climb over walls to reach the next spot, yet he was figuratively walking across tnd. They say progression is the mother of motivation. Thus, he started treating the book as gently as a girl¡¯s hand and grew more focused on training as he progressed.

    In three months, Sima Huai had mastered the first level of what those at the pinnacle of the martial world spent half their life learning, bing the fastest learner of Shadow Steps Manual in history. If the wind of the valley was incredible, then Sima Huai¡¯s progress was even more incredible. The contents of the manual were foreign to him. The methods and theories defied what he had learnt thus far and exceeded his level ofprehension. Frankly, he only understood half of the text and images, using his own intellect to extrapte from there.

    What hadn¡¯t dawned on Sima Huai at the time was the pivotal role breathing yed in qinggong. Anyone who has tried to excel in martial arts knows the importance of breathing; it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say that it was a key to progress. Separating yin and yang through breathing for bnce was no simple task. Being forced to traverse through the nasty winds in Windless Valley expedited the learning process and taught him how to control his breath. Had he not learnt to do so, he wouldn¡¯t have survived a second day in the valley.

    Sima Huai¡¯s personality made it possible for him to not only survive but also thrive in those conditions. Others may have gone mad being alone for so long, let alone learning anything. Hence, the environment, his innate potential, his luck and personality all melded together to create his sess.

    Sima Huai only realised the stars were aligned for him four yearster, when he had learnt somewhere between 70% - 80% of Shadow Steps Manual and only needed to master thest level. He could freely roam the valley now with the improvement of his physical attributes and train without taking days off due to excessive wind speeds. To add, he no longer needed to take shelter in caves even on the windiest day.

    To escape the valley, Sima Hua had a 90% chance of climbing up within three days on the day the wind blew slowest - estimated based on Ming Huayu¡¯s pace. The fastest he could possibly climb to the top was two and a half days. In other words, there was still an enormous discrepancy between his qinggong and his shifu¡¯s.

    Sima Huai turned to thest page of Shadow Steps Manual.

    There¡¯s something odd about the way this manual is written. The sophisticated writing style, simple exnations and examples used seem to be crafted just difficult enough so that I won¡¯t find an answer without thinking but not too difficult that I give up. It¡¯s almost like¡­ it¡¯s written for me¡­ I get it now¡­ Up until now, I¡¯ve only been theorising and not experimenting. The wild winds make this the best environment for me to experiment.

    Since then, Sima Huai never focused on the rails leading out of the valley again, though he never forgot the scene of his shifu climbing out.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    By the time Sima Huai returned to Mount Daluo, it had been eight years since he wasst there. The twelve year old boy had grown into a twenty year old man.

    Glossary

    Yin and yang in breathing - In our current paradigm, we call this the bnce of carbon dioxide and oxygen. You probably often hear being taught about the importance of getting in heaps of oxygen, but you probably don¡¯t get told about the importance of carbon dioxide tolerance. Look into Bohr Effect if you want more information on this. And, yes, it is super important to physical and mental performance, as well as health.

    Moonlight - Here, the phrasees from the anthropomorphism, ¡°The plum blossom stands steadfast under the moonlight¡±. Tranted less literally, ¡°Sima Huai¡¯s Determination¡±. I left the title as ¡°Moonlight¡± because you¡¯d lose the anthropomorphism and the gufeng taste if I was more explicit.

 Volume 10 33

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 33</h4>

    After eight years at the bottom of the valley, the ninth lightest-wind day finally came. Sima Huai roasted half of the ginseng and assortment of herbs he collected from the slits in the cliff face for a big meal, then slept for two days. He ate the remaining half of his stash when he woke up on the third day and then started ascending the cliff in the middle of the night.

    Sima Huai had a strong suspicion Ming Huayu would set a trap for him on the day the wind was most merciful, which was why he chose to postponed his ascent for two days. Would he still get caught in a trap if he deferred his climb for two days? Hell yes. That said, the consequences wouldn¡¯t be so severe.

    Twelve hourster, Sima Huai finally arrived at Mount Daluo, and he would never forget the scene he beheld that day. Having spent eight years keeping ravaging windspany, he forgot that sun rays and winds could be so weing, especially with the fragrance of flowers acting as theirpanion. He couldn¡¯t really see the scenery because of the fog in his eyes, but he was ready to kiss the peak.

    ¡°Wait¡­ Why can¡¯t I open my eyes?!¡±

    Owing to the eight years spent in darkness, Sima Huai¡¯s vision had deteriorated drastically. It didn¡¯t ur to him when he was climbing as it took all his focus; however, once his tension had evaporated, he discovered everything appeared as a blur.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Excuse me¡­¡±

    Sima Huai used his hands as binocrs and squinted. The teenager chained to the ground should¡¯ve been in pain, yet he merely looked ufortable in his position.

    ¡°I got caught in this trap. Could you please give me a hand?¡±

    Sima Huai¡¯s eyes scoured the eighteen chains and nodded. ¡°I knew my wretched shifu would try and catch me off guard. Had I been the one toe here first, I¡¯d be the one down there. Should I be d an idiot suffered for me?¡± Sima Huai gradually made out the teenager¡¯s facial features. ¡°Aren¡¯t you Fourth?¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan wriggled his head up: ¡°Third Brother?¡±

    ¡°It is you, Fourth!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me!¡±

    Sima Huai shed tears of joy, having seen the kid grown into a teenager.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Where have you been all these years, Third Brother?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. I¡¯ve been to hell.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan wailed: ¡°Third Brother, did some viin bully you? I¡¯ll cave his head in!¡±

    ¡°Thanks, bro. He¡¯s a viin, yes, but you won¡¯t dare to hit him.¡±

    ¡°Besides Shifu, Shinian, Grandmaster and First Brother, I¡¯ll smash any punk!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Shifu.¡±

    ¡°Just suck it up, then.¡± Because Sima Huai kept wiping his eyes, Tianfeng Xuanyuan, after he was done crying, expressed, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, Third Brother! Be strong!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not crying!¡±

    ¡°Why are you wiping your eyes, then?¡±

    ¡°The sun stings.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­ Third Brother!¡±

    ¡°Fourth!¡±

    ¡°Help me out!¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why?!¡±

    ¡°I just climbed up the mountain. I¡¯m starving and thirsty. Conversely, you¡¯re perfectly fine. Should I get to eat and drink first before I rescue you?¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s how it works?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re doing fine, so tell me what happened thesest few years while I eat.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll keep youpany while you eat.¡±

    For the next hour, the two cheerfully chatted away. Before they were separated, they were the closest brotherspared to their fellow disciples because Tianfeng Xuanyuan relied on Sima Huai the most. Though they had been apart for eight years, time didn¡¯t put a dent in their rtionship.

    Done eating, Sima Huai dered, ¡°I¡¯ll get you out now.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan saw one swing of Sima Huai¡¯s arm, and the forearm-sized chains dropped right away. ¡°Third Brother, that was wicked! What skill is that?! Teach me!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. More speed equates to more force produced. On the other hand¡­¡± Sima Huai picked up one iron link with a six centimetre spikeing out of it, ¡°did our wretch-, did Shifu tell you to do anything special?¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan rose to his feet, then stretched his limbs: ¡°Nothing, really¡­ Our seniors have been busy, so he told me to go spar with our uncles at the small house every day. The moment I step inside, they smash, sh and stab me with various weapons. They outnumber me, so I pretty much just take beatings, hahaha.¡±

    Sima Huai shivered. ¡°Second Brother was forced to go into the forbidden forest¡­ Is he still alive?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he is. He returned three years ago. Shifu has always been praising him; he even promised to crown him heir apparent if he could beat one of First Brother¡¯s hands. Second Brother is awesome. Well, not awesome enough to even throw a strike before being dropped against First Brother. Still¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s his cmity. What about Sixth?¡±

    ¡°Sixth? A few years ago, he said, since the moon is in the sky, it¡¯s impossible to catch it.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s finally grown up.¡±

    ¡°He says the only solution to the problem is to climb onto the moon, so he¡¯s been training high jumping since.¡±

    ¡°¡­ And Shifu let him try?¡±

    ¡°No, Shifu said he¡¯s an idiot and sent him to Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall to train. Grandmaster and our uncles have been coaching him. I heard it was too confusing for him, though, so he¡¯s busy w-¡±

    ¡°Wait. Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Next to the eighteen year old d in white attire and gifted with a handsome face that appeared to never have greeted the sunlight was a thirteen year old girl. The young man pointed at Sima Huai and questioned, ¡°Who are you? Who have youe to Mount Daluo?¡±

    The young girl dimpled: ¡°Yeah, and why are you kidnapping my fourth brother? You think it¡¯s eptable to trick him just because he doesn¡¯t have a good head?¡±

    Sima Huai wasn¡¯t wearing the same clothes he wore when he went to the valley eight years ago, and he certainly didn¡¯t look the same. In those eight years, Ming Huayu sent him necessary ingredients to cook and clothes on festivals and shared a meal with his disciple on thetter¡¯s birthdays. As thest time Sima Huai received a new set of clothes was half a year ago, his current clothes were visibly too small for him.

    ¡°Our patriarch hates nothing more than antagonist characters disrespecting Mount Daluo¡¯s rules. We are all part of the martial artsmunity; we can settle any issues with words. If you do not exin why you have trespassed, this one shall let his senior out as an expression of sincerity.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like Grand Master really has taken him under his wing,¡± Sima Huai thought.

    The young girl chortled: ¡°When he grabbed Fourth Brother¡¯s shoulder, he pressed into upoints and had his feet in a not nail, not eight stance. Evidently, he was prepared to attack or retreat. I doubt he¡¯ll let Fourth Brother go.¡±

    ¡±That can be easily solved.¡±

    The young man extended an open hand as he bound toward Sima Huai, dragging thetter toward him. Despite his speed, the young man only caught thin air because Sima Huai was already adjacent to him. Although Sima Huai had all the time in the world to stab his opponent¡¯s upoints, his opponent drew a sword on him, impelling him to retract his arm and jump back. The exposure to the fast winds paid off. When the swordsman saw Sima Huai again, thetter was yawning in the distance.

    ¡°Sixth, why is your hair white?¡±

    There was only one of them who could be called a pretty boy, and his youth still shone. Even his speech and swordy demonstrated he inherited his teacher¡¯s styles. Thing was, he had the hair of an old man. From head to toe, he resembled the immortals portrayed in fantasy stories.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan whispered, ¡°I didn¡¯t get to finish saying was that Shifu had Sixth Brother learn Grandmaster¡¯s swordy. Sixth Brother found it so hard that his hair turned all white.¡±

    Did Wretched Shifu put each and every one of us through hell?

    Lian Zhuiyue ran his eyes over his white hair and remarked, ¡°This is like¡­ First Brother.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention him,¡± grumbled the young girl. ¡°He promised to y with me, but he only spends time with our uncles and grandmaster. I don¡¯t want to hear any mention of him. If anyone does, I¡¯ll tell Dad to punish them.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue: ¡°Fifth Sister, step back. He is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Rx. He¡¯s one of us.¡± The young girl offered Sima Huai a smile. ¡°You¡¯re Third Brother, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You are¡­¡±

    ¡°Dad said an old friend would being today, so we were told toe meet them. We were told to call our visitor Third Brother if he squints. It¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    There¡¯s only one man I can think of who¡¯d predict my return today.

    ¡°You are¡­ Xia¡¯er? Why¡¯d you tell Sixth Brother to fight me if you knew it¡¯s me?¡±

    Xia¡¯er sped her head and cast her gaze on the horizon: ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if it was you. We¡¯d be in danger if you¡¯re an imposter. Dad told me Third Brother is extremely skilled. Unless we test you, how would we know it¡¯s you?¡±

    Only Fouth would believe a word you say.

    ¡°Who else besides Xia¡¯er would get in First Brother¡¯s neck?¡±

    A warrior stepped out from behind thickets and stretched out with the smile of azy man. Sima Huai didn¡¯t need an introduction to identify the manly individual. ¡°Second Brother?¡±

    ¡°Would you believe me if I told you otherwise? Third, we¡¯ve been waiting for you toe back.¡± Hong Jiu put Sima Huai in a tight headlock. ¡°Everyone is finally home.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue: I¡¯m supposed to greet Third Brother, but I just spoke rudely to him, so I¡¯m supposed to apologise, yet we¡¯re supposed to be celebrating his return¡­

    Xia¡¯er, reading Lian Zhuiyue like an open book, thumped his shoulder: ¡°Third Brother, I¡¯m Xia¡¯er. You probably recognised me from the beginning. Please take care of me from now. Mother will be hosting your return party tonight. Let¡¯s drink until we pass out.¡±

    Hong Jiu opined, ¡°Don¡¯t go along with her. Once she¡¯s had too much to drink, she goes around picking fights.¡±

    ¡°Where is First Brother?¡±

    Xia¡¯er crossed her arms: ¡°Hmph!¡±

    Hong Jiu helplessly elevated his shoulders: ¡°Not on the mountain.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s already graduated?¡± Sima Huai inquired in surprise.

    Well, I guess it makes sense for First Brother toplete Shifu¡¯s test first given his abilities.

    Hong Jiu shook his head: ¡°No, he goes out every year andes back asionally. I requested permission for us to leave, but Shifu refuses to let us venture out until we¡¯re a tenth as good as First Brother. I got so ticked off I challenged First Brother with the condition that he can only use 10% of his full power.¡±

    ¡°And you won?¡±

    ¡°No. I still don¡¯t know how I was dropped.¡±

    ¡°Figured.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about gloomy topics, shall we? You¡¯re the star today. Now that you¡¯ve also graduated, what are your hopes for the future?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t thought about it. Have you also graduated, Second Brother?¡±

    ¡°Naturally. I¡¯ve been umting experience in the real world for a while. I¡¯m now a household name in the pugilistic world. How about I point you in the right direction?¡±

    ¡°My ears are yours.¡±

    Hong Jiu checked left and right to ensure nobody was within earshot, then whispered, ¡°There¡¯s a brothel in Yanjing City that needs an ountant. You used to handle the ledger, yeah? Since we¡¯re brothers, I¡¯ll only ask for 30% of your earnings to hook you up. How about it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ If I could beat you, you¡¯d already be cold in the ground.¡±

    ***

    That was the touching (hrious) recount Ming Feizhen shared with Shen Yiren. While she rolled aroundughing, she hammered at Ming Feizhen, disputing its authenticity despite him swearing on his life the story he heard from his brothers was true. She never imagined the knowledge woulde in handy.

    Shen Yiren analysed the two brothers based on their behaviours and the information in Ming Feizhen¡¯s story. She would¡¯ve been a lot quicker if she didn¡¯t stop tough every time she recalled their antics.

    ¡°We are not without leads,¡± Emperor Yuansheng pointed out all of a sudden. ¡°Before Constable Ming departed,¡± he took out a thin handbook and waved it around smugly as his vassals looked on in bewilderment, ¡°he wrote down his advice for tackling situations we might found ourselves in and even informed us about his juniors. While I have yet to read it, we will find a way of dealing with them if we follow his advice and leads.¡±

    Shen Yiren bit down on her lip. The memories Ming Feizhen shared with her were stepping stones to bring them closer together. Therefore, learning that they weren¡¯t a secret between them but public intelligence rubbed her the wrong way - notwithstanding being cognisant of the fact that Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s wellbeing was at stake. If there was aparison, it would be the same as a child feeling grumpy over having her toy taken from her. The toy loses its worth; the shared memory is no longer funny.

    ¡°The solution is simple now that we know they¡¯re Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples. Let us break down their objective to devise a strategy.¡± Ignorant to Shen Yiren¡¯s feelings, Emperor Yuansheng turned to Sima Huai¡¯s profile page and read aloud, ¡°Sima Huai: hehe, name, Sima Huai. Not a bad name. Twenty-six year old citizen of Beiping. Tsk, tsk, very detailed.¡± He turned the page and continued, ¡°End.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Ming Feizhen,¡­l¡­l¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren: ??

 Volume 10 34 Wager

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 34 Wager</h4>

    Shen Yiren had no time to exin to His Majesty subsequent to Sima Huai and Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s escape for an order to march immediately with haste was given. All incapacitated personnel were to be carried along. She only had time to tell Emperor Yuansheng about the two brothers once they were alone in the carriage and on the road.

    A gust blew as Abels zipped over to notify, ¡°The two have returned and slept two of our men.¡±

    By the time the escort begun discussing a strategy to counter the two brothers¡¯ plot, the escort had arrived at its next rest station for the night.

    Still irate about the embarrassment he brought upon himself, Emperor Yuansheng never took out ¡°Nanjiang Quest Strategy Guide¡± out again. ¡°When Ming Feizhen gets back, I swear I will mete out the w-¡±

    ¡°Hero Li,¡± Shen Yiren interjected. ¡°He did share some information on his juniors with me prior to his departure. How about I share it with you?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Although awkward, Emperor Yuansheng sat down with as much decorum as possible. ¡°If you also spout nonsense, I¡¯ll make sure he receives s-¡±

    ¡°Sima Huai¡¯s discipline is Shadow Steps from Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles. While I have not seen the extent of hisbat abilities, Ming Feizhen told me his internal energy is potent and movement is exceptional, especially his qinggong. He says that the only person who can catch Sima Huai is Sima Huai himself.¡±

    Long Zaitian scoffed, ¡°They¡¯re from the same sect. Of course he¡¯s going to blow things out of proportion to sell his brother. I¡¯ve never even heard the name Sima Huai. If he was so good, howe he isn¡¯t famous? Potent internal energy and fast? Rtive to Ming Feizhen, we¡¯re all gods.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng demurred, ¡°That is not true. ording to my knowledge, Young Ming¡¯sbat are skills are sh-, but his qinggong isn¡¯t bad.¡±

    ¡°Your subject knows his abilities than anyone else. One time, the two of us had an argument on the street, so we decided to settle it with a race. He runs as slow as a turtle. His qinggong is an insult to qinggong.¡±

    ¡°So you won?¡±

    ¡°He really is a jinx! Your subject was ahead of him, yet your subject suddenly crashed into a tofu store out of nowhere. Your subject had to go to the pharmacy for burn ointment.¡±

    Song Ou looked askance at the dragon lying on the ground and mocked, ¡°His second brother is Ten Thousand Mile Dragon Rider Hong Jiu. Hong Jiu is far more famous than you are, is he not? Plus, didn¡¯t a fake monk stomp you today?¡±

    Long Zaitian perked up from his stretcher to exchange a palm strike with Song Ou.

    Song Ou may have only mentioned Hong Jiu to add salt to Long Zaitian¡¯s injury, but Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t see it so simply. Frankly, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t give Seventeen Wyrms that much weight, but the fact that his eldest son, their n¡¯s best swordsman, was only ranked fourth put into perspective how formidable Hong Jiu was.

    Song Ou¡¯s low blow also put a new perspective in Shen Yiren¡¯s head. She assumed Abels pulled punches against the two younger brothers and didn¡¯t want to hurt their allies, so he told them he couldn¡¯t catch them. What if the truth was Abels gave up because he judged it was beyond him to catch them? Even though she didn¡¯t witness it herself, Ming Feizhen defeating Luo Ming was incontrovertible. For him to praise Sima Huai spoke volumes of thetter¡¯s prowess.

    ¡°Tianfeng Xuanyuan is the name of the one who fought Long Zaitian. He has introduced himself. I believe everyone here recognises the Tianfeng surname.¡± Shen Yiren checked with Emperor Yuansheng for permission before borating, ¡°Tianfeng n is the previous dynasty¡¯s Tianfeng n. After their n¡¯s downfall, female thief Tianfeng Yu, who is most notorious for stealing Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing, Parjna Palms and Seventy-Two Dragon ws from their temple, is their descendant. To this day, the three manuals¡¯ whereabouts are still unknown.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°If the rumours can be trusted, Tianfeng Xuanyuan is their n¡¯sst descendant. It would not be surprising if her nephew inherited the manuals and their skills. We saw him perform Prajna Palms to a high standard on the mountain, and their connection should exin why.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng murmured, ¡°You say he was stabbed in the belly, and Brother Bodhi tagged him with a punch, yet he did not sustain any damage?¡±

    ¡°I can exin that,¡± voiced A-Lan. While she wasn¡¯t friends with Shen Yiren, A-Lan no longer held resentment toward Shen Yiren as Ming Feizhen evened their score when he severed her arm as payback for crippling Shen Yiren¡¯s wrist, not to mention they worked together against Luo n. ¡°Tianfeng n¡¯s original home is Nanjiang. Like in the Central in, they are equally well-known in Nanjiang. Their n¡¯s signature discipline, ck Tortoise cial Records, is without equal in Nanjiang. One of the skills within, namely Martial Rock Mystic Skill, trains their body to be as sturdy as rock.¡±

    Shen Yiren piggy backed off what A-Lan said: ¡°Tianfeng Xuanyuan learnt Golden Deity Manual from Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles. If he also learnt Martial Stone Mystic Skill as A-Lan says, then it is expected for him to be impervious to des.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng grabbed his head: ¡°Just why do two adepts have to be so entric? God knows when they¡¯ll strike again.¡±

    ¡°That, you do not need to worry about. As for when they will return,¡± Shen Yiren gazed up at the ceiling, ¡°I am guessing that will be now.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen opened his eyes and dragged someone from the ceiling down through a vacuum he generated with his hand. He clutched the individual in his hand and eximed, ¡°Who are you?! You shall be shown no mercy!¡±

    The guard wet his pants: ¡°Th-this one is Wang Sandong. He apologises for farting. He will never dare to fart again.¡±

    ¡°If you fart over my master¡¯s head again, you will perish!¡± Lai Jingzhen then saluted Emperor Yuansheng with both hands: ¡°He is insolent.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng palmed his face.

    Shen Yiren vocalised, ¡°No need to heave a breath of relief. Sima Huai, I know you are here.¡±

    Breaking the transient silence, SIma Huaiplimented, ¡°I did not know you also learnt divination, Miss Shen.¡±

    ¡°Enough with the tripe.¡± Shen Yiren glued her gaze to the closed door. ¡°I know you want to test whether or not we are worthy of ordering you around. Our objectives coincide, so why waste your time on this meaningless endeavour? Let¡¯s make a deal. If you win, you get to have the reins for this operation. If I win same goes. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You sure?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    The door opened without any trace of a draft, and Sima Huai had shed over to Shen Yiren. ¡°Please give me three high fives as an oath.¡±

    Shen Yiren thereupon gave Sima Huai three high fives as requested.

    ¡°Don¡¯t regret this now.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled back: ¡°Right back at you.¡±

 Volume 10 35 Origin of Dragon-Bird Alliance

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 35 Origin of Dragon-Bird Alliance</h4>

    ¡°I believe our forces in the open will double once we enter Nanjiang, and our chain ofmands will be more detailed. After all, we will have money to hire guards once we finish the trade. In turn, our cover will be more convincing.¡±

    The wager made with Sima Huai was cemented the night before, but they decided to meet up around noon to discuss the details since the escort headed out prior to setting anything in stone. Catching up to them wasn¡¯t going to challenge Sima Huai¡¯s hare feet, so it was no big deal.

    Holding Ming Feizhen¡¯s handbook for Emperor Yuansheng in her left hand, Shen Yiren ran her right index finger along a map. Dugu and A-Lan, liaising with Shen Yiren in the carriage, engaged in a strategy meeting for before and after entering Nanjiang. Dugu was called on for his experience as the head of the intelligence division and in light of him holding the highest rank. A-Lan¡¯s familiarity with Nanjiang meant she was someone they should consult.

    Grumpy Emperor Yuansheng had a sulk after Shen Yiren took Ming Feizhen¡¯s guide and then yed checkers with Lai Jingzhen to kill time. Since Lai Jingzhen was easy mode, Abels was summoned in to admire Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s profound checkers prowess.

    Long Zaitian, having recovered, took over as Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s coach and, once again, shouted, ¡°Miss Shen, I have called you multiple times.¡±

    Shen Yiren gestured for those in the carriage to hit pause on their meeting and ground her teeth: ¡°That¡¯s Ma¡¯am Ming to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am Ming.¡± Long Zaitian could swear he felt a cold draft down his neck.

    ¡°What is the point of profiling us if you are not going to adhere to them? Hero Li is respecting the profiles, yet you think you¡¯re special?¡±

    ¡°In my humble opinion, it would be wise to think of a way to win the wager. You have not mentioned it since it was decided. What if we lose?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a wage, for crying out loud. So what if we win or lose? Seeing as you have so much free time, how about using your heads?¡± Shen Yiren shook her head, then resumed her strategy meeting.

    Long Zaitian returned to his riding duty and didn¡¯t pester them again.

    Long Zaitian: Why does she not seem to care? Sima Huai is faster than Abels¡­ Wait a second. They¡¯re Ming Feizhen¡¯s juniors! Even if Sima Huai does win, it¡¯s no different to her winning! She¡¯s blinded by personal feelings! It¡¯s all because of Ming gue!

    ¡°Yiren is blinded by personal feelings. It¡¯s all because of Ming gue!¡±

    Hearing someone verbalise what he was thinking, Long Zaitian turned over to Song Ou, who also turned over, andunched a kick at thetter. ¡°Why the hell did you turn over this way when I didn¡¯t say squat?! You almost nted a kiss on me, you freak!¡±

    Song Ou dodged Long Zaitian¡¯s kick, then locked eyes with thetter again. ¡°So you know what I¡¯m thinking.¡±

    Long Zaitian unleashed another kick: ¡°Why are you so damn gay?!¡±

    ¡°What bullcrap is this now?! I¡¯m talking about Ming Feizhen and his juniors!¡±

    For the first time in his life, Long Zaitian didn¡¯t see Song Ou as a bug - though Song Ou didn¡¯t reciprocate the sentiment. They say the enemy of my enemy is my ally. The two of them had been at each other¡¯s necks for years over one woman, yet some gue showed up out of the blue and won her over.

    Dragon-Bird Alliance established 4th March, Yuansheng¡¯s 31st Year.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am Ming told us to take matters into our hands, which proves that she doesn¡¯t care for it. We can¡¯t let some outsider boss us around. This dragon¡¯s brothers are not someone else¡¯s errand boys. Hero Li and Ma¡¯am Ming can tell us what to do, but no snotty-nosed brat is going to tell this dragon what to do. We must win this wager.¡± Long Zaitian dropped his head and leaned toward Song Ou. ¡°What do you think, Brother Dng.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Ou pinched his chin. ¡°In my opinion, wait, why am I Dng?! Why am I the cuck?!¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am Ming just stressed the importance of staying in character. Do you object? Hero Li expects this much. I can¡¯t give you special treatment.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine! I¡¯ll bear with it¡­ In any event, Yir-¡±

    ¡°Come on. Respect the rules. Yi what? Ma¡¯am Ming. Else, you can call her Sister-inw.¡±

    ¡°I just won¡¯t refer to her, all right?! I was trying to say that we have to win this wager. We need to fool Sima Huai to win.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Catch fish once they¡¯re in the. Scatter rice to lure chickens in and smash them.¡±

    ¡°What are you? An idiom dictionary? How about saying something pertinent?¡±

    The corners Long Zaitian¡¯s lips curved upwards after their discussion: ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s do that. I refuse to believe he has wings.¡±

    ¡°I look forward to seeing his reaction.¡±

    The dragon and bird: ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Can you two shut up?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng thundered. ¡°You two can toil for the next three months without a sry¡­¡±

    Sima Huai and Tianfeng Xuanyuan showed up punctually. While Sima Huai was his usual blithe self, Tianfeng Xuanyuan looked as pale as a man who had gone days without food.

    Sima Huai requested, ¡°We have arrived as promise. Miss Shen, please tell us how you would like topete.¡±

    Long Zaitian suddenly cut in line: ¡°Miss Sh-, Ma¡¯am Ming will not need to deign herself. You don¡¯t need a broadsword to butcher a chicken.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Sister-inw doesn¡¯t need to bother with you,¡± Song Ou added.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am Ming? Sister-inw?¡± Sima Huai repeated in confusion. ¡°And who might you two be?¡±

    ¡°We are the ones responsible for determining the nature of the wager and its rules. Ma¡¯am Ming has personally given her approval.¡±

    Shen Yiren nodded: ¡°I did say they could take care of it.¡±

    Despite finding out Shen Yiren was Ma¡¯am Ming, Sima Huai didn¡¯t care to ask when she was married. ¡°In that case, may I ask for your names?¡±

    ¡°The surname is Long. His surname is Niao. Our team is called¡­¡±

    ¡°Dragon-Bird Alliance!¡±

    Only the breeze reacted. Emperor Yuansheng scribbled onto a sheet of paper and passed it to the duo. It read, ¡°If you don¡¯t disband, I¡¯ll have your heads and shoulders disband.¡±

    Dragon-Bird Alliance disbanded at noon, 4th March, Yuansheng¡¯s 31st Year.

    Glossary

    Dragon-Bird Alliance - ¡°Dragon¡±es from ¡°Long¡± in Long Zaitian. ¡°Bird¡±es from ¡°Niao¡± in ¡°Song Niao¡±, also known as ¡°Brother B******¡±. Song Ou is his real name in case we¡¯re creating any confusion here.

    Brother Dng - Reference to Wu Dng, the elder brother of Wu Song, who Pan Jinlian put a green hat on if you have forgotten from the previous volume.

 Volume 10 36

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 36</h4>

    ¡°Hero Li, just leave them. Let us enjoy the show.¡± Shen Yiren escorted Emperor Yuansheng aside to rx.

    Emperor Yuansheng red daggers at Dragon-Bird Alliance whilst walking off. ¡°You¡¯re on your own, imbeciles.¡± He stopped to turn around and spit at their feet. ¡°If you don¡¯t win, your heads will roll.¡±

    Long Zaitian cleared his throat: ¡°Let us continue where we left off.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Dragon-Bird All-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention that name again!¡± Long Zaitian, depressed over his sry and perilous situation, cut to the chase. ¡°Brother Sima, we are pugilists. If we are topete in a literacy contest, we may as well go to the capital to take the schstic examination for an official rank, and we can use our ranking to determine our status. That would prevent us hurting each other. Of course, you would need to know who the examiner is. It is not easy.¡±

    Sima Huai, hands behind his back, appeared indifferent: ¡°We are not schrs. As pugilists, we should settle the score with our fists.¡±

    Neither Long Zaitian nor Song Ou expected it to go so smoothly. As begrudging acquaintances of Ming Feizhen, they knew first hand that those from Mount Daluo were schemers. In Song Ou¡¯s case, he spent a number of days with Hong Jiu; he knew what Hong Jiu was capable of. Their goal was to forbid Sima Huai and Tianfeng Xuanyuan from using anything besides actualbat skills.

    Striking while the iron was hot, Long Zaitian expressed, ¡°You are a true man, Brother Sima. So, will it be a culture or fists contest?¡±

    ¡°What are the specifics?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s a sparring match, we can just draw a ring on the ground to spar in. Alternatively, we could have a taolu contest.¡±

    ¡°And a culture contest?¡±

    Long Zaitian shed a corner of his white pearls: ¡°Simple: you punch me once, and I punch you back. We repeat until someone yields.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve thought this out. Do we have a handicap since you¡¯re setting the parameters, though?¡±

    ¡°Since we decided the on the rules, you can choose the nature of the contest.¡±

    Sima Huai pushed up his sses: ¡°Sounds fun.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, in that case, let¡¯s have a best of three contest. What do you say?¡±

    Sima Huai tucked his arms into his opposite sleeves to muse and then questioned, ¡°Do we get to choose our contestants?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Of course. You choose your contestants; we shall choose our contestants.¡±

    ¡°Fair game.¡±

    From Long Zaitian¡¯s perspective, everything went ording to his desire. There were only two Mount Daluo disciples. On the other hand, the escort had two Divine Realm elites. Unless they were going to have qinggong contests, Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t imagine them losing. If they lose a qinggong match, there were still two more contests. As long as Abels and Lai Jingzhenpeted in the two remaining rounds, the escort¡¯s victory was guaranteed.

    From Sima Huai¡¯s perspective, he had a qinggong contest won already. Tianfeng Xuanyuan had a robust body, which was why he deliberately brought up the culture contest.

    ¡°Shall wemence now?¡±

    ¡°Sure. What do you want topete in?¡±

    Sima Huai extended three fingers: ¡°I shallpete in three qinggong matches.¡±

    The bird and dragon: ¡°You screwing with us?!¡±

    Long Zaitian asserted, ¡°Nopeting in the same event more than once!¡±

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou could feel a judge¡¯s re drilling its way into their backs.

    ¡°You never said that.¡±

    ¡°Now I have!¡±

    ¡°We shall race onwn in the first match, water in the second and have a pure sprint in the third round.¡±

    ¡°The first and third are the same thing, aren¡¯t they?! It¡¯s still a qinggong contest!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very reasonable. The three are different contests. Do you ssify marathons and sprints for jockeys as the same thing?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re different, yes, but I¡¯m not convinced! You look like a schr, but you¡¯re insidious inside!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say I could decide on the nature of the contests?¡±

    ¡°But not like this! Qinggong can only be considered one contest!¡±

    Song Ou voiced, ¡°We will decide on the nature of the third contest! You can¡¯t decide on all three!¡±

    ¡°Why should I agree with that? Why should I adhere to rules riddled with ws? Sounds like you didn¡¯te prepared. We¡¯re leaving.¡±

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou didn¡¯t need to look back to sense the seething ridicule aimed at them.

    ¡°Well, there is room for negotiation.¡± Sima Huai gave Long Zaitian and Song Ou a warm smile. ¡°Call me Third Brother.¡±

    ¡°Th-Th-Th-Third¡­ Brother.¡±

    ¡°Third¡­ Br-Brother.¡±

    Sima Huai was now also ridiculing them with his grin. ¡°The first match shall be a qinggong match. Any objections?¡±

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou had a quick consultation prior to nodding.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone among us can win against you in a qinggong contest.¡±

    Lai Jingzhen had to stay by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side at all times; running off would defeat his goal. Abels may not lose; however, their contest could go on for ages. Neither Long Zaitian nor Song Ou had any ce demanding Abels to run around for an hour.

    ¡°We shall have Dugupete against you in a qinggong contest, but we can dere it your victory here and now.¡±

    ¡°Fine. If I were topete against him, I¡¯d be exhausted after the match, so I¡¯ll have to leave the second match in my junior¡¯s hands. He specializes in strength. I believe my junior would lose his life against the two over there, so I concede the match.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, great. Let¡¯s jump to the third match.¡±

    ¡°You are choosing the third match. What will it be?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, let¡¯s keep it simple. Brother Bodhi, please lend us a hand.¡±

    Abels smile meant tacit agreement.

    Sima Huai nced over to Abels and said, ¡°Nobody can match him in a strength contest. We forfeit the match.¡±

    Song Ou and Long Zaitian gave each other a high five.

    ¡°So, in ordance with Miss Shen¡¯s proposal, we will be taking over the chain ofmands from here.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Wh-what? What do you mean you are taking over when you lost?¡±

    ¡°Do you still remember what Miss Shen proposed? She said to me, ¡®If you win, you get to have the reins for this operation. If I win, same goes.¡¯ In other words, win or lose, I get the right to the reins. Am I mistaken? Why do you think I¡¯d agree to the wage? That¡¯s exactly what she said. Miss Shen, I hope you are not regretting your decision now. Henceforth, I will be in charge here.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked up, but her arresting smile was creepily arresting.

 Volume 10 37 Sima Huaiâ€™s Ruffled Feathers

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 37 Sima Huai¡¯s Ruffled Feathers</h4>

    Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo all had their primes. For Mount Daluo, their glorious days were when Hero Shenzhou aided the formation of Li Dynasty. The days he was considered the greatest fighter in all thendsted for a century, during which Mount Daluo led the martial world by its nose. Wudang was now in the driver seat, though the current generation was an embarrassmentpared to the previous generation.

    While Shaolin and Wudang have been failing to produce disciples with the capacity to uphold their reputations, Mount Daluo has been thriving with talent.

    A young disciple of Mount Daluo once wreaked havoc everywhere he went and inadvertently thwarted a conspiracy that six gangs of Beiping hatched. Using Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, he became an overnight sensation when he crushed the seventeen elites in one fight.

    Three years ago, one of Mount Daluo¡¯s swordsmen, who went on a journey to expand his horizons, lent a hand to a vige that a mob was terrorising. Subsequent to apprehending the descendants of Bai n, he fought his way through their ce at Valley of Yearning to confront their elder. Though they were aware that they were in the wrong, they, as one of the Seven Champion White Princes, couldn¡¯t just bow their heads in apology. They decided to settle the score with a fight, and Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple put all of Bai n¡¯s disciples away. Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple apologised to Bai n for affronting their dignity after he had Bai n¡¯s elders punish all of the perpetrators. That was how one disciple from Mount Daluo convinced Bai n to shake hands with them and how Swordsman Lian Zhuiyue rose to prominence.

    Ever since Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple of this generation set foot in the world over a decade ago, he left behind a trail of unimaginable wreckage in his wake; the impact and impression that he left has yet to be erased from anyone¡¯s memories.

    Shen Yiren, nheless, knew what the weakness of this generation of Mount Daluo disciples¡¯ was. Ming Feizhen, reclined on the cushions and, tucking his hands behind his head, had a smug upward curve at his lips.

    ¡°Me.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Shen Yiren suddenly lost the urge to poke the youth¡¯s head for his childish behaviour. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Me. If there¡¯s a weak link among my siblings, it¡¯d be me.¡± Projecting his memories onto the ceiling, Ming Feizhen expanded, ¡°They¡¯ve always did as I told them¡­ to a problematic extent. I¡¯m not saying they¡¯re unable to make decisions for themselves. To the contrary, I¡¯m basically the leash that¡¯s supposed to prevent them from turning the world on its head. I¡¯m the only person they unconditionallyply with.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the chink in their armour?¡± Shen Yiren wanted to ask, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make their weakness their greatest strength?¡± but Ming Feizhen¡¯s cocky demeanour told her not to go there.

    ¡°What?¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly leaned in close enough for Shen Yiren to feel his breaths on her face. ¡°You reckon I¡¯m cool, h-, ow! Where do you keep that inkstone hidden?!¡±

    ***

    After breaking down the semantics of the wager and its ws, Sima Huai asserted, ¡°As per my wager with Miss Shen, I am in charge whether I win or lose.¡±

    Long Zaitian reeled off, ¡°This unrivalled shamelessness really does make you Ming Feizhen¡¯s junior! Shut your mouth! Cut the bullcrap! We¡¯re not taking orders from you! Listen, smart aleck: Ma¡¯am Ming isn¡¯t the only one we take orders from here. Hero Li is also one of ourmanders. If he refuses, you don¡¯t get to say squat,¡± and then startedmunicating with Emperor Yuansheng via facial expressions.

    Emperor Yuansheng refused to budge no matter what Long Zaitian tried to signal.

    Sima Huai, with no cares to give, questioned, ¡°Miss Shen, you do not mean to rescind on your promise, do you?¡±

    ¡°No way. As warriors, we do not go back on our word. Besides, people of our standing cannot be dishonourable. I have some free time on my hands right now. Can we step aside to speak?¡± Shen Yiren headed into a carriage with disregard for the opinions of others.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s authority wasn¡¯t graceful or menacing. To the escort, ¡°familiar¡± would be the most urate description. Had Sima Huai not stopped Tianfeng Xuanyuan from entering the carriage, thetter would¡¯ve entered.

    Why is she¡­ so simr to First Brother?

    ¡°Nobody is to interrupt us until we are done speaking,¡± Shen Yiren instructed. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time, so go ahead and tell me what you wish to now.¡±

    Sima Huai: ¡°You seem indifferent to the change. I¡¯m truly curious if this is a ploy or yours or pure confidence. I don¡¯t have anything I really want to say. All I ask is that you do as you promised and heed mymands.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s fine?¡±

    Shen Yiren let triumph flick across her face. ¡°Naturally. If there is a problem, I would not have set it up to transfer the reins to you.¡± As Sima Huai was obviously befuddled, she elucidated, ¡°Feizhen told me that you go for the minutia, which is why I crafted minutia that would be in your favour.¡±

    ¡°It was on purpose?¡±

    What¡¯s she really after? Why would she trust the escort to me?

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m trusting you for your sake and my sake, get it?¡±

    While Abels kept a pulse on the escort, Sima Huai had infiltrated their ranks for long enough to collect a mountain of information to analyse.

    They refer to her as Ma¡¯am Ming, which means she is the wife of the proprietor. They also mention Chairman Ming¡­ Chairman Ming? First Brother? Chairman Ming. Ma¡¯am Ming. Vibes simr to First Brother from her¡­

    Sima Huai raised his head upon finding enlightenment.

    Shen Yiren let her joy bloom on her lips: ¡°Guess you¡¯ve worked it out.¡±

    ¡°Sister-in-Law!¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s face gradually went from white to rosy: ¡°No, what?! What are you thinking of?! Steer back on track!¡±

    Steer back on track¡­ Their goal this time is to y Six Evils. We know more about them than anyone else. First Brother, therefore, should be leading. Due to his post, however, it¡¯ll be weird, and possibly difficult, for him to be ordering them around. Thanks to the wager, there¡¯s justification to pass authority to First Brother. In other words, her goal was to transfer control to First Brother from the get-go, and I was only the catalyst. That exins what she means by our sake and her sake. First Brother is with Mount Daluo and Liu Shan Men at the same time, after all. Now it all clicks together¡­ But why is she so nice to First Brother? ¡­ Oh, I see. I see.

    Shen Yiren fashioned a smile once again: ¡°Looks like you finally get it.¡±

    Sima Huai¡¯s astonishment surfaced on his face once again: ¡°Sister-in-Law!¡±

    ¡°You want to catch these hands?!¡±

 Volume 10 38 Where Shall We Spend the Night?

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 38 Where Shall We Spend the Night?</h4>

    Who you calling ¡°Sister-In-Law¡±?! I¡¯d send you rolling down the mountain right now if it wouldn¡¯t damage the carriage!

    Once she had blown off her steam, Shen Yiren responded, ¡°You¡¯re not exactly wrong.¡±

    ¡°S-¡± Sima Huai shut his mouth upon catching Shen Yiren¡¯s gaze,

    ¡°¡­ I was referring to transferringmand authority to Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Sima Huai only nodded and gestured for Shen Yiren to continue.

    ¡°Feizhen is indispensible in this operation, but he¡­ can¡¯t show me his full capacity for whatever reason. I believe you would know more than me about this. While His Majesty trusts Feizhen enough to instate him as strategist, a strategist postes with its restrictions. For example, he¡¯s always stuck with His Majesty and State Preceptor Lai, so he can¡¯t let loose. My goal is to pave his way and eliminate obstacles.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Despite my method being a little pushy, as long as you don¡¯t step out of line and fulfil your duty, His Majesty won¡¯t take back the reins. The first reason I called you in here is to exin my reasoning. The second reason is to tell you what your senior¡¯s circumstances are.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Sadly.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Sadly, what?¡±

    Sima Huai stood up and subtly raised the corners of his lips: ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re implying, ¡®You may have been given authority, but I am in charge until your senior brother returns.¡¯ Sadly, I¡¯m not used to taking orders from others. Sorry, Miss Shen. I appreciate what you have done for my brother; however, I will not take orders from anyone other than one man, not even my wretched shifu. Thank you for being considerate and idently handing over authority to me.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a bamboo house four kilometres outside the capital.¡±

    Sima Huai¡¯s hand riveted before he could touch the door.

    ¡°Fourth row from the top, seventh book from the left is a contraption to open the underground passage.¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    ¡°You know what¡¯s down there without me telling you, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°F-First Brother told you where his treasure trove is? Wh-what is your rtionship with him?¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have the wildest guess what was down there. All Ming Feizhen told her was that he ced his most precious items down there when she asked where he used to live. Shen Yiren savoured Sima Huai¡¯s astonishment, true. That being said, quavering was beyond the degree of surprise she expected to evoke.

    ¡°That¡¯s for me to know and for you to not concern yourself with. All you need to know is that he obeys me.¡±

    Impossible! First Brother gave away the location of his porn stash?! Impossible! Is she really¡­

    ¡°Sister-in-Law!¡±

    Bam! Sima Huai, qinggong expert, took a knuckle sandwich straight to the face in his moments of shock.

    ¡°What¡¯s so perplexing about him conforming to his superior¡¯s orders? Listen, your cognition contains several mistakes. First, you¡¯re not subservient to me just when your first brother is absent; you¡¯re always following my instructions. Second, even when hees back, you¡¯re still following my instructions. Third, my style is, my subordinates¡¯ subordinates are my subordinates. Fulfil your duty as my subordinate henceforward.¡±

    Sima Huai bobbed his head with a deadpan face - a consequence of too many shocks in session.

    Minutester¡­

    ¡°Newbie, watch. This small stool is for eating by the corner. This small stool is for resting feet whilst drinking tea. This cloth is for wiping tables. This small tray is for carrying teacups on. Make sure you always have money on you because you pay for the fruit first and receive your reimbursementter. Since you¡¯re a qinggong adept, you will be in charge of serving tea and drinks.¡± Turning to Tianfeng Xuanyuan, Su Xiao instructed, ¡°Since you¡¯re tough, you can clean the toilets. This basin is for washing feet. Just leave it aside for now. Big Brother Ming will take care of it when he gets back.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Feizhen, I want that one!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll go buy it. Excuse me. I¡¯ll take one of each colour of that hairpin.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, I want that one.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll go buy it. Excuse me. I¡¯ll take that shoe in all six sizes.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, I want that one.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll go buy it. Excuse me. I¡¯ll take the three best sets of clothing, jewellery and rouge.¡±

    Travelling at a leisurely pace, Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen reached a big town three days away from the capital. Usually, it¡¯d be the clothing, fragrance and rouge vendors that stole attention from women and food stands that stole the attention of men, yet the two stole the show of every vendor, instead. Ming Suwen was coveted for her beauty, while the wretched man spheming her beauty, who was walking arm in arm with her, was coveted for his ce next to her.

    ¡°Feizhen, I want that one!¡±

    ¡°Their store pir?! No matter how rich I am, I can¡¯t tear down their building, can I?!¡±

    ¡°But the condor on the column is pretty. I want to take it back to show the renovators how to renovate my pirs.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s a column we¡¯re talking about¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen curled her lips and curved her eyes down: ¡°No?¡±

    ¡°All right, mate, get up. I need to tear your ce down!¡±

    ¡°Break a leg, Feizhen!¡±

    It had been a long time since the two had been able to interact freely. Even though they were reunited at Liu Shan Men, they couldn¡¯t be intimate when Ming Feizhen chickened out, and due to Liu Shan Men¡¯s workers always watching. Now that they didn¡¯t have anyone supervising them, Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t going to let the opportunity go to waste.

    While Ming Feizhen was alternating between peaceful negotiations, threats, pleading and aggression, Ming Suwen acted as his personal cheerleader. In the end, Ming Feizhen bought out the pir for eight times its worth.

    Once the proprietor received his payment, he told his clerk, ¡°What an unlucky guy. I could buy another store with this money.¡± He then said to Ming Feizhen, ¡°When do you need the pir? How about I deliver it to you next month? I will have to charge for delivery.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled innocently: ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯ll take it now.¡±

    ¡°Now?¡±

    Ming Feizhen whooshed up to the overhead beam, palming the pir and twisting it out of the ground with his other hand. By the time the building¡¯s resounding copse was audible, Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen had already absconded from the city. Obviously, he managed to keep part of the condor but had to leave the rest of the pir at the store¡¯s entrance. What the proprietor did with the pir was his business.

    Loading their purchases onto their carriage, Ming Feizhen stated, ¡°Young Shiyi, we can¡¯t afford to buy more because we can¡¯t fit any more nor can the horse handle more weight than this.¡± Receiving no response, he poked his head out to ask, ¡°Young Shiyi, did you hear me?¡±

    In a daze, Ming Suwen inquired, ¡°Feizhen, how many days will it take for us to catch up to them?¡±

    ¡°At our current pace, fifteen to sixteen days? It¡¯ll take them a month to reach Xiuyu, so we should arrive before them.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I see.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sauntered over to take Ming Suwen by the hand: ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Ming Suwen, not holding his hand back, shook her head: ¡°Nothing. Just feels like time flies. We only have about two more weeks to spend time together like this.¡±

    It dawned on Ming Feizhen that Ming Suwen was happy but also afraid of losing the happiness. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ming Feizhen squeezed Ming Suwen¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯ll always be like this as long as we¡¯re both okay.¡±

    For a long while in the past, they just let the warmth of their hands do the talking. Ming Feizhen never forgot that gaze that could make his heart bleed, yet could also besot him.

    ¡°Young Shiyi? Y-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak.¡± Ming Suwen pressed her finger to Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips. ¡°How about we,¡± she cracked a naughty smile, ¡°take a detour?¡±

 Volume 10 39 Her Robe is a Cloud, Her Face a Flower

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 39 Her Robe is a Cloud, Her Face a Flower</h4>

    ¡°Snow yearns for release as darkness wees itself in. Can I offer you a cup of wine to warm up at my humble abode?¡± Inviting Liu Shijiu - Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty poet)

    The beauty of winter scenery cannot hold a candle to the charm of Jiangnan¡¯s snow, the gentle breeze before the rain or the graceful argent orb. Despite the cold, wine wasn¡¯t the hottest selling item in Cuiwei Town. Instead, the seats to a y sold out; no matter whom it was, everyone in town wanted to see Cuiwei Inn¡¯s Moon Worship Pavilion y.

    Moon Worship Pavilion depicts the touching romance story of a destitute man and the daughter of a schr¡¯s family, who are met with the ardent objection of her father. No amount of tears could convince the wealthy schr to spare her feelings or life a thought. To her surprise, the groom, who showed up on the day she was scheduled to be married to, was the man she¡¯d be yearning for all the time.

    When the man¡¯s proposal was rejected in the past, he put his nose to the grindstone - technically books - and took the schr examination. Right after he was epted, he went to propose. While she was happy to see her lover again, her father, who only cared for what robe his son-inw wore, raised his mace at the schr he once drove off.

    The schr fumed, ¡°I insist on marrying Run. As her father, how can thou disregard her feelings and prioritise only thy feelings?¡±

    Her father held his mace out at the schr and scowled: ¡°Avaunt. Thou art not worthy. Unless four things happen, thou shall never have my daughter¡¯s hand.¡±

    ¡°What four things?!¡±

    ¡°One, the sun must rise in the west; two, there must be moonlight during the day three, it must snow in June; four, the salt in front of my counter must turn into white sugar!¡± Wang Runan¡¯s father then chased the schr off the stage with his mace raised overhead, ending the third act and cuing the musicians in to begin ying.

    The schr returned to the stage attired in a brocade robe and polished boots. This was the part where the audience was supposed to stop crying and cheer him on. The cheers weren¡¯t supposed to be so fervent after seeing the same scene multiple times already, but his big strides and upright posture on his tall physique had them mouring once again.

    The mncholic melody gradually shifted into a more merry tone, weing Wang Run back on stage. Compared to what they remembered, she was a tad taller and had a lot more space inside her clothing, though the same couldn¡¯t be said for her bust. The audience actually cursed her father for opposing their marriage when they looked perfect together. Merely looking into each other¡¯s eyes had the audience on the edge of their seats, silently waiting for the climactic moment.

    ¡°Sweetie.¡±

    ¡°Aha?¡±

    What script are they following?!

    The audience hurled anything they could get their hands on, including cups and jewellery, at the duo on stage. The trope paid the actor and actress for the schr and Wang Run a hefty sum since the two of them were famous performers, yet they weren¡¯t up to scratch.

    Young Shiyi and I seldom watched staged ys, so how could we sing opera well? I mean, I could put on a fascinating, spectacr show of Wu Song ying a tiger and the whole fighting gig, but singing opera?

    ¡°Focus!¡± Young Shiyi blew up her cheeks and grumbled, ¡°The audience paid for a good show.¡±

    No, no, no, they¡¯re going to need a doctor if we sing another line.

    The elder ying my father-inw almost broke down. Nheless, being the seasoned professional he was, he persisted with the best of his abilities, fighting the urge to cover his ears whenever he started singing. I guess you could say he foundpensation in the form of trying to beat me for real when it came to the scene where he got to hit me. Fortunately, we managed to finish the show.

    ¡°¡­ If I want to marry you, I don¡¯t care which direction the sun rises.¡±

    I covered Young Shiyi¡¯s mouth andughed: ¡°A sun not bright enough is not worthy of the silver moon.¡±

    Young Shiyi, in a soft voice, said, ¡°Oh, shush. You want to get hit?¡± and then tried to get her hand free of mine to no avail. ¡°If I marry you, it¡¯ll snow in June.¡±

    I pulled Young Shiyi into my embrace: ¡°If I marry you, I¡¯ll be smiling as if I ate sugar when I eat salt.¡±

    Young Shiyi wanted to try out being a famous opera singer. Who would¡¯ve thought we¡¯d find an opportunity to fulfil that wish with a big trope? They didn¡¯t have much time prior to the show, so they just had us chuck the clothing on and take to the stage. When we got off stage, nobody but the owner, who was profusely apologising, budged an inch.

    I found Young Shiyi¡¯s imitation of the audience¡¯s rioting as hrious as she did.

    ¡°Feizhen, what roles shall we tackle next time? I reckon I could y a schr with my appearance. I want to try teasing concubines, Empresses and all as Emperor Xuanzong.¡±

    Whilst removing Young Shiyi¡¯s makeup, I responded, ¡°If you were Emperor Xuanzong, An Lushan wouldn¡¯t revolt.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, why¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°If I was An Lushan and you were Emperor Xuanzong, I wouldn¡¯t spare Yang Guifei a nce when there¡¯s Emperor Xuanzong.¡±

    Removing Young Shiyi¡¯s makeup revealed a guile expression that I started to worry about even though I was looking down at her.

    ¡°You said salt would taste as sweet as sugar?¡±

    I just knew my intuition wouldn¡¯t lie to me! I don¡¯t want to lose my sense of taste at such a young age!

    I cleared my throat: ¡°But¡­ only if you marry me first.¡±

    ¡°Wow, such impropriety!¡± Young Shiyi got out of her chair and seized my ear that was turning as red as hers. ¡°Come here. I¡¯m going to bite your ear!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Bite Eh? Bite?! Wait! This is inappropriate!¡±

    ¡°What is the problem with you two?! Huh?!¡± The portly boss of the trope came to the back, scolding, ¡°What was that all about? You two are the highest paid actors in the trope. Are you here to earn your keep or sabotage me? If your ad lib didn¡¯t work, I¡¯d skin you. Wh-who are two? Wh-why can¡¯t anyone else move? What do you two want?¡±

    From an inch away from my ear, Young Shiyi hystericallyughed, confusing the wits out of the owner. ¡°Oh,ughing can be so tiring. I just removed my makeup. Ah, whatever. Seeing how stupefied you are, I¡¯ll let you off the hook.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Who are you two? I¡¯m not scared of you.¡±

    ¡°You are a brave gentleman.¡± Young Shiyi took a few deep breaths to stop herughing, then hiked up the corners of her lips: ¡°It¡¯s not hard to identify me. Have you heard ¡®Beauty so captivating that even clouds¡¯ peonies want her touch¡¯?¡±

    Working in the stage ys industry exposed the owner of the trope to people from all walks of life, including martial artists.

    ¡°¡­ Y-you¡¯re The Demoness!¡±

    Beauty so captivating that even clouds peonies want her touch: Movement that sets flowers aflutter. Palm strikes that will be absorbed to see her. Swords are her weapon. An appearance that defines ethereal.

    ¡°Oh, wow, I thought I was only notorious in Beiping. I had no idea I had fans in Jiangnan.¡±

    It¡¯s not difficult to tell Young Shiyi¡¯s the most gorgeous woman in the northern martial world, but identifying her is another story.

    Me: ¡°I¡¯ll also give you a hint. I am th-¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re The Demoness¡¯ cauldron, her boy toy!¡±

    My fault for trying to act cool, but why the hell am I a boy toy?! Am I handsome?! Am I? Did I just insult myself? Hey, shut up! Don¡¯tplicate this!

    Glossary

    Her Robe Is a Cloud, Her Face a Flower - A line from Li Bai¡¯s poem: ¡°A Serene Song¡±. You can use it as a synonym for something being beautiful (you can¡¯t spam it thoughtlessly, though).

    Only care for what robe his son-inw wore - Modern equivalents would be what car he/she drives, what house he/she owns. You get the gist. In the imperial court, one¡¯s robe was the indicator of their rank.

    ¡°If you were Emperor Xuanzong, An Lushan wouldn¡¯t revolt.¡± - A reference to An Lushan Rebellion.

    Beauty so captivating that even clouds peonies want her touch: Movement that sets flowers aflutter. Palm strikes that will be absorbed to see her. Swords are her weapon¡­ An appearance that defines ethereal. - This entire section is ¡°Beauty so captivating that even clouds¡¯ peonies want her touch¡± expanded. Its metaphorsbine poetic associations and Ming Suwen¡¯s story, so it doesn¡¯t trante to English. The shortened version is eight characters. The eight are then split into one character or two characters to be shortened versions of what they are meant to represent. For instance, ¡°ruling clouds¡± is a depiction of graceful, technical, precise swordy (in this context). So, ¡°Ruling cloud swordy¡±, tranted into ¡°Swords are her weapon¡± is saying, ¡°She¡¯s extremely fluent with a sword.¡±

    Want to learn this sort of stuff? Read ancient Chinese texts. It¡¯s as hard to write as it is to trante, perhaps thetter being more difficult.

 Volume 10 40 Aesthetics

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 40 Aesthetics</h4>

    Once again, ¡°The Demoness¡± proved to be a quick and effective problem solver, albeit only enough to make the owner quake in his boots. In the past, anyone who osted her would put his entire fortune on the line to hire elite bodyguards or flee to Shaolin Temple. Well, there were some who chose to go underground, literally.

    The Demoness¡¯ martial prowess was a force to be reckoned with, her beauty unequalled, her schemes indefensible, but, most importantly, her background was hidden behind a veil of mystery.

    Nobody ever forgot the story of a gang leader not daring to even consider The Demoness when he was searching for a wife. s, the poor man idently stepped on her shoe. Overnight, they went from a being a gang of ouws to phnthropists repairing roads, bridges, building libraries and politely greeting anyone they came by. None of them ever spoke a word of why they turned over a new leaf, even changing their gang name to ¡°Well-Wishes Gang¡±, the shortened form of ¡°Loyally Wishing Miss Ming a Long and Healthy Life Gang¡±.

    The son of a famous sect once decided he¡¯d marry nobody but The Demoness, subsequently issuing her a challenge in the presence of numerous renowned names. When the witnesses arrived three dayster, the freaked out man had changed his name to ¡°Doggie¡±.

    A businessman, whose business required him to be out on the water, hired several reliable martial artists to fight off The Demoness, linking up eighteen ships in his so-called Iron-Chain River Formation. In a single night, the eighteen ships were burnt, and the hired muscles have yet to be heard from since falling into the water that night.

    Because of the scale of her aplishments and the nature of them, nobody could tell if she was from Wudang, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, League of Assassins or Demon Sect¡­ Some even spected she was the master of Skyrealm Pce.

    In truth, Grandmaster was the one who set the ships on fire, and let me tell you: he enjoyed it as much as a kid receiving a new toy. Due to us aiding her in all sorts of absurd ns, The Demoness was born from word of mouth. Even she believes nobody at Mount Daluo trusts her.

    When the trope owner saw me pick up Young Shiyi and epically open the door, he eximed, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such an adept door guard.¡±

    All right, you want to have a talk?!

    ***

    Over thest three days in town, we had drifted on tigerback, took part in a y and more. Thanks to us, one minute the town thought a famous hero was in town. The next moment, they thought it was a ghost. Let¡¯s just say it was a riot. Today, we stayed in the inn because the townsfolk heard The Demoness was in townst night. Young Shiyi can¡¯t sit still; she had to do something every day. On today¡¯s agenda was painting.

    For the sake offort, Young Shiyi had her ponytail swaying in front of her assets, her curves all bouncing around in her form-fitting outfit.

    Among the clothing and ornaments Young Shiyi purchased, there was men¡¯s clothing, so she chose one at random for me, though it was clear she made sure to choose carefully based on the fact that it fit me like a glove. Frankly speaking, I wasn¡¯t enthusiastic about being her model since, while she¡¯s good at music, checkers and literacy, painting¡­ Shall we say her sense of art is rather unique? As she bought the clothing for me, nheless, I went along with her request.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move¡­ I¡¯m almost done¡­ Feizhen, don¡¯t fall asleep!¡±

    Young Shiyi appeared particrly earnest about painting this time; she woke me up whenever I started dozing off. All I could do was stand there and wait for Young Shiyi to finish her painting. She drew my shoulders first then my legs and my eyesst. By the time shepleted her project, I had also finished drawing myself in my head.

    Look at me. I¡¯m the definition of handsome

    ¡°Mm¡­ This is pretty good.¡± Young Shiyi looked up at me and down at her painting to. ¡°I like this painting. This is my best work yet.¡± She set her brush down, then added, ¡°How I wish every day could be so meaningful.¡±

    ¡°We can stay at another town once we¡¯re bored of this one. If there¡¯s anything we don¡¯t need to be worry of, it¡¯s the number of avable towns to stop by on themute south.¡±

    ¡°That would be ideal. You¡¯ll bete if we keep loitering, however.¡±

    ¡°They can wait if it means my Young Shiyi will be happy. Luo Ming has waited for a decade; waiting a few more days won¡¯t kill him.¡±

    ¡°Contriving twisted justification. If you deprioritise our sect¡¯s job, I¡¯ll have my nephewe down to whip you.¡± Young Shiyi leaned back in her chair and smiled nostalgically: ¡°I¡¯m not that insensible. I merely missed you. I won¡¯t hold you up from legitimate business. Besides, it¡¯s unseemly for a grown man to be my errand boy all the time.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I flexed my stiff neck side to side. ¡°I know you have priorities. Few at Mount Daluo are as reliable as my young shiyi.¡±

    ¡°And when ites to unreliable, you take top three. You haven¡¯t been vignt whatsoever since arriving here. Do you know why I had youe here with me?¡±

    ¡°To have fun.¡±

    ¡°Wrong.¡±

    ¡°¡­ To feast on me.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, why would I bother to go to such lengths for someone with an extra¡¯s appearance?¡±

    ¡°Okay, then to have fun and feast on me.¡±

    ¡°Can you be serious?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ All I know is that you leave at an exact time every night to pinch stuff. If the reason you¡¯re here has something to do with that¡­¡±

    ¡°At least you noticed. Ah, so you¡¯ve been pretending to sleep. You¡¯ve learnt to be dishonest, have you?¡±

    ¡°I have to keep an eye out for you. I¡¯m just d the two girls you steal from aren¡¯t your match. As for not mentioning it, I¡¯ve been waiting for you to tell me.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ve found Autumn Water Sword Sect¡¯s members.¡±

    ¡°Autumn Water Sword Sect?¡±

    Who¡­ the fook is that?

    I faked a nod, only for Young Shiyi to answer, ¡°They¡¯re rtively new; I doubt you¡¯d know them.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t the first time I embarrassed myself in her presence.

    ¡°They only surfaced around a dozen years ago as a female assassination organisation.¡±

    ¡°An assassination organisation with Sword Sect in the name? What is League of Assassins doing?¡±

    ¡°Where do League of Assassinse into this? They¡¯re not affiliated.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not? Well, there¡¯s no future for them, then.¡±

    ¡°Yes, they can¡¯t rival the influence and size of League of Assassins. With that said, they have a 100% sess rate. The reason they caught my attention isn¡¯t their abilities but their background. All of them are swordswomen, hence their group name. They¡¯re akin to lightning, seen only when executing their target. After I thoroughly investigated them, I learnt they¡¯re a branch of Skyrealm Pce.¡±

    Young Shiyi noticed my long face but continued, ¡°I detected two assassins¡¯ traces in the capital. I was hoping to catch both of them at once, but then I heard them mention Nanjiang. While I didn¡¯t hear the details, my gut tells me it¡¯s rted to what your ns are. As such, I¡¯ve been keeping tabs on them, hoping to catch a big fish with a long line. I¡¯ve been leading you after them since we set out. We were on the same path initially until they veered off to Cuiwei Town. That¡¯s why we took a detour.¡±

    ¡°I see. I see.¡± I did have a suspicion that Young Shiyi was following a course purposely for some reason. ¡°¡­ What did you steal from them?¡±

    ¡°Mind you choice of words now. I left something behind for them. It¡¯s an exchange.¡±

    Although I was still puzzled, the rustling sounds at the window drew my focus. Two swordswomen dove through our window and tried to impale us. Hence, I casually smacked the two to the ground.

    The story went like this: Young Shiyi pinched something from them,pelling them to travel an hour from their ce to our window, eavesdrop, take a few deep breaths multiple times when they wanted to invade. They got tired of waiting, though I didn¡¯t really mind, and ran into my hands on the way to their targets. Why should I know why they were rolling along on the ground?

    ¡°Feizhen, don¡¯t kill them. They¡¯re important.¡±

    ¡°¡¯kay.¡±

    Typically, assassins didn¡¯t wear pink, let alone dresses; the two resembled elegant maidens. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and female martial artists love to prove that true. Had Young Shiyi not told me they were assassins, I would¡¯ve thought we unknowingly stole their men. I couldn¡¯t imagine they had a 100% sess rate when I saw them alternate between anger, bafflement, panic, calmness, worry and then cycle back to the start. What sort of assassin wears their emotions on their sleeve?

    The two got up quite fast and then aimed for Young Shiyi: ¡°How dare you steal our mission¡¯s map, Demoness?!¡±

    ¡°Why would you leave behind a scribble to mislead us? We almost barged into Beggars Sect¡¯s ce!¡±

    That exined why they didn¡¯te for usst night. Beggars Sect had a ce about five kilometres from here.

    Young Shiyiughed: ¡°I copied your map. How did I mislead you?¡±

    I didn¡¯t really get it, but the two looked even more furious.

    ¡°Who can make any sense of this scribble? Eh? Sis, what¡¯s that on her desk? Is it our map?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡±

    Young Shiyi was toote. The two were terrified upon beholding the painting. Since I also felt curious enough to go check it out, Young Shiyi cried, ¡°Don¡¯t look, Feizhen!¡±

    Young Shiyi folded her arms and grouched, ¡°I told you not to look. Well, whatever. Now that you¡¯ve seen it, what do you think? Have I improved?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yeah, you have. I now know why the two are infuriated. May I ask, this took one day?!

 Volume 10 41 Unrivalled Cook

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 41 Unrivalled Cook</h4>

    ¡°Despicable! Shameless! Underhanded!¡± ¡°Exactly, scaring us with that kind of drawing.¡± ¡°Fight us fair and square if you¡¯re true warriors,¡± cried the maidens I immobilised when their shock distracted them.

    You two really are too young, too na?ve. If this is despicable and shameless, I don¡¯t think you know what despicable and shameless really entails.

    ¡°Feizhen, they said my painting is ugly!¡±

    You still haven¡¯t gotten over that?!

    ¡°Is my painting nice or not? Does it resemble you?¡±

    I clutched my fist tight and extended a thumb: ¡°It does resemble me! Not even twins bear such a striking resemnce.¡±

    ¡°Lies. I haven¡¯t even finished it. Look, I still need to fix the fingernails here.¡±

    I don¡¯t see no fingernails! Are you sure this is the person you¡¯ve been spending your days with? No vendor would dare to ept payment from this man! That¡¯s a gue!

    ¡°Is it really bad?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t bad¡­ if we¡¯re using stick figures as the standard to beat.¡±

    Besides me, even the two assassins were relieved to see Young Shiyi stow away her painting. The elder of the two asked me, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re her cauldron, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The man apanying The Demoness in her legends was me, but I had no idea how the im that she cultivated with men to obtain her skills.

    ¡°Being a cauldron isme. Release me, and you can have anything you ask for.¡±

    ¡°I want three hundred thousand taels. You have?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I can hook you up with beautiful women.¡±

    I pointed to Young Shiyi: ¡°More beautiful than her?¡±

    The assassin stared hopelessly at Young Shiyi¡¯s face: ¡°¡­ Can I get a discount on the three hundred thousand?¡±

    Is selling Luo n¡¯s martial arts manual really the only solution? Why do people these days not have any empathy? Why can¡¯t they carry around a few hundred thousand for us desperate pickpockets? What a sad era.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you knock them out?¡± Young Shiyi questioned. ¡°I still need them.¡±

    ¡°If you want to know their objective, interrogation won¡¯t get you far.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to interrogate them.¡±

    ¡°You n to pose as them to meet up with their client, correct?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯d you know? Their mission stated they were to meet up with their client in Nanjiang yesterday, but they must¡¯ve rearranged that since they ran off to Beggars Sect¡¯s ce for some reason.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s between nine to eleven tonight, and the meeting point is here. I think your idea is clever. Thing is, will we be able to pass off as two female assassins?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be an issue. Skyrealm Pce is known for their secrecy, and Autumn Water Sword Sect is rtively unknown. Their swords are their badge. It took me a long time and a lot of effort to learn that much. By the way, how did you know the time and ce?¡±

    Triumph flickered across my face: ¡°Assassinating us was an impromptu decision. That¡¯s why I overheard them scheduling their meet up.¡±

    ¡°You mean you heard everything they said on the way?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s me we¡¯re talking about here.¡±

    ¡°You sure you heard them clearly?¡±

    ¡°Guaranteed.¡±

    Young Shiyi grabbed me by the ear: ¡°Your ears are notorious for misbehaving. You¡¯ve been eavesdropping on the female constables of Liu Shan Men, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I have not! I only paid attention to the two because they¡¯re dangerous! Besides, there are no secrets at Liu Shan Men? What is there to eavesdrop on?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a smile or not that came to Young Shiyi¡¯s lips. Either way, she scrutinised my facial muscles as she interrogated, ¡°Do you listen in to your busty Miss Shen soaking her luscious skin in her tub every morning?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I scoffed, ¡°She washes up at night. You trying to fool me? You¡¯re underestimating my elite-ness.¡±

    Wait, what did I¡­

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow! I identally purposely overheard her when I passed by her room to pinch food and wine in the middle of the night!¡±

    ¡°identally purposely? I see how it is. All right, if I f-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll save you! I¡¯ll save you no matter which river you fall into!¡±

    Amused, Young Shiyi loosened her hold on my ear a tad. ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I was going to ask. I was going to ask, if your Boss Shen and I were to wash at the same time at your pl-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll watch both?¡±

    ¡°-ace, who will you watch? Eh? Why?¡±

    What do you mean why? It¡¯s a foregone conclusion.

    Young Shiyi pouted: ¡°You can¡¯t watch both at once. You can only watch one of us.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we¡¯ll kill you right after, so you can¡¯t look the other way.¡±

    Don¡¯t ask me to watch at all, then!

    ¡°If you don¡¯t peep, we¡¯ll die from humiliation. Are you going to peep or not?¡±

    Why are you doing this to me?! Also, what¡¯s with your logic? You¡¯ll be humiliated if I don¡¯t watch? Have all my EQ training sessions for you been for naught? I don¡¯t recall raising you to be so unreasonable!

    ¡°Who are you going to watch?¡±

    Stubborn women are scary. Stubborn women with Young Shiyi¡¯s wits can¡¯t be reasoned with.

    If I will die after peeping, yet I have to peep, hmph, there¡¯s no need to think about it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll peep on both even if it costs me my life!¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, your resolute tone makes me feel that all my EQ training session for you have been for naught. I don¡¯t recall raising you to be this sort of child.¡±

    Where have I heard that before?

    ¡°Since you can¡¯t answer, you shall sleep on my bed tonight as punishment.¡±

    ¡°Hell no! If Shifu finds out, he¡¯ll murder me.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Sleeping on my bed means you have to pay for a bigger bed for me. What did you think I was saying? You¡­ wanted to cook with me tonight?¡±

    ¡°Cook what?¡±

    ¡°Raw rice into cooked rice.¡±

    Can you stop with the sexual innuendos?!

    Although I had been sleeping on the beam so that Young Shiyi could have the entire bed to herself, I waited on her while living with her, so there was no shortage of heart-pounding moments.

    Young Shiyi cackled without sparing decorum a thought: ¡°I¡¯veughed more times thest few days than thest few years added up. If I get wrinkles, it¡¯s your fault.¡± And then she hammer fisted my chest.

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault for making you happy?!¡±

    ¡°I never asked you to.¡± Young Shiyi wrinkled her nose and then suddenly covered her mouth in exasperation. ¡°Time flies. It¡¯s all your fault. We don¡¯t have much time now.¡±

    My fault again?!

    ¡°Fetch some water. We need to rinse the rice.¡±

    Young Shiyi queried, ¡°Why rinse the rice?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to cook tonight!¡±

    Caught off guard, Young Shiyi bit down on her lip to control her reaction. Nevertheless, the temperature between us soared. ¡°¡­ You think I¡¯m scared?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help pulling Young Shiyi in at the sight of her beauty and thereupon nted my lips on hers. For the reason that she was dressed in thin clothing reminiscent of a negligee, I could feel the heat emanating from her shoulders and globes. Had it not been for the two mountains, we would¡¯ve had our bodies entwined. By the time we separated, both of us were taking fast and shallow breaths. The sweat from her body enhanced visibility of her body.

    ¡°¡­ I won¡¯t get jealous anymore¡­ I won¡¯t get jealous if another girl wants to like you or marry you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t keep silent because I was out of breath but because my brain was second guessing what just came through.

    ¡°Your shifu has lovers all across thend, not to mention all his wives, yet I¡¯ve never seen your shiniangs unhappy about it. As long as you¡­ think of me, I don¡¯t care. I must be main, though.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant by ¡®main¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What else were you thinking? Hehehe, you better put in the effort to keep me happy. Otherwise, if I change my mind, I¡¯ll spank your Yu¡¯er, Yi¡¯er, Hong¡¯er and Xiao¡¯er.¡±

    Okay, stop before you say anything more insane. Minus the one you can¡¯t even beat, one is my superior. One is a Princess, and thest one is a man!

    After a while ofzing in my embrace, Young Shiyiined, ¡°Ah, I forgot again! All your fault!¡±

    ¡°Again? All right, let¡¯s rinse our rice.¡±

    Young Shiyi shoved me away and poked her tongue at me: ¡°Trying to take a yard when given an inch? Behave yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s best to remember some information in order to convincingly pass off as members of Autumn Water Sword Sect.¡± Young Shiyi directed my gaze to the two on the ground with her finger. ¡°The two are sisters. The elder one is more assertive and not afraid to voice her opinion, while the other is innocent. You y the elder sister, Sister Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t that be ¡®brother¡¯?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, Brother Feizhen, listen up.¡±

    Hearing Young Shiyi, whom I waited on since childhood, refer to me as brother was the equivalent of a spell chant that could make me bend to her will.

    ¡°All of their members use Qiu, as in autumn, as their name. None of them have surnames. From my research, their patriarch is Qiushiu - autumn water - while the others all start their names with Qiu. The one you are posing as is Qiuyi. The other one¡¯s n-, damn it. Someone¡¯sing. Hurry up.¡±

    Young Shiyi shoved one of the swords into my hand a second before a knock came from the door in what was obviously a coded rhythm.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    The muscr, tanned man outside came in with a sack. Though his average height and build were hallmarks of Nanjiang¡¯s natives, he, in fluent Central in¡¯s Chinese, conveyed, ¡°It is an honour to meet you. This one is Baimu State¡¯s Wu Ba. The two on the ground are¡­?¡±

    I answered, ¡°The clients of this room. Borrowing the room of another will ensure we do not leave behind any traces,¡± whilst flicking signals to Young Shiyi for her to move the bodies, lest Wu Ba see anything.

    ¡°This one must learn from your attention to detail. May he ask for your names?¡±

    I only knew what my name was. Young Shiyi had yet to tell me what her character¡¯s name was!

    Calm down, Ming Feizhen. Their names must have ¡°Qiu¡± in them, and the two are sisters, so their names should be rted. Since my name is Qiuyi¡­ Qiuyi, Qiuyi, which ¡°yi¡±, man?! Oh, I got it!

    ¡°I am Qiuyi. She is Qiuku.¡±

    Glossary

    Raw rice, rice and human making - Cooking rice can be used as a reference to producing a human. Cooked rice means she¡¯s pregnant.

    Rinsing rice - Washing up.

    Cooking rice - Transferring white tadpoles over to the racing field, where they race to the egg.

    Hearing Young Shiyi, whom I waited on since childhood, refer to me as brother was the equivalent of a spell chant that could make me bend to her will. - It¡¯s akin to a level up to a rtionship between a man and woman. If you¡¯re familiar with Korean, it¡¯s the equivalent of ¡°oppa¡±. It¡¯s a big deal to Chinese and Korean people (generally speaking)

    Qiuyi and Qiuku - The original ¡°yi¡± in Qiuyi is ¡°one¡±. Ming Feizhen uses the ¡°yi¡± for ¡°clothes¡±. If you haven¡¯t forgotten the nickname he gave for Jin Wangsun, Kucha (underpants), the Qiuku here is the same ¡°ku¡± in ¡°Kucha¡±. In other words, their names are Autumn Shirt and Autumn Undies.

    The ¡®er suffix as seen in Yi¡¯er etc. - in this context, they act as a form of showing intimacy. For those familiar with Korean, we use ¡°our¡± as a prefix before a name to show intimacy in the same way. If you had to trante it to English no matter what, you could trante it as ¡°Dear (insert name)¡±.

 Volume 10 42 Feizhenâ€™s Depressing Nanjiang History Exam

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 42 Feizhen¡¯s Depressing Nanjiang History Exam</h4>

    Nanjiang is way too far from where I grew up, so you can¡¯t hold it against me for only knowing about what Shifu read out to me. In saying that, I¡¯ve never passed a single literacy exam, so¡­ Shifu was always bemoaning, ¡°I¡¯ve seen my fair share of prodigies and durds, but you¡¯re the first one to prove he¡¯s better off not taking an exam. How exactly do you do it?¡± Second always wrote profanity in his exam, yet he managed to get a pass; I still don¡¯t know how I do worse.

    ¡°I, I do my reading, but I don¡¯t really understand the reading materials¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up. Who is Emperor Taizong?¡±

    ¡°Easy. Emperor Taizong married this chick named Dou Yifang and allied with Sun Quan to unite the six states. Unfortunately, his son was a loser and lost to Liu Bang, so he had to flee to Wu River, only to encounter an assassin, Fan Zhongyan, who took his indignant life in one sh!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take your dead brain in one sh!¡± As he clouted me, Shifu questioned, ¡°Who is Li Shimin? Who taught you that nonsense?¡±

    ¡°What connection does Emperor Taizong of Tang have to do with Li Shimin?! What sort of question is that?!¡± And, I tried to beat Shifu, only to be hung up as his punching bag.

    Later on, I learnt that Hong Jiu, out of spite, pulled apart my book and put it back together in the wrong order. How do you expect me to keep up with him when he did that? You have no idea how much I regretted trying to fight Shifu after I fixed my book and learnt Emperor Taizong is Li Shimin¡­

    I burnt the midnight oil to relearn what I got wrong and finally passed with a C-. I¡¯m still not satisfied, though. Who did Fan Zhongyan kill at Wu River, then? Why did Shifu never answer me? Why does he threaten to hit me every time I ask?

    So, bear in mind I¡¯m sharing this knowledge of Nanjiang based on the little information I gleaned.

    Nanjiang worships the sun¡­ No, I think they worship birds. Or not? Can I digress for a second? I didn¡¯t believe in god from a young age, so I¡¯ve always wondered how birds can have human offspring. Like, do humans in Nanjiang hatch from eggs? This is why I lean towards them worshiping the sun.

    Nanjiang,nd of the seven-coloured divine bird emblem, enjoys nature as pure as ites. Because they believe it to be the sun¡¯s (bird)nd, their people call Nanjiang ¡°Xiacang Anxi¡±. In their archaguage, that means nd of the sun¡¯s descendants¡±.

    Five hundred years ago, Beussent¡¯s sovereign, remembered for capturing every troop the Central in sent after them, was summoned to hell when they were about tomence their incursion into the Central in. Upon hearing of their father¡¯s demise in Nieyao City overnight, his twelve sons raced back to start their fight for the throne, splitting the once united country into twelve. At this point in time, there are only eleven left as Morcher is no more.

    Although I¡¯m not sure where Baimu got its name from, I do remember it being a dangerous ce. Plenty of ces in Nanjiang are still primitive, but Baimu is famous for being a tourist attraction that even ck and White Reflection rmended at one stage.

    ¡­ Now I know why this envoy looks like he¡¯s on holiday. Coborating with Autumn Water Sword Sect must be the icing on the cake¡­

    ¡°Please take a seat.¡± Acting close, I inquired, ¡°Um¡­ Does your sun god have a bird?¡±

    Whoa, Young Shiyi, rx. Why you look like you want to stick a knife in me?

    I broached a different topic: ¡°Has he¡­ been well? Send our greetings to your King.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°His Majesty has been well and also sends his greetings to Matriarch Qiu, wishing her good health and eternal youth.¡±

    Well, a man who knows how to greet ady, eh?

    When Young Shiyi came back after sorting out the two assassins, I ordered, ¡°Qiuk-, S-Sis, br-bring our guest a cup.¡±

    Young Shiyi pulled her hand away from my rib and poured Wu Ba a cup of tea. ¡°We bought these tea leaves from Jiangnan. It cannotpare to the pure taste of your springs, but it does have its uniqueness. Please have a try. Don¡¯t you agree,¡± Young Shiyi winked at me, ¡°Sister?¡±

    Wu Ba¡¯s eyes erged to the size of dinosaur eyes.

    Meanwhile, Young Shiyi giggled and exined, ¡°All of our members are women. My sister, being devoted to her job as she is, trained until she resembles a man. She is actually a woman.¡±

    Is this revenge for naming you Qiuku?! I didn¡¯t mean it. It¡¯s not my fault you didn¡¯t finish. You better pray he believes such a tant fib!

    Wu Bamended my dedication with his thumb: ¡°The Central in¡¯s culture truly is profound!¡±

    Now why would you believe her?! What part of me resembles a woman?!

    ¡°Hohoho, that¡¯s a stark contrast to girls in Baimu. Girls in Yangchiu arepared to goris for their strength. Men in Nanjiang love strong women, so I¡¯ve always looked forward to paying a visit.¡± Wu Ba eyed me and added, ¡°You¡¯re not bad!¡±

    Shut up! I¡¯m a man! I can¡¯t believe there¡¯d be a day where I have to say Su Xiao¡¯s catchphrase! Is this karma for making fun of him? I¡¯m sorry, Su Xiao!

    To escape the mire, I voiced, ¡°Mr. Wu Ba, as a disimer, we are not suspecting you. We do want to discuss the details, however.¡±

    ¡°What do you feel needs to be reworked? Matriarch Qiu has approved! Making alterations now will not work in anyone¡¯s favour and damage our rtionship! It is a bad idea!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a valid point. Still, our matriarch isn¡¯t happy with our remuneration.¡±

    ¡°Still not? We¡¯ve shown as much sincerity as we can show!¡±

    I pretended to deliberate and then lure him into disclosing their negotiation when he eximed, ¡°Miss Qiuyi, I can hook you up with any man from Nanjiang of your choice! I promise you will be satisfied!¡±

    I¡¯d rather your head than a man! I don¡¯t want a man at all, you included!

    Young Shiyi conveyed, ¡°Do you mind exining how you have shown your sincerity? In my opinion, I also feel our matriarch got the short end of the stick.¡±

    ¡°Do not think like that, Miss Qiuku!¡± Oblivious to the fact that Young Shiyi nearly busted his head open, Wuba expounded, ¡°Let me rify so that we don¡¯t have any misunderstandings. ording to the agreement between my King and Matriarch Qiu, we shall offer you half of our annual taxes aspensation as long as you can kill Heisina.¡±

    Using Voice Transmission, Young Shiyi told me, ¡°There has to be more to it.¡±

    I replied, ¡°I wonder if that equates to three hundred thousand taels.¡±

    Young Shiyi expressed disillusionment with her gaze.

    Given Baimu was willing to pay such an exorbitant sum to an organisation I had only heard of today, it was safe to assume that the mission was risky and difficult. In addition, Baimu trusted Autumn Water Sword Sect to an extreme degree for some reason.

    Stressing out because of our silence, Wu Ba said, ¡°As a small nation, that is all we can offer. Miss Qiuyi, I can offer you men! Miss Qiuku, I c-¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just leave it as it is in that case, okay?!¡±

    Wu Ba couldn¡¯t contain his jubnce despite being told to put a sock in it: ¡°Do you know what¡¯s in my sack?¡±

    It was hard not to notice Wu Ba¡¯s sack when he came in; I was just too focused on trying to think of a name to investigate further.

    ¡°¡­ Three hundred thousand taels?¡±

    Young Shiyi wrenched my skin at my rib: ¡°It¡¯s clearly a person, greedy sis.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not money. It¡¯s a person,¡± Wu Ba confirmed, opening his bag.

    The eighteen year old girl inside was still asleep. While she had the features of girls from the Central in, her light tan and risqu¨¦ clothing weren¡¯t.

    ¡°She is¡­¡±

    Wu Ba smiled: ¡°She is Heisina Duohua.¡±

    ¡°Duohua? Her name is, uh¡­ Who tore the flower?¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Easy. Emperor Taizong married this chick called Dou Yifang and allied with Sun Quan to unite the six states¡­ - This manbined crossed the time barrier (Tang Dynasty to Three Kingdoms to¡­) to travel across different dynasties of China to run into people from different eras. In other words, Ming Feizhen just wrote a transmigration novel.

    Fan Zhongyan - a Chinese poet, politician, philosopher, writer, and military strategist during Song Dynasty. Ming Feizhen is asking how a man from Song Dynasty transmigrated several centuries in the past, killed a man from Tang Dynasty at the location Xiang Yumitted suicide (not assassinated) during the Chu-Han Contention, and did so when he hasn¡¯t been trained to.

    Heisina Duohua - Duohua is tranted as ¡°flower¡±. ¡°Si¡± in ¡°Heisina¡± sounds the same as ¡°to tear¡± in Mandarin. When pronouncing her full name, it¡¯s somewhat simr to saying, ¡°Tear the flower¡± in Mandarin. Obviously, trying to parse a foreignnguage doesn¡¯t help.

 Volume 10 43 Learning Nanjiangâ€™s Dialect From a Smokinâ€™ Hot Teacher

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 43 Learning Nanjiang¡¯s Dialect From a Smokin¡¯ Hot Teacher</h4>

    ¡°His Majesty already notified Matriarch Qiu about Heisina. Howe you do not know about her?¡±

    ¡°I do know. Technically, I will know in a moment.¡±

    Wu Ba¡¯s brows parted as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. While I sealed his upoints, Young Shiyi helped out the girl in the sack. The girl looked small because Wu Ba tucked her into his sack. In reality, she would be considered tall for a girl in the Central in given she was barely shorter than Shiyi if she were to stand.

    ¡°Her upoints are sealed.¡± Young Shiyi searched for the seal and then smacked the girl, causing her to gasp. Since the girl frowned, Young Shiyi looked my way as I went to add the finishing touch.

    ¡°Your internal energy has improved quite a bit since west met, Young Shyi.¡±

    While Young Shiyi gets grumpy if anyone interferes in something she is working on, she lets me off the hook.

    Cheeks inted, Young Shiyi grumbled, ¡°Making fun of my internal energy again. You know I don¡¯t like practicing internal arts; they could kill me with the boredom. I wouldn¡¯t even bother practicing them if I don¡¯t have topete against Vixen Yu.¡±

    ording to Grandmaster, he had never met a second person as gifted as Young Shiyi when ites to martial arts. Can you argue that when she picked up everything she was taught in one go? Unfortunately, the deference she was given didn¡¯t support her growth. Even Grandmaster argued, ¡°A girl shouldn¡¯t learn martial arts. You have your nephews to do the heavy lifting if you need, don¡¯t you?¡± If you¡¯re always the smartest in the room, who can you learn from in the room? Had her defeats at the hands of Lass Yu not triggered her, Young Shiyi wouldn¡¯t have put in the effort to reach her current level.

    Fighting wasn¡¯t something to encourage or apud. That being said, Young Shiyi and Lass Yu got to know each other when they were kids. While they weren¡¯t friends, they did have their own means of fraternising, so I usually left them to their own devices.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle these jobs in the future. Extending your lifespan with better internal energy is a plus in every way. That being said, I¡¯m not saying you have to practice internal styles. Nobody will darey a finger on you for as long as I¡¯m around.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Feizhen, you didn¡¯t even move your hand to seal the midget fatso¡¯s upoints. All you did was condense your qi. Have you created a new technique? Teach me.¡±

    This is the first time anyone has wanted to learn my Seven King Threads!

    ¡°It¡¯s my new innovation in Seven King Threads - Shadow King Thread. Its principle is ratherplex, but let me exin. F-¡±

    ¡°Where¡­ am I?¡± As the tan girl slowly opened her eyes, she scuttled back. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    I tugged up a corner of my lips ever so slightly: ¡°Wee to Beautiful Spring Brothel.¡±

    As tears welled up in the girl¡¯s eyes, Young Shiyi whacked me over the head. ¡°Feizhen, why are you scaring her?!¡± Young Shiyi hugged the girl to calm her down. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He can¡¯t control his idiocy. He didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡±

    The girl aimed her finger at me and quavered, ¡°H-he looks like a bad guy, especially like those bad men from brothels!¡±

    Which brothel did youe from?! How do you know what a bad guy at a brothel looks like if you haven¡¯t been to one?!

    I rolled up my sleeves, only to eat another thump to the head. Young Shiyi reprimanded, ¡°Told you to stay away from brothels. See? Even she can tell you¡¯re debauched at first nce. I¡¯m not defending you.¡±

    ¡­ I can¡¯t believe I don¡¯t have a retort¡­

    ¡°I¡­ I never went of my own volition, and you know that! Heavenly Fragrance Garden is our sect¡¯s contact point! I only visit it monthly to see if Shifu has any letters for me!¡±

    ¡°What happened to watching the dances?¡±

    ¡°Dancing is a legitimate art!¡±

    Despite my sound justification, the tan girl still wailed, only stopping when Young Shiyi assuaged her. The girl eyed the room as well as Wu Ba extremely quickly, then started crying again. ¡°I, I came to the Central in from Xiacang with my family for a vacation. The evil man over there killed my family and abducted me¡­ I don¡¯t know anything else.¡±

    ¡°Spirits might buy your story, but it isn¡¯t going to fool anyone here.¡± I pointed out, ¡°It¡¯s true that people from Nanjiang refer to themselves as Xiacang people. It¡¯s ridiculous for someone from Nanjiang to go all the way to Jiangnan for a holiday, but let¡¯s ignore that for now. He¡¯s an official of Baimu, and he personally told us your name is something Duohua.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Heisina Duohua!¡±

    ¡°And you just admitted to lying.¡±

    ¡°Tch! Mada, mada, mada!¡±

    ¡°Nani? You speak Japanese?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t speak Japanese.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then you were spitting profanity. You think pronouncing ¡®mother¡¯ in a cute style will earn you mercy?¡± Truth be told, I never heard anyone use ¡°mada¡± as a way of referring to a mother.

    ¡°Feizhen, stop. Don¡¯t worry. We mean you no harm.¡±

    Subsequent to Young Shiyi whispering something to her, the girl conversed merrily with Young Shiyi, admiration abound. I didn¡¯t understand them since I couldn¡¯t even identify thenguage, dialect¡­ whatever it was that they spoke. Young Shiyi couldn¡¯t enunciate as fluently and fast as the girl. Nheless, they did exchange words.

    After fifteen minutes of not understanding anything - besides theughing and crying - Young Shiyi switched back to Chinese in the Central in. ¡°So, yourst name is Heisina, and your first name is Duohua? That¡¯s a nice name.¡±

    The girl¡¯s hot flushes were the indicator that Young Shiyi had conquered her route.

    ¡°Young Shiyi, you now Nanjiang¡¯snguage?¡±

    ¡°Technically speaking, it¡¯s Anxi. Although they call themselves Xiacang people, theirnguage is called Anxi. Your shifu held Anxi sses when we were younger. Regret not listening in ss now? By the way, ¡®mada¡¯ means pig.¡±

    Who you calling a pig?!

    The reason I didn¡¯t pay attention to Anxi sses was because I was on a roll with Yijin Jing back then. All I remembered from those sses was whatever slipped through subconsciously.

    ¡°Should¡¯ve told me earlier. I wouldn¡¯t need to bring an interpreter to Nanjiang if I could just bring my all-rounder Young Shiyi around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not qualified to be an interpreter. I only know basic Anxi.¡±

    ¡°It would only take you a few days to be fluent once you¡¯re in Nanjiang. It really isn¡¯t fair. Some people are blessed with good looks, a good brain, a kind heart and are likable.¡±

    Young Shiyi wrinkled her nose. ¡°Tongue sorcerer.¡±

    Seeing my befuddled reaction, Duohua elucidated, ¡°In Morcher¡¯s version of Anxi, it means ¡®idiot¡¯. You¡¯re amazing, Miss, even knowing Morcher¡¯s dialect.¡±

    Only I could appreciate what Young Shiyi truly meant. ¡°Sounds nice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to be called an idiot?¡¯

    Young Shiyi giggled and reeled off another series of words I didn¡¯t understand. Duohua then tranted, ¡°Idiotic and stupid, but¡­ sort of cute¡­¡±

    In the most masculine, yet gentle, voice I had, I verbalised my feelings for Young Shiyi in Nanjiang¡¯snguage. Since I wasn¡¯t proficient in thenguage, I held my hand out to her as a means of getting my point across.

    Furrowing her brows, Duohua asked, ¡°Why did you say, ¡®White rice with a kilo of beef¡¯?¡±

    This flipping Shifu of mine¡­ I swear¡­

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Young Shiyi pped my hand aside, then returned to nursing Duohua¡¯s injuries, refusing to spare me any attention.

    Can I throw this girl out?! What did I do to her?! How should I have known what that meant?!

    ¡°Hey, why were you kidnapped?!¡± I yelled.

    ¡°I just told her right in front of you. You deaf?!¡±

    I looked over to Young Shiyi.

    ¡°Feizhen, we can¡¯t just ditch her. Shees from a tribe called Heisina. Their n is behind an insurrection taking ce in Baimu right now.¡±

    ¡°Remind me why it¡¯s our business again. Baimu is a prosperous state. They could quell the revolt easily.¡±

    ¡°You know what the ce they¡¯ve decided to call home is? You remember where Baimu is located? Baimu is the state closest to Xiuyu.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡±

    Young Shiyi bobbed her head: ¡°Heisina Tribe has chosen to make Nieyao their home.¡±

    Glossary

    Internal energy and lifespan - In our current era, we call this the magic of breathing. I¡¯m going to summarise this as much as I can because it¡¯s a huge topic. Remember I mentioned the Bohr Effect a few chapters back? Well, this is connected to it. Your respiratory rate, resting heart rate, heart rate variation and BOLT score are pretty decent biomarkers to gauge your health - still only one facet, nheless. Breathing has a big role in all of those biomarkers.

    Think about this: when you¡¯re stressed (sympathetic state), you take shallower, quick breaths. When you¡¯re in a parasympathetic state, you take less breaths per minute, and your breathing is soft (this is how it should be, if it¡¯s not). If you¡¯re chronically in a sympathetic state, you¡¯re chronically stressed. In turn, digestion, appetite, sleep, mental health and so forth are negatively impacted. If those effects were chronic, your health is likely to decline faster than if they weren¡¯t, agreed?

    Mada - In Japanese, depending on context, you can understand it as ¡°not yet¡±, ¡°not enough¡± etc.

 Volume 10 44 Emergency

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 44 Emergency</h4>

    Nieyao was the product of a tyrant. Perhaps it would be fairer to say it was the product of a state because he invested so many precious minerals and conscripted his denizens tobour in the elements regardless of time of the day. By the time the city wasplete, three rulers had stepped down. If Beussent wasn¡¯t so busy constructing the city, they could¡¯veunched the war on the Central in considerably earlier.

    To say Nieyao was a symbol of authority and wealth would only be partially correct for the reason that it was also a symbol of Xiacang people¡¯s might. They erected a gold pir and colosseum out of precious stones in their city for their warriors to exhibit their prowess when their sovereign offered them the opportunity. Nobody knows if Xiacang Guya - the sun¡¯s guardian - still stood or not ever since the city was ¡°cursed¡±.

    While ck and White Reflection covered the aplishments of Nanjiang¡¯s warriors, none of their issues thus far had detailed how the city fell to ruin. If it did, I wouldn¡¯t be throwing darts in the dark. I could only make the conjecture that Six Evils was most probably the reason for the city¡¯s downfall based on Luo Ming¡¯s history.

    Since Nieyao sat between Baimu and the region of Nanjiang that the imperial court had jurisdiction over, the imperial court must seek permission from Baimu if they wanted to march into Nieyao. Heisina Tribe¡¯s unexpected revolt introduced another factor that needed to be ounted for.

    Upon making eye contact with me, Heisina Duohua scuttled back. Her intuition was spot on. I was thinking that, if we could offer her to Baimu in exchange for permission to enter Nieyao without any hindrance, it would be a solid deal for us. Young Shiyi unlikely approving was one reason I dropped the idea. My second reason for ruling it out was because, although Heisina Duohua was withholding information of some sort, her anger hinted that there was more to the ¡°rebellion¡± than the semantics told us.

    ¡°What are your ns?¡± The purpose of my open-ended question was to give Duohua full authority over her decision.

    ¡°I¡­ shall bid you farewell here and now.¡± Duohua conveyed to Young Shiyi, ¡°Thank you for rescuing me. I have an entire state on my tail, so¡­ I can¡¯t implicate you¡­ especially you, Miss. You have been the nicest to me ever since I set foot in the Central in. Farewell.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Young Shiyi stopped Duohua. ¡°Tell us where you¡¯re going if you¡¯re going to leave. You said an entire state is after you. Do you realise how many are going to be after you? You¡¯re practically marching to your death if you blindly stroll out there.¡±

    Touched, Douhua cast her gaze down and shook her head, teeth digging into her lips. It was unlikely she didn¡¯t think she needed help. More than likely, she was wary of us, or rather, me.

    ¡°You¡¯re not alone, are you?¡± I questioned.

    Duohua juddered.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, we can turn a blind eye to you. Of course, what I mean by not minding is witnessing your tribe¡¯s extermination.¡±

    ¡°How do you know my tribesmen have been taken captive?¡± Duohua sealed her mouth with her hands right after.

    ¡°It¡¯s not hard to guess. It wouldn¡¯t make sense for you to be hiding out in the Central in when your appearance makes you stand out, would it? Either you¡¯re here to execute a mission or have been on holiday for quite some time in the Central in. Based on your circumstances, the former is unlikely. Unless they¡¯re crazy, nobody would send you on a solo mission. Since your entire tribe is taking part in the revolt, I presume your tribe prefers to act as one.

    ¡°For Wu Ba to personally capture you, you can¡¯t just be another face in the crowd. If even you have been apprehended, your tribesmen are either detained or offed. I just made a random guess from those two options.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re correct on both ounts. Not only have they captured my tribesmen but also killed the majority of them. Of the thirty-six people who came to the Central in, including me, there are only three of us left. Three are detained, and nine are on the run. I don¡¯t want you to be n-¡±

    ¡°Stop. Give me some leads. I¡¯ll rescue them. After that, you are to tell me who you really are and what happened at Baimu.¡±

    Duohua¡¯s reaction told me she didn¡¯t expect my suggestion, but she quickly extinguished her rekindled hope. ¡°If you can save them, I¡¯ll tell you anything, but you¡¯ll fail¡­ You¡¯re no match for them.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jump to conclusions before you try. I¡¯m pretty good at dishing out pain.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less if you killed yourself. I don¡¯t want her to risk her life. Don¡¯t put yourself on a pedestal. You think Wu Ba is tough? He¡¯s only an official of Baimu in the Nine Provinces; he mainly does business. Although he can fight, he¡¯s inferior to me. The truly dangerous ones are his two subordinates.¡±

    I regarded Young Shiyi with my eyes and then tucked my arms under each other: ¡°Tell me more.¡±

    ¡°One of them works for an assassination organisation in the Central in. They have a pristine record as they¡¯ve never failed to execute their targets. They¡¯re called Aut-¡±

    ¡°Autumn Water Sword Sect?¡±

    ¡°Y-you know them?¡±

    I pointed to the corner that was now the two assassins¡¯ crib: ¡°Those two I knocked out are from the organisation.¡±

    ¡°¡­ The other one is one of Baimu¡¯s elites. He apanied Wu Ba to the Central in as an assistant; however, his real task is to search and take us in. They¡¯re the ones who killed my tribesmen¡­ Ah Su is the royal family¡¯s adept.¡±

    Rather than be impressed with the two pugilists described, I was more impressed with Duohua¡¯s background. ¡°You just proved yourself to be someone extremely important. Else, they wouldn¡¯t dispatch the royal family¡¯s elite to capture you, would they? That¡¯s all I need to know for now. Get back in the sack.¡±

    I didn¡¯t give Duohua time to appeal, shoving her back in and sealing her upoints. I didn¡¯t seal her five senses or knock her out; I only immobilised her. Sharing a cosmic moment with me, Young Shiyi rearranged the room and heated the tea back to the temperature it should be a while ago. I then put Wu Ba back in his sitting posture before and opened his eyes.

    ¡°Strange. I feel so tired.¡± Wu Ba tried to shake out his fatigue. ¡°Where were we?¡±

    ¡°You just mentioned Heisina Duohua.¡±

    Wu Ba stopped to jog his memory then said, ¡°Yes, yes, Heisina. Y-¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I know who she is. I just want to confirm if it really is her or not. Heisina Tribe are dissidents in your state. She¡¯s important, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Wu Ba¡¯s aplishment flitted across his face: ¡°She is, indeed. There are nine of them still on the run. I hope you can aid me before I return to Baimu.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I chuckled under my breath. ¡°Want to see our true prowess?¡±

    ¡°I dare not question yourpetence! His Majesty stressed not to ost you.¡±

    ¡°Good. Now, tell me: are you using them as hostages?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious? You expect us to search an entire city for nine people? They¡¯re obviously bait.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ how are we going to lure them out when they¡¯re in hiding?¡±

    ¡°Simple: hand them over to us. We¡¯ll ride around the city and whip them until theye out. We just have to butcher them after. Easy, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°You butcher people with swords?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. It just rolled off my tongue.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Do you n to start now? It iste now.¡±

    ¡°Better early thante.¡±

    ¡°It is never toote to learn, and everyone has his field of specialty. I have learnt much from our meeting.¡±

    Knowing the sayings of another¡¯s culture is one way of establishing friendship. Though Wu Ba used the two sayings oddly, it proved why he was a foreign diplomat for Baimu.

    ¡°Please step after me.¡±

    Okay, I take back the part about him being a qualified foreign diplomat. That is not how you use those lines.

    Wu Ba picked up his sack, while I shoved the two girls from Autumn Water Sword Sect into the cupboard. I left some money on the table and a note for the concierge to not touch anything in the room.

    I would¡¯ve believed Wu Ba if he told me he was a local of Cuiwei Town based on how well he knew his way around - and even the fact that the narrowne existed. It¡¯s not umon for foreigners to take shelter in abandoned shrines, temples or what have you, yet they lodged at a mansion.

    Wu Ba reported to them with a secret knocking rhythm, then answered a few questions in Nanjiang¡¯snguage prior to having the doors opened for him.

    At a nce, there were fifteen or so people, half of whom were armed with loaded mechanical bows. Although they regarded him, they showed nothing but animosity for us, prompting Wu Ba to scold, ¡°They¡¯re our guests. Stand down.¡±

    Upon entering a room, someone brayed, ¡°Who¡¯s there? Wu Ba?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Come in. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°About time you came back. Cuiwei Town has been jinxed thesest few days.¡± Despite hisint, his reclined posture and the look of fulfilment on his face as the five girls massaging his limbs told a different story.

    ¡°What happened? Did something happen to our prisoners?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Who do you think I am? Just bizarre things have been happening. Somebody stole the two tigers we¡¯ve been raising. The local magistrate and other officials suddenly fell ill, leaving us with nowhere to lodge. I went to meet up with our informer in the trope, only to listen to him quaver about some demoness¡¯s advent and some dog?¡±

    ¡°Pet dog?¡± Young Shiyi voiced.

    The man¡¯s eyes flew open.

    ¡°Thanks, Wu Ba,¡± I expressed.

    With that, Wu Ba passed out for the second time on the same night.

    Young Shiyi and I chortled. As I rubbed my hands, I said, ¡°What do you want with The Demoness and her pet dog? How about we settle the score here and now? Otherwise¡­ you won¡¯t be able to read tomorrow.¡±

    Glossary

    Swords and butchering - In Chinese, ¡°shing¡± is a verbmonly associated with a broadsword saying, while ¡°stabbing¡± is reserved for the sword version. It¡¯s not wrong per se, but it¡¯s not colloquial to use them the way Ming Feizhen did.

    Okay, I take back the part about him being a qualified foreign diplomat. That is not how you use those lines. - It¡¯s one of those instances where someone tries to use gufeng style but uses it incorrectly. Specifically, Wu Ba uses a way of saying ¡°to walk¡±, which you can use as a means of saying ¡°follow me¡± in some contexts, but his way of saying it doesn¡¯t work.

 Volume 10 45 Nanjiangâ€™s Uprising (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 45 Nanjiang¡¯s Uprising (Part 1)</h4>

    Ah Su, dressed in loose white garments, was livid to see Wu Ba unconscious, shocked to see me release Heisina Duohua and then jubnt to see Young Shiyi. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ The Demoness, Ming Suwen?¡±

    ¡°And if I am?¡±

    Ah Su: He must be her rumoured cauldron. No wonder why they call him her pet dog¡­ The most important tool for dual cultivation is the cauldron. Let¡¯s see what you can do once I have your cauldron.

    Heisina Duohua was scared stiff without Ah Su licking his lips whilst ogling Young Shiyi.

    ¡°Devil w, Ah Su¡­¡±

    Duohua started to shiver as she listened to Ah Su¡¯s rhythmic, heavy breathing.

    ¡°I was wondering who managed to work out our ns, but it turns out you called for backup, you bug. You think this is all it¡¯ll take to rescue your tribesmen? You just brought more people to the ughter, hehehe.¡±

    Heisina Duohua grabbed my sleeve and quietly pleaded, ¡°Leave¡­ Leave now¡­¡±

    Noticing Ah Su had locked on to me with his eyes, I responded, ¡°You have a lot to say, huh?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in for it, hehehe.¡± Deeming Young Shiyi to be the true threat, Ah Su flicked her a lecherous smile. ¡°Hey, Miss, you two¡­¡±

    Bang! Ah Su went back and through a shelf.

    The girls massaging Ah Su were befuddled for a split second when their hands missed their targets, while Young Shiyi beamed as if she was my cheerleader.

    ¡°No point hiding my abilities when nobody here would recognise me.¡± As I rubbed my hands, I grumbled, ¡°Your face sure is thick. Saved you from death, mate.¡±

    Judging from the fact that the girls were crying, yet the guards outside didn¡¯t budge, it was safe to assume that Ah Su gave them the order to note in regardless of what they heard.

    Face bloody, Ah Su jumped to his feet. Despite his lower legs shaking a tad, he was otherwise fine. ¡°You know who I am? I¡¯m going to maul you!¡±

    The ¡°Ah¡± surname in Nanjiang belongs to their royal family from ages ago. Anyone who dares to use it without their permission is punished harshly.

    The Central in¡¯s martial arts focus on depth. If you want to get even more specific, then the North focuses on variety, while the South focuses on depth.

    In the North, you will find many disciplines, many innovative ways of thinking, perhaps even unorthodox ideas, and lots ofpetent young fighters.

    When we refer to depth in the South, the Seven Champion White Princes represent the concept the best.

    If it were up to me, I would¡¯ve hired League of Assassins. By the way, you can get a 20% discount if you mention my name. Howbeit, I wasn¡¯t surprised they chose to hire a guild from the Central in because assassins are pretty much a non-existent concept in Nanjiang. In Nanjiang, if they have an issue with someone, they fight it out man to man; they don¡¯t sneak up on people.

    For the same reason Anxi people chose to retain their primitive culture, it was also embedded in their fighting style. Their disciplines emphasised practicality and experience, so anyone considered adept there would be someone who had a triple digit fight record.

    In Nanjiang, they push their physical attributes to be faster than a cheetah, jump higher than apes and to outmuscle elephants. It¡¯s a different means to the same goal as the Central in¡¯s disciplines. Additionally, the techniques that Nanjiang¡¯s pugilists employmonly imitate animal movements.

    The Central in and Beijiang¡¯s emphasise on internal styles¡¯ principles never gained poprity in Nanjiang because Xiacang people couldn¡¯t fathom the concept of internal strength and internal energy. Their unique concepts came from fighting again and again, which in we call ¡°external styles¡± in the Central in. As such, their way of learning to fight is the reverse of what is advocated in the Central in.

    Nanjiang¡¯s style of training equips them with tougher organs, skin and limbs. For most internal style experts, the strength of Nanjiang¡¯s pugilists makes no sense from their perspective.

    In the past, a vaunted adept of Nanjiang stomped me in a match. Only when I sat down to reflectter on did it dawn on me that he had already reached Divine Realm. Unlike the Central in¡¯s martial artists, he skipped all the shy moves and gave off the vibe of ¡°why bother fighting if you¡¯re not going to rip his head off?¡±

    Ah Su crushed bricks underfoot with a stomp as he prepared one hand as a w and the other as a fist.

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Despite eating my knuckles, Ah Su swung his left tiger w at me.

    ¡°Argh! You broke my arm!¡±

    Because I disabled both of his arms, Ah Su¡¯s kick was sluggish, not that it would¡¯ve been hard for me to catch him. Hence, I broke his kicking leg with a kick of my own, repulsing him into the shelf, splintering the shelf.

    ¡°Come on, man. Quit ying around, will you?¡±

    People these days, interrupting my lecture and screwing up my performance.

    ¡°What the hell, you freak?! My leg! Agh! Crud! What are you?!¡± Ah Su carried on grunting as he curled up into a ball on the ground.

    I smiled: ¡°You know Martial Paragon?¡±

    ¡°Nanjiang¡¯s mightiest. He is worthy of being Xiacang Anxi¡¯s great guya. The fiercest leopard is only a kitten to him. Everyone knows his name!¡±

    ¡°Full marks for you. I fought him when I was a kid, and he flogged me.¡±

    ¡°What did you expect? Ten years ago, had he n-¡±

    ¡°Ten years ago, I took one of his arms.¡±

    Ah Su put on one hell of a facial expression.

    Glossary

    Guya - A made up title, kind of like ¡°shogun¡±.

 Volume 10 46 Nanjiangâ€™s Uprising (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 46 Nanjiang¡¯s Uprising (Part 2)</h4>

    Even though there was no shortage of pugilists worthy of praise in Nanjiang, Martial Paragon was the only man among them worthy of standing at their pinnacle.

    Martial Paragon, a man born in a backwater vige nobody besides its residents knew of, learnt to fight without a mentor and figured out all of the intricacies to rise above hispetitors. In an environment where lineage was given the most weight, he managed to establish himself against the odds.

    ¡°He¡± didn¡¯t get to enter the colosseum aspetitor when Four States¡¯ Alliance hosted a tournament to crown their guya. Instead, he had to stand there for other warriors to attack so that they could offer the sun (bird) his blood. To everyone¡¯s surprise, the peasant conquered all the warriors running for the crown of guya.

    ¡°The tribute¡± epted challenges from an endless line of challengers, with each challenger being superior to the next. In the end, they became the stepping stones that elevated him to the peak.

    He was devoid of anger or vexation in battle. He didn¡¯t walk away from defeat with bitterness; as opposed to calling it defeat, defeats were lessons for him.

    During his time at the top, Martial Paragon was the guya for all eleven states and led all forces of Nanjiang. All the current generals of the eleven states were once his subordinate or disciple. His presence maintained order in Nanjiang¡¯s martial artsmunity without requiring enforcers, and, by extension, they didn¡¯t sh with the Central in¡¯s martial artsmunity.

    Ten years ago, Martial Paragon lost an arm and retired, leaving the rest of the martial artsmunity with his legacy and the question of how he lost his arm.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I had no idea who I amputated until I heard his story long after the fact.

    I had no excuses for losing both times I met him. The first time I lost, I was still in training, so it was tantamount to a kid versus an adult. The second time, I lost control of my bloodlust. Everything in my vision appeared as tiny ants for me to stomp, and I couldn¡¯t stop myself. Among the inorganic wreckage was an arm separated from its owner¡¯s torso. I lost the second fight, but he lost an arm.

    ¡°D-don¡¯t lie¡­¡± Ah Su couldn¡¯t think of anything else to say; it was though he was terrified to be in the same room with me.

    ¡°Care to verify for yourself?¡±

    ¡°Feizhen.¡± Though Young Shiyi only enunciated my name, I could hear her authoritative tone.

    ¡°I know,¡± I responded.

    I closed the gap and put Ah Su¡¯s lights out in a sh. I stared straight back at the soldiers, who came in and took aim at us, shutting them down with my mere presence. In truth, I was peering pass them.

    ¡°His skills¡­ remind me of the past.¡± Young Shiyi took my hand.

    ¡°Young Shiyi¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Why are you holding my hand?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the cold.¡±

    The fog in my mind took a while to clear out, but it eventually did thanks to the warmthing in from my hand. ¡°I apologise for letting myself be distracted at an inappropriate time.¡±

    ¡°d you know your faults. I see you¡¯re still a ma for trouble. You¡¯ve drawn a crowd.¡±

    ¡°I guess I should see our guests off, then¡­ There are a few people in the room to the east who share the same internal energy as the girl. They must be her nsmen.¡±

    Heisina Duohua snapped back to reality upon hearing me mention her nsmen, ¡°Ar-are we going to rescue them now?¡±

    ¡°You sound as though you don¡¯t know how dangerous the bows and arrows you use to hunt tigons are. You realise you have twenty something of them aimed at you right now, yeah? One reckless move and you¡¯ll be a pin cushion before you know it.¡±

    Several soldiers dragged in three of Heisina Duohua¡¯s nsmen in, evoking joy for finally finding her tribesmen and fear for putting their lives at risk.

    You lot really are elites, huh, using them as hostages as soon as I point out their location?

    ¡°Miss, they are my nsmen!¡±

    Young Shiyi red daggers at me: ¡°Someone said they were going to see them out.¡±

    I tapped my nose: ¡°That someone can only be me.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you use any of your skills in three years. You keep recycling the same old moves again and again. I reckon I¡¯ll surpass you in a few years.¡±

    ¡°I was never your match, Young Shiyi. That said, I havee up with some new goodies in thest three years. I just haven¡¯t had the chance to use them.¡±

    Young Shiyi draped her arm over Heisina Duohua¡¯s shoulder prior to backing up a step: ¡°Such as?¡±

    ¡°Such as¡­¡± I strode forward unthinkingly.

    One of the archers, detecting danger, threatened, ¡°Stop or we will kill them!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± Duohua cried. ¡°They¡¯ll kill them! They¡¯re not ying!¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± The captain drew his broadsword to hold Duohua¡¯s nsman at de point. ¡°One more step and his neck goes!¡±

    Step, step, step.

    ¡°Fire!¡±manded the captain, as he raised his de to execute his hostage.

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± cried Duohua.

    ¡°Kneel.¡±

    Despite the rambunctious crowd, his voice stood out with its rity. As if his voice was a magic chant, every soldier dropped onto his knees uniformly.

 Volume 10 47 Nanjiangâ€™s Uprising (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 47 Nanjiang¡¯s Uprising (Part 3)</h4>

    The soldiers felt something expel their energy and true qi against their will, depriving them of the foundations to stay on their feet. Even though they remembered how to move, theycked the means of mobilising their limbs. They felt the sensation vividly, yet they were powerless to stop it once they heard his voice.

    I invented the skill to use on fodder. More specifically, I saved it for those who¡¯d likely die if I snapped my fingers, yet didn¡¯t want to kill, but were too annoying to leave alone. I didn¡¯t have any chances to use it since I joined Liu Shan Men not long after Ipleted it, and it was way too conspicuous to use. Although it¡¯s one of Seven King Threads¡¯ techniques, it¡¯s not something that¡¯d belong in an orthodox sect¡¯s sybus. I bet my head that if Shiyi learns about its existence¡­

    Young Shiyi removed her hands over her mouth to tug at my sleeve: ¡°What¡¯s this?! Teach me! That¡¯s wicked!¡±

    Guess I don¡¯t need to say any more on that topic.

    I knew it¡¯d be one of Young Shiyi¡¯s favourite skills to have because she preferred Shifu¡¯s Night Net Sacred Records over Grandmaster¡¯s Daluo Five Divine Styles that would take ages to evene close to mastery. It¡¯s erroneous to try andpare which of the two is better since they¡¯re equally dangerous inbat, and a tool is only as good as the context it¡¯s applied. Either way, learning either of them was better than what my disciple would learn because my disciple can only learn Night Net Manual¡­

    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s hard to learn. It is not something you can learn.¡±

    ¡°Feizhenie,¡± Young Shiyi grabbed my ear and enthused, ¡°so Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch hasn¡¯t spent thest years cultivating his martial arts but cultivating godhood, huh? What sorcery is that? You have three days to make me master it. Otherwise, I¡¯ll hurt you.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, it hurts! Stop going for my ear!¡±

    I¡¯m indifferent to taking blows, but having my ear tugged is torture. First, it¡¯s embarrassing. Second, instead of going up on her toes topensate for our height difference, Young Shiyi yanks me down to her level! You know how ufortable it would be to hang her from my ear? She doesn¡¯t just hold onto my ear; she squeezes and wrenches it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of hitting me? My skin is thicker than a city wall.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, so you teaching me or not? I¡¯ll beat your future son.¡±

    ¡°My son?¡±

    Well, I guess there was no guarantee I wouldn¡¯t have six sons or something in the future, and Young Shiyi might bully them. That being said, they weren¡¯t even in this world yet. Plus, based on my appearance, you can tell how adorable they¡¯d bel; she couldn¡¯t bear to hurt them.

    ¡°Could you bear to hurt him?¡±

    As if I read something she had on her mind, Young Shiyi had hot flushes. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?!¡± she eximed as she twisted my ear.

    While I didn¡¯t make it obvious, I was checking on the limp soldiers asionally. Therefore, I noticed the shock flitting across their faces when they heard it was a martial arts skill that robbed them of their control. Upon hearing Young Shiyi refer to me as Mount Daluo¡¯s future patriarch, they looked ready to ept death. When they heard about a son, they reacted the same way single men would when their friend brags about their girl. We had an hour, if not more, to fool around, so I wasn¡¯t in a rush to do anything to them.

    Relying on Voice Transmission, I informed, ¡°It¡¯s a new concept I came up with as part of Ancient King Thread from Seven King Threads. I call it Dragon Bow.¡±

    ¡°Sounds terrible. Sounds like a man goingid.¡±

    Subsequent to ttering Young Shiyi, I awkwardly said, ¡°I actually have a backup name for it: Jade Supreme Sovereign Overpowered Revealing Single-Leg Horizon Turtle. What do you th-¡±

    Young Shiyi¡¯s lips gradually curled down to form neutral as she wagged her hand: ¡°Dragon Bow it is. At least it sounds like a name. I can¡¯t figure out how you did it. Unless you¡¯re adept at formations, illusions and techniques that target one¡¯s consciousness, how do you make so many people obey you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a coincidence,¡± I replied as I massaged my red ear. ¡°When one¡¯s true qi and blood are expelled simultaneously, their body reverts to infancy transiently. As such, their consciousness will also evaporate during the window. Right at the moment their consciousness is crippled, whatever you say will be amand they can¡¯t flout. I discovered the concept when I was researching how to win without fighting, then refined it into this.¡±

    ¡°The principle doesn¡¯t sound so uncouth. Why do you say I can¡¯t learn it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Because the method used to expel their internal energyes from Spring Wind Rainy Night.¡±

    Young Shiyi wore on a long face.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only discipline that allows you to expel someone¡¯s true qi from their qi and blood. Based on my experiments, only the firstmand thates to mind works again. Besides ¡®kneel¡¯, I haven¡¯t been able to create any othermands. There are lots of things that need a light shone on, but I¡¯ve only started researching.¡±

    Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art is dangerous to learn, and there are plenty of parts I still didn¡¯tprehend. I almost died when I suffered qi deviation in the process of learning it. Actually, I would be dead, if not a vegetable, had I not been lucky.

    I once transferred my true qi from Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art to Young Shiyi as a security system in emergencies. Unexpectedly, the discipline rooted itself inside her. The same thing happened to Boss; I don¡¯t know if it will turn out to benefit her or harm her. That was why I refused to let Young Shiyi learn it and never thoughtlessly shared it with others.

    Young Shiyi chooses to learn things on whims. She¡¯s the type to call it quits if it took longer than three days to learn. Most importantly, she hates Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I told you I don¡¯t want to hear about anything pertaining to that discipline.¡±

    I tried to drape my arm around Young Shiyi¡¯s shoulder, but she stepped away. ¡°Young Shiyi¡­ you still have a grudge with it?¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? The cursed style left you on the verge of death, and then it made you prone to kill. If it wasn¡¯t for it, you wouldn¡¯t have joined Demon Sect, became their Lord San Shen, and got dragged into the tussle between orthodox and unorthodox sects. If it wasn¡¯t for it, you wouldn¡¯t have secluded yourself in a bamboo forest when you were only twenty-five.

    ¡°I have yet to punish your shifu for teaching it to you. I clobbered him when you went missing back then. Had he not taken shelter inside our ancestral hall, you would be able to see through the other side of his body now.¡±

    Only Grandmaster and Shifu were allowed into the hall that houses the tablets of our ancestors; even the patriarch is only allowed in on the day of worship - unless their legs regrow for them to enter on other days. The wild beasts on the mountain sure wouldn¡¯t mind having an extra leg for dinner.

    Young Shiyi¡¯s version of the recount must¡¯ve been the censored version because I remember she grabbed oil, a fire torch and fire to set the hall on fire. When my shiniangs tried to intervene, Young Shiyi had her guardians restrain them to use as hostages if setting the hall aze wasn¡¯t enough to force Shifu out. Mount Daluo would likely be lost to history if Grandmaster didn¡¯t step in and promise to locate me. Hong Jiu still shivers whenever he recounts the riot he witnessed that day.

    Because Young Shiyi was ring up by the second, I changed the subject. ¡°It¡¯s not as magical as you might think. It¡¯s just one mental cultivation technique I have for dealing with fodder. The discipline ites from is called Seven King Threads, abination of seven methods of utilising all the skills in my arsenal. It¡¯s my firstplete, systemic discipline.¡±

    ¡°The celestial spider silk you obtained from Tianshan is used for it?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Celestial spider silk is sturdier than anything and impervious to water and fire; there¡¯s nothing that can stop it.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see you use celestial spider silk just now, though. Were you too fast for my eyes?¡±

    ¡°No. Unless I¡¯m in Divine Realm, you¡¯d catch my movements. You didn¡¯t see anything because I use qi threads. Qi threads are the product of my research thest three years. Basically, I am now able to mould my qi into thin threads to rece celestial spider silk, allowing me to make up for ack of celestial spider thread.¡±

    The ability to wield true qi as a weapon outside of one¡¯s body is a requisite to call yourself a first-rate adept. Another example would be turning qi into a sword. In the world of swordsmen, that would be Sword Spirit Realm. Martial artists have always tried to sharpen their qi or condense it to maximise damage. I¡¯m quite certain I¡¯m the first person to deliberately thin my true qi out deliberately.

    ¡°Qi threads can only travel a certain distance. Their shape is difficult to maintain, and they can¡¯t store much internal energy. That¡¯s why Dragon Bow is ineffective against people of a certain level and only good for dealing with a small group of fodder.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    We kept conversing until Heisina Duohua expressed, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Upon looking over our shoulders, Heisina Duohua, leading the three others, was on her knees.

    Young Shiyi knocked me on the head: ¡°Why did you useid Dragon on them?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± I then told the four, ¡°Stay there. If you get up too soon, it won¡¯t be sincere enough.¡±

    Young Shiyi, although amused, said, ¡°Shush, you. Get up. He¡¯s only joking.¡±

    Heisina Duohua bowed her head to the ground: ¡°Thank you for saving our lives!¡±

    Bowing one¡¯s head right to the ground and exercising silence for a while is Xiacang people¡¯s highest form of expressing gratitude. Young Shiyi and I, therefore, epted the gesture.

    ¡°I apologise for showing contempt before. Please forgive my behaviour.¡±

    ¡°No more sting me?¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon!¡±

    ¡°You can get up. My neck is getting tired from looking down.¡±

    Heisina Duohua had a red line across her forehead when she got up.

    ¡°Why did they capture you? Who are you? You can tell us now, yeah?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Of course! No matter what you ask, I shall answer faithfully!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with your identity.¡±

    ¡°Okay. My name is Heisina Duohua. I am eighteen years old this year. I am from Xiacang Anx-¡±

    ¡°Stop. We¡¯re going to be here forever at this rate. Just tell me what your status is and why they want to capture ou.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Heisina straightened up and met with my eyes: ¡°I am the younger sister of Heisina Tribe¡¯s chief. My brother is the chief of the insurgents defying Baimu¡¯s tyranny at Nieyao City. I came to the Central in to find someone by the name of A-Lan.¡±

    Glossary

    Dragon Bow - The name derives from the term for ¡°bow/salute¡± in the context of someone lower on the hierarchy saluting someone ranked higher. The ¡°dragon¡± reference is a reference to Emperors as Emperors called themselves dragons.

    Ming Suwen mistakes it for twopletely different characters that trante to ¡°Deaf scum¡±. I have no idea how you can recreate that misunderstanding in English, so I altered her response in order to keep the skit going. Hopefully, I still sold the skit.

 Volume 10 48 Nanjiangâ€™s Uprising (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 48 Nanjiang¡¯s Uprising (Part 4)</h4>

    The demise of the city hailed as the city that would never fall didn¡¯t mean only the pce was devoured; it included the lives of its residents. Nobody, irrespective of social standing, age or gender, was shown any discrimination. Those who careened in time were either too traumatised to say anything within the realm of humanprehension, or they provided identical recounts as if they agreed beforehand to im it the work of gods. Thus, the twelve Princes of Beussent agreed to send in their agents to conduct an investigation.

    Notwithstanding the agents sent into Nieyao City never returning, the twelve Princes didn¡¯t give up, eventually finding someone with his head still on right - Beussent King¡¯s loyal and honourable personal attendant, Weilong Buku.

    Besides being granted a guya title, Weilong Buku was also bestowed the surname Weilong, meaning dragon guardian, prior to the city¡¯s fall. For generations, his nsmen were the royal family¡¯s bodyguards.

    Weilong Buku wasn¡¯t difficult to find - not in the sense that there wasn¡¯t any danger associated but that he was lying among the rubble and corpses out the front of Shiri Pce without injuries or single stain.

    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t see anything.¡±

    The statement was so eye-widening that they ordered their best physicians to check Weilong Buku. The physicians confirmed he wasn¡¯t ill, injured or crazy.

    Weilong Buku imed he was out like a log that night and unaware he was extracted until he woke up to be told so. ording to him, he only found out about Nieyao¡¯s decimation as well as the unknown whereabouts of Beussent¡¯s King when they informed him. As a consequence, he was imprisoned.

    It¡¯s oundish for a bodyguard to not know his charge¡¯s whereabouts and im to have not seen anything. Additionally, Weilong Buku didn¡¯t even have a scratch on him despite the disfiguredndscape and strewn corpses. Nobody defended him against his purported crime of colluding with the enemy to assassinate Beussent¡¯s King. Instead, the opportunists rode the eastern wind to smear him with various stories theyposed. Most importantly, given the state of panic, the royal family didn¡¯t need the truth; they needed something to assuage their people. ¡°The former hero colluded with foreign enemies,¡± sounds more convincing than ¡°Wrath of heaven¡± does. As they were hoping, the people lynched Weilong Buku, and he didn¡¯t defend himself.

    ¡°His Majesty did not let me down. I did not let His Majesty down.¡± Whether anyone looked at Weilong Buku from the front or rear, he never showed any signs of cowering when he made the solemn deration. Even when the twelve Princes suspecting him of lying employed torture in their interrogations, Weilong Buku never budged on his stance. Search high and low, they had no proof to condemn him. No matter what sort of cruelty they imposed on Weilong¡¯s tribesmen, the rumour remained a rumour.

    Whether it was the denizens or the twelve Princes, there were two questions that they couldn¡¯t exin. First, how did Weilong Buku collude with foreign forces? Second, even as a guya, how did he singlehandedly bulldoze Nieyao to the ground and massacre the citizens? If people weren¡¯t so emotional, they would¡¯ve seen the holes in the convictions.

    If they executed Weilong Buku, there was nobody to witch hunt. They might not see the impact in the next decade or so, but somebody would look into Weilong n¡¯s extermination somewhere down the road. They believed the truth would inevitably surface in the end.

    In the end, they decided to change the surname of Weilong Tribe to Heisina, which means ¡°crime¡± in Anxi, and exiled them out of the royal family¡¯snds. Since the twelve Princes already had their own territories, the only ce Heisina Tribe could be exiled to Nieyao¡¯s vicinity. They wanted Heisina Tribe to continue living so that they could bear the brunt of the people¡¯s hatred and resentment.

    Heisina Tribe lived in constant fear of ghouls returning to prey on them and lived on the bare minimum amount of rations to stay alive for centuries from that day forth.

    It took a while for Young Shiyi and I to digest so much at once.

    ¡°Why did your brother revolt? Also, he can stage an uprising when your n barely has enough to eat?¡±

    ¡°Revolt¡­ Why would we need to revolt?¡± Smiling as cold as ice, Heisina Duohua answered, ¡°Lots of reasons. We live in poverty. Kids have to learn to hunt when they¡¯re only five. When the weather is kind, we get by, but, in winter, almost half of our n dies off. We can¡¯t find employment or do business. Xiacang people hate us. People of the Central in hate us. We¡¯ve tried to find a home time and time again; however, the cursed ce beside Nieyao is the only spot avable.

    ¡°Fortunately, thirty years ago, someone from the Central in came to Nanjiang, defeated the twelve states and conquered a fief for himself. Once he brought people from the Central in over, we were able to find a ce by the border to call home and have been expanding since.

    ¡°As you heard, we have plenty of reasons to turn against them, but we haven¡¯t. My brother has no desire to defy Baimu¡¯s King.¡±

    I asked the Baimu troop by the side, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Wu Ba, waking up from his long nap, expressed, ¡°I had no idea that happened.¡±

    The general-like soldier of the elites spat on the ground: ¡°Lord Wu Ba, do not believe her nonsense. You Heisinas are weak cowards, every single one of you! Your ancestor betrayed Beussent¡¯s King, and now your head calls himself Beussent. That alone deserves to be punished! Your brother also killed over ten of our soldiers. If that¡¯s not rebelling, what is?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell us who ordered you to raid our vige? It¡¯s fine for you to kill, but it¡¯s a sin for us to defend ourselves?¡± Having sted the soldier mute, Heisina Duohua added, ¡°My brother never thought about revolting. It¡¯s your King¡¯s one-sided assumption, and it¡¯s your King who sent people after us.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re forging a divine weapon outside of Nieyao. What do you need a divine weapon for if not to rebel?!¡±

    Reminded of Luo Ming¡¯s experience, I felt I was onto something.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a dissident. He just wants the truth.¡±

    The soldier looked down and mumbled, ¡°Whatever you say¡­ Your entire n¡­¡± He cut himself off when he couldn¡¯t find the words to continue or a crime to incriminate Heisina Tribe.

    The puzzle was finallyplete. Heisina Tribe wanted to clear their ancestor¡¯s name and, by extension, their reputation. Baimu interpreted their wish for justice as defiance, consequently decreeing their subjugation. During the time two were locked in battle, Heisina Duohua caught their attention while in the Central in, inspiring a hostage strategy.

    We had no room for distractions if we¡¯re going to y Six Evils, so we needed to find a solution to the fiasco. That being said, I couldn¡¯t just jump in after hearing only one side of the story.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to question them now. You don¡¯t mind, do you?¡±

    ¡°Please feel free,¡± Heisina Duohua confidently responded and then backed off as a gesture of courtesy.

    I picked the chubby soldier from Baimu since he looked the easiest to intimidate and pressed a hand onto his head: ¡°What¡¯s your name, fatso?¡±

    ¡°A worrier prefers deaf ober human nation!¡±

    A what? A what? A what?

    Wu Ba: ¡°He does not speak the Central in¡¯s dialect well. He said, ¡®A warrior prefers death over humiliation.¡¯¡±

    I flicked up a thumb: ¡°Nice. Respect. Who humiliated you?¡±

    ¡°We worriers of Shiachang dake our losses like men. You won vair and sukeware. I admid debeat.¡± (We warriors of Xiacang take our losses like men. You won fair and square. I admit defeat.)

    A what? A what? A what?

    ¡°I am fad, but I am not fadzo! I zall nake pay you vor the human nation dodai!¡± (I am fat, but I am not fatso! I shall make you pay for the humiliation today!)

    I can¡¯t even decide where to start ming this man.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°If you wond do no my name, renenber, I am the worrier who zall begum guya. My name is Fang, Hui, hong!¡± (If you want to know my name, remember, I am the warrior who shall be guya. My name is Fang Huihong.)

    Young Shiyi pinched my thigh as hard as she could because she had lost it, yet I was so speechless that I forgot to react.

    ¡°Fadzo, can you repeat yourself? Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I am nod fadzo! You dwo just waid. When I krow zdronga, I will zow you!¡± (I am not fatso! You two just wait! When I grow stronger, I will show you!)

    Yes¡­ Yes¡­

 Volume 10 49 Search

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 49 Search</h4>

    I shoved Fang What¡¯s-his-face into a tub that I made out of sixteen timber nks to have some peace and quiet, but I could still hear him crying, ¡°You sgared ob me (You scared of me)!¡± over and over. As much as I wanted to show him what fear meant, I figured it would be best to listen to Wu Ba first in case there was any misunderstanding.

    ¡°What exactly is his name?¡±

    ¡°We separate our surname and first name. Usually, our first name goes in front of our surname. His name is Fanghuihong. He¡¯s from the heroic n Sima Erdan.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Sima Erdan Fanghuihong?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    That¡¯s a pretty cool name, fadzo!

    ¡°He¡¯s a really good fighter. He has triumphed in a number of battles for His Majesty, so he is vaunted general. He¡¯s not very smart, unfortunately, which led to him offending His Majesty. As a consequence, he was demoted. The constant back and forth in ranks is the reason he is still a soldier.¡±

    Ah, so he¡¯s Nanjiang¡¯s Long Zaitian. But if you¡¯re saying he¡¯s not good with words, just how bad is he?

    ¡°The two of you are probably too far ahead for him to catch up, though.¡±

    You still think we¡¯re with Autumn Water Sword Sect, yet you¡¯re talking about him not being smart¡­

    ¡°Sounds like the situation in Nanjiang is far from normal.¡± I looked over to Young Shiyi.

    As per Young Shiyi¡¯s words, she wasn¡¯t insensible. While she did like to mess around, she, like Shifu, could be counted on when it counted. I heard he guided her in the realm of strategy, which was how her pranks on me suddenly levelled up.

    ¡°I believe what Huahua told us. Nieyao is too close to Baimu forfort, so we better resolve their issue before proceeding further.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect any smooth sailing when I learnt of the ce in Nanjiang. Still, this is more than I expected.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. An.¡±

    I already told Young Shiyi everything about Mr. An. She had never heard anything about him before, but she didn¡¯t take him lightly when I told her he has a photographic memory and fought me to a draw. Even I couldn¡¯t get him off his mind, especially his movement that resembled a dark nightmare I couldn¡¯t escape. I still couldn¡¯t determine if hisughter had any purpose or implications. Nheless, his gift for martial arts was shocking - in the positive and negative sense.

    I knew I wasn¡¯t going to be able to pick off Mr. An easily when I deliberately snatched Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer from him in an attempt to aggravate him, hoping he¡¯d make a careless error I could exploit.

    Mr. An had a good head, kept it in mint condition no matter the circumstances to make decisions, had no empathy to speak of and a skill set I had yet to see in full. He had the patience to wait twenty years to steal the sword carving in the pce and invested ten years training Luo Ming into his puppet for one sword. Despite the hefty investment, he chose to leave when I took his investment. While Mr. An was privy of my existence and spent a long time looking me up, I had no idea he existed. He was someone I couldn¡¯t read.

    I couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that I had walked into an borate conspiracy, yet I couldn¡¯t even produce a skeleton of what it might be. Young Shiyi didn¡¯t have a guess, either. The conclusion of our analysis was that, if there was one more Divine Realm adept, even if it was just one, the power scale in the pugilistic world would change the direction it tipped. Mr. An, who could flog Luo Ming when thetter was armed with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer, must¡¯ve had big ambitions. Whatever plot he was hatching could rattle the martial world. No, I should say, his n had the potential to shake the foundations of the world.

    ¡°You suspect Mr. An is linked to the divine weapon Heisina Tribe is forging?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say directly connected, but there¡¯s a fat chance. Luo Ming is a cksmith and one of the few lucky people to survive an encounter with Six Evils, yet he never thought to forge a weapon. Where does a tribethat has borne with centuries of suffering find the inspiration from?¡±

    ¡°If you ask me, I think you¡¯re too fixated on Mr. An.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Now that, I didn¡¯t expect to hear from Young Shiyi.

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to facilitate a n of this magnitude on his own. Have you forgotten it was Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King who rescued Luo Ming? Who demonstrated he could go to and fro the imperial pce unhindered to take my cousin¡¯s carving that went untouched for twenty years? You also suspect Princess Jingan¡¯s involvement. It¡¯s evident that Mr. An isn¡¯t working alone. For all we know, there might be several reclusive monsters we don¡¯t know of trying to stir the pot. There¡¯s no question that there¡¯s an organisation we can¡¯t even fathom behind the scenes, calcting each step. Every move they¡¯re taking is the product of years of nning and investment.

    ¡°Rather than saying Mr. An has a part in the divine weapon Heisina Tribe is forging, I¡¯m more inclined to believe the organisation is involved. Besides, we don¡¯t have any evidence to support the notion that he¡¯s the organisation¡¯s only executioner. They must have more members as skilled, and possibly even more, or people with a specialty, like Poison King. We can¡¯t be fixated on Mr. An and overlook that possibility.¡±

    I scratched my head as I sighed: ¡°You have a point. I feel stupid for having tunnel vision now.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you might¡¯ve caught yourself in the past. It goes to show that Mr. An has piqued your interest. How long has it been since you¡¯ve let loose? Well, I suppose there aren¡¯t many people who can walk away after fighting you. He must be the first after Baima, right? He¡¯s got you excited.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± I couldn¡¯t resist a smile. ¡°Is it that obvious?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s in in sight, isn¡¯t it? Whenever he¡¯s the topic, you seem as though you want to fight right away; I even feel sorry for him now. Do you keep Forgiveness on you at all times so that you can maul him when you deliberately encounter him?¡±

    Men can blush, okay? I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be read like a book.

    ¡°I do like that side of you, though.¡± Young Shiyi pinched my cheek cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s cool.¡±

    ¡°Ahem,¡± interrupted Heisina Duohua. ¡°Miss, you two, uh, have spent too long in your own world.¡±

    Have we?

    The soldiers with their mouths clogged were having a crying session.

    Do all the chicks at Baimu share my appearance or something? Why are you all crying? That¡¯s an insult, by the way.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Staring, Heisina Duohua pointed at me and questioned, ¡°Do you have time?!¡±

    What? You want to throw hands outside?

    ¡°I, I, I¡­¡±

    Based on Lass Duohua¡¯s cheeks that resembled reflections of a setting sun and her gulp, I asserted, ¡°I get it!¡± I showed my palm, borating, ¡°I must reject your marriage proposal!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I know I¡¯m hot, but you should give up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tter yourself!¡±

    Understandings could arise if I caught her leg to stop her kick, so I restrained her using celestial spider silk, even using the eighteenth binding method to ensure she couldn¡¯t resist, turning her into a humanoid tortoise shell.

    ¡°There is nothing this one can¡¯t bind into a tortoise shell.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen.¡± As my rms went off, Young Shiyi continued slowly, ¡°I had no idea you invented this new discipline to y this game. What was it called? Tortoise Shell Thread?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! No, no, no! It¡¯s Seven King Threads! Seven King Threads! I didn¡¯t touch her precisely because I was worried you¡¯d misunderstand!¡±

    ¡°Look at her! You¡¯ve touched every part of her! Bring your ear over here!¡±

    ¡°I! I want to ask you toe to Nanjiang to help us!¡± Heisina Duohua regained movement once I removed my threads, allowing calmness to seep back in. ¡°We have a lot of elderly and children. My brother may be strong, but he is no match for Baimu¡¯s elites. Please help us! Please!¡± she beseeched, prostrated on the ground.

    ¡°Why me?¡± I queried.

    ¡°I, I¡¯ve never seen someone so skilled. You¡¯re markedly stronger than my brother.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t suspect me?¡±

    ¡°¡­ To be honest, I do, but I feel that you two wouldn¡¯t harbour ill will¡­ I used to be really afraid ofing to the Central in. In Xiacang Anxi, we are told that people in the Central in are as sly as Qingqiu State¡¯s foxes and as cruel as bats in Chiyi State. Aftering here, I¡¯ve discovered it¡¯s not true. People in the Central in¡­ are the same as Xiacang people. We¡¯re told we¡¯re wee, but the lies are peeled back one by one. You two are different. She is the first person to be so kind to me. You¡­ grind my gears when you open your mouth, but you don¡¯t lie. That¡¯s why I feel that you are good people.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen¡­ I think you should help her,¡± Young Shiyi whispered.

    ¡°Nanjiang has its own set of rules. Besides, there¡¯s no reason she has to ask me for help. Hey, Lass, if you have money, I can introduce you to some pretty assassins. I won¡¯t ask for a middle-man fee.¡±

    ¡°We¡­ don¡¯t have much money.¡± Rubbing her hands, Duohua expounded, ¡°The aim of my trip to the Central in is to search for Morcher¡¯s Princess, A-Lan. Among the twelve states, Morcher is the only one that treated us differently. My brother was a general for Morcher¡¯s King when he was young and highly valued. Sadly¡­ Morcher perished overnight twenty years ago.

    ¡°Although less than half of Morcher¡¯s royal family survived the ordeal, the other states hunted them down. Princess A-Lan is the only member to have escaped. That is why the royal court now has rights to the majority of Morcher¡¯s territories. My brother wants to help her resurrect Morcher so that Morcher and our n can survive.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I was thinking: if we can¡¯t find Princess A-Lan, I should bring back someone strong. There are plenty of adepts in the Central in; I¡¯ll find one if I try. If I couldn¡¯t find one, we would disclose the fact that Baimu¡¯s King wants to hire help from the Central in so that we sabotage their n.¡±

    I have a bad feeling about where this is going. Why does everything s-

    ¡°I know I¡¯m being inordinately optimistic. I want to find someone who knows where a Princess is, is strong and can help us quash Baimu¡¯s n, but nobody of that calibre exists.¡±

    You¡¯reing after me, aren¡¯t you?! I tick every box you¡¯re listing! You¡¯re trying to point at me, aren¡¯t you?!

    Holding her aching sides, Young Shiyi cheered me on with shoulder pats.

    ¡°I need to think about it.¡±

    Young Shiyi: ¡°I¡¯ll help you. I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    Me: ¡°I¡¯ll also help in that case. I¡¯ve got plenty of time on my hand to kill.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Young Shiyi pointed at me.

    ¡°Y-you will help us?!¡± Heisina Duohua beamed.

    ¡°And tell you I know where A-Lan is. As a matter of fact, her husband is my bro. If you need anything, hit him up.¡±

    Heisina Duohua, legs almost giving in beneath her, murmured, ¡°¡­ Noble Sun Divine Bird, noble gods, are you protecting me from above?¡±

    ¡°Finally,¡± I uttered under my breath.

    The wind started blowing harder as over a dozen swordswomen in white flitted over the walls of the courtyard in formation, prompting Wu Ba to st, ¡°Who are these women? They reek of vixen vibes! And they¡¯re painfully ugly!¡±

    Recognising the group, Heisina Duohua turned to me. I could see from her aghast face that she was sorry for dragging us into her problem.

    ¡°Go pack your luggage. We¡¯re setting out in an hour.¡±

    ¡°Huh? But they ar-¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t go wrong following my instructions. Go.¡±

    Heisina Duohua reluctantly led her people away.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, they¡¯re all decent.¡± Young Shiyi scoped out all of the swordswomen withser-sharp focus. ¡°If I could turn them into my dancers, I would get to watch a performance every day.¡±

    ¡°I can capture them if you like.¡±

    ¡°Quite the arrogant one, aren¡¯t you?¡± A thirty-odd woman ambled in through the front door, her light steps making a statement of her advanced qinggong. Her light breaths were a clear indication that her internal energy had been developed much further than Ah Su. Her qi was most condensed in her hands and feet, especially her wrist, which was an indication that swordy was her main skill. The beautifuldy dimpled. ¡°This one is Autumn Water Sword Sect¡¯s deputy matriarch - Qiuxin. It is a pleasure to meet y-¡±

    ¡°Kneel.¡±

    And¡­ girls started raining down from the roof, shrieking before they hit the ground.

    Qiuxin¡¯s exasperated face put a grin on my face.

    ¡°Harro. I mean, hello!¡±

 Volume 10 50 Meeting with Someone Who was Always Around

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 50 Meeting with Someone Who was Always Around</h4>

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Qiuxin split the darkness with eight shes, showing no signs that herrades¡¯ defeat evoked any panic.

    How epic was herbination? Like, h, h, h, h, insert-verbose-description epic.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Not bad,¡± Young Shiyi folded her arms and praised. ¡°It appears as though it¡¯s a sharp series of techniques, but she¡¯s prying with sword qi whilst fending off your invisible, transforming threads. Her swordy is decent, but she gave defence priority over offence. No matter how good she is, she¡¯s shown hesitance. She¡¯s fighting with a handicap regardless of how much skill she has.¡±

    Hearing Young Shiyi, Qiuxin refused to take it lying down, therefore lunging for my chest. Because she focused on a single point of attack, all the silver lines around focused into a single line. Her sword qi acted as a barrier around me that would cue her in to attack whenever it detected me moving.

    In terms of internal energy alone, thedy in white could crush Tang Ye and was closer to Jia Yunfeng when I fought him for the second time.

    I disregarded the sword qi¡¯s threat to look over my shoulder. ¡°Is her swordy good?¡±

    ¡°Depends on who you¡¯reparing her to. Compared to your swordy, she¡¯s hundreds of times better. Compared to Sixth, eh, she might be qualified to be his disciple¡¯s disciple.¡±

    To escape the sword qi shackles on me, I could¡¯ve used the mostmon method - exercising patience. Alternatively, I could¡¯ve countered with the same strategy - engaging in a test of swordy proficiency. Anyone with superior internal energy could just use brute force because it would be a pure strength contest. I didn¡¯t shake off the shackles. Instead, I pretty much considered it thin air, so she couldn¡¯t find any window to strike.

    ¡°Rx.¡± Wearing my confidence on my lips, I said, ¡°You¡¯re acting beside yourselves. Shouldn¡¯t all of you be sure to practice grace? As second in charge, shouldn¡¯t you be even more conscious of your behaviour?¡±

    Qiuxin¡¯s dislike for myments showed on her face. ¡°So, you¡¯re after our sect, are you? You two were the ones who attacked our two members at the inn?¡±

    ¡°Damn straight. You have one fact wrong, however. You¡¯re not worth our time and effort.¡±

    Wu Ba: ¡°You¡¯re not with Autumn Water Sword Sect?! Who are you two?!¡±

    ¡°Sh, we¡¯re just getting to the good part.¡±

    Wu Ba lowered his head with rosy cheeks¡­

    Not that sort of ¡°good¡± part, you sicko! I was setting up the atmosphere for a magic show, not for you! Want me to introduce you to a big man?!

    Qiuxin voiced, ¡°Baimu¡¯s envoy, I am Autumn Water Sword Sect¡¯s vice-patriarch. Why are you not assisting your ally? Are you just going to watch?¡±

    ¡°Focus on what¡¯s at hand. Doesn¡¯t the fact that they¡¯re kneeling to me tell you everything you need to know? Your allies have switched teams.¡±

    Qiuxin refused to show the fact that she was shaken show despite being aware of the difference in our abilities. ¡°¡­ Who are you? Why are you targeting us? If there is any grudge between us, feel free to speak about it. We will do our best to resolve the issue peacefully.¡±

    ¡°You can stop stalling. I just amped up my output, so your members aren¡¯t going to be able to move for the next four-or-so hours.¡±

    ¡°What did you do to them?¡±

    ¡°You know, just a new invention for fodder. It¡¯s useless against people who¡¯ve honed their internal energy to a certain degree.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you for being honest.¡±

    I didn¡¯t care for the crafty twitch at the corners of Qiuxin¡¯s lips. Likewise, I could barely be bothered with the four Baimu soldiers who suddenly charged at me with a lot more strength than before. I whipped my left hand, smacking all four back to the ground with my threads.

    ¡°Y-y-¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re your spies, aren¡¯t they? You cast some sort of hypnosis skill on them to order them around in addition to giving them a power boost. You were intending to have them assassinate Baimu¡¯s people should your alliance crumble, correct? Work on your timing.¡±

    Only Qiuxin could hear me. ¡°Who exactly are you?! How do you know so much about us?!¡±

    Demon Realm valued women over men, viewing men as inferior beings. Since the women didn¡¯t want to get their hands dirty, they had the men do their bidding. Howbeit, the system created inconveniences outside of their sect given how it contradicted the cultural paradigm - unless one was from the imperial family. For that reason, they needed to have men when operating outside of their sect.

    They could be considered branch members of Demon Realm that Sky Pce sent out for training. They were raised from childhood to be cold-blooded killers with deceptively handsome appearances. They are the ones who form the impression that the pugilistic world had of Demon Realm - which wasn¡¯t remotely close to what the reality was.

    For the most part, the women of Sky Pce didn¡¯t need elite fighters to help but obedient puppets. To that end, they invented numerous techniques to take control of men - thus heartless puppets. The puppets didn¡¯t need their memories, a life or an emotion. Their methods left very minor after effects and provided benefits. Irrespective of what the puppet¡¯s original internal style was, they could create a subservient puppet. Topare, River Monster¡¯s use of gus to create puppets is child¡¯s y inparison to the skills Sky Pce utilised.

    Members that held certain ranks in Sky Pce were permitted to have their personal heartless puppet. The differences between the ordinary heartless puppets and a personal version were that not only were they extremely loyal to their master, but they also could learn the same internal style as their master. As a result, the heartless puppet gained an immense boost, and the two of them would be a strong team in battle. People in the pugilistic world often die at the hands of heartless puppet¡¯s masters because they¡¯re unaware that the smiling, elegant woman was the true master.

    ¡°Your sect¡¯s skills don¡¯t sit at the top nor are you cut out to be assassins. I can¡¯t think of any other way to exin your 100% sess rate if you aren¡¯t using your hypnosis skills. Additionally,¡± I mocked Qiuxin further with a grin, ¡°based on your approach, it looks like You Shili hasn¡¯t improved in the slightest all these years.¡±

    ¡°Keep that name out of your unworthy mouth!¡±

    Qiuxin bound forward with everything she had - in addition to other factors that boosted her output - turning her fear that turned to hatred into fuel. The wind generated from the speed of her thrust was enough to sting skin.

    ¡°Kneel.¡±

    All of Qiuxin¡¯s wrath, rage, pride and strength crashed into the ground at a singlemand.

    ¡°You not speak Mandarin?¡±

    Even if her rage could burn, the cold qi shunting her from above froze her me and face into the shape of someone terrified. I gently and rhythmically petted her head, making her shudder each time I touched her head.

    ¡°I said it¡¯s useless against people who¡¯ve honed their internal energy to a certain degree. You don¡¯t fit the description. If it¡¯s what I want¡­ you¡¯ll all lose your lives here in a single second.¡±

    Though I stopped petting her, Qiuxin kept digging her teeth into her bloody lips to quell her trembling. I took my time watching beads of sweat slide down the side of her face and then said, ¡°But, all hope is not lost for you yet.¡±

    ¡°H-how?¡± Qiuxin blurted without stopping to think for a split second.

    I went silent again to get in Qiuxin¡¯s head, waiting until the moment before she passed out to say, ¡°Tell your superior, Mr. Ming ising to settle the score.¡±

    Glossary

    Her swordy is decent, but she gave defence priority over offence. - The idea is, you don¡¯t want to step back first thing in a fight when there¡¯s absolutely no reason to. Anecdotally, people who do that tend to lose.

 Volume 10 51 Landing in Xiuyu

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 51 Landing in Xiuyu</h4>

    One could say Xiuyu had quite the personality. Birds wouldn¡¯t have any challenge flying over the city walls, but good luck to any human who thinks they can climb it. There weren¡¯t a lot of guards, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to conquer the city. If a gang ofmoners pick a fight, however, nobody with their head screwed on right would bet on the gang winning. Though it wasn¡¯t arge city, around a hundred thousand people called it home. The city didn¡¯t have an abundance of food and money in cirction, but they could afford to pay their taxes in advance. The citizens couldn¡¯t afford to livevish lives, but they were all beaming. There were never any cases of incriminating the innocent.

    Given how many city lords hade and gone, it was no surprise that nobody remembered how long ago the ancient city was constructed. Like swallows in spring, no matter how many centuries go by, they¡¯re still spring swallows; red maples are still red maples; Xiuyu still stands as Xiuyu. Nevertheless, the scenery had changed. The current lord of Xiuyu was Li Lyumao, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s fourth son and reigning Green Prince.

    Morcher¡¯s former capital, Xiuyu, wasn¡¯t part of the Central in¡¯snd despite what the scenery nowadays suggests. The reason the Central in could dip their hands in there and control seventy percent of it was because they beat Baimu and Xuaner to the punch when Morcher perished twenty years ago.

    Morcher built the high-rise walls in the north, dug underground tunnels and assigned heavy patrols to protect themselves from others. Once the Central in upied the city, they hurriedly did the same thing in the city¡¯s south to barricade the other states in Nanjiang from troubling them.

    Since Green Prince didn¡¯t get into military issues, Xiuyu¡¯s economy developed rapidly, and the signs of the development were visible. At this point in time, it had be one of the most important diplomatic keys formunication between Xiacang Anxi and the Central in.

    The above is taken from ck and White Reflection¡¯s ¡°Xiacang Anxi Discussion¡±.

    As much as Green Prince wanted to throw an exuberant wee party for Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s escort on the day they arrived, it wasn¡¯t possible since they were trying to operate covertly. Nheless, he provided them with a secluded manor to lodge at and had his people deliver sumptuous food for dinner.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Su Xiao, still dressed in his pyjamas in the wee hours of the morning, meditated in the flower garden instead of opting for some rest despite it being the first morning in the city. While Shen Yiren and Tang Ye were outliers at Liu Shan Men - in regards to their sleep and wake times - Su Xiao wasn¡¯t like a certainzy someone. Therefore, Su Xiao had adapted to waking early.

    The temperature in Xiuyu was still low early April, yet Su Xiao didn¡¯t shiver. Prior to the trip to Huzhou, he didn¡¯t have the mentality of a warrior. He didn¡¯t improve exponentially after the event at Luo Sword Manor. His experience and knowledge expanded drastically, thought, thanks to the exposure to people and events.

    Su Xiao¡¯s breathing pattern was devoid of a pattern for he constantly varied it. The interval between each breath lengthened. If someone were to walk past and sense the warm air in his vicinity or see the white smoke that lingered despite the breeze, they¡¯d praise him for having exceptionally potent internal energy at his age. If they knew the true reason, however, they¡¯d be touting the discipline he practiced.

    Whenever Su Xiao was walking around, he was practicing the Yijin-Jingbined-with-Night-Steps¡¯ mental cultivation that Ming Feizhen imparted. Given Su Xiao¡¯s mileage, it stood to reason hepleted the first level upon opening his eyes.

    Yijin Jing¡¯s thousands of words can be summed up as profound and meaningful. One didn¡¯t have to be Shaolin¡¯s abbot to bless their eyes on the words, be strong or venerated. Even though mostly abbots learnt the discipline, they didn¡¯t have to as there was no rule demanding who had to learn or any concrete criteria restricting their monks from learning.

    In Buddhism, they do not speak of worthiness; they spoke of fate. The culture persisted even in martial arts. The best proof of this was the fact that they didn¡¯t stop anyone from learning it if the individual could find the book. By the same ount, they didn¡¯t give Ming Huayu grief for stealing it from their temple.

    When Shaolin¡¯s abbot and Ming Huayu met at a martial artsmunity conference after the theft, the abbot said with a smile, ¡°This one¡¯s best manual (Yijin Jing) has vanished (I know you stole it). He shall not make a note of it (I won¡¯t write an invoice) to remind you, Patriarch Ming (remember to pay).¡±

    ¡°Bless you, abbot.¡± (All right, you win, baldy)

    Nobody present at the venue picked up anything implied in the high-level, profound, esteemed conversation. They also never knew about Mount Daluo sending Shaolin a cheque of seven million taels.

    As you can see, it was the work of fate.

    Su Xiao got to his feet and gazed in the direction of the luminous light, then went off to the bathroom. Once he finished doing his hair and getting dressed, he went to Ancient Cold. He ced his hands together devoutly and closed his eyes, then smiled: ¡°¡­ Thank you for giving me the chance to appreciate another day. Please bless me with another day of peace.¡±

 Volume 10 52 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 52 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 1)</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng gave everyone today and tomorrow off in consideration of their recent busy period, even rewarding them with money to go rx. While some used the opportunity to sleep in, Su Xiao already visited Shen Yiren¡¯s room, where he discovered she pulled an all-nighter since her room was still bright. When he brought in a pot of fragrant tea he personally brewed for her, he saw her smiling in her sleep at her desk.

    After tip toeing out of Shen Yiren¡¯s room, Su Xiao grabbed two mantous from the kitchen, eating one whilst running to the front yard with the other in hand. He threw the mantou on hand into one of the cages in a certain carriage.

    ¡°¡­ Xiao Han, why¡­¡±

    ¡°No reason.¡± Su Xiao stood akimbo. ¡°Just ¡®cause we¡¯re bros.¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I mean¡­ why are there no salted vegetables?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I was worried you¡¯d die from thirst with no water. Just eat what you get.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Hah¡­¡±

    Despite what he said, Su Xiao fetched a bowl of water and small dish of salted vegetables for Tang Ye before carrying the pile of folded clothes taller than him to each person¡¯s room.

    ¡°Yo, you¡¯re early, Su Xiao.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Proprietor Long. You¡¯re also up early.¡±

    Long Zaitian was in the middle of critiquing a piece of calligraphy from Tang Bohu when Su Xiao came by.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking at it upside down?¡±

    ¡°Huh? No wonder why ¡®Crane Home Under the Peach Blossom¡¯ looks like ¡®Crap Earth Dog Kennel¡¯. Now it makes s-¡± noticing Su Xiao looking at him, Long Zaitian changed his tone, ¡°Hahaha, can¡¯t mind the small details if you want to achieve big things in life,¡± and rolled up the scroll. ¡°So, you¡¯re here to deliver clothes? ce them over there. Thanks. Oh, by the way, don¡¯t call me Proprietor Long from now on because Hero Li said so. Just call me Captain Long or Cap Long. If that¡¯s too hard to remember, Brother Long also works.¡±

    Although Long Zaitian and Su Xiao should have been some of the most hostile nemeses around due to their affiliations and loyalties, the two grew friendly during the time they worked together at Dragon Phoenix Inn. After all, Su Xiao wore his emotions on his sleeve and spoke his mind, making him the perfect friend for Long Zaitian.

    ¡°Hahaha, Brother Long, I shall continue delivering clothes, then. I need to go for a stroll with Ye Luo after I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°You going out to have some fun today?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Nodding, Long Zaitian suggested, ¡°Good idea. Hero Li also mentioned you keep wearing the same sets of clothes over and over; buying some new ones is a good idea.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not shopping for myself. I¡¯m thinking of buying some local specialties for Big Brother Ming. If I don¡¯t have something to stuff in his mouth, he won¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Man, I just don¡¯t get it. Why does everybody side with him? Miss Shen reminded us to buy two pigs for him. All he does is eat. You¡¯re going to buy some pork feet, ribs or something, huh?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s braised pork shoulders in soy sauce, not pig feet. He says you need to be specific.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re both meat. Where does all the food he eats go? I sure don¡¯t see his expertise.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that. He¡¯s picky about what he eats. When he discussed the menu with Ol¡¯ Cai, the two of them spent four hours discussing Artemisia stems and lettuce.¡±

    ¡°What is he? A rabbit? Four hours to discuss Artemisia stems?¡±

    ¡°I have to get going. See you around.¡±

    ¡°Have fun.¡±

    As soon as Su Xiao left, Long Zaitian cracked a smirk to himself.

    Artemisia stems¡­ That¡¯s it! I¡¯ll get him, like that, next time! I need to talk with the bird.

    Su Xiao still had time on his hands once he was done delivering clothes. Therefore, he went to chop some firewood in the firewood room. When he went to haul it off, though, everything in his field of sight went ck.

    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s dark already?¡±

    A girl ced her hand gently over Su Xiao¡¯s eyes and whispered by his ear, ¡°Su, Xiao, can you guess who I am?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Who you are?¡±

    ¡°Guess.¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to guess? Mm¡­ Do you not know who you are, either?¡±

    ¡°How would I not know?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, who are you?¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­¡± She stamped her feet when she was close to blurting her answer. ¡°Take a guess!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sister Huan¡¯er? Sister Ping¡¯er? Sister Yingying? Sister Fan?¡±

    Voice coarse, she griped, ¡°J-just how many girls do you know?!¡±

    Su Xiao expected to have a struggle pulling her hand off, yet she didn¡¯t put up any resistance, and then turned around. ¡°Miss Luo? You gave me a fright. Don¡¯t cover people¡¯s eyes from behind like that again. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu dimpled: ¡°Yeah right. It¡¯s not dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I almost beheaded you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Wh-who are those girls you named?¡± Luo Mingzhu took a bundle of firewood whilst trying to appear indifferent.

    ¡°They¡¯re the maids travelling with us. They work hard, so I try to help when I can. Over time, we grew close.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Luo Mingzhu muttered something else under her breath and then broke into a skip.

    ¡°Xiao.¡± Ye Luo approached cheerfully to ask, ¡°We¡¯re still going out for a stroll, right? You ready?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s head out once I¡¯ve delivered the firewood.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu looked at Su Xiao and then Ye Luo, bringing her eyebrows together as she mused.

 Volume 10 53 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 53 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 2)</h4>

    Ever since Xiuyu became the intersection between Nanjiang and the Central in, the city flourished thanks to the absence of war. Although Green Prince¡¯s reputation tended toward the unfavourable side, bandits, insurgents and the eleven sovereigns of the eleven states weren¡¯t ready to pick a bone with him. Furthermore, there was a promise to not besiege cities in war as the first option.

    Because there were many immigrants and original Xiacang Anxi residents from the time Morcher designated Xiuyu as its capital, those in the city had to do business with the Central in to put bread on their tables. In the same vein, life in the city was evidence that people from the Central in and Nanjiang could get along.

    The eleven states of Nanjiang considered Xiuyu a part of Xiacang Anxi people¡¯s property as they shared the same religion. Thus, anyone wanting to dabble in business that involved Nanjiang would have to visit Xiuyu. As the poption in Xiuyu grow, so did the range of items on offer. That gradually culminated in them creating a market, while time created tradition.

    At the beginning of Xiacang Anxi¡¯s history, they never did business with the Central in and had no interest in shiny gems et cetera, so those items were worthless in theirnd. Instead, trades operated on beasts, hunters and herbs. Beast flesh, fur and bones could be used for consumption, weathering winters and manufacturing weapons, respectively. Herbs were integral to their survival and more.

    Gerlunbaier, which means ¡°giant beast skeleton¡±, is the name therge street in the centre of Xiuyu, but some people prefer to refer to it by its nickname - Giant. Big men selling off beasts several times their size there is nothing out of the norm in the area. Though no man could travel back in time to verify, the guyas back then were presumed to have looked as tough as those men did.

    The giant beasts that died to natural causes left behind flesh that wouldst them for a long time as long as people preserved them properly. In saying that, the hardness of their bones minimised their versatility, while their size made them hard to handle. People, therefore, used their bones as shelves to dry and disy their fur.

    They believed the beast skeleton nine-humans tall armed with sharp ws and crocodile head that stood on two legs at the centre of Gerlunbaier died standing to natural causes ages ago. They trusted it¡¯d remain erect no matter what since people jammed des of varying sizes into its joints as support. People liked the sense of security that doing business at Gerlunbaier offered, or rather, that the beast skeleton offered. Some businessmen may not find it very weing, but it blessed Xiuyu with more than ten times the business they saw before.

    The three maidens dressed in Nanjiang¡¯s fashion didn¡¯t have any interest in the towering skeleton for they were upied with each other and the items on sale.

    In order to resolve the suffocating tension in the air, Su Xiao decided to speak up: ¡°Um, s-¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± The maiden on the left, draping beast fur over her clothing, and the maiden on his right, carrying herself as dainty as a maiden of the north, turned to Su Xiao simultaneously.

    ¡°Do you two¡­ dislike each other?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°What do you think?!¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± The two shot each other a re, crossed their arms and looked away.

    What¡¯s their deal?

    When Luo Mingzhu learnt Ye Luo and Su Xiao were going out together an hour earlier, irritation permeated in her mind, though she didn¡¯t intend to interfere. She was going to say, ¡°Have fun,¡± when Ye Luo grabbed Su Xiao¡¯s hand. Su Xiao was used to being treated as a girl, yet he couldn¡¯t help stuttering when Ye Luo took his hand.

    There¡¯s something going on! She¡¯s definitely up to something!

    rmed, Luo Mingzhu said, ¡°Young Master Su, I, I want to buy some daily necessities, but I can¡¯t find apanion to join me. Could I p-¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Ye Luo cut in.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao opined, ¡°Sister Ye, didn¡¯t you ask me toe along for the same reason? What if Miss Luo gets lost? It¡¯s also her first time here.¡±

    Ye Luo: ¡°Tch!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the opportunity to do my part as your host in Huzhou. How about I treat you today?¡± Luo Mingzhu proposed. ¡°What do you say, Young Master Su?¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t mind letting Luo Mingzhu tag along in the first ce. Plus, recalling the time heshed out at her - when she suggested he cheat in the tournament - evoked a sense of guilt. ¡°This one is thankful you looked out for him at Luo Sword Manor.¡±

    Now it was Ye Luo¡¯s turn to hear her rm ringing.

    ¡°Miss Luo, you sure are nice to Xiao. Have you been this nice to him since Huzhou?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu responded with a graceful smile: ¡°I am just appreciative. I look out for anyone who looks out for me. Should this not be how we carry ourselves?¡±

    The two maidens narrowed their eyes as they stared each other down, both privy to what motive the other was harbouring.

    Su Xiao effused, ¡°I had no idea you two were so close. Let¡¯s go together.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Sharing another cosmic moment, the two stomped together. ¡°Hmph!¡±

 Volume 10 54 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 54 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 3)</h4>

    Squashed between two dazzling girls, Su Xiao didn¡¯t dare to utter a word as they traversed the busy streets. The only other time he had heard such a profound discussion, where everything exchanged had underlying meanings, was the time he visited Cold Mountain Temple and knocked every monk out with his cooking.

    ¡°How about we g-¡±

    Luo Mingzhu: ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Ye Luo: ¡°No, let¡¯s not!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Every time one of them opined, the other would disagree. There were stalls lined up all along the streets, yet they refused to stop even once until Ye Luo spotted a rouge store and picked up a container.

    ¡°This container looks nice. Help me choose one, Xiao.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s see¡­ Hmm¡­ This colour matches you. You like to wear ck, so the chestnut-plum colour will fit with your attire. If you wear a warrior robe, dab a little bit of it on, and you¡¯ll steal everyone¡¯s hearts.¡±

    Cheeks rosy, Ye Luo rhetorically asked, ¡°Why would you go out of your way to say that? Are you trying to cheer me up?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re always pretty,¡± Su Xiao sincerely replied.

    Feeling her embarrassment sear through her cheeks, Ye Luo spun around to the hawker. ¡°I¡¯ll take ten boxes of this!¡±

    ¡°Ho, it does look pretty good,¡± dimpling, Luo Mingzhu finished, ¡°for old women.¡±

    Ye Luo, acting as if her body wasgging, looked over her shoulder: ¡°What was that? Exin yourself.¡±

    Although Ye Luo was only eighteen this year, she was older than sixteen year old Luo Mingzhu and fifteen year old Su Xiao. Whether Luo Mingzhu knew it or not, she hit Ye Luo¡¯s sore spot.

    Luo Mingzhu¡¯s eyes wandered up to the ceiling, much to Ye Luo¡¯s chagrin. Ye Luo had issues with Luo Mingzhu ever since thetter started fawning over Su Xiao back at Luo Sword Manor, and Luo Mingzhu¡¯s pedigree fuelled Ye Luo¡¯s frustration even more. Thanks to her concern, however, Su Xiao¡¯s status in her mind elevated itself because he didn¡¯t swoon over Luo Mingzhu despite Luo Mingzhu¡¯s pedigree. Based on today¡¯s events, Su Xiao¡¯s status didn¡¯t get an upgrade in Ye Luo¡¯s books alone.

    At a fabric store, Luo Mingzhu found a collection that impelled her to pull it over. ¡°Young Master Su, I think this one is quite nice.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu didn¡¯t speak that softly - not remotely. Her only motivation for foregoing her unreasonable and snobby attitude was two words: Su Xiao.

    Seeing Su Xiao space out, Luo Mingzhu stated, ¡°It is understandable for men to not know about girls¡¯ things. Mingzhu apologises for not considering that.¡±

    Su Xiao ignored Luo Mingzhu, who reached out for the fabric. ¡°The colour is called light fragrance. It is dyed first and then scented multiple times to mellow out the scent as well as to generate the autumn-leaves colour. I¡¯ve seen a premium quality ¡®yellow decayed leaf¡¯ before. Its scent was simr but nowhere close to the elegant scent of this. They say that real light fragrance can only be found in Nanjiang. I must say I¡¯m lucky to have already found one.¡±

    The hawker praised, ¡°Impressive. Not many people know much about fragrances anymore. If you like, this old one can give it to you for half price.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mister.¡± Su Xiao gazed at the fabric as though it was his lover. ¡°Miss Luo, you have good taste. Not everyone can discern what makes this fabric so great. I see your upbringing is fantastic.¡±

    ¡°I-I only know a little. I saw my mother wear clothing made from this fabric when I was a kid. You know far more than me. - I usually only y with weapons; I honestly am not very educated. Please pardon me for my unsightly behaviour¡­¡± While Luo Mingzhu¡¯s face continued to glow a brighter and brighter shade of red, her voice softened with each word.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s good that you practice martial arts; it¡¯ll be handy when you need to protect yourself, and you can even punish evildoers if you want, just like Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s disciples. I look up to you since you¡¯re better than me.¡±

    Noticing Luo Mingzhu looking ready to throw herself into Su Xiao¡¯s arms, Ye Luo decided to cool thetter down. ¡°How about this one?¡± Ye Luo checked out the light fragrance fabric andmented, ¡°It resembles the cloth we use to wipe our feet. Miss Luo, you need handkerchiefs for your feet? Are you implying you have not washed your feet for a month?¡±

    Despite the green lines showing on her forehead, Luo Mingzhu fronted with a smile: ¡°¡­ I wash my feet daily - and twice daily, for that matter. This is for clothing.¡±

    ¡°I see. I see. Using a foot towel for clothing sure is innovative.¡±

    Su Xiao hurriedly tried to defuse the situation: ¡°Exc-excuse m-¡±

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s fight it out, you wench!¡±

    Ye Luo disyed two different joint lock styles in five exchanges, while Luo Mingzhu used her fingers as substitutes for a sword, inciting a rambunctious crowd.

    In terms of training, Luo Mingzhu learnt more advanced skills from her n. Ye Luo, on the other hand, leveraged her wealth of experience in realbat from her job and age to put Luo Mingzhu on the back foot.

    Since you want to fight so bad, I¡¯ll give it to you!

    Cold energy emanated from Luo Mingzhu¡¯s fingertips as she drew a circle with her attacking hand, creating a visible trail of ice qi.

    Glossary

    Luo Mingzhu¡¯s speech style - The word choices themselves can¡¯t be replicated in English, so I¡¯m going to do my best to capture it. She switched out pronouns, verbs and so forth, as well as referring to herself in third person, for ones that women would use when trying to sound graceful. Another way it¡¯s done is via taking a roundabout way of speaking. You cane off as curt if you cut to the chase (context dependent), so she cushions what the she wants to say.

 Volume 10 55 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 55 Casanova Su Xiao (Part 4)</h4>

    Ye Luo back tucked out of the way and then, using Voice Transmission, asked Luo Mingzhu, who held her ground, ¡°What style is that? That¡¯s not Luo n¡¯s swordy. Tianshan Sect¡¯s swordy?¡±

    More than a decade ago, people already ranked Tianshan Sect¡¯s patriarch - cial Water Death - as Luo Ming¡¯s equivalent in the south for his swordy.

    When Luo Ming copsed ten years ago, he sent Luo Mingzhu to Tianshan to bring back knowledge of Tianshan Sect¡¯s skills - and to also arm her with the strength to protect herself from vengeful people Luo n were about to ost.

    Luo Mingzhu wore her confidence on her lips: ¡°That¡¯s only the entr¨¦e. I haven¡¯t even used Dead Water cial Purification Swordy. I¡¯ll give you a chance to surrender now.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu hastily extended her fingers to catch a de inbound for her face. Though she protected her face, her fingers went numb.

    ¡°Surrender to someone I can beat?¡± Ye Luo wasn¡¯t armed with a bow and arrows, but she assumed the stance of an archer in the distance. ¡°What good is swordy if I don¡¯t let you near me?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu reflected on Ye Luo¡¯s technique to figure out the discipline thetter employed. ¡°Tiezhen Divine Archery¡­ Yes, it¡¯s Tiezhen Divine Archery. You¡¯re not from Beijiang, though. Your surname is Y-, how are you rted to Ye Yun (pronunciation: Ye Wen) of Emperor¡¯s Entourage?¡±

    ¡°What do you think? Unlike you, I don¡¯t bask in my father¡¯s glory.¡±

    While they did call Ye Yun and Baima theckeys of the imperial court, themanders of Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards, respectively, were not men to be trifled with. They called Qilin Guards the nightmare of those in the pugilistic world and Emperor¡¯s Entourage the nightmare of the martial artsmunity.

    Could anyone from a famous sect or n honestly assert they¡¯d never taken a life? If the imperial court wanted to profile them, there was no way any of them were innocent. The only question was whether or not they were worth the imperial court¡¯s time and resources. Should they be deemed a threat, Qilin Guards would bring the guillotine to them. Who decided if they should be executed? That would be none other than the agents from Emperor¡¯s Entourage. ordingly, Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu were effectively the executioner¡¯s daughter and the criminal¡¯s daughter at this point.

    They were going to resume the fight when Luo Mingzhu blurted, ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°What do you want now?!¡±

    After surveying their surroundings, Luo Mingzhu pointed out, ¡°¡­ Where is Young Master Su?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    Su Xiao never should be trusted as a navigator and that goes double for when he¡¯s in a crowded, foreign ce. Luckily, he remembered their lodge and had a mouth to ask for directions.

    Hmm, Sister Ye and Miss Luo are both out of character today. It¡¯s better if I keep a safe distance from them. Mm, mm. Let¡¯s just let nature take its course and go for a stroll.

    Spring had marched in, and the weather was in a good mood. Walking along the flowing water with a light-orange illumination was perfect for uplifting one¡¯s mood.

    Su Xiao, dangling a green foxtail from his mouth, tucked his hands behind his head and went for a stroll,ughing and humming as he visualised Ming Feizhen doing the same.

    ¡°Mister, how much does your beef go for?¡±

    ¡°Ten copper coins for half a kilo.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too much.¡± Su Xiao curled his lips. ¡°Can you give me a discount for two and a half kilos? I¡¯ll treat you to candied haws.¡±

    ¡°Ah, fine, only for you. I¡¯ll give you 20% off, okay?¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    Whilst packing Su Xiao¡¯s order, the hawker gave Su Xiao some tributes to snack on. ¡°Can you even finish all of this, Miss?¡±

    As he chewed on the beef stick, Su Xiao answered, ¡°It¡¯s for my friend, not me.¡±

    ¡°Wow, what a lucky fe to score such a considerate wife.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m not a g-¡±

    ¡°Help!¡±

    Su Xiao dropped a silver tael and said, ¡°I¡¯lle back for itter¡± before bursting off in the direction of the girl¡¯s cry.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Su Xiao to reach the nearby restaurant that the girl¡¯s cry came from. Two men had the girl pressed down on a table on the second floor. There were people around, but nobody lent a hand to the girl d in ordinary linen clothes because of the men¡¯s sheer size, not to mention one of them had a big broadsword dangling from his belt. Besides, there were ten-odd more of their friends apanying them.

    The girl bit the hand that came over her mouth, prompting the red man to hurl her off the second floor. She shut her eyes as she epted her demise when the people around broke into apuse.

    ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡±

    The girl opened her eyes from Su Xiao¡¯s warm arms and stuttered, ¡°Wh-who are you?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°My name is Su Xiao. Sorry for beingte.¡± Su Xiao set the girl down and then red at the men. ¡°You think you will get away with your crimes?¡±

    The bald gang leader unfolded his arms, finally feeling interested, and sent an eye gesture to the man who threw the girl off the second floor.

    ¡°Oh? Defender of justice, do you know who we are?¡±

    ¡°Wench, who do you think you are to bother us? While I¡¯m feeling merciful, r-¡±

    While he didn¡¯t get to finish what he was saying, his nose did finish feeling the full brunt of Su Xiao¡¯s fist smash that sent him to the ground over three metres away. Blood poured from his mouth due him biting his tongue on the way down.

    Arm still extended, Su Xiao fumed, ¡°Who are you calling a wench?¡± and then side kicked another heavy gang member before thetter could jump him.

    The gang leader flicked his chin up. ¡°Get him.¡±

    Su Xiao waited for their des toe close to him before ripping Ancient Cold out, snapping over ten broadswords in one swoop. The energy emitted from Ancient Cold flooring them.

    The bald gang leader pulled his brows in and stopped drinking his tea.

    Su Xiao returned Ancient Cold to its sheath, then looked over to the leader. ¡°You going to turn yourself in, or do I need to drag you to the magistrate¡¯s office?¡±

    The gang leader didn¡¯t respond right away. When he grinned, Su Xiao felt apprehensive, but he wasn¡¯t sure what the grin was all about. Suddenly, the man he side kicked caught him in a bear hug from behind.

    ¡°Hahaha, didn¡¯t see thating, did you?!¡± jeered the leader. ¡°Your ignorance has cost you dearly.¡±

    ¡°Boss, kill this wench! She¡¯s bloody breaking my hold!¡±

    The leader advanced on Su Xiao, broadsword held overhead: ¡°Who the hell gave you the guts to mess with me?! Huh?!¡±

    Su Xiao extended his neck and then flexed it as hard as he could, smashing the leader¡¯s nose with his forehead. Next, he torqued as hard as he could, breaking the man¡¯s arms roughly enough to send the man to sleep. With blood coursing down from his forehead, Su Xiao asserted, ¡°Why do I need someone¡¯s backing to punish evil?¡±

 Volume 10 56 The Eight Realms (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 56 The Eight Realms (Part 1)</h4>

    Unlike his weak subordinates, the gang leader still had it in him to careen down the stairs and shout, ¡°You win for now, wench. Just you wait. You think us Heisinas are pushovers? I¡¯ll turn your bones into a cowl, your flesh into food, your tibia into clothes, and your pelvis will be used to give birth to my strong offspring¡­¡±

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t even feel offended owing to the nature of the threats. He was going to finish off the gang leader when he heard the girl sobbing.

    What if one of these gangsters here harms her after I chase their leader?

    Due to Su Xiao¡¯s brain stutter, the other leader made it to the door, continuing, ¡°I¡¯m going to call for backup. I¡¯ll crush all of you tomorrow!¡±

    Perhaps the leader really did have more to give because nobody dared to stop him in spite of him wobbling.

    Su Xiao wiped his blood and scanned the floored men prior to asking, ¡°Can I please trouble someone to report to an official? Just tell them ten-odd gangsters have been caught here.¡± Switching to a soft tone, he then inquired, ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡±

    Thedies of the men staring at the girl, who embodied ¡°adorable¡± to the max, grabbed their men by the ears and dragged them off. On the other hand, Su Xiao spaced out as he stared at the girl, feeling she was familiar despite it being their first meeting.

    ¡°Mother?¡± Su Xiao uttered.

    The girl juddered and stopped crying. Can anyone me her for reacting that way to the rather ¡°unique¡± way of hitting on a girl?

    ¡°S-sorry. Are you all right, Miss?¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­ Had it not been for you¡­¡±

    Su Xiao draped his coat on for the girl since most of her clothing had been torn off. She finally broke down and hugged him tightly as she wailed.

    ¡°I only wish I could¡¯vee to your aid sooner. Don¡¯t be scared. When we get to the magistrate office, just be honest. I am familiar with the procedure, so don¡¯t worry about a thing.¡±

    ¡°Xiao!¡±

    ¡°Young Master Su!¡±

    The two jealous,petitive heroines still sounded as if they were inpetition when they arrived on the scene. The two were searching blindly for Su Xiao until they heard people mouring about a fight at the restaurant and saw the bald leader hurtling.

    ¡°Are you all right, Young Master Su?¡±

    ¡°Xiao, what happened? Why did you get into a fight?¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s earnest recount failed to elicit any reaction from the two heroines for they were solely focused on the extra vixen in his arms - ¡°extra¡± because the other was their existingpetition. Su Xiao and the girl instinctively released each other to appease the two heroines. Only then did Luo Mingzhu notice the event on Su Xiao¡¯s forehead. ¡°Y-Y-Young Master Su! Howe you¡¯re bleeding so much?¡±

    ¡°Who hurt you?!¡± Ye Luo swept up a gangster, then dished out a four-hit pbo. ¡°Were you the one who hit him?¡±

    A man, who had yet to catch his breath after Su Xiao folded him, wasn¡¯t going to be able to talk when his face now resembled a contorted balloon.

    Although it was only a skin-deep wound, Luo Mingzhu¡¯s handkerchief was dyed red, and there was no telling if a scar would blemish Su Xiao¡¯s forehead. Hence, she snatched the gangster from Ye Luo and rammed her fist into his face enough times for him to inwardly swear he¡¯d turn over a new leaf.

    ¡°Sister Ye, Miss Luo, this is nothing. Just rub some saliva on, and I will be fine.¡± Su Xiao tore off some of his sleeve to use as a bandage over his forehead. ¡°Done, right?¡±

    Says who?! You¡¯re supposed to apply ointments and herbs to wounds! Who taught you to rub saliva on wounds?!

    Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren, Tang Ye¡­ It wasn¡¯t hard to guess who taught Su Xiao to rub saliva on his wounds. Was:guessing¡± even warranted?

    The local guards finally arrived to take in the thugs, but they let Su Xiao andpany go without any questioning as the gangsters had run-ins with thew so often that the guards didn¡¯t need a testimony to lock them up.

    ¡°Keep celebrating while you still can. You¡¯re all dead meet tomorrow, and I¡¯ll have thestugh,¡± a thug taunted as he was taken away.

    Ye Luo unleashed a vicious backhand at the gangster¡¯s jaw, breaking it. ¡°Laugh? Show me how you¡¯re going tough.¡±

    And thus, everyone but he had thestugh.

    The quartet left the restaurant for alcoholics to chat at a teahouse. The girl had nothing inmon to talk about, not that it mattered since Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu were preupied with nursing Su Xiao¡¯s wound.

    Making sure to sit still, Su Xiao requested, ¡°Miss, there is just us four now. Could you please recount what happened?¡±

    As someone very reticent, the girl was tense around the strangers and timidly answered, ¡°Y-yes. Three years ago, my father and I came to Xiuyu. My father sells wine to make a living. I went out to rece him in hopes of making money for his medication because his back is too sore for him to get out of bed today. I didn¡¯t expect¡­¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re not a local?¡±

    ¡°No, I am from the Central in.¡±

    Su Xiao smiled back: ¡°What a coincidence. I¡¯m also from the Central in.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu stopped tending to Su Xiao¡¯s wounds to freeze the room: ¡°Who cares?¡±

    Ye Luo looked askance at the girl.

    Su Xiao scratched his head: ¡°This is quite the pickle. I was going to offer to escort you home. May I ask where your home is located?¡±

    ¡°My home is in the northeast.¡±

    ¡°Along the Songhua River?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu pretended to cough: ¡°So where do we go from here? Are you we going to see her home first?¡±

    The girl started trembling. ¡°Pl-please do not do that! Many people recognise my father and I. C-could you let me stay the night, Young Master Su?¡±

    How shameless! You only just got to know him, yet you want to cut in line?!

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu always liked Su Xiao¡¯s kindness, but for once, they wished he wasn¡¯t the kind to protect a defenceless girl out of kindness.

    Unexpectedly, Su Xiao replied, ¡°I apologise, Miss, but I have business I must attend to. That being said, we will find a safe ce for you to stay the night. Miss, do you know who those people are?¡±

    ¡°They are notorious gangsters in the city. Their gang is called Hei something. The worst of the bunch is the baldy who ims to be part of Heisina Tribe.¡±

    ¡°Heisina Tribe?¡±

    ¡°From what I know, their n are criminals of Xiacang Anxi history. Over thest few centuries, all of the contemptible people of Xiacang Anxi are from their n. I believe their n leader is trying to instigate a war, which is why their name evokes fear now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that.¡± Hand raised, Luo Mingzhu expanded, ¡°I did my homework beforeing here. Centuries ago, their nmitted treason against their King, resulting in the nation splitting into twelve states. As far as I know, they still haven¡¯t been exterminated and are still causing trouble.¡±

    Ye Luo added, ¡°Wait, they said they¡¯reing back tomorrow with people to get revenge on Xiao. What are we going to do? We can¡¯t just leave things as they are, can we? Miss, don¡¯t be scared. You can drive them off. Here. Take these as weapons.¡±

    Su Xiao took the chopsticks Ye Luo passed to the girl: ¡°They are only going to harass her again. Don¡¯t worry about me. You saw mey out over ten men, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ It¡¯s not like I¡¯m worried for you¡­ I¡¯m just a teeny bit worried¡­¡± In reality, Ye Luo wasn¡¯t the type to just dismiss the problem. As she recollected the injuries Su Xiao inflicted, she mumbled, ¡°How did he do so much damage?¡±

    Thest time Ye Luo fought Su Xiao was less than half a year ago. In that short period, he had shown exponential growth, especially in the realm of internal strength as he demonstrated with the single sh that downed over ten men. Partitioning his energy through their bodies without damaging them was the hallmark of an internal style expert.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been able to tell if you¡¯re skilled or not,¡± Ye Luo muttered.

    Luo Mingzhu rolled her eyes: ¡°The former. You blind?¡±

    ¡°And how do you know? How long have you known Xiao for?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu perked her chest up: ¡°You think Luo n has any ipetent disciples? Besides, he floored a group in one swing. How often do you see that?¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Captain Obvious.¡±

    The two maidens started generating sparks between their eyes yet again.

    Su Xiao opined, ¡°To tell the truth, I¡¯m not sure, either¡­ I¡¯d say I¡¯m slightly better than Big Brother Ming, I guess?¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± asserted Luo Mingzhu, despite being oblivious as to who ¡°Big Brother Ming¡± referred to.

    Ye Luo really wanted to say, ¡°Silly boy, you can tell your Big Brother Ming is stronger than you from his behaviour,¡± but refrained from vocalising her thoughts. Even though she couldn¡¯t ascertain Ming Feizhen¡¯s true capacity, her experience told her that he couldn¡¯t be weak when nothing could rattle him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about him for now. Xiao, your internal strength should be mature by now. Which Realm do you focus on? Judging from your tremendous strength, I assume you focus on Hard Realm?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu wrinkled her nose: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that. As long as you¡¯ve trained enough, anyone can achieve the same feat regardless of Realms. If you ask me, his proficiency with his de means he focuses on Edge Realm and is proficient at it, for that matter.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything you don¡¯t know, Miss Know-it-all? Xiao, what realm have you reached? Perfection Level Three or Void Piercer Beginner?¡±

    ¡°Why do you always undermine Young Master Su¡¯spetence? You¡¯re already at level two of Void Piercer, so what makes you think he¡¯s an entire notch below you?¡±

    ¡°Right back at you.¡±

    As the two got into another verbal spat, Su Xiao raised his hand to question, ¡°Um, what are these Void Piercers and levels you speak of?¡±

    Ye Luo¡¯s gaze told Luo Mingzhu she didn¡¯t know what Su Xiao¡¯s question implied, and Luo Mingzhu¡¯s gaze conveyed the same message.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone know what we¡¯re talking about?¡±

    ¡°Young Master Su, which part did you not understand?¡±

    ¡°All of it,¡± answered Su Xiao, meekly. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anything about these realms and levels you mentioned.¡±

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu: ¡°You don¡¯t know about the eight realms when your internal energy is so advanced?¡±

    Su Xiao shook his head in slow motion: ¡°I know Zhu Bajie. Does that count?¡±

    The two heroines were too stunned to speak.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The young girl raised her hand: ¡°I know Lao Gaozhuang!¡±

    Glossary

    Along the Songhua River - Their responses to each other make up the first line of the song ¡°Along the Songhua River¡±.

    Zhu Bajie - If you know your Journey to the West, you should know the character and location. Now, let¡¯s go back a little to see where these namese in.

    Realm can be split into two characters orbined to mean the same thing. One of those characters is ¡°jie¡± (fourth tone), which sounds the same as ¡°jie¡± in Zhu Bajie. ¡°Eight¡± in Mandarin sounds the same as ¡°ba¡± in Zhu Bajie. Thus, ¡°eight realms¡± sounds the same as ¡°Bajie¡±.

    Author-san really outdid himself with this one. I hope one person, at the very least, got this joke. It makes me wonder if he came up with eight realms for the sake of this joke or if it just came to him. Either way, it¡¯s ingenious. If you know han-viet or Cantonese, you should¡¯ve got it (Tr? B¨¢t Gi?i and b¨¢t c?nh gi?i with c?nh omitted; gaai3 in Cantonese).

    Lao Gaozhuang - A location in Journey to the West associated with where Zhu Bajie descends and doesn¡¯t function as anything more than to continue the gag.

 Volume 10 57 The Eight Realms (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 57 The Eight Realms (Part 2)</h4>

    There were innumerable martial arts disciplines out there, with the variations being difficult to generalise. Taking into ount different methodologies and different learning methods of the same discipline would be impossible to epass in one conversation. Yet, there was onemon denominator between all them. Whether they meditated, performed plyometric exercises, read mountains of books or whatever else, they were all different means to the same end - harnessing qi and storing it.

    The wise would be able to imitate the flow of nature inside their body, realising what would be considered only theory - this applied to internal energy training.

    Internal energy was amplification of the ¡°ordinary¡± man¡¯s qi tens to hundreds of folds in order to perform superhuman feats, such as leaping from roof to roof or crushing boulders with one¡¯s bare hands. How this ¡°internal energy¡± came into existence and who first discovered it were topics that couldn¡¯t be answered. At the end of the day, how power was used was more intriguing to man than its source.

    In the current paradigm, martial arts chiefly taught practitioners how to refine their internal energy and how to deploy it inbat. The more potent one¡¯s internal energy is, the faster they could learn. The sharper they would be. The more technical they could be, and the bigger their advantage inbat. These conclusions were drawn from the deaths of countless men, manuals and have stood the test of time.

    In contrast to the practical side, the theory side developed slower. Describing internal energy as ¡°an energy source for manifesting immense might¡± wasn¡¯t wrong, but it failed to ount for the different shapes and sources that it derived from. While they all fell under the umbre term ¡°internal energy¡±, the educated were privy that the energy sources didn¡¯t share the same origin.

    Some people gained incredible brute strength from their internal energy; some people gained the ability to produce heat with their internal energy; some people could part flowing water with their bare hands; some people would be able to split rocks in one sh despite their frail appearance.

    After a passage of millennia, martial artists gradually created ssifications for internal energy, splitting them into eight realms based on eight words: yin, yang, hard, soft, edge, heart, orthodox and unorthodox.

    Piggy backing off Ye Luo¡¯s lecture, Luo Mingzhu borated, ¡°The eight realms cover all disciplines thatprise of an internal energy system. There are only two groups of people who don¡¯t know about the eight ssifications. The first group are those from Nanjiang and Western Regions. They¡¯re unfamiliar with the system as they follow different thought systems. Their understanding and usage of internal energy is totally different to how we teach it in the Central in.

    ¡°The second group are people still new to martial arts or too weak to know of the concept. People in backwater viges calling themselves martial artists after learning a move or two are the kind you¡¯re thinking of.¡±

    While the young girl was already snoring, Su Xiao earnestly listened in to the education session.

    ¡°No wonder why I¡¯ve never heard about the system. Big Brother Ming is too weak to know about them.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ming Feizhen taught you the skills?¡± Ye Luo blurted.

    ¡°No, no.¡± Su Xiao waved his hands frantically. ¡°He only taught me how to train, stressed the importance of breathing and so on. Since he never told me about the eight realms and whatever, he must not know about them.¡±

    While Luo Mingzhu raced Ye Luo to praise Su Xiao first, Ye Luo couldn¡¯t find it in her to smile.

    Ye Luo: I¡¯m not convinced he doesn¡¯t know about them. I have a strong suspicion he¡¯s ying the idiot. Even if Ming Feizhen doesn¡¯t have a knack for martial arts, he already proved his extensive knowledge when he nursed Brother Tie¡¯s wounds. I¡¯m not convinced he doesn¡¯t know the basics of internal styles.

    Subsequent to the long lesson, Ye Luo returned to discussing it in the context they started on: ¡°The eight realms are not a ranking system to determine superiority; they¡¯re merely different types. For instance, my Tiezhen Divine Archery belongs to Soft Realm disciplines. The key principle of the discipline is ¡®condense¡¯. Condense your qi into a qi arrow. Every realm¡¯s internal energy¡¯s ssification hinges on the discipline.¡±

    ¡°Is there any discipline that fits into two realms?¡± Su Xiao queried.

    ¡°You¡¯re a genius, Young Master Su.¡± Beaming, Luo Mingzhu enlightened, ¡°They do exist. However, the maximum they can ovep is three realms - Hard, Edge and Soft Realms.¡± She got up to wipe his sweat, then resumed. ¡°Among the eight realms, yin, yang and orthodox are categorised as pure internal styles. The majority of their training is centred around meditation, breathing and so forth. Putting it nicely, the skills they cultivate are described as unique. Putting it bluntly, the skills they cultivate are rubbish because the majority of their skills don¡¯t have any technical application. For that reason, they¡¯re calledme disciplines.

    ¡°Hard, Edge and Soft Realms are called good disciplines as they develop visual and physical traits in addition to teaching how to manipte energy. The various forms of fighting you see are culminations of external style techniques. That¡¯s why the three realms make up over 80% of the disciplines utilised today. Ow!¡±

    ¡°Ow¡± because Luo Mingzhu went to sit back down, but her chair happened to not be there to catch her. Luckily, she was skilled enough to pull herself back up before she hit the ground to go bring her chair back. She then red daggers at the one who moved her chair and was feigning ignorance.

    Ye Luo disputed, ¡°Your exnation is erroneous. Although Hard, Edge and Soft Realms are considered good, it doesn¡¯t make them superior to yin, yang and orthodox. That¡¯s the same as arguing disciplines determine the oue of fights. What are you doing on the ground?¡±

    Martial artists were only interested in Yin, Yang, Orthodox, Hard, Edge and Soft Realms, with the first three being perceived as profound and, by extension, difficult to learn and use.

    Tang Ye¡¯s Yang Blood True Qi was one of the top Yang Realm disciplines. For that reason, it took a lot for him to learn. Among the numerous disciplines he had in his repertoire, they primarily belonged to Hard, Edge and Soft Realms, but he always fell back onto Yang Blood True Qi when he was under pressure, thenbined it with other techniques.

    Tang Ye was an ¡°exception to the rule¡± since most people wouldn¡¯t ever master a single me discipline¡± by the end of their lifespan. Learning disciplines under Yin, Yang and Orthodox Realms were always harder than disciplines under Hard, Edge and Soft Realms, for, not only did they require the physical traits, innate talent and personality but also other variables that couldn¡¯t be controlled.

    While disciplines that fell under the arbitrary ¡°good¡± banner deserved respect, they weren¡¯t as physically demanding. As long as they were healthy, even a waiter could be elite in one of the disciplines. Consequently, the number of practitioners in the three realms grew rapidly.

    The problem those who practiced styles from the ¡°good¡± realms had was that, despite all the variety they had, they ended up losing to people training me disciplines¡±. The reason for that was that those in thetter focused less on variety, polishing just one skill that could conquer the jack-of-all-trades style. That¡¯s not to say that there¡¯s no value in learning those skills; it was just that there arerge scores of amateurspared to those learning me disciplines¡±.

    This was why sects and schools were important. If people weren¡¯t constantly inheriting, learning and improving from generation to generation, how do they expect to keep up with others?

    Luo Mingzhu extended a finger and continued, ¡°Hence, if you learnme disciplines and excel, it¡¯s easy to make a name for yourself. Well, it¡¯ll also mean you¡¯re more prone to being viewed as dangerous. At least you won¡¯t be an embarrassment. As for your question, the answer is a resounding ¡®yes¡¯. Prodigies are those who are able tobine disciplines from Hard, Edge and Soft Realms to innovate new skills.¡±

    Ye Luo added, ¡°If a discipline belongs to two realms, then it¡¯s a considered a great discipline. Hard and Edge Realms produce might. Soft and Edge produce coldness. Either one of them are to be feared. Anything that canbine Hard and Soft Realms is considered a divine discipline. Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s Solid Jade Snow is onepetitor in the divine discipline category. Divine disciplines are not to be confused with Divine Realm. Great disciplines, divine disciplines are merely adjectives for grading the number of realms a discipline oveps. As of current, I haven¡¯t heard of any discipline thatbines Hard, Edge and Soft Realms. I don¡¯t think there is a discipline thatbines three realms yet. Do you seriously not know which realm your internal energy belongs to, Xiao?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. Big Brother Ming never told me anything. Tang Ye is, well¡­ Sister Shen is busy.¡±

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s test it out. Let¡¯s go.¡± Ye Luo giddily pulled Su Xiao up.

    Luo Mingzhu, whogged behind by a beat, had to wake up the sleeping girl before going after Su Xiao and Ye Luo. If it weren¡¯t for Su Xiao, Luo Mingzhu probably would¡¯ve kicked the girl awake. The qinggong of the trio were closely matched, so it was hard to catch up to the twoughing as they chatted. As she walked, Luo Mingzhu kept searching for a horse to buy.

    Although both maidens were from influential ns, Luo Mingzhu couldn¡¯t stop her desire to feel pampered and didn¡¯t like being out in the sun. In contrast, Ye Luo enjoyed physical exploration and loved the outdoors. Luo Mingzhu would prefer to sit at a tea party, while Ye Luo didn¡¯t like sitting around for so long.

    Trees are ubiquitous in Nanjiang, and that included the spacious outskirts of Xiuyu.

    ¡°Use the same technique you used against the thugs on Luo Mingzhu and I.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu yanked the young girl off the horse as if they were in a wrestling match.

    You¡¯ve stolen all the good moments, and now you want me to take a hit?!

    Su Xiao tentatively said, ¡°But I¡¯ve grown quite a bit stronger recently. If I hurt y-¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, if you can hurt me, I¡¯ll treat you to a meal.¡± Ye Luo assumed a defensive stance.

    Switch flipped, Luo Mingzhu hurried into position: ¡°Count me in!¡±

    Su Xiao still wasn¡¯t familiar with utilising his internal energy and would never be able to hit Ye Luo with everything he had. He intended to only give it 50% of his full power. Nevertheless, after inhaling, he had a strong urge to fire off all the energy built up in his body.

    ¡°Here Ie.¡±

    Su Xiao bound toward Ye Luo, then rammed his fist into her palm. Ye Luo was sure she had caught the punch, yet she felt waves of energy shunting her back. Luo Mingzhu could say the same when she caught his right fist. Only when Ye Luo steadied herself to some degree did she notice Su Xiao punched at them simultaneously.

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu were roughly three metres apart, yet they were now only as far apart as his shoulders were. In other words, the qi waves¡¯ target was Luo Mingzhu, and the qi waves locked her in ce, forcing her to catch the punch.

    When Su Xiao recoiled his arms, the two maidens felt deprived of energy to the point that they almost face nted into the ground. They weren¡¯t hurt; it was just a sense of extreme fatigue.

    Despite being the one who attacked, Su Xiao was much better off than the two who took his punches.

    ¡°Do you know what realm my discipline belongs to now?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake about it.¡± Luo Mingzhu gave Ye Luo a nod. ¡°Young Master Su, where did you learn the Orthodox Realm divine discipline?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Is it Orthodox Realm? I don¡¯t even know what that is.¡±

    ¡°Remember the eight realms we mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Yin, Yang, Hard, Soft, Edge, Heart, Unorthodox and Orthodox Realms.¡±

    ¡°Correct. Among the eight, do you know which realm is held in the highest regard?¡±

    Su Xiao shook his head.

    Ye Luo took out a folding bow that Luo n crafted out of premium, shiny metals from her belt. ¡°We told you¡­ ovepping two realms produces incredible power, just like,¡± Ye Luo pulled her bowstring back all the way using a different method to usual, ¡°this.¡±

    Ye Luo¡¯s qi arrow sted straight through the other side of a tree stump.

    ¡°That is the result ofbining Soft Realm and Edge Realm internal energy. This is what makes Tiezhen Divine Archery formidable. The force I can shoot with far exceeds that which I can produce with a physical arrow. That is what we call the frost of Soft and Edge Realms¡¯ internal energy.¡±

    Rummaging through all the information and analysing it, Su Xiao inquired, ¡°Howe we canbine Hard and Soft Realms¡¯ internal energy, yet we can¡¯tbine Yin and Yang Realms¡¯ internal energy?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really sharp. I was getting to that. Orthodox Realm is the most unique of the eight. There are disciplines thatbine Yin and Yang Realms¡¯ internal energy, and you know it.¡±

    ¡°I do?¡±

    ¡°Orthodox Realm internal energy is the culmination of Yin and Yang Realms¡¯ internal energybined.¡± Ye Luo rified, ¡°Orthodox Realm is as authentic and pure as you get. Orthodox Realm internal energy can be used to expel poison, dissolve yin and yang qis, enhance one¡¯s six senses, clear one¡¯s mind to improve thinking or negative emotions in addition to boosting growth. Orthodox Realm is considered the greatest of the eight realms, and disciplines that cultivate Orthodox Realm internal energy are considered the best disciplines.¡±

 Volume 10 58 Realms

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 58 Realms</h4>

    There had never been many disciplines that fitted into Orthodox Realm. 80% of all disciplines belonged in Hard, Edge and Soft. Yin and Yang Realms disciplines made up 10% of all disciplines. Heart and Orthodox Realms made up the remaining ten. Orthodox Realm disciplines were the minority among even the shared percentage with Heart Realm.

    As of current, an easy-to-learn Orthodox Realm discipline didn¡¯t exist. Creating an Orthodox Realm discipline was a daunting challenge in its own right. If it was easy, apothecaries would be out of a job. Nobody had ever invented an Orthodox Realm discipline on their own for it required one to amalgamate the umted knowledge and experience of their predecessors. Thus, sects that possessed an Orthodox Realm usually had centuries of history.

    Those who could learn Orthodox Realm disciplines were the envy of martial artists. For instance, everyone knew of Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing, Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi and Mount Daluo¡¯s Castoff, and all of them cultivated Orthodox Realm internal strength. One might argue that their sect name wasn¡¯t the intimidating factor; the existence of an Orthodox Realm discipline being in their arsenal was what warded people off.

    ¡°There is no chance you happened to luckily be equipped with Orthodox Realm internal energy because there¡¯s no luck to speak of when ites to this.¡±

    After an extensive inquiry into Su Xiao¡¯s training, Ye Luo was shocked to learn he waspletely oblivious to what discipline he had been training andcked a mental cultivation to go with his internal energy cultivation. It was the equivalent of implying that the internal energy developed autonomously. If he wasn¡¯t Su Xiao, she would¡¯ve dropped him already for talking out of his rear end.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s in your family¡¯s discipline, but they don¡¯t want people to know, so they didn¡¯t tell you.¡±

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t connect the dots.

    The young girl, having gotten over being nervous with the group, tapped Su Xiao on the shoulder. ¡°To learn something so great without a mentor is a sign of immense luck. You should be grateful, not troubled.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Miss. I have a tendency to have tunnel vision. Had it not been for you, wait, we¡¯ve only mentioned six realms. What about the other two?¡±

    Luo Mingzhu hid her smile behind her hand: ¡°There is no need to bother with them, Young Master Su. While Heart Realm disciplines are technically martial arts, they¡¯re not by definition. My father says that studying martial arts is also a study of literature. Our actions are the physical manifestation of knowledge. There are barely any Heart Realm disciplinespared to the six we¡¯ve mentioned, and they¡¯re extremely rare toe by. You can worry about them when youe across one.¡±

    ¡°What about Unorthodox Realm?¡±

    Neither Luo Mingzhu nor Ye Luo were erudite on Unorthodox Realm to speak on it.

    Luo Mingzhu, having deliberated for a while, answered, ¡°Well¡­ Nobody can even say for sure if any disciplines in the category even exist. The realm itself has existed since the inception of the eight realms, but nobody has ever heard of any internal style that fits Unorthodox Realm internal energy. Nobody knows how the realm came to be.¡±

    Ye Luo added, ¡°Some believe it¡¯s a code name for demon arts. Perhaps internal energy of Unorthodox Realm is totally different to natural energy or anything we perceive to be normal. That exins the reason for the ¡®unorthodox¡¯ term. There¡¯s no evidence to prove the theory¡¯s authenticity, though. If it is true, the first Unorthodox Realm discipline to exist would be Demon Sect¡¯s Spring Wind Rainy Night Divine Art.

    ¡°Ximen Chuideng was undefeated until the imperial court and Seven Champion White Princes personally quashed his rebellion all thanks to Spring Windy Rainy Night Divine Art, and he hadn¡¯t even mastered itpletely - so they say.¡± Seeing the question marks floating above Su Xiao¡¯s head, Ye Luo went on. ¡°Though this knowledge is basic to us now, we were taught it over the span of several years in childhood, so it¡¯s unfair to expect you to digest it all in one go.¡±

    Ye Luo was patting Su Xiao on the shoulder when she felt a row of pricks on her hand upon touching him.

    Luo Mingzhu cut in between Ye Luo and Su Xiao: ¡°Young Master Su, is there anything else you don¡¯t understand?¡±

    I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re Luo Ming¡¯s daughter. I swear I¡¯ll settle the score with you, tramp!

    ¡°What are the Perfection and Void Piercer things you mentioned?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even know what they are?¡± blurted Ye Luo. ¡°Why would your parents let you leave home without this basic knowledge? They are martial artists¡¯ four realms and an old clich¨¦.

    ¡°Aside from testing one¡¯s mettle with fists and weapons, martial artists have an easier way of determining who is superior to whom. Different eras may have different terms for them. As for the current era, there are four realms, therefore sixteen levels, in which martial artists are graded: Perfection, Void Piercer, Manifestation and Divine Realms. The four realms are based off internal styles¡¯ cultivation progress, and there is no means of going beyond.

    ¡°Each realm consists of five levels. In order from lowest to highest, they are: beginner, level two, level three, peak and fallen. Based on my observation of how hard you punched, I would surmise you are Void Piercer level three, which is technically called Void Piercer Three. After our little test, I believe you might have reached Void Piercer Peak - if not higher.

    ¡°You can decide if you can win or not based off this grading system, and you¡¯re better off searching for alternatives if you¡¯re not on the same level in the same realm.¡±

    ¡°Wait, the next realm up from Peak is Fallen?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°That¡¯s the real thrill of internal styles.¡± Luo Mingzhu lifted her shoulders to her ears. ¡°When your internal strength reaches a certain level, you reach the apex and thene back down. It¡¯s the principle of, whates up, muste down. Fallen is the nightmare of martial artists, which is why some call it ¡®mental demons¡¯.

    ¡°When transitioning from Peak to Fallen, one must work even harder to get over the wall, or they will regress even further. The further they regress, the harder it is to determine what their level is. Those who reach Void Piercer and Manifestation struggle as if they¡¯re swimming against the tide at Fallen. Consequently, mental status bes more and more paramount each time you progress. Getting stuck and unable to climb down is considered typical; however, if you can escape the shackles of Fallen, you can expect to be among the greats.

    ¡°I am sixteen this year. Last year, I was at Beginner. I¡¯m now at Void Piercer Three. It took me four years to progress again after hitting Void Piercer Fallen.¡±

    Glossary

    Realms -I am tranting the levels within the realms as levels because, technically, they should be tranted as realms. ¡°Realm¡± isprised of two characters, but splitting it into two separate characters still means ¡°realm¡±. In Chinese, this text has split the two different characters to indicate the realm (main four) and realms (four levels within the main four), so you can distinguish. In English, Realm is just one word; tranted literally, it¡¯d read ¡°Just Realm Third Realm¡±¡­ Because it¡¯s redundant even in Chinese (to a lesser degree), as Ye Luo pointed out, Void Piercer level is shortened to Void Pierce Three. I¡¯mpromising word-for-word uracy so that we can distinguish in English.

    To stress it again, these realms and levels are indicators of characters¡¯ progress in DISCIPLINES, not rankings of fighters or their progress as a fighter. I.e. holding a ck belt is a sign of how much you¡¯ve learnt in a systemised curriculum, not an indicator of your proficiency in the discipline or a fight. Fightingpetitions wouldn¡¯t need to exist, otherwise.

    Don¡¯t stress if you can¡¯t digest this all at once because, honestly, the information even used often thus far (even where I am ahead of you). When necessary, the story will provide the differentiations for you.

 Volume 10 59 Xiaolou Listens to the Tune of Spring Rain

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 59 Xiaolou Listens to the Tune of Spring Rain</h4>

    ¡°Four years?¡± Su Xiao smacked his lips. ¡°Given it¡¯s so difficult, is there a big gap between Void Piercer and Perfection?¡±

    Ye Luo replied, ¡°There¡¯s a massive difference. The biggest difference between the two levels is that your internal energy is harmless once it leaves your body regardless of how potent it is. To put it into perspective, your internal energy is probably a tad inferior to mine at the moment, but you won¡¯tst many exchanges against me because I¡¯ve also reached Void Piercer Three.

    ¡°If you have reached Void Piercer Beginner, even if it was just a moment ago, the gap between us would¡¯ve closed markedly. To quantify it, your chances of tagging me would go from zero up to 40%. The difference between two people of the same level is an indicator of strength or experience, not your potential. Never underestimate someone on the same level as you.

    ¡°At the end of the day, though, one¡¯s grade is just that - a grade. By no means is it the ultimate judge of a fight¡¯s oue. There are more factors involved in realbat than one¡¯s ability to fight. For instance, and this isn¡¯t an exhaustive list, one¡¯s state of mind, styles, the location, the environment, the people around, the atmosphere and time can all have a role to y in a match¡¯s oue. They¡¯re all things you can make utilise, but the grading system has no means of ounting for any of those variables. Use the grading system in your analysis of your opponent, but don¡¯t be dogmatic.¡±

    ¡°You mentioned there are sixteen levels across the four realms. Every realm has five levels, which is only fifteen. What about thest level?¡±

    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s Divine Realm obviously. They¡¯re in another league of their own. There¡¯s no point in assigning levels to Divine Realm when there aren¡¯t many martial artists who¡¯ve reached Divine Realm to begin with.¡±

    ¡°My father said there are levels in Divine Realm,¡± Luo Mingzhu asserted. ¡°It might be that only they know what those levels are. Only they can tell who the better or worse man is. If we were to evaluate them, it¡¯d be no different to ignorantly talking about something we don¡¯t have the foggiest idea about. Plus, their grades are meaningless to us beyond the realm of gossip.¡±

    ¡°Xiao, show us your broadswordy.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°You have decent internal energy, but your technique is unpolished. We might be able to give you some pointers. Just show us what you can do. What¡¯s your specialty?¡±

    The question reminded Su Xiao of the technique Ming Feizhen taught him. Since the technique was up to the wielder to decide, it was nothing more than shadowboxing training if he was practicing on his own.

    ¡°I¡¯ve learnt some swordy from Liu Shan Men¡¯s sybus, but my specialty is still my family¡¯s broadswordy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s see it.¡±

    Unable to deter Ye Luo, Su Xiao found some space to perform his family¡¯s taolu.

    Ye Luo started to feel anxious whilst watching as she was no expert at broadswords or swords, and she certainly wouldn¡¯t consider herself an advanced martial artist. If she couldn¡¯t offer anything helpful, Luo Mingzhu would steal the limelight.

    Watching Su Xiao pull his weapon behind him and thensh out at the air, Luo Mingzhu sted coconut juice from her mouth, yet Ye Luo didn¡¯t mind being sprayed for Su Xiao had stolen her attention with his amazingly¡­ lousy performance.

    Full of ws? That would be putting it mildly. If Su Xiao could kill anyone with his techniques, the credit would belong to his sharp de, not him. Every move was sluggish and riddled with unnecessary superfluous movements. One of his techniques looked as if he was defending the enemy sh with his head. Rather than spending his time training, he would be better off slitting his own throat. At least he¡¯d get to die on his terms.

    As reluctant as they were, Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu couldn¡¯t stop their genuine concern and disappointment after watching Su Xiao go through thirty-six sections. Luo Mingzhu, as a short weapons expert, knew better than Ye Luo that killing a chicken might be harder than killing Su Xiao.

    ¡°Give it your best!¡± The only one who cheered Su Xiao on was the young girl he saved.

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu: Shut up, vixen! He¡¯s already done!

    Su Xiao started swinging again, seemingly continuing, but his execution, from his wrists, feet and method of exerting force were different to before, and no move was repeated a second time. Once done with the thirty-six moves, he sheathed his broadsword, only to perform another three different moves. The only consistency was that his swings were weak. He still had ws from head to toe with every technique. While his execution was abysmal, the cold qi from his weapon gradually expanded its radius, forming frost under his feet.

    Cold internal energy belonged to Yang Realm internal energy. Since Su Xiao possessed Orthodox Realm internal energy, his weapon must¡¯ve been the one emitting the cold energy.

    After the third round, Su Xiao went for a fourth.

    ¡°Okay, stop!¡±

    How many times are you going to insult my skills?!

    ¡°Why do you finish and then keep going? And why is it different every time you go through it?¡±

    ¡°Is it¡­ not good?¡±

    ¡°Good?¡± Ye Luo was fuming. ¡°Good for making your opponentugh to death.¡±

    ¡°Y-Young Master Su, if you use those techniques in a fight, you will die each time you take a swing.¡±

    ¡°Wh-who taught you that?¡±

    Su Xiao turned himself into a pufferfish and turned his head away: ¡°Hmph!¡±

    ¡°Unepted!¡±

    ¡°Speak!¡±

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu pulled Su Xiao over.

    ¡°That¡¯s how my family¡¯s style is. My ancestors passed it down, and then my father personally imparted it to me. You¡¯re the ones who told me to perform, and you¡¯re also the ones having a dig at me.¡±

    ¡°A human really came up with it? Why can¡¯t I stop suspecting that a kid came up with it?¡±

    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t a kid! It took my ancestors several generations to design Almighty Soul Retriever.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu: ¡°Why did you repetitively perform it?¡±

    ¡°Because I wasn¡¯t done. My family¡¯s style has thirty-six moves per section.¡±

    ¡°Six moves per six sections is typical for taolus.¡±

    ¡°My family¡¯s style consists of thirty-six sections, which equates to one thousand two hundred and ny-six moves.¡±

    ¡°How bored must your dad have been?!¡± Ye Luo pressed a hand on Su Xiao¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Xiao, never use the style inbat.¡±

    ¡°But th-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll die.¡±

    ¡°But th-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll die!¡±

    Luo Mingzhu leaned in close to sobbing Su Xiao. ¡°And dreadfully.¡±

    Su Xiao attempted to run off crying, but the two dragged him back, forcing him to promise that he¡¯d only use Liu Shan Men¡¯s skills if he ran into an enemy alone, lest someoneughed to death and he died along with them.

    The young girl pped with fervour: ¡°Your style is pretty.¡±

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu: I¡¯ll go blind if I have to see another section!

    ¡°Your style doesn¡¯t have any repetition; it¡¯s like a dance. Can you teach me so that I can use it for exercise?¡±

    ¡°I thought my style was totally useless. I¡¯m d to know it has entertainment value. Thanks.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu had every intention of ridiculing the girl, but she had an epiphany. As she was watching Su Xiao¡¯s performance, she had a feeling that a surface-level analysis wouldn¡¯t do it justice for many reasons - not in a derisive sense.

    Training¡­ Dance¡­ What if I don¡¯t consider it a fighting style but a training tool? Now that I think about it, although the movements are ridiculous, it¡¯s those awkward movements that expose your muscles to different stimuli that you wouldn¡¯t otherwise give them, and there¡¯s no repetition of movements¡­ Yes, it goes against the grain ofbat practice, so perhaps looking at it as a fighting style is wrong.

    The three returned to Xiuyu since the sun was going to rest. They picked up the girl¡¯s father and helped the two settle down at an inn. Of course, they also showed the pair escape paths and a means of contacting them in case they needed help.

    As he followed Ye Luo and Luo Ming from behind, Su Xiao told them to go on ahead because he forgot to do something.

    ¡°Are you here for me?¡± the girl brightly greeted when Su Xiao knocked.

    ¡°Um, I¡­ Miss, I forgot to ask for you name.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You finally asked, hehehe. I thought you¡¯d just keep calling me ¡®Miss¡¯, dork.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Su Xiao scrubbed the back of his head.

    ¡°Hahaha, well, please do remember my name and me.¡±

    ¡°I will. I promise.¡±

    ¡°My name is Ming Xiaolou.¡±

    Glossary

    Sections - This refers a set of movements and techniques. In modern taolus, this refers to the sections performed the four corners of the mat (1 section per corner) as a part of standardisation. In solo muay boran forms (muay thai forms), this would be the four directions (north, east, south and west), each direction being one set.

    Short weapons standard - By wushu standards, swords and broadswords are considered short weapons. Spears, cudgels and so forth are considered long weapons.

    Su Xiao¡¯s style being like a dance and training tool - Same principle as judging taolus asbat in real life; they¡¯re training routines, not fighting manuals.

    Taolus serve multiple purposes are to serve as tools to practice coordination, bnce, rhythm, speed, mobility, flexibility, explosiveness. Therefore, the big movements, the varying stances, the varying rhythms, the leaps, the difficult movements, the movements forcing you into end ranges for joints and muscles.

    In the modern day, we have pylometrics. I wonder why taolus have a lot of explosive movements¡­ Modern day mobility drills of going to end ranges and learning to own the ranges, with movements that mimic the stances in taolus. A corrtion? Hmm¡­

    If you want to stretch, do active mobility routines, pylometrics and then do your sparring, then it¡¯s the same as people who want to rece all the first three with taolus and do their sparring.

    The only people replicating film stances in real fights are those who want to sell horse feathers, are frauds or have watched too many Chinese martial arts flicks for their own good.

 Volume 10 60 Baimu

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 60 Baimu</h4>

    It was unlikely anyone would think Baimu¡¯snds used to be poverty stricken when every inch of Baimu¡¯srge royal pce glimmered with their wealth. Their first ruler built his splendid pce in the southeast so that it¡¯d be directly opposing Nieyao¡¯s Shiri Pce - a symbol of his ambition and determination to unite Nanjiang under his rule.

    Beussent was no more, but theirvish style had been passed down in every generation. As a result, every generation¡¯s ruler added and renovated the pce until it almost rivalled Nanjing¡¯s imperial pce.

    Unlike the Central in¡¯splicated officials¡¯ system, Nanjiang¡¯s was simply separated into twelve ranks, which they indicated with daggers. The lowest rank officials carried earth deer daggers. The golden zither daggers were reserved for the only three highest-ranking officials that each state was permitted to have.

    The three in the conference hall, with golden zither daggers hanging from their belts, held the highest authority in Baimu after the royal family, yet not one of them dared to breathe hard today. Even though their King sitting in the centre of the room was a flower boy and his wife was flirtatiously feeding him grapes, the three had been in their presence enough times to feelfortable.

    A snarky man and his merrily-drinkingrade sitting in the corner didn¡¯t utter a word, but their muscles did the intimidation job perfectly.

    ¡°This old one,¡± the old official wiped his sweat, ¡°has nothing else to report. The squad sent to subjugate Heisina Tribe has not returned. From what he has heard, they were wiped out in an ambush. This old one suggests we send scouts out to find out more about the enemy forces before making any further decisions. We can then send out more troops and reduce our losses.¡±

    Another official reported, ¡°The personnel sent to find Heisina Duohua in the Central in has not returned, either, when they should have arrived here days ago. That dissident values family over everything. If we can get our hands on his sister, we may be able to quell this crisis without a fight.¡±

    ¡°End it without a fight?¡± The smirking man with his arms folded didn¡¯t shout, yet his voice managed to wind the elder.

    ¡°May this one ask¡­ what you think, Guya Baimu?¡±

    The unwee stench of blood on the armour of the man named after the state bombed their noses when he strode into the hall. It wasn¡¯t hard to convince people that his hobby was killing people, eating raw meat and drinking blood when he carried a bone broadswordrger than an average human on his back and had beasts¡¯ fangs extending from his shoulder armour. Though he had the appearance of one in his thirties, everyone who recognised his name was privy to the fact that he had been famous on the battlefield for over thirty years, at the very least.

    ¡°Since when did we be cowards like the Central in barbarians? Value family? Win without fighting? Stop crapping out of your mouth. All traitors must have their hearts gouged out and left in front of the pce for people to spit on - no buts.¡± Baimu turned around. ¡°Your Majesty, please withdraw your troops. I am more than enough to demolish a group of stray dogs.¡±

    The three senior officials didn¡¯t dare to open their mouths despite Baimu¡¯s request sounding no different to a demand.

    Notwithstanding people having different standards of what constituted the best warriors of the Central in¡¯s imperial court, they always came back to Supreme Ten Saints and The Ultimate Three as being their best thirteen. In Nanjiang, on the other hand, they had a different take.

    The Central in introduced the concept of ¡°martial artists¡± to Nanjiang thirty years ago, when the Central in¡¯s martial artists migrated post-conquest of Nanjiang¡¯s fiefs. Still, ¡°martial artists¡± was a term Nanjiang denoted chiefly to the Central in¡¯s people for the reason that Xiacang people didn¡¯t have a concept of ¡°martial arts¡±.

    Xiacang people had to disy guts and grit if they were to survive in the same environment as beasts. For them, fighting wasn¡¯t about technique; it was about survival. Gender didn¡¯t grant them any special privileges, so they were always fighting. Those who could triumph over everyone else were called guya - meaning ¡°guardian¡±.

    Guyas didn¡¯t have a citizenship, profession, ie or official position. They didn¡¯t need to pay formodities. Instead, they¡¯d be treated to the best stuff any tribe had. They could travel anywhere they pleased without a license. They could live a worry-free life off their name alone. In exchange, they had to ovee extremely challenging tests and were obligated to defend a state with their lives.

    Guyas were graded based on the size of thend they had to defend. Those who defendednds as expansive as a country¡¯s were called monsters. The twelve great guyas, collectively known as Twelve Sacred Beasts, who defended their states were conferred the same name as the state they protected.

    The leader of the senior officials expressed, ¡°Th-this old one is not questioning your abilities, b-but he is a shrewd man. You may fall for his ploy if you march in alone.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just be more direct?¡± Baimu nced over to the man adjacent to him. ¡°Just say¡­ you¡¯re afraid I¡¯ll lose to the disciple of my over-the-hill elder brother. Isn¡¯t it better for Baimu to be less a guya?¡±

    The charming concubine suddenly chimed in. ¡°I¡¯m also curious what someone who has been missing for so many years has to say.¡±

    The drinking elder feigned deaf. Like he was the true King presiding over the hall, he stated, ¡°Heisina is insignificant.¡±

    The elder, who resembled every second elder on the streets, didn¡¯t sound as old as his appearance suggested. He spoke with a dash of his hometown ent instead of standard Xiacang Anxi pronunciation. There was barely anyone left who recognised Beussent¡¯s vocabry and ent.

    ¡°What¡¯s important is Nieyao.¡± His body may have been old, but age didn¡¯t put a dent in his reputation, wealth and everything else. All the materialistic stuff in the world couldn¡¯t sway the elder who had seen more than any of them had.

    The King knew the legendary elder¡¯s story better than any other. The elder was the only man to be one of Nanjiang¡¯s Twelve Sacred Beasts and one of Supreme Ten Saints at the same time. At one point, he was the guya of all eleven states simultaneously. He was once Xiacang Anxi¡¯s pride. Actually, ¡°once¡± is an erroneous adjective for his paintings and statues were still being sold; Nanjiang¡¯s warriors still travelled to his old training spot all the time. s, his departure from his leadership post left the eleven states¡¯ warriors in disarray, resulting in people harbouring different opinions of him.

    The young King merely gave the elder in linen clothing a smile, yet that smile showed more respect than an essay could. The King looked to the elder¡¯s right arm, rather, where his right arm should¡¯ve been. ¡°I am not asking about Heisina. I merely want to know¡­ what¡­ you are here for, Martial Paragon, Feng Xue.¡±

    ¡°I thought you died deep in the woods, coward.¡± Baimu didn¡¯t have a speck of respect to give his elder brother.

    The elder lifted up the corners of his lips: ¡°This old one is happy to know you still remember him.¡±

    ¡°You have not answered my question,¡± the King responded.

    ¡°There is a wicked beast nestled in Nieyao.¡± The elder disregarded everyone but the King. ¡°Your Majesty, Heisina is innocent. You should clear their name.¡±

    The rumour of a wicked beast upying Nieyao had been circting for a long time. Howbeit, they brushed it off as a baseless im since Heisina Tribe was already convicted with plotting the city¡¯s downfall. Why do something unnecessary? When Morcher perished overnight, nheless, the rumour surfaced once again with more credibility.

    The King had heard the rumour; however, hearing it straight from Martial Paragon couldn¡¯t bepared to hearing it frommoners.

    ¡°¡­ I thought you returned to thend you left for your disciple¡¯s sake, but you¡¯vee back to tell me how insane you are? Baimu, kill him!¡±

 Volume 10 61 Guest from the North

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 61 Guest from the North</h4>

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for that!¡± Baimu got within punching range and uncorked a punch that would inflict severe damage even if he just grazed his target.

    The two brothers came from of a tribe of warriors, and they inherited their predecessors¡¯ sterbat prowess. Exceeding their own limits time and time again was typical for them as neither of them feared death or challenges.

    Regardless of who was put before him, Baimu would find a way to win in order to grow stronger. Unlike his brother, however, he faced a teau, while his brother continued to progress. It gradually dawned on the young guya that the sun only blessed his brother, while he was only a bonus basking in his brother¡¯s glory.

    Even though he was adopted and raised with the belief that his brother was his only biological rtive, Baimu couldn¡¯t stop perceiving himself to be a failure. Therefore, he never went to search for his brother after thetter called it quits. Instead, Baimu continued to train, hoping he could close the gap between them while his brother wasn¡¯t improving. In turn, he gradually began to catch up to his brother¡¯s fame and had few rivals left in Nanjiang.

    Since the two brothers had fought time and time again in the past over disputes, Feng Xue¡¯s mind was still. What bothered him was the young King¡¯s stance on the political issue. In the two years he mentored Baimu¡¯s Crown Prince - a fact few was privy of - he did what he believed was necessary to nurture the young man into a wise monarch. Feng Xue was expected to hold everything together when the boy¡¯s father passed away, but he vanished without a trace. For his student to decree his execution upon meeting, there was nothing he could smile about.

    Ever since Nanjiang¡¯s martial arts became systemised, their golden standard was to go for the opponent¡¯s weakness and take them out in one strike. That being the case, it made sense for their warriors to cultivate a skill they specialised in and polished it into an ultimate attack of sorts.

    Baimu was capable of piercing through metal and iron a decade ago using his signature ¡°Devil w¡±, yet he failed to catch even a centimetre of Feng Xue¡¯s clothing when thetter didn¡¯t move. In contrast, Feng Xue¡¯s qi discharge splintered a wooden table and shifted a metre back.

    ¡°Your skills have improved, but you are still morose.¡±

    Baimu coiled his extended fingers to follow up with a vacuum punch, setting Feng Xue¡¯s shoulders as his area of effect. Like a whip, Feng Xue flicked his right sleeve up without moving any other limb to intercept the punch. The only two in the hall who didn¡¯t wobble were the two brothers when the wind breaker emanated from their collision.

    ¡°I take that back. Your skills haven¡¯t improved. All you do is rely on trickery.¡±

    ¡°The only one who¡¯s still stuck in the past is you, Feng Xue, acting like you¡¯re all that with your cool attitude when you¡¯re the most condescending person. You won¡¯t have any arms after today.¡±

    A brownish glow emitted from Baimu¡¯s ck armour, forming the shape of a spike. Instead of being impressed with his brother¡¯s Enlightenment, Feng Xue scoffed, ¡°This is all you¡¯ve achieved in ten years?¡±

    Once Feng Xue spawned his faint purple glow akin to mist, the sh of Enlightenments cracked the jade columns in the hall.

    ¡°Enough.¡± Baimu¡¯s King ordered, ¡°Are you two trying to take my pce down along with your brother? Cease at once.¡±

    Although he wasn¡¯t heralded, the King didn¡¯t inherit his father¡¯s foolishness. He had confirmed the rumours that Feng Xue was now a cripple were false and, to the contrary, still rivalled the Eleven Sacred Beasts - if he wasn¡¯t ahead them. That was sufficient to parley.

    The two brothers did as they were told, cancelling out their Enlightenments at a close rate.

    The young King bluntly said, ¡°Feng Xue, you left without a word and now return for iprehensible reasons. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re showing yourself despite the risk of punishment from the eleven states to make ludicrous ims of a wicked beast.¡±

    ¡°It is not a im.¡± Unlike his brother, Feng Xue addressed the King with respect. ¡°It is the truth. It has also finished building its nest. If we let it leave itsir, Baimu will be its first victim.¡±

    ¡°Baseless im. What proof do you have?¡±

    The royal families had continued looking into Nieyao City¡¯s decimation over the centuries whilst silencing people; however, they were unable to verify what inhabited the city. Consequently, convincing them that whatever was in there could overrun their grand cities was tantamount to convincing them horses have feathers.

    ¡°This old one has personally ventured into Nieyao.¡±

    ¡°Y-you went in and came out alive?¡±

    ¡°Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Your secrets are safe with this old one.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So you want me to ally with Hesina Tribe just as Heavenly Swordsman did?¡±

    ¡°Heavenly Swordsman was unable to severe Nieyao¡¯s roots due tock of preparation; his approach was not wed.¡± Feng Xue¡¯s genuine esteem for Luo Ming was as clear as day. ¡°Your Majesty, Heisina Tribe has spent ten years preparing and have forged a viable weapon. Their n knows Nieyao better than anyone. Therefore, they are the best ally to have. The fact that they have been able to survive through their long ordeal is proof that they can reverse the situation when you least expect it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I can ally with them. That said, I have one condition.¡±

    ¡°Please name it, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°By my orders¡± - a crafty curve came to the King¡¯s lips - ¡°Great Guya Baimu, immediately march on Heisina Tribe with two thousand men. Spare no one, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Feng Xue wasn¡¯t livid with his King; he was sad.

    ¡°That is my condition. You told me they can reverse the situation, didn¡¯t you? If they can survive, I shall ally with them.¡±

    ¡°You will fail, Your Majesty. My brother will not be able to exterminate Heisina Tribe.¡±

    That figuratively kicked Baimu¡¯s King up the rear so hard that he spilt his own wine on himself. Letting his concubine wipe him, he fumed, ¡°He is my greatest guya and no longer pales inparison to you. What makes you think he¡¯d fail?¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken, Your Majesty. He may have improved fast, but he has not caught up to this old one. Even if he was as strong as this old one, he will still fail. Though he is strong, his enemy is stronger.¡±

    ¡°What point are you trying to make? You¡¯re telling me Heisina¡¯s cur¡­ has already surpassed you?¡± No matter how confident he tried to sound, Baimu¡¯s King was already searching for other avenues in his mind.

    ¡°Not him. Very soon, Heisina Tribe will have a strong ally. Baimu cannot win by himself.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, is this ally you speak of Feng Xue, the one standing before me?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Feng Xue pointed to the horizon. ¡°They are from the north.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± someone called from the door before Baimu¡¯s King could catch on to what Feng Xue was implying.

    The door guard nervously went in and whispered, ¡°Your Majesty, a youth outside requests an audience with you.¡±

    ¡°Requests an audience with me?! Since when are people allowed toe to my ce uninvited? Kill him.¡±

    ¡°H-he is really formidable. He has already defeated five guard captains. At this rate, we will need Guya Baimu¡¯s help.¡±

    ¡°Then do that. Who is the cur?!¡± The King turned to his concubine. ¡°Bring my golden seal!¡±

    As the concubine prepared to get up, the guard carefully handed over a golden sheet. ¡°Y-your subject is not sure if the mad man is breaching the pce, but he is polite and is not stepping into the pce. He only insisted your subject pass this on to you.¡±

    Baimu¡¯s King pped his eyelids in confusion. ¡°Bring it here.¡± He opened it up and read aloud, ¡°Sixth disciples of Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Huayu requests an audience with Baimu¡¯s King¡­ Who is this?¡±

    ***

    As she studied the painting, she filled the pauses in the tune she hummed with the crisp sound of her biting her yali - a type of pear unique to Hebei Province.

    Ming Xiaolou, better known to those close to her as Xia¡¯er, was gifted with the appearance of an angel and the havoc-wreaking personality of her mother. In addition, she was gifted with a father who never lectured her if she did something wrong. Unfortunately for her victims, she was close to The Demoness; that was how her nickname ¡°The Demoness Jr.¡± came to be on Mount Daluo.

    Xia¡¯er graduatedst year, but her fellow graduates were spread out all across thend. As such, she toured thends until Hong Jiu recently found her and ordered her to stay on standby at Xiuyu. Having the advantage of arriving ten days earlier than Shen Yiren andpany, Xia¡¯er had a solid grasp on Xiuyu, which she used in the prank she prepared for them.

    Xia¡¯er grumbled to her ¡°father¡±, ¡°Uncle Tian, just say what you want.¡±

    Uncle Tian, one of the elders of Mount Daluo¡¯s branches, could be considered Xia¡¯er¡¯s steward since he waited on her since she was a kid.

    ¡°Miss¡­ I do not think this is a good idea. Feigning ignorance and not contacting them is bad enough. Why are we even fooling them? If they really do fight Heisina¡¯s group¡­¡±

    ¡°So what? Heisina Tribe also ns to enter Nieyao. Why not enter together? I¡¯m being nice and introducing them to each other. They should be thankful. Besides, what business do they have ying Six Evils if they can¡¯t even handle Heisina Tribe? This is all for their sake.¡±

    Like always, Uncle Tian had no recourse. ¡°Even if that is the case, you should not have deceived Young Master Xiao. What if the young boy gets hurt?¡±

    Smiling triumphantly, Xia¡¯er responded, ¡°Second Brother told me First Brother found a great disciple. If he¡¯s First Brother¡¯s disciple, doesn¡¯t that make him my nephew? As his aunt, I am duty-bound to take care of him. Rx, I won¡¯t break him. I quite like him, to be honest. He has a strong sense of justice just as Sixth does and luck with women like Dad. He¡¯s still timid, though, so I¡¯m training him.¡±

    Upon hearing a knock at the door, Xia¡¯er enthused, ¡°Finally. Uncle Tian, make sure to not let him see through you.¡±

    Xia¡¯er had the ability to switch between her sweet, angelic persona and her crafty side at the drop of a hat. She had control over her facial muscles to the point that she could seemingly alter her appearance to y a younger girl than she really was.

    ¡°Good morning, Young Master Su. Eh? Why do you have such dark bags under your eyes?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao thumped his chest with a long face: ¡°Miss Luo and Sister Ye didn¡¯t let me sleepst night. I protested, but they insisted. I¡¯m exhausted.¡±

    Xia¡¯er started questioning if Su Xiao really needed to be trained to be manlier¡­

 Volume 10 62 Pi is not a Thug. Pi is a Gem.

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 62 Pi is not a Thug. Pi is a Gem.</h4>

    Ye Luo firmly advised, ¡°We don¡¯t know what will happen today, so stay sharp.¡±

    Luo Mingzhu also sternly advised, ¡°She¡¯s right, Young Master Su. Why do you look so lifeless?¡±

    Su Xiao inted his cheeks: ¡°Don¡¯t make me train all night then!¡±

    After leaving Xia¡¯er yesterday, Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu decided one of them would train Su Xiao for the first half of the night and the other the remainder of the night so that he wouldn¡¯t die on a battlefield. As soon as Su Xiao set one foot through the door, his trainingmenced. They managed to get a nap in, but poor Su Xiao was up trying to sort through the plethora of knowledge shoved into his brain.

    Xia¡¯er was d to find out her dirty thoughts and questions regarding Su Xiao¡¯s character were unfounded, though she wondered why he had a tendency to choose words that led to misunderstandings.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning to teach so much.¡± Ye Luo apologetically touched her head and poked out her tongue. ¡°Your fault for remembering everything I say without me needing to repeat. Because of you, I couldn¡¯t stop myself.¡±

    Su Xiao andpany decided to bring Xia¡¯er and her ¡°father¡± along to see Long Zaitian and Tie Hanyi for advice. They couldn¡¯t ask Long Zaitian and Tie Hanyi to go to the inn since they stayed within one and a half kilometres of Emperor Yuansheng at all times.

    ¡°How do you reckon they¡¯ll get revenge on us? We don¡¯t have any clues at the moment.¡± Luo Mingzhu folded her arms.

    Xia¡¯er pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°I heard they often harass people at their ces.¡±

    Su Xiao replied, ¡°Please no. If theye to the estate, th-¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao cut himself off and hurried to the entrance of the estate since they heard mouring. Around sixty men ranging from their twenties and thirties had their shirts off and weapons across their shoulders. Despite them being the motley crew, it was the man sporting straw shoes, a dog fur hat, a short sabre and more thug look than thugs who stood out - Zha Pi!

    ¡°I¡¯ll fook you up! You sons of dickwads, nephews of dogs, you deaf? I ain¡¯t know no Su Xiao, and there ain¡¯t no Su Xiao here. What do you want to search? Go back to searching for your dicks, pin dicks, or go tell your old man to keep your olddy from cucking him. Now get fooked!¡±

    Therge group were all of the bald gangster¡¯s underlings who searched around for Su Xiao¡¯s whereabouts. As experts at abusing weaker innocents, they were expecting their same intimidation tactics to work its magic again. They say there is always some better than you, and there is always more thug than you. As soon as Zha Pi passed by, he verballyshed them so hard that not a single one of them could make aplete sentence.

    ¡°I told you to fook off! Fook off!¡±

    Xia¡¯er: ¡°He is¡­?¡±

    Su Xiao chuckled softly: ¡°He¡¯s Big Brother Ming¡¯s adopted brother. Leave it to him. He can handle two at once in these sorts of contests. Oh, Big Brother Ming is¡­¡±

    Ignoring the introduction she didn¡¯t need, Xia¡¯er offered a hold-fist salute: ¡°It¡¯s amazing how you have so many talented people.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    Zha Pi: ¡°I said there ain¡¯t so such person here. You deaf? Oh, Su Xiao, wee back. Come on in. Had breakfast yet? Hahaha, nice. I don¡¯t recognise the girl. Oh, how do you do, Elder? I shall send breakfast over if you have not had any. Pleasee on in. Oi, you faggots, what are you all still here for?¡±

    The gangsters watched Su Xiao andpany head in while their brains caught up with the influx of information and then¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re spitting bullcrap with a straight face! You just said Su Xiao!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so? Who are you after?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re after the wench, Su Xiao!¡±

    ¡°I just told you there¡¯s no such person here! You have the memory of goldfishes?!¡±

    ¡°How about you fight me one on one?¡±

    ¡°Nah, screw that. All at once. Let¡¯s see how tough you lot are.¡±

    ¡°Your words, not ours.¡±

    ¡°You want to throw down, huh?¡± Zha Pi spat on the ground and then threw his hat on the ground. ¡°Bring your weapons out! Or you all just pussies?!¡±

    The armed gangsters readied their weapons, while those unarmed fetched bricks. None of them were going to walk away at this point without hitting Zha Pi, at least, once.

    ¡°Aight, now that¡¯s what I like to see.¡± With a corner of his lips tugged up, Zha Pi pointed behind him. ¡°Daddy is going to fetch his weapon. If you¡¯re real men, wait right there. Daddy will be back in ten minutes to curb stomp every single one of you!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll rename ourselves wussies if we move one step!¡±

    Ten minutester, Zha Pi came back as promised along with local guards of Xiuyu.

    ¡°Sirs, these are the people who threatened me. See? They are all armed. They scared me.¡±

    ¡°You lot again! You¡¯re all under arrest!¡±

    Thus, the gangsters were all detained.

    Glossary

    Dog fur hat -

    Zha Pi¡¯s cussing - He actually speaks fob Chinese the entire time, hence the use of ¡°ain¡¯t¡± and ¡°aight¡±.

 Volume 10 63 He

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 63 He</h4>

    ¡°Guya Baimu, the soldiers have assembled. We can depart anytime.¡±

    Baimu didn¡¯t rise from the log he sat on. Instead, he uncorked a punch at a big tree, copsing it through the centre. ¡°Where to, though?¡±

    I wish I knew!

    Heisina Tribe spread themselves around Xiacang Anxi unlike the majority of other tribes. While there weren¡¯t many ces they could survive, they were rarely caught. Perhaps they honed the elusive ability from trying to survive their predators over centuries. They were even tougher to find ever since the Central in gained administrative rights to part of Nanjiang. It was ironic that they were literally now erased when others had been trying to erase them for so long.

    Nieyao¡¯s surroundings weren¡¯t exactly an expansive area, but sprinting around it would be impossible. No matter how much might Baimu had, he had no use for it if he didn¡¯t know where his target was. Upon thinking of something, he asked, ¡°They¡­ still pursuing that fruitless endeavour?¡±

    ¡°Do you mean Xiuyi?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon! They are still at Xiuyu and have been constantly dispatching scouts.¡±

    ¡°Have any tourists from the Central in visited Xiuyu recently?¡±

    ¡°App-apparently¡­¡±

    ¡°Apparently?¡± Baimu clicked his tongue.

    ¡°Th-there has been one! They came from the Central in¡¯s Jiangnan region. Their group is called Yizhen Company. When their bossdy got off her carriage, men couldn¡¯t stop staring at her. They should be the biggest business group to visit Xiuyu recently.¡±

    ¡°Yizhen Company, Yizhen Company, Yizhen Company.¡± Baimu hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°Keep an eye on them. Report back immediately if you notice anything. If the Hesinas are still doing that, then they¡¯ll show themselves sooner orter.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Brother Long, this is M-¡±

    ¡°No need.¡± Long Zaitian wagged his hand. ¡°Your bosom friend, who else?¡±

    Though Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian¡¯s lodge was several kilometres from where Emperor Yuansheng was, thetter had sufficient guards. Therefore, Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian could spare some time to tackle misceneous tasks.

    ¡°Heisina? You¡¯re asking a tough question.¡± Tie Hanyi¡¯s brows were locked ever since he learnt why Su Xiao andpany approached them. ¡°Heisina Tribe is one of the most treacherous ns of Nanjiang. At one point, they were med for every misfortune in Nanjiang. From what I¡¯ve gleaned, natural or man-made disasters, war or diseases are their fault. Even a kid¡¯s missing nappy in the city is attributed to them.¡±

    ¡°¡­ They¡¯re not that terrifying if that¡¯s true,¡± Long Zaitian scoffed. ¡°Nanjiangers love to blow things out of proportion and make baseless ims. Heisina Tribe is practically an excuse for them to screw up without shouldering any fault. Back when the imperial court was in negotiations with Nanjiang, we personally saw jokes rob business couriers, yet they med it on Heisina Tribe.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao stretched his eyelids: ¡°What sort of logic is that?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they imed Heisina¡¯s tainted souls rubbed off on them and that setting fire to Heisina Tribe would cleanse their souls. In saying that, don¡¯t go ssifying the Heisina Tribe as good people.¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Among the things I¡¯ve heard about Heisina Tribe, the worst crime of theirs would have to be raiding a business courier of the Central in¡¯s, I guess. I hear they spy on our couriers in Xiuyu City and then bring their forces to the location tomit the robberies.¡±

    ¡°They n to reave?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s anyone¡¯s guess. Their whereabouts are a mystery.¡±

    Xia¡¯er: ¡°I heard¡­ they ask their targets three questions.¡±

    ¡°What questions?¡± Su Xiao queried.

    Xia¡¯er held her gaze against Su Xiao¡¯s. ¡°They will ask where youe from, where you n to go and your name. They will ask you for rification before they kill. They¡¯re scary.¡±

    Heisina Tribe didn¡¯t know much about the outside world, while those kinds of rumours threw a veil of mystery over them.

    ¡°There is no need to worry. ording to our most recent reports, they¡¯re preparing for war against Baimu next door. Heisina Tribe numbers less than a thousand, yet they¡¯re taking on an entire state. I doubt they have time for minor conflicts when they have an army to fight.¡± Tie Hanyi told Xia¡¯er, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Miss. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll harass you.¡±

    Xia¡¯er dimpled: ¡°I hope so.¡±

    Nobody understood the true meaning behind Xia¡¯er¡¯s smile.

    ***

    The bald gang leader performed their code three times, hand gestures five times and shot six fireworks, yet nobody responded to his call, leading to him wondering if he got the wrong date for his duel to the death with Su Xiao.

    When Su Xiao¡¯s group finally hollered at the bald gangster, he couldn¡¯t stop putting one leg behind the other or his shaking hands. Su Xiao felt enough pity to not hit him, but Long Zaitian decided to settle it with one punch.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I didn¡¯t tell you all the rumours surrounding Heisina Tribe are bogus. They¡¯re too busy preparing for war to bother with a useless chicken¡¯s grudge.¡±

    Su Xiao cracked an awkward smile: ¡°Maybe we were making a big deal out of nothing. Nheless, I owe Zha Pi my thanks. There¡¯d be a big fight today if he didn¡¯t have the gang arrested.¡±

    Ye Luo and Luo Mingzhu were in two minds. On one hand, they no longer needed to fear for Su Xiao¡¯s safety. On the other hand, they missed an opportunity to train him.

    Peering into the sky, Xia¡¯er voiced, ¡°There seems to be someone.¡±

    ¡°You saw someone?¡±

    Nobody else saw anyone regardless of where they looked.

    ¡°Yeah, one person.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know this dragon¡¯s eyes have been refined in a pill cauldron. If there really is someone, I¡¯ll eat this teapot¡¯s lid.¡±

    Ye Luo finally found something in the distance to point to: ¡°Over there! Someone is galloping this way.¡±

    Su Xiao passed Long Zaitian the teapot¡¯s lid.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m going to go see who it is!¡± Long Zaitian sped off.

    The reason the gap between Long Zaitian and the individual approaching them didn¡¯t close by much was because thetter was moving barely faster than a brisk walk. Anecdotally, someone eager for a fight wouldn¡¯t meander to their target, but Long Zaitian was certain they were his target based on the rider¡¯s movements.

    In contrast to Nanjiang men, the short-haired rider was lean - still muscr - and white enough to be described as an ill patient. Theck of desire forbat and emotionless auraing from the man with eye bags as dark as his ck apparel reminded Long Zaitian of Feng Jian.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here for you.¡±

    Before the rider spoke, he was a hundred steps away from Long Zaitian, yet he had slipped past Long Zaitian before thetter could react. As if he passed through a gate from hell to the realm of man, the rider generated a dark aura around him. Merely standing in in front of Su Xiao was enough to make Su Xiao feel oxygen debt, while the others were fossilised.

    The man raised an arm right before a spark sprayed off his shoulder and burn marks were left. He took a short pause, then spared Xia¡¯er a quick nce.

    ¡°Where are you from? Where are you going? What is your name?¡±

    Su Xiao felt the restraints around his lungs loosen. ¡°My name is Su Xiao¡­ I am from Suzhou¡­ My destination is,¡± Su Xiao bit his lip, ¡°Baimu.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Your answer is partially true. Your discipline, thoughts and words don¡¯t match. You came with a businesspany and have skilledpanions.¡± He stopped his gaze on Luo Mingzhu for the longest length of time prior to continue sweeping it onto the others. ¡°You¡¯re all interesting. It¡¯s not time yet. I¡¯ll be back.¡±

    Once he had gone some distance, everyone dropped onto the ground, still unable toprehend what happened.

    ¡°By the way, my name is Beussent.¡±

 Volume 10 64 Challenge Accepted

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 64 Challenge epted</h4>

    If you were to tell someone that the man, who was fiddling with his teacup filled with steaming brown tea, in the unadorned room was the man ruling the Nine Provinces, you¡¯d be told to take your medication. Only once he heard the individual who offered three kowtows outside left did Emperor Yuansheng exhale and lean back in his chair.

    Green Prince took proper care of Emperor Yuansheng while thetter was in town and personally greeted his father good morning daily just as if they were in the imperial pce. Green Prince never bemoaned once notwithstanding his father not responding to his greetings or having saying a single word to him since arriving in Xiuyu.

    Although he wasn¡¯t given any directives, Green Prince had a strong suspicion that he was ordered to return to Xiuyu immediately after the event in Huzhou for something major. While the explicit order was to prepare backup for his father¡¯s ns, Green Prince knew that the decree to return to Xiuyu at once meant that his punishment would be dyed until they were in Xiuyu. For that reason, Green Prince¡¯s daily visits weren¡¯t purely to pay respect but also to request his execution.

    Emperor Yuansheng suffered no less than Green Prince. He still couldn¡¯t ept, or perhaps, decide how to face his son. Sure, his son wasn¡¯t entirely to me for Luo Ming¡¯s actions, but he was the catalyst. Luo Ming resented both of them due to his losses, and Green Prince deserved every bit of the resentment. s, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s heart throbbed whenever he saw his son¡¯s expression of regret.

    Knock, knock.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Standing outside, Shen Yiren replied, ¡°Uncle, I¡¯ve made you some soup. I personally shopped for you to replenish your energy during this stressful period. You must try Nanjiang¡¯s renowned supplements.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Of course Shen Yiren could tell what bothered Emperor Yuansheng. When else had she ever gone shopping for ingredients?

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    Even though they weren¡¯t in the imperial pce, Shen Yiren still abided by all etiquette protocols exercised in the imperial pce prior to filling up two bowls of duck soup. She ced one bowl on Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s desk and kept one on hand. ¡°Yiren shall dine with you.¡± She only sat down once she received tacit permission to.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s appetite was non-existent. Nevertheless, he had a taste as he didn¡¯t want to waste Shen Yiren¡¯s efforts. Upon tasting the rich, yet not greasy, vour, he found it bowl-licking delicious and had a second serve, holding up the bowl to his mouth to chug.

    Having sessfully cheered Emperor Yuansheng up, Shen Yiren smiled herself. ¡°Were you missing Her Highness Consort Lian?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng projectile vomited a piece of chicken from his mouth that Shen Yiren deftly slipped. ¡°I-I was going topliment you for learning to be considerate, but it turns out you¡¯re still as blunt as ever.¡±

    ¡°I heard Lyufei¡¯s mother is your most beloved. You would not detest him in consideration of her feelings. You must have had a good reason to assign him to Nanjiang, correct?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s Empress only gave birth to his twin sons. As for his other five sons, they were the offspring of his concubines. Teal Prince¡¯s mother - Consort Rong, Red Prince¡¯s mother - Consort Hui, and Green Prince¡¯s mother - Consort Lian, had bid this world farewell.

    Emperor Yuansheng and Consort Lian grew up as childhood friends, but he lost her to an illness more than ten years ago.

    ¡°She oftenined he wasn¡¯t physically gifted, was obese and shied away frompeting. Before she passed away, though, she held me by the hand and told me to take care of Lyu¡¯er. Her condition had deteriorated to the point where she couldn¡¯t remember what she said, so she kept repeating it. I will never forget my promise to her¡­ Lyu¡¯er isn¡¯t hopeless, and his kindness isn¡¯t something to be condemned. Regrettably, his kindness will cost him his life in the contest with his brothers.

    ¡°I had to send him far away to protect him from his brothers. I¡¯ve kept a pulse on Xiuyu for a long time, so I know he¡¯s safe here. Keeping him out of the circle is the only way to prevent others from specting he ispeting for the throne¡­ I¡­ have never hated him.¡±

    The contest for the throne was never between the Princes alone; their supporters had to be included in the equation. Given Green Prince had the weakest background and least support, Emperor Yuansheng was the only one who could protect Green Prince from the overwhelmingpetition.

    ¡°Lyufei will understand one day.¡± Shen Yiren cheerfully had another serve of soup.

    Green Prince, who was listening in outside, trembled as tears coursed down his face.

    Feeling better subsequent to getting it off his chest, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°By the way, it¡¯s been ages now. Has my son-inw arrived?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng miserably failed his attempt to gracefully slip as Shen Yiren did before; he absorbed every drop of her soup st with his face.

    Instead of worrying about spheming Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s face, Shen Yiren asked, ¡°Wh-what was that?! What son-inw?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng wiped his soggy face and cracked a smirk: ¡°Heh, you forgot you and Ming Feizhen are now the owner of Yizhen Company? I should be calling him son-inw.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but are you not Hero Li? You have a plot hole.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, do I?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, old yet childish.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng burst out inughter as he watched a bright shade of red dye Shen Yiren¡¯s face.

    A dark silhouette flitted through the door, generating a breeze, and parking in a corner of the room.

    ¡°Sister-inw, I am here to report.¡±

    Shen Yiren set her bowl down and switched into business mode. ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°I have three reports,¡± Sima Huai began. ¡°First, someone from the Heisina Tribe you told me to keep an eye on has finallye and made contact with Su Xiao. Second, I just saw Fifth Sister with Su Xiao. I received Second Brother¡¯s letter today informing me he was on his way. He always arrives before his letters do, so he should be nearby. Third,¡± Sima Huai hoisted up a soldier, ¡°I noticed this minion sneaking around outside our ce when I was on my walk today. Based on his token, he should be an adjutant of Baimu. You have the authority to decide on what to do with him.¡±

    Shen Yiren deliberated and then said, ¡°Good job, Third. That¡¯s good news on all three fronts. His capture is your best aplishment. You have a reward you want?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Can I get an exemption from toilet cleaning?¡±

    ¡°Denied.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°¡­ personally greeted his father good morning daily just as if they were in the imperial pce.¡± - It was a tradition for children to go to their parents¡¯ pce to greet them daily, which usually also functioned as an opportunity to curry favour in some shape or form.

 Volume 10 65 Yizhen Company (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 65 Yizhen Company (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°My adjutant is missing?¡± Baimu dropped the bloody tiger in his hand.

    Apart from his might in battle, Baimu¡¯s lust for blood was part of what made him famous; the onlynguage he understood was what he couldmunicate with his limbs. He¡¯d feel restless if he didn¡¯t kill someone or something daily, so he took on wild beasts in the woods if he couldn¡¯t kill someone.

    Not one of Baimu¡¯s underlings batted an eyelid as he gouged out the in tiger¡¯s innards. To the contrary, they looked thrilled.

    Baimu¡¯s five present underlings were part of Baimu¡¯s personally trained fifteen-man assault squad - Fifteen Wraiths. Although the adjutant general held a higher rank than them, he was a soldier of the state of Baimu and no match for them.

    Baimu raised the tiger up to pour its blood into his mouth and then hurled it aside. ¡°Find him. I want to hear from him personally. If he was captured, kill him, and then kill his captors.¡±

    Infected with Baimu¡¯s aggression, they sonorously responded, ¡°Roger!¡±

    ***

    Nobody kept count of how many businesses there were at Giant intersection in Xiuyu when it wasmon for businesses toe and go throughout the year. Thus, it was perfectly normal to the residents when the new store of a disgruntled young master of Luoyang made its debut in the city.

    Entering the well-kept store that sold goods from the Central in was akin to dimensional travelling thousands of miles to Jiangnan. Once customers caught a whiff of the light fragrance permeating the store, they¡¯d soon catch sight of the angel with the body of temptation at the counter.

    ¡°Wee, honoured customer,¡± The maiden of dreams warmly and brightly weed. ¡°We have premium tea from the Central in. If there is anything you like, please let our clerk know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take half a kilo!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take six hundred grams!¡±

    There was almost never a moment customers were eager to fork out money whenever she was around, yet all she did was wee them, smile, giggle softly and be present. The earnings from their grand opening alone blew their expectations out of the water.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    When customers left, they¡¯d stop at the door to have one more look. If stepping into the store was stepping into Jiangnan, exiting the store was waking up from a dream - though it¡¯d take a second for it to dawn on them.

    ¡°M-may I ask what your name is, Miss?¡± It took seemingly forever for someone to have the courage to ask for her name.

    Cheeks rosy and hands fidgety, she answered, ¡°The¡­ the owner of this store is my husband.¡±

    One would first assume that she shattered their hearts with her answer, yet their customers doubled not long after word hit the streets. Had it been anywhere else, they would¡¯ve thrown in the towel, but they were in Xiuyu, Green Prince¡¯s territory. In Xiuyu, there was the infamous Eloping Phenomenon. As a result, Yizhen Company¡¯s business boomed to the extent that they received orders for more goods than they had, and they required everyone, even Luo Mingzhu, A-Lan and Mountain Monster to help out.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t do any business, how can we convince people we¡¯re a business group?¡± was the primary reason Shen Yiren insisted they start a business.

    Nobody would¡¯ve known who Yizhen Company were supposed to do business with - their background story. For that reason, running a store wasn¡¯tpulsory. That, however, would only be applicable if their final destination was Xiuyu. As the Central in had no authority over Nieyao, they would face problems if they didn¡¯t have a persuasive reason for staying.

    Tie Hanyi approached the counter to whisper, ¡°Ma¡¯am, the two neighbouring stores have agreed to sell us their ce, but¡­¡±

    ¡°What? We don¡¯t have enough money?¡± Shen Yiren asked.

    ¡°No, we still have a few hundred thousand.¡±

    ¡°Really? What¡¯s the issue, then?¡±

    ¡°All the money¡­ is the chairman¡¯s money.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked up: ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make it my money? Feel free to spend it.¡±

    ¡°As youmand!¡±

    Once Shen Yiren found some breathing room, she hollered at Su Xiao to meet her in the small room beyond the warehouse.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± Shen Yiren headed to the seat at the end of the windowless room, where the highest-ranking people of the escort were talking. No longer sweetly smiling, she inquired, ¡°Where were we?¡±

    ¡°The attack on Su Xiao andpany the day before,¡± responded Abels,

    ¡°Heisina Beussent? Never expected a big wig.¡±

    ¡°You know him?¡± Su Xiao asked.

    ¡°You should recognise his name. You can¡¯t have a discussion on Nanjiang without mentioning his name. Supposedly, that wasn¡¯t his name until he took over as Heisina Tribe¡¯s chief, which was also when their n started to see tremendous development. It¡¯s not hard to guess what his ambition is going from that decision of his. Heisina Tribe is supposed to be the me dump for Nanjiang, so there¡¯s no chance their opposition will leave him be, yet nobody has been able to detain him.¡±

    Once she was done reading the meeting notes, Shen Yiren continued, ¡°Let us not make any conclusions yet for we still haven¡¯t determined if he is enemy or foe. With that said, we must speak to Heisina Tribe if we are to enter Nieyao. Having resided in the vicinity of Nieyao for five hundred long years, any designs they have in mind will be dangerous for us.¡±

    Su Xiao apuded: ¡°You are incredible. It took you no time at all to learn so much.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t apud me. All credit goes to Third and Dugu.¡±

    Dugu modestly smiled: ¡°All of you are working day and night to find a way into Nieyao. If we do not help research the surroundings, would we not be a burden? We owe Young Hero Sima for running around to deliver messages to our agents.¡±

    Sima Huai tapped his nose. Whether deliberate or not, the former being attributed to Sima Huai giving Dugu a swollen head several days ago, Dugu had Sima Huai running marathons from sunrise to sunset every day.

    Post-discussion, Shen Yiren conveyed, ¡°Heisina Beussent is at war with Baimu at the moment. We don¡¯t know what know what he is angling for by approaching us. Whatever his aim is, chances are he¡¯s not an antagonist we need to worry about. Else, he could¡¯ve killed you where you stood based on your recount. Secondly, he wouldn¡¯t have approached you guys if he knew our true background. Brother Bodhi, what say you?¡±

    Once he was done musing, Abels cautioned, ¡°He¡¯s only a tad weaker than I am, but I¡¯m confident he hasn¡¯t reached Divine Realm. If he has, I would¡¯ve noticed. Still, don¡¯t take him lightly. I¡¯d say he has a unique skillset. Neither have I heard of the technique he used to restrain you guys. I agree that he¡¯s still monitoring us, so he isn¡¯t ready to meet us.¡± Abels was hiding nearby when Beussent visited, but he didn¡¯t stop thetter since Beussent left.

    Su Xiao: ¡°He said he¡¯ll be back, but we don¡¯t know when and where.¡±

    ¡°We shall stay ready but not engage. There¡¯s no grudge between us. I doubt he¡¯ll go out of his way to pay attention or to make enemies when his war against Baimumences.¡± Shen Yiren looked over her shoulder. ¡°Third.¡±

    Sima Huai saluted Shen Yiren: ¡°Present!¡±

    ¡°Has our captive spoken?¡±

    ¡°He has confessed everything. His name is Mumuzha, a thirty-five year old citizen of Baimu. He has two wives, one daughter and three boys. He liv-¡±

    ¡°Main point or more toilet cleaning.¡±

    ¡°He is Baimu¡¯s Sacred Beast¡¯s adjutant and found us while following Heisina Beussent, over!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Baimu¡¯s Sacred Beast, huh? Now this is another headache to deal with. If a state has us on their radar, our identity will most probably be exposed. Let¡¯s continue this discussion tonight. Uncle, do you have anything to add?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Leaning on the wall with his head down the entire time, Hero Li whipped his cloak and pulled out his best ¡°cool¡± visage. ¡°Let me know if there¡¯s a fight.¡± He then ejected his broadsword and sat down to tend to his fingernails¡­

    Abels¡¯ leadership skills needed no introduction. Shen Yiren was decisive, quickly hit it off with people, had two docile Mount Daluo disciples at hermand, and was trustworthy. Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t envision himself having the same sess in Abels and Shen Yiren¡¯s shoes. He, therefore, only waited for an opponent.

    By the time Shen Yiren was done issuing assignments, only Sima Huai, Abels, Emperor Yuansheng and Lai Jingzhen, who was sound asleep, were left in the room.

    Seeing Abels scribbling in a small handbook he kept in his shirt, Shen Yiren leaned in and asked, ¡°Brother Bodhi, what are you doing?¡±

    Abels scratched his head the way a man asked about his crush would: ¡°A-Lan is from Nanjiang. I¡¯m trying to learn their writing style. A little bit of daily practice has helped me learn to read a fair bit.¡±

    ¡°Learning is a never ending journey, huh.¡±

    Sima Huai joined them: ¡°Sister-inw, I have something t-¡±

    ¡°Leave it for after I get back. I need to go buy some goods.¡±

    As he watched Shen Yiren go, Sima Huai mumbled under his breath, ¡°Our goods are from Jiangnan. We have to purchase them now?¡±

    Afraid someone would recognise her, Shen Yiren changed her attire and wore on a pale pinkish-grey face veil. She sneaked out through the back and briskly made her way to a secluded zone at the city outskirts whilst trying to conceal her fast pace as a slow walk.

    When Shen Yiren stopped, she immediately had to twist her torso to dodge an inbound shot of wind fired as an arrow. The wind arrow pierced through to the other side of the tree without decelerating or a producing sound.

    Shen Yiren hiked up the corners of her lips a tad: ¡°Hero Shenzhou was able to master seven realms of internal energy and brandishes an unblemished record. Every discipline belongs to only one realm, but his Daluo Divine Manual crosses over multiple realms - and there are five sections, at that. To say I admire him is an understatement. Among the five, the discipline that focuses on dealing the most damage is the finger style - Savage y Manual. I now see why the name is apt.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You¡¯ve got a good head on those shoulders. You didn¡¯t expose me in Xiao Han or Third Brother¡¯s presence. Instead, you lured me out.¡± Ming Xiaolou glided out from behind the trees,nding three metres away from Shen Yiren. ¡°Shen Yiren, state what it is that you want.¡±

    Triumph flitted across Shen Yiren¡¯s face.

 Volume 10 66 Yizhen Company (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 66 Yizhen Company (Part 2)</h4>

    Prior to leaving, Ming Feizhen had the following conversation with Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Xia¡¯er, how do I put it? She¡¯s¡­ a little special.¡±

    ¡°Special?¡± Shen Yiren stopped to think of a more specific adjective to no avail. ¡°You mean she¡¯s odd?¡±

    Having met Hong Jiu and heard the stories of Ming Feizhen¡¯s other fellow disciples, ¡°unique¡± took on a whole different meaning when used to describe them.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s quite cute. She¡¯s like my shiniang, straightforward and generous. While she¡¯s somewhat wilful, you¡¯ll like her when you meet her. After all¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen stopped himself from saying, ¡°You two are alike,¡± yet he still copped a hit.

    ¡°After all, what?¡± Shen Yiren stowed away her inkstone and eyed Ming Feizhen. ¡°¡­ Judging from your tone, she must resemble Miss Ming.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t she Miss Ming?¡±

    ¡°True. You guys use ¡®Ming¡¯ for your surname, so there¡¯s nothing strange about there being lots of Miss Mings.¡±

    ¡°Xia¡¯er and Young Shiyi are virtually sisters. Having said that, they¡¯re still distinctly different. Young Shiyi appears to be wilful and unrestrained, but she¡¯s considerate and analytical. That¡¯s even truer after my shifu edified her. I¡¯m never worried about her getting the short end of the stick. I don¡¯t recall her ever losing. She¡¯s also really proud¡­ She bottles up her feelings while acting as though she¡¯s fine. She won¡¯t tell people around her even if she¡¯s unhappy.¡±

    ¡°¡­ But she¡¯ll tell only you?¡± Shen Yiren freaked herself out with her own question. She was 100% invested in listening to Ming Feizhen, but she blurted her mind when an ufortable feeling pervaded inside her. To salvage the situation, she resisted the urge to get flustered and added, ¡°What? Am I wrong? I thought that¡¯s how it works between childhood friends.¡±

    Ming Feizhen slowly pulled up the corners of his lips and gave an answer Shen Yiren never understood: ¡°If only.¡±

    Returning to business, Ming Feizhen resumed, ¡°Shifu excessively spoiled Xia¡¯er. When I say she¡¯s wilful, I mean she just does what she wants without thinking. She¡¯s really simr to you.¡±

    ¡°Me? Are you saying I¡¯m spoiled rotten? Who spoiled me?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand: ¡°Naturally, I am referring to your generosity, courage, strong sense of justice, adorableness and gorgeousness.¡±

    ¡°Spitting horse feathers again. I¡¯m gorgeous?¡± Shen Yiren raised her inkstone. ¡°Get to the point.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled: ¡°Imagine yourself amplified a hundred folds. If that¡¯s not Xia¡¯er, that¡¯s 80% her.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why does that make her special?¡±

    ¡°Her character isn¡¯t the special part. What makes her special¡­ is her love for fighting.¡±

    ¡°She likes fighting?¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s surprise stemmed from the fact that it was associated with a girl.

    ¡°Although she¡¯s pretty, she inherited my shiniang¡¯s temperament in its entirety. Besides having a fondness for upholding justice, she has a knack for drinking, fighting and gambling. My shifu letting her do whatever she wants certainly doesn¡¯t help. She¡¯s in a fight with someone every second or third day, and she won¡¯t stop until she wins. I heard she¡¯s been searching for me ever since she left the mountain because she couldn¡¯t beat me.¡±

    No wonder why Night Fortress was able to make a name for itself within only a few years. I really want to meet Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch to see how he teaches. Wait a second.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, did you just take a roundabout way to insult me?! Bring me that face!¡±

    Out came the inkstone, again.

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to meet you for a long time now, Xia¡¯er.¡±

    Ming Xiaolou rolled her eyes: ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re close, are we? Why are you calling me by that name?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you really are exactly as your first brother described.¡±

    With steaming from her face, Ming Xiaolou flipped out. ¡°How dare you bring up my brother?! He walked away from the opportunity to be Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch and walked away from his seat as Night Fortress to join Liu Shan Men of all ces. I thought you had gems and gold at Liu Shan Men, but it¡¯s whatever. How did you lure my brother in? Did you bait him in with delicacies?¡±

    As amused as she was, Shen Yiren did hear something unexpected. ¡°You call Feizhen ¡®brother¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You call my brother ¡®Feizhen¡¯?!¡±

    Among the six disciples, Ming Xiaolou was the only one who didn¡¯t treat Ming Feizhen as her senior but her actual brother.

    There¡¯s something going on between them! What does he see in her? ording to my observations, Shen Yiren is serious and forthright. My brother is only her subordinate, so why is she addressing him by only his first name?

    Ming Xiaolou scoped out Shen Yiren, spotting ack of gentleness¡­ looks merely a tad above average, and a tad above that, and a little more above that. In terms of her body¡­ Ming Xiaolou¡¯s eyes stopped on the two culprits.

    I didn¡¯t even need to go undercover to unearth the reason for his fall from grace when those two huge lumps are impossible to miss! This woman is an enemy!

    ¡°Hmph, so you¡¯re the culprit!¡±

    ¡°Um, what?¡±

    ¡°You can drop the act. You must¡¯ve tricked my brother into teaching you some secret technique to conquer my third and fourth brothers, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ did he say about me?¡±

    ¡°He said you and I are alike, speaking your mind when you want and fighting when you please.¡±

    d no secrets were divulged, Xia¡¯er celebrated inwardly. ¡°How do you n to conquer me?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Your brother has already made it obvious, hasn¡¯t he?¡± Shen Yiren drew her soft sword. ¡°There¡¯s no need for drivel. Winner gets the final say. Simple and clear, right?¡± Wearing on a smirk, she provoked, ¡°Try beating me.¡±

    Glossary

    Omitted joke - I had to rewrite it because it can¡¯t be replicated. ¡°Culprit¡± and ¡°breasts¡± share the same pronunciation in Mandarin, so whenever Ming Xiaolou refers to the ¡°culprit¡±, she is referring to Shen Yiren¡¯s rack.

    Soft sword - I¡¯m assuming this is a fictional weapon because it¡¯s not in the Wushu sybus (1989 edition), and I don¡¯t seen it listed as any event. ording to my friend, who specialises in Shaolin¡¯s disciplines, he¡¯s never heard of it, either. You can imagine it as thepetition wushu swords (top half is flexible for performance purposes), except that the entire de is bendy enough to be worn around your waist.

 Volume 10 67 Yizhen Company (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 67 Yizhen Company (Part 3)</h4>

    Xiacang people focused mainly on the exchange of goods for business, so their service industry, such as restaurants, bathhouses, entertainment centres, bands and so forth were significantly underdeveloped and scarcepared to the Central in. That said, those industries still had the highest revenue among the various industries.

    Baimu¡¯s Fifteen Wraiths were human at the end of the day. Therefore, they sought out those ces on their days off to kick back. Their favourite ces to visit were the bars because there was alcohol and women who would call them ¡°Sir¡±.

    Xiuyu wasn¡¯t foreign to Baimu¡¯s Fifteen Wraiths, so infiltrating a store in the most bustling area of the city was as simple as snapping their fingers - even in broad daylight.

    Five trained wraiths, who¡¯d be first to mount an offence in a fight, dispersed at the door, sneaking in via different routes, albeit in bold fashion. There was no reason for them to be reserved when Baimu had given them the order to kill anyone who put up a resistance.

    One wraith silently leapt over the wall tond in the backyard. Uponnding, he dimensional travelled into a world of darkness before dropping into a pool of blood.

    ¡°Third Brother, do you know where our longjing tea leaves are pl-, why¡¯s there somebody lying on the ground.¡±

    Sima Huai blithely stowed his spiked mace behind him and innocently answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just saw somethinging down from the sky, so I batted it. You don¡¯t know him? Oh, damn, we can¡¯t identify him now.¡±

    One down, four wraiths remaining.

    ***

    They wouldn¡¯t hide Adjutant somewhere easily found. I need to find somewhere to monitor them.

    From the beam of a room, one wraith saw hundreds of thousands in cheques inside a drawer and goods that¡¯d fetch steep prices. Most shocking to him, though, was that there were so many girls, ranging from bright, cultured and Su Xiao - Su Xiao being an adjective of her own because she was in a league of her own.

    ¡°The hell you looking at? She nice?¡±

    ¡°Very. That¡¯s as nice as a girl can look, I reckon.¡±

    By the time he realised he shouldn¡¯t have had anyone around to converse with, the wraith had no time to dodge a fist to the back of his neck. Luckily, he was tough enough to not be immobilised. He bound away,nding in the neighbouring courtyard before his opponent could catch him in a stranglehold. Upon looking back, his pursuer was a man attired in a fluorescent pink robe and sported a try-hard smile.

    I got caught by some punk doofus in pink?

    Long Zaitian narrowed his eyes: ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going? This dragon will crush you even if you can sprout wings and power up. You¡¯ll be this dragon¡¯s dinner tonight.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Who are you?¡±

    ¡°The times have changed, have they? The robber asks who the owner of the house he breaks into is now? This dragon does the heavy lifting here. Who do you think I am?¡±

    By the sounds of it, he must be the head of security here, so he should be the strongest. No wonder why he could tag me. That being the case, eliminating him will allow my brothers to move unencumbered.

    The wraith elerated in close, but he withheld from swing his de at Long Zaitian as thetter correctly predicted his trajectory and uncorked a punch there already. The wraith decelerated abruptly to slide sideways, generating a trail of steam behind the track his feet slid. At the same time, he made an attempt to nail Long Zaitian¡¯s oblique.

    Long Zaitian bridged backwards whilst maintaining tension throughout his body for his prepared right counter. Immediately after missing Long Zaitian, the wraith rotated three hundred and sixty degrees to unleash a second sh that would be faster than his first to finally cut Long Zaitian.

    Long Zaitian finally saw how distinctly different Nanjiang¡¯sbat style contrasted the Central in¡¯s. The wraith¡¯s style, by the standard of the Central in¡¯s pugilists, wasn¡¯t rooted in martial arts orbat tactics. He purely made what he deemed the most apt decision based on his experience and what he was physically capable of. One could say he was an intelligent beast that knew how to beat its human predators.

    The wraith licked the blood on his dagger, then tugged up the corner of his lips. ¡°You¡¯re not as formidable as you im. How about¡­ surrendering?¡±

    Knowing how to fight alone isn¡¯t enough to seed as a warrior. Knowing how to talk opponents into surrender is equally important.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Long Zaitian tore his mboyant shirt off, unveiling his muscr torso. ¡°Fascinating. I¡¯ve been itching for a good fight. Round two, let¡¯s go!¡±

    The wraith held his gaze against Long Zaitian¡¯s savage gaze for a while and then bowed out before leaping over the wall to abscond.

    ***

    This is no ordinarypany.

    Unlike the other wraiths, this one was highly experienced at intelligence gathering. Theck of hiding spots in the store and patrol arrangement led to him suspecting that they organised it to lure people in and capture them. Patrols in Baimu¡¯s pce weren¡¯t nearly as tight, yet a mere businesspany could pull it off?

    There was only one ce he deemed safe to carry out surveince from - the room at the end of thepany grounds. There was only one tall,nky man sleeping and a middle-aged man, who draped a ck mink over his silver armour, giving himself a manicure with a broadsword.

    All right, thank you for the sacrifice, you poser!

    The wraith folded at the torso, hand on his dagger at his waist. Once he was at ground level, he suddenly lost all his energy and couldn¡¯t get up.

    Wh-what¡¯s going on?

    ¡°Hmm? Who are you? When did you get here?¡± The man working on his fingernails finally noticed the wraith¡¯s presence.

    The man opposite Emperor Yuansheng cracked a grin: ¡°He probably got lost.¡±

    The wraith still had no clue there was someone behind his sweaty back. He never believed anyone besides Baimu could squash him so convincingly. Gradually but surely, his consciousness began to fade as he contemted.

    ***

    A wraith reached for his dagger and raised his vignce level when he heard two chattering girls enter the kitchen.

    ¡°Xiao, what are you brewing?! Why is it purple? And why is there a skull floating on the surface?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just prepared it as per the usual recipe.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way we can serve it to our customers! From now on, you are prohibited from entering the kitchen! Why did you evene here? Ah, whatever. Go call Ma¡¯am Ming back; people are looking for her.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Hah, lucky they didn¡¯t notice me.

    Just when the wraith thought he was safe, he had the purple tea poured onto his head. As vindictive as he was, he had to bear with it for the sake of his mission. s, when a drop of tea made it to corner of his lips, he instinctively licked it and¡­ never woke up again¡­

    ***

    Thest wraith dressed up as a customer to enter via the front door; however, he changed his ns to tail Ma¡¯am Ming when she headed out.

    Hehehe, look at that behind. I should give her to him as a gift to cop myself a reward.

    Ming Xiaolou¡¯s finger spear missed Shen Yiren, who evaded it, but snapped the stubby tree behind where Shen Yiren previously was, the precise spot she hit spitting sparks and turned charcoal ck.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xia¡¯er shed her pearly whites: ¡°You still have time to surrender. I¡¯m still only using 50% of my full power.¡±

    Shen Yiren gestured to her sword: ¡°I haven¡¯t even struck once yet. Your brother knows that no average man can stop me when I start swinging.¡±

    With that, Shen Yiren thrust her sword toward the ether, erecting her sword that could go around her waist as a belt. Xia¡¯er made the call to back off since Shen Yiren¡¯s qi field expanded.

    Boom! Shen Yiren created a crater in the ground in one strike, astonishing Xia¡¯er.

    ¡°I did say no average man can stop me, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    The wraith watching: Mama, can Ie home?

    Glossary

    Removed line - After Shen Yiren says, ¡°¡­ when I start swinging,¡± Xia¡¯er replies, ¡°That¡¯s shameless from every single perspective.¡± Xia¡¯er is making the same insult as Ming Suwen did against Li Tingzhu - wielding a sword and being despicable homophone.

 Volume 10 68 Yizhen Company (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 68 Yizhen Company (Part 4)</h4>

    The reason Mount Daluo¡¯s martial arts, save for a mental cultivation method their ancestors bequeathed, were in bits and pieces was due to practitioners of different disciplinesing together to form the sect. In addition, their patriarch and direct disciples were the only ones permitted to learn the contents in Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall, while everyone else had to make do with basics, resulting in them inventing nonsense and jokes. In this generation, Ming Feizhen¡¯s Night Net Book took the cake for that category.

    Hero Shenzhou was the first patriarch of Mount Daluo to modify their system. Using his own skills as the foundation, hepiled his lifetime of knowledge and Mount Daluo¡¯s into a series - Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual - that finally systemised Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines. Disciples no longer had to figure everything out for themselves since a roadmap was avable.

    Hero Shenzhou wasn¡¯t revered only in the pugilistic world. He was held in higher regard than Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch for his skills, involvement in the sect and contribution to systemising their disciplines.

    Among the five in Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual, Ming Huayu mastered Shadow Steps, Divine Palms and Ultimate Swordy for one reason - because they were cool. Imagine travelling the world attired in a white robe, cutting down evil with your sword or executing them with your bare hands. As for the remaining two disciplines, he just touched on them for the sake of it.

    If Hero Shenzhou was the same age as Tianfeng Xuanyuan, thetter¡¯s mastery over Golden Deity Manual would leave the former in the dirt as Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s usage of supplements allowed him to take it to heights others couldn¡¯t without ess to the same resources. Unsurprisingly, Tianfeng Xuanyuan was the most advanced practitioner of the discipline.

    Even though Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual was considered a treasure among treasures, orthodox sects didn¡¯t wee a style designed for murder. ordingly, orthodox sects would spite Savage y Manual.

    Savage y Manual integrated underhanded disciplines, interrogation techniques and other methods of inflicting physical harm. The reason it was named ¡°Savage y¡± was to remind its practitioner to have self-awareness of the fact that they were learning to harm others and themselves.

    When he was young, Ming Huayu marginalised Savage y Manual, only taking the dust-caked book out from under the bed when it was time to teach his daughter. He learnt the various methods of severing meridians, destroying bodies, sabotaging qi flow and amalgamated the remainder into a finger discipline before passing it on to his daughter.

    Although Xia¡¯er had Savage yer Manual to learn, she didn¡¯t show much promise, which was all the more reason for Ming Huayu to be shocked when she gave Tianfeng Xuanyuan a one-sided beating at thirteen years of age. She managed to fight Hong Jiu to draws and even climbed onto his head on multiple asions to dere her victory. As a result, she became the strongest member among the young - excluding Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen. While people heaped praise onto her, even calling her matriarch material, Ming Huayu derided them for poor judgement.

    Covering seven realms of internal energy, Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual was the mostplete discipline. The only things that it could be criticised for were itsplex contents and the time investment required; it took a lifetime to master only one to two disciplines within.

    Because Ming Huayu chose to only teach his daughter the best stuff in Savage y - removing all the morally questionable content - Xia¡¯er didn¡¯t even learn a tenth of the discipline. Given she only had to learn a small volume of content, she naturally learnt faster than the others. Moreover, he personally coached her instead of throwing her into the deep end of the pool and telling her to survive - what he did to his other disciples. As a result, she reached Void Piercer Fallen when she was only fifteen and was only a step away from Manifestation. s, that was her undoing.

    One afternoon, Ming Huayu told his daughter, ¡°Xia¡¯er, I imparted you with the style so that people can¡¯t pick on you when you leave the mountain. It¡¯s not the proper way to learn, nevertheless. Though there are shortcuts to learning martial arts, it¡¯s discipline dependant. Unlike my Heavenly Net Sacred Treasures, there¡¯s no shortcut to mastering your grandmaster¡¯s Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual.¡±

    When asked about herpared to her fellow disciples, Ming Huayu revealed a doting smile and answered, ¡°They followed your grandmaster¡¯s footsteps; they didn¡¯t take any shortcuts or cheat. Have you ever seen me hold their hands to teach them? All of them staked their lives to attain their skills. Only when you learn like that will the skills truly be yours. While you progressed exceptionally fast, you¡¯ve hit your ceiling. In the first three years of training, you¡¯ll be miles ahead of them. Within five years, however, I wouldn¡¯t be so sure who wins. After that, they¡¯ll surpass you. If you want to improve, you have to restart.¡±

    Xia¡¯er didn¡¯t cry. Instead, she reacted baffled. ¡°Why would I do that? Do I have to be super elite?¡±

    She had Ming Huayu for her father, Ming Feizhen for her brother. Only a man with a death wish would provoke her. Hence, teauing was not a problem from her perspective.

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Ming Huayu gently patted Xia¡¯er on the head with his hand that was as warm as the sun that day, ¡°if you weren¡¯t my daughter.¡±

    ***

    Xia¡¯er¡¯s match against Shen Yiren dragged out her memories of the conversation with her father three years ago. As her father said, once she peaked at Void Piercer Fallen, her zing-fast progress feltparable to a dream. At first, she didn¡¯t feel it was a big deal to teau, but her father was right again. As Ming Huayu¡¯s daughter, herpetitive nature was stronger than the average person¡¯s.

    Though Shen Yiren¡¯s swordy covered all the bases, her skill wasn¡¯t remotely close to Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s, let alone Ming Huayu¡¯s. Her style wasn¡¯t exactly dangerous, either. Since she was a year older than Xia¡¯er, it was fair to assume Shen Yiren¡¯s internal energy was a notch superior purely because she had a year on Xia¡¯er. Both of them had enough power to hurt the other, but all the power in the world was worthless if one couldn¡¯t find their target.

    Despite not possessing outstandingbat abilities, Shen Yiren had Xia¡¯er ying a defensive game. Shen Yiren packed the violence of a raging inferno and had the speed to amplify it just as a wind spreads a fire. Her fighting style was akin to that of a beast that smelt a weakness and would relentlessly aggress its prey. Whenever Xia¡¯er showed any intention of making a move, Shen Yiren would throw something, even if it wouldn¡¯t serve any purpose besides inspiring a painting, to force Xia¡¯er back into defence.

    Capitalising on Shen Yiren¡¯s not-so-impressive swordy, Xia¡¯er finally disengaged when Shen Yiren struck four different spots sessively.

    The upward curve at Shen Yiren¡¯s lips enlightened Xia¡¯er as to why her father told her about her stunted growth back then. There were plenty of swordsmen superior to Shen Yiren, but she knew what she was doing and where she was hoing. Hence, she wouldn¡¯t stop improving. As much as it peeved her, Xia¡¯er had to acknowledge that part of Shen Yiren resembled her brother.

    ¡°Hey, question for you.¡±

    Shen Yiren replied, ¡°Ask away. Whether or not I answer is my decision, though.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ are you fixated on growing stronger?¡±

    ¡°Beat me, and I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡± A level of focus unseen before surfaced in Xia¡¯er¡¯s eyes. ¡°Three years ago, my father told me I had reached my limit and wouldn¡¯t improve unless I started over. I knew I couldn¡¯t do it, not because I¡¯m stupid but because I¡¯ve seen how much suffering those who started over went through and how hard they had to work. I didn¡¯t see any reason to subject myself to that until I almost lost the person most important to me forever. Never did I loathe myself so much for being weak. After that, I erased everything I learnt to restart, even learning what I didn¡¯t want to. Now¡­¡±

    The wind sped up, levitating dead leaves. When they descended, they descended systemically.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Manifestation Beginner? It seems you¡¯ve busted through your teau.¡±

    ¡°I knew my brother would¡¯ve told you. Since you know, you sure you want to keep going?¡±

    Shen Yiren got into her stance: ¡°People often criticise me for disrespecting swords, describing my style as no different to throwing fists. They counted me out as a swordswoman, yet I¡¯ve insisted on pursuing swordsmanship because my father was a swordsman. Why do I want to grow stronger, you ask? I¡¯ll tell you now. I have my ambitions¡­ as well as a past I can¡¯t cast off.¡±

    Shen Yiren slowly lowered her sword down to her side: ¡°That being said, things have changed recently. I witnessed a vaunted swordsman discard his dignity and conscience to chase a vengeance. He faced challenge after challenge. He bore with the anguish of his conscience and vengeance¡¯s tug of war, trusting it all to his sword. In the end, he lost. That was when I first heard a sword speak. His sword howled at the unfair cards handed to him. That was also the first time I saw what a true swordsman¡¯s swordy ought to be like.¡±

    The leaves still in the air riveted for a second.

    ¡°Sword Spirit?¡±

    Sword Spirit Realm swordsmen¡¯s only enemies were Manifestation martial artists. At the very least, the martial artsmunity had always believed they were the opposite side of the same coin.

    ¡°Your swordy is without form. I never imagined you¡¯d reach Sword Spirit Realm.¡±

    ¡°Just as I never expected you to be able to retrain after erasing your skills.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s settle this in the next exchange, then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear.¡±

    The wind settled down. The leaves stopped moving.

    Glossary

    Whenever Xia¡¯er showed any intention of making a move, Shen Yiren would throw something, even if it wouldn¡¯t serve any purpose besides inspiring a painting, to force Xia¡¯er back into defence. - Example: air jabs. All you¡¯re doing is throwing some bait to keep the opponent at bay and buy yourself time. This affords you an opportunity to, see what the opponent is doing, buy time on the clock, and gives you time to decide on a course of action. Ever watched Canelo throw air jabs into the air?

 Volume 10 69 Yizhen Company (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 69 Yizhen Company (Part 5)</h4>

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t find Shen Yiren anywhere and ended up doing ap of the four-way intersection after asking people. Only then did it ur to him that she wasn¡¯t the type to leave clues behind. Luckily, the scent of plum blossoms grazed his nose, prompting him to follow the scent seldom found in Nanjiang. Of course, the firstyer of Yijin Jing deserved credit for empowering him with the ability to do so.

    Though shocked upon finding Ming Xiaolou and Shen Yiren locking horns, something else stuck out more to Su Xiao.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Su Xiao cried.

    A masked man leapt out from a thicket when Ming Xiaolou and Shen Yiren were about to sh, aiming his de at Ming Xiaolou¡¯s back. He felt distressed while they were fighting, but if he left, they¡¯d notice him right away since he was at the centre. Jumping out to attack was merely a gamble before he mentally broke down.

    Ming Xiaolou, caught in a pincer attack, had to give Shen Yiren her all. There was no slipping Shen Yiren because Shen Yiren had locked onto her.

    Despite both of their lives being jeopardised, Shen Yiren diverted the trajectory of her attack around Ming Xiaolou to impale the wraith through the forehead. On the other hand, Xia¡¯er was a beat slower with her decision, so she only cancelled out 10% of her output. As a result, she couldn¡¯t stop the remaining energy from spearing Shen Yiren¡¯s left shoulder.

    ¡°Miss Shen!¡± ¡°Vice-Captain!¡± Xia¡¯er and Su Xiao cried in unison as they watched Shen Yiren fall from the sky.

    Shen Yiren gritted her teeth to absorb hernding.

    Xia¡¯er rushed over to tend to Shen Yiren¡¯s wounds. Xia¡¯er left her fingerprints on Shen Yiren¡¯s left shoulder that was bleeding. Because Savage y Manual was predominantly a Yin Realm discipline, her internal energy carried a venomousponent that an ordinary physician wouldn¡¯t be able to treat.

    ¡°Vice C-, Ma¡¯am Ming, are you all right?¡± Su Xiao had a lot to ask, but Shen Yiren¡¯s wellbeing came first.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Although Shen Yiren was able to speak now, she had to strain herself. ¡°This left arm of mine was already crippled. This minor injury doesn¡¯t make any difference.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. I will ask the doctor to check up on you when we get back. Let me carry you back.¡±

    ¡°I was freezing, but I¡¯m okay now. What are you imagining? If you run around town with me on your back, we¡¯ll have a mob of people iming the mistress beat the main wife at our store tomorrow. You might be fine with that, but I¡¯m not, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re ashen white¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren shook her head right before Ming Xiaolou stated, ¡°I admit defeat.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Shen Yiren looked up at Ming Xiaolou. ¡°We didn¡¯t settle our match. How about a second match? I¡¯ll be good to go after a quick break.¡±

    ¡°Not necessary. I know I lost.¡± Looking down at the ground, Ming Xiaolou asserted, ¡°You could¡¯ve pulled out to save yourself, yet you chose to protect me, while I was hesitant to trust you, leading to me hurting you. You¡¯re more decisive than I am. Plus¡­ you saved my life. I¡¯m not one to show ingratitude to someone who did something for me.¡±

    Shen Yiren dimpled, seeing her younger self in Ming Xiaolou. Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t born a workaholic. Prior to her parents passing away, she had a rtively ¡°ordinary¡± life for a girl. She could y all day without knowing fatigue. She¡¯d admit to her faults the same way Ming Xiaolou did when she did something wrong. If Ming Feizhen¡¯s assessment earned him a chance at being debt-free, he would be debt-free; she¡¯d be very simr to Ming Xiaolou if her father was still alive.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to go as far as admitting defeat. At the end of the day, you helped me. Besides, given your rtionship with Feizhen, we¡¯re friends to begin with. I was born in Yuansheng¡¯s twelfth year - the year of the rat. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I-I was born in the year of the dragon.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a year older, huh. How about we address each other as sisters from now?¡±

    Ming Xiaolou wept as she leapt into Shen Yiren¡¯s embrace.

    ¡°Um,¡± Su Xiao interjected hesitantly. ¡°Can someone tell me what happened?¡±

    Shen Yiren responded, ¡°I forgot to exin. Xiao Han, this is Xia¡¯er - real name Ming Xiaolou. She¡¯s not a businessman¡¯s daughter. If you ask me, I could count on one hand the number of people more famous than her father in the martial artsmunity. His alias is Yuhua of the World. He is Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch, Ming Huayu.¡± Before Su Xiao could pick his chin off the ground, she added, ¡°In other words, he¡¯s Feizhen¡¯s shifu. She¡¯s considered his younger sister.¡±

    Ming Xiaolou timidly popped her head out from Shen Yiren¡¯s embrace. ¡°Xiao Han, I apologise for lying to you, but I never harmed you. I was the one who saved you when that Beussent fellow approached you.¡±

    ¡°Eh?!¡± Su Xiao further conversed with Ming Xiaolou to renew his impression of her.

    What¡¯s with Feizhen¡¯s siblings? All of them are so god darn tough to win over.

    Candidly, Shen Yiren somewhat regretted duelling Xia¡¯er because they took on the risk of injuring themselves and the other if anything went awry. She was confident she could remain standing; however, she feared hurting Ming Feizhen¡¯s sister. Though she got hurt, it was worth it in the end.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back. Xia¡¯er, I need to introduce you to everyone.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± beaming, Xia¡¯er finished, ¡°Sister-inw!¡±

    ¡°Why are you calling me sister-inw?!¡±

    ¡°Huh? How else am I supposed to address you? Didn¡¯t you say you would treat me as your sister?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so you sh-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m treating you as my sister-inw.¡±

    ¡­ I give up.

    ¡°Once we get back, uh¡­ Hero Li will craft a profile for you. Now, we need to clean up here. Also, who is the assassin?¡±

    Xia¡¯er docilely called Uncle Tian over to tidy up and bring them a carriage. They wrapped the wraith¡¯s corpse up in hay and stuff him at the bottom of the carriage. They didn¡¯t need to worry about guard inspections as Xiuyu was technically their turf. Uncle Tian proved to Shen Yiren why Mount Daluo was at the top of the food chain with the way he dealt with the corpse.

    Long Zaitian possessed the perceptiveness to notice Shen Yiren was in poor condition. Howbeit, he feigned ignorance to it as he weed her into the conference room in case anyone caught on to them. Worried, Emperor Yuansheng used his internal energy to help her regte her flow of internal energy.

    Xia¡¯er apologised profusely to everyone after her story was told. Emperor Yuansheng told her not to mind it, and the others weren¡¯t offended. Their real problem was the wraiths.

    Everyone who encountered a wraith reported to Shen Yiren. Abels was the only one who managed to capture a wraith in one piece. Regrettably, the wraith refused to spill a single bean. They let Xia¡¯er take care of interrogating him for she imed she was a first-rate interrogator. As promised, it didn¡¯t take her long to get ¡°Baimu¡¯s Sacred Beast¡± out of him, helping her establish herself as a valuable asset.

    ¡°Wait.¡± Emperor Yuansheng said, ¡°I gave Brother Sima the character of Ming Feizhen¡¯s younger cousin when he joined. Miss Xia¡¯er, I think I should also give you a profile.¡±

    ¡°That will not be necessary. I am my brother and sister-inw¡¯s younger sister! Right, Sister-in-Law?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng pped the table: ¡°Perfect!¡±

    Sima Huai flicked up a thumb: ¡°Good stuff!¡±

    Xia¡¯er brushed her nose with her thumb: ¡°This is standard for me.¡±

    They were so busy celebrating that they didn¡¯t hear Shen Yiren breathing heavily out of her nose.

    ***

    Su Xiao: ¡°Xia¡¯er, watch. This small stool is for eating by the corner. This small stool is for resting feet whilst drinking tea. This cloth is for wiping tables. This small tray is for carrying teacups. Make sure you always have money on you because you pay for the fruit first and receive your reimbursementter. Your third and fourth brothers are in charge of keeping the loo clean. You can be in charge of cooking. This basin is for washing feet. Just leave it aside for now. Big Brother Ming will take care of it when he returns.¡±

 Volume 10 70 Neath and Beussent

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 70 Neath and Beussent</h4>

    Martial Paragon, Feng Xue, was provided with the small room adjacent to the royal pce¡¯s horse stable to stay after thest meeting. The only sustenance he was provided was water and food for servants. Nobody treated with a speck of respect would be relegated to staying in the putrid and cold room first offered, yet Feng Xue refused even that offer, opting to stay in the horse stable. King Neath threw a fit when he heard that even their most aggressive horses were docile around Feng Xue.

    Unlike the long list of etiquette procedures a monarch and his vassals had to abide to when dining in the Central in, a monarch dining with his vassals was the norm in Nanjiang. Obviously, Baimu¡¯s King Neath was not the one who invited Feng Xue to dinner with them tonight. It was King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort whom invited Feng Xue to dinner with them.

    King Neath didn¡¯t inveigh for he respected his Princess Consort, who was older than him and had spent years at his side. Nheless, he didn¡¯t spare the man opposite him a nce, gluing his eyes to the reports on hand.

    In the midst of dinner, King Neath threw aside the report and fumed, ¡°My elites are still missing in action days after fighting those motley soldiers! What is Baimu doing?!¡±

    King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort gently patted his back. ¡°Calm down. Calm down. The enemy is crafty. Guya Baimu is working toe up with a strategy, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°He is my Baimu¡¯s great guya. He¡¯s an embarrassment if it takes him seven days to defeat a motley mob, but he hasn¡¯t even found their main force! This is what he does with my soldiers?!¡±

    The ancestors of Xiacang Anxi¡¯s royal family stipted that Kings had to perform their ancient Ahhuda Ceremony for their ancestors¡¯ protection if they wanted rights over the military. The ceremony could only be performed once the King was at least twenty years old. In addition, it had to be performed in the presence of three great guyas and a shaman. Alternatively, they could attain the support of a Great Spirit Shaman to nullify the age restriction.

    Great Spirit Shamans had a fondness for residing on the highest mountain in Xiacang Anxi located in the state Wanyu - Mount Wanyu. In order to see a Great Spirit Shaman, Baimu¡¯s monarch would have to seek permission from the guile and viinous King of Mount Wanyu, which was the same as asking a proud King to plead his worst enemy.

    For the above reasons, King Neath needed to wait until next year before he could take military authority off Baimu¡¯s hands.

    Feng Xue, realising what likely transpired based on King Neath¡¯s reaction, picked up the report to read. Baimu had two thousand troops camped outside Nieyao and engaged in guerri warfare with Heisina Tribe. After several skirmishes against a meagre force of two hundred men, Baimu failed to even locate the enemy¡¯s main forces.

    Catching Feng Xue¡¯s brief smile, King Neath scowled: ¡°Feng Xue! You¡¯ve been stripped of your title as great guya a decade ago! You think you can read my war report without permission?! You think I won¡¯t kill you?!¡±

    ¡°If this old one is not wrong, you do not have anyone capable of killing him.¡±

    Feng Xue set the report down, then resumed eating, setting King Neath¡¯s face on fire.

    ¡°You¡­ You disappeared out of the blue ten years ago and didn¡¯t evene back when Father passed away! What right do you have to lecture me?! Get out!¡±

    King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort urged, ¡°Neath, you should be more respectful to L-, ah!¡±

    Neath tugged his Princess Consort¡¯s hair without mercy. ¡°How dare you speak up for him?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± still eating, Feng Xue questioned, ¡°do you not think you are going overboard?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m putting my woman in her ce! What¡¯s it to you?!¡±

    King Neath flicked a bowl of soup at Feng Xue, and Feng Xue just let the hot soup stter him. Feng Xue didn¡¯t even bother to clean himself, continuing to eat until he was finished. Upon finishing, he set his bowl down and wiped his face.

    ¡°Feeling better, Your Majesty?¡±

    King Neath had no response.

    Feng Xue got up and regarded the servant beside him with a polite smile. ¡°That was really nice. Please pass my thanks on to the royal chef,¡± he said, then strolled off.

    ¡°Should you cross me one more time, I¡¯ll incarcerate you¡­ Just like I did to that bizarre Middle iner.¡±

    ***

    Nobody knew where Heisina¡¯s headquarters were. When Heisina Tribe members do appear, it was as if they warped into existence from another dimension.

    The ce under attack was only one of Heisina Tribe¡¯s many assembly points. When Baimu dered his intent to annihte them, they didn¡¯t even bat an eye as they geared up for battle. Over the course of seven days, Baimu¡¯s army of two thousand couldn¡¯t even kill twenty of the two-hundred-odd Heisina soldiers stationed at the old, rundown city walls. In contrast, Baimu lost over a hundred men.

    Heisina Tribe¡¯s patience was matchless in Nanjiang; they didn¡¯t see the aplishment as anything brag-worthy. Additionally, Xiacang Anxi¡¯s top military unit trained them. Apart from being blessed with the blood of Xiacang Anxi warriors, their n leader was Heisina Beussent.

    When the Central in upied part of Xiacang Anxi thirty years ago, Beussent, along with his fellow Heisina Tribesmen, migrated to the area under the Central in¡¯s jurisdiction. He assumed a false identity when he was ten years old to enlist in the military and made a name for himself as one of Morcher¡¯s greatest soldiers within three years of service. When Morcher fell, he was serving as a seventeen-year-old royal pce guard. Had Morcher not fallen, he would¡¯ve still been guarding the generous King.

    Overnight, Beussent, who supposedly went missing years ago, returned to Heisina as Beussent and ascended to a leadership role. Ever since then, he began training Heisina¡¯s men and had them partake in real fights to umte experience, as well as develop their resolve to survive.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Beussent caught an arrow aimed at him and tossed it to the ground, still peering into the distance. ¡°I have to go.¡±

    Beussent¡¯s adjutant, still holding his shield and aiming his arrow, asked, ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°Xiuyu,¡± answered Beussent, mounting his horse.

    ¡°You serious?¡± The soldier caught another batch of arrows on his shield. ¡°You¡¯ve gone for seven years. Seven years. It¡¯s time you give up! We¡¯re on their radar now. Are you trying to get k-¡± Another hail of arrows cut him off.

    ¡°I have a feeling,¡± the leader with dead fish eyes took out a banana from his shirt and blithely peeled it back to eat, ¡°I¡¯ll meet him this time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve failed for seven years,¡± the soldier ribbed whilst firing back seven arrows of his own. ¡°Why have you still not given up? Heavenly Swordsman left ten years ago, not to mention in miserable defeat. Why would hee back?¡±

    ¡°He promised he¡¯d find Her Highness for me. I trust him.¡±

    ¡°Your trust isn¡¯t going to magically whisk him back. I heard he locked himself away ever since he went home. You¡¯ve been paying a visit to every travelling business group from the Central in for seven years straight. The only reason you haven¡¯t been arrested is because our ancestors are protecting you from above.¡±

    ¡°¡­ His Majesty did not let me down. I did not let His Majesty down.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Isn¡¯t that what our ancestor said before he died? What is this? A new fetish? Are you trying to clear the name of someone who died half a millennium ago?¡±

    Beussent cast his gaze heaven bound.

    ¡°Ah, man. You win again. What can I do? Oi, boys, we need to clear a path for the boss man!¡±

    ¡°You got it!¡±

    Heisina Tribe¡¯s counterattack plunged the enemy forces into a passive position.

    Beussent discarded his banana peel once he finished and drew his machete at his belt. Riding solo, he charged into the enemy formation.

    ***

    ¡°It¡¯s Changye! Chief is here!¡± belted one of the Heisina Tribe members at the assembly point under attack.

    ¡°He¡¯s hurt!¡±

    They ran over to the rider soaked in blood to lead him in.

    ¡°Call a doctor.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother.¡± Beussent casually sat up from his horse, blood still dripping from his ck - technically now red - garments. ¡°This is the enemy¡¯s blood.¡± Beussent dismounted, then removed his bloody clothing. ¡°I was just sleepy, so I took a nap.¡±

    Beussent and his steed didn¡¯t have any wounds on them.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough sleep. Fetch me some new clothes. I need to pay someone a visit.¡±

    Heisina Beussent arrived at Yizhen Company an hourter.

 Volume 10 71 Hero Li

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 71 Hero Li</h4>

    Strictly speaking, there wasn¡¯t much to report on the battlefield when it wasn¡¯t arge-scale war to begin with. Baimu just demanded that a report on the situation in Nieyao and their ancestral state be made every hour. In Nanjiang, they sent information using birds and beasts. As such, pigeons were seen flying ceaselessly.

    Baimu¡¯s demand resulted in a pile of ¡°Continuing the offence. No progress,¡± and King Neath¡¯s letters of anger on his table in his tent.

    ¡°He¡¯s finally shown himself?!¡± Baimu couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    Forget alleys, Baimu had his spies even in nooks and crannies of the path from Nieyao to Xiuyu.

    ¡°Yes, we do not know how he managed to travel from the frontlines to Xiuyu so fast, though.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Now that he¡¯s shown himself, his final destination will be six foot underground. Notify my eleven wraiths: they¡¯re entering the city with me. If you see him, kill him where he stands.¡±

    ¡°But His Majesty asked you to speedily take the c-¡±

    ¡°Never heard about it.¡± Baimu lifted the messenger up by the cor. ¡°When was this? Since when did that runt have any right to order me?¡±

    Baimu¡¯s grant disregard for King Neath scared the messenger instead of infuriating him because, for thest decade Baimu had authority over the military, he was a tyrant in the pce.

    ¡°Tell him to keep drinking his milk and wait. Would we need to worry about Heisina Tribe once that wanker is caught?¡± Baimu gently threw the messenger, sending him out of the tent.

    The wraith beside Baimu stepped forward: ¡°There is something odd about the store he intends to visit. Our brothers have not returned since going there.¡±

    ¡°They are odd, indeed. Their escort is only a notch above you. To me,¡± Baimu crushed a leg of the table with one hand, ¡°they¡¯re just a snack.¡±

    The wraith bowed his head in awe: ¡°This one understands! You are without equal!¡±

    ¡°Get ready to go!¡±

    ***

    ¡°ording to them, this is the second group of Baimu assassins here to test us.¡± Yizhen Company was closed for the day, so Shen Yiren gathered everyone for a strategy meeting. ¡°Based on what they¡¯ve said, they still don¡¯t know who we are, but they believe that Heisina¡¯s chief, Beussent, may likely reach out to us. Our scouts have reported that Baimu¡¯s sacred beast is fighting an intense fight on the front lines at this moment. Xia¡¯er, not so hard.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Xia¡¯er immediately softened the pressure she imposed Shen Yiren¡¯s shoulders.

    Shen Yiren resumed. ¡°If they keep sending people to test us, then we¡¯re a target. Any thoughts?¡±

    Sima Huai was first to raise his hand: ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Sima Huai pointed at Shen Yiren and Xia¡¯er: ¡°When did you two grow so close?¡±

    ¡°Next.¡±

    For thest two days she had been at Yizhen Company, Xia¡¯er waited on Shen Yiren as the most earnest and loyal attendant. Worried Xia¡¯er might not be ustomed to sharing a room with others, Shen Yiren ate and slept together with her. If Ming Huayu were to catch wind of Shen Yiren taming his daughter, he¡¯d send his disciples to Liu Shan Men for taming.

    ¡°It might have to do with the weird tradition of Heisina Tribe,¡± opined Xia¡¯er.

    ¡°You know something, Xia¡¯er?¡± Shen Yirein inquired.

    Xia¡¯er meekly dimpled: ¡°Since I arrived before you did, I had more time to study them. For thest seven years, every time a group of travelling merchants from the Central in visit, the Heisinas pose to them three questions, and then the merchant groups vanish without a trace. From my sleuths, the groups they approached are fine in health, and business goes well for them.¡±

    As an expert in interrogation, Xia¡¯er¡¯s findings were highly reliable.

    ¡°So¡­ Heisina Tribe never hurt any travelling merchants?¡±

    ¡°We would need more evidence to conclude that without incredulity. With that said, we can conclude without a shadow of doubt that they are searching for something or someone.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Abels chimed in: ¡°I think I know who they are searching for.¡±

    ¡°You are their associate, Brother Bodhi?¡±

    ¡°No, this is my first time here. A-Lan told me an old general escorted her out of her state when it fell to ruin. The general calls himself Chigen but never mentioned his surname. Right before he passed away, he told her his surname is Heisina. He was one of Heisina Tribe¡¯s warriors.

    ¡°Morcher¡¯s ultimate goal was to revive Beussent¡¯s former glory. To that end, they went against the grain, choosing to secretly employ Heisina Tribe. The old general repeated over and over on his deathbed that a warrior of Heisina Tribe woulde to rescue. A-Lan waited several days in the Central in until she was forced to flee further north due to her pursuers catching up. Whether or not the Heisina warrior came for her or not is not something we can answer.¡±

    Ever since A-Lan¡¯s true identity was disclosed to the group, Emperor Yuansheng told his people to respect her as a Princess despite knowing she was no longer officially one.

    ¡°In that case, Morcher¡¯s royal family owes Heisina Tribe. That means that the person they¡¯re searching for should be¡­ but why ask travelling merchants from the Central in? Isn¡¯t that the wrong approach?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t answer that. How about I call A-Lan over?¡±

    ¡°A guest seeks an audience,¡± a Qilin Guard reported in a low voice from the door.

    ¡°Who?¡± Shen Yiren scoured the short report on hand to link up the connections of involved parties.

    ¡°He says he has already paid you his respects. He says you will ask him to stay for tea once you see him.¡±

    Given their tea business had been raking in a huge profit, they figured it was another pervert trying to ogle Ma¡¯am Ming. Hence, Long Zaitian responded, ¡°Guest, my foot. Kick him out.¡±

    ¡°He refused to leave.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make him leave.¡±

    ¡°Since when were you calling the shots h-¡± Long Zaitian nearly bit his tongue when he saw who offered to dismiss their guest.

    Emperor Yuansheng brushed his cloak to generate pping sounds: ¡°I¡¯ll go see our guest.¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. If we are going to grant an audience, invite them to the main hall, and I shall personally greet them.¡±

    Upon seeing his men rise to join him, Emperor Yuansheng gestured for them to sit back down: ¡°Sit. We don¡¯t need all those etiquette procedures. You continue the meeting. I have nothing to do, so leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°But y-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You have to run the store and conduct meetings. I haven¡¯t seen you sleep for days, Yiren. Focus on this. Leave our guest to me.¡± Hero Li left without giving them a chance to stop him, dragging Lai Jingzhen along on a rope.

    Lai Jingzhen said he was nning to cultivate until he could see into the workings of heaven. Thus, he went into hibernation upon arriving at Xiuyu and sleepwalked after Emperor Yuansheng the entire time. No matter who or what he bumped into, nothing could wake him from his slumber. To prevent Lai Jingzhennding in a pit of poo or something worse, Emperor Yuansheng put Lai Jingzhen on a leash.

    Emperor Yuansheng booted the door open and drew his broadsword: ¡°Who goes there? Announce yourself. I do not cut down nameless men!¡±

    The tall rider with dead fish eyes answered, ¡°Heisina Beussent.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng ced his broadsword back in its sheath: ¡°Pleasee in. You been well recently?¡±

    Beussent, exuding a faint purple mist from his body, slowly rode forward: ¡°I have three questions for you. What is your n-¡±

    A surge of qi from Emperor Yuansheng dissipated Beussent¡¯s purple mist, triggering thetter¡¯s instinct to draw his machete. One shrouded in mist and another light exchanged seven fast blows,pletely dispersing the purple mist as a result.

    Impressed that he couldn¡¯t affect his opponent with his Shengyin Purple Qi, Beussent remarked, ¡°Another adept.¡± He pulled his brows together, creating a deep crevice down the centre of his forehead. ¡°You¡¯re a fascinating man, but I¡¯m out of time. I¡¯ll get to the point. Will you answer three questions for me?¡±

    Turned out that the ¡°peculiar¡± method Beussent used to deliver his question was actually a martial arts discipline. Ironically, he thought Emperor Yuansheng was the peculiar one. Emperor Yuansheng showed the experience of a veteran, which didn¡¯t match his age. To put it into perspective, Emperor Yuansheng seemed as though he had trained all his life but rarely fought, yet he had internal strength more potent than Beussent, which was how the former didn¡¯t lose his mind upon hearing Beussent¡¯s voice. The answer to the illogical circumstances lied in the man behind Emperor Yuansheng.

    On the other hand, Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t make heads and tails of Beussent¡¯s nature. As the leader of a n, he left his people behind to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group a visit. Shen Yiren postted Heisina Trone still didn¡¯t know who they were. The only rational exnation for Beussent¡¯s decision was that he was staking his life on a glimmer of hope.

    I¡¯ve seen that sort of gaze before. I¡¯ve seen those eyes of loyal vassals in my conference hall before.

    In synchrony, both men asked, ¡°Are you a daoist who calls souls home?¡± ¡°Are you here for A-Lan?¡±

    Both men were surprised to hear each other¡¯s questions.

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Eat crap!¡±

    Glossary

    I¡¯ll go see our guest - There¡¯s actually a small skit I omitted. Remember back in volume 9, when Yu Feiyuan said, ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± when Huofeng told her Ming Feizhen invited them to drink? It¡¯s the same joke. Emperor Yuansheng originally says, ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± which prompted Shen Yiren to ask, ¡°Uncle, why did you swear?¡± And¡­ the skit continues.

    Calling souls home - The mystical version is where you have someone perform a ritual that purportedly summons the soul of someone who died outside of their homnd back to their homnd. The real version is simply taking the body/ashes of the dead back home.

 Volume 10 72 Meeting

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 72 Meeting</h4>

    Quite contrary to what one might expect from a ferocious general who lost his King, Beussent never changed ever since he turned seventeen, always remainingposed and gangly. Even so, the man who knew he was from Heisina Tribe always took him serious. ¡°Revive Xiacang Anxi,¡± he¡¯d plead all the time, peering across the vast, ignorant, wardennd of lies from atop the city wall.

    Thinking back on it, the King who dreamt of uniting the Sun¡¯snds and reviving Beussent, clearly didn¡¯t care about the ¡°sin¡± of Heisina Tribe or believe the rumours surrounding them. There was no better proof he didn¡¯t believe the terrifying rumours than the fact that he moved into Nieyao. s, it led to his and his state¡¯s undoing.

    Ever since Morcher¡¯s end, other states constantly ridiculed them for proving their own foolishness. Regardless of how frequent he heard ridicule, though, only ¡°Revive Xiacang Anxi¡± stayed in Beussent¡¯s mind. It took another twenty years for the jeering that echoed in his head to finally stop.

    ¡°H-Her Highness¡¯ whereabouts? Y-y¡±

    Although still ticked off he was called a spirit summoner, Emperor Yuansheng lowered his guard slightly when he saw Beussent go red in the face, prompting him to step back.

    Beussent dismounted as if his life depended on it but didn¡¯t dare to be too pushy. ¡°Please wait! I apologise! Please tell me where Her Highness is! Wait! Please do not close the door!¡±

    Once Beussent grabbed his sleeve, Emperor Yuansheng quietly said, ¡°This is not the ce to talk. Bring your horse in with you. Now!¡±

    ***

    Baimu didn¡¯t wear his heavy armour today; one, there was no way he could conduct a stealth mission in it; two, it wasn¡¯t suitable for an assassination mission.

    Baimu infiltrated Yizhen Company when he heard Beussent was there, and he immediately questioned who the owner was owing to the massive size of the manor. Baimu couldn¡¯t coast his way to a victory against Beussent, let alone his wraiths. ordingly, he had the ten of them search for Beussent and report back once they found him. Thing was, Baimu had been left waiting on the roof for a long time¡­ a little too long to be reasonable.

    Little did Baimu know that there were ten times as many sentries lying in ambush throughout thepany grounds, two of whom could crush his wraiths. His wraiths fell into one trap each, turning into punching bags for ten Qilin Guards at each spot before they were dragged off to Xia¡¯er, who interrogated them in a dark room. Hence, the only thing Baimu was actually waiting for was his own capture.

    Finally! Wait, there are three people, no four, no it¡¯s definitely three, no¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Unable to determine the real number, Baimu carefully took a peek. Among the woman and three men, one of them had to be far above average for Baimu to have not heard his footsteps.

    As much as Baimu wanted to investigate thepany - even more so square up against the adept - his mission took precedence. If only. If only he listened to the voice in the head and sneaked away instead of listening to his ego¡¯s voice when he caught a glimpse of them through his peripherals. The dazzling woman, strong man and tall zombie weren¡¯t important - Baimu¡¯s evaluation. What was important was that Beussent was with them!

    Baimu swiftly returned to his cover, inwardly celebrating as the quartet strolled into the room he hid in. He softened his breathing whilst concentrating his energy in his right hand.

    Like his Xiacang Anxi cohorts, Baimu was well-versed in fighting man to man rather than assassination. His willingness to assassinate Beussent was irrelevantpared to whether he could pull it off or not. Therefore, he believed Beussent was making his job easier. It was hard to believe the Sun wasn¡¯t blessing him when Beussent looked on edge and walked on shaky legs. What he failed to notice was the maiden¡¯s sonorous heartbeats.

    Emperor Yuansheng could understand the excitement of two people searching for each other finally meeting up. If A-Lan wasn¡¯t in the presence of outsiders, she wouldn¡¯t be bottling up her feelings. Beussent had been searching for A-Lan for years, while she had been waiting for years of her life.

    Once the door blocked a fifth person from disturbing them, Beussent dropped to his knees and quavered. A-Lan¡¯s tears burst from her eyes as she replied with something that broke down Beussent¡¯s tear dam.

    Baimu was shocked to hear the conversation, but Emperor Yuansheng, who didn¡¯t understand theirnguage, was even more shocked. ¡°What in the freaking hell is you two sayin¡¯?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng eximed.

 Volume 10 73 Baimuâ€™s Claw Stops (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 73 Baimu¡¯s w Stops (Part 1)</h4>

    Beussent suddenly knelt down, ced his hands t on the ground and lowered his head between them in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s direction. Emperor Yuansheng could tell it was a salute but was oblivious to the fact that the salute was reserved for only when a vassal saluted his monarch.

    Without interpreting, despite Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s exmation, Beussent and A-Lan resumed their conversation.

    A-Lan was only six years old when she fled Nieyao City; asking her to illustrate Morcher or recognise her parents would be asking for the impossible. Therefore, the only way to confirm her Princess status was to ask her to present a heirloom from the royal family, a tattoo of the royal family or r a reliable witness testimony.

    A-Lan didn¡¯t have any token to prove her identity. She had to remove her tattoo long ago to hide from her hunters. The general who escorted her lost his life when she was fourteen. Frankly, she probably couldn¡¯t identify herself if asked to. Thankfully, Beussent had a fourth alternative.

    ¡°Do you¡­ know what your father¡¯s favourite phrase was?¡± Even Beussent wasn¡¯t confident the real Princess would remember her father¡¯s favourite phrase. Deep down, he was only anticipating¡­

    ¡°¡­ May Xiacang Anxi rise once again.¡±

    Perhaps it should be attributed to Morcher being closer to the Central in, but their ent was different to others. Heisina Tribe, in particr, could identify their ent unlike other tribes because it was the first state they could call home - as well as Morcher endeavouring to protect Beussent¡¯s ent.

    The silhouette of the King Beussent served flitted across his foggy vision. Notwithstanding his straight face, his admiration and yearning for his King was distinctly visible. ¡°I never thought I would hear someone say that phrase in that ent for the rest of my life.¡± As twenty years of emotions coursed down his face, Beussent sincerely saluted A-Lan, quavering, ¡°This one is honoured¡­ and d to see you again.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ Uncle Chigen¡¯s nephew, Chiyu?¡±

    ¡°This one is Heisina Chigen¡¯s nephew, Heisina Chiyu, indeed.¡±

    Baimu, still on the roof, was as confused as Emperor Yuansheng was. Whatever the case, he had finishing charging his energy, and Beussent¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t fit for fighting at the moment. There was no better time to execute the rebel than now.

    ¡°Long live, Your Highness, Princess of our glorious ancestral nation! Please lead us back to the sky!¡±

    Baimu didn¡¯t lower his raised hand: Princess? What Princess? She¡¯s a Princess?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ever since His Majesty passed away, this one has prayed daily to find you.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ believe I¡¯m Ah Lan?¡±

    Beussent smiled for the first time in two decades: ¡°Perhaps you are not privy, but you delivered that line exactly as His Majesty did.¡±

    Because epting a salute from your subordinate was considered a reward to the subordinate in Xiacang Anxi culture, A-Lan didn¡¯t stop Beussent from saluting her. Once he was done, she gently helped him up.

    ¡°I barely knew anything when I left home. Uncle Chigen often mentioned his nephew, Chiyu, whom he praised as an astute andpetent man. I¡¯m surprised to learn his nephew is the current chief of Heisina Tribe.¡±

    ¡°I heard¡­ Uncle has passed away.¡±

    ¡°Sadly so. He may have given his life to protect me; however, he never forgot about any of you. Even when he slept, he slept facing the south. Every scar and bruise on him is a medal of his bravery. He died the death of a true hero.¡±

    Beussent exhaled slowly and then nodded: ¡°He has always been our tribe¡¯s hero.¡±

    ¡°Beussent. I should be addressing you as Beussent, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please address this one as Beussent.¡±

    Baimu: Even the god of the Central in must have descended. Two for the price of one! Today is my lucky day!

    Unsurprisingly, all eleven royal families were still hung up over the existence of Princess Ah Lan. Firstly, they all concurred that Morcher had the most formidable military among their time. While most of the kingdom was history, their remnants were still alive in the Central in¡¯snds, and their loyalty to Morcher¡¯s royal family was steadfast. Should Princess Ah Lan announce her desire to resurrect Morcher, the state¡¯s remnants would unquestionably heed her call.

    Once the Central in upied Morcher¡¯s territory, the eleven states realised that driving off Princess Ah Lan was a mistake. After all, controlling her was the only means of righteously repossessing Morcher¡¯s territories. By then, though, they were unable to find any trace of her.

    Baimu decided to dial up his output to 70% of his full power, nning to kill Beussent with his first strike and the other two ¡°weak side characters¡± with a second attack. Finally, he would make off with two trophies: Beussent¡¯s head and Princess Ah Lan.

    ¡°Subsequent to His Majesty¡¯s passing, this one sent his tribesmen to the Central in annually to search for clues on your whereabouts. His younger sister is currently in the Central in to find you. Could Heavenly Swordsman have been the one to escort you here?¡±

    A-Lan furrowed her brows: ¡°I thought you¡¯d know Luo Ming. He went to Nieyao ten years ago, didn¡¯t he?¡±

 Volume 10 74 Baimuâ€™s Claw Stops (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 74 Baimu¡¯s w Stops (Part 2)</h4>

    Luo Ming, having nurtured healthy rtionships with numerous tribes in Nanjiang during his hunt, coerced Abels¡¯ into his intrigue with the promise to help Princess Ah Lan revive Morcher after he learnt of their history from Heisina Tribe.

    Of course, it takes two to tango. Abels decided to follow Luo Ming south despite being superior at the time because he was cognizant of the reality that his lover hadn¡¯t put her past behind her. Abels¡¯ mistake was assuming that Luo Ming was once the honourable swordsman he was admired as, not a schemer who was only nning to use his might for his own ends and then bury Evil Spirits - including A-Lan. Needless to say, Luo Ming ¡®s promise to Heisina Tribe was written off by that point.

    A-Lan said, ¡°Actually, Luo M-¡±

    Baimu locked on to Beussent¡¯s dome but stopped when he heard Emperor Yuansheng awkwardly clear his throat.

    ¡°I understand your emotions are running high at the moment,¡± Emperor Yuansheng gazed up at the ceiling, using his body to express, ¡®I don¡¯t understand and don¡¯t care to understand what the flip you¡¯re saying. I don¡¯t care if you exin or not, but I¡¯m willing to listen,¡¯ and then continued, ¡°but stick to Mandarin if you can.

    A-Lan answered Beussent¡¯s questioning gaze with a nod: ¡°Hero Li is one of my benefactors. I would not be here if it weren¡¯t for him, at least not alive. There is no need to harbour secrets between us.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Your Highness.¡± Beussent gave Emperor Yuansheng a friendly shoulder nudge. ¡°I forgot you were here, Daoist. I apologise for not speaking Mandarin.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s the daoist?! I¡¯m not a daoist, and he¡¯s not a zombie! He¡¯s the state preceptor!¡±

    Baimu couldn¡¯t see them from his angle, but he did vaguely remember the two men¡¯s appearance from before and was confident they were from the Central in.

    ¡°The tall gentleman is the Central in¡¯s state preceptor?¡±

    ¡°Who else? He¡¯s my state preceptor. Are you using him of being an imposter?¡±

    Even though Baimu didn¡¯t know much about the Central in, someone of Lai Jingzhen¡¯s standing was definitely in his database. That said, he only knew Lai Jingzhen as the head daoist and not state preceptor.

    Heisina Tribe¡¯s chief, Morcher¡¯s Princess and the Central in¡¯s state preceptor? Are they nning to resurrect Morcher?

    Baimu¡¯s hypothesis wasn¡¯t unfounded. The eleven states had been at constant war with each other and the Central in ever since A-Lan went on the run. Not one of them was happy with the Central in for stealing a whole chunk of Morcher¡¯s territories from under their nose. In turn, they sent out representatives to negotiate with the Central in. The Central in sent out a man by the name of Li Si, who shamelessly talked his way to victory against all eleven representatives in dominant fashion.

    Li Si asserted. ¡°The twelve states aren¡¯t one nation. By that logic, the Central in having jurisdiction of Morcher doesn¡¯t ruin the unity of the non-existent nation. From the start of Nanjiang¡¯s history, Nanjiang is one nation. If you want us to withdraw our troops, you must abolish the eleven Kings and instate one King. Have your elected King negotiate with our Emperor, and then we can legitimise the discussion.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°We are not upying. We are merely acting on our right as a trustee. Since Morcher and the Central in are allies, we are duty-bound to carry out our alliance treaty and take care of theirnds. In the old days, we nobly offered wives and children. We are now offering everything we can offer to offer for our ally. We have inherited the spirit of selflessness. Future generations will hold us in praise for our actions.¡±

    The eleven states knew Prime Minister Li Si was just talking out of his rear end. Deep down, they all knew they were harbouring selfish desires. No matter how irate they were, nheless, if wasn¡¯t worth gambling everything they had to challenge the Central in. As neither talking nor fighting worked, they had to grudgingly surrender.

    The Central in sent that Li Sist time to screw with us, and now they¡¯re sending some stick man? Are they trying to start a historical event of some sort, where they send someone to screw with us every generation? Whatever. Unlike those ipetent representatives, this is the lifetime of an opportunity for me to chance upon this gathering. A Princess, a state preceptor and a dissident. Be honoured. I shall show you three my full power today!

    ¡°Why¡­ did you disclose that?¡± A-Lan felt a little apprehensive about discarding their fake profiles, especially since Emperor Yuansheng was calling all the shots.

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand: ¡°You need not fret, Princess Ah Lan. I only called you along as I expected this turn of events. This is where our three parties shall hold our first discussion.¡±

    ¡°Three parties?¡±

    ¡°That would be Heisina Tribe, Morcher and the Central ins. We have three representatives here, so it¡¯s a great opportunity to discuss the future.¡±

    Beussent: ¡°I see. So that is why your state preceptor is here.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng shook his head and so did A-Lan.

    To make sure she wasn¡¯t being presumptuous, A-Lan inquired, ¡°I do not understand. Heisina is only a tribe, while I am the Princess of a fallen state. What do you¡­¡±

    ¡°Heisina Tribe is military might, which your statecks, and is loyal to you. As such, you have the right to negotiate. What Heisina Tribe wants, you can provide. What your state wants, I can provide. What I want is for Xiacang Anxi to never spark turbulence again so that the southern border of my nation sees eternal peace. Only you two can achieve that.¡±

    Hearing Emperor Yuansheng dere ¡°my nation¡±, Beussent jolted. ¡°Your Highness, is he?¡±

    A-Lan bobbed her head: ¡°He is none other than the sovereign of the four seas, the ruler of the Central in - Emperor Yuansheng.¡±

 Volume 10 75 Emperor Yuanshengâ€™s Ambition

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 75 Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s Ambition</h4>

    Baimu knew he had to keep a cool head despite wanting to dive down and bag his prizes. The one question that he didn¡¯t even have a wild guess for was, what was the Emperor of the Central in doing in Nanjiang?

    Unlike Beijiang, who still had their military parked by the border, the Central in long got into the heads of Nanjiang¡¯s forces. Technically, the Central in didn¡¯t beat fear into Nanjiang in spite of their numerous small skirmishes. The Central in ¡°pranked¡± Nanjiang until thetter feared them.

    Xiacang Anxi began to develop a sense of fear toward the Central in right after Nieyao City¡¯s annihtion. Their best chance at a sessful northern campaign subsequent to that was thirty years ago, when the Central in¡¯s imperial family was upied with fighting each other for the throne, and Xiacang Anxi had a solid force.

    Unfortunately, someone sowed discord, resulting in a dog-eat-dog fight between Nanjiang¡¯s states that was still ongoing. The Central in then capitalised on the opportunity that Xiacang Anxi failed to, sessfully expanding their border southward. Ever since then, Xiacang Anxi¡¯s border was flimsy.

    The Central in dealt another heavy blow when they imed the majority of Morcher¡¯s territory for themselves twenty years ago. Just when Xiacang Anxi thought it couldn¡¯t get any worse, Green Prince started lining his pockets with their money when he arrived in Xiuyu.

    Only ten-odd years after Green Prince¡¯s advent in Nanjiang, Emperor Yuansheng came down and approached Heisina Tribe, Baimu state¡¯s enemy, as a friend.

    The sessive victories on all fronts nted fear even in Xiacang Anxi¡¯s proud great guyas. Baimu might be able to decimate mighty opponents, but Hero Li wasn¡¯t just any other opponent. Hero Li could take hundreds of thousands of lives if he just said the word. One blunder could cost more than just Baimu State.

    ¡°Hoho, don¡¯t stand on ceremony. Sit.¡± Emperor Yuansheng found himself a seat. Neither A-Lan nor Beussent took him lightly even though he wasn¡¯t in his golden robe. ¡°Besides seeking to aplish my own goal, I also came here with the wish to bring peace to the southern border.¡±

    A-Lan bitterly smiled: ¡°Your Majesty, discussing this with us is b-¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor Yuansheng raised his hand: ¡°Princess Ah Lan, you are Morcher¡¯s Princess. Morcher is our neighbour. We can forge a long-standing alliance if you just bob your head. As allies, we are family. We will always be Morcher¡¯s safest ally. I am a man of my word.¡±

    Although A-Lan was a wanderer from childhood, General Chigen did share his knowledge of politics with her while he was alive.

    ¡°It is an honour to be held in such esteem. Howbeit, A-Lan¡¯s kingdom is no more. She is without a soldier, a fief or a town. Not even a remnant of her fallen kingdom remains. Reviving her kingdom is but a pipe dream.¡± A-Lan could already see assassins from the eleven states hunting her again if she so much as uttered her wish to see her home¡¯s restoration.

    Emperor Yuansheng tugged up the corners of his lips: ¡°What if I told you that you can?¡±

    If the man with the most wealth and strongest military among all rulers was serious, then the pipe dream was already half achieved.

    Baimu: What a man. He has his son supervise Xiuyu to draw attention whilst searching for the Princess of Morcher. If he controls her, then he controls Morcher. If he controls Morcher, he rules Xiacang Anxi.

    A-Lan stuttered, ¡°I-If you would allow it, then¡­ b-but why?¡±

    ¡°I am the one who upied yournds. I said it before, and I will say it again. I am only acting as a trustee. I never intended to invade. It is only right to return it to Morcher now that we have found you.

    ¡°We have always served using our approach in the Central in. While there have not been any major turbulences in thest twenty years, we did face environmental issues. After all, the people esteem their monarch. In addition, your father was a great ruler whom even I must praise. I cannot bear to see his family end.

    ¡°I am not assisting you for free. As I previously mentioned, we must sign a peace treaty to not invade the other. As for the other conditions, we can discuss them once we have restored your home.¡±

    While A-Lan was still spinning her brain cogs, Baimu already finished his analysis.

    Bloody guile Emperor! He wove everything to control Morcher! If he tries to forcibly control right off the bat, he¡¯ll be met with bacsh. He left Morcher¡¯s throne vacant for two decades to habituate everyone to the Central in¡¯s administration approach. Once he instates a Queen the Central in is familiar with and Morcher¡¯s denizens don¡¯t hate, then he rules them without any bacsh! I would never imagine a man who looks like a durd could be so conniving. If I don¡¯t kill him now, Xiacang Anxi will be history!

    Emperor Yuansheng detected distinct hostility from the roof right before Baimu burst through. Beussent recognised the ck energy emanating from Baimu as the Central in¡¯s concept of ¡°Enlightenment¡±, but his reaction time wasn¡¯t fast enough to save Emperor Yuansheng. Once the ck energy vanished, Baimu was seen scowling as he closed the final metre between him and Emperor Yuansheng, but his advance was prohibited.

    Unlike Baimu¡¯s bulky arms, the man who caught his wrist and denied him another millimetre was practically skin and bones.

    Baimu was sure he should¡¯ve crushed Emperor Yuansheng already, yet he couldn¡¯t reach his target for some reason.

    ¡°At this moment in the sky, at this moment on Earth, a light is needed to cross the river. His Majesty¡¯s crisis is in the south. Must wake to reach out. Catch the w and he shall be fine.¡± Lai Jingzhen yawned as he rubbed his eyes. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean ¡®right now¡¯?¡±

 Volume 10 76 Baimuâ€™s Blessed Beast (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 76 Baimu¡¯s Blessed Beast (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Emperor of the Central in, Wanyu has seen your true colours now,¡± Baimu said before he showed a clean pair of heels.

    Contrary to the brashness that his appearance may have suggested, Baimu wasn¡¯t brash or delusional enough to think he¡¯d be able to sessfully kill Emperor Yuansheng with his attack. Based off Lai Jingzhen¡¯s breathing, Baimu could discern Lai Jingzhen was close to his brother¡¯s level. Furthermore, there was no way Emperor Yuansheng only had one elite bodyguard.

    Baimu¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t ast-ditch effort or suicide attack. He assumed Lai Jingzhen must¡¯ve let him eavesdrop to either turn his own n against him or was waiting for him toe down and spring the trap himself. They¡¯d have to be sick in the head to let him escape after he heard their conversation.

    Emperor Yuansheng was the man Baimu was most worried about. After all, Emperor Yuansheng carried on with his confidential conversation when he was aware Baimu was listening in. To him, Baimu was already a dead man, and every word he said moved the entrance to hell an inch closer. That was why Baimu eventually decided to escape.

    Wanyu rose above the other ten states recently to be the strongest state. While having morend and a strong military were all important, the most important factor was that Xiacang Anxi¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman resided on theirnds. Naturally, the Central in¡¯s imperial court would have a target on them. With that knowledge, Baimu decided to pose as someone from Wanyu to pit the Central in¡¯s imperial court against them.

    Although Quasi-Divine didn¡¯te with a bonus ability, such as Eclipse, their attributes were already way ahead of someone who hadn¡¯t reached Quasi-Divine. In addition, Baimu¡¯s twenty years of training empowered him to use Enlightenment six times with precise control. Up until now, it was supposed to be his trump card to defeat his brother.

    As Baimumitted to a second attack, he drew out a feasible escape route in his mind, withholding 30% of his power for escaping. He tried to propel himself back with his feet, but he couldn¡¯t pull his hand out of Lai Jingzhen¡¯s clutch.

    Lai Jingzhen asionally frowned and spat on Baimu¡¯s pants as he inspected his opponent.

    ¡°Who are you? Why would you stop me from killing that tyrant?!¡± Baimu didn¡¯t know where he went wrong, but Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t react shocked as he should¡¯ve.

    Emperor Yuansheng: Who is Wanyu? Why does he want to kill me? I don¡¯t recall having any grudge with him.

    ¡°State Preceptor, take him in alive.¡±

    He wants to torture me? You want to humiliate a great guya? I won¡¯t let you look down on me!

    Baimu ejected brown energy from his body to finally break Lai Jingzhen¡¯s grip, ripping five trails of blood along Lai Jingzhen¡¯s palm in the process.

    Beussent thereupon got in front of A-Lan and Emperor Yuansheng to shield them: ¡°That is Martial Paragon¡¯s Phoenix King Darkthorns. There is only one other person besides Martial Paragon who can use the technique, and that is his younger brother, Baimu¡¯s sacred beast - Baimu.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Really?!¡±

    Baimu: I thought you already knew!

    Lai Jingzhen, meanwhile, was so enamoured with the style that advocated defence and attack in bnce that he forgot to counterattack. Baimu capitalised on the opportunity, swinging his right hand doused in brown energy at Lai Jingzhen as a spear.

    Beussent warned, ¡°Marvellous Reversal! Watch your arm!¡±

    Baimu swiped up from under Lai Jingzhen¡¯s right armpit, slicing even the ceiling in two.

    How d Baimu felt to have dismembered Lai Jingzhen¡¯s arm couldn¡¯t possibly be described. No matter how skilled anyone was, losing an arm would do a number on their ability to think properly.

    Beussent focused all his effort on making sure no harm befell A-Lan.

    Watching blood spray from Lai Jingzhen¡¯s arm socket as if it was a geyser, Emperor Yuansheng raged, ¡°Lai Jingzhen, if you keep fooling around, I¡¯ll have ced in detention at Wudang for three years!¡±

    Lai Jingzhen, who was looking at his severed arm simrly to a kid spotting a toy, freaked out. ¡°That means I have to see Uncle, copy scriptures and face the long, dark, wide, tall walls¡­ Detention?!¡±

    Lai Jingzhen¡¯s iprehensible reaction was only the beginning of Baimu¡¯s shock. The next thing he saw was the blood sttered across the ground congealing into red pearls and then flying back into Lai Jingzhen¡¯s empty socket followed by his arm.

    Lai Jingzhen performed a shoulder circle and then extended his reattached arm at Baimu, who was airborne.

    What¡­ the hell did I just see?

 Volume 10 77 Baimuâ€™s Blessed Beast (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 77 Baimu¡¯s Blessed Beast (Part 2)</h4>

    Whilst soaring out of the building against his will, Baimu whipped the air with a string of blood from his mouth.

    ¡°Shucks, I forgot to ask for his contact. I need to learn his discipline,¡± Lai Jingzhen bemoaned.

    Baimu scurried to his feet upon body mming the ground to leg it. Though he could still fight, just reimagining Lai Jingzhen seemingly rewind his own clock deterred Baimu from attempting to continue fighting.

    Lai Jingzhen¡¯s parents can¡¯t be human! He¡¯s definitely the head daoist of the Central in!

    Baimu¡¯s assumption that he had escaped the danger zone wasn¡¯t exactly misced since the monstrous daoist had to stick by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side. Having said that, his assumption wasn¡¯t exactly correct, either.

    Behind the young swordswoman blocking Baimu¡¯s way were ten-odd people: ¡°You¡¯re Baimu¡¯s sacred beast?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the reaper!¡±

    Baimu needed chaos to cover his flight, and killing a bunch of people would achieve just that.

    ¡°Right¡­ Detain him!¡±

    Baimu dropped and rolled upon feeling a wind billow behind him.

    ¡°What a pity.¡±

    Had Baimu reacted a second slower, Sima Huai¡¯s spiked mace would¡¯ve split his skull already.

    Baimu zig-zagged towards Shen Yiren. None of the seven armed individuals in front were his match in a one-on-one setting, but he wasn¡¯t strong enough to drop each one with a single strike. Hence, he donned his brown energy as armour to ward them off.

    ¡°You¡¯re the pretty boss? Thank you for the sacrifice!¡± Baimu reached for Shen Yiren¡¯s head; however, he caught a bald head instead. Baimu squeezed harder, yet he couldn¡¯t put a dent in his opponent¡¯s head.

    ¡°Argh!¡± Baimu¡¯s short paused afforded Shen Yiren the opportunity to graze his face, from eyebrow to the corner of his lips, forcing him to bound backward.

    ¡°Fourth, you okay?¡± Shen Yiren queried.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan took out a mini mirror to check his head: ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just a couple of red marks.¡±

    Shen Yiren, with Yujing drawn, strode forward: ¡°Apprehend him.¡±

    Qilin Guards burst out from the rooms around, bringing Baimu¡¯s shackled adjutant and wraiths out with them.

    Shen Yiren scoffed, ¡°I can forgive you for being na?ve if you send people to jump us in the shadows, but attacking our master is unforgivable.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll rearrange your face!¡± Baimu lunged at Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, please do not show mercy.¡±

    ¡°That was the n.¡±

    Baimu stopped in his tracks just before he crashed into a blue screen. From experience, he recognised the blue field functioned in the simrly to his brother¡¯s purple qi despite the principles behind them differing.

    ¡°Your judgement is quite sharp, huh,¡±mented Abels.

    Baimu broke at the knee and sprung up, unleashing a six-hitbo. Abels was strong in his own right, but even he couldn¡¯t block Baimu¡¯s attacks with a single arm. Each time he deflected a shot, Abels would redirect the attack subtly, reducing a portion of Baimu¡¯s output, thereby reducing the effort required to thwart Baimu¡¯s strikes.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t hurt, you¡¯d be able to hurt me,¡± Abels jovially adted.

    I am a great guya. I am the strongest man in Nanjiang. I am without equal!

    Despite Baimu firing his Enlightenment on all cylinders, all he did was put a wry shape on Abels¡¯ lips.

    Abels skid back a step as his blue domain pushed up against Baimu¡¯s brown field. Nevertheless, Baimu went flying back over twenty metres.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Although Abels was ready for another exchange, Baimu leveraged the pushback momentum to abscond. ¡°That direction is¡­ Tsk, guess you trained to escape, huh.¡±

    What is the deal with those people? He didn¡¯t even strike once yet. There¡¯s no way I can beat him, let alone two monsters!

    Baimu spotted a big carriage whilst on the run. Most importantly, a big, healthy horse was pulling it. The presence of the two inside became noticeable once he got closer.

    A trap? No, they couldn¡¯t have predicted I¡¯d escape via this route. Judging from the depth of the marks on the road, the carriage must¡¯ve been sitting here for days now. Whatever, consider yourselves unlucky.

    Due to being tight on time, Baimu chose to use Enlightenment for a fifth time in the same day, manipting his brown energy into the w of an eagle. He shaved off the carriage¡¯s exterior in one go, revealing two caged individuals in two iron cages.

    Upon hearing footsteps encroaching, Baimu reached into a cage to take a hostage, figuring the man with his head down had to be important to thepany if they were going to lock him up. When he just dipped his hand between the rails, though, he yanked it right back and bolted. Sweat trickled down his face along with the blood from the cut Shen Yiren inflicted. When he reached into the cage, he felt a warning that told him to back off, lest he be less an arm.

    Who the hell was that now? Where the hell did these freakse from? My brother is supposed to be my only rival. Twenty years of training, yet three men can kill me without breaking a sweat?

    The cut on Baimu¡¯s face was nothingpared to the anguish in his mind. He wasn¡¯t so mentally weak that he¡¯d just ept defeat. He really wanted to kill someone for some therapy, nevertheless.

    Down the road, the extraordinary beauty of a woman distracted Baimu without her needing to pose. Had she not advanced with the intent to hurt him, he wouldn¡¯t have broken out of his stupor. Still, she caught him twice. Even though they weren¡¯t heavy blows, the spots she palmed triggered the internal injuries Lai Jingzhen inflicted once again.

    Even a random girl can kill me?!

    Baimu regretted not wearing his armour more than ever. Howbeit, it was time to run, not bemoan.

    ¡°Pretty fast.¡±

    Neither Tang Ye nor Luo Ming spoke a word to anyone - save for the times Su Xiao delivered food to Tang Ye - or exhibited any behaviour resembling the intent to escape all this time. As a matter of fact, they were indifferent to everything that happened around until Tang Ye saw her.

    ¡°Wh-why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Take a guess. Long-time no see, Tangy.¡±

    Shen Yiren, having caught up, took hold of Ming Suwen¡¯s hands. Notwithstanding Ming Suwen having joined Liu Shan Men for a while already, due to business, they had only beenmunicating via letters; seeing Ming Suwen was worth a celebration to Shen Yiren. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me you would be arriving today?¡±

    Ming Suwen embraced Shen Yiren: ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if I told you beforehand. It was so hard to find this ce. Have you been well?¡±

    The others, who searched other ces before catching up, finally caught up.

    Sima Huai: ¡°Sister-inw, we did not find anything. How about you?¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan: ¡°Sister-inw, nothing on my end, either. Why are you standing here?¡±

    Xia¡¯er: ¡°Why do you all run so fast? I¡¯m spent. Sister-inw, why is your face so red?¡±

    Ming Suwen: ¡°Howe I never heard anything about you three brats having a new sister-inw?¡±

    The three finally noticed Ming Suwen standing with her arms crossed and dreadful smile.

    ¡°Grandaunt¡­¡±

    ¡°Wh-why are you here?¡±

    ¡°S-Sister Suwen.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s bec-¡±

    Before Shen Yiren could expound, the three stood erect as though they were reporting to their superior in the military: ¡°It was all First Brother (Xia¡¯er: Brother). We have nothing to do with it!¡±

    ***

    Baimu was as lost as his brain was after escaping the devil¡¯s den. Even though he already had brushes with death on his way to the top, he had never suffered such one-sided beatings.

    ¡°Blood! I need blood!¡± Not even howling leaves off trees could calm Baimu down. Instead, it drew out his inferiorityplex again.

    Baimu didn¡¯t have a clear view of what resembled travelling merchants or hear their supposed cries¡¯ contents for bloodlust had pervaded his mind. In his state of madness, he seized a man by the head.

    ¡°Blood! I want blood! I w-, argh!¡±

    The man dislocated Baimu¡¯s wrist using just one hand through sheer violence.

    Despite his impaired hearing, Baimu clearly heard someone ask in a dismissive voice he hated, ¡°You¡¯re pretty strong. You know how to get to Baimu?¡±

    Baimu stretched his eyes as wide as he could to see a man taller than himself, facial features that didn¡¯t stand out and eyes that he couldn¡¯t see the depth of.

    Who is he?

    ¡°The name is Ming Feizhen.¡± Smiling with his teeth on disy, he said, ¡°I need to see Martial Paragon, Ji Xue.¡±

    Glossary

    Feng Xue and Ji Xue - Feng Xue is tranted to ¡°Wind Blood¡±, which is supposed to sound cool. Ji Xue - besides its meaning on paper (chicken blood) - is often used as a derogatory way of saying someone is high in Mandarin. The reason for Ji Xue taking on that meaninges from a nonsensical belief that injecting chicken blood could cure any disease. Since people are willing to try anything when nothing is working and their life is in peril, you can say that they¡¯re even willing to inject chicken blood. Hence, ¡°You must n to inject chicken blood¡± is synonymous with ¡°Are you high?¡± Therefore, referring to Feng Xue as Ji Xue is akin to calling him ¡°trash¡±.

 Volume 10 78 My Grandaunt?!

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 78 My Grandaunt?!</h4>

    Everyone regrouped to hold a meeting in the main hall subsequent to driving off Baimu.

    ¡°Brother Beussent is this loyal, upright gentleman here. Brother Bodhi and Princess A-Lan can be trusted. Although the finer minutiae need to be discussed, I have granted you permission to restore Morcher. I will leave the matter in Lyu¡¯er¡¯s hands, so you don¡¯t need to tell me about it.¡±

    Slower thinkers and those not politics-savvy, such as Tie Hanyi and Ye Luo, didn¡¯t see the risks involved. Those who were quick, such as Long Zaitian and Dugu,prehended Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s intent to create peace at the border without much thought. Aside from the treaty bringing peace, security and opening the doors to more business prospects, Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage saw benefits. Shen Yiren was the only one to grasp the full depth and beauty of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s strategy.

    True, the border between Nanjiang and the Central in wasn¡¯t peaceful, but it was only a potential problem. In contrast, the forces in the North cost the imperial court the most because they needed equipment topete against Beijiang¡¯s iron cavalry, and the financial demand was draining.

    A-Lan would be Queen of Morcher once it was restored. Abels, as her man, would be Prince Consort of Morcher. At the same time, he was still the uncle of Tiezhen¡¯s King. Recently, Emperor Yuansheng had been getting friendly with Abels. The rest was self-exnatory.

    Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t blessed with ster gifts at anything; however, he always put his nation first. Ever since knowing Abels, Emperor Yuansheng considered Abels a concern for military affairs. As he kept thinking along that line, he came up with the strategic alliance.

    Because silence permeated the air, Ming Suwen coughed.

    Shen Yiren, realising Ming Suwen was trying to help, introduced, ¡°This is Miss Ming, Ming Suwen. She is known as ¡®The Demoness¡¯ in the pugilistic world, one of the top martial artists in the north.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, I have heard the name.¡± Obviously, Emperor Yuansheng met Ming Suwen a while ago, but he was too shy to speak to her until Shen Yiren helped out. ¡°Hahaha, so you are here to deliver a message on behalf of Ming Feizhen. Why hasn¡¯t anyone offered her a seat? Bring Miss Ming a seat.¡±

    Ming Suwen let a smile bloom: ¡°You need not stand on ceremony. I am not an outsider, after all. Feizhen and I are not outsiders, are we?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Emperor Yuansheng stopped to mull on Ming Suwen¡¯s tone, eyes drifting toward Shen Yiren. ¡°Not outsiders meaning¡­?¡±

    ¡°Come on. That¡¯s an easy riddle.¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan thumped his chest and saluted Ming Suwen. ¡°She is my grandaunt.¡±

    Sima Huai joined in: ¡°She is my shifu¡¯s aunt.¡±

    Ming Xiaolou gave Ming Suwen a big hug: ¡°She is my grandmaster¡¯s cousin.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so a member of Mount Daluo.¡± Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s happy metre, as well as Ming Feizhen¡¯s reputation, climbed each time another member of Mount Daluo joined. There was no ce to be impolite with Hero Shenzhou¡¯s cousin, so he got out of his seat. ¡°Please pardon my ignorance.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren wagged her hand at Emperor Yuansheng for him not to go their formal route, but he smiled back, hinting, ¡°You¡¯re toox. Watch and learn from me.¡±

    Ming Suwen dimpled: ¡°Your Majesty, you speak in jest. The imperial family has its own rules. We are but martial artists. We cannot treat you as someone as lowly as us.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, my family is a family of martial artists every generation; we have always been part of the martial artsmunity. All of our men wield swords, learn to shoot and ride¡­ besides Lyu¡¯er. Ahem. Let¡¯s see. Hero Shenzhou¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren covered her eyes.

    Hero Shenzhou is from my grandfather¡¯s generation, which means she¡¯s six generations older than me, at the very least¡­ Miss Ming is my grandaunt?!

    Aware of the mire Emperor Yuansheng just dug himself, Ming Suwen bowed down before he could stop her: ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s Constable Ming Suwen pays her respects to Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Uh¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren quickly expounded, ¡°I recruited Sister Ming and Ming Feizhen into Liu Shan Men. One of them is a male constable and the other is a female constable. Sister Ming has been taking care of Liu Shan Men during my recent absence and has cracked a series of cases.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng recalled reading about Liu Shan Men going on a case-cracking spree in his recent reports. ¡°Ah, so you were the one credited with resolving the cases. You are an exemry example for the young generation to follow. Now I understand why Ming Feizhen suddenly requested I send a pigeon to the capital for him.¡±

    Though Ming Suwen didn¡¯t respond, she did notice Shen Yiren¡¯s subtle stunned moment. She analysed Shen Yiren¡¯s reaction from a semantic and emotional perspective, then said, ¡°This one is grateful you have given Feizhen the opportunity to contribute, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. He is young andpetent. I was just doing my part to ensure he had a slice of meat at every meal.¡±

    Sometimes, no reaction provides more information than a reaction. The fact that Shen Yiren didn¡¯t budge when Ming Suwen referred to Ming Feizhen as ¡°Feizhen¡± didn¡¯t slip Ming Suwen¡¯s eyes. Nheless, Ming Suwen chose not to pry any further.

    ¡°Seeing as Miss Ming brings news from Ming Feizhen, let us get down to business.¡± Emperor Yuansheng ced Ming Feizhen¡¯s folded letter onto the table. ¡°Miss Ming, for the sake of the mission, we need to provide you with a new identity. We request your cooperation.¡±

    Ming Suwen squinted: ¡°You insist on calling me ¡®Grandaunt¡¯?¡±

 Volume 10 79 Iâ€™m Dead Serious

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 79 I¡¯m Dead Serious</h4>

    ¡°Six Evils was never a threat to the martial world, or rather, the martial world was too weak to be considered a challenge for Six Evils. Yet, Mount Daluo, in a way, prevented Six Evils from wreaking havoc again. What very few knew was the secret ¡®inheritance¡¯ and ¡®ability¡¯ of Mount Daluo.

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch would assemble all disciples on a specially chosen day to share the details of Six Evils after they offered three bows to their founder. It is rumoured that Mount Daluo¡¯s thirty-sixth generation patriarch, Ming Huayu, painted all of his disciples¡¯ faces ashen when he told them about Six Evils, save for his senior disciple, who disyed immeasurable anger and disdain.

    ¡°Mayhap the thirty-seventh generation patriarch of Mount Daluo will restore their image as heroes, as well as put them on the map, once again.¡± - ck and White Reflection¡¯s Four Biggest Secrets: Six Evils Section.

    ***

    I woke from my sleep when I heard my carriage¡¯s wheels again. Riding all the way to Nanjiang in a carriage was a luxury. I wiped the grease from chicken drumsticks at my mouth with the tablecloth and shouted, ¡°Where we at now?¡±

    Wu Ba, outside the carriage, answered, ¡°We entered the state¡¯s borders a while ago. We will arrive in an hour, Sir.¡±

    ¡°Keep going. Don¡¯t look back.¡±

    Young Shiyi headed off to rendezvous with Boss first, while Heisina Duohua escorted her nsmen home. I needed to have a word with Martial Paragon; I had to travel alone, regrettably.

    I¡¯m telling the truth. I shed tears of joy every time I think about how much freedom I had. How would you like to be the sacrifice when Young Shiyi and Boss couldn¡¯t agree with each other? My opinion should dominate, you say? It must be your first day here. I didn¡¯t have any say when they were involved!

    I leaned back on my cushioned backrest. Admittedly, the thought was toxic.

    ¡°Sir Central in, we will soon arrive. Are you going to follow us in, like this?¡±

    Wu Ba, bitter over being fooled, asked me if I lied about being a woman because he wasn¡¯t educated and hinted to me he had a lot of cash stashed away. Nheless, I beat him all three times until he was docile. I mean, a fourth attempt on me would be hisst ever. That said, he copped another beating from Young Shiyi for calling her Qiuku, so he now called her ¡°Grandaunt¡± and me ¡°Sir Central in¡±.

    ¡°You sound like you¡¯re in a pretty decent mood, huh? I knocked the socks off your superior and assassins, not to mention releasing your captives, yet you look jolly.¡±

    ¡°Wahahaha!¡±

    ¡°What the hell did youugh so loud for?!¡±

    Wu Ba softened his voice: ¡°Ah Su is only good at bullying those beneath him, so I have always been subjected to his bullying. I would have kicked him over the moon sooner orter even if you did not beat him.¡±

    I pretended to understand Wu Ba prior to figuring out he meant to say ¡°kick him into next week¡± and that he used ¡°over the moon¡± incorrectly so that he wouldn¡¯t know I was close to illiterate.

    ¡°Your way of using Mandarin is too flowery. When you want to use figure of speech, just say, ¡®freaking insert whatever.¡¯ When you need idioms, just switch them to, ¡®Motherflipping insert whatever.¡¯¡±

    ¡°I am grateful for the advice. Mandarin¡¯s sayings truly are based on wisdom. You say, ¡®Three people, uh, three people, uh¡­¡¯¡±

    ¡°Nobody is doing anything with you, so get out!¡±

    ¡°You are right. That said, about what you just asked¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, I have business at your royal pce.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    While I rxed on the pilgrimage, I never dropped my vignce. Even though I knew I was going to meet Young Shiyi on the way to the capital from Huzhou and had her apanying me from Huzhou to Najiang, I never smiled genuinely. Not once.

    The first time I heard Shifu mentioned Six Evils, I looked away and grumbled under my breath, assuming he was telling another tall tale. I got kicked onto my back for it, but I digress. Only when I stood face to face against one did it dawn on me that there was an insurmountable wall for humans.

    Young Shiyi didn¡¯t y around with me during our journey to make up for lost time but also to raise my spirits as she knew what opinion I had of Six Evils. Thanks to her, my mind wasn¡¯t clouded.

    Ever since epting Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s request to y Six Evils, I was stressed out because no strategy would allow me to win on my own. I was hoping we could find a way to reduce our death toll by even one. The most optimistic oue I could see based on our current forces was, all my secrets being exposed and bing a wanted criminal. Mount Daluo¡¯s six disciples would make it out alive, but half of us would be cripples, and four of us would never recover for a decade. Liu Shan Men¡¯s only survivor would be Boss Shen. Qilin Guards, Emperor¡¯s Entourage, Evil Spirits, Luo Sword Manor and Xiuyu City¡¯s military would be tributes to history. Luo Ming would forfeit his life. Abels would need seven years of recuperation before he could fight again. I couldn¡¯t even imagine what the worst case scenario would be. Rather, I didn¡¯t want to imagine it.

    I only fought one of Six Evils once. Technically, it was only one of its offspring. Never had I been so intimate with death.

    I never understood what Mount Daluo¡¯s founders were thinking until that encounter. That might should never be allowed into this world and never given a chance to grow. The only way you could put up a fight against them was if you embraced fear and fought with the resolve to go down with it if it came down to it. Use every ¡°cheat¡± you have. Use all the power you have. Use everything at your disposal. Every extra Divine Realm adept in your squad will reduce the death toll considerably. Thest point was my chief reason for visiting Baimu. I¡¯m always dead serious!

    Wu Ba pulled over: ¡°Sir Central in, we have arrived.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    I brushed open the curtain to see Baimu¡¯s resplendent pce walls.

    Wu Ba hopped off his horse and jogged over to me: ¡°Please hop off. The rules in the pce forbid anyone from standing up so high. Besides great guyas, everyone else must enter the pce in a bowing posture.¡±

    ¡°I want to see Martial Paragon. Can you take me to him?¡± I outright ignored Wu Ba¡¯s behest.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Y-you want to see Martial Paragon?!¡±

    ¡°Can you take me to him?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, but we will need His Majesty¡¯s permission and to set an appointment with Martial Paragon. It may take a while¡­¡±

    ¡°Figures.¡±

    ¡°Hey, what are you two doing?¡± The leader of the pair of guards drew his machete on me and thered something in Nanjiang-nese that I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Get off the carriage!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell? Storming into your pce.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, we are not. This is a misunderstanding. He is my guest.¡± Wu Ba obviously wanted no part of criminal activities. ¡°Sir Central in, what are you freaking doing?¡±

    Fast learner, I see.

    ¡°I need to see Martial Paragon today. I¡¯m just going with the express route.¡±

    The guard switched to Mandarin since I spoke Mandarin. ¡°Lord Wu Ba, even if he is your guest, he must ask for permission from His Majesty first if he wants to enter, let alone standing up so high.¡±

    A guard pointed his de at me: ¡°Here, only the strong have the right to stand above others. If you don¡¯te down, I¡¯ll skin you alive.¡±

    ¡°In other words,¡± I nced down to the guard without moving my neck,¡± the weak should be crawling on all fours here?¡±

    ¡°What was that?!¡±

    ¡°Kneel.¡±

    The guards on both rows mmed their knees into the ground. Just as every time I cast the technique, the guard looked at me bewildered - and scared.

    There was no quicker way to gain respect in Nanjiang when might made right in their culture.

    In a deeper voice, I stated, ¡°None of you are worthy of speaking to me.¡±

    I lowered my head to lock eyes with the trembling guard. To scare him even more, I breathed down his neck and demanded, ¡°Summon Martial Paragon. I have business with him.¡±

    Having heard ¡°Martial Paragon¡±, the guard changed his tone right away. ¡°M-may this one ask for your name? He shall report in.¡±

    ¡°Tell him,¡± I narrowed my eyes and paused to add some coolness, ¡°Central in¡¯s Jiang Zhouzi has arrived.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Your way of using Mandarin is too flowery. When you want to use figure of speech, just say, ¡®freaking insert whatever.¡¯ When you need idioms, just switch them to, ¡®Motherflipping insert whatever.¡¯¡± - One thing I cannot ount for is how vast the variations of their Chinese equivalents are. While ¡°freaking¡± can cover an array of usages, it just can¡¯tpare to the Chinese version. For instance, ¡°your sister¡± can mean ¡°f-word you¡±, but it still can mean ¡°your sister¡±. ¡°Your mom¡±, ¡°Your grandpa¡±, ¡°Your grandfather¡±¡­ can all also mean ¡°f-word you¡±.

    Jiang Zhouzi - Deliberately modified syntax of ¡°Braised pork shoulders in soy sauce¡± to have a Chinese name format.

 Volume 10 80 King Neathâ€™s Eldest Daughter

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 80 King Neath¡¯s Eldest Daughter</h4>

    King Neath grew more restless and morose by the day ever since Baimu left. Rumours of King Neath assaulting servants and vandalising ptial decorations in the pce were abound. Imported soups were fed to dogs. Ginseng imported from Beijiang was fed to fires. Sixteen dishes an imperial chef from the Central in cooked were fed to a pond. An innocent suckling pig and the roasting setup were kicked over yesterday. The only reason King Neath¡¯s bowls survived were because they were made from pure gold.

    Despite the madness, the maids, who were on the receiving end of King Neath, were worried for his health as he had fasted for seven days until a maid discovered shortbread crumbs by the side of his pillow. She, needless to say, couldn¡¯t fathom why he¡¯d refuse to eat his set meals and sneak out to eat dry rations instead.

    King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort rose earlier today to prepare a meal for King Neath and then headed to his residential pce, only for him to order, ¡°Leave it outside. I shall eat after I have finished reading the war report.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s admirable for you to be so devoted to your work. Howbeit, you must take care of your health. You have not eaten at all in days. I am worried sick about you.¡±

    King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort didn¡¯t speak as formally to him when they were alone. Due to their age gap, she sounded closer to a sister speaking to her younger brother. Moreover, she had been helping him on the side ever since he inherited the throne. He, in turn, showed her respect.

    Behind the bed curtains his Princess Consort pulled open were King Neath, who would¡¯ve easily been mistaken as a new concubine, and reports scattered across the bed. His Princess Consort had seen that scene enough times to not bat an eyelid anymore.

    ¡°You have to eat no matter how busy you are. I even personally cooked for you.¡±

    King Neath neither spared his Princess Consort a nce or scowled the way he did at his servants. ¡°¡­ I thought I told you to leave it there. I¡¯ll eat when I can afford to.¡±

    ¡°Neath, are you going to disobey me?¡± While she had a charming curve to her lips, King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort did sound as authoritative as she did gentle. ¡°Get up and eat.¡±

    Like a stubborn kid, King Neath slowly raised his head and drawled, ¡°Okay.¡±

    King Neath got out of bed to get dressed. His uncharacteristic docility mixed with his deliberate slow motions - a way of conveying defiance - would have the maids swooning over him. Perhaps that was why his Princess Consort let him have his way whilst smiling to herself.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°¡­ Thank you.¡± King Neath finally expressed after sitting at the table for almost a minute.

    ¡°Silly boy. Don¡¯t worry about that. Dig in.¡±

    King Neath just stared at the bowl of soup his Princess Consort passed him.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯s your favourite. It¡¯s going to be cold if you keep staring.¡±

    King Neath looked up at his Princess Consort and then peered at the window. Speaking from behind his teeth, he replied, ¡°Uhm¡­ It is my favourite.¡±

    King Neath was ready to have the soup when someone running outside cried, ¡°Why are you stopping me?! We have trouble! Someone is storming into the pce right now to see Guya Martial Paragon! He has already toppled over a hundred guards! Your Majesty, your subordinate went to Guya Martial Paragon, but he said he cannot leave the stable without your permission! Let me go! Your Majesty! Your Majesty! We have trouble! Someone is storming into the pce to see Guya Martial Paragon! What should we do?!¡±

    King Neath sprung to his feet. ¡°Th-there¡¯s an emergency. We might have a strong intruder. I will eat once I get back. We need Feng Xue to stop the intruder first.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± King Neath¡¯s Princess Consort caught him mid-stride and put him back in his seat. ¡°I rose early to prepare this meal for you,¡± she said as she held the bowl of soup up to his mouth with a smile. ¡°You can go after you have this bowl of soup.¡±

    ¡°B-¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    The darkness in her eyes defeated King Neath.

    King Neath hit the concrete running upon changing andcing up his boots. He had his military gear worn over his overcoat and carried a de on his belt even though it was just a trip to the conference room, where Feng Xue was waiting.

    ¡°Feng Xue, you know we have a trespasser. Do you know what the consequences of letting someone disturb our breakfast is?!¡±

    Standing at the bottom of the golden staircase, Feng Xue responded, ¡°This old one apologises.¡±

    ¡°Why have you not stopped the infiltrator when they are looking for you and demand I grant you an audience?¡±

    Feng Xue performed visual recon of King Neath¡¯s eyes prior to answering, ¡°This old one is but a guest. He has not been disciplined for offending you. As a criminal, he has no freedom. As he has no freedom, how can he see a guest?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t y word games with me. If you don¡¯t take a stand when someone is imposing on me, where is your loyalty?! You abandoned my father the same way back then¡­ Men, detain that braised pork shoulders in soy sauce whatever! If a hundred men aren¡¯t enough, send five hundred. If five hundred aren¡¯t enough, send a thousand!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°As for this cur, I shall personally discipline him. Take him to Anyewu Hall!¡±

    Anyewu Hall, the ce for Baimu¡¯s King to personally interrogate prisoners, had ¡°Anye¡± (dark night) in its name precisely because it was so dark that blood wasn¡¯t visible. Being interrogated in that hall was humiliating to warriors of Nanjiang, which was why King Neath¡¯s vassals immediately urged him to reconsider his decision.

    ¡°The next person to plead for him will be executed!¡± wasn¡¯t enough to deter the senior vassals from continue trying to dissuade King Neath. Nheless, King Neath kicked the first vassal to defy him and then personally dragged Feng Xue off.

    King Neath kicked Feng Xue into the hall at shut the door behind him - not forgetting to grab a hammer first. At this point, nobody could interfere with anything that took ce inside for it was a rule that nobody could step inside.

    Subsequent to the sound of the door closing behind him, King Neath¡¯s tone changed. ¡°Feng Xue, save me.¡±

    ¡°This old one knew there had to be more to why you asked a soldier to risk his life to summon him back, yet you did not mention a word of it. Your Majesty, what happened? Also¡­ why are you a boy now?¡±

    Feng Xue didn¡¯t recall the previous King of Baimu having a son. His only daughter was Ah Neath - the current monarch of Baimu.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to exin the whole story!¡± The girl in disguise clutched Feng Xue¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Great Spirit Shaman and that conniving Princess Consort are conspiring against me. If you don¡¯t help me, I will only have a few more days to live!¡±

 Volume 10 81 The Queenâ€™s Secret

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 81 The Queen¡¯s Secret</h4>

    ¡°There are too many details for me to tell you now, so I¡¯ll summarise it.¡± Ah Neath took a quick look outside to estimate how much time she had.

    ¡°For some reason, Father suddenly died after you left. Princess Consort, well, she wasn¡¯t my Princess Consort yet then. She, a direct member of Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s group, was sent to me from Mount Wanyu. Thanks to the esteem she and Baimu were held in, the state wasn¡¯t plunged into chaos.

    ¡°Because the state values men over women, she suggested I ascend the throne as a boy. Not many people in the court recognised me, so we only needed to convince those who did to keep my secret.

    ¡°She helped me consolidate my rule and eliminated anyone who was a threat to my rule, so I was grateful to her and did as she said. I took her as my Princess Consort so that she could legitimately handle political affairs for me.¡±

    ¡°That exins why you took a Princess Consort as a woman. She knows everything in that case.¡±

    ¡°Of course she does.¡± Ah Neath drew blood from her lip with her teeth. ¡°After I was enthroned, I wanted toplete the Ahhuda Ceremony so that I could obtain authority over the military. You know I require the approval of a Great Spirit Shaman if I want toplete it before the age of twenty. Baimu kept putting obstacles in my way, while that wench imed to have lost contact with Mount Wanyu. I believed her, so I only threw a tantrum. Looking back, I should be grateful for having a short fuse and speaking without consulting my brain first. They would¡¯ve killed me already if I was shrewd, and they were probably nning to the entire time.

    ¡°At a banquet, I had a few too many drinks with the wench. I¡¯m not good at holding my liquor, but it was an important banquet, so I took a pill to alleviate the effects of alcohol. Therefore, I was still aware of my surroundings when I was sleeping.

    ¡°I was asleep when Baimu barged into my room and climbed straight into my bed. I was almost as alert as if I didn¡¯t have a drop of alcohol when he tried to unbutton my cor. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was trying to vite me because he knows my secret and treats himself as my superior. I was going to reproach him when the wench came in to stop him.

    ¡°I was ready to fight Baimu to the death if he dared to harm her, so I continued feigning, waiting for an opportunity to catch him off guard. Never did I expect to hear her say, ¡®What are you doing? She¡¯s still useful. His Eminence made it clear that nobody was to touch her. You have a death wish?¡¯

    ¡°I heard everything they said, though I didn¡¯t understand what it was all about.

    ¡°Baimu replied, ¡®She¡¯s growing prettier by the day. Her bust and peach are also growing well¡­ Not even her chest cloth can hold them knockers in anymore. She¡¯ll have to go sooner orter, so why not let me have a taste first?¡¯¡±

    ¡°In the coldest voice I ever heard from her, the wench threatened, ¡®You think you¡¯re the only one who thinks she¡¯s pretty?¡¯

    ¡°I remember even Baimu was shocked. He asked, ¡®You mean, His Eminence also¡­¡¯

    ¡°The wench replied, ¡®Apart from that, she¡¯s also Baimu¡¯s current King. While you have authority over the military, it doesn¡¯t mean everyone is subservient to you. If nothing else, not one of the generals Martial Paragon mentored are willing to befriend you. The runt¡¯s authority is growing, and she¡¯s gaining followers. If we can¡¯t provide eptable justification, harming her will only harm us. Why did we jump through all the hoops to kill her father seven years ago? What have these seven years we invested into consolidating her rule been for? How can you overthrow a nation without patience? Get out.¡¯

    ¡°Based on the conversation, I deciphered that even Baimu had to take orders from her.

    ¡°I considered her my sister ever since my father passed away, yet¡­ Hahaha, how ironic.¡±

    Ah Neath was someone who was to the point, had a fiery temper and mediocre memory, yet she recounted the memories fluently. How many times did she have to relive those nightmares to perform that perfect recital?

    ¡°Did you think I would cry? Crying doesn¡¯t solve the problem. I was done crying ages ago.¡± There wasn¡¯t a single tear on Ah Neath¡¯s face.

    ¡°You have always been steadfast, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Ever since that night, my temperament became unpredictable. I was afraid to push them away, but I didn¡¯t want to get close to them. The only solution was to show ack of empathy, be unreasonable and as temperamental as possible. Being called insane is much better than pretending to be friendly with them. And, hey, asionally having a spell would let me curse and hit that wench without repercussion.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I have to give them credit for bearing with me and patiently waiting. I have a strong suspicion they¡¯ve been waiting for this opportunity to mobilise troops that Heisina Tribe¡¯s actions have granted them. If I¡¯m not wrong, they n to coax me into joining the frontlines, letting someone else do their bidding. That¡¯s why¡­ I summoned you back.

    ¡°Because I wasn¡¯t sure if you¡¯d assist me or not, I tested you¡­ Feng Xue, no matter how you twist the story, it¡¯s not your fault the state faced turmoil after you departure. Father¡¯s death was not your fault; someone else is culpable for his death. I appreciate you answering my call for help when you have retired. I did not mean to make you sleep in the stable or ssh you with hot soup.¡±

    Feng Xue smiled - d and assured. ¡°Although this old one iste, he is not toote.¡± Feng Xue gently caressed Ah Neath¡¯s head, reminding her of herte father¡¯s gentle touch. ¡°This old one¡¯s return must have caused you problems.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Firstly, you¡¯re a menace to them. Secondly, I used your return as a medium to expand my avable actions, starting with sending Baimu away. I know the wench is anxious now because of my movements. Thus¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed, you have been beside yourself recently. Was it to avoid suspicion?¡±

    ¡°I must be on guard. If she wants to kill me, she¡¯llmit to it today or within the next few days. I¡¯ve deliberately withheld from consuming anything they provide, but today¡­ I never predicted she¡¯d personally bring food to me. She had someone stay at the door, so I couldn¡¯t make any moves. In the end, I had to finish her soup. My concern is that she will use more direct means now, such as assassination.¡±

    ¡°She did assign sixteen skilled assassins around your residential pce.¡±

    ¡°H-how do you know?¡±

    ¡°This old one has nothing but time on his hands; he takes strolls around the pce to kill time. When he came across suspicious people, he took it upon himself to capture them. They have not sent any more assassins after this old one scared them.¡±

    ¡°Sh-she already made an attempt on my life but failed? F-Feng Xue, you must help me, or I¡¯m doomed.¡±

    Feng Xue contemted to himself, then shook his head: ¡°Your Majesty, this old one is too old and only has one arm. He may not be any help.¡±

    ¡°Y-you were Morcher¡¯s Sacred Beast. Morcher¡¯s King is my uncle. He¡¯s myst rtive. You must help me!¡±

    ¡°Fret not, Your Majesty. As long as this old one is still breathing, he will not let anyone harm you.¡±

    Ah Neath exhaled only to tense up again: ¡°But didn¡¯t you s-¡±

    ¡°This old one did not lie: he is old and too weak to salvage the situation. Howbeit, you still have a chance. One source of hope has just presented itself to you.¡±

    ¡°What hope? Tell me.¡±

    ¡°Jiang Zhouzi.¡±

    ¡°¡­Braised pork shoulders in soy sauce¡­? Am I a joke to you?!¡±

 Volume 10 82 Martial Paragon and the Youth

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 82 Martial Paragon and the Youth</h4>

    Unless my memory was awry, the first time I met Martial Paragon was at Emei. Emei is rtively close to Nanjiang, which was why it was within his active area. Since Shifu was close to them at the time, I frequented Emei with him. I remember seeing Lass Yu¡¯s grandpa, Emei¡¯s matriarch and Uncle Martial Paragon that visit.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I seldom visited people at New Year to pay my respects. Technically, I rarely visited any big events since I had a tendency to say things I shouldn¡¯t. I usually said things like, ¡°May good timesst forever.¡± As a result, they tended to see me in the same light as my shifu - especially Uncle Martial Paragon. I had never been insulted so much until I saw the way Martial Paragon looked at us as though we were cut from the same cloth.

    ¡°Was there a need to turn the pce upside down just to see me?¡± The uncle I remembered sauntered into the hall with his nostalgic smile.

    I didn¡¯t catch his footsteps?

    Given they only let me into the pce after I dropped a few hundred guards at the pce entrance, I figured it would be quite an ordeal to see him, yet he came to me.

    Uncle Martial Paragon helped himself to a seat and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be shy like your shifu. Kids should be modest and honest.¡±

    At most, he was only a tad older, not so much appearance-wise but mentally, simrly to someone diagnosed with chronic stress.

    I knew several Divine Realm adepts; however, there were only three whom I respect, Uncle Martial Paragon being one of them. I mean, the man was dressed in shoddy clothing, had two white buns on his head and was somewhat hunched over, yet he still looked cool. If I wanted to pick an appearance when I was an old man, I¡¯d want to be him. It certainly would save me the trouble of dying my hair.

    ¡°Ooooh, they say the weather beats one ruthlessly, yet you have not aged at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You still have your ¡®unique¡¯ way ofplimenting people, I see. You trying to put me in a coffin sooner?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t plunge the pce into chaos just to wish me eternal youth, did you?¡±

    ¡°No, no.¡± I offered a palm-fist salute. ¡°Greetings, Elder Martial Paragon.¡±

    ¡°Just call me ¡®Uncle¡¯ as usual. I¡¯m not used to you being polite. What did you want to see me for?¡±

    ¡°Oh, drop the pretence. You would not meet me here if you did not know. Long-story short, I have two reasons for seeing you.¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon had a nip of two. ¡°First, you must want me to help you y the beast in Nieyao, correct?¡±

    ¡°d you got straight to the point.¡± I sat down to have a sip of tea. ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°I refuse.¡±

    I jumped to my feet: ¡°Wait! Hang on! Hold up! Slow down! Do not refuse so fast!¡±

    ¡°I refuse your first request. You can tell me your second request now.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Let us talk about the first one!¡±

    The six evil beasts were believed to be the descendants of the dragon race, each having different personalities. Since Heisina Tribe was forging a weapon to y them, the beast may very well take offence to it and march out of Nieyao. If assailing it failed to bring it down, half of the blood it spilt would be from Nanjiang¡¯s denizens.

    Nobody could persuade me that the reason Uncle Martial Paragon came out of retirement wasn¡¯t rted to Nieyao. He cared about the wellbeing of his state and people as much as Emperor Yuansheng cared for his nation and people. I assumed it¡¯d be tough to broach the second request, but he wasn¡¯t going to turn me away when the safety of Nanjiang¡¯s people was hanging in the bnce. I envisioned himing with me to Nieyao after my first request, allowing me to bring up my second request when the conditions were more ¡°right¡±; I didn¡¯t expect him to throw my script out the window.

    I repeated everything he already knew again to then question, ¡°Why do you refuse to help?!¡±

    ¡°I am no help.¡±

    ¡°I assume you do not know who has signed up for the expedition.¡±

    You wouldn¡¯t see Luo Ming, Abels and Lai Jingzhen fighting on the same team in decades. If we could add Uncle Martial Paragon to the team, we could reduce our death toll even further.

    Subsequent to hearing who our forces consisted off, Uncle Martial Paragon digressed. ¡°Nieyao¡­ is Xiacang Anxi¡¯s most ominous page of history. People want to turn the page, but they can¡¯t. Heavenly Swordsman is an extraordinary swordsman and formed an amicable alliance with Heisina Tribe. s, his defeat was inexorable. He didn¡¯t understand what Nieyao means to Xiacang Anxi. The ancient, cursed entity that a nation doesn¡¯t want to face is still nestled in that city. Do you,¡± he made unshaking eye contact with me, ¡°reallyprehend what you are getting yourself into?¡±

    Holding my gaze against his, I answered, ¡°Nobody knows how to y the cmitous beasts better than Mount Daluo, including¡­ the secrets in Nieyao¡¯s royal pce.¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon finally understood what I was getting at. He shut his eyes to mull on everything for a while. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re implying now. Still, I maintain my stance. This is Xiacang Anxi¡¯s problem. We do not need outsiders getting involved. While I won¡¯t stop you, you can¡¯t tell me what to do.¡±

    ¡°I will say it again: nobody knows how to deal with them better than us. If we do not join the expedition and the beast surfaces, more people will die than you can count.¡±

    ¡°Alternatively, have peace with Heisina Tribe. Give them a proper identity. Give themnd. Allow them to let go of their fixation on what happened in Nieyao.¡±

    ¡°They do not wantnd or status. You know that better than I do, no?¡±

    ¡°I do. Even so, this is an irresistible temptation. Heisina Beussent is my student, so I know him best. Peace may not change his goal. Nevertheless, most Heisina Tribe members will be satisfied with the offer and move on. Consequently, he will lose his allies without a fight.¡±

    ¡°You conniving coot¡­¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°You do realise it is only a question of time, right? Heisina Tribe was never the root cause.¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon helped himself to another drink of tea. ¡°My point is, your forces are not enough to tackle the challenge. I thought I made myself clear enough.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°Ming Huayu and your grandmaster have real experience ying them. If they were here, I might cooperate with them. You, on the other hand, don¡¯t have that experience. Do you know how many cmitous beasts are in there? Do you know their power levels? Do you know how to defeat them?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I am not without a n.¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m underestimating you? I¡¯m not underestimating your strength at all.¡± Uncle Martial Paragon returned his cup to the table. Looking into my eyes as if I was an open book, he expressed, ¡°If you and I could rewind our clocks back ten years, we might be able to have a third match. Regrettably, I only have one arm left and have rusted. It would be your lopsided victory if we fought now, which is exactly why¡­

    ¡°Not only am I no match for you, but neither is Luo Ming, Abels nor Lai Jingzhen. Don¡¯t forget, Ming Feizhen, you aren¡¯t just invincible; you also have the potential to be the most cmitous demon in the world. I take it you haven¡¯t forgotten what happened ten years ago.¡±

    I subtly and bitterly lifted the corners of my lips: ¡°I would not be able to¡­ even if I wanted to.¡±

    ¡°You embody three incredible disciplines. Hardly anyone in the Central in could rival you by the time you were eighteen, yet the demon¡¯s allure still lulled you in. While I don¡¯t know the reasons for your decision, I believe I have the right to say something. The stronger you are, the more you are a problem in Nieyao.

    ¡°Nobody can foresee what will happen. Your fight with the beast may awaken your demonic side. Who can stop you if you give in to your demons again? How can your allies tell if you are their ally or another cmitous beast?¡±

    I sat back down slowly and rubbed my head: ¡°You¡­ have a point.¡±

    I never dismissed the risk or neglected it. If Young Shiyi got hurt in battle, I couldn¡¯t promise I wouldn¡¯t lose it as I did ten years ago.

    ¡°This is a surprise.¡± Uncle Martial Paragon cracked a smile. ¡°I thought you¡¯d feel insulted and challenge me,¡± he added, prior to ejecting qi that almost disfigured all the furniture.

    ¡­ This old bugger has been keeping his guard up this whole time? Y-you¡¯re bloody shrewd as hell!

    ¡°You¡¯ve grown, though. You¡¯re no longer as impulsive. Found the girl you were looking for back then?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No, not yet. I am still searching. Thank you for asking.¡± I rubbed my face to avoid being teased. ¡°Seeing as my first request has been rejected, I shall get straight to my second topic of interest. I believe you will not reject my second request.¡±

    ¡°That will depend on what it is about. If you¡¯re going to ask for a money loan, you can quit while you¡¯re ahead.¡±

    ¡°I do not think you will object to this.¡± I stepped away from my seat and kowtowed to Martial Paragon. ¡°I sincerely thank you for saving me! Had you not sacrificed your arm to snap me out of it, my hands would be stained with immeasurable amounts of bloodshed and brought misfortune to innumerable families. I will always be grateful for your sacrifice.¡±

    Glossary

    May good timesst forever - Not a very urate trantion. There are numerous ways to say, ¡°Long live so and so,¡± and you don¡¯t always add a subject to it. For that reason, selecting the appropriate thing to say is important because not all of them can be used to wish people a long life. Some are wishes for a long and healthy rtionship. Some are wishes for good times tost etc. Ming Feizhen chose one for objects when he was wishing someone a long and healthy life.

    The weather beats one ruthlessly - The meaning of ¡°weather-beaten¡± in this phrase is meant to be used to say, ¡°You must ovee difficulty in order to improve,¡± the weather in the phrase being used as a symbol of difficulty, so Ming Feizhen misused the phrase just as he does with New Year¡¯s wishes.

 Volume 10 83 Uncle

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 83 Uncle</h4>

    Uncle Martial Paragon was stunned for a second before he burst out inughter until his sides hurt. ¡°Since when did Mount Daluo have someone so honest? I didn¡¯t expect that at all.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I sincerely apologise on behalf of my shifu for imprinting a wrong image about us.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Get up.¡±

    Because Uncle Martial Paragon waved his hand at me, it made me feel even guiltier about taking his arm from him. Therefore, I dug my head even lower.

    ¡°Haha, I wasn¡¯t saving anyone. It was a fight. I was fighting you, not saving you. I can¡¯t be expected to remember how many fights I¡¯ve had in my lifetime. If people who lost to me want revenge, there wouldn¡¯t be enough of me even if they ground me to bits. We Xiacang Anxi warriors don¡¯t cry or make fusses if we lose an arm or a leg in a fight. Besides, how can Iin if I was inferior? You going to me someone for hitting you when it was you who failed to defend yourself? Hahahaha.¡±

    I was aware he was trying to erase my guilt - for the most part. I remembered how dangerous the situation was back then. Plus, I forced him to ept the fight. Head down, I expressed, ¡°You had slept me; if you wanted to finish me, would I be here right now? You are being too modest.¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken again. If I truly overwhelmed you, how did I lose an arm? The reason I was able to sleep you was because you had lost your mind. To say I could kill you because I still had one arm is also incorrect. While you were out, you weren¡¯t hurt. Given the sturdiness of your qi armour, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill you. If you mean throwing you off a high cliff, then maybe I¡¯d kill you. I¡¯d live in shame for the rest of my life if people heard that, though, hahaha.¡±

    Seeing me still down, Martial Paragon continued, ¡°Don¡¯t assume you¡¯re the reason I retired. My strength was unaffected after I lost my arm. I even had a reputable physician stitch my arm up; I didn¡¯t even lose a tenth of my skills. Get up now. You expect me to pull you up when I¡¯m not strong enough to move you anymore?¡±

    I slowly got to my feet.

    That means he was able to reattach his arm subsequent to our fight but then lost it a few monthster, eventually leading him to his current state.

    ¡°What¡­¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about me now. I¡­ have changed my opinion of you slightly. Seeing you bow your head and apologising gives me the confidence to bet on you.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    ¡°We can flesh out the details another time. If you want my help, you also need to help me.¡±

    ¡°Consider it done.¡± I thumped my chest. ¡°Give me ten requests, and I willplete one!¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°My bad. Old habit. Old habit. Give me ten requests, and I shallplete ten!¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon yed with his beard for a brief moment: ¡°I was going to ask you for help on the matter to begin with. If you refuse to help because I refuse to join your campaign, I shall ckmail you with the guilt of taking my arm.¡±

    ¡­ The martial artsmunity and I want to banish you from themunity!

    ¡°A favour for a favour is only fair. If you want my help, help someone on my behalf. If she is okay with you helping, I am at your service.¡±

    ¡°Mm?! A man¡¯s word is as good as gold! No going back! Please sign and stamp a contract!¡± I whipped out all thepulsory writing instruments and wrote something to the effect of: Martial Paragon promised so and so on so, on so and so date. The terms and conditions were¡­ Should he go back on his word, he must call himself a dog (¡®dog¡¯ written in erged font). ¡°Stamp here!¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon curled his lips: ¡°I guess ites with being Ming Huayu¡¯s disciple. He must¡¯ve duped you a lot, you poor boy.¡±

    Don¡¯t just ept the fact! Why didn¡¯t you stop him if you knew there was a problem with him?! Does your heart not ache?!

    I jubntly put away the contract Uncle Martial Paragon stamped with his finger at my badgering. ¡°Okay, what is it that you need my assistance with?¡±

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be hard for you, but you¡¯ll need to work for this old one to talk.¡± Uncle Martial Paragon shed a corner of his white pearls.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°If you can make me get out of my chair, I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

    Oh, you think you smart, huh?

    I pointed to thest line in the contract: ¡°Remember: if you do not d-.¡±

    ¡°The ¡®you¡¯ at the moment is you. Wait¡­ You worried you can¡¯t pull me out of my chair?¡±

    As vexing as it was, he was right.

    ¡°I cannoty my hands on you when I owe you.¡±

    ¡°Did you develop a wishy-washy side? At least show me how much you¡¯ve improved. I still remember our fight like it was yesterday. I may be old now, but I can still have an exchange or two.¡±

    I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to attack my benefactor despite what he said, especially since he was getting on with age. What would I do if his fangirls got mad and came at me?

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? If you keep hesitating, the sun will go down. If you can¡¯t get me out of my seat, I won¡¯t give you the task.¡±

    It took a while, but I finally found inspiration: ¡°Uncle, my shifu often talks about you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Your shifu? What did he say?¡±

    ¡°You suck at card games.¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon jumped out of his chair and clutched mypels: ¡°What was that?! You can take my head or drain my blood, but I will not forgive anyone for insulting my skills at card games!¡±

    ¡°You got out of your seat! A man¡¯s word is worth gold!¡±

 Volume 10 84 Queen and Trouble-Magnet Feizhen (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 84 Queen and Trouble-Ma Feizhen (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Who is he? He looks like a vige bum.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: Rx, Ming Feizhen. Breathe. Don¡¯t deck him.

    Some feminine punk had his finger at my nose as he mouthed of at some underground chamber I was led to. The only reason I was fighting the urge to clock him was because Uncle Martial Paragon asserted that the punk was the only one who could make him change his mind.

    ¡°Neath, Feizhen, introduce yourselves. You will be helping each other a lot in theing days. That goes double for you, Neath. Even if you don¡¯t help him, he has alternatives, but you won¡¯t be able to do anything without his aid.¡±

    I inhaled plenty of oxygen into my chest.

    ¡°Him?¡± The fair-faced punk ran his eyes up and down me. ¡°I can¡¯t even stand his face. Oi, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    I cast my gaze to the ceiling: ¡°Qin Babei.¡±

    ¡°Pffthaha, what sort of name is that? Qin Babei¡­ Huh? Dear Dad? Oi, how dare you make a fool out of me, punk?!¡±

    ¡°Not ¡®Punk¡¯. Qin. Ba. Bei.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you executed!¡±

    ¡°Have me executed? Who are you? My King or my mother?!¡±

    The flower boy actually surveyed the surroundings for a de to chop me, so I waited from a distance, nning to win from a distance.

    ¡°Calm down, both of you.¡± Uncle Martial Paragon held his hand out between us. ¡°Why are you already arguing when you¡¯ve only met each other for the first time?¡±

    ¡°Because! Because!¡± The pretty boy turned to Uncle Martial Paragon and pushed him. ¡°It¡¯s actually all your fault! You said you were going to find someone to rescue me! I can¡¯t believe I believed you. How can he help me? Get him out of here and help me yourself. Don¡¯t forget that my mother¡¯s elder sister is Uncle Lasuo¡¯s wife. You must help me!¡±

    Is my uncle someone you can push around?! What good is my contract if he¡¯s incapacitated?!

    ¡°I can¡¯t help you? What makes you think I can¡¯t help you?¡± I didn¡¯t know what I was supposed to help with, but you can¡¯t lose the war even if you lose the battle. Besides, how would you know squat about me when we¡¯ve barely met for a minute?

    ¡°Because you¡¯re ugly!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll smash you!¡±

    ¡°Calm down. Both of you. Feizhen, calm down. If you hit back, you are admitting to the fact. Calm down. You¡¯re a cultured man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay. It¡¯s nothing. Maybe you need to check your reflection in a bucket of water.¡±

    ¡°Heh, at least I look better than you,¡± the flower boy pped back.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even ce in a good-looks contest in our organisation. You don¡¯t have my Xiao¡¯s beauty. You don¡¯t have Tang Ye¡¯s coolness, either. The only one you¡¯re better looking than is me, hahaha.¡±

    ¡­ I furtively wiped my tears.

    Uncle Martial Paragon patted my shoulder and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I didn¡¯t ask you to add another attack! Don¡¯t try tofort people if you don¡¯t know how to!

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about what we came here for. We don¡¯t have all day. You two are now acquainted, but let me add some important details¡­ Neath, don¡¯t spit.¡±

    ¡°He spat at me first!¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon sighed: ¡°I¡¯m not going to bother stopping you two if you can¡¯t get along anymore, but no fighting.¡±

    I surreptitiously slipped the brick I was pulling out back into my sash. Why did I have a brick? They weremonly seen and needed.

    ¡°You two need to stop shouting, or you won¡¯t hear me. Of course, if you have something to say, you can raise your hand to object. Otherwise, don¡¯t interrupt me.¡± Uncle Martial Paragon held his hand out to the smug flower boy. ¡°Allow me to introduce you to Neath, Baimu¡¯s reigning monarch.¡±

    I slung my hand up: ¡°Objection!¡±

    ¡°What are you objecting to? It¡¯s his identity, not your cooperation content.¡±

    ¡°What type of monarch is that snarky? Who voted him in? Have we agreed? Has it been reported to our government? Does he have the approval of our Xiacang Anxi people? I shall lead the protest. Our organisation and the people will take to the streets in a minute to have him abdicate! Did you just spit? I¡¯ll report you for vandalising the environment!¡±

    ¡°Feng Xue, I asked you to help me protect the throne! He wants to lead the insurgence!¡±

    ¡°Neath, don¡¯t underestimate him. Surely you¡¯ve heard of the Central in¡¯s three top sects, Shaolin, Wudang and Mount Daluo. All of their adepts are on par with our own. In fact, a number of them are above our Twelve Sacred Beasts. He is Mount Daluo¡¯s next patriarch.¡±

    ¡°H-he is¡­¡±

    I was all smug until I heard, ¡°He¡¯s the senior of that oddball, Lian Zhuiyue?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°A few days ago, your junior came to my ce to tell me my state¡¯s taxes are inurate as well as the military being corrupt. He also imed officials hadn¡¯t settled a fight that cost over a hundred livesst month.¡±

    ¡°Serious? Your state is rotten,¡± I ribbed.

    Neath threw his shoe toward my face: ¡°It¡¯s not your business, and it¡¯s not his business. Weirdo writes ten thousand characters and expects me to resolve the issues immediately after I finish reading. I imprisoned him for being stupid and burnt hisint.¡±

    ¡°He may be rash, but was there a need for you to be so mad?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know that many characters!¡±

    ¡­ As his only teacher, I apologise on his behalf.

    ¡°The apple doesn¡¯t fall far from the tree. I don¡¯t trust this guy. Feng Xue, get him out of here¡­ Not to mention he¡¯s painful to look at.¡±

    Neath¡¯sst line sparked another war of verbal barbs.

 Volume 10 85 Queen and Trouble-Magnet Feizhen (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 85 Queen and Trouble-Ma Feizhen (Part 2)</h4>

    Uncle Martial Paragon chugged back tea from a big copper teapot and then pulled me aside in the middle of my quarrel with the flower boy. ¡°Please bear with Neath. Consider it doing me a favour. Neath was spoilt rotten as a kid.¡±

    ¡°I absolutely cannot forg-¡±

    Uncle Martial Paragon massaged my shoulder with a warm smile: ¡°You¡¯re older, more experienced, stronger, morepetent, more tolerant, smarter and¡­¡±

    Forget holding a grudge. The corners of my lips kept creeping up to my ears. I¡¯m telling you: never underestimate the elders in the martial world, or you¡¯ll walk into mires without realising it.

    ¡°Okay. I will not deign on ount of my respect for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. I shall go tell Neath to be respectful to guests.¡±

    My ears perked up to listen in to what Uncle Martial Paragon told the pretty boy.

    ¡°Your Majesty, consider it doing this old one a favour. His head got caught in the doorway one time when he was a kid.¡±

    ¡°If you ask me, his head must¡¯ve been stomped on! ¡­ Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. Why do you think he looks so hideous?¡±

    ¡°True. You have a point.¡±

    You should stay on to work as a diplomat! You literally invented two unique techniques for two opponents on the spot!

    ¡°Now that you are done arguing, this old one shall resume business. Feizhen wishes to request for a military unit to clear his path into Nieyao and to prevent anyone from sabotaging him whilst he is in there; he does not require the military to enter.¡±

    ¡°You want to go to Nieyao?¡± The flower boy looked serious for the first time - in the business sense. ¡°What do you want? Is this about that ridiculous cmitous beast nonsense again?¡±

    ¡°Cmitous chicken or bird, it¡¯s none of your business. I don¡¯t need your people to sacrifice their lives. I just need them to intimidate anyone trying to get in our way. You should be able to handle that, right?¡±

    Neath went gloomy for the first time. ¡°Easy for you to say. I don¡¯t have authority over the military. Even if I agree, my decree would only be words on a sheet of paper.¡±

    ¡°Uncle, we have the wrong person. Let¡¯s go speak to someone who can mobilise the troops. See ya, son.¡±

    ¡°You have a death wish?!¡±

    ¡°Wait, Feizhen. Although my brother, Baimu, is in control of the military and is decently strong, his motives are not just. He is conspiring with others to usurp Neath¡¯s rule. Due to certain reasons, I can¡¯t act. If you can purge the corrupt vassals and take back authority over the military, you will be Baimu state¡¯s benefactor. Not only will you have your wish granted, but I will also lend you a hand.¡±

    No wonder why he said such a foul-tempered King would be willing to help me and is the only one who can mobilise him. Uncle must¡¯ve owed this flower boy¡¯s father something when he was still the general of Xiacang Anxi but can¡¯t repay the favour due to some circumstances. Guess he¡¯s asking for my help since I happened to drop by. If he¡¯s asking for my help, it must be a tough task.

    I queried, ¡°Your Majesty, will you¡­ cover the expenses for the operation?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± the flower boy answered.

    Great, that considerably reduces the difficulty.

    I asked for some more details to learn how fiendish the situation was. Long-story short, the one with authority over the military and his Princecess Consort were both colluding against him. At this point in time, his Princess Consort was already making attempts on his life, while the bugger with the military under his thumb was locked in battle with Heisina Tribe near Nieyao. I could only pray Heisina Duohua didn¡¯t get caught in something else on her way back.

    Neath and I had a long discussion regarding the terms and conditions, such as whether to call me ¡°Qin Babei¡± or ¡°Freak¡± and so forth. The conclusion we came to was, I¡¯d help him repossess his authority as a monarch in exchange for three hundred thousand taels. In exchange for lending troops to barricade Nieyao, I had to find someone strong enough to be their new sacred beast or whatever they called them.

    ¡°I will spend tonight thinking about where to start. Uncle, just focus on protecting the kid.¡±

    ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±

    Displeased about me marginalising his existence, Neath ordered, ¡°Feng Xue, since you like sleeping in the stable, keep sleeping there. In saying that, you must protect me, so you can¡¯t be too far from me. Set up a sentry station or something near me.¡±

    I shunted the impolite kid. ¡°Oi, mind your manners. Don¡¯t call an adult by their name. If you disrespect him, I¡¯ll make s-¡± I ced my hand on Neath¡¯s chest to shove him, but¡­ I stopped after I touched something soft.

    This spot. This suppleness is like a sack of milk. This warmth is like a meat bun just finished steaming¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There is nothing that can surpass the status of a sacred object, but those, those were not limited by that. They were a warm embrace. They were true motherhood. They were the unforgettable memories recorded in human history¡¯s soul. Even if I were to have my eyes covered, my hands cuffed and body dismembered, I would still stand atop the tallest mountain and yell, ¡°Boobies!¡±

    ¡°Pfft!¡± Uncle Martial Paragon let loose his tea, seemingly reading my mind.

    I looked over to Uncle Martial Paragon to see him trying to wipe his joy off his face; he even had, ¡°Consider yourself lucky¡± written all over his damn face.

    (Why didn¡¯t you tell me Neath is a girl when you knew?!)

    (She¡¯s Baimu¡¯s Queen, Ah Neath. Owing to circumstances, she has to disguise herself as a man¡­)

    (You deliberately withheld that from me, didn¡¯t you?!)

    Is there a tunnel or something I can escape from down here?

    ¡°Aaaaaahh!¡±

    Startled because of Ah Neath¡¯s scream, my five sinners squeezed the mountain they were on. The moment I was aware of what I did, I recoiled my hand as fast as I could.

    Face as red as blood, Ah Neath shouted, ¡°Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Sorry.¡± I ced my hand back where it was a second ago.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll have you executed. I¡¯ll have you executed! To the prison for prisoners on death row!¡±

 Volume 10 86 The Nature of Men

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 86 The Nature of Men</h4>

    The uncanny curve on Ming Suwen¡¯s lips that she was applying red rouge to was the level two alert at Mount Daluo - the equivalent of ¡°enemy invasion¡± and ¡°Patriarch¡¯s wives have caught him at Mingyue Brothel¡±. Regrettably, the usual ultimate weapon (read: shield) used to dismantle the crisis - Ming Feizhen - wasn¡¯t present.

    Ming Suwen swept her gaze over her three nephews and chortled softly. With one hand holding up her chin, she examined her other hand¡¯s fingernails: ¡°Do I need to tell you what to do? Kiddos, take turns report what you¡¯ve been doing.¡±

    The three looked at each other to see relief in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Sima Huai aerated his chest: ¡°I have cleaned a hundred and fifty-nine toilets, sent thirty-eight letters, eaten ny-five meals as w-¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I was after.¡± The only person Ming Suwen demanded those kinds of highly-detailed reports from was Ming Feizhen. Everyone else? She wasn¡¯t so keen to hear their voices. ¡°Done anything you feel guilty about?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I embezzled five hundred silver taels to buy tea and fabricated parts of the ledger to cover my tracks. I am a sinner.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, what sort of tea costs five hundred?¡±

    ¡°Mingqian longjing before the rain tea. I cannot stand b-grade tea.¡±

    ¡°So, you erred?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How¡±

    ¡°I forgot to save a serve for you.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s what I like to hear. Fourth?¡±

    Rather than call it a report, it was more akin to a family chat. If one was just listening in without knowing Ming Suwen, they¡¯d likely presume she was just casually checking in on them. In reality, she learnt how they were doing.

    The three assumed Ming Suwen was going to vent on them for Emperor Yuansheng giving her a dodgy entity, so they were d to hear she wasn¡¯t mad.

    Ming Suwen went to sit on the bed with Xia¡¯er after she was done applying rouge to quietly talk.

    ¡°By the way, what was His Majesty talking about when he mentioned giving you profiles and identities? Why are you calling Miss Shen ¡®Ma¡¯am Ming¡¯? When did she be the owner of apany? If she¡¯s Ma¡¯am Ming, who¡¯s the owner?¡±

    Sima Huai: Oh crud. She didn¡¯t just let it go but didn¡¯t understand? I suppose His Majesty¡¯s thinking can¡¯t be understood unless you exin everything. Where do I even start, though?

    Xia¡¯er raised her hand: ¡°I shall exin. His Majesty assigned everyone an identity to use whilst in Nanjiang. Sister-in-l-, Sister Shen is the wife of Yizhen Company¡¯s chairman - Chairman Ming, which is Brother Feizhen. Don¡¯t worry about it, Sister Suwen. Although girls fall for him everyone he goes - like my dad - I think Sister-inw is also having a hard time.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    A simple ¡°Hmm¡­¡± had all three of them on edge.

    ¡°No wonder why you all call her Sister-inw¡­ Tsk, tsk, it¡¯s so easy to be main when your father is an Emperor, huh?¡±

    Finally yielding to his conscience, Sima Huai confessed, ¡°Grandaunt, First Brother was the one who ordered all of this before he left. I swear on my life I had nothing to do with it.¡±

    ¡°Nobody is ming you or him. He¡¯s be the owner of thepany without even knowing about it. Thing is, the profiles¡­¡± Ming Suwen half smiled. ¡°By the way, what was the identity His Majesty gave me?¡±

    ¡°He says you are Ma¡¯am Ming¡¯s elder sister and reside at Lin City. The story goes that you came to visit since they wereing back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Ming Feizhen¡¯s sister-inw? Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s see if he can withstand his sister-inw¡¯s seduction, then.¡± Ming Suwen licked her lips.

    ***

    Answering to Emperor Yuanshen¡¯s call for everyone ¡°important¡± to attend a meeting the next day, Ming Suwen led Mount Daluo¡¯s group, while Abels led Evil Spirit¡¯s remnants.

    Ming Suwen regarded Abels with a smile and nod that A-Lan didn¡¯t miss. Post-recon, A-Lan whispered to Abels, ¡°She¡¯s Mount Daluo¡¯s The Demoness. She¡¯s born with the appearance of a vixen. I say Shen Yiren has met her match. Ming Feizhen is going to be in for it.¡±

    Abels quietly replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Miss Abels. I will never be in that position.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, d you understand.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡­ are Ming Feizhen¡¯s sister?¡± a young girl with an incredibly white skin tone questioned.

    ¡°Uhm, biological sister. Who are you?¡±

    Mountain Monster ran her gaze up and down Xia¡¯er. ¡°Heh, never expected someone so ugly to have such a hot sister.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Him being ugly doesn¡¯t stop me being pretty.¡±

    ¡°Tr-true¡­ Uh, where is he now?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ You¡¯re also looking for him? Just how many girls did he hit on? Look, I don¡¯t want you to get your hopes up, so I¡¯d like to kindly inform you that you definitely can¡¯t be main or second. Since you registered early, I can save the spot of personal maid for you. You want?¡±

    Mountain Monster spat to the side. ¡°Daddy got business with him. His second brother owes me a hundred thousand silver taels and said he¡¯d repay me. Where is he? Has he run off?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it? In that case, join us. Sister Suwen will have to tell us where he is when the meetingmences. If you have anything else to ask, I¡¯ll ask for you.¡±

    Mountain Monster found the suggestion sound enough, so she joined Mount Daluo. While she was standing there, she couldn¡¯t resist the urge to sneak nces at Ming Suwen. Owing to her extensive background in disguise, she was an expert on skin out of necessity. At the end of the day, no matter ugly or beautiful, flesh was just flesh, but Ming Suwen¡¯s beauty made her admit that Ming Suwen was a special specimen.

    Mountain Monster: Her looks may not necessarily be a blessing.

    Emperor Yuansheng and his vassals arrived together at longst. ¡°Hoho, I apologise for making you all wait. We just received some information from Baimu that I want to share with you all right away, which is why I amte.¡±

    Ming Suwen got up to salute: ¡°Long live, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You need not trouble yourself with the pleasantries. We are family. Since you are Yiren¡¯s elder sister, you can just call me ¡®Uncle¡¯, as well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Uncle.¡± Ming Suwen dimpled winsomely whether deliberately or not.

    Once everyone was seated, Emperor Yuansheng jubntlyughed: ¡°Today, we are talking about Chairman Ming. He really has kept us waiting. He said he was going to seek help from Baimu state. At longst, we have received word from our agents.¡±

    ¡°Already? Hero Li, if you ask me, he is using it as an excuse to help himself to a vacation. Please think about it,¡± Long Zaitianmented.

    Hero Li: ¡°Shut up. Have you done anything besides being jealous of him? Stop kissing dragon butt and telling jokes nobodyughs at. Go train if you have so much time on your hands.¡±

    Notwithstanding her purported indifference, Shen Yiren was interested when she heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s name. Likewise, Su Xiao would¡¯ve pestered Emperor Yuansheng to get on with it if thetter wasn¡¯t an Emperor.

    Xia¡¯er whispered, ¡°Third Brother, Sister Suwen reacted out of character when she learned she¡¯s Brother¡¯s sister-inw yesterday, and now she keeps giggling. What¡¯s she thinking?¡±

    ¡°Allow me to edify you,¡± replied Sima Huai.

    ¡°I heard you¡¯ve been single all your life. You understand when you haven¡¯t even touched a girl¡¯s hand?¡±

    ¡°Now, that is false. Go ask the girls at Yihong Brothel. I touch all their hands when I pay them their monthly wage.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°That counts? Might as well say you¡¯ve touched hens¡¯ hindquarters, so you¡¯ve touched women¡¯s backsides.¡±

    ¡°Enough. Let me enlighten you. Right now, Sister-inw is hanging onto her ego. As her sister, Grandaunt can seduce First Brother as she pleases. Grandaunt couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than an easy victory despite the change of ces. Moreover, adultery is always more thrilling than an ordinary romance.¡±

    ¡°Ad-adultery?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Sima Huai pushed up his sses.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know the bad habit of men?¡± Sima Huai pointed to Shen Yiren.

    ¡°The concubine is better than the wife.¡± Sima Huai then shifted his finger to Su Xiao.

    ¡°The mistress you have an affair with is better than the concubine.¡± Sima Huai subsequently pointed to Ming Suwen.

    Xia¡¯er and Mountain Monster nodded. ¡°Oh, enlightening.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng opened the letter and then pped his eyelids after reading it.

    Discerning the subtle facial gestures Emperor Yuansheng went through, Shen Yiren inquired, ¡°Is something wrong, Uncle?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ The letter states that a group of Baimu troops imprisoned Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Everyone took turns expressing concern.

    Emperor Yuansheng borated, ¡°Because he touched Baimu¡¯s King¡¯s chest.¡±

    Everyone spat.

    ¡°Beussent, may I ask: is Baimu¡¯s monarch¡­ a man or woman?¡±

    Beussent: ¡°Man.¡±

    Everyone went silent, unsure how to react.

    Sima Huai: ¡°Could it be that¡­ what you can¡¯t have is even better than a mistress?¡±

    Everyone flicked their thumbs up: ¡°Your wisdom is unrivalled!¡±

 Volume 10 87 My Prison Life

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 87 My Prison Life</h4>

    ¡°Limestone can only be mined from deep mountains after toiling tirelessly. mes cannot tickle limestone. I do not fear braised ribs. All I wish for is to ensure pork shoulders are never lost.¡± - Ming Feizhen, spring, Yuansheng¡¯s 31st year, written from prison.

    The characters I carved onto the wall with my finger looked fine, strong and manly. Regrettably, my genius creativity had my appetite in overdrive.

    Ah Neath, you will regret locking me up. Let¡¯s see what you can do without me. Besides, I only copped a touch. It¡¯s not like I made off with a tit or something. Hmph.

    I crossed my arms and belted, ¡°I¡¯m being unjustly imprisoned. This is oppression! This is inequality! This is robbery of human rights! I want freedom! Freedom!¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± the prison guard howled. ¡°Behave yourself, you dead man walking!¡±

    The prison guard, actually, all of the prison guards were from the Central in or had to be descendants of people from the Central in.

    Nanjiang didn¡¯t have dungeon prisons long ago, and the eleven states still didn¡¯t really use them. Their climate was warm, sunny and humid, so going underground for construction projects was never on their bucketlist. The prisons they used to have were simple cages for beasts. You couldn¡¯t just build something with absolutely no knowledge, which was why people from the Central in were hired to build the dungeon prisons and guard them.

    ¡°Bro, I¡¯m on death row. Don¡¯t I get a farewell meal or anything?¡± I bet my head the prison guard I was speaking to swindled people out of their money many times in the past.

    ck and White Reflection stated that the three hardest types of meals to eat in life were meals you begged for as a beggar, meals you leeched off your partner¡¯s family whilst putting up with their attitude and thest meal you had before you kiss your neck goodbye. I already joined Hong Jiu in begging for a meal. I already had meals from my inws at Jingan¡¯s ce. The only one I had yet to try was the one before losing my head.

    From what I heard, the farewell meal was supposed to consist of a bowl of meat, a bowl of veggies and a bowl of rice. Given it was one¡¯s final meal, the taste should¡¯ve been different to usual; no longer were you tasting food but life.

    I had been longing to try out the taste of a farewell meal, and I wasn¡¯t going to have another opportunity to try it, so why not? Even though I wasn¡¯t going to die, I wanted to get into my role so that I could taste the authentic version.

    ¡°What sort of prisoner on death row tries to talk his way into a free meal? Listen, smart aleck: the date for your execution hasn¡¯t been decided. When it is, I promise you¡¯ll have a meal.¡±

    How long you going to make me wait? You¡¯re just stalling¡­

    The prison guard went back to his seat to drink: ¡°Why would you trigger His Majesty of all things? My pay has been dyed for five months. Thanks to you pissing him off, my pay is going to be dyed for even longer.¡±

    ¡°Your King owes you? Wow, I didn¡¯t expect prison guards to be disgruntled over wage issues.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what are you talking about now? Who said His Majesty owes us?!¡¯

    ¡°What did I say? I just said I was hungry and asked when I¡¯d be getting my farewell meal.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    ¡°By the way, the peanuts on your table are pretty good.¡±

    Since Ah Neath personally gave the order to have me incarcerated, it suggested that I was possibly someone qualified to speak to her face to face. ordingly, the prison guards weren¡¯t too harsh on me, lest ite back to haunt them.

    The disgruntled guard passed me a handful of peanuts. ¡°I¡¯ll have someone bring you a farewell mealter¡­ You¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve met who threatens a prison guard for a meal.¡±

    I relished the crunchy sensation of peanuts in my mouth and then had a swig of wine. ¡°Bro, why are you still here if you¡¯re not getting paid?¡±

    The guard zoned out for a second. ¡°It¡¯s not like His Majesty wants to deprive us. When I was stationed as a sentry for the pce, His Majesty treated us well. Since he hasn¡¯tpleted the ceremony, there are a lot of restrictions imposed on him. We all know,¡± the guard stopped to survey the surroundings and then whispered, ¡°it¡¯s the fault of¡­ Long-story short, it¡¯s the fault of certain people in the government.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Oh, Princess Consort?¡±

    The guard jumped to his feet as if a debt collector came for him. ¡°Don¡¯t put words in my mouth! I never said that! Don¡¯t get me in trouble.¡±

    ¡°I have better things to do than implicate you. I was just asking if you know about her corruption.¡±

    ¡°Wh-who are you? Wh-why are you asking about that?¡±

    ¡°Hah, why do you think I was arrested?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it because you touched his chest?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s the story the public is told. Do you know the real reason?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ You even touched his behind?¡±

    What the fook, mate?! Why you got to go sexual?! And why do you think I¡¯d be so eager to feel a man?!

    ¡°I¡¯m in here of my own volition because I¡¯m trying to investigate the government¡¯s internal affairs. When the entire government is corrupt, where would you find the most innocent people? In here. Bro, you didn¡¯t finish what you were saying. Your sry seriously being withheld?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been performing freebour for five months.¡±

    ¡°Damn, must be tough, huh?¡±

    ¡°If this keeps up, I won¡¯t even be able to feed my kid. When I take the guard dog for a walk, I sometimes look at it the same way it sees crap.¡±

    ¡°D-damn. Do you know why you aren¡¯t being paid?¡±

    ¡°Not really, but they say it¡¯s all because¡­¡± he lowered his voice further, ¡°Her Highness, Princess Consort, wants to raise some soldiers, so she¡¯s embezzling money to feed them.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯d you find out about that?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no shortage of people being thrown in here. They asionally mention state affairs while they¡¯re here, and they are literally cussing when they talk about her. I hear these things from others. Didn¡¯t you say there are innocents? I wasn¡¯t sure if the usations were true or not, but I¡¯m confident now. The officials brought here are all executed in less than three days, which is why, eh, where¡¯s my wine cup? Wh-when did you take my cup?!¡±

    ¡°In other words¡­ your Princess Consort decisively offs anyone who catches her. I hate to imagine how vicious she is when she gets angry.¡±

    ¡°If you offend her, you might as well consider yourself dead. I heard she¡¯s raising soldiers of her own that are superior to His Majesty¡¯s guards. If she wants to kill you, she might just silence you in prison instead of scheduling your execution.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ them?¡± I pointed to the fifteen-odd warriors in ck armour behind the guard.

    The group encroached upon us slowly and precisely, des ready to harvest.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, your Princess Consort sure is quick. She¡¯s already discerned I¡¯m special and wants to eliminate me.¡±

    The guard tried to run, only to be kicked back to my cell, winding him in the process.

    I had another drink: ¡°They¡¯re pretty good. They could kill you with their first swing. The reason they kicked you over here is to kill you in front of my cell. That way, they can fabricate a scenario where I killed you, and then they can drag me out to butcher me under the guise of executing a prison breaker. Experienced and vicious. Seven out of ten from me.¡±

    The terrified guard didn¡¯t hear anything I said. Instead, he frisked himself for a key. The guards only carried one key each, each key being for a different cell. They had no clue which key their cell was for, but who cared when their life was hanging by a thread? Sadly for him, his key wouldn¡¯t fit no matter which way he tried to insert it.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty fast, bro, seeing that you realised you should release me first.¡±

    The guard looked to his side and rubbed his eyes. ¡°Wh-when did you get out?¡±

    ¡°Man, I could crush your cheap iron rails with one hand.¡± I massaged my shoulders and continued, ¡°Guess I won¡¯t be getting my farewell meal this time. Hey, bros, I hear your employer is gorgeous. Take me to her. I want to see how good she looks.¡± I waved two open hands about. ¡°I¡¯m good with these.¡±

    Note:

    The poem at the start of the chapter is a parody (specifically the second part) of Yu Qian¡¯s poem ¡°Limestone¡±. The ¡°I¡± is ¡°pork shoulders¡±. Technically, the ¡°limestone¡± word should be omitted or treated as ¡°I¡±, but you wouldn¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on if I don¡¯t make it clear that we¡¯re talking about limestone.

    Farewell meals - Those on death row were served one final meal, reportedly more sumptuous than usual, before they were beheaded because they didn¡¯t want the dead starving on their journey to the other side.

 Volume 10 88 Young Zhuiyue (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 88 Young Zhuiyue (Part 1)</h4>

    My original n for Baimu and the predicament I was in didn¡¯t have the slightest corrtion. My n was to have Uncle Martial Paragon join me and ask him to have Baimu¡¯s ruler lend us a hand. I didn¡¯t expect my n to flop right away, their state¡¯s status quo to be soplicated and their ruler¡¯s chest to be so soft.

    Sorry, forget the third one.

    I deemed it wise to tackle Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort before dealing with Uncle Martial Paragon¡¯s younger brother or what¡¯s his face. If possible, I¡¯d have liked to interrogate her to find out why she had to pick a bone with peace and why she had to take a page out of Pan Jinlian¡¯s book instead of Liang Hongyu. The reason I couldn¡¯t have my way was because Emperor Yuansheng would definitely demand an audience with Ah Neath if she offered military assistance. As such, I couldn¡¯t reveal too much, lest Emperor Yuansheng learn of my secrets. Thus, I had to ept prison life.

    ¡­ Okay, shut up. I know I¡¯m in here for molestation, but the ignorant are innocent! I¡¯m not that desperate!

    Seriously, though, it was the reason I didn¡¯t put up any resistance. I didn¡¯t physically knock the soldiers in the pce out; I used a poison-like strategy. Although His Majesty shouldn¡¯t have paid too much attention to it, if I had to fight to help Ah Neath, then I couldn¡¯t fake it. As such, I needed a reason to capture Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort. Else, people would think I tried to frame her because I couldn¡¯t vite Ah Neath.

    The warriors in ck stared at me for ages before one finally asked, ¡°Can you at least acknowledge us? Show some respect when we¡¯re going to kill you, will you?¡±

    ¡°Shush. I¡¯m busy thinking!¡±

    The leader: ¡°Remember what you just said. I w-¡±

    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t? Don¡¯t you find yourself annoying? I¡¯m not talking to you. I¡¯m busy thinking!¡±

    One of them finally lost his temper and charged at me.

    The prison guard cowered behind his arms as he ran to take cover in a corner: ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I don¡¯t know anything about Princess Consort and Guya Baimu colluding with each other! I¡¯m just an ordinary prison guard! I never collected theints of officials or heard where evidence of Guya Baimu¡¯s crimes is ced! I don¡¯t know where the remaining poison the shaman doctor used to kill thest King was, either! There¡¯s no point killing me! I have a wife and a k-¡­ I¡¯m not dead?¡±

    By the time he looked up, the assassins were scattered on their backs and bellies. ¡°Why¡­ are they frothing at the mouth? Wh-what are you doing?!¡±

    I ambled up to the prison guard and patted him on the shoulders: ¡°Nice, bro. Mind repeating everything you just said?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Based on knowledge umted from the prison guard¡¯s ten years in employment, Baimu and Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort were said to be culpable for Baimu¡¯s previous King¡¯s death; however, everyone who suspected them were killed by the same afternoon via poisoning, butchering or execution. A shaman doctor kept a bag of the remains of the poison the former King consumed, only to be executed after he passed it on to an official. The official was executed right after he passed it on to his friend. The process kept repeating until those remains¡¯ whereabouts were now a mystery. That exined how Ah Neath¡¯s true gender remained a secret for so long.

    ¡°I know where the remains are: they¡¯re hidden in the hole of a rock amongst the rockery underneath a pond¡¯s bridge. It¡¯s supposedly stored inside an iron container, so bugs and the like shouldn¡¯t be able to tamper with it. By the way¡­ where are we going?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Continuing upstairs with the prison guard, I replied, ¡°Picking up a rtive. He¡¯s right upstairs.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it your first time here? How do you seem to know the dungeon better than I do? Your rtive is in here?¡±

    I was going to need to get physical to end the conspiracy in Baimu, yet I couldn¡¯t do it myself. Therefore, I needed a helper. The people Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort would want assassinated should¡¯ve been Uncle Martial Paragon, me as well as someone who arrived before me - and was locked in the same dungeon.

    The absence of guards on the second floor could only be attributed to them being called away or, more likely, assassins since I heard another fifteen peoplee up to this floor. Surprise, surprise, there were fifteen assassins geared up in ck armour strewn across the front of a particr cell.

    Just like I remembered him, he had his signature ck wooden scabbard at his belt and a jade sword hilt that stood out as much as his white attire that didn¡¯t have a speck of dust on them. He still liked being clean, preferred peace, was disciplined, hardworking and affable just like my grandmaster.

    ¡°Who¡¯d imagine we meet again in another country¡¯s prison of all ces after all these years. Life sure is fascinating, huh, Sixth?¡±

    The youth opened his eyes and smiled from ear to ear: ¡°First Brother!¡±

    Seeing the youth effortlessly get out of his cell in five steps, the prison guardmented, ¡°Are our cells made of paper or something? How do you people just go in and out as you please?¡±

    I took one step forward. Sixth stepped forward. I grounded myself and took a small step back, whipping my robe next. Sixth spun a full circle and then genuflected onto his left knee. He held his hands in a hold-fist salute and bowed his head: ¡°Your junior, Lian Zhuiyue, offers his humble greetings, First Brother!¡±

    I cast my eyes to the ceiling. Told you Sixth was a good boy!

    Glossary

    Liang Hongyu - Her real name is lost to history. Hongyu was the name given to her in folk legends, novels and so forth after her death in battle. She¡¯sparable to Hua Mn in terms of fame, albeit being an actual person unlike Hua Mn. If you want to know more about her, read up on Jin-Song wars.

 Volume 10 89 Young Zhuiyue (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 89 Young Zhuiyue (Part 2)</h4>

    My rtionship with Zhuiyue was different to my other siblings because it wasn¡¯t Shifu who brought him back but me. On that rainy day, my eight year old self carried rice thirty kilometres up to Emei, saw a hot ch-, three year old kid gazing at the moon. I thought he was the child of a farmer on Emei.

    Since I had been carrying rice all day for training, I was afraid I¡¯d identally knock him over, so I circled around him, but a hot chick - I didn¡¯t know she was Matriarch Zi - stole my attention, resulting in me tripping. Thanks to my Yijin Jing training, I was able to release the sack of rice and leverage my centre of gravity to spin to safety.

    ¡°Impressive!¡± Matriarch Zi voiced.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± I gave Matriarch Zi a hold-fist salute.

    ¡°I meant you¡¯re impressively ruthless, chucking a sack of rice at a child. Who¡¯s your scumbag teacher?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Only then did my attention bring me to the sight of the kid stuck in the dung pit next door - a result of the rice sack crashing into him. I may have only been eight, but I was wise enough to know that smashing a kid into a dung pit was no joking matter.

    I took the kid to Emei¡¯s best doctor, only to make the doctor see his dinner a second time. Luckily, Shifu was able to quickly save the kid with a few needles. Once he was done, Shifu told me, ¡°Go fetch Tianshan snow lotus, ginseng that¡¯s a thousand years old, lingzhi that¡¯s a century old, snowm paste and a hen¡­¡±

    ¡°Shifu, is he in critical condition?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯ll be once he has some porridge and tofu dregs. The herbs are for me.¡±

    ¡°What happened? Have you overtrained?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not tired. My nose is just irritated.¡±

    Daoist Jinguan, being the gentle and kind man he was, picked up the child and rubbed his back. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡±

    The kid was terrified - mainly due to risk of suffocation. He opened his mouth a little but didn¡¯t speak.

    Shifu advised, ¡°Jinguan, put him down. You shouldn¡¯t hold onto him.¡±

    ¡°Brother Ming, you may be strong, but you need to work on your heart. Have some sympathy.¡±

    ¡°I just finished opening his upoints. He¡­¡± And Shifu stopped himself because he was too busy ogling Matriarch Zi as she strolled by.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, child. We are not bad people. What¡¯s your name? Where are your parents?¡± Daoist Jinguan queried.

    As soon as he opened his mouth, the kid vomited all over Daoist Jinguan¡¯s face.

    Shifu finally returned to the scene to say, ¡°He¡¯s prone to vomit, so stay away from him.¡±

    Daoist Jinguan slowly wiped his face. I couldn¡¯t tell how he was feeling because¡­ his face was smothered in vomit. I swear he was reciting hundreds of lines, though, to calm himself. Whether that was ¡°Amitabha¡± or ¡°You motherflipping¡­¡± was something I never found out.

    Just when Daoist Jinguan calmed down and went to speak, the kid, from overhead, let out a waterfall from his mouth. I developed a newfound respect for the kid from that moment.

    My Shifu poked back in again to caution, ¡°He might puke particrly badly, so stay alert.¡±

    Daoist Jinguan went into seclusion for three years thereafter, passing on his patriarch role. Emei added the question, ¡°Have you eaten crap before?¡± to their interview questions. Any potential disciple who had would never be epted.

    When we helped the kid search for his family, he told us that his parents were hoping Emei would take him in when they abandoned him outside Emei. While I don¡¯t really know why he was rejected, I¡¯d say it was better that he was rejected. Imagine trying to live under someone you vomited on and around his disciples.

    Guilt ridden, I pleaded, ¡°Shifu, take him in. His potential is unlimited. Think about it, he stomped Daoist Jinguan in his first vomit contest; Daoist Jinguan didn¡¯t even have an answer.¡±

    ¡°The flip you expect when he puked all over Jinguan¡¯s face?¡±

    ¡°Shifu, he may very well be the one who holds our sect together in the future.¡±

    Zhuiyue was too young to remember the event, but his legacy lived on atop Emei. People forget to credit me for taking him in. Without me, there¡¯d be no Moon Chaser Swordsman. He, nheless, always appreciated me because I often ¡°inadvertently¡± reminded him thousands of times that I adopted him.

    ¡°Good boy.¡± I thumped Zhuiyue on the shoulder.

    Zhuiyue might¡¯ve had the same face as when he was a kid; however, he had grown noticeably taller and had a different aura about him. He was kind, considerate, a skilled fighter, a skilled swordsman, clean, well-groomed, handsome and received 20% off discounts wherever he ate. Tell me he wasn¡¯t my spitting image. His only ring w was that he was always serious - too serious.

    Still genuflected, Zhuiyue said, ¡°First Brother, I was so worried when I had not heard from you all these years. I was ted to receive Second Brother¡¯s order to assemble. I have been looking forward to seeing you again, but why are you here? Are you here to rescue me?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°He touched our King¡¯s chest!¡± the prison guard behind me voiced.

    That¡¯s ¡°identally¡± touched for you! Stop vilifying me!

    As soon as I saw wrinkles surface between Zhuiyue¡¯s nose, I covered my ears and stepped back.

    Zhuiyue got up and grabbed my arm. ¡°First Brother, do you know how many martial artists revere our sect? Do you know how many people admire us because of our first patriarch, second patriarch, third patriarch, fourth patriarch¡­ Grandmaster and Shifu? People always give a thumbs up when they mention Mount Daluo.¡±

    I¡¯m pretty sure they flip two birds when they mention Shifu¡­

    ¡°We cannot ruin our predecessors¡¯ hard work. I have always reminded myself to be conscious of how I carry myself regardless of where I have been. Whether I was by the por in Xihua, the shore of Yellow River or the horizon of Changjiang, whetherke water sshed my face, wet my shoes or rose up to my waist, Mount Daluo¡¯s future was always my priority.¡±

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop!¡±

    Water up to your waist? I bet a hundred taels you fell into theke. I keep telling you not to lean on the rail to act like a schr, but no!

    ¡°First Brother! Even if I am at the end of the world, my heart is at Mount Daluo. I have always made sure to not spheme Mount Daluo¡¯s name. I have spent these years punishing evil, helping the kind, fixing bridges, roads and tutoring people to protect Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation. You should not ruin the Great Wall for fleeting joy! You are twenty-eight, yet you are not married. How do you expect to have kids? Among the three most unfilial things one canmit, not producing offspring is the worst. You are the only one carrying on the Ming surname. How can you just watch it die?¡±

    Eight thousand words that came after were deleted.

    Glossary

    Great Wall reference - If the Great Wall of China fell, there¡¯d be serious issue in town, which emphasises how serious Lian Zhuiyue is about Mount Daluo paring the sect to the Central in)

 Volume 10 90 The Value of Braised Pork Shoulders in Soy Sauce

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 90 The Value of Braised Pork Shoulders in Soy Sauce</h4>

    Zhuiyue wouldn¡¯t let go of my sleeve so that he could tell me of all the rises and falls of heroes from Qin Shihuang¡¯s era, Emperor Wu of Han, Water Margin and even Journey to the West. He gave me a thorough analysis of how serious it was to not be married and have a child at twenty-eight years of age¡­ Zhuiyue was a great kid, except he wouldn¡¯t stop talking until he was dead!

    Had it not been for Zhuiyue performing all those charitable acts in thest few years, the orthodox sects would probably spit every time they heard my name. Hell yeah, I was d I adopted him back then.

    Anyway, I stopped Zhuiyue since he was going to continue after he had been going for an hour straight. ¡°Let¡¯s not debate why Sun Wukong couldn¡¯t marry. Let¡¯s talk about Nanjiang¡¯s situation first.¡±

    ¡°No! I must exin to you why Tang Sanzang could not get married. I assume you are perplexed.¡±

    ¡°Of course I am! He¡¯s a monk! How can a monk marry?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t know that¡­¡±

    ¡°Enough of that. I have a mission for you. Nod if you ept. Shake if you refuse. Choose now.¡±

    Zhuiyue took my head and affirmatively nodded thrice. ¡°I will do everything in my power for you!¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. I guarantee you¡¯ll have a satisfying death! Before that, though, we need to go see the barbaric savage of a King.¡±

    The prison guard borated, ¡°The King he groped.¡±

    Zhuiyue reproached me with his gaze.

    ¡°Our monarch is a man.¡±

    Zhuiyue released my hand instantly. ¡°Mr. Ming, where are we going?¡±

    Oi! What the hell?! He¡¯s a she! I grope wom-, I mean, I don¡¯t grope women, I¡­ Ah, fook me!

    ***

    Feng Xue had always been a fan of tea, particr tea harvested from the Central in. Needless to say, Xiacang Anxi had their own unique taste, but it was earmarked for special people in the royal pce.

    Ah Neath stayed by Feng Xue¡¯s side as he reclined in his chair and relished his tea because they didn¡¯t know what the next assassination attempt would entail or when it¡¯d ur. At this point, Ah Neath had to take the risk of letting her Princess Consort know she was no longer in the dark if she wanted to keep her life.

    Ah Neath briskly paced in circles, repeating, ¡°I¡¯ll kill him! I¡¯ll kill him! I¡¯ll kill him!¡± whilst scowling in addition to huffing and puffing.

    Lame! Annoying! Talking without consideration for anyone¡¯s feelings! No respect for a ruler! Even groped me twice!

    ¡°Hey! That prisoner put on death row just now, skin him and feed him to a tiger tonight!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± The messenger jogged off.

    Looking askance at Feng Xue, Ah Neath grouched, ¡°Did you not hear me? I¡¯m sending someone to kill him.¡±

    ¡°This old one heard you. Those poor soldiers are going to need workce injurypensation.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying my soldiers aren¡¯t his match? Is he that strong?¡±

    Feng Xue fetched his teacup from the table. ¡°In terms of martial prowess, it is hard to say. He is tough to deal with, nevertheless. It will be hard for you to kill him.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry, then. I¡¯m using poison that I spent an exorbitant sum on this time. It¡¯s tasteless and doesn¡¯t have a smell. As soon as it hits the mouth, you¡¯re finished. I was saving it for that wench, but he can be my test subject before I use it on her.¡±

    Feng Xue analysed the probability of sess and then resumed drinking his tea. No reason to pick a fight with a monarch, after all.

    Feng Xue¡¯s dismissive attitude was the opposite of what Ah Neath wanted. She wanted Feng Xue to plead her not to kill Ming Feizhen so that she could use Ming Feizhen as a hostage. News of Wu Ba returning made its way to Ah Neath before she could think any further.

    Wu Ba and a pce guard pushed a heavy chest into the pce.

    When Ah Neath saw the question in Feng Xue¡¯s eyes, she elucidated, ¡°He¡¯s my trusted aide. He¡¯s been serving the royal family since my father¡¯s era, and he¡¯s trustworthy. You¡¯re finally back, Wu Ba. Do you bring any good news?¡±

    So jubnt to see Ah Neath again, Wu Ba said in Mandarin, ¡°Oh, motherflipping Emperor, freaking Sun and Divine Bird, cool and suave Wu Ba has not had a chance to see you in ages, Your motherflipping Majesty.¡±

    Feng Xue flicked up a thumb: ¡°¡­ You are a true hero.¡±

    Ah Neath stamped: ¡°That Jiang Zhouzi taught you that, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Wu Ba smiled naively. ¡°Wu Ba has only learnt a drop in the bucket from Sir Jiang Zhouzi. He cannot be considered a graduate as of yet.¡±

    As irate as she was with Ming Feizhen¡¯s corruption of Wu Ba, Ah Neath didn¡¯t castigate Wu Ba. ¡°What is in that chest you brought in?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ah, Your motherflipping Majesty, Wu Ba has brought to you a big present.¡±

    Speaking through her teeth, Ah Neath ordered, ¡°Open it.¡±

    Baimu was out cold, but he was breathing normally, albeit barely, shocking those present.

    Proudly, Wu Ba reported, ¡°Sir Jiang Zhouzi truly is amazing. We merely travelled along the path he instructed us to, and this man fell down from the sky out of the blue. Sir Jiang Zhouzi must have foreseen it happening and easily put him away. Wu Ba dared not to pry. May Wu Ba ask where Sir Jiang Zhouzi is?¡±

    Feng Xue, who was alreadyughing,pletely lost it as he watched Ah Neath¡¯s eyes and mouth stretch wide. Ah Neath could feel her cheeks burning up as she listened to Feng Xueugh.

    ¡°Messenger! Messenger! Messenger! Messenger! I want to see you right now, or I¡¯ll skin you!¡±

    The messenger raced into the pce at Ah Neath¡¯s behest.

    ¡°Bring me the prisoner put on death row just now! Call that Jiang Zhouzi, I mean, invite! Invite him back! I shall hold a banquet for him! Get going! Now! Hurry or it¡¯ll be toote!¡±

 Volume 10 91 Not an Easy Mission

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 91 Not an Easy Mission</h4>

    ¡°I failed to recognise your true capacity due to my impulsiveness. I hereby give you my heartfelt apology.¡± Ah Neath bowed solemnly.

    ¡°Hohoho, no need to stand on ceremony, my dear nephew,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Who you calling your nephew, you moron?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you are the one holding this banquet for Feizhen. Do not sabotage yourself,¡± Feng Xue reminded.

    I don¡¯t know what you two talked about, but it looks like you can¡¯t give me any grief at this banquet, young Ah Neath.

    Ah Neath knocked back a cup of wine: ¡°A toast to you!¡±

    Hahaha, Uncle convinced you, huh? Now you know I¡¯m valuable, huh?

    Seeing his King pour me a drink, the prison guard behind me conveyed, ¡°Bro, you¡¯re my idol.¡±

    I brought the prison guard along because he had an abundance of pertinent knowledge that could be conducive to helping Ah Neath - in addition to preventing anyone from expunging him. It was inevitable for him to learn Ah Neath was a she since he was around me.

    Speaking of Ah Neath¡¯s gender, she made less effort to hide it than I imagined. Not only did the high-ranking officials know, but even her maids and guards knew. I suppose they didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it as she was the only offspring of Baimu¡¯sst King.

    I had no reason not to rest my feet on the table and recline with my hands behind my head. ¡°Was that a toast? Where¡¯s my drink? You drink my share?¡±

    Ah Neath begrudgingly picked up my cup and the wine pot.

    ¡°You have to add some nectar in first. How do I know when thest time you washed the cup was? How am I supposed to drink it without any nectar?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°What about the salt? It¡¯s right next to your hand. You should get your eyes checked.¡±

    ¡°You done?! I¡¯m not here to serve you!¡±

    ¡°First Brother.¡± I was going to keep ying thug when Zhuiyue removed my legs from the table and adjusted my sitting posture. The man even smoothed out the wrinkles in my clothing and instructed, ¡°You are the face of Mount Daluo. You must mind your manners in the presence of Baimu¡¯s monarch. As well, you need to be polite when requesting a drink.¡±

    Ah Neath absolutely loved the conundrum I was in.

    ¡°What are youughing about?! Every family has its problems!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯tugh at you. You¡¯ve given me grief, and I¡¯ve made you suffer. Let¡¯s start over with a clean te after you¡¯ve had the drink.¡±

    ¡°What needs to be cleaned off the te?¡±

    ¡°Probably the part where you grabbed her breasts?¡± opined the prison guard.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Two bs of bony beef smashed us in the face the next second. I just took a bite out of the delicious beef. Unfortunately for my buddy, the steak slept him.

    ¡°If you dare to mention that one more time, I promise I¡¯ll disfigure you after I kill you!¡±

    Continuing to chomp on the beef, I responded, ¡°I won¡¯t. You must have a reason for releasing me. Go on. My ears are yours.¡±

    Ah Neath scrubbed her head, looked over to Uncle Martial Paragon, waited for a nod and, at longst, stated, ¡°I didn¡¯t know what you were capable of¡­ but I do now. I trust you now.¡±

    ¡°Should¡¯ve trusted me from the start.¡± I knocked on the table. ¡°Five more kilos of that stewed bone.¡±

    Obviously, there were no servants around at the secret meeting. Thus, Wu Ba had to go fetch me a stewed bone. Before he went, though, he said to me, ¡°Motherflipping Zhouzi, I shall go get you a freaking boner.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just ¡®bone¡¯! Hey! You can¡¯t eat what you just said! Hey! Also, what¡¯s with your speech style?!¡±

    ¡°Is that something you should really be asking?!¡± raged Ah Neath. ¡°Wu Ba is an honest man. He wouldn¡¯t be using profanity if it wasn¡¯t for you. He thinks he¡¯s usingnguage reserved for the pce. All day, he¡¯s motherflipping this and motherflipping that.¡±

    Oh, I almost forgot I was the one who taught him. Oh, well, sheet happens. Not going to be my concern, anyway.

    ¡°In any event, I can trust you now. I heard you¡¯re acquainted with various people and groups, skilled in various departments and great at using disguises.¡±

    ¡°What do you want me to disguise myself to assist you with?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I have a rather difficult request for you. It¡¯s difficult and dangerous; however, if you seed, what you gain will decide the winner.¡±

    I skulled some wine: ¡°borate.¡±

    ¡°Right now¡­ nobody knows Baimu is in our custody. I want to obtain thebour of Baimu¡¯s fruits before anyone catches wind of his capture.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm, mhmm. I see. Can you simplify it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ In other words, people are under the assumption he is still leading a battle somewhere during this disappearance of his. Nobody will think he¡¯s already been defeated and in my hands - same goes for his allies. If he were to suddenly meet up with his conspirator, do you think we¡¯d be able to acquire insider information?¡±

    ¡°You want me to disguise myself as Baimu to go on a recon mission, correct?¡±

    ¡°Precisely.¡±

    Nobody but Baimu and his allies knew what he was plotting. He had authority over the military, after all. Eliminating him alone wasn¡¯t enough to take back power because he had his loyal cronies. Somebody, therefore, needed to find out what they were cooking, but that person couldn¡¯t be me.

    I would feel at home if I had to dress up as someone nobody recognised. Asking me to pose as somebody the target was familiar with, however, was taking a big risk. I used disguises primarily to dodge debts, enemies, Shifu and simrly catastrophic people. Put another way, I learnt the art of disguise to run, not spy. Moreover, I would need a long time of training to be able to do what Mountain Monster did.

    ¡°May I ask, your spy candidate is not me, is it?¡±

    Ah Neath bobbed her head: ¡°While I wasn¡¯t sure who to tackle the challenge, Feng Xue rmended you strongly, so I feel you¡¯re fit for the job.¡±

    ¡°Say what?!¡±

    When I looked over to Uncle Feng Xue, he grinned as if to say, ¡°Surprised?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t! It¡¯s not that I¡¯m unwilling to help you, but I don¡¯t know how Baimu interacts with his conspirators. Further, I don¡¯t even speak Nanjiang¡¯snguage. Surely you¡¯re aware of these points. How can I infiltrate their ranks?¡±

    ¡°I have ounted for those issues; you will get close to someone he¡¯s not familiar with. That said, she¡¯s extremely dangerous - my Princess Consort.¡± Calmness and focus seeped into Ah Neath¡¯s tone when she mentioned her Princess Consort. ¡°Although Baimu is as much of a scoundrel as she is, they shouldn¡¯t be very familiar with each other because, as I¡¯m around, they wouldn¡¯t dare to directly interact too much. I suspect theymunicate through a middle man, and I suspect the third party is someone working for Great Spirit Shaman. I stress again: this is my theory. Feng Xue and I will tell you as much as we do about Baimu so that you can convincingly pass off as him.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still one more problem: it¡¯d take, at the very least, a month to create a human-skin mask that is convincing. Heck, it would take twenty-two days even if you wanted to create a mask that could fool someone not familiar with you. We don¡¯t have that much time.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I¡¯ve already factored that in.¡± Ah Neath slipped out a brocade box under the table and showed me three human-skin masks. ¡°I had someone make these masks behind their backs. Originally, I nned to have someone pose as him after I killed him. That would allow me to control the military until I¡¯m allowed to take over. I¡¯d say these masks strongly resemble his face. Combine them with your skills, and you shouldn¡¯t have any problems, right?¡±

    Ah Neath a lot more prepared than I thought. Judging from the chest of gear she had collected, she had been preparing for a long time.

    Upon looking up again, Uncle Feng Xue was using his gaze to urge me into epting the job. I had a feeling he rmended me for the job due to Baimu¡¯s strength. Nobody else around could imitate hisbat prowess. I appreciated him not exining his reasoning for rmending me to Ah Neath to cover my secrets. The only way I could show my appreciation was epting the job.

    ¡°Leave the job to me. While I¡¯m eating, tell me all about Baimu. The more details you can provide, the better.¡± Everyone was happy at this point. Nheless, I remembered to something I needed to inquire about. ¡°By the way, when did you capture Baimu? You¡¯re pretty quick. We¡¯re in the same boat now, so you can tell me that much, can¡¯t you? ¡­ Why you staring at me?¡±

    Wu Ba came back during the window of silence: ¡°Sir Zhouzi, I¡¯m motherflipping back. Here you go!¡±

    ¡°Feng Xue!¡± Ah Neath finally erupted. ¡°I just knew he couldn¡¯t be trusted! He was just lucky! I even poured him a drink and apologised!¡±

    I passed a stewed bone to Ah Neath: ¡°Rx. Here, this one¡¯s on me, kiddo.¡±

    ¡°Piss! Off!¡±

 Volume 10 92 A Mission that isnâ€™t Easy

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 92 A Mission that isn¡¯t Easy</h4>

    Xiacang Anxi¡¯s royal families protected the tradition of processing big beasts¡¯ bones that weren¡¯t cracked and were smooth, which was something they started ages ago. In a nutshell, the process entailed shaving the bone into a specific shape, applying oil and heating it.

    To anyone not part of the royal families¡¯ lineage, the text used from the beginning of Xiacang Anxi¡¯s history made as much sense as someone without knowledge of the stars trying to interpret the meaning of star alignments. Even those who couldprehend thenguage could only read it. Forget givingmoners permission toy eyes on the text; the royal families evenposed and read the text differently depending on which branch of the royal families they belonged to.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ah Neath didn¡¯t teach thenguage to her Princess Consort even when the former was still trusting of thetter. It wasn¡¯t an issue of trust but a question of principle. As such, it was one of the royal families¡¯ most secure methods of transmitting information secretly.

    Ah Neath slid her finger across the crimson bone close to the colour of mud, imprinting the information on it to memory. Owing to her father¡¯s untimely death, he didn¡¯t leave behind a bone for her. In the event that he did, his maker would have taken it.

    Baimu¡¯s royal family had been preserving the bone for hundreds of years, permitting only the King to read its content. Ah Neath was hoping to find a means of strengthening her side from Baimu¡¯s royal family¡¯s history. Instead of feeling relieved to have Feng Xue and Ming Feizhen aiding her, she felt more apprehensive for the reason that things were developing faster than she imagined.

    Although Feng Xue was old, Ah Neath was no longer a child; it was no longer appropriate for him to be alone with her in a room. Feng Xue may have appeared blithe, but he respected Ah Neath as a monarch.

    While Ah Neath may have seemed safe behind the doors Feng Xue guarded, her opponent wasn¡¯t only Baimu, who would have trouble forcing his way in. Her Princess Consort was an enigma whom even she couldn¡¯t read. Most importantly, her Princess Consort didn¡¯t only have brawn as a weapon. Ah Neath couldn¡¯t untie her bundled nerves whilst knowing she had a shaman around her, reasoning the shaman definitely had alternative ns and the support of Wanyu Peak.

    Despite bing acquainted with her Princess Consort at eight years of age, Ah Neath only knew her Princess Consort¡¯s name, that she was modest, approachable and adroit at politics. That being said, how much of those traits were real was questionable, just as the other missing parts of her profile. In fact, Ah Neath suspected her Princess Consort approached her with a fake profile prepared beforehand and erected an invisible barrier to avoid detection.

    Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort came from Wanyu Peak¡¯s Shaman Monarch Pce. Like a god, nobody, royal family members included, was granted an audience with the Shaman Monarch - a term ascribed to someone whom the sun possessed, namely Great Spirit Shaman. The only way to hear from the Shaman Monarch was via Shaman Monarch Pce.

    The shamans from Shaman Monarch Pce were said to be the Shaman Monarch¡¯s only representatives, tasked with passing on their will. From certain perspectives, Shaman Monarchs held more influence than the state sovereigns.

    ¡°Guya Martial Paragon, this one has an urgent matter to report to His Majesty.¡±

    Recognising her messenger¡¯s voice, Ah Neath ordered, ¡°Just tell me from the door.¡±

    The messenger cleared his throat and raised his voice. ¡°Two girls request an audience. The two have brought with them the lord of Xiuyu¡¯s arrow token.¡±

    ¡°Xiuyu¡­ Who?¡±

    ¡°One of them said that her husband, Ming Feizhen, is currently in the pce. The other one is his elder sister.¡±

    ¡°Who the heck is Ming Feizhen? Tell them to get lost!¡± Within seconds of resuming her reading, Ah Neath looked back up. ¡°Jiang Zhouzi?¡±

    ***

    I didn¡¯t know the wooden dummy I lit up was Baimu. For a second, I thought my ears malfunctioned because I never heard them capture anyone.

    I slipped on Baimu¡¯s armour and wore on the mask that took me an entire night of modifying to get right. From my fiddlingst night, I discovered Nanjiang followed a different procedure for manufacturing masks. Because I had him in person to research, I managed to modify my physique to resemble his. If he was married, I bet his wife wouldn¡¯t be able to tell I was an imposter.

    I told Ah Neath that I didn¡¯t need backup as involving more people only increased theplexity and margin for error - which included revealing my skills.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to find the Princess Consort¡¯s grandeur pce since it was nearby. The scent in the room furnished with jade and gold items was akin to an aphrodisiac.

    ¡°Baimu, do you have a death wish? How dare you barge into my pce?¡± The frigid Princess Consort emerged from behind me. Apparently, she didn¡¯t care her thin sash was so loose that anyone could see her curves from afar. ¡°What are you here for?¡±

    I chortled cockily as I was told Baimu would do the same.

    Though I had my back to her, I had no problems imagining what was under her loose-fitting pyjamas. Nevertheless, thest thing I expected was for her to gently coil her arms around my torso and press her body against my back. She leaned in right next to my ear to inquire, ¡°It¡¯s been ages since you visited. Miss me?¡±

    Huh? Hmm? Mm? ¡­ Looks like this mission won¡¯t be as simple as I imagined¡­

 Volume 10 93 Hooking Up

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 93 Hooking Up</h4>

    From the touch of her hand in mine, she was thinner than I expected for somebody blessed with the body of a seductress. Instead of letting her ¡°weapons¡± distract me, I gently raised her hand to interlock our fingers, fingers raised toward the ceiling.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What¡­ is this about?¡± I could see the thin silver needle that was as visible as the moon in the dark room between our index fingers.

    Unbothered, she frigidly, yet dimpling, replied, ¡°How do I know if I can still trust you when you¡¯ve been gone for so long? For all know, you might¡¯ve switched sides.¡± The suspicion and aloof - perhaps condescending - tone was obvious to me.

    Ah Neath¡¯s idea had a fatal w: she didn¡¯t know her Princess Consort and Baimu¡¯s secretmunication method. It was only natural for the Princess Consort to be rmed when I weed myself into her room. Of course, I went along with the suggestion for my own reasons as well as because I disagreed with Ah Neath¡¯s conjecture that her two enemies weren¡¯t familiar with each other.

    Ah Neath was oblivious to her Princess Consort¡¯s plots for so many years. Therefore, the information she acquired, in addition to how she acquired it, had room for error.

    Judging from the Princess Consort¡¯s attitude toward Baimu just now, I confirmed they weren¡¯t intimate to the point that they could unconditionally trust each other, but they weren¡¯t as distant as Ah Neath assumed.

    Taking a guess of how Baimu would respond, I flicked a viinous grin. ¡°I could never bear to harm you.¡±

    She let me pull her in close by the waist. Notwithstanding her barely-there attire, she maintained her regal demeanour. Her condescending attitude was the type that¡¯d ignite a man¡¯s desire to conquer her so that he could prove himself. As opposed to calling it a trap waiting to be sprung, it would be more apt to consider it a trap that actively baited its prey in.

    When I instinctively stopped my hand, her lips preened. ¡°You¡¯ve grown more audacious, I see. Looks like it¡¯s true that a man¡¯s opponent can change him. Your brother¡¯s return didn¡¯t just scare you off and but also made your brain leak? You want toy your hands on me now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear about him unless you want everyone in the pce to talk about Baimu leaving your residential pce tomorrow,¡± I grouched.

    ¡°You would dare speak to me in that tone?¡± Princess Consort narrowed her eyes.

    I maintained a firm stance: ¡°Say what you want, but don¡¯t mention Feng Xue to me.¡±

    It was eptable for people to be beside themselves when angry, so she nodded gently. ¡°I beg your pardon. Now, it¡¯s time for you to exin why you came in without having someone notify me beforehand.¡±

    Based on her tone, she and Baimu were pretty much superior and subordinate, respectively. If the two were subordinates, then they had to be serving the same individual. To speak more inly, someone had been driving the contest for power in Baimu state from beginning to end.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you answering?¡±

    ¡°I need reinforcements¡­ Heisina Tribe is too strong.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°In spite of my efforts, my campaign to squash Heisina Tribe has been unsessful.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me right now?¡± She probably couldn¡¯t have been any more disillusioned than that. ¡°Heisina is trivial; Beussent is the important one. Heisina Tribe will stop mouring to raid Nieyao once Beussent is dead. Just kill him. Why can¡¯t youplete such a simple task?¡±

    I analysed the response in the shortest time feasible and then questioned, ¡°Why Nieyao? I don¡¯t understand why a ruin is so important.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to understand,¡± she asserted authoritatively. ¡°It¡¯s His Eminence¡¯s orders. We¡¯re merely hands and feet. Our job is to carry out his will. Just bear in mind that Nieyao is important to him.¡±

    I still couldn¡¯t name what was the connection between Nieyao, the beast dwelling within and this machination. What I just heard was important intelligence, nevertheless. If nothing else, I learnt that the powerbrokers of Nanjiang hadn¡¯t just tossed Nieyao out of their minds. By the sounds of it, they had been eyeing it. Rather, they were nning to take the power inside of Nieyao for their own ends out of ignorance and imprudence.

    ¡°Regardless, I need reinforcements. Beussent¡¯s new ally has bolstered his forces beyond the threshold I can handle.¡±

    ¡°An ally? Who? ¡­ Don¡¯t tell it¡¯s Heavenly Swordsman.¡±

    Luo Ming? Why is he the first one toe to mind?

    She looked certain about her guess, so I pandered to her. ¡°It is Luo Ming. I can¡¯t beat both of them. You should know now why I returned. This is urgent.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I need to report this to Wanyu Peak. If Martial Paragon and Heavenly Swordsman are both here, they might ruin our ns. Ah Neath is only growing older by the day. If she finds out the truth behind Baimu, she may pardon Heisina Tribe. His Eminence wouldn¡¯t want that. Leave now. I must change.¡±

    I had achieved more than I bargained for. Howbeit, I still had something to confirm, so out came a scious grin. ¡°Can¡¯t let me watch you change?¡±

    She quickly switched from exasperation to a prolonged stare: ¡°Feng Gu, again? You¡¯re the one who refused to be my puppet. I don¡¯t mind giving you ¡®attention¡¯, but you know what that implies.¡± While she didn¡¯t change her visage, her gaze did start oozing uncontainable lust.

    While others may not be privy of what she was alluding to, I understood. My gut feeling was on the dot. ¡°You people of Autumn Water Sword Sect really are tigresses who eat people whole.¡±

    Baimu¡¯s Princess Consort, also known as Autumn Water Sword Sect¡¯s matriarch, Qiushui, pursed her upwardly curved lips. ¡°Sounds like you haven¡¯t forgotten how scary I can be.¡±

 Volume 10 94 Guess Who â€“ Wife Edition (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 94 Guess Who - Wife Edition (Part 1)</h4>

    Ah Neath granted Ma¡¯am Ming and her sister-inw an audience on ount of maintaining a long-term alliance with Ming Feizhen.

    Qiushui only left trivial jobs for Ah Neath because she didn¡¯t want thetter learning about politics or finding out what was going on behind the scenes. As a girl, Ah Neath appreciated wedding customs; however, she also saw room for improving their marriage customs. While she was close to Qiushui back then, Ah Neath only saw Qiushui as a trustworthy ally. Seeing as she was doomed to never experience marriage for herself, Ah Neath decided to bless Baimu¡¯s denizens. Subsequent to the changes Ah Neath implemented, girls had a lot less pressure, and the tradition of forcing daughters to marry as a business tool was abolished.

    It might¡¯ve been the norm for Ming Feizhen to be married at his age, but Ah Neath expected his wife to be somedy he kidnapped given his appearance and attitude. As such, she wanted to see who the two pitiable girls who had to put up with a stuck-up, gross, unbearably annoying glutton were. Never in her wildest imaginations did Ah Neath expect to see a goddess and a maiden who could conquer a battlefield whilst looking charming.

    What lie did he tell to convince them to marry him?! I must rescue these two from that fiend. I will not stand for him taking advantage of them!

    ¡°You two are Jiang Zh-, sorry, who¡­ is his wife?¡±

    The shorter and more winsome maiden replied, ¡°This one is.¡±

    She sat more primly and exuded a more regal aura than one would find even amongst the maidens of the royal family. Most importantly - Ah Neath¡¯s line of sight made their way south of the maiden¡¯s corbone, and she nearly sighed aloud.

    He definitely cheated her!

    The other maiden expressed, ¡°It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty. We are grateful you have not punished us for our unannounced visit and request.¡±

    How can she be so pretty, yet so easily win pity? If I were a man, I¡¯d give her the world right now if she asked.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ah Neath loved to hear the second maiden speak to her in Xiacang Anxi. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. It¡¯s not your fault. Besides, you two respect etiquette unlike her husband.¡±

    If Ming Feizhen and Lian Zhuiyue deserved to beplimented for anything this time around, it was setting such a bad impression that they helped Ming Suwen and Shen Yiren look millions of times better.

    ¡°It must have been tiring and tough to request Xiuyu¡¯s lord for help aftering from afar. Men, serve up the banquet.¡±

    Xiacang Anxi people were arguably the authority on roasting food, which was why the servants brought in a wooden rack for the royal chef to prepare the banquet live. The chilled tes of fresh and juicy fruit recreated the ambience of the wild.

    Ah Neath invited the two to drink, then queried, ¡°May I ask what you wish to see me for?¡±

    Shen Yiren thereupon inquired, ¡°Feizh-¡±

    Ming Suwen started coughing out of the blue, gaze pinned to the ceiling.

    It finally urred to Shen Yiren that Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t the innocent, kind maiden she was thought to be after spending thest few days glued together. Shen Yiren first discovered the prankster in Ming Suwen when she caught thetter peeping on her changing the second time. Angry Miss Shen decided to use some ¡°gi grappling¡± on Ming Suwen in bed that soon devolved into ¡°no-gi grappling¡±.

    Shen Yiren fought tooth and nail with herself to not let herself trip over her words or her red ears show. ¡°¡­ This one¡¯s husband is currently in your royal pce. This one was doing business in Xiuyu when she heard her husband affronted you. ordingly, she and her sister havee here with gifts as a token of apology.¡± Shen Yiren turned to her ¡°sister¡± and gave a ¡°friendly¡± smile. ¡°Right, Sister?¡±

    Ming Suwen pursed her lips to prevent herselfughing. ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Hoping Green Prince¡¯s plea and gifts, plus the two maidens¡¯bat prowess and ability to adapt on the fly, would suffice, Emperor Yuansheng dispatched Shen Yiren and Ming Suwen on an emergency rescue mission as they had no idea Ming Feizhen had formed an alliance with Ah Neath. Although Emperor Yuansheng actually wanted to send more helpers, Shen Yiren and Ming Suwen were aware Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t need strong helpers, so they objected. Additionally, they suspected he might¡¯ve deliberately gotten himself locked up. In saying that, their main concern was still the im that he groped Baimu¡¯s King. Worst came to worst, they could fight their way out of the pce, and it would be easier to hide from pursuers if it was only three of them instead of a big squad.

    Neither Shen Yiren nor Ming Suwen expected Ah Neath to be so amicable or for thetter to be sodylike. If Ah Neath were to doll up, the two of them would never doubt Ming Feizhenid his paws on her.

    ¡°I heard my brother-inw has been imprisoned, and I can see him offending you given his impulsive nature; however, he is an upright man. He also treats my sister¡­ and I quite well.¡± Ming Suwen suddenly blushed.

    ¡°Worry not. While Jiang Zhouzi makes poor choices with words and t-, ahem, he¡¯s not on death row. I have already released him, not to mention he is a friend of my old friend. My old friend has given his word that I can trust him. I have also entrusted him with an important task.¡±

    It took a moment for the two maidens to figure out who Jiang Zhouzi was and who Ah Neath¡¯s old friend was. Even if they didn¡¯t want to admit it, they could sense a formidable presence drinking at the rear of the pce. He neither deliberately announced his presence nor concealed it. As someone who had reached Manifestation and was empowered with a unique style they hadn¡¯te across, the two wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against him even if they were in tip-top condition.

    Shen Yiren smiled: ¡°This one is sincerely grateful you not only spared her husband but also entrusted an important job to him.¡±

    Sounding more jubnt than Shen Yiren, Ming Suwen enthused, ¡°Feizhen finally has a chance to shine,¡±

    Ah Neath: Ah, I see. I see. The younger sister got married with Jiang Zhouzi, but her elder sister also has feelings for him. The chances of a harem are¡­ 100%?! He¡¯s not going to ruin just onedy but two?! You two poor souls.

    ¡°All that being said, there really is an issue with his character! Please heed my advice: h-¡±

    On the other side of the opening doors stood a stunned Ming Feizhen, cutting off Ah Neath.

    ***

    I ran off after exiting Qiushui¡¯s residential pce to a secluded ce to change and restore my original appearance.

    Learning Qiushui was Ah Neath¡¯s Princess Consort was a big catch, but Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s goal and where Nieyao fit into all of it was likely to be harder to connect now. I could guarantee that Nieyao was only the beginning of their true ns.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to be friends for a while,¡± I said to the mask in my hand.

    On my way to the throne room, I heard Ah Neath was hosting some guests. I, therefore, decided to go catch up with Uncle Feng Xue.

    ¡°Sir Jiang Zhou!¡± the prison guard I saved waved at me. ¡°Over here! Over here!¡±

    ¡°Clothes really do make the man, huh? You¡¯re apletely different man in your new clothes. Congrattions on the promotion.¡±

    ¡°I give you double the congrattions. Not only are you now a trusted aide, but even your wife has arrived.¡±

    Eh? My wife?

    ¡°I¡¯m as jealous as hell, man. Your wife is a knock out. They¡¯re with Her Majesty inside right now and waiting for you. I¡¯ll open up for you.¡±

    Boss Shen? And Young Shiyi? Why are you two here out of the blue?! Howe you¡¯re getting the esteemed guest treatment?!

    Ah Neath, out of protocol, told me, ¡°Come in,¡± then mumbled under her breath, ¡°Why¡¯d he have to arrive already? I was just about to disparage him.¡± Subsequently, she said, ¡°Look who¡¯s here to see you.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Oh¡­¡±

    Boss Shen gave me a helpless smile. Young Shiyi shrugged and winked.

    I see¡­ absolutely freaking nothing! How did they get in? You two must¡¯ve sold some preposterous lie! I just had to work my behind off to give Sixth his disguise so that I could get him out! Why did you two have to offer yourselves up as two ticking time bombs?! Do I look like I can buy time?!

    Ah Neath scolded, ¡°What are you just standing there for? Go sit next to your wife.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, right, right.¡± I put a leg in front, only to stop there.

    Who¡¯s my wife?

    Boss red daggers at me prior to looking away. Young Shiyi pursed her lips into a¡­ hell as if I know if that was a smile or not.

    Who¡¯s supposed to be my wife?! ¡­ I¡¯m dead, aren¡¯t I?

 Volume 10 95 Guess Who â€“ Wife Edition (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 95 Guess Who - Wife Edition (Part 2)</h4>

    Although rmed, I would never make the wrong choice because I was more familiar with the gut feeling than I¡¯d have liked.

    When I was nine - before Xia¡¯er was born - I returned to Mount Daluo from Emei with Shifu and Matriarch Zi. Those were the days that Shifu was hooking up with all the girls of Wutong Jin Yuxuan (I still reckon it was just him refusing to give up on them). Shifu kept searching for an opportunity to tell my shiniangs about him and Matriarch Zi, and he kept stalling until his birthday, when we had a family dinner.

    On the rare asion, First Shiniang prepared a soup on top of other dishes for Shifu. Second Shiniang took out her broadsword that had been sheathed for years to dance a song for him. Third Shiniang plucked the strings on a guzheng to treat Shifu¡¯s ears to his favourite song. I was coughing and sneezing every time they were in close proximity because of their perfumes.

    I was just eating my meal - and feeding Young Shiyi - when Shifu pped jubntly and said, ¡°What more can I ask for when I have three virtuous wives.¡± I swear I heard him mutter something stupid along the lines of, ¡°except a Miss Wutong.¡±

    My three shiniangs¡¯ lips¡¯ bloomed together as they tenderly questioned, ¡°Who do you love most.¡±

    The cat caught my shifu¡¯s tongue for a few seconds. When he finally found his answer, it was, ¡°Miss Wutong?¡±

    I would never forget the scene the scene of a de shing, soup flying and a guzhenging out swinging straight at my shifu¡¯s ugly face. Two words were all it took for the touching scene to turn into a warzone. That day, Shifu nobly used his blood to teach me that a man who answers incorrectly will die an awful death.

    Wife? Who¡¯s my wife?

    Truthfully, I was pretty giddy inside.

    The two of them must¡¯ve posed as my wives to enter the pce. Ah Neath was aware I was a disciple of Mount Daluo. Nevertheless, there was no point in divulging more to her until she came to power, especially in regards to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s identity. Only once she was in power and Emperor Yuansheng gave his permission could we disclose to Ah Neath who he was, as well as what our ns were. Consequently, I couldn¡¯t tell Ah Neath who the two were. If I responded incorrectly, Ah Neath would suspect their identities.

    In addition, both of my ¡°wives¡± were prideful, and I couldn¡¯t afford to be in either one¡¯s bad books, meaning that I had to consider how the other would react to my response. One of them was my superior, my future bank, my life support in the future¡­ and I was the leader of Rabbit Cult, god damn it! The other one was Young Shiyi.

    Is there even a right answer?!

    ¡°Your Majesty, as Young Ming is back, how about we ask him what information he has learnt.¡±

    Thank god for Uncle Feng Xueing to my rescue! I¡¯d give him a hug if I could.

    Ah Neath nodded: ¡°Good point. Jiang Zhouzi, take a seat, and give me a report.¡±

    Can¡¯t you tell I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m supposed to sit?!

    Not all hope was lost, though.

    Using Voice Transmission, I questioned, ¡°Uncle, which one is my wife?!¡±

    ¡°Whichever one is pretty.¡±

    My two ¡°wives¡± suddenly erected their torsos. Young Shiyi brushed her hair gently and gazed up to the ceiling. Shen Yiren had a nip of tea with her gaze trained forward.

    You two aren¡¯t fooling anyone! Why would you avoid my gaze if you didn¡¯t hear me, Young Shiyi?! How do you exin your red ears, Boss Shen?!

    The old bugger replied using Voice Transmission, but he also made his voice audible to Young Shiyi and Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Who do you say is pretty?¡± Uncle Feng Xue asked.

    ¡°Both!¡±

    ¡°In that case, who is prettier?¡±

    You want to go?! Why you doing me like this?! You¡¯re the ugliest!

    I chose to go to Young Shiyi in the end because, in the worst case scenario, Boss would only feel she lost a beauty contest. She would soon get over it. Besides, there was no need to feel bad if you lost to Young Shiyi, was there? If I chose Boss, on the other hand, Young Shiyi would give me hell. Of course, there was also the fact that I couldn¡¯t let my shifu¡¯s sacrifice back then go to waste.

    I gently massaged Young Shiyi¡¯s shoulders, and she asked, ¡°You never know where to toe the line, do you?¡± Young Shiyi¡¯s soft chuckle was clearly a boast. She tapped my nose whilst wrinkling her nose.

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Oi, Jiang Zhouzi, where do you think you¡¯re putting your hands?!¡± Ah Neath thundered out of nowhere. Meanwhile, her eyes were saying, ¡°You dare to behave so inappropriately in my presence? If I¡¯m not around, I can¡¯t imagine how illegal you would go.¡±

    After pulling my hands back, I saw Young Shiyi¡¯s cheeks inting and deting as she tried to contain herughter.

    Oh crud¡­ I was wrong?

    Boss got to her feet and gestured with her hand: ¡°Hurry up. What are you going to my sister for?¡±

    Oh, finally decided to stop screwing with me now? You know how close to death I was just now?!

    In a quiet voice, and using ventriloquism, I inquired, ¡°Who is my wife?!¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s face became the colour of a bad sunburn as she murmured, ¡°Dear¡­¡±

    Huh? I can¡¯t hear you!

    Shen Yiren inhaled and raised her head, showing her beet-red face: ¡°Dear!¡±

    Seeing as I had no idea how to react, Shen Yiren stuttered, ¡°Ce sit here.¡±

    My feet took me over to Boss Shen¡¯s side without me realising it, and I sat down next to her as if I was programmed to do so.

    Boss Shen is my wife?!

    ¡°Uncle¡¯s arrangements,¡± Boss whispered to me once she sat down.

    ¡°I, I see¡­¡±

    We could almost hear each other¡¯s heart beats. We could feel the heat wave between us. Boss calling me ¡°Dear¡± with rosy cheeks¡­ kind of set my heart aflutter for some reason.

    ¡°I, uh¡­¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Boss nced my way and tugged up the corners of her lips. Next thing I knew, she stomped on my foot ruthlessly!

    What are you raging about when I haven¡¯t said anything?! Are you a freaking tsundere who just ran into her crush?!

    Glossary

    Dancing with a broadsword - You read that right. It can be with any weapon, really. You may have seen them performed using folding fans. These aren¡¯t performances that don¡¯t necessarily carry any practical value besides entertainment, though it¡¯smon for them to borrow martial arts influences. The mostmon modern example (in the realm of Chinese martial arts), is the optional routines in wushupetitions now. You don¡¯t need martial arts knowledge to perform them, and it¡¯s debatable if martial arts knowledge would make them ¡°better¡±.

 Volume 10 96 Legend of Shaman Monarch

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 96 Legend of Shaman Monarch</h4>

    As I wasn¡¯t privy to the details of my role as Boss Shen¡¯s husband and Young Shiyi¡¯s brother-inw, in addition to our discussion pertaining to the secrets of Baimu¡¯s secrets, I had to ask the twodies to leave subsequent to a short chat.

    Boss still seemed grumpy about having to y my wife. I saw Young Shiyi mock Shen Yiren and Ah Neath, well, their busts to be specific, with the way she looked at them, though she did sigh as if to say, ¡°Men, always preferring new over old. I was quite certain she already had it all figured it. That¡¯s Young Shiyi for you.

    Although both of them scared me with the look they gave me on their way out, I was confident my shamelessness would show me a solution.

    Ah Neath was shocked to hear how much she underestimated the situation she heard from me. She merely thought Baimu and Qiushui were cooperating for their own ends; her only goal was to repossess control over her state. It never dawned on her that they were answering to someone with more influence. If my suspicions were supported, then the defeat of Baimu was a victory not worth mentioning.

    Uncle Feng Xue conveyed, ¡°His spection is very likely true. My brother likes violence and does not have friends. For the ten years he has held authority over the military, not a single general has shown any desire to side with him. He would not ally with someone unless there were some enticing rewards. As he has control of the military and has no vested interest in politics, he would not ally with Princess Consort if he was not promised his post of great guya. Zhouzi¡¯s conjecture exins my brother¡¯s actions.¡±

    ¡°Based on what she said, Shaman Monarch Pce isn¡¯t just interested in Nieyao but also informed of the inside story and activity in the city. For us, this is extremely dangerous.¡± I asked, ¡°Ah Neath, how much do you know about Shaman Monarch Pce?¡±

    Ah Neath was in no mood to riposte this time: ¡°¡­ I visited Shaman Monarch Pce once as a kid with my father. Wanyu state¡¯s military has their camp erected all around, while guards of Shaman Monarch Pce patrol the foot of the mountain. Xiacang Anxi¡¯s greatest de wielders, Moyan n, act as guardians in the mountain. The only fitting way I can describe the aura on the mountain is that it¡¯s akin to a mountain of revived dead.

    ¡°My Princess Consort was introduced to us at that meeting and joined us henceforth. Father really appreciated her, but¡­ he suddenly passed away not long after. Looking back on it now, I suppose that was when theyunched their n to arrogate my state.¡±

    Upon meeting with my inquisitive gaze, Uncle Feng Xue enlightened, ¡°Mount Wanyu is the tallest mountain in Xiacang Anxi. They call it the never-falling bird as a way of extoling its height and reminding people that it¡¯s where the legendary Divine Sun Bird firstnded in Xiacang Anxi. Xiacang Anxi people perceive Mount Wanyu to be a sacred sanctuary. If anyone aside from Shaman Monarch Pce dares to upy the ce, royal family or not, there will be a blood bath.

    ¡°Though Shaman Monarch Pce is revered as an entity above pretty much all others, they are considered weak. I can¡¯t say what exactly it is, but when I fought them, they weren¡¯t weak. At the same time, they weren¡¯t amazing, either. If there is a threat, it¡¯d be Moyan n.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    In summary, Shaman Monarch Pce has maintained a low profile and kept to themselves. In thest few decades¡­ It lines up with Nieyao¡¯s disaster. Is it really a coincidence?

    ¡°Jiang Zhouzi, do you have a skeleton of the n or something? You¡¯ve asked a lot of questions.¡±

    ¡°I do. I need you to brush up on some details for me pertaining to Shaman Monarch Pce.¡±

    ¡°You only want a brush up? Do you already know about them?¡±

    ¡°Not really. I just did some research on my way here, so I know their history somewhat. They were established long before Nanjiang¡¯s twelve states¡¯ ancestors were born - and even before Beussent existed.

    ¡°The legend of Shaman Monarch is supposed to be one of the oldest tales in Xiacang Anxi. Nanjiang¡¯s oldest insignia used to be an image of Shaman Monarch and Divine Sun Bird together. Shaman Monarch derives from the first monarch of Xiacang Anxi. They believed he was the descendant of the sun, born to rule over all beings and things. Sessive dynasties continued the culture until the royal family concept was born.

    ¡°Even though Beussent was born into the era of the new system, people can¡¯t stop talking about the reign of Shaman Monarchs owing to how colourful and fantastical it sounded. Kids absolutely loved hearing tales of a divine bird descending from the heavens, conquering thends in golden armour and a huge sword.

    ¡°The fables spawned Shaman Monarch Pce. A millennium ago, a self-proimed descendant of them visited the incumbent King of Nanjiang to propound the establishment of the shaman religion and the instatement of a monarch above Kings. Needless to say, it was brushed off as a preposterous proposal.

    ¡°Only a monthter, the wise descendant of the valley the sun rises from decreed all gold in the nation was to be offered for the construction of Shaman Monarch Pce. The Shaman Monarch returned, except as a guest shown more honour than a King as an epted existence. From there, Shaman Monarch Pce began proselytising people to establish the first Shaman Monarch Pce.

    ¡°Tales rted to Shaman Monarch Pce have painted them in a positive light, and they have the adopted stories into their foundations. Since their establishment, they have continued to grow their influence, even being given the authority to instate or reject Kings.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Nowadays, however, Shaman Monarch Pce is less involved and influential due to the fact that Xiacang Anxi is divided. Even though they continue to reside on the mountain, they are but a shell of their former glory.

    ¡°That was all I gleaned from the book. I was hoping you¡¯d have more knowledge to share, but it sounds like you don¡¯t know much more than the book does. I suppose they wouldn¡¯t disclose their secrets to outsiders.

    ¡°Now, this is another guess of mine. Ah Neath, your Princess Consort isn¡¯t just a shaman but also a member of the most mysterious group in the Central in. I don¡¯t believe she has ever downyed yourpetence. As a matter of fact, I doubt she thinks you¡¯re some airheaded girl.¡±

    Though it could be viewed as meplimenting her, Ah Neath clearly saw the other interpretation.

    ¡°I highly doubt coincidence or your acting is credited for the fact that you¡¯re still alive. She¡¯s cognisant of what you¡¯re doing; you¡¯re just still useful to them. I¡¯m certain she¡¯s dictating all of your actions.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what should I do, then? Feng Xue, you must stick with me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s also ounted for that,¡± I asserted. ¡°If I were Great Spirit Shaman and I wanted to wrest control from you, Martial Paragon must be eliminated no matter what. Uncle, there¡¯s nobody else who has as much influence or is as tough to kill as you. If you hide, nobody will be able to find you. Coming back to answer Ah Neath¡¯s call has brought you out into the open, nheless. Equally important is the fact that they have sessfully restricted your movements. ordingly, their next step should be to take care of you.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do we do, then?¡±

    ¡°y it by ear.¡± I scratched my head in the intervening time. ¡°If you receive a pork shoulder, roast it. If theye knocking,y them out.¡±

    Glossary

    The wise descendant of the valley the sun rises from - In old times, instead of saying the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, they had two different names for the directions, referring to them as valleys.

 Volume 10 97 Strike like the Wind

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 97 Strike like the Wind</h4>

    Ah Neath: ¡°Pork shoulders, pork shoulders! That¡¯s all you know! Feng Xue, stick to my side so that we can move about more conveniently.¡±

    ¡°If your Princess Consort wants to harm you, she will ask for someone from Wanyu Peak to act. Can you tell me who is considered dangerous from Wanyu Peak?¡± I requested.

    Uncle Feng Xue took a moment to make a list, then enlightened, ¡°As you said, legends gave birth to Shaman Monarch Pce. Thing is, nobody knows where Shaman Monarch is since he has not shown himself in years; we don¡¯t even know if he¡¯s still alive. All we know is that Great Spirit Shaman is now Shaman Monarch¡¯s representative. Even Shaman Monarch Pce has been relocated to Wanyu Peal.

    ¡°There are supposed to be two Great Spirit Shamans - Death and Life. Life Spirits handle the cult¡¯s affairs, while the Death Spirits answer to Shaman Monarch. As the whereabouts of Shaman Monarch are unknown, the Death Spirit Shaman won¡¯t show himself. At present, Life Great Spirit Shaman holds the highest authority at Shaman Monarch Pce.¡±

    The information dovetailed what I read in ck and White Reflection. Without the so-called Shaman Monarch, Shaman Monarch Pce couldn¡¯t fight a state¡¯s military despite all the honours they were conferred; even Ah Neath would be more scary than they were. Perhaps a more apt way of putting it would be that people would be more apprehensive about Ah Neath than Shaman Monarch Pce. Even old etiquette had be just a procedure instead of the weight it was once given.

    For some reason, Shaman Monarch Pce started surfacing once again as well as expanding their numbers. Qiushui and Baimu¡¯s bizarre alliance was the mostpelling evidence that something was changing within the faith.

    Uncle Feng Xue continued, ¡°They have no shortage of adepts among their ranks. In terms of martial prowess, their guardians, Moyan n, would be the most dangerous. In Xiacang Anxi, their de work is the absolute best; even I must admit I am inferior with a de. They have two enigmatic superiors referred to as ck and White Clerics.

    ¡°The most dangerous four are Iron, Wood, Poison and Fire Guardians. The four of them take orders directly from the top. Not only can they give the guyas of the eleven states a run for their money, but they¡¯re also incredibly wise. In fact, they¡¯d make excellentmanders in war.

    ¡°Blood Guard Du, Du being the same character for poison, exiled years ago, calls himself Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King. You should¡¯ve heard his name before given his infamy.¡±

    ¡°I think I have?¡±

    ¡°Back then, he was only ranked third among the four Blood Guards without using martial arts. You can imagine how dangerous the others are based on that alone.¡±

    Ipared the information to my n and felt I had a feasible n. ¡°Ah Neath, I have a suggestion. If you¡¯re concerned about your safety, I can link you up with a helper.¡±

    ¡°What sort of helper? A weakling is only going to be dead weight.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, not only are they beneficial weight but also trustworthy. My father-inw runs a martial arts academy, so everyone in the family is an A-grade martial artist. My brothers are also martial artists. They¡¯ll beat Shaman Monarch Pce into next week.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I just told you how dire the situation is, yet you¡¯re thinking of using your family to scam me out of my money?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. Although we don¡¯t know what your Princess Consort is cooking, we know that your pce¡¯s current security system is inadequate. Think about it: they¡¯re going to be sending people of Martial Paragon¡¯s level for your head. How many Martial Paragons do you have in your employment?¡± I walked toward the door, still smiling but stern. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, follow my instructions. I don¡¯t have time for nonsense.¡±

    Ah Neath juddered upon meeting eyes with me. Immediately after nodding, though, she realised she made a blunder, but it was toote.

    ¡°Hahaha, good girl. I¡¯ll get in contact with my inws. It¡¯ll only take them a day to arrive. Now, I need to go visit some more people to request their aid.¡±

    Finally seeing a ray of hope, Ah Neath effused, ¡°Who?! Who?!¡±

    ¡°My drinking buddy. I intend to have him instated as your royal pce¡¯s guard captain.¡±

    Ah Neath grabbed her head and muttered, ¡°Divine Sun, just burn me now¡­¡±

    I only started walking off again when I steered over to Uncle Feng Xue. ¡°Uncle, I have been dying to ask you this for a while, but I could never bring myself to ask.¡±

    ¡°There are no outsiders here. Feel free to ask.¡±

    I leaned in close. ¡°Uncle.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Is your name Ji Xue?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Feng Xue.¡±

    ¡°Oh, profound. Very profound.¡± I saluted Uncle Feng Xue and sped off before he could flip out.

    Why had I always been calling him Ji Xue? I didn¡¯t and still don¡¯t know.

    The first ce I had to swing by was Boss Shen and Young Shiyi¡¯s room.

    ¡°Why are you two here?¡±

    As soon as I went through the door, they caught me in a pincer attack on my left and right sides, hurling a flower vase each at me. I caught the vases, nheless, and returned them to their rightful spots. They were just chatting on the bed until I came through, man.

    ¡°Punk, exin why thee wed his chest.¡± Young Shiyi, legs crossed, refused to look my way whilst tossing things.

    ¡°What are we doing here?! How dare you ask that with a straight face?! Would we have needed to rush here if you didn¡¯t have to vite?!¡± Boss Shen, arms crossed, blew up her rosy cheeks.

    I had to sit in between the two and spent ages clearing the misunderstanding. I hurriedly filled them in on thest two days¡¯ events once they narrowed their eyes on me. I wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit that both of them were smarter and had better eyes for detail than me. Hence, they might¡¯ve been able to pick out something I missed from the information I gathered.

    ¡°Where are you going next?¡± Young Shiyi queried.

    ¡°I need to pay Xiao Huangquan a visit.¡±

    Besides being a veteran and aplished constable, Xiao Huangquan frequented Nanjiang. He left Huzhou ahead of us, so he should¡¯ve been in Nanjiang already.

    ¡°Right now, we need all the help that we can. He¡¯s skilled and quick-witted; it¡¯d be a waste to not have him on our team. Boss¡­ why¡­ are you looking at me like that?¡±

    As if getting caught gazing at me in a daze wasn¡¯t embarrassing enough, Young Shiyi burnt Shen Yiren¡¯s face further with her sly dimple.

    ¡°You¡­ have white hair.¡± Boss Shen plucked a strand of hair from the front of my head.

    The white strand of hair was probably just a strand I missed when I dyed my hair in a hurry. Even though Boss didn¡¯t say or show anything else, I understood that she was looking out for me.

    ¡°Boss, I need your help with something. Pen a letter to His Majesty. Specifically, ask him to bring everyone to Baimu¡¯s royal pce because they¡¯re needed for a lot of things.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve sought out plenty of allies already and even have Martial Paragon on your team. Why do you still need¡­? What do you think our chances of winning are at the moment?¡±

    ¡°Zero. Only once I came here did I realise there are more variables than I predicted in Nieyao. If we enter Nieyao with our current forces, nobody is leaving alive.¡± I took off in a hurry with some refreshments and tea from the table.

    Meanwhile, Young Shiyi kept monitoring Boss Shen.

 Volume 10 98 Two Stories (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 98 Two Stories (Part 1)</h4>

    Ming Suwen gave her evaluation of the royal pce¡¯s garden, structures, style and whatnot, using every synonym, idiom and poem in her database. If her audience was the female constables of Liu Shan Men, they¡¯d beughing and swooning over her. In contrast, Shen Yiren¡¯s responses were bereft of any emotion.

    ¡°Oh,¡± ¡°ah,¡± ¡°mm,¡± if I was your man, I¡¯d never bother with you again.

    Shen Yiren, a subscriber of being prompt and a workaholic, was amidst writing a letter to Emperor Yuansheng at Ming Feizhen¡¯s behest. She was too focused on selecting her words to feel that her ¡°conversation¡± with Ming Suwen was awkward.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Ming Suwen, being restless as always, she gazed at Shen Yiren no differently to a predator and then pounced, squeezing Shen Yiren¡¯s melons from behind. ¡°Wh-whoa! S-so soft!¡±

    ¡°Ming Suwen!¡± Shen Yiren smacked Ming Suwen on the head with a book, heaving big breaths. ¡°Can you stop?! Why are you messing around now?!¡±

    ¡°Wow, why so mad? I was just ying with you, hahaha.¡±

    Shen Yiren certainly got to know Ming Suwen better over thest few days, but Ming Suwen also learnt a lot more about Shen Yiren.

    While it wasn¡¯t hard to see why the northern martial world¡¯s most beautiful maiden was hailed as the most beautiful, her ¡°The Demoness¡± title only became apparent once one spent long enough with her. As for ever-curious Miss Juese, all of Liu Shan Men already knew about that character.

    Ming Suwen saw the man her heart belonged to in Shen Yiren - always carrying duties on their shoulders, always projecting the future, always looking forward. Whether or not it was attributed to the simrities between them, Ming Suwen developed a strong - and yful - interest in Shen Yiren.

    Ming Suwen loved to see Shen Yiren¡¯s ears bounce whenever thetter was triggered. Every inch of Shen Yiren was so perfect that Ming Suwen would forget about her jealousy.

    I can see why Feizhen takes a liking to her. He really has good taste in girls.

    ¡°I just think you shouldn¡¯t waste such b-, cute assets,¡± Ming Suwen said with her eyes fixed on the two balloons.

    ¡°Yours are also plenty big!¡±

    Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t going to take it lying down. She counterattacked with her own move, seizing Ming Suwen¡¯s waist, yet thetterughed hysterically. After a prolonged ¡°wrestling¡± exchange, both maidens¡¯ hair and clothing were unkempt, breathsborious.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m done. I¡¯m done, hahaha.¡± Ming Suwen sprawled out on the bed in regal fashion.

    ¡°Always messing around like your nephew.¡± Shen Yiren grumpilybed her hair subsequent to shooting Ming Suwen a re.

    ¡°Aiyo? What happened to addressing me as ¡®sister¡¯?¡±

    Given Shen Yiren had a number of friends, she clearly wasn¡¯t difficult to get along with unlike the simrly serious Yu Feiyuan. While one had to scowl to be intimidating, the other¡¯s pride was worn on her sleeve. The only reason Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have more friends was because she was too busy to devote herself to making friends, not because she couldn¡¯t make them. Thus, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have any challenge getting to know somebody well in a short window, particrly if the person of interest didn¡¯t withhold.

    Despite Ming Suwen¡¯s yful, innocent pranks, Shen Yiren could sense the former hinting at things beyond her grasp.

    ¡°As soon as I give you an inch, you take yards. If you behave, I¡¯ll address you as my sister. Else,¡± Shen Yiren tried her best to look scary with her hand raised, ¡°I¡¯ll spank you.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, scary.¡±

    Shen Yiren returned to her letter, only to find it smudged, so she started over.

    ¡°Sis.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Shen Yiren grouched.

    ¡°It¡¯s already smudged, so you might as well take a break. How about we have a chat?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine. I have no interest in roast meat, pots and whatever, though. I¡¯d rather you talk to me about major events in the martial world or share martial arts knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll talk about major events in the martial world.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t doubt she had fallen for the grinning prankster¡¯s trap. ¡°Yeah, what exactly?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a story rted to Six Evils, a young boy and girl.¡± Having sessfully grabbed Shen Yiren¡¯s full attention, Ming Suwen celebrated with her lips. ¡°Weren¡¯t you wondering why Feizhen is searching high and low for help in spite of your current forces? Six Evils aren¡¯t monsters out of books for us; they¡¯re beings we¡¯re dedicating our lives to driving out. What I¡¯m about to tell you is a bloody story that I witnessed take ce on Mount Daluo.¡±

 Volume 10 99 Two Stories (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 99 Two Stories (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Where shall I start¡­¡± The memory still was as surreal as the dreamy tone she broached the topic with. ¡°Uhm, let¡¯s start with when a naughty girl and her best friend had a fight?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Young Shiyi, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Ming Suwen thought she¡¯d forget the harmless question, but his look, his tone, as well as the question, stuck with her forever. Even the feeling of the weather came to life when the memory surfaced.

    Her nine year old self was crouched down in the forest at the rear mountain, pulling out grass as she muttered, ¡°Stupid Feizhen, traitorous Feizhen, stupid Feizhen¡­¡± She could no longer remember why she was angry. All she called was stamping her feet because he refused toply and then chose to hide away.

    At a younger age, she found it intriguing and refreshing for everyone to respect her, even going as far as pping themselves if she admonished them. As she grew older, she found it bizarre. From as far back as she could remember, she ate meals on her own, had, at least, twelve dishes at each meal, and had, at least, fifteen servants by her side at all times. She, of course, never finished any of her meals, yet they threw out her leftovers instead of sharing them with others, citing, ¡°They are not worthy.¡±

    The only family she ever had was her cousin, who was a legend of few words. He was either sleeping or cultivating most of the time, so she hardly spent much time with him. Her eldest nephew was a clever, pretty handsome boy whose favourite pass time was giving people grief, yet he always treated her equally to a Princess. The boy was the only one who could treat her as an equal.

    Once there was only one de of grass left, she ceased yanking them out. ¡°Stupid Feizhen, it is.¡±

    The sight of the mangledwn reminded her of how amusing her friend looked when he felt defeated.

    Not long after she was born, she liked hispany, crying if it wasn¡¯t he who held her. As far as she could remember, she always liked having hispany, stargazing, strolling around on the mountain (technically riding on his back) and catching butterflies (he did the catching). Merely seeing him in deep thought invoked an urge tough.

    Starting to weep, she uttered, ¡°Stupid Feizhen, Stupid Feizhen, Stupid Fei-¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Young Shiyi?¡± There he was in front of her, smiling warmly with his hands extended out to her. ¡°You called for me, right? Let¡¯s go.¡±

    She immediately cracked up smiling, forgetting about the fact that she was supposed to be peeved, and hugged him. ¡°Wh-what are you here for? I thought you refuse to listen to me because I¡¯m overbearing. Go away. Go away!¡±

    ¡°Am I wrong?¡±

    Unable to believe her eyes, she almost burst out crying.

    ¡°Why did youe here? This is too close to Forbidden Forest. Shifu said they¡¯re driving off a beast that everyone is duty-bound to participate in. Didn¡¯t you notice shiniangs have gone into hiding?¡±

    ¡°In that case, why are you here?! Let them eat me! Let them gnaw me!¡±

    ¡°Shut up! So damn annoying!¡± He picked her up despite her protests. ¡°I should feed you to a tiger!¡±

    Never had he been so harsh on her; she was so scared that she staunched her own tears for a while.

    ¡°¡­ Stupid Feizhen, stinkin¡¯ Feizhen, traitorous Feizhen!¡± Her cursing eventually reached a point where her crying resulted in an indiscernible mess of cursing.

    There was nothing Ming Feizhen feared more than Ming Suwen crying. Every time she cried, he¡¯d be a panic-stricken mess: ¡°Okay, okay, stop crying. I¡¯ll apologise, okay?¡±

    ¡°No! I¡¯m going to cry!¡±

    ¡°Why? You¡¯re being unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ Because you abandoned me! You want to feed me to a tiger.¡± She began wailing again.

    He dabbed her tears and snot with his handkerchief. ¡°Are you stupid? I would rather be eaten than let you suffer as much as a scratch. Keep crying and I¡¯ll change my mind. Don¡¯t be stupid, okay?¡±

    While he was always spoiling her, ¡°spoiling¡± wasn¡¯t really the right word. Seldom but surely, there were moments when he¡¯d seem more mature than he should be for his age, and each time that side of him came out, she¡¯d follow whatever he said.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Okay.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± He scrubbed her head.

    ¡°I want a piggy back!¡±

    As soon as he put her on his back, someone at the rear castigated, ¡°How dare you bring Mistress here.¡±

    ¡°You have a death wish, runt?! I assure you: your dinner is going to be a hundred canes!¡±

    They were Ming Suwen¡¯s two bodyguards today - Ming Feizhen¡¯s uncles.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s branch disciples substantially outnumbered direct disciples of Ming Huayu to the point that they could start a business of selling Ming Feizhen¡¯s uncles from the branch division.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t find his uncles from the branch division unpleasant because they were jealous of his senior disciple status or for tattling on his misdemeanours. He wanted to cave their faces in solely because they lost sight of Ming Suwen, allowing her to endanger herself on the rear mountain. Their threat was a clear indication that they were going to cast the me on him instead of owning up to their negligence of duty. As Ming Huayu said, ¡°Branch disciples are third-rate trash that the trash at the trash dump wouldn¡¯t want.¡±

    Ming Feizhen gave them the cold shoulder, choosing not to deign, yet they stopped him.

    ¡°Hey, leave her with us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take her back. You two need not trouble yourselves.¡±

    ¡°What nonsense is that? We¡¯re her bodyguards today.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you¡¯re here? This ce looks anything but safe to me.¡± Walking off, Ming Feizhen sardonically asked, ¡°Or are you saying you can¡¯t even watch over a nine year old girl?¡±

    ¡°Ming¡­ You runt, you think you¡¯re all that just because Patriarch likes you, huh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Ming Feizhen. Allow me to remind you that I¡¯m the next patriarch of Mount Daluo. You can disrespect me or challenge me,¡± Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder, ¡°but don¡¯t forget I can also kill you here and now.¡±

    Though the two elders didn¡¯t know how much skill Ming Feizhen had, they hadn¡¯t forgotten about him defeating another elder when he was only nine. They thought he would copse under the pressure of seniority, but they discovered they were wrong.

    As he didn¡¯t sense the two elders following him, Ming Feizhen kindly turned around to remind them of the danger zone, only to pick up on a heavy stench of blood. ¡°Uncles!¡±

    Two headless corpses were already lying on the ground. The tiger that chomped their heads off peered through the dark-purple mist shrouding it, locking eyes with Ming Feizhen as it took sonorous breaths. It didn¡¯t take a genius to tell it was iparably dangerouspared to the beasts in Forbidden Forest.

    ¡°Young Shiyi, retreat, but don¡¯t stray too far from me.¡± Ming Feizhen hiked up a corner of his lips as he polished his fist, his glimmering eyes showing he had mastered his internal discipline. ¡°Though it¡¯s not my preference¡­ we might have to eat tiger meat for dinner.¡±

    ***

    There weren¡¯t even a hundred people, even if recluses were counted, who knew about the beasts on Mount Daluo in detail. There were the one or two people among them who could tell half the world about the beasts, but they didn¡¯t, not because it would instil fear but because they didn¡¯t dare to get on Mount Daluo¡¯s bad side.

    Mount Daluo cordoned their mountain peak today, instructing everyone to stay on the mountain furthest away from the rear mountain. As an insurance measure, all remaining adepts were tasked with protecting all those who couldn¡¯t defend themselves, including residents of Mount Daluo.

    The ¡°rear mountain¡± of Mount Daluo was actually its headquarters. Every generation of Mount Daluo resided there after their founder slew one of the resurrected Six Evils - Colossal Chaofeng.

    Mount Daluo had everyone go to the shelter and hundreds of selected elites were assembled for they calcted today would be the day a beast hatched. The hundreds of elites attacked the infant Colossal Chaofeng as soon as it hatched from its egg, striving to put it away as fast as possible. Under the previous and current patriarchs¡¯ leadership, they finally sent the Colossal Chaofeng back to the abyss after a skirmishsting twelve hours.

    When they thought they could finally catch their breath, someone cried, ¡°Patriarch, another beast has hatched!¡±

 Volume 10 100 Two Stories (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 100 Two Stories (Part 3)</h4>

    Colossal Chaofeng , a beast as savage as an inferno and equipped with wings to move like the wind, was the toughest beast to take down in the past. Mount Daluo¡¯s founder managed to y it when it was in its infancy stage because its wingscked the strength to grant it flight at that young age. Knowing it was revived once every decade, Mount Daluo followed suit, bringing it down sessfully every time when it just hatched, albeit with plenty of casualties.

    Besides the Colossal Chaofeng, there was another cmitous beast sealed inside a ck egg on Mount Daluo. Every time the egg grew, its appearance would appear more aggressive. Unlike the Colossal Chaofeng¡¯s egg, the ck egg also grew markedlyrger each day.

    The Fengpeng was a symbol of greed as the one craving it was loyal to was its desire to devour everything. A dragon may be symbolic of ferocity, but seeing the damage an adult Fengpeng caused a millennium ago would quickly change that opinion. During its reign of terror, the Fengpeng would devour trees, concrete, buildings¡­ if it existed, it would devour it - and that was after its daily meal of a thousand humans.

    Blood ceaselessly leaked from the cracks in the ck egg, dying the floor red. While its blood didn¡¯t affect humans, once it contaminated nature or animals, they¡¯d mutate into giant, bloodthirsty animals with insatiable appetites. Locusts would be considered a joke if anyone witnessed how clean the Fengpeng¡¯s mutated army left ces they passed by. The mutated beasts on Mount Daluo came from the Fengpeng¡¯s blood, and those beasts became the reason Forbidden Forest was home to mutated beasts. To address the spread, Mount Daluo tricked ignorant disciples into hunting the beasts to protect the secret in addition to serving as a training exercise.

    Of the two beasts sealed on Mount Daluo, the Fengpeng, was the greater threat as it didn¡¯t hatch at fixed intervals. Every sh with a Colossal Chaofeng was the length of a novel, each detailing how to defeat the monster and the conditions that they took it down for their sessors to reference. In contrast, they had only fought a Fengpeng twice in thest millennium since it took centuries for a Fengpeng egg to spawn.

    The most recent Fengpeng egg to form on Mount Daluo came into existence twenty years ago. Hero Shenzhou estimated it would hatch within three years from a certain moment in time. It had only been a year and a half since then, when its red eyes returned to greet humankind.

    They had been preparing for today for years to win, to protect their home and to protect their tomorrow. It felt as though fate was toying with them, throwing them another mighty opponent right after they just barely defeated one. Everyone present was understandably shaken. Everyone but him.

    ¡°Stop getting your nuts in a bunch. You¡¯re embarrassing me.¡± Ming Huayu, attire still as good as new, opened his eyes, still as smug as ever.

    There were thousands of varying, contradicting tales of Ming Huayu out there. Some imed he was invincible. Some imed he was involved in all of the businesses in thend, backing it up with ims that he spent tens of thousands of taels daily. He had even been called a descendant of the former imperial family who was biding his time to reim the throne. The legend that men across thend were envious of was his Casanova disposition. Not one of things they alleged made him sound human, and he really didn¡¯t seem human when he marginalised the alerting news with his lips.

    When the Colossal Chaofeng was expected in a year, everyone began preparations, expecting only a few members of the squad to survive. Nobody expected there to be so many people still standing at the end of its extermination. Hero Shenzhou, a man extoled more than him, was a disappointment if one were topare the number of sacrifices under his leadership. Everyone on the squad under Ming Huayu¡¯s leadership was injured, but there were less than ten people who lost a limb. The only person to have beaten Ming Huayu¡¯s record was Mount Daluo¡¯s progenitor.

    ¡°Wussies shouldn¡¯t be here. Shut your traps.¡± It was hard not to see the ck giant that just hatched, yet Ming Huayu catapulted one of his juniors at the Fengpeng with just his left hand.

    ¡°P-Patriarch!¡±

    The Fengpeng opened its mouth to catch the ¡°projectile¡±; however, Ming Huayu had already bridged the gap by the time it saw him out of its peripherals. When his junior crashed into the ground, he saw Ming Huayu standing atop a tree condescendingly at the beast he just wrestled to the ground.

    ¡°Eat, eat, eat, it¡¯s all you¡¯re good for. You¡¯re like a virgin seeing a pussy for the first time.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch, Patriarch Former has not recovered yet! Wh-what shall we do?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I know.¡±

    While the newborn Fengpeng hadn¡¯t developed its voracious appetite yet, its instincts told it to race off the mountain.

    ¡°P-Patriarch, it ran!¡±

    ¡°Geezer, catch up once you¡¯re ready. The rest of you weaklings can go ask your mothers to bandage your brittle bodies.¡±

    ¡°B-but, Patriarch, Patriarch Former will need an hour, at the very least, to recover.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I thought I told you that I already know?¡±

    Though they heard his voice from the tree, he was already dozens of metres away.

    He gave the impression that he teleported from the tree to the beast. Like a meteor that descended out of nowhere, he already smashed it into a crater, generating a shockwave that wobbled the disciples still where he started.

    Restraining the beast with a single hand, he jeered, ¡°Where you off to, piggy?¡±

    Glossary

    Patriarch Former - I made this term up since they¡¯re also using a made up term. They¡¯re referring to Hero Shenzhou if you didn¡¯t know.

 Volume 10 101 Two Stories (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 101 Two Stories (Part 4)</h4>

    The Fengpeng was born as an eighteen metres long, twenty-seven metres wide monstrosity. Should it collide with anything, it¡¯d be nothing short of a small mountain crashing onto the same person or object. To make matters worse, it was hard to stay on its back owing to its astounding agility.

    Due to the ck beast only having entered the world not long ago, it was at a loss for what to do at first, but it quickly unleashed its brutality on Ming Huayu, trying to send thetter into the ether with one paw.

    Ming Huayu dispersed the energy, reducing his flight to a mere ten metres. Next, he leveraged the Fengpeng¡¯s force against it, elerating himself back down to floor the beast.

    The squad remembered Ming Huayu¡¯s instructions - because they all knew disobeying him was more terrifying than Six Evils unleashed - but their conscience wouldn¡¯t allow them to just leave the cmitous beast to him alone. What they didn¡¯t know was their patriarch¡¯s true capacity.

    Nobody liked Ming Huayu when he was brought to Mount Daluo as, despite being a cute and handsome kid, the first thing he said was, ¡°Fook you, Daddy wants out.¡± His condescending attitude didn¡¯t help his case, but nobody could learn as fast as him. It was hard to understand things he said - minus the insults and insinuations. If anyone wanted to understand him, they had to think long and hard - at least they thought they did. When they thought their guess was correct, he¡¯d creep up behind them to imperiously tell them, ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡±

    Ever since he was instated as Patriarch, Ming Huayu dropped all of Mount Daluo¡¯s enemies at the foot of their mountain - no exceptions. Not even his strongest opponent was able to force him to ess Divine Realm.

    The Fengpeng¡¯s howl snapped the squad out of their daze and into a realm of pain. Yet, Ming Huayu descended and, emitting white energy from his hand, chopped off the Fengpeng¡¯s six metres long left fang in one motion and then disengaged.

    Even though the Fengpeng¡¯s strongest offensive weapon was at its weakest as an infant, it still wasn¡¯t something an ordinary weapon could slice apart.

    Having developed a fear of Ming Huayu, the Fengpeng bolted off as he closed in a third time.

    Upon returning to the ground, Ming Huayu stated, ¡°I can¡¯t solo it. Tell the geezer to hurry the hell up. Without his Castoff and that stupid iron rod, I can¡¯t get into the piggy¡¯s skin. I¡¯ll stall it until he¡¯s ready,¡± and then recalibrated his breathing.

    des, fire and water weren¡¯t enough to inflict meaningful damage to the six beasts. Without a special method, the only path to victory was, first one to gas. Trying to fight a war of attrition wasn¡¯t really a fight, though; it was just self-inflicted torture.

    The typical strategy consisted of forging a weapon capable of piercing Six Evils¡¯ exterior and then having top-tier fighters pounce it. Hero Shenzhou¡¯s weapon, which was part of Seven Dynasty-Founding des, was capable of prating their robust exterior.

    Ming Huayu opened his eyes, then made a beeline for a tree branch to monitor the Fengpeng. Since the Fengpeng chose to flee to the rear mountain, there was no fearing it would escape. If anything, the time it spent rumbling with the trees and whatnot would buy them precious time to recuperate.

    ¡°Unless¡­ there¡¯s someone with a death wish on the rear mountain.¡±

    Tasking someone to stall Six Evils was tantamount to saying, ¡°We need you to sacrifice your life.¡± Typically, a team would be entrusted with the mission, so it stood to reason that a young disciple wanted to assist Ming Huayu, yet an elder stopped him.

    ¡°Uncle, do not stop me! How can we let Patriarch go by himself?!¡±

    ¡°Wushan, are you stupid? Are you telling me you haven¡¯t noticed?¡± The elder gazed up to Ming Huayu¡¯s back. ¡°He¡­ hasn¡¯t even used Enlightenment yet.¡±

    ***

    ¡°¡­ Damn it!¡± Ming Feizhen, on his way back to his feet, thought he¡¯d see his organs when he spat the blood in his mouth.

    ¡°Feizhen!¡±

    Ming Feizhen wiped his blood whilst forcing Ming Suwen to stay back with an extended arm. ¡°I¡¯ll charge at it again. If I fail, run. I¡¯ll keep it busy. There shouldn¡¯t be any more of these strange beasts in the forest¡­¡±

    Even though he had gone through training harsh enough for him to think it was abuse and even though he received adtion for being tremendously strong, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t offer the beast any challenge.

    Its red eyes seemingly zapped him of his energy, while it was constantly growing mightier. For that reason, Ming Feizhen understood that a protracted battle would inexorably lead to his downfall. Needless to say, he hadn¡¯t deluded himself into believing that he was qualified to stand toe to toe with it. While he was severely battered, he wasn¡¯t able to rattle it once in thest fifteen minutes.

    The man who raised Ming Feizhen never taught him to give up; he was taught to w his way if that was what it took to survive.

    As Ming Feizhen shuffled through his database for knowledge on unique beasts, he bound at his opponent again. He abruptly halted his advance, but the beast continued forward, oblivious to the danger it was cing itself in.

    In spite of being granted the best opportunity to turn the tides, Ming Feizhen¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t heed his plea. He was running on fumes, and every time he moved, it hurt all over. If he didn¡¯t do something, nheless, the girl behind would be its snack.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen dug deep to dodge a fatal bite and uncorked the biggest fist bomb at the beast¡¯s only weakness - its soft abdomen. Following up, using his three mountains and three oceans of might, he delivered a finishing snap kick to the same spot.

    Ming Feizhen, blood-soaked, wobbled back to Ming Suwen and softly uttered, ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re all right¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen never ran away notwithstanding having cried her eyes red. She wrapped her arms around him to support him on his feet, wailing on his chest. She didn¡¯t know that the event would be the reason that she could never get him out of her heart.

    As they began to wobble away, a dark shadow devoured theirs from overhead. Ming Suwen turned back, consequently losing her breath.

    There was the twin-headed beast with heads resembling boars, except far more menacing. It inhaled Ming Suwen¡¯s fear and drooled drums of saliva from its light-pink tongue. ¡°It¡± deftly coiled the beast Ming Feizhen killed up its tongue and into its mouth. It licked its lips as if to express, ¡°Tasty snack¡± in front of them. Its red eyes on them told them that they were next on the menu.

    ***

    ¡°Wait. Are you saying the beast that took Feizhen everything to kill wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Although the fact that Ming Suwen was in alive and there in front of her, Shen Yiren was shaken.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡± Ming Suwen paused to adjust herself as the nightmare surfaced once again. ¡°The beast Ming Feizhen practically traded his life to kill was only a wild beast that the mutative gas had infected. The true diabolic monster of Mount Daluo showed up when we least expected it as a nightmare.¡±

 Volume 10 102 Two Stories (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 102 Two Stories (Part 5)</h4>

    Ming Suwen dug her fingernails into her hands to wrist to counteract her fear and the venomous gas that would throw off an adult lion, determined to escort Ming Feizhen to safety before she went down.

    Had I not cked off¡­ Had I made use of my privileges¡­ Had I not been wilful¡­

    The Fengpeng covered dozens of metres in a hop. Given Ming Feizhen was three years older and considerably taller than her, she might¡¯ve as well awaited death if she was going to take him along, but she¡¯d rather bet on a 1% probability.

    I need to get Feizhen to safety - if just he alone¡­

    Instead of springing on them, the Fengpeng, heaving louder and louder, stalked its prey. Whether it was sport or another motivation, its decision had a profound effect on the martial world¡¯s fate in the aftermath.

    For whatever reason, the Fengpeng suddenly decided to charge at the two. In ast-ditch effort, Ming Suwen shunted Ming Feizhen away. Like a grain of dust subject to anyone¡¯s will, Ming Suwen zoomed through the air. The Fengpeng then encroached upon her, eyes glowing brighter and brighter.

    ¡°Oi, half-wit¡­¡± The should-be unconscious youth howled, ¡°Get¡­ away from her!¡±

    The Fengpeng¡¯s red eyes no longer scared him, and its size no longer mattered for he¡¯d rather not see the image of Ming Suwen being buried alive manifested into reality.

    Ming Feizhen uncorked the most ferocious punch he ever threw in his life. s, the Fengpeng¡¯s dispersed red mist broke every bone from his fingers to his wrist.

    ¡°Argh! Argh! F$#@ this!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Blood roiling, not even Ming Feizhen¡¯s broken body could stop him. Nevertheless, his rage also blinded him, literally, from the gaping mouth. Regardless of how much anger he had, one bite would silence his belting. That¡­ was how it was supposed to end.

    The Fengpeng had Ming Feizhen on its tongue, yet it didn¡¯t close its jaws. It wasn¡¯t because it didn¡¯t want to but because a man held up its top jaw with one hand and kept its bottom jaw from rising with his feet.

    ¡°Sorry, piggy, but the brat you want to snack on¡­ is my disciple.¡±

    The familiar, condescending tone made the Fengpeng vividly relive the pain of having its fang chopped off.

    Desperate, the Fengpeng coiled Ming Feizhen straight down without masticating first. In response, Ming Huayu gently set a hand on its belly. ¡°Give him back.¡±

    Ming Huayu ejected energy straight from his hand, lobbing the Fengpeng across the field. Though it was rocked, the Fengpeng didn¡¯t suffer any unbearable injuries. Having eaten corpses of mutated beasts, Ming Feizhen¡¯s uncles and him, the Fengpeng was no longer the weak beast it was upon emergence. Most importantly, its appetite was burgeoning.

    Even though he had a monster roaring as it chased him, Ming Huayu didn¡¯t appear fettered. ¡°Feizhen, you¡¯ll have to save yourself. If you die¡­¡±

    While the Fengpeng chomped Ming Huayu¡¯s afterimage, Ming Huayu had already retreated over thirty metres and then vaulted between its heads. With one hand on a head each, he fired two qi tornadoes at both heads simultaneously, rattling the Fengpeng. Ming Huayu chased down the Fengpeng stumbling backwards, fingers glued together. As soon as it exposed its fang, Ming Huayu lopped its fang off.

    ¡°¡­ all I can do is avenge you.¡±

    Ming Huayu held off the Fengpeng for no less than two hours on his own before Hero Shenzhou arrived. Although Hero Shenzhou wasn¡¯t the carry of the squad that banished the Chaofeng back to the abyss, he needed more time to recover than in his younger days.

    ¡°I¡¯d inevitably be its next meal if you were anyter.¡± Ming Huayu¡¯sint wasn¡¯t the least bit convincing when he didn¡¯t have a blemish on his clothing.

    Ming Huayu tried to mount a counter multiple times, but he was unable to deal any effective damage beside the fang chop; not even mming it into the ground fazed it.

    The seemingly sleepy elder with a long beard questioned, ¡°Why are you so worked up?¡±

    ¡°It ate my disciple.¡±

    ¡°When?¡±

    ¡°Before you recovered, you old bum.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Guess you can only avenge him, in that case.¡±

    ¡°Stop pointing out the obvious and use Overarching Heaven already.¡±

    Hero Shenzhou unsheathed the sword passed down in Mount Daluo. It was believed that Six Evils hated Overarching Heaven more than anything because it once drank the blood of their predecessors.

    The Fengpeng saw its own blood for the first time when Hero Shenzhou slit its back. Ming Huayu had the upper hand on his own, so the two overwhelmed the monster in no time.

    ¡°¡­ Why?¡± Hero Shenzhou inquired.

    ¡°How should I know? Maybe our ancestors¡¯ calctions has a mistake?¡±

    Only around fourteen hours ago, the two of them did battle with the Colossal Chaofeng and took twelve hours to bring it down, not to mention the wounds that Hero Shenzhou hadn¡¯t recovered from. The Fengpeng was supposed to grow stronger, bigger and wilder as its appetite grew unlike the Colossal Chaofeng.

    Ming Huayu didn¡¯t believe that he would die stalling the Fengpeng; however, he didn¡¯t expect it to be so easy, either. He wasn¡¯t markedly stronger than previous generations; the Fengpeng was just significantly weaker.

    Something had to be amiss to exin the discrepancy between the Colossal Chaofeng and Fengpeng, especially the absence of the Fengpeng¡¯s notable characteristics.

    Ming Huayu mmed his hand into the Fengpeng¡¯s dome, incapacitating it on the ground. Hero Shenzhou approached it as they needed Overarching Heaven to finish it. The Fengpeng only grunted weakly as though it was begging to be put out of its misery.

    ¡°Geezer, its heart is by its chest.¡±

    Upon spotting a crimson glow through the Fengpeng¡¯s chest, Hero Shenzhou immediately impaled it. As blood gushed outparably to a waterfall, the Fengpeng gradually stopped moving altogether. Even so, the two closely monitored the red glow in its chest because they didn¡¯t believe it fell within the realm of a ¡°normal reaction¡±.

    A human silhouette in the Fengpeng¡¯s chest stood up from the blood bath. He had blood coursing down his mouth and the Fengpeng¡¯s flesh in his hands. The gleaming red eyes behind the syed hair and ck miasmaing from him gave him the appearance of a humanoid Fengpeng.

    Glossary

    Fingers glued together - To fortify the strength of his knife hand. Just try chopping with your fingers spread versus together.

    Overarching Heaven - This is another way of referring the highest level of heaven. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, read up on 36 heavens of Taoism. You don¡¯t need to know about it if you just want to read the story.

 Volume 10 103 Two Stories (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 103 Two Stories (Part 6)</h4>

    Even the man who raised Ming Feizhen never imagined him chewing so savagely or him being that tall, big-boned and muscr. Though he resembled a human on the outside, he had be a Fengpeng inside.

    When he Ming Feizhen stopped to look their way, they could only assume he was staring at them because his red eyes were devoid of focus. For all they knew, he could¡¯ve been staring at everything or nothing at all. From what they were told, Six Evils were hundreds of times more sensitive to the qi of humans than ordinary beasts, so they didn¡¯t need their eyes to find their prey.

    Hero Shenzhou, monitoring Ming Feizhen the entire time, dodged a lethal punch when he saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s violent red eyes zone in on him. Had he not moved in time, Hero Shenzhou might¡¯ve been buried in the cavern Ming Feizhen punched into existence.

    Incensed over missing his target, Ming Feizhen howled, instilling terror in Mount Daluo disciples afar and evoking doubt in Mount Daluo¡¯s two patriarchs.

    Instead of dodging Ming Feizhen¡¯s second assault, Hero Shenzhou sheathed Overarching Heaven and fired golden energy down his right arm - Enlightenment. Hero Shenzhou defused Ming Feizhen¡¯s five heavy punches singlehandedly before both disengaged.

    Hero Shenzhou¡¯s movements were still deft and light. On the other hand, Ming Feizhen chucked up blood from taking shots head on.

    Ming Feizhen immediately went forward again, eating another shot buffed with Enlightenment, yet it wasn¡¯t enough to deter him.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In addition to gaining might almost rivalling Six Evils, Ming Feizhen¡¯s physique blessed him with superior speed. To add, he learnt Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines. Among all versions of Six Evils, Fengpeng Ming Feizhen would be the toughest one ever to beat. That was why Mount Daluo had to kill him.

    The reason Hero Shenzhou stowed away Overarching Heaven was to grant Ming Huayu time to find an alternative to killing his disciple. Had he willed it, Hero Shenzhou could¡¯ve decapitated Ming Feizhen on their first exchange.

    ¡°My disciple, my responsibility.¡± Ming Huayu etched every detail on Ming Feizhen¡¯s face into memory as he sauntered closer.

    Ming Huayu never thought he¡¯d be the one to bring Ming Feizhen back to Mount Daluo, and he surprised himself when he reflected on how much he invested into the boy. Never did he think he¡¯d be so attached to the boy.

    ¡°Stop.¡±

    Ming Huayu, face straight, nged his hand on Ming Feizhen¡¯s chest, plugging his disciple with broken ribs into the ground.

    ¡°Think you¡¯re tough now, huh? What are you doing here? Have you finished your homework? I told you to go help your shiniang, so what are you doing here? Did I not tell you that you have to obey my instructions?¡± Though he was castigating his disciple, Ming Huayu stroked Ming Feizhen¡¯s head slower and slower. ¡°You¡¯ve always been a good kid¡­ Why did you choose today of all days to not toply?¡±

    Ming Feizhen roared. Judging from his energy, he had already recovered from his internal injuries. While they may be perceived as a blessing, it was because he was trading off his humanity.

    Ming Feizhen struck zing-fast again. Ming Huayu dug two fingers into Ming Feizhen¡¯s kneecaps, immobilising him and then chopped thetter on the spine, sabotaging Ming Feizhen¡¯s bnce. Now, even if he could recover as fast as Six Evils, it would be difficult to undergo aplete recovery.

    Ming Huayu pressed his fingers into the nape of Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck. All Ming Huayu needed to was eject energy if he wanted to end his disciple. Ming Huayu was a decisive man who was seldom hung up over anything, yet his hand felt awfully heavy there. He wasn¡¯t even clinging to hope; he was clinging to the hope that there might be hope. He was ready to trade anything to save his disciple if a method existed. Thanks to that persistence, he finally saw a ray of hope.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s belts weren¡¯t just instinctive belts. There was anger and resentment. Six Evils shouldn¡¯t be capable of suchplex emotions; Ming Huayu almostughed hysterically upon realising that the one controlling the mangled body was Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Huayu wasted no time analysing the status quo. He was the one who moved the position of the Fengpeng¡¯s organs. He was the one who pierced the Fengpeng¡¯s gut. He was the one dragged his disciple out of the dangerous interior. His disciple¡¯s arms were broken by the time he arrived on the scene, and there was no guarantee he would recover. As a matter of fact, he was likely going to end up crippled.

    Ming Huayu wondered what would drive someone pretty much terminated, barely conscious, to overwhelm the Fengpeng¡¯s mind and gnaw his way to its heart?

    Upon scanning the ravaged field, Ming Huayu spotted a trail of oddly buried dirt dozens of metres away from the crevices and craters in the ground. Once he sted the dirt off with a palm strike, he found the unconscious girl, the answer to his query, below.

    Ming Huayu held Ming Suwen out to Ming Feizhen and pressed his hand up against Ming Feizhen¡¯s back. ¡°Ming Suwen is all right.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s body jolted as though he was trying to move. The redness in his eyes gradually receded. In a raspy voice, right before going to sleep, he uttered, ¡°Young¡­ she¡­¡±

    ***

    Mount Daluo fired off chests of fireworks to celebrate the record-breaking - in a positive way - aplishment and feasted on the best delicacies they could get their hands on. That is, if Mount Daluo didn¡¯t include their patriarch, his wives, Hero Shenzhou, over a dozen elders and seniors silently gathered around a bed.

    If nobody told them, they wouldn¡¯t recognise the unconscious boy groaning in bed to be Ming Feizhen. His shiniang, caressing his scorching forehead, barely contained her tears. Like her husband, she treated Ming Feizhen as her son for she didn¡¯t have any children. Nobody knew how to assuage the couple when not even they were privy to what happened.

    ¡°He killed the Fengpeng.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s shiniang was fully aware that Hero Shenzhou wanted to polish Ming Feizhen¡¯s name since she already heard the abridged version from her husband.

    ¡°Shut your potty mouth, Old Geezer. You¡¯re the one who killed the Fengpeng. My disciple isn¡¯t dead. He doesn¡¯t need a posthumous title.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch, regardless of how bad your mood may be, you cannot speak like th-¡±

    Ming Huayu kicked the speaker out before he could finish. Hero Shenzhou didn¡¯t hear anything after his deration as he was already sound asleep.

    ¡°Sh-Shifu¡­¡± Ming Feizhen opened his eyes, albeit barely, and stared at the ceiling. ¡°Will I die?¡±

    ¡°Not on my watch. The King of Hell won¡¯t dare to receive you without my permission.¡±

    On his way out, Ming Huayu stopped by Hero Shenzhou¡¯s side to order, ¡°Old Geezer, take care of my wife and kid. I need to make a quick trip.¡±

    Hero Shenzhou¡¯s paused for a tick before snoring again.

    Ming Huayu¡¯s wife snapped, ¡°Zhen¡¯er is barely hanging on by a thread, and the sect needs a leader. Where are you off to?!¡±

    A while after the man in white was out of sight, they heard an echo: ¡°Wudang. To steal Tai Chi.¡±

 Volume 10 104 Two Stories (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 104 Two Stories (Part 7)</h4>

    Ming Suwen brewed a new pot of tea since thest pot had gone cold during her story. ¡°You must also be thirsty. Have some tea.¡±

    Shen Yiren needed a moment to zone back in. In contrast to Ming Suwen¡¯s delicate manner of drinking, Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t so stiff. Once she hydrated, she closed her eyes to return to the story. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t know he had such a past. He¡­ must¡¯ve been in a lot of pain.¡±

    Ming Suwen reced herself and Ming Feizhen with ¡°she¡± and ¡°he¡± in her story. Nheless, Shen Yiren could tell who they were and Ming Suwen substituted their names since she told Ming Feizhen that she wouldn¡¯t listen to his secrets if he didn¡¯t want to tell her. For the same reason, Ming Suwen never mentioned any of their background details.

    Shen Yiren seldom interrupted Ming Suwen¡¯s story with questions. Gradually, Shen Yiren saw herself living in the moment with them, watching Ming Feizhen defend Ming Suwen and seeing every expression he switched between. It wasn¡¯t very hard to match the young boy with the adult version she knew.

    ¡°Yeah. I heard that Six Evils¡¯ might is impossible to estimate, but we know thatrge beasts can¡¯t withstand them, and adepts are as fragile as sandcastles to them. The pain¡­ I witnessed him suffer isn¡¯t something a human can bear.

    ¡°Overnight, his bones, nerves and skin underwent a drastic transformation at the behest of some kind of energy. His bones broke and regrew repetitively. Even though he wasn¡¯t conscious, he¡¯d start rolling in bed whenever he had apse.

    ¡°I doubt you knew about this as it¡¯s the top secret of Mount Daluo. Feizhen has always been the type to be a victim of tunnel vision as well as preferring to solve things on his own. He¡¯ll take it all on his shoulders and then walk off without asking for anything once he¡¯s done. You probably wouldn¡¯t ever know any of this if I didn¡¯t tell you because he¡¯s never wanted to talk about it.¡±

    Shen Yiren bobbed her head: ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not educated on Six Evils. After he ate it¡­¡±

    ¡°My cousin says that Six Evils¡¯ life source is aggressive qi, which actually resembles humankind¡¯s true qi. Nobody has wielded their qi, though. It would destroy humans¡¯ meridians, and the most advanced mental cultivation styles work on true qi, and the drivers are what ispatible with them. It¡¯s not easy to find a discipline that can manipte Six Evils¡¯ qi.¡±

    ¡°Meaning¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen let a winsome smile bloom: ¡°What other discipline besides Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi could be capable of refining a mountain of energy into thin needles?¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Ming¡­ really stole Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi?¡±

    ¡°Though I¡¯m not privy to the details, it was something like that. Else, Feizhen wouldn¡¯t be alive.¡±

    ¡°Huan Xini!¡±

    ¡°How do you know that name? Oh, he used it in Huzhou.¡±

    Shen Yiren hadn¡¯t forgotten the bemusing and unimaginable spectacle. ¡°No wonder why he¡¯s so proficient at Tai Chi. I¡¯m equally amazed that Mount Daluo and Wudang haven¡¯t gone to war.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re only saying that because you don¡¯t know what sort of man Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch is. There¡¯s hardly been anything that he hasn¡¯t been able to do when he sets his mind to it. I¡¯ve heard several absurd things he¡¯s done. Every time he gets married, he turns the martial world on its head and sideways. He¡¯s pretty much always had his way when he wants something or someone. My cousin took him in as a disciple because of his fortune.¡±

    Hah, sounds exactly like Feizhen. Hang on, fortune?

    ¡°What is Patriarch Ming¡¯s forrtune reading?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I guarantee you didn¡¯t expect this. My cousin caught him pinching food before when he wasn¡¯t even ten. You know how he exined himself? He said he stole the food for my cousin. Intrigued, my cousin decided to read his fortune. The reading said - Devil Incarnate.¡±

    ¡°Devil Incarnate?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°My cousin says he was born with the fate. If left to his own devices, he¡¯d plunge the world into chaos. My cousin took him under his wings in hopes that he could use his gifts for good. I don¡¯t know how he mentored him, but I suppose my cousin deserves credit for circumventing him leading Demon Sect.¡±

    A whileter into their conversation, Ming Suwen stated, ¡°I have another story to tell. This is more recent and without the emotional rollercoaster.¡±

    Ming Suwen nonchntly gave a recount of Ming Feizhen¡¯s sh with Jin Wangsun for the patriarch spot, the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, the story of her offering herself for sale after witnessing him flirt with Princess Jingan and so forth. Shen Yiren¡¯s nerves were in a bundle the entire time until they reached the part where Ming Feizhen brought Ming Suwen back to Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°No wonder why you suddenly had a change of heart and chose to join Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Ming Feizhen did tell Shen Yiren the story, albeit in a much more condensed and censored form.

    ¡°I know Feizhen cares about me, but I did that because I didn¡¯t think he liked me until today¡­ I¡¯m now satisfied with life. I assume you know what I mean.¡±

    Shen Yiren fathomed why Ming Suwen shared her personal feelings and the secrets of Mount Daluo without needing to be told.

    ¡°¡­ Let me also tell you a story. There was once a girl blessed with parents who cherished her. One day, someone killed her parents. Although she survived the ze, she didn¡¯t know where to go next. A man saved her and gave her a reason to live. She then tried her best to restore her family¡¯s glory, their blood, sweat and tears, and set out to avenge them. She¡¯s sold herself. Half of her heart perished in the inferno with her parents. The other half is dedicated to her saviour.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like a story.¡±

    ¡°Sound like or doesn¡¯t sound like, it makes no difference. My body is sold. My heart has been given away. I have no rights to myself. All I can give is an empty shell. I am grateful you appreciate me, but let us end this topic here.¡±

 Volume 10 105 Ming Suwenâ€™s Feelings

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 105 Ming Suwen¡¯s Feelings</h4>

    Shen Yiren said, ¡°I¡¯m sleeping next door. Call me if anythinges up¡± and left at the end of the conversation - a clear indication she was wanted to avoid Ming Suwen.

    Ming Suwen was so lost in Shen Yiren¡¯s response to her story that she didn¡¯t notice Shen Yiren leave.

    ¡°¡­ Your heart and body¡­ belong to others, huh? Her most important people and things won¡¯te back. Her goal can only be achieved if she sacrifices herself.¡±

    Feizhen really likes to give himself trouble. Why does he always go for tragic maidens? Well, guess I could say the same for her and me.

    While the gravity of Six Evils couldn¡¯t be underestimated in rtion to Nieyao, Ming Suwen had no need to go as far as disclosing what Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t intend to divulge.

    People would find a way to weaponise Six Evils if they found out the source of Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal energy potency was from a Fengpeng. In reality, nobody could transform into a second Ming Feizhen even if they tread his path down to every individual step.

    Ming Suwen¡¯s willingness to reveal all those secrets wasn¡¯t only an expression of trust but also acknowledgement. Shen Yiren being Shen Yiren, she had a hunch of what Ming Suwen was alluding to after the subject. If Ming Suwen¡¯s thoughts weren¡¯t clear in the first story, then the second story was only a step away from her overtly expressing, ¡°I won¡¯t oppose you marrying Feizhen.¡±

    Ming Suwen never doubted Ming Feizhen cared for her immensely, not after he risked his life to buy her time and not after he gnawed the Fengpeng¡¯s innards to avenge her when he thought she died. Howbeit, she assumed it was out of friendship.

    Ming Feizhen gave Ming Suwen far more than he gave anyone else. She only asked for very little from him - always. s, the one thing she wanted from him was something that he couldn¡¯t give her - or so she thought. It only urred to her that he reciprocated the feelings when he abandoned everything after thepetition to pay her a visit, sacrificing an opportunity to search for ¡°her¡±. His feelings weren¡¯t friendship or family; it was a fervent desire to possess her irrespective of the consequences the moment they locked eyes. That was all Ming Suwen desired.

    Ming Suwen never ceased musing over her future with Ming Feizhen in his absence. She was aware of the hole in his heart that she couldn¡¯t heal. Unless he found the one he needed to find, the wound would continue to decay.

    Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t worried about the wound too much - reason being her experience in the pugilistic world told her that, as long as they still held the same weight in Ming Feizhen¡¯s heart, the one in question would eventually resurface. She believed their reunion wasn¡¯t too far away based off the climate of the pugilistic world.

    Once Ming Feizhen healed and opened up, he¡¯d need to start a family. His shifu had three wives and innumerable soul mates, so it wouldn¡¯t be uneptable for Ming Feizhen to proceed simrly. Most importantly, he¡¯d need a main wife.

    Should Ming Suwen want to be Ming Feizhen¡¯s main wife, she¡¯d only need to say the word. She, nheless, was aware that she wasn¡¯t fit for the role. She wasn¡¯t afraid of anything, but she couldn¡¯t be insouciant when Ming Feizhen was part of the puzzle.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t n to seclude himself in the mountains to avoid conflict because trouble found him even if he didn¡¯t seek it. Mount Daluo was isted from the rest of the world, yet when did problems ever divorce them? If they could truly live reclusive lives, how would they have established themselves in the same group as Wudang and Shaolin?

    When did trouble ever stop guing the pugilistic world? Ming Feizhen signed up to Liu Shan Men to create rtions with the imperial court. While he would never iste himself from the pugilistic world, the past would seek him. He had yet to do anything in the name of Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, and he was only a minor constable at Liu Shan Men. Once the dust settled, he could secure his life as a constable. That being said, he couldn¡¯t just marry an unqualified wife despite his current status.

    Ming Suwen did as she pleased, walking on the border of norms, resulting in her offending or killing scores of members from orthodox and unorthodox sects. In addition, there was the issue of seniority between her and Ming Feizhen. Even if Mount Daluo turned a blind eye to it, Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t stop copping criticism for it, and she didn¡¯t want that.

    Just because Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t suitable to be Ming Feizhen¡¯s main wife, it didn¡¯t mean she wanted to be second fiddle. She merely didn¡¯t care for superficial titles. Regardless of who he married first, it made no difference to her since she didn¡¯t feel anyone could boss her around.

    Sure, Ming Feizhen stole the hearts of plenty ofdies; however, Ming Suwen¡¯s standards were high. If she approved of a girl, there was no doubt that the girl was ¡°high quality¡±.

    Vixen Yu was not going to get ahead of Ming Suwen - not even if hell froze ever. Eunuch Bai may have been close with Ming Feizhen for a while, but his main wife couldn¡¯t be a eunuch even if it was meant as a bad joke. Princess Honghuang and Princess Jingan weren¡¯t wife candidates; they were problems that needed to be erased.

    Not only did Shen Yiren tick off all the criteria in Ming Suwen¡¯s books, but she was also loyal, cute and prudent in addition to brave. Shen Yiren had the qualities to be the backbone of a family; she would be the one who could keep the family operational and healthy. On top of that, over thest few days of close inspection, Ming Suwen could say that Shen Yiren had top-of-the-line appearances, even sporting two globes bigger than her own. If she nigh got a blood nose touching them, there was no doubt Ming Feizhen would love them.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The most important factor was that Ming Feizhen meshed well with Shen Yiren; sometimes, Ming Suwen would feel jealous of their chemistry. They didn¡¯t sweat the details, were both stubborn, could talk forever, disliked unfairness and hated viiny with a vengeance. In all the years Ming Suwen knew Ming Feizhen, he had never seen him talk with anyone as much as Shen Yiren. ording to Ming Suwen¡¯s observations, Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t a very ideal conversation partner. Had it not been for his experiences, had he peacefully inherited his shifu¡¯s role, perhaps he and Shen Yiren would be able to pursue their shared ideals together.

    Ming Suwen didn¡¯t expect Shen Yiren to sever the discussion right out off the bat. Ming Suwen was not one to leave her jobs iplete, nevertheless. Shen Yiren¡¯s ¡°selling¡¯ alluded to her engagement. Ming Suwen was willing to bet that the engagement could be cancelled if Shen Yiren requested its termination. Emperor Yuansheng was happy to pair them up. If Emperor Yuansheng demanded it be called off, who¡¯d object?

    ¡°Yangzhou¡¯s Song n, huh¡­?¡± Ming Suwen subtly tugged up a corner of her lips.

    ***

    Since Emperor Yuansheng saw the news as a breakthrough in the situation, he immediately marched upon receiving word from Ming Feizhen.

    It didn¡¯t even take two days for Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group to reach Baimu when Green Prince granted them a travel passport and Beussent was as familiar with the paths as the back of his hand. They had to leave behind a group to continue running the shop in Xiuyu, which Green Prince was tasked with overwatching.

    It was just a shady shaman cult and a young girl. How hard could it be? Abels and his wife, Lai Jingzhen, Dugu, Sima Huai, Luo Ming, TangYe and eight hundred Qilin Guards were plenty for such a simple mission. In Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s words: ¡°I alone am enough to protect a girl.¡± What were the eight hundred Qilin Guards for, then? To protect him, of course.

    Beussent regrouped with his n once he escorted Yizhen Company to their destination.

    Emperor Yuansheng told Ah Neath that all of his men were elites, requesting her cooperation. Ah Neath added eight hundred men to her forces under the guise of fortifying the pce¡¯s guard unit. While Feng Xue hid himself in Ah Neath¡¯s rear pce, he did tell her to receive Emperor Yuansheng with courtesy, not that she wasn¡¯t already.

    Xiao Huangquan brought several famous warriors of Nanjiang with him to Baimu two dayster. Dan Weishan, who had now surpassed Xiao Huangquan, needed no introduction in Nanjiang.

    At first, all the civil ministers were intimidated when Ah Neath assigned the new faces to guard duty in the conference hall. After a few days, though, her positive outlook of the elite military garrison nosedived.

    Today, Xiao Huangquan had a drinkingpetition with Abels on the left-hand side of the hall, littering the floor with rolling jugs. Sima Huai and Dugupeted in a game, where one person tried to sneak their hand in and out of the opponent, who tried to catch their hand. On the opposite side of the hall, Shen Yiren almost admonished blood out of the Qilin Guards¡¯ ears. Meanwhile, Ming Suwen chased A-Lan, who taught her to tame the bear she was riding, around in the garden.

    Tang Ye to the prison guard: ¡°You have mantous?¡±

    ¡°No, only meat.¡±

    ¡°You have salted vegetables?¡±

    ¡°No, only meat.¡±

    Tang Ye sighed: ¡°Bring me a mantou and dish of salted vegetables.¡±

    ¡°I said we only have meat!¡±

    ¡°Are you all here to leech?!¡± Ah Neath finally snapped.

    Emperor Yuansheng, who was grooming his beard after performing a broadsword taolu and had a snack, answered, ¡°Your Majesty, we are not cking. We cannot do anything until your enemies show themselves, nheless.¡±

    ¡°Was I talking about that? I was asking where Jiang Zhouzi is!¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Who knows?¡±

    He wants to let his family leech off me?!

    Ming Feizhen had disappeared for eight days already.

 Volume 10 106 Conversation in the Palace at Night

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 106 Conversation in the Pce at Night</h4>

    All seven states of Western Regionsbined were barelyrger than Nanjiang. Alone, none of Beijiang¡¯s two states couldpare to Nanjiang¡¯s geographical size. Thend of the sun resembled the shape of a soaring bird when viewed from a bird¡¯s-eye view.

    When culture first emerged as a concept, XIacang Anxi created twelve different tribes based on their geography, culture and climate, naming the twelve based on the Divine Bird¡¯s body parts, such as the three states around Nieyao, namely Baimu, Morcher and Wanyu. Hence, in a way, the division of the unified twelve states was a restoration of their original cultures. That was the reason there wasn¡¯t a big issue over the split. If the Central in were to split, they¡¯d spend the next century fighting amongst each other.

    Morcher was the Divine Bird¡¯s beak, its most fearsome weapon. Likewise, their people¡¯s fighting spirit was always aze. If anyone had a good chance of restoring Beussent, it was them.

    Baimu might¡¯ve frequently been involved in wars, but they weren¡¯t feared for their military might. To the contrary, they tended to be meek. As the eyes of the Divine Bird, they saw through things, bing the state that was abreast of the most secrets.

    Wanyu was blessed with the most expansivend, the most aesthetdscape, soil that was conducive to manufacturing ofmercial goods in addition to enviable business opportunities. Perhaps as a by-product, the hottest women of Xiacang Anxi and the best alcohol was found in the most resplendent city of Xiacang Anxi. Their royal family dressed in bright red akin to the Divine Bird¡¯s fiery feathers. When the sun went down, thedies danced around a bonfire, while the men strapped a red bandana to their heads and sang until golden rays split the darkness. At present, Wanyu also had a military that was almostparable to Morcher¡¯s military, but it wasn¡¯t hard to conceal the military when they had so muchnd.

    Wanyu¡¯s royal pce built on Yuanchu City¡¯s Ling Peak may be humungous; however, it wasn¡¯t as resplendent as Baimu¡¯s royal pce. Nheless, they invested exorbitant amounts of gems and money into imitating the former Shiri Pce. Among the twelve states, there was nopetition in the aesthetic department if Wanyu¡¯s royal pce was apetitor.

    All the way up to the top of mountain, you would be walking along a river flowing down from the top, shrouded in mist.

    Wanyu¡¯s King resided on the eighth pce of the ninth floor - Liquan Pce. Wanyu¡¯s ancestors built nine pces on all nine floors of the royal pce, designating the eightieth pce as the King¡¯s residential pce as it was the ce closest to the peak. While Liquan Pce wasn¡¯t decoratedvishly, it provided a view of the entire Yuanchu City, reminding Wanyu¡¯s Kings that they needed to watch over theirnds with their own eyes.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There was nothing, absolutely nothing, inside the eighty-first pce. No patrols were even delegated there. As a matter of fact, the ck pce looked out of ce.

    Although everyone knew he was Wanyu¡¯s ultimate warrior, few were aware that the chair he had to guard every night was one of the items that proved the authenticity of Shaman Monarch¡¯s legend. If the story could be trusted, then the ridiculously heavy iron chair was the one that Shaman Monarch sat on. Because he supposedly took it everywhere with him, it was no exception in Shaman Monarch Pce. Though it was treated as a state treasure to pass down since Wanyu¡¯s inception, nobody could exin why it was brought to Ling Peak¡¯s apex.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your exnation.¡± Wanyu¡¯s thirty-four year old King didn¡¯t need to scowl or shout to strike fear into the heart of the man kneeling before him in Liquan Pce.

    The man kneeling in armour, Wanyu, lowered his head in fear of the well-groomed King who couldn¡¯t convince anyone he was a monarch without his robe. ¡°Your subject is deeply sorry. He detected a trace of the intruder before he entered, but he seemingly warped away after he took off with Shaman Monarch¡¯s chair. Only Mount Wanyu canpete with Ling Peak; your subject cannot fathom how he did it.¡±

    Wanyu¡¯s King squinted as he brooded, then shook his head. ¡°You are my greatest warrior. If you are useless, does that not mean my state is useless?¡±

    The King¡¯s piercing, punishing gazepelled Wanyu to reply, ¡°Your subject begs your pardon.¡±

    By no means was Wanyu¡¯s King undermining the man who downyed himself as a subject. If a man who had served in the army and served him for twenty years was useless, Xiacang Anxi might as well have abolished the Sacred Beasts system.

    ¡°Whoever he is, if he¡¯s so capable, then he must be ambitious.¡± Wanyu¡¯s King peered to the top of Mount Wanyu, the former tallest mountain of Xiacang Anxi. ¡°Did you just say¡­ Mount Wanyu is the only mountain that canpete with Ling Peak in terms of height?¡±

    Wanyu didn¡¯t need more than a second to discern where his King was going with it. Getting around eighty pce¡¯s strict security? Climbing to the top of Ling Peak without leaving any traces? The only people who¡¯d have any chance of pulling that off would be those residing on the mountain even taller than Ling Peak.

    The duo gazed toward Mount Wanyu, musing why anyone from Mount Wanyu would want to steal Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne. Mayhap their worst fear was bing a reality - and faster than they could imagine.

    Suddenly, when a string of zes lit up, Mount Wanyu resembled the bonfires they were used to seeing in their city every night. Whenever Mount Wanyu gave that signal, Wanyu and Shaman Monarch¡¯s warriors needed to assemble under Great Spirit Shaman to fend off the invaders.

    They only just pinched from our pce¡­

    The two could see each other asking, Mount Wanyu has also been looted?

 Volume 10 107 Spirit Shaman

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 107 Spirit Shaman</h4>

    Even though Yuanchu City might be over four kilometres away from Mount Wanyu, the eyes wouldn¡¯t perceive it as so because the verdant scenery along the silhouette was visible through the clouds and mist from afar.

    While Wanyu¡¯s royal family edited Ling Peak, nobody could convince a foreigner that there was a human civilisation there at one point because there wasn¡¯t a soul in sight or any signs of human civilisation. As for bonfires, there were hardly any. Mount Wanyu remained barren until Shaman Monarch surfaced, proving the mysterious cult to be non-fiction.

    The only thing people could know for certain was that the enigmatic Shaman Monarch Pce sat atop Mount Wanyu now. To speak more overtly, everything rted to them was shrouded in mystery.

    At night, the followers of Shaman Monarch Pce lit up torches along the uneven path to the pce. Rather than using it as a means of lighting the path to the top, though, the purpose of the fires was to deter people from visiting. Nobody dared to challenge the representative of the sun when they were only the sun¡¯s people. Moreover, besides the guardians hiding along the narrow paths, there were the religious zealots who¡¯d kill their parents, spouse or children if they were ordered to.

    The end of Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s political reign didn¡¯t abate their influence. Instead, it rooted itself deep within the hearts¡¯ of the people. Baimu¡¯s Princess Consort¡¯s authority prior to being enthroned as Princess Consort was irrefutable evidence of their sustained influence. At the height of their influence, 90% of Nanjiang¡¯s poption were devout followers of Shaman Monarch Pce. Their guardians were even idols among the people. s, the torches visible at nights nowadays only reminded people that Shaman Monarch Pce was only a shell of its former self.

    Shaman Monarch Pce needed to make itseback now more than ever, but they now required a more ¡°direct¡± existence. A shrine for shamans to enlighten people or read fortunes on every street wasn¡¯t enough; a public holiday that reminded people of them once a year wasn¡¯t enough. They needed to exist in a form that could exert as much influence as in the past. No matter what form they adopted, no form had more influence than the erstwhile Shaman Monarch Pce.

    Nobody could confidently say how much influence Shaman Monarch Pce wielded at current; however, they were aware that Shaman Monarch Pce was slowly rebuilding their faith, rebuilding to the stage where monarchs and influencers had to seek the sun¡¯s approval (read: Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s approval).

    Despite Shaman Monarch Pce having ¡°pce¡± in its name, said pce was actually built inside a cavern. It would be tough to persuade someone it was Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s based on the interior alone; the only way they could convince someone was if they showed them the faithful followers wholeheartedly kneeling outside.

    Feiyi, a healthy state far south of Xiacang Anxi¡¯s heart, sent a diplomatic envoy to seek permission from Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman to do business with Western Region¡¯s seven states. Notwithstanding the envoy being the younger brother of Feiyi¡¯s monarch and him being a stand-in for his brother, he was still forced to kneel outside the dark cavern.

    The ancient text at the bottom of the vines, which was barely visible under the bean-sized me, was beyond the educated envoy. Perhaps thenguage was as quaint as the throne within the cavern. Perhaps everything he saw was organised beforehand, arranged in a way intended to cover past traces. It was scary to think how prudent they had to be and what was the catalyst behind the arrangement¡­

    Rather than the mes suddenly flicking on frightening him, it was the five human visible silhouettes that impelled the envoy to shudder.

    There was a dry concave hemisphere around the throne, but the damp stench pervading the air was proof that it was once used. The pool acted as a moat of sorts to distinguish the difference between the four masked guardians around the ¡°moat¡± and the old man on the throne. Though the elder wore a fancy white robe and hid his face behind his waterfall of white hair, there was no mistake that he was old from the wrinkly skin on his gaunt hands.

    The man to the left of the pool thundered, ¡°Where is your salute to His Eminence?!¡±

    Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s profile was a nk te; one could make a case for him sounding pretentious, and he really didn¡¯t give off the same agreeable vibe that stories of him described.

    The envoy saluted in the ancient format as required before proceeding to expound the reason for his visit. ¡°¡­ Please grant us permission, Your Eminence.¡±

    It would be understandable for the envoy to feel relieved after finishing what he had to say. Unfortunately, the uncanny atmosphere and silence wouldn¡¯t spare him. Merely thinking about the four unmoving guardians made the hairs on the back of his neck stand erect.

    ¡°Understood,¡± the elder finally responded, startling the envoy once again. ¡°So¡­ what about this old one¡¯s request?¡±

    ¡°This one has brought it as per your request.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡±

    While the envoy didn¡¯t understand all the things ¡°Uhm¡± implied, the thirty-odd followers outside recognised their cue to file into the pce. They bent their knees and raised the infants in their hands overhead as if the children were sacrifices.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The envoy lowered his head. ¡°The thirty infants are less than one month old. All of them are descendants of Feiyi¡¯s royal family.¡±

    The traditional custom required anyone who wanted an audience with Great Spirit Shaman to bring thirty infants from the royal family short of a month old. Those infants would go on to be foundational members of Shaman Monarch Pce; it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the majority of those kneeling outside were royal family members.

    When the elder gently extended his hand forward, a follower carried an infant over to him. The infant wailed out of instinct when the elder poked their face. Even though the envoy couldn¡¯t see the elder¡¯s face or hear his voice, he could sense the elder grin.

    ¡°This old one hereby grants Feiyi his approval.¡±

    The envoy could cry a river of joy for not having to go back down the mountain to fetch the prepared chests of gifts.

    The followers left the pce with the infants subsequent to the envoy¡¯s departure. The pce interior remained as dead as always until the elder ordered, ¡°Light.¡±

    The dark cave now was as bright as day.

    The guardian to the left waved a hand. ¡°Tributes.¡±

    Thirty followers sessively headed up to the edge of the pool tomit an unspeakable sin using the knives they stored in their belts. The infants unleashed hallowing cries, while the hands holding them trembled as the infants¡¯ blood trickled into the pool. The only person present with the corners of his lips curved up was the elder on the throne.

    Only once the infants¡¯ cries softened did the guardianmand, ¡°Stop. Each infant¡¯s blood needs to be used thrice. We can¡¯t let them bleed anymore.¡±

    The followers thereupon bandaged the infants¡¯ cuts. Another thirty followers came in thereafter and followed the same procedure, except they cut themselves. Never did they moan or speed through the process, treating it as some sort of sacred ritual. Whenever a follower died, they¡¯d be reced with another follower.

    Once the pool was filled to a certain level, the elder undressed and, resembling a wooden puppet on a string, hobbled into the crimson pool. It didn¡¯t take long for an inexplicable vitality to restore youth to his bark-like skin.

    The thirty infants¡¯ blood acted as a guide, while the volume of adult blood made up the rest of the volume. Soaking in the blood pool only sustained one¡¯s prolonged lifespan, martial skills and physical health for short window. In an ideal world, he¡¯d always have ess to royal blood, but it wasn¡¯t easy to get his hands on royal infants. Consequently, Shaman Monarch Pce demanded infants from the people at fixed intervals.

    ¡°Idiots,¡± the elder asserted in a firm tone. ¡°Establishing trade rtions with Western Regions is just making dangerous enemies. The seven states are immeasurably strong, not to mention the Divine Moon Cult. All that greed has blinded him. There is no need for imbeciles. Wood Guardian, record.¡±

    ¡°Ready, Your Eminence.¡±

    ¡°Feiyi needs a new monarch.¡±

    ¡°And the envoy¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard he brought along twenty chests of valuables.¡±

    The guardian nodded and descended the mountain, understanding what needed to be done.

    Great Spirit Shaman never had any reason to leave the mountain. He controlled his cult and the states from hisfortable throne whilst being worshipped. Why go put yourself in danger when you can deal with danger from afar while fools pander to you?

    A follower reported, ¡°Your Eminence, the virgin is ready.¡±

    ¡°May His Lordship, The Sun, grant forgiveness.¡±

    Having power in one¡¯s hand, yetcking the physical health to wield it is a crying shame. The elder often felt empty as an old man, unable to find joy in anything. Only when he saw his ck hair and young reflection again did he feel alive.

    ¡°This old one still needs to live, though.¡± The ¡°elder¡± ambled out of the pool,ughing hysterically on his way to the room his followers prepared.

 Volume 10 108 Climbing the Mountain

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 108 Climbing the Mountain</h4>

    ¡°Your Eminence, your subject has an urgent matter to report.¡±

    Great Spirit Shaman had only walked a few metres when one of hisfollowers approached him with a jog. He was as insouciant to the panic his kneeling follower showed as he was to the words ¡°urgent matter¡±.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Your subject is part of Danniao Department¡­ His name is Batulu.¡±

    Batulu hadn¡¯t had any chances to aplish himself in the twelve years he served Shaman Monarch Pce out of gratitude for saving his family. That being said, he was known for staying in hisne, earnestly delivering messages and sorting out information at Danniao Department.

    ¡°You should have been told that there is to be no sounds that disturb the peace in Shaman Monarch Pce.¡±

    Batulu had only seen Great Spirit Shaman three times in thest three years; he was moved to tears to hear his name was something the vaunted man wanted to hear. s, that joy quickly turned to terror when he realised his blunder. In his defence, he did slow down once he entered the pce, nor did he raise his voice once in or speak out of ce. Furthermore, the strong winds muffled his voice even further.

    Great Spirit Shaman wasn¡¯t griping about the volume in the pce. He was dissatisfied with the fact that he wasn¡¯t controlling everything there. When he wanted silence, he demanded silence. His strictness bordered on abuse. Anyone who thought they were the exception to the rule¡­

    ¡°Let the winds take this soul.¡±

    Another follower dragged Batulu off to the edge of a cliff, and off Batulu went with the winds - to earth he went.

    The sense of joy that control brought showed on Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s lips. ¡°What¡¯s the urgent matter he wanted to report?¡±

    The authoritative Iron Guardian answered in a deep voice, ¡°It must have been something he saw?¡±

    Danniao Department head replied, ¡°If you wish to know, we need to send someone else to investigate.¡±

    The pce was over an hour away from the foot of the mountain on feet, so running down and back up would take over two hours.

    ¡°Nobody else knows?¡± Great Spirit Shaman frowned.

    ¡°No.¡±

    After so many years - or maybe he was going to me his age and health for it - it finally dawned on Great Spirit Shaman that his overbearing desire to control everything deprived his followers of the ability to think for themselves. Although they followed his orders unconditionally, the paradox was that not acting without orders was considered ¡°good¡±. The more they coveted praise, the less thinking they did for themselves. As a recent example, nobody kneeling outside the pce budged despite witnessing Batulu¡¯s excessively brisk movements.

    Great Spirit Shaman was in no mood to kill another person for the sake of stressing his authority when a second follower from the foot of the mountain copied Batulu.

    ¡°Your Eminence, someone is instigating trouble at the foot of the mountain.¡±

    I see. Given we never let anyone spheme our sanctuary, it exins their state of panic.

    ¡°What happened? Tell me everything in detail.¡±

    The followers patrolling the mountain path were trekking the mountain as part of their cultivation rituals when they came across a youth sleeping in the middle of the road an hour ago. He was picking his nose, wiping his toes and drooling all over their sacred grounds.

    When the followers reprimanded the sphemer, he sneered. For some reason, the two followers trying to get him off the path felt intimidated by his presence. When he woke up, he overwhelmed them in verbal warfare.

    The two incandescent followers called for backup, never expecting to regret their decision.

    At most, only four people could walk down the path shoulder touching shoulder. In the more narrow sections, people had to walk sideways. Along the turns, only two people could travel through simultaneously. ordingly, all the followers knew they only had to focus on the enemy in front of them when fighting on the mountain path.

    Their theory was sound. The problem was that their opponent put several away with a single punch in most exchanges. If they weren¡¯t close to the foot of the mountain, the followers would¡¯ve fallen to their deaths.

    Subsequent to palming three down, he¡¯d pull someone in with his right to hurl them into another group, all whilst continuing to advance up the mountain. In one leap, he¡¯de down and crush rocks underfoot.

    ¡°An adept storming Mount Wanyu¡­ Finally making their move, huh? Sinners of Beussent.¡±

    Great Spirit Shaman always believed the eleven states he controlled would one day rise against him since it wasn¡¯t the first time these ¡°valiant rulers¡± tried in the decades he had been in power. Despite their best efforts, they couldn¡¯t even draw him out of his throne room. Instead, they ended up having to offer up their descendants as sacrifices.

    Come, sinners of Beussent. This old one shall show you who you have crossed, and then he shall make you pay for your impudence!

    ¡°Do not waste any more manpower on stopping our intruder. Whoever is stronger will have the advantage on the mountain path; numbers will work against you. Force him to a wide area to besiege him. Summon Moyan n to kill him. Iron Guardian, gather men. Massacre a vige of Wanyu, and send their King the vigers¡¯ heads to remind him where he stands.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡±

    ¡°Speak,¡± Great Spirit Shaman instructed when he noticed the hesitance his follower disyed.

    ¡°Moyan n already knows about the trespasser. Young Master Changping has gone to stop the intruder.¡±

    ¡°Moyan Changping, huh? Hmph, not bad. Let him go.¡±

    Hong Jiu, heading up the mountain, jerked his head back when he saw a green blur flit pass and a w swipe his face. Hong Jiu countered using ¡°A Palm Singes the Sky¡±, chopping the back of his opponent¡¯s de and twisting out of his opponent¡¯s range. All three palm strikes on Moyan Changping¡¯s de did no damage because all of thetter¡¯s attacks were feints.

    Ideally, they needed to decide the winner in one exchange on the narrow path, yet neither of them could tag the other in ten exchanges, impelling them to disengage.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I finally have an opponent who doesn¡¯t die right away.¡± Moyan Changping, ghost-head broadsword in hand, made it clear he was out for blood.

    ¡°Keep linin¡¯ them up and I¡¯ll keep knocking them down!¡±

    Glossary

    Cultivation ritual - This cultivation is not the body purification, body tempering, soul forging¡­ sort of stuff you. The trekking is the cultivation.

 Volume 10 109 Roiling Blood

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 109 Roiling Blood</h4>

    Neither youth under the charcoal sky budged or said another word.

    If Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s rule was credited with Mount Wanyu¡¯s reputation, then Moyan n, the n that faithfully bequeathed their mental cultivation and broadswordy to each generation, was credited with the mountain¡¯s military might.

    Mount Wanyu wasn¡¯t exactly a haven for civility when Great Spirit Shaman upied it decades ago. When various factions tried to obstruct him in a myriad of ways, Moyan n cut down the dissidents to usher in peace for Shaman Monarch Pce.

    de Demon left plenty of room for imagination when he took Moyan Luohou¡¯s second son in as his disciple after their duel, whichsted three days, twenty years ago. If there was anyone who was worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Martial Paragon in Nanjiang, it would undisputedly be Moyan n¡¯s retired patriarch.

    ¡°Who are you? Why are you starting trouble on Mount Ling?¡± Moyan Changping questioned in fluent Mandarin.

    ¡°You own this mountain? You think you can just draw a circle around a block ofnd and im it as your own? I was just sunbathing when two minions started having a go at me. Do I look like someone who¡¯ll just take insults lying? I gave them a ¡°Buddha¡¯s Birth¡±, sending them to see Buddha, visit the man up north, through the four seasons, into the five blessings, onto th-¡±

    ¡°This one gets the gist of it. This mountain is not just any mountain. You cannot trespass without permission.¡±

    ¡°Already trespassed, haven¡¯t I? What are you gonna do about it?¡±

    Moyan Changping tugged up a corner of his lips: ¡°You possess impressive skills. You cannot possibly be some nobody. May this one request your name?¡±

    Hong Jiu assumed an akimbo stance and adopted a smug grin: ¡°Daddy.¡±

    Moyan Changping took the provocation in stride and tried cutting Hong Jiu once again.

    Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t choose Moyan Changping as his sessor because his eldest son was more gifted than his free-spirited twin brother. Moyan Changping was born his father¡¯s sessor, prohibited from learning any other skills outside of Moyan n and forced to serve only as a guardian. Moyan Changping didn¡¯t take issue with the path he was forced to take or feel jealous of his brother having the privilege to learn from de Demon, nor did he whine when he had reced his father as Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s guardian despite having issues with Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s deeds, as he genuinely believed that his father was the greatest broadsword wielder in all thend.

    Hong Jiu pressed onto the back of Moyan Changping¡¯s de, nning to quickly defuse it before it reached his face, but a series of zing-fast de movements forced him to pull back, or his hand would¡¯ve been diced instead of the rock chips.

    Moyan Changping advanced as Hong Jiu retreated,ing down with abo from above to cut off Hong Jiu¡¯s options.

    He¡¯s bloody fast with his de.

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t rank Moyan Changping ahead of Sima Huai in speed, but Moyan Changping wasn¡¯t too far behind.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Whilst Hong Jiu evaded the flurry of strikes, he caught sight of a purple me in Moyan Changping¡¯s eyes.

    Moyan n was one of the few groups that trained visual techniques. Having mastered level three of his n¡¯s Blood, White, Purple, Green, Yellow and Blue visual prowess system, not only was he able to see the flow of true qi inside his opponent, but he was also able to let his honed instincts operate without his conscious input. The ability to capitalise on the opponent¡¯s openings without having to cross the brain barrierbined with his style rooted in speed meant that he was an expert at killing in one strike.

    ¡°Indeed, there is no point in you telling this one who you are with.¡± Moyan Changping positioned his de to behead. ¡°This one has no desire to hear about unknown, narcissist sects.¡±

    ng!

    Moyan Changping orderly retreated, though he was surprised: I couldn¡¯t see his true qi distribution for a split second?

    ¡°Keep that beak in line,¡± Hong Jiu wiped away his smile, ¡°or I¡¯ll snap your toy.¡±

    Moyan Changping leaned forward at the torso for a lunge. Though his speed was still there, he wasn¡¯t as dangerous now that he wasn¡¯t provided with portents of his opponent¡¯s movements.

    Subsequent to both of them missing each other by a few inches, the two disengaged. A second post-disengagement, Moyan Changping¡¯s weapon came down from the ether and plunged into a rock.

    Moyan Changping¡¯s right shoulder was a bloody mess, rendering him unable to wield his weapon. Scarlet mist spurt from Hong Jiu¡¯s deep cut stretching from his chest to shoulder joint due to Moyan Changping¡¯s uppercut sh.

    The rain on standby came down to wash away their blood.

    Moyan Changping tore off a corner of his shirt, then passed his broadsword to his left hand, wrapping it to his wrist with the torn bit of material: ¡°You possess impressive skills. You cannot possibly be some nobody. May this one request your name?¡±

    Hong Jiu rubbed the traces of blood on his chest and then guzzled several mouthfuls of alcohol from his leather pouch. ¡°Heh, Night Fortress¡¯ Hong Er.¡±

    Glossary

    Hong Er - Just so we¡¯re clear, Hong Jiu isn¡¯t trolling with the ¡°er¡± suffix intended to express intimacy. It¡¯s the ¡°er¡± for ¡°second¡±. Syntax dictates that when using the ¡°er¡± suffix, it should be written as (Name)¡¯er; that¡¯s one way of telling.

 Volume 10 110 Duel

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 110 Duel</h4>

    The two facing off suddenly decided to stroll down the mountain.

    Offering his opponent a cupped-fist salute, Hong Jiu praised, ¡°Good stuff. Good stuff. You almost killed me.¡±

    ¡°Too kind. Too kind. It will likely take this one three months to recover from this shoulder injury. You should learn to pull your punches.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. If I pulled just a tad, I¡¯d be mincemeat.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯d you learn your skills from? Bloody hell, you¡¯re good.¡±

    ¡°You are the best adept with palm techniques this one has ever encountered.¡±

    Hong Jiu passed Moyan Changping his pouch of wine.

    ¡°It¡¯s hot.¡±

    Despite hisint, Moyan Changping kept taking swig after swig, prompting Hong Jiu to snatch his pouch back. The pouch didn¡¯tst long when the two of them were engaged in a conversation full of mirth.

    ¡°To tell the truth, this one is not very good at drinking. He has dedicated his life to training, so he does not drink. However, this one enjoyed your wine. You are the true definition of a hero. This one is d to call you a friend.¡±

    Hong Jiu spun around a few stepster, eyes luminous even in the rain. ¡°Regardless of who dies here today, I¡¯ll be calling you my friend from now on.¡±

    Moyan Changping exhaled deliberately. ¡°I fight for my n. I presume you also can¡¯t stop for your own reasons.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°What a shame¡­¡±

    It finally urred to those following the duo that Moyan Changping didn¡¯t follow Hong Jiu down the mountain because he switched allegiances but because they wanted more room to let loose.

    Ever since Moyan Changping began training his visual technique at the age of seventeen it had never failed him before without reason. It didn¡¯t work on his father as his father used his Eclipse to conceal his true qi activity, effectively rendering Moyan Changping¡¯s visual skill useless. If Hong Jiu, like his father, was a Divine Realm martial artist, Hong Jiu should¡¯ve decisively won thest round. Furthermore, although he couldn¡¯t see Hong Jiu¡¯s true qi flow, he did see Hong Jiu¡¯s physical movements. If reliance on his visual technique would only confound him, the only logical tactic was to rely purely on his de work.

    Likewise, Hong Jiu could only use his palm techniques if he was to work around Moyan Changping¡¯s visual technique. As long as Moyan Changping could anticipate his movements, Hong Jiu was fighting a losing battle.

    In thest round, Hong Jiu had to use all of of his strength to give Moyan Changping a one-arm handicap. Inparison, Moyan Changping nearly sliced Hong Jiu¡¯s corbone, which would cripple him; that was not to mention Moyan Changpingnded it as ast-minute counter. In other words, Moyan Changping¡¯s reaction time, skill and eyes were all honed into deadly weapons. Had Moyan Changping executed the same technique with higher output or Hong Jiu¡¯s strike been a little off target, Hong Jiu would already be dead.

    Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t aware he was smiling from ear to ear, revving for round two. Not even he understood why he suddenlyughed heartily. Perhaps he was a battle monger; perchance he just liked to live life on the edge.

    Hong Jiu¡¯sughter sttered the water droplets around and generated a swirling qi column. When he ceased, everything else returned to a state of peace. Anyone with lousy internal energy was grabbing their head and grimacing when he wasughing.

    Following a roar, Hong Jiu uncorked a palm attack.

    Moyan Changping was unable to view Hong Jiu¡¯s true qi activity as he suspected. His skill didn¡¯t malfunction because, if it was broken, he should¡¯ve been able to observe other things, such as Hong Jiu¡¯s movements or the flow of air around Hong Jiu. If he had that much information, he was basically seeing 70% of Hong Jiu¡¯s intent.

    Moyan Changping had never witnessed so much internal energy in a single attack before. No degree of knowledge could help him for Hong Jiu¡¯s power would pulverise all sense of technique.

    Moyan Changping closed his eyes and pushed his de down into his scabbard. Once he felt the pressure impede his breathing, he drew his de from its sheath so fast that he split raindrops in his path before his de made contact with them.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s thunderous strike collided against Moyan Changping¡¯s silent sh. Moyan Changping could proudly im advanced status with his sh, but advanced wasn¡¯t enough to win against Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

    Upon impact, Hong Jiu¡¯s ¡°The Dragon Fights in the Wilderness¡± doubled in power, Moyan Changping had urately aimed his edge at Hong Jiu¡¯s neck. s, being right-handed, he struggled to keep up.

    Hong Jiu overcame his instinct to catch Moyan Changqing, lowering his extended arm.

    A man caught Moyan Changping¡¯s fall, then siphoned internal energy over, dispersing energy from Moyan Changping¡¯s dantian to his limbs for healing.

    ¡°You can ask questionster. Focus on recalibrating your breath.¡±

    ¡°Dad?!¡±

    Though Moyan Luohou sequestered to the rear of Shaman Monarch Pce, he wasn¡¯t as dishevelled as Martial Paragon. The way he caught his son, who wore simr garments to him, and kick-started the healing process demonstrated that he had little to no ring rust.

    ¡°D-Dad, why have youe out from seclusion?¡±

    Studying Hong Jiu meticulously, the man wearing the bamboo hat replied, ¡°I¡¯m here to watch.¡±

    Once his father removed his hand from his shoulder, Moyan Changping hurried to his feet to point his weapon at Hong Jiu. ¡°Brother Hong, this one respects you as a man. He shall not fight you with a handicap. We can resume two hours from now. This one can give his word: his father will not intervene even if he is in attendance.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to plead.¡±

    In truth, Moyan Changping wasn¡¯t looking for round three since he wasn¡¯t delusional. The reason he offered a two hour interim was to prevent his father from bringing him dishonour after he officially challenged Hong Jiu. It¡¯d grant Hong Jiu time to flee if he wished, as well.

    Hong Jiu wiped his forehead and adjusted his breathing: ¡°Heh, don¡¯t you worry about me. He looks too tired for this. He wouldn¡¯t interfere with our match, would he?¡±

    ¡°Ping¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Dad.¡±

    ¡°You lost without a shadow of doubt.¡±

    Moyan Luohou¡¯s deration scorched Moyan Changping¡¯s face.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Indeed, Brother Hong is more skilled than I am.¡±

    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t lose to him due to ack of skill. Yourst strike showed that you two are extremely close in skill. The difference between you is your internal energy potency. He is only a fraction away from qualifying as one of the greats. If he uses Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms at maximum output, your visual technique will not catch him. His internal energy is, at least, three times more potent than yours.¡±

    Moyan Changping didn¡¯t expect to hear the discrepancy was that big when he was several years older than Hong Jiu.

    ¡°You got a good pair of eyes, Sir. My brother was right about you. You definitely are worthy of being called Moyan Luobo.¡±

    Moyan Luohou thought nothing of being called a radish unlike his son. Looking past Hong Jiu, he demanded, ¡°Tell the one behind the scenes to show himself.¡±

 Volume 10 111 Advent

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 111 Advent</h4>

    Broadsword wielders - needless to mention the sheep - across thends headed to Mount Wanyu when Moyan Luohou announced his decision to sequester after onest match. What was supposed to be once in a lifetime opportunity ended up being sabotaged when they were held up, culminating in them missing out.

    One night, Moyan Luohou soloed dozens of broadsword wielders of various sects beyond the border. Nobody managed to survive his first attack aimed at them in the challenge. He then retired to Mount Wanyu, never speaking to anyone else again. Until Feng Xue retired, Moyan Luohou¡¯s retirement was considered the biggest waste of talent.

    Moyan Changping never forgot his father telling him before they crossed the border, ¡°Ping¡¯er, bear with it. Now is not the time. Bear with whatever they ask you do to.¡± He didn¡¯t understand what his father meant, but nodded, nheless, as he tearfully saw his father into the deep end of the mountain.

    Moyan Changping only understood his father¡¯s directive years after he began his employment under Great Spirit Shaman. Even though he was only a guardian, he was privy to what Shaman Monarch Pce did under Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s rule. If he wasn¡¯t told to put up with it, the first person Moyan Changping cut down would¡¯ve been Great Spirit Shaman.

    On a particr night five years ago, Moyan Changping wrestled his subordinates to the ground and punched his brother¡¯s face in when they tried to stop him from approaching his father.

    ¡°Father, I have had enough. I am not afraid to kill, but my de has its pride. I refuse to be hisckey!¡±

    A de might not be sentient; however, in Moyan Changping¡¯s eyes, a de shouldn¡¯t be used for the wrong reasons. Every breath Great Spirit Shaman took was another insult at his de.

    ¡°Wait,¡± was the first thing Moyan Luohou said to his son in ten years. ¡°You still need to bear with it.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Until when?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Until His Lordship Shaman Monarch¡¯s advent.¡±

    Moyan Changping never forgot his father¡¯s answer due to the degree it affected him personally.

    If Father hase out from seclusion¡­ does that mean¡­?

    ¡°Brother Hong, if you are taking orders from someone, why not call them out?¡±

    Since Moyan Changping saw his father as an unrivalledbatant, he concluded that whoever was behind Hong Jiu had to be the strongest enemy they¡¯d ever faced. Else, his father wouldn¡¯t have made an appearance.

    Hong Jiu imperiously swept his grin over everyone looking at him as if to say, ¡°When my brother shows up, y¡¯all gonna be wishing you were women.¡± Next, he yelled, ¡°Leader,e out!¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s voice echoed for kilometres, yet¡­ there was no response. Hence, he stepped back and took the biggest breath he could: ¡°Leader! Come out!¡±

    Again, silence¡­

    ¡°Leader¡­ Ce out! This is urgent!¡±

    ¡°Perchance,¡± breathing down Hong Jiu¡¯s neck, Moyan Luohou finished, ¡°I need to test world-renowned Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms. It¡¯s not a bad way to start.¡±

    Moyan Luohou gave Hong Jiu the same vibe as in the two matches Hong Jiu had against Luo Ming, including the time Luo Ming posed as Abels. That being said, although Moyan Luohou and Luo Ming were both Edge Realm practitioners, Luo Ming was better illustrated as a shiny sword infused with madness and hatred. In contrast, Moyan Luohou would be a dull sword, but you wouldn¡¯t want to let it out of your sight.

    Moyan Luohou, like his character, was straight forward. To put it bluntly, he, like his de, only had one goal - defeat the enemy in front of them. Howbeit, his desire to win was rooted solely in his pursuit for improvement.

    Moyan Luohou executed the same technique as his son¡¯sst. Despite it appearing to be slower, he already slipped his hand past Hong Jiu¡¯s guard to close in on thetter¡¯s chest. Hong Jiu didn¡¯t need to be tagged to recognise it would break his base if he couldn¡¯t dodge it.

    Hong Jiu: I¡¯m not ashamed to say I lost to this man.

    With only ten centimetres to go, Moyan Luohou¡¯s de bounced off a transparent qi wall, prompting him to stop. At the same time, the sparks and qi barricade whittled into thin air.

    Everyone started scouring the surroundings high and low to search for Hong Jiu¡¯s ¡°Leader¡±, wondering where he¡¯d emerge from. s, the only audible sounds were tweets.

    Moyan Luohou held hisst posture. Hong Jiu didn¡¯t dare to budge in case Moyan Luohou attacked again.

    ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± announced Moyan Changping.

    A portly forty-odd year old man plummeted into the ground from the sky.

    ¡°Feiyi¡¯s diplomatic envoy. Why are you here?¡±

    The envoy, who scurried back, already met Moyan Changping on the way up the mountain.

    Subsequently, Moyan Changping interrogated the envoy in Xiacang Anxi¡¯snguage, then uttered, ¡°He ims our followers ughtered his people and made off with the gifts he brought.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Heh.¡±

    Before Moyan Changping could say another word, it started raining unconscious Shaman Monarch Pce followers, all of whomnded on solid ground without a sound. The infants in their arms wailed, startling the diplomatic envoy.

    ¡°Th-they are the royal family envoys we brought as gifts! Why are they here?! Hang on. Why do all of them have cuts?!¡±

    Moyan Changping was aware why the infants were cut five to ten times each, and it riled him up as always.

    They could only think of one person behind the series of uncanny events.

    As the dark human silhouette descended from above, deafening shrills harassed the ear drums of those below. The only way to describe the grating sound in their head was topare it to weapons smashing against each other right by their ears. The scenery warped. The ground trembled. Seemingly, streaks ofva seeped into rifts underfoot.

    Moyan Changping never thought his visual prowess would one day be his downfall. His legs buckled, not because he was scared but due to an army of ants, rodents and green snakes taking his bnce from him. As though some peril was encroaching on the forest, all of the birds soared to the dark sky, only for some abstract power to take their wings from them. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he saw everything he knew attacking each other while beast howls pummelled his head inside out. The man sitting in the chaos and blood gave the impression that he was relishing the anarchy he incited and devastation he wreaked. Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s evil was tame in contrast to the man sitting there.

    When Moyan Changping escaped the illusion, his lips were pale, hair was drenched and breathing was heavy. ¡°He¡­ He¡­¡± Moyan Changping dropped to his knees, blood spilling from his mouth. Even with his visual prowess, he couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s appearance whatsoever; he couldn¡¯t even determine if the man really existed. The only thing he could be sure of was the presence of a ck throne.

    ¡°Leader!¡±

    Moyan luohou, still holding his pose, was the only who could im to see ¡°anything¡±. ¡°¡­ Who are you? Why are you here?¡±

    The man with flowing white hair pointed to the mountain peak. ¡°Tell Great Spirit Shaman toe see me.¡± He grabbed his knee and slouched to the side as his weapon did. ¡°Tell him: His Majesty has arrived.¡±

 Volume 11 01 Founding and Evangelisation. Shaman Monarch Palace and Shaman Monarch Inseparable.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 01 Founding and Evangelisation. Shaman Monarch Pce and Shaman Monarch Inseparable.</h4>

    Great Spirit Shaman Gewu peered toward the foot of the mountain as he typically and frequently, eyes barely parted. He was cognisant of the fact that it was a pointless endeavour, but he exercised it out of habit.

    Pffthaha, Qiushui is always harping on about her looks, wits and viciousness, yet she¡¯s now requesting help. I do wish I could see her miserable face.

    After all, Demon Realm valued women more than anyone else imagined, and they were equally frank about their evaluation of men. Gewu wasn¡¯t desperate to the point that he would disrespect Demon Realm for a taste of Qiushui¡¯s voluptuous body.

    Truthfully, Gewu yearned to explore the outside world; however, he tirelessly plotted the takeover of Baimu as it was the foundation of his grand scheme. In the same vein, he couldn¡¯t stand the idea of a child and a cripple spoiling his ambition.

    Gewu didn¡¯t brush Feng Xue¡¯s return as a coincidence. In saying that, he believed Feng Xue returned toote to turn the tides.

    ¡°Your Eminence¡­ your subject requests your response.¡±

    Gewu exited his mind to decree the mobilisation of Baimu¡¯s military as reinforcements.

    Wood Guardian was carried in to Gewu to report on what the fiasco along the mountain path was all about. Gewu¡¯s only avenue for bncing his young body and old soul was to spend time on events that piqued his interest, and the fiasco on the mountain path fit the bill.

    Once Wood Guardian came to, Gewu inquired, ¡°What happened? Who knocked you out?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Wood Guardian reactively went to speak but stopped herself when she realised that she couldn¡¯t recall what happened after attempting to murder Feiyi¡¯s diplomatic envoy, only to be clocked over the head. Although she wasn¡¯t the best fighter of Shaman Monarch Pce, she was still ssified an adept on a worldwide scale.

    ¡°Has he really shown up?¡± Gewu uttered.

    As they were Gewu¡¯s four personal bodyguards - Iron, Wood, Poison and Fire Guardians - he granted his four arms the capacity to make their own judgement and the privilege to directly consult him without all the fanfare that ordinary follows needed to abide by.

    Iron Guardian, who just returned from the foot of the mountain, replied, ¡°Yes, Your Eminence.¡±

    Moyan Luohou made hiseback at the same time Gewu caught wind of Wood Guardian being slept. Moyan Luohou was the only person in Shaman Monarch Pce that Gewu couldn¡¯t order around or control. While the ignorant perceived Moyan n as Shaman Monarch Pce loyalists who¡¯d unconditionally obeymands, Gewu never believed Moyan n was subservient to him, a fake acting in the name of Shaman Monarch; he knew their true master was Shaman Monarch. Consequently, he only knew as much about Moyan Luohou as others did.

    When Gewu enthroned himself, he only approached the de in deep in the mountain to try his luck as Shaman Monarch¡¯s representative. Candidly, he didn¡¯t expect Moyan Luohou to aid him. In the decades that Moyan Luohou had been in his employment, he never worked out why Moyan Luohou would acquiesce to help.

    Lack of understanding leads to suspicion. Suspicion creates instability and abates security. Gewu never liked the consequences of keeping Moyan Luohou.

    ¡°What is Moyan n¡­ nning?¡±

    ¡°Your subject is unsure.¡± Iron Guardian was the forthright type with brawn but not much brain, so he abstained from voicing suggestions. Precisely because Iron Guardian was forthright, he could be trusted. ¡°However, your subject noticed something inexplicable at the foot of the mountain.¡±

    Not long ago, Gewu dismissed the intrusion as another fruitless attempt to overthrow him. Now, though, he perceived there to be more to it for the reason that even Moyan Luohou resurfaced. It had been a long time since Gewu felt his control over the mountain was slipping from his hands.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Iron Guardian tried to provide an articte ount of what he witnessed but gave up quickly, deciding to just speak his mind. ¡°Moyan Changping failed to stop the intruder despite levelling up in the fight. Moyan Luohou appeared after Moyan Changping lost in one exchange.¡±

    ¡°Pff, so he came out to defend his son¡¯s honour. The intruder must be remarkable to defeat Moyan Changping, but Moyan Luohou would end him.¡±

    ¡°That was how it was supposed to go.¡±

    Gewu furrowed his brows.

    ¡°A young man donning white garments came down from the sky and stopped Moyan Luohou. He sat on a jet-ck iron chair. If your subject¡¯s eyes serve, the chair should be Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne warehoused at Wanyu.¡±

    ¡°Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne?¡± Gewu found the story more preposterous than iming that the sky was raining stars onto the mountain. ¡°Nonsense. How could an outsider have gotten their hands on the throne?¡± Gewu mmed the table. ¡°Wanyu¡¯s King! You would even use the throne to provoke me?! He has dered war! This is a deration of war! Prepare for war! I¡¯m going to send a thousand heads to Wanyu!¡±

    ¡°Y-you misunderstand¡­¡± Once again, Iron Guardian cut himself off, only to decide it was best to get to the point. ¡°The person on the throne imed to be Shaman Monarch and demanded you go greet him.¡±

    Gewu spent a few seconds mulling over what he heard, then retreated to his throne. ¡°Repeat that again.¡±

    ¡°The person on the throne imed to be Shaman Monarch and demanded you go greet him.¡±

    Gewu crossed his arms and made the following face: OÈËO

 Volume 11 02 A Guest from Afar. Integrity of a Top Secret.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 02 A Guest from Afar. Integrity of a Top Secret.</h4>

    The followers fossilised when they saw the white robe with golden reams for it was the first time Gewu ever left the mountain in all their time there. In their minds, he should¡¯ve stayed on the mountain to absorb natural essence, conversed with spirits of predecessors or even the sun. A man who could reverse aging, possessed tremendous might, ruled the religion and whatnot didn¡¯t live up the zealots¡¯ fantasy of ¡°celestial¡±.

    Gewu was aware he had to spend another decade re-establishing himself as the entity in fables, but he had no choice when ¡°Shaman Monarch¡± was mentioned. He seldom mentioned ¡°Shaman Monarch¡± ever since he created Shaman Monarch Pce, lest his followers revere those two words more than him.

    Moyan Luohou was no longer a target for suspicion or just some over-the-hill man trying to defend his son¡¯s honour. Whoever the self-proimed Shaman Monarch was, had the cards to potentially be a major threat for Gewu. Gewu feared Shaman Monarch¡¯s return more than anyone as he was always cognisant of the fact that he was always beneath one man no matter how he twisted stories.

    There was noparison between Shaman Monarch Pce and the shaman religion. Shaman Monarch Pce was only a phony organisation built off the reputation of the religion. While Gewu deserved all the credit forying the bricks of Shaman Monarch Pce, he nurtured his followers using the religion, not Shaman Monarch Pce.

    The benefits of leveraging the religion shouldn¡¯t be downyed as reality showed. Having said that, the shoring was obvious: Great Spirit Shaman name only held weight in the absence of Shaman Monarch. By extension, Gewu¡¯s decades of nning could only bear fruit on the condition that Shaman Monarch didn¡¯t exist.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how vexing it would be for Gewu to hand over his lifetime of work, effectively losing everything overnight, and not even getting a ¡°thank you¡± for it. If anything, he¡¯d have to publicly give his gratitude to Shaman Monarch for taking the fruits of hisbour. Understandably, he couldn¡¯t just sit on his throne when everything he worked for was at risk.

    Gewu didn¡¯t believe the self-proimed Shaman Monarch was the real deal. Actually, it didn¡¯t even matter if he was or not because Gewu wasn¡¯t going to allow someone to boss him around in Shaman Monarch Pce.

    Instead of seeing a violent a confrontation at the foot of the mountain, Gewu heard someone saying in Mandarin, ¡°I mmed him with Rabbit Eagle Stomp, kicking the corrupt official over Nanshan, to finally meet my future wife.¡±

    Yes, the man telling the twenty-odd followers around his ck throne absolute nonsense was the self-proimed Shaman Monarch. Even though some followers didn¡¯t dare to approach the man grinning and gesturing with his entire body, they were sincerely listening in to his story until they noticed Gewu¡¯s presence. Needless to say, Gewu wasn¡¯t happy with the fact that his followers gave someone else their attention just because he was allegedly Shaman Monarch.

    While Gewu was dying to skin the youth, thetter gave him a smile and hollered, ¡°Ge!¡±

    Ming Feizhen closed the gap between them in three steps, yet Gewu only noticed the former moved when Ming Feizhen patted him on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s me, Ol¡¯ Ge!¡±

    Gewu was ready to fight back if Ming Feizhen struck, but, since thetter didn¡¯t attack him, he derisively responded, ¡°Who are you? This old one does not know you.¡±

    Trantion: ¡°Where did youe from you sack of fasces? I don¡¯t know who the hell you are. Take a hike.¡±

    Gewu¡¯s followers had never heard him speak so humbly to anyone before, so they spected the young man with white hair to be¡­ Some simpletons started to bend at the knee and were a breath away from saying, ¡°Long Live Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ge, you don¡¯t recognise me anymore?¡± Ming Feizhen grabbed his heart¡¯s storehouse and staggered backwards.

    ¡°You are¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m His Majesty!¡±

    Gewu gently exhaled. ¡°¡­ Of which state? What can Wanyu do for you?¡±

    ¡°Y-you don¡¯t recognise me? I¡¯m His Majesty Shaman Monarch.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who I don¡¯t know. Why are you surprised?¡±

    ¡°Howe you don¡¯t recognise me? Aren¡¯t you Gegewu?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s Gewu, for you¡­¡±

    The sound of galloping horses and rattling armour from the forest cut their conversation short. The elite cavalry unit numbering approximately five hundred men split into two columns for the two riders, one riding in front of the other, to gallop through.

    The middle-aged schr riding ahead dismounted, then swept his gaze over the Shaman Monarch throne at the rear, followed by Moyan Luohou, Ming Feizhen, Gewu and then gave Gewu a cupped-fist salute. ¡°I came saw the fire signal requesting reinforcements, so I marched my army here. King of Wanyu hereby salutes you.¡±

    Gewu just smiled subtly, resisting the urge to strangle Wanyu¡¯s King in the presence of his followers.

    Gewu didn¡¯t start coveting the Shaman Monarch throne only yesterday. If it weren¡¯t for Moyan Luohou, if it weren¡¯t for the throne being a state treasure passed down within Wanyu¡¯s royal family and if didn¡¯t take an oath to stay on Mount Wanyu, he¡¯d haveid im to it already. If losing control over his followers was the most vexing thing to him, then helplessly watching Wanyu give the throne to some clown to trigger him couldpete with the thing he hated most.

    Moyan Luohou¡¯s attitude was the most iprehensible thing for Gewu. Unless Moyan Luohou was the most conniving man in history, Moyan Luohou¡¯s loyalty to Shaman Monarch was unshakeable. Thus, Gewu couldn¡¯t fathom why Moyan Luohou hadn¡¯t slit the throat of the imposter already.

    ¡°You look even more impressive than our meetingst year, Your Majesty. This old one wishes to offer his apology for making youe all the way here. Howbeit, as you can see, this old one had to alert you since your state¡¯s sacred throne is here. This young gentleman ims to be His Majesty Shaman Monarch. You arrived before this old one could get to the bottom of it.¡±

    Although it was true that Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne was ideally in Gewu¡¯s possession, unless he legitimately took it, he¡¯d be used of theft, and that wouldn¡¯t do him any good. In addition, it was only icing on the cake for him, but it was a treasure for Wanyu. Deliberately linking the throne back to Wanyu in his recount of the events was intended to turn Ming Feizhen into Wanyu¡¯s King¡¯s problem.

    ¡°His Majesty Shaman Monarch?¡± Wanyu¡¯s King couldn¡¯t see anything about Ming Feizhen that stood out. In saying that, when he tried to scrutinise Ming Feizhen closely, he couldn¡¯t focus as though there was interference in his head.

    ¡°Hohoho, this old one¡¯s vision is impaired. Wanyu and Shaman Religion have deep connections, so we both know a lot about Shaman Monarch. People from the Central in often say, ¡®A timely arrival is better than an early one.¡¯ Since you havee, Your Majesty, y-¡±

    ¡°Another saying is, ¡®Have children when you¡¯re young. Marry as soon as you can.¡¯¡±

    Two young girls with Shaman Monarch Pce giggled upon hearing Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Insolence! Punish him!¡± ordered Gewu.

    A broadsword wielder behind Gewu flitted past him, attempting to harvest the two girls¡¯ heads. For some reason, the executioner went through the air and dropped to the ground in a catatonic state.

    The general without armour beside Wanyu¡¯s King praised, ¡°Magnificent finger flick.¡±

    Thanks to the general, people finally figured out Ming Feizhen was the one who saved the two girls.

    ¡°Thee breached our grounds, lied about being His Majesty Shaman Monarch, insulted my religion and hurt my follower. Do thee think Shaman Monarch Pce is your yground?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s your follower, but the two girls aren¡¯t now?¡± Ming Feizhen was already on the throne and yawning before their eyes could follow. ¡°Besides, they¡¯re not your followers but mine.¡±

    Gewu wrathfully red at Ming Feizhen prior to turning to Wanyu¡¯s King. ¡°What do you think, Your Majesty?¡±

    Wanyu¡¯s King futilely tried to glean something from Ming Feizhen¡¯s appearance again. ¡°The legend says that His Majesty Shaman Monarch reincarnates as an ordinary human once he passes on. Thest Shaman Monarch to be known of disappeared a century ago. I can¡¯t distinguish, either. I came here to chase the thief who stole Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne from me.¡±

    All eyes made their way to Ming Feizhen subsequent to hearing he stole the throne. Ming Feizhen¡¯s shy entrance from above and Moyan Luohou¡¯s silence on the matter were the factors that gave credibility to Ming Feizhen¡¯s im. If it was Ming Feizhen¡¯s throne, why would he have to pinch it?

    ¡°So that is what happened. This old one will count on you to enlighten him.¡±

    ¡°I am not qualified to enlighten you, Great Spirit Shaman. Wanyu, exin what happened.¡±

    Wanyu, the general behind Wanyu¡¯s King, responded, ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. This one was guarding the hall the throne is kept as he does every night when he detected someone infiltrate. Upon checking inside, the throne was gone no matter how he searched. The throne is kept at the top of Ling Peak, a ce that even birds would find challenging to reach. Unless the burr has wings or is from heaven, it is impossible for him to carry off the throne without anyone noticing him.¡±

    Several followers immediately bent their knees. Who else but Shaman Monarch could waltz off with the throne from such a tall mountain, under Wanyu¡¯s Sacred Beast and carry it up to Shaman Monarch Pce?

    Wanyu¡¯s King was aware of the machination in Gewu¡¯s head, but thetter was more troublesome to him than Ming Feizhen. What would happen to Gewu¡¯s authority if Ming Feizhen took over?

    Ming Feizhen exhaled grievance. ¡°Ol¡¯ Ge, your memory is terrible. I can¡¯t believe you suspected me. My heart isn¡¯t made of stone, you know?¡±

    Wanyu¡¯s King waited for Gewu¡¯s anger to fester before opining, ¡°From what I know, His Majesty possesses miraculous abilities. Great Spirit Shaman, how about you test him?¡±

    The ill-looking Great Spirit Shaman tripped five people over in addition to rocking everyone besides Ming Feizhen and Moyan Luohou with his sonorousugh.

    Hong Jiu: I had no idea his internal strength is so advanced. I wonder who¡¯s superior between him and Leader.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Gewu¡¯s test served two purposes: first, he determined Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t weak; second, he concluded Ming Feizhen was the one who slept Wood Guardian, not Moyan Luohou.

    ¡°This pertains to our religion¡¯sws. Please take a respite in the guest room while we sort out this issue in private. Your Majesty, please have your forces retreat five kilometres.¡±

    ¡°Consider it done,¡± Wanyu¡¯s King politely acquiesced.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, and I don¡¯t care to know,¡± once he was left alone with Ming Feizhen, Gewu conveyed. ¡°If you are not a bold adept, you are just an inconsiderate troublemaker with no respect for Xiacang Anxi¡¯s people. Judging from your ent, you must be from the Central in. What business do you have with Xiacang Anxi?¡±

    ¡°None, hehehe.¡±

    Gewu analysed every word Ming Feizhen uttered and every action despite thetter¡¯s irreverent attitude.

    ¡°What business would a fake Shaman Monarch have with Xiacang Anxi?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ admitting to it?¡± Gewu moulded energy to prepare for a surprise attack.

    ¡°What does an upright man have to shy away from?¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Just wanted to talk business. This dodgy chair and the Shaman Monarch identity are only props. As long as you ept my demand, I shall leave you be.¡±

    While surprised with Ming Feizhen¡¯s candidacy, he didn¡¯t let it detract from his suspicions. ¡°¡­ You seem to rate yourself quite highly. Unfortunately for you, this old one isn¡¯t someone you can threaten.¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ge, don¡¯t be such a pain. Or would you prefer it if I called you by your original name - Heisina Wuge?¡±

    Gewu split the ground around him with a qi ejection; concrete was as brittle as ice kes to him. In a throaty voice, he questioned, ¡°How¡­ do you know that name?¡±

    Note

    Had to change ¡°His Eminence¡± to ¡°His Majesty¡± for Ming Feizhen¡¯s trolling to work.

 Volume 11 03 Wounds and Turn to the Dark Side

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 03 Wounds and Turn to the Dark Side</h4>

    Ming Feizhen lifted a big jug of wine up to drink from, stopping every two mouthfuls topliment its vour. When the annoyed Great Spirit Shaman was ready to kill Ming Feizhen and had the procedure drawn out, Ming Feizhen suddenly said, ¡°Ny-eight years ago, a young boy was born in Heisina Tribe, outside of Nieyao,¡± then pointed to Gewu. ¡°Long-story short, you¡¯re the boy.¡±

    Rather than be swayed over the extremely condensed story, Gewu was more curious where Ming Feizhen gained the knowledge from.

    ¡°After I linked up with Heisina Tribe in the Central in, I purchased information on Heisina Tribe from a contact of mine. It was pricey, and I¡¯ll have to sort payment out sooner orter, but that¡¯s a story for another day. When I went over the information, I discovered an interesting story about someone called Wuge, who lived over ny years ago.

    ¡°He was dealt a rough hand. Not only was he born a Heisina, but, when he was eight, someone murdered his family. He then left Nieyao and joined a shrine under a different name, starting at the bottom until he became a cleric¡­ You haven¡¯t forgotten the story, have you?¡±

    Gewu never could forget his past or his lifeless reflection in the creek he passed by after striding out of the inferno no differently to a zombie. As a matter of fact, he didn¡¯t even consciously leave the scene of the arson. He went through thorny mountains, deste wilds and flourishing cities, eating if there was food avable and starving if there wasn¡¯t until he fell sick. By the time he woke up again, he found himself in a quaint shrine.

    When the cleric asked for his name, he instinctively reversed his name to Gewu because nobody with the Heisina surname was allowed to desecrate a shrine with their ¡°cursed¡± presence. The cleric didn¡¯t pry into his past, nor did he ask for payment for the bowl of soup or his time. All he did was teach the boy to say, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The cleric raised him henceforward, teaching him about Shaman Monarch faith. Just because Heisina Tribe was forbidden from interacting with gods and spirits, it didn¡¯t mean they kept them at arm¡¯s length. To the contrary, they always left over food for their ancestors¡¯ spirits and the divine sun even if it meant they¡¯d starve, believing they just happened to be the ones abandoned.

    Looking back, those days were the happiest days in Gewu¡¯s life. He was blessed with the privilege to learn something new daily, meet new people and things, and he was even close to the cleric¡¯s beautiful daughter. Gifted with the intellect and health of a Heisina, Gewu gradually rose in rank.

    s, no amount of joy could erase Gewu¡¯s wrathful feelings reserved for the culprit behind his family¡¯s demise. His enemy¡¯s appearance was so vividly etched in his mind that he could draw it off by heart. Because he wasn¡¯t satisfied with bad karma befalling his nemesis, he sought the tutge of a martial artist. He thought he had ended that tragic part of his life when he killed all of those involved in his parents¡¯ death and could focus on serving as the shrine¡¯s cleric, but he was wrong.

    On the night of Gewu¡¯s wedding five yearster, a group of people raided the shrine, killing his wife and teacher in the chaos. Livid, Gewu, as a mighty Heisina, murdered everyone he came across until there was only one individual left. When he was about to deal thest blow, he identified thest one: the man was the son of the very man responsible for his parents¡¯ death. When he took his revenge, Gewu only killed those who had a hand in his family¡¯s death.

    Gewu kowtowed to the two most important people of his life, howling. He couldn¡¯t fathom why the nefarious fate wouldn¡¯t spare him. Why did his parents have to be killed? Why did he have to suffer? Why did his wife and teacher have to be killed? Why did he have to suffer time and time again?

    When Gewu asked the man why they had to kill his wife and teacher, the man gave an unforgettable grin and answer: ¡°You¡¯re a filthy Heisina¡­ Do I need a reason to kill a dog?¡±

    Gewu beheaded the viin and threw the head aside, deeming it unworthy of another nce.

    From that day onwards, gods ceased to exist in Gewu¡¯s world. He came to see value in another goal, deciding he would kill even gods if they were to get in the way of the hope he believed would eventually descend. To this day, his opinion hadn¡¯t changed.

    Reliving the memories abated Gewu¡¯s anger somewhat, bringing to his eyes a sense of ¡°transcendence¡± from one still stuck in the mortal world¡¯s conventions.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time. Those who remember Heisina Wuge are already dead. Well, nobody remembered him in the first ce.¡±

    Thanks to recollecting himself, Gewu was able to think properly again. He presumed Ming Feizhen learnt of his past from records of enemies he didn¡¯t vanquish. If Ming Feizhen was to extrapte from what information was avable, he certainly could¡¯ve reached the conclusion.

    There was nobody left from Gewu¡¯s active years to verify Ming Feizhen¡¯s inference. Even if he was to ce an enquiry with those who knew Gewu from his younger days, Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t learn anything new. Time didn¡¯t just erase Gewu¡¯s warmth; it also ushered in a new world.

    ¡°If you intend to ckmail me with that story, you¡¯re not very wise. You¡¯re done with your drivel. It¡¯s my turn to question you now. Who are you? What do you want?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had another drink. ¡°Hahaha, my name is Zhong Ning. I hail from the Central in.¡±

    ¡°Zhong Ning¡­ One of the four most depraved perverts of the Central in?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I came here for Nieyao. I believe you know what resides within.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, so you¡¯re here for Nieyao, huh? What do you mean by ¡®what resides within¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I can see the fangs behind the smile. You¡¯re trying to find out who sent me and then silence me, no? Let¡¯s not y these games, shall we?¡± Ming Feizhen took another swig of wine. ¡°You know as well as I do what presides over Nieyao. Nobody has caught the monster that has made Nanjiang its shelter for centuries.¡± Ming Feizhen stopped to burp, then continued, Nanjiang¡¯s people have no idea what it is, and I can¡¯t care less what they think it is. It¡¯s your business. Thing is, that monster must go, or disaster will befall the human realm if it¡¯s released.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡± Ming Feizhen sat up and ced the jug onto the throne. ¡°I want to vanquish it. I¡¯ve brought over a thousand soldiers and more adepts than you can count to that end.¡±

    ¡°What do you want my help with?¡±

    ¡°Three months.¡± Ming Feizhen held up three fingers. ¡°I want you to pause whatever ns you have on your agenda, including your designs for Baimu and Wanyu, for three months. I will be using the two states during your three month intermission.¡±

    ¡°Kuku¡­ Kukuku, I was thinking you were some bold hero, but you¡¯re just an imbecile. You think I¡¯d acquiesce? You think your knowledge is enough to ckmail me? Or did you think your little army would scare me?¡±

    Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s reputation overshadowed Gewu¡¯s martial prowess. Howbeit, should a man who could reverse aging in a nation that concentrated on training physical attributes be underestimated?

    Gewu mmed his hand down, smashing a dent in the ground ten metres deep, dust devouring the two of them. The rumbling sounds prompted people in the guest building to take a peek outside, and they could see the crater from the mountain.

    ¡°I built Shaman Monarch Pce with my own hands. I¡¯ve seen plenty of young and brave heroes. I¡¯ve fought plenty of adepts, and none of them ever beat me. Moyan Luohou has even bowed his head to me. Your ckmail is baseless hearsay. Your army, hah, I can mobilise tens of thousands of soldiers with a singlemand. All eleven states¡¯ Kings take orders from me. If I duel you, I¡¯d crush you with one hand. The man before you is the man who led Shaman Monarch Pce to glory, Great Spirit Shaman whomands Xiacang Anxi¡¯s eleven states. Show some sincerity, insolent brat!¡±

    ¡°¡­ I had no idea¡­ you had so many men at your beck and call. Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner, man?¡±

    He doesn¡¯t look scared witless. Did I scare him crazy?

    ¡°Your assumption is wrong, though.¡± Ming Feizhen got to his feet and pointed his ck weapon to the ether. ¡°The thought of ckmailing anyone never crossed my mind.¡±

    Like a demon out of a dark abyss, the descending ck weapon generated a maelstrom. As the wind blew by Gewu¡¯s aching ears, he could nigh see ¡°violence¡±. The cliff outside the guest building crumbled into fragments, creating the impression that the mountain was falling apart. There was a deep sh mark on the surface of the cliff that only a monster beyond humanprehension could¡¯ve carved there.

    Gewu didn¡¯t fossilise because he lost his consciousness but because his mind hadn¡¯t had time to manufacture an excuse. His brain hadn¡¯t even processed what just transpired.

    ¡°I never intended to ckmail you with the story or threaten you with military might. I only told you about them to show my sincerity. The benefit you get out ofplying is, I won¡¯t give you grief. I imagine that¡¯s the greatest boon you could ask for.¡±

    Gewu slowly looked over his shoulder.

    There¡¯s always that one person at the end of all your annoyance. He¡¯s the cause of all your problems. He¡¯s the physical manifestation of your unease. No matter how you struggle, he¡¯s there to step on your head when you think you¡¯ve made it. That¡¯s called fear and despair.

    He¡¯s¡­ in that realm¡­

    Gewu heard himself swallow in his head. Upon seeing the crowd checking what just happened, he made a decision - perhaps subconsciously. Only when he had time to reflectter did he figure out he went wrong when hepelled Ming Feizhen to make a statement.

    Gewu dropped onto his knees to offer Ming Feizhen the highest salute for a monarch. Using enough internal energy for everyone on the mountain to hear, he cried, ¡°This old one humbly wees you back!¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Your Majesty Shaman Monarch!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t anyone or anything with ears on Mount Wanyu that didn¡¯t hear the earnest words.

    Ming Feizhen returned to the throne and yawned. ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care for the next three months, Ol¡¯ Ge.¡±

    IMPORTANT: Read featuredment in regards to rescheduling of release schedule.

 Volume 11 04 His Majesty Shall Prosper on the Throne for Five Generations (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 04 His Majesty Shall Prosper on the Throne for Five Generations (Part 1)</h4>

    Sitting beside Gewu in the small and dimly-lit room, Iron Guardian broke the silence: ¡°Your Emin-¡±

    ¡°I know what you want to say,¡± Gewu flicked a hand up and stated. As he lowered his hand, hemented, ¡°No matter what you think, I can tell you he isn¡¯t His Majesty Shaman Monarch. He admitted he¡¯s an imposter.¡±

    Besides Moyan Luohou, who sat in the corner to fiddle with his de, Gewu¡¯s two trusted aides on either side of his desk, in addition to the two clerics he summoned from the rear mountain, were confounded about Gewu¡¯s reaction to Ming Feizhen¡¯s deed rather than the deed.

    Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t have any restrictions ced on him, but he never involved himself in any of the faith¡¯s affairs as usual. It was as if his only connection to the living was his next target.

    ¡°His admission is¡­ It¡¯s hard to sum it up in one sentence. Either way, you saw what he is capable of from his sh. If he can scar a mountain, imagine what he could do to human beings. He ckmailed me with the lives of Shaman Monarch Pce, so I had to capitte.¡±

    Gewu¡¯s recount of what led to Ming Feizhen demonstrating his might had everyone frowning. ¡°Although he is strong, he isn¡¯t unimpeachable. The only concern is him taking over as Mount Wanyu¡¯s legitimate administrator. My concern is that he will evangelise my followers. Know thy enemy and thyself, and thou shall be invincible. I promised not to interfere for the next three months, which means that we have three months to find his weakness. I summoned you two back for that reason.¡±

    The erudite elder sporting white attire responded, ¡°It has been twenty years since I set foot in the Central in. You have been the one keeping up with the news while I have been secluded on Mount Wanyu. You can infer what sect he is from ording to his techniques.¡±

    White Cleric spent fifteen years studying in the Central in on orders to expand their knowledge and establish an intelligence agency there. He could be considered Gewu¡¯s intelligence section chief and decree centre.

    ¡°Based on your description, the young man with white hair¡¯s style is unconventional, and he clearly possesses strength beyond human limits. It is unthinkably difficult to force someone in his league to reveal his true skills. Fortunately, this old one was able to glean something from the young man Moyan Changping fought.¡±

    ¡°Please enlighten us.¡±

    ¡°He utilised Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, a discipline passed down in Beggars Sect, and Empty Palms from Mount Daluo. In the Central in, they say, ¡®Three fists, five palms, one sword, two broadswords.¡¯ He can¡¯t be a nobody if he is a practitioner of those two styles. The only person this one can think of in the Central in who could wield both disciplines is rank one of Seventeen Wyrms, Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider, Hong Jiu. He is the second disciple of Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch. Aside from being famous for his martial prowess, he is also respected for his strong sense of justice and major aplishments. His whereabouts are often unknown as he is frequently moving about.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mount Daluo? That reminds me¡­ In the ancient records that I read, one of the three ces that was found happens to be Mount Daluo. That exins how he knows about what¡¯s in Nieyao.¡±

    ¡°Your subject has an idea!¡±

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°People of the Central in refuse to modernise, so they are bound to not resonate with our various rules and regtions, but they will have to abide by them if they wish to run it. If he modifies them, he will incite conflict. We need only trap him in a dilemma to undermine his standing with our followers.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me more.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Further in. Further in. I had to fetch the chair from afar, carry it down and then carry it back up. Show some respect, will you? Yes, right there. Ol¡¯ Ge¡¯s? Chuck it off the mountain, and see what happens for now.¡±

    As the new ruler of Shaman Monarch, I had an obligation to ensure my throne was ced in the right spot. The desks and tables were thrown out. The spring poems and ¡°joy¡± stickers needed to be stered on the walls. Even when decorated, the pce couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Liu Shan Men¡¯s main courtyard. There were so many problems that I¡¯d never get around to all of them. And don¡¯t get me started on the darkness. We¡¯re humans, not bats. Hence, I had the followers light up enough candles to recreate daylight.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just pile up all the paintings and antiques in the throne room; it¡¯s inauspicious. Send them all to my room. Just rece them with the ¡°blessing¡± stickers. If you run out, go ask Second Boss for some more. He¡¯s writing them up outside.

    ¡°Chef, what are these? They¡¯re not sweet, not sour, not bitter¡­ What is this? There¡¯s not a single eptable dish among these thirty-odd dishes. Do you know what delicacies are? Shoulders.¡±

    ¡°Shoulders?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Should-ers. Braised pork shoulders. To be a qualified chef for Shaman Monarch Pce, one must grasp the sublime dish. Go do some research on it.¡±

    I kicked over a spittoon in my way: ¡°Man, what¡¯s a spittoon doing here? How much dung is stuffed in here? Don¡¯t you empty this crap?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, it is a decoration ornament. Nobody has used it before.¡±

    ¡°Yeah right. Howe it¡¯s so heavy?¡±

    ¡°It is made from gold.¡±

    ¡°Say what?¡±

    A spittoon made of gold?! You corrupt, thrifty scumbags!

    ¡°Did you just dispute my judgement? You think I¡¯m stupid? Someone has clearly shat in it more than once! I¡¯m not faulting you. Take it too my room. I¡¯ll inspect it tonight. If it goes missing, the onus will beid upon you.¡±

    Once the follower had gone off to my ¡°bedroom¡±, I shook my head and added, ¡°What a disgrace.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Joy¡± and ¡°blessing¡± stickers - This is just the ¡°blessing¡± stickers, but you get the gist of it (just different characters). This is just a few variations of the stickers. They could be just a yellow character against a white sheet, one with fancy borders and so forth. They¡¯re mostmonly seen during festive periods.

 Volume 11 05 His Majesty Shall Prosper on the Throne for Five Generations (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 05 His Majesty Shall Prosper on the Throne for Five Generations (Part 2)</h4>

    So-called Shaman Monarch Pce was just a lonely pce - technically a cave - on the mountain apex. I couldn¡¯t me Ol¡¯ Ge for resembling a ghost when he stayed in the cave all alone unless he was having a meeting with his important underlings.

    Resembling a constable on patrol in my oversized robe and decked out with Forgiveness strapped to my belt, I checked out each residential ce one by one - and there were a lot of them. Thergest home was designed in correspondence with Nanjiang¡¯s traditional style of small buildings, except this one was really expansive. The roofs and eaves had a bird emblem unlike all the other homes. The corrupt bugger had four bloody side yards outside and two buildings per yard; he even had musicians ying ¡°A Moonlit Night on the Spring River¡± inside!

    I thought life in backwater ces was about aiming for a bull per three acres ofnd, a wife, children and peace. Your house is hundreds of times bigger than mine! That¡¯s not to mention you have a music band!

    ¡°Y-Your Majesty, this is His Eminence¡¯s home,¡± my assistant told me.

    ¡°I see.¡± I took one step back. ¡°We¡¯ll start with here, then.¡±

    I kicked the door down as though it owed me money.

    You think I give a toss if it¡¯s his ce?!

    ¡°His Majesty is here for inspection! Hands behind your head. Feet behind your bottom! Whoever resists will be arrested!¡±

    The thirty-five female musicians flew into a state of panic. Seventeen of them were no older than sixteen; the oldest was neen, at most, yet they were all dressed in racy clothing that were practically tempting my eyes. I could plead ignorance if I didn¡¯t know about them, but I couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to it now that I found out Gegewu was taking advantage of the young girls.

    ¡°Constable Hong!¡±

    ¡°Coming! Coming! Whoa!¡± Hong Jiu jogged over and voiced his displeasure candidly. ¡°There are more girls here than at Wanhua Brothel.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense. There are way more girls at Wanhua Brothel! Business. Business.¡±

    Hong Jiu had twenty girls go stand in the courtyard while the others stayed behind to speak to me.

    I pulled out a seat for myself, thenmenced the interview: ¡°Where are you from? What are you here for?¡±

    The confused girl gave me an answer I couldn¡¯t understand whatsoever¡­ I didn¡¯t know they didn¡¯t speak Mandarin.

    Hong Jiu shuddered: ¡°Mama mia, it¡¯s like we¡¯re back to the ssroom on Mount Daluo!¡±

    It took a while of searching for me to find three people who spoke Mandarin. Then, we started again.

    ¡°What are you here for?¡±

    One of the girls started blushing on me: ¡°My dad told me to¡­ He wants us to wait on His Eminence¡­¡±

    Making girls dress in clothes that are easy to wear on and strip, not to mention exposing so much skin so that he can conveniently molest them, what a scumbag¡­ Speak of the scumbag.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Gegewu and his four subordinates to arrive from the time I picked up on his footsteps. From their brisk walk, it wasn¡¯t hard to guess that my exploration wasn¡¯t part of their predictions.

    The shaking follower stuttered, ¡°H-His Maj-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you should not have trespassed. Your room is ready. You¡­¡±

    ¡°I like to explore. You have a problem with it?¡±

    Gegewu crossed his arms: ¡°This old one dares not. There is not a ce in Xiacang Anxi you are forbidden from exploring, let alone Mount Wanyu. Are you happy with this old one¡¯s house?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. Ol¡¯ Ge, should you really be taking advantage of young girls at your age? Look at this huge room.¡±

    Gegewu stroked his smooth chin: ¡°They volunteered.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Bullcrap. Forced to volunteer more like it!¡±

    To my disbelief, the girl I interviewed raised her hand and went up on her toes: ¡°It is true! This one volunteered! Dad told her His Eminence is the most exceptional man alive. He also said His Eminence can help our vige survive the drought.¡±

    ¡°Really now?¡± I scoffed.

    ¡°Of course!¡± she fumed. ¡°He said His Eminence is Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s most capable subordinate. He just needs to ask His Majesty Shaman Monarch, and His Majesty Shaman Monarch will be able to call forth rain.¡±

    Gegewu and I exchanged a long stare prior to him giving me a cup-fist salute: ¡°Your Majesty, their vige is not receiving any rain. Please grant them some rain.¡±

    You piece of dung! You must¡¯ve been brainwashing these girls for some time! I only just arrived today! You¡¯ve been duping girls out of their bodies and money, and all of sudden there¡¯s a drought to solve?! Summon rain? The fook do I look like to you? Dragon King? If I can make it rain, I¡¯ll zap you first, you poo on a stick!

    Hearing I was the legendary ¡°His Majesty¡±, reverence and anticipation pervaded the girl¡¯s eyes as she cried out in Nanjiang¡¯snguage. All of the girls suddenly started blushing as their eyes on me glittered.

    I don¡¯t need you worship! I can¡¯t make it rain even if you offer your souls!

    A grin crept onto Gegewu¡¯s face: ¡°Your Majesty, you must exercise fairness.¡±

    For this many of them?! You¡¯d drown viges! You¡¯re bitter I ckmailed you, aren¡¯t you? It hasn¡¯t even been a day, you bitter dictator!

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You need only put on a show. We will take care of the miracle. They are your believers. They will not defy you if you dote on them. In fact, if they be the apple of your eye, it is their blessing. If you like, you can choose one of them to serve you. They may look too young, but that is the best vour. You can y with their warm ces back in your room to verify it for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Shameless. Ridiculous.¡±

    My admonishment wiped the smirk off Gegewu¡¯s face: ¡°Why are you reprimanding this old one?¡±

    ¡°She is a perfect girl. Anything less or more would ruin her perfection. You can tell at first nce that she¡¯s a natural beauty. You assumed she hasn¡¯t hit puberty based on your glimpse of her chest. Do you know that she could change entire in one month? How much you want to bet it¡¯s just the clothing? How much you want to bet she has ample, soft, lustre assets?¡±

    Gegewu: ¡­ He¡¯s one of the four biggest perverts. He¡¯s more professional than I am when ites to this. I should take his word for it.

    Me: Don¡¯t give me that look! You don¡¯t need the enlightenment! Come to think of it, where does all this knowledge of minee from? ¡­ My three hundred and three thousand¡­

    ¡°In any event, I cannot let such uneptable things happen under my watch. I shall take care of them from now.¡± Upon catching Gegewu¡¯s four subordinates shooting res my way, I raged, ¡°What are you ring at? Keeping ring and I¡¯ll take even his house. Still got a problem?¡±

    ¡°No, Your Majesty.¡±

    That¡¯s what I thought, noobs.

    Hong Jiu whispered, ¡°What are we going to do with all the pretty girls here, then, Leader?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste them. To my room they go.¡±

    Hong Jiu rubbed his cheeks: ¡°You¡¯re not worried Grandaunt or Miss Shen find out? If they find out¡­¡±

    ¡°Good point. Well, isn¡¯t this quite the pickle? Call the twenty outside in so that I can soothe my nerves.¡±

    ¡°Bro, respect.¡±

    ¡°Bro, my foot! You know what happens if you don¡¯t keep the secret?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Gegewu called. ¡°Do you still want to continue your inspection?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You need to speak to me?¡±

    ¡°This old one needs to delegate all the tasks he addressed before to you now that you have returned. This your most important duty.¡±

    Just thinking of trying toprehend Nanjiang¡¯s squiggles induced a splitting headache. Thinking of making it rain made my body ache.

    I whispered, ¡°I¡¯m only staying for three months. Why would you transfer those tasks to me?¡±

    Gegewu feigned ignorance as he gave me an innocent smile: ¡°Shall we head out now, Your Majesty?¡¯

    ¡°¡­ After you.¡±

    Back in the throne room, Gegewu introduced his four subordinates to me: ¡°These four are Iron, Wood, Poison and Fire Guardians. Iron Guardian is in charge of outbound and inbound contact in addition to intelligence. Wood Guardian handles internal supplies and buildings. Poison Guardian is responsible for training followers and interrogations. Fire Guardian is tasked with guard duty. When foreigners invade, the four of them are all assigned to assassination duty.¡±

    Iron Guardian gave the impression that he was a tall man of few words. I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell you who¡¯d win between him and Hong Jiu. Wood Guardian was a pretty maiden, period. Poison Guardian might¡¯ve been a midget and had a pale face due to using himself as a test subject for his poisons because I could detect the poisonous aura from him. Compared to his predecessor, Poison King, he was an amateur in the field. Fire Guardian¡¯s red hair and single-handle broadsword befitted his young appearance.

    Why does Wood Guardian keep staring at me¡­? Oh¡­ I forgot I knocked her out with my shoe on the way up the mountain.

 Volume 11 06 Shamans Also Have Their Own Philosophies. Material Desires that are Tough to Obtain.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 06 Shamans Also Have Their Own Philosophies. Material Desires that are Tough to Obtain.</h4>

    In Beijiang and the Central in, a white skin tone was so strongly associated with beauty that we said, ¡°A white skin tone is powerful enough to hide seven faults.¡± In addition, owing to the propagated idea that 30% of one¡¯s beautyes from their appearance, while 70%es from their aura, a white skin tone was highly desirable for an eloquent aura.

    In Nanjiang, despite many cities having foregone tribal lifestyles, women of Nanjiang didn¡¯t subscribe to the notion that staying indoors was a virtue; they were the type to be out and about, bold and direct in love. Golden skin was in fashion. Women in Nanjiang didn¡¯t need to dress fancy to be considered beautiful.

    Wood Guardian fashioned short hair for an active lifestyle and a tan over her curvaceous body. Her unyielding gaze reminded me of the first time I met Heisina Duohua. I could tell she had quite the personality since Ol¡¯ Ge¡¯s ¡°Don¡¯t keep speaking facts¡± grin didn¡¯t stop her from expressing disdain toward me.

    So that we¡¯re clear, I didn¡¯t want to have to butt heads with her.

    ¡°What? Do I eat humans or something?¡± In response to Wood Guardian¡¯s re, Iughed. ¡°You¡¯re Wood Guardian.¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your real name?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mu Lian.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ I have a gift for you tomemorate our first meeting. Come over.¡±

    Mu Lian reluctantly heeded my order.

    I pinched Mu Lian¡¯s cheek and teased, ¡°Quite the pretty one, huh?¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Mu Lian skedaddled back several steps and then drew her de on me.

    ¡°That¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s udit for you. What are you doing?¡± Gegewu pretended to reproach.

    Mu Lian looked away: ¡°¡­ Thank you for thepliment.¡±

    Unlike her fiery temper, Mu Lian¡¯s cheek was cool.

    ¡°Hey, call me,¡± I demanded.

    Replying from behind her wall of white pearls, Mu Lian called, ¡°¡­ Your Majesty.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Kuku, good girl.¡±

    ¡°Your Eminence, I request permission to hack him!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! If you want to, you need to wait a few months. It is beyond the pale to do so now!¡±

    I had a problem with Gegewu¡¯s response in every way possible, yet he blithely said to me, ¡°Your Majesty, now that you have been introduced to our people, it is time to introduce you to your jobs.¡±

    I ended up attending a lecture on Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s etymology, the religion¡¯s stance as well as rules and regtions, such as how many people I need to apany me to thetrine, to remember to praise the sun, always set an example et cetera. I arrived at night. He only finished once the sun was up. I was dozing off, yet he still had the vitality to whip his sleeve and ask, ¡°¡­ That is all. Do you have any other questions, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What did you just tell me?¡±

    Gegewu took a moment of silence and then smiled again. ¡°It appears this old one needs to repeat it from the top again.¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop, I get it. I remember everything. You win. You done? Can I go to bed now?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. This old one still needs to inform you of your schedule over theing days.¡±

    ¡°My schedule?¡±

    I have a schedule when I haven¡¯t even been here for a day?

    ¡°Don¡¯t I just have to bless them and put on airs from here?¡±

    ¡°That is what mountain bandits do, not you.¡±

    In spite of my visual threat, Ol¡¯ Ge pretended it never happened. ¡°Firstly, you need to visit the vige at the strategic location to find out more about its status quo and to show your benevolence.¡±

    I heard you haven¡¯t left this mountain for decades. Howe there¡¯s a sudden inspection as soon as I arrive?!

    ¡°This old one swore to the Sun that, unless he ushers in the renaissance of our religion¡¯s glory, he shall never set foot outside Mount Wanyu. Unlike this old one, you can go wherever you please.¡±

    I¡¯d like to go send you to hell! I didn¡¯t go through all this trouble for this rubbish!

    It was possible Gegewu realised that I needed the Shaman Monarch identity to achieve any of my goals, which meant that I needed an excuse to leave the mountain.

    ¡°¡­ What am I supposed to do at the vige?¡±

    ¡°Work a miracle! You are His Majesty Shaman Monarch, a man born with divine powers. His Majesty Shaman Monarch is omnipotent in legends. You can alter the weather, change the seasons, invigorate nts, teleport thousands of miles, supply vitality during droughts and more. Your mere presence motivates flowers to bloom in synchrony and withering entities to revive. Mountains and roads you have been on are forever verdant.¡±

    ¡°¡­ And the toilet I use has brown moss?¡±

    ¡°Why not?! The mountains are your vassals. The earth is your citizen. The toilet is your servant. Ah, noble Shaman Monarch.¡±

    The four guardians repeated, ¡°Ah, noble Shaman Monarch!¡±

    Since when did this be poetry ss?!

    Their stupid recital made me forget I was Shaman Monarch.

    ¡°Since this old one cannot leave, it has been a long time since someone has cast a miracle. If the people need, you must demonstrate your divine powers. You will be credited with a big merit when our religion¡¯s glory is restored.¡±

    Sounds good. But I need to be able to in the first ce!

    ¡°Change the weather. Make flowers bloom in synchrony. Invigorate nts. What am I? Dragon King or Earth God?!¡±

    Gegewu shook his head: ¡°No one is asking you to make flowers bloom in synchrony. That is clearly a con. This old one shall send a professional with you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°There is no such thing as divine miracles. If there were, then they would have only existed in the days of the first Shaman Monarch. Those who could create miracles after him have us to credit.¡±

    ¡°In short, it¡¯s a sham?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. It is a necessary part of giving the people sce and to prevent them falling into darkness. We are staking our lives and reputations for this; you can see how sincere we are. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.¡±

    ¡°Nothing ventured, nothing gained? That¡¯s a Buddhist phrase, you clown!¡±

    ¡°It is heartbreaking to hear you say that of this old one, Your Majesty. Since your moralpass does not allow you to perform acts of subterfuge, please abdicate.¡±

    I could virtually hear Ol¡¯ Ge goading me to leave, so I had to respond, ¡°As you have gone so far, I have no choice but to go.¡±

    Ol¡¯ Ge¡¯s disappointment onlysted a second before he switched back to being exuberantly guile. Hell, as if I believed the schedule was just any old schedule. All I could do was y it by ear.

    I yawned: ¡°All right, leave me now. I need some sleep.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, Your Majesty?¡± Ol¡¯ Ge pointed to the horizon. ¡°If you do not prepare to leave now, you will bete.¡±

    This shrewd cornhole must¡¯ve deliberately kept yapping until the sun came up!

 Volume 11 07 A Difficult Pilgrimage. Drifting in Thoughts.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 07 A Difficult Pilgrimage. Drifting in Thoughts.</h4>

    Ribbons of golden sunlight spilt onto the forest. My breaths were invisible, and the sun gave more heat than it leeched from me. Everything was perfect if there weren¡¯t two hundred burdens behind me. For crying out loud, the two hundred followers in white had to march at a turtle¡¯s pace to ensure they strode in unison! They couldn¡¯t speak Mandarin, not they would¡¯ve even dared to speak to me!

    ¡°Why do you have to bring along so many people?!¡± Two hours ago, I shooed off all irrelevant personnel to speak with Ol¡¯ Ge in private.

    ¡°ording to our traditions, there needs to be, at the very least, fifty followers opening the path for Great Spirit Shaman. As you are Shaman Monarch, you need a bigger entourage.¡±

    ¡°How does that justify adding another one hundred and fifty wooden dummies?! I don¡¯t understand half of what they say. Why would I need them following me?!¡±

    If I didn¡¯t see their grateful faces, I would¡¯ve thought they were cursing me together when they recited, ¡°Wee back, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like you understand what vigers and indigenous people say. Without the followers, who will believe His Majesty Shaman Monarch has arrived? Shaman Monarch has not been associated with Xiacang Anxi¡¯s administration for centuries, but people have never stopped worshipping him. Without the mour, who would know you are Shaman Monarch? They¡¯d think some nutcase from the Central in came.¡±

    No matter how sound Gegewu¡¯s assertion was, I didn¡¯t believe for a second that they weren¡¯t his agents or assassins, not when I could see the fangs behind his smile.

    ¡°Also, White Cleric and Wood Guardian will apany you.¡±

    See?

    ¡°Their main job is t-¡±

    ¡°Whatever. You can save yourself the trouble of fabricating stories. Your mouth might not feel tired, but my ears have been working overtime. Let me summarise it for you: their task is to shadow and irk me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really paranoid, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re not wrong about irking you, though. You came out of nowhere and ckmailed me into letting you rule over me. Don¡¯t you think I should pay you back? Even if I have to put up with that, I¡¯m not in such a pathetic state that I have to wait on you or beg you. If you can bear it, bear it. Otherwise, bug off. I¡¯d rather not have to see you.¡±

    ¡­ Son of a¡­

    ¡°That aside, you don¡¯t know the followers ornguage. Without them leading, you will face challenges, won¡¯t you? That¡¯s why this old one wants them to apany you.¡±

    Hats off to him for passing me a problem, yet leaving me with no retort. I was still going to try floating a dispute, nevertheless. ¡°By the way, if I go to the foot of the mountain and tell people Shaman Monarch has returned, won¡¯t I scare the living daylights out of the hunters, fishers and vigers? I mean, we are talking about a legend who vanished for a century.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Shaman Monarch has always existed; he was merely absent from Shaman Monarch Pce. His Majesty does not have a fixed appearance. In the centuries that followed the first Shaman Monarch¡¯s passing, every Shaman Monarch¡¯s appearance has varied. For the record, none of them have been rted by blood. Sometimes, they¡¯re an elder. Sometimes, they¡¯re a young girl. Sometimes, they¡¯re a child.¡± Ol¡¯ Ge then proudly stated, ¡°Of course, we used our divination to find them.¡±

    You¡¯re the ones enthroning them, aren¡¯t you?! You¡¯re the one calling the shots, no?! How does anyone know if they¡¯re blood rtives, then? For all we know, they could¡¯ve all been from the same family.

    I couldn¡¯t decipher what the emotion Ol¡¯ Ge wore on was, but mayhap it was sincerity.

    ¡°Shaman Monarchs are born with their abilities; nobody can take their abilities from them or learn them. No matter how long the night is, the sun is still the same sun when it inevitably rises again as always. Shaman Monarch¡¯s disappearance is tantamount to the night. Once he returns, he will shine once again. Long-story short, nobody can pose as him.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Ability? Are you saying the real Shaman Monarch can summon winds and rain, transform beans into soldiers, braise pork shoulders with fire and freeze frogs?¡± I stroked my chin, pretending to be invested in the topic.

    To my surprise, Ol¡¯ Ge reacted as though he said too much and then put his figurative guard up. ¡°Why are you inquiring about it? Regardless of what you do, you¡¯re a fake Shaman Monarch for three months who became one via unscrupulous means. Once you¡¯re done, you can bugger off. I¡¯ll fight you to the death if you dare to stay for an extra day!¡±

    Damn, I underestimated you. Never expected my perfect wordsmith skills to fail me.

    ¡°Can you lot hurry up?!¡± I shouted at the people behind me subsequent to exiting my memories.

    ¡°Shut up. You¡¯re ruining your reputation as Shaman Monarch.¡± As chief officer, Wood Guardian was allowed to follow right behind me, along with Iron Guardian and some White Cleric buffoon, to supervise me. ¡°Also, they don¡¯t even understand what you just said.¡±

    Oh, and your attitude is constructive for my reputation?

    I called, ¡°Yang, uh, Rou.¡±

    The young girl I interviewed yesterday - I couldn¡¯t pronounce her name - also followed behind me. Cheeks puffed, she corrected, ¡°It¡¯s Banan Mucuo Yangyangman or Yangyang for short!¡±

    Yangyang wasn¡¯t afraid of me since she conversed with mest night. Look, just remember she spoke twonguages, Mandarin included, which was I kept her close by to be my interpreter.

    ¡°Second!¡±

    Even though my voice echoed for kilometres, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t show up. I had to trace the gaze of people around to work out where he was. My bloody assistant was right in the back of the line, but that wasn¡¯t all. He was still sleeping in his pyjamas - even still had his freaking pillow - and he had four followers carrying him. Of course I kicked him over.

    Waking up as if he was in danger, Hong Jiu shouted, ¡°Miss, Mistress, please donate some spare change!¡±

    Mother! Flipper! I want my flipping sleep!

    Glossary

    Yang Rou - Ming Feizhen literally called her mb¡±, as in a b ofmb for consumption.

 Volume 11 08 Sympathy and Admonishment. One Slap Each.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 08 Sympathy and Admonishment. One p Each.</h4>

    ¡°What are you doing?! Your boss is suffering at the front, while you¡¯re enjoying life.¡±

    Hong Jiu drowsily replied, ¡°Leader, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s my first day in the pugilistic world. I can go without sleep for ten days, but all these people speak in monotone voices. They could cure insomnia with their voices.¡±

    Fair game. They were always doing things synchronised. More importantly, they were painfully slow.

    ¡°You can¡¯t handle this much? How you going to be Shaman Monarch?¡± slighted White Cleric, always giving me attitude.

    If you ask me, people would likely think White Cleric was the leader and not me. First of all, he trailed three metres behind me. Secondly, he didn¡¯t even have to walk on his own legs. He had four people carrying him on a litter and four people clearing a path for him.

    ¡°Easy for you to say when you¡¯re being carried. We¡¯re walking with our own legs. At our current pace, when will we ever get back?¡± I griped.

    ¡°Get back? It usually takes His Majesty Shaman Monarch three months to finish his inspections. We¡¯ve only just started.¡±

    Three months? So this is what you had nned, huh? You want me to promote you for free for three months? You wish! What the hell is this ¡°usually¡± business when there hasn¡¯t been a Shaman Monarch for a damn century?!

    ¡°It is your duty to propagate our religion and give people a sense of security. It is only right to devote some time to them. This is a necessary part of our faith.¡±

    ¡°I feel like punching you is also necessary! I bet this idea is yours. Else, you wouldn¡¯t be supervisor.¡±

    ¡°How can you say that? You are a peerless fighter. Cough, cough. We old people cannot hold a handle to you. It is understandable for us to be slow.¡±

    Speak for yourself! All two hundred chaperones look healthy and capable enough to fight. You¡¯re the only sickly elder! Since you asked for it, don¡¯t me me.

    I spun around and halted, causing Wood Guardian to almost bump into me.

    ¡°What?¡±

    I spun Wood Guardian around to face the followers in the rear and whispered, ¡°Trante this for me: everyone, our order has always been a symbol of glory. All children of Xiacang Anxi look up to us, not because of Shaman Monarchs but also thanks to your efforts.¡±

    Although most of them couldn¡¯t understand me, the fact that they could all hear me in their heads - Voice Transmission - impressed them. Subsequent to hearing the trantion, their pride illuminated their faces.

    ¡°You are all warriors. When you march, you are marching soldiers. How can we give people the impression that we are weak? People willugh at us for moving at a snail¡¯s pace!¡±

    I could see I was getting to them owing to their ashamed reactions.

    ¡°My followers must be warriors in every aspect.¡± I stretched a hand up. ¡°Follow me! Charge!¡±

    Yangyang followed suit, raising her hand and crying, ¡°Follow His Majesty¡¯s lead! Charge!¡±

    With me in the lead, we bolted through the forest at full speed. As a consequence, White Cleric had an experience akin to a raft ensnared in violent waves until he fell off.

    ¡°Ow! Who stepped on me?! Stop! Stop! St-, mm!¡±

    Somebody eventually stuck their shoe in White Cleric¡¯s mouth.

    I wasn¡¯t going to tell anyone that the person who knocked White Cleric¡¯s litter over was a smart, handsome flower boy.

    ***

    We arrived at the first vige significantly earlier than predicted.

    ¡°What were you thinking?!¡± White Cleric thundered in a breathy voice. ¡°Please¡­ Please go contact the vigers to¡­ to reinforce our order¡¯s faith. What did you knock their building down for?!¡± White Cleric pointed to the splintered timber house behind. ¡°And over two hundred of you had to crash it! How deep is your resentment?!¡± White Cleric then turned around to puke for a while. I suppose he hadn¡¯t engaged in any rigorous exercise in a while.

    In regards to the small house that was smashed to smithereens, well, we didn¡¯t decelerate, so I first crashed into the house by ident. Hong Jiu almost crashed into me, but I slipped away. The two hundred behind him then rear ended him. Let¡¯s just say we were lucky nobody was inside, and it was a timber home - thepensation bill shouldn¡¯t be too high.

    The houses in the quiet and aesthetic vige were miniature versions of Ol¡¯ Ge¡¯s - minus the resplendent materials, decorations and multiple storeys. Don¡¯t ask me if they were Nanjiang style of Wanyu style. They shaved thick wood and bamboo to use as columns for their homes, elevating their foundation off the ground. The vacant space underneath their floor was used to house cattle and whatnot.

    Wood Guardian told me the vige had a poption of a thousand. The majority of vigers nted crops, farming herbs or hunted for a living. There were easily over a thousand simr viges in Wanyu, so they made up the majority of Wanyu¡¯s poption. Themon denominator between all viges and cities was that thergest building was always the shrine.

    The vigers fetching water all carried bamboo baskets and hunting machetes. Droves of women carried clothing to the creek to wash. The elders in the vige set herbs out under the fruit scaffolding to dry. While there were plenty of kids ying chasey or following adults around, there was one boy quietly grinding his mini bow, grumpy with the fact that he wasn¡¯t allowed to join the hunters.

    When my leg moved toward them, I felt my feet sink into something warm and squishy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s what I think it is¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you overreacting for, ignorant fool. It¡¯s just Abopan,¡± Wood Guardian scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s our most effective fertiliser that can drive bugs away whilst nurturing soil. It¡¯s made from special terxue. Every vige uses it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I see. I thought I stepped in poop. What¡¯s terxue?¡±

    ¡°In Mandarin, it¡¯s cow dung.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It is poop, then! This poop is practically dry! Wait¡­ You purposely didn¡¯t warn me out of resentment for me sleeping you with my shoe, didn¡¯t you?! That exins why my left shoe is involved in both cases.

    Iron Guardian prompted, ¡°Please get on with some business. Your followers have already begun announcing your advent. All the vigers will soon assemble to wee you; you should prepare to greet them.¡±

    Whilst cleaning my shoe, I dismissively grumbled, ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m ipetent.¡±

    Assuring followers? Easy peasy. I did that already. I was revered when I proselytised people in Western Regions.

    I went over to two guys working with big buckets in the field and grabbed one of their hands. ¡°Buddy, thanks for believing in me, and thanks for supporting me! Hallelujah. Mama mia!¡±

    Three people behind me aggressively coughed one after the other.

    ¡°Wear some more clothing if you¡¯re cold.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, can you get more into your role. You are the venerated Shaman Monarch,¡± Iron Guardian lowered his head to tell me in a stifled voice. ¡°Not to mention he is charged with handling manure.¡±

    ¡°So what if he¡¯s handling manure?! I¡¯m trying to understand the people as best as possible!¡± I patted the guy on the viger on the shoulder. ¡°Keep at it. You¡¯ve got a bright future.¡±

    The vigers, presumably all of them, came into my sights, all showing fear, astonishment and respect to the point that they thought I¡¯d eat them. I didn¡¯t think ¡°zealots¡± would be enough to describe their reverence for me.

    I called Yangyang over to my side to have her interpret for me. Having learnt from my previous experience, I wore on a smile and strolled over to an elder. ¡°Hey, mister, you been well?¡±

    Yangyang stole a nce at me before she tranted. I presumed she referred to the elder in a more respectful term.

    The elder dropped onto his knees, tears spilling out from his eyes. I wasn¡¯t surprised Hong Jiu eximed, ¡°My goodness me, what a genius! He¡¯s the perfect candidate to be one of the six bags elders!¡± Well, only Beggars Sect would want that sort of ¡°genius¡±.

    I swear to god all the sentences the elder conveyed were identical. Since I didn¡¯t understand a lick of what he said, I asked Yangyang, ¡°What happened to him? Is someone in the family sick, or is there a gue outbreak?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ He says he has no money¡­¡±

    Because of me?! You knelt faster because I came, which means you have to donate? Have you been extorting these people?! How much have you been taking from them?!

    Iron Guardian derisively expounded, ¡°I have nevere across such an ipetent Shaman Monarch. Do you not remember our rules? It is the obligation of followers to donate if they usends His Majesty blesses. Ever since Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s establishment, every vige within a hundred kilometres of Mount Wanyu has to pay on time.¡±

    Well, poor them for being your prey.

    I pulled the elder up and told him, ¡°Please get up, Elder. We can negotiate your financial difficulties. Worry not. I am in charge here. I shall give you a discount.¡±

    Jumping before Yangyang could interpret, White Cleric dragged me off. ¡°You cannot do that! Your Majesty, the donations are a rule. We are protecting theirnds. As Shaman Monarch, you must take their money.¡±

    ¡°Did you not hear the man? He has no money. Ask those with money for some more to cover. You can¡¯t just take by force.¡±

    ¡°We are not taking by force. Since they epted our faith, they must offer sincerity. They need to eat, but we do not? Besides, what do mean take from someone with money? Does it look as though there is any wealthy family in this decrepit vige?¡±

    ¡°Yet you¡¯re demanding donations from them?¡±

    White Cleric smugly contended, ¡°There is no cure for their poverty for it is a product of their destiny. No matter how poor they are, they can live as long as there is a ray of hope, and that hope is our faith. The only way they can be at peace with themselves is if they line our pockets. This is called the psychological administration system. Your Majesty, if you want to be Shaman Monarch, you need to adapt to our standards.¡±

    ¡°You mean your robbery system? Besides, you heard the man. He has no money. Be it you ask for one or a million, he only has zero. What are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Your followers have alreadymenced work, though.¡±

    As soon as I looked over, an injured viger went reeling out of his house. Fit he may be, but he could only take so much. He was begging on his knees as blood poured from his mouth. Nearby, several followers surrounded defenceless vigers.

    ¡°Squeezing money out of no money is the duty of your two hundred followers.¡± White Cleric cockily looked my way. ¡°Or do you n to challenge our f-¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± I howled, startling the followers about to assault the vigers and impelling the vigers to kneel.

    I strolled over to the three young followers who were confused as to what they did wrong. ¡°Still young, yet,¡± I grabbed one by the cor and raised a hand, ¡°you¡¯re learning all the wrong crap!¡±

    I smacked the three one after another, sending them spinning through the air.

    Glossary

    Bags in Beggars Sect - I have a suspicion non-wuxia veterans have forgotten what this is all about, so allow me to repeat. Each member carries at least one pouch-like bag, and the number of bags he/she carries indicates his/her rank in the sect. An elder in the sect is second only to the chief.

 Volume 11 09 A System Implemented for Ages. Ticked Off.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 09 A System Implemented for Ages. Ticked Off.</h4>

    The gaunt man kneeling on the ground had, ¡°If he¡¯s so ruthless with his subordinates, won¡¯t he mince me?¡± written all over his face. He flexed his spine and punched himself in the gut, forcing blood out of his mouth and uttered what Yangyang tranted as, ¡°He said, ¡®Your Majesty, please spare this one. This one has not eaten in days. He honestly does not have any money.¡¯¡±

    I was as livid as I was amused. ¡°Lass, is the shaman tax a lot?¡±

    Yangyang poked her tongue out quickly. ¡°I am not sure. Dad told me that a vige has to pay enough for a shrine¡¯s renovations annually, though. As for the shrine¡¯s size, it needs to be enough to house all the vigers of a vige. If a vige has an old shrine, they are in luck because they will have to build one, otherwise. Lots of vigers are still constructing shrines.¡±

    ¡°In another words, astronomical¡­¡±

    White Cleric rushed over to quietly fume, ¡°What are you doing?! What sort of Shaman Monarch acts so barbaric?!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re telling me the three of them should be pardoned after erring?¡± I stared White Cleric down, then yelled, ¡°Those three didn¡¯t heed my orders and assaulted this gentleman. That¡¯s why I personally disciplined them. Please do not worry.¡±

    Yangyang bravely tranted for me since I was protecting her.

    The vigers needed a second to analyse what I said again in their own minds prior to cheering exuberantly, ticking off White Cleric. All he could do was suck it up in public.

    The other followers who intended to get physical with the vigers put themselves back in line, not because they were afraid I¡¯d smash them but because they were afraid I¡¯d get angry - I think. Even the three I pped the socks off knelt before me with bloody cheeks and held their kowtow pose. I could tell they were scared for the life of them as there was no way I couldn¡¯t see their shoulders shaking.

    ¡°They have been so excited that they did not sleep when they heard they could apany you here.¡± Iron Guardian approached me from behind.

    Iron Guardian had yet to give me grief once. Although I felt there was more to him than what met the eye, I always had the urge to call him Ol¡¯ Tie Two because of how buff he was.

    In a monotone deep voice, Iron Guardian expressed, ¡°The children of Mount Wanyu grew up on the story of Shaman Monarch. They have been doing their all since childhood to be a valued soldier of His Majesty. Do you know how pivotal your appearance is to them? What benefit is derived from punishing loyal vassals? They would give you their lives if you simply said the word. Is it wrong to feed them well? Their hearts are crystal clear. They are only following the faith¡¯s teachings. Are you going to tell them that the teachings that they have abided by all this time is erroneous? Or are you going to tell them that the first thing you will do upon returning is deprive them? Consider what I said before you act.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see¡­ So the teachings are to me?¡±

    Iron Guardian realised his blunder, but he was toote.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, this one is Mount Wanyu¡¯s room number one, on the ny-eighth floor, Mingming, alias Shaman Monarch. Thank you for taking care of me on my first visit here and pardoning me for knocking over your building.¡±

    One of the freaked out vigers conveyed, ¡°This peasant is honoured to have you destroy his humble abode. He would never me you.¡±

    ¡°Regardless, I, as Shaman Monarch, am ashamed to hear I am the cause of your financial burdens. I hereby announce that I will modify the order¡¯s tax system in order to relieve the financial pressure on you. I wish fathers can raise their sons. Husbands can feed their wives. Men can hunt, farm, work and fetch herbs. Women can fetch herbs, work, farm and hunt. Let all be ording to heaven¡¯s w-, the Divine Sun¡¯s will for eternity, amen.¡±

    For some reason, Yangyang kept stumbling over her words when she tranted that paragraph until I added, ¡°In other words, you will be taxed less,¡± which was when her trantion came out faster and smoother than ever.

    The vigers erupted with tion.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    White Cleric thundered, ¡°Modifying the system is a major concern, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°I know. I get it.¡± I patted White Cleric on the shoulder,pelling him to exhale harder. ¡°White Cleric, we are lucky to have you on board. You are a pir of our faith!¡±

    I dragged White Cleric over to the vigers. ¡°Ladies and gentleman, this is our faith¡¯s most educated gentleman. I just mentioned my intention to alter the tax system, and he immediately offered to spearhead the change. With everyone here as my witness, I shall entrust the grand task to you. White Cleric, please be sure to fulfil your mission faithfully.¡±

    I yanked White Cleric aside, letting him trip himself unconscious. ¡°Now, as for today. My boys are all here.¡±

    My two hundred escorts instantly lined up before me no less impressively than a trained army.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, almost as good as our Night Fortress boys,¡± Hong Jiumented.

    ¡°Our faith is the biggest religion in Xiacang Anxi; how can we let the people suffer? We must lend a hand in times of need. Who crashed into the house before? Raise your hands!¡±

    Four hundred hands extended upwards energetically.

    ¡°Good. Owning up to your faults is what¡¯s expected of our men. We shall rest here for the night. Before we leave tomorrow morning, build five houses for them. If the houses aren¡¯t aesthetic, big, ventted, bright and spacious enough, costing me my reputation, I¡¯ll serve you all a hand. Am I clear?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    They were all revving to go.

    The three I pped before bowed their heads when I approached them.

    ¡°You three apologise to the gentleman, and help him in the field for a day. Help him hunt two lions, centipedes or whatever aspensation, and I¡¯ll consider the matter settled.¡±

    The three innocently nodded as they looked at me.

    ¡°Hehe, finish early and I¡¯ll treat you to drinks at night.¡±

    The three of them sped off to begin right away.

    ¡°Did you understand anything I said?!¡± grouched Iron Guardian. ¡°What did I just s-¡±

    ¡°I did. However, I don¡¯t believe smothering filth onto crystal is good in any way. Excuse me now, bud.¡± I walked passed Iron Guardian, then formed a speakerphone with my hands. ¡°Boys,e help me build houses. We¡¯ll drink once we¡¯re done!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    Glossary

    Ol¡¯ Tie - This ¡°tie¡± is ¡°iron¡±.

 Volume 11 10 Portent of Pivotal Change

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 10 Portent of Pivotal Change</h4>

    Shaman Monarch Pce finally made its move on Ah Neath after making her wait for two months. Every time she wanted to send intelligence agents to Wanyu, Feng Xue would advise against it with an indescribable smile and say, ¡°Wait a bit more. Your opportunity to turn the tables ising.¡±

    Ah Neath could ept being confounded, but she had an issue with letting a group of adepts she didn¡¯t recognise run amok in her pce. If they were just some bums trying to leech off her, she would¡¯ve kicked them out already; she wasn¡¯t going to let someone leech off her on ount of some ugly Ming Feizhen. She let them stay because she judged them to have real skill, especially Hero Li¡­ Hero Li¡¯s two bodyguards.

    The Beijiang man was always wearing an affable smile, but he monitored everything around him. The sleeping bamboo pole was always sleeping, but, like the Beijiang hunk, he gave Ah Neath the same vibe only Feng Xue gave off. Her intuition told her that, as long as they were around, practically nobody could have their way in her pce.

    As well, the others had shown they were all adroit in their own rights. Ma¡¯am Ming and her sister went for a stroll in the garden at the rear after Ah Neath shared her problems. Ever since then, every two or three days, there¡¯d be snake, insect, rodent invasions at Princess Consort¡¯s pce, or there¡¯d be a fire.

    One night, a bizarre billow struck the interior of the rear pce, withering all the nts it grazed and sleeping Qiushui¡¯s elite soldiers - and her guards whom nobody besides her had seen before - who were assembled there. All of the unconscious warriors had a balloon each on the back of their head when they were found.

    Before Qiushui could file a report, Ma¡¯am Ming¡¯s erudite sister-inw asserted that, with her head as a guarantee, a nefarious spirit had possessed the rear pce. For that reason, she requested a shaman priest banish said spirit. Touched, Ah Neath had a dozen shaman priests wearing monster masks wave weapons around and start fires outside Princess Consort¡¯s pce daily. Topound the effects, they sang some song nobody could understand, ensuring nobody within earshot was going to get any shuteye.

    Qiushui didn¡¯t make any moves no matter how many days went by for she was waiting for her reinforcements so that she could repay the favour in one fell swoop. Thankfully, an emissary was finally dispatched.

    During the wait, Ah Neath brainstormed numerous strategies with the adepts in her throne room, attempting to ount for all possible scenarios. Knowing Qiushui¡¯s patience and ruthlessness, Ah Neath predicted the helper Shaman Monarch Pce sent would be extremely dangerous. Despite her preparations, she was still struck.

    ¡°Shaman Monarch Pce is grateful Baimu¡¯s previous King left his son behind to seed him. We hereby grant King Neath permission toplete the ascension ceremony from Baimu instead of Mount Wanyu.¡±

    After hearing the announcement, Qiushui fled Baimu from a secret passage in the night, not even bidding Ah Neath farewell.

    Ah Neath thereupon began her takeover of the military, keeping her happily busy.

    Mount Wanyu soon sent a second letter to Ming Suwen.

    Sima Huai, trusted with the messenger role, also received a letter from Hong Jiu but didn¡¯t open it until he was in Ming Suwen¡¯s presence.

    ¡°¡­ Leader is the model everyone in our generation should aspire to be. Not only did he rescue dozens of gorgeous girls dressed in skimpy clothing, but he also rescued thousands of girls of Nanjiangs. His future will be challenging, noble and bright. As inheritors of Shifu¡¯s will, we need to court more chicks and marry more wives than him. We are currently pursuing the ideal. Don¡¯t miss us.¡± Sima Huai turned the sheet over and continued, ¡°Leader says you have to keep this a secret. You better not let Grandaunt and Miss Shen know¡­ Hong Shiba.¡± Hands shaking more and more, Sima Huai cautiously cast his gaze up from the letter.

    ¡°He¡¯s dead!¡± Ming Suwen inted her cheeks. ¡°Third, how long has your first brother been gone for?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ ten days?¡±

    ¡°My foot!¡± Ming Suwen whacked Sima Huai over the head.

    Sima Huai squatted down and grabbed his head. ¡°¡­ If we calcte from further back, it would probably be twelve, thirteen days.¡±

    Ming Suwen used her fingers to run a calction. ¡°He¡¯s been gone for thirty years.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan immediately grabbed a mirror to check for white hair.

    Sima Huai inquired, ¡°Grandaunt, I do not understand.¡±

    Ming Suwen answered sternly, ¡°One daysts as long as three autumns when we can¡¯t see each other.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Suwen instinctively mumbled, ¡°Hmph, ims he¡¯s here to hunt beasts, but it looks like he¡¯s here to find himself another mistress. One is not enough, so he goes for dozens. No wonder why he wants to be Shaman Monarch. If I don¡¯t discipline him, he¡¯ll forget who¡¯s main.¡± Ming Suwen pped her sleeve and then strutted off to where the ck bear was kept - and where the armoury was located.

    Sima Huai dropped into the adjacent room to repeat the letter for Ma¡¯am Ming. ¡°¡­ In any event, First Brother says he needs t-¡±

    ¡°To die!¡±

    All the girls First Brother likes are the same type.

    Shen Yiren squeezed the table she was resisting the urge to flip. Luckily, Ming Xialou was there to appease her and save another one of Baimu¡¯s tables.

    ¡°Third, how many days has your first brother been gone for?¡± questioned Shen Yiren, huffing and puffing.

    ¡°Uh¡­ does it count as three autumns?¡±

    ¡°What three autumns?¡±

    ¡°When you can¡¯t see each other, one day l-¡±

    Smack! Shen Yiren threw a book flush onto Sima Huai¡¯s face.

    ¡°Women are just unreasonable creatures.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s been gone for ten days without a word, only to send an iprehensible, stupid letter?! Does he think I don¡¯t dare to rip his spine out?! He¡¯s an adult, yet he doesn¡¯t notify me. Is he trying to¡­¡± Shen Yiren stopped herself before she could blurt, ¡°¡­ worry me to death?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s whereabouts had been on Shen Yiren¡¯s mind ever since he left. Subsequent to learning of his past with the Fengpeng, she kept having dreams of herself reliving his experience, igniting an urge to stop him from risking himself again. Howbeit, she couldn¡¯t have imperial court agents search for him, lest they find out his identities. Thus, she had to bear with her burgeoning concern.

    Needing to vent, Shen Yiren pushed her door open to see Ming Suwen bringing a bear along on one hand and carrying a big scissor on her other hand.

    Shen Yiren and Ming Suwen: ¡°I¡¯m done putting up with this!¡±

    The three Mount Daluo disciples inside didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what was going on when the twodies came back in.

    ***

    Emperor Yuansheng was holding a party in his head since he believed that they had good chances of allying with Baimu in the future now that he was helping Ah Neath.

    ¡°Constable Ming deserves the most credit for this mission. He must be dealing with Shaman Monarch Pce around now. I wonder what strategy he used to conquer Mount Wanyu¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman because that ismendable aplishment.¡± Emperor Yuansheng instructed, ¡°Dugu, call over, uh¡­ Ma¡¯am Ming and her sister. I¡¯d like to ask them if they know any more.¡±

    Dugu came back with a pallor visage not long after.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Dugu quietly answered, ¡°Hero Li, the two¡­ left a note and departed.¡±

    ¡°Say what?! They¡¯re going out to y without inviting me?!¡±

    ***

    ¡°The wind billows against Xianyang City¡¯s eastern tower when the rain has yet to fall,¡± I uttered as I gazed at the charcoal sky. ¡°Second, is this weather, this sky, this temperature simr to when Shiniang caught Shifu at Wanhua Brothel?¡±

    ¡°Yes, very yes. I wonder who the next unlucky bugger is.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, when has any idiot escaped the grasp of his wife before? Take note, Second. Do not let yourself be a victim.¡±

    ¡°You truly possess immeasurable wisdom. I will never go wrong as long as I heed your advice.¡±

    ¡°Shameless, narcissist.¡± Wood Guardian looked away.

    Equipped with my designs and Hong Jiu¡¯s leadership, we erected five well-ventted, spacious houses by the time the sun dipped. When the silver choir came out, the vigers lit a bonfire to drink their finest wine with us untilte at night. I taught the two hundred followers to drink and dance overnight, so I deserved to feel proud.

    On today¡¯s journey to the next vige, Wood Guardian still treated me coldly. I let White Cleric ride in a horse carriage, which was why he kept rambling ceaselessly about how he was supposed to alter the tax system. Seriously, I¡¯d apud him if he could fix the system.

    ¡°Brother Your Majesty, have you married a Divine Consort yet?¡± Yangyang pped her eyelids innocently.

    ¡°Divine Consort?¡±

    Iron Guardian warmed up to me a lot after yesterday, so he quickly exined, ¡°Shaman Monarch¡¯s wife is referred to as Divine Consorts. At your age, you certainly should have several Divine Concubines already. If you wish, you can choose a few from the followers. If You like, even she is eptable.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I do not want to marry yet.¡± Yangyang¡¯s cheeks turned rosy.

    Oi, don¡¯t categorise me as a lolicon already!

    ¡°Divine Consort, huh? Nah, let¡¯s settle business first.¡±

    Why would I take a Divine Consort when I was going to leg it in a few months?

    Iron Guardian was touched to hear me so devoted to work¡­

    ¡°Whoa, what the flying fook? Thest vige was poor, you say? Compared to this vige, thest vige is loaded,¡± Hong Jiumented when we arrived at Yangyang¡¯s vige.

    The fields were abandoned. Houses were depted; many of them didn¡¯t even have a roof. The vigers looked ill and emaciated.

    ¡°Yangyang, has your vige always been in this shape?¡±

    ¡°No. When I leftst month¡­ I think¡­¡± Yangyang dragged me along into the vige.

    Hong Jiu and I exchanged a nod. Judging from the damage to the buildings, it was unlikely a gue hit them.

    Upon seeing her house, Yangyang sped up into a jog: ¡°Dad! Mom! I¡¯m back!¡±

    ¡°Yangyang! Why are you back?¡±

    I was d to hear a happy gentleman¡¯s voice. Her parents may have looked somewhat tired, but at least their heart beats and voices were all right.

    ¡°Dad, what happened to the vige? I just saw Vige Chief lying in bed. Is he sick?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all because of those highwaymen. Wait, wait, wait. Yangyang, haven¡¯t you¡­¡± Yangyang¡¯s father started to tremble with fear. ¡°Aren¡¯t you Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s? Wh-why did run off without permission?! What are we going to do if you get caught?¡±

    Yangyang¡¯s mother voiced, ¡°Why did you sneak off, Yangyang? Run! If Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s people find you¡­¡±

    ¡°Please do not worry.¡± I stepped inside, trying to offer the most polite smile I could. ¡°Leave it to me. All will be well.¡±

    Yangyang¡¯s father pulled her behind me. ¡°Who are you, bandit?! I won¡¯t give you my daughter over my dead body!¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°One daysts as long as three autumns when we can¡¯t see each other.¡± - The line depicting how time seemingly flows painfully slow when apart from one¡¯s loved onees from a poem in the first Chinese poem omnibus. The poem¡¯s name can be tranted as ¡°Capital¡¯s Breeze. Vine picking.¡± (Íõ·ç¡¤²É¸ð). It won¡¯t produce results if you reverse search it by the English name because the ¡°vine¡± is actually a specific type of vine without an English equivalent; ¡°Capital¡¯s Breeze¡± is actually written ¡°King Breeze (there are omitted characters). Can¡¯t remember if I said this before, but archaic Chinese breaks a lot ofnguage conventions taught nowadays and is incredibly concise. Even if you understand the characters, putting it together is like an entirely differentnguage.

 Volume 11 11 Miracle Creation, Taking Flight

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 11 Miracle Creation, Taking Flight</h4>

    ¡°Pops, you got it wrong. I am¡­¡±

    It would be really shameless if I called myself Shaman Monarch when I was a fraud. While I was busy trying to think of how to introduce myself without making myself contemptible, Hong Jiu voiced, ¡°You courting death, old man? Would you dare object if my leader has eyes for your daughter? You¡¯re blessed he¡¯s sparing her a nce.¡±

    Where did you learn to y thug?! You scared the lights out of her mother - literally!

    Despite looking malnourished, Yangyang¡¯s father sped into the kitchen to grab a whip. Yangyang hastily stopped him and exined the whole story. Only once his nerves were unknotted did he notice the group of people attired in white garments.

    The corners of Yangyang¡¯s father¡¯s lips stretched closer and closer to his ears, culminating in him diving into me as though he was shooting for a takedown. ¡°Divine Sun! Divine Bird! This peasant finally has the honour of meeting you! Your Majesty, please ept three bows from this old one!¡±

    Okay, you can kowtow if you want to kowtow, but can you not try to submit my leg?!

    ¡°Your Majesty, you have no idea how harsh life in our vige is!¡±

    ¡°I will hear you out. Let go now, or I will uncork a No Shadow Kick!¡±

    He finally let go, then enthused to his wife, ¡°Honey, look! His Majesty Shaman Monarch has arrived! Our days of suffering are finally over!¡± And¡­ he shocked her back to sleep¡­

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I instructed everyone to wait outside, but they were allowed to listen in outside if they wished. Yangyang¡¯s father told me the vige was neverrge, but it was never so rundown and used to be popted. Only in recent years did things start making a turn for the worse, beginning with the drought that started two years ago. Wanyu then conscripted over half of their young men to build their military, which was reasonable; however, Wanyu was famous for rewarding its soldiers handsomely. That was why young men kept leaving the vige even when they weren¡¯t conscripted, leaving the vige bereft of capable workers.

    ¡°Even if there is a drought, you are not that far from the river. Why did you not opt for irrigation?¡±

    It only took me a day on foot to travel from the previous vige to this one. Even if it was excruciatingly taxing, would they really not bother stepping out of their vige if their lives were at risk?

    ¡°That is because¡­ you are His Majesty Shaman Monarch.¡±

    ¡°Can you exin?¡±

    ¡°You can summon winds and rain, not to mention all the able people under you. Nobody would dare to stand in your way, but we¡­¡±

    I pulled my brows together. ¡°I remember you mentioned highwaymen. Are they part of your concern?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. If a drought was our only problem, we could gather herbs or hunt as we have plenty of both locally. Unfortunately, two years ago¡­ a gang of highwaymen called a ce nearby home, demanding we supply them with food and fur. You know how cold-blooded they are in Xiacang Anxi. They are inhumane; they are carnivores who even drink blood. Luckily, they left without anyplications after we supplied what they asked for. A new group hase, though, and, unlike the previous group, this group assaults anyone they see, vandalises any buildings theye across, as well as loot anything they can find within. They are the ones who turned our vige into this state¡­¡±

    Highwaymen were a major problem for all of Xiacang Anxi, the nightmare ofmoners. There¡¯s not a crime imaginable that they would refrain frommitting. Feng Xue¡¯s martial prowess was only one reason he was revered. The other reason he was regarded so highly was owed to the time he coordinated a nation-wide sweep with the eleven states of Nanjiang. The bandits must¡¯ve chosen to return to Nanjiang since he had retired.

    ¡°They are feared everywhere in Xiacang Anxi. The next time theye might be ourst day alive. Fortunately, there is no need to fear anymore,¡± Yangyang¡¯s father gave a heartfelt smile, ¡°because you have arrived! You will use your abilities to help us, right?¡±

    I reactively nodded due to the way Yangyang¡¯s father looked at me.

    As our conversation went on, more and more people congregated in the courtyard to listen in. What bbergasted me was that among those who prostrated themselves on the ground as they cried out in Nanjiang¡¯snguage were people from my two hundred followers. Even though I couldn¡¯tprehend what they were voicing, their eyes told me they were imploring me to help them.

    Knowing it was my cue to create a miracle, I sent off everyone but Iron and Wood Guardians so that I could inquire, ¡°Hey, what do you two think? What do I need to do?¡±

    I didn¡¯t really know what entailed ¡°make it rain¡±. For all I knew, Shaman Monarch might¡¯ve left behind some secret method to make it rain if the legends imed he had the power to.

    ¡°In my opinion, you should move on to the next vige - now.¡±

    I furrowed my brows. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, perhaps you are unaware, but there are countless viges you will see facing the same ordeals. We do not have the capacity and luxury to save every vige. Your schedule is already full as it is. If you are to exercise punctuality, now is the time to move on.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t my question. My question was what ideas you have. To speak more urately, how are you two going to help me create a ¡®miracle¡¯? Your Great Spirit Shaman sent you here to assist me, which means you must know what to do, correct?¡±

    They bobbed their heads.

    ¡°I already gave my word to help. How do I create the miracle? How do I make it rain? How do I deal with the bandits?¡±

    Both of them replied together, ¡°We suggest you head to the next vill-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like arguing about the same thing over and over. What I say is final; who is going to help me?¡±

    Iron Guardian absentmindedly answered, ¡°It is not easy to make it rain. At the very least, it is beyond you.¡±

    Wood Guardian added, ¡°Do you know how many highwaymen there are in Wanyu alone? ost them in the most trivial way, and the consequences will blow you mind. How are you going to deal with them?¡±

    ¡°Just give me an upfront response.¡± Having taken a moment to study their visages, it clicked for me. ¡°It¡¯s Ol¡¯ Ge¡¯s orders, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    My frigid tone clearly ruffled their feathers. Howbeit, they remained silent.

    ¡°He told you to leave me to abandon me when I need help, correct? He wants me to lose credibility, forcing me to abdicate on my own ord, correct?¡± Their silence answered the question for me. ¡°Are you two joking right now? You¡¯re the ones who preached giving hope to people with miracles and to improve their lives. You¡¯re the ones who stressed to mind my manners and words so that I don¡¯t spheme Shaman Monarch¡¯s reputation in their eyes. You four guardians are supposed to safeguard the religion. So, what you¡¯re telling me is all that is just bollocks? To please Great Spirit Shaman, you¡¯re okay with sacrificing your own people?¡±

    I pointed outside and went on, ¡°Those people waiting outside for rain and their hero are your followers. They¡¯re not a substitute like I am; they¡¯re your lifetime followers. They live frugal lives, deprive their kids of better lives and deprive themselves of enjoyment so that they can donate to you. Are you telling me that you¡¯re going to walk off on them despite knowing they¡¯ll be in peril? You might as well kill them now to simplify matters and save them from prolonged suffering.¡±

    I could almost hear Wood Guardian crushing her teeth. In the end, though, it was Iron Guardian who spoke up. ¡°Thank you for your enlightenment, Your Majesty. Still, I need to remind you that not everyone possesses your authority and courage. At the very least, I was not endowed with them¡­ I shall assume your silence is tacit agreement to follow my proposal.¡±

    Iron Guardian exited the house to announce my subsequent schedule. While he kept his tone neutral, the crowd drowned out his voice with their loud cursing. It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine the vigers¡¯ rage and disappointment, but they could only gnash their teeth. Thest thing they would¡¯ve expected is to hear their messiah turn his back on them when they had been praying he¡¯de to their aid.

    ¡°¡­ His Majesty has decided¡­¡± Iron Guardian abruptly paused for a while. ¡°¡­ Due to your needs, His Majesty has changed his mind. He will be staying to help you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t need to have mind-reading abilities to know how shocked Iron Guardian was deep down.

    (If you aren¡¯t endowed with courage and authority, allow me to give you them. Remember this for the rest of your life: pick your fights.)

    Iron Guardian could feel the thin threads manipting his body against his will. All he could do was stare at me.

    I ambled out of the property, then offered the vigers a polite smile. ¡°You have all suffered greatly. I shall hereby reward all of you to rx. I shall grant you the honour of watching me perform a miracle.¡± I eyed Iron Guardian and borated, ¡°I shall show you flying humans.¡±

 Volume 11 12 Flying Guardian. Confusion and Panic.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 12 Flying Guardian. Confusion and Panic.</h4>

    The fact that the vigers could show despair in my presence could only mean that they didn¡¯t blindly trust me; they might¡¯ve even already cast aside their belief in miracles. It wasn¡¯t a case of their belief system swaying but that their belief system was built on their hope of a brighter future. After having their hopes dashed over and over, reality started to conquer the fantasies they bought in to.

    As if there was somebody who can summon wind and rain. As if there was someone who could refuse to be a part of the present and stay in the past. Great Spirit Shaman, Shaman Faith and Shaman Monarch were all entitiestching on to obsolete systems. They just had a better chance of surviving because praying was all the people could do in the face of adversity. For that reason, I needed to deceive them. I needed to demonstrate that somebody could make the impossible possible in order to rebuild the hope that the bandits crushed under their hooves.

    ¡°Fly-flying human? What is that?¡± stuttered Yangyang¡¯s father.

    Whilst feeling the feedback of Iron Guardian¡¯s muscle contractions on my fingertips, I pointed to him. ¡°Watch my attendant closely.¡±

    Once I had everyone¡¯s attention on Iron Guardian, I flexed my index finger up ever so slightly, sending Iron Guardian into the ether without him telegraphing it! He resembled a four year old kid over the tallest tree in the vige.

    I did call it flying, but it actually resembled Iron Guardian beingunched into the firmament. A viger who made the distinction cast his gaze back to my finger. ¡°He¡¯s not flying! His Majesty is making him fly!¡±

    Their astonishment, or suspicion, didn¡¯t bother me. I drew a small circle with my index finger in the air, and Iron Guardian flew ap in the same direction I drew the circle.

    The vigers all knew what qinggong was. Even among bandits, there were elite martial artists. At the end of the day, nheless, the most advanced qinggong was still only qinggong. Moving around in the sky for a prolonged period wasn¡¯t achievable using qinggong regardless of how skilled one was. ordingly, there could only be one exnation, and I could see from their reactions that they had drawn that card - a miracle.

    ¡°Watch closely.¡± I started writing ¡°three,¡± ¡°four,¡± ¡°five,¡± while Iron Guardian wrote them against the charcoal canvas, incitingughter amongst the children. ¡°I¡¯m still going.¡±

    I went through the character ¡°mouth¡±, then ¡°river¡±¡­ all the way until I finished Lantingji Xu. By the time I was done, the vigers only had admiration for me andughter whenever they looked back at Iron Guardian frothing at the mouth.

    If my eyes didn¡¯t lie, several vigers contemted if Iron Guardian would be mincemeat once he returned to the ground so that they could make a meal out of him. That was when I coiled my index finger to kill Iron Guardian¡¯s momentum, effectively dropping him. Adults covered the kids¡¯ eyes, while some closed their own eyes. I was right, by the way: some of them pulled out pots¡­

    Iron Guardian continued to elerate to the ground, suggesting he was going to create a massive crimson bouquet on the ground until I¡­ caught him as though he was a feather.

    ¡°This is child¡¯s y to me,¡± I remarked. ¡°If I tell you that you will be saved, you will be saved.¡±

    The vigers finally showed us the tears that were cried beneath what the rest of the world pretended they didn¡¯t see. I doubt it was attributed solely to my exhibition but a sense of security thatpelled them to trust me with their feelings. Even my two hundred minions cried. I could understand why. Some of them came from viges challenged with the same ordeals.

    The only person who didn¡¯t cry was Hong Jiu. Instead, he mumbled, ¡°Crazy! I had no idea Leader had this skill up his sleeve! I keep setting traps for him every day. What if I¡¯m the next victim to fly in the sky? I¡¯m scared¡­¡±

    Well, that was just Hong Jiu being Hong Jiu.

    I wasted no time telling my followers to distribute the rations we received from the previous vige to this vige - in addition to sending a few kids off to hunt. I hadn¡¯t had enough of Nanjiang¡¯s roast meat yet, so why not curb my craving?

    Although the vigers were grateful for the offerings, their respect was no longer a sense of fear of the unknown but rather heartfelt gratitude.

    The vige kids kept asking me to perform Flying Human again, which took me back to the main problem: how was I going to make it rain? I had no answer for the question. I couldn¡¯t have Iron Guardian fly every time something came up. Even if he could manage, I wasn¡¯t immune to exhaustion. Plus, it didn¡¯t solve squat.

    ¡°¡­ We cannot make it rain,¡± Wood Guardian whispered to me.

    ¡°What?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°We¡­ do not actually have the ability to make it rain¡­ We cannot summon rain. We can only predict when it will rain¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°We merely predict when it will rain and then go to the vige suffering a drought. Our predictions have a margin of error of ten days, but it will rain. Thanks to numerous correct predictions, people began to believe we can summon rain.¡±

    Why the hell didn¡¯t you tell me sooner?! I¡¯ve been anticipating something all this time! This is just the same crap Grandmaster pulls!

    ¡°To summarise, you¡¯ve never been able to make it rain?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ We did not calcte it since His Eminence does not allow us to help you, so¡­¡±

    Ol¡¯ Ge, you¡¯re flying next!

    ¡°Who predicts the rain? Get him to calcte when it¡¯ll rain now.¡±

    ¡°He¡­ would be White Cleric.¡±

    So he¡¯s not a useless character but a useless-weather-predicting character.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll go make him work.¡± I stopped in my tracks after my first step. ¡°Why are you suddenly helping me?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s helping you?¡± Iron Garden¡¯s cheeks started to look a little warm. ¡°I¡¯m helping the vigers¡­ They¡¯re our followers.¡±

    Tsk, tsk, tsunderes.

    I had only resumed walking again when a cold air arrow blew against my neck. I followed the direction it was fired to spot a muscr man bolt out from the bushes, big broadsword raised. Forget his incredible speed or the skull ne he had. I never detected him at all when he was so close.

    The jacked man¡¯s first target was Wood Guardian¡¯s neck!

    Glossary

    Lantingji Xu - Literally, ¡°Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion¡±. It¡¯s a Chinese calligraphy work generally considered to be the work of famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi from the East Jin Dynasty. I say ¡°generally considered¡± as none of his original works are still around. Works iming to be his are subjects of controversy for their authenticity.

 Volume 11 13 Tiger Born at Break. Whoâ€™s Your Buddy?

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 13 Tiger Born at Break. Who¡¯s Your Buddy?</h4>

    Wood Guardian didn¡¯t budge even though the buff man already started swinging at her neck. I just waited where I was standing. As expected, the man reversed the direction of his sh, slicing upward at me.

    I was always his target. I knew several disciplines that taught practitioners how to hide their intent so that they could catch their target off guard, and he was using one of them. His tried to bait me into thinking Wood Guardian was his target so that he could catch me by surprise. Evidently, he wasn¡¯t a Nanjiang citizen since Nanjiang¡¯s martial arts didn¡¯t favour such contrived methods.

    He expected me to take the bait, but he had to reverse his trajectory since I didn¡¯t. If I dodged the first attack, he¡¯d follow up with a flurry, which was what he hoped for. I, instead, casually performed a palm jab at his de.

    We reached a stalemate for a split second upon impact. He subsequently took a big step back when the difference in strength was clear. Even then, he needed to throw a back flip to mitigate the residue force of my strike.

    I was surprised he didn¡¯t die or even take a bruise; he might¡¯ve been the most advanced martial artist I crossed paths with since arriving in Wanyu. He was bbergasted simply because I defended against his sharp de with my bare hand and drove him back.

    A viger yelled, ¡°He is the great bandit!¡±

    ¡°Great¡± bandit now?!

    ¡°Heh, consider yourself lucky.¡± With that, the man made for the forest again.

    Only when I helped Wood Guardian up did she snap out of her daze and back away from me, realising I saved her.

    Meanwhile, the vigers showered me with udit after witnessing the short skirmish.

    ¡°Great thief? Who is he? You know?¡± I peered in the direction the man absconded.

    ¡°I heard he is a bandit from the Central in¡­ I, I¡¯ve never met him before, but I heard he quickly established himself in Xiacang Anxi with hisbat prowess. In the Central in, he was given the humorous nickname Yinhu Tengji.

    Tengji¡­ Tengji¡­

    ¡°Tengji, you say?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so?¡±

    I recognised the name. When mountain bandit King, Gu Wuzhu, showed the Central in he could live a life of crime without paying for it, he gave his twelve best subordinates nicknames after the twelve constete-, twelve zodiacs. Tengji¡¯s Yinhu represented the tiger born at break. The Golden Lion was still notorious in the Central in for his broadsword skills. They im he dismembered all of his opponents into eight, never more, never less.

    Why is he some great bandit now? Why is he after me?

    ¡°He came here recently. I don¡¯t know about his past. He¡¯s said to be very ambitious. The proof is in the fact that he joined the biggest gang right off the bat.¡±

    The biggest gang¡­ Why would they have the balls to assassinate Shaman Monarch?

    ¡°All of it leads back to one person because only one person who want to get rid of me.¡±

    Wood Guardian¡¯s wrinkled nose was an indication she knew who I was referring to.

    ¡°No matter. I¡¯ll just have to personally question him.¡±

    ¡°H-he has been gone for a while. Can you catch him?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t catch up just because he left a while ago?¡± I smiled. ¡°Though I¡¯m pretty much how you evaluate me, I feel I need to prove it. Tell the boys to start cooking. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Tengji was active before I was born. As a matter of fact, he was active in the Central in prior to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s coronation. During his prosperous run, Tengji upied mountain after mountain, yet there was nobody who could stop him. Peopleter said his aplishments - measured using how much of a headache they gave the imperial court - could rival Ol¡¯ Ximen¡¯s.

    It was said that the Emperor before Emperor Yuansheng was unpredictable. He invited Gu Wuzhu to the imperial city for a catch up, and the bandit with immense testicr fortitude took up the offer, nning to see what smoke they could give him. To even his surprise, the Emperor did chat to him all afternoon about his business.

    ¡°You aremitting raids whilst trying to fend off officers and bounty hunters; it¡¯s not an economical or efficient way to go about it. Let¡¯s do this: we won¡¯t send officers out to arrest you. In exchange, let¡¯s split your earnings. You can keep 40%, and I¡¯ll take 60%.¡±

    Gu Wuzhu didn¡¯t die from oxygen deprivation when heughed. From then on, he added to his g, ¡°Robbery on the Emperor¡¯s Decree¡± in bold font.

    Officials didn¡¯t arrest him. Victims didn¡¯t dare to withhold assets. Nobody could do anything about him, giving the martial artsmunity a throbbing headache. Gu Wuzhu fell from grace primarily because the Emperor passed away, effectively reducing his authority drastically. Without the Emperor¡¯s backing, not only would he not be able to perform as well, but old enemies would want revenge.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I hollered at Tengji from behind. ¡°Try your broadswordy on me again.¡±

    Tengji, caught by surprise in his tent, swung out three times without a second thought, each being delivered with measured intent.

    As I evaded Tengji¡¯s swings, I praised, ¡°I can see why Mountain Bandit King named you one of his zodiacs.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve heard of me, huh?¡± Tengji got a proper look at me for the first time. ¡°Freak of freaking Nanjiang, take this!¡± Tengji uncorked abo that forced me to centre of the tent.

    ¡°Why you getting friendly with me?¡± I extended my arm through the openings of Tengji¡¯s swings to catch him by the throat, cancelling out his strength. ¡°Shut up for a second, loud mouth. I have a question for you.¡±

    I hoisted Tengji off his feet and choke mmed him into the ground, winding him enough topel him to curl up. ¡°Is the one who asked you to assassinate me Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman?¡±

 Volume 11 14 Why Challenge Me When You Knew the Outcome?

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 14 Why Challenge Me When You Knew the Oue?</h4>

    Despite having nowhere to run, his shoulder fractured, resulting in one drooping, he smirked. ¡°Pretty smart, huh?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding. I expected Mountain Bandit King¡¯s subordinate to have some semnce of professionalism. You¡¯re going to sell your client out just like that?!¡±

    ¡°Ptoo! Client, my foot. I took the request directly from themander of Nanjiang¡¯s eighteen bandit gangs, Zuowan Wanqu. What makes you think some shaman faggot is worthy of having an audience with me?¡±

    ¡°What grudge does that Somethingwan Somethingqu have with me? Why does he want you to kill me?¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to know what freaking beef you two have with each other? I don¡¯t care if he robbed you or if you cucked him. I just do what I¡¯m paid to do. Zuowan Wanqu told me he received a big order yesterday and offered a big price to anyone who could take it. Why should I let someone else get the bounty? I came here first to get the head start.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t beat around the bush or anything, huh? You dare to assassinate me despite knowing who I am?¡±

    ¡°Why should I be afraid of some mumbling old freak out the back of Nanjiang? Don¡¯t lump me in with those wussies. So what if I lose my head? I¡¯ll be remembered as a ballsy man when future generations talk of me. What will you ever aplish if you¡¯re scared of everything?¡±

    The rest was self-exnatory. Gegewu, if nothing else, had a gauge of modus operandi and skill level. Sending weakckeys after me would only impel me to be wary of him and seek an opportunity for revenge. I assumed Somethingwan Somethingqu was a leader of a gang and was one of Gegewu¡¯s fellow gang bangers. Else, how do you exin how Gegewu was able to contact someone below the mountain while he was at the top?

    Gegewu should¡¯ve told his buddy to bring lots of men. Tengji must¡¯ve overheard them or something and sped off before hearing the full story, eager to score the bounty. As a consequence of Tengji¡¯s rashness¡­ he exposed their n and team, yet he had no regrets. Aside from him being so gangster, I actually liked the guy¡¯s personality.

    ¡°How long have you been in Nanjiang?¡±

    ¡°Only two years.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°How¡¯s life been?¡±

    Tengji started to suspect what I was after. ¡°Out with it already. I ain¡¯t no schr. I¡¯m the least capable one among my boss¡¯ twelve generals; losing is something I¡¯m used to. I¡¯ve never cared about a loss. You beat me. I can answer any question, but I will never tell you where my boss is!¡±

    Although there were rumours that Gu Wuzhu passed away after their gang¡¯s dissolution, there was no evidence to corroborate the im. In fact, he still fetched one of the highest bounties. I reasoned Tengji fled to Nanjiang to avoid being hunted or interrogated in the Central in for Gu Wuzhu¡¯s whereabouts.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less about him. I¡¯m interested in you.¡± I tugged up the corners of my lips.

    ¡°What?! You¡¯re bent?! Back off!¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m truly curious how you criminals define ¡®interested in you¡¯. Sounds like things haven¡¯t been too hot for you in Nanjiang. Seeing as you were so hasty toe for me, you must be short on money, huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather starve to death than sell my body!¡±

    Why do you keep going back to that subject?! Have you ever used a mirror?!

    ¡°I was trying to ask: why are you deigning to some bandits in Nanjiang? Is he as respectable as Gu Wuzhu or something? I hear Gu Wuzhu was ruthless with his subordinates. Word on the street is he skinned his brothers before. You must¡¯ve dealt with some of it and ran away, not expecting to run from the tiger¡¯s den, only to end up in a wolf¡¯s den, right?¡±

    Detecting hostility, I looked down to see Tengji smirking, yet ring, at me.

    ¡°¡­ The world has changed. Even some brat can trash talk my boss now. Kill me if you will. Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill you for insulting him.¡±

    ¡°My bad. Sounds like you haven¡¯t sold your loyalty to the bandits.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s obvious. I¡¯m a big name in the Central in. I don¡¯t need to serve someone else. I¡¯m just doing as they do in Nanjiang. I¡¯m drawing a clear line with them to defend my honour as a thug. I¡¯m not Zuowan Wanqu¡¯spdog.¡±

    ¡°In that case, why did you attack vigers?¡±

    ¡°What? My men would never do that¡­ Ah, it¡¯s Zuowan! They¡¯ve been assembling tomit robberies recently due to ack of funds. There was a small gang that came to my territory. Son of monkeys! He has no sense of morals. Our principle is to never hurt innocentmoners. We would never do that.¡±

    Tengji was a man who upheld the principles of being a mountain bandit. If he really wanted to pige, Yangyang¡¯s vige would be empty in less than a month.

    ¡°They¡¯re highwaymen. You¡¯re a mountain bandit. You never were on the same page. Thankfully, this will save me some trouble. Tengji, quit hanging with them.¡±

    ¡°You must have flies around your brain. You going to feed my brothers?!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll feed them. You¡¯re familiar with the vige you jumped me at, yeah?¡±

    So baffled, Tengji just nodded: ¡°The vige and the ten-odd nearby viges are part of my territory.¡±

    ¡°d to hear. Because you camped nearby, they didn¡¯t dare fetch water from afar, culminating in the drought crisis. As such, they have to migrate to big towns or cities if they want to survive. Henceforward, help the locals build a militia to fight off the local bandits. You can conscript vigers as you see fit so that they can protect their family and homes. Also, with you backing them up, they can feel a sense of security. All the viges can pay you a sry.

    ¡°Thend isn¡¯t shabby. As long as the vigers can have peace, they¡¯ll be able to flourish. I guarantee you¡¯ll earn a lot more than before if they can earn more. Besides, imagine how much udit you¡¯d receive for helping them. You get a moral trophy, a positive reputation, fame and money. What¡¯s there toin about?¡±

    The man was ecstatic imagining the final product, but then he snapped himself back to reality. ¡°Bull. Crap! Doesn¡¯t that equate to me yielding to you? I¡¯ll only respect you if you can beat me and my broadsword?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t I already?¡±

    ¡°You jumped me from behind. Let me up. We¡¯ll run it back!¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡±

    ¡°Cut the rubbish out! Let me up, and bring me my weapon.¡±

    Five minutester¡­

    ¡°Big Bro, I will be in your care from now.¡± Tengji rubbed his hands together.

    ¡°Should¡¯ve been like this without the match. Your face still hurting?¡±

    Touching his swollen cheeks wet with tears, Tengji replied, ¡°Not anymore. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t staunch the bleeding.¡±

    ¡°Oh, better head home early, then. I need you ready for tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡± Tengji wobbled away.

    Why didn¡¯t you submit earlier? Why eat a hundred and eight punches before you learn to yield? I¡¯m not violent.

 Volume 11 15 I Do as I Please. Do Something About It.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 15 I Do as I Please. Do Something About It.</h4>

    It took two days for Iron Guardian to return to from his sweet dreams. Even though he could give Hong Jiu a run for his money, and no matter how wacky Ming Feizhen¡¯s Flying Human technique was, Iron Guardian shouldn¡¯t have been out for so long. The real reason for him sleeping two entire days was Ming Feizhen¡¯s Shadow King String maniption.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s Shadow King String worked on the premise of forcing his true qi into his target¡¯s limbs, empowering him to control their limbs at will and have them exert more force than they were physically capable of. Why was Mountain Monster so taxed when he only had her walk around and speak, yet Zha Pi didn¡¯t suffer the same symptoms at Canhu Town? In Zha Pi¡¯s case, Ming Feizhen discharged true qi in a single instant through Zha Pi - a channel for the true qi to reach its designated target.

    Iron Guardian had it worse than Mountain Monster since, not only was he controlled, he also went for a flight. The result of knocking him out and making him fly would be the same. Thus, it was clear to see that Ming Feizhen wanted to teach him a lesson.

    Iron Guardian was still in the midst of trying to figure out what time it was and where he was when a follower in the faith inquired, ¡°Are you up, Sir?¡±

    Xiacang Anxinguages and the vige scenery reminded Iron Guardian of the vige he grew up in. Having lived on Mount Wanyu for so many years, faking a smile whilst being wary of everyone had be the new ordinary for him. Only when the follower helped him up and served him a mouthful of soup did he regain awareness of his surroundings.

    Iron Guardian couldn¡¯t believe he heard concern from the follower¡¯s voice as strong evinces of emotion were prohibited on Mount Wanyu. Anyone caught showing an extreme degree of any emotion would be punished with a hundred canes.

    He didn¡¯t know how to respond as punishing the follower was beyond the authority he was conferred. Until Shaman Monarch or Great Spirit Shaman was a clear victor, he couldn¡¯t afford to get on the bad side of either of them.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Holding the bowl of soup that felt particrly warm, Iron Guardian asked, ¡°Where are we now?¡±

    ¡°We are still at the same vige. You have been asleep for two days. This is our third morning here.¡±

    His Majesty must have decided to save this vige.

    Iron Guardian was privy to the connections Gewu had to highwaymen and their joint reaving operations. The question of what would happen to the children if circumstances didn¡¯t change for the better gued always weighed on Iron Guardian¡¯s mind. A lot of the crises that vigers faced were the product of machinations Gewu engineered to pre-empt anyone or anything that could jeopardise his rule.

    If the development trajectory didn¡¯t change, they were counting down to violent conflicts. Nevertheless, if Ming Feizhen wanted to alter the plot¡¯s path, he wasn¡¯t challenging just Gewu but thest century¡¯s battles. All those factors could easily crumble a mighty fighter before his crusade bore fruit.

    As Iron Guardian exited his thoughts, he noticed followers transporting sacks back and forth. ¡°What are you all doing?¡±

    ¡°Giving out porridge, Sir.¡± The follower taking care of Iron Guardian affably smiled. ¡°His Majesty ordered us to deliver porridge to the vigers three times a day, and we have been working around the clock for thest two days.¡±

    Serving porridge?

    Serving porridge was the most viable means of feeding so many people. The problem was that they distributed the rations they brought along already. As they didn¡¯t have enough money to buy more, they could only ask White Cleric for more funds. Even then, there was no way he alone could feed so many mouths.

    ¡°Hang on. You¡¯ve been working around the clock for two days? There are two hundred of you, while there are only a few hundred vigers. That doesn¡¯t add up?¡±

    Iron Guardian went outside to see the vige so packed that water would have trouble squeezing through.

    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t crowd around here. Another twelve tents have been set up in the east of the vige. There¡¯s more room there. Everyone who just arrived, please go collect your serves. If you have had your serve, please do not ask for second serves. We have enough rice for everyone to have three meals a day, so please do not worry. His Majesty made it clear: you can¡¯t just eat and not work, or you will have to give up a meal. Please do not dally in the vige. We will be waiting for your return for dinner.¡± It was Wood Guardian, who was by the steaming pots, speaking, and understandably so because she was the only individual with the internal strength to amplify her voice that loudly.

    Vigers either left the vige, went to finish their meal or to work at Wood Guardian¡¯s behest.

    The follower behind Iron Guardian told him, ¡°It is not just the local vigers but even vigers from neighbouring vigers and their neighbours who havee over. Five viges came the day before. Thirteen viges visited yesterday. I think every vige nearby came today.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean there are thousands of them?¡±

    ¡°ording to yesterday¡¯s count, nine thousand people came. If we include those who have dropped in so far today, it should be around twelve thousand.¡±

    Rather than be impressed with Ming Feizhen, it was more shocking how much Gewu made them suffer. Else, why risk their lives travelling through bandit turf for some rumoured porridge with no guarantees?

    ¡°But Iron Guardian¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, she and Miss Yangyang are leading the tents. They are taking care of procuring ingredients and transportation logistics. His Majesty told everyone else to not help them.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ But¡­¡± Iron Guardian felt stupid for nothing made sense to him. ¡°Where are you getting the money from? We don¡¯t have money.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is sponsoring this.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty?¡±

    I heard that people in the Central in are far wealthier than they look. Could His Majesty be one of those wealthy families that could buy out all of Nanjiang?

    Interrupted when he saw a follower holding a familiar golden object, Iron Guardian brayed, ¡°Stop right there! Are you in possession of an item from Shaman Monarch Pce?!¡±

    ¡°S-Sir, yes, you are right. There are two more carts of gold items behind me.¡±

    Confirming the im with his own eyes, Iron Guardian questioned, ¡°What¡¯s this about?!¡±

    ¡°His Majesty brought them.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The follower jovially expounded, ¡°His Majesty told us he would perform the miraculous feat of travelling a thousand miles in one trip, and he really did it! He generated a gust of wind as he vanished and then came back within just over two hours with a hoard of treasures from Mount Wanyu. As you know, our gold and jade items are worth an astronomical sum. We were able to afford so much food after selling a few of them.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you saying His Majesty fed all the famine victims with Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s valuables?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, His Majesty¡¯s aide, Second, went to thepanies in cities to exchange the items for food. I think we have enough food for the vigers here to consume for a month. His Majesty instructed us to exchange the remainder for emergency funds.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Iron Guardian didn¡¯t even know what he wanted to say. ¡°Wait. But there are bandits between the viges. How did the vigers safely travel here?¡±

    ¡°Strangely, the bandits nearby have stopped causing trouble. I heard,¡± The follower beamed, ¡°His Majesty subdued them on his way out. He truly is amazing.¡±

    Is there anything he can¡¯t do?!

    Finally closing his agape mouth, Iron Guardian wore on a mellow smile. ¡°Where is His Majesty now?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I think we went to see Somethingdan Wanqu?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Zuodan Wanqu,¡± another follower rectified.

    ¡°It¡¯s Zuowan Wanqu, leader of the eighteen mounted bandit gangs! His Majesty must be insane! Zuowan Wanqu is a blood-thirsty beast and ferocious fighter! How can His Majesty do anything on his own?! Where did His Majesty go, specifically? Assemble our men! We need to go to his rescue!¡± Iron Guardianmanded.

    ¡°But¡­ we do not have enough men here, either¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s written on the wall! Go call for help from Mount Wanyu! We don¡¯tck manpower! Nobody will get away with challenging our authority!¡± Only now did it ur to Iron Guardian that only other people around him had changed. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there! Go!¡±

    ***

    An uninvited guest with white hair ambled through a encampment, where over a hundred tents were lined up along the forest path fifty kilometres from the vige, and tossed a scowling head onto the ground. Everybody could recognise the face of Nanjiang¡¯s tyrant. Their intruder gently shook the blood off his hand and stared down the thousands of bandits surrounding him.

    ¡°Is he the best you got?¡±

 Volume 11 16 Ask Yourselves. All Types of Pugilistic Worlds.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 16 Ask Yourselves. All Types of Pugilistic Worlds.</h4>

    Zuowan Wanqu was ferocious and ambitious, befitting his role as the leader of Nanjiang¡¯s eighteen gangs. Nheless¡­

    ¡°Gr-Grand Commander¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought Shaman Monarch is supposed only be a legend¡­ What the hell is he¡­?¡±

    Even though I couldn¡¯t understand the wordsing out of their mouths, their ghastly faces tranted the gist for me.

    ¡°He has a long way to go before he can touch me.¡± My deration in Mandarin drew everyone¡¯s attention.

    While Zuowan Wanqu was the grandmander of the eighteen gangs, there were factions between them. They only chose to share because they sharedmon goals, so working as a single body under one leader made it more convenient to achieve the goal. In that sense, they were simr to bandit branches in the Central in. The difference was that Gu Wuzhu genuinely had the qualifications to gather everyone if he called for them, while Zuowan Wanqu was overestimated. While Gu Wuzhu worked for his status, Zuowan Wanqu was conferred his status. That was the reason Zuowan Wanqu was also apliantckey.

    I took two steps forward, prompting everyone to take four steps back. ¡°There are adepts among Nanjiang¡¯s gangs who deserved to bepared to me, but none of them are here.¡±

    One bandit knelt down to yell in Mandarin, ¡°This one must have useless eyes to not recognise your prowess, Your Majesty! Zuowan Wanqu misled this one. Please forgive this one for giving in to his greed!¡±

    One after another, bandits knelt down. At this point, even the leaders who didn¡¯t speak Mandarin joined them on the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying it¡¯s all Zuowan Wanqu¡¯s fault? You¡¯re all innocent?¡±

    The first bandit to kneel quickly sifted through some ideas and then wore on a mellow expression. ¡°Although he was the one who tempted this one, it was this one¡¯s weak will that is to me. Please discipline this one, Your Majesty.¡± He pulled his shirt down as though he was ready to be skinned. However, when my unemotional gaze met his gaze, he began to tremble, aware that his act was cutting it.

    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t you know the rules? Move aside!¡± He was between sixty to seventy, yet they all let the elder with the white moustache kick them over. ¡°You think you whippersnappers are qualified to spheme His Majesty? Move the hell over!¡±

    The elder gave me a cupped-fist salute: ¡°This old one is Tufu, general of the eighteen forces.¡±

    Indeed, they referred themselves to forces, as in military forces, instead of gangs. They even assigned ranks ording to the military system. By their standards, Tufu would be under only Zuowan Wanqu. In other words, he now held the highest rank.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem afraid of me.¡±

    Instead of fearing me, Tufu sauntered forward. ¡°There is nothing to fear.¡± Tufu brushed his moustache with a centre split. ¡°Everyone pursues benefits. This one wishes to discuss a business transaction with you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    ¡°This is an irresistible offer, hohoho. Our eighteen armies shall offer you our strength!¡± As soon as the other leaders started mouring, he blustered, ¡°Shut up! Whoever still thinks he¡¯s better than His Majesty, step forward! I¡¯ll kill him before His Majesty does!¡±

    Once themotion ceased, I rhetorically asked, ¡°So generous? Aren¡¯t you worried I¡¯ll take advantage of you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. You have thepetence to lead us. Zuowan Wanqu was able to lead everyone because he had money, influence and martial prowess. Your wealth and influence far surpass his. Moreover, you are unequalled in battle; this is the principal reason we ought to follow your lead. Besides, if you wanted to finish us here, would we have any chance of survival?¡±

    The other leaders finally fathomed that resistance was futile.

    ¡°Why do you feel so?¡±

    ¡°You have allied with Tengji, no?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± I reciprocated the smile. ¡°But I won¡¯t ally with you because you¡¯re a bunch of cold-blooded,wless scum.¡±

    Tufu squinted. ¡°What¡­ do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°You need me to repeat?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, Your Majesty, it is understandable for a man of benevolence as yourself to feel upset at our vige raids, but it is inevitable for our brothers to be a little loose when they are struggling. Do you not feel your teachings can change them? If the vigers are your citizens, are we not your citizens? Plus¡­¡± A hint of hubris came to Tufu¡¯s tongue. ¡°We have six thousand men stationed outside, all of whom are ruthless and brutal. Without any shackles, nobody knows what they are capable of. Are you going to kill them? On your own? You certainly embody magnificent skills of a calibre this old one has never seen. In saying that, can you defeat an army of six thousand?¡±

    ¡°Those fellows outside, you say?¡± I started fiddling with my hair. ¡°Not that difficult.¡±

    A ruckus suddenly started outside the camp, and a messenger soon came sprinting in, caked in dust from head to toe. ¡°A¡­ A cavalry unit! A cavalry unit suddenly ambushed us from the forest! We are surrounded by around ten thousand fully-geared elite cavalry! Our vanguard is already crumbling.¡±

    Tufu instantly instructed, ¡°Surrender! Tell everyone to surrender immediately! Do not resist!¡±

    I started pping: ¡°Good call. As long as you¡¯re alive, there¡¯s always tomorrow. They say a wise man knows how to understand the times. You can call yourself a wise man from now, Elder.¡±

    Tufu bowed his head: ¡°Excellent, Your Majesty. Your wisdom exceeds this old one¡¯s imagination. This old one admits defeat.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been backstabbing whoever you surrender to in order to reach your current ce, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You must trust this old one, Your Maj-¡±

    A bandit covered in blood of who-knows-how-many people came hobbling in and flopped to the ground, barely breathing. ¡°Pl-please return to your garrisons, Chiefs, or it will be toote¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Didn¡¯t I tell you to surrender?¡±

    ¡°D-do not surrender! They will not ept surrender! They¡­ They are here to exterminate us!¡± And then, he passed out.

    Despite being sent into panic, none of the chiefs had the audacity to run away due to my presence. Another bandit soon came back to report, ¡°We told them we surrender, but they have ignored our pleas! They are cutting down everyone theye across! We cannot hold the line any longer!¡±

    Tufu curbed his horror and anger to question, ¡°Who do the forces belong to?! How are they overrunning us?! Who is their leader?!¡±

    ¡°Their leader¡­ Their leader is¡­ Wanyu¡¯s King.¡±

    Tufu pivoted back to me. ¡°Y-you colluded with Wanyu¡¯s military?! You are the leader of Shaman Faith! How can you ally with Beussent¡¯s descendant?! Do you not know Beussent sabotaged your faith?! You traitorous cur!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re human, so why do you kill other humans? Rape, robbery, murder, what crime have you notmitted? You should¡¯ve expected this ending when you chose tomit those crimes. Struggle? How does raping women help you with your struggles? How does murdering families help with your struggles? Did someone hold a de up to your neck?¡± I finished Tufu with a single palm strike. ¡°I have nothing to say to any of you. I¡¯m not an embodiment of justice, and I have no desire to be a messiah. I doubt you¡¯ll change your ways. Besides, you don¡¯t deserve a second chance after what you¡¯ve done.¡±

    Even though the chiefs were on the cusp of crapping bricks, someone cried, ¡°H-he is just counting on Wanyu¡¯s military! Call our men back! We have thousands of men. We¡¯ll kill him one way or another.¡±

    ¡°You only got one thing right.¡± Even if I didn¡¯t know I could sound so cold-blooded. ¡°The number of corpses and volume of blood to my name exceeds the total here. The only reason I joined hands with the military is because it¡¯s more efficient.¡±

    I recoiled my right arm and then flicked it back out, killing twenty bandits with a single string. ¡°If you are reincarnated, try living honest lives. At the very least, your deaths won¡¯t be so horrible.¡±

    ***

    I had to clutch my ck de to abate its craving for blood as we witnessed Wanyu¡¯s military.

    ¡°Ever since that night, I have been brainstorming ways to meet you, but there was no means to due to Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s restrictions. I never imagined you would be the one to create the opportunity.¡± Wanyu¡¯s King dismounted and came up to me from behind in the chaos.

    ¡°It has been a long time. Are you well, Your Majesty?¡± I responded.

    The King dressed in unadorned cloth attire smiled. ¡°I never would have foreseen you letting me eradicate these bandits. You gave me a tough decision to make.¡±

    ¡°Everythinges with a degree of risk, and the risk is greater when the matter is bigger. You performed decently, did you not?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. You have done Wanyu a big favour. These bandits have caused trouble everywhere, thus bing a major concern for Xiacang Anxi. What is the purpose of this coboration? I am very curious.¡±

    ¡°It is not time to tell you yet. Nevertheless, the prerequisites for coboration have been fulfilled as you came here.¡±

    While denizens would sing praise of Wanyu¡¯s King for the purge of the eighteen gangs, it also meant he was making an enemy out of Gegewu. I had no doubt Wanyu¡¯s King would choose to publicly turn against Gegewu for a King could not ept being beneath someone else. The fact that Wanyu¡¯s King kept a low profile these years was evidence that he wasn¡¯t going to let someone shackle him forever.

    ¡°I have a question I have always wanted to ask: are you really Shaman Monarch?¡±

    I pulled up the corners of my lips and vanished out of sight, leaving behind my trailing answer in the night: ¡°That will be up to your imagination.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 11 17 Rainfall â€“ An Auspicious Sign. Gewuâ€™s Misery.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 17 Rainfall - An Auspicious Sign. Gewu¡¯s Misery.</h4>

    ¡°Move. I need to speak to White Cleric.¡±

    White Cleric¡¯s subordinates flinched when Hong Jiu came through. And then, they became very tense, prompting him to m everyone into the ground - literally.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    White Cleric: Finallye for my wallet, huh?

    ¡°Shameless!¡± White Cleric brayed.

    Confused, Hong Jiu picked his ear. ¡°I hear you can predict the rain. So, when¡¯s it going to rain?¡±

    ¡°Why you should I tell y-, hey! What are you lifting me up for?! Listen, runt: I¡¯m a schr! You can kill a warrior, b-, ow! My back! My back!¡±

    Hong Jiu suplexed White Cleric onto the ground, so thetter jumped up to inveigh, only for Hong Jiu to p him across the face.

    ¡°Listen, cornhole: I know you¡¯ve been running a sham of predicting rain whilst pretending to summon rain all these years. If you don¡¯t tell me when it¡¯s going to rain, I¡¯ll skin you alive!¡±

    White Cleric spat out blood. ¡°Why are those bum¡¯s problems my problem? I won¡¯t bat an eye if they all perish. I only take orders from Great Spirit Shaman. Everyone else can kiss my behind.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see how tough that mouth is!¡± Hong Jiu unleashed a sixteen-hit pbo.

    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you!¡± White Cleric fulminated despite his teething loose, ¡°I¡¯ll die before I tell you when it rains!¡±

    Immediately subsequent to White Cleric¡¯s drawn out ¡°rains¡±, thunder pped, and the wind blew droplets of water into the tent. Within moments, people outside cheered in Xiacang Anxi, ¡°It¡¯s raining!¡±

    Hong Jiu scrubbed his head, feeling somewhat apologetic to White Cleric. ¡°Hey, uh, I won¡¯t keep you. Rest up, Elder.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Piss off! I¡¯m not done with y-, ah, my face!¡±

    ***

    Ever since Ming Feizhen arrogated leadership from him, Gewu had to toss out his throne for the Shaman Monarch throne and hand over his throne room, forcing him to move into a hall. Needless to say, he no longer hadvish furniture, ornaments and a harem of women around him.

    It went without saying that Gewu plotted to reim what was his; however, two days ago, Ming Feizhen suddenly came back to mock Gewu before taking off again with a whole stash of valuable items, citing he needed to change their hiding spot.

    Once he was done reading White Cleric¡¯s report, Gewu rubbed his eyes and inhaled deliberately. ¡°The two hundred followers who went with him are now loyal to him. I can afford to lose two hundred, and I can afford to lose a dull Wood Guardian. Those viges are just idiots; it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m less thousands of idiots when there are plenty more.¡± He then opened his eyes to ask the man who was treated the same as always, ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is, why are you helping him?¡±

    Moyan Luohou answered, ¡°I never helped him.¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t kill him, either. You know he isn¡¯t Shaman Monarch, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    Moyan Luohou¡¯s answer was expected. Given Gewu knew how Shaman Monarch should be, he expected Moyan Luohou, as a descendant of Moyan n, to also know. What Gewu wanted to pry out was the reason Moyan Luohou refused to help.

    ¡°If I order you to kill him in the name of Shaman Monarch, no, Shaman Faith¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman, can you kill him as Shaman Monarch¡¯s de?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why?¡±

    Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t reply, and Gewu, as with anyone else, couldn¡¯t force him to. Even when Moyan Luohou walked out, Gewu couldn¡¯t say anything.

    The n was moving along in turbo gear. Gewu needed to secure Moyan Luohou¡¯s loyalty as thetter was an important chess piece. Once he utilised the ace up his sleeve, a storm would be introduced. Therefore, he needed to control every variable before he yed his ace.

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t aware Gewu marked him as a target that had to be dispatched the moment Ming Feizhen suggested they work together. Why was Gewu dead set on killing Ming Feizhen? Because Gewu couldn¡¯t ept the conditions Ming Feizhen offered. As a matter of fact, any hopes of a cordial rtionship were dashed from that moment.

    Allowing Ming Feizhen to have his way at Shaman Monarch Pce was but a tactic to lower Ming Feizhen¡¯s vignce. If Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t so much stronger than him, Gewu wouldn¡¯t have contrived the plot. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t Gewu¡¯s first adversary who was a force to be reckoned with; Martial Paragon came before, and how did he end up?

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s time to contact Nieyao.¡±

    Gewu picked up a vermillion brush to write on a scroll. The ancient text required the reader to decipher to understand. He only contacted ¡°them¡± every six to twelve months unless there was urgent business. He headed up to the second floor, where he housed an overgrown ck bird that he used tomunicate with Nieyao. When the bird took off, it took along with it his stress.

    ¡°Your Eminence, Iron Guardian has returned!¡± a follower reported.

    Gewu had noints about Iron Guardian being at the mercy of Ming Feizhen¡¯s whims when thetter was so much stronger than Iron Guardian. What annoyed him was that Iron Guardian couldn¡¯t keep the two hundred followers in line.

    ¡°I can understand him returning after what he went through. Has he requested an audience with me? He can keep suffering for a while as penance for failing to keep the followers on a leash. Tell him he is not granted an audience with me regardless of how he feels or what ruckus he makes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Eminence!¡±

    Gewu set up three big desks in his courtyard, each topped off with a white sheet of paper. He pretended he was an artist who had spare time on his hands. Even though his ¡°Autumn Hunter Painting¡± didn¡¯t have the slightest connection to the topic at hand, he brainstormed reasons to refer to it when lecturing Iron Guardian because acting as if he was a sage when disciplining his subordinates was one of his few hobbies. Once he was satisfied, he instructed, ¡°Summon Iron Guardian.¡±

    The messenger went out and came back to notify, ¡°Your Eminence, Iron Guardian came back and then rushed off with one thousand and five hundred men.¡±

    As the spring wind blew, the sound of leaves sliding along the ground resounded sonorously.

 Volume 11 18 To or From, Thereâ€™s No Need to Travel the Hard Road

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 18 To or From, There¡¯s No Need to Travel the Hard Road</h4>

    Ten of the ¡°rogues¡± among the many ¡°rogues¡± who were invited out of the underbelly of the world to Baimu¡¯s royal pce were granted entry into the throne room. Howbeit, only one man was granted his own study - Hero Li.

    While Hero Li never explicated who he was, if one were to observe the respect others gave him, they¡¯d discern he was likely their master. Why anyone would call their master ¡°Hero¡± was beyond Ah Neath, but, since he called the shots, she didn¡¯t have an issue with providing him a room. The situation started to derail, though, due to Shen Yiren¡¯s absence.

    Hero Li started replicating his life back home. His personnel went to and fro his room every day to discuss political affairs and their Nanjiang campaign; he even made time to go through reports. Military personnel lined up on the right. Civil officers lined up on the left. All officers lined up ording to rank. The only thing they had yet to do was say, ¡°Long live Your Majesty.¡± Ah Neath couldn¡¯t fathom howe his daily schedule was more jam-packed than hers.

    Immediately following his discussion on a business transaction between the Central in and Nanjiang with Abels, Luo Siming came in to converse with Hero Li.

    Neither Dugu, Hero Li¡¯s bodyguard, or Lyu Yaoqin, Hero Li¡¯s maid, said a word when Luo Siming entered. Hero Li continued going through reports until he heard Luo Siming express, ¡°Greetings, Hero Li,¡± in which he looked up for a second before returning to writing.

    ¡°Have a seat,¡± Emperor Yuansheng said.

    ¡°Siming is grateful; however, Siming is not worthy of sitting before you. Siming shall ept the thought with gratitude, nevertheless.¡±

    ¡°You like Yiren, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Luo Siming¡¯s feelings seared through his cheeks: ¡°¡­ It is true that nothing escapes your wise eyes, Hero Li.¡±

    ¡°Heh, confessing without any hesitation. A true man, huh. How about,¡± Hero Li raised his head, grin pped across his face, ¡°I betroth Yiren to you?¡±

    Words failed Luo Siming.

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand. ¡°I¡¯m just putting it out there. I can¡¯t bear to marry Yiren off.¡±

    I still can¡¯t get used to speaking to His Majesty¡­ Hang on. Isn¡¯t Miss Shen engaged? Why would His Majesty even bring this up?

    ¡°That said, judging from your reaction just now, perchance you were overwhelmed and ttered, but I don¡¯t think there was joy. It appears you don¡¯t like her that much.

    Luo Siming held his hands in a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Due to the drastic changes, Siming does not have a desire to have a family at the moment.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re honest. This brings us to the main subject. Your father, the Heavenly Swordsman confining himself to the carriage, is needed for this campaign in Nieyao. Unfortunately, he has been in low spirits ever suffering defeat at the hands of Empyrean Zha; he has not said a word since. He seems to have lost motivation for revenge. You know why I summoned you now?¡±

    ¡°Understood. Siming shall dispense every effort to convince his father to make up for his errors.¡±

    ¡°d you understood. Now go.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng heaved a big breath after finishing the reports he hadn¡¯t finished. ¡°Have agents deliver these back. For emergencies, have hawk soldiers send them.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t have any qualms decreeing despite Lyu Yaoqin also being there because she could be trusted, and the ordeals they went through together made it easier to open up.

    Emperor Yuansheng stared at the letter remaining on the cleared table. Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples had to decipher the letter that was secretly delivered from Mount Daluo.

    ¡°¡­ Per the letter, Constable Ming wants us to march into Wanyu together. What¡¯s your opinion, Dugu?¡±

    Dugu opined, ¡°Baimu and Xiuyu are neighbours. Therefore, His Highness Green Prince could promptlye to our aid if anything happened. Wanyu, on the other hand, is the strongest state in Nanjiang in addition to being far from His Highness¡¯ fief. There may not be enough time for him to provide support should we encounter any problems. Perhaps Brother Ming means well, but he has overlooked the challenges we will face once we mobilise.¡±

    While Emperor Yuansheng brooded over Dugu¡¯s input, more reports started to make their way onto his desk. He opened the most important letter and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s head to Wanyu, then. There are no more concerns.¡±

    Dugu blurted, ¡°What makes you say so, Hero Li?¡±

    ¡°See for yourself, hahaha. Destiny is on our side!¡±

    ording to the letter, Bai Laimu was finally on his way back to them afterpleting his assignment.

    ¡°Navagraha Magic Star Ceremony has finally arrived.¡±

    ***

    My feet kissed the rug made from beast fur. The basins of fire on the ground kept me warmer than the warmth in spring. My long couch melted the tension out of my body. There was a pot ofmb on the desk to my left, a pot of tea on the desk to my right. After travelling north for several days, putting on exhibitions and polishing my name, I needed the recovery.

    ¡°Your Majesty, does this feel good?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, is this the right spot?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    The fourteen female followers massaging me from head to toe with their tender hands took me back to a certain ce in Beiping, except their skills were a far cry from the service in Beiping.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight. Don¡¯t fight. Only three people can help me with my arms. Keep it up. Man, I¡¯m so sleepy.¡±

    Just as sleep was starting to set in, Yangyang came in and yelled, ¡°Brother Your Majesty, you have two guests!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Who?¡±

    ¡°They said they are your wife and sister-inw.¡±

    ¡°Tell them to go away.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I shut my eyes and tried going to sleep again¡­

    Wait a sec¡­

    By the time I opened my eyes again, twodies endowed with arresting beauty were already at the entrance of my tent.

    Why are you two here?! Stop! Stop! I can exin!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean th-, stop! This massage isn¡¯t what you think! Stop! Stop! Help! Help!¡±

 Volume 11 19 Mesmerising Maidensâ€™ Machinations. A Hard Story to Tell.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 19 Mesmerising Maidens¡¯ Machinations. A Hard Story to Tell.</h4>

    ¡°Why did His Majesty tell us to all go out? Yangyang, His Majesty is nicest to you. Do you know what this is all about?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know myself,¡± Yangyang answered. ¡°Brother His Majesty said nobody is allowed inside. Judging from the fact that only cries and groans are audible, maybe it¡¯s an interrogation?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a reasonable guess.¡±

    ¡°This one is out of your wheelhouse.¡± Hong Jiu popped up out of nowhere, gazing into space and posing as though he was a wandering poet. ¡°The sages said: a sharp dees from sharpening. A heroinees from the secr world. Schr graduates eat crap. Beauty is the worst trap. Forging requires one to¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop! Brother Shiba, I can¡¯t even understand what you just said. Please keep it simple.¡±

    ¡°To keep aplex lesson simple, Leader is toast.¡± Hong Jiu exhaled a long breath as he shook his head.

    If I could go outside right now, I¡¯d beat Hong Jiu until he has two heads! The bugger must¡¯ve written something he shouldn¡¯t have when I told him to send a letter back to Baimu!

    ¡°Should you really be distracted right now?¡± Young Shiyi twisted my ear.

    ¡°Ah! I sincerely apologise from the bottom of my heart, with every fibre of my being. I never had any intention of spheming you two goddesses. On the ount of my long journey and earnest service to the people - and the fact that you two have assaulted me for over two hours - please spare this lowly one.¡±

    ¡°Spare you?¡± Young Shiyi cracked a smile that made me wanted to make for the hills.

    I didn¡¯t run because I didn¡¯t want to lose my legs¡­ and maybe my spear.

    ¡°Fezhenie.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Present!¡±

    ¡°I have a question for you: if you answer truthfully, not only will I spare you, but I¡¯ll also buy you some candy.¡±

    ¡°Great Young Shiyi above, please ask!¡±

    ¡°Who were those girls?¡±

    You might as well kill me now!

    I sifted through my database to find the most appropriate answer.

    ¡°Friends! We are just friends! We were just giving each other a massage and singing. That¡¯s all!¡±

    Why¡­ does something not feel right?

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what your shifu said when he got caught red handed at brothels! Innocent, you say?!¡±

    Useless shifu, you can¡¯t even set a proper example for escaping these situations?! You¡¯ve been caught a hundred and ten times already, yet you haven¡¯t found the correct response?! What are you good for?!

    ¡°I shall spare you for now.¡± Young Shiyi released my ear that had nearly doubled in size owing to her wrenching at it for nearly an hour.¡±I¡¯ll let your superior deal with you first.¡±

    Boss, who had kept mum the entire time, walked over.

    ¡°Ehehe, Boss.¡±

    Whack! Inkstone - one. Ming Feizhen - zero.

    ¡°Boss! Wait!¡±

    Whack! Inkstone - two. Ming Feizhen - still zero.

    ¡°Wait! I have something to s-¡±

    Whack! Inkstone - three. Ming Feizhen - and still zero.

    Why won¡¯t you people listen before you start getting physical?! I¡¯m human, woman! You¡¯ve already smacked me over two hundred times since entering!

    Shen Yiren proceeded to assault Ming Feizhen with her inkstone as soon as she entered and continued stealing ganders, waiting for an opportunity to hit him again.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°If you have queries, ask! Don¡¯t just keep assaulting me!¡±

    Boss Shen stared at me with the intensity that tightened my chest. ¡°You sure you want me to ask?¡±

    ¡°At your service.¡±

    ¡°Why is all of your hair white?¡±

    My brain stuttered, and the cat caught my tongue. I promised Boss I wouldn¡¯t tell her a lie, so¡­ ¡°Hit me.¡±

    Boss¡¯ lips subtly but noticeably gave in, but she immediately adjusted back to a straight face. ¡°All right, let¡¯s put your appearance aside for now. You have to tell me what you¡¯re doing, though. What¡¯s this Shaman Faith and Shaman Monarch business? How are you ¡®His Majesty¡¯ now? If someone in the imperial court finds out people are calling you ¡®His Majesty¡­¡± Boss sliced across her neck with her hand.

    ¡°I have my reasons.¡±

    ¡°And those reasons are what I¡¯m asking for.¡±

    ¡°Uh, but¡­ it¡¯s not time to disclose it yet.¡±

    Boss tightened her grip on her inkstone.

    I¡¯m done. I¡¯m done! One more hit to my face and I won¡¯t be able to make a living off my handsome face.

    Boss loosened her grip and bit down on her lip. What caught my attention, however, were her red eyes.

    ¡°Boss, you¡­¡±

    ¡°I promised not to pry¡­ so I won¡¯t.¡± Boss faced the other way.

    I had an idea of what to expect, but I tried nudging her shoulder, nheless. Since she wouldn¡¯t give in, I forcibly turned her around to see two crystal pearls streaking down her eyes. I don¡¯t know if there was ever a moment as quiet as that.

    ¡°Hiya. Hiya.¡±

    Boss and I looked over to where Young Shiyi was sitting cross-legged.

    ¡°Young Shiyi, what is your great self doing?¡±

    ¡°Painting.¡±

    ¡°I can see that, but¡­ I want to ask why you are suddenly terroris-, gracing the paper with your eloquence.¡±

    God forbid I could depict the monstrosity on the paper with words. Worst of all, whatever the creepy thing she drew was, was supposed to be me¡­

    Young Shiyi flicked her hair. ¡°We¡¯ll need it sooner orter.¡± She proudly held it up and queried, ¡°Don¡¯t you know a portrait of the deceased must be disyed at funerals?¡±

    I know it¡¯s the scariest thing I¡¯ve heard all day!

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably need it next year.¡±

    I¡¯m going to die?!

    Young Shiyi wiped her eyes. ¡°Poor Feizhenie, so young, yet¡­ yet¡­¡±

    I¡¯m dead?! Am I dead?! I¡¯m right here, aren¡¯t I?! More importantly, that abomination isn¡¯t me!

    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who wishes for your death. Somebody made a blunder and isn¡¯t showing a very remorseful attitude. I think this painting needs to be hung up. Don¡¯t you agree, Yiren?¡±

    Boss¡¯ vision devolved in a foggy field; her breaths made my heart ache. ¡°¡­ Why should someone tell me what happened? Joy or pain, it¡¯s none of my business. Does my concern amount to anything? I shouldn¡¯t havee here¡­ I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    I chased after Boss to seize her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯ll tell you everything, okay?! Come sit down, and listen to me!¡±

    ¡°Pfft¡­ Pfft¡­¡±

    I looked over my shoulder to see Young Shiyi shaking, hands over her gut, face red.

    ¡°You two¡­¡±

    ¡°Puhahaha, air. I need air! How gullible, hahaha!¡± Young Shiyiughed tears out of her eyes. ¡°How can you be so gullible, Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Gullible?¡± I looked back to Boss Shen.

    Boss Shen checked her makeup for any smudges in a mini mirror with her free hand and then looked askance at me. ¡°Next time, start talking sooner. That was tiring.¡±

    Are you an award-winning actress?! Can I retire to the life of a farmer? Women are freaking scary!

 Volume 11 20 Mourning Clothes. Fengqi Shenmu.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 20 Mourning Clothes. Fengqi Shenmu.</h4>

    ¡°Now for business.¡± Young Shiyi cleared her throat, then switched into business mode. Her appearance was sloppy while she wasughing hysterically, but she was mesmerising as soon as she was stern. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for ages, yet the letter you sent back is mostly nonsensical. We want to know what you¡¯re doing, why you are doing it, how you are doing it and how thin the are clothes of the dozens of girls you mentioned in letter.¡±

    Second, you better start saying yourst prayers! If I can walk out of this tent alive, you¡¯re never taking another breath!

    ¡°I actually sent a letter to Baimu two days ago. I reckon His Majesty would have received it by now. I asked them to rendezvous with me in Wanyu. I didn¡¯t expect you two to arrive early.¡±

    Shen Yiren questioned, ¡°Why did you tell them toe here?¡±

    ¡°For the same reason I¡¯m here.¡±

    I filled them in on everything I¡¯d aplished in Wanyu. Needless to say, I glossed over a lot of details. After all, since she never went to Mount Ling or saw Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne, she couldn¡¯t imagine them. If I were to tell her I flew from mountain to mountain, soared across seas, murdered Gegewu¡¯s¡­ fellow gang banger, Zuodan Wanqu, and worked with Wanyu¡¯s King to wipe out eighteen gangs, she¡¯d probably be even more confused about me. Just hearing me reel off was enough for them to be taken aback.

    While Boss Shen analysed the information to work out how to keep Emperor Yuansheng safe, Young Shiyimented, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make me Shaman Monarch¡¯s grandaunt? Tsk, tsk, sounds pretty cool.¡±

    ¡°Tell us your reasons.¡±

    The two stared my way.

    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±

    Young Shiyi picked up her Twenty-Sixth Ming Feizhen painting to caress. ¡°Poor Feizhen. Why are you in such a hurry to go to paradise? I¡¯ll miss you.¡±

    You really have to do me like this?! Is this the purpose of the painting?! You make it seem like it¡¯s part of your voodoo toolbox!

    Receiving an eye gesture from Young Shiyi, Boss Shen curled her lips and let her eyes rain. ¡°I¡­ I never thought you¡¯d die. Why¡­ Why didn¡¯t you even make it in time to bid farewell?¡±

    You alsopeting for an award?! You don¡¯t need to unt your acting talent now! And why didn¡¯t I make it in time to say my goodbyes?!

    ¡°You going to spill it or not? Yiren may have promised to not ask, but I¡¯m not going to let you bully me. You shameless phnderer, you worried us so much that we couldn¡¯t eat. If you don¡¯t talk, I promise we¡¯ll wear mourning clothes for you next year.¡±

    Boss¡¯ face read, ¡°Don¡¯t count me in!¡± before she red daggers at me.

    Shouldn¡¯t you be showing pity for my death?! Stop preparing yourself mentally for my death. Cook your rice. Feed the kids! ¡­ But Boss isn¡¯t my wife?

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk. I¡¯ll talk. Before I talk, though¡­ I need you two to promise me: whatever happens to me, no matter what dangers arise, you are not to stop me, or the entire n will be scrapped.¡±

    ¡°How many more women are you nning to seduce?¡±

    What¡¯s with that fast reaction, Young Shiyi?! Also, that isn¡¯t even what I meant! Why is me seducing women the only crisis thates to mind for you?! Yes, it¡¯s dangerous, but it isn¡¯t even the point!

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hey,¡± Boss hollered quietly.

    ¡°What is it, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Let go of my hand.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± I totally forgot I was still holding onto Boss¡¯ hand as if I was afraid she¡¯d run off. As I let go, I deliberately shuffled back. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t paying attention. I didn¡¯t mean to hold on!¡±

    Young Shiyi had a subtle upward curve at the corner of her lips, while Boss Shen appeared unruffled. No matter how I looked, though, I swear the atmosphere was toxic.

    ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s a degree of danger with this n, but you are not to stop me, or we won¡¯t even have the slightest chance of sess¡­¡± It took a while for me to convince my two bosses to not inhibit me. ¡°My sole purpose in leeching off the Shaman Faith is beast ying. This beast is going to be a tough one to y. The tactic we employ on Mount Daluo won¡¯t work here, which is why I¡¯ve been making all kinds of preparations in hopes that we can minimise the death toll.¡±

    Boss Shen queried, ¡°You know what sort of beast is in Nieyao already?¡±

    ¡°Based off Luo Ming¡¯s story, I was 50% confident in my guess. After arriving in Nanjiang, I¡¯m 90% certain I¡¯m right. You don¡¯t need proof for this.¡± I pointed to my head. ¡°You can figure it out with your intuition.¡±

    As vague as my answer was, Boss actually nodded.

    ¡°I need to act as Shaman Monarch to learn about Shaman Faith and Shaman Monarch Pce. Secondly, it¡¯s the only identity that can shake up the rulers of Nanjiang in a short frame of time. Third, there¡¯s something we need here.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    I made eye contact with Young Shiyi. ¡°Our opponent this time¡­ is a dragon.¡±

    Young Shiyi¡¯s concern almost immediately turned to enlightenment. ¡°You¡¯re after fengqi shenmu?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    Note:

    Fengqi shenmu - they are old terms for referring to males and females/men and women. The reason they aren¡¯t tranted as such is because they¡¯re the name of a material in this context. You will learn about them in the next chapter.

 Volume 11 21 The Earth is the Victim of the Enraged Dragon and Phoenix

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 21 The Earth is the Victim of the Enraged Dragon and Phoenix</h4>

    The legend of the dragon and phoenix dated back to a time when darkness and lightning pervaded the Earth, a time when rifts in the dry earth spread to the ends of the world. Depending on which story it was, the dragon and phoenix were illustrated, as well as connected, differently. In ¡°Six Evil Beasts Chronicles¡±, the dragon and phoenix were mortal enemies who¡¯d never be allies. While the book was a work of fiction, some of the details were surprisingly urate, especially this part.

    From the archive¡¯s Mount Daluo¡¯s founder left, the six beasts often fought as a team. Due to their varying reproduction times, they¡¯d each lead their own armies in separate ces;pare it to a nation with numerous garrisons set up in different cities. For this reason, divide and conquer was always used to tackle the threats. This was true for all but the smallest races - the dragon and phoenix races.

    The might of the dragon and phoenix were distinctly different to the others, and their connection was the hardest to understand. The strategy used back then to take down the two was to put them together because they couldn¡¯t help going at each other¡¯s necks until they were incapacitated. In other words, the only counter to dragons¡¯ might was phoenixes¡¯ might.

    Fengqi shenmu was a tree unique to Nanjiang and mostmonly mentioned of in old tales rted to their Sun Divine Bird. ording to the fables, the Sun Divine Bird¡¯s habitat was on a spiritual tree in the clouds. The Sun Divine Bird only chose the most beautiful habitats to call home. Any tree it perched on, spat on, bled on and whatnot was considered a priceless treasure. That was how a fengqi shenmu tree was created.

    That was what I was supposed to say. For some reason, it came out as, ¡°The hen pecks the centipede, and the centipede bites back. Their fight was incredibly ferocious. The centipede is now too poisonous. What can we do? We¡¯ll scare it with the hen¡¯s feathers. Easy.¡±

    ¡°So you came to Wanyu for the shenmu?¡±

    ¡°You two understood that? You¡¯re geniuses?!¡±

    Young Shiyi imitated a puffer fish: ¡°I always knew, okay? You think I¡¯m uneducated like you?¡±

    My bad for forgetting she finished books ten times faster than me. Did I ever mention she didn¡¯t read gossip exclusively unlike me?

    Boss Shen finally finished thinking. ¡°Wait, are you suggesting¡­ the Sun Divine Bird Nanjiang people worship is¡­¡±

    ¡°I never said that.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Let me make it clear that I¡¯ve only seen this mentioned in old gossip books back on Mount Daluo. I¡¯ve never seen a phoenix. By the same ount, I¡¯ve never seen a Sun Divine Bird, so I can¡¯t provide a confident answer to your query. One thing I can confidently tell you, though, is that fengqi shenmu is the bane of dragons.¡±

    In the first sh against a dragon, the wood was used to design a formation. In a sense, the wood weakened the dragon simrly to a drug.

    Shen Yiren asked, ¡°We can take down the beast if we have the wood?¡±

    ¡°Even if we can¡¯t get our hands on it, we can still seed with our current forces.¡±

    ¡°Why did you go through all the effort toe here, in that case?¡±

    ¡°But, it will reduce the death toll.¡±

    Boss Shen just stared at me, seemingly surprised. She then nced over to Young Shiyi - perhaps because she thought she shouldn¡¯t stare at me. For that reason, she noticed Young Shiyi¡¯s mischievous gaze, prompting her to mutter, ¡°Not a good person,¡± before clearing her throat and rposing herself.¡±That being the case, I have to help you. As per your request, Miss Ming and I shall overlook what you do.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Young Shiyi¡¯s face read: when did I ever agree?

    ¡°I have agreed on her behalf. If she has anyints,e see me.¡±

    ¡°Boo, party pooper.¡± Young Shiyi inted her cheeks.

    You two have grown really close while I¡¯ve been busy, huh?

    ¡°So, what needs to be done to obtain the wood?¡±

    ¡°There are two challenges: first, I don¡¯t know where it¡¯s found. Second, I can¡¯t take it even if I know where it is.¡±

    Although I was aware that the special material was only found on Mount Wanyu, it wasn¡¯t realistic for me to scour the entire mountain alone to find it, not to mention Shaman Monarch Pce and Nanjiang¡¯s citizens reverence of it. If I waltzed off with it, I¡¯d be public enemy; for all I knew, the other states may even send their militaries after me. How would I clean that mess up?

    Boss opined, ¡°Hmm, those are challenges, indeed. I assume you have a n to leave if you posed as Shaman Monarch to join them.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, I have my own designs, but I can¡¯t tell you yet.¡±

    Young Shiyi rubbed her chin as she mulled on it for a while: ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d instigate Wanyu and Shaman Monarch Pce into engaging in a dog-eat-dog fight. Shaman Monarch Pce wouldn¡¯t be able to fight back once Wanyu brings out their military, however. The crisis would be the catalyst for Shaman Monarch Pce to seek my help. I can force them to hand over fengqi shenmu in exchange for my help. If Shaman Monarch Pce were to secretly hand it over to me, the people wouldn¡¯t riot. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°When did you read my mind?!¡±

    How did you figure out the majority of my strategy? Is this how you always catch me cheating? Is this the difference between a dropout and a straight-As student?

    ¡°Pfft, no, I just made a lucky guess. How could I have looked inside your mind?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    How do you exin knowing what I was thinking just now, then?!

    ¡°The n is sound. I wouldn¡¯t have had a better idea. Thing is, there¡¯s one ring plot hole: how are you going to galvanise Shaman Monarch Pce into recruiting you? You need to be worth recruiting. More specifically, you need to be able to guarantee them victory.¡±

    Boss Shen piggy backed off Young Shiyi¡¯s statements: ¡°Secondly, there¡¯s a trust issue. They need to be able to trust you won¡¯t turn on them afterwards. They won¡¯t trust you now that you¡¯re sticking out like a thorn.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Gegewu will believe me.¡±

    ¡°Third, how is fengqi shenmu operated? Don¡¯t forget that only Sixth knows anything about formations. Even then, he¡¯s no expert at them. You¡¯re overstretching him if you expect him to be effective against one of them.¡±

    ¡°I already have a candidate. It¡¯s just¡­ he hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡±

    While Young Shiyi didn¡¯tment again, Shen Yiren mulled over my information. If my intuition wasn¡¯t wrong, Shen Yiren already knew who I was referring to and was already contemting how topel them.

    Hey, can you two stop checking inside my head without my attention? It isn¡¯t free! You have to let me touch your face once every time you want a peek!

    ¡°Fourth, and most importantly, you still haven¡¯t assembled your team. You know who I¡¯m referring to,¡± Young Shiyi stressed.

    A coordinated team was paramount to defeating Six Evils. Everybody had their own goals, though. The imperial court, Beijiang and Nanjiang¡¯s adepts all had someone to different to answer to, and the truce couldn¡¯t be counted as a harmonious one. Lai Jingzhen, Martial Paragon and Bodhi weren¡¯t the type to cooperate with each other, not to mention Lai Jingzhen was Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s chaperone. If they couldn¡¯t bemanded, then everyone else was history.

    Young Shiyi grumbled, ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be enough when there¡¯s so much to do.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve sent a letter to have Emperor Yuansheng march them into Wanyu as a business group and then finalise preparations to enter Nieyao. I¡¯ve pretty much sacrificed sleep thest few days. I¡¯ve had to put on exhibitions, wipe out bandits and a plethora of other things. I reckon we¡¯ll make it, albeit barely.¡±

    The two of them couldn¡¯t believe my agenda when I told them what I nned to get done.

    ¡°Why the rush? Why are you in such a hurry if you believe we¡¯ll be on time.¡±

    ¡°Because we don¡¯t have much time left.¡±

    Boss: ¡°Not because His Majesty can¡¯t stay in Nanjiang for too long but due to other reasons?¡±

    I bobbed my head: ¡°It¡¯s because the beast will soon awake.¡±

    Based on their flinches, they must not have expected that answer.

    ¡°I can smell its stench from Nieyao, and it¡¯s growing stronger by the day. It¡¯s a sign that its ability to move is increasing by the day. In other words, its awakening is drawing closer. At most, we¡¯ll have three months. Worst case scenario, we only have around thirty to forty days left before Nanjiang hears the first roar.¡±

 Volume 11 22 Where Can One Go on these Relaxing Mountains?

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 22 Where Can One Go on these Rxing Mountains?</h4>

    While the green canopies and sun-dappled path may be medicinal in cooler temperatures, it wasn¡¯t the case in Nanjiang¡¯s spring season. Emperor Yuansheng andpany changed into lighter clothing due to the sunshine in their bones, yet their sweat brought deeper hues to their clothing. If it weren¡¯t for fear of snakes and the like lying in ambush, they would¡¯ve preferred to let their skin have direct contact with nature.

    Ming Feizhen asked that Dugu lead Emperor¡¯s Entourage, Long Zaitian lead Qilin Guards, Abels lead Beijiang¡¯s members, Beussent lead Heisina Tribe and Luo Siming lead Luo Sword Manor¡¯s group. As for Su Xiao, Luo Mingzhu, Ye Luo and a number of others, they were to stay put at Xiuyu. One thousand members from Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards were to stay at Baimu.

    To ensure Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s safety, ten elites were chosen from each respective group to act as his bodyguards. Three-man cells were subsequently created to act as forty to fifty merchant groups, ensuring he was safe from attacks from any direction. Needless to say, all of them had their eyes and ears working at full capacity to make sure no harm befell him - ¡°all¡± not ounting for the several by his side.

    Given Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s internal strength, it was understandable for him to bex on horseback, chatting away with the two beside him. After all, as long as he wasn¡¯t sick or injured, the weather impacted him very little.

    ¡°They say there are no forests in Beijiang and no mountains in Nanjiang. Who would have thought they could be so wrong? Brother Bodhi, look how perilous it is to traverse the mountains here. Reading is truly not the same as seeing.¡±

    Practically all of the tall mountains of Xiacang Anxi were located in Wanyu.

    If Morcher wasn¡¯t counted, Wanyu and Baimu interacted the most with the Central in, which was the reason they traded the most goods from the Central in and had been influenced the most. ordingly, the group didn¡¯t encounter anguage barrier when travelling in Wanyu. As for directions, Beussent was a trusty navigator.

    Bodhi smiled: ¡°Not only are they wrong about Nanjiang but also Beijiang. Despite being famous for its deserts, Tiezhen is home to plenty of forests.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Haha, Hero Li, these mountains are as high as your character. The water is as clear as your mind. There as many green trees as y-¡±

    ¡°As your head! Shut up!¡± Emperor Yuansheng smacked Long Zaitian over the head.

    Save for the one day of dy to enter Wanyu¡¯s borders, the group had travelled for days on end already and still had more than ten days to go. They couldn¡¯t be hasty, however, for they were in unfamiliar territory.

    Emperor Yuansheng checked the time via the sky and then instructed, ¡°Let us set up camp here for tonight. We will resume tomorrow morning.¡±

    Just as on previous days, Beijiang and Heisina groups took care of cooking and so forth, while Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards continued their guard duty. The Central in¡¯s elites perceived Evil Spirits and Heisina Tribe to be motley crews since one was a group of bandits, while the other was a hilly billy tribe, which was why Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards didn¡¯t trust the two groups with protecting Emperor Yuansheng. As for cooking, setting up tents and the sort, Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage wouldn¡¯t deign to perform such ¡°menial¡± tasks.

    Abels, whilst keeping up a business smile, cussed under his breath as he watched his subordinates chop firewood. ¡°I shall watch the rear to be safe. I shall entrust this position to you gentlemen,¡± he said prior to joining his friends.

    Emperor Yuansheng was aware Abels cherished his subordinates as brothers and wasn¡¯t happy to see the way they were being treated. Emperor Yuansheng just didn¡¯t know how to improve the estrangement.

    Often, thoughts slow down once the sky is amber. Hence, Emperor Yuansheng raised his vignce in case anyone wanted to capitalise on that habit, especially considering they no longer had a big security detail watching over them from the shadows.

    ¡°Hero Li.¡± Tie Hanyi left his merchant group to rush over. ¡°We have spotted traces of around one to two hundred bandits up ahead. They are only armed with wooden cudgels, rods and the sort. They must be local residents. Judging from the fact that they are not leaving their ce, they must be waiting for nightfall to strike.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the response?¡±

    ¡°I have sent orders to have a defence system exercised. The two teams ahead are elites, so they should not shy away from bandits. Having said that, we may need to strike them from the side owing to their numbers. That is why I havee to report.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay, have everyone prepare for battle.¡±

    Tie Hanyi and Luo Siming took the left wing. Beussent and Mountain Monster led the right wing. Abels was charged with bringing up the rear. Everyone else was to stay in the centre and react based on the circumstances.

    Once the dark walked in, the whistle tomence battle was blown. Surprisingly, the indigenous locals were able tost quite a while. Tie Hanyi¡¯s concern eventually proved to be warranted when over a hundred more people arrived as reinforcements, outnumbering Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group of thirty-odd people.

    ¡°Hah, I heard Nanjiang¡¯s mounted bandits had banded together tomit crimes. They might have led these locals astray, or they may even be an outpost unit. They must be sick of living if they want to rob me. Gear, weapon and boots.¡±

    Lyu Yaoqin fetched Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s battle robe, broadsword and boots from his tent and helped him get dressed.

    Once prepared, Emperor Yuansheng, weapon drawn, casually rode forward alone. ¡°Who wishes to die first?¡±

    The indigenous folks didn¡¯t halt their advance - probably due to thenguage barrier.

    Dugu voiced, ¡°Hero Li, are you done ying? If you are, let us take over.¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡± Emperor Yuansheng dismounted.

    Dugu acted as Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s personal bodyguard. Meanwhile, Long Zaitian and Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples acted as the first line of defence.

    The closer the group encroached, the more Long Zaitian¡¯s muscles contracted. Whether it was the group¡¯s heavy and steady footsteps, their dted pupils or pace, the group showed signs of a highly-trained group.

    Sima Huai folded his arms: ¡°All of them are decent fighters. Some should be considered advanced.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°You can see them, Four Eyes?¡±

    ¡°No, but I can hear them.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The group suddenly elerated, catching the first line of defence by surprise. Long Zaitian¡¯s advance was cut short when anky, tall woman thrust her palm at him, forcing him back three steps in a strength contest.

    ¡°You¡¯re actually right!¡± Long Zaitian said to Sima Huai.

    Lian Zhuiyue almost defeated a burly boxer on several asions using his speed, but his opponent seemingly predicted what his intent was to evade.

    Other members of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group were trapped in three-on-one or four-on-one matches, throwing any semnce of a formation out the window.

    Sima Huai, frustrated, yelled as he jumped over to Tianfeng Xuanyuan and uncorked a palm. Tianfeng Xuanyuan retaliated with his own palm strike. With each trade, the two sped up further and further.

    ¡°You one, me one. Tiger eats the hen. You two¡­¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°¡­ What in god¡¯s name are you two doing?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t believe his subordinates went down so fast. His team wasn¡¯t weak. Their mistake was underestimating their opponents and missing their timing, allowing the enemy to advance all at once. In addition, besides the numbers advantage, the enemy demonstrated far superior teamwork.

    ng!

    Nobody detected the big man sneak past their defence lines and attempt to harvest Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head. Had Dugu been distracted, he wouldn¡¯t have shielded Emperor Yuansheng in time. The sh was silent, yet it was so heavy that Dugu¡¯s wrist ached despite having a shield.

    Emperor Yuansheng had an epiphany from his brush with death. ¡°That silent, undetectable sh was Tiger Night Cicada Forest, which means your signature discipline is Dao Destruction Zen Cicada Broadswordy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m shocked to know somebody still recognises it after I¡¯ve sequestered for decades.¡±

    Dao Destruction Zen Cicada Broadswordy was the signature discipline of none of than bandit King Gu Wuzhu. The twelve disciplines he devised were collectively referred to as ¡°Ultimate Counter Token¡±. Ever since thest Emperor passed away, Gu Wuzhu¡¯s whereabouts became a mystery, and his skills were entrusted to his twelve top subordinates. Among them, the one who inherited his broadswordy was Yinhu Tengji.

    Though he didn¡¯t scowl, the wrinkles by Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s eyes were enough to establish his domineering presence. ¡°Where is Gu Wuzhu?¡±

    Tengji had been asked that question more times than he could possibly keep count of ever since Gu Wuzhu disappeared. Sometimes, he¡¯dsh out at the questioner. Sometimes, he¡¯dugh hysterically - which was the perfect moment to ask him for any favour. His mood determined whether they were a dead man or someone about to be rewarded. This time, Emperor Yuansheng was offered a chance to lighten the load on his shoulders.

    Dugu circled his arms holding a small circr shield, fortifying it with his qi. He thought he was secure when qi blitzed his shield as though it was being fired rapidly. Nevertheless, Dugu, who had been trying to measure Tengji since his opponent showed up, calcted that he could stop the cleave thanks to deceleration.

    Tengji took a step forward that Dugu didn¡¯t seeing, whipped his broadsword behind him and then cleaved again once he reduced the distance between them. ¡°Take my brother¡¯s name out of your unworthy mouths!¡±

    Dugu pulled his shield back to his chest to block the attack directly, yet Tengji nigh halved the shield and sent Dugu airborne. Dugu never judged himself to be the inferior fighter; however, he had never seen anyone unleash consecutive hard hits in abo in the same manner as Tengji.

    Emperor Yuansheng pointed out, ¡°The discipline boosts the wielder¡¯s output based on their morale and wildness. You can¡¯t fight him head on.¡±

    ¡°Toote!¡± Tengji made a quick change in direction using his unique internal discipline¡¯s internal style, getting within cutting range in a sh.

    Had it not been for his innate might and fast reflexes, Tengji wouldn¡¯t have been able to perform those kic movements after force feeding the manual into his head. He even erased his original internal style to pick up Gu Wuzhu¡¯s broadswordy out of reverence for his brother. Thirty yearster, he was a new man inside and outside - in a better way.

    ng! Tengji hit an aerial metal shield, but he skid back this time to his surprise. He chose to immediately disengage and covertly ease the numbness of his right arm using his qi. Meanwhile, he flicked his left thumb up. ¡°That was solid. What¡¯s that discipline now?¡±

    ¡°Soaring Shield is this one¡¯s creation.¡± Dugu caught his shield as he ambled back to Emperor Yuansheng, corners of his ups pulled up as though the blood he projected vomited before was just a prop he spat.

    Dugu¡¯s rank on Seventeen Hidden Dragons came as a result of him transforming his defensive shield into an offense weapon. Through training and experience in real fights, he developed a different perspective on countering attacks.

    For all intents and purposes, Dugu collects his opponent¡¯s discharged energy into his shield and then adds his true qi into the mix. Hence, he called the skill ¡°Shield Cultivation¡±. Once he collected enough energy, he could increase his defensive parameters or weaponise it for offensive goals. ordingly, Tengji couldn¡¯t withstand the impact when he hit the shield a third time.

    Although Dugu eschewed utilising Shield Cultivation because it¡¯d reveal his true identity, he had no qualms employing it in Nanjiang, where he was less likely to be known.

    ¡°It is this one¡¯s honour to meet you in person, Elder Teng. His Soaring Shield still has many imperfections. If you do not mind, please share some advice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll share my balls on your forehead. I might not even be able to beat you. Consider yourselves lucky today, but I¡¯ve put a target on you. Don¡¯t expect to escape me, hahahaha!¡±

    Maybe Tengji¡¯sughter that billowed branches and whipped up foliage was a signal. Maybe it wasn¡¯t. Whatever the case, the others with him retreated along with him.

    Emperor Yuansheng assembled everyone once peace was restored to the forest to check for casualties. Despite expecting casualties, nobody even had a scratch. In other words, the enemy nned to stall the frontline from the beginning, focusing their best fighters on Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°What a mortifying embarrassment!¡± Emperor Yuansheng erupted. ¡°While they aren¡¯t weak, they¡¯re no match for our trained elites. They almost killed me just by working together and capitalising on an opportunity. This is an egregious embarrassment!¡±

 Volume 11 23 I Do Not Understand. Can Someone Explain?

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 23 I Do Not Understand. Can Someone Exin?</h4>

    All of the imperial court¡¯s members had their red faces aimed at the ground. Given they possessed betterbat attributes and more adepts, their embarrassing results couldn¡¯t have been attributed to those two factors.

    ¡°Why did nobody assist Long Zaitian when he was in a pinch?¡± Emperor Yuansheng ignored his entourage¡¯s silence, continuing, ¡°As my bodyguards, nobody else can advance if you don¡¯t. Long Zaitian¡¯s subordinates, why didn¡¯t you work together to help when yourrades were trapped? Why didn¡¯t any of you lend a hand to our brothers from Beijiang and Heisina when they were driven back? There may have been a lot of them, but are you going to tell me you haven¡¯t fought fiercer enemies? Remind me what their weapons were. They only had wooden cudgels and rods! We are fortunate we don¡¯t have any casualties. What do you think the oue would¡¯ve been if they were armed with sharp weapons?! Reflect on your damn selves!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng then called over Qilin Guards and his entourage¡¯s leaders to castigate.

    To be fair, the situation wasn¡¯t so bad that Emperor Yuansheng was in peril since Lai Jingzhen was sleeping beside him. Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t let his subordinates continue the way they were, though, as it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine what the consequences would be if their enemy was a beast that could scare off clouds when they crumbled against bandits wielding blunt weapons. His anger was also justified because the wake-up call humiliated him.

    ¡°This group must only be a scouting group. The next time they show up, we¡¯ll be fighting enemies who mean to hurt us. I hope you¡¯re all ready!¡±

    ¡°Hero Li, please curb your anger. This one wishes to share some insight.¡±

    Needless to say, nobody with the imperial court dared to open his mouth. From Mount Daluo, the only one who could be trusted - among those present - to say something within the realm of reality was Sima Huai. In fact, he was a lot more trustworthy than his senior, who had no respect for hierarchy, or his second brother, whose whereabouts were always a mystery. Emperor Yuansheng also trusted Sima Huai as a stand-in strategist on Ming Feizhen¡¯s behalf because Sima Huai should¡¯ve had the most knowledge on Six Evils.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°From Jiangnan to Wanyu, this one has travelled with everyone for several months, so he believes he has some insight worth sharing with you.¡±

    Seeing as Sima Huai sounded serious, Emperor Yuansheng reciprocated the gesture. ¡°I am keen to hear your wisdom.¡±

    ¡°It is nothing worthy of being called wisdom. It is merely an observation this one has to get off his chest. Although those bandits were tough, they are a notch below the most dangerous mountain bandits in the Central in.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I shall not inquire why you know that so well. If you have something to say, feel free to voice it.¡±

    ¡°From Jiangnan to here, we have always had scouts up ahead and guards bringing up the rear. Your subordinates are ustomed to the Central in¡¯s atmosphere and society, in addition to being elite fighters. Here, however, none of them are familiar with the environment. Secondly, this is only a small division of all your forces. If you do not strengthen your forces now, everyone will be at greater risk down the road.

    ¡°There is no one among your ranks who can bebelled weak. You do notckpetent men. Youckpetent men who can work together. If you can ovee this issue, be it defence or offence, your forces will level up.¡±

    Not a word that rolled off Sima Huai¡¯s tongue was one he wanted to say. Two days ago, Ming Feizhen sent him a notification that a group would ambush them, instructing everyone from Mount Daluo to troll, stall or whatever as long as they didn¡¯t get involved. Lian Zhuiyue was the only one not informed since he couldn¡¯t tell a lie to save his life. As long as Lian Zhuiyue was cheering on the side or something, then the n would work without a hitch. Sima Huai was told to point out the problem to Emperor Yuansheng post-ambush.

    Emperor Yuansheng performed his signature thigh p. ¡°Brilliant! Do you have any strategy to help?¡±

    You must be jesting. I¡¯m just a messenger. How should I know what to do?

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan: ¡°Hahaha, too simple. Is there any other way?¡±

    Sima Huai turned to Tianfeng Xuanyuan. ¡°Yeah? How?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Uh¡­ too simple. I shall let my representative answer on my behalf.¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan turned to Xia¡¯er. ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I left my answer with him.¡± Xia¡¯er turned to Lian Zhuiyue.

    Lian Zhuiyue started with a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Hero Li, in this one¡¯s opinion, the crux of the issue is the strong sense of group identity your factions have, rendering them bereft of chemistry. To resolve the division, the discrimination each faction harbours towards each other needs to be erased. ordingly, teams should be reshuffled. Regardless of affiliation, they should dine together, sleep together and, if possible, practice together. As martial artists, we do not have reservations about sharing our thoughts. Spending time together, in addition to having amon enemy, is a fool proof method to encourage cooperation.¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Emperor Yuansheng apuded.

    Sima Huai: Thank god Zhuiyue does a lot of reading. I must admit First Brother decision to adopt him was absolutely right!

    Emperor Yuansheng called Dugu and Long Zaitian over for a lecture; Long Zaitian even got a kick up the butt. Dugu and Long Zaitian subsequently worked with Beussent, Mountain Monster andpany to reorganise the teams, ensuring personnel and work was divided fairly. Lian Zhuiyue was trusted with auditing their job.

    After they were done, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°By the way, where is Brother Bodhi?¡±

    Long Zaitian replied, ¡°We have not heard from him since he went back to protect our rear. Speaking of which, nobody from the rear has returned. There should not be anyone who would pick a fight with him given his level.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded and had someone go summon Abels. Then, he scolded, ¡°Yet you lot have the audacity to look down on Beijiang¡¯s warriors? Brother Bodhi truly is a man who has gone to hell and back. Look howposed and steady he is. Meanwhile, the lot of you devolve into a motley crew as soon as you¡¯re attacked.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was going to wrench Long Zaitian¡¯s ear to continue going off, but Abels came down from down above.

    Abels, face bruised here and there, spat blood onto the ground and vigorously wiped his mouth: ¡°Hits me and then legs it. The next time I run into you, I¡¯ll leave you mangled. Oh, Brother Li, did you call for me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Volume 11 24 Evil Eminence Isnâ€™t so Tough. Shaman Monarchâ€™s Bid for Power.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 24 Evil Eminence Isn¡¯t so Tough. Shaman Monarch¡¯s Bid for Power.</h4>

    Emperor Yuansheng tripped on his words multiple times before he could ask, ¡°¡­ Brother Bodhi, did you fall into a pit of bears? What sort of overgrown dog ambushed you?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Abels grouched.

    In consideration of Abels¡¯ royalty status, Emperor Yuansheng tried to choose his words carefully, but it only confused the former. In turn, Abels¡¯ annoyance almost prompted the guards around Emperor Yuansheng to draw their weapons and Lai Jingzhen to wake up.

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hands to settle his subordinates. ¡°So, I meant to ask, what happened to your face?¡±

    ¡°My face?¡± Abels touched his nose. ¡°Oh, hahaha, I ran into a bandit. He dashed after we had three hundred exchanges. I just got clipped a little.¡±

    Expecting Emperor Yuansheng to keep his cool at this point was being unreasonable. Lai Jingzhen couldn¡¯t be relied on. Luo Ming hadn¡¯t even spoken to him. All his other elites hadn¡¯t reached Divine Realm. Even Abels couldn¡¯t stop his opponent from getting away now? If Abels¡¯ opponent could light his face up, what would happen if Emperor Yuansheng fought the same opponent? Was there such a thing as a safe zone anymore? Suffice to say, Abels wouldn¡¯t tell Emperor Yuansheng he ran into Ming Feizhen at the rear, though.

    Ming Feizhen made a shy, windy entrance and said, ¡°Brother Bodhi, please give me some pointers,¡± before unleashing Enlightenment on Abels. In spite of Abels¡¯ extensive martial arts knowledge, he still marvelled at the infinite variations of Ming Feizhen¡¯s style centred around maniption of barely-visible threads. Rather than say Abels couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the skills, it¡¯d be more precise to say that he didn¡¯t get any chance to.

    Abels had to go up to the sixth level of Evil Eminence Domain to stay in the game against the whirlwind-like assault. The longer the fight drew out, the more distance Ming Feizhen put between them. As such, Abels couldn¡¯t get in to make the most of his expertise in close-quartersbat.

    At a certain point, Ming Feizhen stopped to tell Abels, ¡°Luo Ming has seen up to here. When Luo Ming posed as you, he had an easier time than you using purely Evil Eminence Scripture.¡±

    As much as it ground Abels¡¯ gears to hear the mention of Luo Ming, he didn¡¯t believe Ming Feizhen¡¯s attack and information was aimless.

    ¡°Want to see how I beat Luo Ming?¡±

    The smirk on Ming Feizhen¡¯s face rubbed Abels the wrong way, but Abels nodded despite it possibly being solely provocation.

    After one move, Abels, standing on destend, lost any will to fight. Up until that moment, he had contemted how big was the gap between him and the man who beat Heavenly Swordsman when he was armed with Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. Subsequent to witnessing how Luo Ming was defeated, Abels realised how much a time-wasting endeavour it was for him to even botherparing a rabbit to an eagle. It finally answered why Luo Ming was seemingly stuck in a mental mire. No amount of analytical skill couldpensate for the discrepancy in raw might.

    ¡°Luo Ming was able to force me to go this far. How do you think youpare?¡±

    Sea Deer Hunter already bandaged Abels¡¯ internal injuries, but he couldn¡¯t recover the level of his skill he used to have. The root of his situation wasn¡¯t physical; the main reason he teaued was the sword and its wielder that took his brothers¡¯ lives and almost everything he cared about. Calmness doesn¡¯t erase anger. The deeper magma is buried, the more violent it gushes out when its container blows.

    Abels didn¡¯t take advantage of Luo Ming¡¯s injured state to get his revenge for no reason other than because he looked down on those who chased tainted victories. Abels didn¡¯t need to be told Luo Ming¡¯s power was necessary if they were to take down the beast, but if Luo Ming could recover enough to fight the beast, Abels would have to take his revenge.

    Ming Feizhen was cognisant of those points, and he was fully aware that persuasion wouldn¡¯t work. ¡°If you want to kill Luo Ming for revenge, I can¡¯t stop you, nor do I have the time to interfere. What I want to ask is, what sort of warrior is Abels? What sort of revenge does he want?¡±

    Though Abels didn¡¯t answer, he knew he had fallen into Ming Feizhen¡¯s trap. ¡°¡­ I must kill the scum. There¡¯s nothing to brag about if I can¡¯t beat him fair and square, nevertheless. Whether or not you can pull him out of his borderline-dead state is on you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s silence was an irrefutable indication that even he wasn¡¯t confident he could motivate Luo Ming.

    ¡°What? Challenged already? Putting him aside, I haven¡¯t fully recovered, either. You may havee here for nothing.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s simple to remedy.¡±

    Thereafter, Ming Feizhen aimed every strike at Abels¡¯ face without any reservations. When Ming Feizhen departed, Mountain Monster was heard yelling, ¡°Go die, you dingbat! Piss off, you wanker!¡±

    Recalling the beating he took, Abels smiled. Emperor Yuansheng interpreted Abels¡¯ long pause and smile totally differently to how it should¡¯ve beenprehended.

    If even Brother Bodhi has been beat so bad that he¡¯s questioning life, doesn¡¯t that mean my useless subordinates are just forage for the bandits?! If I¡¯m going to hope someone can help, I may as well help myself! I must!

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, just rx. I shall go see someone.¡±

    The bandits who ambushed them avoided the direction Emperor Yuansheng ran in because that was where Luo Ming was located.

    ***

    When I sneaked back into my tent without letting anyone notice, I caught Young Shiyi checking herself out at the makeup table. I went over on my toes and gently draped my arms over her shoulders.

    Young Shiyi smiled and grabbed my arms as though she was aware I came back. ¡°Finally done trolling?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve trolled, but not enough.¡± I caressed Young Shiyi¡¯s smooth face.

    Although Young Shiyi clicked her tongue, she clearly enjoyed my touch. ¡°I shall spare you on ount of you being busy.¡±

    ¡°You can scold me if you like. I¡¯ll get to touch some more. It¡¯s not bad interest if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°Oho?¡± Young Shiyi perked up her chest. ¡°Go ahead. Touch however you desire. I¡¯d like to see how far you dare to go.¡± Sheughed at my stupefied reaction, then scrubbed my head and got up. ¡°Stop wasting time. You still have a schedule to get on with. You ready to meet the four states¡¯ rulers?¡±

 Volume 11 25 A Rare Respite (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 25 A Rare Respite (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°They¡¯ve left? Where are they off to?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°After you killed Zuowan Wanqu, Xiacang Anxi¡¯s bandits were eradicated, quickly spreading your name. Nanjiang¡¯s rulers have always perceived Shaman Monarch Pce as a threat, let alone Shaman Monarch. They have no choice but to answer your call no matter how reluctant they are. They¡¯re currently on their way.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t let me join in something so fun. In my opinion, executing their leader and leading the military there wasn¡¯t the best n. If it were me, I¡¯d kill Zuowan Wanqu, then impersonate him to use the bandits. I¡¯d then march them up Wanyu and beat the location of fengqi shenmu out of him.¡±

    You¡¯re more ruthless than Gegewu!

    Young Shiyi could¡¯ve pulled the surprising idea off because she could speak Nanjiangnese. If it were me, I¡¯d only unmask my cover. Plus,mon torture or threats were nothing to a man who had lived for a century.

    ¡°All four of them have agreed toe? How long until they arrive?¡±

    ¡°At thetest, three days. At the earliest, tomorrow,¡± Young Shiyi answered.

    From the moment I took Zuowan Wanqu¡¯s head, I started deliberating how to leverage the execution to maximise my gains. That was what led me to the envoy I rescued on my first day on Mount Wanyu.

    As the brother of Feiyi¡¯s King, the envoy was highly respected. When I saved him from Gegewu¡¯s execution force, he gratefully showed his golden teeth and said something nice. He generously gifted me a big chest of valuables as a token of appreciation. Instead of epting it, though, I demanded, ¡°I want all the chests.¡± He actually let me have all the chests without a care in the world. I considered him a sagacious guy because he kept trying to sell me on all the benefits of opening trade channels with Western Regions.

    Anyhow, when I visited him after killing Zuowan Wanqu, I outright demanded, ¡°I want to see your King.¡± I didn¡¯t expect him to kowtow or his eyes to be waterfalls. Onlyter did I learn that, by Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s rules, requesting an audience with a monarch was the equivalent of forcing the monarch to abdicate. Gegewu had already removed three monarchs in the past, each of which seeded a meeting between him and the stripped monarch. If Ah Neath was included, then Gegewu actually removed monarchs from four states already.

    Anyone who opposed the decree was ssified a dissident that every state¡¯s military would immediately put down. If the armies of the other states were to mobilise their armies, then Gegewu could y fair or dirty to remove the monarch.

    When the envoy first beseeched me to not exile his brother from the throne, I didn¡¯t understand what he was saying, so I told him, ¡°Shut up and do as I say.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t show any mercy, he snapped. ¡°Feiyi is not the biggest threat if we are talking about states that are trying to revolt! Your Majesty, please rethink your decision! This one knows Qiu state is secretly building an army and forging weapons while pretending they are poor!¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect him to snitch, so I didn¡¯t have a measured response. Instead, I figured, why not keep digging if he was going to sell the others out?

    ¡°Who else?¡±

    Mistaking my stupefied visage for indifference, he reluctantly disclosed, ¡°This one also knows major secrets of two more nations. Both of them harbour ill will!¡± The man spilt everything; he even told me when and how many times a monarch would go re as they passed by a Shaman Monarch shrine.

    ¡°Tell all four of them I want to see them together.¡±

    The envoy kept his mouth in the shape of the number zero as he got back into his carriage and went on his way. I thought I wouldn¡¯t have my way due to his dispirited posture when he left. I never imagined they¡¯d respond so promptly.

    Young Shiyi jovially pointed out, ¡°While Sanggongmo City is the secondrgest city in Wanyu, this must be the first they will bear witness to such a big gathering. Your Majesty, you sure are esteemed.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I touched my face to see if my skin was any thicker. After all, I wouldn¡¯t want it to be as thick as my shifu¡¯s.

    ¡°Shameless!¡±

    Don¡¯t say it!

    Boss Shen brushed aside the curtain and came in with a stack of old books, some of which were so old that they were fragments of their original selves. ¡°What are these books you told Sima Huai to collect? It¡¯s bloody heavy!¡±

    I bolted over to take the books off Boss¡¯ hands. ¡°Ahaha, just as a menu cannot be without pork shoulders and man cannot be without pork, man cannot live without reading. I am born studious. The sages of old say one m-¡±

    ¡°Stop. Cut the crap. I¡¯d bet my fortune on you not understanding these ancient texts of Nanjiang.¡±

    Why ask a question you already have the answer to?!

    ¡°From what I can tell, some of the pages in some of the books would be enough to feed a vige for a year. Where did you have Sima Huai rob the books from?¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t rob! Don¡¯t you know Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation?! I had him thieve them from Ah Neath¡¯s library.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ck and White Reflection didn¡¯t have the information I wanted answers to, so I pinned my hopes on Baimu holding the answers. Baimu protected their secrets and intelligence strictest out of the twelve states. Ah Neath concentrated on reading these books even when Qiushui was plotting her assassination. If there¡¯s nothing valuable in there, I¡¯ll quit pork shoulders!

    Boss and Young Shiyi didn¡¯t see thising. I couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Young Shiyi and Boss¡¯ analytical skills.

    Yangyang was unlikely to read between the lines of the text. How would Young Shiyi do it? Hence, I spent an entire night trying to decipher what I could.

    I grabbed the oldest, fragment book and got up.

    ¡°Where are you off to?¡± Boss asked.

    ¡°Going to consult an all-knowing individual.¡±

    Boss¡¯ confused face was too cute to resist a pinch. Her timing with her inkstone was, once again, impable.

    As I cried ¡°ow¡±, I sped out, disappearing before Boss had time to see me abscond. Her blush burned through her cheeks; her face feltparable to a hot oven. She dipped her head down and didn¡¯t utter another word.

    Glossary

    A Rare Respite - The title is a rewritten version of the line ¡°ÍµµÃ¸¡Éú°ëÈÕÏÐ¡± from ¡°Written on a Wall of Crane-forest Temple¡± by Tang Dynasty poet Li She. It¡¯s lost in trantion, but the rework is a way of demonstrating one¡¯spetence in Chinese, simr to how you need to have a decent grasp on English in order to use part of a proverb to say something else instead of having to quote it word for word.

    ¡°Just as a menu cannot be without pork shoulders and man cannot be without pork¡­¡± - Ming Feizhen makes a pun joke here off the saying that ¡°A man would rather live without meat than reside somewhere without bamboo,¡± bamboo and pork sharing the same pronunciation here. To many distinguished men, bamboo is a symbol of virtue and integrity; it¡¯s always closely rted to people of positive spirits.

 Volume 11 26 A Rare Respite (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 26 A Rare Respite (Part 2)</h4>

    Because using cities as the primary defence structure wasn¡¯t popr in Nanjiang, and citizens of Nanjiang preferred the peaceful environment that viges offered, Sanggongmo City, which tranted to ¡°beautifully flourishing ce¡±, wasn¡¯t built to be a trading hub or army garrison. By the same token, trading in the city was still in a development phase, but it was among the top three cities that stably traded goods from the Central in in Nanjiang.

    Sanggongmo was designed using inspiration from cities in the Central in, hence the style of the previous dynasty and their goods, as the Central in¡¯s culture had a profound role in the life of a former King of Wanyu. Further influence of the Central in¡¯s dynasty could be seen from the fact that the people in the city wore white clothing more than red.

    The city¡¯s development into Wanyu¡¯s centre of economy and finance was an unexpected course. After all, it was designed for no other reason than to recreate scenery from the Central in in addition to adopting their culture.

    Having said that, Sanggongmo was still a ssic city of Wanyu because they didn¡¯t discard their love for bright and shy designs, be it stores, streets or decorations. As a matter of fact, it was swathed in more extravagance than Baimu or Xiuyu; it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if someone thought they were in a different domain going from Xiuyu to Sanggongmo.

    When I decided to pose as Shaman Monarch, I merely intended to take advantage of the situation, get rid of problems outside of Nieyao and snag fengqi shenmu from Gegewu. Only when I started swimming in the waters did I discover there was more to Shaman Monarch Pce and Gegewu¡¯s ns than I assumed. Despite me eradicating a force he supposedly raised, had Iron and Wood Guardians with me, on top of another one thousand five hundred followers, and elevated Shaman Monarch¡¯s reputation to an all-time high, Gegewu didn¡¯t react in any shape or form.

    Should Gegewu still have an ace up his sleeve that I was unaware of, then the sh in Nieyao and obtaining fengqi shenmu would be painfullyplicated, not to mention requiring far more time than I estimated. ordingly, remaining ignorant on Shaman Faith and Shaman Monarch Pce was inexcusable.

    Pretty much everyone recognised my Shaman Monarch appearance at this point - credit of all the miracles I put on with the one thousand and five hundred followers joining me on the pilgrimage. That was why I had to change my face a little and attire myself in unadorned white garments in order to have a peaceful stroll alongside a random crowd. That was, until an aromatic scent drew me to a small snack shop.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I bought fifteen serves of the traditional Wanyu snack that consisted of glutinous rice and chicken steamed inside ayer of leaves, then whispered to the owner. In turn, he happily responded, ¡°Pleasee inside.¡±

    Due to the undesirable location, there weren¡¯t many customers inside the small rice shop located at the back alley. The tall and thin proprietor kept continued checking the ledger as he used ventriloquism tomunicate, ¡°Pleasee inside.¡±

    The middle-aged proprietor pulled open a cover to the underground level connected to thepletely-sealed room, bringing his deadpan face along down to the ce they stored rice. He set the small candle in his hand onto a slot on the wall and gently turned it, opening an adjacent door that led to another section with yet more secret rooms.

    The proprietor offered me a seat at the table and then, in a voice as cold as the teapot, stated, ¡°ck and White Reflection¡¯s humble treasure trove is at your service.¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap.¡± I wet my finger with the tea and wrote ¡°Ming Feizhen¡± on the table.

    The straight-faced proprietor stared at my name for a while before his pupils started to dte, breathing started to change, face muscles gradually shifted and the corner of his lips rise. ¡°Oh my, VIP guest number zero. It has been a while, Mr. Ming.¡±

    Even though he soundedparable to a youth and his eyes became slits, the ribbing undertone was always there. I was used to it, so I smiled back. ¡°Long-time no see. Business still going hot?¡±

    Every time I met the man, he had a different face. All I knew was that it was attributed to a really advanced mental cultivation discipline and that he could be beyond five kilometres away, but I neither understood the discipline nor could I work out the precise distance he was away.

    ¡°It has been all right. I cannot be at my best without you visiting more often.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t ce me on such a high pedestal. It won¡¯t work on me.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Refusing to let me be humble, he wrote down a string of text onto a sheet of paper. ¡°You are our VIP of VIPs. If we calcte your loan and interest, you have an outstanding amount of 538,440 taels and 6 copper coins. I see you are still a generous spender. Who else but you owes over five hundred thousand in one transaction?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I owe that much!¡±

    ¡°Bright Jade Restaurant in Canhu Town. A hundred and three thousand taels and the remedies for all the sects were a legitimate transaction. As number zero VIP, you can use the other items in our storage, such as blood demon armour and so forth for free. Your three months interest free period is almost up. Are you ready to pay your first interest instalment in three days¡¯ time?¡±

    ¡°I, uh, um, did I ever say I wasn¡¯t going to pay?! I still have three days! One day, one hour, one minute, one second, or even one breath, is not synonymous with ¡®lifetime¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Of course. Of course. This one was merely reminding you. Should you not be able to pay when it is due, we will have to take some action for the sake of maintaining our business.¡±

    ¡°Is that a threat?! You going to send assassins?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. This one would not dare send assassins after you.¡± Beaming, he borated, ¡°But we will have to disclose your location to everyone you have enmity with for somepensation.¡±

    ck and White Reflection, my foot! White is for purity! You¡¯re still as shady as ever!

    ¡°I didn¡¯te here to talk about that today.¡± I passed him a fragmented book of Nanjiang¡¯s royal family. ¡°How long will it take to trante this book?¡±

    He giddily flipped through the book, then answered, ¡°Three days.¡±

    ¡°I have several more simr books. Can you finish in two days?¡±

    ¡°Possibly.¡± He set the book down and smiled. ¡°It will cost a hefty sum, however.¡±

    ¡°Done.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask how much it¡¯d cost to save myself the stress of having the number constantly in my head.

    ¡°Have you received a reply for the letter I asked you to send to Western Regions two days ago?¡±

    ¡°Let me see¡­¡± He opened the small notebook he always kept on him, scanning it whilst humming. He drew out a scroll from a shelf nearby. ¡°This is the reply.¡±

    ¡°Great. I have another letter I want delivered to League of Assassins¡¯ headquarters in Qinghe. It¡¯s addressed to their boss.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Would you like standard or express courier?¡±

    ¡°Send it today, and have it reach the end of the world tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have the other books delivered soon.¡± I gave him a few other tasks prior to leaving with the reply I was waiting for, but I stopped on my way out. ¡°Any news?¡±

    He flipped through his notebook and then smiled: ¡°Whereabouts, still unknown.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Got it.¡±

    Glossary

    Whereabouts, still unknown - the individual in question¡¯s gender isn¡¯t specified.

 Volume 11 27 Four Monarchs Convene for the First Time in Ages (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 27 Four Monarchs Convene for the First Time in Ages (Part 1)</h4>

    I was simultaneously impressed that ck and White Reflection finished tranting all the books in a single day and depressed over the fact that I now had another debt. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, the scratches and creases in the books were a product of previous Kings vandalising the books when they failed to understand the ancient text. I remember Ah Neath roughly scrubbing her head and thumping her desk when she read them, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if my presumption was correct.

    Unlike ck and White Reflection, I couldn¡¯t read ten books in one sitting. Therefore, I started with those rted to Shaman Monarch or Shaman Faith. The more I gleaned, the harder it was to resist my urge to smile. Indeed, Gegewu had no reason to be anxious.

    Shaman Faith¡¯s rule had always created a rift that shed with the Kings¡¯ rules. The first Shaman Monarch forced others to submit to him using his godly abilities and immense influence. No matter how many supernatural elements were used to garnish the story, it didn¡¯t change the fact that Shaman Monarch usurped the thrones to institute a supernaturalden dynasty. Even though Shaman Monarch was uprootedter on, their influence had already taken root in the hearts of the people, which was then passed on for generations.

    There were points in the stories that needed further rification. First off, how did Shaman Monarch suddenly lose influence when the torch was passed on to the next generation? I couldn¡¯t find anything that provided sound justification in quaint books.

    Baimu¡¯s old texts noted that Shaman Monarch Dynasty¡¯s downfall took ce approximately six centuries ago. ording to my knowledge, Xiacang Anxi was united as a single nation at that point in time. The current twelve states were just clones of the twelve states then, albeit being domains with notably different cultures. Beussent reced the position of authority that Shaman Monarch Dynasty left behind so soon after thetter¡¯s demise that they had to be linked.

    If I were a betting man, I¡¯d bet it was Beussent that destroyed Shaman Monarch Dynasty. Going on the assumption that my theory was correct, Shaman Monarch should hate Beussent¡¯s descendants. Considering Gegewu¡¯s attitude toward the twelve states, my hypothesis dovetailed his attitude.

    The four monarchs arrived at Sanggongmo within two days and requested an audience with me sooner than I anticipated. Qingqiu, located the farthest away in an area known as ¡°wild mountains¡± due to it being the harshest and most primitive ce, should¡¯ve arrivedte, yet they somehow arrived almost at the same time as the other three.

    Although the four adepts apanying the Kings learnt different disciplines, there was no doubt they trained ording to Nanjiang¡¯s unique method based on their internal energy. There could only be one ss the four belonged if they all arrived nearly at the same time, and the only exnation for why I could hear them moving about was that there were four Sacred Beasts apanying their Kings.

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Iron Guardian called from outside.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I replied without thinking, ¡°They want to see me, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    That¡¯s not how you¡¯re supposed to react in these kinds of moments! Where¡¯s the gasp?!

    I guess Iron Guardian was used to the way I operated after spending time together.

    ¡°Their sudden arrival is clearly intended to catch us off guard. Do we need to make any preparations, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± I chucked the book in my hand down and stepped outside of the secret room in the inn. ¡°If they try to surprise you with an unexpected strike, use an even more unexpected strike to surprise them back.¡±

    I kicked open the main door, startling the four Kings, who concealed their identities with in clothing ordinary businessmen would wear, visibly plotting something together. ¡°Hahaha, I apologise for making you wait. Take a seat. Don¡¯t wee me.¡±

    Two of them quickly rposed themselves, while the other two needed longer.

    Surprisingly, the chubbiest King reacted fastest, jumping out of his seat anding over to cheerfully shake my hand. ¡°I should be the one apologising for not weing you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t need to be a genius to identify him as Feiyi¡¯s King when he was almost the spitting image of their envoy and was even shier.

    I jovially ambled to my seat at the centre of the room and sent off Iron Guardian, leaving just nine of us in the room. Subsequent to some procedural conversation, I said, ¡°I wanted to visit you individually. Unfortunately, I have been too busy. I am thankful you came to visit. Let us discuss our alliance.¡±

    Feiyi¡¯s King conveyed, ¡°Your return is the most important event. We would not dare to oppose Great Spirit Shaman, so we would not dare to disregard your orders.¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°There is no jesting.¡± Thenky, fifty year old monarch of Cheyou, who coughed yet again, asserted, ¡°We have been victims of your Great Spirit Shaman for decades. If you want to work with us, then his termination must take precedence.¡±

    I acknowledged with my head and then crossed my arms: ¡°It sounds like you do not trust him, but I have quite the opinion.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s sovereign, hiding all but her smooth chin behind a mask, responded, ¡°If Great Spirit Shaman cannot be trusted, there is even less reason to trust you.¡±

 Volume 11 28 Four Monarchs Convene for the First Time in Ages (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 28 Four Monarchs Convene for the First Time in Ages (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Shaman Monarch Pce has been oppressing us for a long time. Prince Gaotang of Feiyi has always been a respected envoy in every state, yet he almost forfeited his life on Mount Wanyu. Is that how you treat your allies?¡± Maintaining a calm tone, yet piercing eyes, the monarch behind the mask continued, ¡°We expect answers. Every year, Great Spirit Shaman demands infants from our royal families, promising to raise them into excellent individuals. We have yet to see our families sent there from forty-five years ago. Why? If you cannot exin this, then please forgive us, but we cannot consider working with you.¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t inappropriate to apud her, I would¡¯ve pped. ¡°Certainly, there is an issue. In saying that, you do realise it is Great Spirit Shaman who is responsible, do you not?¡±

    ¡°That is but a different means to the same end. You are his master. Are you iming the two matters have nothing to do with you?¡±

    ¡°I see it is true that Qingqiu¡¯s Queen is a valiant strategist as the praise says. If Baimu¡¯sss was half as sagacious as you, she would not be at risk of being forced to relinquish her rule.¡±

    My words elerated their heart rates. All eight individuals knew Qingqiu¡¯s monarch was a woman, but none of them ever publicised it as it was Xiacang Anxi¡¯s culture to seldom mention a woman inheriting a throne. Young Shiyi and Boss Shen did their research, then made me read the books of information eight painful times, so I was just pulling information from memory. In the eyes of the eight, nevertheless, they immediately concluded that I had them under surveince for a prolonged period already.

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen forced a smile. ¡°Now is that not amusing. As far as I am aware, the one trying to usurp power in Baimu is your shaman.¡±

    ¡°Shaman Monarch Pce is not Shaman Faith and not Shaman Monarch. Do you see what I am getting at? Did you not kill your elder brother to be Queen because he became Great Spirit Shaman¡¯s puppet? If you want revenge, I¡¯m not your man.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen squeezed the hilt of her short side strapped to her belt, while the other three Kings tensed up.

    I snacked on a piece ofmb. ¡°You seem to have a misunderstanding. I didn¡¯t dig up your profiles. Rx.

    ¡°Feiyi¡¯s King asked me for permission to conduct business with Western Regions¡¯ seven states, but he already finished discussing business and ordering. In just six months, Feiyi can start exporting goods. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s worthy of apuse?

    ¡°Chiyi¡¯s King tells the public their army numbers around twenty thousand whilst privately training a private military in association with minorities in the mountain. If anyone was to challenge them in the mountain terrain, they may as well forfeit while they¡¯re ahead.

    ¡°Chehuo¡¯s King, don¡¯t freak out. So what if he has fifteen thousand soldiers looking over your side of the fence? You imported high-quality horses from Western Regions, didn¡¯t you? If we do the maths, you should have enough for your fifteen thousand equestrians after all these years, right? Fret not. His fifteen thousand soldiers probably don¡¯t have any advantage of your forces.

    ¡°See? Even though I know all these secrets, have I ever told anyone? They¡¯re just collecting dust in my head.¡±

    All four monarchs jumped to their feet. ¡°What exactly do you want?!¡±

    ¡°Sturdy spines, I like it. Our Emperor probably wouldn¡¯t react the same way.¡± I continued loudly chewing on mymb as I swept my gaze over them. For some reason, they all appeared hostile. ¡°I just want you to help me find something.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Fengqi shenmu.¡±

    Because their faces all read, ¡°This guy is nuts,¡± I added, ¡°Rx. That¡¯s just the beginning. I want far more than that. I don¡¯t mind spilling blood to achieve my goal,¡± Imunicated I was serious with my eyes, ¡°even if they are at the top of the hierarchy.¡±

    Feiyi¡¯s King raged, ¡°I knew it¡­ You and Great Spirit Shaman are cut from the same cloth. Shaman Faith is colluding with Beussent¡¯s descendants.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen slowly unsheathed her short sword. ¡°I told you the centuries of hatred for us couldn¡¯t just vanish into thin air, but you insisted we meet him. Nheless, there¡¯s no need to watch him ruin Xiacang Anxi. We can end him here and now.¡±

    Chiyi¡¯s buff and chiselled thirty year old king flexed his arms. ¡°You done? Let¡¯s kill him!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I picked up another piece ofmb to eat. ¡°You guys know how to y go?¡±

    The eight confounded individuals turned to each other. Qingqiu¡¯s Queen then answered, ¡°A little.¡±

    ¡°Do you like going first or second?¡±

    ¡°Is there a difference? He who starts first will have to go after in the next turn.¡±

    I tugged up the corners of my lips. ¡°In my case, I want first go no matter what. If people are always first, what fun is left for you?¡±

    Understanding what I insinuated, Feiyi¡¯s Kingmanded, ¡°Get him!¡±

    The four Sacred Beasts behind their respective rulers made their move, moving in with two vanguards and two at the rear formation to box me in. Chiyi led the offence with his solid fists. Qingqiu¡¯s sword in the shadows, who was superior to Chiyi, stayed hidden. Unluckily for them, I already slouched back in my seat and rested my chin on my hand.

    ¡°Like right now,¡± I remarked.

    While the four monarchs advanced, those behind them didn¡¯t follow suite regardless of how they urged their men.

    ¡°¡¯The idiot didn¡¯t bring any guards or set up any defences. He¡¯s one man, while there are eight of us here and our Sacred Beasts. If he tries anything, we¡¯ll butcher him.¡±

    ¡°Your n won¡¯t work if you write it on your face, you know? What makes you think that I¡¯d just wait for you to kill me if I wasn¡¯t nice to Beussent¡¯s descendants?¡±

    The four people behind the four monarchs and their four Sacred Beasts went limp on the ground - unless vomiting blood on the ground wasn¡¯t ssified as incapacitated on the ground.

    The four monarchs could only re at me, hoping it¡¯d be enough to somehow kill me.

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen brayed, ¡°What in the world do you want?!¡±

    ¡°I told you: fengqi shenmu. Thing is, none of you have it. He who has it won¡¯t tell me where it is. What you four can do for me is convince him to give it to me.¡±

    ¡°Y-you want to take us hostage?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it doesn¡¯t need to be such a drag. I told you.¡± I took my time tugging up the corners of my lips. ¡°I don¡¯t mind spilling blood.¡±

 Volume 11 29 Four Dragon Heads and One Human Head

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 29 Four Dragon Heads and One Human Head</h4>

    As they came, so they left. The four sovereigns departed without fanfare just as they arrived after the brief meeting. Sanggongmo¡¯s cogs continued to turn as it had been for ages, oblivious to the pivotal day¡¯s involvement in their future.

    Iron and Wood Guardians could give rank eleven and twelve on Seventeen Hidden Dragons a run for their money, and they also knew Nanjiang inside and out because Great Spirit Shaman had to rely on them to do his legwork. They didn¡¯t switch allegiance to Ming Feizhen because he was great. They switched sides because Great Spirit Shaman was contemptible. Hence, although they reserved respect for Ming Feizhen, they weren¡¯t remotely loyal.

    While Tengji called Ming Feizhen his ¡°Big Bro¡±, a bandit doesn¡¯t just discard the banditry side of him overnight. The good part about Tengji was that he was a man who could set things down if he could pick them up; he¡¯d turn to whoever held the shiny ball. He and his brothers were closer to partners of Ming Feizhen rather than subordinates.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The one thousand five hundred followers of Shaman Faith were practically Ming Feizhen¡¯s private military; they could be considered Night Fortress¡¯ equivalent when he actively operated it. That being said, nobody could say for certain if they¡¯d hold the same undying loyalty to him once he was no longer Shaman Monarch since they were principally faithful to the faith. As such, he couldn¡¯t establish himself as someone for them to model. Consequently, some news of the day¡¯s event leaked to White Cleric.

    By the time White Cleric returned from his task to draft an edited tax system, he found Ming Feizhen had raised his own forces as well as earned the loyalty of Iron and Wood Guardians. White Cleric wasn¡¯t in a position to directly depose of Ming Feizhen or anything of that nature. Therefore, he continued secretly collecting information whilst touching base with Mount Wanyu. Originally, he nned to wait for Great Spirit Shaman to speak up, but news of the four monarchs¡¯ visit sent him sprinting off to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°How could you do that?! Are you trying to turn Xiacang Anxi on its head?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen continued reading one of the books on hisp, disregarding White Cleric¡¯s fuming.

    White Cleric didn¡¯t need to be told to know that Ming Feizhen was pulling stunts. Else, how could he have aplished so much within a month? He just couldn¡¯t stand it anymore when even Shaman Monarch Pce was in jeopardy, yet Ming Feizhen was justzing in his seat.

    ¡°You wretched rapscallion, do you know you just smite four monarchs of four states?! There¡¯s never been such a ruthless, vicious nutcase in all of Xiacang Anxi history! Y-you are now Shaman Faith¡¯s leader! How dare you do something so inane?! You think you¡¯re invincible just because you¡¯ve got some might to swing around? You¡¯re piss!

    ¡°You think a state¡¯s fate is tied to its sovereign alone? Ignorant fool! It¡¯s the bureaucracy that runs a state. A sovereign may be at the helm, but they can be reced. You think it¡¯s up to one person to protect a royal family¡¯s centuries of history? It¡¯d take them less than ten days to elect a new King and then sortie to avenge their former King! Have you any idea what the reprisal for killing a monarch is?! Who can stop an alliance of four states, you crazy imbecile?!¡±

    It went without saying that Shaman Monarch Pce had been having fun with restricting, isting and removing in every state for thest couple of decades. Otherwise, Great Spirit Shaman wouldn¡¯t wield so much power in spite of never leaving the mountain. Regardless of how much authority they were empowered with, nheless, they needed to pull strings behind the scenes if they wanted to change the individual at the top of a state. Should they publicly switch the ruler and the ruler wasn¡¯t useful, then all the effort would¡¯ve been for naught. Ah Neath was a prime example. If she wasn¡¯t easy to manipte and iste, would she still be alive?

    Ming Feizhen yawned as he rubbed his eyes.

    This guy is nuts! Crazy! Insane!

    ¡°You! You! Oh, I get it! Y-you think this doesn¡¯t have anything to do with you? You think you can just walk away? That¡¯s the height of na?vety! We have already drawn your portrait. Should any mishap befall us, the four states will stop at nothing to bury you in misery.¡±

    White Cleric started to harbour ill-will as he watched Ming Feizhen continue at his own pace. ¡°You think I¡¯ve been hibernating all this time? Haven¡¯t you or your two Divine Consorts noticed your dinner tastes a little on the sweet side? Great Spirit Shaman was the one who supplied me with the poison that thest Poison Guardian concocted. It¡¯s concocted from the body liquids of a notoriously violent snake species foreign to Xiacang Anxi. The next full moon you see will be yourst if you don¡¯t take the antidote.¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned the page.

    ¡°If you know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯ll write an announcement right now, stating you are the sole individual responsible. Else, I¡¯ll destroy the antidote, and you can watch your two Divine Consorts suffer as you die a horrible death.¡±

    Ming Feizhen lifted an arm and flicked a finger.

    Thud! Based off the sound alone, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for someone to assume a potato just dropped onto the ground.

    Ming Feizhen never took his eyes off the page, but his eyes gradually turned red as the smell of blood from the severed head on the ground permeated the room. At the same time, the corners of his lips crept up.

    Reports of Qingqiu, Feiyi, Cheyou and Chiyi¡¯s monarchs passing away sessively followed each other. Virtually every state military in Nanjiang marched on Mount Wanyu. The spark that would escte into an inferno spawned five dayster.

    Glossary

    Four dragon heads - I know Qingqiu¡¯s monarch is a Queen, but the ¡°dragon¡± in this context is just being used to denote sovereigns, not gender.

 Volume 11 30 Confrontation â€“ Gazing into Her Eyes (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 30 Confrontation - Gazing into Her Eyes (Part 1)</h4>

    Even though reactions to the murder of four monarchs and Sacred Beasts, as well as the extermination of the local bandits, varied on the surface, they all reached the same conclusion in the end.

    There were ims that Shaman Monarch Pce was merely annoyed that the four monarchs refused to kneel to Shaman Monarch and that it was Moyan n who killed the group. As a result, Moyan n¡¯s skills were embellished more and more as the rumour spread.

    Another version imed that Qingqiu¡¯s monarch was a one-of-a-kind beauty who refused Shaman Monarch¡¯s advances, resulting in the bloodbath. The other three monarchs¡¯ deaths were written off as them purely being in the same ce at the wrong time.

    Another recount imed Shaman Monarch had every intent to assemble and kill them so that he could wrest control from them.

    Strangely, Shaman Monarch wasn¡¯t one-sidedlymbasted. Like how minorities dwelling in the mountain regions never discarded their primitive practices, distinguishing themselves, the new Shaman Monarch also performed miracles as the first one did to usher in legends about him. This move roused the nostalgia in Nanjiang¡¯s residents, consequently increasing his number of subscribers. In turn, his rise to prominence drowned out the news of the monarchs¡¯ assassination.

    Rather than credit Ming Feizhen for the aplishment, Shaman Faith might deserve the bulk of the credit since the two words were the people¡¯s real belief system. The spike in returning followers once again proved that Shaman Faith hadn¡¯t gone anywhere.

    No debates changed the fact that four states lost their monarchs and that they wanted revenge, nevertheless. The smell of sharpened des, the heat of roiling blood and the sound of angry hooves could all be smelt, felt and heard from Mount Wanyu. In contrast, the man responsible for themotion enjoyed unbelievable serenity.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Shen Yiren stormed Ming Feizhen¡¯s room first thing in the morning, not even bothering to knock or offer a greeting. Equally as surprising as the tranquillity at the residence, Ming Feizhen was reading in bed instead of sleeping in. Despite him having changed, the neat bed and pyjamas told anyone observant that he might¡¯ve been reading in his current posture all night.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t need to ask further questions to understand what ¡°that¡± referred to. He turned to the next page, gaze still fixated on the pages. ¡°Sometimes, some blood needs to be spilt to aplish the goal.¡±

    ¡°I can understand killing White Cleric for poisoning us and harbouring bad intents, but you killed four monarchs¡­ Do you know how many more people are going to die?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s finger finally stopped, though it still took him a moment to take his eyes up. It wasn¡¯t just Shen Yiren¡¯s mouth that was asking questions; even her eyes were seeking answers from the bottom of her heart. Those eyes devoid of any other feelings beyond her genuine feelings dimmed the scarlet in his eyes somewhat.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that we were doing this my way? Don¡¯t make me exin.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you feel you did the right thing?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not, but it was necessary.¡±

    From Shen Yiren¡¯s perspective, perchance the four monarchs weren¡¯t virtuous people. Even so, they didn¡¯t have a grudge with Ming Feizhen, and she had never heard of any of their wrongdoings, so she judged his actions to be indiscriminate ughter of the innocent. If there was a big gap between his abilities and theirs, and surrender was the only option, then so be it, but it wasn¡¯t the case.

    Ming Feizhen could fight back. Shaman Monarch Pcebined with all its followers, Wanyu and Baimu¡¯s support, Heisina n and elites on standby at Xiuyu City were at hismand. If they really had to scrap, would the four really win? An equally important question to consider, though, was, how many casualties would result as a result of that war?

    Shen Yiren chose to ask Ming Feizhen for his reasoning as she believed he wasn¡¯t someone whose first option was to sacrifice people. She wanted to save as many people in her power in the disaster that may transpire, too.

    ¡°Noment.¡±

    This guy could piss me off to death! What¡¯s his deal! Refuses to answer questions whilst looking at me and looking pitiable!

    Shen Yiren was cognisant of the fact that Ming Feizhen was suffering inside despite appearing settled and logical on the surface. She had a feeling that he had reasons for bottling it up inside, and she knew he would most probably find a way to dodge the question if she tried to pry.

    Shen Yiren expected that reaction from Ming Feizhen frequently ever since he gave his word to never tell her a lie again. She could confidently say she knew him quite well at this point. To put it nicely, he carried burdens alone without asking for anything in return. To be blunt, he was in stupid. If the sky was toe down, he¡¯d get first and worry about exiningter. Coincidentally, he had the ability to handle the majority alone. Who could assert without a shadow of doubt that he would never make an error, though? If one man is handling everything, who can clean up his mess once he makes a mistake? ordingly, Shen Yiren had to keep a pulse on things.

    ¡­ Can¡¯t you trust me more? Am I not yourpanion?

    The longer she looked at his face, the hotter Shen Yiren¡¯s fire burnt. Vice-Captain Shen wasn¡¯t the kind ofdy someone could shoo off with just a word or two.

    Shen Yiren stepped outside and yelled, ¡°Hey, step outside!¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    Tilting her head to the side a little and raising her chin. ¡°Step outside. Let¡¯s scrap.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s brows rose as he sat there checking with himself that he didn¡¯t hear wrong. ¡°You¡¯re in the mood for games?¡±

    Shen Yiren tapped on her sword at her sash. ¡°Games? No. I know you¡¯re stronger than me. How about giving me some swordy pointers? I need all the help I can get for the uing battle.¡±

    There¡¯s one ce that can really polish a person - the political arena. Shen Yiren¡¯s justification for a match was ridiculous, yet she set it up so that Ming Feizhen would feel guilty if he turned her down.

    Ming Feizhen was going to shake his head post-deliberation, but he stopped himself because of the look in Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes. He set his book down, then zipped into the courtyard, keeping a helpless smile on his lips. ¡°Miss Shen¡­ draw your weapon.¡±

 Volume 11 31 Confrontation â€“ Gazing into Her Eyes (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 31 Confrontation - Gazing into Her Eyes (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Heh.¡± Shen Yiren drew Yujing, casting a silver light on the ground. The design of Yujing fitted a woman¡¯s hand like a glove, instilling a sense of tranquillity. For this reason, Shen Yiren always carried it with her to counteract her insomnia. ¡°Since you¡¯re better than me, I won¡¯t hold back.¡±

    Shen Yiren extended her arm in the same cadence as her lunge. She delivered all five thrusts of varying output to five different locations. If she had this sort of ability against Fu Xiang, she would¡¯ve beaten him five times already.

    ¡°Nice!¡± Ming Feizhen stepped out of the five strike¡¯s range.

    Shen Yiren put the pressure on subsequent to her misses, raising her speed until it seemed as though the sessive strike caught up to her previous attack.

    All swordsmen must learn to attack so fast that sessive attacks caught up to previous attacks in order to seed as swordsmen. Had Ming Feizhen done his homework on Mount Daluo, he would fathom the work it took for Shen Yiren to achieve her current speed.

    Whenever the pressure cut off his evasion path, Ming Feizhen would flick or poke Yujing¡¯s tip off trajectory. Suffice to say, Shen Yiren felt her force dissolve each time her force vector was changed against her will, but for some reason, she felt her true qi purifying. To speak less abstractly, her true qi cascaded out via a route foreign to her. If Shen Yiren¡¯s opponent was an ordinary swordsman, a unanimous victory would¡¯ve already been announced.

    In spite of missing all sixty-plus moves - not even being able to force Ming Feizhen to take her serious - Shen Yiren was convinced her calctions were correct. No, she didn¡¯t believe she was faster than him by any stretch of the imagination, but she was confident in her ability to see openings and time her strikes.

    ¡°Catch this, shameless punk!¡±

    Shen Yiren swung in a horizontal arc as though her sword was a hammer to capitalise on her surge in internal energy. The surprising alteration and weight stiffed Ming Feizhen backward.

    Although Shen Yiren looked smug, the reciprocal force that went down her right arm and her need for air deterred her from continuing her offence. ordingly, Ming Feizhen¡¯s thumbs up rubbed her the wrong way.

    ¡°Where¡¯d you learn that swordy from, Boss? It¡¯s wicked.¡±

    Shen Yiren barely kept her straight face. She had to because her aim was to find out what Ming Feizhen was thinking, not to spar him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything pertinent to say? What¡¯s your evaluation of my skill?¡±

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head. ¡°Your broadswordy should be good - at least I can¡¯t tell what needs polishing. That being said, I hear Six Phenomena Heart King Style includes a move called Snow Makeup that a female prodigy of Shen n invented. The six is in the name because, each time the practitioner strikes, they unleash six strikes in the positions that make up the snowke symbol. It¡¯s supposed to be difficult to guard against owing to its ever-changing forms, but I haven¡¯t seen it. Just now, you either tried a five-hitbo or a four-hitbo. When you tried to go for six, you increased the distance your sword had to travel, giving me an opportunity to beat you to the punch.¡±

    Shen Yiren used Snow Makeup from beginning to end. She never pulled punches as Ming Feizhen could hang with Luo Ming. In saying that, she had yet to grasp the quintessence of Snow Makeup, which was why she couldn¡¯t maximise its potential.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just exin it in detail? Six Phenomena Heart King Style is my n¡¯s swordy. Snow Makeup is the most difficult move to master. I was proficient with all the other techniques when I was fifteen. I still can¡¯t master Snow Makeup after four years of focusing on it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen found Shen Yiren cute as she beat herself up. ¡°You know why?¡±

    Shen Yiren cast her gaze up. ¡°You know why?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention broadsword just once. Luo Ming would¡¯ve dialled up the intensity if I said he was swinging a broadsword. Every time I call a swordsman¡¯s sword a broadsword, they lose it, every swordsman but you. In all the years you¡¯ve been training swordy, have you ever genuinely valued a sword for being a sword?

    ¡°While I like poking fun at swordsmen, among all martial artists who wield weapons, swordsmen have always had a ce at the top. They pursue swordy at the beginning of their journey and constantly seek the perfect sword skills no matter the price.

    ¡°I¡¯ve personally witnessed a sword maniac oppose his fate and resolve himself to make enemies out of armies if that was what it took. To him, his sword was his world. He¡¯d gash, stab, repel and would continue to do so for as long as he was alive, even if he was a man who could live for a millennium. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t respect people like him but that I don¡¯t understand swordy.

    ¡°In contrast, you wield a sword, yet your heart isn¡¯t in it. Turning a sharp weapon into a blunt weapon proves you have talent as a martial artist. After all, there aren¡¯t many mental cultivation disciplines that teach you how to change the nature of your weapon. In time, your creation would unquestionably be an esteemed tool.

    ¡°At the end of the day, though, a sword is a sword, and internal styles are internal styles. The leaves in this courtyard may not look bad when put together; however, the courtyard is a courtyard, and the leaves are leaves. They¡¯re distinctly different; nobody mistakes one for the other, let alone anyone mixing them together.¡±

    Glossary

    Snow symbol - the same one you often see on air conditioners.

 Volume 11 32 Interlinked Hearts. Floors of Heaven.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 32 Interlinked Hearts. Floors of Heaven.</h4>

    The driving force behind Shen Yiren¡¯s desire to train had always been to take revenge, not out of a love for martial arts. Training, to her, was strictly training, an exchange of sweat and time for skills that she now harvested. Up until now, her gift for martial arts and the mentorship she was blessed with ensured a smooth-sailing journey to the top ranks of her age bracket.

    A distinction between training and studying must be made. On an intrinsic level, a martial artist who solely trains ording to the instructions of their predecessors can neverpare to someone who chases answers for questions they have regarding martial arts until they have that answer. Following in the footsteps of those before you has a severe limitation: the limit of their teaching is your limit.

    Although Shen Yiren had yet to hit a teau, the silhouette of the figurative wall was now visible to her, and it was attributed to herck of dedication to swordy. From her perspective, as long as the weapon could exact her vengeance, then she was satisfied. Even if she didn¡¯t have a weapon, she¡¯d w them apart if that was what it took. With no attachment to swords, she had no motivation to research. She was never going to attain mastery of Snow Makeup when she was blindly following instructions instead of going the extra mile.

    Ming Feizhen giddily passed Shen Yiren a book, a sloppily pped together book that didn¡¯t even have a cover, he kept in his shirt.

    Upon casting her gaze onto the fresh ink and paper, Shen Yiren eximed, ¡°You know how to write books now?!¡±

    ¡°I copied it. Save your questions for now. If you want to improve, finish this book. Rather, memorise everything inside. When you can recite it off by heart, I guarantee you will be to wield a broadsword.¡±

    Despite ring daggers at Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren stuffed the book into her shirt. Because she stepped standing there after, Ming Feizhen asked, ¡°You still want to spar?¡±

    ¡°No. I can¡¯t beat you, anyway. Do you know why I wanted to fight you?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t lie, yet I refuse to share my ns. You¡¯re wondering if I can be trusted.¡±

    ¡°So you knew.¡±

    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve had our little match, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why didn¡¯t you hit back? You afraid you can¡¯t control your qi and hurt me?¡±

    Ming Feizhen narrowed his eyes, oozing a pushy aura that not even he noticed. ¡°What makes you think so?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Suwen told me the Fengpeng story.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sort of scrunched his face as he smiled all whilst flinching. ¡°Hahaha, no wonder¡­ I was wondering why you weren¡¯t surprised I knew about Six Evils¡¯ return. You already knew? Is that why you¡¯re here to question me?¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked as though he was going insane. He unwittingly pressured his listener without even realising how menacing hisughter was.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Yes.¡± Shen Yiren did her best to keep her nerves at bay whilst struggling to breathe in Ming Feizhen¡¯s presence. ¡°I came to ask¡­ if you¡¯re all right.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stoppedughing and pressuring.

    In the same tone, Shen Yiren continued, ¡°You mentioned you could smell it waking. Do you change in correspondence to its awakening? When it awakes, will you also undergo changes you can¡¯t circumvent? ¡­ Are those changes taking ce already?¡±

    Ming Feizhen, now calm, touched his nose once he recollected his thoughts: ¡°Noment.¡±

    Shen Yiren exhaled deliberately: ¡°¡­ I still trust you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips gradually stretched toward his ears a tad as he deployed a nod, and she acknowledged him with a smile of her own.

    It was faint, but it was there in those eyes locked with his. After she left, Ming Feizhen, noticing the emotions in her gaze in that moment, stayed rooted in the courtyard for a while. Subsequent to a sigh and head shake, his left eye barely had any white. There was only a barely-visible ck dot inside his red eye. He was oblivious to the upward curve at the corners of his lips when he took off. Whether he willed it or not, he smelt blood.

    ***

    ¡°He killed them? He killed the four rulers, hahaha!¡± Gewu slogged back a drink. ¡°What a fool. He¡¯s set a new bar for idiocy, hahaha!¡±

    News of the four rulers¡¯ assassination was publicised on its own only about half a day after Gewu received word of it.

    ¡°The fool dug his own grave. You think I¡¯m scared of you? Why should I fight brawn with brawn? I had you by the nose. You only have yourself to me, hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Had my master not given you the blueprint, you would not be able to drink so merrily now, would you, Your Eminence?¡± Qiushui ribbed from Gewu¡¯s right-hand side.

    Gewu adjusted his face into a ttering smile for the person sitting opposite him. ¡°Of course. This old could not have restrained him so fast. ¡®Yellow River¡¯ inviting you is the biggest expression of sincerity.¡±

    The woman outfitted in silver armour from head to toe - even her face - robotically responded, ¡°The job is done. You need only wait for the visit. When hees, leverage his n against him, and he will be hopeless. I shall take my leave now.¡±

    ¡°Why not stay here for a few days since you havee here?¡± Gewu expressed with a smile. ¡°It would be uncourteous of us if we were to just let you leave. It is our great honour to wee Sky Pce¡¯s three pirs back to the realm of man.¡±

 Volume 11 33 Nothing Makes Sense. Carefree Dark Chasm.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 33 Nothing Makes Sense. Carefree Dark Chasm.</h4>

    He was the same as every other youth around his age. He followed all the kids onto the spacious fields when he was a kid, so he followed them into the military, but, putting it mildly, he was mediocre in all fields. He was the only one to ride a horse backwards. When bullied, he didn¡¯t seem to care. It wouldn¡¯t be unfair to assume his mediocrity stemmed from ack of motivation to pursue anything. Yet, regardless of how tiringbat training was, he¡¯d be the first to start blowing a de of grass as soon as training was over. His name was Chi Yu.

    In the past month, Emperor Yuansheng andpany had been ambushed more than they had in the six months prior. If they weren¡¯t running into highwaymen, it was mountain bandits, gangs, highway thugs, barbarians armed with hammers and axes and more. Every single day, there¡¯d be two to three ambushes, at the very least, whenever they were worn out.

    There weren¡¯t many advanced killers among the groups; however, they always had the numbers and geographical advantage, empowering them to swoop in by surprise and pull out before their target could catch up. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group could bepared to a chunk of meat at the mercy of a butcher.

    After each raid, Emperor Yuansheng would hold meetings with all the leaders, and none of them would forget the contents of his lectures. Thanks to the constant ambushes and the input of Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples, they formted a multitude of defensive and offensive formations to repel their attackers. They familiarised themselves with the formations and improved at a rapid rate as a result of the daily practical training. In addition, the suggestion to have people from different groups spend their days together and spar together quickly built positive rapport between them.

    Tengji was the most annoying assant they had to fend off as he concealed his presence using his mental cultivation and then infiltrated their ranks to attempt harvesting Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head. In Tengji¡¯s first three attempts, he was only metres away from seeding. In each sessive attempt thereafter, he was caught further and further away. At this point, as soon as he showed up, two people would jump him before he could even run his mouth.

    Abels¡¯ seemed to be possessed ever since the day he came back all battered. If his arms were bruised yesterday, his face would be bruised today, and he¡¯d have fist prints on his eyes the day after. He was within everyone¡¯s sights during the day, but he¡¯d have new injuries when they met him the next morning. A-Lan and Mountain Monster led Evil Spirits while Abels spent his days peering into the sky no matter if it was the sun, moon, stars or rat poo up there. Every once in a while, he¡¯dugh as he stared at the dome.

    Heisina Tribe¡¯s small group of warriors showed what teamwork could achieve under Beussent¡¯s leadership. No matter what the conditions were, their group never took any damage.

    Following today¡¯s fourth ambush, the group finally found a resting ce. Half of their personnel went to rest while the other half were on patrol or watch duties. They had to cycle roles, or their fatigue would beat them without the enemy needing to attack.

    Beussent started to y the flute using a de of grass just as he did in his younger days right away. Squirrels and other small animals gathered around for the concert. Even a resting cheetah got up to y with a ball. Birds on the tree he rested against stopped to tune in.

    ¡°Beussent.¡±

    As soon as Beussent ceased, all the animals scampered away as fast as they could.

    Patting her chest after the shock, A-Lan apologetically dimpled. ¡°Did Ie at a bad time?¡±

    Beussent got up to salute A-Lan. He moved over to a small tree stump so that she could have his spot. ¡°You need not worry, Your Highness. This one was just entertaining himself.¡±

    A-Lan, as a tamer, was disillusioned with herself when she first witnessed how popr Beussent was with animals. ¡°I¡¯ve been so busy that I have not had time to check up on you, so here I am now. Is everyone doing all right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, not bad.¡±

    It was understandable for those unfamiliar with Beussent to presume that he lived carefree style owing to his casual tone andck of visible emotions. Howbeit, he demonstrated that he was more observant than any other over thest few days and possessed leadership skills superior to the other leaders.

    ¡°Why did you name yourself Beussent? You should be aware that not just anybody can use it.¡± A-Lan didn¡¯t expect herself to suddenly ask the question when she was nning to ask Beussent for his view on the current situation.

    Beussent deployed a nod and smile, having yet to find hisfort zone when interacting with a Princess. ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Abels has been leaving at night and returning with injuries every morning. I¡¯m worried about him.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Indeed, it is worrying¡­ It is okay. He can handle it.¡±

    A-Lan had learnt to embrace receiving answers that didn¡¯t serve to propel the conversation forward from Beussent. Even so, she enjoyed speaking with him for it was asical as it was frustrating.

    ¡°¡­ Beussent, are there really people who would be happy if I restored Morcher?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If nobody else, I will be.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, thank you very much.¡± A-Lan made her way back to her tent after her sarcastic reply.

    Beussent resumed ying his song, though the tone was somewhat different. The slower melody took him on a trip down memoryne.

    Soldiers in the tents continued refining their skillsets.

    Abels ran off to take another beating, yet he was in high spirits just as the first night he went out.

    Lai Jingzhen continued sleeping behind Emperor Yuansheng while thetter sat before Luo Ming¡¯s carriage. Luo Ming would asionally open his eyes as though he could see Emperor Yuansheng, only to then shut his eyes again in less than a few seconds.

    Beussent, as if he was able to see it take ce, ended his song. ¡°It¡¯s up.¡±

    Nobody could feign deaf or mute because the dragon made sure every soul heard its sonorous voice. Nobody noticed the soft, unnoticeable, sad and familiar sound emitted from the de of grass¡¯ direction.

 Volume 11 45 Nine Offspring. In Peril.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 45 Nine Offspring. In Peril.</h4>

    Shen Yiren¡¯s answer did not sit well with Emperor Yuansheng. As his niece, she knew of his kind and doting side better than many others. By the same ount, she also knew how decisive and rational he could be. If both of those characters were juxtaposed, thetter would be the Emperor.

    ¡°I think I can exin,¡± Feng Xue opined.

    Even Ah Neath looked back at Feng Xue with a raised brow. Ever since Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group entered the royal pce at Baimu, Feng Xue avoided meeting with them, opting to protect Ah Neath from the shadows and not involve himself beyond that duty. Even now, he draped a mantle over to veil his appearance.

    ¡°Though his approach was rash, in his defence, he had no alternative. Fengqi shenmu is needed to trap a dragon. One formation could save thousands of lives. He filled me in on the details in a letter. His n does instil confidence. Your Majesty, you need not worry. Should he try to instigate conflict in Nanjiang, I will be the first to stop him.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was aware Feng Xue was Nanjiang¡¯s Martial Paragon. Nheless, suddenly hearing Feng Xue¡¯s voice did make Emperor Yuansheng jump. He shook his head, then argued, ¡°Although you possess incredible skill, killing four sovereigns cannot be forgiven so easily. Furthermore, how can someone who does not show his true face be trusted¡­?¡±

    As Emperor Yuansheng reached the end of his argument, Feng Xue started removing the hood covering his bitter smile underneath. ¡°And now?¡±

    While Ah Neath couldn¡¯t justify Feng Xue speaking up for Ming Feizhen, asking him to show his face in order to convince Emperor Yuansheng to trust them was supposed to be impossible.

    ¡°It is you! Big Brother, what are you doing here?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng eximed.

    Everyone else: Huh? Big Brother?

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s elder brothers had either passed away or vanished off the face off Earth following their defeat in their bid for the throne; where did this ¡°Big Brother¡± suddenlye from?

    Forgetting all about Ming Feizhen¡¯s crimes, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°Huang¡¯er has been searching for you all these years, as has Father-inw. Have you been in Nanjiang all these years?¡±

    Feng Xue heaved a breath that saw his shoulders rise and fall distinctively. ¡°I never nned to return after I left. Why have Huang¡¯er and Father not given up?¡±

    Shen Yiren was the only person to remember Luoyang¡¯s Feng n¡¯s eldest son, Feng Jie, a man once called Zhongzhou¡¯s best martial artist. He was a man whose love for travelling saw him on the go more than at home. One day, he disappeared without anyone knowing why or how. Emperor Yuansheng had Liu Shan Men and his entourage search for Feng Jie to fulfil his wife and father-inw¡¯s wish. s, they were unable to find any clues, leaving it as a cold case.

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled a big breath of air: ¡°Wh-why did you be Nanjiang¡¯s Martial Paragon?¡±

    ¡°A myriad of reasons that outsiders do not need to know. Your Majesty, you know I do not make baseless statements. Ming Feizhen¡¯s n is quite likely seed. If your n is to control Nieyao, you must follow his instructions.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, what¡¯s this about now? Feng Xue, you¡¯re not Xiacang Anxi?¡± Ah Neath inquired.

    Feng Xue smiled. ¡°I was born in the Central in, but I am Xiacang Anxi. That will never change. Your Majesty, did you hear what I said?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was still hesitant when he heard from outside, ¡°If there is anything you do not understand, why not consult me directly?¡±

    Ming Suwen stepped inside and swept her gaze over the lost council. She made her way over to Shen Yiren and whispered, ¡°Telling lies to family doesn¡¯t suit you,¡± making Shen Yiren blush. ¡°Your Majesty, Ming Feizhen is also a member of Mount Daluo. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, why not speak to me?¡±

    ¡°Miss Ming, did youe back together with Yiren? Sanggongmo¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I just rushed here from Sanggongmo because I was afraid you would misunderstand. Ming Feizhen is currently recharging. There is more to the death of the monarchs than the public is aware of. He wishes to exin to you in person on Mount Wanyu in two days¡¯ time. Please afford him two days. After all, ying Six Evils is not something that can be done on a whim. He has found a strategy, but we are still far from being able to deploy it. Please exercise patience, Your Majesty.¡±

    Talk about a long confusionden day. Nevertheless, since Feng Xue and Ming Suwen assured him it was all right, Emperor Yuansheng put his trust in them for now. ¡°In that case, I shall grant him two days.¡± Emperor Yuansheng turned back to Feng Xue. ¡°Brother, you must be honest with me: how much longer do you n on travelling? Huang¡¯er has been waiting for news on you.¡±

    ¡°Now that I have revealed myself, I have no choice but to go back. Please tell Father that I shall pay him a visit in August this year.¡±

    Shen Yiren breathed a breath of relief that she missed, only for Emperor Yuansheng to order her to call Abels and Beussent in for a meeting. After all the pleasantries, they moved on to discussing Six Evils.

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s undertaking is to y Six Evils. Brother Luo crossed paths with them ten years ago, so he is most privy. Brother Luo, is the white python the dragon of Six Evils?¡±

    Luo Ming looked up at Ming Suwen. ¡°¡­ Yes and no. Miss Ming should know better than I do. Six Evils¡¯ dragon does not refer to a dragon but a race.¡±

    ¡°A race?¡±

    Ming Suwen borated, ¡°ording to Mount Daluo¡¯s records, a key line in the dragons¡¯ profile is, ¡®The dragon has nine children, each of which is a different type.¡¯ Dragons arezy by nature. Unless necessary, they will not take the initiative to build an army and feast on humans. Only two types among Six Evils have the ability to reproduce, one of which is the dragon. Female dragons can give birth, and they usually give birth to nine. The nine offspring are born more dangerous than mutated beasts by far. The Yanhui is only one of the nine and is the strongest among its siblings.¡±

    Glossary

    Zhongzhou - Now Henan Province.

 Volume 11 46 Another Encounter with Peril. Only a Matter of Time.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 46 Another Encounter with Peril. Only a Matter of Time.</h4>

    Mount Daluo pulled out all the stops to study everything they could about Six Evils - not in the sense that they all sat around a table, discussing and reading books, then trading notes. Their research extended for generations, and every generation meticulously every character on the pages. Every generation that was forced to fight put the notes into practical experiments against the Chaofeng and recorded their experience for others to cote into more data for, even if it was just one more characteristic they were aware of, it could save hundreds of people.

    Hero Shenzhou and Ming Huayu¡¯s records couldn¡¯t be used as averages as every generation apart from them sacrificed lots of lives to y the beasts. Ming Huayu was the only patriarch in history to ever bring down not one but two beasts without any casualties.

    Using Mount Daluo¡¯s standard - rather, the world¡¯s most validated standard - the dragon race was undoubtedly the fiercest of the six beasts. In the damage department, the other five couldn¡¯t hold a handle to the damage the dragon could inflict. Mount Daluo¡¯s Overarching Heaven couldn¡¯t prate its scales. The phoenix in legends might¡¯ve been able to keep up with the dragon¡¯s speed, but its strength paled inparison. If its ws were metal knives, mountains would be what tofu was to a metal knife. If its tail was an adult¡¯s feet, city walls would be sandcastles to adults¡¯ feet.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen says that the beasts dwelling in Nieyao are dragons without a doubt. Unless the army of mutated beasts from ages ago was revived, there is no other beast that could obliterate a state¡¯s capital overnight.¡± Ming Suwen pulled out a seat to rest and smiled at those who were irked or stunned. ¡°Confirmation of this cannot be considered good news since we would have numerous viable tactics if it were any other beast that had yet to mature. When ites to dragons, they are always at their strongest.¡±

    Ah Neath, even A-Lan, wasn¡¯t very educated on Six Evils. As a matter of fact, Ah Neath still spected if such fiends existed.

    Only Luo Ming, Feng Xue, Emperor Yuansheng, and Abels could digest the information. Luo Ming already fought one in the flesh. Feng Xue wasn¡¯t familiar with Ming Suwen; however, he had held a prominent post in Nanjiang for an extensive period as well as heard the details of Nieyao from Ming Feizhen. Abels was a knowledgeable man who was once one of the Supreme Ten Saints.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s knowledge source wasn¡¯t so clear-cut. Li n¡¯s intelligence on Six Evils was passed down as a parcel with the throne. The previous dynasty was shrouded in mystery, though, so Li n could be called a second Mount Daluo, but they could also be totally ignorant to Six Evils. Although Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reaction bespoke he was informed on Six Evils, to what degree was anyone¡¯s guess.

    Upon receiving eye contact from the four in the loop, the calm, somewhat peculiar, maiden stretched up the corners of her lips once again. ¡°What we can be certain of now is that there is more than one dragon. Unfortunately, we are not sure how many there are. There is a big gap between when a dragon conceives and when it gives birth; it could easily be a century.

    ¡°Our chances ride on the numbers one to nine. If it is nine, to be frank, you should just snack on some fruit. Enjoy the show. Take a tour, and then go home. There is no reason to make a snack out of yourself. This goes double for you, Your Majesty. The fate of the world is linked to you. Should you flop here, your swordsman will not be able to take over.¡±

    My swordsman? Is she referring to someone, or is she using a euphemism?

    ¡°It definitely is not nine,¡± Luo Ming asserted. ¡°This one and his Nanjiang brothers managed to vanquish one ten years ago. Given you said it takes a long time for one to be born, it is unlikely another one has been born since.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng voiced, ¡°In the worst case scenario, we will bebatting eight.¡±

    ¡°By my estimates, there should be around six,¡± opined Feng Xue. ¡°Should Nieyao¡¯s rumours be supported, even if nine of them destroyed Beussent¡¯s capital back then, they cannot have done so unscathed. Based on Beussent¡¯s strength back then, I hypothesise two dragons were lost in the tragedy.¡±

    ¡°Five.¡± Beussent kept a subtle upward curve to his lips. ¡°Five because Morcher did not go down without a fight, either. From my vague memories, Morcher¡¯s guards put up a valiant fight to the bitter end.¡±

    ¡°All your guesses are sound, but none of you are correct,¡± Ming Suwen proimed. ¡°All Mount Daluo can say is this: the number of beasts we have to face is not overwhelming to the point where we will be wiped out. Candidly speaking, if there are more than six dragons, then you would not be seeing me right now but my cousin, Hero Shenzhou. In other words, there would practically be nothing we can do.¡±

    Ming Suwen showed two fingers. ¡°We have two things we can count on at present. First, the dragons did not voluntarily give birth. As aforementioned, dragons prefer to hibernate. Therefore, man has introduced a catalyst for them to reproduce. Logically then, while a Yanhui may have spawned, it is not a threat - far from being one. We have a chance at triumph if the other dragons are also at the same stage.

    ¡°Second, Shaman Faith has a means of some sort to control the dragons. Most likely, the dragons are tools to achieve something ambitious. It is the most moronic idea anyone can have. Mount Daluo has records of innumerable colossal idiots who attempted the same thing, and not one of them seeded. Please bear in mind that the enemy are perilous beasts, not humans. The existence of those idiots will only increase our odds of winning.¡±

    The meeting was adjourned at daybreak and then continuedter. In just twelve more hours, every state¡¯s military would convene at Mount Wanyu.

    Glossary

    My swordsman? Is she referring to someone, or is she using a euphemism? - Rewritten joke. It¡¯s the same word y on ¡°sword¡± and ¡°scum¡±. If you¡¯re wondering why anyone could mix them up, it¡¯s because the verb Ming Suwen attaches to ¡°wielding a sword¡± ismonly used for ¡°being¡± in ¡°being scum¡±.

 Volume 11 36 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 36 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 1)</h4>

    The forest leaves resembled dancers apanying a performance between two martial artists. The sh of their weapons and snapping branches kept the leaves in rhythm.

    Who the hell is this kid? God damn, he¡¯s tough.

    Teng Ji had been on a roll - a second Zhao Zilong - recently thanks to Shaman Monarch and his Divine Consort sharing everyone¡¯s weaknesses, disciplines, levels and the ws in their formations. Even though they gradually strengthened their rear, he was still able to startle them each time. After all, he was akin to a ghost that coulde and go as he fancied.

    Besides pocketing a handsome sum for his work, the maids Shaman Monarch sent Teng Ji were always praising him and offering to cook for him. In addition, he made two significant improvements in his skills thanks to Shaman Monarch¡¯s pointers when he had teaued for a decade. Reliving the glory days simr to the days under Gu Wuzhu prompted Teng Ji to consider a life as Shaman Monarch¡¯s vassal henceforth. Although his subordinates were ruthless, they were softer than the bandits under Gu Wuzhu.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Teng Ji¡¯s streak of good luck ended when a young swordsman adorning white from head to toe stepped up to the te. Teng Ji had no clue how the swordsman found him, but the polite swordsman was a tough nut to crack.

    ¡°This one is the sixth disciple of Mount Daluo¡¯s Huayu of the World - Lian Zhuiyue. Please go easy on him.¡±

    The girls squealed no matter what minor things Lian Zhuiyue said or did.

    ¡°Go easy on you, my foot!¡±

    Teng Ji hated hypocritical, sanctimonious schrs with a vengeance, so he couldn¡¯t even be bothered remembering Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s name.

    Teng Ji went for Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s head; however, Lian Zhuiyue caught the broadsword between two fingers, denying it another inch. If Teng Ji was educated, he¡¯d be able to identify Savage y¡¯s ¡°Conqueror Finger¡±, a technique that embraced flexibility.

    Lian Zhuiyue furrowed his brows. ¡°This is our first time meeting. Why are you trying to kill this one?¡±

    Humiliated, Teng Ji pulled his broadsword out, then started swinging again.

    ***

    If not counting Tianfeng Xuanyuan mimicking Sima Huai, there were two Mount Daluo disciples back at camp with knitted brows.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan repeated after Sima Huai.

    Sima Huai smacked his brother over the head. ¡°Is this the right time for games?!¡± He then stomped on Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s foot. ¡°What stupidity is Sixth up to now?¡±

    Xia¡¯er: ¡°Right?! The beast has awoken, yet he¡¯s gone off to fight my brother¡¯s subordinate! What an idiot!¡±

    Because Teng Ji had be a thorn in the side of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group with his ever-increasing skill and experience as a bandit, Lian Zhuiyue, being the heralded handsome, skilled defender of justice he was, offered to persuade Teng Ji to turn over a new leaf. He asserted Teng Ji wasn¡¯t a bad man but was still unable to see an alternative lifestyle after his bloody history.

    It wouldn¡¯t matter if the circumstances difference, but there was a dragon roar just days ago that was audible to everyone. While others might¡¯ve been confused, Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples¡¯ tensions were running high already for a safe haven no longer existed in Nanjiang.

    In spite of his concern, Sima Huai still couldn¡¯t resist admonishing Xia¡¯er. ¡°Enough. Sixth has nothing on you. Even if he was here, he wouldn¡¯t be able to offer any brighter ideas.¡±

    ¡°Did I ask him toe up with a n?¡± Xia¡¯er pouted. ¡°I want him to protect me! If I was going to depend on you to protect me, I¡¯d be eaten eight times!¡±

    ¡°How would you be eaten eight times with me here? At most, you¡¯d be eaten once!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same thing?!¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan took out a pear to fulfil his quota of one pear per day, but he spent ages staring at it as if it reminded him of Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen told him he¡¯d be back when Tianfeng Xuanyuan finished the basket of pears. Suddenly, he dropped the pear when his hand instinctively flinched. He went from happy to concerned and then despair. He tucked his chin into his corbone and then bolted out.

    ¡°What¡¯s Fifth Brother¡¯s deal?¡±

    ¡°Crud! Fifth¡¯s senses are sharper than ours. He must¡¯ve sensed something. After him!¡±

    Sima Huai only needed a couple of steps to catch up to Tianfeng Xuanyuan. Owing to his qinggong specialty, Sima Huai¡¯s sense of smell was heightened beyond others, which was how he noticed an odd smell. Coming from the forest was the faint, yet impossible to miss, stench of wild beasts.

    Glossary

    Zhao Zilong - Also known as Zhao Yun. Teng Ji¡¯s infiltration behind enemy lines is beingpared to the story of Zhao Zilong breaking through Cao Cao¡¯s forces to rescue Liu Chan during the escape from Changban.

 Volume 11 37 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 37 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 2)</h4>

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t share Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s profile with Teng Ji. In their long exchange, fighting in eight ces already, Lian Zhuiyue still kept Teng Ji at bay using his bare hands. Teng Ji presumed he had more experience than his opponent, so he tried to use feints and mind games. The n didn¡¯t work since Lian Zhuiyue was able to adapt as needed, be it rhythm, soft or hard. Lian Zhuiyue had yet to utilise his finger technique a second time since catching Teng Ji¡¯s sword in the first exchange, demonstrating a clear gap in their levels.

    Seeing as there was no way to technically win, Teng Ji counted on physical attributes. s, Lian Zhuiyue was too elusive for Teng Ji to force him into a trading game. A war of attrition wasn¡¯t going to work, either, as Lian Zhuiyue had yet to even break a sweat. Most importantly, the swordsman had yet to even draw his sword.

    What happened to me easily demolishing them? I can¡¯t even make this guy draw his sword!

    ¡°What the devil do you want?¡± Teng Ji ceased his offence but remained in his fighting stance. ¡°You still haven¡¯t even drawn your sword. Are you looking down on me?!¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue politely pulled up the corners of his lips. ¡°This one¡¯s swordy is very advanced. Once he draws his sword, there is very little room to hold back. You are too skilled for this one to hold back against you. As we have no enmity between us, this one does not wish to use his sword.¡±

    In other words, I¡¯ll get hurt once you unsheathe your sword? Okay, hot shot!

    Teng Ji squeezed his scabbard, setting his mind on forcing Lian Zhuiyue to draw his sword, because he wanted to see if it was a bluff. Howbeit, the gales generated from someone uprooting grass with his approaching speed put a damper on the n.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan pulled over when awareness of his surroundings returned to him. ¡°Huh? What am I doing here?¡±

    ¡°Your senses acted up, what else?¡± Sima Huai responded. ¡°You ran here on your two legs. Now, check again: are you sure it¡¯s close by?¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan closed his eyes. While his senses weren¡¯t as sharp as before, he could sense a faint presence; he opened his eyes to notify, ¡°It¡¯s nearby. It¡¯s the same as the ones on the mountain.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Fifth, tell everyone to be ready for battle. Use n bing. Deploy Southeast Stone Gate Formation. Escorting Hero Li to safety takes priority. Don¡¯t brush it off just because we¡¯re not one of them. We can only give it everything we have if Hero Li is safe.¡±

    As soon as Xia¡¯er caught up to them, she sped back in the opposite direction.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Xia¡¯er had already ran twenty-five metres back.

    ¡°Remind them: be ready for sacrifices.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Third Brother, I detect abnormal qi in that direction,¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan informed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Not long after Mount Daluo¡¯s duo set off, someone clothed in back glided through the forest, remaining just an inch off the ground. The des of grass bent to the side to clear a path for the man with his face wrapped up in ck cloth. He stopped around fifty metres away from Teng Ji and Lian Zhuiyue. Without concern for giving off his location, he, in a raspy voice sardonically questioned in Mandarin with a Nanjiang ent, said, ¡°Do you two gentleman realise you are disturbing people with your fight in the middle of the night? It is a sin.

    Lian Zhuiyue ced his fist and palm together. ¡°This one is a twenty-ninth generation disciple of Mount Daluo, sixth direct disciple of Hua of the World. This one apologies for making a ruckus at night.¡±

    ¡°I see the rumours that Lian Zhuiyue is a polite gentleman and the future of the Central in¡¯s orthodox sects are true.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You tter this one, Elder.¡±

    Teng Ji, a man who disdained the long-winded type of conversation, erupted. ¡°What¡¯s it to you? What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? What sin are you babbling about now?¡±

    ¡°Disrupting this old one from letting his cattle out to graze is obviously a sin,¡± the elder hiked up the corner of his lip as he showed his eyes, ¡°that incurs the death penalty!¡±

    ¡°Sixth, watch out for the beast!¡± Sima Huai yelled from the forest.

    An extremely long, strange-shaped silhouette at the man¡¯s feet leapt at Lian Zhuiyue. The brown silhouette belonged to a snake over fifteen metres long. The reason its owner appeared to glide through the forest and part thewn was due to the snake carrying him whilst remaining camouged thanks to its brown colour. The horrendous stench it oozed all the way to the high heavens came from its venom.

    The snake made a beeline for Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s chest faster than any wild beast could by arge margin. Lian Zhuiyue drew his sword and started slicing away. In spite of its speed, Lian Zhuiyue hacked into eighteen parts in no time at all without staining his clothing.

    ¡°Fantastic! Fantastic ¡®Hero Has No Regrets¡¯! That¡¯s what I call advanced swordy!¡±

    Sima Huai and Tianfeng Xuanyuan finally arrived, boxing the man in between them, Lian Zhuiyue and Teng Ji.

    The man shook his head. ¡°I just praised you for being polite, only for you to kill my pet without any exnation.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue whipped the blood off his sword and, wearing a straight face, responded, ¡°The snake was malicious. This one learnt swordy to execute evil. If he lets evil go, he would have lived a life in vain.¡±

    Glossary

    n bing - Just in case of confusion, ¡°bing¡± is one of several words that, in this context, are best understood as words that function simr to the words ¡°Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta¡± etc. You could just think of it as ¡°n A¡±, ¡°n B¡± and so forth. More on the origin of the word ining chapters. Don¡¯t worry about memorising them; just know that they aren¡¯t words chosen at random (exined next chapter).

 Volume 11 38 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 38 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 3)</h4>

    ¡°What was that again? Hero Has No Regrets? Excellent skill. You¡¯re an excellent swordsman at such a young age.¡± The man in ck didn¡¯t show any signs of anger.

    Sima Huai flitted up to Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s side and signalled for thetter to sheath his sword using his eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t seem bothered despite it being sliced in eight. If anything, your reaction makes it seem as though it deserved to die.¡±

    ¡°It did, haha. It made mymute here ufortable, so why shouldn¡¯t it be killed? Thank you for killing it.¡±

    Teng Ji ranted, ¡°Your underhanded tactics aren¡¯t worth piss. If you¡¯re a real man, fight me man to man. Give me three free shots to start. Let¡¯s see if you can keep your head on your shoulders.¡±

    ¡°I am terrible at fighting one on one. I prefer ganging up.¡±

    ¡°Perfect. Four of us against you is ganging up, right? Let¡¯s rumble!¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue ced his hands behind his backs, suggesting they should exclude him from the quartet.

    ¡°Third Brother,¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan whispered, ¡°I can still smell it.¡±

    Because Tianfeng Xuanyuan was pure-minded, his telegnosis was a lot sharperpared to his siblings. When it came to Six Evils, his sensitivity towards them was second only to Ming Feizhen.

    Surely nobody from their group invited the man in ck. Breaking the taboo of sneak attacking in the martial world is the equivalent of courting death, yet he remained aloof after they thwarted his attempt. As such, Sima Huai couldn¡¯t help suspecting the man had another trick up his sleeve. Moreover, the man said he was releasing ¡°cattle¡± to ¡°graze¡±, which was plural. One snake wasn¡¯t plural¡­

    ¡°Excellent insight, Mr. Sima, hohoho,¡± the mystery manmended.

    Sima Huai kept a straight face, though he was rmed. Unlike Hong Jiu, Lian Zhuiyue respected all the rules of the pugilistic world and always introduced himself as Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples. Therefore, his appearance and skills were easily recognisable. In turn, if the man discerned ¡°Hero Has No Regrets¡± was from Empty Palms famous twin - Swordless - then it was nothing surprising. Mr. Sima was a name Sima Huai used exclusively at Night Fortress. That being the case, the mystery man already looked into their profiles. In turn, this meeting was no coincidence.

    Seemingly reading Sima Huai¡¯s mind again, the man said, ¡°Not bad, truly a man deserving of respect. Full points, except you¡¯re wrong about one thing. It¡¯s true I want to kill you, but it¡¯s also true I¡¯m letting my cattle graze tonight. It just so happens that both events are taking ce simultaneously. Frankly, I don¡¯t need a n to kill you. I can do it whenever I please.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear how.¡±

    ¡°I like your guts. What if I told you the little baby Hero Lian killed was not the only one, not one tenth, not even one hundredth of the group?¡±

    Like an orchestra, rustling grass apanied rhythmic hisses while a variety of coloured scales wove around on the ground, taking up all of the earth. The sweet smell emanating from the snakes¡¯ bodies was somehow sweet unlike the gag-inducing stench from before. Howbeit, Teng Ji noticed his vision bing a blur and frustration seizing him when he inhaled only a small amount of the toxin.

    Sima Huai ceased inhtion. ¡°Hero Li, do not breathe in. The poison on the snakes is called ¡®thousand bats autumnpanion¡¯. It draws more venomous snakes over whilst causing harm to humans. If you breathe in the poison from a lot of them, the impact will be severe.¡±

    Unlike Mount Daluo¡¯s three unbothered disciples, Teng Ji could already tell how dangerous it was since he was already gagging involuntarily. He rarely brushed up on poison knowledge because his internal energy was potent enough to neutralise many poisons. In his defence, ¡®thousand bats autumnpanion¡¯ was nomon poison. He pinched his nose and thundered, ¡°Pussies use poison! You scheming cornhole!¡±

    ¡°Heh, you truly are Gu Wuzhu¡¯s mighty subordinate. I admire you for not crumbling and begging for mercy,¡± the mystery man remarked.

    The appearance of an army of snakes was more than enough to plunge a target into despair, much less them hissing constantly.

    ¡°For you to keep up your derision and try to win when you are outnumbered is also admirable,¡± Sima Huai said.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan stood to the posterior left, while Lian Zhuiyue stood to the posterior right as they would in a roll-call lineup, where they needed to stand in spots ording to seniority.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious: how am I at the numbers disadvantage, Mr. Sima?¡±

    ¡°Allow me to enlighten you. Heavenly Wind Advent. Argent Moon Gem!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Metal rattled as a group emerged from trees. The mystery man bound back before a hail of arrows punctured him. The fierce snakes cried as they helplessly sumbed to their injuries.

    Sima Huai locked eyes with the squinting, savage man and grinned. ¡°Thankfully, we can finally make use of the months¡¯ of preparation. I¡¯ve been waiting for you, Shaman Faith¡¯s Death Spirit Shaman.¡±

 Volume 11 39 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 39 Youth in White. Beasts of the Dark Forest. (Part 4)</h4>

    The snake-head creature could crush a city¡¯s wall if it just rested its head on the wall. Earth was too fragile for the monster that could leave craters in the ground with its sheer weight and wreak a path of havoc merely travelling from point A to B.

    There¡¯s a kind of smile that is depicted as nightmarish. No matter how much destruction and how many lives it took, it kept that same ¡°smile¡± below its eyes resembling someone afflicted with a severe case of jaundice. It just needed to exhale softly to erase motivation to challenge it.

    Ten years ago, one man faced the monster with his sword, hatred and rage, but only those who returned alive from that battlefield remembered the unstoppable personification of peril.

    ***

    ¡°You recognise me? Hahaha.¡±

    It had been decades since Death Spirit Shaman had been able to relish the joy of showing the pugilistic world why he deserved udit, for he had to work in the shadows to achieve the n he and Gewu envisioned. The aim of hiseback into the public eye was to clear the path to advance the n. That said, if it was too easy, wouldn¡¯t that spoil the fun he had been craving all this time?

    Sima Huai responded, ¡°I know where your snakese from, too.¡±

    When Death Spirit Shaman was killing skilled martial artists from the Central in left, right and centre, Ming Huayu had yet to make his debut. Sima Huai embodied the savageness of Nanjiang warriors, the ss of the Central in¡¯s martial artists and the ferocity of Beijiang¡¯s pugilists. Sima Huai¡¯s familiar exterior, yet different interior, intrigued Death Spirit Shaman. Hence, he stated, ¡°There aren¡¯t many people I n on sparing this time around. You can be one of those I spare.¡±

    Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t shift from the ether in spite of the increasing number of fighters rendezvousing with Sima Huai - including archers who had loaded their bows.

    ¡°How long has it been since I¡¯ve sparred? How about I warm-up?¡± Death Spirit Shaman huffed a breath onto his hands.

    Somehow, that summoned over several roaring tigers and leopards that elerated in perpetuity. The snakes let the tigers and leopards stomp on top of them without any fuss.

    ¡°Yi de Grind.¡±

    Ten Qilin Guards, split into two five-man cells, came forward from the rear, zig zagging in between the iing animals, slicing one and then moving onto the next fluidly. They were specialists at executing the formation as they already conquered thirty-man squads as ten-man cells in Beijiang.

    ¡°Sixth, to Qian position. Fourth, to Xun position. Brothers, Split Gate Flower Jia,¡± Sima Huai ordered.

    Upon casting their gaze in the direction of the footsteps that sent tremors through the earth, they beheld two monkeys triple their height storming over, fangs brandished. Dozens of tigers, leopards and wolves following behind them unleashed a synchronised howl.

    ¡°Be careful now. I am set on killing people to taste some blood.¡± As though Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s line was amand code, his snakes started shing their tongues again.

    The veteran Qilin Guards, slippery and brave Evil Spirits and experienced Emperor¡¯s Entourage agents were stupefied when faced with the foreign force. While they were stunned for how to react, Sima Huai calmly instructed, ¡°Split Gate de Ding. Sixth, Dugu, take a silverback freak to the left. Hero Li and Sixth, take the other giant to the right wing. Archers, prepare to puncture them dead.¡± The usually calm Sima Huai then turned back and yelled, ¡°Do you imbeciles have death wishes?! Freaking kill them!¡±

    Twang! An arrow flew off the string right away, perhaps as a product of Sima Huai¡¯s fear scaring him.

    The snakes hissed again, but the vibe they gave off waspletely different when arrow after arrow impaled them. Whether instinctively or purposely, everyone sessfully maintained the formation as they branched out into their designated roles.

    Dugu employed his defensive skills to keep the opponent at bay. Lian Zhuiyue changed levels throughout his assault, but he couldn¡¯t pierce the silverback¡¯s dense body.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan traded while Teng Ji just watched on.

    Besides Abels, pretty much everyone had arrived on the scene to help out.

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Whoop-de-doo, Nanjianger¡¯s sure have a big appetite.¡±

    ¡°Get your behind out there!¡± Emperor Yuansheng kicked Long Zaitian into the scuffle and then inquired, ¡°Young Master Sima, do you think we can win?¡±

    Eyes trained on the busy field, Sima answered, ¡°Not necessarily. Our survival takes priority in this showdown.¡±

    There was no point taking issue with Sima Huai¡¯sck of manners when it seemed to be a trait of Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples, so Emperor Yuansheng asked, ¡°Anything I can do?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Sima Huai nced over to Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Please grant me fullmand here, including whether to fight or retreat.¡±

    ¡°Granted.¡±

    The archers were able to reduce the number of snakes they had to deal with at close range. s, the snakes sessfully boxed them in as there were smaller ones that had an easier time slipping past - in addition to ones that travelled underground.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work. I don¡¯t have enough powder to ward off this many snakes, and it doesn¡¯t work on some types,¡± A-Lan notified.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Sima Huai asserted. ¡°You have me.¡±

    Sima Huai flitted into the barrage of arrows as a green sh, then pped his sleeve, shooting almost-invisible needles into dozens of snakes all at once. He needed to move so fast that he remained airborne as he was zipping in and out of batches of flying arrows whilst dispatching the snakes.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Those catching glimpses of Sima Huai in action could only wonder how a man who could take out four hundred, if not three hundred, snakes singlehandedly had never received a mention in the pugilistic world.

    ¡°Rargh!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng looked in the direction the roar came from, expecting some vicious beast, only to find it was Teng Ji capitalising on an opportunity to try and behead the overgrown monkey. If anyone could feel their neck turn cold watching that, it was Teng Ji¡¯s victim for thest month.

    Lian Zhuiyue finally immobilised the monkey on the ground without leaving any visible damage or blood on his sheathed sword.

    Dugumended, ¡°Striking upoints using your sword tip whilst airborne is incredible, Young Master Lian.¡±

    Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s smile never faded notwithstanding the beasts fleeing one after another. ¡°Impressive. Impressive.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen anything,¡± Ming Xiaolou responded, already positioning her dagger tip at Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s throat.

    ¡°Ooh, smart girl. Being able to close in on this old one proves you are smart and skilled.¡±

    While everyone was focused on what was taking ce on the battlefield, Ming Xiaolou sneaked over to Spirit Death Shaman. Like her brothers, they all had roles on the field that they excelled in, and she took the trophy for improvisation.

    ¡°I still will kill you even if youpliment me, so you can save your breath.¡±

    ¡°What a sweet girl. How about warming my bed? It¡¯s better than living dangerously.¡±

    ¡°Luckily for you, it¡¯s me who¡¯s killing you. If my parents or brother heard you trying to solicit sexual services from a young girl, you would die a painful death.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, are you so sure you can kill me?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡±

    Ming Xiaolou pierced Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s throat, yet no blood was excreted. Hence, she shed his torso horizontally and then vertically, but the feeling of gashing a human wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°You need more training if you want to kill me, hehehe.¡± Death Spirit Shaman shed his ck robes simrly to a golden cicada.

    Ming Xiaolou¡¯s intuition prompted her to retreat even though she moved in the direction of a pit of snakes.

    ¡°Child,e out and get some oxygen,¡± Death Spirit Shaman called.

    The earth began to rumble. Mountains began to wobble.

    Split Gate formation¡¯s primary function was to expedite a retreat at the sacrifice of a powerful offence. Sima Huai, nevertheless, never expected he would have to give the order to deploy it so soon.

    The colossal white python, smirking as always, crushed rocks it slithered over. The overgrown monkeys on the ground were mere ants inparison to the python. Like Spirit Death Shaman, it gazed upon them as though they were new toys it was eager to try out.

    ¡°Everyone, retreat! Nobody is to stay!¡± Sima Huai belted at the top of his lungs without needing time for second thoughts the moment the white python emerged. ¡°Retreat! Now! That¡¯s one of them - the Yanhui!¡±

    Glossary

    Bing, Yi, Xun, Qian¡­ - These are a Chinese system of ordinals collectively called Celestial Stems/Heavenly Stems.

    Lian Zhuiyue changed levels throughout his assault - Just so we¡¯re clear here, changing levels inbat means switching between high, mid and low (head, torso and legs), not switching between super saiyan and super saiyan 2.

 Volume 11 40 Pre-Slash. Post-Slash.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 40 Pre-sh. Post-sh.</h4>

    Wanyu¡¯s day and night could aptly bepared to a young maiden, energetic during the day and restful at night.

    It wasn¡¯t the first night Luo n¡¯s fourth young master silently spent his night beside a horse carriage while everyone else got on with work. Ever since joining Emperor Yuansheng, Luo Siming spent every night guarding his father¡¯s horse carriage despite him and his father not exchanging a single word.

    Though Luo Siming was given amand post, he had yet to contribute in any capacity besides delivering meals to Tang Ye on his way to apany his father or exchanging a few words with Tang Ye. Instead of being productive, he carved wooden statues whilst keeping his fatherpany, mumbling to himself or humming as he carved away.

    Every disciple in Luo n¡¯s sword department learnt to carve wooden figures during childhood as part of their regime to steady their swordy, and the skill stuck with them, if not improved, as Luo Siming demonstrated through his recent projects.

    Long Zaitian rubbed his hands together as he waited for Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s potatoes to finish roasting. Emperor Yuansheng, meditating on the ground, spent every night with them ever since Abels came back injured for he had qualms about their operation.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Smiling as he shook his head, Luo Siming added wood to the fire as the night was still long. Next, he picked up a long length of wood, unsure of what to carve tonight.

    Luo Siming had a chance to relive his childhood over thest few days. He had free time and was no longer burdened with the duties of Luo n¡¯s patriarch role or the misery of his father never recovering from depression constantly looming over him. He wasn¡¯t, by nature, an affable, prim young master; he was the naughty type to jump in wells, climb roofs and even roast manure.

    As a kid, Luo Siming would duck behind his mother whenever his father was angry because his formidable father was always meek when his mother spoke up for him. One time, his father refused toe out to see him after he caused trouble again, leaving him to cry until he had no more tears. Nobody could bear to me his father. Even his uncle only patted his head and said, ¡°You can¡¯t me him.¡±

    Luo Ming hung up his sword as a judge of the pugilistic world and hung up his uniform as a cksmith following his wife¡¯s passing. It would also be correct to say that he lost his motivation to reach higher realms of swordy and smithing from that day. All he did was leave behind a semnce of a path for his children.

    Perhaps it would be hard. Perhaps it would take five years - maybe ten. Nheless, there were people who hoped and believed Luo Ming could pull himself out of the mire for he was their hope as well as their saviour. In the end, though, it took longer than anyone expected and longer than anyone had the patience for.

    Never did it cross anyone¡¯s mind that Luo Ming¡¯s southern campaign would be the start of his downfall instead of his next level up. The assumption was seeded in the belief that he was a man who pursued the way of the sword, the epitome of a swordsman. If they were to ask Luo Siming, however, he¡¯d opine differently.

    Owing to his obligation to carry his n on his shoulders, Luo Ming had higher standards than others when it came to swordy. In saying that, Luo Siming didn¡¯t believe his father subscribed to the axiom that true swordsmen were loners. By the same ount, his father¡¯s pinnacle of swordy wasn¡¯t a profound set of skills that epassed all skills in the world. Luo Siming believed his father pursued swordy infused with emotion and character.

    Luo Ming used to hold Luo Siming by the hand to impart his swordy knowledge, but his mother would asionally pull pranks. Even though it annoyed him, Luo Ming would smile.

    Luo Siming was so focused on what his hands were doing that he was oblivious to the ruckus made when Emperor Yuansheng andpany sortied. The project he chose for tonight was the sword his father first taught him to forge. Nothing special. Just nostalgic.

    ¡°Dad.¡± Luo Siming gently uttered, ¡°I miss Mother.¡±

    The loud sound of a hasty retreat and the sight of warriors practically fleeing helter skelter interrupted Luo Siming. Their bodynguage bespoke their despair.

    Even though the python must¡¯ve been ¡°ambling¡±, the trail of devastation terrified them. Nothing was as scary as the smirk, nheless.

    ¡°Run! It¡¯s one of the Evils!¡± Sima Huai bellowed, no longer able to exhibit his signature collected side.

    Luo Siming wanted to leave, but he couldn¡¯t since there was a man he couldn¡¯t abandon behind him. The smirk on under the rust-like yellow eyes showed the python had nopassion to give him, though. Nobody doubted it¡¯d crush Luo Siming once it slithered over him - until a wave of sword qi exploded on its head!

    The impact of the qi explosion undted all the qi in the atmosphere, splintering rocks it flitted past. Still, nothing could be more shocking than the fact that the python actually stopped.

    Only those who were there to witness it ten years ago would recognise the sh that drove back the beast. The same man would stop it again ten yearster in the same fashion, except that the sword he wielded ten yearster was merely a wooden sword.

    The man standing in between his son and an old enemy muttered under his breath, ¡°Stubborn boy.¡±

    Hot silver streaks coursed down Luo Siming¡¯s face. Likewise, Heavenly Swordsman released his restrained tears.

 Volume 11 52 Super Difficult Challenge. A Bone That Never Shouldâ€™ve Been Picked.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 52 Super Difficult Challenge. A Bone That Never Should¡¯ve Been Picked.</h4>

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, what shall I do next?¡± Gewu strolled a few steps forward whilst mumbling.

    Contrary to Ming Feizhen¡¯s heavy breathing, Gewu was stress free as he procured information from the visages of those around in order to make the most apt calls. He could expand his knowledge, strengthen his energy, umte power and wealth beyond what one could obtain in their lifespan, and reverse aging. s, there was nothing he could do about his ever-burgeoning resentment toward the world.

    ¡°J-Jiang Zhouzi, what are you doing?¡± Ah Neath still hadn¡¯t caught up with why Ming Feizhen sted a great guya to smithereens, why his eyes were read and the reason he was scowling.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please step back.¡± Feng Xue was already in front of Ah Neath by the time he finished advising. ¡°Please do not leave this old one¡¯s rear, or he cannot protect you.¡±

    Nobody would doubt the severity of the situation if even Feng Xue was guarding his Queen. The other sacred beasts were definitely shocked, but none of them abandoned their rulers.

    Luo Ming was the only one to advise, ¡°Your Majesty, please put some distance between us. Else, this one may cut you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng withdrew three steps, then looked to Ming Feizhen, perplexed.

    Wanyu¡¯s King hadn¡¯t forgotten Ming Feizhen singlehandedly took the strongest bandit¡¯s head. The four monarchs who cooperated with Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t let their guards down, either, not when they knew what he was capable of in their talks.

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen questioned in a low voice, ¡°Great Spirit Shaman, what have you done to control His Majesty?¡±

    Gewu simpered. ¡°Despite how many people are here, Tu Shane, you¡¯re the only one still in control of her emotions. You¡¯re significantly superior to your old man. If he was half as smart as you, he might still be alive.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen responded, ¡°My father certainly refused to modernise and sacrificed himself for his people. Had he been half as shameless as you, he might be a tyrant today.¡±

    Gewu smirked the jab off. He was the prime suspect for the untimely death of Qingqiu¡¯sst King; however, nobody had proof to incriminate him for trying to arrogate Qingqiu. Unfortunately for him, he was uninformed the King had written his will prior, passing on leadership to his daughter. In addition, he earned their ire as Qingqiu¡¯s vassals were loyal to the father and daughter pair. As a result, there was only thing that could be considered an earning from his plot - Qingqiu¡¯s royal family being more cautious in their dealings with Mount Wanyu. He took the humiliating experience as an expensive lesson to make sure he didn¡¯t make the same mistake when taking over Baimu.

    ¡°So, you knew this old one killed your father, yet you continued to send infants to this old one annually?¡±

    ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t treat them kindly. You want to raise our family members into your loyal soldiers and then enjoy the scene of us killing each other. You disgust me.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, you think I really n to use my followers as soldiers? I can have as many soldiers willing toy down their lives for me as I fancy, yet you think I care about the extra few you supply? Frankly, what I wanted them for is this.¡± Pupils dted, Gewu drifted over to amoner, then ripped thetter¡¯s arm out of its socket.

    Blood should¡¯ve been everywhere, yet not a drop was to be found on the ground. Instead, the arm withered simrly to someone aging and shrunk. Gewu threw aside the wrinkly arm and let a triumphant smile spread across his lips as he watched terror surface on faces. ¡°This is what your infants have been used for.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dead!¡±

    Feeling the air around converge onto a single path toward him from his assant¡¯s hand, Gewu ordered, ¡°Waste him.¡±

    Ming Feizhen flitted across and smacked Hong Jiu back to where he came from.

    ¡°Big Bro, how can you lose to him?!¡± Despite getting rocked hard, Hong Jiu mmed his hand into the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s Blooddeer Retrograde,¡± Luo Ming informed.

    ¡°What is that, Brother Luo?¡± Emperor Yuansheng inquired.

    ¡°It is an unorthodox discipline that people have ceased to impart for a century. It used to be the discipline of Overlord. While it does not impress in the power department, the effects border on fantasy. The practitioner can absorb vital essence from people¡¯s blood to restore their youth and raise their strength by stealing the work of others. It took our Founding Emperor and Hero Shenzhou together to take Overlord down.¡±

    ¡°I have a question for you, Gewu,¡± voiced Wanyu¡¯s King.

    ¡°Since I¡¯ve already said so much, I might as well indulge you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Elder Xunpan, the elder of Shaman Monarch who travelled to preach, was loved by his followers. Did you orchestrate his untimely death?¡±

    ¡°Full marks for you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ He paid me a visit at one point and told me you would kill him to cover your secret. If he died, then his knowledge is true.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised the useless sack of flesh paid you a visit when your state is the most involved with Shaman Faith.¡±

    ¡°He told me you¡¯re a member of Heisina Tribe and was not rightfully entrusted with Great Spirit Shaman Sect. You enthroned yourself, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Pfft, hahaha, ah, man. This old one assumed you¡¯re useless from our years ofpetition, but it seems that you desperately want a dance with death. Had you not mentioned that, you might¡¯ve been able to leave the mountain alive.¡±

    ¡°You admit to it?!¡±

    ¡°So what if I have? Who cares how I was appointed? Can you do anything about it? That said, I must give all of you props. You¡¯re still stalling for reinforcements. I don¡¯t me you, though. I understand you¡¯re no match for His Majesty. Although using your numbers is a sound strategy, has it not crossed your mind that I¡¯m also doing all this talking to buy time?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to buy any more time!¡± Le Kuangnu shouted from the forest.

    The sound of some animal from afar closed in sonorously. No feathers were ruffled, nheless, as every monarch and sacred beast were first-rate hunters, so they could estimate the size of the encroaching animal. They determined it couldn¡¯t have been an animal in a field based on the sound it produced. Only when they saw its smiling face did they realise the menace defiedmon knowledge. They needed a while to snap out of their paralysing trepidation.

    ¡°Le Kuangnu, you¡¯re too noisy, don¡¯t you think?¡± Gewu griped.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Is there anyone here who can stop us? Hahaha.¡± From the Yanhui¡¯s head, Le Kuangnu inhaled the fear of everyone below as if it was ecstasy gas.

    Le Kuangnu had history with a royal family. When a royal family minister refused to take him in as a disciple back in his snake taming days, he raped the man¡¯s wife for not stroking his ego. Consequently, he was sentenced to capital punishment outside the pce, but an emissary of Sky Pce saved him.

    Once one picked up Blooddeer Retrograde, it was impossible to go back. For instance, the practitioner couldn¡¯t just quit due to the side effects causing unimaginable pain whenever there werepses. To begin with, absorbing people¡¯s vital essence to restore one¡¯s youth went against nature. Therefore, expecting there to be no consequences was wishful thinking. For this reason, Gewu and Le Kuangnu were both belittled. Thus, the chance to look down at everyone present was tantamount to having the chance to p them all in the face.

    Gewu vocalised, ¡°Please think about what the best oue for you is. Do you wish to be nourishment for thisnd here, or do you want to be this old one¡¯spdog?¡±

    Nobody answered.

    ¡°Why waste your breath? Wanyu¡¯s piece of crap must die. You can do whatever else you want to do. We can add the wenches of Qingqiu to our beds, but I better get dibs. You can do that much when I¡¯ve sacrificed so much for so many years, can¡¯t you?¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen snapped. ¡°Shut your filthy trap!¡±

    Le Kuangnu licked his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll start with y-¡±

    Everyone saw Moyan Louhou sheath his de in slow motion. Le Kuangnu¡¯s head had been disced from his shoulders.

    Gewu couldn¡¯t even venture a guess for why Moyan Luohou suddenly turned on them. Before he could start thinking about it, he heard, ¡°Man, I can¡¯t do this. Acting isn¡¯t my forte.¡± Gewucked the courage to shift his line of sight to his rear.

    ¡°God damn, does it really take half a day to list your crimes? I¡¯m about to be dysfunctional pretending. Sheesh.¡±

    ¡°Ming! Fei! Zhen!¡± Gewu finally turned around to see Ming Feizhen smiling at him.

    ¡°Yeah, bro, what¡¯s good? Surprised? Astonished? Shocked?¡±

 Volume 11 53 Smug. Frenzy.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 53 Smug. Frenzy.</h4>

    I stretched out my limbs. Life hadn¡¯t been kind to me recently. Imagine being cooped up indoors, analysing how to convincingly y the role of a nigh-crazy Fengpengnia patient. Yes, it took me ages toe up with my emotionless-ring edgelord character, but it was excruciatingly hard to stay in role. Never again was I epting such a challenging role - it¡¯s unhealthy.

    Gewu went through every expression ever written in a novel. I would believe you if you told me he got married eighteen times and cucked eighteen times. Who could me him? Having admitted to all of his crimes and the illegitimacy of his post, even his followers in the distance wanted to spit in his face.

    I was the only one Gewu had eyes for. That sounds¡­ gross. Let me reword that: His eyes were on me. He had a case of silent chatterbox. The man was probably so mad that he couldn¡¯t breathe.

    ¡°Y-y-you fool-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, bro, I fooled you. All the cast, backdrop and scripts came together to fool you. How does it feel to enjoy the spotlight all to yourself?¡±

    Gewu saw the four monarchs wearing smugness on their lips. ¡°I! I! You! You! Possible!¡±

    ¡°You mean ¡®impossible¡¯, yeah?¡± I gave Ol¡¯ Ge a friendly smile. ¡°I was never in trouble in the first ce. Those snakes, dragons, dragonsnakes and whatever don¡¯t do squat to me. I just happened to see you musing over my condition on one of the days I came back to fetch some money, so I went along with you.¡±

    ¡°Scouts!¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, they did see me lose it because I went crazy for them. How else do you expect me to fool you?¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    ¡°You mean, ¡®possible¡¯, yeah? You¡¯d be right if logic applies, but, man, you can¡¯t apply logic to Six Evils. Like, the Fengpeng I ate alive has the biggest army. After you eat, you take a dump, yeah? The Fengpeng gives birth after eating. Like, where¡¯s the logic there?¡±

    ¡°But you! But you!¡± Gewu pointed to the corpse on the ground.

    ¡°Oh, the great guya on the ground? My bad. I almost forgot about him. Help the man up. Give Brother Lai some extra chicken drumsticks for his dedication.¡±

    In only a few steps time, Lai Jingzhen had reverted from his corpse form to his real form.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to take this opportunity tomend everyone on set today. First, Brother Lai deserves recognition for taking on the role of a punching bag and exploding when asked to. The next person I¡¯d like to thank is¡­ Pleasee forward.¡± Themoner who had his arm ripped off came forth and removed her mask for me to continue, ¡°Our adorable Wawa. Come introduce yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you to the King of hell! You done?! Squash him already!¡±

    I pretended not to hear Wawa in my ears, picked up a stick and went over to Hong Jiu. ¡°But today¡¯s best actor award goes to my junior - Hong Jiu!¡±

    Hong Jiu took the stick and dabbed his eyes with the back of his hands. ¡°Thank you for the love. I¡¯d like to take the opportunity to thank my family, my director and my brother, all of whom is the same person, Ming ¡®Leader¡¯ Feizhen. Without him giving the opportunity, I would not be where I am now. Henceforward, I shall carry this honour with me on my travels to promote love and justice. Love you all. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Wisdom certainly dide with age. Gewu was back to his usual self, save for his tomato face. ¡°¡­ You already connected with the imperial court? Impossible¡­ When did you¡­?¡±

    ¡°When I arrived at the bottom of the mountain. You don¡¯t think I came down ahead of you to engage in idle chatter with our four envoys, did you?¡±

    ¡°Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­ Why would the four monarchs listen to you?¡±

    ¡°I must give you credit for reading people well. The four of them weren¡¯t interested when I suggested we team up to lynch you; they even rolled their eyes at me.¡±

    While they didn¡¯t like Gegewu, they refused to go against Shaman Faith¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman. Comparatively speaking, I was less trustworthy than him since they had met him before.

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°Confucius said, ¡®Counter rigidness with money.¡¯¡± I sauntered over to Gergewu and quietly said, ¡°I gave them a letter Western Region¡¯s Dayue state¡¯s King personally wrote, agreeing to do business with them. What do you think is going to happen when money moves them?¡±

    Really, the root of it all was Gegewu. In order to pre-empt any threats to him, he obstructed states trying to develop. What he did is akin to stopping people from growing instead of continuing to grow himself so that people couldn¡¯t keep up; it harms thepetition but doesn¡¯t reap you any gain. In order to secure the opportunity to do business with the insanely wealthy merchants of Western Regions, they sided with me without needing a minute. My request for five hundred soldiers instantly became a thousand, too. The fewer people privy to the stuff behind the scenes, the better, which was why we kept it from the envoys.

    Gegewu watched me, seemingly waiting for something. As it never came, he grumbled, ¡°You¡­ You consumed dragon blood.¡±

    ¡°Did I now?¡± I took out a red pill from my shirt and waved it in Gegewu¡¯s face. I smacked it into my mouth, then opened my hand, showing him the pill. ¡°I glued it to my hand using spider silk. You actually think I¡¯m stupid enough to think I can trust your pill? While I¡¯m at it, you realise this isn¡¯t dragon blood, yeah?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Say what?¡±

    ¡°This is jiao blood. I see you¡¯ve also obtained the crimson jiao. Given dragons make a move once every few centuries, considering the three incidents at Nieyao, you have three to four dragons, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?! You¡¯re Shaman Monarch, yet you¡¯re asking someone to destroy your own faith?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Shaman Monarch now? Am I? I¡¯m the Central in¡¯s martial world¡¯s Liu Shan Men¡¯s faithful, ninth rank civil servant whose principles are not malleable to poverty, humbleness, threats, force or pork shoulders braised in soy sauce. See that dashing tough gentleman and that maiden who takes up the ocean over there? They are my superiors and her foster father. I only joined your faith to obtain intel. When did I ever sign up to your faith?! All that blood you drink must be loosening rusting screws in your head!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng looked pleased, very pleased.

    Gegewu had no retort. Hell, not even if I would have one against such a perfect guy inside and out.

    ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡±

    ¡°Save your breath. You think anything you say will get to me when you¡¯re about to die?¡±

    ¡°You ugly freak!¡±

    Watch your mouth!

    Gegewu really was a sly bugger. Whilst we were conversing, he shifted his position to jump onto the white python¡¯s head after disparaging me. Although Le Kuangnu died, the beast had the intelligence to know there was someone who took over, so it never made a move. As soon as Gegewu climbed on, it started wriggling.

    Blue and red energies from Abels and Luo Ming, respectively, stiffed the white python, neutralising its attempt to crush some people.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight. Let¡¯s go!¡± Gegewu, knowing he would inexorably lose,manded.

    Instead of charging through the dust to give chase, Abels and Luo Ming tuned around to me, who was pretending to take in the scenery. My reason for letting Gegewu escape boiled down to me not wanting to kill in front of Emperor Yuansheng.

    Once I was sure Gegewu was gone, I yelled to Emperor Yuansheng, ¡°I set up lots of traps up ahead. I shall go capture him now. I promise to bring him back, dead or alive.¡± As I took off running, I yelled, ¡°Second,e with me.¡±

    ¡°On it!¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming, be careful!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! Wait for my good news!¡±

    Never knew His Majesty cared about me so much. I appreciate you.

    ¡°Dugu, follow after Ming Feizhen to see what his true skills are like. Go now.¡±

    Hold up. I didn¡¯t get that script.

 Volume 11 43 One-sided Courtesy. An Emperorâ€™s Benevolence.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 43 One-sided Courtesy. An Emperor¡¯s Benevolence.</h4>

    It would be hard to find any visible traces in this rocky ce almost devoid of foliage, especially under the cover of darkness and their stealthy movement; however, the smell of blood literally marked it as the zone of demons. The credit for the trail of putrid blood belonged to the mutated army of beasts that used their former cohort¡¯s carcasses as sustenance for their campaign.

    Among Six Evils, the dragon was the most ¡°affable¡± since it wasn¡¯t so enthusiastic about murder. By no stretch of the imagination was it benevolent. It merely preferred to recharge rather than fight for prey. For this reason, Death Spirit Shaman¡¯s army didn¡¯t trouble them too much, though it was worth noting that the mutated beasts had a long way to go before they couldpare to the violent ones in the past.

    Able toprehend the woman in silver armour¡¯s intention, the Yanhui pulled over whilst remaining silent. Even though Death Spirit Shaman spent years learning to tame the beasts, her ability tomand the monster without eye gestures, movements or her voice exceeded his realm of reality.

    ¡°Your impertinence knows no bounds, Le Kuangnu.¡± Qiushui, now working as the armour-d woman¡¯s attendant, scoffed, ¡°You were given the order to send reinforcements to Mount Wanyu, yet you went off to alert the enemy. You think Baidizi is yours now, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­ This one caught wind of Mount Daluo¡¯s involvement. He was afraid Mount Daluo would ruin our ns, which is why h-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, Le Kuangnu. You think Her Liege doesn¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking? Had she not intervened, you would¡¯ve even summoned Chichen. Alerting the enemy and showing them our cards are moronic ideas only you woulde up with. Have you forgotten where you stand? Without Sacred Realm¡¯s support, you¡¯d only be a forgettable snake breeder at the border.¡±

    Sick of Qiushui¡¯s chiding, Le Kuangnu used a passive-aggressive tone to fulminate, ¡°Alert the enemy? Why would it be a problem if we expended even more to kill those ignorant fools? Had it not been for¡­ I would have annihted them. Alerted the enemy?¡±

    ¡°You would¡¯ve lost your life.¡± The armoured woman¡¯s presence suddenly came back onto Le Kuangnu¡¯s radar as though she had erased it for a while. ¡°You were fighting a losing battle. We didn¡¯t bring enough. Furthermore, we are too close to Mount Wanyu. If the bloodlust reaches him, he wille down. If hees, we willpromise our advantage.¡± The armoured woman then walked off the same way she arrived.

    Notwithstanding all the years Le Kuangnu indulged in hiswless life, he couldn¡¯t find a single fibre in him that had the courage to challenge the woman from Sky Pce. Grow his forces as he may, inflicting any harm on her was but a fleeting dream. Even arguing against her to protect his ego felt so futile that it felt too time wasting to bother trying. What never dawned on him was that his subservience was the reason she still used him.

    Once the woman was gone, Qiushui resumed deriding, ¡°Wise up. Forget Luo Ming. Even that Sima guy could¡¯ve killed you whenever he pleased.¡±

    ¡°Luo Ming hates me to the core. That Sima runt isn¡¯t a fool. If they wanted to kill me, you think they¡¯d spare me, genius?¡±

    ¡°You must think Mount Daluo is a sect of cripples. Why do you think they still exist? Why can¡¯t even we remove the thorn when they¡¯rewless and culpable for a list of crimes? You think there¡¯s another reason because they¡¯re strong enough to withstand the test of time?

    ¡°That unknown Sima Huai isn¡¯t even thirty, but Her Lordship stated, in terms of qinggong, he is among the top ten across thend. If he wanted to kill you, he could¡¯ve slit your throat three times and still had time to leisurely escape.

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s second senior disciple of this generation is the renowned Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider - Hong Jiu. He¡¯s the only disciple of Beggars Sect¡¯s Hong Ba. He embodies top skills from Beggars Sect and Mount Daluo. He has the potential to be among those at the apex of the pugilistic world.

    ¡°The one who cast Dragon-Confinement Formation on his own - Lian Zhuiyue - has vast connections all over the world from his travels. He has learnt Mount Daluo¡¯s palm, sword, finger, footwork and strengthening disciplines, not to mention he¡¯s already excelling at Castoff; he¡¯s pretty much Hero Shenzhou Junior. You think you can beat them with your amateurish beast taming? p yourself awake.¡±

    ¡°Yet you fail to mention their senior disciple, the one currently posing as Shaman Monarch. What about him?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ve been told not to act rashly. He¡­ Her Liege says even she is no match for him.¡± Qiushui almost chortled at Le Kuangnu¡¯s astonished reaction. ¡°He¡¯s not invincible, though. We have a chance to get rid of him right before us. Watch: every step we take toward Wanyu¡¯s peak is another step he takes towards his demise.¡±

    ***

    It was understandable for the group to be paralysed with fear, as well as fatigue, after the enemies retreated since it was their first time fighting an army that could fight through any non-lethal damage, not to mention witnessing the Yanhui¡¯s destructive power. Nheless, they passed Sima Huai¡¯s mission with flying colours as no lives were lost.

    While Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples gathered around to research the item Shen Yiren brought, Luo Ming caught up with Luo Siming. Luo Ming left the sword that he opposed the imperial court, betrayed the martial artsmunity and invested mountains of resources into lying in the dirty without batting an eye. Instead of worrying about his prized sword, he was more interested in teaching his son how to woo Shen Yiren - a first even for his son.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°We found fengqi shenmu, and we are leaving it with Third andpany to experiment with the formation. I was going to pick some people up, only to find everyone fighting off the python.¡±

    Shen Yiren briefly reported what she did at Sanggongmo, the deaths of the four monarchs and what she knew, deliberately glossing over information that could implicate Ming Feizhen. As a result, the group partially understood, but they were also partially confused.

    Emperor Yuansheng fiddled with his beard whilst mumbling, ¡°Constable Ming¡¯s deceit skills have reached the pinnacle. God damn, Shaman Monarch is more irresponsible than I am. Man only needs to fool his believers. I feel sorry for all the people he is deceiving to amass his wealth. Shaman Monarch must be a dream job, but¡­ We must make haste, or Constable Ming will be in trouble once they find out he is a fraud.¡±

    Shen Yiren stumbled on her words. While it was a fact that she was regrouping with them and delivering fengqi shenmu, the primary reason she left was due to having no alternative. If Emperor Yuansheng found out what was urring at Sanggongmo, Ming Feizhen would need more than ten heads.

    ¡°By the way, Yiren, who are you here to pick up?¡±

    Abels asked, ¡°Brother Li, did it not ur to you why that group pulled out?¡±

    ¡°That would be because you convinced them they could not win against your fists.¡±

    ¡°You tter me, Hero Li. While it is true they fled and had no chance of winning, their reason for retreating was not me but over there¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng peered into the distance, where there were hundreds of torches burning bright. If only the vanguard was visible in the front line, then there was an army of over a thousand. Only when the group came closer did he identify the one riding at the front. ¡°Baimu¡¯s Queen.¡±

    Ah Neath was among the monarchs invited to join the alliance that shared the goal of toppling Shaman Monarch Pce in retaliation for killing four states¡¯ sovereigns. Needless to say, Martial Paragon apanied her, which was more the reason for Sky Pce to fall back.

    Ah Neath galloped over to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group and dismounted. ¡°I was ruminating how to find you in Wanyu since you departed first. What a coincidence to meet on the way¡­¡±

    Luo Ming approached Emperor Yuansheng once he was done conversing with his son and knelt down. ¡°Long live, Your Majesty. Luo Ming hereby offers you a kowtow as appreciation for allowing him to keep his head for a while longer despite all the heinous crimes he hasmitted.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t have been any happier to hear that. Ah Neath, however, had her mouth gaping as her brain tried to catch up.

 Volume 11 44 Unbelievable Information. Turn the Tide.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 44 Unbelievable Information. Turn the Tide.</h4>

    Contemte as he may, Emperor Yuansheng could only sigh. ¡°Queen Neath, let us speak in private.¡± Before he left, he shot Luo Ming a re.

    Luo Ming just smiled back, proving he deliberately divulged Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s identity in Ah Neath¡¯s presence. Dugu immediately had a tent erected, then told everyone to leave so that he could personally stand guard for the important people to talk inside.

    Emperor Yuansheng provided a brief summary of Luo Ming and his background in addition to the purpose of their trip. Ah Neath still couldn¡¯t believe it until Feng Xue whispered something to her.

    Heavenly Swordsman was a name known to all of Nanjiang, especially the royal families as he was the only man to enter Nieyao and survive. While the inhabitants believed him to be skilled enough to not fear the cursed city, those abreast of the facts couldn¡¯t just treat him as a conversation topic.

    Ah Neath was taken aback to learn she met Heavenly Swordsman, but that was trivialpared to learning Hero Li was the man who ruled over thergest expanse ofnd. By the same token, Emperor Yuansheng was cognisant of how Ah Neath would react. Nheless, Baimu¡¯s support was integral to his n. Indeed, he felt he could trust her owing to the time they already spent together and Ah Neath as a person, but Luo Ming was the one who persuaded Emperor Yuansheng to stop concealing his identity.

    Luo Ming already proved he was a man who could reliably forecast the future and n for it. Had Empyrean Zha not fallen down from heaven, Luo Ming would¡¯ve had the imperial court by the nose. Luo Ming was too proud to be the sort of man to admit to his wrongs, only to go back on his words. If he exposed Emperor Yuansheng, then he must¡¯ve trusted Ah Neath, though only Luo Ming knew what he saw.

    ¡°¡­ Are you nning to get involved with Xiacang Anxi, Your Majesty?¡± Ah Neath looked up at longst.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ah Neath¡¯s cheeks would¡¯ve easily led to someone mistaking she was drunk. ¡°Please take a seat! Feng Xue, tea!¡± She pulled out a brush, paper, pulled over a table and began drawing. ¡°This is Baimu. This is Xiuyu City. This is your city in the south. In my opinion, we should make Xiuyu the import and export zone as it is the most convenient ce for us to trade. Additionally, Baimu¡¯s scenery is enthralling, our animals adorable, and our people are friendly. We have lions, wolves, tigers and leopards in spring. In summer, we have lions, wolves, tigers and leopards. In autumn, we h-¡±

    ¡°Slow down. Slow down. This sort of topic¡­¡±

    Ah Neath curled her lips. ¡°Do you not want to join hands with us?¡± Before Emperor Yuansheng could answer, she softly gasped. ¡°You rushed to Wanyu because you and Wanyu have already¡­!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng could only shake his head whilst chuckling. The new Queen very much reminded him of when he was brimming with energy when he was first enthroned. Because he was always overzealous to help the people, he ended up embarrassing himself several times. Putting on the airs of a mentor, he said, ¡°The forest is no ce for discussing diplomatic rtions. I should send a diplomatic envoy to you with gifts as an expression of sincerity. I cannot be so casual about this. You need not question my sincerity. Baimu has an abundance of goods. The people are nice, and the location is perfect. I have wanted to join hands with you for a long time. I am very fond of Baimu¡¯s specialties,¡± afraid she wouldn¡¯t believe him, he added, ¡°especially the honey peaches.¡±

    ¡°Huh? My state¡¯s honey peaches?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng faked a cough. ¡°In any event, I came south for Nieyao. To tell the truth, the current Shaman Monarch at Sanggongmo is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Jiang Zhouzi? Does that mean he killed the four monarchs?¡±

    ¡°Killed four monarchs?¡±

    Ah Neath surmised Ming Feizhen would be as capable as his strength, which would make it a breeze for him to ughter the four rulers. In contrast, it was suspending reality for Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Call Miss Shen in,¡± Emperor Yuansheng decreed.

    Ah Neath was confused as to why Shen Yiren was called in until Emperor Yuansheng enlightened her. ¡°No wonder why I thought it was weird for a businesswoman to exude your aura,¡± Ah Neath remarked afterwards.

    Shen Yiren just politely smiled back - not because Ah Neath gave her a hard question but because Emperor Yuansheng threw her a curve ball. She couldn¡¯t share what transpired at Sanggongmo.

    Ming Feizhen changed following the sparring match with Shen Yiren. There was a cold and aggressive aura around him. Everything he did and said, he did and said authoritatively. It was Shen Yiren¡¯s first time seeing him so decisive and fast. He killed the four sovereigns without a shred of doubt, any signs of remorse or leaving their corpses intact.

    As opposed to saying Shen Yiren left Sanggongmo, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say Ming Suwen sternly dragged her off. Ming Feizhen isted himself in the cold room. Thest time she saw him, his eyes resembled two scarlet gems.

    Emperor Yuansheng snapped Shen Yiren out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the tent, where everyone was waiting on a reply from her.

    ¡°I am not privy to the details of their deaths. Mayhap there is more to it than what we know. That said, I can confirm that he is posing as Shaman Monarch to obtain the fengqi shenmu hidden at Mount Wanyu Peak.¡± Shen Yiren then expounded why fengqi shenmu was necessary.

    With an ashen countenance, Emperor Yuansheng asked, ¡°The death of the four¡­ will bring disastrous turbulence to Nanjiang, and Shaman Faith will go to war with the various states. Queen Neath, did you march your forces here for this very reason? Even though his duty is to exterminate the beasts, has he considered how many lives he is sacrificing? Has he considered how many innocents will be implicated? How are his actions any different to the beast he is trying to y? Yiren, be honest: is this really Ming Feizhen¡¯s idea?¡±

    Shen Yiren remembered that energy in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s eyes; it was the very same gaze he had when he decided to annihte Demon Sect.

    ¡°¡­ Yes¡­ But I believe he has the ability to turn the tide.¡±

 Volume 11 45 Nine Offspring. In Peril.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 45 Nine Offspring. In Peril.</h4>

    Shen Yiren¡¯s answer did not sit well with Emperor Yuansheng. As his niece, she knew of his kind and doting side better than many others. By the same ount, she also knew how decisive and rational he could be. If both of those characters were juxtaposed, thetter would be the Emperor.

    ¡°I think I can exin,¡± Feng Xue opined.

    Even Ah Neath looked back at Feng Xue with a raised brow. Ever since Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s group entered the royal pce at Baimu, Feng Xue avoided meeting with them, opting to protect Ah Neath from the shadows and not involve himself beyond that duty. Even now, he draped a mantle over to veil his appearance.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Though his approach was rash, in his defence, he had no alternative. Fengqi shenmu is needed to trap a dragon. One formation could save thousands of lives. He filled me in on the details in a letter. His n does instil confidence. Your Majesty, you need not worry. Should he try to instigate conflict in Nanjiang, I will be the first to stop him.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was aware Feng Xue was Nanjiang¡¯s Martial Paragon. Nheless, suddenly hearing Feng Xue¡¯s voice did make Emperor Yuansheng jump. He shook his head, then argued, ¡°Although you possess incredible skill, killing four sovereigns cannot be forgiven so easily. Furthermore, how can someone who does not show his true face be trusted¡­?¡±

    As Emperor Yuansheng reached the end of his argument, Feng Xue started removing the hood covering his bitter smile underneath. ¡°And now?¡±

    While Ah Neath couldn¡¯t justify Feng Xue speaking up for Ming Feizhen, asking him to show his face in order to convince Emperor Yuansheng to trust them was supposed to be impossible.

    ¡°It is you! Big Brother, what are you doing here?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng eximed.

    Everyone else: Huh? Big Brother?

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s elder brothers had either passed away or vanished off the face off Earth following their defeat in their bid for the throne; where did this ¡°Big Brother¡± suddenlye from?

    Forgetting all about Ming Feizhen¡¯s crimes, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°Huang¡¯er has been searching for you all these years, as has Father-inw. Have you been in Nanjiang all these years?¡±

    Feng Xue heaved a breath that saw his shoulders rise and fall distinctively. ¡°I never nned to return after I left. Why have Huang¡¯er and Father not given up?¡±

    Shen Yiren was the only person to remember Luoyang¡¯s Feng n¡¯s eldest son, Feng Jie, a man once called Zhongzhou¡¯s best martial artist. He was a man whose love for travelling saw him on the go more than at home. One day, he disappeared without anyone knowing why or how. Emperor Yuansheng had Liu Shan Men and his entourage search for Feng Jie to fulfil his wife and father-inw¡¯s wish. s, they were unable to find any clues, leaving it as a cold case.

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled a big breath of air: ¡°Wh-why did you be Nanjiang¡¯s Martial Paragon?¡±

    ¡°A myriad of reasons that outsiders do not need to know. Your Majesty, you know I do not make baseless statements. Ming Feizhen¡¯s n is quite likely seed. If your n is to control Nieyao, you must follow his instructions.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, what¡¯s this about now? Feng Xue, you¡¯re not Xiacang Anxi?¡± Ah Neath inquired.

    Feng Xue smiled. ¡°I was born in the Central in, but I am Xiacang Anxi. That will never change. Your Majesty, did you hear what I said?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was still hesitant when he heard from outside, ¡°If there is anything you do not understand, why not consult me directly?¡±

    Ming Suwen stepped inside and swept her gaze over the lost council. She made her way over to Shen Yiren and whispered, ¡°Telling lies to family doesn¡¯t suit you,¡± making Shen Yiren blush. ¡°Your Majesty, Ming Feizhen is also a member of Mount Daluo. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, why not speak to me?¡±

    ¡°Miss Ming, did youe back together with Yiren? Sanggongmo¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I just rushed here from Sanggongmo because I was afraid you would misunderstand. Ming Feizhen is currently recharging. There is more to the death of the monarchs than the public is aware of. He wishes to exin to you in person on Mount Wanyu in two days¡¯ time. Please afford him two days. After all, ying Six Evils is not something that can be done on a whim. He has found a strategy, but we are still far from being able to deploy it. Please exercise patience, Your Majesty.¡±

    Talk about a long confusionden day. Nevertheless, since Feng Xue and Ming Suwen assured him it was all right, Emperor Yuansheng put his trust in them for now. ¡°In that case, I shall grant him two days.¡± Emperor Yuansheng turned back to Feng Xue. ¡°Brother, you must be honest with me: how much longer do you n on travelling? Huang¡¯er has been waiting for news on you.¡±

    ¡°Now that I have revealed myself, I have no choice but to go back. Please tell Father that I shall pay him a visit in August this year.¡±

    Shen Yiren breathed a breath of relief that she missed, only for Emperor Yuansheng to order her to call Abels and Beussent in for a meeting. After all the pleasantries, they moved on to discussing Six Evils.

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s undertaking is to y Six Evils. Brother Luo crossed paths with them ten years ago, so he is most privy. Brother Luo, is the white python the dragon of Six Evils?¡±

    Luo Ming looked up at Ming Suwen. ¡°¡­ Yes and no. Miss Ming should know better than I do. Six Evils¡¯ dragon does not refer to a dragon but a race.¡±

    ¡°A race?¡±

    Ming Suwen borated, ¡°ording to Mount Daluo¡¯s records, a key line in the dragons¡¯ profile is, ¡®The dragon has nine children, each of which is a different type.¡¯ Dragons arezy by nature. Unless necessary, they will not take the initiative to build an army and feast on humans. Only two types among Six Evils have the ability to reproduce, one of which is the dragon. Female dragons can give birth, and they usually give birth to nine. The nine offspring are born more dangerous than mutated beasts by far. The Yanhui is only one of the nine and is the strongest among its siblings.¡±

    Glossary

    Zhongzhou - Now Henan Province.

 Volume 11 46 Another Encounter with Peril. Only a Matter of Time.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 46 Another Encounter with Peril. Only a Matter of Time.</h4>

    Mount Daluo pulled out all the stops to study everything they could about Six Evils - not in the sense that they all sat around a table, discussing and reading books, then trading notes. Their research extended for generations, and every generation meticulously every character on the pages. Every generation that was forced to fight put the notes into practical experiments against the Chaofeng and recorded their experience for others to cote into more data for, even if it was just one more characteristic they were aware of, it could save hundreds of people.

    Hero Shenzhou and Ming Huayu¡¯s records couldn¡¯t be used as averages as every generation apart from them sacrificed lots of lives to y the beasts. Ming Huayu was the only patriarch in history to ever bring down not one but two beasts without any casualties.

    Using Mount Daluo¡¯s standard - rather, the world¡¯s most validated standard - the dragon race was undoubtedly the fiercest of the six beasts. In the damage department, the other five couldn¡¯t hold a handle to the damage the dragon could inflict. Mount Daluo¡¯s Overarching Heaven couldn¡¯t prate its scales. The phoenix in legends might¡¯ve been able to keep up with the dragon¡¯s speed, but its strength paled inparison. If its ws were metal knives, mountains would be what tofu was to a metal knife. If its tail was an adult¡¯s feet, city walls would be sandcastles to adults¡¯ feet.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen says that the beasts dwelling in Nieyao are dragons without a doubt. Unless the army of mutated beasts from ages ago was revived, there is no other beast that could obliterate a state¡¯s capital overnight.¡± Ming Suwen pulled out a seat to rest and smiled at those who were irked or stunned. ¡°Confirmation of this cannot be considered good news since we would have numerous viable tactics if it were any other beast that had yet to mature. When ites to dragons, they are always at their strongest.¡±

    Ah Neath, even A-Lan, wasn¡¯t very educated on Six Evils. As a matter of fact, Ah Neath still spected if such fiends existed.

    Only Luo Ming, Feng Xue, Emperor Yuansheng, and Abels could digest the information. Luo Ming already fought one in the flesh. Feng Xue wasn¡¯t familiar with Ming Suwen; however, he had held a prominent post in Nanjiang for an extensive period as well as heard the details of Nieyao from Ming Feizhen. Abels was a knowledgeable man who was once one of the Supreme Ten Saints.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s knowledge source wasn¡¯t so clear-cut. Li n¡¯s intelligence on Six Evils was passed down as a parcel with the throne. The previous dynasty was shrouded in mystery, though, so Li n could be called a second Mount Daluo, but they could also be totally ignorant to Six Evils. Although Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reaction bespoke he was informed on Six Evils, to what degree was anyone¡¯s guess.

    Upon receiving eye contact from the four in the loop, the calm, somewhat peculiar, maiden stretched up the corners of her lips once again. ¡°What we can be certain of now is that there is more than one dragon. Unfortunately, we are not sure how many there are. There is a big gap between when a dragon conceives and when it gives birth; it could easily be a century.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Our chances ride on the numbers one to nine. If it is nine, to be frank, you should just snack on some fruit. Enjoy the show. Take a tour, and then go home. There is no reason to make a snack out of yourself. This goes double for you, Your Majesty. The fate of the world is linked to you. Should you flop here, your swordsman will not be able to take over.¡±

    My swordsman? Is she referring to someone, or is she using a euphemism?

    ¡°It definitely is not nine,¡± Luo Ming asserted. ¡°This one and his Nanjiang brothers managed to vanquish one ten years ago. Given you said it takes a long time for one to be born, it is unlikely another one has been born since.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng voiced, ¡°In the worst case scenario, we will bebatting eight.¡±

    ¡°By my estimates, there should be around six,¡± opined Feng Xue. ¡°Should Nieyao¡¯s rumours be supported, even if nine of them destroyed Beussent¡¯s capital back then, they cannot have done so unscathed. Based on Beussent¡¯s strength back then, I hypothesise two dragons were lost in the tragedy.¡±

    ¡°Five.¡± Beussent kept a subtle upward curve to his lips. ¡°Five because Morcher did not go down without a fight, either. From my vague memories, Morcher¡¯s guards put up a valiant fight to the bitter end.¡±

    ¡°All your guesses are sound, but none of you are correct,¡± Ming Suwen proimed. ¡°All Mount Daluo can say is this: the number of beasts we have to face is not overwhelming to the point where we will be wiped out. Candidly speaking, if there are more than six dragons, then you would not be seeing me right now but my cousin, Hero Shenzhou. In other words, there would practically be nothing we can do.¡±

    Ming Suwen showed two fingers. ¡°We have two things we can count on at present. First, the dragons did not voluntarily give birth. As aforementioned, dragons prefer to hibernate. Therefore, man has introduced a catalyst for them to reproduce. Logically then, while a Yanhui may have spawned, it is not a threat - far from being one. We have a chance at triumph if the other dragons are also at the same stage.

    ¡°Second, Shaman Faith has a means of some sort to control the dragons. Most likely, the dragons are tools to achieve something ambitious. It is the most moronic idea anyone can have. Mount Daluo has records of innumerable colossal idiots who attempted the same thing, and not one of them seeded. Please bear in mind that the enemy are perilous beasts, not humans. The existence of those idiots will only increase our odds of winning.¡±

    The meeting was adjourned at daybreak and then continuedter. In just twelve more hours, every state¡¯s military would convene at Mount Wanyu.

    Glossary

    My swordsman? Is she referring to someone, or is she using a euphemism? - Rewritten joke. It¡¯s the same word y on ¡°sword¡± and ¡°scum¡±. If you¡¯re wondering why anyone could mix them up, it¡¯s because the verb Ming Suwen attaches to ¡°wielding a sword¡± ismonly used for ¡°being¡± in ¡°being scum¡±.

 Volume 11 47 United Belief. No Blood.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 47 United Belief. No Blood.</h4>

    Standing atop a rock, Shen Yiren gazed at the canopy of navy, where the sun was beginning to bid farewell to the stars to take their nightly rest.

    ¡°Mount Wanyu¡¯s foot is a hundred and fifty metres from here. The rambunctious voices are already audible from here. There are plenty of people who would like to see the chaos.¡±

    Great Spirit Shaman invited the vassals of the four states that just lost their sovereigns and envoys of other states to Mount Wanyu so that Shaman Monarch could rify what happened. As soon as they caught wind of it, nosy people, which almost made up half of the people there, flocked to the mountain. Even though there were hours to go before themencement, Mount Wanyu was nigh packed to the gills.

    Shen Yiren nced to her side and quietly called, ¡°Uncle.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°At the council with Miss Mingst night, you wanted to keep him for Liu Shan Men. A man who cane up with daring and innovative ideas that others haven¡¯t thought off is more than enough to be your trusted aide regardless of martial prowess or background. You have a good eye for talent.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you insinuating that I have eyes butck perception?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng smiled as he shook his head. ¡°Plenty of things don¡¯t go our way in life. I believe I¡¯ve seen plenty of things and met many people in my forty-plus years of life. I can¡¯t say everything unfolded how I preferred. Thetest example is my attempt to convince Luo n to help that almost cost me my life. Until yesterday, nothing I said would¡¯ve gotten through to Luo Ming. You have many years before you as much life experience as me. Isn¡¯t it normal for you tock perception?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen has his reasons. I believe he never would have done so if he had another option.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that argument already.¡± Emperor Yuansheng peered toward the mouring. ¡°You believe he did the right thing because you trust him. What if I told you I don¡¯t trust him, though?¡±

    ¡°Uncle, why do you feel he cannot be trusted?¡±

    ¡°One¡¯s trustworthiness is not measured only by what he has but his deeds¡­ How strong is Ming Feizhen?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s heart thumped harder.

    ¡°I take it your inability to answer is attributed to your reluctance to answer. I¡¯ve never let the question out of my mind. Ever since he showed up, things have happened one after another. If we look back at it, from Cheng¡¯er¡¯s coup until now, he¡¯s been involved in every event. In all the events, lives have been at risk, yet he has remained unscathed. He ims he is lousy at martial arts, however.

    ¡°Secondly, do you know what sort of reputation Ming Huayu has? The pugilistic world is a lot duller than when he was active. How can I be expected to believe his disciple is weak? Moreover, have you seen his siblings? Can you say any of them are inept?

    ¡°If he¡¯s deliberately hiding his true skills to approach you and then ns to leverage you to get into politics, he can forget it. Even if that is not his intent, he is a perpetual liar, so I can¡¯t give him all my trust.¡±

    Listening to Emperor Yuansheng was the same as having her past thoughts read out to her. The difference between Shen Yiren and Emperor Yuansheng was that she chose to give Ming Feizhen the opportunity toe forth.

    ¡°Please give him some time. He will convince you to trust him.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost time for it to start. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Have you thought about how to treat Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°I will have someone test him to see if he truly is as lucky as we¡¯re supposed to believe. If he is concealing his abilities, I will re-evaluate what to do with him.¡±

    ***

    Gewu, sitting alone in the centre of his throne room, cheerfully watched the trails of blood seeping out of the bloody moat. He wanted to tidy himself prior to the big event. Infants¡¯ blood elerated his youth¡¯s rejuvenation, allowing him to enjoy the event more thoroughly. For that reason, he pulled out his hidden stash of A-grade blood. Gewu utilised a unique method to ensure stored blood was kept fresh for extensive periods. This hidden batch came from the infants with the most potential and prestigious pedigrees.

    Upon dipping his hand into the blood, Gewu¡¯s hand revitalised much faster than usual. Transforming from a man in his forties to a man in his twenties heightened the experience that each age range blessed him with. Gewu subsequently submerged himself in the blood to absorb it into his body.

    Demon Realm called this secret skill of theirs that was no longer known in the pugilist world ¡°Blooddeer Retrograde¡±. In the erstwhile dynasty, a figurative demon used it as part of his skills to run amok. Besides restoring one¡¯s youth, the practitioner also had the ability to use it as a means of stealing the unique traits of another¡¯s martial arts in addition to their internal energy. The prerequisite for casting the skill was that the practitioner had the required mental fortitude, or they would kill themselves. If the target was ill, then the practitioner ran the risk of infecting themselves, too. The practitioner could only use it against someone equally skilled or weaker than them. Gewu primarily used the discipline on infants as his principal aim was to restore his youth.

    Once Gewu absorbed blood, he needed to release blood, and the pain was miserable. In the meantime, he looked up at thest hidden vial of blood and brooded. That wasn¡¯t blood of a royal family descendant or a guya. In the vial was blood of the Yanhui that Death Spirit Shaman extracted. Although it was tempting to see if he was the exception - he could enhance his martial prowess with it - a route in his brain sternly warned against it.

    There was another man who was also a victim of blood. He had had isted himself, so afraid to even speak now. Thinking of the man¡¯s downfall and watching the ball outside bring golden luminesce to the world, Gewu grinned. ¡°Go call the self-incarcerated Shaman Monarch. It is time!¡±

 Volume 11 48 A Hundred Years of Work Gone in a Blink

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 48 A Hundred Years of Work Gone in a Blink</h4>

    It might be hard to believe, but Gewu¡¯s residence at the top of the mountain hadn¡¯t been renovated in ages despite the painstaking efforts it took him to have it built, leaving it so derelict that it didn¡¯t fit the definition of a house. The residence would fetch the highest price in all of Nanjiang as the timber used to build it was the auspicious symbol for every state - fengqi shenmu. Because of fengqi shenmu¡¯s cultural significance, no monarch dared toy their hands on it.

    When people discovered socialites had fengqi shenmu in their possession, their families were terminated. Instead of receiving sympathy, the dead were condemned. The residence that could¡¯ve incurred the death penalty several thousands of times had been reduced to its dpidated state in a matter of days, yet the man outside politely called, ¡°Your Majesty, it is time.¡±

    Everyone on the mountain was busy spreading word of Shaman Monarch assassinating four sovereigns. Recently, specifically once Ming Feizhen chose to guard the residence himself a few days ago, ayer of snow gradually covered Gewu¡¯s residence when they were on the cusp of summer. Plus, fengqi shenmu was supposed to be impervious to all elements, yet it gradually decayed to the point that the walls cracked.

    Nobody could say precisely when Ming Feizhen moved onto Mount Wanyu. When Moyan Luohou, who first discovered him, noticed his presence, Ming Feizhen had already gone into istion in the residence. The only words Ming Feizhen spoke since moving in were reminding Gewu to call him when it was time. Nobody went anywhere within its proximity besides those delivering his three daily meals.

    ¡°Aaaah!¡± Fire Guardian lost his footing as he skedaddled, rolling down the mountain no differently to a ball.

    The young and old pair in the throne room looked to each other upon hearing Fire Guardian¡¯s scream.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Looks like he scared you pretty bad, huh, Ol¡¯ Ge?¡± Lu Kuangnu teased.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ol¡¯ Ge again.¡± Gewu grumpily got dressed. ¡°I don¡¯t like that term of address. It reminds me of someone who gets on my nerves.¡±

    Compared to Gewu, who was practicallythered in fragrances from his bath and fragrances sprinkled onto his clothing, Le Kuangnu resembled a man from the jungle. Le Kuangnu deliberately tucked a hand under an armpit and grabbed his crotch with his other hand, smirking at the same time. ¡°He shook you, huh? No wonder why you won¡¯t spare him. You think he¡¯s useful?¡±

    Gewu confidently smiled back, marginalising the attempt to provoke him. ¡°He could rece ten thousand soldiers.¡± He wore on his robe and tied it up after giving it ab. ¡°He possesses the strength of a Fengpeng. Nobody else has ever been empowered with so much strength alone. If I can control him, we can halve the effort it takes to fulfil our n.¡±

    Even though they had differences between them, they disposed of any thoughts that wouldn¡¯t propel their n forward and worked as a unit to see that it was achieved. As such, Le Kuangnu did away with his cockiness. ¡°In my opinion, the fact that he could take your followers from you proves that he¡¯s not an open book. Don¡¯t get overconfident. You could end up capsizing your boat when you think the tide is on your side.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s young, yet hard to get a read of. I may fear him if he¡¯s able to keep calm. Sadly for him, I know his secrets. Although he is blessed with a Fengpeng¡¯s insurmountable might, he has problems keeping his aggression under control. Once it¡¯s triggered, he can¡¯t control its urges. I¡¯ve constantly provoked him for that reason. I triggered his bloodlust when I led him into massacring the bandits. The fact that he killed four monarchs is evidence that his bloodlust has gotten the better of him. I know he can¡¯t fight the urge anymore. Besides, he moved into my house of all ces. He¡¯s probably isting himself so that he doesn¡¯t hurt others. He has no idea that fengqi shenmu is effective against dragons but won¡¯t help him. As a precaution, I fed him Sky Pce¡¯s drug. He thought his might would protect him from it, hahaha. He¡¯s a moron.¡±

    As a matter of fact, fengqi shenmu agitated the other five beasts.

    ¡°Hahaha, if that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s great.¡± Le Kuangnu exhaled heavily. ¡°Unfortunately, the majority of the credit goes to the upper echelon. We don¡¯t gain squat. They also supplied the intel and drugs. Once this n seeds, you and I will likely still be someone¡¯s pawns.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, what? Since when did you be so soft? You¡¯re scared of a bunch of women? Once we have control over Ming Feizhen, Sky Pce can¡¯t boss us around. Don¡¯t forget those wenches admitted that woman can¡¯t beat him.¡±

    Le Kuangnu had plenty more opportunities to coborate with Demon Realm since he spent decades taming the Yanhui, yet he disputed, ¡°Ming Feizhen alone isn¡¯t enough to take on Demon Realm, though.¡±

    ¡°What if we add our sovereignty over Nanjiang into the equation? Once our nes to fruition, we will start our dynasty in Nanjiang. Who¡¯s scared of Sky Pce when we have armies? As well, have you forgotten about Mount Daluio?¡±

    Le Kuangnu¡¯s cheeks looked as though they¡¯d overstretch upon hearing Mount Daluo mentioned. ¡°How can I forget? They possess two of Six Evils. Ming Feizhen¡¯s advanced skills at his age are the product of him extracting the power of the Fengpeng. If we could attain that power, hehe, hehehe.¡±

    Gewu finally finished his borate dressing procedure. ¡°There will be absolute chaos today. I called you back because I need your Baidizi¡¯s help. Alone, Shaman Monarch Pce has no chance against the alliance of six states. Once we have control over the board today, there¡¯s nothing we have to worry about. It¡¯s time. Seeing as Fire Guardian can¡¯t summon him, I shall personally summon him.¡±

    Gewu sent everyone down the mountain to wee their guests, while he went up, deep into the mountains to his residence. ¡°Your Majesty, Chiyi, Qingqiu, Feiyi and Cheyou¡¯s diplomatic envoys, as well as Baimu and Wanyu¡¯s monarchs, have arrived at the foot of the mountain.¡±

    Gewu was going to speak again after a long silence when he heard, ¡°They here to seek death?¡±

    Never had Gewu heard Ming Feizhen sound so frigid. The sound of the creaking door and Ming Feizhen¡¯s appearance elicited a cold sensation in Gewu thatpared to being submerged in an ice bath. Gewu never underestimated the violence of Six Evils. Nheless, he was not prepared for the red eyes that took words and fashioned them into a sword, sinking it in coldly.

    ¡°Th-they do not know what is good for them. Pl-please teach them a lesson.¡± Gewu experienced paralysis for the first time, thinking his heart might even cease beating.

    ¡°True.¡±

    Gewu instinctively gasped for air once Ming Feizhen shifted his gaze away from him.

    ¡°They need to die.¡±

 Volume 11 49 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 49 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 1)</h4>

    The elite troops were selected on the same night their monarchs were taken out. If not on ount of Wanyu being the strongest state and Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s influence in Nanjiang, Mount Wanyu would be on the verge of copse - if it wasn¡¯t yet. The four states that lost their monarchs actually sent assassins up the mountain while they were waiting to have an open discussion; however, Shaman Monarch managed to fend off all attempts. The states¡¯ so-called convention wasn¡¯t the product of the conclusion that a council was in order; it was the result of talks on how to raze the mountain to the ground.

    Each diplomatic envoy from the four victimised states stationed roughly three thousand cavalry troops each twenty kilometres from Mount Wanyu. Therefore, Wanyu¡¯s King had justified reasons to be worried about state security. Being the one who permitted them to march soldiers into his borders and acting as their middleman, he ordered six thousand elite cavalries to keep tabs on the situation.

    Rubbernecks there to witness a convention between Shaman Monarch and so many important individuals had no clue what they were getting themselves into.

    Chiyi¡¯s diplomatic envoy, joining everyone at their seats in the two rows at the foot of the mountain, thundered, ¡°They invited us, yet not a single authoritative figure of Shaman Faith is in sight! Is this how they show sincerity?!¡±

    Hong Jiu, assigned to security detail with Moyan Changping at the venue, responded, ¡°His Majesty possesses the wisdom and ability to withstand anything and everything. He may be casting a miracle somewhere right now and appear here the next second. It is only a matter of whether he is willing to show up or not. Else, you might not see him even if he is standing right before you.¡±

    ¡°Whether he is willing to or not? I don¡¯t care how he feels. He killed my King. If he doesn¡¯t offer his head on a tter, how can we call ourselves vassals? Even if our King was in the wrong, there was no need to kill him! If you do not return our King¡¯s body, apologies, Wanyu¡¯s King, but we will level Mount Wanyu!¡±

    ¡°Whatchu so worked for, huh? Nobody said His Majesty won¡¯t being. He¡¯s just not here yet. Someone¡¯sing.¡±

    Chiyi¡¯s diplomatic envoy looked over his shoulder. ¡°Basu Bomi, go up! If you see that wretched Shaman Monarch, kill him where he stands.¡±

    Chiyi¡¯s great guya sped up the mountain. As soon as his feet hit the mountain path, though, he bellowed as blood squirted from his empty arm socket. Next, he was kicked back to his group despite weighing a hundred kilos.

    Moyan Luohou sheathed his de and stared down the floored guya. ¡°Nobody besides the faith¡¯s members are allowed up. If you have a problem with it, face me.¡±

    The four diplomatic envoys exchanged eye contact, concluding that they would no longer put up with any humiliation.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Right at the moment of the riot¡¯smencement, the diplomatic envoys heard beside them, ¡°You must all be here for me.¡± They didn¡¯t see any signs that he wasing. They didn¡¯t notice his arms draped around the shoulders. Their elites didn¡¯t even notice his presence until a few seconds subsequent to him speaking out. Although he was smiling, their instincts yelled at them to step away from him.

    ¡°I¡¯m Shaman Monarch. How you all doing?¡±

    ***

    Gewu was still in the midst of making his way down the mountain as fast as his legs could take him when Ming Feizhen already arrived. If he wasn¡¯t quick, he would miss out on Ming Feizhen ughtering everyone at the foot of the mountain. After all, Ming Feizhen looked more than ready to make pincushions out of people.

    Upon arriving, Gewu was perplexed as to why their clothing was still neat and tidy, although they did look as if they¡¯d just seen a ghost. Nevertheless, why were they untouched when they were unmistakably adorned in clothing of the four states?

    ¡°I apologise on behalf of my subordinate. He will be fine after a quick treatment. This gentleman is healthy and strong. If I cannot treat him, I¡¯ll pay you ten times over.¡±

    God help Gewu understand why Ming Feizhen was being friendly with the four diplomatic envoys.

    ¡°I beg your pardon for making you all wait when you came from afar. Thank you for bearing with me.¡± In the short time it took Ming Feizhen to go through his pleasantries, he had closed Basu Bomi¡¯s wound and stopped the bleeding. All that was left was to wait for the guya to wake.

    The four diplomatic envoys were as confused as Gewu. They didn¡¯t even dare to address Ming Feizhen as they didn¡¯t weren¡¯t sure how to react.

    ¡°Great Spirit Shaman has arrived.¡± Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder and gave Gewu an affable smile. There was no redness in his eyes. ¡°You sure took your sweet time.¡±

    ¡°I apologise, Your Majesty, but¡­ but¡­ why are your eyes¡­¡±

    ¡°What about my eyes?¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s smile was back to the one he showed in his debut on Mount Wanyu.

 Volume 11 50 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 50 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 2)</h4>

    The aggressive mentality Six Evils was as mysterious as the reason for their existence and why they were so violent. Nevertheless, not holding the answer to those questions didn¡¯t deter people from trying to tame them.

    Shaman Monarch Pce had more experience than the majority of people on how to control Six Evils. They did everything they could to research Six Evils ever since they obtained their first dragon from Demon Realm and spent decades to recreate Nieyao¡¯s tragedy, thusnding themselves in Demon Realm¡¯s good graces and attaining further support.

    Although it wasn¡¯t ever his intention, Gewu fulfilled his duties as Great Spirit Shaman - whilst continuing to impede the growth of Beussent¡¯s scions. As a consequence, he veered farther and farther off track.

    Qiushui¡¯s mockery of Le Kuangnu being a snake tamer at the border wasn¡¯t baseless; he was actually the greatest beast tamer in Xiacang Anxi fifty years ago. Regardless if the creature was found underwater, in the sky, underground or onnd, he had a way to tame them. Alone, however, he didn¡¯t have what it took to control a beast of cmity.

    The man with a twisted hatred for the world was turned into a pawn since he came in handy. While Gewu searched for taming methods among the old collection of Shaman Faith, Le Kuangnu went directly to the mutations of the cmitous beasts to research a method. Gewu, therefore, was involved in every experiment Le Kuangnu conducted in one way or another. As such, Gewu was arguably more educated on the minds of the beasts than any other soul.

    Among the decades investing in experiments, Gewu used live humans many times. He would have them perform simple tasks, such as drinking the dragon¡¯s blood. Consequently, they¡¯d turn into mindless-bloodthirsty freaks who sounded no different to some wild animal bellowing whenever they opened their mouths. Gewu coined the phenomenon beastbrain mutation. Once the test subjects exceeded their potential - the longest being four hours - they¡¯d burst into bits and pieces. The reason he never used great guyas in the experiments was due to the risk of him failing to beat them.

    People who gained the strength of an evil beast gain unimaginable power, so an elite who gained its power would be awfully dangerous and difficult to subdue. Even though they eventually exploded, they would¡¯ve left a trail of destruction behind already. By those ounts, Gewu couldn¡¯t fathom how Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t gone on a bloodbath yet.

    Although Gewu wasn¡¯t aware of how Ming Feizhen obtained a Fengpeng¡¯s power, the fact was that Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t an offspring of the Fengpeng, so he should¡¯ve died on the same day he obtained its power, let alone gain from it.

    Ever since bearing witness to Ming Feizhen¡¯s sh out of a fantasy story, Gewu couldn¡¯t curb the temptation to seize the power of an evil beast for himself; merely seeing Ming Feizhen conjured the ultimate version of himself in his mind.

    ¡°Great Spirit Shaman, you look surprised. Is it unfortunate I am getting along with our four esteemed envoys?¡±

    At this point, Gewu would have to be inane to not have realised he fell for Ming Feizhen¡¯s ploy. In the same vein, it dawned on him that Ming Feizhen¡¯s act was designed to bring the various states¡¯ leaders to the mountain so that he could pressure Shaman Monarch Pce.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He¡¯s got a big appetite at such a young age. First you demand three months of authority, then take a thousand and five hundred of my followers and now you want to take even my mountain?

    Gewu had yed charades so many times in his time on the that it was a natural skill to him now. ¡°Not at all, Your Majesty. If you can mend your rtionship with them, we are blessed.¡±

    Ming Feizhen needed a moment to get over the surprising speed at which Gewu adapted.

    Qingqiu¡¯s envoy raised a hand. ¡°This one needs to express his appreciation first, Your Majesty.¡± Though his voice was devoid of displeasure, he kept his body turned away from Ming Feizhen. ¡°Howbeit, this one¡¯s Queen did inexplicably die not long ago, and our entire state is in mourning. This one did note here for a vacation. This one brought all of his state¡¯s hopes here for two things. The second one is to retrieve his Queen¡¯s body to put her to rest with the blessings of the Divine Sun. The priority for this journey is to avenge her.¡± Though he didn¡¯t raise his voice, his fire and sorrow came through unmistakably.

    ¡°We shall avenge our King!¡± the other three envoys shouted in synchrony.

    Ming Feizhen ambled back to his iron throne and propped himself in it loudly, much to the chagrin of Wanyu¡¯s King. Wanyu¡¯s King had been exhausted enough ever since the four monarchs vanished, and now a nutcase was practically putting his state treasure in peril. No matter how well-natured he was, his limits were being tested.

    Wanyu¡¯s King nned to monitor the situation and react ordingly, but Ah Neath kept mum the entire time. If anything, she behaved herself more than all the older people present.

    ¡°I understand. In saying that, you cannot make baseless usations. Do you have any evidence to incriminate me for the deaths of your four monarchs and sacred beasts?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t truly as calm as he projected outwardly. Underneath his cool smile was a burning sensation coursing through his meridians. The reason for frost covering the fengqi shenmu house was the wood suppressing the roiling Fengpeng¡¯s true qi inside him. Being able to show a rxed appearance took a lot of practice. The bloodbaths he created owing to failures in the past shaped him into the Ming Feizhen before the audience today.

    Qingqiu¡¯s envoy contended, ¡°My King said that if he cuts off daily contact, then misfortune has befallen him. Theymuted to Sanggongmo to see you. What other reason besides death would exin the sudden lost contact?¡±

    ¡°That is some odd reasoning. Being imprisoned can be considered misfortune. Losing a limb qualifies as misfortune. Interrogation without physical abuse counts as misfortune, too. Why are you so certain that misfortune equals death?¡±

    The four envoys turned to each other, hoping someone would have more concrete proof, since they came to the conclusion based on derations that their monarchs were beheaded. Their rulers did suddenly cut off contact, indeed, and Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s image had always been that of viins. Moreover, Shaman Monarch happened to turn up recently. Hence, they determined Shaman Faith was out for Beussent blood again. While their logic was sound, there was no corroboration to establish their logic, witnesses or testimonies of the assassination.

    Qingqiu¡¯s envoy got to his feet. ¡°And you haven¡¯t proven yourself innocent. If¡­ If you can resurrect my King, I¡­ I¡¯m your ve until the day I die!¡± By the time he was done fulminating, his voice was hoarse.

    ¡°Took you long enough.¡±

 Volume 11 51 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 51 Light Clothing, Red Eyes, Brief Corrosion, Prolonged Darkness (Part 3)</h4>

    ¡°Grandaunt, are we just going to hang around here? Are we not going to assist First Brother?¡±

    Ming Suwen gently plucked one of the wild flowers by the boulder in the deste forest at random intervals. ¡°We won¡¯t be of any help. We¡¯ll be more useful if we don¡¯t go there.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan deployed a tactical nod - showing he understood when he actually didn¡¯t - then turned to Sima Huai. Contrary to Ming Suwen¡¯s leisurely temperament, Sima Huai had knitted brows. Tianfeng Xuanyuan might¡¯ve been pure, but he wasn¡¯tpletely ignorant to the affection between his grandaunt and first brother. It was atypical for Sima Huai to do the worrying instead of Ming Suwen if Ming Feizhen was in a troubled fix.

    ¡°Where you of to?¡± Ming Suwen broke Tianfeng Xuanyuan¡¯s thinking tracks with her voice whilst stopping Xia¡¯er with her hand.

    Xia¡¯er poked her tongue. ¡°I¡¯m worried about my brother.¡±

    ¡°Stay where you are,¡± Ming Suwen instructed.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Xia¡¯er scuttled back to Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s side. Annoyed with him meditating on the ground, she seized him by the ear. ¡°Hey, how can you find the motivation to train when First Brother might be in trouble.¡±

    With his signature straight face, Lian Zhuiyue answered, ¡°Grandaunt¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Does it kill you to show some concern for your brother?!¡±

    ¡°Sister, should the situation to a certain point, Grandaunt will have new orders for us. You don¡¯t need to fret like this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely correct,¡± Ming Suwen refuted, studying a leaf from various angles prior to plucking it. ¡°It¡¯s precisely because the situation is bad enough that we have to be here instead of apanying him.¡±

    ¡°Grandaunt, are you serious?¡± Sima Huai questioned. ¡°First Brother¡­ can¡¯t suppress the violence?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Suwen riveted in a ce for a second, then held the leaf up to the sun. ¡°¡­ Yeah. I predict he will lose control, and stopping him won¡¯t serve any use.¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen gained the Fengpeng¡¯s powers, Mount Daluo¡¯s greatest concern was him losing control as, if he lost control, then they weren¡¯t just facing a perilous monster but also their beloved family member.

    ¡°What should we do¡­? What should we do¡­?¡± Sima Huai mumbled.

    ¡°Exactly what we should. Do what you can.¡±

    ¡°And what we can d-¡±

    ¡°Our guest has arrived.¡± Using two fingers as tongs, Ming Suwen plucked thest petal, then hurled it as a dart. The sound off the leaf finding its target was identical to metal hitting metal. ¡°You showed up pretty much when I estimated. Thought you¡¯de after us.¡± Ming Suwen rose to her feet and turned to the face the direction she shot her petal. ¡°You¡¯ve kept me waiting.¡±

    A tall woman in shiny armour stepped out from the dense forest.

    ***

    ¡°Bring the eight out.¡±

    Hong Jiu went off to fetch the eight people Ming Feizhen referred to. Not a soul, the four diplomatic envoys in particr, dared to make a sound, lest they missed the moment Ming Feizhen revealed the nature of his intent.

    Qingqiu¡¯s envoy pinned his gaze to Hong Jiu¡¯s back, worried he would be caught off guard if he looked away. Watch and watch, he suddenly cried, ¡°Your Majesty!¡± and bolted into the crowd to cling to the legs of an individual Hong Jiu came back with. ¡°Your Majesty! Am I dreaming?! I am so d to see you safe and sound, Your Majesty!¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen was easy to recognise under her wind coat owing to her feminine appearance. She pulled off her hood, then pulled her vassal up. Although tired, she was her usual self. ¡°Sorry for making you all worry.¡±

    ¡°Qingqiu¡¯s Queen¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more.¡± Hong Jiu grinned. ¡°All four sacred beasts are here.¡±

    The three other envoys confirmed their rulers were fine - and cried as though it was the only way to prove their fealty. It took them a while to remember thousands of people were watching them.

    Chiyi¡¯s diplomatic envoy inquired, ¡°Your Majesty, what happened? The rumours say you all died, so¡­¡±

    Chiyi¡¯s King crossed his arms and red at Ming Feizhen. ¡°It¡¯s just coboration. Shaman Faith¡¯s Shaman Monarch wants to get rid of someone, but he needs our strength.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen expanded, ¡°Indeed. Under normal circumstances, our armies cannot enter Wanyu. If we die, however¡­ we will form an alliance to settle the score with the culprit.¡±

    They weren¡¯t trusted with the duties of a diplomatic envoy without reason; they didn¡¯t need to hear the name to figure out who the specific individual was.

    Despite the thousands of pairs of eyes on him, Gewu casually looked back at the four ¡°revived¡± monarchs. ¡°Long-time no see. It is great to see you are all well.¡± He subsequently said to Ming Feizhen, ¡°Your Majesty, this is not what we initially agreed on.¡±

    ¡°Says the one who had his men give me grief on the first day I left.¡±

    Gewu nodded: ¡°Fair game. Fair game. A man who does not avenge a grudge is not a man. It sounds like you started nning your lynch n prior to reaching Sanggongmo. You leveraged Shaman Monarch¡¯s name to borrow the might of monarchs to destroy Shaman Monarch Pce. All the children on this mountain call you their monarch, yet you have no blood or tears. Orthodox sects, hehe, how about hypocrite sects?¡±

    ¡°You can ponder that in your own time. Now, will you choose surrender?¡± Hard to believe Ming Feizhen had the upper hand when his expression was stiff.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Gewu walked off to the iron throne Ming Feizhen sat on before and ran his hands over it. ¡°Shaman Monarch¡¯s throne belongs solely to Shaman Monarch. Wow.¡± He sat down on the throne, then locked eyes with Ming Feizhen, relishing the thrill.

    ¡°Great Spirit Shaman,¡± interjected Qingqiu¡¯s Queen, ¡°we did not choose to work with His Majesty Shaman Monarch with the purpose of interfering in your faith¡¯s affairs. We allied with him for we have had enough of you exploiting us and causing tragedies for decades. We will let it go if you relinquish your seat. Else, we will have to take matters into our own hands.¡±

    ¡°Esteemed Kings and Queen, please¡­ allow this old one to say a word.¡± Gewu nced over to Ming Feizhen. ¡°He is not a Xiacang Anxi resident or Shaman Monarch. He is a spy of the Central in¡¯s imperial court. He is posing as Shaman Monarch to leverage Shaman Monarch Pce in his bid for control over Xiacang Anxi. If you do not believe this old one, you can try conversing with him in Xiacang Anxi. He will not be able to hold any semnce of a conversation. During his time ckmailing us, he has taken our fengqi shenmu for his own ends.¡±

    Needless to say, monarchs, troops and spectators all had their mouths agape. Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen gave the impression that he was bored out of his skin. The four monarchs never questioned Shaman Monarch¡¯s authenticity; all they cared about was breaking out of Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s clutches.

    ¡°It is nothing major, nevertheless,¡± Gewu continued. ¡°He is but an imposter. This old one knows a man guilty of far more heinous crimes. He has disced multiple sovereigns, drugged people to manipte them, ckmailed them, coerced them, and assassinated them and more. He doesn¡¯t contribute anything and earns his living from followers who donaterge sums to him. Not only is he swathed in luxury but also enjoys the worship of everyone. He would not exchange what he has for a state. Suffice to say, he¡¯s always been supporting the monarchs of said states.

    ¡°As a more recent example, Baimu¡¯s Queen over here lost her father to my machinations and then had to hand the reins over to her subordinate for ten years. Why are the royal families or people¡¯s problems my problems? This one has always wondered, wouldn¡¯t it be better if you were all this old one¡¯s vassals? What¡¯s with those looks? Did you think this old one was joking?¡±

    Ah Neath¡¯s rage was close to boiling over, but she controlled herself. In contrast, Ming Feizhen finally reacted. ¡°You scared silly?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, why not invite your friends out? Why snoop around?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes quickly executed a visual audit of the crowd. Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t hard to spot, and the others behind her were right in view.

    ¡°It is an honour to have Luo n¡¯s Heavenly Swordsman and Beijiang¡¯s Evil Eminence grace us with their esteemed presence.¡± Gewu locked onto the two Divine Realm adepts.

    Ming Feizhen started questioning if Gewu was sane anymore. Unless Gewu still had an ace up his sleeve, he was asking to be sundered in the worst way possible.

    Suddenly, Ming Feizhen suffered a twinge in his head. A shearing and scorching sensation coursed from his head the rest of his body, while his consciousness short-circuited. ¡°¡­ What have you done?¡± he used Voice Transmission to ask.

    Replying via the same means, Gewu answered, ¡°Curious? Using blood and fengqi shenmu to provoke your beastbrain didn¡¯t work, did it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, perhaps the beast¡¯s consciousness doesn¡¯t exist within you. To assume Mount Daluo has no means of resolving the conundrum would be underestimating them. Besides, would you have not bothered finding a way to suppress it given you¡¯ve survived until now? I never considered awaking the Fengpeng in you my undertaking. Agitating you in various ways was just the entr¨¦e.¡± Gewu¡¯s speech pace gradually picked up. ¡°The Fengpeng¡¯s consciousness must¡¯ve been deleted long ago. Nheless, being able to erase it doesn¡¯t mean you can also banish the energy¡¯s aggression, as well.

    ¡°They aren¡¯t called evil beasts because they¡¯re born malevolent. My experiment subjects went mad after consuming just a tiny bit of blood, but it¡¯s erroneous to attribute their madness to them inheriting the beasts¡¯ consciousness. It¡¯s the beasts¡¯ aggression contaminating their bodies and actions. If a natural organism can be contaminated, are you somehow an exception?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s splitting headache started to saturate his body.

    ¡°I gambled on that probability. The pill you consumed was made from dragon blood¡¯s essence. I can¡¯t believe you threw it back without any reluctance.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s headache gradually eased all of a sudden.

    ¡°Thanks to your overconfidence, you saved me a lot of hassles.¡±

    Gewu¡¯s voice, as with everyone else¡¯s, perceptively came from farther and farther away to Ming Feizhen.

    Gewu got to his feet, then swept his gaze over the crowd. ¡°I am honoured to have tamed Mount Daluo¡¯s demon for my-¡±

    The great guya Moyan Luohou downed before made a beeline for Gewu, set on finishing him in one palm strike. Gewu tugged up a corner of his lips and ordered, ¡°Smite him.¡±

    Ming Feizhen uncorked a palm strike of his own, blowing the guya into fragments of his former self.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡± With Ming Feizhen, red eyes staring down at everyone, standing by his side, Gewu rhetorically asked, ¡°Hahaha, how¡­ exhrating! By the way, where was I? Hmm¡­ Ah, right. What if I were to rule Nanjiang?¡±

 Volume 11 52 Super Difficult Challenge. A Bone That Never Shouldâ€™ve Been Picked.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 52 Super Difficult Challenge. A Bone That Never Should¡¯ve Been Picked.</h4>

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, what shall I do next?¡± Gewu strolled a few steps forward whilst mumbling.

    Contrary to Ming Feizhen¡¯s heavy breathing, Gewu was stress free as he procured information from the visages of those around in order to make the most apt calls. He could expand his knowledge, strengthen his energy, umte power and wealth beyond what one could obtain in their lifespan, and reverse aging. s, there was nothing he could do about his ever-burgeoning resentment toward the world.

    ¡°J-Jiang Zhouzi, what are you doing?¡± Ah Neath still hadn¡¯t caught up with why Ming Feizhen sted a great guya to smithereens, why his eyes were read and the reason he was scowling.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please step back.¡± Feng Xue was already in front of Ah Neath by the time he finished advising. ¡°Please do not leave this old one¡¯s rear, or he cannot protect you.¡±

    Nobody would doubt the severity of the situation if even Feng Xue was guarding his Queen. The other sacred beasts were definitely shocked, but none of them abandoned their rulers.

    Luo Ming was the only one to advise, ¡°Your Majesty, please put some distance between us. Else, this one may cut you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng withdrew three steps, then looked to Ming Feizhen, perplexed.

    Wanyu¡¯s King hadn¡¯t forgotten Ming Feizhen singlehandedly took the strongest bandit¡¯s head. The four monarchs who cooperated with Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t let their guards down, either, not when they knew what he was capable of in their talks.

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen questioned in a low voice, ¡°Great Spirit Shaman, what have you done to control His Majesty?¡±

    Gewu simpered. ¡°Despite how many people are here, Tu Shane, you¡¯re the only one still in control of her emotions. You¡¯re significantly superior to your old man. If he was half as smart as you, he might still be alive.¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen responded, ¡°My father certainly refused to modernise and sacrificed himself for his people. Had he been half as shameless as you, he might be a tyrant today.¡±

    Gewu smirked the jab off. He was the prime suspect for the untimely death of Qingqiu¡¯sst King; however, nobody had proof to incriminate him for trying to arrogate Qingqiu. Unfortunately for him, he was uninformed the King had written his will prior, passing on leadership to his daughter. In addition, he earned their ire as Qingqiu¡¯s vassals were loyal to the father and daughter pair. As a result, there was only thing that could be considered an earning from his plot - Qingqiu¡¯s royal family being more cautious in their dealings with Mount Wanyu. He took the humiliating experience as an expensive lesson to make sure he didn¡¯t make the same mistake when taking over Baimu.

    ¡°So, you knew this old one killed your father, yet you continued to send infants to this old one annually?¡±

    ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t treat them kindly. You want to raise our family members into your loyal soldiers and then enjoy the scene of us killing each other. You disgust me.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, you think I really n to use my followers as soldiers? I can have as many soldiers willing toy down their lives for me as I fancy, yet you think I care about the extra few you supply? Frankly, what I wanted them for is this.¡± Pupils dted, Gewu drifted over to amoner, then ripped thetter¡¯s arm out of its socket.

    Blood should¡¯ve been everywhere, yet not a drop was to be found on the ground. Instead, the arm withered simrly to someone aging and shrunk. Gewu threw aside the wrinkly arm and let a triumphant smile spread across his lips as he watched terror surface on faces. ¡°This is what your infants have been used for.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dead!¡±

    Feeling the air around converge onto a single path toward him from his assant¡¯s hand, Gewu ordered, ¡°Waste him.¡±

    Ming Feizhen flitted across and smacked Hong Jiu back to where he came from.

    ¡°Big Bro, how can you lose to him?!¡± Despite getting rocked hard, Hong Jiu mmed his hand into the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s Blooddeer Retrograde,¡± Luo Ming informed.

    ¡°What is that, Brother Luo?¡± Emperor Yuansheng inquired.

    ¡°It is an unorthodox discipline that people have ceased to impart for a century. It used to be the discipline of Overlord. While it does not impress in the power department, the effects border on fantasy. The practitioner can absorb vital essence from people¡¯s blood to restore their youth and raise their strength by stealing the work of others. It took our Founding Emperor and Hero Shenzhou together to take Overlord down.¡±

    ¡°I have a question for you, Gewu,¡± voiced Wanyu¡¯s King.

    ¡°Since I¡¯ve already said so much, I might as well indulge you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Elder Xunpan, the elder of Shaman Monarch who travelled to preach, was loved by his followers. Did you orchestrate his untimely death?¡±

    ¡°Full marks for you.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ He paid me a visit at one point and told me you would kill him to cover your secret. If he died, then his knowledge is true.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised the useless sack of flesh paid you a visit when your state is the most involved with Shaman Faith.¡±

    ¡°He told me you¡¯re a member of Heisina Tribe and was not rightfully entrusted with Great Spirit Shaman Sect. You enthroned yourself, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Pfft, hahaha, ah, man. This old one assumed you¡¯re useless from our years ofpetition, but it seems that you desperately want a dance with death. Had you not mentioned that, you might¡¯ve been able to leave the mountain alive.¡±

    ¡°You admit to it?!¡±

    ¡°So what if I have? Who cares how I was appointed? Can you do anything about it? That said, I must give all of you props. You¡¯re still stalling for reinforcements. I don¡¯t me you, though. I understand you¡¯re no match for His Majesty. Although using your numbers is a sound strategy, has it not crossed your mind that I¡¯m also doing all this talking to buy time?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to buy any more time!¡± Le Kuangnu shouted from the forest.

    The sound of some animal from afar closed in sonorously. No feathers were ruffled, nheless, as every monarch and sacred beast were first-rate hunters, so they could estimate the size of the encroaching animal. They determined it couldn¡¯t have been an animal in a field based on the sound it produced. Only when they saw its smiling face did they realise the menace defiedmon knowledge. They needed a while to snap out of their paralysing trepidation.

    ¡°Le Kuangnu, you¡¯re too noisy, don¡¯t you think?¡± Gewu griped.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Is there anyone here who can stop us? Hahaha.¡± From the Yanhui¡¯s head, Le Kuangnu inhaled the fear of everyone below as if it was ecstasy gas.

    Le Kuangnu had history with a royal family. When a royal family minister refused to take him in as a disciple back in his snake taming days, he raped the man¡¯s wife for not stroking his ego. Consequently, he was sentenced to capital punishment outside the pce, but an emissary of Sky Pce saved him.

    Once one picked up Blooddeer Retrograde, it was impossible to go back. For instance, the practitioner couldn¡¯t just quit due to the side effects causing unimaginable pain whenever there werepses. To begin with, absorbing people¡¯s vital essence to restore one¡¯s youth went against nature. Therefore, expecting there to be no consequences was wishful thinking. For this reason, Gewu and Le Kuangnu were both belittled. Thus, the chance to look down at everyone present was tantamount to having the chance to p them all in the face.

    Gewu vocalised, ¡°Please think about what the best oue for you is. Do you wish to be nourishment for thisnd here, or do you want to be this old one¡¯spdog?¡±

    Nobody answered.

    ¡°Why waste your breath? Wanyu¡¯s piece of crap must die. You can do whatever else you want to do. We can add the wenches of Qingqiu to our beds, but I better get dibs. You can do that much when I¡¯ve sacrificed so much for so many years, can¡¯t you?¡±

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen snapped. ¡°Shut your filthy trap!¡±

    Le Kuangnu licked his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll start with y-¡±

    Everyone saw Moyan Louhou sheath his de in slow motion. Le Kuangnu¡¯s head had been disced from his shoulders.

    Gewu couldn¡¯t even venture a guess for why Moyan Luohou suddenly turned on them. Before he could start thinking about it, he heard, ¡°Man, I can¡¯t do this. Acting isn¡¯t my forte.¡± Gewucked the courage to shift his line of sight to his rear.

    ¡°God damn, does it really take half a day to list your crimes? I¡¯m about to be dysfunctional pretending. Sheesh.¡±

    ¡°Ming! Fei! Zhen!¡± Gewu finally turned around to see Ming Feizhen smiling at him.

    ¡°Yeah, bro, what¡¯s good? Surprised? Astonished? Shocked?¡±

 Volume 11 53 Smug. Frenzy.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 53 Smug. Frenzy.</h4>

    I stretched out my limbs. Life hadn¡¯t been kind to me recently. Imagine being cooped up indoors, analysing how to convincingly y the role of a nigh-crazy Fengpengnia patient. Yes, it took me ages toe up with my emotionless-ring edgelord character, but it was excruciatingly hard to stay in role. Never again was I epting such a challenging role - it¡¯s unhealthy.

    Gewu went through every expression ever written in a novel. I would believe you if you told me he got married eighteen times and cucked eighteen times. Who could me him? Having admitted to all of his crimes and the illegitimacy of his post, even his followers in the distance wanted to spit in his face.

    I was the only one Gewu had eyes for. That sounds¡­ gross. Let me reword that: His eyes were on me. He had a case of silent chatterbox. The man was probably so mad that he couldn¡¯t breathe.

    ¡°Y-y-you fool-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, bro, I fooled you. All the cast, backdrop and scripts came together to fool you. How does it feel to enjoy the spotlight all to yourself?¡±

    Gewu saw the four monarchs wearing smugness on their lips. ¡°I! I! You! You! Possible!¡±

    ¡°You mean ¡®impossible¡¯, yeah?¡± I gave Ol¡¯ Ge a friendly smile. ¡°I was never in trouble in the first ce. Those snakes, dragons, dragonsnakes and whatever don¡¯t do squat to me. I just happened to see you musing over my condition on one of the days I came back to fetch some money, so I went along with you.¡±

    ¡°Scouts!¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, they did see me lose it because I went crazy for them. How else do you expect me to fool you?¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    ¡°You mean, ¡®possible¡¯, yeah? You¡¯d be right if logic applies, but, man, you can¡¯t apply logic to Six Evils. Like, the Fengpeng I ate alive has the biggest army. After you eat, you take a dump, yeah? The Fengpeng gives birth after eating. Like, where¡¯s the logic there?¡±

    ¡°But you! But you!¡± Gewu pointed to the corpse on the ground.

    ¡°Oh, the great guya on the ground? My bad. I almost forgot about him. Help the man up. Give Brother Lai some extra chicken drumsticks for his dedication.¡±

    In only a few steps time, Lai Jingzhen had reverted from his corpse form to his real form.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to take this opportunity tomend everyone on set today. First, Brother Lai deserves recognition for taking on the role of a punching bag and exploding when asked to. The next person I¡¯d like to thank is¡­ Pleasee forward.¡± Themoner who had his arm ripped off came forth and removed her mask for me to continue, ¡°Our adorable Wawa. Come introduce yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you to the King of hell! You done?! Squash him already!¡±

    I pretended not to hear Wawa in my ears, picked up a stick and went over to Hong Jiu. ¡°But today¡¯s best actor award goes to my junior - Hong Jiu!¡±

    Hong Jiu took the stick and dabbed his eyes with the back of his hands. ¡°Thank you for the love. I¡¯d like to take the opportunity to thank my family, my director and my brother, all of whom is the same person, Ming ¡®Leader¡¯ Feizhen. Without him giving the opportunity, I would not be where I am now. Henceforward, I shall carry this honour with me on my travels to promote love and justice. Love you all. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Wisdom certainly dide with age. Gewu was back to his usual self, save for his tomato face. ¡°¡­ You already connected with the imperial court? Impossible¡­ When did you¡­?¡±

    ¡°When I arrived at the bottom of the mountain. You don¡¯t think I came down ahead of you to engage in idle chatter with our four envoys, did you?¡±

    ¡°Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­ Why would the four monarchs listen to you?¡±

    ¡°I must give you credit for reading people well. The four of them weren¡¯t interested when I suggested we team up to lynch you; they even rolled their eyes at me.¡±

    While they didn¡¯t like Gegewu, they refused to go against Shaman Faith¡¯s Great Spirit Shaman. Comparatively speaking, I was less trustworthy than him since they had met him before.

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°Confucius said, ¡®Counter rigidness with money.¡¯¡± I sauntered over to Gergewu and quietly said, ¡°I gave them a letter Western Region¡¯s Dayue state¡¯s King personally wrote, agreeing to do business with them. What do you think is going to happen when money moves them?¡±

    Really, the root of it all was Gegewu. In order to pre-empt any threats to him, he obstructed states trying to develop. What he did is akin to stopping people from growing instead of continuing to grow himself so that people couldn¡¯t keep up; it harms thepetition but doesn¡¯t reap you any gain. In order to secure the opportunity to do business with the insanely wealthy merchants of Western Regions, they sided with me without needing a minute. My request for five hundred soldiers instantly became a thousand, too. The fewer people privy to the stuff behind the scenes, the better, which was why we kept it from the envoys.

    Gegewu watched me, seemingly waiting for something. As it never came, he grumbled, ¡°You¡­ You consumed dragon blood.¡±

    ¡°Did I now?¡± I took out a red pill from my shirt and waved it in Gegewu¡¯s face. I smacked it into my mouth, then opened my hand, showing him the pill. ¡°I glued it to my hand using spider silk. You actually think I¡¯m stupid enough to think I can trust your pill? While I¡¯m at it, you realise this isn¡¯t dragon blood, yeah?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Say what?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°This is jiao blood. I see you¡¯ve also obtained the crimson jiao. Given dragons make a move once every few centuries, considering the three incidents at Nieyao, you have three to four dragons, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?! You¡¯re Shaman Monarch, yet you¡¯re asking someone to destroy your own faith?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Shaman Monarch now? Am I? I¡¯m the Central in¡¯s martial world¡¯s Liu Shan Men¡¯s faithful, ninth rank civil servant whose principles are not malleable to poverty, humbleness, threats, force or pork shoulders braised in soy sauce. See that dashing tough gentleman and that maiden who takes up the ocean over there? They are my superiors and her foster father. I only joined your faith to obtain intel. When did I ever sign up to your faith?! All that blood you drink must be loosening rusting screws in your head!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng looked pleased, very pleased.

    Gegewu had no retort. Hell, not even if I would have one against such a perfect guy inside and out.

    ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡±

    ¡°Save your breath. You think anything you say will get to me when you¡¯re about to die?¡±

    ¡°You ugly freak!¡±

    Watch your mouth!

    Gegewu really was a sly bugger. Whilst we were conversing, he shifted his position to jump onto the white python¡¯s head after disparaging me. Although Le Kuangnu died, the beast had the intelligence to know there was someone who took over, so it never made a move. As soon as Gegewu climbed on, it started wriggling.

    Blue and red energies from Abels and Luo Ming, respectively, stiffed the white python, neutralising its attempt to crush some people.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight. Let¡¯s go!¡± Gegewu, knowing he would inexorably lose,manded.

    Instead of charging through the dust to give chase, Abels and Luo Ming tuned around to me, who was pretending to take in the scenery. My reason for letting Gegewu escape boiled down to me not wanting to kill in front of Emperor Yuansheng.

    Once I was sure Gegewu was gone, I yelled to Emperor Yuansheng, ¡°I set up lots of traps up ahead. I shall go capture him now. I promise to bring him back, dead or alive.¡± As I took off running, I yelled, ¡°Second,e with me.¡±

    ¡°On it!¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming, be careful!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! Wait for my good news!¡±

    Never knew His Majesty cared about me so much. I appreciate you.

    ¡°Dugu, follow after Ming Feizhen to see what his true skills are like. Go now.¡±

    Hold up. I didn¡¯t get that script.

 Volume 11 54 Outside the Secular World. There Will Be No Peace. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 54 Outside the Secr World. There Will Be No Peace. (Part 1)</h4>

    Notwithstanding the embattled vegetation¡¯s valiant defence, a lot of them had sumbed to the bitter gales and indiscriminate energy. The only thing that withstood the sh was the anti-dragon diagram consisting of forty-nine circr bits of fengqi shenmu, with the Yanhui¡¯s scale as a trigger. The reinforced formation was what drew a target on them.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Tianfeng Xuanyuan worked on recalibrating his breathing - bloodstains still visible around his mouth. Lian Zhuiyue, sword involuntarily cast far off, had only just sealed his main upoints to prevent further damage. Ming Xiaolou mouth was agape, tongue visible. Sima Huai, requiring a tree trunk to support his torso, silently meditated. Ming Suwen was the only one still standing¡­ for now.

    Appearing and sounding as though she hadn¡¯t even started her warm-up despite single-handedly defeating four Mount Daluo direct disciples, the armour-d maiden cast aside Ming Xiaolou¡¯s sword. While the sword wasn¡¯t a renowned sword, the maiden disarmed Ming Xiaolou effortlessly. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you. We have no reason to fight you. Sky Pce and Mount Daluo have maintained peace for nearly thirty years. There is no reason to start another dispute. That being said, Mount Daluo is impeding our operation. As you have lost, please depart from Nanjiang. I insist on dismantling the formation posterior to you. The fengqi shenmu must go, too.¡±

    She extended her arm out in front, thwarting Sima Huai¡¯s attempt to catch her off guard so perfectly that one might think he deliberately let her catch his arm. Sima Huai disengaged immediately before she could add a squeeze, but his arm had gone cold and bereft of feeling no matter how he tried to restore homeostasis.

    ¡°Your qingong is incredible. I would not have a chance against you in a racewalk, so I need to circumvent you from causing me problems.¡±

    ¡°Third, pry open your sealed upoint with 80% of your full capacity,¡± Ming Suwen instructed.

    Face as white as a sheet, Sima Huai bitterly smiled. ¡°I tried¡­ but failed to open it.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have the strength to open it. Just keep it up. Once the pain bes unbearable, reverse your flow of qi, and you¡¯ll get rid of the barricade. Leverage true qi¡¯s opposition to usher your true qi in another direction. You can¡¯t let the cold qi stay inside you, though, so make sure you expel it from your feet all at once.¡±

    Sima Huai immediately did as he was taught.

    ¡°Sky Pce and Mount Daluo are both sects outside of the secr world. As one of Demon Realm¡¯s Stone Pirs, why make things difficult for the kids?¡± Ming Suwen dimpled. ¡°Why not speak directly to me?¡±

    ¡°I already said what needs to be said.¡±

    ¡°You need to ask me for permission.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Leave Nanjiang and move aside.¡±

    ¡°As you have made a request, I shall give my response: I refuse.¡± Ming Suwen rubbed away the red at the corner of her lips. ¡°It¡¯s about time. All of you get going. All of you. When you meet up with your first brother, tell him toe save me.¡±

    ¡°We cannot all leave,¡± argued Tianfeng Xuanyuan. ¡°I shall stay to protect you.¡±

    Sima Huai immediately took off at full speed once he excreted the cold qi guing him. Ming Xiaolou looked back and forth between their opponent and Ming Suwen prior to her departure.

    ¡°You two also need to get moving. This isn¡¯t just about me. If they continue raising dragons here, what will be of Mount Daluo¡¯s duty? Go now.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Uhm. W-we¡¯ll be back before you know it. Take care, Grandaunt.¡± Tianfeng Xuanyuan reluctantly left.

    Lian Zhuiyue got up, though it was to search for his sword instead of leaving. He dusted off his sword, then spun around. ¡°Fight without reservations, Grandaunt. I shall support you.¡±

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan personified cute honesty. Sima Huai embodied the decisiveness of a general. Xia¡¯er inherited her mother¡¯s easy-going sense of heroism as well as her father¡¯s attention to detail. Lian Zhuiyue was born a gentleman.

    Ming Suwen gave Lian Zhuiyue a smile. ¡°Back me up, then.¡± She then turned back to the threat. ¡°I thought you would¡¯ve stopped them from leaving.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to, but I can¡¯t. You have locked on to me. If I want to go after them, I need to get past you first.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s even more perplexing. What¡¯s wrong with fighting me? It¡¯s not like I can beat you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I have weighed the consequences of fighting you; however, I¡¯m not confident I can subdue without killing you. If I kill you, though, we will not be able to bear the consequences.¡±

    ¡°You sound confident to me. You sure you can kill me?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am more skilled than you. Although you¡¯re slippery, I can kill you within a hundred exchanges without a doubt.¡±

    ¡°I like that you¡¯re candid. Indeed, you are more skilled. As a matter fact, even I reckon I¡¯ll die. How about we y a game? If I can¡¯t survive a hundred exchanges, lose in one exchange or get hurt, I¡¯ll piss off back to Beiping, and you can do whatever you want. You can have the wood to construct a house. If I survive, on the other hand,¡± Ming Suwen brought her upwardly curved lips down to neutral, ¡°you have to answer a question of mine.¡±

    The armoured maiden didn¡¯t respond for whatever reason.

    ¡°You¡¯re running out of time. Once my help arrives, it¡¯ll be toote to ept my offer.¡±

    The maiden visualised a match with Ming Suwen three times before gaining the confidence to incapacitate Ming Suwen within seventy exchanges. ¡°Deal.¡±

 Volume 11 55 Outside the Secular World. There Will Be No Peace. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 55 Outside the Secr World. There Will Be No Peace. (Part 2)</h4>

    The armoured maiden was confused as to why Ming Suwen was confused. Her frigid internal energy could potentially seal meridians upon contact, so Ming Suwen, who didn¡¯t specialise in pure yang disciplines and paled inparison when it came to internal energy potency, was at a serious disadvantage. If Ming Suwen was to have a chance, a direct confrontation was the worst strategy.

    Demon Realm¡¯s Battle God had an impressive win streak under her belt, but it was no walk in the park to dismantle Ming Suwen¡¯s strikes without countering. The feeling was mutual. Even though Ming Suwen witnessed the armoured maiden defeat Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples upon contact, Ming Suwen didn¡¯t expect so much of a challenge.

    ¡°Your style is bizarre. Youck any concept of technique.¡± Ming Suwen showed no signs of concern; if somebody wasn¡¯t informed, they think the two were just having a friendly sparring match.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Suwen¡¯s opponent defused all of her attacks with her bare hands, but she never countered once in Ming Suwen¡¯s seventy-six executed moves. When Ming Suwen punched, the armoured maiden blocked with a punch. When Ming Suwen palmed, the armoured maiden denied the former with her palm. Every movement was spontaneous. Had it not been for the risk of drawing a nearby Divine Realm adept¡¯s attention to their location, the armoured maiden could¡¯ve squashed Ming Suwen using Enlightenment without needing to go through so many exchanges.

    ¡°You¡­ used Moon Weaver Palms to mitigate my force, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    A smile bloomed on Ming Suwen¡¯s lips. ¡°I like the discipline. It¡¯s non-lethal, and the name sounds nice. You want to know the story behind the discipline?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t like martial arts.¡±

    ¡°But you have to learn.¡±

    The armoured maiden studied Ming Suwen with her eyes in detail for the first time - as if she was re-evaluating her perception of Ming Suwen. ¡°Moon Weaver Palms is one of Mount Daluo¡¯s advanced disciplines. In saying that, unless it¡¯s Empty Palms that the youth in white used, there¡¯s no way to neutralise my force.¡±

    She chose Lian Zhuiyue as her first opponent and almost used her full power right from the get-go, saving 20% of her remaining power for the others, yet she failed to take Lian Zhuiyue down because he countered using Empty Palms.

    Ming Suwen could supposedly see her opponent wondering how she was so adept at Moon Weaver Palms despite her age. ¡°Don¡¯t think too hard. For instance¡­¡± Ming Suwen¡¯s voice doubled up as another spitting image of herself emerged from thin air.

    ¡°¡­ Shadow Clone.¡±

    Given Shadow Clone¡¯s difficulty among even qinggong specialist, rarely did anyone ever see the skill in the flesh.

    ¡°I almost always hear people iming the limit of Shadow Clone is halving yourself, but is it really true?¡± The two Ming Suwens smiled and rhetorically spoke in unison, and every word that came out of her mouth would spawn more clones.

    Regardless of how she looked, the armoured maiden couldn¡¯t identify the real Ming Suwen from the twenty-six of them.

    ¡°Techniques are a reflection of character. My choice of techniques matches my character. You¡¯re no exception,¡± Ming Suwen asserted.

    ¡°You¡­ and I are alike?¡±

    ¡°Not too different, I reckon.¡±

    The armoured maiden mused for a while, then loosened her fists. ¡°It¡¯s my loss.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue couldn¡¯t make any sense of the situation. Clearly, Ming Suwen was on course to losing.

    ¡°My nephew looks dissatisfied. Mind enlightening him?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re more skilled than I predicted. I can¡¯t hurt you in twenty-four exchanges.¡±

    ¡°Defeating twenty-six people in twenty-four exchanges certainly is difficult.¡±

    Ming Suwen¡¯s opponent picked up a tree branch. ¡°Not necessarily.¡± She created a trail of frames in the air from a whip, erasing several of Ming Suwen¡¯s clones. ¡°It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t beat you but that I can¡¯t kill you.¡±

    Despite feeling the heat of burning trees behind her, Ming Suwen didn¡¯t bat an eye. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like you have any method of dismantling the formation. I¡¯d rather die than leave. In a little while, he¡¯ll be here. You sure you can win?¡±

    The armoured maiden used her preferred answer once again - silence.

    ¡°Hehe, since I can¡¯t beat you, and you won¡¯t kill me, how about we end this skirmish here? Try again when you have a new strategy?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Seems to be my only option.¡±

    Whatever strategy she came back with, the maiden needed to bear in mind that Ming Suwen had been selling bluffs all her life.

    ¡°By the way, seeing as you surrendered, I have a question for you.¡±

    The maiden stopped in her tracks, but she didn¡¯t turn back.

    ¡°Are you Xue?¡±

    The maiden turned around, unable to follow, while Ming Suwen was uncharacteristically serious.

    ¡°¡­ Forget it. Pretend I never asked. You can¡¯t be her; your age, appearance and fighting style don¡¯t match. If you were her, I¡¯d be able to tell at first nce.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ searching for one of us.¡±

    ¡°Not me, but my¡­ my man is looking for her.¡±

    The maiden in armour repeated the name in her mind several times, then shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t recognise anyone by that name.¡±

    As the maiden flew off, Ming Suwen cupped her mouth. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name? We can get to know each other, can¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I have no name. People just call me Shadow Lady.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hurry! Hurry, imbecile! Did he not feed you or something?!¡± Gewu wouldn¡¯t stop badgering the white python even though he could see trees copsing as they passed by.

    Gewu¡¯s pursuer decided the distance was perfect, so he elerated straight past and violently parked on the white python¡¯s head, fixing its head to the ground in addition to gusting up a sandstorm.

    shing a corner of his white pearls, Gewu¡¯s pursuer glued the white python¡¯s head to the ground with one hand. ¡°Where you off to, bug?¡±

 Volume 11 56 Immeasurable Hatred. Crushing Mount Ling Underfoot.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 56 Immeasurable Hatred. Crushing Mount Ling Underfoot.</h4>

    Not an animal stayed after the ear-splitting crash that excavated a path in the forest.

    Prior tomuting to Nanjiang, Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s leader, Ye Yun called Dugu aside to tell him that the oue of the expedition wasn¡¯t the most important but what he heard and saw would be the most important. Only after beholding the outrageous event did Dugu understand why Ye Yun told him what he did, prompting him to check his memories.

    Dugu kept what he judged a safe distance from Ming Feizhen, lest thetter discover his presence. He, however, was forced to pick up the pace when Ming Feizhen and Hong Jiu vanished. On his way, he spotted a familiar grey set of clothing. Given the white python¡¯s danger, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for Hong Jiu to die in battle, let alone hurt badly enough to crouch on the ground. Hence, Dugu rushed over and ced a hand on Hong Jiu¡¯s back to siphon internal energy over. ¡°Brother Hong, how did you get hurt?¡±

    Hong Jiu heaved two big breaths prior to looking up.¡°A moment of carelessness¡­¡±

    ¡°The python hurt you?¡±

    Hong Jiu shook his head. ¡°Sprained my ankle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Dugu pulled his hand back slowly. ¡°I need to get going.¡±

    Hong Jiu grabbed Dugu. ¡°Brother Dugu, in this era of material greed, are even you going to leave me for dead?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I¡¯d rather believe in ghosts than you spraining your ankle!¡±

    ¡°Why the hell would I be squatting here if I didn¡¯t hurt my foot?! To count ants?!¡±

    The two continued to go back and forth.

    Meanwhile, Gewu screamed, ¡°Baidizi, kill him!¡±

    The white python spat out a venomous gas, forcing Ming Feizhen to retreat two steps. He slipped his hands into his sleeves, then drew two circles in front.

    ¡°Water King Thread.¡±

    Baidizi halted, rather, was forced to halt. It spun around on a horizontal axis and then crashed into the earth, though it didn¡¯t suffer remotely enough damage to faze it.

    Ming Feizhen, having achieved his goal, became an untraceable mobile target. While he didn¡¯t have the ability to elerate, decelerate and change direction of movement with the fluidity and freedom Sima Huai had, Ming Feizhen could pile more speed on top of speed and then more. If he wanted to, he could augment his speed to the point that not even he could control his trajectory. The requisites to travel at that speed were internal energy that didn¡¯t need recharges in between - on top of a sturdy body that could withstand the extreme velocity.

    Once Ming Feizhen revealed himself again, the white python¡¯s might meant nothing.

    ¡°This is called Ancient King Thread - Feather Stitching.¡± Ming Feizhen crossed the white python¡¯s head to approach Gewu. ¡°There are over four hundred strings of celestial spider thread cuffing it. It¡¯ll need, at least, fifteen minutes to break free; I suppose that¡¯s enough for us to have a quick chat.¡±

    Although more terrified than ever, Gewu didn¡¯t step back for he was aware that it would only dy the inevitable.

    Gaze down on the python underfoot, Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°This one is ranked third among the nine dragons. Both its offensive prowess and lifespan are like a dragon. When did you capture it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Forty-five years ago.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed you didn¡¯t feed it human flesh for decades. Your patience deserves praise.¡±

    ¡°H-how do you know?¡±

    ¡°You still have a lot to learn about Six Evils¡¯ habits. Once they¡¯ve tasted human flesh, they¡¯ll harbour a strong predation towards humans. Additionally, their bodies begin to transform into a body more apt for feasting on humans as well as fighting them. You¡¯ve shown this one only takes orders to attacks. I don¡¯t believe you can tame a dragon that¡¯s developed a violent disposition, either. If you could, you would¡¯ve marched off Mount Wanyu already.¡±

    Gewu went white in the face as he listened to his confidence verbally shattered.

    ¡°Yourprehension of their aggression isn¡¯t wrong. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea. I¡¯m no expert at strategy. Even the ideas Ie up with aren¡¯t my own ideas. I didn¡¯t use my brain once to screw you over. You pretty much buried yourself for me.

    ¡°You¡¯re one of the thorough ones among the morons I¡¯vee across. You waited until I was unhinged, provoked me in various ways and tried to control me using your dragon taming methods. You should be proud you¡¯re smarter than the idiots I¡¯vee across in the past. You were on the right track but not on the right level.¡±

    ¡°What level?¡±

    ¡°My level.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes turned red, startling Gewu again. In the chilling voice that Gewu heard prior to descending the mountain, Ming Feizhen resumed. ¡°These aren¡¯t Fengpeng eyes. They look simr, but it¡¯s not the same thing. This is the product of a certain discipline¡¯s usage. I usually feel moody when I use it.

    ¡°You only made one fault. Be it fengqi shenmu, a dragon¡¯s roar or genocide, none of them are enough to trigger me. If you want to awaken the beast in me, you need to provide me with a decent challenge, at the very least. You? You¡¯re too weak.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you kill me?!¡± Gewu bellowed in a hoarse voice.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t need to try to kill you. Who said I want to kill you, though?¡± Ming Feizhen ced a hand on Gewu¡¯s shoulder. ¡°This might hurt.¡±

    A painful sensationparable to meridians being severed shot down from Gewu¡¯s shoulder to the rest of his body. Decades of assiduous training and studying was deleted with a single touch. All the internal energy he invested resources and decades to strengthening, all of the qi points he spent developing were erased from his body. No longer could he ssify himself a martial artist ever again.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! Aaargh! Ming Feizhen!¡± Gewu dropped into the blood he vomited. ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you. There¡¯s a line of people who want to kill you; it doesn¡¯t need to be me. Your superior is here to pick you up.¡± Ming Feizhen looked up at the silver mask staying put in the distance and then walked off blithely.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± Even leaves trembled in the face of Gewu¡¯s hatred. ¡°I will make you regret not killing me!¡±

    Note: For the people who missed it, I have changed ¡°Shadow Lord¡± to ¡°Shadow Lady¡±. I plead ignorance on this one. I had no idea ¡°Lady¡± is the female version of ¡°Lord¡±. I always thought ¡°Lord¡± was gender neutral.

 Volume 11 57 A Beautyâ€™s Company through a Long Night (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 57 A Beauty¡¯s Company through a Long Night (Part 1)</h4>

    I walked backed the way I came with springs in my steps. If I didn¡¯t get to let loose on a punching bag (read: Abels) and stroll around at night, I would¡¯ve been so bored that my hair turned ck. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, Abels was under the impression that I was helping him train; I felt too bad to tell him I was just sick of being cooped up indoors. As for his improvements, the credit was all his. He was all smiles after every beat down, so maybe something in his soul changed? I just hoped I wouldn¡¯t be charged for eliciting brain damage¡­ Anyhow, I was damn relieved to quit my acting gig. Most importantly, I finally collected everything I wanted for the expedition.

    Facing off against Six Evils wasn¡¯t that scary, not after the millenniums Mount Daluo had been facing them. Even if we encountered one we¡¯d never came across before, we had ns. As long as we had the physical capacity, did the maths and strategized, we had a big chance at winning. The primary concern was the environment.

    Six Evils inhabited and grew up in different environments. Environment was a factor that influenced any fight. The change in terrain could substantially alter their abilities and character. Using the white python as an example, it grew up without feeding on humans, costing it sharper senses. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to restrict its movement so easily. This was an example of its environment weakening it. There were examples of the environment strengthening them in the past.

    It went without saying that not every ce out there was Mount Daluo. In other words, pretending they were hypothetically identical to Mount Daluo, blessed with more strength and people, in a different environment, a casualty-free campaign could be the termination of an entire sect.

    Grandmaster often said, ¡°The power to y Six Evils has always been there. There just aren¡¯t enough people who can wield it.¡± The director¡¯s job was alter to the foreign environment into their favour. In this expedition, I was the director. Although it took me months of non-stop preparation, I finally saw hope for the hunt.

    I had reached an agreement with Nieyao¡¯s three neighbours, Baimu and Wanyu. Morcher wasn¡¯t a problem since it would be part of the Central in. Qingqiu and the other three states agreed to be our backup. Even if they didn¡¯t lift a finger, it was good enough as long as they stayed out of our way so that we wouldn¡¯t be caught in a pincer attack. All of my work served one purpose - to set up an environment that would maximise our chances of sess.

    In regards to the lineup I needed, I was ticking off boxes. Lai Jingzhen, Luo Ming, Abels, Uncle Feng Xue and Moyan Luohou manifested the possibility of triumph. It shouldn¡¯t be surprising that we needed all of them given we were challenging the strongest race among Six Evils.

    In the middle of nowhere at night, I saw two men ¡°grappling¡± with each other on the ground. I immediately ducked behind a tree, then carefully shifted my head out.

    ¡°Brother Ming, what are you hiding for? I saw you!¡± Dugu yelled.

    Dugu? Then, the other bloke is¡­

    ¡°Second?!¡±

    Dugu and Hong Jiu¡¯s attire were torn here, there, another piece there, and they were ¡°grappling¡±¡­ Hong Jiu also yanked Dugu¡¯s sash with everything he had.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go there!¡± Dugu yelled as he resisted Hong Jiu¡¯s takedown.

    ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m not misunderstanding. I¡¯m not against your rtionship.¡±

    Dugu would¡¯ve flipped out at me if he wasn¡¯t upied with holding his sash together with his left and hammering Hong Jiu with his right. At every window he was afforded, he¡¯d spit profanities at me. s, the ability to multitask didn¡¯t save him from Hong Jiu.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think! It¡¯s him! He¡­ He won¡¯t let go of me!¡±

    Hong Jiu fumed, ¡°Who says you have to let go just because you¡¯re tired? How can I let go?! Show me how to ¡®let go¡¯!¡±

    ¡°If I let go, you¡¯d pull my pants down! Let! Go!¡±

    They say betterte than never. I finally remembered I asked Hong Jiu to stop Dugu. Now it made sense. I guess it just wasn¡¯t Dugu¡¯s day. I flicked Hong Jiu a wink of gratitude, but he didn¡¯t catch it. Therefore, Hong Jiu kept tugging at Dugu¡¯s sash.

    I made my way over, shouting, ¡°Second! Second! Stop! There¡¯s no money inside! That¡¯s his sash!¡±

    Unfortunately, the sound of cotton ripping beat me to the punch.

    A soft, whispering breeze stirs my hair. Going out without pants in this weather may freeze your pair.

    ***

    ¡°Sorry for the holdup.¡± I victoriously returned to the foot of Mount Wanyu. ¡°Ahaha, I could not catch up to the big worm, and my traps did not live up to the hype, hahaha.¡±

    I get that they thought I was odd for being so jubnt despite failing to capture Gewu, but their opinion changed when they saw Hong Jiu using tiger fur for a coat and Dugu wrapped up in leaves.

    I hurried over to Emperor Yuansheng and, with a palm-fist salute, reported, ¡°Hero Li, I have retired. I have not let you down. He escaped.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all right! I¡¯m d you¡¯re safe and sound. It¡¯s no big deal if he got away; you can just capture him down the road. Men, bring our hero a stool, a pot of boiling water and the mantou I hid thirty days ago. Treat our hero to all the luxuries of the mortal realm.¡±

    ¡°You are too kind! To think you would let me eat first. I am at a loss for words.¡± I dabbed my eyes with my sleeve.

    Emperor Yuansheng gently patted my left shoulder. ¡°Say less. Say less. I should do this much when you staked your life for me.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Even though everything people had to say was written on their faces, Feiyi¡¯s monarch ribbed, ¡°A shameless one meets an old fox, how enlightening.¡±

    Chiyi¡¯s monarch pointed to us and said to his vassals, ¡°Don¡¯t ever speak to me in such a roundabout way. Keep it to the point, especially the way you speak.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng and Dugumunicated using eye gestures when they thought I wasn¡¯t paying attention. While Emperor Yuansheng was perplexed and trying to decipher the visual codes, Dugu looked as though he was fuming. Post-traumatic disorder is no joke.

    Zhuiyue sent me a ¡°safe¡± signal, so that was another burden off my shoulders.

    I originally nned to have my three juniors protect the formation, lest the python invoke even more panic, and I was cognisant of how rough it¡¯d be on them. Nheless, Young Shiyi offered to protect the formation, and her being her, nobody could object. For that reason, I spared some attention to monitor the situation in case I received a call for help.

    When I turned my attention back to Emperor Yuansheng, he was already looking at me. He had every reason under the sun to be vignt of me. After all, the way I came down the mountain exceeded what I should¡¯ve been capable of. I was able to tell four monarchs what to do and work with their envoys. Moreover, Gegewu treated me as thest boss. I needed excuses to clear suspicion.

    Unlike Gegewu, Emperor Yuansheng knew exactly what internal cultivation discipline put me in the state I used to deceive Gegewu. Even if Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t voice it, I was aware he was questioning me. Dugu following me was irrefutable evidence of the fact. The discipline was taboo to Emperor Yuansheng.

    In a soft voice, I said, ¡°Hero Li, please take everyone back up the mountain. We do not need to go anywhere tonight, so we should spend the night on Mount Wanyu. Today¡¯s events are wreathed in a lot of smaller events, and I shall detail them for youter. I need to see these people off first.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng still needed to limit the number of people who knew his true identity, so he gave me a nod. Ah Neath and her vassals headed up the mountain with them in spite of them being ssified as guests. From what I could tell, she had learned of his true identity. Being the money-orientedss she was, she¡¯d definitely try to strike up a business rtionship with him.

    Iron and Wood Guardians were already waiting for them on my orders, and Boss was already acquainted with them. Hence, I didn¡¯t need to apany them to the top.

 Volume 11 58 A Beautyâ€™s Company through a Long Night (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 58 A Beauty¡¯s Company through a Long Night (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Your Majesty Shaman Monarch, this reunion certainly is surprising.¡±

    I turned around to see Wanyu¡¯s King. I could understand him celebrating after Gegewu¡¯s downfall, yet he didn¡¯t wear any emotion on his sleeves. Although he proved he had big ambitions - based on his actions - he always nned to include his people in a positive way.

    I offered a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Please forgive this one for taking your state¡¯s sacred treasure without permission.¡±

    ¡°The treasure is still the same treasure. The people have benefited from this event. What can I fault you for? Moreover, you blessed us with miracles more than once, deposed of Shaman Monarch Pce, ended their corruption and exterminated the bandits within my borders. If anything, I owe you a thank you.¡±

    ¡°This one feels much better now.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, the iron throne is located at the top of Mount Ling and guarded by my state¡¯s top adept. I admire your abilities; there is no need to be so humble. Henceforth, should you need my aid, you need only say the word.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I do have two requests I would like to implore you to help with.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°The two are, huh?¡±

    What happened to owing me a thank you?!

    ¡°Hohoho, be it three or four requests, I will help you with as many as you have.¡±

    ¡­ You¡¯re ying with fire, buddy. I thought you were a frail-schr type because of your usual mannerisms, but you¡¯re a jerk, huh?

    ¡°Firstly, this one is not Shaman Monarch. He is but a low-ranking civil officer in the employment of the Central in¡¯s imperial court; he is undeserving of being addressed as ¡®His Majesty¡¯. If you do not mind the previous acts of deception, you can just call him Ming Feizhen. Additionally, please do not tell anyone how good I am at martial arts. Make me sound as weak as possible. That would be a huge help.¡±

    Though puzzled, Wanyu¡¯s King epted.

    ¡°Secondly.¡±

    ¡°Did you not just list two?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, uh, consider that one request. You can consider it three requests if you prefer. In any event, th-¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, I was just joking. You are too serious. Rx.¡±

    Someone give me a stick. I¡¯ll show this guy how constipation can be cured!

    ¡°In any event, please personallye here tomorrow. I have something of utmost importance to tell you. It is rted to Nieyao.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wanyu¡¯s King went back to his usual straight face. ¡°And if I don¡¯te?¡±

    You know what? Screw the stick. Give me a big broadsword! On his toe tag, just write, ¡°Trolled himself!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be here on time tomorrow, hohoho. Men, bring the iron throne back with us, hohoho.¡±

    ¡­ Is this payback for stealing your state treasure?!

    All four monarchs I colluded with were ecstatic to hear Gegewu was finished. They all needed to hurry home, however, as their disappearances rendered their states in a state panic.

    Qingqiu¡¯s Queen deliberately took her time to let the other three go on ahead. She furtively walked closer to me, creating the impression she was resting her head on my chest. ¡°I have done as you asked, and the thorn has been removed. I hope you honour your word.¡±

    I kept my eyes trained forward. ¡°In sixty days from now, the first envoy from Dayue will arrive north of Qingqiu. That is all I will say. Whether or not you can beat the other states to the punch to secure your position as Dayue¡¯s primary business partner is on you.¡±

    ¡°If you ever visit Qingqiu, I promise to reciprocate the favour,¡± Tu Shan¡¯e expressed with glimmering eyes.

    ¡°You may need to prepare several styles, then, because I am born shameless.¡±

    Tu Shan¡¯e broke the ¡°Ice Queen¡± image she was known for with a giggle. ¡°I will miss these days when I return home. I enjoy conversations with you. It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve had augh.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound as though we have been chatting under the moonlight every night when we never have. If people hear this, my reputation will take a hit.¡±

    Tu Shan¡¯e looked at me for a rather long while. ¡°I think we will have the opportunity in future.¡±

    As Tu Shan¡¯e headed off with her vassals, I could hear one of her senior vassals express, ¡°Your Majesty, you have not fallen for that average-height kid just because he looks cool, have you? You cannot fall for him.¡± I¡¯m sure that was what he said when tranted to Mandarin. Well, I was sure until he spat back my way.

    I never really paid any attention to Qingqiu¡¯s Queen, but, now that I did, Ah Neath could really learn from her. ¡°Tsk, tsk, what do they say? Uh¡­ She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless and starry skies. I¡¯m genius. What a poem. Profound, strong, refined, ideal and, as with all poems, enough to be confound-, ow! Take your hand off my ear, you son of a¡­¡± I cut myself off when I discerned who the fingers belonged to.

    ¡°What poem? What to share with me?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, I was just randomly mumbling.¡±

    ¡°About what? Sounds like a love poem. I heard something about beauty and starry skies.¡± Young Shiyi peered into the distance. ¡°Oh, the chick from Qingqiu is pretty. They say there are foxes in Qingqiu, lots of which are females. I wonder how she¡¯s evaluated.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s meh. People reckon she¡¯s pretty. I say ¡®pretty¡¯ must mean ¡®dung¡¯ if that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Really? Am I pretty?¡±

    I nodded profusely: ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    Young Shiyi wrenched my ear: ¡°Wow, so I¡¯m dung?!¡±

    Why are you the oneing after me?!

    I nodded profusely again: ¡°Yes, but I love dung.¡±

    Young Shiyi suddenly resembled a drunken woman.

 Volume 11 59 A Beautyâ€™s Company through a Long Night (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 59 A Beauty¡¯s Company through a Long Night (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°You¡¯re making it worse. Shaman Monarch, my foot. You¡¯re still as naughty as ever.¡±

    I was waiting for Young Shiyi to continue when she coughed hard enough to frown. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I grabbed Young Shiyi¡¯s wrist to find she had an internal injury as I suspected.

    Young Shiyi lowered her head when she realised I wasn¡¯t going to let her run off. ¡°Feizhen¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak. I¡¯ll heal you now.¡± I transferred true qi from my palm to hers in order to recalibrate her breathing. I then withdrew a cold qi from her and transferred it into the earth. I waited for her to reset with a few breaths, then asked, ¡°Someone from Shaman Monarch Pce hurt you?¡±

    ¡°It was a woman I fought off while defending the formation. She¡¯s very strong.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Rest here. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    Young Shiyi caught my sleeve as I walked away. ¡°Don¡¯t go. I¡¯m fine. You haven¡¯t seen me in days. Where are you off to when I¡¯m right here? I don¡¯t want you to go.¡±

    Young Shiyi only needed to say, ¡°I don¡¯t want you to go¡± for me to cancel my n. Although I couldn¡¯t find any other issues on her, I still felt that some therapy was in order for me. ¡°¡­ Was it someone from Sky Pce?¡±

    ¡°One of the Three Stone Pirs. She¡¯s called Shadow Lady or something. I can¡¯t measure her full capacity. Although you¡¯re stronger than her, none of us would¡¯ve stood a chance if you weren¡¯t around.¡±

    ¡°Sky Pce¡¯s Three Stone Pirs¡­¡±

    I immediately assumed it was the armour-d woman I saw because I instantly discerned she was tough without needing to trade blows. I didn¡¯t want to fight her and the python at the same time, which was why I walked off. Had I known she hurt Young Shiyi, I would¡¯ve made her fight. It was never too early to settle my scores with Sky Pce.

    ¡°What are you two doing here?¡±

    I looked up the route leading to the peak. ¡°Boss? Why did youe down? Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°No, your subordinates did perfect; everyone is happy with the arrangements. I started to worry since you two didn¡¯te up, so I came down to check.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about? There¡¯s nobody left who can match us.¡±

    ¡°Oh really?¡± Young Shiyi reminded, ¡°And who was about to go throw hands with Sky Pce¡¯s elite?¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect a knife in my back, and Boss narrowed her eyes, so I switched the topic as fast as I could. ¡°Ehehe, you been well, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly well, but not exactly bad. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Besides being bored in my role as a depressed character, I¡¯m fine.¡± I think Boss already saw through my act on the day she bid farewell.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get moving, then. They¡¯re waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    Boss and Young Shiyi didn¡¯t make a deal out of the hundreds of eyes watching us leave because they didn¡¯t sense any hostility from them.

    ¡°They¡¯re my brothers who¡¯ve travelled with me everywhere for thest few months. They can be trusted.¡± Smiling, I stepped forward and spread my arms. ¡°It¡¯s been an amazing few months with everyone. Unfortunately, I am not your Shaman Monarch. Please forgive me for deceiving you.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead of being met with res and daggers, I came eye to eye with confusion. Like Iron Guardian told me, they truly were as innocent as nk sheets of paper.

    ¡°We want to follow you.¡± Once one started, more and more followers who could speak Mandarin cried, ¡°Your Majesty, please allow us to follow you.¡± In no time at all, those who couldn¡¯t speak Mandarin voiced the same sentiment in Xiacang Anxi - I could understand from their visages without an interpreter.

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    A tearful child cried, ¡°Your Majesty, the first time we saw meaning to our lives was when we helped viges with you. In the past, we did not know how to distinguish between good and bad. You are the one who opened our eyes. Great Spirit Shaman is a fraud. Shaman Monarch Pce is a fraud. The Shaman Monarch we have worshipped is fake, as well. Only you are real. We are cognisant of our ignorance. Even though people dislike us, you never turned your back on us. You did not mind sharing our meals and beds. We are children without homes to return to. If even you abandon us, we truly do not know what to do. Your Majesty, please allow us to follow you.¡±

    I could almost hear thousands of nerves bundling up.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t understand what I say next, ask someone nearby who does. I won¡¯t repeat myself. First, stop addressing me as ¡®Your Majesty¡¯. I¡¯m not ¡®Your Majesty¡¯ - never was. I appreciate you holding me in such high esteem as well as not considering me a shameless liar, though I really am.

    ¡°You are not ignorant children. You¡¯re all amazing. You helped viges rebuild, hunt, farm in addition to driving off dangerous animals and bandits. You¡¯re heroes of those viges. Nobody can tell you otherwise.¡±

    As soon as one kid started crying, all the others followed suit.

    ¡°I can¡¯t be your ¡®Your Majesty¡¯. That said, I can be your elder brother. If you don¡¯t have anywhere to return to, I have a suggestion, although it¡¯s somewhat far.¡±

    ¡°We will go wherever you go as long as we can follow you!¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. Boss, I reckon Liu Shan Men has done enough. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time to switch ns? Quality over quantity. Don¡¯t you think the time is ripe to begin expansion?¡±

    While Liu Shan Men¡¯s membership in the capital was eptable, it was moons away fromparing to its former glory. There was no way Liu Shan Men could recruit a big number of helpers in a short time frame. Else, Boss wouldn¡¯t have had trouble expanding in the capital in the first ce.

    I pointed to the mountain. ¡°There are one thousand and five hundred people willing to offer their services, all of whom aremendable youths who can ept challenges. I rmend them to you.¡±

    Able to fill in the nks, Boss gave the innocent children a smile. ¡°They will have to earn their keep. After all, it¡¯s not cheap to feed so many people.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. We will be credited with the biggest contribution in this campaign.¡±

    ¡°I have to credit another merit to your name now, huh?¡±

    ¡°Kids, where¡¯s your ¡®thank you, Big Sis¡¯? From now on, you cane back to the Central in to work as Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables with me!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Big Sis!¡±

    We expected growth, but we never expected those 1500-plus youths to be the foundation of Liu Shan Men¡¯s pivotal return that night.

 Volume 11 60 What is it that You Want? World Peace.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 60 What is it that You Want? World Peace.</h4>

    Those who didn¡¯t agree with Gegewu¡¯s deeds shifted their loyalty to Iron Guardian, who was held in the highest esteem after Great Spirit Shaman. Among those who defected to him were Poison and Fire Guardians. As the leader of the four guardians, everyone acknowledged the martial officer, so he was the best candidate to assuage he anxiety of followers.

    Gegewu¡¯s loyalckeys, who usually took care of the dirty work, such as abducting children and women, as well asmunicating with bandits, decided topete for the vacant Great Spirit Shaman seat as soon as he was ousted from power. As soon as the idea came to mind, though, the idea and its storage unit was removed. I didn¡¯t n for their execution at all.

    Moyan Luohou took it upon himself to execute all the filth who tried to bargain their way out when he confronted them. When their only skill was basking in Gegewu¡¯s glory to perpetrate abhorrent crimes, it wasn¡¯t surprising Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t break a sweat harvesting their heads and dumping their domes in the valley four hours before Emperor Yuansheng reached the apex of the mountain.

    Following their execution, Moyan Luohou sheathed his de and dered, ¡°Leader Iron Guardian¡± and then returned to seclusion after consolidating the future forces of Mount Wanyu. As such, he could be credited with turning Shaman Monarch Pce into history.

    Even though I created the opportunity, my intuition led me to believe that Moyan Luohou had been biding his time to perform the excision of Shaman Monarch Pce. The only reason he didn¡¯t get rid of them until Gegewu¡¯s downfall was because it was against the faith¡¯s rules to kill fellow followers. If I had to hazard a guess, he probably foresaw the conclusion from the moment I requested his cooperation.

    By the time I was done contemting Moyan Luohou¡¯s perspective, I arrived at the throne room that Iron Guardian had now cordoned. I made my way into the conference room and raised my voice. ¡°Pleasee in, Your Majesty.¡±

    There was a moment of silence prior to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s entrance. He stopped by the big table and, making it hard to read his emotions, stared at me across the table. ¡°You managed to hear me notwithstanding how windy it is. Impressive, Constable Ming.¡±

    ¡°Given how much transpired today, it would be unusual for you to not seek exnations from this one.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Emperor Yuansheng subtly pulled his brows together , not yet convinced - or maybe not in the slightest. ¡°I certainly do need you to exin the whole story. Why did we need to make haste to see the show? What have you been up to? Who is Great Spirit Shaman?¡±

    ¡°Did youe across our enemies on the way here?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng paused to deliberate, then shook his head. ¡°We met a lot of people recently; it¡¯s hard to answer that. In terms of those who left the deepest impression, it would be the hui you refer to as the white python and the silver-masked woman who drove off Abels with a single punch. I feel that our true enemy has yet to appear.¡±

    ¡°Splendid judgement, Your Majesty. Do you remember what the purpose of our pilgrimage south is this time?¡±

    ¡°To y beasts.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Please do not allow surface-level matters to blind you. The final boss in our journey has always been the evil beasts. Everything I have done and do is for that end goal.¡±

    I shared my analysis of why Shaman Monarch Pce was dangerous if they got their hands on what was in Nieyao - therefore why they had to go - and the reason I had Yinhu ambush the group. I was aware Emperor Yuansheng still suspected me even subsequent to my exnation that I colluded with the four monarchs, eliminated Gegewu and called him to Wanyu for our ultimate goal. Perhaps he discriminated, but we couldn¡¯t afford to have any more influential variables at this point in the mission.

    ¡°You may not be used to my tone as I am but a measly constable of Liu Shan Men, but there is nothing I can do about it. I will have to continue overstepping my authority for the sake of this campaign. Mayhap you will not be used to it. Nheless, this is the only way to reduce casualties. When I say casualties, they could be your people or innocent lives of Nanjiang. Though they lead lives foreign to what we are familiar with, they have families and emotions just as we do. There is no justification for letting them die. I do not want them to die. Thus, I cannot let unhelpful things bind me.¡±

    Upon looking up again, Emperor Yuansheng asked without hesitation, ¡°What is it that you want?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°You are Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, yet you joined Liu Shan Men to work as a constable. What is it that you want? You are doing all the heavy lifting to y an evil beast at your own peril. I don¡¯t have any rewards for you, so what do you seek? I understand Mount Daluo¡¯s undertaking, but I also have eyes to see for myself; I can tell what sort of person you are. Neither you nor your siblings are sheep who do things by the book. Tell me: what is it that you want?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s scepticism regarding me hadn¡¯t gone anywhere. Nevertheless, he was cognisant of the fact that his only recourse at the moment was to trust me. Oftentimes, one¡¯s goal or desires dictates the possibilities as well as directions they will venture in. Though desire is not an infallible determinant of attitude, it shouldn¡¯t be too inurate. Emperor Yuansheng was willing to forego the details in order to determine if I was trustworthy or not because his vision wasn¡¯t limited to just today; his vision was a bigger picture.

    ¡°¡­ I hope what my eyes see is world peace.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng stared long and hard into my eyes.

    ¡°¡­ That is all I seek. Would you believe me, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Emperor Yuansheng raised his head. ¡°As Emperor, my wish is to see my people lead peaceful lives and see it defended from those who want to disturb their peace. I understand the sentiment. I am not so cynical that I refuse to believe there are true gant heroes in the world. I have gleaned a lot from your response. Thank you.¡±

    Nothing about Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reply was unpredicted. The Emperor Yuansheng who decreed the extermination of Divine Moon Cult and Ximen Chuideng was a good Emperor. While he wasn¡¯t exceptional, he wasn¡¯t a tyrant. Under his rule, people had enough to eat. Children had the privilege to study. People could afford a roof over their heads. He wasn¡¯t a remarkable man, but I couldn¡¯t kill him.

    I smiled. ¡°I hope you do not forget this conversation¡­ If you understand the sentiment, the world and imperial court would not be what it is today. Ming Feizhen would not have joined Liu Shan Men, either.¡± As I walked off, leaving Emperor Yuansheng bemused, I added, ¡°We will be busy tomorrow. Please turn in early, Your Majesty.¡±

    Glossary

    Hui - It¡¯s an ancient type of snake in legends. If you want to sound like you¡¯ve done a lot of reading of old legends, you can call someone a hui if you want to call them dangerous and viinous.

 Volume 11 61 Shedding Light on Divine Realm. In Seventeen Days. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 61 Shedding Light on Divine Realm. In Seventeen Days. (Part 1)</h4>

    Two days after the spectacle of Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s purge, Mount Wanyu held another historical event. Moyan n¡¯s disciples reced all of the previous Shaman Monarch Pce members who served no purpose other than decoration as guards along the mountain path. Only gluttons for punishment would dare to try anything funny on the mountain.

    At the foot of the mountain, the silhouettes of Baimu and Wanyu¡¯s cavalries were spread all around. High-ranking vassals of six states, elders of Shaman Monarch Pce who couldn¡¯t show up before due to Gewu¡¯s interventions and elders of various tribes were in the conference hall.

    Wanyu¡¯s King could tell the gentleman who politely bobbed his head at him and Baimu¡¯s Queen referred to as ¡°Mister¡± was no simple man, although he didn¡¯t have enough information beyond that to identify him. As for the gentleman who gave off the vibe that he was the one presiding over the hall, there was no need to question he was important when Heavenly Swordsman, a man who could drive off a gigantic python, an always-sleeping tall man and the ¡°Shaman Monarch¡± who annihted the bandits of Nanjiang reported to him. ordingly, Wanyu¡¯s King could only wait for someone to step up as the host.

    To be fair, everyone was thinking, this is one hell of a forum. Not a single individual present wasn¡¯t a specialist of a field and deserving of respect - and they all had equally strong maidens worthy of respect apanying them. Nanjiang¡¯s groups felt inferior just being in their presences.

    Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes were running a marathon the entire time, searching for today¡¯s host. Not even the great dragon believed himself to be worthy of speaking in the presence of several monarchs and Divine Realm adepts.

    Emperor Yuansheng stroked his beard in big motions, seemingly trying to hide a grin behind his hand: He was the one who wanted to host this council. I know he has knowledge, but let¡¯s see how he establishes authority in our presence. This is going to be fun.

    Sharing a table with each other, Shen Yiren and Ming Suwen fixated their eyes on the shut main door ever since they were seated.

    ¡°Attention,dies and gentleman.¡± Hong Jiu traded out his usual getup for a white hat and blue waistcoat with pink cors. ¡°Please wee today¡¯s host, my big bro - Ming Feizhen!¡±

    Once the guards opened the main doors, I strutted in with my chest high, in my slicked-back hairdo, sunsses, brown overcoat and white tiger fur draped over my shoulders, robe with glimmering golden seams, sharkskin boots and big mouth cannon in my hand. Everyone in the room admired me.

    Ah Neath and Wanyu¡¯s King dropped their jaws. Shen Yiren and Young Shiyi covered their faces as they fought off their seizures. Brother Bodhi sted wine from his mouth. Luo Ming closed his eyes before he went blind. Lai Jingzhen frowned in his sleep as though he had a nightmare. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s mouth disconnected from his brain.

    Uncle Feng Xue nodded profusely: ¡°Dope. Dope.¡±

    So what if you¡¯re strong? So what if you hold high rank? Can you beat my swag?

    With my chin tucked, I stole a gander of Emperor Yuansheng, who was to my left. With two egg-sized walnuts in hand, I rubbed together the eleven shiny rings on my fingers and puffed a breath of smoke. In the deepest voice I could muster, I conveyed, ¡°Apologies for holding you up, Bosses.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng held his two hands out in front as though he was signalling for me to back off. ¡°N-no, you seem more like the boss here.¡±

    I puffed another breath of smoke, expending thest bit of patience Mountain Monster had. She smashed her table and sted, ¡°You sick in the head?! You scared the hell out of me, you turd!¡± She actually did look startled.

    I removed my sunnies and looked askance at Mountain Monster. ¡°Women should stay out of men¡¯s conversations.¡±

    Mountain Monster started hurling all the fruit on her table at me, but I caught them all. Once I caught thest peach, I set down my mouth cannon and took a bite of the peach. ¡°Sorry,dies and gentlemen. I am feeling nervous because this is my first time speaking to so many prominent people; it feels akin to Jiang Ziya meeting King Wen of Zhou, akin to Zhuge Liang meeting Liu Bei, akin to The Great Sage, Heaven¡¯s Equal, meeting Tath¨¡gata¡­¡±

    Nobody, except Long Zaitian, could follow. ¡°Wrong. They are great men meeting great men. You¡¯re a side character who isn¡¯t qualified to speak to great men, fodder that ran into the main protagonists.¡±

    ¡°In summary, I have to put some effort into my appearance to ease my nerves. I am d to see mybour acknowledged.¡±

    They were all so shocked that they still couldn¡¯tment.

    ¡°Remember to put that gold ring down in your business expenses,¡± Boss reminded.

    Please don¡¯t! I was hoping to embezzle these!

    ¡°If there was no pertinent business to discuss, I would not have called everyone here. I take it everyone realises the gravity of the danger looming over Xiacang Anxi after yesterday¡¯s encounter?¡±

    Wanyu¡¯s King expressed, ¡°Baimu¡¯s Queen and I saw it clearly. I did not know what Great Spirit Shaman colluded with, but I can see that the giant python that could easily devour tigers would bring cmity if it were to enter civilised zones.¡±

    Ah Neath conveyed, ¡°Agreed. We are here today to discuss a strategy.¡±

    ¡°There is no longer any doubt that a cmitous beast dwells within Nieyao.¡± I had a smoke, then tugged up the corners of my lips. ¡°They are today¡¯s main subject. Let me introduce you: the gentleman to my left is the ruler of the Central in.¡±

    Patience was discarded as fast as a hot potato. Nanjiang¡¯s guests may have been influential in their states, but being graced with the presence of the Central in¡¯s monarch was a totally different game. Their experience in the political arena instantly manifested as friendly conversations, ganders, whispers and draped arms over shoulders.

    Wanyu¡¯s King blessed my eyes with an amazing facial expression show. In two blinks, he went from stunned, to spacing out, to grumpy, to envy, to jealousy¡­ He not only was first to believe Emperor Yuansheng was the Central in¡¯s ruler, but he also figured Emperor Yuansheng already ratified some deal with Ah Neath, thus getting ahead of him.

    Nheless, nobody couldpete with Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reaction. When I divulged his identity, he reacted as if he was struck by lightning and then forced an awkward but refined smile and waved. ¡°Hello, hello.¡±

    A tribe elder, in fob Mandarin, fervently asked, ¡°How do you do? How do you do?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine, thanks.¡±

    ¡°I am not done.¡± I continued, ¡°Over here, we have Heavenly Swordsman - Luo Ming. This is one of Beijiang¡¯s two heroes - Evil Spirit¡¯s Abels. Next to him is A-Lan, the only daughter of Morcher¡¯ste King.¡±

    Introducing A-Lan subsequent to introducing Emperor Yuansheng was tantamount to giving them a shiny present box that they opened to find empty.

    While Emperor Yuansheng put pressure on them, he was far away. On the other hand, Morcher was within their territory. Surely Morcher¡¯s hope for resurrection didn¡¯te back with Emperor Yuansheng for a stargazing tour. Therefore, they were confident that today¡¯s dialogues could potentially change Nanjiang henceforward.

    With walnuts in my hands, I pointed to Beussent. ¡°This is Heisina n¡¯s leader - Heisina Beussent.¡±

    Focused on eating his banana, Beussent casually waved: ¡°Hello.¡±

    Needless to say, they all looked as though they were grimacing.

    ¡°I suppose it has dawned on you that His Majesty did note here for a vacation but to tackle some real problems. Though the monster in Nieyao and Morcher are both on the agenda, establishing a friendlywork with Xiacang Anxi takes priority. We will iron out the details at the table one month from now.¡± I had to add that in there to put them at ease. Else, they wouldn¡¯t focus on what I wanted to say. Following my break down on how dangerous Great Spirit Shaman as well as the beast in Nieyao were, I stated, ¡°As such, I would like to ask the two of you to guard the entrances to Nieyao. I do not want anything or anyone escaping the city oring in while we are ying the beast. ¡°

    Wanyu¡¯s King nced over to Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°How many men do you need?¡±

    ¡°Three thousand equipped soldiers from each of you.¡±

    Wanyu¡¯s King thought it over prior to answering, ¡°I shall deploy three thousand equipped soldiers and two thousand elite cavalry.¡± His intent to get on our good side was borne naked.

    Ah Neath responded, ¡°I can afford three thousand soldiers.¡±

    ¡°With your support, we will have a markedly greater chance of sess. May I ask if you could provide me with a letter? I would like to request the aid of certain individuals.¡±

    Thankfully, the two of them obliged. I couldn¡¯t tell them too much, whether it be in regards to dragons, who was trying to tame Six Evils and what the consequences would be, and I couldn¡¯t involve them too much.

    At the end of the day, every royal family had their own agenda for their state, people and themselves. The majority of the imbeciles who tried to employ the power of Six Evils were from royal families.

    I couldn¡¯t imagine them impeding us if they just lined up their soldiers at the entrances for intimidation purposes. If I asked them to fight, though, they¡¯d be in frenzy with just days to go. As a matter of fact, they might get in the way. If they did contribute, they¡¯d ask for outrageous demands in return.

    When we moved on to talking about the future of Shaman Faith, Iron Guardian enthusiastically spoke out. In the end, he and the elders took the topic off track.

    I passed the reins over to Emperor Yuansheng once we shifted to trade talks. Whenever he heard something he understood, he¡¯d joyously respond.

    At noon, whilst ying with the golden chain around my neck, I voiced, ¡°We shall end this subject here for now. Those involved in the hunt, please say. Guests, please return home for now. We will nowmence finalisation of the battle¡¯s details.¡±

    Hong Jiu and my siblings saw our guests to the foot of the mountain, leaving onlybatants - save for Emperor Yuansheng.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I had only taken my first breath of relief when Emperor Yuansheng griped, ¡°Ming Feizhen, why did you suddenly reveal my identity? I demand an exnation.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, without someone of your standing¡¯s backing, I could not have asked them to mobilise five thousand troops for us.¡± Combining apologies and ttery, I managed to inte Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s ego.

    ¡°Tell us what you wanted us to stay here for,¡± Luo Ming demanded all of a sudden.

    ¡°It is easy to talk to you, Patriarch Luo.¡± I smiled. ¡°I want to make it clear to everyone joining the fight in Nieyao that it will be a bloody scuffle, so I need you all to listen carefully to everything I am about to say. First, we only have a 50% chance of seeding.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°If we include Patriarch Moyan, we have five Divine Realm adepts. Besides them, we have elites and your siblings. We have enough firepower to annihte a demon¡¯s den. There¡¯s a possibility of failure, you say?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I had another smoke and bite of the peach. ¡°Divine Realm martial artists are no match for evil beasts, period.¡±

    Glossary

    Boss - When Ming Feizhen refers to the attendees as ¡°bosses¡±, he uses a term reserved for gangsters, which is why Emperor Yuansheng says Ming Feizhen is more like the boss.

    How do you do? - This joke ispletely killed. The joke works the same way as ¡°Wan Tushui¡± and ¡°Sui Tuwan¡±. The elder asks, literally, ¡°Hao do you du?¡± Because of his incorrect use of tones, ites out as, ¡°This is a great poison tripe.¡± Secondly, because of the tone he asks the question in, ites off as, ¡°Would you like to try this fabulous poisonous tripe?¡± to which Emperor Yuansheng responds, ¡°No, I¡¯m good. Thank you, but I will kindly pass.¡± For the sake of flow, I modified Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s response.

 Volume 11 62 Shedding Light on Divine Realm. In Seventeen Days. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 62 Shedding Light on Divine Realm. In Seventeen Days. (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t exaggerate.¡± Long Zaitian¡¯s brows came together.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to test me. I¡¯m serious.¡±

    Long Zaitian may appear rash, but try deceiving him. I guarantee your chances were next to zero. I had no intention of a holding longwinded debate with him, either.

    ¡°Since everyone is present, I shall cut to the chase. Even with our lineup, our chances aren¡¯t favourable. The risk of beingpletely wiped out still exists.¡±

    I didn¡¯t go out of my way to emphasise myself with intonation, but everyone piped down. Whether that was due to agreement or a desire to hear more would be up to them to elucidate. Be it Divine Realm or the ancient six evil beasts, both were mysterious topics that people in the martial artsmunity wouldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to learn more about.

    ¡°I shall start with rifying the extent of Divine Realm¡¯sbat capabilities.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    I rolled my golden ring. ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know Divine Realm martial artists are at the top of the chain? You¡¯re the least qualified person to be speaking here, but I doubt even they can provide any information not already known.¡±

    Long Zaitian wasn¡¯t wrong. Because Divine Realm adepts were practically people from another realm to those who never reached it and Divine Realm adeptscking understanding of it themselves, there was a lot to uncover. It was hard to study since it could neither be imparted nor analysed. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t apletely foreign topic.

    One of the consolidated principles was that those in the same realm could inflict damage on each other. If two people were equals in the realm department, their physical attributes would still likely differ. For instance, although Luo Ming regressed at one point, he was able to make aeback and exceed his past limit. Abels and Luo Ming had different experiences as well as developed their bodies to the peak. Even so, Luo Ming had decades on Abels. It wasn¡¯t easy topensate for a gap of decades. Thus, they could determine who was superior in an experience and technical finesse contest. Luo Ming had more time to polish his skills, so he had the advantage over Abels.

    ¡°Despite the numerous difficulties with analysing Divine Realm, there is a method for measuring a Divine Realm adept¡¯s strength.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡± Abels inquired.

    Even though Luo Ming remainedposed and Uncle Feng Xue kept smiling, I could see both of them asking the same question with their gazes. Rather than say they were perplexed, they were eager to learn. If others were to think, ¡°This guy seems more incredible than Divine Realm adepts,¡± then I would understand.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°There are even ways to measure the capacity of martial artists who haven¡¯t reached Divine Realm, and it¡¯s quite simple: Void.¡±

    Void refers to when a martial artist first develops internal energy and their body; it¡¯s the first level. The imperial guards are Void martial artists.

    Luo Ming understood without further boration. ¡°You are speaking of one versus ten?¡±

    ¡°Exactly. I believe you have all heard that saying. The ten refers to ten Void martial artists. Once you can defeat ten of them simultaneously, you have ascended a level.¡± Seeing the disagreement Uncle Feng Xue showed, I expanded, ¡°Of course, there are many factors that make levels worthless when pushes to shove, such as internal energy that naturally counters each other and technical proficiency. For the sake of this conversation, let¡¯s work on the premise of all else being equal.

    ¡°People often say ¡®patriarch-level¡¯ or ¡®founder-level¡¯ martial artists can solo a hundred Void martial artists. Once there are more than a hundred, the one fighting solo will be swarmed to death.

    ¡°I assume we all know what Quasi-Divine is. It¡¯s a realm attained through maxing out human physical potential or thoroughprehension. Using brute force alone, they can kill around two hundred people. As for the mysterious Divine Realm adepts, they can singlehandedly kill a thousand people.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng gasped. ¡°A thousand?¡±

    Most likely, Emperor Yuansheng had the most vivid image of a Divine Realm adept¡¯s abilities because he frequently saw what would be thousands of imperial guards in the deeper interior of the imperial pce. No adept without a death wish would challenge all those guards head on. In other words, whether or not he¡¯d be assassinated in his sleep was if there was someone of the same calibre present.

    ¡°Now that we have established a base, it¡¯ll be easier for me to get my point across. To kill one dragon, two Divine Realm adepts are needed.¡±

    The only ones who didn¡¯t bat an eye were the Divine Realm adepts. The reason was simple: Lai Jingzhen had to guard Emperor Yuansheng, which meant that we¡¯d be fighting a losing battle in Nieyao should there be three dragons. I had already confirmed that there were four dragons.

    ¡°The point I want to make today isn¡¯t strategy but to mentally prepare yourselves.¡± I faced the three Divine Realm adepts. ¡°If you have any unfulfilled wishes, please be sure to fulfil them all in the next seventeen days because we may not have another chance to say our goodbyes, see our loved ones again or do our loved ones a favour. Even if we do return to them, there¡¯s a chance we won¡¯t be back in one piece.¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s heart sunk when he caught me stressing ¡°we¡±. Young Shiyi and Boss both kept silent.

    ¡°Please make the most of these seventeen days.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng queried, ¡°Why seventeen days?¡±

    ¡°Because we will march into Nieyao seventeen days from now.¡±

 Volume 11 63 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 63 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 1)</h4>

    The winding river connected to the waterfall weed stray flora that came its way as well as the dimming silver lights.

    Abels stabbed his hand through his shrinking and expanding blue sphere on the surface, dividing his sphere in two. He whipped his hand in the direction of the draft and floated above the water surface as though he was mulling over aplex topic.

    Abels dedicated 70% of his strength to maintain his field tounch indiscriminate attacks in all directions at himself. The remaining 30% was reserved for defence. The only way he was going to defend against attacks twice as strong as his defence was technique and experience. In order to develop the ability to neutralise massive force using various tactics, he left no stone unturned. Should he fail, he would hurt himself severely. The fact that his field didn¡¯t take damage was good news, nevertheless.

    ¡°How did you go?¡±

    Although there was no bigger taboo to martial artists than having someone spy on them training, Abels didn¡¯t care if A-Lan watched him from behind.

    ¡°Not ideal. I could do even better than this in the past.¡±

    A-Lan crossed the verdantwn. ¡°You can¡¯t rush the process. You can¡¯t expect a breakthrough mere days after suffering your injuries. As incredible as you are, you are no exception to the rule.¡±

    Abels bitterly smiled. He knew his condition better than anyone. True, he did ess the seventh level of Evil Eminence Scripture once, but that was due to his rage, not to mention the side effects of pushing into it. Ever since his skirmish with Luo Ming in Huzhou, he struggled to cast his field again. He had nigh recovered inside and outside; however, his state of mind wouldn¡¯t return to him.

    Mentality yed an enormous role on materialisation; the belief one holds when executing movements impacts the oue of the movement. Abels had discarded the ambition to journey across the desert as a free-spirited soul, depriving him of the mentality needed to execute the full potential of Evil Eminence Scripture.

    ¡°I¡¯ve recovered from my injuries. No medical skill can nurse what can¡¯t be nursed, however. By the way, why did you want to watch me train today?¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen announced the n to march on Nieyao in seventeen days, the Divine Realm adepts began their special training, Abels included. After hearing Ming Feizhen mention the possibility of death, A-Lan kept Abelspany all the time, though she didn¡¯t get in the way of his training.

    ¡°I bring good news. I think it¡¯ll knead your brows apart since you haven¡¯t even been in the mood to talk. Thatss came to me to invite us to drink with her.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that¡¯s a first. Has she been possessed? She¡¯s inviting us to drink?¡±

    ¡°She probably has something to say after learning of Nieyao¡¯s hunt.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not the type to beg someone. Well, as we have been invited, let us ept the invitation. Did she say when and where? I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be easy to find apanying snacks in Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the funny part, hehe. She went straight to the kitchen and toiled all night subsequent to inviting me. I heard she still isn¡¯t done. I came to fill you in seeing as how odd she¡¯s behaving. She invited us for tonight. As for the location, it¡¯s Mount Wanyu¡¯s wine cer.¡±

    ¡°The wine cer?¡±

    ¡°She says it¡¯s easy to cook nice dishes but hard to find quality wine. Shall we go or not?¡±

    Abels was never one to fuss over trivial details, but Mountain Monster took that to a new level.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Upon returning, A-Lan covertly wagged her hand at Abels from the door. ¡°The spots are ready. You better not let anyone catch you.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t itical that I¡¯m still stuck snooping around as a bandit even in Nanjiang?¡±

    Abels transported himself and A-Lan into the wine cer using his qinggong. ¡°Ooh, I smellmb. Is she grilling a wholemb? Nice. Nice.¡±

    ¡°Look at you. You¡¯re like a big kid. Has being with Ming Feizhen turned you into a glutton, as well?¡±

    Indeed, there was amb being grilled on a rack and fourteen side dishes.

    Standing by the table, Mountain Monster gave an unexpected smile once she noticed the couple¡¯s arrival. ¡°You¡¯rete. Themb soup has gone cold. Sit.¡±

    Abels whispered, ¡°Has she developed an addiction to gambling and owes money?¡±

    A-Lan whispered back, ¡°Stop making wild guesses,¡± as she went to her seat.

    ¡°It took me all night to cook these dishes. Let me know how they taste.¡± Mountain Monster perpetually offered the two drinks throughout their course. ¡°I realise I made a lot of errors in the past. I owe Master for the life that I still have today. I promise to turn over a new leaf. Henceforward, I am at your service.¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s betrayal cost Abels his health, skills and brothers. He cost Mountain Monster Ox Demon. Neither of them could decide what to do about the predicament. Abels, therefore, was d to hear Mountain Monster finally speak her mind.

    ¡°As that is the case, you should return to your leadership r-¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While her gaze was elsewhere, Mountain Monster had suddenly dug a silver de suddenly into Abels¡¯ chest.

 Volume 11 64 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 64 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 2)</h4>

    At the moment of contact, a blue wind billowed violently. Even though Evil Eminence Powerfield could serve as a defensive and offensive tool, if there was something that made Evil Eminence Field stand out as a defensive skill, it was the casting speed. After all, the ability to manifest a shield upon willing it allowed the caster to beat the attacker to the punch even in the scenario that the attack was executed first.

    Notwithstanding the blue and wind, the de prated both because Mountain Monster exerted force on the same point in three consecutive bursts - one to break the shield and the other to sting.

    Mountain Monster was privy to the way Abels exerted force and shielded himself - part of it was attributed to her passion for assassinating Abels. Ox Demon had also revealed theplete Evil Eminence Manual to her in the past. Howbeit, just as she studied Evil Eminence Scripture to plot her assassination, Abels was also privy to mindset.

    Mountain Monster went reeling back, lips dyed read. Her dagger went so deep into the adjacent wall that only the hilt was visible.

    ¡°What¡¯s your issue?!¡± A-Lan unleashed a p across Mountain Monster¡¯s face, dying it the same colour as her lips, and stepped in between the two.

    ¡°Why are you so surprised when my goal always was to kill him?¡± Mountain Monster spat a red bullet onto the ground, then turned back to Abels. ¡°Good on you for thinking of wearing soft armour underneath. Else, I wouldn¡¯t be the one seeing her blood.¡±

    ¡°Why thank you. You think you can kill me?¡± Abels pulled the dagger out of the wall to slice off a piece ofmb for himself. ¡°You didn¡¯t put enough poison in this.¡±

    A-Lan raged, ¡°What the heck is your issue? He never did anything to you despite you indirectly killing all of our brethren. What do you want now?!¡±

    ¡°Since he¡¯s going to die in Nieyao, anyway, might as well let me do a cleaner job. I should be the one asking you that question. What¡¯s your issue? Your husband¡¯s lifespan too long for his liking? Why is the beast his business? You crazy? Why would you support him entering Nieyao?¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s questions stumped A-Lan.

    Ming Feizhen had his sect¡¯s duty to fulfil. Luo Ming had a vengeance to exact. Feng Xue and Moyan Luohou were citizens of Nanjiang. Evil Spirits were not phnthropists; they didn¡¯t even call themselves heroes of justice when they robbed the rich to assist the poor. Sure, he wasn¡¯t exactly a viin, but he definitely wasn¡¯t epted as an orthodox individual. What reason did he have for risking his life against a monster?

    ¡°I do have a reason.¡± Abels asserted, ¡°I will never forget who ruined A-Lan¡¯s family and homnd.¡±

    A-Lan tearfully turned to her man.

    ¡°The one responsible for taking her ruining her life is unquestionably hiding in Nieyao or connected. If I am to find the perpetrator, this is a fight I must fight. I made up my mind to avenge her when I decided I¡¯d take her as my wife. A man does as he says he will.¡±

    ¡°You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What¡¯s your point?¡±

    Mountain Monster condescendingly replied, ¡°In the past, you could shackle my limbs using Evil Eminence Powerfield before I couldplete three thrusts, yet you now have to wear soft armour. You¡¯re inferior to your past standard. So what if you train daily? How hard was it to reach the height you reached previously? How are you going to suddenly have an easier time? Ever since you suffered defeat at the hands of Shaolin¡¯s abbot, you¡¯ve never been the same man!¡±

    Abels¡¯ confidence shattered. When he crossed the border into the Central in, he barely escaped the Qilin Guard¡¯s grandmander. He then lost twice to Luo Ming. Lai Jingzhen revoked his status as one of the Supreme Ten Saints in Huzhou. Ever since arriving in Nanjiang, he lost to Ming Feizhen - daily. The consistent denominator in all those matches was that he wasn¡¯t in his best shape - or he waspletely outssed. He, consequently, didn¡¯t suffer any mental trauma from those defeats. The one defeat that smashed apart his spirit was his loss to Shaolin¡¯s abbot.

    Abels didn¡¯t even know he could lose so pathetically. By extension, he never imagined he¡¯de upon such an opponent. No matter what he tried, Shaolin¡¯s abbot denied him with a single palm strike each time; not even Ming Feizhen managed to pull that off. Thest exchange that had him regurgitating his blood crushed his spirit along with his body. When he entered Huzhou as Bodhi, he no longer had his once unshakeable confidence.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ I knew it. I only worked under you because I lost to you. Given I¡¯m no longer your subordinate, I need to make killing you the first thing I do. Nobody is my master, and nobody will steal my prey. Instead of dying in Nieyao, you might as well let me kill you.¡± Mountain Monster lifted up a candle in response to Abels¡¯ silence. ¡°Though this is a wine cer, that Whatever Spirit Whatever installed a lot of secret areas.¡±

    The ground started to shift underground, revealing an area underneath segregated by thick, heavy wooden boards.

    If there was an ambush in here, my Evil Eminence Field wouldn¡¯t be able to protect me against her ace.

    When the wooden boards came off, nothing came out. Mountain Monster dropped the candle down. Abels couldn¡¯t follow her train of thought.

    A-Lan caught a whiff of the smelling up. ¡°There are explosives underground!¡±

    ¡°Bingo. I set up forty-five routes underground.¡± Mountain Monster shed her pearly whites. ¡°This will be enough to finally blow you to hell, won¡¯t it, Abels?!¡±

 Volume 11 65 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 65 This Life is a Precious Gift. Rare Feelings. (Part 3)</h4>

    Evil Eminence Field expanded past the thick walls, catching the sparks before they could hit the fuse. That said, the fatal situation had yet to be defused. Unless the me was put out or its trajectory altered, it was only a matter of time before everyone was sted sky high.

    It took Abels everything he had to sustain the status quo. The thick stone walls segregating the explosives and them was a poor medium for energy to travel through. Additionally, due to the long distance he had to cover, his energy was only a fraction of what it was up close to him. If someone was toe in now, they wouldn¡¯t say he wasn¡¯t in tip-top form.

    ¡°Ah!¡± A-Lan eximed.

    While Abels and A-Lan were distracted, Mountain Monster took out her soft dagger at her belt to take A-Lan hostage.

    ¡°Gui Wa, are you crazy?!¡± A-Lan had blood trickling from her neck, albeit very little.

    ¡°You never seen me kill? When have I not been crazy?¡± Mountain Monster grinned at Abels¡¯ long face. ¡°Finding it hard to circte your true qi?¡±

    As Mountain Monster said, Abels¡¯ flow of qi was sluggish.

    ¡°You knew I harboured ill will when I invited you, yet it never urred to you that there¡¯s a reason I chose the wine cer in particr? You disregard poison because you rely on Evil Eminence Powerfield to excrete venoms, but I¡¯ve read the manual. I know how your true qi flows.

    ¡°You forget what my background is? I formted the paralysis poison based on your internal strength¡¯s level. I¡¯ve slipped poison into every jar of wine within this cer, so you should expect your internal energy flow to be disrupted.¡±

    A trail of sweat coursed down the side of Abels¡¯ face. In all the dangerous situations he found himself in, not once was it against an opponent he was stronger than. Thest pinch he¡¯d imagine himself in was once again his weaker subordinate who he knew well.

    ¡°¡­ What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I told you: I just want your life.¡±

    ¡°If you blow the explosives up while you¡¯re here, you¡¯ll die, too.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like a wuss to you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ So you nned to take me down with you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ox Demon is dead. Our brothers are dead. I lost my will to live long ago¡­ What¡¯s so tragic about death? What¡¯s so good about living? Considering all the lives taken, I¡¯ve lived for more than long enough. Dying today is the most epic death I could ask for.¡±

    Despite standing at death¡¯s door, Abels had no intention of imputing any consequences to Mountain Monster for he could read her gaze. She wasn¡¯t out of her mind nor was she trying to sin. Her intent was purely to atone.

    ¡°Is life so scary without Ox Demon?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What was that?¡± Mountain Monster¡¯s voice indicated she was emotionally invested in the question.

    ¡°I asked, is it so scary to carry the burden of murder on your own? As the master of murder, you shouldn¡¯t be the one at its mercy. Wasn¡¯t Ox Demon the one who taught you that? While he taught you how to ept your insatiable bloodlust, he never taught you how to be independent.

    ¡°Have you really learnt to enjoy killing? You¡¯ve forgotten the you who cried every kill. You think you¡¯ve be the master of murder? Don¡¯t kid yourself. All you¡¯ve done is made your impulse to kill someone else¡¯s responsibility, so when you lost the one shouldering the burden for you, you lost the courage to shoulder the burden. You¡¯re still the girl from back then. You haven¡¯t grown at all.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Mountain Monster¡¯s fading shade of red proved Abels was hitting the nail on the head.

    ¡°What makes you think your death will erase the lives you took? Killing is killing. It doesn¡¯t matter if the victim was nefarious or just; a severed head is a severed head. People who can hack it will hack it. If it bothers you so much, it¡¯ll haunt you forever. You don¡¯t want to kill or harm anyone, yet you¡¯ve taken countless lives and got your brethren killed. You think your death makes that all right? The only thing your death makes is another body in the ground. Nobody will pity you. If it bothers you so much, make amendments while you still can. Isn¡¯t that more practical than feeling guilty and feeling sick of the world?¡±

    Voice soft, A-Lan conveyed, ¡°You don¡¯t need to feel that way¡­ Our brothers¡¯ deaths aren¡¯t your fault. Luo Ming was the one who killed them¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Why do you two keep rambling nonsense when you¡¯re about to die?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too soon. You¡¯re slower than a snail from my perspective. I can rescue A-Lan from you in one swoop.¡±

    ¡°Dogs than can bite don¡¯t bark. Would you be pping your gums if you could pull it off? As soon as you try, your field will break. You¡¯re finished.¡±

    Abels couldn¡¯t rebuke.

    ¡°Bodhi Abels, I¡¯ll give you two options. One, remove Evil Eminence Powerfield. Two, I¡¯ll slit your wife¡¯s throat. I¡¯d like to see if you still have motivation to live after.¡±

    Although she said she gave him a choice, Mountain Monster thereupon slid her de along A-Lan¡¯s neck on a diagonal path - at least it looked that way. Upon disengaging his barrier, Abels burst the energy in forty-five directions - the locations of the explosion points - knocked the de out of Mountain Monster¡¯s grip and wrested A-Lan over. s, there was nothing he could do as the me expanded. Mountain Monster moved the corners of her lips up as a relieving sensation washed over her.

    Abels cracked a smile. ¡°You never intended to kill me, did you? You¡¯re worried I¡¯ll die in Nieyao, leaving A-Lan alone and our brothers unbridled, so you¡¯re trying to keep me alive.¡±

    Mountain Monster just smiled. ¡°See you in the next life, Master, Mistress.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go writing the conclusion on your own.¡±

    Right after Abels disappeared into thin air, a tremor emanated underground, knocking all the wine jugs onto the ground. The explosives were meant to take the cer and their bodies with them, yet the rumble that wasn¡¯t even audible beyond the cer was all it ended with.

    ¡°I split Evil Eminence Powerfield into forty-five mini powerfields, each containing one bomb, so all they did was blow up my fields.¡±

    ¡°Y-y-your¡­ your injuries.¡±

    ¡°Obviously, I¡¯m not 100% yet. With that said, I can use a little of level seven, so the three of us will be fine.¡±

    If it¡¯s impossible to tackle everything at once, divide and conquer. Suffice to say, there was more to it than those three words. The ability to keep a level head, skill and the testicle fortitude to take the leap of faith were all vitalponents to having any chance of sess with the strategy. As a product of desperation, Abels finally essed level seven of Evil Eminence Scripture again.

    ¡°You¡¯ve tried blowing me up once already. There¡¯s no way you wouldn¡¯t know that wasn¡¯t enough to kill me. You bid on me using everything I had to protect A-Lan, resulting in me incapacitating myself, but I¡¯ll survive. If I need three to five months to convalesce, I can¡¯t participate in the campaign. The only one who would die in the explosion would¡¯ve been you.

    ¡°Honestly, you don¡¯t need to worry about me dying in Nieyao. I have a lot of reasons to live and no incentive to die. You shouldn¡¯t treat life so lightly, either. Instead of dying here, challenge yourself to live a better life.¡±

    It finally clicked for A-Lan.

    The hot flushes on Mountain Monster¡¯s cheeks were the result of concern or joy. She just had no clue how to react after Abelsid her mind bare. One thing she knew without a shadow of doubt was that her desire to dance with death had faded for the most part.

    ¡°It was quite risky since I¡¯ve regressed a lot. If I couldn¡¯t make it, I was going to have to rely on my friend, right, Brother Ming?¡±

    ¡°What happened to your so-called regression? Didn¡¯t you notice me?¡±

    Mountain Monster yanked her hand out to see Ming Feizhen behind the now empty rack. He was there from beginning to end in case, as Abels said, Abels couldn¡¯t stop the bombing. To force two Divine Realm exponents to gang up on her alone, Mountain Monster had a story she could brag about for the rest of her life, yet she wasn¡¯t pleased.

    ¡°Son of a¡­ You cum stain! Why were you spying on me?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his ears. ¡°What makes you think I had any interest in listening to you? You know how cold it is here? You should be paying me for my time.¡±

    ¡°You freaking, freaking son of a freaking, freaking¡­ Piss off!¡±

 Volume 11 66 Gradually Fading Away at the Height of His Fame

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 66 Gradually Fading Away at the Height of His Fame</h4>

    In a nation where strength was held in high regard, they made sure to add three more chicken drumsticks to his meals as a token of respect.

    In contrast, save for Luo Ming and Moyan Luohou who set themselves apart at the foot of Mount Wanyu days ago, everyone else¡¯s fame seemingly dropped. If Abels was now the most popr, the most ordinary would be Feng Xue - if Lai Jingzhen wasn¡¯t counted. Feng Xue didn¡¯t draw much attention as he didn¡¯t aplish anything major upon returning, not to mention that few would still recognise him.

    Somebody named the boulder that sat between two boulders at the cliff of Mount Wanyu ¡°Shortcut to Heaven¡± because admiring the dark sky whilst walking would eventually relieve one of their woes. Feng Xue chose to sit on the boulder that created an opening between the two boulders to fit three people, reason being that peering at the sky from there wasparable to stargazing through a window.

    Feng Xue stopped drinking, though he didn¡¯t take his eyes off the firmament. ¡°I knew you woulde see me soon. Well, today is not a bad day for a visit. Having stars so beautiful they draw eyes heaven bound is the perfect night to drink.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng understood what Feng Xue meant by ¡°soon¡±.

    Feng Xue, real name Feng Jie, was one of the individuals people paid attention to in the Central in because he was the sessor of Feng n, one of the few ns that are described as possessing wealthparable to the national treasury, in addition to his fame as a martial artist. The hard part was actually locating him since he was neither attached to people nor ces. Thest time Emperor Yuansheng met him was over a decade ago, when he married his wife, Feng Huang.

    ¡°¡­ Big Brother, your family in Luo Yang has been searching for you all these years. Where have you been?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to drink?¡± Feng Xue set his cup down to fill up, then passed it over.

    Feng Xue¡¯s nonconformist personality wasn¡¯t news to Emperor Yuansheng. Despite not knowing Feng Jie was Feng Xue, he did keep a pulse on Feng Xue¡¯s news, but he couldn¡¯t fathom how a handsome young master of a wealthy family would be¡­

    Emperor Yuansheng scrunched his face up. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s so bitter.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, life is like wine; it¡¯s bitter and sweet. This wine is brewed using soil. Tranted, it is ¡®Oblivious¡¯. Have a few more drinks, and you will understand the reason for the name.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng reluctantly finished his cup and then hissed. ¡°¡¯Oblivious¡¯ for sure. A couple of more drinks and I won¡¯t have any self-awareness.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re drinking out of a cup. If you drink out of jars as they do in Nanjiang, the taste is spectacr.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng curled his lips down. ¡°Only you can handle this vour.¡±

    Three drinkster, Feng Xue began, ¡°When I was wandering back then¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng: Thank god, I didn¡¯t drink all those drinks in vain!

    ¡°I once forgot my money, yet I needed a drink, so I sneaked into a mansion to steal. I cursed aloud after the first mouthful I had from a jar, waking up the owner.¡± Upon turning around to see Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s bewildered reaction, Feng Xue said, ¡°That¡¯s it. That¡¯s the reaction I received.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t understand where Feng Xue was going with his story of duping people, leeching and more outrageous behaviour, interspersing events with drinks. By the time Feng Xue reached the point where he registered topete in a fighting league to pay off his gambling debts, Emperor Yuansheng was out.

    People often underestimated Oblivious because of the bitter taste. ¡°Oblivious¡± came from the fact that people often drank without self-awareness and passed out in no time at all.

    Feng Xue chuckled and had another drink. While some may say they only tasted bitterness from Oblivious, he found nostalgia in it.

    Feng Xue actually answered Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s question, albeit in his own way. The mansion he spoke of was the vi of Baimu¡¯s Princess Shaowen - branch family. The moment heid eyes on her, he knew he would never have room for another woman. Everything he did from then on was for the sake of staying by her side.

    He never deemed himself worthy harbouring love for someone with such a prestigious background, not to mention the Central in was still at loggerheads with Nanjiang, even if he was a man who didn¡¯t sweat the small stuff. He joined the military for her sake, fighting his way from nameless ve to Nanjiang¡¯s great guya.

    Ten years ago, he didn¡¯t lose just an arm but also his confidence. Contrary to popr belief, he wasn¡¯t very interested in martial arts. Losing was part of growth; it wasn¡¯t enough to crush him psychologically. His sole motivation for training was her, yet he couldn¡¯t protect her when she needed his protection the most.

    ¡°It¡¯s been ten years¡­ Guess it¡¯s time to head back.¡±

    On this night, there was finally spirit in Feng Xue¡¯s eyes.

 Volume 11 67 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 67 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 1)</h4>

    Shen Yiren headed to the top of the windy peak without hesitation, treading as light as though she was trying not to wake anyone. She didn¡¯t have much of a choice since there really was a group of monsters at the top of the mountain who¡¯d wake up if she stepped heavily.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Moyan n disciple standing guard didn¡¯t treat Shen Yiren coldly as he did with others. ¡°Good morning, Miss Shen.¡±

    Shen Yiren subtly hiked up the corners of her lips. ¡°Good morning.¡±

    Shen Yiren was highly respected on Mount Wanyu subsequent to people learning she hid her true identity when she first visited for the sake of exposing Gewu¡¯s conspiracy. Knowing she wasn¡¯t Shaman Monarch¡¯s Divine Consort saw that respect shoot straight into the stratosphere. Young men who had the hots for her had given up on wooing her after their attempts were met with polite smiles. If anyone wanted to see how sorrowful the disappointed appeared, look at Luo Siming.

    Although Luo Siming woke early today, he rosete by the current standards. The imperial court could take care of bringing in the soldiers, but they needed Luo Sword Manor to equip their troops with weapons. Luo Siming was tasked with auditing the quality of weapons delivered from Luo Sword Manor and personally telling cksmiths how to modify weapons for the adepts. That meant he was working for over eight hundred people all on his own.

    Following a busy night, Luo Siming came across Shen Yiren half way up the mountain. One could make a case that his focus on Shen Yiren couldpare, even surpass, his focus on iron weapons. Sadly, she hardly ever conversed with him.

    A few days ago, Luo Siming went to the peak in hopes of getting a glimpse of Shen Yiren¡¯s beauty, only to find her training. Annoyed over the distraction, she almost plunged her sword through him; he never went to the top again.

    Ao Xue escorted the weapons courier to Mount Wanyu after she recovered from her injuries in Huzhou to resume her usual duty as Luo Siming¡¯s bodyguard. She passed him a handkerchief as he watched Shen Yiren ascend the mountain. ¡°Young Master.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ao Xue, I didn¡¯t cry.¡±

    ¡°Your drool.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Thanks.¡±

    As he tucked away the handkerchief, Luo Siming heard, ¡°Do you genuinely like her?¡± prompting him to turn one eighty. ¡°D-Dad, wh-why are you here?¡±

    Luo Ming wrapped his hands behind himself. ¡°Why can¡¯t I be hear? Didn¡¯t you hear what Ming Feizhen said? Casualties will be inevitable. Why not enjoy the scenery beforehand?¡±

    Luo Siming couldn¡¯t treat death as light as his father. Frankly, he wasn¡¯t sure how much weight to assign to Ming Feizhen¡¯s words. What came next if the battle really was where he said his farewell to his father?

    ¡°Destiny shall decide the oue. You can¡¯t worry the monsters to death. Just do what you can. Don¡¯t be so wishy washy. You¡¯re a man.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, do you really like her?¡±

    ¡°I, well, I¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, if that¡¯s how you feel, I shall go put in a good word for you,.¡±

    ¡°Dad! Miss Shen is engaged.¡±

    ¡°So what if he¡¯s Song n¡¯s eldest son? I should back down just because Ol¡¯ Song is called Duke of the Martial World? I bossed him around back at Song n¡¯s Fortress. He wants to fight with my son for a woman? Living must be too tiring or something for him.¡±

    Luo Siming didn¡¯tment as he wasn¡¯t privy to the previous generations conflicts; however, he wasn¡¯t sure what to do, either.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying. You should go rest. It¡¯s been a long night for you. I¡¯lle train you at night.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Dad!¡± Luo Siming jovially left with Ao Xue.

    Luo Ming muttered to himself, ¡°Why would you like Shen n¡¯s daughter? Do you not know what sort of person she is? Anyway, do you think you truly like her?¡±

    Shen Yiren had stood in the raysing through the fog, unmoving for two hours no matter how the lost leaves around her danced. The swordy mental cultivation manual Ming Feizhen gave her was a real struggle toprehend. Merely understanding one chapter took ages, let alone applying it to realbat. As a result, she resorted to imitation in hopes of gleaning more.

    The inspiration for Shen Yiren¡¯s new approach, a stark contrast to her signature style focusing on speed and relentless pressure, wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen¡¯s manual but the sword in her hand. If the sword was to have a heart, it would undoubtedly be that of a graceful maiden,posed and lithesome in all her movements. Holding the sword instilled a sense of calmness that she usually wouldn¡¯t associate with.

    As a set of movements flourished in her mind, Shen Yiren began to make her move, skewering seven leaves in one stab - creating stillness with motion.

    ¡°To almost manifest Sword Spirit without a mentor in a matter of days, your swordy potential truly resembles your father.¡±

    Shen Yiren spun around. ¡°Patriarch Luo?¡±

    Luo Ming stepped out from behind a tree. ¡°Shen Wuzheng¡¯s daughter, let¡¯s have a chat.¡±

    Glossary

    Creating stillness with motion - Experimenting with movement to create stillness in a racing mind since you have to focus on your movements. If you try to imagine a jab, you¡¯ve got all these movingponents in your head, but if you throw it, it usually tells you where you need to focus (provided you have self-awareness).

 Volume 11 68 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 68 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 2)</h4>

    The skill gap between Shen Yiren and Luo Ming was so great that she had no ce even wondering when he arrived. She minded it simply because she would be mortified to know he saw her training just now. After all, she was wielding a sword she stole from his secret chamber. It wasn¡¯t an issue prior to today since they were enemies, and all was fair in love and war. Now that they were allies, it¡­ was rather awkward.

    Luo Ming sat down on a rock, then peered into the heavens. Shen Yiren timidly sauntered over, stopping three metres behind him.

    Shen Yiren hadn¡¯t forgiven Luo Ming for the murders, theft, framing and mutiny hemitted. As a swordsman, though, he was the greatest swordsman she knew. She never managed to see all of Yan Shisan¡¯s skills even though he personally trained her due to the fate that befell him. At Luo Sword Manor, she saw Luo Ming¡¯s full capacity, prowess that sparked her interest in swordy for the first time. The technique she yed with a moment ago was an imitation of what she witnessed from Luo Ming.

    Luo Ming¡¯s swordy was inconceivablyposed after he cleared his mind back when he first wielded Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. When the side effects of the unorthodox style he picked up still gued him, he boasted immense might, yet Abels still hit harder. Once he was in control, however, his ordinary thrust, devoid of aggression, ended up turning the tables on Abels.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s enlightened moment came from watching Luo Ming¡¯s controlled violence. Her sword came from Luo Ming. Thus, one could argue that she owed him big time.

    Luo Ming swivelled around and squinted.

    Shen Yiren hesitantly held her hands into a cupped-fist salute. ¡°May I ask what you are here f-¡±

    ¡°Marry my son. You can set the demands.¡±

    ¡°Huh?! Might you be able to repeat yourself?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Luo Ming trained his gaze onto the white fluffs up high. ¡°I was just testing you. I know I¡¯ll just be wasting my breath if I say any more after that reaction.¡±

    ¡°O-oh¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren was more than perceptive enough to be aware of Luo Siming¡¯s feelings, especially after the time she spent in fake death state. She, however, ignored him because she didn¡¯t want him to waste his time on her. As such, she was d Luo Ming gave up on pushing his son onto her.

    ¡°So why are you okay with the Mount Daluo one?¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, I am engaged to Song n¡¯s eldest son. As a vaunted elder, you should know better. Ming Feizhen and I are subordinate and superior; there are no romantic feelings between us. He has a partner already. Please do not try to fit two ipatible people together.¡±

    ¡°How curious. I never specified who from Mount Daluo. How did you know I was referring to Ming Feizhen?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s face couldpare to a ripe tomato. Under her breath, she muttered, ¡°¡­ Old miscreant.¡±

    Shen Yiren was going to walk off when she heard Luo Ming say, ¡°Do you realise you¡¯vepletely misunderstood the manual? The route you circte your qi ispletely wrong. Without instruction, you¡¯ll lose all of your skills if you continue training for another three to five months.¡±

    Shen Yiren thereupon responded, ¡°Could you please enlighten me, Elder?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not qualified to enlighten you. The discipline is an advanced swordy thatbines internal and external systems. In other words, internal strength, technique and intent must go hand in hand. The section you¡¯ve read is only the summary of the mental cultivation. It¡¯s far too abstract to apply practically. The only result you¡¯ll achieve is qi deviation. Luckily for you, you possess the analytical skill to find the appropriate intent from your sword as well as recall my swordy.¡±

    ¡°That means this swordy¡­¡±

    Upon meeting with Luo Ming¡¯s gaze, she felt a sting in her forehead.

    ¡°Thetter half of the manual details the true training method. Why are you only studying the summary of the mental cultivation?¡±

    ¡°After reading the introduction, I saw how advanced the swordy is. Seeing as it is the swordy of an orthodox sect, I did not dare to read further without permission.¡±

    ¡°I assumed so. Else, you should¡¯ve been able to work out these two moves from Repository Sword Theory already.¡±

    So it is Repository Sword Theory.

    Rather than be d, Shen Yiren was fric. Unlike Ming Feizhen, who could learn people¡¯s disciplines without a shed of guilt, she respected the unwritten rules of the martial artsmunity. ¡°Please allow me to take the opportunity to return the manual to you.¡±

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t reach out. ¡°Keep it.¡± He didn¡¯t have any motivation to exin his thinking to her. Instead, he said, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have the privilege of possessing it, not after the crimes I¡¯vemitted. Furthermore, I don¡¯t even know if I will return alive from Nieyao. What¡¯s the point of me keeping it? The futures of Siming and the rest of Luo Sword Manor are shrouded in uncertainty. Our ancestors¡¯ work is safer in your hands than ours.¡±

    Without Luo n¡¯s internal strength cultivation guide, Sword Spirit Realm wouldn¡¯t be able to earn the respect it deserved. Luo Ming didn¡¯t express intention to guide Shen Yiren; what he felt was that Shen Yiren could impart it to future generations.

    ¡°Until you return victorious from Nieyao, I shall protect the manual for you.¡±

    Luo Ming cracked a smile. ¡°Sounds like I owe you my thanks. If I don¡¯t give you a hand, I¡¯ll be an ungrateful cur.¡±

    Excited but not getting her hopes up, Shen Yiren replied, ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°I shall help you with Ming Feizhen.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You want me toy you out?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Luo Ming had closed the gap, taken the sword from Shen Yiren and retreated by the time she felt him brush past. Considering the gap between their skills, she shouldn¡¯t have lost her weapon without realising it. Luo Ming, nevertheless, performed the snatch without telegraphing any aggression.

    Luo Ming affectionately ran his gaze down Yujing. ¡°Since marriage isn¡¯t within your interests, how about listening to a story?¡±

    Glossary

    ¡­ Combines internal and external system - try this: keep your shoulder des back, look sideways and try to perform a push up. Then, try to not think about what your shoulder des are doing, keep a neutral neck (look somewhere on the ground where your neck is neutral) and repeat, thinking about pushing the floor away from you. You¡¯ll get a lot more output from thetter as your internal structures, intent and technique are more aligned.

 Volume 11 69 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 69 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 3)</h4>

    ¡°Where shall I start¡­?¡± Luo Ming caressed Yujing¡¯s de, gaze softening with each passing second. ¡°How about from thirty years ago? When I made my debut in the pugilistic world, I started with purging several unorthodox sects¡¯ hideouts. I was in high spirits as I raised the fame of Luo Sword Manor in the martial world. One day, I happened to capture a reckless brat from the imperial family by chance.¡±

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t resist a smile. ¡°I have also heard the story of you capturing His Majesty when he trespassed into Luo Sword Manor. I still find it hrious every time I recall it.¡±

    ¡°The character I want to focus on, however, is the one apanying him, a skinny kid by the name of Shen Wuzheng.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Shen Yiren¡¯s smile vanished instantly. ¡°My father?¡±

    Luo Ming adopted a smile reminiscent of an elder singing the praises of a younger man. ¡°How much do you remember about your father?¡±

    Notwithstanding the time that had past, Shen Yiren¡¯s memories of her generous and modest father were still as vivid as ever. Even his friendly voice never left her memories. Her mother used to tell her not to fight with boys, yet her mother would scold her if she lost a fight. In the end, she¡¯d go crying to her father, and her father would persuade her mother to let it go.

    Dad, Mom¡­ If only I could find out who killed you¡­

    ¡°Don¡¯t look like that. Looks like you remember quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°How can a child forget what their parents did for them?¡±

    ¡°You may know him as a father, but you could never imagine how hard he is to get off your back.¡± Luo Ming cracked a nostalgic smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t buy any of the nonsense His Majesty peddled when I caught him. In contrast to him, his helper was scared out of his wits. Although the young man dressed as a page wasnky, he wasn¡¯t weak or willing to resort to shady tactics. I was going to let him have the first three moves, yet he objected, insisting on honouring the rules of duels in the martial artsmunity.

    ¡°I fought him fair and square as he requested. He should¡¯ve been easy for me to overwhelm given how many years I had on him, yet he survived a hundred exchanges and only lost due to one wrong judgement. Had he not made the wrong call, we would¡¯ve been going for longer. He¡¯s one gentleman I can never forget.

    ¡°Your father never lost spirit due to the defeat. While your father wasn¡¯t one to sweat the small stuff, it didn¡¯t mean he was oblivious or overlooked the small stuff. During his sojourn at my ce, he picked up on the circumstances between Yujing and I.¡±

    Shen Yiren acknowledged she recognised Luo Ming¡¯s wife with a nod.

    ¡°Even though we were childhood friends, I couldn¡¯t make any promises to her because I was afraid I¡¯d let down my seniors if I married a girl from a n without prestige. Your father discerned the conundrum from observing our reserved interactions. When he came to me with a sword, I assumed he was seeking a rematch. I didn¡¯t n to heckle them from trespassing as I admired your father, so I told him, ¡®You¡¯re quite good. You justck experience. I know your style now, so I can floor you in under thirty exchanges. You¡¯re wee to try if you¡¯re not convinced.¡¯

    ¡°Your father smiled and replied, ¡®There is no reason to badger you when I lost fair and square. All I am here for is to ask for a drink.¡¯

    ¡°He dropped and rolled across the ground to Yujing, then thrust his sword toward her throat. I never expected such an honest gentleman to go for my wife. Luckily, I dismantled that technique in our match already, so I knew how to react. I single flowered the first thrust, but I couldn¡¯t evade the second variation; I could only shield Yujing with my body. Right as I arrived at the doors of death, your father burst out inughter.

    ¡°¡¯Shielding another with her body, trading your life for hers, is there a love more precious than that? Patriarch Luo, will I get an invitation to your wedding?¡¯

    ¡°I looked behind me to see tears flowing down Yujing¡¯s red face. Needless to say, I cast aside all of my previous doubts. No matter how intolerant and harsh I may be, I couldn¡¯t let them remain captives underground after your father did me such a big favour, could I?

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t untilter that I learnt His Majesty¡¯s true identity. Before we knew it, we were close enough for me to share my family¡¯s opposition to our marriage. Your father dragged His Majesty to my ce so that His Majesty could propose our marriage. His Majesty managed to ¡®convince¡¯ my elders to ept Yujing and me.¡±

    Shen Yiren always knew her father had a keen eye for detail and a brain that could make use of that information, but this was news -ical and amusing news - to her.

    ¡°More impressive than your father¡¯s knack for martial arts is his character. Yan Shisan could mobilise ten thousand men when he called for them. Nevertheless, only your father could convince the martial artsmunity to join his cause from the bottom of their hearts in a single breath.¡±

    Despite being his daughter, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t know her father had so much sway.

    ¡°Be it friends or enemies, they respected your father alike. If I had to call out a w, it¡¯d be that he was too nice and gullible. Liu Shan Men would still be enjoying the highest glory if he was still around.¡±

    ¡°I am determined to avenge my father. Sadly, I still have not been able to identify the culprit¡­¡±

    Luo Ming looked over to Shen Yiren. ¡°Don¡¯t trust anyone. You are the expert at investigation. Though I pale inparison to the world¡¯s greatest constable in that department, you can trust this advice from me: when ites to your father¡¯s case, trust no one. If you¡¯ve truly measured what result your father¡¯s passing had on the martial world or if you truly understand your father¡¯s standing in His Majesty¡¯s mind, you would understand why I said what I said.¡±

 Volume 11 70 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 70 Swordsman Luo and Wuzheng. Precious Yujing. (Part 4)</h4>

    ¡°The two of them were friends who¡¯d risk their necks for each other; it¡¯s only predictable for His Majesty to avenge Shen Wuzheng at all costs. Not long subsequent to Shen Wuzheng¡¯s passing, Demon Sect was wiped out as a result. Question is, has Shen Wuzheng¡¯s case been solved? Do you know who killed your father? Has the culprit been brought to justice? Thework of gains and people involved goes far too deep for anyone to trace back to the root. With that said, there is no doubt about one thing. Given Shen Wuzheng¡¯s martial prowess, the only way he could¡¯ve been assassinated in the capital without alerting anyone is if there was a spy in the capital.¡±

    For years, Shen Yiren suspected unorthodox sects; never did it ur to her that the possibility of an insider conspirator. Luo Ming was right: how could someone take out Liu Shan Men¡¯s vice-captain without leaving a trace?

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Thank you for enlightening me. I have learnt a lot from this conversation.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t trust anyone¡­ except Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t deceive you. When you¡¯re fed lies from everywhere, you need someone to bounce ideas off in order to separate fact from fiction.¡±

    Shen Yiren solemnly nodded. ¡°The story and advice you shared has lit up a lot of lights for me. I would argue I have profited more from this exchange.¡±

    An upward curve formed on Luo Ming¡¯s lips. ¡°I only shared a story. We are not done yet. Now we have arrived at the main topic. I owe the years of bliss I had with Yujing to your father.¡±

    Luo Ming gradually increased the force exerted through Yujing as he raised it parallel to the ground, manifesting his qi on it once it arrived at its destination. ¡°After Yujing left me, I spent ten days in the smithing workshop. By the time I came out, my mind was still muddled; I only remember I was holding a sword and reminiscing my memories with her. When I regained self-awareness, I noticed all our advanced disciples gathered behind me, swords raised in praise. Only then did it ur to me that the sword qi around me was more potent than any sword qi I¡¯d seen in decades.

    ¡°I spent the night swinging the sword around by theke, but I didn¡¯t know what I was doing, to be honest. When I looked at the scars on the ground the next day, I noticed the absence of a pattern, meaning my mind and thoughts aligned. Try as I mayter, I was only able to recreate twelve techniques from memories and the marks. I named the set ck-White Hair.

    ¡°I never utilised the swordy in thest fifteen years. I¡¯ve only reflected on the profoundness within since I have had a breakthrough.¡±

    That exined to Shen Yiren why there was a still, deep and mncholic vibe to the techniques.

    ¡°Watch the twelve techniques closely.¡± Luo Mingmenced the sword taolu. ¡°¡¯Dawn Breeze on the Other Side of the Curtain¡¯, ¡®Erasing Dreams¡¯, ¡®Who Does the One Atop the Tower Resemble¡¯?¡±

    The leaves sung as though they were static, while Yujing and Luo Ming became the only dangers. From ¡°Dawn Breeze on the Other Side of the Curtain¡± to the final technique - You Broke My Heart - Luo Ming executed six hundred and nine consecutive strikes worthy of being called poetry in motion. Whether that was twelve techniques or not would be only something those who understood ck-White Hair could answer.

    ¡°Understand now?¡±

    Given Luo Ming didn¡¯t understand it years ago, expecting Shen Yiren to grasp it within one recital was beyond a daunting task. Eyes on the sword, she requested, ¡°Please perform it one more time, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Luo Ming assumed a different starting posture and focused his spirit into his movements again. ¡°¡¯Forever Separated from the Oil-painted Sedan¡¯, ¡®Gone Like the Clouds Above the Valley¡­¡± The names of the techniques suddenly had a different ring to thempared to the first time Luo Ming went through the taolu. ¡°¡­ ¡®Once a Swan Goose that Cast a Shadow¡¯.¡± Forget the different naming vibe; even the 1114 techniques weren¡¯t remotely simr to the first time he went through them, yet he was pleased with her ruminating reaction.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s focus wasn¡¯t on the technique names or the techniques but Luo Ming¡¯s intent - the absence of rigid form in his movement within stillness. The swordy included stabs, chops, plucks and every other fundamental technique one would expect. As always, the difficulty lied in applying the right technique to the right scenario. A stab was only effective when it was used in the right situation. Otherwise, it could open one up to a lethal counter.

    The essence of ck-White Hair was ¡°just enough¡±. Imagine slipping a thrust by a hair¡¯s breadth: should you be able to do it, you would¡¯ve conserved a lot of energypared to slipping off farther, stayed within range to counter the instant you¡¯ve moved off the line, granting you ample time to get ahead and expanded your options. Howbeit, moving just enough to move off the line meant a higher risk than a bigger movement to stay far out of the attack range at the expense of aforementioned benefits. Thus, it was a skill that every swordsman dreamt of achieving.

    Shen Yiren concentrated to the point that she didn¡¯t notice the sky was turning dark.

    ¡°For the next three days, I will train here with the purpose of polishing this swordy. If anybody happens to see me, the happen to see me.¡±

    Shen Yiren knelt down to offer Luo Ming three kowtows. ¡°Shen Yiren hereby expresses her sincere gratitude for your mentorship, Patriarch Luo.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t and won¡¯t teach you any swordy.¡± Luo Ming wagged his hand. ¡°Luo n¡¯s swordy will never be bequeathed to outsiders. You neither carry the Luo surname nor are you my disciple. How can I teach you? I¡¯m just training, and you just happened to see. I can¡¯tsh out at an old friend¡¯s daughter. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    Shen Yiren got up, resisting augh. ¡°Understood.¡±

    After her training session under Luo Ming¡¯s guidance that wentte into the night, she met Luo Siming and Ao Xue halfway down the mountain. Upon seeing the two awkward individuals lower their heads to go around her, she recalled Luo Ming¡¯s story. ¡°Brother Siming, how about this?¡±

    As soon as he came to a stop, Luo Siming espied Shen Yirening out at full speed with a sharp de. While he was befuddled for her motivation, she was surprised with her improvement. In the heat of the moment, Luo Siming forewent thinking about her motive and executed Three Silver Reflections to guard, only for her to rotate, sending her sword toward Ao Xue¡¯s heart.

    Ao Xuecked the speed they had, so there was no chance of her evading. Startled, Luo Siming threw himself in front of her, showing no hesitation to trade his life for hers.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Luo Siming looked up to see Shen Yiren sheathing her sword.

    ¡°Remember to send me an invite, hahaha.¡± Shen Yiren strolled off, leaving the two figuratively scratching their heads.

    Glossary

    What does it mean by ¡®grasping the swordy¡¯? - In essence, techniques are concealed in the taolu/form/poomsae/kata, so the learner needs to extract theponents to ¡°transform¡± - forck of better word - into something practical. This is one reason people look at those choreographed movements and assert, ¡°This doesn¡¯t work in real fights.¡± Well, yeah, fighting isn¡¯t a routine. I¡¯m never selling the routines as a fighting strategy in any universe.

    Imagine this: you know squat about muay thai. You go to a muay thai gym and see a guy lift a knee, extend his front hand, roll his shoulder as he puts weight on his front leg, shift weight onto the back leg, flick his lead foot, extend his front hand, then step back. If you didn¡¯t know a single thing, if you didn¡¯t know what any of those terms were, you¡¯d also say, ¡°This doesn¡¯t work in real fights.¡± Was the knee raise a block, a feint, a shield, a system check or a disrespect? Guess what? This is the same thing as those taolus and forms because it¡¯s also a choreographed routine to develop attributes. You learn choreographed/pre-setbos before you free flow on pads, don¡¯t you? Shen Yiren is basically the person who has never seen muay thai before and is trying to understand what all those movements mean.

    ¡°Forever Separated from the Oil-painted Sedan¡± - An oil-painted sedan means a maiden. The valley in ¡°Gone Like the Clouds Above the Valley¡± refers to Mount Wu; the valley¡¯s cloud and rain are a man and woman in love. Put together, they mean, ¡°It has been a long time since we¡¯ve had the chance to be together. Where are you now? Oh, how I yearn for you.¡± This is a very condensed version. I have to go through more literature to further break down how you reach those conclusions, which doesn¡¯t really matter to you, so I shall leave it there. If you really want to go there, leave ament below.

    I didn¡¯t trante the meanings of the lines because Shen Yiren is supposed to decipher his lesson. If Luo Ming already gave it away, there¡¯s nothing for her to decipher.

 Volume 11 71 Meeting Between Banana and Pear. Silver Light Illuminating the Wilderness.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 71 Meeting Between Banana and Pear. Silver Light Illuminating the Wilderness.</h4>

    Ever since the seventeen day deadline was announced, everyone tried to make the most of it, treating the remaining time as theirst days on the.

    Beussent¡¯s flute songs were sometimes audible at the mountain peak, sometimes in ces light couldn¡¯t reach, sometimes where nobody was around and sometimes where a group was present. Nobody had any criticism of his skills in spite of them being ordinary to the point that the somewhat gloomy and familiar melody was unrecognisable. Perhaps the nostalgic sentiments he aroused gave it value.

    Beussent set down his flute and took out a banana from his shirt. Gaze on the clouds, he began to peel the banana at his own leisure. ¡°Since you are looking for me, why not be upfront about it? You create the impression we have shady dealings.¡±

    ¡°If you want to be so upfront about it, why choose a ce without anyone around?¡± Ming Feizhen ambled out from behind a rock to Beussent¡¯s side. Mayhap he was there before Beussent began ying, mayhap after. ¡°I¡¯ve read the ancient records at Shaman Faith. Mount Wanyu is called Shaman Faith¡¯s Mount Ling because it¡¯s where a phoenix¡¯s traces are found, yet Shaman Monarch¡¯s pce was never built here. Great Spirit Shaman chose to build it on the tallest mountain in Xiacang Anxi to be as conspicuous as possible, making sure everyone knew of Shaman Faith. Ever since the first Shaman Monarch, this ce has been Moyan n¡¯s territory, where they train the faith¡¯s soldiers and forge weapons. Perhaps this ce could be considered Shaman Faith¡¯s sheath. Even if I didn¡¯t depose of that scumbag, he would¡¯ve lost his head in a matter of time.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What do you want to speak to me about?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something special in your eyes.¡±

    Beussent touched his face. ¡°Sorry about the sleep crust. I didn¡¯t wash my face this morning.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s anger.¡± Ming Feizhen trained his gaze on the figurative mask Beussent wore. ¡°What are you fervently pursuing? What are you bent on achieving? You¡¯re angry you can¡¯t achieve your goal and bashing yourself for being unable to achieve it. Your actions are unchecked and extreme. Dering mutiny from Nieyao, opposing a powerful state with your measly army, swooping past the border on your own and sending people to search for A-Lan don¡¯t dovetail the personality you show. Without some serious anger, I struggle to imagine what would disconcert attitude and actions.¡±

    Beussent looked to Ming Feizhen. ¡°I recall barely having spoken to you.¡±

    ¡°What do two ding dongs have to say to each other? We¡¯re straight.¡± Ming Feizhen sat down on a big rock, where the wind blew hard against. ¡°Never considered bing Shaman Monarch?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Shaman Monarch wasn¡¯t chosen from a decree of the previous Shaman Monarch - not to say that there had never been such precedence. ording to the faith¡¯s regtions, Shaman Monarch¡¯s descendants didn¡¯t have the right to seed them. The true sessor was on who possessed exceptional gifts.

    ording to the tales, Shaman Monarch passed on their gifts to an infant, enthroning the infant as the next Shaman Monarch. As Shaman Monarch, the inheritor naturally possessed the ability to converse with animals and tame them. Effectively, they ruled over all sentient life forms in Xiacang Anxi. The tale wasn¡¯t fiction because the man beside Ming Feizhen was empowered with the ability.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ How do you know?¡±

    ¡°In Shaman Faith¡¯s history, there have been plenty of contests for power, and the impact of every singlepetition¡¯s trickled down. All of the havoc ceases the moment Shaman Monarch shows up. You are Uncle Feng Xue¡¯s disciple. I¡¯m not convinced he couldn¡¯t tell, neither am I convinced he wouldn¡¯t tell you about your destiny.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t exin how you know.¡±

    ¡°You probably aren¡¯t aware, but,¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to a boulder nearby, ¡°there¡¯s always been someone following behind you.¡±

    Beussent didn¡¯t bother following Ming Feizhen¡¯s finger. ¡°So it¡¯s Patriarch Moyan.¡±

    ¡°Ever since you arrived on the mountain, Moyan Luohou has shadowed you. At first, I didn¡¯t understand why he let me run rampant when Shaman Faith is supposed to be the most important thing to him. Now I know that, if he didn¡¯t believe his real master was already alive, he couldn¡¯t care less about my show. If he wasn¡¯t aware of your existence, he¡¯d probably be impossible to find, just like fengqi shenmu.¡±

    Beussent bobbed his head. ¡°That certainly was something worth noting.¡±

    Ming Feizhen gestured it was no big deal with his hand. ¡°I just wanted to ask, what do you want from Nieyao?¡±

    ¡°My ancestors werebelled traitors. Heisina Tribe was once the guards of Beussent¡¯s royal family, yet they have been charged with killing the King they were supposed to be protect. I could never feel my ancestors¡¯ sentiments until I saw my King die before my eyes. Being repined is nothingpared to that pain. Now I understand why he lived on ignobly regardless of the agony in order to find the truth. I don¡¯t believe he wanted to clear his name but to find out what was truly to me for his King¡¯s death. I believe that was all he sought.¡±

    ¡°Just like you? Your ancestors chose to bear with the nder, while you chose to retaliate. In reality, your goal is the same as theirs: you all want to find out what happened in Nieyao back then.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Was the same.¡± Beussent cast his gaze up at the clouds. ¡°Do you know how many Heisina Tribe members die annually? They don¡¯t die because of war or bandits; they die due to illness and starvation¡­ Twenty years ago, winter would wipe out almost everyone. Even now, winters are challenging. At the start of each year, I have to estimate how many people would die in the year. It¡¯s one of the worst jobs I have. I want to know why my tribesmen have to suffer this immutable torment. I want to know if we truly went rogue. I don¡¯t just want the truth. I want the truth and glory.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough for me.¡± Ming Feizhen meandered off. ¡°Without your support, this battle would only be mass suicide. By you, I don¡¯t mean Shaman Monarch Heisina Chiyu. I mean Dragon Guardian Beussent. I take it you understand what I mean.¡±

    ¡°You also have something in your eyes.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stopped. ¡°I washed my face.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the resolve to die if necessary. It appears that you also know the truth behind Nieyao.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulders, eyes piercing. ¡°The people on Mount Wanyu who are informed is probably limited to just you and I. You know what to do.¡±

    Beussent wiped the sweat on his head. ¡°I won¡¯t mention a word.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up the corners of his lip and waved around a banana. ¡°Thanks for the banana. I¡¯ll treat you to pears when we have time.¡±

    Once Ming Feizhen was gone, Beussent shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t have the chance to taste it.¡±

 Volume 11 72 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 72 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 1)</h4>

    I had a racing mind, yet there was nothing to distract me from my restlessness, so I experimented with calligraphy. Once I penned a poem, I set down my brush and wiped my perspiration. ¡°¡¯When I was young, I couldn¡¯t fit in with the world¡¯s customs. Mountains of pork shoulders braised in soy sauce were mypanions. I fell for the secr world¡¯s snares, thus gone for thirteen years.¡¯ Uhm, magnificent writing, potent strength, the fruits of mybour show. My calligraphy is not bad.¡±

    ¡°What in the world are you doing?¡± Boss came in and set down a tray of hot tea in addition to a basket of snacks. She noticed my work, but she didn¡¯tment since it didn¡¯t appear to be a letter or drawing. She poured me a cup of tea, then questioned. ¡°Why are you doing something so boring?¡±

    ¡°Heh, this is nothing. My shifu can write with both hands whilst shooting a bow from each hand simultaneously. I¡¯ve tried and tried, but I can only perform two tasks simultaneously.¡±

    ¡°Four tasks at once?¡± Shen Yiren ced her cup down, then passed me a cake. ¡°Does Mount Daluo have a lot of reports?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I epted the cake and had a sip of tea. ¡°He was writing the previous generation¡¯s ¡®The Garden is Replete with the Hues of Spring¡¯. Whenever he writes it, he gives it 100%. There¡¯s nobody who doesn¡¯t praise it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Does Mount Daluo do anything productive?¡±

    ¡°We spend the four seasons of every year pretty much like that. Any more cakes, Boss?¡±

    Boss passed me another cake and sighed. ¡°Everyone else is hectically preparing. The Divine Realm adepts have also begun focusing their minds. Why are you the only one who seems to have too much free time on his hands?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± With my mouth full, I expanded, ¡°I already ate everyone¡¯s dinner for lunch.¡±

    ¡°If you ask me, you¡¯re nervous.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°If not, you¡¯d enjoy the bustling markets or sleeping somewhere, not trying to kill time with something so boring - although you¡¯re prettyme if you do go to the markets.¡±

    They didn¡¯t call us Yizhen Team for nothing. Nobody knew Feizhen better than Yiren.

    ¡°Boss, gimme a hug!¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± Boss tapped her shirt, where my bane slumbered. ¡°What exactly is troubling you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, either. Just, you know, restless for some reason.¡±

    ¡°Your nerves will bunch up when you¡¯re walking the tightrope between life and death.¡±

    ¡°Hence, calligraphy.¡±

    Boss shoved a full green-bean cake into my mouth. ¡°Nervousness is a product ofcking confidence. The Divine Realm adepts are meditating daily to still their minds. Why don¡¯t you try adjusting your mind, too?¡±

    ¡°Adjusting my mind¡­¡± I finally swallowed some of the cake. ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Nothing special. Just practice a hobby.¡±

    ¡°That would be leeching until I die.¡±

    Boss pinched my cheek nastily. ¡°Want to repeat that?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That would be giving my very best to repay Boss.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it¡­ You should do something that makes you happy. It doesn¡¯t need to be anything that needs a lot of preparation; anything will suffice.¡±

    Something that makes me happy, huh?

    ***

    ¡°Tang Ye, you there, buddy?!¡± I yelled from afar as I approached Tang Ye¡¯s carriage.

    Tang Ye had been meditating and meditating and then meditating more daily. No matter how much he had to sift through in his head, there had to be an end, and I¡¯d say he should be done, so¡­

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You asleep?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Coming in, then.¡± I brushed aside the curtain and entered.

    ¡°¡­ I said I¡¯m asleep.¡±

    ¡°Thought you weren¡¯t here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I sat cross-legged. ¡°Any enlightening thoughts after all the meditation?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of it, then?¡±

    ¡°To show I am remorseful. His Majesty will be more prone to forgiveness if I show remorse.¡±

    You sly little runt. You fooled even me.

    ¡°Anyway, seeing as you¡¯re fine,e with me.¡±

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°Take a guess?¡±

    Tang Ye deployed a nod. ¡°Buzz off.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Eh?¡± Su Xiao, cuddling a charcoal puppy, blinked at us. ¡°Why are you both back?¡±

    I gave Su Xiao a smile. ¡°They have enough hands on deck, so we came back to patrol.¡±

    I suppose it was a hard story to sell when Tang Ye leaned over to vomit. That was a normal reaction because I used qinggong to travel from Mount Wanyu to Xuiyu.

    Su Xiao turned his head to look askance at me - eyes narrowed. ¡°This is Xiuyu, not the capital. Since when did they need you patrolling their city?¡±

    ¡°Oh, and the citizens of Xiuyu don¡¯t pay taxes? The residents don¡¯t need to abide by thew?¡±

    Su Xiao, Su Xiao, your intelligence has regressed.

    ¡°Th-they do.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t even have a post here or know what to do. How¡­ do we patrol?¡±

    This kid, you never been on patrols before?

    ¡°Like always, lounging at a bar, chilling at a teahouse, attending a music performance, watching a stage y and then buying some souvenirs to take back¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop. Hand over your wage. I¡¯m refunding taxpayers.¡±

    Tang Ye finally finished puking. ¡°Big Bro, that¡¯s overkill.¡±

    ¡°Why are even you defying me?¡±

    ¡°You spent my money.¡±

    This,dies, is why you don¡¯t go for good-looking men. They¡¯re scrooges. I only spent a little, geez.

    ¡°What are you doing here with the puppy?¡± I questioned.

    Su Xiao beamed. ¡°This is an elder¡¯s puppy. Seeing as I have nothing to do, I¡¯ve been volunteering here and there. Nobody at home could take her puppy for a walk, so I volunteered.¡±

    You¡¯re the one who should pay his inted earnings back to the imperial court! Why are you babysitting a puppy?!

    ¡°She only has one puppy, yet she needs a civil servant to take it for a walk?¡±

    ¡°Who said one? She has five. Look at the grey, white and, eh?¡± Su Xiao jogged back and looked around. ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao spun around, lips curled. ¡°I¡­ I lost her puppies.¡±

    The sky had fallen. The earth had split¡­

    Glossary

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s poem - He made a y on ¡°Return to Nature¡± by Tao Yuanming. The original is more like, ¡°I couldn¡¯t fit in with the world¡¯s customs (I thought my home wasn¡¯t the right ce for me because of customs and culture). Mountains were mypanions (I travelled around thends). I fell for the secr world¡¯s snares (I fell for the allure of working as a civil servant, but I eventually saw how corrupted and restrictive it is), thus gone for thirteen years (I spent thirteen years in that world).¡±

    Ming Feizhen ys on the phrase for ¡°mountains¡± to say ¡°mountains of pork shoulders braised in soy sauce¡±, which is him saying he ate boat-loads of them.

    Even though, going by the poem, the author ims to have spent ¡°thirty years¡± away from home. Wu Renjie believes this is an exaggeration. He asserts it was only thirteen years based on the time Tao Yuanming was in office and when he returned home. I¡¯m sticking with the name ¡°Return to Nature¡± since it¡¯s what¡¯s more epted at current, but I¡¯ll argue it should be ¡°return home¡± because it¡¯s talking about him returning to his home, where they worked in the fields.

    The Garden is Replete with the Hues of Spring - It¡¯s a poem from Ye Shaoweng, Song Dynasty, that uses two lines to show the author¡¯s considerate character as well as his fondness for spring. The praise for the poemes from the fact that ¡°replete¡± and ¡°growing over the walls¡± (from two lines in the poem) depict not just the beauty of spring but also the vitality associated with the season. Another interpretation you can apply it to is if you want to say the good things new life brings cannot be stopped.

 Volume 11 73 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 73 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 2)</h4>

    I never expected my n to have a drink or two with Su Xiao to be a dog searching mission. After he returned the remaining puppies to the elder, he consulted us to strategize. Needless to say, the elder wailed dramatically and then shared the touching story of her four puppies equally dramatically. Su Xiao cried along with her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Tang Ye patted the elder on the back. ¡°It¡¯s just a puppy. We¡¯ll be able to find it if we work together.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, Elder. Leave it to us.¡±

    ¡®scuse me, but I¡¯ve already found it.

    As long as I tried, I could hear everything within two and a half kilometres of earshot; it was a cinch to locate the puppy on the roof of the neighbouring big house. Hell as if I know how the puppy managed to get up there. When it saw me look its way, it utilised its puppy eyes to the max whilst trying to not shiver.

    ¡­ Oh, I scared you off?

    Newborn animals were more sensitive to the smell on me than their adult counterparts. Sometimes, they could still smell the scent even when I consciously suppressed it. The difference between suppressing and not was that, in the worst case scenario, they¡¯d only be scared if I did suppress it; climbing onto a roof shouldn¡¯t have been a reaction.

    Meanwhile, the elder and two constables were analysing the situation. Well, they were still at the part where she was telling them how popr the puppy was, how Old Wang from the neighbouring vige wanted to buy the puppy for fifty taels but she protested, so he offered fifty-one taels¡­ ordingly, Tang Ye asserted Old Wang abducted the puppy because he couldn¡¯t buy it.

    The puppy is on the roof of the neighbouring house, buddy.

    Then we listened to how bad her daughter-inw was, seldom visiting home, hardly bringing back any silk, shark fins and whatnot, only bringing back ducks, chicken and fish. Apparently, it was all because her daughter-inw hated her and was out to provoke her, so she was a suspect for the kidnapping. She mmed the table and demanded, ¡°Follow me to my home to light her up!¡±

    The puppy is on the roof of the neighbouring house,dy. You¡¯re clearly taking advantage of the situation! We¡¯re not a volunteer hit team!

    They somehow then moved on to talking about how eating dog meat had be all the rage in the city, leading to suspicions of a dog abduction syndicate. From memory, Green Prince was a fan of dog meat. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for someone to sell dog meat in the city.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, this must be a major conspiracy!¡±

    Your birth is the major conspiracy! The puppy is on the roof of the neighbouring house!

    ¡°Enough.¡± I didn¡¯t want to waste my time on a bunch of cases with potentially no return. ¡°The puppy is¡­¡± I pointed to the ceiling.

    The puppy, like prey that met eyes its predator, jumped off the roof.

    ¡°Who¡¯s puppy is this? Why die in my backyard?!¡±

    ¡°Where did the flying doge from? I-it¡¯s not moving.¡±

    ¡°Looks tasty. Free meal, huh?¡±

    The three super constables looked up to the roof and then back at me, befuddled.

    ¡­ I¡¯m speechless.

    The elder inquired, ¡°He is¡­?¡±

    Su Xiao introduced, ¡°This is Constable Ming. With his experience, he probably has something for us to work off already.¡±

    I blinked profusely. ¡°¡­ This must be a major conspiracy.¡±

    Somehow, we were going to have to find a puppy. Thankfully, further dialogue revealed that the puppy didn¡¯t die, but it did break two legs. Although it woke up, the owner applied topical herbs since it perpetually barked.

    I nned to do a fewps and then lead them to the household. Hence, I devoted all of my attention to ogling the drool-worthy local foods we came across. Every store in Nanjiang prepared pork differently. Thest time I was in Xiuyu, I was busy. No way was I missing out on the opportunity to finally try some.

    Su Xiao walked with a spring in his steps as well as a smile stretching to his ears.

    ¡°Lass, what are you so jovial about?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re ass! I¡¯m a man!¡± Despite ring at me, Su Xiao still beamed.

    ¡°Look at your lips. You gone stupid?¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Su Xiao scratched the back of his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s been ages since the three of us have done anything together. I enjoy this.¡±

    Tang Ye and I could see the reliefparable to defeat in each other¡¯s eyes. Frankly, it was rare for either of us to feel so at peace.

    ¡°There will be plenty of chances to work together once we return to the capital.¡± I stepped in between Tang Ye and Su Xiao, then scrubbed thetter¡¯s head.

    From my left, Su Xiao enthused, ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to it. You better treat your patrols seriously. If you ck off, I¡¯ll dob you in!¡±

    Tang Ye added, ¡°We¡¯ll have to crack a few cases.¡±

    There were young girls calling out at people passing by to buy their goods. Maidens from brothels strutted out of their brothels, pervading the air with various scents. The warm winds blew the aroma of delectable foods to noses. Kids were ying a variety of games at the corners of streets.

    Time is always passing by; however, not everyone perceives its passing the same way.

    Watching Tang Ye cloud gaze and Su Xiao scan the ground, I couldn¡¯t resist a smile. They reminded me of why I chose to retire from the pugilistic world.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Things had constantly changed, but this breeze was the same.

    ***

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, I¡¯ve found a clue¡­¡± Su Xiao stopped to whisper. He pointed to a group, stating, ¡°Look at those people up ahead. One word: shady.¡±

    There were approximately ten armed, burly men who looked ready to smash, bash and sh. Watching them check the surroundings, Su Xiao proimed, ¡°I can tell at first nce that they¡¯re the abductors.¡±

    I can tell at first nce that the only thing they abducted was your brain! They¡¯re clearly trying to raid!

 Volume 11 74 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 74 Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 3)</h4>

    ¡°They abducted the puppy. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

    As ironic as it was, I really wanted to tell Su Xiao he was framing the innocent. Anyone should¡¯ve been able to tell a bunch of armed men sneaking around at the door of a big estate wanted a share of the dog hotpot.

    ¡°They¡¯re going to run!¡± Su Xiao sprinted at the group. ¡°Freeze!¡±

    ¡°Boss, constables!¡±

    The one-eyed leader with a ¡°t¡± scar on top of his dome swept his gaze over. ¡°Stop pooping your pants. Since we¡¯ve been found, we¡¯ll have to silence them.¡± He licked his lips as he ran his gaze up and down Su Xiao. ¡°Heh, this harlot is smok-, pfft!¡±

    The grunts weren¡¯t even a match for Su Xiao, never mind Tang Ye. Su Xiao forced the leader to involuntarily backflip with an uppercut using his scabbard. Tang Ye didn¡¯t need to use internal energy to floor them.

    I don¡¯t know if you lot are brave or stupid.

    ¡°Speak.¡± Su Xiao stomped his foot onto the wall and pulled the leader in by the cor. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Unlike his buddies, the leader refused to show any indications of pain or fear no matter how he was interrogated. Not even Tang Ye could shake him down despite the gap in their skill. They had been stripped of their weapons, and there was no lying their way out when they were caught. As per the unwritten codes of the pugilistic world, what happens in the pugilistic world stays in the pugilistic world. Given they nevermitted the crime they intended to perpetrate, they would be let off the hook if they owned up to it.

    ¡°W-we¡¯re here to murder and loot.¡± The leader didn¡¯t sound so staunch when he had to admit to his ns.

    ¡°Hmph, you can¡¯t fool me!¡± Su Xiao scoffed.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You think I was born yesterday? Fess up: where is the dog?¡±

    ¡°What? Dog?¡±

    Su Xiao pped him across the face. ¡°Did you just spit an insult?!¡±

    As blood spilt from his mouth, the thug pondered what he said wrong.

    ¡°Still not going to be honest?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I admit I was the leader of the robbery at the gold store on Thirteenth Streetst year.¡±

    ¡°Cut the rubbish! The truth!¡±

    The leader mped down on his teeth. ¡°Five years ago, I colluded with bandits to raid a vige. Three years ago, I killed our chief to rece him. I¡¯m also the reason the mistress of the seventy-year-old martial artist got pregnantst month¡­ I¡¯ve confessed. What else do you want to know?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I was asking about.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡±

    ¡°I want to know if you¡¯re the one who abducted Mrs. Liu¡¯s puppy.¡±

    ¡°What? Dog?¡±

    ¡°Stop calling me a freaking dog!¡± Su Xiao pped his face thirty-plus times, finally beating the thug into submission. ¡°You could¡¯ve saved yourself all the pain if you admitted to it earlier.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Finally breaking down in tears, the thug bemoaned, ¡°Just kill me now¡­ I never expected this.¡±

    ¡°Never expected karma to exist, did you?¡±

    ¡°I never expected a dog to be the reason I¡¯d surrender after decades of dominance in the pugilistic world. You people, you people are brutes! You have no regard for thew! You think Xiuyu is awless city?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rich,ing from you.¡± Because I grabbed his hand before he could dish out another beating, Su Xiao grouched, ¡°Big Brother Ming, he deserves to get hit!¡±

    ¡°He has a point. You can¡¯t keep beating him. You have to respect thews of Xiuyu,¡± I urged.

    ¡°Heh, now there¡¯s a man who¡¯s understanding.¡±

    A whileter¡­

    ¡°Their testimonials are here in detail, and I have obtained their thumb prints. You can take them in.¡± Su Xiao handed the captured guards over to the local constables.

    ¡°You underhanded rat!¡±

    ¡°You lot again! You lot were only released half a year ago after being put behind bars for raiding a vige. None of you are walking again. Move along!¡±

    Xiuyu¡¯sws were Green Prince¡¯sws, and they were strict, so the group was truly never walking free again.

    ¡°Hey! Where¡¯s the puppy?!¡±

    I had to drag Su Xiao back to tell him, ¡°He told me the puppy is with Mrs. Liu¡¯s neighbour.¡±

    At longst, we retrieved and returned the puppy to its rightful owner. By the time we wrapped up the case, the sunset had blossomed upon the horizon as if a million scarlet blooms ignited.

    Su Xiao stretched his arms overhead. ¡°Found the lost puppy and detained a group of crooks. Today was well spent.¡±

    ¡°If there was a braised meat store in Xiuyu, then it¡¯d be a perfect day.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, then. My treat.¡± Su Xiao, pulling me by the arm, raced to a restaurant, then ran over to ask the proprietor to serve some meat.

    Turning my head with by my chin, I shifted my gaze from grumpy Su Xiao to Tang Ye. ¡°Whatchu looking at?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I thought we¡¯re marching into Nieyao.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you heard about that from the carriage, but I apud you for it.¡±

    ¡°Luo Siming asionally speaks to me when he delivers Luo Ming¡¯s meals.¡± Tang Ye stared straight into my eyes as if he was monitoring every response I gave. ¡°You don¡¯t n to bring us along, do you?¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s too soon for you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ How do you know I¡¯m not ready?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re overreaching.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You have a distinct goal and are blessed with unmatched talent. Why not exercise patience and slow down a tad? There¡¯s a time and ce for everyone¡¯s debut. It¡¯s not time for you two to take to the stage yet. Why not take your time to expand your horizons and stumble so that you won¡¯t feel empty when you look back? It was pretty nice searching for a puppy, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    How in god¡¯s name it happened was beyond me, but Tang Ye slightly elevated the corners of his lips. ¡°I agree.¡±

    I unleashed an endless pbo on my thigh. ¡°Hahahaha, you look uglier smiling than crying.¡±

    Su Xiao came stomping back, then leaned onto the table. ¡°Big Brother Ming, meat is half price today!¡±

    ¡°Serious?!¡±

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s firste, first serve! They¡¯re fighting to secure serves now!¡±

    Tang Ye got up. ¡°Time to show them.¡±

    I whipped my robe across my body. ¡°Gentlemen, ready?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t stand so close to me. You two make me look bad¡­¡±

    ¡°Who gives a toss? Get them!¡±

    Thus, that was how the legend of Xiuyu¡¯s ¡°Three Shadowless Scum¡±, ¡°Meatvengers¡± and ¡°Enemy of Restaurants¡± titles came to be subsequent to setting the fastest record for clearing the stock of a restaurant. Do I need to mention we ate all the meat of every other restaurant?

    It waste at night by the time we settled down a little, so I couldn¡¯t remember it clearly, but I think Tang Ye and I had a conversation along the lines of¡­

    ¡°By the why, Big Bro, Luo Siming never mentioned the details. When are you sortieing?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t tell you? Why would he leave out something that important? Not long. It¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡­ Tomorrow.

    Glossary

    Dog and insult - The character the thug uses to ask ¡°what¡± sounds simr to the character for another character that, whenbined with dog, would mean ¡°tard¡±. Obviously, the joke is lost in trantion.

 Volume 11 75 Ancient Nieyao. Madman Gewu.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 75 Ancient Nieyao. Madman Gewu.</h4>

    Xiacang Anxi continued to develop over the centuries, converting forests and mountain paths into new roads, except for one area that was immutable. Said area remained proof that Xiacang Anxi was once a primitivend at least half a millennium ago. There wasn¡¯t a building that wasn¡¯t damaged and rotten without creatures dropping by. There was a pce caked in dust to the point it wasn¡¯t recognisable. In reality, the buildings wereplete twenty years ago.

    Nieyao was replete with snakes, not just any snake but lethally poisonous ones, a white python that could crush parts of a forest with its sheer size, tigers, leopards and wolves craving fresh flesh, as well as venomous insects. All the skeletons and fragments of onceplete body parts strewn across the city were a by-product of the fighting between its unfriendly residents. Whether it was ssified a cemetery or den for fiends, neither would be wrong.

    Sitting on his seat constructed from beast bones and cushioned with tiger fur, Nanjiang¡¯s best shaman physician heaved a heavy breath. ¡°Your qi meridians have been severed, and the true qi in your dantian has been expunged. The qi residue inside you prohibits any external force from entering your body. It is a miracle you can talk and walk.¡±

    The man reclining in his seat had an appearance more frail and aged than his physician. ¡°¡­ Just give me the conclusion.¡±

    ¡°If only your meridians were severed, then your internal discipline was erased. This old one could have found a way to expel the energy within you. Unfortunately, the method used to sever your meridians¡­¡±

    Ingenious and merciless were the words that the physician never enunciated. While the method wasn¡¯t lethal or peculiar, every pathway for true qi to travel through had been split by the inches. The physician already tried ten approaches. If it wasn¡¯t for Gewu ring at him, the physician would¡¯ve walked off already because he had nevere across such a case in the decades he had been practicing.

    ¡°Is there¡­ nothing that can be done?¡±

    ¡°This old one¡¯s love for treating challenging conditions led to his obsession, which led to Central iners calling him Freak Physician. If a case is beyond him, he will be upfront about it. This old one is the sixth, if not fifth, best doctor. Beijiang¡¯s Hopeless Life only needs one nce to diagnose. Mount Lu¡¯s Medicine Master Valley¡¯s master is considered peerless with medicine. There is an odd imperial physician in the Central in revered for his medical skills. This old one admires all of them. Howbeit, the only hope you have is find the one they call Surgical Sage. Unfortunately, he is constantly on the move. This old one does not know where he currently is. He is afraid you cannot count on meeting him.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ I won¡¯t count on it.¡± Gewu sat up, seemingly having shaken off his exhaustion. Even though his remaining lifespan was now an unknown number to even him, he had in ambiguous upward curve on his lips.

    Gewu meandered through Nieyao, indifferent to the putrid stench. He climbed the stacks of concrete that was once the city¡¯s wall, each step as heavy as though it was thest step in his life.

    I heard Mount Wanyu has contacted branches of Shaman Faith to begin coboration - nice. They¡¯re probably conducting research on the half of the beast army that Le Kuangnu forfeited to them - nice. Those four states that teamed up with him have strengthened their defences and exiled my spies - nice. Baimu has also winnowed all the pieces I spent years setting up - nice.

    Gewu nearlyughed hysterically. Decades of work, yet there was practically nothing remaining now that he was on the cusp of death - unless his ever-growing hatred for the world and Ming Feizhen qualified as possessions.

    The beasts assembled at the wall Gewu stood onparably to vassals convening before their monarch.

    The reason Le Kuangnu used Nieyao as his beast-breeding ground was because not a single state dared to send scouts to the city, affording Le Kuangnu secrecy. To be precise, Sky Pce was the entity that supplied them with the location in addition to the dragon eggs. While Gewu had one foot in the grave, he was still the ruler of Nieyao.

    ¡°Baidizi, Chichen, Youling Shuyu¡­ and Wazi¡± - Gewu made eye contact with Wazi, the jiao, for longer than any of the other four dragons because a jiao was the closest equivalent to a dragon - ¡°I know it has been tough for you four all these years¡­¡±

    Dozens of troops in ck armour dragged roughly a hundred vigers to the edge and yanked them off the walls. The troops turned a deaf ear to the cries and pleas of the vigers. For whatever reason, the horde of beasts didn¡¯t attack them.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Enjoy the feast.¡±

    In a matter of moments, the only sound left below the walls was chomping sounds. Once the dragons were done, they stared up at the soldiers, apparently still hungry.

    ¡°Keep feeding them.¡±

    The soldiers threw another batch of innocent people down the wall, while Gewuughed uncontrobly and hysterically.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s decision to let the vengeful man go was a mistake - a big one.

    ¡°Men.¡±

    A ck field emerged from the other side of the wall. Actually, they were just soldiers in the same ck gear as the soldiers who threw the vigers into the pit of dragons. It was a well-kept secret that, aside from a beast army, there were ten thousand soldiers d in ck armour hiding in Nieyao. The moment the Central in¡¯s group opened the city doors, they would discover that their opponents weren¡¯t just cmitous beasts.

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t wait for you people to arrive, ahahaha!¡±

    Glossary

    Exnation of how Gewu¡¯s skills were erased (and the mechanic in wuxia fiction in general) - For fellow psychologists, and the science types, you can think of it the same as sabotaged neural pathways that ruin motor control. The therapy to retrain those pathways can take a while, and they speak of this rehab as a process that takes decades in wuxia. If that hardly means much to you, below is a more detailed exnation without needing to understand the science.

    You may recall talk of qi moulding method. To jog your memory, Shen Yiren was used to discuss this. When Ming Feizhen transferred his true qi over to her, she felt qi being moulded in a foreign way to her. In essence, whenever someone learns a discipline, they learn to mould qi in a specific way. The building of this pathway is like carving a pattern in concrete with a rock. If you go outside and carve along the predetermined pattern twice a day, it¡¯s like moulding qi along that pathway twice a day. Consider that route the equivalent of the route qi travels along.

    Now, if you were to pour water onto a certain spot of your carving, the water will flow along the route. However, when you¡¯re only starting out, the route in the concrete is really shallow, so not much water can travel along it, right? You might even need to use a tool to assist so that it doesn¡¯t spill out. Over time and after endless repetitions of carving, you¡¯ve carved a route deep enough for a higher volume of water to travel along. In internal disciplines¡¯ linguistics, it¡¯s the same as saying that you can now transport more qi along the route you¡¯ve been circting it, and it¡¯s more automatic. To have your martial arts erased - as what happened to Gewu - is the same as having that carving sanded down. Therefore, you can no longer transport qi along that route. Your body no longer knows how to transport qi. In order for you to regain the skills you lost, you¡¯re going to have to restart from zero.

    In addition, there¡¯s also the possibility of damage to internal structures (in some scenarios of these stories) that prevent the practitioner from ever being able to even do it again. Therefore, they have be a ¡°cripple¡±.

 Volume 11 76 Unexpected. Let Us Meet Again Tomorrow.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 76 Unexpected. Let Us Meet Again Tomorrow.</h4>

    Slouching on the bench and with his eyes on his city doors, Ming Feizhen pontificated, ¡°Proceed as I just mentioned. Return to your respective groups.¡±

    ordingly, Evil Spirits gathered around Abels. Qilin Guards assembled behind Long Zaitian. Emperor¡¯s Entourage reported in to Dugu and Tie Hanyi.

    Emperor Yuansheng, sitting beside Ming Feizhen, queried, ¡°Constable Ming, there should only be onemander. Why are you splitting everyone up?¡±

    ¡°They all belong to a group and are loyal to their leaders. They will not obey me when I have no authority. I might be able to offer suggestions, but there is no way they willply with my orders. They have chemistry with theirrades, which will bring out the best in them. That is all we can ask for. Moreover, if one is to die, the only ce to die is beside one¡¯s leader.¡±

    The various teams already assumed assault formations.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you are tied to the world¡¯s fate. Please stay on this side of the doors. If anyone escapes, please kill them on the spot.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I wish you all good luck!¡± Emperor Yuansheng and Lai Jingzhen rode away from the dustden doors of Nieyao.

    The team leaders gathered around Ming Feizhen. Feng Xue asked, ¡°Asking me tomand is undermining your job as a strategist, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°We might be equals when ites to peddling nonsense, but you are unequalled as a militarymander among everyone here. What sort of ninny would I have to be to trust my leadership skills over Nanjiang¡¯s grandmander? You are the man for the job, Uncle Feng Xue.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Still, you should give the final order.¡±

    Noticing Ming Feizhen¡¯s fixation on the doors separating from the fields of blood, inorganic wreckage and skeletons, Hong Jiu quietly inquired, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Leader?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­ Something just came to mind.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter anymore.¡± Ming Feizhen staggered as he tried to walk upon getting up. Once he steadied himself, he held out a hand. ¡°Second, wine.¡±

    Hong Jiu passed Ming Feizhen a big jug of wine from the long table. Ming Feizhen generously poured the ¡°Oblivious¡± wine into his mouth. ¡°Gentlemen, nobody knows if they¡¯ll being back alive. Regardless of whence you came, you are now heroes. I offer you all a toast of respect for your courage.¡± He knocked every drop back, conveyed, ¡°Gentlemen, let us meet again tomorrow,¡± then threw the jug at the ground, smashing it sonorously. ¡°Open the doors!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Finally.¡±

    Although it wasn¡¯t what he wanted, Gewu had finished his preparations. The ten thousand armoured soldiers in the city weren¡¯t stationed there to fight off an invasion; their goal was something greater - the conquest of Nanjiang. With the bandits under his control, reins over four states in his hands and more in his hands, the only thing he needed toplete his conquest wasnd.

    Gewu and Le Kuangnu¡¯s original n was to deploy the elite army once Le Kuangnu started an uproar to deal a heavy blow to Wanyu. Once he ascended Mount Ling and slid into the vacant iron throne, he would¡¯vepleted half of his n.

    Le Kuangnu may have not had the opportunity to see the fruits of hisbour go out the window, but Gewu was still alive, and he hadn¡¯t forgotten what his goal was. The n had changed, but the goal had not. Once his elite soldiers had wiped out the hubristic worms, he¡¯d march on Wanyu¡¯s royal pce with his four dragons. What was a little resistance to the fearsome Six Evils?

    Ming Feizhen, yourcence will be your downfall and the downfall of everyone you care about.

    The cost ofcence was one that none can afford. Once one let it in, hell would drag you down to a bottomless pit of misery. If this weren¡¯t true, why did Gewu¡¯s wife die?

    ¡°Reporting! The doors have opened, and the enemy has entered.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, how many of them are there?¡± responded Gewu.

    ¡°Their vanguard numbers a thousand, and there an estimated one thousand right behind.¡±

    ¡°So two thousand in total. A vanguard of a thousand? They brought quite a force from the Central n, huh? What hope does an unarmoured force of a thousand have against my armoured soldiers? Send three thousand cavalry from the beast and horse riding groups. Show those Central in barbarians what war really is.¡±

    A whileter¡­

    ¡°Reporting, our three thousand soldiers have reached a stalemate against the enemy forces. The vanguard is an exceptional group of fighters. Ordinary soldiers are unable tost a single exchange.¡±

    ¡°So? Their end is inexorably a crushing defeat. By my orders, send another two thousand soldiers as reinforcements. I want them annihted. Gradually send the reinforcements to show them true despair.¡±

    The smell of blood became pronounced a short whileter, proving that a lot of people had fallen.

    A whileter¡­

    ¡°Now what?¡±

    Panting, the messenger informed, ¡°W-we are evenly matched! The enemy¡¯s remaining thousand soldiers have joined the fray.¡±

    ¡°If they increase their numbers, deploy more men. You have five times their number, for crying out loud! Scram!¡±

    A whileter¡­ The messenger limped back in bloody clothing. ¡°Reinforcements! Reinforcements!¡±

    ¡°You need more reinforcements to take them down?¡±

    ¡°N-no, th-the enemy reinforcements have arrived!¡±

    ¡°Enemy reinforcements?¡± Gewu decided to fight the battle because, ording to the pulse he kept on Nanjiang¡¯s states, no state should¡¯ve acquiesced to lending troops. ¡°How many are there?¡±

    ¡°About¡­ About¡­ twenty thousand¡­¡±

    The messenger¡¯s pallor wasn¡¯t due to oxygen debt; he was scared out of his wits.

    ***

    ¡°I get it now,¡± Ming Feizhen blurted out of nowhere.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°What do you get, Leader?¡± Hong Jiu asked.

    ¡°Nothing important.¡± Ming Feizhen shed his pearly whites. ¡°Just an ant.¡±

 Volume 11 77 What Did You Say About Luo Clan? Learning Fear.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 77 What Did You Say About Luo n? Learning Fear.</h4>

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    Twenty thousand?! Impossible! I would¡¯ve known if Baimu and Wanyu mobilised their forces. Even if I¡¯m borderline deaf, there¡¯s no way I would¡¯ve missed the sound of their forces mobilising.

    Gewu hadn¡¯t lost his cool yet, not after almost a century of practice. He lowered his volume but spoke through his teeth. ¡°¡­ What is their gear like?¡±

    ¡°Poorer than ours, but¡­¡±

    Sky Pce¡¯s gear provided an extra boost to the soldiers in Nieyao, especially when facing off against foot soldiers, so that was a good start.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°Their equipment is also sophisticated. Based on the designs, there is no mistake¡­ it is the Nine Provinces¡¯ imperial army¡¯s gear.¡±

    The Nine Provinces? Why are they getting involved? Ming Feizhen may be in the employment of the Central in¡¯s imperial court, but there¡¯s no way he has enough weight to mobilise their military. The closest city of the Central in is Xiuyu. How would Ming Feizhen persuade a Prince to march? No, even if he could, how did theye all the way here without me knowing?

    ¡°Great Spirit Shaman, our forces are being driven back. Our vanguard has crumbled. The reinforcements have been cut off and cannot meet up with our vanguard. Please give orders!¡±

    As more and more negative reports came in, Gewu hit the table with his hand, only to almost keel over. ¡°¡­ Ridiculous! It hasn¡¯t even been four hours since the battlemenced. We possess the terrain advantage. Who could lead them so proficiently?¡± A name thereupon came to mind that muted Gewu¡¯s prattling.

    The messenger voiced, ¡°The enemymander is¡­ Martial Paragon, Feng Xue. He is riding alone at the front with without the trinity generals. He made himself appear as bait, but then he cut off our reinforcements¡¯ route.¡±

    Gewu withered in the face. The enemy had ounted for his overwhelming advantage and used it against him. From the very beginning, he was marching to his defeat. Upon breaking free of his petrification, he silently hobbled away.

    ***

    Even if they were two hundred men less, eight hundred Qilin Guards are still nothing to scoff at. After all, they were the strongest group present. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t need to worry about the vanguard. Therefore, he focused on other parts of the battlefield.

    Abels small unit took on the scout role and took out any dangerous people on the way using guerri warfare. Moyan Luohou and his fifty disciples also assisted Abels¡¯ unit as scouts and a guerri warfare detachment.

    Feng Xue¡¯s leadership didn¡¯t just reverse the odds but also raised troop morale. The enemy vanguard of two thousand was disconnected from their reinforcements, forcing them to push forward if they didn¡¯t want to be swamped from the rear, as well. Hence, the main force had be a reserve unit, although the main force consisted of only Ming Feizhen, Hong Jiu, Luo Ming and Luo Siming.

    As a result of Feng Xue¡¯s tactic, the enemy vanguard chose to abandon formation in hopes of escaping Nieyao. Fortunately, some of them made it to the doors of Nieyao despite the enemy pursuit from the rear. Unfortunately, in the ¡°safe zone¡± was the main force.

    Luo Ming rode up to the front and saluted Ming Feizhen. ¡°As this is the trap youid, how about you go first?¡±

    ¡°I would not dare to cut in front of Heavenly Swordsman. I shall let you do the honours, Elder.¡±

    ¡°Making an old man fight first, how sly.¡±

    Among the thousand armoured troops who made it to the other side of Nieyao, some of them still remembered the swordsman who instilled fear in them a decade ago. Had the dragons not been mobilised, they wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to live for another decade. Nheless, they didn¡¯t spend thest decade they were granted twiddling their thumbs. They no longer needed to pose as evil spirits of Shaman Monarch Pce to scare people off. They had four dragons behind them and thousands more troops, while Heavenly Swordsman no longer had his brothers and sons he could put his faith in. He no longer looked as frightening as he once did.

    ¡°Luo n is finished.¡± The axe-wielding general taunted, ¡°He¡¯s just a decrepit old man. We can squash him with our sheer numbers alone! Luo Ming, Luo n is history! You have no one to survive you! Get off your horse so that I can kill you!¡±

    Maybe it was because of the enemy¡¯s fierce gazes that Luo Ming¡¯s horses halted of its own volition. Luo Ming closed his eyes, then stated, ¡°Finally here.¡±

    Two thousand armour-d soldiers road through the doors of Nieyao from behind Luo Ming. No longer could Gewu¡¯s soldiers im they had the superior gear because Huzhou¡¯s elites had entered the battle.

    True to his name, Feng Jian kicked up more and more dust as his speed climbed, sending him straight to the front of the elites. Subsequent to crashing a soldier away, Feng Jian and his horse leapt up,nding deep in enemy territory. Upon dismounting, he demonstrated speed superior to his horse, flitting through the enemy lines to the general.

    The general chopped down. Feng Jian zipped straight past, sword drawn and held up to the sky. The general¡¯s head literally didn¡¯t have time to process it was supposed to roll off until a secondter, followed by a red geyser from the empty slot.

    Feng Jian raised his head. ¡°Who said Luo n is history?!¡±

 Volume 11 78 Cursed for Ages. Revenge Can Never be Served too Late.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 78 Cursed for Ages. Revenge Can Never be Served too Late.</h4>

    The arrival of Luo n¡¯s elites squashed the remaining confidence of Nieyao¡¯s forces. Subsequent to Feng Xue¡¯s strategic triumph, Ming Feizhen dismounted to stroll into Nieyao with Hong Jiu. As if a cmity wasing, every insect and animal fled helter skelter as soon as they caught a whiff of Ming Feizhen¡¯s scent. The soldiers, on the other hand, charged straight at him.

    Hong Jiu casually mmed three soldiers away. ¡°Leader, where did the twenty thousand soldierse from? Why do these folks look like they were caught by surprise? They looked ready to piss their pants when they opened the doors.¡±

    ¡°Take a guess.¡±

    Be it arrows or blood, nothing could instil tension in Mount Daluo¡¯s duo.

    Hong Jiu grabbed his head. ¡°Uh¡­ Now this is a tough one¡­ While a number of them resemble Xiuyu¡¯s soldiers, all of them venerate Martial Paragon. I¡¯m under the impression they¡¯re veterans of Nanjiang¡¯s military.¡±

    ¡°Bingo. If your luck didn¡¯t suck so much, you would probably do well as a gambler.¡±

    Eyes gleaming, Hong Jiu chopped two attackers dead on the spot. ¡°Since they¡¯re veterans equipped with Xiuyu¡¯s gear, they must be former soldiers of Morcher. Wait, how did they appear at Nieyao¡¯s doors along the long war zone?¡±

    ¡°Your flow of logic is correct, but there are things you¡¯re unaware of since you didn¡¯t personally travel all the roads.¡±

    Ming Feizhen snatched a spear from a nearby soldier and then swung it just as casually, beheading a captain from afar. As he walked, he swung left, then right, opening up a path for himself. ¡°To counter Gewu¡¯s trap, information is a must. That¡¯s why I infiltrated Nieyao every night I was free. I know his formation as well as the back of his hand. I know where his defences are strongest and thinnest. Considering Gewu raised a private military of ten thousand here, he could only have been orchestrating a takeover of Baimu and Wanyu or conquer all of Nanjiang. That¡¯s why I never showed him mercy.¡±

    ¡°Every night?¡±

    Even with Ming Feizhen¡¯s speed, to travel to and from Nieyao and Mount Wanyu in the same night woulde at the expense of sleep. How many nights did Ming Feizhen actually sleep in thest few months if he went there almost daily?

    ¡°I was stuck for how to deal with his army, frankly. As ast resort, I would have to ask His Majesty to mobilise a big army. The reason it was myst resort was because it¡¯d alert the enemy - probably would¡¯ve forced Gewu into rebelling. Gewu only needed to let the beasts out before we were ready, and Nanjiang¡¯s citizens would¡¯ve been in peril. I was stuck until I remembered Heisina Tribe.¡±

    ¡°What about them?¡±

    ¡°Heisina Tribe suffocated for years under Baimu¡¯s oppression, yet they suddenly had the strength to fight back. You think it was all willpower? Thatpelled me to contemte how they suddenly had the means to retaliate when they were barely surviving at the border. Armies don¡¯t grow or strengthen themselves; they need to train, practice in actualbat, as well as need sufficient nourishment and rest to perform optimally. On my first meeting with their warriors, it urred to me that their fighting style and the army¡¯s style was distinctively simr.

    ¡°Uncle Feng Xue stressed to pay attention to Heisina Tribe. Following my open and covert observations, I discovered Morcher boldly employed plenty of Heisina Tribe members despite how detested they are. The Beussent we now know is one of them. The military at Nanjiang¡¯s border took the majority of Morcher¡¯s forces under their wing subsequent to Morcher¡¯s fall. Nanjiang¡¯s border forces and Xiuyu¡¯s are considered two strongest militaries.¡±

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°There was one more hurdle. Heisina Tribe lived beside Nieyao whilst avoiding natural disasters, wild beasts and foreigners. Where would they have lived?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Must be an underground path, secret chamber or something of that secret nature if they¡¯re to protect their defenceless children and women.¡±

    ¡°If you were their enemy, you wouldn¡¯t even let them have your dregs or faeces, much less the high morale they have now. They reside in a big cavern neighbouring Nieyao that they spent years digging. Twenty years ago, they finished digging a path that led straight into Xiuyu. If you think about it, they couldn¡¯t have waltzed in to enlist given their affiliation. Therefore, when Xiuyu began recruiting locals for their army, they signed up as residents of the city. Heisina Tribe has proven they are brave warriors with an innate gift forbat in addition to possessing patience that few have. At present, a third of Xiuyu¡¯s city guards are Heisina warriors.¡±

    The more Hong Jiu thought about, the more questions he unveiled. ¡°Is His Majesty aware?¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t let him in on it, how would they have been allowed to leave Xiuyu to assist? Without their forces, would His Majesty trust his precious daughter to some nobody with nothing to his name besides Mount Daluo?¡±

    ¡°Genius. His Majesty wouldn¡¯t stress out if we have twenty thousand on their ten thousand, and he won¡¯t suspect your abilities too much.¡±

    Although he smiled, there was uncertainty in Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes. Regarding Hong Jiu¡¯sst point, Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t so sure. Given Emperor Yuansheng sent Dugu to spy on him, Emperor Yuansheng probably couldn¡¯t be any more suspicious than he already was.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°That¡¯s why I have Uncle Feng Xue lending me a hand. Without his influence and brains, having ten thousand on them wouldn¡¯t make a difference.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you spared the nutcase?¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t spare him, how could I guarantee his overconfidence would galvanise him to bring his ten thousand soldiers to the ughter? He thinks extremely highly of himself and has a narrow mind. I was certain he¡¯d block out all advice once I crippled him and that he¡¯d try to kill me using his covert forces because he has his head all the way up his rear. Thanks to him, I just had to go along with him to wipe out the pressure in Nieyao.¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his voice. ¡°There are four dragons in the city, namely the python, Baidizi, the big snake, Chichen, a flying spirit feather, Shuyu, and a jiao, Wazi. Split up into two-man cells in order to fight them.¡±

    All the Divine Realm adepts heard the instructions loud and clear.

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Ming Feizhen stopped and turned to Hong Jiu. ¡°The dragons will be here soon. Once the beast army charges out, it¡¯s going to get messy.¡± Peering into the distance, he said under his breath, ¡°I expect the dragons to have consumed human flesh already. They¡¯re not going to be remotely the same as before. Two Divine Realm fighters will barely even the odds. If the beasts have other beasts supporting them, the Divine Realm fighters will be in peril. You must protect the dragon ying formation to diminish their aggression. Regroup with Sixth and the rest now. When necessary¡­ you can utilise The Proud Dragon Repents.¡±

    Hong Jiu froze for a tick. ¡°Understood. Take care, Leader.¡±

    Once Hong Jiu was gone, Ming Feizhen stared at the sky for a period before finally heading out.

    Glossary

    The Proud Dragon Repents - For the non-savvy, it¡¯s one of the moves from Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.

 Volume 11 79 Soaring Dragon. Hermit.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 79 Soaring Dragon. Hermit.</h4>

    Even though Abels had been to more ancient tombs and city ruins than he could bother remembering, Nieyao took the cake when it came to which was most dangerous. Owing to its long history, the probability an enemy was hiding in a man-made hidden passage existed in every nook and cranny. Had Gewu not let his haughtiness dictate his strategy, sending all his men to the frontline for a head-on contest, the alliance would¡¯ve been defeated if Gewu used ambush tactics. Nieyao wasn¡¯t the base of just ten thousand soldiers but also a beast army, after all.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Abels¡¯ unit¡¯s primary objective was to locate the locations of the beasts because, not counting Ming Feizhen, he was the best at shadowing. Due to his members having to break off to ry information back, his team continued to shrink until he was alone. He didn¡¯t bring A-Lan along, so he had to do the leg work himself.

    Once he had searched half of Nieyao, Abelsmenced his real mission. He paused when he felt a heat wave. A man in grey zipped up to his side, stopping the moment they were shoulder to shoulder. Keeping his gaze affixed forward, Abels queried, ¡°So, this is today¡¯s main antagonist?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    Abels shed his pearly whites, though he wasn¡¯t devoid of tension and concern. ¡°Patriarch Moyan, I believe our task is to kill this freak.¡±

    Size-wise, the red python wasn¡¯t as big as the white python. That being said, it stood almost twice as tall as the average man and was too thick for a single man to strangle. As soon as Chichen hissed condescendingly at Abels, the heat it emanated from its red scales intensified, generating even more smoke from its scales, scorching the ground underneath it.

    Chichen sted a fire beam from its mouth, prompting Abels to bash it with his palm.

    ¡°Patriarch Moyan, it appears it has decided we are its opponents. What shall we do?¡±

    ¡°Kill it.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t agree more.¡±

    Abels drew Sea Deer Hunter, and Patriarch Moyan unsheathed his broadsword from his back.

    ***

    Just as it showed up out of the blue a decade ago and devoured almost everything Luo Ming cared about, it made its entrance in the same manner again today. Anterior to it, Nieyao¡¯s soldiers stood in line. Posterior it, it had countless snakes at its beck and call. The only one its condescending mouth shape and jaundice-like eyes couldn¡¯t shake was Luo Ming.

    The leader of the vanguard - Shen Yiren - rendezvoused with Luo Ming. Though she had scratches and stains, she wasn¡¯t breathing hard and, to the contrary, was revving for some more. ¡°I shall keep the enemies at bay for you.¡±

    Luo Ming could barely go toe-to-toe with a dragon, let alone when it had assistants. Feng Jian, standing on Luo Ming¡¯s other side, was on the same page with Shen Yiren even though he didn¡¯t vocalise it. Two thousand Luo n elites and one thousand imperial court warriors had convened where Luo Ming was to ensure Luo Ming wouldn¡¯t have distractions. Frankly, nevertheless, nobody was confident they could keep that many snakes from getting in Luo Ming¡¯s way.

    Luo Ming looked the python straight in the eye, indifferent to everything else taking ce in his vicinity. How could he ever be calm when he had been trapped in a nightmare - and arguably still was? Through his ghastly lips, he enunciated, ¡°¡­ This sword is called Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer. It took this old one ten years to produce it.¡± Upon raising his golden weapon, red trails coiled around. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s designed to spill your dragon blood!¡±

    Luo Ming imbued the sword with his qi in whipped it up to the firmament using Luo n¡¯s swordy. Snakes rained down as if they were caught in a whirlwind for a long time. In one sh, Luo Ming slew a thousand snakes!

    ***

    The only thing Nieyao¡¯s troops had left to do was surrender to the twenty thousand soldiers. With only four thousand remaining of their initial ten thousand, annihtion was only a matter of time. Still, Feng Xue didn¡¯t show any condescending feelings. There¡¯s nothing to celebrate about killing thousands of people. More importantly, the real fight had yet to even begin.

    Ming Feizhen already provided the Divine Realm adepts with a blueprint; whether or not they could implement it was on them. Since Lai Jingzhen couldn¡¯t enter the city with them, including Ming Feizhen, there were only five Divine Realm adepts to go up against four sons of a dragon. The only viable method was to have two focus on taking one down while the other three stalled one each. After the two-man cell finished one, they¡¯d go to assist another adept - rinse and repeat. If it worked out, they would have a greater chance of winning each time the enemy¡¯s numbers dwindled.

    The problem with the strategy was that nobody could predict how long it¡¯d take to bring one down and how much energy it would take. The longer it took to down one, the harder it was for them to stall one. To add, if the two in charge of killing wounded up unable to continue fighting, then the tactic fell apart on its own.

    Coming face to face with the purple jiao, Feng Xue ordered, ¡°You don¡¯t need to watch out for this old one; it¡¯s a pointless endeavour. When ites to fighting a dragon, you¡¯re not safe in the sky or underground. Just try to clear out the mutants and whatever, but keep your distance from us.¡±

    Wazi stood taller than the white giant Le Kuangnu rode and had a mouth that could swallow Feng Xue whole with room to spare, yet Feng Xue dismounted and fearlessly sauntered over. Wazi¡¯s troops didn¡¯t even bother stopping Feng Xue as they already counted him out.

    Feng Xue gently ced his hand on the side of Wazi¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    Only after Feng Xue finished his greeting did it dawn on Wazi that somebody had touched its head, prompting it to raise its head in an attempt to rip Feng Xue. Try as it may, howbeit, it couldn¡¯t push the hand back. Its neck had gone concave in a way it wasn¡¯t supposed to.

    ¡°I lost my arm to you ten years ago because I was weaker, so I don¡¯t harbour a grudge for it. However, you¡¯re the reason I couldn¡¯t save my wife. I¡¯ve never stopped racking my brains to defeat you ever since. Nothing I say holds any weight, though, when I can¡¯t beat you as a cripple. To be frank, I still don¡¯t have a more feasible idea. All I have to say is, revenge will only beget death.¡±

    Purple qi blocked out the ck sky.

 Volume 11 80 Boundless Resident â€“ Kuhai. No Salvation in Regret.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 80 Boundless Resident - Kuhai. No Salvation in Regret.</h4>

    Lian Zhuiyue fused Luo n¡¯s Four Seasons Sword Formation with Mount Daluo¡¯s formation to produce a field of mist in Nieyao, allowing them to disable the enemy¡¯s vision whilst granting allies stealth.

    Sima Huai slit the throats of three soldiers, then hid himself back in the mist. ¡°Cleared out the outside.¡±

    ¡°Sixth, set the formation,¡± Ming Suwen, in white, instructed.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s primary objective was to set up Dragon-ying Formation in the centre of Nieyao in order to weaken the dragons, but Lian Zhuiyue wasn¡¯t up to scratch, so Luo Ming supplemented his education. Serving as the formation¡¯s foundation, the fengqi shenmu would to trigger a response that¡¯d incite in-fighting between the dragons. Only then could they utilise the phoenix¡¯s power to suppress the dragon race¡¯s aggression markedly. While the formation alone couldn¡¯t y dragons, it would make life significantly easier for the Divine Realm adepts tasked with ying the dragon¡¯s sons.

    Sima Huai and Xia¡¯er moved wood, drew the formation and ced wood. Hong Jiu assumed patrol duty for them in case anyone followed them. Yes, they had a lot to do, but they were also afraid of staying around Ming Suwen for they knew she was in a foul mood based off her posture alone. Even though she was particrly aloof today and seemingly ready tosh out, she had been in a bad mood for a while.

    Sima Huai and Xia¡¯er both agreed that silence was their best choice with an eye exchange. Hong Jiu had his experience in the pugilistic world to act as his rm. Lian Zhuiyue was the only one who wasn¡¯t afraid. As he set the formation, he scrubbed his head. ¡°Grandaunt, are you in a bad mood?¡±

    Hong Jiu clocked Lian Zhuiyue. Sima Hui clobbered him twice using his mace. Xia¡¯ernded a flying sidekick flush on his face.

    They had a guess they¡¯d bet on as to why Ming Suwen wasn¡¯t happy. In the seventeen days leading up to themencement, Ming Feizhen helped Abels and Shen Yiren, had a conversation with Beussent, held strategy meetings with the Divine Realm adepts through the night, drank and had fun with Tang Ye and Su Xiao back in Xiuyu until the next morning, yet he never visited Ming Suwen once or said a word. Needless to say, he wasn¡¯t purposely avoiding her. They all shared the ominous knowledge behind why he didn¡¯t want to speak to her or see her. Suffice to say, she knew his reasons if they did, fuelling her anger even more.

    ¡°We have finished drawing the formation. Please take the lead, Grandaunt.¡±

    The four Mount Daluo members needed to apply Mount Daluo¡¯s internal discipline simultaneously for an hour in order to sustain the formation¡¯s power. The main controller of the formation needed advanced internal strength, deep knowledge of the formation, sharp senses and the ability to adapt on the fly. Among them, Ming Suwen was the only one who ticked all the boxes.

    ¡°Shiba, guard the formation.¡± Ming Suwen headed into the centre of the formation, then transferred internal energy from her hand to a piece of wood - with the support of the other three disciples. Upon sensing a draft graze their bodies, Ming Suwen analysed the coalescing aggressive qi and then opened her eyes. ¡°Activate the formation.¡±

    A gravitational force imposed itself upon the dragon kin inside Nieyao. As long as Mount Daluo¡¯s team continued to dial up the intensity over the next hour, the formation aplished its goal.

    Although some weight was lifted off Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s shoulders now, he was not going to call it a day until the formation fulfilled its duty. As he was at the formation¡¯s centre, his senses were heightened, but it was Hong Jiu who yelled out, ¡°Come out!¡±

    The mist disappeared in simr fashion to someone tearing it apart or it being sucked away. Five hundred soldiers equipped in the same ck armour as Gewu¡¯s private military, except they had snakes coiled around them or tigers apanying them, already surrounded Mount Daluo¡¯s group. It was immediately clear that they wereparable to the imperial court¡¯s special unit of one thousand soldiers.

    The upward curve to one corner of Qiushui¡¯s lips stood out in particr. ¡°Master said you had a formation expert among you. I have been waiting for a long time. At first, I was worried I wouldn¡¯t be able to find you. Thanks to you thinking you know better, however, you exposed your location with the mist.¡±

    Though Mount Daluo¡¯s group expected an attack, they didn¡¯t expect the enemy prepared five hundred soldiers for them. All else being equal, there was already a clear victor.

    Qiushui stopped her sweeping gaze on Ming Suwen: ¡°I¡¯ve heard of The Demoness, but it¡¯s hard to imagine just how beautiful she is. You¡¯ve certainly exceeded my expectations.¡±

    Ming Suwen didn¡¯t bat an eyelid.

    Qiushui felt inferior to Ming Suwen from the moment she saw thetter. The more she looked, the more defeats she suffered. The corner of Qiushui¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°You sure are stuck up. Once I¡¯ve captured you, I have plenty of ways to make you submit. I can¡¯t wait to see your pride break down.¡±

    ¡°I have your vice-patriarch,¡± Ming Suwen asserted.

    Qiushiu¡¯s simper vanished without a trace. For months, they had been searching for their vice-patriarch to no avail. ¡°So you decided to oppose us from the beginning. Kill her first.¡±

    The four in the formation could only afford to speak. If the formation were to be sabotaged now, the four of them would wound up severely hurt. Two soldiers advanced, only to be sent reeling subsequent to two thuds before they could take a third step.

    Hong Jiu dusted his hands: ¡°Oi, wench.¡±

    ¡°What did you just call me?¡±

    ¡°You ever heard of a punching bag beating its hitter? What makes you think a few hundred more will change that?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you may be stronger than me, but do you think you can win against five hundred soldiers taking turns on you? I¡¯ll give you a hundred men to fight. You¡¯ll eventually tire. What if we all attack at once? You think you can protect the formation whilst fighting against us?¡±

    Hong Jiu would need over a hundred exchanges to incapacitate Qiushui, so protecting the formation¡­ never mind fighting five hundred more soldiers on top. Yet, he showed sorrow instead of fear. He pivoted his feet apart, held his open left hand anteriorly and open right hand posteriorly. ¡°¡­ The Proud Dragon Repents.¡±

    Though Qiushui flinched first, she quickly switched back to a derisive attitude. ¡°The Proud Dragon Repents¡± was thest technique of Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. Despite the damage it could inflict reaching mythological levels, it had been centuries since anyone mastered it, which was why Qiushui called Hong Jiu¡¯s im a bluff.

    Qiushui¡¯s smirk quickly vanished as unimaginable pressure sped her heart rate up. It truly was akin toing face to face with a monster; not even moulding qi helped.

    I-is this really The Proud Dragon Repents?

    Upon looking over her shoulder, Qiushui found all of the soldiers were grimacing due to the same challenge. If their heart rates continued rising, they¡¯d die without a fight. She intended to urge them to withdraw and then n theireback. s, a frigid breeze assailed the nape of their necks. Thest time Qiushui was rmed to this extent was when she was trained to assassinate and avoid being assassinated as a young girl growing up in Sky Pce. She sunk down right before a sword could remove her head from her shoulders.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Qiushui managed to escape death at the hands of the assassin attired in ck. Howbeit¡­ all the soldiers she brought with her sted blood from their chests, waists, necks or bottom of their mouths at the same time. She had yet to process how it happened or shake off the chill when she heard, ¡°¡­ What joy is there in life? What misery is there in death?¡±

    Qiushui turned back to the front, and there he was, a young man who seemed as though he never felt joy once in his life. His face would be thest sight in her life. She didn¡¯t have the luxury to feel the pain of him dragging her heart out of its enclosure because fear and bafflement were the only thoughts on her mind as eternal darkness weed itself in.

    The schr threw away Qiushui¡¯s heart, then wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief whilst Hong Jiu watched him, unsure how to react.

    Ming Suwen broke her silence. ¡°Would you happen to be Boundless Resident?¡±

    Boundless Resident ced his hands in salute. ¡°League of Assassins¡¯ Ku Hai. He is here with two hundred assassins under orders to offer you assistance. We will protect you with our lives.¡±

    Ming Suwen offered a smile as her way of expressing thanks.

    The two hundred assassins entered and left without any detectable signs. Even now, nobody knew where they were hiding. As a matter of fact, they could all be A-rank wanted fugitives given Master Ku, one of the highest-ranking members of League of Assassins, had shown up. There were only two people who could order them to travel as far as Nanjiang: one of them was League of Assassins¡¯ owner. The other man was¡­

    The corner of Ming Suwen¡¯s lips crept up involuntarily, yet her eyes were more moist than usual. How could she be oblivious to what he was thinking? ¡°What a dork. Why would you dedicate the strongest force to protecting me? If you lose, what would I stay in this world for if you¡¯re gone?¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen ambled through the deep interior of Nieyao, where not a soul was in sight. ¡°This must be the spot.¡±

    Ming Feizhen brushed aside foliage taller than him to unveil a stone doorced in moss, covering the entrance to a cavern. Since he didn¡¯t know where the contraption to open the door was, he employed the time-tested method - lifting the door up with brute strength. In spite of the putrid smell and sense of danger, he strolled in.

    It had been nearly five hundred years since anyone visited the enormous underground pce because it was so tucked away that not even Gewu was aware of its existence. While it was a pce nominally, there were no murals, embellished columns, buildings, nothing. The only thing it consisted of was arge vacant cavern. Its construction dated so far back that it was just written off as a ¡°wonder¡± of the world. By extension, it was considered part of the ¡°Mystical Era¡±.

    Luminescent pearl in hand, Ming Feizhen spoke to himself as he descended a set of stairs. ¡°They say Nieyao was where Beussent¡¯s Shiri Pce was located half a millennium ago, but few know the first Shaman Monarch¡¯s Shaman Monarch Pce was located here, too.¡±

    The window that the first Shaman Monarch ruled Xiacang Anxi coincided with when one of Six Evils dominated Xiacang Anxi.

    ¡°People poprly sum up Mystical Era in one word: inconceivable. Hardly anyone alive can provide a concrete answer, so it¡¯s understandable for people to be uninformed. Having spent ten-odd years talking to my shifu, I partially believe the stories, though I don¡¯t know how much is fact and how much is fiction.¡±

    Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, Ming Feizhen crossed the t zone to two ginormous doors on the other side.

    ¡°Even though there are uncountable legends of Shaman Monarch in Xiacang Anxi, the most popr one must be how he rose above Nanjiang¡¯s monarch when he was only amoner. I kept ruminating why he¡¯d go there and how he seeded in something so outrageous. Think and think, I thought of something that would exin it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s say the King of that era was a King who cared for his people, and let¡¯s assume Shaman Monarch happened to possess some sort of instrument that could obliterate Xiacang Anxi. In that case, Shaman Monarch had a means of holding Xiacang Anxi¡¯s citizens hostage. What sort of instrument would allow one to destroy a nation? I know of one.¡± Ming Feizhen had to try a tad in order to open a gap for him to fit through the big doors. ¡°I figured that Shaman Monarch had his way in Nanjiang thanks to you, huh?¡± Ming Feizhen stopped upon sighting ¡°Chi¡±.

    Baidizi would be but an infant inparison to Chi. Once it opened its heterochromia eyes, it was easy to see how it could tten a city on its own.

    ¡°Am I right, Six Evils¡¯ leader, Pangu?¡±

    Trivia

    Master Ku - He¡¯s the same person Ming Feizhen alluded to back in the arc where he was investigating Orange Prince and ran into League of Assassins¡¯ Sisi.

    Luminescent pearl - They¡¯re the equivalent of glow-in-the-dark items nowadays.

 Volume 11 81 Evil Eminence and Blade Demon. A Dragonâ€™s Son Wonâ€™t Go Down Easily.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 81 Evil Eminence and de Demon. A Dragon¡¯s Son Won¡¯t Go Down Easily.</h4>

    The broadswords were no good. Sea Deer Hunter and Demon Eye de were both premium weapons among premium weapons, and two strong cream-of-the-crop adepts wielded them, yet they couldn¡¯t inflict even the slightest damage to the scalding, ck-turned-red scales. The scales deflected every attack, so the two decided to disengage and take their time. After all, if they just rushed in without taking the time to understand their opponent, they¡¯d only die for nothing.

    Chichen whipped his tail, generating a dense-red smokescreen. The gale he whipped out was strong enough to force the two adepts back involuntarily.

    Even though Abels managed to block an attack, he almost lost his weapon when he did.

    Chichen hissed, instructing the beasts around to stay back. Chichen then unleashed a scorching-red st from his body. It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how many lives would¡¯ve beenpromised in the st if humans still inhabited Nieyao.

    Moyan Luohou neither budged nor spoke, yet the mes stopped outside three metres from him, reduced to a wall of mes - courtesy of Evil Eminence Powerfield. Since mes and Evil Eminence Powerfield were formless instruments, the two cancelled each other out. Moyan Luohou thereupon split the wall of mes with his ivy-green de. The ground along his sh¡¯s trajectory sunk, yet Chichen only noticed the iing de when it was by his head. As a result, Chichen was unable to get out of the way in time.

    ng! The impact severed Moyan Luo¡¯s ivy-green energy in two. Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t leave a scratch on Chichen. That said, Moyan Luohou managed to knock Chichen back several metres.

    Given Chichen was gifted with a robust and scalding-hot body, there was no exploitable weakness to speak of. No matter how advanced Moyan Luohou¡¯s mental cultivation was, he couldn¡¯t see what didn¡¯t exist. Even so, Moyan Luohou recalibrated his breathing, then reassumed vigntly observing the golden eyes of Chichen. Eyes could be used as weapons for offence. Animals that possessed intuition could sense danger. In turn, they were susceptible to erring in their judgement. Once they missteped, an opening would show itself. Unlike beasts, humans could apply strategy to ovee situations where the odds were stacked against them.

    The livid python shed its fangs prior to charging at Moyan Luohou. Chichen¡¯s advance was cut short when a formless blue wall denied it ground. Abels Evil Eminence Scripture was the worst opponent for Chichen as Abels could stuff his attacks from afar. That being said, there were other factors to consider.

    Abels¡¯ Evil Eminence Powerfield came from his training. In other words, his strength cap was his internal energy cap. Six Evils didn¡¯t possess internal energy or training; all they had wass sheer brute strength they were born with, and that strength was enough to crush the best adepts. Nevertheless, Evil Eminence Scripture wasn¡¯t designed to purely fight hard on hard. Anyone could stand and trade - even if they hadn¡¯t learnt any martial arts.

    Abels managed to decelerate Chichen for only a single second before Chichen began smashing and wriggling. Abels, therefore, shifted the focus of his field after a few strikes, redirecting Chichen¡¯s force to the side and, as a consequence, broke Chichen¡¯s centre of bnce.

    The moment Chichen¡¯s body titled into an unfavourable position, Moyan Luohou cleaved Chichen¡¯s head again. Chichen flew away, unable to absorb hisnding.

    Abels took a few breaths to recollect himself. Before today, all he, and pretty much the rest of the world, knew about Moyan Luohou was that thetter was vaunted for his skills with a broadsword, had a peculiar personality and was loyal to Shaman Faith. Now, he would have to expand the list to include Moyan Luohou¡¯s ability keep a level head, making him scary, hard to read, control and, for his enemies, impossible to guard against. Despite fighting as a team, Abels couldn¡¯t tell what was going through Moyan Luohou¡¯s mind, while Moyan Luohou was able to work in sync with him when they didn¡¯t say a word to each other.

    Abels and Moyan Luohou was the only pairing that had a chance - Abels on defence and Moyan Luohou on attack. If Abels was paired with Feng Xue, Luo Ming or Lai Jingzhen, they wouldn¡¯t have gotten anywhere against Chichen.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Chichenunched himself out of the dust screen he created from his fall, nting himself between Moyan Luohou and Abels. The impact of Chichen¡¯snding alone sent the two up and away, dropping them on the ground the same way Moyan Luohou just did. It was then that Abels truly understood what Six Evils was really about it.

    They didn¡¯t know fatigue. They knewbat as if they were born to preside over every arena. They had defences that didn¡¯t feel threatened. They possessed offensive might that overruled all defences. They even knew how to give as good as they received. And this one was only the son of a dragon.

    Abels and Moyan Luohou, unscathed, exchanged eye contact for the first time. Even if they didn¡¯t see eye to eye on anything else, right now, they both agreed on one thing: no way in hell were they going to be able to taken down Chichen as fast as Ming Feizhen hoped for. It was inexorably going to be a protracted match.

 Volume 11 82 Martial Paragon Feng Xue. The Jiaoâ€™s Fruitless Efforts.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 82 Martial Paragon Feng Xue. The Jiao¡¯s Fruitless Efforts.</h4>

    True to Feng Xue¡¯s words, there was no such thing as a safe zone against a jiao. Wazi reduced the already-fragmented city to dust. One second, purple lightning flitted past here. The next second, a purple streak was seen elsewhere. Trying to discern its location based on sounds would be akin to trying to distinguish between ovepping sounds.

    As a jiao, Wazi was more violent and stronger than any of his siblings. Even mutated beasts avoided going anywhere within his vicinity, lest they became his snack. Wazi possessed ws sharper than Baidizi, a body tougher than Chichen¡¯s scales, on top of an uncanny ability to spawn lightning. Yet, Feng Xue could be heardmenting, ¡°Oho, not bad. Not bad,¡± as he dodged, or ¡°Miss me with that tail,¡± right before Wazi¡¯s tail ploughed through a wall, and then, ¡°Sheesh, you really took down a whole wall, son.¡±

    Divine Realm¡¯s Eclipse wouldn¡¯t do squat against Six Evils. Howbeit, the size discrepancy between them and humans did afford Feng Xue more evasion options - provided he had developed the attributes to stay out of harm¡¯s way in the first ce. When openings, timing and distance lined up, Feng Xue would hammer Wazi with heavy strikes to prate Wazi¡¯s lightning armour.

    Feng Xue caught a tiger, skinned and drained it, then roasted it on Wazi¡¯s lightning armour. ¡°Never expected your lightning ability to be pretty wicked.¡± The outside of the tiger was overcooked, but the flesh inside was aromatic.

    Nobody interfered in the match, so the fight wasparable to an endless game of hide and seek. They had been going at it for an hour, yet Wazi had yet to catch Feng Xue once. Irate, Wazi pushed the pace more and more, yet Feng Xue showed no signs of anxiety.

    As Feng Xue¡¯s mission was to stall Wazi, there was no need for him to fight with the sense of urgency Abels and Moyan Luohou did. Feng Xue had only just consolidated his advancement into Divine Realm. Hence, he¡¯d only be hastening his death if he attempted to y Wazi on his own.

    Feng Xue was a practitioner of the Central in¡¯s ¡°Sage Sovereign Origin¡±, an internal discipline that endorsed the concept of ¡°a sage within and a sovereign outside¡±. Because it taught its practitioner to employ the infinite qi of nature, while it didn¡¯t shine in the strength department, its style of ceaselessly mounting pressure would whittle away at the opponent¡¯s defences.

    Notwithstanding the decrease in Feng Xue¡¯s strength ten years ago, the anatomy of Sage Sovereign Origin didn¡¯t change. Thanks to his developed aggression sensor, he could read Wazi¡¯s every movement even with his eyes closed.

    Feng Xue hit Wazi with a palm strike and used the recoil to back tuck onto the ground. ¡°I¡¯m different to Heavenly Swordsman. Unlike him, I¡¯m shameless.¡± He turned around to perform visual recon of Wazi and added, ¡°I¡¯ve aged - a lot. You, in contrast, haven¡¯t changed at all.¡±

    When a series of natural disasters struck Nanjiang a decade in the past, people suspected Nieyao was cursed. The Central in¡¯s Prince even came south with the promise of purging the threat. s, Heavenly Swordsman failed to enact the promise. The kid Feng Xue took down in the same year wasn¡¯t any less dangerous than Wazi for the boy had a knack for fighting. Though he had to sacrifice an arm to save the boy, which hemitted because he saw potential in the boy, he was able to reattach it. Within three months, he would¡¯ve been the same old Feng Xue again. That wasn¡¯t the only challenge in store for Feng Xue that year, sadly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost my wife, my seal as general, my reins over the military, my wealth and barely have a fraction of my skills remaining. Dang, even lost an arm.¡±

    What killed his wife, took his arms and nigh erased the skills he was proud of never stopped weighing on his mind for thest ten years. Surely it couldn¡¯t have been such an asinine beast with nothing but violence on its mind - no way.

    Strength and the freaky sight of them eating raw flesh was but an exterior appearance. A creature that was a servant to its innate desires wasn¡¯t scary even if it is strong; how was it any different to a weapon without a wielder? Is a weapon to me for someone¡¯s death? By the same ount, the killer couldn¡¯t have been a violent beast. Thus, it must have been the sinister will of someone who had taken root in Nanjiang and had yet to be uprooted.

    ¡°My mistake¡­¡± Feng Xue dodged Wazi¡¯s nextbo. ¡°You have changed. You were much weaker thest time. You¡¯ve eaten a human, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    As Wazi swung down, Feng Xue twisted out of the way and then avoided the next two follow-up swings.

    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m shameless that I¡¯m stalling. Luo Ming is the one replete with hatred.¡± Feng Xue cast his gaze in Luo Ming¡¯s direction. ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 11 83 Unforgettable Strike. Thereâ€™s a Way. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 83 Unforgettable Strike. There¡¯s a Way. (Part 1)</h4>

    Dustpped the firmament subsequent to a ¡°boom!¡±parable to a cannonball¡¯s impact on a city wall by the location closest to the entrance of Nieyao - courtesy of one python and one man.

    While the jiao was closest to a dragon in characteristics, the white python was closest to its father in nature. Aside from the strongest capability to mutate animals in the wild and unmatched aggression, its speed made it an extremely dangerous threat. Upon birth, snakes would approach it in reverence and swear fealty to it. One hiss was all it took for an army to be at its beck and call. This inherent leadership quality was the reason behind the name Baidizi - White Emperor.

    Despite Baidizi choosing to fight alone for now, the situation wasn¡¯t remotely optimistic. Standing opposite Baidizi, Luo Ming, including the sword he dedicated ten years to forging, wasthered in dust from top to bottom.

    ¡°Father, y-¡±

    Luo Ming held up a hand. ¡°¡­ Let me.¡±

    The tears welled up in Luo Siming¡¯s eyes kept his soul alive. He understood his father wasn¡¯t aloof or blinded but too hurt too speak. That slushing blood that he had to swallow back down wasn¡¯t easy to choke down.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Given Luo Ming¡¯s prowess, unless he was trying to muscle his way to a victory, trading his life to take down his opponent, he shouldn¡¯t have been hurt so bad; it shouldn¡¯t have happened to any Divine Realm adept.

    Luo Siming witnessed his father fight with caution thrown to the wayside the moment Baidizi showed up, resulting in every attempt missing, while Baidizinded blow after blow. Even so, Luo Ming would get up and again, only to try the same strategy without any sess. Divine Realm adepts could cast Enlightenment ceaselessly as long as they still had a trace of true qi, yet Luo Ming showed signs of physical failure after just four hours.

    Feng Xue¡¯s assessment of Ming Feizhen¡¯s strategy was on the money. The reason eight hundred Qilin Guards, two hundred agents from Emperor¡¯s Entourage, military officers of the imperial court and two thousand elites from Luo Sword Manor were stationed in Luo Ming¡¯s area was purely because it would be the most perilous sh.

    Feng Xue¡¯s deeds illustrated his personality as an unrestrained man who¡¯d tasted all the vours of life. How often would Luoyang¡¯s richest young master go to Nanjiang to start from the bottom as a ve for a woman? Even uponing face to face with the culprit that took his wife and arm, he wasn¡¯t blinded by his vengeance. Instead, he could see beyond revenge, consequently seeing the deeperyers. If it was easy to do, ¡°blinded by revenge¡± wouldn¡¯t be such a popr phrase.

    On the other hand, Luo Ming¡¯s strict upbringing developed his proud and aloof exterior, yet a friendly and passionate interior. Once his suppressed emotions gushed out, especially those for his wife and children, there was no room for doubt that his blood was warm.

    Though Luo Ming was now longer blinded, his demons hadn¡¯t left him. Until he could defeat his demons, they would continue to dwell inside, biding their time to devour him when he was vulnerable, just as Baidizi was.

    Post-defeat at the hands of Ming Feizhen, Luo Ming¡¯s mind was more unsettled than anyone. The calmness after madness was magnified restlessness. Once Luo Ming calmed down, he had to face his deeds, bear the consequences of his actions as well as contemte how to salvage the damaged he had done.

    During the pilgrimage to Nanjiang, Luo Ming concluded that his death was the only means of assuaging the imperial court. Expecting nobody in attendance of Refining Divine Convention to mention a word of it was delusional. By extension, Luo Sword Manor¡¯s mutiny couldn¡¯t just be swept under the rug. In the hypothetical world that the imperial court and three offices pretended it never happened, the martial artsmunity wouldn¡¯t just put a lid on it. Sooner orter, they¡¯d want payback. Luo n would be executed once word got out. All he could do was kill a cmitous beast as a means of achieving, ¡°Died fighting to make up for his wrongs.¡± Emperor Yuansheng, being the man who showed mercy on old friends, would make a case for Luo n¡¯s importance in equipping the military to spare Luo Sword Manor from execution. Thus, Luo Ming only one path for himself: death.

    If Luo Ming had qualms about dying, he never would¡¯ve done anything he did. In fact, he¡¯d considered it daily for thest ten years. The difference between now and then was his mindset.

    Feng Xue couldn¡¯t cast aside his impulses, but Luo Ming couldn¡¯t or even force himself to. Feng Xue had hope, but Luo Ming had none. Luo Ming was going to do whatever it took to slit his enemy¡¯s throat, st it to smithereens and throw it into the wind. He wasn¡¯t going to stall his opponent or fight it. From the moment he drew his sword, he was dead set on killing it.

    ¡°Haha¡­ Hahaha!¡±

    Luo Ming¡¯s sonorousughter may have been interpreted as him losing his mind; however, his appearance said otherwise. Hisughter was that of genuine amusement for he recalled what he learnt from Ming Feizhen the night prior to the invasion of Nieyao.

 Volume 11 84 Unforgettable Strike. Thereâ€™s a Way. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 84 Unforgettable Strike. There¡¯s a Way. (Part 2)</h4>

    ¡°Brother Ming, may I ask what you wanted to see me here for?¡± Abels always showed Ming Feizhen respect and treated him as a close friend, so this was an atypical tone. His cold gaze wasn¡¯t for Ming Feizhen but someone else. ¡°If you want to speak up for someone, you can save it. I will never shake his hand. I did say I would not bring up old matters before we take down the beasts, so I will help in any way I can. You need not worry about my mood affecting my abilities.¡±

    Luo Ming didn¡¯t say a single word, choosing to wait for Ming Feizhen to pull the curtain back on his reason for inviting them to the mountaintop.

    Though Abels wasn¡¯t going to go for Luo Ming¡¯s jugr until Nieyao¡¯s campaign was over, asking him to share the same space as Luo Ming would¡¯ve been impossible if Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t the one who invited them.

    Ming Feizhen smiled at the reactions of the two. ¡°We only have three days left before we enter Nieyao. No one knows if we¡¯ll make it out alive. How often does North and South join hands to go on a suicide mission? I called you all here just to cherish this rare chance of fate.¡±

    Only after hearing ¡°you all¡± did Abels notice Moyan Luohou was also present. It certainly did make him feel better that he wasn¡¯t going to be dealing with just Luo Ming the entire time.

    ¡°Brother Bodhi, please sit. You shouldn¡¯t let your host feel bad, right?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your hospitality.¡± Abels chose to sit at the table farthest from Luo Ming. ¡°Brother Ming, what did you want to tell us?¡±

    ¡°Wait a little longer. The good stuff ising.¡±

    The bitter aromaing closer made skin crawl. Feng Xue soon appeared within their sights, carrying three big vats of wine on his back. There was enough wine for a family of five to drink over a fortnight, yet he had no problems lugging it all up a slope.

    ¡°Hoho, here¡¯s the wine you requested, Feizhen. Nobody ever drinks this with me. If you didn¡¯t coerce me with this wine, I wouldn¡¯t have epted this job.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, among the alcohol I¡¯ve drunk in my lifetime, nothing is bitterer than Nanjiang¡¯s Oblivious, yet its taste is unforgettable. I invited you all here purely for a drink.¡± Ming Feizhen filled up five big bowls to the brim, one for each man.

    Luo Ming frowned. ¡°How can you indulge in drinking when the war is right around the corner?¡±

    Abels scoffed, ¡°You don¡¯t have to drink if you¡¯re scared¡± and then knocked back his bowl, only to shiver and scrunch his face up. When he shot a re at Ming Feizhen, he saw thetter having the same reaction, indicating that Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t messing with him.

    Since Moyan Luohou and Feng Xue continued drinking, Luo Ming gave in to peer pressure.

    ¡°Gentlemen,¡± Ming Feizhen set his bowl down, ¡°these next three days may be ourst. Are you four sure you have no unfulfilled wishes or lingering thoughts?¡±

    Moyan Luohou was the only one to shake his head. Abels had A-Lan and his brothers. Feng Xue had old grudges, debts and family back in the Central in. Luo Ming had a lot of things he couldn¡¯t set down.

    Ming Feizhen smiled at the silence of Abels, Feng Xue and Luo Ming. He filled up another bowl and continued, ¡°I¡¯m in the same boat. You only realise how much you don¡¯t want to let go of when you¡¯re at the junction of life and death. Brother Bodhi, can you bear to leave behind Miss A-Lan?¡±

    ¡°A man dies on the battlefield. There is nothing I cannot bear to leave behind.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Feng Xue, you thinking of your ten-year grudge again?¡±

    ¡°You trying to make me talk, brat? Don¡¯t forget who¡¯s treating you to drinks.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Patriarch Luo, have you figured out how to end your tragedy?¡±

    Luo Ming had a nip of tea and then stared into his bowl. ¡°¡­ How many people are struggling in the world? Am I the only one struggling? What right do I have to speak of dao if I can¡¯t treat life and death lightly after all my years studying swordy and dao? Why is resentment hard to forget if one can even forget life and death?¡±

    ¡°I hope that¡¯s true,¡± Abels slighted.

    ¡°You want to find out for yourself?¡±

    As a lightning bolt began to connect between Luo Ming and Abels¡¯ eyes, Ming Feizhen raised a hand to stop them. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s finish this bowl.¡±

    Moyan Luohou left after the drink since he wasn¡¯t good at holding his liquor, while the four who stayed behind slogged cups back faster and faster over the next four hours.

    Unable to stand straight, Luo Ming chugged from his bowl and then whacked the table upon returning it to said table. ¡°I¡¯ll butcher it! I¡¯ll maul it! I¡¯ll slice and dice it! It killed my three sons! I¡¯ll kill it, then kill its parents, its grandparents and even its great grandparents! If my sons were still alive, Mount Daluo wouldn¡¯t be s%#t!¡±

    Abels bawled his eyes out. ¡°Kindly shut the hell up. Have you forgotten how many of my brothers you killed? How dare youin?!¡±

    Startled, Ming Feizhen had another drink.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you do with me as you wish after I murder it!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your pity. Once I¡¯ve finished my training, I¡¯ll stter your head. If it wasn¡¯t for the sake of restoring A-Lan¡¯s home, I¡¯d bounce your head off the ground right now. A-Lan, I don¡¯t want to leave you¡­¡±

    Feng Xue performed Luohan Fist taolu, then performed a hybrid of Tiger Fist and Crane Fist whilst repeating, ¡°Sorry. Sorry. Are you doing well in hell?¡±

    Ming Feizhen just continued drinking in silence all night.

    Can none of you three be honest?! Did someone spike my food?! Why in the world did I ask these three alcoholics to drink with me¡­? God damn.

    While it sounded unproductive, that night was more purposeful than anyone could predict, especially for Luo Ming. Thanks to it, Luo Ming had the chance to discover his true feelings.

    Luo Ming: Why should I do what people judge is right? Let my impulse drive me. Let my sword take me to the forefront. If I must die, I will die taking revenge.

    Luo Ming caught Baidizi.

 Volume 11 85 Unforgettable Strike. Thereâ€™s a Way. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 85 Unforgettable Strike. There¡¯s a Way. (Part 3)</h4>

    As a swordsman who had been through innumerable fights and deliberate things deeply, demanding Luo Ming to throw away all of his knowledge and experience - or asking for him to choose just one or two pieces of knowledge - was akin to abandoning all hopes of survival, especially when his rage had clouded his mind. Yet, he relied solely on his Divine Realm abilities to fight. Who could legitimately assert that they had the physical advantage over an evil beast, though? Unlike Abels, Moyan Luohou and Feng Xue, Luo Ming¡¯s fighting style could be summed up in one word: reckless.

    Luo Ming had practically no experience attacking people out of fits of anger. He wasparable to a protagonist who had been written as aposed character, only to suddenly do a one-eighty out of the blue.

    The sound of Baidizi sending Luo Ming reeling again conjured images of flesh being torn off the bone. Luo Ming was far from being a young man. It was double true for him since he went through a taxing battle ten years ago that never saw his health recover entirely. Had it not been for Poison King¡¯s unorthodox treatment, he wouldn¡¯t be anywhere near his current level. Even so, time spared no one regardless of whether they¡¯c reached Divine Realm or not. In the event that he could reach a higher ne, he¡¯d still be subject to the effects of time.

    Precision, strength and stamina couldn¡¯t escape the consequences of time. Martial artists had an obsession with studying ways to prolong life once they reach a certain age in hopes of preserving all they worked for despite knowing it went against nature. Deep down, nheless, they knew their extension was only another teau, a psychological surrender to improvement if you will. Owing to the deterioration, it became more challenging to achieve a meaningful breakthrough no matter how prodigious they once were.

    Luo Ming never should¡¯ve tried to engage in a strength contest with Baidizi for he¡¯d be the only one to suffer. More importantly, the years he had dedicated to swordy meant it was difficult for him to switch to a new style. If he couldn¡¯t adapt to the abrupt change in style, qi deviation was right around the corner. Any time a martial artist wanted to make a change, he needed to follow a procedure for his body to adapt. A sudden modification without the requisites in ce was tantamount to destroying one¡¯s foundations.

    Ming Feizhen obviously said it took two Divine Realm adepts to y one dragon¡¯s son; altering his n was anything but wise.

    Everyone could see the problem with Luo Ming¡¯s strategy, and they couldn¡¯t understand his decision, but nobody could stop him. Although Luo Siming, vision foggy, wanted to help, Shen Yiren stopped him. Luo SIming didn¡¯t expect his father to go easy on Baidizi given their history. He knew his father wanted to seize the moment and seize the breath. It was just that he thought his father was paying an inordinate price for revenge.

    It had only been a short few seconds, yet Luo Ming had emerged from the dust and rubble to dust himself down. He had blood by his mouth, yet he showed no signs of yielding. In contrast, Baidizi hadn¡¯t even broken a sweat.

    As themander of Nieyao¡¯s beast army, no beast would act without Baidizi¡¯s orders. Unlike humans, the wait for the signal to devour the army before them only served to heighten their appetite and aggression. The longer they had to wait, the more wild and brutal they¡¯d be when given free reign. All that stood between them and their feast was a dogged swordsman.

    To preserve energy, Baidizi never followed up after knocking Luo Ming off his feet or giving its minions themand to swarm him or the soldiers.

    Unable to stand watching his father march forward alone yet again, Luo Siming bellowed, ¡°Brothers, how can we just watch Patriarch suffer?! Advance with me!¡±

    Shen Yiren, eyes still fixated on the battle situation, extended a hand across Luo Siming the same way she would stop a child¡¯s tantrum.

    ¡°Miss Shen, no matter what you say, I must help my father! How can I just watch my father suffer?! Please step aside!¡±

    Upon advancing his first step, Luo Siming felt a distinct cold and energy on him. Despite his progress with Scorching Sun Spirit and dipping his feet in Repository Sword Theory, Shen Yiren¡¯s re was enough to induce a headache that stifled his morale.

    Sh-she knows our Sword Spirit, and it¡¯s superior to mine? It¡¯s like Dad¡¯s re.

    ¡°I¡¯m not stopping you for your sake. Everyone here is ready to die. I don¡¯t mind being first to die or sacrificing another life, including yours, as long as it¡¯s not for inane reasons,¡± Shen Yiren stated. ¡°Have you noticed that, although he has been losing, each roundsts longer than thest? His clothing is mangled, yet his worst injuries are just scratches. Baidizi¡¯s most lethal weapons are its fangs and coiling attack, yet it hasn¡¯t made contact with either yet. Patriarch Luo¡¯s spirit seems to be rising when it contradicts his style¡­ It¡¯s like he¡¯s a different man.¡±

    Luo Siming truly didn¡¯t pick up on those things. On the other hand, Feng Jian did. While circumstances weren¡¯t optimistic, Luo Ming wasn¡¯t remotely close to death. If he was, Feng Jian would¡¯ve already intervened. He had apanied Luo Ming through his peak and his worst, yet Luo Ming astonished him yet again.

    To begin with, taking damage didn¡¯t positively corrte with spirit rising, and changing a signature style couldn¡¯t just happen by chance or on a moment¡¯s notice, even more so when Luo Ming had speny years on years engraining his style into his body. Luo Ming¡¯s techniques hadn¡¯t changed, but the intent behind each movement had.

    ¡°I get it now.¡± Shen Yiren exined, ¡°He¡¯s trying¡­ to forge his body and swordy in the match. Leave it to Heavenly Swordsman to choose changing his style after decades of work.¡±

    ¡°Watch closely. This is a fight that will demonstrate the pinnacle of swordy.¡± Nobody could tell who said this, but they all listened earnestly.

    ¡°Here he goes,¡± Shen Yiren remarked.

    ¡°Die!¡± Feng Jian yelled.

    Luo Ming struck down on Baidizi - hard! The scarlet energy on his de buffed the damage he dealt with each sh several folds. He hit Baidizi with God-Shocking Theory, Fleeting Theory, Mountains Theory, Ocean Theory and then Seven Emotions Theory in one longbo. Notwithstanding how abruptly he altered his style, his execution flowed perfectly from one technique to the next and withoutpromising damage.

    Baidizi¡¯s scales chipped off one after another, leaving big crevices in the earth. Its blood raining onto its troops plunged them into frenzy. The only thing that hadn¡¯t changed was the annoying upward curve to its mouth. Pain was a novel sensation to it, one not enough to disrupt its mood. The yellow glow that came to its eyes, however, was familiar to everyone watching.

    Upon enveloping itself in yellow energy, Baidizi¡¯s speed increased markedly. Before Luo Ming could cut it again, it coiled up, trapping Luo Ming within. Whilst tightening up to squash him, it used its head to attack from above.

    ¡°It¡¯s using Enlightenment! Ten years ago, it was that uncanny ability of it that killed my seniors!¡± Feng Jian finally drew his sword. ¡°It¡¯s time to strike.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Feng Jian wasn¡¯t going to show Shen Yiren the sort of respect Luo Siming showed, but he still stopped when he heard her add, ¡°He seems to have found something.¡±

    ording to what Shen Yiren could glean, Baidizi¡¯s attempt to strangle Luo Ming didn¡¯t work well. Luo Ming put up a valiant fight on the inside. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t exert the same power he did when he fell to the dark side. He, consequently, couldn¡¯t cut through Baidizi¡¯s Enlightenment armour.

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer flew out from inside the circle, galvanising Luo n to ze forward.

    ¡°Yujing.¡±

    As if Luo Ming¡¯s voice was magic, Yujing ejected itself from its sheath, flying from Shen Yiren¡¯s waist to Luo Ming¡¯s grip. Everything between heaven and earth fossilised. A column of light that made Baidizi appear tiny extended from Yujing into the ether.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    At the sixth hour of Nieyao¡¯s invasion, there was finally one decisive match. Baidizi finished in two, its mouth still curved upward on its severed head.

 Volume 11 86 Between the Dragon and the Abyss, Who Reigns Supreme?

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 86 Between the Dragon and the Abyss, Who Reigns Supreme?</h4>

    From as far back as when history started being recorded, dragons had always been the creature farthest from human eptance, yet it was also the most revered. Few souls could depict what the tyrannical and different creature would be in real life based off fantasies.

    The dragon was a legitimate violence incarnate. Its emergence was enough to alter the atmosphere. Wherever it went, it was forever held in the highest esteem; it wasn¡¯t hard to see why sovereigns were fond of ssifying themselves dragons.

    Chi spent most of his time sleeping - always had been the case. From his heterochromia eyes, Ming Feizhen saw the attitude of one presiding over the world. From his posture, he saw a monarch making sovereigns across thends genuflect in his presence.

    Ming Feizhen continued forward without shaking. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s been a millennium.¡± He stopped before Chi. ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s how I should greet you¡­ if you can discern what I am, that is.¡±

    Dragons couldn¡¯tprehend humans¡¯nguage, but Pangu didn¡¯t impose death upon Ming Feizhen right away. Instead, he toned down his aggression.

    Never had Pangu and Fengpengs fought. Never. Among Six Evils, the dragon was an illustrious existence that none other could spheme - a born sovereign. Inparison, the Fengpeng cared only for eating to strengthen itself. Despite being pr opposites, the two were the best of friends. The dragon could never get along with the other honoured beast - the phoenix.

    The fleeting peace ended when Pangu raised his head to belt, generating cleaving gales that distorted vision. His golden and yellow eyes turned into targeting tools. Six Evils didn¡¯t distinguish their fellows based on exterior appearances, so Ming Feizhen should¡¯ve been able to pass off as a Fengpeng when he possessed an identical aura. s, Pangu possessed more heightened senses than Ming Feizhen predicted. Pangu could tell he wasn¡¯t looking at a Fengpeng in human form as there was no hiding the immense energy dwelling within the human body.

    In the face of Pangu¡¯s roar, Ming Feizhen plunged Forgiveness into the ground between them, then sat down on a rock as though he was a friending over for a visit. By no means was he putting on a carefree fa?ade; nobody could be carefree when face to face with Pangu. In saying that, there was no reason to have a pit in one¡¯s tummy, either. At the end of the day, regardless of what reaction you gave, the oue would be the same. Before he even entered, Ming Feizhen already knew that it was impossible to defeat Pangu.

    Aside from their destructive might and aggression, the most well-known fact among those who had been involved with Six Evils was their ability to defy death after their bodies vanished upon death. Howbeit, there were two exceptions to that rule.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The phoenix was called the immortal evil beast because it could infinitely revive without reviving in the same sense as the other evil beasts. The interval between its death and revival hinged on how grave its injuries were. The other exception was Pangu. Nobody understood how Pangu resurrected because Pangu had never died, not in the past, not in Mystic Era¡¯s war against Six Evils or five centuries ago in Nieyao. The Pangu before Ming Feizhen was the same Pangu from a millennium ago. Even the strongest group of heroes couldn¡¯t y Pangu in the past.

    Blood trickled down from Ming Feizhen¡¯s cheek to his sleeves, but he remained still in his mind. In his mental ne, nothing was moving for his mind was busy calcting the status quo outside of the windy pce.

    Although Luo Ming sessfully took revenge, a level up in the middle ofbat was impossible to sustain. His overall level would regress significantly after the adrenaline wore off; even his life would be in peril. As long as Abels and Moyan Luohou seeded, they could help Feng Xue. Only once they had subdued the four descendants of Pangu did they secure victory. Needless to say, nothing ever goes to n without any exceptions.

    Ming Feizhen repeated to everyone over thest seventeen days that there would be casualties, but only one person could tell the casualty he was referring to was himself. He smiled to himself, sarcasticallymenting how perceptive Ming Suwen was.

    As Pangu roared again, a grey glow emanated from him, shrouding everything. In the history of Enlightenment¡¯s discovery, no one had ever cast such a wide range Enlightenment before. Pangu wasn¡¯t ying.

    Just as Ming Feizhen could sense the impossibility of winning, Pangu experienced a feeling he seldom felt in his time alive - fear. In Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes, he was looking at the ruler of the world. In Pangu¡¯s eyes, Ming Feizhen was a bottomless abyss. The mystery of what was hidden inside that abyss, that uncertainty, instilled fear.

    A ck more ominous than the grey ocean gushed out from Ming Feizhen. From the darkness, he said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be curious about what I am or be on edge. I¡­¡± The darkness around highlighted his eyes. He drew Forgiveness from the ground. ¡°¡­ like you, am just a monster.¡±

 Volume 11 87 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 87 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 1)</h4>

    Pangu¡¯s w swing billowed Ming Feizhen¡¯s hair and clothing as though he was caught in a hurricane, yet he swung back, deflecting Pangu¡¯s ws into the surrounding walls. Prior to today, Ming Feizhen had visualised his fight against Pangu uncountable times. One thing was consistent in all of his visions: the only way to ovee the difference in size was to have an effective defence.

    Given Pangu¡¯s size and strength, setting up fortresses and cities as a defence would be no different to expecting sandcastles to defend human forces. A massive army would be just a roar away from obliteration. Yet, to defeat Ming Feizhen, Pangu would have to strategically reduce the field to fit only itself, or it wasn¡¯t going to tag him. Thus, Ming Feizhen needed to repel attacks.

    If Ming Feizhen was fighting Pangu, then he might get outmuscled. When it was only Pangu¡¯s w, nevertheless, he could deflect the w for quite a while.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s appearance and strategy reminded Pangu of a man it encountered some time ago. From Pangu¡¯s perspective, the man in memories and Ming Feizhen weren¡¯t simr in appearance, yet it couldn¡¯t help merging them together. Mayhap it was their simrly controlled postures and staunchness. Neither of them showed signs of losing their cool or letting fear suffocate them despite the overwhelming odds.

    The man from Pangu¡¯s memory teamed up with dozens of humans to fight it for twelve days before finally defeating it, albeit with great casualties. Ever since Pangu was defeated in the Central in, it never returned; it found itself an abode and never bothered with the mortal realm again. Owing to Ming Feizhen awakening it and reminding it of its defeat, its blood roiled once again.

    Pangu unleashed another heaven-bound roar, sabotaging Ming Feizhen¡¯s predictions with sheer power. Pangu subsequently fired a tidal wave of mes, congrating the underground pce. The ze revealed all of the quaint mechanisms tucked away in secret ces.

    The only ce in the pce that wasn¡¯t turning to cinders and soot was where a frail-looking, sky-blue glow was visible. Whenever the mes reached it, instead of devouring it, the mes would glide past. Power that was created from logic wasn¡¯t something Six Evils could fathom.

    Pangu, whilst confirming the usage of Enlightenment, weaved through the inferno to the blue field redirecting its mes and rendering them harmless.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s defensive strategy no longer functioned since Pangu brought its head into the battle. As such, he cancelled his Enlightenment, then stuck a green foxtail in his mouth that he kept tucked in his sash. He brushed the iing me with his hand on the way to his weapon and smacked his lips. ¡°Pretty big head you got.¡±

    Ming Feizhen propelled himself past Pangu¡¯s head to take thetter¡¯s back. He stung Pangu on the back, then moved forthwith, avoiding a deadly lightning bolt by a split second. Big doesn¡¯t mean slow and clumsy.

    Zooming along Pangu¡¯s back at top speed using Night Steps, Ming Feizhen struck whenever he saw the opportunity. Each time he attacked, his chances ofnding another hit was reduced.

    Pangu¡¯s lightning ability had tremendous reach in addition to only taking a thought to fire, and the closer you were, the more lethal the lightning zap. Hence, Ming Feizhen was forced to exit the range. While his true qi armour may have shield him from a fatal st once or twice, it¡¯d hinder his movement. One second slow was all it took to forfeit his life. Inparison, not one of Ming Feizhen¡¯s fifty strikes fazed Pangu enough to elicit a sullen reaction.

    Though Ming Feizhen escaped the lightning¡¯s range, the inferno left him with nowhere to stand. Upon hearing Pangu exhale, he could tell he had a fireball from hell hot on his trail.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Contrary to thest spread st, Pangu¡¯s fireball was concentrated on a single target this time, easily ploughing through stone walls and melting a hole. If Pangu fired the st from low to high, it¡¯d have annihted everything on the surface of Nieyao.

 Volume 11 88 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 88 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 2)</h4>

    To assume the inability toprehend mankind¡¯snguage was equivalent to ack of intelligence was folly. Pangu took the floor from Ming Feizhen with its first st, then kept Ming Feizhen upied using lightning bolts to force him airborne. Once its prey was defencelessly suspended in the air, Pangu fired a more lethal st to finish the job. Even though it had its prey cornered, Pangu continued to maintain a high-alert status.

    Pangu couldn¡¯t exin theck of confidence in its lethal st until it heard, ¡°Autumn King Thread - Moonlight.¡±

    Pangu felt something hammer its head from above right following a sh of white light, and the impact was too much to resist, resulting in a collision with the solid ground. Ming Feizhen used the same logic as Pangu¡¯s second st - a concentrated heavy blow.

    Ming Feizhen had no surface to propel himself off and no free hand in mid-air when Pangu sted, so he attached himself to the wall with his thread to swing out of the st trajectory in the nick of time.

    After a short respite for both of them, Pangu wrathfully cast Enlightenment again. As the grey energy boosted its attack and defence, it could be interpreted as a sign that Pangu was going to mount an offence.

    ¡°Ancient King Thread - Thirty-Six Brilliant Gods!¡± Ming Feizhen seized the initiative in the exchange, ramming Pangu¡¯s back with thirty-six celestial spider silk threads at once - enhanced with Yijin Jing.

    Suffering pain for the first time in ages, Pangu roared at the top of its lungs. Thanks to its strength, Pangu¡¯s roar could reduce enemies to mush or prohibit attacks from advancing on it.

    Whilst fending off the wind des with Water King Thread, Ming Feizhen came to the realisation that Pangu couldn¡¯t fire sts whenever it wanted. Given Pangu took the most damage just now, Pangu should¡¯ve retaliated with a st to assert its dominance, yet it utilised a more passive strategy. In other words, Pangu didn¡¯t have infinite energy; natural elements, such as wind, fire and lightning couldn¡¯t be wielded constantly.

    With that knowledge in mind, Ming Feizhen made a beeline to the centre of the wind barricade. As soon as Pangu spotted him above it, it raised its head to bite; however, Ming Feizhen hurled Forgiveness from his right hand whilst tugging Pangu¡¯s head wreathed in celestial spider silk aside.

    ¡°Ancient King Thread - Kunlun.¡±

    Ming Feizhen performed criss-crossing motions with the threads in his hands. Despite his unimpressive speed, he was able to whittle away the grey shield at Pangu¡¯s obliques and knock him back dozens of metres away. This marked Pangu¡¯s first injury of the match.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen yanked Forgiveness back to his hand, exhaled and then spun into a violent sh, shing with the head that had returned.

    The underground pce began to shake as the two tried to gain the upper hand in the deadlock. The pirs began to crack under the increasing pressure. Pangu soon gained the inevitable advantage, sending Ming Feizhen sailing across the pce, because Ming Feizhen had no surface to generate more force whilst airborne.

    The mes made quick work of Ming Feizhen¡¯s clothing, but his mind was elsewhere: he was exposed to an attack. Unsurprisingly, Panguunched a third scorching st at him. Upon seeing the scorched earth and absence of a corpse amongst the white tendrils spreading, Pangu roared at the sky, dering its victory.

    Autumn King Thread - Cast-Off Cicada Shell.

    Having distracted Pangu with his thread performance, Ming Feizhen hoisted Pangu off the ground with both hands, then whipped down with all his body, mming Pangu into the ground. Following up, he uncorked abo of attacks at the exposed oblique of Pangu.

    Pangu, paying no heed to its bleeding wound or the string of blows, coiled up to confine Ming Feizhen inside before belting down lightning bolts. Although he had to evade, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t let up on his assault, sometimes even tanking a bolt to tag Pangu. Owing to Ming Feizhen¡¯s greed to drop bombs, Pangu saw an opportunity to counter.

    Pangu turned its head to gnaw Ming Feizhen from a blind angle, only for thetter to yell, ¡°Kneel!¡± Capitalising on Pangu¡¯s short pause, Ming Feizhen front tucked up high to bounce Pangu¡¯s head off the ground with Forgiveness. The force with which Pangu¡¯s head collided into the ground extinguished some of the nearby mes, finally giving Ming Feizhen some footing.

    Ming Feizhen used what precious time he had to recalibrate his true qi flow. ¡°¡­ Not even Nine Mountains and Nine Oceans is enough to hurt you?¡± He spat out the green foxtail he still had dangling from his mouth. ¡°You bloody monster.¡±

    Like a magic touch, Pangu gave its wounds a lick, instantly healing them - albeit unable to regrow the scales around its abdomen right away.

    God damn, man. All that was for nothing? Can I really do this?

    While Ming Feizhen was still trying to regain his breath, Pangu had coiled up again. Ming Feizhen watched on as Pangu¡¯s back began to wriggle. Once its eyes gleamed, a pair of solid wings sprouted from its back.

    ¡°¡­ You gotta be kidding me!¡±

    With its newfound speed, Pangu bridged the gap and snagged Ming Feizhen in its mouth.

 Volume 11 89 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 89 Pangu Created the World. Creation like Destruction. (Part 3)</h4>

    The only breeze in the underground pce came from the pping wings. The only sounds were the crackling mes and pping wings.

    Notwithstanding the number of people who researched the dragon¡¯s nine sons, they never discovered that each of Pangu¡¯s descendants inherited some of its special abilities.They hyper focused on the nine¡¯s ferocity while overlooking the threat of the one that possessed all the abilities.

    This time, Pangu didn¡¯t announce its victory whilst aerial because it knew this wasn¡¯t the sensation of masticating human flesh.

    ¡°Huh, getting bitten by a dragon doesn¡¯t really hurt?¡±

    Following a burning sensation in his mouth, Pangu felt its mouth forced open by human hands. Though his clothes were in tatters and hair was syed, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have any blood on him. When Pangu tried to force his fangs back down, Ming Feizhen had zipped out.

    Ming Feizhen should¡¯ve been in dire straits in the air this time since Pangu could now fly, yet panic was thest thing he¡¯d feel. That said, the redness in his eyes was more visible than before.

    ¡°Demon King Thread - Vacate.¡±

    Pangu smashed its jaw onto the ground, yet he raged at the heavens after because the young man at the crater he just made wasn¡¯t there. Dragons perceived what humans considered fast to be slow motion on top of possessing x-ray vision, yet Pangu lost sight of Ming Feizhen with thest attack. Although Pangu wasn¡¯t the fastest among Six Evils, the phoenix could never escape Pangu¡¯s sights.

    For the first time in a long while, Pangu was bewildered. The only way to exin the phenomenon was Ming Feizhen stole a chunk of time out of real time. To put it another way, it was as if he froze time, moved away and then deleted the part where time was frozen. The suspicion was vexing for Pangu for it was interpreted as a challenge to its majestic existence, not from some arrogant mortal or brainless warrior but an equal.

    Pangu stretched out its wings, firing omnidirectional lightning sts as it expanded its Enlightenment field, devastating everything in its path. The shockwaves literally turned walls on their head.

    ¡°Given you gave birth to nine sons, you must possess nine special abilities.¡± Ming Feizhen finally showed himself of his own volition.

    If Enlightenment wasn¡¯t included, Pangu had shown seven unique abilities: wind, fire, lightning, flight, x-ray vision, might on rivalling Ten Mountains and Oceans, in addition to a healing ability that the Fengpeng boasted. Frankly, even if Pangu didn¡¯t reveal itsst two special abilities, Ming Feizhen still wouldn¡¯t have an answer.

    It had been years since thest time Ming Feizhen felt as though he was sinking into a marsh. Nobody could employ a protracted fighting strategy better than Ming Feizhen for the reason he possessed immense internal energy, as well as pinpoint uracy when controlling his true qi and breathing, thanks to Yijin Jing and Tai Chi¡¯s mental cultivation, respectively. This held true even if he were to spam ¡°ultimate¡± techniques consecutively. Howbeit, to work around Pangu¡¯s attacks that had arge area of effect, he had no choice but to forge a solid true qi armour; consider how much internal energy would be needed to stop Pangu¡¯s fangs from tearing in. Just as with physical armour, he couldn¡¯t just strip off his armour in the middle of an ongoing fight.

    Ming Feizhen lifted Forgiveness onto his shoulder. ¡°Damn, looks like I don¡¯t have any alternatives.¡±

    Feng Xue wasn¡¯t as fast or strong as the little demon on a murder spree a decade ago. His body was frailer than the boy who received a boost from a Fengpeng¡¯s energy. The only thing he had more was age. He, nheless, could punch hard, hard enough toy the demon out for good.

    The take-home message from that fight was that running was for cowards as no one could outrun their fears. Don¡¯t indulge. Don¡¯t be soft. Don¡¯t live as though you¡¯re a vengeful fugitive on the run. Ming Feizhen hated hearing Feng Xue preach as much as he hated the punches thatnded on his face and dug into his body, but he listened until the end.

    While Ming Feizhen curled up to sleep on the ground no differently to a child who made a mistake, Feng Xue was less an arm, yet he didn¡¯t bat an eye. He made sure the boy was safe, then bandaged his own arm socket, wiped his blood and off he went. ¡°He¡¯s just a kid throwing a tantrum like every other kid,¡± Feng Xue said to Ming Huayu. Ever since then, Ming Feizhen never indulged in the Fengpeng¡¯s power regardless of the circumstances.

    Ming Feizhen set Forgiveness down. ¡°Sorry, Young Shiyi, but I¡¯m going to have to disobey you again.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen raised his wrist up to his mouth and bit it. It was the only way he was going to bleed when Pangu couldn¡¯t prate his true qi armour.

    Unsettled, Pangu judged a pre-emptive strike was in order, zooming over with lightning at the ready. Sensing Pangu¡¯s rapid movements closing in, Ming Feizhen extended an arm.

    Boom! Winds strong enough to blow apart an army¡¯s formation pervaded the underground pce in an instant. Pangu charged without enough force to plough through a city, yet it ran into a wall it couldn¡¯t move - Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand. It might not have understood humankind¡¯snguage, but it understood strength.

    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? Warm-up¡¯s over.¡±

 Volume 11 90 Yiren â€“ Singlehandedly Cleaving a Python

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 90 Yiren - Singlehandedly Cleaving a Python</h4>

    Rather than the sound of Baidizi¡¯snding on the ground snapping them back to reality, it was the blood assailing their noses that did.

    ¡°Dad!¡± Luo Siming, Feng Jian and other Luo n loyalists rushed over to Luo Ming¡¯s side. ¡°D-Dad, y-you¡­¡± Luo Siming couldn¡¯t bring himself to say the words no matter how he tried.

    Eyes nk, body stiff and immobilised, skin wrinkly and ashen hair were tell-tale signs of qi, blood and essence depletion.

    Be it reforging one¡¯s body or achieving a breakthrough amidst a fight wasn¡¯t remotely easy. Thetter was a product of enriched experience with the assistance of moreprehensive understanding; it was a product of luck, not effort. Of the two, the former is undisputedly more difficult.

    Reforging one¡¯s body at Luo Ming¡¯s age was analogous to expecting to purify one¡¯s body at the snap of a finger. Firstly, a wealth of knowledge was required to reforge. You couldn¡¯t chisel want didn¡¯t exist in the first ce, after all. Secondly, the individual needs the mental fortitude to fight off the pain that could diminish their abilities drastically. In Luo Ming¡¯s case, there was also the fact that he was literally trying to modify on the fly whilst in the crossfire; it was akin to fixing weapons while arrows were being fired at him. To top it off, whoever did it would have to adapt to their new body in a short timeframe.

    Luo Ming delivered his final sh with no emotions for victory, defeat, life and death. Though he beheaded Baidizi singlehandedly, he also expended all his energy, leaving him immobilised simrly to being in a vegetative state.

    While Luo Siming hugged his father in his shaky arms, Feng Jian did his best to heal his mentor in spite of detecting no essence left inside. Try as he may, Feng Jian would need magic to replenish it.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s n wasn¡¯t wrong; to evene up with a feasible n in the time they had was a miracle. That being said, he couldn¡¯t possibly debate Luo Ming had more experience than him as a militarymander.

    Soldiers adapt their formations, and formations adapt to situations. As Nieyao was the enemy¡¯s main camp, a drawn-out battle would give the enemy the initiative, particrly considering Baidizi¡¯s ability to form an army.

    Baidizi could¡¯ve lost interest in Luo Ming at the drop of a hat. Next thing they knew would be its army washing Nieyao with the blood of everyone behind Luo Ming. Luo Ming had to jump through numerous hoops in order to decapitate Baidizi, incapacitating himself in the process. If Baidizi¡¯s army supported it, Luo Ming would¡¯ve just been food. Perhaps he would¡¯ve survived until Abels and Moyan Luohou coulde to his aid, but Luo n¡¯s elites might¡¯ve been history by then. He already lost three sons once. Should he lose hisst son and his disciple, too?

    Luo Ming knew what the ramifications were when he made up his mind. Thankfully, his sacrifice was valuable. More importantly for him, he knew his survival did nobody any good. The imperial court wouldn¡¯t allow him to continue living a life of luxury and honour or sweep his crimes under the rug - no way. By extension, Luo n would be held ountable. The sole reason Emperor Yuansheng hadn¡¯t given his verdict was because he wanted to see what¡¯d happen in Nanjiang first. If he could y a perilous beast in Nanjiang, then Emperor Yuansheng would let Luo n off the hook. Luo Siming, as well as Feng Jian, was extra depressed as they were cognisant of those points.

    Shen Yiren, peering at the elder from afar, ambled over.

    Luo Ming believed Shen Yiren hand the hands to excel in swordy but a heart that wasn¡¯t devoted to it. Ming Feizhen and Luo Ming both agreed that she was blessed with a knack for martial arts. Unfortunately, though her efforts exceeded many swordsmen, she treated swordy as a means to an end. As a consequence, she would lose to the likes of Jia Yunfeng, who was a realm below her.

    Besides struggling to adapt to her new internal style, the reason Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t consolidate her progress into Sword Spirit Realm wasck of interest in understanding swords. Herprehension of martial arts exceeded her understanding of swords by far. At a less abstract level, she didn¡¯t develop the intuition for swords, while said intuition wasn¡¯t something that could be imparted. Notwithstanding the depth of Repository Sword Theory, even it could only exin ¡°sword spirit¡± as, ¡°You either get it or you don¡¯t.¡±

    Seemingly oblivious to the changes around her, Shen Yiren stated, ¡°Everyone stay sharp. The beasts are about to go wild.¡±

    Baidizi¡¯s now leaderless troops grunted in stifled voices as theymenced their unhurried advance, replicating a long nket made from scales.

    Even though everyone entered Nieyao inbat mode, they couldn¡¯t shift their gazes away from Shen Yiren. She crouched down, then gently lifted the hand Luo Ming still clutching Yujing. Despite hisck of awareness, he loosened his grip, allowing her to take the sword from him.

    ¡°Thank you for entrusting me with this sword, Shifu.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hiss! Baidizi¡¯s head shot from the ground toward Luo Ming.

    The life force of snakes should never be underestimated; they¡¯re able to continue living for another day even if they¡¯ve lost their head. A dragon¡¯s son¡¯s head still possessed its inconceivable might when its body was destroyed, special ability was gone and Enlightenment armour had ceased functioning.

    The threat was right before their eyes, yet no eyes moved away from Shen Yiren for they detected a burgeoning sword spirit from her. The familiar, in addition to dangerous, auraing from her could be passed off as a im of Heavenly Swordsman possessing her. The sword spirit continued to intensify and then replete once Shen Yiren took up Yujing.

    Shen Yiren flipped the sword around in her hand, then performed an upward sh, splitting the oversized python head down the centre.

    A tinge of rity returned to Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes. No more confusion. No more hesitation. She pointed her sword forward, triumph spreading on her lips. ¡°What challenge are mere beasts? Smite them!¡±

 Volume 11 91 Mutants Running Amok. Tit for Tat.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 91 Mutants Running Amok. Tit for Tat.</h4>

    Although the mutated beasts charged toward the one who killed their leader, there wasn¡¯t an ounce of vengefulnessing from them. It was pure violence.

    The imperial court¡¯s warriors forged forward in a straight line, taking the beasts head on.

    Due to theck of a director, bigger animals stomped on snakes, and any semnce of a formation was nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, the Qilin Guards and agents of Emperor¡¯s Entourage were in high spirits thanks to Shen Yiren. Unsurprisingly, they made brutal and quick work of the mutated beasts.

    Luo n¡¯s group into a pincer attack on the sides of the mutated beasts, cutting off the stream through the centre. They didn¡¯t fight the main force as they didn¡¯t have much experience fighting animals, not to mention they had marched a long way.

    Feng Xue split his unit into three support teams after cutting off Nieyao¡¯s reinforcements. Heisina Tribe¡¯s warriors had as much experience as Nieyao¡¯s military in dealing with wild beasts. Therefore, they were valuable reinforcements.

    The eight hundred Qilin Guards from Beijiang had no problem ploughing through the mutated beasts since they fought a variety of beasts native to Beijiang frequently. Praise wasn¡¯t given to just their physical skill but also their unshakeable spirits. Even thepetitor in Shen Yiren would have to give their grandmander credit for his wise leadership.

    Owing to the fric pace of the proceeding, nobody noticed a man hobbling quietly to the war zone¡­

    ***

    The twelve concealment formations that League of Assassins reced with Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s dispelled one allowed them to not only covered the location of those within, but it also empowered them to coordinate defence and attack with those inside and outside. The formation also acted as an rm for those hiding within. Even if someone had the muscle to dismantle the formation, they wouldn¡¯t do so recklessly when it¡¯d give away their whereabouts to a group of trained assassins.

    While Sima Huai mused over the danger of making an enemy out of the assassins, Hong Jiu was as cool as a cucumber because he always had absolute faith in Ming Feizhen. Noticing Sima Huai¡¯s gaze on him, Hong Jiu said, ¡°Be humble.¡± He took a step toward Sima Huai and quietly added, ¡°Leader must¡¯ve definitely dropped some serious cash to hire them. Don¡¯t let them make us pay. Don¡¯t speak. Don¡¯t speak.¡±

    Sima Huai: ¡°¡­¡±

    Only Lian Zhuiyue needed to remain inside Dragon-ying Formation now that the formation was functioning as it was supposed to. Once the other four came out and recovered, Hong Jiu inquired, ¡°Grandaunt, what shall we¡­¡±

    The time they needed to recover varied due to their own categorisation and progress as martial artists. Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s internal energy may have been advanced, but he couldn¡¯t circte qi as fast as Sima Huai. Xia¡¯er was more technical than Lian Zhuiyue as well as Sima Huai, but her internal energy was least potent. Ming Suwen was the only one who didn¡¯t need to recover.

    Ming Suwen opened her eyes. ¡°We find themander. Maintaining the formation is important, true. However, killing themander is the faster route to end this.¡±

    ¡°That would have to be Gegewu, then. Leader said we could bludgeon him on sight.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Suwen¡¯s usual yful nature was nowhere in sight. ¡°In addition, we need to work hard to contribute. Given it is our mission to y the beasts, we can¡¯t let others take the credit. Resident Ku, please mobilise.¡±

    ¡°You need not be so formal with us, Miss.¡±

    The twelve formations moved in correspondence with Mount Daluo¡¯s group, resembling a cluster of fog travelling through the city. There clearly had to be a lot of people holding up the formation, or it¡¯d be impossible to transport it. A small group stayed behind to guard Lian Zhuiyue.

    Ming Suwen suddenly stopped.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Sister Suwen?¡±

    Ming Suwen¡¯s knees buckled out of the blue, giving her cohorts a fright. None of them had ever seen her sad, angry and terrified all at once, let alone to this extent. None of them understood the reason for her hopelessness or knew what to do.

    ¡°Change of ns. We¡¯re ying the dragon¡¯s kids. Spare none,¡± instructed Ming Suwen, speaking with urgency.

    Hong Jiu rubbed his hands and fists. ¡°Which one first, Grandaunt?¡±

    ¡°Wazi.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. It¡¯s supposed to be a menacing jiao, and jiaos are the closest to dragons. I may not be good enough to see a dragon, so a jiao is eptablepensation.¡±

    ¡°We need to be fast.¡± Ming Suwen tried to hide her trembling. ¡°Your brother is in trouble. He must¡¯ve encountered an opponent that not even he can beat, or he wouldn¡¯t resort to that power again¡­ No dragon¡¯s sons in Nieyao are seeing another day. Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Volume 11 92 Blade Demon Fearlessly Cuts the Crimson Python

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 92 de Demon Fearlessly Cuts the Crimson Python</h4>

    Even though Chichen was equipped with molten armour, it racked up more and more injuries over time. Despite being blessed with the recovery rate of Six Evils, its healing rate couldn¡¯t keep up with the damage it took. Though its blood would convert into armour once expelled from its body, the special ability didn¡¯t work on injuries suffered inside its body.

    It took eight hours, but the odds were finally against Chichen. Chichen¡¯s instant retaliations gradually devolved into primarily defending because its counters were being countered with more pain than just eating the initial shot.

    Abels and Moyan Luohou was the only team that stuck to Ming Feizhen¡¯s blueprint, wearing down Chichen with battle prowess, experience, wise judgement and sharp weapons. Abels took on the role of armour and shield, repelling Chichen¡¯s fire and fangs using Evil Eminence Powerfield.

    Chichen grew as abatant throughout the fight, learning to adapt and leverage its body against two opponents capable of giving it a run for its money. The thing was, time wasn¡¯t Chichen¡¯s ally alone. Practically speaking, time worked against Chichen. Despite its ability to learn, it was learning from one match, while Abels and Moyan Luohou had hundreds of fights logged. Plus, Chichen wasn¡¯t the only one who could learn on the fly.

    Abels also picked up on Chichen¡¯s movement style and habits. Early on, he had to keep Evil Eminence Powerfield active over Chichen¡¯s body at all times until Chichen¡¯s attack target was clear enough for him to focus his field on that specific spot. Needless to say, that wasn¡¯t remotely optimal, allowing Chichen to plough through several times and hurt him internally. Now, Abels could urately predict Chichen¡¯s approach and target 80% of the time as soon as Chichen¡¯s tongue surfaced or tail rose.

    Chichen zipped toward Moyan Luohou out of the blue. s, Abels¡¯ concentrated sphere forced Chichen to pull back.

    Abels new sphere was a product of wrapping spheres inside spheres for ten-plusyers, creating a barrier solid enough to stop Chichen breaking through.

    Moyan Luohou thereupon moved to swing at the retreating python.

    While he was hailed as Nanjiang¡¯s greatest broadsword wielder, his style was far removed from Nanjiang¡¯s martial arts system. The fact that he focused on training his hands, arms, shoulders and eyes proved this point. Training one¡¯s vision before training their weaponry was unheard of for broadsword disciplines. As for his broadsword discipline itself, people believed it was a long-lost discipline from the first Shaman Monarch in Mystical Era. Compared to contemporary broadsword disciplines, a lot of the details wouldn¡¯t fit. Those who weren¡¯t disciples of the discipline couldn¡¯t possibly appreciate how difficult it was to pass down the skills.

    At a nce, one would perceive numerous shes from Moyan Luohou. In reality, only one of the trajectories the eye saw was the one that¡¯d be harmful. As a broadsword user himself, Abels couldn¡¯t help drawing aparison. Contrary to Moyan Luohou¡¯s style, Abels¡¯ broadsword style was more aesthetic and vicious. Howbeit, those two attributes came at the expense of stability.

    At the end of the day, a straightforward attack had less room for error than something more flowery. Straightforward attacks weren¡¯t any less impractical. When the opponent is feinting, a straightforward attack will force them to drop their feint in order to deal with the attack.

    There¡¯s so much to learn from just a single sh of his. My only option if I was his opponent is to rely on Evil Eminence Powerfield to defend.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Moyan Luohou etched a new line on Chichen¡¯s face. From the opening of the match, Moyan Luohou focused on chipping away at Chichen¡¯s most robust body part - its head. umtively, he had shed Chichen¡¯s head no less than a hundred times.

    Abels and Moyan Luohou adjusted their qi, preparing to make thest attack the final one. Chichen had a strong hunch its two opponents were methodically preparing something. It had no answer for whatever they had up their sleeve. The two never tried to test their limits, ovemitting to an offence they couldn¡¯t withdraw from, and they never made any errors. Their method could rightfully be described as slow and steady.

    For some reason, Chichen hissed, then coiled up. Neither Abels nor Moyan Luohou could tell if it was crying or raging. Either way, that shouldn¡¯t have been how a cornered opponent would behave. Over the next few seconds, Chichen raised its head, coiled, raised it head and coiled¡­ Most importantly, how did it suddenly move faster than its previous attacks?

    Chichen chose to disengage for the first time, an uncharacteristic decision given it always chose an eye for an eye as soon as it was caught. Moreover, it was supposed to be slower than Abels and Moyan Luohou owing to its heavy scales, yet it retreated to the armoured soldiers before they could react.

    Chichen devoured one of the hundreds of soldiers in one swoop. The soldier wasn¡¯t chewed to death but burnt to death inside Chichen. Chichen then proceeded to gobble more soldiers.

    Abels and Moyan Luohou caught up from behind to chop it on either side. Chichen¡¯s spin around sent the two flying. Based on Abels¡¯ calction, Chichen was approximately 50% stronger than before.

    How does he suddenly gain this much strength even if flesh and essence are supplements?

    ¡°Dragon-ying Formation,¡± Moyan Luohou remarked.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Dragon-ying Formation, the four never would¡¯ve stuck around to face off against the adepts. The fact that Chichen was eating humans without hesitation in addition to grown stronger could only mean that the formation was having problems for one reason or another.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n? He definitely hasn¡¯t just grown stronger.¡±

    The wound Moyan Luohou opened on Chichen¡¯s face had begun to close - most probably attributed to devouring the soldier.

    Chichen raised its head to load up a fire ball. Moyan Luohouunched himself up, doubled the size of the closing wound and dropped Chichen. Chichen¡¯s body burned the ground as it writhed in pain.

    ¡°Kill it without the formation,¡± Moyan Luohou answered.

 Volume 11 93 Crescent Dragon Eyes. An Unforgettable Murder.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 93 Crescent Dragon Eyes. An Unforgettable Murder.</h4>

    ¡°Whoa!¡± Feng Xue disengaged again, but he did it with urgency unlike before. ¡°How¡­?¡± Feng Xue¡¯s hands shook as he stared at the overcooked bird in his hand. ¡°Howe it¡¯s burnt again? Am I even going to have dinner at this rate?¡± He hurled the bird, then thundered, ¡°You overdid the tiger, lizard and now a bird, too? You might as well be called Oversized Frying Pan!¡±

    For the first time, Wazi developed an understanding of how it felt to despise someone close to a ¡°parent¡±. Because of its past as a human¡¯s pet, Wazi could understand what Feng Xue was scolding it for. As such, it harboured a strong desire to eat the heart of the old geezer, prompting it to fire purple lightning at Feng Xue.

    Feng Xue intuitively side stepped the lightning bolt again. ¡°It¡¯s not going to happen, so quit making a fuss. I told you I won¡¯t leave.¡± He sat down on a rock as if he was bored out of his skin to file his nails with a small knife. ¡°As a dragon¡¯s son, you wouldn¡¯t deign yourself to search for another target. Catch me for a snack. If you can¡¯t, we¡¯ll keep ying cat and mouse.¡±

    Wazi red intently at Feng Xue. How much it understood was anyone¡¯s guess, but Wazi unquestionably wasn¡¯t fond of Feng Xue.

    All of Pangu¡¯s sons had different personalities. Saying they all inherited different special abilities referred to the extent to which they inherited rather than meaning they only had one speciality. For instance, Chichen inherited molten armour and fire, but that didn¡¯t mean it only had those two abilities; Chichen merely just happened to have particrly high defence attributes besides a fire ability. Baidizi would be the outlier because it was average in every department besides its leadership attribute.

    Although Wazi inherited Pangu¡¯s lightning control, its intelligence stood heads and shoulders above its siblings. Even though Wazi was cleverer than its siblings, it wasn¡¯t smart enough toprehend mankind¡¯snguage. With that said, it was smart enough to read human emotions based on the smell they emitted. The smell it picked up on was vague to the point that it was a unique experience even for itself. To put its feelings into perspective, imagine if humans could suddenly read the minds of animals. Wazi¡¯s siblings could barely say they even had the ability to read human emotions. Wazi¡¯s intelligence was usually employed for nothing besides circus tricks, so it had little motivation for development. During its scrap with Feng Xue, however, he showed a positive spike in development.

    Pangu¡¯s special ability ¡°Dragon Pupils¡± granted x-ray vision and the ability read human minds. It was precisely this ability that allowed the beasts to read their opponent¡¯s intentions and counter. ording to Mount Daluo¡¯s records, Heterochromia Crescent Baihuang, was the son that was supposed to inherit the ability. Besides the name, there was no information on Heterchromia Creasent Baihuang. Wazi didn¡¯t directly inherit Dragon Pupils, but it had the most advanced version among its currently present siblings.

    Le Kuangnu had the hardest time taming Wazi due to thetter¡¯sbat prowess. To add, Wazi was too proud to share the same space as its brothers. Even Sky Pce¡¯s method didn¡¯t work all of the time. As a result, Le Kuangnu had to give Wazi special treatment, ignorant to the fact that Wazi was reading him using Dragon Pupils.

    As a consequence of Wazi¡¯s actions, though, it didn¡¯t receive much training. Combat wasn¡¯t its forte. Even when enhancing its attributes with lightning, Baidizi and Chichen would still beat it. Its saving grace was it learnt inconceivably fast, even more so in a skirmish situation.

    Dragon-ying Formation couldn¡¯t ¡°reduce¡± their intellect, physical prowess and special abilities, but it influenced their personality in different ways ording to which monster was the subject. Without the formation, Chichen¡¯s bloodlust was unbridled. In regards to Wazi, it gained calmness.

    Suddenly, Wazi chose to do what a human would¡­ It fled. Feng Xue reactively gave chase, though he quickly stopped. What was he supposed to do once he caught up? Wazi got tangled in Feng Xue¡¯s ploy because of its pride. If it wanted to leave, Feng Xue couldn¡¯t stall it.

    As he was contemting his options, a sick feeling visited Feng Xue¡¯s, one that reminded him of the madness from ten years ago, except on arger scale. ¡°Oi, oi, Feizhen?! Damn it, kid, why do you have to pick now of all times?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen sorted out Feng Xue¡¯s priorities for him: Wazi needed to die.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Your thought is congruent with mine, Elder. Shiba has stopped it!¡±

    Boom! Wazi ran into an unmovable obstacle.

    He¡¯s bloody strong for his age. Since when did Mount Daluo have such a splendid disciple?

    As always, she always drew attention with her appearance. Feng Xue shed his teeth upon seeing her. ¡°Perfect timing, Niece-inw.¡±

 Volume 11 94 Tough to Trap Dragonâ€™s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 94 Tough to Trap Dragon¡¯s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 1)</h4>

    Had the circumstances been different Ming Suwen would¡¯ve had a back and forth with Feng Xue - more likely would¡¯ve shut him down. Unfortunately for her, the term of address that came out of left field while her nerves were in a bundle painted her face rosy.

    ¡°Impish old man.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha.¡± Feng Xue bound over to the jiao Hong Jiu just floored.

    ¡°Be careful, Elder,¡± Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples cautioned.

    Upon reaching Wazi¡¯s mouth, Feng Xue tucked in to slip under Wazi¡¯s jaw, a blind spot for Wazi¡¯s mouth. He vaulted vertically, circling his arm and then uncorking it at the soft underside of Wazi¡¯s chin. Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples had their mouths agape as they watched Wazi take flight.

    Thoughte, they figured the elder had to be Martial Paragon, one of their shifu¡¯s mah-jong buddies. Evidently, age had nothing on Feng Xue.

    ¡°Jeepers creepers, you could move it in one hit when I couldn¡¯t budge the bum. What the devil have you been doing if you can fight so well?¡± Hong Jiu griped.

    Semantically, that was the first real attack Feng Xue performed in his match against Wazi.

    Ming Suwen inspected the ground visually, hoping to glean information on Wazi from the traces left behind, thenpare it with her knowledge. In short, she wanted to collect as much information as possible in a short window. Her current location allowed her to back up Feng Xue if he withdrew. There wasn¡¯t much time left for them, and the clock was ticking away.

    Ming Suwen and Feng Xue made eye contact,municating intelligence and the urgency of the situation. Only they could understand the situation mandated Wazi¡¯s execution. After all, they were the only ones who fathomed the ramifications of Ming Feizhen giving in to the Fengpeng¡¯s energy.

    Feeling pain when there shouldn¡¯t be any pain was a real condition amongst martial artists, but it was a diagnosis relevant only to those who had mental traumas. Feng Xue didn¡¯t suffer from such symptoms after losing his arms twice because it was only a drinking topic for him. The red eyes, hostility and abnormal behaviour Ming Feizhen exhibited at the end of their duel, nevertheless, were carved into Feng Xue¡¯s memories. That was the one moment the thought of killing Ming Feizhen flourished in his mind.

    Whether Ming Feizhen was kind by nature or his naivety was impervious to corruption was impossible to determine. One thing they could be certain on was that he had some pure thoughts. Else, there was no means of restoring his humanity. Feng Xue only left when he was sure the sleeping boy had suppressed the sinister power inside him, unaware of the salvation the boy felt from then onward.

    Seeing as Ming Feizhen was physically, as well as mentally, stronger now, the only reason he¡¯d rely on that sinister power again would be if his opponent was tougher than Wazi. The only entity Feng Xue could name given the context was the parent of Wazi.

    Regardless of who won between Ming Feizhen and Pangu, whichever one of them emerged victorious would be an unstoppable walking disaster.

    Feng Xue knew Emperor Yuansheng was still hiding aces up his sleeves. When it came down to it, Feng Xue could work with them, but even then, their chances of stopping the worst cmity to befall mankind would be less than fifty-fifty. If even one dragon descendant remained standing when either emerged, then the descendant would be nourishment for a perilous monster. In the end, annihtion would be all that awaited them. Had it not been for this predicament, Feng Xue wouldn¡¯t have changed his approach.

    Ming Suwen¡¯s reason for insisting on ying Wazi was nowhere as convoluted. Those who fight the dragon would be the sworn enemy of Pangu¡¯s sons. If Pangu couldn¡¯t win, he could summon his sons to aid him. Even if Ming Feizhen returned triumphant, he wouldn¡¯t be in any state to win against the vengeful sons. No way was Ming Suwen going to increase Ming Feizhen¡¯s exposure to danger. No way.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Feng Xue blitzed Wazi¡¯s head, elbows, knees and feet¡¯s soft spots without mercy, giving Wazi no time to don an electro armour. While the chief reason few ever beheld Feng Xue fight was owed to him gallivanting from ce to ce in Nanjiang, another reason was theck of an opponent that required him to bother.

    At the surface level, Feng Xue and Ming Huayu shared the same style - control and logic. Their natures, howbeit, were pr opposites. Feng Xue was born with an understanding of martial arts. At a nce, one might assume that his internal style was straightforward - the sort a learned man would prefer. When you watched him action, though, it was clear from his speed and ferocity that he was a man who had been in a lot of life-and-death fights. It was as if he had trained every part of his body and burnt the motions into his body if you watched how he flowed from one technique to the next. Ming Huayu, to the contrary¡­

    ¡°Please excuse mycking performance.¡± Ming Suwen drew an unembellished sword out.

    There was nothing visibly eye-catching about it, if too ordinary wasn¡¯t something to brag about, yet Wazi flinched.

    ¡°Overarching Heaven!¡±

 Volume 11 95 Tough to Trap Dragonâ€™s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 95 Tough to Trap Dragon¡¯s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 2)</h4>

    If people assumed Ming Huayu was the only entric to teach his disciples disciplines he didn¡¯t master, they¡¯d be wrong because Hero Shenzhou wasn¡¯t much less unorthodox. When Hero Shenzhou brought the young fisherman back to Mount Daluo and locked him in the confinement room for punishing disciples, nobody had the faintest idea what he was thinking.

    Nobody could ever tell what was on Hero Shenzhou¡¯s mind. They were always worried about Mount Daluo¡¯s future as he was a hundred years old, yet he didn¡¯t have a proper disciple he could call his sessor. Of course some people inquired. Problem was, finding someone on the mountain who could understand the things he said was one tall order.

    What got on the nerves of everyone was the attitude of the brat who¡¯d likely never ventured more than a few kilometres outside his vige. Whenever he opened his mouth, he¡¯d use profanity, saying things such as, ¡°The hell you looking at?¡± or ¡°Call the old fart over. I¡¯m going to p his head the other way.¡± Mount Daluo¡¯s members suffered defeat after defeat when they attempted to fire back. Thus, the boy became an unwanted gue.

    Following five days of free reign, the boy showed up in Hero Shenzhou¡¯s study to yell, ¡°Old Fart, I just found out you¡¯re a legend in the martial artsmunity and Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch, yet you¡¯re picking on poor little me! Do you have any shame?!¡±

    No matter how you slice it, a kid not even ten years old shouldn¡¯t be able to escape be able to escape confinement, figure out where they were and who their ¡°abductor¡± was.

    Hero Shenzhou didn¡¯t even look up or say a word. Instead, he threw a big key over, then went back to sleep. Ming Huayu¡¯s biggest pet peeve was Hero Shenzhou¡¯s refusal to do something a man could understand - ironic, since he was arguably more entric.

    It didn¡¯t take Ming Huayu long to find out the key was for the main door of Mount Daluo¡¯s library. For the next ten years, besides the maids who delivered food, nobody saw him again. Upon resurfacing, he defeated dozens of top branch disciples using direct disciples¡¯ skills. Thest time someone not part of the sect managed to get in was decades ago. Had Hero Shenzhou not been around to quell his riot, Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation would¡¯ve been forfeited to his record.

    Learning Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines reserved for direct disciples - and mastering them to an advanced degree - would incur the capital punishment. Howbeit, when the disciples fettered him to an iron cross and prepared to cripple him, Hero Shenzhou dered, ¡°Henceforward, Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak shall be his. Let him train there.¡±

    If their patriarch wasn¡¯t the greatest fighter in the world, as well as a legend with many aplishments to his name, the disciples would¡¯ve called him out for being senile. After all, only direct disciples were allowed to be on Stirring Dreams Rainy Peak; Ming Huayu was only a step away from being announced Hero Shenzhou¡¯s sessor.

    Hero Shenzhou wrinkled his nose as though the disciples should¡¯ve known better and stroked his beard. ¡°Didn¡¯t I mention he¡¯s my private disciple?¡±

    Later on, everyone was d Mount Daluo had a sessor. That said, they say Mount Daluo¡¯s current patriarch forcibly ¡°learnt¡± Daluo Five Divine Styles Manual.

    Ming Huayu didn¡¯t have any basics or a coach when he started training. He was different to prodigies who were born with an instinct for martial arts, who then leveraged that to forge themselves into adepts. He was the sort of man who lived at extremes. When it came to martial arts, everything just clicked for him. He¡¯d pick up on intricate techniques or internal energy training methods in one go. For him, they were just supposed to make sense. If he were to watch a duel, his brain would ount for their attitude, their mind, the time, the weather, the terrain and whatnot, providing him with almost infinite information to leverage.

    Although Ming Huayu¡¯s six disciples all proved themselves to be extraordinary in their own ways, none of them resembled him. There was only one person who truly understood his style.

    ¡°Overarching Heaven!¡± Feng Xue eximed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Mount Daluo be plunged into chaos if you left the mountain with it?¡±

    Ming Suwen dimpled. ¡°If it is plunged into chaos, then so be it. Last time I checked, Mount Daluo has never followed the norms of so-called orthodox sects. Actually, has Mount Daluo not always been an embodiment of chaos?¡±

    The only person to understand Ming Huayu¡¯s style also thought so simrly to him that Feng Xue felt he was chatting with his friend.

    As Ming Suwen took aim at Wazi¡¯s throat, her qi transformed her sword into a white firefly. The qi along her sword gradually expanded as though she wasmandeering thousands of swords,pelling Wazi to don its lightning armour. She continued to umte more and more energy, deciding that her first attack would also be herst.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Though Ming Suwen learnt her swordy from Hero Shenzhou, the depth of his knowledge meant that it was highly probable for the student to inject their own personality into it. For instance, Ming Huayu would execute it with devastating power. Sima Huai would execute it in an unpredictable fashion. Hong Jiu would execute it with overwhelming violence and power. Ming Feizhen would literally recreate it into something else. Lian Zhuiyue would be the only one to execute it in a way that was analogous to Hero Shenzhou¡¯s version.

    Ming Suwen followed Ming Huayu¡¯s style. To stress again, Ming Huayu lived life at extremes, and he didn¡¯t follow norms. The same applied for his swordy. When Ming Huayu fought, he went for the finish right away.

    One swing. One golden sh. One trail of jiao blood.

 Volume 11 96 Tough to Trap Dragonâ€™s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 96 Tough to Trap Dragon¡¯s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 3)</h4>

    Only post-sh did Feng Xue notice the anxiety on Ming Suwen¡¯s face. She knew what the dire consequences of failing to kill Pangu¡¯s sons were. If she couldn¡¯t shave off the evil beasts¡¯ forces fast, then they¡¯d be forced to fight a protracted battle. Feng Xue kept that in the back of his mind at all times; however, his speciality wasn¡¯t offence. Plus, he didn¡¯t have a weapon that could prate their bodies.

    The hurt jiao threw itself at Ming Suwen to bite, but she cloned herself once, then twice, confusing Wazi. To ovee the problem, Wazi unleashed an omnidirectional spurt of lightning. As the sts closed in on their targets, Wazi expanded their radiuses at thest second to obliterate everything, including the woman who gashed its neck open.

    Feng Xue had to pull Hong Jiu and Ming Xiaolou out of the st radius since they were too slow - unlike Sima Huai. Ming Suwen had been demonstrating excellent speed as ofte, yet she grimaced and lost velocity once she evaded the closest st. She expended a lot of energy in her thrust and then used her cloning technique immediately after, but Wazi didn¡¯t have mercy for her.

    A silhouette flitted through the lightning and shockwaves. Instead of looking at the silhouette, Feng Xue looked a few metres beside him and praised, ¡°Splendid movements.¡±

    The refined man standing beside Feng Xue subtly bowed to him. To have rescued Ming Suwen from that pinch, the man demonstrated advanced internal strength, guts and superb qinggong. Even if he hadn¡¯t reached Divine Realm, he would rival those on the cusp of ascension.

    Feng Xue, uponparing the bitter expression and movements he saw, questioned, ¡°May this one ask if you are the self-proimed secluded one of Nine Nethers, Boundless Resident?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, that is correct. It is this one¡¯s pleasure to meet you.¡±

    Feng Xue had no idea how the group entered Nieyao, but judging from how he protected Ming Suwen, Feng Xue decided to put it down to some strings Ming Feizhen pulled. Thus, he offered up a salute of his own. ¡°I have heard League of Assassins is home to talent, but I never thought even Master Ku is more masterful than the rumours say. Those steps back there were marvellous.¡±

    ¡°It is an honour to receive such high praise from you.¡±

    The calmed jiao¡¯sborious breathing indicated that its stamina was waning. Ming Suwen did manage to cut an inch deep around its neck¡¯s circumference, after all. If the one she shed wasn¡¯t a cmitous beast, Wazi would be on the brink of death. Wazi had only lost a minor amount of strength. Nheless, it was the biggest step toward victory against Wazi at present.

    Ming Suwen sat down to recover, while Ming Xiaolou used the same internal energy style to supplement the former¡¯s recovery.

    Hong Jiu, Sima Huai and Feng Xue watched the jiao prone on the ground closely. The jiao had been dragged into deep waters. From here on out, it was going to be an uphill battle.

    Ming Suwen drew her brows in: What happened on Sixth¡¯s end? Why has the formation been defused?

    ***

    Moyan Luohou ensured the cut on Chichen¡¯s head would keep leaking blood. To aplish that, he¡¯d get in and then disengage. Abels couldn¡¯t determine how much of Moyan Luohou¡¯s full skills he had seen from the performance because every subsequent sh was more powerful than thest. At the rate Moyan Luohou was going, he might just have overpowered the violent python.

    Moyan Luohou¡¯s breathing was so steady that it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say he was still warming up. Even without Abels defending and checking Chichen, maybe Moyan Luohou could¡¯ve soloed the python if one were to watch Moyan Luohou¡¯s timing.

    Perhaps Chichen was more bewildered than Abels as, besides Chichen gaining more strength, nothing had changed in regards to the tides of battle. The scariest thing for Chichen was thinking about how its toughest body part was being chipped away. If the tables didn¡¯t turn, it was en route to the afterlife. Chichen had replenished its lost flesh and blood five times, granting it more strength each time, yet Moyan Luohou¡¯s strength scaled along with it. Despite being equipped with molten armour, Chichen couldn¡¯t keep the cut on it skull closed for Moyan Luohou would find a way to strike the same spot again and again.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Moyan Luohou wasn¡¯t just hacking and praying for the best. The evil beasts were blessed with no sense of fear as well as bodies that were borderline perfect. Although Chichen¡¯s body virtually had no weakness, there was one weakness it couldn¡¯t hide - its mind. The reason Moyan Luohou systematically aimed for Chichen¡¯s sturdiest spot was to crush Chichen¡¯s confidence. Just because Chichen healed its wounds, it didn¡¯t mean it could erase the pain. Simrly, the confidence Moyan Luohou shaved away didn¡¯te back. Healing, only to have the same spot cut open again, instilled fear of Moyan Luohou. Moyan Luohou¡¯s specialty always was finding his opponent¡¯s weakness.

    Moyan Luohou opened his eyes and tightened his hold once again.

 Volume 11 97 Tough to Trap Dragonâ€™s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 97 Tough to Trap Dragon¡¯s Son. Overarching Heaven. (Part 4)</h4>

    It¡¯s hot. It hurts. It¡¯s dark. It¡¯s red. Every inch¡­ is red. It hurts. It hurts. Who¡­ Who is trying to kill me?

    I couldn¡¯t figure out the source of my pain, but I could feel the pain saturating every nook and cranny of my body. My senses couldn¡¯t handle it all because there was too much to process. All I remembered was seeing my scowling face reflected in a beast¡¯s eyes before I passed out.

    It felt as though snakes were biting their way up from my fingers, as though tigers were gouging out my intestines, as though a gori had crushed my bones¡­ I didn¡¯t see death after all the pain, though. I saw her.

    Who is she? I should remember. Why are my memories so vague? Who is she?

    I couldn¡¯t avert my gaze when she was so adorable. The way she smiled was simr to a maiden on her wedding day.

    I was smiling when I saw blood stter.

    St-stop! Don¡¯t! Stop! Stop! I said, stop!

    Upon opening my eyes after death, it urred to me that I didn¡¯t need to stop it - not that I needed to - for it was already in the past.

    Ha, haha¡­

    The emptiness in my heart hurt far more than the pain invading me.

    Fools. You want to kill me? Do it. Make it snappy. Snappier. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll kill you. What a crazy, stupid world.

    The other stuff I recalled was blood-like red, visibly, touch-wise and even smell. There was too much for me to calcte the volume, but it didn¡¯t change the reality that we mutually absorbed each other. My limbs were deprived of energy, so all I could do was desperately suck in the blood flooding my nose and mouth.

    I had no idea how long I swallowed blood for. I regained self-awareness, nheless. I felt heavy and bloody hot. I espied a chiselled maroon body, hair syed and face decayed. The only thing that I could make out possible was a fanging down from the left side of their mouth. When he opened his mouth, I saw two rows of pointy teeth.

    Ah, I get it now¡­ I¡¯ve be a monster.

    ***

    A dragon¡¯s son was still a fierce opponent even if it was disadvantaged. Even without help, blood and essence replenishment, Chichen was still strong enough to put up a fight. The evil beasts didn¡¯t get incapacitated just because they were hurt bad, and assuming you had immobilised them would be a fatal mistake. Even with Moyan Luohou¡¯s safe game n, it took them three hours to end Chichen.

    Moyan Luohou caught Chichen¡¯s skull again, prompting Chichen to thrash around. Moyan Luohou methodically evaded and then cracked Chichen three times again, stopping Chichen. Moyan Luohou subsequently returned to his original spot, then took his time wiping his de down with a long piece of cloth.

    Besides restraining Chichen, Abels had only been spectating; that was not to say he had it easy because he was virtually stopping attacks head on with Evil Eminence Powerfield. If he had topare, the difference between that and blocking with his own limbs would be so minimal that it he wouldn¡¯t be able to tell which was tougher.

    In terms of brute strength, Chichen was a notch above Abels after regaining his violent character. The reason Abels could defend was owed to himbining hard blocks and redirects. In other words, he¡¯d redirect as much as tenable, then absorb the remainder. Even with his stamina, he was bound to be drained by the time they were done.

    ¡°Fantastic. I have grown stronger,¡± Moyan Luohou said out of nowhere as he continued cleaning his de.

    Abels: Huh? This fight has helped him advance further while I¡¯m like an idiot, resigning myself to death for this fate?

    ¡°Not exactly,¡± Moyan Luohou stated. ¡°Firstly, I don¡¯t understand what you are thinking, but your expressions are easy to understand.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Abels rubbed his face.

    ¡°Second, without your Evil Eminence Powerfield, it is impossible to win this fight.¡±

    ¡°From my perspective, you seem to be capable enough to y it on your own.¡±

    Moyan Luohou bobbed his head. ¡°One on one, I certainly could kill it. Howbeit, if I don¡¯t lose an arm or a leg, I will need more than three years to recover fully. As the patriarch of Moyan n, I cannot act carelessly. Following that, I can¡¯t waste three years. If that is what ites down to, I will not partake. Had Mr. Ming not promised you would participate, I would not be here.¡±

    He could seriously y this thing on his own? He¡¯s a monster himself¡­

    ¡°You need not fret. I am almost thirty years older than you, so it is understandable for my technique to be more polished. Additionally, as a resident of Nanjiang, ying beasts is part of life. You will surpass this old one with time. You need not belittle yourself.¡±

    Th-this freak can seriously read minds?!

    Abels deployed a nod to indicate he heard Moyan Luohou, but he noticed thetter¡¯s stern expression: No way. He could hear me call him a freak?

    ¡°Something¡¯s amiss. Retreat!¡±

    Abels caught a glimpse of red smoke whisking out from Chichen¡¯s body. Regardless of whether that was a normal phenomenon when they died, it was clearly a toxic gas, and they couldn¡¯t go wrong avoiding it. On his way out, though, Abels¡¯ intuition warned him against running. Hence, he expanded the circumference of Evil Eminence Powerfield to disperse the poisonous smoke whilst gripping Sea Deer Hunter to resist the poison.

    Chichen¡¯s corpse didn¡¯t mutate or anything. At the end of the smoke, however, was an unconscious individual who looked as if he had his blood sucked out of him.

    Abels blurted, ¡°Hero Lian?¡±

 Volume 11 98 If the Monster isnâ€™t Slain, Beasts Will Reign (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 98 If the Monster isn¡¯t in, Beasts Will Reign (Part 1)</h4>

    ¡°Hero Lian!¡± Abels experience told him not to get close when anything could happen right now, in a ce he was unfamiliar with and since the scene followed the release of a toxic gas.

    Abels took a step back, then gently raised his hand, lifting Lian Zhuiyue up using a makeshift qi stretcher. Chichen¡¯s corpse didn¡¯t show any bizarre signs as he brought Lian Zhuiyue over, but an absence of a reaction didn¡¯t exin the smoke.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Though he was still alive, Lian Zhuiyue was in a bad, very bad, condition. He had no less than forty wounds on him from possibly fangs or ws, but the worst one was the one at his chest, which was the product of tremendous blunt trauma. Possibly, the enemy took advantage of an unsettled situation to break his sternum. Visibly, it was impossible to determine who or what inflicted the wound, or how they inflicted the wound. No martial arts internal disciplines came to mind, while the mark left behind couldn¡¯t have belonged to a fist, palm, fingers or ws. If one of Six Evils somehow learnt martial arts, then maybe it was how the wound came to be. That being said, the conjecture was outrageous.

    Judging from the damage, Lian Zhuiyue would¡¯ve perished had he not utilised Empty Palms to reduce the force of the attack. He had his training, Orthodox Realm internal style and solid foundations to thank, too. Nheless, he was barely breathing.

    Abels opined, ¡°To think Mount Daluo¡¯s Castoff could be so incredible. The rumours don¡¯t do it justice.¡± He ced Ocean Deer Hunter onto Lian Zhuiyue to prevent thetter¡¯s condition worsening whilst he lent the renowned swordsman some true qi. On top of that, Sea Deer Hunter would also allow Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s system to repair itself.

    Though Abels managed to save Lian Zhuiyue, an important question remained: who was the culprit? In the event that it was the wild beasts in Nieyao, who brought Lian Zhuiyue over all the way from the Dragon-ying Formation. The formation and their battleground were too far away for it to be written off as pure coincidence. In addition, it was in obvious that whoever brought him over wanted the duo to find him.

    Given Lian Zhuiyue wasn¡¯t even among the A-rank lineup, the only motivation they could have for attacking was to sabotage the formation, which would exin Chichen¡¯s sudden power up.

    Abels was d to see Lian Zhuiyue looking better because, knowing how tight-knitted Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples were, they could very well scrap the entire n for Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s sake. Any more chaos than there already was in Nieyao would be overkill.

    Moyan Luohou started churning out massive amounts of qi for some reason, infusing it into his de after he finished wiping it. The reason Abels didn¡¯t detect anything before was due to Moyan Luohou moulding qi and imbuing it into his weapon in one go. Without so much as a word, Moyan Luohou cut Chichen into four.

    Abels: Gee, someone¡¯s mad.

    Abels pulled his brows together a second prior to Moyan Luohou sheathing his weapon and hollering, ¡°Come out. No matter how you try to conceal your presence, I can see you.¡±

    Since the one hiding refused to show themselves despite Moyan Luohou patiently waiting, he decided to swing.

    Following a beast howl, heavy and rhythmic steps suggesting a four-legged animal encroached. A ck silhouetteparable to the size of an ape jumped out from Chichen¡¯s body. At first, Abels assumed his opponent was a beast, but it got up on its hind legs, had no fur, no scales and punched. Abels, marginalising his opponent, raised his arm to block with only 30% output. To his shock, the punch sent him skidding back, at least, ten normal steps.

    The tall opponent bound forward to put the pressure on Abels. The big punch was over an inch away from Abels¡¯ chest, and one inch a fight was a big deal.

    ¡°Have you any idea who you¡¯ve challenged?¡± Abels redirected the punch¡¯s force with his blue field, then closed the gap without any resistance. He smashed a knife-hand strike onto his opponent¡¯s spine, then lifted his opponent up to hurl away. ¡°You can smell my location. Still, you can¡¯t be precise in your attack, and that¡¯s a fatal weakness.¡±

    Eclipse could be used to veil Divine Realm adepts¡¯ presence visibly and audibly at the basic level. At the advanced level, they could erase themselves from the knowledge base of their opponent, rendering the opponent puzzled. Thus, fighting Divine Realm adepts casting Eclipse was analogous to fighting them blindfolded. Just because this beast had sharper eyes, didn¡¯t mean it was an exception.

    Instead of shocking his opponent, Abels was startled when he had the upper hand. The monster had maroon muscles that were stretched as though they were barely containing the energy within. There was no telling if the innumerable wounds across its body were snake bite marks, insect bite marks or whatever; it appeared as though there were bugs crawling underneath its skin. Its eyes were¡­ some sort of snake¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°What the hell¡­?¡±

 Volume 11 99 If the Monster isnâ€™t Slain, Beasts Will Reign (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 99 If the Monster isn¡¯t in, Beasts Will Reign (Part 2)</h4>

    Whether it was the skin colour, bulging muscle bellies, left fang sticking out from the left upper jaw or split cheeks that made its mouth resemble a crocodile mouth, none of it helped ssify its race. One thing that Abels couldn¡¯t get his mind off was why the snake eyes showed human emotion.

    ¡°What the hell are you?¡± Abels quietly uttered. He looked to Moyan Luohou, who just looked on, and folded his arms. ¡°He came out from the dragon¡¯s son¡¯s belly, so¡­ does that mean it¡¯s the dragon¡¯s grandson?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Absolutely not,¡± asserted Moyan Luohou, confident in his assessment for whatever reason.

    Abels found the monster still alive and kicking despite him having snapped its spine. He was musing whether he should deliver an extra blow for safe measure when the beast looked up and opened its mouth to roar. Droplets of blood flew out at Abels as though its mouth was an imploding blood bomb.

    The feral smell of the blood was identical to the red mist prior and toxic. That said, this was more toxic than the red mist, causing Abels to instinctively cover his mouth.

    The monster on the ground ignored its own injuries to take down its prey, and it would¡¯ve seen sess if its opponent wasn¡¯t Abels. Abels coated himself in blue energy seven centimetres thick, decelerating the monster trying to sink its teeth into him. Subsequent to flicking the monster a gander, Abels sent the monster recoiling with its own force. As he watched the monster roll around, mouring on the ground, he remarked, ¡°Looks like¡­ you do have human nature in you.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Not even Chichen yed possum. Moyan Luohou suspected as much, but he never said anything for he wanted confirmation.

    ¡°Elder, can you now tell me why he is not the dragon¡¯s grandson?¡±

    ¡°¡­While it dide from Chichen¡¯s belly, it was only in there afterwards; it sneaked in after Chichen¡¯s fall. I wasn¡¯t certain initially due to the red mist¡¯s obstruction, but I can now say that the source of the red smoke was this monster after watching it attack.¡±

    It sneaked in and used Hero Lian as bait? The more answers I get, the more questions crop up.

    The stench of a beast from afar headed their way at high velocity grazed Abels¡¯ nose. In the distance, he caught a glimpse of roiling dust behind no less than a hundred hostile beasts marching over. Reasoning it couldn¡¯t have been the work of Chichen - since Chichen never summoned reinforcements - Abels spected the unidentifiable monster called the horde over with hisst howl.

    ¡°Bodhi Abels, get back.¡±

    Abels bound back on instinct. A fist rearranged the spot Abels stood in a moment ago. The monster belted as it started swinging more violently than before. Even though Abels could still evade, block or parry the attacks, he couldn¡¯t believe the monster had recovered its usual speed already when he snapped its spine. Barely minutes had passed, yet it already recovered?

    Most iprehensible, though, was the green energy sh Moyan Luohou unleashed from a good hundred metres away that sliced the monster¡¯s right arm off its shoulder girdle.

    The monster rolled away, screaming in anger and pain. Abels was going to deliver the finishing touch when he heard, ¡°Divine Realm adepts really are in a different league,¡± prompting him to stop.

    ¡°You can speak?!¡±

    The slow and deep rasp came from none other than the one on the ground.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat you two yet. I shall let you enjoy your miserable lives a little longer.¡±

    The monster took its severed arm and munched away. It wouldn¡¯t be so surprising if an animal did it, but the monster clearly had enough rationality to be cognisant of what it was doing. Abels and Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t need to wonder why the monster would eat its severed arm as, following heavy breathing and a grim expression, it sprouted a new pink arm as muscr as before.

    By the time Abels refocused on his surroundings, the iing beasts were already within view. He uncorked a punch with just 30% of his strength, expecting to stter the monster in front before it could do anything else, yet it demonstrated the ability to evade no differently to humans who¡¯d learnt martial arts.

    ¡°Here¡¯s a gift for you.¡± The monster chambered its arms as it turned and then uncorked dual palm strikes,unching fire from its hands.

    Of course Abels would recognise the mes Chichen was incinerating things with not long ago.

    Since Abels was distracted, the monster took the opportunity to leap into the horde of beasts to flee. As much as Abels wanted to give chase, he had to deal with the animals around.

    Likewise, Moyan Luohou knew where his prioritiesid. Even so, he couldn¡¯t take his mind off the monster¡¯s voice. Despite the different appearance, the tone of the monster reminded him of someone. ¡°Could that be¡­¡±

 Volume 11 100 The Nightmare Commences. Web Spun in the Dark.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 100 The Nightmare Commences. Web Spun in the Dark.</h4>

    Expecting to outrun two Divine Realm adepts when you weren¡¯t one yourself was suspending reality. The monster running through Nieyao used alleys, roofs, blockades and secret paths without needing to think topensate for itsck of speed, only stopping once it reached the interior of a dark building and could no longer sense Abels or Moyan Luohou¡¯s presence.

    The monster spawned mes on its hands so that it could view its demented reflection in the water pooled on the ground. ¡°Moyan Luohou recognised me, didn¡¯t he¡­?¡± To say he had no issues with his appearance would be lying, but he enjoyed it more than he thought he would. Perhaps being recognisable with its appearance was something to celebrate - To Gewu, that was.

    Merely thinking back on what had transpired hours ago lit a fire in his chest. The defeat at Feng Xue¡¯s hand and the humiliation Ming Feizhen subjected Gewu too broke the camel¡¯s back.

    Although Sky Pce did put Gewu in an authoritative and influential position, he had to work for the majority of what he had. Nieyao, soldiers, the four sons of Pangu¡­ all of them were things he earned. Nieyao existed from the beginning. He established his army over the years. Pangu¡¯s sons were born in Nieyao, so they weren¡¯t a gift from Sky Pce.

    Sky Pce gave him the blueprint for how to exert his power, but they didn¡¯t provide him with the power. While Sky Pce supplied the taming techniques Le Kuangnu employed and the Celestial Sphere Compass Technique Gewu learnt, Sky Pce let their individual efforts dictate how far they got.

    Celestial Sphere Compass Technique, a discipline that wasn¡¯t a coveted or advanced discipline among Sky Pce¡¯s disciplines, relied on absorbing blood and essence to enhance one¡¯s physical attributes and, under certain conditions, reverse aging. The fact that Gewu¡¯s internal energy never stood out despite taking innumerable lives over decades demonstrated the painful limit of its heightening property. Besides Gewu¡¯s own interests spurring him to take it in a direction not taught, Ming Feizhen was his other motivation.

    The way Ming Feizhen inserted a plethora of qi needles into Gewu¡¯s body prior to exerting force transformed those qi needles into cutting tools; imagine it as thousands of small des cutting off all the paths that true qi flowed along. Regardless of how potent one¡¯s internal energy in their reservoir is, it was useless if it couldn¡¯t be transferred to where it could be used, just as an arrow was useless if it couldn¡¯t be loaded onto a bow. In this case, internal energy would gradually be lost due to inactivity, and there was no means of replenishing it. To even do what Ming Feizhen did without killing Gewu was a feat close to impossible.

    Nobody could predict how those Gewu mistreated would treat him after he was crippled. By extension, nobody could predict how his subordinates would treat him once he was useless. Ming Feizhen wanted him to suffer what he made others suffer as punishment.

    Vexed, Gewu¡¯s wrathful traitpelled him to break the bottle of Baidizi¡¯s blood to absorb. With Celestial Sphere Compass Technique, absorbing dozens of people¡¯s blood simultaneously was possible, so a single bottle of blood was easy. However, that was precisely what led to the insane oue.

    Suffice to say, Gewu had considered what the consequences of humans rejecting dragon blood would be, but he didn¡¯t expect to feel as though he¡¯d be torn apart, not in the sense that his body would be ripped but in the sense that he could feel the pain was in every muscle fibre. Thanks to Ming Feizhen crippling him, he couldn¡¯t even use his strength to assuage the pain. Instead of power, all he felt was pain that had him writhing on the ground.

    When a soldier came back to ry a message and saw Gewu, he just stood back and watched for a good while before calling out. As per Ming Feizhen¡¯s prediction, the elder who couldn¡¯t speak or resist was thrown into the horde of beasts, destroying whatever rationality he had left.

    The beasts feasted on Gewu without exhibiting any notion of sharing with the others. It was when he had one foot in the coffin that the dragon blood granted him new motivation, one that drove him towards the consumption of blood. He started biting back at the beasts without much awareness even more bellicosely than them. What¡¯s more, the smell of Baidizi¡¯s blood deterred them from resisting, making it easier for him to absorb their blood and essence. By the time he came to, he had be a full-fledged monster.

    Gewu¡¯s transformation cleared a lot of clutter from his brain, though that only made what little time he had in his new body more pronounced. Hence, he lugged his exhausted body to a bigger reservoir of blood - Baidizi.

    Baidizi¡¯s corpse was left on the ground, making it the best product for Gewu under his circumstances. Its blood rendered him euphoric, erged his body, boosted his strength and even granted its special ability tomand beasts. The special abilities relied on blood instead of internal energy to operate, which was why he could employ them and suited his needs.

    Gewu subsequently went to jump Lian Zhuiyie and dismantle Dragon-ying Formation. Using the uproar as a veil, he then went to absorb Chichen¡¯s blood and essence.

    Gewu¡¯s body continued to mutate rapidly as he ran about; pain and blood apanied every exhale, although his body was fortified each time. Every mutation moved him farther and farther along the journey of evolving into a ¡°monster¡±.

    Gewu was in no worry notwithstanding him still being no match for Divine Realm adepts. After all, what could possibly be more despairing for him at this point? Blood was the only thing that granted him peace of mind.

    Gewu still had two more targets.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Volume 11 101 Iâ€™m Not Retreating (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 101 I¡¯m Not Retreating (Part 1)</h4>

    Wazi¡¯s lightning bolts from above dismantled the formations that those beneath it formed, preventing them from turning the tides despite their increasing numbers. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising since the evil beasts had a knack for eliciting disappointment when their enemies felt they were gaining ground. Whenever they felt they were about to gain the upper hand, Wazi would crack Hong Jiu on the arms. When Moyan Changping tried to assist, Wazi smashed into Moyan Changping¡¯s lower back with its mouth, flooring him. They only had to make one blunder for Wazi to annihte them all.

    ¡°Get back!¡±

    Fast reactors managed to escape being zapped, while those who heard Feng Xue but couldn¡¯t react in time were ashes before they could groan. Feng Xue didn¡¯t want to leave hisrades for dead. Sadly, he wasn¡¯t omnipotent.

    The legendary symbol of dragons was linked to their special abilities. Given Divine Realm adepts couldn¡¯t withstand lightning sts without Enlightenment buffing them, one could only imagine the destructive force of a lightning st that a real dragon fired. As such, Feng Xue couldn¡¯t help worrying about Ming Feizhen, who they hadn¡¯t heard from.

    While the imperial court and Luo n¡¯s warriors were ying mutated beasts, the teams from the other battlefields made their way over to support Feng Xue. In their minds, this was meant to be thest boss and thest battle.

    Seeing as Feng Xue had the most experience fighting Wazi, everyone naturally let Feng Xuemand them. Although his onlymand, ¡°evade,¡± sounded simple on paper, they realised how difficult it was in no time. Evasion was only called evasion once you used offence to inhibit, reduce the zone the opponent can move, then predict movements in that small space to select the safest path among those possibilities. The only way to score an ¡°A+¡± was to demonstrate the ability to get out of the way whilst continuing to deal damage.

    Notwithstanding his arm injuries, Hong Jiu was able to absorb the damage whenever Wazi sted him upward. Moyan Changping used his visual prowess to identify the only means ofnding hits on Wazi so that he couldnd a sh of his own. Sima Huai was deft enough to rescue two stragglers while he was evading. That said, he¡¯dnd right where the lightning would strike because he couldn¡¯t read Wazi¡¯s attack patterns. Had he not been Sima Huai, he would¡¯ve been caught already.

    Master Ku, standing beside Ming Suwen, who was trying to recover, showed no intention of contributing anything besides watching over her.

    Even though Feng Xue could continue his in-and-out strategy, it was concerning for the reason that nothing had changed over the course of his two hour fight with Wazi.

    After Wazi¡¯s violent temperament was unshackled, it was roaring at the vanguard if not gobbling the nearest person. If that was the extent of it, then life wouldn¡¯t be so hard. The biggest problem was its upgraded mind. Wazi now monitored the casualties, injuries and activity on the battlefield. Apart from using its lightning to nurse its injuries whilst defending and attacking, it even hinted it¡¯d leave the battlefield.

    The only good news for them was that Wazi couldn¡¯t heal the gash wound Ming Suwen inflicted. Nheless, Pangu¡¯s sons had plenty of stamina to torture them if they fancied it. With their current numbers, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say they¡¯d need ten to fourteen days to take Wazi down. Simply increasing their numbers without care for quality would only be feeding the enemy.

    Without Dragon-ying Formation¡¯s inhibition, Wazi¡¯s behaviour had also evolved. It was rming for their casualties to be pretty much the same every time he attacked. Given they were trained warriors, they should¡¯ve been able to glean something from each attack. Furthermore, knowledge attained in a war zone was usually etched in deeply. In turn, those who made it past the first strike should have an easier time avoiding the second strike. Those who made it past the second strike should have an easier time avoiding the third strike and so forth. Since their casualty rate was fairly consistent, it could only mean Wazi was also making adjustments. In other words, Wazi was gradually dictating the oue.

    Ever since it learned of human nature¡¯s existence, Wazi couldn¡¯t study the influx of information, particrly considering the number of people joining, for analysing it would take away from his other processes. Otherwise, Ming Suwen wouldn¡¯t have dealt a heavy blow so easily. Thanks to the dragged-out battle, nevertheless, Wazi had time to make sense of human actions, expressions and emotions. Save for the likes of Hong Jiu, feints and other tactics had be unproductive against Wazi¡¯s intelligence. At this stage of the battle, Wazi had grown bored just as magic tricks lost their shine once their mechanisms were revealed.

    Following a lightning bolt, Wazi snatched up a Moyan n¡¯s disciple, then masticated sonorously. Wazi had never been this calm before; until now, it hadn¡¯t taken a life so proficiently. Wazi was no longer just a beast but a beast that had suddenly learnt martial arts - or you could say it had understood how humankind¡¯s martial arts worked.

    The fear that Wazi could sense permeating the air was pure ecstasy.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 11 102 Iâ€™m Not Retreating (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 102 I¡¯m Not Retreating (Part 2)</h4>

    Disorder can promote more disorder. To begin with, there weren¡¯t many warriors who could give Wazi a challenge. Therefore, once he began devouring the weak ones, ge discovered the ones who could give him trouble would go to the aid of the weak. Sima Huai was first to demonstrate the point. Moyan Changping proved it wasn¡¯t a one-off event when he rescued his n members. Identifying a pattern, when his foes went to save theirrades, Wazi would jump them.

    Feng Xue, touching base with the emotions thate as part of the role as amander, never took his eyes off Wazi whilstmanding the others. What made Wazi most dangerous wasn¡¯t his lightning ability or aggression but his thinking. Wazi hunted those who underestimated him, and Feng Xue knew that first hand. The memory that shed before his eyes for a fleeting moment reminded him of a beautiful city he was once part of.

    Luoyang¡¯s Feng n was famous for their immense wealth and stable ofpetent descendants since the previous dynasty. They had been linked to those in the political arena for more than one generation, which was why their influence rivalled the Seven Champion White Princes despite not being conferred the title themselves.

    Patriarch Feng Jia, although respected in all of Luoyang for his swordy, was now close to eighty years of age, but nobody would try to see if he was still as formidable as he was in his youth because they wouldn¡¯t want to risk their neck getting past his attendants. His wits deserved to be celebrated as much as his skill with a sword for he had pushed his n to an all-time high. In addition, despite all the factions and machinations in the imperial court, nobody could tempt him to their side, yet nobody wouldy a hand on them. In fact, he didn¡¯t even bother interacting much with his nephew-inw. They didn¡¯t call him Iron-Face Gentleman for nothing.

    Although Feng Xue¡¯s mother wasn¡¯t even officially Feng Jia¡¯s wife or even considered a concubine - she was just his main wife¡¯s maid - he was Feng Jia¡¯s oldest son. His mother was pregnant with him before Feng Jia¡¯s main wife was pregnant, and the doctor even told them she had a boy. Sadly, the term ¡°gaudy¡± was never something they had the privilege of enjoying.

    Feng Xue - real name Feng Jie - wasn¡¯t attached to Feng n in a good way. His father also had his brows knitted whenever they met. Feng Jia considered his son to be a blemish on his perfect life. Naturally, they hardly spoke. His brothers didn¡¯t treat him any better.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The stereotypical young master temperament was one Feng Jie didn¡¯t associate with, while his desire to be free and about in the martial world wasn¡¯t typically a primary goal for young masters of made ns. The prim white robes, expensive mount, decked out sword, jade, gold and silver jewellery¡­ wasn¡¯t the real Feng Jie. If it were up to him, he¡¯d rece all those items with a jug of wine he¡¯d drink the majority of, and he¡¯d rece his horse with a camel. Instead of walking around with decorum, he¡¯d have rather drank until he had to puke, pass out, then wake up and eat. If you imagined a typical drunkard, you might be imagining him.

    The son of a mistress, much less just a maid the patriarch decided to take fancy to for a while, should never have had any prerogative to inherit the patriarch seat, but Feng Jie shone too bright for anyone to miss in an era where might was highly regarded.

    Feng Jia never saw any hope for Feng Jie as a martial artist. Little did he know, his son learnt everything on his first try. There was no such thing as a weapon Feng Jie wasn¡¯t good at. When he heard, ¡°Brother Jie never loses in fights,¡± or ¡°King of Kids¡±, he just brushed it off. How was a kid who never learnt martial arts supposed to be King of Kids among Feng n¡¯s kids? Did being a little taller than average suddenly make you an invincible fighter?

    To say Feng Jie just had a knack for martial arts would be downying his efforts because he¡¯d invest eight hours when others invested two. When talent meets hard work, ¡°magic¡± is produced. Feng Jia only realised he had been underestimating his son when Feng Jie beat all four of his brothers simultaneously at twelve years of age. Subsequently, Feng Jia penned a letter and had Feng Jie set off for the east coast, where he was supposed to undertake training from an old friend.

    As a swordsman who practiced a refined swordy, it wasn¡¯t surprising Feng Jia wanted his son to follow his path. In saying that, he hadn¡¯t changed his mind about Feng Xue. His motivation for sending Feng Xue off to train was so that Feng Xue could be his younger brother¡¯s shield and sword in the future.

    Feng Jie, then eighteen, happened to return when Luoyang¡¯s Grand Martial Arts Tournament was being held for all the youths of Luoyang. Feng n started off with a massive loss. Then, even the one called their prodigy, sixteen year old Feng Hang, suffered a defeat. Feng n¡¯s elders were all miserable when Feng Jie grabbed a broom lying around, went in the ring and put out the lights of the chubby young man who demolished Feng n. Feng Jie then went on to defeat seventeen more opponents. Most impressive, nevertheless, was the fact that he didn¡¯t even break a sweat. At this point, Feng Jia realised he had sunk his own ship.

    Feng Jie¡¯s sense of justice, loyalty, honour and affable demeanour maised people toward him, increasing his influence within the n, as well. When he began life as an adventurer, he spread his fame without going out of his way to. ordingly, he became a walking billboard for Feng n. Everyone outside the n believed he would lead Feng n in the future, unaware leadership would be passed to Feng Jia¡¯s second eldest son.

    ¡°Why should you get to inherit the reins? Just because you¡¯re the main wife¡¯s son?¡± Feng Jia¡¯s second son could seemingly hear people saying when he ventured out of the estate. Jealousy breeds hatred. In the end, he decided to nip the problem in the bud. He had Feng Jie and his father¡¯s concubine meet up, then stormed in on their ¡°tryst¡± with his nsmen to catch Feng Jie in the act. To protect their reputation, Feng n would have to exile Feng Jie. It was perfect - on paper, at least.

    At first, Feng Xue was confused. Uponing around, heughed in the scowl of his brother and cronies who made up his faction in the n. Sure, they were breathing a little hard since they had to rush to the scene before Feng Xue left, but heughed so hard it seemed he was the one who caught them having an affair, rendering his brother bewildered.

    Once Feng Xue stoppedughing, he snatched up a broom nearby and pointed at his brother. ¡°You freaking tard!¡± Boy, did he thrash his brother that day. Next, he stripped his brother and hung him off Luoyang¡¯s city walls. Why try to reason with someone who didn¡¯t want to reason?

    Unsurprisingly, Feng Jia was so mad that he raced out the door. Feng Jie only needed a single palm strike to stop his venerated father and then said prior to his departure, ¡°Your house is too small for me. Laters.¡±

    Feng Xue enjoyed his freedom to the max until he met her in Nanjiang. Though she was no peerless beauty, she was still nice on the eyes. Her temperament, though¡­ One nce and you could tell she was hard to get along with, yet¡­ what can a man do when his heart says, ¡°She¡¯s the one?¡±

    He remembered she asked him no their wedding day, ¡°Baimu is but a small state; I don¡¯t have much of a dowry to give you¡­ Are¡­ you still willing to marry me?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you dork.¡± Feng Jie picked up his bashful wife and nted a passionate kiss on her.

    He never told her he picked her up from the depths of hell but that he went to hell and back for her. He would never tell her that for, like her, he was also a silly lovesick man.

    He knew he was springing a trap set for him when he received word that his wife was kidnapped ten years ago in Nieyao; however, he had no recourse. In the cursed city, she smiled as she softly urged, ¡°Leave.¡±

    Feng Xue hugged her and gave a reply, one that would cost him his arm and his skills. Reflecting on it, his decision could be perceived as a wrong one.

    Had he kept his arm, he probably didn¡¯t need to wait for Ming Feizhen andpany to resolve his grudge.

    Had he taken the path his wife told him to take, perhaps the invincible general would still be able to make men quake in their boots at the mention of his name.

    Had he learnt to be as sly as he was today, perhaps the present would be different.

    ¡°Look above Wazi¡¯s head!¡±

    Dark swirling cloudspped the sky above Wazi. Nobody noticed Wazi conjuring natural lightning from the sky until the clouds formed. No doubt, the lightning strike would be stronger than any previous st. Judging from the circumference of the clouds, if the lightning column did descend, nobody present would survive.

    It was already toote by the time Hong Jiu turned around and saw Feng Xue, who was far from him. ¡°Elder, run!¡±

    Feng Xue¡¯s choice from ten years ago crossed the barrier of time to reach the present. ¡°I¡¯m not retreating.¡±

 Volume 11 103 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 103 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 1)</h4>

    Feng Jie felt it was unfair for others to look down on him and for his mother to be a mere servant, which was why he refused luxuries and preferred to be homeless. He felt the discrimination his fellow disciples showed him was unfair when he put in so much effort, so he pushed himself to study even harder, even mastering refined disciplines. His father gave him the cold shoulder. His brother set him up. To fight back at the unfair treatment, he left so that they couldn¡¯t shackle him. He kept fighting and fighting until he was hailed as Martial Paragon, but the motivation behind each fight was his disdain for the unfairness.

    People who imed Martial Paragon was incredibly suave and different were justplicating the character Feng Jie. From the very beginning, he was just a man who was willing to sacrifice his life for what he wanted, those he loved and his beliefs. Sadly, few people could see past the glory he never asked for.

    Feng Jie circled his chambered arm and let it go,pressing the path along the trajectory of his palm strike into a cylindrical st aimed at the lightning. In response to the purple column that rose up, Wazi amplified the natural lightning to its max, swallowing up the purple qi that tried to challenge it.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m not retreating.¡±

    Even if Feng Jie was in his prime, the only ce he¡¯d be stopping the lightning st would be in his dreams, let alone now. All he had to do was abandon stragglers and run as fast as he could, and there was a fat chance he¡¯d escape the st radius, but retreat still didn¡¯t cross his mind. There was no noble intent or arrogance. He just didn¡¯t want to be resigned to defeat.

    The crumbling purple energy suddenly reformed and undted, expanding the purple lightning into what could be called a lightning. Instead of the lightning tearing apart the purple spiral, the purple denied the lightning any ground. The purple spiral transformed into an active shape simr to mes. As the purple qi burned, the lightning¡¯s power diminished. Epic it may have sounded, it was burning away Feng Jie¡¯s lifetime of training.

    Few had everpletely mastered the Confucian mental cultivation discipline ¡°Sage Sovereign Origin¡± due itsplexity and emphasis on character cultivation. Hardly anyone in history mastered the second tost level ¡°An Unbridled Duke Shall Fall When He Sins¡±. Feng Jie was the only one to ever reach the final level - ¡°This One Sought¡±.

    When it came to discussing the most difficult topic among all the topics for schrs, they¡¯d universally agree ¡°This One Sought¡± was it. The simplified conclusion to the discussion was, ¡°I¡¯m not retreating.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, try this!¡± Feng Jie bound forward before uncorking a palm strike.

    Feng Jie tried to devour the lightning the natural lightning with his purple qi, but it wasn¡¯t so easy. A whileter, his purple qi gradually lost its bright gloss - figuratively and literally - allowing everyone around to stop covering their eyes.

    A golden ray Earth-bound split the clouds, casting the spotlight on the mangled ck elder. Although mangled, nobody would mistake the former great guya for some weakling. He overcame the power of heaven - once again. Despite his injuries, he wouldn¡¯t bend his knees. s, Wazi wasn¡¯t done.

    Thest thing Wazi expected was for its ultimate attack that wore itself out for would do zero damage. Some decrepit old man led it by the nose from the moment they met and vanquished its full-power attack on his own.

    The incensed dragon descendant went prone, thenunched itself at his unconscious opponent. Without his lightning, Wazi could no longer heal itself, and casting its ultimate attack left it with less than half of its gas tank.

    To say Feng Jie knocked all of Wazi¡¯s attributes down a notch would be an understatement. Unfortunately, nobody around couldmand their body properly due to the lightning.

    Hong Jiu tried to go to Feng Jie¡¯s aid. Sadly, his legs gave in.

    ¡°Trust you to go out on your shield.¡± A blue and green cross stung Wazi flush on the head, scarring it. The elder whonded adjacent to Feng Jie pointed his de at Wazi. ¡°Whoever says you¡¯re honest to a fault is a liar. In this situation, only you would hold the line until help arrived.¡±

    Abels and Moyan Luohou raced against time to make it to Feng Jie after they recovered from their tussle with Chichen. Had it not been for the conspicuous lightning and qi deadlock, the duo wouldn¡¯t have located Feng Jie so fast.

    Abels set the celebrated elder beside Ming Suwen, believing her side was the most secure ce on the battlefield, and expressed to the unconscious elder, ¡°None of the lives you protected will bepromised.¡± He jumped back to the battlefield and taunted, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you.¡±

    Moyan Luohou got into his stance. ¡°Let us see who has the stronger armour between you and Chichen.¡±

    From when they epted Martial Paragon¡¯s gift to when Wazi¡¯s head rolled across the ground, not much time passed at all.

    Trivia

    Sage Sovereign Origin - It¡¯s lost in trantion, but the technique names are all written in an archaic form of Mandarin to reflect the schstic association with the discipline. Specifically, it uses the same Chinese as that which is used in the first ¡°The Analects/The Analects of Confucius¡±. The lines are rtively short because, back then, Mandarin could be written in really condensed formspared to what you see now. For instance, where two characters are now used to convey things, you could¡¯ve conveyed the same thing with one character. When tranted, though, it¡¯s another matter.

 Volume 11 104 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 104 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 2)</h4>

    Wazi¡¯s two makers wobbled a tad upon returning to the ground. Although Moyan Luohou choked back the blood that surged up his throat, it didn¡¯t mean he could control his injuries. In fact, his injuries had gone beyond the eptable level, which meant that Moyan n was in peril.

    Like he told Abels, Moyan Luohou never intended to get involved with the campaign, but he couldn¡¯t help himself after watching Martial Paragon¡¯s final palm attack. People tended to reminiscent the past more as they grow older. Every once in a while, Moyan Luohou would recall his first meeting with Martial Paragon. Moyan Luohou shook his head, resisting the urge to smile over the nostalgia.

    The war of attrition against Chichen was the most taxing fight, while the fight against Wazi was taxing because they had to y it before it regained its healing ability. Against Chichen, they methodically defended and attacked. Against Wazi, they focused solely on offence, using everything they recovered and took damage to impose attacks of their own.

    When Wazi was cornered, it feigned retreat and then sprung back on them when they exposed themselves to a sudden attack. Compared to Wazi, Abels and Moyan Luohou weren¡¯t expecting such a sly opponent when Chichen never used feints or anything of the sort. Nevertheless, they managed to force Wazi into a war in the end.

    Abels flopped onto his back, heaving and huffing to get air back into his lungs and heavy body. ¡°We¡¯ve been fighting since day time, yet it¡¯s still not over. No wonder why we needed such a big force,¡± hemented, referring to the sounds of conflict still audible in the night.

    Moyan Luohou strolled over to Martial Paragon once he was done meditating briefly. With his visual skill, he didn¡¯t need to check Martial Paragon¡¯s pulse to determine thetter¡¯s status. Feng Xue only had between ten to 20% left of his lifetime of training. Expecting him to fight again anytime soon was asking for the impossible.

    Moyan Luohou attempted to transfer his internal energy via his hand and Martial Paragon¡¯s chest, but some sort of qi within thetter made it difficult. Feng Xue¡¯s ¡°Sage Sovereign Origin¡± was an orthodox discipline, making it the pr opposite of Moyan Luohou¡¯s in nature. Moyan Luohou ced his other hand on Feng Xue¡¯s arm.

    ¡°He risked his life to save us. It is my duty to protect him. Please allow me to heal him in your stead,¡± expressed Hong Jiu.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Moyan Luohou already knew how capable Hong Jiu was, so he nodded. ¡°I shall write off your rampage on Wanyu Peak.¡±

    Hong Jiu: This man still bore a grudge over that?!

    Hong Jiu helped Feng Xue coalesce his scattered energy. Sage Sovereign Origin emphasised nurturing. As such, once the energy congregated, it would start to flow again. Albeit sluggishly flowing, Feng Xue was out of critical condition.

    Even though Hong Jiu was a practitioner of orthodox disciplines, he wasn¡¯t well-versed in Confucian-based martial arts disciplines. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t offer any further help. Luckily, Feng Xue had an autonomous system to protect himself. Otherwise, what Hong Jiu could¡¯ve done would¡¯ve been even more limited.

    After Hong Jiu adjusted his breathing rhythm, he asked Abels and Moyan Luohou, ¡°Can you kill Baidizi in your condition?¡± Frankly, it was wise of them to have stayed instead of moving on to Pangu¡¯s next son.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be a need to go,¡± Abels stated.

    Hong Jiu knew Abels well enough to know Abels was deliberately leaving Luo Ming for dead, but he couldn¡¯t understand if Abels was angry or admiring Luo Ming from Abels¡¯ visage.

    ¡°Luo Ming¡­ slew Baidizi on his own. Shen Yiren and the others are eliminating the mutated beasts that have gone wild. It seems they have it in the bag. In saying that, it won¡¯t be easy to kill all of the mindless beasts, so it¡¯s going to be a long war. If you don¡¯t want any part of it, stay put. From my inspection, other beasts shouldn¡¯t dare to venture anywhere near Wazi; we can use this ce as a temporary shelter.¡±

    As the existence closest to a dragon, Wazi didn¡¯t want anything lowly ¡°spheming¡± it.

    ¡°By the way, I need to inform you of something that¡¯ll probably scare you.¡± Abels told them about the monster that jumped him and Moyan Luohou.

    Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t figure out what the monster was. Sima Huai, too, shook his head. Neither of them had ever heard of such a monster among Pangu¡¯s sons.

    ¡°Also, your sixth brother¡­¡± Abels filled them in on Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s condition in addition to where they hid him - at the bottom of a tree hole.

    Seeing as things on this end had been settled, Sima Huai headed off to check on Lian Zhuiyue once he was ready. In the event that more trouble did crop up, there were plenty of people around to deal with it.

    Subsequent to cing further enquiries, Hong Jiu conveyed, ¡°Among the dragon¡¯s son, there¡¯s one called Crescent Eyes Baihuang. It inherits Pangu¡¯s optical skill, but there are still no records on its appearance. If the monster is rted to Pangu¡­ I can only think of Crescent Eyes Baihuang.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it¡¯s Crescent Eyes Baihuang. I believe¡­ everyone recognises him.¡± Moyan Luohou shocked everyone with his conjecture. ¡°I don¡¯t have any proof for my assertion; it¡¯s just a guess. Howbeit, I am usually correct when I have to guess. It¡¯s up to you whether you believe me or not.¡± While listeners looked to each other, Moyan Luohou cracked a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Following the two words, a freezing wind billowed against everyone. It wasn¡¯t the imposing aura of an evil beast; it was the aura of a formidable martial artist. Her appearance helped them find the feeling of fighting another human being.

    Shadow Lady cracked Hong Jiu with a thoughtless palm strike. Hong Jiu reeled over thirty metres, unaware he was bleeding the whole way to his new bed.

    ¡°I must ask all of you toy down your lives.¡±

 Volume 11 105 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 3)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 105 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 3)</h4>

    Despite havingid in wait for a long time one and a half kilometres from Wazi, Gewu remained calm and collected. While his appearance changed, his character hadn¡¯t: he still hated the world, and he was still ever the schemer. Whether it was because he was confident in his ability to remain undetected or because he knew Nieyao well, he was cautious for a reason.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He absorbed all of Baidizi¡¯s blood, effectively converting himself into a humanoid Six Evils who couldmand mutated beasts. Absorbing Chichen¡¯s blood granted him the ability to wield fire and recover at a ridiculously fast rate. In addition, Chichen¡¯s rapid regeneration ability would render Ming Feizhen¡¯s power pointless. Recreating a new meridian system was possible, but it would take years toplete the extensive project.

    Gewu was in no rush to rebuild a new meridian system for his strength increased several folds each time he absorbed the blood of Pangu¡¯s sons. In essence, their might reced the necessity for internal energy. Being equipped with their special abilities came with drawbacks, though.

    Unlike the hot energy that Yang Realm internal energy produced, Chichen¡¯s mes were real mes. Gewu wasn¡¯t Pangu¡¯s son; he didn¡¯t have the same robust body that could withstand such a high temperature. As a result, he would burn himself before he could burn his target. Chichen possessed a body of molten. Even Baidizi¡¯s tough body was meaningless because it wasn¡¯t heat resistant, let alone Gewu¡¯s scaleless body.

    Gewu was nowhere near as strong as he formerly was, never mind confronting two Divine Realm adepts. The only way he¡¯d have a chance at beating them was stealing Wazi¡¯s lightning manifestation ability and strength - at least he believed that would be enough to rival Divine Realm adepts¡¯ might.

    Wazi¡¯s abrupt inactivity could only mean it had fallen in battle. That being the case, those involved in the fight had to be worn out. When else would be a better time for Gewu to make his move? Nevertheless, as soon as he stepped out of his hiding spot, he heard from behind, ¡°Done hiding?¡±

    Gewu shuddered. He had lived long enough to know nobody sat around waiting for his enemy when he knew where his enemy was hiding unless he was absolutely certain he could defeat his opponent. He looked over his shoulder to see a tall man sitting on a stack of wood. The flute dangling from his sash gave away his identity even if he veiled his face.

    ¡°Beussent?¡± Gewu rasped.

    Beussent frowned. ¡°This appearance¡­ is your life-long goal?¡±

    Had it been anyone else, Gewu would¡¯ve been fretting as he¡¯d definitely be facing a tough opponent. Heisina Tribe members had a secret technique that they can use to identify fellow nsmen. Those who were advanced can even identify them with pinpoint uracy. Thetter was reserved for female shamans, but an exception was made for the n chief. Plus, Beussent had a hobby of researching such unique skills.

    Gewu revealed his sharp teeth when he grinned. ¡°You didn¡¯t call for help despite detecting my presence. Does that mean you¡¯re confident you can beat now that I¡¯m not in good shape?¡±

    ¡°Am I to understand you¡¯re implying that your current state is considered ¡®good¡¯?¡±

    Honestly, Gewu didn¡¯t quite understand Beussent even though he had been monitoring Beussent since thetter was a child. All signs and anecdotes pointed to him being someone who didn¡¯t like topete, yet he started to retaliate against Baimu. He was supposed to be calm, yet he started a fight he had no chance of winning. He inherited Shaman Monarch¡¯s special abilities, yet he never utilised them once. Had he made use of them, Gewu would¡¯ve been ousted long ago. Like a child who never learns, he continued challenging Nieyao. Gewu¡¯s hideous transformation was worth just a subtle frown. Gewu always felt miffed as Beussent seemed to always be paying attention to something different to him.

    ¡°Good enough or not, I don¡¯t know. What I do know is that a hunger pang must be satiated.¡±

    Jaws parted, Gewuunched himself forward, aiming to bite into Beussent¡¯s shoulder. He had enough strength to crush Beussent¡¯s shoulder bones with his teeth and could potentially take off a chunk of Beussent¡¯s body if his precision was there. Instead, a painful sensationparable to biting iron shot up to Gewu¡¯s head.

    Gewu¡¯s sharp senses told him to punch behind him if he wanted to tag Beussent, yet he missed again. Gewu roared prior to mounting a punchingbo, demonstrating exceptional Nanjiang skills thanks to itspatibility with the strength of Pangu¡¯s sons. s, strength had no meaning inbat if the attacker couldn¡¯t find their target. Little did Gewu know Wazi faced the same problem a couple of hours ago against none other than Beussent¡¯s shifu. While Beuseent wasn¡¯t as dangerous as his mentor, Gewu wasn¡¯t as dangerous as Wazi.

    ¡°You¡¯re stronger,¡± Beussent lifelesslymented as he slipped and weaved. ¡°But you haven¡¯t changed as a person.¡± Beussent performed a sharp slip whilst conjuring purple energy to his hand, then stung Gewu¡¯s left obliques. Having broken several of Gewu¡¯s ribs, Beussent lunged his rear foot in front, then cracked Gewu¡¯s shoulder, back, chest and several more spots.

    Gewu shouldn¡¯t have been hurt so bad given how sturdy his body was, yet he was almost turned into pure blood. Gewu was aware Beussent could utilise Enlightenment, but he disregarded Beussent¡¯s Quasi-Divine Realm progress because most Sacred Beasts could reach that level, yet none of them could do squat to him. Having to deal with Enlightenment in person for the first time taught Gewu how much he underestimated it.

    ¡°I surrender. I surrender, hahaha. I was going to y with you for a while longer, but your progress has exceeded my expectations. Your Majesty, tell me: what is that you want me to do? Do you want me to eliminate those stubborn state rulers or help you unify Nanjiang and take your rightful throne? This old one is happy to help you.¡±

 Volume 11 106 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 4)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 106 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 4)</h4>

    Beussent believed Gewu would assassinate every royal family member of Nanjiang if he decreed their deaths. If he coveted the Shaman Monarch throne, Gewu would be his best helper. Few could be so attached, yet detached, from Shaman Faith the way Gewu was. Because he knew Gewu would do anything to be spared, Beussent made an offer.

    Beussent was the same as always, indicating the one who created the silence between them was the one who refused to answer.

    In a deep voice, Gewu finally responded, ¡°If you search hard enough, you will find a secret room that is stocked with contraptions deep inside the fox-mark grotto in Qingqiu¡¯s North. You will find more valuables than you can imagine if you break the contraptions.¡±

    Beussent didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°Three of the twelve tribes in the south of Chiyi have been selling weapons to me for years. I have enough to equip ten thousand soldiers. Take them.¡±

    Beussent didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°Do you know why Sky Pce decided to help me? Do you know why they are nning something huge in Nanjiang? Merely gleaning a thing or two is enough for you to exchange the knowledge for anything you want. Do you want to know?¡±

    Beussent still showed no interest.

    Speaking from behind his teeth, Gewu fumed, ¡°¡­ I can bring you more wealth than you can use in a lifetime, authority to rule Nanjiang and even martial arts more profound than you can imagine¡­ Think carefully. What is that you want?¡±

    Beussent repeated what he said before.

    ¡°You nutcase! What do you keep asking about that for?! Huh?!¡± Livid, Gewu leapt at Beussent, but he only caught thin air again. ¡°I¡¯m offering you what everyone dreams off, yet you keep asking the same dumb question. Heisina Beussent, have you forgotten what I told you? You¡¯re Shaman Monarch¡¯s inheritor. You are born to rule. What are you doing now? Are you crazy? Are you?!¡­ Why do want to know the real story behind Nieyao?!¡±

    The answer Beussent was dying to know was the answer Gewu couldn¡¯t care less for; Beussent¡¯s unshakable stance and eyes that reflected his menacing appearance, which also reflected his twisted character, drove Gewu up a wall. Still, Gewu tried to sneer as though he had an ace. ¡°Do you know¡­ who lured¡­ your shifu to Nieyao back then.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It wasn¡¯t you. You don¡¯t have what it takes.¡±

    Gewu had to stab his teeth into his own lips to fight the vexation that Beussent¡¯s confident tone induced. It annoyed him to no end that Beussent didn¡¯t give in to temptations, yield to pain or quit due to difficulty. Gewu hated those characters most. By extension, he hated Martial Paragon for the same reason. Beussent went through the same torment Gewu did from the moment he was born, and they both lost people important to them. As a matter of fact, Beussent never enjoyed the glory and riches he enjoyed. In contrast to him, though, Beussent was his pr opposite. It frustrated Gewu for he couldn¡¯t understand why Beussent didn¡¯t turn out as another Gewu.

    Only Gewu would know if he was looking at the youth he had been watching from the shadows or envious of the aura he couldn¡¯t obtain or he was just looking at his own reflection in Beussent¡¯s eyes. One thing was for sure: that was the gaze of one in the abyss gazing up. There was hope. There was beauty. However, from the perspective of someone looking up from the abyss, hope and beauty was repulsive because they couldn¡¯t have it.

    ¡°¡­ I can tell you, but you must spare me. Else, I¡¯d rathermit suicide.¡±

    In spite of not buying Gewu¡¯s vow tomit suicide, Beussent bobbed his head.

    ¡°Thirty years ago, it was Six Evils that demolished Nieyao overnight. I don¡¯t know which of the fabled six beasts was behind it, but¡­ I do know it wasn¡¯t the dragon¡¯s sons. To demolish an entire city and to kill every citizen of Morcher at their peak is impossible for the dragon¡¯s sons I know of.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ was it the dragon?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. By the time I arrived, the monster was gone. In less than six months after Morcher¡¯spletion, it was reduced to the ruined state it was previously in. Actually, it was in worse shape. Sky Pce¡¯s envoy admitted they never tamed the dragon, not that anyone can. I believe them. If they had the power to wipe out a city overnight, they wouldn¡¯t still be stuck as an unorthodox sect.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Nothing changes the fact that Nieyao has been destroyed, and His Majesty lost his life here.¡±

    ¡°Correct. Your King died to the beast that night just as Beussent¡¯s King did five hundred years ago.¡±

    Beussent wrinkled his nose. ¡°¡­ Nieyao¡¯s destruction five hundred years ago is also attributed to Six Evils?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Surprised? It¡¯s not the question you should ask, is it? You should be astute enough to know the ims in Nanjiang about Heisina¡¯s curse calling down a divine disaster that destroyed Nieyao is utter nonsense used to frame Heisina¡­ Heisina¡¯s ancestor, Weilong Buku, never betrayed Beussent¡¯s King. Never. To the contrary, he persistently researched the cause of Nieyao¡¯s decimation. Regardless of what criticism he was bombarded with, he perpetually returned to the ce he was exiled from to research. Unfortunately, he was unable to clear Heisina¡¯s name. Our ancestor continued to bear insults even in death for his King. You know as well as I do why Weilong Tribe became Heisina Tribe.

    ¡°For the sake of the royal families¡¯ so-called peace, we¡¯ve had to starve, freeze and suffer the moment we¡¯re born. We don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll have to die for some bizarre justification they conjure. I¡¯ve never forgotten the ¡®favour¡¯ they do us¡­ What are you smiling about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy for him.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    Beussentughed loudly and heartily, much to Gewu¡¯s bewilderment. After a longugh that had him short of breath, hemented, ¡°Five hundred years. So it really wasn¡¯t him.¡±

    Gewu finally realised ¡°him¡± referred to their ancestor from five hundred years ago.

    ¡°I¡¯ll spare you.¡± Just as puzzling as his decision was, Beussent decision to spare Gewu now was equally confusing. ¡°Henceforward, Heisinas can raise their heads,¡± he said and left without looking back.

    Gewu still couldn¡¯t understand Beussent. All of that was just for a story - a truth. Gewu sat up once Beussent was gone. Although his broken bones had healed and had a 70% chance of defeating a Beussent without his Enlightenment, he chose to head in the opposite direction Beussent went.

    Gewu had already lost too much time. If the Divine Realm adepts had recovered, it would be extremely hard for him to absorb Wazi¡¯s blood. Although he was speeding in the opposite direction Beussent headed on four limbs, all he could see was Abels. ¡°¡­ Just you wait. Just you wait¡­ I¡¯ll prove you¡¯re wrong. I¡¯ll prove I¡¯m right. You¡¯ll beg me to spare you. Just you wait!¡±

 Volume 11 107 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 5)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 107 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 5)</h4>

    Moyan Luohou immediately knew Shadow Lady was the kind who could start her own sect and dominate at first nce. She wasn¡¯t the kind who only knew how to throw hands; she was the kind who had delved deep into martial arts. If he were to fight her one on one at his best, he¡¯d barely beat her.

    Abels was below Moyan Luohou¡¯s level, and he had loaned Sea Deer Hunter to Feng Xue. If he were to challenge Shadow Lady, it¡¯d be analogous to an average martial artist challenging a Divine Realm adept; it was a one-way ticket to hell.

    Shadow Lady swept her left hand, unleashing a spurt of cold energy. Moyan Luohou and Abels cast their Enlightenment in synchrony. Shadow Lady¡¯s dark-golden energy shattered their energies in addition to flooring both of them at once, hitting them so hard they couldn¡¯t even choke down their blood.

    Shadow Lady showed no joy or interest subsequent to her one-shot victory. In her eyes, the oue should¡¯ve been as so. Relishing her victory wasn¡¯t part of her goal. Her sole goal was to kill them because she understood that there was no such thing as defeating Divine Realm warriors. The only way to stop them was to kill them. Even though they were hurt bad after her attack, they could still fight. Hence, she powered up as she closed in.

    When Shadow Lady stopped in her tracks, nobody believed it was because she was feeling merciful. The reason she stopped was because of a man smothered in blood.

    ¡°Stop right there. I have something to say.¡±

    Shadow Lady looked over to him to grant him permission to speak.

    Hong Jiu spat a mouthful of blood on the ground, then continued, ¡°Eat a dick.¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s insult couldn¡¯t trigger a response from Shadow Lady. Instead, she eyed him from head to toe for an exnation. He was her first target as she deemed he was the most dangerous among those who could still fight. Never did she expect him to stand again when she dug her hand in without mercy.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember giving you permission to kill anyone.¡±

    Shadow Lady thrust her palm at the sky, then whipped it back down, sending a chilling breeze upon Hong Jiu. He didn¡¯t budge for he sent the chill straight out the other side of his body using Empty Palms.

    ¡°¡­ Sky Pce, huh? That doesn¡¯t look like Sky Pce¡¯s Mirror Flower Water Moon. Looks like Sky Pce¡¯s skills suck bad.¡±

    Shadow Lady propelled herself straight at Hong Jiu to try tagging him again. Hong Jiu defended and countered with both arms, varying between hard blocks and redirects. Unlike when she got the jump on him, she couldn¡¯t seize the advantage over the course of their ten-plus exchanges. From a technical perspective, she couldn¡¯t overtake him.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Nobody present, including Shadow Lady herself, expected Hong Jiu to fare so well. While Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms was a force to be reckoned with, it cost a lot of internal energy, understandably so when the force it hit with was outright too lethal to take head on. After the ying of Wazi, he was the only one who still had enough energy to help heal Feng Xue, then ate a flush palm attack from Shadow Lady, yet he was able to fight already. Moreover, his fighting spirit seemed to only rise with each passing second.

    Shadow Lady saw the tide turning in Hong Jiu¡¯s favour after twenty-odd exchanges, but she wasn¡¯t going to start using a second hand, so brute strength was the only way topensate for their technical discrepancy. Upon uncorking a frigid palm strike, Hong Jiu hit back with one of his own.

    The sh sent Hong Jiu through three big trees. Judging by appearances, he was hurt more than before. Nheless, he was able to send Shadow Lady skidding back half a metre. For the first time in years, Shadow Lady tasted astonishment.

    ¡°¡­ Yijin Jing?¡± Shadow Lady¡¯s guess found confirmation when she watched Hong Jiu rise to his feet again.

    Shadow Lady¡¯sst attack was half of her full power, yet Hong Jiu still looked revving to go despite starting off tired and hurt.

    He must go.

    Shadow Lady bridged the gap in a split second, then knife handed his shoulder on an angle faster than Hong Jiu could sense her move. She subsequently dug into his oblique, then knife handed his corbone, making sure to break his bones upon impact. She was going to punctuate the job with a crippling palm shot to his spine, but she retracted after harnessing the intent to back tuck. She wasn¡¯t going to try challenging an attack that Wazi had no answer for.

    As soon as shended, Shadow Lady converted her downward momentum to forward momentum. A golden spurt of sword qi impelled her to back off again, nevertheless.

    ¡°You and I have a score to settle if I¡¯m correct.¡± Ming Suwen was cognisant of Shadow Lady¡¯s advent; however, she didn¡¯t join the scrap right away.

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t challenge Shadow Lady out of arrogance but to buy Ming Suwen time to recover.

    Ming Suwen executed Daluo Void and Moon Weaver Palms with her sword as an extension of her hand to counter Shadow Lady¡¯s straight palm thrust. Once there was enough distance between Hong Jiu and her, Ming Suwen switched her aim to the top right of her left, forcing Shadow Lady three steps back.

    Ming Suwen decided to disengage. With the corner of her lips curved up subtly, she asked, ¡°How old are you?¡± In response to Shadow Lady¡¯s silence - a product of puzzlement - Ming Suwen added, ¡°Hehe, how are we supposed to know how to address each other if we don¡¯t know who¡¯s older? Looks like you¡¯re about two years younger than me. Can I call you ¡®Pretty¡®? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re pretty, so why do you always cover your face? Why don¡¯t you let me have a peek?¡±

    Not used to the topic or tone Ming Suwen used, Shadow Lady could only stand there in silence.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t leave ourst match unsettled because I¡¯m scared of you. I¡¯m just afraid my man will take revenge. Since you came knocking on my door, though, I suppose we have to fight.¡±

    Finally given a topic she was familiar with, Shadow Lady questioned, ¡°You want to fight me?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious?¡± Ming Suwen flowered. ¡°You think you can just walk away after you hurt Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple? That being said, I want to set clear three rules. First, we¡¯re fighting one on one. If you can¡¯t win, you can¡¯t ask for someone to sub. I can¡¯t call for help, and neither can you. Deal?¡±

    Shadow Lady cast her gaze to the assassins behind Ming Suwen. ¡°Okay.¡± In a sh, she was in Ming Suwen¡¯s face, hand already by Ming Suwen¡¯s neck. ¡°I win.¡±

    Glossary

    Mirror Flower Water Moon - This is a phrase that just means ¡°a mirage¡± since you can¡¯t. Before anyone tries to point out that the trantion is literal, it¡¯s deliberately tranted literally to sound ¡°pretty¡±. Also, I left out ¡°in the¡± (Flower in the Mirror, Moon in the Water) because it¡¯s too much of a mouthful. Secondly, it¡¯smon to omit prepositions (even other parts that would be deemed necessary) in archaic Chinese. For your information, they can understand it perfectly unless they¡¯re illiterate.

    Disengaging - Had a question about it this term, so here we go: it just means you are moving out of striking range so that nobody can hit nobody.

    ¡­ how we supposed to know how to address each other if we don¡¯t know who¡¯s older - This¡­ doesn¡¯t trante well to English. Since there are different terms for ¡°elder sister¡± and ¡°younger sister¡±, you can address each other by those terms instead of by names. It¡¯s just weird in English if you ask me, which is why I switched it to ¡°Pretty¡± to maintain the yful version Ming Suwen goes with, especially if you look at what she says after.

 Volume 11 108 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 6)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 108 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 6)</h4>

    Ming Suwen used Shadow Clones to escape Shadow Lady¡¯s attack. Even if Shadow Lady tried to sneak attack Ming Suwen, it would be extremely difficult because even Divine Realm adepts would struggle to tag her when she had mastered Shadow Clones.

    Shadow Lady thereupon chopped behind her after being given the slip, timing it so that she¡¯d catch the moment Ming Suwen appeared and before she could clone herself.

    Executing ¡°Empty Palms Extremities¡± with her sword, Ming Suwen torqued herself out of harm¡¯s way for the reason that avoiding the cold internal energy Shadow Lady wielded was the wisest approach.

    Momentum still sending her forward, Shadow Lady recalled her energy. The energy collected in Shadow Lady¡¯s hand didn¡¯t assume any fixed form. While her legs were always moving her forward - rtive to her target - there was no pattern to her hand attack¡¯s timing, and she could throw from any angle. This rendered the formless nature of Mount Daluo¡¯s ¡°Daluo Void¡± pointless. In essence, she overcame Ming Suwen¡¯s power with technique. As a defensive fighter, Shadow Lady was one of kind; Hero Shenzhou would have his hands full trying to beat her in a technique contest. Nevertheless, just because a technique was without ws, it didn¡¯t mean its wielder was wless.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Suwen couldn¡¯t keep using Daluo Void with her sword after a few exchanges, cueing Shadow Lady in to mount a relentless rush. As a result, Ming Suwen¡¯s clones and Empty Palms¡¯ counters crumbled.

    Shadow Lady¡¯s technical finesse was a powerful tool for her, but the real nightmare for her opponent was how fast she adapted to their strategy. Owing to this forte of hers, even Divine Realm adepts would be unable to keep up, forcing them to fall back on physical attributes. Once again, if your opponent was far more technically sound than you, you could only hope to be too fast and too strong for their techniques to work; you can¡¯t defend or counter what you can¡¯t keep up with.

    Shadow Lady neither belittled her foes nor overestimated herself. Relying on brute force to win wasn¡¯t a tactic she employed because she believed herself to be too good for her opponent. It was because it was the best strategy for the specific scenario.

    Ming Suwen should¡¯ve been extra cautious of Shadow Lady from the moment she acknowledged she wasn¡¯t a match for Ming Feizhen. It, after all, was typical for someone to admit they were inferior to a Divine Realm warrior. If she was abreast of the fact that Shadow Lady¡¯s strategy was formted after her brief scrap with Hong Jiu, then she¡¯d be regretting not ganging up on Shadow Lady with League of Assassins. If nothing else, at least she would¡¯ve caught Shadow Lady once or twice instead of being frustrated by herself.

    Irate, Ming Suwen countered with the resolve to go down with her opponent, thrusting straight for Shadow Lady¡¯s face just as Ming Huayu would¡¯ve done if he was in her shoes. Shadow Lady bobbed, then uppercutted the de with a finger.

    Ming Suwen left a trail of blood behind as she flew back involuntarily because Shadow Lady¡¯s frigid qi nigh froze her meridians. This was Ming Suwen¡¯s first experience with an internal injury.

    Those familiar with Ming Suwen¡¯s character figured she had some n in mind from her conversation with Shadow Lady. By extension, they believed Shadow Lady wouldn¡¯t have her way against the notorious demoness¡¯ cunning ways. In reality, however, strategies wouldn¡¯t have any value in the face of might that Shadow Lady possessed.

    Shadow Lady chased Ming Suwen down to punctuate with a palm strike, giving Ming Suwen no breathing room. Just as Hong Jiu had trouble collecting qi after impact, Ming Suwen also faced the same obstacle, not to mention the cold internal energy¡¯s inhibition. Unlike typical yin internal energy, the cold energy was closer to pure cold from ice, so it was difficult to counter it with yang internal energy. Thus, Ming Suwen¡¯s only weapon was her sword.

    Ming Suwen took up a defensive tactic to keep Shadow Lady out of range, but thetter was fast - very fast. Although Shadow Lady wasn¡¯t so fast that Ming Suwen¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t keep up, Shadow Lady had worked out Ming Suwen¡¯s style after three exchanges, limiting Ming Suwen¡¯s options. Before Ming Suwen couldn¡¯t even make her move, Shadow Lady would already be prepared to dismantle Ming Suwen¡¯s intended move. Seven techniquester, Shadow Lady was able to intercept Overarching Heaven three times. On Ming Suwen¡¯s fourth attack, Shadow Lady flicked Ming Suwen¡¯s lust crutch out of her hand.

    ¡°You started before I gave rang the bell. You¡¯re cheating,¡± Ming Suwenined.

    ¡°What do you want, then?¡±

    ¡°We should¡¯ve taken twenty steps back each and then started after the signal to start was given. Have you no shame? Back off now, and we¡¯ll restart.¡±

    Shadow Lady lowered her head for a second. ¡°Denied,¡± she dered as she clouted Ming Suwen flush on the torso, dropping thetter.

    Every tool in Ming Suwen¡¯s arsenal for winning against Divine Realm adepts had been neutralised. The anterior side of her white shirt had been dyed scarlet, and it had no time to dry out.

    ¡°The victor has been decided,¡± dered Shadow Lady.

    In the distance, there was Hero Shenzhou. Close by, there was Ming Feizhen and League of Assassins. Shadow Lady never lost track of her aim - to reduce the number of able fighters, which was synonymous with harvesting the heads of Abels, Martial Paragon and Moyan Luohou to start.

    Everyone who attempted to stop Shadow Lady from approaching Moyan Luohou ceased breathing for eternity; even Moyan Changping onlysted three exchanges prior to being put out ofmission.

    Moyan Luohou readied himself to kill his assant. Shadow Lady, of course, didn¡¯t dive in rashly when she knew he was still capable of inflicting mortal wounds in spite of his severe injuries. After all, he was in a different league to Hong Jiu and Ming Suwen. Against thetter two, Shadow Lady could pressure them. Against Moyan Luohou, she needed to bait him into attacking so that she could counter.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you honour your word?¡± Ming Suwen, appearance dishevelled, dragged herself to her feet to stop Shadow Lady with her voice. She wiped the blood by her mouth with her wrist, then cast her gaze up. ¡°You beat me? Since when?¡±

 Volume 11 109 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 7)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 109 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 7)</h4>

    The blood trickling off Ming Suwen¡¯s clothing formed a trail behind her hobble. Nobody could exin how someone who seemingly came from above the clouds could still stand after absorbing the power of Shadow Lady. Even she might¡¯ve been astonished if she was to watch herself from a third-party perspective. After all, she had never tasted defeat in the pugilistic world - save for Yu Feiyun - and she put on a masterpiece each time.

    Her skills and background were her foundations for winning. Her innovations and unpredictability underneath her sweet smile were her secrets to winning. There was no way to count how many men lowered their guard because of her smile, burying themselves obliviously. Her attention to detail that she inherited from the man who imparted mental cultivation techniques didn¡¯t receive enough credit.

    Bullies may just bully their target, but she would lock on, research, observe, analyse their desires topare to her capabilities, then go straight for the jugr. With so many resources at her fingertips, it only made sense for her to have her way with them. No n could ever ount for every variable; however, in Ming Suwen¡¯s case, she would always save a card up her sleeve to turn the tables once she had lured her target into a false sense of security. Contrary to Ming Feizhen¡¯s style, fighting a fight she wasn¡¯t confident she couldn¡¯t win wasn¡¯t her style.

    Yu Feiyuan was the only one immune to Ming Suwen¡¯s tricks, and much to her chagrin, Yu Feiyuan really was too innocent toprehend the intricate mind of Ming Suwen. Henceforth, another name would be added to the list along with Yu Feiyuan.

    ¡°You two really are alike¡­ Even the way you look when you win miffs me.¡± Ming Suwen chuckled to herself as though it would be thest time.

    Shadow Lady just couldn¡¯t understand. Initially, she couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Suwen sought death. Now, she couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Suwen was fearless. Why was she fearless when no psychological or physical strategies bore fruit?

    ¡°Why are you trying to stop me? They¡¯re not rted to Mount Daluo in any capacity. You¡¯ve killed the dragon¡¯s sons in Nieyao. Mount Daluo has fulfilled their duty. I¡¯m not here for revenge. I¡¯m only here to kill, and your name isn¡¯t on the list.¡±

    Shadow Lady turned around, tentatively giving up on subduing Moyan Luohou as fighting Moyan Luohou as well as Ming Suwen simultaneously was beyond her abilities. The reason she chose to give Ming Suwen priority was their unfinished deal. Until she had put Ming Suwen down, she had to honour her word to not kill anyone else.

    The deal was a ploy from the beginning. Shadow Lady overlooked Ming Suwen¡¯s foresight for she was focused on removing the threat of League of Assassins¡¯ involvement. Had she thought about the bigger picture, she wouldn¡¯t have overlooked the fact that League of Assassins¡¯ duty was to protect Ming Suwen; they wouldn¡¯t stay on the sidelines if her life was in peril. Thus, Ming Suwen fought with reckless abandon.

    ¡°Why are you sacrificing yourself for people not associated with you in any shape or form?¡±

    A white light flickered in Ming Suwen¡¯s eyes.

    Ming Suwen was always confident she¡¯d eventually rise to the realm every martial artist dreamt of reaching. Mount Daluo provided her with the skills that could prolong her lifespan and all sorts of other manuals that people would kill for. She could waltz off with Overarching Heaven, and the worst punishment would only be a lecture. Howbeit, her reluctance to train was extreme. The only reason she learnt painting, calligraphy and music was for her own entertainment. She never had a goal she could dedicate herself to. Thing was, despite learning things with the mindset of ¡°just for fun¡±, she¡¯d still excel.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ Quasi-Divine Realm,¡± Shadow Lady uttered. ¡°People who think Quasi-Divine Realm is a sign they can challenge Divine Realm warriors are awfully misinformed. Unless your single opportunity has been polished, you will onlyst one exchange. Divine Realm adepts, on the other hand, are not limited to one strike. Are you aware there are levels to Enlightenment, as well?¡±

    Shadow Lady had already cast a freezing golden energy over her left arm before she was done talking. As she mentioned, how pronounced the colour of one¡¯s Enlightenment was could be used to distinguish who had the stronger Enlightenment. The difference between hers and Ming Suwen¡¯s left nothing to the imagination.

    ¡°How will you beat me? I have figured out your specialty. Your boxing is inferior to Hong Er (Hong Jiu). Your footwork is inferior to Sima San (Sima Huai). Your knowledge pales inparison to Lian Liu (Lian Zhuiyue). The only thing you have going for you is your swordy, but I dismantled it. What else do you have in your arsenal?¡±

    Speaking through her teeth, Ming Suwen asserted, ¡°Don¡¯t need new techniques to kill someone.¡±

    Ming Suwen utilised Moon Weaver Palms again as it was the one personally taught to her. In contrast to before, however, she did away with her embellished version, focusing solely on getting the job done. Without Enlightenment, this version of it wouldn¡¯t be as dangerous.

    Shadow Lady simply knife handed, defusing Ming Suwen¡¯s white energy, her power and herst ounce of strength. Ming Suwen fell forward.

    Ming Suwen: Damn, I¡¯m useless without my hands and sword. When did I start taking training serious?

    The question Ming Suwen asked of herself conjured an image of Ming Feizhen apanying each answer.

    First time: Ming Feizhen ate the Fengpeng and almost died.

    Second time: Ming Feizhen lost to the Fengpeng and went on a rampage in the pugilistic world.

    Third time: Ming Feizhen decided to retire from his involvement in the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs.

    She was never there for him. At first, she assumed she couldn¡¯t be there for him owing to herck of growth. Later on, it dawned on her that she wasn¡¯t developing too slow but that he bore too much too soon.

    When he fell victim to depression three years ago and departed for Shaolin, she thought she lost him forever. She was sick and tired of the taste of regret and powerlessness. Every time he was in trouble, all she could do was figuratively bite her nails whilst going to him. He would never change unless she told him to. That very same year, she began to try as though her life depended on it.

    Who cares about Yu Feiyuan? If I want sess, nobody can deny me.

    Shadow Lady looked away once she dropped Ming Suwen. For some reason, though, the feeling of ecstasy didn¡¯t seed her victory as it usually would. Something abstract, something she couldn¡¯t put into words, had tangled itself to her. Nheless, the thinking could wait until she was done with her primary objective.

    Abels set up to meet Shadow Lady. Like Moyan Luohou, he didn¡¯t take the chance to recuperate or ready himself to fight. Neither Abels nor Moyan Luohou wanted to miss the moment. Shadow Lady couldn¡¯t make sense of their breath holds.

    ¡°I suggest you turn around,¡± voiced Moyan Luohou, ¡°or you¡¯ll regret missing the moment for the rest of your life.¡±

    Shadow Lady first dithered for a second, then armoured herself in qi as she spun around a second toote. The luminous light was akin to regret washing over her.

    Shadow Lady: She¡¯s¡­ smiling.

    ¡°You¡­ got careless.¡±

    Winds winnowed her hair. Two fingers were her sword. Her technique was the same. Her qi was identical to when she gashed open Wazi, except its radius was now gigantic - rtively speaking. The moment Abels and Moyan Luohou didn¡¯t want to miss was the advent of a new adept in the realm of men.

    Whilst resisting the pain cutting deep, Shadow Lady uttered, ¡°You¡¯ve reached¡­ Divine Realm?¡±

    The undefeated trickster cracked a grin as if everything up until now was a ruse, then poked her tongue out. ¡°Reached it a year ago.¡±

    Sphhhlt! The finger sword pierced through Shadow Lady.

    Glossary

    Hong Er, Sima San and Lian Liu - Shadow Lady is referring to them by their seniority (i.e. Hong Second, Sima Third and Lian Sixth, respectively).

 Volume 11 110 The Oriole. Black Feathers Shuyu.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 110 The Oriole. ck Feathers Shuyu.</h4>

    Swordsmen and martial artists were assigned a different progression system due to the differences in their progressions.

    The martial world was in a period of historic growth. Therefore, there was no shortage of renowned swordsmen. ording to ck and White Reflection, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s patriarch (Wordless Sword Deity), Li n¡¯s elder and sentry of Broken Sword Imperial Tomb, as well as East China Sea¡¯s schr (Sword Sage), were the three most prominent swordsmen of the current era, although the three were more symbolic than actual swordsmen at this point since they had retired from the pugilistic world.

    The likes of Demon Sect¡¯s guardian, Impermanence, and Luo n¡¯s Heavenly Swordsman were already held in high esteem as swordsmen. As for Kunlun¡¯s Yi Wangyou, Mount Hua¡¯s Jia Yunfeng and so forth, they all had one foot in the next realm of swordy despite their old age - rtively speaking.

    Among the younger generation, six of the Seventeen Jiao¡¯s were swordsmen. There were disciples of sects that didn¡¯t principally focus on swordy who¡¯d learn swordy, such as Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Drunkard Sword Monk. Shen n was another one of many ns that made a name for themselves as a n of swordsmen.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary had been lying low while they paved their way back to their heydays. The next time they held a convention, they would definitely stir the pot just as the introduction of many new faces in the pugilistic world did at the martial artsmunity event two years ago.

    In the event two years ago, Wudang¡¯s disciple came out on top with a single wooden sword, earning them the top spot as a ¡°way of the sword¡± institute. Their champion swordsman and his junior, Huan Xini, were considered the backbone of Wudang¡¯s new generation. At the moment, it was believed that only Yu Feiyuan or Qilin Guard¡¯s Yi Ya had a chance against them.

    What happened to Mount Daluo? Well, they were excluded. People argued that, despite Lian Zhuiyue possessing ster swordy, he was a master of swordy, not the way of the sword. Likewise, the majority would argue Hero Shenzhou didn¡¯t count as the greatest swordsman, preferring to elevate his sess in martial arts over his progress in the way of the sword. Most people would agree that there was a huge difference between someone who treated a sword as a tool versus someone who treated a sword as part of them. Nevertheless, anyone who was there to witness the sword qi stirring the atmosphere in Nieyao would tell doubters that Mount Daluo should be considered a ¡°way of the sword¡± institute.

    There was no loud sound at the moment of impact. There was no blinding sh of white light; it was as though Shadow Lady absorbed it straight into her body. There was no sight of fingers digging into her body or skin splitting, yet her blood pooled at her feet.

    Shadow Lady would need half a month to recover if she was stabbed. With supplements from Sky Pce, she¡¯d be able reduce that to days. Unfortunately, Ming Suwen¡¯s stab passed through her true qi armour to damage her meridians. As a result, she¡¯d need three to five months to be back at full health.

    Shadow Lady sealed her damaged meridians with her frigid energy as soon as she could. ¡°¡­ Tell me: you ate a blow from me to catch me with this stab? ¡­ It¡¯s a risky gamble, isn¡¯t it? Why didn¡¯t you use this strength from the beginning?¡± Despite being caught, Shadow Lady didn¡¯t show any indications of anger while questioning Ming Suwen.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re trying to make me admit my inferiority, but I¡¯ll go along. If we¡¯re both Divine Realm martial artists, I¡¯m no match for you. By conventional standards, my style is unorthodox. On the other hand, you followed a proper progression to reach your level. If we were to fight all out, you¡¯d likely kill me within two hours. If I didn¡¯t give you a free hit, you wouldn¡¯t have lowered your guard against me.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re crazy. You gambled with your life.¡±

    ¡°And I won.¡± Ming Suwen dimpled. ¡°How can you be on the field and off the field at the same time? You managed to stay level-headed even in the heat of battle. Nevertheless, nobody can be emotionless in a fight. Your biggest mistake was letting me see that you wouldn¡¯t kill me due to theplications that would consequently arise. The more you tried to avoid, the easier it was for me to rope you in.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you for elucidating.¡±

    Shadow Lady got to her feet, unfazed as though Ming Suwen¡¯s attack didn¡¯t register. She picked up a random Nanjiang-model broadsword from the sleeping victims behind her and got a feel of it. In spite of the meridians on her right-hand side being practically sealed, she dered, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s continue.¡±

    ¡°Continue?¡± Ming Suwen scrubbed her head. ¡°You want to keep going?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± As a result of her casual whip, Shadow Lady cut down a tall tree in the distance. ¡°My mission is to kill everyone here, but I can¡¯t kill you. I can no longer defeat you without killing you since you have reached Divine Realm. Effectively, I have failed.¡±

    ¡°What did you take up a weapon for, in that case?¡±

    Shadow Lady raised her head and simpered. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m peeved I got deceived.¡±

    As soon as Shadow Lady moved from her spot, Ming Suwen called, ¡°Overarching Heaven!¡± The quaint sword zipped to her hand while she moved forward to meet it and thrust immediately.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead of intercepting Ming Suwen¡¯s de or Moyan Luohou¡¯s, Shadow Lady shed diagonally at the side of Abels¡¯ deltoid.

    Though Abels prepared himself when he saw Shadow Lady start her offence, he didn¡¯t think the swing aimed at Moyan Luohou was a ruse and that he was the target when he was twenty metres away. He cast Evil Eminence Powerfield as fast as he could. s, Shadow Lady¡¯s sh smashed his field apart, knocking the blood out of him.

    Ming Suwen was hot on Shadow Lady¡¯s tail when, suddenly, thetter hopped up and chopped down effortlessly, yet it came out with force rivalling Ming Suwen¡¯s ultimate attack. Ming Suwen had no alternative but to defend the attack. In their sessive dozens of attacks, both couldn¡¯t find each other or their weapons. When they finally connected with each other¡¯s des, Ming Suwen cleaved Shadow Lady¡¯s de in two.

    Ming Suwen and Shadow Lady disengaged, keeping up their stances - unmoving. While Ming Suwen was perspiring and had her mouth open, Shadow Lady had yet to finish her warm-up.

    Shadow Lady cast aside her broken weapon. ¡°Falling for your ploy ruined my mission, not because you¡¯re better than me. Don¡¯t forget that.¡±

    A loud thud suddenly came from behind Ming Suwen. Before she could spin around, blood burst from Moyan Luohou. The only window Shadow Lady could¡¯ve inflicted the wounds was during her zing-fast exchange with Ming Suwen; had she aimed for Ming Suwen instead of Moyan Luohou, it would¡¯ve been Ming Suwen who was teetering between life and death.

    ¡°Be d I don¡¯t like going back on my word.¡± In a sh, Shadow Lady had put over twenty metres between them. By the time herst word was audible, she was out of sight.

    Ming Suwen peered into the distance and just¡­ kept staring.

    Xiao Huangquan quietly called, ¡°Miss Ming¡­¡±

    Like a hose, Ming Suwen let a mouthful of blood out as she convulsed uncontrobly - a symptom of true qi flowing in the wrong direction.

    A loud yelp rang out all of a sudden from far away. Within secondster, a navy, winged creature descended from the firmament. Correct, it was Pangu¡¯s eighth son - ck Feathers Shuyu!

 Volume 11 111 Black Feathers Shuyu. Shiyi in the Rear.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 111 ck Feathers Shuyu. Shiyi in the Rear.</h4>

    ck Feathers Shuyu was the only son of Pangu that didn¡¯t inherit a unique ability or dragon-scale armour. It didn¡¯t even possess the vitality of its brothers, for that matter. Had Ming Suwen shed it instead of Wazi, she had a 30% chance of instantly killing it. In terms of offensive attributes, Baidizi could squash it effortlessly. Its only saving grace was its ability to navigate the sky at will. For the aforementioned reasons, it was the biggest coward among its siblings.

    Though only about five-times the size of a falcon and as tall as bear when standing upright, ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s sharp fangs could tear pretty much anything apart. Whilst its physique shared simrities with Wazi, it was closer to a dragon-snake hybrid. Its wings made him simr to a heron. Physically, it wasn¡¯t impressive if juxtaposed with it brothers. Perhaps these were the reasons it was bequeathed with an ability that would be universally voted as a dangerous ability.

    ck Feathers Shuyu possessed the ability to camouge itself in the environment, allowing it to sneak up on enemies. Not even other evil beasts would be able to detect its presence with their heightened senses if it refused to disclose its whereabouts. As such, it hunted differently to its siblings. Simrly to wild beasts, it¡¯d wait for his prey to lower their guard and then strike the unsuspecting prey in one fell swoop. Should it fail in its attempt, it¡¯d thereupon withdraw as fast as possible.

    ck Feathers Shuyu was an assassin.

    Overarching Heaven¡¯s wielder was out ofmission; the iron was hot and ripe to be struck. Although Abels and Moyan Luohou were in the same boat as Ming Suwen, ck Feathers Shuyu was sure she was more dangerous than Wazi¡¯s two makers.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan suddenly jumped in between ck Fathers Shuyu and Ming Suwen. As opposed to stopping the beast, though, he threw himself into ck Fathers Shuyu¡¯s gaping mouth. Since ck Feathers Shuyu couldn¡¯t fight its own momentum, it mmed down on Tianfeng Xuanyuan, nning to making it quick so that it could move onto Ming Suwen; however, it couldn¡¯t pierce the guy.

    ¡°Finally showed yourself, coward.¡± Ming Suwen cast white qi down her sword held overhead.

    Although ck Feathers Shuyu tried to flee right away, Tianfeng Xuanyuan tugged it back down. Before ck Feathers Shuyu had time to try something else or resist, Ming Suwen had cut open its gut the same way she gashed open Wazi. ck Feathers Shuyu yelped and spat unscathed Tianfeng Xuanyuan out, then levitated.

    Ever since he was assigned the honourable mission, Tianfeng Xuanyuan hid underground near Ming Suwen to defend her from ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s assassination attempt. He would¡¯ve leapt out to sour during Shadow Lady¡¯s assault had Ming Suwen not told him to stay hidden using Voice Transmission.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Grandaunt, are you okay?¡±

    Ming Suwen chucked up blood again, so she took twenty breaths to steady herself again. She opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m good. Just overextended myself a little.¡±

    Ming Suwen looked over her shoulder to find Moyan Luohou barely breathing but bleeding a lot and Abels in no shape to cop another hit against someone on his level. While Shadow Lady couldn¡¯t kill Ming Suwen, she made her stance clear when she cut up Moyan Luohou: even though I¡¯m hurt, I can still kill them while they¡¯re under your protection. I¡¯m only walking away because those were the terms we agreed on.

    Ming Suwen heaved a long breath. She definitely felt Shadow Lady¡¯s flush blow, and she didn¡¯t gasp blood for show. There was no such thing as a lucky survivor when going up against Shadow Lady; Ming Suwen was d she made the right decision. As for ying ck Feathers Shuyu, that was an impromptu decision despite knowing her progress with a sword would teau. Nevertheless, it was toote for regrets.

    ¡°Master Ku.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°I have a request for you: I implore you to please y that creature.¡±

    ¡°Miss Ming, you forbade this one from intervening and are now hurt. You are making things hard for him. Should this one leave your side now and he asks what happened¡­¡±

    Ming Suwen shook her head. ¡°I was the one who ordered you to stand down, so the fault does not lie with you. My condition can¡¯t get any worse, and few in Nieyao can endanger me, but the creature that just flew off is one. That onees and goes. It canpletely erase its presence once it hides, and it¡¯s a coward. I don¡¯t know how far it ran off to now that it¡¯s been scared off. If I didn¡¯t hurt it, we¡¯d probably need State Preceptor Lai to calcte where it is. Even though it¡¯s bleeding now, only you can locate it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Master Ku saluted Ming Suwen. ¡°Your noble feelings are admirable.¡±

    Ming Suwen¡¯s motivation never changed irrespective of whether it was ying Wazi or requesting League of Assassins¡¯ aid in hunting ck Feathers Shuyu. She had no idea where Ming Feizhen was, if he could make it back and, in the event he could, what shape he¡¯d be in. Just imagining him returning to them, her about to tell him what she did to protect the world, only for the creature in hiding to get him from behind, scared her stiff. She wanted to reduce the probability of such an event down to zero even if it was only in her head.

    Nobody would believe Ming Suwen could blush until today. She was usually the one who¡¯d read people, not the other way around. ¡°Geezer, if you keep dallying here, I will dob you in.¡±

    Master Ku saluted Ming Suwen again. ¡°This one shall go now.¡±

    Following Master Ku¡¯s departure, the trees around rustled as other assassins mobilised.

    Pangu¡¯s sons weren¡¯t easy to take down by any stretch of the imagination, much less ying them, yet Master Ku¡¯s tone conjured the image of ck Feathers Shuyu going on the run.

    The only concern left was where Ming Feizhen as well as what he was doing. Ming Suwen gazed to the stars. ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve done what I can and forced myself to do what I can¡¯t. All I ask is that you return to me¡­ You muste back.¡±

 Volume 11 112 Dragon Subjugation (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 112 Dragon Subjugation (Part 1)</h4>

    Gewu slipped out of Wazi¡¯s body and into the earth, only resurfacing after digging a tunnel underground. Until he was sure he had obtained unstoppable power, he wasn¡¯t going to take any risks. Little did he know he was under Shadow Lady¡¯s surveince from the moment he looted Wazi to when he prowled on all fours out of sight.

    Gewu was but a pawn in Sky Pce¡¯s n. He assumed he was a seed nted for decades for the sake of today when. In reality, he outlived his use long ago. He thought they spent decades supporting him for some grand ambition, the biggest being to rule Nanjiang.

    Firstly, if Sky Pce coveted Nanjiang¡¯s reins, they had more effective ns and better candidates to use, so there was no need to employ such a roundabout method. When they turned Gewu into their pawn, Moyan Luohou and Martial Paragon had yet to be born, much less plot their assassination.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Secondly, Gewu didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what sort of organisation he was dealing with andpletely misunderstood his role. Their interactions were shrouded in such thick fog that he didn¡¯t even know what he was gaining from them, yet he impulsively epted the opportunity to try impressing them without even considering if they sought what he offered.

    Save for the few simple orders Sky Pce gave him, they gave Gewu free reign to even form his private military in Nieyao, his harem, collude with bandits and retainers, and abduct infants for their blood. Understandably, he assumed their silence on the matters was a reward for his performances, driving him to run even wilder. As soon as he came to power as Great Spirit Shaman, he let his power go to his head. Giving the sovereigns of Nanjiang grief and so forth were never items on Sky Pce¡¯s afenda. If anyone were to examine the records of the decrees they passed him and his deeds, they¡¯d be scratching their trying to find a corrtion.

    From Gewu¡¯s perspective, Feng Xue needed to be nipped in the bud. From Sky Pce¡¯s perspective, that wasn¡¯t the case. Sky Pce¡¯s silence on Gewu¡¯s actions wasn¡¯t tacit agreement but turning a blind eye. True indifference is when you don¡¯t feel a need to speak up. Had Gewu looked at the picture objectively, he would¡¯ve realised he was making a lot of assumptions.

    Ever since upying Mount Wanyu, Gewu ceaselessly contemted how to escape Sky Pce¡¯s control whilst maintaining a cordial front for he believed he no longer needed to borrow anyone¡¯s power. He was so blinded by his power that he forgot that the majority of his power came from Sky Pce.

    Nieyao¡¯s private military was Gewu¡¯s child. He purchased their gear. He raised Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s followers. His immense wealth came from years of umtion. All he was given was the right to raise Pangu¡¯s sons and a manual that transformed him into a freak. Never did it dawn on him that his only role in the grand scheme was a subject to tame Pangu¡¯s sons.

    Shaman Monarch Pce was the most erudite in taming a dragon, which was the sole reason Sky Pce put Gewu on the throne. Le Kuangnu¡¯s existence and nigh non-existent involvement in Shaman Monarch Pce proved this.

    After one of Sky Pce¡¯s heralds carried out stinky chests from Shaman Faith¡¯s quaint pce decades ago, they and Gewu were even. Gewu just never realised how fragile his alliance with them really was thereafter.

    Shadow Lady cast her Eclipse, then infiltrated a battlefield. Next came the hardest part. Once she was done moulding qi, she grabbed the big sword on the ground but was startled when it violently rattled. Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer was too proud to bow its head to Luo Ming, let alone someone else. In the end, she had to subdue it with her freezing internal energy.

    Shadow Lady let out a pronounced exhale. She didn¡¯tment the difficulty of obtaining the sword as she already was learned on it. Shemented her injuries that left her with only 60% of her full power.

    Needless to say, Sky Pce did their research on Mount Daluo, but they didn¡¯t know Mount Daluo had a fourth Divine Realm martial artist. Shadow Lady genuinely didn¡¯t see Ming Suwen¡¯s hidden aceing. There were no signs suggesting Ming Suwen had reached Divine Realm prior. Had Ming Suwen gone for the finish from the get-go instead of taking a slow approach, Shadow Lady might still be at 80% of her full capacity. Shadow Lady couldn¡¯t expel or neutralise the qi Ming Suwen injected into her, causing trouble that would gue her for a good while.

    Taking care of Moyan Luohou and Abels were only bonuses; they weren¡¯t important in her primary task. Sky Pce always remained secretive. Therefore, the fact that someone second in authority only to their mastering to Nieyao could only mean that she was truly needed.

    Shadow Lady followed her memories to the exterior of an ancient ground. From beginning to end, she only had one mission - subdue Pangu.

 Volume 11 113 Dragon Subjugation (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 113 Dragon Subjugation (Part 2)</h4>

    A thousand years before Sky Pce thought of the idea, the first man to be called Shaman Monarch came up with the idea of subduing a dragon. Contrary to Ming Feizhen, who deduced the story from fragmented bits of information and his own theories, Sky Pce always knew the story was authentic, which was why they set it as one of their primary objectives and were willing to invest heavily.

    ¡°My Lady.¡± Dozens of maidens hiding near the entrance emerged from the shadows to kneel before Shadow Lady. Their leader, a woman with her face veiled, bowed her head, then ryed, ¡°Your subordinate has been watching over this location in anticipation of your arrival.¡± Upon looking up, astonishment flitted across her face. ¡°You¡­ are hurt?¡±

    Among the Three Stone Pirs of Sky Pce, Shadow Lady was gregarious and personally handled matters. Furthermore, her martial prowess earned her respect. Therefore, it was no surprise her subordinate was livid to see her hurt.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Our mission is more important,¡± Shadow Lady asserted. ¡°What is the status quo?¡±

    Wrestling with the urge to ask who was responsible so that she could avenge her respected Shadow Lady, she replied, ¡°Despite how deep it goes down, we can asionally pick up on signs ofbat, but it all stopped two hours ago. Nobody has exited, so¡­ it must be time.¡±

    Shadow Lady stopped to think, then nodded. ¡°We cannot let the opportunity go to waste.¡±

    With the assistance of five members, Shadow Lady forced the door open slightly. Next, she called the next group over to switch with the five. They continued to cycle through teams until it was ajar enough for one person to squeeze through one at a time.

    These subordinates were Sky Pce¡¯s concealers, so, while they weren¡¯t the best fighters, they had some serious strength. Without them, it would¡¯ve taken Shadow Lady ages to open the door.

    On the way in, Shadow Lady caught a glimpse of marks showing somebody forced the door open. Even though they weren¡¯t on the same page, she respected Ming Feizhen¡¯s strength. Sky Pce¡¯s leader once had this to say of Ming Feizhen: ¡°Unrivalled in the Nine Provinces. Unparalleled in the world.¡± Shadow Lady didn¡¯t believe anyone could be stronger than her master when she heard those words, but the markings left at the entrance were undeniable proof supporting the praise - as well as exined why he had to be dragged into their n.

    The prerequisite that had to be fulfilled in order to subdue Pangu was that they had to first expend, at least, 60% of Pangu¡¯s energy. The first Shaman Monarch was only able to subdue Pangu precisely thanks to the Central in¡¯s warriors wearing it down.

    Sky Pce proceeded with preparations ever since obtaining the procedure Shaman Monarch employed to tame Pangu, starting with deciphering the entire methodology, training up female shamans, collecting phoenix blood and feathers for their formation foundation and eventually the most difficult task, forging a sword capable of cutting Pangu - courtesy of Luo Ming. The problem was, where were they going to find someone who could give Pangu a run for his money?

    Although Pangu didn¡¯t have any humans or blood to feast on over the years he slumbered underground, he continued to absorb essence in nature. ordingly, Sky Pce hesitated to sacrifice a chunk of their organisation to wear down Pangu. They had no solution until Ming Feizhen¡¯s existence came onto their radar.

    Besides possessing youth and strength on his side, Ming Feizhen¡¯s affiliation with Mount Daluo categorised him as the most ideal candidate. The trap designed for him was the child of their research into his strength. Six Evils¡¯ only match was Six Evils. Even if he wasn¡¯t strong enough to bring down Pangu, exhausting 60% of Pangu¡¯s energy was definitely within the realm of possibility. As for galvanising him to go fight Pangu, that was easy.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s undertaking and the deplorable attitude he inherited from Mount Daluo called ¡°a sense of justice¡± were things that could be exploited. Put an awakened dragon in front of him, and he¡¯d go fight it even in the scenario that he couldn¡¯t find any help; it wouldn¡¯t take long to motivate him - provided you understood him well enough.

    Ming Feizhen followed the trail theyid out for him - though the credit for putting the n in motion went to Shadow Lady - without deviation, finally perishing at the ws of Pangu. Nheless, it was always a pity to know talent was buried before it could gloriously bloom, even from the perspective of an enemy.

    Venturing deeper underground meant venturing into higher temperatures. The bright mes stung their eyes, while the smoke was suffocating. The deeper parts of the underground area were visible through the apertures in the walls. The ce was built for Pangu, yet it was mangled after one fight; it took some serious creativity to imagine what sort of scuffle took ce down there.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer suddenly started rattling as tendrils of smoke whisked off the de. The sword had gone through a stringent forging process, but it still had one more step to go through before it was legitimatelyplete - consumption of dragon blood to sharpen its de. The reaction of the sword informed Shadow Lady of what they had encountered, so she plunged it into the ground with both hands.

    The dull de glowed golden as energy umted. By the time the energy had multiplied several folds, it had enough energy to force Shadow Lady to try abating its trembling.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s resembling Overarching Heaven a little. Guess the ¡®dragon ying¡¯ part of its name is justified.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Shadow Lady immediately readied the sword in front of her upon hearing a man¡¯s voice when she never noticed anyone¡¯s presence. Look as she may, she couldn¡¯t find where the voice originated from.

    ¡°¡­ That should be my question, shouldn¡¯t it? If you¡¯re not as strong as a dragon, I suggest you disappear right now.¡±

    He didn¡¯t raise his voice, but Shadow Lady could feel sweat building up in her hands. Walking to the other side of the underground pce was an ordeal in itself. In the neighbouring underground pce, there was a pair of unnerving scarlet eyes in the ckness. Nausea visited her stomach merely making eye contact with them; her true qi refused to obey her orders to put up a defence.

    The youth sitting atop the dragon¡¯s head had blood in his own ck hair, his hand rested on his sword plunged into its head. He stared straight down into Shadow Lady¡¯s eyes. ¡°I still can¡¯t stop myself¡­ from killing.¡±

 Volume 11 114 Homecoming

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 114 Homing</h4>

    ¡°Born with nine special abilities and strength that could tten cities,¡± Sky Pce often heard simr legends surrounding Pangu. The victory against Pangu a millennium ago came about as a group effort, proving that nobody alone could defeat Pangu. One thing was consistent in all tales starring Pangu: Pangu was the physical manifestation of invincibility.

    Prior to Shadow Lady¡¯s departure from headquarters, Sky Pce¡¯s master provided ns for multiple possible scenarios in Nieyao. Save for Ming Suwen¡¯s ascension, everything yed out as Shadow Lady¡¯s master predicted, including the strategy Ming Feizhen had the Divine Realm adepts follow and the oues on each battlefront. Her master even predicted Ming Suwen would have bodyguards, which was why she was told to avoid a confrontation with Ming Suwen. There were no deviations from the blueprints, except for one thing - Pangu¡¯s eyes closing.

    ¡°Sky Pce¡¯s predictions pertaining to me have gone awry, correct?¡±

    Shadow Lady¡¯s body softly jerked.

    ¡°Your n has gone off the cliff now that the dragon is dead. I¡¯m assuming¡­ those girls are the shamans who are supposed to tame the dragon? Props to you for finding out how to tame a dragon.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tucked his chin into his vicle. The shadow his hidden face cast was akin to a ck hole that was trying to suck onlookers in. Shadow Lady wasn¡¯t undefeated, but she had nevere across anything so menacing. It took everything she had to survive the atmosphere; her ability to sustain rationality took every ounce of energy she had. The shamans had already passed out just being in his presence.

    Shadow Lady had to fight Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon yer¡¯s rebellion whilst resisting the torment of Ming Feizhen¡¯s red eyes. In fact, her sole source of suffering was those eyes. They certainly were the Fengpeng eyes of legends, but the aura they emitted were different. Gazing into his eyes wasparable to peering inside from the entrance to an abyss, deterring you from taking a single step closer.

    ¡°¡­ How did you know I wasing?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask such stupid questions.¡± Ming Feizhen raised his head to yawn. ¡°Pangu¡¯s roar was a tool to prevent me from contacting Mount Daluo for reinforcements. The fact that Pangu growled meant that somebody woke it. Dragons arezy by nature. Their slumbers are calcted in centuries. It¡¯s only been twenty years since it destroyed Morcher; even a moron would realise somebody deliberately woke it. I only know of two or three factions that know how to wake the dragon, but only your faction sent Autumn Water Sword Sect to Nanjiang. If you¡¯re going to im it had nothing to do with you when you spent many years nting seeds here, you can save your breath. You want me to join the board? Fine. You want me to leave? Not happening.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°You Shili is self-presumptuous. You Shili knows Ming Feizhen, true. Few can read Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind. Conversely, the only one who knows You Shili this well is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ did you walk into the trap when you know it¡¯s a trap?¡±

    ¡°¡­ For the sake of one person. For the sake of one answer.¡± A sense of loneliness emanated from his eyes despite his voice and posture remaining intimidating. ¡°I have someone I want to find, and only You Shili knows where I must go. I spent over ten years trying to find Sky Pce¡¯s headquarters to no avail. Unfortunately, I¡¯ll have to abandon my n of razing it to the ground and congrating it.¡±

    Scoffing at the ludicrous threat should¡¯ve been the normal reaction, but Shadow Lady was convinced he could really do it.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to pass on a message,¡± continued Ming Feizhen.

    Shadow Lady could swear a hand apparition was locking its grip around her heart; her vision grew hazy, heightening her hearing.

    ¡°Tell your master: if I can¡¯t find Xue, I¡¯ll sabotage every design Sky Pce has. Pangu is the first. I¡¯ll soon sabotage a second. Stay tucked away in your shells. Otherwise, none of your ns for your so-called ambition will bear fruit. I¡¯m a man of my word.¡± Ming Feizhen raised his head. ¡°Get out of my sight.¡±

    Shadow Lady woke the shamans trapped in nightmares and departed in less than five minutes. Had Ming Feizhen not needed messengers, none of them had any chance of leaving the underground pce - at least that was what they believed.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen kept his eyes locked no the entrance long after the group left, sitting there as though he was a statue. What feltparable to agester, Pangu raised its head to flip it to the other side, seemingly changing its sleeping posture. As a result, Ming Feizhen free fell down to the ground, waking him up.

    Ming Feizhen lied on the ground for a good while before he could sit up with the support of his weapon. He looked back at the sleeping dragon, then heaved a heavy breath as he cracked a smile.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t spare Shadow Lady and her cohorts. He just did the only thing he could. Lifting a finger was extremely taxing for him in his current state, let alone fighting anyone. Shadow Lady¡¯s second mistake was believing that Pangu had died.

    In reality, Pangu hadn¡¯t even suffered any debilitating damage. That being said, there were unstable patterns slowly but surely spreading across its body. The day that the patterns covered its whole body, the liquid-likeyer would gradually harden to be an egg.

    During the dragon¡¯s slumber, it reverted into its egg form for centuries, during which it would be painfully difficult to wake. Pangu needed to expend over 90% of its energy to return to sleep to replenish its energy.

    At longst, Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°¡­ d I¡¯ll be able to return alive.¡±

 Volume 11 115 Whereabouts of the Fox (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 115 Whereabouts of the Fox (Part 1)</h4>

    What was envisioned as a fight against perilous beasts turned into a standard military fight still to be settled after three days. Luckily, Ming Feizhen instructed Emperor Yuansheng to covertly march Xiuyu¡¯s forces to Nieyao. The enemies lying in ambush ended up as idiots opening the door for an army to ughter them. Heisina Tribe¡¯s warriors¡¯ morale remained at an all-time high without anyone needing to stoke their fires. Be it Nieyao¡¯s soldiers or the mutated beasts, both groups suffered only defeats.

    Emperor Yuansheng finished anyone who tried to flee the city as per Ming Feizhen¡¯s instructions, and it wasn¡¯t hard for those apanying given the standard of his bodyguards. Although there were plenty of mutated beasts, there weren¡¯t many routes out of the city, and Feng Xue possessed the knowledge to organise a formation that would catch them out.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s unit lost any motivation to fight when life was so good outside the city, but his de would¡¯ve been unhappy about missing out on the action. He had nothing to worry about as his scouts notified him that the tide of battle was in their favour.

    Emperor Yuansheng turned back to Chu He, a youth in presentable white attire, and fiddled with aplex apparatus the size of a checkers board. ¡°Chu He, how is Navagraha Star Summoner? Do you know where it is?¡±

    The quaint bronze, spiritual star instrument - which had what resembled three iron lines curved around each other in some sort of repetitive formation - was a secret item in the possession of Emperor¡¯s Entourage. They used it to transmit messages over a thousand miles instantaneously regardless if there were mountains, rivers or walls between the sender and recipient.

    Not a fan of the spiritual talk, the previous Emperor decreed the modification of spiritual descriptions. Following a long and arduous attempt, those responsible couldn¡¯t draw a clear conclusion. That said, some schrs believed Navagraha Star Summoner operated around simr principles to sorcery since it utiliseedws of nature, except at a moreplex level.

    While it could deliver messages over long distances, the messages could only be delivered in the form of secret codes to the primary board. Suffice to say, only he who possessed the primary board would receive the message, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a speakerphone that could send messages over a thousand miles to anyone. Furthermore, it could only be employed at night, and it took almost all night to deliver just one message.

    Because it was a waste to use the only copy of the tool for military transmissions, difficult to keep on hand at all times and easy to break, it wasn¡¯t the best idea to have an intelligence agent carry it around for messaging. Only one post was permitted to use itter on - Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s best messenger, which would make it one of the current The Ultimate Three, Tianhu.

    In addition to Navagraha Star Summoner, Bai Laimu also brought back an officer from Directorate of Imperial Observatory by the name of Chu He, a young man who inherited blonde hair and blue eyes that would be mostmonly found in Western Regions. Chu He wasn¡¯t part of Emperor¡¯s Entourage; he was Tianhu¡¯s personal attendant, so they needed him to operate Navagraha Star Summoner.

    Chu He scrubbed his head. ¡°No, not yet. Ever since arriving at Nieyao, it has not worked properly. It might be that a powerful qi field is changing the trajectory of the stars, thereby ruining its system.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng saw the instrument when he was a kid and continued to be intrigued until today, but he could never understand what all the rotating-it-around business was all about¡­ More than once, he questioned if it truly worked. His agents swore it could be used to summon Tianhu, while he dispatched a pigeon behind their backs to be safe. He never mentioned anything about the pigeon because he didn¡¯t want to hurt the feelings of the earnest young man.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you sent an order to Master a few days ago. Based on his speed, he should be here by now. Also, is the battle in Nieyao not basically settled already? Why do you need him in such a hurry?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ nothing major¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng hadn¡¯t given up on testing Ming Feizhen¡¯s true capabilities; in his summon, he ordered Tianhu to test Ming Feizhen. If Tianhu remembered the order, Ming Feizhen would probably have to suffer¡­ Emperor Yuansheng shook the nagging voice out of his head. ¡°How is State Preceptor Lai?¡±

    A guard enthused, ¡°He has just woken! Please go see him now, Your Majesty.¡±

    Not long after their forces entered Nieyao three days ago, Lai Jingzhen divined that a cmity, a big cmity, was going to visit the Central in¡¯s soon. If they couldn¡¯t stop it, there would be hell on earth. When asked if that meant they would lose the battle in Nieyao, Lai Jingzhen, beaming, replied, ¡°Those dragon¡¯s kids are nothing,¡± and then went to sleep to - in his words - find a solution in his dreams.

    After three days or frowning and divining whilst sleeping, Lai Jingzhen finally smiled as he took in the sight of Nieyao. Anyone who saw how bright he looked would believe he had found the solution.

    ted, Emperor Yuansheng queried, ¡°You truly are the pir of our nation. What of the cmity?¡±

    ¡°Where is the loo? This daoist needs to answer nature¡¯s call urgently.¡±

    Later on, the soldiers guarding the entrance to Nieyao would remember that stopping Emperor Yuansheng from hacking apart State Preceptor Lai was the toughest task during the expedition at Nieyao.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Both the fighting on the surface and the fighting taking form in a more effective manner in the shadows gradually died down on the third night.

    Approximately a thousand men from Nieyao¡¯s force of ten thousand lost their lives to a group of murder specialists. The group of two hundred assassins under the leadership of Master Ku weren¡¯t just adept at killing swiftly and stealthily but also proficient at taking advantage of situations. They were a feared force to those who knew their name.

    A pretty boy with a jug of wine in one hand, a fan in his other and a spear carried on his back went straight up to Master Ku, who was hiding in the shadows, to say, ¡°Excuse me, may I ask for some directions? Do you know where this Ming Feizhen is? I have business with him?¡± He then cracked a smile and added, ¡°By the way, you people are members of League of Assassins, right? Could you give me a few heads to take back as evidence I worked? Let¡¯s make this easy for all of us, hey?¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Fox¡± in the title - Refers to ¡°Hu¡± in ¡°Tianhu¡±.

 Volume 11 116 Whereabouts of the Fox (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 116 Whereabouts of the Fox (Part 2)</h4>

    The damage from Ming Suwen¡¯s sh was akin to a spiked ball that ck Feathers Shuyu couldn¡¯t expel from its body. Every time it tried to churn true qi, a new wound would open. Given the same affect beset Wazi, crippling it until its death, ck Feathers Shuyu had it even worse. Thanks to Ming Suwen¡¯s Enlightenment enhancement, ck Feathers Shuyu couldn¡¯t contain its bleeding, leaving a clear trace for League of Assassins to easily trace it.

    Owing to its paranoid and cowardly personality, ck Feathers Shuyu didps outside itsir for two hours, ensuring there was nobody camping it or tailing it, prior to entering. Even itsir consisted of iron items ced together as ¡°armour¡± for the tall tree that it called ¡°home¡±.

    Right when ck Feathers Shuyu stopped pping its wings, feeling it was out of harm¡¯s way and could focus on healing, Master Ku appeared before it to say something it didn¡¯t understand, then severely wounded it. When it spread its wings to flee, Master Ku stalked it metre for metre across Nieyao.

    Aware of ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s flying ability, the first thing Master Ku did was pierce its left wing¡¯s nerves and bones, effectively shackling it so that it couldn¡¯t fly high. Instead of fighting it face to face, Master Ku chose to use ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s favourite tactic - waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

    A beast was most dangerous when it was cornered. ck Feathers Shuyu was a coward, true, but it was still Pangu¡¯s son. Therefore, instead of cornering it, Master Ku essentially gave it an escape option, which would be its preferred choice overbat. Like any other beast, it only had so much mental and physical stamina. Plus, it hadn¡¯t staunched its bleeding. Running whilst bleeding out was just another way of exhausting itself. There¡¯s more than one way to skin a cat.

    ck Feathers Shuyu feigned exhaustion four times, prostrating on the ground, but Master Ku didn¡¯t take the bait once. In the end, ck Feathers Shuyu would cede the patience contest. By the fifth time it yed possum, it was genuinely feeling tired. Luckily, Master Ku finally sprung. Everything was going ording to n until he picked up on the presence of innumerable hostiles encroaching.

    Master Ku¡¯s first attack was two hundred assassins synergistically activating Dragon-ying Formation. It took them two nights to arrange a formation that could be deployed to y ck Feathers Shuyu. They were the des, while Master Ku was the one who wore him down and lured him to the specific location. They only wound up with thirty-plus injured and lost less than ten members.

    Prior to departing, they noticed a watchful pair of eyes, one brimming with the ferocity of beasts and the greed of man, on them. Perhaps the owner was manipting their eyes with some skill, but it was indescribable, as if they were trying to discern if they could kill the ones theyid their eyes on or not.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While the assassins started debating whether or not to drag out the one spying on them, their target appeared totally ignorant to their vulnerability.

    ¡°Take cover. Someone has arrived,¡± instructed Master Ku.

    Master Ku wasn¡¯t referring to the same person prowling around. The assassins were immediately intrigued as to who was this person so far ahead of them that only Master Ku could sense them.

    The young man attired in white with his hair syed behind him didn¡¯t appear hostile, but hepelled them to be vignt for nobody knew which side he was on, where he came from and what his intentions were. He was seen dozens of metres away, yet he was already where Master Ku hid within what appeared to be a single step.

    ¡°Excuse me, may I ask for some directions? Do you know where this Ming Feizhen is? I have business with him?¡± He then cracked a smile and added, ¡°By the way, you people are members of League of Assassins, right? Could you give me a few heads to take back as evidence I worked? Let¡¯s make this easy for all of us, hey?¡±

    Although none of the assassins budged, they all readied themselves to strike down the youth as soon as Master Ku gave the order. Master Ku raised his hand, then shook his head. ¡°Nobody is to attack. He is only asking for directions. Why are you all acting as if an enemy hase?¡±

    The young man patted Master Ku on the shoulder as a friend would. ¡°They say Master Ku is cold on the exterior but affable deep down, bitter on the outside but as passionate as a fire inside. They are not wrong at all. That being said, do not take my joke to heart. No matter how I look, the only person worth my while killing here is the one who assassinated Dark Robe Brotherhood¡¯s elder, Windless Monster - Tan Ying. His head is worth thirty thousand taels¡­ There are only around eight worth something. Killing all of you just to collect a few peanuts is not worth it. I am not interested in businesses without a positive ROI.¡±

    Master Ku was no fool who would think the young man was a weakling when he knew nobody from the unorthodox sects would belittle him in thest five years. ¡°¡­ Why are you here?¡±

    The young man wagged his hand. ¡°Just a business trip. I was going to go hunting in Nanjiang; I even went to borrow Baima¡¯s spear from the northern border. That guy is a miser, so I had to steal. It took me three days to take it from him, so I am runningte.¡± He pointed to the bronze spear on his back. ¡°By the time I arrived, everything had been settled. I heard some guy called Ming Feizhen nned this all out. Look, I can let you all off if you tell me where he is. I want to have some fun with him.¡±

 Volume 11 117 Said With a Smile (Part 1)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 117 Said With a Smile (Part 1)</h4>

    In mere years, he racked up a double-digit kill count of underground lords. Had he wanted to eradicate the two-hundred-odd of them, it wasn¡¯t beyond him. While others had to consider the consequences of killing one of the League of Assassins¡¯ primary chiefs, the young man was among the three who could let loose without sizing them up. In fact, the more assassins they killed, the more it benefited them.

    Master Ku lowered his head, then shook it. ¡°This one does not recognise him or know where he is.¡±

    The young man smiled it off as though he wasn¡¯t expecting anything and then sauntered off, muttering, ¡°Yeah? Dang. This city isn¡¯t big but isn¡¯t exactly small, either. I¡¯ll never finish searching every corner of this ce on my own. I need to find a trusty navigator¡­¡± Having gone far off, he suddenly looked back and added, ¡°By the way, please let your boss know that I haven¡¯t met my quota, so I¡¯ll be collecting from your headquarters soon. Please tell him to set up some formations, or it¡¯ll be dull.¡±

    Master Ku responded with a palm-fist salute. ¡°¡­ This one is grateful for your magnanimity.¡±

    An assassin inquired, ¡°Who is he? He sounds awfully stuck up.¡±

    ¡°He is the top agent of Emperor¡¯s Entourage and one of The Ultimate Three. His imperial alias is Tianhu.¡±

    The most prestigious title one could be conferred as a martial artist was Supreme Ten Saints. Following them, the patriarchs and matriarchs of sects in the martial world had bragging rights, but many recluse, retired and old patriarchs-sh-matriarchs would be forgotten. It would¡¯ve been even harder to remember all of them if the adepts of the imperial court were considered part of the martial world. When it came topetence, nevertheless, The Ultimate Three were the undisputed champions. A simplistic way of viewing it would be, the Supreme Ten Saints had the power to polish and spread their name, while The Ultimate Three had the power to turn the pugilistic world on its head.

    During his time assigned at Nanjiang¡¯s border, Tianhu singlehandedly kept the twelve Sacred Beasts in check without even trying - a feat that not even Martial Paragon could achieve in his prime.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s shown up here; however, he¡¯s spared us. In ordance with the stiptions of the pugilistic world, we are disqualified from involving ourselves in the matter. Our mission was to protect Miss Ming, but she modified themission. We ept onemission per payment. We have killed the beast, so we have fulfilled the contract.¡±

    ¡°Should we not notify Miss Ming, then? It would be the morally right thing to do.¡± From their perspective, Ming Feizhen could use any help he could get.

    ¡°Your emotions have clouded your judgement. Have you forgotten our rules?¡± Master Ku scolded the assassin with his gaze, pretty much scaring him enough to buckle at the knee. ¡°The hardest contract to fulfil is called favours. You cannot owe too many favours or too few. There are things you can help with and ones you shouldn¡¯t. This ends here today. We are even. If you help them once, they will have to return the favour once. You are an assassin. How do you know that they won¡¯t be your target one day?¡±

    Not one word contained a shred of emotion.

    ¡°¡­ But our client¡­ Did you not say he has to be your¡­¡±

    Master Ku peered in the direction Tianhu went. ¡°What does a sh between gods have to do with you?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    None of them understood the remark. Nheless, they followed Master Ku along their designated escape route.

    Nobody noticed ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s corpse gradually withering, and the ¡°thing¡± snooping around in the shadows having a party in his mental ne. His sinister energy had increased by so many folds that the meridians Ming Feizhen ruined were showing signs of activity again. If his progress was linear, Gewu wouldn¡¯t need years; all he needed at the moment was an advanced internal discipline to reconstruct his frayed meridians, and he¡¯d recover within two years as well as gain strength surpassing his previous seventy years of work.

    If he was so inclined, Gewu could give elites a run for his money with his current physical prowess alone. If he had the luxury of time, he would¡¯ve loved to kill a few assassins for the giggles and hiseback ceremony. From his perspective, Master Ku¡¯s group didn¡¯t spare him. He spared them. His body was now durable enough to benefit from feeding on anything. All that said, there was an order for everything.

    Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen!

    Gewu¡¯s golden eyes illuminated the path in front of him.

    ***

    The ¡°victory¡± smoke signal finally spread across the sky on the fourth day. The oue was decided the moment the mutated beasts weakened drastically for some unexined reason. Vice-General Beussent helped enact the blueprint Martial Paragon left behind for Xiuyu¡¯s general to follow prior to taking off to tackle Wazi. Having fought alongside Nanjiang¡¯s King and learnt from Feng Xue, it was easy for Beussent to carry out the instructions.

    By the time he returned to the frontlines, Beussent had the results of the divide and conquer strategy to show. Those who surrendered were taken captive to circumvent meaningless bloodshed.

    Luo n¡¯s elites toppled the one-thousand-odd troops lying in ambush deep within Nieyao City, with Feng Jian taking their general¡¯s head.

    The imperial court¡¯s forces slew over six thousand enemies, in addition to capturing over three thousand, on their way to a resounding and bloody victory.

    Glossary

    Imperial alias - In case it¡¯s not clear, it¡¯s an alias an Emperor confers.

 Volume 11 118 Said With a Smile (Part 2)

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 118 Said With a Smile (Part 2)</h4>

    The fire came to light up the night, to warm air that was more ustomed to the chill. It lit each face that was already beaming. The war may have onlysted four days, but it was four days of non-stop fighting.

    Emperor Yuansheng contacted Green Princest night, when victory was clearly in the bag, to have wine, water and food delivered to their camp outside Nieyao for a celebration party.

    Long Zaitian, fighting an honest battle without sleep during the expedition, forgot all about his ancestors, let alone his injuries, when Emperor Yuansheng apuded him. Three drinks in, he yelled, ¡°y the music. I¡¯ll treat you all to a dance!¡± then pulled down his shirt and started rolling about on the ground.

    Dugu and Sima Huai yed a modified version of rock paper scissors to see who was faster while warriorsmentated and cheered from the side.

    Hong Jiu, despite his injuries, was still in shape to have a drinking contest with Moyan Luohou, Moyuan Changping and Abels. Moyan Changping was out in no time. Xia¡¯er and A-Lan had to lug Hong Jiu and Abels back to their tents after the two were inebriated a whileter. Moyan Luohou, on the other hand, opened another jug to continue taking his time by himself.

    Tianfeng Xuanyuan smashed concrete on his chest and des over his head as part of his performance routine. People betted on how long it¡¯d take Lai Jingzhen to wake up.

    Even though everyone was partying together, they all had a ce where they belonged, a ce they¡¯d hobble back to in their drunken stupor once the songs, dances and games were over. Shen Yiren also had a group she belonged to.

    Among Liu Shan Men¡¯s members, Tang Ye and Su Xiao weren¡¯t present, but he was. Shen Yiren frantically ran around from group to group as soon as she returned to camp, neither removing her armour nor epting any drinks. She wanted to see him first and foremost, to tell him what transpired in Nieyao and what she saw. Likewise, she wanted to hear what he went through and if he was hurt. She wanted to share the joy of triumph with him. Search high and low, though, there was no trace of him. The only person at Mount Daluo¡¯s tent was a Ming Suwen who still couldn¡¯t stop gasping blood on asion - even after a day of recovery.

    Expecting Shen Yiren toe by, Ming Suwen said, ¡°Sis¡­ go find Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Sister, your injuries¡­¡± Shen Yiren had yet to hear about Shadow Lady, but to think Ming Suwen could be hurt so bad¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. I carelessly used my ultimate attack, so my true qi is unsettled. I probably won¡¯t be able to walk for another four days. I can take care of myself, though. Feizhen¡­ Find Feizhen. Seeing as we¡¯re okay, he should be okay, too.¡±

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the specific location, but he¡¯s probably passed out somewhere. That¡¯s just typical him, never telling us anything, carrying the burden on his own and then smiling as though it was nothing. I won¡¯t be remotely as effective as you searching the ruins in my state. Can I trust you to find him?¡±

    Though Shen Yiren had yet to watch Ming Feizhen in action, the fact that he beat Luo Ming was a testament to his abilities. To think he¡¯d pass out in Nieyao could only mean there was something as threatening as he was. Thinking back on Feng Xue and Luo Ming¡¯s conditions, Shen Yiren galloped into Nieyao at full speed.

    ***

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s initially heavy breaths gradually softened as his breathing capacity diminished along with the strength in his legs climbing the stone steps.

    Ming Feizhen never deluded himself into believing he could defeat Pangu; from the beginning, his goal was to capitalise on thezy nature of dragons - wearing it down until it returned to a long slumber. Else, he never would¡¯ve attempted challenging it solo. Still, the cost of death always loomed.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While he managed to skirt death, he couldn¡¯t avoid injuries. Every breath he took felt akin to setting his lungs alight. Every step he took feltparable to fracturing his bones more. Every time his foot touched the ground, it felt as if he was sinking into cotton. Perhaps thest time he felt as awful was when he was so sore from training his behind off as a kid that he was bed ridden. Ever since learning Yijin Jing, he only ever brimmed with energy, particrly so when he possessed a Fengpeng¡¯s energy. No matter the degree of injury, even qi deviation, he never felt as weak.

    The door to the underground pce could either be opened from the outside using force or a specific method. The only way to exit, on the other hand, was to activate a contraption. Despite his best effort, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t get the contraption to budge. Instead, his legs took his base from him. He rolled back down the steps, leaving a trail of blood from the life pouring out of his head.

    He was done. He had no motivation to move. While heid there, he thought about how nice it¡¯d be if he had the energy tough at how powerless he was when he usually had confidence in his strength. He wasn¡¯tughing at himself. He was just thinking, is this how strong I was as a kid?

    Hourster, Ming Feizhen finally felt mentally rejuvenated - to an extent - but his body was still bereft of strength. Under normal circumstances, the Fengpeng¡¯s energy would galvanize him to go on a genocide spree and drink blood for replenishment whenever he was weak. Against Pangu, howbeit, he emptied out the Fengpeng¡¯s energy to wear out the former. As such, the Fengpeng¡¯s ravenous energy was in no mood to supply him with energy.

    After an even longer climb up to the door, Ming Feizhen decided to sit down and rest for two hours. He tried taking a big breath so that he could get to his feet, then fall forward, using his weight to force the weight open. He went back to panting on the ground, unable to get up. Nevertheless, the argent lineing through the ajar door spurred him on to crawl out. Only when he could see the moon outside did he feel he was truly alive. Leaning on the outside of the door, he could smell the aroma of wine and meat, see the mes grazing the ether and hear the mouring from afar.

    We won, huh? Pass me some of that energy, why don¡¯t you?

    Ming Feizhen lifted up the corners of his lips. Ten years ago and today, he had no ce in the victory party. Even though he just protected the peace of the world for the next decades, even century and beyond, nobody would be grateful to him or sing his praise. Not even those who cared about him would know what he did because he wouldn¡¯t let them know, nor did he need them to know.

    Perhaps he already received too much, so he had to put down even more. Perhaps receiving the care of others was something foreign to him now. Perhaps both theories were true.

    ¡°¡­ Feizhen.¡±

    Shen Yiren, caked in filth and hair shagged, dismounted. Heaven knows how long she had been utilising Precision Scout for her eyes to be bright red. She was going to run up to Ming Feizhen, but her weak legs resulted in her pretty much falling into his arms. Fearing she might hurt him with her touch, she only dared to eye him.

    No matter how many times she moved her mouth, the words wouldn¡¯te out. Silver droplets formed in her eyes the longer she looked at him.

    What¡¯s with the tears? Is she¡­ upset for my sake?

    ¡°Doctor¡­ I¡¯ll take you to the doctor¡­ I¡¯ll call a doctor over.¡±

    Shen Yiren turned to leave when Ming Feizhen grabbed her robe. She didn¡¯t dare to tug in case she exacerbated his injuries. Worse, she feared he¡¯d go to sleep for good.

    As if he didn¡¯t know what she was thinking and as if he didn¡¯t know how bad his condition was, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t leave¡­ Keep mepany.¡±

    Shen Yiren stayed as he requested; however, her tears wouldn¡¯t stay as she requested. ¡°What did you do behind my back?¡±

    Ming Feizhen gently lifted the bottom of her rob up, then flipped it up onto her head. ¡°¡­ I tripped,¡± he said with a smile.

 Volume 11 119 Wiping Away Tears

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 119 Wiping Away Tears</h4>

    Shen Yiren stared at Ming Feizhen¡¯s smile for a long, long time. Just as Ming Suwen said, he never mentioned a word of what happened, punctuating his job with a smile. Had she not found him, he really might¡¯ve just sat there and healed himself, then reappeared with his usual smile.

    Is this how you always do things? Have you always been carrying weights we don¡¯t know about? How many times have you suffered like this? Nobody knows what you did. Nobody will be grateful. Nobody will care about you. As a matter of fact, they willin, misunderstand and belittle you. How many scars lie underneath that smile? How many of them are still leaking blood?

    ¡°Boss¡­ you¡¯re crying.¡±

    ¡°Am not.¡±

    ¡°You are.¡±

    ¡°Am not.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Roger that. Are you going to wipe them? Your face is going to look filthy.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s tears wouldn¡¯t relent, but she ignored them. ¡°I¡¯m crying on behalf of someone because he can¡¯t cry. I¡¯m not upset. I¡¯m ticked off. I¡¯m disillusioned with myself. Why am I so useless? Why can¡¯t I be of any help? I¡¯m mad at myself for being ignorant. I demanded you be honest with me when I don¡¯t even know what you¡¯re hiding from me.¡±

    A maiden crying with a piercing gaze whilst going off wasn¡¯t a sight often seen.

    ¡°You piss me off even more, you jerk! I don¡¯t even know how you got through those seventeen days. Were you ready to die? Shifu Luo Ming isn¡¯t dead. Martial Paragon isn¡¯t dead. Abels and Patriarch Moyan aren¡¯t dead, either. You were nning to be a martyr from the very beginning, weren¡¯t you? What was on your mind when you went to talk to them?

    ¡°When you visited Tang Ye and Su Xiao, were you nning to see them onest time? You refused to see Sister Suwen because you didn¡¯t want her to see through your front. You¡­ You didn¡¯t even give me a heads up. Am I that unimportant to you?¡±

    As soon as Ming Feizhen stretched his hand out toward her, Shen Yiren dodged it. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! Why can¡¯t you be more considerate to yourself? Are you someone who deserves to die? Why don¡¯t you live for yourself more? Do you know people will be sad if you die? Do you know people will shed tears if you die?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s crying hindered her attempts to speak further. Ming Feizhen could only look at her, taken aback. Suddenly, he wrapped his arm around her waist. Tired she may have been, but there was no way he could¡¯ve pulled her in with such weak arms, yet her body gently leaned onto his involuntarily.

    Mayhap she didn¡¯t care; mayhap she didn¡¯t realise. Either way, she buried her face in his chest, still crying, still mumbling, ¡°Jerk, jerk¡­¡± until her voice was too soft to be audible. Only after her crying cease did it dawn on her they were close enough to be welded together. Thus, she figuratively pulled herself out. She was hoping to restore her rationality, but¡­

    ¡°Eh? Wh-what is¡­¡±

    Why am I in his arms? How long has he been looking at me?

    Though lowering her head was her go-to reaction to avoid him, it only highlighted how close they were - close enough to feel and hear each other¡¯s breaths.

    Ming Feizhen paid no heed to Shen Yiren¡¯s reaction, leaning his straight face in. Her mind wanted to run, but her body was as limp and scalding as a drunken woman.

    ¡°¡­ Wh-what are you doing?¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s usual toughness was reced with a never-before-seen meekness uncharacteristic of her.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen just kept inching closer and closer¡­ and closer. She had more than enough strength to wrestle her way out, yet she closed her eyes instead as her body shook. She could feel his breath and his body temperatureing closer and closer over what seemed to be forever.

    Ming Feizhen smiled.

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t get what she was expecting. She wouldn¡¯t admit what he might¡¯ve done. She felt a warm tickle on a cheek, and then it went down her cheek. Wiping, rubbing, caressing, she couldn¡¯t tell what the difference was, but there was no mistake something went from her eyes down her cheek. Unable to curb her curiosity, she opened her eyes to see Ming Feizhen licking her cheek. ¡°What¡­ did you do?¡±

    ¡°Well, since they¡¯re my tears, shouldn¡¯t I wipe them?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t feel my arms, and I don¡¯t have a handkerchief, so I have to resort to my protest instrument. Boss, your face smells nice.¡±

    ¡°D-did you just¡­¡± Cheeks seared, Shen Yiren blustered, ¡°You lecher!¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯s that inkstone here?!¡±

    Author¡¯s note: Flirty scenes are hard to write.

 Volume 11 120 Life as an Alcoholic

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 120 Life as an Alcoholic</h4>

    Ming Feizhen had his hands on his cheeks as he pretended to sob andined. ¡°You would viciously assault an injured man¡­¡±

    Apologetic, Shen Yiren turned her face away. ¡°It wasn¡¯t on purpose. It¡¯s your fault for¡­ doing that. It¡¯s gross.¡±

    ¡°I was just cleaning your face. Plus, your face smells nice, is smooth¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren turned back to shoot Ming Feizhen a re.

    Cough, cough!

    ¡°By the way, why do you have an inkstone with you in war?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A smile bloomed on Shen Yiren¡¯s lips. ¡°Oh, I figured I was going to meet you, so I brought it along. You never know when it¡¯lle in handy, so it¡¯s better to stay ready.¡±

    Wh-when did she develop the habit? No wonder why she always has an inkstone on her.

    They say opportunityes to those who are prepared.

    The two had while of fun - technically fun only for Shen Yiren.

    ¡°The road back will be rocky, so it¡¯ll aggravate your wounds. Bear with it, okay?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pouted. ¡°I refuse. I hate pain.¡±

    ¡°Bear with it.¡±

    ¡°Objection.¡±

    Shen Yiren was more than ready to stamp or smack his face again, but she was worried she¡¯d hurt him. Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve gone down on his knees if he had the strength in him. She leaned in to coax, ¡°¡­ Good boy. I¡¯ll whip up some nice dishes for you when we get back, okay?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s nose sprayed two trails of blood as he fell back, lips spread from ear to ear. ¡°My life as an alcoholic has not been lived in vain!¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s nerves were frayed to the quick upon seeing blood st out of his nose,pelling her to clumsily clean him up. ¡°Okay, okay, enough ying around. We¡¯ll rest here until you¡¯re good to go.¡±

    Ming Feizhen used his arm as a cushion a littleter. ¡°¡­ I never expected my injuries would be exacerbated due to such a stupid reason¡­ Boss, you really are a vixen.¡±

    Shen Yiren inted her cheeks, resisting the urge to bite back.

    ¡°I¡¯m not privy to what the situation is outside since I¡¯ve been here for days. You sure you won?¡±

    Shen Yiren could only provide a brief recount as she was pretty much always fighting on Luo Ming¡¯s front. Besides looking annoyed over Ming Suwen¡¯s injuries, nothing appeared to be outside of Ming Feizhen¡¯s predictions.

    ¡°How are you injuries? You know health and medicine better than me, so you should have a more urate diagnosis, right?¡±

    ¡°Feels like I crushed my organs when I tripped. Besides my eyes and mouth, I can¡¯t move anything else.¡±

    The ¡°mouth¡± part almost prompting a blushing Shen Yiren to bring out her trusty inkstone. She could tell he wasn¡¯t his usual self when she smacked him before. Usually, she¡¯d feel some sturdy resistance upon impact, but it felt as though he crumbled today.

    They say, when you care about someone, you pay particr attention to everything they do. Howbeit, Shen Yiren believed it was just her Precision Scout ability highlighting everything. If only she noted the plethora of finer details in her behaviours¡­

    Although Ming Feizhen had plenty of wounds, the one that nobody would miss was how much blood he lost. His face was ghastly white, while his body was red. His speech was also slow unlike when he feigned illness.

    ¡°My life isn¡¯t threatened, but these wounds are a bit of a hassle. It¡¯s going to take me some time to recover. I¡¯ll need some time before I can be your loyal backup.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your backup. I don¡¯t have enough to feed you.¡± Shen Yiren mmed up and ced her chin between her knees. ¡°As long as your life isn¡¯t at risk, everything else is trivial. Thanks to you, Liu Shan Men¡¯s value has risen significantly¡­ Actually, it should be even higher. It¡¯s just that nobody knows what you did behind the scenes.¡±

    Ming Feizhen just smiled.

    ¡°If the imperial court¡¯s reward isn¡¯t sufficient¡­ I¡¯ll give you extra. What do you want?¡± Upon turning her head to look at him, she unexpectedly ran into his eyes. Hence, she hurriedly looked away. ¡°Always like this with you.¡±

    What did I do now?

    ¡°I don¡¯t want any extravagant reward. I¡¯ll be satisfied if I can just have a fulfilling meal.¡±

    ¡°You must be starving, huh? I¡¯ll go grab you some food.¡±

    Ming Feizhen made his best attempt at a head shake. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not that hungry¡­ Don¡¯t go. I don¡¯t want to be separated from you for a second.¡±

    Shen Yiren chuckled. ¡°You refuse to move, and you refuse to let me go, yet you want food? Oh, I have a few pieces of shortbr-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take eighteen, thanks!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a swift recovery. Sadly, I only have two.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take two!¡±

    Ming Feizhen bit off almost half of a shortbread. It tasted dry and in after spending days in Shen Yiren¡¯s shirt, yet he wolfed it down as though it was delightful to his pte. ¡°This thing should only exist in heaven. This could save the world from famines.¡±

    Shen Yiren already grabbed a quick bite from the camp; she wasn¡¯t hungry. ¡°I really wonder what you¡¯re made out of. You only had two pieces of shortbread, yet you¡¯re already more energetic.¡±

    ¡°If only there was some water.¡± Although he still couldn¡¯t stand, he didn¡¯t sound so weak following the snack.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fetch you some.¡± Upon getting to her feet, Shen Yiren noticed a presence. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    In a voice that was impossible to distinguish their gender, the individual in hiding responded, ¡°Neither of you noticed someone watching while you two were flirting? Ming Feizhen, you took some serious punishment, huh? Hahaha. I shall put you out of your misery.¡±

 Volume 11 121 Bighead Ge. A Game of Fireball.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 121 Bighead Ge. A Game of Fireball.</h4>

    ¡°He¡± had mutated from the bulky form he used against Abels and Moyan Luohou to a much leaner physique that stood far above the average man, albeit still being a gxy away from ¡°human¡±. Mayhap it was due to the difficult of remodifying his bones, but only his forehead maintained its huge size, giving him a bobble head appearance. Although his skin was now smooth, his two eye sockets still sunk in, while his reconstructed nose sat virtually directly under his eyes and a mile away from his sharp teeth.

    He no longer moved on all fours as the blood of Pangu¡¯s four sons overrode the side effect of consuming an excessive volume of mutated beasts¡¯ blood.

    When Gewu first absorbed Baidizi¡¯s blood, he experienced what he would refer to as his blood being incinerated and mes scorching his meridians. Following each sessive absorption, the pain abated. By the time he got around to sapping ck Feathers Shuyu of its blood, it was no different to drinking water.

    Despite his nightmarish appearance and deviation from being human, he was pleased, very pleased.

    ¡°Hehehe, never imagined you¡¯d be in this state, did you, Ming Feizhen?¡± Gewu shed a corner of his spiky teeth. ¡°I don¡¯t me you for not recognising me.¡± The second time he spoke, it was distinctly his throat voice instead of the voice that was indistinguishable between man and woman. ¡°You recognise me now, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen tilted his head. ¡°No. Who are you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ This old one is Gewu.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes grew double their size. ¡°Gegewu? What happened to you? How much did you eat to grow that¡­ fat?¡±

    Gewu gusted up dust with a stomp and splintered rocks with lightning bolts. ¡°Ming Feizhen, you are the one who did this to me, yet you¡¯re still making a fool of me. I won¡¯t be done with you even after I rip you to pieces!¡±

    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve changed a lot. I crippled you, only for you toe back stronger than before. How¡¯d you do it?¡±

    ¡°Heh, scared already? I don¡¯t me an ignorant fool for his ignorance. Did you know the leader of six evils, Pangu, was already honoured as a divine beast before Mystical Era? Now that I possess his sons¡¯ powers, I have surpassed human limits and begun my apotheosis. After I maul you, I¡¯ll take back Shaman Faith and conquer Nanjiang. I now have an unmatched lifespan; I have all the time in the world to conquer the Central in to be the man among men, god among gods!¡± Besides smokeing out of his huge head, Gewu¡¯s skin turned redder as his the thrill built up.

    ¡°You ate its sons? Must be some of the messed up stuff Sky Pce came up with, then. Their messed up stuff can produce some miraculous oues and deviate from the standard definition of martial arts. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to eat them.

    ¡°I doubt the creator ever imagined somebody would be lucky enough to have four of Pangu¡¯s sons, let alone in one sitting. I¡¯ll hedge my fortune on you being the only one to ever achieve this with the disicpline. I feel sorry for the man who created it.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re scared, you can beg for mercy. If I¡¯m feeling merciful, I can grant you a painless end, and I¡¯ll save you the misery of witnessing your loved one die tragically. Frankly, the very sight of you irks me. It¡¯s a win-win situation if I kill you first. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°¡­ How did his head grow so big? Might as well call him Bighead Ge from now,¡± Ming Feizhen muttered.

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Say, Bighead Ge, y-¡±

    ¡°You asked for it!¡±

    ¡°Chill. Judging from your appearance, you must¡¯ve first ingested blood from beasts that breathed the miasma. Well, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to absorb so much blood and essence from Pangu¡¯s kids without going insane if you didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you can feign astonishment all you like. It isn¡¯t going to stop me from killing you. You¡¯re defenceless now. Your mouth won¡¯t save you.¡±

    ¡°I take that back. You were insane in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°You have to get through me first.¡± Shen Yiren woke Yujing slowly, covering any possible openings.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Skill, strength, speed and all other variables that make up martial prowess werepromised if you didn¡¯t get enough rest. Shen Yiren had been fighting without sleep for four days now, while Gewu just finished absorbing ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s blood and essence. Even so, her spirit was enough to impel Gewu to put a fight behind him.

    Gewu would need to be wary against a Divine Realm warrior until he figured out the secret of Enlightenment, but anybody below their level was just a punching bag. For some reason, though, the sight of Yujing instilled fear.

    Gewu forgot Yujing took Baidizi¡¯s head off clean. Luo Ming passed on to Shen Yiren the intent behind his historic sh.

    ¡°Boss, that sword draw looked wicked. Looks like you¡¯ve really improved recently.¡±

    Shen Yiren would¡¯ve loved to turn around to kick Ming Feizhen for his uselessmentary, but she didn¡¯t have that luxury.

    ¡°Oh, you even doing the whole shy thing now.¡±

    Shen Yiren concentrated solely on the threat standing before them.

    Gewu pressed his hands together, spawning a fireball between them out of thin air.

 Volume 11 122 Dragon Blood

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 122 Dragon Blood</h4>

    Having absorbed the blood and essence of four of Pangu¡¯s sons, Gewu could now effortlessly hold mes with naked hands without ramifications. While the fireball could only expand enough to force his hands apart, the colour of the ball grew more and more pronounced, indicating he was siphoning energy into it constantly.

    Thanks to witnessing Luo Ming¡¯s fatal blow to Baidizi, Shen Yiren grasped the essence of ck-White Hair, empowering her to enter Sword Spirit Realm at will. In other words, she had finally consolidated her progress into Sword Spirit Realm. Even so, Gewu¡¯s mes told her that she shouldn¡¯t try fighting the heat for her own sake.

    The fireball wasn¡¯t conjured from the same energy cultivated as a martial artist, but it would take someone of Divine Realm status to produce it. If it so much as grazed someone¡¯s skin, it¡¯d instantly leave nothing but ckened ¡°skin¡±.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s offence couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Gewu¡¯s, and defending his offence was out of the question. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t even walk on his own. Thus, the only hope she had was to never let Gewu have the chance to mount an offence.

    Right as Shen Yiren contracted her muscles to go in, Ming Feizhen gently pulled on the bottom of her robe. ¡°He¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t bother with him,¡± Ming Feizhen asserted.

    Shen Yiren wrinkled her nose, unable to put her finger on what Ming Feizhen was up to. ¡°¡­ You stay where you are. The next time you get in the way, I¡¯ll p you,¡± imed Shen Yiren, hands still where they were.

    Ming Feizhen tugged Shen Yiren¡¯s robe again. ¡°Boss,e sit down. You haven¡¯t had any shut eye for days. Why do you want to fight when you¡¯re tired?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing? Do you not realise h-¡±

    ¡°I know. He¡¯s just another grunt you can hire for less than a sock.¡± Ming Feizhen gestured for Shen Yiren to sit down with his free hand.

    Shen Yiren sighed, then stole a gander of bewildered Gewu. She sighed again, set her sword down and joined Ming Feizhen on the ground. ¡°Always up to some crazy stuff.¡±

    Ming Feizhen grinned, then pointed to a forest nearby. ¡°Check out this archaic city¡¯s scenery. It¡¯s still quite aesthetically pleasing despite the damage.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen, you really are trying to slight this old one.¡± Gewu spawned a lightning field with a seven centimetres radius around him. As if his lightning zapped oxygen out of existence, the air in the vicinity thinned out. The lightning spread to his fireball, rotating his fireball.

    Though she could tell Gewu would erase them in one go with that much energy, there wasn¡¯t a tinge of fear in Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been so upied with fighting that I haven¡¯t had time to peacefully take in the beauty of the scenery.¡±

    ¡°Boss, you just used me of not caring about you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I have an objection.¡±

    Ming Feizhen lifted Shen Yiren¡¯s left hand, then slid her sleeve down a tad to expose the scar on her wrist - courtesy of A-Lan. Had Ming Feizhen been around, he could¡¯ve remedied the damage with celestial spider silk and his medical knowledge because even he would only have twenty-four hours to treat it. s, she ended up floating in water for days; she couldn¡¯t even hold chopsticks with her left hand at the moment.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Shen Yiren asked.

    ¡°You trust me?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not trustworthy.¡±

    ¡°You believe I can heal your injury?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Raise my sry if I do?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to slice this spot. You okay with that?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren smirked as she extended her wrist toward Ming Feizhen, almost impelling him to tap her on the nose with a finger.

    Subsequent to a deep inhale, Ming Feizhen picked up Yujing. ¡°Here I go.¡±

    In spite of his weakness, Ming Feizhen¡¯s uracy wasn¡¯t sacrificed. Once he pulled the sword out from the sliced scar, no blood spilt. He popped off the cork of a porcin vial, assailing Shen Yiren¡¯s nose with a strong smell.

    ¡°Bear with it.¡±

    Shen Yiren softly exhaled as part of her routine to prepare herself mentally. Ming Feizhen guzzled the vial, much to Shen Yiren¡¯s confusion. After all, weren¡¯t the victims supposed to take the antidote? What was she supposed to bear with if he was the one drinking it?

    Shen Yiren had yet to work out what she had to bear with when Ming Feizhen pressed his lips up against the cut he opened. Before she could make heads or tails of the situation, she felt her wrist go numb. As more of the liquid entered the aperture in her wrist, the sensation coursed through other parts of her body.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

 Volume 11 123 One Thrust

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 123 One Thrust</h4>

    Once he finished transferring all the contents into Shen Yiren¡¯s wrist, Ming Feizhen looked up to check on her.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Following an astonishingly hard heartbeat, Shen Yiren felt her body heat up to extreme temperatures. She could even feel it in her left hand that she hadn¡¯t felt in a while. Whilst at the mercy of skin-splitting pain, she saw a cluster of ruins - the shape of the world before its creation - and Pangu descend from heaven. One p of its wings generated infernos and oceans.

    Ming Feizhen, holding onto Shen Yiren¡¯s hand, was relieved to see Shen Yiren lose awareness after a cry.

    Shen Yiren once trained in her dream, so she could carve out a dimension to avoid the aggression of Six Evils inside. Else, this slumber would be herst. In addition, losing conscious would reduce her pain significantly. The rest of the pain she had to bear was the price she had to pay for repairing her left hand.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, what is the purpose of deliberately making her pass out?¡± Gewu questioned.

    ¡°¡­ Bighead Ge.¡±

    Cross, Gewu ramped up the output of his lightning-fire ball.

    ¡°There¡¯s one thing you¡¯re right about.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat you right now¡­ As a matter of fact, I couldn¡¯t beat an aggressive dog. Thing is, old habits die hard. You¡¯re always snooping around like a wuss. You don¡¯t have the balls to take risks. When you mutated, there might¡¯ve been a point to fighting you. You decided to make aeback because you gained a little power. If you weren¡¯t afraid I still had something up my sleeve, you wouldn¡¯t still be hesitant to attack and standing so far away with your fireball. If you came for my head upon sighting me, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything, but you didn¡¯t have the balls. You¡¯re scared of me even when I¡¯m on the verge of death. That¡¯s why you¡¯ll never have your revenge, and you deserve your misery. It¡¯s toote to kill me now.¡±

    Indeed, Gewu feared Ming Feizhen had some sort of trick to go down with him as that was something Divine Realm adepts could cast their Enlightenment for as long as they still had a fragment of energy. Gewu had been on the receiving end of Ming Feizhen¡¯s tactics and power more than once to know better. This time, though, he decided to call out Ming Feizhen¡¯s bluff.

    ¡°Let¡¯s find out howte this old one is!¡±

    Lightning bolts emanated from the raised fireball. Gewu cracked a smile in anticipation of Ming Feizhen¡¯s painful demise.

    Ming Feizhen covered Shen Yiren¡¯s ears. ¡°You have a grudge with life or something?¡±

    The fireball exploded,unching the condensed energy into the ether, stealing the thunder of the bonfire at the campsite. The fire dragon reduced all in its path to cinders for the lightning dragons to st to smithereens. They continued their rampage inside the forest, scorching the entire forest.

    The explosion¡¯s shockwave travelling back toward Gewu almost blew him off bnce, yet it didn¡¯t reach Ming Feizhen. The ravenous mes that took the life of so much foliage didn¡¯t even graze Ming Feizhen¡¯s clothing. The lightning split off in different directions as if it was denied when it should¡¯ve zapped them.

    It was only his first glimpse, but Gewu discerned that the spear the youth in white was armed with possessed a simr ability to Mount Daluo¡¯s Dragon-ying Formation. He was clearly trained and could do a lot more than just suppress the powers of Pangu¡¯s sons. After all, he had the ability to use it as an offensive tool.

    Even though everything that transpired and everything visible was impressive, it was the techniques Tianhu performed that stole the limelight. It had rarely been seen in thest three decades, but Gewu had the fortune of feasting his eyes on it once, and that was the time it proved itself a supreme speary in the Central in.

    ¡°Lend me eight hundred flying swords to y a city of demons. Lend me three thousand clear winds to purge a mountain. Lend me a hundred thousand banners to ughter all of you. I¡¯m the demon yer.¡±

    Gewu blocked with both arms, but his defence didn¡¯t even decelerate the thrust. Instead, Tianhu took off both arms as well as half of Gewu¡¯s body. Gewu couldn¡¯t manifest any desire to fight; his will to live went with his severed parts.

    Driven by the sentience of Pangu¡¯s sons, Gewu howled at the same time flesh wings sprouted from his back. Their sentience propelled him toward the forest. Perhaps out of an instinctual fear, he even gained ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s camouge abilities. Gewu couldn¡¯t intentionally utilise ck Feathers Shuyu¡¯s abilities, yet they activated when he was in danger.

    Tianhu let Gewu go since he had a special mission to take care of. Maintaining a posture to spring at the drop of a hat, he looked down to Ming Feizhen. Every micro-movement, every micro-expression and even every pore, Tianhu didn¡¯t let any piece of visual information go to waste. Divine Realm granted martial artists the ability to see details that may otherwise be missed. At the same time, the subject of their visual recon would be able to sense themselves being ced under a microscope.

    Ming Feizhen could read what Tianhu¡¯s gaze conveyed, so he wore on a straight face. ¡°Bro, got cake? Give me a bite.¡±

 Volume 11 124 Nipped in the Bud

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 124 Nipped in the Bud</h4>

    From atop the city wall, Emperor Yuansheng gazed at the harbinger of dawn rising into the firmament, dismissing the fog to give nature a chance to return into view after her graceful repose. Centuries following its heydays, the cursed city was as serene as many other ces in Nanjiang for the first time.

    The conquest of Nieyao opened the doors for the Central in toy im to Nanjiang. In the scenario another King as brilliant as Beussent¡¯s King five centuries ago were to rise, they wouldn¡¯t be able topete against the Central in without a state by the border. In saying that, the conquest of Nieyao only cleared out cmitous beasts; there were still plenty of steps to take before it would be under the dominion of the Central in. Nevertheless, that was something to tackle in the future. The priority right now was giving the soldiers, who marched to Nieyao without a singleint, a much needed rest, as well as putting the fallen to rest.

    Had Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren been present, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s three toasts would¡¯ve made for aplete celebration.

    Pretty much all the soldiers were still snoring after letting loosest night, including Long Zaitian. Having said that, he was one of the few warriors who maintained surveince over his surroundings in his sleep. By some sense, he jumped to his feet and into a bow stance, albeit wobbly due to drowsiness. As he chambered his left fist, he uncorked a right cross - Houyi Shoots the Sun.

    ¡°Nice ¡®Zhu Bajie Carries the Nine-Tooth Rake¡¯. Long Zaitian, seeing as you detected me, I see you¡¯ve improved quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what are you doing here?! Wait, that spear is?!¡±

    Tianhu chortled as he removed the spear from his back to throw over. Long Zaitian¡¯s arms almost hit the ground catching the heavy spear, validating his suspicion that the spear was the Qilin Guards¡¯ grandmander¡¯s Gonggong. There were only three people in Qilin Guards qualified to wield the spear forged from 9763 special materials.

    ¡°It was a hassle to take it from your boss. I thought I would get the opportunity to squash some overgrown bugs with it, but all I ran into was a stray dog. I don¡¯t have any use for it. I can¡¯t just discard it thoughtlessly because of its unique attribute, or I¡¯d damage the environment. Take it back to him.¡± Tianhu curled his lips as though the spear was something repulsive that dirtied his hands.

    ¡°Tianhu, you don¡¯t scare me. Don¡¯t go thinking we Qilin Guards are afraid just because you¡¯re Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s number one and one of The Ultimate Three His Majesty instated. I¡¯ll have you know¡­¡± Long Zaitian had run too far by this point to be audible.

    Though the bnce between the three offices was more indistinct than ever now owing to Liu Shan Mening back into the picture, Tianhu couldn¡¯t care less for a faction contest that he never concerned himself with. He only did what he fancied - even if it meant ruining rtionships with Qilin Guards.

    Tianhu ambled past the sleeping soldiers and toward the most heavily-guarded tent, fanning himself for no apparent reason.

    Without having seen Tianhu, Emperor Yuansheng asked, ¡°Arrived?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Returned the spear?¡±

    ¡°Baima is as petty as theye. Your subject is not afraid of him when face to face, but nobody knows what sort sly tactics he will use. If he reports your subject to Secretary Leng, Secretary Leng will chase your subject to the end of the world.¡±

    ¡°Haha. So, what do you think of what you¡¯ve seen?¡±

    Tianhu smiled. ¡°Not life threatening. The physician you summoned is reallypetent. The soldiers were treated in time, so they should wake up in ten days, at most. Save for Luo n¡¯s Heavenly Swordsman and Martial Paragon, the other two will be able to gallop across the pugilistic world again in a few months. In regards to the two unconscious individuals, their lives are not in danger; however, when they wake up is dependent on their vitality.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded, seemingly expecting those answers. ¡°The n was to have you carry the battle. I didn¡¯t think I would be making youe all the way here for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Your subject was merely fulfilling his duty. In contrast, you personally joining the campaign is what is truly exhausting.¡±

    A little deeper into their conversation, Emperor Yuansheng queried, ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for now. How is Yiren?¡±

    Tianhu shook his head. ¡°Her high temperature persists for some reason. It does not seem to be illness urring due to her injuries. Your subject siphoned true qi in to inspect, but neither he nor State Preceptor Lai could identify the cause; it is a symptom of external energies struggling to enter. In saying that, there is flow of qi full of life in her. With the passage of time, her vitality is strengthening.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng could only have an imperial doctor stay by the side of the maiden Tianhu brought back and pray for the best.

    ¡°¡­ How about Ming Feizhen? What did you find out about his internal cultivation?¡±

    No matter the strength of an internal style exponent or what profound method they used to hide, internal energy left traces once it was developed. Even if there was somebody superior to Tianhu, they wouldn¡¯t be able to veil their qi up close.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Your subject examined him numerous times, even physically examining his pulse. His internal energy appears to be there, yet not, which is an indication of internal injuries. Besides having a somewhat stronger pulse than the average man that is most likely attributed to his training, nothing impresses. Even without internal injuries, his internal energy is only average. Frankly, given his size, his brute strength is probably more impressive than his internal energy.¡±

    Growingly important matters were being entrusted to Ming Feizhen. ordingly, the need to determine whether or not he could be trusted grew correspondingly. Chalking up his frequent impressive showings as him being a man who didn¡¯t bat an eye regardless of severity was a stretch. Emperor Yuansheng had his suspicions Ming Feizhen was hiding his true skill, but Tianhu¡¯s report didn¡¯t match his spections.

    ¡°¡­ Based on your interaction with him, what do you believe should be done with him?¡±

    Still fanning himself, Tianhu smiled. ¡°Your subject suggests nipping it in the bud.¡±

    Glossary

    Bow stance - also called ¡°front stance¡± in TKD. This is literally how Long Zaitian whilst executing Houyi Shoots the Sun: Bow stance refers to his feet position, while the punch and chambered arm are pretty much that.

    Zhu Bajie - The pig character from Journey to the West

    Nine-Tooth Rake - Zhu Bajie¡¯s trusty weapon

    Gonggong - A Chinese water god who brought a disastrous flood to ruin the Earth and caused cosmic disorder. He¡¯s sometimes referred to as Kanghui in ancient (rtively speaking) texts. He¡¯smonly depicted as a huge, ck dragon with a human face and a horn on his head.

 Volume 11 125 Uphold

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 125 Uphold</h4>

    Tianhu folded his fan, erasing all traces of the sinisterness moments before as he wore on an affable smile. ¡°ording to your subject¡¯s investigations, Ming Feizhen is indeed suspicious. Your subject discovered amon denominator in the analysis Emperor¡¯s Entourage drew from the asions you were thrust into peril. Every time you have found yourself cornered in thest six months, he has been present. In addition, he is never far from the scene; on several asions, he was even near you. Every time something major happens, he is nowhere to be seen.¡±

    ¡°I disagree. Although there are various factors involved with Cheng¡¯er¡¯s coup, it had nothing to do with Ming Feizhen. Meeting Luo Ming and our pilgrimage here is also linked to me. We are reaching if we say he is colluding with my enemies. If he is suspicious for those reasons, who isn¡¯t suspicious?¡±

    Tianhu reacted as though he expected that response. ¡°Your subject concurs on those points. That is why your subject was not referring to the threats encountered but the neutralisation of those threads.

    ¡°Your recent encounters have been too coincidental. It is understandable for you to be targeted due to your involvement in the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs. What is strange is that you survive every dangerous predicament.

    ¡°During His Highness¡¯ act of treason, Lord San Shen showed up out of nowhere to help you, and then you ran into him again during Secretary Kong¡¯s case. On your way to Huzhou, you met Night Fortress¡¯ master. On Taihu Ind, a self-proimed deity showed up during Refining Divine Convention. Every single time you have been faced with a crisis, some great individual has shown up, and they all share onemon trait: they are all passing by and chose to defend justice, then walk off without exining anything.

    ¡°Your Majesty, although you are blessed with a fortuitous fate, for you toe across such a situation once is once too many. The second time warrants suspicion. The third urrence is evidence that it is deliberate. If their forms were not different on each asion, you would think Lord San Shen and Night Fortress master is the same person.

    ¡°If he was only an ordinary warrior seeking employment under the imperial court, then it would not be a very serious issue. Howbeit, he is Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor for this generation. It is impossible for him to not be connected to those odd events. Let us pretend he is not extremely skilled and hiding his identity when approaching you. From this campaign in Nieyao alone, we can conclude that he is far above average. He is definitely the one who reached out for assistance. Your subject ran into League of Assassins¡¯ members in Nieyao. Your subject believes Ming Feizhen sought their help.

    ¡°Regardless of whether he is leveraging Mount Daluo or it is his ownpetence, there is no doubt he can mobilise greats of the world. Night Fortress seems neither evil nor just, so let us put them aside for the time being. League of Assassins and Demon Sect are unquestionably unorthodox factions. He can even call on the likes of Lord San Shen. It is clear that he has the power to mobilise orthodox as well as unorthodox sects.

    ¡°If he was from Shaolin or Wudang, this may not be a big issue. However, Mount Daluo is known as ¡®One dynasty, one invincible¡¯. Hero Shenzhou has been ¡®Invincible¡¯ since the beginning of your family¡¯s reign. Ming Huayu, who has been patriarch since your father¡¯s era, is acquainted with people across all fields and cannot be evaluated usingmon sense. Even if we overlook his fickle character, is there any field of martial arts that he does not excel in?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen has inherited Mount Daluo¡¯s teachings and has the support of unorthodox factions. Even as we speak, we still do notpletely know him. If you are going to trust him by your side, we, as your agents, will be busy.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s say all of that was his work: what do you suppose he saved me for? To earn my trust?¡±

    ¡°Your subject cannot provide anything conclusive on that.¡±

    ¡°Had he asked for it, I might¡¯ve betrothed Hongzhuang to him after the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. If it¡¯s my trust he covets, why not just be fuma? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to earn my trust from there?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Perhaps there is a reason that we do not know.¡±

    ¡°An upright man should distinguish between rights and wrongs. Irrespective of why he hid part of the story, there is no denying he has constantly helped in the past six months. For that, I owe him. Should your spections be true, he has been saving me time and time again. I ought to repay him for what he did. Do not speak of ¡®nipping it in the bud¡¯ or anything of that nature. Nobody should repay kindness with ingratitude.¡±

    Tianhu scrubbed his head, then supinated his hands. ¡°While repaying kindness with ingratitude may not be the honourable thing to do, you are a monarch. As a monarch, it is only natural for you to be a little ruthless and willing to resort to underhanded means. As your subject on your payroll, your subject has a duty to fulfil his role. In your subject¡¯s professional opinion, keeping him around is a tremendous risk to you.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please allow your subject to get the harsh words out of the way first: you must remove problems at the root. You can name any excuse you deem appropriate. We do not have a shortage of talent at fabricating them. The best story is that he died in the mouth of a cmitous beast. There will be no evidence, and it can be justified on Mount Daluo¡¯s side. Otherwise, you will regret it.¡±

    ¡°Shut it! Be it as a man or as an Emperor, if he doesn¡¯t uphold morals and the codes of honour, how can he have the shame to face his people. Should there be irrefutable evidence of his collusion, that is another story. How can we take a life purely out of doubt?

    ¡°If I will regret it, that is for my future self to deal with. Right now, I must do what is right. Who would be willing to trust me if the reward for saving me is execution? Even if the world doesn¡¯t find out, how can I sleep at night?¡±

    Tianhu shook his head. ¡°You will regret this, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, merit deserves reward. Errors deserve punishment. Ming Feizhen contributed immensely to y the beasts and restore peace to Nieyao. Without his leadership, victory would be out of reach. He ended Shaman Monarch Pce¡¯s corruption, eradicated the bandits of Nanjiang on top of helping Nanjiang¡¯s various states. No matter how many elites Xiuyu had, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to cross through the states; how would we have been able to fight in Nieyao without concern for our rear?

    ¡°Wanyu had four days. They could¡¯ve stationed an army fifty kilometres behind us or in the forest to attack us from the rear. Had they done so, all the credit would be theirs. Moreover, we didn¡¯t win just because we had superior military might but also because the enemy¡¯s judgement was wrong. Without Heisina Tribe¡¯s knowledge of the secret path, how would we have caught them by surprise? Why did Heisina Tribe work with us? One way or another, Ming Feizhen had a hand in recruiting them. Before a single monster was in, Ming Feizhen already contributed more than anyone.¡±

    Tianhu swiped his nose, unbothered by the rejection, ¡°Seventeen letters have been sent from the capital, urging you to hurry. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°How can I disappoint my warriors?¡± Emperor Yuansheng flicked his sleeve, brushed aside his robe and then took a seat. ¡°I will stay here in Nieyao to reward my brave warriors ordingly. I will personally apud everyone who warrants a third-ss merit. I will personally give Constable Ming praise! This is how a human being ought to behave!¡±

    ¡°But, uh, the capital w-¡±

    ¡°I am a man of my word; I will not go back on what I have said. Pass on my decree: until I am done awarding my men, I will not return. I refuse to believe it¡¯s so hard to be an Emperor who can uphold morals and honour. Where¡¯s Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Sleeping in the adjacent tent. What do you n to¡­?¡±

    ¡°King Wen visited Ziya. I shall visit Ming Feizhen and, as King Wen did, I shall wait to pass on the good news to him. I am going to wait by his bedside now until he wakes.¡± Emperor Yuansheng left in a huff for Ming Feizhen¡¯s tent.

    Emperor Yuansheng pulled over a stool to sit when he saw Ming Feizhen biting on his nket in his sleep. ¡°Hmph, I refuse to believe it¡¯s so hard to not be a conniving Emperor. I¡¯d like to see who has the audacity to take this stool out from under me.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng probably never imagined he would glue his bottom to the stool for a month.

    Glossary

    One dynasty, one invincible - Where there is a dynasty, there will always be one invincible sect (Mount Daluo). Why isn¡¯t there a subject after ¡°invincible¡± you ask? Because that¡¯s how archaic Chinese works. It leaves a lot of room for more sayings, quotes and so forth. If I insert a subject here, we can run into trouble when a variation is introduced.

    Third-ss merits - It¡¯s part of a military merit reward system.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    King Wen - Referring to King Wen of Zhou

    Ziya - Full name: Jiang Ziya. I¡¯ve gone over him a few times already, so I won¡¯t go there again.

 Volume 11 126 A Brief Absence

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 126 A Brief Absence</h4>

    There was a big goose and a row of text hovering in the sky. I had my right arm around the goose and my left hand stabilising it as I took in the scenery of thend from the firmament. The morning sun shone straight through me as though it had fused with the nice breeze. As a result of crashing into the golden orb, I woke from my dream.

    Upon hearing an ufortably loud, throatyugh, I opened my eyes.

    ¡°Human, what is your wish? Is it fame? Is it wealth?¡±

    ¡°Peace.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    I stopped speaking and shut my eyes to return to my sweet dreams, but I picked up on something approaching - fast. I could make out what it was without resorting to my vision since I still had my other senses, so I didn¡¯t open my eyes. It was a hairy, ck, annoying, oily foot that hadn¡¯t been washed for around ten days.

    I rolled off the broad, threw my nket from my left hand whilst picking up a shoe with my right hand. ¡°Who is the naughty monkey interrupting this abbot¡¯s cultivation? You want to taste my Buddha Palm?¡±

    ¡°Culti-your-mother-vate! Get up!¡±

    Huh?

    Still half-asleep, I licked the saliva at the corner of my mouth. I couldn¡¯t believe the appearance I saw. He resembled the reigning Emperor, but he looked drained, had red eyes and smelt feral.

    ¡°Who is the monkey possessing His Majesty! Show your true self! You want to taste my Buddha Palm?¡±

    Wait, why Buddha Palm?

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you death! You don¡¯t even recognise me anymore? To think I stopped him for you. You want to try my Nine Familial Exterminations Decree?! Huh?!¡±

    I never imagined a day justice would be attacked like that.

    This fiend does resemble His Majesty¡­

    ¡°Your Majesty, why are you in this one¡¯s¡± - I stopped to look around to figure out where I was - ¡°temple?¡±

    ¡°What temple? This is your tent. You¡¯re still outside Nieyao.¡±

    Nieyao¡­ Nieyao¡­ Where have I heard that before? Ooooh, I remember now.

    I wrestled with Pangu in Nieyao to a draw. Pangu sequestered into its shell. I was dog-tired after exhausting myself. Bugger nearly killed me.

    So I fell asleep due to fatigue¡­ No wonder why I feel so refreshed now. Hang on. Why did I refer to my room as my temple?

    ¡°Your Majesty, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have the audacity to ask that. I¡¯ve been waiting for you!¡±

    Oh, boy.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please forgive this one¡¯s bluntness. Have you fallen for me?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng ced both hands on my bed to push himself up, too tired to reprimand me anymore. ¡°Listen: you are credited with quelling the problem in Nieyao. I, I¡­ I hereby confer you¡­ you¡­ you¡­¡±

    Thud! Emperor Yuansheng flopped forward, banging his head on the bed, then started snoring.

    What the hell? You faking an ident? What are you conferring me?!

    ***

    I tidied myself up with the stuff avable in my tent in addition to changing my clothes. I presumed Emperor Yuansheng had someone freshen me up because I wasn¡¯t smelly or dirty despite having slept for so long.

    I didn¡¯t espy anything odd outside until¡­ an elephant trotted past me. My first reaction was to flinch as I thought there were mutated beasts running rampant in Nieyao again, but there was someone riding atop it. The rider wasn¡¯t a martial artist or a soldier; he was a beast tamer, the kind who tamed them for busking on the street. There were also fox tamers, snake tamers, tiger tamers and the list went on. There was a small eatery, a mobile store selling herbs and fur¡­ You¡¯d find these performers and salesman everywhere in Nanjiang, especially in flourishing ces¡­ The quaint city walls and old-fashioned designs told me I was definitely at Nieyao, though.

    Why are there so many people here?

    ¡°Okay, pull.¡±

    Rumble! The wall I was just talking about crumbled down after something smashed into it.

    ¡°Move, move, we need to finish knocking the walls down today, you hear?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡­ This is Nieyao¡­ right?

    There were an unbelievable number of people active inside what should¡¯ve been a ghost city. Furthermore, they were just ordinary folk.

    ¡°Big Bro, wee back.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Tang Ye?¡±

    The question mark was there because it was hard to recognise Tang Ye, though it wasn¡¯t because I was stillnguid. He draped a piece of tiger fur over himself in crooked fashion, unting his chiselled chest and walked around with an iron fork¡­

    ¡°What?¡±

    Ami-your-mom-tabha! That should be my question!

    ¡°What happened?! Did a tiger invasion take ce or something?!¡±

    ¡°A lot of major things happened while you were asleep, a lot of which needed you, but since you weren¡¯t avable,¡± Tang Ye¡¯s expression turned gloomy, ¡°bad things happened.¡±

    ¡°Young Shiyi burnt His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Boss got into another fight?¡±

    ¡°Not that, either.¡±

    ¡°Xiao has finally lost what few IQ points he has and forgot his address?¡±

    ¡°Not that, either.¡±

    Well, thank god for that. What are you even worried about, then?

    ¡°That said, all three of them all said they¡¯d make you suffer for being so reckless. You need foresight.¡±

    ¡­ Is it toote for this Buddha to return to his life-prolonging sleep?

    ¡°What did you need me for? Would anyone give Liu Shan Men grief with His Majesty around?¡±

    ¡°Quite the opposite. We¡¯ve been trusted with important tasks.¡±

    Wouldn¡¯t have known if you didn¡¯t tell me when you¡¯re dressed up as a tiger.

    Tang Ye raised three fingers. ¡°Three major things happened - rewards, saving and building. Unfortunately, you weren¡¯t avable for any of the three, so Nieyao has undergone a major change. First, due to your absence, your reward money has been split.¡±

    So all this news is bad news for me?! Why is my reward money being split? What the hell is the imperial court doing?! I fought a long, tiring battle, yet first thing I see upon waking is some weird old man and you in a tiger getup instead of Young Shiyi, and now you¡¯re even going to take MY money?!

    ¡°Who¡¯s so broke that he needs to spend my money?!¡±

    ¡°Sister Suwen took 80% of it.¡±

    ¡­ What the hell is the imperial court doing?!

 Volume 11 127 General Ming

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 127 General Ming</h4>

    ¡°What it was remained the same, but the beloved could be found nowhere; every effort is in vain. So I couldn¡¯t help weeping before I could say a word.¡± Li Qingzhao couldn¡¯t have been any more correct with this section. One sleep and the entire world had changed.

    Carriage after carriage, cart after cart rolled into Nieyao. Wreckage left Nieyao. Hope entered Nieyao. All the filth and beasts had been cleared out - courtesy of Lai Jingzhen and a small team Emperor Yuansheng assigned in addition to Heisina n. It wasn¡¯t hard when Mount Daluo disciples were part of the team. After all, Six Evils liked living in nature, and my siblings grew up killing mutated beasts.

    What¡¯s so hard about it? See a monster? Puncture the thing with arrows and drag it off. It ran? Lay a trap, wait for it to fall in and then puncture it with a hail of arrows, then drag it off. Oh, it refuses toe out of hiding? Surround it. Cover its den in firewood. Set that stack no fire, son. From what I heard, the team set three fires; the fire on the mountain posterior to Nieyao was still burning. My siblings did me proud.

    As the old is swept out, new stuffes in. You¡¯d think that it¡¯d be excruciatingly challenging to convince people to move in to a city that was the erstwhile den for fiends and monsters, but there were so many exceptions to the logic.

    While Heisina Tribe¡¯s warriors lived under the identity of soldiers in Xiuyu, the elderly, women and children, totalling close to twenty thousand people, lived in an underground tunnel adjacent to Nieyao. Believers of Shaman Faith and elders who went into hiding asmoners, totalling over a thousand people, made haste for Nieyao upon catching wind that Nieyao was being rebuilt to preach, build shrines and distribute medicines and what have you. The two groups hit it off right away.

    Say what you will, but the credit for elerating Nieyao¡¯s development belonged to Shaman Faith¡¯s elders. When they moved the damaged statue of Shaman Monarch from an old shrine into the old za of Shiri Pce, the faith¡¯s grand elder drew a crowd to the deste za with an archaic solemn song. Thanks to Heisina Beussent ying his flute beneath the statue, followers started drumming a beat, drawing more people in. Not many people were aware that the za was initially designed for the entire city¡¯s citizens to perform a ritual together. With twenty thousand people solemnly kneeling at the bonfire as the sun bowed out, the ancient faith¡¯s resurgence was all but assured.

    Ever since the first ceremony, followers visited the za to offer their respect to Shaman Monarch¡¯s statue daily. The elders were too familiar with the preaching and disseminating of their doctrine to fail. Plus, although the poption didn¡¯t grow by leaps and bounds, word of mouth was a very powerful marketing tool.

    The opportunistic businessmen of Xiuyu didn¡¯t have a hard time hearing about the new poption of Nieyao since the two cities weren¡¯t spaced far away to begin with. Naturally, they raced to Nieyao to capitalise on business opportunities. To cover the food, clothing and housing needs of twenty thousand people, lots of resources would be required. Therefore, there were ample opportunities for them to make a quick buck.

    I never imagined I¡¯d be sitting in a teahouse with a beast bone hanging outside, watching people go back and forth in Nieyao, especially not after one sleep. It was as if I just time travelled.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tang Ye poured me a cup of tea. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a good thing Nieyao is being rebuilt? Why do you look so down?¡±

    I guzzled the tea back in one go. ¡°Did I say anything about Nieyao? My money!¡±

    ¡°¡­ My condolences.¡±

    My sry, man¡­

    ¡°By the way, you mentioned three major things. What else am I still missing?¡±

    ording to Tang Ye, the first thing was the rewards Emperor Yuansheng bestowed to the soldiers. His agents and Qilin Guards were given promotions. The minimum reward was two hundred taels. Long Zaitian was forgiven for pissing on a dragon, as well as promoted back to his old rank in consideration of his outstanding performance and contributions in Huzhou. It sucked to be him, though, because somebody already reced him in his post when he was demoted, so it was only a nominal rank at this point.

    Given Long Zaitian was promoted, I should¡¯ve been the recipient of an official rank¡­ Truth be told, I didn¡¯t want one.

    What¡¯s a job that pays me for doing nothing, includes vacations and allows me to frequent the imperial kitchen?

    The second thing was an order for me to check on Luo Ming and Uncle Feng Xue. The two were in worse condition than me at the end of the battle and showed no signs of waking up. Shaman Faith¡¯s shaman doctor diagnosed them with soul damage, not physical ailments. In any event, they just wouldn¡¯t respond. I could see why I was needed there, but I wasn¡¯t confident I could help. Either way, I had yet to check up on them, so I couldn¡¯t say anything conclusive.

    The third thing - and this one I didn¡¯t expect - A-Lan cleared Heisina Tribe¡¯s name, praised them and credited them with protecting her. Additionally, she announced Morcher would return. The usually silent states immediately sent word or sent an envoy. It was pretty much impossible not to spot an envoy of another state in Nieyao every day. Save for the likes of Wanyu and Qingqiu, the majority of the envoys were just passing on convoluted, roundabout versions of ¡°please don¡¯t!¡±

    None of the eleven states¡¯ royal families had forgotten the former strongest state. Forget turning a blind eye to Morcher when they were in a pinch; they gave the order to wipe out Morcher¡¯s royal family. They had every reason to be apprehensive about A-Lan seeking revenge. With that said, she did mention she was too young, while her guards died. As such, she wasn¡¯t sure which states sent assassins after her.

    Herees the face-palm worthy part.

    I bet every state that pleaded her not to restore Morcher was involved in the attempts on her life in some shape or form¡­ How stupid must you be to tell your assassination target you were the one who went after them? It¡¯s like they were afraid that she wouldn¡¯t know it was them. No wonder why Gegewu had them by the nose for so long!

    Listening to Tang Ye ry all the information helped me recover from the mental blow of waking up and seeing apletely different Nieyao.

    I let out a long exhale, then rubbed my aching head as I tried to sort out the plethora of information.

    I can understand rewarding me and asking me to treat the two, but what the shell does A-Lan reviving her state have to do with me?

    ¡°Speaking of rewards, what did Liu Shan Men receive?¡±

    ¡°Vice-Captain¡¯s rank is already as high as it can be, so she just asked for somend and money.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±

    Boss most likely requested money for all the new members of Liu Shan Men. After all, there were a lot of members from Shaman Monarch Pce who were waiting to start. Given neither Su Xiao nor Tang Ye participated in Nieyao¡¯s war, besides Boss and I, only Young Shiyi should¡¯ve been rewarded¡­ right?

    ¡°Young Shiyi¡­¡±

    I nearly sprayed tea all over Tang Ye¡¯s face when I suddenly saw a fluttering blue warrior robe and shiny silver coat out on the street. She was strolling through the streets in boots that generated loud sounds with each step, and she had Overarching Heaven strapped to her waist. She held Mountain Monster¡¯s left hand and hooked her arm around Su Xiao¡¯s.

    There were two people walking in front to open a path for them. The individual on the left held the sign with ¡°Generaling through¡±. The individual on held the ¡°Make way¡± sign.

    ¡°What general?¡± I almost jumped to my feet.

    Su Xiao frowned as he looked around. Offering a palm-fist salute, he ryed, ¡°General, there seems to be an insolent peasant looking at you.¡±

    Xiao? Since when did you be apdog?!

    Mountain Monster: ¡°One who looks dead broke.¡±

    Oi, oi, oi, Su Xiao didn¡¯t look here, but you saw me, you midget!

    Ming Suwen brayed, ¡°Insolence! Drag him out and behead him!¡±

 Volume 11 128 Well

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 128 Well</h4>

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s General Ming!¡±

    ¡°She must be out on patrol!¡±

    ¡°My heart. She¡¯s as dazzling as always.¡±

    ¡°General Ming, the direction you are going is the direction I shall go!¡±

    Among all the people crowding around me, one of them remarked, ¡°Eh? B-Big Brother Ming?¡± and then rubbed his eyes.

    I poked Su Xiao¡¯s head. ¡°What¡¯s with all the aggression? You going to apprehend and torture me or something? It¡¯s only been a few days, but I see you¡¯ve deigned to working as apdog.¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­ Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao gave me a big hug. ¡°You¡¯re finally back!¡±

    ¡°Xiao, though we haven¡¯t seen each other in a while, there¡¯s no need for such an exaggerated reaction¡­ Calm down.¡±

    Stop rubbing your head on my chest! It freaking hurts!

    ¡°How can I not worry when you didn¡¯t wake up even after a month? You didn¡¯t have a drip of water or any food¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t understand anything else due to his sobbing. I scrubbed Su Xiao¡¯s head. ¡°Okay, okay. You¡¯re not a kid anymore; stop crying.¡±

    Are you getting stronger? It hurts like hell!

    Tang Ye, standing behind us, watched with envy, his face reading something along the lines of, ¡°Why was our reunion so cold?¡±

    Can you not give me another problem?! If you head butted me, I¡¯d be dead! Is that what you want?!

    ¡°Tch, why didn¡¯t he just die?¡±

    I looked up to see a familiar face.

    Whoa, I spot an Ever-Tsun-t-Vicious Loli Mountain Monster.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tten you!¡± I don¡¯t know how she did it, but Mountain Monster somehow read my mind, prompting her to draw her de on me. ¡°Fight me, right now!¡±

    I cracked a smile, then peered toward the only one who didn¡¯t approach me. General Ming smiled back and raised her chin cockily, seemingly smiling¡­ or not. It took me a while to return to reality. ¡°¡­ Tang Ye, you must¡¯ve been out and about recently. I have a question for you.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Where can I find some nice aesthetic scenery around here that is secluded?¡±

    Tang Ye answered the question honestly.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°But, Sister Suwen recently¡­¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°I got it.¡± I moved Su Xiao off me. ¡°Xiao, be a good boy. We¡¯ll catch up over a mealter.¡± I sheathed Mountain Monster¡¯s dagger andmented, ¡°You got some ways to go still. I¡¯ll teach a technique or two when I¡¯ve got some time.¡±

    The eight people who tried to get in my way stepped aside when I gave them a smile. Young Shiyi. Who didn¡¯t budge from her spot, asked, ¡°What are you nning?¡±

    I met Young Shiyi¡¯s gaze. ¡°Abducting you.¡± I threw Young Shiyi onto my shoulder and waltzed off, leaving Su Xiao and Tang Ye to deal with the eight protesters.

    Tang Ye: ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay. Family business. It¡¯s family business.¡±

    Su Xiao:¡± ¡°He¡¯s a pervert, but he¡¯s not a crook, I promise.¡±

    Needless to say, I drew a lot of attention every step of the way. While I didn¡¯t utilise qinggong, I still walked briskly enough to ensure nobody could catch up.

    The lush mountain embellished with colourful flowers provided a serene and vast view of the world below. Being reticent as he was, I was sure Tang Ye¡¯s rmendation would suit my needs.

    Young Shiyi had been shaking no my shoulders for a while, and it was time for her to boil over. ¡°Bahahaha, oh my god, that was so embarrassing. You were all tough guy when you lifted me onto your shoulders, yet you sped off as if you were running from the authorities.¡±

    I roughly lifted Young Shiyi off my shoulders but lowered her gently when she was close to thewn. Not once did she show any concerns of me letting her fall.

    ¡°Causing trouble as always.¡±

    ¡°Beat it.¡± Young Shiyi tugged me down onto thewn, then looped an arm around mine. ¡°This ce is really nice. I wonder if it¡¯s famous.¡±

    Haven¡¯t we said something simr some time ago? Huh, it really has been a while.

    ¡°Why did you tell them to arrest me?¡±

    Young Shiyi pushed her chin to turn my way. ¡°I saw you from afar. I was going to give you a fright with my new rank, but you had to spoil my fun with your barbaric ways.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d do the same thing even if you were an Empress.¡±

    Young Shiyi cast her gaze back onto the scenery, running a hand through her hair either because she was shy or indifferent. I seized her hand to check her pulse, but she smiled mischievously back.

    ¡°First act was ¡®Mountain Bandit Abducts the Female General¡¯. What¡¯s this one?¡±

    I pressed a finger on Young Shiyi¡¯s lips and, in a soft voice, demanded, ¡°Don¡¯t speak or my diagnosis may be incorrect.¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    My tension only melted off my shoulders when I finished checking Young Shiyi¡¯s qi flow. ¡°It appears you¡¯vepletely recovered from your injuries. Having said that, your injuries were bad. You¡¯re lucky Shifu¡¯s form is much better than the stuff sold outside.¡±

    I gently sighed. ¡°I arranged a number of things to keep you safe, yet you still sustained damage. Although I heard you would be okay before I slept, I was still worried sick, so I needed to confirm for myself. Thankfully, you¡¯re all right. We¡¯re going to make Sky Pce pay for what they did to you sooner orter. Young Shiyi, what¡¯s with the silence?¡±

    ¡°Injuries?¡± Though Young Shiyi was still beaming, I could see the fangs in her smile. ¡°Feizhen, did you just mention injuries to my face?¡±

    ¡°I, I, uh¡­¡±

    Young Shiyi¡¯s smile finally vanished. ¡°Evenpared to Luo Ming and Feng Xue, you were in unbelievably awful shape. They may still be unconscious, but you should¡¯ve been bouncing off walls much sooner given your skill and recovery rate. Injuries, you say?

    ¡°You did a good job of keeping it from me. I thought your behaviour was abnormal prior to entering Nieyao due to the number of Pangu¡¯s sons outnumbering us. I thought you were going to give in and go kill more than one of them on your own. Never did I think you were nning to be reckless from the beginning. Tell me: what did you do during your disappearance? Did you¡­ Did you¡­¡± Young Shiyi couldn¡¯t bring herself to voice the answer she knew because it was scary to even think about. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare look away. Turn back here and tell me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I went to fight Pangu¡­ Chi fell asleep when we reached a stalemate. That¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I, I¡¯m okay now. I¡¯m glowing, eating and alive, aren¡¯t I?¡± I couldn¡¯t make out if Young Shiyi¡¯s silence was sorrow, anger or what, but she feel as though I was sitting on needles. ¡°How about you just beat me?¡±

    I was always afraid of Young Shiyi going silent. Whenever her usual giddy, inquisitive and quick-to-forget nature vanished, she was seriously upset.

    ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    I inwardly shuddered. I had so much to say until her question made it clear that she already knew what I was nning to say. ¡°Young Shiyi¡­¡±

    The air that had been so still gained a slight movement, as if it had discovered its direction yet was content to meander at its own pace.

    I gently wiped a silver trail on her face. ¡°Look: I¡¯m fine, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not. You¡¯ve never been fine.¡± Young Shiyi rested her head on my shoulder. ¡°I know you and Yiren are the same type. Both of you can¡¯t stand watching people suffer, unfairness and the innocent suffering. Do you need to hedge your life, though? When you run into difficult problems, how about talking about it with people you can trust. How about using deceit and sneak attacks when you run into an opponent you can¡¯t be fair and square? If you can win, fight to your heart¡¯s content. If you can¡¯t, you can run. Is there a need to sacrifice your life?

    ¡°Feizhen, I don¡¯t have a sense of justice, like you and Yiren. In fact, I don¡¯t even qualify to be a good person. Though I¡¯ve saved a fair number of people, it was only because I was in the mood; it¡¯s no different to adopting a stray dog or stray cat. I don¡¯t act with noble motives like you two.

    ¡°I can¡¯t fathom why anyone would risk their neck for somebody who isn¡¯t rted to them. If it were me, I¡¯d walk the other way. So what if you¡¯re without equal? So what if you¡¯re Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple? Who cares about your lineage? Who cares how much people hope of you? The world wants you to be a hero, but I only want you to be well.¡±

 Volume 11 129 Amitabha, I See

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 129 Amitabha, I See</h4>

    Holding Young Shiyi in my arms, I relished the flowers and voices of cicadas for a while after Young Shiyi said, ¡°¡­ I just want you to be well.¡± For me, that was all I could ask for in life.

    Young Shiyi was right when she used me of purposely withholding information. Frankly, even Boss Shen and Hong Jiu could tell to some extent because I paid everyone but Young Shiyi a visit prior tomencing the expedition. I wasn¡¯t afraid Young Shiyi would easily see through me. I was afraid of seeing her. Had she asked me to not go, I really would¡¯ve left Pangu alone, opting to seek an alternative, even if I¡¯d regret itter. Suffice to say, she wouldn¡¯t have been so unreasonable despite the desire to be.

    Young Shiyi didn¡¯t care what the consequences of leaving Pangu unchecked would be. She might feel sorry for its victims, but she wouldn¡¯t feel she was obligated to do something for them. If she forced me to turn a blind eye, however, I would take my regrets to my grave, and she was aware of that. When she found out the final boss was a dragon, she¡¯d bite down on her lips and watch me go. I didn¡¯t want to see that.

    Although I was always cognisant of the fact that she was perceptive, I didn¡¯t expect Young Shiyi to figure it all out from the scarce clues. Had she not noticed and dealt with Pangu¡¯s sons, as soon as I left Pangu¡¯s den, his sons would¡¯ve been on me while I was defenceless. She never failed to amaze me.

    ¡°I heard you have exponentially improved, even reaching Divine Realm. I heard you scared the living daylights out of two of them with Overarching Heaven. The ignorant would¡¯ve thought Guanyin descended upon the mortal realm to subdue demons.¡±

    Young Shiyi giggled. ¡°I see your praising skills have improved exponentially. Myme skills used to fool the people at the local teahouse caught the eyes of the great Lord San Shen?¡±

    ¡°Caught them so spectacrly that he can¡¯t avert his gaze.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not sick of me after seeing me for over twenty years?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll answer that after I see you for another twenty years.¡±

    ¡°Here we go again. I wonder when he¡¯ll take me.¡±

    ¡°Uh, uh, I¡¯m not feeling physically up to it today. I¡¯m feeling ack of stamina¡­¡±

    ¡°Where are you taking it?! ¡­ Puhahaha, ah, I¡¯ll spare you for six months on ount of you stopping a dragon.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, we¡¯ll definitelye back to this topic - promise. By the way, when did you reach Divine Realm? I never heard anything about it.¡±

    Young Shiyi tugged up a corner of her lips and swiped her nose with her thumb. ¡°That¡¯s the whole point.¡± She tapped Overarching Heaven, then exined, ¡°I took a shortcut; you couldn¡¯t even say I duped my way to it. At the end of the day, if you¡¯ve made it, you¡¯ve made it; you can¡¯t fake your progress. In saying that, without the swordy your shifu imparted and Overarching Heaven supplementing, it would be a miracle if I could tickle the dragon¡¯s two sons.¡±

    Young Shiyi didn¡¯t lie based on when I checked her pulse before. I also somewhat understood how she reached Divine Realm. ¡°You and Shifu take the same route. ording to Shiniang, he once lost all of his skills but jumped to Divine Realm in a single day afterwards. I assume the method isn¡¯t remotely simr to the usual method. Only you two freaks of nature could pull it off, though.¡±

    ¡°Only your shifu is worthy of being called a freak of nature. I can¡¯t imagine myself seeding with his method. I can¡¯t imagine how he did it. It took me two years of studying his Reversal Manual to find the inspiration that got me through the rut. I suppose that was what he wanted me to do. He¡¯s a genius. Toprehend the skills he invented, you can¡¯t treat it procedurally.¡±

    She was damn right about that. Who else but my shifu would design such a cornhole method? Whenever he wanted to teach you something, he¡¯d torture you into a cornhole instead of teaching you the way you¡¯d expect.

    Did I just call myself a cornhole?

    ¡°You¡¯re not able to bring out the powers of Divine Realm owing to the way you achieved your results. One day, Lass Yu will surpass you for sure when it clicks for her. If you want to beat her, it¡¯s better for you to take it step by step so that you build a solid foundation.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hmph, why else do you think I can¡¯t beat her? I want her to becent. As long as she doesn¡¯t reach Divine Realm, I will be able to keep her in check.¡±

    Sc-scary¡­

    That said, Lass Yu was the type to put in the miles whether she lost or won. In my opinion, in seven years from now, a second Matriarch Zi would be born. As a matter of fact, she could very well surpass her mentor.

    ¡°Plus¡­ I. Don¡¯t. Have. A. Brother Feizhen¡¯ to teach me. Yijin Jing, Tai Chi, you know, they¡¯re all for outsiders, not me, aren¡¯t I right, Brother Feizhen?¡±

    I coughed profusely, then changed the topic. ¡°With four Divine Realm members on Mount Daluo¡¯s roster, we can do whatever we please, I mean, honour our ancestors.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject! Why don¡¯t you teach me when you¡¯re so good?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I refuse to teach you, my dear Young Shiyi. The problem is that our styles are pr opposites of each other, on top of being extremes in regards to martial arts to begin with. Lass Yu can learn Tai Chi¡¯s mental cultivation because she¡¯s pure and focused. You¡¯re able to see fifteen steps ahead. No matter how you try, you won¡¯t be able to master it.¡±

    Young Shiyi knew that without me pointed it out. It¡¯s just, you know, it wasn¡¯t easy to settle a smart woman once she¡¯s fixated on something.

    ¡°Besides, why do you need to bother learning them?¡± I pulled Young Shiyi in tighter. ¡°Nobody will pick on you with me around.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic.¡± Young Shiyi gave me a peck on the cheek. ¡°I¡¯m happy you¡¯re protecting me; however,¡± Young Shiyi turned stern, ¡°why are you teaching outsiders exclusively?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Stick to my script! Why do you have to keep the line between emotion and logic so distinct?!

    ¡°Did Yiren also gain something from you? Her internal style looks bizarre to me. You passed on Yijin Jing to Shiba and Su Xiao. Why don¡¯t you teach it to me, too?¡±

    ¡°They, uh¡­ are fated to share a thread of destiny with Buddhism. Amitabha, why must you be so persistent, Miss? Why do I keep saying Amitabha so naturally? It started since I woke up, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what screw in His Majesty¡¯s head was loosened, but he insisted on sitting by your bed until you came to. It took me a lot of effort to convince him to only visit during the day, leaving night shift to us.¡±

    I scrubbed my head. ¡°Emm¡­ So? It¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s had a screw loose.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the problem is you speak in your sleep¡­ incessantly.¡±

    Huh?! I forgot about that!

    I had been talking in my sleep for as long as I could remember. As a consequence of me divulging where Shifu secretly stashed his money, he was always in deep water. One time, I survived my three shiniang¡¯s dangerous interrogation when I came backte with Shifu after we went to a brothel for a concert. Once I fell asleep, howbeit, I disclosed our schedule for the past month. Consequently, he ended up spent all night kneeling on¡­ needles. Yeah, I still owe him an apology for it.

    I gradually forsook the habit with the passage of time and my strength improvements. Learning to practice qigong in my sleep empowered me to control every stage of my sleep, as well as avoid assassinations, so sleep talking became a thing in the past.

    ¡°Tang Ye told me I slept for more than thirty days. Doesn¡¯t that mean I shared all of my secrets with His Majesty?! Martial World Treasury, Martial World Treasury! I need the fastest horse to escape to Western Regions!¡±

    Even my tamest secret, my rank as Jingan Fuma, would be enough for me to be beheaded ten times over!

    ¡°Calm down. If he did find out your secrets, do you think you could¡¯ve slept for so long? You¡¯d be dead already.¡±

    She¡­ has a point. The daughter-con would slice me, then blow me up, boil me and then kill me again if he found out. Young Shiyi seems to have helped me out with the issue¡­

    ¡°But it¡¯s not as though I can distinguish between night and day in my sleep. Surely His Majesty heard a bit during the day.¡±

    ¡°He did. On the first day, you were going on about dog crap, ¡®I¡¯ll stomp you, you snollygoster of a dragon¡¯ and whatnot. His Majesty didn¡¯t suspect you went to challenge Pangu; he thought you were insulting him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Martial World Treasury!¡±

    ¡°Rx. His Majesty isn¡¯t angry. I was frightened, on the other hand. The more you say, the higher the chances of you letting something sleep. That¡¯s why I had whoever was on night shift implement a trick.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯d you do?¡±

    ¡°Practically everything you say in your sleepes from what you remember most vividly. ordingly, I had Shiba and the others read archaic stories to you when you were sleeping. As a result, you¡¯d repeat what you heard overnight the next day.¡±

    ¡°And the story you all read to me was¡­?¡±

    ¡°This.¡± Young Shiyi took out a mini book from her sash.

    My eyes flew wide open at the text on the cover - Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng - First Volume.

    No! No! No! No! No! I¡¯d rather reveal all my secrets than listen to that!

    ¡°Oh, my mistake. It was this one.¡± Young Shiyi took out another mini book - Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng - Second Volume.

    ¡°Martial World Treasury! Martial World Treasury! I¡¯m going to Dongying! Prepare me a ship! I don¡¯t want to live here in shame for another minute!¡±

    ¡°Eh? Oh, wrong book again, ehe.¡±

    ¡­ You¡¯re still mad I taught outsiders, aren¡¯t you?!

    Young Shiyi finally brought out the actual book they read me every night - Journey to the West. No wonder why I saw myself journeying to the west for a scripture and bald monks all the time!

    Read some more of Chang¡¯e¡¯s flirting part.

    ¡°This is what they read you every night. In spite of there being so many characters in the story, you only heard the parts starring Tang Seng. By the second day, you keep saying ¡®Amitabha, three coins for incense. Pleasee inside for the ceremony¡¯, ¡®Empress Your Majesty, this one¡¯s dharma name is Ji Xianfeng. He resides at Fengliu Town¡¯ and whatnot.¡±

    ¡­ I mean, it¡¯s not as bad as Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng, but why do I feel like I haven¡¯t won? Why does it feel as though I lost something important?

    ¡°Good boy, good boy. Although you sounded like a weirdo, it¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re used to it. After all, your secrets are safe. It¡¯s just that you¡¯re a little annoying with your amitabha lines.¡±

    I guess¡­ this is a solution? Amitabha.

    ¡°How did you be a general again?¡±

    ¡°I requested it. Luo, Abels, Martial Paragon, Patriarch Moyan and I were all credited with major contributions. His Majesty, therefore, said we could choose between being conferred up to Third Rank, ten thousand taels or up to an Earl title.

    ¡°Even if Luo Minges to, he¡¯s in a special situation, so I assume there will be different arrangements for him. Patriarch Moyan asked for ten thousand silver taels. Abels was conferred Deer Hunter Duke. I don¡¯t care for peerage. It can be fun, but it doesn¡¯t sound as cool as a general, so I asked for the title of Grand General of Nieyao, which grants me authority over all soldiers of Nieyao. Although it¡¯s nominal, it is a family business.¡±

    A family business? Why does it sound sort of odd?

    ¡°How about me?¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°I believe His Majesty wanted to confer me something before he passed out, but I didn¡¯t catch it.¡±

    Young Shiyi dimpled. ¡°Why not ask him yourself? You never know if you¡¯ll be surprised.¡±

    Sounds like she knows but isn¡¯t telling me¡­

    ¡°Brother Ming!¡±

    I cast my gaze down the slope of the mountain to see Tie Hanyiing up, yelling, ¡°Brother Ming, His M-, Hero Li hase to. He¡¯s calling for you!¡±

    Young Shiyi gave me a nudge. ¡°Go on. It¡¯s finally your turn.¡±

    Why is she so ted? Is His Majesty really going to confer me a high rank?

    Gl

 Volume 11 130 A Manâ€™s Dream

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 130 A Man¡¯s Dream</h4>

    Something¡¯s wrong.

    If I looked up, I could virtually see ¡°beware¡± written on the sky; even the ambience all around gave off the vibe. I couldn¡¯t put my finger on what it was; however, my experience told me something perturbing was imminent. No matter where I looked around Shiri Pce, nothing could convince me otherwise.

    ¡°Brother Tie, why is everyone in the city stealing nces at me?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, are they? You must be imagining it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not! They¡¯re watching every step I take. I even checked to see if my sash was loose. If they wereughing, I¡¯d think I¡¯d have stepped on dog crap!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Really? Why don¡¯t you have a think about it yourself?¡± Tie Hanyi gave me a smile that scared my hairs erect.

    Think about it myself? I can confirm I don¡¯t recognise any of them. It must be their gazes. Why are they so fixated on me? Could Martial World Treasury¡¯s debt collector be out to collect my debt? But my payment isn¡¯t due yet. Wait a second¡­

    ¡°Have I grown even more handsome after my long slumber?¡±

    Tie Hanyi looked as though he had something to say, but he kept it to himself. I gently shook my head before he could change his mind.

    Nah, that¡¯s not likely. I¡¯m already too handsome as it is. I¡¯m too close too perfection to visibly improve.

    From behind, Mount Monster thundered, ¡°Oi, Ugly Ming, move it! Why are you standing in the middle of the path? Huh? Who would look at you? Dogs cry just seeing your ugly face, dimwit.¡±

    Mountain Monster and I got into a match of shin kicking, face pushing, face rubbing¡­ you get the drill until Tang Ye and Su Xiao pulled us apart.

    Young Shiyi dragged me aside and began poking my head. ¡°What are you up to now?¡±

    I lifted a hand to signal for everyone to stop speaking.

    I noticed that the people stealing nces at me weren¡¯t slighting me but afraid I would discover they were watching me, the type that either a pickpocket or assassin would look at you.

    I smell a conspiracy against me! But¡­ surely there can¡¯t be so many people out for me at once¡­ right?

    Things were only starting to get weird. As soon as my left foot entered the interior of Shiri Pce, a firework went off before my eyes.

    Wh-what the hell are you doing in the middle of the day? I can¡¯t even tell what colour it¡¯s supposed to be!

    Hundreds of people emerged from hiding spots to cheer. Even Emperor Yuansheng was smiling from ear to ear.

    What is this? Gang rape? Guardians!

    ¡°Fret not, Young Shiyi, for I am here.¡± I stood in front of Young Shiyi, only for the horde to drag me off for some reason.

    The people who dragged me off were practically ordinary folks; the majority of them had never trained martial arts for an hour in their life. They formed a human bridge together to pass me along overhead. I thought I was going to be thrown up and caught as a celebration, only for them to start singing sonorously as they marched to the pce that was a work in progress. Even without understanding Nanjiang¡¯snguage, I could tell they were passionate and extremely respectful toward me from their tones alone.

    ¡°They¡¯re singing Shaman Faith¡¯s archaic song of praise. The word they¡¯re chanting is ¡®hero¡¯.¡± Young Shiyi wouldn¡¯t struggle to catch up when she had qinggong at her disposal. ¡°While you were sleeping, Beussent spread word that you were the catalyst to clearing Heisina Tribe¡¯s name. You¡¯re practically an idol to many now.¡±

    The gems, precious gems and what have you used in the construction of Shiri Pce had either been scattered across thend or stolen by Gegewu; there wasn¡¯t enough to rebuild the pce. As such, they used the remaining materials to fund what they could of Nieyao¡¯s reconstruction. They were still a long way off from building a royal city. At most, they had cleared out plenty of debris; they didn¡¯t even have a tenth of the original space to show their craftsmanship. This part of the city was actually a section Gegewu had people renovate for him to use as his personal abode, so we made it ours.

    I had no time to take it all in because I was close to being squashed under the weight of civilians. As soon as they set me down, everybody started trying to touch me as though I was a trophy or something. The only way I could signal my location was by sticking my hand up into the air.

    Some guy wearing fox fur and golden chains passed me a jug among the people showering me with presents. Based off the weight and swishing sounds when I shook it, it had to be a liquid inside, though unlikely alcohol. The man couldn¡¯t suppress his joy spreading on his lips when I opened it, while everyone else started cheering, much to my confusion. God forbid I could understand the significance of a jug of pickled radishes.

    I picked out a piece to taste so that I didn¡¯t feel so ignorant. To my surprise, the vour was amazing.

    Why are you gifting me pickled radishes?!

    The presents I received from other people were easy to discern. They gifted me salted radishes, radish sprouts, radishes¡­

    A youngdy bashfully requested in Mandarin, ¡°C-could I please have your autograph?¡±

    Finally someone normal.

    ¡°Where would you like me to sign?¡±

    She passed me a knife. Panting, and with red flushes, she pulled up her sleeve. ¡°On my body please!¡±

    Is there nobody here who isn¡¯t a lunatic?! Even if I am hero, this is insane, isn¡¯t it?! Why are you all worshipping me like this?!

    I epted everything they gave me, let them touch me and signed autographs - not carve onto bodies with knives, no - on the way into the pce. I almost had a brush with death there¡­ and I smelt like salty vegetables!

    You could never imagine how d I was to see familiar faces in the conference hall. Standing at the front of the left row were Long Zaitian, Dugu and Ye Luo. Standing at the front of the row on the right-hand side were Second and Sixth. His Majesty looked ready to cry tears of joy upon seeing me.

    Your Majesty, I almost thought I¡¯d never live to see you again.

    ¡°Constable Ming.¡±

    ¡°Present, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Where the bloody hell have you been? I¡¯ve been waiting four hours for you. What are you carrying those two jugs for? You should know this ce is the equivalent of Jinluan Pce; you¡¯re prohibited from bringing those sorts of items in. Men, confiscate them.¡±

    I handed over the two jugs.

    Emperor Yuansheng removed the covers for inspection. ¡°Radishes? You brought two jugs of radishes in?¡±

    ¡°No, no, there are over a hundred still outside.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It appears you have recovered.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to your divine blessings, this monk, I mean, this one is almost at full capacity. He is ready to tackle any task for you.¡±

    ¡°Oho?¡± Emperor Yuansheng performed a visual audit of me. ¡°You¡¯re already able to return to your post when you¡¯ve just gotten out of bed?¡±

    ¡°It is a vassal¡¯s duty to serve you and this one¡¯s honour.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I knew I was right about you. You were hurt in the line of duty and immediately seek to help me upon recovering. I¡¯m d to know I didn¡¯t waste my month waiting for you at Nieyao. I stated I would reward everyone who contributed at Nieyao. Save for the two still unconscious, you are the only one who has yet to receive his reward. I have already decided on your reward as well as publicised it. Nevertheless, I owe it to you personally award you. Now, Ming Feizhen, step forward to receive your reward.¡±

    I took a step forward, then genuflected.

    ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s Ming Feizhen is credited with protecting and helping me. He is also credited with Nieyao¡¯s victory, pacifying my southern border, ying evil beasts in addition to saving countless innocents. I hereby confer you master of Nieyao and First Rank Earl!¡±

    No wonder why all those people were trying to befriend me. Hah, not only am I no longer amoner, but I can also enjoy a top-ss life of procrastination and indulgence.

    Honestly, I had no interest in the post, not to mention how prone I was to drawing attention to myself because of it. That being said, who wouldn¡¯t be happy to be a big wig for the first time in their life?

    Emperor Yuansheng stroked his beard, jolly to see me jolly. ¡°Hahaha, you deserve it. Since you are now an earl, you need a title. We already have Loyal Earl, Gant Earl, Sincere Earl and All-Knowing Earl. Ever since my father¡¯s time, Emperors decide on the title for an earl who earns his position through military merit, so how about Ie up with an honourable title for you?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. What title shall I confer you¡­? Let¡¯s go with¡­ with¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng kept looking around for inspiration before cracking a smile upon setting his sights on the jug anterior to him.

    I have a bad feeling about this¡­

    ¡°Y-¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming hails from Beiping¡¯s Mount Daluo, so how about Daluo Earl!¡±

    I¡¯ll smash you!

    Glossary

    Daluo Earl - Unlike in English, all of the radishes, carrots et cetera end with the characters ¡°luobo¡±. Daluo Earl is pronounced the same way as ¡°big radish¡± in Mandarin. Thus, Ming Feizhen shall be called ¡°Big Radish¡±. If someone can somehow make it work in English, enlighten me.

 Volume 11 131 Earl

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 131 Earl</h4>

    The people in the rear lit up firecrackers, as well as apuded, the second subsequent to His Majesty wrapping up his announcement. Meanwhile, everyone in the pce couldn¡¯t decide if they should congratte me or not.

    Dugu was first to approach me with a palm-fist salute. ¡°Congrattions, Brother Ming. You have taken care of me in many days from day one. Please never forget to dig a hole for my radish when you dig a hole for your radish.¡±

    That¡¯s not your original line, is it?! You¡¯re fronting, but your head is filled with radishes, isn¡¯t it?!

    Long Zaitian draped his arm over my shoulder. ¡°You¡®re the youngest earl in our dynasty¡¯s history. Your future is boundless now. Don¡¯t forget about me once you¡¯re rich. My mother loves pickled radish; send my family two jugs at New Year.¡±

    I knew I couldn¡¯t trust you! Go buy some for her yourself! Just because I¡¯m Daluo Earl, I¡¯m not selling radishes, you nimrod!

    Sixth flicked up a thumb. ¡°First Brother, you¡¯ve truly aplished yourself. Shifu will be overjoyed to hear this. From now on, whenever someone mentions Beiping¡¯s Daluo Earl, you¡¯ll the first one whoes to mind.¡±

    Tell them not to! Why are you making it sound like I represent Beiping¡¯s radishes?! I don¡¯t even sell them. When Shifu catches wind of this, not only will he be mad, but he¡¯ll evene down the mountain to smash my head in for embarrassing him!

    Second wiped his hears. ¡°Leader¡­ Shifu is going to knock your socks off.¡±

    Don¡¯t emphasise it! Where¡¯s my constion?! Are the only things I can do start up a radish stall and eat a knuckle cake?!

    ¡°Bahaha, sucked in, sucked in, ahaha!¡± Mountain Monster relentlessly mocked me.

    All I could do was regret not stopping His Majesty in time. Had he announced it in private, I might¡¯ve had some wiggle room, but I couldn¡¯t imagine him changing his mind after announcing it in public.

    Are you telling me you waited over one month just to crown me Daluo Earl?! You do realise you¡¯re also embarrassing yourself with yourme naming?!

    When Mountain Monsterughed hysterically, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s cheek twinged because he realised his folly. Nheless, sweeping things under the rug wasn¡¯t a tall order for an Emperor. ¡°Hahahaha, ohahahaha, uhahaha.¡± He inhaled and then continued, ¡°Hehe.¡±

    Say something! You don¡¯t know how to clean up your own mess, do you?! Stoping up with names that dig your own grave, then!

    ¡°Mm¡­ When the water is still, the mind shall find peace.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A what? A what? A what?

    Young Shiyi whispered, ¡°It means, one will only be happy when he is no lingered bothered by losses and gains.¡±

    In other words, you want me to just put up with the hand I¡¯m dealt? How dare you tell me to put up with it after you imposed on me?!

    ¡°Young Ming, do you know why you received this jug of pickles?¡± questioned Emperor Yuansheng.

    I shook my head.

    ¡°A grain nted in spring begets ten thousand in autumn. In Nanjiang¡¯snguage, radish is ¡®mob¡¯, which is pronounced the same as ¡®abundance¡¯ in Mandarin. In Nanjiang, the radish is extremely popr for it symbolises wealth, bountiful harvests, healthy crops, passionate maidens¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng eventually got to his feet to speak as his energy spurred him on. ¡°A grain nted in spring begets innumerable rad¡­ishes in spring. I conferred you the title of Daluo Earl as I hope you will bring prosperity to thisnd. Heisina Tribe has suffered for too long, and Nieyao has lost its shine for too long. Ming Feizhen, develop Nieyao into a flourishing city. nt a shining star here in Nanjiang for the Central in!¡±

    ¡­ How enlightening¡­ Is that what you thought I¡¯d say?! You want to fool me when I witnessed the whole event?!

    Am I really going to be stuck with this title? You naming an earl or an ingredient?! Do we need you of all people to name a seed?!

    ¡°Ahem, ah, as I said, Constable Ming is now Nieyao¡¯s master - Daluo Earl. Don¡¯tugh. Show Earl Ming some respect. Now, Earl Ming shall not be staying here, but he will receive the benefits while residing in the capital.¡±

    I can literally hear them withholding theirughter. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any means of salvaging our reputation, Your Majesty.

    Wait, doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m not employed as an official?

    ¡°Although Earl Ming yed a pivotal role, contributed innumerable times and nned all of Nieyao¡¯s campaign on his own, experience in the pugilistic world doesn¡¯tpare to experience in the political arena. Earl Ming¡¯s experience in the political arena is shallow. Therefore, demanding him to manage such arge city will likely be too tall of an order. Moreover, Nieyao¡¯s situation is ratherplex and is in its infant stages of rebuilding; there is no room for error. Besides, he is Yiren¡¯s left-hand and right-hand man. If I leave him here, I will never hear the end of it from her, hohoho.

    ¡°As such, Earl Ming shall receive his remuneration as earl whilst he is in the capital. In the meantime, Beussent and Shaman Faith¡¯s new Great Spirit Shaman shall manage Nieyao together. Both of them are familiar with Nanjiang. The majority of Nieyao¡¯s current residents are members of Heisina Tribe, not to mention believers of Shaman Faith. ordingly, those two individuals are the best choice for overseeing the city.¡±

 Volume 11 132 State Building

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 132 State Building</h4>

    Catching me trembling and pallor, Emperor Yuansheng rified, ¡°Fret not, Earl Ming. I will not retract a reward I have given you. Howbeit, due to a myriad of reasons, I shall provide other rewards once we return to the capital.¡±

    I nodded with my lips curled, trying to resistughing. Dissatisfaction? About what? Didn¡¯t you hear the part about receiving the benefits while two other people worked on my behalf? In other words, I was getting paid to do nothing. I¡¯d steal a free lunch faster than you could blink, never mindin about it. Why curl my lips and go pale? Man, had I not put on the act, how else would I earn more rewards once I returned to the capital? While my title sounded horrible, I had noints about the benefits.

    Once I smiled, Emperor Yuansheng continued, ¡°Because I insisted on personally conferring you your promotion, I have been receiving increasingly pressing letters from the capital to return. I need to hurry back now that you have returned to us. I have several arrangements I need to notify you about.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you might as well just be honest and say that you have to return due to your long absence.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng huffed his beard. ¡°It¡¯s my fault now?! You were the one who refused to wake up! Do you know how worried I am every time I receive documents from the capital?!¡±

    I didn¡¯t tell you to wait for me¡­

    ¡°First, I know you are well-versed in medical topics. Heavenly Swordsman and Martial Paragon are still unresponsive, so I need you to take a look at them.¡±

    ¡°It is your subject¡¯s duty. They are elders of the martial world. As a junior, it is only right for your subject to help them.¡± Having been conferred an official title, I had to change the way I referred to myself.

    ¡°Next, you concealing your identity as Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple has given me a lot of trouble, and I haven¡¯t had time to analyse the intricacies. Li Dynasty was established on military might. Our founding father conquered the pugilistic world with his sword. As both of us hail from martial arts backgrounds, let us do away with the formalities of monarchs and vassals in conversation.

    ¡°Among the three biggest sects, Wudang has always led Daoism. Shaolin, as the most authentic school of martial arts, is the foundation of the orthodox sects. I have always respected Abbott Kongxu, so I respect his wish to not involve him in affairs outside of the temple. Still, Shaolin Temple wille to our support if we ever need them. In contrast, Mount Daluo has kept to themselves and barely dipped into the pugilistic world for years. Not once have we managed to contact anyone from Mount Daluo.

    ¡°Back then, Yan Shisan could find your shifu. Ever since he was forced to step down, we haven¡¯t heard anything on your shifu. The fact that our founding father conferred Hero Shenzhou the title of ¡°Invincible¡± goes to show that Mount Daluo and the imperial court are friends. How did we be so distant? This is not something I like to see.¡±

    In other words, let¡¯s shake hands, which was the desire of many members of Mount Daluo.

    To say Mount Daluo didn¡¯t involve itself in any mortal-world affairs would be erroneous. If we didn¡¯t, we wouldn¡¯t be one of the three most influential orthodox sects. Our branch disciples were sporadically released from the mountain to maintain our reputation. The need to asionally mend or maintain reputation held true for all three sects. In order to ensure we wouldn¡¯t go extinct, we had to stay active in the world¡¯s affairs. Without maintaining our presence, Shifu never would¡¯ve been able to take in Second, Sixth and so forth.

    Ever since Shifu took over as patriarch, though, our sect¡¯s reputation tended to swing between two extremes. When our reputation was in a good spot, we could summon pretty much anyone. When our reputation stunk, on the other hand, the same people woulde knocking - armed.

    Since our reputation wasn¡¯t doing hot this generation, my shiniangs wanted me to take a page out of Mount Hua¡¯s ybook - find a Prince who could back us and turn to the imperial court for help at crucial junctures. Problem was, I wasn¡¯t the ideal candidate for the job as I nned to retire from the pugilistic world in a few more years.

    Emperor Yuansheng, hand on his beard, nced me, looked away, nced back, looked away and nced back. In other words, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you grabbed my leg and pleaded to establish an alliance between our factions yet?¡± The man even furtively shifted his left leg forward to prompt him.

    I¡¯m not grabbing no man¡¯s leg!

    I sneaked a quick nce over to Lian Zhuiyue. He stepped forward and conveyed, ¡°Your Majesty, this one¡¯s senior brother has not been back to Mount Daluo in a long time. Therefore, he is not familiar with the situation at home. In addition, he is not in condition to converse with you.¡±

    Now that¡¯s the walking billboard I adopted for you! I told you I¡¯m a genius!

    ¡°H-huh? His condition? He looks fantastic to me.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue pointed to me. ¡°Not at all, Your Majesty. He is gued with injuries. His destiny is a disaster. His brain has a hole. His belly has a¡­¡±

    What¡¯s in my belly, huh?! What?! I dare you to keep going!¡±

    ¡°Hence, he is not in any condition to talk to you. Please allow this one and his second brother to speak to you in regards to Mount Daluo and the imperial court¡¯s rtionship.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Emperor Yuansheng left us with some instructions, then made his way to the neighbouring pce to continue the conversation with Hong Jiu and Lian Zhuiyue.

    His Majesty wanted to recruit Mount Daluo members into his employment in various fields, such as a martial arts coach. Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines weren¡¯t easy to learn to begin with (I never came near mastery of any of them), so the fruits of a practitioner¡¯sbour would take years to harvest. Nheless, it was an opportunity for Mount Daluo to obtain support. My three shiniangs would upvote the proposition with both hands. After all, my shifu, being the show off he wa, spent money as if it grew on trees.

    Everyone left behind went off to do their own thing subsequent to His Majesty¡¯s departure. It was unlikely for anyone to go for entertainment because His Majesty did say he was nning to return to the capital. That¡¯s why I decided to go hold a meeting with Liu Shan Men¡¯s team - with my jugs of radish, of course.

    Young Shiyi approached me with her hands behind a back and an upward curve on her lips. ¡°Congrattions, Earl Ming.¡±

    ¡°Now I know why you were willing to be a general. You knew I was going to be a nominal lord of the city, so you took the reins over the military pre-emptively.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I also a general without a following? Despite having the prerogative to raise an army and station one, all the soldiers are Beussent¡¯s followers. You and I are on equal footing.¡±

    I checked left, then right. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Abels. How is he doing?¡±

    ¡°Save for Shiba, he healed the fastest. He was able to walk on his own three days after you went to sleep. Seven dayster, he was close to fully recovered. Evil Eminence Scripturebined with Sea Deer Hunter really is magical.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t surprising. Abels¡¯ discipline made it a challenge to inflict damage on him, while Sea Deer Hunter had the ability to suppress his injuries. Being able to mobilise clogged blood and meridians would expedite his healing time.

    ¡°Where is he? Why¡¯s he not here?¡±

    ¡°He has even more on his te than you do nowadays.¡± Young Shiyi pointed northwest. ¡°A-Lan and he have gone to Morcher¡¯s erstwhile capital - Xiuyu. Subsequent to announcing Morcher¡¯s restoration, the leaders of tribes that still reside on Morcher¡¯s former soil have rallied around to voice support. Erstwhile retainers of Morcher have alsoe out to show their support. It¡¯s only been twenty years since Morcher¡¯s demise; they still miss their former home.

    ¡°Although His Majesty promised to help them restore Morcher, there are still no consolidated specifics as of yet. Restoring a state is no small task. Even though he wields plenty of power, you can¡¯t restore a state with words alone. The two of them are trying to brush up on how Morcher is sustaining itself, where the people are distributed, who is still around to return as retainers and the whole gig. They don¡¯t have time to waste here.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°The two of them are people with integrity. They credit you with making this all possible and ordered people to post artwork of you all over the city. They decreed you are to be treated with the same honour as a sovereign. The appreciation of Morcher¡¯s citizens is no joke.¡±

    I just knew people couldn¡¯t go so far to lick a new city lord¡¯s boots. That exins the crazy behaviours.

    The problem with their show of gratitude was that it put me in a tight spot. Nieyao was situated between three states in addition to several areas under nobody¡¯s jurisdiction that Morcher used to govern. That being the case, wouldn¡¯t our borders have to recede for A-Lan? Nieyao was the Central in¡¯s territory. Wouldn¡¯t that make me an unsupported city lord deep in another state?! Name one other city lord who suffers as much as me. You can¡¯t! Nheless, His Majesty must have his own agendas if he was going to help Morcher make aeback.

    ¡°I heard the majority of other states are against allowing Morcher to rebuild. Haven¡¯t they tried to stop its resurgence?¡±

    Young Shiyi took a seat and then tapped her shoulders - a signal for me to give her a shoulder massage. ¡°Hehe. Of course they won¡¯t acquiesce. How can those sovereigns who sent assassins out for A-Lan permit her return? You think they¡¯re not afraid of revenge? Not long after A-Lan dered Morcher¡¯s restoration, assassins visited her again. Not even the Sacred Beasts can hold a candle to Abels, let alone some petty assassins.

    ¡°Since that didn¡¯t bode well, they went straight to His Majesty to debate. They sent more and more envoys with each attempt, disputing the Central in¡¯s imperial court¡¯s involvement in Nanjiang¡¯s affairs. Education really does make fools more dangerous.¡±

 Volume 11 133 Looking for my Wife

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 133 Looking for my Wife</h4>

    Violence was the worst option for Nanjiang¡¯s eleven states opposing A-Lan at present. Firstly, plenty of the imperial court¡¯s elites were still camping in Nanjiang. Secondly, if any of them were weakened, they¡¯d be most susceptible to invasions from other states. That being said, switching over to discourse was another sort of headache.

    No matter how he sliced it, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s involvement qualified as foreign involvement, rendering him guilty of using his superior power to impose his will. Nanjiang¡¯s greatest fear had always been the imperial court dipping their hands into Nanjiang. One on one, Emperor Yuansheng had an overwhelming advantage. Against thebined might of Nanjiang¡¯s states, however, it¡¯d be the equivalent of fighting a prime Beussent, which drove the imperial court out of Nanjiang back then. Had the Emperor at the time not resorted to awakening Pangu through undetermined means, Nanjiang¡¯s territory might be a lot vaster than it was now.

    Young Shiyi elucidated, ¡°The eleven states¡¯ sovereigns have formed an alliance and demand an audience with the Central n¡¯s representative. His Majesty, of course, would be the representative here. That¡¯s why they decided on a day to convene so quickly. As for the date, it¡¯s three days from now. Even though not all eleven of them were against Morcher¡¯seback, they¡¯re all against the Central in asserting their will in Nanjiang.¡±

    If we were to go to war now, it wouldn¡¯t be ending anytime soon. Hang on¡­ As the lord of Nieyao, doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯ll be the first one caught in the line of fire¡­?

    Young Shiyi, reading my mind, dimpled. ¡°How should I know what we¡¯re supposed to do? I¡¯ve never been interested in military or diplomatic affairs. Struggling city lord, why not consult someone erudite?¡±

    ¡°And who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°How heartless.¡± Young Shiyi knocked me on the forehead. ¡°Who found you? She had just finished fighting for several days straight when she sped off to find you. You haven¡¯t inquired about her even once. Even I can¡¯t tolerate you.¡±

    Oh yeah, I haven¡¯t seen Boss yet.

    ¡°How is Boss doing?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Young Shiyi puffed her cheeks. ¡°Oh, finally sparing her a thought? Ever since returning with you, she¡¯s been the victim of a fever. She alternates between phases of unconscious and conscious. The only time she barely got out of bed, she went to visit you. Once she sat down, she refused to leave your side until she caught a cold that put her back in bed. Since then, she¡¯s been in bad shape and still is. Why has it never crossed your mind to ask about her all this time?¡±

    This monk¡­ apologises¡­ If a fever still besets her, that means it¡¯s still inside her.

    The stuff I looted from Pangu would induce a fever as Boss was currently diagnosed with. ording to old records, however, she should¡¯ve been able to clear it from her body in around three days. Why is it still troubling her?

    ¡°Where¡¯s Boss¡¯ room? I¡¯ll go check on her.¡±

    I headed out right after receiving Boss¡¯ location, but Young Shyi cautioned, ¡°You can check on her, but beware.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Of what?¡±

    ¡°You two have always been close, so it¡¯s expected for people to conjure suspicions. It was Tianhu who retrieved you two, but the time you two spent alone before he found you has be a topic of discussion. Yiren passing out during her visit acted a catalyst for more ideas to manifest.¡±

    I see¡­

    ¡°Since when did you ever care about people¡¯s opinions?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. These sorts of rumours will crumble on their own.¡± Young Shiyi smiled as if she was teasing me for being stupid. ¡°¡­ You still remember who Song Ou is?¡±

    ¡°Who is that guy?¡±

    After a long pause between us, I nodded with my mouth open.

    ¡°Looks like you remember him now.¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t been mentioned in so long that I forgot about him. But, uh, why does he care?¡±

    ¡°He should care. Don¡¯t forget he¡¯s Yiren¡¯s fianc¨¦.¡±

    Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

    Can¡¯t me me for forgetting when his presence was next to non-existent, right? Not even Boss held him in high regard, so how should I be expected to remember him?

    ¡°The rumours only serve to amplify his dislike for you. While hisbat skills may be abysmal, he still is a high-ranking staff member of Liu Shan Men. He might not be able to touch you now, but he¡¯ll have plenty of ways to make you suffer once you¡¯re back in the capital.¡±

    Though Nieyao was in ruins, it wasn¡¯t as though every nook was destroyed. Thedies of Sky Pce stressed the importance of enjoyment. Therefore, they always sought luxury from what went on their skin to what went in their mouth. Even their nkets had to be fumigated. That was why there were some ces in Shiri Pce that resembled heaven in the middle of hell. Thanks to their renovations, the interior was practically the VIP ce for sojourners.

    I saw a refined thirty-odd man gazing at the green canopy in the courtyard, sighing over and over as though he was trying to stare the leaves down to earth. ¡°C-Captain Song?!¡±

    The light in Song Ou¡¯s eyes faded when he saw it was me. ¡°Hmph, finally awake?¡±

    I scratched the back of my head. ¡°Yes, thanks to your blessings.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you must also be informed of His Majesty¡¯s promotion for you. Nobody at Liu Shan Men canmand you now, Earl.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, it was all a coincidence. Please continue employing me where you see fit at the office.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    Looks like Young Shiyi was right about this guy. Why you so petty, man? It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve ever done anything that crosses the line with Boss.

    The most we¡¯ve ever done was asionally gaze at the scenery, touched hands, pinch each other¡¯s faces, hugged her around the waist twice, hugged her a few times, uh¡­ I think I kissed her once and helped her change, but we were innocent¡­ for now at least.

 Volume 11 134 Trouble

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 134 Trouble</h4>

    ¡°So what are you here for?¡± grumbled Song Ou. ¡°Why is an earl not standing by at His Majesty¡¯s side? What sort of fool doesn¡¯t capitalise on such a big opportunity?¡±

    ¡°You are right. I had every n to, but His Majesty is talking to my brothers instead of me as he doesn¡¯t think I¡¯m up for the job. I then heard¡­¡± I paused because I wondered if Song Ou would think I¡¯m doing something shady alone with Boss in the room. At the end of the day, though, I figured he wouldn¡¯t be a jerk considering his upbringing. ¡°I heard Vice-Captain Shen is not waking up. Out of concern for her, I havee to check on her.¡±

    ¡°What?! Y-y-you audacious slimeball! Have you no shame?!¡± Song Ou surveyed the area to make sure there were no witnesses. ¡°You¡¯re going to do this in broad daylight?! Must I lock myself up before you¡¯re satisfied?! You¡­ You¡¯ve just recovered; why are you so reckless? Young man, recklessness is the devil!¡±

    What the hell do you think I¡¯m here for exactly?!

    ¡°Captain, are you sure you do not have some sort of misunderstanding? I am here to check Boss Shen¡¯s injuries. There must be a reason she cannot wake up. As there are no doctors around capable of treating it, I can only feel assured once I see her.¡±

    ¡°Misunderstanding. Mis. Under. Standing? Heh, let¡¯s hear what sort of misunderstanding it is.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ For someone being so direct, you sure are avoiding being explicit.¡±

    ¡°I am being explicit!¡±

    Damn, you really going all out this time, huh?

    ¡°Putting aside all the shameless things you¡¯ve done, you might not feel about ashamed hearing it, but my mouth feels sphemed speaking about it.¡±

    Rinse your mouth, then¡­

    ¡°Ptoo! Hong Jiu is your junior, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct?¡±

    ¡°Can he be trusted?¡±

    I contemted thoroughly, then solemnly shook my head. ¡°Not a single word can be trusted.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! He told me you and Yiren are not an item!¡±

    What the hell?! Second, why are you choosing now of all times to use your head?!

    ¡°Your second brother told me that, although you¡¯re irresponsible and fail to see the big picture, you would never have feelings for your superior. He said your character isn¡¯t anything to respect and fell for your grandaunt but that you wouldn¡¯t cross the line.¡±

    Mm¡­ I¡¯m not sure how to react to that.

    ¡°It says a lot when you go for even your grandaunt. Tell me one rumour praising you among all the rumours rted to you.¡±

    ¡°There are rumours about me now?¡±

    Song Ou took out a mini book. ¡°Is that a serious question? You¡¯re at the top of the monthly rumour rankings in the capital. Flirting with General Manager Bai. Dubiously close with Tang Ye and Su Xiao; you¡¯re even involved with Sui Tuwan. How can I believe you don¡¯t have any crooked thoughts about Yiren given your tastes?¡±

    Rumours, my foot! This is tant nder! Who came up with Sui Tuwan and I having something between us?! God damn, the hole in your head must be big enough for me to raise a pond of fish in!

    ¡°Since you¡¯vee all the way here, I won¡¯t hold back. Yiren is young, pretty and favoured, so it¡¯s natural for her to have plenty of suitors. You¡¯re not the first blind fly and definitely won¡¯t be thest. Long Zaitian is your precedence.

    ¡°Hmph, even though he¡¯s always hating on me, trying to trip me up behind my back, thumping my chest for no reason, stepping on my foot, pulling my pants down and bullying me on my own turf, in the end, my Yiren still turns him down. Heh, how could you delusional bums have feelings for her as deep as mine?¡±

    I can¡¯t believe you can voice all that with a smug face¡­

    Song Ou¡¯s smirk read, ¡°Thee are a cretin. We are not on the same level, fool.¡±

    ¡°A day I¡¯m guarding Yiren¡¯s door is a day you won¡¯t be able to enter.¡± Song Ou then peered into the clouds. ¡°I have been here every day for thest month regardless of sun or hail. This is called true love. You and I aren¡¯t on the same level. You should run along now before you embarrass yourself any further. She won¡¯t give you time of the day.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help blinking, then gazing toward the room he guarded and the room farthest away in the courtyard. ¡°Say, Captain, have you seen Boss Shen this month?¡±

    ¡°What sort of question is that? We see each other daily. I feed her in my arms. Why else would it be called true love?¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± I gently pushed open the door of the room farthest in.

    A maid ran out to advise, ¡°Who are you? This is Mrs. Shen¡¯s room. Strictly permitted personnel are allowed in.¡±

    ¡°Captain, isn¡¯t this Boss Shen¡¯s room?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Whose room have I been guarding for the entire month, then?!¡±

    The maid answered, ¡°That is the room of a broadsword-wielding gentleman. He prefers peace, so he asked nobody disturb him. His Majesty said he would be able to protect Miss Shen while he is here, which is why he has always been here.¡±

    Moyan Luohou opened the doors to his room to express, ¡°Thank you for guarding my room for the month,¡± and then shut his doors again.

    ¡°W-w-wait! What?! Your grandaunt was the one who told me this is her room!¡±

    Young Shiyi trolled you?

    ¡°She even told me to never leave no matter sun, rain or hail to show my love. She said I could just take cover under the tree if lightning struck.¡±

    Yep, you got yed.

    ¡°I am here to check Miss Shen¡¯s condition. My name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Sir Ming! His Majesty mentioned he would send you over. She sometimes yells in her sleep, but she does note to. Her body temperature is usually extremely high, and we have not found any solution.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Song Ou followed me into the room.

    Boss Shen had tear drops sitting on her fluttering eyshes. It wasn¡¯t her reaction as a martial artist but that of nerves being frayed to the quick in her dreams. As soon as I went to her bed, she pped me straight across the face. I ate the shot and then grabbed her hand. I tucked her formerly scarred wrist back into her nket, but it took a while for her to stop writhing.

    I expected a normal pulse, yet I found an external energy source rampaging within her tirelessly. Had I not been the one who constructed her qi cirction foundation, she¡¯d already be history. The energy source was the one I utilised to heal the damage to her nerves. The leftover portion could¡¯ve given her a boost; however, there shouldn¡¯t have been this much left over.

    How can the energy of a dragon¡¯s heart¡¯s blood be so potent?

    Gripping Boss¡¯ arm, I directed the energy ording to my will. The energy we dealt with was menacing enough to fossilise the maid and Song Ou. Song Ou took a step a toward us, then heard Moyan Luohou assert, ¡°Her life depends on this. If you dare to move, this old one dares to take your head.¡±

    Gradually, all my focus was on what was taking ce in Shen Yiren¡¯s body. I seemingly heard people gradually convene in the room, but I had no sense of time. I couldn¡¯t stop at this point or let anything distract me from guiding the enormous energy into a void I created inside her body.

    By the time I was done, my juniors, Song Ou, Moyan Luo, His Majesty and his clique were all in the room.

    Soaked in sweat, I conveyed, ¡°Ami-bloody-hell-tabha, this monk is exhausted.¡±

    Boss Shen suddenly coiled her arms around me, still crying. ¡°¡­ Big Brother, I like you.¡±

    ***

    In essence, the torrential energy devoured Shen Yiren¡¯s consciousness.

    During her time in fake death, Shen Yiren learnt to return to her mental ne to guard it - an advanced stage of mental cultivation. Her chronic insomnia improved following her counselling with Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, she had more work to do if she was to recoverpletely from it. Hence, shemonly used this method to sedate herself at night, sending her consciousness into her mental ne.

    In her mental ne, she could reap the benefits of a slower clock. By extension, whether she was training, practicing musical instruments or reading, she had nothing to distract her in there. The immense energy Ming Feizhen transferred to her instantly set aze that world of hers. All she could do was watch the inferno burn the world away.

    She couldn¡¯t identify the source of the congration or when it¡¯d stop. She couldn¡¯t even tell where she was. All she could see was a grey smoke screen.

    ¡°Dream Voyage¡± only allowed her to bear with the torment of the energy¡¯s rampage. The bizarre qi cirction method took all the credit for keeping her meridians intact. Without it, the tremendous energy would take control, leading her down an unimaginable path. At the end of the day, nheless, it was only a temporary measure against the energy.

    Out of the blue, the stranglehold came apart as the energy was siphoned into a void that spawned out of nowhere. Behind the grey wall, she saw a bald monk, who ced his palms together and remarked, ¡°Ami-bloody-hell-tabha, this monk is exhausted.¡±

    Recognising the voice, she grabbed him with both arms just as she did when she was saved from the fire that took her parents from her. ¡°¡­ Big Brother, I like you.¡±

    Glossary

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Dream Voyage - a made up term to ssify moving about in your dreams/mental ce as your own soul.

 Volume 11 135 Big Trouble

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 135 Big Trouble</h4>

    Boss only had her babydoll between her and me. She still had sweat from my treatment sitting in her valley.

    What did she just say? Big Brother? ¡­ Does she have the wrong person? ¡­ It¡¯s not this monk, I mean, me! There¡¯s no way I can convince anyone I¡¯m innocent!¡±

    ¡°Aaaaah! They! You! What are you doing?!¡± Long Zaitian cried. ¡°What are you doing in our presence?! Huh?! Huh?!¡±

    Why are you the first one making a fuss?!

    Long Zaitian¡¯s protest brought everyone back to their senses. After all, nobody had ever seen Shen Yiren so meek, let alone imagining her confessing in public. Sixth had his mouth agape. Tie Hanyi gestured admiration with his head. Second¡¯s smirk read, ¡°I get it.¡± Tang Ye¡¯s face read, ¡°Thought so.¡± Su Xiao had ¡°stupefied¡± written all over his face. His Majesty seemed happy, regretful, lonely, poignant and d his daughter had grown up.

    Did a dog bite you or something?

    Song Ou pointed at me to begin firing off, only for Long Zaitian to shunt him ande forward, crying, ¡°You Ming Feizhen! You would steal a man¡¯s love?!¡±

    Remind me again: why are you the one picking a fight with me?

    ¡°You, you, you, you, you animal! You court Miss Shen while I was busy loyally serving His Majesty and the people of our nation?! You dog! There are plenty of women for a worthy man to choose from. Why can¡¯t you bear with a bit of loneliness? T-teach me a move or two, you bloody dirtbag!¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s spar someday, then?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Why would I want to spar you?! As a cultured man, I don¡¯t know how to curse you, you grandson of a donkey, son of a dog, mountain of crap that hurts my eyes!¡±

    So much for cultured¡­

    Long Zaitian finally spared Song Ou attention, picking up thetter. ¡°Song Ou, she¡¯s your fianc¨¦e. Don¡¯t just watch from the sidelines. Go at him!¡±

    Song Ou, scowling, brayed, ¡°Ming Feizhen! Ming Feizhen! How dare you?! I¡¯d like to see what you can do now! Let¡¯s see who can shelter you now!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I wanted to release my hold on Boss, but my heart refused to let me. ¡°Huh? Shelter?¡±

    Nobody dared to make eye contact with me as I swept my gaze around until.

    ¡°Hah.¡± Emperor Yuansheng pointed to himself with his thumb. ¡°I can shelter her.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty! H-how can you¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, you misunderstand. That¡¯s not what I meant. I was just going along with it. Tch! Ming Feizhen, let go of her already.¡±

    I raised both hands. I was never holding up Boss. She was the one bear hugging me, so she smothered me as soon as I let go.

    Song Ou rolled up his sleeves as he marched on me. Obviously, those who didn¡¯t want to watch the world burn held him back - mainly my close allies. I winked at Moyan Luohou, prompting him to release his grip on his weapon.

    ¡°Calm down.¡±

    Since Song Ou wouldn¡¯t stop resisting, Long Zaitian pped Song Ou so hard that stars orbited his head.

    ¡°I said stop and listen!¡±

    Long Zaitian turned to me. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Calm down¡­ everyone. It¡¯s as clear as day that Vice-Captain Shen has the wrong person in her dreamy state. Do you think that¡¯s something she¡¯d say? I heard she met a guy she fancied when she was a kid. She probably just has the wrong person.¡±

    While everyone squinted, Long Zaitian eximed, ¡°Fine, I believe you! Reasonable and substantiated. Done.¡±

    Tie Hanyi softly expressed, ¡°Ol¡¯ Long, I fear th-¡±

    Appearing to be on the verge of tears, Long Zaitian cried, ¡°No! I refuse to believe anyone except Ming Feizhen! He¡¯s been my brother for thest eighteen lives! He would never tell me a fib!¡±

    Hey, hey, don¡¯t go associating yourself with me.

    ¡°What¡­ are you all doing¡­?¡± Shen Yiren released her hold to rub her eyes. ¡°What is all the noise about?¡±

    I checked Boss¡¯ pulse forthwith. ¡°Your Majesty, Vice-Captain Shen has recovered.¡±

    Ovee with joy, Emperor Yuansheng sat down beside Boss. ¡°Are you still feeling unwell or hurt somewhere? You love to front, don¡¯t you? Earl Ming is adept at medicine. If there¡¯s anything wrong, you must notify him.¡±

    While I had forced the energy into her meridians, thereby quelling her fever, she didn¡¯t feel 100% yet. Hence, she just bobbed her head.

    Finally taking a note of Long Zaitian¡¯s book, Song Ou sat down on the bed before anyone else could, forcing His Majesty aside. His Majesty gave up his spot for he could sympathise with Song Ou.

    ¡°Yiren, how are y-¡±

    Blegh! Boss Shen threw up on Song Ou.

    My condolences¡­

    ¡°Boss, you hungry? Want a bite?¡±

    Boss Shen was ghastly white because she was just regurgitating thin air. Once she finally had a moment to collect herself, she replied, ¡°I don¡¯t feel too well; I don¡¯t have an appetite. Mm¡­ are there any plums or something of the sort? I¡¯d like some.¡±

    ¡°There are some. I¡¯ll have someone fetch some. That said, I thought you didn¡¯t like sour stuff.¡±

    ¡°True that. I don¡¯t know why my taste has changed all of a sudden.¡±

    ¡°Mm, okay.¡±

    The abrupt silence pervading the roompelled me to look back, where I saw squinted eyes on me.

    Hmm? What¡¯s with those looks?

    Long Zaitian suddenly charged out crying. Song Ou passed out where he stood.

    Emperor Yuansheng blustered, ¡°How far have you gone behind my back?!¡±

    Huh?! Vomit, a fondness for sour food, a change in taste¡­ Hold up. Hold up.

    I looked back at perplexed Boss Shen. Oblivious to what transpired before she came to, she just let a sweet smile bloom.

    I, no, it¡¯s not¡­ Stop staring! It¡¯s my turn to cry!

    Glossary

    Babydoll - We¡¯re obviously talking about an archaic version. They are not that much differentpared to the current era¡¯s design, but the material varies.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see who can save you¡± - There¡¯s an omitted homophone here. Song Ou is so angry that he mispronounces the character for ¡°defend¡±, turning it into the character for ¡°hug¡±. The closest thing I could think of in that situation was ¡°sheltering¡±, as in ¡°sheltering you in my arms¡±. I hope the next few dialogues weren¡¯t too confusing because it was built off that one joke. Erasing it altogether would be erasing quite a bit of the chapter, so¡­

 Volume 11 136 From the Bottom Up

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 136 From the Bottom Up</h4>

    Mount Daluo¡¯s records didn¡¯t record the specific effects of dragon blood on the human body. Hence, I had no clue what would happen once it became a part of someone¡¯s body. Legends imed that dragon blood could enhance strength, heal injuries and prolong life. Even less information existed on a dragon¡¯s heart¡¯s blood; all it mentioned was that it was unimaginably superior to dragon blood, which was why I chose its heart¡¯s blood.

    During our confrontation, I went out of my way to steal some blood from Pangu, angering it into smacking into the ground. That exchange was the one that became the deciding factor of our duel¡¯s oue.

    Anecdotally, I could now say that it could regrow severed nerves, improve skin tone as well as remove scars cleanly. A medical practitioner would likely consider it magical water. It wouldn¡¯t be normal if there were no consequences for using it. That said, why the hell do the effects have to resemble pregnancy?! And why pick now to show those effects?!

    Everyone¡¯s stare on me conveyed the same thing: guilty!

    Despite my efforts tomunicate, His Majesty¡¯s agents refused to respond with words. Instead, they huffed breaths onto their fists and rubbed them! Tang Ye kept opening his mouth and closing it as if he was thinking, ¡°Why would I call this fiend my bro?¡±

    I said, ¡°Hey, uh, let me exin¡­ Th-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re just ying, Leader. Is it possible for anyone to not understand the situation? It can¡¯t possibly be your fault.¡±

    Second, I knew you woulde around for me!

    ¡°It¡¯s normal for young people to be impulsive and err. It¡¯s no big deal.¡±

    You just wait for your turn!

    Second simpered with a thumb extended up.

    Stop! I don¡¯t need you to make this any moreplicated than it already is!

    There was disparagement and disillusionment in Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s eyes. I could see a ck shroud manifest around him as he muttered something inaudible under his breath.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°S-Sixth?¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue smiled with his lips but not his eyes. ¡°Do you know how hard it was to persuade His Majesty to forgive Shifu¡¯s uncountable misdemeanours and give us an opportunity to repair our name with good deeds? Meanwhile, before you could clear up the situation with Her Highness Second Princess, you have yet to figure out what the future holds for you and Grandaunt. Before any of that is sorted, you courted Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s interim matriarch. Nobody knows how to break it to Emei¡¯s abbess or Wutong Jin Yuxuan¡¯s matriarch, but you have gone and impregnated Miss Shen?

    ¡°Are you and Shifu teaming up to make me miserable? Do you realise how tiring it is to repair roads and bridges as well as uphold justice even when I cannot beat the viin? I have been risking my neck in fights left, right and centre for Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation. You want to see how ¡®easy¡¯ it is?

    ¡°You want to exin? Okay, go ahead. Yeah? What? What are you? A dandelion? You just have to leave behind seeds wherever you go? Are you a weed? Are you troubled because they are indifferent to your feelings? Is impregnating people your hobby? How about impregnating Second Brother?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Lian, please calm down¡­ I also believe it is impossible for Second and I to achieve that. My partner needs to be a woman.¡±

    ¡°Right, so you admit you are responsible?! First Brother, I am utterly disappointed in you!¡±

    Hold up! Where did I admit to anything but my innocence?! I was just pointing outmon sense!

    I finally believe that good boys are scarier than bad boys when they get angry. Sixth¡¯s eyes are scaring me¡­

    ¡°Hohoho,¡± Emperor Yuansheng ordered, ¡°Bring me Bold Breeze Chopper. I need to revise my skills. Today, I shall practice the technique ¡®Stray Dog ughtering¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! You all want to know what happened, right?¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Speak!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    About what?! Not even I know what happened!

    I looked over my shoulder, only to see Boss still as confused as the beginning.

    ¡°Fine, I shall not hide it any longer¡­ It was a snowy, white day¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make it half a year ago? Miss Shen¡¯s belly isn¡¯t protruding.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You and I need to have a talk after this. Ahem. It was an ordinary afternoon prior to entering Nieyao. Boss Shen was asleep in her room. I happened to be a little tipsy from drinking. Without realising it, I entered¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Her room.¡±

    ¡°Scum.¡±

    ¡°I saw her grimacing, so I undid her¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Ponytail.¡±

    ¡°Scumbag!¡±

    ¡°¡­ and noticed her sleeping face. I¡¯m a man, at the end of the day, so I took off¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°¡­ my clothes to drape over her.¡±

    ¡°Ew! And then?¡±

    ¡°And then you all suddenly came in today.¡±

    His Majesty: ¡°Ming Feizhen, you ying with us?¡±

    I rolled my eyes and head. ¡°Obviously. Do you think that could possibly be true?¡±

    ¡°Quite haughty, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I curled my lips. ¡°Your Majesty, why are you trying to have fun when there are plenty more important matters waiting for you. Vice-Captain Shen is merely feeling stuffy and queasy due to her long sleep. What conspiracy could there be?¡±

    ¡°You think I was born yesterday? You think I can¡¯t tell the difference between pregnancy and nausea? How many children do I have? You think you can fool me?¡±

    Oh, damn, I forgot.

    I specialised in external and internal injuries within the medical department, but I wasn¡¯t the expert onmon illnesses. When it came to pregnancy, I didn¡¯t have His Majesty¡¯s experience.

    Don¡¯t tell me Boss Shen is pregnant because of the blood? Nah, no way. Could I have lost my mind when the Fengpeng took over and did the deed, but I just can¡¯t remember? Hang on, why am I convincing myself now?!

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Hahaha, you think I will fall for such sophistry? If you refuse to admit to your deed, I shall end you. If you own up to it like an upright man¡­¡±

    ¡°Then?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll still end you!¡±

    The hell was the point of even mentioning it, then?!

    Dugu came back in. ¡°Your Majesty, your de.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng took his weapon, spat onto his hand, then hoisted his de onto his shoulder. ¡°Right, hold him down. I¡¯m going to start from the bottom up.¡±

    ¡°Why from the bottom up?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s thew. Put away the incriminating evidence first.¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue was first to restrain me.

    ¡°Wait! I¡¯m innocent! Calm down!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Why are you doing this to Big Brother Ming?¡± Su Xiao bolted over to act as a wall between me and the ruffians picking on me. ¡°What are you doing?! Big Brother Ming has just recovered! I won¡¯t stand for this bullying!¡±

    Precious Xiao, thank you! I¡¯m touched!

    Tie Hanyi exhaled loudly. ¡°You¡¯re still young, so I understand why you don¡¯t understand what the symptoms mean.¡±

    ¡°I do know.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ tell us what it is.¡±

    Su Xiao lifted his chin. ¡°Pregnancy.¡±

    ¡°Serious? You do know?¡± questioned Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought Xiao Han hasmon sense. But, you know, why aren¡¯t you joining us, in that case?¡±

    Su Xiao wrinkled his nose as though they were idiots for asking him the question. ¡°If she is pregnant, shouldn¡¯t you be questioning Captain Song? Why is it on Big Brother Ming?¡±

    Nobody uttered a word. Instead, they turned to each other for enlightenment. Momentster, they eximed, ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, it was a moment of impulse, hehe.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that. My mistake.¡±

    ¡°Earl Ming, sometimes, the wrong people are beheaded in the imperial court. Don¡¯t take it to heart.¡±

    I replied, ¡°It is okay. Never mind it. Just do not do it again.¡±

    The reason I didn¡¯tsh out at them was because Su Xiao pointed out something I missed. If Boss Shen was pregnant, why me me?! I couldn¡¯t have been the man who did the deed.

    Hmm, why did I immediately conclude it was my fault?

    Feeling my sash tug against me, I looked back to see Boss Shen looking at me. Seemingly unhappy with what I said, she softlyined, ¡°Usually, it¡¯s Boss this, Boss that, but now you¡¯re trying to distance yourself from me as fast and far as possible?¡±

    Do you see another solution?!

    I responded, ¡°If people think the child in your belly is mine¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? Since when did I have a child?¡± Boss didn¡¯t hear our conversation properly before since she was upied with vomiting. Now that she had time to process and analyse, her face turned into a ripe tomato. She got up to assert, ¡°Absolute nonsense! I¡¯m not pregnant! Are you the one diagnosing improperly?¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t re at me. It is your beloved His Majesty who believes your symptoms are a sign of pregnancy.¡±

    As soon as he saw Boss Shen¡¯s re on him, Emperor Yuansheng cast away his weapon. ¡°I, I noticed your pain and didn¡¯t know what was happening, so I made my own conjecture.¡±

    ¡°Absolute hogwash. That is preposterous. I puked because, ah, I know why now.¡± Boss Shen shifted her gaze back to me.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Are you really going to try? It¡¯s your fault. The day I went to find you in Nieyao, you,¡± Boss Shen remembered that the blood I transferred to her should¡¯ve been kept secret, but she couldn¡¯te up with an alternative excuse on the spot, ¡°put that unknown liquid in¡­ in my body, and then I started feeling weird. I dare you to say it¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even need to look back to know what the people behind me were doing.

    ¡°Wait! I can exin!¡±

    ¡°Men, hold him down. As aforementioned, I¡¯ll start from the bottom up!¡±

    ***

    After an afternoon of being framed, several imperial doctors gave the final verdict: Boss Shen wasn¡¯t pregnant. I was right when I assumed her body was trying to deal with the foreign substance. As the fever induced was different to the unusual fever, I had no idea where to start.

    I went to say hi to everyone I knew so that they¡¯d know I was back in action, then visited boss at night.

    Boss was able to talk,ugh and all that stuff by night time. Sheughed so hard at my Daluo Earl story that you wouldn¡¯t think she was unwell only a few hours ago.

    ¡°Boss, Liu Shan Men has really killed it this time. You received a handsome sum from His Majesty, so we can expand our headquarters and recruit new members. I have been promoted to Earl, so, if nothing else, I should have enough influence to draw a crowd. Man, we are going to be superstars by the time we return.¡±

    ¡°Uhm. The majority of the credit belongs to you. While others may be oblivious to your contributions, I won¡¯t forget. Feizhen, thank you. I¡¯ll be sure to reward you once I¡¯m better.¡±

    Seeing the charm of Boss being meek, I had to change the topic before I lost my mind. ¡°Hahaha, what are you going to reward me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll depend on what you want.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any grand ambitions or special requests. All I have is I have enough pork shoulders for life, a wife and a chubby kid.¡±

    The mention of a kid reminded Boss of the embarrassing conversation in the afternoon.

    I frantically waved my hands. ¡°No, no, I wasn¡¯t asking you to provide me with a kid! That was just them spouting nonsense in the afternoon. Don¡¯t take it to heart. You¡¯re still young; it¡¯s not time for you to have children yet¡­¡±

    I never thought anyone¡¯s face could go that red until today.

    Biting on her bottom lip, Boss Shen responded, ¡°¡­ My mother gave birth to me when she was only seventeen.¡±

    Boss is nearly twenty. Is she saying¡­

    ¡°D-do you want to try going through the trouble?¡±

    Although her face was still seared, Boss no longer felt awkward. ¡°Can¡¯t have a single conversation where you don¡¯t go off the rails, can you?¡± She poked me on the forehead. ¡°That¡¯s it for jokes. Now for a serious topic.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. We were just talking about expanding.¡± Rubbing my chin, I opined, ¡°Seeing as we now have funds, we should recruit more members.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the group of Nanjiang youths you recruited. We can choose those with potential for martial arts training and the right mindset toe with us to the capital. I have a n for the others.¡± Boss leaned in to whisper her n.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ That is a sound n. I¡¯m sure His Majesty will approve once web through the details.¡±

 Volume 11 137 Traces of the Fox

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 137 Traces of the Fox</h4>

    ¡°¡­ To avoid an erroneous indictment, a personal inquiry must precede the verdict. Heh, the minimum sentence is nine years and maximum is death. Good job personally overseeing it. My mantra is to rule with virtue. Save for serious crimes, I rarely execute anyone. Even if there are no innocents wrongly charged, the punishment is excessively harsh. Ministry of Justice¡¯s Secretary Leng truly refuses to let a blemish exist. As a politician, he¡¯s meticulous in everything he does. Not bad.

    ¡°The imperial examination is a few months away; preparations should begin, yet Ministry of Rite¡¯s Secretary Zhang has not mentioned anything. Is he testing my son?

    ¡°Secretary Lie is constantly requesting more soldiers to train. I suppose the fiasco in Huzhou was the catalyst. If I were to trust the pugilistic world to him for a few months, we¡¯d see infernos in every city. Good job rejecting his requests.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Zhu¡¯er has improved. He¡¯s demonstrating the leadership qualities of a state proctor. I¡¯m pleased to see I was not wrong about him.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng held a thin sheet of paper out to the me on a candle, never letting it out of his sights until it was useless ck scraps. Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents never ceased reporting to him in Nieyao while he was away.

    Emperor Yuansheng heard all about Secretary Lie deliberately farting at the front of Red Prince¡¯s estate eighteen times three days following Red Prince rebuking Secretary Lie for his harsh ruling. Even Red Prince leaving his manor to escape the stench was reported.

    Secretary Lie was a menace on the battlefield and loyal in court. Howbeit, he was a problem in other departments. For instance, he had yet to understand the nature of the military movement in Huzhou when he caught wind of it, yet he got out of bed to barge into Red Prince¡¯s abode in the middle of the night, demanding approval to march thirty thousand troops into Huzhou. Red Prince practically used every exnation in existence to calm Secretary Lie down. Thankfully, news that there was no need to be rmed arrived half a dayter.

    ¡°His Highness Red Prince has Prime Minister Li Si for literacy and civil education, and he has State Preceptor Lai for martial arts tuition. Your Majesty, your decision to trust me with an overseer position is most wise.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. His Highness is honest, upright, generous and tolerant. He is the best candidate for bringing stability to the imperial court.¡±

    Regardless of how much a monarch liked Liu Shan Men and Qilin Guards, none of them would be able to rece Emperor¡¯s Entourage as agents who served at the reigning ruler¡¯s side. Obviously, there had been a fair number of agents following along on Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s quest, but only a select few agents were permitted to listen in on major political news. One such agent was Dugu.

    As third rank on Seventeen Hidden Dragons and an agent Emperor Yuansheng personally raised, he was granted ess to more information than mere agents, such as Tie Hanyi. The reason Ye Luo was allowed to be in the same room as them was purely attributed to her pedigree.

    ¡°My boots are nice and shiny now, so that is enough of that. Zhu¡¯er may have improved, but¡­ he¡¯s not the only one who has improved.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng burnt a letter he hadn¡¯t even read. Because the letter came from Beiping, Dugu and Ye Luo knew who it was from, let alone speak up.

    Although the decision to entrust national affairs to Red Prince was enough for everyone in the imperial court to specte, Dugu and Ye Luo had no right to make any spections. They had no business interfering with who Emperor Yuansheng chose to crown or opining on the topic. As his ears and nose, they would never inquire about something not intended for them to know about.

    Emperor Yuansheng mulled to himself for a while whenever he finished reading a letter. A whileter, he smiled. ¡°In saying that, I¡¯m pleased with Zhu¡¯er¡¯s progress. I¡¯m an embarrassmentpared to him, leaving national affairs in his hands while I am away.¡±

    Dugu questioned, ¡°Do you have a date in mind for your return?¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t iron out the situation with Morcher, this campaign loses half of its purposes. s, the eleven sovereigns aren¡¯t easy to deal with. I don¡¯t know how long it will take, but I am sure it will take some time. By the way, I haven¡¯t seen Tianhu for several days. Where is he?¡±

    Dugu smiled. ¡°You are aware he cannot sit still. Days ago, he kept mumbling ¡®No, no, there is something odd about him,¡¯ and left. He is ostensibly investigating something. Either way, I have not seen him, either.¡±

    ¡°Thest Tianhu was also fond of disappearing without a trace before you know it, as well as embodying a mind that could have the pugilistic world dance in his hand. The current Tianhu certainly learnt from his predecessor. Miss Luo, I am not disparaging your father when I say this: the sessor your father chose has learnt well from him.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ye Luoughed. ¡°Fret not, Your Majesty. While Sir Tianhu has stopped causing huge incidents in his wake, there has been nothing major for years thanks to his prompt solo responses. Was Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s case not a prime example?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that. Judging from how restless he¡¯s been for thest few days, I bet he¡¯s about to serve me another grievance.¡±

    ¡°No matter how bad it gets, he still would not cause as much trouble as Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me of him. If you must, minimise mentioning him. Not a day goes by without him giving me a headache of some sort. Even when he was unconscious, I was stuck sitting for a month. The first day he¡¯s back, he almost made me execute him. I really wonder if our horoscope¡¯s eight characters sh. In any event, he¡¯s a walking disaster.¡± Emperor Yuansheng opened a letter pertaining to an envoy of the imperial court scheduled to arrive at Nieyao.

    Ye Luo queried, ¡°Speaking of which, is Vice-Captain Shen really pregnant?¡±

    ¡°What hogwash is that?! Where did you here that from?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Ye Luo poked her tongue out. ¡°With that said, do you not feel Miss Shen and Ming Feizhen are quite close? He visits her room day and night. I saw him with my own eyes yesterday.¡±

    To some extent, Emperor Yuansheng had a hand in bridging the gap between Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren. In his eyes, Ming Feizhen was heads and shoulders above Song Ou. More importantly, he was the only man Shen Yiren showed any interest in. He didn¡¯t like the Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren pairing at first. Nheless, he epted them over time. Out of parental love and guilt towards her parents, he would let Shen Yiren have her way even if the man she liked was a disappointment.

    Emperor Yuansheng only had two qualms regarding Ming Feizhen. First of all, the true extent of his martial prowess was still a question mark. Secondly, he was Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple. Ming Huayu was a man who married both Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Heavenly Broadsword patriarchs¡¯ eldest daughters at the same time. If Ming Feizhen was also a yboy, poor Shen Yiren¡¯s heart would break. For these reasons, he was scared silly when he thought she was pregnant.

    Though his heart started beating hard again, Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t show it, covering it with an unnatural cough and exaggerated erect posture. ¡°Baseless rumours, is what they are. I told Earl Ming to take care of Yiren because he is well-versed in medicine. Don¡¯t make things up.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I would not dare make wild guesses. Besides, I quite like him. He has a sense of justice, and he¡¯s funny, although he does have too many rumours around him.¡±

    The Emperor pretending to read paused. ¡°He¡­ h-has a lot of rumours?¡±

    ¡°Plenty! Have you not read Officials¡¯ Rumour Records? He is in every monthly issue.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    Dugu enlightened, ¡°It isedic gossip material that records lives of officials in the capital. That is why it appeals to those in the imperial court. It is not odd for you to not know of its existence as nobody would dare to use the imperial family. As your vassals, they would not dare to let you read it even if there is nothing.¡±

    Hmm¡­ I must search for an issue to read when I have time.

    ¡°Did you want to hear about the exploits of Brother Ming in the issues?¡±

    ¡°No. The mere mention of him is enough to make me unlucky.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng held another letter over the me, then opened another. Unlike the previous letter, this one was so trivial that he yawned. He looked back at the ashes of the letter he just burnt, then turned to Dugu. ¡°Umm¡­ Who is the envoying from the court?¡±

    Dugu: ¡°I-I do not know.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what day are they arriving?¡±

    ¡°I do not know, either.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what are theying here for?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Your Majesty, how would I dare to read a letter not even you read?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen, you gue!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Achoo! Is someone talking about me behind my back?¡±

    I just dropped by Beussent¡¯s tent tomission him, which was an easy task given my friendship with his shifu and the fact that he felt he owed me for clearing his tribe¡¯s name, while Boss went to speak to His Majesty

    Boss Shen¡¯s idea was simple, efficient and effective: establish a Liu Shan Men branch in Nieyao. Frankly, I wouldn¡¯t be able to bring all the Nanjiang youths with me back to the capital, either. Putting aside the difficult of cing that many people into homes, Liu Shan Men couldn¡¯t handle that many new recruits at once. Secondly, so many of them were unfamiliar with our culture andnguage. We simply didn¡¯t have the manpower to educate that many people out of the blue. To solve the problem, Boss wanted to choose around one hundred pure and gifted individuals toe with us, while the others ran the Nieyao branch.

    We chose Nieyao as the spot to establish our branch in Nanjiang since it was my city, meaning it was under the imperial court¡¯s governance. By extension, Nieyao couldn¡¯t continue operating under Nanjiang¡¯s rules. For now, it was eptable to leave it in the hands of Heisina¡¯s military and Shaman Faith. In the long term, the imperial court wouldn¡¯t let it fly. Before even worrying about that, there was the fact that Beussent would pull his forces out once Morcher was ready to employ them again. As such, Nieyao needed its own armed force to maintain peace and order. That was where the Nieyao branch of Liu Shan Men came in.

    I wasn¡¯t worried about Beussent, but Shaman Faith¡­ I didn¡¯t mind speaking to them. My issue was¡­ I couldn¡¯t understand them.

    Right when I was racking my brain over who to ask for interpretation services, I heard, ¡°Long live my lord. Love live my lord.¡± They were a young group of girls who behaved familiar with me - without all the mad fanfare. ¡°You are¡­¡±

    ¡°How can you memory be so poor, My Lord? They were your attendants mere months ago.¡±

    ¡°Iron Guardian? Why are you here?¡±

    Behind Iron Guardian was an earnest face I recognised. ¡°Yangyang!¡±

    Yangyang leapt into my arms. ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°You sure have grown a lot.¡±

    Only two months ago, she was a midget intimidating people with me, yet she had grown noticeably taller.

    ¡°Not at all. Yangyang is still young.¡±

    I scrubbed Yangyang¡¯s head and looked over my shoulder. ¡°Why is everyone here?¡±

    ¡°Speaking on your feet must be ufortable. Pleasee this way.¡±

    I followed Iron Guardian into a shrine that forced me to make turn after turn in order to reach the spacious house in the back. I couldn¡¯t figure out for the life of me why everyone was respectful to him, yet they were almost ready to kneel upon espying me. Upon having us seated, Iron Guardian ordered food be served up while Yangyang poured me tea.

    Basing my suspicion off his interactions with everyone, I asked, ¡°Are you, by any chance, the supreme elder of Shaman Faith?¡±

    ¡°That is someone else. For now, this one is handling everything, though.¡±

    ¡°How are things at Shaman Monarch Pce?¡±

    ¡°Owing to the flimsiness of our faith, we were forced to aplish some inconceivable things to earn support. Building the pce on Mount Wanyu was also a means to the same goal. Mount Wanyu is Shaman Faith¡¯s erstwhile sacred grounds, making it a prime location for us to convert people. Nevertheless, Mount Wanyu cannotpare to the ce Shaman Monarch was first crowned, which is why we have migrated into Nieyao. This one spoke to Supreme Elder not long ago, and we decided this one shall take care of the shrine.¡±

    I was focused on finding proof of Six Evils dwelling in Nieyao when I read Shaman Monarch was enthroned in Nieyao, so I glossed over that part. The first Shaman Monarch built a pce that eclipsed all the pces in Nanjiang - in addition to establishing himself as someone superior to the state sovereigns.

    Speaking of which, I still believed the first Shaman Monarch tamed Pangu because I just couldn¡¯t imagine there being any legitimacy to him rising above all the sovereigns on his own, otherwise. Sky Pce was aware of the story, or they wouldn¡¯t have dragged me into their n. I damn sure as hell couldn¡¯t wake Pangu from his slumber. That being the case, I doubted Sky Pce could. The problem was¡­ the Shaman Monarch of yesteryear might¡¯ve been able to.

    I shook my head; I needed more time to unwind it all. One of the main reasons I epted the role as Nieyao¡¯s lord was to prevent Pangu falling into the wrong hands. Rather than monitor Pangu in someone else¡¯s cage, why not monitor him from a cage I set for him? Whatever the case, I needed to create a system for monitoring the underground pce. There was a priority to things, however, and building Liu Shan Men came first.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, I can save myself the chore of running around. I need your help with something.¡±

    Iron Guardian smiled. ¡°Just say the word. We still consider you Mount Wanyu¡¯s Shaman Monarch His Majesty!¡±

    Yeah, yeah, don¡¯t crowd my te with any more nonsense than is on there already.

    ***

    I reported in to Boss Shen the next day. Yes, she already refused to rest after waking up for only a day. Nieyao was in no shape for Liu Shan Men to start operating out of, so she took over the room beside His Majesty¡¯s office, set up a table, the four treasures of study and weapon racks.

    Liu Shan Men in Nieyao was unemployed. Howbeit, with time, the establishment of the branch would bring in business.

    Once we were done talking about our smooth-sailing n, Boss Shen pulled me in to whisper, ¡°By the way, be wary of Tianhu.¡±

    ¡°Tianhu? I haven¡¯t seen him since I woke up. Why do I have to beware of him?¡±

    Boss Shen red first, then grabbed my chin. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Ch-chin?¡±

    Boss Shen turned my face side to side via my chin. ¡°What¡¯s above your chin?¡±

    ¡°H-head?¡±

    ¡°You still want yours?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes.¡±

    ¡°Then do as I say!¡± Boss Shen whacked my head

    ¡°Why¡¯d you hit me?!¡±

    ¡°What do you know? Tianhu never lets go once he bites. The slightest suspicion will lead to him digging up even your ancestors¡¯ bones to find out the truth. How many secrets do you have? Think about it.¡±

    ¡°Tianhu is Heavenly Fox, isn¡¯t it? What fox? He¡¯s clearly a dog!¡±

    ¡°Oh? What dog?¡±

    ¡°The one th-, hmm?¡± I turned my head to see a smiling face right by my shoulder - the type you¡¯d see on a slimeball, a big slimeball.

    Tianhu questioned, ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    What¡¯s it to you? Which kennel did youe from?!

    Glossary

    Weapon racks - Imagine one of these on either side of the room (the mostmon setup):

 Volume 11 138 Arrest

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 138 Arrest</h4>

    ¡°Sir Tianhu, why did you run of before you were finished speaking.¡± Dugu and Long Zaitian filed in.

    ¡°I just felt there was someone interesting here, so I came over first.¡± Tianhu¡¯s visual appraisal of me gave me goose bumps.

    Using Voice Transmission, Shen Yiren conveyed, ¡°He¡¯s not friendly. Don¡¯t panic. Just be your usual self.¡±

    ¡°Roger that, over.¡± I stuffed a green foxtail in mouth, slouched into my chair, crossed my legs and loudly rambled, ¡°Sup, bro?¡±

    Boss Shen: ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it, either¡­¡±

    Tianhu cracked a smile. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have any manners,¡± he said as he shifted his inquisitive gaze from me to Boss Shen. ¡°If you don¡¯t know how to keep your subordinates in line, how about I lend you a hand?¡±

    The pressure that Tianhu¡¯s eyes emitted was closer to a ravenous beast than the mental cultivation of an orthodox sect. The way he looked at you created the impression that he could smell how unsettled you were.

    ¡°What manners? You know whose turf you are on? You know who runs this ce? You know who I am?¡± I questioned.

    ¡°I have heard. I know who you are, and the same goes for the identities you¡¯re trying to cover.¡± Tianhu spared no effort to hide his hostility toward me.

    I squinted. ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Get out of your chair.¡±

    ¡°Beg me.¡±

    ¡°Haha, you may not be aware, but I am one of the three strongest individuals in this nation.¡±

    I rolled my eyes back into my head. ¡°So what type of dog does that make you?¡±

    Long Zaitian tugged my shirt. ¡°Oi, Ming Feizhen, stop embarrassing yourself. The Ultimate Three are held in the same regard as Princes and marquises. You¡¯re nobody to him.¡± He then whispered, ¡°His Majesty thinks well of you right now. As long as you don¡¯t respond to his provocations, he can¡¯t do anything to you.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I could understand Long Zaitian not getting along with Tianhu when they belonged to different camps. If I were Long Zaitian, I¡¯d also be more concerned about Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s best fighter than weak Liu Shan Men. That being said, my gut told me Long Zaitian was actually just jealous I was more handsome than him.

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like this moocher at all.¡±

    Told you. Long Zaitian showing concern for me would make him¡­ not Long Zaitian.

    Wait, why is Long Zaitian siding with me?

    Dugu urged, ¡°Brother Ming has always been the kind to speak his mind. Please do not mind it¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m an affable man.¡± Tianhu advanced toward me, still grinning. ¡°You¡¯re the mentally demented dog.¡±

    Dugu¡¯s knees buckled. ¡°Why are you getting into a verbal fight with him?!¡±

    I simpered. ¡°Nah, you¡¯re the dog.¡±

    ¡°You are.¡±

    ¡°You are.¡±

    ¡°Piss off.¡±

    ¡°Piss off.¡±

    ¡°You piss off.¡±

    ¡°Eat a dick.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a dog.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the dog.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Both of you!¡± Boss Shen blustered. ¡°How childish can you be?¡±

    ¡°He started it,¡± I replied.

    ¡°True. What are we arguing for? I am here for something else today.¡± As Tianhu came closer to me, he performed a divinisation on his fingers, disguising his preparation to grab me.

    Shen Yiren stepped in front of me, prompting the surprised Tianhu to stop.

    ¡°¡­ Long-time no see, Shen Yiren,¡± said Tianhu.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Sir Tianhu. Thest time we met was when you fought Yi Ya ording to memory.¡±

    ¡°Oh, when I stomped the pitiful qilin? That has been quite some time ago, indeed. Two years, I believe?¡±

    ¡°You sure love to exaggerate, Sir. Yi Ya only lost to you in one exchange. If you were to spar again now, it would be hard to predict who would win.¡±

    Tianhu licked his lips. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what makes it more interesting?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing now? Flouting your duty?¡± Although she didn¡¯t speak in her vintage booming voice, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t buckle under the pressure. ¡°What part of this is for His Majesty¡¯s sake?¡±

    ¡°Who can stop me?¡±

    I taunted, ¡°Who¡¯d care to stop you, tard?¡±

    Tianhu looked back my way, wearing his bloodlust on his sleeve. ¡°You¡¯re the tard, braindead fly.¡±

    ¡°Okay, punching bag.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the punching bag.¡±

    ¡°Piss off.¡±

    ¡°Piss off.¡±

    ¡°You piss off.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with all the noise?¡± Emperor Yuansheng opened his door to see us all outside. ¡°Tianhu, why are you arguing with Earl Ming?¡±

    Tianhu started with a palm-fist salute. ¡°Your Majesty, your subject found something very interesting. Therefore, he had to rush off before he could report to you. He has now confirmed his suspicions and was on his way to share with you.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡± questioned Emperor Yuansheng.

    Tianhu stole a gander my way, then took out a jar of something that freaked out only me. ¡°Your subject has confirmed this productes from an old store in the capital. It is a product that can stand the test of time without changing whatsoever.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: ¡°Oh? Is it gems or love?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hair dye.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng, brows locked, took the hair dye off Tianhu. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save this for when we¡¯re in private? Look how many people are around¡­ Tell me quietly: where do I need to apply this?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, it is not for you¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Tianhu raised his voice. ¡°It belongs to Earl Ming. I found it in his luggage, which is strange. That is why I took it for validation.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s face read, ¡°So what if it¡¯s his? What¡¯s so exciting about it?¡±

    During my time out, my luggage was thrown wherever, and I had no clue if there were any items in there that could expose me. I never noticed Tianhu took my hair dye.

    ¡°So, Earl Ming, what do you have to say?¡±

    ¡°Well, ahem¡­ it is not mine,¡± I responded.

    Tianhu took out a sheet of paper. ¡°This is the testimony and invoice from the capital.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay, it is mine.¡±

    ¡°No excuses now, huh?¡± Tianhu triumphantly grinned.

    Not even Boss Shen could follow, let alone the others. Emperor Yuansheng queried, ¡°Even if it is Earl Ming¡¯s¡­ Just give it back to the man. Young people are prone to having grey hairs if they stress a lot. It¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about. If anyone should be reprimanded here, it is you for you vited his privacy.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, your subject investigated suspicious things about him on your orders. He is probably connected to Demon Sect¡¯s Lord San Shen and Night Fortress¡¯ Master Ming. Although their appearances are a mystery, people can testify one of them has all white hair, while the other has all ck hair. Ming Feizhen¡¯s ck hair is obviously dyed using this product. What is he hiding? You can tell without thinking.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ You make good points.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, I suspect you are colluding with Demon Sect. To prove your innocence, will you allow me to wash your hair?¡±

 Volume 11 139 The Flowers Fall as the Wind Rises

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 139 The Flowers Fall as the Wind Rises</h4>

    I just sat there with my nerves frayed to the quick. It was Boss Shen who stepped in the way when Tianhu tried to apprehend me, asserting, ¡°Ming Feizhen is my subordinate. You want toy your hands on him? Over my dead body.¡±

    ¡°Nobody will be swinging any weapons in my presence! Yiren, stand down,¡± Emperor Yuansheng decreed.

    Boss Shen stepped down whilst dragging me along.

    Emperor Yuansheng watched on for a while before saying, ¡°Tianhu is supervising the pugilistic world under my orders. Given all the events that have taken ce over thest year, we will feel uneasy unless we get to the bottom of them. I shall not mince my words: Earl Ming, you make me question you in many ways. I can only trust you if you cooperate with Tianhu.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, he apanied you south to find me, pacified Nieyao and yed a pivotal role in the eradication of the dragon¡¯s son. How can you suspect a vassal who has done so much for us?¡±

    ¡°Yiren¡­ it is precisely because of his contributions and my hopes for him that we need to check. Else, how can we trust him with important tasks? Earl Ming, should you refuse to cooperate, I shan¡¯t force you. In saying that, I have made it clear that I cannot overlook my suspicions, so I will continue my investigations until otherwise.

    The battle in Nieyao only served to increase His Majesty¡¯s suspicions. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have sent Dugu after me. Although Hong Jiu managed to sabotage the n, it only made His Majesty even more suspicious.

    Emperor Yuansheng had met plenty of top-level adepts in his lifetime to know what sort of people they are. How much ovep I had with that image he had was something I wouldn¡¯t be able to determine. Nheless, if he didn¡¯t trust me to some extent, he wouldn¡¯t have had any reservations.

    I didn¡¯t need to pretend to be illiterate at martial arts. There was nothing odd about Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor being trained. Given Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation, I coulde up with an excuse on the spot to escape interrogation on that front. The problem was, that wasn¡¯t the end of it - he wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with just, ¡°Ming Feizhen is a martial artist.¡± He would dig up my level, my origins and so on. In order to get to the bottom of those things, it would no longer be just Tianhu trying to dig up my profiles. Before it reached the point where he was willing to ¡°trust me with important tasks¡±, there would be wanted posters for me stered all over the country. Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t Boss Shen; he wasn¡¯t going to say, ¡°I¡¯ll wait until you¡¯re willing to open up.¡± Just take a look at Tianhu, and you won¡¯t doubt me.

    ¡°You serious about washing my hair?¡± I turned to Tianhu.

    Tianhu confidently deployed a nod.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not against it.¡±

    I squeezed Boss Shen¡¯s shaking hand to reassure her and spat out the green foxtail in my mouth. ¡°However, Your Majesty, Ming Feizhen is not someone will just take everything lying down. Sir Tianhu demands to wash your subject¡¯s hair without any sound proof. Your subject must acquiesce to prove his innocence. Howbeit, your subject has a request.¡±

    ¡°Speak your mind.¡±

    I bowed. ¡°Should we establish that your subject is wrongly used, please wash Sir Tianhu¡¯s hair with manure!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng seized his mouth and nose as he reactively gasped. ¡°Tianhu, what do you say?¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s upwardly curved lips didn¡¯t budge. ¡°A man of integrity fears naught. How can we waste Earl Ming¡¯s courage? Have it your way. Men, bring filled up basins. I¡¯m going to unravel this demon¡¯s true appearance.¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s subordinates came back with a big basin of hot water in addition to a long bench in no time at all.

    Eyes on the basin of water, I questioned, ¡°¡­ You sure about this?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    ¡°No dissuading you?¡±

    ¡°No chance.¡±

    ¡°Not afraid you¡¯re wrong?¡±

    ¡°Keep dithering and I¡¯ll force your head in.¡± Tianhu held up his sleeve. ¡°Sit.¡±

    I saluted Tianhu and said, ¡°Thanks.¡± I sat down and undid my hair, letting it fall into the basin of hot water.

    Tianhu giddily crept up behind me, then leisurely ran his hand through my wet hair. Given his skill, it wasn¡¯t surprising if he could squeeze out my hair dye. He confidently continued wringing out ck hair dye until he had a basin of jet-ck water, but my hair remained ck.

    While everyone was relieved, Tianhu hadn¡¯t given up nor had his confidence shaken. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know you mixed in other stuff? I obtained a vial just for this asion. It¡¯ll remove any dye upon contact.¡± Tianhu rubbed the form into my hair forthwith.

    ¡°Hey, you done yet?¡± Boss Shen kicked over the basin of water whilst gripping her sword hilt in her left hand.

    Tianhu gently nudged Shen Yiren back with a small elbow, winding her immediately. ¡°Stay put,¡± he demanded as he continued grabbing my hair, squeezing, stretching, smothering on his form, soaking, rinse and repeat. He then had someone fetch new water to rinse the bubbles off my hair.

    The golden raysing into the room illuminated my jet-ck hair that would enamour any girl.

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Tianhu jumped to his feet. ¡°Wh-what dye did you use?!¡±

    I sat up, then flicked my wet hair: ¡°I was born with this luscious, jet-ck hair. The hair dye is just to entuate its beauty. Sir Tianhu, you are too paranoid for your own good.¡±

    Tianhu seized my hair, flipping, stroking and tugging to make sure there was nothing else in my hair, all whilst mumbling under his breath, ¡°Impossible, impossible¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng exhaled one long breath. ¡°Fantastic! Now that Earl Ming¡¯s name has been cleared, henceforward, you c-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, are we really going to stop here?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, Earl Ming?¡±

    ¡°Wash his hair with manure!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng used his handkerchief to wipe the silver beads on his forehead. ¡°You see: you are both people held in h-¡±

    ¡°Wash his hair with manure!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Earl Ming, we don¡¯t have to go that far, do we?¡±

    ¡°Howe? Your subject only ever wished to lead an honest, humble life, never asking for riches, never asking for rank, never asking for glory and never asking to be a failure. You promoted your subject despite him being too handsome, too suave, too kind, t-¡±

    ¡°Get to the point. Also, stop giarising positive character descriptions for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Your subject has always been faithful to you and Vice-Captain Shen. Never in his wildest imaginations did he think Tardhu would disregard you to wash your subject¡¯s hair, steal his money and shamelessly consign him to treason. Your subject opposed him, resulting in him giving beating your subject painf-¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop, stop. You can practice you recital in your own time. I understand. Tianhu, you were too rash. Earl Ming is now an earl. Apologise to him for your recklessness.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°No, no, no, your subject does not need or want an apology. Your subject wants him to wash his hair with manure.¡±

    The two eyes sitting on Tianhu¡¯s stiff visage glowed red. ¡°¡­ You can fool anyone but me. I know you are strong. Even though I found you when you were badly injured, you were able to avoid my qi detection. Nevertheless, you won¡¯t be so lucky today. I won¡¯t fall for your glib tongue and tricks. I only believe the dead. If you refuse to reveal your true skill, you can die here and now.¡±

    A scarlet waterfall sshed onto the ground as I involuntarily rose into the ether. I ended up in as bad shape as the beam I snapped on the way up.

    Shen Yiren aimed a thrust at Tianhu¡¯s heart, but he dodged, not that it stopped her from trying another merciless attack. Tianhu performed a circle with his left hand, generating a qi whirlwind to dissipate the forward force, then stopped the thrust in between two fingers. Shen Yiren gave up on trying to wrest her sword out, letting go so that she could ram her fist into his face - flush.

    ¡°Save him first!¡± Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s voice ceased the scuffle between the two.

    I don¡¯t know how much time passed when I smelt Boss Shen. ¡°B-Boss¡­?¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, Feizhen, how are you feeling?¡±

    I hurled blood again and again. My vision was foggy, and my body was immobilised. ording to Boss Shen¡¯s knowledge, I shouldn¡¯t have been hurt so bad even if I couldn¡¯t beat Tianhu. Even if I was acting, there was no need to take his attack without nullifying any of the force.

    ¡°Why¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look like that¡­ It¡¯s not your problem.¡± I could vaguely see Boss Shen¡¯s forlorn expression.

    ¡°How long have you been in this state? Was it after¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ ever since I woke up.¡±

    Boss Shen squeezed my body in her arms. Without my answer, she still could¡¯ve discerned that I had lost all of mybat skills.

    Glossary

    ¡°¡­ Also, stop giarising positive character descriptions for yourself.¡± - Ming Feizhen reworded lines out of ¡°Romance of the Three Kingdoms¡±. If you know your RotTK, you probably have a good guess where in the story.

 Volume 11 140 I Have My Reasons

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 140 I Have My Reasons</h4>

    For the tussle with Pangu, I emptied out my tank. When Pangu went back into its shell, I was spent -pletely, be it my strength or the Fengpeng¡¯s energy. As a matter of fact, I was dead inside before the end of the fight. My injuries may have healed in my sleep, but my energy store was still empty. That was why not even Tianhu could find any traces of developed internal strength inside me. My stronger-than-average pulse and qi flow were all but standard for any martial arts practitioner.

    My white hair was a product of my training. Once I lost my skills, it¡¯d revert back to ck. Therefore, my ck hair was natural, flowing, beautiful ck hair.

    Though I was gasping blood as though I had a foot in the grave, I wasn¡¯t hurt as bad as surface symptoms suggested. Yes, I couldn¡¯t shield myself with any martial arts abilities, but I was built differently, though I couldn¡¯t tell if that was attributed to the Fengpeng or my training. Either way, I always recovered unnaturally fast. Kind of made me feel that that I wasn¡¯t human¡­

    First things first.

    ¡°Bosh, don¡¯t wowwy. I can handle dis.¡± me my weird enunciation on the blood that kept pouring out of my mouth while I was trying to speak.

    ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m worried enough as it is!¡± Boss was in a hurry to find me help, only to turn around and see Mount Daluo¡¯s clique.

    Young Shiyi didn¡¯t need a recount to figure out what went down when she could see Tianhu¡¯s position and my shape. ¡°You asked for it.¡±

    Young Shiyi went straight for Tianhu¡¯s face right out of the gate. Unfortunately, in spite of her improved grasp on Enlightenment and Overarching Heaven, Tianhu could still stop Overarching Heaven between two fingers. In a match between people of their calibre, the one who had the upper hand was decided the moment they took their opponent¡¯s weapon. Young Shiyi, however, didn¡¯t give a toss, smashing her golden sword qi into Tianhu¡¯s Enlightenment.

    Save for one individual, nobody present wanted to be anywhere near the fight.

    ¡°Please cease this!¡± Despite being nowhere near their level, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t mind the risk of injury to get in between the two. ¡°Miss Ming, I am to me for failing to intervene in time. Tianhu is guilty, but now is not the time for vindication. Please stop for now. I shall make sure Earl Ming ispensated.¡±

    Young Shiyi had no choice but to back off once Emperor Yuansheng spoke up. Likewise, Tianhu also backed off. Tianhu wanted no part in fighting Young Shiyi because, once he was done with her, he had my siblings ready to fight him right away from every angle, my shifu and the others afar. One mistake from him and it would be all-out war between Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Mount Daluo. If he was in the right, then he could break a leg. In this case, though, he was in the wrong.

    Emperor Yuansheng summoned, ¡°State Preceptor Lai!¡±

    Lai Jingzhen, sleeping inside the room, woke up, then whipped the bottom half of his robe aside. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Save him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    In one leap, Lai Jingzhen propelled himself a good thirty-six metres using Gliding Golden Goose. Following that, he performed Diagonal Swallow to leap back over the heads he leapt over. He executed Seven Stars Steps to finally reach Tianhu. ¡°Who dares hurt my Brother Tianhu?!¡±

    ¡°Who told you to save Tianhu?! I want you to treat the one on the ground!¡± thundered Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°The ugliest one if you can¡¯t tell!¡±

    Lai Jingzhen cast his gaze my way.

    Go away! You have the wrong man! Why did you look my way?!

    ¡°Eh?¡± Lai Jingzhen started using his fingers for a divination instead of checking my pulse, alternating between his left and right hands repetitively. He muttered under his breath, ¡°Strange. Very strange. Howe someone invincible isn¡¯t a part of Supreme Ten Saints?¡± He gusted up a wind that elevated me up and into his sleeve. ¡°Strange. Still very strange. Howe he¡¯s so weak? Is he hurt?¡± He nced down to the blood across the ground, then continued, ¡°This injury is nothing, yet there¡¯s a difference?¡±

    Lai Jingzhen twirled his sleeves, performing his time-reversal-like technique, sending the blood I spilt back into my body. It wasn¡¯t just my blood that was returned to me; even my wounds healed.

    Honing on my true qi cirction - courtesy of Prisation Style - blew my mind. I had seen plenty of touted disciplines, but this was magical. Every time I felt a spot heal, I couldprehend a dao mental cultivation¡¯s operation. The natural control Lai Jingzhen had over it could be considered the pinnacle.

    The indescribable processsted around ten minutes.

    ¡°Puha!¡± I desperately breathed upon being thoughtlessly released from Lai Jingzhen¡¯s sleeve.

    ¡°Feizhen!¡± Young Shiyi and Boss Shen, taking an arm of mine each, pulled me off the ground.

    Damn, oxygen never tasted so sweet until Tianhu winded me.

    By no means was Lai Jingzhen some deity. My blood replenishment and closed wounds were the product of his discipline.

    Forcing a smile, I expressed, ¡°That was incredible, State Preceptor. Thank you for saving this one¡¯s life.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look it. It doesn¡¯t look it,¡± Lai Jingzhen muttered as he walked circles around me, examining me from head to toe. ¡°In other words, it doesn¡¯t seem so.¡±

    Erm¡­ Given his love for usingnguage that¡¯s illogical to people to distinguish himself or test people, is there some profound meaning to what he¡¯s saying?

    Lai Jingzhen pointed to my nose and said, ¡°God damn, son,¡± and then zoomed off.

    Emperor Yuansheng came over to check on me. ¡°Are you all right, Earl Ming? Are you still hurt anywhere?¡± He did threeps around me before he was assured. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re all right. You gave me a big fright back there. Worry not, I will ensure justice is upheld. Tianhu! Come over here!¡±

    It was probably the first time Emperor Yuansheng had raised his voice at any of The Ultimate Three.

    Notwithstanding what I went through, Tianhu, face ashen, still tried to check my true qi reaction when he came over. Regrettably for him, it was such a mess that he couldn¡¯t find anything to incriminate me with.

    ¡°You lost the gamble, yet, instead of epting the oue, you would try to kill an Earl I just promoted in my presence? What am I to you? Is credibility just a word to you? How can you attack someone innocent?¡±

    While he did have his head down in silence, I could tell Tianhu wasn¡¯t listening at all.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there! Apologise to Earl Ming!¡±

    It was really satisfying to listen to, but you have to know where to toe the line in life.

    ¡°Your Majesty, your subject is not worthy of Sir Tianhu¡¯s apology. Your subject has but only one request.¡±

    ¡°Just say that word. I willply with anything.¡±

    Touched, I nodded and smiled. ¡°Wash his hair with manure.¡±

    I cracked it! I cracked the unyielding mask.

    Glossary

    Given his love for usingnguage that¡¯s illogical to people to distinguish himself or test people - This is three characters tranted¡­ As an example of this situation, it¡¯s English, but it¡¯s Shakespearean English, and I can¡¯t say I understand a conversation in Shakespearean English. That¡¯s what Ming Feizhen is referring to.

 Volume 11 141 I Request an Imperial Decree

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 141 I Request an Imperial Decree</h4>

    ¡°Wash his hair with manure!¡±

    Boss tugged my sleeve. ¡°Be careful of Tianhu. In your current state¡­¡±

    Though she didn¡¯t finish her sentence, I knew Boss was concerned I might push Tianhu too far andnd myself in bed - or my grave. Nheless, I gave her the most persistent stare I could.

    Young Shiyi, hiding her grin behind her hand, pulled Boss Shen back, trusting I had the situation under control, for which I gifted her a wink.

    Needless to say, His Majesty was against the request. Problem was, Tianhu was the one who dug the hole, and Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples were waiting for Tianhu to be punished. Suffice to say, His Majesty also had his share of frustration in regards to Tianhu¡¯s means of interrogation and assault charge because Tianhu practically undermined the reward and punishment system of the government. He, therefore, had to punish Tianhu somehow so as to prevent a second person marginalising the system.

    Tianhu agreed to the deal in His Majesty¡¯s presence. In the pugilistic wor;d, honouring your word was paramount. That being said, had His Majesty spoken up after Tianhu washed my hair, I would¡¯ve had to drop the wager, lest I be perceived as a petty man. The moment Tianhu cracked me, however, I had every reason in the book to persist. After all, who¡¯d me a man who just had a foot in his grave forshing out, right?

    Judging from Tianhu¡¯s silence, he didn¡¯t expect me to go through with it. Besides being the strongest military force of the imperial court - making it tough for His Majesty to punish mindlessly - all members of The Ultimate Three were more prideful than young masters of affluent families. That was not to mention all their peculiar traits. If they were to jump off a city wall out of anger, so be it. They wouldn¡¯t die, anyway. It would be a problem, howbeit, if their punishment was the catalyst that drove them to the unorthodox factions. Even if their might could be reced, the resources and information they possessed would be harmful to the imperial court if leveraged against it. Stripping the ranks of a few earls would be a better alternative, let alone going along with some Daluo Earl.

    For those reasons, I whispered to His Majesty, ¡°One of The Ultimate Three washing his hair with manure is a massive event. Consequently, we cannot be careless about it. Sir Tianhu attacked your subject because he does not know him. We have plenty of time. As long as he spends more time with your subject, he wille to understand your subject. You know how everyone speaks highly of your subject¡¯s character. Besides, your subject understands Sir Tianhu is angry because he is loyal to you. If we were to press charges against him, would we not be scoundrels? Most importantly, it ruins the value of loyalty to one¡¯s country and sovereign. If the prize for loyalty is punishment, who will be loyal? ordingly, your subject will not insist on pursuing the matter.¡±

    ¡°I admire your big heart, Earl Ming!¡± Emperor Yuansheng expressed.

    ¡°Having said that, recklessness should not be rewarded. Your subject slightly contributed to the events in Nanjiang, for which your generously rewarded him with an earl rank, a reward, no a blessing from the heavens. If we were to overlook Sir Tianhu assaulting an earl only three days after you personally conferred him, not to mention in your presence, it would create the impression that one can do as they please if you think highly of them.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Emperor Yuansheng grabbed his beard. ¡°What do you say we do, in your opinion?¡±

    ¡±Duke Xiao of Qin favoured Shang Yang to set a precedence and establish Shang Yang as a credible figure. How about you grant your subject an imperial decree so that he may, at his own discretion, demand Sir Tianhu wash his hair with manure. It goes without saying that your subject will not thoughtlessly use it. Instead, it will be used as an amulet of sorts to stop Sir Tianhu from leveraging his influence; he would think thrice before he acts. Of course, others will also be happy and respect your wise decision.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Generous, honourable and, most importantly, bereft of any insistence to take a mile. What was so important about not insisting Tianhu smothers his hair in dung today? It gave His Majesty a way out!

    Tianhu¡¯s two surprise attacks to expose my identities that he schemed fell t on their faces; His Majesty¡¯s doubts about me were erased for the most part. Add my sensible and honourable speech to the equation, and he was almost ready to kiss my forehead. If I was ady, he¡¯d have asked for my hand in marriage.

    His Majesty had someone fetch him writing utilities to write down the ¡°Permission for Earl Ming Feizhen to make Tianhu wash his hair with manure - Tianhu must oblige¡± decree, then handed it to me solemnly. I bet nobody, since the beginning of history, ever had such an epic imperial decree at their disposal before. If I sold it on the ck market, oof, I¡¯d be counting in six digits, at the very least. Of course, there was no way I¡¯d sell it. There are things that are way more important than money, such as authority, such as authority over the person who just hit me!

    I smugly looked over to Tianhu. ¡°Sir Tianhu, check this out, a decree for you to wash your hair with manure.¡±

    Tianhu turned his head away. Since I could understand why he didn¡¯t want to speak, I kindly went over to the side he was looking.

    ¡°Why are you ducking? Read this, Sir Tianhu. Look how dashing, powerful and flowing this handwriting is.¡±

    Tianhu shut his eyes. ¡°Out with whatever tripe you have to spill.¡±

    ¡°What was it that you called yourself? One of the nation¡¯s most swag martial artists?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Warrior.¡±

    ¡°I apologise.¡± I gingerly ced the decree inside my shirt. ¡°I heard Grand Commander Baima has mastered Wang and Xie n¡¯s Forbidden Lightning Wind, equipping him with full-body lightning armour that denies wind, deflects rain and repels des. Would you happen to have a Twenty-Four Hours Manure Armour or something? If not, oof.¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s re sent me a step back, but I immediately pointed and inveighed, ¡°What?! Hit me again, and I¡¯ll ask His Majesty for ten imperial degrees to submerge you in a pool of manure. You¡¯ll be shooting crap off a bow instead of swinging a spear. Try me!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was present, and he just made a blunder. Still, it wasn¡¯t enough to deter Tianhu from scoffing, ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t get cocky. I don¡¯t know how you hid your energy as if it¡¯s warped into another dimension¡­ but don¡¯t think for a second that I believe your hogwash. You definitely harbour secrets, and I will dig them up.

    ¡°Hahaha, what do I have to be cocky about? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the one who¡¯ll be washing his hair with manure. Nobody shall forget a man covered in manure from head to toe. In the future, kids will only need to think of you to cure constipation. Imagine singlehandedly curing a condition doctors have failed to find a permanent solution to. You will go down in history. Imagine being able to scare people off without even having to fight as soon as Manurehu rolls up. I am overjoyed for you.¡±

    Tianhu went white in the face.

    Man, I can¡¯t believe intimidation tactics are still the best in the pugilistic world.

    Smiling, I requested, ¡°Brother Tianhu, can we step aside to talk?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    I draped my arm over Tianhu¡¯s shoulder in a friendly manner.

    Long Zaitian suddenly asked, ¡°Was I hallucinating? Didn¡¯t he smash the blood out of you?¡±

    Long Zaitian, stop spoiling the mood, man!

    Tianhu shrugged my arm off condescendingly.

    You can¡¯t even put up with this much?

    I pulled Tianhu over. ¡°I am trying to have a friendly conversation with you. I¡¯m not a devil or something. As long as you do not harass me from now, promise to walk the other way when you see me, walk away right after we meet, call me ¡®Big Bro¡¯ every time we meet, send presents every year, hold banquets and all those necessary events, supply me with pork shoulders done right, I will go where the wind takes me and leave you be. Otherwise, ha, ha, ha.¡±

    ¡°Dream on. Unless the sun rises from the other side, I¡¯m not taking orders from you.¡±

    ¡°Goujian endured self-imposed hardships for his ambition. May I ask why Tianhu wants to try tasting Nanjiang¡¯s manure? Either way, I promise I will call a crowd for the day. We will write stories and poems of the event, then rey it at every state. Thank you in advance for giving me the tools to be wealthy.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Since when did ¡®washing¡¯ be ¡®tasting¡¯?! You¡¯re trying to pull a quick one on me!¡±

    ¡°I never intended to make you taste it. Problem is, look how long your hair is. Hence, we have to take our time washing strand by strand. Besides, there¡¯s no stiption on how we wash it. If a strand happens to stick to your face, even if you can deflect manure dripping into your mouth, I¡¯m not sure who will believe you didn¡¯t taste any.¡±

    Glossary

    Duke Xiao of Qin favoured Shang Yang to set a precedence and establish Shang Yang as a credible figure. - Trusted with enacting a political reform, Shang Yang finished up the policies but didn¡¯t announce them, afraid that the political reforms he wanted to implement would backfire and not be trusted. Shang Yang set up a ten-metre tall wooden pole to the south gate of the capital city and promised to pay fifty gold to anyone who could move the wooden pole to a specific spot. Once someone did so, he paid the promised amount.

    Goujian - Whilst ruling his kingdom, Goujian never relished riches. Instead, he ate no differently to peasants, forced himself to taste bile before meals and bed, and slept on firewood to make himself tougher. By the time he was ready to take revenge, after years of economic and political reforms, he conquered the Wu capital.

 Volume 11 142 It Goes Without Saying, I am an Adept Doctor

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 142 It Goes Without Saying, I am an Adept Doctor</h4>

    Tianhu covered everything below his eyes behind his white fan. ¡°Ming Feizhen, learn to toe the line. Stop once you¡¯ve had your inch.¡±

    ¡°But my shifu taught me to go all the way once you get an inch.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t always be so lucky. You ever heard the saying, ¡®Don¡¯t burn bridges in the pugilistic world¡¯?¡±

    ¡°The only saying I¡¯ve heard is, ¡°Wasting dung is not a gentleman¡¯s way.¡¯¡±

    ¡°All right, fine.¡± Tianhu turned back to His Majesty and, in a ring voice, eximed, ¡°Your Majesty, Earl Ming has recovered. Your subject has remembered something important. Heavenly Swordsman and Martial Paragon are still unconscious. It is said that Earl Ming is an adept doctor who saved several people on the way to Nanjiang. How about we have him go check on them? We cannot ignore their plight.¡±

    You son of¡­

    ¡°Wh-what are you trying to pull?¡±

    Tianhu looked to me out of his peripherals. ¡°How can you be so erudite in the medical field art your young age? It¡¯s obvious you¡¯re deceiving people with your advanced martial arts skills. Let¡¯s see how you can do the impossible without your internal energy and true qi.¡±

    You¡­ You¡­ Go dip your head in a field of poo!

    ¡°Earl Ming, I mean not to badger you, but Patriarch Luo and my brother have been unconscious for more than a month. They may lose their only chance to return if we leave them. Did you not promise to check on them the day you woke up? How are they?¡±

    ¡°Uh, umm, well, about that¡­¡±

    God damn it, Tianhu!

    Tianhu may not have known about me losing all my abilities, but his conjecture wasn¡¯tpletely off the mark. My medical skills did heavily rely on my internal strength, especially when it came to nursing internal injuries like Luo Ming and Uncle Feng Xue¡¯s. I was hoping I¡¯d regain enough internal energy to diagnose their conditions in around two days¡¯ time. Sadly, that wasn¡¯t happening in my current state.

    Cognisant of the fact that I might make things worse for her teacher if I attempted something beyond me, Boss Shen intervened. ¡°Uncle, Feizhen has only just recovered from his grievous injuries. We are demanding too much of him. Please allow him another two days of rest before asking again.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Earl Ming is practicing medicine not divine skills. Diagnosing a patient can¡¯t be that taxing. Didn¡¯t he treat you just recently and even found out you have, hohoho.¡±

    ¡°Uncle! What are you going on about?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng deployed a tactical cough. ¡°I was just joking.¡±

    His Majesty most likely teased Boss Shen without much thought; however, people listening in would mistake it for him having a slip of the tongue and revealing the truth.

    Tie Hanyi¡¯s eyes: See that?

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Dugu¡¯s eyes: Yeah.

    Tie Hanyi¡¯s eyes: What do you think?

    Dugu¡¯s eyes: Most likely let the truth slip.

    Tie Hanyi¡¯s eyes: It¡¯s Brother Ming¡¯s.

    Dugu¡¯s eyes: Man is about to be fuma.

    Tie Hanyi¡¯s eyes: Shall we fraternise with him?

    Dugu¡¯s eyes: Wise thinking.

    Tie Hanyi and Dugu: ¡°Hehe, Brother Ming, want to grab some tea when you have some spare time.¡±

    Is this the perception of secret agents?! Tie Hanyi, since when did you learn this sort of stuff?!

    Hong Jiu flicked up a thumb.

    A Qilin Guard saw Long Zaitian squat down and sweep the floor with his hands, prompting him to ask, ¡°Vice-Captain, what are you looking for?¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°The meaning of life.¡±

    Although you have zero chances of winning Boss¡¯ heart, don¡¯t give up because of me! I¡¯m innocent! ¡­ She¡¯s also innocent!

    I was going to teach the troublemakers to wise up when I felt a smooth, soft hand slide down my back and stop where my heart was. Young Shiyi leaned right into my ear. ¡°Hehe, so, Feizhen, what¡¯s this about? Why did I never hear anything about this?¡±

    ¡°Young Shiyi, I can exin.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want to exin? I see you¡¯re always improving. Now you can even cheat in my presence.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tten you!¡± Young Shiyi yanked my ear with her left hand.

    ¡°This is all a misunderstanding! You can ask Sixth and the others. They all know! Sixth, remind Young Shiyi what sort of man I am.¡±

    Lian Zhuiyue spat at my feet. Both he and Young Shiyi had nothing but disdain for me worn as coats.

    Sixth, why are you misunderstanding me again?! I thought we rified this!

    Hong Jiu gave me a big smile whilst drawing a hemisphere over his belly with his hands, then flicked me a thumbs up.

    ¡°Young Shiyi, it¡¯s better if you just let me exin.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. Having said that, I¡¯ve had a problem I¡¯d like you to solve for me.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Wh-what would that be?¡±

    Young Shiyi mouthed, ¡°My sword is blunt.¡±

    As soon as I saw Overarching Heaven creep out of its sheath, I yelled, ¡°Your Majesty, your subject is fit to check on them!¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    Advance or retreat, the oue was death. If you ask me, the country was more willing to reason with me than a woman!

    His Majesty zealously grabbed my hands. ¡°You can treat them now?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no, it is too early to say. Before your subject diagnoses them, it is impossible to give you a concrete answer. That said, your subject will do his worst.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll call for more trustworthy doctors to join you in a day or two from now; that¡¯ll increase your chances.¡±

    ¡°In a day or two?¡±

    Young Shiyi whispered, ¡°You can¡¯t run forever¡­¡±

    ¡°Your subject can treat them! Absolutely! Your subject will see himself to prison if he cannot treat them!¡± I dragged His Majesty off with me as fast as we could go.

    The only ce more heavily guarded than the ce Uncle Feng Xue and Luo Ming rested would be His Majesty¡¯s ce.

    Worst came to worst and I couldn¡¯t wake them, His Majesty¡¯s impression of me would take a minor hit. Besides, failing to heal them could keep me safe¡­ for longer.

    ¡°Before your subject proceeds, may he ask if anyone else has examined them? If there has been, what was their opinion?¡±

    ¡°I have had many reputable doctors, including State Preceptor Lai, examine them. State Preceptor Lai managed to treat their external wounds, but he couldn¡¯t wake them. ording to Shaman Faith¡¯s physician, they spent all their heart energy and, therefore,cked the motivation to wake up again. They had their revenge and only survived by a hair¡¯s breadth in battle; their motivation is in a slumber.¡±

    ¡°Their motivation is slumbering¡­?¡±

    Tianhu taunted, ¡°I¡¯ve always been eager to see how Earl Ming creates miracles. Don¡¯t talk the talk but not walk the walk now.¡±

    ¡°I dare not say I can create miracles. I do know how to pour manure on heads, though. If you want to witness that, I can add another show for you. I bet Nanjiang¡¯s popce is down to watch. Want to try?¡±

    Though Tianhu was ticked off, he didn¡¯t lose anything if he just sat back to watch me fail.

    Like Tianhu, His Majesty could see I was at my wits end. ¡°Can you do anything, Earl Ming?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Please wait here for me. I shall go in to see them.¡±

    At a nce, neither of the two bed-ridden gentlemen looked abnormal. They were no longer had bloodstains or pale appearances associated with internal injuries. The long intervals between inhaling and exhaling faces proved their internal energy was still in tip-top form. At their levels, as long as their vitality was flowing properly, they would still be alive and kicking even if they were winded. If their minds were set on sleeping, then it wasn¡¯t a physical problem but a mental problem. If they were injured, I couldn¡¯t do anything for them in my current state. A mental problem, however¡­

    Following a think, I whispered in their ears, then stepped away and covered my ears.

    One, two, three.

    ¡°Get back here, Ming Huayu! Thirteen orphans (thirteen terminal tiles), my foot! You cheated again!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a sword!¡±

    I opened the door to announce, ¡°Done.¡±

    Tianhu: ¡°What are you? A doctor from heaven?!¡±

    I gave Tianhu a wink.

    Young Shiyi: ¡°Ho, in that case, I have something to say to you.¡±

    Why did I have to treat them?!

    Glossary

    Don¡¯t burn bridges in the pugilistic world - While ¡°don¡¯t burn bridges¡± doesn¡¯t seem to be an umon phrase in English, this is a specific version for referencing the pugilistic world. You wouldn¡¯t really use this phrase in real life unless you were part of the mafia (because pugilistic world is defined as the ¡°underworld¡± in today¡¯s world) or were ying around. It¡¯s amon saying in wuxia stories that adopt the pugilistic world (for those who don¡¯t know, the concept didn¡¯t exist until the Ming dynasty when wuxia, technically old-school wuxia, already existed long before it).

    One of themon codes of the pugilistic world is, today¡¯s friend may be tomorrow¡¯s enemy and vice versa. The concept doesn¡¯t operate on the same principle as the world in new-school xianxia and xuanhuan stories currently tranted en masse, where you can wipe out ns and problem solved. In the pugilistic world of these wuxia stories, people who are spared will likely return the favour another day; there¡¯s a sense of honour that needs to be upheld if you want to make it/survive. Wiping out an enemypletely is difficult as most ns are connected to other ns, government figures, bandits and so forth, and you can¡¯t just wipe them out with brute strength. It¡¯s pretty much guaranteed somebody wille for you in retaliation. Consequently, learning where to toe the line is something characters have to learn in order to survive. More often than not in these stories, you don¡¯t get away with not observing the unwritten rule.

    Thirteen orphans/thirteen terminal tiles - Mahjong terminology.

 Volume 11 143 Itâ€™s Heading Down the Path of No return

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 143 It¡¯s Heading Down the Path of No return</h4>

    The only thing between Young Shiyi, who was seated on my bed, was a tiger-fur rug. Outside of the door behind me was a silver orb, and at my feet was a nail board that cost five copper coins.

    ¡°Kneel!¡± Young Shiyi ordered, arms crossed under her rack.

    After I treated Uncle Feng Xue and Luo Ming, Young Shiyi dragged me back to camp, let me eat, then entered my room with me. I had no idea her short disappearance was used to go buy a nail board!

    ¡°Please spare me, Young Shiyi!¡± I summoned all the tears and snot I could humanly summon. ¡°I¡¯m honestly innocent! It¡¯s all a misunderstanding!¡±

    ¡°Exin yourself.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know how to. B-Boss just suddenly puked when I was giving her a checkup.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t the question.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s the question?¡±

    ¡°The question is, when did you do the deed? How is Yiren pregnant?¡±

    I shook my head as if my life depended on it. ¡°I did no such thing - never! It has nothing to do with me!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ sort of.¡± Had I not fed Boss Pangu¡¯s heart¡¯s blood, she wouldn¡¯t have suffered those symptoms, so I did y a part, right?

    P-p-p-put that sword back in!

    No matter what I was interrogated on, I denied it all, so Young Shiyi asked, ¡°All right, next question: what will your child refer to me as?¡±

    I scrubbed my head. ¡°Uh, Young Grandaunt?¡±

    ¡°I knew it¡¯s your child!¡±

    That¡¯s just leading me into a trap!

    ¡°Besides, why Young Grandaunt? Who am I to you?¡±

    ¡°Okay, then¡­ First Mother?¡±

    Caught by surprise, Young Shiyi¡¯s head turned into an active chimney. ¡°I never said anything about marrying you.¡±

    I scratched the back of my head. ¡°I thought you wanted to be main¡­¡±

    The two of us looked down upon making eye contact, though it didn¡¯t take long for Young Shiyi to re at me again. ¡°If I¡¯m First Mother, then doesn¡¯t that mean she is carrying your child?¡±

    No! Stop it! Stop veering everything back to that!

    ¡°No! It¡¯s like this¡­¡± I figured out in my head where to start and then rted it all back, starting from Pangu¡¯s heart¡¯s blood.

    Young Shiyi obviously didn¡¯t know nearly as much as I did on dragons since I had been doing extra research beyond Mount Daluo¡¯s materials, not to mention throwing down with Pangu. In the same vein, she didn¡¯t know anything about the simr symptoms to pregnancy showing up.

    ¡°If you want to get to the bottom of the side effects, you¡¯ll probably have to consult my cousin.¡±

    Great minds think alike. I was 99.9% sure my idiotic shifu wouldn¡¯t know squat about the subject.

    ¡°Nevertheless, it¡¯s good that Yiren¡¯s injury is no more. Don¡¯t worry too much. Given the energy has disappeared, the crisis is averted. With that said¡± - Young Shiyi squinted - ¡°you¡¯re not trying to fool me with dragon¡¯s heart¡¯s blood, are you?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not! I swear on my life!¡±

    Let me tell you an irrefutable fact: a stubborn and clever woman is far scarier than a stubborn and stupid woman.

    Following another lengthy exnation, I was finally allowed to sit on my bed, although, technically, she only allowed me on my bed so that she could inspect my condition.

    Whilst checking me for scratches and bruises, Young Shiyi queried, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Nothing in particr. You know Tianhu didn¡¯t hit that hard. Half of it was me exaggerating. That said, I didn¡¯t expect I was so weak; even I was shocked when I gasped so much blood. Still, State Preceptor Lai¡¯s healing ability was even more surprising. It¡¯s true when they say there¡¯s no way anyone can know everything about every martial art.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I know you aren¡¯t hurt that bad.¡±

    ¡°R-really? You pulled a sword on him and seemed pretty serious about it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a different story. It doesn¡¯t matter whether you were pretending or not. I get angry just seeing you spewing blood.¡± Young Shiyi dressed me again. Seeing me relish the sensation of physical contact with my eyes shut, she poked me on the head. ¡°I was asking about the damage you sustained against Pangu. I know you lost your abilities. I was supposed to dye your hair for you while you were unconscious, but I noticed your hair stayed ck.¡±

    ¡°I knew you figured it out when I woke up to see my celestial spider silk outer coat missing. Where is it now?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you losing your strength, it kept emanating frigid energy, so I hid it in a waterfall outside of Nieyao. Three dayster, over thirty kilometres of the water trail had turned to ice, drawing a crowd. Luckily, nobody had spare time from our side to go investigate.¡±

    I figured Young Shiyi or Hong Jiu had covered for me when I woke up to find my outer coat missing. Had they not removed it, I would¡¯ve turned into a humanoid icicle.

    ¡°Back on topic. How are your abilities now? If you¡¯ve lost a lot, I¡¯ll write a letter to have your shifu and shiniange check on you.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. If word got out that they had returned to the pugilistic world, they¡¯d cause a stir. I¡¯d like to continue enjoying peaceful days.¡±

    In addition, I had a feeling that I shouldn¡¯t meet my shifu at the moment. I didn¡¯t know why. Maybe I forgot about something?

    ¡°But in your current state¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine. Yes, I¡¯ve lost all my internal energy; however, it¡¯s not like I won¡¯t recover. As long as I follow the correct method, it¡¯s only a matter of time.¡±

    ¡°Dual cultivation?¡±

    Trivia

    If you¡¯ve forgotten what Ming Feizhen forgot regarding his shifu, here is a hint: Matriarch Zi.

 Volume 11 144 A Certain Discipline

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 144 A Certain Discipline</h4>

    I almost projectile vomited a ten-metre-long trail of blood. ¡°Why did dual cultivatione to mind?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been interested in dual cultivation. I¡¯ve been flipping through martial arts manuals without discrimination for years and found around ten manuals. Since medicine and herbs won¡¯t work for you, we can try manual by manual.¡± Young Shiyi hiked up a corner of her lips. ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡±

    I gulped. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not against it¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°So you approve?¡±

    ¡°I d-, no!¡±

    Grandmaster would make me kneel by the vige gates for three years with a board dangling from my neck that says, ¡°I¡¯m a lecher who slept with his grandaunt. Please spit on me for three coins per rep!¡± Grandmaster could body me when I could fight, never mind now that I had lost my abilities!

    Young Shiyi frowned. ¡°You have a problem with it?¡±

    ¡°Will my punishment be waivered if I don¡¯t?! Grandmaster wouldy me out!¡±

    Young Shiyi cuddled my head. ¡°Even if he does, I¡¯ll take care of you. Besides,¡± Young Shiyi cupped my face at close proximity to hers, ¡°you¡¯d still be winning even if you did get beat¡­ It¡¯s worth it.¡±

    Sound! I¡¯m down! I¡¯ll take as many beatings from as many people as theye. If I even grimace, I¡¯ll call myself a wuss. Grandmaster? Shifu? Mount Daluo? Jade Emperor? I¡¯ll take anything they have to give!

    ¡°I¡¯m in!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Young Shiyi covered her dimple behind her hand.

    Wait, wait, wait!

    ¡°Dual cultivation with my grandaunt is going too far! At least, wait until, you know¡­¡±

    ¡°Until what? We can freely practice dual cultivation after whatever it is?¡±

    ¡°Not ¡®freely¡¯!¡± With a straight face, I wagged my hand. ¡°We can think about the procedure.¡±

    ¡°Oho?¡± Young Shiyi brushed my chest with her fingertip, while her body was close enough for me to smell her. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ have our first ss today, then.¡±

    ¡°First ss?¡±

    Is this really good idea?

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the right ce for it, though, no? Members of the imperial court are ubiquitous here.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, martial artists are not so shallow. For instance, dual cultivation is a profound path to sagehood. Don¡¯t lewd it.¡± Her assertion wasn¡¯t remotely convincing when her eagerness was written all over her face. But, she wore on a stern visage upon reading my mind. ¡°Listen carefully: you don¡¯t have any internal energy at the moment, which renders you hyper prone to qi deviation. What do we do if your training exacerbates your condition? Have you forgotten what happened when you got hurt in training?¡±

    That is an inurate recollection! It wasn¡¯t I who wasn¡¯t serious when training. It was Shifu who wasn¡¯t serious! No matter how cautious I was, there was no helping it!

    ¡°What do you mean by first ss? We don¡¯t know any dual cultivation disciplines. Without a manual, isn¡¯t it just purely¡­¡±

    ¡°Purely what?¡±

    ¡°Purely¡­ that?¡±

    Young Shiyi removed her hand on my chest to clock me on the head. ¡°Here I am teaching you how to recover, while you¡¯re only having lewd thoughts.¡±

    Seeing Young Shiyi so sensually cheerful, I couldn¡¯t help blurting, ¡°Producing life is noble¡­ very noble.¡±

    Young Shiyi looked away. ¡°It¡¯s pretty warm in here. Shall we open the window?¡±

    I didn¡¯t point out the fact that I could tell Young Shiyi had fallen into her habit of looking away whenever she blushed. Smiling, I said, ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll leave the dual cultivation topic there for now.¡±

    Young Shiyi¡¯s eyelids pped rapidly. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°To avoid something bad happening. We can discuss it again once we get our hands on our manual.¡±

    ¡°I have one on me.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, look.¡± Young Shiyi tossed down a book. ¡°I took this from Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall, you know?¡±

    The title on the white cover read, ¡°Fiery Uncontainable Loneliness¡±.

    ¡°What sort of sted martial arts name is this?!¡±

    This is a porno, isn¡¯t it?! As if there¡¯s any discipline with this name!

    Young Shiyi pouted. ¡°What are you making a fuss for? They¡¯re just ordinary words. ¡®Fiery¡¯ obviously refers to Yang Realm. Yang energy is the foundation, so heat manifests as an external phenomenon. ¡®Uncontainable¡¯ refers to strengthening one¡¯s body to contain pain. It¡¯s likely just another way of referring to cleansing one¡¯s body and tempering it. ¡®Loneliness¡¯ should be the most obvious; it refers to the mental state when training. One¡¯s mind and body are connected when learning advanced disciplines. How is this any different to Mncholic Palms? Stop making a fuss over nothing.¡±

    I¡¯m making a fuss over nothing? The name gives away the fact that¡¯s perverted material! How did you evene up with that legitimate-sounding interpretation?! Now I can¡¯t stop analysing the name ¡°Mncholic Palms¡±!

    ¡°You¡¯re prejudice.¡± Young Shiyi vexingly flipped through the manual. ¡°Ah, there¡¯s a nude maiden.¡±

    I¡¯m telling it has to be a porn book! The title is lewd. The contents are even more professional. Oh, even the man is naked. Average artists can¡¯t draw this position. Yeah, this is a pro¡¯s work. Look at the lines. Look at the points emphasised. Look at the perfectly controlled rouge. This is grandmaster-level artistry. Don¡¯t question a man who¡¯s read one hundred and eight thousand porn books!

    Glossary

    Mncholic Palms - I don¡¯t want to think readers don¡¯t recognise this name, but in the case you don¡¯t, it¡¯s Yang Guo¡¯s self-invented palm techniques. As much as I¡¯d like to think you all recognise the name, for those who don¡¯t, he¡¯s main male protagonist of Return of the Condor Heroes.

 Volume 11 145 Restoration Method

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 145 Restoration Method</h4>

    ¡°Rubbish! Isn¡¯t it perfectly normal to remove your clothes so that your qi can¡¯t escape? They do it in Jade Maiden Heart Sutra or whatever. St-stop lewd-ing everything.¡±

    ¡°Exin your expression right now, then! You brought the manual when you have no experience, didn¡¯t you? Did this porno seriouslye from Mount Daluo? You brought a porno with you for several hundred kilometres?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Nonsense. Look: it¡¯s clearlybelled as a mental cultivation manual.¡±

    Oh, crap, for real. Is it really not a porno?

    ¡°ording to the manual, two people need to practice it simultaneously, with each person cultivating their energy at the same time, using their partner as a cauldron. In the final phase of these diagrams, the woman and man don¡¯t have tobine their schr fire and martial fire. Until then, the woman cultivates schr fire, while the man cultivates martial fire¡­¡±

    It actually sounds legit? No wonder why Young Shiyi is so invested in it.

    ¡°No green has corrupted this mental cultivation. It is a 100% pure dual cultivation discipline. It does not contain any lewd contents.¡±

    As if I¡¯d believe that! You expect me to believe that when there are all those nude diagrams?!

    ¡°This manual is a so-called dual cultivation manual. It requires a man and woman to train together in order to master. As such, it is an unprecedented discipline. Lust for someone of the opposite gender is natural. To fight the urge is to fight nature - a most unwise course of action.

    ¡°In the initial stage, it will feel the same as the first meeting between a couple, a little confusing, awkward and distant. ordingly, it is necessary for you to sigh eight hundred times as well as be depressed for four hours daily in order to enter ¡®Passionate, One nce Generates Sparks¡¯ Realm.

    ¡°You are only beginning your cultivation once you have reached the first realm. Over the course of your training, you will be profoundly attracted to your training partner. The ugliest partner will be the best-looking person in the world. It, therefore, ismon for you to be lovers. If you don¡¯t like your partner, you can punch them in the face, and everything will be restored to normal. As you two advance through the curriculum, you will reach ¡®Lonely Couple¡¯ Realm¡­¡±

    The progenitor of this discipline must only have half a brain! What the actual flip?! The only oue I can see from following this manual is bing mentally demented!

    The creator actually wrote his name on the pages. His name was ¡°Your Husband Isn¡¯t Coming Home Tonight¡±.

    I take back what I said earlier. His brain is filled with rat piss! Who¡¯s thedy, then, your training partner or yet another woman?!

    Seeing Young Shiyi, face beet-red, focused on the artwork, I called, ¡°¡­ Young Shiyi?¡±

    ¡°Ah, ahem, train your martial fire properly. I will be inspecting your progress.¡±

    Are we seriously going to through with this?

    Young Shiyi had me copy down the internal strength portion for myself, lest I forget to train it. Hours after I was done, she told me, ¡°That¡¯s that. I have to make a quick trip back to Mount Daluo.¡±

    I nodded, expecting to hear that sooner orter. ¡°To return Overarching Heave and ry the events at Nieyao?¡±

    ¡°Precisely. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a fuss back home since I took Overarching Heaven without permission. I, at least, need to provide justify and exin my actions.¡±

    Though she said that, she only needed to pout and pull a few funny faces to settle all the hard feelings. After all, who were the people backing her?

    ¡°I need to tell your shifu all about Nieyao, especially about Pangu and Sky Pce. Pangu hasn¡¯t shown up for centuries, so we need to record all the information you gained from your fight with it. We also need a discuss how to deal with the egg in the underground pce from now, so their input is integral.

    ¡°Sky Pce and us have stayed out of each other¡¯snes, but it¡¯s clear that they lured you into this so that you could subdue Pangu for them. The status of our rtionship is no longer what it once was.

    ¡°As you predicted, His Majesty asked Sixth to let our branch disciples join the imperial court as a means of establishing an official alliance between us. I need to iron out the details with my cousin and nephew.¡±

    ¡°I should be the one to personally go for this.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t keep up with my pace in your current state. Third and Fourth will apany me. As long as I have them around, Overarching Heaven and Pangu¡¯s secrets will be safe. I¡¯m more worried about you. You want to keep a low profile; however, Liu Shan Men and you, as an individual, have drawn a lot of attention following recent events. Toplicate things even further, you¡¯ve lost your abilities.¡±

    So that¡¯s why you want me to give this dubious thing a whizz.

    I embraced Young Shiyi, and she meekly reciprocated. ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t fret. I know how I¡¯m doing, and I know how to restore my abilities.¡±

    Young Shiyi raised her head. ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    My internal energy didn¡¯t just evaporate into thin air. The true diagnosis was that I couldn¡¯t ess it for a prolonged period because I exhausted everything I had in my scrap against Pangu. While I did have a tad of internal energy left in me, it was reserved for healing the damage I sustained.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t lost my abilities. They¡¯re just buried deep inside; I can¡¯t use them.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same thing? How will you recover your abilities?¡±

    ¡°Nothing amazing. Hibernating just like Pangu and absorbing natural qi to restore my own. Keep it up for long enough, and I shall be the old me.¡±

    ¡°Long enough is¡­¡±

    ¡°A hundred days.¡± I jabbed Young Shiyi¡¯s nose with a finger. ¡°As long as I can absorb natural qi on schedule daily, I¡¯ll be 100% within approximately a hundred days.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s relieving to hear, but¡­ what are you going to do if you need to be in action?¡±

    ¡°I have arrangements for my safety. My only problem is that I can¡¯t go around on my own for the next three months. If I must throw down, I¡¯ll have to hire help.¡± I looked down to Young Shiyi. ¡°When are you heading back?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tomorrow morning.¡±

    Glossary

    Jade Maiden Heart Sutra - If you don¡¯t already know, it¡¯s also from Jin Yong¡¯s condor trilogy, first introduced as Ancient Tomb Sect¡¯s discipline in Return of the Condor Heroes.

 Volume 11 146 Tianhuâ€™s Speech

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 146 Tianhu¡¯s Speech</h4>

    Overarching Heaven was Mount Daluo¡¯s only means of prating Six Evils¡¯ armour, and my recount of my tussle with Pangu was equally important ssified information. For those reasons, Third and Fourth had to leave at dawn with Young Shiyi. I bid farewell to them in the morning, then watched their horse carriage head back from the city walls.

    The next time I was meeting Young Shiyi would be back in Nanjing. We spent more time apart than together, and I regretted not having more time to spend with her in Nanjiang, particrly since the scenery here was magnificent. If only I could still defend myself.

    ¡°They¡¯re gone, huh?¡±

    Despite myposed fa?ade, I nearly tripped off the wall when I heard the voice. ¡°Tianhu, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°That would be to see off Mount Daluo¡¯s grandaunt.¡± Though he said that, Tianhu¡¯s eyes were fixated on me without any pretence, seemingly waiting for an opening to spring on me.

    ¡°Whatever. What do you really want?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t I have a chat with you unless I have business?¡± Tianhu stretched his arms overhead, then set them on the city wall. The way he had his eyes narrowed resembled a man inquisitively analysing a toy of his. In this case, his toy would be the entire world.

    Among The Ultimate Three, Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s member was impossible to find and read, but he¡¯d always find amusement in watching the world burn. This generation¡¯s Tianhu had inherited the name only recently, and my interactions with him thus far were congruent with the rumours.

    ¡°You sure have a lot of spare time, Master Ming. First it is Huzhou and then Nieyao. Heavenly Swordsman is history in the pugilistic world now. Meanwhile, it is time for South Five Ember Pces to rise, yet you do not seem bothered.¡±

    While I didn¡¯t respond to Tianhu, I couldn¡¯t deny he was right. Subsequent to the battles, Luo Ming would no longer run Luo Sword Manor. Now that they had found peace, Luo Siming, be it his character or martial prowess, was the ideal man to take over. With His Majesty¡¯s support, Luo Siming may have led his n to an even brighter future.

    One thing I agreed with in particr was Tianhu¡¯s emphasis of them bing a part of the pugilistic world¡¯s history. Going forward, Luo Sword Manor needed the imperial court. ordingly, they would no longer be ssified a member of the pugilistic world. Dark Robe Brotherhood could be considered their predecessor. Dark Robe Brotherhood had influence and members scattered in the imperial court¡¯s departments. Hence, they weren¡¯t categorised as a pugilistic world faction.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Seven Champion White Princes were heroes in the pugilistic world in addition to major contributors to the dynasty¡¯s founding, granting them special privileges. As a result, they enjoyed benefits from both worlds. In turn, if they were to betray the imperial court, disaster would befall paradise. Besides possessing military might, they collected taxes, effectively making them monarchs of the martial world. They weren¡¯t exactly respectful to the imperial court on the surface, so it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine the sort of things they harboured behind Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s back. Luo Ming proved this point with his bold n.

    If Luo Sword Manor was to swear fealty to the imperial court, then the other six from Seven Champion White Princes would have to reconsider where they stood. It would be a big deal if they followed suit, but if they didn¡¯t, it¡¯d be a massive deal - or rather, the beginning of countless confrontations. This situation would be the prime opportunity for South¡¯s Five Ember Pces to begin vetting their gains from the remaining Champion White Princes, the pugilistic world and even the imperial court.

    I entrusted Night Fortress to Hong Jiu, and I wasn¡¯t about to start giving myself extra work again.

    Tianhu looked over to me in the manner of a predator watching its prey. ¡°Waves are rising in Jiangnan, but I doubt anybody ever predicted Master Ming had the foresight to ce his capital on the imperial court and has positioned himself as an earl. Those so-called power yers who are still figuring out where they fit into the puzzle cannot see as far as you.¡±

    I continued staying mute.

    ¡°His Majesty must have bestowed you your earl rank on ount of your status in Mount Daluo and Night Fortress. He never would have thought that you have no authority in Mount Daluo. You only have a voice at Night Fortress¡­ and Western Region¡¯s Divine Moon Cult. If he ever finds out he conferred Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen an earl rank, I wonder if he will cry orugh at himself.¡±

    I lifted up the corners of my lips the same way I would when I meet an old friend. ¡°I do not follow. Have you had breakfast? How about we go grab a bowl of wonton soup? Nanjiang people like to put a lot of green onions in their wonton soup, do not make it spicy and put in a lot of filling unlike in the Central in. Their pork fillings are to die for. Of course, as you are ranked higher, breakfast will be on you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hahaha, let us leave this here for today. I shall not spoil your mood.¡± Tianhu nced up at the spot Shen Yiren was lurking on the walls.

    Boss Shen stepped out since there was no point in trying to hiding anymore. At the same time, her appearance acted as a warning for Tianhu to keep his hands off me.

    Tianhu spent a while looking at me, then nced over to Boss Shen before quietly querying, ¡°That was Mount Daluo¡¯s The Demoness who just left, right?¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°You sure like women who cannot be wronged.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Any wise advice?¡±

    Tianhu started fanning himself. ¡°Given you let Lian Zhuiyue converse with His Majesty. I take it Mount Daluo is returning?¡±

    ¡°Noment.¡±

    ¡°Among the three biggest sects, Shaolin has insisted on keeping to themselves, while Wudangcks talent in their current generation. The odds are in your favour this year. Without Shaolin and Wudang, Mount Daluo had free reign. By the same ount, nobody was able to restrain your shifu when he was running amok. Now, however, leading the martial artsmunity by the nose isn¡¯t so simple. In this era, Mount Daluo must be stringent in their selection for their next patriarch. You and The Demoness have a long road ahead, yet you are also messing with His Majesty¡¯s daughter. It is nice to be a womaniser, but should you not be careful about who you choose?¡±

 Volume 11 147 My Salary. My Soul.

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 147 My Sry. My Soul.</h4>

    You¡¯re the character who asks to get hit, huh? Don¡¯t you think you know too much?!

    ¡°I will handle these problems. You need not worry.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you didn¡¯t understand. I am not referring to the generous, honest noble beauty behind us who is always concerned about the people¡¯s welfare. I am referring to the one in Hangzhou.¡±

    I spun lightning-fast towards Tianhu.

    ¡°What?! Miss Shen¡¯s child really is yours?! You animal!¡± Tianhu kicked me to the ground, then legged it.

    I will wash your head in front of the entire nation sooner orter Craphu, you cornhole!

    ¡°Feizhen!¡± Tianhu was already thin air by the time Boss Shen reached me.

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m okay. I just tripped.¡±

    Boss Shen grabbed my cor.

    ¡°Uh¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what lies did you tell him?! Will you never drop your habit of spewing nonsense until I beat it out of you?!¡±

    I saw the inkstone was too familiar with again.

    I thought you rushed over to help me! It was all Tianhu! Craphu!

    I had to exin Tianhu set me up in a strange voice due to all the bruises on my face.

    ¡°Got it. You¡¯re innocent. Be careful not to let it happen again.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Roger that,¡± I softly replied, still in pain. ¡°Boss, what did youe here so early in the morning for?¡±

    ¡°I was nning to see Sister Suwen off, but I received word toote, so I figured I might as well pay you a visit.¡±

    ¡°Visit me?¡± Figuring it would be a long conversation, I suggested, ¡°Over some wonton soup?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s always food with you, isn¡¯t it? All right, which eatery?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s one that provides plenty of stuffing for a steal. The oil melts off, and the soup aroma is marvellous. I lead the way; you pay the bill!¡±

    I dragged Boss all the way to the ce I strongly rmend and ordered ten bowls. What? Not enough? Amateur. Wonton soup is best served warm. What¡¯s the point of ordering a hundred bowls and then letting it go cold by the time you get to it? Besides, you think they can wrap them fast enough? Take your time.

    A smile bloomed on Boss Shen¡¯s lips after she had a taste of the soup. Watching her eat, I forgot to eat my own.

    ¡°A big event is going to take ce in Nieyao today. As the city¡¯s lord, you must attend, so I came to fetch you.¡±

    ¡°A big event? What big event?¡± I delivered two wontons into my mouth.

    ¡°Have you forgotten about Morcher¡¯s restoration? The eleven states¡¯ leaders in addition to Abels and A-Lan will convene in Nieyao today to discuss it.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was today?

    ¡°All the sovereigns areing, huh? Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡±

    Nieyao is going to be the breeding ground for a headache today?

    From what I heard, the states¡¯ leaders loved to have get-togethers to argue when they were bored, and they¡¯d never reach any conclusions. I don¡¯t know why they even bothered when that was always the case. If I knew about that, Abels should¡¯ve also been aware. It wasn¡¯t Abels-like to go throw himself into this sort of mess.

    Boss Shen raised her shoulders to her ears. ¡°Building a nation doesn¡¯t happen in a sentence. Merely dealing with all the power wielders would take years. Abels and His Majesty both hold the opinion that they need to be swift. Whatever the opposition says, the two of them are determined to ze a trail. Restoration takes priority, sopromises will have to be made if need be. You are today¡¯s host. Therefore, you need to prepare properly as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°As lord of Nieyao, I have yet to see anything except radishes in jars. How am I supposed to supervise? Can you rece me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the lord. What am I supposed to be?¡± Boss Shen smiled. ¡°Not knowing how to receive guests and the sort is fine. Just greet them, and then retreat into the background. Although His Majesty didn¡¯tmission you, if you perform poorly as the city¡¯s lord, you will have me to share. A minor punishment would bepromising your sal-¡±

    ¡°Huh?! A sry reduction?!¡±

    Th-this is unfair. After all my painstaking efforts for a year, I haven¡¯t even saved five silver taels. Is this the part where I have to start life as a beggar? I refuse!

    I raised up my bowl to my mouth to slog back one bowl and then huffed down the rest. ¡°Boss, you take your time. I am heading off first.¡±

    Boss was stupefied. Only once I was gone did she finish, ¡°¡­ a severe punishment would be demotion or relief from your post¡­ though it appears that isn¡¯t a concern for you.¡±

    Shen Yiren looked down to the three wontons left in her bowl and chuckled, recalling Ming Feizhen¡¯s endless praise for them, then sat back down to finish her bowl.

    ***

    I might¡¯ve forgotten where guests were to be received today, but I was confident Shiri Pce would be the only alternative to having a pic by the small creek given the architecture of Nieyao at present. I guess it helps to have one spot to receive guests.

    Pretty much anyone who set foot outside of their residence recognised me as the lord of Nieyao while I was out cold.

    ¡°All right, set up, set up, chop, chop! Chop! Chop!¡±

    My sry was on the line.

    ¡°Pick up the ck! Pick up the ck! The eleven states¡¯ monarchs areing. Make sure everything is done right! If I find a single blunder, you people are to me.¡±

    My sry was on the line, yet I wasn¡¯t the one badgering people. The onesing over from the adjacent section were Long Zaitian and Song Ou. As soon as we met each other, all three of us were thinking, ¡°Oh, crud.¡±

    What sphemy are these two up to again?

    Glossary

    The break in Shen Yiren¡¯s sentence when Ming Feizhen bolts out - I tried, but I couldn¡¯te up with any word to connect it in English.

 Volume 11 148 Dragon-Bird Alliance Returns

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 148 Dragon-Bird Alliance Returns</h4>

    Long Zaitian switched gears fast,ing over smugly. ¡°Earl Ming, what brings you here? You truly are everywhere. How about some tea?¡±

    Song Ou was uncharacteristically friendly. ¡°We have new biluochun from the Central in.¡±

    When a man is being nice to you for nothing, be cautious. The duo was either after my money, life, pork shoulders or women. I narrowed my eyes as I surveyed the two. ¡°Oi, you two¡­¡±

    The two of them profusely wagged her hands. ¡°No, no, absolutely not!¡±

    ¡°You want to be my friends because I¡¯m handsome?¡±

    Them: ¡°I need to barf. You want to die first?!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Their regret flitted across their faces moments after they realised they just spoiled a chance to befriend me. Perhaps they were also disappointed with themselves for falling for my provocations so easily. That said, that was an intense reaction¡­

    Long Zaitian¡¯s smile turned into a condescending scowl. ¡°Since you¡¯ve seen through me me, I won¡¯t front, or people will think I¡¯m not a man. Yes, we¡¯re out to get you!¡± And then, he lifted his nose into the ether.

    Why can¡¯t I find it in me to despise him for his delivery?

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Ou quietly grumbled, ¡°Oi, why are you spilling the beans? What happened to being covert? What happened to Dragon-Bird Alliance?¡±

    ¡°If we keep up the act, he¡¯d just be clowning us. I¡¯m not going to be his entertainment. I¡¯ll be straight with you: Ming Feizhen, we are eliminating you. We aren¡¯t picking on you.¡±

    ¡°In other words¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re jealous of you!¡±

    Yep, couldn¡¯t find it in me to hate someone so frank in his disdain for someone.

    ¡°Why are you jealous of me again?¡± I looked over to Song Ou.

    Song Ou lifted his chest and locked eyes with me. After a while, he tried to catch me on the back of my head, but I got out of the way.

    You¡¯re being reckless recently!

    ¡°Don¡¯tpare me to him. I¡¯m Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain and an elite warrior. I¡¯m not jealous of you, you shameless prick.¡±

    ¡°Says the guy allied with Long Zaitian. Although I¡¯m an earl, my fief is in Nanjiang; I¡¯m empty-handed in the Central in. If that¡¯s all it takes ot make you jealous, you¡¯re awfully petty.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯d want to be Earl Big Radish, you joke.¡±

    I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m still a First Rank Earl!

    ¡°You¡¯re starting to think you¡¯re all that just because His Majesty is giving you time of the day. You¡¯re constantly flirting with girls when the sun is up and then spending nights in their rooms. Dragon-Bird Alliance¡¯s purpose is to punish evil, which makes you, a traitor who makes me people env-, disgusted, a target for extermination!¡±

    You¡¯re still jealous after what I said? Also, it¡¯s my young shiyi¡¯s room, nimrod.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about Yiren¡¯s room!¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, yeah, that happened¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lly you out right now!¡±

    Song Ou caught me with two ¡°Three Septums Pluck the Moon¡±, while I rolled out of the way of one.

    ¡°Hahaha, nice!¡± praised Long Zaitian.

    Song Ou swiped his nose.

    ¡°You want to supervise the banquet to put another aplishment on your resume? Dream on. You can just wait to cop a scolding and lose ie, hahaha.¡±

    You Long Zaitian! You want to tarnish my reputation so that you can pinch my sry? Had Boss not warned me, I would¡¯ve fallen for your ploy.

    ¡°Haha, what¡¯s your n?¡± I asked of the two.

    Song Ou: ¡°Hmph, we¡¯ve set everything up so that you have nothing to do. His Majesty will punish you for dereliction of duty now, hahaha.¡±

    Long Zaitian whacked Song Ou over the head. ¡°Moron, you didn¡¯t need to answer that!¡±

    I crossed my arms. ¡°That¡¯s the best you¡¯ve got? I¡¯m here now, so what¡¯s your counter?¡±

    Long Zaitian replied, ¡°So what if you¡¯re here? What can you do? We¡¯ve already set up the venue in your ce, ahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!¡±

    I knew you¡¯re stupid, but I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re this stupid.

    They had set up about 90% of the venue already. If there was anything I¡¯d add, I¡¯d have a few people attired in red garments to wee the guests at the entrance.

    Th-they helped me to spite me?

    ¡°How did you finish this much when it¡¯s still so early?¡±

    Song Ou responded with his chest, ¡°We pulled an all-nighter.¡±

    The two of them grinned as though they just stole money from me, while I couldn¡¯t find the words to speak.

    ¡°Fantastic! This is just like poems describing Jiangnan. This beautifully unts our culture - perfect for receiving guests.¡± Emperor Yuansheng came in through the door behind us. ¡°The three of you did very well. Which of you three designed it?¡±

    Song Ou inhaled all the air he could into his chest. Long Zaitian proudly covered his face. I answered, ¡°Me.¡±

    ¡°Excellent! You truly are a pir of our nation. I shall reward you handsomely for earnestly fulfilling your duty as soon as you are instated. You two, learn from Earl Ming.¡± Emperor Yuansheng headed straight into the conference room, leaving a confused dragon and bird behind.

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou: ¡°Ming Feizhen, what was that all about?!¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you two acting awkward so that I could take the credit?¡±

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou: ¡°Says who?¡±

    ¡°I thought you two puiled an all-nighter because you felt sorry for me and wanted to help me out.¡±

    Long Zaitian and Song Ou: ¡°You¡¯re finished!¡±

    They had only rolled up one sleeve when I heard a heartyugh I hadn¡¯t heard in a while.

    ¡°Hahaha, Brother Ming, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Brother Bodhi?¡±

    Abels and A-Lan¡¯s attendance was to be expected, but they certainly were early.

    Abels was as friendly as a brother catching up with me sine we hadn¡¯t met in more than a month, much to the chagrin of Dragon-bird Alliance. What were they going to do against Abels?

    ¡°Brother Ming, you have no idea how rough thest month has been.¡± Abels stopped to visually appraise me. ¡°Howe¡­¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine. We¡¯ll talk aboutter.¡±

    Glossary

    Biluochun - Literally, green snail spring. Originally it was called ¡°scary fragrance¡± because of its rich aroma. It¡¯s a type of green tea.

 Volume 11 149 As Long as the Forest Remains

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 149 As Long as the Forest Remains</h4>

    I followed Abels, who sneaked out during a discussion between A-Lan and Emperor Yuansheng, to where they were meeting after the two of us had a short chat. At a secluded location, he checked for others and then saluted me. ¡°Congrattions, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°What are you congratting me on again?¡±

    ¡°Your power has ascended to new heights. Is that not something to celebrate?¡±

    Mistaking my confusion for pretence to fool him, Abels conveyed, ¡°Brother Ming, aren¡¯t we friends? Do you need to hide it from me? I was never able to measure your true abilities because of your acting, spiritless eyes and average breathing. You now resemble an ordinary person to the ¡®T¡¯. I would still be fooled you aren¡¯t trained even though I know how skilled you are. Have you improved again?¡¯

    ¡°To be honest with you, I really am powerless right now. I¡¯m not pretending at all,¡± I informed with a bitter smile.

    Wait a second. I recall pummelling him every night before Nieyao. Now that I¡¯m telling him I can¡¯t defend myself, wouldn¡¯t he send me to the capital in one punch?

    Once he heard what happened to me, Abels expressed, ¡°Really? I¡¯ve been hurt a lot of times, but I¡¯ve never heard of this sort of injury. A hundred days isn¡¯t a long time, but it¡¯s not exactly a short time, either.¡± He thumped his chest, then added, ¡°That being the case, I shall take charge of ensuring your safety. If anyone wants to harm you, they¡¯ll have to answer to my fists first.¡±

    I was appreciative Abels didn¡¯t take advantage of my plight to seek revenge. ¡°Brother Bodhi, I shall never forget your valour. I offer this drink to you.¡±

    Abels had a taste from the bowl I passed him, then furrowed his brows. ¡°What wine is this? It tastes odd.¡±

    ¡°Radish juice.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ What is it for? To cool the body?¡±

    ¡°To begin with, you have important business today, so drinking alcohol isn¡¯t the wisest choice. Second, I don¡¯t have any specialties here. This is pretty much the best I have.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t too hard to find quality drinks, but it was incredibly hard to find a true friend. Both of us shared three drinks with the same enthusiasm as back in Canhu Town.

    ¡°Hahaha, Brother Ming, I ought to do this. We¡¯re brothers, aren¡¯t we? As long as I am still breathing, I won¡¯t let anyone harm a hair on you at the cost of my wife!¡±

    ¡°Likewise, should you ever run into trouble,e seek me in the capital. I¡¯m the one who tells my boss what to do.¡±

    ¡°There is no room for questioning your sincerity if you go that far.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, a great man knows when to yield and when to not. So what if she¡¯s my superior? I let her look superior to the outside world. Back at the office, I scold her until she¡¯sn in tears. I just don¡¯t care to tell the outside world.¡±

    ¡°You have my admiration. That is how a man ought to be, just like me. Everyone sees her as a prestigious Princess on her way to bing a Queen. As soon as I return home, however, the first thing she does is bring me a basin to wash my feet. When she didn¡¯t put enough strength into her massage, I sted her so badly that she cried for three days straight.¡±

    ¡°As soon as I re, my boss kneels on her own ord in the middle of the night.¡± I picked up myst bowl to drink. ¡°Say no more, Brother. All our thoughts are in this radish juice. Cheers!¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡± Bodhi knocked back the drink as I did. ¡°Hahaha, that was great!¡±

    ¡°Hell yeah!¡±

    A-Lan: ¡°You seem to be having fun.¡±

    Abels: ¡°Of course.¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°You said a lot, huh?¡±

    Me: ¡°Women should stay at home. Do your cooking, and stayout of men¡¯s business!¡±

    Abels grabbed the back of his head. ¡°Did you just hear that¡­?¡±

    Me: ¡°I think I did. Have I had a bit too much to drink?¡±

    A-Lan and Shen Yiren: ¡°You drank yourst drink!¡±

    Abels and I stayed looking at each other silently for a while. Then, we slowly turned our heads back to see two beautiful smiling faces.

    ¡°Howe I don¡¯t know the first thing I do for you when youe home is wash your feet, Sir?¡±

    ¡°So you were just letting me be superior outside the office, Feizhen? I¡¯m in tears as soon as I return home?¡±

    Abels and I looked back at each other. We smiled heartily, agreeing on what we needed to say in this situation. We collectively filled our lungs, dropped onto our knees and raised our hands overhead. ¡°Please have mercy!¡±

    As long as the forest remains, you¡¯ll always have firewood!

    Tianhu and His Majesty showed up not too far behind the two bosses. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s smile told me he was going to sit back and watch us suffer. Tianhu switched between smiling and a steel face. Nheless, they weren¡¯t the priority here.

    A-Lan visually perused Abels as though she was burning holes in him. With a fanged-smile, she questioned, ¡°I can¡¯t even begin topare to a strand of hair on Ming Feizhen, huh?¡±

    Abels grabbed A-Lan¡¯s hand. ¡°Ehehe, no, no, I¡¯ve had a little too much to drink¡­¡±

    ¡°Since when can you get drunk on radish juice?!¡±

    Abels¡¯ hands went back to all fours, swearing to change his ways.

    Back on Mount Daluo, Chef Qin stared at animals he was about to ughter the same way Boss Shen was staring at me. She tugged up the corner of her lips. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have known had you not mentioned it. I kneel as soon as you re?¡± she rhetorically queried whilst tapping Yujing.

    I dove forward to cling to Boss¡¯ leg. ¡°Boss, please have mercy! Life is precious! Human flesh doesn¡¯t taste good!¡±

    Boss Shen kicked me off. ¡°Knees on the ground! Hands on your ears!¡±

    Glossary

    Cooling the body - This pertains to the belief that the yin and yang bnce in the body can be off. ordingly, they say the body is ¡°overheated¡± (too much yang) and needs to ¡°cool down¡± (needs more yin). I¡¯m not equipped with enough medical knowledge to exin how this perspective is interpreted in the current paradigm of medical sciences.

 Volume 11 150 Timely Intervention

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 150 Timely Intervention</h4>

    Abels quietly grumbled, ¡°I thought you could hear everything within twenty-five kilometres with Interlinked Hearts!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not the old me right now¡­ What about you? How can a master thiefck vignce?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bet anything Tianhu covered their traces. Else, I would¡¯ve picked up on them.¡±

    ¡°That Craphu again!¡±

    A-Lan ced her hands no her hips. ¡°You two still not done, is that right?¡±

    Well, that was the end of my conversation with Abels.

    ¡°Hoho, let¡¯s leave it at that. They must have been joking. I believe they did not mean it.¡± Maybe His Majesty felt sympathy for us because he had been in a simr situation. Whatever the case, I couldn¡¯t be more thankful for his timing. ¡°We have important business today. Whether you want to bludgeon or butcher them, leave it for another day.¡±

    My gaze for His Majesty read, ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯ve only adjourned our penance! We¡¯re not safe yet! Abels and A-Lan share the same bed, but Boss will tten me!¡±

    ¡°Enough. Look where you are!¡± eximed Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Today¡¯s decisions will be historical. I must record the details.¡± Tianhu brought out a brush and paper to start writing. ¡°As a spy, I must record important events.¡±

    Tianhu wrote, ¡°Princess A-Lan can¡¯tpare to a strand of Ming Feizhen¡¯s hair. Shen Yiren¡¯s child inherits the ¡®Ming¡¯ surname. Her child¡¯s father is an employee at Liu Shan Men. Previous records mention guessing who he is.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Why are you recorded that nonsense instead of Morcher¡¯s restoration?! Which corrupt magazine are you the editor for?! Also, why the hell are you writing ambiguous stuff when it¡¯s clear where you¡¯re pointing your finger?!

    Tianhu continued writing, ¡°Ming Feizhen is the father of Shen Yiren¡¯s child.¡±

    Being explicit isn¡¯t any better! The problem isn¡¯t your delivery but the authenticity of your information!

    A-Lan: ¡°Hero Ming, you sure are an interesting man. Three serves of radish juice and my husband has abandoned me. May I see which strand of hair of yours is so impressive?¡±

    ¡°It was only a joke, Sister-inw. It would be better for you to not look.¡±

    Whilst writing, Tianhu mumbled, ¡°He also has a strand of hair he cannot show.¡±

    Your Majesty, do something about him! He¡¯s writing some scary stuff! Are his notes really going to make it into history books?! People will smear your generation for breeding mad men if you don¡¯t stop him!¡±

    Long Zaitian went up to His Majesty to whisper, ¡°Your Majesty, the eleven sovereigns have arrived.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng went into business mode. ¡°Princess, Brother Bodhi, uh, please get up first.¡±

    Once we were standing again (I jumped on the bandwagon, though I did eat three liver shots - courtesy of Boss Shen), Emperor Yuansheng continued, ¡°Princess, Brother Bodhi, Morcher¡¯s restoration or failure thereof rides on today¡¯s conference. While I could exert my influence and power to enact Morcher¡¯s restoration, at the end of the day, Morcher does belong to Xiacang Anxi. You speak the samenguage as the eleven states and share the same ancestry. You can dividend, but you cannot divide people.

    ¡°Princess A-Lan, you will have to interact with them once you have restored your state. You would not sever your ties with them on the first day of your state¡¯s establishment, would you? I understand there is bad blood between you and that, whether directly or indirectly, you lost family members to them. Still, as a sovereign, there are some whims you cannot indulge in.¡±

    A-Lan expressed, ¡°Thank you for sharing your wisdom. I have settled with myself. The death of my family is my personal affair, not Morcher¡¯s. I have no reason and cannot sacrifice my people for my own vendetta. I will personally settle my personal scores, hahaha. Else, I would be putting Beijiang¡¯s ¡®River Monster¡¯ title to shame.¡±

    Abels gently took hold of A-Lan¡¯s hand, and she gently squeezed his. Nothing was truer than the warmth of their touch and their reflections in each other¡¯s eyes were.

    ¡°Morcher¡¯s royal family is blessed to have someone as considerate as you as their ruler,¡±plimented Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°If you can set aside your grudges, then you are already halfway there.¡±

    A-Lan shook her head. ¡°You cannot becent, Your Majesty. I parted with Xiacang Anxi at a young age and went on the run until reaching Tiezhen Kingdom. There was never a time where I was an avenger. They are the ones with demons in them; I am not the one refusing to work with them. Even if I am willing to hold my hand out, there is no guarantee they will take it.¡±

    Simply put, those culpable in the fall of Morcher¡¯s royal family wouldn¡¯t permit Morcher to rise again. It wasn¡¯t a power struggle but a bloodfest. Plus, who wouldn¡¯t fear a power that had the Central in¡¯s imperial court backing them? Needless to say, Emperor Yuansheng was cognisant of the problem.

    Emperor Yuansheng conveyed, ¡°Frankly, I do not know how to resolve today¡¯s challenges peacefully. They persist that I am overstepping my boundaries, and they are not wrong. Should I intervene in today¡¯s debate, I will prove that I am interfering in Nanjiang¡¯s affairs. In the case that I do not attend, though, there will be no party to mediate. If it is only you and Brother Bodhi, you will struggle to advance. Speaking of which, I recall Earl Ming is not on bad terms with several rulers.¡±

    I expected His Majesty to bring me into the talks based off the fact that he waited for me to wake up. Problem was, among those I was familiar with, one was a youngss and another was a conniving fox who was the type to make others do his bidding. Additionally, they weren¡¯t Morcher¡¯s opposition. Those opposing Morcher were the people I had yet to meet.

    Emperor Yuansheng heaved a big breath upon learning of my connections. ¡°As it stands, we can only tackle one challenge at a time. Try to debate on your own. Worstes to worst, I will show myself.¡±

    Notwithstanding his offer to help, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s intervention would either be disregarded or be the catalyst for talks to break down. Nevertheless, nobody had a better idea.

    Song Ou cantered in to tell His Majesty by the ear, ¡°The envoy from the capital has arrived, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Now of all times?¡± Emperor Yuansheng genuinely looked taken aback. For some reason unbeknownst to me, he red daggers at me prior to inquiring, ¡°How many of them are here? Who dispatched them?¡±

    ¡°Not many. They have a letter from His Highness Green Prince to travel, but we do not know who sent him, nor does he have any tokens.¡±

    ¡°How can we prove the imperial court sent him, then?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ Wenhua Pce¡¯s Prime Minister Li personally came.¡±

    ¡°Prime Minister Li, you say?¡±

 Volume 11 151 Homeward

    <h4>Volume 11 Chapter 151 Homeward</h4>

    Prime Minister Li, beaming, came to see us in super-high spirits. ¡°This one¡¯s respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty. This old one is sincerely happy to see you again. He has missed you dearly in the time you have been gone. Have you been well, Your Majesty?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng immediately pulled Prime Minister Li up by the arm, as ted as he was baffled. ¡°Come on. Get up. I¡¯ve also missed you in thest sixth months. Howe you came all the way here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, because you have not been back in so long, Her Majesty ordered this old one toe check on you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng released his hold on Prime Minister Li. ¡°You should return, in that case.¡±

    ¡°Is this old one not wee?¡± Prime Minister Li wore on a mask of shock.

    ¡°Of course you are wee. I am here for business. What would a woman know? Prime Minister Li, are you going to support their outrageous endeavours? Hmph¡­ Who was it?¡±

    ¡°Her Majesty Empress and all five of them.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely uneptable! They know nothing. Come speak with me in the adjacent hall.¡±

    Tianhu and I were the only ones allowed into the hall, while everyone else waited outside. Tianhu was there as His Majesty¡¯s security detail, while I was obviously there to speak on the quest in the south. As Prime Minister Li wasn¡¯t abreast of the campaign¡¯s details, he was prone to misunderstanding that the journey was a vacation. My perspective was a lot more objective than His Majesty¡¯s words. Given my earnings were my top priority, I would have to recount the story in a way that depicted us as hard-working people toiling for the sake of the kingdom.

    Still nodding after I had ryed everything, Emperor Yuansheng boldly asserted, ¡°Hear that? You hear that? We never did and still aren¡¯t ying! Tell them not to worry.¡±

    ¡°Even if that is true, when do you n to return?¡± Prime Minister Li didn¡¯t bat an eye.

    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared for my return trip long ago. I will set off in the next ten to fourteen days. We can¡¯t rush this. I haven¡¯t even had time to feast my eyes on the scenery. On the way back, I want to go hunting, touring and so forth.¡±

    Me: ¡°Your subject concurs.¡±

    Tianhu: ¡°Your subject also concurs.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, how about we go a little further, then? From memory, people from Fusang often stop by East China Sea. If we are in the mood, we can take a ship out to see to Tianzhu for some of their naan bread.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, please pardon your subject for being frank,¡± voiced Prime Minister Li.

    ¡°Speak freely.¡±

    ¡°You are a little high.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng fixed his clothing. ¡°Ahem, didn¡¯t I say I¡¯m not going back yet? I¡¯ll be going back soon.¡±

    ¡°How you deal with your harem and vice versa are beyond the jurisdiction of this old one and his interests. We are fortunate that no debilitating issues have arisen during your absence. Howbeit, your prolonged absence may galvanise an eventual problem. His Highness Red Prince is still too young to carry the burden, after all. If you do not return, the nation will not be a nation.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng deployed a nod whilst yawning. Either he hadn¡¯t had enough fun or his wives were too overbearing. Or, it was both. Whichever it was, Prime Minister Li had enough experience to know that he should stop trying to defy His Majesty. Hence, he deployed a tactical smile and said, ¡°Your Majesty, this old one also has another vocal decree from someone else.¡±

    ¡°Mm? Who?¡±

    ¡°Her Majesty Empress Dowager.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng straightened up as though slouching was fatal. ¡°What was that? Mother has¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed, she has returned from Mount Zisheng now. She was furious when she learnt you had left. Nobody was shown any lenience.¡±

    ¡°She knows everything?! Oh no, oh no¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng bit down on his lip.

    Damn, this man doesn¡¯t just haves to worry about but even a mother¡­

    ¡°D-did she say anything else?¡¯

    ¡°This old one is here on her orders. Your Majesty, please listen to her decree.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng offered up a hand salute. ¡°Present, Mother.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ahem. Your Majesty, have you enjoyed your long holiday?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not, not¡­¡±

    ¡°No, what, disappointment?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng looked up, stupefied.

    ¡°Ahem, it is Her Majesty¡¯s decree. It is exactly what she said. This old one shall continue: while you have been having fun, your poor vassals have been without a leader. What do you expect of them?¡±

    ¡°You are right, Mother.¡±

    ¡°It is my fault for managing the harem poorly, driving you away from home. My heart aches every time I think about it. I must publicise this to repent.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait! Why are we publicising it? Mother, what wrongs do you have to speak of? Are your wrongs not my wrongs?!¡±

    As soon as Her Majesty Empress Dowager confessed ¡°her mistakes¡± to the world, everyone would know His Majesty left the pce and refused to return. In no time at all, I guarantee people would start iming he was picking up girls.

    Head hanging, Emperor Yuansheng stole nces in Prime Minister Li¡¯s direction in intervals, reproaching thetter for not supporting him.

    ¡°Your Majesty, your subject sent you an extremely urgent letterst month to return, did he not? Had you responded, things would not havee so far.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to go home, you know?! It was all because of Ming Feizhen! He, he, he wouldn¡¯t wake up!¡±

    ¡°You need not manufacture any more excuses. Your subject does not understand. There are three more lines in Her Majesty Empress Dowager¡¯s decree: if I do not see you on 6th June this year, I will organise a public conference with the retainers. I have but one question: are youing back or not?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng jumped straight out of his seat. ¡°I¡¯m on my way back now! Tianhu, have everyone pack up to leave today. Actually, forget packing. We¡¯re going now! Actually, you don¡¯t have toe. I¡¯ll go myself!¡±

    So much for intervening when the meeting goes south¡­

    In His Majesty¡¯s defence, he deserved sympathy. There was quite a bit to gain from the expedition that he never would¡¯ve gained from beingcent in the capital, although he did worry everyone left behind.

    With Tianhu gone, Prime Minister Li said to me, ¡°Earl Ming, you have rapidly climbed the ranks in thest sixth months I have not seen you.¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of me, Prime Minister. I look up to you.¡±

    As we headed out together, Prime Minister Li asked, ¡°I saw a whole group of people in the main hall when I came through. Who are they?¡±

    ¡°Oh, they are the eleven states¡¯ leaders. They areining we are involving ourselves in Nanjiang¡¯s affairs too much and objecting to Morcher¡¯s revival. This is the problem His Majesty referred to when he said he had no solution. Truthfully, we do have our hands tied.¡±

    Prime Minister Li tugged up the corners of his lips. ¡°Oho?¡±

    You know, I genuinely felt a little sorry for the elven of them.

    Glossary

    Side hall - refers to the hall either side of a pce or monastery.

    Fusang (Dongying) - In case you forgot, it¡¯s an archaic term for Japan.

    Tianzhu - An archaic name for India.

    Emperor Yuansheng offered up a hand salute: ¡°Present, Mother.¡± - Vocal decrees, as the term suggests, is a decree passed on via word of mouth. When you listen to a decree being read out, you are to salute the reader as though they are the person who reads it to you.

 Volume 11.5 01

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 01</h4>

    Without the ravenous mist, the rudely-paved wall under a bold goldenmp would be a joy to see, but the clouds sat upon the earth as if they decided the heavens were down here instead, banning the sun from visiting the earth. The meandering wind created a distorted view of the cliff markings as the faint golden rays curved and undted.

    Wu Gorge¡¯s charm wasn¡¯t limited to the two stone towers rising to salute the sun in every season. The forests peeking over the ledges resembled red sunset rays on the sweeping mist and pristine water that whispered sweet notes in cascading water-strings. A poet once wrote, ¡°The blue sea makes all other waters unworthy of the name. After Wu Mountains, all other clouds are mere puffballs above,¡± to illustrate the second gorge of Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River.

    Moments ago, following a ray of light hitting the rocky faces, the clouds drew fments of light further down, melding the ckness with the water.

    ¡°This is almost torrential rain.¡± The maiden wearing turquoise garments gazed up to see silver droplets belting down onto her ship with a fraction of a second in between beats.

    ¡°Miss, the ship is leaving; please board.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± The maiden kept her head down when boarding to avoid interactions with anyone.

    Su Li had yet to board when she heard monkey eeks from afar, halting her in her tracks. She had heard the poetic lines, ¡°Among Three Gorges of Badong County, Wu Gorge is the longest. One cannot help but shed tears once they hear three ape eeks,¡± but she didn¡¯t expect to experience it for herself. Nevertheless, she persuaded herself not to dwell and boarded the ship.

    The ship made its way through the water screen to Yanlin Crossing, one of the three crossings among Three Gorges, at a reasonable pace.

    Yanlin Crossing was often busy receiving and seeing off visitors purely because it was an ordinarynding zone. Due to the danger of traversing Wu Gorge, travellers crossing it prepared to forfeit their lives. From a third-person perspective, apes that gathered there, which was a lot, often cried out, contrasting the tension of travellers with their mournful tones. The tears shed were not tears of sympathy but tears shed out of fear for one¡¯s life. Bandits specialising in warfare on water lied in ambush along the three water routes to uwfully take goods from travellers.

    Top constable Yan Shisan - who referred to himself as ¡°I¡¯m the imperial court¡¯s brick. Where¡¯s the gap? I¡¯ll fill it.¡± - established seventy-five branches of Liu Shan Men in the nine provinces, setting him apart from every other armed department. His thirteen elite direct subordinates were notorious for gambling, dining, drinking, and romping and dashing on hookers, but nobody could stop the mad dogs who never stopped hounding their prey.

    The thirteen constables were nothing short of a hurricane that cleared out underground factions. The only real major case involving the martial artsmunity in years was the young mistress of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary losing her undergarment.

    Yan Shisan¡¯s sixth rank subordinate, the three water routes¡¯ top constable - Boundless - acted as Three Gorges manager. Boundless was the sort of man to make stepping on dog faeces sound as if Armageddon was descending upon mankind, and he loved to pad his resume. He was the bane of illegal guilds in the area owing to him squeezing everything he could out of them. Hence, they¡¯d think twice about trying anything under his watch.

    Su Li chose Yanlin Crossing as her destination precisely because Liu Shan Men guarded it. In addition, she could travel incognito, as well as minimise interactions with people in the pugilistic world.

    I hope we can reach our destination safely.

    Watching the rain fall, Su Li lost herself in her thoughts until a man¡¯s heaving echoed in her ears as if he was a wounded beast howling in a muffled voice. When she escaped the difort of the realm, though, she discovered she was still sitting at a dining table.

    ¡°What is on your mind, Miss?¡± The tall and lean young man sharing the table looked straight at Su Li despite her visibly flush cheeks. The upward curve on his lips matched the confidence he held his gaze with.

    The fourteen year old maiden¡¯s most charming feature was her prim demeanour that manifested in all of her behaviours that contrasted her hearty personality. She was oblivious to how enthralling her body lines were since she was upied with brooding. Had the youth in his twenties not called out to her, she would still be dwelling in her thoughts.

    ¡°I apologise for concerning you, Young Master Fei. This is my first time leaving home for months and travelling so far. I worry about the longmute back to Suzhou.¡±

    ¡°I see you are afraid of those harbouring ill intent. These are peaceful times. Moreover, Liu Shan Men¡¯spetent constables are managing the martial artsmunities effectively. Although there is a risk when travelling across water ways, it is notmon to run into pirates. Even the ones who show themselves are but petty thieves, like,¡± Young Master Fei looked down to a beggar, ¡°this kid.¡±

    The kid couldn¡¯t understand how he ended up grabbing a shoe when he tried to pinch food from the table whilst they were focused on conversing.

    Impressed with Young Master Fei¡¯s ability to stealthily swap the items out of the child¡¯s hands without anyone at the table noticing, Su Li¡¯s attendant saluted him. ¡°With you apanying us, we feel safe. Why does my foot feel cold? Who¡¯s the scoundrel who stole this old one¡¯s shoe?!¡±

    Su Li gently cleared her throat. ¡°Uncle Fu.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Uncle Fu, embarrassed, aggressively snatched his shoe back and shooed the kid off. s, it wasn¡¯t the right ce for him to wear his shoe back on; he set his foot atop it and coughed loudly to drive off the awkward atmosphere.

    Su Li conveyed, ¡°Young Master Fei, your martial prowess is worthy of praise.¡±

    Young Master Fei responded, ¡°It is only a trifling trick. Nheless, it is enough to get rid of petty thieves. As I am apanying you, I shall not allow any misfortune to befall you. Do you feel you can dinefortably now?¡±

    ¡°I shall graciously ept your kind offer.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s group was only acquainted with Young Master Fei prior to boarding the ship, so, besides knowing he was from a n in Beiping, they only had his appearance to work off. They decided to board together as they were headed in the same direction, but Su Li sought hispanionship because he appeared to be trained, too.

    ¡°You need not stand on ceremony. Our meeting is the will of fate. It is only right that I take care of you.¡±

    Su Li expressed gratitude with a polite smile, ending the conversation. She knew well that he harboured special feelings for her when she was the only person he would spare a smile and be so proactive with. She had been wooed enough times ever since she hit puberty at twelve years of age back home in Suzhou. Howbeit, she was always cognisant of the fact that they weren¡¯t lolicons but people after her n¡¯s resources. Like fine wine, with age, her beauty enamoured more and more men. She thought things might be different all the way out here, but it wasn¡¯t the case, apparently,

    Men¡­

    Time crawled at a snail¡¯s pace after dinner since there was nothing to do until they arrived tomorrow morning. Perhaps it was their boredom that inclined them to tune in to their surroundings, drawing to their attention the voice of a rotund elder telling a story at the tform in the centre. His ent didn¡¯t take away from his clear and sonorous voice in the slightest.In addition, his varying tempo to emphasise parts or otherwise indicated that he was an experienced storyteller on the ship, not the sort of sham artist looking to earn a buck down at the local teahouse.

    ¡°The blue sea makes all other waters unworthy of the name. After Wu Mountains, all other clouds are mere puffballs above. Wu Mountains¡¯ clouds and rain is in a league of its own.¡±

    A passenger: ¡°Haha, if that¡¯s true, what¡¯s that liquid in the bowl on your table? Urine?¡±

    Havinge across simr passengers plenty of times already, the elder brushed off the mockery andughter with a chortle. ¡°This old one is ignorant unlike all of you. He has never crossed the ocean. Therefore, the water he has seen is still water. In saying that, his recollections of Wu Mountains are true. You can find proof right outside.¡±

    Nobody could say otherwise when they had seen the scenery for themselves.

    Typically, storytellers preferred to recount past events or fables passed down from generation to generation. This elder, on the other hand, was fond of sharing rumours in the pugilistic world or peculiar things. Donations topliment his content and delivery were always abundant, nevertheless.

    Following an impromptuical interlude, the elder resumed his story. ¡°Last time, we stopped at renowned Constable Yan when we were talking about prominent names in the martial artsmunity. This time, we are going to talk about someone that people would feel their mouth is filthy after mentioning, the womaniser, Lord Wu - Hua Feihua!¡±

    Elder Fu grabbed Su Li¡¯s hands as she instinctively went to look up, forcing her to bite her lips and keep her head down.

    ¡°Wu Feihua started offst year by massacring the entire affluent family of forty-nine people at De¡¯an Manor, then congrated it. Save for Demon Sect, he has to be the craziest fellow in years.¡±

    The passenger who tried to slight the storyteller before asked, ¡°Do you know the reason he murdered the family?¡±

    ¡°He is surly by nature. Purportedly, he assumed the merchant family¡¯s daughter, Miss Xu, fell for him just because they made eye contact once on the street, so he went to their door with all the fanfare to propose. Understandably, the merchant rejected him. Taking offence to something said to him, Hua Feihua stomped off. When night fell, he sneaked into their manor. Prior tomitting the act of atrocity, he raped Miss Xu in front of their family and then slit her throat. The government couldn¡¯t clean the smell of blood even after ten days of cleaning.¡±

    Equipped with qinggong andbat prowess that stood out, Hua Feihua always made his escape before Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables arrived on the scene for thest year of criminality.

    ¡°The degenerate rapes every woman he fancies once he enters someone¡¯s doors. Lucky maidens would only have to shed tears. If they weren¡¯t so lucky, they could at least hang themselves. If they were unlucky, they would bleed with their family. What ignites a me more than anything is that, before hemits his crimes, he tosses down a sheet of paper with a line from a poem.¡±

    ¡°Fleeting like a dream, like cloudsing and going,¡± was a line from Bai Juyi¡¯s poem ¡°A Flower as Not a Flower¡±. The omitted phrases in front were, ¡°A flower is not a flower. Mist is not mist; ites at night, only to part by daylight.¡± Add Hua Feihua¡¯s ability toe and go without a trace and you had ¡°Lord Wu¡±, where ¡°Wu¡± derived from ¡°mist¡±.

    Su Li called on all her willpower to not let her unsettled emotions show, but her face was still nched.

    ¡°The freakiest thing, though, is that every orthodox sect member who ever crossed paths with him is dead¡­ all of them.¡±

    ¡°All of them?!¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Think about the severity of his crimes. Would the people going after him be ordinary warriors? Yet, not a single one returned alive. If their corpses weren¡¯t mangled, there wasn¡¯t a single trace of them to be found. The government has continued to raise the bounty for him. At this rate, he¡¯s going to be worth the same as Demon Sect¡¯s big wigs. Most importantly¡­¡±

    ¡°Is?¡±

    ¡°Is¡­¡±

    ¡°Is¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe, the story is over. Please be generous with your rewards.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You want a beating, instead?! You scared the piss out of me!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell horror stories in the middle of the night, you stooge!¡±

    Apanying the loudints were the sounds of cutlery falling to the floor, yet the elder could still find it him to joviallyugh. Whether he was trying to be friendly, amused, willing to endure or if he was that amiable, they donated despite their verbal abuse.

    Stashing away his earnings, the elder continued, ¡°He¡¯s vicious notwithstanding him only being approximately twenty years old. It¡¯d be hard to imagine him as a person who¡¯d kill people in cold blood if you were to see him. He¡¯s¡­ hehe, he looks like the young master there.¡±

    When the finger was pointed to him, Young Master Fei flinched, then tried to pretend nothing was wrong with a stiff smile.

    ¡°Actually, he supposedly dresses in a simr fashion. He likes a groomed and polished appearance, embellished with a fan.¡±

    Young Master Fei ignored the inquisitive gazes on him, maintaining a smile. ¡°Really? What a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°It is, hahaha. You even have simr physiques.¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that I am Hua Feihua?¡±

    Su Li turned her pallor face Young Master Fei¡¯s direction. ¡°Y-Young Master Fei?¡±

    The enunciation of his surname was nearly enough for everyone to bolt for the closest weapon.

    ¡°¡­ I-I heard Hua Feihua¡¯sst crime wasmitted at Mount Qingcheng. That being the case, he should be trying to leave the province. I don¡¯t know if he is travelling on foot or by ferry¡­ If he is travelling across the water, he would have to leave near Three Gorges.¡±

    Su Li identally knocked her teacup over when her body jolted.

    Young Master Fei still remained unfettered. ¡°You said he burnt down the manor after he murdered the family. How, then, would the smell of blood remain for ten days? It sounds like someone may have mistaken the smell of smoke for blood. This is a crucial piece of information. One is raw. One is cooked. Grilled chicken wings and raw duck are two very different things.¡±

    It took a moment for the passengers to realise that Young Master Fei had a solid argument. Theirughter dissipated the ominous ambience that permeated the ship.

    ¡°Man, you clown. As if the young gentleman is a rapist. Where can he indulge in carnal pleasure on this shabby ship of yours?¡±

    While Young Master Fei seemed unnerved, Su Li couldn¡¯t forget the poem she received whilst lodging at an inn some time before. The poem was practically an announcement that the grim reaper wasing for her. She had been living as though she was on the run ever since.

    ¡°Man, not only do you tell iplete stories but even made-up stories.¡± The man with the deep voice and ent not heard in the Central in was lying on the ground instead of sitting at a table. He had his arms across his chest and shirt covering his face as though he was sleeping.

    ¡°M-may this old one ask what he got wrong?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, when over ten praiseworthy warriors encountered him at Dongting Lake, they attempted to surround and conquer, but he fled whilst killing them. Although blood was spilt and severe injuries were suffered, someone made it out alive unlike what you imed.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that? Did Hua Feihua personally tell you?¡±

    ¡°Though I can¡¯t speak on other matters, but I know about that. Hua Feihua didn¡¯t tell me, but I participated in the battle. I¡¯m still breathing right now. What happened to your ¡®everybody died¡¯?¡±

    Several people gasped in awe. One rather brave passenger queried, ¡°Y-you are?¡±

    ¡°The name is Wei Changfeng. My mentor is Kongtong Sect¡¯s Deity Muyu.¡±

    Kongtong Sect¡¯s fame never dwindled in spite of them not producing any stand-out talent in thest two generations. Hence, false rm or not, security on board felt guaranteed when Wei Changfeng announced his affiliation. Likewise, Su Li was d to learn that the youth she suspected was innocent.

    Wei Changfeng shifted his gaze over to Young Master Fei. ¡°If it¡¯s not you, don¡¯t confuse people. Careful not to fall prey to someone else.¡±

    ¡°It is unfortunate I cannot change the appearance I was born with.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what a close call.¡± The elder patted down his moist forehead. ¡°This old one merely ryed the hearsay he heard, so he cannot guarantee uracy of his information. Furthermore, due to Hua Feihua¡¯s enigmatic character, this old one had to make some blind guesses. Please beg his pardon, Young Master.¡±

    Young Master Fei smiled to convey he didn¡¯t mind.

    ¡°Hua Feihua¡¯s background isn¡¯tplex at all.¡± The tall andnky middle-aged man sitting to the right of the long study table wasn¡¯t gifted with an eye-catching appearance. His most defining feature, though, was his moustache and thick ¡®beardstache¡¯. ¡°His hometown is Yangzhou. He was orphaned as a kid. His estranged cousins, who run a noodle eatery in Yangzhou, lost contact with him long ago. After learning under the tutge of Beiping¡¯s notorious thief, Lou Louzi, he debuted as Hua Feihua at fifteen years of age. It¡¯s rumoured that he wanted to be a hero from a young age. Unfortunately, he would use chivalry as a guise tomit acts of petty theft. It was only subsequent to Xu Family¡¯s massacre did he gain notoriety and the moniker Lord Wu.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I apologise if this is rude, but may I ask if you know him?¡± A passenger vocalised.

    ¡°No.¡± The middle-aged man rolled up his bag, unveiling his broadsword sheath strapped to his sheath. ¡°Three months ago, I was assigned to the operation team charged with capturing him. My name is Ma Hanshan, subordinate of Constable Xin. I was assigned to the squad after he raped the daughter of Hero Mo in Langzhong, then took the lives of all twenty-five family members. Ever since then, we took an oath to make sure we apprehended him if it is thest thing we do. Brother Wei and I shall ensure you all reach your destination safely.¡±

    Ma Hanshan was a famous hero of sorts around the area; his promise left no room for doubt.

    Subsequent to everyone heading off to their rooms, Su Li moon gazed through a window, instead, still unable to sleep owing to her recent tense period.

    ¡°Is something on your mind, Miss?¡± Young Master Fei led the boy who tried to pinch their food over.

    Judging from the fact that the boy had a mantou in a hand, Su Li assumed he stole food again. Young Master Fei awkwardly released his hold on the boy¡¯s free hand and let him go. ¡°He, uh, he¡¯s quite the pitiful boy, having to pinch to survive. I lectured him, but I let him have a mantou since he was so hungry.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s eyes on Young Master Fei couldn¡¯t stay still. No matter what she thought of his attraction to her, she didn¡¯t want to harm the man she still suspected was the infamous Hua Feihua. ¡°I beg your pardon for not understanding your kindness.¡±

    Young Master Fei sneered. ¡°What mistake is there to pardon? You have yet to answer this one¡¯s question: is something on your mind?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Uhm.¡± Su Li turned back to watching rainfall. A whileter, she subtly curved the corners of her lips up. ¡°I¡¯ve been living in fear, unsure when my predator in the shadows will harm me and when my family will be next. I¡¯m scared, but¡­ nobody will lend an ear.¡±

    ¡°Is that because you received the poem¡¯s lines, too?¡±

    Su Li shuddered. ¡°¡­ Please do not do anything silly for my sake.¡±

    Young Master Fei performed a light nasalugh. ¡°If this one cannot be silly, there is nothing left for him.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s lips stretched further toward her ears.

    ¡°Please do not worry. Should any trouble visit, this one will be there to protect you.¡±

    Su Li bashfully titled her head down. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, there is one more request this one has for you.¡±

    H-here ites.

    Even though Su Li knew Young Master Fei harboured romantic feelings for her, butterflies still visited her stomach.

    ¡°Please feel free to speak.¡±

    ¡°Please do not look down on the boy who stole food.¡±

    Su Li inwardly repeated Young Master Fei¡¯s words multiple times, then blurted, ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this one would like to ask you not to look down on the boy.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ is your request?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Young Master Fei looked as serious as a judge.

    ¡°Why?¡± Su Li¡¯s lips turned into a slight pout.

    ¡°He stole because he is starving, not because he is bad by nature. He was hungry¡­ too hungry, hungry to the point that he had to forfeit his pride. There are people in this world who are truly challenged.¡±

    Though Su Li couldn¡¯t possibly recall the boy¡¯s features urately, she was not about to give an insincere response, not when Young Master Fei appeared genuinely invested. ¡°I understand. I shall not judge his character based off this incident.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once she responded, Su Li felt d she replied so for she saw Young Master Fei at his happiest ever. She would even go as far to say that it was her fast time seeing a smile from the bottom of his heart.

    While the two chatted away, a girl skipped into the cabin, only to slip over due to the wet floor. Owing to the size of the cabin and voices of so many passengers, the girl¡¯s parents didn¡¯t hear their daughter crying right away. Su Li was going to help the girl up when Young Master Fei picked her up first.

    ¡°Come on. Stand up. Here¡¯s a cake for you.¡± Young Master Fei patted the girls head and, smiling dotingly, questioned, ¡°Am I handsome?¡±

    A smile bloomed on the girl¡¯s lips. ¡°You¡¯re ugly.¡±

    Su Li giggled. ¡°You sure are modest, Young Master.¡±

    ***

    Only an hour ago, the passengers were struggling to hear each other over their own voices. Now, the dry thunderp couldn¡¯t even wake them from their slumber.

    Young Master Fei watched Su Li sleeping up close for a while before pulling up her thin nket, then made his way to the opposite end of the cabin. He caught someone¡¯s hand in the dark to put into a lock. ¡°Why are you pinching food again?!¡±

    The young boy didn¡¯t fall victim to the sleep-inducing gas since he sneaked on board, therefore couldn¡¯t sleep in the cabin.

    ¡°Why are you here now?!¡± Young Master Fei pushed the boy away, nning to shoo him onto the deck.

    ¡°Nice hand locking skills, butying your hands on a beggar is a new kind of low.¡± A man came out swinging, stiffing the boy¡¯s head straight into the floor.

    ¡°He¡¯s innocent! Why did you have to be so ruthless! I can¡¯t believe you call yourself an orthodox faction associate!¡± Young Master Fei brayed.

    ¡°But I am,¡± replied Wei Changfeng, sneering. ¡°Compared to your blemished name, I am orthodox.¡±

    Young Master Fei fashioned a fake smil.: ¡°What are you on about?¡±

    ¡°Will my participation rify for you?¡± Liu Shan Men¡¯s constable, Ma Hanshan, sat up from the ground.

    ¡°Constable Ma, hello.¡± Young Master Fei treated Ma Hanshan to a derisive grin.

    ¡°Watching out for incapacitating gases is basic knowledge for capturing criminals. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Hua Feihua?¡±

    ¡°You two must know that it is all a misunderstanding. I didn¡¯t kill them.¡±

    Ma Hanshan scoffed, ¡°Save your cries for the King of Hell.¡±

    ¡°Nothing wille out of talking to him. It took enough effort to lure him. Let¡¯s get down to business!¡± Wei Changfeng initiated with a dual palm strike from either side.

    Privy to the dangers of Kongtong Sect¡¯s boxing and palm disciplines offered, Hua Feihua made sure to evade instead of blocking. Likewise, he dodged Ma Hanshan¡¯s broadsword imbued with green energy.

    ¡°Just die already!¡±

    ¡°Hua Feihua, I will finish you.¡±

    The two had a lot of threats to voice, but they couldn¡¯t sting Hua Feihua once. As round twomenced, they saw the world spin and their legs weaken. Both of them could tell what was happening to them.

    ¡°What was that about being careful? What makes you think you were the only ones to notice me boarding? Besides, you didn¡¯t even conceal your identities.¡± Hua Feihua floored both of them off one leg. ¡°I drugged your food and drinks. While you won¡¯t die from it, you¡¯ll be temporarily immobilised.¡±

    ¡°You son of a b-¡±

    ¡°Shut up! You two never investigated the cases properly. You¡¯re adamant about killing me when you¡¯re not even certain I¡¯m guilty. If I really am culpable, you¡¯d already be dead. I may be a thief, but I¡¯ve never taken any lives. Brother Wei, Constable Ma, one of you has engaged him, and one of you is tasked with investigated the string of crimes. Do I look like the brutal killer to you? Do you really not know the truth? I¡¯m innocent.¡±

    Wei Changfeng and Ma Hanshan looked to each other.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sparing you two to assert my dominance but to tell you what happened to me. The onus of believing me or otherwise is on your judgement abilities.¡± Hua Feihua was just about to start his story when a sick feeling, an urge to barf, visited his stomach.

    ¡°Ahahaha, don¡¯t look so surprised. I noticed you go light on the drug, so I upped the dose for you. It was in your tea, ahahaha.¡± While his appearance hadn¡¯t changed, the old storyteller didn¡¯t bother hiding his trained footsteps. ¡°You¡¯re the one always drugging others. How does your own medicine taste?¡±

    ¡°Terrible¡­¡± Try as he may, Hua Feiyu¡¯s qi in his dantian wouldn¡¯t respond to his summons, so he went hisst resort - qinggong.

    Once he regained his freedom of movment, Wei Changfeng stiffed Hua Feihua with a palm that had thetter gasping blood. ¡°That¡¯ll teach you to think twice about drugging daddy, you murderer.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a murderer¡­ I¡¯m being framed.¡±

    ¡°You still want to lie?!¡± Wei Changfeng mercilessly dug into Hua Feihua again, drawing blood that would have one questioning if humans could store so much.

    ¡°Stop. It¡¯s not going to do us any favour if you beat him to death,¡± vocalised the story teller.

    Hua Feihua couldn¡¯t help feeling that he was missing something. Still, when Ma Hanshan came over, he avowed, ¡°Constable Ma¡­ I am truly innocent¡­ It wasn¡¯t me. I¡¯m being framed¡­¡±

    Ma Hanshan squatted down next to the bludgeoned young man. ¡°I know.¡±

    Hua Feihua ripped his head up. ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°I said, I know¡­ because I was the one who terminated that stiff Mo Dahai!¡±

    He said it wouldn¡¯t do them any favours if I died, why? Why would my death inconvenience them?

    Hua Feihua stretched his eyes wide. ¡°You¡¯re in it together! You always were! The monk from Western Regions and you three ar-¡±

    Hua Feihua didn¡¯t see what it was, but it felt akin to a hammer whacking his face the other way.

    The portly elder retracted his arm. ¡°You aren¡¯t qualified to refer to him as so.¡±

    ¡°What happened to not killing him?!¡± eximed Wei Changfeng.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hit him fatally. As penance for insulting His Eminence, I shall take his eyes.¡±

    ¡°It was you¡­ You are the ones framing me.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, hohoho.¡± The elder sarcastically stated, ¡°You sure made us run around. You stole His Eminence¡¯s treasure and then went into hiding. We used all our brain juice over thest year to lure you out. You have us to thank for building your reputation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the ones whomited rape and murder, yet, yet you have the audacity to say this kind of nonsense? Ma Hanshan, you¡¯re an insult to Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables.¡±

    Ma Hanshan stepped onto Hua Feihua and snorted. ¡°We owe you our thanks. Mo Dahai¡¯s daughter, damn, her skin was luscious. Had it not been for your support, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to taste her.¡±

    These people are crazy. All of them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll die before I tell you anything.¡±

    ¡°You might want to climb down from the pedestal you have ced yourself on. You will die without this old one haing to get his hands dirty. After all, your drug is an immobiliser, while this old one¡¯s drug is Sichuan¡¯s Tang n¡¯s poison. Once intoxicated, there is no cure. That goes for you and all of the passengers.¡±

    ¡°How can you be so cold-blooded?!¡±

    The elder hissed, ¡°Hua Feihua is the one who killed them. Why are you using us of being cold-blooded?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not telling you anything.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like you don¡¯t know our modus operandi. By the time you¡¯ve tasted everything my poison has to offer, you¡¯ll be begging to tell us where you hid it in exchange for death.¡±

    Hua Feihua remained staunch in the face of their threats and whilst feeling his blood leave.

    ¡°Young Master Hua seems to be making light of us. Perhaps you¡¯d learn a thing or two about respect if you knew what we did to Xu n.¡±

    ¡°Why do you keep rambling? He¡¯s going to spill the beans sooner orter. Why don¡¯t we save that energy for the girl? I¡¯m telling you: she¡¯s definitely tight down there,¡± Wei Changfeng said.

    ¡°Wait.¡± The elder warned, ¡°His Eminence wants Su n¡¯s daughter. Unless you wish to shorten your lifespan, I suggest you stop while you¡¯re ahead.¡±

    Wei Changfeng: You¡¯re the one who decided to train a discipline that won¡¯t let you indulge in intercourse, so why do we have to also suffer?

    Ma Hanshan opined, ¡°Although His Eminence wants her, there was no explicit order to bring her backplete. In my opinion, we can enjoy her before we take her back. Besides, do you not see how much he cares about her? He cannot remember where he put it; perhaps we can jog his memory.¡±

    The elder smiled. As for Wei Changfeng, he was already stripping Su Li with his gaze.

    Hua Feihua: Ah, damn it. It¡¯s all over for me.

    Hua Feihua¡¯s real name was Hua Qing, ¡°hua¡± as in ¡°flower¡± and ¡°qing¡± as in ¡°clear¡±. Among the information pertaining to him that Liu Shan Men had, a lot was right. Howbeit, a lot was also erreonous. For one, he was only neen, not in his twenties as their information suggested. He wasn¡¯t as physically dangerous as in their reports, either. The only thing his teacher taught him was theft and qinggong. Thebat skills in his arsenal were merely skills he learnt from watching others.

    Merchant Xu possessed an item that a group from Western Regions heckled him for. To fulfil his promise to Merchant Xu, Hua Qing daringly fled with the item before the band of criminals could. In order to force him out of hiding, they turned him into a wanted fugitive who wouldn¡¯t be shown any pity if he was left a mangled corpse on some sidewalk.

    The information of his orphan background was congruent with the facts. If his rtives didn¡¯t provide him with his meals, the six year old had to go begging for alms on the streets.

    Though his cousin did run a noodle eatery, they barely uttered a word to each other, let alone a sentence. Upon finding out he was a thief, he threw a bowl of piping-hot soup at Hua Qing and yelled, ¡°Scram!¡± When Hua Qing looked closely, nheless, there was a string of money in the soup.

    Just as every boy in his hometown dreamt of bing a hero, he also looked up to heroes in the pugilistic world from childhood. He wanted to run up walls, leap across roofs and practice chivalry. Being a hero wasn¡¯t easy, however. You needed to be strong, a striking appearance and¡­ lots more qualities he didn¡¯t have. He didn¡¯t know how to be a hero. As a matter of fact, he lived every day in fear from the day he began safeguarding the coveted item. He couldn¡¯t fathom how heroes put up with that sort of pressure day in and day out.

    Hua Qing was scared for his life, but he boarded the ship in order to protect the girl he¡¯d love to protect for the rest of his life. That was why he knew what to do when Wei Changfeng encroached upon her.

    I won¡¯t let you touch her, not even a strand of hair.

    ¡°¡­ Stay put.¡±

    ¡°Wha? You can still stand?¡±

    He wasn¡¯t supposed to be capable of standing, yet he did rise to his feet and even issued an order. For a second, Wei Changfeng actually tasted fear, stoking his fire.

    ¡°Quit your acting and lie back d-¡±

    Tang n¡¯s poison inhibited the flow of true qi, but what good was it when, in reality, Hua Qing didn¡¯t have much true qi to speak of? To ovee dangerous situations when he wasn¡¯t formidable as a fighter, he designed his own insurance policy.

    Hua Qing clicked a switch under his sleeve, shooting an iron arrow from the contraption he hid under his sleeve. At close range, it would be fatal. Despite being his first time killing somebody, he wasn¡¯t shaken whatsoever. To the contrary, he was on fire. Hua Qing promptly fired a second, third anfd fourth arrow at the elder¡¯s round belly.

    One more to go.

    Hua Qing¡¯s vision was as muddy as his consciousness. Nevertheless, his instincts led him on a search for thest target.

    ¡°You really are underestimating this old one.¡±

    Judging from Ma Hanshan¡¯s reaction, not even he expected the elder to just brush the arrows off his body.

    The elder ced his hands in a prayer, apanying it with a smirk. ¡°Thank to His Eminence imparting Golden Body to me, I need not fear des. Thanks to the skill, the day I am without equal shall soon be before me. This old one has been polite to you every step of the way. Sadly, you refused to reciprocate the kindness. As such, this old one will have to get a little rough.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°This old one is forced toy his hands on Miss Su. Last time: if you do not answer, this old one will have Constable Ma slice a piece off her. Given his proficiency with a broadsword, it shouldn¡¯t inflict much pain. Should you continue to keep silent, nheless, we can¡¯t guarantee her safety. Loss of blood can be fatal, after all.¡±

    Hua Qing made a desperate attempt to catch the elder off guard. s, the elder dropped him in one blow, using the bare minimum amount of force in case he died but immobilising him via his upoints. Once he dusted his hands, the snapped off a chunk of the wooden desk to then modify them into two short wooden spikes. He held one over the in-between of Hua Qing¡¯s eyes, prompting thetter to close his eyes. ¡°Young Master Hua, where is it?¡±

    Hua Qing dug his teeth into his lip, refusing to let his emotions move his tongue.

    ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re cutting her?¡±

    Constable Ma reluctantly raised his weapon.

    ¡°Once you tell us where you hid it, I¡¯ll let you die. In case you die without remembering who I am, I shall tell you now. My name is¡­¡± The elder stopped himself because something felt amiss. At his level, his judgement wouldn¡¯t be wrong. The potentially-lethal change was right in front him,

    What happened to the wrath in his eyes? What happened to his despair? Is he smiling¡­ and astonished?

    Seeking answers, the elder lokoed over to where Su Li was, just in time to witness unreasonable violence imposed on Ma Hanshan¡¯s arm. There was nothing special about the boy in fragmented clothing, yet Ma Hanshan¡¯s arm was as still as a fossilised limb. Nobody paid particr attention to the beggar ever since he sneaked on board, marginalising him.

    Before Ma Hanshan realised it, he had lost his weapon. Truthfully, something else had already urred, but his brain had yet to register the pain of his arm breaking. Once again, hegged behind the third effortless movement that sent his de out the other side of his neck.

    Simrly, the elder only processed Ma Hanshan¡¯s death when the boy had ambled into close quarters. ¡°You are¡­¡± Aware that he was face to face with an opponent who he couldn¡¯t possibly beat, the elderyered himself in twelveyers of Golden Body. ¡°Whoever you are, you won¡¯t be able to break my Gold-¡±

    ng! A new cavity opened in the cabin¡¯s ceiling. Rather, the elder¡¯s loose head had ploughed through it.

    The boy performed armed circles as he bathed in the moon¡¯s light that closely matched his hair colour. ¡°In case you don¡¯t remember, I shall also tell you now.¡± The boy dusted his clothing. ¡°My name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Glossary

    Wu Gorge - First, this is what you¡¯re supposed to imagine ( ). I do hope the inclusion of my exnation into the poetic line sheds light on the poem line since I¡¯m assuming you don¡¯t possess the geographical and literacy knowledge to understand it.

 Volume 11.5 02

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 02</h4>

    ¡°May I ask who you are?¡±

    Hua Qing stopped himself once he asked the question weighing on his mind, not out of respect but fear. The difference in height between him and the boy was so negligible that it didn¡¯t deserve a mention. Hua Qing just couldn¡¯t understand how a boy with just skin and bones, as well as a pale visage that only someone starving would have, took down two trained adults effortlessly.

    It all happened so fast that Hua Qing had no way of determining if Ming Feizhen punched, pped or palmed the elder¡¯s chest. Whatever he did, he dealt enough damage to make a mess out of the elder¡¯s entire torso that resembled the aftermath of a beast¡¯s feast.

    Even if Ming Feizhen could disguise himself in the appearance of a teenager, zeal, energy, impulsiveness and rebellious ambience should¡¯ve been noticeable in his eyes, yet not a single one of those emotions were visible. Even so, Hua Qing believed Ming Feizhen was a teenager. That being said, seeing the glimmer of light in the eyes of a child who survived the harsh times didn¡¯t put him at ease.

    Teenagers striving to make their mark in the pugilistic world was the norm in their era. They didn¡¯t have toe from martial arts sects or affluent families because Hua Qing himself left home in his teens. Still, that didn¡¯t exin how a teenager put two dangerous men away as though he was just yawning. Regardless of what his background was, Ming Feizhen was anything but ordinary.

    If Hua Qing¡¯s hero dream was realised, he¡¯d have liked to be the same as Ming Feizhen, strong, prodigious, admired, desired, mentored and journeying the world in a clean set of white attire. When he¡¯de across people in trouble, he¡¯d be able to lend a hand, then depart without leaving behind his name or asking for anything in return. Ming Feizhen demonstrated all those qualities¡­ if it wasn¡¯t for the chicken drumstick in his hand.

    Speaking of which, the other reason thatpelled Hua Qing to ask for a name was that: howe Ming Feizhen¡¯s appetite wasn¡¯t affected. Subsequent to putting away the two, instead of checking on Hua Qing or the other passengers, Ming Feizhen fetched several kilograms of beef braised in soy sauce, several cakes, two jugs of wine and two tes of food that the chef left behind. He didn¡¯t mind that he didn¡¯t have chopsticks, not to mention that the food was cold. Merely watching him eat made Hua Qing hungry even in his state.

    Noticing Hua Qing¡¯s watchful gaze, Ming Feizhen looked up. ¡°I¡¯m done. You carry on as you like.¡±

    ¡°¡­ My name is Hua Qing. Owing to the lethal poison guing me, I do not have much time left. I have one final request I would like -¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing saw Ming Feizhen whip an arm up. Next thing he knew, he felt a stabbing pain in his gut as his own blood shot from his mouth onto the ground. He had no clue where he was upon impact with the ceiling, so he reactively reached around with his hands. To his disbelief, the weapon hurled at him was a chicken bone.

    ¡°You little brat!¡± It only dawned on Hua Qing that his voice was booming and that the tingles he had were erased.

    He expelled the poison from me just like that?

    ¡°Thank you for saving my life. I shall never forget this debt.¡± Hua Qing kowtowed. ¡°May I have the honour of knowing your esteemed name? I promise to erect a tablet for you to pray to you daily as a small token of gratitude. The passengers are also affected by my poison. If you could extend a hand to them, as well, they will be equally grateful.¡±

    What Hua Qingcked in might, he made up with in experience. Surviving in the pugilistic world as a thief for twenty years was far above the average lifespan for a thief. Whatever Ming Feizhen¡¯s background, whatever his reasons for taking down the men and whatever his attitude toward himself, Hua Qing believed it was safe to assume Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t kill him, yet, right after expelling his poison. His expression of gratitude was conveyed to test the waters before he moved on to making his request - saving Su Li.

    A sales pitch, be it a tangible good or idea, took two people. Ming Feizhen just carried on with his meal, rendering Hua Qing¡¯s move useless.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Sir?¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Hua Qing would¡¯ve lost his life if it rode on answering Ming Feizhen¡¯s question. Nevertheless, there was an urgent matter at hand. Hence, he briefly introduced himself. ¡°Surprisingly, th-¡±

    ¡°Man!¡± Ming Feizhen kicked Hua Qing over to the wall. ¡°Get to the damn point.¡±

    Hua Qing scurried to his feet and wiped his bloody nose to implore Ming Feizhen.

 Volume 11.5 03

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 03</h4>

    Ming Feizhen wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then stretched a hand out to Hua Qing.

    ¡°I-I do not have the antidote. They im it is Tang n¡¯s secret form. I only havemon antidotes and poisons. They are not enough to neutralise Tang n¡¯s pois-¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking for an antidote.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Y-you¡¯re also after it?! You¡¯re after the same thing as them! I will never tell y-¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped Hua Qing¡¯s anger and disappointment out the other side, recing it with shing white lights. ¡°The hell are you on about?¡±

    ¡°What do you want, then?¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s shifu often watched their neighbour¡¯s stupid son the same way Ming Feizhen monitored him.

    Ming Feizhen, index finger and thumb glued, gestured for something to be handed over. ¡°Money.¡±

    ¡°Money?¡± Hua Qing¡¯s mouth gradually widened. ¡°You want money?!¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious? Why should I help them, otherwise?¡± Ming Feizhen made no attempt to hide the fact that he considered Hua Qing a durd. ¡°There¡¯s a cure for the poisons Tang n in Sichuan manufactures. Having said that, like their poison, the antidote costs a hefty sum. Although I have money, are they going to pay me back after I save them? Since you want to save them, who else but you should cover the expenses?¡±

    Ming Feizhenpletely crushed the saintly image he built up not long ago.

    ¡°Y-y-you¡­¡±

    ¡°You want to save them or not?¡±

    ¡°What is your asking price?¡± Hua Qing didn¡¯t expect to be offered the chance to bargain.

    Ming Feizhen raised a finger.

    ¡°One tael?¡±

    ¡°One hundred taels per person. Take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°This is highway robbery, you cornhole!¡±

    Ming Feizhen blew the finger he plugged his ears with. ¡°I¡¯m not forcing you; it¡¯s your choice.¡±

    ¡°To save all the passengers, it¡¯d cost me over three thousand, then. I don¡¯t have that much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not my problem.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s eyebrows were locked, body temperature steadily climbing.

    ¡°Y-you¡­ Young Hero, since you were kind enough to save me, can you not show the same kindness to others?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work. Saving people costs money. They¡¯re neither my family nor friends. What reason do I have to help them? I don¡¯t owe them, either. Plus, aren¡¯t you just antsy because you want to save thedy? If you want to save just her, a hundred taels is enough.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine, I¡¯ll pay.¡± Hua Qing took out over a hundred silver taels out of his own pocket.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Su Li broke out in cold sweat as her body tried to stave off the poison slowly whittling away at her body.

    All the passengers on this ship will die because of me.

    Hua Qing turned back to see Ming Feizhen still enjoying his drink. ¡°One hundred taels per head, correct?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You heard me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re willing to help as long as I pay?¡±

    ¡°Always happy to do good.¡±

    ¡°Make sure to honour your word.¡±

    Hua Qing went through Ma Hanshan¡¯s clothes. The elder likely didn¡¯t carry valuables on him in order to pose as a storyteller. On the other hand, Ma Hanshan and Wei Changfeng had to avoid colleagues and the imperial court so that they could remain off the radar. As such, they would have to take with them items that neither groups could find out about. As expected, Ma Hanshan had two thousand taels in notes in addition to two-hundred-plus spare silvers. Even if Wei Changfeng didn¡¯t have a penny, Su Li and the others would have enough left on them to make up for the remaining three thousand.

    Right as Hua Qing began fumbling through Wei Changfeng¡¯s shirt, thetter thrust his left fingers at Hua Qing¡¯s throat. Right before Hua Qing¡¯s arrow found its target, Wei Changfeng used his internal energy to veer it off course, then yed possum since. He knew Ming Feizhen could kill him, but he wanted to take Hua Qing down with him. Owing to hisck of experience, Hua Qing didn¡¯t know how to deal with his predicament. Hua Qing suddenly felt a warm ssh on his face.

    ¡°He looks dead broke. Why are you searching him?¡± Ming Feizhen pulled his hand out of Wei Changfang¡¯s chest out thetter¡¯s back. ¡°The kill doesn¡¯t count until they aren¡¯t breathing. What the heck is with the half-baked effort?¡± Ming Feizhen snapped Wei Changfeng¡¯s neck for good measure. ¡°You¡¯ve amassed over two thousand. Keep going.¡±

    Hua Qing had a lot on his mind in regards to Ming Feizhen; however, he had other priorities. He only managed to find another hundred-odd taels, forcing him to search Su Li¡¯s attendant for six-thousand-plus in notes.

    Hua Qing passed the money over to Ming Feizhen. ¡°You can save them now, right?¡±

    Smiling, Ming Feizhen replied, ¡°Even chickens and ducks.¡± He crushed a ck shell of a pill he pulled out from his shirt, then tossed the tiny crimson pill into the wine jug.

    ¡°What are you doing with the antid-?!¡± Hua Qing could smell the aroma of the alcohol changing and see red tendrils of gas rise from the jug, disseminating in the cabin.

    ¡°One pill is enough for fifty people. On ount of you being a broke bum, I gave you a generous discount.

    ¡°¡­ The mist neutralises the poison?¡±

    ¡°You think it¡¯s for you to smoke?¡±

    ¡°And it can save fifty people?¡±

    ¡°Feel free to poison twenty more people to find out.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ why did you hit me with the chicken bone?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Were you nning to wake up at the same time as them and then take your sweet time talking about what happened?¡±

    Hua Qing just epted that he wasn¡¯t going to be able toprehend Ming Feizhen¡¯s way of thinking.

    ¡°Thank you for saving me. I apologise for my unbing attitude¡­ May I ask why you saved me?¡±

    Ming Feizhen took another bite of his chicken drumstick. ¡°Why do you think?¡±

    ¡°I keep a secret that I cannot carelessly speak of for the fate of Three Gorges and Central in¡¯s martial artsmunity rides on it. I may not have any authority, but I have a gut of courage and heart of p-¡±

    ¡°Pass me the pork liver.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Hua Qing noticed how easy it was for him to stand. In addition to expelling the poison from Hua Qing¡¯s body with the chicken bone, Ming Feizhen also healed Hua Qing¡¯s injuries. That was why Hua Qing could feel a warm flow of energy inside him.

    He¡¯s strong and doesn¡¯t seem bad. Maybe he can help me if I share my problems.

    ¡°You wish,¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly said. ¡°I only ended those two because they refused to give me food and even assaulted me. Saving you was only an oue, not a reason. I can¡¯t help you.¡±

    Given how rare heroes were, nobody should expect themselves to be lucky enough to run into one.

    ¡°Those two were stupid. They kept interrogating you, yet they didn¡¯t think of searching you.¡± Ming Feizhen raised up a small red silk pouch in his left hand.

    ¡°When did you?! Oh, you stole it from me when you approached our table during the day!¡±

    ¡°No, I went to your table for the sesame t bread. I assumed you¡¯d be generous since your face is ugly, but no. Serves you right for failing to woo her.¡±

    Hua Qing always questioned how old Ming Feizhen really was as he had white hair, a young face and carried himself unbearably arrogantly. ¡°Give it back, you runt! You can¡¯t have it.¡±

    ¡°I was never interested in it. Since I¡¯ve picked it up, though, why don¡¯t you tell me how you got your hands on it?¡± Ming Feizhen looked back at Hua Qing out of his peripherals.

    ¡°I refused to yield even when they pulled a de out on me. What makes you think I¡¯ll yield to you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shifted his gaze back to the pouch. ¡°Not going to talk?¡±

    ¡°True men don¡¯t go back on their word!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll crush it, then.¡±

    ¡°You little¡­¡± Hua Qing¡¯s effort to snatch it back was in vain - unless getting kicked into a wall was some sort of aplishment.

    ¡°This thing possesses sentience. I don¡¯t know what the cause is, but it constantly absorbs my internal energy whenever I churn it out. This rare item isn¡¯t something someone in your league can steal. Where did you get it from?¡±

    ¡°I can tell you, but¡­ you have to help me.¡±

    ¡°Stay woke. Nobody does freebour.¡±

    Hmm? Does that mean¡­

    ¡°So¡­ if I pay you¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

 Volume 11.5 04

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 04</h4>

    ¡°It all started that March day in De¡¯an¡¯s Xiaogan County. ¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen had already eaten a tonne of food aboard, yet he still had room for another chicken drumstick, although it was glossy enough to suspect it might¡¯ve been from his private stash. ¡°Go on.¡±

    ¡°Due to ¡®Fanning the Mattress and Warming the Pillow¡¯, ¡®Selling Oneself to Bury their Father¡¯ and ¡®Tears That Brought Bamboo-shoots From the Frozen Earth¡¯, Huang Xian, Dong Yong and Meng Yong gained fame for their filial characters.

    ¡°Xu n, a family that resided in Xiaogan County for generations, was a famous family in the county. In particr, Master Xu was known for heeding the word of our predecessors and caring for his family. On 15th January each year, he would set up a stand to serve porridge to people struggling to get by. Four times a year, he would deliver roast pork, beef andmb as phnthropy work.

    ¡°As a thief, I select a few affluent households tomit burry whenever I arrive at a new ce, and I chose Xu n that day. On two of my three attempts to scout them out, I almost got caught. Though they carry themselves as an ordinary household, the strict security protocol behind their closed doors couldpare to a martial arts n.¡±

    Actually, Hua Qing was caught on both asions but spared. He wouldn¡¯t have risked a third beating from the two Shaolin disciples if there wasn¡¯t something that attracted him - of course, there was also his desire to shoot them for revenge, though he genuinely admired them.

    On his third time in, he was rmed when he saw blood ubiquitously. Even the two Shaolin disciples who subdued him in two exchanges were cold bodies in their own blood. Hua Qing¡¯s rm told him to leave multiple times. Howbeit, he instinctively followed the groaning and moaning to discover Master Xu with only an arm and a leg still attached to his torso. He mustered up his courage to approach the elder, only to find his brain scouring for words.

    As soon as he saw Hua Qing, Master Xu exined they actually hailed from a lineage of notable people in the martial world. Once their ancestors decided to convert to business to focus on repaying their parents, their family heirloom¡¯s whereabouts also became a mystery to all but Master Xu.

    As a young, hot-blooded and impetuous youth, Master Xu once let their heirloom¡¯s secret slip while in an inebriated state. He immediately tasked someone to chase down his sworn brother he divulged the secret to once he regained self-awareness. Luckily, his brother was waiting for Master Xu at thetter¡¯s home. He raised three fingers to swear an oath and, before Master Xu could intervene, sliced off two fingers to express sincerity in his oath. Startled, Master Xu risked his own skin to grab his friend¡¯s dagger, then shaved off part of his left thumb to apologise. The matter was settled once his friend was offered sixth months of free lodging at Xu n¡¯s ce to recover.

    Despite bing an aplished man in the martial world two decadester, he always treated Master Xu respectfully as always. If he couldn¡¯t visit one year, he¡¯d still have a courier deliver gifts. In January of that year, Miss Xu was supposed to marry the eldest son of her brother¡¯s friend.

    In February, a Shaolin monk visited Xu n with two disciples. As a devotee of Buddhism himself, Master Xu was more than happy to wee them with open arms. Instead of preaching, they shared with Master Xu a spate of unsolved murder cases, puzzling him.

    The monk said, ¡°Master Xu, this one is here to speak about themon denominator in the three cases.¡±

    ¡°Please enlighten me.¡±

    ¡°Though their deaths are peculiar, it is a product of someone deliberately creating that impression. The same martial art discipline used to kill the first victim was the same one employed to kill the next two. It seems you are not privy of events in the martial world, so you must not be aware that the culprit wields your ancestors¡¯ ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯. The swordy that was venerated two centuries ago shared the same origins as Huzhou¡¯s Luo Sword Manor.¡±

    While Master Xu wasn¡¯t educated on Luo Sword Manor¡¯s disciplines, he definitely recognised his ancestors¡¯ discipline that their n ceased practicing generations ago.

    ¡°Amitabha. I am here to investigate the case. ording to your testimony, it seems that there are many questions to answer. In the past, your ancestors carried Repository Jade on them at all times. Would it have resurfaced together with the swordy?¡±

    ¡°Ever since migrating to Xiaogan County, our family has not involved ourselves in martial arts in any shape or form. While we never practiced our ancestors¡¯ skills, we have not forgotten them. On the other hand, our ancestors told us to never show anyone Repository Jade. Nobody has used it ever since it was sealed long ago; we do not even know its whereabouts now.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ I am afraid trouble encroaches. I may have been here before others, but many predictable people are out there. Those with their ears to the ground may have already set their sights on your family heirloom.¡±

    As predicted, people tried infiltrating Xu Manor only a few dayster. Shaolin¡¯s monks were present; however, they were busy investigating the case, as well. As a counter measure, the monk left behind his two disciples, while he rushed back. Master Xu immediately penned a letter to his sworn brother to call for help. After the monk left, though, he never returned. Master Xu, therefore, had no choice but to seek the aid of the monk¡¯s two disciples and hire people in the martial artsmunity to bodyguard his family until the matter blew over. s, all of Master Xu¡¯s preparations couldn¡¯t even qualify as a security system when the assant started lopping off heads in one go.

    Hua Qing regretted lending an ear to Master Xu because he¡¯d also need a grave if the culprit came back.

    ¡°Master Xu, let me bandage your wounds first.¡±

    Wheezing, Master Xu stated, ¡°No¡­ No¡­ I¡¯m done for. He went to our cer to search. Our ancestors set up a lot of contraptions down there, while he only has one night. He will likely have to break all of them, which gives us some time¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get you out of here first, and we can leave the rest forter.¡±

    ¡°No, no, there¡¯s no saving me¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Master Xu then told Hua Qing the location of the heirloom that he wouldn¡¯t mention even at the cost of his family¡¯s life.

    ¡°Don¡¯t screw with me! I don¡¯t want to be the next victim!¡±

    ¡°Go¡­ take it. Don¡¯t let the monk from the Western Region¡¯s get his hands on it.¡± Master Xu kept his gaze fixed ahead, seemingly unable to hear Hua Qing¡¯s exmation. ¡°I couldn¡¯t understand¡­ why my family¡¯s swordy would resurface¡­ and why my family would be targeted. It¡¯s him. It must be him.¡± Master Xu made himself bleed even more with his fingernails in his palm. ¡°Conniving scum! Conniving scum! He is plotting to sabotage the Central in¡¯s martial world! I must stop him¡­ and that fraudulent daoist!¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°What monk? What fraud? Who are we talking about? Hang on. Why should I help you?!¡±

    ¡°My youngest daughter is still alive. Please take care of her.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t even know each other; why should I listen to you?¡±

    ¡°Repository Jade¡¯s location is where all of my n¡¯s savings are. You should be able to livefortably for three lifetimes with it. Please take Repository Jade and take my daughter somewhere safe.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think I¡¯ll pocket it and walk off?¡±

    Master Xu looked straight into Hua Qing¡¯s young eyes with his fading eyes. ¡°You¡¯re a good man. I¡¯ve seen you before¡­ When I served porridge in the back alley, you let a child go first even though you were starving. You have the heart of a hero.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Hua Qing scrubbed his head. ¡°God damn it! I wouldn¡¯t help you if you didn¡¯t also endanger me. Let me make this clear: I¡¯m just using your heirloom as a talisman to ward off trouble. The moment there¡¯s danger, I¡¯m out.¡±

    Master Xu subtly curved up the corners of his lips, then told Hua Qing where his daughter was. Due to the recent ominous feelings he had, he sent her off to find her fianc¨¦, thus saving her from a tragic fate. ¡°Please go now¡­ The culprit is strong and will be back soon.¡±

    ¡°But I¡­ I left so many traces behind. Plus, he probably has informants out there.¡±

    ¡°Set fire¡­ People wille here when they see the fire.¡±

    People sounded off once they saw smoke and fire to put it out. Pretty much half of Xiaogan County witnessed the fire consume the edifice.

    On his way out, Hua Qing turned around to see Master Xu mouth from the sea of mes, ¡°Thank you.¡± With all his emotions riding high, Hua Qing lingered in ce, wrestling between leaving and running back in to save Master Xu. Because of that, he saw a man with veiny arms, a chest tattoo and white eyes.

    The bald man snapped anything that fell from the ceiling with his bare hands, yet the mes didn¡¯t burn him. Scarier than the indiscriminate mes was the moment Hua Qing met eyes with the culprit.

    Hua Qing believed the culprit remembered him that night despite not finding anyone on his tail. Within days following the incident, he was used ofmitting all the heinous crimes. For the next year, he kept a low profile, yet he kept gaining notoriety.

    ***

    ¡°That is the entire story¡­ Do you understand now?¡±

    Putting aside his reluctance to share his story, Hua Qing didn¡¯t think it was likely for anyone to believe his story.

    Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°The hell was that? I¡¯m totally confused.¡±

    Glossary

    Xiaogan County - Now known as Xiaochang County.

 Volume 11.5 05

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 05</h4>

    ¡°Thought so.¡± Hua Qing needed to simplify his story. Being as quick-witted as he was, he should¡¯ve been able to get his point across easily; however, the things he had yet to solve rendered it difficult to exin when he couldn¡¯t understand them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t me you. I¡¯ve been mulling over everything Master Xu told me for a year, yet I still can¡¯t figure out where it went wrong. Why would several adepts in the pugilistic world suddenly target him when he¡¯s just a business man? Why would Shaolin¡¯s monks suddenly die? Ever since they framed me for Xu n¡¯s extermination, they¡¯ve continued tomit big crimes, all of which I am to be held ountable for. If they just wanted to force me out of hiding, it feels like they went to too much effort. I assume the people out for my life are the monk¡¯s henchmen. As for who he is and why he wants the item, I don¡¯t have the foggiest idea.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called wealth brings trouble.¡± Ming Feizhen twirled the red pouch. ¡°This isn¡¯t something for ordinary folk to keep. Xu n must¡¯ve sealed this away when they decided to hang up their swords, but that¡¯s not enough; they should¡¯ve entrusted it to a sect capable of safeguarding it, such as the ones just below Shaolin and Wudang. Had they done so, misfortune wouldn¡¯t have visited their descendants.¡± Ming Feizhen licked his oily fingers. ¡°In the Central in, we call it Repository Jade. In Western Regions, they call it ¡®ze ?ar¨©ra¡¯ or just ¡®?ar¨©ra¡¯, which just means ¡®Buddhist relic¡¯.¡±

    ¡°?ar¨©ra? Is it a weapon?¡±

    ¡°On its own, it¡¯s nothing special. It¡¯s about as useful as a brick inbat. Utilise its special feature appropriately, however, and it¡¯ll be a treasure to martial artists. It possesses the ability to subsume one¡¯s essence until it is full, regardless of nature and potency.¡±

    ¡°If it can just absorb energy like that that, doesn¡¯t that mean whoever possesses it will be invincible?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, because people will just go, ¡®Want to suck my energy out of me? I¡¯ll wait for you.¡¯ It¡¯s not very solid in the first ce, which makes it vulnerable to breaking inbat. It supposedly drains energy slowly, and you can only absorb a certain amount at once, or it¡¯ll be useless. That¡¯s why draining energy and storing it is a challenge. Once it is done storing energy, the energy can be consumed. Apparently, a full ze ?ar¨©ra is worth a hundred and twenty years of training. Can you imagine how stupidly strong Xu n¡¯s ancestors were when they had this cheat item?¡¯

    ¡°A hundred and twenty years? What celestial-divine-heavenly realm would that be? Surely humans can¡¯t possibly reach that level.¡±

    Ming Feizhen muttered under his breath, ¡°My grandmaster has probably lived for that long.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Ahem, as for the monk from the Western Regions, it¡¯s understandable for you to not recognise him. He¡¯s called Lord Miguo, one of the three lords of the Western Region¡¯s Lotus Sacred Sect.¡±

    ¡°Say what?! You know him?!¡±

    ¡°The Western Regions consists of seven autonomous municipalities, each with its own unique customs. I visited the area twice in my childhood with my shifu. The monk covered in tattoos must be Lord Miguo. Lotus Sacred Sect have the three lords directly under their head, better known as Pure Lands¡¯ Three Lords, have their own posts and skills. The fatso I killed in one punch must¡¯ve learnt an inkling of Lord Miguo¡¯s Impregnable Golden Body skill.

    ¡°I suspected he was connected from the moment I saw the skill. Besides, Lord Miguo¡¯s portrait is found in every major shrine. His shirtless, tattooed body and ugly bald head matches your depiction, so I¡¯m confident in my spection.¡±

    He makes the monk sound like some thug off the street? Did I really describe him like that?

    ¡°So, why did this Lord Miguo or whatever monke to the Central in. Is he trying to start trouble in our martial world?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Lotus Sacred Sect is second only to Divine Moon Cult in the Western Regions, making it the second biggest religion there. Their leader, Autarch Lotus, is respected even by the leaders of the seven regions. Stirring the pot in our martial world would just be deigning. I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t do that. ording to what I know, he fought some other lord bloke from Divine Moon Cult and got whooped embarrassingly. I think he got injured, got bashed by his aunt or something and then went missing.¡±

    ¡°He has an aunt now?¡±

    ¡°How should I know what they train when I¡¯m not part of their cult? Look, the trantion from theirnguage to Mandarin is something like that, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay, why does he have enmity with Master Xu, then?¡±

    ¡°Lord Miguo¡¯s discipline focuses on cultivating ?ar¨©ra, too, which exins why he¡¯d target Xu n. For all we know, ?ar¨©ra might be the cornerstone to his recovery or level up. You think he¡¯d let something so important go?¡±

    Frankly, Hua Qing started to feel uneasy about the fact that Ming Feizhen knew so much. ¡°H-howe you said you don¡¯t understand when you know so much?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t understand why you would involve yourself in something so dangerous? Life too tiring or something?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say all that just for you. Some things are better off not being repeated.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°This.¡± Ming Feizhen looked over to Su Li. ¡°Hey,ss, if you keep lying there, I¡¯m going to lift your skirt. I¡¯m notorious for my quick hands.¡± He threw a chicken bone right at Su Li¡¯s buttock.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ow!¡± Su Li sprung to her feet, hands on her buttocks. Face red, Su Li yelled, ¡°You runt!¡±

 Volume 11.5 06

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 06</h4>

    ¡°When did you regain awareness, Miss Su?¡± Hua Qing helped up Su Li since she had no strength in her legs despite her appearing fine on the surface.

    Su Li mumbled under her breath, ¡°I actually n-¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t out for long, were you?¡± Ming Feizhen cut in. ¡°She has an antidote for poison on her. She only needs a sniff of the pill when shees across poison gases to neutralise the poison. Although it wouldn¡¯t be enough to neutralise Tang n¡¯s poisons, it¡¯s enough to reduce the effects considerably. Don¡¯t you notice everyone else still out cold? The pill she has on her is worth several thousands of taels, at the very least¡­ You¡¯re pretty rich, huh,ss?¡±

    Indeed, Su Li did feel sick when the poison hit, but she never passed out. In saying that, the poison was only cleared from her system after Ming Feizhen spread the antidote, or she¡¯d still be defenceless.

    ¡°You know about this, too? How old are you? Why are you acting like you¡¯re some old sage?¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s provocation was his means of trying to bait Ming Feizhen into revealing more about himself. Sadly, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bite. Instead, Ming Feizhen clocked Hua Qing.

    ¡°I started learning boxing at three and swordy at five, but I was still useless at seven, so my shifu taught me internal strengthening. However, I was born with a discerning eye for treasures. Grandmaster is right: we shouldn¡¯t forget the skills our ancestors pass down.¡±

    Hua Qing: Where¡¯s your gang¡¯s den located? Let me join you guys to make some cash.

    Of course, Hua Qing wouldn¡¯t have actually explicated that when he was bleeding from his head.

    ¡°Since Lass Su is also a target now, she can¡¯t escape, either. She might as well listen in and save me the trouble of repeating myself.¡±

    Su Li griped, ¡°Where are your manners?! Who are you calling ¡®Lass¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Are you telling me you¡¯re a guy?¡± Ming Feizhen blinked in rapid session.

    ¡°I¡¯m a girl!¡±

    Hua Qing decided to end the argument. ¡°Can we put that aside for now? We can discuss who thess is after we¡¯re done with figuring out how to survive?¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Su Li. ¡°You must have a death wish.¡±

    Hua Qing: Why are you twoing at me?!

    Done eating - presumably - Ming Feizhen kicked the table over, startling the two, then crossed his arms. ¡°You¡¯ve been asking all the questions. Now it¡¯s my turn. Where is Xu n¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been apanying her since I found her. I was the one who suggested escorting Miss Su; she is still waiting for me at Yichang.¡±

    Ming Feizhen then turned to Su Li. ¡°And what¡¯s your story?¡±

    Su Liined, ¡°How old are you to be speaking to me in that tone? You should be addressing me as ¡®Miss¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d even call you grandma if you wished. I can¡¯t promise the people after you will be as nice as me if we don¡¯t finish our talk tonight, on the other hand.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s warning led Su Li into imagining the worst scenario.

    ¡°¡­ I am from a family in the silk business in Suzhou. Afterpleting a deal I was tasked with handling in Chengdu, I was nning to return home when I received,¡± Su Li nced to Hua Qing, ¡°Hua, the rapist¡¯s letter. The letter said¡­ said¡­¡±

    ¡°Said what?¡±

    Su Li stamped. ¡°I can¡¯t say it!¡±

    Hua Qing deployed a tactical cough. ¡°Kids are better off not knowing.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Let me guess: he said he was going to bed you.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing and Su Li: ¡°Don¡¯t ask questions you know the answer to! Also, who taught you that?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head. ¡°You need to be taught that now? Doesn¡¯t your shifu usually take you to brothels?¡±

    Hua Qing and Su Li: ¡°?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°?¡±

    Su Li grabbed her head as if it could alleviate the question that did a number on her sanity. ¡°I found out the letter came from the notorious rapist and murdererter on, prompting me to hurry home. I got to know Young Master Hua on the way home. The rest, you already know.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Su Li queried, ¡°And you are?¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen. I came from Mount Wudang.¡±

    Hua Qing had a strong urge to p for Su Li because she asked the question he was too afraid to ask, but Ming Feizhen already answered. Judging from his reaction time, his identity wasn¡¯t some important secret. To the contrary, it seemed he wanted someone to ask. Else, he wouldn¡¯t have even mentioned his affiliation.

    ¡°You are a disciple of Wudang?¡¯ Su Li¡¯s tone changed subtly. After all, Wudang wasn¡¯t just any other sect.

    In thest two decades, Wudang had been at the forefront of squashing evil, correcting morals, punishing people in the martial world extorting people or other criminal conduct. They resolved the challenges of people who couldn¡¯t practice martial arts due to distance, allowing children to learn martial arts. In turn, the imperial court adopted a system that allowed practitioners to enter the imperial court¡¯s employment. As a result, Wudang was on track to bing the most influential sect in the martial world.

    ¡°Ar-are you really from Wudang?¡± Given Hua Qing¡¯s dream to be a hero, it was no surprise he recognised the sect and was excited to meet someone from there. Anyone who genuinely loved learning martial arts would consider it a must-visit location to train.

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t understand why the two were so excited all of a sudden. ¡°No. I just sojourned there.¡±

    Hua Qing and Su Li: ¡°Say so sooner!¡±

    Owing to the misunderstanding, Hua Qing no longer felt that Ming Feizhen was hard to get along with. While Ming Feizhen¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t exactly weing, he clearly didn¡¯t harbour ill will. Perhaps Ming Feizhen just didn¡¯t know how to socialise. Rather, mayhap he didn¡¯t know how to socialise with ordinary people.

    Hua Qing asked, ¡°Howe you came to Three Gorges Dam?¡±

    ¡°I went to see my shifu on Mount Emei.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a disciple of Emei?¡±

    Trivia

    Tang n - This is a borrowed fictional n that Gong Baiyu first introduced to the wuxia genre before the genre was banned in Maind China.

 Volume 11.5 07

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 07</h4>

    Wudang was currently ahead of Mount Daluo and Shaolin among the orthodox sects because they took the initiative to resolve conflicts in the martial world and fought off the unorthodox sects, while the other two didn¡¯t involve themselves in those affairs.

    Emei, Kunlun, Canghai and Clear Mirror Pce followed behind Wudang, Mount Daluo and Shaolin, forming the main force against unorthodox sects. Even though Emei was considered beneath Wudang in terms of prestige, they were still a core member of the orthodox martial arts alliance; Emei members could easily receive a 20% discount at teahouses if the owner knew they were from Emei.

    ¡°No, my shifu went y cards with Emei¡¯s former leader.¡±

    ¡°¡­ y cards?¡± Hua Qing could sense his childhood dream gradually crumbling as the conversation went on. Given Daoist Jinguan¡¯s polished reputation, Hua Qing still believed Ming Feizhen¡¯s shifu must¡¯ve been a respected elite among the orthodox sects, nheless.

    ¡°They already left Emei for Mount Qingcheng by the time I made it there, though,¡± Ming Feizhen added.

    ¡°¡­ So you¡¯re Zhang Tianshi¡¯s disciple?¡± By this point, Hua Qing¡¯s expectations had nearly hit rock bottom.

    ¡°Hell no. They¡¯re just calling Zhang Tianshi to the table to make up the numbers.¡±

    ¡°I knew it!¡±

    Just how popr are card games among the orthodox sects?! Why would you go so far to y cards?

    ¡°They already went back to the bank of Jialing River in Langzhong by the time I reached Qingcheng, though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? They¡¯re sure fast when ites to cards. Wait. Isn¡¯t that where Liu Shan Men¡¯s headquarters in Yizhou is located? Don¡¯t tell me your shifu went to Liu Shan Men.¡±

    As Liu Shan Men wasn¡¯t a sect but an office of the imperial court, there was a strict ¡°no entry¡± regtion at Liu Shan Men for anyone not in their employment.

    ¡°Emei¡­ Qingshan City¡­ Jialing River¡­¡± muttered Hua Qing. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Captain Yan Shisan¡¯s schedule?¡±

    Su Li noted, ¡°I, too, heard Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain entered the area for business while I was in Chengdu. His first stop was Emei, followed by Qingshan City and then¡­ yeah, Langzhong.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°So you¡¯re Yan Shisan¡¯s disc-¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s just sharing the same route as my shifu.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Just who is your shifu, then?!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is he trying to conceal his identity from the unorthodox sects while fighting them?¡±

    ¡°Nothing like that. I¡¯m just afraid that he¡¯ll silence you once you know of his embarrassing stories.¡±

    ¡°Your shifu is scarier than the unorthodox sects!¡± Hua Qing grabbed his chin. ¡°If four big names are convening, there must be something big going on.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re right,¡± Ming Feizhen asserted. ¡°They¡¯re off to Lunar Diffraction Brothel to watch a strip dance. It¡¯s an annual thing for them that they go through a lot for.¡±

    Hua Qing and Su Li: ¡°Shameless old men!¡±

    Hua Qing: Just why are the orthodox sects nothing like what I imagined as I was a kid?! Damn, my head is still bleeding.

    ¡°My shifu gave me a new directive when I bumped into him. I was wandering around, wondering what to do when I came across you two.¡±

    As much as they were curious as to what undertaking Ming Feizhen¡¯s shifu gave, they weren¡¯t so sure their temper could handle it.

    Ming Feizhen pointed to the floor. ¡°What¡¯s your n now that they¡¯re dead?¡±

    Hua Qing stopped to deliberate. ¡°The entire case is shrouded in mystery. Master Xu and I aren¡¯t linked in the slightest capacity, let alone having any grudges between us. For thest year, however, I¡¯ve been framed with countless crimes, forcing me to wander from city to city.¡±

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t that always been your life in a nutshell?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! In any event, I must catch the real culprit to clear my name. I¡¯m sick and tired of sneaking around.¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you sneaking around long before you were framed?¡±

    ¡°Sneaking around and stealing are different verbs with different meanings.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s little giggle set Hua Qing¡¯s heart aflutter.

    ¡°What are you going to do, specifically?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I¡¯m going to find Master Xu¡¯s sworn brother.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°His sworn brother is Three Gorges Dam¡¯s best palms proponent. People call him Hero Zhuo Fengrui, Flying Conqueror, for his swift swordy and lethal palm techniques that set him as the top martial artist in the area. I grew up on his legends. He doesn¡¯t seek profit or glory, exercising justice solely to uphold justice. To him, money is akin to manure. He donates arge sum to the poor on the fifteenth of every month. He is a role model for all us martial arts practitioners.¡± Hua Qing nced to Ming Feizhen, signalling with his gaze, ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s a different breedpared to your trashy shifu.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wrinkled his nose. ¡°¡¯Us¡¯ martial arts practitioners? I thought you were a thief.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not scar-,¡± Hua Qing stole a gander Su Li¡¯s way to make sure she wasn¡¯t detesting him, ¡°ah, whatever. I forgive you. Anyhow, I n to search for Hero Zhuo in Yichang to clear my name. I¡¯d probably be in pieces before I could speak if I showed up on my own. As a matter of fact, I might die before I meet him. With you helping me, though, hehe, I should be okay.¡±

    Because Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t respond, Hua Qing asked, ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°There is.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I reckon¡­ you either have rice for brains, if not grass. I could probably make porridge if I just heat it up.¡±

    ¡°Mind your manners!¡±

    Su Liughed hysterically. ¡°Ming Feizhen, don¡¯t pick on Young Master Hua.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hear that?¡± Seeing as Ming Feizhen still looked stern, Hua Qing questioned, ¡°Are you suggesting¡­ there¡¯s something not right about Hero Zhuo?¡±

    ¡°Finally¡­ Took your long enough. Based on what you told me, if he¡¯s not suspicious, the whole world must be innocent.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Glossary

    Langzhong - A county-level city in northeast Sichuan province.

 Volume 11.5 08

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 08</h4>

    ¡°What I said? What¡¯s wrong with what I said?!¡± inquired Hua Qing.

    Su Li added, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about him, as well. Although he isn¡¯t among the most famous people, he doesn¡¯t have a poor reputation and is quite respected.¡±

    ¡°Not having any problems doesn¡¯t earn you respect. Being able to hide your blemishes does.¡± Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°My shifu said, a man with no skillbelling himself a hero can¡¯t be good news. He doesn¡¯t care for profit and fame, you say? Yet you know everything he¡¯s done. Doesn¡¯t care for profit and fame, yet he¡¯s afraid the world doesn¡¯t know. How many viins has he killed? How many good deeds has he done? If you can answer, how is he someone who doesn¡¯t care for fame and profit? Money is manure to him, yet he somehow has so much to spare that he can donaterge sums? Money must be growing legs and walking to his ce.

    ¡°Moreover, he¡¯s the only outsider to know Xu n has a treasured artefact. If there isn¡¯t a snitch in the household, there¡¯s a snitch outside of the household. As you said, the only survivor of Xu n is the youngest daughter. You¡¯re not going to tell me she snitched, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. She wouldn¡¯t kill her father.¡±

    ¡°So, who are you left with?¡±

    Hua Qing didn¡¯t answer. Despite the bold spection, there¡¯s no smoke without fire. Nobody knew who revealed the existence of Repository Jade to the outside world. Nheless, spection was only spection. It was the same as framing someone if one used another without evidence.

    Ming Feizhen flipped through a small book he kept in his shirt, stopping at a certain page and jeering, ¡°Told you he¡¯s bad news.¡±

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    Ming Feizhen held up the handbook now covered in his oily fingerprints. ¡°Before dumping me on Mount Wudang, my shifu wrote this guide for me so that I know who not to offend and who to befriend. Your buddy is rank seventeen in the ¡¯99% Chance Likely to be Rubbish¡¯ category.¡±

    The only information Ming Feizhen had on the people in the guide was the names of people - unless the ranking categories he put the names in counted as information.

    Elite martial artists with fame and the strength to hold their own wait even in gang fights, such as the Supreme Ten Saints, were listed under ¡°Don¡¯t start with them no matter what¡±.

    The backbones of the martial world was divided into three categories, specifically ¡°Has a Promising Future¡±, ¡°Honest and Innocent For You to Burn Them as Firewood¡± and ¡°99% Likely to be Rubbish¡±.

    As for the categorybelled ¡°Crush Their Crotch as Soon as You Meet Them¡±, most of it was illegible. Hua Qing didn¡¯t want to risk his life reading it after seeing ¡°Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡± on the list.

    ¡°¡­ Your shifu doesn¡¯t want you osting people? I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s offended the majority of the martial world with this book.¡±

    ¡±Heh, joke¡¯s on you. You think my shifu needs this flimsy, shoddy handbook to offend his fellow martial artist? Wherever he goes, daggers are flying at him.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen shut the book. ¡°By all means, you can visit the trash, but it¡¯ll be a miracle if youst an hour should you carry Repository Jade on you. You¡¯ll have a bunch of bandits taking turns hacking you. Meanwhile, if Zhuo What¡¯s-his-face isn¡¯t coincidentally out, he¡¯ll have coincidentally just gotten hurt badly in a fight with bandits and will need several days to rest, if not on the day. Right after you¡¯ve been hacked to pieces, he¡¯ll suddenly recover and kill all the bandits. As for Repository Jade, it¡¯ll have mysteriously disappeared; 99.9% chance that it was lost in the scuffle, or the bandits¡¯ cohorts embezzled it. Either way, it had nothing to do with Zhuo What¡¯s-his-face.¡±

    Hua Qing felt as though he heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s words with his ears and felt it with his body. Although there was no proof, he had no counterargument.

    Su Li uttered, ¡°Ming Feizhen, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Since the usations of Young Master Hua are unfounded, why are they targeting me?¡±

    Even if they didn¡¯t know Su Li¡¯s background, she had an attendant apanying her at all times and plenty of money on her. Experienced criminals in the pugilistic world would, therefore, immediately start monitoring her. By the same ount, most of them would discern she hailed from a wealthy family at first nce. Why go for such a tough target to frame someone who already had a tarnished name, though? There were plenty of opportunities to rob a defenceless maiden.

    ¡°You ask a good question, but I don¡¯t hold the answer.¡± Ming Feizhen supinated his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know them; how should I know what standards they use to select their victims? Whatever the case, there shouldn¡¯t be any surprises. Either you¡¯re important to Lord Miguo or you¡¯re important to Zhuo What¡¯s-his-face. Either way, you¡¯re useful, though I don¡¯t know what for. All I can be sure of is that it won¡¯t be because you¡¯re pretty.¡±

    In response to Ming Feizhen ascribing the word ¡°useful¡± to her, Su Li quietly grumbled, ¡°Naughty boy¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re barely older than me, I bet.¡± Ming Feizhen then asked Hua Qing, ¡°Oi, you made up your mind yet?¡±

    Hua Qing answered, ¡°¡­ I still want to see Hero Zhuo¡­ I don¡¯t have any idea where this Lord Miguo is. Regardless of whether Hero Zhuo is a good or bad man, my innocence, orck thereof, starts with him. Besides, I just don¡¯t believe he¡­ In any case, I won¡¯t believe it until I see it.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me. Go ahead.¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to the ground. ¡°What are you going to do about those three?¡±

    Hua Qing sighed. ¡°I guess, throw them overboard while it¡¯s dark and then scrub the floor.¡±

    It was almost daybreak by the time the trio finished their chat. Since none of them could pilot a ship, they were stuck until the crew came to. While Hua Qing was hard at work on cleaning, Su Li could only fetch water and tackle other light tasks since she had people waiting on her all her life. As for Ming Feizhen, he already fell asleep in a chair out of boredom.

    As Hua Qing scrubbed, he stole ganders Ming Feizhen¡¯s way every now and then, wondering what sort of environment Ming Feizhen grew up in to be the sort of youth he was. Over thest year, Hua Qing had witnessed darkness he didn¡¯t think was possible, and that darkness was soon going to also target Su Li in addition to Ming Feizhen. No matter how he sliced it, Ming Feizhen was still a kid. Expecting a kid to take on the menace that he had no answer for was beyond daunting.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen?¡± Hua Qing called.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ming Feizhen kept his eyes closed.

    ¡°You mentioned payment. Guarding me¡­ and Miss Su will pit you against many members of the martial world; you won¡¯t be able to cruise to the finish line. Tell me what you want now. I¡¯m not giving you the chance to ask for something preposterous after the job.¡±

    Coming back with new water, Su Li chimed in. ¡°He¡¯s right. At the same time, we can¡¯t demand freebour. What is it that you want?¡± In other words, ¡°I¡¯m confident I can give you whatever it is you want.¡±

    Ming Feizhen opened his eyes. ¡°¡­ Nothing, really. All I want is good alcohol and food. I can find them myself. As a matter of fact, I don¡¯t think you can find anything better than what I can find.¡±

    They expected Ming Feizhen to be a money grubber. Hearing him sound simr to old men tired of the world brought an upward curve to Su Li¡¯s lips.

    ¡°So you don¡¯t want anything now? You were the one who says he doesn¡¯t perform freebour.¡±

    ¡°Not entirely. I¡¯m not helping you for my sake but the sake of the mission entrusted to me. I¡¯m roaming the pugilistic world toplete a challenge my shifu gave me. Why else would I want to be on this shabby ship?¡±

    Thinking back on Ming Feizhen¡¯s beggar character, Hua Qing figured the boy really must¡¯ve been tackling some challenge, though the specifics alluded him.

    Su Li queried, ¡°What task did you shifu give you? Is it tough?¡±

    ¡°Very. You two should be able to help me, nevertheless.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°What is the task, specifically?¡±

    ¡°¡­ When I was younger, I asked my shifu, why do we learn martial arts? My shifu mused over the question for a long time before giving me his deep three word answer.¡±

    Eager to hear what profound answer was given, Su Li and Hua Qing exchanged eye contact, then held their hands in a salute. ¡°May we ask what your ambition is?¡±

 Volume 11.5 09

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 09</h4>

    They spected a monster was sealed in a circr formation that ended life in its vicinity for viridescent thornden vines had conquered all but the round ck rock at the centre, where ¡°he¡± sat. Owing to its purported ability to spawn lotuses with each step and survive off wild berries, grass and dew, some people revered it as a spiritual entity of nature, while some sought out demon yers to subdue it. As the days went by, less and less people mentioned it, treating it as a bygone myth. In truth, the ¡°monster¡± had yet to leave the dense forest.

    His jacked physique that set the contours of his ck robes proved he had trained arduously for an extensive length of time, yet, despite havingmuted along this old path hundreds of times already, it still evoked as much trepidation as his first time. His fear didn¡¯t stem from the fear of nature preying on him; his fear stemmed from the aura therge man inside imposed.

    ¡°Where¡­ is it?¡±

    As soon as the ring voice from atop the ck rock hit his eardrums, the visitor had to churn energy to sustain self-awareness in spite of them practicing the same discipline.

    ¡°My Lord, I have sent men to find him. The slippery kid has yet to show himself, unfortunately.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why don¡¯t you have all the followers go after him?¡± Unlike the rumours of him being some monster, he could articte himself coherently.

    ¡°Yan Shisan seems to have grown suspicious of something. He has ordered his subordinates to keep an eye on Three Gorges Dam. We are forced to remain covert in order to not reveal the incredible skills you bestowed us. Therefore¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuses.¡± The moment the man on the rock opened his eyes was akin to springing a lethal trap. The ratio of white to ck in his eyes was so skewered that he resembled a savage without pupils. ¡°So what if Yan Shisan is getting involved? The skills I imparted to you are enough for you to rule the pugilistic world. Why can¡¯t you tell me what you¡¯re hiding? Have you forgotten the oath you swore in my presence?¡±

    His visitor bowed until his torso was parallel to the ground. ¡°I beg your pardon, My Lord! I dare not withhold information from you. It is just, before youplete your training¡­ the situation is difficult to keep under control¡­ Please rest assured, My Lord. I will definitely bring it back for you to be the greatest warrior under and above heaven!¡±

    ¡°¡­ The greatest warrior under and above heaven,¡± muttered the man on the rock. ¡°¡­ The greatest warrior under and above heaven!¡±

    The sudden shout almost knocked the visitor out. ¡°ording to ourtest intel, he somehow figured out the importance of shengyin blood, so he did not take the bait. That said, he is no match for our followers inbat. We will apprehend him aboard the ship. At present, they should be in Yichang.¡±

    The visitor exited the forest some timeter, where a group of approximately a hundred men in brown robes attired in robes identical to his design showed up.

    ¡°My Liege, what are Lord Miguo¡¯s orders?¡±

    Lacking the same confidence as before, the man who visited Lord Miguo replied, ¡°Yan Shisan is pushing his luck. Our orders are to show him where he belongs. We should¡¯ve captured Hua Feihua by now. Use any means necessary to make him talk. We must obtain it for Lord Miguo. Lord Miguo shall be the greatest warrior under and above heaven!¡±

    ***

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Hey¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me, either.¡±

    Hua Qing and Su Li felt stupid after the long conversationst night with Ming Feizhen more than any other emotion. At this point, they didn¡¯t want to experience any more negative emotions.

    Ming Feizhen scrubbed his head, unsure of what to do: This is what I get for being honest? I wouldn¡¯t have been so honest if it was somebody else asking.

    ¡°I left the mountain to make money and find a wife. Why won¡¯t you listen?¡± Ming Feizhen mumbled under his breath. He didn¡¯t speak loudly as the passengers hade to.

    The passengers didn¡¯t remember anything once they woke up or why they fell asleep without rhyme or reason, but they were starving. When the kitchen staff went to prepare food, though, they thought a ghost was on board since there wasn¡¯t any food left. If that wasn¡¯t spooky enough, the sudden disappearance of the story teller, Ma Hanshan and Wei Changfeng did the job.

    Everybody on board was convinced the trio¡¯s disappearance was linked to some grudge between people in the pugilistic world. They just didn¡¯t mention it or question it to avoid putting a bulls eye on themselves.

    Thanks to all the mess, nobody paid attention to the beggar who suddenly joined Su Li¡¯s group.

 Volume 11.5 10

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 10</h4>

    ¡°Brother Ming, what do you say?¡± Yan Shisan lifted his cup of tea to his lips as though it was strong alcohol despite his groomed appearance.

    Ming Huayu, sitting nted simrly to his syed hair, indulged in yet another puff out of his expensive pipe, seemingly using it as a means ofbatting the stress that his red eyes suggested. Paintings of famous people hung from the wall, yet he never once spared them a gander. ¡°Further deliberation is in order.¡±

    ¡°What happened to the fire in you that you used to cut down evil and set fire to the imperial pce? Did it go into seclusion along with you? Why are you so wishy washy at your young age?¡±

    Ming Huayu raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you seriously going to push me?¡±

    ¡°Hah, you speak in jest, Brother Ming. The stars have retreated to their slumber, and the argent rays have been reced with golden rays, yet we are still waiting for you. It seems you think the three of us are pushovers.¡± Daoist Jinguan smacked the table. ¡°Do not push it!¡±

    ¡°Brother Jinguan, we are brothers. Let us not ruin our friendship over something this trivial.¡± Yan Shisan may have spoken with a smile and respectful tone, but he was ready to throw hands at the drop of a hat. ¡°Brother Ming, we have waited, and you have contemted. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time you give us an answer?¡±

    Be it the power behind his name or his limbs, Yan Shisan could give Ming Huayu a run for his money. As such, Ming Huayu couldn¡¯t marginalise what Yan Shisan said.

    Ming Huayu continued brooding until the incense stick in the cauldron at the centre of the table went out and the sunlight shown through the windows. ¡°Fine¡­ Don¡¯t me me for this. You forced my hand.¡±

    Yan Shisan smiled amiably. ¡°H-¡±

    Ming Huayu extended his hand over the table faster than the other three could follow. The three waited all night to catch him, yet their n fell through after foregoing their sleep.

    ¡°Shifu, you done?¡±

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Ming Huayu abruptly mmed the mah-jong tile he picked off the table back down. ¡°Crap! White dragon again!¡±

    Jinguan: ¡°Win!¡±

    Zhang Tianshi: ¡°Win!¡±

    Yan Shisan abandoned his demure image as he jumped out of his seat. ¡°Flush! I win! Take that! Pay up! Pay up! None of you are getting away! I¡¯m not letting my night go to waste!¡±

    Daoist Jinguan whacked his thigh. ¡°God damn it!¡±

    Zhang Tianshi: ¡°I¡¯ve only lost a little. I¡¯m still doing much better than all of you.¡±

    Yan Shisan mmed the table. ¡°Ming Huayu, you¡¯re out of tricks this time, aren¡¯t you?! You want to switch tiles?! Hah. Pay up. I¡¯m going to beat you into bankruptcy!¡±

    Ming Huayu reluctantly paid up. He dawdled all night to mentally tire them out so that he could switch his tiles. Not only did his n fall through, but he also lost money on tobo. He pointed his shaky finger at Ming Feizhen and stammered, ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen pointed to himself. ¡°Me, Shifu?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You gue!¡±

    ¡°Why is it my fault?!¡±

    Ming Huayu grabbed his chest as though he was suffering a heart attack, body trembling. ¡°Why¡­ Why¡­ Why are you back?!¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who called me into Three Gorges Dam because you had something to tell me? Ever since I arrived, you¡¯ve only been ying mahjong. Your eyes have gone red from ying for three days. Can¡¯t you take a short break?¡±

    ¡°I can.¡± Ming Huayu performed a series of arcing arm motions resembling Tai Chi, each technique demonstrating his martial arts prowess. Then, he picked up a tile.

    Ming Feizhen inted his cheeks: ¡°Keep this up and you¡¯ll have to sell all your belongings on the mountain. If you keep ying, guess what I¡¯ll tell shiniangs when they ask me where your money went.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything.¡± Ming Huayu had another puff from his pipe. ¡°What did I teach you? Modest wealth is a result of thrifty spending. Considerable wealth is dependent on luck. Massive wealth is the result of not paying after losing.¡±

    Zhang Tianshi, Daoist Jinguan and Yan Shisan: ¡°What was that?!¡±

    Ming Huayu: ¡°Ahaha, apologies, apologies. Slip of the tongue. Start up the next game, Bosses.¡±

    Ming Feizhen watched them shuffle the tiles for a while before asking, ¡°Shifu, what did you summon me for? I noticed it¡¯s not exactly a haven for civility around here. There are some suspicious peeps. Are we going to do something about them?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Some people from the Western Regions with special skills. I tailed three of them, but I couldn¡¯t dig up anything worthy. Captain Yan, do you know anything?¡±

    Eyes on the tiles and one hand caressing his chin, Yan Shisan responded, ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. They¡¯re some lunatic cult. Brother Shen has locked onto them. It¡¯s only a matter of time before they¡¯re finished¡­ Character! They won¡¯t be able to achieve anything.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Shifu, the martial artsmunity in Three Gorges Dam is rather messy at the moment. I heard several people have died one after another.¡±

    ¡°Messy? It¡¯s a stinking dump.¡± Ming Huayu pulled his eyebrows in and, still touching tiles, quietly uttered, ¡°¡­ Dot.¡±

    Zhang Tianshi beamed. ¡°Pair! My win now, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Ming Huayu whipped his sleeve. ¡°You gue! Didn¡¯t I tell you to stay six metres away from me when I¡¯m ying, or you¡¯d curse me?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called being superstitious!¡± Ming Feizhen snapped.

    ¡°What you said is called superrubbish! Ever since I took you in, I¡¯ve never won in any gamble!¡±

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    Daoist Jinguan raised his hand to speak. ¡°This old one can testify. He¡¯s not lying. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have lost you to me. Feizhen, you been well recently?¡±

    Ming Feizhen bowed. ¡°Hello, Grandpa.¡±

    Daoist Jinguan said to Ming Huayu, ¡°Try to do something proper for once.¡±

    ¡°All right. Feizhen, step outside with me.¡± Ming Huayu led his disciple to the bank of Jialing River. ¡°How are your martial arts skills?¡±

    ¡°Uh, passable?¡±

    ¡°How about yourwork?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you, I know quite a number of people.¡±

    ¡°Exin to me, then, why are you still unable to hold your own weight?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°How old are you?¡±

    ¡°Fourteen.¡±

    ¡°Have you tasted a woman yet?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Are you still a virgin?¡±

    ¡°A resounding ¡®yes¡¯.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s messed up! You¡¯re fourteen years old, yet you¡¯re still single! This is the source of the problem!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what problem are we talking about?¡±

    ¡°A man must have a woman, you durd. You¡¯re not a real man if you don¡¯t have a woman!¡±

    ¡°Shifu, are you on something?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on facts. A man must build a family before he builds his career. You¡¯re fourteen years old. Even though you are engaged to Yu Feiyuan, are you nning to marry as a virgin?¡±

    ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is. It¡¯s embarrassing!¡±

    Ming Feizhen had no retort.

    ¡°When I was your age, I was already the man women wanted. As my disciple, how can you not even be one-tenth of the man I was?¡±

    ¡° Uh¡­ I heard you were still a virgin at thirty, though.¡±

    ¡°Who told you that lie?! Who?! Are you really just going to take someone¡¯s word? You need to up your game. You must. This is your weak point, understand?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°Look at thisnd. Look how vast it is. This is what you young ones should pursue. Don¡¯t waste your youth, understand?¡±

    ¡°Shifu, why do I get the feeling that you¡¯re trying to get rid of me so that you can y mah-jong?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Does it look like that to you? You break my heart!¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned his head to the side, looking at Ming Huayu out of his peripherals.

    ¡°Ahem, in any event, you need to bring a wife home. It¡¯s time for you to taste a woman. Else, you¡¯re going to be annoyingly useless when you run into people who try to use honey traps against you. You¡¯re not wee home until you lose your virginity, understood?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°This is an order!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Ming Feizhen scrubbed his hair vigorously. ¡°I¡¯m off, then. Made mee all the way here for this sort of stupid crap¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°In addition, bring back a hundred thousand taels for me.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why?!¡±

    Ming Huayu sighed, seemingly disillusioned with his disciple. ¡°Why are you so slow? I just lost a hundred thousand. If you don¡¯t bring back a hundred thousand, I¡¯ll have to sell you again.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Fret not. As long as you bring the money back, it doesn¡¯t matter how you get it. Do whatever is necessary. Given my status in the pugilistic world, hoho, I can protect you no matter what.¡±

    ¡°Ming Cheater, hurry up. We¡¯re not waiting for you!¡±

    ¡°Aye, wait up. Coming,ing!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Remember: a wife and a hundred taels!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Wife. Wife. A hundred thousand taels. A hundred thousand taels.¡± Ming Feizhen clutched his fists.

    ¡°We¡¯ve finally arrived.¡±

    Whether it was attributed to Ming Feizhen guarding them or finding relief for the first time since receiving the threat, Su Li¡¯s shoulders finally left her ears once they disembarked. Though her safety wasn¡¯t guaranteed yet, both her and her attendant were enjoying life again. He even didn¡¯t mind Su Li taking in a beggar if it made her happy.

    ¡°Stop overreacting. It¡¯s like it¡¯s your first time outside of your house,¡± Ming Feizhen remarked.

    Ming Feizhen, resembling someone from India due to the head wrap he had on, whinged whilst browsing all the stalls along the busy dock. ¡°I heard there are radish dumplings here. Where are they? Is it that stand?¡±

    Su Li grumbled, ¡°Where are your manners?! You¡¯re the one overreacting. Young Master Hua, tell him¡­ Young Master Hua?¡±

    Hua Qing systemically walked in a half-squat, hiding his darting eyes under his green hat that came out once they disembarked.

    Ming Feizhen,ing back with piping-hot radish dumplings he just bought,mented, ¡°I must say, he looks coolest when he¡¯s being his thieving self. It¡¯d be a waste for him to pursue a career in any other field.¡± He took a bite of his soft dumpling and then stretched his eyes. ¡°Mm, good stuff.¡±

    ¡°Do you never have anything nice to say? Young Master Hua, where are you going?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Wooing other girls behind your back?¡±

    Hua Qing really did sneak over to a maiden cautiously looking around near the dock. ¡°¡­ Yanran.¡±

    The slightly tanned seventeen-year old maiden spun around. In a soft voice, she hollered, ¡°Brother Hua! Your ship arrivedte. I was worried something happened to you. I¡¯ve beening to check every two hours since I don¡¯t want to risk loitering for too long.¡±

    Hua Qing helplessly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I¡¯ve found a capable helper to help us get through us.¡± He walked off before Xu Yanran could reply, instructing softly, ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Trivia

 Volume 11.5 11

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 11</h4>

    While Su Li had Uncle Fu book them in at the inn first, she went to the restaurant Xu Yanran lodged at in Yichang.

    Having spent over a year on the run, Hua Qing was equipped with all the knowledge to stay off his pursuers¡¯ radars. Usually, people hide in secluded ces, even going as far as staying anywhere light reached, when trying to shake off pursuers. He, to the contrary, stayed at the most luxurious, if not second most luxurious, inn in the area. His predators never imagined he¡¯d take such an unconventional approach. In addition, top-end inns protect customers¡¯ privacy to an extreme degree, granting him anotheryer of security. The only problem with the tactic was the immense burden on his wallet. Although Master Xu promised a handsome reward, unless his predicament was resolved, his cost would be infinite. To resolve the money issue, Hua Qing had to asionally ¡°earn¡± some spare change, which he also used as an opportunity to gather information.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce you.¡± Sitting around the table in Xu Yanran¡¯s room, Hua Qing began, ¡°This is Yanran, daughter of Master Xu. She has borne with all the hardships I have ever since her family¡¯s misfortune. Yanran, this is Su Li. You can call her Miss Su. She is, uh¡­ also a victim of those people.¡±

    Xu Yanran didn¡¯t need more information to figure out why Hua Qing needed to stay a while longer at Three Gorges Dam and why he stuttered when introducing the maiden younger than herself. Xu Yanran saw Hua Qing as a brother figure after spending so long on the run with him; she hoped her brother could find love. Curbing her urge to chuckle, she, ncing Hua Qing¡¯s way, expressed, ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Su. You can just call me Yanran. Brother Hua¡¯s friend is my friend.¡±

    Su Li had plenty of questions, but etiquette stipted she respond in kind. ¡°The pleasure is mine, Sister Yanran. I owe Young Master Hua for taking care of me on the journey.¡±

    ¡°Young Master? Oh, oh.¡± Xu Yanran dimpled.

    Hua Qing: ¡°This young man is incredible! Yanran, he is the erudite, courageous, heroic individual I told you would help us, Hero Ming, can you put your dumplings down for a second?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Ming Feizhen frowned.

    Xu Yanran still couldn¡¯t fathom how Ming Feizhen would aplish the feat, but neither Su Li nor Hua Qing made any effort to enlighten her. Little did she know that they didn¡¯t know, either, let alone exin.

    ¡°Whatever the case, just know that he is a friend. He is on our side¡­ probably.¡±

    Xu Yanran needed a moment before she could nod because Ming Feizhen¡¯s ability to eat five dumplings simultaneously arrested her attention.

    ¡°Be nice to her,¡± Hua Qing whispered. ¡°Your shifu wants you to marry, doesn¡¯t he? How you going to aplish that the way you are?¡±

    Ming Feizhen flinched, then looked up at Hua Qing. Hua Qing gestured with his eyes and head toward Xu Yanran. Catching on, Ming Feizhen asked Xu Yanran, ¡°You have someone to introduce to me?¡±

    Xu Yanran: ¡°???¡±

    Hua Qing whispered, ¡°I meant for you to fix your attitude.¡±

    Ming Feizhen set his chopsticks down, performed a visual audit of Xu Yanran from head to toe, then demanded, ¡°Hey, let me touch your butt.¡±

    Su Li pulled Xu Yanran into her arms. ¡°Young Master Hua, put him in line!¡±

    ¡°Come with me!¡± Hua Qing dragged Ming Feizhen deeper into the room, far enough from the small living room to ensure the tow maidens couldn¡¯t hear them. He let go of Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand but kept his back facing the boy.

    ¡°You want to throw hands?¡±

    Hua Qing pivoted around. ¡°I¡­ want to m-¡±

    ¡°Make a shady deal?¡±

    ¡°Shady?! Why shady?! It¡¯s not shady!¡±

    ¡°What do you want, then?¡±

    ¡°Look, fate must¡¯ve let us run into each other while I¡¯m in this situation. I¡¯m thinking th-¡±

    ¡°You want me to ughter my way into Liu Shan Men and take Yan Shisan¡¯s head?¡±

    ¡°You sure are bold!¡±

    ¡°I never said I would.¡±

    ¡°Why even bring it up, then?! Stop cutting me off when I¡¯m speaking!¡± Hua Qing was legitimately scared for a moment because Ming Feizhen suggested the idea with a straight face. ¡°You¡¯re in the pugilistic world for a wife and a hundred thousand taels, no?¡±

    ¡°Oh? You heard?¡± Ming Feizhen turned his fingers into steely mps.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! I don¡¯t need to be silenced for that, do I?! You¡¯re the one who spilt the beans when he was sleeping.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rxed his hands. ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°I want to make a deal with you. In exchange for helping youplete your mission, can you help me clear my name and then¡­ teach me some martial arts as well as share some experience in the pugilistic world?¡±

    Ming Feizhen titled his head. ¡°Clearing your name isn¡¯t difficult. It¡¯s pretty much just finding the true mastermind and then contacting orthodox sects. Teaching you some martial arts is no big deal seeing as I didn¡¯t learn martial arts from my shifu. What do you mean by sharing experience in the pugilistic world, though?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always dreamt of being a hero in the pugilistic world, but I¡¯ve never hacked it, so I¡¯ve never truly tried adventuring. I, uh¡­ hope you can bring me along when you take care of business. I¡¯ll be happy just to take on some goons or misceneous jobs. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be fine just watching from the sideline.¡± Hua Qing could feel moisture building up in his hands as he spoke.

    Hua Qing¡¯s dream of bing a hero started from the moment he picked up a wooden rod as a sword and wore on a headband to y hero as a kid. Instead of letting his perilous circumstances crush his hopes, it fuelled his desire to be a hero more than ever before.

    ¡°Easy. Come along if you like.¡±

    Although it only took Ming Feizhen a second to nod, Hua Qing felt as though hours had passed.

    Ming Feizhen inquired, ¡°Can you seriously help me if I help you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a hard task. Master Xu provided me with a decent amount of money. Even if it doesn¡¯te to a hundred thousand, surely Repository Jade can¡¯t be worth less than that by much given how many people are fighting for it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stroked his chin. ¡°Hmm¡­ Should be worth three hundred thousand if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s even better! If I give you Repository jade, then your money issue is solved.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: Hmm¡­ even if I can¡¯t sell it, you can¡¯t argue I obtained a hundred thousand if I take it back. I¡¯d rather not have to do the leg work to collect a hundred thousand. Even if it¡¯s possible, it¡¯d take me ages.

    ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s a hundred thousand taels solved. What about my wife?¡±

    ¡°Come on.¡± Hua Qing grinned. ¡°Who do you think I am? All the other men automatically lose the moment I enter the picture. With me coaching you, there¡¯s not a woman you can¡¯t court.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped Hua Qing.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡±

    ¡°You can lie to me, but you can¡¯t insult my intelligence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious! I get flustered in front of Miss Su, but thedies are usually all over me everywhere I go.¡±

    Ming Feizhen inspected Hua Qing. His shifu always maised thedies with a simr appearance, so¡­

    ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s go with that for now.¡±

    ¡°High five to seal the deal!¡± Not only did Hua Qing now feel safe but also excited for what was in store. ¡°Can you not call me Hua Buxing, Hua Meiyong or Hua Huahui and the sort in Miss Su¡¯s presence? We haven¡¯t even known each other for two days, yet you¡¯ve already given me a bunch of derisive nicknames.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Hua Badan.¡±

    ¡°What did I just say, you runt?!¡±

    ¡°What do I call you, then?¡± Ming Feizhen pouted.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you just call me ¡®Brother Hua¡¯?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°Only people have called me ¡®Brother¡¯. I¡¯ve never called anyone ¡®Brother¡¯.¡±

    ¡°People call you ¡®Brother¡¯? How old are you?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter how old I am. You have to call me ¡®Brother¡¯. It¡¯s the rule.¡±

    ¡°Ah, pfft, there¡¯s no faction in the pugilistic world exercising such a rule.¡±

    ¡°When did I ever say it¡¯s an exclusive rule of the pugilistic world? It¡¯s my rule.¡±

    ¡°Toss your rule! Why should people adhere to your rule?! I refuse!¡±

    ¡°My second brother is two years older than me. He also refused at first.¡±

    This kid has a junior? By the sounds of it, he must have more than one. If they were all released into the world¡­ God, have mercy on this world.

    ¡°Uh, what happens if he refuses? Do you fight him?¡±

    ¡°Nah. One time, I lost it with him, so I dragged him by the foot and buried him in a pit of dung to train his respiratory system.¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡±

    ¡°Good boy.¡±

    I¡¯m never messing with him when there¡¯s a pit of dung nearby!

    ¡°But, uh, you don¡¯t need to make me look bad in front of people, do you? Let¡¯s do this: I¡¯ll call you ¡®Brother¡¯ when we¡¯re alone. When other people are around, you call me ¡®Brother Hua¡¯, and I¡¯ll call you ¡®Brother Feizhen¡¯. I¡¯ll be the older brother in public, and you be the older brother when we¡¯re alone. What do you say?¡± Hua Qing¡¯s feet already pointed toward the exit.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Cool. Let¡¯s head back now. We don¡¯t want to make them wait for too long.¡± Hua Qing headed back with an arm draped over Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder. ¡°For real, though, you can¡¯t be so direct with girls. If you want a wife, the first thing you need to do is be likeable. You need to show your cool side; you can¡¯t just always be wolfing down food or wearing a straight face. You¡¯re not trying to scare them off, after all. Plus, if this is your attitude now, you¡¯re going to be a problem when you grow older.¡±

    Afraid the atmosphere would be awkward, Xu Yanran started with a smile. ¡°Whatever the case, I¡¯m d you¡¯re back, Brother Hua. While you were gone, more and more people have taken up arms to apprehend you. I think even Liu Shan Men has dispatched constables, so I was worried you had been taken into custody when your ship didn¡¯t arrive on schedule.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I was fine. Ahem, Brother Feizhen, you should introduce yourself properly.¡± Hua Qing used his eyes tomunicate, ¡°Stay cool. Stay cool.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wiped the oil off his mouth. ¡°Hey.¡±

    Xu Yanran recoiled/ ¡°H-hello¡­ I¡¯m Xu Yanran.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°I¡¯m Ming Chengwu. Pleasure to meet you.¡±

    Hua Qing jumped to his feet:.¡°Why did you name yourself that?! Also, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s overkill?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I was joking.¡± Ming Feizhen cleared his throat, then extended a hand toward Xu Yanran. ¡°I¡¯m Ming Mieba (Ming Overlord of Destruction). Pleasure to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Your name is Ming Feizhen! Also, your idea of ¡®cool¡¯ is wrong! Nobody understands your joke! Who the heck is Ming Mieba?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen furrowed his brows. ¡°It¡¯s the primary antagonist of a book I recently read called ¡®Father¡¯s Lianmeng nting Woe¡¯. It¡¯s all the rage on Mount Wudang at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Nobody has ever read it! I bet my life nobody has read it! Also, no girl thinks it¡¯s cool!¡±

    Su Li raised her hand up to reluctantly. ¡°Actually¡­ I think it¡¯s a cool name.¡±

    Xu Yanran: ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Do you two have no principles?!¡±

    Su Li and Xu Yanran: ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I give up. In short¡­ His name is Ming Feizhen¡­ correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct. I like coconuts. Pleasure to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Stop! Why do you keep trying that gag? Even those who can keep up are losing the plot now! Anyway, we were discussing how to pay Zhuo Fengru a visit. His estate is in Yichang, but he is usually on the move. As such, we don¡¯t know if he¡¯s home. If we visit while he¡¯s out, we may expose ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Let me give you your first ss for sess in the pugilistic world.¡±

    ¡°Although your tone leaves a lot to be desired, please do tell.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, opportunity wille knocking by itself.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that supposed to m-¡±

    A tall man infiltrated their room on the third floor via the window connecting to the streets. Spotting the swordsman, Hua Qing linked up Ming Feizhen¡¯s advice and questioned, ¡°M-might you be Hero Zhuo?!¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± The man dressed in ck kicked Hua Qing into the wall, cracking the wall. ¡°I¡¯ve been searching for you for longer than a year! Today will be your funeral.¡± He eyed the room, then queried, ¡°Where are Ma Hanshan and the others?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Since you set a trap on the ship, I figured the storyteller must¡¯ve boarded ahead, which would¡¯ve given him time to notify his superiors.¡± Ming Feizhenzily rose. ¡°Based on their line of thought, capturing you wouldn¡¯t be the end of it. You think they wouldn¡¯t treat you to a torture feast after all the investments they made to capture you? ordingly, they have to have an exchange point. As the ship¡¯s destination was Yichang, I doubted their allies would wait at the pier. I¡¯m sure they already kept tabs on us the moment we showed ourselves. Instead of chasing them around mindlessly, why not wait for them toe to us? That¡¯s what I was trying to say.¡± Ming Feizhen nced over to starry-eyed Hua Qing and sighed. ¡°That being said, I didn¡¯t think a certain somebody wouldprehend it the way he did.¡±

    ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve got quite the mouth, huh?¡± The man exposed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°What are you going to do when trouble visits, though?¡±

    ¡°Sixteen.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I stand corrected. Seventeen.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The man reactively squeezed his hilt harder.

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms. ¡°There are seventeen of you, yet they¡¯re making you charge in first. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s unfair?¡±

    ¡°Sh-shut up!¡±

    ¡°As men of the pugilistic world, honour is our dignity. For better or worse, we stick together. In the same vein, if you¡¯re going to take a beating, you should all take a beating, no?¡±

    ¡°Y-¡± The man flew out the window at the same angle he came in against his will. Next thing everyone heard was a loud thud of bones and flesh against concrete. Those who saw him crashnd onto the ground would¡¯ve easily thought he identally fell out of the window.

    Ming Feizhen looked at his hand and sighed. ¡°Man, I¡¯ve been training for so long, yet I still can¡¯t control it?¡± He went to the window, then said, ¡°If you want to live, follow me,¡± and then leapt out the window.

    Su Li and Xu Yanran looked at each other: How are we supposed to keep up?

    The two maidens lugged Hua Qing out of the building to find ten-odd armed men besieging Ming Feizhen. Unlike the usual scene of viins surrounding the hero, the armed men were clearly the sort of men one would deem the heroes forced to draw their des. They weren¡¯t the sort of men one would underestimate. Rtively speaking, they appeared superior to the swordsman who stormed into their room.

    The bystanders certainly seemed to believe the armed men were in the right, evoking concern in Su Li and Xu Yanran¡¯s minds. If the citizens misunderstood the roles, Ming Feizhen would be in trouble. If officers arrived on the scene and the citizens provided incorrect information, all of them would be in trouble.

    Contrary to the opinions of bystanders, the cult followers of Lord Miguo were astonished they were being perceived as heroes. After all, they couldn¡¯t name one dignifying thing they¡¯d done in years besides saying ¡°good morning¡± to the cleaner at their doors.

    A fellow attired as a schr voiced, ¡°Hoho, worry not. This is our first visit here. We are not here to busk or sell snake oil. We are here solely to show you the magic of martial arts.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Got roids?¡±

    ¡°Great question. That is our¡­¡± Realising what he was responding to, he went red in the face, much to the amusement of bystanders.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°I had no idea you were so down to earth. Had we gotten to know each other sooner, I¡¯d give you a penny. Unfortunately, I¡¯m broke recently, so I can¡¯t help. Hang in there for a few more days. I¡¯ll go watch you busk.¡±

    ¡°Y-you conniving little runt. We shall serve you your penance for humiliating this esteemed gentleman.¡±

    As embarrassing as it was for the group, they probably appreciated the support of the people in their situation.

    Su Li shouted, ¡°Since you call yourselves heroes, fight him one on one. Have you no shame, ganging up on a child?¡±

    ¡°No need, Sister Su.¡±

    Hearing the ¡°Sister¡± prefix for the first time from Ming Feizhen, Su Li couldn¡¯t help blushing. ¡°But y-¡±

    ¡°See this?¡±

    Before anyone saw him move, Ming Feizhen already had a sword and strip of cloth in his hands that weren¡¯t there a blink ago. Meanwhile, the schr was less a sword - scabbard included - and his hairy legs were on full disy.

    red up and abashed, he pulled his pants up. ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    The man on the ground, still in a hazy state of mind, warned, ¡°Watch out! He¡¯s a monster!¡±

    ¡°Monster?¡± Ming Feizhen looked around to see everyone as rigid as if they were in a pool of freezing water. ¡°Have you seen a monster?¡± He slowly stretched out his right hand, pressed his thumb to his middle finger, then, wearing a straight face, threatened, ¡°Don¡¯t make me snap my fingers.¡±

    ¡°I thought I told you to drop that act!¡± The cure for Hua Qing¡¯sa turned out to be extreme irritation.

    Glossary

    Hua Buxing - Useless flower

    Hua Meiyong - Useless flower

    Hua Huahui - Withering flower.

    Brother - Hua Qing and Ming Feizhen demand each other address the other as brother (older). The distinction doesn¡¯t exist in English unless we add the ¡°Younger¡± and ¡°Big¡± prefixes. To ovee this issue, I¡¯m running withst name and first name basis.

 Volume 11.5 12

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 12</h4>

    Though Ming Feizhen mopped the floor with three veterans on the ship, three on one and sixteen on one aren¡¯t the same thing.

    Hua Qing tugged Xu Yanran¡¯s sleeve with his left hand and grabbed Su Li¡¯s hand with his right hand. ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry. Brother Feizhen can give top pugilists a run for their money. He¡¯ll sleep them.¡± Meanwhile, his feet were pointed away from the battlefield.

    Xu Yanran cried, ¡°Watch out, (Big) Brother Mieba!¡±

    Had they been in safer circumstances, Su Li would¡¯ve pointed out the tall young man was younger than Xu Yanran.

    Three broadsword wielders coordinated their attacks to keep the initiative from Ming Feizhen, giving him only a few inches to move around. The remainder of the group kept Ming Feizhen in encirclement from afar. In summary, he had three immediately to deal with, four in the closestyer, five in the nextyer and three projectile users at the farthestyer. The only man who wasn¡¯t participating was the schr who was tying up his pants.

    Given how proficient they were at working a formation, it was hard to imagine they were unheard of in the pugilistic world. By extension, it was hard to imagine what how dangerous their elites would be if the men dispatched to capture a defenceless man were already this polished. Little did Hua Qing know how important Repository Jade was to them.

    The more attacks thrown, the smaller Ming Feizhen¡¯s movements became. It came to a point where he was tilting his head or lifting his arm to evade attacks. At a nce, one would think he had something invisible floating around him that could cause their attacks to deviate off course. Surely that wasn¡¯t true, though. If it was, it¡¯d mean he was controlling his opponents from the start without havingid a hand on them. The white-robed schr fixing up his pants certainly didn¡¯t believe it was possible because, if it was true, then he¡¯d be no the level of Lord Miguo.

    Following a coded gesture, four men, respectively wielding Emei piercers, a dagger, copper cudgel and scimitar, went at Ming Feizhen from four different directions. As they slipped passed the three broadsword wielders, the three withdrew in tandem, leaving no room for their opponent.

    Right upon switching ces, the Emei piercers hit the dagger. The dagger stabbed into the cudgel. The cudgel intercepted the scimitar. The scimitar sliced the two hands of the Emei piercers¡¯ wielder.

    Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°Lotus Sacred Sect¡¯s skills aren¡¯t as impressive as the legends im.¡±

    Wrathful, the schr flitted up to Ming Feizhen, then uncorked a ferocious dual palm attack. Ming Feizhen executed a semicircle movement with one arm to dismantle the attack. The schr smirked. ¡°How¡¯s that?¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen Lotus Sacred Sect¡¯s skills; I was just testing you. Thanks for confirming you¡¯re with Lotus Sacred Sect.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard that, among the three branches under Lotus Grand Warrior, Purity Branch¡¯s primary discipline is called Vajra Realm - a discipline that creates an impregnable body with a single thought but is different to the Central in¡¯s method of moulding qi into armour. Supposedly, it can be used for offence as well as defence.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re literate, but did you know you crippled yourself when you blocked? Try raising your voice. I guarantee your meridians and nerves will burst.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°If they don¡¯t, you owe me a hundred thousand taels.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ming Feizhen focused his qi to his dantian, then belted, ¡°Rise,¡± whilst gesturing up with a supinated hand.

    Subsequent to Ming Feizhen¡¯s sonorousmand, the schr levitated without him doing anything. Though unexpected, he had seen enough in his long life of fights, so he only had admiration for Ming Feizhen when he rose as high as three men stacked on top of each other. Upon matching the second storey of the inn, he was ready to prostrate himself since only elders of their cult would¡¯ve achieved the feat. Once he was past the roof of the inn, consternation crept in a tad since he was nning to tumble onto the roof. Nheless, he epted a few minor injuries as a negligible consequence. Howbeit, the ceiling seemed to shrink and shrink¡­ and shrink until people were ants, while the sun grew and grew.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mama!¡±

    The whistling wind as he began his rapid descent told him that even his innards would be liquid when hended. He forced his eyelids together as tight as he could, preparing himself to meet his end. In the end, he felt his toes lightly touch the ground, followed by the ball of his foot and hells; hended as light as a feather.

    ¡°You¡¯re a pretty good kid, huh?¡±

    The schr opened his eyes to find his cor in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands and feel his legs were extra cool due to the breeze billowing his soaked pants.

    ¡°Still want to show me what you¡¯ve got?¡±

    The schr¡¯s teeth just chattered.

    ¡°You¡¯re not with Purity Branch but Miguo Branch.¡±

    ¡°H-huh?¡±

    ¡°While Vajra Realm is a discipline of Purity Branch, most members of Purity Branch are monks. In addition, while Vajra Realm is the signature of Purity Branch, their disciples aren¡¯t the only ones who can utilise it. For instance, it¡¯s possible to learn via Miguo Branch¡¯s ¡®Obtaining the Fruit Thanks to Numerous Reasons¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Wh-where did you hear that from?¡±

    ¡°Supposedly, the discipline teaches you to absorb your opponent¡¯s force and then hit them with it. At the advanced level, it¡¯s possible to store that force inside you for prolonged periods.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I assume it¡¯s possible to store the force of an attack enhanced with Vajra Realm. Logically, then, you must be Purity Branch¡¯s rival, Miguo Branch.¡±

    ¡°H-how do you know everything?¡±

    ¡°Your Lord Miguo has been hiding in the Central in after his match with Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord Whatever, hasn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°How do you know everything?!¡±

    ¡°How much do you reckon I could sell this intel for?¡±

    The schr frantically broke free and then pointed at Ming Feizhen. ¡°Let¡¯s take the trash out together. There¡¯s no need to honour the pugilistic world¡¯s moral codes with his kind.¡±

    Even with all of them, the schr wasn¡¯t confident they could beat Ming Feizhen because Lord Miguo was a god to him, and Ming Feizhen was on par with Lord Miguo based on what had witnessed. Whatever the case, they didn¡¯t have an alternative.

    ¡°Everyone, get him!¡±

    ¡°This is preposterous!¡± A young swordsman exited the inn. ¡°You think you can escape me aftermitting crimes in broad daylight?!¡±

    The eighteen-year-old swordsman¡¯s broad shoulder-to-waist ratio proved he trained a lot. His clothing easily cost months of an average household¡¯s ie. He had distinct, thick eyebrows that formed a straight line when he red or scowled. The way he carried himself suggested he was the type to speak his mind. Or, in Mount Daluo¡¯snguage, he was a dolt.

    Schr: This is bad¡­

    The skilled swordsman aimed straight for Ming Feizhen.

    Su Li, Xu Yanran and the schr: ¡°Huh?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Who the hell is this tard?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Ming Feizhen almost got caught due to his surprise. ¡°Isn¡¯t the hero supposed to help mey out the bullies? What script you got?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no use feigning! Look at the state you beat them into! You¡¯re clearly the bully here!¡±

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms.

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 13

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 13</h4>

    ¡°So you do realise you¡¯re in the wrong. Please rest, brothers. With me here, he will not get away.¡± The swordsman saluted everyone one by one - just as you¡¯d expect from the scion of an affluent family.

    ¡°May I ask where you came from, soldier of justice?¡± Ming Feizhen inquired.

    ¡°Hmph, I was enjoying my meal in the inn when I caught you throwing someone out the window, then throw someone up. Were you born in the year of the bowstring? Did you learn martial arts to bounce people?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: Is this how moronic I look when I presumptuously enforce justice?

    ¡°Still feigning, are we? I¡¯ll give you until three to disarm and yield. Otherwise, hmph.¡± The swordsman raised his sword. ¡°Three. Two¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked down to his empty hands, then back up to the swordsman¡¯s sword. ¡°How about you give me your expensive sword, and I¡¯ll disarm. I don¡¯t want to make you look too stupid.¡±

    ¡°One! You asked for it!¡±

    The swordsman drew his sword using a technique called ¡°Cold Sheath¡±, a technique now rarely used besides byrge swordy sects. In Jiangnan, only Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Luo Sword Manor used it. Among the three biggest sects, only Wudang taught it. Each school had their own variation of how it should be performed.

    Ming Feizhen snatched the sword from the swordsman whilst letting thetter slip by his side. The swordsman, however, didn¡¯t realise his had was abnormally light until seven stepster.

    ¡°Qingshuang.¡± Ming Feizhen held the sword to the sun to see the name of the sword. ¡°This is worth several hundred silvers.¡±

    The humiliated swordsman aimed his palm at Ming Feizhen¡¯s torso. ¡°Return Qingshuang!¡±

    Ming Feizhen discarded Qingshuang. ¡°I¡¯ve disarmed, bro.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sent the sword back to its sheath faster than the swordsman¡¯s eyes could follow. The force of the sword sliding into the sheath knocked the swordsman onto his back so quick that he went from seeing Ming Feizhen to the sky straight away.

    Crawling to his feet, the swordsman questioned, ¡°Wh-what sorcery was that?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged.

    Someone from the inn voiced, ¡°Labelling advanced skill as sorcery because you are the inferior man is typical of a scoundrel with a loud mouth. Young Master, don¡¯t disappoint this old one.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°That¡¯s some potent internal strength.¡±

    The man used something simr to amplifying his voice over a long distance, but he didn¡¯t sound as though he was forcing himself to extend its reach.

    ¡°You¡¯re iming that was a martial skill?¡±

    Judging from the tone of their exchange, the man in the inn and the swordsman were acquainted.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell that the young man has developed his internal energy to an extreme degree? When he threw the young master in white up, it was all force. When he caught the young master¡¯s fall, he switched to diffusing the force. When he took your sword, he focused on fluidity. When he returned your sword, it was rigid force. It¡¯s clear to say that he has been taught well. Your internal strength is decent, but you are a dozen years too early to match adepts.¡±

    ¡°What should I do, then?¡±

    ¡°What did you spend ten years learning swordy for? If you can¡¯t outmuscle, can¡¯t you win with skill? When do you n to use your Tideturning Swordy¡¯s thirteen sword techniques if not now?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had a waiter bring him a bench, umbre a colossal watermelon. The waiter wasn¡¯t going to say no to a man who made short work of so many adepts when he had his job, mother and siblings to feed. Ming Feizhen was shaking his leg on the bench and enjoying his watermelon when he heard, ¡°Take this!¡±

    The diagonal sh from the swordsman was in a different league to his previous attacks, prompting Ming Feizhen to raise the watermelon as a shield. Ming Feizhen then lowered the watermelon to bite into the juicy watermelon that the swordsman kindly cut for him.

    The swordsmanunched a three-shbo that missed. Ming Feizhen, still eating, flicked a seed at the swordsman¡¯s face, sending him to his knees.

    ¡°¡­ Tideturning didn¡¯t work.¡±

    The man in the inn exhaled heavily. ¡°Nothing works if you¡¯re sloppy. The essence of your swordy is to attack without giving your opponent room to counter, so stick to your opponent. As such, you must control your tempo, or it won¡¯t amount to anything. You¡¯re never going to perform it the way it should be performed if you¡¯re riled up and overzealous. Try slowing down about 30%.¡±

    The swordsman swiped off the seed on his face, then restarted,ing out akin to tidesing one after another. Ming Feizhen picked up seeds from the ground, flicking one, two and three seeds all urately at the swordsman¡¯s face.

    ¡°¡­ He got away.¡±

    ¡°Although sticking to your opponent is the crux of your swordy, it doesn¡¯t warrant mindlessly swinging your sword. In what fight does one person just block and eat attacks? You can shut your opponent down with offence. You think your unarmed opponent would be afraid of your de?¡±

    The swordsman shed his erratic style after the lecture, bing more dangerous. In response to the threat edging closer, Ming Feizhen flicked the de out of the swordsman¡¯s hand and into the heavens.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Well¡­ he really isn¡¯t scared.¡±

    Man in the inn: ¡°¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen flicked a bunch more of seeds, thenid on the ground. He tossed a string of money to the waiter and then called, ¡°Hey,e out, and fight me yourself.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 14

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 14</h4>

    ¡°If this old one bows to your demands, what would be of his dignity?¡± The elder sounded rather indifferent to Ming Feizhen¡¯s callout, but the audience didn¡¯t think so.

    Ming Feizhen nodded. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll go to you.¡±

    ¡°Take your time. This old one owes the inn a rather big sum. If we break furniture in our match, this one will be an even bigger sinner.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t your debt be void if it¡¯s torn down?¡±

    ¡°Wine is this old one¡¯s life. If this inn is gone, then he will die when his addiction hits. If that¡¯s what will happen, this old one would rather pass on fighting you. Besides, wouldn¡¯t this old one be the first one they heckle once they rebuild? The inn must stay.¡± If he wasn¡¯t interested at all, he wouldn¡¯t have said so much.

    Seeing the elder wobble out and reeking of alcohol, Hua Qingmented, ¡°Did he fall into a vat of alcohol?¡±

    Even though he referred to himself as ¡°this old one¡±, he would¡¯ve only been fifty - tops. That being said, he¡¯d understandably be mistaken for being older since he his short strands of hair were white and teeth were yellow - definitely attributed to the pipe hanging from his sash.

    As soon as he saw the chubby man in mangled clothing, the schr gave his allies a signal. Within seconds, they had retreated.

    ¡°How are we supposed to screw with them now?¡± Hua Qing scuttled over to Ming Feizhen. ¡°Brother Feizhen, our predicament is worrying now that those people ran. We should prioritise searching for Hero Zhuo. Ignore this old man.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak.¡± Ming Feizhen took a step forward, then saluted the elder. ¡°May I ask¡­¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, now you want to know this old one¡¯s name man after seeing how impressive he is? There is no need for all the formalities.¡±

    ¡°¡­ When was thest time you washed yourself?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± The man took out his pipe for a big puff, then narrowed his already tiny eyes on his meaty face. ¡°It seems this old one must curb your arrogance. All right, let¡¯s see how impressive the current generation is.¡±

    Ming Feizhen did as he was told, doing away with his underestimations. In a second, Ming Feizhen¡¯s aura changed, while the man appeared taller.

    Ming Feizhen flitted over as fast as usual, then uncoiled a punch.

    ¡°Not bad. Not bad.¡± The man casually took a small step to evade, letting the ground behind him sink a few centimetres instead of him gaining a new aperture in his body.

    Missing his straight, Ming Feizhen uncorked a slicing spinning hook. Missing his kick, he knife handed down.

    ¡°Nice, nice, you¡¯re way ahead for your age. What school do you belong to?¡±

    Despite missing hisbo for the first time, Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°You should be able to tell, right? There¡¯s no school that¡¯s that hard to distinguish, is there?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Oho, provocation tactic, huh? Hohoho, if this old one can¡¯t figure it out within ten moves, it will be his loss.¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s aura grew more hostile.

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± The formerly unconscious swordsman jumped to his feet. ¡°Without someone keeping count, how does anyone know how many moves it has been? Do not fall for his ploys.¡±

    A move from a discipline could vary from ten to a hundred techniques, and a hundred techniques wouldn¡¯t necessarily consist of ten movements. Hence, it would be easy to cheat the system if they were counting ¡°moves¡±.

    The man palmed his face. ¡°I apologise for my son¡¯s embarrassing ignorance.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smirked. ¡°Rx, Young Master. Ten moves means ten moves.¡±

    Ming Feizhen executed his lunging punch again at the same angle, from the same position and the exact form; however, the wind howled this time.

    ¡°Hohoho, nice.¡± The man evaded the same way he did the first time.

    ¡°That¡¯s one!¡± Ming Feizhen retracted his extended arm, then fired it a second time the same way, dialling up his output again.

    ¡°Very nice.¡± The man dodged the same way again.

    After a few more repeats, Su Li questioned, ¡°Young Master Hua, why do they keep repeating the same movements?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Ahaha, maybe they are stuck?¡±

    The seventh punch produced a gale that lifted stalls heaven bound, impelling Hua Qing to pull the two maidens out of range. The elder¡¯s smile vanished once Ming Feizhen, still emitting smoke from his body, unleashed his eighth punch.

    ¡°All right, try this one.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s ninth punch burst forth without any winds.

    On the surface level, all of Ming Feizhen¡¯s punches were the same. Deeper down, however, he switched the way he moulded and condensed energy each time. The elder was the only one privy to exceptional skill Ming Feizhen embodied for he was the only person close to the teenager.

    The ninth punch had the elder sweating bullets, yet the tenth one was alreadying.

    By all means, being able to switch the way one deployed their internal energy was impressive, but Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal energy potency seemed to have no limit, and he effortlessly churned it out. On the tenth punch, Ming Feizhen generated enough force to make breathingborious.

    I must admit my age is catching up with me.

    The elder threw his head back to back tuck backwards, deeming retreat the only means of avoiding damage.

    Though the elder escaped, he noticed Ming Feizhen¡¯s fist was still closed and a red glint in thetter¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    Torn bits of white cloth rained down as Ming Feizhen readied himself for an eleventh punch, forgetting all about the deal due to thrill. When he noticed the fragments, it urred to him that the fragments belonged to the head cloth he used to hide his white hair. In other words, the elder tore up the cloth when he evaded the tenth punch, yet Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t realise it.

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s ten. Your internal energy is bnced and potent. It¡¯s clear that you¡¯re an orthodox practitioner. Your internal style should be Orthodox Realm. As far as this old one is aware, there are only three disciplines that meet all the conditions. Your first three punches were very direct and strong. Next, you went extremely hostile and sinister in your urgency to win. Honestly, this is the first time this old one hase across this scenario. Young man, you have a bright future ahead of you. Why learn sinister, unorthodox disciplines? Heed this old one: it is still not toote to discard those malicious skills.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was still trapped in a daze.

    Hua Qing vocalised, ¡°What are you on about? Old man, don¡¯t try to change the topic. Don¡¯t forget what you promised. Have you figured out which school my brother is a disciple of or not?¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, please forgive this old one¡¯s ignorance. The inheritor of those three disciplines couldn¡¯t be so young. This old one can¡¯t identify which school he is from. This old one can¡¯t argue that his age is doing a number on him.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. How would you know?¡± Hua Qing responded.

    Also Hua Qing: How would you know when not even I know?!

    Ming Feizhen finally took his first breath, then saluted the elderly respectfully. ¡°May I ask for your honoured name, elder?¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡± The elder saluted Ming Feizhen back, revealing the fact that he didn¡¯t have his left index and pinky fingers. ¡°This old one is Zhuo Fengrui. Some know him by the humorous nickname ¡®Eight Fingers¡¯. Judging from your reactions, you must¡¯ve heard the name. Hero Fengrui? No, no, this old one is no hero.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 15

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 15</h4>

    ¡°You¡¯re Zhuo Fengru?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru touched his few strands of white hair, then lifted his chin. ¡°Hohoho, 100% authentic version.¡±

    Before Ming Feizhen could speak or Hua Qing could p himself and then cling to Zhuo Fengru¡¯s leg, Xu Yanran eximed, ¡°Uncle Zhuo, it¡¯s me! Me!¡±

    Zhuo Fengru fixed his gaze on Xu Yanran. ¡°¡­ Yan¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru, unlike his savvy father, hollered, ¡°Yanran, what are you doing in Yichang?! We have been searching for you high and l-¡±

    ¡°Silence, fool!¡± Zhuo Fengru, using his veteran eyes that had seen plenty in his lifetime, surveyed the people around. Anyone who met eyes with him showed a clean pair of heels. Noticing Ming Feizhen intend to go in pursuit of them, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t give chase. They are local underground members. It¡¯s useless to capture a few of them. Word has already spread.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru headed over to Xu Yanran. Though she was thinnerpared to when hest saw her, she appeared to be in good wealth. In a soft voice, he opined, ¡°I can¡¯t ask for any more than your wellbeing. Follow me back to my ce. This is not the ce to talk.¡± He saluted Ming Feizhen. ¡°Pleasee along, young hero.¡±

    Ming Feizhen politely reciprocated the salute.

    The group didn¡¯t bother hiding their presence as it was needless given Zhuo Fengru was already known around the area.

    Although the estate in the rather quiet south of Yichang was somewhat messy in design, it upied an enormous block ofnd. Immediately behind the entrance that four guards guarded were expensive flowers, followed by carved and painted pirs. In contrast to Zhuo Fengru¡¯s dishevelled appearance, the main hall was decorated with high-quality of paintings of no less than fifteen famous people.

    Zhuo Fengru had his guests seated and treated to tea while he went to change into more presentable clothing. Upon returning, he introduced, ¡°This is my son, Yupin, courtesy name Yi Ren.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin, Xu Yanran¡¯s fianc¨¦, brightly asked, ¡°Yanran, it¡¯s been ages. Do you still remember me?¡±

    ¡°Where are you manners?¡± chided Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Please pardon us. I have spoilt him rotten. I apologise on his behalf.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru respected all the formal salutes between himself, Ming Feizhen, Su Li and Hua Qing, but he discarded them when interacting with Xu Yanran because of his seniority and status as her future father-inw.

    Resuming the main topic, Zhuo Fengru inquired, ¡°Yanran, I visited your home five times after the tragedy but found very little. There was no news of you whatsoever. Rumours of Lord Wu kidnapping you were abound. What exactly happened?¡±

    Xu Yanran turned to Hua Qing for approval before she shared her story.

    Zhuo Fengru: ¡°I thought it was bizarre. Predators have patterns to their behaviours, such as brutal murders or being meticulous, yet Hua Feihua¡¯s style was never consistent. It was so prone to variation that it seemed as though it was a different culprit every time, and my guess was right.

    ¡°Young Master Hua, our families owe you. If anything befell my brother¡¯s daughter, I would live with regret forever. Without you, we would have never met. Please ept three kowtows from this old one as a small token.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru went down to kowtow before Hua Qing could react, reminiscent of when he took his own two fingers in his younger years.

    ¡°Hero Zhuo, I have admired you since I was a child. I cannot possibly have you bowing to me.¡± Hua Qing kowtowed three times back.

    Until Lady Zhuo came in, the two of them kept going back and forth. ¡°You all must be hungry. Let us talk over a meal. My lord, what are you doing?¡±

    For some reason, Lady Zhuo left once everyone was seated and food was served up.

    Zhuo Fengru expressed, ¡°Had it not been for Young Master Hua¡¯s help, it never would¡¯ve dawned on this old one that Western Region¡¯s cult is involved. Yanran, now that I know who the culprit is, I will make him pay.¡±

    Xu Yanran lowered her head forlornly. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Hua Qing smugly said to Ming Feizhen, ¡°He¡¯s nothing like what you said. What did you say he¡¯d do again? Rob me? Harm me? I told he¡¯s a hero, you ignorant brat.¡±

    Ming Feizhen neither ate much nor argued.

    Zhuo Fengru continued, ¡°Due to Yupin¡¯sck of self-awareness, those thugs know Yanran¡¯s whereabouts. I surmise they will soone for her.¡±

    Su Li queried, ¡°What shall we do?¡±

    ¡°As you are this old one¡¯s guests, he will not allow you to leave with a scratch.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°See? This is what you call a hero!¡±

    Ming Feizhen still didn¡¯t budge.

    Zhuo Fengru: ¡°Make yourself at home. This old one shall reach out to a few friends for help.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Hear that? What did I say again?!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Ming Feizhen ruthlessly mmed Hua Qing¡¯s head onto the table four times.

    ¡°What the hell?! My head, ah!¡±

    ¡°There was a mosquito on the table. I was worried it¡¯d bite you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do I have to thank you?! Ah, that hurts.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Volume 11.5 16

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 16</h4>

    Hua Qing gave his ount of the event, too, since being an eyewitness and victim would make his testimony more moving andplete.

    ¡°This one has been framed for rape, molestation, kidnapping and every other heinous crime under the sun. Everyone he is acquainted with turned on him; even his closest friends tried to lure him out. For you to believe this one¡¯s words is¡­ is¡­ really is¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru held out a hand, gesturing to Hua Qing that he could feel thetter¡¯s sentiments. ¡°Men should not shed tears. This old one does not want to see a man¡¯s tears. To be candid, your story is unbelievable. Howbeit, all the details line up, and there is nothing that doesn¡¯t conform with your story. In addition, based on your martial skills, the stories of Lord Wu would be exaggerated.¡±

    Hua Qing wasn¡¯t even cognisant of the fact that Zhuo Fengru had analysed hisbat skills.

    ¡°This old one was always monitoring you. A man can lie, but his emotions, expressions, personality and experiences can be measured. If you were lying, you would not sound so convinced in your own words. You helped Yanran when you, yourself, were in danger, and she vouches for you; this one can trust you.¡±

    Hua Qing meekly conveyed, ¡°To tell the truth, this one is no hero. He did not enter Xu Manor with good will that night.¡±

    ¡°You know how this old one met Brother Xu? He caught this old one trying to pickpocket him when this old one was desperate due to starving for three days. Instead of reporting or reprimanding this old man, he invited this old one to his ce to eat. This old one can still remember the taste of the food that day.¡±

    Everyone burst intoughter.

    Zhuo Fengru peppered some irrelevant chatter into the conversation prior to resuming the main topic. ¡°Based on Brother Xu¡¯s final words, the Shaolin monk must be one of the keys to the mystery. Unfortunately, we do not know his dharma name. Else, we could start our investigations from him.¡±

    Starting from the Shaolin monk never urred to Hua Qing. Therefore, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s rmendation convinced him he made the right decision. The conversation quickly developed into a group discussion on how to locate the monk.

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, why are you not saying anything? Are the dishes not to your liking?¡±

    Hua Qing whispered, ¡°Yeah, where¡¯s your ravenous appetite? What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± Ming Feizhen red daggers at Hua Qing.

    ¡°The hell is your deal, man?¡±

    Xu Yanran also whispered, ¡°Brother Mieba, what¡¯s the matter? Do you have a stomach ache or something.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡± Ming Feizhen red daggers at Xu Yanran, as well.

    Su Li: ¡°Ming Feizhen, say something.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re ugly.¡± Ming Feizhen dished out yet another re.

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, is this old one¡¯s reception not up to your standard?¡±

    Hua Fei: ¡°Ahaha, no way. Brother Feizhen is really proud of his skills, so he is still bitter about his loss to you today.¡±

    Ming Feizhen muttered under his breath, ¡°God damn it,¡± and stomped on Hua Qing¡¯s foot, but Hua Qing pulled his foot away. Thus, Ming Feizhen banged Hua Qing¡¯s head on the table again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t throw a tantrum just because you can¡¯t deal with your defeat!¡±

    Ignoring Hua Qing, Ming Feizhen turned to Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Hero Zhuo, I have a question for you.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru was ready for questions from Ming Feizhen ever since they returned to his ce because of Ming Feizhen¡¯s open hostility. Deploying a tactical smile, he asked, ¡°Please feel free to ask.¡±

    Ming Feizhen swept his gaze over all the paintings and expensive items. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask where your wealthes from.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin grumbled, ¡°What are you trying to insinuate, Young hero Ming? Don¡¯t you feel you are being rude?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just that Hero Zhuo is different to others. Even his son¡¯s name is special. Word on the street is that Hero Zhuo views material wealth as dung, so I¡¯m curious. It¡¯s okay to not answer. Just pretend I never asked.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you have been looking around at the paintings and antiques ever since you came in?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to answer or not?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, why not? This old one has always had a business in Jingzhou. This old one¡¯s wife owns five silk stores, three antique stores, twelve eateries and fifty-six hectares ofnd for farming. He has three sons, all of whom own a number of businesses each. If you wish, this old one can tell you all about them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. It¡¯s not like I can tell determine if you¡¯re telling the truth or not.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± grouched Hua Qing. ¡°What¡¯s your problem? Hero Zhuo is kindly treating us; where are you manners?¡±

    Ming Feizhen cast his gaze to the ceiling. ¡°Manners? What¡¯s that? Is it edible?¡±

    Zhuo Yupin eximed, ¡°My father is respecting you as a guest from afar. It¡¯s not a warrant for you to walk all over us. Do you think my sword is just decoration?¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked down to the sword. ¡°How¡¯d you obtain it? Dirty money? Wow.¡±

    Had his father and Xu Yanran not been present, Zhuo Yupin would¡¯ve drawn his sword.

    ¡°Stop.¡± Zhuo Fengru brushed aside Ming Feizhen¡¯s whistling to say, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Young Master, bring our ledger.¡±

    ¡°Father, why must you bend to his whims?!¡±

    ¡°Go.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin crankily yielded, following his father¡¯s instructions but not without cursing under his breath.

    The verbal altercation bred an ufortably awkward silence in the building; and all of Su Li and Xu Yanran¡¯s gestures to Ming Feizhen went ignored. The only person who seemed unbothered was Zhuo Fengru.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Zhuo Yupin courteously passed the ledger to his father with both hands.

    Zhuo Fengru took the ledger. ¡°This ledger is a record of thest three years. Young Hero Ming, please feel free to check. Should you have any questions, this old one shall answer them. If you find anything dubious, he will cuff himself and turn himself in to the government under your watch.¡±

    Ming Feizhen scratched the side of his head. ¡°Hero Zhuo, you really do have it wrong. I would not suspect you. This is like a knave measuring something of an upright man. Or was it the something about a flood dashing against the temple of the Dragon King¡­¡±

    Zhuo Yupin: ¡°You going to inspect it or not?¡±

    ¡°Which one is this year¡¯s?¡± Ming Feizhen snatched the ledgers over lightning fast, then flipped through the pages, studying every inch of text.

    Zhuo Fengru didn¡¯t get in Ming Feizhen¡¯s way or express disdain for his rudeness. He answered all of Ming Feizhen¡¯s questions that went straight for his figurative jugr or wereplicated to exin, neverining or stuttering once.

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t pry out anything incredulous in any of the three books or Zhuo Fengru¡¯s questions.

    Hua Qing, in a stifled voice, ribbed, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you have to say now.¡±

    ¡°I do have something to say.¡± Ming Feizhen shut thest book and forced a stiff smile. ¡°You are incredibly meticulous, Hero Zhuo. I¡­ look up¡­ to you!¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°What was the point of your questions, then?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s fine. He¡¯s straightforward and na?ve; it¡¯s adorable. This old one¡¯s principle is to not leave room for question. While he can¡¯t im to be pure, he has nothing to feel guilty for. The im that he views money as dung isn¡¯t an exaggeration. This old one grew up in poverty, dressed in in clothing and was never picky about what he ate. Even when he began his journey in the pugilistic world, he never really valued material wealth. How much can one man possibly eat?

    ¡°His wife, however, is the daughter of an affluent family in Jiangnan. When he married her, he vowed to never let her taste the misery of poverty. That¡¯s why he started a business. Thanks to the ttering respect he is given in the pugilistic world, he is acquainted with people on both sides of thew. As such, business has gone smoothly.

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable for Young Hero Ming to be vignt when there are so many two-faced people in the pugilistic world. That being said, in this old one¡¯s opinion, how this old one is viewed is something for future generations to evaluate.¡±

    Ming Feizhen paid no heed to hispanions ring holes in him.

    ¡°While we are on the topic, this old one has a question for you, Young Hero Ming. Of course, if you don¡¯t want to answer, that is perfectly fine.¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned to Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Feel free.¡±

    ¡°In our match today, this old one couldn¡¯t figure out which school you are a disciple of. Having had time to reflect, despite the variations in your internal style, there is one discipline that ticks all the boxes.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru looked Ming Feizhen dead in the eye as though the answer was within. ¡°This old one heard there are two new prodigies on Mount Wudang. One of them is hailed as the greatest swordsman since their progenitor. Months ago, a group of seventeen robbers attempted to infiltrate Wudang while their seniors were out. The prodigy made a name for himself when he put down ten of them in a single swing.

    ¡°The other prodigy is a young disciple who hangs around with that senior disciple. He reportedly used Tai Chi to defeat the thugs on the same day. Disciples of Wudang don¡¯t know his background; all that is known is that his name is Huan Xini.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Your point being?¡±

    ¡°If this old one were to hazard a guess, could Huan Xini be the young man before him?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stared back at Zhuo Fengru the same way the others stared at himself. ¡°You want to hear me tell the truth?¡±

    ¡°By all means.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Ming Feizhen raised his head. ¡°The truth is, I¡¯m full and sleepy. I need my sleep.¡±

    The two held their gazes for a while longer.

    ¡°Please make yourself at home.¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen, sitting on a rooftop, reflected on the events when the sun was still out whilst staring intently at his hands.

    Before Ming Feizhen departed from Wudang, the old daoist told him, ¡°You¡¯ve engraved Tai Chi into your blood over yourst two years to counteract the aggression of the beast inside you. Your Yijin Jing¡¯s internal energy rivals its might now. Nobody in history has ever mastered up to Seven Mountains and Seven Oceans at your age. At your current level, you can suppress its power now. That being said, you will fall to the dark side when your emotions cloud your judgement.

    ¡°You may leave dao, but dao will never leave you. Dao is natural, movement, stillness, inhtion, exhtion and nature on Earth, under or above. Taiji is ever moving just as the Earth, moon and stars. Bear in mind that all phenomena and all things possess yin and yang. Where life exists, so does death. To move is nature. To stop is also nature. To destroy one¡¯s way is natural. To construct one¡¯s way is also natural.¡±

    Annoyed with the plethora of thoughts that had beenmunicated to him over time, Ming Feizhen questioned what ¡°dao¡± was. The daoist, smiling, answered, ¡°If dao can be exined, it is not true dao.¡±

    Ming Feizhen felt he was on to something, but he couldn¡¯t articte exactly what it was. ¡°Why do you always have to speak about this stuff? Don¡¯t you have anything else?¡±

    ¡°When will your shifu return the original copy of Tai Chi that our founder passed down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Stop, stop, there¡¯s no point thinking back on this stuff.

    Ming Feizhen was peeved that he forgot to keep a pulse on something he needed to be vignt of at all times and still lost to Zhuo Fengru.

    ¡°Surveying my surroundings with my sword drawn, I realise how ignorant I really am¡­ Wait, what happened to my sword?¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bring a sword¡­ He couldn¡¯t even wield one. It just became a habit that reminded him of Wuyun on Mount Wudang. During his stay there, the two of them were always in each other¡¯spany, from studying dao, to training, to picking fruits and so forth. The next time they would have an opportunity to meet would be years into the future.

    ¡°Man, if only you were around, Weaksauce Yun. I wouldn¡¯t have lost today if you were with me. There¡¯s nobody we can¡¯t beat if we team up.¡±

    ¡°The heck are you mumbling about?¡± Hua Qing asked whilst scaling up to the roof.

    ¡°You sure took your sweet time.¡±

    ¡°I had to avoid the patrols. What¡¯s with all the secrecy? Why did you have to smash my head four times? Couldn¡¯t you have chosen another approach? If it wasn¡¯t for my genius, I wouldn¡¯t have understood what you were trying tomunicate.

    Ming Feizhen moved his eyes left and right alternatively, treating the question as an idiot¡¯s question. ¡°¡­ Didn¡¯t I leave a letter in your room?¡±

    ¡°What letter? I came here based on the secret code.¡±

    Ming Feizhen finally found the ¡°true¡± reason Hua Qing managed to remain so elusive: some minds were just iprehensible. Some wavelengths couldn¡¯t be find a match.

    Note

    The sword decoration section was modified significantly to adapt to English. In the original, Zhuo Yupin mentions his skills aren¡¯t ¡°vegetarian¡± (meaning weak). Ming Feizhen then cups his ear as though he could hear the sword and mocks, ¡°What does it eat, then? Dirty money? Wow.¡± How did it go from sword skills to a sword¡¯s diet, you ask? Because the word ¡°sword¡± can refer to one technique, swordy, a swordsman/swordswoman or a sword. Ever seen those titles that are something along the lines of ¡°One Sword to Rule the Nine Heavens¡±? 99% of the time, it¡¯s actually supposed to be a verb or reference to a swordsman/swordswoman, not a sword.

    Glossary

    This is like a knave measuring something of an upright man - Correct version: Like a knave who uses his own yardstick to measure the motive of an upright man.

    A flood dashing against the temple of the Dragon King - Correct version: Conflicts arising between people on your own side.

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s speech style - While he supposedly grew up in poverty, he speaks in a way that shows he¡¯s educated (education wasn¡¯t cheap). The terms he uses and his grammar is closer to what was used in the old days that will have people not familiar with reaching for a dictionary quite often. There¡¯s no proof that it has implications on the plot yet, but it¡¯s something that sticks out to me, so I want to bring your attention to it, in case it does have a role beyond just his personality.

    If dao can be exined, it is not true dao - While it is true that ¡°dao¡± can be tranted as ¡°way¡± or ¡°truth¡±, I left it as ¡°dao¡± because the question is ¡°what is ¡®dao¡¯?¡± If you¡¯re insistent on keeping the direct trantion, you¡¯re missing the point of the phrase. Without going into a deep dive (which I can¡¯t do without another paragraph to show you how it originates), he¡¯s simply telling Ming Feizhen not to be hung up on semantics, thereby colouring his lenses.

 Volume 11.5 17

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 17</h4>

    Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have missed the notice when I ced it in a conspicuous spot of your room¡­ Did I get the wrong room? Who¡¯s room did I put it in, then?¡±

    ¡°Mine.¡±

    Hua Qing and Ming Feizhen both flinched when they espied the top half of Su Li¡¯s face as she climbed up thedder.

    During Ming Feizhen¡¯s stay on Mount Wudang, he spent his first year all alone in a dark room. In his first year, he wasn¡¯t concerned with controlling the immense power inside him; he was purely looking to survive. The only thing he could do whilst in seclusion was perform experiments with his true qi to entertain himself. Among the experiments he tried, one of them was trying to decipher his environment without relying on visual information. His exceptional hearing was the result of not being able to view his condition, upgrading his internal energy potency and the experience of his ¡°soul¡± separating from his body.

    Drawing visual clues from something one¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t be as reliable as relying on audible information.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s subjects were the vast variety of animals on the mountain. Obviously, the volume and variety was a difficult subject for a beginner. Once he grasped it, though, listening in to human beings was unbelievably easier. By extension, sneak attacking him was borderline impossible. However, owing to the prolonged period of living in a secure environment, he often subconsciously missed information that his ears couldn¡¯t pick up. For that reason, he almost reactively kicked Su Li¡¯s head when she startled him with her arrival.

    Su Li giddily found herself a spot to sit. ¡°What are you two acting all suspicious for?¡±

    Hua Qing; ¡°Uh, we, uh, well, as the men of old say, gazing at the moon before bed is a m-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re talking about today¡¯s meal,¡± Ming Feizhen interrupted.

    Su Li brushed her hair. ¡°¡­ You believe Hero Zhuo is suspicious?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Eh? What makes you say that, Miss Su?¡±

    Su Li lowered her head. ¡°I-I-I was just asking.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Exceedingly suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Thought so.¡±

    ¡°Even you think he¡¯s shady, Miss Su?¡±

    Su Li, unable to handle speaking in front of men yet, meekly replied, ¡°Not initially. When Ming Feizhen examined his ledger, though, I felt sceptical about something. My family used to run businesses, and I used to like tagging along with my dad. My mother entrusted a few stores to me once I was older since she knew I couldn¡¯t sit still. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m bad, and I do like business, but I can¡¯t be as meticulous and organised as Hero Zhuo, let alone for three years. I¡¯m under the impression that he prepared the ledgers beforehand.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°That can¡¯t be right. We only met them by chance today. Until today, nobody knew where we were. Plus, who would¡¯ve expected Ming Feizhen to ask for the ledgers?¡±

    Su Li: ¡°What if it wasn¡¯t prepared for us?¡±

    ¡°Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°For instance¡­ what if somebody finds him dubious and is investigating him?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ also unlikely. Let¡¯s someone is investigating him. Regardless of what their reason is, they¡¯d investigate him secretly, which voids the purpose preparing his ledger beforehand.¡±

    ¡°What if they¡¯re openly investigating him? What if they¡¯re somebody he can¡¯t just turn away?¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men!¡±

    Su Li bobbed her head. ¡°That¡¯s why I came to see you two after I saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s note. Disimer: I¡¯m not suggesting Hero Zhuo is a bad man. Numbers that don¡¯t add up in a business ledger is the norm. I don¡¯t think my family is an exception, either. Being as detailed and precise as Hero Zhuo is just excessive to the point that it¡¯s dubious, however.¡±

    ¡°¡­ To tell the truth, I also noticed something but didn¡¯t mention it because Yanran was there. When I recounted the events, Hero Zhuo didn¡¯t mention Repository Jade even once. At first, I thought that was just in his chivalrous nature, so I was happy. Nevertheless, when I had time to reflect, it didn¡¯t make sense. Repository Jade was the catalyst for Master Xu¡¯s death. The more you try to hide a secret, the more obvious it is. The selfless impression he created was overkill.¡±

    Stricken with fear, Su Li instinctively shifted closer to Hua Qing, causing him to blurt, ¡°Smells so nice.¡±

    The two of them fell into an awkward silence until Ming Feizhen, who didn¡¯t give a toss for atmosphere, opined, ¡°I, too, find him suspicious.¡±

    Hua Qing cleared his throat. ¡°In what ways?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stared at his hands: ¡°How did I lose to him?¡±

    Su Li and Hua Qing were utterly speechless.

    Shaking his head profusely, Ming Feizhen repeated, ¡°Impossible. Impossible. Impossible¡­¡±

    ¡°You got stomped! You just can¡¯t ept it! You¡¯re just picking on him!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, no¡­¡± Ming Feizhen shook his head maniacally again. ¡°No, no, no, no¡­¡±

    ¡°You broken? Need me to snap you back in ce?¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-what do you I mean I can¡¯t ept it? Th-think of something else me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re also in denial!¡±

    ¡°Your misunderstanding is a product of you not knowing my true thoughts.¡±

    ¡°Which are?¡±

    Ming Feizhen gnashed his teeth. ¡°The jerk dared to beat me.¡±

    ¡°You still can¡¯t ept it!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Whatever the reason, I can¡¯t trust him. We can¡¯t rely on him to solve our problems. I called you here to tell you that we have to take matters into our own hands.¡±

    ¡°So, what is the n?¡±

    ¡°Now that Miguo Branch knows where you are, they¡¯re definitely plotting their next move.¡±

    ¡°So, what is our n?¡±

 Volume 11.5 18

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 18</h4>

    ¡°Allow me to share some rudimentary knowledge for sess in the pugilistic world.¡± Ming Feizhen carried Hua Qing and Su Li out of Zhuo Estate using his qinggong, then gave them some different clothing before making a beeline for Yichang¡¯s eastern pier, a ce that was practically deserted at night. ¡°When you¡¯re active at night, dress like a thief. First, it¡¯s good for stealth purposes and freedom of movement. Second, if you do run into thieves, even if you can¡¯t work with them, at least you won¡¯t have to fight each other.¡±

    ¡°I mean, I understand the logic, but why do we have to hide beside the toilet?!¡±ined Hua Qing.

    Given the men working at the wharf couldn¡¯t stand their own smell, it was amazing for the trio to not pass out standing by the loo.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°See what I mean by you¡¯re inexperienced? There¡¯s no ce to hide here. We¡¯d be immediately noticed if there are sentries here. The loo is the only ce they avoid; even if they do have to be anywhere within its proximity, they¡¯ll try to leave as soon as possible. This ce isn¡¯t bad at all. This smell can even help you practice holding your breath, thereby improving your internal strength. It¡¯s two birds with one stone,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    ¡°I¡¯m about to pass out! Also, why are we the only ones who have to wear these ck clothes, this annoying ck head cloth and tape our noses with a strip of cloth in this stupid bow knot?!¡±

    ¡°If I wore the same clothes, too, would you be able to find me given my speed? I have to stand out. What are you even cranky about? I don¡¯t know many people who¡¯d look good in that getup.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because I¡¯m hands-, don¡¯t use insinuation to insult people. I may be used to this sort of stuff, but what about Miss Su?¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is, she should perform a stealth mission in the dark dressed in her shy, colourful clothing? Sounds genius.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡± Su Li enthusiastically checked out her tapered clothing that entuated her lines. ¡°There are only girls in my family. I only have a younger sis-, brother who¡¯s turning one this year. It¡¯s nice to break out of the usual mould and try something risky that girls usually wouldn¡¯t try.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why did you stop at ¡®sister¡¯?¡±

    Su Li gloomily gazed into the distance. ¡°It¡¯s not worth telling you.¡±

    The two guys decided it was better not to pry.

    ¡°How do we know where they are?¡± questioned Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°We¡¯ll have to call upon the wisdom of the men of old.¡±

    ¡°Old wisdom? Which one?¡±

    Before Ming Feizhen present a ck pill, he pped Hua Qing over the head. ¡°My scummy shifu concocted this.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°What is it? Something to consume?¡±

    ¡°Good question. Hua What¡¯s-your-face, open your mouth.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shoved the pill into Hua Qing¡¯s mouth, then calmly stated, ¡°It can be lethally toxic. It¡¯s not edible.¡±

    Hua Qing forced himself to hurl forthwith.

    ¡°If employed as poison, it¡¯s a lethal weapon. It has another use, though.¡± Ming Feizhen rubbed another identical pill between his fingers, then patted Su Li on the back. ¡°When crushed, it emits a faint scent. You can apply to someone¡¯s body using a special method, and the smell willst for three days. Your internal energy potency isn¡¯t enough to miss it, but¡­¡±

    Hua Qing felt a surge of heat within him, followed by drastically heightened hearing, smell, touch and sight, empowering him to discern the details of the surroundings in the darkness. He had no time to indulge for the scent Ming Feizhen mentioned quickly pervaded his nose. Inhtion revealed to him three different smells, oneing from Su Li, another from a fragrance she applied and thest of which was the putrid smell on the other side of the wall¡­

    As soon as Ming Feizhen pulled his hand away from Hua Qing¡¯s back, his senses reverted to their usual state.

    ¡°So this is what the world is like to true adepts. Brother Feizhen, do I have any hope of reaching that realm?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Everyone is different. Maybe. Maybe not.¡±

    Hua Qing sighed. ¡°I would die a happy man if I could reach it.¡±

    ¡°I pulled a little stunt when I fought the schr earlier today,¡± Ming Feizhen informed.

    ¡°I get it now.¡± Su Li said, ¡°You put the scent on him so that you can trace him.¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± Ming Feizhen picked up a wooden stick that emitted a stench capable of making Su Li and Hua Qing pull their heads away. He dipped it in some sort of water smf then drew on the ground as he pointed out, ¡°This is the inn. This is Zhuo Estate. The smell went along this route.¡±

    Su Li spent a moment analysing the diagram with fascination, then asked, ¡°So, not only did they flee the scene but also made so many pit stops. They must be trying to conceal their true destination and whereabouts, right?¡±

    ¡°A situation like this requires a thorough analysis; you can¡¯t draw conclusions so thoughtlessly. For instance, just as h-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t point that thing at me!¡± griped Hua Qing.

    ¡°So petty.¡±

    Hua Qing took several steps away. ¡°Can¡¯t you just give us the conclusion?! Where are they, exactly?!¡±

 Volume 11.5 19

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 19</h4>

    Ming Feizhen slept the four hostile armed guards, then tried to steal a gander of the warehouse¡¯s interior.

    Su Li praised, ¡°You really are good. You dropped them before I even saw you move.¡±

    ¡°That was actually slow. I was just trying to stop them from making a fuss,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    Hua Qing asked, ¡°Strange. Why are they guarding this ce as though it¡¯s a treasure trove when there¡¯s nothing here?¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s your second lesson. A ce that¡¯s guarded ¡®as though it¡¯s a treasure trove¡¯ usually is.¡± Ming Feizhen ran his hands along the round, then grinned. ¡°Right here. Your time to shine.¡±

    As a professional, Hua Qing caught on without further boration. ¡°A secret door? Heh, I¡¯m a professional at this.¡± He knocked, pressed and so forth on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s a door locked from the inside. I¡¯ll bet anything there¡¯s an iron pestle used as a lock. Unless the people inside open it, it can¡¯t be opened from the outside. If you force it open from the outside, they¡¯ll be alerted. Damn. What should we d-¡±

    Creak!

    ¡°Damn, that was tiring. Open it up.¡± Ming Feizhen wiped his sweat.

    Hua Qing pulled as prompted, opening it without any resistance. The door pestle rested on the staircase next to a sleeping man.

    ¡°I used my internal energy to suck the pestle, then removed it from the outside. I knocked that guy out when I found the door so that he wouldn¡¯t get in the way.¡± Ming Feizhen headed down first but didn¡¯t hear the other twoing along, so he turned back. ¡°Youing or not?¡±

    The only thing they could sense along the seemingly-endless and narrow passage were the burning torches on either side. One thing they were sure of was that one, or maybe more, openings existed since they never felt suffocated.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Ming Feizhen voiced after a long walk.

    ¡°What? They found us? We¡¯re done for? Will we die?¡± Hua Qing pedantically looked around, but the absence of something suspicious elicited more fear.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No to all of the above. There¡¯s something odd about this ce. For an underground area, it¡¯s too big.¡±

    Su Li, hiding behind Hua Qing, quietly queried, ¡°What does that mean, Young Master Hua?¡±

    Hua Qing answered, ¡°It means¡­ this is a really big passage.¡±

    Ming Feizhen frowned. ¡°How long has he been in Yichang? Miguo Branch can¡¯t have been in the Central ins for too long¡­ How could they have built an underground area of this size? Plus, there¡¯s no need for them to do this. This isn¡¯t their ce.¡±

    ¡°Who owns it, then?¡±

    ¡°No clue. Whoever it is, we shouldn¡¯t underestimate them.¡±

    Ten minutester, they finally came across a room and some faint voicesing from within. Ming Feizhen signalled for them to back off a bit and whispered, ¡°We¡¯ve found our destination. Stick close to me at all times.¡±

    Su Li and Hua Qing profusely nodded.

    ¡°I have something to tell youter,¡± Hua Qing said in a barely-audible voice from two feet behind Ming Feizhen. ¡°You have a n?¡±

    ¡°Enter. Slog. Exit.¡±

    ¡°Figures¡­ Hey, can you help me?¡±

    ¡°With?¡±

    ¡°Can you, uh, let me take the limelight?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want to go one on one with their boss?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t get it all!¡±

    ¡°What limelight are you taking, then?¡±

    ¡°What I meant was, let me do a thing or two to impress Miss Su.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Are you feigning ignorance? Girls like strong guys.¡±

    Ming Feizhen contemted it, then raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°Think about it. If I could drop all those viins, Miss Su will fall for me.¡±

    ¡°Really? Does that really work?¡±

    ¡°You really need to brush up on this knowledge. Remember, once I throw my flying knives, knock them out.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°To show that I¡¯m urate.¡±

    The two had a long staredown, with Hua Qing repeating, ¡°Money and women. Keep the primary objective in mind. Keep the primary objective in mind.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing helped themselves to the hole in the timber door, while Su Li stole a nce through the finger-sized hole, ducked away and repeated.

    On one side of the table, half of the room¡¯s upants were the people who tried to abduct Hua Qing during the day. On the other side of the table was a chubby man, who was the only one seated, and a meek teenager standing beside him.

    ¡°Had it not been for that white-haired kid, we would¡¯ve seeded. If you ask me, we need to take out that kid first. Why should we spend money we don¡¯t have to?¡±

    ¡°Everyone can ¡®would¡¯ve¡¯ after the matter. They¡¯re staying at Zhuo Fengru¡¯s ce now. You all know how he likes to act alone; he even gave Liu Shan Men the runaround.¡±

    ¡°You need to have thepetence to abduct them under his watch. If you¡¯re so good, why don¡¯t you try beating him? I guarantee you won¡¯t be able toe back to share the oue.¡±

    ¡°So what if Zhuo Fengru is involved? Are you just going to flout His Excellency¡¯s mission? Are you all ready to die?¡±

    The portly man with a thick gold ne under his double chin, expensive silk garments and fingers embellished with gems said, ¡°If you want to bicker, save it for when you¡¯re at home. I¡¯m just a businessman. You¡¯re my patrons. There¡¯s no reason to make things hard for me, wahahaha.¡±

    For some reason unbeknownst to the trio outside, the ten-odd men on the other side of the table flinched.

    ¡°Please forgive our rudeness.¡±

 Volume 11.5 20

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 20</h4>

    The fat man beamed, seemingly able to read their minds. ¡°In business, every man wants to maximise his profits. Name your price without reservation, and we can parley.¡±

    ¡°¡­ We can pay a thousand silver taels for you to kill the kid.¡±

    Ming Feizhen furrowed his brows, displeased with how much he was deemed to be worth.

    ¡°Zhile, what do you say?¡± questioned the portly man.

    The youth beside him quietly stuttered, ¡°T-too little, maybe?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, even my brother thinks it¡¯s too little. Don¡¯t you think your offer is a little too low?¡±

    The group regarded each other and then, speaking on behalf of everyone, one man expressed, ¡°Three thousand. This is the most we can offer. If this doesn¡¯t work, we will have no choice but to ask someone else.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that will do. That will do. One payment per job. Be it two thousand or three thousand, I promise to kill any target without batting an eye.¡±

    ¡°Are you 100% confident you can kill him!¡±

    ¡°Is that a serious question? Of course not.¡±

    Before the men could fly off the handle, the schr in the corner stated, ¡°Thirty thousand. As long as he¡¯s kible, employ any means and expend no effort.¡±

    The schr¡¯s allies all looked to him, eyes stretched to their end ranges.

    The portly man smiled amiably with an undertone of praise. ¡°Now that is a sensible client. Killing someone is one thing. Taking care of things afterwards is another task. How you take out the target, sess or failure and all the steps leading up to either oue are the product of many calcted steps. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.¡±

    ¡°Shi Xintong, since when are you calling the shots? We¡¯ll only have a few copper coins left if we pay twenty thousand.¡±

    The schr, Shi Xintong, responded, ¡°As long as the white-haired boy lives, nobody can retrieve the item. If His Lordship wants to punish us for our failure, tell me who¡¯ll survive.¡± Given he was the team leader, nobody argued with him.

    Shi Xintong went to join the group at the table, where he ced a stack of currency notes dead centre. ¡°Can you being preparations now?¡±

    The chubby man didn¡¯t spare the notes a single nce. ¡°Obviously not.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Too little.¡±

    ¡°Twenty thousand is too little?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°How about thirty thousand?¡±

    ¡°Still too little.¡±

    ¡°Master Le, can you just tell us how much exactly you demand?¡±

    ¡°Two hundred thousand silver taels. The payment needs to be delivered to three specified banks, or payments will not be epted. You can pay in silver pieces, but you will have to pay a transaction fee for it. You have no say in when, where and how we eliminate the target.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Head down and eyes up, Shi Xintong questioned, ¡°Are you ying with me? I can ept you choosing the location and method, but we can¡¯t even decide ¡®when¡¯? Are you telling me you¡¯ll also count the job as a sess if you just wait a few decades for him to die from old age?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, why not?¡± Shi Xintong was going to rage when Master Le mmed the centre of the table, giving them all a fright, whilst still smiling. ¡°You gentlemen don¡¯t sound like you think very highly of us. We are all for Mizong Branch inciting conflict in the Central in because it means more business and joy for us. In saying that, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that every life has a specific price tag. As long as you can afford their worth, there is nobody we can¡¯t kill. Otherwise, I¡¯m more than happy to teach you the price of life.¡±

    ¡°Is that a threat?¡±

    ¡°You still don¡¯t seem to understand. Killing people is our profession. We don¡¯t inte or dete any life¡¯s worth. If you want their life, you must pay the price. We don¡¯t do business that will incur losses. If you want to kill him, you will have to pay the corresponding price.¡±

    ¡°Who exactly is he?¡±

    ¡°We are League of Assassins, not League of Intelligence.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood¡­ However, you need to give us some time because we need time to gather therge sum.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. Even if we can¡¯t do business, we don¡¯t need to be enemies. There is always next time. I must remind you, though, that I can¡¯t help you with anything until we are paid.¡±

    ¡°That is only fair. As I said, we need time to put togeth-¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand, hoho. What I¡¯m saying is, if you start fighting with the people outside, I will only watch from the sidelines.¡±

    Shi Xintong: There are people outside?

    Ming Feizhen splintered the doors, destabilising Shi Xintong¡¯s group with the residue winds.

    Leading the group, Hua Qing flicked his sleeve as if he presided over the building. ¡°Surrender now, scum! You can¡¯t win fair and square against Brother Feizhen, so you¡¯re resorting to hiring muscle? Embarrassing.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, you dolts!¡± Ming Feizhen thundered. ¡°Why would you hire someone to kill me with that money? Pass it here. I¡¯ll jump off a cliff for you.¡±

    Nobody coulde up with anyeback.

    ¡°Brother Feizhen, you¡¯re not serious, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Thing is, they¡¯re painfully stupid! Why would you give someone else money?! Give it to me! Hey, I only want a hundred and ny thousand. You can beat me however you fancy. I won¡¯t resist orin.¡±

    ¡°You think you can still make jokes t out of us?¡± Shi Xintnog got to his foot. ¡°Since you decided toe knocking, I¡¯ll meet you at the door with my de. Kill them!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m dead serious,¡± Ming Feizhen stressed.

    In response to two sh-happy people, Hua Qing reached into his shirt for his flying daggers as he said, ¡°Perfect timing. Have a taste of th-¡±

    Thud! Ming Feizhen already sent the two into the wall with a palm strike.

    Hua Qing: ¡°I didn¡¯t throw my daggers yet.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Doesn¡¯t this show that you¡¯re urate?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get full of yourself!¡± Five men charged at them.

    Despite the narrow space that rendered their group formation executed during the day impossible, the men still coordinated their attacks adeptly.

    Ming Feizhen snatched a flying dagger from Hua Qing¡¯s pocket and hurled it behind him without looking.

    Hua Qing: ¡°Catch this!¡±

    The dagger snapped des in its way and downed seven men, stopping only when the wall denied it passage. Someone on the opposite of the wall cursed aloud as though he was stabbed.

    Master Le: ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anyone on the other side of the door. Who is it?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Zhile stuttered, ¡°L-Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables, maybe?¡±

    ¡°Constables?¡± In spite of his giddy visage, Master Le¡¯s eyes were as animate as ever.

    To fulfil Hua Qing¡¯s request to demonstrate his uracy, Ming Feizhen sent out dagger after dagger, mowing their enemies down like mowing down autumn wheat. Shi Xintong managed to duck out of the way once, only to be kicked to sleep.

    Someone no the other side of the wall ordered, ¡°sted assassins, sneak attacking me. Find the cornhole who sneak attacked me.

    Hearing the encroaching footsteps, Master Le activated a contraption, revealing a secret door behind him. They had already entered the dark passage when they turned around to see Ming Feizhen reach for the notes on the table.

    ¡°These men¡­ and this money are mine now. What are you going to do about it?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    Master Le responded, ¡°Hahaha, I will not get in your way. You may be unaware, but people are keeping tabs on you ever since you showed up in the pugilistic world. I wouldn¡¯t havee here if it was not for the chance to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Meet me? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I merely wanted to ask for your name so that my boss would not penalise me.¡±

    Reporting someone¡¯s name to the boss of League of Assassins was pretty much putting them on the ¡°must kill¡± list or something very close.

    ¡°Since you asked, make sure to listen carefully.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, freeze! You are all suspected of involvement in murder. Move and I¡¯ll turn you into pin cushions.¡± The constable from Liu Shan Men breached the room with more than forty constables, only to see a group of men rolling on the ground, a chubby man and a young boy in a secret door, and, most eye-catching of all, a teenager standing with a thumb up.

 Volume 11.5 21

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 21</h4>

    ¡°Tell the truth.¡±

    The sparse rays of dawn shining through the ajar window made Xin Buyi appear more malicious than if the windows to the light-deprived room were shut. When people thought of Xin Buyi, one of Yan Shisan¡¯s direct subordinates, they didn¡¯t think of a tactician orbat expert - which wasn¡¯t to say that he was ill equipped to fill either role. Instead, they thought of his terrifying interrogation methods - mental and physical - because plenty of suspectsmitted suicide once they had a taste of his offerings.

    ¡°Tell me, and you won¡¯t have to suffer physical pain.¡±

    Xin Buyi had a voice and way of speaking that waspared to the devil¡¯s whisper as,bined, they were an effective tool for cajoling people into lowering their guard and spilling secrets.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Xin Buyi¡¯s eyes were constantly working on searching for clues from the suspect¡¯s eyes as he questioned them.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Who is it? ¡­ Who stabbed my rear end?!¡±

    Mayhap Xin Buyi wasn¡¯t as intimidating as usual due to him lying prone on a table while someone applied herbs to his stab wound.

    ¡°I just came through the door. Out of the goodness of my heart, I was first to rush to the scene because of the sounds, yet I get stabbed in the backside?! Which one of you stabbed m-, ah! Be gentler! It hurts, damn it! What the hell do you need pliers for when you¡¯re just applying some herbs?!¡±

    Long Zaitian, the new constable nursing Xin Buyi¡¯s injury, replied, ¡°It is because of the location of your wound. I am trying to avoid doing anything that may result in unhealthy rumours regarding us.¡±

    Long Zaitian¡¯s father asked his buddy, Yan Shisan, to train his son for two years as a field officer, but Xin Buyi really didn¡¯t like the kid with a big mouth full of useless, impertinent things to say.

    Ming Feizhen, locked in a cage with Hua Qing and Su Li, whispered to them with his head down, ¡°Boundless, Xin Buyi, is a famous man. The difference between his joint-locking skills and a noodle kneader are that one is red and the other is white.¡±

    ¡°What about red powder?¡±

    ¡°What even is that?¡±

    ¡°Uh, powder plus brown sugar?¡±

    ¡°Both will be red, then.¡±

    ¡°You three want to regret slighting me?!¡± Xin Buyi sat up, running straight into the pliers that forced him to sprawl back down.

    Ming Feizhen gently tapped his chest and continued, ¡°Just be careful of him. He¡¯s not easy to deal with.¡±

    Hua Qing and Su Li: ¡°Understood.¡±

    Long Zaitian, apologetic, asked, ¡°Sir, since League of Assassins escaped, are you still going to question them?¡±

    ¡°How am I going to question them in this state?!¡±

    ¡°It is not like you could even you wanted to with your butt in this shape.¡±

    Xin Buyi pped Long Zaitian to the ground. ¡°One more uselessment from you and you won¡¯t be promoted next year.¡±

    Long Zaitian rubbed his head. ¡°It¡¯s not like I want to be here. Had my father not forced me to get some experience in the pugilistic world first, I¡¯d have taken the trials for Qilin Guards. Who¡¯d want anything to do with this shoddy office of yours?¡±

    As soon as Xin Buyi red at him, Long Zaitian hastily continued, ¡°That is not all. Don¡¯t hit me again, or I will forget what I am supposed to ry! We just received word from the higher ups. They said they would personallye over since they heard you are in no shape to continue handling the case.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°He is outside already. He said he will be here once he has a word with the prefectural magistrate.¡±

    Ming Feizhen grinned.

    A few exchangester, Xin Buyi turned back to the cage. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet. You three, speak!¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°Sir, lower your rear.¡±

    ¡°Right, right¡­ What are you three staring at?! Spill it!¡±

    As a thief and wanted criminal, Hua Qing¡¯s festering apprehension impelled him to whisper, ¡°Bro, how do we deal with this?¡±

    ¡°Rx. Didn¡¯t you hear their superior ising?¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    ¡°I heard. Your point?¡±

    ¡°So there¡¯s no need to worry. I¡¯m not just counting the stars or something.¡±

    ¡°Tell me more.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smirked. ¡°Their superior and my shifu are long-time nemeses. Once he arrives, I guarantee you¡¯ll be good. Long-story short, I have connections.¡±

    In the pugilistic world, your fists weren¡¯t the most important; connections were most important. If Ming Feizhen had connections, then there was no reason for Hua Qing to worry.

    ¡°What are you three whispering about? You going to fess up or not?¡± snapped Xin Buyi.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Hua Qing derided, ¡°Constable Xin, I am the one who stabbed you in the bum. They call me One Dagger Hua. There is no butt I do not dare gash.¡±

    ¡°So it was you, huh?¡± Xin Buyi got up nice and slow, then rolled up his sleeves.

    ¡°You would dare hit me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re special now?¡±

    ¡°You have no idea what my rtionship with your superior is. Careful not to be grounded as punishment for your disrespect, hohoho.¡±

    Xin Buyi narrowed his eyes. It was visually apparent that the trio wasn¡¯t any run-of-the-mill group. To top it off, they subdued Shi Xintong¡¯s group. Ming Feizhen¡¯s skills were discernably above even himself at 100%, which was why he avoided interactions with Ming Feizhen. Unless Hua Qing was lethally stupid, he wouldn¡¯t sound and appear so confident. Thus, Xin Buyi had qualms.

    Knock, knock.

    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s me.¡±

    ¡°Pleasee in,¡± replied Xin Buyi. ¡°Please pardon this one. His injury makes it impossible for him to salute you properly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s fine. We owe to you to let you recuperate when you were hurt in the line of duty.¡± Although the sight indoors came as a surprise, the handsome and refined man maintained hisposure until he saw Ming Feizhen and his clique. ¡°Sir, they are¡­¡±

    ¡°They are all thugs!¡± Upon espying Hua Qing¡¯s smug look, Xin Buyi added, ¡°Maybe. There might be a misunderstanding.¡± He pointed to Hua Qing. ¡°Sir, may this one ask if you are acquainted with him.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s my first time meeting him.¡±

    Xin Buyi hopped off the table.

    ¡°Hold your horses, hahaha. I am sure you do not recognise me, but who is this?¡± Hua Qing pushed Ming Feizhen to the forefront.

    Xin Buyi¡¯s superior politely smiled. ¡°He is?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t know him?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Hua Qing turned his head toward Ming Feizhen in fragmented motions. ¡°You¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms. ¡°Who¡¯s he?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯re acquainted with Liu Shan Men¡¯s upper echelon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Hua Qing pointed to Xin Buyi¡¯s superior. ¡°And you,¡± he said, then pointed to Xin Buyi, ¡°Are his superior?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Hua Qing pointed to Ming Feizhen. ¡°And you two don¡¯t know each other?¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Xin Buyi¡¯s superior. ¡°No.¡±

    Xin Buyi cracked his fingers. ¡°Sir Shen, please step outside for a moment. This one has something to sort out.¡±

    ¡°Please wait.¡± Xin Buyi¡¯s superior gazed to the cage. ¡°May I ask who is Ming Mieba?¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his hand. ¡°Me.¡±

    ¡°I need to speak with you. Please follow me. Open the door for him.¡±

    Once Ming Feizhen and Xin Buyi¡¯s superior closed the door to another the room for them to converse in private, Xin Buyi faced off against Hua Qing.

    Xin Buyi performed shoulders circles, then spat on his hands. ¡°Youing over or you want me to go to you?¡±

    ¡°Come get it!¡±

    ¡°You stabbed me, huh? One Dagger Hua, huh? Ready or not, I¡¯ll make you regret stabbing me!¡±

    ***

    Xin Buyi¡¯s superiorughed whilst listening to Xin Buyi¡¯s raging and Hua Qing¡¯s groans. ¡°That¡¯s Lord Wu, Hua Feihua, isn¡¯t it? Are you really going to just leave him?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a little high. Xin Buyi knows where to toe the line.¡± Ming Feizhen looked to the man conversing with him. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you taken him into custody if you know who he is?¡±

    ¡°There is too much room for doubt in his case; it warrants further investigation. Besides, if he truly is as despicable as imed, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything as long as you¡¯re with him.¡±

    ¡°You know me?¡±

 Volume 11.5 22 Chapter 22

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 22 Chapter 22</h4>

    Up until now, Ming Feizhen never considered the man to be worth remembering. The most defining trait of the man was hisck of vignce. In the presence of another martial arts adept, it was perfectly normal for people to be vignt. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t hide his power, yet the smiling gentleman waspletely rxed.

    ¡°I heard Liu Shan Men¡¯s leader is Yan Shisan. Since when did that change? Xin Buyi is courteous and respectful to you; does that mean¡­ Liu Shan Men¡¯s number two?¡±

    The gentleman who had grown past the years of impulsiveness answered, ¡°Indeed.¡±

    He understands English?! This man can¡¯t be underestimated.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know me, but I know you and why you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°You do?¡±

    Fighting his urge tough, the man replied, ¡°You¡¯re finding a daughter-inw for your shifu, right? It¡¯s concerning that he wants you to inherit his phndering habits at such a young age.¡±

    If he can say that, he must be close to Shifu.

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. ¡°And a hundred thousand silver taels.¡±

    ¡°My condolences.¡± The man went to scrub for Ming Feizhen¡¯s head, but thetter recoiled out of the way, so the former sadly pulled his arm back.

    Ming Feizhen, cheeks puffed, red at the gentleman he designated a paedophile or man with a white-hair fetish.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the Fengpeng from your shifu. You¡¯re impressive. Iplete Tai Chi isn¡¯t something anyone cany their eyes on or learn.¡±

    ¡°You know about that, too? My shifu must owe you a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re a fun kid. How¡¯s your search for a wife? Need me to introduce someone?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not stand around to talk when we¡¯re friends. Here, take a seat, Mister. No need to stand on ceremony.¡± Ming Feizhen pulled a bench over and gestured for the gentleman to join him.

    The man was stupefied for a moment before bursting intoughter. ¡°Your shifu is right.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What did he say?¡±

    The man epted the offer to sit. ¡°He said you¡¯re perfect.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a given.¡±

    ¡°Save for the missing brain cells.¡±

    ¡°Can you adults not wrap what you¡¯re trying to say inyers uponyers? Instead, try being more forthright. Anyhow, did you say you¡¯d introduce someone to me?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be candid, then.¡± Ming Feizhen poured the man a cup of tea. ¡°You have a daughter or niece?¡±

    The man¡¯s eyes batted rapidly as the corners of his lips rose a tad. ¡°Even my family is a candidate for you?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Judging from your clothing, you can¡¯t be poor. As for status, if you¡¯re close to Yan Shisan¡¯s level, then it¡¯s eptable. You have the exemry appearance of apetent man, so your daughter can¡¯t be bad. There¡¯s no loss for me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re smart, but¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°I do have a daughter. Needless to say, she¡¯s the most adorable in the world. Problem is, she¡¯s only five this year. I don¡¯t think your shifu can wait that long. How about we have you two engaged? Both families would be happy, right?¡±

    Ming Feizhen erged his eyes, not expecting the man to take his joke serious. ¡°Mister, you really are a weirdo.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I met your shifu prior to making my way here and heard a lot of stories about you on the way. You did well. You don¡¯t act like your shifu; you¡¯re a hero in the making.¡±

    ted to hear he was different to his shifu, Ming Feizhen wagged his hand whilst grinning. ¡°You sure know how to tter people, Mister. Truth be told, helping people never crossed my mind. I just help those in need. What do you mean by ¡®you shouldn¡¯t be here,¡¯ though?¡±

    ¡°Miguo Branch is a disease that has been responsible for numerous major cases in recent years. It¡¯s been difficult to locate them as they do apetent job of hiding their traces and colluding with other unorthodox factions. As such, we have a special unit dedicated to monitoring inexplicable events at Three Gorges Dam, not just the group from the Western Regions. We found that the people hiding them involves far more than just victims.¡±

    The man started folding finger by finger as he borated, ¡°League of Assassins¡¯ Master Le, Shaolin¡¯s Venerable Kongcang, Zhuo Fengru and, more recently, Sky Pce.¡±

    ¡°Sky Pce?¡±

    Word was Sky Pce is everywhere, yet it was impossible to find them.

    ¡°Rumour is that it¡¯s time for their tests once every few decades, so one of their sacred maidens will bemencing her training in the world soon. Nobody can corroborate the im; however, it¡¯s the most trustworthy sign of activity from them in decades.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What does that have to do with me again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not normal for so many unorthodox sects to convene as they have now. While we don¡¯t know what their motivations are, we have identified two incidents at Three Gorges Dam that are most likely to thrust the martial world into turmoil. The first case is the whereabouts of Hua Feihua.¡±

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms and acknowledged he heard loud and clear with his head. ¡°There¡¯s no doubt this means Miguo Branch is up to no good. Their appearances are telling. I bet they¡¯re colluding with unorthodox groups of some sort. The solution is simple: lock them all up. They¡¯ll spill everything once you treat them to some chilli water or whatever. Frame them for another dozen of crimes, and then execute them. Next.¡±

    The man heaved a big breath. ¡°That would be Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor entering the pugilistic world.¡± He locked eyes with Ming Feizhen and shook his head. ¡°Who should I arrest?¡±

    Glossary

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s number two - Ming Feizhen actually says ¡°number two¡± in English here, a product of his visits to the Western Regions. That¡¯s the other reason behind him thinking, ¡°This man can¡¯t be underestimated.¡±

 Volume 11.5 23

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 23</h4>

    ¡°¡­ What do you mean ¡®Who should I arrest¡¯? Here I am eating my pork shoulders at home - even put the lid back on the pot - and, suddenly, I¡¯m the one who attracted those freaks? Why don¡¯t you me me for the changes in the tides, too, while you¡¯re at it? What am I? A gue? Is logic something that doesn¡¯t apply at Liu Shan Men?!¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± The man heaved another big breath.

    ¡°¡­ Hey, say something. You¡¯re not seriously going to apprehend me, are you? I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m not defenceless. If you really try to arrest me, I¡¯ll knock your socks off. I-I-I¡¯m scared of even myself when I¡¯m angry.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± The man crossed his arms. ¡°¡­ Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The man sat up, arms around his aching belly. ¡°D-don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m serious. We concluded that you¡¯re one of the uncontrolled factors. That being said, I don¡¯t n to take you into custody.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked up to the ceiling, fighting an urge to spit.

    ¡°Come on. I¡¯m sorry. I wasn¡¯t done talking, hehe. Even if you attracted them, it only means that they¡¯re trying to approach you, so it¡¯s not your fault. You know you have¡­ get where I¡¯m going with this?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t certain, but he had a suspicion. ¡°They¡¯re after me? Now that I think about it, based off what Master Le said, it really did feel as though he came just to see me. For a master of League of Assassins to speak to some goons of Miguo Branch is more than just deigning.¡±

    ¡°When I spoke about it with your shifu, he said, ¡®What will be will be. If someone wants to start a fight, start it first.¡¯ I can¡¯t argue with his reasoning.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Just you wait, Shifu. I¡¯ll sell you someday.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. I came here just to meet you and ry this information so that you¡¯re prepared. The unorthodox sects¡¯ target may be you, got it?¡±

    ¡°Loud and clear.¡±

    ¡°Any progress with Hua Feihua¡¯s case?¡±

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head. ¡°My gut tells me Zhuo Fengru is involved in some capacity. Unfortunately, the sly bugger hasn¡¯t left any noticeable leads for me. As for Xu Family¡¯s extermination, it was because they possessed a valuable item.¡±

    Ming Feizhen recounted what he heard from Hua Qing in addition to providing his own spections.

    ¡°I¡¯m certain the discipline that the monk, who killed Master Xu, used is Vajra Realm. I¡¯m still not sure how word that their family was in possession of the item leaked. Zhuo Fengru may know about it, but there¡¯s no reason for him to suck up to a faction in the Western Regions when he is equipped with both skill and money.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I have to follow the regtions of the imperial court, so I can¡¯t call all the shots. I¡¯m here to investigate Demon Sect¡¯s activities. To be honest, I shouldn¡¯t have met up with you. Additionally, I don¡¯t have the authority to handle Hua Feihua¡¯s case.¡± The man then performed a hush hand gesture.

    Ming Feizhen: Is he a kid or something? With a troll and kid leading Liu Shan Men, do they have any hope?

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I have figured out the entire case, but I do have something to say about them targeting you. From what I know, you lost to Zhuo Fengru in one exchange, correct?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t even see how he beat me.¡±

    Although it was true that Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind was divided in the match due to him trying to keep the Fengpeng¡¯s energy in check, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he lost. Also, he still didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea how he lost.

    ¡°Owing to Liu Shan Men¡¯s regtions, I can¡¯t share the oue of investigations with outsiders. As such, I can only tell you a story. Over a millennium ago, there were some exceptional martial art-¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± Ming Feizhen held a hand out. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me one of those oudated Mystical Era stories, are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh? You know about the Mystical Era? You must like listening to stories, huh? You¡¯re just like my daughter.¡±

    ¡°As if. My bloody shifu always tells a story, only to demand I run errands for him if I want to know the endings.¡±

    The man: You just admitted you have a fondness for stories.

    ¡°If we were to juxtapose those warriors to our current generation, they would be at our peak. In order to fight amon enemy, they spent decades creating a massive martial arts manual.¡±

    ¡°Jin Yong¡¯s condor trilogy?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Beats me. I saw it in my dreams.¡±

    ¡°Well, no. The manual is called Repository Theory.¡±

    The six adepts each wrote a ¡°Repository Theory¡± manual, which swordsmen and swordswomen called ¡°Repository Swordy Theory¡±. On the day theypleted the final product, they noticed that all of them relied on and valued different things. At the end of the day, the six individuals weren¡¯t copies of each other. Different training systems, different experiences and different views lead to different interpretations. ordingly, using Repository Theory as the foundation, the six of them created six branches from the foundation, namely, Mountains (Divination Branch), God-Shocking (Smithing Branch), Abyss (Intelligence Branch), Seven Emotions (Medical Branch), Fleeting (Schstic Branch) and Millennium (Reclusive).

    As standalone manuals, they could all be called ¡°Repository Theory¡± despite the significant difference between them.

    The ¡°Smithing Branch¡± entrusted with God-Shocking Theory opened a small smithing workshop by the bank of Tiahu, living in seclusion until a Luo n disciple decided to run off with it and start Luo Sword Manor.

    Although ¡°Intelligence Branch¡± used Abyss Theory to invent ¡°Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡±, the basis of their teachings remained as Abyss Theory¡¯s teachings. When they decided to retire from martial arts two hundred years ago, the discipline went extinct. Over a year ago, their n, Xu n, went extinct.

    ¡°¡­ What you¡¯re saying is, the sword seal thingy is a discipline from the Mystical Era? How did you find that out?¡±

 Volume 11.5 24

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 24</h4>

    Daren Academy and Qiyuan would even throw hands when it came to protecting their perspectives on Mystical Era. As far as the history mankind knew, there were eras that preceded Mystical Era; however, it was an era that was shrouded in mystery, leading to challenges to prove elements of the era.

    Nobody could substantiate any of the ims they made regarding the customs, inhabitants, food culture, clothing, the spokennguage, religion or even the geography of Mystical Era. As a matter of fact, nobody could prove how many years ago it was relevant and how long itsted.

    ording to Daren Academy, a new dynasty reced Mystical Era over eight hundred years ago. Over two thousand years ago, Nanjiang and Beijiang were part of the Central ins for several centuries. Some people denounce Mystical Era asplete hogwash.

    Daren Academy¡¯s head would often have a nip of tea,menting, ¡°This is youth,¡± then continue writing his letter that deplored the stances of the imperial court¡¯s nobles.

    The independent Qiyuan, unlike Daren Academy, believed in the existence of Mystical Era, making ims as though they were there to witness all the events in spite ofcking concrete evidence.

    With the passage of time, more research was published, thereby revealing more about Mystical Era - though none of it could be considered infallible evidence.

    The text employed now and then was simr. The same could be said of physical appearances. It¡¯d be hard to argue that the Central ins and Beijiang¡¯s citizens didn¡¯t share the same ancestry. Regardless of geographical affiliation, both agreed that it was difficult to test the authenticity of the era 1000 to 1600 years ago.

    There were only two things pertaining to Mystical Era that Ming Feizhen believed. One of them was what his grandmaster said. Unlike Ming Huayu, who might be culpable for your death if you believed most of what he said, Hero Shenzhou seldom spoke and made what he said count.

    Hero Shenzhou stated that Mystical Era wasn¡¯t mythical and that it continued to influence the current era. He said that the martial arts people thought up back then contrast the current paradigm of martial arts noticeably.

    The second thing that was true was the energy of Six Evils. Their existence was the primary reason for Mystical Era beingbelled as fiction. Ironically, they were also the chief source of proof that Mystical Era existed. Six Evil Beasts Chronicles said that Six Evils first appeared - or was spoken of - during Mystical Era.

    What some people argued was a myth troubled Ming Feizhen daily. Therefore, whenever anyone disputed Mystical Era¡¯s existence, he was more than happy to give them a taste of Mystical Era in the form of a generous p.

    Intelligence Branch specialised in working as an intelligence agency. Hence, qinggong was their principle specialty. By that logic, one could surmise that Abyss Theory was a manual centred around qinggong. Later generations, nevertheless, turned it into a swordy unique to their branch.

    ¡°Schstic Branch are home to schrs.¡±

    ¡°Another scummy schr,¡± Ming Feizhen muttered.

    ¡°My family was dedicated to reading. Thanks to their studious nature, they grasped Fleeting Dream¡¯s principles. I would let you take a look, but I didn¡¯t bring it with me today. Maybe it could help you control the energy inside you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned to face the man. ¡°You should hang onto your family¡¯s manual. You never know if you need to sell it for cash one day.¡± His cheeks were flush despite the indifference he vocally conveyed.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll let you have a look one day.¡± The man took a pause, seemingly to think. ¡°I came here to find out where Demon Sect is. From what I gather, Zhuxing Wuchang has recently been sighted at Shennong.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang wasn¡¯t just one of Demon Sect¡¯s three Great Guardians but also the Western Region¡¯s top swordsman. Unlike another Great Guardian, who left a trail of indiscriminate bloodshed behind him, Zhuxing Wuchang rarely cut anyone with Inconceivable Sword, preferring to search out only the best of the best to test his mettle. In his duel against Yan Shisan, neither of them proved themselves to be unanimously superior.

    ¡°Zhuxing Wuchang likes to fight, so there are bound to be adepts present wherever he is. I¡¯ve left him be for some time, and I think it¡¯s time to reel the line in. I¡¯m confident my suspicion of Shennong is warranted. Whatever you do, don¡¯t forget the story I shared. There are only a few involved people still alive who are involved in your case. I surmise the Shaolin monk is Shaolin¡¯s Venerable Kongcang. If you want to prove Hua Feihua¡¯s innocence, then Venerable Kongcang will be a key figure to that end.¡±

    A constable outside eximed, ¡°Sir, time is up! The perp is trying to escape.¡±

    ¡°Calm down. We can just head there faster.¡± The man appeared to find amusement in his subordinate¡¯s urgency. He then told Ming Feizhen, ¡°I have to go now. Watch out for yourself. If you have time, drop by Liu Shan Men in the capital, and I¡¯ll treat you to snacks.¡±

    Perhaps it was because he was orphaned and seldom had an opportunity to speak sofortably with someone that Ming Feizhen felt a little sad to see the man go. Maybe it was because the man didn¡¯t give him enough time to finish saying everything he wanted to say. Mayhap it was because the man really liked to smile.

    His daughter is five years old this year, huh? Man, I have to wait for, at the very least, ten years, then. Wait, wait, wrong though. Abyss Theory¡­ Xu n¡­ Miguo¡­ Shaolin¡¯s Venerable Kongcang¡­ It must be him. He must be the one who knows the truth behind Xu n¡¯s ughter. I need to talk to Hua Gezi.

    Ming Feizhen espied blood high, low, left and red in the guest room upon returning. Su Li didn¡¯t look as though she was going to speak anytime soon, so he questioned, ¡°Since when were tomatoes on discount? The Western Regions finally found it in their hearts to lower the price?¡±

    Su Li pointed to her neighbour.

    ¡°What the freak is that?!¡± Ming Feizhen jumped back.

    The lumpy-faced red human figure with sausages for lips staggered over and preened, ¡°You don¡¯t even recognise the great One Dagger Hua now? Ah, it hurts.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what happened to you?¡± Ming Feizhen queried.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I got beat!¡± Hua Qing fumed.

    ¡°Your brain still working?¡±

    ¡°Of course it is! I won.¡±

    ¡°You beat Xin Buyi?¡±

    ¡°Obviously. Ah, that hurt. He chased me around to assault me after you left. I eventually couldn¡¯t put up with any more, so,¡± softening his voice, Hua Qing continued, ¡°I sneaked Repository Jade to my chest. Since his few attempts to do damage there didn¡¯t work, he hit harder. The reciprocal energy sent him flying. He managed to withhold the blood that came up his throat, but, when he realised he was bleeding elsewhere, his effort to withhold his blood was in vain. That was when he became the Red River.¡±

    ¡°¡­ How do you exin your bloody face?¡±

    ¡°It was all him! He¡¯s being resuscitated right now,¡± Hua Qing proudly answered.

    Ming Feizhen took two steps back.

    ¡°Why are you backing off?¡±

    ¡°No reason in particr. I can¡¯t let you get close. I¡¯ll punch you if you do.¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s attempt to answer was cut short when Long Zaitian burst through the door and thundered, ¡°Who did it?!¡±

    Suffice to say, Hua Qing was aware of Long Zaitian¡¯s intent. What reason did he have to be shy when Ming Feizhen was there to protect him, though?

    ¡°Who, you ask? Of course that would be m-¡±

    Long Zaitian drew his broadsword. ¡°Who popped Captain Xin¡¯s chrysanthemum?!¡±

    ¡°Of course that would be me. What do y-¡± Hua Qing forced open his closed eyes. ¡°No! No! No! It wasn¡¯t me!¡±

    ¡°I knew it was you! Captain Xin is already in his forties! I can¡¯t believe you wouldn¡¯t spare even him. I thought you were familiar as soon as I saw you. I¡¯ve looked into you. Your crimes have been exposed! Lord Wu, on behalf of Qilin Guards, I sh-¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you with Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°Ahem, on behalf of Liu Shan Guards, I sh-¡±

    ¡°You got it wrong again, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ shall make a meat bun out of you! Boys, get him!¡±

    Forty-odd constables stormed in to encircle the trio.

    ¡°Hua Gezi, why don¡¯t you try prison life for a few days? I don¡¯t think you¡¯re as innocent as you think.¡±

    ¡°Stop with the tripe and help me!¡±

    In no time at all, One Dagger Hua was inundated in a flurry of kicks and punches.

    Glossary

    Hua Gezi - Literally, flower pigeon. Older brother and pigeon share the same pronunciation in Mandarin, so Ming Feizhen is deliberately taking advantage of the fact.

    Red River - A joke on Yellow River.

 Volume 11.5 25

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 25</h4>

    It was supposed to hurt, yet Hua Qing felt a wind billow all around him, unbncing the constables around until they staggered back. He sat, bewildered as to why the constables looked as though they were face to face with a titan. Upon catching on, he covered an eye with one hand whilst tugging up the opposite corner of his lips. ¡°Ah, I wasn¡¯t nning to show my true power. You¡¯ve forced me to use 10% of my full power.¡±

    While the constables scuttled back, Long Zaitian remained staunch. ¡°If you¡¯re going to call for help, admit it. The hell are you acting tough for? Oi, kid, who are you?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about this insignificant character.¡± Arms crossed, Ming Feizhen said to Hua Qing, ¡°He¡¯ll know what to do when he receives word from his superior.¡±

    Long Zaitian squinted. Although there was no question that Ming Feizhen was an ally of Hua Qing, Ming Feizhen seemed to be acquainted with his superior. ordingly, Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t determine what the best course of action was. Even though his superior was always smiling affably, his superior had a thing for bending rules or exploiting them, therefore making it hard to predict what he¡¯d do. Most importantly, his superior was His Majesty¡¯s sworn brother. Everyone knew the second Emperor of the dynasty carried the Shen surname. As someone who entered employment via a back door, he knew better than anyone not to test his superior.

    As expected, a messenger came running in to whisper in Long Zaitian¡¯s ears. Thus, Hua Qing hurried to his feet and dusted himself off to smugly yell, ¡°Who said he hit me?! Huh?! Who?! Step out!¡±

    ¡°I did!¡± Long Zaitian backhanded Hua Qing, spinning thetter nine hundred degrees. ¡°I thought you were some hot shot, but Cap¡¯n Xin¡¯s messenger just told me to lock you three up.¡±

    From the ground, Hua Qing looked up at Ming Feizhen. ¡°¡­ You lied to me.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I didn¡¯t expect a different messenger.¡±

    ¡°You three can chat all you want in prison.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Hua Qing cried. ¡°We helped you apprehend a group of criminalsst night, yet this is how you treat us.¡±

    Long Zaitian showed his two rows of white pearls. ¡°You think I¡¯m avenging Cap¡¯n Xin? Nah, I¡¯d still arrest you even if you didn¡¯t assault him.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why? Hua Feihua, you know you have the biggest bounty on your head at Three Gorges Dam? In fact, even in your line of work, you fetch a higher price than the sicko, Zhong Ning, who stole Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯sdy¡¯s underwear. I never expected someone who looks as presentable as you to swing both ways, even disregard quality of appearances. Imagine being so desperate you¡¯d even bang Cap¡¯n Xin.¡±

    ¡°You really want to get starched, don¡¯t you?!¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like that¡¯s even within your capabilities.¡±

    ¡°Wait right there!¡± Hua Qing took a step back, then whispered, ¡°Brother Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Get him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Give him hell.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll break a leg.¡±

    Hua Qing smirked at Long Zaitian. ¡°One on one, bring it¡­¡±

    Long Zaitian lunged forward, then drove his fist straight into Hua Qing¡¯s chest.

    Once Hua Qing decelerated on the ground, still on his back, he looked up at Ming Feizhen. ¡°¡­ Brother,¡± Hua Qing uttered, apanying it with blood.

    Ming Feizhen responded, ¡°You guys started too quick. I haven¡¯t even finished my preparations.¡±

    Long Zaitian pontificated, ¡°You two can save your breath. We have you in a tripleyer encirclement. You know, prison life isn¡¯t that bad¡­ besides the louses, rodents andck of baths. Don¡¯t worry too much about infections.¡±

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms, gaze on Long Zaitian.

    Su Li helped Hua Qing up. ¡°What¡¯s the n? Sounds like prison is our only option.¡±

    ¡°Where did it go wrong?¡± Ming Feizhen titled his head.

    ¡°Who cares? Men, arrest them! Make sure to put in all the stops when ites to Hua Feihua for Cap¡¯n Xin. Bring me a spiked mace. I¡¯m going to cure his constipation permanently.¡±

    Su Li and Hua Qing looked to each other for help. Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen still looked puzzle over something.

    ¡°Everyone get them on my count to three. One, two and th-¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    The sonorous belt winded Long Zaitian. ¡°¡­ Who the hell was that?!¡±

    ¡°Me.¡± Zhuo Fengru, in his ordinary grey robe, front tucked into the room,nding between Hua Qing¡¯s group and Liu Shan Men¡¯s.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Hero Zhuo!¡± effused Hua Qing.

    Long Zaitian narrowed his eyes and, in a low voice, uttered, ¡°¡­ Zhuo Fengru, huh?¡±

    Zhuo Fegru conveyed, ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you all. These three are this one¡¯s guests. Please let them go on ount of this one. Please do not make things hard for them.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s funny. You¡¯re one to talk about acting on ount of someone else. Last year, when Qilin Guards sent you an invitation to the banquet, you responded with just two words in your response letter: not going.¡±

    The constable next to Long Zaitian softly reminded, ¡°Cap, we¡¯re Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°I know! I was just listing one example! You must be going senile. This fellow is the notorious rapist. I hate two types of people most: the first type is scumbags who y women. The other is good-looking men. He¡¯s guilty of both. I¡¯m going to finish him. Besides, what¡¯s thew to you? You thewmaker?¡±

    ¡°I take you do not intend to respect this one?¡±

    Long Zaitian gripped his broadsword hilt by his belt. ¡°¡­ What are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± A smile came to Zhuo Fengru¡¯s lips. ¡°When this old one was younger, he was rather morose, resulting in him offending would-be friends at every turn, including the threew enforcement offices. Thankfully, they were kind enough to not cripple this old man. Out of gratitude, this old one would not dare to give you trouble in case you capture him, as well. That would only make both of us look bad. In saying that, if that leads to people thinking that this old one is a coward, would that not being home shorn when going for wool?¡±

    ¡°In other words, you insist on sheltering these three?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru turned to Ming Feizhen. ¡°May this one ask, how many of them would you be able to immobilise at 50% of your full power?¡±

    Mijng Feizhen nced up at Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Indoors, fifty people.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impressive. This old one has had a longer time to train than you, so he can knock out seventy people at once.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Ming Feizhen murmured, ¡°If you count the people I kill in the process, I¡¯d drop a hundred,¡± refusing to resign himself to defeat.

    Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen could see their tant dislike for each other in the other¡¯s eyes. Those watching and listening were already shuffling their toes in their shoes, ready to zip through the door.

    Zhuo Fengru cancelled the confrontational staredown with a smile. ¡°In that case, this one would like to learn from you.¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± Long Zaitian raised his hand. ¡°You can¡¯t use us as training dummies. What do you think we are? We¡¯re just lowly civil servants well-versed in the eighteen arms. Fighting you two would be pushing it. Just you wait. I¡¯ll ask for reinforcements.¡±

    Another messenger arrived on the scene during the back and forth.

    ¡°What? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy?¡± Upon hearing what the messenger said, Long Zaitian pped his eyelids in disbelief. ¡°¡­Higher ups said to let you go,¡± he notified, eyeing Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen. ¡°You can go.¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen kept fiddling with his chin on the way out of the government office, mumbling, ¡°Who was that mister? His timing is impable.¡±

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, what were you saying?¡± Zhuo Fengru amiably questioned.

    ¡°Nothing. By the way, Hero Zhuo, you sure keep your ears to the ground, huh? You sure found us quick.¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken, Young Hero. This old one is highly influential in this region. If he did not catch wind of you three assisting Liu Shan Men¡¯s operation, this old one would be deaf, no?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m just impressed with you. We¡¯ve only met you once. You are said to hate being at government offices, yet you personally rushed to our aid and almost got into a scuffle with Liu Shan Men for our sake. I feel bad about dragging you into this mess. The ignorant might¡¯ve thought we ran off with your title deed.¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest. Although we have only just got to known each other, it feels as if we have been friends for a lifetime. Young Master Hua escorted this old one¡¯s niece all the way here; if anyone owes anyone, it would be this old one who owes you. As such, this old one cannot let you suffer.¡±

    ¡°By the sounds of it, you really do dislike being at government offices, then?¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest again.¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head repeatedly.

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Ming Feizhen ced his hands behind his head, smiling. He strolled forward, ostensibly not concerned with giving his back to Zhuo Fengru. ¡°I heard you are a man who will repay debts and take revenge wherever it is right to do so, a man who wears his emotions on his sleeve. You are rumoured to be a man who does not bend to anyone¡¯s will, which is the quality most people admire you for. Howbeit, it seems that you are very friendly. You have never once made things hard for me. My shifu always says, a man who puts up with triggering things is either plotting something or has a corrupt mind. Which one would you happen to be?¡±

 Volume 11.5 26

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 26</h4>

    Dawn ignited the green cascading clear water. The wind tousled the organisation out of Ming Feizhen¡¯s hair, but it couldn¡¯t take away the thoughts in his head.

    ¡°Hua Gezi.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been two days since we left the office.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Ming Feizhen focused his gaze toward heaven. ¡°It¡¯s still peaceful. This peace perturbs me.¡±

    ¡°Peaceful for you, but¡­ my wounds still won¡¯t give me any peace!¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over to the man in a wheelchair and bandages. After the beating Long Zaitian dished out, Hua Qing was subjected to another eighteen flying sticks on his way out of Liu Shan Men¡¯s office two days ago.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t I already treated your internal injuries? Those injuries are necessary to deceive Zhuo Fengru. If I didn¡¯t use taking you out for fresh air as an excuse, we¡¯d be under house arrest, na?ve boy.¡±

    ¡°They may be fake to you, but my face is still swollen.¡±

    Although Hua Qing still didn¡¯t believe Zhuo Fengru was against him, because thetter nursed his injuries, he finally decided he couldn¡¯t always tell Zhuo Fengru the truth. That was why he feigned disability at Zhuo Estate for two days.

    Miguo Branch¡¯s people had been imprisoned, yet Liu Shan Men still hadn¡¯t taken further action, wo the only exnation for Liu Shan Men¡¯s inactivity was Xin Buyicking the health to continue investigating.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was pretty much set on the idea that the leader of Miguo Branch was guilty of massacring Xu n; however, at the same time, he believed there was more to the story. He was neither a constable nor a detective, so the intricacies were better left to Liu Shan Men. His sole goal was to find the culprit, clear Hua Qing¡¯s name and walk away with his promised one hundred thousand silver taels.

    There were three most probable culprits at present. First, the one who murdered Xu n and set their estate on fire (from Miguo Branch). The second potential culprit was Zhuo Fengru. The third suspect was the one they had yet to find - Shaolin¡¯s Venerable Kongcang.

    Shaolin splits their branches based on the characters in the phrase ¡°At the end of it all is emptiness. It is all for the sake of fate with Buddhism.¡±

    Nowadays, the elders of ¡°All¡± branch were so old that speaking was an ordeal.

    Shaolin¡¯s Abbott Kongxu les ¡°Emptiness¡± branch, which was the head branch.

    ¡°Sake¡± branch, which consisted primarily of monks in their forties to fifties, was under the leadership of Venerable Kongcang. Sake branch was considered a high-ranking branch within Shaolin.

    Venerable Kongcang¡¯s innocence had yet to be proven. Though he did entrust Xu n¡¯s safety to two of his disciples, Xu n¡¯s extermination urred after his visit. Therefore, there was nothing to prove that his visit was truly for the betterment of Xu n, not to mention his mysterious disappearance since departing from their manor.

    Ming Feizhen performed wrist circles,menting thebour involved in the job.

    How am I going to find the monk? Everyone is currently monitoring Hua Gezi. Given that fact, I might find something if I have him tag along wherever I go.

    Feeling a chill, Hua Qing blurted, ¡°Don¡¯t count me in!¡±

    Ming Feizhen suggested, ¡°Hua Gezi, let¡¯s go t-, huh? Don¡¯t count you in? This is for your sake, yet you don¡¯t want to be part of it?¡±

    ¡°Ever since I¡¯ve been hanging with you, I¡¯ve been suffering time and time again. What madman would continue?¡±

    ¡°I thought you wanted to have an adventure in the pugilistic world.¡±

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I taking you on said adventure?¡±

    ¡°Adventure, my foot! Where¡¯s the adventure in camping at a loo by the wharf in the middle of the night?!¡±

    ¡°So ignorant.¡± Ming Feizhen held up a small book. ¡°Look for yourself. ck and White Reflection lists it as the fifth must-experience event in the pugilistic world. I never yed you.¡±

    Hua Qing snatched the book to double check. As an avid subscriber of ck and White Reflection, he had noeback.

    ¡°Having experienced it for yourself, is there anything you want to say?¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­ It was quite nice.¡± Hua Qing rubbed his eyes that he still couldn¡¯t open. ¡°Just, my face still hurts quite bad.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. You didn¡¯t go there for nothing. A man with scars appears more mature and experienced.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Hua Qing touched his face.

    ¡°You know, it¡¯s dawned on me that you¡¯re not fair.¡±

    ¡°Huh? How?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d help meplete my task in exchange for helping you?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve you helped you, right? On the other hand, you haven¡¯t helped me whatsoever.¡±

    ¡°The deal was, you help me clear my name, and then I give you the piece of jade. I can¡¯t help you before that.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s put aside the one hundred thousand for now. What about helping me find a wife?¡±

    ¡°Well, about that¡­¡±

    ¡°Thought you said you have a wealth of experience that you could call upon to find me even six wives in a click. Seeing as you have nothing more than time on your hands right now, how about helping me out?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s do this: take me on an adventure today, and then I¡¯ll take you around to find a wife.¡±

    Ming Feizhen hiked up an eyebrow. ¡°Promise?¡¯

    ¡°Promise.¡±

    Ming Feizhen, beaming, patted Hua Qing on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t regret this.¡±

    Hua Qing. Wh-what have I gotten myself into?

    ***

    ¡°Hey, uh, Brother Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Gezi?¡±

    Hua Qing periodically espied healthy wet skin through the mist pervading the area, a sight that would likely motivate one¡¯s imagination. Following a gulp, he questioned, ¡°Do we have the wrong ce?¡±

    ¡°No, this is the right ce.¡±

    ¡°You sure? Isn¡¯t this,¡± Hua Qing, giving Ming Feizhen the benefit of doubt, scanned the area one more time, and there was no mistake that it was a sixty-five year old man pouring warm water onto his body, ¡°a bathhouse?!¡±

    A bunch of men wrathfully shot Hua Qing res, shutting him up instantly. The most traumatising thing at bathhouses wasn¡¯t men being dragons but dragons being men.

    Ming Feizhen leisurely scrubbed himself down. ¡°Your ignorance shines again. Bathhouses are the third best ce for negotiations ording to ck and White Reflection. In second and first ce are the loo and daughter¡¯s room, respectively. This ismon sense. Don¡¯t drop your guard just because this ce seems peaceful.¡±

    Indeed, there were tattooed men in the bath, meaning that this couldn¡¯t just be any ordinary bathhouse.

    Ming Feizhen sighed. ¡°Danger is ubiquitous here.¡±

    ¡°For real,¡± Hua Qing remarked, looking around. ¡°Wait, I see a small one.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?!¡±

    ¡°No, no, not you. I meant you.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not talking to you,¡± Ming Feizhen stated. ¡°Over there. They¡¯re about to throw hands.¡±

    ¡°¡­ This old one can let you steal his money and alcohol, but speaking ill of his daughter is unforgivable!¡± The man sitting primly in the bath looked considerably older than the man he was in a confrontation with, but no experienced man would underestimate him.

    The blonde-haired man wasn¡¯t as muscr orrge, but the scars on his chiselled physique proved that he was a very durable man. ¡°That is not what I meant at all.¡±

    The elder stood up. ¡°Why did you call my daughter a doll, then? Dolls are inanimate objects. Are you cursing my daughter?¡±

    The foreigner rose to his feet at the same time. ¡°Because she is cute, you alcoholic!¡±

    ¡°Clench those teeth!¡± One forward lunge made the water roil and chambered a punch.

    ¡°You don¡¯t scare me!¡± The foreigner picked up his sword, then thrust at the iing fist.

    Upon impact, both men skid back a tad. The rock to the left of the bath cracked, while the one to the right was rendered a fragment of its erstwhile self.

    Other men around the two immediately urged, ¡°Branch Leader, Great Guardian, please stop this fight.¡± ¡°Yeah, I am sure Great Guardian did not mean it like that,¡± and so forth.

    Hua Qing: ¡°¡­ Just who are those two? They seem even stronger than Hero Zhuo.¡±

    ¡°Nobody important to you. I was hoping to chance upon some clues, not trouble. Let¡¯s get out of here before we have another nuisance on our hands,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    Ming Feizhen had only just finished speaking when he heard from behind, ¡°You say something, kid?¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing looked to each other, both understanding that things were about to get troublesome.

    ¡°Branch Leader, they are ordinary folks! The cult rules will not tolerate this!¡±

    Despite the protests of his subordinates, the tall alcoholic raised a hand to shut down his subordinate. ¡°Oi, kid, you say something about my daughter?¡±

    Without looking back, Ming Feizhen replied, ¡°You had too much to drink, old man?¡±

    ¡°You called my daughter a nuisance?¡±

    ¡°I called you the nuisance, all right?¡±

    The man uncorked a thunderous punch that generated even heat out that made the water release a wall of steam.

    Thud!

    A man gasped. ¡°H-he blocked Branch Master¡¯s punch¡­¡±

    Saying Ming Feizhen blocked the punch was a stretch because he actually just ced his hand in the way.

    ¡°Ho?¡± The elder heartily smiled. ¡°Nice. Try this now.¡±

    ¡°And here I was trying not to pile more on my full te,¡± bemoaned Ming Feizhen.

    The discharge of energy from the two vanquished the steam, revealing the army of proud dragons. The ground cracked and sunk a little everywhere but at the duo¡¯s feet.

    The elder¡¯s subordinate asked the blonde-haired man, ¡°Great Guardian, is the boy¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, strong.¡± The Great Guardian hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°Isn¡¯t that all you need to know?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Neither Ming Feizhen nor the elder calmed down.

    ¡°Hahaha, very impressive strength, kid.¡± Because the elder had to open his pores to excrete internal energy, the alcohol in his system naturally exited, too. He had the spirit of apetitor as a young man, and that spirit still burnt as strong as ever decadester. Regardless of his opponent¡¯s background, having a challenge to break down was always a party to him. ¡°Careful now. This discipline is reserved for direct disciples of Divine Moon Cult! Catch!¡±

 Volume 11.5 27

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 27</h4>

    The ground behind them split the same instant their fists collided, and the audience almost lost their footing - save for the man referred to as Great Guardian and Hua Qing.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Pretty smart of you, bro,¡± Great Guardian said to Hua Qing, who reactively used him as a shield from the violent st.

    Hua Qing wagged a hand. ¡°You tter me.¡±

    Reflecting on what he heard, Hua Qing noticed the distinct foreigner ent in the man¡¯s speech. Havinge across businessmen from Western Regions, he was sure the ent was the same.

    ¡°Yes, I am from what you Central iners call the Western Regions. Don¡¯t I look the part?¡±

    H-he read my mind without even looking at me? Man, he actually looks pretty cool in his closed-off posture now.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to act. Although this is only my third visit to the Central in, I speak Mandarin back home.¡±

    ¡°No wonder why you speak thenguage so fluently. It is impossible to tell you a foreigner from your words alone.¡±

    The man grinned. ¡°No need to act as the weasel paying a New Year call to a chicken, with no good intentions. My Mandarin is perfect.¡±

    Says the man who just used the saying incorrectly! Plus, you don¡¯t look the part!

    Eyes on the duel, the man inquired, ¡°A man by the name of Lord Wu, Hua Feihua, has be quite famous in the Central in recently. Would you happen to know where he is?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I, uh, am not very sure. If you wish to find out more, I can go ask around for you. Stay where you are. I¡¯m going to quickly buy some oranges.¡±

    ¡°Apparently, his martial prowess is on par with Jade Emperor¡¯s fart - amazing.¡±

    ¡°Who did you learn your Mandarin from? Are you deriding me orplimenting me?¡±

    The man finally looked back at Hua Qing. ¡°So you don¡¯t know him?¡±

    ¡°N-no.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t know. Tell me.¡± He extended a finger. ¡°Who¡¯s the boy?¡±

    Ming Feizhen diffused all of the elder¡¯s attacks using circr arm movements, but he had no window to mount an offence of his own. Though the elder¡¯s internal energy was seemingly infinite and skill was superior to the person who massacred Xu n, Ming Feizhen was perfectlyposed.

    Reflecting on all the events he went through with Ming Feizhen until now, it dawned on Hua Qing how surreal all of them had been. ¡°He¡­¡± Hua Qing shook his head, smiling. ¡°I don¡¯t know who he is, either, but he is my friend¡­ I think. While I consider him a friend, I¡¯m cognisant of the fact that I¡¯m not qualified to be his friend. I don¡¯t know what he thinks, either. I don¡¯t even know who he is, after all.¡±

    The man took a seat, then passed Hua Qing a cup of wine. ¡°On myst two trips to the Central in, I forgot. This time, I¡¯ve finally remembered a Chinese name. My name is Wen Wudao. How about you?¡±

    Hua Qing thoughtlessly epted the drink that might¡¯ve been the catalyst behind the debacle taking ce. ¡°My name is Hua Feihua, I mean, I mean Hua Qing! Really! I swear on my life!¡±

    ¡°Rx. I was only interested in sparring with Hua Feihua. Now that I¡¯ve met you in person, I have a good guess of what¡¯s going on, so we can skip it. I¡¯ve never made a friend in the Central in despite three visits. We¡¯ve bathed, seen birds and even drank together. Men don¡¯t need to say any more than this, right? How about being friends?¡±

    Hua Qing profusely nodded right away. ¡°Big Bro, I am at your service. Come what may, I will always be at your beck and call!¡±

    ¡°Big Bro? Hahaha, all right, brother, hahaha. But, uh, are you sure about this?¡± Wen Wudao sped his head with one hand. ¡°I¡¯m fairly well known in the Central in nowadays as Zhuxing Wuchang. They call me a sword demon or something. Why do you look as white as a sheet?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ahaha, no, nothing, I¡¯m good. Big Bro, why are you here in the Central in and taking a bath at a bathhouse?¡±

    Wen Wudao stretched his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve hit a teau in my training, so I figured I need more sparring. There are plenty of strong warriors in the Central in, making it the most ideal ce. In Mandarin, we say ¡®Erect a solid fence so that dogs can¡¯te in,¡¯ so that I can break my teau.¡±

    Are you sure your Mandarin teacher wasn¡¯t out to screw you up?

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re about to have a winner.¡±

    Boom! Ming Feizhen and the elder threatened, each generating smoke geysers upon crashing holes into the ground.

    Hua Qing rushed over to Ming Feizhen. ¡°Brother, you all right?! Please be all right! If anything happens to you, what am I supposed to do (read: these guys will bludgeon me to death)?!¡±

    Wen Wudao gestured approval with his head. ¡°I always like a brother with a sense of brotherhood. This ninth brother of mine is a good man.¡±

    The elder¡¯s subordinates also went to check on him, but he had already taken a seat in the hole. In spite of being caked in dust, he heartily expressed, ¡°That was fun, hahaha. Besides His Excellency, you¡¯re the only opponent this old one has had so much fun fighting.¡±

    Ming Feizhen, although breathing slightly harder than usual, managed to recover quickly and evidentlynded steadily on the ground instead of crashing into the ground. He pushed Hua Qing aside, then replied, ¡°I haven¡¯t lost. At most, I won 70% of the match.¡±

    ¡°Stubborn, huh? If I don¡¯t beat you into submission today, my name Bai¡­¡±

    ¡°Branch Leader, we have trouble!¡± One of the elder¡¯s subordinates whispered in his ear.

    ¡°What? Shen Wuzheng is here?¡± The elder rubbed his chin roughly. ¡°He should¡¯ve taken the bait and gone to Shennong. Why is he back here?¡±

    Wen Wudao eximed, ¡°We¡¯ll just fight whoever pulls up.¡±

    ¡°Shut your ignorant mouth! He may looked like a refined gentleman, but he¡¯s pretty much Yan Shisan 2.0 in battle. Fighting him is just asking for pain. Plus, his style is about being calctive; it¡¯s a boring fight unlike fighting this boy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still bitter about losing in that one exchange to him?¡±

    ¡°He only won because this old one underestimated him. If we were to run it back, this old one would beat him. Men, get ready to slink off.¡±

    All of them really took off without even getting dressed.

    Whilst running backward, the elder said to Ming Feizhen, ¡°Kid, we¡¯ll fight again the next time we meet. You can have this match, hahaha.¡±

    Wen Wudao said to Hua Qing, ¡°I¡¯ll treat you to drinks next time, brother.¡±

    Not long after they left, Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing heard people sprinting in, followed by Xin Buyi yelling from a distance, ¡°None of you are getting away!¡± before he saw the two. ¡°You two?¡±

    The two naked and confused young men bobbed their heads in synchrony. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s us.¡±

    Glossary

    The weasel paying a New Year call to a chicken - This is a literal trantion to emphasise theck of the man¡¯s understanding of the saying. The one you may be more familiar with is, ¡°When the fox preaches, take care of your geese.¡± If you still don¡¯t get it, it basically means someone is pretending to be friendly, but they have an axe to grind. It¡¯s incorrect because Hua Qing doesn¡¯t have an ulterior motive; he¡¯s just trying to not get killed.

    Erect a solid fence so that dogs can¡¯te in - As long as you are upright, bad people can¡¯t corrupt you.

 Volume 11.5 28

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 28</h4>

    ¡°Tell me the truth: what were you two doing?¡± Right butt cheek facing the ceiling of Liu Shan Men¡¯s office, Xin Buyi kept shooting res at Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing. ¡°First you¡¯re all buddy-buddy with League of Assassins, and now you¡¯re buddy-buddy with Demon Cult. I never knew you two were VIPs of unorthodox factions.¡±

    Finally losing it with Xin Buyi, Hua Qing questioned, ¡°If you¡¯re going to interrogate us, go ahead, but why must you adopt that posture?¡±

    ¡°You picking a fight?! If you didn¡¯t stab me, would I be suffering, like this?! I¡¯d be out in the field if it wasn¡¯t because of you!¡±

    ¡°I spoke without thinking that time. It was act-¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, where¡¯s the mister?¡± Ming Feizhen cut in.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ol¡¯ Xin. I¡¯m not your buddy. Who do you think he is? He has important jobs to take care of. He¡¯s off to apprehend those demon cretins. You two are young and don¡¯t look like mean people, so stop hanging around their kind. Else, you¡¯ll be behind bars sooner orter.¡±

    Owing to what Shen Wuzheng told him, Xin Buyi treated Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing more akin as his juniors rather than suspects or criminals.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, are they really bad people?¡± Hua Qing only saw a hero in Wen Wudao - from the way he spoke to the way he carried himself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ol¡¯ Xin. Of course they¡¯re bad people. Look how unbridled they are. They literally ran around butt naked. They¡¯re a bad influence on culture, customs and people.¡±

    Ming Feizhen voiced, ¡°A group of butt-naked people running around in broad daylight must stand out, yet you still haven¡¯t caught them? You guys suck.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you think it¡¯s easy to catch butt-naked people? One of their three Great Guardians, Zhuxing Wuchang, is in the group. Not only is he strong, but he also loves seeking opponents for fights. In fact, he¡¯s already pummelled disciples from most orthodox sects. He¡¯s a cold-blooded murderer in the Western Regions; we¡¯re just lucky he hasn¡¯t had the chance to start a massacre in the Central ins yet. Sir Shen rushed over precisely because of him.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t expect even Dark Moon Faction¡¯s leader, Bai Tianbin, to be here. The leaders of Dark Moon and Bright God factions may not be strong, but Bai Tianbin possesses martial prowess on par with Great Guardians on top of military strategy knowledge, which is why his specialty is training troops. He has a hundred and forty thousand followers under his faction, making him a threat to the imperial court and country. Had it not been for Sir Shen¡¯s astuteness, we wouldn¡¯t have realised he was here.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Hua Fei gave each other a shrug, not buying Xin Buyi¡¯s story.

    Xin Buyi scratched his head as he whinged, ¡°I wonder how they got the balls toe out in droves recently. If even Valley of Viins and Sky Pcee out, it¡¯s going to be one hell of a debacle.¡±

    Ming Feizhen opined, ¡°Big deal. Doesn¡¯t the imperial court have threew enforcement offices? Even if one is ipetent, there are two left.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s moreplicated than you think. The Qilin Guards are praying for our downfall so that they can take over. As soon as there¡¯s trouble in the martial world, they¡¯ll pull out as fast as if their hand was in a fire. Wang Muren is skilled, yes, but he¡¯s unbearably haughty, so he¡¯s constantly bickering with our Captain Yan.

    ¡°Emperor¡¯s Entourage only cares for whoever is ruling. You see Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men constables out and about, right? When have you ever seen a few Emperor¡¯s Entourage agents around? That¡¯s why it¡¯s on us to solve any major issues in the martial world.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Anyhow, since I won¡¯t get anything out of you, you two should bugger off.¡±

    ¡°We can go now?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t just let you go when there were so many witnesses. If you know how serious the situation is, stay at home for a few years, thanks.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, Mister Shen asked you to take care of us, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Man, you¡­¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, you should follow orders.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly, Ol¡¯ Xin. My brother and your superior are friends. Come on, buddy.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ol¡¯ Xin!¡± Xin Buyi mmed his table. ¡°You going to leave, or do I have to make you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen faked an exaggerated flinch. ¡°Ooh, so scary. My legs are so weak that I won¡¯t be able to leave the house for a few years.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Oh, no! We could just be excessively concerned, but leg weakness could turn out to be a major problem. There should be eighteen doctors avable in the city, right? Let¡¯s ask all healthy men from the capital to Luoyang to search. Surely we can find eighteen doctors if we use the imperial court¡¯s resources. Ol¡¯ Xin, Liu Shan Men better report the medical costs.¡±

    Xin Buyi took three deep breaths to curb his anger. ¡°If there is anything I can do for you two, please let me know.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re finally enlightened.¡± Counting off his fingers, Ming Feizhen demanded, ¡°I¡¯d like Liu Shan Men to escort us to the neighbouring city in a horse carriage. The coach needs to be familiar with the roads and how to avoid tailers. We need two sets of clean clothes, a big chest of dry rations, uh¡­ and three thousand silver taels.¡±

    ***

    Hourster, Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing had sessfully sneaked into the neighbouring city.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin sure is a miser. Nothing I said could make him budge on his final offer of two thousand and eight hundred silver taels.¡±

    ¡°Bro, you literally managed to take three thousand off him in the end, though,¡± responded Hua Qing. ¡°By the way, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Fire away.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ what are we doing here again?¡±

    ¡°Digging for information on Miguo Branch. Oh, and letting you experience the magic of the pugilistic world.¡±

    ¡°Putting aside the experience, Miguo Branch is a faction of monks, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Right, right¡­ Aren¡¯t we in the wrong ce, then?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Ming Feizhen looked as though Hua Qing asked the stupidest question known to man. ¡°Did the men at the bathhouse scare your nuts off? There are always exceptions to things. Rx.¡±

    From the pirs, the artwork, the statues, to the decoration, the ce felt so weing that it was easy to rx.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re in the wrong ce. This doesn¡¯t seem right no matter how I look at it.¡±

    ¡°How? It looks perfectly right to me.¡±

    Immediately following Ming Feizhen¡¯s response, a woman notified, ¡°Gentlemen in Heaven room, your girls areing.¡±

    Glossary

    Bai Tianbin - You¡¯ve probably forgotten him since he¡¯s only been mentioned in passing. In volume 6 chapter 57, we learnt he¡¯s Ximen Chuideng¡¯s teacher. Kong Duan ckmailed Long Cheng into doing his bidding using Bai Tianbin¡¯s tablet, which infuriated Ming Feizhen enough to threaten he¡¯d harm the imperial court if they ever defiled his grave.

    When Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen conversed, subsequent to Ming Feizhen¡¯s rampage on Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in Hangzhou (vol. 7.5 ch. 20), she mentioned that he was still beating himself up for failing to save Bai Tianbin. Bai Tianbin¡¯s wife and child are separated, and we don¡¯t know their fate at the moment.

 Volume 11.5 29

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 29</h4>

    ¡°You two are really handsome. Where are you from?¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing could only smell the scent of the seven girls, see their skin through certain angles of their risqu¨¦ attire and hear their young, alluring voices.

    ¡°I-I am Chinese,¡± Hua Qing stuttered.

    ¡°Your bashful reaction is so cute,¡± one of the sixteen year old girls teased.

    Ming Feizhen puffed up his cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m also Chinese. Why aren¡¯t I cute?¡±

    ¡°This boy is even cuter when he¡¯s grumpy.¡± The girl pulled Ming Feizhen into her embrace.

    ¡°You can save your energy. I¡¯m not the sort of person you imagine I am.¡± Ming Feizhen forced the girl off him. ¡°Where¡¯s my forty-sixth dish? Foodes first. The restes after.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t something that can left for ¡®after¡¯, is it?!¡± Hua Fei cried. ¡°Why would you bring me to this sort of ce?! How am I going to face Miss Su?¡±

    Ming Feizhen, alternating between drinking alcohol and eating peanuts, responded, ¡°How are the two rted? What sort of ce do you think this is?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Are you telling me this isn¡¯t,¡± switching to a whisper, Hua Qing continued, ¡°what is this ce, then?¡±

    ¡°A brothel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought! Right?! There¡¯s no alternative, is there, given this edifice. What the hell are you on about, then?! Why did you bring me here?! My reputation stinks so bad that you can already smell it from the other side of the world.¡±

    ¡°Pipe down.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry, sorry.¡± Hua Qing returned to his seat and, stifling his voice, queried, ¡°What are we here for?¡±

    ¡°Fishing.¡± Ming Feizhen rested his arm on the table simrly to a man bored out of his skin. ¡°Unfortunately, the fish aren¡¯t biting the bait.¡±

    Ming Feizhen conspicuously strolled through the streets of the city to bait the people out for Hua Qing, but they couldn¡¯t lure out anyone. Reasoning that they hadn¡¯t stood out enough after visiting the wharf and bathhouse, Ming Feizhen figured they needed to experiment with more special ces, hence the visit to the most famous and biggest brothel - Beauty Spring Brothel. Given the flourishing business, he assumed it¡¯d finally work out.

    ¡°What if talking about this topic exposes us?¡±

    Fiddling with a peanut in his hand, Ming Feizhen answered, ¡°Silence them.¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    ¡°As if. Well, seeing as the fish didn¡¯t bite, we might as well kill some time. Xin Buyi is sponsoring the trip, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°I highly doubt he¡¯d be willing to give you a single coin if he knew what you were spending the funds on¡­¡±

    The girl who just went out sent a pair back in, one called Yungu and another Ruisi, and tended to one of them each in case the other girls didn¡¯t live up their patrons¡¯ standards.

    Ignoring their presence, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°We¡¯re waiting for people toe for you, so there¡¯s nothing for us to do besides rx, reenergise and eat pork shoulders. Oh, you were going to teach me how to get a wife, right? We have plenty of time right now. Let¡¯s start ss.¡±

    ¡°Here?¡± Hua Qing looked around, then expressed, ¡°I suppose it might work. We do have two to demonstrate on.¡±

    Miss Yungu giggled. ¡°You want a wife at your young age, Young Master?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. Somebody has to inherit the family business.¡±

    ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re adorable.¡± Ruisi leaned onto Ming Feizhen¡¯s chest. ¡°That being said, aren¡¯t you worried we¡¯d get jealous with you talking about finding a wife around us?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Ming Feizhen caught the girl leaning on him, eyelids having a spasm. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why don¡¯t you sit straight? Are you not feeling well?¡±

    Ruisi gently draped her arms over Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders and, deliberately breathing onto him as she spoke, conveyed, ¡°Yeah, it aches right here. Can you take a look for me?¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    Ruisi lowered her rosy cheeks, huffed a breath down the opening in her robes, then inted her chest. ¡°Right here.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t see if you just look at that angle.¡±

    ¡°How do I check it, then?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a tease, asking the obvious.¡± Ruisi leaned in and whispered by Ming Feizhen¡¯s ear£¬ ¡°My¡­ chest hurts. Please open me up¡­ and check.¡±

    ¡°Miss.¡± Ming Feizhen Ruisi upright and then grabbed her wrist. ¡°You¡¯re mistaken.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    Ming Feizhen checked Ruisi¡¯s pulse. ¡°Youck yin energy. Your liver wind is rising, and you have a liver blood deficiency. As a result, you are prone to sweating, insomnia and feeling hot. It¡¯s not rted to chest pains.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Your condition is a product of overworking yourself or inadequate rest. Show me your tongue.¡±

    Though perplexed, Ruisi went along.

    ¡°As a thought. I¡¯ll prescribe two forms for you. Drink them before bed. They need to be consumed hot to work. Here¡¯s the prescription. Collect the herbs from the back.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Th-thanks?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Next.¡±

    Ruisi still couldn¡¯t wrap her head around what happened even after she left.

    On the other hand, Hua Qing didn¡¯t bat an eye, seemingly expecting as much. ¡°How do you expect to ever find a wife?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Ming Feizhen packed away the brush, paper, ink and stone.

    Hua Qing heaved a breath of defeat. ¡°To find a wife, you need to first recognise your problem.¡±

    ¡°What problem do I have?¡±

    ¡°Look at this girl.¡± Hua Qing gestured toward Yungu, the girl whom elicited a desire for men to protect, with a hand. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°As a man, you must have an opinion.¡±

    ¡°Like?¡±

    ¡°You need to figure that out for yourself. Look at this pretty girl. Do you have any special feelings?¡±

    Ming Feizhen put Yungu through a thorough visual audient, then started wagging a finger. ¡°¡­ Mm, I know.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    ¡°A me. A meing out of my body.¡± Ming Feizhen positioned his hands by his chest as though he was singing his heart out in a bad.

    ¡°Not bad, not bad. You¡¯re on the right track. And?¡±

    ¡°It feels like I¡¯m about to explode.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Calm down. You can¡¯t explode here. I¡¯m still here!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t calm down.¡±

    ¡°You must! Wait for me to go to the room next door first!¡±

    ¡°No, I have to let it out now!¡± Ming Feizhen sauntered over to the panic-stricken girl. He smacked the table and yelled, ¡°Where¡¯s my food?!¡±

    Yungu and Hua Qing: ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡¯Huh¡¯ what?! How long does it take?! Don¡¯t just stare. Where¡¯s my food, damn it?!¡±

    Yungu started sobbing.

    ¡°What are you staring for? All you do is stare instead of work. Man, this ce¡¯s business practices are corrupt.¡± Ming Feizhen looked to Hua Qing. ¡°What? Why are you staring at me, too?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hua Qing flicked up a thumb. ¡°¡­ Bloody ruthless, you are.¡±

    ¡°Thanks?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing to be proud of! What have you done?! That¡¯s all thates to mind when you see her?¡±

    ¡°What else? I paid for forty-six dishes, yet I have yet to see one. Isn¡¯t my irritation justified?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. You need to learn how to treat ady. You should¡¯ve seen how menacing you were. If you want a wife, you need to learn to be gentle, considerate and smile.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a creep to me.¡±

    ¡°Hey, shut up. You going to learn or not?¡±

    ¡°Demonstrate for me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, fine.¡± Hua Qing cleared his throat, then brightly approached the crying girl. ¡°Miss Yungu, my brother didn¡¯t mean to scare you. Here, wipe your tears with this. Don¡¯t ruin your beauty with tears.¡±

    Yungu smacked away Hua Qing¡¯s handkerchief and continued crying.

    Hua Qing awkwardly fetched his handkerchief from the ground, then continued, ¡°Miss, they say, ¡®No matter if it¡¯s t ins or mountaintops, bees upy the ces flowers bloom. For whom do they toil for the honey? For whom do they ferment the honey?¡¯ S-¡±

    ¡°Go away, you nuisance!¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°¡­ Sucking up to someone who doesn¡¯t like you is self-burial.¡±

    ¡°What dialect is that from?! Stop taking roundabout ways to disparage me!¡± Hua Qing forlornly eximed, ¡°Just remember to kind, considerate and smile!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a top pretty boy like me is on the same level as you¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? Hua Gezi, why are you pulling me down to your level? I¡¯m popr, you know?¡±

    ¡°You?! You¡¯re popr? Show me!¡±

    While the two were arguing, the forty-six piping-hot dishes were served up. The brothel owner also came in to give her apologies and bring in a few more girls to wait on the pair, including Ruisi. To be fair on the brothel, they were a brothel, not a restaurant, so expecting forty-six dishes to fly out of the kitchen was a tall order.

    Yungu also fixed her clothing up and joined them, although she didn¡¯t dare to say a word or smile. To avoid a third moment of awkwardness, Hua Qing didn¡¯t open his mouth again.

    Ming Feizhen crouched down in front of Yungu and just looked at her. Yungu turned her head away, but Ming Feizhen just held his position. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m super handsome.¡±

    Seven of the eight girlsughed. Yungu tried fighting the urge, but she ended up being one of the seven.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Ming Feizhen ced a pair of chopsticks in Yungu¡¯s hand, confusing her. ¡°Feed me.¡± The only girl in the room he looked at was Yungu. Out of nowhere, he raised the corners of his lips, ¡°Sister, feed me.¡±

    Caught off guard, Yungu¡¯s face resembled a ripe tomato.

    Hua Qing sprung to his feet. ¡°You know how to pick up girls!¡±

    ¡°Never said I couldn¡¯t.¡± Ming Feizhen took the piece of meat Yungu held up with his mouth. ¡°I went to a brothel with my shifu when I was one. I¡¯ve yed hand touching, foot touching, face touching whatever games with more aunties and sisters than I can keep count of.¡±

    ¡°Why would you ask me to teach you to find a wife, then?! You trolling me?!¡±

    ¡°No. I know how to talk to girls, but I don¡¯t know how to get a wife.¡±

    ¡°How are they any different?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t a wife someone you spend your entire life with? How can they be the same?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I can¡¯t tell if you know too much or too little¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course that would be¡­¡± Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°A fish finally bit.¡±

    Yungu involuntarily lost her grip on her chopsticks as Ming Feizhen zipped out. Before they could see the door open, they heard, ¡°Ow! Who hit me!¡± from outside. They looked to the door to see Ming Feizhen stepping on a hunched man, smirking. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting all day for you. Why are you spying on us?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s spying on you? Ow, ow, ow!¡±

    Yungu went to ce her chopsticks down, only to discover they had already flown out of her hand.

    Whilst chewing, Ming Feizhen threatened, ¡°Shall I break your old bones?¡±

    Hua Qing rushed to the door to see who was at Ming Feizhen¡¯s mercy and eximed, ¡°Shifu?!¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 30

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 30</h4>

    ¡°Hua Gezi, this is your shifu?¡±

    ¡°What are you on about? My teacher is Beiping¡¯s top thief, Marvellous Kongkong, Empty Glove White Glov-¡±

    ¡°Glove Wolf?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Kongkong¡¯er! You¡¯re really rude, aren¡¯t you? My shifu spent years teaching me. This, of course, would be,¡± Hua Qing nced over to the elder wolfing down food at the table, ¡°my shifu, I think.¡±

    It shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise for Ming Feizhen to recognise the name of the legendary thief, but he never saw himself beating the fragile elder in his sixties at their first meeting.

    ¡°This old one is Beiping¡¯s Kongkong¡¯er. Pleasure to meet you, young hero. This drumstick is delish.¡± Kongkong¡¯er had a chicken drumstick in his left hand, fish in his right hand and grease spread around his lips.

    ¡°Nice appetite, elder. Let me refill your bowl for you,¡± Ming Feizhen expressed.

    ¡°No need! This is best done yourself. How can I bother you?¡± Kongkong¡¯er picked up three more chicken drumsticks, had some wine and, once he had his full-course meal, exhaled a long breath. ¡°I apologise.¡± Burp! There are some things this old one can¡¯t talk about.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯ve had six drumsticks. Here, wipe your mouth.¡±

    ¡°Stop cutting my shifu off. Shifu, why are you here? I did not implicate you, did I?¡±

    Hua Qing and Kongkong¡¯er¡¯s rtionship wasn¡¯t ssified information by any means; Kongkong¡¯er¡¯s home in Beiping was vandalised way back when Hua Qing first gained the moniker Lord Wu, Hua Feihua. Today was their first time meeting up since the debacle.

    Simpering, Kongkong¡¯er said, ¡°Heh, This old one spent half his life drifting from ce to ce. Any building, crack or hole can be afortable home. They just wanted him to tell them where Lord Wu was; we don¡¯t have any grudges. Besides, even if they can find this old one, they still won¡¯t necessarily be able to find you. What are the odds a miracle would happen for them?¡±

    Eyes red, Hua Qing conveyed, ¡°Sorry for implicating you, Shifu.¡±

    ¡°What sort of shifu would sell out his disciple? There¡¯s no need to thank me.¡± Kongkong¡¯er gently grabbed Hua Qing¡¯s hands, eyes also wet.

    ¡°Why did youe here, Shifu?¡±

    ¡°There have been countless people from orthodox and unorthodox factions monitoring me ever since I left Beiping. They have the ruthlessness, but they need work to work their heads more.¡± Though Kongkong¡¯er smiled, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine the dangers he faced based on his words alone. ¡°I decided to sequester, only swapping hideouts once every three months. Instead of searching for you, I opted to wait for you to find me. Time flowed a little slow, but no matter. See? We¡¯ve been reunited, no? Hahaha. This old one owes you for protecting his disciple, Young Hero. It shames him to say this, but he has a presumptuous request to make of you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen saluted Kongkong¡¯er. ¡°Please speak without reservation.¡±

    ¡°This old one did not know if you were a thief of some sort when you attacked, so he pulled a little stunt.¡± Kongkong¡¯er took out Ming Feizhen¡¯s money pouch from his shirt. ¡°This one took some precautions since he did not know your true nature. Please forgive him.¡±

    ¡°Shifu?! Brother Ming, please pardon us. It is my shifu¡¯s upational habit.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. ¡°It is nothing, Elder. Hua Gezi and I are practically blood brothers. His money is my money. His shifu is my shifu. His shifu¡¯s money pouch, therefore, is my money pouch.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°You got it backwards.¡±

    ¡°No I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± After heughed, Kongkong¡¯er realised what Ming Feizhen implied, so he reached for his money pouch, only for his hand to rivet. ¡°Impressive, Young Hero.¡±

    ¡°Brother Ming?! You also pickpocketed my shifu?!¡±

    ¡°Qing, it¡¯s cool.¡±

    ¡°Shifu?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t lost.¡± Kongkong¡¯er smugly pulled out a small brocade box from his sash. ¡°Honesty deserves to be repaid with honesty. Due to his old habits, he took this from you, as well.¡±

    ¡°This is nothing for you to brag about! What are you two evenpeting in?! Stealing someone¡¯s property in their face is only going to earn you a beating!¡±

    Ming Feizhenughed. ¡°I admire your quick eyes and hands, Elder; however, the box does not belong to me.¡±

    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t it mine?¡± Hua Qing voiced.

    Ming Feizhen swiped the brocade box off Hua Qing some time ago.

    ¡°You amaze this old one again, Young Hero. That being said, this old one doesn¡¯t have any money in his pouch. Does that not make it your loss?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. My family is poor and undereducated, so we do not put money in money pouches. As an inheritor of my family¡¯s teachings, I remember the teachings deep in my soul.¡± Ming Feizhen tossed two strings of gold pieces onto the table.

    Recognising the gold he hid in his footwear, Kongkong¡¯er conveyed, ¡°Bloody hell, you have fast hands!¡± He opened the brocade box and money pouch in front of him, grumbling, ¡°They¡¯re really empty¡­ Who trained you? God damn, this is underhanded¡­¡±

    Hua Qingmented, ¡°It¡¯s true when they say every exchange is lethal when adeptspete. I had no idea you were a better thief than my shifu, Brother Ming.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er: ¡°¡­ But I pinched two items. Two to one. Who one?¡±

    ¡°Shifu, stop trying! You gotpletely wrecked, okay?! Do you not care about your reputation?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s face read, ¡°Damn, this is your counter?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Don¡¯t acknowledge him! You won! Youpletely won! Stop this nonsensical contest!¡±

    Ming Feizhen took a deep breath. ¡°Hoho, Elder, is your vision deteriorating? You only have two items. Look again how many I have?¡± Ming Feizhen mmed the table, revealing another pouch of money and jade tablet.

    Hua Qing: ¡°Aren¡¯t those mine?!¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er gasped. ¡°¡­ So what? Watch this!¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°What?! Doesn¡¯t that head cloth belong to Hua Gezi?! Amazing, but watch this!¡±

    ¡°His belt?! Hmph, watch this!¡±

    ¡°When did you get his robe?! All right, watch me!¡±

    ¡°Oh? That undergarment! All right, watch me!¡±

    ¡°Can you two stop?! Hey, st-stop!¡± Hua Qing gripped the top of his underpants until his hands were as white as a sheet.

    Ming Feizhen and Kongkong¡¯er: ¡°Tsk, what a nuisance.¡±

    ¡°You two are the nuisances here! Leave me out of your nonsensical contest! What¡¯s that sound? Hey! Wait! Wait!¡±

    Rip!

    Kongkong¡¯er affably offered up a palm-fist salute. ¡°This old one never expected there to be someone so talented in the young generation.¡±

    Ming Feizhen reciprocated the salute in kind. ¡°With agees experience. I must seek your wisdom on your Empty Hand Headskinner technique.¡±

    The two discarded the respective bits of cloth in their hand, thenughed heartily.

    ¡°Just you two wait!¡± Hua Qing, covering himself with a bed sheet, was the only one who wasn¡¯t enjoying the situation.

    ***

    Following a full-course meal, Ming Feizhen inquired, ¡°Elder, why did you suddenly decide to seek out Hua Gezi? Has something unpredictede up?¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er gave Ming Feizhen a thumbs up. ¡°Very perceptive of you. Qing¡¯er, learn from him.¡±

    Hua Qing spat at Ming Feizhen¡¯s feet, then pulled up thepels on the new clothing he requested from the brothel proprietor. ¡°You two wait. I¡¯ll p both of you one day! I can forgive this set of clothes for being small, but what is with this bizarre design?¡±

    ¡°Stopining. Be thankful you have something to wear.¡±

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you two ruining my clothes, would I be forced to wear this? I swear this set of clothes is uncannily familiar.¡±

    ¡°Elder, you were saying?¡±

    ¡°Right. I searched for Qing¡¯er because,st month, a man I met at a rundown shrine outside a city told me¡­¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! Isn¡¯t this the clothing for brothels¡¯ security?! What did you tell them?!¡±

    ¡°Quiet, boy. I¡¯ll hit you!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re busy talking business! What is wrong with you?¡±

    Hua Qing silently went to cry in a corner.

    ¡°Last month, when this old one dressed up as a beggar to loiter at the city outskirts, he came across an old monk who had one foot in a coffin. He would¡¯ve been dead already if it wasn¡¯t for his advanced internal strength. He was immobilised on the ground, so he hadn¡¯t drank or eaten in several days. This old one is no phnthropist, and he¡¯s been on the receiving end of many daoists¡¯ anger. On ount of the pugilistic world¡¯s unwritten rules, this old one decided to leave after leaving some food and water for him. This old one was about fifteen metres away from the monk when the monk suddenly opened his eyes to thank this old one. ording to him, he is a monk from Shaolin.¡±

    ¡°Shaolin?¡± Hua Qing hurried back once Ming Feizhen and he looked to each other.

    Kongkong¡¯er had a nip of tea. ¡°He said his dharma name is Kongcang. Back in this old one¡¯s younger days, he had the fortune of interacting with Shaolin Temple¡¯s monks. Naturally, this old one thereupon made sure to take care of him because this old one recognised the name. The only concern this old one had was that the monk was an imposter. Thankfully, he could answer all the questions this old one posed, including questions only someone of his rank in Shaolin Temple could answer. We then switched roles, with him testing this old one. Since it was evident that this old one was an ally of Shaolin Temple, Venerable Kongcang exined what happened to him.

    ¡°He told this old one he unknowingly walked into a big conspiracy in the midst of investigating a crime that took the lives of two Shaolin disciples. Upon learning of this old one¡¯s identity, he urged this old one to find Qing¡¯er as soon as possible, then join Shaolin for protection. Shaolin is one of the three biggest sects, not to mention they¡¯re still going strong after all these years. As long as Qing¡¯er could join them, even if he couldn¡¯t clear his name, he would be safe. That¡¯s why this old one hurried here.¡±

    Ming Feizhen could virtually hear the respect Kongkong¡¯er held for Shaolin.

    ¡°Indeed, Shaolin would be able to protect him. That does not exin why you are starving, though.¡±

    ¡°This old one had to wait and couldn¡¯t deploy money, so he starved for five days. If he deployed cash, it would be the same as telling people where he is. It¡¯s no big deal, nevertheless. Back when the foreigners from the north invaded, this old one didn¡¯t bat an eye even when he had to go fifteen days without food. Anyhow, that¡¯s about it. Qing¡¯er, go scout the situation outside. If it¡¯s safe, let¡¯s dash.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Hua Qing tip toed out.

    Within seconds, Ming Feizhen and Kongkong¡¯er heard, ¡°Hey, security, where are the girls?!¡± putting smiles on their faces.

    ¡°Elder, how do you see Zhuo Fengru?¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er flinched subtly. ¡°Why do you bring him up?¡±

    ¡°I am sure you did not just learn of where your disciple is today, but you must have chosen today to make contact with him because we are off Zhuo Fengru¡¯s radar.¡±

    ¡°What do you think of him?¡±

    ¡°90% likely to be bad news.¡±

    ¡°True men don¡¯t beat around the bush.¡± Kongkong¡¯er whacked the table with an open hand. ¡°This old one has met all sorts of people during his time in the pugilistic world. Zhuo Fengru¡¯s actions and words contradict each other. One of them has to be a lie. Even if he isn¡¯t a nefarious viin, he¡¯s definitely not the upright man he poses as. Him, a hero? What a lousy joke.¡±

    ¡°Hua Gezi trusts him.¡±

    ¡°Qing¡¯er has the physical skills, but he¡¯s too honest and trusting. Are you not the same?¡±

    Ming Feizhen cast his gaze to the ceiling. ¡°Otherwise, I would not have saved him.¡±

    Hua Qing, from the door, notified, ¡°We can leave.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Let us pay a visit to the venerable monk.¡±

    ***

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Contrary to her prior bright personality, when Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing were in the room only a while ago, Ruisi looked statically stoic.

    ¡°Martial Prowess or wits?¡± Likewise, Yungu¡¯s tone suggested ack of emotional investment in the subject of discussion.

    ¡°Wits.¡±

    ¡°A white sheet.¡±

    ¡°Martial prowess?¡±

    ¡°Immeasurable.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ Your evaluation?¡±

    ¡°Although he is strong, he¡¯s not perfect. He¡¯s not proficient at currying favour for gains and scheming. While he¡¯s not stupid, he is young, so he¡¯s prone to be driven by his emotions. We can make use of that.¡±

    ¡°What should we report?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll say¡­ He may be the best son-inw candidate for Her Highness Sacred Maiden.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 31

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 31</h4>

    The junior under the same teacher of Abbott Xukong stayed at Shaolin Temple for decades of youth, then travelled for thetter half of his life, doing his best to protect the peace in the pugilistic world. Had it not been for his contributions to the pugilistic world, people would think Shaolin had withdrawn from the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs. Ever since he started traversing the pugilistic world, he was always on the go, giving the impression that he was seeking something that eluded him.

    Unlike the vandalised Buddha statue and dpidated shrine, the seventy-plus monk lying behind the statue had skinparable to an infant¡¯s, though he was far from feeling as energetic as one. Venerable Kongcang¡¯s most defining feature was his locked brows that somehow perfectly fit his facial features, which he kept locked even when sleeping or meditating.

    ¡°Venerable Kongcang? Venerable Kongcang? Are you all right?¡±

    Venerable Kongcang barely managed to part his eyelids. Shaolin taught disciples to never show their emotions - a practice of stillness. At the highest level, as long as there was a trace of awareness, they could still hear anyone encroaching based on footsteps, yet Venerable Kongcang was no longer capable of that much. Nevertheless, he was genuinely relieved to see it wasn¡¯t a hostile visiting him.

    Kongkong¡¯er enthused, ¡°I brought my disciple and an adept. He may be able to treat your injuries.¡±

    Kongcang summoned up what little energy he was surviving off to follow the direction of Kongkong¡¯er¡¯s finger. Though the young man was wrapped in a bed sheet that wasn¡¯t enough to cover his left shoulder, he certainly was dashing. ¡°It is an honour to meet you. May this one ask for your esteemed name?¡± Kongcang barely uttered.

    Hua Qing acknowledged he heard Kongcang, but he said, ¡°It is not me.¡±

    ¡°Yo, Ol¡¯ Monk.¡± Ming Feizhen picked up Kongcang¡¯s left hand. ¡°You¡¯ve been roughed up pretty nastily, huh? Shaolin monks are famous for having a fighting addiction, but you guys are usually the onesying people out. How¡¯d you end up in this shape?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Thank you,¡± expressed Kongcang, feeling oxygening in and exiting noticeably morefortably, albeit still feeling weak.

    It took a moment for Kongcang to determine that Ming Feizhen was using his left hand as a channel to recollect the scattered energy in his body and recalibrate it. Over time, the flow inside him elerated. Following that, he felt a foreign energy siphon through, clearing the blocked paths in his body that his weak energy couldn¡¯t unblock. By the time he could vividly sense the sensation of a guide in his body, he had gone far from the figurative coffin he had a leg in. Once he could monitor the situation inside him, he could identify the foreign internal energy guiding his energy was cultivated via an authentic Buddhist mental cultivation discipline. He could tell that Ming Feizhen learnt the mental cultivation through proper means because, if he learnt it through unorthodox means, then it wouldn¡¯t be so effective.

    He recollected my damaged energy as though he was threading. If he couldn¡¯t do that at the start, he would need half a month to treat me even with an authentic Buddhist treatment method. This body has both advanced internal energy and exceptional control over his energy. Strength to drive off the tide with mountains, precision to find a target in turbulent winds.

    ¡°¡­ Junior Brother?¡± Kongcang immediately knew his guess was wrong subsequent to blurting for, ording to his memories, the two people he knew of who possessed both abilities had bid this world farewell decades ago.

    Kongcang himself would¡¯ve liked to know why he mixed up Ming Feizhen with the man in his memories when the two of them didn¡¯t remotely resemble each other in any facet.

    ¡°Monk, calling me your junior is mixing up the hierarchy. In saying that, if you¡¯re calcting based off my grandmaster, you might be right.¡±

    As much as Kongcang would¡¯ve liked to decipher what Ming Feizhen meant, there was something else that needed to inform them of. ¡°Leave now! This shrine has been surrounded! There is no time to waste here!¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed.

    Perhaps it was a fraction of a second after the four men donning ck uniforms broke through the roof, blood whipped across the floor following a four groans.

    Performing wrist circles, Ming Feizhen grumbled, ¡°I was going to get the jump on them, but you switched our roles with your shouting. I, therefore, had no choice but to kill them.¡±

    When Hua Qing and Kongkong¡¯er had the time to catch up and look, the four on the ground were unrecognisable.

    ¡°Amitabha, killing four people in session¡­ It seems a ritual must be performed. Ah, thank you for saving this one.¡±

    ¡°Venerable Kongcang, are you all better?¡± Kongkong¡¯er asked.

    Kongcang smiled and nodded.

    ¡°Venerable Kongcang, who hurt you?¡± Ming Feizhen helped Kongcang up. ¡°I found Vajra Divine Might inside you. As far as I know, there are only three factions who have mastered it to this extent. There¡¯s no way your fellow members punished you for drinking or eating meat. There¡¯s no way Hangzhou¡¯s maidens beat you for peeping. So, my guess is that it¡¯s the third possibility.¡±

    ¡°You are very perceptive. Indeed, this one suffered defeat at Shennong.¡±

    Glossary

    There¡¯s an omitted joke in there that ys on a term that could be tranted as ¡°extremely skilled¡± or ¡°entric¡± or ¡°mutated¡± or¡­ I¡¯m stopping there. That¡¯s why Kongcang looks to Hua Qing first instead of Ming Feizhen.

 Volume 11.5 32

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 32</h4>

    ¡°I heard Shi Xintong failed in Yichang and has been arrested by Liu Shan Men.¡± Despite not budging from the formation he sat in, the huge tanned man could transmit his voice sonorously and far. ¡°He¡¯s your favourite disciple. You often say he will be your sessor. Why are you so heartless now?¡±

    The man sitting cross-legged didn¡¯t respond to the bald man¡¯s taunts. Thus, therge monk narrowed his eyes and continued, ¡°It¡¯s been a year, baldy. How much longer are you going to keep this up?¡±

    The man, dressed in white garments, sitting opposite therge monk smiled. ¡°Says the bald one himself.¡±

    The monk in white was subjected to physical torture whilst deprived of food and water for a year, but none of it bothered him in the slightest because none of it damaged him in any capacity - a product of learning Vajra Realm. Mayhap imprisoning him was a mistake. After all, the detainee wasn¡¯t bothered. On the contrary, the only person who could keep him in check was the huge monk who was forced to sit facing him for thest year, putting up with all the mockery.

    ¡°Your Wugou Branch¡¯s descendants havemitted every sin under the sun for my sake; the world now views your group as heretics. In the Central in, Liu Shan Men is out to arrest them. Lotus Branch has also issued Myriad Token. It¡¯s toote for you to turn back. Why continue fronting?¡± Since he didn¡¯t receive a response, the big monk continued, ¡°I¡¯ve already obtained the method to learning the eighth level of Vajra Realm. Even if you don¡¯t tell me the final level, I¡¯ll be able to decipher it for myself in time. Why don¡¯t you seek relief? As long-time friends, I don¡¯t want to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Miguo,¡± the monk in white lowered the curve at his lips to a neutral position, ¡°save your breath. You and I both know word games won¡¯t work. Be frank. You¡¯ve used all sorts of methods to pry it out of me in the time you¡¯ve imprisoned me. I won¡¯t yield to might. What you¡¯ve always been missing is a convincing reason.¡±

    Nobody would think Wugou and Miguo¡¯s leaders, two of the three subsidiary branches of Lord Lotus, would be at the Central in¡¯s Shennong together.

    ¡°There are innumerable adepts in the Central in who could beat either of us. What¡¯s the point of having Vajra Realm?¡± rhetorically questioned the monk in white.

    ¡°You know my target isn¡¯t in the Central in.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s precisely why I can¡¯t allow you to obtain the final level.¡± The monk in white exhaled. ¡°Using the injuries you suffered in your defeat to Lord San Shen, you tricked me into sharing Vajra Realm with you. I understand what you¡¯re thinking, and I¡¯ve reminded you three times, but you haven¡¯t heeded my warnings.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention him!¡± Therge monk mmed the ground with an open hand, generating a massive dust plume.

    The two monks always kept their conversations civil, but, when Lord San Shen was mentioned, Lord Miguopletely lost it. On the other hand, Lord Wugou didn¡¯t even blink.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Your defeat at the hands of Lord San Shen has be mental torment, turning you into a ruthless murderer.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I must defeat him. Why didn¡¯t you hand over the manual when you always knew what I was thinking? Why don¡¯t you just admit you¡¯re masquerading as a saint?¡±

    ¡°I know the demon in your head. Nheless, as long as you continue to improve and chase the goal of defeating Lord San Shen, perhaps you will gradually ovee your demons as you train. Ever since learning of Xu n¡¯s zed Buddhist relic, you¡¯ve been blinded to all but the path of destruction. You originally challenged Lord San Shen to stop him from killing. Now, how are you any different to the man you tried to stop?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s killed ten times more people than I have. How can wepare?¡±

    ¡°And why did Xu n deserve to die?¡±

    ¡°They possessed something they shouldn¡¯t have had, so it¡¯s only right for them to give it to the right person.¡±

    ¡°Are you absolutely confident you can defeat Lord San Shen once you obtain the sarira?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°He practices Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Spring Wind Rainy Night Art. The only person who can beat him is Ximen Chuideng or the future leader. You think you can match him even if you learn Vajra Realm and Miguo?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Your idea only leads to murder. You want to go on a murder spree in the Central in. First, you want to leverage yourwork at Three Gorges to set traps and take out aplished adepts so that you can absorb their strength, strengthening your sarira. Perhaps you¡¯ve already started. You can absorb and store the energy of others using your Karma discipline. While you can¡¯t convert it all into energy for your own usage, you can store the energy inside the relic. Your goal is to overfill it so that it will burst out.

    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before you kill the stronger foes to that end. Three Gorges is only the first step. You¡¯re also provoking them into attacking you. You might even kill one or two among Supreme Ten Saints to draw out the strongest in the Central in. Then, when return to the Western Regions, you won¡¯t challenge Demon King and Lord San Shen first. Instead, you¡¯ll challenge our leader. You will sin more than ten times what you have done so far.¡±

    ¡°People in the pugilistic world don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    ¡°Or are you just stubborn? How can you be so ruthless?¡±

    Lord Miguo got to his feet, generating a wind. ¡°Lord San Shen taught me a truth: the strong rule. Everything else is drivel.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re underestimating people. How long have martial artists of the Central in ruled as the strongest? What gives you the idea that they can¡¯t defend themselves? You¡¯re sowing the fruits of cmity for yourself.¡±

 Volume 11.5 33

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 33</h4>

    ¡°That is the whole story.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er, Hua Qing and Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t believe Kongcang¡¯s recount covered everything going on behind the scenes.

    Rubbing his chin, Ming Feizhen questioned, ¡°In other words, you, a monk, found your way to Shennong whilst investigating a murder case, only for another monk to smash?¡±

    ¡°Simply put, correct.¡±

    ¡°Wow, Buddhism sure is a mess.¡±

    ¡°Amitabha. Though we can¡¯t say our Shaolin Temple in the Central in is not united, the majority of us are humble and kind monks. Despite possessing Vajra mental cultivation from Buddhism, however, Shennong¡¯s monk is blinded by evil. This one is not capable enough of enlightening him. This one should¡¯ve perished. Thanks to a fortuitous meeting with Mr. Kong, this one had a chance to survive a trying trial.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er and Hua Qing kept nodding solemnly, prompting Ming Feizhen to elucidate, ¡°He¡¯s saying, he couldn¡¯t beat the Lord Miguo bugger, but your shifu saved him. Now that he has recovered, he seeks an opportunity to run it back.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er and Hua Qing: ¡°Oh! Why didn¡¯t you say just that? Understood!¡±

    ¡°Even if you want revenge, you have to pick the day. I can elerate your recovery, but you will still need a few days to be 100%. Therefore, you will have to join us.¡±

    ¡°This old one has decided to clear Mr. Hua¡¯s name to thank you for your kindness, so, even if you didn¡¯t allow him, this one still would have shamelessly followed you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°Your words, not mine.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ***

    By the time they returned to Zhuo Estate, it was alreadyte at night.

    ¡°How are we going to exin our party size suddenly growing by two people?¡± Hua Qing asked.

    ¡°Why is that even a concern when we can¡¯t exin why we suddenly went missing for an entire day? Abandon caution and go in reckless. I can¡¯t care less what he thinks. First things first: we need to sneak back in. I¡¯m about to nod off here,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    They were almost at the front door when Hua Qing tugged on Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t exin to Hero Zhuo, we can exin to Miss Su and Yanran, can¡¯t we? What are you going to tell them?¡±

    ¡°The truth.¡±

    ¡°Everything?¡±

    ¡°Or?¡±

    ¡°Think about it: is it appropriate to tell them about the ces we went to today?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s inappropriate about them?¡±

    ¡°Think carefully again. Is it appropriate to go to those ces if they were around?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I catch your drift now. Why didn¡¯t you just say so?¡±

    Only two stepster, Kongkong¡¯er tugged Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleeve.

    ¡°Elder Kong, do you have something to say?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Kongkong¡¯er, rubbing his hands together, implored, ¡°This old one is nobody, but he does want to leave a good impression on his disciple-inw. Please allow this old one to leave an impressive impression.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    One step after, Kongcang tugged Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleeve.

    ¡°Look, can you all tell me everything you want to say in one go? My clothing is expensive.¡±

    ¡°This one does not have any special requests. Because he is a Shaolin monk, though, he wanted to remind you not to alert the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Why am I speaking on everyone¡¯s behalf when you¡¯re all capable of speaking?¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er, Kongcang and Hua Qing: ¡°Because we trust you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine. Got it. Can I knock now?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru led a group of servants to wee the group, Su Li and Xu Yanran following at the rear, after Ming Feizhen knocked. Everyone on the inside of the estate looked concerned, albeit for different reasons.

    Zhuo Fengru voiced, ¡°This old one is d to see you to back safe and sound. He heard Liu Shan Men arrested the two of you, while his own people couldn¡¯t find any clues. These two gentlemen are¡­?¡±

    Hua Qing made eye contact with his shifu prior to introducing, ¡°This is my father!¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er inted his chest, scanning Su Li and Xu Yanran. ¡°Who is Miss Su? Hoho, my son is always talking about you. Here, please ept this modest gift.¡± Kongkong¡¯er passed over a big block of gold.

    Su Li smiled. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you. I cannot ept such a big gift when we have just met today.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not big at all. Take it. We are family now; why do you need to be so reserved?¡±

    Caught by surprise, Zhuo Fengru scratched his head. ¡°Oh¡­ Mr. Hua, it is an honour to meet you. And that is?¡±

    ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    Everyone shook their heads.

    Ming Feizhen nced over to the monk who was as excited as a father waiting for his son¡¯s praise so that he could signal for Kongcang to rest assured. ¡°This is the lecherous monk from Shaolin we met at the brothel when he was trying to dash after enjoying the girls. He calls himself King of Gigolos. It took as ages to save him from his ordeal. That¡¯s why Liu Shan Men took us in.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er, Kongcang and Hua Qing: ¡°What in the world did you ¡®get¡¯?!¡±

    Hands over his ears, Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°They¡¯re all really friendly, so you should hit it off.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Please forgive this old one for thete wee. Pleasee in.¡± Zhuo Fengru stepped aside so that Kongcang could head in first.

    Xu Yanran: ¡°Br-Brother Hua, why did you go to that sort of ce?¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Young Master Hua¡­ you and your father¡­¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er: ¡°Young Hero Ming, why did you set this old one up?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Didn¡¯t I promise to make you sound impressive? You¡¯re King-level.¡±

    ¡°The key is King-level what! Miss Su, this old one can promise he is a good man.¡±

    Ming Feizhen eventually lost it with Hua Qing because thetter kept whining and cursing all the way back to their room. ¡°Shut up. It was deliberate; I wanted to see how Zhuo Fengru would react. I don¡¯t care how much he knows. I want to know what he thinks of Kongcang¡¯s monk identity.¡±

    ¡°What did you notice?¡±

    ¡°Malice. Today should¡¯ve been the first time they met, yet Zhuo Fengru lost hisposure as soon as he learnt Kongcang is from Shaolin, which is unlike his usual self. Remember why Kongcang approached Xu n?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ because Shaolin disciples were murdered without rhyme or reason. Are you implying th-¡±

    ¡°A pointless question. Neither of us has proof.¡±

    ¡°Never knew you cared for proof.¡±

 Volume 11.5 34

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 34</h4>

    ¡°What is it specifically that you want to do??¡±

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms. ¡°Hm¡­ One thing in Kongcang¡¯s story doesn¡¯t add up for me. If he suspects Zhuo Fengru is responsible for killing Shaolin¡¯s disciples, why did he go to Shennong? At a surface level, the two aren¡¯t remotely rted.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that he¡¯s withholding information?¡±

    ¡°I trust Shaolin Temple¡¯s monks far, far more than other sects. Don¡¯t ask me why because I won¡¯t tell you. He might have his reasons for not telling us everything; however, it suggests that Zhuo Fengru and Miguo Branch aren¡¯t likely connected.¡± Ming Feizhen jerked his head up. ¡°My initial guess was that Zhuo Fengru was the only person who knew Xu n had the item in their possession. Let¡¯s ignore the reason for that and how unbelievable it may sound. As long as he disclosed the secret, Miguo Branch could make end Xu n. Slice it how you like it, but nobody knows more about Xu n than he does.¡±

    If the case didn¡¯t have an effect on his guilt or innocence, Hua Qing would¡¯ve blindly argued otherwise. It wasn¡¯t the first time Ming Feizhen asserted Zhuo Fengru was the most likely culprit, but there was one point that Hua Qing had yet to understand. ¡°¡­ If we don¡¯t know the reason, let¡¯s find out what the reason is.¡±

    ¡°You must have too much time to kill, or do you have a crush on him? I promised to help you, not to help you for the rest of your life. Now I¡¯m helping Xu Yanran, Lass Su and your shifu. That¡¯s four people. I¡¯m raising my price.¡±

    ¡°The deal was that you clear my name, and I give you Repository Jade¡­ By the way, is it really worth a hundred thousand? Are you sure you can sell it for a hundred thousand?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know for sure what price it¡¯d fetch.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Zhuo n have a hundred thousand? What would he harm his best friend for?¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°He¡¯s famous, aplished, filthy rich and a notch above you at fighting.¡±

    ¡°Scratch thatst one out. I was taking it easy on him.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird? You think it¡¯s weird for Liu Shan Men to investigate me. You think it¡¯s weird for Venerable Kongcang to be on guard around him, too. Has it every crossed your mind that it¡¯s weird for him to do what you¡¯re suggesting he did? He has done many good deeds for many years.¡±

    After a long silence, Ming Feizhen raised his hand. ¡°We¡¯ll roll with what you say.¡±

    Hua Qing ducked under the table. ¡°Don¡¯t hurt me! Do what you want! I won¡¯t say anything s-, huh? What did you just say?¡± Jumping up instinctively led to him hitting his head on the table. ¡°Ah, that hurt! Did you say we¡¯re going with what I say?¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded. ¡°You make sense.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Didn¡¯t expect to hear you agreeing with my viewpoint.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m a newbie to this world, so I probably don¡¯t know that much more than you. I merely act on my thoughts. If you don¡¯t share your opinion, I¡¯ll just do things my way. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had a lot of peculiar traits, but perchance he was simr to any other fourteen year old deep down, making blunders, needing friends and reminders to rein him in. Based on the things he said and did, it was quite likely that he didn¡¯t have anyone who could fill those roles around him all this time. Mayhap he was the outlier in this world because he was always progressing along a path that went against ¡°normal¡±.

    Hua Qing took a seat beside Ming Feizhen, then pped thetter¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Bro.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hua Qing, bearing with the sting in his hand, smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s be sworn brothers.¡±

    That day, Hua Qing learnt what was called ¡°spitting profanity without uttering a word¡± from the look on Ming Feizhen¡¯s face.

    ¡°¡­ All right.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what your expression says!¡±

    ¡°What can I do when I don¡¯t think highly of you?¡±

    ¡°You just spoke your mind! Take that back!¡±

    ¡°What a waste of energy. After this drink, remember to die on the same day as I die.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too casual about it?! Kowtow with me. My knees are itchy! By the way, you stopped paying attention to me after you insulted me! I still haven¡¯t paid you back for looking down on me!¡± Thirsty due to his rant, Hua Qing knocked back a cup of tea.

    ¡°Okay, brotherhood established. Let¡¯s head to bed.¡±

    ¡°Do you not have a single ounce of respect for me?!¡±

    ¡°Your fault for being a Zhuo Fengru fanboy.¡± Ming Feizhen paused to wait for two familiar, pretty faces to pop in, then finished, ¡°I respect your love for old men.¡±

    Su Li and Xu Yanran fossilised.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. It¡¯s a form of resp-, oi! Ming Feizhen, you set me up again! Miss Su, Yanran, don¡¯t go! I¡¯m not some sick freak of nature! Don¡¯t just walk out! He¡¯s spouting nonsense! Wait for me! Ming Feizhen!¡±

    ¡°d to see you¡¯re all happy. Night,¡± Ming Feizhen stopped at the door to turn around and give Hua Qing a smile, ¡°Brother Hua.¡±

    ***

    Knock, knock.

    ¡°Come in.¡± Zhuo Fengru gently shut his book.

    Anyone who assumed Zhuo Fengru was illiterate because he was associated with bandits wa wrong. While true that he was purely invested in martial arts early in his life, once people started hailing him as Hero Zhuo, he decided it was time to live up to the name. Thus, he took up the pen, developing a habit of reading every night.

    ¡°Dad, I am not interrupting you, am I?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, my young master. Since you are paying your old man a visitte at night, is it safe to assume you need more spending money?¡±

    Zhuo Yupin went red in the face. ¡°I do have money, but I do not have enough to buy Yanran some jewellery¡­ But I am not here to talk about this.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Zhuo Fengru gestured to the chair in front of him. ¡°Sit.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin kept fidgeting with his hands once he was seated.

    ¡°How much did Miguo Branch pay you for your father?¡±

    Zhuo Yupin¡¯s fidgeting came to an immediate halt.

    Note

 Volume 11.5 35

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 35</h4>

    ¡°F-Father¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru started with a nip of tea. ¡°You have an extra three thousand silver taels in your room, yet I don¡¯t remember giving that sum to you. Growing up, you¡¯ve never had a woe when ites to your sustenance. In fact, you¡¯re virtually built out of gold and jade. Why? Why would you covet some spare change?¡±

    ¡°F-Father, you misunderstand. The money did note from Miguo Branch. When I went to collectnd rent from the farmersst time, they were so adamant that I could not turn them down, so¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru ambled over to Zhuo Yupin, then shook his head. ¡°You couldn¡¯t turn them down, you say?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°So you epted a bribe? Did you do the wrong thing?¡±

    Zhuo Yupin looked down and, in a quiet voice, answered, ¡°I understand I am in the wrong.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you have to ept your punishment.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I understand, Father.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru pped Zhuo Yupin so hard that his son rolled three rotations across the ground. He pulled his son up, then said, ¡°You collectednd feesst month, but the three thousand only showed up in your room recently.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking that it could be used to earn interest, so I loaned it to some friends for until recently.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? In other words, usury?¡±

    p! p! p! There wasn¡¯t a single pause between the ps and tumbling that echoed in the room.

    ¡°You really are something, my young master. I spent decades associated with bandits, but I never dared to engage in any illegal business, yet you¡¯ve already learnt usury? Why don¡¯t you teach your old father?¡±

    ¡°My bad friends persuaded me. I will not do it again.¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Zhuo Fengru stopped chasing his son across the floor. ¡°I¡¯m done wasting my breath. I have only one question: is there any truth to a single word you¡¯ve said since setting foot in this room?¡±

    Faced with his father¡¯s menacing stare, Zhuo Yupin could only stammer, ¡°Dad, I, I¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru sneered. ¡°Trying to cover one lie with another is wrong. Mostughable, though, is that even your lies are unbelievable!¡±

    p!

    ¡°Your mother didn¡¯t even need to search to find the money you stashed in your room. It¡¯s been three days since we found it. Do you really think your father can¡¯t trace back anything from the codes on the cheques?!¡± Zhuo Fengru threw the stack of notes in his shirt to the ground, some sheetsnding on his son¡¯s red, swollen face. ¡°I raised you. You¡¯ve never left my side since you were three. I know exactly what you¡¯re thinking.¡± In a low voice, he demanded, ¡°Tell me everything else you¡¯re hiding from me.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin dropped to his knees, snot and tears pouring down his face. ¡°Dad, I realise my wrongs! I came here tonight to confess. I epted money from Miguo Branch to have people tail Brother Hua and Ming, then provide reports to Miguo Branch.¡±

    ¡°Why did you do that? Are you short on money?¡±

    ¡°N-no.¡± Zhuo Yupin took a much-needed breath, then, speaking through his teeth, exined, ¡°I do not trust those two; they do not treat you as one of their own! They are constantly ridiculing and testing you. Why should you have to put up with their unwarranted attitudes? Additionally, I personally heard that Ming boy meet with one of Liu Shan Men¡¯s upper echelon. Liu Shan Men has always been picking a bone with you. He is unmistakably a spy Liu Shan Men sent in to our ce.¡±

    ¡°Should we be afraid of an investigation?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No.¡± Zhuo Yupin¡¯s bravado died the instant he met his father¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Without Young Hero Ming¡¯s protection, Young Master Hua probably would still be missing, and Yanran might be dead already. Don¡¯t forget Miguo Branch is guilty of killing your uncle. They are our enemies. Are you inviting the wolf in just because you can¡¯t control your emotions?¡±

    Frankly, Zhuo Yupin never spared it so much thought as the people who approached him were but hooligans, the small-timer types that people in Yichang recognised at a nce. Now that his father enlightened him to the things he wasn¡¯t thinking about, he genuinely feared his mistake would escte into something more serious. ¡°I will ept any mistake for my error, Father.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru heaved a heavy breath. ¡°You didn¡¯t make only one mistake.¡±

    Even if Zhuo Yupin knew what his father meant, he wouldn¡¯t dare to respond.

    Zhuo Fengru exhaled heavily again. ¡°You im to have betrayed them because they appear untrustworthy. In truth, you¡¯re just jealous Yanran and Young Master Hua are close.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin lowered his red face, indicating to Zhuo Fengru that he hit the nail on the head.

    ¡°Your uncle and I are brothers. Without Xu n, I wouldn¡¯t have what I have today; he supported me when I was just starting out. I¡¯ve never stopped feeling grateful for what he did. I was hoping you would be able to take care of Yanran once you married her as a means of repaying him. I¡¯m d you like the poor girl, and I was hopeful you¡¯d get along with her. Now, though, before thinking about whether she¡¯d respect you or night, I can¡¯t trust you with her.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Zhuo Yupin, having never been reproached so harshly, couldn¡¯t stop his tears.

    ¡°Stop it. I can¡¯t stand men crying.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin wiped his tears. ¡°Yes, Father!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to clean up your own mess. Apologise to them first thing tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°But they¡­ Understood.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru sighed a breath of relief. ¡°Leave now. Don¡¯t forget what I told you.¡±

    ¡°I have carved it into my heart.¡± Zhuo Yupin bowed out.

    Zhuo Fengru remained standing at the centre of the room for ages, unmoving until someone behind the screen said, ¡°I wonder how he will react when he finds out his father has been working for His Excellency. I¡¯m dying to find out.¡±

    ¡°Please pardon the unsightly scene.¡±

    The man attired ck stepped out from hiding, but his mask kept his facial appearance a secret. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for your son, you wouldn¡¯t be so subservient. A parent¡¯s love truly is noble.¡±

 Volume 11.5 36

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 36</h4>

    ¡°At ease.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru didn¡¯t raise his head. ¡°This one could not greet you before due to his son¡¯s presence. Please pardon this one.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, it¡¯s fine. It was surprisingly pleasant to watch Zhuo n¡¯s strict education.¡±

    ¡°This one apologises for the shameful disy. We have four rendezvous points at Yichang. What urgency required you toe here?¡±

    ¡°Zhuo Fengru, you grow more audacious by the day, don¡¯t you? Does His Excellency require your permission to deliver orders now?¡±

    ¡°This one absolutely did not mean that. However, there are a lot of outsiders at this one¡¯s ce at the moment. The young Ming boy is particrly strong. This one is afraid he will notice something¡­ His Excellency has orders?¡±

    ¡°I am here to deliver them.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru bowed his head whilst holding his hands in salute. ¡°This one is at your service.¡±

    It might be unbelievable now, but Zhuo Fengru did raid Shennong all alone with one sword. Any witnesses to the trail of ughter he left in the forest would revere Lord Miguo even more.

    Despite the years of serving Lord Miguo, the apostle never understood the wild ideas that Lord Miguo harboured - just as he had yet to understand what Lord Miguo did to or gave Zhuo Fengru to have thetter figuratively bending the knee.

    ¡°He wants you to begin capturing people in the martial world for him. Once he gets back the sarira, they¡¯ll be the first serving of nourishment.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru raised his head up vigorously. ¡°One of the three conditions this one agreed on with His Excellency was that this one would not have to harm his friends in the martial world? Is this not a vition of our agreement?!¡±

    ¡°I, too, think it¡¯s far too much. So, am I to understand you are defying orders?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s actions showed he was tentative. ¡°¡­ This one just hopes His Excellency will honour his promise.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not privy to what he promised you. I do know very well what he told me, however.¡±

    In spite of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s antagonistic aura, the apostle knew Zhuo Fengru wouldn¡¯t try anything as he would¡¯ve already attacked if he dared to.

    ¡°¡­ You need not be so tense. All His Excellency seeks is power; he isn¡¯t forcing you to kill family and friends. If you wish, you can choose your enemy. How about¡­ Liu Shan Men¡¯s Xin Buyi?¡±

    ¡°Though we don¡¯t get along, he is unquestionably a good man, not to mention he is one of Liu Shan Men¡¯s thirteen best constables. If we touch him, those two will get involved.¡±

    ¡°By those two, you mean Yan Shisan and Shen Wuzheng? They¡¯re already looking into us. When I say that, I don¡¯t mean he¡¯s justing around to check our ledger but borderline harassment. Shen Wuzheng was spotted at Shennong recently. Get my drift?¡±

    Yan Shisan typically acted only as leader of Liu Shan Men, only personally and covertly doing field work if a case threatened the peace of the nation.

    If Shen Wuzheng was involved, then it was the equivalent of a martialw alert in the pugilistic world. As a show of respect to Shen n¡¯s contributions, Shen Wuzheng¡¯s martial prowess and status as Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s sworn brother, some people nicknamed him Shen Tangseng. Liu Shan Men tried to stop the nickname spreading to no avail. As for Shen Wuzheng, he onceughed when he heard about it, then never mentioned it again.

    Since Shen Wuzheng had visited Shennong, it could only mean that Liu Shan Men¡¯sx attitude toward Miguo Branch until now was a fa?ade.

    ¡°His Excellency wants this one to assassinate Shen Wuzheng?! That is impossible!¡± Zhuo Fengru didn¡¯t need the apostle to explicate what the order was when he had personally dropped into his home and hinted at assassinating Xin Buyi.

    ¡°And now you¡¯re worried about His Excellency¡¯s safety?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡±

    ¡°¡­ There was no need to be so frank.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Zhuo Fengru dryly coughed. ¡°Consider it a slip of the tongue. Whatever the case, His Excellency best forget about it. Miguo Branch cannot bear the consequences of osting Liu Shan Men. So what if he visits? Miguo Branch has plenty of bases. Just move out of Shennong. Why exert yourself and take unnecessary risks?¡±

    ¡°Shennong can¡¯t be abandoned. If we leave Shennong, Lord Wugou will regain freedom. Once he returns to the Western Regions, we will be extermination targets of Lotus Cult. That¡¯s significantly scarier than Liu Shan Men. Besides, Yan Shisan¡¯s current whereabouts are unknown. Demon Sect is gradually growing in the Central in, while he is only one man.¡±

    ¡°Still, even if Shen Wuzheng is acting alone, it is rumoured he is on par with Supreme Ten Saints. While His Excellency is formidable, m-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. His Excellence is only a hair breadth away from Supreme Ten Saints; he will need the sarira to deal with Shen Wuzheng and Yan Shisan. That¡¯s why we¡¯ve been doing everything in our power to find Hua Feihua. We didn¡¯t expect you to be so devoted to your old friend that you¡¯ve let Hua Feihua roam free.¡±

    ¡°That is actually an erroneous presumption.¡± Zhuo Fengru bitterly smiled. ¡°In truth, this one sees no opportunity to proceed. The young boy is always apanying Hua Feihua. He even captured your members, did he not?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ While we are on that topic, I was going to ask you who the boy is. Based on my observations, he¡¯s incredibly skilled and entric, but I can¡¯t determine his lineage.¡±

    ¡°This one is not sure, either. Indeed, he is incredibly skilled, which can only mean he is the student of a reputable teacher. ordingly, he should be the disciple of a prominent sect.¡±

    ¡°I agree. I¡¯vee across more adepts from famous sects than I can remember. I theorise he is a disciple of¡­¡±

    In unison, they stated, ¡°Shaolin,¡± ¡°Wudang.¡±

    Both of them: ¡°What?¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 37

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 37</h4>

    Zhuo Fengru washed his face at dawn with cold water and called it his bath.

    At the end of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s discussion with Miguo Branch¡¯s apostle, they settled on tackling Liu Shan Men. In regards to strengthening the sarira, Zhuo Fengru couldn¡¯t say the decision was remotely ideal. The apostle said, ¡°Seeing as the boy is the thorn in your side, instead of searching and selecting from adepts in the martial world, just use him. With his developed internal energy, he¡¯s the perfect charger. Don¡¯t let me down.¡±

    Easy for him to say when he wasn¡¯t the one who would have to take down Ming Feizhen. Putting aside the challenge of countering Ming Feizhen¡¯s unorthodox fighting style, even if he could apprehend Ming Feizhen, themotion they¡¯d cause would put a bull¡¯s eye on Zhuo Fengru. Zhuo Fengru wouldn¡¯t be Wudang¡¯s match even if there was a magic pill that instantly multiplied his abilities by ten folds. Unless he could catch Ming Feizhen off guard, covertly subduing him would only happen in fiction.

    Zhuo Fengru: Yes, you must catch the enemy off guard.

    Should Zhuo Fengru proceed with the intent of capturing Ming Feizhen, then he¡¯d need to reconsider what he told his sonst night. After all, Ming Feizhen already had his guard up, so informing him that his son had been selling them out would onlypel Ming Feizhen to fortify his guard. For that reason, he rose early in order to dissuade his son from apologising to them. Knowing his son¡¯s temperament, though, he might¡¯ve already been toote.

    Zhuo Fengru kept simting different scenarios in his head if he were to cross fists with Ming Feizhen, trying to find a counter for every technique in Ming Feizhen¡¯s arsenal. No matter how he thought, unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t identify a pattern to Ming Feizhen¡¯s style.

    Maybe I can find something to exploit if I can watch him in action again.

    Suddenly, a gust of hot wind propelled a dark silhouette at Zhuo Fengru¡¯s face. Whilst it felt as if his face would be squashed, there was an inexplicable energy holding it back. Whatever it was, he needed to squat and roll before worrying about that. He expected only half of the door behind him to remain - if notunched metres away from its hinges - yet the violent gale ceased once he rolled to safety.

    Startled upon looking up, Zhuo Fengru blurted, ¡°Young Hero Ming?¡±

    Ming Feizhen, drying pole racked over his shoulder and dangling a green foxtail from his mouth, responded, ¡°Hero Zhou, I¡¯d like to seek some cudgel pointers from you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Why did youe at me so suddenly, though?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you must catch the enemy off guard.¡±

    ¡°Uh, ahaha.¡±

    ¡°Here Ie!¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s quick flick left afterimages. Zhuo Fengru formed used swordy in his left hand and palm techniques in his right hand to cancel Ming Feizhen¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Beggars¡¯ Sect¡¯s Dog-Beating Staff techniques?! Do you know Chief Hong?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Catch this.¡±

    ¡°Brilliant Green Dragon Cudgel.¡±

    ¡°How about this?¡±

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t count, should it? That¡¯s Desert Brotherhood¡¯s Eclipse Spiked-Mace technique, not a cudgel technique.¡±

    The wind explosions they generated extended several metres.

    Despite correctly identifying every school¡¯s techniques, Ming Feizhen never utilised the same school¡¯s techniques more than once.

    ¡°That was Shaolin Temple¡¯s Demon Subjugation Staff Technique!¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled his weapon back andughed. ¡°Correct! Do you have anything to say about it?¡±

    ¡°Your knowledge is vast. However, uh, why do I have to have a unique viewpoint?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Following a brief silence, Ming Feizhen consigned the pole to the ground. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go have breakfast,¡± he said, then strolled off.

    Zhuo Fengru, baffled, followed along. The first thing to enter his sights upon entering the hall was his son¡¯s swollen face. Basing his judgement on Hua Qing, Su Li and Xu Yanran¡¯s stoic expressions, he immediately voiced, ¡°You all know now? This old one promises it is thest time.¡±

    Hua Qing inquired, ¡°Thest time what, Hero Zhuo?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Pin¡¯er, did you say something to them?¡±

    ¡°Eee, oo, woo, awu.¡±

    Su Li expressed, ¡°Young Master Zhuo has just been mumbling something simr ever since he came in. He has yet to say oneplete sentence.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably because of his facial muscles.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru quickly pulled his son away. ¡°This old one and his son have some business to attend to. Please enjoy breakfast without us.¡±

    Once they were gone, Hua Qing questioned, ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±

    Ming Feizhen took a seat, then sighed. ¡°I thought he¡¯d react if I used Shaolin skills, but he didn¡¯t budge. Even I¡¯m starting to question if he killed the Shaolin disciples now.¡±

    ¡°Is your Shaolin legit, though? Did he recognise it?¡±

    ¡°Of course it is. My shifu personally taught me each technique by the hand.¡± Ming Feizhen took a bite out of a sesame cake. ¡°I just couldn¡¯t remember which move it was, so I went through a series of moves beforehand. Can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t react after all that effort.¡±

    Su Li whispered, ¡°Do you two still suspect him?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Very. Still don¡¯t know whether he¡¯s good or bad, nevertheless¡­ Wait a second. If he won¡¯t show his skills, I¡¯ll just have to make him fight me.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°What¡¯s your bright idea this time?¡±

    ¡°Watch and see. Yanran.¡±

    Oblivious to what the conversation entailed, Xu Yanran brightly turned around to them, ¡°Yes, Brother Mieba?¡±

    Su Li pulled Xu Yanran over. ¡°Sister Yanran, he¡¯s several years younger than you. Why do you let him have his way?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. He¡¯s helping my family and protecting Brother Hua. I admire him from the bottom of my height, so it¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°See how nice she is? Lass Su, shut your trap. Yanran, Zhuo Yupin is engaged to you, right?¡¯

    Xu Yanran hid her flush cheeks. ¡°Uhm¡­ Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay, cancel it for now.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°For the reason, just say it¡¯s because of me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ming Feizhen sneered. ¡°I need everyone¡¯s help. I¡¯m going to hold a bouquet throwing event.¡±

    Glossary

    Cudgel flick - It¡¯s where your hand closer to the base acts as an axis that lowers vertically while the hand further up the cudgel pulls the end pointed towards the target upwards simultaneously (degrees is context dependent). Imagine a seesaw, where you have one hand roughly at the middle point and another hand at one end.

 Volume 11.5 38

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 38</h4>

    ¡°What sort of idea is that?¡± Su Li hugged stupefied Xu Yanran. ¡°You can forget about using Sister Yanran, you hear? Young Master Hua, tell him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Genius,¡± Hua Qing dered. ¡°You¡¯re throwing a long line to catch a big fist, huh? You n to investigate Hero Zhuo through Zhuo Yupin, correct?¡±

    ¡°As expected, Hua Gezi knows me best.¡± Ming Feizhen performed a small chin raise at Hua Qing.

    Hua Qing saluted Ming Feizhen. ¡°Two birds with one stone, nice.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to prevent Zhuo Yupin from marrying Yanran.¡±

    ¡°Bingo.¡±

    ¡°Zhuo Fengru wouldn¡¯t stand for his son¡¯s humiliation, so he¡¯ll try to attack you. Then, you¡¯ll beat him and pry his secrets out.¡±

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    ¡°Finally, you¡¯ll marry Yanran, therebypleting your shifu¡¯s task, too! Excellent!¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    ¡°Wait. Thatst part¡­¡± Su Li jumped in front of Xu Yanran. ¡°Wow, you scoundrel! Young Master Hua, you¡¯re no better!¡±

    ¡°Miss Su, we should be happy a man and a woman can love and be together. That¡¯s not to mention my brother has a bright future.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s already taking you to brothels at his young age. By the time he grows up, he¡¯ll be a cmitous yboy. Sister Yanran will be a victim.¡±

    Xu Yanran might¡¯ve been a white sheet when it came to romance, especially when she had to minimise interaction with anyone over thest year, but her face was beet red. Aside from Hua Qing, Ming Feizhen was the second man she spent the most time with. While he was often an oddball, hearing his roundabout confession sent butterflies into her stomach. Fingers interlocked, she muttered, ¡°So that is why you wanted me to call off our engagement¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°No, don¡¯t get the wrong idea. I¡¯m not interested in you.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°What the hell, bro?! Didn¡¯t you say you like Yanran?¡±

    ¡°When did I say that?¡± Ming Feizhen cleared his throat. ¡°Enough games. We need to divide up our jobs. Su Li, how much money you have left?¡±

    ¡°Not much.¡±

    ¡°Use it all, then.¡±

    Su Li widened her eyes.

    ¡°Spend it on some invitations sealed with a golden leaf. Hire some famous martial artists and whatnot to act as witnesses. No rush. Just get it sorted before the day after.¡±

    ¡°The day after?! You¡­ you¡­ Don¡¯t you forget this!¡± Su Li called for her attendant.

    ¡°Venerable Kongcang.¡±

    ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    ¡°Escort Su Li and her attendant from the shadows. In consideration of your current predicament, take this sect-special pill. In an emergency, simply threw it into the air. Whatever the threat is, I promise you will be able toe back for a midnight snack.¡±

    Kongcang perused the pill he was handed. ¡°Oh! Based on this special shape of the pill, doesn¡¯t it create this,¡± Kongcang gestured with his hand, ¡°symbol in the sky? Isn¡¯t this Shaolin¡¯s signal?!¡±

    ¡°My sect lives by the refrain, ¡®Their property is our property. Our property is our property. Therefore, there is only one family in under heaven.¡¯ Just use it.¡±

    When Ming Feizhen turned to him, Hua Qing puffed out his chest.

    ¡°Go find a bouquet.¡±

    ¡°Your delegation decisions need to be reconsidered, don¡¯t you think?!¡±

    ¡°What is everyone talking about?¡± The thirty-year-old beauty entered without reserve as she was already familiar with everyone. ¡°Your liveliness has really brought my home to life.¡±

    Su Li conveyed, ¡°We apologise for the unruly ruckus, Lady Zhuo.¡±

    Subsequent to exchanging a few words with Su Li, Lady Zhuo said to Xu Yanran, ¡°Yanrna, I¡¯ve made you a new set of clothes. Come over to my room to try it on.¡±

    ¡°I would be d to. Your needlework must definitely be extraordinary.¡± Xu Yanran cheerfully left with Lady Zhuo.

    Ming Feizhen long after they left: ¡°Is it just me, or is Lady Zhuo really beautiful?¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Bro¡­ even if you suspect the man, you don¡¯t need to go after hisdy, do you?¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Exactly. And how old are you? She¡¯s old enough to be your mother.¡±

    ¡°You got it wrong¡­¡± Ming Feizhen gave up on providing an exnation since he couldn¡¯t see a way of clearing the air no matter what. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s my imagination. Else, it¡¯s as Hua Gezi said: there;s a lot more to this family than what meets the eye.¡±

    ***

    On the day of the bouquet throwing event, the host, Ming Feizhen, focused on eating his pear and pork shoulders soup in the restaurant instead of attending to logistics.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, what are you trying to pull?!¡± Zhuo Yupin was ready to evolve into a trigger-happy sher. ¡°What¡¯s going on outside?! Huh?! What gives you the right to hold a bouquet throwing event?¡±

    Ming Feizhen grouched, ¡°What¡¯s it to you? You think you can stop people holding a bouquet-throwing event just because you¡¯re Hero Zhuo¡¯s son?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s it to me?! It pertains to my happiness!¡±

    ¡°In that case, don¡¯t sabotage it. If you think you have whatever right it is, participate.¡±

    ¡°¡­ How am I sabotaging it when this is my bouquet throwing event?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen held the event in Zhuo Yupin¡¯s name. Consequently, people flocked to the location in droves, unaware of the fact that the host and Zhuo Fengru weren¡¯t affiliated. Even if ¡°Hero Zhuo¡± wasn¡¯t enough to attract a crowd, the fact that it was the first ever bouquet-throwing event for a man would pique the interests of many people.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s your bouquet-throwing event, but why can¡¯t I host it? Exin.¡±

    Zhuo Yupin was far too livid for his brain to operate properly. ¡°I, you, I¡­ Marriage is decided on by parents and matchmakers. Are you my parent?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m your matchmaker.¡±

    ¡°Never hired you!¡± Zhuo Yupin couldn¡¯t beat Ming Feizhen in a fight, and he couldn¡¯t win a war of words against Ming Feizhen, either. Well, he¡¯d eventually be angry enough to start swinging, only to be bodied, so it made no difference either way. ¡°No matter who the girls you call in are, I¡¯ll never approve!¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡±

    ¡°Wow, what?!¡±

    ¡°Talk too big and you might bite your tongue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a man of my word. No matter who it is, I won¡¯t ept!¡±

    ¡°Say it again if you¡¯re so tough!¡±

    ¡°I said, no matter who it is, I won¡¯t ept!¡±

    ¡°You going to oppose me, are you?!¡±

    ¡°Damn right I am. What can you do about it? Force me to marry a girl?¡±

    ¡°Say that one more time, tough guy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll even say it ten more times! I¡¯ll even write it down!¡±

    ¡°I dare you to write it down!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll write it right now!¡±

    Zhuo Yupin wrote down in on one breath, ¡°No matter who Ming Feizhen throws the bouquet to, I, Zhuo Yupin, do not ept the results. I spit in your face, spit, spit, spit,¡± with the three spit repeats written in extrarge font, apanied by a literal spit on the way out.

    Hua Qing returned shortly after Zhuo Yupin¡¯s departure. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±

    Ming Feizhen held the sheet up. ¡°Go tell Yanran to catch the bouquet.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 39

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 39</h4>

    Hua Qing returned to the restaurant once he finished organising everything for the event. ¡°Are you sure this is going to work?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Ming Feizhen added, ¡°If my assumption is right.¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen told Hua Qing the first important lesson for sess in the pugilistic world was ¡°run after fighting¡±, Hua Qing didn¡¯t want to hear Ming Feizhen¡¯s opinions again. This n, however, didn¡¯t make any sense to Hua Qing.

    ¡°For thest two days, I¡¯ve been trying a variety of methods to probe Zhuo Fengru, but¡­ he won¡¯t bat an eye at my Shaolin skills.¡±

    ¡°You call that Shaolin skills? At max, you know five moves, none of which areplete. I was the one who taught you ck Tiger Steals Heart.¡±

    ¡°Still, he shouldn¡¯t be indifferent, should he? He just cursed when I used it eight times on him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Just be d he hasn¡¯t turned antagonistic after all that.¡±

    ¡°I even had Liu Shan Men check his ledger, baited him with your sarira as well as told him people were using him of colluding with Miguo Branch, yet he still hasn¡¯t budged. Honestly, if I don¡¯t reckon he¡¯s shameless old schemer, I¡¯d suspect I have the wrong person.¡±

    ¡°And this is going to work?¡±

    ¡°Yes, if my assumption is right.¡±

    Su Li came back with Xu Yanran, who still had roses for cheeks. ¡°Sister Yanran caught the bouquet. The people outside are still congratting her. Why did Young Master Zhuo bolt off in tears, though? I thought he likes Sister Yanran.¡±

    Xu Yanran queried, ¡°I thought I was supposed to throw it. Brother Mieba, why did I have to catch it?¡±

    ¡°Eh, don¡¯t worry about it, not that the knowledge would be of any use to you. Just enjoy the show,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    When the two maidens¡¯ inquisitive gazes found their way to him, Hua Qing pinched his chin. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t really get it, either. Let¡¯s say you two do duke it out, and you do win, what difference does it make? It¡¯s not like losing to you makes him a bad person.¡±

    Su Li and Xu Yanran sat down next to Hua Qing: ¡°Exactly. Winning and losing is part ofpeting. Losing doesn¡¯t make you wrong.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an enormous difference.¡± Ming Feizhen rested his face on a hand, then drawled, ¡°Heard of Repository Theory?¡±

    Su Li and Hua Qing: ¡°Nope.¡±

    Ming Feizhen cast his gaze to the only one who didn¡¯t answer. ¡°So you know, then.¡±

    Xu Yanran bobbed her head. ¡°I¡¯ve heard my father mention my family was originally a family of martial arts practitioners, and the discipline they practiced was the name you just mentioned. He also told me he could pass it on to my future husband¡­ but that is the extent of my knowledge on the topic.¡±

    Ming Feizhen assumed a most peculiar sitting posture, squeezing his cheeks between his hands. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if I should grade you as right or wrong. Repository Theory isn¡¯t one discipline but a collection of six disciplines, each emphasising different perspectives. The six families that inherit the six disciplines are referred to as Repository Six Branches. Your family inherited Abyss Theory and is Intelligence branch.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°I heard Master Xu say that they practice some Seal something or whatever you call it, not what you just referred to it as.¡±

    ¡°Martial arts theories aren¡¯t synonymous with the martial arts manuals you know of. These theories aren¡¯t technique manuals. They¡¯re guiding principles; in essence, they¡¯re the mechanics of martial arts. Xu n¡¯s discipline is systemised on the foundation of Abyss Theory. Plenty of disciplines these days have an origin of some sort. Having said that, there¡¯s no need to find out the origin of a discipline. My shifu once said, ¡®It¡¯s difficult to pinpoint the origin of some disciplines, and it¡¯s a pointless endeavour.¡¯¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If they were to be honest, they sort of understood the idea, but they weren¡¯t so confident they truly understood what Ming Feizhen meant, either.

    ¡°So¡­ what does this have to do with fighting Hero Zhuo?¡±

    Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Hua Qing still couldn¡¯t catch Ming Feizhen¡¯s drift, but he and the other three caught an ominous noose around their necks. Casting their gazes to the entrance revealed the source of the hostility belonged to Zhuo Fengru.

    Wearing a fanged-smile, Zhuo Fengru demanded, ¡°Young Hero Ming, may this old one borrow the sheet in your hand?¡±

    ¡°This one? Of course,¡± Ming Feizhen waved the sheet in the air, ¡°not.¡±

    ¡°In that case, this old one apologises in advance!¡±

    Zhuo Fengru executed a sword thrust with his left hand, only for Ming Feizhen to catch the exposed wrist his own right hand through a circr parry. As a result, Ming Feizhen killed all of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s forward momentum. As Zhuo Fengru¡¯s left thrust decelerated, he uncorked a right palm attack at Ming Feizhen¡¯s face to counter whilst covering his exposed left side. Effectively, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s shut down Ming Feizhen¡¯s offence while working his own.

    Once again, Ming Feizhen performed a circr motion with his right hand, leaving Zhuo Fengru¡¯s left hand to catch Zhuo Fengru¡¯s right wrist, then returned it to its chamber in one motion. As soon as he resolved the troublesome right, he seized Zhuo Fengru¡¯s left hand again.

    Using approximately 70% of his full power, Zhuo Fengru uncoiled a dual palm strike without aiming for a specific target, thereby reducing Ming Feizhen¡¯s space. At the same time, the field of energy would prohibit anyone from interfering in their scrap. s, before the energy could take form, Ming Feizhen pushed him back seven steps, nullifying the attack despite Zhuo Fengru¡¯s arms still being in an extended position. Zhuo Fengru subsequently whipped his arms to disperse the umted energy.

    ¡°Tai Chi! I knew you¡¯re a Wudang disciple!¡±

    Ming Feizhen, still brazenly sitting at the table, smirked to himself as heid the sheet onto the table, folded it up, then stuffed it into his shirt. ¡°Gale Swordy and Conqueror Palms live up to their name. You can definitely build a respected resume out of them. As separate things, though, it won¡¯t be enough to beat me.¡±

    ¡°Young Hero Ming, what are you trying to get at?¡±

 Volume 11.5 40

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 40</h4>

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Besides mncholy and anger, it also sounded as though Zhuo Fengru was grunting from an old wound opening up. ¡°If this old one denies, you will think lowly of him.¡± Once he raised his head, his gaze had converted into sharp des. ¡°Correct. This old one derived ¡®Gale Swordy¡¯ and ¡®Conqueror Palms¡¯ from Xu n¡¯s ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯. Never did this one expect it to bepletely meaningless against Fang n. It really is a humiliating memory.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru showed no signs of guilt or shame when mentioning how he stole Xu n¡¯s knowledge, but the gaze he cast upon Xu Yanran didn¡¯t escape Ming Feizhen. ¡°¡­ The man from Liu Shan Men was right on all ounts,¡± Ming Feizhen murmured.

    ¡°Thest time ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯ was seen in the martial world was two hundred years ago, wasn¡¯t it? Though this old one knows you are well-educated, he never expected to hear the name from you.¡±

    The name of a discipline itself wasn¡¯t the basis for anything. Asuded as Repository Theory was, after so many years, save for the progenitors, Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Repository Sword Theory was the only n to still able to promote it. An outsider, nevertheless, wouldn¡¯t be able to tell which was a new swordy and whichponent belonged to the original principles if they were to see Luo Sword Manor disciples perform a series of techniques. Therefore, nobody should¡¯ve remembered a discipline that hadn¡¯t been widely practiced for two centuries.

    ¡°I certainly didn¡¯t think of it. To be frank, I have two people to thank for telling me about the discipline I never heard of.¡± The first source, naturally, was Kongcang, who notified Master Xu about its resurgence. If the information didn¡¯t cost the two Shaolin disciples¡¯ lives, Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t have paid particr attention to it. Ming Feizhen¡¯s second source was Shen Wuzheng¡¯s in-depth information on Repository Theory that cleared out the clouds covering Ming Feizhen¡¯s train of thought. ¡°In saying that, I wasn¡¯t just making wild guesses. I don¡¯t know anything about it even after musing. If you have time, how about you tell me more.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru nced at Xu Yanran, then slowly exhaled. ¡°Guess this old one has to exin. As you know, this discipline¡­¡±

    Nobody saw Zhuo Fengru move an inch, yet a strand of white hair fell from Ming Feizhen¡¯s head, much to Ming Feizhen¡¯s confusion and vexation.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­Xu n¡¯s ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯ hasn¡¯t been seen for two centuries, and Xu n has ceased teaching it from this generation. I diligently trained back then so that I could make my mark in the pugilistic world. Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult without a teacher. Despite believing I¡¯m not bad, nobody would take me on as their disciple. Due to my impoverished background, nobody gave me the time of day. Only Brother Xu treated me as a friend. I suffered every kind of humiliation I can think of back then because of my pedigree. I never feared the bullying; I only feared people being nice. Brother Xu was too nice to me¡­

    ¡°On the day he mentioned his family¡¯s secret martial arts discipline, I took two of my fingers the next day, avowing to never mention a word about it, and I meant what I said. In my younger days, I was enthusiastic about loyalty, so I never cared for secret manuals, let alone a family¡¯s heirloom. Howbeit, it was a fact that I wasn¡¯t skilled. Losing two fingers further ruined my chances of ever bing adept. In turn, I drowned my disillusionment in alcohol at Xu Estate.

    ¡°One night, I woke up from one from another session that inebriated me to find myself at Xu Estate¡¯s cer. Mayhap I was searching for wine when a servant identally locked me in. When I threw a physical tantrum in my drunken stupor, I think I identally activated a contraption that opened a hidden door. I ventured into the darkness. To my surprise, I esp-¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t coincidentally espy the martial arts manual, did you?¡± Ming Feizhen grabbed his head as if he was protecting his hair from a horrible barber. ¡°That¡¯s how you mastered the skills to be a revered adept? Come on now.¡±

    ¡°I saw a huge ck stone tablet.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t recognise the Chinese character on the tablet until I learnt from a bookter on that it was read ¡®Intelligence¡¯. Extrapting from the book¡¯s description, the tablet had to have existed for more than a millennium, yet its appearance indicated it was brand new. It was like¡­ it was in a different dimension. The stack of books beside the tablet was covered in dust inches thick. The moment I finished reading the first page, I knew I couldn¡¯t put it down because it was my saviour¡­ If you guessed it was the martial arts manual, you¡¯re correct.

    ¡°By the time I regained awareness of my surroundings, I had already finished reading one book. Ever since then, I sneaked in to Xu Estate¡¯s cer every night to read¡­ until I memorised every character. You already know what happened thereafter. The Zhuo Fengru before you now is the Zhuo Fengru who made his second attempt at making his mark.¡±

    Ming Feizhen fiddled with his chin.

    ¡°What¡¯s everyone doing? Holding a meeting?¡± Kongkong¡¯er asked from outside.

    ¡°Pleasee in. How did it go?¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er came in with his lips curled. ¡°Xin Buyi almost arrested me! Thank heavens for the item you gave me. He had his teeth clenched when he released me.¡±

    ¡°So what happened in the end?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, as you predicted, Young Hero Ming.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru looked to Ming Feizhen for answers.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°Prior to throwing the bouquet, I asked the legendary thief to request a favour from Liu Shan Men. One of the things I had Liu Shan Men do was investigate your family. Seeing as they have been monitoring your family for a good length of time, they must be familiar with your family. Specifically, I asked them to find out when your estate in Yichang was constructed, when you became a resident, what year your son was born and how many times you visited Xu n annually. Initially, I thought I was being too imaginative. Now that I think about what you just told me, my conjecture does not sound so oundish.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You are very astute, but did you ever think about this?¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

 Volume 11.5 41

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 41</h4>

    ¡°It¡± wasn¡¯t fond of the friendship between the kindndlord and chivalrous drifter. Thus, it plotted to instigate conflict between the two. Thendlord was wealthy and wielded authority. Therefore, it was easy for him to sin. His chilvarous friend would then have to oppose his friend to uphold justice. No matter who killed who, who had to live with the regret and who was wronged, the only winner was ¡°it¡±, the one who heartily collected their corpses.

    ¡°Fantastic story.¡± The apostle smiled to himself as he shut the picture book. ¡°I never get bored of this story no matter how many times I read it.¡±

    The apostle politely ced money for his tea on the table, then left the teahouse he spent at all morning at. While he still drew attention, he was strolling around in normal clothes instead of the night attire he wore when visiting Zhuo Fengru.

    The apostle was confident Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen were fighting just as in his favourite picture book. While he wasn¡¯t a habitual liar - never nned to set anyone up to fight their friend, for that matter - he did withhold a key piece of information. It went without saying that retrieving the artefact in Hua Qing¡¯s possession was of utmost importance, but the other task he didn¡¯t tell Zhuo Fengru about was eliminating Zhuo Fengru.

    He waited for Lord Miguo to almost lose his patience with the elder who refused to coborate before suggesting, ¡°Your Excellency, your subject suggests eliminating him.¡± Lord Miguo¡¯s scowl cued the apostle in to boldly sharing the mastern he had been dying to share. As he desired, Lord Miguo entrusted erasing Zhuo Fengru to him.

    Although Zhuo Fengru had worked with Miguo Branch on more than one asion, his scornful, belittling attitude was the reason he never held any post in Miguo Branch. Following Xu n¡¯s massacre, his heightened disdain and despisement for Miguo Branch betokened a physical manifestation of those emotions. This was the opposite effect of what they hoped for.

    Zhuo Fengru posed a problem for Miguo Branch as he knew too many of their secrets and wouldn¡¯t bow to them even in the face of death threats. Even Lord Miguo had to resort to shameless tactics to submit Zhuo Fengru. Hence, Zhuo Fengru needed to go; problem was, nobody but Lord Miguo, who couldn¡¯t leave Shennong, could beat him. Zhuo Fengru was also an astute man, which meant that poison might not work. Thankfully, the picture book provided the apostle with an ephiphany.

    Ming Feizhen may have been a bag of mysteries, but hisbat capacity had him the most suitable person for the drifter role.

    The apostle could already see Zhuo Fengru lying in a pool of his own blood, a vision that brought an upward curve to his lips. From the apostle¡¯s perspective, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s life was one big joke.

    The number of ways of attaining power in the pugilistic world could be counted on one hand. If there were so many routes to bing strong, adepts would be ubiquitous. In reality, the number of people who enrolled in reputable sects, invested blood, sweat and tears for years with nothing to show for them were countless. Zhuo Fengru was one of those unsessful people.

    On the other hand, there were some people who are blessed with luck at every turn without asking for it. They hardly put in effort, yet they surpassed barriers that ordinary folks couldn¡¯t seem too ovee. It was akin to investing peanuts and making gold bricks in return.

    There was a childish bumpkin who suddenly became a direct disciple of a sect, inherited a coveted skills and was the man of women¡¯s dreams. All the friends he made were renowned folks and prodigies. Hemitted serious crimes, yet not only did he get away with them, but he was even hailed as a hero.

    He couldn¡¯t fathom why he was so jealous when he saw the man return in triumph even though the man smiled at him just as they did during their younger days. He shone so brought that he was just a shadow. Compared to Zhuo Fengru, nevertheless, he was much better off.

    Zhuo Fengru had the chance of a lifetime, yet he decided to be obstinate, protecting his dignity instead ofmitting theft. In the end, his son¡¯s life was in the hands of another. His savings were spent with abandon. Liu Shan Men wouldn¡¯t get off his tail. And now, his life was in peril. The apostle wasn¡¯t going to make the same mistake Zhuo Fengru made.

    The apostle insisted on seizing every opportunity. Thanks to his belief, he entered the picture when that individual fell and tried to control every variable. Thanks to his belief and actions, he had the chance to meet Lord Miguo and change his destiny.

    The feeling of a qi tide spreading as soon as he opened the door indicated that an intense fight had just ended. Even without it, the sight of frightened people and damaged furniture would¡¯ve been equally informative.

    Zhuo Fengru was on his back, gasping blood, bleeding at the torso and in a groggy state. Ming Feizhen¡¯s clothing was dishevelled, but he was on his feet and still had self-awareness.

    Ming Feizhen wiped the blood around his mouth. ¡°Venerable Kongcang, I¡¯ve been waiting.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Volume 11.5 42

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 42</h4>

    Once hepleted a visualp of the surroundings, Kongcang approached Hua Qing and, in a mncholic demeanour, queried, ¡°Why did they fight?¡±

    ¡°Uh, ask me that question again once I figure out the answer for myself.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Although he was smiling on the surface, Kongcang deliberately approached Hua Qing, hoping to find an opportunity to make off with the relic and use Hua Qing as a hostage if a physical confrontation was inexorable. Hua Qing was an insignificant pawn in the whole n; he shouldn¡¯t have even been on the board since he was the typical character who should¡¯ve died a forgetful death, but he happened toe into possession of the sarira. He would¡¯ve been a useless hostage if it wasn¡¯t for the relic.

    Ming Feizhen slouched into a chair he pulled over, apparently sore and spent. ¡°He¡¯s finally admitted the skills he employed to make a name for himself all these years are stolen from Xu n¡¯s ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯. This is the result of our fight.¡±

    Kongcang took a nce at Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Are you all right, young hero? May this one check your injuries?¡± He went over finger jabbed a series of spots on Ming Feizhen¡¯s left arm, stopping three inches away from the first spot.

    ¡°Your examination method is quite advanced, old monk,¡± Ming Feizhen remarked.

    ¡°This is a method this one¡¯ste junior came up with. Not only was he adept at martial arts but also had a heart of a gold. To say he is a hero is absolutely fair.¡± Speaking with a bitter smile, Kongcang continued, ¡°Even though he has entered samsara, this one still misses him. Sword qi damaged your meridians, so it will take some effort to recover. Luckily, you have a Buddhist discipline supporting you. You will be fine as long as the uncontrolled true qi is controlled.¡±

    ¡°In that case, save your breath and deal with Old Zhuo.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± While he showed concern on his face, Kongcang was sneering inside, d Ming Feizhen said those words.

    ¡°As a monk, benevolence is your principle, but my shifu taught me that people won¡¯t submit if you don¡¯t hit them while they are down. I¡¯m going to exercise that now.¡± Ming Feizhen sprung out of his chair, but he wobbled. ¡°The heck? It¡¯s like I¡¯m drunken.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head vigorously, then pulled up Zhuo Fengru. Instead of finishing Zhuo Fengru as Kongcang hoped, however, he palmed Zhuo Fengru on the back, using his hand as a medium to siphon true qi over.

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s spirit gradually returned to him thanks to Ming Feizhen. He seemed fine as he scanned his surroundings until Kongcang¡¯s appearance stretched his eyes wide.

    ¡°Oi, Zhuo Fengru, you lost to me, so you can talk now, yeah? What are you hiding? How did you link up with Lord Miguo?¡± questioned Ming Feizhen. ¡°Fess up now. Else, you can take your secrets with you to hell.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You won. What¡¯s with all the drivel?¡±

    ¡°Tough guy, eh?¡± Ming Feizhen frowned, elerating Kongcang¡¯s heart rate. ¡°If you were a wuss, I wouldn¡¯t have spent so much time on you. If you¡¯re not going to talk¡­ I¡¯ll start guessing.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Ming Feizhen retreated to his chair, but he never took his eyes off Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Zhuo Yupin isn¡¯t your biological son, is he?¡±

    Everyone started, while Kongcang scoffed at the conjecture inwardly. Lord Miguo ckmailed Zhuo Fengru with Zhuo Yupin¡¯s life. Why would Zhuo Fengru submit to them if Zhuo Yupin wasn¡¯t his biological son?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! I respect you as a worthy opponent, but that doesn¡¯t warrant this libel!¡±

    ¡°Save it. You knew I already realised it when you learnt I asked Liu Shan Men to investigate you, didn¡¯t you? You aren¡¯t riled up because you¡¯re worried outsiders know but your real child here finding out.¡±

    Kongcang¡¯s confidence started to sway.

    Zhuo Fengru, keeping his jaws locked tight for a while, eventually heaved a breath. ¡°Why are you asking when you already know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in meddling with your family affairs. Unfortunately, some fussy person insists I get to the bottom of it, right, Hua Gezi?¡±

    Hua Qing nodded solemnly.

    Su Li voiced, ¡°Young Master Hua, you¡­¡±

    Hua Qing deployed another head bob. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Hero Zhuo¡¯s illegitimate son?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I mean, no! No, I¡¯m not! My dad used to sell duck eggs at a street stall. Although he really did sell salted duck eggs when I was a kid, I really do love him! I was referring to this secret.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not you?!¡±

    ¡°Why would it be me?! Even you, Shifu?! Zhuo Fengru, stop with the ¡®I¡¯m so pitiable¡¯ act! You know it¡¯s not me!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Xu Yanran,¡± Ming Feizhen asserted emotionlessly. ¡°Xu Yanran is your biological daughter.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s hunched body shuddered.

    Xu Yanran slowly and indifferently lowered her head. ¡°¡­ How did you find out?¡±

    ¡°I never suspected it, but you and your wife are too kind to Yanran. I initially thought you were nice to her because she¡¯s your old friend¡¯s daughter and future daughter-inw. As I observed more and more, though, I noticed that Lady Zhuo is really cold to Zhuo Yupin, yet she virtually treats Yanran as a daughter. That was when I started having wild suspicions.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I noticed Zhuo Yupin doesn¡¯t resemble you or Lady Zhuo whatsoever. Lady Zhuo is a belle, while you resemble a demented bear cub. In contrast, Zhuo Yupin is neither ugly nor handsome. Xu Yanran, on the other hand, somewhat bears a resemnce to Lady Zhuo.

    ¡°My shifu taught me, if you want to find the truth, you need to be stubborn and shameless. As I assumed, Zhuo Yupin was already three years old when you moved here to Yichang. Your neighbours never saw Lady Zhuo pregnant or know where your family used to reside. For that reason, I came up with a new hypothesis: your families exchanged children. Zhuo Yupin, therefore, should be the only and true descendent of Intelligence Branch.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 43

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 43</h4>

    Seeing as Zhuo Fengru refused to speak, Ming Feizhen threatened, ¡°If you don¡¯t talk. I¡¯ll be forced to drag Zhuo Yupin in to corroborate my guesses with the facts. I bet there¡¯s a lot to look into.¡±

    ¡°Brother Ming, I think you might be going overboard.¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re the one who wanted me to get to the bottom of this?¡± Ming Feizhen shut his eyes.

    Hua Qing mustered up all his courage to walk up to Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Hero Zhuo, please heed my advice.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Zhuo Fengru refused to raise his head.

    Hua Qing filled his chest with air, then, in a loud voice, said, ¡°In snowy winter nine years ago, a homeless kid was starving and freezing. Desperate, he hurled a rock by the curb at a man with a backpack. It turned out the man was trained; not only did he dodge the rock, but he also subdued the boy and shouted, ¡®Throwing a rock at someone¡¯s blind spot on this cold day is the equivalent of murder. Why are you so vicious at such a young age?¡¯

    ¡°Breathing heavily, the boy weakly eximed, ¡®Why can¡¯t I kill? I¡¯ll starve to death, otherwise! I¡¯ll kill you!¡¯

    ¡°The man pped the boy mercilessly. When the boy woke up, he found himself under a thick nket, sheltered by the walls and ceiling of an abandoned shrine. The man sitting by the fire extended his hand behind him, passing the boy a cake. Needless to say, the boy ate so fast that he choked.

    ¡°The man said, ¡®You¡¯re still just a kid. You¡¯re not yet able toprehend the consequences of your impulsive actions. If you kill me, my wife and children will be sad. With nobody to take care of them, your current state may be their future. You won¡¯t remember in the spur of the moment, but you¡¯lle to regret it in the future. No matter where you go henceforward, the regret will always nag at you for the rest of your life. Never forget: humans make mistakes. Just remember to learn from your mistakes.

    ¡°The beggar never forgot the warmth he felt that night. He didn¡¯t have much to eat that night; however, he learnt a lot of lessons he wouldn¡¯t forget from that man. That beggar¡¯s name is Hua Qing, now known as Hua Feihua. That man¡¯s name is Zhuo Fengru, the man before me.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru finally raised his head to meet Hua Qing¡¯s, eyes moist.

    ¡°I learnt three lessons that night. First, winter can be that cold. I honestly wonder if I could survive that sort of cold that hurts my insides when I breathe again. Secondly, I discovered such a tasty cake existed. I haven¡¯t been able to find that taste again anywhere. Thirdly, I learn that desperation can be the impetus that leads people astray. Humans make mistakes. Just remember to learn from your mistakes.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru lost control over his tears. ¡°¡­ I sinned gravely when I learnt my brother¡¯s skills without permission. Thinking about how nice he was to me makes me feel even worse. It¡¯s true I was inebriated in Xu n¡¯s cer. When I reflected on it, I couldn¡¯t figure out how I managed to enter the heavily-guarded cer. Later on, I learnt Brother Xu deliberately moved me to the cer when I passed out and opened the secret door for me. How else could I have entered without a hitch?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°I don¡¯t get what you¡¯re trying to say.¡±

    ¡°Brother Xu deliberately let me learn his n¡¯s discipline because he knew I couldn¡¯t achieve my dreams with two missing fingers. That was the reason I insisted on exchanging children with him; I wanted to raise Yupin into an upstanding and outstanding hero so that he could inherit his n¡¯s teachings, thereby returning my knowledge to their rightful owner. I never expected¡­ it would cost Brother Xu his family. I failed as Yupin¡¯s teacher.¡± Zhuo Fengru was sobbing too much to put together another coherent sentence.

    ¡°Hua Gezi, call Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables for an arrest.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother Mieba!¡± Xu Yanran also had waterfalls for eyes.

    ¡°But he¡­ But he¡­¡±

    ¡°I doubt he¡¯s lying. However, his crim-¡±

    ¡°Miss Xu is right. There¡¯s no need to go.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over to Kongcang with his brows knitted. ¡°What are you on about?¡±

    Kongcang shook his head¡£ ¡°Please do not misunderstand. This one is grateful to you. Had it not been for you, this one would have never known that prick¡¯s ns. No wonder why you could force him to get violent with Miss Xu¡¯s engagement. Hahaha, what a joke.¡±

    ¡°What are say-¡± Ming Feizhen fell to the ground when he moulded qi at his feet, losing strength in his body.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re strong and not afraid of poison. Howbeit, you are a disciple of Shaolin Temple, and I am your opponent, hahaha. There is no antidote for the poison. This one formted the poison to counter Shaolin¡¯s disciplines. This one was able to immobilise someone ten times stronger than you back then, let alone an infant like you.¡± Kongcang looked to Zhuo Fengru out the corner of his eyes. ¡°Never predicted this ending, did you?¡±

    ¡°You knave,¡± responded Zhuo Fengru.

    ¡°I¡¯m a knave. You¡¯re a hero, yet you lost to a knave. What does that make you?¡± Kongcang subsequently turned back to Ming Feizhen. ¡°Which Shaolin mental cultivation did you learn to develop your internal energy so much? Who is your teacher? You can be honest, or you can suffer.¡± Kongcang cracked his knuckles.

    ¡°What¡¯s your issue? Why have you switched characters all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°This is this one¡¯s true form. It¡¯s your fault for not recognising it. Don¡¯t me others for your own ipetence. Speak now or I¡¯ll have to get physical. Ask Old Zhuo if you want to know what sort of person I am and what I do.¡±

    ¡°As an insurance policy, I had Liu Shan Men investigate two things. The first was Zhuo n. The second was Shaolin Temple.¡± Ming Feizhen simpered. ¡°No Shaolin disciples have been killed in thest three years.¡± Ming Feizhen rose to his feet and stomped.

    Boom!

    ¡°Y-your skills¡­¡±

 Volume 11.5 44

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 44</h4>

    As soon as Ming Feizhen lunged forward, Kongcang retreated several metres, ditching the idea of taking a hostage because a human shield didn¡¯t even seem feasible.

    There was no way Miguo Branch didn¡¯t have decent fighters when they had been operating for years. Kongcang¡¯s second-strongest status wasn¡¯t just an empty title. As the type to figure out how to deal with a loss before thinking about how to win, he had his retreat route mapped out before he arrived on the scene. Seeing as his poison didn¡¯t work, he immediately focused chiefly on getting away.

    Ming Feizhen waited for Kongcang¡¯s presence to disappear before dropping onto his bottom.

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯te close.¡± Ming Feizhen raised a hand as he swallowed the blood that came up to his mouth, though some still leaked, then recalibrated his breathing. ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve nevere across this poison.¡±

    Having be practically immune to poison ever sincemencing his journey in Yijin Jing, Ming Feizhen deliberately let Kongcang poison him to unveil Kongcang¡¯s fa?ade, and it became his first time being the victim of poison. Although Kongcang mentioned it was designed to counter Shaolin¡¯s disciplines, technically speaking, it was formted to disable practitioners with highly developed internal strength. As such, practitioners of Shaolin¡¯s disciplines would feel the most pronounced effect. Ming Feizhen had his Wudang discipline to fall back on when the poison first kicked in, but the speed at which he could circte true qi and the volume he could mobilise dropped off as time passed.

    The nigh-tasteless and nigh-odourless poison couldn¡¯t really corrode humans¡¯ meridians, but it could create an obstacle for true qi flow. Once the poison¡¯s life reached its end, the victim would regain normal movement. Fights were decided in split seconds. The inability to move as desired for that split second was all it took to suffer defeat. Kongcang had a testimonial to back this statement up.

    ¡°Give me some time to recollect myself. His poison is a pain in the neck.¡± It was Ming Feizhen¡¯s first time not being able to utilise Yijin Jing whatsoever. Luckily, he could switch to Tai Chi to gradually excrete the poison out of his system. ¡°It¡¯s going to take some effort, but I¡¯ll be done in about ten minutes.¡±

    ¡°You almost had this old one.¡± Of course, the man who returned would be Kongcang.

    While he was on the run, Kongcang reflected on Ming Feizhen¡¯s final attack. Given Ming Feizhen¡¯s abilities, there was no reason for him to stomp the ground so hard or put on an invincible aura. Why would he have to waste all that extra energy when one straightforward punch could settle the fight? Hence, Kongcang decided to find out if he was just imagining things.

    ¡°Hohoho, this old one didn¡¯t believe Zhuo Fengru when he said you¡¯re a Wudang disciple, but judging from the way you¡¯re expelling the poison, you do know Tai Chi, huh? Are you a Wudang disciple who learnt out Shaolin skills in secret or a monk who defected to Wudang? This piques this one¡¯s interest.¡±

    The nonbatants shivered as though some ferocious beast just licked their necks.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point banking on the kid. He deliberately let this one poison him, only for his n to backfire on him. Don¡¯t go presuming his advanced mental cultivation knowledge is going to do anything. Thest person to try it took ten minutes, and he was a full-grown adult.¡± Kongcang closed the distance, then held his hand above Ming Feizhen¡¯s dome. ¡°Anyst words?¡±

    Ming Feizhen slowly exhaled, then opened his eyes. ¡°Hero Zhuo.¡±

    Kongcang bound forty-five degrees forward, then looked over to check. Zhuo Fengru was unmistakably still lying on the ground, much to his relief. Suddenly, he felt a violent dig in his back. With no time to figure out how Zhuo Fengru just apparently warped over, Kongcang hurriedly started Vajra Realm in hopes of counterattacking. Before he couldplete his goal, though, Zhuo Fengru was already in his face.

    ¡°So what if you have Vajra Realm? With your speed, it may as well be called Vajra Turtle Shell,¡± insulted Zhuo Fengru.

    Kongcang gasped blood as Zhuo Fengru stung him on the chest.

    Zhuo Fengru then chopped Kongcang on the vicle with his fingers. ¡°Until you have the same degree of mastery as Lord Miguo, you won¡¯t even stop one of my attacks. You sacrificed your pride for this pitiful speed and weakness?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In an internal and external skill contest, Kongcang closed the gap significantly between him and Zhuo Fengru thanks to Vajra Realm. s, Zhuo Fengru outssed him in the speed department. Needless to say, Shaolin had qinggong disciplines, but none of them advocated for focusing purely on offence to maximise speed.

    Kongcang had imagined numerous times how long it would take for a victor to be decided between him and Zhuo Fengru, but never in his wildest imagination did he see himself losing after only two attacks.

    Zhuo Fengru, deeming it unnecessary to confirm he had defeated his fallen foe, went to check on Xu Yanran. ¡°Yanran, are you all right?¡±

    Deep down, Xu Yanran was ted her father checked on her first when he had just fought. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m all right.¡±

    Even though Zhuo Feng felt apologetic to Xu Yanran all his life for not personally raising her, he nned to take the secret to the grave. He slowly exhaled and then suggested, ¡°We need to get moving. Let¡¯s leave with our money, as a family of three¡­ We¡¯ll find a peaceful ce to settle down and go from there.¡±

    Xu Yanran had trouble getting ustomed to her new identity, so she looked to Hua Qing.

    Hua Qing opined, ¡°Hero Zhuo, in light of the circumstances, how about we n our next step together.¡±

    ¡°If this was only about this old one and his brother¡¯s grudge, he would help you. Howbeit, he has a family, so he can¡¯t afford to take the risk. What do you say, Young Hero Ming?¡±

 Volume 11.5 45

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 45</h4>

    The first reason Zhuo Fengru didn¡¯t kill Kongcang was Miguo Branch¡¯s backing. The second reason was the poison that he personally witnessed Kongcang employ to effortlessly beat someone he considered toughpetition.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Despite appearing emotionless on the surface, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s stomach was in knots. He didn¡¯t believe Ming Feizhen was an immediate concern as he couldn¡¯t have gotten rid of the poison so soon, but Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t resemble a victim of poison from the way he rose or poised himself. If he had time on his hands, he¡¯d muse whether Ming Feizhen really needed him to take out Kongcang just now.

    ¡°Lord Miguo is at Shennong,¡± Ming Feizhen said out of the blue. ¡°Lord Miguo is the leader of one of three branches of the Western Region¡¯s Lotus Cult. Years ago, he decided to develop his career in the Central in after his failure in the Western Regions. At present, their group numbers around a thousand people, with skilled members connected even to the underworld. Lord Miguo¡¯s signature discipline is called ¡®Karma¡¯, a discipline that empowers him to transfer internal energy he absorbs into another body. That¡¯s how he grew so much in a matter of years and gained influence rivalling their cult¡¯s leader.¡±

    Hua Qing raised his hand. ¡°The name of the discipline doesn¡¯t sound very dangerous. Why transfer energy to someone else instead of keeping it for yourself?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru cracked a smile. ¡°That¡¯s actually what makes him smart. He provokes people into fighting him, absorbs their energy, then passes the energy on. Those who receive the gift feel grateful and indebted. Those who hear about the blessing will imagine what they could do if they could receive some energy. How many people do you think, like Kongcang, are constantly looking for ways to reap benefits withoutbour? I¡¯m also an example of someone who was lucky. Thanks to Lord Miguo¡¯s strategy, he has plenty of reliable subordinates now. If you think building an army of elites is the extent of his ambition, you couldn¡¯t be more wrong. I heard he can also retrieve the energy he passes out.¡±

    Hua Qing: ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean he can recollect those thousand people¡¯s energy on a whim?¡±

    ¡°If he absorbs it all back, the shing attributes of styles will likely lead to instant death. Besides, at his current level, he can¡¯t house that much energy. That¡¯s the reason he urgently needs two items, one being Xu n¡¯s sarira to convert all the energies into the same attribute. The second thing he needs is the highest level of Vajra Realm to store the energy. At the moment, only Lord Wugou can endure the volume of energy. Anyone else will lose their mind. As he is supposedly the only individual in possession of it, Lord Miguo can¡¯t leave Shennong. Should Lord Miguo seed, you¡¯ll be able to count on one hand the number of people who can stop him.¡±

    Hua Qing squeezed his garments, mentally feeling the weight on his shoulders.

    ¡°You done?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Zhuo Fengru.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start throwing hands, then.¡±

    ¡°Wait. We agreed to lure Kongcang. We havepleted our deal. I¡¯ve also shared everything I know about Miguo Branch. I haven¡¯t heckled you for crossing the line and exposing my family secret, so why do you keep picking a bone with me?¡±

    In their fight just now, Ming Feizhen used Voice Transmission to convey his n to expose Kongcang. Had it not been for the circumstances, they would¡¯ve resumed their fight after Zhuo Fengru feigned injury because of Ming Feizhen¡¯s act.

    Ming Feizhen smugly crossed his arms. ¡°Why don¡¯t you heckle me, then?¡±

    ¡°Now that Kongcang¡¯s plot has been foiled, Miguo Branch won¡¯t spare this old one. As a man with a family, this old one won¡¯t engage in meaningless fights.¡±

    ¡°¡­ There¡¯s always been someone I wanted to beat ever since I started training; however, I lost every time. I¡¯ve been reflecting every day. I¡¯m confident in my strength and technique, but speed is something I¡¯m unable to grasp. My school does have movement sybuses, but they¡¯re not for my personality, so I doubted I could ever get anything out of them. Inparison, your Aerial Flower Divine Seal is right up my alley.¡±

    That was the first time Zhuo Fengru saw a genuinely happy Ming Feizhen, albeit too happy for what was eptable.

    ¡°Unfortunately, the skills belong to Xu n. This old one already feels bad about learning Xu n¡¯s skills, so he will not impart them to anyone besides Yupin.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to teach me. I just want to have a crack.¡± Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°My shifu told me skills learnt without permission are statistically more solid. I won¡¯t understand even if you give me a lecture on it. One proper fight, on the other hand, will shed a light on everything.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for being honest. This old one sh-¡±

    ¡°Besides, even if I don¡¯t bring it up, you were nning to drop me when the opportunity presented itself, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    Nobody could keep up with Ming Feizhen and Zhuo Fengru¡¯s pace because they never detected any insincerity on Zhuo Fengru¡¯s part.

    ¡°You have surprised this old one again. How did you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to figure out. Our truce was only temporary; we¡¯re not friends. I¡¯m friendly with Liu Shan Men. Your collusion with Miguo Branch is out. You¡¯d assume I¡¯ll try to detain you. Logically, it¡¯d be wisest to put my lights out while the poison is still besetting me. You¡¯ll have been long gone by the time I woke up. I knew you were targeting me from the moment you slept Kongcang, then turned to me instead of finishing him. I¡¯m just being candid to make things easier for you.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru let out a heaven-bound sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve said this sort of thing many times. If you don¡¯t consider me a nag, allow me to repeat myself. You really are¡­ impressive!¡± Punctuating his own sentence, Zhuo Fengru added the period in as he seemingly teleported up to Ming Feizhen¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t move forward.¡± His two fingers were akin to a loaded arrow sitting right in front of Ming Feizhen¡¯s forward. ¡°You can¡¯t beat me in a speed contest.¡±

    Ming Feizhen took two necessary steps back.

    ¡°You are prudent and strong. In a decade from now, you¡¯ll surpass me as long as you keep it up. Today, nevertheless, I am a notch above you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen, hand at his chin, mumbled, ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not it¡­ Mm, it should be like this.¡± He stepped back to his previous spot. ¡°I won¡¯t ept the praise. You told me not toe forward, did you?¡± Ming Feizhen whipped his neck forward.

 Volume 11.5 46

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 46</h4>

    Zhuo Fengru backed off before his blood could st on the floor, sweating cold bullets and unable to curb his adrenaline rush for several big breaths. In reaction to Ming Feizhen¡¯s smile despite the two scarlet fingerprints on his forehead, Zhuo Fengru remarked through his teeth, ¡°You¡¯re crazy.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his head, pretending it hurt. ¡°You tter me.¡±

    Right from the beginning, Zhuo Fengru was aware that his sword attack wouldn¡¯t inflict any substantial damage to Ming Feizhen - which was not to say that he was the better swordsman. It was pointless topare their skillsets against each other, as their first match demonstrated. Though Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t employ a diverse range of disciplines, at best, he half understood what he was doing with them. Therefore, any half-decent boxer would be able to piece him up. Suffice to say, Zhuo Fengru wanted to figure out Ming Feizhen¡¯s true background whenever thetter tested him. After all, Zhuo Fengru wasn¡¯t someone who just followed a textbook.

    For any opponent, the attribute of Ming Feizhen that would give his opponent the most trouble was his immensely potent internal energy. In Zhuo Fengru¡¯s opinion, the only person he¡¯d confidently say could beat Ming Feizhen in a strength contest was Shaolin¡¯s abbot. When going up against an opponent with so much power, they¡¯re a threat even if their technique is sloppy.

    Zhuo Fengru was unquestionably the faster striker, but speed wasn¡¯t a magical attribute that automatically won fights. Even though he was always cognisant of this fact, Ming Feizhen was more reckless than he anticipated. Because Ming Feizhen head butted Zhuo Fengru¡¯s qi-imbued fingers without generating any prior momentum, Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve only used 30% of his full power at most. Furthermore, that was his head that he was pitting against Zhuo Fengru¡¯s fingers.

    In their previous bouts, they only sparred. Hence, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t have gauged the gap in their internal energy potency. In the event that the gap between their energy was too great, both of them would¡¯ve wounded up injured. The difference was, one would lose his fingers, while the other would lose his head. It went without saying which loss was worse. The reason Ming Feizhenmitted to the risky endeavour was because he saw through Zhuo Fengru¡¯s bluff.

    Zhuo Fengru tore off a section of his garment to staunch his bleeding. At this point, he didn¡¯t need to be told that he couldn¡¯t count on luck, so he looked over his shoulder and called, ¡°Yanran.¡±

    Xu Yanran¡¯s frayed brain had yet to recover from the light shone on her identity. ¡°Uncle Zhuo¡­¡±

    ¡°This old one must say farewell now. May he take onest close look at you?¡±

    Xu Yanran lowered her face that had be home to a deluge of emotional rain.

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable for you not to forgive.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­ That¡¯s not it¡­ Uncle Zhuo, you never did anything wrong. It¡¯s just, it¡¯s just I don¡¯t know what to say, but you¡¯ve always treated me kindly.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru shook his head. ¡°No, this old one has done wrong by many people. Out of all of them, though, is your mother. Had it not been for my poor judgement, you and your mother wouldn¡¯t have been separated for all these years. Xu Family raised you well, very well, much better than I could¡¯ve ever raised you.¡±

    Xu Yanran often approached Lady Zhuo ever since she was a kid to have conversations since she found that she hit it off with Lady Zhuo. Every time they met, Lady Zhuo would have new clothing and snacks. Even when Xu Yanran sounded as though she was whining, Lady Zhuo would lend an ear. Xu Yanran used to wonder why Lady Zhuo would wear her affection in her eyes whenever they met.

    It wasn¡¯t often that girls would lose their happy ce called home to a fire overnight, yet not even have a moment to reflect on what was loss or mourn because she was busy trying to stay alive. Looking back on it, perhaps the dangerous ordeal was Xu Yanran¡¯s salvation. With no time to think or grieve, she had an impetus to stop herself from imagining the horror her parents had to suffer before their deaths.

    Xu Yanran never understood why her kind parents had to die. When she learnt Zhuo Fengru and Lady Zhuo were her true parents, a part of her was d, though, d that she hadn¡¯t lost everything as she thought.

    ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t think like this.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± Zhuo Fengru rubbed Xu Yanran¡¯s crown, then sighed. ¡°You¡¯re such a kind kid.¡±

    Xu Yanran¡¯s sleeves and hands were sodden. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t be thinking this when I haven¡¯t avenged my family. I know I shouldn¡¯t be happy¡­ but I¡­ I¡¯m just so d to know I still have family. Are even you going to leave me?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru bitterly smiled. ¡°Can you¡­ call me ¡®Dad¡¯ just once?¡±

    Xu Yanran looked down, unsure what to think and what to say. She saw it, the gaze that was the same as the one Lady Zhuo reserved for her from Zhuo Fengru. s, when she raised her head, he had begun making his way to Ming Feizhen. By the time she realised it, she had already uttered, ¡°Dad¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru froze in his tracks.

    ¡°Dad¡­ I, I won¡¯t forgive you. I won¡¯t forgive you if you die!¡±

    The corners of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s lips gradually curved up, and then he burst intoughter. Upon resuming his walk, he felt lighter than ever; even his posture took up more vertical space than before.

    ¡°Finally ready to get serious? In that case, I have to respond in kind, don¡¯t I?¡± Ming Feizhen ejected a surge of internal energy that billowed objects immediately in his vicinity. ¡°Hero Zhuo,¡± Ming Feizhen bridged the gap in a sh, ¡°you first.¡±

    In their palm-to-palm collision, rifts several metres deep formed below their feet, yet not a grain of dust left the ground.

    As the audience looked around for signs of where the two had gone, Kongkong¡¯er¡¯s ears twitched in response to a quiet breeze. ¡°On the roof!¡±

    Ming Feizhen traded with only his right hand to even out the fact that Zhuo Fengru now only had one capable arm. Ming Feizhen¡¯s defence was devoid of anymendable form, while Zhuo Fengru pushed the pace enough to eventually find a finish amid the chaos.

    Ending the stalemate, Ming Feizhen circled off an attack. ¡°That¡¯s not going to cut it against me!¡± He thrust an arm upward, spawning a rotational qi wind that defused Zhuo Fengru¡¯s momentum.

    Disengaging, Zhuo Fengru rode Ming Feizhen¡¯s momentum to vault up, going higher and higher without needing to take another breath.

    Ming Feizhen narrowed his eyes as he watched the aerial elder due to the sun¡¯s brightness. He noticed that Zhuo Fengru¡¯s speed whilst airborne wasn¡¯t fixed, something he¡¯d associate with ¡°product of nature¡±. Abyss Theory¡¯s philosophy centred around deduction of nature. In martial arts terms, that would trante to depth of martial arts principles. Xu n¡¯s branch studied all the martial arts disciplines they could to develop Abyss Theory. As the name suggested, it wasn¡¯t a collection of movements and techniques;ter generations added thoseponents. Although some of the content they added was praiseworthy, in the eyes of their predecessors, it was an unnecessary endeavour.

    Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯s foundation was qinggong. Every step was performed with Abyss Theory as its foundation. When performed at the highest level, you were viewing Abyss Theory¡¯s true form.

    Ming Feizhen witnessed the unbelievable sight of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s body falling apart inch by inch - the shadow of a sword strike from the abyss. Ming Feizhen felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

    Ming Feizhenbined Yijin Jing and Tai Chi to ruin Zhuo Fengru¡¯s two fingers with his head butt. It was amon misconception for Yijin Jing¡¯s true qi and Tai Chi¡¯s true qi to be hard and soft, yin and yang, respectively. In reality, they were true qi of varying degrees of those four attributes. He stacked ayer of Yijing Jing¡¯s true qi on top of ayer of Tai Chi¡¯s true qi, resulting in a solid defence seldom achievable. The only strategic counter would be to attack the fact that the twoyers were inevitably two separate entities and separate them. Needless to say, strategy was one thing and implementation was another story.

    Zhuo Fengru managed to separate the twoyers, forcing Ming Feizhen to trade with a palm strike. They didn¡¯t cause any coteral damage or generate any unnatural phenomena. They hold the end position of their sh until Zhuo Fengru lowered his extended arm.

    ¡°That was this old one¡¯s best. He hereby admits defeat.¡±

    Ming Feizhen first wiped the blood between his eyebrows, then saluted Zhuo Fengru. ¡°It was an eye opener, Elder. This one¡¯s victory is attributed to solely his age and strength advantage. If you were ten years younger, the result would be reversed.¡±

    While Zhuo Fengru was unable to prate Ming Feizhen¡¯s wall with hisst thrust, sword spirit wasn¡¯t an entity with physical form. Sword spirit travelled through barriers to attack one¡¯s mind directly. As such, even if the damage was minor, damage was damage. If the two were measuring their levels, then Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t win.

    ¡°Hahaha, if it weren¡¯t for your brilliance, this old one¡¯sst strike wouldn¡¯t have been impressive. You brought out the best in this old body. A win is a win. A loss is a loss. Everything else is excuses.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Feizhen offers you his humble greetings.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­ Huh?! That means¡­ your shifu is the genius, Huayu of the World. Ah, I see. I see now. It makes sense now.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± equalled, ¡°I see where your martial prowess stems from.¡±

    ¡°I see now,¡± equalled, ¡°You definitely inherited his heretic ways.¡±

    ¡°It makes senses now,¡± equalled, ¡°That exins why you also like visiting brothels.¡±

    ¡°Dad!¡± Xu Yanran jogged over to Zhuo Fengru, jubnt.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Yanran, I kept my word, didn¡¯t I? Hahaha.¡± Zhuo Fengru¡¯s joy surfaced without him trying thanks to the stress that melted off in his fight. ¡°Young Hero Ming, that strike was borderline epic, yet this old one wasn¡¯t able to beat you. Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple really is something else. This old one still has a lot to learn. He assumed you were a Wudang disciple all this time.¡±

    Hua Qing opened and closed his mouth, but the words wouldn¡¯te to him.

    ¡°This one didn¡¯t use his sect skills. It¡¯s a long story that¡¯s not really important.¡±

    ¡°What discipline did you use, then? There was definitely Tai Chi, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, in addition to Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing. This is a sect secret. I¡¯m only telling you because I trust you. Pretend you never heard it now.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Kongcang belted from the ground. Notwithstanding his grave injuries, his years of practice in Vajra Realm protected his consciousness the entire time.

    ¡°¡¯What¡¯ what?¡± Ming Feizhen asked.

    ¡°You know Yijin Jing and Tai Chi¡­ You know Yijin Jing and Tai Chi¡­ Your surname is Ming¡­ I get it. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of that. Yes, you¡¯re a Mount Daluo disciple. You, you¡¯re my junior¡¯s illegitimate kid!¡±

    ¡°¡­ What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid! There¡¯s no way your shifu never told you. Your father is the man who defied an imperial decree thirty years ago to drive off Youtu¡¯s forces, the leader of the imperial city¡¯s three thousand cavalries unit - Ran Feikong!¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 47

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 47</h4>

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    Kongcang liked the wrinkles that formed between Ming Feizhen¡¯s brows.

    ¡°If this old one isn¡¯t wrong, he must be referring to the general whose family was exterminated fifteen years ago - Flying General,¡± proposed Zhuo Fengru. ¡°It¡¯s a name rarely mentioned these days. In this old one¡¯s younger days, in contrast, everyone recognised his name. He saved the nation when it was in peril, subdued Beijiang and Nanjiang, as well as drove back Youtu¡¯s massive army. At the time, this old one was still just a student, but Flying General¡¯s stories inspired him to one day enlist. In those days, Ran Feikong was synonymous with invincibility in battle.¡±

    ¡°Is he right?¡± Ming Feizhen discerned Zhuo Fengru wasn¡¯t lying based on Kongcang¡¯s expression that screamed tacit agreement. ¡°Why are you iming he¡¯s rted to me?¡± Wait and wait, Kongcang showed no intention of answering; Ming Feizhen turned back to Zhuo Fengru, ¡°Where is Flying General now?¡±

    ¡°He passed away. He was an aplished man and the idol of many. Unfortunately, his intervention in the contention for the throne resulted in him being used of treason, culminating in his eventual death. To this day, how he died remains a mystery. We only know his severed corpse was hung from the city doors for three days. It¡¯s strange. You would think the imperial court couldn¡¯t have afforded to execute him given his skills, character andwork, yet no news of the details ever got out. There¡¯s no convincing anybody that somebody didn¡¯t purposely censor information.¡±

    Ming Feizhen felt a jumbled ssh of emotions that he hadn¡¯t ever felt until then. Nobody brought up his family background on Mount Daluo. As far as he could remember, he was living with his shifu; he always believed he was an orphan. ¡°Does family any survive him?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that his family was exterminated, but there are no mentions of his wife and son¡¯s ending. This old one isn¡¯t privy to the details; however, it¡¯s unlikely his wife just rolled over and died because she was said to be a sublime martial artist in her own right. Following his execution, Ran Feikong became taboo words for all levels of the nation. It seems the majority believe the usations were unjust. This old one never met him, so he cannot separate fact from fiction. Whatever the case, there¡¯s unquestionably foul y.¡±

    ¡°Foul y? Strange?¡± In a stifled voice, Kongcang grumbled, ¡°He loved being conspicuous. Conquering the north and south makes you great now? Reiming lostnd and conqueringnds? Big deal. The fool didn¡¯t even realise he was surpassing his master with his aplishments, and he decided to be a busybody, interfering with the imperial family¡¯s affairs. He deserved to die! Strange, my foot! As for Tianfeng Yu, she deserved to suffer, too. Her fault for choosing that moron.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t determine how to react to the influx of information he was hearing for the first time.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Flying General was framed!¡± Kongkong¡¯er eximed. ¡°Listen, shiny head: I admit I¡¯m a fool for believing you were a good man, but I won¡¯t stand for you insulting a hero. Say one more word, and I¡¯ll let you find out what wine I drankst night!¡±

    Kongcang actually shut up.

    ¡°Elder, you know him?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    ¡°This old one once had the fortune of meeting him. He¡¯s an upright man. The imperial court¡¯s ims that hemitted treason are horse feathers. I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s anyone who wants war to end more than him,¡± replied Kongkong¡¯er.

    ¡°Pfft, one meeting is enough to be reliable now?¡± ribbed Kongcang.

    ¡°I was in the city when Youtu¡¯s forces conquered Yanjing. Had it not been for Flying General, I wouldn¡¯t be here today. This old one has been wrong more times than he¡¯s been right, but if this isn¡¯t true, he¡¯ll be struck down by lightning right now!¡±

    Kongcang¡¯s jabs at Flying General had evoked dispute plenty of times in his lifetime. Whenever he bad mouthed his junior, practically nobody would take his side. Even ten years after his death, people would still argue until they were red in the face to defend Flying General whenever Kongcang tried to have a go. ¡°Even in death, you still defeat me,¡± Kongcang wouldment over the years.

    ¡°You say your shifu isn¡¯t some nobody¡­ Since he hid your background from you, that means your identity is valuable to him. What an idiot you are, living in the dark all this time and doing someone¡¯s bidding,¡± Kongcang mocked. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you anything! Worry, regret and panic! No matter how strong you be, you¡¯ll still only be a pitiful worm, y-, mm!¡±

    Subsequent to kicking Kongcang in the face, Ming Feizhen stated, ¡°I don¡¯t believe a word out of your mouth. That¡¯s the worst attempt at sowing discord I¡¯ve seen yet. I know who I am. I have a shifu. If I have questions, I¡¯ll consult him. Hero Zhuo, seeing as you n to depart, how about leaving him in my care?¡±

    Aware that Ming Feizhen wanted to pry more information out of Kongcang, Zhuo Fengru assented.

    Under the suggestion of Zhuo Fengru, they left the restaurant to return to Zhuo Estate, intending to n their next moveter since night had fallen. Xin Buyi and his subordinates were already on standby outside as Ming Feizhen and Zhuo Fengru alerted their informants with their fight. Plus, knowing Shen Wuzheng and Ming Feizhen were acquainted, it was a safe bet that Ming Feizhen¡¯s real intent was to capture Zhuo Fengru for Liu Shan Men. s, betting was a game of probability.

    Upon seeing Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen all buddy-buddy, even patting him on the shoulder as they greeted him while passing by, Xin Buyi confidently concluded Ming Feizhen was putting on a front. Zhuo Fengru was cunning, so they needed to be more cunning and patient! To support Ming Feizhen even further, he stationed Liu Shan Men¡¯s forces in Zhuo Estate¡¯s vicinity so that they could take Zhuo Fengru into custody as soon as Ming Feizhen gave the signal.

    Zhuo Fengru wished to take shelter elsewhere with his family, while Ming Feizhen¡¯s clique wanted to have a word with Lord Miguo at Shennong and clear Hua Qing¡¯s name. As such, Zhuo Fengru offered to sponsor their travels, but he didn¡¯te back after a long, long time. Right when Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing started debating if Zhuo Fengru fled with his money, Zhuo Fengru came rushing out of his estate, eyes red.

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Old Bugg-, I mean, Hero Zhuo. Let¡¯s be clear that I never disparaged you. Now, why were you running?¡±

    ¡°Th-this one found everyone in the manor knocked out. Yupin and this old one¡¯s wife are missing!¡±

    ¡°Say what?!¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Zhuo Fengru looked over in the direction of the snicker to see a man attired in ck on the wall.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t see thising, did you, idiots? While you were celebrat-¡±

    ¡°Get them!¡±

 Volume 11.5 48

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 48</h4>

    ¡°¡­ Zhuo¡­ Zhuo¡­ Yupin¡­ is in¡­ our hands¡­ You¡­ You¡­ You¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen crouched down in front of him. ¡°Yes, yes, yes, never thought you¡¯re so strong.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Ha¡­ Ha¡­ Haha¡­ Hah-¡± The man gasped blood into the air. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m here¡­ to tell you¡­ that you are invited¡­ to Lotus Convention¡­ at Shennong¡­ ten days from now¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen kicked Hua Qing. ¡°Note it down or there won¡¯t be another chance!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ If you don¡¯t attend¡­ you¡­ you¡­ will d-¡± He ran out of time before he could finish pronouncing ¡°die¡±.

    Ming Feizhen released his hold on the man¡¯s hand as well as ceased transferring true qi. ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, you¡¯re guilty of murder.¡±

    ¡°How the hell is it my fault?! Weren¡¯t you the one who gave the signal?!¡± snapped Xin Buyi.

    ¡°Since when?!¡±

    ¡°If not, what the heck was the ¡®what¡¯ for? You even pointed to him when he was on the wall.¡±

    ¡°I was startled. Besides, even if you were mistaken, you didn¡¯t need to puncture him right away! I couldn¡¯t even save him!¡±

    Little did Ming Feizhen know, Xin Buyi had a habit of turning small deals into big deals and big deals into huge deals. To him, plugging bandits with arrows was considered trivial.

    ¡°How should I have known he¡¯d be so inept when he stood up so high? Logically speaking, shouldn¡¯t loudmouths be able to walk the walk? How should I have known they¡¯d send an arrow board?¡±

    ¡°In what world is being able to fight effectively a required attribute of a messenger?! I didn¡¯t even get to find out his name. Thanks a lot,¡± Ming Feizhen grumbled as he went through the corpse¡¯s clothing.

    ¡°Stop it. Hero Zhuo¡¯s wife and son have been kidnapped,¡± said Hua Qing.

    Ming Feizhen found two dry pieces of sesame bread that he decided to start eating, a token that he tossed to Xin Buyi for inspection, three hundred thousand silver taels in notes that he stashed in his, in addition to a dozen explosives, smoke bombs and poison bombs.

    How much must your luck stink to die before you can utilise all these nifty weapons.

    Ming Feizhen pried open a letter he found. The letter was addressed to Zhuo Fengru, Hua Qing and him. ¡°I can¡¯t read this hideous handwriting. Hero Zhuo, do you know what that, uh, whatever convention he mentioned is?¡±

    ¡°Lotus Convention,¡± corrected Zhuo Fengru. Because he was usually so amiable, his straight face highlighted just how furious he was. ¡°It¡¯s an event held when a new leader of Lotus Cult assumes their post. Reportedly, the new leader isn¡¯t old enough to take on the role, so the event shouldn¡¯t be held yet. Additionally, the three lords of the group should be present to make it official; it¡¯s impossible for Lord Miguo to call it on its own, let alone in the Central in.¡±

    Xin Buyi asked, ¡°Since when did you two grow so friendly? Zhuo Fengru, you no longer hiding your rtionship with Miguo Branch now? You¡¯ve been acting ignorant for thest sixth months I¡¯ve been questioning you, only to admit to it now?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru bowed his torso parallel to the ground. ¡°Please forgive this old one. He had my reasons for hiding the fact. He is willing to make it up to you. Howbeit, please allow him to find his wife and son first. After that, he will be at your mercy.¡±

    It was fair for Zhuo Fengru to build a fortress around him when he had to safeguard Xu n¡¯s secret whilst helping Miguo Branch censor their information. Now that Ming Feizhen had worked everything out, Zhuo Fengru was d he could be honest with Liu Shan Men. He, therefore, told them the whole story.

    In all the time Xin Buyi had known Zhuo Fengru, it was the first time he interacted with a humble Zhuo Fengru. ¡°If you¡¯re telling the truth¡­ Thew is thew, butpassion also matters. I shall extend your freedom until to rescue your family. In exchange, you must tell us everything.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Sir!¡±

    Xu Yanran whispered, ¡°Dad, why are you offering to go to prison? I thought we were absconding.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru quietly answered, ¡°We are. Can¡¯t you tell I¡¯m lying?¡± He then turned back to the confounded Xin Buyi. ¡°Ehehe, it was just a joke, just a joke.¡±

    ¡°You think I was born yesterday! Walk yourself to your cell!¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Xin, calm down, will you? If you¡¯re so desperate to arrest someone, you¡¯ve got thousands to arrest from Miguo Branch. Do you really have to be so persistent about arresting Hero Zhuo? Do you think you can actually catch him if he tries to run?¡± Ming Feizhen ribbed. ¡°Think about what the priority is. We need to figure out what this Lotus Convention is supposed to be about.¡±

    Since his superior¡¯s acquaintance had spoken up, Xin Buyi gave up on having Zhuo Fengru behind bars for three days to satisfy himself. ¡°I¡¯ll let you off the hook this time - and only this time.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru saluted Ming Feizhen. ¡°Thank you, Young Hero Ming. To be honest, this old one doesn¡¯t know much about Lotus Convention. His family is now their hostage. Even if he did know something¡­¡± Zhuo Fengru sighed.

    Hua Qing: ¡°Hero Zhuo, the more concerned you are, the more prone you are to blunders. They will not harm your family since your family is bait to lure you in.¡±

    ¡°This old one¡¯s idiotic son is just¡­¡± Zhuo Fengru, apanying a bitter smile, shook his head.

    Ming Feizhen voiced, ¡°I have an idea.¡± He brushed aside the carriage curtain, dipped his hand in and then yanked Kongcang from the inside out onto the ground. ¡°Get up.¡±

 Volume 11.5 49

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 49</h4>

    Kongcang jerked awake. ¡°Wh-what do you want?¡±

    Ming Feizhen held up the invitation in his hand. ¡°You¡¯re the one who came up with this bright idea, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?¡±

    Ming Feizhen drove his foot into Kongcang¡¯s face. ¡°You sure you want to y this game?¡±

    Kongcang, trying to stop blood spilling from his nose, responded, ¡°St-stop it. Technically speaking, I¡¯m your uncle.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m about to be your maker!¡± Ming Feizhen turned Kongcang¡¯s face sideways with a spinning hook kick.

    Bleeding from his mouth, Kongcang replied, ¡°L-let¡¯s talk this out¡­ Stop the assault.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Ming Feizhen, there¡¯s no point in beating him. You need to question him.¡±

    Xin Buyi elucidated, ¡°Miss, it¡¯s called establishing your roles. Another name for it is ¡®caning the suspect fifteen times before granting an audience with the official¡¯. Only once his bravado has been shut down will he tell the truth.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not right in this context. I have another reason for beating him.¡± Ming Feizhen, staring holes into Kongcang, borated, ¡°I don¡¯t like the way he looks.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just make it a personal vendetta?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head whilst waving the invitation. ¡°There¡¯s this, too. Since he wants to set Hero Zhuo and me up, there¡¯s no doubt he wants to have Hero Zhuo and I hurt each other for his enjoyment. Therefore, there¡¯s no need to take a hostage. I surmise this is a backupmand he passed on to his subordinate after he left the restaurant and realised I was pretending.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if you know that much. I didn¡¯t write the invitation; Lord Miguo wrote it.¡±

    ¡°No wonder why it looks like someone wrote it with his foot. This is culture sphemy, you traitor!¡± Ming Feizhen stomped Kongcang¡¯s face into the dirt.

    They say Shaolin¡¯s monks self-imposed harshness to train themselves, but Kongcang easily ate more dirt, literally, than any monk ever did.

    Kongcang: Why is it my fault that his handwriting is ugly?!

    Hua Qing: ¡°Give him a break before you hit him again. You¡¯ve only been doing the torture part, not the questioning part.¡±

    Once he recovered, Kongcang looked around at everyone¡¯s reactions. ¡°¡­ I see.¡± He sat up, then continued, ¡°Hahaha, they seeded, I see. Yeah, it was me. You think I just ate, drank and slept for all these years? I always have a backup n. I had my men kidnap your family when I first left the restaurant. How else would I make you lot submit?¡±

    ¡°All it takes is a nk for you to contrive something, huh?¡± On a rare asion, Xin Buyi praised, ¡°Pretty fast, huh? You really are a bloody genius.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Regrettably, there was a minor slipup. His Excellency truly possesses great foresight to predict my hup and have me bring several invitations with me. Even though I ended up underestimating you, who¡¯s the winner now? Hero Zhuo, how does it feel to have your wife and son taken from you?¡±

    In a low voice, Zhuo Fengru eximed, ¡°It was all your work, was it?!¡±

    Kongcang offered up a palm-fist salute. ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru performed an aerial-spinning twist to generate extra power for a downward palm strike that knocked out Kongcang¡¯s teeth.

    It shouldn¡¯te as any surprise that Kongcang¡¯s foes had subdued him in the past. Every time, though, he¡¯d start talking to them and then find an opportunity to turn the tables. Unfortunately, his foes this time weren¡¯t the type to talk before getting physical.

    ¡°You frauds are attacking this old one while he is immobilised! Have you no honour?! Would any of you dare to face this one man to man?!¡±

    Zhuo Fengru drew his sword from his sleeve. ¡°Bring it on!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s define the conditions properly first. We aren¡¯t thugs. Hey, hey, hey, put the sword away. Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. Put it back in the sheath. Now, where were we? Young Hero Ming, please take a seat. Come,e sit here. Don¡¯t be so distant.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: All those people who sail with the wind could learn a lot from this old bugger. Nobody has put him in his ce when he¡¯s been doing this for ages?

    Kongcang rubbed his hands as if he was sitting at a bonfire with friends. ¡°You, uh, spoken to the one who delivered the invitation, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you should know what the conditions are, then.¡± Kongcang straightened up his torso. ¡°Release me. Else, I can¡¯t guarantee the safety of the hostages, hahaha. Where¡¯s the messenger?¡±

    Everyone pointed over to the corpse.

    ¡°Hahah-¡± Kongcang¡¯sughing face froze on his face. ¡°You criminals! You don¡¯t kill envoys when two states are negotiating! You even turned him into a practice board! Have you no conscience?!¡±

    Kongcang: Thank god I¡¯m a quick thinker, or I¡¯d be in pieces if he¡¯s full of arrows.

    ¡°Venerable Kongcang.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Yes, Young Master Hua?¡±

    ¡°I always believed even bad people in the pugilistic world would have some honour. I¡¯m sad that¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen patted Hua Qing on the back. ¡°d you¡¯re getting used to it. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± then asked Kongcang, ¡°So, what¡¯s this whatever convention?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Lotus Convention¡¯. It¡¯s the most important event for Miguo Branch. His Excellency will announce he is the new leader of Lotus Sect at the event. Expect to see plenty of people in the martial world, from friends to foes. Needless to say, enemies will be his nourishment, while friends shall be there to witness his moment of unrivalled glory.¡±

    ¡°What gives him the authority to crown himself Lotus Sect¡¯s new leader? Does he think the Western Regions will leave him be? Wait¡­ is Lord Wugou already¡­¡±

    ¡°His Excellency is obviously making the move because he has confidence in himself. What¡¯s there to fear once he has Repository Jade?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pointed out, ¡°And it happens to be with us.¡±

    ¡°Because caution isn¡¯t a thing in your world? You dare refuse to attend?¡±

    Evidently, this was Lord Miguo and Kongcang¡¯s true n. Lord Miguo orchestrated the kidnapping to force them into attending the convention. Kongcang deceived Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen, as well as aimed to pinch Repository Jade. If theypared, the differences in the two strategies were quite pronounced.

    ¡°Long-story short, he wants to exchange Lady Zhuo and Zhuo Yupin for Repository Jade? Wishful thinking. I already have my promised one hundred thousand taels,¡± Ming Feizhen mocked.

    Hua Qing: ¡°Uh¡­ what are you thinking?¡±

 Volume 11.5 50

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 50</h4>

    It wasn¡¯tmon to see three horses pulling a carriage along through the night as though they were running from danger. Even stranger was the fact that three carriages split into different directions.

    ¡°Zhuo Fengru is a wretched old man, yet his wife is perfect from head to toe. What a lucky old fart.¡±

    Lady Zhuo, joined by five more people in a carriage, kept her teeth dug into her bottom lip.

    ¡°Show my mother some respect!¡± Zhuo Yupin guarded his mother behind him despite his words and actions provoking their kidnappers into bashing him.

    Although Lady Zhuo was bitter over the fact that she was separated from her daughter whilst having to raise someone else¡¯s son and groom him into her daughter¡¯s husband, she always fulfilled the duties of a mother for the sake of it. That was why she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling when she saw him defending her as she reflected on the times she held his hands to teach him to write, the times she taught him to speak and so on.

    ¡°Pin¡¯er, I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t deign to their level.¡±

    As criminals who only joined Miguo Branch for the benefits Lord Miguo offered, the group had no sense of discipline to speak of.

    The bald man cackled. ¡°Missy, if you don¡¯t mind, how about alleviating our boredom.¡±

    ¡°Put a sock in it.¡± The swordsman lying with his sword in his arms separated himself from his fiverades, seemingly considering himself in a league of his own.

    The bald man chortled again. ¡°Master Liu, we¡¯ve been working nonstop for months. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to kill her; we¡¯re just seeking some relief. Zhuo Fengru is a stuck-up prick who¡¯s constantly offended us¡­ Hehe, we¡¯re avenging His Excellency, too, n-?¡± He suddenly folded over in silence.

    Long Taoyuan, nicknamed Skyhead, once bounced his opponent¡¯s sharp broadsword off his head without a scratch. Yet, blood could soon be seen running down from his forehead, without him ever knowing how it happened.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lump me in with you.¡± The swordsman threatened, ¡°Whoever makes a fuss will be next.¡±

    Breaking the silence that followed, Zhuo Yupin said, ¡°¡­ Leng Jingliu, I¡¯m not thankful for that. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t be in this predicament in the first ce.¡±

    All of Leng Jingliu¡¯s rades¡± gulped. The solo swordsman was known amongst ¡°allies¡± and enemies as a man of his word. He just warned everyone to keep their mouths shut, yet Zhuo Yupin was already mouthing off. Zhuo Yupin may not fear death, but the cronies certainly feared Lord Miguo¡¯s wrath if they couldn¡¯t bring him back alive.

    ¡°Had you not involved yourself with us too much, Zhuo Estate¡¯s security wouldn¡¯t have crumbled so fast. When ites down to it, the fault lies with you.¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t trust you¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve only known each other for three months. Every piece of information on Ming Feizhen was worth five hundred taels. Your father¡¯s information was worth three hundred taels per piece. You¡¯ve earned a decent amount in thest year. How does it have anything to do with me? If Lord Miguo didn¡¯t spot traces of a Mystic Era discipline from you, he wouldn¡¯t have any interest in a brat like you. On the other hand, you implicated your father. Unlike you, however, he only feigned cooperation to collect incriminating evidence on us. Had Xu n not been killed off, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t be silenced so soon. While I¡¯m on the topic, if your father really dies, the information collected will give you the biggest merit.¡±

    Leng Jingliu disclosed all the things Zhuo Fengru had been doing to Zhuo Yupin while they were travelling, much to Zhuo Yupin¡¯s exasperation and guilt. Of course Zhuo Yupin could detect his father acting besides himself, but he never thought it was because of his mistakes.

    Lady Zhuo: ¡°Is everything you say a lie? My husband is someone you hooligans can touch! Pin¡¯er, don¡¯t believe their baseless ims. Don¡¯t you have any faith in your father?¡±

    ¡°Apologies,¡± expressed Leng Jingliu. ¡°Hero Zhuo certainly is an aspiration of many. Howbeit, man only has so much power. Shennong is home to plenty of adepts. It¡¯ll be hard for two hands to win against four hands, let alone more. Either way, it¡¯s not something Young Master Zhuo can do something about. Nheless, please forgive this one¡¯s rudeness.¡±

    Two men opined, ¡°Master Liu¡¯s swordy is first-rate. That old fart won¡¯t be your match.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting I could dominate him. I¡¯d only barely beat him.¡± Leng Jingliu opened his eyes as though he sensed danger. ¡°Impossible. Already?¡±

    ¡°What? Something outside?¡± The guard brushed aside the window curtain for a look to see a ck streak cross the firmament to the ceiling of their carriage. Once he made out it was a meatless, shoulder bone, he blurted, ¡°The hell?¡±

    Upon contact making contact with the carriage, the wheels splintered, dropping the carriage to the ground. Subsequently, the horse reins split with the sound of someone shing them, allowing the horses to careen in different directions. There was nothing the coach could do when he hadn¡¯te across such a phenomena in his decades-long career.

    ¡°What did I tell you? They kidnapped the two while I was fighting Hero Zhuo, then fled for Shennong. They might as well have given us a map to tell us which route to take. There¡¯s no way anyone can run from Hero Zhuo and I.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, we¡¯re pretty lucky. I mean, we caught with them after running dozens of kilometres and until the sun went down, right? Guess Hero Zhuo wasted his time going in his direction.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°Hua Gezi, say something. Hey, where are you going?¡±

    Hua Qing broke Ming Feizhen¡¯s hold to go puke by a tree.

    ¡°How useless,¡± Ming Feizhen insulted.

    ¡°Shut up! Can¡¯t you give me a heads up?! I didn¡¯t expect you to run so fast, not to mention how far we travelled!¡± Hua Qing resumed hurling.

    Ming Feizhen reached into the carriage to check since he believed everyone inside should¡¯ve had their upoints sealed. ¡°Hey, hey, everyone dead? Lady Zhuo? Punk Zhuo? I¡¯ming.¡±

    ¡°Quiet.¡±

    Ming Feizhen back flipped away. ¡°Oho?¡±

    Leng Jingliu stood up.

 Volume 11.5 51

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 51</h4>

    Although the ck garments on the fifteen year old standing in the carriage were rtively old, it fit him perfectly. Unlike his in shoes designed for mobility, he was blessed with a handsome appearance that also starkly contrasted his piercing eyes. He burst out of the carriage¡¯s ceiling, bringing along the unharmed mother and son pair. ¡°You came straight here?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s method of destroying the carriage failed to interest the youth, but the timing of his arrival roused his curiosity. Ming Feizhen liked the question posed for the reason that it indicated the youth was a worldly individual.

    ¡°The sages of old said that death is a fate we all share; it¡¯s sad for the parents left behind. Invest the effort and a couple shall be in love forever. From the moment you decided to kidnap a man¡¯s wife and son, you should¡¯ve been prepared to be chased.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯ve allied with Zhuo Fengru?¡±

    Amused with how fast the youth caught on, Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°If it¡¯s a fight, I alone will suffice.¡±

    The youth whipped his sword out, pointing to the ground on an angle. ¡°The sword¡¯s name is Death Omen. My name is Leng Jingliu.¡±

    Ming Feizhen flicked up a long tree branch to catch. ¡°My de is called Tree branch. My name is Passerby,¡± he dered with a sneer. ¡°Can we start yet?¡±

    The atmosphere around made it seem as though peace fled the scene. The night sky seemingly split in two for a second. Even though it was clearly an impossible phenomenon, the flow of air, the sounds pounding ears and the sensation grazing skin made it difficult to disprove.

    A specific spot in the ground far away sted dirt as it sunk. Had it not been for Ming Feizhen¡¯s white hair, nobody would¡¯ve known he had to make a hasty retreat. Scarlet beads belted onto the ground from Ming Feizhen¡¯s exposed left shoulder, but that was only noticeable once the two had reset.

    The only proof Leng Jingliu ever moved from his starting stance was Ming Feizhen¡¯s damaged shirt and blood.

    Hua Qing: He¡¯s too dangerous! We need to wait for Hero Zhuo¡¯s aid.

    Before anyone else could figure out why Leng Jingliu raised his sword to his chest, parallel to the ground, Ming Feizhen rammed his two feet into the sword¡¯s de loudly. Beaming, Ming Feizhen thrust his tree branch at Leng Jingliu¡¯s forehead forthwith.

    Hua Qing shouldn¡¯t have fretted because Ming Feizhen already measured Leng Jingliu¡¯s abilities from the fast time Ming Feizhenid eyes on Leng Jingliu. In spite of his young age, the spirit of a swordsman lived in Leng Jingliu¡¯s eyes; he was an individual who had abandoned the stances of other true swordsmen in search of the ultimate swordy.

    Leng Jingliu gave the branch the slip, then cleaved at the branch with his jet-ck sword, but Ming Feizhen read him and denied Leng Jingliu with a punch that derailed Leng Jingliu¡¯s trajectory. Leng Jingliu corrected his direction of movement, slicing through the wind Ming Feizhen generated to target Ming Feizhen¡¯s fist again despite his reach advantage. Leng Jingliu¡¯s style of fighting was practically one without an exit strategy.

    Prior tonding, Ming Feizhen calmly circled his left hand, then uncorked a palm attack at the sword again, forcing Leng Jingliu back three steps, too. The two of them subsequently exhaled a long breath each.

    Ming Feizhen checked on the deep gash on the back of his left hand. Although he managed to defuse Leng Jingliu¡¯s technique with Tai Chi techniques, it wasn¡¯t enough to gain the upper hand. The real problem was the ck sword. It only grazed his hand, yet it prated his true qi armour. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything that your sword can¡¯t cut.¡±

    There were people who had taken two punches from Ming Feizhen without paying a price. However, Leng Jingliu wasn¡¯t one of them. Leng Jingliu wiped away the blood trickling from his mouth onto hispels and the ground, apparently unfazed.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t capable of cutting everything. It just so happens that I cut something that it can cut.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ck aurum, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you want it to be.¡± Leng Jingliu set one foot forward. ¡°Throw that toy away, or you¡¯ll die.¡±

    Ming Feizhen made his cheeks resemble that of a pufferfish. ¡°I¡¯ve never met such a shameless cheat. You want me to fight you with my bare hands?¡±

    ¡°Up to you.¡± Leng Jingliu bound toward Ming Feizhen, sword aimed at thetter¡¯s heart.

    Ming Feizhen, using his left hand as a guard, replicated a broadsword swing with his branch to block the straight thrust.

 Volume 11.5 52

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 52</h4>

    Ming Feizhen had no time to think. He rxed his body, focusing his energy to his right leg. Reying his matches against Zhuo Feng, he let his body do what it needed to do, taking seven steps to escape. Only once he regained conscious control over his body did he realise that he escaped a permanent date with death.

    Snap! The sound of a physical entity followed from the direction of the ck sword¡¯s path. In Ming Huayu¡¯s words, the miraculous phenomenon of the night-sky splitting was a result of light and oxygen losing the capacity to sustain their forms.

    ¡°The fact that you avoided the technique is evidence that you¡¯re superior to Zhuo Fengru. Despite his qinggong proficiency, he has no answer for the technique.¡±

    ¡°A sword forged from ck aurum and swordy that can split the atmosphere, you¡¯re either a very pitiable guy or some filthy-rich kid. Thest possibility is that, like me, you¡¯re a prodigy,¡± Ming Feizhenmented.

    ¡°Your clumsy reactions give away the fact that you¡¯re not trained to wield a broadsword. That toy is a burden to you. Your boxing is unquestionably better.¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­ Hehe¡­ On the topic of weapons, I started learning to wield them at three and have mastered hundreds of taolus now, but I don¡¯t remember a single one. ording to my shifu and grandmaster¡¯s diagnosis, the condition I suffer from is, ¡®Incorrigible. Scram.¡¯ One of my friends is called the best swordy prodigy in thest century. They call him a treasure from the heavens. In the one month of training he provided me in swordy, he almost gutted me out of anger.¡±

    ¡°We still fighting?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± Ming Feizhen assumed a broadswordy stance again with the tree branch.

    ¡°That is¡­¡±

    ¡°This is the only broadsword technique in my repertoire. If I fail to kill you with this, I¡¯ll have to admit defeat.¡± Ming Feizhen lowered his branch as though he was preparing for a draw from his waist, erasing his emotions from his face at the same time.

    Leng Jingliu recalled that the majority of people he grew up along wore the same expression. They might walk with a bounce in their gait, but they¡¯d appear devoid of emotion once their sword was in hand because, in those moments, the only thing on their mind was a craving forbat.

    Leng Jingliu: Is thrusting through the Great Wall the only option?

    When face to face with such a strong foe, the only thing one can do was surpass their current level. Owing to the mentality, Leng Jingliu¡¯s swordy focused purely on advance. If there was a mountain, he¡¯d cut it down. If the Great Wall stood before him, he¡¯d crush the wall to move forward.

    Leng Jingliu lowered his sword tip to the ground, but his confidence waned, much to his confusion and disbelief.

    Ming Feizhen continued to build up more and more energy.

    Leng Jingliu: Hmm?

    Ming Feizhen inhaled. ¡°You¡¯re the first person to force me to go all out ever since leaving the mountain.¡±

    Leng Jingliu: Hmm?

    ¡°I believed there weren¡¯t many people who could push me to use Eight Mountains and Eight Oceans, so I sealed it on my own ord. You¡¯re tough.¡±

    Hmm? Aren¡¯t wepeting in martial arts as practitioners in the same age bracket?

    ¡°Branch Cleaves Death Omen. You sh the Night¡­ I sh You.¡± Once thest leaf on the branch fell, Ming Feizhen let it rip. ¡°sh!¡±

    ***

    All foliage that Ming Feizhen¡¯s broadsword swung past ceased to exist. The ground resembled the aftermath of a titan invasion.

    ¡°Excellent technique,¡± Leng Jingliu praised.

    Still standing in his finishing pose, Ming Feizhen responded, ¡°¡­ How are you still standing?!¡±

    Leng Jingliu titled his head. ¡°It was too lethal. I couldn¡¯t block. Of course I¡¯d dodge.¡± Post-answer, he gasped a mouthful of blood. ¡°¡­ Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t evade it entirely.¡±

    ¡°You sure are honest. You didn¡¯t even attempt to answer it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had no idea he was the first person to ever make Leng Jingliu retreat in a fight. Having to force himself to change his mind and disengage was a mental blow to Leng Jingliu.

    Leng Jingliu bound twenty-five metres back.

    ¡°Oi, are you running now?¡±

    ¡°Your assistant has arrived; it¡¯s time for me to leave.¡±

    Ming Feizhen confirmed Zhuo Fengru had arrived with his ears, then asked, ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re off? Two on one is where the real challenge is, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your match. What¡¯s there topete over?¡±

    ¡°All right, admit defeat, then.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t twist the facts, you shameless-gang-up-advocating punk.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what you said before! Admit you lost!¡±

    ¡°Not being able to beat you doesn¡¯t mean I lost.¡± Leng Jingliu walked off.

    ¡°Hey, what was your name again?¡±

    Leng Jingliu stopped in his tracks to answer, ¡°Passerby B,¡± then left.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Cupping his mouth with his hands, Ming Feizhen yelled, ¡°I¡¯m Ming Feizhen. Laters, Leng Baozi.¡±

    Leng Jingliu¡¯s qinggong should¡¯ve muted his footsteps, but they could hear him stomping off.

    ¡°Sheesh, he sure runs fast. Don¡¯t think I can catch him.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru checked on Ming Feizhen once he ensured his family was safe. ¡°He¡¯s a swordsman Lord Miguo recruited. This old one lost to him in one exchange when we fought. You two will inevitably bepetitors in the pugilistic world.¡±

    Ming Feizhen kept peering in the direction that Leng Jingliu went.

    ¡°This incident proves that, even if this old one goes into hiding, Lord Miguo won¡¯t spare his family. This old one shall travel to Shennong with you.¡±

    Hua Qing beamed. ¡°We will have much better chances with Hero Zhuo apanying us.¡±

    Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just mention it?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it in ten days¡¯ time? ¡­ Wait, what are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 53

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 53</h4>

    Night didn¡¯t form. Night was the escape of day. The formless wind blew away the heat and energy of day, as well as the light of the sun.

    Lord Wugou¡¯s hometown sat far, far away from the Central in on a snowy mountain. He had to learn archery before he was even five, but not even that reduced the challenge to survive winters. Every year, he would have to worry about him being next in line to die to the cold. Still, he was deeply fond of his hometown.

    In his younger days as an explorer, Lord Wugou had visited the big and flourishing cities of the Central in. Although he was once again in the Central in, it wasn¡¯t remotely close to the same adventurous experience in the past. For thest year he spent at Shennong, all he could do was greet the sun, bid it farewell, then wait to greet it again. Therefore, he embraced the mentality of just sailing in whatever direction the wind took him.

    One could cultivate anywhere as long as they possessed the beliefs of Bodhi. If one could enlighten all living beings, then one shall enlighten all living beings. If one could only enlighten one ant, then one shall enlighten that one ant. What makes an ant any less of a living being?

    ¡°Still won¡¯t talk?¡± Lord Miguo visited again at the same time as every previous day, opening with a simr phrase.

    Still smiling as always, Lord Wugou replied, ¡°No. Please leave.¡±

    Lord Miguo stopped several inches in front of Lord Wugou. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Stargazing.¡± Unbothered by the red-up reactions of Lord Miguo, Lord Wugou continued, ¡°Do you believe stars and the human realm are linked? They are capable ofmunication.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you referring to the Central in¡¯s astrology?¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°No, I¡¯m referring to Arthur¡¯s astrology. I¡¯m an Aquarius.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Enough!¡±

    ¡°Why are you mad?¡±

    ¡°You think nothing of anyone because your cup is full and Vajra Realm is perfect?¡±

    ¡°Everything is empty to begin with. Thus, my attitude is perfect, no?¡±

    The unfettered monk and the stoic monk had simr confrontations back outside Pure Land¡¯s Ten Grounds starting from when they joined their school as children. The senior was always smiling as though nothing bothered him, while the junior always had a straight face as though he was questioning something. Regardless of how reckless and angry the junior was, his senior could always effortlessly stop him. On one asion, the inmed junior intended to bludgeon seven monks of Lotus Cult for breaking the ethos of monks. The only person who dared to stop him was his senior, who listed a number of reasons as to why they should be spared.

    ¡°Yundan, you haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± Lord Wugou lowered his head. ¡°You¡¯re opinionated. You don¡¯t crave wealth or power, but you obsess too much. You¡¯re jealous of Lord San Shen¡¯s prowess and the admiration the people have for him. Your jealousy breeds hatred, and your hatred breeds bloodshed.¡±

    Standing stationary, Lord Miguo responded, ¡°Luoshen¡­ I believe I am the one who protected Pure Land. They are the ones who forsook me when I was in trouble. I fought for their sake, and I fell because of them. Does it sound fair to you?¡±

    Lord Wugou shook his head. ¡°The fact that your people had to reach out to Divine Moon Cult to beseech their help goes to show that your leadership needed addressing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to debate with you. I came here only to tell you one thing.¡±

    Lord Wugou looked up at Lord Miguo, gradually discovering something from thetter¡¯s face that wiped away his smile. He jumped to his feet in shock. ¡°How¡­ How? Where did you obtain the mental cultivation from?¡±

    ¡°When I say I can¡¯t do anything about you, I meant that I can¡¯t hurt or kill you. Never did I suggest that I can¡¯t decipher your skills.¡± In a deep voice, Lord Miguo informed, ¡°Not only does the formation you¡¯re in confine you but also gradually corrodes your body. No doubt, you¡¯re a formidable martial artist. Your Vajra Realm stopped the corrosion. Howbeit, whenever you used your martial skills to inhibit the corrosion, you reveal your energy moulding patterns. It may be iprehensible to everyone, but it¡¯s as clear as day to someone who has mastered the ninthyer.¡±

    Technically speaking, Lord Wugou never truly won against Lord Miguo. No matter what Lord Wugou did, Lord Miguo always had his way in the end. Subsequent to Lord Wugou talking Lord Miguo out of killing the seven monks who broke the taboos, Lord Miguo chased them down after they left the city to assassinate them.

    ¡°My favourite part about you is your kindness and overconfidence. You¡¯ve kept me trapped at Shennong for a year with Vajra Realm as bait, assuming you¡¯re working for everyone. Your arrogance ended up bing the medium in which you taught me Vajra Realm¡¯s tenthyer so that I could surpass you. Your mistake this time was thinking that you could change my mind. Had I not spent a year keeping youpany, you wouldn¡¯t have behaved yourself here. Had I not, you could¡¯ve reported me to headquarters to stop me.¡±

    Lord Miguo dug his fist into Lord Wugou¡¯s chest, sending thetter to the edge of the formation. Something invisible made Lord Wugou rebound back to where he was standing without inflicting harm.

    ¡°Still being able to maintain a perfect Vajra body is praiseworthy; however, this is the beginning of your eventual end. Even if I don¡¯t intervene, it¡¯s only a matter of time before the formation erodes your body. By the way, in ten days from now, I shall host a Lotus Convention. My guests have already arrived. Ten days from now, I shall be Lotus Sect¡¯s new leader.¡±

    Indeed, Lord Wugou could feel himself teetering towards his copse despite him maintaining a dignified posture.

    Lord Miguo tugged up the corners of his lips for the first time today. ¡°Senior Brother, I will visit you again tomorrow.¡±

 Volume 11.5 54

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 54</h4>

    tform on top of tform was in the process of being stacked up at Shennong at an unbelievable pace. Combined, it formed a structure that resembled a beacon tower, except that the tforms were intended to be used as an audience¡¯s viewing tforms.

    The artisans at the centre used the collected materials to build a circr stone that could fit dozens of people, and, after much sweat and calluses, they finally carved lotus leaves out of white jade to ce around the stone tform. The stone tform was built and situated in the centre of the trees in order to bring out a pronounced vibe of purity.

    The replica of the original lotus tform back at Pure Land was scheduled forpletion in a few more days, which was when Lotus Convention wouldmence.

    Lord Miguo climbed to the highest tform so that he could admire his hard-fought aplishments. Nobody but he knew what ordeals he went through or what he was thinking after the day he careened four years ago.

    Following Lord Miguo¡¯s sh with Lord San Shen, both factions sent emissaries to the other to mediate because they considered the fight a product of conflict between their factions. As an expression of sincerity, the elder of Ten Grounds sent the next leader, an eleven year old kid, over to the sereneke apanied by maple leaves, which was located to the south of Lizhe. Thus, a war was pre-emptively aborted.

    Many praised Lotus Cult¡¯s leader for his benevolence. Many expressed sympathy for Lord Miguo and praised his courage. Lord Miguo, however, perceived their sentiments as them deeming Lord San Shen as the naturally superior man. Because he didn¡¯tment on the matter, people interpreted his silence as modesty. Little did they know he was cursing from his bed.

    Lord Miguo didn¡¯t want honour. He wanted revenge.

    Lord Miguo could¡¯ve carried out his revenge at Pure Land¡¯s Ten Grounds.

    By no means did Lotus Cult¡¯s vast library of martial arts disciplines pale inparison to Divine Moon Cult¡¯s ¡°Twelve Lawless Forms¡± and ¡°Freedom Manual¡±. Unfortunately, Pure n¡¯s ignorant elder sealed it away. Therefore, unless Lotus Cult¡¯s leader assented, only they would be allowed to practice their disciplines. In contrast, Divine Moon Cult had plenty of followers who were allowed to learn their skills despite the high bar followers had to meet in order to gain permission. Only the best had the right to lead their cult.

    Lord Shizi, manager of Lotus Cult¡¯s martial arts library and instructor to their guardians, was second inbat to only their leader. Even so, Lord Miguo didn¡¯t have any qualms in dragging Lord Shizi into a war of attrition just as he used against Lord Wugou. The reincarnation of Buddha, who had yet to even turn twenty prior to Lord Miguo¡¯s departure, was the real reason Lord Miguo left home for the Central in.

    On the day a group of monks visited Lord Miguo, who was faking his bed-ridden condition back then, he entertained them with pleasantries as nned.

    A young monk reputed as a ¡°closed cave¡± picked up a piece of embroidery from the Central in and shook his head whilst reciting a poem from Poetry Discussion¡± by Yuan Haowen: ¡°The craftsmanship of mixing the dye and cutting it are truly bing. I don¡¯t remember whates next. Would you be able to enlighten me?¡±

    ¡°Are you testing this one?¡± Lord Miguo asked with a bitter smile. ¡°The next two lines are, ¡®The mandarin ducks are so life-like that people could gaze at them, but no amount of gazing will teach one how toplete those millions of threads.¡¯¡±

    All the monks adted the boy for being innovative.

    Lord Miguo fled Ten Grounds that night. From then on, for years, Lord Miguo had to raise against the clock to seize power before the boy took the reins. Establishing his own faction, seeking support from resourceful people and strength for himself weren¡¯t easy tasks. His endeavour created opportunities for him to expand hiswork, leading to him eventually finding clues on the whereabouts of Repository Theory.

    Kongcang was the one who identified Aerial Flower Divine Seal from Zhuo Yupin¡¯s techniques and the one who shared information on the sarira. Thus, Lord Miguo¡¯s wild idea of absorbing energy from other people to boost his own was born.

    The status quo were the product of Lord Miguo trapping Lord Wugou at Shennong to restrict his movements, in addition to gleaning Vajra Realm¡¯s tenthyer, whilst having his henchmen keep other sects upied, thereby maintaining a thin bnce. Once he made Lotus Convention a sess, he would have a group on par with Divine Moon Cult. After all, Ximen Chuideng was a half-blood - one of his parents was from the Central in and the other from the Western Regions - and he sessfully built his main branch in the Central in.

    Merely recollecting the mockery directed at him no the day he was defeated inmed him. If a rock and human sacrifices were the necessary ingredients for him to redeem himself, then he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to obtain them.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°We have an emergency, Your Excellency!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Lord Miguo questioned in a deep voice.

    ¡°League of Assassins is locked in a fight with Divine Moon Cult!¡±

    Among the various guests invited, Divine Moon Cult and League of Assassins were the two groups that couldn¡¯t stand sharing the same space with the other.

    ¡°Again?¡± Despite the speed both sides were throwing at, Lord Miguo could distinguish who was who from above.

    Although Lord San Shen¡¯s faction had immense influence, they weren¡¯t part of the authentic Divine Moon Cult, especially the Divine Moon Cult under Ximen Chuideng¡¯s leadership, which considerably deviated from the Western Region¡¯s version. That was why Lord Miguo didn¡¯t hesitate to invite Divine Moon Cult¡¯s representative notwithstanding his antagonistic attitude toward Lord San Shen. If that wasn¡¯t enough, then Zhuxing Wuchang made it enough. If they were topare, Lord Miguo¡¯s post in Lotus Cult would be Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s post in Divine Moon Cult.

    The man with the bitter expression exchanging blows with Zhuxing Wuchang was none other than Master Ku. One might think that people of their status would care about appearances, but they really didn¡¯t when it came to their dislike for one another.

    Lord Miguo was forced to intervene when Zhuxing Wuchang and Master Ku were too close to the lotus tform forfort. If they damaged it, it would be tantamount to desecrating Lord Miguo¡¯s symbol of sess.

    Lord Miguo jumped straight in between an inbound sword thrust and punch from two elites. ¡°Please listen to this one.¡± As he opened his eyes, he brayed, ¡°Cease this!¡±

    Lord Miguo¡¯s thunderous voice disrupted the flow of energy in the two individuals, decelerating their attacks to the point that they couldn¡¯t even sink his skin upon contact. Instead, they felt a force opposing their direction of movement thatpelled them to back off.

    Lord Miguo held his hands in a pranam pose whilst standing as still as stone. Neither Divine Moon Cult nor League of Assassins liked the interference, so it came as no surprise that League of Assassins¡¯ Master Le bemoaned, ¡°Lord Miguo, you are in the wrong this time. We are not in the wrong. How can you also attack us without learning the truth first? They are the ones who deserved to be attacked.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± This time, Bai Tianbin, from Divine Moon Cult, decided to chime in. ¡°You¡¯re either biased or in cahoots with them. Why are you so wishy washy when we served them right up for you?¡±

    Unlike the two who couldn¡¯t wait to see anarchy, Lord Miguo remained in control of his emotions. ¡°The lotus tform is a scared article of Buddhism and a symbol of Lotus Convention; no damage to it is eptable. Please do not make things difficult for the host.¡±

    Suffice to say, neither side wanted to end the matter. s, Lord Miguo was in the right and wasn¡¯t some weakling they could push around. As such, they began hurling insults while backing down, only for someone¡¯s shrill to bury their voices. Strangely, nobody was visible when they tracked the voice¡¯s origin.

    From above, they hearding closer, ¡°Aaaah!¡±

    ¡°Hua Gezi, stop embarrassing me, will you?¡±

    ¡°How should I have known you¡¯d be so reckless?! And why the heck do we have to jump from the sky, you nutjob?!¡±

    ¡°Why am I evening along?!¡±

    ¡°Miss Su, rest assured. As long as I¡¯m here, everything will be all r-¡±

    Boom!

    As if it a cannonball struck it, the main pir supporting the lotus tform tilted, spinning the tform, before crumbling. A domino effect started, shattering on the ground as the leaves fell.

    Nobody dared to check Lord Miguo¡¯s reaction or utter a word. Lord Miguo remained unfazed, still gazing up the tform, eyelids not batting and facial muscles stationary.

    Zhuxing Wuchang: Guess I don¡¯t need tofort him. I¡¯m ashamed to think I¡¯m on the same level as him.

    Master Ku: Our assassins could learn to control their emotions like him.

    ¡°¡­ FARK!¡±

 Volume 11.5 55

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 55</h4>

    Due to themp shape of the lotus tform - wide at the top, narrow in the centre and wide at the bottom - the bottom base was only slightly narrower than the top. While Miguo Branch wasn¡¯t a group of architects, they already knew the design would make the tform heavy based on the same tform design at Pure Land. The extremely narrow centre - inparison to the top and bottom - that connected the top to the base, however, rendered it prone to copsing. To address the issue, they nned to set eight stone columns around the base, with one side deep in the ground and another through the stone base. Well, they were supposed to consolidate the base today.

    Lord Miguo flew onto the now-nted tform. For someone of his level, nted or not barely made a differencepared to t ground. Targeting the approaching silhouette behind the veil of white dust, he unleashed punch that came out as loud as cannon fire. He couldn¡¯t identify the two men and the woman with them, but he wasn¡¯t going to ept anything less than their lives for ruining his work.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The ferocious qi st should¡¯ve hit them with a loud boom, yet it only grazed Hua Qing as gently as gentle breeze tickling a rock.

    Ming Feizhen stepped out from the behind the dust field, grinning from ear to ear as if he was at home. ¡°Hahaha, damn, this is fun. It¡¯s been ages since I¡¯ve jumped from such a height. By the way, where are we?¡±

    Having yet to catch up with current events, Hua Qing thundered, ¡°Why in god¡¯s name did you jump, then?! I thought I was going to hell! Ah, I think we knocked something over, rather, knocked somebody¡¯s property over. I recall this thing being t when Inded.¡±

    ¡°Eh, no biggie. They can just construct another one.¡±

    Lord Miguo, as a man who preferred actions over words, took Ming Feizhen¡¯s words to heart,pelling him to jump down to the lotus tform to inspect the broken parts. Even though the part that connected the base to the bottom was broken, it was possible to substitute the connector. As for the shattered leaves, they had spares, plus nine more days to spare, so there was a good chance of repairing it. Lord Miguo waved the head artisan over, then instructed him tomence repairs forthwith.

    As soon as they hopped off the other side of the lotus tform, Su Li absorbed hernding with a forward roll, then sprinted off.

    Ming Feizhen curled his lips. ¡°What are you running so far for? I don¡¯t have the spare energy to go to your rescue if you¡¯re caught.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be safer with them than with you, don¡¯t you think?!¡± Su Li hadn¡¯t gone far at all, when her weak legs forced her to squat down so that she could throw up the sickening feeling in her gut.

    Su Li was peacefully enjoying some congee at Zhuo Estate when Ming Feizhen kidnapped her with a gale, dragging her along with a half-conscious Hua Qing, and said, ¡°Lass, I need your help, hahaha.¡± Without even explicating what he needed help with, Ming Feizhen let her experience what moving at high speeds really meant.

    Hua Qing gently patted Su Li on the back. ¡°Here, Miss Su. Use my handkerchief. I, too, just finished puking.¡±

    ¡°Get¡­ Get lost!¡± And¡­ Su Li returned to vomiting. While she wasn¡¯t spoiled rotten at home, she had never been subjected to the amount of stress she had borne with for thest month.

    The tears that formed in Su Li¡¯s eyes had Hua Qing¡¯s brain doing gymnastics for a response. ¡°You¡¯ve got it wrong. I meant that I can sympathise with how you feel. This handkerchief is clean! Clean!¡± Seeing as she wasn¡¯t having any of it, he rolled his handkerchief up in his hand. ¡°Look here.¡± He tugged at the handkerchief, pulling out a flower that gained Su Li¡¯s attention. Therefore, he thumped his chest and bragged, ¡°I knew it would work. This works every time Yanran cries.¡±

    Su Li zoned out until she could no longer contain her tears and voice. Helpless, Hua Qing just caressed her crown until she noticed the warmth on her head and stopped. Espying his flustered appearance, she finally smiled. Once she paid attention to his mumbling, she heard, ¡°Jade Emperor, Your Majesty, please help this vixen who can¡¯t stop crying.¡± Thus, she grouched, ¡°Y-you¡¯re the vixen.¡±

    ¡°Y-you heard me?¡± Hua Qing removed his hand from Su Li¡¯s head. ¡°I was out of ideas, so I could only pray. Are you feeling better now?¡±

    Su Li curled her lips.

    ¡°Poor, Miss Su. All of her shark-fin congee has gone to waste.¡±

    Su Liughed. ¡°Listen to yourself. You¡¯re grossing me to death.¡±

    ¡°Huh? To death? How? You¡¯re talking right now.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s giggle took Hua Qing¡¯s soul from him. ¡°Wh-what are you staring for?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re beautiful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a reason for you to stare.¡±

    ¡°Not only do I want to stare, but I also want topose a poem.¡±

    Su Li lowered her head. ¡°Feel free to.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Oh, yes, um, Feizhen, what poem should I recite?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the fairest of them all. She¡¯s the one. She¡¯s the one I¡¯m seeing onto the sedan. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Can it be any lousier?!¡± Hua Qing spun around to re, only for the surroundings to remind him that they were still in enemy territory. Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen had his arms tucked and a big upward curve at his lips. Hence, he and Su Li got up with their heads down the whole time.

    Ming Feizhen covered his face. ¡°Too bright. I¡¯m going blind.¡±

    ¡°Well, sorry. It was one of those heat-of-the-moment moments. So, uh, we still in danger?¡±

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t need to worry about being surrounded. After all,¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to the other side, ¡°we pretty much know everyone here.¡± Subsequently, he yelled, ¡°Hey, Mister, why are you here?!¡±

    Stroking his beard, Wen Wudaomented, ¡°Hahaha, I like it! Smash it all down! Good bloody job, son!¡±

    ¡°Wee, wee, brother, hahaha. Green hats everywhere as usual,¡± said Zhuxing Wuchang.

    ¡°It¡¯s green mountains everywhere, you stupid foreigner!¡± Wen Wudao chided.

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°We¡¯re here for this stupid event! What are you doing here?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°We¡¯re here to sabotage the event!¡±

    ¡°Oh, damn, break a leg, then!¡±

    ¡°Oh, have fun, then!¡±

    Ming Feizhen waved to the group to his left. ¡°Master Le, long-time no see.¡±

    The chubby man with the timid youth and Master Ku beamed. ¡°Long-time no see. I see you¡¯re in good spirits as always. I¡¯m happier to see you than my old man.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you tter me.¡±

    ¡°When you going to visit us to enjoy some music and dances? I am ready for you any time.¡±

    ¡°Another day, I promise.¡± Ming Feizhen changed his direction of sight again, still smiling. ¡°Never expected I¡¯d have the chance to meet you two again, much less here of all ces.¡±

    Ruisi and Yungu had no choice but to force a smile. ¡°We missed you. When will you visit us again?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, as soon as I can.¡±

    Given all the people Ming Feizhen¡¯s clique was acquainted with, Miguo Branch¡¯s people had qualms about jumping them. After all, how were they supposed to tell who the trio was with?

    ¡°Who are you? Announce yourselves!¡± Having finished with the repair discussion, Lord Miguo sauntered towards the liable trio. ring at Ming Feizhen, he questioned, ¡°You. Are Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and who is you?¡±

    Infuriated, the big man shed a corner of his teeth. ¡°This great one is Lord Miguo!¡±

    ¡°Really? You ar-¡±

    ¡°Not only have you been hiding Repository Jade, but now you¡¯ve also sabotaged my ceremony. Where are Kongcang and Zhuo Fengru? Did you kill them? You will be shown no mercy.¡±

 Volume 11.5 56

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 56</h4>

    Only the white stones Lord Miguo ploughed through bled. From the moment of receiving Ming Feizhen¡¯s punch to the moment his fall ended, he never even grunted. Despite smashing his property to dust, the sound of the impacts didn¡¯t travel more than ten metres.

    ¡°What the heck is that discipline?¡± Hua Qing remarked.

    Zhuxing Wuchang answered, ¡°Lotus Sect has coexisted with our Divine Moon Cult for a thousand years in the Western Regions and is referred to as the second biggest cult there. You can¡¯t expect them to defend their reputation without some strength.

    ¡°His signature discipline is called ¡®Karma¡¯, a discipline employed for objectives besides fighting more than for fighting. It¡¯s a discipline derived from Buddhism that empowers him to wield miasma. He adds the strength of others to his own, granting him the ability to go toe to toe with anyone. At the highest level, there¡¯s a thing called ¡®Miguo Restoration¡¯. If he wasn¡¯t so petty, as a practitioner of the discipline, he wouldn¡¯t have been sent flying in one punch. That being said, don¡¯t underestimate him. He might¡¯ve departed from Buddhism, but he gained unexpected benefits from it. Who knows what sort of crap he¡¯se up with.¡±

    Though he wasuded as the best swordsman among Divine Moon Cult¡¯s three Guardians, he was actually well-versed in all eighteen arms. As a lover of martial arts, he was more erudite than practically everyone in Divine Moon Cult when it came to martial arts.

    Wen Wudao pulled Hua Qing and Su Li behind him. ¡°Stay behind me where it¡¯s safe, brother. He¡¯s about to get started.¡±

    The rocks seemingly levitated as the jacked monk, resembling a threatening titan, emerged from the rubble and debris.

    The erstwhile leader of Lotus Sect didn¡¯t teach Lord Miguo how tomit murder with Karma because he saw how prone to violence Lord Miguo was. Instead, he passed it on as a strengthening guide. He didn¡¯t expect Lord Miguo to have the wisdom to figure out how to apply it tobat in addition to training his body.

    In ¡±Karma¡±, in order to hit one¡¯s enemy with their own force, one must be able to withstand the force first. Else, the style bes its wielder¡¯s own undoing. Lord Miguo, therefore, came up with the idea of storing the energy in a space ten metres around him. Thanks to Karma¡¯s technique, he could store even more energy without harming himself. For that reason, no matter how ferocious Ming Feizhen¡¯s punch was, all the force would go to the collection of energy around Lord Miguo.

    Lord Miguo positioned his hands in a pranam posture. ¡°Please heed this old one¡¯s adv-¡±

    Lord Miguo couldn¡¯t finish his sentence due to another punch at his chest that sent him plummeting through rocks again.

    Unlikest time, Ming Feizhen leapt onto the copsed lotus tform and continued ruthlesslyid into the monk who had yet to rise. Rubble crashed with each blow he delivered.

    Hua Qing: ¡°What the¡­¡±

    ¡°Smart kid.¡± Wen Wudao folded his arms. ¡°He¡¯s not giving Lord Miguo any time or space to utilise his weapons. How did hee up with such a shameless idea?¡±

    ¡°His strategy is our cup of tea,¡±mented Master Le. ¡°I¡¯m not calling him smart. I¡¯m calling him shameless.¡±

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°You lot have a lot to learn about shamelessness before you can call yourselves shameless.¡±

    ¡°Shameless or not, let¡¯s leave it at that. His fight acumen is undoubtedlymendable,¡± Sky Realm Pce¡¯s representative, Yungu, opined. ¡°He wasn¡¯t aware of Lord Miguo¡¯s skills ahead of time, but he quickly caught on to his opponent¡¯s ability once they started. His analysis speed, observation and ability to adapt are as prodigious as can be.¡±

    On the surface, Yungu¡¯sments might¡¯ve appeared superficial. To the perceptive eye, however, she established herself as someone who deserved to be held in the same regard as the likes of Master Le and Zhuxing Wuchang.

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°Hey, Lass, what does Sky Realm Pce want this time? Is Western Regions not in enough anarchy for you?¡±

    Yungu couldn¡¯t make herself seem distasteful even when she sneered. ¡°I have teachings I follow. You follow Divine Moon Cult¡¯s teachings. We have our own masters to serve. Why don¡¯t we just mind our own business?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, well, I can¡¯t argue that you make sense. I don¡¯t care what you do, so stay out of my business, too.¡± Bai Tianbin switched to a hostile demeanour. ¡°What if we share amon goal, though?¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yungu didn¡¯t feel the pressure from Bai Tianbin¡¯s eyes whatsoever. ¡°The same goes: why don¡¯t we just mind our own business?¡±

    Before he ate a hundred and eight punches, Lord Miguo¡¯s body wasparable to a soft piece of cloth. As he absorbed punch after punch, his body ordingly inted. Meanwhile, the sound of each punch softened as Lord Miguo absorbed their force into his field. Suffice to say, the effectiveness of the punches declined corresponding to how full the field was.

    While Lord Miguo¡¯s skill would have people green with envy, anyone who could see the whole picture would realise how ridiculous Ming Feizhen was to fill up the field so fast and sustain his pace.

    If Lord Miguo removed his field now, Ming Feizhen would only need a single punch to effortlessly implode the true qi umted in his body. If he kept it up, the two of them would be caught in a fatal explosion once the field was unable to contain any more.

    ¡°You had enough?¡± Lord Miguo fumed.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ming Feizhen kept grinning, ¡°if I can get one more punch in.¡±

    With one more bomb, Ming Feizhen triggered a true qi explosion. The true qi that emanated from their location made dust out of the floating rocks around.

    Espying Ming Feizhen return to Hua Qing¡¯s side, Bai Tianbinplimented, ¡°Nice qinggong. This old one must admit your qinggong is superior to even his.¡±

    Master Le: ¡°You¡¯ve improved considerably in just days.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s attention was directed solely at the lotus tform.

 Volume 11.5 57

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 57</h4>

    ¡°Unhand me,¡± Ming Feizhen smiled once again, ¡°or you¡¯re going to be one hand less.¡± Still airborne, Ming Feizhen pivoted so that he could whip his free leg at Lord Miguo.

    Neither Shaolin, Wudang or Mount Daluo taught disciples to kick with their spare leg when one leg got caught.

    Ming Huayu¡¯s motto for his students was, ¡°Learn to extrapte from a smattering of information,¡± for all skills. To be able to read ahead or see beyond what was shown was pretty much an innate talent one was born with or otherwise. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have the talent to figure out his opponents and design a counter as fast as his teachers. One could say he was ¡°less Mount Daluo¡± than his siblings in that facet. That said, Ming Huayu only expected them to replicate what they saw, not learn everything they saw. As long as they mastered their own discipline, then that was plenty. Ming Feizhen¡¯s stabbing kick was a recreation of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s sword thrust.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s swift kick failed to budge Lord Miguo just as Zhuo Fengru failed to budge him when they fought. Lord Miguo swung Ming Feizhen by the leg he had a hold on, cracking the ground with Ming Feizhen¡¯s body. Next, he hoisted Ming Feizhen up and, again, mmed Ming Feizhen into the ground.

    ¡°He¡¯s in a trouble now,¡± Zhuxing Wuchang opined. ¡°Nobody besides Lotus Cult¡¯s leader has ever mastered two disciplines. Love him or hate him, Lord Miguo is one hell of a man.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean? How did the monk suddenly grow stronger?¡± Hua Qing questioned.

    ¡°The monk has now mastered the most advanced level of Lotus Cult¡¯s Vajra Realm. In addition to possessing an impregnable body, he can also withstand attacks directed at his insides. That¡¯s how he emerged from the true qi explosion unscathed. His resistance to damage isn¡¯t the only part that makes him tough now. Thanks to his advancements, he can virtually absorb infinite energy. Right now, the kid is eating the true qi he dished out before with his kick.¡±

    Lord Miguo stopped using Ming Feizhen as a hammer, but he continued monitoring Ming Feizhen through the dust. Yet, Ming Feizhen managed to slip his leg out of Lord Miguo¡¯s grip and then pummelled Lord Miguo¡¯s head from above, driving Lord Miguo into the pile of rubble.

    When Ming Feizhen reappeared outside of the dust screen, not even his clothes were damaged. To the contrary, he was beaming. He utilised Tai Chi to dissolve all of the damage he should¡¯ve suffered from Lord Miguo¡¯s wrestling.

    Lord Miguo, too, emerged without any damage sustained.

    ¡°Absorbing your opponent¡¯s, giving them a taste of their own power and possessing a body that¡¯s impervious to physical harm.¡± Ming Feizhen cracked his neck as he dusted himself off. ¡°I must ask: how much energy and how much damage can you absorb?¡±

    Ming Feizhen jumped up at a milder velocity than previous times and forced Lord Miguo into a trading war. Both of them abandoned defence and logic, treating their confrontation as a slug fest. Lord Miguo went along with Ming Feizhen¡¯s thoughtless boxing, matching thetter¡¯s power punch for punch. The difference was that Lord Miguo¡¯s output came from Ming Feizhen. The billowing winds each time they unleashed a punch travelled dozens of metres and continued to extend their reach as the amount of force Lord Miguo returned built up.

    A slug fest was another phrase for a war of attrition, and this match was no exception. Ming Feizhen constantly expended energy, while Lord Miguo had a sturdy body that could endure immense damage. Yet, Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes continued to gleam brighter and brighter right before Lord Miguo¡¯s eyes. The glowbined with Ming Feizhen¡¯s growing fuel tank impelled Lord Miguo to do thest thing anyone would expect - disengage.

    Ming Feizhen stalked Lord Miguo with the excitement of a beast smelling blood.

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°What are you running for? Let¡¯s go after them.¡±

    ¡°Please do not go.¡± One of Miguo Branch¡¯s disciples ced his fist and palm together. ¡°The forest in that direction is our group¡¯s confidential zone. Outsiders are prohibited from entering.¡±

    Bai Tianbin blew his beard. ¡°And if I insist?¡±

    ¡°His Excellency ordered us to kill all those who trespass. We may not be your match, but we will go down trying. You did note all the way here to fight with us, did you?¡±

    Indeed, Bai Tianbin couldn¡¯t make an enemy out of Miguo Branch yet for the sake of his primary objective. The other two unorthodox factions were in the same boat.

    Hua Qing would¡¯ve gone after them, ¡°would¡¯ve¡± because he had no clue where the two had gone off to. Moreover, without Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s protection, he¡¯d immediately be a captive.

    ***

    Ming Feizhen pulled over in the forest, where Lord Miguo was standing ready for him. ¡°Given you led me to this ce that not even a rat would want to take a piss at, you must be plotting something malicious.¡±

    Lord Miguo murmured a Buddhism phrase under his breath, then pointed to a white rock underneath the foliage beside him.

    Whenever sunrays hit the white rock, the rays went through the transparent rock. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t remotely educated on gems and the sort, but he could tell how precious it was based on the amount of uncanny energy stored within.

    ¡°I chose Shennong as my base because of the abundance of special rocks in the area. The volume and types here were the perfect for constructing the lotus tform.¡±

    Ming Feizhen picked his nose, then blew his finger. ¡°You mean the thing I crashed into?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡± Though Lord Miguo didn¡¯t raise his voice, he was displeased. ¡°Among the rocks here, there are sun and moon rocks.¡±

    ¡°Never heard of them. How much they worth? A hundred thousand?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Lord Miguo pointed to the enormous white rock again. ¡°Sunlight and moonlight rocks are natural rocks that possess either purely yang or purely yin properties. Sunlight rocks can neutralise yin qi, making it the weakness of all yin-based disciplines. Likewise, moonlight rocks are the weakness of Buddhism disciplines. Normally, a small sunlight stone is enough to immobilise a yin-based practitioner for a day. You could sell thirty-eight grams on the ck market for two blocks of gold. A rock of this sold only exists on this mountain, and it¡¯s the only ce I¡¯ve seen one of this side. They are priceless. I¡¯ve already found a use for moonlight rock. This one is a sunlight rock.¡±

    ¡°That thing¡­ must be worth more than a million¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your match.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wiped his drool. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Even with mastery of two coveted disciplines, I may not be in the same realm as adepts.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you really are referring to some specific realm.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s the zenith of martial arts, a realm that grants you an ability to do as you please. We call it Amoghavajra Secret Realm. If I¡¯m not wrong, your people refer to it as Divine Realm.¡±

    Ming Feizhen locked eyes with Lord Miguo.

    ¡°Like you, I¡¯m a step away from reaching it. If we¡¯re in the same realm, I can¡¯t beat you,¡± Lord Miguo continued.

    ¡°¡­ So, we¡¯ve moved on to the part where you beg me for mercy?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. I told you I brought you here because of this rock.¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have hid a sword in it to stab me or something, would you?¡±

    Lord Miguo smiled.

    Ming Feizhen sifted through everything Lord Miguo said to figure out the source of his unease. ¡°If you n to use a rock of legends to beat me, shouldn¡¯t you use another one? Surely you¡¯re aware what discipline I¡¯m a practitioner of¡­¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly wobbled as his vision was fuzzed.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re a practitioner of authentic Buddhism martial arts; however, monsters will always be monsters.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes turned red whilst he felt a surge of energye forth inside him. The only thing that kept him from stepping over to the other side of his sanity was the scant rationality in his head. Although it was only a short moment, Ming Feizhen felt as though he had been wrestling with the urge to cave in for days to bring his torso back up, steady his legs and drive out the red in his eyes. Nheless, he perspired more fighting it off than his entire round one against Lord Miguo.

    Despite regaining control over his body, Ming Feizhen felt as though his body weight had multiplied several folds. Even though he managed to expel the foreign energy that disced the bnce inside him, the effects lingered. He saw seven maidens standing in seven locations and some sort of inscription on the ground.

    ¡°You have my respect from escaping the illusion so fast. It took you only five minutes.¡± Reading the question in Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes, Lord Miguo borated, ¡°As a creation of nature, the rock can¡¯t impose its power by itself. The only way to restrain people with it is through a formation that is powered by blood. This is the most standard formation for restraining strong people. Your discipline teaches you to tackle illusions, but it can¡¯t restore freedom of movement. If I were you, I would stop resisting now.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Ming Feeizhen at down on the ground and grabbed his head. ¡°If you can kill me, go ahead. Why haven¡¯t you? Saving me for New Year or something? I¡¯ll bet anything this thing can¡¯t kill and that you can¡¯t kill me while I¡¯m inside the formation. Given it uses blood as its foundation, it¡¯s inevitably connected to the blood and qi of the caster. Once the caster gets into a fight, they may just die first.¡±

    ¡°Smart kid.¡±

    Ming Feizhen swept his gaze around. ¡°Prettydies, correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but youe from a group with ¡®Sky¡¯ as the first word, correct?¡±

    Neither of the seven maidens replied.

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his chin. ¡°Really? I thought you were employees of Sky Pce Court.¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling takeaway?!¡± One of the maidens yelled, only to receive a silencing re from one of her allies.

    Sky Pce Court was the most famous brothel in Jingchu.

    ¡°Miss Ruisi, don¡¯t scold her. I honestly identified you by your smells. I still remember the taste of your lips and the smell of your breath when we kissed. It¡¯s not your friends¡¯ fault.¡±

    Ruisi¡¯s six subordinates looked to her, prompting the maiden wearing a face veil to stomp her foot.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°So you¡¯re helping Miguo Branch, huh? I was wondering how this coot managed to develop so much in a matter of years.¡± Ming Feizhenid onto the ground.

    Lord Miguo said, ¡°There was once a man like you, indifferent even when he had a de at his neck. Like him, you¡¯re weak, too.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over to Lord Miguo.

    ¡°You have a special energy inside you. Thanks to the formation, I can sense it. The energy is the pr opposite of Buddhism, yet it¡¯s a natural creation of violence. Had you used the energy from the beginning, I might not have had any chance. It¡¯s toote now, unfortunately for you. You are the one who will fall. I don¡¯t know what your shifu, One Word to Change Worlds, taught you, but someone who is afraid tomit murder is a weakling waiting to be murdered. Sit here and watch as I sacrifice your friends one by one for my ceremony.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 58

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 58</h4>

    Lord Miguo¡¯s followers had cleaned up most of the venue¡¯s aftermath, and the artisans hadmenced repairs by the time Lord Miguo returned. Even if ounting for transit times, they could rebuild the stately tforms within nine days.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lord Miguo had grown ustomed to wielding authority long ago, but he never truly indulged in it. To a pugilist, depending on authority was toxic and provided no benefits. Ever since the day he was knocked off his throne, howbeit, he changed how he viewed and pursued martial arts. He expected to taste glory again, but he didn¡¯t expect he¡¯d taste the joy that authority empowered him with now of all times.

    Lord Miguo draped on a robe that his subordinates passed him, leaving his torso muscles exposed. ¡°Honoured guests¡­¡±

    ¡°How boring. Show¡¯s over. Let¡¯s go home brothers.¡± Bai Tianbin strolled off with his people.

    Following suit, Zhuxing Wuchang yawned. ¡°Thought I¡¯d get to throw hands, yet all I got to watch was a beating. Dog fights are more entertaining than this.¡±

    Master Le added, ¡°Lads, take the lead.¡±

    League of Assassins¡¯ assassins ran to the front of the crowd leaving. They say that the brave man will win when two people sh on a narrow road; moving toote would force them into another fight.

    Demon Realm Sky Pce¡¯s helpers also left a while ago.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s spection was partially correct. Demon Realm Sky Pce did offer assistance and still were assisting because they were the ones who cast the formations that confined Lord Wugou and disabled Ming Feizhen. In regards to the murder and theft of energy to impart to followers, the credit belonged to League of Assassins. Divine Moon Cult provided Miguo Branch with plenty of troops and artisans. After all, it took the artisans of the Western Region¡¯s seven states to construct objects that required details to that degree. Given they were all involved in Lord Miguo¡¯s ns, how could they be absent from his moment?

    ¡°¡­ Where are the other two? Have you captured them?¡± Lord Miguo questioned.

    ¡°The two of them took cover in Divine Moon Cult¡¯s group. Your subordinate has been keeping tabs on them, but they managed to escape when your subordinate was not paying attention for a moment.¡±

    Lord Miguo¡¯s subordinate anxiously waited for his sentence, only to hear, ¡°Find them,¡± sending a chill down his spine.

    ¡°And find the relic. That girl must be brought back, as well.¡±

    ***

    ¡°It¡¯s safe here for now,¡± Zhuo Fengru told Hua Qing, Kongkong¡¯er and Su Li whilst starting a small fire. ¡°I spent ten days recovering in this cavern after I shed with Miguo Branch in the past. None of them know about this ce, so we¡¯ll be safe as long as we don¡¯t do anything to draw attention.¡±

    Further inside the dimly lit cavern was the unconscious Kongcang, whom Zhuo Fengru brought along. Zhuo Fengru was ahead of Ming Feizhen¡¯s retinue when they began their journey to the venue. s, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s internal energy was a stamina limiter, allowing Ming Feizhen to overtake him.

    ¡°Brother Ming¡¯s concerns weren¡¯t unfounded. Lord Miguo is definitely hiding a trick up his sleeve all this time. Staying hidden was the right call, after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bet. Lord Miguo must¡¯ve deliberately lured Brother Ming away for an ambush or something. I¡¯m just surprised Brother Ming can¡¯t shake him off.¡±

    Had Zhuo Fengru not been the one toe to their aid, Su Li and Hua Qing never would¡¯ve escaped from the watchful gazes of Miguo Branch. On their way out, Zhuo Fengru overhead their members mention Ming Feizhen being captured.

    ¡°Brother Ming is superior to that guy. As long as we¡¯re not ying around, we still have a chance,¡± asserted Zhuo Fengru. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m here.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s assertion was technically an assumption based on the fact that the name ¡°Leng Jingliu¡± was never mentioned. The lone swordsman had spoken to Zhuo Fengru and fought him multiple times, and he would always go into hiding until he recovered from his injuries for the reason he didn¡¯t trust anyone. Since Leng Jingliu was never mentioned, Lord Miguo shouldn¡¯t have known about his failure and Zhuo Fengru¡¯s attendance.

    Lord Miguo suspected Ming Feizhen¡¯s helper was Liu Shan Men, not Zhuo fengru, because Ming Feizhen was at odds with Zhuo Fengru since their initial meeting, not to mention being someone Liu Shan Men suspected. Leng Jingliu was dispatched to assassinate Zhuo Fengru. Hence, there was no reason for Zhuo Fengru and Ming Feizhen to be allies.

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s chief objective was rescuing his wife and son from Miguo Branch. In turn, he needed to focus on the event in nine days¡¯ time.

    ¡°We need to act promptly, or we won¡¯t have any chances once Leng JIngliu returns,¡± Zhuo Fengru stated. Zhuo Fengru couldn¡¯t defeat Leng Jingliu, let alone Leng Jingliu plus Lord Miguo. ¡°We need to create an opportunity. In other words, we need to lure the guards away in order to rescue Brother Ming¡­ Hua Qing, are you friends with Zhuxing Wuchang?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. He just calls me ¡®brother¡¯ and proims himself my elder brother.¡±

    ¡°Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s temperament is known to be unpredictable, and he even named himself Wen Wudao, meaning ¡®one who follows no paths¡¯, but he¡¯s actually known to be very nice to people. If he considers you his brother, he won¡¯t leave you for dead. Perhaps our first step should be to make contact with him.¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 59

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 59</h4>

    Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s small, barely-eptable chamber at Shennong was close enough to a creek to hear running water and cicada conversations at night. Divine Moon Cult and poverty didn¡¯t belong in the same sentence when they were the most revered cult in the Western Regions. Howbeit, he was a man who preferred to be alone, wander and disliked luxury. Besides being in the same retinue, de Demon, who only liked skeletons forpanions, and Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s only simrity was their preference to be alone.

    ¡°I see. I see.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang crossed his arms. ¡°Hmm¡­ It won¡¯t be easy to rescue the boy¡­This affects my orders, so I¡¯m not in a position to argue.¡±

    Hua Qing had to take the risk of seeking Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s help for they had too little to work with. The only window for them to operate was until Leng Jingliu returned, and they couldn¡¯t say for sure when he¡¯d be back. Their only twobatants were Ming Feizhen and Zhuo Fengru, while the enemy didn¡¯t have just two adepts but also an army of over a thousand, and that wasn¡¯t even ounting for the other three unorthodox factions. Since those three factions were guests of Lord Miguo, they wouldn¡¯t fight him. On the other hand, there was a fifty-fifty chance they¡¯d attack Ming Feizhen.

    Hua Qing didn¡¯t expect a throwaway remark from Zhuxing Wuchang toe in handy; however, he noticed Miguo Branch didn¡¯t treat Divine Moon Cult kindly. Even if they were in an alliance, their opposing religions wouldn¡¯t allow them to be friends.

    ¡°Big Bro, you know Lord Miguo isn¡¯t good news, but you don¡¯t know what his end goal is.¡±

    Hua Qing decided to share all he knew about the zed Buddhist relic in hopes of earning Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s trust. Little did he know that Zhuxing Wuchang was the kind of man who lived by the refrain, ¡°If I can solve it with my fists, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± Therefore, he wasn¡¯t worried or taken aback when he heard about Lord Miguo¡¯s revenge n.

    ¡°That being said, the orders are for Brother Bai, not me.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    ¡°I am honour-bound.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang whacked the table. ¡°I like the kid. I need to have a match with him.¡±

    A thoughtful subordinate of Zhuxing Wuchang exined, ¡°Our Great Guardian means he wants to befriend you if he wants to fight you. Please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°Strike while the iron is hot, they say. I can¡¯t help you with Miguo Branch, but I can help clear a path for you. Let¡¯s roll. Get them two sets of our robes.¡± With that, Zhuxing Wuchang strolled out.

    Wandering around in Migruo Branch¡¯s forest at night was particrly dangerous as there were sentries lying in ambush. Zhuxing Wuchang, however, didn¡¯t need to be concerned seeing as he was an honoured guest. Besides, for the purpose of finding Ming Feizhen, he needed somebody to ce an enquiry with. As such, he went to where the lotus tform and hollered at a Migruo Branch disciple.

    ¡°Good evening.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Recognise me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are one of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Great Guardian¡¯s, Great Guardian Zhuxing Wuchang.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang smiled and pped his cloak. ¡°Right, so here¡¯s a question for you.¡±

    ¡°The boy is detained inside the formation where the moon and sun rocks are.¡±

    ¡°How did you know what I was going to ask?! Wait, I have another question.¡±

    ¡°The formation is on the eastern side of the forest. You will not miss the unique shape and glow.¡±

    ¡°How did you know what I was going to ask?! Wait, I also want to know¡­¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, it is a forbidden zone. This is the token to get through. Pleasee back soon.¡±

    ¡°Hold up!¡±

    The disciple wagged his hand. ¡°This one is not reading your mind. He knows what you want to ask as League of Assassins just came by to ask the same question.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang, Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru looked to each other with their eyes wide, then sprinted off toward the formation, catching up to Master Le in no time. ¡°Stop! Stop!¡±

    ¡°What? What? Don¡¯t you even know what manners are?!¡± Master Le showed all two rows of his teeth as he stretched up the corners of his lips. ¡°Great Guardian Wen, what a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Coincidence, my foot. Answer me: what are you here for?¡±

    ¡°Same reason as you.¡±

    ¡°Have some shame! Must you always try topete with us?!¡±

    ¡°I plead innocence. Mr. Bai is ahead of us!¡±

    Huh?! Why would Brother Bai want to see the boy? Ah, whatever, can¡¯t let these League of Asses get ahead.

    Master Le wasn¡¯t happy about being second, so why would he tolerate falling to third, not to mention losing twice to the same group? Hence, the two groups raced each other until they saw Bai Tianbin¡¯s back.

    ¡°Brother Bai! Over here! Over here!¡±

    Bai Tianbin looked over to see League of Assassins racing against Zhuxing Wuchang. ¡°Wait. Turn back and kill those fools!¡±

    Master Lemanded, ¡°Torrential Rain Needles, Heavenly Steed Shooting Star Hammer, go!¡±

    ¡°Please stop.¡± Lord Miguo¡¯s voice seemingly stopped the flow of oxygen, inducing oxygen debt. ¡°May this one ask what you are all doing herete at night?¡±

    ***

    Yungu sat down outside the formation. ¡°Young Master Ming, there¡¯s no harm in considering my offer. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose, not to mention you can immediately regain freedom. ¡°

    ¡°Sure.¡± Ming Feizhen, lying on an angle and resting his head on his hands, sat up. ¡°I don¡¯t want a sacred maiden, sacblue maiden or whatever, though. How about you marry me, and I¡¯ll grudgingly ept your deal?¡±

    Glossary

 Volume 11.5 60

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 60</h4>

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Yungu¡¯s ever-charming dimple managed to stand out on its own despite her buried cold character. ¡°If that is your wish, I will happily be your mistress.¡±

    ¡°Tsk. If I wasn¡¯t locked in this crap hole, I would actually believe you,¡± Ming Feizhen responded.

    ¡°It seems you are still wary of us. Fret not. This is only designed to keep you from running around. Please do pardon us.¡± The excited glow on Yungu¡¯s cheeks were authentic rather than what she showed in their first meeting. ¡°I speak nothing but the truth. I would be honoured and blessed to¡­ give you my heart and body.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re grossing me out.¡± Ming Feizhen crossed his legs and dropped his chin onto his hand. ¡°If you¡¯re serious, that¡¯s one hell of a fetish you have. You like teenagers with white hair so much?¡±

    Yungu held her hand over her mouth and giggled. ¡°Is that not what love is?¡±

    ¡°More like creepiness.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, the line between them is very fine.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You sent yourpanions away just to tell me this?¡±

    Even though Yungu was the only one left behind, the formation didn¡¯t weaken in the slightest.

    ¡°If you¡¯re hoping to work out how my internal system works, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be disappointed.¡± Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bother resisting the formation from the moment he set foot in because he sensed it was capable of reading his true qi flow.

    ¡°You are looking too much into it. There is no doubt that your knowledge is valuable. In saying that, Sky Pce does notck treasures on par with it. Secondly, it is not something that anyone can handle. At least, I cannot.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re making me cry. In that case, what are you after? Let¡¯s not beat around the bush, shall we? Can¡¯t have any hopes of negotiation if I don¡¯t know what the price is, yeah? If your skin is too thin for you to broach the topic, how about I do you the favour? For instance, eye spy with my little eye, something that begins with ¡®Six¡¯?¡±

    Yungu shook her head: ¡°We do not need your Fengpeng.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s facial muscles shifted for the first time in their conversation.

    ¡°We do not need the identity of Mount Daluo¡¯s next patriarch, either, if that is the second possibility you were thinking of.¡±

    ¡°What is it that you want, then?¡±

    ¡°Your bloodline. It is not time to tell you yet, but there is no doubt that your bloodline is perfect. You are the person we have spent generations searching for.¡±

    ***

    ¡°May this one ask what you are here for?¡±

    Sharing an unexpected cosmic moment, League of Assassins and Divine Moon Cult answered, ¡°Moon gazing!¡±

    Lord Miguo cast his gaze beyond the gaps between the leaves to view the barely-there moon. ¡°¡­ This is a restricted area. You are guests; please do not make things hard for this one.¡±

    Speaking in unison again, they replied, ¡°Since when did the moon belong to you?¡± then walked off.

    ¡°Please wait, Great Guardian Wen.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang halted. ¡°Yeah, can I help you, Monk?¡±

    ¡°This one would not dare to bother you. He is currently looking for two criminals whom you supposedly met. Would you be able to point him in the right direction?¡±

    ¡°Who? Never seen them.¡±

    ¡°Would the people behind you happen to be your subordinates?¡±

    ¡°What a question. Would they be yours?¡±

    ¡°Apologies.¡± Lord Miguo discharged energy, forcing the air around to blow off their hoods. ¡°¡­ This one apologies for his rash actions.¡±

    Lord Miguo was aware of how wayward Zhuxing Wuchang was, so he wouldn¡¯t put it past thetter to help someone he considered a brother. Lord Miguo assumed Zhuxing Wuchang would keep Su Li and Hua Qing by his side given they couldn¡¯t defend themselves because he didn¡¯t know Zhuo Fengru had arrived.

    A follower approached Lord Miguo to whisper, ¡°Your Excellency, Apostle Leng has returned.¡±

    Lord Miguo deployed a subtle nod. Ever since he designated Zhuo Fengru as an enemy, Leng Jingliu¡¯s presence among his ranks became a necessity, especially in light of what he had on his te. ¡°Did he bring Zhuo Fengru¡¯s family?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Apparently not. He said a white-haired teenager rescued them on their way back.¡±

    ¡°White-haired teenager?¡± Lord Miguo mused for a second, then pretended to enjoy the moon¡¯s beauty, mumbling, ¡°Look how bright and round the moon is.¡±

    As soon as they heard what Lord Miguo muttered, League of Assassins and Divine Moon Cult departed.

    ¡°This one shall contact you once he has finished business here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it,¡± Zhuxing Wuchang replied. ¡°How about a warm-up now?¡±

    ¡°We will have the opportunity.¡±

    Lord Miguo rushed off to the formation Ming Feizhen was held. Knowing that Ming Feizhen rescued Zhuo Fengru¡¯s family, there was no reason for Zhuo Fengru to follow orders any longer. By extension, Hua Qing had an extra bodyguard, and their goal was clearer than ever.

    ***

    Hua Qing was a very unlucky man. He and Zhuo Fengru stealthily broke off from the group when they saw Lord Miguo show up. His misfortune began when a bird decided to take a dump on his head, yet he was helpless to do anything about it. Livid, he jumped up, only to trip and roll down the slope. Zhuo Fengru didn¡¯t realise Hua Qing had rolled down, so he kept going.

    ¡°Brother Feizhen¡­ even though I¡¯m alone now, it¡¯s my turn to save you.¡± Hua Qing made haste for the formation.

    ***

    Lord Miguo didn¡¯t find a trace, let alone his prey, at the formation as he expected.

    Ming Feizhen, lying with his legs crossed, bemoaned, ¡°Oi, it¡¯s a bitte for a night time snack, don¡¯t you think? Don¡¯t you have anymon sense?¡±

    ***

    Hua Qing didn¡¯t stop once to catch his breath, ignoring the risk of ambushes - there really wasn¡¯t anyone lying in ambush. He was gasping for air by the time he arrived at the base of the boulder, but there was only one person in the area - technically, in the formation - so he rushed into the centre of the formation in jubnce. ¡°Bro! I¡¯m here to save you! Get out of here!¡±

    Hua Qing realised toote that the individual inside the formation wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen. The individual¡¯s physique and bald head certainly stood out, but it was his unbridled-aggressive aura that struck Hua Qing first.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The monk opened his bloodshot eyes, then kipped up to his feet, crushing two big bricks underfoot. ¡°Kill him!¡±

 Volume 11.5 61

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 61</h4>

    Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru agreed on three terms: stay calm in the face of trouble. Do not hastily flee. Do not reveal your location. Hence, when Hua Qing came across the scowling monk, he spun around and yelled, ¡°Holy!¡± then spun around to make a dash for it. s, therge monk singlehandedly pulled Hua Qing back by the cor and yelled, ¡°Charge!¡±

    Hua Qing felt a digging pain in his chest. Before hepletely lost awareness of his surroundings, he heard someone groan.

    The first thing Hua Qing picked up on when he regained consciousness was a damp and spicy scent - a product of the dawn dampness on the mountain. Judging from the cement of the sun, a night had gone by. ¡°¡­ I-I¡¯m alive?¡± he blurted.

    Where¡¯s the monk? How am I still alive? I still remember the pain of my chest seemingly break¡­ What happened in the end?

    Hua Qing wasn¡¯t just free of pain; he even felt lighter and more energetic than ever.

    Is the air around here magical or something?

    Hua Qing looked down, only to immediately cover his mouth so that he wouldn¡¯t scream. The monk¡¯s chest had sunken, while his face was ghastly white and wrinkly, but Hua Qing identified him as the monk who attacked himst night.

    Hua Qing performed a visual audit of the surroundings once he was sure the monk wouldn¡¯t move. He was told about the glowing boulder, but it turned out to be a dull ck colour.

    I¡¯m¡­ not in the wrong ce, am I?

    Hua Qing¡¯s stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn¡¯t eaten for a day. Even though he had rations on him, it wasn¡¯t the time and ce to be thinking about food. Unfortunately, his stomach wouldn¡¯t have any of it.

    Wait a second. That wasn¡¯t my stomach.

    Hua Qing heard another growl that didn¡¯te from his stomach.

    The hell?

    There was nobody in front, behind or to his sides.

    Suddenly, Hua Qing heard from his feet, ¡°Brother, if you¡¯re not going to eat, how about letting me have the food?¡±

    ¡°Holy!¡±

    ***

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The monk ate the shortcake as though he finally found food after days of starvation. There was no mistake he was the one who attacked Hua Qingst night; however,pared to when his eyes were bloodshot, his physique and demeanour had changed in the reverse direction. In this case, his formst night might¡¯ve been his actual mutated form.

    Three shortcakester, the monk choked, ¡°Do¡­ Do¡­ you¡­¡±

    ¡°Water? You choking? I¡¯ll go fetch you some.¡±

    The monk shook his head as he forced himself to swallow. ¡°Do you have vegetarian buns? This one is getting sick of cakes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ No.¡±

    The monk stared at the shortcake in his hand, sighed, then resumed eating. In no time at all, he finished three days¡¯ worth of Hua Qing¡¯s food, yet he still licked his fingers to get every crumb.

    Hua Qing didn¡¯t take issue with sharing his rations since he didn¡¯t have the appetite for it. ¡°Nobody¡­ wille here, right?¡± He kept looking around in the darkness so that he could run if some bald men ever jumped out to harm him.

    ¡°In the year that I¡¯ve been here, only one persones, but he no longer has a reason toe.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been here for a year?¡±

    ¡°And haven¡¯t eaten in a year.¡± Once he finished cleaning his fingers of crumbs, the monk jumped up and ced his hands together. ¡°Thank you for saving this one¡¯s life.¡±

    ¡°Y-you don¡¯t have to thank me. It was only a couple of cakes.¡±

    ¡°That was not what this one was thanking you for.¡±

    ¡°You bloody baldy. You¡¯re a dine and dasher?! You ate three days¡¯ worth of food!¡±

    ¡°My junior brother ruined my Wugou State. I was able to resist the formation after I lost it, but that resulted in me losing control over my energy. In turn, my energy wrecked my mind. I believe it was my brother¡¯s intent. I can¡¯t leave the formation, so he may as well let me be my own maker. The more nervous I was about the situation, the faster I fell. You happened to barge in when I was suffering from qi deviation.¡±

    ¡°And then I scared your senses back into you?¡±

    ¡°If only it was that simple. I had no control over my mind; I doubt I would¡¯ve stopped even after ughtering people for three days¡¯ straight, let alone stopping with just you. Indeed, you saved me. More precisely, the relic on you saved me.¡±

    Hua Qing instinctively reached for the brocade pouch in his shirt. ¡°Are you talking about my Repository Jade?¡±

    ¡°That would be what you call it in the Central in, yes.¡± The monk smiled. ¡°When I hit the relic by your chest, my energy siphoned into the relic. Since I wasn¡¯t my usual self, I kept pouring energy into the relic. By the time I regained self-awareness, I had given up over 90% of my energy.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ filled up this ball with your lifetime of energy?¡±

    ¡°Although I¡¯ve lost the majority of my energy, I avoidedmitting a grave sin and saved myself. Is there anything I canin about?¡±

    Though they still had things to say to each other, approaching footsteps cut them off. The odd part was that the interval between when they noticed the footsteps was incredibly close despite their difference in training.

    The monk pushed Hua Qing to the back. ¡°There¡¯s a cave in the back. Hide there.¡±

    Hua Qing did as he was told, not daring to even bob his head out for a peek.

 Volume 11.5 62

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 62</h4>

    If anyone was to guess the twenty-odd year old was a ruffian, they were right. Er Laizi didn¡¯t hold an official post in Miguo Branch and didn¡¯t contribute anything besides dropping by to ask a few questions, then pour the monk¡¯s big bowl of food down right in front of him. You couldn¡¯t me people for assuming Lord Miguo recruited the guy to frustrate his senior brother if you ever saw how awful Er Laizi¡¯s appearance was.

    ¡°If you bow down, I¡¯ll let you have this bowl of food,¡± demanded Er Laizi.

    ¡°Okay, I submit.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I knew you wouldn¡¯t eas-, wait, what?¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡± The monk snatched the bowl of food, then sat down to devour it all.

    ¡°Y-y-you¡­ Write me an admission, and I¡¯ll take it back.¡±

    ¡°This one submits in mind but not in heart. Go back.¡± The monk respectfully push the bowl back.

    ¡°¡­ You flipping monk!¡±

    ¡°Be careful with your words. Everyone in Miguo Branch is a monk. Cursing monks on monks¡¯ territory, if your lord were to catch wind of it, do you know what will happen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not scared. Wh-what will happen?¡±

    The monk smiled. ¡°We have a hundred and eight taboos in our religion, each with their own penalties if infringed. The lightest punishment is having a hook through your tongue and your nerves pulled out.¡±

    ¡°I-I won¡¯t forget this!¡± Despite the threat, Er Laizi had already disappeared from sight.

    Hua Qing waited around for a while beforeing out. ¡°Do you really have a hundred and eight taboos in your religion?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    Hua Qing exhaled relief.

    ¡°Why would you think there are only a hundred and eight?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°There are a total of five hundred and forty-eight taboos for our monks. Needless to say, putting a hook through tongues and whatnot is a fib.¡±

    ¡°I thought monks don¡¯t lie.¡±

    ¡°A matter of expediency doesn¡¯t grant many luxuries. You escaped detection this time because he is a poor martial artist. If an adept were toe here, you wouldn¡¯t be able to escape their eyes and ears if you hid here. Furthermore, I assume you didn¡¯te here to apany me to the grave.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here in search of my brother. Shall I get going now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can. I don¡¯t know why nobody noticed youe here. In saying that, casters have always been on watch outside the formation. If you exit the way you entered, I guarantee you will die.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean I have to apany you to your grave?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily. There¡¯s hope, but it depends on whether you¡¯re willing to gamble on it or not.¡± The monk swivelled around. ¡°From our conversation, you should be aware that I¡¯m affiliated with Lotus Cul¡­ My junior brother is the man you refer to as Lord Miguo.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru himself wasn¡¯t privy to the details of Lord Wugou and Lord Miguo¡¯s conflict, so he couldn¡¯t have told Hua Qing much. It wasn¡¯t hard to identify the monk, nevertheless. If there was anything challenging, it was convincing himself that the monk in front of him was the senior of the oversized monk.

    ¡°People now call me Wugou. You can call me Wugou, as well.¡±

    ¡°Venerable Wugou, how did you end up confined here?¡±

    Lord Wugou sat down and crossed his legs. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±

    Hua Qing asked for rification at multiple points, and Lord Wugou answered without hesitation or withholding information.

    ¡°Did you not say this formation confines and immobilises you?¡±

    ¡°I can still get up and down. Besides forcing my way out, which would blow me up, I can do everything else, albeit slower than usual. Moreover, unless my junior brother reinforces it once a day, I¡¯ll be able to escape. That¡¯s why he hasn¡¯t been able to leave Shennong. I tried to use that against him as a restraint, only for me to fall for his ploy.¡±

    ¡°I saw you snatch the bowl of food zing fast.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only 10% of the martial artist I once was. The formation has malfunctioned, but I¡¯ll inexorably die at my current level.¡±

    Hua Qing nodded. ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯ve been stuck here for an entire year? Who was the bald monk who set fire to Xu Manor, then?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ most likely Venerable Kongcang. He learns Vajra Realm under Miguo and has achieved some results. It¡¯s not surprising if he can modify his body after training it.¡±

    ¡°So it was him!¡± Hua Qing smacked the ground, leaving a vague handprint in the ground and parting dust, yet his hand didn¡¯t hurt, leaving his jaw wide.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°That is the hope I speak of. Are you aware you can draw true qi from the relic?¡±

    ¡°Me? I can use it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, but perhaps it¡¯s established a link with you owing to the length of time you¡¯ve been together. Otherwise, when I hit you, you should¡¯ve died even though it absorbed my energy. If I¡¯m not wrong, you transferred a portion of its storage to enhance your internal strength, thereby healing yourself. Based on my estimations, you should have 30% of my energy now.¡±

    ¡°No way¡­¡±

    Wugou closed his eyes. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be moved. Nobody can predict the workings of fate. Just ept the fate given to you.¡±

    ¡°No, what I meant was, all I did was kick up a bit of dust. 30% of your strength is too shabby, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Wugou stabbed two fingers into the ground, creating two deep holes.

    ¡°That¡¯s crazy! What discipline was that? Dragon w?¡±

    ¡°If you think it is not too shabby, this one can teach you it.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Hua Qing had always been looking forward to learning an advanced discipline, so it was a given he¡¯d ept the offer. ¡°Wait. There¡¯s no free lunch in this world. Let¡¯s hear your terms and conditions.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ahahaha, you sure are straightforward; however, this one does not have any terms or conditions. His goal is the same as yours, except his is in the form of stopping his foolish junior. We do not have much time. Please listen to the theory!¡±

    ***

    Smoke whisked from Hua Qing¡¯s skull - a sign that someone had been developing their internal energy for at least a decade. Upon opening his eyes, his perception of the world had altered, just as the first time Ming Feizhen taught him. Details that once eluded him now announced themselves to him.

    Because Wugou was busy marvelling at his overnight aplishment, he failed to hear the encroaching individual.

    Er Laizi popped out from the forest to espy Hua Qing. ¡°Damn, found something!¡±

    Note

    Wugou switching between ¡°I¡± and ¡°This one¡± is deliberate because he switches his tone throughout the conversation.

    Glossary

    Theory Wugou mentions - This is a big topic, so let¡¯s dive into it once and never have to do it again. Plus, you¡¯ll be able to read other series without having to figure out what it¡¯s all about.

    Theory here might make you think of books and so forth, but they¡¯re not physiology or biochemistry lessons. Depending on what you read, you may have seen the same term tranted as ¡°methods¡± in new-school xianxia and xuanhuan. I prefer the trantion ¡°theory¡± because I think it expresses how they fit into the martial arts system more (theory and practical).

    Theory refers to phrases that teach you how to mould energy for specific purposes, the principles of the discipline and how you should think about techniques.

    In the realm of Chinese fiction, these phrases will generally require learners to decipher rather than follow like a procedure. For instance, let¡¯s use Chen¡¯s Tai Chi. Chen¡¯s Tai Chi introduced something called ¡°Silk Cocoon Reeling¡±. You can say that this is the ¡°theory phrase¡±. You might see this and think, ¡°What the hell do they want me to do?¡± Let¡¯s decipher it now.

    An analogy from astronomy is that while the earth is rotating around the sun, the earth is also rotating around its own axis. This means that when the arms are moving in a circr arc motion, each arm is also rotating around an axis along the direction of the arm. Deciphering it, it means that one side should retract as the other extends. One should move counter clockwise if the other is moving clockwise. Using a jab, crossbo as an example: once the jab is thrown, the jab shoulde back as the crosses out. Try for yourself. Extend one arm and then just think about extending the posterior arm, allowing the anterior side toe back automatically. Now, try again, but deliberately think about moving the two sides as a sea saw. All else equal, you¡¯re going to be faster and will hit harder on thetter - provided your timing is right.

    Using Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms as an example, ¡°The Divine Dragon Swishes its Tail¡± means for you to ¡°swing¡± (same character as ¡°swish¡±) a palm behind at an opponent behind you (Li Sheng is first to demonstrate this in Legend of the Condor Heroes) since your tail is at your rear and swinging your tail happens from the rear). See the recurring theme?

    In these fictional stories, you have to learn the theory in order to learn the practical. One without the other results in a wed system. Please don¡¯t go thinking we do this in real life; we don¡¯t.

    Another key feature of these theories is the need to memorise the phrases.

 Volume 11.5 63

    Book 11.5: Chapter 63

    ¡°Wait.¡± Hua Qing bound forward and extended a hand toward Er Laizi. To his puzzlement, he zoomed straight past Er Laizi.

    Shocked and mistaking Hua Qing for another adept there to rescue Wugou, Er Laizi froze up, affording Wugou an opportunity to knock him out cold.

    ¡°That was close. If he escaped, our ns would be dashed,¡±mented Wugou.

    Hua Qing was still in his own world, marvelling at how heightened his senses were and how much more power he possessed. ¡°The entire world feels different. I feel like I have infinite strength, too.¡±

    Upon mastering Vajra Realm, Wugou¡¯s internal strength didn¡¯t pale inparison to adepts in the Central in, so 30% of his total was still plenty for Hua Qing.

    ¡°At the end of the day, there¡¯s a limit to how much energy you have, more so in your current state. Right now, you wouldn¡¯t be able to use a fraction of the energy.¡±

    ¡°If it is not too much trouble, please guide me, Venerable Wugou.¡±

    ¡°The discipline I¡¯m teaching you is Wugou Style ¨C Vajra Realm. It¡¯s impossible to determine which is better between it and Miguo Branch¡¯s ¡®Karma¡¯. You can absorb my internal energy from me using the relic, but how much you can utilise depends on your development in Vajra Realm.

    ¡°Thanks to my style and guidance, you went through threeyers overnight; it¡¯s a miracle unheard of in all thend. Kongcang beseeched Miguo for years, yet he only learnt the first threeyer¡¯s body-strengthening parts.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you¡¯ve never learnt any internal disciplines because our disciplines and the Central in¡¯s disciplines don¡¯t sharemonalities. If you tried to learn one after the other, the theory alone would be enough for your brain to be fried.¡±

    Hua Qing excitedly kowtowed. ¡°Thank you for your sharing your wisdom, Shifu.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait. I must stress that this discipline is never imparted to outsiders. Moreover, I can¡¯t teach you any more.¡±

    Hua Qing raised his head. ¡°Huh? Why?¡±

    ¡°Firstly, a cult rule stiptes we mustn¡¯t teach secret skills to outsiders. Having said that, there have been cases where the physical training has been taught to outsiders. As a branch leader, I do have some authority, so it doesn¡¯t count as breaking a rule. I, however, can¡¯t teach you the mental cultivation.

    ¡°Second, this discipline is a secret skill of Buddhism; it¡¯s hard to learn if you don¡¯t know much about Buddhism. You can rely on external sources to teach internal energy and true qi maniption, but you can¡¯t learn Buddhism at the snap of a finger. Am I supposed to run you through the ceremony and read you scriptures for a decade first? Even if you are willing to be a monk, I don¡¯t have ten years of free time to teach you.¡±

    At first, Hua Qing didn¡¯t know how to respond. In the end, he decided to finish his ten kowtows.

    Wugou bitterly smiled. ¡°You seem to have practiced it a lot.¡±

    ¡°Even though you are not willing to teach, I know you have gifted me something invaluable. Kowtowing is nothingpared to your gift. I have only one shifu whom I have treated as my father. Henceforward, I shall consider you my shifu, as well. If my service is ever needed, you need only say the word. I swear to never use your skills to avoid implicating you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood a certain point. Although you¡¯ve learnt the physical training, you haven¡¯t learnt any of the mental cultivation side, so you can¡¯t say you¡¯ve learnt our cultt¡¯s discipline. Kongcang is incredibly proficient at the physical side, yet he still has to count on his Shaolin training in fights. Has he ever defeated anyone?¡±

    In Hua Qing¡¯s database, Kongcang¡¯s Vajra Realm only ever functioned as a shield against Ming Feizhen and Zhuo Fengru, which led him to a suspicion. ¡°Does that mean Lord Miguo¡¯s Vajra Realm has a weakness?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s tiny. While he has fallen to the dark side, he is firm in his stance. Therefore, he won¡¯t feel any empathy or guilt for all the deaths he has caused. Needless to say, no ordinary man could have a conviction as strong as his. Nheless, it¡¯s only a matter of time before something goes wrong if your path is not right. He, too, is cognisant of the fact that his Vajra Realm can¡¯t be sustained forever. That¡¯s why he¡¯s racing against time. That¡¯s where your relices in.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing instinctively gripped the brocade pouch at his chest.

    ¡°30% of my energy and your training isn¡¯t enough to stop him. You only have one option: you must absorb the remaining 60% of the energy within the relic for yourself. Since you¡¯ve never practiced an internal system, absorbing 30% is probably all you can handle. Thanks to your physical changes, though, you should be able to store the rest in your body now. I don¡¯t know why nobody hase to check on this forest in so long. Nevertheless, it has afforded us some more time.¡±

    ¡°Even with your internal energy, I do not know any decent martial arts skills. Plus, does Lord Miguo not also know Vajra Realm?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡± Wugou peered in the direction of the legendary rock. ¡°Yourpanions will probably do something. As you said, if your twopanions can fight Miguo and the swordsman on even footing, they can¡¯t win if the enemy has superior numbers. What if a Hua Qing with 90% of Miguo¡¯s power was added to the equation? You still have seven days. In these seven days, this one will do his best to take you from zero to hero.¡±

    ***

    A while ago ¨C when Ming Feizhen was conversing with Yungu ¨C Lord Miguo suddenly returned to the formation. ¡°¡­ You asked me to heavily guard this ce so that you could get ahead?¡± he questioned in a monotone voice.

    ¡°That is correct. Without your protection, it would be difficult to have a conversation with Young Master Ming. This one apologises for not thank you earlier, Your Excellency,¡± Yungu responded.

    If Sky Pce and Miguo Branch¡¯s alliance was predicated on making use of each other, then Yungu should¡¯ve had the means to and been prepared to disband the alliance at the drop of a hat. That exined her rxed attitude.

    ¡°He is my prisoner. Please leave.¡±

    ¡°As that is your wish, this one sh-¡±

    ¡°Hey, wait,¡± Ming Feizhen voiced.

    Miguo frowned. ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±

    While Miguo wanted to smash Ming Feizhen, thetter looked straight past him to Yungu.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what this team-up of yours means, not that I need to. League of Assassins and Divine Moon Cult paid me a visit during the day already to also seek my cooperation, and their deal was a lot more attractivepared to yours. They told me that they¡¯de visit again tonight, but I guess they¡¯ve been stopped,¡± Ming Feizhen said.

    Yungu¡¯s face stiffened subtly.

    ¡°League of Assassins offered money. Divine Moon Cult promised a Guardian post. They¡¯re significantly more sincere than you are.¡±

    It took Yungu a moment to ovee the vexation and humiliation of being slower than the other groups. ¡°I understand you are not satisfied with the conditions. Feel free to state yours. Whatever they can offer, Sky Pce can offer.¡±

    ¡°Stop treating me like an idiot.¡± Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t raise his voice, but the birds in the surroundings took off from the branches, making haste for the dark overhead canvas.

    Yungu and Miguo felt a heavy weight crash down on them all of a sudden, making it tough to even lift a finger. As someone familiar with this phenomenon known as power, she calmly moulded energy to shout, ¡°Ruisi, what are you doing?!¡±

    Ruisi answered, ¡°The formation is working as usual, but he never used any qi! There¡¯s no true qi reaction!¡±

    The formation isn¡¯t down? Does that mean¡­ sun rock?!

    The legendary rock that could banish evil let the malice in the formation imposed its will without even putting in any effort to stop it.

    ¡°A damn rock, a few girls and you think you run the show?¡± Although Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes had turned red, he maintained hiszy posture. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m not interested in those things. You want bloodline¡­ right? Do you know what that thing you don¡¯t care about really is?¡±

    Apanying each word Ming Feizhen spoke, the weight on them would increase. As the branches flexed side to side, League of Assassins, Divine Moon Cult and disciples of Miguo Branch could be seen running towards the source of the pressure.

    ¡°My enemy has always been by my side, perpetuallypeting against me. You have no clue what it is. Mount Daluo has spent a millennium, countless lives and still dwells up in the mountains for it. Don¡¯t you dare make light of us!¡±

    Unable to process the mental stress, only a few people didn¡¯t nk out. Yungu nearly gasped blood and lost self-awareness had Ming Feizhen not gradually eased off.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes gradually returned to their usual colour; however, his forehead was as wet as if he sshed water on his face.

    Yungu: He didn¡¯t use any qi¡­ He suppressed that sinister power with his willpower alone?

    Ming Feizhen, sitting on the ground and grinning at Lord Miguo, asked, ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±

 Volume 11.5 64

    Book 11.5: Chapter 64

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Lord Miguo was the first to recover from the freaky bloodlust, and he sounded as calm as ever. ¡°You would¡¯ve escaped already if it was within your means. Why bother bluffing?¡± Seemingly ignoring Ming Feizhen¡¯s grin, he continued, ¡°No doubt, you possess immense power. Perhaps you are one of the strongest people alive. I¡¯ve never underestimated its threat. Even without it, your martial prowess is admirable. I¡¯m sure you have means of making up forck of power, but that¡¯s not something I can urately predict. I¡¯m not good at drawn-out fights. Even against you, my advantage won¡¯tst for long.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s expression read, ¡°d you don¡¯tck self-awareness.¡±

    ¡°Regardless, you¡¯re helpless. Continuing in a very deep voice, Lord Miguo asserted, ¡°You¡¯re afraid of your power because you can¡¯t control it. As a result, you¡¯re in the middle of nowhere. If you would allow your power to run free, perhaps you could stop me. Otherwise, you don¡¯t have a chance. Maybe you have some past trauma that makes you think you can¡¯t drown in your power, just like you think resisting it will make a difference. Allow me to enlighten you: your fear will eventually release that power, and it¡¯ll devour you before you know it. It is inevitable.¡± Lord Miguo¡¯s eyes conveyed hostility for the first time. ¡°Just as you can¡¯t do anything but watch as I kill your friends one by one right before your eyes.¡±

    Miguo suddenlyunched a punch in a direction where nobody was in sight, snapping a tree in the path. Someone rolled out from behind the tree to escape the st radius. Zhuo Fengru made no effort to hide again, saluting the three factions properly.

    ¡°Zhuo Fengru, your appearance here indicates you have made a decision. I thought you¡¯d eventually betray me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rich,ing from the person who sent men to kidnap my wife and son,¡± Zhuo Fengru scoffed. ¡°I was never your ally, not to mention the vengeance of killing my brother¡¯s family. What betrayal do you speak of?¡±

    ¡°Vengeance?¡± Lord Miguo tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°You want to avenge Xu n? Don¡¯t say I never gave you a chance. My disciples shall stand down so that you can have a fair chance. If you don¡¯t take the offer today, you won¡¯t have the same offer a second time.¡±

    ¡°Simple trick a kid can learn on their first try,¡± Ming Feizhen opined.

    Miguo nced over to Ming Feizhen. ¡°You have something to say?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid of his qinggong. You know your slow tail can¡¯t catch up, so you¡¯re trying to deter him from running.¡±

    ¡°Why run if you want revenge? What¡¯s wrong with a fair fight?¡±

    ¡°Fair? On your home ground is fair? If you want fair, go fight at Liu Shan Men¡¯s office, where there are officers to officiate. Bet you¡¯re scared of prison.¡±

    Miguo couldn¡¯t dispute Ming Feizhen¡¯s points.

    Zhuo Fengru had yet to recover from his match against Ming Feizhen, was forced to deal with his domestic issues and then rush to Shennong. He couldn¡¯t beat Miguo when in tip-top form, so what were his chances against an improved Miguo while he wasn¡¯t in his best form? If he wanted to flee, however, not many people present ¨C at least not Ming Feizhen and Miguo ¨C could stop him. Therefore, Zhuo Fengru was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. Should he run away, he¡¯d never have another chance to avenge Xu n because, even if he had time, the vexation of running would be a mental barrier that he¡¯d never be able to ovee.

    Understanding Zhuo Fengru¡¯s conundrum, Zhuxing Wuchang voiced, ¡°Howe I¡¯m not invited to the fight? Since Brother Zhuo isn¡¯t feeling 100%, how about sparring me, Lord Miguo?¡± He rubbed his hands together as he smiled from cheek to cheek. Since Miguo didn¡¯t spare him a nce, he rolled up his sleeves.

    ¡°You will not need to bother.¡± Zhuo Fengru patted his belly whileughing. ¡°Once a member of the pugilistic world, always a member of the pugilistic world. I may be old, but I¡¯m still a member of the pugilistic world. You want some? Come get some. That said, I do have a request for you, Great Guardian.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang knew as well as Zhuo Fengru did that Zhuo Fengru was driving himself into a corner. As a man entrusted with another man¡¯sst will, Zhuxing Wuchang couldn¡¯t refuse a final request. ¡°Whatever it is, I swear to see that it¡¯s done.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing difficult.¡± Zhuo Fengru pulled his signature cunning face, then chuckled. ¡°I would just like to borrow a sword.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang: ¡­ Oh, I get it.

    ¡°Hahaha, easy.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru swung the sword in the air to test it out. Unlike other swordsmen, he didn¡¯t generate loud booms or any sounds. Nobody could identify the discipline, but they sure could appreciate the incredible control he exhibited.

    ¡°It feels much morefortable to have a sword in hand,¡± Zhuo Fengru mumbled, blocking out the praise abound.

    ording to what Miguo knew about Zhuo Fengru as a person, thetter would¡¯ve epted the challenge one way or another, but theid-back attitude was odd. ¡°You know the gap between us. You weren¡¯t my matchst time. Don¡¯t mistake the mercy I showed to b-¡±

    ¡°Shut your potty mouth. I¡¯m here for a fight, not a debate. Even a teenager isn¡¯t as wishy washy as you are.¡±

    ng! Before anyone realised it, Zhuo Fengru already left a mark on the top of Miguo¡¯s head.

    ¡°You asked for it.¡± Miguo prepared a punch, but Zhuo Fengru struck both of Miguo¡¯s shoulders faster than he could attack.

    Being impervious to des and having higher resistance to damage was just that; it didn¡¯t make up forck of speed. To make matters worse, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s speed was beyond just ¡°fast¡±. As a result, Miguo could only count on Vajra Realm to stay afloat. Miguo made one potentially fatal assumption: he wasn¡¯t the only one who had improved. Zhuo Fengru, too, had elevated his skills.

    While Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t know enough swordy to evaluate Zhuo Fengru¡¯s swordy, he gained some degree of insight into more than just swordy from watching the sword¡¯s movements. That was how he figured out some qi moulding ideas thest time they went at it. Watching it again, he started to pick up fragmented ideas, but he couldn¡¯t form a skeleton of it.

    Zhuo Fengru said, ¡°This old one¡¯s swordy was forged in the pugilistic world and refined throughpeting across thends, not something heprehended by sitting at home and ruminating. This attack uses one breath as its foundation. The attack pushes the boundaries of nature, amplifying until an overwhelming state is achieved.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru had no reason to speak so loudly ¨C or even speak at all, for that matter ¨C but he didn¡¯t let it detract from his offence.

    ¡°Lame!¡± Miguo emanated a circle of energy from his position, forcing Zhuo Fengru¡¯s sword off target. ¡°You im to embody advanced swordy. Let me show you something interesting.¡±

    As he cracked a smirk, Miguo glued two fingers together, then swung his arm as if it was a sword, intercepting the tip of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s sword. Zhuo Fengru¡¯s speed still proved too superior to defuse. Consequently, Miguo swung several times, intercepting each strike with absolute precision. Though he didn¡¯t mount a counterattack, the fact that Miguo could keep up with Zhuo Fengru¡¯s speed now would deal a blow to Zhuo Fengru¡¯s confidence.

    Miguo wasn¡¯t reading ahead nor did he gain so much insight that he could read Zhuo Fengru like a book. What he did was mirror Zhuo Fengru¡¯s techniques and output.

    Bai Tianbinmented, ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t think Karma could be used like that. He¡¯s nobat expert, but he sure is a deep thinker. If only he could think of something light for a change.¡±

    Not only did Miguo absorb Zhuo Fengru¡¯s energy from close to a hundred strikes but even his swordy¡¯s principles. Therefore, when he released them, they came back to Zhuo Fengru just as what he dished out. Once he exhausted that store, he had the ones he was absorbing in this match. For all anyone knew, the next move Zhuo Fengru had to deal with might¡¯ve been his previous move. Regardless of how skilled one was, they would eventually burn through their fuel tank.

    Ming Feizhen was the only one analytically monitoring Zhuo Fengru as well as Miguo. The two followed the same thought in execution, but mayhap the end of their thoughts wasn¡¯t in swordy. Given they were human, no matter what sort of pace they could push, there would eventuallye a time when one side would gain the upper hand.

    Soon enough, Miguo couldn¡¯t follow Zhuo Fengru¡¯s pace, and Zhuo Fengru¡¯s sword could be heard nging against Miguo¡¯s body once again. Zhuo Fengru had pushed the pace even higher than before to overwhelm Miguo.

    Miguo¡¯s blunder was notprehending the nature of Zhuo Fengru¡¯s swordy. Each sessive strike, Zhuo Fengru sped up a little. Even if Miguo could see the techniques to mirror, at a certain point, he couldn¡¯t physically keep up with the pace. Beyond that, there was also the difference in work capacity; Zhuo Fengru had yet to take a second breath since theymenced.

    Miguo assumed they had reset, with Zhuo Fengru unable to inflict significant damage and himself unable to keep up. Once again, his assumption was erroneous. Only Zhuo Fengru truly knew what the limit of his swordy was, and he wasn¡¯t a one-trick pony with only speed.

    From the moment he gripped the sword and resolved to avenge his sworn brother, Zhuo Fengru recalled his match against Ming Feizhen. As soon as he saw the opening, Zhuo Fengru thrust straight for Miguo¡¯s left pectoral. At longst, he managed to send his de through Miguo¡¯s body.

    Vajra Realm practitioners needed to condense qi before they could send it elsewhere. Hence, the moment their defence was broken, the qi would go into frenzy. Miguo gasped blood at the heavens, then crashed back onto the ground.

    Bai Tianbin grabbed his beard. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t see thating.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang: ¡°Hahaha, so what? The strong rule.¡±

    Upon returning to his starting spot and losing the support of adrenaline, Zhuo Fengru wobbled, and his grip shook. ¡°I¡¯ve demonstrated my swordy¡¯s variations for you three times. How much do you remember?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Zero.¡±

    ¡°Thought so.¡± Zhuo Fengru smiled bitterly instead of brightly. ¡°It¡¯d take me a month to recite theplete swordy. Demanding you to remember it in one go is being unreasonable. That said, I¡¯ve given y-¡±

    ¡°You think you won?¡±

    By the time he heard the voice, Zhuo Fengru had already felt the heavy punch and found himself immobile on the ground, blood uncontroblying out of his mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯re careless. If nothing else, you¡¯ve forgotten what sort of person I am.¡±

    Whether by instinct or not, Zhuo Fengru leapt up and dashed into the forest, erasing all traces almost immediately upon entering.

    Miguo stopped his subordinate from giving chase. ¡°It¡¯s just terminal lucidity. His internal injuries are fatal. The faster he runs, the faster he burns out his candle. No need to chase him.¡±

    Though Miguo only had one subordinate still conscious, it didn¡¯t bother him. Whilst bandaging his wound, he said to the three leaders, ¡°The festivities end here. Did you enjoy the show? If there¡¯s nothing else, I hope this is thest unprepared event.¡±

    Once the three leaders left, Miguo went back to Ming Feizhen with arrogance on his lips. ¡°Feel like killing me even more?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯tin when you two fought fair and square? Can¡¯t me someone for hitting you if you square up with them.¡± Ming Feizhen gazed in the direction Zhuo Fengru fled. ¡°Having said that, it¡¯s only a matter of time before I end you.¡±

    Following the fiasco, Miguo rearranged their patrols, focusing almost all of his forces to the formation around Ming Feizhen. As a consequence, Er Laizi was the only sentry over at the moonlight boulder.

    ***

    Hua Qing tip-toed back to the cave he hid in previously. His primary concern wasn¡¯t Zhuo Fengru but Su Li and Kongkong¡¯er, who were hiding in said cave. Neither Su Li nor Kongkong¡¯er dared to leave the cave in search of food, so they had to be conservative with the rations they brought along.

    Although people may assume Su Li spent thest day and night conversing with Kongcang about irrelevant topics for the sake of making conversation with him, it was actually a questioning method she learnt from and honed in her business ventures. Be it people or goods, one couldn¡¯t just take another¡¯s word for it in business. Based on the ces Kongcang went and the items he purchased, she worked out when he joined Miguo Branch in addition to their development log. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t enough to understand why Miguo wanted to capture her.

    ¡°Miss Su, Shifu.¡±

    Su Li jolted due to Hua Qing¡¯s sudden appearance. ¡°Y-you scared me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°Why do you¡­ seem different?¡±

    Though Hua Qing¡¯s appearance appeared more ¡°toned¡± than yesterday, his appearance hadn¡¯t changed considerably. He used to give off the vibe of someone who could think on their feet, but his aura now¡­ demanded attention.

    Hua Qing scratched his head. ¡°I¡­ think I¡¯ve grown a little stronger. I was taught some martial arts. I came back to check on you because I¡¯m worried about you. I¡¯m d you¡¯re safe and sound. Has Hero Zhuoe back at all?¡±

    ¡°No, not since leaving with you.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry about him. He¡¯s experienced enough to handle whatever is thrown his way.¡±

    It hadn¡¯t even been a second after Hua Qing finished his assertion when Zhuo Fengru stumbled in, blood and sweat trickling down. Had Hua Qing not reacted fast, Su Li¡¯s scream would¡¯ve alerted the enemy.

    ¡°Hero Zhuo?! What happened?!

    ¡°¡­ C-cover the entrance. Invisible powder¡­¡± Zhuo Fengru uttered.

    Su Li: ¡°Erase the smell of blood, or they¡¯ll find us!¡±

    Hua Qing thereupon restored the cave to its original state, then sprinkled a powder called ¡°invisible powder¡± onto Zhuo Fengru. While it didn¡¯t actually make anyone invisible, the strong stench of manure that it was made from would disguise their smell in forest areas.

    ¡°Hero Zhuo, how are your injuries?¡± Hua Qing couldn¡¯t rece a doctor. Nevertheless, he could sit Zhuo Fengru up and use his internal energy to slowly share some with thetter.

    It went without saying that Zhuo Fengru could sense the uncharacteristically potent energy. Thus, Hua Qing shared his fortuitous encounter.

    ¡°I see¡­ Mayhap his n is correct. Sadly¡­ I won¡¯t be any help now.¡±

    Su Li: ¡°Hero Zhuo¡­ how did you get hurt so bad?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru smiled bitterly. ¡°I definitely can¡¯t escape death this time.¡±

    Be it Hua Qing or Su Li, neither of them had a solution. On the other hand, Kongkong¡¯er asked, ¡°Will the sarira work?¡±

    Hua Qing remembered Wugou¡¯s experience.

    Zhuo Fengru instructed, ¡°¡­ Give it to me.¡± He stared at the object Hua Qing presented for a while, then voiced, ¡°He¡¯s right. You can be a hidden ace in the right scenario. Your progress, however, is too slow. Allow me to give you a hand.¡± Subsequently, Zhuo Fengru transferred his energy to the relic, which then flowed through to Hua Qing. ¡°¡­ I shall entrust my lifetime of work¡­ to you.¡±

 Volume 11.5 65

    Book 11.5: Chapter 65

    The only reason Zhuo Fengru¡¯s soul didn¡¯t leave his body after sustaining Miguo¡¯s punch was attributed to the new stuff he gleaned from Abyss Theory. Instead of eating the full brunt of the punch, at the moment of impact, he spread out the impact simrly to spreading out a st over arger surface area rather than the specific target.

    Zhuo Fengru¡¯s desire to reach new heights, in terms of speed, created the attack that pierced Miguo, and the experience gave birth to the concept. Put another way, it was the intent behind his seemingly phantom attack that spawned the idea of defusing the force once it reached a velocity beyond the attacker¡¯s control.

    Impressive it may have been, but Miguo¡¯s punch did inflict lethal damage. Miguo predicted Zhuo Fengru only had one day left. At most, Zhuo Fengru had another two. In his state, there wasn¡¯t much Zhuo Fengru could do. The only way he could see himself being useful was through passing on the energy he spent all his life cultivating, and he could do so via the sarira, By the same ount, the blood debt would be in Hua Qing¡¯s hand to collect.

    It¡¯s important to make a distinction between vitality and true qi for they weren¡¯t one and the same. Unlike true qi, vitality was found in everyponent of one¡¯s body.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the relic to start glimmering after Zhuo Fengru¡¯s energy pooled in. Hua Qing was unaware the relic could redirect leaking energy to its owner. Abination of Wugou as well as Zhuo Fengru¡¯s energy almost had it replete. It was the first time it outshone the silver orb in the sky. In exchange, Zhuo Fengru¡¯s vision gradually darkened.

    If Ming Feizhen was a shiny gem, Zhuo Fengru would call Hua Qing a in rock, de of grass or wooden board. Although Zhuo Fengru was fond of both of them, he liked Hua Qing¡¯s inness because it reminded him of himself. Before he was called a hero, he was friendless, broke and just another face in the crowd. He looked up to heroes and craved adventure in the pugilistic world just as Hua Qing did. Speaking of gantry, they both wanted to be heroes. When it came to romance, they were both clumsy. Talking about their dreams was something they were proud of him. Despite theirmon traits, though, Zhuo Fengru wouldn¡¯t approve of Hua Qing¡¯s gratitude.

    Using the method Wugou taught him in order to absorb internal energy, Hua Qing poured his essence back into the relic, returning the 30% he absorbed from Wugou back into it.

    Owing to the different disciplines Wugou and Zhuo Fengru practiced, it wasn¡¯t much, but there was a distinct disagreement between the two energies inside the relic.

    Zhuo Fengru couldn¡¯t direct the flow of energy inside the relic, so he could only let his internal energy and essence, on top of someone else¡¯s, return to his body. As a result, Miguo¡¯s residue energy reduced ordingly.

    Sweating bullets, Hua Qing conveyed, ¡°Hero Zhuo, I do not know how to give speeches on morality, but I cannot watch you die.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing neither leaned towards good or bad ¨C nor did he have any other special idea. If he had a principle, it was, ¡°If it¡¯s within your means to help, help. Otherwise, run the other way,¡± even though he grew up on the streets and was a thief by trade. If this wasn¡¯t for his sense of duty, he wouldn¡¯t have earnestly tried to fulfil Master Xu¡¯sst request. On the same ount, he believed it was only right to entrust the energy to Zhuo Fengru.

    Hua Qing had only learnt a simple absorption and discharge method, then extrapted to control the energy. Howbeit, guiding qi back to its origin wasn¡¯t something that could be conceptualised from nothing or learnt overnight. The difference between the two levels could bepared to movingrge goods to sewing a thread through a tiny hole.

    Owing to Hua Qing¡¯sck of proficiency and knowledge, therge volume of energy he reversed into Zhuo Fengru¡¯s body gushed in ruthlessly. To make an analogy, his energy would be horses riding onto a battlefield littered with injured soldiers, which would be his meridians in this case, trampling on the grounded soldiers. Zhuo Fengru had the ability to direct qi deliberately. Sadly, it took everything he had just to absorb the energy in his current condition, let alone direct it. Hua Qing could only slow down the flow; however, again, hisck of training limited his performance. As such, Zhuo Fengru was in immense pain.

    ¡°Tch!¡± Su Li strode over to Kongcang. ¡°Monk, help me, and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    Kongcang opened his eyes slightly, then beamed at the sight of Zhuo Fengru. ¡°Miss, what is positive about life? What is negative about death? This one enjoys the view. What could there possibly be to help with? Besides, this one is in trouble himself. How can he help?¡±

    ¡°Second chance.¡±

    ¡°This one is powerless to help notwithstanding his desire to help.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s cheeks turned red. ¡°I gave you a chance. You forced my hand, so don¡¯t me me.¡± Su Li pried open the immobilised monk¡¯s mouth, then shoved in a pill.

    Caught off guard, Kongcang reactively swallowed the pill. ¡°What did you do?!¡±

    Su Li stomped the ground. ¡°It¡¯s a brand new pill I bought from Shuzhong¡¯s ck market. It wasn¡¯t cheap, but the name has a nice ring to it. It¡¯s called ¡®Love is Pain¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Tang n¡¯s ¡®Love is pain¡¯?! Y-y-you¡¯re flipping nasty!¡±

    Glossary

    Love is pain ¨C I¡¯ve taken liberties with the name because there¡¯s no way I could do it justice without being wordy or missing the point. The name is a reference to Jin Yong¡¯s phrase, ¡°Too much love will shorten your lifespan. Too much wisdom will eventually hurt you.¡± The phrase has a broader sense, but that¡¯s as good as we can do in English. The character for ¡°love¡± in the phrase can mean a number of things, such as love for family, romantic feelings, emotional investments in things, devotion, empathy, friendships and the list goes on. As such, how it¡¯s tranted also changes ording to what the character needs to convey. You¡¯ve probablye across something simr when ites to the second part, which is really just saying, ¡°When you¡¯re cognisant of too much, it can be draining and mentally hurt you.¡± The truth sometimes hurts, they say.

    Shuzhong ¨C The name of an erstwhile country in history.

 Volume 11.5 66

    Book 11.5: Chapter 66

    In a contest for power among Tang n¡¯s members many years ago, an eight year old heir had to tearfully listen to how she lost her kind father to traitors in the n. The traitors didn¡¯t care her brother and her were at home when they stormed the property to steal her leadership seal; within fifteen minutes of entry, they had massacred those present and burnt herte father¡¯s tablet.

    For the next twenty years, she dedicated herself to learning and training for revenge. Under her leadership, her and her loyalists made sure to behead every one of those traitors. Following her sessful revenge, she became Ancient Wine¡¯s new leader.

    In spite of the constant conflicts and absence of a leader, Tang n didn¡¯t be just another name in history. Their matriarch had it all ¨C martial prowess, beauty and their n¡¯s renowned apothecary, smithing as well as contraption knowledge. In a matter of years subsequent to her taking up the mantle, Tang n crawled to its feet and surpassed its former self.

    Those in her time said of her, ¡°Craftsmanship on par with gods. Unrivalled beauty and talent in Shuzhong.¡± If she was still alive, there would be two women among the Supreme Ten Saints.

    There was a rumour that her sess wasn¡¯t attributed to her exceptional talent or vast knowledge but a specific drug. In the past, the drug didn¡¯t have a name. Be it medicine or poison, nobody in the world would ever be surprised if Tang n had formted some unthinkable drug, but this particr drug was more famous than many other drugs they manufactured.

    Whether it was learning literacy or training martial arts, people couldn¡¯t concentrate because of their other desires. As a consequence, they¡¯d also reap half the results for twice the amount of effort. This particr Tang n drug could block out unnecessary emotions and thoughts, thereby raising productivity. The drug wasn¡¯t magical; it was just extremely potent.

    Once ingested, whenever one harboured a thought unconducive to their goal, they¡¯d experience pain, which scaled ording to how much they tended toward said unconducive thought. For this reason, Tang n ancestors who took the drug either went on to be monks or recluses. Simrly, their matriarch became a chilly individual until she lost to her heart.

    Tang n sessfully barred their women from marrying men outside the sect through peer pressure and drugs. Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t stop love from flourishing in the maidens¡¯ hearts, and their prodigious matriarch was no exception.

    Nobody knew where Tang n¡¯s matriarch spent herst moments or how she spent them, leading to numerous rumours being spread for generations. Mount Daluo imed that she rose after a sh of lightning, then rode a me to fight Sun Wukong for three hundred rounds in heaven. Needless to say, it was a story that impelled disciples to spit.

    Upon taking up his sister¡¯s mantle, her younger brother named the drug ¡°Love is Pain¡± out of sentimentality, locked it away and prohibited its creation within the n. Nevertheless, the form ended up in the pugilistic world some timeter, with one vial eventually ending up in Su Li¡¯s possession.

    Su Li didn¡¯t know the first thing when it came drugs, nor did she have the slightest interest in them. She bought the drug purely because its background story enamoured her.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Strictly speaking, ¡°Love is Pain¡± didn¡¯t qualify as a toxin. Unfortunately for Kongcang, he could let go of everything except for his hatred directed at his junior brother. If anything, he hated his senior even more than before due to the fact that he couldn¡¯t surpass his brother at his old age.

    ¡°If¡­ If you don¡¯t give this old one the antidote, you can forget asking for his help!¡± Kongcang brayed.

    ¡°Take your time so that ¡®Love is Pain¡¯ works better,¡± Su Li responded.

    ¡°How do you except this old one to help when his upoints are sealed?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not fooling anyone. You just said you won¡¯t help unless you have the antidote. What do you think that implies? You exposed your own lie.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru winced as his body began to convulse and chest began to puff up owing to true qi overload. Given he was connected to the relic that Hua Qing was also linked up to, it shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise for Hua Qing¡¯s face to be as red as a ripe tomato. The difference was, Zhuo Fengru had physically honed his meridians to endure more than Hua Qing could possibly withstand.

    ¡°Keep stalling and I¡¯ll destroy the antidote so that you can apologise to them in hell!¡± Su Li eximed.

    Cornered, Kongcang replied, ¡°Help this old one over.¡±

    Although Kongcang¡¯s sealed upoints limited his mobility and ability to mould internal energy, the limitations didn¡¯t apply to his knowledge or analytical abilities. Plus, he knew more about the relic than Zhuo Fengru and Hua Qingbined. Watching the two grimace and struggle, Kongcang decided he could make use of the relic¡¯s stored true qi to unlock his upoints, allowing him to then kill the two. As a matter of fact, that was his n from the beginning. He just never thought his provocation would prompt Su Li to feed him poison.

    Neither Hua Qing nor Zhuo Fengru were aware of Kongcang¡¯s presence as their ears were rumbling and vision was but a blur of lines. Kongcang shakily set a hand onto the relic. Upon picking up a new connector, the relic rushed toward Kongcang, acutely reducing the load on Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru. In turn, Zhuo Fengru was afforded with time to manipte his true qi to the site of his injuries. Because Wugou¡¯s internal energy was in the mix, meaning Miguo¡¯s energy from the punch was also in said mix, Zhuo Fengru recovered faster than he estimated.

    Simrly to Zhuo Fengru, the remaining energies in Hua Qing¡¯s body eased off until reaching uniform speed. Everyp the energy did, his meridians, especially those that formed his foundation for martial arts training, would expand a bit more. For Hua Qing, having two systems calibrate his meridians simultaneously was shaving off two decades of work for him.

    Kongcang couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than for the three of them to share the same body ¨C technically, the relic was their shared body. The mass of potent energy unsealed his meridians the moment it entered his body in addition to repairing the damage he suffered. If he could just get rid of the two, he could even overpower Miguo with the enormous store of energy. He, in fact, could take Miguo¡¯s ce. Zhuo Fengru was upied with recovery, while Hua Qing was barely trained. No matter how Kongcang looked at it, he held the power to control the storage of energy and their fates. He was ovee with joy until he felt a painful sensation that almost had him curl up.

    ¡°Love is Pain¡±! Damn it, must it hit not of all times?!

    Kongcang¡¯s fit of internal rage sparked a searing pain coursed through his body. Both times he was hurt were between intervals of moulding qi.

    Why is it always me who has to deal these uncanny situat-?!

    This time, Kongcang felt winded and lightheaded as if he was struck with a solid mace.

    What the hell is this?

    It was beyond Kongcang to now even shadow box, let alone kill anyone.

    Kongcang managed to find a painless window, only to see anger, then confusion, then understanding, then danger topped off with a dash smugness in the eyes of Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru.

    Wait. What are you two plotting? What are you doing?! This is my energy, you c-, argh! This bloody poison! Stop! Stop!

    ***

    Zhuo Fengru finished up at night with an extended exhale. ¡°You¡¯re too kind for your own good. I wanted you to take my energy, yet you ended up expending energy for my sake. Why would you do that?¡±

    Hua Qing solemnly conveyed, ¡°I was not the one who cultivated the energy. What is done is done. Had you not taken the initiative to shoulder most of the burden, I would not be alive right now. If anything, I owe you for saving my life.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. From now on, call me Uncle Zhuo as Yanran does.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Zhuo!¡±

    From his back on the ground, Kongcang thundered, ¡°You two twats are really pushing that narrative like it¡¯s real! You two stole my energy! My internal energy saved you two! Argh, not this again!¡±

 Volume 11.5 67

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 67</h4>

    Zhuo Fengru peered into his body to find he had lost over 40% of his original energy. Even ounting for the two different Buddhist internal energies, he only had only 80% of his erstwhile total. The two Buddhist energies didn¡¯t offer much benefit to him since his original discipline and the two Buddhist disciplines didn¡¯tplement each other. Vajra Realm, in particr, differed from the principles taught in the Central in, meaning that the route the qis flowed through were meridians he hadn¡¯t trained before. As for how much of the new energies he could utilise, it was a question he¡¯d only be able to answer once he experimented. There, in fact, was no telling if they would be harmful, beneficial or useless at this point. All that being said, he had managed to defuse Miguo¡¯s energy in his body and recovered to a point where he could fight. To survive after eating the punch from Miguo, Zhuo Fengru already felt blessed because he had aplished pretty much everything he wanted to in life.

    ¡°How are you Qing?¡± Zhuo Fengru queried.

    ¡°I am fine.¡± Hua Qing had shed his boy image and grown into a masculine man overnight.

    ¡°Young Master Hua¡­¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s heightened senses indicated to him which way to look. His electrifying eyes silenced Su Li without him being aware. ¡°Is something the matter, Miss Su?¡± he asked with a smile.

    ¡°N-no.¡± Su Li bashfully looked down, confusing Hua Qing.

    Fighting the urge tough, Zhuo Fengru suggested, ¡°Qing, try circting qi.¡±

    Hua Qing did as he was told, circting qi via Wugou¡¯s style since it was the only one he knew. Once his qi mobilised, it instilled a sense of invincibility in him. By convention, it wasn¡¯t a phenomenon that should¡¯ve shown up until Hua Qing absorbed half of the relic¡¯s umted energy, so Hua Qing didn¡¯t know why he was already feeling the surge of confidence. He wasn¡¯t aware that he regained what he lost on top of developing its potency by several folds thanks to the three adepts, empowering him to store substantially more.

    During the process, Kongcang couldn¡¯t move. Hua Qing could absorb more because he was more familiar with the relicpared to Zhuo Fengru. Be it that Hua Qing¡¯sbat skills weren¡¯t viable for actualbat, he had enough internal energy to give first-rate martial artists a run for their money.

    The luminousyer of the relic now undted steadily as it was supposed to when filled.

    ¡°Thought so. Your internal energy is significantly more potent than before.¡± Zhuo Fengru retracted his arm and smiled. ¡°Congrattions. The pugilistic now has one more elite.¡±

    Hua Qing pped his eyelids. ¡°Me? I am an elite?¡±

    ¡°Your internal energy has already surpassed this old one¡¯s. Once you learn how to employ all of it, this one can¡¯t underestimate you.¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er: ¡°You silly boy. You still don¡¯t get it?¡±

    ¡°Please enlighten me, Elder,¡± Hua Qing expressed.

    ¡°You indeed will need to be trained, or you won¡¯t even be able to use a third of your potential. One thing you must remember, however, is that Xu n¡¯s ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯ has its own techniques and theory, but Brother Xu was thest generation it was imparted to. Ipiled their ancestor¡¯s skills for Yupin so that he can employ his family¡¯s skills in the future. All that I can teach you is what I grasped from the notes Xu n¡¯s ancestors left behind. I¡¯m neither epting disciples on behalf of Xu n nor designating you the heir of ¡®Aerial Flower Divine Seal¡¯. I must make this clear despite our chance of leaving this ce alive still being up in the air.¡±

    ¡°That is only right. It is only a temporary measure. This one will do his best to forget the lessons once its purpose is served and vows to never pass on the knowledge.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to belittle yourself. You possess more potential than I do and better luck than I have. If you could have a few years to train, you¡¯d have very littlepetition even if you couldn¡¯t catch up to Mount Daluo¡¯s sessor. Sadly¡­¡±

    Nobody needed Zhuo Fengru to say another word to know what wasing because they were all aware of the pickle they were in.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Are we¡­ really going to leave Brother Ming?¡± Hua Qing decided to ask despite his hesitation.

    ¡°Every faction is watching him; it¡¯s impossible for us to approach him. Having said that, you don¡¯t need to worry. While I was fighting Miguo, I left Ming Feizhen with a present.¡±

    ¡°What would that be?¡±

    ¡°If you have time to mind someone else¡¯s business, you¡¯re better of spending the time on yourself. From now on, you have only one goal, and that is to grow stronger.¡±

    Hua Qing felt Zhuo Fengru and Wugou bore a strong resemnce when he heard Zhuo Fengru¡¯s instructions.

    ¡°Seven days from now, I want you to be the hero who will cut Lord Miguo down in one sh.¡±

    ***

    Bored to death, the formation¡¯s night sentries kept dropping their heads and then jolting, but they had to stay awake. For the same reason as them, plenty more formation casters had also been assigned to the site.

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his eyes from his back. ¡°Reading in the dark is bad for my eyes.¡± He scrunched up the sheet of paper and stuffed in his shirt.

    Ming Feizhen had been reading the sheet of paper Zhuo Fengru slipped him. Based on the archaguage and extensive description of an abyss, Ming Feizhen figured it had to be from a martial arts manual.

    Lord Miguo intended to starve Ming Feizhen for the next seven days; howbeit, Sky Pce sent him some snacks. Divine Moon Cult¡¯s group took turns drinking with him or snacking on grilled chickens.

    Speaking of food, right as another hunger pang struck, a visitor came, prompting Ming Feizhen to spring up onto his bottom. ¡°Nanjing salted duck, glutinous lotus roots and a small basket of braised pork shoulders in soy source. Is it my soulmate?¡±

    Unexpectedly, his guest was a timid, but beaming, teenager carrying a basket.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Ah, aren¡¯t you Master Le¡¯s assistant?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, yeah, it¡¯s me.¡± The effeminate teenager scratched his head. ¡°My master ordered me to send you a snack.¡±

    ¡°Even League of Assassins is visiting?¡± Ming Feizhen ran his gaze up and down the thin teenager. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ not a girl by any chance, are you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do I look like one?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m a boy.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡¯Huh¡¯ what? Bring me my food!¡± Ming Feizhen took out the food. Speaking whilst chewing, he voiced, ¡°Sit. What¡¯s your name?¡±

 Volume 11.5 68

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 68</h4>

    Snapping out of his stupefied mode, Ming Feizhen stuffed his finger up his nostril. ¡°The hell? Do all of you get such ridiculous names?¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡± Changan Zhile scrubbed the back of his skull. ¡°Only sometimes do we get embarrassing names.¡±

    Ming Feizhen passed over his empty bowl. ¡°Young man, you must remember to live an honest and modest life. Have you ever seen me, Ming Mieba, acting arrogant?¡±

    Changan Zhile froze in disbelief, though it wasn¡¯t known if that was because of what Ming Feizhen said or his appetite.

    ¡°Thanks for the food. You can take the tes now.¡±

    ¡°I still have a task, though.¡±

    ¡°Now you¡¯re talking. Less plotting. More sincerity.¡± Ming Feizhen took out an iron skewer from Changan Zhile¡¯s pocket that resembled a hidden weapon to use as a toothpick. ¡°So, what are you here for?¡±

    Changan Zhile thumped his chest. ¡°I¡¯m here to rescue you.¡±

    ¡°Get lost.¡±

    Changan Zhile tugged up a corner of his lips whilst cing his palms together, generating a loud ¡°snap¡± sound. ¡°You¡¯ll change your mind once you see what I¡¯m capable of.¡± He stepped into the formation.

    There was no way Changan Zhile could¡¯ve practiced any orthodox disciplines when he was associated with League of Assassins, yet he didn¡¯t bat an eye, mould energy orin when he stepped into the formation that used sunlight rock as its foundation.

    Doesn¡¯t this mean¡­ he¡¯s never trained any internal disciplines? Where does his confidencee from?!

    Changan Zhile separated his hands once he reached Ming Feizhen¡¯s side, then ran one hand up the left side and one down the left side - yin and yang. He cracked a smirk again and said, ¡°Keep your guard up.¡±

    ***

    To make his stance clear, Miguo himself went to guard the formation for a day, but, after all, he was the man in charge, so he couldn¡¯t stake out there all the time. After five days of no visitors, Yungu paid Ming Feizhen a visit again.

    Although the three unorthodox factions had different ns, the cornerstone of their ns was the same person. Demon Sect¡¯s Great Guardian wasn¡¯t fodder Yungu could mow down. Not only was Ming Feizhen capable of holding his own weight, but wealth, authority and women wouldn¡¯t sway him, either. As a group of recluses themselves, Sky Pce understood Mount Daluo better than Wudang and Shaolin. Plus, there was no doubt they researched theirpetition.

    Mount Daluo members believed in being upright, observing morals, exercising kindness and notpeting for material wealth and fame. Just as white paper was easier to dye different colours, the weakness of such people were extra clear. Sky Pce knew the weakness of every Mount Daluo disciple, which was why Ming Feizhen was different to them. While he showed a lot of openings, it was so difficult to sway his mind that she didn¡¯t know where to start. Therefore, she knew Mount Daluo wasn¡¯t responsible for Ming Feizhen¡¯sck of interest in her offers. If there was one person who could mould Ming Feizhen into such a challenge, it would be Ming Huayu.

    Even after numerous sleepless nights, Yungu had no strategies to deploy. Hence, she decided to do away with strategy and try to pry openings from conversation. ¡°Young Master, I am here to visit again.¡±

    ¡°What is it now?¡±

    Yungu dimpled as though all of her hesitation before was a hoax and walked over to the rock. ¡°I was worried you¡¯d be lonely¡­¡±

    Yungu: Am I seeing things?

    Yungu¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t lying to her. Ming Feizhen really was lying nted on a big rock, holding a duck leg in his right hand, a sheet of paper in his left hand and a cigarette in his mouth, looking through a pair of sunsses and humming a tune.

    ¡°How does this feel, Sir?¡± asked Changan Zhile, whilst giving Ming Feizhen a massage.

    ¡°Mm, not bad, not bad.¡± Ming Feizhen exhaled nice and slow. ¡°Go a tad harder on the left shoulder.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What in the world?¡± remarked Yungu.

    If Changan Zhile was working, then his rank would be the equivalent of Yungu¡¯s.

    Yungu: Why¡­ is he here? And what is he doing?

    ¡°This one is here on orders of Master Le.¡±

    Yungu asked, ¡°You were sent¡­ to give him a massage?¡±

    Changan Zhile wiped his sweat. ¡°And cook, brew tea, clean, wash his clothes and do his bed. I am good at all of them.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded. ¡°He¡¯s especially good at cooking.¡±

    Yungu staggered backwards.

    The two youths looked up. ¡°Huh? What?¡±

    Yungu choked out, ¡°Young Master, has he bribed you? I spent so long speaking to you!¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Says who? You think I can¡¯t tell it¡¯s a ploy? As if I¡¯d fall for such an obvious trick.¡±

    Yungu shifted her gaze to the duck leg in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand. ¡°But it looks like you enjoy the food¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, this bugger treated me to pork trotters, then forced me to eat a stewed duck; it was hell on earth. Had I not been trained, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to endure the harsh torture.¡±

    ¡°I-I lost to a duck?!¡± Yungu sped off crying.

    ¡°I heard Sky Pce¡¯s envoys have all trained Ice Heart, yet you made her cry,¡± Changan Zhilemented.

    ¡°Ice Heart? What¡¯s that? Is it edible?¡±

    Anytime Sky Pce allowed a ¡°herald¡± out, one could be sure that they had mastered ¡°Ice Heart¡± - a skill that trained practitioners to be as cool as ice so that they wouldn¡¯t make decisions with a clouded mind.

    Changan Zhile shrugged, then returned to massaging Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders with the edges of his hands. ¡°Back to what we talking about before. Do you really have no intention of escaping?¡±

    ¡°Can I?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Lord Miguo is far more dangerous than I gave him credit for.¡±

    ¡°Really? I can¡¯t tell.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a variable he didn¡¯t ount for ahead of time, yet he was able to stop me on the spot. I underestimated him. I do have an escape method, except it would cost everyone here their lives.¡± Ming Feizhen set down the sheet of paper on hand. ¡°That said, I just came up with a new solution.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder. ¡°¡­ Another variable not ounted for.¡±

    ***

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Though Hua Qing was an exceptionally fast learner, what Zhuo Fengru and Wugou really liked about him was his ability to concentrate on a task, especially when he had the aptitude, knowledge and mentors that he could be boasting about instead. His goal wasn¡¯t to excel as a martial artist but to learn a one-sh*t kill technique.

    For the initial two days, Hua Qing saw himself defending justice and punishing evil with Ming Feizhen, trying to be an aplished man so that he could eventually propose to Su Li. He smiled in his sleep as he envisioned famous heroes across thend attending his wedding to give their wishes. Unfortunately, he ended up regressing instead of progressing in his training.

    On the second night, instead of a cheerful visit from Zhuo Fengru or warm visit from Su Li, Kongkong¡¯er entered Hua Qing¡¯s training chamber and fumed, ¡°Are you crazy?! What are you letting your mind wander for?! These skills aren¡¯t yours! You think you¡¯re a hero now? You¡¯re a thief!¡±

    Kongkong¡¯er swung an iron rod at Hua Qing, continuing, ¡°You learnt my skills; you¡¯ll forever be a thief. Hero? My foot! Ask yourself: don¡¯t you know what your worth is? In the first six months under me, you didn¡¯t even know how to scale a wall. Adept? Get over here!¡± He dragged Hua Qing out from his shell and held him down to bat again. ¡°Remember when you got caught stealing oil and got bashed? You were bed ridden for a month. You were lucky to have even survived.¡±

    ¡°I-I do,¡± Hua Qing answered from behind his hands.

    ¡°Do you remember when you got caught whilst scoping out a target location? Had I arrived a momentter, his dogs would¡¯ve torn you limb from limb.¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Hua Qing replied in a muffled voice.

    ¡°Take your hands off your head.¡±

    Choking back his tears, Hua Qing pleaded, ¡°Shifu, spare my face.¡±

    ¡°Shut up. Remove them.¡±

    Hua Qing shakily removed his bruised hands to see his Shifu also crying.

    Kongkong¡¯er hugged his disciple. ¡°Never forget that we¡¯re thieves. Yes, it¡¯s possible to sleep on a bed with nkets and not worry at night, as well as enjoy expensive clothes and food, but we¡¯re not worthy of those things. We¡¯re just eye sores. We¡¯re thieves who drag ourselves out of a hail of punches and kicks time after time; however, we only have one life. Lose it and it¡¯s gone for good.¡± Kongkong¡¯er cast aside the rod, then went to the exit. ¡°I apologise for not teaching him better,¡± he expressed with his head down.

    Zhuo Fengru shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s thanks to you that we now have hope. I wish I had a shifu like you back then.¡±

    For the next three days, whether it was owed to the lecture or the beating, Hua Qing was freakishly focused on learning the skill, finally producing results.

    Tonight, Hua Qing performed as they hoped for on all three attempts, so Zhuo Fengru made conversation with him. ¡°Still not nning to tell her?¡±

    ¡°T-tell her what?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru touched his beard and winked. ¡°Not even going to ask who ¡®she¡¯ is?¡±

    ¡°Stop making fun of me, Elder.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not making fun of you. I¡¯m teaching you. Even if we control every variable we can, we only have a 50% chance of sess. We may not even make it out of here. If I had the same opportunity, I¡¯d like to tell my wife my greatest joy wasn¡¯t training or being a hero but marrying her and having Yanran.¡±

    ¡°We can do it¡­ We can get through this.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you tofort me. I have a wife and a daughter; you don¡¯t have anyone or anything. If you don¡¯t say it now, you¡¯ll never have a second chance. Don¡¯t waste time. Go now.¡± Zhuo Fengru pushed and kicked Hua Qing out.

    Hua Qing rubbed his butt as he wobbled, wondering if his training had any results at all.

 Volume 11.5 69

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 69</h4>

    Hua Qing spun around as fast as he could to see Su Li standing there. She had seen him scratching his head and smiling innocently plenty of times already, so she smiled back and turned to leave.

    ¡°Miss Su!¡±

    Startled, Su Li almost jumped. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I, uh, want to tell you something.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. Wait, where are we going?¡±

    Hua Qing dragged Su Li off to the small creek where they hid. For a while, all they heard was the night breeze.

    Back facing her, Hua Qing started, ¡°If I can make it back tomorr-¡±

    ¡°Not listening! Not listening!¡± Su Li covered her ears.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not done.¡±

    ¡°Why say something inauspicious?! The g is solid in the ground!¡±

    ¡°Miss Su, what I¡¯m trying to say is¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ wanted to ask if there was anywhere you still wanted to see at Three Gorges.¡±

    Fed up with Hua Qing¡¯s inability to look her in the eyes and speak his mind, Su Li blurted, ¡°You like me, yes?¡±

    Hua Qing flung his head up. ¡°Huh? Eh? Eh?!¡±

    ¡°No?¡±

    The two pped their eyelids.

    ¡°Y-you knew?¡±

    ¡°You stutter and stammer every time. I¡¯m not an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh¡­¡± Hua Qing went back to scratching his head as the breeze seared his cheeks.

    ¡°You face is really red.¡±

    Hua Qing wagged his hand. ¡°It¡¯s because of the wind¡­ Miss Su, your face is also really red.¡±

    Su Li turned her head. ¡°What are you looking at? It¡¯s the wind¡¯s fault.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the wind¡¯s fault.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you know what I think of you?¡±

    Heart palpitating uncontrobly, Hua Qing uttered, ¡°I want to know.¡±

    Su Li held her gaze against Hua Qing¡¯s and dimpled. ¡°At the start, I didn¡¯t like you whatsoever.¡±

    Hua Qing didn¡¯tpletelyprehend what Su Li meant, yet he wanted to smile just meeting her eyes. ¡°Uhm.¡±

    ¡°You were nice to me, but I thought you were the same as every other suitor, harbouring ulterior motives. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to give you the time of day. Hey, are you listening?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, d-didn¡¯t notice.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Geez.¡± Su Li aerated her cheeks. ¡°Listen properly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Hua Qing straightened his torso, then held his hands behind his ears.

    ¡°After learning of your past and going through danger with you, I considered you a friend. Frankly, I spent most of that time watching Ming Feizhen instead of you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d imagine so.¡± Hua Qing smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t stand out when beside him.¡±

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t stand out no matter who you¡¯re with.¡±

    Vajra Realm can help one defend against des, but words still pierced deep.

    ¡°No, no, you misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°Y-you don¡¯t have to exin.¡±

    ¡°At the very least,pared to Zhuo,¡± recalling Zhuo Yupin¡¯s swordy, Su Li paused for a beat, ¡°Miss Zhuo, you stand out more.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you so much for notparing me to A-Fa.¡±

    A-Fa was Zhuo Estate¡¯s gardener.

    ¡°You got it wrong.¡± Unable to find the words, Su Li took out a small book from her pouch. ¡°Take a look at this.¡±

    Hua Qing opened the book to find the pages covered in text. ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°I have a habit of monitoring people and noting their features. This is it.¡±

    Hua Qing blinked.

    ¡°Ahem, please turn to page thirteen.¡±

    Hua Qing carefully turned to page thirteen, which was titled ¡°After Boarding the Ship at Three Gorges¡±. Instead of writing down people¡¯s actions, Su Li noted down their daily moods.

    ¡°My mother told me that what we see may not always be the truth, but humans have emotions. Watch their emotions and think so that you are not fooled. I¡¯m not smart, nor do I have a good memory, so I have to do this the fool¡¯s way, which is to record and reflect daily.

    ¡°For instance, Hero Zhuo¡¯z brows woulde to life whenever he talked about his son and wife. There was no hiding that joy. Contrary to his name, Ming Feizhen willugh when he feels like it andsh out when he¡¯s angry. If he isn¡¯t used to being unrestrained, then his guardians must have the same temperament. You are someone who is always cautious. You disy concern more than anyone. You wouldn¡¯t be so weary if you didn¡¯t grow up constantly weary of people and things. All that said, this isn¡¯t what I¡¯m trying to say. Look here.¡±

    Hua Qing discovered that the number of mentions he received consistently decreased until he was barely mentioned more recently. Eyes wet, he questioned, ¡°Miss Su, have you forgotten about me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t need to remember. You show concern twelve times more than Ming Feizhen, frown five times more than him and say lines such as ¡®Oh my god¡¯ daily as many times as someone does in a week.¡± Su Li giggled behind her hand. ¡°You¡¯re old-school, passionate and kind. I don¡¯t need time to know I can¡¯t trust you, so why bother recording?¡±

    Put another way, Su Li only recorded observations of those she couldn¡¯t trust entirely yet.

    Relieved, Hua Qing beamed. ¡°I see now. Thing is, if you leave me out, how do you know what I¡¯m thinking?¡±

    ¡°Do I need to record to know? As soon as you greet me in the morning, I know¡­¡±

    The two of them blushed.

    ¡°Wh-whatever the case, I don¡¯t know if I like you or not; however¡­ you are the person I trust most among everyone here.¡± Su Li jogged off.

    After midnight, Hua Qing rocked up at Wugou¡¯s ce to demand, ¡°I want to improve!¡± then sat down tomence training.

    At first, Wugou was totally bewildered. Once he had a careful smell, he picked up Su Li¡¯s scent from Hua Qing. ¡°Hah, young men.¡±

    Hua Qing alwayscked the drive to improve, so Wugou didn¡¯t see a problem with it.

    There were three days left.

 Volume 11.5 70

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 70</h4>

    The big tree at the front door had grown taller thanst year. More moss crowded the stone steps than yesterday. Look as one may, the location of the ringing bell remains unknown. The sight never rubbed him the wrong way as a child, but, at some point in time, the sight of the temple inmed him.

    ¡°This is the master I¡¯ve been waiting for.¡±

    Ever since that child was born, the tree, the moss, the warm bell chimes, people and even Buddha changed.

    Miguo opened his eyes to greet the dark forest and crowd, then slowly got to his feet. ¡°Amitabha,¡± he recited in a booming voice.

    At this point in time, the four unorthodox factions were on the tail of the seven Champion White Princes in terms of power, but neither side attempted to cross into the other¡¯sne, preferring to build their power instead. Since it gradually dawned on them that they didn¡¯t have anything against each other, the tension between them naturally reduced. Unless there was a heinous criminal, seldom did orthodox sects condemn them. Likewise, unless there was a man so obsessed with upholding justice that he¡¯d provoke them, the unorthodox sects would turn a blind eye. If they ever crossed paths, they¡¯d greet each other with a nod or chin lift, then go their own way. As such, the martial artsmunity was in an era of ¡°peace¡±.

    The meeting and interaction of members in the martial artsmunity at Lotus Convention could¡¯ve been considered a small scale version of said situation. Miguo had no qualms inviting people from both sides of themunity precisely because of the status quo.

    The monk with prayer beads around his neck expressed, ¡°Greetings,dies and gentlemen.¡±

    Notwithstanding Lotus Cult¡¯s immense fame across thends, they weren¡¯t very active in the Central in. For that reason, Miguo Branch didn¡¯t have enough influence in the Central in to invite many big names from orthodox factions, and the majority of attendees hailed from unorthodox factions. Those predominately active in the Central in, therefore, didn¡¯t expect Miguo to be as advanced as he was as a martial artist. ¡°Under-levelled¡± folks jolted upon hearing Miguo¡¯s voice despite him not trying to give them a fright.

    Miguo granted the crowd a moment to calm down, then continued, ¡°This one is the Western Region¡¯s Lotus Cult¡¯s second-in-line monk - Miguo. As a foreign group trying to build up in foreignnd, and as people who have not been in the Central in for long, we did not want to make you listen in to our domestic affairs. It pains this one to say this, but a nefarious fiend has emerged from our ranks to wreak havoc inside and outside our sect. This one vows to purge the miscreant and restore our honour. This one invited you here to act as witnesses for he had no choice. Henceforth, this one shall rebuild Lotus Cult in the Central in, purge the fiend and take back Pure Land¡¯s Ten Courtyards.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no issue with acting as a witness. In saying that, don¡¯t tell us you called all of us here to watch you swear an oath and curse,¡± Master Le jibed.

    Miguo amicably shook his head. ¡°To honour his teachers and do justice to our cult, this one shall develop our cult once he has rebuilt it. Everyone here is from a martial arts sect. Let us not beat around the bush. This one impudently invited you here with the intention of recruiting new blood for Lotus Cult.¡±

    Attendees expected Miguo to say he was recruiting new blood for Miguo Branch, not Lotus Cult. Firstly, why would anyone want to leave home for some farawaynd? Secondly, why leave behind their days in the Central in to weather tough days as monks? Thirdly, switching affiliations was frowned upon in the martial artsmunity. Last but not least, why should they serve him just because he needed help? Attendees definitely wanted to ask what he could offer, but they¡¯d have to raise their voice to reach the monk on the lotus tform, and nobody was ready to embarrass himself.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Master Le: ¡°Ahahaha, I mean, props to you foring up with a n that takes care of two birds with one stone. With that said, all I see is losses - loss of hair, loss of privileges to drink, eat meat and enjoy women. Look at all our handsome brothers here. Why should they ruin their appearances? What joy is there in life if there¡¯s no alcohol and meat? We can¡¯t kill as monks; how is that any different to putting our lives in other people¡¯s hands in the pugilistic world? If I can¡¯t indulge in any of that, I¡¯d rather kill myself here and now than join your group.¡±

    ¡°Pardon this one for the oversight. You can join the sect without bing a monk or observing the stiptions. You may continue to live as you currently do. The Western Regions is very far from here. Therefore, we can¡¯t ask you to journey there. We can talk about moving again once we have developed to a certain point in the Central in. This one has already nned to spend a decade building the sect here; this is not an impulsive decision.¡±

    Master Le: ¡°Heh, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re trying to profit without investing anything. There are people who will kill for profit, but there¡¯s nobody who will work for a loss.¡±

    ¡°By no means does this one have any intention of exploiting your efforts for nothing. This one assumes you have heard of the discipline he learns. He can utilise it to help you ovee your teaus. He is willing and able to help any recruits raise their levels.¡±

    Suffice to say, Miguo had many hook, line and sinker by this point.

    On the surface, Master Le was disputing Miguo. Howbeit, if one were to assess the situation nowpared to the start, they would see that Miguo had erased a lot of the doubt that people had and answered enquiries they would¡¯ve liked to make in a way that drew them in. In essence, Master Le brought up the doubts and questions, granting Miguo opportunities to deal with them.

    Voice muffled, Bai Tianbin said, ¡°That fatso usually doesn¡¯t act until he sees the opportunity. For him to be cooperating in tune with Miguo, he¡¯s acting strange.¡±

    Wen Wudao: ¡°Us?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give a toss. Could he possibly be stranger than us?¡± Switching to a loud voice, Bai Tianbin jeered, ¡°Oi, Fatso, you lot can switch to performing skits instead of assassinations. You deserve an award for your effort.¡±

    Master Le grinned. ¡°Master Bin, Let us not poke each other when we are in the same boat. Divine Moon Cult is here support him, as well. Else, you would be stooping down.¡±

    For some, it was their first time putting a face to the names Bai Tianbin and Master Le.

    ¡°As martial artists, we have teachers and schools of our own already. Even in the event that our skill is not up to your standard, we take it on the chin and show respect. There is no honour in switching schools just to raise our level.¡±

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°Who the heck is he?¡±

    A follower answered, ¡°He is Cha Hao, master of Hangzhou¡¯s Tea Lake Manor. He is quite well-known in the pugilistic world for being decently strong and very upright.¡±

    ¡°Heh, someone who gets it.¡± Bai Tianbinughed. ¡°Monk, the man is right. You can¡¯t force people into your group when they have a school and teacher, right?¡±

    Ironically, for thest decade, Divine Moon Cult and Liu Shan Men were notorious for forcing people to join their ranks.

    ¡°This one is not imparting martial knowledge, recruiting a disciple or forcing anyone to leave their sect. All he asks is that we share the goal of restoring our sect¡¯s glory. Once the fiend has been purged, we will return to the Western Regions. We dare not and will not force anyone to dishonour their teachers and ancestors. Of course, this one will not force anyone to join him against their will. Everything is voluntary.¡±

    Even if one became a famous adept, they would be sted for eternity if they were dishonourable. Serving temporarily, however, would be the equivalent of working at Liu Shan Men, learning martial arts whilst serving the imperial court. Why not?

    Soon enough, there were people voicing their support, except nobody knew it was people Miguo nted into the crowd. Either way, their support convinced outsiders to ept the offer.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Miguo spoke over the crowd, demonstrating the fact that he had leadership qualities they could trust in. ¡°Men, bring him in.¡±

    Two of Miguo¡¯s followers brought in Wugou and effortlessly hopped up onto the tform.

    ¡°This here is the fiend under our respected leader - Wugou.¡±

    While the uninformed were asking around for details on the unknown face, Bai Tianbin remarked, ¡°He¡¯s the leader of Wugou Branch? No wonder why this Miguo guy was so insistent on holding this convention.¡±

    The old rival of Wugou, Wen Wudao,mented, ¡°Coot sure did a lot without us knowing.¡±

    Miguo waited for everyone to return their attention to him, then borated, ¡°To convey sincerity, this one shall y this viinous monk here in your presence.¡±

    Wugou looked up at Miguo, ignoring the mouring beneath them. Miguo sauntered over and whispered, ¡°Senior Brother, do you have anyst words?¡±

    From Miguo¡¯s perspective, it was impossible to tell if Wugou was looking at him or through him, to the forest behind him. Unlike the noise introduced in this area, though, the forest was as silent as ever.

    ¡°¡­ Deer are born in the forest. They drink water, feed on grass, sleep under trees and don¡¯t have to fret.¡± Wugou looked up again and smiled at Miguo¡¯s scowl. ¡°You can kill me now.¡±

    ¡°¡­ As you wish.¡±

    Miguo raised an arm, began reducing the temperature in the vicinity using his qi, then lunged forward to deliver the finishing blow.

    ¡°Stand down!¡± He zipped through the forest and used the heads of the attendees as footholds to cross over, then vaulted onto the tform,nding as light as a feather. ¡°Release him!¡± demanded the tall young man.

    Nobody, including Miguo, could put a name to the young man¡¯s face, prompting Miguo to question, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The young man smiled. ¡°Hua Feihua!¡± The venue fell silent after hearing him announce himself,pelling him to look down for answers.

 Volume 11.5 71

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 71</h4>

    Miguo loosened his fist, then turned to face Hua Qing calmly because he was expecting someone to try and sabotage his coronation. ¡°Greetings. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the rapist behind the eighteen atrocious casesst year,¡± he informed in a voice that would¡¯ve had people assuming they were friends if it weren¡¯t for the contents.

    Whether it was orthodox sects or unorthodox sects, both despised rapists. In prisons, rapists were treated worse than arsonists, murders, swindlers and arsonists. If bandits were toe across one, they¡¯d bash them even harder than they¡¯d bash orthodox sect members. Therefore, it was no surprise the crowd got rowdy.

    Hua Qing brushed it all off with a smile, then saluted Miguo. ¡°Too kind.¡±

    Miguo discerned Hua Qing had improved physically and mentally from his qinggong performance andposure, but he couldn¡¯t tell to what extent. ¡°This one has been searching for you for some time. Could you enlighten him as to why you chose to show up today?¡±

    Hua Qing: Miss Su was right.

    Su Li told Hua Qing, ¡°Miguo kept his head on straight even when things that could ruin his ns were introduced. When running into a strong foe or his allies in the unorthodox factions, he didn¡¯t work with them. He likes to say fluffy things for the sake of appearances, which indicates that he works in a roundabout way. If you want to force him to y in your field, that¡¯s where you start.¡±

    Nobody would argue with Miguo if he sttered someone¡¯s skull in a fit of anger. Howbeit, in order to control Lotus Cult, he had to put on airs as a virtuous monk in the public eye. As such, Hua Qing had ovee one obstacle if he could avoid getting physical as soon as they came face to face. By no means, though, did they assume Miguo wouldn¡¯t make an attempt on his lifeter.

    Hua Qingughed over the crowd, leading to people thinking that the rumours about him weren¡¯t unfounded. After all, tomit eighteen rape cases and escape Liu Shan Men was no simple task.

    ¡°If an old friend doesn¡¯te to give his blessings, wouldn¡¯t your coronation be boring?¡± Hua Qing rhetorically asked in a loud voice.

    The corner of Miguo¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Old friend¡­ Yes, old friend. Did you bring a gift?¡± Of course, he was referring to none other than the sarira.

    ¡°That will depend on if you¡¯re friendly enough.¡± Hua Qing raised his volume a notch. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, do you know why Lord Miguo came to the Central in?¡±

    Miguo silently prepared energy to end Hua Qing if thetter ever mentioned anything not in his favour.

    Hua Qing answered his own question. ¡°To build a new Lotus Cult. Combining the merits of the Western Regions with the Central in¡¯s martial artsmunity is not only a meritorious deed but also a noble one.¡±

    Miguo: ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I am honoured to be part of this great event. I heard you mention anyone is wee to join, so I wish to confirm if that is true. For example, are officials, those against the government and those not wee in society wee?¡±

    Miguo couldn¡¯t figure out where Hua Qing was going with it.

    At present, the majority of Miguo Branch¡¯s thousand-plus members were primarilyprised of viins and criminals. Government officials numbered as little as five who wouldn¡¯t even have any ce talking. Orthodox sects didn¡¯t like involving themselves with the government, let alone unorthodox sects. If there were people wee in society present, they wouldn¡¯t need to bemitting acts of robbery.

    ¡°This one¡¯s doors are open for the sake of building the cult. You are overthinking.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that.¡± Hua Qing brightly offered up a salute. ¡°I shall be the first to join the new cult, bing its senior disciple.¡±

    ¡°So you wished to join.¡± Miguo sounded affable, but his gaze had sharpened. He assumed Hua Qing¡¯s n was to join the sect so that he couldn¡¯t kill thetter. ¡°Haha, Buddha is benevolent; salvation is for everyone. How can this one turn away someone who has realised his wrongs and wishes to turn over a new leaf? Henceforth, you are our new culct¡¯s senior disciple. Grow alongside this one.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing pped. ¡°Great. Great. Thank you for not being prejudice. There are more people who wish to join.¡± He turned around and shouted, ¡°Hero Zhuo, Miss Su, we are all wee to join.¡±

    As Hua Qing did, Zhu Fengru zoomed through the forest and ascended to the tform, carrying Su Li along.

    ¡°Surname is Zhuo, qinggong is advanced¡­ Zhuo Fengru?¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯s he here, too? To fight for leadership?¡±

    Miguo locked his gaze on Su Li.

    ¡°Monk, stop staring. I¡¯m signing up, so I need to see the leader, don¡¯t I?¡± Hua Qing queried.

    Miguo furrowed his brows. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Since I have joined up, I am part of the family. Shouldn¡¯t I pay my respects to our leader?¡±

    Miguo red at Hua Qing. ¡°Did you not know I am the leader?¡±

    Hua Qing recoiled as though he was clueless. ¡°Why? We have more than a thousand people here. How did you be leader? Who approved?¡±

    It finally dawned on Miguo that he had fallen for Hua Qing¡¯s ploy, but it was toote.

 Volume 11.5 72

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 72</h4>

    If one were to look up close, they¡¯d see Hua Qing¡¯s finger pointing at Miguo subtly trembling. To begin with, Hua Qing had to psych himself up to confront Miguo, so adding on the pressure of mocking Miguo in front of so many famous people almost broke him. After all, the uncertainty of when Miguo would strike was stressful.

    Suffice to say, Miguo could see the shaking from where he stood. He sneered it off, then hopped over to Wugou. ¡°A rapist thinks he¡¯s qualified to be my sect¡¯s patriarch?¡±

    On the ropes, Hua Qing fell back on to his street tactics. ¡°You could do it, too.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?¡±

    ¡°Once a new sect is established, the old pecking order goes out the window. Why can¡¯t you be the new patriarch? Are you telling us that everything you previously said was just to entertain us? If that¡¯s the case, it isn¡¯t a new sect at all. Isn¡¯t it just a mish mash of random sects?¡±

    Miguo couldn¡¯t do anything but let his rage sear through his face. Because of his strict and textbook demands, neither he nor his subordinates were trained to adjust quickly.

    ¡°Well said!¡±

    The first person to look over to where the praise came from whispered, ¡°Hua Feihua is Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s sworn brother¡­¡±

    Another person: ¡°He¡¯s colluding with Demon Sect?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m convinced. Otherwise, how does he get off being so arrogant? Plus, there has to be a reason not even Liu Shan Men starts with him.¡±

    Miguo disputed, ¡°It sounds like you insist on leading. That is fine; however, respect is earned. If you do not show us what you are capable of, there will be people who object.¡±

    Hua Qing heard his heart beats in his ears. His only mission was to force Miguo to agree into settling the dispute throughbat, thereby forcing Miguo into a one-on-one bout agreement, without scrapping because that was a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Still, he stayed cool. ¡°In other words, you want to scrap?¡±

    The people below started mouthing off before Miguo could respond.

    Hua Qing: When did these people¡­

    ¡°Fight! Fight! Fight! You going to take that?!¡±

    Hua Qing: Oi, shut up!

    Miguo confidently hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°A leader must demonstrate he is capable of leading. If you can defeat this one, the seat is yours.¡±

    ¡°Long-story short, you want to fight me, correct?¡± Hua Qing crossed his arms and grinned, except he could feel his mouth stiffening up unlike Miguo. ¡°In other words, the fate of the cult¡¯s leadership is predicated solely on who the superior fighter is between us, correct?¡±

    ¡°All this ramblings has led you to think poorly of this one. This one is a monk. He is here to take care of his friends, not to fight. Kanhu, spar with Young Master Hua.¡± Miguo wasn¡¯t a magician, but there wasn¡¯t any other way to exin Hua Qing¡¯s sudden spike in abilities, especially when Zhuo Fengru clearly looked exhausted.

    Zhuo Fengru, Zhuo Fengru, you would trust a kid to help you? Looks like it¡¯s the end of your hero legacy. He might¡¯ve caught me by surprise, but you¡¯re underestimating me if you think I¡¯m so stupid.

    Miguo didn¡¯t feign ignorance and send out a follower because he was scared. It was because the monk named Kanhu was his senior disciple who had been taught Vajra Realm and enhanced with his internal energy.

    Kanhu had only put a foot forward when one of theckeys watching Wugou jeered, ¡°You don¡¯t need to trouble yourself, Senior Brother.¡± Theckey leapt past Kanhu to Miguo. ¡°Shizun, leave him to me.¡±

    Langzhen, Miguo¡¯s second senior disciple, didn¡¯t like the fact that Kanhu suddenly increased the gap between them in recent years, so he wanted the opportunity to demonstrate he wasn¡¯t inferior to his senior.

    Miguo stole a gander Zhuo Fengru¡¯s way. ¡°Young Master Hua has recently grown exponentially. Don¡¯t get overconfident.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Langzhen nced in his indifferent brother¡¯s way, then turned back to Hua Qing. ¡°Rapist, you shall pay with your life for your wishful thinking!¡±

    Hua Qing had yet to enjoy a moment of relief when a fist was already on its way to his face. Howbeit, because he was amidst feeling the relief of avoiding a match against Miguo, he ended up forgetting to move out of the way. ¡°Argh!¡± Hua Qing squatted down, hands over his bloody nose.

    The punch was a part of a basicbo taught to Miguo Branch followers. The first punch was intended to act as a feint, forcing the opponent into a position that exposed them to a lethal three-punchbo. Therefore, Langzhen was stupefied when the first punchednded flush. Obviously, the audience didn¡¯t take too kindly to their performances.

    ¡°The cue to start was never even given.¡± Hua Qing rubbed his nose as he stood up. Although a blood nose was amonplication for fighters, it was Hua Qing¡¯s first time fighting a martial artist, so it impacted his state of mind to a degree.

    From behind Hua Qing, Zhuo Fengru said, ¡°Hahaha, stop ying, Qing. Nobody tells you his intent in a fight. Stay alert at all times, or you¡¯ll lose your life and your beautiful wife.¡±

    Su Li bashfully muttered under her breath, ¡°Young Master Hua, he is focused on showing off and prone to losing his cool. As long as you stay calm, paths will open for you.¡±

    Hua Qing hyped himself up, wiped off his blood, then calmed himself to start analysing. Only then did it dawn on him that the onlybat experience he had was running the other way. Regardless of how calm he was or how hard he thought, no game n was going toe to mind. At best, he could only imitate what he had previously seen. The one person who came to mind was a non-conformist and definitely didn¡¯t fight honest fights; however, he was iprehensibly proficient at fighting.

    The corners of Hua Qing¡¯s lips moved up on their own. ¡°¡­ Hey, pussy boy, you think you¡¯re a hot shot just because you caught me unprepared? I guess baldness must be a symptom of shamelessness, hey? If I were you, I¡¯d bang my head on a wall and be done with life.¡±

    Langzhen pped back, ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure you¡¯re unrecognisable by the time you hit the ground.¡±

    Commencing round two, Langzhen bound forward, then uncorked punches, ws and finger spears, while Hua Qing blocked and blocked¡­ and blocked. Hua Qing may have had power, but the only technical training he received was Zhuo Fengru¡¯s swordy, making it a challenge to keep up. Yet, every attack from Langzhen seemingly drove tension out of Hua Qing¡¯s body. The more exchanges they had, the clearer Hua Qing could see. In all fairness, his superior internal energy empowered him to perceive the same thing as his opponent in slower motions

    What first appeared to be a fixed match turned interesting. Langzhen started to feel frustrated as he didn¡¯t hurt Hua Qing despite tagging thetter several times. As a consequence, Langzhen started to get careless with his execution and could no longer clip Hua Qing at all in spite of thetter¡¯sck of finesse.

    To those who weren¡¯t blindly watching for entertainment, it was clear Langzhen was gradually losing his standing in the match. He was tiring himself out, while his opponent mechanically defused his attacks as though he didn¡¯t need to engage his brain.

    In reality, Hua Qing was constantly reying Ming Feizhen¡¯s movements in his mind. Until today, most of Ming Feizhen¡¯s ugly movements didn¡¯t make any sense to Hua Qing. They were still ugly, but they forced Langzhen to deal with them. Most importantly for Hua Qing, the movements didn¡¯t tire him out.

    Kanhu advised, ¡°Brother, go for the kill!¡±

    The only thing Kanhu¡¯s advice did was frustrate Langzhen even more since it bruised his ego.

    ¡°None of your business!¡±

    Kanhu suddenly felt a winding at him, prompting him to jump back. By the time he went to move, though, Hua Qing¡¯s attack had boxed him in. At best, he¡¯d get away but not unscathed. Hence, he thrust his palms out, refusing to believe he¡¯d lose to Hua Qing in a strength contest.

    At the moment of impact, Langzhen experienced how cannonballs fired from the Western Region¡¯s cannons felt. There was no way he could stop himself from mming into anything when he was hurling gasping blood.

    Kanhu deftly caught Langzhen without letting his junior suffer any further damage, while Miguo remained unmoved. Kanhu could see his brother¡¯s inevitable defeat from tiring himself out from watching how tired the two were. He sighed and transferred over internal energy to protect Langzhen¡¯s meridians for the meantime. Kanhu knew that Miguo wasn¡¯t going to heal his disciples or subordinates.

    Kanhu set Langzhen down, then ambled over to Hua Qing. ¡°Please go easy on me.¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s thrill kept his motivation high and fear at bay, but Zhuo Fengru said, ¡°Use that technique.¡±

    Hua Qing pivoted around. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Zhuo Fengru smiled. ¡°Nobody is going to know who you are unless you use it now.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Hua Qing swept his gaze around. ¡°I think I¡¯m quite famous already¡­¡±

    ¡°Just do as you¡¯re told!¡±

    Kanhu heard the conversation loud and clear. Miguo liked Kanhu because thetter was a serious individual who didn¡¯t like ying games or being careless. Since his opponent wasing out with an ace, Kanhu protected himself using Vajra Realm right away. As the qi formed around his body, nging sounds were audible - an indication of his progress being enough to affect the environment. It took a while for Hua Qing to take down Kanhu, so it was reasonable to assume it¡¯d take even longer for Kanhu and Hua Qing to settle their match.

    Hua Qing seemed to be looking at Kanhu, yet it didn¡¯t seem as though thetter was focused. Therefore, Kanhu cautiously stepped forward.

    Hua Qing was actually still reying Ming Feizhen¡¯s movements. The details from the moment Ming Feizhen raised his hands to when he decided to attack that once eluded him gradually showed.

    This is the moment Brother Ming struck.

    Hua Qing bridged the gap, then recited right in front of Kanhu, ¡°Soul Banishing Order.¡±

    Kanhu suddenly felt his body copse involuntarily, dropping to the ground as if his bones were pulled out.

    Someone below: ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have listened to you and gone for a piss! I would¡¯ve missed this magical moment!¡±

    As the technique¡¯s creator, not even Zhuo Fengru imagined it could be so lethal. Whatever mental adjustment Hua Qing made, it wasn¡¯t something that Zhuo Fengru taught.

    Miguo saw Hua Qing finger spear the thinnest part of Kanhu¡¯s qi armour - the side of his neck. He couldn¡¯t exin the power of the strike, but the technique itself wasn¡¯t anything shy. He had no idea Hua Qing¡¯s technique execution was a gue to the eyes.

    Kanhu¡¯s specialty was strength. Understandably, he went with his strongest skill whenever he went up against a dangerous opponent. Unfortunately for him in this match, Hua Qing was basically himself on performance enhancing drugs. Therefore, he was destined to lose when he turned it into a strength contest.

    Miguo exhaled deliberately through his nose, adjusted his facial expression and announced, ¡°Young Master Hua¡¯s martial prowess is exceptional. You shall be the new patriarch once you defeat this one.¡± One step from him had people feeling the need to reach for their weapons.

    In a muffled voice, Hua Qing uttered, ¡°You¡¯ve fallen for my trap.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, no matter how sharp your tongue is, it can¡¯t defend you from this one¡¯s fists.¡±

    Hua Qing switched to a loud voice. ¡°You¡¯re the one who said this is a martial arts contest. Winner takes all. You aren¡¯t recinding on your promise now, are you?!¡±

    Miguo followed suit, raising his voice. ¡°Indeed. However, this one did say that there will be no further negotiations if you cannot defeat him.¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine. Winner against you gets to be the new patriarch.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. So,e take¡­¡± Miguo finally understood the purpose of Hua Qing¡¯s gag-like performance.

    ¡°d to finally hear those words. Ladies and gentlemen, especially from the three unorthodox factionz, Lotus Cult wees all contestants topete for leadership. If anyone wishes to be the new patriarch of Lotus Cult, don¡¯t pass up this opportun-¡±

    Miguo had Hua Qing¡¯s throat in his clutch and body suspended in the air before Hua Qing could finish. Owing to their size discrepancy, it was akin to a bird picking up a worm.

    As much as he remained cool on the surface, Miguo¡¯s rage crept into his tone. ¡°Had you behaved and handed over the relic, this one would¡¯ve release you back into the pugilistic world; however, you don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you. If you want to me someone, me yourself for your end.¡±

    A measured spurt of qi came onto Miguo¡¯s radar from his side as he began to squeeze harder, but he was in no mood to back down. ng! The qi dispersed into the atmosphere. Hua Qing used the split second to somehow force his way out of Miguo¡¯s grip.

    Miguo held his position for a while, seemingly in deep thought, then looked askance to Zhuo Fengru. ¡°¡­ What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fighting contest, isn¡¯t it? This old one also ones to vie for the seat.¡±

    ¡°You want to overwhelm me with numbers?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you speak in jest. This old one isn¡¯t the shameless you. He¡¯ll fight you one on one.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru wasted no time getting down to business, starting off the same way he did in hisst outing.

    The audience was slow to follow the logic at work, much less wrap their heads around how Hua Qing dropped Kanhu in one shot, but who gave a toss when there was a fight to be rowdy over?

    Unlike Hua Qing¡¯s matches, Zhuo Fengru versus Miguo was a truly arresting fight for people who appreciated martial arts contests. In thest fight, Miguo came up short in the technical department, while Zhuo Fengru lost due his ignorance of Vajra Realm¡¯s capabilities. Their physical exchanges didn¡¯t vary noticeablypared to theirst contest. In contrast tost time, howbeit, Zhuo Fengru wasn¡¯t as fit. Topensate, he, therefore, went all out much sooner.

    Since Miguo managed to fend off Zhuo Fengru¡¯s offencest time, fending off Zhuo Fengru a second time made no difference to him. He took Zhuo Fengru¡¯s thrust with his chest, forcing Zhuo Fengru to disengage.

    ¡°Qing!¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hua Qing was already adjacent to Miguo and reaching for Miguo the same way he stabbed Kanhu. Everything was going to n when Hua Qing felt a jolt that rocked his insides, head and bnce. On his way to the ground, he saw the corner of Miguo¡¯s lips lifted.

    Zhuo Fengru immediately realised he had fallen for Miguo¡¯s ploy, but he didn¡¯t know where he went wrong. Problem was, he already used everything in the tank to restrain Miguo for Hua Qing; in the end, trapping Miguo ended up also being a trap for himself.

    ¡°Leng Jingliu, kill them!¡±

    Leng Jingliu came down onto the tform, drew his sword and then plunged it through his target¡¯s left chest, except¡­

    Miguo looked over his shoulder and, whilst fighting to keep his armour intact, stammered, ¡°¡­ You? Are¡­ betraying this one? Who¡­ are¡­¡±

 Volume 11.5 73

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 73</h4>

    ¡°Come on. Sell me some good will. Shut down the formation for a while. Rounding up, I¡¯m a hundred and two years old. Surely you¡¯ve had enough. If you need to exin to your boss, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll go talk to him. Everyone is a family under this sky; we can talk it out. Alternatively, let me out for a while. I¡¯ll be back in two hours, promise. You know what they say: first meeting, we¡¯re strangers. Second time, we¡¯re acquaintances. Third time, we¡¯re long-time partners. Fourth time, we¡¯re partners for life. Since you¡¯re all so pretty, I¡¯ll give you a 50% discount. You can lock me up eight times, deal?¡±

    Sky Pce reassigned all of their forces at Wugou¡¯s formation to Ming Feizhen¡¯s formation as it was the day that Ming Feizhen was most likely to start something, only for him to constantly p his gums.

    ¡°L-like hell I¡¯ll believe you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll sign. I can swear an oath? The moon represents my heart, deal? I love you all, uh, till the end of time.¡±

    Seven maidens: ¡°Shut up!¡±

    To break the Ice Heart training of seven disciples was something one could proudly boast about.

    Ruisi: Men really are nothing but liars! He lies without batting an eye. He didn¡¯t even take his eyes off that sheet of paper, yet he¡¯s trying to sound sincere. Who is teaching a kid his age to lie like this?!

    Ruisi: ¡°Hey, that thing in your hand¡­¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen pulled out a bunch of stuff from his shirt to hold up, specifically a piece of agate, jade, a big bag, a calligraphy scroll, a go board and a porno. ¡°Which one?¡±

    When did he get his hands on those things?! He can¡¯t leave the formation!

    Ming Feizhenughed under his breath, ignoring Ruisi. ¡°Hahaha, that guy did it in the end, huh?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Miss Ruisi, it¡¯s only been a few days since west met, yet you¡¯re looking prettier already.¡±

    Ruisi didn¡¯t answer or get closer as she was afraid she¡¯d spring Ming Feizhen¡¯s trap. Howbeit, it became the reason that she didn¡¯t see his eyes behind the sheet of paper were gradually turning red.

    ***

    Nobody conducted a background check or rmended Leng Jingliu when he first joined. In fact, they started off as foes. Miguo didn¡¯t go out to recruit him; he was out to put away Leng Jingliu when thetter beat everybody he sent. Once he saw what Leng Jingliu was capable of, Miguo desired Leng Jingliu¡¯s services.

    There wasn¡¯t anything that could be traced back from Leng Jingliu¡¯s swordy that surpassed Zhuo Fengru¡¯s or his jet-ck sword. Though Miguo might give the impression that he was bold in nning, he wasn¡¯t actually a fan of taking risks, but he made an exception for Leng Jingliu.

    Adepts never just fell from the sky; Leng Jingliu had to have quite the backstory. Nheless, Miguo saw beyond Leng Jingliu¡¯s skill. Miguo believed that someone who didn¡¯t trust anyone and coveted nothing but improvement in his swordy was an individual he could make use of. Leng Jingliu was practically a clone of Miguo. That was why he still couldn¡¯t believe Leng Jingliu betrayed him. Never did Miguo imagine someone who could kill without batting an eye would be an employee of the imperial court.

    ¡°All right. All right, then.¡± Miguo chortled in a low voice. ¡°Everything has been smooth sailing in recent years. So the reason we never shed head on with Liu Shan Men was because they already nted a spy. Young Master Wuzheng truly took everything into consideration. That¡¯s the ¡®Man Who Can Do It All¡¯ for you. Why didn¡¯t you take this one¡¯s head?¡±

    Leng Jingliu, gaze against Miguo¡¯s, whipped the blood off his sword. ¡°Two reasons. First, I can¡¯t cut through your armour to behead you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ And the second?¡±

    ¡°My task was to stab you once. Whates after isn¡¯t my concern. I¡¯m not interested in fighting you as you are now, either. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    Even if a foreign entity prated a Vajra Realm practitioner¡¯s armour, if it didn¡¯t inflict fatal damage, it was second only to damaging meridians. Thus, Miguo sat down to recover on the spot, except his grin never went away.

    Regardless of what Miguo had nned, Zhuo Fengru wanted to deal the finishing blow due to his own circumstances. He looked over to Hua Qing, his only hope of finishing of Miguo. While getting rocked did disrupt Hua Qing¡¯s flow of true qi, he wasn¡¯t injured, and he regained mobility. Therefore, as soon as he met with Zhuo Fengru¡¯s gaze, Hua Qing glued his left fingers together and thrust toward Miguo.

    Triumph was but one thrust away, yet something outside of Hua Qing¡¯s body took his bnce from.

    ¡°Are you still going to keep ying around?¡± Yungu swept Hua Qing off his feet - literally - with a single wave of hand, then ascended the tform. Facing the audience below, she sternly questioned, ¡°Venerated leaders of Divine Moon Cult and League of Assassins, have you forgotten why we are here and why we are supporting the establishment of New Lotus Cult? Should he be allowed to continue running amok?¡±

    Bai Tianbin: ¡°Hey, if you keep talking about sharing amon enemy, this old man is going to mistake himself as one of you. What? Your leader fall for ours? Sadly, our virtuous leader isn¡¯t interested.¡±

    ¡°We may not share the same goal, but our goal ismon for the most part, not to mention it all hinges on one person. Else, who could mobilise all three unorthodox sects? This one fails to understand your actions, so she would like a clear answer now.¡± Sounding as cold as ice, Yungu asked, ¡°Are you going to ignore the blood of God of Battle that has finally appeared?¡±

    Trivia

 Volume 11.5 74 Itâ€™s Principle

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 74 It¡¯s Principle</h4>

    ¡°God of Battle¡¯s blood¡± was akin to a magical phrase that made everyone tune in; even Zhuo Fengru felt alive upon hearing those four words.

    Snapping out of his astonishment, Bai Tianbinughed hysterically, then said, ¡°Nice thinking,ss. The monk is in trouble, and Liu Shan Men is on their way, so you¡¯re calling for help. Unfortunately, your method isn¡¯t very smart. If we sit back and watch, your group won¡¯t be able to do squat.¡±

    Yungu smiled. ¡°If the three of us join hands, Liu Shan Men is but a bug. Besides, in the event they doe, their first target is unlikely to be Sky Pce.¡±

    There was a rumour that Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain and Divine Moon Cult¡¯s leader were the worst pair of foes in thest century, getting into physical altercations if they ever met and they would tear a building apart every time they fought. People would then scavenge the scene for any object still intact to sell on the ck market for a fat sum. Homes, inns, huts, shrines, brothels and even the imperial pce had to once undergo renovations because of their ¡°sparring matches¡±. As for Liu Shan Men as an entity of itself, as if they weren¡¯t enemies yet, their leaders even told them to strangle the other side¡¯s members to death if they ever came across one.

    Even if nobody understood what Yungu implied, Bai Tianbin did - evident from his silence and grim look.

    Yungu turned to Master Le. ¡°Mr. Bai does not seem to have any objections. We are but weak women. Can we count on League of Assassins if a dangerous enemyes?¡±

    ¡°You think too highly of us. I am a businessman through and through. Therefore, I don¡¯t do anything unless I have 100% guarantee of sess.¡± Smiling even with his eyes, Master Le patted his belly. ¡°Hoho, we all know only onest source of his blood remains today. Everyone knows Battle of God¡¯s body is a divine entity, but how do you know it¡¯s him? I only agreed to join because the monk promised to test him, but he just got stabbed in the back, so that n looks like it¡¯s history. How can we do business when we can¡¯t even confirm if the goods are authentic or not?¡±

    ¡°Had you not confirmed he was the real deal, you would not have had your assistant send him food, would you?¡±

    ¡°No clue, no clue, honestly no clue. I¡¯m not ballsy. Killing, yes, but only the boss man can decide to take jobs with no profit.¡±

    ¡°In that case, there is a simple solution. Regardless of whether he is authentic or not, we will only keep him for one month. After that, you can take him - no strings attached. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°¡­ All right, we ept. We can feel your sincerity, hahaha.¡± Master Le flicked up a thumb, then turned to Bai Tianbin. ¡°Hey, her offer is fabulous. If you don¡¯t offer a bid, you¡¯re going to lose it from right under your nose.¡±

    Bai Tianbin shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re searching for the blood to resolve our cult¡¯s problems. This old one doesn¡¯t know what League of Assassins¡¯ endgame may be, but it could purely be for fun. On the other hand, your group never gets involved unless there¡¯s something valuable. For what reason are you investing so much for a monk from the Western Regions?¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand. God of Battle¡¯s blood will only harness its full potential when endangered. Miguo is the best testing tool. All three of us stand to gain significantly from this. Please do not let your emotions cloud your judgement.¡±

    Both Bai Tianbin and Zhuxing Wuchang nodded.

    Nobody but the three leaders heard the discussion between them.

    Yungu saluted the three before heading over to Miguo. ¡°Your Excellency, how does it go?¡±

    Appearance ghastly white, Miguo shook his head. ¡°It does not bode well.¡±

    Yungu stole a gander Leng Jingliu¡¯s way and dimpled whilst saying to Miguo, ¡°Rest up, Your Excellency. There are a series of tough battles ahead of us. Allow this one to take out the trash for you first.¡±

    Hua Qing met with Yungu¡¯s gaze that wasparable to a snake eyeing a frog. While she did trip him, he wasn¡¯t afraid of her.

    ¡°You have something to say, Young Master Hua?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You are trying to force Brother Ming¡¯s hand, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The question wiped away Yungu¡¯s smirk because he wasn¡¯t supposed to have been able to hear their dialoguemunicated via Voice Transmission. ¡°You heard?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t kill because you can¡¯t beat the one who will avenge me.¡± Hua Qing didn¡¯t even blink in case he missed any micro expressions. ¡°You want Miguo to kill me and then for him and Brother Ming to hurt each other, correct?¡±

    Yungu¡¯s brightness returned. ¡°Young Master Hua, people need to stop calling you stupid when you¡¯re so perceptive. You¡¯re the first outsider to correctly guess our n.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Did you not just state it? This one does not dare to kill you, but breaking your legs, taking your relic and healing Lord Miguo are not out of bounds, are they?¡±

    ¡°Leng Jingliu is Mr. Shen¡¯s disciple¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed. He won¡¯t protect you, however, especially not when he knows that our three factions would team up on him if he tried anything now.¡±

    ¡°Today is Lotus Convention! Miguo and I arepeting for leadership! How can you interfere?!¡±

    Yungu amplified her voice. ¡°You were the one who stated that everyone has a fair chance atpeting for leadership, no? This one humbly wishes to offer what unworthy help she can.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yungu thrust her hand past Hua Qing¡¯s guard to tag him on the chest, only to pull away in a panic before she transferred her yin energy into him. Although she maintained her usual expression, she retreated twice as fast as she advanced and without the same precision. ¡°Great Guardian Wen!¡±

    Standing in front of Hua Qing, Zhuxing Wuchang giddily responded, ¡°What are you trying to do to my brother?¡±

    ¡°The question is, what are you doing?¡± Yungu¡¯s brows came together.

    ¡°You said we¡¯repeting for leadership, didn¡¯t you? If you canpete for it, why can¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Bai! What is the meaning of this?!¡±

    ¡°Doing as you suggested, no?¡±

    ¡°When did I ever suggest this?¡±

    ¡°Acting on emotions is this old one¡¯s image and Divine Moon Sect¡¯s credo. If he listens to your suggestion to not act on emotions, he¡¯d be spheming cult ts. He cannot let down his leader. Sword Paragon.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang vanished out of sight.

    Bai Tianbin lifted up the corners of his lips. ¡°Let there be anarchy.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang emerged in view again with head eight maidens¡¯ heads, blood still spilling out from their necks. Thest thing Yungu expected was for her assassins¡¯ presences to be known, much less taken out so quick.

    The blonde man shed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°Already on it.¡±

 Volume 11.5 75 Zhuxing Wuchang

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 75 Zhuxing Wuchang</h4>

    Though not even she saw how Zhuxing Wuchang took herrades¡¯ heads, Yungu didn¡¯t let it disce herposure. ¡°Divine Moon Cult and Sky Pce are called the heads of the unorthodox sects. We have always stayed in our ownnes. Are you not worried you will incite a war between us?¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang pped his hands to signal for Yungu to stop,pelling Yungu to jump out of Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s range; however, no matter how she tried to run, she couldn¡¯t increase the gap between them. To her, it felt as though it was quite a long chase. In reality, Zhuxing Wuchang already had his hand on her neck only a second after he moved.

    ¡°Nobody will find out if there¡¯s nobody to report,¡± replied Zhuxing Wuchang.

    Yungu could tell Zhuxing Wuchang wasn¡¯t making an empty threat even without him squeezing. Sky Pce seldom dispatchedbat-specialist apostles because strategizing was their chief purpose.

    Before she waspletely subdued, in ast-ditch effort, Yungu cried, ¡°Help!¡±

    Thirty-three people from the audience vaulted onto the tform and charged at Zhuxing Wuchang with reckless abandon. They came from different groups, were at different levels and didn¡¯t recognise each other, yet they had impable coordination and were more dangerous than they would¡¯ve been any other day. They would happen to be created from Sky Pce¡¯s art ¡°Heartless Puppet¡±.

    Yungu wasn¡¯t na?ve enough to believe the thirty-three puppets she nted in the crowd could stop Zhuxing Wuchang; all she wanted was a window to speak and utilise her skills. ¡°Great Guardian¡­¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang was no longer visible, but Yungu still felt his hand around her neck, indicating he was moving in the direction of the grunts and groans. It wasn¡¯t her confused puppets that were being hit but Miguo¡¯s disciples below who were exploding.

    Catching sight of Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s imminent arrival, Leng Jingliu narrowed his eyes. ¡°You must be eager to die.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang: ¡°Hahaha, your shifu might be qualified to say that, but you¡¯re nowhere close.¡±

    No more than five people could keep up with Zhuxing Wuchang and Leng Jingliu¡¯s movements. Nevertheless, they didn¡¯t need to strain their eyes for too long as Zhuxing Wuchang rolled backwards and then retreated several metres, leaving a trail of blood not long after theymenced.

    ¡°Hahaha, nice, nice, splendid swordy.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang rotated up to his feet, spawning a rotational force that severed the Heartless Puppet¡¯s limbs. Paying no heed to the headless bodies and blood, he smiled at Leng Jingliu. ¡°You might really demolish me if you have another ten years to train.¡±

    Leng Jingliu wiped his mouth since he felt something there, only to discover it was his blood that left the trail along the ground when Zhuxing Wuchang disengaged.

    The Great Guardian had built up a reputation from challenging others in the Western Regions and was considered equally as dangerous - if not more - than the other Great Guardian of Divine Moon Cult who was known for his de work. Whether Zhuxing Wuchang would take a life or not was predicated solely on a wish to do so or otherwise; there was never any emotional attachment to killing.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yungu reactively gulped.

    ¡°You lot aren¡¯t enough to entertain me.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang turned to those on the ground below. ¡°League of Assassins going to help Sky Pce?¡±

    Master Le leapt up onto the tform. ¡°Hahaha, opposing you would be quite thrilling. What do you say, Ol¡¯ Ku?¡±

    Joining Master Le on the tform, Master Ku replied, ¡°Go.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang snatched a sword from one of the severed arms to intercept the two who closed in from either side.

    Master Le looked amicable in contrast to his straight, violent attacks.

    Master Ku tried to create openings with his dual dagger feints.

    Zhuxing Wuchang had no trouble fending off the two despite their styles being pr opposites thatplemented each other.

    Bai Tianbinmented, ¡°I thought I could outmuscle him, but he seems capable of adapting to anything with his swordy. Watching him execute ¡®Lawless Twelve Stances¡¯ I must admit he has surpassed me.¡±

    ¡°Hargh!¡± As if he flipped some switch, Master Le went from a Buddhist to a possessed Buddhist, scowling whilst starting to swing aggressively.

    Meanwhile, Master Ku adopted Master Le¡¯s previous style, advancing and retreating orderly to tackle any assortment of attacks offered.

    In spite of Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s prowess, he couldn¡¯t dismantle the two contrasting styles any longer, resulting in his defence gradually crumbling.

    ¡°What are you lot worried about?¡± Bai Tianbin rhetorically asked of their followers. ¡°He¡¯s one of our cult¡¯s three guardians for a reason.¡±

    Upon looking at Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s face, they saw him smiling.

    ¡°Twelve Sword Stances.¡±

    Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s de glowed sky-blue.

 Volume 11.5 76 Farewell About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 76 Farewell About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    The sky-blue energy shed for only a second, but it rocked the tform and gusted up a thick screen of dust.

    ¡°Hahahaha, that was fun. I¡¯m d this trip hasn¡¯t been for naught.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang, standing inside the dust screen, cast away his sword and stretched out. He brimmed with so much energy that one might think that was just his warm-up.

    ¡°The two of us are d we could entertain you.¡±

    Master Le was all smiles as though he was at a friend¡¯s banquet. Because the mental cultivation of the internal discipline he practiced - Pouch of Blessings - used smiling as its foundation, he would also be smiling no matter if a family member died or if he was on the verge of death.

    Master Ku, despite suffering an injury, looked joyous about it.

    Even though he came out on top in dominating fashion with his Enlightenment, Zhuxing Wuchang didn¡¯t celebrate. Instead, he inquisitively looked Master Ku¡¯s way. ¡°Master Ku, was the discipline you utilised back there the Central in¡¯s schr¡¯s ¡®Great Dao¡¯?¡±

    Answering on behalf of his silent ally, Master Le flicked up a thumb. ¡°You know your stuff, huh? Nobody in the Central in has identified him in all his active years, yet you could tell. Respect. Respect. I have to put it down on paper.¡± He looked around as though he really was going looking for a brush and paper.

    ¡°Master Le¡¯s ¡®Pouch of Blessings¡¯ is a Buddhist discipline reserved for disciples. Thest time someone mastered it was supposedly a century ago. It proves you are not one of League of Assassins¡¯ five chiefs for no reason.¡±

    The adtion Zhuxing Wuchang gave the two wasn¡¯t just for appearance. They didn¡¯t lose when he cast his Enlightenment, after all.

    ¡°And Shen Wuzheng¡¯s disciple.¡± Zhuxing Wuchang shifted his gaze to Leng Jingliu. He cracked a smile, then grabbed two swords from the floor and ground them against each other. ¡°How can I pass up an opportunity to test out three celebrated disciplines? Watch out now.¡±

    Master Ku and Master Le ran off, leaving Leng Jingliu to fend off Zhuxing Wuchang¡¯s assault. ording to the unwritten rules between martial artists, the young one had to beposed if the old one was mad; if the old one didn¡¯t let loose, the young one couldn¡¯t. Therefore, Leng Jingliu had noints, especially given the fact that he preferred to work alone.

    Zhuxing Wuchang deflected Leng Jingliu¡¯s ck sword using his left hand and attacked off his right hand, thrusting his sword straight at Leng Jingliu¡¯s face. Leng Jingliu tried to pull his sword back into a guard stance, but Zhuxing Wuchang used his energy to stick to Leng Jingliu¡¯s sword and obstruct his retraction whilst pushing forward with his right. Leng Jingliu decided to stop resisting and wait.

    Master Le and Master Ku came in from either side of Zhuxing Wuchang one after the other, one using a hard hit and the other a soft. The duo decided to let Leng Jingliu fight first because it was the only way they could get him involved. Had they started first, Leng Jingliu would¡¯ve likely just spectated. Moreover, he had a quality sword that would qualify him as the best vanguard among the three of them. The two of them weren¡¯t a match for Zhuxing Wuchang. Howbeit, fighting wasn¡¯t limited to physical prowess, so they relied on wisdom to ovee their shorings.

    Rather than panic or freak out, Zhuxing Wuchang relished the challenge of fighting all three at once. He intercepted Master Le¡¯s broadsword with a sword sh in his left hand, engaging in a strength contest. He thrust the sword in his right hand at Master Ku again, keeping thetter at bay. Leng Jingliu tried to catch Zhuxing Wuchang when thetter had no means of defending. Zhuxing Wuchang released his hold on his swords, using his energy to keep them operating. Next, he quickly fetched two swords from the ground to cut off Leng Jingliu¡¯s advance and force him to disengage.

    Although Master Le and Master Ku demonstrated the ability to adapt exceptionally fast, Zhuxing Wuchang seemed to be in a league of his own. The speed at which he switched from one mode to the next made it feel as though the trio was up against an opponent with six arms.

    Regardless of whether they attacked in synchrony or took turns, the trio couldn¡¯t overpower the avnche-like swordy - and Zhuxing Wuchang wasn¡¯t even using Enlightenment.

    Miguo meditated on the ground while Yungu hurriedly contacted her subordinates. Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru were unable to mobilise.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once one mastered Vajra Realm, they could expect their strength to continue increasing until they were truly immune to physical injuries. Nevertheless, if someone could pierce their armour and body, it¡¯d be a miracle if they could retain a third of their previous peak. Therefore, Wugou quietly sneaked over to defenceless Miguo.

    ¡°I¡¯vee for your life.¡± While Wugou only had half of his total strength left, he knew Vajra Realm to take Miguo¡¯s life in thetter¡¯s condition. Wugou pretended to have been crippled precisely for this opportunity.

    As always, Miguo didn¡¯t react to the threat. No matter how far he went down the wrong path, he believed he was in the right; his obsession with his decision and determination to reach the end of his selected path was impossible to hate.

    Wugou raised a hand. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to go.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not wrong.¡±

    Wugou shook his head. ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    Wugou brought his hand down!

 Volume 12 04 Dark Abyss

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 04 Dark Abyss</h4>

    Couldn¡¯t me everyone for staying mum. Everyone was abreast of His Majesty¡¯s attitude toward the Seven Champion White Princes; it just wasn¡¯t something they could talk about openly. Simrly, they couldn¡¯t wait for Luo Ming to roll over and die so that they could confiscate Luo Sword Manor¡¯s properties as well as give the other six a fright, but none of them would voice that.

    ¡°Secretary Leng, you,¡± demanded Emperor Yuansheng.

    Secretary Leng stepped out of line and, in signature form, replied, ¡°Luo n should be exterminated for Luo Ming¡¯s crimes.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you are pro-execution?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°borate.¡±

    ¡°There is no precedence of executing any of the Seven Champion White Princes in our dynasty.¡±

    Secretary Zhang Chunfeng argued, ¡°That is not true. ording to this old one¡¯s knowledge, insurrection is not one of the crimes they are absolved of.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Secretary Leng, why are you contradicting yourself?¡±

    ¡°It is true that insurrection is not pardoned. Howbeit, harming the martial world and hurting civilians are forgivable crimes.¡± Ignoring the gasps and gossiping, Secretary Leng continued, ¡°While Luo Ming¡¯s crimes are true, it is also true that he has contributed merits. His crimes do not erase the good he has done in the past, not to mention the fact that he contributed again in Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°I thought there¡¯s only room forw and nopassion in your world.¡±

    ¡°Thew does not havepassion; people havepassion. Executing Luo Ming would make him pay for his crimes in addition to creating deterrence. That being said, his decision to relinquish his privileges does not benefit us just now but even in future; it is a merit that has saved countless lives. To execute someone who contributed such a great deal is to set a bad example for the world. This one is merely opining his true thoughts at His Majesty¡¯s behest.¡±

    ¡°How about you, Secretary Zhang?¡± Emperor Yuansheng queried.

    ¡°Your subject is also against execution.¡±

    Even I didn¡¯t expect that answer, let alone His Majesty. Why in god¡¯s name did he have so much to say when he was on the same side?

    Secretary Zhang added, ¡°In your subject¡¯s opinion, Luo Ming should not be executed now because he turned himself in. In saying that, reiming Luo Sword Manor will take time. If we kill Luo Ming now, it may createplications. How about detaining him for now and deferring his punishment.¡±

    Trust you toe up with that sort of cunning move!

    From the discussions amongst the officials, they favoured Secretary Zhang¡¯s approach.

    ¡°What is your opinion, Prime Minister?¡±

    Prime Minister Li opened his eyes a tad. ¡°In your subject¡¯s opinion¡­ there is a problem.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And that would be?¡±

    Prime Minister Li raised his hand as though he was in deep thought. ¡°There is something wrong with the fruit.¡± He bowed and added, ¡°Your subject¡¯s stomach is tumbling and roiling. Please allow this old one to take a short break.¡±

    Everyone watched on in disbelief as Prime Minister Li zoomed off to the loo. Who could me the veteran when the question was too tough to answer?

    Breaking the long pause, Emperor Yuansheng stated, ¡°I n to imprison him in Dark Abyss.¡±

    If it was to be ranked, Dark Abyss was the highest-ranked prison reserved for the most heinous criminals or criminals who threatened the security of the nation. Its location was a well-kept secret, and those who were sent there had never been seen again.

    Emperor Yuansheng sauntered into the crowd. ¡°To tell the truth, I have undone the knot in my heart; I don¡¯t want to follow up on Luo Ming¡¯s crimes. Unfortunately, a monarch cannot just forgive someone and move on. As a monarch, I am duty-bound to think further and broader for the people who are affected by my decisions. Hence, I cannot just brush his crimes off. Howbeit! He didn¡¯t kill me. Instead, he has entrusted me with his ancestor¡¯s blood, sweat and tears, and his family¡¯s lives. He lost his lifetime of cultivation in Nanjiang. For me to now give the order to execute him will take my sleep from me for the rest of my life. I cannot bring myself to decree his execution. Is my suggestion eptable?¡±

    ¡°Your subject agrees.¡±

    The ministers turned around to see Prime Minister Li already back from the loo and prostrated on the ground. Since he had prostrated himself on the ground, the officials around followed suit. In turn, one official after another copied him and voiced, ¡°Your subject agrees.¡± The few who weren¡¯t followers, such as Secretary Zhang, awkwardly knelt down, though they didn¡¯t voice agreement.

    Emperor Yuansheng stood in the centre of the formation for a good while prior to returning to his throne above the jade steps. He gently ced a hand on his chest and mumbled under his breath, ¡°¡­ Nearly made me do a number two in my pants!¡°

    ***

    ¡°My, you¡¯ve put on weight? Your beard has grown. How old is your grandson? Has he started studying? I rmend the teacher at the library in the capital¡¯s north.¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t stop smiling from ear to ear.

    ¡°No wonder why you weren¡¯t worried. From now on, I¡¯ll keep in mind he likes to make a big deal out of nothing,¡± Imented.

    Boss shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t fully aware. Having said that, I never believed he¡¯d let Shifu digging his own grave. After all, His Majesty¡¯s father already talked about it.¡± She then signalled with her eyes and ced a hand over her lips to imply, ¡°Sh, don¡¯t mention it even though you know.¡±

    As predicted, His Majesty moved on to awarding contributors next, except he could immediately pass out rewards, such as rights to houses, fields, women, gold and so forth unlike in Nanjiang. Even Long Zaitian got to stroll off in armour.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen,e forward,¡± Emperor Yuansheng called.

    Finally!

    Boss grabbed me to remind, ¡°Be careful. Mind your manners.¡±

    I shook off Boss¡¯ hold. You think I spent days training for nothing? ¡°Boss, don¡¯t worry. I never trip.¡±

    I took three measured steps forward and stopped exactly where I ought to stop. I dashingly lifted both hands up in salute. I¡¯d say it was the best performance of my life. ¡°Your subject¡¯s respects to you, Fangzhang.¡±

    Oh¡­ Well, crap¡­

    Glossary

    Dark Abyss - This is a fictional prison.

 Volume 11.5 78 Itâ€™s Time About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 78 It¡¯s Time About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of me over thest few days. It¡¯s time I get going.¡± Ming Feizhen got up and wriggled out his body.

    Ruisi had heard Ming Feizhen spout plenty of nonsense already. Therefore, she brushed his remark off as him spitting drivel again. ¡°You can leave, sure, but you have to dismantle the formation first.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    The casters¡¯ brains couldn¡¯t keep up with the madness that came out of Ming Feizhen¡¯s mouth.

    Once he was done with his mobility routine, Ming Feizhen asked, ¡°Why are you taken aback? You trapped me to force me to break the formation, didn¡¯t you? The sun rock disrupts my body¡¯s bnce, prohibiting me from utilising my internal energy. The only way to dismantle the formation is to ignore the bnce and give myself up to the energy. That¡¯s your n, correct?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°See what?¡±

    ¡°We were told that, if you refused to break the formation if you ever found yourself trapped, you must¡¯ve seen through our agenda. I didn¡¯t believe it, but I do now. You really are likely to be the person we¡¯ve been searching for.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°Well, your leader is a genius toe up with this idea. Your formation uses your casters¡¯ life force as its foundation. Else, even with the sun rock¡¯s aid, there¡¯s no way you could¡¯ve suppressed the energy inside me. Forcing me to break the formation indicates that you know everything.¡±

    ¡°¡­ We do, indeed. If you think your words will deter us, you can save your breath.¡±

    ¡°I know that you know, and I know talking won¡¯t get me out; however, at the very least, allow me to warn you once.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes turned red as though it was his will. ¡°Undo it.¡±

    As if he chanted a spell, a big cracked formed on the rock.

    ¡°Undo it!¡±

    Sky Pce members were ready toy their lives down for their sect if it was ever needed; even though his voice could knock the blood out of them, they refused to release the formation.

    ¡°Undo the formation! You all want to die?!¡±

    ***

    Miguo leisurely rose to his feet, glowing the same crimson colour as Hua Qing¡¯s chest. There was no need for him to rush when Wugou had knocked himself out due to blood loss; Wugou was consigned to hell even if Miguo didn¡¯t touch him. Actually, many, many people at Shennong were in the same shape as Wugou. Hands in a pranam pose, Miguo quietly recited, ¡°We are all in it together. I shall bring to you salvation.¡±

    The relic in Hua Qing¡¯s shirt soared in Miguo¡¯s direction, stopping ten metres away from thetter, where it remained floating.

    Sensing the immense energy radiating from Miguo, Shen Wuzheng remarked, ¡°The formation is innovative. This one is grateful to learn something new today.¡± There was nothing in his tone to suggest that he was scared in the slightest. ¡°Since you can draw a thousand people¡¯s essence into the relic simultaneously, it should be full soon, right?¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of this one, Constable Shen.¡±

    ¡°Did the consequences of your actions ever cross your mind?¡±

    Miguo deployed a nod. ¡°Nobody here will survive. This one knew was aware what the result would be when he first set foot in the Central in and chose this path.¡±

    Returning to the scene, Yungu brayed, ¡°Miguo, what is this formation?! Why is it not our formation? When did you switch the formation?!¡¯

    Miguo chose Shennong as his base because of the assortment of rocks in the area. While there might¡¯ve been some special ones - not that he¡¯d know about or cared to find out - the majority of them were but ordinary rocks. The sole purpose he needed them for was to hide the real formation he intended to deploy.

    Then original scheme was to absorb all the energy from Miguo Branch¡¯s disciples into the relic, empowering Miguo to heal and enhance himself before going off to battle Ming Feizhen. Unfortunately for Sky Pce, Miguo switched out the script they gave him without their knowledge.

    Miguo shut his eyes as he ced his hands together devoutly. Subsequently, Yungu¡¯s proprioception felt distorted due to her life force feeling as though it was trying to escape from her body and trying to resist.

    Even though Yungu was erudite on the technique, she didn¡¯t know everything there was to know. Absorbing an enormous volume of energy and essence was a cornerstone of Sky Pce¡¯s secret arts that they were proud of. Absorbing life force, a more insidious method, was a different case as it was directly linked to one¡¯s life. The delicate process of absorbing life force wasn¡¯t something Sky Pce specialised in.

    Miguo wasn¡¯t educated on Sky Pce¡¯s mental cultivation disciplines or how they circted energy, rendering it impossible for him to smoothly suck out their life force. That was why his method of draining their energy hurt Yungu. If it was violent enough, it could kill. Whether for better or worse, Lotus Cult didn¡¯t have any skill that could turn it into an assassination skill - one could count on one hand the number of factions who could kill with it.

    ¡°There are only four ces that this sort of formation can be cast: Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Scorched Imperial Capital, League of Assassins¡¯ tomb, Sky Pce and Valley of Viins,¡± Miguo stated.

    Without one of the four said factions¡¯ assistance, there was no way a renegade monk of Lotus Cult could provoke Sky Pce and get away with it. As to which faction it was¡­ there was only one of them that weren¡¯t present. The rest was self-exnatory. Having said that, Miguo had to check every caster¡¯s background before he could trust them to deploy the formation.

    ¡°Valley of Viins¡­ You dare use us?¡± Teeth mped, Yungu uncorked the hardest palm she could muster, only for the relic to absorb her energy projectile before it could find its target.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ling¡¯er, let¡¯s go.¡± Shen Wuzheng, heading to the steps leading down, didn¡¯t take action for killing Miguo wouldn¡¯t undo the formation.

    ¡°Why are we saving them?¡± Leng Jingliu locked his brows together.

    Shen Wuzheng scrubbed his disciple¡¯s head and smiled. ¡°They¡¯re still alive, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡± Leng Jingliu then cast his gaze Miguo¡¯s way. ¡°How about him?¡±

    ¡°Leave the rest to him.¡±

    Leng Jingliu didn¡¯t need to ask who ¡°him¡± was because the answer came to him before he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Lass Yun, had you given the order a moment slower, all yourpanions would be dead by now.¡±

    Yungu was in too much pain to speak or open her eyes, yet she hiked up a corner of her lips.

    Surveying the venue, Ming Feizhen stopped his red eyes on Hua Qing and deployed a nod of acknowledgement that Hua Qing reciprocated.

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s in your hands now,¡± choked out Hua Qing.

    Upon spotting Miguo, Ming Feizhen exined, ¡°Flipping baldy!¡± whilst closing in and then drove his fist into Miguo¡¯s chest. ¡°Go to hell!¡±

    Glossary

    Ling¡¯er - Leng Jingliu¡¯s courtesy name with the ¡°er¡± suffix to show affection.

 Volume 11.5 79 Abysmal Resistance About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 79 Abysmal Resistance About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    Between stopping Miguo and breaking the formation, Shen Wuzheng chose thetter because only he could locate the source of the formation and undo it.

    ¡°You seem to be really concerned about the Ming kid.¡±

    For once, Leng Jingliu didn¡¯t turn around to his mentor, affixing his gaze on the lotus tform instead. ¡°If he dies, the pugilistic world will be boring in the future.¡±

    A smile came to Shen Wuzheng¡¯s lips. ¡°He won¡¯t die,¡± he, too, nced back to the tform, ¡°if¡­ he is that man¡¯s son.¡±

    ***

    No differently to the first match, Ming Feizhen sent Miguo flying, and then Miguo rose without any damage. Ming Feizhen rained down punches without an inkling of regard for technique, while Miguo solely defended, waiting for Ming Feizhen to tire.

    Curled up on the ground, Yungu tried to open her eyes for she couldn¡¯t miss a second of the action on the tform. After all, all the nning, investments and work had been for the sh. Sure, Valley of Viins¡¯ involvement wasn¡¯t foreseen, but nothing mattered as long as they could confirm that Ming Feizhen was the one they were looking for. ¡°You are God of Battle¡¯s son. The violent consciousness won¡¯t take over you. You¡¯re the master of power. Don¡¯t let it control you. Just like your father, you, too, can do it,¡± she mumbled under her breath.

    Yungu expected it to be one-way traffic for Ming Feizhen. Howbeit, Miguo was nothing short of a mountain. Ming Feizhen¡¯s execution gradually went further and further away from human resemnce. Anyone from the orthodox sects who saw their fight would mistake Ming Feizhen as the one who needed to be in for mankind¡¯s sake and Miguo the saviour of the world.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While Ming Feizhen expended energy with nothing to show for it, Miguo collected energy from his disciples via his formation. In addition, owing to the nature of Buddhism¡¯s mental cultivation disciplines being the bane of evil, Ming Feizhen¡¯s face twisted more and more in pain as the fight dragged out contrary to Miguo¡¯s face.

    Miguo opened his eyes. ¡°Evil fiend, cease this at once!¡± Miguo released a punch at Ming Feizhen¡¯s, sending the teenager into a rock.

    Lying on the ground, Ming Feizhen grumbled in a breathy voice, ¡°God damn it, he can take more of a beating than a bull,¡± and then gasped up blood.

    Hua Qing supported Ming Feizhen¡¯s back whilst transferring over his own internal energy to alleviate Ming Feizhen¡¯s symptoms. Zhuo Fengru was near Ming Feizhen¡¯s west, but he was powerless to help, so he could only say, ¡°Brother Ming, the page this old one gave you¡­¡±

    Zhuo Fengru betted on Ming Feizhen being able to reach new heights with the page of ¡°Abyss Theory¡±, which was why he risked his life to deliver it.

    ¡°Yeah, I read it.¡± Ming Feizhen coughed nastily. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let you down when you staked your life to get it to me.¡±

    Hua Qing softly exhaled. ¡°What enlightenment did you glean from it?¡±

    ¡°What enlightenment did I glean from it? I didn¡¯t even understand it.¡±

    Zhuo Fengru and Hua Qing: ¡°Say what?!¡±

    ¡°How do you expect me to learn what took you an entire lifetime? What am I? My shifu?¡±

    Yungu noticed the redness in Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes had faded. ¡°H-how did you recover? Didn¡¯t y-¡±

    ¡°Never let it out,¡± Ming Feizhen replied.

    Ming Feizhen wanted to break out and could have broken out. In saying that, it¡¯d result in him losing control over the Fengpeng¡¯s energy inside him. It took Ming Huayu and Daoist Shenfa¡¯sbined efforts to reinforce Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal strength to a point where the bnce inside him wouldn¡¯t be prone to breaking. Without their seal, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t use his own internal energy without apprehension. Their hope was for him to reach a level where he could reinforce the seal himself.

    In the words of Ming Huayu, ¡°It is better to free than to block, better to guide than to seal.¡± What joy could there be if one was constantly being extremely cautious so as to not lose control? The final goal for Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t to seal the Fengpeng but to control it.

    Even now, Ming Feizhen still hadn¡¯t found a solution to the lesson. In reality, the solution was always inside him. It, after all, was next to impossible to find someone who would understand the aggressive consciousness inside better than someone who spent every moment with said consciousness. Although he thought the portion of Abyss Theory that Zhuo Fengru shared could help him counteract the aggression, there were two problems. Firstly, there wasn¡¯t enough time to figure it out. Secondly, ¡°counteracting¡± and ¡°controlling¡± weren¡¯t the same thing.

    The bnce gradually tipped as Ming Feizhen fought, leaking the Fengpeng¡¯s energy out of his limbs. It was akin to him riding a horse that¡¯d lost control and was prone to diving off a cliff at any moment. Meanwhile, trying to rein it in would leave him exposed to Miguo¡¯s attacks.

    Miguo sauntered over to Ming Feizhen, looking at thetter as though he was an ant. ¡°This is the subject Sky Pce wanted to use this one as an experiment for? Disappointing.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sneered. ¡°Talking big now, are we? Imagine if you went and lost now. After Lord San Shenid you out, you sulkily ran to the Central in. Where you going to run to if you lose again here?¡±

    ¡°Fair point. Winner takes all has always been thew. This time, I¡¯ve beat you.¡± Miguo suddenly looked elsewhere and squinted. He found the relic no longer glowing as brightly as before. ¡°Shen Wuzheng¡­¡±

    Though Miguo knew Shen Wuzheng was troublesome, he didn¡¯t expect Shen Wuzheng to be this troublesome. It was only a matter of time before the formation crumbled now, so his death would be imminent if he didn¡¯t kill Ming Feizhen now.

    Hua Qing jumped in front of Ming Feizhen as he saw Miguo turn back to Ming Feizhen despite his legs trembling.

    ¡°What are you doing, Hua Feihua?¡±

 Volume 12 07 Assembly

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 07 Assembly</h4>

    ¡°Him? Smart? Learned?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see those descriptions.¡±

    ¡°Wawa, Constable Liu, don¡¯t say that about Big Brother Ming. Although he¡¯s rather stupid, he is literate.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡±

    ¡°Look closely. He has two crowns on his head just like me!¡±

    ¡°Like you? Doesn¡¯t that make him as stupid as can be?¡±

    ¡°How am I stupid?!¡±

    ¡°What are you two even arguing about? Look at this joke¡¯s crowns. He¡­¡±

    ¡°You three done yet?!¡± I ripped Liu Yuan, Mountain Monster and Su Xiao off my head.

    The examination of my crowns all started when the trio found out His Majesty conferred me the title of Hanlin Academician. I¡¯d have spanked the three of them if I could beat them!

    ¡°Fine.¡± Mountain Monster shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything in your head to explore.¡±

    ¡°Wawa!¡± Su Xiao tugged on Mountain Monster¡¯s cor from behind. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao, you shut up! Call me that again, and we¡¯re enemies!¡±

    Whether or not it was attributed to their shared dangerous experiences in Nanjiang, Su Xiao and Mountain Monster had grown close enough for Mountain Monster to call him by his full name instead of some derogatory name.

    Speaking of which, Mountain Monster was now with me.

    Mountain Monsterunched a fly kick at me. ¡°I¡¯m not ¡®with¡¯ you! Don¡¯t say things that lead to misunderstandings!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, you¡¯re with us, okay? Come back.¡±

    I told Liu Yuan Brother Bodhi entrusted Mountain Monster to me. There was no way she could remain with Evil Spirits in consideration of her and Ox Demon¡¯s betrayal. Therefore, she and her squad joined Liu Shan Men as a special unit, which operated under themand of the person most familiar with the pugilistic world - yours truly. It was the best choice since I knew best her personality and history. Plus, nobody could rein her aggression in; it was only a matter of time before she¡¯d butcher someone if I didn¡¯t act as her leash.

    Mountain Monster slouched onto a bench. ¡°Your Emperor must have misced his eyes if he conferred you the title of Hanlin Academician.¡±

    See what I mean? Despite being at Liu Shan Men¡¯s headquarters, she didn¡¯t hold back whatsoever.

    ¡°Mind what you say,¡± Liu Yuan frowned, ¡°though you aren¡¯t wrong.¡±

    And you call yourself a constable?! As a matter of fact, you¡¯re worse when you¡¯re around me!

    ¡°Xiao, you must be tired from training the new recruits all day. Let me give you a shoulder massage.¡±

    I would believe you if you told me all of Liu Yuan¡¯s blood had collected in his head when he met Su Xiao after their six months apart. I probably didn¡¯t notice given Su Xiao was nigh always around me, but, ording to Liu Yuan, Su Xiao had grown taller, developed his body ratios and matured into a maid-, man.

    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you, ¡®No¡¯?!¡± Su Xiao was still as cold as ever to Liu Yuan, though. ¡°Constable Liu, should you harass me again, I will report you to Big Brother Ming!¡±

    Liu Yuan red at me.

    I really was the kind of guy to get hit with ¡°stray¡± arrows, huh?

    I professionally wagged my hand and said, ¡°Xiao, fetch me my Green Dragon Crescent de.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Liu Yuan watched Su Xiao run into the training area, carry the Green Dragon Crescent de back on his shoulder and smash the base into the ground with only one hand.

    ¡°Brother Ming, here you go.¡±

    I recoiled, let alone Liu Yuan.

    ¡°¡­ Y-you can put it back.¡±

    ¡°???¡± Su Xiao carried it back with his head on an angle.

    Thanks to hispletion of Yijin Jing¡¯s firstyer, Su Xiao¡¯s bones, nerves and qi had upgraded to a point where he could sleep six Liu Yuans in the blink of an eye. Well, Liu Yuan wouldn¡¯t hit back, so¡­

    ¡°What are you lot up to?¡± Who else could be so else beside the overlord of Liu Shan Men, Tang Ye?

    ¡°Hohoho, it¡¯s normal to be happy when it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve seen each other?¡± The maid-, boy sitting beside Tang Ye and ying go would be none other than our vice-captain¡¯s spitting image - Shen Kuang! ¡°Constable Ming is now a Hanlin Academician. I¡­ I¡­ feel ashamed of myself. After all this time, I still don¡¯t have an official post.¡±

    When they were reunited a few days ago, the sister¡¯s eyes went red, while the brother cried a river. Had Boss Shen not kept them in the loop from Nanjiang through letters and repeated tirelessly that her brother had a duty to continue their bloodline, he might¡¯ve rode down to Nanjiang. He cried an ocean over the scar on her left wrist.

    As for Tang Ye, he started spending more time learning other skills than he spent on martial arts. Back in Nanjiang, he learnt to brew tea, fish, hunt, set traps and then learnt to y go upon returning to the capital. Reportedly, he went to learn Sichuan stage y in Sichuan, too. I didn¡¯t understand where he was going with it. Maybe he went crazy from overtraining? Whatever the case, I was worried.

    ¡°Tang Ye, I¡¯m sleeping at your ce tomorrow,¡± I dered.

    Tang Ye¡¯s hand froze as he went to ce a piece down. ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we haven¡¯t had the time to chat in a long time. I¡¯ll keep youpany. You just provide me with a ce to sleep, alcohol and food.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming, too!¡±

    Sensing Su Xiao leap at me from behind, I moved out of the way.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±

    ¡°It means¡­ you don¡¯t need toe.¡±

    ¡°I refuse! If you leave me behind, we aren¡¯t brothers anymore!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to avoid Boss! If youe with us and she needs someone for a job, won¡¯t all three of us be in trouble?!¡±

    ¡°And that makes it okay to sacrifice me?!¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Oho? You¡¯re arguing? I want to join whatever ns you have at night.¡±

    Me: ¡°We¡¯re sleeping and drinking at Tang Ye¡¯s ce.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    Me: ¡°I¡¯m the only one allowed to drink and sleep at Tang Ye¡¯s ce, got it?! None of you areing!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t finished.¡±

    Shen Kuang: ¡°I-I can¡¯t join you, either? I want to hear what happened while you were away.¡±

    Me: ¡°You¡¯re wee, Young Master Kuang.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Hey, that¡¯s favouritism! You¡¯re ying favourites, Big Brother Ming!¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°It¡¯s my ce¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± This was the word that silenced all of us.

    I totally forgot there was one more person nearby.

    Leaning on the door, Boss gestured for me toe over with a finger. ¡°Mr. Ming,e to my room.¡±

 Volume 12 08 Song Ouâ€™s Comeback

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 08 Song Ou¡¯s Comeback</h4>

    Bang! Boss mmed a hand on the wall beside my head, forcing me up against the wall, and stared at me as though I was a bug. ¡°Where are you trying to run to, Mr. Ming?¡±

    ¡°Nowhere at all. I was merely intending to discuss our delegated tasks in the future with Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you weren¡¯t avoiding me because you were afraid of getting hit?¡±

    I pulled my brows together. ¡°Boss, your words rile me up. How can you be so presumptuous?¡±

    And so urately presumptuous?!

    Boss hiked up a corner of her lips. ¡°I prepared you to ept His Majesty¡¯s rewards, and the first thing you said was ¡®Fangzhang¡¯. Next thing we know, you¡¯re spouting some iprehensible nonsense. The guards had to step up twice. I might as well have smeared my own face with mud. You want some bruises for decoration?! Huh?!¡±

    I mumbled, ¡°My nerves disconnected my brain and mouth¡­¡±

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Boss puffed up her cheeks. ¡°That was your moment. You were the main star. I spent so much energy praising you to Uncle. Had you yed your cards right, you could¡¯ve recouped some of your investment in Nieyao, but, no, you didn¡¯t get a single coin back.¡±

    The events at Nieyao weren¡¯t much of a secret anymore - at least, Mount Daluo¡¯s team knew all about it. That said, Boss was the only one who knew what I went through. If I wasn¡¯t wrong, that was when she set her mind on trying to maximise my rewards for my sake.

    ¡°Leave that sort of stuff up to fate. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in a bad position at all. If nothing else, I¡¯m a radish now.¡±

    Boss¡¯ cheeks inted, but she immediately brought them under control to keep a straight face.

    ¡°As well, uh¡­ if you do not back off a little, my eyes will die from pleasure.¡±

    Boss wasn¡¯t exactly very tall to begin with. Plus, she had her arm up on my head, so the holy artefacts I could almost feel my breaths on tested my patience and rationality. I¡¯m Liu Xiahui¡¯s reincarnation!

    Boss looked down at me and, without blushing, responded, ¡°Huh? So what? You don¡¯t like rewards?¡±

    I swear on my life I looked up faster than the speed of light. ¡°Really?!¡±

    Next, I got an inkstone tattoo on my face¡­ Women are liars!

    Boss cleared her throat as she returned to her seat. ¡°I¡¯ll settle the score with youter tonight. I intended to talk about something else.¡±

    Rubbing my face, I asked, ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Uncle told me to stay behind after the banquet to have a word in private. Not only did he praise our office¡¯s recent performance, but he also entrusted me with a few cold cases in addition to information on troublesome unorthodox factions in Jiangnan that his entourage have been monitoring. Evidently, he is giving us an opportunity to prove our worth.¡±

    ¡°Nothing surprising there. I mean, shouldn¡¯t he trust ourpetence after all the events?¡±

    ¡°Hence, he wants me to find and assemble the Twelve Great Constables.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    When Yan Shisan was still in power, the Twelve Great Constables were the chief force against Ximen Chuideng. Emperor¡¯s Entourage was in charge of intelligence, but they operated off the grid a lot more than nowadays, where they even showed up in person to investigate as though they were trying to rece Liu Shan Men. If Qilin Guards didn¡¯t subsume 60% of Liu Shan Men¡¯s stragglers, they¡¯d still be stuck defending the borders. Among the Twelve Great Constables, though, the majority of them chose to be hermits, like Xiao Huangquan.

    Boss was told to ¡°find¡± them and not ¡°summon¡± them owing to the fact that the twelve departed in the first ce due to disappointment in Yan Shisan. If they could be summoned, they wouldn¡¯t have taken off in the first ce.

    Anyhow, His Majesty¡¯s intention to give Liu Shan Men more power was written on the wall with this move. It was impossible for Liu Shan Men to bepetitive as it stood since wecked firepower and merits. If we checked those two boxes, he¡¯d have a valid reason to give us more power.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not what I want to mention. I can manage Liu Shan Men just fine when I have so many people. You, on the other hand¡­ How are you going to manage the exam? If we were in the past, I wouldn¡¯t be worried if it was a martial arts contest, but right now¡­ Additionally, you don¡¯t want to reveal your abilities. How do you fare at studying?¡±

    ¡°I guess you can say I¡¯m familiar with Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character ssic and the sort.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ying. Daren Academy is the most advanced study faculty in our dynasty. They¡¯re most well-known for making things hard for dropkicks and beating idiots. You have to report in to the faculty tomorrow. You have a n in mind?¡±

    What sort of ce is it? It sounds like crap! Did a dropkick eat all your braised pork shoulders at home?!

    ¡°I will cross that bridge when Ie to it.¡± I scratched my head. ¡°I may fail at everything, but taking advantage of situations is something I excel at. I¡¯ll roll with the punches for a few days and then figure something out.¡±

    ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t an alternative. All that said, I must stress that there are lots of people you shouldn¡¯t ost there. They themselves may not be dangerous, but the people backing them are the imperial court¡¯s politicians. As a representative of Liu Shan Men and Mount Daluo, you need to tread carefully.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So if a rich yboy bullies, me th-¡±

    ¡°Lay him out! To hell with him!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Boss cleared her throat upon realising her face was feeling hot. ¡°I never said to take everything lying down. When it matters, you have to fight back.¡±

    ¡°Boss, you sound familiar with the ce. Have you been there?¡±

    Boss wagged her hand. ¡°I studied at Qiyuan, Daren Academy¡¯s primarypetitor. My dad is also an alumnus of Qiyuan. He didn¡¯t let me attend Daren Academy because he reckoned it¡¯s aplicated ce.¡±

    Sheesh, I never knew advanced education was soplicated. Now I¡¯m worried about my future.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still more?¡±

    ¡°Nothing major, but you should still be aware. A fight took ce at Daren Academy recently, and it¡¯s been blown up enough to reach Uncle¡¯s ears.¡±

    ***

    One particr courtyard of Liu Shan Men starkly contrasted the celebrations taking ce elsewhere across Liu Shan Men. Except for the current era, the captain¡¯s courtyard would have the most personality and noise as it was where all attention was directed.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Song Ou hammered his table, making himself cough on the dust he propelled into his own nose. ¡°Nobody has cleaned my office in the six months I¡¯ve been gone? It¡¯s all because of him. Everything is because of him!¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen joined, the world Song Ou presided over changed. People didn¡¯t crowd around Song Ou when they returned from the south. The Liu Shan Men representatives Emperor Yuansheng summoned were Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren. Nobody reported in to him when he returned to the office. When he sent someone to go find out what was going on, he learnt Ming Feizhen went to Shen Yiren¡¯s room.

    ¡°You¡¯ve worn my tolerance dry.¡±

    Someone quietly entered Song Ou¡¯s room. ¡°Captain, you have received a letter from Long Estate.¡±

    ¡°Open it.¡±

    Once he read the letter, Song Ouughed heartily, much to the bafflement of the individual who delivered the letter. He chucked the letter onto the table, then mmed the table again.

    Cough! Cough! Cough!

    Despite his face being caked in dust, Song Ou asserted, ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen, this time, I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re finished!¡±

    I am Liu Shan Men¡¯s true captain! I, Song Ou, shall make myeback!

    Glossary

    Liu Xiahui - You may know him as Zhan Huo, a governor of the District of Liuxia in the Lu State. He was said to be a man of eminent virtue and supposedly once held ady in his arms without the slightest imputation on his moral character, like yours truly.

    Hundred Family Surnames - You may also recognise it as Bai Jia Xing/Hundreds of Chinese Surnames. As the title suggests, the textposed ofmon Chinese surnames. It was one of the texts - almost universally - used to teach character recognition to children.

    Thousand Character ssic - This, too, acted as a character recognition learning tool for children from the sixth century onward. Like ¡°Hundred Family Surnames¡±, the passages are organised into four character, four line rhyming stanzas so that they¡¯re easy to remember. You can consider them an equivalent to the alphabet song in English.

 Volume 11.5 82 Whatâ€¦ About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 82 What¡­ About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    Ming Feizhen opened his eyes after a self-perceived long time to find the surroundings peaceful. Hua Qing, Su Li, Yungu, Miguo¡­ no living organism that should¡¯ve been present was present. As a matter of fact, even therge lotus tform was nowhere to be seen in this world coloured a sickening red. The firmament and earth - if they were even distinguishable - were red. The falling big droplets of blood at the ¡°end¡± of the realm were the only movement. The red colour in question was identical to the Fengpeng¡¯s eyes.

    For whatever reason, the blood started trickling progressively faster,parably to drizzle turning to hail. As the blood dripped down, a ck screen behind the red screen came into view. Iprehension didn¡¯t stop the realm from splitting apart.

    As of a consequence of the blood belting progressively faster, Ming Feizhen¡¯s location was no longer a safe haven. Instead of feeling pain due to being split, though, he couldn¡¯t feel any pain. The realm deprived him of his five senses, rendering him hopeless to struggle against the break down.

    In a split second, the realm was reset - Ming Feizhen¡¯s status quo included. The cycle of blood dripping and the world splitting thenmenced again.

    Subsequent to an unknown number of repetitions, even when Ming Feizhen¡¯s intuition had stopped registering, he still didn¡¯t feel he had adapted. On a certain cycle, he started hearing, ¡°A fire can burn anything. How does a me exist if there is nothing to burn? If the way of breathing sustains life, where is dao without life? You are the energy¡¯s host. How can it exist if you are dead? Hence, there is no reason for it to take your life.¡±

    Apparently, understanding the adage was the reason behind the destruction and resetting cycle. It was Ming Feizhen¡¯s first time witnessing the time before Chaos - the nebulous state of the universe - the formation of heaven and earth, followed by their separation.

    From his observation, Ming Feizhen gleaned something that he couldn¡¯t put into words. Nevertheless, he felt he could nigh pinpoint the source of the mad energy. Regrettably, every time he came close to deciphering the mystery, the world would crumble. This time, he only watched the world¡¯s construction and demise.

    The other section he recalled was, ¡°Man¡¯s joy and sorrow, hatred, care and love are the masters of people, fate, yin and yang. Like the universe, as long as qi sustains it, the universe can spawn infinite entities. Conversely, the universe is not called the ¡®universe¡¯ if it sustains qi. If the universe issting, transparent and still, the vast universe cannot be formless; yin and yang¡¯s profoundness cannot be without qi; fate¡¯s infiniteness must exist. What I possess now is supreme; I wield yin and yang. If I cease to exist, what am I the master of? I create yin and yang, heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Ming Feizhen split again, except he had be the heart of the realm¡¯s reconstruction. The blood constantly congregated, forming the shape of Ming Feizhen and espousing a different red unlike previous times. Though both Ming Feizhen¡¯s were the spitting image of each other, they were internally different.

    Ming Feizhen clenched his fists.

    The once unbridled sinister energy had be cordial andpliant to his will. What once was limited as ake had transformed into an ocean. Unfortunately, the redness in his eyes was a symptom that couldn¡¯t be expunged.

    Maybe I¡¯m expecting too much. How is a monster supposed to not resemble a monster?

    The next section Ming Feizhen recalled was, ¡°It serves me, not the other way around. If I am empty, what can serve me? This is the mental cultivation I havepiled over the years. You can utilise it to control the aggressive energy.¡±

    The individual scratched their head, then continued, ¡°I cannot teach you how to deal with the Fengpeng¡¯s aggression; that is the toughest and most dangerous challenge that you alone need to win. Should you fail, your only conclusion will be death on the lotus tform. While the energy won¡¯t kill you, the Fengpeng will. The only thing I can teach you is how to wield the aggressive energy. Don¡¯t give me that look! It took me years toe up with it¡­ Wait, a little cheaper. 50%? No, thirty. Make it ten! Ten!¡±

    Ming Feizhen still found their dispute amusing.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I chewed the Fengpeng¡¯s consciousness into nothing already.

    ***

    ¡°Baldy!¡± Ming Feizhen heard Hua Qing scream upon returning to reality. Hua Qing and Su Li were visibly done, but Hua Qing continued to curse at Miguo to protect Ming Feizhen even if it was only for a little longer.

    Appreciatively smiling to himself, Ming Feizhen uttered, ¡°You¡¯ve done enough,¡± the moment before he caught Miguo¡¯s punch.

    Although Miguo managed to retreat, he had to sacrifice a hand to do so.

    Ming Feizhen sealed off ten-odd upoints on Su Li, but that only made his face longer. ¡°Crap.¡±

    Su Li¡¯s meridians had snapped. Besides excessive blood loss, her essence was damaged, as well, as a result of Miguo forcibly drawing it out from her. In essence, she had one foot and half of her other foot in the coffin.

    Ming Feizhen grabbed the top of her head with one hand, and only a momentter, she could open her eyes and utter ¡°Eh?¡± with energy.

    ¡°Brother Ming, h-have you transcended?!¡±

    Saving Su Li would¡¯ve been beyond Ming Feizhen before he grasped the concept of wielding yin and yang. Juxtaposing the human body as the scarlet realm¡¯s reconstruction, they abided by the same principles. The approach to fixing meridians and replenishing essence, therefore, was only a touch away if one truly understood the principles.

    Glossary

    A fire can burn anything. How does a me exist if there is nothing to burn? If the way of breathing sustains life, where is dao without life? - Don¡¯t think too hard about this adage from the scripture ÎÄÊ¼Õæ¾­. ¡°Fire¡± is a ceholder to express a point.

 Volume 11.5 83 Scion About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 83 Scion About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    While Su Li didn¡¯t have the energy to walk straight, pain no longer pervaded her body; to walk, Ming Feizhen would need around fifteen more minutes. Finding herself in Hua Qing¡¯s arms, she queried, ¡°Brother Hua, what am I¡­?¡±

    Hua Qing couldn¡¯t answer because he was still trying to make sense of Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°magic¡±.

    Ming Feizhen patted Hua Qing on the shoulder. ¡°Stop spacing out. If you have time to kill, take my sister-inw to the side and enjoy the entertainment.¡±

    Su Li bashfully chided, ¡°Who¡¯s your sister-inw?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah, what she said. We haven¡¯t gone through the ceremony yet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re no better than him!¡±

    Hua Qing hurried to his feet. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t mean to make light of it. I was¡­¡±

    ¡°Young Master Hua, you¡¯re fine, too!¡±

    Until Su Li pointed it out, Hua Qing didn¡¯t notice a gentle, yet potent, internal energying in from outside his body that prevented his injuries from deteriorating. Because he obtained his energy from the Buddhist relic, it was essentially obtained through a cheat. Thus, he was bound to lose is within ten days and shave off his lifespan. Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder pat stopped his injuries worsening, but it wasn¡¯t enough to repair all the damage suffered.

    Walking off, Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. ¡°Rx. I¡¯ll help youter.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ have tamed the aggressive energy?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stopped. ¡°And if I have?¡±

    Tears coursed down from Yungu¡¯s eyes affixed on Ming Feizhen. ¡°It¡¯s you¡­ It¡¯s you. We¡¯ve been searching so long for you!¡± She cast her eyes towards heaven and choked out, ¡°General¡­ I have finally found your son¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what has stirred you emotionally,¡± Ming Feizhen interjected.

    ¡°Young Master, I was rude to you, but please believe I am unwaveringly faithful to y-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe a word thates out of your mouth. Even if you speak the truth, it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±

    ¡°Do you not kn-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Ming Feizhen looked to Yungu out of the corner of his eyes.

    The only other person who had made Yungu flinch with was her leader.

    Yungu: What realm has Young Master reached¡­?

    ¡°I was born without parents and won¡¯t have parents in the future. Suffice to say, if someone ims to be my parent, they¡¯re more than likely a liar.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No, no.¡± Hurt and flustered, Yungu stuttered, ¡°Y-you have parents, both of whom were respected heroes to thousands upon thousands of people. They are the nicest people you could ever meet. If they were still alive, they would be doting on you every moment they have; they would never let you be an orphan if they could help it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not an orphan¡­ As far back as I can remember, my shifu raised me. I share his surname. My shiniangs have taken care of my domestic needs. My shifu trained me in martial arts. They treat me as if I¡¯m their child. I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m an orphan.¡± Ming Feizhen stepped away twice, then stopped. ¡°If you¡¯re telling the truth, I appreciate it. When you burn paper, let them know I¡¯m doing well.¡±

    ¡°You! You cannot do this!¡± The formation had yet to be dispelled, so Yungu couldn¡¯t move freely yet, but she was so freaked out that she found the strength to crawl over and grab Ming Feizhen¡¯s boot. ¡°Do you know how heralded your father was? Do you know how mighty he was? Do you know how unjust and humiliating his death was¡­?¡± Yungu felt a draft on the back of her neck, then passed out, yet her face remained red.

    ¡°A touching show, is it not? Why not let her finish?¡± Miguo questioned from below.

    ¡°She just has the wrong person.¡±

    Miguo meandered up the tform, hostility worn on his sleeves as though the previous events were but an illusion. He ced his hands together anterior to his chest. His left hand that Ming Feizhen crushed was still there, except it was a size smaller than his right hand. They both reached Divine Realm one after another through different means and obtained the ability to defy thews of nature. In Divine Realm, they called the ability ¡°Still Chaos Void¡±. His proficiency with it paledpared to Ming Feizhen. Therefore, he used Karama and Vajra Realm to reinforce his shattered hand. Howbeit, losing size was the unavoidable price to pay.

    ¡°Nice handiwork. In the short time I had to talk, you¡¯ve grown a new hand.¡±

    Miguo smiled. ¡°This one has you to thank.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ you good now?¡±

    ¡°When have I not been?¡±

    Miguo coiled up, thenunched himself at Ming Feizhen, fist upying Ming Feizhen¡¯s field of vision. Not only was he quick, but his punch generated a gale that would¡¯ve taken his target¡¯s head right off their shoulders. The product wasn¡¯t attributed solely to his Divine Realm achievement but also an increase in sheer brute strength - the relic bequeathed him with one hundred and twenty years¡¯ worth of internal energy.

    As dust on the tform rose into walls, Miguo believed he¡¯d deal meaningful damage even if he didn¡¯t break Ming Feizhen physically if thetter took it head on.

    The qi breaker settled, revealing Miguo and Ming Feizhen. Miguo¡¯s fist was on Ming Feizhen¡¯s chest. Ming Feizhen¡¯s arms were crossed.

    Miguo: ¡°?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°?¡±

    ¡°Were you already immobilised by previous injuries?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stood there with a straight face for a second or two, then whipped Miguo¡¯s shoulder with a roundhouse, sending the big monk into the stone pir. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like it.¡±

    Miguo vigorously brushed aside the rubble to get up. ¡°How are you unscathed, then?!¡±

    Miguo discharged golden energy to st the stone around to smithereens. His power had been amplified several folds, so it was understandable for his next punch to fly even faster.

    The redness that came to Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes drove out the golden light that entered from Miguo¡¯s fist, but the punch quickly drove the redness out when it crashed into its target.

    Miguo: ¡°?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°?¡±

    ¡°Have you finally b-¡±

    Ming Feizhen rolled up his sleeve, then blitzed Miguo over the head. ¡°Piss off!¡±

    Glossary

    Burn paper - As an offering to the dead, people burn paper resembling money during the Qingming Festival.

 Volume 11.5 84 Unmatched About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 84 Unmatched About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    ¡°Haha, hahaha.¡± Miguo pulled himself out of the rubble.

    ¡°I¡¯m amazed you canugh.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s face expressed, ¡°I must¡¯ve beaten your brain out of your skull.¡±

    ¡°Valley of Viins said, ¡®If you can defeat him, it is tantamount to defeating the cream of the crop in the Central in.¡¯ I brushed it off as an exaggeration, but I now see that it¡¯s warranted. I¡¯m impressed 50% of my full power isn¡¯t enough to faze you.¡±

    Regardless of how amodating Vajra Realm and the relic were, it was impossible for Miguo to digest all of the new energy at once. By extension, the 50% he spoke of didn¡¯t include the portion he had yet to convert into a fertiliser.

    Ming Feizhen dug his finger into his nose. ¡°Never heard bad guys die because they talk too much?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you and I both reached this realm through external means. Why not test out our mettle? For example, have you seen this before?¡± Miguo enveloped himself in a luminous golden energy. The golden energy pushed away rock chips that were in its way. ¡°This is called ¡®Enlightenment¡¯. ording to legends, not only does it multiply one¡¯s true qi by several folds but grants a different attribute, too, allowing one to destroy another¡¯s true qi.¡±

    ¡°Destroy¡± was the incorrect verb; the correct verb was ¡°affect¡±. Given few lived to tell the tale after getting hit with Enlightenment, ounts of Enlightenment came from spectators who usually knew naught about the subject. Some people witnessed true qi vanish without a trace suddenly; some people witnessed true qi deflected back at the caster. Although Miguo¡¯s version came from someone informed, it wasn¡¯t absolute. In his case, being able to turn a fluctuating light into a steady one and then extend its reach was a sign that he had grasped how to utilise the energy.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only just grasped how to utilise this energy, but I¡¯m not proficient at wielding it.¡± cing his hands together calmed the golden energy, though it continued to flicker simrly to mes. ¡°I¡¯m certain you possess the same energy. Howbeit, if you don¡¯t use it now, you may never have another chance to use it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen titled his head to one side. ¡°We going to fight or not?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll regret it.¡±

    Miguo broke his personal record for vertical jumping, cloaking himself in golden energy. The immense energy empowered him with the confidence to destroy anything if he wished so; discovering something new about his powers every moment fed his ego further. He didn¡¯t need long to realise that the golden energy was neither true qi nor internal energy, and it didn¡¯t take long for him to realise the uniqueness of his own Enlightenment was sturdiness.

    The golden energy could shrink and adjust thickness on top of acting as a robust weapon capable of offence as well as defence. However it was used, the opponent¡¯s damage would wear off, and their bnce would be ceded due to the impact. Used simultaneously, he could let his opponents bombard him with attacks while he continued musing.

    Whatever Miguo¡¯s Enlightenment sheltered was the safest haven in the world. Nothing could possibly prate¡­

    ¡°Pff!¡± Miguo went in the opposite direction of his flying saliva, smashing into the hole he just crawled out of. As the tform shook, the hole deepened.

    Ming Feizhen retracted his arm to check out his fist.

    What the heck is he spacing out for in the middle of a fight?

    ¡°You¡­ You! Curse you!¡± Upon crawling out, Miguo generated golden balls on the ground, creating hemisphere shapes in the tform¡¯s t surface. Upon stretching his arms out, the eight iron-like balls levitated. ¡°Die, brat!¡±

    Ming Feizhen warped out of sight the moment Miguo intended to strike. ¡°Oh, I get what ¡®Abyss¡¯ Theory meant now,¡± he remarked from Miguo¡¯s left side. ¡°I can move even faster, though,¡± he then said from Miguo¡¯s right side.

    Miguo could only figure out Ming Feizhen¡¯s approximate location from his listening; his eyes couldn¡¯t keep up at all.

    ¡°How about I slow down a tad.¡± Ming Feizhen returned to the front of Miguo.

    Miguo reactively hurled his energy balls in Ming Feizhen¡¯s direction. The eight balls swiftly fused. Notwithstanding his awareness that the attack was too slow, it was hisst resort.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bother dodging, but the big ball just disappeared without a trace, much to Miguo¡¯s bafflement. If Miguo wasn¡¯t rmed enough to change his position, then he was a fool; however, Ming Feizhen already had his back before he knew it and stung him in the face the moment he pivoted around.

    The only difference between previous times Miguo was struck was that he didn¡¯t go tumbling through the same hole again. Heid on the ground with a hand over his swollen spot, pondering what happened simrly to a seven year old confused as to why they were punished - seven because he knew better at eight years of age. He looked at his free golden hand.

    Th-this is the power of a god. This is the peak of martial arts! This is the mightiest power! Why?! Why is this happening?! How am I inferior to him?!

    Miguo churned his internal energy the way a man ready to put up onest fight would. Seldom did any Divine Realm adept ever do this for they could gain ten times their return on investment. Getting into a strength contest against someone who hadn¡¯t reached Divine Realm could be considered lowering oneself - or even idiotic - as Enlightenment versus internal energy was the equivalent ofparing apples to oranges. There were precedent cases of people being able to use Enlightenment despite having expended all their internal energy. Consequently, the difference in internal energy between two individuals who had reached Divine Realm was irrelevant.

    Once again, Miguo¡¯s golden energy dissipated into nothing right before his eyes when it was time for him to strike, leaving him with nothing but bafflement and swelling internal energy.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see it?¡±

    See what? What am I supposed to see?

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s question didn¡¯t exin anything, yet it instilled rity. The suspicion Miguo had tucked away and was afraid of facing wasn¡¯t erroneous. Miguo didn¡¯t misunderstand the application of his Enlightenment; Ming Feizhen just tampered with it. Miguo, nevertheless, refused to acknowledge it since, if Ming Feizhen could cancel another person¡¯s Enlightenment, wouldn¡¯t that mean he was without¡­

    The fight devolved into one-way traffic, with Miguo even casting his Enlightenment despite being cognisant of the fact that it was futile. The so-called invincible power became nothing more than bragging rights against the teenager; he couldn¡¯t even maintain it for more than a second against Ming Feizhen. Not even his newfound internal energy enhancement could save him from the lopsided beating.

    He¡¯s not using Enlightenment, though¡­

    ¡°Don¡¯t get it?¡± Ming Feizhen disappeared, then reappeared in Miguo¡¯s face no differently to a spirit. ¡°In other words, you can¡¯t see it.¡±

    Subsequent to losing blood and chest bones to Ming Feizhen¡¯s palm strike, Miguo had no choice but to ept he was finished as his awareness faded into the darkness.

 Volume 11.5 85 The Young Monk Nods About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 85 The Young Monk Nods About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    Once upon a time, there was a mountain called Mount Lianhua - Mount Lotus. Once upon a time, there was a shrine called Lianhua Temple - Lotus Temple.

    The old monk asked the younger monk, ¡°Yundan, do you like our temple?¡±

    ¡°I like it a little and don¡¯t like it a little.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I like it when there¡¯s little to do and don¡¯t like it when we have a lot of work.¡±

    ¡°Haha, that makes two of us.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t like work, either, Shifu?¡±

    ¡°Of course. You¡¯re my responsibility. I like it when you¡¯re smiling, and I don¡¯t like it when you¡¯re crying.¡±

    The straightced monk didn¡¯t understand, but he nodded.

    The older monk scrubbed his disciple¡¯s bald head with mirth. ¡°Your job is protect that one, understand?¡±

    Never did the young monk imagine his shifu would pass away due to illness one yearter, and never did he think protecting ¡°that one¡± of theirs was so challenging. Nheless, he tried climbing the tall mountain to honour his promise.

    Although he was physically capable of climbing it, people stopped him time and time again. The first time, a supposedly reincarnated kid beat him. The next time, a mad man calling himself Lord San Shen beat him. Next to the column for today¡¯s attempt, he¡¯d have to put another cross.

    He seemingly heard the sound of the snowden bell in ring out in the forest again.

    Since when¡­ did I stop feeling it was something I didn¡¯t need to protect? I merely wanted¡­ to outwork everyone¡­ I merely wanted to¡­

    ¡°Yundan. Yundan.¡±

    Upon hearing the voice in his head, he opened his eyes to see a slightly hunched but happy old monk beside him. Over the years, he constantly pondered what to say if they ever had a reunion. He wondered if he¡¯d be scolded, if they¡¯d get confrontational or if they¡¯d be sad. Instead, though, the old monk cordially said the same line he used to say every morning, ¡°Wake up for morning ss.¡±

    What morning ss? I¡¯m no longer the same kid back then. Do you know what I¡¯ve achieved? Do you know i¡­ I¡­

    The old monk patiently waited. The young monk eventually nodded.

    ***

    A golden glint shrouded Miguo once again, levitating him to his feet to face off against his opponent once again. Unlike his previous ¡°rusty¡± golden energy, his golden energy now resembled the bright sun, free from any impurities.

    The warm energy coursing through Miguo¡¯s body took a different route to his Enlightenment because the former was energy from the relic. Now that he hadpletely absorbed and converted the relic¡¯s energy, he felt heavier on the ground, while the hatred and jealousy had evaporated from me. Although he had yet to make sense of what happened, he hadn¡¯t forgotten who his challenger was.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you¡¯re strong, but you¡¯re not unbeatable.¡± Miguo clenched his fist, expanding the reach of his solid golden energy. The gloating golden hands behind him mimicked his praying hands. ¡°Watch th-¡± Miguo opened his eyes, intending to advance.

    History couldn¡¯t provide a form for reaching Divine Realm. There were cases of people achieving a breakthrough overnight, cases of people gradually achieving it and, in Miguo¡¯s case, reliance on resources. Absorbing an enormous volume of internal energy was the simplest way to go about it. The problem was that boosting strength didn¡¯t simultaneously boost one¡¯s mind; how was it any different to being a vessel for strength if one didn¡¯t know how to wield the strength? You could have the death touch, but the likes of Shen Wuzheng would pick you apart if you couldn¡¯t touch him.

    Understanding that one would lose before any ¡°realm¡± talk if they didn¡¯t have the technical skills to dance was the key to Miguo truly transcending. Owing to his ascension, he saw it and closed his mouth. Miguo could see the abyss Ming Feizhen stood in. The grey fog enveloping Ming Feizhen forced Miguo¡¯s solid energy simrly to a me in the wind.

    ¡°It¡¯s not considered a bad thing to finally see it,¡± Ming Feizhen blithely remarked. ¡°If nothing else, you¡¯ll know why you died.¡±

    The grey fog emanated towards Miguo at a ridiculous velocity, upying his field of vision. Even though he had powered up, his body felt stiff beyond belief.

    How can such a terrifying power exist in the world of man?

    ¡°This is the sort of monster you¡¯re facing. Like I said, I¡¯m amazed you canugh.¡±

    When did he move?

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s grey mist erased Miguo¡¯s golden hands without making a sound and faster than thetter¡¯s eyes could follow. By the time he realised it, Miguo was already on his back, and every part of him was damaged. He could¡¯ve kept fighting until he drew hisst breath thanks to his Divine Realm status; however, he no longer had any desire to fight through the pain.

    Miguo had seen the sky for decades, yet he never realised it could be such a deep blue hue. While his eyes were on the Central in¡¯s blue sky, his mind was back in the forest, where he could hear the bronze bell chime from the temple. It wasn¡¯t the right asion, yet he felt a little hungry. Lianhua Temple¡¯s ck mantou was notorious; if they wanted, the chefs could proudly assert there was nothing more disgusting within a five hundred kilometres.

    If only I could have a ck mantou right now.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot to be gained from working hard, except there¡¯s no need to be hasty,¡± Ming Feizhen said from above.

    ¡°Did¡­ I speak my mind?¡±

    ¡°Would be even better if you weren¡¯t so eager to kill people and stir trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It really stings to hear that from the victor.¡± Miguo smiled. ¡°It¡¯s my loss.¡±

    ¡°Did you need to point out the obvious? I¡¯m too tough.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Miguoughed heartily despite never winning a single exchange. While he still sought strength deep down, it was the first time in memory that he wasn¡¯t triggered.

    Ming Feizhen massaged his face. ¡°You¡¯re acting like you won.¡±

    ¡°Believe it or not, for all these years, I always wanted to hear him say one thing and meet him again, but I know it¡¯s impossible, so I gave up. I heard what I had been waiting to hear before, though.¡±

    ¡°You met a ghost?¡±

    Miguo shook his head, paused, then bobbed his head. ¡°I have no regrets. Finish me.¡±

    ¡°I certainly won¡¯t stand on ceremony.¡± Ming Feizhen raised a broadsword, then stopped to look up. ¡°What now?¡±

    Wugou saw Miguo and Ming Feizhen going at each other¡¯s necks when he came to. Hence, he came over to plead Ming Feizhen to show benevolence. Notwithstanding his injuries, Wugou never let his poise as a monk slip. ¡°Could you please spare my junior?¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother¡­¡± Though Miguo was always privy to his senior¡¯s soft heart, he was still touched to hear his brother plead for him.

    ¡°Stop. I heard you put together this script. If he wasn¡¯t craftier, you would¡¯ve killed him yourself, yet you¡¯re now stopping me?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    Wugou ced his hands together. ¡°This one promises he will nevermit evil again.¡±

    ¡°Listen, Monk, y-¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, I will lock him up.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°Huh?¡±

    Miguo: ¡°Huh?¡±

    One ¡°huh¡± was surprise, while the other was a real ¡°huh¡± moment.

    ¡°This one shall employ torture.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡±

    ¡°He will be imprisoned for thirty years.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like fun.¡±

    ¡°Kill me now!¡±

    ¡°There will be someone delegated with the task of torturing him twenty-four hours a day. Lotus Cult¡¯s torture methods are in no way any nicer than the Central in¡¯s. We have thirty-sixrge-scale methods, one hundred and nine small-scale ones, innumerable torture experts and a department leader assigned specifically to punish our sect¡¯s vitors. As we are brothers, this one shall exercise mercy. This one shall have his limbs tied to an elephant each, and then they will run in four opposite directions.¡±

    Ming Feizhen. ¡°Well¡­ you don¡¯t have to go that f-¡±

    ¡°In addition, this one shall batter him with a spiked mace three hundred and thirty-three times daily.¡±

    Miguo sat up, protesting, ¡°Wugou, you¡¯re taking revenge under the guise of work. Y-¡±

    Bang! Miguo fell backwards, blooding from his head.

    Wugou tossed away the bloody brick in his head. ¡°Amitahba.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: No way am I going to such a shady temple. Ever. My head feels cold.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°This one shall have him reflect daily. He will get his just desserts. Please spare him,¡± implored Wugou.

 Volume 11.5 86 Itâ€™s You? About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 11.5 Chapter 86 It¡¯s You? About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°Ripping him apart will leave him like none other freak, right?¡±

    ¡°Precisely,¡± replied Wugou.

    ¡°How is that any different to him being dead?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ you believe he¡¯s valuable alive, too?¡±

    Wugou didn¡¯t avert his gaze. ¡°Even so, this one believes he should live. He must personally make amends for his sins. The cycle of karma he created doesn¡¯t end with his death. His disciples will seek an opportunity to take revenge. People connected to him won¡¯t let things end with his death, either. For instance, Valley of Viins and Sky Pce won¡¯t stop just because he¡¯s dead. Miguo is not evil by nature; he¡¯s merely let his stubbornness lead him astray. I will have him use the remainder of his life to expiate. Additionally,¡± Wugou grinned widely, ¡°as your saying goes, the heavens are benevolent.¡±

    ¡°And if I refuse?¡± Ming Feizhen looked to Miguo out of his peripherals. ¡°Frankly, it¡¯s not my business how many people he¡¯s killed. The people who he drained energy from are people who coveted his offer. You can say they got their just desserts. Thing is, I don¡¯t believe he will change. Plus, he hurt my friend and nearly killed me. If you want tomit murder, you have to know the consequences, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You are absolutely correct. He hasmitted too many sins. He cannot repay what he owes you alone. In saying that, I have never done anything for him when he is a member of Lotus Cult and grew up in Lianhua Temple. As his senior, I cannot absolve myself of responsibility in his wrongdoings. Let me shoulder the burden of making it up to everyone.¡± Wugou closed his eyes and mouth. Out of nowhere, a trail of ck blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto his whitepel.

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Miguo zoomed over to Wugou, hoping he could save his senior with his own essence. s, he could sense he was toote when he found his senior had severed his own meridians to his heart.

    Despite taking his final breaths, a smile still surfaced on Wugou¡¯s pallor face. ¡°Please ept this one¡¯s life in exchange for his.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t give any form of response.

    ¡°Yundan.¡± Although Wugou looked in Miguo¡¯s direction, the appearance of his pupils indicated that he already lost vision in his eyes. ¡°It is my fault for not showing you right from wrong earlier. If you want to kill again or feel enraged, remember this moment. You¡¯ll be sad when I die. Your victim may have parents, siblings, a partner and even children. What will be of them if you take a life? I hope you can abandon the path of evil and return to the path of just¡­ Remember what Shifu taught us. Whether it was then, now or the future, you are the temple¡¯s guardian.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that Wugou never tried to dissuade Miguo from the path he took; Miguo chose to ignore his senior, and it took his senior¡¯s death to drive out the sentiments that consumed him for all those years.

    Miguo knelt at Ming Feizhen¡¯s feet. ¡°This one was wrong, very wrong. It is this one¡¯s defeat. Please save his senior brother.¡±

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms. ¡°Yeah? What were you wrong about?¡±

    ¡°I took innocent lives, implicated fellow martial artists and more. I am willing to forfeit my life to show gratitude.¡±

    Ming Feizhen picked his nose. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t your life valuable? Your life alone is worth so many lives? Besides, you deserve what you haveing for what you did. Where does he fit into the equation? Why should I save him? Enlighten me.¡±

    ¡°My senior, he¡­ he¡­ is kind and disciplined. Over the years, he has preached, stopped the evil and helped the kind. He is the equivalent of the Western Region¡¯s Buddha.¡±

    Why did I never realise this was the sort of man Senior Brother is? Why did I use him ofpeting for leadership when he shared with me the good deeds he did? It¡¯s all because I¡¯ve covered my eyes and ears to what I don¡¯t want to hear that I¡¯ve cost him his life. I was wrong; he was always right. I¡¯ve realised my errors toote; it¡¯s toote to save him.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    Needless to say, Miguo didn¡¯t want to or dare to stop. Regrettably, the list of deeds was finite.

    ¡°Icked aptitude, yet my arrogance knew no bounds. To make a name for myself, I set a trap to hurt my uncle. When my senior took the me for me, Ibelled him a gullible fool. When I was seven, I broke my leg when I jumped over the wall to go hear the bell in the forest. Senior Brother carried me on his back to Shifu for treatment. Had it not been for him, I¡¯d be a mere cripple now¡­¡± With every sessive item, Miguo recounted it more fluidly than thest until no amount of urgency could beat the tears that welled up in his eyes. ¡°Please save him. I am willing to bear any consequence in exchange.¡±

    ¡°Yundan¡­¡±

    Miguo turned to see Wugou slowly opening his eyes. Despite still looking ghastly pale, Wugou no longer resembled a man at death¡¯s door. Coming in from the front of Wugou¡¯s body was a faint blue light that went on to steady his heartbeat.

    Ming Feizhen stated, ¡°Don¡¯t think cutting off your own heartbeat is fun and games. Had I not restricted him using Enlightenment beforehand, I¡¯d only be able to prolong his life by a few months. Even though I¡¯ve saved him, he¡¯s easily lost a decade or two of his life already.¡± Catching Miguo¡¯s flinch, Ming Feizhen added, ¡°If you expect him to still have a long life after cutting off his own heart, don¡¯t ask me for help. Consult a god.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for saving my senior brother.¡±

    ¡°You sure change your tone fast.¡± Ming Feizhen directed his attention to Wugou. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you just now, so I believe you¡¯re a good guy and am more than happy to save you. As for him, though, will you be able to rein him in with his skills?¡±

    Wugou smiled. ¡°He¡¯s not bad by nature.¡±

    Miguo nodded. ¡°Your concern is warranted. I have a suggestion.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, hurry over. Brother Hua is unconscious!¡± Su Li called.

    ¡°He¡¯s at his limit?¡±

    Hua Qing¡¯s essence suffered damage due to internal energy deprivation, yet hecked the foundational training. To save an empty vessel on the cusp of death, an expert in internal disciplines needed to refill Hua Qing¡¯s lost true qi. Plenty of people at the venue had the means of filling the role, except they just had a brush with death. The secondplication was that, even if Ming Feizhen could fulfil the role, not only would Hua Qing lose a chunk of his lifespan but would also be hyper sensitive to hot and cold temperatures. Suffice to say, training martial arts would be off his menu, too. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t care enough Wugou to worry about thetter¡¯s lifespan, but Hua Qing was his sworn brother.

    The only fool-proof method was for someone to replenish Hua Qing¡¯s true qi the way his body was designed to utilise it. With time, Ming Feizhen could research ¡°Still Chaos Void¡± and Hua Qing¡¯s qi cirction route. Unfortunately, time wasn¡¯t a luxury they were afforded.

    ¡°Allow me,¡± voiced Miguo.

    ¡°You?¡±

    Miguo and Wugou gave each other a tacit smile.

    ¡°Please lend this one a hand,¡± Miguo requested of Ming Feizhen, then strode off to Hua Qing. He took out the relic in his shirt and held it up against Hua Qing¡¯s chest.

    Ming Feizhen, realising what Miguo¡¯s intention was,ughed. ¡°This guy would probably find gold when others step on crap.¡±

    Miguo sat down. As he glowed golden, so did the relic. Meanwhile, Hua Qing¡¯s face went from white to a shade of pink. Ming Feizhen pressed a hand on Hua Qing to help unblock thetter¡¯s upoints.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Wuzheng and Leng Jingliu victoriously returned roughly fifteen minutester. Leng Jingliu just frowned at the sight of Miguo and Hua Qing, while Shen Wuzheng chuckled.

    Although those who woke up below had lost a considerable amount of their progress, they were thankful just to have survived the ordeal. They all needed some recovery time before they could check up on the situation above. Upon looking up, the first thought that came to mind was, ¡°What the hell?¡±

    Instead of scowling, Miguo was smiling as though he had found paradise. One man was floating in the air whilst glowing and releasing white mist from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he the rapist, Hua Feihua?!¡±

 Volume 12 14 Master Jiu

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 14 Master Jiu</h4>

    ¡°Is dumping him in theke not bad enough? Why did you take his belongings?¡± grumbled Uncle Huang. ¡°So, you took this small knife?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I was actually going to get rid of the knife, but, judging from its architecture, it had to be around ten silver taels, so I kept it. That would be enough to buy ten chickens, man! Everything else was mine.

    ¡°What¡¯s that seal in your hand?¡±

    ¡°This? Wearing bling is in fashion in the capital these days. Wearing this around your neck makes you look wicked. You want it, Uncle Huang?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± With a hand on his beard, Uncle Huang paced around, then sighed. ¡°To err on the safe side, make peace with Zhao Xin.¡±

    ¡°What? Zhao Xin? I thought he¡¯s called Zhao Yuejing.¡±

    ¡°His father wields a tremendous amount of influence in the military. On ount of you being affiliated with Liu Shan Men, it¡¯s best you avoid disputes with them.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Huang, a little brat who can¡¯t even handle the smallest breeze has you quaking in your boots? Where has the energy you used to chase my shifu through eight cities straight gone?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because he dumped me at Spring Wind Lunar Brothel!¡±

    ¡°I never imagined I could be even more disappointed in you. Why would you waste the opportunity to enjoy yourself at such a high-ss ce?¡±

    ¡°Enjoy, my foot! He owed them fifty thousand taels and sold me off!¡±

    Okay, I take back what I said¡­

    ¡°As for Zhao Tiankui, he doesn¡¯t scare me. That said, with students here forming cliques, they¡¯re formingplicatedworks¡­ Zhao Xin is one of such faction. One of his friends is Lu Feiming, who broke Yingyang¡¯s leg.¡±

    Speaking of Yingyang, the guy was a freak. The man started writing as soon as tests began and stayed back to read once he was done. How does such a student exist?! Nevertheless, he was the favourite type of student among teachers, yet nobody did anything when someone broke his leg.

    ¡°Howe nobody has said anything about his leg?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that people are turning a blind eye. If we want to fairly dispute the case, then we¡¯ll have to sh with Lu Feiming¡¯s backing. When matters are soplicated, it¡¯s better to avoid them wherever possible.¡±

    While my shifu can lead Uncle Huang by the nose, Uncle Huang is quite the man in the capital, yet he¡¯s avoiding a confrontation? Is the student some hot shot? I should make some time to find out more over tea with Uncle Huang.

    ¡°Therefore, you know what I¡¯m about to say. Thoughts?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll start with roast duck and grilled chicken.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Can you¡­ grow some sense?¡±

    ¡°Grow some what?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Juste with me!¡±

    ***

    Although Ming Feizhen had gone into ¡°hiding¡± after signing the agreement, Hong Jiu, Ming Feizhen¡¯s best assistant, still didn¡¯t feel safe about leaving his defenceless brother alone. Therefore, he sneaked into Daren Academy the same afternoon they parted ways. To be more specific, he infiltrated Daren Academy¡¯s Misceneous Logistics Department.

    ¡°Hey, you the new guy who didn¡¯t ask for a sry while promising to do more work than a bull and rise earlier than a chicken? What was your name again? Hong¡­ Zhichuang?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir. This one is ninth in his family, so you can call him Hong Jiu.¡± Hong Jiu didn¡¯t need to prepare a business smile when he already practiced implementing one all throughout his days as a wanderer.

    ¡±Your name¡­ is ear murder.¡± The manager cleared his throat. ¡°If Ol¡¯ Chang did suffer an injury out of the blue, need to go home for rest and rmend you, we wouldn¡¯t have employed you since we usually don¡¯t recruit new employees. All our employees have to go through a two-year probation period.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it was strange for Brother Chang to suddenly fall into a hole. I wish him all the best.¡±

    The ident was anything but an ident. Hong Jiu dug up evidence of Ol¡¯ Chang frequenting brothels, gambling and squandering money, and then he approached the man to give his head a kiss with his warm fists. Once Ol¡¯ Chang was beat, he persuaded Ol¡¯ Chang to write him a letter of rmendation.

    The work quota that the manager assigned Hong Jiu for the day really would take until midnight to fulfill. ¡°We are the soul of the institute. Without us, the ce is crippled, so don¡¯t ck off.¡± With that, he strolled off.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Hong Jiu crossed his arms while musing. ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s start with a three day nap first.¡±

    How was it Hong Jiu¡¯s problem if the ce was crippled? He threw the broom he just took out back into the storehouse and dusted off his hands.

    ¡°Hey, you the new guy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hong Jiu, sporting a bright smile and innocent puppy eyes, pivoted around to see several students who made his stomach turn.

    The group performed a visual audit of Hong Jiu, then began discussing amongst each other.

    ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s him. Tall, wears white and has a small pouch. Fits the description word for word.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he also admitted he¡¯s the new guy.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you started today?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied Hong Jiu.

    ¡°He¡¯s our guy.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make sure. There¡¯s no room for mistakes. His name is supposed to be Hong Jiu.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡±

    The five asked each other, ¡°Is there any way someone coincidentally has the same given name and surname?¡±

    ¡°I remember he¡¯s supposed to be ugly.¡±

    The five looked back at Hong Jiu, then turned back to each other. ¡°It¡¯s him for sure!¡±

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± Hong Jiu still kept up the innocent act.

    Their leader politely responded, ¡°Nothing much. We were ordered to beat you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Talks are over. Come over and ept your beating!¡±

    Though theirnky physiques made them look unassuming, the five were quick on their feet and knew how to throw a punch.

    Momentster, Hong Jiu could be heard griping, ¡°How you can just suddenly assault a man? Besides, who are you expecting to hurt when you¡¯re so weak? Like, I didn¡¯t even get to finish one move.¡± He palmed head of the student at the top of the stack he formed and said, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you.¡±

    The student groaned, ¡°H-how dare you hit me¡­? My father¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu pped his face the other way. ¡°Shed another tear and your old man is getting it, too! Now, who¡¯s the prick who sent you after me?¡±

    None of them answered.

    Perhaps Hong Jiu understood Ming Feizhen¡¯s predicament best because the number of enemies he made and problems he caused weren¡¯t that far behind Ming Feizhen¡¯s. At the very least, it¡¯d take more than four hours to list all of them.

    ¡°You asked for it.¡± Hong Jiu rubbed his hands whilst sneering. ¡°Hope you like the touch of my Big Swinging Cracker Hands.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wh-what will happen to us if you hit us?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll¡­ have an extra butt crack.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, we¡¯ll talk! Zhao Xin sent us. Sir, please show forbearance. Please spare our bottoms!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll decide based on how cooperative you are. Who¡¯s Zhao X-¡±

    Hong Jiu felt the air stir abnormally due to someone closing in at high speed. He reactively pivoted around and extended an open hand. He managed to force his assant back, but he was also forced to skid back.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Hong Jiu¡¯s assant chortled.

    ¡°Who goes there?! How dare you sneak attack Master Jiu?!¡±

    Glossary

    Grow some sense - The joke doesn¡¯t work in English. This version of ¡°grow some sense¡± hasponents that make up ¡°dessert/snacks¡± and simr words. So, after Huang Yuzao says that, Ming Feizhen actually asked, ¡°There¡¯s dessert, too?¡±

    Note: potential update to release frequency message below in ¡°Featured Comment¡±. Just so that you¡¯re prepared, it is a long read.

 Volume 12 15 To Cherish Life is to be Anti-Gambling

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 15 To Cherish Life is to be Anti-Gambling</h4>

    Had the man not withstood Hong Jiu¡¯s attack, one would think he was a ghost with his gangly appearance.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? What¡¯s your name?¡± questioned Hong Jiu.

    The man sneered and mumbled with all the words piling over the next. ¡°My name is of no significance. Judging from the way you fight, you can hold your weight. Why oppose my master when you have a bright future?¡±

    Hong Jiu: Still haven¡¯t gotten under his skin?

    Starting conversations in an uncouth tone was a psychological tactic Hong Jiumonly utilised. It could grant him a window into his opponent¡¯s temperament and possibly throw his opponent off their game, giving him an advantage in a fight. In the worst case scenario, it could afford him a window to escape. His opponent this time, however, didn¡¯t bite, which could only mean his opponent was either super tolerant or was so used to abuse that it wasn¡¯t enough to faze him.

    ¡°Your master ain¡¯t squat.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I am showing you respect for your martial prowess. If you do not mind your words, I will not forgive you.¡±

    Bring it own, then!

    Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t afraid, but he wasn¡¯t in friendly territory. Thest thing he wanted to do was something that¡¯d jeopardised Ming Feizhen¡¯s identity.

    ¡°You have no reason to hold anything against me, then. I was just sleep-, sweeping here when your men started on me. You think you can just piss on someone¡¯s shoe and then walk away scot-free? y stupid games, win stupid prizes. Same applies no matter where you go in the world.¡±

    Judging from the fact that the man didn¡¯t budge, Hong Jiu assumed only insulting his master would get to him.

    ¡°It was not without rhyme or reason, so we cannot be med. Do you possess an item that is not yours?¡±

    Irritated, Hong Jiu brayed, ¡°What type of flipping question is that?!¡± As a beggar, there were few belongings that Hong Jiu didn¡¯t beg to obtain from others, so the question struck a wrong nerve with him.

    ¡°It seems the information was correct. This is an unavoidable fight, then.¡±

    ¡°Bring it on!¡± Hong Jiu pped his thigh, then stepped into his palm strike.

    ¡°Hehe, very good.¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent moved after him, yet made it in time to block, prompting Hong Jiu to disengage. After all, his opponent recognised his patterns if he could keep up despite not having the initiative. Hong Jiu¡¯s ¡°God¡¯s Palms¡± had enough in-built variation for him to attack relentlessly. Howbeit, the more techniques he performed, the higher the risk of exposing his background, particrly in front of someone with a discerning eye.

    Although there were plenty of martial artists who practiced palm disciplines, there weren¡¯t many who did so and were named Hong Jiu. As long as someone was willing to think a little, they¡¯d quickly match him up with Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider.

    ¡°Finally afraid?¡±

    ¡°Afraid? Yes, afraid you¡¯ll piss your pants! Watch this!¡± Hong Jiu pulled out a flexible de from his sash.

    The man turned his face. ¡°Impressive skills.¡±

    While Hong Jiu could wield all eighteen arms, it would be a stretch to say he was proficient with all of them. Topensate for hisck of skill, he relied on his physical attributes andbat intellect. When his opponent was his equal in those fields, his only option would be to abandon weapons. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t the sort of man to waste a learning opportunity.

    During his stay in Nanjiang, Hong Jiu rematched Moyan Changping, defeating thetter in less than a hundred exchanges. In their first match, Hong Jiu was amazed with Moyan Changping¡¯s techniques. In their second bout, Moyan Changping struggled to impose his will at all. Hong Jiu was the sort of person to learn through doing - through fighting, in this case. During the month that Ming Feizhen was unconscious, Hong Jiu sparred with Moyan Luohou eight times and was utterly defeated on all eight asions. One could say that Hong Jiu acquired his knowledge on des through Moyan Luohou.

    Hong Jiu picked up Moyan Luohou¡¯s technique, but he didn¡¯t inherit the crafty style. Instead, he shed away without the deception, cutting up his opponent¡¯s tunic.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent: He¡¯s strong and skilled. Hidden Hero¡¯s nickname is Hong Jiu, as well, except he was never said to be an expert with daggers. They couldn¡¯t be the same person.

    Because of all the openings Hong Jiu cut open, the ck armour his opponent wore underneath became visible. Clearly, his opponent wasn¡¯t weak when he walked around with armour on all the time. Nheless, it would be hard to turn the tables if the armed one was to gain the advantage over the unarmed one. Gradually, Hong Jiu restricted his opponent¡¯s movement space.

    Though both of them were interrupted for a split second when they heard footsteps, Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent did a better job at capitalising on the moment, thrusting two fingers on the same hand at Hong Jiu¡¯s face, forcing Hong Jiu to cancel his attack to dodge.

    ¡°You nearly put a hole in my face,¡± Hong Jiuined upon finding room to breathe.

    ¡°Sorry, it was a life and death moment, so I had no choice.¡± The man smiled as though he was never in danger. ¡°People in the pugilistic world call me Master Qi. May I ask for your name?¡±

    Hong Jiu pointed to himself with his thumb. ¡°Master Shiba.¡±

    ¡°I shall remember it. In regards to the item on you, how about we leave it here for today?¡± Despite speaking as if he was going to pull out, Master Qi¡¯s feet didn¡¯t move.

    Hong Jiu was confident he knew what was going through Master Qi¡¯s head. He surmised the people who were approaching were local guards based on their gait and the rattling of their weapons. Most likely, somebody notified the authorities after hearing the sounds of their sh. ¡°You think I¡¯ll be captured?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid despite knowing it¡¯s the authorities?¡±

    ¡°Hah, let¡¯s have a bet, shall we? If I am arrested, you owe me a hundred thousand silver taels.¡±

    ¡°Sure. And if you lose?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d lose?¡± Hong Jiu remained undaunted.

    They were right: it was the authorities. Hong Jiu had more information, though, because he was acquainted with them. Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang came into view at the same time.

    Hahahaha, hahahaha, a hundred thousand taels! One hundred thousand!

    ¡°Hahaha, if they arrest me, I¡¯ll eat dog crap!¡±

    ¡°Hong Jiu, we are taking you in on grounds of suspicion that you are involved in a theft case. Pleasee with us!¡±

    Nobody said a word for a long, long time.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you,¡± Master Qi started, breaking the silence with a grin, ¡°find a dog that¡¯s taking a dump.¡±

 Volume 12 16 Court Hearing

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 16 Court Hearing</h4>

    Zhao Yuejing wasn¡¯t in his ssroom when we visited. As a matter of fact, not a soul was in sight.

    ¡°Where is everyone during ss?! Who is the teacher for this ss?!¡± Uncle Huang dragged me back to his room to castigate me because we couldn¡¯t find the teacher. I think he was edging on crazy from anger¡­

    When was I finally released from Uncle Huang¡¯s room, I spotted a group of people I recognised hurtle into the two adjacent corridors from his door. They clearly didn¡¯t try as I could see their sleeves and hats. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    They checked to confirm Uncle Huang wasn¡¯t around, then boldly strolled out.

    ¡°Nice.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± I pointed to myself. Young people these days had bad taste. I wagged my hand. ¡°Everyone is just being too kind.¡±

    ¡°No need to be modest. We¡¯ve never seen Principal Huang scold the same student three times in a single day. You¡¯ve broken the record.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask for it! He just likes reprimanding people. More pertinentlty, why is it entertainment to you?!

    I didn¡¯t really understand their preferences, but maybe it was what the young generation thought was cool? Pretty much all of my ssmates came to see me, making me feel like I was a returning war hero.

    On the sprint back to our ss, they had all sorts of questions for me.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zheng Datong. My family sells vegetables.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Datong. I¡¯m Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°My turn, my turn. Because the only thing I¡¯m good at is studying, my dad told me he might as well send me away to polish our family¡¯s name since I was wasting resources at home.¡± This spritely fellow was the one who told me I broke a record. ¡°I¡¯m Wu Dayong. My family owns a rice store.¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you, Meiyong.¡±

    ¡°This one is Zhou Teng. His father is the Ministry of Personnel¡¯s third-rank Attendant Gentleman Zhong Xiang¡¯s student.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you, Shun Tengba.¡±

    A girl with her arms crossed suavely said, ¡°I¡¯m Wang Zi. My dad works with a de. He¡¯s Wang Wu.¡±

    ¡°Main is Wang Wu, second is Wang Zi. Impressive.¡±

    Once everyone had their turn, a girl exhaled sharply. ¡°I recognise you.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you, too, I Recognise you. Huh?¡± I looked up.

    She recognises me?

    ¡°Hmph, my name is Shi Weiliang. My mother said you¡¯re a dine and dasher, but my dad spoke up for you, resulting in him taking a beating.¡±

    ¡°Your father is Eight Deities Restaurant¡¯s owner, Shi Guangju?¡±

    ¡°Who else? You dine and dash at other ces, as well?¡±

    ¡°Whatever do you mean? It¡¯s an honour to meet you. As friends, you can count on me anytime, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± enthused Wu Dayong. ¡°We¡¯ve always been bottom rung. You¡¯re the first one to be a hot shot in our grade.¡±

    This is all it takes to be a hot shot around here? Damn, son, your old man named you perfectly. Wuyong, Wuyong, absolutely useless.

    ¡°Me? No way. Isn¡¯t He Shi the hot shot?¡± I wanted to broach the topic of the scuffle withouting out of the gates too hard.

    The entire group stared at me emotionlessly. ¡°You¡¯re not trying to dig up information on him, are you?¡±

    ¡°I am. Is something the matter?¡±

    They checked with each other, then replied, ¡°Not¡­ exactly. It¡¯s just¡­ none of us really like him.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell me more?¡±

    Turned out that He Shi excelled at literacy; however, he liked to befriend the rich and influential. For whatever reason, one of the rich kids he recently befriended had his cronies break his leg.

    ¡°I think it has something to do with the six Princes¡¯ contest.¡±

    ¡°The six Princes?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Shi Weiliang made a funny face at me. ¡°Because that rich kid is under Blue Prince¡¯s banner. He wanted He Shi to write a piece praising Blue Prince, but He Shi refused at the cost of his leg.¡±

    No way. We¡¯re breaking people¡¯s legs just because they don¡¯t agree with your opinion now?

    ¡°He¡¯s one of our institutes four Court Lords.¡±

    Four Court Lords? Man, I feel like I¡¯m about to hear a painfully dodgy Chunnibyou story¡­

    ***

    A while ago, Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables headed out to the locations ording to Shen Yiren¡¯s instructions, but someone from Yongheng Bank soon paid them a visit to inform them that a clue had been found. Once they heard who the thief was, Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang all asked the same question: ¡°Why did he steal it?¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡± The courtroom guards¡¯ in blue uniforms drawled in an aggressive tone as they knocked on the ground with their emotionless rods; they brimmed with the hostility of men out to revenge their mothers. This was something Shen Yiren taught them to do so that they could intimidate suspects and gain the upper hand before the inquisitionsmenced.

    Shen Yiren, in uniform, briskly entered the courtroom and eximed, ¡°Insolence! Huh, why are you here?¡±

    Sitting on the ground, Hong Jiu sniffled. ¡°My life is tragic. I was earnestly moving things in the storehouse when I was ambushed. Right after that, a tough guy came at me. I considered hanging upside down and feeding him, uh, that. Anyway, Tang Ye and so forth came and arrested me, forcing me to eat that. I really don¡¯t want to eat it.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Shen Yiren turned to the intiffs, which consisted of ten-odd students, some of whom needed support to stand.

    The seated student snickered, then whispered to his goons. One of them then limped forward to loudly exin, ¡°My Lady, we are students of Daren Academy. We found out he stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s iron seal. Out of a burning desire to help, we attempted to reim it from him, never expecting him to assault us. Please set things right.¡±

    ¡°He stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s iron seal?¡± queried Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And assaulted you?¡±

    ¡°That is correct.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The students raised their eyebrows at each other whilst grinning.

    Shen Yiren brought down her gavel. ¡°Case closed.¡±

    Hong Jiu sprang to his feet. ¡°Thank you, My Lady.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Why is the case closed?¡±

    Without bothering to nce their way, Shen Yiren answered, ¡°If you have time to waste on this sort of nonsense, you¡¯re better of reading another book. No wonder why my dad told me lot are immature. Run along now. Waste of my time.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Not only did hemit theft but even assault.¡±

    Shen Yiren fired a re their way. ¡°I¡¯m about to assault some people, too!¡±

    The students shuddered.

    ¡°You have proof he stole? Did you find the seal on him? You three!¡± Shen Yiren turned to Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang. ¡°You believed them? Is the thing between your ears just for show?! Think about who he is. Is it remotely possible that he¡¯d steal?¡±

    The trio earnestly pondered prior to replying, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ In any case, no more games. Hong Jiu doesn¡¯t have the seal on him, which means there¡¯s no evidence he stole. That¡¯ll be it.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± The seated student sounded as cold as ever even though he spoke in a soft voice. ¡°It appears you¡¯re still as barbaric as ever.¡±

    Shen Yiren responded, ¡°And you¡¯re still a fan of gang-up games for cowards.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you know how to p your gums, but how can you be disregard thew like this when you are tasked with a case?¡±

    ¡°You think you¡¯re thew. Without evidence, you can¡¯t incriminate someone - even if it¡¯s you, let alone in my court.¡±

    ¡°Who says I don¡¯t have evidence?¡± Sneering, he continued, ¡°Ack of physical proof doesn¡¯t mean there are no witnesses. I have someone who personally saw himmit the act of theft.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t like the direction the plot was developing because of the student¡¯s background.

    ¡°Call Zhao Xin in.¡±

    Zhao Xin ran into the courtroom. ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°This is Zhao Xin, General Zhao Tiankui¡¯s son. He wouldn¡¯t falsely use someone now, would he?¡± Spotting Shen Yiren curl her lips, he immediately stressed, ¡°Zhao Xin, you are obligated to tell the truth in court, especially in Lady Shen¡¯s presence.¡±

    ¡°Should this one tell a lie, he shall be executed,¡± Zhao Xin expressed.

    ¡°Good. You personally saw Hong Jiu steal the seal, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhao Xin asserted.

    ¡°Hong Jiu is an aggressive person, and he knocked you into the pond, correct?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. He has no regard for thew.¡±

    ¡°Last question: is he Hong Jiu?¡±

    Zhao Xin¡¯s gaze tracked along his ssmate¡¯s finger to Hong Jiu. ¡°He! Is not!¡±

    ¡°Hear that? Shen Yiren, he¡­¡± He turned around to Zhao Xin. ¡°What?¡±

    Glossary

    Dayong and Meiyong - The former means ¡°incredibly useful¡±. Thetter means ¡°Useless¡±. How in Teyvat¡¯s archon¡¯s name Ming Feizhen got thetter is beyond me.

    Attendant Gentleman - The proper term for ¡°Secretary of (insert ministry)¡¯s assistant¡±.

    Zhou Teng and Shun Tengba - Zhou Teng¡¯s ¡°Teng¡± means ¡°vine¡± and anything to that effect. Shun Tengba means to climb up a vine without a hitch. Again, no clue how Ming Feizhen is hearing these things.

    Wang Wu and Wang Zi - Wang Wu = ¡°Wang Five/King Five¡±. Wang Zi sounds like ¡°Prince¡±. If the father is a King, then his children would be a Prince.

    Courtroom guards¡¯ ¡°Silence¡± - Instead of a sharp ¡°Silence¡±, in those days, they robotically (not loudly) enunciate the phrase like ¡°Weeeiiii, wuuuu (in Chinese).¡± That¡¯s why I noted that they drawl. If you want to have a listen, here is a link: (Mandarin)/ (Cantonese).

 Volume 12 00 Prologue About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 00 Prologue About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    ¡°You and I have many questions. Today¡¯s show in the capital shall provide insight. When a man says ¡®one¡¯, he should mean ¡®one¡¯. When a man says ¡®two¡¯, he should mean ¡®two¡¯. Speaking of two, his second son had the audacity to lie to his father and plotted his father¡¯s assassination with unorthodox factions. Don¡¯t you find it strange?

    ¡°Orange Prince attempted to corner the son of heaven and even bestowed himself the title Chengkong, showing his intent to arrogate the throne. Luckily, our dynasty does notck warriors who are willing to take a stand for what is right.

    ¡°First, there was Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s Hupo. Second, there were the brave Qilin Guards. Third, we will have to talk about Liu Shan Men, the office where men struggle to keep up with the women. Not only did she embody captivating beauty but also exceptional judgement. Among the many talented individuals under hermand, there was, was, was, who, you ask? Patience, sir. I shall get there.

    ¡°The tall man I speak of goes by the name Ming Feizhen. He couldn¡¯t aplish anything significant on Mount Daluo, but he added one merit after another next to his name in the capital thanks to Shen Yiren.

    ¡°When His Majesty met with Ming Feizhen in Jinluan Pce, he stroked his beard and sternly questioned, ¡°What gives thee the confidence to seek employment in the imperial court?¡±

    ¡°Eh? What skills does Ming Feizhen possess? I shall tell you. I do not wish to speak to bystanders.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen knows how to wield des. What des? Broadswords, double broadswords, tiger-head broadswords, wild-goose broadsword, dancing arm flower broadsword, wind-cutter broadsword, shaver broadsword, Heavenly Dragon ying Sabre, Green Dragon Crescent de, madao, kandao, jiedao, yidao, straight broadsword, hook broadsword, the wind-cutter de, Dog Cutter, Donkey Cutter, the shiny Dragon Cutter, Boar yer, Nose-Hair Cutter, pocket de and the Turbulent-Times-Diving-Dragon-Tiger-Roar-Dragon-Roar-Thunder-p-Invincible-Heavenly-Pir-I-Slept-Him-For-Three-Days-Daobitao de!

    ¡°His Majesty grabbed his chest and gasped, jumped up, flicked up a thumb and dered, ¡®Good, great, excellent, spectacr, splendid!¡¯ Henceforward, he always kept Ming Feizhen by his side. One day, he said to Mingming, ¡®Let us head to Jiangnan,¡¯ I mean, ¡®Nanjiang¡¯.

    ¡°Heughed in the face of Nanjiang¡¯s insurgence. Safeguarding His Majesty was but child¡¯s y for someone skilled, equipped with weapons, erudite, quick-witted and experienced. Throughout the mission, he constantly shed his old self to rise to new heights, won fight after fight, went from low-ranking constable to duke, never relying on flukes. That is the catalyst behind today¡¯s party, where officials from every department are here to get friendly, but it is not a scene you can see just because you want to see. People on the streets are dying to see him be beat. I promised my wife to go line up for the meet and greet, so I need to bounce before the one who¡¯s beat is me. Goodbye to thee.

    ¡°Concierge Shi, enjoy. Two more tes of braised pork shoulders over here.¡±

    ¡°Take your time, Mr. Ming. This one is going to go join the fun today.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to see? I guarantee you won¡¯t see squat in the group.¡±

    ¡°Even if this one cannot see him, he can see others.¡±

    ¡°Concierge, Luo Ming has arrived!¡±

    ¡°Oh my, oh my, oh my! Heavenly Swordsman has arrived! Ladies and gentlemen,e on over! Let me share my philosophy on sess and failure. Do not rush. Do not be surprised¡­¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A whileter, the silent young man mumbled, ¡°¡­ Enjoy the view of flowers on the eaves,¡± then knocked back the cup of wine he was shaking.

    ***

    Early summer¡¯s sunrays split the clouds. The morning dew had nearly all been but a part ofst night¡¯s history. Leaves were adrift in their next journey after leaving home.

    While bugs took flight, children came out to use the bugs¡¯ shelters as hiding spots for another game of hide and seek while there was still a cool breeze.

    Had it not been for the summer ruckus, Luo Ming would¡¯ve preferred to sleep for a little longer. Nevertheless, enjoying a bowl of sour plum soup in the dining hall was a pleasant way to pass time in its own way. Sour plum soup was nothing rare, but it was rare to see someone enjoy it with ice due to the steep price of ice. Back home, he¡¯d have breakfast prepared, but he and his family had to prepare breakfast themselves in the capital. No matter, for, despite them being more particr than ordinary families, their ptes weren¡¯t difficult to please.

    Luo Ming changed into a red robe with a lion sewn onto the left and a crane on the right - the uniform to see His Majesty. Luo Siming greeted his father after his father¡¯s breakfast.

    ¡°Have the sour plum soup while it¡¯s chilled, but don¡¯t let the porridge go cold,¡± instructed Luo Ming.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    As he referenced his appearance in a copper mirror, Luo Ming asked, ¡°Have you trained this morning yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I noticed some errors with your Repository Sword techniques; seek your second uncle¡¯s guidanceter. Don¡¯t overlook small problems, or they may grow into big problems, just like forging a sword.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Luo Ming left his son with a few more instructions, then set out for the imperial pce.

    Although the Emperor leaving the pce was meant to be a covert operation, there was no way he could return to the capital inconspicuously, not after people caught wind of Heavenly Swordsman and his contributions to quashing the unrest in Nanjiang, forged friendship with Tiezhen¡¯s royalty and Morcher¡¯s Queen, in addition to the figurative fruits he brought back through assisting other states. For that reason, there were ubiquitous clusters of people on the streets.

    Luo Ming leisurely strode toward the pce, seemingly not minding the people¡¯s curious gazes on him.

    Tianhu emerged up ahead, but it seemed as though Luo Ming was the only person who could see him. ¡°Wee, Heavenly Swordsman,¡± Tianhu jovially greeted.

    Although chief contributors to the campaign in the south and high-ranking officials were in attendance at today¡¯s celebratory banquet, rewards weren¡¯t the only things scheduled to be handed out. In order to reward, punishments had toe first, and first in line were high-ranking officials who were in hot water. Among the few in Huzhou and Nanjiang¡¯s campaigns, nobodymitted graver crimes than Luo Ming.

    Red Prince effectively censored the crimes Luo Ming was culpable for, demonstrating his capacity as state proctor. In turn, many were taken aback upon learning of the crimes Luo Mingmitted. Even so, Luo Ming appeared indifferent to the gazes on him as he entered the pce after Tianhu¡¯s lead.

    Based on the list of Luo Ming¡¯s crimes alone, there was no need for the Ministry of Justice to give the obvious verdict. Howbeit, things didn¡¯t exist in a vacuum. Never had any Emperor executed one of the Seven Champion White Princes in their dynasty¡¯s history, and it was also the first time one of the sevenmitted treason.

    When Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s generationpeted for the throne, the Seven Champion White Princes took sides, seemingly worried there would be peace. When Youtu invaded from the north, besides Dark Robe Brotherhood in Nanjing, the remaining six sent out average disciples to assist while keeping their elites cosy at home. ¡°We are afraid of trouble in the capital¡± sounded noble on paper, but not one of the seven sent reinforcements to the capital when Youtu was right outside the capital. Had it not been for Flying General, the capital wouldn¡¯t be what it was today. When the dust settled, the seven rushed to the capital, iming they were going to help drive back Youtu¡¯s forces. In reality, they were only there to help the Princes they supported. The Emperor at the time was one thought away from requesting them toe back and give the seven some ¡°training¡±. Despite all that, not one of the seven received as much as a p on the wrist.

    One couldn¡¯t be executed enough times for taking an Emperor prisoner. Execute Luo Ming, though, and Luo Sword Manor would undoubtedly revolt. Firstly, Luo Sword Manor was incredibly close to the capital. Secondly, although Luo Ming wasn¡¯t praised for military prowess, no more than ten people in the imperial court could offer him a challenge. Such a battle would be gruelling.

    While it wasn¡¯t difficult for the imperial court to exterminate Luo Sword Manor right away, the challenge would be exterminating them without instigating the remaining six to start their own uprisings. An extermination wasn¡¯t an extermination if there were stragglers. Anyone in the world might not understand that, but there was no chance the seven didn¡¯t. The moment Luo Sword Manor announced their intention to avenge Luo Ming, the other six would definitely add oil to the fire in some shape or form.

    Putting aside the difficulty and damages that were inevitably associated with fighting the seven, even if the imperial court won, foreign enemies, even Youtu, would take advantage of the Central in¡¯s weakened state to initiate an incursion. Once the seven and the imperial court started fighting, it wouldn¡¯t end with just one war.

    Emperor Yuansheng made several reassuring moves that his predecessors never made. First, he married the daughter of Dark Robe Brotherhood. Not only was she the mother to one of his sons and one of his daughters, but she also earned the respect of his Empress and consorts for staying in herne and even encouraging him to marry more women. Emperor Yuansheng liked both Li Tingzhu and Li Hongzhuang. The marriage put the hearts of Wang and Xie ns in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s hands the moment their marriage was a done deal.

    In regards to Gold and Silver Sect, they were unlikely to start anything while Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s pawn - A-Hu - was monitoring them.

    Valley of Yearning, Song n, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Cold Mountain Temple¡­ Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t read their movements, ssifying them as the biggest problems. Even though they weren¡¯t present, he could imagine the looks on their faces as they awaited news from the moment Luo Ming set foot in the pce. There was no way the four would sit back if three were removed. Consequently, Emperor Yuansheng had to be very selective about choosing who to tackle for his third target.

    Executing Luo Ming meant war. Pardoning him meant surrender. There were reasons that rendered both uneptable.

    How to deal with Luo Ming rode on how determined Emperor Yuansheng was to remove the seven. For Emperor Yuansheng, this was his most difficult decision. Luo Ming was skilled, was once a hero, once the face of orthodox sects, a friend and a father to one of his sons.

    Like his friend standing silently in the centre of the pce, Emperor Yuansheng merely stared in silence.

    ¡°How dare you stand in His Majesty¡¯s presence?!¡±

    Nobody could remember thest time he raised his voice when he was known for hisid-back attitude even when handling national affairs; they expected him to be just as blithe in the face of death, yet it was a fact that the shout came from Prime Minister Li¡¯s direction.

    News of Prime Minister Li going to pick up His Majesty from Nanjiang spread as fast as a national crisis rm. When the man jovially met with the eleven monarchs who opposed Morcher¡¯s restoration, the eleven looked as though a nightmare came through their door. Despiteing prepared, one could say they threw their helmet away, stripped off their armour and hurtled against Prime Minister Li¡¯s verbal onught.

    Prime Minister Li didn¡¯t im credit the sessful debate. Instead, he expressed they were just being kind. He stayed out of the limelight as well as avoided seeing guests once he returned to the capital. Anybody who didn¡¯t have an overgrown ego understood his intentions. Today, however, was a day he had to be present at regardless of circumstances.

    Luo Ming dropped down to his knees. ¡°This sinner¡®s respects to Your Majesty.¡±

    Prime Minister Li: ¡°Referring to yourself as a sinner shows you still have a sense of humility. Tell me: what is the penalty for using Refining Divine Convention as a front to frame and harm the martial world, theft of weapons under the cover of the night, framing the innocent, taking people from families and causing families to lose their homes.¡±

    ¡°Decapitation.¡±

    ¡°Correct. You killed Evil Spirits and offended Abels. Did you realise he is the uncle of Tiezhen¡¯s King? Had he died at your hands, it¡¯d be war. What should the penalty for starting a national cmity be?¡±

    ¡°Decapitation.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you lied to and abducted His Majesty, acts of treason that go against your duty as a subject and good morals. This is a serious crime that one cannot be used of without proof. I personally sought verification of these events, and my proof is the thirty-seven testimonies from the three offices managing the martial world. Do you plead guilty?!¡±

    ¡°This sinner pleads guilty.¡±

    ¡°What is the penalty for your heinous, immoral and infuriating crimes?¡±

    ¡°Decapitation.¡±

    ¡°The fact that you can say that proves you have the desire to turn over a new leaf. So, for what reason have you requested an audience with His Majesty today?¡±

    ¡°This sinner requests death.¡±

    Glossary

    Heaven Dragon ying Sabre - Obviously a y on the Heaven Sword and Dragon ying Sabre from Jin Yong¡¯s story.

    Green Dragon Crescent de - The weapon Guan Yu was attributed with wielding.

    Madao, kandao, jiedao and yidao - These names aren¡¯t tranted because they¡¯re names we use in martial arts circles.

    Weapons with capitals - They¡¯re made up names rather than types, hence the capitalisation.

    Extra note - I hope I¡¯ve managed to capture the archaic tone in the first half of the chapter. The storyteller uses archaguage that is no longer used today. I neither know enough archaic English to re-write an equivalent nor foresee all readers from understanding it - not to be seen as an insult given Chinese people may struggle to read the first section of this chapter, too, just like I can¡¯t read Shakespeare.

 Volume 12 01 Seven Bows About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 01 Seven Bows About View Page Source Additional Resources Visitor Testimonials</h4>

    Prime Minister Li stroked his beard. ¡°You¡¯re here to seek death, you say?¡±

    ¡°This sinner cannot atone for his sins regardless of how many times he dies. Therefore, he dares not ask for forgiveness, let alone shirk responsibility and taint His Majesty¡¯s ears.¡±

    Prime Minister Li scowled. ¡°You sure know how to plead for mercy. What gave you the audacity tomit the acts in the first ce, then?! The citizens of our Nine Provinces nearly had to bear the burdens of your mistakes, and the imperial court, including His Majesty, would have to remedy things for you. Do you realise your wrongs?!¡±

    ¡°This sinner does.¡±

    Prime Minister Li¡¯s wrinkles smoothed out a little. ¡°Although you have realised your faults, a nation¡¯sws must be observed. Howbeit, His Majesty rules through virtue unlike the tyrants out in the wild. Therefore, you may leave yourst words before you ept your penance. Do you have anyst words?¡±

    Not a single official dared to take a breath when Luo Ming suddenly rose to his feet and marched toward the throne. What could they do if the greatest swordsman a decade ago had transcended his previous level were to attack? They cautiously nced up to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side, where Tianhu had an upward curve to his lips, while Prime Minister Li looked cosy where he stood. Most reassuring, though, was that Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t show any fear.

    With every stride Luo Ming took, a memory he and Emperor Yuansheng shared would float to the front of their minds.

    Their friendship blossomed simrly to the lotuses on the day they met and brimmed with energyparable to the sun on the day they met by Taihu Lake. Together, they took down viins and travelled across Jiangnan. On more than one asion, Emperor Yuansheng would say something along the lines of, ¡°Burn some incense and tell my father I love him. Advise my mother to not choose another Emperor who is prone to getting lost in the pugilistic world like me! Bring it on, you sons of, hargh! Bring it!¡± Time and time again, Shen Wuzheng and Luo Ming would risk their necks to rescue Emperor Yuansheng. Those were fun times, but time flew by perceptively faster than usual during those times.

    It was when duties separated them that they realised how powerless they were, how hard it was to distinguish right from wrong, how dangerous life was and how it was sometimes more important to discard their humanity to live than to hold on to principles. Their paths diverged, but they were as visibly as tired as each other. They could both agree that they had aged.

    Wouldn¡¯t it be nice for life to be clouds? Wouldn¡¯t it be nice to go back to the days orughing over drinks? s, though the lotuses at Taihu Lake were now as beautiful as back, those fleeting years of youth were gone for good.

    Luo Ming stopped at the foot of the steps, went back to his knees and bowed his head to the ground.

    ¡°Why?¡± Only when Emperor Yuansheng spoke could anyone tell how saddened he was.

    Without batting an eye, Luo Ming replied, ¡°This sinner¡¯s first bow is to thank the imperial court. Thanks to the imperial court, Luo Sword Manor has been honoured, never had to be concerned over their livelihood and enjoyed privileges.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Luo Ming bowed his head to the floor again. ¡°This second bow is to apologise forcking the insight to recognise your greatness and mistaking you for an intruder at the outset. In addition, it is to thank you for not holding against this sinner.

    Luo Ming bowed his head a third time. ¡°This third bow is to express gratitude to you and Shen Wuzheng for supporting this sinner¡¯s marriage.

    Luo Ming bowed his head again. ¡°This fourth bow is to show appreciation for granting the honour of trusting your fourth son to this sinner. Lyu¡¯er has the prudence of a general. Please invest in his development.

    Luo Ming bowed his head forth a fifth time. ¡°This fifth bow is to thank you for sparing Luo Sword Manor in spite of this sinner¡¯s heinous crimes that should incur a n extermination. There is no way this sinner cannot recognise your forgiveness.

    Luo Ming dropped his head to the floor a sixth time. ¡°This sixth bow is to show gratitude for allowing this sinner to personally avenge his fallen sons and brothers. It is also to thank you for not leaving him for dead on the battlefield when he lost his ability to defend himself after the battle and even did everything in your power to treat his injuries.¡±

    ¡°None of it¡­ matters anymore.¡± Emperor Yuansheng weakly wagged his hand.

    ¡°Thisst bow¡­ This sinner is conceited, odd and narrow-minded, yet you were willing to befriend and trust him. Those days are irreceable.¡± Luo Ming raised his head after another kowtow and saluted Emperor Yuansheng with both hands, smiling. ¡°Please watch where you go from now¡­ Do not get lost again.¡±

    Only when Emperor Yuansheng bobbed his head did it dawn on him that he obstructed his vision with his feelings.

    Meanwhile, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s vassals interrupted Luo Ming¡¯s expression of gratitude and request for death as a deration of war. As vassal who helped manage Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s empire, they saw things through more pragmatic lenses.

    Luo Ming¡¯s death in the capital would create ripples in Huzhou. Once Huzhou¡¯s elites marched on the capital, war was unavoidable. As the supplier of arms to the imperial court¡¯s military, Luo Sword Manor could also supply the other six White Princes with weapons. Thus, the vassals were already contemting which cksmith to contact for supplies before news of Luo Ming¡¯s execution was publicised. Meanwhile, Luo Siming was wetting hispels and spacing out in front of an empty porridge ball. He was fully aware that was hisst meal with his father.

    ¡°Luo Ming has no means of repaying you besides,¡± - Luo Ming¡¯s voice snapped the vassals out of their worlds - ¡°on behalf of Luo Sword Manor, henceforth, Luo Sword Manor shall step down as one of the Seven Champion White Princes, returning to its roots as ordinary citizens. Luo Sword Manor¡¯s soldiers shall be entrusted to the Ministry of Defence. The imperial court shall manage Huzhou¡¯s taxes, and Luo Sword Manor will no longer have the privilege to ept taxes as ie. All savings earned from taxes shall be paid forward to the imperial court. All military equipment manufacturing shall be entrusted to the imperial court¡¯s supervision. All two hundred and forty-plus weapon blueprints shall be handed over, as well. Military workshops are hereby properties of the imperial court. Luo Ming hereby hands over all of Huzhou to repay your grace.¡±

    ***

    Thirty years ago, a young man simr to the one sitting at a table at Eight Deities Restaurant also visited the restaurant. Instead of gazing at the sky over drinks, however, he gazed at it from the bottom of the lion statue by the city entrance. He once woke up to see the face of a different woman every morning and went nights without sleep. He once fell adted adepts with a single sword at the foot of Mount Zijin. He once said, ¡°As I gaze at the flowers on the eaves, I see ubiquitous signs of war in the capital.¡±

    Glossary

    Wouldn¡¯t it be nice for life to be clouds¡­ - Clouds are being used as a simple of impermanence. ¡°Life¡± here isn¡¯t just about one¡¯s life but epasses mankind as a whole, as well as the world. Does that alsoe out the same way in English? Cloudse and go, but life only moves forward. Clouds that are scattered and reunited are still the same clouds (I assume not really, but I¡¯m no chemistry whiz), but people are no longer the same when they reunite.

 Volume 12 02 On the Rail

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 02 On the Rail</h4>

    ¡°As I gaze at the flowers on the eaves, I see ubiquitous signs of war in the capital.¡± I mncholically gazed at the eves whilst uttering Shifu¡¯s insulting attempt at poetry.

    Greetings,dies and gentlemen. I am Ming Feizhen, but you can just call me Coollord. Long-time no see. Time flies, hey? It¡¯s been a sprint from Nanjiang back to the capital and equally busy in between, so I really don¡¯t want to go there. Be free, you know? Be free. Don¡¯t shackle yourself with the past.

    Like the rail and table on the top floor of Eight Deities Restaurant, there was a sadness in my heart that the clear and gentle breeze couldn¡¯t blow away. As I gazed at the people on the streets, they gazed back. Could you me them for admiring my dashing appearance?

    Aye, thanks for the shoe, sir. d to know you agree with me. Love you, too.

    I had met my fair share of such friendly people. I had experienced everything one could experience in their life, so what could rustle my feathers? What could rustle my feathers you ask?

    ¡°Throw him off!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait! I¡¯ll be salted fish if you throw me over!¡± I roared in a husky voice whilst grabbing onto the rails for dear life and trying to wrestle off seven big men holding me by my limbs. ¡°Don¡¯t be rash! Rashness is the devil¡¯s sin!¡±

    The bossdy of Eight Deities Restaurant sitting in front of me had her usual friendly smile, but what she said was, ¡°Wait? Ming Feizhen, we¡¯ve known each other for some years now, right? Over ten years if we count from the time your shifu first brought you to Nanjing, right?¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, yes, exactly. You were there for every step of my growth.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s why I considered the yuzhu duck I raised a tribute when you insisted on eating it. I thought, ¡®Well, it must¡¯ve been a rough journey toe all this way just for it.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Your wisdom shines again. It was rough.¡±

    ¡°I told you that you can¡¯t eat the duck I raised because it was a gift for someone, yet you still ate it, but I let you off since you looked tanner than before.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I wiped my eyes. ¡°You are too understanding. Life has been really tough.¡±

    She bent another extended finger. ¡°You then ate nine pots of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce, a hundred and eight small dishes, three roast pork and drank twenty bottles of osmanthus wine, resulting in my customers being so awestruck that they forgot to order. I¡¯m a tolerate woman, so I let it go, too. However, you can¡¯t bloody dine and dash! Boys, throw him off!¡±

    ¡°Wait! Please, No! Sister-inw! I really did forget to bring my wallet!¡±

    Yes, I had fought a dragon in an underground pce, beheaded a bandit leader hiding behind his army and scrapped with adepts across thend, but I had no idea how to escape this predicament!

    She swung down a butcher knife, sticking it into the wood right in front of my eyes. ¡°You eat me into closing shop and then tell me you don¡¯t have money. Cut the bullcrap, and tell me when I¡¯m getting my money!¡±

    Why was I in that situation, you ask? Because dining and dashing was predicated on being able to outrun your chaser. Thing was, I couldn¡¯t outrun them. You forget I couldn¡¯t use any martial arts skills now?

    I poked my tongue out.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re funny?! Eunuch him!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, no, I was not poking my tongue out at you. It will be here soon! I swear on my life the money will be here in a sec! Mr. Shi, say something! What happened to our brotherhood?¡±

    Mr. Shi timidly poked his head out from behind his wife and, in a barely-audible voiced, uttered, ¡°I¡­¡±

    Mr. Shi¡¯s wife: ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Mr. Shi: ¡°Right away.¡±

    You! You and my shifu make men look bad! Take a page out of my book, won¡¯t you?!

    ¡°Hahaha, Sister-inw, you grow more and more beautiful by the day. Are you on some sort of special diet?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®haha¡¯ me. Pay up.¡±

    I pulled the most intimidating face I could with all the saliva on my face. ¡°Sister-inw, on ount of our long friendship, please let me go for today!¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s precisely on your ount of never paying in all these years that I¡¯m red up right now!¡±

    ¡°Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Let¡¯s change the topic, okay?¡±

    I never paid? Oh, damn¡­

    ¡°Enough. Can¡¯t pay? Throw him.¡±

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    I looked in the direction of the voice to see a maiden who¡¯d wipe me off my feet without saying a word. ¡°Boss!¡±

    I knew I was right to worship you!

    I was worried the likes of Liu Yan picked up the pigeon I sent to Liu Shan Men for help; they were the sort of people to leave me for dead, after all.

    Everyone stepped aside as Boss sauntered to me. Staring sternly, she asserted, ¡°He¡¯s mine. Nobody is to throw him.¡±

    Boss, you the boss!

    ¡°Pull him back in,¡± ordered the bossdy. As she eyed me, she said, ¡°Ming Feizhen, you have your ways, huh? Who¡¯d expect someone of your calibre to have such a cool wife?¡±

    Hey,dy, mind your choice of words. I don¡¯t like what I hear. Does Boss look ugly or something?

    ¡°Spare me the nonsense. You knew we had work today, yet you started this fiasco. I thought this ce was a shady ce when I read ¡®Bring money to Eight Deities Restaurant¡¯ and came prepared to smash it, but it seems legit to me,¡± Boss stated.

    The bossdy crossed her arms. ¡°Of course it¡¯s legit.¡±

    ¡°How much is the bill? I¡¯ll pay. Let him go.¡±

    The bossdy beamed. ¡°Thank you very much. His billes to a total of two thousand and four hundred taels.¡±

    ¡°Two thousand and four hundred?! Move. I¡¯ll throw him!¡± Boss strode over and grabbed me.

    I wrapped my arms around Boss¡¯ waist as tight as I could. She was so much softer and smelt so much nicer than those burly men.

    Boss proceeded to hammer me until I released her, then seized my cor. ¡°What the hell did you eat, huh?! You eat the entire ce?!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ It¡¯s a long story¡­¡±

    Mr. Shi popped his out from behind his wife again to pull a face that read, ¡°Your wife bosses you around, too, pussy.¡±

    I will whoop your candy bum!

    ¡°Boss! Save me! Please!¡±

    Boss Lady: ¡°It¡¯s fine if you can¡¯t work the wok. You just have to reach into your pockets.¡±

    Smiling, Boss uttered through her white pearls. ¡°I¡¯ll pay!¡±

 Volume 12 03 Erstwhile Emperorâ€™s Character Evaluations

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 03 Erstwhile Emperor¡¯s Character Evaluations</h4>

    H-herro, I¡¯m Ming Huishen. You cam call me Coollort.

    Cough! Cough!

    Oh, that¡¯s better. It¡¯s hard trying to talk with a crooked jaw. I have two life lessons for you. If you suck at running, bring money on you. Second, never offend women, especially when you can¡¯t beat them. I had to tell you now, lest I never have the opportunity to talk life and dreams with you again.

    Only rtives of His Majesty, national guests and other personnel close to the imperial family chose to loiter in the pce garden. That said, because there were usually lots of officials at banquets, they preferred to stay in the za since it was considered more graceful, as well as created a distinction between work and personal affairs. Honestly, I, too, liked the za better. My face still hurt, but there would be food and beverages served when the bonfire was lit, and you could eat anything you fancied. Plus, with all the performances on disy, it was tantamount to strolling through the night markets. The only thing was¡­ I had no right to attend the banquet in the imperial garden¡­

    I didn¡¯t have to deliberately listen to know they were discussing what took ce in the court room. Luo Ming¡¯s request to be executed was a brilliant move on his part. I could feel the tension between His Majesty and the Seven Champion White Princes when I wasn¡¯t even part of the tug-of-war.

    The Seven Champion White Princes were granted an excessive amount of power for the status quo. In times of peace, it wouldn¡¯t be such a problem. If their ambitions grew, such as in the past few years, it was impossible to mediate their rtionship with the imperial court; it would either be fight or submit. Of course, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s personality was a variable in the equation, as well. From memory, when he was still with his brothers, his father evaluated them as below.

    The eldest was collected and loved in the pce, making him the best candidate to assist in managing a country. As long as he avoided shady people and bad influences, he was suitable for pivotal roles. As foretold, he let people with bad intentions influence him. In the end, he became a mess and fell from grace in the race for the throne.

    The second Prince waspetent in politics and on the battlefield, earning him praise as a military figure. His father stated he inherited their progenitor¡¯s prowess, a man who could face an army on his own. Indeed, he dominated on battlefields to the point that he became a target for a concerted attack. Apparently, he died in a remote backwater vige and was carried back on a donkey cart.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Third Prince was called the cultured qilin owing to his aplishments in schstic pursuits. For sessfully convincing Tiezhen to hand over a city, his father crowned him the title of Prince Beng and praised, ¡°When people see my son, they see a talented hero.¡± The Prince conferred the title of a sword ornament was the only Prince to support Emperor Yuansheng in the contest for power. While there was never any news of his demise, he had gone missing. Meanwhile, His Majesty and Empress Dowager took care of his wife and daughter in the capital.

    As for Fourth Prince¡­ Well, he was on the throne, so he was obviously alive. I agreed with his father¡¯s evaluation of him when I met him; however, I couldn¡¯t recall it when it was sitting on my tongue.

    Anyhow, back to Luo Ming. Really, the imperial court couldn¡¯t do anything about Luo Ming. Execute him and they¡¯d have war. Let him go, and it¡¯d be the equivalent of telling people that everyone was wee to kill an Emperor. It was Luo Ming who cut open a third path for them with his derations.

    The imperial court had never made any incisions in the seven before, but Luo Sword Manor¡¯s removal didn¡¯t count as the imperial court touching them because Luo Ming took it upon himself to step down. With his self-dismissal as precedence, the imperial court had a way to cut off the intricate system without sparking war. In summary, Luo Ming created a new penalty for the seven.

    The most praiseworthy aspect of Luo Ming¡¯s move was his timing. One could say he gave a sleepy man a pillow, with Emperor Yuansheng being the man and his desire to strip them his drowsiness.

    In taking the initiative to surrender, Luo Ming managed to exchange the best long-term and biggest gains for Luo Sword Manor with his sacrifice. There was no way His Majesty would mistreat one his vassals who yed a role in his country¡¯s foundation. Plus, given Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s character, the more he missed Luo Ming in the future, the more peaceful and safe Luo Sword Manor would be.

    On the surface, the imperial court would do everything in its power to establish Luo Sword Manor as a sessful example of a White Prince stepping down, all whilst still enjoying the same honours and wealth. For that reason, unless the next Emperor was a fool who wanted to shoot himself in the foot, Luo Sword Manor would be untouchable.

    The moment Luo Ming died, His Majesty, the imperial court and Luo Sword Manor were the sole beneficiaries. That was what you call foresight.

    The only con to the entire blueprint was Luo Ming¡¯s death. I wasn¡¯t grass or a rock. I hadn¡¯t forgotten our match back on Taihu Ind that became the spark for a small friendship. Merely imagining his end, even the soy-sauce duck of the imperial court didn¡¯t seem appetising. You can¡¯t expect me to have the appetite for a ninth one,e on.

    ¡°Feizhen, what are you holding onto a duck bone for?¡± Boss had returned from greeting the high-ranking officials who wanted to strike up a friendship with our office after the recent events. Needless to say, Boss liked the momentum we gained. ¡°Why are you spacing out?¡±

    Boss Shen had to ask the pce¡¯s maids to help her with her light-pink robe today because nobody at Liu Shan Men understood how to wear the robe for pce events. Mayhap it was my imagination, but she seemed to have put leaned out a little more and put on size in dangerous areas after the skirmishes. What could I say? I was d my porn-, my predecessors didn¡¯t lie when they said maidens evolve daily.

    Walking beside me, Boss questioned, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    I exhaled. ¡°No appetite.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Boss hiked up a corner of her lips and took the te of duck anterior to me. ¡°In that case, let me take it off you.¡±

    ¡°Put it down, bully!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. Why are you even pretending when it¡¯s just the two of us? I know you.¡±

    I sat down and scrubbed me head. ¡°My appetite isn¡¯t as big as usual when I think of Luo Ming.¡±

    Boss¡¯ luminous eyes dimmed down. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll speak to Shifuter.¡±

    Although I didn¡¯t know what the sudden mouring among the officials was about, I suspected His Majesty had arrived.

    Although I was supposedly the duke of Nieyao, I didn¡¯t have any actual authority. I wouldn¡¯t have even epted the post if I didn¡¯t need to have eyes on the city. What? You think you can bribe me with a few jugs of radishes?! Nevertheless, His Majesty promised me more rewards today, and I had been waiting for too long already.

    Boss pulled me aside. ¡°Remember what I told you yesterday? If he¡­¡±

    ¡°I remember. If His Majesty instates me as a general, I¡¯ll pretend to object and then ept after he persistently insists. If he adds me to the Seventeen Hidden Dragons rankings, I shall recite a poem about caring for the welfare of the people and country so that the other offices see that we¡¯re as good with the brush as we are with the sword. If he gives me an official post, I shall hug his legs and kowtow.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Boss adjusted my clothing. ¡°You¡¯re starting to make a name for yourself, so learn to be sensible. Take your time with salutes and speak properly.¡±

    ¡°Come on, Boss. Do you think I¡¯d embarrass us with my wits?¡±

    Besides, didn¡¯t I deserve some rewards when I fought my rear off in Nanjiang? All I wanted to know was, how many pork shoulders braised in soy sauce I was going to receive!

    As the officials started lining up, Boss and I weaved through the crowd toward the front. Unlike the usual in path His Majesty crossed, it was embellished with decorations.

    ¡°Today¡¯s banquet is to celebrate the return from Nanjiang. It certainly is lively with everyone gathered,¡± Emperor Yuansheng voiced from his throne. ¡°They say the son of heaven sits in Ming Hall, where the ¡®Ming¡¯ character refers to ¡®just and honest¡¯. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Your Majesty,¡± everyone concurred.

    ¡°Since my ascension, I have always been honest with you. Even when what I say vites morals and courtesy, I speak my mind as I value the truth. This has me cornered. Even so, if I do not move fast and decisively, I shall feel guilty. How can I face you if I am pretentious? I have words I must get off my chest today.¡± Emperor Yuansheng raised a hand, signalling for the Ministry of Rite¡¯s secretary to refrain from interrupting him. ¡°I wish to hear your stances on Luo Ming¡¯s decision to surrender his privileges and seek death to show gratitude.¡±

    Despite there being several hundreds of people present, we could hear insects conversing. Thanks to the silence, I remembered what His Majesty¡¯s father said of him. When he received a report that his youngest son, who neither excelled in martial arts nor the schstic realm, reported a corrupt magistrate at a remote vige and chased off thugs himself, he said, ¡°He can¡¯t control his mouth.¡±

    m! Emperor Yuansheng mmed his table and fumed, ¡°Have you all be mutes?!¡±

    His father¡¯s judgement was most apt if you ask me. Boss looked my way whilst holding in herughter if you weren¡¯t convinced.

    Glossary

    Ming Hall - Originally, it¡¯s a term that refers to the most decorated ce in the imperial pce, the ce where the Emperor works, where officials convene for conferences and where major rituals are conducted. It¡¯s not the name of a pce; there¡¯s just no way to trante this and keep what Emperor Yuansheng says next relevant without tranting it as such. In Feng-Shui-nese, it refers to where ¡°life qi¡± collects, which refers to the direction water and mountains should be located. In housing, it refers to the area youe to as soon as you enter the front doors. At work, it would be area in front of your desk. Then, you can even take it further with ¡°Main Ming Hall¡±, ¡°Mid Ming Hall¡± etc.

 Volume 12 04 Dark Abyss

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 04 Dark Abyss</h4>

    Couldn¡¯t me everyone for staying mum. Everyone was abreast of His Majesty¡¯s attitude toward the Seven Champion White Princes; it just wasn¡¯t something they could talk about openly. Simrly, they couldn¡¯t wait for Luo Ming to roll over and die so that they could confiscate Luo Sword Manor¡¯s properties as well as give the other six a fright, but none of them would voice that.

    ¡°Secretary Leng, you,¡± demanded Emperor Yuansheng.

    Secretary Leng stepped out of line and, in signature form, replied, ¡°Luo n should be exterminated for Luo Ming¡¯s crimes.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you are pro-execution?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°borate.¡±

    ¡°There is no precedence of executing any of the Seven Champion White Princes in our dynasty.¡±

    Secretary Zhang Chunfeng argued, ¡°That is not true. ording to this old one¡¯s knowledge, insurrection is not one of the crimes they are absolved of.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Secretary Leng, why are you contradicting yourself?¡±

    ¡°It is true that insurrection is not pardoned. Howbeit, harming the martial world and hurting civilians are forgivable crimes.¡± Ignoring the gasps and gossiping, Secretary Leng continued, ¡°While Luo Ming¡¯s crimes are true, it is also true that he has contributed merits. His crimes do not erase the good he has done in the past, not to mention the fact that he contributed again in Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°I thought there¡¯s only room forw and nopassion in your world.¡±

    ¡°Thew does not havepassion; people havepassion. Executing Luo Ming would make him pay for his crimes in addition to creating deterrence. That being said, his decision to relinquish his privileges does not benefit us just now but even in future; it is a merit that has saved countless lives. To execute someone who contributed such a great deal is to set a bad example for the world. This one is merely opining his true thoughts at His Majesty¡¯s behest.¡±

    ¡°How about you, Secretary Zhang?¡± Emperor Yuansheng queried.

    ¡°Your subject is also against execution.¡±

    Even I didn¡¯t expect that answer, let alone His Majesty. Why in god¡¯s name did he have so much to say when he was on the same side?

    Secretary Zhang added, ¡°In your subject¡¯s opinion, Luo Ming should not be executed now because he turned himself in. In saying that, reiming Luo Sword Manor will take time. If we kill Luo Ming now, it may createplications. How about detaining him for now and deferring his punishment.¡±

    Trust you toe up with that sort of cunning move!

    From the discussions amongst the officials, they favoured Secretary Zhang¡¯s approach.

    ¡°What is your opinion, Prime Minister?¡±

    Prime Minister Li opened his eyes a tad. ¡°In your subject¡¯s opinion¡­ there is a problem.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And that would be?¡±

    Prime Minister Li raised his hand as though he was in deep thought. ¡°There is something wrong with the fruit.¡± He bowed and added, ¡°Your subject¡¯s stomach is tumbling and roiling. Please allow this old one to take a short break.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Everyone watched on in disbelief as Prime Minister Li zoomed off to the loo. Who could me the veteran when the question was too tough to answer?

    Breaking the long pause, Emperor Yuansheng stated, ¡°I n to imprison him in Dark Abyss.¡±

    If it was to be ranked, Dark Abyss was the highest-ranked prison reserved for the most heinous criminals or criminals who threatened the security of the nation. Its location was a well-kept secret, and those who were sent there had never been seen again.

    Emperor Yuansheng sauntered into the crowd. ¡°To tell the truth, I have undone the knot in my heart; I don¡¯t want to follow up on Luo Ming¡¯s crimes. Unfortunately, a monarch cannot just forgive someone and move on. As a monarch, I am duty-bound to think further and broader for the people who are affected by my decisions. Hence, I cannot just brush his crimes off. Howbeit! He didn¡¯t kill me. Instead, he has entrusted me with his ancestor¡¯s blood, sweat and tears, and his family¡¯s lives. He lost his lifetime of cultivation in Nanjiang. For me to now give the order to execute him will take my sleep from me for the rest of my life. I cannot bring myself to decree his execution. Is my suggestion eptable?¡±

    ¡°Your subject agrees.¡±

    The ministers turned around to see Prime Minister Li already back from the loo and prostrated on the ground. Since he had prostrated himself on the ground, the officials around followed suit. In turn, one official after another copied him and voiced, ¡°Your subject agrees.¡± The few who weren¡¯t followers, such as Secretary Zhang, awkwardly knelt down, though they didn¡¯t voice agreement.

    Emperor Yuansheng stood in the centre of the formation for a good while prior to returning to his throne above the jade steps. He gently ced a hand on his chest and mumbled under his breath, ¡°¡­ Nearly made me do a number two in my pants!¡°

    ***

    ¡°My, you¡¯ve put on weight? Your beard has grown. How old is your grandson? Has he started studying? I rmend the teacher at the library in the capital¡¯s north.¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t stop smiling from ear to ear.

    ¡°No wonder why you weren¡¯t worried. From now on, I¡¯ll keep in mind he likes to make a big deal out of nothing,¡± Imented.

    Boss shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t fully aware. Having said that, I never believed he¡¯d let Shifu digging his own grave. After all, His Majesty¡¯s father already talked about it.¡± She then signalled with her eyes and ced a hand over her lips to imply, ¡°Sh, don¡¯t mention it even though you know.¡±

    As predicted, His Majesty moved on to awarding contributors next, except he could immediately pass out rewards, such as rights to houses, fields, women, gold and so forth unlike in Nanjiang. Even Long Zaitian got to stroll off in armour.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen,e forward,¡± Emperor Yuansheng called.

    Finally!

    Boss grabbed me to remind, ¡°Be careful. Mind your manners.¡±

    I shook off Boss¡¯ hold. You think I spent days training for nothing? ¡°Boss, don¡¯t worry. I never trip.¡±

    I took three measured steps forward and stopped exactly where I ought to stop. I dashingly lifted both hands up in salute. I¡¯d say it was the best performance of my life. ¡°Your subject¡¯s respects to you, Fangzhang.¡±

    Oh¡­ Well, crap¡­

    Glossary

    Dark Abyss - This is a fictional prison.

 Volume 12 05 Feizhen Promoted

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 05 Feizhen Promoted</h4>

    Eight guards in golden armour pinned me to the ground immediately after I spoke.

    ¡°Stop.¡± Luckily, Fangzh-, His Majesty intervened. ¡°Rx. Fangzhang is a nickname we used in Nanjiang. Stand down. Hohoho, habits are hard to ovee. I, too, miss those days.¡±

    Thank god His Majesty was so tolerant. I furtively looked back to gesture, ¡°Safe,¡± to Boss. She gestured back with her eyes, ¡°Just you wait.¡±

    Shall I go sleep at Tang Ye¡¯s ce tonight?

    I looked back to see His Majesty summon Eunuch Wang Tushui over and whisper something. Based on my lip-reading skills, he said, ¡°Remove the two chests of jewellery he was supposed to receive.¡±

    Li Fangzhang! Where is your honour?! Although I was the one who called you ¡®Fangzhang¡¯ the most, it wasn¡¯t only me who called you by that name! Besides, I wasn¡¯t the one who gave you that nickname! Wait¡­ I did¡­ Well¡­

    His Majesty cleared his throat, then continued, ¡°As you all know, Constable Ming contributed in many ways, so I conferred him a rank of duke. Therefore, he is now D-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, let us not mention your subject¡¯s title.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be modest. You earned the title of Duke Daluo with your own hands. You deserve the every bit of the title!¡±

    And¡­ as expected, the people behind me startedughing.

    This is revenge for calling you Fangzhang, isn¡¯t it?!

    ¡°Duke Ming is a major contributor in the pilgrimage to the south!¡± Beaming, Emperor Yuansheng listed, ¡°In Huzhou, he sorted out the logistics, paved the way, strategized and utilised all of hiswork and resources for me. Saving me from danger as well as contacting adepts like Empyrean Zha and Night Fortress¡¯ master alone are tremendous contributions.¡±

    I held my hands in salute and bowed my hand as I was taught. ¡°The praise is undeserved, Your Majesty.¡±

    I could hear the officials behind me mumbling, ¡°I never knew a radish could be so impressive.¡±

    You want to get pped?!

    ¡°In Nanjiang, I was pretty much amander giving out orders. Duke Ming did all the running around regardless of time of the day. Our campaign wouldn¡¯t have been a sess had it not been for him. I am thoroughly touched by his efforts. Duke Ming.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Duke Ming is a pir of our nation and one of my own.¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of your subject.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand. ¡°Duke Ming, don¡¯t be so modest. You are my Han Xin, my Zhou Yu, my Huo Qubing.¡±

    I don¡¯t have any issue you with youplimenting me, but can¡¯t youpare me with people who lived longer lives?!

    ¡°It is not an exaggeration to say that you are my Sun Zi.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Grandpa.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng smiled and announced to the officials, ¡°Since I am in a good mood today, I shall announce two things. Duke Ming, don¡¯t frown. What I am about to say is good news for the entire world. Court Historian, record what I say in small seal script since this is formal.¡±

    All I could do was keep my head down and wait.

    ¡°First, I n to hold an examination.¡±

    The ministers couldn¡¯t help but turn to each other because thest exam was only a year ago. For an opportunity to be avable again already, it truly would be good news for many people.

    ¡°My quest to the south opened my eyes to the talent in martial arts and schstic fields. To not employ such talents is a pity. I intend to recruit talented individuals across thend. Those who pass shall be listed as my students. Prime Minister Li and I have decided that the preliminary exams will be held in two months from now.¡±

    Boss grinned.

    ¡°Needless to say, if there is anyone fit, the three offices can register their personnel. I will not discriminate as long as you can bring something to the table.¡±

    I looked back at Boss, understanding she smiled because it could be a big opportunity for Liu Shan Men to return to glory. It wasn¡¯t just us who were thrilled; as officials, they were bound to have family members keen on joining the political arena, not to mention as one of His Majesty¡¯s students.

    His Majesty waited for quiet, then resumed. ¡°The second announcement continues on the topic of talented individuals. It is with great tion that I announce I have a new lucky charm, and that lucky charm is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Me?

    ¡°Duke Ming is Ming Huayu¡¯s direct disciple. I had a discussion with Mount Daluo¡¯s representative, Mr. Lian, in Nanjiang. We haveid down the groundwork for Mount Daluo to join the imperial court. Henceforward, Mount Daluo will aid us in maintaining the peace.¡±

    Immediately, condescending gazes behind me turned to gazes of respect. Shaolin was no different to a mute. While close to the imperial court, Wudang was the martial world¡¯s leader, so they had no obligation to take orders from the imperial court if they had no desire to. With Mount Daluo in a partnership with the imperial court - even if only nominally - the imperial court had enough power to manage the martial world. As such, my worth easily shot up a hundred folds.

    The officials: ¡°What a radish¡­¡±

    Can you stop?! Just forget the title, will you?!

    ¡°Not only is he the disciple of a reputable sect but also a disciple of Ming Huayu. One could say he is well-learned. Having said that, you don¡¯t need to look at him like that. His martial arts skills are still in the process of being polished.¡±

    Boss and I exchanged eye contact of jubnce. Knowing my identity as Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple and categorising me as an ipetent fighter was the best protection I could ask for. If he could confer me a post without any duties, I could chill at Liu Shan Men and exploit, I mean enjoy a nice life.

    ¡°As you are all aware, Mount Daluo and our ancestors were close, and they are valued as an important faction of the orthodox sects. On ount of those factors, in addition to Duke Ming¡¯s contributions, I have decided to employ him as a legitimate official. Duke Ming, I hereby confer you¡­¡±

    All right. Here we go.

    I revised the script Boss provided at light speed in order to epically blurt them when the time was ripe.

    ¡°Hanlin Academician!¡±

    ¡°Long live Y-, *&%%#@ what?¡±

    ¡°Insolence!¡± Eight armed guards surrounded me.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. He¡¯s just overjoyed, hohoho.¡±

    His Majesty had, ¡°Praise me. Thank me,¡± written all over his face, yet I couldn¡¯t find the words to insult him with.

    ¡°I know martial arts are not your speciality but literacy. To force you to perform physicalbour and socialise with martial artists would be making life hard for you. Daren Academy is where schrs of our future study. Take advantage of the uing exam to prove my judgement of you is right!¡±

    Your Majesty, pardon my bluntness, but you¡¯re flipping blind!

    Glossary

    Duke Daluo - You don¡¯t see anything wrong with it in English, but left untranted, it reads ¡°Daluobo¡±, which is ¡°Big Radish¡±. As you can see from the chapter, the pun doesn¡¯t work in English.

    Han Xin, Zhou Yu and Huo Qubing - All three were aplished military officers who died young.

    Sun Zi - You may recognise this name written as ¡°Sun Tzu¡±. ¡°Sun Zi¡± sounds the same as ¡°grandson¡±, hence Ming Feizhen¡¯s response.

    Small seal script - Also known as xiaozhuan/Qin script since Qin Shihuang¡¯s government was the one that standardised and promulgated it, was a form of calligraphy. It¡¯s now only known throughmentaries.

    Hanlin - Literally tranted, a grove or forest of brush-points, suggesting a group of litterateurs: from the 700s on, urs as a prefix to numerous titles of literacy and editorial workers and even other specialists such as physicians, mostmonly but not solely members of the Hanlin Academy,monly rendered simply Hanlin.

 Volume 12 06 Daren Academy

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 06 Daren Academy</h4>

    To the east of the imperial city was a clearke. Its neighbour was an old stone tablet with ¡°Rongyu¡± stylistically carved on. To the rear of theke were long white walls and ck tiles, a design that expressed grace. The buildings that were clones of each other further highlighted the tranquil ambience. Once one was in its surroundings, their mind would slow down, and they¡¯d instinctively soften all their actions. Nobody dared to build any buildings the size of this academy near the imperial city unless it was a government property. Collectively, the ce Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor ordered the construction of was known as Daren Academy.

    The t Daren Academy propagated was ¡°Protecting the nation¡¯s peace is our self-imposed undertaking¡±. Ever since the school¡¯s inception, it had been the imperial court¡¯s development centre for future vassals and the school schrs dreamt of attending to pave their future. They held the highest rate of graduates who entered the imperial court¡¯s employment. In addition, all Rank Three officials and above were students of the centre. To be promoted to prime minister, being a graduate of Daren Academy was pretty much a requisite.

    Prime Minister Li wasn¡¯t just the record holder for all subjects at Daren Academy but was also a former teacher there. Thus, he had plenty of disciples across thends, all of whom could find sess purely by virtue of association.

    Besides being epted into Daren Academy via the strict annual exams, the only way one could be admitted into the school was if their family had contributed significantly to the nation. Unless candidates showed promise to be important figures in future, the answer was a straight ¡°no¡±.

    A well-groomed man in his forties read a book over a pot of tea inside the hexagon pavilion, designed with Chinese cornice, beside Rongyu Lake. He had a distinctly yellow tassel tied to the sword hanging from his belt, indicating he was either a wanted criminal or someone of incredibly high standing.

    His visitor stopped roughly three metres away from him, took a few breaths to catch his breath, then took another three steps, held his hands in a cupped-fist salute and cast his gaze to the man¡¯s knees. ¡°Principal.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Not again, Ji Zhi.¡± The man set his book down with a smile. ¡°How many times have I told you that you must tread lightly and without tension? When running, once youmence, you must be quick, precise, straight and stride lightly. If you cannot remember the teachings, how can you teach another?¡± *

    ¡°I will bear it in mind.¡±

    The principal bobbed his head, knowing his obedient student meant what he said. ¡°What have youe to see me for?¡±

    ¡°As per your instructions, I went to investigate the reason behind the fight a few days ago. Strangely, aside from the two parties who fought, nobody would admit to witnessing anything as if they were paid to keep a secret. The two parties who fought insist that the other started first.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I expected as much. How are Ying Yang¡¯s injuries?¡±

    ¡°He is still unable to walk. ording to the physician, his right leg¡­ may be beyond saving.¡±

    The two who got into a tussle with each other at Luori Hall were the Ministry of Revenue¡¯s son and a schr who found an opportunity to escape his life of poverty through a schstic pursuit. Where there were people, problems couldn¡¯t be avoided, except a grudge that saw someone break another¡¯s leg wasn¡¯t amon urrence at Daren Academy.

    The principal had a nip of tea. ¡°¡­ Tell Ying Yang to bear with it.¡±

    ¡°Principal, th-¡±

    The principal held his hand up. ¡°Ying Yang is gifted. He has what it takes to ce in the top three in theing special exam His Majesty is arranging. Don¡¯t take away a big opportunity for something small. Lu Feiming¡¯s boldness doesn¡¯te from his father. You should be aware that someone is guiding him from the behind the curtain. I¡¯m d you can express yourself like that.¡±

    With his rage on his face, Ji Zhi lowered his head.

    The principal got out of his chair. ¡°It¡¯s good that you can tell right from wrong. The saying, ¡®Education does not know ss discrimination¡¯ isn¡¯t just an empty saying, especially here, where it holds a vital meaning.¡± He gazed at the ck tiles above and continued, ¡°The future of this nation rides on Daren Academy. As a teacher, it¡¯s wrong to discriminate. Students enrolled here must learn what their duties are, be it Ying Yang, Lu Feiming or him. Else, there is no point in my presence here.¡±

    Although Ji Zhi was also a tutor, his thinking and judgement left a lot to be desiredpared to the principal. ¡°Understood¡­ Ah, there is one more thing. A new student wishes to enrol.¡±

    Disillusioned with his pupil, the principal frowned. ¡°The exam period is over, and it¡¯s not autumn yet, so we can¡¯t enrol new students regardless of who it is. Didn¡¯t you exin the rules to them?¡±

    ¡°I did; however, the rmended student is unlike others.¡± Ji Zhi then whispered into the principal¡¯s ears.

    ¡°His Majesty? Someone from the three offices overlooking the martial world?¡± The principal ced wrapped his hands behind him and gazed toward heaven, mumbling, ¡°His Majesty announced a special extra exam upon returning from Nanjiang. More schrs are always wee considering even I was intending to rmend students with bright futures to His Majesty. The people can never enough good men in office. Why would His Majesty want to enrol a martial artist all of a sudden? ¡­ Could it possibly have something to do with the fight? What sort of individual are they?¡±

    ¡°He has a ratherplicated story, but he has been drawing a lot of eyes as ofte. Mayhap you have also heard about him. His name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    The principal of Daren Academy, the kind teacher who advocated for, ¡°Education does not know ss discrimination¡±, the tutor His Majesty praised as the best teacher in the imperial court, the head of schrs, Huang Yuzao, squeezed his facial parts together and belted, ¡°What the hell is that s.o.b.ing here for?!¡±

    Glossary

    Three-division beard - One distinct patch on the chin, two distinct above the lips.

    Chinese cornice - Looks like this:

 Volume 12 07 Assembly

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 07 Assembly</h4>

    ¡°Him? Smart? Learned?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see those descriptions.¡±

    ¡°Wawa, Constable Liu, don¡¯t say that about Big Brother Ming. Although he¡¯s rather stupid, he is literate.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡±

    ¡°Look closely. He has two crowns on his head just like me!¡±

    ¡°Like you? Doesn¡¯t that make him as stupid as can be?¡±

    ¡°How am I stupid?!¡±

    ¡°What are you two even arguing about? Look at this joke¡¯s crowns. He¡­¡±

    ¡°You three done yet?!¡± I ripped Liu Yuan, Mountain Monster and Su Xiao off my head.

    The examination of my crowns all started when the trio found out His Majesty conferred me the title of Hanlin Academician. I¡¯d have spanked the three of them if I could beat them!

    ¡°Fine.¡± Mountain Monster shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything in your head to explore.¡±

    ¡°Wawa!¡± Su Xiao tugged on Mountain Monster¡¯s cor from behind. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao, you shut up! Call me that again, and we¡¯re enemies!¡±

    Whether or not it was attributed to their shared dangerous experiences in Nanjiang, Su Xiao and Mountain Monster had grown close enough for Mountain Monster to call him by his full name instead of some derogatory name.

    Speaking of which, Mountain Monster was now with me.

    Mountain Monsterunched a fly kick at me. ¡°I¡¯m not ¡®with¡¯ you! Don¡¯t say things that lead to misunderstandings!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, you¡¯re with us, okay? Come back.¡±

    I told Liu Yuan Brother Bodhi entrusted Mountain Monster to me. There was no way she could remain with Evil Spirits in consideration of her and Ox Demon¡¯s betrayal. Therefore, she and her squad joined Liu Shan Men as a special unit, which operated under themand of the person most familiar with the pugilistic world - yours truly. It was the best choice since I knew best her personality and history. Plus, nobody could rein her aggression in; it was only a matter of time before she¡¯d butcher someone if I didn¡¯t act as her leash.

    Mountain Monster slouched onto a bench. ¡°Your Emperor must have misced his eyes if he conferred you the title of Hanlin Academician.¡±

    See what I mean? Despite being at Liu Shan Men¡¯s headquarters, she didn¡¯t hold back whatsoever.

    ¡°Mind what you say,¡± Liu Yuan frowned, ¡°though you aren¡¯t wrong.¡±

    And you call yourself a constable?! As a matter of fact, you¡¯re worse when you¡¯re around me!

    ¡°Xiao, you must be tired from training the new recruits all day. Let me give you a shoulder massage.¡±

    I would believe you if you told me all of Liu Yuan¡¯s blood had collected in his head when he met Su Xiao after their six months apart. I probably didn¡¯t notice given Su Xiao was nigh always around me, but, ording to Liu Yuan, Su Xiao had grown taller, developed his body ratios and matured into a maid-, man.

    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you, ¡®No¡¯?!¡± Su Xiao was still as cold as ever to Liu Yuan, though. ¡°Constable Liu, should you harass me again, I will report you to Big Brother Ming!¡±

    Liu Yuan red at me.

    I really was the kind of guy to get hit with ¡°stray¡± arrows, huh?

    I professionally wagged my hand and said, ¡°Xiao, fetch me my Green Dragon Crescent de.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Liu Yuan watched Su Xiao run into the training area, carry the Green Dragon Crescent de back on his shoulder and smash the base into the ground with only one hand.

    ¡°Brother Ming, here you go.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I recoiled, let alone Liu Yuan.

    ¡°¡­ Y-you can put it back.¡±

    ¡°???¡± Su Xiao carried it back with his head on an angle.

    Thanks to hispletion of Yijin Jing¡¯s firstyer, Su Xiao¡¯s bones, nerves and qi had upgraded to a point where he could sleep six Liu Yuans in the blink of an eye. Well, Liu Yuan wouldn¡¯t hit back, so¡­

    ¡°What are you lot up to?¡± Who else could be so else beside the overlord of Liu Shan Men, Tang Ye?

    ¡°Hohoho, it¡¯s normal to be happy when it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve seen each other?¡± The maid-, boy sitting beside Tang Ye and ying go would be none other than our vice-captain¡¯s spitting image - Shen Kuang! ¡°Constable Ming is now a Hanlin Academician. I¡­ I¡­ feel ashamed of myself. After all this time, I still don¡¯t have an official post.¡±

    When they were reunited a few days ago, the sister¡¯s eyes went red, while the brother cried a river. Had Boss Shen not kept them in the loop from Nanjiang through letters and repeated tirelessly that her brother had a duty to continue their bloodline, he might¡¯ve rode down to Nanjiang. He cried an ocean over the scar on her left wrist.

    As for Tang Ye, he started spending more time learning other skills than he spent on martial arts. Back in Nanjiang, he learnt to brew tea, fish, hunt, set traps and then learnt to y go upon returning to the capital. Reportedly, he went to learn Sichuan stage y in Sichuan, too. I didn¡¯t understand where he was going with it. Maybe he went crazy from overtraining? Whatever the case, I was worried.

    ¡°Tang Ye, I¡¯m sleeping at your ce tomorrow,¡± I dered.

    Tang Ye¡¯s hand froze as he went to ce a piece down. ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we haven¡¯t had the time to chat in a long time. I¡¯ll keep youpany. You just provide me with a ce to sleep, alcohol and food.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming, too!¡±

    Sensing Su Xiao leap at me from behind, I moved out of the way.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming, what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±

    ¡°It means¡­ you don¡¯t need toe.¡±

    ¡°I refuse! If you leave me behind, we aren¡¯t brothers anymore!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to avoid Boss! If youe with us and she needs someone for a job, won¡¯t all three of us be in trouble?!¡±

    ¡°And that makes it okay to sacrifice me?!¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Oho? You¡¯re arguing? I want to join whatever ns you have at night.¡±

    Me: ¡°We¡¯re sleeping and drinking at Tang Ye¡¯s ce.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    Me: ¡°I¡¯m the only one allowed to drink and sleep at Tang Ye¡¯s ce, got it?! None of you areing!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t finished.¡±

    Shen Kuang: ¡°I-I can¡¯t join you, either? I want to hear what happened while you were away.¡±

    Me: ¡°You¡¯re wee, Young Master Kuang.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Hey, that¡¯s favouritism! You¡¯re ying favourites, Big Brother Ming!¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°It¡¯s my ce¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± This was the word that silenced all of us.

    I totally forgot there was one more person nearby.

    Leaning on the door, Boss gestured for me toe over with a finger. ¡°Mr. Ming,e to my room.¡±

 Volume 12 08 Song Ouâ€™s Comeback

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 08 Song Ou¡¯s Comeback</h4>

    Bang! Boss mmed a hand on the wall beside my head, forcing me up against the wall, and stared at me as though I was a bug. ¡°Where are you trying to run to, Mr. Ming?¡±

    ¡°Nowhere at all. I was merely intending to discuss our delegated tasks in the future with Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you weren¡¯t avoiding me because you were afraid of getting hit?¡±

    I pulled my brows together. ¡°Boss, your words rile me up. How can you be so presumptuous?¡±

    And so urately presumptuous?!

    Boss hiked up a corner of her lips. ¡°I prepared you to ept His Majesty¡¯s rewards, and the first thing you said was ¡®Fangzhang¡¯. Next thing we know, you¡¯re spouting some iprehensible nonsense. The guards had to step up twice. I might as well have smeared my own face with mud. You want some bruises for decoration?! Huh?!¡±

    I mumbled, ¡°My nerves disconnected my brain and mouth¡­¡±

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Boss puffed up her cheeks. ¡°That was your moment. You were the main star. I spent so much energy praising you to Uncle. Had you yed your cards right, you could¡¯ve recouped some of your investment in Nieyao, but, no, you didn¡¯t get a single coin back.¡±

    The events at Nieyao weren¡¯t much of a secret anymore - at least, Mount Daluo¡¯s team knew all about it. That said, Boss was the only one who knew what I went through. If I wasn¡¯t wrong, that was when she set her mind on trying to maximise my rewards for my sake.

    ¡°Leave that sort of stuff up to fate. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in a bad position at all. If nothing else, I¡¯m a radish now.¡±

    Boss¡¯ cheeks inted, but she immediately brought them under control to keep a straight face.

    ¡°As well, uh¡­ if you do not back off a little, my eyes will die from pleasure.¡±

    Boss wasn¡¯t exactly very tall to begin with. Plus, she had her arm up on my head, so the holy artefacts I could almost feel my breaths on tested my patience and rationality. I¡¯m Liu Xiahui¡¯s reincarnation!

    Boss looked down at me and, without blushing, responded, ¡°Huh? So what? You don¡¯t like rewards?¡±

    I swear on my life I looked up faster than the speed of light. ¡°Really?!¡±

    Next, I got an inkstone tattoo on my face¡­ Women are liars!

    Boss cleared her throat as she returned to her seat. ¡°I¡¯ll settle the score with youter tonight. I intended to talk about something else.¡±

    Rubbing my face, I asked, ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Uncle told me to stay behind after the banquet to have a word in private. Not only did he praise our office¡¯s recent performance, but he also entrusted me with a few cold cases in addition to information on troublesome unorthodox factions in Jiangnan that his entourage have been monitoring. Evidently, he is giving us an opportunity to prove our worth.¡±

    ¡°Nothing surprising there. I mean, shouldn¡¯t he trust ourpetence after all the events?¡±

    ¡°Hence, he wants me to find and assemble the Twelve Great Constables.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    When Yan Shisan was still in power, the Twelve Great Constables were the chief force against Ximen Chuideng. Emperor¡¯s Entourage was in charge of intelligence, but they operated off the grid a lot more than nowadays, where they even showed up in person to investigate as though they were trying to rece Liu Shan Men. If Qilin Guards didn¡¯t subsume 60% of Liu Shan Men¡¯s stragglers, they¡¯d still be stuck defending the borders. Among the Twelve Great Constables, though, the majority of them chose to be hermits, like Xiao Huangquan.

    Boss was told to ¡°find¡± them and not ¡°summon¡± them owing to the fact that the twelve departed in the first ce due to disappointment in Yan Shisan. If they could be summoned, they wouldn¡¯t have taken off in the first ce.

    Anyhow, His Majesty¡¯s intention to give Liu Shan Men more power was written on the wall with this move. It was impossible for Liu Shan Men to bepetitive as it stood since wecked firepower and merits. If we checked those two boxes, he¡¯d have a valid reason to give us more power.

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°But that¡¯s not what I want to mention. I can manage Liu Shan Men just fine when I have so many people. You, on the other hand¡­ How are you going to manage the exam? If we were in the past, I wouldn¡¯t be worried if it was a martial arts contest, but right now¡­ Additionally, you don¡¯t want to reveal your abilities. How do you fare at studying?¡±

    ¡°I guess you can say I¡¯m familiar with Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character ssic and the sort.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ying. Daren Academy is the most advanced study faculty in our dynasty. They¡¯re most well-known for making things hard for dropkicks and beating idiots. You have to report in to the faculty tomorrow. You have a n in mind?¡±

    What sort of ce is it? It sounds like crap! Did a dropkick eat all your braised pork shoulders at home?!

    ¡°I will cross that bridge when Ie to it.¡± I scratched my head. ¡°I may fail at everything, but taking advantage of situations is something I excel at. I¡¯ll roll with the punches for a few days and then figure something out.¡±

    ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t an alternative. All that said, I must stress that there are lots of people you shouldn¡¯t ost there. They themselves may not be dangerous, but the people backing them are the imperial court¡¯s politicians. As a representative of Liu Shan Men and Mount Daluo, you need to tread carefully.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So if a rich yboy bullies, me th-¡±

    ¡°Lay him out! To hell with him!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Boss cleared her throat upon realising her face was feeling hot. ¡°I never said to take everything lying down. When it matters, you have to fight back.¡±

    ¡°Boss, you sound familiar with the ce. Have you been there?¡±

    Boss wagged her hand. ¡°I studied at Qiyuan, Daren Academy¡¯s primarypetitor. My dad is also an alumnus of Qiyuan. He didn¡¯t let me attend Daren Academy because he reckoned it¡¯s aplicated ce.¡±

    Sheesh, I never knew advanced education was soplicated. Now I¡¯m worried about my future.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still more?¡±

    ¡°Nothing major, but you should still be aware. A fight took ce at Daren Academy recently, and it¡¯s been blown up enough to reach Uncle¡¯s ears.¡±

    ***

    One particr courtyard of Liu Shan Men starkly contrasted the celebrations taking ce elsewhere across Liu Shan Men. Except for the current era, the captain¡¯s courtyard would have the most personality and noise as it was where all attention was directed.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Song Ou hammered his table, making himself cough on the dust he propelled into his own nose. ¡°Nobody has cleaned my office in the six months I¡¯ve been gone? It¡¯s all because of him. Everything is because of him!¡±

    Ever since Ming Feizhen joined, the world Song Ou presided over changed. People didn¡¯t crowd around Song Ou when they returned from the south. The Liu Shan Men representatives Emperor Yuansheng summoned were Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren. Nobody reported in to him when he returned to the office. When he sent someone to go find out what was going on, he learnt Ming Feizhen went to Shen Yiren¡¯s room.

    ¡°You¡¯ve worn my tolerance dry.¡±

    Someone quietly entered Song Ou¡¯s room. ¡°Captain, you have received a letter from Long Estate.¡±

    ¡°Open it.¡±

    Once he read the letter, Song Ouughed heartily, much to the bafflement of the individual who delivered the letter. He chucked the letter onto the table, then mmed the table again.

    Cough! Cough! Cough!

    Despite his face being caked in dust, Song Ou asserted, ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen, this time, I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re finished!¡±

    I am Liu Shan Men¡¯s true captain! I, Song Ou, shall make myeback!

    Glossary

    Liu Xiahui - You may know him as Zhan Huo, a governor of the District of Liuxia in the Lu State. He was said to be a man of eminent virtue and supposedly once held ady in his arms without the slightest imputation on his moral character, like yours truly.

    Hundred Family Surnames - You may also recognise it as Bai Jia Xing/Hundreds of Chinese Surnames. As the title suggests, the textposed ofmon Chinese surnames. It was one of the texts - almost universally - used to teach character recognition to children.

    Thousand Character ssic - This, too, acted as a character recognition learning tool for children from the sixth century onward. Like ¡°Hundred Family Surnames¡±, the passages are organised into four character, four line rhyming stanzas so that they¡¯re easy to remember. You can consider them an equivalent to the alphabet song in English.

 Volume 12 09 Waking Early to Attend Class

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 09 Waking Early to Attend ss</h4>

    By the time the first ray of sunlight entered my room, I was already out. As an ambitious young man, I had a habit of rising early.

    ¡°Leader. Leader, wake up.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ah?¡±

    ¡°You have dozed off eight times while I worked on this report.¡±

    ¡°Can you note here when I¡¯m sleeping?¡± I wiped my drool. ¡°From now on, no reports until after noon. This is hell.¡±

    ¡°Were you not the one who insisted on meeting me at the teahouse in the morning because you have to attend sses today?¡±

    I did?

    ¡°Wipe your face. You have tea on it. Leader, I have something to say, but I am not sure if I should say it or not, but I really want to say it.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°First and foremost, attending Academy may not be a bad thing.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°In your current state, you will be in trouble if you bump into any old enemies while on a case, which is very likely.¡°

    I had a sip of tea. ¡°That¡¯s you.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Leader, we are not that much different. I am much luckier than you considering how many enemies you have.¡±

    Can you not sound so sincere about that?

    ¡°Elite guards under the imperial court¡¯s employment patrol Daren Academy, and the average man from the pugilistic world wouldn¡¯t dare to barge in. You can take refuge in there for a year or however long it takes for you to recover.¡± As he spoke, Hong Jiu dusted my shoulder in an annoying way. ¡°Once you have recovered, you will be back to my dashing leader.¡±

    I dashingly touched my chin. ¡°That¡¯s true. Anything else to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, please sign this.¡±

    ¡°Easy.¡± I drew two turtles on the white sheet Hong Jiu passed me. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Just a contract for your three hundred thousand taels debt. Your debt is due.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re selling your brother out for riches?! Pass the sheet here!¡±

    ¡°Let me exin. When I went to take a weest night, I crashed down the neighbour¡¯s door and th-¡±

    ¡°Get to the point! Also, pass me the sheet!¡±

    ¡°I am getting there. I was going to shop for nails to repair their door, but I go lost, so I considered asking for directions.¡±

    ¡°Why not? Why sell me out?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ the person I asked happened to be ck and White Reflection¡¯s treasure trove¡­¡±

    Are you possessed by something?! I had to be so cautious so that they wouldn¡¯t realise I had fled back to the capital, but you¡­ You moron!

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to speak to strangers?! What did he say?¡±

    ¡°He said that, if you do not pay back your debt in one month, they will broadcast your secrets to the whole world. He also asked me to bring him a contract, or he would plug you full of holes right away. So, this is the contract. Meanwhile, you should prepare the money. I shall take my leave now.¡±

    You better pray I don¡¯t get my hands on you!

    Hong Jiu made a lousy front flipnding from the second floor, leaving a dent in the ground, but he got up and sprinted as if he was a wanted criminal. I made sure to watch which direction he fled whilst ruminating how to take revenge when he next appeared before me.

    On my way to Daren Academy, I mulled over the points Hong Jiu made. Although he made a blunder, his opinions weren¡¯t wrong. While expecting me to pass the schr exams was in lunacy, hiding at the institute was within the realm of prudent moves. If I was lucky enough to avoid my enemies, there were still all omy shifu¡¯s enemies. Word of mouth was a real threat, and I was in a defenceless situation. Swapping the de for the brush for a while was a wise idea.

    I arrived earlier than I was supposed to primarily because I wanted to check out the ce. I went up theke and cast my gaze at the firmament to relish the tranquillity. While I was there, I espied two schrs meeting at the pavilion.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang.¡±

    ¡°Brother Li.¡±

    ¡°The cold and quiet days in the study make yearning feel painfully long. It has been a long time since we met. I miss you, brother.¡±

    ¡°You entered my dreams three nights in a row. It has also been a long time since I saw you. I missed you, brother.¡±

    ¡°At twilight yesterday, Iposed a musical piece for you.¡±

    ¡°I prepared a go manual for our meeting in thepany of dew.¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡±

    Together: ¡°After you.¡±

    The two made their way into the doors hand in hand.

    ¡­ Someone bring me two des! This schr spirit is overkill, no?! It¡¯s be corrosive! What are we studying here?! How to bend over?!

    I was too creep-ed out to be aware of my surroundings until a heavy sensation on my shoulder snapped me back to reality. I looked behind me to see an angry face atop a clean set of white clothes.

    ¡°You all right?¡± I stretched a hand out to offer help. Seeing him inte his cheeks, I retracted my hand as fast as I could.

    After missing with his saliva-made projectile, he brayed, ¡°Who the hell are you?! How dare you bump into me?! Do you know who my father is?!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Who is your father?¡±

    It was unlikely he wanted to milk the situation to swindle me given his attitude gave off the rich-thanks-to-my-old-man-snotty-brat.

    Sneering, he replied, ¡°Zhao Tiankui.¡±

    I recoiled.

    Your father is called ¡°period¡±? Damn, your grandpa must¡¯ve hated your old man.

    You know how it is in the pugilistic world. Hence, I offered a hand salute and responded, ¡°I have admired him for the longest time.¡±

    ¡°Know who I am now?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Zhao Yuejing?¡±

    ¡°You would dare¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, tell me, then. How am I expected to know your name if you don¡¯t tell me.¡±

    Is this guy some nutjob who forgot to take his meds?

    The guy pulled out a dagger from his shirt.

    ¡°Come on, man. You don¡¯t need to pull a dagger out on me over something so trivial, do you?¡±

    ¡°Nobody will dare to make a sound even if I kill you.¡±

    As he charged straight at me, I took one step back, strafed to the side and stuck a leg out in his path while I was at it. He tripped and disappeared into theke, leaving only bubbles on the surface.

    ¡°I¡¯m a student here starting today.¡± I held my hands over my mouth to amplify my voice and, in a loud voice, said, ¡°The name is Hong Jiu. Let¡¯s have some tea when you¡¯re free.¡±

    Whilst heading to the entrance, I took out the items I pinched from him one by one. I threw away the pocket knife since I had no use for it. I kept the seal in case it came in handy. The three thousand taels in paper notes were probably what I dropped.

    A volume of Sp-Spring Pce? Schr, my foot. This is sphemy to Confucius. This is so toxic to my eyes that I refuse to look. I shall stash it in my shirt and criticise itter.

    I entered whilst shaking my head in disappointment.

    A man in his early forties - I think - said to an individual around my age, ¡°The new student is arriving today. Feign ignorance. If he asks about the principal, never tell him my name. If he does find out my name, tell him he¡¯s wrong.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­?¡±

    The elder frowned. ¡°One can never be too cautious when a life is on the line.¡±

    ¡°Und-understood.¡±

    Hmm¡­ I think I¡¯ve seen the old guy somewhere before¡­ Ah.

    I approached the elder and asked, ¡°Are you Unkou Huang (Are you Uncle Huang)?¡±

    ¡°Yesu, Ai amu Mr. Huang. Ander you? (Yes, I am Mr. Huang. And you)?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s me, Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡±

    I checked both ways, but there was nothing around. I never understood why Uncle Huang looked as though he saw a ghost whenever he saw me.

    Glossary

    ¡°The cold and quiet days in the study make yearning feel painfully long.¡± - Taken from Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu¡¯s poem ¡°Remembering Li Bai in Winter¡± to describe how the days were long in his study, making his mind wander to Li Bai. For your information, this isn¡¯t a queer sentiment at all. To put this all into perspective, it¡¯s the equivalent of E¡¯s teachings on how nobles speak in Genshin Impact.

    ¡°You entered my dreams three nights in a row.¡± - Taken from Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu¡¯s poem ¡°Dreaming of Li Bai - Two¡±. Ites from a three part poem - before dreaming, in his dream and after waking - to describe how he felt when he first met Li Bai, how he saw Li Bai in his dream and his sympathy for Li Bai¡¯s exile to Yng (now western Guizhou province).

    Tiankui and Yuejing - This is a joke based off archaic terminology. Tiankui meant ¡°a woman¡¯s period¡±. Since Tiankui is the previous generation¡¯s word for ¡°period¡±, Ming Feizhen, whether deliberate or not, guesses ¡°Yuejing¡± since it¡¯s the next generation¡¯s word for ¡°period¡± just as the guy is the next generation after Zhao Tiankui.

    Spring Pce - Spring is often a synonym for anything lecherous, such as brothels. In this case, I¡¯d bet primogems on it being a porno.

    Huang Yuzao and Ming Feizhen¡¯s conversation - The two of them actually speak in fob English sort of like the Wan Tushui and Sui Tuwan jokes.

 Volume 12 10 Quanmu

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 10 Quanmu</h4>

    Like all the other uniform ck and white ssrooms at Daren Academy, this one, too, had the same exterior, except the atmosphere was totally different. Instead of a tutor sitting in their seat, there was a young man visibly under eighteen years of age slouched back in the chair. The room was sparkling clean and tidy, yet his eyebrows were glued together.

    ¡°You¡¯re back with only a failure to share?¡± the young man questioned, frightening the boys and girls sharing the space.

    Lu Feiming, a notorious bully at Daren Academy and second son of the Ministry of Revenue, would pick on anyone at the institute for his own entertainment, yet the voice of the young man in the chair was enough to weaken his legs.

    ¡°My orders were to cripple him so that I would never have to breathe the same air as him again, yet you let him off with only one broken leg. Heh, looks like my words are now all but meaningless.¡±

    ¡°But Principal¡­ thinks highly of him. It would cause uproar if I killed him.¡±

    The young man red at Lu Feiming out of his peripherals. ¡°I don¡¯t recall asking you to speak.¡±

    Lu Feiming shook as though a death god hade for him.

    Another youth giddily left the young man¡¯s side. Upon reaching Lu Feiming, he suddenly grabbed Lu Feiming¡¯s finger.

    ¡°Mm!¡± Lu Feiming dropped to his knees where his five fingernails fell and grabbed his fingertip. Even though he was crying, he¡¯d rather dig his teeth in his lips that he¡¯d bleed than make a sound.

    Nobody batted an eye from beginning to end.

    The young man in the chair then cast his gaze up to the student who just entered. ¡°Zhao Xin, what took so long? And why are you soaked?¡±

    ¡°I ran into a gue at the entrance. Not only did I arrivete because of him. I even fell into theke. He¡¯s a dead man walking!¡±

    The young man extended a hand. ¡°You¡¯ve obtained Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal, right? Hand it over.¡±

    ¡°Of course. You know you can count on me. Before they realise they have lost their seal, we can¡­¡± Zhao Xin¡¯s face froze stiff once he reached into his shirt. ¡°Crap, I¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°You what?¡±

    ¡°Lost it¡­ I think I lost the seal?¡±

    The young man frowned. ¡°I take it you don¡¯t want your fingernails, either.¡±

    ¡°I-I remember now! It was the gue! I lost my belongings after he bumped into me! He must¡¯ve stolen it from me!¡±

    The young man raised an open hand. ¡°What gue?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a tall, rat-looking, giddy and awfully hideous guy around twenty-eight. Ah, I remember now. His name is Hong Jiu!¡±

    ***

    For quite some time during thest dynasty, Confucianism martial arts ruled the pugilistic world and, attributed to their honoured bloodline, were called ¡°Monarch of the Martial World¡±. Due to the corruption and in-fighting among their ranks, unfortunately, they became their own undoing. They say monkeys scatter when a tree falls, but their disbandment was akin to bandits haphazardly fleeing.

    Years following their disbandment, a number of old members by East China Sea calling themselves survivors of the ocean replicated their previous methods to rebuild. Different times call for different approaches, though, so they kept a low profile and spent seventy years building up what would eventually be known as Canghai Sect.

    Canghai Sect was viewed as the representative of Confucianism because people believed that they inherited Confucian traditions. Huang Yuzao was the patriarch of Canghai Sect in this generation and the head of Confucianism. Huang Yuzao held the title ¡°Xuanduan Tingshuo¡±, which implied he inherited Confucianism¡¯s ¡°Monarch of the Martial World¡± tradition. He was the only person to not be persecuted, and was even trusted, despite his title shing with the authority of an Emperor.

    ¡°Why did they force you to attend school here?¡± Uncle Huang had, ¡°What the hell¡± written all over his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we¡¯ve met; why do you look like you¡¯re speaking to an enemy? Besides, it was my shifu who got on your nerves, not me,¡± I responded.

    ¡°You¡¯re not that much different from your shifu.¡± Uncle Huang stole a gander my way, looked away, then looked back. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±

    There was nothing surprising about Uncle Huang being able to discern my condition. In any case, it wasn¡¯t convenient to go into detail, so I brushed it off as a small injury. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t seem to care too much.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Now, I need to tell you which ss you¡¯ll be in. Grade one is ¡®Quanmu¡¯. Quanmus are those without talent, those who can¡¯t handle big undertakings, so it is a level for the dullest students. Grade two is ¡®Banzhu¡¯. Grade three is ¡®Yuyan¡¯. It¡¯s said that the namese from Mencius. There is no such thing as superiority in grade four; howbeit, we individualise sses depending on each student¡¯s future path. We separate them into four sses, namely ¡®Shiyu¡¯, ¡®Guguan¡¯ and ¡®Renmin¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What grade am I?¡±

    ¡°Quanmu.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Huang, that¡¯s not nice of you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve never taken an exam nor have any merits. This is normal.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like what I hear. What do you mean I don¡¯t have any merits to my name?¡±

    ¡°A duke rank isn¡¯t a merit. Plus, I¡¯ve researched the reason behind your rank. All the credit belongs to the fact that you¡¯re¡­ not bad at fighting. Literacypetence was never tested.¡± Uncle Huang really didn¡¯t appear interested in praising me whatsoever. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re in Quanmu. If you¡¯re attending, the door is over there. If you¡¯re not attending, the door is also over there.¡±

 Volume 12 11 Let Us Welcome Our New Classmate

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 11 Let Us Wee Our New ssmate</h4>

    ¡°Starting today, I am your teacher. All the tutors and professors here are your teachers,¡± Uncle Huang filled me in as we crossed a corridor.

    ¡°Yeah? In that case, Uncle Huang¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Professor Huang. You will observe the rules of Daren Academy while you are on its grounds. Leveraging rtions is uneptable.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Look at these pretentious schrs. How much energy do they spend just on these formalities?

    ¡°Professor Uncle Huang.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard a violent incident took ce before my arrival. Are you privy to the details?¡±

    Uncle Huang bobbed his head. ¡°I was actually nning to let you see the person in question.¡±

    You expect me to believe that?! You were nning to avoid me to begin with! You¡¯d still be avoiding me if I didn¡¯t identify you!

    ¡°I was nning to introduce you two since you¡¯re ssmates, and he¡¯ll be your study partner.¡±

    ¡°ssmate? Wait. Does the person in question refer to the victim or the culprit?¡±

    ¡°Why would I introduce the culprit to you? Does it look like I need a vandal? Everyone from Mount Daluo with the ¡®Ming¡¯ surname is trouble. Look, you can be nosy, but take it outside. If as much as a de of grass in here is damaged, I¡¯ll¡­ mm¡­ I¡¯ll have your shifu uh¡­ I¡¯ll dob you in to His Majesty!¡±

    From what I heard, Shifu stole Uncle Huang¡¯s crushes, money and chances to shine, and I dare say the ims were true after all that stammering.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stress enough that you must honour the rules here.¡± Uncle Huang stopped and gestured at a student in the corridor. ¡°Ying Yang,e over.¡±

    The tanned, ordinary-looking guy in his early twenties beamed. ¡°Professor!¡± He needed a crutch topensate for his injured right leg, yet the man could really run. ¡°I have been looking for you.¡±

    ¡°Ying Yang, how is your leg¡­?¡±

    ¡°I am all right. Professor, take a look at this reorganisedmentary of the previous dynasty¡¯s history. It took me two nights to finish writing it. Although the six professors said there are no mistakes, I do not believe them. Can you please check it?¡±

    Did this guy really get assaulted?

    Uncle Huang proudly took thementary, but he didn¡¯t criticise it on the spot. ¡°I am d to see you in high spirits. Let me introduce a new student to you.¡±

    Seeing Uncle Huang point to me, I cleared my throat and stepped forward to introduce myself as I was taught.

    ¡°This one is He Shi, humble name Ying Yang. May this one ask who your father is in the imperial court?¡±

    ¡°None of them,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Are you the heir of a minister or general?¡±

    ¡°This one is amoner.¡±

    ¡°So the son of a sessful merchant?¡±

    ¡°So broke you can hear coins nging.¡±

    ¡°Then, your parents are?¡±

    I thumped my chest. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to find a clue even if you asked at a magistrate office.¡±

    ¡°No hope then. That will be all for that topic.¡±

    I have another question: did he not get hit hard enough?!

    Uncle Huang proudly nodded as though he approved of the rebellious attitude.

    Excuse me, but this guy clearly deserved every blow he ate.

    Uncle Huang patted He Shi on the shoulder. ¡°Ying Yang, I have high hopes for you. Don¡¯t let trivial things shackle you. Focus on the imperial examinations.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    I pointed to myself. ¡°What about me?¡±

    ¡°Just stay out of trouble.¡±

    This is discrimination!

    ¡°If you have questions, consult Ying Yang. I¡¯m a busy man.¡± Uncle Huang whipped his sleeve and left.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I looked over to He Shi. He took out a book from his shirt and started reading whilst walking off. That¡¯s a schr for you. I followed along thoughtlessly.

    Wait a second. Isn¡¯t he in the same ss as me? Uncle Huang¡¯s favourite student is in the same grade as me?

    The teacher for our ss was already waiting by the time we arrived. From memory, he was a scion of Xie n - Xie Jizhi.

    The ss wasprised of twenty-five students in total, ten of whom were girls and fifteen of whom were boys. Our dynasty, particrly in recent years, had strongly encouraged women to offer their skills to the imperial court, hence the fairly even ratio of men to women at Daren Academy. ounting for the grade, the ratio was reasonable. In saying that, if we looked at the average age of the students in my grade, I was clearly the outlier since they were primarily fourteen to twenty years old.

    Children were allowed to enrol in sses at six years of age. By that ount, their ages fit in the timeline perfectly. If one was over twenty and had no hope in attending school, they were wee to travel and study at home; there was no need to a big sum on a tutor.

    ¡°ss, this is a new student who will be joining us today. Please, introduce yourself to your ssmates.¡±

    Owing to all the thoughts swamping my head, I blurted, ¡°Hello, my name is Ming Feizhen. I¡¯m a disciple of Beiping¡¯s Mount Daluo. It¡¯s my first day here at this glorious institute. I look forward to showing you what I can do. To talk without training one¡¯s mouth, to train without speaking of idiocy, I speak and then I train and then¡­¡±

    Professor Xie: ¡°Stop, stop. No vandalism!¡±

    Huh?

    Upon looking over to Professor Xie, I realised Uncle Huang must¡¯ve been teaching his underlings.

    My ssmates allughed without reservation. Seeing their neatly-set books and writing instruments reminded me of when I was their age. Back then, I was nowhere near as carefree. People their age shouldn¡¯t ever waste their prime even if they have big undertakings. Sing, travel and do whatever you please.

    ¡°To sum up, I¡¯ll be in everyone¡¯s care from now.¡± Taking in all their youthfulughter, I strolled over to my seat, which was located in the back row due to my height.

    All right, let¡¯s take a three day nap and then figure out what to do next from there.

    Just as I shut my eyes, I heard, ¡°Ming Feizhen, we have a test today.¡±

    What did the man just say?

 Volume 12 12 First Day

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 12 First Day</h4>

    ¡°This is the topic. Please try to finish writing within one hour. All right, you maymence.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Everyone looked to the rear, where half of an individual¡¯s appearance was covered by the shadow that the sunlight cast on him. Yeah, that was me!

    ¡°Professor Xie, are you sure it is prudent to suddenly give a test? My chair is not even warm yet,¡± Iined.

    ¡°Fret not, for it is but a simple test.¡± I only just went to exhale when Professor Xie added, ¡°Except that it will go on your record.¡±

    What the hell was the point of the first part?!

    I couldn¡¯t care less if the tutors saw me with a big-fat zero andst ce, but I bloody cared that His Majesty would see my performance report! If I hadn¡¯t persuaded him that I was well-learned for the sake of misdirecting him, it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. Problem was that I had convinced him I was erudite on everything above and below the firmament, past and present. His Majesty would probably confront me with a spear in hand if he saw my real performance.

    ¡°I understand that you have not adapted yet as it is your first day here.¡± Professor Xie was all smiles simrly to a holy teacher. ¡°Everyone here is indispensable to the country¡¯s future. How can we not dedicate our full effort? Do you know what the text ¡®Spring Wind to Rain¡¯ on the que out the front means? It means th-¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I only have one question.¡±

    ¡°Feel free to ask.¡±

    ¡°Can I sit this one out?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    That was quick¡­ Damn it¡­

    ¡°Can I take a make-up test tomorrow? It is my first day, after all.¡±

    ¡°No. You have tomorrow¡¯s test to worry about tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will take the catch-up test on a day when we don¡¯t have tests, then.¡±

    Professor Xie shook his head.

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Because we have tests daily here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Everyone here is indispensable to the country¡¯s future. How can we not dedicate our full effort? Do you know what the text ¡®Spring Wind to Rain¡¯ on the que out the front means? It means th-¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, you win. I¡¯ll take the test.¡±

    ¡°In summary, lots of tests is our institutes unique point.¡± Professor Xie sheepishly scratched his head. ¡°I guarantee we have more tests than any institute out there.¡±

    Where¡¯s your modesty?! What¡¯s the point in your confidence about that?!

    Although Boss told me not to embarrass Liu Shan Men at Daren Academy, I¡¯d rather save my life at the expense of everyoneughing at me, especially when I was in no condition to beat anyone His Majesty might send after my head.

    I hyped myself up and took the sheet my ssmate passed me with her shaky hand. The text read: ¡°Confucius said, ¡®He who acts on the promise of personal gain will rouse discontent.¡¯ Confucius said, ¡®What difficulties would there be if a state was governed with rites? What is the point in rites if a state was not governed with rites?¡¯ They cannot be anything. Hence, emotional attachments and patience empower one to reap what they once could not.¡±

    ¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s just cheat. Who the hell understands this?! If I can¡¯t face the problem head on, I¡¯m going to find someone who can help.

    As everyone should know, the easiest way to cheat is to copy, even more so when you¡¯re totally unprepared as I was. Only problem was that, regardless of what ss you¡¯re in, those right at the back were the dunces! Everyone in front of me was doing origami, drawing or humming! Those who were earnest about studying sat at the forefront, except they didn¡¯t look focused but troubled over the difficulty.

    No point putting my hopes on a well far away when the fire is right here¡­ All right, let¡¯s focus. I should be able to avoid embarrassment if I can just be average in the ss. Let¡¯s just copy that guy.

    ¡°Ahem.¡± Quietly, I hollered, ¡°Bro¡­¡±

    The guy in front of me sprawled out onto the table and started snoring.

    Wake up! Don¡¯t give up, coward! We¡¯ve only just started!

    I looked to my right to see He Shi set his brush down.

    You, too?!

    ¡°I am ready to hand up my paper,¡± He Shi said.

    What are you? A straight-As student?! Hand it upter! I¡¯m under a lot of pressure here!

    ***

    ¡°I understand that you may not be used to our test system on your first day, and I understand you must have your reasons for quitting martial arts to pick up studying,¡± Uncle Huang mmed my test paper onto the desk, ¡°but what is this nonsense? What are these eighty turtles you drew supposed to mean?¡±

    I bowed my head in embarrassment. ¡°I ran out of time, or I would¡¯ve been able to draw a hundred.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Look, I gave up, okay? I wasn¡¯t built for this.

    ¡°Look at you. Your shifu is incred-, average. You are his senior disciple, so how are you not even half of aspetent? What did you learn from him?¡±

    I learnt why flowers are red and why alcohol smells nice. Do those count?

    Don¡¯t ask me about these things. Ask Sixth. He was the one who excelled with his sword and brush. I heard he passed Beijiang¡¯s royal examsst year under a fake name.

    ¡°It was a mistake to send you here. By the way, I didn¡¯t have time to ask you this morning, but you haven¡¯t caused any problems given you haven¡¯t been here for long, right?¡±

    ¡°N¡­o.¡±

    ¡°You already did something?!¡±

    ¡°No, no. Do you know Zhao Tiankui?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Tiankui? You don¡¯t know him? Well, I guess it¡¯s normal for you not to know him. He is one of the top-ranking generals of this dynasty. At present he is the infantry governor. You could say he is one of the most authoritative generals.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± I stroked my chin the way Uncle Huang stroked his beard. ¡°What¡¯s a governor?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Themander of the Governor Estate is called ¡®governor¡¯. We have three military governors, one for the infantries, one of the cavalries and one for the navy. The three report to Governor Estate. Above Governor Estate is themander-in-chief. Themander-in-chief represented the military when our dynasty was first formed. Nowadays, Qilin Guards¡¯ grandmandermands the border forces. Why are you asking about him?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much. I just knocked his son into theke in the morning.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Glossary

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s test - The English trantions should be understandable for you. The original Chinese, on the other hand, is written in archaic Chinese. As I¡¯ve mentioned before, it¡¯s like expecting everyone who speaks English to understand Shakespeare English, which doesn¡¯t happen.

 Volume 12 13 Pending Case

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 13 Pending Case</h4>

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Su Xiao, brows furrowed, earnestly looked through the thick book on the table.

    ¡°Xiao Han, reached a conclusion yet?¡± Shen Yiren asked from behind as she turned the page on her document.

    ¡°Not yet. Give me a bit longer.¡±

    There weren¡¯t many members at Liu Shan Men who could swiftly identify clues for their case from the thick book, so everyone in the room was busy. Even though they had recruited new blood from Nanjiang, epting praise from His Majesty meant having more cases on their tes.

    Although Su Xiao¡¯s martial arts progress improved by leaps and bounds, the same couldn¡¯t be said for his work proficiency. To digress, he was still no match for the likes of Shen Yiren and Tang Ye in a fight. More pertinently, he was summoned to the room despite his shortage ofmon sense because he had a photographic memory. Shen Yiren could¡¯ve replicated it in a way with her ¡°Precision Scout¡±, and Ming Huayu Two (Ming Suwen) also had a good memory, but they were still only two people.

    Upon finishing the document in front of her, Shen Yirenn said to her brother beside her, ¡°Kuang, go through the remaining documents on my behalf.¡±

    ¡°Is it really appropriate for me to?¡± queried Shen Kuang, blushing.

    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal? You¡¯re my spitting image. You could mimic my handwriting by the time you were seven. Plus, I¡¯ve checked them. It¡¯s fine. They¡¯re just routine documents.¡±

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean we¡¯re flouting the rules? After all, I¡¯m not an official.¡±

    ¡°So? If nobody here says a word, who¡¯d know? Let¡¯s say an outsider really does find out. I¡¯d like to see who here would dare report me.¡±

    Shen Kuang noticed his sister had changed ever since she returned from Nanjiang. She was stronger and prettier for sure, and she was still as frank as ever; however, she was gentler, simr to a young maiden, unlike before. When she frowned, it was like they were looking at a trained killer. In terms of her mindset, she had be more flexible instead of rigidly following rules. Her ¡°aura¡±, forck of better word, mirrored a man named Ming Feizhen a lot more than before. If she were holding a jug of wine and hanging a green foxtail from her upwardly-curved lips, she¡¯d literally be him.

    ¡°Kuang, what are you smiling like an idiot for?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Shen Kuang gently hugged his sister and rubbed his forehead against her head. ¡°I¡¯m just d you¡¯re back.¡±

    Shen Yiren scrubbed her brother¡¯s head. ¡°Never knew you learnt how to act coquettish.¡± For a while, only the two of them existed in the world. Once that moment was up, she noticed all the warm smiles directed their way and yelled, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    While the audience did avert their gazes, they couldn¡¯t help having a giggle.

    Shen Yiren cleared her throat. ¡°I leave the documents to you. Everyone else,e over for a meeting. We have a big load of work today.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Shen Yiren, what¡¯d you call me over for? I¡¯m busy.¡± Mountain Monster, who was in a dress for a change, had a copy of ¡°Nanjing Tourist Attractions¡± in her hand. ¡°Hurry up. I haven¡¯t visited Eight Deities Restaurant yet. I have to visit the restaurant that almost threw Ming Feizhen off the top floor no matter what.¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯s new Dark Brigade unit only took orders from Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren. She had no respect for protocols. Howbeit, nobody was in any position to protest in spite of their displeasure.

    ¡°Okay, I shall now, wait. Yan Ling, stop ying for a moment,¡± Shen Yiren instructed.

    Tang Ye yed thest note of ¡°Far, Far From Home is the Heartbroken One¡± on his erhu. Tang Ye ying music had be somon that most people would think it was normal for there to be background music.

    Bai Yeshuang was meditating because she wanted to make good use of time, while Lan Kn was secretly penning a letter to send to Beiping, or more specifically, Ming Suwen. If Pre-Nanjiang Shen Yiren was in the room, they¡¯d have all copped earfuls already. Having met with various weirdos in Nanjiang and talked business even with the likes of Gu Wuzhu¡¯s subordinate, though, Shen Yiren¡¯s tolerance had increased considerably.

    ¡°This morning, Yongheng Bank discovered their seal went missing.¡± Shen Yiren didn¡¯t need to go out of her way to notice all the ears that reacted. ¡°As you all know, Yongheng Bank has Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s backing. The small square seal has been passed down since they started operating and grants the holder the authority to withdraw a million taels.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Oof, that¡¯s a lot. Well, any hopes of withdrawing the money has been dashed now that the bank has reported the seal is missing, right?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. As long as the thief can reach the other branches before word reaches the branches outside of the capital, they could still withdraw money. Xiao Han, any progress?¡±

    Su Xiao raised his dustden face. ¡°I¡¯m done! ording to their records, there are only seven branches within three hundred kilometres that have more than three hundred thousand taels, two of which are located in the capital. The others are located in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Anqing and their headquarters in Zhenjiang.¡±

    ¡°There you have it. So, time is of the essence. Whoever has it will race against time to withdraw the money.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang inquired, ¡°Are we going to rush to the five branches?¡±

    ¡°We could, but it¡¯s hardly possible. Yan Ling.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Notify Shuntian Prefecture. Tell them to ignore everyone entering the capital but to inspect everyone exiting. Anyone suspicious is to be taken into custody immediately.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Xiao Han.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Take a team to guard the pier and do as I ordered Shuntian Prefecture to.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Wawa.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Huh? Call me Gui Laimeng!¡±

    ¡°As an expert in working in the shadows, work with Nanjing¡¯s underworld to try dig up something.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Fine.¡±

    ¡°Yeshuang, Kn, send constables to the five branches.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    Shen Yiren coiled her index finger and tapped the table, muttering, ¡°As for me, I shall personally check on the culprit. We must find locate the iron seal!¡±

 Volume 12 14 Master Jiu

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 14 Master Jiu</h4>

    ¡°Is dumping him in theke not bad enough? Why did you take his belongings?¡± grumbled Uncle Huang. ¡°So, you took this small knife?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I was actually going to get rid of the knife, but, judging from its architecture, it had to be around ten silver taels, so I kept it. That would be enough to buy ten chickens, man! Everything else was mine.

    ¡°What¡¯s that seal in your hand?¡±

    ¡°This? Wearing bling is in fashion in the capital these days. Wearing this around your neck makes you look wicked. You want it, Uncle Huang?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± With a hand on his beard, Uncle Huang paced around, then sighed. ¡°To err on the safe side, make peace with Zhao Xin.¡±

    ¡°What? Zhao Xin? I thought he¡¯s called Zhao Yuejing.¡±

    ¡°His father wields a tremendous amount of influence in the military. On ount of you being affiliated with Liu Shan Men, it¡¯s best you avoid disputes with them.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Huang, a little brat who can¡¯t even handle the smallest breeze has you quaking in your boots? Where has the energy you used to chase my shifu through eight cities straight gone?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because he dumped me at Spring Wind Lunar Brothel!¡±

    ¡°I never imagined I could be even more disappointed in you. Why would you waste the opportunity to enjoy yourself at such a high-ss ce?¡±

    ¡°Enjoy, my foot! He owed them fifty thousand taels and sold me off!¡±

    Okay, I take back what I said¡­

    ¡°As for Zhao Tiankui, he doesn¡¯t scare me. That said, with students here forming cliques, they¡¯re formingplicatedworks¡­ Zhao Xin is one of such faction. One of his friends is Lu Feiming, who broke Yingyang¡¯s leg.¡±

    Speaking of Yingyang, the guy was a freak. The man started writing as soon as tests began and stayed back to read once he was done. How does such a student exist?! Nevertheless, he was the favourite type of student among teachers, yet nobody did anything when someone broke his leg.

    ¡°Howe nobody has said anything about his leg?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that people are turning a blind eye. If we want to fairly dispute the case, then we¡¯ll have to sh with Lu Feiming¡¯s backing. When matters are soplicated, it¡¯s better to avoid them wherever possible.¡±

    While my shifu can lead Uncle Huang by the nose, Uncle Huang is quite the man in the capital, yet he¡¯s avoiding a confrontation? Is the student some hot shot? I should make some time to find out more over tea with Uncle Huang.

    ¡°Therefore, you know what I¡¯m about to say. Thoughts?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll start with roast duck and grilled chicken.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Can you¡­ grow some sense?¡±

    ¡°Grow some what?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Juste with me!¡±

    ***

    Although Ming Feizhen had gone into ¡°hiding¡± after signing the agreement, Hong Jiu, Ming Feizhen¡¯s best assistant, still didn¡¯t feel safe about leaving his defenceless brother alone. Therefore, he sneaked into Daren Academy the same afternoon they parted ways. To be more specific, he infiltrated Daren Academy¡¯s Misceneous Logistics Department.

    ¡°Hey, you the new guy who didn¡¯t ask for a sry while promising to do more work than a bull and rise earlier than a chicken? What was your name again? Hong¡­ Zhichuang?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir. This one is ninth in his family, so you can call him Hong Jiu.¡± Hong Jiu didn¡¯t need to prepare a business smile when he already practiced implementing one all throughout his days as a wanderer.

    ¡±Your name¡­ is ear murder.¡± The manager cleared his throat. ¡°If Ol¡¯ Chang did suffer an injury out of the blue, need to go home for rest and rmend you, we wouldn¡¯t have employed you since we usually don¡¯t recruit new employees. All our employees have to go through a two-year probation period.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it was strange for Brother Chang to suddenly fall into a hole. I wish him all the best.¡±

    The ident was anything but an ident. Hong Jiu dug up evidence of Ol¡¯ Chang frequenting brothels, gambling and squandering money, and then he approached the man to give his head a kiss with his warm fists. Once Ol¡¯ Chang was beat, he persuaded Ol¡¯ Chang to write him a letter of rmendation.

    The work quota that the manager assigned Hong Jiu for the day really would take until midnight to fulfill. ¡°We are the soul of the institute. Without us, the ce is crippled, so don¡¯t ck off.¡± With that, he strolled off.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Hong Jiu crossed his arms while musing. ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s start with a three day nap first.¡±

    How was it Hong Jiu¡¯s problem if the ce was crippled? He threw the broom he just took out back into the storehouse and dusted off his hands.

    ¡°Hey, you the new guy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hong Jiu, sporting a bright smile and innocent puppy eyes, pivoted around to see several students who made his stomach turn.

    The group performed a visual audit of Hong Jiu, then began discussing amongst each other.

    ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s him. Tall, wears white and has a small pouch. Fits the description word for word.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he also admitted he¡¯s the new guy.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you started today?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied Hong Jiu.

    ¡°He¡¯s our guy.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make sure. There¡¯s no room for mistakes. His name is supposed to be Hong Jiu.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡±

    The five asked each other, ¡°Is there any way someone coincidentally has the same given name and surname?¡±

    ¡°I remember he¡¯s supposed to be ugly.¡±

    The five looked back at Hong Jiu, then turned back to each other. ¡°It¡¯s him for sure!¡±

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± Hong Jiu still kept up the innocent act.

    Their leader politely responded, ¡°Nothing much. We were ordered to beat you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Talks are over. Come over and ept your beating!¡±

    Though theirnky physiques made them look unassuming, the five were quick on their feet and knew how to throw a punch.

    Momentster, Hong Jiu could be heard griping, ¡°How you can just suddenly assault a man? Besides, who are you expecting to hurt when you¡¯re so weak? Like, I didn¡¯t even get to finish one move.¡± He palmed head of the student at the top of the stack he formed and said, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you.¡±

    The student groaned, ¡°H-how dare you hit me¡­? My father¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu pped his face the other way. ¡°Shed another tear and your old man is getting it, too! Now, who¡¯s the prick who sent you after me?¡±

    None of them answered.

    Perhaps Hong Jiu understood Ming Feizhen¡¯s predicament best because the number of enemies he made and problems he caused weren¡¯t that far behind Ming Feizhen¡¯s. At the very least, it¡¯d take more than four hours to list all of them.

    ¡°You asked for it.¡± Hong Jiu rubbed his hands whilst sneering. ¡°Hope you like the touch of my Big Swinging Cracker Hands.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wh-what will happen to us if you hit us?¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯ll¡­ have an extra butt crack.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, we¡¯ll talk! Zhao Xin sent us. Sir, please show forbearance. Please spare our bottoms!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll decide based on how cooperative you are. Who¡¯s Zhao X-¡±

    Hong Jiu felt the air stir abnormally due to someone closing in at high speed. He reactively pivoted around and extended an open hand. He managed to force his assant back, but he was also forced to skid back.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Hong Jiu¡¯s assant chortled.

    ¡°Who goes there?! How dare you sneak attack Master Jiu?!¡±

    Glossary

    Grow some sense - The joke doesn¡¯t work in English. This version of ¡°grow some sense¡± hasponents that make up ¡°dessert/snacks¡± and simr words. So, after Huang Yuzao says that, Ming Feizhen actually asked, ¡°There¡¯s dessert, too?¡±

    Note: potential update to release frequency message below in ¡°Featured Comment¡±. Just so that you¡¯re prepared, it is a long read.

 Volume 12 15 To Cherish Life is to be Anti-Gambling

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 15 To Cherish Life is to be Anti-Gambling</h4>

    Had the man not withstood Hong Jiu¡¯s attack, one would think he was a ghost with his gangly appearance.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? What¡¯s your name?¡± questioned Hong Jiu.

    The man sneered and mumbled with all the words piling over the next. ¡°My name is of no significance. Judging from the way you fight, you can hold your weight. Why oppose my master when you have a bright future?¡±

    Hong Jiu: Still haven¡¯t gotten under his skin?

    Starting conversations in an uncouth tone was a psychological tactic Hong Jiumonly utilised. It could grant him a window into his opponent¡¯s temperament and possibly throw his opponent off their game, giving him an advantage in a fight. In the worst case scenario, it could afford him a window to escape. His opponent this time, however, didn¡¯t bite, which could only mean his opponent was either super tolerant or was so used to abuse that it wasn¡¯t enough to faze him.

    ¡°Your master ain¡¯t squat.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I am showing you respect for your martial prowess. If you do not mind your words, I will not forgive you.¡±

    Bring it own, then!

    Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t afraid, but he wasn¡¯t in friendly territory. Thest thing he wanted to do was something that¡¯d jeopardised Ming Feizhen¡¯s identity.

    ¡°You have no reason to hold anything against me, then. I was just sleep-, sweeping here when your men started on me. You think you can just piss on someone¡¯s shoe and then walk away scot-free? y stupid games, win stupid prizes. Same applies no matter where you go in the world.¡±

    Judging from the fact that the man didn¡¯t budge, Hong Jiu assumed only insulting his master would get to him.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°It was not without rhyme or reason, so we cannot be med. Do you possess an item that is not yours?¡±

    Irritated, Hong Jiu brayed, ¡°What type of flipping question is that?!¡± As a beggar, there were few belongings that Hong Jiu didn¡¯t beg to obtain from others, so the question struck a wrong nerve with him.

    ¡°It seems the information was correct. This is an unavoidable fight, then.¡±

    ¡°Bring it on!¡± Hong Jiu pped his thigh, then stepped into his palm strike.

    ¡°Hehe, very good.¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent moved after him, yet made it in time to block, prompting Hong Jiu to disengage. After all, his opponent recognised his patterns if he could keep up despite not having the initiative. Hong Jiu¡¯s ¡°God¡¯s Palms¡± had enough in-built variation for him to attack relentlessly. Howbeit, the more techniques he performed, the higher the risk of exposing his background, particrly in front of someone with a discerning eye.

    Although there were plenty of martial artists who practiced palm disciplines, there weren¡¯t many who did so and were named Hong Jiu. As long as someone was willing to think a little, they¡¯d quickly match him up with Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider.

    ¡°Finally afraid?¡±

    ¡°Afraid? Yes, afraid you¡¯ll piss your pants! Watch this!¡± Hong Jiu pulled out a flexible de from his sash.

    The man turned his face. ¡°Impressive skills.¡±

    While Hong Jiu could wield all eighteen arms, it would be a stretch to say he was proficient with all of them. Topensate for hisck of skill, he relied on his physical attributes andbat intellect. When his opponent was his equal in those fields, his only option would be to abandon weapons. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t the sort of man to waste a learning opportunity.

    During his stay in Nanjiang, Hong Jiu rematched Moyan Changping, defeating thetter in less than a hundred exchanges. In their first match, Hong Jiu was amazed with Moyan Changping¡¯s techniques. In their second bout, Moyan Changping struggled to impose his will at all. Hong Jiu was the sort of person to learn through doing - through fighting, in this case. During the month that Ming Feizhen was unconscious, Hong Jiu sparred with Moyan Luohou eight times and was utterly defeated on all eight asions. One could say that Hong Jiu acquired his knowledge on des through Moyan Luohou.

    Hong Jiu picked up Moyan Luohou¡¯s technique, but he didn¡¯t inherit the crafty style. Instead, he shed away without the deception, cutting up his opponent¡¯s tunic.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent: He¡¯s strong and skilled. Hidden Hero¡¯s nickname is Hong Jiu, as well, except he was never said to be an expert with daggers. They couldn¡¯t be the same person.

    Because of all the openings Hong Jiu cut open, the ck armour his opponent wore underneath became visible. Clearly, his opponent wasn¡¯t weak when he walked around with armour on all the time. Nheless, it would be hard to turn the tables if the armed one was to gain the advantage over the unarmed one. Gradually, Hong Jiu restricted his opponent¡¯s movement space.

    Though both of them were interrupted for a split second when they heard footsteps, Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent did a better job at capitalising on the moment, thrusting two fingers on the same hand at Hong Jiu¡¯s face, forcing Hong Jiu to cancel his attack to dodge.

    ¡°You nearly put a hole in my face,¡± Hong Jiuined upon finding room to breathe.

    ¡°Sorry, it was a life and death moment, so I had no choice.¡± The man smiled as though he was never in danger. ¡°People in the pugilistic world call me Master Qi. May I ask for your name?¡±

    Hong Jiu pointed to himself with his thumb. ¡°Master Shiba.¡±

    ¡°I shall remember it. In regards to the item on you, how about we leave it here for today?¡± Despite speaking as if he was going to pull out, Master Qi¡¯s feet didn¡¯t move.

    Hong Jiu was confident he knew what was going through Master Qi¡¯s head. He surmised the people who were approaching were local guards based on their gait and the rattling of their weapons. Most likely, somebody notified the authorities after hearing the sounds of their sh. ¡°You think I¡¯ll be captured?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid despite knowing it¡¯s the authorities?¡±

    ¡°Hah, let¡¯s have a bet, shall we? If I am arrested, you owe me a hundred thousand silver taels.¡±

    ¡°Sure. And if you lose?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d lose?¡± Hong Jiu remained undaunted.

    They were right: it was the authorities. Hong Jiu had more information, though, because he was acquainted with them. Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang came into view at the same time.

    Hahahaha, hahahaha, a hundred thousand taels! One hundred thousand!

    ¡°Hahaha, if they arrest me, I¡¯ll eat dog crap!¡±

    ¡°Hong Jiu, we are taking you in on grounds of suspicion that you are involved in a theft case. Pleasee with us!¡±

    Nobody said a word for a long, long time.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you,¡± Master Qi started, breaking the silence with a grin, ¡°find a dog that¡¯s taking a dump.¡±

 Volume 12 16 Court Hearing

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 16 Court Hearing</h4>

    Zhao Yuejing wasn¡¯t in his ssroom when we visited. As a matter of fact, not a soul was in sight.

    ¡°Where is everyone during ss?! Who is the teacher for this ss?!¡± Uncle Huang dragged me back to his room to castigate me because we couldn¡¯t find the teacher. I think he was edging on crazy from anger¡­

    When was I finally released from Uncle Huang¡¯s room, I spotted a group of people I recognised hurtle into the two adjacent corridors from his door. They clearly didn¡¯t try as I could see their sleeves and hats. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    They checked to confirm Uncle Huang wasn¡¯t around, then boldly strolled out.

    ¡°Nice.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± I pointed to myself. Young people these days had bad taste. I wagged my hand. ¡°Everyone is just being too kind.¡±

    ¡°No need to be modest. We¡¯ve never seen Principal Huang scold the same student three times in a single day. You¡¯ve broken the record.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask for it! He just likes reprimanding people. More pertinentlty, why is it entertainment to you?!

    I didn¡¯t really understand their preferences, but maybe it was what the young generation thought was cool? Pretty much all of my ssmates came to see me, making me feel like I was a returning war hero.

    On the sprint back to our ss, they had all sorts of questions for me.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zheng Datong. My family sells vegetables.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Datong. I¡¯m Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°My turn, my turn. Because the only thing I¡¯m good at is studying, my dad told me he might as well send me away to polish our family¡¯s name since I was wasting resources at home.¡± This spritely fellow was the one who told me I broke a record. ¡°I¡¯m Wu Dayong. My family owns a rice store.¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you, Meiyong.¡±

    ¡°This one is Zhou Teng. His father is the Ministry of Personnel¡¯s third-rank Attendant Gentleman Zhong Xiang¡¯s student.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you, Shun Tengba.¡±

    A girl with her arms crossed suavely said, ¡°I¡¯m Wang Zi. My dad works with a de. He¡¯s Wang Wu.¡±

    ¡°Main is Wang Wu, second is Wang Zi. Impressive.¡±

    Once everyone had their turn, a girl exhaled sharply. ¡°I recognise you.¡±

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you, too, I Recognise you. Huh?¡± I looked up.

    She recognises me?

    ¡°Hmph, my name is Shi Weiliang. My mother said you¡¯re a dine and dasher, but my dad spoke up for you, resulting in him taking a beating.¡±

    ¡°Your father is Eight Deities Restaurant¡¯s owner, Shi Guangju?¡±

    ¡°Who else? You dine and dash at other ces, as well?¡±

    ¡°Whatever do you mean? It¡¯s an honour to meet you. As friends, you can count on me anytime, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± enthused Wu Dayong. ¡°We¡¯ve always been bottom rung. You¡¯re the first one to be a hot shot in our grade.¡±

    This is all it takes to be a hot shot around here? Damn, son, your old man named you perfectly. Wuyong, Wuyong, absolutely useless.

    ¡°Me? No way. Isn¡¯t He Shi the hot shot?¡± I wanted to broach the topic of the scuffle withouting out of the gates too hard.

    The entire group stared at me emotionlessly. ¡°You¡¯re not trying to dig up information on him, are you?¡±

    ¡°I am. Is something the matter?¡±

    They checked with each other, then replied, ¡°Not¡­ exactly. It¡¯s just¡­ none of us really like him.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell me more?¡±

    Turned out that He Shi excelled at literacy; however, he liked to befriend the rich and influential. For whatever reason, one of the rich kids he recently befriended had his cronies break his leg.

    ¡°I think it has something to do with the six Princes¡¯ contest.¡±

    ¡°The six Princes?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Shi Weiliang made a funny face at me. ¡°Because that rich kid is under Blue Prince¡¯s banner. He wanted He Shi to write a piece praising Blue Prince, but He Shi refused at the cost of his leg.¡±

    No way. We¡¯re breaking people¡¯s legs just because they don¡¯t agree with your opinion now?

    ¡°He¡¯s one of our institutes four Court Lords.¡±

    Four Court Lords? Man, I feel like I¡¯m about to hear a painfully dodgy Chunnibyou story¡­

    ***

    A while ago, Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables headed out to the locations ording to Shen Yiren¡¯s instructions, but someone from Yongheng Bank soon paid them a visit to inform them that a clue had been found. Once they heard who the thief was, Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang all asked the same question: ¡°Why did he steal it?¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡± The courtroom guards¡¯ in blue uniforms drawled in an aggressive tone as they knocked on the ground with their emotionless rods; they brimmed with the hostility of men out to revenge their mothers. This was something Shen Yiren taught them to do so that they could intimidate suspects and gain the upper hand before the inquisitionsmenced.

    Shen Yiren, in uniform, briskly entered the courtroom and eximed, ¡°Insolence! Huh, why are you here?¡±

    Sitting on the ground, Hong Jiu sniffled. ¡°My life is tragic. I was earnestly moving things in the storehouse when I was ambushed. Right after that, a tough guy came at me. I considered hanging upside down and feeding him, uh, that. Anyway, Tang Ye and so forth came and arrested me, forcing me to eat that. I really don¡¯t want to eat it.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Shen Yiren turned to the intiffs, which consisted of ten-odd students, some of whom needed support to stand.

    The seated student snickered, then whispered to his goons. One of them then limped forward to loudly exin, ¡°My Lady, we are students of Daren Academy. We found out he stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s iron seal. Out of a burning desire to help, we attempted to reim it from him, never expecting him to assault us. Please set things right.¡±

    ¡°He stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s iron seal?¡± queried Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And assaulted you?¡±

    ¡°That is correct.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The students raised their eyebrows at each other whilst grinning.

    Shen Yiren brought down her gavel. ¡°Case closed.¡±

    Hong Jiu sprang to his feet. ¡°Thank you, My Lady.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Why is the case closed?¡±

    Without bothering to nce their way, Shen Yiren answered, ¡°If you have time to waste on this sort of nonsense, you¡¯re better of reading another book. No wonder why my dad told me lot are immature. Run along now. Waste of my time.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Not only did hemit theft but even assault.¡±

    Shen Yiren fired a re their way. ¡°I¡¯m about to assault some people, too!¡±

    The students shuddered.

    ¡°You have proof he stole? Did you find the seal on him? You three!¡± Shen Yiren turned to Tang Ye, Su Xiao and Bai Yeshuang. ¡°You believed them? Is the thing between your ears just for show?! Think about who he is. Is it remotely possible that he¡¯d steal?¡±

    The trio earnestly pondered prior to replying, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ In any case, no more games. Hong Jiu doesn¡¯t have the seal on him, which means there¡¯s no evidence he stole. That¡¯ll be it.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± The seated student sounded as cold as ever even though he spoke in a soft voice. ¡°It appears you¡¯re still as barbaric as ever.¡±

    Shen Yiren responded, ¡°And you¡¯re still a fan of gang-up games for cowards.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you know how to p your gums, but how can you be disregard thew like this when you are tasked with a case?¡±

    ¡°You think you¡¯re thew. Without evidence, you can¡¯t incriminate someone - even if it¡¯s you, let alone in my court.¡±

    ¡°Who says I don¡¯t have evidence?¡± Sneering, he continued, ¡°Ack of physical proof doesn¡¯t mean there are no witnesses. I have someone who personally saw himmit the act of theft.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t like the direction the plot was developing because of the student¡¯s background.

    ¡°Call Zhao Xin in.¡±

    Zhao Xin ran into the courtroom. ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°This is Zhao Xin, General Zhao Tiankui¡¯s son. He wouldn¡¯t falsely use someone now, would he?¡± Spotting Shen Yiren curl her lips, he immediately stressed, ¡°Zhao Xin, you are obligated to tell the truth in court, especially in Lady Shen¡¯s presence.¡±

    ¡°Should this one tell a lie, he shall be executed,¡± Zhao Xin expressed.

    ¡°Good. You personally saw Hong Jiu steal the seal, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhao Xin asserted.

    ¡°Hong Jiu is an aggressive person, and he knocked you into the pond, correct?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. He has no regard for thew.¡±

    ¡°Last question: is he Hong Jiu?¡±

    Zhao Xin¡¯s gaze tracked along his ssmate¡¯s finger to Hong Jiu. ¡°He! Is not!¡±

    ¡°Hear that? Shen Yiren, he¡­¡± He turned around to Zhao Xin. ¡°What?¡±

    Glossary

    Dayong and Meiyong - The former means ¡°incredibly useful¡±. Thetter means ¡°Useless¡±. How in Teyvat¡¯s archon¡¯s name Ming Feizhen got thetter is beyond me.

    Attendant Gentleman - The proper term for ¡°Secretary of (insert ministry)¡¯s assistant¡±.

    Zhou Teng and Shun Tengba - Zhou Teng¡¯s ¡°Teng¡± means ¡°vine¡± and anything to that effect. Shun Tengba means to climb up a vine without a hitch. Again, no clue how Ming Feizhen is hearing these things.

    Wang Wu and Wang Zi - Wang Wu = ¡°Wang Five/King Five¡±. Wang Zi sounds like ¡°Prince¡±. If the father is a King, then his children would be a Prince.

    Courtroom guards¡¯ ¡°Silence¡± - Instead of a sharp ¡°Silence¡±, in those days, they robotically (not loudly) enunciate the phrase like ¡°Weeeiiii, wuuuu (in Chinese).¡± That¡¯s why I noted that they drawl. If you want to have a listen, here is a link: (Mandarin)/ (Cantonese).

 Volume 12 17 Imperial Family Relative

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 17 Imperial Family Rtive</h4>

    ¡°Y-you mean him? He, but¡­¡± Zhao Xin scrutinised Hong Jiu in detail one more time, then continued stuttering, ¡°B-but it really isn¡¯t him. Who is this?¡±

    ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t steal! All eight generations of our Hong Family have been righteous, honest beggars! Since when did we ever pinch from anyone?! If we had the audacity to steal, would we still be poor?¡±

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± the seated student uttered through his teeth.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know myself, but he is not the person in question. The Hong Jiu I refer to is, uh, right, a guy with an annoying smile on his face.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°I¡¯m an honest-to-a-fault man!¡±

    ¡°The Hong Jiu I speak of is a student at our academy.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°I¡¯m just a cleaner!¡±

    ¡°There seems to have been a misunderstanding somewhere.¡± Shen Yiren returned to her chair. ¡°You have the wrong person. Do you wish to continue with the persecution?¡±

    A student touched his swollen face. ¡°H-he assaulted us!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Assault is assault. Theft is theft. Where is yourmon sense? How did they let you enrol?¡±

    ¡°As he said, if you wish to press charges for assault, then it is another case altogether and you will need to submit a persecution charge. That¡¯s all for today,¡± Shen Yiren stated.

    ¡°Wait.¡± In a soft voice, Hong Jiu requested, ¡°Sister-in-Law, shouldn¡¯t they be ountable for false usations?¡±

    ¡°Shut up. I¡¯ll speak to youter.¡± Shen Yiren emotionlessly stared at the seated youth.

    The seated student hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°It appears there is a misunderstanding. That being the case, there is nothing left to say. Let us be on our way.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Wait,¡± voiced Tang Ye. ¡°You can¡¯t leave yet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you can¡¯t leave yet.¡± Su Xiao borated, ¡°Since we wrongly apprehended him, we owe it to him to clear his name. We would like you to borate on the usation that you personally saw Hong Jiu steal.¡±

    ¡°I-I did witness a theft, but it wasn¡¯t him.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Su Xiao smiled. ¡°That¡¯s odd, then. You witnessed the thief in action, so why don¡¯t you know his name? How did you meet him? Where did you meet him? And who did you meet? Please provide us with answers.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang added, ¡°We have looked into your activities for thest three days and learnt you went to Yongheng Bank this morning, which happens to be right before the seal was stolen. Please exin your case.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Until you have cleared yourself of all suspicion, you are not permitted to leave.¡±

    Everything clicked for Hong Jiu at longst. His arrest was a trap for the students; they arrested him so that the students wouldn¡¯t follow them to the office without resistance. Maybe Bai Yeshuang was ignorant, but would Tang Ye and Su Xiao not know Hong Jiu¡¯s character?

    If the suspect was clean, then the next suspect had to be the person who reported the crime. Was it not dubious for someone to roll up at their door after the seal went missing and provide such a precise ount? If Liu Shan Men tried to bring Zhao Xin in, though, he¡¯d use his backing to give them grief. It wasn¡¯t worth risking themselves when he was still only a suspect. Therefore, Bai Yeshuang, Su Xiao and Tang Ye decided to pay Zhao Xin in his own coin, and Zhao Xin entered their turf as they nned.

    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need to question him. This ends here. Let them go.¡±

    The trio looked to Shen Yiren in disbelief. Bai Yeshuang¡¯s performance met her usual standard as a veteran constable. Tang Ye and Su Xiao showed evident growth as constables in their calcted move. Therefore, the trio expected Shen Yiren to be pleased with their performance.

    Shen Yiren shook her head. ¡°Do as I say.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re finally learning the ways of the world.¡± The seated youth triumphantly stood up. ¡°My mother often mentions you. If you wish to visit her, I won¡¯t stop you.¡± He then cast his unpleasant gaze at Hong Jiu. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d have this dog beaten to death. Howbeit, on your ount, I shall spare him. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Oxygen felt as if it left the courtroom with the condescending student.

    ¡°Don¡¯t spare me. I¡¯m right here. Come hit me.¡±

    As he spoke, Hong Jiu reached for the young man¡¯s cor. For better or worse, a man caught Hong Jiu¡¯s hand as though he was reaching for a handshake and said, ¡°Master Shiba, I shall find a dog and wait for you.¡± While Hong Jiu was spacing out, Master Qi had removed his hand and retreated to the rear of the cocky student. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t wait for me!¡± Hong Jiu smiled as he patted his hands together, suggesting he was going to find an opportunity to raid their ce.

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Hong Jiu.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Yes, Sister-in-Law.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡± The blushing maiden¡¯s hand was ready to p Hong Jiu. ¡°Don¡¯t pick a fight with him. Hold back for my sake.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Hong Jiu reyed Shen Yiren¡¯s conversation with the guy, then asked, ¡°He¡¯s the son of an aristocrat?¡±

    Shen Yiren nced over to the trio. ¡°I know you¡¯re all confused as to why I let him go. Frankly, he and I have never been in agreement. If possible, I¡¯d love to teach him a lesson, as well. Problem is, not only is he aristocrat but an untouchable aristocrat. He¡¯s a rtive of the imperial family. His grandpa is the elder brother of His Majesty. His grandpa was a major contributor to quelling the border¡¯s insurgence, so thest Emperor conferred him the title ¡®Imperial Family¡¯s Greatest¡¯ and ¡®Northern Wondrous Warrior. People also know him as ¡®Wondrous Warrior. You know the big garden near the Forbidden City? That¡¯s his family¡¯s estate. Because it was built early on, it¡¯s ten times the size of Orange Prince and Red Prince¡¯s manors.

    ¡°Although the war at the northern border was in his grandpa¡¯s time, it¡¯s only been thirty years since. Putting aside the fact that his deeds are still remembered, His Majesty is close to his brother. That¡¯s why His Majesty has always taken extra care of his son.

    ¡°In addition, Wondrous Warrior¡¯s former colleagues, as well as his students, are stationed in various posts in the military. Zhao Xin¡¯s father, Zhao Tiankui, used to only be another soldier among Wondrous Warrior¡¯s ranks, but he¡¯s now one of the most authoritative people in the military.¡±

    Su Xiao queried, ¡°But¡­ that was thirty years ago. How much of that credit can still be remaining?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you aware that the Qilin Guards¡¯ incumbent grandmander is Wondrous Warrior¡¯s disciple?¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s question shut down all potential disputes. ¡°The person in question is Wondrous Warrior¡¯s only grandson and has been conferred the rank of Northern Wondrous Prince. He¡¯s inherited his grandfather¡¯s rank, as well. I used to fight with him all the time as a kid because he rubs me the wrong way.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Did you get the short end of the stick?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just a punching bag. I was the puncher. The problem was that, when he dobbed on me, even Uncle would order someone to smack my hand despite his reluctance.¡±

 Volume 12 18 Who is the Thief?

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 18 Who is the Thief?</h4>

    ¡°His Majesty isn¡¯t a fan of him. If anything, he has his grandpa to thank. Speaking of Wondrous Warrior, he was involved in the contest for the throne; however, he never viewed His Majesty as a threat. To the contrary, he took His Majesty¡¯s side. His Majesty broke down in tears when his corpse was wheeled back to the capital on a donkey cart. Apparently, Li Muye - the punk - is the spitting image of his grandpa in his younger days, so he reminds His Majesty of his grandpa. That¡¯s why His Majesty is tolerant of Li Muye¡¯s misconduct. By the same ount, it¡¯s useless to detain him if he didn¡¯t personallymit a crime. Right now, the most pressing matter is to find the iron seal,¡± Shen Yiren elucidated. ¡°Do you suspect Zhao Xin of stealing it?¡±

    Su Xiao affirmatively bobbed his head. ¡°It must be him! Before he came in, I dragged him into the back alley and pretended to demand a bribe, but he imed to have no money.¡±

    ¡°A shortage of money doesn¡¯t make one a thief.¡±

    ¡°But he stated that he¡¯d make it up to us once he found the iron seal.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Shen Yiren felt her head throb. She contemted the information gathered thus far and then said, ¡°That being the case¡­ perhaps Li Muye is after Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal, but someone by the name of Hong Jiu stole it from him after he got his hands on it.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°I¡¯m truly innocent, Sister-in-Law. All eight generations of the ¡®Hong¡¯ surname carr-¡±

    Shen Yiren red daggers at Hong Jiu. ¡°Enough. I never suspected you. Not even louse would dare touch your nket. What good would money do you?¡±

    Given the thief imed to be Hong Jiu, they had to either have a grudge against Mount Daluo or Hong Jiu. In addition, as someone affiliated with Daren Academy, they could very well have someone higher up backing them. On top of that, they thieved it from Zhao Xin not long after he obtained it, bespeaking thorough calctions were made prior. They weren¡¯t dealing with a simpleton.

    Although Liu Shan Men had Ming Feizhen and Hong Jiu in Daren Academy, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t fight, while Hong Jiu was definitely gged for surveince.

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Yan Ling, Xiao Han.¡±

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao: ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Starting tomorrow, you two attend sses with Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Eh? We have to study, as well?¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°We are nning to win the martial arts and literacy imperial exams?¡±

    ¡°Obviously not. Ming Feizhen can take care of the exams. I¡¯m sending you two in to investigate the case. The perpetrator is on Daren Academy¡¯s grounds. Keep a low profile. Investigate from various angles. And find the culprit as soon as you can.¡±

    ***

    Over thirty years ago, the mansion adjacent to the imperial court upied a sizeable plot ofnd. Owing to the renovations and expansions it underwent, it became thergest mansion in the capital.

    On the grounds of Wondrous Warrior Sstate, even servants conducted themselves with the discipline of the many armed guards. If someone were to try infiltrating, they needed to be prepared tobat several guards every time they turned a corner. One could make a strong case for it being harder to infiltrate than the abode of a veteran in the pugilistic world.

    Because Li Muye¡¯s father passed away early and he was an only son, His Majesty permitted Li Muye to inherit his father¡¯s rank and ¡°Northern Wondrous Prince¡± title. Though he lost his father at a young age, his wise mother not only raised him but also sustained the family¡¯s operations. Additionally, she leveraged their family¡¯s reputation in the military to nurture over a thousand capable martial artists. Their ce became the biggest, most famous ring in the capital when they started holdingpetitions for members of the martial world as a socialisation strategy. By extension, their home became the spot where the most information was exchanged. Information, of course, included martial arts knowledge.

    Up to 70% of martial arts events in the capital started at Wondrous Warrior Manor, and a considerable portion of the martial artsmunity in the capital came from there. They set up rings of various sizes across their home ground for daily matches and sses. Unless one was talking about a huge sect, it was impossible to find a sect where as many martial artists wereing and going as at Wondrous Warrior Manor.

    Like always, Li Muye only ever spared the martial artists a nce when he wanted to show his detest for them. He would always be seen with his brows together until he entered the inner section, where outsiders were prohibited entry.

    Li Muye tried to silently enter the tranquil Buddhist hall and, in a soft voice, called, ¡°Mother.¡±

    The woman sitting inside paused her recital to turn around. Despite her son already being a grown man, time couldn¡¯t leave its mark on her. The woman who hadn¡¯t seem to age a day since her thirties responded, ¡°Mu¡¯er.¡±

    Li Muye, like his persona at Daren Academy was but a facade, hurried over to help his mother up. ¡°I¡¯m here, Mother.¡±

    N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Where did youe home from?¡±

    ¡°I came back from the academy.¡±

    ¡°Fool.¡±

    Li Muye¡¯s head dropped as though he was whipped.

    Without looking at her son, she borated, ¡°Her Majesty Empress Dowager has returned to the pce. Regardless of how busy you are with studying, you mustn¡¯t forget to pay her a visit. Your father and grandpa¡¯s reputations aren¡¯t the only things keeping us afloat. Even with our guests, no matter how we grow, the most we could ever be is a n in the martial world. His Majesty¡¯s protection is the reason we can sustain our affiliation as a member of the imperial family. His Majesty treasures Her Majesty Empress Dowager; you mustn¡¯t becent.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I shall pay Her Majesty Empress Dowager a visit tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Sadly¡­¡± For the first time in the conversation, there was finally emotion in her voice, namely regret. ¡°Sadly, you and Shen Yiren are at odds with each other, always quarrelling whenever you¡¯re together. I would be ecstatic to have her as my daughter-inw. Even without her family¡¯s value to His Majesty, I can¡¯t see what¡¯s not to like about her. She is someone who can achieve greatness.¡±

    ¡°Mother, there is no point to discussing that topic. At the end of the day, her engagement to Song n is a sealed deal. Even if Song Ou has not done anything after so long, we cannot let a woman like her into our family.¡±

    ¡°Fool.¡±

    While he did recoil, Li Muye exhibited no signs of changing his mind, which was an indication to his mother that anything she said next on the topic would go out the other ear. Hence, she told him, ¡°There is no need to wait until tomorrow. Enter the pce today,¡± then shook his hold off her, prompting the nearby maids toe over and escort her away.

    Li Muye only got up once his mother was out of sight.

    ¡°Her Ladyship is still as imposing as ever,¡± Master Qi remarked.

    ¡°Mother is right, just not direct enough. She may have the patience, but I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°What are your orders?¡±

    ¡°Now that His Majesty has reimed Huzhou, the Seven Champion White Princes are bound to make a move, which means money is indispensible, yet that useless Zhao Xin had to go and lose the seal. I need to enter the pce today and will most likely stay, so I don¡¯t have time to deal with it. Hurry back to the academy. Find out which mongrel stole the seal and butcher him!¡±

 Volume 12 19 Enforcing Justice

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 19 Enforcing Justice</h4>

    Some things in this world don¡¯t care for reason, such as a romantic meeting between a man and a woman or a breathtaking look at the person behind. Why is it that, even when you close your eyes, you somehow walk into someone¡¯s heart without your guard up? Your melodic voice is still imprinted deep in my mind, tormenting me.

    How was it reasonable to clock me awake when I slept in ss and make me copy ¡°Analects¡± a hundred times? It was inhumane. The sun had clocked off for the day, for crying out loud.

    ¡°Get on with it! Why do you have so much to say?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡±

    Because it was so peaceful around here, Uncle Huang¡¯s voice was extra loud to me. By the way, it was my fifth time in the principal¡¯s office today. ording to my ssmates, no student had ever surpassed that record for as long as Uncle Huang had been principal because he wasn¡¯t the type to have a second talk with a student; a second offence led to immediate expulsion.

    ¡°I would¡¯ve expelled you already if it wasn¡¯t His Majesty who sent you here. Look at what you wrote. What even did you write?¡± Uncle Huang rolled the sheet of paper into a ball to throw at my face. ¡°A noble man earns his knowledge¡­ Why did you continue it with ¡®in just and ethical ways¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s a noble gentleman who likes money.¡±

    ¡°This is so embarrassing that I can¡¯t even bring myself to show it to other teachers. You are toe here after sses every day. I shall personally tutor you.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± I set my brush down. ¡°It would be even better if you taught me your martial arts. One of my techniques is infused with some Confucian skills, but some of the variations feel off. What do you think of this move, ¡®Kunlun¡¯,?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite innovative. Your variation¡­ You learnt it from Feng Jie, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That I did.¡±

    ¡°While the discipline he learnt is an authentic Confucian mental cultivation discipline, Confucian martial arts¡¯ primary emphasis is on cultivating one¡¯s mind, an endeavour that never ceases. He left East China Sea too early. He would be at our forefront had he spent a few more years training instead of letting people criticize him in Luoyang. That technique of yours oozes his style, except the variation is excessively abrupt and sharp, which deviates from Confucian style. You need to read more and train your mind¡­ How did we start talking about martial arts? You little¡­ Don¡¯t change the topic. Get writing!¡±

    Damn, nearly seeded¡­

    ¡±His Majesty has summoned me, so I shall check your workter. Don¡¯t even think of sneaking off.¡±

    I pretended to keep writing until Uncle Huang was gone, after which I switched to origami.

    Elder Confucius, I do not have anything against writing ¡°Analects¡±. Most importantly, you do not like writing it, either. Else, you would not have verbally delivered it instead of writing it.

    Bored out of my skin, I took out the iron seal for decoration and began stamping it on the paper.

    The hell is engraved on this thing? Oh, isn¡¯t this script from the Warring States Period? Interesting. How do you pronounce these two characters again?

    ¡°Leader.¡±

    I squinted and, in a deep voice, remarked, ¡°He¡¯s finallye, has he?¡± There was no reason for me to be surprised Hong Jiu came to visit me. After all, I told him to bodyguard me.

    Hong Jiu stealthily dove through the window. Maybe jumping through the window despite the door being open fulfilled the desire to feel stealthy?

    ¡°Leader, I was held up by some weird stuff that I was hoping to ask you about. What are you writing? What the hell are these two characters?¡±

    ¡°I keep telling you to read more. You don¡¯t even recognize these two characters?¡± I hiked up and corner of my lips and pointed to two said characters. ¡°Dog house.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh, dog kennel.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Can¡¯t believe you even asked.¡± I shook my head in disillusionment.

    Hong Jiu flicked up a thumb. ¡°Your knowledge is boundless. You are a cultured man. That said, what did you write the two characters for?¡±

    ¡°To kill time and for self-improvement. Chicken coops, dog kennels and natural scenery is what we, as refined schrs, are drawn to. By the way, what were you saying?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. Leader, I need your insight on a bizarre case.¡± Hong Jiu provided to recount how someone lost their property, then med him for stealing, made him throw hands and then made him work his gums in court.

    I sternly replied, ¡°Second, you can¡¯t me everything on them. Think about it: anyone would panic if they lost their belongings, let alone getting assaulted after. Tell me what would transpire if we lost something on Mount Daluo.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d have to throw down to blow off some steam for sure.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. When there is a reasonable response, people¡¯s reactions will be the same. That¡¯s why you were even after you thrashed them. You should just consider the matter settled.¡±

    ¡°I wish I could respect you more, Leader. I must learn to have a heart as big as yours.¡±

    ¡°Stay humble. Stay low-key. Work hard. Your chance wille.¡±

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Also, what are we going to do about that hanging-upside-down-while-eating thing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll buy tickets to watch. We¡¯ll split the earnings three to seven. Easy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Have you looked into what I asked?¡±

    ¡°I have. Dark Wind Hall are currently growing the Western Regions¡¯ potatoes and getting by quite well thanks to it.¡±

    ¡°Tell them to save a few backs for me. And?¡±

    ¡°Right. After His Majesty announced you were official allying with the imperial court, all of the people you osted in the past are preparing to make moves.¡±

    I knew it. There was no way they¡¯d sit still when they had been searching for me all this time. I was in no shape to dine and dash, so¡­ I seriously contemted hiding out at Daren Academy until I had recovered.

    ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°As you predicted, the Seven Champion White Princes have dispatched delegates to the capital.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    We were still conversing when Miss Shi came in as if she just ran a marathon. ¡°Ming Feizhen! Come help!¡±

    Hong Jiu grouched, ¡°Miss, how can you address my brother by his name like that?¡±

    ¡°Stop it, Second. She¡¯s my ssmate. How can I help, Miss Shi?¡±

    Miss Shi¡¯s face was red, but the condescending aura she gave me was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Zhao Xin¡¯s clique came to our ss to start. They¡¯re iming we stole something from them and insist on fr-frisking us. Wu Dayong and the others stood up for us, and now they¡¯re fighting.¡±

    Oh, well, good luck with the fight, then.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°So? There¡¯s nothing illogical there.¡±

    Miss Shi stomped. ¡°It¡¯s not even a fight. They¡¯re just taking a beating!¡±

    Me: ¡°Oh, I get it now.¡±

    ¡°My dad told me you¡¯re great at fighting. Could you¡­e help?¡±

    ¡°I am obligated to.¡± I got up and rolled up the sheet of paper in my hand. ¡°What do we read and learn martial arts for? We study and train to enforce justice on behalf of heaven. We shall observe eight hundred deeds of justice. Let us forge forward. Lead the way.¡±

    Miss Shi cheerfully sprinted off. I stopped following two steps forward to turn back. ¡°Bloody hell, Second, hurry up. You want me to march to my own grave?!¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°A noble man earns his knowledge¡­¡± - Half way into what he was writing, Ming Feizhen switched to another phrase with a simr start, namely, ¡°A noble man earns his wealth in just and ethical ways.¡±

 Volume 12 20

    Volume 12 Chapter 20

    My male ssmates looked as though they had a botched makeup job. My female ssmates weretched onto each other and crying. An unbearably arrogant guy had He Shi pinned down while mercilessly hammering his broken leg.

    ¡°Zhao Yuejing?!¡± I eximed once I saw the face of the guy assaulting He Shi. ¡°What the hell is he doing here?¡±

    ¡°I literally just told you it was him. He¡¯s always been a bully. He was the one who imed to have lost something and insisted on searching our ssroom,¡± Miss Shi fumed.

    The only thing it looks like he¡¯s finding is trouble, though¡­ Those vicious attacks are something a man out for blood would dish out.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re tough because Lu Feiming didn¡¯t finish you? This is what you get for opposing me,¡± grouched Zhao Xin.

    Miss Wang Zi popped over to tell me, ¡°He Shi couldn¡¯t help hurling a few insults after witnessing the others take beatings, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Teacher¡¯s pet, everyone knows you¡¯re a lowly boot licker, yet you think you can act tough with me? Call him a ¡®dog¡¯ ten times, and I¡¯ll let you keep a leg.¡± He Shi¡¯s sweat had darkened his clothes, while his face was losing redness, yet he didn¡¯t make a sound, prompting Zhao Xin to bray, ¡°You going to say it or not?!¡±

    ¡°I will¡­¡± He Shi looked up. ¡°¡­ You¡¯re an inbred dog.¡±

    ¡°Eat this!¡± Zhao Xin stomped on He Shi¡¯s face. ¡°You think you¡¯re untouchable because the principal likes you, huh? He values your potential to pass the imperial exams, not you, you teacher¡¯s pet. All right, I¡¯ll leave your leg alone and take your hands, instead. I¡¯d like to see you pass the exams with your feet.¡± Zhao Xin lifted a foot up.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I called out.

    Zhao Xin looked over to me and eximed, ¡°For what?!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a fly!¡± I swung my hand in an arc from my side, pped Zhao Xin¡¯s cheek and continued over to the side, turning his head.

    Like a scripted scene, Zhao Xin spun one revolution and dropped onto the ground, and that was thest sound heard for a while.

    Zhao Xin spent a while on the ground in disbelief prior to crawling to his feet. ¡°Who¡­ hit me¡­?¡±

    Eyes on my hand, I mumbled, ¡°I missed?¡± I looked up at Zhao Xin¡¯s face and let another one rip.

    Zhao Xin didn¡¯t go down again, but his neck seemed stuck in the new position, and his lips were spastic. ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    I looked back to my hand. ¡°Damn, missed again.¡±

    Fool me once, shame on you. Shame me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, yeah right. I wasn¡¯t going to make the same mistake three times. I set my hand on Zhao Xin¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°What are you doing?! What are you doing?!¡± cried Zhao Xin.

    ¡°Hiya!¡±

    I aimed thirty-plus shots precisely at the ck dot on the left side of Zhao Xin¡¯s face, yet the fly didn¡¯t budge. I had picked up the flower vase by the side to smash it when he yelled, ¡°This is a mole!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner? What a waste of my energy.

    ¡°Are all of you dead? Help me out here!¡±

    The dunces Zhao Xin brought along finally reacted. ¡°Oh, right, right.¡±

    Perhaps their clumsiness was a product of their exasperation, but they released him all at the same time once they had pulled him over, dropping him onto the ground. Instead of taking it out on them, however, he turned to me and yelled, ¡°How dare you hit me? ¡­ How dare you, hmm? Hong Jiu!!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°You called?¡±

    ¡°Not you, Hong Jiu!¡±

    Wu Dayong scratched his head. ¡°What the hell is he on about? Zhou Teng, you following?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so hard to understand? You don¡¯t understand Mandarin? ¡®Hong jiu¡¯, red wine. Red wine is an alcoholic beverage in the Western Regions made from grape varieties. They¡¯re obviously talking about alcohol.¡±

    Everyone confused: ¡°Oooh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about this guy!¡± Zhao Xin pointed at me and eximed. ¡°You knocked me into the pond, stole from me and just assaulted me! This isn¡¯t over! Wait¡­ Give it back!¡±

    Oh, crud¡­ Isn¡¯t your father a general?! You¡¯re going to make a big fuss over three thousand taels?

    I was mid-rant in my head when someone burst onto the scene without a sound.

    ¡°Zhao Xin, is he the one you were talking about?¡±

    ¡°Master Qi? Why did you not help me if you were around?¡±

    ¡°Who do you think you are to order me around?¡± Master Qi demanded, ¡°Answer the question.¡±

    Zhao Xin went to smirk, only to give himself a sharp shot of pain. ¡°It¡¯s him! Kill him, Master Qi!¡±

    Master Qi cast his gaze up to me. ¡°This one should not be so impolite on our first meeting, but he is under orders, so he must make demands of you and¡­ bash you.¡±

    I shook my head in a condescending manner. ¡°You¡¯re a decent martial artist, but defeating me? You¡¯re too na?ve.¡±

    My ssmates¡¯ eyes brimmed with admiration for my heroism, skill and good looks.

    ¡°Oh, is that so? Let¡¯s put that assumption to the test, then!¡± Master Qi uncorked a straight palm toward me.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± I pivoted and ran like a bat out of hell. ¡°Second! Second! Help! Help!¡±

    As soon as we passed each other, Hong Jiu intercepted Master Qi¡¯s strike. Judging from the fact that they both went for each other¡¯s vitals, I supposed they had already exchanged blows once. Master Qi¡¯s entrance told me he was pretty good, but fighting on equal footing with Second wasn¡¯t something I imagined. When Master Qi suddenly whispered something, Second yelled, ¡°Not now!¡± His moment of distraction opened him up to Master Qi¡¯s hook kick.

    ¡°Second, what¡¯s your problem? Come on, man. Are you really going to lose?¡±

    ¡°Leader, there is a reason f-¡±

    ¡°Shut up. Let me.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, are you sure?¡± Switching a soft voice, Hong Jiu asked, ¡°You still want to fight when you can¡¯t use your skills?¡±

    ¡°Who said I¡¯m fighting?¡±

    ¡°Did you not just s-¡±

    ¡°I was saying I would teach you how to fight.¡± I pushed Hong Jiu back to the battlefield. ¡°I have to show him what I can do. He has no idea who Three-Eyed Horse Lord is. Second, follow my instructions.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Yesu Sir!¡± Hong Jiu promptly got into his stance.

    ¡°Deep inhtion first.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°And then st him with The Proud Dragon Repents!¡±

    ¡°Try this, ¡®The Proud Dragon Rep-, wait. Leader. I can¡¯t use palm skills, or I might reveal my identity. Besides, I haven¡¯t even mastered that technique.¡±

    He had a point. If his identity was exposed, I also needed to find a new hiding spot.

    ¡°All right. In that case, The Twin Dragons Fetch Water! Summer Flowing Fireflies! Full Speed Ahead! Now, Cyclical Wind st!¡±

    The two disengaged following a few exchanges, staying out of a de¡¯s reach. Hong Jiu bound forward again, forcing Master Qi to perform a clumsy evasion manoeuvre.

    You couldn¡¯t say Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t gifted when he could string together the trickybo I made up.

    ¡°And now the deciding exchange, Tai Chi Limitless Push.¡±

    Hong Jiu trapped using his left hand and locked using his right to push Master Qi¡¯s hands away.

    ¡°Finish with ¡®Tiger w Steals the Heart¡¯!¡±

    Hong Jiu seized Master Qi¡¯s chest with one hand and then stopped for some reason.

    A girl¡¯s squeal shut down Hong Jiu¡¯s mind, and, before he could rpose himself, he took a p flush on his cheek.

    Glossary

    Hong Jiu and red wine ¨C Same pronunciation.

    Three-Eyed Horse Lord ¨C A god in Chinese folklore and Taoist mythology.

 Volume 12 21

    Book 12: Chapter 21

    I had yet to rey what happened in my head when Master Qi had fled the scene. Next thing I knew, Zhao Xin and his goons had also taken off. Even my ssmates were left asking the same questions: Did Hong Jiu win or lose? Was Master Qi a man or a woman? My female ssmates warily watched Hong Jiu¡¯s hand. The hero who saved the day was an usation away from bing a molester. That was where my noble, skilled self came into the picture.

    I grabbed the hand Hong Jiu was staring at and locked up the man with an extra hand print on his cheek. In a loud voice, I said, ¡°Congrattions, Brother Hong Jiu. You have mastered ¡®Five Lakes Four Oceans Are Brothers, A Knockout-Sensational Face Mask¡¯. The inconceivably profound discipline is said to cause the face of whoever you p to erode in three days, rot by the fifth day and be acid within ten days. It is safe to assume we are now only waiting for news of a funeral from their family. I hope they make it in time to pre-order a casket, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen,¡± Zhou Teng quietly hollered.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t think you went too far?¡±

    ¡°Did I?¡±

    A few of my ssmates nodded in unison. He Shi couldn¡¯t even speak, yet he forced himself to choke out a bloody, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ That being the case, let me call them back, and you can sort them out on your own,¡± I replied.

    All those who were against me: ¡°You didn¡¯t go too far at all. We trust you!¡±

    Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng also dragged He Shi off so that he couldn¡¯t object.

    That¡¯s what I like to see. The less secrets of the martial world you know about, the safer you are.

    Based on Master Qi¡¯s squealing voice, she would¡¯ve only been, at max, neen years old. While Hong Jiu was holding back, no family name came to mind when I pondered which family could raise such apetent daughter. I took out my sparkling-clean-unblemished copy of Pink Reflection. Once every June and December, they released an updated version of the martial world¡¯s beauties, and this was thetest edition I just got my hands on. I¡¯ll have you know it cost me half of my monthly sry.

    Let¡¯s see¡­ Among ¡°Seven Ethereal Angels of Jade Capital¡± who¡¯ve shot to fame recently¡­ None of them fit the description. None of the ¡°Heavenly Angels¡±, ¡°Earth Angels¡± or ¡°Prodigious Angels¡± matches her, either. If I¡¯m judging based on her skill and physique, there are, at least, fifty suspects.

    ¡°Second, Second.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah?¡± stuttered Hong Jiu.

    ¡°Be honest: how did it feel?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hard.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Well, there goes half of them, then. I still can¡¯t think of anyone, though¡­

    Seeing all my ssmates staring at Hong Jiu, I questioned, ¡°What?¡±

    Wang Zi was the only one bold enough to speak up. ¡°Um¡­ Who is this? He¡¯s strong.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Brother Hong here is the new cleaner around here. He knows a little bit of martial arts, so you can seek his advice if you ever want some fitness or self-defence advice.¡±

    The fiasco that took ce moments ago evaporated into nothingness as Hong Jiu stole their attention.

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Brother Hong, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    Hong Jiu had yet to return to us, so I had to answer in his ce. ¡°His name is, uh¡­ Hong Lyushan.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± My female ssmates freaked out again.

    Zhou Teng: ¡°How did you two get acquainted?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my distant rtive¡¯s third uncle¡¯s second nephew¡¯s ninth uncle¡¯s childhood friend who lived on the same street.¡±

    ¡°Brother Hong, may I ask what sect you are from?¡±

    ¡°Brother Lyushan is tuckered out for today, so I shall see him back. Catch you all tomorrow. It was nice to meet you all. See you, see you.¡± I had to escort Hong Jiu back to Liu Shan Men.

    That was a close one. My ssmates were far too fervent, which made them hard to deal with sometimes. I had to spend the rest of the day thinking about what to tell them tomorrow.

    Why does it feel like I forgot something? Eh, whatever. Can¡¯t be important if I forgot about it.

    ***

    I was so exhausted after the long and eventful day that I took a rest, had dinner and bathed for an hour after I returned. Subsequently, it was time for my routine meeting with Boss in her room.

    ¡°Huh, didn¡¯t see thating.¡± I bobbed my head as I continued, ¡°Losing something as important as Yongheng Bank or whatchamacallit¡¯s passed-down item is embarrassing.¡±

    ¡°Well, Uncle lost the imperial seal when he was young, resulting in Her Majesty Empress Dowager chewing him out.¡± Boss had herb in one hand whilst using her fist to rest her chin on. Most importantly, she only wore oneyer of clothing. ¡°Of the seven cases I tackled today, this is the only case I haven¡¯t cracked. Feizhen, help me out. Where do you think it could¡¯ve gone?¡±

    ¡±I¡¯d hazard Zhao Xin stole it; he doesn¡¯t look like a good guy to me. That said, given theplexworks in Daren Academy, I¡¯d assume he¡¯s working for someone. He alone doesn¡¯t have what it takes to steal it.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Nice.¡± Boss scrubbed my head with joy.

    ¡°Ehehe.¡±

    Wait, something is off¡­ Aren¡¯t Boss and I a little too close recently?

    Reflecting on it, it dawned on me that I entered Boss¡¯ room after washing up, and she greeted me from her makeup table as though they were totally natural behaviours to us.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you stop?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡± I resumed massaging Boss¡¯ shoulders whilst musing.

    ¡°The imperial court is gradually increasing the volume of jobs delegated to Liu Shan Men, which means more eyes than ever are on us. The moment we trip, someone is going to leverage our mistake to make a case against us. I can¡¯t stop for Yongheng Bank. Luckily, you¡¯re at Daren Academy, so I¡¯ll leave the case, and He Shi¡¯s assault case, in your hands.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve ordered Yan Ling and Xiao Han to attend sses with you so that they have more room to investigate the case. I want you to back them up.¡±

    Say what?! They¡¯re attending Daren Academy? I have a bad feeling about this¡­

    ***

    And¡­ my ssmates brimmed with curiosity towards our two new handsome (one handsome and one beautiful?) ssmates, as expected.

    ¡°This is¡­ my henchman and my, uh¡­ maid.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao stretched his eyes as wide as they would go. ¡°I¡¯m your brother!¡±

    My ssmates: ¡°Really?!¡±

    My ssmates scanned Tang Ye as if he was some rare species. Tang Ye, in turn, spent a long time in silence before he finally stated, ¡°100% man,¡± disappointing everyone.

    Wu Dayong informed, ¡°Ming Feizhen, the teacher called for you.¡±

    We haven¡¯t even started sses. What does he want to see me for? Oh, he must want to show appreciation for my brave rescue yesterday.

    Really, they were all too kind. I performed good deeds three to four hundred times a day. I mean, I definitely needed the rewards, but I didn¡¯t need them so soon. Hohoho, the life of a hero is not easy, young one.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing worth mentioning, hahaha.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°It¡¯s nothing worth mentioning? Man, you have a fan in me.¡±

    ¡°Too kind. Too kind. Who¡¯s the teacher?¡±

    ¡°The principal. He said he¡¯d skin you today for standing him up yesterday. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still so calm. You really are a different breed. Hey, slow down. He¡¯s at the pavilion in the centre of the pond, not his room¡­ I thought he didn¡¯t care. He has faster feet than hares.¡±

    Glossary

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s monthly sry ¨C The sry he refers to when speaking about the cost of Pink Reflection is his constable sry, not his earnings as a duke. There are different terms for sries in old times, and this is an example of one such sry.

    Jade Capital ¨C What daoists refer to the Jade Emperor¡¯s residence as.

    Hong Lyushan ¨C I¡¯m not sure if this is going to be a joke reference or not, particrly since Ming Feizhen made a point to say ¡°Brother Lyushan¡±, so I¡¯ll put it here in case. ¡°Lyushan¡± literally means ¡°Green mountain(s)¡±.

 Volume 12 22

    Book 12: Chapter 22

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Master Qi jolted out of her thoughts, a clear indication that she never noticed Li Muye approach, and torqued around as though she was going to tear an assant¡¯s head off, startling Li Muye. ¡°Your Highness¡­ I-I am fine.¡±

    Tapping his chest, Li Muye rhetorically questioned, ¡°You¡¯re fine? I called you three times, but you didn¡¯t hear me. You¡¯re fine?¡±

    Master Qi poked her tongue out.

    Li Muye, unaware of his first meeting with death, shook his head. ¡°I heard you found the thief, so why didn¡¯t you bring it back yesterday?¡±

    On ount of their rank, Northern Wondrous Warrior¡¯s n implemented the ¡°Prince Faction¡±, as well. Master Qi was one of the n¡¯s selected adepts for her extraordinary skill in her age bracket. As a matter of fact, she defeated the long-missing-in-action ranked Cloud Combing Wind Hairpin Hero. If her gender wasn¡¯t a secret, not only would she be on Seventeen Hidden Wyrms¡¯ rankings but also on Martial Angels¡¯ rankings. Therefore, Li Muye was confident in her strength.

    ¡°The enemy¡­ is cunning, unyielding, despicable, ah, sorry, I meant he is very bad¡­ despite his honest appearance¡­¡±

    Li Muye felt frustrated as it felt his judgement of her was wrong. ¡°What is with your stammering and stuttering? And why are you wearing a mask at home?¡± He reached for Master Qi¡¯s mask.

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    Master Qi was too slow in stopping Li Muye from removing the white male mask. Anyone who saw her face in that moment would understand why her family insisted she wore a mask while living in the pugilistic world ¨C she wouldn¡¯t even be scary when she was scowling.

    ¡°Why is your face so red?¡±

    ¡°R-red? Is it? N-no it isn¡¯t. H-he angered me!¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ he¡¯s tough?¡±

    ¡°Touch? Yes, the next time I see him, I¡¯ll make sure he can never touch again!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Li Muye¡¯s first time seeing Master Qi¡¯s childish side. Howbeit, she was usually mature.

    Realising her loss ofposure, Master Qi sped her hands and, in a soft voice, exined, ¡°I ran into a bit of a problem in my training.¡±

    Li Muye¡¯s face muscles finally rxed. ¡°I see. It¡¯s easy to make mistakes when learning a discipline as advanced as yours. Seeing as you¡¯re not in the best shape, I¡¯ll assign the task to someone else. The iron seal is the cornerstone of the n. Since Mother won¡¯t finance me, I have no choice but to finance myself.¡±

    ¡°Use me as you see fit. Although¡­ I have a bit of a problem, it is not a reason to impact your goal.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough for me. Friends aren¡¯t supposed to be petty with each other.¡± Li Muye stopped to think for a bit. ¡°Send Luanshi Chuankong. We need someone ruthless for an easy sess.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s overkill, don¡¯t you think? You spent ten thousand taels to hire him, yet you¡¯re sending him after a student?¡±

    ¡°Do I have a choice? Liu Shan Men has gotten involved. Without the seal, there¡¯s no money.¡± Li Muye peered into the heavens. ¡°The Seven Champion White Princes will make big moves soon. I need to get ahead.¡±

    ¡°I remember you said they¡¯d definitely oppose the imperial court. Do you think there will be war?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know. They¡¯ll decide whether they want war or peace within the next few days. Either way, the way they spread their power will change drastically henceforth. Whoever is first will get the biggest piece of the cake. Whoever fights with me for my iron seal must go. By the way, what did you say his name was?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Xin says his name is Hong Jiu, but I heard others refer to him as Feizhen.¡±

    ***

    ¡°What are you looking at?! Never seen someone forced to stand as punishment?! Go back to ss to repay the country, or I¡¯ll report you for not paying your taxes!¡± That was the twenty-ninth time I had to shoo off a student for stopping to check out the ¡®I will not stand up Principal Huang again¡¯ sign I had hanging off my neck.

    Uncle Huang was too much. All I did was forget the homework he left for me and made him stay at school overnight to wait for me, big deal. By my rights of the constitution, the punishment was inhumane. Well, I guess not having to take the daily test wasn¡¯t too bad, though.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Hello, Professor Xie.¡±

    ¡°This is today¡¯s test paper. Don¡¯t forget toplete it while you¡¯re standing here. I¡¯lle collect it off youter.¡±

    ¡­ This is inhumane!

    ¡°Here you are.¡±

    I looked up to see the legendary He Shi in three times more bandages than the first time I met him. ¡°Model Student, why aren¡¯t you attending ss? Wagging sses?¡±

    ¡°Professor Xie allowed me some extra time off due to my injuries.¡± He Shi sat down beside me.

    Oi, oi, I know your leg is broken, but it doesn¡¯t have to start acting up when you¡¯re around me, specifically, does it?N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Following a long silence between us, He Shi voiced, ¡°¡­ Li Muye was the one who ordered his people to break my leg.¡±

    I never asked! You prideful people are so tiring to handle. You feel uneasy if you don¡¯t repay someone for helping you, but you¡¯re too prideful to just express your gratitude despite having principles and being a nice guy deep down! I¡¯m past the age of trying to socialise with your kind!

    ¡°My opinion shed with his, which displeased him. Though it wasn¡¯t anything major, he holds the belief that, once I am assigned an official post, I will cause His Highness Blue Prince trouble, so he decided to strike pre-emptively. However, he didn¡¯t expect Lu Feiming to be such a coward and kill someone here or for news of it to reach His Majesty.¡±

    You sure know a lot.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re looking into the case. Li Muye will get off scot-free because His Majesty will protect him. Just tell them I was unlucky and tripped while walking.¡±

    ¡°Really? It won¡¯t even be considered a workce injury.¡±

    ¡°You saved me once; I owe it to you. Besides, you can¡¯t help me, can you?¡±

    Aren¡¯t you the nice guy? I knew you were the prideful type.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    I cast my gaze in the direction of the foreign voice. He was a burly man armed to the teeth smiling at us.

    ¡°Which one of you is Feizhen?¡±

    Glossary

    Tough and touch ¨C This is a rewritten joke. The characters the author chose for ¡°tough¡± include the character for ¡°hand¡±. Hearing ¡°hand¡±, Master Qi responds, ¡°Hand? Yes, I¡¯ll make sure to chop his hand off the next time I see him.¡± In my opinion, using broken English to keep the joke isn¡¯t a wise choice in this scenario, so I sacrificed the joke.

 Volume 12 23

    <h4>Book 12: Chapter 23</h4>

    ¡°Which one of you is Feizhen?¡±

    He Shi instantly replied, ¡°There¡¯s nobody by the name of Feizhen here.¡±

    He Shi was fast, but I was even faster. I had my finger pointed at him as I answered, ¡°Him!¡±

    He Shi looked up at me absolutely confused.

    ¡°Sorry, I reacted out of habit.¡± I turned back to the big guy. ¡°Neither of us are.¡±

    ¡°You expect me to still believe you?¡± The burly guy started sprinting toward us, I mean, He Shi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not me! It¡¯s him! It¡¯s him!¡± cried He Shi.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m stupid? Hand it over!¡±

    As the man reached for He Shi, I pulled He Shi out in the opposite direction, then backed off.

    ¡°Oh? You could dodge that? Not bad. Who are you?¡±

    I red back. ¡°Hong! Jiu!¡±

    ¡°Never heard of you. I¡¯m after Feizhen; don¡¯t get in my way. I don¡¯t know you, and my eighteen arms certainly don¡¯t know you, either.¡± He deliberately rattled the eight weapons he carried. Even if he didn¡¯t have all eighteen arms, he still had an enormous advantage over us.

    I shouted, ¡°How dare you threaten us? Outsiders are prohibited from entering Daren Academy. I¡¯ll have you know there are elite guards everywhere here. I guarantee you¡¯ll be on your back in less than ten sentences, ced on a wooden board and dragged out like two dogs. I suggest you run along now if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡±

    ¡°No reason for me to be afraid, then. I¡¯m your senior.¡±

    ¡°Get out of here with that bs. With your appearance, you could convince me you graduated from here twenty years ago.¡±

    ¡°What was that?!¡±

    I ran the opposite way, dragging He Shi along.

    ¡°Leg! Leg! My leg!¡±

    Hell as if I understood what He Shi was crying about. I didn¡¯t even know where I was going. Anyhow, after making a couple of random turns, I finally shook off the hostile guy.

    By the time we came to a stop, He Shi resembled someone suffering a severe bout of sea sickness.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I mocked, ¡°You¡¯re weak as, man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m weak? My leg is broken!¡±

    ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I pulled you along, man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful for that, but¡­ don¡¯t pull me by my leg!¡±

    Oops, may bad, was in a rush.

    Since we had some time to catch our breath, I decided to inquire about the big guy.

    ¡°His name is Shi Ganxian, also known by his nickname ¡®Airsmasher Rock st¡¯. He¡¯s supposedly quite the famous martial artist in the capital¡¯s martial artsmunity.¡±

    ¡°You make it almost sound like there are only a few famous martial artists in the capital. If you ask me, several of the guards here could whoop him.¡±

    ¡°Except they wouldn¡¯t apprehend him because he really is an erstwhile student here.¡±

    Say what?! Is Uncle Huang blind?! The guy should¡¯ve graduated decades ago!

    ¡°He¡¯s not someone you want to make an enemy out of. Did you know his grandfather used to sweep His Majesty¡¯s grandpa¡¯s garden? His Majesty¡¯s grandpa decreed that Shi Family would have the privilege of sweeping Daren Acadeny for every generation. They basically will never be unemployed. His descendants attended school at Daren Academy. Shi Ganxian can hold his own in a fight and can¡¯t be fired. Li Muye values him for those reasons, so he recruited him. All that said, I have no clue why he is after you all of a sudden.¡±

    Don¡¯t look at me like I should know why. I don¡¯t know the reason, either. What the hell is his deal? I¡¯ve only been attending sses here for two days, and he already wants to smash my face in?

    I had lost my fighting abilities, but my hearing capacity still far exceeded the average man. Hence, I could hear Shi Ganxian quickly closing the gap between us. If I forced He Shi to run again with his new injuries, he might never walk alone.

    ¡°No choice but to do it. Bear with it,¡± I instructed.

    ¡°Huh? Wh-what now? I¡¯ll scream! Hey! What are you picking me up f-¡±

    I didn¡¯t hear the rest of what He Shi said since I had thrown him over to the other side of the wall and dusted my hands. I spun around to the approaching big man and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Because He Shi managed to slip away, Shi Ganxian lost it. ¡°My fists are itchy now. I need some therapy. Where did you hide Feizhen?¡±

    I clearly remember him demanding He Shi hand something over, but that was because he mistook He Shi for me¡­ So I¡¯m the actual person they want something from? What the hell?

    ¡°If it¡¯s in my possession, will you cool down? I¡¯ll let you beat me until you¡¯re satisfied.¡±

    Aware that I was buying time, he sneered. ¡°Sure.¡±

    About an hourter¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao rushed to my side and made a big fuss because my face was an assortment of colours. ¡°Who hit you?!¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s no big deal. Don¡¯t make a big deal out of it. I got this.¡±

    While I did say he could hit me, I didn¡¯t expect him to really ept the offer ¨C and hit so ruthlessly. Of all ces he chose to hit, he kept aiming for my handsome face.

    ¡°I can¡¯t just let this go! Who hit you? I¡¯ll reason with him. Why did he hit so hard? Does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. Xiao, don¡¯t go. Real men take losses on the chin. Only dishonourable men go calling for backup to get revenge. Besides, this is nothing. I could handle eight hundred cases. Light work. By the way, I¡¯m telling you: I could just chill here for a while, and these injuries will automatically heal.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, as if.¡±

    ¡°As if? Then go get me some ointment! It flipping hurts like hell!¡±

    Su Xiao soon came back to apply some ointment to my wounds.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Tang Ye?¡±

    ¡°Working. He¡¯s questioning the students one by one at the moment. He¡¯s waiting in between each student in case he¡¯s suspected.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Any leads?¡±

    Su Xiao just started shaking his head when Wu Dayong came in to inform, ¡°Uh¡­ Feizhen, the principal summoned you again.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ***

    ¡°What are you looking at?! Never seen a bruised face before?!¡± I had lost count of how many times I repeated the phrase whilst standing outside Uncle Huang¡¯s office with a ¡°I won¡¯t fight with ssmates¡± sign hanging from my neck.

    How should I have known epiphyllum on the wall was Uncle Huang¡¯s? Plus, I only threw He Shi over the wall to save him!

    I rubbed my face. Despite it taking longer than usual, my face no longer ached. As long as I had a bit more time, I¡¯d be as good as new. The real concern was that things were starting to go out of my control.

    ording to my calctions, I needed two more months before I could fight again ¨C provided I didn¡¯t carelessly utilise true qi. I expected it to be difficult to live a few months without a hitch; however, I didn¡¯t expect a barrier to recovery so soon. Thest thing I ever expected was that I¡¯d be a victim of school bullying¡­

    Before the burly guy left, he said to me, ¡°Every time I run into you, I¡¯ll beat you,¡± and even spat!

    Every dog will have its day.

    ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Constable Ming.¡±

    I looked away.

    ¡°You can stop pretending. Even though you look a little different, we have a portrait. We have the right person.¡±

    I turned back to face the three. I couldn¡¯t tell what rank they held based on their uniforms, but there was no mistake they were officials. Their squinting leader was the sort of person you instinctively felt a need to close yourself off from, lest he read you.

    ¡°We¡¯re from the Ministry of Personnel. We¡¯re in charge of your case. Pleasee with us.¡±

    ¡°My case? What case?¡±

    Their leader lifted up a corner of his lips. ¡°Someone has reported you.¡±

 Volume 12 24

    <h4>Book 12: Chapter 24</h4>

    ¡°Ah, so you work at His Highness Green Prince¡¯s ce. Perhaps we have met before.¡±

    Mo Changzai, the official who brought me in for questioning, was a student of Secretary Zhang who primarily overlooking those involved in civil servant examinations. Initially, he looked dangerous. Once I got to know him, however, I found out he was actually quite nice. His elder brother was a record keeper at Green Prince¡¯s ce. Since I just returned from Nanjiang, we talked about it quite a bit.

    ¡°Sir, you said there was an investigation you need to consult me on. Why are you bringing me back to Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Mo Changzai smiled. ¡°We are conducting the investigation here at Liu Shan Men. Plus, the person who reported you is inside.¡±

    ¡°Mm? Someone from Liu Shan Men reported me? Who the flip was it?!¡±

    ¡°Me.¡±

    Upon entering, I came across a guy and a girl, I mean flower boy. ¡°You?¡±

    The confident, rxed, refined gentleman with three strands for a beard expressed to the three officials, ¡°Song Ou is honoured to meet you.¡± Smirking, he then jibed, ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Duke Ming. Are you not supposed to be standing at Daren Academy as punishment? Where did you find the time toe here for a stroll?¡±

    ¡°How you doing, Brother B*****d?¡± I responded.

    ¡°What did you just call me?! See? He has no respect for rules in anything he does. You can see how ridiculously he¡¯d conduct himself. My report is not groundless.¡±

    Ah, so it was you who reported me. All right.

    When he made eye contact with me, Shen Kuang¡¯s eyes went back and forth between his two sides as he timidly said, ¡°Brother-in-Law stated you disregard him, always try to steal the limelight and, most importantly,¡± softening his voice, he finished, ¡°you always hang around my sister.¡±

    Me: ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    I don¡¯t see the problem?

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Mo Changzai opened a small booklet. ¡°You have used Ming Feizhen of coveting credit, harassing colleagues, owing the country a financial debt, undermining superiors, mistreating subordinates, flirting with your fianc¨¦e and¡­ personal misconduct, correct?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, correct!¡± replied Song Ou.

    Mo Changzai nodded whilst muttering to himself. Based on my own lip-reading experience, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d even use this as an usation, shameless joke.¡± Instead of minding Mo Changzai, Song Ou red daggers at me. By this point, I realised Song Ou reported me out of jealousy.

    Some people have too much time on their hands!

    ¡°Bye.¡± I headed toward the exit.

    ¡°Have I given you permission to leave?¡± Song Ou extended a hand to stop me.

    ¡°Second!¡±

    Hong Jiu descended from heaven,nding anterior to me and got into the pose Song Ou tried to get into faster than Song Ou could. Needless to say, Song Ou recoiled right away because he knew Hong Jiu could starch him.

    ¡°Unbelievable. Anyone who gets in my way will stand for a day.¡± I continued walking off.

    ¡°¡­ Where are you going?! Where are you going?!¡± Song Ou seized my sleeve. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere until this is settled.¡±

    I yanked my sleeve free. ¡°Song Dng, don¡¯t start taking yards just because I give you an inch!¡±

    ¡°Ming Menqing, you think justice is just a word?! I will make sure you pay today!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Biscuit Peddler, take a look at your own reflection. You¡¯re not half the man Duke Ming is.¡±

    Shen Kuang: ¡°Please stop. You three are tarnishing our reputation. You havepletely veered off topic, not to mention the three honourable investigators are still present.¡±

    ¡°As you can see, he thinks he presides over this office when I am his superior.¡±

    ¡°Your logic is wed,¡± asserted Mo Changzai, hand raised as a signal for Song Ou to cease. ¡°In addition to his role as head constable of Liu Shan Men, His Majesty personally appointed him Hanlin Academician. While he has yet to assume the post, His Majesty¡¯s decree is not forged. Thus, his superior is His Majesty. Therefore, your logic is¡­ hehe.¡±

    Song Ou instinctively touched his neck.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I remembered Secretary Zhang of the Ministry of Personnel never liked Liu Shan Men, or any of the threew enforcement officers that oversaw the martial world for that matter. As Tang Ye was forced to be a student of the department, he¡¯d asionally bring information back for us. If my memory served, they were nning tounch something big with the aim of weakening or removing the three offices.

    As a notorious hater of martial artists, it shouldn¡¯t be any surprise for Secretary Zhang students to inherit his perspective. Even though Song Ou and I were both members of Liu Shan Men, the Ministry of Personnel saw me as a student of Daren Academy, so they probably favoured me over Song Ou.

    Mo Changzai closed the gap between me and him to whisper, ¡°My brother will assume a post at Nieyao next year. Please take care of him.¡±

    I responded with the smile of a cunning conspirator, and Mo Changzai responded with a friendly ¡°You get it¡± smile. See? Pure, noble friendship existed in the political arena.

    Song Ou would be stamping his feet if he didn¡¯t look bad doing so. ¡°Sir, are you going to investigate this report or not?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, I will get on with it right now. These transgressions could be minor or severe. Captain Song, can you supply evidence?¡±

    ¡°Evidence? Of course.¡± Song Ou sneered at me whilst smugly waving a stack of papers in my face. ¡°Have a read yourself.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± I snatched the papers over to read through. ¡°Let¡¯s see what this nonsense is? Eh, no biggie. The handwriting is decent, and that¡¯s it. Second, check it out.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Yeah, there really isn¡¯t anything special. Young Master Kuang, take a look.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, eh? Eh?¡±

    ¡°G-give it back!¡± Song Ou snatched the stack back as though it was a treasure and even huffed a breath onto it. ¡°Always doing inane things. Sir, here you are. I asked a colleague from the Qilin Guards to investigate and report in detail.¡±

    No wonder why the handwriting looked familiar! I¡¯ll be paying you a visit soon, Long Zaitian!

    ¡°You¡¯re finished this time.¡± Song Ou nced at me out of his peripherals. ¡°I¡¯m going to make you pay.¡± He then turned back to Mo Changzai. ¡°What do you think, Sir?¡±

    ¡°Of what?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    Mo Changzai alternated between looking down and then looking up perplexed at Song Ou. ¡°Why did you give me ¡®Analects¡¯?¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Ah?¡±

    Glossary

    Booklet ¨C For rity purposes, just know that, unless stated others, we¡¯re talking about the one in ordion form. If you don¡¯t know what that looks like, it¡¯s this: http://p3.pstatprge/113e100041cd630ef9

    Song Dng and Ming Menqing ¨C We¡¯re going back to ¡°Water Margin¡± jokes, Song Dng is a y on Wu Dng, who was killed after getting the green-hat treatment. Ming Menqing is a y on Xi Menqing, who¡¯s a shameless, lecherous local bully, though he also had excellent business acumen.

    Hanlin Academician ¨C Hanlin Academician, a member of the Tang-Song Institute of Academicians. The title originated in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong as a duty assignment (drafting, editing,piling, etc.) for officials holding substantive posts elsewhere in the central government. In Song, it became a substantive post, rank 3a; 3a in Chin; 3a then 2b, after 1318 2a in Yuan; 3a then 3b, but generally 5a in Ming; 2a in Qings; in Qing one each Chinese and Manchu appointee.

 Volume 12 25

    <h4>Volume 12 Chapter 24</h4>

    Mo Changzai snickered. ¡°Captain Song, you do not intend to shame him to death with Confucius¡¯ wisdom, do you? The handwriting is certainly praiseworthy.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Analects¡¯?! Impossible!¡± Song Ou snatched over the stack of paper to read, then read and then read again. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Analects¡¯?! It¡¯s ¡®Analects¡¯! How¡­¡± He scrutinised the handwriting again, then turned to me. ¡°Ming Feizhen, you scum! How dare you pull this sort of shameful trick in front of them?!¡±

    Oh, and asking your boy to investigate me isn¡¯t shameful?! I have yet to settle the score with you for reporting me! What if someone random hacks me while I¡¯m outside of the academy?! You know how many people I have grudges with?! The whole pugilistic world is my enemy! The whole damn pugilistic world! Uncle Huang is also definitely searching for me right n-, ah, crap, I just stood him up again! I was supposed to copy ¡°Analects¡± two hundred times, but you had to drag me out! I¡¯m happy to skip ss, but I can¡¯t exin myself now, you crook!

    ¡°Sir, this is not the evidence I spoke of. Ming Feizhen, look at this character.¡±

    I stole a gander. ¡°Done.¡±

    ¡°This is your handwriting.¡± Song Ou sneered. ¡°I have a document you wrote sitting on my table. If you want to deny this is your handwriting, I¡¯ll bring it out right now to juxtapose.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this is my handwriting.¡±

    ¡°You heard him, Sir.¡±

    The three confused officers nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, we did.¡±

    ¡°You all understand what this proves, right?¡±

    The three confused officers: ¡°What does it prove?¡±

    ¡°How are you still confused? Look, this stack of papers is not mine; it belongs to Ming Feizhen. Is the writing not on the wall?¡±

    The three officers shook their head.

    Me: ¡°It is. It¡¯s written in big font.¡±

    Song Ou brightened up. ¡°Exactly!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a clear-cut case of theft.¡± I shook my head as though I was preparing to express regret. ¡°Everyone was getting along perfectly fine. Why would you steal my work?¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°?¡±

    The three officers. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, don¡¯t you frame me. Who¡¯d want this rubbish? Even a dog wouldn¡¯t want it!¡±

    ¡°Mind what you say now! These are Confucius¡¯ wise and meaningful teachings. This is the task Daren Academy¡¯s Principal Huang tasked me with; he¡¯s always breathing down my neck for it. Are you suggesting Principal Huang is worthlesspared to a dog?¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t you warp my words to fit your narrative! I never said Principal Huang is worthlesspared to a dog.¡±

    ¡°So, Confucius is worthlesspared to a dog?¡±

    ¡°I never said that, either.¡±

    ¡°Who were you talking about, then?¡±

    Song Ou, unable to express himself freely since the three officers were present, cleared his throat but was unable to hide his red face. ¡°I-I was showing modesty.¡± Song Ou scrunched up the stack in his vice-like grip. ¡°All that said, I¡¯m certain you¡¯re hiding the evidence on you! Hand it over!¡±

    I let Song Ou frisk me, but he couldn¡¯t find anything.

    ¡°It must be on your junior!¡± Song Ou tried to hound Hong Jiu, only to eat a p that sent him back to where he started.

    ¡°I¡¯m not your underling,¡± Hong Jiu asserted. ¡°What gives you the right to frisk me?¡±

    Hong Jiu was right. Moreover, where could he have hidden a stack of papers when he was dressed as a beggar, which left¡­ only Shen Kuang.

    Song Ou¡¯s gaze on Shen Kuang made thetter retreat two steps. ¡°Kuang¡­ let me¡­¡±

    Me: ¡°Let me do this.¡±

    Song Ou covered his eyes whilst screaming because I poked him in the eyes.

    I couldn¡¯t put my finger on the reason. Howbeit, it ticked me off to have someone gawking at Shen Kuang, so I couldn¡¯t hold myself back from eye poking Song Ou.

    The three amused officers shook their head. ¡°Seeing as there is an absence of evidence, let us dismiss this matter here. Captain Song can visit us again once he has new evidence. Our doors are always open to you.¡±

    I expressed, ¡°Allow me to see you three to the door.¡±

    Song Ou cried, ¡°Please wait! Ah! My eye¡­¡±

    I was going to turn and holler at Hong Jiu to escort me back to Daren Academy when I heard, ¡°You think you can go back into hiding?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I cast my gaze over to see Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming with their fierce cronies.

    ¡°Finally found you. Ming Feizhen, you had me good. You imed to be Hong Jiu, causing my men to suffer a beating. I can forgive that, but I can never forgive you hitting me!¡±

    ¡°Do something about it.¡± I pped Zhao Xin on the spot.

    Zhao Xin fossilised for a while before burying his head behind Lu Feiming and, in a stifled voice, choked out, ¡°How dare he hit me?! What gives him the right to hit me?!¡± and then he started crying whilst hammering Lu Feiming¡¯s back.

    Lu Feiming: ¡°You steal and then hit someone for demanding their belonging back? What books do you read?!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I certainly didn¡¯t see that questioning. ¡°When did I ever take anything from him?¡±

    ¡°That morning! The morning you knocked me into the pond!¡± Zhao Xin brayed as tears flowed. He pointed at my face and cried, ¡°Can you swear on your life you¡¯re innocent?!¡±

    I pped my eyes. ¡°Okay, I admit to it, but I didn¡¯t take much.¡±

    ¡°Not much?¡±

    ¡°Okay, maybe it was a lot. Still, you are Young Master Zhao. It¡¯s peanuts to you, yet you¡¯re going to heckle me for it? I took a drop in your bucket, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Lost, Lu Feiming turned back to Zhao Xin. ¡°Your family is that r-, whoa¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s talking out of his rear! My father serves in the military. What opportunities exist in these times of peace?¡±

    ¡°We all know the truth deep down. With that said, I¡¯m not entertaining you today. Remember to scrub the floor on your way out. Nobody wants your tears and snot.¡± I spun around, only to see Song Ou sprinting toward me.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, give it back!¡± demanded Song Ou.

    Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming also sprinted at me. ¡°Give our stuff back!¡±

    Since it¡¯d be a waste to not y along when they were in synchrony, I took a small step to the left. As a result, they crashed into each other. My onlyint was that my work in Song Ou¡¯s hand went flying into the air!

    Ah, whatever. I¡¯ll definitely have to copy it a few hundred times once I return. Only a different number in front of two zeros.

    Upon getting to their feet, Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming yelled at Song Ou, ¡°How dare you bump into us?! You not bring your eyes with you?!¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you two uncultured swine?! I¡¯m going to teach you two what the ¡®Liu¡¯ in Liu Shan Men is!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t give a toss what you want. Just you try touching me. The military offices will immediately m-, eh, what¡¯s this?¡± Zhao Xin picked up a sheet of paper from the ground. ¡°Wait. What is this?!¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Yeah, what is it?¡±

    Shen Kuang took a nce at the sheet. ¡°I recognise it because my sister has been investigating Yongheng Bank¡¯s missing seal. It¡¯s the seal in question.¡±

    Zhao Xin and Song Ou looked up each other, then squinted.

    Zhao Xin: ¡°¡­ So you¡¯re the thief! Brothers, get him!¡±

    The group of youths rushed toward Song Ou.

    Hmm¡­ I stamped that for sure. Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal? That can¡¯t be right. The characters I stamped were¡­ I pocketed a seal after bumping into Zhao Xin. They then demanded something from me¡­ If I link up everything that happened with Second¡¯s encounters, it all clicks.

    I bobbed my head, then sneaked off, leaving Song Ou behind.

 Volume 12 26

    <h4>Book 12: Chapter 26</h4>

    Life at Daren Academy didn¡¯t slow down during Ming Feizhen¡¯s absence thanks to the two neers ¨C Su Xiao and Tang Ye. Compared to Ming Feizhen, who was old enough to be a professor, the students gravitated toward Su Xiao and Tang Ye because the two were closer in age to them despite them not being students. Because investigating the case required them to move about, the two befriended students from other sses, too.

    As the scion of a reputable n, Tang Ye was raised and educated to inherit the family business. Hence, he had learnt to be a student. The events in Huzhou further modified his personality. The new Tang Ye could be described as the manifestation the final line of Bai Juyi¡¯s poem ¡°The Evesting Regret¡±, which read, ¡°The boundless sky and endless earth may pass away, but this unfulfilled vow with be regretted for aye.¡±

    Tang Ye set his lute straight and gave his audience a deep bow in exchange for a sonorous apuse. The students who considered themselves excellent at music couldn¡¯t imagine themselves exhibiting the finesse Tang Ye showed with his fingers on the lute.

    Once the pping ceased, Tang Ye announced, ¡°Next, I shall perform spinning a top.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tang Ye stopped training round the clock in Nanjiang as he once did. As a matter of fact, he didn¡¯t even have a light training session. How else would he have had the time to pick up so many instruments and misceneous skills? The only times he let his hands go were group training sessions or when he had to get physical on the job. With his masculine appearance, taciturn personality and plethora of skills, he became a hit with male and female students alike.

    ¡°Stop, stop clinging to me! Why do you insist no following me around?¡± Su Xiao grouched.

    ¡°We¡¯re ssmates, aren¡¯t we? Tell me which ssroom is yours, please?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t go. Take your time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going too fast. I can¡¯t keep up. Wait up.¡±

    ¡°Why do you need to know which ssroom is mine?! As well, I¡¯m not a student!¡± eximed Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao only had his adorableness to me. While in Nanjiang, he contemted how to increase his utility beyond acting as everyone¡¯s mascot. After all, he didn¡¯t want to be a neer forever. The conclusion he came to was wearing an ear clipping because piercing his ear would hurt too much. Hanging from his left ear was a string of shiny obsidians. As a result, men saw him as a belle and women saw him as a flower boy.

    When Tang Ye returned from his performance, breathless Su Xiao griped, ¡°This is more tiring than investigating¡­ Why is everyone here clingier than the maids in the pce?¡±

    Wearing a straight face as always, Tang Ye replied, ¡°Xiao Han, thanks.¡±

    ¡°Huh? There¡¯s no need for thanks between brothers.¡±

    ¡°After a vocal performance, I had to put on an erhu performance, but I happened to forget it.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What does that have to do with youing here?¡±

    ¡°Need to investigate the music festival.¡±

    ¡°More like you want to hold a music festival! You don¡¯t even have your verbs right! We¡¯re supposed to investigate Yongheng Bank¡¯s case!¡±

    ¡°It was a joke. Why don¡¯t you have any sense of humour? I know we¡¯re supposed to investigate Yongheng Bank¡¯s case.¡±

    ¡°Just how bad do you want to perform?! Furthermore, you brought so many instruments! Hand them over! No dying work!¡±

    ¡°S-Su Xiao,¡± a female student called out softly from behind whilst Su Xiao was trying to wrestle music instruments from Tang Ye.

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, you are¡­ Mu Anan, right?¡±

    The girl around Su Xiao¡¯s age lowered her rosy face and passed him a sheet of paper. ¡°I-I wrote a poem. Please check it out for me!¡±

    Su Xiao smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not very well-versed at poetry, though¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay! I like to write poems, but I can¡¯t find anyone to evaluate them.¡± Hands sped, Mu Anan mumbled, ¡°I don¡¯t have any friends in my ss; you¡¯re the first person to talk to me¡­¡±

    Su Xiao: I really am not a student here, though¡­

    Su Xiao epted the sheet of paper, only to immediately regret it when he saw what was written:

    You are the mortal realm¡¯s 14th July.

    The ghosts at night beam. Beam and beam, their heads fall off their shoulder.

    A flock of birds and a group of ghosts fly over;

    the King of Hell walks over.

    The crows and ghosts chomp on meat;

    the King of Hell also feasts on the meat, but you don¡¯t eat.

    You¡¯re beaming the brightest. You smile and smile, and then your head falls off.

    You are the mortal realm¡¯s 14th July.

    ¡°I am still writing, but what do you think?¡± bashfully questioned Mu Anan.

    With his face whiter than the sheet he shakily set down, Su Xiao raised a sinful thumb. ¡°¡­ Fantastic.¡±

    ¡°Really?! Thank heavens! I wanted to enter it into apetition!¡±

    ¡°Wh-whatpetition¡­?¡±

    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought Shen Yiren¡¯s twopdogs woulde all the way here.¡± He announced his arrival before his white tunic could pass through the doorframe. When Li Muye came into view, so did Shi Ganxian, who was following behind him.

    Su Xiao forced a smile. ¡°Why is he here?¡±

    Tang Ye shrugged without looking up, focusing on wiping his erhu.

    Shi Ganxian sniffed the air.

    Li Muye strutted into the centre of the room, driving out the liveliness of the break time. ¡°This is your reception for me?¡±

    Tang Ye made eye contact with Su Xiao. Having understood that taking a step back provided a broader view, the two bowed their heads. ¡°Our respects to Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m here for that Feizhen guy. Is he here?¡± Li Muye questioned.

    ¡°No,¡± Su Xiao replied since Tang Ye wasn¡¯t going to talk.

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±

    Li Muye set his piercing gaze on Su Xiao. ¡°Last chance.¡±

    Li Muye knew better than anyone that Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t on the academy¡¯s grounds as he sent someone to shadow thetter. The purpose of this seemingly unnecessary interrogation was but a means to make it clear he presided over the academy as its overlord.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡± Su Xiao remained affable.

    Assuming Tang Ye and Su Xiao¡¯s measured reactions were a sign of his intimidation tactic working, Li Muye asked, ¡°Which seat is his?¡±

    Li Muye¡¯s second aim of visiting the ssroom while Ming Feizhen was out was to search the ssroom first. If the seal wasn¡¯t on Ming Feizhen, then his n went out the window.

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±

    Li Muye narrowed his eyes. ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t try to be funny with me, woman.¡±

    ¡°Look for yourself if you¡¯re so keen, woman,¡± Su Xiao responded.

    ¡°It sounds like you weren¡¯t taught manners.¡± Li Muye hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°Teach her some manners.¡±

    Shi Ganxian gusted up a trail of violent wind along the trajectory of his punch. Shen Yiren told Su Xiao to avoid conflicts with Northern Wondrous Warrior¡¯s family. His impulsive behaviours could very well have created a new enemy for Liu Shan Men. As a consequence, he wasn¡¯t sure how to react to the oing punch.

    As students screamed, Su Xiao saw something fly in between them. Like a spirit out of nowhere, the erhu rolled around Shi Ganxian¡¯s wrist, forcing his arm to rotate ordingly. Once all motions stopped, the force of Shi Ganxian¡¯s punch had dissipated into nothingness, yet he couldn¡¯t exin why he didn¡¯t feel any sensations.

    The erhu made its way back to itspanion instrument, where Tang Ye sat in silence.

    Su Xiao had noticed Tang Ye¡¯s changes. Howbeit, he wasn¡¯t aware of the magnitude until now. In the past, Tang Ye struck explosively with figurative fire and colour as though he was trying to probe his opponent. He was never straight forward in his style unlike when he stopped Shi Ganxian. The mental blow Tang Ye received in Huzhou forced him to reconstruct his style, a process that took time, blood and sweat toplete. One could say he was more grounded than any previous version of himself.

    Tang Ye once said to Ming Feizhen, ¡°I can¡¯t do this. Big Bro, I think I failed again. I can¡¯t stop thinking about martial arts no matter what you tell me to learn. I can¡¯t retain anything I¡¯m trying to learn. As a matter of fact, my erhu skills are deteriorating.¡±

    In response, Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°In that case, why not treat everything as martial arts training?¡±

    Ever since then, whether it was music practice, ying with spinning tops or eating a meal, there were martial arts lessons to take home.

    Martial arts wasn¡¯t necessarily sitting and meditating. It wasn¡¯t necessarily swinging a weapon around. Everything that required skill could hone a facet of one¡¯s martial arts skills. This thought process only started to click for Tang Ye once he began refining his erhu skills. As he enthusiastically began to absorb everything he learnt, he expedited his learning speed. Upon reaching certain points in his learning, something inside him would change. Eventually, it dawned on him that learning any skill could be martial arts training, and martial arts training could be skill learning. Thus, he ceased mixing martial arts into everything, separating the two as separate entities. Which came before the other was the same as the chicken or egg question.

    Glossary

    You Are the 14th July ¨C Mu Anan, also the author of the line, made a parody out of a modern poem (Ode to Love) written by Lin Huiyin.

    14th July ¨C We¡¯re talking about the Chinese calendar here. In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day (also known as the Zhongyuan Festival) and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, a time when ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors,e out from the underworld (as in the realm below the realm of mortals, not as in the mafia). During the Ghost Festival, it¡¯s believed that the deceased visit the living. I guess you can say Mu Anan is the Hu Tao of MKRL?

 Volume 12 27

    <h4>Book 12: Chapter 27</h4>

    Tang Ye returned to wiping his instruments as if he never stopped.

    Li Muye didn¡¯t need to be erudite at martial arts to discern he lost the exchange, so he quietly asked, ¡°How good is he?¡±

    Shi Ganxian first reaction to Tang Ye¡¯s interception was sorcery, not martial arts. ¡°Hard to determine.¡±

    ¡°Compared to you?¡±

    Shi Ganxian looked as though he was choking on words. He cleared his throat and answered, ¡°Almost on par.¡±

    You think I can¡¯t smell your bullcrap?!

    Lin Muye could call on the academy¡¯s guards to help in a fight; however, that¡¯d do his goal of asserting his dominance no favours, so he said, ¡°Consider yourselves lucky.¡± Panic stricken, he crashed into a short table on his way out, knocking a sheet of paper to the ground. Already annoyed that he had to forfeit against Liu Shan Men¡¯s two constables, he stamped on the sheet and scrunched it up underfoot.

    ¡°Oi.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Li Muye turned around to see a fierce girl shielding a girl on the verge of tears.

    Su Xiao: ¡°Pick it up.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Li Muye frowned. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Picking up what you knock over ismon sense, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Li Muye exhaled sardonically. ¡°Shen Yiren must not have told you who I am.¡±

    ¡°If you are part of the imperial family, it should go double for you. Your grandpa did everything in his power for the people. Are you going to embarrass your ancestors and tarnish their names?¡±

    Of the two things Li Muye hated more than anything else, they were being underestimated in addition to being juxtaposed him to his father and grandpa. Su Xiao did both simultaneously. Hence, Li Muye stomped back to Su Xiao despite smiling. ¡°You¡¯re brave. I admire your fearlessness of aristocrats.¡±

    Li Muye recognised Mu Anan as the famous weirdo of the academy who loved writing poems about ghosts, resulting in the principal moving her to Fangniu ss.

    Li Muye: So you¡¯re having a go at me over some lowly peon¡¯s stupid ghost poem? All right.

    ¡°The sheet I identally stepped on must have been yours, Miss.¡±

    Mu Anan: ¡°Y-yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Okay, okay, okay.¡± Li Muye inhaled, then raised his voice. ¡°Because of your stupid poem! Because of you, peons think they can order me around! She¡¯s standing up for you, is she?!¡±

    Mu Anan broke down in tears.

    Despite Su Xiao¡¯s vindictive re, Li Muye spread his lips triumphantly. ¡°You think I¡¯d hit her? Don¡¯t worry. I wouldn¡¯t personally dirty my hands. I¡¯m going to have her house repossessed so that she has to live on the streets as a beggar. I want her to live while regretting this moment for the rest of her impertinent life. Constable, in a loud voice, tell me: can you protect her?¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s emotions didn¡¯te to the surface, but he had no counter.

    Aware he was victorious, Li Muye raised a hand to p Su Xiao.

    Thud!

    Su Xiao caught Li Muye¡¯s iing hand. ¡°¡­ I kept thinking if it would be a bad idea for there to be friction between us.¡±

    Li Muye felt as if a mp was closing on his hand. ¡°It hurts It hurts! Are you deaf?! Let go!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for proving you are the type we hate the most at Liu Shan Men. Next time you want trouble,e find me at Liu Shan Men!¡±

    ¡°Let go!¡±

    Su Xiao threw Li Muye¡¯s hand sideways.

    Li Muye regained freedom and blood to his numb arm, but an external force delivered to his face spun him seven hundred and twenty degrees where he stood prior to dropping to the ground. The burning sensation on his cheek indicated to him that hisst memory wasn¡¯t his delusion: he really did get pped flush on the face. He looked up in exasperation to see Su Xiao ring down at him.

    Hands on his hips, Su Xiao yelled, ¡°Understand yet, buffoon?!¡±

    Nothing, not Northern Wondrous Warrior¡¯s family¡¯s revival, not his grandpa¡¯s reputation, not Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal, nothing could hold a candle to the importance of the p and question from Su Xiao.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Li Muye crawled to his feet and brayed, ¡°I must¡¯ve been too lenient on you fools! Shi Ganxian! Get them!¡±

    ¡°Bring it on!¡± Su Xiao blustered.

    Since disobedience wasn¡¯t an option, Shi Ganxian took two tiny steps forward, then one big tactical stride backward, creating a situation where he could attack two people quickly. Reading Shi Ganxian¡¯s thoughts, Li Muye kicked his henchman¡¯s rear. ¡°Keep stalling and I¡¯ll have you filleted alive!¡±

    Shi Ganxian: How is that any different to being filleted here?!¡±

    Shi Ganxian was the type to only pick on those he knew he could beat. He had yet to work out Tang Ye¡¯s style, so he was reluctant to engage.

    Li Muye was so furious that he almost forgot he couldn¡¯t fight and went after them himself.

    One of Li Muye¡¯sckeys happened to arrive on the scene, but he spent a while trying to decipher the situation to no avail. Therefore, he whispered, ¡°We found the Feizhen guy!¡±

    Li Muye red at Su Xiao whilst using his rationality to soothe his mes.

    ¡°He¡¯s at Liu Shan Men¡­¡± Li Muye murmured. He turned back to Su Xiao and stomped. ¡°Woman, I will never forget this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a man!¡±

    The inmed Li Muye sprinted off.

    Why am I worked up over two unimportant constables? Why am I letting a woman get me worked up? I¡¯m embarrassing myself. Liu Shan Men, huh? Think you¡¯re tough, do you? Shen Yiren, just you wait. Wait, she¡¯s only the vice-captain. Song Ou, just you wait!

    People who saw the usuallyposed Prince bolting through the academy were bewildered.

    After Li Muye was long gone, the silent ss erupted into cheers around Su Xiao and Tang Ye ¨C except for Mu Anan, who cried even harder.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have shown you my poem,¡± conveyed Mu Anan.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. He¡¯s the one who¡¯s no good. Even without your poem, I couldn¡¯t stand his bullying ways.¡± Though he asserted it with his chest, Su Xiao looked down to the hand he floored Li Muye with.

    ¡°You did the right thing.¡± Tang Ye set aside his erhu. ¡°I would¡¯ve hit him if you hadn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Calm down! If you hit him, his head would¡¯ve been separated from his shoulders!¡¯

    The ss erupted intoughter.

    Wu Dayong looked to Zhou Teng. Zhou Teng looked to Shi Weng. The trio subsequently nodded in synchrony. ¡°Hey, we have a favour we¡¯d like to ask of you!¡±

    Several students grouped up. ¡°Please participate in the school idolpetition as our ss representatives!¡±

 Volume 12 28

    Book 12: Chapter 28

    ¡°¡­ Why¡­ are you here?¡± From her seat in the court room, Boss pierced me with her gaze.

    I flipped my hands into supination.

    Baffled, Boss turned to the other person using me. ¡°Li Muye, why are you back?¡±

    The white-robed youth replied, ¡°I¡¯m also wondering the same thing¡­¡±

    ¡°S-, Captain Song. What business do you have here?¡± Boss stumbled on her words because, one, she wasn¡¯t used to addressing Song Ou by his work name and, two, wasn¡¯t used to seeing him with an extra lumpy face with ck and purple makeup, plus two scarlet trailsing from his nose and sausages for lips.

    I sincerely respected Song Ou for being able to sit smugly in court as if he was the chicken who won the chicken fight despite the state he was in. That said, I sincerely respected Boss even more for being able to tell it was him.

    ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡± Boss questioned.

    An hour ago, when I tried to ditch Song Ou and escape, Song Ou caught me trying to leave him for dead. He dropped Zhao Xin andpany using his n¡¯s ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡± so that he could stop my n bearing fruit.

    Even though he was a walking punch line people seldom spared attention to, there was no denying Song Ou had improved hisbat abilities after Huzhou and Nanjiang even to surpass those he used to be inferior to by arge margin.

    There was no way I could outrun Song Ou when he could utilise his qi. Upon closing the distance, with his hands as des, he vaulted and yelled, ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going!¡± as he came down on me.

    Hong Jiu was already waiting along Song Ou¡¯s descent trajectory and extended his arm in a timely manner. Like a swatted fly, Song Ou crashed into the ground at my feet, prompting me to cover my nose so as to not breathe in dust.

    Given Liu Shan Men¡¯s flooring was concrete, I thought Song Ou would pass out from the way he was bleeding, yet he managed to crawl up and seize my leg. ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape! I won¡¯t let you ruin my good name! Kill me! I won¡¯t let you take one step away! Not one! Waaaaah!¡±

    Neither Second nor I imagined Song ou could be so shameless and courageous. Hong Jiu could¡¯ve easily subdued him, but¡­ we couldn¡¯t bear to when he was trying so hard. He couldn¡¯t harm me, but his screaming galvanised all the personnel at Liu Shan Men to assemble to find out what was going on. I could see all of their faces saying, ¡°Ming Feizhen is bullying Captain Song.¡± I could see Zhao Xin¡¯s shaken group thinking, ¡°He¡¯s ruthless. Even his superior fears him.¡± I didn¡¯t know if Song Ou was stupid or his brain was stupid. Whatever the case, instead of feeling ashamed, he gleefully cried, ¡°Everyone, look! This Ming Feizhen is bullying his superior and framing me for theft just because his sect is on friendly terms with His Majesty!¡±

    Me: ¡°I didn¡¯t frame him for nothing! Zhao Xin and whatever their names were misunderstood the circumstances! I merely didn¡¯t rify, but I had my reasons for that.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What reason?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Uh, because I have what they¡¯re searching for.¡±

    ¡°I knew it was you!¡±

    ¡°Put a sock in it!¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you do have a sense of shame. Since you have a sense of shame, why do you sneak into my wife¡¯s room every night, you shameless prick?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t frame me! I visit her for work! How many people can nobly sacrifice their bed time for work like me?! This is Wen-Tianxiang-Yue-Fei spirit!¡±

    ¡°More like Ximen Qing spirit! I will never wear the green hat! You think I¡¯ll let you off the hook!?¡¯

    ¡°The hat you¡¯re wearing right now is green! How is it my fault?! Let go!¡±

    Li Muye rolled up on the scene to see how Zhao Xin was progressing with his mission. Li Muye expected to have trouble infiltrating a heavily guarded office, but he ended up being able to stroll straight through unhindered. Even Zhao Xin¡¯s group was easy to find. ¡°You found h-, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Grinning from ear to ear, Lu Feiming jogged over to ry, ¡°You are finally here! You have to see this. That tall fe is the thief. His name is Ming Feizhen, I believe. I think he is a constable of Liu Shan Men. The one clinging to his leg is his superior. Apparently, Ming Feizhen stole his wife! They are arguing about it right now!¡±

    Li Muye looked as if he swallowed a snail. Not only did he know Ming Feizhen¡¯s superior, but he even had a bone to pick with him. Song Ou¡¯s wife needed no introduction.

    Someone who treats Liu Shan Men more important than her life would have an affair and leave evidence to get caught? Just who is this Ming Feizhen guy for even Song Ou to abandon his dignity? Surely there must be more to it. Song Ou is Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain, after all¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re annoying. Let go.¡± I finally got my leg out of Song Ou¡¯s hold.

    Song Ou rolled over in the direction I sent him and cried, ¡°Look! Look! Ming Feizhen assaulted me!¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t hit anyone!¡±

    Li Muye: He¡­ hit Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain?

    Glossary

    Wen Tianxiang ¨C Duke of Xinguo was a Chinese poet and politician in thest years of the Southern Song Dynasty. For his resistance to Kui Khan¡¯s invasion of the Song Dynasty, and for his refusal to yield to the Yuan Dynasty despite being captured and tortured, he is a popr symbol of patriotism and righteousness in China

    Yue Fei ¨C Auded Chinese military general during the Southern Song Dynasty who met his end 90% (framed by an influential minister and ipetent Emperor) the same way as this series¡¯ God of Battle, Ran Feikong. He, too, has evolved to be a symbol of loyalty.

 Volume 12 29

    Book 12: Chapter 29

    ¡°Allow this old one to have a word.¡± Liu Shan Men¡¯s ountant Fang cleared his throat.

    Although ountant Fang was lower in rankpared to Song Ou, because he had served Liu Shan Men since Boss¡¯ grandpa¡¯s time, he had a voice in the office.

    Prior to opining, ountant Fang red daggers at me. ¡°A subordinate who is at fault should be punished. Therefore, it is within reason for you to punish him as his superior, Captain Song.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Song Ou gleefully pped whilst remaining prostrated on the ground. ¡°Your wisdom shines, Elder.¡±

    ¡°Having said that¡­ it is better to not air your domestic affairs in public. After all¡­ it does the office no favours.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, you are right.¡± With it finally dawning on him how much he embarrassed himself, Song Ou hurried to his feet to dust himself off. Speaking through his sausage lips, he asked me, ¡°Ming Feizhen, do you admit to your wrongs?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Hmph. Elder, he refuses to listen.¡±

    ount Fang could feel his head throbbing. ¡°Disciplining members of the office can also wait to be done in private.¡± He kept blowing his beard as a sign to kick out outsiders. If his gaze could¡¯ve assumed a physical form, Song Ou would¡¯ve had holes in him.

    Song Ou scratched his head. ¡°We can¡¯t. They are witnesses. We need them to testify that Ming Feizhen framed me for theft.¡±

    ¡°We believe in fairness and justice. If Ming Feizhen truly transgressed, you could question him in court officially. There is no need to settle the matter in private. You should send th-¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that?! Ming Feizhen, I¡¯m going to finish you in court today!¡±

    ountant Fang ced his palm on his face, mumbling, ¡°I¡¯ve served three captains and thought I¡¯d seen it all. How can anyone be this stupid?¡±

    Song Ou was so busy celebrating in his own world that he didn¡¯t hear the insult. ¡°I¡¯m going to start by finding the intiff.¡±

    ¡°Us! Us!¡± Lu Feiming enthused, throwing his hands into the air.

    Li Muye looked to Lu Feiming as though he was looking at someone with a dead brain and, in a low voice, queried, ¡°What do you want to sue him for?¡±

    ¡°He pinched the seal. Wasn¡¯t the n to retrieve it from him and then have Master Qi switch a fake one in while we take the real one?¡±

    Li Muye muted himself.

    Zhao Xin suddenly cried, ¡°I¡¯m suing him, too!¡±

    Started, Li Muye frowned. ¡°And what are you suing him for?¡±

    ¡°For¡­¡± Zhao Xin sneered, then furrowed his brows, then paused, then bit down on his lip. ¡°For hitting me.¡± The man held his bruised face to start crying.

    Li Muye: ¡°¡­¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Great, great, great! Everyone will have a chance! I¡¯m suing him, too!¡±

    The corners of ountant Fang¡¯s mouth underwent a spasm. As much as he would¡¯ve preferred to refrain from speaking, he couldn¡¯t help forcing a smile to ask, ¡°Captain Song¡­ you are Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain. You should be the judge¡­ How are you going to sue?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Song Ou simpered. ¡°I¡¯llin to Yiren!¡±

    And that was how three cases became one and howe I had to defend myself against three intiffs. Had it been under different circumstances, I would¡¯ve justid all three out and been done with it. My confidence derived from just two words ¨C fast hands.

    On the way to the courtroom, I constantly patted Hong Jiu¡¯s head in disillusionment. Had he progressed faster in his training and reached Divine Realm already, I wouldn¡¯t be in this predicament. Thirty years old and still couldn¡¯t count on him. In response to myints, he repeated, ¡°Sorry, sorry forcking. If only I was half as smart as you, I wouldn¡¯t be such a disappointment. Please enlighten me.¡±

    Thanks to my duke rank, I didn¡¯t have to be cuffed; however, I still had to deal with people on the streets staring and my colleagues watching my embarrassment. On the other hand, Song Ou got to sit in a chair and act smug about the whole situation whilst enjoying a pot of tea ¨C not to mention he had the person closest to me interrogate me.

    The constable waiting on Song Ou called, ¡°Captain.¡±

    Song Ou set his teacup down without moving his neck. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You have mud on your face.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hohoho.¡± Song Ou awkwardly wiped his left cheek whilst fronting with the best smile he could fake. ¡°Tell me more discretely next time.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± The constable then whispered, ¡°Captain.¡±

    ¡°What else?¡±

    ¡°It is on the right side.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Song Ou shunted the constable away, then, offering a cupped-fist salute, expressed, ¡°Your Honour, what are we waiting for? Commence the inquisition already!¡±

    I supinated my hands to show Boss I was powerless to do anything about it, while she smiled back to express ¡°you trouble ma¡±.

    ¡°In that case, I shall begin.¡± Boss mmed her gavel. ¡°Start the inquisition!¡±

    ¡°Wei, wu,¡± the guards on both sides drawled whilst repetitively knocking on the ground in unison with their rods. ¡°Good to see you, Brother Ming!¡±

    ¡°Good boys,¡± I replied.

    Oh yeah, I don¡¯t think I ever mentioned I trained the group at the courtroom.

    Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming: ¡°You run this courtroom, don¡¯t you?!¡±

    ¡°I run this courtroom!¡± Song Oucried as he jumped to his feet. ¡°Your Honour, please use your wisdom to judge this case. Ming Feizhen is marginalising people just because he thinks he can get away with anything now that he has a few merits next to his name. Yongheng Bank¡¯s missing seal involves millions of gold. Insulting me is showing disregard for the imperial court. Young Master Zhao is the son of a general, yet Ming Feizhen assaulted him. Please serve justice.¡±

    ¡°Captain Song has made sound points. Defendant, announce yourself,¡± Boss Shenmanded.

    ¡°This one is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Boss Shen brought her gavel down fiercely. ¡°How dare you steal, insult a government official and assault someone?! Step forward. I have words for you!¡±

    ¡°Right away, Your Honour.¡± I jogged up to Boss Shen¡¯s desk.

    Zhao Xin: ¡°They¡¯re going to tantly do this back and forth in public? Where is justice?!¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Have what words?! Get on with the case!¡±

    Boss ignored them to give me a scowl. ¡°What are you giggling and carrying on about?! What exactly happened? What are you doing instead of attending sses?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the foggiest idea. I picked up a ¡®Dog Kennel¡¯ seal. They im it¡¯s Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal. Next thing I knew, I ended up here.¡±

    ¡°No wonder why there were no clues on its whereabouts!¡±

    ¡°It is tragic for children to not receive education. Boss, please teach me to read and write. Pretty please?¡±

    Boss struggled hard to stop herselfughing. ¡°Dork.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey!¡± Song Ou mmed his table. ¡°What are you two flirting for?! Am I thin air to you?! Get me a new pot of tea. My throat is dry from all this yelling. Also, get on with the case!¡±

 Volume 12 30

    Book 12: Chapter 30

    I didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what all the fuss around Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal was about, so Boss whispered the summary to me.

    ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it.¡± Boss red at the three intiffs. ¡°Hmph, to think you¡¯d have the audacity to file aint here. You¡¯re asking for it!¡±

    The three fellows didn¡¯t even hear a word we said to each other, yet they all recoiled. ¡°Why does it feel cold when it¡¯s summer?¡±

    Probably because you three are about to be six foot underground?

    ¡°What are you whispering about?! The case! The case!¡±

    I never knew Song Ou cared about fairness until now. As soon as Boss cast her re in his direction, though, he picked up a mini mirror to check himself. ¡°I¡¯m getting a lot of white hairs recently,¡± he remarked.

    Because Boss had to rush over without time to change, the oversized outer garment she threw on made her neck and hands seem small, thereby entuating her curves when she folded her arms. It was adorable watching her muse and all the little gestures she made while deep in thought.

    ¡°Ame problem caused by a group ofme people. Since Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal has been found, I shall take it off you and close this case. As for all the people with too much time on their hands, you¡¯re not my problem. Feizhen, a bitter¡­ why are you staring at me like that?¡±

    ¡°H-huh?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Nothing, nothing.¡±

    Yeah. What am I staring at Boss for? She¡¯s pretty much her usual self, so why am I staring?

    As I scratched my head, I replied, ¡°Boss, just give the order.¡±

    Boss raised an eyebrow as a result of befuddlement. ¡°Mm¡­ In summary, the three intiffs have nothing better to do. I¡¯m busy. Just entertain them, and then send them on their way.¡±

    ¡°Huh? But I¡¯m the defendant? You want me to shoo them off? Don¡¯t you think the difficulty level is too high?¡±

    Boss took out a vermillion ¨C the colour reserved for reporting secrets to His Majesty ¨C ordion. ¡°Don¡¯t care. You¡¯re the cause, so you sort it out. I¡¯ll help you out with a line or two.¡± She then put her head down to think.

    Still, how can I be expected to shoo them off?

    Squinting Zhao Xin asked Lu Feiming, ¡°Hey, how much do you think he paid the pretty judge for her to be so happy?¡±

    Lu Feiming gloated, ¡°Who cares? Just offer double what he gave her. What can¡¯t money solve?¡±

    Zhao Xin bobbed his head. ¡°True. Huh, me? Why am I forking out?¡±

    Lu Feiming hiked up an eyebrow. ¡°Do you really need an explicit answer? He¡¯s already exposed how loaded your family is. If you¡¯re still going to lie, you¡¯re not much of a friend.¡±

    ¡°He was talking out of his rear. Can anything he says be trusted?¡±

    Lu Feiming shook his head.

    Zhao Xin exhaled relief.

    Lu Feiming borated, ¡°Can¡¯t not trust him.¡±

    ¡°You son of b-¡±

    ¡°Can you two stop?¡± Li Muye found himself a chair to sit in and continue monitoring Ming Feizhen. ¡°Pipe down. Let¡¯s see how he settles this.¡±

    I returned to where I originally stood, then crossed my arms to ruminate.

    Hong Jiu leaned over to whisper, ¡°Leader, this is a tough one. Look at them; they all want to bury you.¡±

    ¡°Second, what do I always tell you?¡±

    Hong Jiu licked his lips as his eyes gleamed. ¡°Collude, be unscrupulous and cheat?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Not that!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Hong Jiu beamed. ¡°Forge straight forward?¡±

    ¡°You forgot thest time?¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°Be steady and calm!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the bullcrap we tell outsiders? You really going to try that with your brother.¡±

    Oh, that¡¯s true.

    Second had spent too much time around me; he was even starting to be as shameless. Hang on, it was all my shifu¡¯s teachings! He had be a copy of my shifu!

    ¡°In any case, we¡¯ll just go with the flow, dismantling case by case, burying case by case.¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Why are you two discussing?! Hong Jiu, do you have anything to do with this case? Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°We kind folks¡¯ favourite hobby is standing up for justice. I¡¯m here to spectate, just happened to stand a little close.¡± Hong Jiu retreated back to the entrance from the judge¡¯s table. ¡°Leader, I support you!¡±

    Song Ou was on the cusp of explosion when Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming ced their hands on his shoulders.

    Lu Feiming: ¡°Captain Song, we apologise for the misunderstanding. We now understand you are one of us. In this situation, we must form a united front.¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°You have a bright future ahead of you, young man. He is painfully conceited. We¡¯re but grasshoppers on the same boat, so we must take him down.¡±

    Zhao Xin: ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s clear that the judge is on his side. I refuse to believe the two of them aren¡¯t having an affair.¡±

    Song Ou¡¯s face alternated between red and green. If he disputed the im, he¡¯d embarrass himself even more. Nevertheless, it was a good thing they had formed a team.

    Following whatever Shen Kuang whispered to Boss Shen, she finally questioned in an absentminded manner, ¡°Ming Feizhen, let me ask you, did¡­ you steal Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal?¡±

    ¡°This one pleads innocence, Your Honour. He did not steal it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Boss paused to write a few characters, then dered, ¡°Case closed.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait!¡±

    Song Ou, Lu Feiming and Zhao Xin almost knocked each other out trying to get up. Song Ou cried, ¡°Your Honour, it cannot be closed! The case is still pending. How can one¡¯s innocence be proven just because he ims to be?!¡±

    Boss wagged her hand whilst reading. ¡°Argue amongst yourselves.¡±

    Zhao Xin yelled at me, ¡°Ming Feizhen, you dare im innocence when you have the item on you?¡±

    Me: ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°The seal was found on you. You dare deny otherwise?¡¯

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°You dare im you didn¡¯t insult me?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Song Ou, Lu Feiming and Zhao Xin¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

    Hong Jiu came up to me to quietly tell me, ¡°Leader, just denying your crimes won¡¯t work. Lots of people at Liu Shan Men can back up their statements.¡±

    I suppose he had a point. Problem was, how was I supposed to provide evidence to prove otherwise?

    I was trying to think, yet the three of them wouldn¡¯t stop sting me with one line each. Therefore, I picked up Boss¡¯ gavel to m and yelled, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    It worked. I really shut them up.

    ¡°You three are embarrassments!¡± I pointed to the three of them as I reeled off, ¡°You three are scions of distinguished families. This is a courtroom, yet you three are carrying on like women in a market! Are you living up to His Majesty¡¯s kindness? Are you living up to your families¡¯ hopes for you?¡±

    The three froze up, although they¡¯re visages read, ¡°Hope? No such thing.¡±

    ¡°By the way, if you three want to sue, then you¡¯re supposed to take turns. The things you¡¯re suing for don¡¯t even dovetail each other. Would you die if you spoke one by one or something?¡±

    They shook their heads.

    ¡°One at a time. Lu Feiming, you¡¯re suing me for theft, correct?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    ¡°Where is the item I stole?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ r-returned.¡±

    ¡°Problem solved, then, no?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Since the missing item has been returned, what purpose does making a fuss serve? Does who¡¯s right and who¡¯s wrong really matter that much? Being pedantic and harassing someone when you¡¯re in the right, how lowly. All right, next.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, oh, wait! You¡¯re speaking as if reason is on your side when you¡¯re the thief! I¡¯m going to press charges until you¡¯re behind bars.¡±

    Tch, didn¡¯t expect him to catch on so quick. Wait a second¡­

    I walked up to Lu Feiming to whisper by his ear. ¡°You¡­ are the Lu Feiming who broke He Shi¡¯s leg, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    You bet I got a reaction out of Lu Feiming with that one.

 Volume 12 31

    Book 12: Chapter 31

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡±

    Lu Feiming¡¯s reaction told me my conjecture was correct.

    ¡°Ho¡­ You have yet to be tried for that case.¡±

    ¡°Y-you would dare? His Highness is the one behind it.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I just won¡¯t go there and put just you on trial. Plus, it wasn¡¯t even him who broke He Shi¡¯s leg.¡±

    Lu Feiming most likely expected to be discarded after breaking He Shi¡¯s leg. If he was lucky enough to encounter a judge who Li Muye could talk to, his sentence could likely be reduced. Otherwise, his crime was set in stone.

    ¡°I stole an item. You crippled someone. I might go to prison for a year, but you¡¯ll stay in prison for three years. If I¡¯m sent to prison for a decade, you¡¯ll be sent for three decades. If I have to eat a beating, you¡¯ll have to repay a leg. The choice is yours.¡±

    I then turned to Zhao Xin, who exhaled through his nose and remarked, ¡°You got balls.¡± Hence, I pped him to tears and then went over to Song Ou. ¡°Captain Song, what are you suing me for again?¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°For ndering a civil servant.¡±

    ¡°How did this ndere to be?¡±

    ¡°You stole my document and switched it out for your ¡®Analects¡¯. How would there be such a coincidence if you didn¡¯t intend to nder me?¡±

    My eyes lit up the same way Song Ou¡¯s did. ¡°And what if it really was a coincidence?¡±

    Song Ou sneered. ¡°A coincidence? Hmph, a coincidence. A coincidence¡­ Impossible! It was deliberate! Yiren, punish him!¡±

    As she continued writing, Boss mumbled, ¡°Uhm, sure, sure¡­¡±

    ¡°Captain Song, I wasn¡¯t aware the iron seal I had on me was Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal; how did I purposely nder you? Besides, why would I carry the seal on me if that was my intention? Isn¡¯t that the same as exposing myself?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re stupid!¡± enthused Song Ou. ¡°You assumed nobody would catch you, but heaven was watching today, so you got caught red handed. You¡¯re not getting away.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t add up. If I¡¯m capable of stealing Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal, how can I be stupid? Moreover, His Majesty has praised me forpetence as a strategist and conferred the title of Hanlin Academician upon me. Are you insinuating that His Majesty¡¯s judgement is wrong?¡±

    Unable to keep up, Song Ou couldn¡¯t riposte.

    ¡°Please listen to me, everyone. This is but a misunderstanding that can be exined.¡± I proceeded to recount all the events, starting from when I first entered Daren Academy and bumped into Zhao Xin. ¡°I couldn¡¯t exactly return what he dropped to him when he was in the water. Afraid that someone might have saw it and steal it, I had no choice but to pick it up. Although I wasn¡¯t aware of what the seal was, I had a feeling it was important, so I kept it on me, believing he¡¯d eventuallye to retrieve it.¡±

    Zhao Xin: ¡°Y-you stole three thousand silver taels in notes from me, as well¡­¡±

    ¡°However!¡± I shouted over Zhao Xin. ¡°It never crossed my mind that the steal was Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal. Young Master Zhao, why did you have the seal? Can you enlighten us?¡±

    Zhao Xin was going to offer an exnation when I cut in again, asserting, ¡°I have a frightening suspicion. Could General Zhao Tiankui¡¯s eldest son, Young Master Zhao, be a thief? My intuition thinks th-¡±

    ¡°St-stop thinking.¡±

    ¡°That he isn¡¯t.¡±

    Zhao Xin¡¯s visage radiated.

    ¡°But the possibility of him being one also exists.¡±

    Zhao Xin¡¯s visage lost its glow.

    ¡°So is he or not?¡±

    ¡°Your intuition is scary!¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, my intuition is wrong. The intricacies depend on Young Master Zhao.¡±

    Zhao Xin fell into a silence, then distanced himself from Song Ou.

    ¡°Young Master Zhao happened to pick up the seal, and so did I. It¡¯s that simple. Captain Song, is the story clear to you yet?¡±

    Suffice to say, all the spectators believed I was innocent when my logic was clear and flowed. Hence, all the thirsty gazes made their way to Song Ou.

    The basis of Song Ou¡¯s disparagement im was that I stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal. Because my act of theft couldn¡¯t be proven, his im was naturally reduced to a misunderstanding. Howbeit, he refused to admit defeat. Instead, he pointed at me, crying, ¡°B-but you assaulted me!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would lie like that. How could I possibly beat you in a fight? I¡¯m weak, and my martial arts suck like, I mean, they¡¯re average. His Majesty, as well as imperial physicians, can prove this. As a matter of fact, Sir Tianhu still owes me a poo shampooing session when he proved I am weak. Are you suspecting His Majesty of fibbing?¡±

    ¡°You asked someone to assault me! Inciting someone to assault a civil servant is treated the same way as assaulting a civil servant yourself.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I turned to Hong Jiu. ¡°Who did I order to do that?¡±

    Hong Jiu shrugged. ¡°Who was it?¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Don¡¯t feign ignorance! It was him!¡±

    I pulled my brows in. ¡°Second, you¡¯re in the wrong, then. Why would you assault someone? It¡¯s not nice to hurt people.¡±

    Hong Jiu exhaled regretfully. ¡°It¡¯s not nice to assault people. It is shameless to attack people.¡±

    ¡°I shall have him apologise to you, Captain Song.¡±

    ¡°Captain Song, I apologise. I didn¡¯t realise you were so weak.¡±

    ¡°The apology has been given, so everyone is dismissed.¡±

    ¡°What nonsense is that?! That¡¯s all there is after assaulting a civil servant? This isn¡¯t over!¡± Song Ou eximed.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t make usations without evidence.¡± I frowned. ¡°What evidence do you have to prove that he attacked you?!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Ou pointed to Hong Jiu. ¡°He just admitted to it!¡±

    ¡°What? Second, did you admit to it?¡±

    ¡°I did, indeed,¡± Hong Jiu answered.

    ¡°You really assaulted him?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Captain Song, did he really assault you?¡±

    ¡°He did.¡±

    I staggered back three steps. ¡°H-how did he attack you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I hit him like this.¡± Hong Jiu walked up beside Song Ou. ¡°I started with ¡®Splitting Huashan!¡± Hong Jiu caught Song Ou clean on the head with a nasty chop. ¡°Then, I went, ¡®Ears Summon Winds¡¯, ¡®Tree Takes Root¡¯. Then, I grabbed him across the waist, lifted him and then released, bouncing him off the ground. I then used ¡®Monkey Steals the Peach¡¯ before I hammered his face with a twenty-eight punchbo like this, bang, bang, bang, bang¡­ and then finished with ¡®Dragon Soars the Sky¡¯, wada!¡±

    Song Ou, foaming at the mouth, flew into Zhao Xin, knocking thetter out cold.

    I dusted my attire and then performed a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Your Honour, the intiff is unconscious.¡±

    ¡°Drag him off, then.¡± Boss set aside herpleted reply to His Majesty, then started working on other documents.

    Lu Feiming: ¡°Your Honour, this gentleman is General Zhao Tiankui¡¯s son!¡±

    ¡°Oh, drag him of, too, then.¡±

    Lu Feiming turned to Li Muye for help. ¡°Your Highness! Th-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re heading back.¡± Instead of looking sullen, Li Muye scanned me for a while prior to nodding. ¡°Ming Feizhen, I¡¯ll remember you.¡±

    ??? I didn¡¯t even hit the guy! What are you remembering me for?!

    Li Muye strolled off with a smile I couldn¡¯t decipher.

    Oi,e back and exin yourself! What are you remembering me for?! Come back!

    ***

    Not long after returning to his home, Li Muye listened in to his subordinates¡¯ reports one by one. All of the reports shared amon denominator: they all revolved around Ming Feizhen, starting from when he joined Liu Shan Men all the way up until his recent return to the capital. Had it not been for Luo Ming¡¯s deeds, Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve stolen all the limelight.

    ¡°Duke¡­¡± Li Muye muttered under his breath. Upon looking up, hemanded, ¡°I¡¯m pulling out of this. Nobody is to cross Ming Feizhen again.¡±

    Neither Zhao Xin nor Lu Feiming could believe their ears. ¡°Why, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with His Majesty¡¯s modus operandi. Ever since he was enthroned, he¡¯s always operated the same way. To put it nicely, he¡¯s procedural. To put it bluntly, he¡¯s stuck in old ways.¡± Li Muye paced back and forth in the guest hall with his hands behind his back. ¡°Nobody in our dynasty has ever ascended the ranks so fast if we don¡¯t count our progenitor and former Emperor¡¯s eras. He rose from just anothermon employee to a first-rank duke in less than a year. Outside of those two eras, there are hardly any individuals who¡¯ve been promoted remotely as fast. Since His Majesty ascended, there hasn¡¯t been a single person who¡¯s been promoted at that rate. Ming Feizhen is not to be underestimated. Now that he¡¯s gotten involved with this, I must avoid butting heads with him front on.¡±

    ¡°Do we not need money, though?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways. Summon Master Qi.¡±

    Lu Feiming¡¯s primary concern was that Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t honour his word, so he anxiously inquired, ¡°Are we going to give up on the seal?¡±

    ¡°Did you not bring your brain with you today? Don¡¯t they have to return the seal? Only two days have passed since the seal went missing. Although Yongheng Bank has notified a branch, we can still make it in time.¡±

    ¡°But that means we are two days behind, as well. We would need a horse that can fly if we are to beat them. We can still make it in time?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways.¡±

    Master Qi soon arrived to receive her orders, then left to implement them. For some reason, she seemed to be in high spirits when she left.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen¡­ I want to recruit him,¡± Li Muye dered.

    Zhao Xin: ¡°Are you serious?! Your Highness, do you want to get assaulted, too?!¡±

    Li Muye red at Zhao Xin out of his peripherals, galvanising thetter to cover his mouth. ¡°He¡¯s no ordinary man. You got what you deserved. I want to use him, notpete against him. While he isn¡¯t a magnificent fighter, he has demonstrated the courage to walk the walk time and time again, which proves he has brains and courage, facts His Majesty has also identified. As he also appears close to Shen Yiren¡­ hahaha! Mother is constantly pestering me to win over Shen Yiren, but I dislike her unbridled temperament. I may not be able to rein her in, but I¡¯ve found someone who can. Having Ming Feizhen is the equivalent of having Shen n! Hahaha!¡±

    Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming didn¡¯t dare to opine on the topic because of Li Muye¡¯s confidence, but Zhao Xin¡¯s aching face prompted him to voice, ¡°Liu Shan Men suspects us, however. If he seal goes missing again, does that not m-¡±

    ¡°What are you fretting for? Even if they do know, they need evidence. Without evidence, Shen Yiren won¡¯t start with me. If she wants to send her minions to investigate me, she¡¯s more than wee to.¡± Li Muye ran his hand down his cheek where he was smacked. ¡°I¡¯m going to make her learn what it means to pay.¡±

    Who ¡°her¡± referred to wasn¡¯t something Zhao Xin and Lu Feiming had the right to know.

 Volume 12 32

    Book 12: Chapter 32

    ¡°Academy idols?!¡±

    ¡°You knocked Captain Song¡¯s lights out?!¡±

    Su Xiao, Tang Ye and I pointed to each other in synchrony. ¡°What the hell?!¡±

    At breakfast the day after Song Ou was slept, I nearly spat all my soya bean milk on Su Xiao¡¯s face after I heard what Tang Ye and he told me. No insinuations here. Su Xiao just happened to be sitting opposite me.

    ¡°We¡¯re the ones who should be asking that!¡± Su Xiao beat me to the punch. ¡°He¡¯s our captain and a rank one official. You¡¯re but a head constable. Even though you¡¯re now a duke and Hanlin Academician, the only people you can actually boss around is our small group at Liu Shan Men. Plus, Vice-Captain said you¡¯d cause disaster for the people if you led a team, so you¡¯re only allowed to coach. You don¡¯t even have ten subordinates, yet you bludgeoned your superior. Your brain really is dead.¡±

    Our little Su Xiao¡¯s galls have been growing recently, I see. As soon as you gain momentum, you won¡¯t let up, huh?

    ¡°Tutor Leng told me I¡¯m progressing extremely fast ¨C fast enough to be awyer!¡±

    If that¡¯s all he said, that means he was just entertaining you, genius. Why are you celebrating being able to be awyer when you¡¯re an official? I, on the other hand, am different!

    ¡°I¡¯m only allowed to coach? Says who? Open your eyes!¡± I waved around the token I usually kept on my sash. ¡°See this? Boss personally gave this to me so that I can use when leading patrol teams.¡±

    Zha Pi stumbled through in a timely manner, yelling, ¡°Boss Ming! Vice-Captain asked for the token she gave you. She¡¯s worried you¡¯d abuse it to get free meals at eateries.¡±

    ¡­ That¡¯s all in the past! I¡¯ve changed my ways!

    Su Xiao was a joke away from taking hisughing to the ground, while Tang Ye coolly resumed eating his mantou, except his hand was shaking uncontrobly because he was resisting with everything he had!

    This is not how I remember you!

    I loudly cleared my throat. ¡°Getting back to the point! You two acted as mypanions to investigate a case! Now that the case has been cracked, what are you participating in an idol contest for? What do you think you¡¯re here for? Recruiting new members?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Su Xiao agreed. ¡°Prior to beginning our investigation here, Vice-Captain told us that the academy also partakes in the imperial martial arts exams in hopes of finding those well-versed schstically and in martial arts. It¡¯s better to go home and, uh¡­ uh¡­ make a than to stand by the pond and hope for fish. Staying should raise our office¡¯s reputation, therefore double the results for half the effort.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Oh?¡± I didn¡¯t miss Su Xiao¡¯s pause. ¡°What does it mean when you say ¡®to stand by the pond and hope for fish?¡¯¡± As I expected, Su Xiao couldn¡¯t respond, so I quickly added, ¡°How are you supposed to be the academy idol at this level? Tang Ye, enlighten him.¡±

    Tang Ye sighed. ¡°Big Bro, if you don¡¯t know the answer, just say so. Why bluff?¡±

    ¡°Who said I can¡¯t exin it?! It means ¡®to hope for miracles¡¯.¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s eyelids flew apart as though he never expected me to actually understand the phrase.

    How dare you slight me? I may have been a dropkick at studying, but tell me something I don¡¯t know about cuisine.

    ¡°Stop going miles off topic. Even in the scenario Liu Shan Men needs new members, I can handle it. You aren¡¯t even students; stop doing stupid things.¡±

    Tang Ye shrugged. ¡°That was what we were thinking, but circumstances have changed.¡±

    ¡°What changed?¡±

    ¡°Yongheng Bank¡¯s case was solved yesterday, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±

    ¡°And who was the culprit?¡±

    ¡°Me! Ugh¡­¡±

    The two silently stared at me.

    I get it now¡­ Haiz, how powerless we are about so many things in life.

    Su Xiao coiled his arms around one of mine. ¡°You can¡¯t run now. Big Brother Ming, join us!¡±

    I ruthlessly shook Su Xiao off! I tried¡­ How tragic was life without being able to use my strength, you ask? So tragic that I couldn¡¯t even beat Su Xiao! Nevertheless, being physically weak doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re mentally weak.

    ¡°I refuse!¡±

    ¡°Why?! It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a test. It sounds like fun from what I¡¯ve heard. You have nothing to lose.¡± Su Xiao inted his cheeks. ¡°You haven¡¯t been spending any time with us.¡±

    In my edgelord voice, I responded, ¡°I have something to lose!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    You two, especially you Su Xiao, have the energy of youth and the appearance of¡­ an average person. Standing in between you two would be humiliating myself! If I¡¯m going to be in a group, I¡¯ll team up with Second! At the very least, he can enhance my appearance.

    ¡°We have to participate as a trio. You¡¯re the only student. How are we supposed to participate without you when we¡¯re yourpanions?¡±

    ¡°You can group up with Shi Weiliang, Zhou Teng or someone else! Wu Dayong works, too. Think about it: his name alone is a lucky charm. If you have him on the team, your victory is guaranteed. Good luck boys.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s clearly a name designed to set up failure! You¡¯re trying to fool me again! You joining or not? You joining or not?!¡± Su Xiao pinned me to the ground but didn¡¯t twist my arm ¨C probably to avoid hurting me. Instead, he strangled me around the neck, but, as that was dangerous, he fell back on leaning on my back. ¡°You joining or not? If you refuse, I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll¡­ I won¡¯t let go!¡±

    What new strategy is this?! Annoy-to-Death Art?! Get off!

    ¡°Tang Ye, don¡¯t just sit back and enjoy yourself. Pull this pest off me!¡±

    Tang Ye squatted down in front of me and took my hand.

    I never told you to hold my hand! Is this the time and ce to be training a dog?! Liu Shan Men¡¯s dogs are also trained vigntes! Stop slighting me!

    Tang Ye emotionlessly stated, ¡°Now you can¡¯t run.¡±

    Are you really going to be like this, too?! You need someone to hold your hand?! What are you? A kid who can¡¯t sleep without his mother?! Even if you are, I¡¯m your father! You two kids think I¡¯m powerless to stop you just because I don¡¯t have any internal energy? You underestimate the intellect of adults.

    ¡°Whoa!¡± I cast my gaze toward heaven. ¡°A shooting star!¡±

    The two of them bopped me on the head simultaneously. ¡°Shooting stars in the morning?!¡±

    Damn, they¡¯ve wised up a little.

    ¡°Whoa! There¡¯s a man holding a profound secret manual passing by.¡±

    The two looked outside in unison. ¡°Where?¡±

    The moment I had a spare arm, I tickled Su Xiao. He hopped off me whilst squealing, bumping into Tang Ye, forcing Tang Ye to take a step back to regain his bnce. If I was his enemy, Tang Ye would¡¯ve dragged me along; however, he wasn¡¯t going to drag his own buddy along the ground. Most importantly, he was certain he could recapture me. Anyhow, I rolled to my feet and bolted out the door as soon as I had my limbs back.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting aw-, eh?¡± Su Xiao nearly tripped when he tried to pursue me. ¡°When did he tie up our feet with the ropes?¡±

    Tang Ye mumbled, ¡°Can someone still have such fast hands¡­ when they¡¯ve lost all their martial arts?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What was that?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Tang Ye cut the ropes with a knife hand. ¡°Need to catch him?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Su Xiao paused to gaze out the door, then smiled. ¡°He¡¯s at the academy daily, so we¡¯ll be seeing him daily. In the end, nothing has changed.¡±

    ¡°True.¡± Tang Ye smiled, as well.

    A whileter, the two realised something. ¡°He just ran off, which means that, for today¡¯s sses¡­¡±

    A name and word came to mind, the former being ¡°Principal Huang¡± and thetter being ¡°punishment¡±.

    Glossary

    It¡¯s better to go back and make a than to stand by the pond and long for fish ¨C If you didn¡¯t catch it, it¡¯s basically suggesting, ¡°Take practical steps to achieve your goals instead of hoping miracles happen.¡± Adding to that, it¡¯s written in an archaic-Chinese way, so Ming Feizhen actually rewords it into a more colloquial version (current paradigm of Chinese) rather than exining the meaning of the phrase as I did. I just had to find a way to make it work.

 Volume 12 33

    Book 12: Chapter 33

    Some people called the ability to erase one¡¯s presence for espionage ¡°Eclipse¡±. Buddhists refer to it as ¡°Warpcealment¡±. My shifu¡¯s name for it is self-exining ¨C ¡°Dirtbag Through the Moss, A Contest to See Who¡¯s Greener¡±.

    Although I didn¡¯t have any internal energy, having reached the peak of martial arts, why would I need it? The principles still held true. Thus, I blended into the street (covered myself behind the foliage and in th-e shadows) to watch Su Xiao and Tang Ye from a corner.

    Hmph, you think it¡¯s simple to catch me?

    ¡°You buying or not?! You¡¯ve been crouching by my stall all day!¡± the watermelon stall owner yelled at me.

    ¡°If I don¡¯t carefully taste it, how should I know if it¡¯s worth buying or not?¡± I took two bites out of a juicy watermelon whilst checking to confirm if anyone had seen me.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for you to taste, but you¡¯re about to eat half of my watermelons.¡±

    ¡°You still have half of them, then.¡±

    ¡°Look: if you want trouble, I¡¯m calling the constables.¡±

    ¡°Constables? We can talk this out!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, got a decisive answer for me yet, then?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I stood up and discarded the rind mindlessly. ¡°Your watermelons aren¡¯t ripe.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I have a dine-and-dasher!¡±

    The man chased me across three streets but still lost me. More importantly, I didn¡¯t see the two kids anymore. Therefore, I sneaked into a secluded alley, where there were two abandoned wooden carts to take a rest.

    Life was hard. Very hard. I should¡¯ve been able to enjoy a life of glory upon returning to the capital. I could¡¯ve hid in the academy for three months to recover my powers, then peacefully leeched as Hanlin Academician, touching thighs and wasting time until it was my turn to roll over and die. I never expected one thing to happen after another. Most importantly, I owed anoth-

    ¡°I do hope you do remember to repay your debts.¡±

    I looked up as though I needed to evade a projectile to see a squinting,nky fellow smiling at me as he always did. Sometimes, ¡°they¡± sported the appearance of an elder. Other times, ¡°they¡± fashioned a kid¡¯s appearance. On some asions, ¡°they¡± even assumed a maiden¡¯s appearance. No matter what appearance ¡°they¡± adopted, howbeit, ¡°their¡± smile was ¡°their¡± signature trait. Because of the corner of ¡°their¡± upwardly-tugged lips and blinking eyes, ¡°they¡± appeared witty. Because ¡°they¡± often surreptitiously clenched ¡°their¡± fist out of excitement and curved eyes whenever ¡°they¡± spoke, because of all those micro-habits of ¡°theirs¡±, it was unbelievable to be lost when trying to read ¡°their¡± gaze behind their masks. I couldn¡¯t tell if I was always meeting the same person ¨C or if ¡°they¡± were from the same group. However, every time I met ¡°them¡±, my gut told me that it was the same soul behind the mask.

    I couldn¡¯t determine how skilled he was at throwing hands based on his ability to sneak up on me undetected, but I could say with certainty that the scumbag could rival my hiding skills.

    I squinted. ¡°What number are you?¡±

    They held their hands in salute. ¡°Martial world¡¯s mobile treasury codename Seventeen Gangwu. We had a hard time finding you.¡±

    I picked my ear whilst whining, ¡°You have the noses of dogs? Howe it seems to me that it takes you no effort to find me every time?¡±

    Seventeen smiled. ¡°It is true that you are capable of the impossible. Having said that, you are actually quite simple to find.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t go off to eat pork shoulders braised in soy sauce!¡±

    ¡°But you just ate watermelons.¡±

    You¡¯re the stall owner? Motherflipper, you¡¯re in the fruit industry, too?

    I pretended to stagger back three steps in shock. s, he moved to block my escape route.

    ¡°Are you ready to repay your debt?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m nning to run away.¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°So, the creation and erasure of a debt is but a type of currency cirction. It¡¯s the same as any other flow in the universe that can disappear at any moment. Sometimes, a flow is born and sometimes is erased. Sometimes, a debt is formed and sometimes is erased. There is no need to obstinately cling to one. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°I do. I understand you intend to run again.¡±

    ¡°You got that right. Don¡¯t have enough. Do something about it!¡± I sat down on the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t have money. Only got this one life. Do what you will with it.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I am d to hear that. My humble principle is, ¡®You can run to the ends of the earth. If you do not pay on time, you will forfeit your life.¡¯ That being the case, we should be able to receive somepensation in exchange for disclosing your secrets.¡±

    You son of a¡­

    ¡°Hang on. I am a loyal member of ck and White Reflection, right? I¡¯ve bought every edition since its inception and supported Pink Reflection quite a lot, as well. Are you not going to show any lenience to a long-time, loyal supporter?!¡±

    ¡°If we did not ount of your support, the Western Regions would have already received news that Lord San Shen has lost his powers, and you would have started fighting off your opposition from the Western Regions a while ago.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Since you¡¯re going to be lenient, be as lenient as possible, then.¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°Your debt has exceeded the limit, though.¡±

    ¡°How much did I spend?¡±

    ¡°Including interest, 697,054 taels and two coppers. On ount of your honoured status, we shall remove one zero, so let us make it seven zero.¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s a hundred. Don¡¯t forget to refund me thirty.¡±

    He looked at me, then pushed my extended hand back to me and heaved a breath.

    ¡°You said seventy, man.¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°That is a hundred fake silver taels. It seems you really do not have any money.¡±

    This is why I hated talking to this group! You couldn¡¯t fool them, and you couldn¡¯t curse them off! They demanded you repay a debt, yet they did it in such a polite way, making it seem as if I was in the wrong for owing money. As a result, I felt bad about not repaying them. What? I was in the wrong? I thought we cleared that up already. Debts were but a way to circte money.

    ¡°This one is aware of your debt status. In your situation, it seems you are unable to pay. Therefore, this one has a suggestion.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±

    ¡°Do you know Canghai survivor Xuanduan Tingshuuo, Huang Yuzao?¡±

    Now, I didn¡¯t expect him to know Uncle Huang.

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Do you know Daren Academy?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Then, do you know the academy is about to host an academy idolpetition?¡±

    ¡­ I have a very, very, very bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Should you be able to win first ce, we will clear your debt.¡±

    ¡­ Why the hell do orthodox and unorthodox groups want me to take part in that damnpetition?!

    Glossary

    Treasury codename ¨C They used what¡¯s called theplex/formal forms for their numbers. As the name suggests, they¡¯re mainly used in notarised, official documents when writing cheques. Maybe you also know them as anti-fraud numerals or the literal (wrong) trantion ¡°capital letter¡±. As a piece of trivia, some of them can also be used as heteronyms. For the record, this is for Mandarin.

    ¡°Including interest, 697,054 taels and two coppers. On ount of your honoured status, we shall remove one zero, so let us make it seven zero.¡± ¨C There¡¯s a bit of mental gymnastics going on here, so you might¡¯ve been confused. 600,000 is read as ¡°sixty ten thousands¡±, so Seventeen shortened it to ¡°seventy¡± (he says, ¡°let us make it seventy,¡± which means ¡°seventy ten thousands¡±). I wrote it as ¡°seven zero¡± so that the trick somewhat works in English. In reality, he¡¯s ying Ming Feizhen and demanding 700,000. Ming Feizhen goes along with it, literally, and pays 100 (albeit fake) because ¡°seven zero¡± is ¡°seventy¡±, which is what Seventeen actually said.

 Volume 12 34

    Book 12: Chapter 34

    ¡°Fret not. We will take care of everything.¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± The sight of his confidence reminded me of the scene each time they said that exact phrase in the past.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°Leave it all to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± I nodded.

    He smiled.

    ¡°Shameless.¡±

    He switched to innocence. ¡°Although your debt is an unbelievable number, we work out a happy deal between us every time. Where does shameless fit into all this?¡±

    I raised a finger. ¡°The first time, I was an innocent, ignorant teenager. Wudang told you toe collect something. I didn¡¯t have money to repay you, so you cordially told me, ¡®Fret not. We will take care of everything¡¯. And then you had me filch Zhenwu¡¯s Seven Spheres Formation¡¯s diagram. In turn, I burnt down Zhenwu Hall. They all think it was the work of a ghost. Now, whenever Ie across Wudang members, I feel guilty if I don¡¯t lend them a hand.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He gave me a smile. ¡°Is it not great that you perform good deeds?¡±

    ¡°Second time!¡± I extended a second finger. ¡°After I gave you the full payment you asked for and then asked you to help me find someone, you also replied, ¡®Fret not. We will take care of everything.¡¯ I went to the Western Regions. I didn¡¯t find the person I was seeking. Instead, I had to fight that nutcase, Lord San Shen.

    ¡°Then I got to know a shameless old bugger by the name of Ximen Chuideng. After he talked me into bing his sworn brother, he tricked me into joining Divine Moon Cult, only to then jump off a cliff and not even leave behind his ashes. I nearly bawled my eyes out. I still haven¡¯t gotten over it.¡±

    He heaved a heavy breath. ¡°We only reported the facts. As for befriending Patriarch Ximen, that was your destiny. That is not our work.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°I¡¯ll skip the promises made ages ago. Last time, I only had a small meal, yet you told me to return to the capital toplete a task. I believed your bullcrap and even helped you expunge the underground groups in the capital, so I thought it was all settled. Out of nowhere, I chanced upon my shifu¡¯s Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, causing me to marry that freak of a woman. I¡¯m still too scared to return to my nest in Hangzhou. Every time you say that line, I¡¯m hit with bad luck, so shut up!

    ¡°On the first asion, you requested a nine variegated mes pill to save the life of Wudang¡¯s Jianguan. We did not ask for much. Last time, you ate a meal that cost over a million taels. The profit we made from the task we entrusted to you was only enough to break even. As for the search, we are still searching. We have always felt ashamed we could notplete your request despite epting your payment.¡± He then looked at me as an esteemed customer. ¡°As for your misfortunes, we plead innocence. That is all your credit.¡±

    He flicked up a thumb and continued, ¡°Typically, people do not burn down Zhenwu Hall, fight Lord San Shen or marry a Princess, not to mention survive all those events. There is nothing we shy away from in order to keep a record of matters in the pugilistic world, but we have never publicised your information because we want to see what sort of trouble you can cause, this one meant, what sort of waves you can start.¡±

    ¡°I knew you were all waiting for entertainment! I¡¯ve waited to voice myints to your editor for a long time now!¡±

    ¡°Ohoho, this one works in the debts department. He is not involved with the magazines in any capacity, so he cannot order the editor around.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you want me to participate in can¡¯t be so simple. Tell me the details.¡±

    ¡°Fret not. This time, we will also. Be. Honest.¡±

    Stop smiling, then! Your smile is making me suspect you¡¯re out to con my whole family!

    ***

    I knew the group would never participate in a deal where they stood to lose.

    Academy Idols weren¡¯t a traditional Daren Academy event. It was something Uncle Huang started a few years as an answer to the students¡¯ desire for such an event. The first edition was reviewed positively, and each sessive reiteration was more sessful than thest. By this point in time, it had be the students¡¯ most anticipated and attended event at the academy. Apart from that, the number of people who paid attention to it only ever increased, allowing anyone with association with the academy to participate. ordingly, the winners of the event were rewarded handsomely.

    The first prize was ¡°Coolcool Reading Token¡±, which permitted the holder to read any book at the academy without restriction. The second prize was ¡°To-the-top Learning Token¡±, which was essentially a schrship that the holder could use to exchange for free tutoring from any teacher of their choice. The most important prize was a valuable piece of jade called ¡°dragonmark me jade.¡± The jade piece was the real prize. The other two were just participation trophies!

    The jade piece was one of the legendary zed items. It was rare because it was an item with a ck shell refined from one of the rare survivors in a volcano. It had the power to absorb heat without sustaining damage. Once it had been refined for long enough, the outer ckyer would peel off, leaving a dazzling scarlet gem. Only pieces that were approximately the size of a chicken egg would earn the title of ¡°me jade¡±.

    Because me jades possessed heat energy from the core of the earth, theyplemented Yang Realm internal disciplines and equally valuable as a tool for controlling coldness. ordingly, they were a favourite of the orthodox martial artsmunity.

    Dragonmark me jade was the most special type among me jades. They weren¡¯t more special just because they were multiple foldsrger than me jades; they came with an inherent me mark on the surface that resembled a dragon ¨C a sign that proved it had existed for millenniums. To put its power into perspective, it couldpare to the zed relic Hua Gezi got his hands on back then.

    I had never seen a dragonmark me jade in my life. I only heard someone in Divine Moon Cult once tried to search for one in order to master ¡°Agni Twelve Heavens¡±, only to never return.

    Given its value, I wasn¡¯t surprised one piece could clear my debt. That being said, I couldn¡¯t understand why the academy would have a piece and why they would give it to a student as a prize. Carrying one was the same as drawing a bull¡¯s eye on yourself¡­ Seventeen didn¡¯t exin anything, leaving me with, ¡°We will be awaiting your good news¡± and bolted. I would¡¯ve chased him if I could catch up.

    I gave up thinking and returned to Liu Shan Men to find Su Xiao as well as Tang Ye with long faces at the briefing hall. Boss Shen, face ghastly white, looked ready to tear someone¡¯s head off.

    ¡°Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal had only been retrieved yesterday, and it¡¯s already been stolen again. We also just received word that someone has withdrawn five hundred thousand taels. Not even a tyre trail was left behind when they tried to investigate. Heh, they¡¯re good!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve withdrawn money?¡± Something sounded off to me. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they notify us as soon as they lost their seal? Why wait until they lost money to cry?¡±

    Tang Ye exined, ¡°Because they don¡¯t trust us given Liu Shan Men stole the seal in the first ce.¡±

    So it was because of me¡­

    ¡°Which branch was robbed?¡±

    Boss expressed with her eyes that she liked my quick wits. ¡°Jiujiang. The money was withdrawn just four hours prior to the messenger¡¯s arrival.¡±

    I crossed my arms. ¡°The pier and city doors¡¯ patrols were only loosened yesterday; isn¡¯t striking now reckless? Wouldn¡¯t the risk of leaving clues be riskily high, particrly in this scenario where we practically know who the culprit is?¡±

    Based off Boss¡¯ visage, I knew she was fairly sure Li Muye¡¯s group was culpable. Could you me her for being inmed when they pinched the seal barely a day after the court hearing? If she had proof of their wrongdoings, she¡¯d have already kicked their doors down and smashed their faces in. To my surprise, she cracked a smile and dered, ¡°I¡¯ll personally tackle this case.¡±

    ¡°Personally? You¡¯re showing him a lot of respect.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been years since I¡¯vepeted against Li Muye. I¡¯d like to see how much he¡¯s grown.¡±

    ¡°Need my help?¡±

    ¡°No. In busy times, take care of yourself first.¡±

    ¡°Me? I¡¯m free.¡±

    Besides the shackle of a seven hundred thousand debt, I¡¯m a free man.

    Boss dyed for an inordinate time. Puzzled, I turned to Su Xiao and Tang Ye, only to be met with two equally lost individuals.

    ¡°Your assault on Song Ou in the courtroom won¡¯t be settled so easily.¡±

    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s still not settled? Call him over. I¡¯ll bludgeon him again.¡±

    ¡°Watch yourself. Anything¡­ could happen in the capital anytime now. Song n has entered the pce.¡±

    Glossary

    Zhenwu¡¯s Seven Spheres Formation ¨C If you¡¯ve consumed ¡°Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre¡± media in some format, you probably recognise it as one of the Wudang formations.

 Volume 12 35

    Book 12: Chapter 35

    ording to Boss, someone from Song n was catching up with His Majesty in the pce, which was why I was thinking about Song n on my way back to the academy. His Majesty didn¡¯t show any fondness for Song Ou. In contrast, he appreciated and quite liked Song n.

    I wasn¡¯t very familiar with the Seven Champion White Princes. Rtively speaking, I was only informed on two of them, namely Gold and Silver Sect in addition to Song n. Compared to the other five with thousands of years of history, the two were new to the list, with only two to three hundred years of history. Hence, if they wanted to win against the other five, they¡¯d need to think and actterally.

    Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s principle priority was money. Their belief was the money could buy gods; gods had to spend money, as well. Thus, they sought money until they turned corrupt. The imperial court¡¯s assistance, as well as granted special privileges, unquestionably had a role in Gold and Silver Sect¡¯s quick growth from an ordinarily wealthy family into one of the three wealthiest families in only a century. The cornerstone of their growth, nevertheless, was their indifference to the martial world and political arena¡¯s affairs. Had it not been for the golden vat asking to get clobbered, they wouldn¡¯t have faded out. With that said, their foundations were still as solid as before. As long as his old man selected a new sessor, they¡¯d be able to recover their recent losses in a matter of months. Returning to the business realm instead of trying to get involved with politics might not have been a bad move.

    In contrast to the profit-driven Gold and Silver Sect, Song n¡¯s primary concern wasworking. Presiding over Jiangdu District, their earnings from Yangzhou alone were a headache to calcte. In terms of wealth, they were behind only Gold and Silver Sect and Luo Sword Manor (prior to Luo Ming¡¯s deeds). Yet, they advanced gradually in the pugilistic world, consolidating every step they took, refraining from unting their wealth as their goal was to win the support of the pugilistic world. Based on my knowledge, the pugilistic world viewed Song n in a positive light, with some calling them ¡°Martial World¡¯s Duke¡± and ¡°the pugilistic world¡¯s most exalted n¡±.

    Song n¡¯s patriarch liked to observe justice, make friends and crackplicated cases in the pugilistic world. Cases that the government couldn¡¯t resolve were taken to Song n, where their patriarch would solve the matter with reason. They said, regardless of which side of thew one is on, they must take a step back if Song n¡¯s patriarch spoke up.

    Song n¡¯s martial arts weren¡¯t acimed. Their only famous discipline was ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡± palm discipline, and it was only something they learned thanks to their ancestor who coincidentally saved an adept. The adept married one of their daughters, which was how it was introduced into their family. It took several generations of modification and usage for it to be included among the three boxing and five palm disciplines.

    Having had a taste of the martial arts nectar, Song nbined it with their vastwork, setting up marriages left, right and centre. As a result, they were sworn siblings here, disciple and master there. In time, they used those means to expand theirwork until Song n members were virtually ubiquitous across thend. Want an example? Song Ou was in Liu Shan Men, and someone else was speaking to His Majesty.

    Contrary to their strictness in their family, Song n liberally befriended people outside of their family but kept a bnce to ensure there was no friction in their links. While they didn¡¯t develop fast, they didn¡¯t fall prey to the bad habit of trying to expedite progress at the expense of loose ends. They embodied the steadiness mantra better than any of the Seven Champion White Princes. Owing to their discipline to their policy andworks, if they were ever in a pickle, they could count on help from many people.

    If I were to venture a guess, Boss likely selected Song n for marriage in consideration of their positive reputation. Song n¡¯s decision to ept the offer demonstrated their patriarch was a courageous individual. After all, the decision brought on the risk of friction with Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage, on top of potentially rousing His Majesty¡¯s suspicions. As far as things had developed, his judgment was sound. Instead of suspecting them, His Majesty gradually granted them more. Song n definitely had ambitions, but they weren¡¯t afraid to wear it on their sleeves. For that reason, His Majesty didn¡¯t question them.

    The only thing His Majesty didn¡¯t like was fact that he was angry over his daughter being wasted. He actually liked Song Ou¡¯s indifference to big matters and cowardice to get involved with small matters. If Song Ou was disappointing, His Majesty would just scold or insult him. If Song Ou coveted power, though, His Majesty would probably send him to the castration room when he was exasperated.

    As for Boss and Song Ou¡¯s interactions in private¡­

    I rubbed my chest.

    What¡¯s this stuffy feeling? Did I gave too much to eat? Whatever. It¡¯s not like His Majesty could do anything about what they do in private.

    Anyway, His Majesty not liking Song Ou didn¡¯t mean he was dissatisfied with Song n.

    I only just sm-, I should say, Song Ou came asking to get smashed, and someone from his family already paid a visit. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a calcted move or pure coincidence.

    Anyhow, I had more important problems to contemte. It was time I found a way to repay my debts. The Martial World Treasury only cared for money, not friendships. If they decided to spread my secrets, my only option would be to lead Tang Ye and Su Xiao on a bloody charge out of the capital, escape to then Western Regions, then con people out of money and girls out of their bodies as fake deities.

    ¡­ Doesn¡¯t seem like a bad idea, actually. Well, I probably wouldn¡¯t even reach the west city doors in my current condition. Pick yourself up! Whatever obstacles I face, I¡¯ll take them on!

    The rock with ¡°Rongyu¡± carved on still apanied the pond, adding a lick of antiquity. I went around to the back of it, where the main doors of Daren Academy were. There was an elder in his fifties, hands behind his back, who gave off the vibe of amanding general underneath the ¡°Daren Academy¡± que. The man apanying seemed the same age; however, he resembled a statue inside Confucius¡¯ shrine. Since I didn¡¯t recognise them, I strolled past.

    ¡°Stop,¡± the schrly-looking man called out.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I reactively asked.

    Instead of answering my question, he visually analysed me in a condescending manner. ¡°What sort of student are you? You don¡¯t even know how to greet people?¡±

    Didn¡¯t I ask you for a name?!

    He grabbed his beard. ¡°You¡¯re as insensible as I¡¯ve heard.¡±

    You¡¯re the insensible one! I don¡¯t even know you folks. What did you call out to me for?

    The imposing man, in a deep voice, announced, ¡°I am Zhao Tiankui.¡±

    ¡­ I think I¡¯ve heard that name before?

    Zhao Tiankui¡¯s animosity toward me was virtually worn as a coat. ¡°I¡¯m here to visit my son. I heard you have taken care of him quite a bit. I shall pay a visit to Liu Shan Men when I am free.¡±

    I offered up a hold-fist salute. ¡°We will be waiting with a warm reception.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I thought you had a solid spine, but you¡¯re just another brownnoser,¡± the old schr surprisingly ribbed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Uh, and you are?¡± I inquired.

    The schr blew his beard. ¡°This old one is Song Lian. Song Ou is his nephew. You have also been taking care of his nephew.¡±

    ¡°So both of you are here to pick a bone with me?!

    Song Lian unexpectedly shook his head. ¡°This old one¡¯s nephew is too soft; a lesson is what he needs. In saying that, this old one is also a teacher at Daren Academy in charge of the Disciplinary Department. General Zhao is here to visit his son. This old one is here to catch a student. You! Why are you only arriving now?¡±

    What the hell?! You have family members in the imperial court and Daren Academy?!

 Book 12: 36

    Book 12: Chapter 36

    Hell no, I didn¡¯t expect this development.

    The Disciplinary Department¡¯s duty was to protect Daren Academy¡¯s integrity. For instance, they disciplined students who werete, didn¡¯t listen in ss, didn¡¯t wash their underpants and so forth. I always wondered how bored one had to be to sniff someone¡¯s underpants. Like, are you my mother or something?

    Song Lian looked to me. ¡°What are you looking at? Did you change yours?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Every day.¡±

    Rather than my mother, Song Lian oozed the vibe of a creepy pervert. He examined me with his shifty eyes, then sniffed me.

    ¡°You lied!¡±

    Since when?!

    ¡°Are you insulting this old one¡¯s nose? This old one¡¯s specialises in his sense of smell. As soon as he moulds qi, be it a dog, fiend or monster, this old one can identify them. The strong odour you emanate proves you haven¡¯t washed in a week and haven¡¯t changed your underwear in eight days.¡±

    ¡°You have too manyints for me to rebuff! I washedst night. Go ask our boss if you don¡¯t believe me!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your boss? You washed together? You dare to call your boss over for questioning?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t test me. I¡¯m not afraid of you. Our boss is Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-Captain Shen.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡± Zhao Tiankui interjected. ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve been busy running between the barracks and my home daily, so I forgot to wash for a few days. Perhaps the odour you smell ising from me.¡± He took off afterwards.

    I held my gaze against Song Lian¡¯s.

    Song Lian had another sniff once Zhao Tiankui was gone. ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s more like it.¡±

    Just how much do you like sniffing underwear, not to mention men¡¯s underwear?! Someone please tell me how Song n has such a positive reputation when they have a crotch-sniffing lover!

    Wearing a perplexed expression, Song Lian remarked, ¡°I hear your ss has registered for the academy idolpetition. Quanmu ss is overestimating itself. Since you are participating, you will honour the academy¡¯s rules. Should I catch any vitions, I¡¯ll revoke your right to participate.¡± Then he strolled off with his hands behind his back.

    ¡­ Are you telling me you waited for me by the entrance to sniff my underpants and rebuff me? The Disciplinary Department really must be bored out of their skin!

    As I made my way in, I deliberated the old man¡¯s threat. He had a point. If I couldpete, how would I repay my debt? ording to the academy¡¯s regluations, being punished to stand three times equalled a minor offence on your record. Three minor offences equalled one major offence. Two major offences were enough grounds for expulsion. I had already received standing punishment four times.

    Crap! I only have five more chances?! How is any human being supposed to survive this?! I swear I will never let myself be punished again. Nev-

    A booknded on my face the moment I entered the ssroom.

    Uncle Huang fumed, ¡°Ming Feizhen, where have you been during morning sses?! Go stand outside the door!¡±

    ***

    ¡°I swear I will never let myself be punished again. Never,¡± I repeated in my head over and over as I stood by the door with a board with ¡°I will not bete for ss again¡± hanging from my neck.

    ¡°You sure are a genius in your own right. People seldom get punished to stand three times in a year, yet you¡¯ve been punished five days in a span of only a few days since you started,¡± He Shi remarked.

    He Shi didn¡¯t have the best health around, but he was an absolute weapon at studying and came to school early. The exams wereing up in a few months. Therefore, Uncle Huang allowed him to self-study during ss times, and he chose to keep mepany at the door.

    ¡°You met Proctor Song? He is not targeting you; every student is his target. Proctor Song is Song n¡¯s Lord Song¡¯s younger brother. His strong sense of justice and outspoken personality renders him prone to shing with people, which is why he was sent here to work as a proctor. In reality, his appointment is exile from the n. The fact that he has continued to serve here for twenty years shows that he refuses to bow to his family, not that he would be of any use to them if he were to return to them now. If there is a problem with him, it¡¯s that he¡¯s too strict in upholding the academy¡¯s integrity.¡±

    ¡°Why does it sound like he hasn¡¯t sniffed your underpants before?¡±

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s even possible? He doesn¡¯t show any favouritism. I have to admire him for that.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°To me, it sounds like he¡¯s your role model.¡±

    ¡°Not true. Governing a nation is not about being unmovable. What good is it to operate on a ne nobody else can follow and lose the heart of the people? Being able to convey big promises and invigorate the people¡¯s spirit cannot put bread on their table. Books say, ¡®People admit to their transgressions¡¯. Who is ever silly enough to own up to their own transgressions? The only thing they will own up to is their mistakes, not their crimes. If self-governance could be observed, what¡¯s the point of having the imperial court?

    ¡°Proctor Song is outspoken, but that is also attributed to his prestigious background. If I were in his shoes, I¡¯d break two legs on the first day. His Highness is lenient. If it were me, I¡¯d twist my neck off and throw it over the wall. It¡¯s not like anybody would find out. Look, if you need to speak, speak. Why are you touching my leg?¡±

    ¡°Just checking if you were beat that bad to say something like that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you know the reason I¡¯ve been studying since I was a kid despite ten days feeling like one?¡±

    ¡°Cultivate yourself. Bring order to your family. Govern your people. Bring peace to all?¡±

    ¡°Wrong. It¡¯s to find employment as an official.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He Shi rolled his eyes. ¡°I just told you talk wouldn¡¯t solve problems, only for you to suggest that?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to be so blunt.¡±

    ¡°Why? My goal always was to be an official. How does one govern a country without being an official? You think reading is fun? Among all the Confucian ideals I read, I disagree with eight out of ten of them, yet I still have to memorise them.¡±

    This guy isn¡¯t just an official addict but even a rebel. Uncle Huang, your judgement is something else. How did you end up picking this guy?

    He Shi chortled in response to my taken-aback reaction. ¡°If you ask me, your enrolment is what¡¯s weird. What part of you suggests you¡¯re a schr? If you weren¡¯t clean and lousy at fighting, I¡¯d mistake you for a bandit, the big-time type in the mountains.¡±

    Not only is this guy a rebel, but he¡¯s incredibly perceptive, too! Uncle Huang, how about I pre-emptively nip this problem in the bud? Otherwise, he might ckmail you with your mah-jong debts if he finds out about them!

    Glossary

    Song n¡¯s lord ¨C Because Song n refers to themselves as Song n Fortress, they also use a different title to the moremon ¡°patriarch¡± that we¡¯vee across so far in the story. Hence, I assigned him the ¡°lord¡± title to emphasise this distinction. On the topic of the ¡°fortress¡± part, I omit it from their name because you don¡¯t always call a restaurant, shop and so forth by their name + the type of business they are. I find it strange to be adding the business type to every name when we don¡¯t actually do that in English.

    ¡°Cultivate yourself. Bring order to your family. Govern your people. Bring peace to all?¡± ¨C In case someone recognises this and wants to nitpick, the ¹ú in this phrase doesn¡¯t refer to countries. The ¹ú of this era (that this phrase was written) is tranted as ¡°States¡±. The ÌìÏÂ (domain under heaven) is also a troublesome concept to trante because, as we know it now, a nation is a country, but ÌìÏÂ can be split into many countries. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t use those words in the trantion. Wee to the non-xuanhuan world, where it¡¯s not everything goes.

 Book 12: 37

    Book 12: Chapter 37

    ¡°You registered for the idolpetition when you don¡¯t even know the terms and conditions?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m asking you?¡± I bribed He Shi with a melon seed I peeled.

    At first He Shi hesitated, but he took it in the end. His face radiated as he crunched on the seed. ¡°This?¡±

    I gave a big nod. ¡°Frying melon seeds require you to be precise with your ingredients and time. The amounts of aniseeds, cinnamon, allspice, sweet licorice and salt must be spot on. Soak them in water overnight. Leave them to dry for two hours. When you fry them without oil, you need watch the fire. Overdone or underdone won¡¯t bring out the optimal aroma and vour. Some people can never get it right in their life time.¡±

    He Shi raised his brows. ¡°You made these?¡±

    ¡°Hope my humble efforts are to your liking.¡±

    ¡°Gentlemen stay out of the kitchen. What are you smirking for?¡± He Shi stretched a hand out to me. ¡°G-give me another one.¡±

    The two of us snacked on melon seeds and drank huangjiu. They say, one would rather snack on melon seeds and drink huangjiu than be gods in heaven.

    ¡°On paper, everyone can take part in the contest. In reality, you need to register as a trio in order to avoid a situation where there are an excessive number of contestants. Therefore, only the best group from each ss can participate. Suffice to say, it is an unwritten rule. If you wanted, the entire ss could register, except you may all be eliminated at the preliminary and make more enemies. That¡¯s why it¡¯smonly one team per ss.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see. There¡¯s no limit to teams¡­ There¡¯s a main contest and preliminary contest now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a foregone conclusion.¡± He Shi showed me amiserated expression. ¡°The best sixteen groups will be selected from the preliminary round to begin the public contest. The preliminary round is held without an audience.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see, right, right. d. To. Hear. There¡¯s. No. Audience. What¡¯s being contested?¡±

    ¡°The six arts namely: rites, music, archery, chariotry, calligraphy and mathematics. Starting fromst year, they added a seventh contest on ount of the times ¨C martial arts. Hence, it¡¯s now called the ¡®Seven Arts¡¯.¡±

    He Shi went over the seven arts in detail for me. Thankfully, he had a good head and was erudite. Else, it¡¯d take ages to get to the core of the contests.

    ¡°Every time a new winner is crowned, a new faction is born. Up until today, every single winner has be influential in the academy. His Highness won two years ago, which is the reason he is called Prince Pce.¡±

    You¡¯re kidding. That little rasc-, actually, he does have the appearance to be an idol.

    ¡°Needless to say, he has aptitude and has put in the effort to study. Even without his backing, I¡¯d still consider him a strong rival. His victory wasn¡¯t a surprise.¡±

    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that, you didn¡¯t hang around with him back then because of his background? You had other considerations.¡±

    He Shi wore on a long face. ¡°So what if I did? It¡¯s all in the past.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I want to hear about it.

    ¡°You guys say there are Four Heavenly Rulers in the academy, right? What the hell is that all about?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they already exin it to you?¡±

    Yes, but I didn¡¯t understand a single word! What the hell is the Four Heavenly Rulers¡¯ battle or whatever?

    ¡°¡¯Pce¡¯ is a ceholder for a special ssroom.¡± He Shi took out a sheet of paper and a brush. He painted a map of the academy, four squares and then their names on each square with uracy that¡¯d suggest he had a ruler in his eyes. ¡°The winners of the contest have a special privilege ¨C the right to use one of the ssrooms in the academy and call it their own. In addition, they can select those who have the right to stay in the ss.¡±

    I tugged up an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Sounds interesting.¡±

    ¡°The ssroom His Highness was granted is the ssroom Northern Wondrous Warrior used to take sses in. That¡¯s why he and his ssroom are referred to as Wondrous Warrior Pce. He personally chose neen second-generation officials, which is Zhao Xin andpany.¡±

    Rather than saying the academy idol became a new faction, it¡¯d be more precise to say that the academy idol granted power to create a new faction. If one could choose their own clique, then they could grow their circle and, by extension, their power.

    ¡°He made sound choices. The people he selected catapulted him into the same realm as the other two who were realms ahead of him, ushering in a three-way era until there was a winnerst year, which broke the bnce.¡± He Shi¡¯s hand came to a halt as he paused. ¡°The four current Pces in the academy are Wondrous Warrior Pce, Flower Plucking Pce, Iron Head Pce and Freedom Pce.¡±

    ¡°Pause! The heck is ¡®Iron Head¡¯ doing in there?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the martial art discipline. Don¡¯t just parse what I say however you want. The ssroom is owned by the best fighter at the academy and the one with the best chances of passing the imperial martial arts exam, Che Gulu.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s his name again?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Keliya from Beijiang. Keliyas often take the ¡®Che¡¯ surname. He grew up in Beijiang and then migrated to the capital with his fatherter on, so his Mandarin is iffy. In contrast, he¡¯s a great fighter. As far as I¡¯m aware, he¡¯s formidable with his club in the capital. I don¡¯t know martial arts, but I heard he defeated Liu Shan Men¡¯s Shen Yirenst year inside fifty exchanges.¡±

    He did?

    Even if it wasst year¡¯s news, that would still bemendable. If it was true, Tang Ye wouldn¡¯t be his match right now. Hong Jiu might even lose if he didn¡¯t use Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Flower Plucking and Freedom Pces¡­ we¡¯ll skip over as they won¡¯t participate. Those who¡¯ve obtained the privileges are unlikely to partake again because they¡¯ll only receive some prizes for winning. Should they lose, though, their reputation will hit rock bottom. In addition, their special rights and title will be revoked. I suggest you scout out the remainingpetitors.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense. Makes sense. I have a question I¡¯m dying to ask: don¡¯t you feel embarrassed to say those nicknames?¡±

    ¡°No. Consider how embarrassing it is to be the one called those names.¡±

    Fair point¡­

    ¡°Last question: Su Xiao¡­ my boys were begged to sign up. Why?¡±

    He Shi pointed to the ssroom behind him as if it had nothing to do with him. ¡°Simple: because the ss is lousy. This ss is the bottom rung of the academy. Nearby is the storage room. It doesn¡¯t have its own courtyard. It¡¯s far from the library. There are holes in the ss¡¯ floor, walls and ceilings. It¡¯s cold in winter and hot in summer. Insects, bugs and rodents frequently visit. Our desks aren¡¯t too shabby, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because we bought them out of our own pockets.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Instead of being able to go straight to the food court, we have to exit the academy and go around to reach it. The only proper room in our vicinity is the principal¡¯s room.¡±

    Say what?!

    I jumped to my feet. ¡°We have a food court here?!¡±

    He Shi looked up, stupefied. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? I thought you were dieting or something. No wonder why I¡¯ve never seen you there.¡±

    I didn¡¯t bloody know! Diet?! Are you out of your mind?! Who cares if it¡¯s far? If there¡¯s free food, I¡¯ll go to the end of the world for it!

    ¡°Is the ssroom really that dpidated, though?¡± Besides it being too close to Uncle Huang¡¯s room, I thought the room was fine.

    ¡°Pull on this window if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    I figured I might as well find out. As soon as I tugged on it, I heard a crack, so I pulled away. The window frame was left half-open, with a part of it suspended in the air. That said, it wasn¡¯t broken.

    I patted my chest. ¡°Although it¡¯s a tad old, it¡¯s still g-¡±

    Rumble! Never did I think the six neighbouring folding windows woulde crashing into the ground, revealing the view of my ssmates in the middle of ss.

    Wu Dayong, with tears welling up in his eyes, bobbed his head. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s that bad.¡±

    I gulped. ¡°¡­ Worry not. I will sign up for thepetition.¡±

    My ssmates: ¡°We¡¯re putting our faith in you!¡±

    Don¡¯t worry. Even if it¡¯s not for your sakes, I wouldn¡¯t dare to lose.

    ¡°Tang Ye and Su Xiao alone won¡¯t be enough to secure our victory¡­ Are there any other suitable helpers¡­?¡±

    ¡°You n to seek help? Wise, but you¡¯re not the only one who cane up with that.¡±

    ¡°What are you implying?¡±

    He Shi had a drink of huangjiu, then smacked his lips. ¡°ording to the principal, there are quite a number ofpetitors this time. The imperial pce was lively this morning.¡±

    Glossary

    Huangjiu ¨C A popr alcoholic beverage in Jiangnan. Tranted, it means ¡±yellow wine¡±.

    Gentlemen stay out of the kitchen ¨C This is the current meaning of the phrase (which is designed for this context). Originally, Mencius used it to express his reluctance to eat meat after seeing an animal waiting to be butchered.

    Six arts ¨C Together, they formed the basis of education in ancient Chinese culture. If you could excel in all six arts, you had mastered the highest levels of education. There are actually two sets, one being ¡°Rites of Zhou¡± and the other being the six Confucius promoted after the Spring and Autumn Period.

    Iron Head ¨C The joke is lost in trantion. ¡°Pce¡± and the word attached to Iron Head ismonly used as ¡°martial arts discipline¡±, both of which are pronounced the same way. Therefore, Ming Feizhen hears ¡°Iron Head Discipline¡±. I changed the joke to him mishearing/selectively listening so that it works.

 Book 12: 38

    Book 12: Chapter 38

    There was no room for doubt that someone from Song n was in town as it came from Shen Yiren. Notwithstanding her informationwork, though, not even she was aware of the other n representatives¡¯ visit for the reason that even the imperial court only found out when they showed up on the day.

    While Ming Feizhen was searching for a ce to hide on the streets, Eunuch Wang Tushui nearly gasped when a low-ranking eunuch whispered something to him. Once he passed the news on to His Majesty, thetter chuckled and, without a change in mood or expressions, announced the end of morning court. His Majesty then sprinted over a kilometre instead of using his litter to return to his residential pce.

    Nobody understood what His Majesty¡¯s reaction was all about; the only thing they heard from outside the door to his residential pce was, ¡°Huang¡¯er, pack our luggage. We need to leave the imperial pce for a while.¡± s, a eunuch delivering a message reached the pce before they could finish packing. The eunuch informed him that Her Majesty Empress Dowager wanted His Majesty to receive a few guests from afar, or she would have to receive them. Consequently, he had to grant them an audience.

    The guests ruled over Jiangnan¡¯s martial artsmunity, formed friendships from a young age, stayed off the radar for the most part and had constantly measured their standpoints. Excluding ck Robe Brotherhood and Luo Sword Manor, there were a total of five guests.

    His Majesty¡¯s startled reaction wasn¡¯t attributed to the White Princes¡¯ emissaries. Following Luo Ming¡¯s seven kowtows and relinquishment of his n¡¯s special privileges, Jiangnan¡¯s martial world began plotting in the shadows whilst keeping up a peaceful appearance.

    In essence, Luo Ming set fire, then ran for the hills, leaving the six other White Princes to turn to each other for answers and scurry to make their move. It was possible His Majesty would resent Luo Ming henceforth; however, Luo Yan personally delivered the new batch of weapons to the capital and had yet to return to Huzhou. Why? Did he have something to discuss with the imperial court? On top of that, the imperial order ced another new order. Why would the imperial court order another batch of weapons at this time? Furthermore, Luo Ming had only been sent to lifetime imprisonment. Luo Mingmitted treason, yet, instead of parading his head on the streets, he was only locked up?

    ck Robe Brotherhood had roots in the capital and an alliance that saw them linked up to half of the imperial court¡¯s civil and martial officers. On the ¡°Wang¡± side of their faction, their scion was the Qilin Guard¡¯s grandmander, equipping them with the most military power. On the ¡°Xie¡± side of their faction, their daughter was the mother to a daughter and son of His Majesty¡¯s. Could His Majesty be med for being cautious of them?

    In saying that, at a deeper level, they were only relying on their status as His Majesty¡¯s rtives and their White Prince status. Ever since Luo Sword Manor relinquished their special rights, that insurance policy was gone. As a result, ck Robe Brotherhood¡¯s unease floated to the surface. That being the case, how could the other five White Princes, whom weren¡¯t even as close to His Majesty as ck Robe Brotherhood, feel insured? Hence, it was nothing surprising for the six to take action.

    The atmosphere in the imperial court had been tense because vassals had been going back and forth in regards to how to tackle the White Princes. Some argued the imperial court should crown them this or that to reassure them. Some encouraged riding the momentum to squash them. Some suggested starting with the weakest of the remaining six so that they could test the waters as well as find an ally. Others disputed that the best course of action was to bnce offence and defence. Secretary Lie being Secretary Lie gave a ssic Secretary-Lie answer: gather all our forces and annihte them! Emperor Yuansheng had been stressed over the debate ever since it began. At most, they could only specte how the White Princes would react and implement precautions. Without knowledge of the White Princes¡¯ ns, it was impossible to deem any course of action right or wrong.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage always maintained surveince on every White Prince in Jiangnan, reporting back to His Majesty daily on their observations so that he could retaliate if they were to attempt anything. Therefore, though he wasn¡¯t privy to every action they took, he was cognisant of the majority of their actions. In spite of that, five of them somehow contacted each other to seek an audience all of a sudden before he even caught wind of them.

    Thest time that saw the White Princes assemble was when the campaign against Demon Sect wasunched, and that was a special asion that required them to urgently convene. Nobody foresaw them gathering during a time of peace.

    Emperor Yuansheng arranged to meet the emissaries at Hongwu Pce, where matters pertaining to the martial world were discussed. Howbeit, instead of taking the risk of meeting them alone, therefore risking istion, he summoned two individuals who could immediately apany him.

    To Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s left was a graceful, yet authoritative, woman who carried herself as a model for ssy women to follow ¨C the reigning Empress. To his right was a woman blessed with the deceiving appearance and mannerisms of a maiden in her twenties ¨C his favourite wife, Brilliant Consort Feng Huang. As a descendant of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Her Majesty was the best candidate to deal with their representative. Meanwhile, Brilliant Consort was well-acquainted with Gold and Silver Sect due their family interactions prior to her marriage. The two of them, therefore, could provide opinions from different perspectives. Unfortunately, Emperor Yuansheng failed to ount for one thing: women weren¡¯t immune to jealousy.

    Emperor Yuansheng forced a smile. ¡°Ah, um, My L-¡±

    ¡°You did not even think to see me after spending half a year on vacation. When you finally summon me, it turns out you summoned me only because my family was here,¡± Her Majesty interjected.

    His Majesty fiddled, then turned to Brilliant Consort. ¡°Huang¡¯er, I, uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Why call for me, Your Majesty? I have aged and withered. No longer can I hold a candle to a young maiden. How about you find some young girls to your liking? You know, such as Miss Lyu. She is not bad at all.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had sat on the same chair for years, but it felt particrly hot on his bottom today. He had yet to extinguish those two fires when his Empress responded, ¡°Y-you are old? Brilliant Consort, you are young. Besides, His Majesty spends every night at your ce. What do you have toin about?¡±

    Brilliant Consort stretched her wet eyes. ¡°I did not force him toe. Why do you always pick on me for no reason?¡±

    ¡°Where did you get the nerve to speak in my presence?¡± Her Majesty snapped back.

    ¡°Wow, talk about no sense of morality. Had it not been for my encouragement, you think you would¡¯ve had the first night with His Majesty?¡±

    Needless to say, His Majesty missed his children and vassals during his time away from the capital, but the greatest challenge was convincing his wives to pardon him. Although the long journey was taxing, his long abstinence motivated him to fulfil his duty as their husband with flying colours. The imperial physicians and his attendants were worried sick for him. Theyuded him as the idol all men should strive to be, nevertheless.

    His Majesty spent his first night back with Her Majesty, then spent a night each with his other consorts on a rotating, unfixed roster. Once he had gone through one cycle, he spent every other night with Brilliant Consort henceforward. As a result, Her Majesty made snide remarks every time she met Brilliant Consort from then on.

    His Majesty had his head in his hands: How stupid am I? My own family is going at each other before the enemy has even spoken!

    Standing beside Wang Tushui, who stood beside the trio, was Long Zaitian. As ofte, Long Zaitian had been on a roll. To celebrate his return to his post and recent aplishments that saw everyone showing him respect, he had been holding parties for a month straight at his home, and he still hadn¡¯t finished celebrating. How did the dragon rise from back up from the depths of his puddle of piss? Two words: perceptive eyes. Regrettably, in regards to the fire in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s backyard and pincer attack, he could only fight the urge to look in the direction of the catastrophe.

    ¡°Long Zaitian, Long Zaitian!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Speaking through his clenched teeth, Emperor Yuansheng ordered, ¡°Think of something.¡±

    ¡°Your subject dares not interfere with your domestic affairs. Is that not touching a tiger¡¯s bott-¡± Long Zaitian didn¡¯t dare to finish what he was trying to say when Emperor Yuansheng threatened him with his gaze.

    Wang Tushui quietly reminded, ¡°Your Majesty, mannerisms, mannerisms.¡±

    With smokeing out of his head, His Majesty responded, ¡°Manners? Who needs to mind their manners?¡±

    Brilliant Consort showed Emperor Yuansheng a pair of pitiable eyes.

    ¡°My, His Majesty is speaking thenguage ofmoners all the time now. What his subjects doing when their duty is to take care of him?¡± Her Majesty¡¯s gaze could almost cut. ¡°You five, if you have something to say, say it.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    At longst, the five waiting had the attention they sought.

    Emperor Yuansheng cleared his throat and inquired, ¡°Uh, what emergency brought you all to the capital?¡±

    Although Emperor Yuansheng had imagined multiple scenarios and prepared strategies to prepare for them, that was the only question he could pose when he finally met them.

    There was an unbelievable lineup in the centre of the pce.

    Fourth senior monk of Cold Mountain Temple ¨C Divine Monk Xun Feng.

    Only daughter of Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n ¨C Bai Yumo.

    Song n¡¯s second eldest n celebrated for his skill in palm and broadsword disciplines ¨C Song Chi.

    Gold and Silver Sect and, arguably the imperial court¡¯s, most outstanding maiden ¨C Jin Zhaoying.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s L-

    ¡°Ling Mabi!¡± Long Zaitian pointed and eximed.

    ¡°My name is Ling Shaoxuan!¡±

    The youngest among the five was under eighteen. None of them were even twenty-five years old.

    Puzzled, Emperor Yuansheng questioned, ¡°Why¡­ did you fivee to the capital to see me?¡±

    Glossary

    Manners ¨C Lost in trantion. The version of ¡°manners¡± here sounds the same as one way of saying ¡°consort/concubine¡­ you get the drift¡±. After Wang Tushui says, ¡°Mannerisms¡±, Emperor Yuansheng actually replies, ¡°Consort? Which one?¡± I rewrote it to keep it running.

 Book 12: 39

    Book 12: Chapter 39

    Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s four senior monks were abbreviated as ¡°Feng, Hua, Xing, Jiu,¡± but their order of ranking was actually the reverse. Mianhua, Ruxing and Doujiu all excelled in certain facets of martial arts. In contrast, Xun Feng, who had yet to turn neen, wasn¡¯t equipped with noteworthy martial prowess. The reason he was still ranked alongside the three was attributed to his extensive knowledgebase.

    In the past, Xun Feng travelled with his fellow monks to the Western Regions¡¯ Lotus Sect to promote their beliefs. It was during the dangerous debacle that imprinted his name in the memories of other monks. He was able to drop over a dozen dangerous monks in one fell-swoop, and, although ¡°he¡± won and stopped the havoc, Xun Feng¡¯s aplishment won him a spot as one of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Divine Monks.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Beyond his fame as a public speaker, people were willing to pay fifteen gold for a single poem he wrote in the spur of the moment. Said poem consisted of only four words, ¡°Makes absolutely no sense,¡± yet the buyer praised it to the high heavens at a brothel. Specifically, he said, ¡°Venerable Xun Feng¡¯s poems are avable for viewing everywhere, but when have you seen these four words before? I don¡¯t care if you want to bid for it or take a look. Get in line.¡±

    Suffice to say, rich customers were willing to fork out for ady¡¯s smile. In the end, it sold for a thousand gold. That was how the ¡°¡¯Makes absolutely no sense¡¯ is Worth a Thousand Gold¡± became a popr story at a brothel.

    Song Chi¡¯s ¡°Jade Gentleman¡± nickname in Jiangnan alluded to his handsome flower-boy appearance. The imperial court would struggle to find a few employees of theirs who could give him a run for his money. While Song n wasn¡¯t famous for their martial arts exploits, Song Chi made a name for himself in the field through his innovations thatpensated for the shorings in Song n¡¯s disciplines. As he held first ce alongside Lian Zhuiyue on ¡°Seventeen Hidden Wyrms¡± rankings, there was a phrase that went, ¡°Southern Song, Northern Zhuiyue.¡± If he was the one Shen Yiren was engaged to, Emperor Yuansheng would likely have been celebrating every day.

    In the pugilistic world, Bai Yumo and Jin Zhaoying were among what they called ¡°Seven Jade Goddesses¡±, which was a name derived from the fact that all seven of them were members of the Seven Champion White Princes, but it existed to highlight their beauty, prestigious statues and skills.

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t know a lot about Seven Jade Goddesses because he went out of his way to follow their news. He was informed because ck Robe Brotherhood¡¯s member in the group was his daughter ¨C Princess Hongzhuang. Owing to her character, it didn¡¯t take long for her to hit it off with the six other maidens.

    The seven maidens formed an alliance to enforce peace in the martial world and participated in phnthropy endeavours. Just recently, they resolved a tough situation in the northwest. Poprity-wise, they were more famous than Seventeen Hidden Wyrms. In terms of strength, if Li Hongzhuang was the measuring stick, then the seven could qualify for a spot on Seventeen Hidden Dragons.

    Today was Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s first time meeting Bai Yumo. While she was gifted with an adorable appearance and unlikely to be insanely strong given they were seventeen years old, at most, Bai n was infamous for having weird descendants, so¡­ Emperor Yuansheng needed to be on his toes.

    Seventeen year old Jin Zhaoying came to the capital seven years ago and entered Daren Academy with the highest academic score, bing a sensation right away. Two yearster, the tutors at the academy all said, ¡°There is nothing we can teach her.¡± Once she read something once, she¡¯d never forget it. Everyone was surprised when the reticent maiden expressed herself bluntly and showed perspectives most wouldn¡¯t think of on papers; she didn¡¯t mince her words when denouncing the pros and cons of current affairs. When she got into a long debate with displeased schrs across thend, young schrs flocked to the capital to meet her and show off. Many of them wanted to win her affection in order to use Gold and Silver Sect as theirunch pad. Unfortunately for them, they ended up bing herunch pad to stardom.

    The academy was designed to nurture talent, and the imperial court didn¡¯t forbid women from working as civil servants. No matter which department, who tried or what they offered, nobody could entice Jin Zhaoying to offer her service.

    Five years had passed since Jin Zhaoying rose to frame. Howbeit, she still resided at Daren Academy¡¯s Flower Plucking Pce alone with her attendant.

    Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s appearance was still fresh in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s mind as Ling Ruoyun¡¯s substitute at Luo Ming¡¯s Refining Divine Convention. Of the five, he was the most uneasy for he never exined the reason he criticised Emperor Yuansheng after the fact.

    In certain ways, the five were famous. Their backgrounds were nothing to scoff at. Still, the fivebined still had no business negotiating with the imperial court. They weren¡¯t even important members of authority in their respective ns. At most, they were potential sessors of their factions. A single head of the Seven Champion White Princes amounted to more than all five of thembined. As a head, they had the duty to feed countless people. Therefore, they had a ce speaking to a monarch who had the duty to feed everyone under his rule and maintain the peace. No amount of academic excellence or martial prowess couldpensate. Since he understood this, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what the White Princes were plotting. For what end would they upy his agents with their heads¡¯ movements so that the five could sneak into the capital?

    Song Chi stepped forward.

    Trivia

    Southern Chi, Northern Zhuiyue ¨C For the privy, it is likely a spin-off of Jin Yong¡¯s Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils¡¯ Murong Fu and Qiao Feng ¨C Northern Qiao Feng, Southern Murong.

 Book 12: 40

    Book 12: Chapter 40

    Song Chi performed his salute. ¡°Prior toing to the capital, your subject¡¯s father reminded him to convey gratitude for trusting us all these years. Should the opportunity arise, your subject was to personally express appreciation in the capital.¡±

    Typically, it should¡¯ve been the duty of the eldest son in the family to pass on those words. Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t just any acquaintance of Song n, though. Plus, he knew what sort of character Song Ou was, so he didn¡¯t mind Song Chi delivering the words in his brother¡¯s steed. The only emotion he attached with the message was confusion. No matter how he tried, Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t derive any information from Song Chi¡¯s respectful visage.

    ¡°Lord Song is too kind. Who in the pugilistic world does not sing the praises of Lord Song for his contributions to the imperial court and nation? There is no need to kowtow or anything of the sort. If I could make time, I would like to invite him to the capital to learn from him.¡±

    ¡°Zi Li can only repay your kindness with words of appreciation. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Song Chipleted one more kowtow before he slowly rose to his feet. From beginning to end, every action was executed with unimpeachable decorum. ¡°In addition to showing gratitude, your subject was tasked with one more thing.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng: We¡¯re finally getting to the main course.

    ¡°Speak freely,¡± Emperor Yuansheng responded.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Song Chi held his hands up in salute whilst lowering his head. ¡°Luo n¡¯s ungrateful decision to repay your kindness with malice is despicable.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng felt he was starting to understand Song Chi¡¯s personality from the speed at which thetter broached the topic. ¡°Luo n has received the penance they deserve. There is no need to mention this again.¡±

    ¡°That is wed logic. Traitors are public enemies. Thankfully, you are blessed with immeasurable luck. Zi Li¡¯s father loathes himself every time he is reminded of the incident. Even if he is not Luo Ming¡¯s match, he could have shielded you from harm.¡±

    Her Majesty kept herposure, but Brilliant Consort Huang turned her head away to avoid showing her scowl ¨C though her shaking shoulders might¡¯ve led to the misunderstanding that she was trying to hold inughter.

    Fighting his urge tosh out, Emperor Yuansheng nodded with a forced smile. ¡°Please pass on my thanks.¡±

    ¡°You did not execute Luo Ming on the spot because you are lenient. In contrast, stories out there are gradually exaggerating the facts, iming that we seven are overstepping our boundaries and harbour ill will towards you. Father is most furious with these false rumours. The people are not privy to the details, and people with ulterior motives are fanning the mes. As vassals, however, we must express our feelings to shut down the malignant lies. To that end, Father ordered your subject to contact his four sworn siblings to convene in the capital and meet you. Father stressed that we must serve the imperial court and you.¡±

    Judging from Song Chi¡¯s tone and gaze, Emperor Yuansheng would¡¯ve believed the five emmisaries¡¯ aim was to intimidate him had it not been for his agents being misled. At the same time, he inwardlymented how the discrepancy between Song Ou and Song Chi could be so pronounced; it was easy to convince anyone they weren¡¯t brothers. He wouldn¡¯t have to feel bad for Shen Yiren if her fianc¨¦ was Song Chi instead of Song Ou.

    ¡°Well said.¡± Brilliant Consort pped brightly. ¡°Your Majesty, you always adte the Seven Champion White Princes for their unyielding loyalty, diligence in protecting the borders and people to maintain the peace, never forcing anyone against their will, oppress people, build militaries for personal use, hoard money to build their wealth, disrespect you, refuse to adhere to orders or anything of the sword. You also mentioned our ancestor¡¯s friendship with the seven families is absolutely sincere.

    ¡°Coming from a family of merchants, I am but an ignorant woman who does not understand politics, but I used you of trusting the wrong people. Who would have thought that I was right? You see? Luo Sword Manor¡¯s insurgence a mere half a year ago has rendered five families stricken with panic. They must be struggling day to day with unease; that must be why they forgot to even writ e a letter. Shielding you from a strike from Yangzhou is the utmost disy of loyalty to a monarch and its nation, a deed worthy of reward.

    ¡°They were concerned for the nation and its people upon hearing Luo Sword Manor relinquished their special entitlements. See? Their emissaries arrived before they could even write a letter. To be concerned about one¡¯s ruler¡¯s concerns is the heart of a vassal¡¯s service. I am ashamed to admit I would question the loyalty of loyal men.¡±

    Brilliant Consort Huang had never lost an argument prior to her marriage. After her marriage, Emperor Yuansheng was always the loser in their debates. Today, he was the first person to benefit from her weapon.

    It was impossible to tell how Jin Zhaoying reacted to the verbal p from behind her thin face veil. Meanwhile, Venerable Xun Feng shook his head. Song Chi instantly saluted andplimented Brilliant Consort Huang as though it was drilled into him. Bai Yumo, as well as Ling Shaoxuan,cked the cunningness and ability to hide their emotions, resulting in them going red in the face.

    Brilliant Consort Huang smiled at Venerable Xun Feng. ¡°Venerable Xun Feng, monks do not deceive people. What is the reason for your visit? Is Venerable Monk nning to shield His Majesty from flying daggers from Suzhou and wanted you to notify His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest, Your Highness. This one is a drifter with only the goal of giving speeches. In times of need, how can he not offer his services to the imperial court? Although it is not voluntary, he is here.¡± Venerable Xun Feng shook his head as though he wanted to emphasise he was in the capital against his will.

    ¡°Shaoxuan, are they telling the truth?¡± questioned Her Majesty. While she was Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s aunt, she couldn¡¯t address me as if they were at home during court.

    ¡°Every word is true, Your Majesty. This one was sent here to offer his services by his proxy sanctuary master.¡±

    Sanctuary master was one way Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s members referred to their patriarch. At present, their proxy sanctuary master was Her Majesty¡¯s elder brother, nicknamed Jiangnan¡¯s General Manager ¨C Ling Yaoshi. Considering their members revered him as the equivalent of a god, Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s im held strong credibility.

    Her Majesty stopped to think, then queried, ¡°Before you left, what sword did your proxy sanctuary master tell you to take with you?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan felt whirls of fear spin inside his gut.

    Her Majesty mmed her table. ¡°I asked you a question. Are you refusing to answer?¡±

    ¡°K-King Yao.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While an outsider might¡¯ve brushed it off as an impertinent question, Her Majesty knew better than that. Whoever led a group from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary would carry a special sword that acted as a token of authority tomand members. If it was an ordinary sword, they were likely on a training trip, searching for treasure or something of that nature. If it was a special sword, the goal wasn¡¯t something so trivial. King Yao was Ling Yaoshi¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Men, detain these five rebels!¡± Her Majesty ordered.

    Glossary

    Zi Li ¨C In case it was missed, Zi li is Song Chi¡¯s courtesy name.

 Book 12: 41

    Book 12: Chapter 41

    ¡°You misunderstand, Your Majesty!¡± Ling Shaoxuan cried.

    Sharing a cosmic moment as they frequently did, Emperor Yuansheng and Her Majesty both cast their gaze to Long Zaitian at the same time.

    Without wasting a moment, Long Zaitian shouted, ¡°Misunderstand, my foot! You going to kneel and yield, or am I going to have to make you?!¡±

    Long Zaitian was revving to put on a show in front of His Majesty since he failed to stop the quarrel before. Though he wouldn¡¯t dare to swing a weapon in their presence, he was good with his fists. Plus, it wasn¡¯t as though his opponents would dare to wield a weapon for the same reason. ordingly, he charged forward to uncork abo. Before he could make contact, though, he felt his elbow go numb, followed by numbness in his lower back. Next thing he knew, he was on his back.

    Emperor Yuansheng tilted his head in bafflement.

    ¡°Ehehe.¡± Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes conveyed, ¡°I lost.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng bobbed his head and extended a finger upward.

    Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes conveyed, ¡°Please no.¡±

    Song Chi dusted his hands and smiled. ¡°Your Majesty, you really have misunderstood.¡±

    Coming from a family of martial artists, Her Majesty could discern how skilled Song Chi was from the way he subdued Long Zaitian. Nheless, the imperial pce wasn¡¯t so hopeless that Long Zaitian was their best guard. In a low voice, she questioned, ¡°What misunderstanding can there be when you¡¯re carrying King Yao?¡±

    During Ling Yaoshi¡¯s time as proxy leader, he was granted immense authority, which was why his sword was the equivalent of him. Why would Ling Shaoxuan need to carry around a sword that couldmand thousands of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary members in times of peace?

    ¡°That is the misunderstanding. ording to Zi Li¡¯s knowledge, the sword is not intended for private use but to be passed on to the imperial court.¡±

    Her Majesty¡¯s me was somewhat quenched. ¡°Is that true?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan hurried to his knees. ¡°Aunt, Proxy Sanctuary Master said that we have many members, some of whom are difficult to manage. As such, we are willing to offer our authority. This empowers the imperial court to step in should any friction escte. Should any members fail to observe the rules, the imperial court will have the authority to impose consequences instead of feeling it needs to consider Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s stance.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng and his wives were all taken aback. Since when did a preaching fox offer its own geese?

    ¡°You are too rash, Sister. You scared them.¡± Brilliant Consort¡¯s remark and dimple served to ease the tension in the atmosphere. ¡°You five really need to be more sensible. The three boys are doing all the talking instead of giving the girls a chance to speak. You three step back, and let me speak to the two girls.¡± Ignoring the fact that Ling Shaoxuan was still kneeling, she affably turned to Bai Yumo. ¡°Oh, Bai n¡¯s daughter is beautiful. How old are you this year? Are you married yet?¡±

    Bai Yumo, cheeks seared, murmured, ¡°Seventeen¡­ Not yet¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What was that?¡±

    Foreign to handling the questions, Bai Yumo¡¯s voice tapered off more and more with each word. ¡°N-no¡­ I am not married yet¡­¡±

    ¡°Bai n has a hobby of setting couples up, yet they¡¯re leaving their daughter on her own? Do you have someone you like? If you do, I shall speak up for you. Regardless of which family he is on, I¡¯ll make sure you have him.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Bai Yumo shook her head vigorously. ¡°No! No! Thank you, Your Highness, but I do not have anyone I like!¡±

    Brilliant Consort Huang chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re adorable. Tell me: what is the purpose of your visit today?¡±

    Bai Yumo began fiddling with her fingers. ¡°Dad told me to follow Brother Song and help with anything that I can. Dad wants me to bring my unbridled temperament under control and stop being a tomboy. He also said I should have some real-world knowledge since I am now seventeen instead of only training at home. He said I need to know more boys so that I can marr-¡± She covered her mouth. ¡°You only need to worry about the first part!¡±

    Even Her Majesty couldn¡¯t keep a straight face, let alone Brilliant Consort Huang and His Majesty.

    Brilliant Consort Huang turned to Jin Zhaoying. ¡°Talented Maiden Jin, you have been in the capital for a long time, so you have had plenty of opportunities to enter the pce. Why did you suddenly decide to visit us without any prior notice?¡±

    ¡°This one is here on orders of her family¡¯s head. She was ordered to not reveal anything to anyone.¡± Jin Zhaoying was too proud to lie, but her adherence to her patriarch¡¯s orders came as a surprise.

    ¡°What did Patriarch Jin task you with?¡±

    ¡°There is no need to ask this one. You can consult Song Chi; he will not withhold information.¡±

    Brilliant Consort Huang was the person who suggested questioning Jin Zhaoyingst, reasoning Jin Zhaoying was the only person she knew among the five. They didn¡¯t just know each other but were even the closest of friends. Not only did theye from simrly wealthy families, but they were also around the same age. Brilliant Consort Huang befriended Jin Zhaoying during thetter¡¯s several visits to the imperial pce, and they had seven years to nurture their friendship further. Brilliant Consort Huang helped Jin Zhaoying several times when thetter was inundated with requests for her to be an official. Brilliant Consort Huang also turned to Jin Zhaoying several times when her husband faced tough problems. As a consequence, Brilliant Consort Huang felt betrayed to see her friend in the pce with the other four. Given time to scrutinise, though, she felt her friend¡¯s typical rxed mannerisms were a sign that she was making wrong assumptions.

    Likewise, Emperor Yuansheng no longer felt apprehensive about the sudden visit.

    Meeting with Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s gaze, Song Chi politely smiled, then stepped forward.

    It was unknown what Song Chi did; however, it was a fact that Long Zaitian¡¯s numbness dissipated, allowing him to return to his feet. ¡°Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!¡± Long Zaitian raced back to stand anterior to Emperor Yuansheng and pointed at Song Chi. ¡°What was that sorcery?! I won¡¯t allow you to have your way for as long as I¡¯m here!¡±

    Song Chi amiably stated, ¡°The first reason we requested an audience today is to erase the insinuations people are spreading and clear our name. The second reason is because we know the imperial court is in urgent need of hands. Therefore, although aware of our rashness, we requested an audience to volunteer ourselves. For our rashness, we sincerely apologise.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng took a moment to process everything. ¡°¡­ You are aware the imperial court has its own regtions for hiring, yes? You cannot be a civil servant just because you desire so.¡±

    ¡°Zi Li is aware of your concerns. We cannot undermine the imperial court¡¯s regtions. In saying that, Zi Li believes the special exams you announced are an opportunity. For that reason, Zi Li boldly suggested his brothers and sisters toe together.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    Song Chi nodded. ¡°Is being ranked not an opportunity? Zi Li knew about Sister Zhaoying attending Daren Academy. The four of us are also willing to enrol at Daren Academy to study to prepare for the imperial exams for the opportunity to serve.¡±

    ¡°You intend to take the imperial exams?¡±

    In five different voices and in a synchronised beat, the five answered, ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ***

    Long after the five departed, it was dead silent in the pce despite there being three people present.

    ¡°Seven Champion White Princes, more like Seven Old Foxes,¡± Emperor Yuansheng remarked.

    Gently patting Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s back, Brilliant Consort Huang urged, ¡°Do not let them get to you, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not mad. I just didn¡¯t expect this move. I underestimated them.¡±

    It was true that Emperor Yuansheng was in desperate need ofpetent individuals, reason being he projected uingplications with the remaining White Princes regardless of their pro-war or pro-peace stance. He wanted a taskforce dedicated to squashing them. In the end, though, they chose a third route: they were neither willing to copy Luo Sword Manor or start a war. What sort of joke was a force built with members of the very enemy they were supposed to eliminate?

    Her Majesty advised, ¡°Do not feel pressured, Your Majesty. Winnowing the White Princes requires tremendous mental fortitude. You cannot be shaken when it is only the beginning.¡±

    Despite her emotionless tone, Her Majesty¡¯s determination soothed Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s raised shoulders. He always found Her Majesty to be special. Her tendency to swing to extremes in her mood kept people on their toes and at arm¡¯s length. Whenever foreign enemies entered the fray, howbeit, she¡¯d be the most reliable backup he could ask for. During one rebellion, shemanded the defence force alone from atop a city wall.

    Emperor Yuansheng gently took hold of Her Majesty¡¯s hand, surprising her. She initially wanted to pull away as Brilliant Consort Huang was still present. Once she reflected on the fact that her stubborn personality was the reason she was frequently alone in her pce, she decided to fight her embarrassment and let him hold her hand until her cheeks turned rosy.

    ¡°What more could I ask for when I have you two.¡± Emperor Yuansheng took hold of Brilliant Consort Huang¡¯s hand with his other hand.

    For the first time, Her Majesty allowed Brilliant Consort Huang to express kindness with her eyes while she was still around, much to the shock of Brilliant Consort Huang. Being as quick as she was, nevertheless, Brilliant Consort Huang soon understood why Emperor Yuansheng liked Her Majesty.

    ¡°They have thedder to scale the walls. I have Zhang Liang¡¯s brilliance. Hmph, I ensure my soldiers are in tip-top form so that I can count on them when I need them. Men, summon my Zifang for me.¡± Emperor Yuansheng consoled his wives with a smile. ¡°Mydies, you need not worry. They can¡¯t scare me.¡±

    Brilliant Consort Huang smiled. ¡°That is a given.¡±

    Her Majesty followed suit. ¡°That is a foregone conclusion.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng felt imbued with the confidence and strength to singlehandedly choke out an overgrown bear in a wild forest until Brilliant Consort Huang asked, ¡°So, can you now exin Miss Lyu¡¯s story?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had the privilege of feeling how it felt to fall from thedder of sess.

    Her Majesty: ¡°Who? Who¡¯s Miss Lyu?¡±

    ¡°You did not know, Sister? I shall tell you.¡±

    When else should Emperor Yuansheng have run if not when the two were whispering? He carefully turned and, on the tip of his toes, stepped aside. He winked at Long Zaitian and Wang Tushui for them to cover him. Upon hearing a lion¡¯s roar from behind, the three juddered.

    ¡°Oi, stop where you are! You have yet another woman outside?!¡±

    ¡°Where are you going, Your Majesty?! Stop where you are!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to search for Zifang! I¡¯ll see you two again some time!¡±

    The pce smelt like blood on that day.

    His Majesty broke his best sprint record on that day.

    It was¡­ a dark day.

    Glossary

    They have thedder to scale the walls. I have Zhang Liang¡¯s brilliance ¨C A less literal trantion is, ¡°They¡¯re not the only ones with ns.¡± I used a literal trantion because it connects to one of theter lines, namely, ¡°Men, summon my Zifang for me.¡± Zifang is the courtesy name of Zhang Liang, a Chinese military strategist and politician who lived in the early Western Han dynasty.

 Book 12: 42

    Book 12: Chapter 42

    Owing to external forces he was hopeless against, Emperor Yuansheng failed to leave the pce and search for his Zifang. If he stepped out of the pce doors, he¡¯d discover his destination was the same as the five emissaries who paid him a visit.

    ¡°Thank you, Principal.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank this old one for respecting the rules. Let us make it clear that, even with your family heads¡¯ rmendations, the four of you are only family of faculty members. You are permitted to listen in to sses for two months, after which you must leave the academy.¡±

    The first thing the emissaries did upon leaving was follow Song Chi to Daren Academy. Jin Zhaoying didn¡¯t need to meet with Huang Yuzao given she was already a member of the academy.

    ¡°We are the ones who invited ourselves, so we understand we are imposing on you. Even if we cannot attend sses, it is an honour to meet Xuanduan Tingshuo Principal Huang in person.¡±

    Huang Yuzao stared at Song Chi with an unshakeable gaze. ¡°So you knew that, yet you chose toe here now of all times. The capital must not be in enough turmoil for you.¡± As a faculty member during Song Ou¡¯s time in Daren Academy, Huang Yuzao knew Song Ou¡¯s character, so he could see how the younger brother prised his elder brother ¨C both good and bad facets.

    ¡°Please pardon Zi Li¡¯s ignorance. Is there something you are trying to suggest?¡±

    ¡°With the special examinationsing up, people from every corner of the pugilistic world areing here for an opportunity. The heart of the Qilin Guards is by the northern border, far from anyone¡¯s reach. To keep a pulse on you White Princes and to prevent Demon Sect¡¯s resurrection, especially in light of the active status, Emperor¡¯s Entourage are also out and about. As a consequence, Liu Shan Men is the only office avable to handle matters in the martial world. However, they are but a shell of their former self. All they can do is have Song Ou send information. Shen Yiren has been holding everything together on her own. They¡¯ve only started to rise again, and they¡¯re on their own with a full te. You chose toe in this situation to catch His Majesty before he could prepare, which makes it easier for you to stir the pot in the capital. This old one is no fool.¡±

    Bai Yumo and Ling Shaoxuan had, ¡°Really?¡± written on their faces, while Song Chi maintained his friendly smile without batting an eye and replied, ¡°Zi Li¡¯s loyalties are not veiled. You need not be paranoid, Principal.¡±

    ¡°Young man.¡± Huang Yuzao stared straight into Song Chi¡¯s eyes.

    Song Chi felt suffocated, weak and immobile as golden energy enveloped him simrly to an anaconda wreathing around him. Once he waspletely shrouded, the energy assumed a spherical form. Despite his best efforts to resist, he would be shut down straight away until his mind was shut down before signals from his brain could reach his limbs. It happened faster than the time it took to blink, yet he was only a few breaths away from death.

    ¡°You have several misunderstandings. In thest three decades, more than 1300 scums of the martial world have died to these old hands. This old one hates nothing more than scoundrels who try to incite trouble. None of them he has encountered lives to tell the tale. Has he made himself clear?¡±

    Blood quickly faded from Song Chi¡¯s face when his eyes glowed. A trail of transparent purple energy from his stomach split the golden ball, granting him an oxygen supply again. Gripping his de whilst breathingboriously, he choked out, ¡°Zi Li¡­ is¡­ is grateful for the lesson¡­¡± He should¡¯ve said, ¡°Principal¡±, but he needed to convey the words as fast as he could in a breathless state.

    Even if Huang Yuzao wasn¡¯t the elder one and Song Chi didn¡¯t concede, Huang Yuzao had no intention of continuing since he never intended to kill. His goals were to warn them and to see what Song Chi¡¯s capacity was.

    To escape Huang Yuzao¡¯s ¡°Grand Undertaking¡± at 60% of his full capacity was brag worthy, let alone being able to speak. When he sparred with Yu Feiyuan in the past, he believed she was qualified to start her own school. While Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t possess knowledge on every discipline in existence, he did know enough to tell whether someone practiced an orthodox discipline or not. Song Chi was on the same level as Yu Feiyuan, and he didn¡¯t rely on someone transferring energy, using supplements or unorthodox methods; he earned his skills through dedication.

    ¡°Who did you learn your broadswordy from? Song n wouldn¡¯t have that technique in their sybus.¡±

    Song Chi inhaled, then smiled once again. ¡°This one¡¯s teacher does not wish to be named, so please forgive him.¡±

    Song Chi only needed three breaths to return to normal. If he really was close to Lian Zhuiyue in abilities, then the current generation was already recing the previous generation. If Song Chi practiced an unorthodox discipline, Huang Yuzao would¡¯ve killed him on the spot if not crippled him.

    ¡°So be it. Howbeit, you must explicate why you came to the capital with the other families.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Huang, that is enough, do you not think?¡± The monk with a phoenix tattoo on his face stepped in between them.

    ¡°Indeed, this old one should be your uncle based on his rtionship with Venerable Monk. However, this old one doesn¡¯t like you, so you don¡¯t need to address him as ¡®Uncle¡¯.¡±

    ¡°But this one was told to address you as ¡®Uncle¡¯ no matter what.¡± Xun Feng burped mid speech.

    Huang Yuzao covered his nose. ¡°It¡¯s disgraceful to be this intoxicated in broad daylight. What part of you says you¡¯re a monk?¡±

    Xun Feng patted his bald head. ¡°Haha, this one nearly forgot he was a monk. He shall spend the night reciting sutras and reflecting. Uncle, it shall be goodbye for now.¡± He strolled off as though he was strolling through a brothel.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    Xun Feng casually looked over his shoulder. ¡°Yes, Uncle?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No matter what ns you have, leave the people out of it, or I¡¯ll be the first one to stop you.¡±

    Xun Feng¡¯s eyes shut as he smiled. ¡°Of course. This one shall visit again another day.¡± He bobbed his head slightly as a salute, then dragged Song Chi along.

    Bai Yumo and Ling Shaoxuan hurriedly saluted Huang Yuzao before following after the two.

    Not long after exiting Huang Yuzao¡¯s room, Song Chi stated, ¡°This is good enough, Brother Feng.¡±

    Xun Feng stepped away from Song Chi. Song Chi took a deliberate breath, slowly bringing some normal colour back to his face. ¡°The head of Confucius is no joke. I am ashamed I could not withstand even one exchange.¡±

    ¡°My uncle is good enough to go tit for tat with my monastery¡¯s abbot. You should be proud you didn¡¯t get hurt.¡±

    Song Chi shook his head. ¡°¡­ We have seen His Majesty and Principal Huang; we can say the first step is a sess. We have no time to waste. Let us begin the next step right away. Everyone has a task; do we all know where we need to go?¡±

    The three nodded.

    ¡°There is someone I¡¯d like to see, too, so I shall take my leave now. See you at the academy tomorrow.¡± Song Chi saluted them with his hands prior to heading off to his destination.

 Book 12: 43

    Book 12: Chapter 43

    Since Su Xiao and Tang Ye gave their word topete in the academy idol contest, they had to prepare. Su Xiao carried a tall stack of books because he needed to do plenty of writing to tackle the ¡°rites¡± contest. Tang Ye lugged hundreds of empty scrolls, brushes, inkstones and pots of ink as he chose topete in ¡°calligraphy¡±. Su Xiao could handle the arithmetic side of thepetition, while Tang Ye nned to take care of music, archery and chariotry. Ming Feizhen? Neither of them thought they could count on him for any of the six subjects.

    Seeing Su Xiao¡¯s gaite to a halt, Tang Ye questioned, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao squinted. ¡°I suspect someone is tailing us.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Su Xiao pointed to the rear. ¡°Because there really is somebody following us.¡±

    There was a tall and bald pretty boy with a phoenix tattoo on his face and a girl just past her teens spacing out. Upon meeting eyes with Tang Ye, the monk smiled and went to speak, but Tang Ye set down his stuff and coldly asked, ¡°You want to fight?¡±

    The monk scratched his head. ¡°I never said that.¡±

    Tang Ye looked askance at Su Xiao. ¡°He says he wants to fight. I¡¯ll go over. If things look like they¡¯re heading south, run.¡±

    When Tang Ye took his fourth step forward, Xun Feng opened his mouth to speak; however, Tang Yeunched himself forward to execute a downward chop ¨C Chop Mount Hua. Xun Feng could smell burnt charcoal and feel hotter once Tang Ye was within three metres of him.

    Su Xiao bolted off with his stack of books, but he stopped once he reached the neighbouring courtyard for his obstructed vision rmed him.

    The girl in the martial arts robe dered, ¡°Hi, my surname is Bai. I am here to challenge you.¡±

    ¡°Hi, my surname is Su. Stay away from me!¡±

    ***

    Xun Feng performed a hand brush motion, reducing the heat somewhat, then performed the same with his other hand, gradually speeding up the motion and reducing the interval between each brush. The breezes he generated gradually cancelled out the iing heat.

    Tang Ye¡¯s destructive approach couldn¡¯t ovee Xun Feng¡¯s force, rendering him stationary whilst airborne. Had he still pushed forward with tunnel vision as he did in the past, it would¡¯ve been the final exchange between them.

    When you couldn¡¯t tell if your opponent ismitting or feinting,mitting to an attack of your own was the same as giving your weakness to your opponent. s, being airborne severely limited one¡¯s choices.

    For someone who said he wasn¡¯t interested in fighting, Xun Feng¡¯s unreadable answer sure wasn¡¯t reflective of that.

    Having learnt when to push and when to pull back, Tang Ye retracted his arm to guard himself whilst spinning to his feet. Countering defence with defence nullified the advantage one¡¯s opponent had gained.

    Xun Feng allowed Tang Ye to reset and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a little impulsive, aren¡¯t you? This one did say he wasn¡¯t here to fight, no?¡±

    ¡°Would you approach us with bloodlust oozing out of you if you weren¡¯t after a fight?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So your goal was tomit murder.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Tang Ye nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t stop you from trying to kill me, but I don¡¯t suggest you do so here; it¡¯ll cause inconveniences for others. There¡¯s a mountain to the west of the city with cool breezes and cold water. If it weren¡¯t for theck of tigers, it¡¯d be perfect. How about we duel to the death there? You first.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I don¡¯t want to kill you, either.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded again. ¡°Ordinary fights here aren¡¯t eptable, either.¡± He then got into stance.

    ¡°Wait, you got it wrong.¡±

    ¡°To the mountains, then?¡±

    ¡°No, no need.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± Tang Ye was already airborne and boiling the air by the time his reply reached Xun Feng¡¯s ears.

    Xun Feng instinctively strafed, though he could hear crackling mes and smell smoke. He didn¡¯t need to look back to know a pir had just be his scapegoat. He wanted to experience the thrill of ying a viin, especially the clich¨¦, dangerous provocation. He never expected his opponent to be a mad dog who went at whoever was in front of him!

    ¡°Are you a battle monger?! I came to greet you!¡±

    Tang Ye showed a relieved smile. ¡°All right, let¡¯s have a life-and-death greeting, then.¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s hands heated up even more.

    ***

    Shen Kuang clocked off early. Well, technically, he was only his sister¡¯s personal assistant since he didn¡¯t have a legitimate post at Liu Shan Men. Because of Shen n¡¯s special rtionship to Liu Shan Men and Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s decree, they were allowed to ess files only avable to the imperial court, albeit in a different form. Shen Kuang massaged his shoulders, though, as it was sometimes a heavy responsibility.

    Nobody noticed Shen Kuang leave after work. He never was the person to draw attention between him and his sister. Some people thought it was nice to have such a capable sister. To Shen Kuang, nevertheless, it was sometimes a form of pressure at the office due to the way people looked at him. After all, the societal norm was that men were supposed to do the heavy lifting. While his sister was racking up merits and setting records, Shen Kuang was the opposite of his name ¨C a still body of water. Nobody was aware of his internal thoughts beneath his quiet and cute exterior.

    Shen Kuang suddenly stopped and looked up. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Judging from the fact that you didn¡¯t ask, ¡®Who are you?¡¯ it seems Song Chi was right when he said Young Master Shen isn¡¯t as cute as he appears.¡±

    Shen Kuang took a step back due to the speaker¡¯s tone. ¡°Cute? I¡¯m a man, you know?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± The swordsman in his mid-twenties emerged and licked his lips.

    In response to the swordsman¡¯s leer, Shen Kuang grabbed his arms, where his hairs were erect.

    ¡°Even better that you¡¯re a man.¡±

 Book 12: 44

    Book 12: Chapter 44

    Gifted with decent memorisation abilities, Song Chi didn¡¯t remember this ce being this structured five years ago. ¡°It can¡¯t be him. He¡¯s not this attentive to details.¡± Song Chi shook his head with a smile.

    Although it had been years since theyst saw each other, it was something Song Chi had to bear with for the sake of the bigger picture. He stopped at the door for a while prior to uneasily knocking. Song Chi assumed there¡¯d be several obstacles to ovee in order to meet, but the door was opened immediately. As the two taken aback individuals looked at each other, Song Chi chose to break the silence. ¡°Long-time no see.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***

    Shen Kuang remembered a different Shen Yiren when their parents were still by their side. While her love for martial arts, fighting and cussing were a tad far from ¡°normal¡±, his sister was pretty much a normal kid. Once the inferno left them with nothing but their sibling who was practically their spitting image, his sister began to shine so bright that there seemed to be no hiding.

    Shen Kuang was supposed to be on the run, yet he couldn¡¯t ¨C rather, he chose not to ¨C stop reflecting whilst he was resting against a wall. The thoughts weren¡¯t something that pervaded his mind recently but always. Sensing sword qi on his neck, Shen Kuang frantically evaded a Flying Thrust.

    Given ¡°Flying Thrust¡± was a signature technique of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s, the assant had to be confident they wouldn¡¯t embarrass their n. By extension, it couldn¡¯t have been an impulsive decision resulting from desperation.

    Shen Kuang tested his opponent, then wisely adopted a hide-and-seek strategy. s, the difference in their levels, even in qinggong, was too different for him to shake off his pursuer.

    ¡°Yo, yo, yo, what¡¯s the point of this running and hiding? Do you really think I could bear to kill you? I can¡¯t bear to ruin your smooth, cute face.¡± Ling Shaoxuan stepped out from behind the wall whilst sheathing his sword and shaking his head.

    One might question why Bai and Jin families wouldn¡¯t worry about their daughters joining three other men. Song Chi was a gentleman who valued reputation. Xun Feng might¡¯ve been somewhat crazy, but he knew where to draw the line. Anyone who knew Ling Shaoxuan well would¡¯ve known that the two girls were safer with him than any other man. The ones in peril were Song Chi and Xun Feng.

    Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s original mission was to intimidate and provoke; however, once he set eyes on Shen Kuang, he couldn¡¯t help licking his lips. Since Shen Kuang wasn¡¯t particrly formidable, Ling Shaoxuan decided to get yful.

    ¡°Why are you running? I¡¯m not going to eat you. Come have some tea with me. It¡¯s just a chat. I promise to be gentle.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Shen Kuang¡¯s first time dealing with men ogling him. The difference between this time and previous times was that Ling Shaoxuan knew he was a man!

    Shen Kuang sprinted off again. Ling Shaoxuan, a fan of chasing his target, gracefully gave chase.

    Shen Kuang¡¯s aptitude for athletic endeavours, martial arts included, paled drastically inparison to his sister. Whatever physical development he was endowed with today was the product of his resilience and his sister¡¯s pressure. To be clear, Shen Yiren never demanded Shen Kuang excel; he merely used the pressure of beingpared to his sister as fuel to improve.

    Shen Yiren learnt everything quickly as their father did. When she lost her temper, she¡¯dsh out as her mother did. Tending to worry about others was alike both of them. As a matter of fact, Shen Kuang should¡¯ve been concerned for her health, but the bliss of familial love would always stop him. He wasn¡¯t as intelligent as his father, decisive as his mother and didn¡¯t feel he was as kind as them.

    ¡°Oho? Not bad.¡± Ling Shaoxuan thought he could dismantle Shen Kuang¡¯s straight palm thrust with his scabbard, only for Shen Kuang to secure his wrist.

    Shen Kuang attempted to ride the momentum to disarm Ling Shaoxuan, but Ling Shaoxuan trapped his fingers, preventing Shen Kuang from spreading them. The difference in strength was too great for Shen Kuang to possibly break Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s hold.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Ling Shaoxuan strapped his sword to his chest with one hand whilst pinching the back of Shen Kuang¡¯s hand with his other. ¡°While you¡¯re not half bad, your strength iscking. If you drink with me, I¡¯ll gift you a quality internal mental cultivation discipline.¡±

    Shen Kuang silently retreated three steps, then, in a low voice, warned, ¡°It¡¯s in your best interests to note near me.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan smiled. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Though Shen Kuang didn¡¯t predict he would be locked, his attempt to disarm Ling Shaoxuan wasn¡¯t on the spur of the moment. He never expected to have sess with a straight attack, so he disguised it as one.

    Inside of Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s sleeves were two explosive balls. Among the firearms that the imperial court researched, these explosive pills were among the three most lethal. The incredibly light balls would explode the moment they made contact with mes. Unfortunately, it was costly ¨C time and resource wise ¨C to produce them, not to mention the rate of sess was less than 1%. For the reason that they couldn¡¯t be mass produced, they were used as personal hidden weapons.

    Liu Shan Men was given a hundred explosive pills.

    The location Shen Kuang led Ling Shaoxuan to was the ¡°backyard¡± of many residential homes. He wasn¡¯t sure if two balls were enough to take his opponent life. Howbeit, they would be enough to draw attention. If that didn¡¯t work, a fire could also draw attention. If a cluster of homes were aze, the local magistrate would notice.

    Shen Kuang would be granted indemnity for working at Liu Shan Men without an official post. Setting houses on fire, though, wasn¡¯t going to be swept under the rug. The first crimes he could think of being persecuted for was arson and inflicting harm on others. What about the innocents involved? As aforementioned, Shen Kuang never considered himself kind.

 Book 12: 45

    Book 12: Chapter 45

    Waiting for someone in a sparkling-clean room, Ming Feizhen assumed an unseemly sitting posture because the room was too clean forfort. Even if he changed sitting posture, he couldn¡¯t feelfortable on the chair that he could virtually see his reflection on. Perhaps his antsy feeling wasn¡¯t attributed to the environment for he was still ruminating if he should¡¯ve even been there. If it were up to him, he¡¯d rather never be there as he didn¡¯t like the person he was waiting for.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s dislike for the individual wasn¡¯t due to personality or attitude, though he hated both of them in the individual. The reason he didn¡¯t like the individual was that thetter was dangerous ¨C the type that he¡¯d avoid whenever possible. Sadly, he had no alternative if he wanted to win the idolpletion to avoid bing a nationally wanted criminal whilst defenceless.

    That guy is integral to winning the contest unless¡­ I can ask Uncle Huang for insider information. If Uncle Huang refuses, I could ask His Majesty to pressure him. If His Majesty refuses, I could ask Boss to pressure His Majesty. If she refuses, I can pressure her.

    Imagining Shen Yiren go from grumpy to soft and giving in, Ming Feizhen cracked a smile. ¡°¡­ Yeah. Why stay if I don¡¯t need to?¡±

    Ming Feizhen got out of the chair as if it was dangerous to remain in it. His n was to burst out the door. His guest¡¯s n was to take onest step up to the other side of the door.

    ***

    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy. Did I hurt you? Let me blow it for you.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan had absolute confidence in his ability to subdue Shen Kuang, and the absence of any spectators galvanised him to go further off the rails. That said, he maintained a graceful posture as he strolled forward with his arms ready to catch Shen Kuang in an embrace.

    Shen Kuang could¡¯ve thrown himself into Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s arms or generated a wind with a palm strike to ignite the bombs so that thetter couldn¡¯t open his mouth again; however, there was an elder and young girl walking past Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s rear. The shockwave generated from the explosion would be tolerable to someone trained, but a grandpa and a five year old might forfeit their lives to it. For that reason, he withheld on taking out the match.

    It would be incorrect to say that Shen Kuang was incapable of empathy; he just didn¡¯t consider the feelings of others as important. Hence, the reason for his hesitation wasn¡¯t the two innocent lives at risk but the feelings of the one person he cared about ¨C his sister. His hand stopped when he realised that she might be upset if two innocent lives were taken. He didn¡¯t believe he was kind. That said, his sister was irreceable.

    Unaware of his trip to the gates of hell, Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s smirk started to turn freaky. ¡°What¡¯s with that look? Are you bothered? I¡¯ll help you fix any problems. Come on. Get up now.¡±

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing in broad daylight?! You look like a human from this ne, yet what have you done to the poor girl? You think the capital iswless?!¡±

    Neither Shen Kuang nor Ling Shaoxuan could believe the elder with his granddaughter would intervene. Shen Kuang wasn¡¯t sure if he was supposed to be amused or exasperated that someone he was about to sacrifice would help him ¨C getting his gender wrong was just the norm. Ling Shaoxuan had no clue how to react to some weak, unarmed elder trying to stop him of all people.

    As a result of the incident five years ago, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s attitude changed; they revered martial arts and forbade harming civilians. At first, there was resistance. Their tones changed, nheless, after Ling Yaoshi personally lopped off five members¡¯ heads.

    Despite being one to do as he pleased, Ling Shaoxuan strictly obliged with the order to leave civilians alone. Thus, he was put on the spot. ¡°Elder, I suggest you mind your own business. This is between us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what every crook says. How dare you get rough with a maiden in the capital?! I¡¯ll have you know Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-Captain Shen is also a woman, and she detests your kind. Lass Chun, yell for Grandpa!¡±

    The girl held her hands beside her mouth and cried, ¡°Help! Help! Rapist!¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s job was to provoke, and the situation was quickly getting out of hand. Before he could slink off, though, he heard, ¡°Who¡¯s flouting thew in the capital?!¡± The shouter vaulted through the air,nding in front of Ling Shaoxuan. ¡°You would dare force yourself on a maiden in broad daylight, you scum of the earth? You must not know this dragon was scolded today and is looking for some therapy. You want to touch a tiger¡¯s behind? Fine, let me show you the consequences of touching a tiger¡¯s behind, y-, huh? Ling Mabi?!¡±

    ¡°Eat a dick! My name is Ling Shaoxuan!¡±

    ***n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°As this one stated, he is here for something else. There is no need for us to fight. You really have a short fuse.¡± Xun Feng rolled up his sleeves whilst shielding himself from the heat without any trouble.

    Tang Ye had some ck smudges on his face and mes on his clothing that had yet to be extinguished. His Yang Blood True Qi had advanced to the highest level he had ever reached, yet Xun Feng marvellously returned his fire to him through technical finesse. Tang Ye hurriedly reduced his output by 80%. s, he couldn¡¯t avoid his own mespletely.

    In response to Tang Ye¡¯s contemting reaction, Xun Feng griped, ¡°Serious? It looks like you¡¯re not about to quit.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I haven¡¯t seen much of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s skills. The technique you used to deflect my attack back to me is an original of yours, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re even trying to look into my skills now?¡± Seeing as his remark didn¡¯t affect Tang Ye, he answered, ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s something I came up with. The mental cultivation is authentic Cold Mountain Temple goods, however.¡±

    ¡°I was right. Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s specialty is countering by using the opponent¡¯s attack against them. Your sneaky counter is unquestionably Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s authentic mental cultivation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re better than what they say.¡± Xun Feng stretched his hands out of his sleeves.

    ¡°You have the skill to be a nuisance.¡±

    Xun Feng looked serious for thest time. ¡°Take that back.¡±

    ¡°You ready to get serious?¡± Tang Ye ripped off the burnt sections of his attire, revealing his crimson armour underneath.

    Instead of the mes damaging Tang Ye¡¯s soft armour, they polished it.

    ¡°That¡¯s Demon Sect¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Just ordinary goods.¡± Tang Ye performed circles with his limbs to warm up. ¡°Warm-up is over. Let¡¯s fight.¡±

 Book 12: 46

    Book 12: Chapter 46

    In their first meeting, Ling Shaoxuan was able to stop Long Zaitian even though thetter had the element of surprise on his side ¨C thanks to his unconventional ambush. This time around, Long Zaitian hit harder and was quicker, making Ling Shaoxuan question if he could actually win.

    Her Majesty¡¯s loyalty belonged to Emperor Yuansheng given the time they spent together. Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t like Ling n to begin with and disliked them even more for being the leader of the Seven Champion White Princes. Their unannounced visit undoubtedly rubbed him the wrong way. If Long Zaitian was allowed to be present at a meeting with a White Prince¡¯s emissary, he wasn¡¯t just any old retainer. If Ling Shaoxuan hurt someone that important to Emperor Yuansheng, Emperor Yuansheng might very well frame Ling Shaoxuan for something to punish him even harsher than otherwise. The Qilin Guards were experts at group beatings. You couldn¡¯t call yourself an unorthodox faction member if the Qilin Guards hadn¡¯t given you a group beating before.

    Ling Shaoxuan didn¡¯t even dare to go to the 60% threshold and took a reactive stance due to his concerns, while Long Zaitian didn¡¯t pull his punches. If it wasn¡¯t embarrassing, Ling Shaoxuan would¡¯ve loved to call for a timeout. Little did he know, Long Zaitian was in the same boat.

    Long Zaitian¡¯s ultimate goal in life could be summarised as so: get promoted and make it rich. How does the promotione? Connections to His Majesty. Who was Ling Shaoxuan? Her Majesty¡¯s nephew! Which made him His Majesty¡¯s nephew! Long Zaitian would have to be intoxicated to break Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s nephew¡¯s nose.

    Long Zaitian deliberately threw bombs that made a lot snapping noises with the wind in order to appear dominant. s, his strategy was the same as sending a eunuch to a brothel ¨C useless. Therefore, he fell back to evasion using his rolling technique, except he was better than before, so he only needed to utilise it here and there between his own punches. Even if his opponent was an Emperor¡¯s nephew, blocking a de with his body was going too far. Flying Thrust was rumoured to be impossible to block. After all, expecting to not get wet standing in a waterfall was impossible. In other words, Ling Shaoxuan was holding back. Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t hurt Ling Shaoxuan while constantly bearing in mind that his biggest problem still loomed, a most stressful situation.

    For the first time in their lives, they had the toughest fight against thin air and dirt. If their teachers were watching, their teachers would likely gasp blood. The three watching were totally perplexed.

    Not long after the fighting started, Sir Bao from Shuntian Prefecture caught wind of the disturbance and rushed to the scene with troops. ¡°Stay your hands at once!¡±

    Long Zaitian and Ling Shaoxuan immediately stepped back in synchrony and bowed to Sir Bao. ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ you¡¯re wee?¡±

    ***

    ¡°You¡¯re weak.¡± Bai Yumo had her long de up against Su Xiao¡¯s neck, but she never took her eyes off him for a second, apparently afraid he¡¯d escape if she dropped her vignce.

    Their scrap was very short as Su Xiao ran from the moment Bai Yumo closed in. Unfortunately, she outssed him in their short qinggong contest. Su Xiao¡¯s attention was fully focused on the de curving toward his neck out of his peripherals when it came because he felt he saw something, although he couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was. Consequently, he forgot to dodge.

    As her task was to provoke her target, Bai Yumo made sure to emphasise her script. ¡°You¡¯re weak.¡±

    Su Xiao titled his head. ¡°So what?¡±

    Bai Yumo blinked. ¡°N-nothing¡­ My skills with a blood are superior to yours.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So?¡±

    Growing up in a family of martial artists, Bai Yumo had trained from childhood. Whenever she suffered defeat, she¡¯d cry and make a scene or silently go back to training. To her, losing was something she deemed natural on her path to growth.

    ¡°What exactly do you want?! You came out of nowhere and started swinging at me. Weren¡¯t you taught any manners?¡±

    As much as she wanted to exin, Bai Yumo didn¡¯t know where to start. ¡°I, I¡­ I¡¯, here t-¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do this no matter what you¡¯re here for. It¡¯s dangerous! Take the de away from my neck already.¡±

    ¡°O-oh.¡± Bai Yumo removed her de as Su Xiao demanded.

    ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s more like it. Now, did you get lost?¡±

    Bai Yumo shook her head.

    ¡°Do you have the wrong person?¡±

    Bai Yumo shook her head again.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Why would you draw your de then? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s illegal? Didn¡¯t your parents teach you to follow thew?¡±

    Bai Yumo¡¯s eyes turned red and foggy. ¡°Th-they did¡­¡±

    ¡°Yet you broke thew? This is what they call poor education! You¡¯re around my age. My mother taught me to be polite, to greet people when you meet them. Look at you. Not to mention you¡¯re a girl. How disappointed would your parents be if they heard you started trouble at a school? What are you crying for?! Stop crying! Books teach us that our parents have rough times raising us. You weren¡¯t raised to be a tr-, hey, don¡¯t run! I¡¯m not done!¡± Angry Su Xiao grumbled, ¡°Weirdo. This is an academy for studying literature, not a martial arts academy. What would you pull your de out here for?¡± He poked his tongue out in the direction Bai Yumo ran off and then went on his way.

 Book 12: 47

    Book 12: Chapter 47

    ¡°Stop!¡± If Professor Xie, who had to leave his rxing calligraphy session, was a little bitter, the two would¡¯ve torn down the ce.

    As martial arts families, Wang and Xie n members were all capable of holding their own in fights. Therefore, he continued to write thest character in ¡°Roaming the Eastern Fields¡±, written by Southern Qi poet Xie Tiao of the Yongming Reign, when he was told about the scuffle.

    ¡°Goodness me! Put the fire out!¡± was the first thing Professor Xie yelled upon arriving at the scene.

    The flower garden was half destroyed. The roof and pond were broken here and there.

    ¡°Hold it! Hold it! Not hold your posture! Hold the pirs! The corridor is about to copse! You two, stop!¡± Professor Xie led a group of Confucianists to get the two off each other.

    ¡°Confucianists¡± was the term for adepts of Confucianism donning ck robes in charge of maintaining order at the academy. Getting heated and having plenty of energy to do something about it was normal for young people; just because they read Confucius texts, didn¡¯t mean they were emotionless. Consider it Huang Yuzao¡¯s small selfish strategy to keep the business running smoothly.

    Tang Ye ceased once the Confucianists pulled them apart, face as straight as usual. Xun Feng, on the other hand, spat blood out of his mouth and aggressively raised his head to scream, ¡°Let¡¯s go! I¡¯ll write my name backwards if I back down! Come over here!¡±

    Tang Ye took the towel passed to him from his side, soaked it in the basin of water, then wiped the blood and dirt off his face.

    ¡°What exactly happened?!¡± brayed Professor Xie, standing between the twobatants. ¡°Where do you think you are?! Why are you fighting?! I mean, why are you vandalising the ce?!¡±

    They say a skilled teacher makes a skilled disciple. Under the tutge of a certain mentor, Tang Ye, although not to the same degree as Shen Yiren, drastically improved hisbat prowess via maturing mentally. As per his mentor¡¯s instructions, hepleted jobs in one go wherever possible. Tang Ye set down his towel and answered, ¡°He started it.¡±

    Xun Feng would¡¯ve bitten Tang Ye¡¯s face off if he could. ¡°Spout tripe one more time! Come over here!¡±

    ¡°Xun Feng, is that how a monk ought to behave?¡± Professor Xie turned back to Tang Ye. ¡°Did he really start it?¡¯

    Tang Ye nodded.

    ¡°You son of a b-¡±

    ¡°Shut up! You attack someone and then curse them? I¡¯ll be sure to send a letter to Cold Mountain Temple to have you dealt with. Carry him away to Principal Huang! Was your name Tang Ye? Get treated for your injuries, and thene see uster.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll settle this score with you sooner orter!¡± Xun Feng blustered.

    Watching eight people carry Xun Feng off, Tang Ye waited for them to disappear beforementing, ¡°Buddhism and Confucianism really don¡¯t mesh¡­¡±

    ***

    Following a long silence, Song Chi said, ¡°I happened to be out when you came home a few months ago, so I missed the opportunity to catch up.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say that when we¡¯re brothers.¡± Song Ou wasn¡¯t awkward because he didn¡¯t expect his brother to visit. He was purely unsure how to receive his guest since he was unprepared. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you inform me beforehand that you would being? How long are you staying this time? Do you have lodging yet? I can sort it out for you. I have quite the influence in the capital.¡±

    ¡°I will be staying at Daren Academy for the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Right, right, you¡¯ve always been independent.¡± Song Ou trained his eyes on the table below to hide his tension. ¡°Did Dad say anything before you left?¡±

    Song Chi was quick on his feet; however, he never lied to his family. His silence was a de straight through Song Ou¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Ahaha, never mind, never mind. Dad is a busy man. I wasn¡¯t expecting anything, hahaha.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine what sort of life Song Ou led in Yangzhou. While sending him to the capital appeared to be a promotion, it was no different to denying his existence.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Feeling sorry for his brother, Song Chi tapped the broadsword at his sash and beamed. ¡°Things don¡¯t always go our way in life. We carve our paths. Don¡¯t let it get you down, Brother. Even in the capital, everyone knows my brother is Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain.¡±

    Song Ou forced a smile to show appreciation for the constion.

    Knowing his brother¡¯s personality, Song Chi decided to switch the topic. ¡°The office is now decorated with lots of verdant nts unlike years ago. Domestic work doesn¡¯t seem like something you would do, though. Is Sister-in-Law taking care of the office for you?¡±

    Song Ou smiled bitterly. ¡°As if. Yiren spends her days tackling work. Even if she had the will to, she wouldn¡¯t have time for it. It¡¯s all Shen Kuang¡¯s credit. He¡¯s attentive and meticulous. Yiren isn¡¯t mistreating me or anything. This office is her ancestor¡¯s office. After her home was destroyed, she let me stay here despite it being her ancestors¡¯ residence. To be honest, the two of them treat me quite well.¡±

    Song Chi let out a relieved smile, then lifted his teacup for a drink.

    ¡°Ever since that gue came here, though, I¡¯ve never had a good day.¡±

    Song Chi nearly spat his tea out. ¡°That gue?¡±

    ¡°The ruffian from Mount Daluo ¨C Ming Feizhen. Ever since he came here, Yiren is always glued to him and ignoring me. Even His Majesty is holding him in high regard because of his background, for crying out loud.¡±

    ¡°Mount Daluo has remained independent for the most part, seldom being part of any alliance. Our founding Emperor allied with Hero Shenzhou due to his earlier exploits to protect the peace, so he wasn¡¯t someone who was open for recruitment. In this generation, Mount Daluo¡¯s famous members are Hong Jiu and Lian Zhuiyue. Ming Feizhen¡­ I have never heard of him. Perhaps Mount Daluo hid his existence because they harbour some ambition.¡±

    ¡°Even you¡¯re saying that? Long Zaitian and I both thought the same thing. W-¡±

    Song Chi raised an open hand. ¡°Predictions not predicated on evidence will only confuse oneself.¡±

    Song Ou cast his gaze downward whilst drawing circles on the table.

    ¡°Having said that, I cannot ignore someone if they are bullying you.¡±

    Song Ou sprung to life. ¡°Of course not!¡±

    ¡°The n for this trip always was to foment as much as possible.¡± Song Chi hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°How about we start with him?¡±

    Glossary

    Confucianist ¨C This is a made up word. Technically, it should be tranted as ¡°ck Robes¡±. Problem is, we already have ck Robe Brotherhood, so I want to circumvent any chances of terminology shing. The characters used for ¡°ck robes¡± for each instance here is different, but there¡¯s no equivalent for the Confucianism version in English ¨C correct me if I¡¯m wrong.

 Book 12: 48

    Book 12: Chapter 48

    Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng hid behind the white walls of a building topped with ck tiles. Initially, they were going to call out to Ming Feizhen, but they stopped themselves when they espied him acting suspicious as he entered another courtyard. Therefore, they chose to shadow him. Although it wasn¡¯t easy for them to tail a martial artist, their familiarity with the academypensated. Plus, Ming Feizhen¡¯s senses were dedicated to sensing malice directed at him from trained killers, so he didn¡¯t have a ¡°barrier¡± against other students.

    ¡°Feizhen¡­¡± Wu Dayong shook his head as if there were flies around. ¡°Hmm¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°¡¯Hmm¡¯ what?¡±

    ¡°If he was just a simple man, why would he be here?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was possibly ignorant to the fact that his ssmates, and even students from other sses, had been keeping a close eye on him ever since he started school at Daren Academy. After all, no student ever visited the principal¡¯s office twelve times in less than ten days uponmencing. The boys believed him to be someone who took crap from nobody. The girls thought he was interesting enough for the rich ones to send their maids out on intelligence-collection missions so that they could learn more about him. Upon learning he was a constable of Liu Shan Men¡­ the man became a star in the eyes of many students.

    ¡°Feizhen fought to get us a new ssroom and brought Yan Ling as well as Xiao Han in to help us. He has to be a good guy.¡±

    The attentive Zhou Teng pushed up his prescriptive sses with a silver string. ¡°What is he visiting Flower Plucking Pce for, though?¡±

    The two were so focused on tailing Ming Feizhen that they failed to watch their own backs.

    ***

    ¡°What¡­ are you here for?¡±

    It had been two, maybe three, years since Ist saw her, and she looked as if she hadn¡¯t aged a day. She had the beauty to turn heads her way as soon as she walked into a room and a regal aura that would keep one¡¯s gaze affixed on her. She didn¡¯t have the refined features Young Shiyi was blessed with, but her every movement would steal the limelight.

    Jin Zhaoying strolled over to sit in the seat next to me. While I was sitting in the owner¡¯s seat, her demeanour made it appear as though I was there to listen to her lecture. She picked up a cup of tea without any unnecessary motions, yet it didn¡¯t seem crude. Because she spent most of her time alone, she poured her own drinks instead of having her maid wait on her for everything.

    ¡°What are you zoning out for? You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha.¡± I scratched my head. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you I missed you?¡±

    Jin Zhaoying¡¯s hands stopped. ¡°You miss me?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Why?¡±

    Don¡¯t take it serious! I was just regaling you! You make it sound as though there¡¯s something between us!

    ¡°Ahem, I have a bit of a problem, so I¡¯d like your help. That¡¯s it.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying continued raising her teacup, this time to finally have an elegant nip. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll help.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to set terms and conditions?¡±

    Jin Zhaoying looked up from her teacup without raising her head. ¡°The best gain I can is a favour you owe me.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t even need to ask me what I need help with?¡±

    ¡°No. You asked for my help, which must mean I can help.¡±

    I scratched my head, reflecting on where I went wrong to be read as an open book.

    Jin Zhaoying lifting my chin with a hand and looked me straight in the eye. ¡°But you are not allowed to refuse me when I ask for you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yep, I regret asking. Can we pretend this never took ce?¡±

    Jin Zhaoying simpered. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    We spent a while engaging in a stare down, and I was about to utter, ¡°Fine,¡± when I heard outside the door, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t push. I¡¯m going to fall,¡± and ¡°Slow down, guys.¡± Next thing I knew, the doors were forced open, and eight people fell down, stacked on top of each other.

    The heck? Jin Zhaoying got a bunch of sugar boys who¡¯vee to eavesdrop?

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± I asked of the two I recognised at the front.

    Zhou Teng and Wu Dayong went from apologetic to exasperated in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s my question.¡±

    ¡°Me? Asking for help¡­¡± I followed their line of sight, which led me to a smooth, unblemished and warm hand under my chin.

    Jin Zhaoying¡¯s hand was still under my chin. Her body was leaned in toward me no differently to leaning into an embrace.

    ¡°Oh, so the new student is Jin Zhaoying¡¯s lover!¡±

    ¡°Mama mia, big scoop! Big scoop! Flower Plucking Pce is taken!¡±

    ¡°Aaah! Mistress Jin has a man!¡±

    I had yet to catch up when the three yellers already bolted off. ¡°Wait! You¡¯re misconstruing what you saw! It¡¯s a misunderstanding! Don¡¯t run off!¡± I looked back to see Jin Zhaoying still in the same posture, seemingly unbothered, so I eximed, ¡°Take your hand off!¡±

    Wu Dayong enthused, ¡°And put it where?!¡±

    Where did you start listening?! I only told her to take it off!

    ¡°Feizhen, you¡¯re incredible. Not only did you provoke His Highness, assault Zhao Xin and even Jin¡­ We¡¯re dominating the idolpetition this time! From today onward, you are my idol!¡± Wu Dayong effused.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re misunderstanding. You did not see everything.¡±

    Wu Dayong apanied a big nod with, ¡°Of course not. It would be inappropriate to see all of it. I get it. I get it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to watch the whole thing! Wait, it¡¯s fine if you see everything! No, wait¡­ There¡¯s nothing for you to see!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ostensibly understanding at longst, Wu Dayong gave me a smile. ¡°Got it. Got it.¡±

    You don¡¯t get squat! Argh! I give up!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Glossary

    ¡°Take your hand off¡± joke ¨C In the original, tranted literally, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°Take your hand down!¡± because the ¡°down¡± part is necessary to say ¡°let go.¡± Wu Dayong, therefore, enthuses, ¡°You want her to move her hand down?!¡± My pure mind refuses to let me tell you where that goes from there, so I¡¯ll leave it to your impure minds to deliberate.

 Book 12: 49

    Book 12: Chapter 49

    ¡°I thought¡­ I told you to stop short.¡± What was a simple statement took Song Chi a while to finally utter to his allies. ¡°We agreed to seek one person out each to provoke as means of intimidation, but you¡± ¨C he looked to Bai Yumo, who was still tearing up ¨C ¡°one of you was angered to tears¡­¡±

    ¡°He was so mean! He started scolding me as soon as he spoke, even dragging my mom and dad into it. He said my parents didn¡¯t raise me properly! H-he¡¯s the one with no manners!¡± Bai Yumo cried.

    Song Chi spent a moment tofort Bai Yumo, then turned to Xun Feng. ¡°One of you blew his lid off¡­¡±

    The monk still bleeding shot blood from his mouth. ¡°He better pray we never meet again, or I¡¯ll smash him twice every time I meet him. Not only did he insult my temple, but he even sneak attacked me multiple times, then used me of starting when he was the mad dog who came at me first! If I spare him, I¡¯ll write my name backwards!¡±

    Song Chi sighed. ¡°Instead of provoking him, it seems he provoked you.¡±

    Xun Feng folded his arms and sat on the ground. ¡°So what?!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Chi looked to Jin Zhaoying. ¡°One has be the subject of a huge scandal¡­¡±

    Jin Zhaoying silently enjoyed her tea.

    Song Chi thought Jin Zhaoying was too proud to consider anyone else on her level, but he didn¡¯t think she really was that sort of character. He shook his head and then shifted his gaze to an empty chair. ¡°¡­ And one has yet to be released from detainment. Long Zaitian caught Ling Shaoxuan in the act of attacking Shen Kuang and got into an argument. He¡¯s currently being held at Shuntian Prefecture for questioning. I finally know what it means to have heavy responsibilities.¡±

    Song Chi pinched his forehead. ¡°Brothers and sisters, we are on the same boat to ze a trail for our families; let us keep our eyes on the forest and not a tree. What do you say, Sister Bai?¡±

    Bai Yumo soaked the handkerchief Song Chi passed her with her tears, so she wiped her tears and snot on his sleeve. She inhaled deeply, smiled subtly and replied, ¡°The next time I see him, I won¡¯t draw my weapon first. I¡¯ll start with a greeting before I proceed with whatever else, lest he have something to leverage against me. Hmph, how dare he malign my dad. Thank you, Brother Song.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Y-you¡¯re wee.¡± Had there not been more pertinent matters at hand, Song Chi would¡¯ve torn off his sleeve. ¡°Brother Feng, you¡¯re not worse than a young girl, are you?¡±

    Xun Feng¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°I know I need to keep the bigger picture in mind, but it¡¯s easier said than done. If your patriarch was insulted for being a scumbag who cons people, and every other member of your temple¡¯s urnas are overcooked so bad that you can¡¯t tell one dot from nine urnas, what would you do?¡±!

    Song Chi: Just who woulde up with this sort of insult?

    ¡°Since my father is not a monk, he would not be insulted like that. That said, I do understand where you¡¯reing from.¡±

    ¡°He even clouted me with a rock after that! It¡¯s like I was the one who insulted him.¡±

    Song Chi: Just what sort of person did you encounter? ????????????.???

    While Ling Shaoxuan had yet to re-join them, he was virtually the male Bai Yumo, never providing suggestions whilst whining all the time, except he wasn¡¯t cute.

    ¡°Everyone has interacted with Liu Shan Men, so you should have a grasp on their level. I just met with my brother. He was attacked recently and is taking time off with ¡®recovery¡¯ as an excuse. Therefore, we have no qualms left.¡± Song Chi¡¯s usual ssy demeanour was gone. ¡°As long as Liu Shan Men is out of the picture, the capital will be crossing a tight rope, making it the best opportunity we could ask for. As per our original n, Brother Feng will take care of Tang Ye. Sister Bai will take care of Su Xiao. Brother Ling shall handle Shen Kuang. Originally, I was supposed to personally tackle Shen Yiren. Howbeit, I have a target I¡¯d prefer more than her. His Majesty has always taken a liking to her, so it¡¯s for the better that we leave her alone.¡±

    Song Chi paused and looked to Jin Zhaoying, ¡°You don¡¯t mind if I go after Ming Feizhen, do you?¡± He had to ask as he wasn¡¯t sure what the silent maiden was thinking.

    Jin Zhaoyingughed through her nose, then, as she walked off, answered, ¡°The consequences are yours to bear alone.¡±

    ***

    Smiling from ear to ear, Shen Yiren rubbed Su Xiao¡¯s head and exhaled. ¡°Xiao Han, thatss¡¯ name is Bai Yumo, one of the Seven Jade Goddesses. Though she¡¯s not exactly smart, she¡¯s a gifted martial artist. She would overwhelm you if you two fought. I¡¯m d to hear you know how to use retreat as a means of advance to outwit your opponent.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I was just outraged that she would draw her weapon in the library courtyard. That is uneptable behaviour! The next time I run into her, I must stress it. What if she hurts somebody with her silly behaviour?¡±

    Boss Shen chortled, conceding instead of enlightening. She took another two steps to the side and patted her brother on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re okay. I was shocked when I heard a predator tried to assault you.¡±

    Shen Kuang smiled. ¡°I was lucky Vice-Captain Long came to my rescue. I truly am useless¡­ It took him no effort to catch me.¡±

    ¡°Ling Shaoxuan is a scion of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and has, at least, six years on you. You can¡¯t put yourselves in the same sentence. Don¡¯t deplore yourself, got it?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±

    Boss Shen¡¯s visage radiated once she reached Tang Ye. ¡°Yan Ling, thest six months of work have finally paid off. I¡¯d say Venerable Xun Feng is stronger than you, yet you used various tactics to fight to a stalemate and had him leave in vexation. You can carry your own weight now.¡±

    Tang Ye shook his head. ¡°I did not try to force his hand to beat him but to test him. I suspect he provoked me and purposely vandalised the garden to create evidence that I tried to assault him, which would make it easy for him to sensationalise his story. I provoked and framed him so that his ploy would fall through.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look into their motives. In any case, thank you.¡± Boss Shen smiled as she patted Tang Ye on the shoulder.

    ¡°Now.¡± Boss¡¯ gaze became sharp des as she turned to me. She stepped one foot onto a chair as well as aggressively grabbed my chin. ¡°What¡¯s your deal?¡±

    Unshakable loyalty, that¡¯s what!

 Book 12: 50

    Book 12: Chapter 50

    ¡°Loyal? Loyal to the woman you were caught in bed with, yes!¡± Boss brayed.

    Su Xiao: ¡°Yeah, yeah! What¡¯s your deal?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m being wrongfully used here! It wasn¡¯t my fault. Wu Dayong¡¯s group was the one who charged in and came across us! Plus, we were never on any bed!¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°You wanted to be on the bed?¡±

    Tang Ye! You traitor!

    ¡°I am 100% loyal! Boss, I¡¯ve always been loyal to only you.¡±

    Boss chopped me on the head. ¡°I work my behind off every day so that we can have peace at home. Meanwhile, not only are you drinking and flirting, but you were even caught in ady¡¯s room. How am I supposed to go out in public now?!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to. I couldn¡¯t stop them even if I wanted to because they barged in out of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°You think, ¡®I didn¡¯t mean to,¡¯ settles it? You humouring me?¡±

    ¡°N-no, that wasn¡¯t my intention at all.¡± I heaved a big breath. ¡°It¡¯s tiring enough out there as it is. Can we not argue over this sort of thing? Also, let go of me.¡±

    Boss widened her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡¯¡±

    ¡°You mean exactly what you mean.¡±

    ¡°What exactly do I mean?¡±

    ¡°Youin it¡¯s tiring out there. You think it¡¯s easy for me back home? Have you taken me into consideration, Mr. Ming?! Hmph!¡±

    ¡°Eeehh, that¡¯s not what I meant at all.¡±

    Su Xiao tugged Tang Ye¡¯s sleeve and whispered, ¡°Tang Ye, why does this seem like a couple¡¯s quarrel? This is how my dad and mom argue back home.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it. It. Is¡­ Your dad is that brave?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s why he¡¯s dead.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Ye nodded, then gazed in our direction. ¡°Watch out. Big Bro is about to get rocked.¡±

    Me: If you know that, then save me!

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent! It was all for justice, for honour, for the greater good and to repay my debt. Besides, I¡¯m assisting in the idolpetition!¡±

    Boss: ¡°Oh, I see. Is that what you thought I¡¯d say?¡±

    ¡°The ritespetition!¡±

    ¡°The what?¡± Boss questioned.

    ¡°Has nobody looked into what categories we¡¯repeting in? Rites, music, archery, chariotry, calligraphy and mathematics. Riteses first. We don¡¯t know the first thing about rites, while Jin Zhaoying has already won the contest once, which means she won¡¯tpete against us. That¡¯s why I consulted her.¡±

    My logic was sound, yet they were only partially convinced. They remained sceptical no matter what I said until I rhetorically questioned, ¡°Besides, do you think Jin Zhaoying would have the hots for someone like me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, good point.¡±

    That was when they finally released me.

    Bloody demons!

    ***

    ¡°A bit to the left.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°A bit to the left.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°One inch and one centimetre up. Stop. Thirteenth method.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Understood.¡±

    The dark, small room with two entrances was called ¡°Fish Store¡±. Shen n¡¯s ancestor, who was one of The Ultimate Three during the war to establish this empire, this ce was where he resided. Although there was a long table and the four treasures of the study, it was otherwise empty and required renovation.

    Boss Shen¡¯s grandpa¡¯s room was given to Song Ou. With very limited space at Liu Shan Men, Boss used Fish Store as the ce for her to work on confidential documents. To be clear, the confidential documents were either burnt or sent off elsewhere once she was done with them, so it would be more urate to say it was a ce for confidential meetings. Needless to say, the only person she could share secrets with was none other than yours truly.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to have to scold you in front of others.¡±

    ¡°I know. I know. It¡¯s my fault for not doing better.¡± I squeezed a little harder as I responded.

    ¡°Can I have the real story now? What triggered this whole thing?¡±

    See? Nobody knew me better than my shifu, shiniangs, young shiyi and boss.

    Looking bad in front of Boss wasn¡¯t a concern, so I told her everything about my enormous debt and the ckmail. At first, I thought her mouth was pursed and pushed to the side because she wasn¡¯t happy. Turned out she was trying not tough!

    ¡°Hahaha! Never saw thising. This is straight silly.¡±

    I turned my face into that of a pufferfish, but I kept working my hands.

    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t let your secrets spread when you have so many. If Uncle was to find out you¡¯re Empyrean Zha and Night Fortress¡¯ master, your retirement n is as good as over; you¡¯ll be sent to the front lines.¡±

    I proudly asserted, ¡°At least, I¡¯ll receive the same treatment as The Ultimate Three.¡±

    ¡°You wish.¡± Boss wrinkled her nose. ¡°You¡¯ve met Tianhu; what do you think of his skills? The Qilin Guards¡¯ Baima is more than likely superior to him. Though I¡¯ve never met Yingfeng, he can¡¯t be lousy when he¡¯s one of Uncle¡¯s bodyguards. They are all a force to be reckoned with on their own. I¡¯m not underestimating yourbat prowess. Plus, apart from being able to fight well, you can never be one of them unless Uncle trusts youpletely. Despite your distinguished service in thest six months, and your ability to get along with Uncle, you¡¯re not close enough.¡± Her joy manifested on her cheeks as a rosy colour under the candle lights. ¡°¡­ But it wouldn¡¯t be bad if you became one¡­¡±

    Meanwhile, I was so enamoured with Boss¡¯ smile that I fossilised.

    If we weren¡¯t suspending reality, instead of being promoted to The Ultimate Three post, I¡¯d be promoted to a nationally-wanted criminal with the three chasing me¡­ the same way Ol¡¯ Ximen was hunted. Unless I had Demon Sect backing me, I¡¯d never be able to have a single meal in peace.

    I wonder how my old team is doing.

    While I was Lord San Shen in the Western Regions, I had a small team of subordinates. I didn¡¯t have many subordinates, but they were quality bull-, good people who helped maintain order, protect the innocent and punish evil. They pretty much starched everyone who opposed me. In addition, due to Lord San Shen¡¯s role being to discipline vitors in Divine Moon Cult, weid out the majority of the members at some point. Man, I do miss those wild days of my youth.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t your hands working?¡±

    ¡°Right away.¡±

    Boss bit the tip of her brush handle. She didn¡¯t seem to realise she had a habit of biting things whenever she was thinking. That was the reason all of her brushes¡¯ handles would have small teeth marks. I didn¡¯t mind since I found it cute.

    ¡°They¡¯re a weird group. Is making you an academy idol worth so much money?¡±

    ¡°Probably. After all, the piece of jade is worth a tonne on its own. The other prizes are tutoring sessions and reading passes, none of which are useful.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong about that. Daren Academy is home to innumerable ancient books, some of which are not avable anywhere else. If you could read them, you¡¯d be making significant gains. Additionally, the tokens that grant you ess to personal tutge under the professors shouldn¡¯t be dismissed. Don¡¯t forget the academy is where the best of Confucianism gather. Even though their standing isn¡¯t as prestigious as it once was, their teachings and skills haven¡¯t been abandoned.¡±

    If I add all the prizes up, doesn¡¯t that mean I have more than enough to repay my debts? Those buggers fooled me again? I thought everything would be settled if I just won the contest.

    ¡°You¡¯re incredibly observant when ites to other¡¯s matters, yet you skimp over so much when ites to your own business. If there¡¯s nothing to gain, why ask for a champion title instead of valuable materials? They¡¯ve conned you more than once, haven¡¯t they?

    I gazed up at the ceiling¡­ What a big spider.

    Bang! I felt a hard hit on my head.

    ¡°What¡¯d you hit me for?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Boss looked at me in a way I couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Boss gyrated her lips prior to querying, ¡°You¡­ close with Jin Zhaoying?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. Only met her once or twice. Somewhat acquainted.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s always been prideful, adopting a condescending attitude toward everyone, yet you two are acquainted?¡±

    ¡°It takes some effort tomunicate with her, but it¡¯s not too bad.¡± I smiled as I scratched my head. ¡°I hate to blow my own horn, but she won¡¯t refuse a request from me.¡±

    Boss smiled. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, yeah.¡±

    By the time I realised it, I had been kicked out ¨C literally.

    I thought we were getting along just fine! What happened?! Women really are unreasonable!

    ¡°Second!¡± I yelled in a stifled voice.

    Hong Jiu came out from the bushes, carrying a chair on his shoulder. As soon as he set the chair down, I sat myself down on it, crossed my legs, held out my hand and Hong Jiu then ced a small cup into my hand to pour me a drink of wine. ¡°Good work, Leader.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± I knocked back the drink.

    Hong Jiu jogged around to refill my cup and give me a back massage. ¡°Leader, seeing as members of the Seven Champion White Princes are in the capital, they¡¯re bound to make moves in the capital.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a trivial matter. Why bother worrying about it?¡±

    Their little stunts are nothingpared to my debt!

    ¡°I am worried they will target you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a good guy now, not a bandit or Demon Sect follower. What can they do about me? There are other things I want you to look into for me.¡±

    ¡°I am at yourmand.¡±

    ¡°I heard Ol¡¯ Xue and Zero have returned to the pugilistic world. They mustn¡¯t be allowed to emerge. Either one of them is enough to plunge the capital into anarchy. I can¡¯t trust anyone else with this, and I need you to personally handle it given the difficulty.¡±

    Hong Jiu stopped his massage. ¡°If I am not around, who will protect you?¡±

    ¡°Man, am I a coward?¡±

    Hong Jiu went silent.

    ¡°I have Tang Ye and the others, don¡¯t I? Worst case scenario, I can run. Second, I don¡¯t mind if Xue Yanjun is dead, but I won¡¯t allow anyone to use her weapon if she¡¯s no longer in this world. If Zero was toe to the capital, we will have a serious problem on our hand. Do you have a choice?¡±

    ¡°In that case, I will have to go. I shall head out right away.¡±

    Watching Hong Jiu race off, unease crept in. ¡°Second!¡±

    Hong Jiu looked back. ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°¡­ If you don¡¯t find out anything after three days, rush back, or you might need to buy a casket.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Note

    Ol¡¯ Xue is not the same Xue Ming Feizhen is searching for. This is Xue Yanjun that he is referring to.

 Book 12: 51

    Book 12: Chapter 51

    ¡°¡­ My, my, the new Supreme Ten Saints have finally been settled after such a long fight. League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin, Six des Guild¡¯s Hong Xue is the neer. Tsk, tsk, tsk, the youngest Supreme Ten Saints ever if I¡¯m not mistaken.¡±

    The three people out at the deste ce in the middle of the night had no regard for decorum. One of the men condescendingly said, ¡°Why are you acting surprised? In recent years, every new person has surpassed thest. Amongst the orthodox sects, there¡¯s Xian Suiyue and Wudang¡¯s Wu Yunqi. Before them, there was Metal Yu Feiyuan and God of Battle Yi Ya. Then, there was Beiping¡¯s Lian Zhuiyue and Song Chi. I can¡¯t beat any of them. Among the unorthodox groups, there are three who appeared out of thin air ¨C Valley of Viins¡¯ Mo Xing, Tang n¡¯s Tang Ni and League of Assassins¡¯ Crimson de Hong Xue.

    ¡°I hear Sky Pce¡¯s sacred maiden has also returned. When You Shili wasst active, heroes of the three rivers were practically exterminated, affording Demon Sect a free opportunity to develop. Man, I really wonder if our resurgence in the pugilistic world is a good or bad thing.¡±

    The maiden with beautyparable to the moon that was out smiled. ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought the once-revered Hai Yecha would be such a coward after shelling up for twenty-odd years? Where did the courage you used to kill Wudang¡¯s elder in the water back then vanish to?¡±

    Hai Yecha dropped his head.

    The man in his thirties was the one who brought the book they passed around. Unlike the other two, he had a childish vibe, ignoring the back and forth between the others. ¡°My, my, how did they decide this new ranking for Martial Deities?¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡±

    The woman mocked, ¡°Move aside. Since when could you read?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t read ck and White Reflection magazines in a long time, but it¡¯s not that odd. Martial Deities is split into orthodox and unorthodox rankings, but I don¡¯t see Hong Xue on either of the top ten. He¡¯s one of the Supreme Ten Saints.¡±

    Although ck and White Reflection covered a lot of ground in the pugilistic world, the most popr column was the martial world¡¯s rankings. The constant updates to Martial Deities rankings were a product of the violence in the pugilistic world. The top twenty ¨C ten from orthodox factions and ten from unorthodox factions ¨C who consistently stayed on the rankings were those who were at the top of the chain.

    The top ten on the ck rankings were the best fighters among the unorthodox factions. The top ten on the White rankings were the best among the orthodox factions. The twenty of them weren¡¯t ranked, and it was difficult to write a description of theirbat abilities. Nevertheless, once ranked, it was incredibly rare for them to be removed because they rarely showed up in public. Changes to their ranking were typically due to their sessors taking over or some major events.

    Hai Yecha sneered. ¡°How are you the second strongest among us seven Fiend Stars when you have as much knowledge as a three year old? While being one of the Supreme Ten Saints is a representation of personal strength, the rankings are also decided based on the power you hold over groups. As an example, Bodhi Abels may not been superior to the top ten on the ck rankings, but he¡¯s the uncle of Tiezhen¡¯s King. He¡¯s the one who supported Tiezhen¡¯s King¡¯s coronation and partially trained him. You think you can just walk away if you kill him? That¡¯s why he was ranked.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, ¡®was¡¯ is the keyword here. Who was the one who confiscated his Dark Token?¡±

    The maiden juddered and, in a soft voice, uttered, ¡°Lai Jingzhen.¡±

    The three sighed in synchrony.

    ¡°Well, Abels sure has dodgy luck to run into that nutcase.¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Gu Wuzhu was called Mountain Bandit King with all mountain bandits across thends as his subordinates. Subsequent to him dropping off the radar, though, his Dark Token was handed to the leader of the underworld ¨C Hua Feihua. These two cases show that Supreme Ten Saints is about influence, not physical might. On the other hand, Martial Deities is all about martial prowess. That¡¯s why Hong Xue has no ce among the top ten in the nk rankings.¡±

    The maiden snickered. ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? ????????????.???.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What are youughing about, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯mughing at the boastful tone of a certain coward. Most importantly, he talks as if he knows when he doesn¡¯t know anything,¡± replied Nine-Lives Cat Fiend.

    ¡°What errors have I made?¡± Hai Yecha may have sounded indifferent, but he was bristling with anger.

    ¡°Someone makes it sound like they¡¯re speaking facts, yet they didn¡¯t check to confirm that Lai Jingzhen didn¡¯t give Hong Xue a Dark Token. Hong Xue obtained the token by lopping the head off an unsuspecting person to steal the token. Hong Xue doesn¡¯t even officially count as one of the Supreme Ten Saints, let alone being in the conversation to rank as one of the top ten on the ck rankings. Brother Drought Demon, why are you seeking answers from a page when you¡¯re illiterate? Are you putting on aedy skit?¡±

    Hai Yecha would¡¯ve uncorked an attack if Nine-Lives Cat Fiend were to direct another scathing remark at him.

    ¡°Hahaha, our meeting ising up. Once we return to the pugilistic world, we need to have a good fight with all of these people,¡±mented Drought Demon.

    While Hai Yecha lowered his head, seemingly not sharing the desire.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend bobbed her head. ¡°I agree. Why is thatss still not here? We three Fiend Stars didn¡¯t resurge to argue among ourselves by a riverbank.¡±

    Disturbing the peaceful breeze and slow sound of flowing water, a ck silhouette vaulted out of the water they gazed at,nding on the bank. The trio didn¡¯t fix their gazes on her because of her entuated curves but because of the bizarre ck diving suit she wore.

    ¡°You seriously came from Zhenjiang?¡±

    The girl replied, ¡°Both waterways are heavily guarded; I had no choice.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend: ¡°Tsk, tsk, Xue Yanjun¡¯s gear truly is miraculous. That ¡®Water Fiend¡¯ suit stimtes internal breathing, allowing not even trained people to dive for four hours without needing to surface for oxygen, all withoutpromises and even boosting speed. No traces would be left behind if someone trained in martial arts were to utilise it.¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°You are Master Qi?¡±

    The girl grinned. ¡°Indeed.¡±

    After Master Qi stole Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal, she sneaked out of the city via the water channel. They could stop people at the gate, and they could stop boats by piers, but they couldn¡¯t stop her. Upon escaping the capital, she exchanged the seal for cash.

    ¡°Five hundred thousand as a first-meeting gift, your master is very generous.¡±

    Wearing a smile, Master Qi held her hands in a palm-fist salute. ¡°Five hundred thousand is but a paltry sum to invite Lord of Fiends, one of the Supreme Ten Saints, back to the pugilistic world.¡±

    Glossary

    Three Rivers ¨C Which one they¡¯re referring to is impossible to determine since it¡¯s unclear which era this story is set. For instance Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou and the Three Kingdoms era, all had different ssifications for what the ¡°three rivers¡± referred to. There¡¯s also a possibility that they¡¯re referring to Luoyang if you examine the poetry from the Song Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.

 Book 12: Chapter 52

    Book 12: Chapter 52

    Hai Yecha, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend and Drought Demon were feared spirits in Water Domain for the murder they brought with them. Despite controlling water channels, they didn¡¯t control any faction. Instead, they resided at a mysterious ce known as Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Water Domain. Suffice to say, their fellow spirits, especially Lord of Fiends, were feared individuals. Lord of Fiends still held onto a Dark Token, on top of a seat among the ck rankings in ck and White Reflection, in spite of going missing. Had that war not urred, Lord of Fiends would still be a nightmare terrorising the orthodox sects.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Twenty-two years ago, when Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Ling Hanzhong was at his peak and eyeing more power, he linked up with nearby adepts to march on Fiends¡¯ Genesis in the name of purifying Jiangnan¡¯s water channels. His unspoken goal was actually to establish himself as the head of the Seven Champion White Princes. News outletspeted to provide updates on the battle due to how hot the topic was.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis was notorious for being difficult to locate and conquer. Howbeit, Ling Hanzhong was able to request the aid of Lai Jingzhen, who cracked all the mysteries with his divinations, located the entrance to Fiends¡¯ Genesis and solved everyyer of the forty-two puzzles. Even so, it took the twelve swordsman from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, nine monks from Cold Mountain Temple, young patriarch of Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n, three elders of ck Robe Brotherhood and many disciples of every group to win against the strategies andbat strength of the seven Fiend Stars. When they finally came face to face with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ leader, the man in ck asked from his throne, ¡°Do you really want to die so badly?¡± That was thest thing many people heard in their life.

    Lord of Fiends ughtered all of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s swordsmen, Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s monks, disciples of Bai n and ck Robe Brotherhood; even Jian Changzai, the candidate to seed Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s ¡°Young Sword Immortal¡± title lost his life. Everyone expected the orthodox sects to mow down Fiends¡¯ Genesis with their army of over a thousandbatants, but only ten-odd people, all of whom were in terrible shape, from the expedition returned. They were so soundly crushed that they didn¡¯t even have what it took to turn around and curse. Ling Hanzhong fled all the way back to Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary without waiting for his allies.

    Thanks to the battle, two people gained widespread fame. The young patriarch of Bai n, Bai Zhiqing, became known as the man who held off Lord of Fiends for fifteen minutes so that hisrades could escape and then escaped with his own life gained widespread fame. The second person was Bai Zhiqing¡¯s opponent, who was severely underestimated. Jian Changzai had reached Divine Realm, yet Lord of Fiends ripped his limbs off his body. Many others were killed in a single exchange. From then on, Lord of Fiends remained on the ck Rankings.

    Because of Jian Changzai¡¯s demise and Bai Zhiqing¡¯s severe injuries, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s retired swordsman and Bai n¡¯s travelling broadsword adept returned home. A year following the big fight, Wordless Sword Immortal and Brilliant Broadsworder entered Fiends¡¯ Genesis together. When they left Fiends¡¯ Genesis, Fiends¡¯ Genesis was written off in the pugilistic world for the next twenty-one years.

    ¡°This one has heard of you, but it is an honour to be in your presence,¡± expressed Master Qi.

    ¡°Enough with the drivel. State what exactly it is that you want,¡± Hai Yecha demanded.

    Master Qi politely smiled. ¡°This one¡¯s master requests an audience with your master.¡±

    ¡°Not happening. His Excellency doesn¡¯t meet with outsiders.¡±

    ¡°In that case, a meeting with Mr. Jiang Chen would also suffice.¡±

    Corpse King Jiang Chen was lower in rank only to Lord of Fiends, so he led the seven Fiend Stars. He personally handled logistics and affairs unless told otherwise.

    ¡°Hmph, we¡¯re not good enough? Are we being underestimated, or are you plotting something?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. This one has not forgotten you slew Wudang¡¯s Elder Song with a single palm strike in the past. This one has no ce crossing you, Mr. Hai Yecha.¡±

    The man waved his meaty hand. ¡°There¡¯s no need to put this old man on a pedestal. This old man is neither a match for that damn Xian Suiyue or Hangzhou¡¯s Metal Yu Feiyuan. Jiang Chen won¡¯te, and we won¡¯t take you to His Excellency. If you have something to say, out with it. Else, we¡¯re out of here.¡±

    Aware that the three did as they pleased, Master Qi also knew that Li Muye¡¯s payment and n would be as good as binned if they left now, so she filled them in. Once she was done, Drought Demon was first to speak. ¡°If there¡¯s a fight, I¡¯ll go anywhere.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend and Ocean Yaksha: ¡°Shut. Up.¡±

    ¡°You want us tomit a few crimes in the capital?¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend continued in a chiding tone without the ufortable sense of superiority, ¡°The three offices patrol the capital, and adepts are ubiquitous. Apart from the Seven Champion White Princes, Tianhu from The Ultimate Threees and goes unpredictably. Yan Shisan¡¯s sessor, Yingfeng has never shown his face. It¡¯s clear the capital is dangerous for us. Missy, you look quite decent, but your heart is made of venom.¡±

    Although Master Qi was advanced by internal discipline standards, her heart thumped harder just listening to Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s voice. It was as if she was spellbound. ¡°We have taken that into ount. At present, the White Princes are not willing to act. Jiangnan¡¯s unorthodox sects are starting to re-emerge, and I am sure you have noticed it.¡±

    Of course the trio knew that; they themselves were the best evidence. Owing to Luo Sword Manor relinquishing their rank, the other White Princes reduced the pressure they imparted on unorthodox factions. Among the factions biding their time, Fiends¡¯ Genesis was just one example.

    ¡°The White Princes¡¯ emissaries in the capital intend to back off on the unorthodox factions. At your levels, you would not leave clues to expose yourselves, would you?¡±

    ¡°You want us to foment turbulence, and then you swoop in to subdue us? Hmph.¡± Hai Yecha added, ¡°Wishful thinking.¡±

    Master Qi pulled her brows in. ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°Your master has a sound n. What makes him think he can control the capital, though? What guarantee is there that we can escape once we¡¯ve fulfilled the request? Are The Ultimate Three friendly? Are the three offices overseeing the martial world easy picking? We have no problems fulfilling a request in exchange for money, but not having the life to spend it isn¡¯t desirable.¡±

    ¡°The Qilin Guards¡¯ main force isn¡¯t in the capital. Emperor¡¯s Entourage has no time to spare on the capital¡¯s security at the moment while monitoring the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still Liu Shan Men, no?¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men is even less relevant. Though Shen Yiren is capable, she has her bowl full. There are a lot more ces to survey in the capital nowpared to the past; she doesn¡¯t have the manpower to cover all the ground. Besides, are you implying the three of you fear one girl?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know Liu Shan Men. From what you just said, you don¡¯t know enough about them, either. When we ept a job, we do it properly. We have our own principles for choosing our clients. Your master hasn¡¯t enticed us.¡± Hai Yecha turned to his allies. ¡°What do you two think?¡±

    Drought Demon didn¡¯t give a response. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend shook her head.

    ¡°There you have it. We¡¯ve made our decision.¡±

    Drought Demon sighed as he reached into his shirt for the five hundred thousand taels. Master Qi, equally disappointed in the results of her efforts, took the stack of notes passed over to her. The trio was paid with cash, yet they returned the payment in notes, which could only mean that they weren¡¯t short on money.

    Master Qi held her hands in salutation. ¡°In that case, let us meet again in the pugilistic world. This one shall take her leave now.¡±

    As Master Qi turned to leave, she heard from Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, ¡°Who let you leave?¡±

    ¡°Word is that Fiends¡¯ Genesis honours the rules of business.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± replied Hai Yecha. ¡°We have returned the payment since we have turned down the job. Aren¡¯t you holding it?¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend giggled, then said, ¡°As we are not epting yourmission, you¡¯re not our guest; we¡¯re now strangers. At best, you are an unfortunate individual with five hundred thousand taels who happened to bump into three Stars from Fiends¡¯ Genesis when the moon was out.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Hai Yecha snorted. ¡°We have a principle to never sell ourselves short; why would we pass up an opportunity to make money? Hand over the five hundred thousand, and we¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend added, ¡°And the water fiend garment.¡±

    Master Qi: ¡°Hahaha, you run from a challenge, but you pick on your juniors without remorse. No wonder why Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary retired you cowards for two decades.¡±

    ¡°Provocation won¡¯t work on us,¡± Hai Yecha responded. ¡°If you think you¡¯ll be able to make an opening with your provocation so that you can escape, you¡¯re out of touch with reality.¡±

    Hai Yecha and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend assumed positions anterior and posterior to Master Qi.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re in position, you won¡¯t get away. Drought Demon, att-, eh?¡±

    Drought Demon already extended his grey hand, generating a boom with hisunch speed. Master Qi was surprisingly prepared because she knew they nned to confine her from the moment they moved. Her legs beat Drought Demon to the punch, getting inside of his arms to finger spear him on the chest.

    Master Qi¡¯s two fingers undoubtedly found their target, yet Drought Demon didn¡¯t even gasp; even his face remained ashen white.

 Book 12: Chapter 53

    Book 12: Chapter 53

    Drought Demon burst out inughter. ¡°I¡¯m dead; I don¡¯t know pain.¡±

    As soon as Drought Demon discharged energy from his chest, Master Qi promptly backed off.

    I pierced his chest for sure; how is he unfazed? What does he mean he¡¯s dead?

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, Drought Demon¡¯s Corpse Mountain Yin Body is supposed to be impervious to sword qi, yet it was pierced. How did it happen?¡± questioned Nine-Lives Cat Fiend.

    ¡°How else? Use enough force and it¡¯ll be pierced?¡±

    The three advanced as they conversed. Nine-Lives Cat Demon utilised a vicious wing style that targeted ces that would otherwise be considered ¡°dirty fighting¡±. Hai Yecha stayed outside of range, intermittently unleashing palm attacks. He didn¡¯t need to make contact; he only needed to deter Master Qi from running. Drought Demon was the primary attack force.

    Drought Demon¡¯s style was odd. Instead of chambering punches and throwing them in bending motions, he locked his arms and swung them as though bending them was impossible. It worked for him because he possessed tremendous speed and power, allowing him to control the distance as nobody would want to block one of his punches.

    Luckily for Master Qi, she trained movement, so she was able to avoid any damage against the trio. Growing up without any obstacles in her training and learning fast, people were prone to finding ways out or losing the fortitude to keep going when fights got tough. Master Qi, howbeit, only grew more and more inmed as she sought an opportunity to fire back something. ¡°If you three don¡¯t bugger off, I¡¯ll butcher all three of you, your hear?!¡±

    The temperature around sharply dropped. Inhtion stung the trio¡¯s lungs. They deftly moved away upon detecting frigid cold qi slice toward them, defusing their formation.

    Master Qi had a freezing wind wreathing around her.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ocean Yaksha took a step back. ¡°Mount Tian¡¯s cial Swordy.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend: ¡°Mount Tian broke off from Kunlun, so they know the intricacies of Kunlun¡¯s swordy. How old are you, missy? You¡¯re impressive. Drought Demon, stay your hand!¡±

    Drought Demon, the only one who was forced back, already charged in again. Master Qi stopped holding back,ing out with the coldest swing. Blood that spilt from Drought Demon¡¯s cuts froze straight away, but he kept closing in without losing the upward curve at his lips. As staunch as she was, Master Qi was legitimately freaked out.

    Nine-Lives Cat Demon sighed and palmed her face. ¡°I knew this would happen. This is embarrassing.¡±

    Hai Yecha didn¡¯t opine for he wasn¡¯t a fan of conforming. Silence was his way of conveying agreement.

    Thanks to Drought Demon¡¯s charge, the trio was able to get back into formation, forcing Master Qi to create a-like force field out of sword strikes. She was only a few steps away from the river behind her, but they never let her reach it.

    Despite his wounds, Drought Demon¡¯s output remained as high as they did at the beginning. In contrast, Master Qi was fading after using big techniques.

    As soon as Master Qi was distracted for a second, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend caught and squeezed Master Qi¡¯s shoulder, dismantling Master Qi¡¯s.

    ¡°Hahaha, done.¡± Drought Demon performed an in-swing knife hand strike, slicing through the crumbling toward Master Qi¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Drought Demon, stop! We can¡¯t kill her!¡± shouted Hai Yecha.

    Drought Demon: Oh crud.

    As she awaited the finishing blow, Master Qi conjured the image of an individual she had been seeing in her dreamstely.

    Suddenly, a dragon roared, startling Drought Demon enough to make his movements sluggish for a moment. By the time he looked up at what blocked out the moonlight, the enormous hand was already too close for him to dodge. As a result, he was sent through seven trees. The neer made quick work of the remaining two, knocking them out of position while they were distracted. By the time they could see properly again, their assant had already taken Master Qi in his arms.

    Master Qi went a little limp in his arms, but her fantasy was ruthlessly crushed when she opened her eyes to see her saviour. Though he wasn¡¯t exactly handsome, he was rugged, big and strong enough to grant her a sense of security. Just as any other young girl, she, too, had dreams of a heroing to her rescue. As ofte, she had been seeing a heroic mane to her rescue in her dreams. Never did she imagine her dreams woulde true.

    It¡¯s you¡­ It¡¯s you¡­

    ¡°Why is it you?!¡± That wasn¡¯t the cry of someone moved to tears but utter disdain. Master Qi wanted nothing more than to run for her life when she saw his attire.

    ¡°We¡¯re getting out of here!¡± Hong Jiu picked Master Qi up and leapt into the river.

    Knowing they couldn¡¯t swim as proficiently, let alone when the current was so unforgiving, the trio abandoned their n.

    Absentmindedly, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend queried, ¡°Who was that? Those were impressive palm skills.¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Mm¡­ A few hours ago, I had a suspicion somebody was spying on us at the market, though I don¡¯t know who. Seeing as he followed us and only came to our attention upon announcing himself, he isn¡¯t an amateur. As for his palm techniques¡­ He seems to have trouble controlling his output. He¡¯s able to exert a lot of force but unable to pull it back, so he shouldn¡¯t be old. Heh, he¡¯s an excellent martial artist among the young generation.¡±

    Although Drought Demon came back from afar with a limp, his bleeding head didn¡¯t seem to bother him. ¡°It hurts like crazy. Where¡¯d she go? What happened? What a pity.¡±

    ¡°Good thing you didn¡¯t kill her,¡± Hai Yecha chidingly remarked. ¡°She¡¯s extremely advanced in swordy; she justcks experience in realbat. The way she performed cial Swordy indicates she¡¯s a direct disciple.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± asked Nine-Lives Cat Fiend. ¡°It¡¯s not like Mount Tian is scary.¡±

    ¡°It would¡¯ve been convenient if she was only a direct disciple. Besides cial Swordy, the cryo skill she utilised is clearly the internal discipline cial Sword Empress devised. She doesn¡¯t have many disciples. Family members, to the contrary¡­ she has a lot. I remember she has a younger sister who happens to be seventh in line. Knowing how much cial Sword Empress hates evil and protective she is of her younger sister, we won¡¯t be able to reach a settlement with only five hundred thousand taels. As for that man who showed up, he¡¯s strong, but¡­¡±

    It took a while before the three asked at the same time, ¡°Why was he wearing female clothing? What exactly is his gender?¡±

    Glossary

    In-swing/out-swing strikes ¨C In-swing means to swing from outside to inside (palms facing up, striking with the pinky side of your hand). Out-swing means to swing from inside to outside (palms facing down, striking with the pinky side of your hand).

 Book 12: Chapter 54

    Book 12: Chapter 54n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi caused the water surface to roil as they surfaced and struggled to shore. Master Qi let herself fall into the bushes despite mud getting on her face. Her water fiend gear allowed her to fearlessly navigate the waters; however, running for her life, not to mention for two hours straight, took its toll on her. When a shadow blocked out the moonlight, she looked up to see Hong Jiu. Most surprising to her was that he wasn¡¯t even breathing hard, yet she felt as though she wasn¡¯t getting enough oxygen.

    As the wind billowed his bright red dress, Hong Jiu kept a face as still as a statue whilst peering into the distance. God forbid Master Qi could figure out what deep philosophies he was pondering. Thoughts inundated her mind, rendering her speechless, so she gave up and buried her face in the ground.

    Little did Master Qi know, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t have an easy time tracking her down. Given plenty of valuable treasures were in Night Fortress¡¯ possession, it was suspicious for such a valuable item to resurface. By extension, the one in possession of it also needed to be cautious if they wanted to keep it a secret. To track down the whereabouts of the suit that suddenly showed up again, he had to contact numerous contacts as well as jump through numerous hoops. As a matter of fact, he couldn¡¯t find any useful leads until he came across Mountain Monster, who was dispatched to the pier, eating noodles, banging on the table with her chopsticks whilst cursing, ¡°I¡¯ve been guarding this ce for bloody ages. Has Shen Yiren forgotten about me? What¡¯s the freaking point of having me guard the pier when they already have their hands on the money? Is the thief a fish or something? Can they swim out of the city?¡±

    Mountain Monster¡¯sint reminded Hong Jiu that Blood Demon had three suits for operating in water:ke spirit, water fiend and ocean monster. Therefore, he linked them to Yongheng Bank¡¯s case. There was no question Li Muye was behind Yongheng Bank¡¯s case. ordingly, Hong Jiu immediately looked into Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s recent activity, thereby discovering Master Qi had been out for days. Hong Jiu subsequently made haste for Yongheng Bank¡¯s Zhenjiang branch to dig up clues on their lost money. Gradually, he tracked down Master Qi.

    In total, it took Hong Jiu three days to catch up to Master Qi. Seeing as the deadline to return was up, he nned to make his way back to the capital, which was when he came across Master Qi locked inbat. Originally, he had no ns to intervene, but he decided to step in upon recalling their previous match.

    Leader, Leader, it is not I who is disloyal. It is that thisss is too barbaric. Had I not came to her aid, she would have perished to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ trio. It will take me another day to reach the capital. Until then, please look after yourself.

    Hong Jiu erased the image of Ming Feizhen being bullied in the capital out of pain and turned to Master Qi. ¡°You all right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± replied Master Qi, still panting a tad. ¡°Howe you¡¯re not even fazed?¡±

    Growing up in the north, Hong Jiu shouldn¡¯t have been a match for the trio who resided in a domain of water. His secret, if it could be considered one, was he that his mentor ¨C Ming Huayu ¨C had a screw loose. He was thrown into a dangerous forest where violent beasts roamed, thrown into the middle of a gang fight, thrown into a warzone and more, all in the name of training. Swimming? He was kicked into a freezingke and told to swim. What was an averagekepared to the freezingke?

    Master Qi stood up. She wasn¡¯t much shorter than Hong Jiu, and her curves were pronounced under her form-fitting garments. Though there was mud on her face, it didn¡¯t diminish her beauty in the slightest. Yet, Hong Jiu showed no interest in her.

    ¡°In that case, I shall take my leave.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Hong Jiu stopped but didn¡¯t turn around. ¡°Say something.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Notwithstanding being the one who called out to him, Master Qi didn¡¯t know why she called out, so she threw out the first question that came to mind. ¡°Why are you wearing a woman¡¯s clothing?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I thought I was going to get a thanks.¡± Hong Jiu subconsciously touched his nose. The truth was that his attire was a disguise, but how was he supposed to tell the person he was tailing that he was tailing her? Hence, he answered, ¡°Just felt like it.¡±

    Master Qi stepped backward. ¡°You sicko!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re done now, right?¡±

    ¡°No. Why did you save me? As well, what are you here for?¡±

    ¡°Obviously t-¡­¡± The second question reminded Hong Jiu that not only was he runningte but also had nothing to show for it. That wasn¡¯t the end of the world, but the answer was right in front of him now. If he were to go back at this point, he¡¯d probably cop a beating. He quickly turned around and smiled. ¡°Obviously to¡­ let you have a guess.¡±

    Master Qi chuckled. ¡°You were worried I forgot you have to eat dog crap, so you came to honour your word.¡±

    Why does she still remember that?

    ¡°We ought to rediscuss that deal because, at the time, w-¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to. I¡¯m here for business. You¡¯re with Liu Shan Men, so we do not share the same interests. I am grateful for your help; let us write off the bet. See youter.¡± Master Qi saluted with her hands, then departed.

    This must be karma! She wouldn¡¯t let me go when I wanted to leave, and now she wants to leave. How can I stop her from leaving?

    ¡°Wait, do you know what I¡¯m here for?¡± Hong Jiu inquired.

    ¡°How should I know?¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s eyes went in circles. ¡°I-I¡¯m here for you.¡±

    A silence entuated the foliage¡¯s rustles. Two red, very red, roses bloomed on a maiden¡¯s cheeks.

 Book 12: Chapter 55

    Book 12: Chapter 55

    ¡°Wh-what were you looking for me for?¡± Master Qi queried in a barely-audible voice and with her head down.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Hong Jiu never thought about what to say next as he only prevented Master Qi from leaving so that he could ask for Blood Demon¡¯s whereabouts.

    ¡°Ooooooohhh.¡± In the end, as per the ¡°When you¡¯re stuck, throw out ¡®Leader¡¯¡± tradition, he started with, ¡°I came after you on Leader¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Your leader? That Ming Feizhen? What did he tell you to chase me down for?¡± Master Qi visibly lowered her guard when Ming Feizhen was mentioned to be the mastermind.

    Put on the spot, Hong Jiu fell back on the strategy Ming Feizhen taught him in the past. ¡°Primarily¡­ because¡­ I¡­ was thinking about you.¡±

    Master Qi felt her face burning. ¡°What were you thinking about me for?¡±

    ¡°That day, when we met at the academy¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu paused and tripped between words solely because he wasn¡¯t as fast as Ming Feizhen and Ming Huayu when it came to making excuses. Howbeit, Master Qi didn¡¯t assume so. Instead, she thought he was going to bring up her gender.

    ¡°Shut up! Br-bring it up again, and I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll chop you up.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Ah, no, I was trying to say, uh, I, uh, admire and respect your martial prowess. I, this one wants to befriend you so that he may learn from you and improve himself. That¡¯s why Leader told him to go and befriend you, so here he is.¡±

    Master Qi narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°As it was an abrupt decision, this one did not have time to prepare a gift. As such, he, uh¡­¡± Hong Chu fumbled through his back for a while, but he couldn¡¯t find anything he deemed an appropriate gift. If only he remembered he barely had any money on him in the first ce. Nheless, his clothing entered his field of view when he looked down to his pouch. ¡°I bought a set of clothes for you.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­ You don¡¯t have to wear it, though, do you?¡±

    Hong Jiu, with a straight face, replied, ¡°As a man, it would be inappropriate for me to go around with a girl¡¯s set of clothes on me. People would make fun of me.¡±

    ¡°O-oh¡­¡±

    ¡°My point is, I was in a rush. You know how clothing is the most prone to damage in the pugilistic world. You were in a pickle, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Me? I¡¯m okay. My attire isn¡¯t damaged.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, but they are wet, right? Besides, you couldn¡¯t walk around in those garments if it was daytime.¡±

    Master Qi chuckled. ¡°Your clothes are wet, too.¡±

    ¡°Different situation. Come touch.¡±

    ¡°How is it different?¡± Master Qi touched Hong Jiu¡¯s clothes. ¡°What the? How is it dry and warm?¡±

    Due to his concern for Ming Feizhen, Hong Jiu¡¯s true qi was roiling when he resurfaced. That was why his clothing was dry; it was on purpose.

    ¡°Master Qi, I mean, Miss Qi, it is not wise for you to be wearing wet clothes on a cold night. You can wear my clothes.¡±

    Master Qi didn¡¯t mind getting back in the water; however, she could no longer feel safe in the water after crossing Fiends¡¯ Genesis. She certainly couldn¡¯t walk around nude, so she expressed, ¡°Thank you very much.¡± At the same time, she stealthily dried out her clothing using her energy.

    Hong Jiu promptly stripped down and then rubbed his palms together.

    Once she was ready, Master Qi gave her thanks as she took the garments Hong Jiu passed her, then wore them straight on.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait!¡± Hong Jiu jumped to his feet.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Y-y-you¡¯re just going to wear it over the top?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah? Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ Aren¡¯t you going to take off the suit?¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, I was worried it¡¯d feel ufortable.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ It¡¯s fine¡­ Okay, then¡­ I don¡¯t have other clothes, though, and it¡¯s cold.¡±

    Master Qi pped her eyelids. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t fit in my clothes, no?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ is a good point¡­¡±

    The two of them sat by the riverbank in each other¡¯spany for a while. Master Qi didn¡¯t know why Hong Jiu hung his head simrly to a man in defeat, but, out of gratitude, she decided to start talking first. ¡°I saw your palm techniques.¡±

    Having failed to obtain the diving suit and lost his clothing, Hong Jiu lifelessly responded, ¡°Yeah, you did.¡±

    ¡°Are you really Hong Jiu? The one who is considered one of the top five palm technicians?¡±

    Hong Jiu shook his head. ¡°At the very least, top four.¡±

    Master Qi gaspedparably to a fan girl. ¡°I hear you¡¯re a direct disciple of Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch and the young master of Beggars Sect. Why are you someone¡¯s minion? I mean that Ming Feizhen¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my senior.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s superior to you? Doesn¡¯t look like it to me.¡±

    ¡°I would be undermining his abilities if I said he was ten times stronger than me.¡± Hong Jiu rested his head on his right hand whilst gazing at the water. ¡°You have to be at a certain level toprehend Leader¡¯s greatness.¡±

    Master Qi didn¡¯t buy it. ¡°You¡¯re thirty this year, so you¡¯ve been removed from Seventeen Wyrms and reced by Song n¡¯s Yu Lang and your junior. Who is stronger between you and them?¡±

    ¡°Never fought them. How should anyone know?¡± Hong Jiu looked askance at Master Qi. Although it was a tad too big for her, the weapon of mass destruction on Hong Jiu became a beautiful bouquet of flower¡¯s wrapping, yet he didn¡¯t have any butterflies in his stomach. ¡°Why do you dress up as a boy? Because of your disguise, I¡­¡±

    ¡°My elder sister¡¯s instructions.¡± Master Qi cuddled her knees and smiled. ¡°She told me I¡¯m girly, so people might not fear me. As His Highness¡¯ bodyguard, I need to appear imposing, so I dress as a man. While it was quite fun at first, it became a hassleter, but my sister wouldn¡¯t let me change.¡±

    Hong Jiu bobbed his head. ¡°Your sister is quite the piece of work.¡±

    Master Qi whacked Hong Jiu over the head. ¡°Only I can criticise my sister!¡±

    Hong Jiu rubbed his head. ¡°You want to get reckless, you ungrateful woman?¡±

    Master Qi grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s ear. ¡°What was that?!¡±

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow! Gentlemen don¡¯t throw hands!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll throw my fingers, then!¡±

    ¡°Pipe down! You want to be heard?¡±

    ¡°How would they catch up after all this time?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know how petty Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group is, do you? They may look as human as we do, but they won¡¯t quit until you¡¯re dead once they designate you as their prey.¡±

    ¡°Hah, I don¡¯t believe you.¡±

    It was only a secondter that they could hear brisk footsteps of an advanced martial artist. They looked to each other and, sharing a magic moment, simultaneously stated, ¡°They¡¯re fast.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 56

    Book 12: Chapter 56

    ¡°Don¡¯t run off now, kiddos. I had to search high and low for you. I¡¯m going to spank you once I catch you,¡± jibed Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, from afar. Moving eastward, she covered approximately five hundred metres in the span of time it took her to finish her taunt.

    ¡°It¡¯s Nine-Lives Cat Demon.¡± Master Qimented, ¡°I knew she was cunning and good at wing techniques, but I never heard she was this fast.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Fast, my foot. She would¡¯ve caught up already if she was actually fast. Among the three of them, she¡¯s the slowest. I suspect this is a ruse.¡±

    ¡°No way. What sort of ruse could it be?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called a distraction tactic. Why would she announce her presence out of nowhere? She¡¯s trying to capture your attention. In a fight, the tactic is used to lower your guard. In this scenario, she wants you to carelessly hide. Then, those lying in ambush will quickly catch you off guard and finish you off.¡±

    As if ¡°Then¡± was a keyword, a corpse ¨Cat least its emotionless visage and stiff arms suggested so ¨C jumped them from behind. By the time Hong Jiu reached ¡°quickly¡±, the assant spread his ghastly-white teeth as he took aim for Hong Jiu¡¯s shoulder. Meanwhile, Master Qi opened her mouth to scream. Upon reaching ¡°off guard¡±, Hong Jiu, without looking behind him, reached backwards, seized the assant¡¯s head and wrestled his assant over his shoulder. Once he uttered, ¡°finish you off,¡± Hong Jiu drove his palm into his assant, ending any hopes of making an utterance.

    ¡°Damn, you people are too fast, no?!¡± Hong Jiu eximed, his brain finally catching up with current events.

    Instead of being impressed with Hong Jiu¡¯s reaction speed, one should be more impressed with the fact that the assant managed to creep that close to Master Qi and Hong Jiu undetected. By the same ount, Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t convinced he could kill the assant so simply. He found the corpse freezing cold and unblemished ¨C save for the blood he sted out of it ¨C which indicated the person had been dead for some time. Additionally, the impact felt akin to hitting solid wood as opposed to flesh.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°It¡¯s Drought Demon¡¯s fiends.¡± Hong Jiu said in a low voice, ¡°They¡¯re not ying anymore.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not all.¡±

    The duo cast their gaze toward the trees, where they espied dozens of bloodthirsty eyes and heard heavy breathing closing in. They were human, yet they sped out from hiding on all fours. The jacked men clearly practiced some discipline that affected their minds. On the opposite side, over ten stiff men ¨C rather, fiends ¨C rose from the earth.

    Aforementioned ¡°fiends¡± referred to the power that the Seven Stars wielded. The seven utilised their individual means to raise their personal armies when they ruled Water Domain. Their forces were one of the toughest walls for their enemies during their extermination. Their master was never too far from their soldiers.

    Master Qi yelled, ¡°Bring it on, all together! Where is Hai Yecha?¡±

    ¡°Right here!¡± The answer came from underwater.

    Two water columns rose from the water channel. The elder jumped out from one.

    ¡°Really? Again? We just dried off!¡± Hong Jiu grumbled.

    The two columns of water travelled in reverse. Hai Yecha extended a hand upwards to intercept an attack, leveraging his opponent¡¯s attack to safelynd on the bank.

    Hong Jiu grouched, ¡°Are you done with your sneak attacks? Can¡¯t I have a moment of peace?¡±

    Hai Yecha: Qi will flow in reverse if one is not in control of their emotions. I only just sneak attacked him, so how is he still able to react so fast? He¡¯s way more mature than he should be for his age.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s maturity wasn¡¯t purely attributed to Mount Daluo¡¯s education but also his personality by nature. He once woke up atop a city wall and rolled off into the middle of a war. He once looked up from his bowl of wonton soup to see an assassin¡¯s hostile hand already near him, forcing him to flee. At the very same wonton stall, he had just grabbed something to wipe his mouth after his meal, only to discover it was the dress of the bossdy of the biggest gang in the city. It would take someone exceptional to survive ten years with his destiny, yet he sometimes considered himself lucky and never thought too much of his dangerous encounters. If there was something to attribute his survival to, it was his honed swift responses to danger.

    Hai Yecha was purely uninformed.

    Master Qi pulled Hong Jiu over to prevent them being boxed in again and whispered, ¡°We need to break out of this entrapment,¡± which was a viewpoint Hong Jiu agreed.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s voice eventually faded, proving Hong Jiu¡¯s suspicion she wasing was true. Drought Demon, who controlled the fiends, was still hidden somewhere. Considering the trio¡¯s ability to hide their presence for nking, it would be troublesome if their positions were unknown.

    Hai Yecha came out into the open in order to stall his tworades for them to assume their formation and, if possible, inflict damage. That much was obvious. What wasn¡¯t written on the wall was why he remained in a not eight, not nail stance and wasn¡¯t guarding any exit. To the contrary, multiple escape routes were avable.

    ¡°Elder,¡± Hong Jiu called.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Hai Yecha.

    ¡°Just wanted to remind you to protect your teeth.¡±

    What is he insinuating?

    Hong Jiu came out of the gate with a palm strike aimed at Hai Yecha¡¯s face ¨C the same technique he used against Drought Domain. Despite having seen it before, Hai Yecha had no counter, forcing him to resort to rolling across the ground. Still, he felt a burning sensation on his face when he rolled to his feet and ran thirty metres away to be safe. By the time he looked back, Hong Jiu had already run off with Master Qi in tow.

    The spot Hai Yecha originally stood at was the only exit in their formation. He left many supposedly reasonable escape routes avable to encourage them down those routes. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend and Drought Demon had ambushes set up along all the other paths. They didn¡¯t expect Hong Jiu to forge an escape path through the toughest route.

    Hai Yecha: Just who is this young man? My desire to know only burgeons.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let them reach the capital! After them!¡± instructed Hai Yecha.

 Book 12: Chapter 57

    Book 12: Chapter 57

    The sunlight at dawn, the breeze, the whiteness of the clouds, the greenness of the tree leaves, everything was perfect, just as they were yesterday, on the fourth day of Hong Jiu¡¯s absence. The air was more refreshing; the tree in front of my room had grown healthier; the leaves were moister thanks to the morning dew.

    When I stepped over and leaned in¡­

    ¡°What the freak?! Show yourself. Spirit!¡± I bolted back into my room and raised up my solid shield before the evildoer could catch me off guard, then hurled a mist bomb at the tree!

    Once the mist settled, I carefully poked my head over the top of my shield and watched for a while. Once I reached the flower garden ¨C where it used to be ¨C I saw a rabbit¡­ well, technically, a grilled rabbit¡­ slightly overdone rabbit.

    Man, that scared m-, didn¡¯t scare me! That was my understandably efficient defensive reaction against hostiles harbouring malignant emotions directed at me. I just¡­ reacted a tad too quick.

    I no longer had a bodyguard after Hong Jiu left, so my options, if a hostile was to attack me, were to await death or take a beating. That was the reason I requested time off from school and hadn¡¯t left my room for three days straight. He was supposed to be back, but he wasn¡¯t, and I couldn¡¯t ditch sses any longer! Therefore, I had to be as cautious as possible once I set foot outside.

    What? Scared? Me? That¡¯s a strong contender for joke of the year. Real men fear nothing, including death! That being said, there are times when it is better to protect yourself. There¡¯s life wisdom for you. Wisdom isn¡¯t a synonym for fear.

    Anyhow, I turned up my hearing antennas to check for nearby hostiles, took a few steps, then stopped to wait and check again. Yes, I knew there was nobody around, but better safe than sorry. No, I wasn¡¯t scared. I was cautious.

    ¡°Big Bro.¡±

    I shed as I spun around. ¡°Son of a, show yourself, you cowardly stalker!¡±

    Neither Tang Ye nor I, both fossilised, understood what to make of the situation.

    Tang Ye decided to make the first move, starting with disarming me, then cing it back into my hand so that it pointed away from him. ¡°Why are you so on edge?¡±

    ¡°What suggests I¡¯m on edge? I¡¯m cautious.¡±

    I stowed away my dagger. ¡°Why do you walk without making a sound?¡±

    ¡°This is how I usually walk, though.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t care. Next time, you must write me a report if you enter within three metres of my vicinity¡­ Hang on! Stay where you are. How do I know you¡¯re Tang Ye?¡±

    Tang Ye tilted his head. ¡°¡­ What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m the one asking the questions here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you really Tang Ye?¡±

    Tang Ye nodded.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m that gullible?! I have three questions for you: How did wee to know each other? Am I handsome? Do you love me?¡±

    ¡°Through Liu Shan Men¡¯s recruitment. No. Get lost.¡±

    Oh, it is Tang Ye.

    ¡°Should¡¯ve told me you were Tang Ye sooner.¡±

    ¡°I did. Big Bro, have you finally decided to leave your room?¡± Tang Ye helped me carry my shield and dagger.

    ¡°Does it look like it¡¯s voluntary?¡±

    Uncle Huang was nasty. The martial world treasury was badgering me to pay my debt. The situation in the capital was getting out of control. If I left things as they were for a few more days, god knows what the situation would¡¯ve be.

    ¡°But you are worr-¡±

    ¡°Who says I¡¯m worried?! I¡¯m cautious!¡±

    ¡°You are carrying a shield. To be frank, a shield will not be of any use in your current state; you would have it snatched from you effortlessly.¡±

    ¡°Even better. I smeared poison on it.¡±

    Tang Ye threw the shield away!

    ¡°I have an antidote! Don¡¯t just throw my shield away!¡±

    Tang Ye caught the antidote I tossed him and applied it. ¡°Are you sure you want to leave your room when you are even resorting to poison?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just being cautious! Cautious!¡±

    ¡°This shield and dagger alone are not enough.¡± Tang Ye tried swinging the dagger around, and it really was as ordinary as he thought.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just grab the dagger.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡­¡±

    Boom! The explosion sound came from Tang Ye.

    ¡°¡­ will explode.¡±

    Once the heat and sound settled, the charcoal man sniffled and pursed his lips. ¡°¡­ And this is?¡±

    ¡°Cautious.¡±

    The dagger that exploded once a short time had passed in someone¡¯s hands was a failed experiment of Ol¡¯ Xue¡¯s.

    Don¡¯t me me when you grabbed it yourself!

    I called someone over to escort Tang Ye to the doctor, then cautiously made my way to Daren Academy.

    Reading by the academy entrance, Su Xiao spotted me and asked, ¡°Good morning, Big Brother Ming. Why is Tang Ye not here?¡±

    ¡°Because of being cautious.¡±

    I walked straight pass Su Xiao. I needed to implement safety measures before I was sure he was Su Xiao, after all. I stopped once I took a step past the flower garden and stepped back. ¡°Wait, what if there¡¯s a trap?¡±

    The risk wasn¡¯t worth it, so I went back the way I came and chose a popted route.

    Not long after I left, five students popped out and stood around a spot, scratching their heads.

    ¡°What the hell? Is he irvoyant?¡±

    ¡°How did he know there¡¯s a trap here?¡±

    ***

    Three days ago.

    ¡°The only way to defeat Ming Feizhen is through brute force; strategy will never work against him,¡± asserted Song Chi, baffling his brother. ¡°Have you considered how many people he has at his disposal? Not including Liu Shan Men and Mount Daluo, many people in the pugilistic world take orders from him, not to mention His Majesty trusts him. Not even our n can mobilise as many people as he can in the capital.¡±

    ¡°You are thinking too highly of him,¡± disputed Song Ou.

    ¡°To not lose any battles is to win. Besides, you are underestimating him too much,¡± Song Chi contended. ¡°Ming Feizhen is astute, but hecks powers in his hands. We must concentrate our energy on attacking his weakness. Simple brute strength is the key to defeating him.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°So¡­ you n to send people after him? I¡­ don¡¯t think it¡¯s such a good idea.¡±

    Song Chi grinned. ¡°Not at all. He, after all, is a direct disciple of Mount Daluo. Howbeit, it is a good idea to teach him a lesson for your sake. As I am active at Daren Academy, I have ess to plenty of pawns. Watch me, Brother.¡± He picked up his teacup for a nip.

 Book 12: Chapter 58

    Book 12: Chapter 58

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, we¡¯ve designed a n. Come have a listen¡­¡±

    ¡°Right away!¡± I raised my hand, visually measured the distance between us, retreated roughly three metres, then said to Miss Wang Zi, ¡°We¡¯re not that close, so let¡¯s keep some distance between us. It¡¯s better to not have any misunderstandings arise.¡±

    Miss Wang bashfully replied, ¡°Wh-who¡¯d want to have a misunderstanding with you?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Exactly, so keep some distance between us.¡±

    ¡°Weirdo.¡± Miss Wang rolled her eyes at me and, keeping a distance as I requested, informed, ¡°We have two ns. Do you think we should try to actively seize the lead or be cautious at thepetition?¡±

    I firmly answered, ¡°Cautious, for sure.¡±

    ¡°So, act carefully and keep a low profile?¡±

    ¡°No, protect your posts. Do not take a single step out of the ssroom. If it calls for it, forfeit, withdraw and protect our lives.¡±

    ¡°You think we¡¯re going to war?!¡±

    ¡°Life is a war. We must remain on high alert and be prepared at every hour, every minute, every second¡­¡± I scanned the ssroom¡¯s interior and exterior once with my ears, then finished, ¡°¡­ to run.¡±

    Stumped for a retort, Wang Zi slowly walked away.

    I continued surveying my surroundings for hostiles whilst reflecting on what Uncle Huang just told me. The first thing I did upon arriving at the academy was visit Uncle Huang. After all, he¡¯d miss me after my long absence.

    ¡°You walking disappointment! You just say you¡¯re not attending and then skip three days! What do you think this academy is?! The market?!¡±

    He was just a little aggressive in expressing himself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I discussed the various happenings in the capital recently with Uncle Huang. For starters, over thest few days, people in the martial world had been entering the capital daily, and there were more of them entering each sessive day. His Majesty¡¯s special exam arrangement could exin the crowd; thing was, almost half of them were from unorthodox factions.

    The problem wasn¡¯t that the capital discriminated against unorthodox factions; the martial artsmunity in the capital was practically unregted to begin with. Historically, the Seven Champion White Princes acted as a security detail for the capital when there wererge gatherings of martial artists in the capital, rendering it painfully difficult for unorthodox sects to even show their faces in the capital, let alone try anything. To put it into perspective, they had maintained a ratio of one to nine, where the one was the unorthodox factions. In order to reach the capital and make a name for themselves, they¡¯d have to fight their way through the White Princes¡¯ territories. Even I¡¯d feel sorry for them. Given how skewered the ratio was, the only way to exin the now-nigh one to one ratio and the speed at which it happened was that, besides ck Robe Brotherhood and Luo Sword Manor, the other five White Princes were countering the imperial court¡¯s first move. This counter of theirs didn¡¯t require them to do anything special; they just needed to not do anything.

    All the five White Princes had to do was let the unorthodox factions enter the capital and give them free rein. In just days after they began entering, the imperial court was already scratching their head for a strategy to keep them in line. By extension, it was a tough scenario for Liu Shan Men to handle. If anyone from the unorthodox factions were to cause a fuss in the capital, the office currently in charge of security in the capital would be held responsible first. In this case, it was Liu Shan Men.

    Liu Shan Men was already spreading itself incredibly thin to live up to Boss Shen¡¯s demands and arrangements. Given manpower was a constant challenge in normal times, Liu Shan Men wouldn¡¯t have the manpower for this situation even with four times the number of hands on deck.

    Uncle Huang¡¯s told me that five emissaries from the White Princes hade to the capital ¨C likely to plot something ¨C and wanted to win the idolpetition. The one conclusive conclusion we could draw from that was that they were targeting Liu Shan Men, and it was easy to see why.

    Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage had a member in The Ultimate Three each. Who¡¯d pick a fight with them? Liu Shan Men, on the other hand, was in a developmental phase. Seeing as Uncle Huang could tell the five harboured ulterior motives, I doubt they were even trying to hide their intent. I just couldn¡¯t figure out their motive for targeting Liu Shan Men.

    I bobbed my head whilst musing, all while maintaining a four-and-a-half metre distance.

    Uncle Huang inquired, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you speaking today?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I can speak, but can you answer three questions first?¡±

    Once he heard my questions, Uncle Huang amiably responded, ¡°Get out!¡±

    Understand why I was brooding in the ssroom now?

    All the aforementioned problems aside, the more people in the martial world there were in the capital, the higher the likelihood someone with a grudge against me was around. Be it friend or foe once they found out I was defenceless, my life would be in their hands.

    A bamboo basket suddenlynded on my table. I looked up to see Miss Shi Weiliang with her chin up.

    ¡°For you.¡±

    I was going to turn down the offer when I smelt a profound aroma that linked up with my heart. I furrowed my brows and asked, ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°A serving of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce. My dad prepared it for you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°My dad said he¡¯s worried you¡¯re angry about what happenedst time since he hasn¡¯t seen you in a while, and he heard Liu Shan Men has been busy. He woke up early to prepare this specially for you.¡±

    ¡°I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. Miss Shi, when you go home, please pass on a message for me: tell him I will treat him to the best wer.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how an official is so close with my dad. Got it. But the money you owe m-¡±

    ¡°Put it on my tab for now.¡±

    Miss Shi poked her tongue at me, then left.

    One may never find a soul mate in their lifetime, yet I have. Mr. Shi, I shall finish this to pay my respects to you!

    I had only taken my first bite when I heard, ¡°Is Ming Feizhen here?¡± I looked up to see a couple of students stroll up to our ssroom door. They came straight for my table, so I could only surmise they had seen my portrait or had a description of me.

    ¡°You¡¯re Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Get out,¡± I responded.

    ¡°Ah, sorry for the intrusion.¡± They took a few steps toward the exit before racing back. ¡°Wait! Why should we leave?¡±

    ¡°How should I know? Ask yourselves.¡±

    They looked to each other andined.

    ¡°Why did you apologise to him?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t intentional. I¡¯ve never seen someone react so arrogantly when he¡¯s being picked on, so¡­¡±

    ¡°We are friends of Ironhead Pce¡¯s owner, Young Master Che. We want to have a word with you.¡±

    I picked up my basket and inwardly sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s take this somewhere else.¡±

    Their leader sneered. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have the nerve to try anything¡­ All right, we¡¯re here t-, where is he? Hey, he ran!¡±

    Glossary

    Martial world VS martial artsmunity ¨C Although they share the same characters in Chinese (Literally tranted as ¡°martial forest¡±), I distinguish them in English, or it gets messy. Martial world refers to all the martial artsmunities across thend (i.e. Central in, the Western Regions¡­). Martial artsmunities are, as you may have worked out by now, smallermunities that make up the martial world. As you saw in this chapter, they do categorise these munities¡± by cities, and there can always be different ways of grouping. Where need be, we can separate this by bigger or smaller regions, orthodox or unorthodox and the list goes on. Thus, I believe it¡¯s imperative to make this distinction in English.

 Book 12: Chapter 59

    Book 12: Chapter 59

    As the moon silently travelled to its peak, I exited the kitchen. I chose to hide in the kitchen, technically the staff kitchen, for three sound, profound reasons: firstly, people usually didn¡¯t think of it as a hiding spot. Secondly, the aroma of food covered the smell of my pork shoulders. Thirdly, I was hungry.

    I was sure I was as stealthy the way I put a few dishes into my basket, yet, as soon as I stepped outside, I heard, ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    How the hell did you people find me?!

    The leader with about a dozen henchmen behind him simpered. ¡°Huh, you¡¯re a slippery one. Had I not caught you sneaking into the kitchen, I would¡¯ve lost you.¡±

    Where have I seen this pig-dog-looking barrel before? Ooh, he¡¯s Li Muye¡¯sckey.

    I pointed at him and called, ¡°Xiang Babang!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Xiang Baxian! You itching to get hit?!¡± Xiang Baxian rolled up his sleeves.

    ¡°Hold it¡­ What proof do you have?¡±

    Xiang Baxian¡¯s rage was reced with confusion. ¡°What?¡±

    I directed my rant to his minions. ¡°Hey, you guys have any proof he¡¯s Xiang Babang? Just because he looks like him? How careless.¡±

    Xiang Baxian¡¯s minions whispered to each other, looking as though I had a good point, impelling him to bray, ¡°Shut up! His Highness wants to see you.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to just take orders?¡±

    Why would he want to see me? I may be a duke now, but it¡¯s a joke of a duke rank. There¡¯s no reason for him to pay me any respect. Uhm, when the motive isn¡¯t clear to you, deploy spection. What if there are hundreds of armed men waiting to ambush me?

    ¡°Not going.¡±

    ¡°You think you have a say? Men, capture him.¡±

    Only students and staff were allowed on the academy grounds, so Xiang Baxian recruited his brothers who were nning to take the imperial martial arts exam. How good could they have been if they were serving him, though?

    It was impossible for me to utilise qinggong in my condition, but they wouldn¡¯t have learnt any advanced qingong. Therefore, it¡¯d just be a running contest between us. When it came to running, I had a pair of legs and strategy I was proud of. My shifu developed a mental cultivation discipline to escape from any sort of debt in any sort of situation, which heter imparted to me. I was grateful for the knowledge¡­ until his debt collectors starteding after me, too. Combining that mental cultivation with my battle-tested experience, the only person in the world who could catch me¡­ his parents had yet to even marry.

    After I made them run a fewps with me, I brazenly headed out via the academy¡¯s front door. Even if they couldn¡¯t find me, they wouldn¡¯t think I¡¯d leave the academy. That being said, I needed a wall to stay upright and time to catch my breath.

    Everything is going wrong today. It¡¯s better if I just call it a day and go home.

    ¡°Brother up ahead, are you Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡­ Who the flip is it now?!

    I turned around to see a group of men in military uniformzing on a wall. ¡°Can I help you, sirs?¡±

    Their leader shed his pearly whites. ¡°Need you for boxing practice.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°I am a constable of Liu Shan Men. Although we are under different leaders, we all serve the imperial court. Is this a rebellion against the imperial court?¡±

    ¡°Well, no, I wouldn¡¯t have the balls to do that. Do you remember who you¡¯ve offended recently, though?¡±

    I scratched my head. ¡°G-give me a hint.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ You lit up my young master¡¯s face into a bloody mantou, and this is your attitude?¡±

    Bloody mantou? Why would a lover of peace and food, like myself, ever¡­

    ¡°Your young master¡¯s surname ¡®Mian¡¯?¡±

    ¡°General Zhao Tiankui sent us here to ask you if you have any respect for the five militaries.¡±

    Oh, Zhao Xin, right, right¡­ But why are they here to see me now?

    I held my hands in salute. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet. Farewell.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s going to run! After him!¡±

    Hell yeah, I¡¯m going to run! What the hell is wrong with today?! Why is everyoneing after me today?!

    The soldiers took threeps to shake off, and all the running gave me a stitch, bloody hell. As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, I discovered I was at¡­ I didn¡¯t even know where I was. All I could see was a couple of people; even the tea stall was nigh empty.

    Ah, whatever, nothing more important than being safe.

    ¡°Would you happen to be Ming Feizhen?¡± The man at the tea stall by the corner of the street queried.

    Ah, damn it.

    I turned to the stall. This time, there were four people wearing bamboo hats, short garments and carrying iron des on the belts.

    Ah, great, the pugilistic-beginner-yer set.

    Judging from their stances and breathing, every single one of them were around Xiang Babang¡¯s level. Thanks to their attire, they were the kind of people who¡¯d have no problem blending into the crowd of pugilistic-world folks and disappearing out of sight. Why dress in a stereotypical manner? So that they could quickly blend into a crowd and flee once they eliminated their target.

    ¡°And you four are?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You crossed someone you shouldn¡¯t have.¡±

    How?! Where the hell are all of youing from that even your lines are simr? Are you all from the same group?!

    The fact that they were indifferent to my tone of disdain indicated that they were hired assassins. Their strategic positions to surround me showed professionalism.

    I inhaled deeply. ¡°I have one sentence for you: if you want to catch me, get in line.¡±

    The groups previously chasing me had somehowe together and caught up to me.

    ¡°You think you tough? Come on, all at once!¡±

    ***

    Two hourster, I crawled out from a bale of straw and suavely tripped onto my face. I¡¯d be lying if I said I couldn¡¯t move, but I could feel the fatigue deep inside. As soon as they had me encircled, theyid into me without hesitation. Unluckily for them, there was only so much space they could cover, and there were over a dozen of them going at me simultaneously, so it was unlikely anyone evennded ten shots on me. I waited for their adrenaline to peak, then dropped a blood bomb to escape.

    Why is everyoneing after me when I¡¯m defenceless and Second isn¡¯t around? I¡¯m just good at osting people? I always was good at that, so why now of all times are theying after me?!

    Damn, it hurts¡­ They really didn¡¯t hold back.

    Thest four had weapons, yet they chose to bash me with kicks and punches, so I surmised their instructions were only to teach me a lesson.

    Just who in the world did I offend?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen?¡±

    Come. On. There are still more of them?!

    ¡°Wh-wh-who-who goes there?! Stay back!¡±

    ¡°Constable Ming, calm down. It¡¯s me.¡±

    He had a familiar, domineering visage, the beard that was masculine, yet refined, the kind gaze that made people want him as their father. Who else could it have belonged besides Li Fangzhang?

    ¡°Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!¡±

    His Majesty sympathetically expressed, ¡°It has been hard on you.¡±

    I grabbed His Majesty¡¯s hand tightly. ¡°Your Majesty! Why are you h-, wait. Can you please answer three questions first?¡±

    Glossary

    Xiang Babang ¨C Literally, Elephant Mussel Opener.

 Book 12: Chapter 60

    Book 12: Chapter 60

    ¡°You could have just chosen not to answer. Why go off at me¡­?¡±

    I guess Li Fangzhang didn¡¯t need to answer my questions after he gave me an earful. Even if someone had the balls to pose as the reigning Emperor, I doubt they¡¯d be sick in the head enough to learn his emotions.

    ¡°Duke Ming, I am d I found you. The heavens are on our empire¡¯s side.¡±

    When you could shameless say that after spitting over three hundred lines in someone¡¯s face, you knew you were speaking to the real reigning Emperor.

    ¡°Let me test you.¡± There was hope in His Majesty¡¯s eyes.

    You know, your act might be rewarding if it was your daughters or Boss Shen was performing it, but you are giving it the opposite effect¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s been one thing after the next in the capital recently, but do you know what the biggest and scariest one is?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    His Majesty beamed. ¡°Speak!¡±

    ¡°A bunch of shameless hoodlums beat me up! Your Majesty, are you just going to take this? Your trusted, reliable Duke Daluo was assaulted. Their audacity is almost on par with Qilin Guards. Please lend me three thousand city guards. I shall go subdue those crooks that are sph-¡±

    ¡°Zip it. That¡¯s your personal vendetta, so you sort it out yourself. The imperial court pays you to serve the people; don¡¯t exploit public resources for your own gains.¡±

    ¡°I do not have an issue with serving the people, but who will serve me?¡±

    ¡°You must make your own happiness. Only a few days ago, mydies beat me so badly that I ran like a rat crawling into a h-, I meant, like a dragon to water! Did I ever whine about it? Did I ever call them unreasonable? Did I ever say women are tigers? Did I ever gripe that both of them are attacking me no matter who I try to talk to? I kept it all to myself, buried it deep within myself; not a word, not a letter was ever mentioned. When I met you, I discussed the nation first, did I not?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ So this big and scary matter you mentioned is your wives assaulting you?!¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Didn¡¯t I just say I¡¯d never bring those things up?! I¡¯m talking about the White Princes¡¯ emissaries entering the capital!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that.¡±

    ¡°Of course that.¡±

    ¡°Where do Ie into all this?¡±

    His Majesty gave me a re.

    ¡°For what reason have youe to, uh, seek, uh, but your subject not the man for the job. Your subject cannot render any assistance to you.¡±

    If anything, I want to borrow your The Ultimate Three for a few months to bodyguard me. Baima is a good choice. He has brains, cunningness, power in his hands, quick legs, money and, most importantly, pulls no punches. I¡¯d like to see someone start with me while he¡¯s protecting me.

    ¡°You are too modest, Duke Ming. You are my Knowledgeable Star.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, you misunderstand. At most, I am handsome and cool. I am a far cry from Knowledgeable Star.¡±

    ¡°Such modesty.¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand, Your Majesty. You see¡­ This is not something I have any ce in, is it?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Because¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t fight at the moment.

    ¡°You would not lend me a hand when I need it most? I assume you know that the bnce between the White Princes puts many lives at stack. One erroneous judgement is all it takes to cost hundreds and thousands of lives.¡±

    ¡°The issue is not your subject¡¯s willingness to help you.¡±

    ¡°What is the issue, then?¡±

    That I can¡¯t beat them!

    If I still had my abilities, I could run if I didn¡¯t have to fight. Now, I was dying just trying to run. If I had to fend off those ruthless, conniving white pieces of faeces, I might as end myself and shorten the misery.

    ¡°Your subject will not take the job even if you offer a Prince rank.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like I would. Spare me the drivel. Either give me an idea or I¡¯ll strip you of your duke rank.¡±

    Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Where is your honour?! You give me a dodgy Radish Duke title when I nearly lost my life subduing a dragon and capturing Nieyao for you, and now you even want to strip me of that rank?!

    ¡°Your subject will not ept even if you strip him of his duke rank!¡±

    ¡°Y-y-you son of a¡­!¡± Emperor Yuansheng heaved a big breath.

    It was odd to me to see His Majesty hesitating to speak. He personally travelled to Huzhou to convince Luo Ming to surrender, which meant that he had desired to diminish the seven¡¯s power. Now that he had seeded in his first step, he was sure to have felt the remainder¡¯s reaction. In the worst case scenario, he should¡¯ve been prepared for war, yet he was saying that hundreds and thousands of lives were at stake?

    Wait¡­

    ¡°Your Majesty, has something happened in the imperial court?¡±

    His Majesty jolted.

    If I were to hazard a guess, someone in the imperial court must¡¯ve been getting in the way of his war preparations because, if he couldn¡¯t prepare for war, he was stuck between a rock and a hard ce.

    His Majesty sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll be frank. Because the White Princes just sent their scions into the capital to take the imperial exams, more than half of the high-ranking vassals oppose stripping the White Princes of their powers. They believe that the White Princes didn¡¯t mind sending their children into the capital after Luo Sword Manor relinquished their privileges own their ord because the remainder want to mend rtionships. They argue that, even if the White Princes had any faults in the past, this is an opportunity to convince them to change their ways.¡±

    ¡°And you believe their viewpoint is wrong?¡±

    ¡°That is a foregone conclusion. If they had any sense of remorse, they wouldn¡¯t send their descendants into the capital while allowing unorthodox factions to enter Jiangnan. How long has it been, yet hundreds of unorthodox factions are returning to active status? How many factions were silently serving the White Princes? Those seven only have to change their clothes to be part of the unorthodox factions. How many ministers in the imperial court do you think they¡¯re bribing? Those ministers will shield the White Princes to protect their own benefits. You think I¡¯m totally in the dark?

    ¡°The war to wrestle power from the seven has only continued to grow harder. Had Brother Luo not relinquished his rights and Huzhou, we¡¯d never have this rare opportunity to go on the offensive. If I don¡¯t achieve something, his efforts would¡¯ve been for naught. Further, if the White Princes can get through this, they will disregard me and my future descendants. How will we stop them then?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°As the sovereign of the nation, you could abuse your ¡®Me, me, me¡¯ power.¡±

    His Majesty smiled bitterly. ¡°People follow the example their leader sets. Let¡¯s say I force them to acquiesce. When ites to implementing policies, how do we guarantee they will follow them faithfully? This war against them isn¡¯t a war I can win alone. You¡¯re probably about to argue that the imperial court is strong enough to not fear the seven forming an alliance. While true in theory, it¡¯s meaningless unless we are united. The longer we prolong this standoff, the more the people suffer, which is not what I want.¡±

    ¡°I understand now.¡±

    ¡°In that cas-¡±

    ¡°In that case, I should stay even further away from it!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Don¡¯t ¡°Huh?¡± me! You¡¯re skipping the filleting and going straight to draining their blood. The only thing you¡¯re doing is motivating them to do something sooner. This is the sort of war that won¡¯t cease until bones are seen. Aren¡¯t I just putting myself in greater danger? No thanks.

    ¡°Who else can I count on if not you? You are the best among thousands of my elites. Surely you have the intellect and tactical mind to think of something.¡±

    ¡°Tactical, you say¡­? Well¡­¡±

    ¡°This is not the time to be modest. Your shifu is a man smart enough to nearly transcend mankind. Surely he passed on some of his knowledge.

    Hmm¡­ You might be right there.

    When I was eight, nine¡­ no, six, I was still atrocious at martial arts. Shifu said there was no shortage of idiots in the world and developing pure brute strength was pointless. He told me to watch him in action, then started teaching me how to get under people¡¯s skin¡­ although I ended up bing his victim once I grew up. After being his victim hundreds of times, I learnt his approaches well enough to reverse it on him several times. I couldn¡¯t recall when thest time was, but¡­ I dudn¡¯t think he even knew about it yet. Does this count as being tactical?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Has Shifu ever mentioned how to tackle the types like the Seven Champion White Princes? Wait, why am I reminiscing? I need to be cautious and stay away from high-risk activities!

    ¡°Your Majesty, you must be hungry. I left some food in the bales of hay. I will go fetch them now. Please wait a moment.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Wait, don¡¯t go! Give me an idea!¡±

    And so, I went back into the bales of hay.

    There was no way I was getting involved in that matter, or I¡¯d be public enemy in Jiangnan. As I contemted how to turn down His Majesty, my vision suddenly went ck.

    Night has fallen already?

    ***

    His Majesty paced back and forth, but Ming Feizhen never returned. Once his patience ran dry, he looked inside to find Ming Feizhen nowhere in sight. There was only enough room for a few people to hide, and the interior space was visible at a nce, which could only mean one thing.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! You have the nerve to stand me up?! I hope you¡¯re ready for what¡¯sing!¡±

    ***

    Whoever picked me up after obstructing my vision had decent qinggong. After all, leaping over ten metres in one jump was no joke, not to mention moving light enough to not alert His Majesty. The weakest one between the duo was head and shoulders above Tang Ye¡¯s level, and I had never seen the internal discipline they utilised.

    They sealed my upoints. Therefore, I could neither move nor speak. When they noticed I was still conscious, they knife handed me on the neck, but I did manage to hear, ¡°This is the person our leader wants? This is all he¡¯s capable of? How our Fiends¡¯ Genesis has fallen,¡± before passing out.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis?

    Glossary

    Knowledgeable Star ¨C the nickname of military strategist Wu Yong from Water Margin.

 Book 12: Chapter 61

    Book 12: Chapter 61

    ¡°Leader!¡± Hong Jiu woke up as though he had to continue chasing someone who escaped from his dreams, bloodlust bursting at the seams.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Master Qi woke up as a result of Hong Jiu¡¯s bloodlust and promptly scanned the surroundings for hostiles.

    The duo shook off their pursuers following a night-long run. Despite the risk, they caught some shuteye underneath arge banyan tree due to the umted fatigue. That being said, they remained vignt on a subconscious level to a degree.

    ¡°What happened to you? You¡¯re soaked in sweat. Did you suffer internal damage? You just yelled, uh¡­ leader?¡±

    ¡°Right, right, Leader.¡± Hong Jiu wiped his forehead perspiration. ¡°I¡¯ve been finding it hard to focus as something seemed suspicious to me. Now that I think about it, Leader might be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°He certainly does look prone to danger.¡± From Master Qi¡¯s point of view, though Ming Feizhen did have the physique of a martial artist, he was rather toonky, had a weird sense of fashion, didn¡¯t look trustworthy and had a face that roused the urge to hit it.

    Hong Jiu wagged his hand as if he wasn¡¯t going to let the words of the ignorant get to him. ¡°My leader is almighty. He fears no man.¡±

    ¡°And yet you¡¯re worried about him.¡±

    ¡°As his brother, it¡¯s only right I be worried about him. It¡¯s one thing for him to be invincible, safe and sound, but I must worry about him!¡±

    ¡°You always want to have thest word, don¡¯t you?!¡±

    Hong Jiu tried to shake his doubt out of his head.

    Leader must¡¯ve kept some alternatives in mind. His Majesty also supports him, so the imperial court shouldn¡¯t target him, but¡­

    Gazing at the moon, Master Qi remarked, ¡°It¡¯ll be daybreak in two hours. How about thinking about where to next?¡±

    ¡°What for?¡± Hong Jiu yawned absentmindedly.

    ¡°You likely gave away our location with your burst of bloodlust. If you don¡¯t figure out where to run next, it may be toote to regret.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m reporting back to the capital. I¡¯m going back to see my leader, so I¡¯m heading in the direction of the capital.¡±

    ¡°Return to the capital? With the fiend army around, even if we took a detour, they¡¯d catch up in less than half a day. I could dive if nobody is monitoring the water, but Hai Yecha now has surveince on the waterway. Unlike the Lake Spirit and Ocean Monster suits, Water Fiend isn¡¯t designed forbat. If we encounter Hai Yecha¡¯s group, we¡¯re history in the water. Plus, even if I can escape, you wouldn¡¯t be able to.¡±

    Hong Jiu scrubbed his head. ¡°I¡¯ll just roll with the punches.¡±

    ¡°How many can you roll? I can¡¯t turn a blind eye to your safety when you got dragged into this because you saved me.¡±

    Hong Jiu would¡¯ve loved to fight the legendary adepts. He, however, wasn¡¯t interested at the moment for Ming Feizhen needed protection. If he was incapacitated from injuries, then he couldn¡¯t protect his brother once he was back in the capital.

    Aware of Hong Jiu¡¯s dilemma, Master Qi dimpled. ¡°I have an idea.¡± She picked up a tree branch to scribble a simple map on the ground. ¡°There¡¯s a town thirty kilometres west from here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re suggesting that we¡­¡±

    ¡°Go the opposite way they¡¯re going. They¡¯ll travel east since they believe we want to regroup with His Highness in the capital, so I¡¯ll go west.¡±

    ***

    Melodically, droplets of rain gentlynded onto the water surface. The lukewarm rain slowed the pace of those briskly walking under their umbres. Perhaps they wanted to take in the scenery; perhaps the rain eased their nerves.

    ¡°Waiter, one pot of tea and a few small dishes. Give this gentleman a quality jug of wine.¡± Ever since they entered the town, Master Qi changed into female clothing and stopped speaking with her fake ent.

    Apanying Master Qi on the second floor of an eatery by thekeside was Hong Jiu. He assumed she¡¯d be down in their predicament given she was too young to have experienced many setbacks, but she impressed him with her quick and decisive thinking.

    Usually, sects that left their original sect to form a new one wouldn¡¯t be respected by their former cohorts. In contrast to this norm, Kunlun respected Mount Tian despite thetter breaking off from them; Kunlun and Mount Tian were virtually one big family.

    Kunlun¡¯s patriarch was the person who established Mount Tian. While he wasn¡¯t a pushover, he didn¡¯t shine as a martial artist. Typically, an ordinary leader couldn¡¯t produce excellent disciples. That was why it often took two generations before sects expanded to a degree that received recognition. For that reason, people expected Kunlun to be dormant for decades; nobody thought their patriarch would be the te bloomer¡± type.

    At fifty years of age, Kunlun¡¯s patriarch decided to pass on leadership and go train on Mount Tian. For the next twenty years, he had a breakthrough in his swordy while on the snowy mountain. He left the mountain at seventy years of age and wiped the floor with numerous big names, establishing himself as a superstar prior to establishing Mount Tian as a sect.

    Kunlun categorised disciples into six branches: Plumflower Snap, Hundred Flowers, Dark Rain, Deste Domain, Descending Moon and Snow Storage. Every decade, they would send their best disciples among the six to study at Mount Tian.

    Because Mount Tian¡¯s discipline concentrated onprehension, they produced plenty of young, capable individuals. One of Snow Storage¡¯s disciple, cial Sword Empress, rose to fame sixteen years ago and took up sect leadership at the tender age of twenty. Upon drawing ¡°cial Water¡± sword from a crack at Mount Tian¡¯s summit, she rose to even greater heights.

    cial Sword Empress¡¯ swordy prowess was said to have already surpassed Emei¡¯s Abbess Bailou¡¯s and rivalled Zi Wutong¡¯s. Contrary to Zi Wutong¡¯s active nature, though, cial Sword Empress preferred peace and quiet, adding ayer of mystery to her.

    Watching Hong Jiu space out, Master Qi giggled. ¡°We¡¯ve shaken them off.¡±

    ¡°Your idea is sound. Only problem is that we can¡¯t return to the capital for some time now.¡±

    Master Qi quietly asked, ¡°I¡¯ve taken that into consideration. Did you ever wonder why they would go so far to capture me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know why they¡¯re after you in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Waiter, give me the biggest and best table! You have a VIP guest!¡±

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi frowned upon hearing the loud voice downstairs.

    The biggest and best table? Isn¡¯t that our table?

 Book 12: Chapter 62

    Book 12: Chapter 62

    No eatery would just casually have customers switch tables. Problem was, the customer who demanded the best table in the house wasn¡¯t the type to give up and would get rough if he didn¡¯t have his way. Predictably, the waiter approached Hong Jiu and Master Qi to apologetically ask them to switch to another table.

    The three window tables were upied, most likely because the customers wanted to enjoy the magnificent view on offer. Of the three, Master Qi and Hong Jiu had the table with the best view.

    The customer downstairs grew tired of waiting, so he came up with his cohorts. Three of the four boys carried the same model broadsword, indicating they hailed from the same sect. The tall man leading the three, who was also the man yelling downstairs prior, said to Hong Jiu and Master Qi, ¡°Oi, we want your table, so run along!¡± He then turned to the polite young man and maiden he apanied. ¡°Young Master Yan, Mistress Yan, please do not let these ignorant bumpkins get to you. Please give me a moment.¡±

    The maiden around twenty years old dimpled. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    The polite young man ¡°woo¡±-ed of nowhere, drawing all eyes onto him, only to then force a smile. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing.¡± Young Master Yan¡¯s fa?ade crumbled when he caught a glimpse of Master Qi¡¯s face.

    Master Qi naturally noticed the lecherous gaze on her and certainly didn¡¯t wee it.

    ¡°Why are you still sitting there? Move or I¡¯ll make you move.¡±

    Hong Jiu wagged his hand. ¡°Easy. Rx.¡± He moved over to the least noticeable table on the second floor.

    Master Qi followed Hong Jiu, although somewhat clumsily since she didn¡¯t expect it.

    The waiter apologised to the duo and offered to put their drinks on the house as an apology. Hong Jiu just smiled and left it there.

    ¡°Never knew you were so affable.¡±

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t impress with his skills when he came to Master Qi¡¯s rescue. In saying that, he didn¡¯t disappoint, either. As the current fourth rank on Seventeen Wyrms, she was curious how big the gap between her and the former long-time first rank was.

    Master Qi didn¡¯t feel Hong Jiu was at the age to take the unreasonable demand lying down. It didn¡¯t seem as though he was waiting for them to throw first so that he could stomp them. It didn¡¯t seem as if he was worried Fiends¡¯ Genesis would catch wind and follow up. Neither did it seem as though he was trying to make them drop their guard.

    Hong Jiu knocked back a bowl of wine, then casually replied, ¡°You¡¯ve never worked as a waiter, so you have no idea how tough the job is.¡±

    Putting aside the unexpected answer, Master Qi couldn¡¯t fathom what was being implied.

    Master Qi took small bites, while Hong Jiu knocked back six bowls of wine before he started digging in. Master Qi wasn¡¯t a big eater; she only ate a few vegetables, then stopped. Hong Jiu had the remainder. Master Qi was waiting for Hong Jiu to wolf down food so that she could make fun of him, but he only ate mantous.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Hong Jiu nodded. ¡°I will. I will.¡± He subsequently smashed a bowl into two, then grabbed his chopsticks to begin picking food from dishes.

    ¡°W-wait. What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Oh, I¡¯m used to it¡­ It feels weird to eat from an intact bowl.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He must have a sad past.

    ¡°Eat up. Here, have somemb.¡± Master Qi picked up a piece ofmb for Hong Jiu.

    ¡°Mm? O-oh, thanks.¡±

    Young Master Yan, who kept watching the duo, felt disappointed. From his point of view, Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t worthy of Master Qi, and she didn¡¯t seem interested in him, so that was relieving. At least, that was until she passed him the piece ofmb with emotions in her eyes ¨C the sign of a couple that just started dating.

    ¡°Young Master Yan. Young Master Yan.¡±

    Young Master Yan finally responded, ¡°Hmm?¡±

    The tall man smiled. ¡°You must be tired from your long journey. Competent people from across thend have convened here in the capital, and we cannot lose to them. If nothing else, we must make a name for ourselves at the imperial examinations. You have your family¡¯s ¡®Unbroken Thirteen Windcatching Swordy¡¯, an outstanding swordy among swordys. A true man must make a name for himself.¡±

    ¡°You give us more praise than we deserve, Brother Zhao. Your family¡¯s ¡®Silver Horse Great sh¡¯ has been the talk of the pugilistic world in recent years. I cannot hold a candle to you.¡±

    Yinma Manor and Yan n were both local neutral ns in Jiangnan. Though not friends to start off with, Zhao met the Yan siblings on the way to the capital for the special imperial exams and befriended them. He waited on the siblings as if he was the friendly-neighbourhood uncle because he developed a crush on Yan Fuli¡¯s younger sister.

    Noticing Yan Fuli being atypically slow to respond, Zhao Da looked up and followed the former¡¯s line of sight. Once he understood the reason Yan Fuli was distracted, he whispered orders to his junior, who then went over to Hong Jiu¡¯s table and said to Master Qi, ¡°Miss, my young master wishes to treat you to a drink.¡±

    Glossary

    Silver Horse ¨C This is the trantion of the n name ¡°Yinma¡±. I¡¯m leaving the n name as pinyin for now in case it also turns out to be someone¡¯s name.

 Book 12: Chapter 63

    Book 12: Chapter 63

    Back home, Master Qi was cherished as a Princess. Unlike her aloof elder sister, she was always an adorable treasure in the eyes of all the n sect elders. They only allowed her to leave their sights alone because she needed real-world experience, and because the job at Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor was easy. At Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor, Master Qi may have served Li Muye, but she was on the same level as him. Therefore, expecting her to even reply to a random person¡¯s courtship was viewed as a waste of breath.

    As an experienced wingman for his senior, the fellow had enough confidence in dealing with these repeat situations. Thus, he smirked. ¡°Quite the attitude, huh? Do you know who the young master is? Jiujiang¡¯s Yan n is part of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. It is your honour to receive a drink from him.¡±

    Master Qi mmed the table. ¡°You better stop before this gets messy.¡± She opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on Hong Jiu. ¡°Hey, you not going to stand up for me?¡±

    Hong Jiu just kept eating.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you.¡±

    Hong Jiu replied, ¡°Miss, you are more than capable enough of handling this situation. Why do you need my involvement?¡±

    The ignorant fellow said to Hong Jiu, ¡°You beggar-like, not-beggar-like p-¡±

    Continuing to eat his mantou, Hong Jiu wagged his free hand. ¡°No, I am a beggar, professional beggar.¡±

    To salvage his embarrassing predicament, the fellow tried to change the topic. ¡°Since you¡¯re a beggar, why don¡¯t you behave like one and eat out of a broken b-¡± He finally noticed Hong Jiu was eating out of a broken bowl. ¡°Who are you to stick your nose in our business?! Shall I bury you where you sit?!¡±

    ¡°I dare not involve myself. Please go about your business.¡± Hong Jiu walked over to another table, taking his half bowl of food with him.

    Because he was dressed in fragmented garments, Hong Jiu¡¯s intimidating size was pronounced. Although he showed no intention of fighting, his size enough was enough to help him deter challengers.

    ¡°This beggar¡­¡± The wingman was mad enough to hit Hong Jiu, but, on second thought, he deemed it unnecessary. Rather, he convinced himself Hong Jiu was too scared to fight. ¡°Miss, this way¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you really just going to spectate?¡± Master Qi spoke only to Hong Jiu.

    Inmed, the sideman reached for Master Qi¡¯s wrist.

    ¡°Stop.¡± A short young man sitting by one of the window-side tables timidly walked over. ¡°Sh-she does not want to drink with you, so why give her grief?¡± He was polite, but he didn¡¯t sound feminine.

    Zhao Da grinned. ¡°What? You have the hots for her, too?¡±

    The young man bashfully waved his hands in front of him. ¡°She is clearly the partner of the other gentleman. How could this one be so rude?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not his partner!¡± Amused with the young man¡¯s flinching reaction, Master Qi¡¯s re turned into a smile. ¡°Out of appreciation for your intervention, I¡¯ll forgive you this once. You best stay out of this, though.¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t?¡± The seventeen year old scratched his head. ¡°I saw you pick up food for him and speak closely without reservation, which crosses the mutual friendship line, yet you s-¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop! What madness is that, kiddo?! Since when did I cross whatever line?!¡±

    Yan Fuli: They really aren¡¯t a couple?

    While he was a yboy, Yan Fuli was raised properly, so he wasn¡¯t some unbearably domineering pervert; he even called himself a hero of the orthodox factions. Master Qi was just so breathtaking to him that he needed a kiss before he¡¯d quit.

    Yan Fuli held his hands up in salute. ¡°This one is Yan Fuli, a descendant of Jiujiang¡¯s sh Sword Sect¡¯s Yan n. Would he be able to boldly ask for your name, Miss?¡±

    Zhao Da smirked. ¡°Young Master Yan, you need not be so formal. If she refuses toply, I shall make her wise up.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yan Fuli pulled his brows together. ¡°Brother Zhao, do not be so rude to ady.¡± He subsequently gave Master Qi a friendly smile and conveyed, ¡°If it is not too much to ask for, would you join this one at his table? This one is somewhat familiar enough with this town to be your tour guide.¡±

    Master Qi looked away. The two men definitely felt awkward, but they couldn¡¯t continue because someone started chuckling loud enough for everyone to look in the direction of theugher.

    Another young man sitting by the window curled up on his table as his chuckle turned toughter that almost knocked the wind out of him.

    Zhao Da thundered, ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±

    The young man in white paused hisughing to face Zhao Da. Simpering, the twenty-four year old responded, ¡°You yed good guy, bad guy to force yourselves on a girl, only to both be metaphorically pped simultaneously. What¡¯s funny is that you think you can court a belle with your demented faces. You don¡¯t think it¡¯s funny?¡± After, he saluted Master Qi and the timid youngster. ¡°Miss, Brother, this one respects both of you. Please allow this one to take your side.¡±

    The timid ck-haired youth expressed, ¡°Thank you for your assistance.¡±

    Keen to know the white-robed man¡¯s identity, Master Qi stole a gander of his one-handed broadsword on his table. She turned her squinted eyes to Hong Jiu, hoping to seek confirmation. Howbeit, Hong Jiu was in his own mantou world.

    Confronted by someone who looked equally dashing as himself and a sharper tongue, Yan Fuli gyrated his lips, a subtle gesture that Zhao Da didn¡¯t miss. Zhao da, consequently, winked at his junior.

    The astute junior who received the hint grabbed the white-robed man¡¯s cor. ¡°Who do you think you are?¡±

    Glossary

    sh Sword Sect ¨C Literally, their name is ¡°Quick Sword Sect¡±, but I opted to use ¡°sh¡± for the ¡°cool¡± vibe.

 Book 12: Chapter 64

    Book 12: Chapter 64

    Zhao Da¡¯s junior didn¡¯t grab his cor that was in a particr hard way to break, but it wasn¡¯t easy to break, either. Besides the guandao, Iron Horse Manor was also most renowned for their joint-locking techniques.

    From there, he had three variations he could counter his opponent¡¯s counter with. Howbeit, because he spotted the broadsword on the table, he decided to draw his de before his opponent could arm himself.

    The white-robed man raised a hand, then immediately used his opponent¡¯s weight against him to dismantle the hold and dislocate an arm bone.

    Seeing his junior crumble to the ground and groan, Zhao Da instantly drew the broadsword at his sash. ¡°I underestimated you.¡±

    The white-robed man rose to his feet with a grin, kicked the floored wingman aside and said, ¡°If you can counter my attacks in ten exchanges, I¡¯ll surrender without aint.¡±

    ¡°Consider yourself defeated!¡±

    ¡°You may really fail tost ten exchanges.¡±

    Zhao Da looked in the direction of the soft voice. Instead of seeing the timid youth holding a weapon, he was reading through a book whilst borating, ¡°There are twenty-seven joint-locking disciplines in the world. Leveraging the opponent¡¯s weight and technique against them is just one approach. Instead of riding the opponent¡¯s force to use against them, this method requires speed and meticulous application of force to inflict harm. What we just saw was a push followed by a chop. The first push was a technique called ¡®Flow Severance¡¯. There are¡­ fifteen schools that teach the same technique. The chop, however, was a broadsword technique. There are three schools that couldbine the two techniques together into abination as we saw.¡±

    The timid youth shut his book and ambled to the white-robed man. ¡°You are without an umbre and are wearing white attire, yet you are dry and without a blemish in this rainy weather. This goes to show you are advanced in your internal discipline and your style is concentrates on flow over rigidness. Among the ns that like to wear white and practice such a style, there is only one among three possible ns.¡±

    Turning to Zhao Da, the timid youth continued, ¡°The both of you are broadsword wielders. Iron Horse Manor¡¯s broadsword discipline is decent. Howbeit, you may, may, lose your weapon within seven exchanges against Valley of Yearning¡¯s ¡®Red Sleeve Broadswordy¡¯.¡±

    Upon stopping to catch his breath, the timid youth was faced with astonished visages, prompting him to cover his mouth. ¡°Uh oh, I did it again¡­ Umm, pretend I never said anything.¡±

    Obviously, nobody was willing or able to do so.

    The white-robed man voiced, ¡°Buddy, I underestimated you. I had no idea you know how to fight.¡±

    The timid youth wagged his hand frantically. ¡°No, no, no, I only know theory¡­¡±

    Zhao Da had fossilised. As a broadsword wielder, he naturally knew of Red Sleeve Broadswordy and Valley of Yearning¡¯s existence. Given he had to pander to a branch of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, he had no ce picking a fight with one of the Seven Champion White Princes. As such, he began to sheath his weapon.

    Yan Fuli cracked a smirk. ¡°I take it you are marginalising us on ount of your school?¡± His confidence stopped Zhao Da¡¯s hand.

    The white-robed man smiled back. ¡°It sounds like you insist on fighting. Would you be interested in wagering something?¡±

    ¡°In that case, in the event we win, thedy shall¡­¡± Yan Fuli stopped himself before ¡°marry me¡± coulde out of his mouth because¡­ it had zilch to do with the matter at hand. Plus, it would reveal his lecherous thoughts to the public ¨C not that it wasn¡¯t already obvious. Zhao Da saying it was one thing, and explicating it himself was another thing.

    Master Qi retained a smile from beginning to end.

    Zhao Da: How old is this kid? How much could he have practiced, yet he wags his tongue like a know-it-all. Everyone in Jiangnan knows the name Valley of Yearning. You think that¡¯s enough to scare me? I have to swing a few times at him to confirm.

    ¡°You are from Valley of Yearning? Then all the more reason to test my mettle. Let¡¯s see your answer of this!¡± Although still frustrated, Zhao Da had toned down the aggression in his voice noticeably.

    Yan Fuli was fuming Zhao Da attacked before they set the terms of the wager, but it was already toote.

    Zhao Da didn¡¯t only have a big mouth; he made his mark in Zhenjiang from participating in real fights.

    The white-robed man smiled as he formed a knife hand to fight back. In their dozens of exchanges, he was never grazed even once, demonstrating his significant superiority over Zhao Da.

    Zhao Da was a strong man, but he couldn¡¯t make the most it because it felt as though he was fighting in water. Owing to his short temper, he quickly grew frustrated and broke sparring etiquette. Give him an opportunity, and he would¡¯ve made mincemeat out of his opponent.

    ¡°Allow me to assist, Brother Zhao!¡±

    The white-robed man stepped back as soon as he spotted a silver glimmering at his chest from his peripherals.

    Though he was the next-in-line leader of Yan n, Yan Fuli didn¡¯t have to be so wary of Valley of Yearning that he had to run the other way whenever he heard their name, especially if the affiliate was only an ordinary disciple. By this point, he was more willing to scrap than Zhao Da.

    Yan Fuli worked on covering ground that Zhao Da couldn¡¯t, allowing Zhao Da to employ his full power. With each exchange, the white-robed man involuntarily ceded part of his control.

    The white-robed man certainly was significantly superior to Zhao Da; however, the gap wasn¡¯t so big that he could control Zhao Da at will. In addition to the technical difference, Zhao Da¡¯s discipline focused on using might and singr attacks, making it easier for the white-robed man to dismantle strikes. When it came to swordy, though, it was outside of the white-robed man¡¯s wheelhouse. As such, he regretted not picking up his broadsword earlier.

    ¡°White-Robbed Brother, their footwork is not very synergistic; do not try to fight them simultaneously!¡± stressed the timid youth.

    White-robed man: Yeah, why am I trying to fight both of them? One on one, neither of them can match me.

    Zhao Da: ¡°Junior Brother, silence that runt!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Zhao Da¡¯s armed junior raced over to the timid youth as soon as he received the order, prompting thetter to run away.

    As a result of the distraction, the white-robed man found himself fighting two opponents again. ¡°Buddy, you really don¡¯t know how to fight?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t!¡± answered the timid youth, desperately dodging swings and thrusts.

    Unlike Master Qi, the owner of the restaurant couldn¡¯t smile so blithely. When people fought, they didn¡¯t care where they were or what was in their hands; they¡¯d flip tables and hurl chairs without any hesitation. Customers would flee out of harm¡¯s way, as well.

    The waiter grumbled under his breath, ¡°Oh, great. What do we do now? All the furniture is brand new.¡±

    Zhao Da happened to hear theint, prompting him to thunder, ¡°You can go to hell, that¡¯s what you can do!¡± He uncorked a side kick straight into the waiter¡¯s chest, dropping the innocent waiter, breaking his two front teeth and painting his face with his own blood.

    For the first time since the fiasco started, Hong Jiu looked up.

    Master Qi remarked, ¡°Oh, you were aware there are people around?¡±

    Hong Jiu got up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. As he passed by the owner, he quietly told him, ¡°I¡¯ll pay for your furniture afterwards.¡±

    By the time the owner turned his head, Hong Jiu was already gone from his side.

    Zhao Da¡¯s junior was sure his next swing would catch the timid youth when, all of a sudden, the world started spinning. It took him a moment to realise he was doing circles while airborne. When he looked in the direction of his senior, he saw a silhouette zip over as fast as an arrow off a bowstring.

    Hong Jiu grabbed Zhao Da and threw him outside as though he was throwing a rubbish bag. Zhao Da¡¯s immense strength seemed totally useless against Hong Jiu. Zhao Da¡¯s junior would¡¯ve liked to have seen what took ce next. Sadly, he hit his head and passed out.

    Zhao Da, still soaring through the air, couldn¡¯t use his qi to redirect his trajectory whatsoever due to half of his upoints being blocked. As a matter of fact, he struggled to determine if someone really did actually grab and hurl him. He sought answers from within the restaurant, but he only saw someone suspending Yan Fuli off the ground on one hand. Nevertheless, his consciousness could no longer stay awake.

    ¡°Th-this has no grudge with you. H-howe you¡­¡± Yan Fuli had never encountered such a scary beggar before. His body¡¯s trembling and shaky voice betrayed his fabricatedposure.

    ¡°I just can¡¯t stand watching people be bullied,¡± replied Hong Jiu.

    Yan Fuli fell unconscious.

    Hong Jiu gently ¡°set down¡± Yan Fuli on the table his terrified sister was sitting at. ¡°Miss, your brother for two hundred silver taels. Do you think it¡¯s a good deal?¡± Hong Jiu showed his pearly whites and stretched the corner of his lips to his ears.

    Glossary

    Guandao ¨C If you know Seong Mi-na and Guan Yu/Guan Erye¡¯s signature weapon, then that¡¯s the guandao. If you don¡¯t, then here is an image for your visual reference (bear in mind that this is a really embellished version, but I want you to also see its size rtive to the wielder): https://preview.redd.it/67dhw4qvji051.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbf84a75164df44097e02b4cb665c8d5b186a032

 Book 12: Chapter 65

    Book 12: Chapter 65

    Hong Jiu got the money he ¡°negotiated¡± for.

    Miss Yan wanted to check on her brother, but her legs were too weak to support her after Hong Jiu¡¯s astonishing disy. ordingly, Hong Jiu touched the maiden¡¯s supple cheeks and smiled. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t want to leave me?¡±

    Miss Yan reactively pushed Hong Jiu back and sped downstairs.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Hong Jiu took the stash of notes and ced them on the reception desk, then returned to the corner he ate in to resume eating.

    Everyone ¨C though there weren¡¯t many people left ¨C had riveted in ce.

    ¡°The temperature of the wine is just right. If this one could have the honour, would he be able to offer you two a drink?¡± Master Qi¡¯s voice snapped the white-robed and timid young men back into reality. While the scuffle and Hong Jiu¡¯s ckmail took ce, she had the owner reheat a pot of wine and fix up her table¡¯s arrangement. Once she filled up two cups, she dimpled. ¡°You two helped me out back there. Please ept my drinks as a token of appreciation.¡±

    The two young men looked at each other for an opinion before awkwardly bowing as thanks. They knocked back the drinks prior to sitting down.

    The restaurant provided them with a multicourse meal to thank Hong Jiu for covering their renovation expenses in addition to saving them from more damage.

    With a drumstick in a hand and grease around his lips, the timid youth said, ¡°Truthfully, I only made the situation worse, yet you are treating me to a meal. It really¡­ really¡­ smells so good.¡± From his tone and mannerisms, he must¡¯ve suffered quite a bit in the past and rarely had anyone treat him to a meal.

    The white-robed man sighed and smiled. ¡°Had this one known he was so inept, this one would not have added to the trouble. Ah, this one has forgotten to introduce himself: hisst name is Guan, first name is Ning, courtesy name Yi Ning.¡±

    The timid youth: ¡°Eh? You are Guan Ning, closed disciple of Bai n¡¯s third elder nicknamed Calligraphy and Painting Prodigy, the one who, unfortunately, doesn¡¯t take the imperial exams?¡±

    Guan Ning was surprised a second time today by the timid youth. ¡°You have my admiration, buddy. You also pointed out the ws in Zhao Da¡¯s discipline urately. What was your name again?¡±

    ¡°My name is Fang Xiaoyu. My shifu says I can¡¯t thoughtlessly mention his name.¡±

    Guan Ning wrinkled his nose, bewildered.

    Master Qi dimpled. ¡°I don¡¯t know Brother Xiaoyu¡¯s story, but I can guarantee he isn¡¯t a bad fellow.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    Master Qi cast her gaze onto Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s eyes. ¡°I have proof.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu blushed. ¡°You already knew?¡±

    Though it didn¡¯t dawn on Guan Ning right away, putting together Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s initiative in helping both Master Qi and himself did enlighten him. ¡°This one was thinking too narrow. May this one ask for your names?¡±

    Master Qi replied, ¡°My surname is Wen. As for him¡­¡± Master Qi nced in Hong Jiu¡¯s direction. ¡°His name can be whatever he wants it to be. It¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    It was perfectly normal for women to share only their surname.

    Neither Guan Ning nor Fang Xiaoyu could identify Hong Jiu, but they knew that the mystery man was nobody to be trifled with. While they wanted to ask him who he was, they didn¡¯t dare to impose on him as he appeared to be deep in thought.

    ¡°It is not every day that we enjoy such meaningful encounters. Let us have a toast to celebrate the asion.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu and Guan Ning heartily epted Master Qi¡¯s drinks because they liked how friendly she was.

    ¡°Miss Wen, you two are both very capable individuals. What brings you to this town?¡± Notwithstanding having not seen Master Qi in action, herposure during the scuffle and her friendship spoke volumes to her level.

    Master Qi stopped to think first. ¡°You two saved me and have not withheld despite our short friendship, so I shall not lie. The two of us are on the run from our enemies.¡±

    ¡°You two?¡±

    ¡°N-not even he can defeat them?¡±

    Master Qi: Of course he can. He¡¯s just refusing to!

    ¡°One on one, he probably could. Unfortunately, they outnumber us. Though we can run, they can catch up. The enemy is ruthless enough to disregard the safety of bystanders in order to kill us. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t intend to stay here for too long.¡±

    ¡°Ganging up and endangering innocent bystanders? Do they have no respect for thew?!¡± fumed Fang Xiaoyu.

    Master Qi asserted, ¡°Brother Fang, thew is powerless before them. If you try to stop them, they won¡¯t hesitate to bury ten Fang Xiaoyus.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know how to fight, but I know how to watch. Bring me along, Miss. I will identify their ws so that you can take them out.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a child. How could you¡­¡±Master Qi cut herself off since she recalled how knowledgeable Fang Xiaoyu was, then shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous. I can¡¯t let you risk your lives for me.¡±

    ¡°How about this one protects our little friend, then?¡± Guan Ning offered.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, this one is wayfaring under his mentor¡¯s instructions to train and gain experience. It is shameful to admit, but this one iszy by nature. It has only been a month since he left his school, yet he has spent all his funds already. Had he not gotten involved in the fight, this one would have had to wash dishes in exchange for a meal.¡± Guan Ning tapped his broadsword. ¡°You treated this one to a meal; he shall repay you withbour. Besides, if your friend cannot defeat someone, this one would be helpless.¡±

    Master Qi was still hesitant.

    Hong Jiu suddenly jumped up. ¡°All right, let¡¯s do that, hahaha! I¡¯ve been racking my brains for a strategy, but nothing came to mind. Now I have an idea. There¡¯s no better strategy than taking the initiative to strike them first. We can run all we want, but they¡¯ll eventually catch us. Why not get rid of them instead? Plus, I¡¯ll be able to return to the capital sooner.¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s heartiness rubbed off on Guan Ning, who responded, ¡°This one shall support you as best as he can.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu enthused, ¡°I¡¯m going, too!¡±

    Master Qi smiled. ¡°You spent an entire day thinking, and violence is your conclusion? Geez.¡±

    Hong Jiu sat down and shared a drink. ¡°Uh, and you two are?¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 66

    Book 12: Chapter 66

    Master Qi still had reservations about epting the help, yet Hong Jiu had already ryed everything, including unnecessary details that exaggerated their pursuers, to their tow new allows. If one were to juxtapose his speech speed with ady selling cabbage at a market, they¡¯d be about the same speed.

    Master Qi expected the two to be shaken up, yet she heard, ¡°They¡¯re the long-missing-in-action Fiends¡¯ Genesis? Hahaha, now I¡¯m invested. Miss Wen, this one insists on staying now even if you shoo him off.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m staying! I¡¯m staying! I¡¯m staying! Shifu told me I have to expand my horizons if I want to grow. I remember th-, reading legends of Fiends¡¯ Genesis somewhere. This is a fantastic opportunity.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Master Qi: Am I just growing old? Do the kids of this generation not fear death anymore?

    Hong Jiu: ¡°I¡¯m d to hear your enthusiasm. The future of the pugilistic world is in good hands. The country cherishes you. I will be counting on your assistance to punish the evil fiends.¡±

    Guan Ning and Fang Xiaoyu held their hands in salute. ¡°You are too kind. We shall do our absolute best.¡±

    They weren¡¯t worried Yan Fuli would return with backup; they needed to keep a low profile because they were being hunted. Guan Ning, who originally nned to lodge at an inn, only had his clothes and weapon, so he was booted out. Fang Xiaoyu loaned one of his friend¡¯s ces, so he could provide them with lodging for the meantime. The double-entrance estate wasn¡¯t an extravagant ce, but there were enough nts to say it had an elegant aura to it.

    Sitting in the courtyard with everyone, Fang Xiaoyu opined, ¡°Among them, Drought Demon is the toughest to deal with.¡±

    Drought Demon¡¯s fiends didn¡¯t have the warm body temperatures humans did. They could move almost silently withoutpromising speed and were sensitive to their target¡¯s presence. Unless they were out of range, they could encroach on their target without being detected. These attributes were one reason Hong Jiu and Master Qi couldn¡¯t shake off the trio from Fiends¡¯ Genesis. For all they knew, a group of Drought Demon¡¯s fiends could¡¯ve been closing on them as they spoke.

    ¡°Furthermore, Jiang Chen, leader of the seven Stars, is supposedly Drought Demon¡¯s brother. Not only is Jiang Chen the strongest among them, but he is also clever enough to be their strategist. Lord of Fiends would be the only tougher challenge than him. Prior to Jiang Chen¡¯s disappearance from the pugilistic world two decades ago, he was already a force to be reckoned with. One can only imagine how much stronger he is now twenty yearster.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so how much is that?¡± Hong Jiu asked of Master Qi.

    ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡± responded Master Qi.

    ¡°You bring to life the phrase ¡®Women are trouble¡¯. Thanks to you, the three of us havee together, yet you haven¡¯t uttered a word. Logically speaking, you should know more about Fiends¡¯ Genesis than us.¡±

    Master Qi ited her cheeks. She had nned to share the secret with Hong Jiu. Nheless, owing to Fang Xiaoyu and Guan Ning¡¯s presences, she couldn¡¯t disclose information that could implicate Li Muye.

    Guan Ning whispered to Fang Xiaoyu, ¡°Arguments between couples is called flirting, which is love.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu, edified, nodded.

    ¡°He wishes. He¡¯s so old that he¡¯s been kicked off the Wyrm rankings. He wishes he could have a girl as nice as me. Stay in reality, old man.¡±

    Hong Jiu, ignoring Master Qi¡¯s derision, raised his chin to sniff the air.

    Fang Xiaoyu: ¡°Brother Hong, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Checking for the enemy¡¯s presence,¡± answered Hong Jiu. ¡°Never becent. What if they¡¯ve already located us and are eavesdropping? Better to be safe than sorry.¡±

    ¡°Listen to his nonsense! Hong Jiu,e join us!¡± demanded Master Qi.

    Guan Ning proposed, ¡°How about we take the opportunity to calcte when they catch up so that we can spring a trap on them? n first and then act, just like the tacticians of old.¡±

    Master Qi looked down to engage her calctive mind, revealing the nape of her smooth neck and natural scent. She didn¡¯t use a strong fragrance once she entered the town for she didn¡¯t want to stand out. Unfortunately for Hong Jiu, his internal strength was so potent that he could smell her faint scent.

    ¡°The heck is that smell? Smells nice,¡± Hong Jiumented.

    Master Qi looked up and red at Hong Jiu, which was how she saw his twitching nose. Whatever came to mindpelled her to pull up her cor and hold it stiff while her face adopted a rosy shade.

    Hong Jiu shut his eyes whilst continuing to sniff. ¡°Hmm, how¡­ wild. Smells better than Wanhua Brothel.¡±

    Bang!

    Hong Jiu¡¯s head sprung back from the whack as he shouted, ¡°Who hit me?!¡±

    Guan Ning and Fang Xiaoyu both took a step backwards.

    Master Qi smiled. ¡°At soonest, it¡¯ll take them five days to catch up.¡±

    ¡°Five days, my big foot! You hit me, didn¡¯t you?!¡± thundered Hong Jiu.

    Master Qi wore on a stern face. ¡°Yeah, I did. What¡¯s it to you?!¡±

    For whatever reason, Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t bite back in the face of Master Qi¡¯s stern expression.

    Hong Jiu: You hit me and then ask me what¡¯s it to me? Shifu and Leader are so right. Women are unreasonable.

    ¡°We got lost on the way to the town, making it hard for them to find us. Moreover, we travelled in the opposite direction, while they expended a lot of time and energy advancing toward the capital. By the time they realise their folly and move west, it would take them between five to six days,¡± disputed Master Qi.

    Guan Ning and Fang Xiaoyu nodded.

    Hong Jiu wagged a hand. ¡°Nonsense. I believe they¡¯ll catch up tomorrow attest.¡±

    ¡°You ¡®believe¡¯ again? What proof do you have?¡±

    ¡°None.¡± Hong Jiu pointed to himself. ¡°Just speaking from experience.¡±

    ¡°Does it kill you to not say stupid things for one day?!¡±

    ***

    Late at night, a group of people walking on all fours encroached upon the town. Their beautiful leader chose to approach the town at night in order to hide the presence of her fiends. She didn¡¯t magically guess her prey¡¯s location. To the contrary, she had no clue where they were. She returned to her base solely because she was peeved. She didn¡¯t expect to find anything; she didn¡¯t think the odds of running into her prey was likely. Upon peering into the distance, though, she saw a group of people prowling. Their leader¡¯s name was Yan Fuli.

    Glossary

    Jiang Chen ¨C Not a real mythical figure. You may know the character from the Hong Kong series ¡°My Date with a Vampire¡± as Cheung San. Same name.

 Book 12: Chapter 67

    Book 12: Chapter 67

    The three ¨C only three because Hong Jiu didn¡¯t partake in the discussion ¨C finally had a skeleton of a strategy once the stars took centre stage. Technically, their so-called strategy was just a reasonable counterattack strategy: capitalising on their terrain advantage to divide and conquer. They decided to iron out the details tomorrow morning because there wasn¡¯t enough time for the night.

    Tranquillity was restored to the house after the four went to bed in the four separate bedrooms.

    Two hourster, a maiden gentlynded on the outside the estate¡¯s walls. Once she confirmed the presence of people within the abode through her unique mental cultivation discipline, her beast-like humanoid army emerged behind her.

    ***

    Guan Ning¡¯s elder-brother aura was inherited from his mentor, not his parents. He wasn¡¯t born with a silver spoon; he was born into a branch family of Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n that looked after the stable. His father intended to teach him how to raise horses so that he could feed himself in the future. Howbeit, by chance, he caught his son fighting with their patriarch¡¯s son, where his son demolished their patriarch¡¯s son. Upon questioning, his father learnt that hemitted to memory the young master¡¯s broadsword techniques when delivering food to his father. Panic-stricken, Guan Ning¡¯s father fled the mountain with his son who was still wobbling.

    Prior to their departure, Valley of Yearning¡¯s patriarch, also known as Valley Lord, espied the six year old prodigy grab a broadsword prior to their departure. Impressed with the young boy¡¯s posture when he took the weapon, Bai n¡¯s patriarch decided to take the boy in as his closed-door disciple.

    Guan Ning stood on the street outside his small courtyard and drew his broadsword without shifting his gaze away from the small tree in his sight. Subsequently, he sheathed his de and yawned at the sky.

    Bai n¡¯s broadswordy taught one to use their mind rather than some sort of special technique or stance. The cornerstone of their teaching was the word ¡°yearning¡±. Regrettably, few people understood the reasoning behind the word.

    A gentle breeze came along, generating a snapping sound, and then the small tree anterior to Guan Ning fell on an angle.

    ¡°Hmm, that wasn¡¯t too shabby¡­ Hmm?¡± Guan Ning turned his focus to the small courtyard. He sensed¡­ bloodlust.

    ***

    ¡°They¡¯re sound asleep,¡± uttered Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, raising a corner of her lips.

    How could one call themselves a thief if they didn¡¯t steal when there was an opportunity, especially when the darkness was on their side? That was why Nine-Lives Cat Fiend tailed Yan Fuli¡¯s group, but she noticed their upoints were sealed. Upon inquiry, she learnt about Hong Jiu and Master Qi from the group. As for finding their whereabouts, it wasn¡¯t difficult to do in her own town. As a product of coincidences after coincidences, the roles of hunter and prey were suddenly swapped around.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend decided to act immediately, giving her prey no time to prepare. At present, her Kongtong Sect fiend had already sneaked into the abode. Since he could split rocks with his bare hands, the n was for him to start off with a strong offence, and then she would mobilise her forces for an all-out annihtion.

    I can¡¯t wait to rub this in their faces for calling me a weak fighter.

    Suffice to say, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s primary concern was none other than Hong Jiu. He might¡¯ve been mentally unstable ¨C her viewpoint because he wore female clothing ¨C but it was hard to tell who was the better fighter between him and the trio¡¯s strongest ¨C Drought Demon.

    ¡°Aaaah!¡± someone shrieked from inside.

    Once she saw a big dark ball-like thing be thrown out from the courtyard, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend ordered, ¡°Charge! She led the charge in, preparing her hands to tear apart whoever was flying toward her. The moment sheid hands on it, though, she noticed how odd it felt to the touch, so she double checked. ¡°Wait! Halt!¡±

    She was toote. By then, three thuds had been heard, and three of her minions were zooming over the wall and breathless. She looked up to see Hong Jiu grinning at her.

    Hong Jiu never believed Master Qi¡¯s inexperienced estimation. He had been on the ¡°streets¡± for long enough to know life on the streets wasn¡¯t so reasonable. Consequently, he set a few rocks on his bed and covered them with his nket. As he predicted, someone tried to assassinate them at night. ordingly, he turned his assant¡¯s n against them. After the assassin hurt his hands on the rock, Hong Jiu bludgeoned him, then threw him out to lure in the rest of them.

    The ruckus woke Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi, who instantly put holes in three minions.

    As an experiencedbatant, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend summoned back her soldiers whilst smiling. ¡°You are truly impressive. May I ask for a name?¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯ll do well to remember my great name: Hong Dahuzi. Remember the name.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi: ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll admit defeat,¡± conveyed Nine-Lives Cat Fiend.

    Hong Jiu held up a palm-fist salute. ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t get off so easily next time.¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend nned to pull out until she saw Guan Ning fighting her soldiers. ¡°Wh-who¡¯s your teacher?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask, Miss?¡± Guan Ning responded.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend started to form a scowl. ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship to Bai Sang?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ my shifu.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, scum bag! Scum bag! After what you did to me, your disciple is following in your footsteps to walk over me. I may be a woman, but I fear no man. Only one of us is leaving this ce alive!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Wait! We barely even know each other!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Unfortunately, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had already begun her advance alongside her forces.

    Glossary

    Hong Dahuzi ¨C Literally, Hong Full Beard

 Book 12: Chapter 68

    One-Night Truce

    Hong Jiu: Am I the manifestation of bad luck? Why does this sort of stuff always have to happen to me?

    Hong Jiu performed circr motions with both hands simultaneously, driving back the dozens of ¡°monsters¡± back three metres.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s soldiers were all trained martial artists, some of whom were brainwashed into dutifully doing her bidding and some of whom were mercenaries. The soldiers with some degree of their self-awareness intact could give Su Xiao trouble in a one-on-one scenario. Fortunately for her enemies, she didn¡¯t have many of them, so they were reserved for special missions, such as assassinating Hong Jiu previously. The man with his self-awareness was her main force. The rest of them were puppets who had lost pain and fear sensations. Therefore, they would sacrifice themselves for her without hesitation should the need arise. That was how she came to be called ¡°Nine-Lives¡±.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Every time Hong Jiu dropped them, they would get up again. Technically and physically, Hong Jiu was superior. Problem was, they didn¡¯t feel pain, didn¡¯t fear death and had soaked themselves in some sort of concoction that rendered them more resistant to physical damage. Usually, people needed to started dipping in those medicinal baths from childhood for them to see notable effects inter life, and the dosage would need to titrate up. Else, an excessive amount of toxin would enter organs and kill them. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s soldiers were an exception because they could bear with any degree of pain without flinching, not to mention their disregard for their own lives.

    They were on track to hell if they couldn¡¯t finish their enemies. Yet, Hong Jiu used the flowing ¡°Divine Palms Manual¡± instead of the hard-hitting Subduing Dragon Palms. Given his expertise, his enemies couldn¡¯t harm him in any capacity while he remained defensive.

    Master Qi was deft. Howbeit, it became increasingly difficult to make every strike lethal when their increasing numbers gave her no breathing room. Moreover, she had to protect a defenceless Fang Xiaoyu behind her. She could¡¯ve fled with Fang Xiaoyu, but she couldn¡¯t dishonourably leave Guan Ning for dead. Whilst keeping busy, she looked Hong Jiu¡¯s way, only to see him defending. ¡°What in the world are you doing?! How are going to drive them off if you hold back?!¡±

    Hong Jiu had no qualmsmitting murder, particrly when the other party wanted to take his life. It was one thing when the soldier tried to assassinate him in his sleep. The people attacking him now were no different to victims of a venomous infection, though.

    Having finally made his decision, Hong Jiu extended his front hand forward and rear hand backward, forming a yin and yang circle. Immediately after generating force, he retracted it. The invisible wall before his four enemies vanished, resulting in them crashing into each other. Hong Jiu continued to alternate output and directions, dropping over ten opponents around him while making it appear as though they tripped up. No matter how many more approached him, they were no different to preynding in a spider¡¯s web once they were within his attack radius. When there was a force emanating from his hands, they¡¯d retreat; when he had no output, they¡¯d drop. Momentster, over twenty of them would dance to his left if he moved his hands to his left and prance to his right if he moved his hands to his right.

    Hong Jiu suddenly grunted and changed his style. As a consequence, the soldiers felt as though their footing disappointed and copsed. Regardless of how fearless and how much durable they were, if they couldn¡¯t find the strength to get to their feet, they were useless.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s dusted his hands and looked back at a perplexed Master Qi. ¡°I¡¯m not some edgy murderer.¡±

    Meanwhile, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend relentlessly let her hands go on Guan Ning, dialling up her sharpness each time she struck.

    Hong Jiu loudly asked, ¡°Hey, what did your shifu do to her?¡±

    When it came to internal strength, Guan Ning wasn¡¯t remotely close to Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s level because she had many years on him. Moreover, she was going all out. Consequently, even though he had the technical finesse to defend against her wing attacks, each blow left him winded; he had no room to answer Hong Jiu. Besides, even if he had the means to answer, the answer to the question eluded him.

    Even though Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had the advantage over Guan Ning, it seemed as though she was trying to resist defeat. From the first time she witnessed Hong Jiu in action, she determined he would have no trouble crushing her. On the first asion, she might¡¯ve been able to use clever movement, agility and awkward techniques to beat his forceful techniques. Once she saw his moves against her troops, however, she discerned she also couldn¡¯t match him technically. She saw no ws to exploit, and the flowing style wasn¡¯t something she had an answer for. The only reason she refused to budge was because of the name ¡°Bai Sang¡±.

    Hong Jiu yelled to Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, ¡°You¡¯re done. Your troops aren¡¯t going to be of any help. Just stop!¡±

    Inmed, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend shrieked whilst preparing to w Guan Ning with everything in her tank. Before she could make her move, nheless, she sensed a burst of qi zooming toward her rear. As she had no hope of stopping Hong Jiu, she chose to push forward toward Guan Ning, adopting a make-or-break strategy. s, Hong Jiu cancelled his attack and front flipped in between them, catching her hand before she could finish the job.

    ¡°No matter what the grudge is or how deep it runs, it¡¯s between his shifu and you, not him! Wake up already, damn it!¡± Hong Jiu eximed.

    Despite calming down somewhat, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend was still livid. ¡°Ask him! Ask him! Ask him if he remembers who Ye Yexin is!¡±

    Guan Ning: ¡°Y-you are Miss Ye?¡±

    While he understood there was more to it, Hong Jiu determined it was not the right time and ce for a leisurely conversation. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t you show yourself?¡±

    Hai Yecha emerged from the shadows, positioning himself between Hong Jiu and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend. ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with Beggars Sect¡¯s Chief Hong Ba?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Very impressive for a young man of your age.¡± Hai Yecha shifted his gaze to Master Qi. ¡°We¡¯re after her.¡±

    ¡°We refuse to hand her over,¡± dered Hong Jiu.

    ¡°I admire your courage, but we insist,¡± Hai Yecha responded.

    ¡°Let¡¯s throw down.¡±

    ¡°All right, how ten days from now?¡±

    Hong Jiu smiled. ¡°Up to you.¡±

    ¡°Ten days it is!¡±

    ¡°Ten days it is!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 69

    Book 12: Chapter 69

    The candlelight in the room was dim enough to make the colours so muted that they were almost grey. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend sat with her feet on her chair, hands curled around her legs and unmoving. She stared at the flickering yellow as though she was basking in its glow, yet she afraid of the embers striking her.

    This was Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ biggest base neighbouring the capital. Once upon a time, the Seven Stars resided here for ages, trying to avoid the public eye. They believed the days of living in darkness would eventuallye to pass. Still, returning to their former resident brought back bitter memories purely by association, not to mention Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had personal emotions weighing down on her.

    ¡°This old one knows what happened between you and Bai Sang.¡± Though Hai Yecha¡¯s tone was stoic, the contents proved he was trying tofort Nine-Lives Cat Fiend. Following a long pause, Hai Yecha continued, ¡°The runt used to have women fawning over him no matter where he went thanks to his suave appearance, hearty personality and skills. Thing is, Bai n¡­ They¡¯re all weirdos. If you develop feelings for him, he¡¯ll develop feelings for someone else. Seventh Sister, I hope you know that giving your feelings away to the wrong person won¡¯t ruin just your life.

    ¡°You begged our master to spare him and erased your own skills to prove your loyalty. What did you get out of it? His elder brother took advantage of the circumstances to take down our master with Wordless Sword Deity¡­ While it wasn¡¯t your fault, you can¡¯t keep repeating the same mistake. Is it still not clear how he feels about you? Had you not sacrificed seven of your lives, would you have to fear that Hong kid?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m repeating the same mistake?! When?! I can¡¯t wait to sink my ws into his jugr!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at Valley of Yearning.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s retorts evaporated.

    ¡°We don¡¯t get to see the light here. Although we don¡¯tck sustenance,pared to our carefree days in the past, can you argue we weren¡¯t just walking sacks of flesh? Who still had the drive and heartiness of days gone by? Who wasn¡¯t scared for dear life? Remember the bloody tablet we carved with our bare hands? Remember what we carved onto that tablet? ¡­ Valley of Yearning is the second most deserving of death.¡± He stole a gander at Nine-Lives Cat Fiend and added, ¡°Second most deserving of death.¡±

    Tears had welled up in her eyes, but Nine-Lives Cat Fiend didn¡¯t burst out crying.

    ¡°People in the orthodox sects are ungrateful, traitorous snakes; they always have been. You¡¯ve refused to let him go after all these years. That boy from today is only his disciple. Why are you tormenting yourself?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of saying all this?¡± Drought Demon rhetorically asked from another corner.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend looked up. ¡°Drought Demon¡­¡±

    The usually emotionless man sauntered over and crouched down to give Nine-Lives Cat Fiend a hug. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Why worry?¡± His smile would have one wondering if he had seen enough in life to not mind or if he was free from impure thoughts. ¡°Everything will be solved once we kill them no? We¡¯ll find our master, kill them and everything will be fixed.¡± He sped her face with one hand and gently adjusted her hair with his other. ¡°I¡¯ll kill everyone who upset you and bullied you, all of them okay?¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡±

    Drought Demon beamed. ¡°Don¡¯t cry. You look prettier without tears.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend wrapped her arms around Drought Demon as though he was her family. A whileter, she inhaled and returned to her usual self. ¡°Ahem, right now, we need to capture thess as soon as possible. Alternatively, we need to lure her far away from the capital.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had to be wise to raise her army without having suffered any harm; there was no reason to assume she¡¯d see pursuing Hong Jiu¡¯s group as the only option.

    ¡°As long as she is absent from the capital when we take action, we have nothing to be apprehensive about,¡± opined Hai Yecha, smiling. ¡°Why else do you think this old one made that agreement?¡±

    There were only seven days until the agreed ten days. The ten days wasn¡¯t an arbitrary number Hai Yecha decided on.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend frowned. ¡°Are you seriously going to duel him in seven days? Between now and then, a lot could change. It¡¯s not wise to wait it out.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°It¡¯s a foregone conclusion that this old one isn¡¯t going to y along.¡± Hai Yecha lowered his volume. ¡°Hehe, we just need to wait here. This old one has prepared the signal. As soon as he gives the signal, our people will convene here. Let¡¯s spend today preparing. We¡¯ll act once our people arrive tomorrow. He needs to learn that there are no honoured promises in the pugilistic world. We¡¯re going to finish him tomorrow, hahaha.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Sh.¡± Hong Jiu held a finger over his lips, then pointed to the wall. ¡°They¡¯re inside.¡±

    Guan Ning, Master Qi and Fang Xiaoyu stared intently at the wall.

    Master Qi: ¡°You really are shameless.¡±

    ¡°Shush! Shush! Pipe down. This isn¡¯t the time and ce forpliments.¡±

    Only moments after he made his agreement with Hai Yecha three days ago, Hong Jiu twisted around to face Master Qi and said, ¡°What we¡¯re going to do is pretend to leave, then turn around and tail them.¡± As shocked as they were, they followed Hong Jiu¡¯s instructions to shadow Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group for the next three days.

    This hideout of Fiends¡¯ Genesis had remained off the grid for twenty years despite efforts to locate it until today. Master Qi really didn¡¯t know how to feel about it.

    ¡°This is going to be tough; keep your wits about you. One moment of carelessness is all it¡¯ll take to lose your life,¡± warned Hong Jiu.

    ¡°Brother Hong.¡± Fang Xiaoyu conveyed, ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree to face them seven days from now? Isn¡¯t this¡­ inappropriate?¡±

    ¡°Listen, kiddo: you think they¡¯ll honour the promise? I bet they¡¯re plotting our demise as we speak. Promises are meant to be broken.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu mumbled under his breath, ¡°But they don¡¯t need to broken right after you make them, do they¡­?¡±

    ¡°Actually, they should be broken even sooner. If it was my leader who made the promise, he¡¯d probably be waiting for them in their house already.¡±

    Master Qi: ¡°Okay, so what are we going to do now?¡±

    Hong Jiu swiped his nose. ¡°Mount Daluo principle number unknown: if you¡¯re going tomit murder and arson, do so immediately. We¡¯re going in to end them tonight.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 70

    Book 12: Chapter 70

    Once they had climbed over the wall, Hong Jiu checked for patrols and people on their tails, then quietly conveyed, ¡°Let¡¯s split up and do this. I¡¯llmit the murder and arson part. You three tag along. Anyone have anything to say?¡±

    ¡°Me.¡± Master Qi raised her hand.

    ¡°Miss Qi, what wisdom do you have to share?¡±

    ¡°What sort of brain-dead n is that?¡±

    ¡°I thought I told you this isn¡¯t the time and ce forpliments? What do you want this time?¡±

    ¡°Why are you always reckless? We don¡¯t even know what awaits us inside the tigers¡¯ den. What makes you think you can just storm in? Do you have a special n for murder and arson or something?¡±

    ¡°Who needs to n for that?¡± Hong Jiu scrubbed the rear of his head. ¡°When have I ever failed at it?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. Your luck is lousy. Remember how you lost to me when we first met?¡±

    ¡°Oh, when we first met¡­¡± Hong Jiu reyed their first meeting.

    First it was hard. After I put a bit of pressure into my fingers, they sunk into the soft surface¡­

    ¡°Stop thinking!¡± Master Qi clocked Hong Jiu over the head. ¡°What are you imagining?!¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu: ¡°Brother Hong, did you really lose to Miss Wen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a gentleman who knows how to treat ady right,¡± Hong Jiu answered.

    Master Qi simpered. ¡°Tsk, absolute hogwash.¡±

    ¡°I was virtually y fighting with her! I rotated my hand like this, then gently extended it forward.¡± Hong Jiu went through the motions, forgetting Master Qi was right in front of him. Master Qi was busy surveying their surroundings, so she wasn¡¯t paying attention to what was happening directly in front. As a consequence, Hong Jiu ced his hand in the precise location he ced it the first time.

    Guan Ning: ¡°Oho.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu covered his eyes above his red cheeks.

    Master Qi fossilised.

    Hong Jiu: First it was hard. After I put a bit of pressure into my fingers, they sunk into the soft surface¡­

    The echo of a wrathful p was easily audible that night.

    ***

    Putting aside the fact that Guan Ning was the only one who could stop Master Qi from murdering Hong Jiu, ounting for bncing skills and experience, pairing him up with the strong and perceptive Master Qi was a good move topensate for his easy-to-read nature. Meanwhile£¬ Hong Jiu¡¯s strength and experience covered for Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s shorings perfectly.

    Long after they found a hiding corner, Fang Xiaoyu queried, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°This is nothing.¡± Hong Jiu touched his face.

    ¡°Rub some of this on; it¡¯ll help it heal faster.¡± Fang Xiaoyu passed over a vial of ointment.

    ¡°Men use no ointment.¡± Hong Jiu epted the vial. ¡°Is this effective?¡±

    ¡°Quite effective. Shifu uses it to help people. It expedites healing.¡±

    ¡°Your shifu?¡± Hong Jiu rubbed his cheek with one hand and fiddled with the brown porcin vial in his other hand. ¡°What¡¯s his title? This thing is formted quite thoughtfully.¡±

    ¡°Shifu won¡¯t let me mention his nickn-¡± Fang Xiaoyu covered his mouth.

    ¡°But he never said his real name, did he?¡±

    ¡°That is true¡­¡± Fang Xiaoyu scratched his head. ¡°His real name is Fang Shuiyu.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Shuiyu? Water Fish? Doesn¡¯t that make him a turtle?¡± Upon hearing a sound, Hong Jiu held his hand over Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s mouth and moved to another corner. ¡°Sh.¡±

    An elder led a group of people carrying torches over. ¡°This is the ce¡­ I swear I heard voices. Take a look around to see if there are any intruders.¡±

    The twenty-odd agile men spread out, while the middle-aged man adorning brocade clothing stand beside him, hands behind his back. Said man respectfully inquired, ¡°Mr. Hai, why do you need to be so cautious?¡±

    In a low voice, Hai Yecha replied, ¡°I can¡¯t shake off an uneasy feeling that something will happen tonight.¡±

    ¡°Please rest easy. This is an extremely secluded location. Anyone who even thinks of storming in would think twice. Who, in thest two decades, has dared to trespass?¡±

    Meanwhile, four men encroached on the corner Hong Jiu and Fang Xiaoyu hid.

    The man knew Hai Yecha well enough to not let thetter¡¯s silence get to him. ¡°Haha, as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, once we light up the night, you will get to see them pleading you on their knees.¡±

    Hai Yecha raised a hand, signalling for the talking to cease, gaze still focused on the same spot before him.

    ***

    ¡°Shifu often told me, ¡®If you meet ady by the name of Ye Yexin, I want you to tell her something for me.¡¯ My normally unfettered shifu would sigh at this point as though he was remembering something he regretted; I could even hear his remorse as he gave me the message to pass on. I suppose it would be hard to forget a woman as captivating as her.¡±

    Shifu, Shifu, you always call yourself the Lord of Love, and I believe you when you say Shiniang is your beloved, but I also believe Miss Ye is your second most beloved. Men will be men, huh.

    ¡°Strange.¡±

    After hearing Master Qi¡¯s remark, Guan Ning reactively blurted, ¡°Indeed. My shifu is a good man¡­¡±

    ¡°Since when were we talking about your shifu?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Only then did it ur to Guan Ning that Master Qi had stopped and was frowning at him. ¡°Sorry, this one was distracted. Ah, right, it is strange. Why does Brother Hong not keep his word?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about him!¡±

    Master Qi: He¡¯s practically a shameless ruffian! Not once, but twice! First one may be an ident, but that second time was definitely deliberate!

    Master Qi¡¯s vengeful breathing told Guan Ning he needed to change the topic ¨C and quick ¨C or she¡¯d go back for Hong Jiu¡¯s head. ¡°Miss Wen, what did you say was strange?¡±

    ¡°Ah, uh, umm¡­ this abode. It¡¯s strange.¡±

    Glossary

    Turtle ¨C Hong Jiu uses a profane form of it which is synonymous with the man one¡¯s wife is having an affair with.

 Book 12: Chapter 71

    Book 12: Chapter 71

    ¡°Reporting, we did not find anyone,¡± the middle-aged man¡¯s subordinate reported.

    The middle-aged man smiled. ¡°See? You can rest assured, Mr. Hai.¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°¡­ Have you checked on top of the walls?¡±

    The subordinate: ¡°We did, but due to the darkness¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmph, if the trespasser is skilled, they can scale the wall. What would you do then? Absolutely useless.¡±

    ¡°Sorry! Y-your subject shall check again,¡± the subordinate replied.

    ¡°No need. This old one shall check himself.¡±Hai Yecha made his way to the corner of the wall. With his potent internal strength, he could hear any voices or movements in said corner from far away, but he was a cautious man, and he felt he needed to be even more cautious owing to what they were nning. If the capital caught wind of their plot, it would spell trouble.

    Hai Yecha: I don¡¯t see or smell anything off, but most of my subordinates are crude men; how can they be odourless?

    ¡°It seems this old one was too cynical. Steward Jin is right, hahaha. Old people really are useless.¡±

    Steward Jin beamed. ¡°You need not say that, Mr. Hai. You are still as impressive as ever. When Fiends¡¯ Genesis and this one¡¯s master rules the pugilistic world, this one hopes you will continue to take care of him.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Of course.¡± Although he was all smiles whilst engaging in the conversation, Hai Yecha stealthily moulded qi into his hand on the wall.

    The internal discipline Hai Yecha used was called ¡°Submerged Probe¡±. Combat wasn¡¯t his speciality; even some of his subordinates were more dangerous than him. He was one of the Seven Stars and also an elder because he was the best at fighting in water among the seven. While others learnt to adopt the water, he was born and raised in water. Save for their leader, even Jiang Chen would have trouble against him in water.

    In water, one¡¯s senses were severely inhibited, relegating one to a passive position. Not only was it difficult to utilise one¡¯s full power, but it was also easier for the enemy to escape. ¡°Submerged Probe¡± taught one how to use their true qi as a means of tracking down their opponent in water, and it worked as long as the opponent was within dozens of metres. Although using a wall as a medium was considerably more challenging and unreliable, since it was a solid object, it was because it was solid that true qi could travel through faster by several folds. Therefore, it would be difficult for anyone scaling the wall to escape Hai Yecha¡¯s detection even if they attempted to hide their presence.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    s, Hai Yecha still didn¡¯t find anyone.

    Hai Yecha: Could I really be wrong?

    Hai Yecha didn¡¯t let anyone know what he just did as he ordered his subordinates to tighten the security. They had already begun a search, so why not go the extra step to search the entire abode a few more times? Afterwards, he departed with Steward Jin whilst engaging in jovial chatter.

    Immediately following Hai Yecha¡¯s departure, his subordinates, not his fiend soldiers who specialised in underwaterbat, spread out. For now, his fiend soldiers weren¡¯t around; however, they would definitely be present when it was time to eliminate Hong Jiu tomorrow. This particr group at the abode were primarily the Seven Stars¡¯ new recruits in thest twenty years. Despite not qualifying as ¡°advanced martial artists¡±, they were reliable enough to trust the abode with.

    The guards methodically patrolled. Some summoned more security while the others followed the pre-determined route. Having patrolled the abode daily for years, they knew the ce well enough to do so blindfolded. Tonight, two guards unexpectedly espied two people walking toward them in the middle of their patrol. If the twoing over knew what they were doing, they wouldn¡¯t havee across each other, so the two guards were rmed.

    ¡°Where are you from? Freez-¡±

    Before the guard could finish, he and his partner felt a big hand on their hand. Next thing they knew, their heads had collided with the ground, and that was all they were conscious for long enough to know.

    Hong Jiu, disguised in the clothing of a servant, had yet to curse when two more people approached. Beside him, Fang Xiaoyu shouted, ¡°There¡¯s someone by the wall over there!¡±

    The two guards made haste for said corner, only to find nobody there. When they returned to their patrol route, the person who yelled was also gone, much to their bewilderment.

    ***

    ¡°Jeepers creepers that was bloody flipping close.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu patted his chest, too. ¡°I was scared for dear life back there.¡±

    Hong Jiu threw the two guards he put outmission into some bushes, then chucked on some dirt. Because it wasn¡¯t a full-moon night, the guards wouldn¡¯t notice unless they purposelybed through the shrubs.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty quick on your feet, huh?¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡± Fang Xiaoyu held his hands in salute with a smile. ¡°You reacted much faster. Else, we would still be on the wall. Even if you could scale walls, we would have been detected.¡± He then went on to exin Hai Yecha¡¯s Submerged Probe discipline.

    Hong Jiu stroked his chin. ¡°I knew that old bugger was dangerous, but I didn¡¯t realise he was that dangerous. Fishy, you¡¯re pretty knowledgeable, huh?¡±

    ¡°I read about them in books. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know any martial arts to confirm if he really did use it or not.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be modest. If you¡¯re good, you¡¯re good. Now that his feathers have been ruffled, he¡¯s definitely going to implement arge-scale search. Let¡¯s find somewhere to hide and figure out a map of this ce for starters, then spread tinders for a ze. By the time they discover them, hehe, it¡¯ll be toote for them.¡±

    ***

    ¡°This abode is awfully bizarre¡­¡± Master Qi stayed alert at all times.

    When a group passed by as she was musing, Master pulled her brows even tighter together. The group wasprised of girls, as well as trained maids, carrying clothes. All the visual cues avable proved the girls couldn¡¯t fight. After they were out of sight, Guan Ning remarked, ¡°They¡¯re not trained.¡±

    Master Qi continued mumbling under her breath for a while before looking back up. ¡°Everything about this ce is odd.¡±

    ¡°H-how? They¡­ I mean, the jewellery they had is worth a bit of money, but it¡¯s not exactly intimidating. Are you thinking there¡¯s poison in the jewellery or something?¡±

    ¡°No, the jewellery is fine. You¡¯re right in that the girls don¡¯t know how to fight, either. There are a lot of questions to ask here, but the most important one is, who owns this abode?¡±

    ¡°Who owns this abode?¡±

    ¡°Do you recognise those girls¡¯ walking style?¡±

    ¡°Well, uh¡­ their posture was really straight and prim¡­ maybe a bit too prim?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the imperial family¡¯s walking style. I¡¯ve seen it at Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate¡­ Only imperial family members who inherited the ¡°Li¡± surname could train maids who can carry themselves like that. Just who does this abode belong to?¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 72

    Book 12: Chapter 72

    In spite of Master Qi¡¯s best efforts to avoid the servants, there was no end to them. Speaking of which, the number of armed guards gradually increased, as well, for whatever reason. Eventually, even Guan Ning, who never resided in an aristocrat¡¯s home, could tell something was fishy.

    Not mentioning their constant movement, the duo even resorted to utilising qinggong at times to continue moving, yet they hadn¡¯t reached the edge of the abode after an hour. Thus, they concluded the abode couldn¡¯t be the property of an ordinary person or a civil servant. There were innumerable rooms, most of which were upied, that covered all manner of facilities. In other words, not only was there enough room for thousands of servants to live there simultaneously, but there were also thousands of people residing there for a prolonged period.

    ¡°There must be a lot of secrets covered here. If we are reckless, we¡¯re screwed. Why do they require such a big abode, you ask? Because there are always over a thousand people here,¡± Master Qi edified in a soft voice. ¡°The only sort of people who¡¯d be able to afford an estate of this size and employ servants on this level are extremely high-ranking nobility and extremely wealthy people. This ce isn¡¯t located deep in the woods; the only people who¡¯d dare to erect an edifice of this calibre in the open would be someone wielding tremendous power in the imperial court.¡±

    ¡°I thought you said only the imperial family could employ those girls as pce maids.¡±

    ¡°And I stand by that, except there¡¯s one exception, which is in the scenario that His Majesty gifted them the maids.¡±

    Master Qi could be considered Li Muye¡¯s personal bodyguard, so she was always by his side. For that reason, the people she met were either affluent or aristocrats. Therefore, while she wasn¡¯t privy to all the imperial court¡¯s affairs, she would hear things here and there. That was why she couldn¡¯t immediately identify the maids¡¯ walking style and only just thought of the possibility that the estate was a gift from His Majesty.

    Maids followed different formality procedures, such as their walking style, saluting method and so forth, depending on the rank of the person they served. For example, maids of the imperial family weren¡¯t allowed to look up when walking and had to ensure their steps measured a certain distance. Only when Master Qi had the opportunity to see the maids at this abode up close did it dawn on her. Because she wasn¡¯t an expert on the topic, it was beyond her to identify who they might be serving.

    ¡°There are maids in the imperial family who follow this system, but there are also maids in the Princes¡¯ families who follow it, and there¡¯s nothing to say that other aplished families didn¡¯t have their maids follow the same system. That being said, we can conclude that the owner of this estate is either someone extremely aplished or someone wielding tremendous authority¡­ such as one of the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    As one of the prime suspects, Guan Ning suddenly found himself fidgeting. ¡°There can¡¯t be so many shady Seven Champion White Princes. It could just be some corrupt duke who has nothing better to do and decided to collude with crooked martial artists.¡±

    Master Qi pped Guan Ning over the head.

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re the crooked martial artist.¡±

    Guan Ning looked up to see Master Qi touching her nose the same way he was ying with his. Although they didn¡¯t say it, the two of them could see it in each other¡¯s eyes: both of them wanted to find evidence to prove their shifu or friends were innocent. One could say they were guilt tripped.

    Master Qi: Could that Muye kid be dealing with Fiends¡¯ Genesis behind my back? He just ordered me to take over¡­ Having said that, he has been acting fishy recently, so I can¡¯t rule it out yet.

    Guan Ning: I know my shifu isn¡¯t exactly the best man out there, but he would collude with unorthodox sects? No wonder why he knows Miss Ye.

    Master Qi and Guan Ning: What if we find incriminating evidence against ourselves?

    Master Qi and Guan Ning: ¡°How about we put asidemitting murder and arson for now, and focus on finding evidence?¡±

    ***

    Hai Yecha and Steward Jin returned to the pitch-ck main hall. Upon seeing Drought Demon sitting on the ground, Steward Jin smiled and said, ¡°So you were still h-¡±

    Psst! As a head shot toward the roof, Drought Demon yawned as tears came out of his eyes. ¡°Oh, back from patrols?¡±

    St! The head rebounded off the ceiling to fall to the ground.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What¡¯s there to even be so uptight about? Just let them in. If they¡¯re strong, we can even enjoy a good fight as a bonus. Otherwise, we can just make quick work of them. Big deal.¡±

    Although Hai Yecha didn¡¯t bat an eye, he shook his head, peeved at the sight of Steward Jin¡¯s blood and dismembered corpse now in twelve parts. ¡°What was the point of killing him? Though he was annoyingly fake, he was a coward, money grubber and pervert. He was good enough to manage this ce, too. Now that you¡¯ve gone and killed him, they¡¯ll send someone better than him. What if they send someone we can¡¯t get along with? We would just be giving ourselves a headache.¡±

    ¡°We have no reason to remain here after tomorrow. Plus, can¡¯t we just kill whoever they send? Why whine about something that¡¯s not a problem?¡±

    Hai Yecha conceded trying to reason with the maverick. As he went to sit, though, he heard Drought Demon state, ¡°Someone hase.¡± Hence, he asked, ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Right there.¡±

    Because Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members had adapted to living in the dark, they had no use for light in the dark. Howbeit, Hai Yecha couldn¡¯t see anything besides ckness around; it was as if someone could absorb light.

    Don¡¯t tell me¡­

    ¡°Has Vivianite arrived?¡±

    Drought Demonughed merrily. ¡°Vivianite, I told you Old Hai would immediately figure it out. You lost, so how about we fight?¡±

    The individual in the shadows didn¡¯t make a sound, but his presence was announced.

    Hai Yechaughed under his breath in an uncharacteristic manner; it wasn¡¯t his usual condescendingugh. ¡°You have arrived, hahaha. Now there is nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Damn, you¡¯re slow. Vivianite has been here for a while already. Well, I guess I can¡¯tin if you never came since we might¡¯ve been able to scrap,¡± voiced Drought Demon.

    Hai Yecha held his hands in salute, delighted. ¡°It is a pleasure and honour to work with League of Assassins¡¯ best assassin. How can this old one not be thrilled? Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Hai Yecha is humbled by your presence!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 73

    Book 12: Chapter 73

    Hong Jiu and Fang Xiaoyu had to constantly change positions because patrols were increased by several folds until there were no opportunities for them to exploit.

    ¡°Brother Hong, their patrol system is unlike that which is employed in the martial world,¡± said Fang Xiaoyu, peeking out from a window.

    ¡°Based on their footsteps alone, we can tell that they are well-trained guards. We could randomly pick a few, and they¡¯d bepetent enough to lead. Don¡¯t you feel they resemble what we see in the martial world?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I can¡¯t hear their footsteps. I can identify the sects some of them are from based on their appearances, but their walking style really isn¡¯t like what we see in the martial world.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What walking style?¡±

    ¡°Their posture. They clearly train martial arts, yet they walk with a straight torso and step straight¡­ It¡¯s like how you affluent families¡¯ employees walk a certain way. This is Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base, isn¡¯t it? I heard they¡¯re not so fussy over such things.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ So, what you¡¯re saying is, they could just walk casually, yet they¡¯re deliberately walking like servants?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it. That¡¯s the vibe.¡±

    ¡°In that case, something¡¯s fishy. Either they¡¯re trying to harm someone or dupe someone. In the words of my leader: they¡¯re unorthodox factions. Do you expect them to do charity work instead?¡±

    ¡°Oooh, makes sense, makes sense.¡±

    Hong Jiu simply didn¡¯t pay too much thought to it because, as long as whatever they were nning didn¡¯t affect him, why should he care?

    ¡°Brother Hong, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°nting tinders,¡± answered Hong Jiu, still digging. In one hour from now, the n was to light up one tinder. He wanted to nt one in every room so that the time between each one igniting would be reduced to the bare minimum.

    They didn¡¯t have time for any more conversation as a group started walking back and forth outside. Strangely, eight people entered the building they were in. Despite his speed, Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t simultaneously cover eight mouths. Moreover, how would they cover the fact that eight guards had suddenly gone missing? It would be obvious if that many guards vanished at once.

    Hong Jiu promptly put out the tinder. Unfortunately, the light shining through the agape door had invaded their secure spot. Fang Xiaoyu, with his heart in his mouth, patted Hong Jiu on the shoulder and pointed toward the interior. The two of them strode into the inner sanctum of the room as the lights chased them. With his left hand, Hong Jiu broke the door¡¯s lock. With his right hand, he used two fingers to gently pinch Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s shoulder and pick him up to throw to his side, avoiding being caught in view just in time. Hong Jiu pressed Fang Xiaoyu up against his back, then rolled across the ground to enter the room before gently shutting the door. Had he been one second slower, the me would¡¯ve illuminated them instead of the door.

    The people outside the room stopped moving about.

    ¡°Hey, grab it and leave. Don¡¯t waste anym-, hmm? What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    Hong Jiu prepared himself to end the eight if they identally left behind a trace of their presence.

    ¡°I thought I said not to put any mmables in here?! Get out! Leave once you¡¯ve got what you need. Don¡¯t you know my baby fears fire?!¡±

    Hispanions hastily responded and exited once they fetched what they needed.

    ***

    ¡°Vivianite, please wait a bit. Everything is ready here. We willmence once we enter the capital, and we will support.¡±

    The only person Hai Yecha gave time of the day was Vivianite. As a matter of fact, nobody could afford to disrespect him in thest year. To a certain degree, he was a grim reaper.

    ¡°Have you retrieved what I asked for?¡±

    The nervous subordinates hurried into the hall. ¡°Yes, it is right here.¡±

    ¡°Mm, bring it over for me.¡± Hai Yecha held his hand out for the pipe, then grinned. ¡°This is called ¡®Nightfire¡¯. With just one pipe, you can turn night into day. We had artisans from the Western Regions manufacture them for us. Most importantly, it¡¯spletely invisible to the eye if used during the day unless someone is perceptive. We will use this to give the order to gather at dawn without anyone finding out. Vivianite and we will take care of a few people, and then we canmence our operation.¡±

    Vivianite suddenly asked, ¡°What¡­ is that?¡±

    ***

    Master Qi and Guan Ning, using a specially-designed roll of paper that was used as a torch once lit up, went through every room for evidence to prove their innocence. There was no guarantee they could finish searching the estate in two weeks, let alone in a single night. That was until they entered a certain room.

    The moment they entered aforementioned room, Master Qi felt it was distinctly different to previous rooms. ¡°Wait. Stop for a sec¡­¡±

    Guan Ning stopped what he was doing.

    Master Qi made her way to the bedside. She tried to move one of the bed head¡¯s pirs, and it turned out to be movable. At the same time, a hidden path appeared by the bookshelf beside the bed.

    Guan Ning: ¡°You¡¯ve been here before?¡±

    Master Qi went straight into the hidden room, Guan Ning following suit. There wasn¡¯t much in the room, so it didn¡¯t take Master Qi long to end her search. She found an old, maybe some years old, sheet of paper, which was a title deed overnd. There was no signature or seal to identify the sender. One of the several seals on the desk, however, was halfplete.

    Guan Ning picked up the halfplete seal and held it up to the dim light. ¡°Wondrous Warrior Li¡­ This is¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s seal¡­¡± Master Qi started to be stricken with panic. ¡°No, no, no¡­. Someone is weaving a plot toy a sin at Muye¡¯s door! Muye is in danger! Wait. Go tell the others that we can¡¯t strike tonight! This pl-¡±

    The pair were muted against their will.

    ***

    A while before Master Qi and Guan Ning¡¯s discovery.

    Fang Xiaoyu whispered, ¡°I think they¡¯ve left.¡±

    ¡°Not only are you inexperienced, but you¡¯re also a scaredy cat. You think I can¡¯t handle this small-time situation?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yet it was I who spotted this room.¡±

    ¡°Uh, half of it is your work, I guess. Call it even?¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu almost punched Hong Jiu in the face whilst trying to give a fist bump.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I brought some fire paper rolls.¡± Hong Jiu lit up the roll, illuminating his smug visage in addition to chests and more chests that were filled with pipes.

    ¡°Brother Hong, what are these?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu looked down. ¡°Hah, they made it sound it like some treasure, but what do you know. It¡¯s called nightfire. They¡¯re used to transmit messages. You could see the light in the sky from cities away.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s crazy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. Don¡¯t worry, though, because, as long as it doesn¡¯te into contact with¡­ uh, fire.¡±

    An ember broke away from the roll in Hong Jiu¡¯s hand. Thirteen curse words failed to stop the fleeing ember.

    ¡°Run!¡± Fang Xiaoyu grabbed Hong Jiu and ran faster than ever before.

    Hundreds and thousands of explosions went off.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group had their mouths agape for approximately one hour.

    Hundreds and thousands of stars rose up to paint the dark canvas of Jiangnan.

    Later on in history, people debated the theory behind what happened that night. Some argued a schstic star descended on mankind. Some said it was a sign Zhu Bajie reincarnated. Some imed it was the advent of a dragon.

    Nightfire ends the night. Brothers and distance dance in the light.

    People casted their gazes heavy bound for a peek. Hong Jiu went underground for a sleep.

    Tonight was the night. A hero shone bright.

    Glossary

    Rolls of paper that are used as torches/fire paper roll ¨C I have no clue if this has an actual English word, but I couldn¡¯t find one. Visually, they look like so http://.xuanlishi/lishijiemi/201812/2419.shtml . While you won¡¯t see a me as you would with a candle, it provides constant dim lighting simr to embers.

    Zhu Bajie ¨C A character from Journey to the West.

 Book 12: Chapter 74

    Book 12: Chapter 74

    Mount Wuding, located southwest of the capital, was a mountain that few souls would ever venture to owing to its dangerous terrain. Because there wasn¡¯t a lot of bandit activity, rumours of asional bandit sightings fell on deaf ears. No wild mountains fell under the jurisdiction of influential or authoritative factions, so the people on them were left to their own devices. After all, if a group of bandits didn¡¯tmit banditry, they were nothing more than bandits only in name. Thus, the willing and able had an opportunity.

    There were a considerable number of aforementioned regions in Jiangnan that the imperial court and White Princes never managed. Apart from the danger, there were no opportunities for contact. In saying that, things changed over thest two decades.

    ¡°Master, the nightfire signal has been shot.¡±

    It took the man cuddling a wine jug a second thought to process the unreasonable notice. Still unable to believe his ears, he opened his eyes to peer out his window. ¡°Already?¡±

    Given the signal was given significantly earlier than informed beforehand, he suspected something unpredicted might¡¯ve happened at the estate despite how rude the suspicion was. Drought Demon and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend might¡¯ve been unpredictable, but Hai Yecha was the most reliable. Furthermore, they had League of Assassins¡¯ best assassin, a man called the grim reaper himself. Still, the unlikely scenario made him carelessly blurt, ¡°Could it be a mistake?¡±

    ¡°That is impossible, Master.¡±

    He knew his subordinate was a yes-man, so he didn¡¯t expect his subordinate to dispute his conjecture. ¡°Why are you so sure? This is a big job. The imperial court¡¯s forces have just left the mountain. If we head down now, won¡¯t we bump into them?¡±

    Their garrison of two thousand troops were slovenly hiding in the mountain. Considering how close they were to the capital, one mistake would attract the attention of Emperor¡¯s Entourage. ordingly, they didn¡¯t dare to raise their voice, move quickly and lived as though they were old retirees. They had been hiding in the mountain for six months, waiting for the signal so that they could release their pent-up emotions. Having said that, it was no excuse to mindlessly race off the mountain when imperial troops passed by not long ago.

    ¡°You can confirm for yourself, Master.¡±

    Despite it being night time, the sky resembled day time¡¯s sky.

    Just how much did they shoot? Rather, just how much determination did they muster up?!

    Finding immense motivation from his superior¡¯s determination, in an almost-shaky voice, he ordered, ¡°Gather all our brothers south of the capital! We¡¯re marching now! Let¡¯s go bust up the orthodox sects!¡±

    ***

    East of Mount Wuding, Emperor Yuansheng stargazed with the director of Directorate of Imperial Observatory. Dealing with the Seven Champion White Princes was enough of a headache recently, and his vassals had been upping the ante in their arguments over it. Among the few people he could discuss the matter with, there was the director of Directorate of Imperial Observatory.

    Director Zuo let Emperor Yuansheng enjoy the scenery in silence for a good while prior to expressing, ¡°Your Majesty, the dark southern sky and entrance of Sirius is a bad omen that something unpredictable is imminent.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Emperor Yuansheng huffed his beard and widened his eyes. ¡°Director Zuo, I appreciate you teaching me astronomy over the years, and I have learned a thing or two. Why do you perpetually mention bad omens and surprises, though? What is the point of keeping you if you are just going to tell me what I know?¡±

    Director Zuo smiled. ¡°Astronomy is a vast topic. Your subject can only be considered a beginner after a lifetime of study. To be honest, your subject is well aware of what it is you wish to ask.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng sighed. ¡°In that case, tell me. Relieving me of my headache is a good deed.¡±

    Director Zuo pointed toward heaven. ¡°Your Majesty, that is Sirius¡­¡±

    Director Zuo had yet to finish what he wanted to say when the dark canvas was bleached white. As an estimate from their position, the white light that came from the southwest spread over a hundred kilometres.

    Emperor Yuansheng bobbed his head. ¡°Sirius¡­ exploded?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hurry!¡± Master Qi called upon returning to the present. She pinched some items from the desk and dragged Guan Ning outside.

    ¡°Aaaaaah! Who the hell shot them?!¡± Hai Yecha¡¯s howl sounded beside himself.

    While a lot of money was just wasted, as Fiends¡¯ Genesis would only ever use a few pipes each time, the money wasted was a trivial concern. A sky that white was tantamount to saying, ¡°All of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, mobilise a day earlier than nned!¡± Twenty years of effort was about to be sabotaged.

    ¡°Who fired them?! Who fired them?!¡±

    ¡°Wh-who¡¯s the moron who shot so many and in the middle of the night, no l-¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend decided not to finish due to Hai Yecha blowing his top off.

    Drought Demon folded his arms. ¡°Yo, this is curious.¡±

    Hai Yecha spun around to Drought Demon. ¡°How can you smile?! This is a serious problem!¡±

    ¡°Why so serious? It¡¯s just moving the operation to one day earlier, big deal. Besides the unlucky people who might run into some toughpetition, what¡¯s wrong with everyone else marching now? Our mission is only to cause anarchy, not to revolt.¡±

    Owing to Drought Demon¡¯sposure, Hai Yecha¡¯s mes were somewhat quelled. ¡°We still have to find who¡¯s behind it to rip him apart.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m with you. I¡¯m more than happy to do it. Question is, is the culprit still around.¡±

    Hai Yecha was far too worked up to conduct an effective search.

    ¡°Over there,¡± Vivianite asserted out of the blue.

    Master Qi felt stiff all of a sudden. Within moments, she could hear the wind blow loudly.

    ¡°You!¡±

    By the time Master Qi managed to undo the immobilisation with her internal energy, it was toote to flee.

    Hai Yecha belted, ¡°So it¡¯s you people! You almost ruined everything we worked for! Die!¡±

    Master Qi instantly retreated two steps, but she couldn¡¯t counter because something was interrupting her from within; she was cornered and helpless. When it was all supposed to end for her, someone cut out in front and mmed his open hand into Hai Yecha¡¯s iing hand, sending the elder stumbling back three steps.

    Master Qi¡¯s saviour, assuming a head-lowered and arms up pose, recited, ¡°Fear the heart of the fierce tiger. Smell the scent of the Chinese rose!¡± He raised his head, showing his piercing gaze and upwardly tugged lips. ¡°We meet again, vill-¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Cut the hero pose out! You¡¯re the one responsible for this?!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 75

    Book 12: Chapter 75

    ¡°Adults don¡¯t curse. Or are you mad because you can¡¯t hack it?¡± ribbed Hong Jiu.

    ¡°Hack it? I¡¯ll hack you to bits!¡± Hai Yecha spat on the ground, disregarding the image he had spent twenty years building up. If you¡¯re so tough, fight me man to man! Just me and you!¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine!¡± Hong Jiu came out the gates with a big palm strike.

    From the second Hai Yecha felt the wind billow his hair to the arrival of the hand, it felt as if only a split second had passed. Unable to gain a better position in time, he was forced to defuse Hong Jiu¡¯s six-hitbo, each intercept generating sounds akin to rocks splintering.

    Hai Yecha developed his strength through training in water, yet he had to use every fibre of his being to block Hong Jiu¡¯s attacks. Though he blocked the fourth strike, his hand hurt as much as a fracture. After blocking the sixth palm strike, he was winded.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Hai, you¡¯re done. Let me y with him.¡±

    Moisture in the atmosphere evaporated rapidly. Hong Jiu didn¡¯t care if it was an iing elbow or hand as he moved to defuse three attacks via redirects. Drought Demon took Hai Yecha¡¯s spot to engage Hong Jiu.

    Now that he crossed fists with Drought Demon, it urred to Hong Jiu that he was wrong in his assessment of Drought Demon. Drought Demon appeared to be dull, but he was incredibly difficult to read, had knockout power and was ruthless with each attack. Drought Demon and Hong Jiu would have had to fight a protracted fight to determine a winner. Therefore, it was a terrible situation to be in.

    Hai Yecha, having backed down, risked an internal injury to yell, ¡°Get them!¡±

    Prepared, Master Qi and Guan Ning drew their sword and broadsword, respectively, to create a barrier between themselves and Hai Yecha¡¯s subordinates. Unfortunately, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend relentlessly stalked down Guan Ning again.

    Master Qi kept winking at Hong Jiu, signally for him to find an opportunity to escape, but he was too busy to look her way. Frustrated, Hong Jiu roared as he unleashed a bigger palm strike, forcing Drought Demon to block it head on. The collision of two forces travelling in opposite directions forced Hong Jiu and Drought Demon ten steps back each.

    Drought Demon: ¡°Now this is fun.¡±

    Hong Jiu rerouted Drought Demon¡¯s residue energy tounch himself at Hai Yecha and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, affording Master Qi room to breathe. Because of the momentum, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t stop until Master Qi¡¯s bosom decelerated him.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Phwht, phwooh. You call for me?¡±

    Master Qi undoubtedly wanted to bust open Hong Jiu¡¯s head; however, there was something more pressing at hand. In a low voice, she conveyed, ¡°I have something that needs to be delivered to the capital urgently.¡±

    They couldn¡¯t continue their conversation for Fiends¡¯ Genesis wasn¡¯t going to let them.

    Master Qi was fully aware it was dishonourable for her to take off first when Hong Jiu came to aid her. How would she get away if there was nobody to stall Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group, though? If she didn¡¯t return to the capital to expose the conspiracy aimed at framing Li Muye, his entire family would be in peril.

    It took Hong Jiu less than the time to blink to make up his mind. ¡°In that case, escape when you can. I¡¯ll get Xiaoyu out. Tell Guan Ning to head west to find Xiaoyu. Fiends¡¯ Genesis has business in the east, so they won¡¯t dispatch anyone troublesome eastward.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what about you?¡±

    ¡°Me? Hahaha.¡± First, Hong Jiu inhaled. Next, he straightened his torso and explosively intercepted Drought Demon¡¯s sneak attack head on, sending thetter backwards three steps. ¡°Hahaha, is this all you lot can do after hiding for twenty years? Come one,e all!¡± He imitated the undtion movement of waves with his left hand, generating a suction force that took Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s bnce.

    As soon as she saw Guan Ning have a free window, Master Qi called out to him, and they fled in the opposite direction together, leaving a silver droplet floating behind her. No matter how many decades passed, she knew she¡¯d never forget him, but she didn¡¯t stop for she wouldn¡¯t be able to justify leaving if she stopped now.

    Hai Yecha understood there was no time to lose because Hong Jiu¡¯s stamina didn¡¯t deplete despite him being outnumbered, so he beseeched the man in the rear, ¡°Vivianite, please assist me.¡±

    ¡°He is not part of our contract,¡± Vivianite emotionlessly replied.

    Vivianite was a money-motivated assassin; the same held true for many elite assassins. Strictly adhering to the terms in a contract was a principle in their line of work. If a client wanted them to perform an unlisted job, they¡¯d have to make a new offer. Suffice to say, the price League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin demanded was no paltry sum.

    ¡°He¡­ He is also a member of Mount Daluo! He is the only son of Hong Ba. He is a disciple of Mount Daluo and is the former first rank of Seventeen Jiaos ¨C Hong Jiu. You two are connected in a way.¡±

    ¡°The agreement was, the capital¡¯s team would handle Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple, not me.¡±

    ¡°What was that about Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple?!¡± Due to his moment of distraction, Hong Jiu ate a palm strike and w on his left shoulder and right rib from Drought Demon and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, respectively. Notwithstanding the pain, Hong Jiu brayed at the dark silhouette, ¡°Don¡¯t chicken out now! What was that about Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple?¡±

    Vivianite answered, ¡°As you are Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple, you are part of the operation, except I am not your executioner.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Hong Jiu had his heart in his mouth. There was only one Mount Daluo disciple in the capital at the moment. ¡°Buzz off!¡± thundered Hong Jiu, discharging enough internal energy to shock his two opponents away.

    Hong Jiu drew circles, simrly to twin dragons swirling around, with both arms, then bound toward Vivianite. ¡°Tell me your n!¡±

    A pair of freakish blue eyes appeared in the darkness, freezing Hong Jiu.

    ¡°An optical technique!¡± Hong Jiu churned out more energy to break the petrification technique and continued his charge.

    Vivianite was considerably taller than Ming Feizhen and Abels. Though it was impossible to see his face through his iron mask, his bodynguage made it clear that Hong Jiu¡¯s might didn¡¯t scare him. He raised his vivianite arm with speed and precision demonstrating he had done it hundreds and thousands of time. Hong Jiu could clearly see Vivianite reach for his big broadsword on his back, yet his body couldn¡¯t react fast enough. Like a bolt of lightning splitting the night sky, Vivianite knocked Hong Jiu¡¯s consciousness out of his body and sent him reeling.

    Leader¡­

    ¡°Hong Jiu!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 76

    Book 12: Chapter 76

    Owing to the light that nketed the sky, Fiends¡¯ Genesis was extremely busy that night. Their main force at the manor had to correct intelligence delivered to their various branches. They had to contact each branch under various circumstances to recall the forces that had begun to march. What was supposed to be an epic return to the world stage ended up being an imperfect, unorganised cluster of chaos ¨C as the footprints left behind from their helter skelter retreats showed.

    If there was a silver lining, it was that, thanks to their extensive preparations, they were able to mow down all foes in the way like mowing down autumn wheat. While they mobilised a day earlier than scheduled, they didn¡¯t suffer many losses overall given they marched every soldier in their garrisons. Their unpredicted injuries were approximately 10% higher than expected only because their retreat was conducted disorderly.

    Hai Yecha¡¯s allies had to physically restrain him from killing Hong Jiu out of revenge. Once Hai Yecha calmed down, he thereupon reorganised troops and turned his attention to the wounded. Drought Demon couldn¡¯t be counted on for logistical work. Nine-Lives Cat Demon had the astuteness for such work, but she was besides herself after meeting Guan Ning, so she was constantly distracted. Consequently, Hai Yecha had to burn the midnight oil, writing as if he was in a race to send out messages via pigeons, then raced off with Vivianite toplete their task. Thus, the strike that was meant to be carried out at dawn was dyed until the next day. As much as he¡¯d have liked to go down to the dungeon and beat the snot out of Hong Jiu, he had to ensure their forces were moving into position before the sun came up, were equipped, off to intercept pursuers and so forth.

    Instead of opening his eyes first, Hong Jiu devoted his attention to his ears, only to discover he couldn¡¯t hear or open his eyes. Unsurprisingly, the ability to mould qi had also been inhibited due to upoint seals imposed on him.

    Reflecting on the obvious, single sh that knocked him straight out, Hong Jiu could easily convince himself he fought a ghost because there was time for him to perform a defensive manoeuvre, yet it seemed impossible. His injuries weren¡¯t debilitating, but his qi flow had been clogged tight. Vivianite used a unique upoint sealing method whereby, as he sealed them, he sealed them in line form. As a result, he sealed all upoints capable of supplying true qi. The method was beyond someone of lower level, such as Hai Yecha, and someone without attention to detail, such as Drought Demon.

    Hong Jiu pulled his brows together whilst guiding his true qi around to the seals. To him, it was as easy as a hot knife through butter, restoring his hearing in no time at all.

    ¡°Lies! Lies! He still remembers me, so why hasn¡¯t hee for me?! He¡­ God damn him¡­¡± That was Nine-Lives Cat Fiend screaming.

    A male replied, ¡°This one is not lying. Shifu told this one and his siblings that, if we were ever to meet someone called ¡®Miss Ye¡¯, we were to tell her¡­ ¡®I have never forgotten what you did for me.¡¯ Shifu never lied to you. If you do not believe it, you can visit Valley of Yearning. This one¡¯s fellow disciples can testify.¡±

    How could Nine-Lives Cat Fiend possibly remainposed after hearing the man she loved hadn¡¯t forgotten her, especially when it had been something suffocating her for years?

    ¡°H-he can¡¯t see me if I go to Valley of Yearning¡­ You orthodox sects will capture me, too.¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s softening voice proved she was struggling to convince herself.

    Guan Ning responded, ¡°If youe to Valley of Yearning, Shifu will receive you as a VIP guest! Why would he ever do otherwise?¡±

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Else, why would Shifu tell us to pass on the message if we ever met you?¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s tone changed. ¡°What about your shimu, then?!¡±

    Guan Ning opened his mouth, only to stop, unable to find an answer.

    ¡°While your shifu may wee me, what about your shimu?¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend sneered, ¡°At least you¡¯re an honest kid. Had you lied to my face just now, you¡¯d be headless! Even if your shifu truly misses me, your shimu despises me to the core. You think she will ept me?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As someone uninformed, Guan Ning had no response. He exhaled disappointment and replied, ¡°Miss Ye, no matter what your grudge with shimu is, Shifu truly cares for you. Think about it for yourself.¡±

    Under her breath, Nine-Lives Cat Demon muttered, ¡°On ount of what you said¡­ I shall let you live for another day¡­¡± Once she stepped out of the cell, she looked back and added, ¡°Only one day.¡±

    Whether it was owed to his own circumstances or Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s persistence, Guan Ning feltpelled to sigh.

    ¡°Never thought you guys would end up being caught, too.¡±

    Guan Ning raised his head to look in the direction of Hong Jiu, who had his arms tied behind his back. He was going to speak when Hong Jiu opened his left eye and, employing Voice Transmission,municated, ¡°We¡¯re under surveince; don¡¯t let them know.¡±

    Guan Ning was delighted to know Hong Jiu was well and around. He sighed again as he stood up and went over to Hong Jiu¡¯s side, pretending he was tending to Hong Jiu¡¯s injuries. Stifling his own voice, he said, ¡°How are you? I¡¯ve lost my ability to fight. Miss Wen is being held elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Suffice to say, Hong Jiu was surprised Vivianite didn¡¯t finish him off in that situation or at least take a limb. Equally surprising, though, was that Master Qi and Guan Ning failed to escape with him stalling the enemies. Prior to passing out, he remembered hearing Master Qi cry out his name, but¡­ she had left.

    ¡°In an attempt to save you, Miss Wen fought three of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Seven Stars. Vivianite refused to sour, reasoning he already helped them incapacitate you. Miss Wen took more and more damage as she fought, but she refused to back down. In the end, she threatened to kill herself instead of surrendering if they hurt you, forcing Hai Yecha to swear an oath that he wouldn¡¯t kill you. I never thought she would be a Mount Tian disciple. If Miss Wen lost her life here, cial Sword Empress would definitely hunt them down.¡±

    Hong Jiu smiled, respecting Master Qi. ¡°How about Xiaoyu?¡±

    ¡°Xiaoyu? I bet you never would¡¯ve guessed that we¡¯re not being subjected to any torment thanks to him.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ exin?¡±

    ¡°Do you know who he¡¯s affiliated with?¡±

    Glossary

    Shimu ¨C Can¡¯t remember if I mentioned it before, but it¡¯s a synonym for shiniang (title for your shifu¡¯s wife). Shimu is used a lot moremonly nowpared to in the past.

    The way Hong Jiu was tied up ¨C He was restrained a specific way. This is how it looks: /wiki/%E4%BA%94%E8%8A%B1%E5%A4%A7%E7%BB%91

 Book 12: Chapter 77

    Book 12: Chapter 77

    Despite possessing the capacity to fight three of the Seven Stars on even ground for an hour straight, Master Qi couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand whatsoever. Once she realised they were holding back to avoid killing her, she held her sword up to her neck to start negotiations. Even if they didn¡¯t fear her sister, they had nothing to gain besides a formidable enemy out of her sister if they killed her. That being said, no matter the strategy, it¡¯d only serve to stall the enemy when the strength discrepancy was so significant. From the get-go, their best strategy was to flee ¨C including with Hong Jiu. As a consequence of their incorrect decision, they lost Hong Jiu, while Guan Ning suffered a beating at the hands of Drought Demon and Hai Yecha.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend frisked Master Qi once she was unconscious, then sneered, ¡°Look at how sneaky her hands are.¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend retrieved the iplete seal that Master Qi pinched. ¡°What a crafty girl. I now see why she threatened us with her life.¡± She then looked over to Drought Demon, who had his arms crossed whilst spacing out, and instructed, ¡°She knows our n. I have to sabotage her mind. Drought Demon, erase her skills.¡±

    Drought Demon exhaled. ¡°Nah, Old Hai can do that. That¡¯ll help him blow off some steam before his head explodes.¡±

    Hai Yecha snorted through his nose. ¡°I¡¯m going to sever that brat¡¯s hands so that he can never fight again!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Nobody would¡¯ve heard Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s interjection if they weren¡¯t the Seven Stars.

    Fang Xiaoyu clumsily came out from behind the building beside Vivianite, prompting Guan Ning to yell, ¡°Why did youe back?!¡± Guan Ning knew it was toote to tell Fang Xiaoyu to run at this point, so he banged his head on the ground in regret.

    Fang Xiaoyu, face nched with fear, walked up to the three Stars and stuttered, ¡°L-leave them alone.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend hiked up a corner of her lips. ¡°Who are you? What makes you think you can order us around?¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu pulled out a sheet of paper and a square seal from his shirt. Hai Yecha snatched the two items over. The three Stars identified the imperial court¡¯s letter of appointment and seal for the post.

    ¡°You are Liu Shan Men¡¯s new judge? A seventh rank. That¡¯s quite impressive.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu wore on a long face. ¡°I am an official of the imperial court.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend smirked. ¡°Young Official, it appears you don¡¯tprehend the situation. Henceforward, we¡¯re going to be killing the imperial court¡¯s civil servants; the higher their rank, the better.¡±

    Hai Yecha reced his scowl with a straight face. ¡°The nightfires you shot tonight have summoned five thousand of our troops hiding in Jiangnan. Attest, Fiends¡¯ Genesis will be the imperial court¡¯s primary target for elimination. You must be very eager to die.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu inted his chest with all the courage he could muster. ¡°I know. As long as you are willing to hear me out, though¡­ This one is from Shaolin.¡±

    Drought Demon: ¡°Oho?¡±

    Hai Yecha pointed a finger at Hong Jiu. ¡°That unconscious man is not only a disciple of Mount Daluo but also Beggars Sect¡¯s Chief¡¯s son. He¡¯s about to be a cripple. Why should I care if you¡¯re a disciple of Shaolin? Why should take orders from you?¡±

    ¡°A Shaolin disciple is no big deal. However, I wish to speak in private with you as a disciple of Shaolin and official of the imperial court,¡± answered Fang Xiaoyu, legs shaking.

    Hai Yecha: He¡¯s afraid, yet he¡¯s trying to negotiate. He¡¯s not stupid for sure. Unless he has something he truly wants to talk about, he wouldn¡¯t ask to speak with me in private.

    ¡°Tell me here.

    ¡°I must speak with you in private. Would you happen to be afraid of an untrained kid?¡±

    Drought Demon: ¡°Hahaha, Old Hai, go listen to what he has to say. The kid is entertaining me immensely.¡±

    Hai Yecha: ¡°¡­ Come with me!¡±

    Two hundred stepster, Fang Xiaoyu shook his head. ¡°They are all formidable martial artists. What if they overhear us?¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Hai Yecha amodated another five hundred steps. ¡°Good enough?¡±

    ¡°Brother Hong stated everything within a square kilometre was within earshot if he tried. Are you telling me your friends are inferior to him?¡±

    Refusing to take it, Hai Yecha walked another kilometre. As he went to stop, he caught Fang Xiaoyu shaking his head again. ¡°What are you trying to pull?! I¡¯ve given Shaolin enough respect! Shake your head one more time, and I¡¯ll p it off your shoulders!¡± Hai Yecha prepared his hand to bring it down.

    ¡°The argent sphere reflects off the water. The vigorously flowing water reflects off the moon in a crescent shape. Darkness shrouds the heavens once again. The ocean reverses its flow as the wind rises.¡±

    Hai Yecha froze.

    ¡°The de assembles intent slowly like umting snow. His appearance shows when thought is there. When thought is gone, his appearance is gone. The lead de enters the defence. Tai A breaks from afar.¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop! If you continue, this old one w-¡±

    ¡°Do you really intend to kill me? If you do, I will never be able to speak again.¡±

    Hai Yecha froze the hand he was lowering.

    ¡°I did say we had to go far away, did I not?¡± Fang Xiaoyu continued forward, then looked over his shoulder. ¡°Noting? I might walk off, you know?¡±

    Hai Yecha gave chase and, in a muffled voice, responded, ¡°You think you can outrun me? With your qinggong? What a joke.¡± In spite of his threat, he was all smiles.

    They continued for a few kilometres, but it was Hai Yecha who took the lead this time, even utilising qinggong, and Fang Xiaoyu was the one who had to try and stop him. When they finally stopped, Hai Yecha had no clue where to start.

    ¡°W-was that really the moves?¡±

    ¡°If not, why were you so eager to drag me here?¡±

    ¡°Thought so¡­ Wh-where did you learn Vivianite¡¯s broadswordy from?¡±

    Vivianite¡¯s broadsword discipline emphasised winning through power. As a show of confidence, he carved his discipline onto his vivianite broadsword¡¯s big de. That said¡­ only his next target would ever see the text, and they were all dead. In the three times Hai Yecha met with him, Hai Yecha could never see Vivianite¡¯s appearance properly due to the way Vivianite moved. When Drought Demon tried to provoke a scrap, Hai Yecha managed to catch a glimpse of the line, ¡°Darkness shrouds the heavens once again,¡± which was one of the lines that Fang Xiaoyu recited. That was the reason they had to make sure they were out of Vivianite¡¯s hearing range.

    ¡°Imitted it to memory.¡±

    ¡°H-how?¡±

    ¡°I looked at his de and memorised what I saw.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Fang Xiaoyu stared straight back into the elder¡¯s eyes. ¡°Prior to bing a monk, my shifu¡¯s name was Fang Shuiyu¡­ His Dharma name is now Kongluan.¡±

    ¡°Kongluan? One of Yan Shisan¡¯s assistants?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    Kongluan, as one of Yan Shisan¡¯s Divine Constables, was a specialist in investigation. Realising Kongluan¡¯s disciple was watching him, Hai Yecha felt his spine turn cold.

    ¡°Although Shifu never taught me martial arts, he taught me an ability called ¡®Pre-Eminent Perception¡¯.¡±

    Hai Yecha: I thought so.

    Unlike martial arts, Pre-Eminent Perception required an innate knack for it and dedication to honing it in order to achieve mastery. Yan Shisan passed the skill on to Kongluan.

    ¡°Because he carries his weapon on him, I couldn¡¯t see the text until he drew it out to fight Brother Hong. I memorised the section I saw. Considering how formidable he is, I imagine you fear him, as well. If you know how his discipline works, however, you can prepare yourselves to an extent. If you could master some of it, then that would be even better. Further, you must have paid an exorbitant amount to hire League of Assassins¡¯ best assassin. I don¡¯t think I need to list the benefits of having his discipline. I can share everything I remember with you in exchange for my friends¡¯ safety. If you disagree, I won¡¯t tell you zip even if you kill me!¡±

    The two soon returned to the estate and, to the surprise of almost everyone, Hai Yecha publicly promised not to harm the four in any capacity.

    Glossary

    Tai A ¨C The name of a treasured ancient sword that Gan Jiang forged.

 Book 12: Chapter 78

    Book 12: Chapter 78

    Once Hong Jiupleted his analysis of Guan Ning¡¯s recount, he questioned, ¡°So, Xiaoyu is safe right now?¡±

    ¡°Until he finishes copying it down for them, he should be.¡±

    ¡°What about the devilishss?¡±

    ¡°Huh? You mean Miss Wen? She¡¯s not devilish.¡±

    ¡°Takes on three people alone, loses and then threatens people, but she¡¯s not devilish?¡± Notwithstanding the contents of his rhetorical question, Hong Jiu¡¯s tone hinted at his amusement.

    ¡°She¡¯s being held in another building. She¡¯s apparently useful to them, so they are interrogating her in istion.¡±

    ¡°In istion, you say¡­?¡± Hong Jiu shut his eyes to think, then instructed, ¡°Pass me a piece of wood on the ground.¡±

    ¡°A piece of wood?¡± Guan Ning pretended to drop his head the way a man at the end of his wits would whilst searching the floor in a squat. He silently stood up once he found a thin piece. Next, he faked a sigh whilst patting Hong Jiu on the shoulder, using the moment of contact to release the piece of wood down to Hong Jiu¡¯s hand.

    ¡°You have potential. I¡¯ll introduce you to my senior brother when we have the opportunity.¡±

    ¡°You tter me. What do you need the wood for? You¡­ intend to pick the lock with it?¡±

    ¡°Why would you need an object to pick a lock? Don¡¯t you know we¡¯re being monitored from above?¡±

    ¡°I do. So¡­ the wood is for¡­?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°To off him.¡±

    Hong Jiu burst out of his restraints to the shock of Guan Ning and the guard. He then backhand threw the piece of wood simr to a frisbee, sending it out of the gap to slit the guard¡¯s throat. Upon hearing the guard¡¯s corpse drop to the ground, Hong Jiu stretched out and went, ¡°Phew.¡±

    The first reason Hong Jiu didn¡¯t take much damage was attributed to his training, part of which included learning to minimise damage. The second reason ¨C although unclear as to why ¨C was because Vivianite¡¯s approach resembled Mount Daluo¡¯s.

    Luo Ming would¡¯ve needed to use 70% of his full power to defeat Hong Jiu ¨C and that was if they weren¡¯t trying to kill each other. Moyan Luohou would need a hundred exchanges to win. Vivianite managed to put Hong Jiu out ofmission due to the inexplicable reason that his attack was seemingly unavoidable. The equally strange thing was that Vivianite had only gained fame as of recent despite that level of skill.

    ¡°You seem perfectly fine.¡± Guan Ning still had trouble walking fast as a result of all the blows he ate.

    Hong Jiu grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    When they reached the door, they discovered it was locked.

    Guan NIng: ¡°The lock is made from ck Aurum. I doubt I could break it even with my de. I think we acted prematurely.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Hong Jiu pulled out an iron thread from his hair, bent it, shoved it into the lock, wiggled it around and vo, they heard a ¡°ck¡±. ¡°All right, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Smashing it like that will¡­¡±

    As Guan Ning was trying to speak, a group of armed guards arrived on the scene.

    ¡°Thanks foring!¡± Hong Jiu charged forward. Instead of utilising his circr style, he struck directly, dropping his target each time he made contact.

    The guards only came to check what the source of the noise was; they never expected to be jumped. Thus, throughbining precision, speed and leveraging the element of surprise, Hong Jiu had them all out cold before they could call for backup.

    Guan Ning was out of breath just exiting his confines. ¡°Brother Hong, yourbat prowess is¡­ is¡­ and your lock picking skills¡­¡± Since the adjective he needed wouldn¡¯te to mind, he flicked up his thumb and said, ¡°¡­ are better than any thief¡¯s who I know.¡±

    ¡°My leader imparted the skills to me.¡± Hong Jiu surveyed the surroundings to ensure nobody discovered their prison break. ¡°As soon as we rescue that evilss and Xiaoyu, we¡¯re getting the hell out of here. Try to recover as much as you can now.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­ But where are we going after?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going after Vivianite. He wants to harm my brother, so he must die.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t beat him,¡± Hong Jiu strode forward, ¡°but I may be able to kill him.¡±

    Though they didn¡¯t know where Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi were being held, it wasn¡¯t hard to find out. Hong Jiu subdued fourteen henchmen to question and managed to find the answer from the thirteenth. The fourteenth henchman was just unlucky coteral damage as Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t stop himself in time.

    The pair stealthily reached Master Qi¡¯s holding building and prepared for a breach when they heard a fight taking ce within.

    Hong Jiu: There¡¯s someone else here to sabotage them?

    Hong Jiu peeked through the agape door, only to feel a frigid shot of qi zoom toward his eye. He quickly performed a back bridge to dodge, resulting in Guan Ning, who was behind him, being punctured. Hong Jiu swiftly reset, chopped the shot to save Guan Ning, then turned back to st open the door.

    Someone inside initiated an offence faster than Hong Jiu could, using their legs to spin themselves as they unleashed a triple thrustbo. As he withdrew his left hand to intercept the neck thrust, he extended his right toward his opponent¡¯s abdomen.

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi: ¡°You broke out, too?!¡±

    Master Qi: ¡°How did you escape?¡±

    Hong Jiu curled his lips to the side. ¡°Woke up, opened a lock and then came here.¡±

    ¡°Wow, how underhanded.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have any guards watching over me. I unblocked my upoints and then had plenty of free time, so¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu scanned the dismembered bodies strewn across the ground. ¡°Wow, what an evilss.¡±

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, I¡­¡± Bashfully, Master Qi stamped. ¡°I escaped to rescue Brother Guan and Xiaoyu.¡±

    Standing behind Hong Jiu, Guan Ning raised his hands in salute. ¡°This one appreciates it.¡±

    Hong Jiu raised a hand. ¡°Find Xiaoyu. We don¡¯t have time for a vacation.¡±

    ¡°I was going to pay you a visit and ask if you wanted to fight.¡± Drought Demon showed up at the door with a bloodthirsty grin. ¡°Guess I don¡¯t need to ask now.¡±

    Glossary

    Back bridge ¨C With two feet nted, lean back until your hands are on the ground.

 Book 12: Chapter 79

    Book 12: Chapter 79

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! I got Xiaoyu!¡±

    While Hong Jiu fended off Drought Demon, Master Qi and Guan Ning went off to search for Fang Xiaoyu without Hong Jiu needing to instruct them.

    In Hong Jiu¡¯s opinion, in spite of Vivianite¡¯s challenging discipline, there was an opportunity to catch him out of position unlike Drought Demon. Contrary to his appearance that suggested he was in his thirties, Drought Demon exhibited knowledge and sharpness of a veteran who honed them in dangerous situations. Fighting Drought Demon was dancing with death itself. Drought Demon hit fast and heavy. Whenever he touched something, it¡¯d shrink and wrinkle as though it had been left under the sun for over a week.

    ¡°Sinister Drought¡±, the unorthodox discipline that Drought Demon, also known as Tian Hangui, practiced was ssified as an unorthodox discipline due to it teaching the practitioner differently to orthodox methods. Furthermore, as a consequence of practicing it, practitioners would be infertile, suffer dry skin due to the heat, feel hot winds more pronounced than the average person and shorten their lifespan. For those reasons, it was a discipline that only someone at the end of their tether would pick up.

    Constantly feeling burnt wasn¡¯t fun, but assuaging the difort with yin qi would be the same as neutralising one¡¯s own skill. Moreover, some people couldn¡¯t see the fruits of their efforts even after sixty years of training it because it took excruciatingly long to master.

    Even if the Seven Stars died and the rankings were refreshed, the fifty-seven year old battle monger wouldn¡¯t be the second strongest after his elder brother. During Fiends¡¯ Genesis hiatus, Drought Demon gave his undivided attention to mastering the discipline. Fortunately, he eventually reached the level where the heat no longer bothered him, reduced his risk of injury and prolonged his youth.

    Even with Hong Jiu¡¯s knowledge and experience, defusing Drought Demon¡¯s attacks wasn¡¯t simple. Nevertheless, the opportunity to fight someone of Drought Demon¡¯s calibre thrilled Hong Jiu¡¯spetitive spirit.

    Neither of them could win unanimously after a hundred exchanges.

    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re good, pretty much on my level, though, which means that you¡¯ll have no hope once my men arrive.¡±

    Hong Jiu responded, ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you knew I was bluffing?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You¡¯d even have to give a kid candy to trick him. I ploughed through all the buildings to arrive here. The evilss shed and gashed your minions. Are you saying you wouldn¡¯t make a sound or run after all that? If I¡¯m correct, besides the dead people here, you, at max, only have forty people left, and I would assume a dozen of them are following the cat around. Go on: call for reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s as right as can be!¡± someone outside yelled.

    Hundreds of troops attired in blue garments and military boots stormed in to the area they were duking it out. Their spear-wielding leader shouted, ¡°You cretins can consider yourselves unlucky, but you can consider yourself honoured to fall to my spear!¡±

    The military officer thrust his spear at Drought Demon, forcing Drought Demon to back off three steps. ¡°I admire your courage!¡±

    Drought Demon took the strike on his chest without spilling a single drop of blood or batting an eye. To the contrary, he grinned.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Hero, who are you?¡±

    The officer answered, ¡°Hangzhou¡¯s best spear wielder ¨C He Lan!¡± then stalked down Drought Demon again.

    ***

    Master Qi never expected it¡¯d be so effortless to locate Fang Xiaoyu. Anyhow, she chopped the lock to his room to free him,

    ¡°You¡¯re here!¡±

    ¡°Xiaoyu,e with me. We¡¯re still in danger!¡±

    ¡°All right, wait a second.¡± Fang Xiaoyu raced back to the desk to collect the papers he had been writing on.

    Seeing Fang Xiaoyu collect the papers he had been writing on reminded Master Qi of something. Therefore, she raced back to the secret room she found the seal. Regardless of why Fiends¡¯ Genesis departed in such a rush that they didn¡¯t have time to clean up the corpses, the seal was still there, thankfully. Unfortunately for her, she had taken long enough for pursuers to be on her tail.

    Strangely, Master Qi spent a while in the secret room, yet nobody entered after her. Following the sound of footstepsing closer from outside, she saw a face pop through,pelling her to thrust at it.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! We¡¯re on the same side!¡±

    Master Qi stopped her advance since the person didn¡¯t show signs of resistance. ¡°Who are you?! What do you mean we¡¯re on the same side?¡±

    ¡°This one is a retainer of Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate. He is here to assist you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re from Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate? Can you prove it?¡±

    ¡°Some of this one¡¯s brothers outside are imperial soldiers from Hangzhou, and about a dozen men are this one¡¯s personal men, some of which are long-time employees at home. You will believe him once you see them. We are currently fighting with the criminals. This one is here on His Highness¡¯ directives to find you. He shall take his leave first.¡±

    Master Qi tuned in to what was urring outside to confirm the im that they were fighting. Indeed, she could hear weapons nging. ¡°Muye sent you to help me?¡±

    ¡°Pleasee out to continue talking. This one also received orders to eradicate these fiends. May he ask if there is anything important here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, th-¡±

    As soon as he saw Master Qi reach for the seal, Fang Xiaoyu cried, ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t trust him!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 80

    Book 12: Chapter 80

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Master Qi stayed her hand.

    Fang Xiaoyu ducked behind Master Qi. ¡°He hasn¡¯t introduced himself!¡±

    Owing to how na?ve Fang Xiaoyu sounded, the man chuckled and replied, ¡°This one apologises for the oversight. This one is He Lyu, a rather new member of Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate. His elder brother is one of Hangzhou¡¯s best spear wielders ¨C He Lan. He is also on the property¡¯s grounds. We were allowed to join His Highness thanks to our clean backgrounds.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu popped his head out. ¡°How many men did you bring?¡±

    ¡°A total of eighteen people. You can see for yourself. Mr. Ding Changguan is also with us.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Ding is here, too? Call him over,¡± requested Master Qi. The elder and Master Qi were on friendly terms at Li Muye¡¯s ce.

    ¡°Wait. I-I have another question for you,¡± voiced Fang Xiaoyu.

    Master Qi smiled. ¡°Apologies, Mr. He. The boy is a little paranoid due to being confined for a while.¡±

    ¡°It is understandable. This one will not hesitate to answer anything within his means.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu inquired, ¡°How many enemies did you encounter?¡±

    ¡°We¡­¡± He Lyu¡¯s smile stiffened.

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable you can¡¯t answer. You don¡¯t know how many people were on her tail or how many you met, and a thoughtless answer would expose the fact that you didn¡¯t encounter any enemies. If you gave a random answer, I would continue with my questions. If you vaguely answered, ¡®A lot,¡¯ I¡¯d ask how your appearance is so tidy. Did you not have to fight anyone? If you vaguely answered, ¡®Only a few,¡¯ I¡¯d ask who you met, what sort of weapons they wielded, where you hurt them and then confirm it with her.¡±

    ¡°Y-your points ar-¡±

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t have any solid proof and can even easily be disputed, so why are you nervous? There were just some things that had me scratching my head. I only questioned you because the timing of your arrival is too good to be true, but you¡¯re unable to clear suspicions.¡±

    ¡°Y-you brat. M-Master Qi, are you just going to let him suspect this one? Th-this one is His Highness¡¯, uh¡­¡±

    Master Qi squinted.

    Fang Xiaoyu continued, ¡°You im to be a retainer of Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate. What is your post? How does His Highness usually address you?¡±

    Cornered, He Lyu pointed outside. ¡°The elder outside is under the employment of Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate!¡±

    ¡°Are you raising your voice to direct yourrades this way?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The cat caught He Lyu¡¯s tongue.

    Master Qi analysed everything exchanged thus far.¡± If I may ask,¡± Master Qi squeezed her sword hilt, ¡°is His Highness¡¯ favourite ce Flying Phoenix Hall or t Camphor tform?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Ahaha, His Highness usually prefers Flying Phoenix Hall¡­¡± Since Master Qi¡¯s brows didn¡¯t rx, He Lyu changed his answer. ¡°But he loves t Camphor tform the most.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Master Qi bobbed her head.

    Delighted, He Lyu conveyed, ¡°If you would step outside with this one, we can clear things up,¡± only to feel a cold blood sit on his neck.

    ¡°Flying Phoenix Hall is where training weapons storehouse for aristocrats in the pce. t Camphor tform is where high-ranking officials hold meetings. Muye spends his days in the library courtyard. Bold of you to pose as one of us when you don¡¯t even know the interior buildings.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Miss, please forgive me. I¡­¡± He Lyu ran the other way mid speech.

    He Lyu may have had cunningness at his disposal, but Master Qi was levels above him inbat. Before he could escape into a room, she had plunged her sword through his neck and frozen his blood with her frigid qi.

    Once she pulled her sword out of its flesh slot, Master Qi mumbled, ¡°Why would someone pose as one of us¡­? And why would he mention there were more of us outside¡­?¡± She went to the window to gaze outside.

    Noticing Master Qi¡¯s mncholy, Fang Xiaoyu patted her on the back. ¡°You need to stay strong, Sister. Seeing as he is an imposter, his allies can¡¯t be trusted, either. The fighting they¡¯re participating right now is only but a show to fool us.¡±

    Though Mount Tian¡¯s disciplines were designed to supress one¡¯s emotions, they paled inparison to Shaolin¡¯s disciplines.

    ¡°There¡­ are actually a lot of legitimate imperial troops outside. Look, Xiaoyu.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu looked to espy imperial troops bravely marching forward against Fiends¡¯ Genesis in proper formations. At the same, though, he noticed there were over a dozen people standing back almost as if they were waiting for someone to show up. ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­ there¡¯s something weird¡­ I suspect those people are waiting for us toe out, ignorant to the fact that He Lyu is dead. That leaves us with a question: why pose as someone from Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate if they¡¯re here to eradicate Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    ¡°Ah, why would I overlook something so obvious? I knew they were trying to frame Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate, yet I failed to realise the evidence wouldn¡¯t be legitimate unless there were witnesses.¡± Next, Master Qi summarised what she noticed about the maids and told Fang Xiaoyu about the seal.

    ¡°The soldiers are real imperial soldiers because they need to catch us in the act. As a member of Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate, you are the best suspect. And the seal is on you!¡±

    ¡°The seal is naturally part of their n to frame us!¡± Master Qi hurled the seal away. ¡°He nned to frisk us once we were outside, find the seal on us and arrest us on the spot!¡±

    ¡°But why would the imperial guards take orders from them?¡±

    ¡°Simple¡­¡± Master Qi started to scowl as she could see the gravity of the situation and realised she had been ying into the enemies¡¯ hands. ¡°If there wasn¡¯t someone with tremendous authority hiding them, Fiends¡¯ Genesis couldn¡¯t have skulked here for so long. The imperial soldiers are taking orders¡­ mainly because theirmander is taking orders from Fiends¡¯ Genesis. I bet their leader is wondering around in here like he¡¯s a noble hero! Wait¡­ Hong Jiu!¡±

    ***

    He Lan¡¯s intervention reduced Hong Jiu¡¯s stress considerably and increased the odds of putting away Drought Demon sooner rather thanter.

    While Hong Jiu and Drought Demon were trading, a grin came to He Lan¡¯s lips as he sneaked behind Hong Jiu. Like a moth flying between flowers, Hong Jiu was oblivious to the danger approaching him. For whatever reason, Hong Jiu palmed behind him, smashing his hand into He Lan¡¯s chest.

    As He Lan¡¯s blood spewed from his mouth and he dropped to the ground, everyone paused. Breathing hard and showing regret on his face, he pointed to Hong Jiu and queried, ¡°Nice. Nice¡­ I ept my defeat, but I want to know¡­ why did you hit me?¡±

    ¡°Uh, you may not believe it, but,¡± Hong Jiu scratched his head apologetically, ¡°it¡­ was an ident.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 81

    Book 12: Chapter 81

    ¡°Seeing as you¡¯ve found out, I shall, wait, what?¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°What were you saying?¡±

    ¡°Nothing! Nothing! Hahaha, well done. Feel free to hit me a few more times, hahaha.¡±

    It really was an ident on Hong Jiu¡¯s part. The backwards blow was merely a part of chambering his strike before thrusting forward, which dragged the qi posterior to him and resulted in the bomb. Not everyone had the toughness to handle the misfortune destiny imposed on him, which begged the question: how tough were Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples who spent years living with him? From the moment He Lan got involved with Hong Jiu, he was doomed to wound up hurt whether he soured or not.

    He Lan wobbled to his feet.

    He Lan: My fortune reading said I was in for some serious bad luck today, but I didn¡¯t believe it until now.

    He Lan¡¯s instructions were to apprehend Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ intruders. Howbeit, he couldn¡¯t team up with Drought Demon to kill Hong Jiu in public, or it would raise suspicion that they were in cahoots with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. The attempted sneak attack was supposed to happen fast enough to fool other soldiers into conjuring erroneous theories.

    After gasping several serves of blood, He Lan could finally speakfortably. ¡°I am rather fragile, so please¡­ do not do that again.¡±

    ¡°You have my word,¡± promised Hong Jiu. ¡°You still good?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°All right, this time, you¡¯re the vanguard. I¡¯m spent.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    How the hell are you an orthodox sect disciple?! You want me to be the vanguard after smacking me that hard?! Fiends¡¯ Genesis gave us false information! What happened to the few orthodox sects¡¯ disciples we were supposed to help them capture?!

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to thank me. Go, go. I¡¯ll make sure nobody interrupts.¡±

    He Lan smiled politely. ¡°This one cannot even lift his leg right now.¡±

    ¡°How are we supposed to continue, then?¡± Drought Demon asked. ¡°I thought you two wanted to punish evil.¡±

    ¡°I may not be able to fight, but I have my brothers. Brothers!¡±

    He Lan¡¯s left and right-hand men, a swordsman and a broadsword wielder, came over. Up until they were summoned, the two y fought with Fiends¡¯ Genesis, so, when they saw the blood around He Lan¡¯s mouth, they immediately thundered at Hong Jiu. ¡°Since you already know, we¡¯ll have t-¡±

    ¡°No, no, no!¡± He Lan virtually leaped out in between them and Hong Jiu; one might even mistake him for Hong Jiu¡¯s servant.

    Hong Jiu flicked up a thumb. ¡°That¡¯s some great qinggong. All right, he¡¯s yours. I got your back.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, that was just second wind. You guys fight,¡± responded He Lan.

    ¡°Where will you be going, then?¡±

    ¡°Since my legs are dead, I¡¯ll have my men go buy a fake leg or something.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you rest up. Are you two going to fight alongside me?¡±

    He Lan¡¯s twockeys looked to him to exchange an eye conversation, then rushed at Drought Demon. The two of them were inferior to He Lan, let alone Drought Demon, so their ability to hide their identities wasn¡¯t great, either. In only a few exchanges, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend was heard shouting, ¡°So you¡¯re Hangzhou¡¯s Hawk Broadswordman and Wolf Swordsman. Very impressive!¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend easily discerned the duo struggled to dodge Drought Demon¡¯s strikes. Therefore, shemented in order to create the impression that they were trying to overpower him with their internal energy.

    Drought Demon suddenly dialled up his output, causing nts in the vicinity to wither. At the same time, his techniques looked considerably simplified. Besides demonstrating he could control his execution at will, his performance helped reinforce the ¡°fact¡± that the duo¡¯s attacks were forcing him into a state of desperation.

    Rested, Hong Jiu eximed, ¡°Please hold on. I¡¯ming!¡±

    ¡°What wishful thinking. Drought Demon, I¡¯ming to your aid!¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend intercepted Hong Jiu using a three-hit wbo aimed at his neck.

    The ¡°three on two¡± tussle was so thrilling that the soldiers would¡¯ve loved to join in if they weren¡¯t levels beneath them. He Lan was the only person who knew Hong Jiu could have a sword or broadsword stuck in him at the first opportunity. As long as Drought Demon and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend helped out, Hong Jiu had no chance. In the miraculous scenario that he survived¡­ He Lan cautiously crept closer to Hong Jiu.

    As the fighters turned up the heat, He Lan¡¯s henchmen increasingly struggled to the point that Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s control on the fight began to wane.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Interrupting the spectacle, Master Qi came riding over in a horse carriage. ¡°Hong Jiu, they ar-¡±

    Drought Demon and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend: ¡°Now!¡±

    Simultaneously, the five attacked Hong Jiu. When they initiated their finishers, they felt an exterior force take control of their bodies, and then Hong Jiu disappeared. Drought Demon mmed his hand into the broadsword wielder¡¯s abdomen. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend crushed the swordsman¡¯s skull between her fingers. He Lan stabbed Drought Demon¡¯s left arm. The sword and broadsword went into both of He Lan¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Looking for me?¡± Hong Jiu touched Nine-Lives Cat Fiend in a perverted manner, then smashed them all backwards with a palm strike each.

    Master Qi didn¡¯t quite understand the situation, but she was d Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t killed, nevertheless. ¡°This way! This way!¡±

    Hong Jiu performed a double full, easilynding on the horse carriage and then crouched down. Master Qi brushed open the curtain to see him holding out a sheet of paper as well as a small square seal.

    ¡°Looking for these?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Hong Jiu stood up and yelled to He Lan, who was whimpering on the ground, ¡°Brother He, we¡¯ll go call for reinforcements. Brothers, the people here are scum of the martial world, criminals who harm the innocent. Show no clemency. I leave them to erupt into cheers.

    Glossary

    Full ¨C This: /watch/?v=1008796756272175 Technically, this is a standing full, which would be the same as what Hong Jiu performed, except he did two rotations. If you enter the full via another setup, then it bes ¡°insert set-up name > full¡±.

 Book 12: Chapter 82

    Book 12: Chapter 82

    Only Drought Demon understood what transpired. As much as he revelled in the chance to challenge himself, he would wholeheartedly dedicate himself to his mission when the orders came from Fiends¡¯ Genesis whether he wanted to or not. When the five of themmitted to incapacitating Hong Jiu, he took charge of distracting Hong Jiu as well as taking most of Hong Jiu¡¯s power so that the others could disable him.

    Hawk Broadswordsman and Wolf Swordsman were trusted with Hong Jiu¡¯s shoulders since they were only good enough to hurt him when his true qi armour wasn¡¯tplete. Nine-Lives Cat Fiend was to inflict a wound and distract Hong Jiu a second time. Finally, He Lan was meant to finish the job from behind. While He Lan was unlikely to seed in killing Hong Jiu, it should¡¯ve been enough to make Hong Jiu lose his cool. Drought Demon, having had time to recover, would then step in to incapacitate Hong Jiu. They would subsequently leave while the imperial troops apprehended Master Qi and her ¡°conspirators¡±. They had discussed it plenty of times prior to exchanging blows. All that was left was to trust their wits to set it up.

    Right as the group spawned the desire to go for the finish, Hong Jiu inhaled and changed the way he moved, assuming a stance that acted as a disposition feint. At any given moment, he was prepared to attack one of them, yet he didn¡¯t; he gave the impression he was going to move, but he didn¡¯t. They were supposed to be the hunter, yet his stance switched their roles in their heads.

    The sequence hinged on their chemistry. Consequently, their order of attack was paramount. Because of the hesitation Hong Jiu imnted in them and their own weakness, Hawk Broadswordsman and Wolf Swordsman felt endangered and decided to jump before Drought Demon could fulfil his role.

    Hawk Broadswordsman missed Hong Jiu¡¯s left shoulder. As he saw his de strike thin air, he freaked out and lost output due to his self-imposed distraction.

    Hong Jiu turned his attention to the remaining four thereafter, although still assuming a disposition feint that exposed him from every thinkable angle.

    Drought Demon, as the strongest in the group, immediately needed to take the reins. Problem was, how was he supposed to absorb Hong Jiu¡¯s attack for them if Hong Jiu never uncorked one? Obviously, the option to attack first existed; however, in the case that he went first, Hong Jiu could easily counter using Empty Palms. Drought Demon already found himself in danger during their previous sh, so he wasn¡¯t about to charge in with reckless abandon and, therefore, chose to wait for an opportunity.

    Drought Demon knew when to hold, but the straightforward Wolf Swordsman didn¡¯t. Though he was stronger than Hawk Broadswordsman, he wasn¡¯t as sharp or quick on his feet, so he attacked as per the original n. As a result of his rash attack, Drought Demon hesitated for a moment, thenmenced his own attack, which prompted Nine-Lives Cat Fiend to unleash her prepared strike.

    Due to Hong Jiu¡¯s evasion, He Lan, who was forgotten, came into view once again. Seeing his superior in the way, Hawk Broadswordsman made the call to dodge. Because he wasn¡¯t looking where he was going, he walked straight into the line of Drought Demon¡¯s attack, costing him his own blood and throwing his weight toward Wolf Swordsman. As a consequence, his de went into Wolf Swordsman¡¯s shoulder. Owing to loss of equilibrium, Wolf Swordsman stumbled around until he was bumped again. Feeling pain from the top of his dome, he swung wildly, cutting into He Lan¡¯s right shoulder at the same time Hawk Broadswordsman prated He Lan¡¯s left shoulder. Even though Hawk Broadswordsman¡¯s cut didn¡¯t have much strength behind it, it was enough to ruin He Lan¡¯s aim. In turn, He Lan stabbed Drought Demon¡¯s arm. That was when Hong Jiu slipped away to pinch the evidence from Nine-Lives Cat Fiend.

    Despite his injury, Drought Demon still smiled. ¡°Just one question: how¡¯d you know?¡±

    From the horse carriage, Hong Jiu responded, ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯ve been in Hangzhou for ages, and I¡¯ve never heard of Hangzhou¡¯s Three Spearsman, but I¡¯ve met Hawk Broadswordsman and Wolf Swordsman. The next time you want to pose as somebody else, choose another location as your character¡¯s hometown.¡±

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had a lot to gripe about in spite of knowing Hong Jiu must¡¯ve saw through them somehow else, let alone his taunts to put them away, only to then run off. Likewise, He Lan wanted nothing more than to put holes in Hong Jiu, but he couldn¡¯t publicly admit to the conspiracy. Hence, he could only let Hong Jiu leave.

    Hong Jiu whipped the horse to leave.

    Drought Demon, who was in thought the entire time, yelled out, ¡°Night Fortress¡¯ master is a phony!¡±

    Hong Jiu tugged on the horse¡¯s reins for it to halt. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°I said, Night Fortress¡¯ master is a phony, a useless phony who¡¯s underserving of his good name in Hangzhou¡¯s martial artsmunity. Mount Daluo is a bunch of useless cripples, too. They¡¯re ranked as one of the top three most prominent sects when they haven¡¯t done squat.¡±

    Master Qi: ¡°He¡¯s provoking you. Don¡¯t let him get to you.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I know that.¡± Hong Jiu licked his lips, then hopped off the carriage to saunter back. ¡°Hey,¡± Hong Jiu picked his ear whilst standing opposite Drought Demon, ¡°I¡¯m not sure I heard you correctly. Repeat yourself.¡±

    ¡°I said, Mount Daluo is a bunch of useless sacks of crap, especially your senior brother. Night Fortress is the biggest dump a giant must¡¯ve taken in Hangzhou.¡±

    ¡°Heh, you must be stupid.¡±

    Drought Demon nodded with a smile, never expecting to be hammered on the head and sent reeling.

    Hong Jiu wiped the blood on his forehead and then slicked his hair back. ¡°I just happen to be stupid, as well.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 83

    Book 12: Chapter 83

    The number of people from the martial world gathered in the capital had exceeded the number that Liu Shan Men could manage. As a matter of fact, the visitors had crossed the imperial court¡¯s bottom time numerous times already.

    The capital wasn¡¯t prepared to handle the number of unorthodox factions that poured in. Numbers aside, the unorthodox factions usually kept low profiles as they went about their business as opposed to strolling through the streets blithely as they now did. As a result, there were increasing cases of conflicts in the capital.

    Assuming that unorthodox factions only caused bloodshed problems was a facy. Owing to their activity in the capital, the usually quiet underground businesses, such as gambling dens, smuggling businesses, brothels and even human trafficking businesses started to be more tantly active. All of a sudden, the peace of the capital seemed nothing more than a fleeting dream of days gone by.

    For thest fortnight, one of the hottest topics in the capital that seemingly spawned out of thin air was the ¡°bronze mask¡± topic. One sunny afternoon, a group of people passed by a busy bar. Out of nowhere, blood was spilt, and a head went soaring into the ether. ording to subsequent investigations, the victim was but an ordinary merchant who chose to take a shortcut on the way home. He was said to not have any enemies. Most strangely, though, was the ount that witnesses provided. They said that they just suddenly saw a head rise up into the sky as though a ghost removed his head and then levitated. In addition, there was an eerie mist that apanied the motion. In the middle of the day. On a sunny afternoon.

    Investigators, including Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-Captain Shen, had no clue where to start because they couldn¡¯t find any leads.

    On another day, a butcher shaved the meat of some skin, then passed over the bones to his customer. The customer took the bones, smiled and looked up to ask for some offal, as well. Never did he expect to be sshed in the face and neck with warm red liquid, making his smile freeze stiff on his face. Standing opposite him was a headless chubby body. Only when the corpse fell forward onto the meat did the customer shriek.

    Once again, the witness couldn¡¯t exin to investigators how it happened.

    Identical cases subsequently urred after that day. Some victims were orthodox sect members. Some were unorthodox faction members. Some were ordinary civilians. The onlymon denominators between the cases were that they all took ce in the middle of the day and in the presence of many witnesses. If it could be considered one, the thirdmon denominator would be that none of the witnesses saw how the victims were beheaded.

    Following a dozen-odd cases, the ¡°a nefarious wind is on a murder spree¡± headline spread. No matter how much effortw enforcement offices tried to assert that there was an actual human criminal, their inability to exin the mysteries failed to convince people that they were telling the truth.

    The case remained shrouded in a veil of mystery until one of the victims was someone with a sense of justice as strong as he was. While there was no circumstantial evidence to substantiate his im, he imed to have fought with the culprit. When he was found, he still had his head attached and wasn¡¯t dead. The rank sixteen Hidden Dragon Qilin Guard, despite lying in his own pool of blood and being disfigured, muttered to the people who found him, ¡°Bronze¡­ mask¡­¡±

    ***

    He was the only entity to exist in his dream.

    Ming Feizhen learnt to enter the empty ne many years ago. Nheless, it was only possible, and subject to a chance of failure, to enter the ne via his dreams once he lost ess to his martial arts abilities.

    Inside the ne, Ming Feizhen could rey his past encounters and experiences. There was his shifu, shiniangs, grandmaster, siblings, Ol¡¯ Ximen, Yan Shisan, Zhile, his young shiyi, Boss Shen, Tang Ye, Su Xiao and her.

    She looked especially lonely standing by herself in the vacant white ne. It wasn¡¯t cold in the ne, yet Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t help feeling she was standing in and of ice and snow. He took a step forward to get a closer look at her face, but the ne copsed, kicking him back to reality.

    Upon opening his eyes, Ming Feizhen saw two people. ¡°Heh, you two? Lame.¡±

    The man carrying a broadsword on his waist seemed to have ants in his pants. Right now, his eyes were as red as those of a man who justmitted murder and understandably so. He was supposed to wake Ming Feizhen up, but nothing worked until the tall handsome man in a ck robe did ¨C not to mention he did it with a single poke.

    ¡°Son of¡­ I-I¡¯m going to kill you. I¡­¡±

    ¡°I was looking forward to meeting you,¡± the man in ck pushed the irritated man aside, ¡°but not under these circumstances.¡±

    ¡°I, on the other hand, don¡¯t want to see you. You kidnapped me,¡± replied Ming Feizhen.

    The antsy man snapped. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone with one foot in his coffin as cocky as you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen leaned back. ¡°If you were going to kill me, you should¡¯ve slit my throat, not woke me up. We done? If we are, I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡±

    The tall man conveyed, ¡°I have something to say to you. It¡¯s up to you whether you sleep or not, of course.¡±

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°Do you remember who I am?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The tall man smiled. ¡°I remember you, though. I¡¯ve seen you around a few times, but this is our first time conversing. I¡¯m disappointed, however. I never thought you¡¯d have lost all your skills.¡±

    If he didn¡¯t have Ming Feizhen¡¯s attention yet, he did now.

    ¡°How can someone like you ever part with martial arts? It¡¯d be no different to torture. Or did you shifu fail to teach you just as I couldn¡¯t teach my disciple, Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°I suddenly have an urge to know who¡¯s speaking to me.¡±

    ¡°My name is Jiang Chen. I¡¯m currently one of the people in charge of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Ming Feizhen.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 84

    Book 12: Chapter 84

    ¡°I am Jiang Chen. Perhaps you have not heard my name before.¡±

    ¡°¡­ How about a self-introduction?¡±

    ¡°I am but a minor figure in the pugilistic world. I¡¯m not worth a mention.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Kay.¡±

    In reality, Ming Feizhen recognised the name. It was hard not to when practically everyone in the pugilistic world recognised the name twenty years ago. The veterans were around to experience history, while Ming Feizhen had been a loyal reader of ck and White Reflection from childhood, after all.

    Together with the other Stars, Jiang Chen was responsible for numerous big cases that rocked Water Domain. Even though Emperor Yuansheng had consolidated his power and had the ambition, he didn¡¯t devote much effort tobatting Fiends¡¯ Genesis. First of all, there was the challenge of locating them. Secondly, there were Jiang Chen¡¯s strategies. Even if they had Lai Jingzhen¡¯s assistance, it would still take years to wipe out Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Among the few disciplines that maintained a practitioner¡¯s youth, ones that bestowed anti-aging attributes were few and far between. In order to master them, apart ensuring there were no cross-disciplinary shes, the extent of the benefits was predicated on their progress. The most important thing to practitioners of such disciplines wasn¡¯t maintain their appearance but their physical prime forbat.

    Jiang Chen never showed himself, so his appearance was shrouded in mystery. At the very least, nobody would expect the Seven Stars¡¯ leader to be such a dashing man. That being said, Ming Feizhen read more into Jiang Chen¡¯s appearance than the average man would. Jiang Chen was already renowned before Fiends¡¯ Genesis was crushed two decades ago, which meant that he was now over sixty, yet he didn¡¯t have a strand of grey hair or wrinkle on his skin. Besides practitioners of advanced daoist disciplines, few humans ever achieved the same state Jiang Chen did.

    Daoists, before apotheosising, viewed their bodies as precious entities. That was why many of them continued to look young despite their chronological ages. Buddhists put their bodies through the wringer to prove Bodhi¡¯s methods, so they couldn¡¯tpare to daoists when it came to maintaining their youth. The fact that Jiang Chen¡¯s aura was devoid of any nefarious nature despite not being a daoist proved that he had reached a high level in his internal discipline. Thest old monster like him that Ming Feizhen met was Ming Huayu.

    ¡°Your shifu is Ming Huayu?¡±

    ¡°Never heard of him¡­ I can take you to him if you want to meet him.¡±

    Jiang Chen shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve always been interested in you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be. I don¡¯t swing that way, but if you do, I can introduce you to fellow called Liu Yuan.¡±

    ¡°Stop being a smart aleck!¡± The antsy man pushed Ming Feizhen¡¯s head with his foot, bouncing it off the wall behind him. For a while, Ming Feizhen¡¯s vision was pitch ck.

    Jiang Chen¡¯s upwardly curved lips never curled down. ¡°I¡¯m not really in the mood for talking about the past, especially when my child isn¡¯t present.¡±

    ¡°¡­ And who¡¯s your kid?¡±

    ¡°Shitou.¡±

    A man hugging a cudgel entered the room. Until then, Ming Feizhen never heard his presence. Moreover, Ming Feizhen could figure out how Jiang Chen¡¯s internal discipline worked from what he heard, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what the childish-looking grown man¡¯s internal discipline was. If there was anybody Ming Feizhen deemed dangerous in his situation, it was the man in his thirties. More often than not, adepts would have a mysterious aura or cold aura around them. In contrast, Shitou went up to Jiang Chen¡¯s side as though he was a kid still hiding behind his father.

    ¡°This is my son,¡± stated Jiang Chen. ¡°While it¡¯s somewhat rted to him, it¡¯s not the same person. By the way, his name is Shitou. He may be a little slow, but he¡¯s a good kid.¡±

    Shitou always stared at one spot simrly to a soulless being and would only react when Jiang Chen spoke.

    ¡°Shitou, take a seat.¡±

    Shitou found a corner to sit as he was told.

    ¡°If you want to know about Shitou, it¡¯s a story from twenty years ago¡­¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m correct, you didn¡¯t wake me to chat.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ It seems that you¡¯re smarter than I¡¯ve given you credit for. Ming Huayu has taught you a lot besides martial arts; however, your intellect is still not at the level Ming Shiyue and I desire. Guess our families are the same.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ know my grandmaster?¡±

    Instead of answering the query, Jiang Chen spun around and pushed open the window to peer at the sepia-tinted sky. ¡°Twilight truly is a decent time to act.¡±

    No matter how hard he thought, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t figure out how Jiang Chen was linked to his grandmaster. Nothing Jiang Chen said gave any useful information to Ming Feizhen. The one casual remark that Jiang Chen made, however, plunged Ming Feizhen into darkness. Jiang Chen¡¯s attitude toward Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t that of someone to his captive¡­ at least, not to an important captive.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What did you orthodox sects do to us?¡± Jiang Chen¡¯s quick speech pace made it difficult to connect his motions to the content hemunicated. ¡°We shall take what you took from us. Tiangou, bite him.¡±

    The antsy man drew his de.

    ***

    Song Lian strolled out of Daren Academy as a red hue dyed the sky, which was earlier than the usual time he clocked off. For some reason, he felt unsettled. He had the feeling someone was monitoring him, a feeling he wasn¡¯t foreign to, yet he couldn¡¯t find anything to prove his spection. At his level, nothing within a hundred metres could escape his senses. Instead of the unease diminishing, it amplified once he reached a popted area.

    Suddenly, Song Lian¡¯s instincts drew his line of sight upwards. He was forced to bow out from the world before he could figure out what happened and how. Thest thing he saw was someone wearing a bronze mask standing on the eaves.

    Note: I suspect people are going to miss it ¨C why Ming Feizhen linked Jiang Chen to his grandmaster ¨C so I¡¯m going to make it explicit ¨C even though some people still won¡¯t read this. It¡¯s because Hero Shenzhou¡¯s name is revealed in this chapter to be ¡°Ming Shiyue¡±. For those who forgot, Hero Shenzhou is a title (covered during talks on Ran Feikong¡¯s exploits).

 Book 12: Chapter 85

    Book 12: Chapter 85

    The masked individual ignored all the cries below over Song Lian¡¯s demise, standing still whilst staring at the person opposite him with their glimmering red eyes. ¡°Who might you be?¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s surname is Dugu.¡± Dugu held his hands up in salute. If nobody believed thenky masked individual was dangerous yet, then they would now given Dugu confronted them alone. Receiving no response, he continued, ¡°This one begs your pardon for not entertaining you while you were busymitting crimes in the capital.¡±

    The masked individual bound across to another roof.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡± As he brayed, Dugu promptly gave chase.

    Although Sima Huai utterly defeated Dugu in a qinggong contest back in Nanjiang, Dugu would flog everyone else who participate in the campaign south. Yet, the masked individual managed to keep a fairly constant distance between them. That was not even ounting for the fact that Dugu was familiar with the capital and knew the terrain even better as a secret agent. Technically, Dugu was superior. The distance they covered in one leap, however, was significantly different enough for Dugu to lose track of his target if he didn¡¯t have home-ground advantage.

    Seeing as it was risky to extend the chase, Dugu hurled a small shield from his left hand. The shield zoomed passed the masked individual¡¯s side, then curved back to smash him head on, forcing him to go backwards. At the same time, Dugu extended an open hand as he closed the distance. ¡°Freeze!¡±

    Dugu could swear the masked man didn¡¯t move, yet there he was, now two hundred metres away from his original spot. Suffice to say, the masked man raced off to a tall building as soon as he was out of Dugu¡¯s reach.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Dugu was delighted to see the direction his target went. Thus far, Dugu had the overallbat advantage, while the masked man excelled at being elusive. On the other side of the tall building was the city wall, which meant it was a dead end. Therefore, Dugu went as fast as he could, nning to force the suspect into a fight.

    Though the masked man didn¡¯t slow down as he advanced straight toward the building, Dugu didn¡¯t slow down. All was proceeding as nned until the masked man suddenly vanished. For a moment, even Dugu thought he was seeing things. Before Dugu could determine where he went wrong, he felt a chill against the nape of his neck.

    ***

    Was the ground blood, or was blood on the ground?

    Tiangou swung his de around whilst panting and jumping up and down beside Jiang Chen. ¡°H-hurts, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    In spite of his ghastly-white face, tied hands still bleeding and his forehead sodden with perspiration, he wouldn¡¯t even whimper.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you scream if it hurts?! Groan! Woof! Groan!¡±

    ¡°No wonder why your name is Tiangou.¡± Ming Feizhen condescendingly smiled from behind his veil of dishevelled hair. ¡°You¡¯re a dog through and through.¡±

    Unable toprehend the insult, Tiangou pped his gums, but nothing audible came out. Thus, he chopped Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder and grinded with his jagged de. While Ming Feizhen gasped, he still fought off the urge to grunt.

    Jiang Chen didn¡¯t smile because he relished Ming Feizhen¡¯s pan; he smiled purely because he found Ming Feizhen interesting. ¡°I thought you¡¯d at least make a sound when we severed your arm tendons since you probably predominately use your hands inbat.¡±

    Because Jiang Chen gave Tiangou the order to ¡°bite¡±, thetter made Ming Feizhen¡¯s wounds resemble dog bites.

    ¡°You crippled my arms and legs, and you want me to satisfy your sick fetish? Aren¡¯t you too demanding?¡± replied Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°You¡¯re misunderstanding me. I don¡¯t mind whether your cry out or not. After all, I¡¯m very busy at the moment, and capturing you isn¡¯t a priority.¡± Jiang Chen went over to inspect Ming Feizhen¡¯s injuries, shook his head and then walked off to the desk he was sitting at prior to Ming Feizhen regaining consciousness. He took a sheet of paper from the bookshelf, a brush from the brush rack and then stopped to muse. ¡°I¡¯m quite familiar with Mount Daluo, but I wouldn¡¯t say we have bad blood between us, so killing you has never crossed my mind. Regrettably, you¡¯ve involved yourself with our job. We didn¡¯t capture you because it is you. We will spare your life on ount of you being a disciple of Mount Daluo.¡±

    Jiang Chen wrote whatever he was intending to write. When he looked up again, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know the reason behind your loss of skills, but I know there aren¡¯t many reasons something of this manner would beset someone of your calibre. I¡¯m confident you have a solution to your problem. Knowing how entric your sect¡¯s members are, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if your sect possessed a discipline for restoring lost skills. Didn¡¯t your shifu achieve that? I remember we mistook him for being the person we were searching high and low for. I was quite depressed when I found out he was unable to resist the allure of romance. I guess that¡¯s amon factor between our families: we¡¯re both halfplete products.¡±

    Owing to what Jiang Chen said, Ming Feizhen finally understood several things. He was involved in their plot, but he wasn¡¯t the key. He was kidnapped because as a precautionary measure, not because he was a target. Jiang Chen talked about the past because he was acquainted with members of Mount Daluo. Jiang Chen woke him up for a chat because he was interested in him. He wasn¡¯t an important enemy or problem that needed to be resolved. He was merely a pebble in the road, one that Jiang Chen could kick away whenever he wanted. Who shows respect to a pebble? For all he knew, severing his tendons might¡¯ve been just something they did out of habit, not something necessary.

    ¡°You can recover lost skills.¡± Jiang Chen discarded his brush before stuffing the sheet into a brocade pouch. ¡°Howbeit, there aren¡¯t many ways to restore severed tendons. To restore destroyed arm and leg tendons, you have no choice but to find new tendons and a top surgeon to perform the recement. You could count on two hands the number of people with that skill, and I know most of them. I¡¯m keen to see how you will continue doing what you do, but¡­¡±

    Jiang Chen went over to the weapon rack and mumbled, ¡°This isn¡¯t too shabby, either. Neither is this one¡­ Hmm¡­ This one.¡± He took out an iron rod and snapped it with his bare hands, threw away one end and then somehow turned it bright red. ¡°But I don¡¯t like the way you look at me. It¡¯s like you¡¯re saying, ¡®I can escape whenever I please, and, right now, I just don¡¯t feel like it.¡¯ I¡¯ve lived for a long time. I want to know what you¡¯re hiding that gives you the confidence.¡±

    White tendrils of smoke whisked from the red rod at the same time the temperature in the room rose. Ming Feizhen¡¯s body jolted as instincts kicked in, forgetting he was immobilised.

    ¡°Allow me to remind you.¡± Jiang Chen leaned on Ming Feizhen as though they were buddies. ¡°Martial artists can¡¯t condense qi no matter what tricks they have up their sleeve once their scap is locked. Your shifu was no exception.¡±

    Blood came out of Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders as if they were broken geysers. Jiang Chen slowly drove the rod through Ming Feizhen¡¯s chest, ensuring thetter could feel the burn as well as the pain of bones being prated. At longst, Ming Feizhen grunted until he passed out.

    ¡°Ming Shiyue, you lost one opportunity. Your disciple is no exception. Why would he pick this fool as his sessor?¡± Jiang Chen switched his blood-stained garments for a clean set. ¡°I have an appointment tomorrow night, so I¡¯ll be staying in the capital tonight. Tiangou, lock him up back home. Shitou, let us be on our way.¡±

    Once Jiang Chen locked the door behind him, he instructed, ¡°If he makes a scene, finish him.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 86

    Book 12: Chapter 86

    Report after report and document after document made their way into Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vermillion Hall. The brisk footsteps of the female constables closing in could¡¯ve potentially generated smoke.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am! Another death has been reported in the east. The victim is a sixteen year old young man.¡±

    From behind the pile of documents that was nearly as high up as her in her chair, Shen Yiren thundered, ¡°Bronze mask, bronze mask, again! The next time I hear those two words, I¡¯ll fillet him alive!¡±

    Knowing better than to respond, the female constables stayed silent.

    While Liu Shan Men¡¯s workload was multiplying daily, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t turn down jobs and personally attended to them because Emperor Yuansheng was finally entrusting them with big jobs. Every time there was a case, she¡¯d be first to rush to the scene, collect evidence, apprehend culprits, try them and send the verdict in. As she cracked cases left, right and centre, Emperor Yuansheng sung her praises.

    Personally attending to everything wasn¡¯t something to be praised. It demonstrated a leader¡¯s attitude, particrly when someone was plotting against them.

    Shen Yiren was experienced at closing cases since she grew up in the office. Her investigations, in contrast, were inferior if the two were juxtaposed. Even with Yan Shisan¡¯s edification, she was still only one person against the number of cases inundating their office. Owing to her strong sense of responsibility, she forewent nights of sleep. As a result ofck of rest and using Precision Scout tirelessly, her eyes were swollen. Had the female constables not hung onto her legs and begged her to not go out, she would¡¯ve continued overexerting herself. Nheless, merely trying suspects was tiring enough given the sheer volume of cases.

    Liu Shan Men was in over their heads at this point. Thus, Shen Yiren was forced to request the support of Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage from Emperor Yuansheng. Additionally, she sent out a letter to an old friend for assistance, but they wouldn¡¯t arrive until autumn had past ¨C if everything went to schedule.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Owing to the workload ever increasing, Shen Yiren¡¯s mood soured correspondingly. It was written all over the wall that the Seven Champion White Princes were purposely making things hard for them for numerous reasons. Therefore, every time she remembered Song Ou, one of their members, was living in their quarters, she¡¯d feel even more inmed. For the past few days, she nearly made suspects wet their pants when she showed up to court hearings, and they¡¯d hastily confess to everything without her even needing to use her gavel. Everyone had been trying to avoid her, but the female constables put their hearts in their mouth and decided to report to her because the bronze-masked murderer was bing increasingly dangerous.

    All threew enforcement offices were ordered to tackle the bronze-masked killer case together, with none of them having any privileges over the other. He was to be apprehended on sight. Despite their efforts, no progress had been made on their end. Meanwhile, the culprit had broken his records.

    The female constables were fully aware that the best way to calm down their irate vice-captain was to solve the problem. That was why they thought of one particr person, the very person she herself would often discuss problems with and somehow solve the majority of the problem through talking alone. When they needed him, though, he wasn¡¯t around!

    Ming Feizhen had been gone for three days, and nobody had heard from him.

    ¡°Who¡¯s absent?!¡± With her chewed brush end in her mouth, Shen Yiren shot a piercing re at the female constables. ¡°Get out! Why are you all just standing here? Do you have time to spare?!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, Ma¡¯am!¡±

    Shen Yiren had another brief look at the document in front of her, then angrily threw away her brush. ¡°Hmph, just you wait! I¡¯m reporting you to Uncle!¡± She went back to writing for a short while before pausing again. Following a shallow inhale, she gazed out the window and muttered, ¡°Just where have you gone¡­¡± Some time passed before she went back to writing again.

    Ming Feizhen still hadn¡¯t returned four days after he went missing.

    ¡°Something definitely happened to him,¡± Shen Yiren asserted straight off the bat in her meeting with Su Xiao and Tang Ye.

    Su Xiao opined, ¡°I agree! Big Brother Ming never goes missing without a word prior for so long!¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Principal Huang is furious enough to make him do a handstand at the academy doors for his absence. Though Big Bro likes toze about, he isn¡¯t fearless enough to think Principal Huang will let him off the hook.¡±

    So that she would have half a day to search for Ming Feizhen with Su Xiao and Tang Ye, Shen Yiren divided half of her work with Shen Kuang. It was much easier to make people talk thanks to Shen Yiren being around; however, nobody had seen Ming Feizhen in days. They did find out one piece of interesting information, nevertheless.

    Many people ¨C even from different cliques ¨C reportedly saw Ming Feizhen at the academy four days ago behaving suspiciously. The trio split up to find and question witnesses. They learnt from those who ambushed him where they ambushed him and traced their paths.

    Ironhead Pce¡¯s group was rather willing to admit to everything unlike the others. Still, Tang Ye and Shen Yiren had their ways of making the uncooperative bunch speak.

    ¡°ording to them, Big Bror should¡¯ve gone missing around here.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything. They told me they bashed Big Brother Ming!¡± Su Xiao folded his arms. ¡°Once this is over, they¡¯ll be paying for it!¡±

    They had a vague map of Ming Feizhen¡¯s route the day he went missing, but Shen Yiren perpetually analysed testimonies and the surroundings for further clues. ¡°If Feizhen wanted to escape¡­ he would¡¯ve gone this way. Follow me!¡±

    At the end of an alley, they only found haystacks, yet Shen Yiren finally looked relieved. ¡°Feizhen might¡¯ve been here. Look around for clues.¡± While Su Xiao and Tang Ye searched the haystacks¡¯ area, Shen Yiren searched outside. ¡°Hey, check this out.¡±

    Despite the hot temperature spoiling the food inside the container, its aroma still lingered somewhat. Four days ago, it would¡¯ve been a piping hot, crispy, golden braised pork shoulder.

    In a shaky voice, Shen Yiren stated, ¡°Feizhen¡­ is in trouble!¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 87

    Book 12: Chapter 87

    Like the rays of sunlight split the darkness, Shen Yiren, with Tang Ye and Su Xiao following behind, marched toward a certain room and kicked the door open to wee herself in. The servants inside thundered, ¡°Who are you?! Do you know who stays here?¡± Once they saw Shen Yiren, their tone became, ¡°M-Mistress, wh-what brings you here?¡±

    Every servant who served the big wigs of Song n had met Shen Yiren before, so the servants recognised her.

    ¡°You did not need to bring so many people along to meet Second Young Master.¡±

    ¡°Call Song Chi out.¡±

    It was hard for the servant not to hear the hostility when Shen Yiren openly showed she was violence itself. He was pondering what to do when someone inside said, ¡°Chang Ruo, what did I tell you? No visitors are to be turned away, let alone family.¡± Song Chi came out with Xunfeng and Bai Yumo.

    ¡°You are dismissed.¡± Despite the tant show of aggression, Song Chi remained amiable. ¡°Sister-in-Law, it has been a long time. I hope you have been well.¡±

    The moment they heard Song Chi address Shen Yiren as ¡°Sister-in-Law¡±, Su Xiao and Tang Ye instantly knew they weren¡¯t dealing with an idiot. Emphasising her rtionship with Song Ou and showing manners first was a better move than any smart remarks. To counter, Tang Ye stepped forward and raised his hand, signalling they were keeping it business oriented. ¡°You can pass on the pleasantries. You should know why we are visiting you. Dayong, hand them here.¡±

    Wu Dayong shakily set down a few sheets of paper and then bolted for dear life.

    Instead of checking what the papers were about, Song Chi said, ¡°It seems you have something to say to me, Sister-in-Law. Pleasee in to speak. This ce is not asfortable as our home in Yangzhou, but a simpler abode is more conducive to studying, indeed, as it removes distractions. We do not have much tea, either, but we do have enough to treat you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. Thanks to some certain people, I don¡¯t even have time to stop for a drink. Yan Ling.¡±

    ¡°Ironhead Pce¡¯s Xiang Baxian and Zhao Tiankui¡¯s military subordinates signatures are right here,¡± stated Tang Ye, giving his fists a rub.

    Song Chi smiled. ¡°And?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°You want more? We¡¯ve arrested the four thugs who participated in the assault, as well. They have all stated you ordered the hit.¡±

    Tang Ye rubbed his fist right in front of them, right where they could see. ¡°Anything else to say?¡±

    Xunfeng immediately stepped up to confront Tang Ye. ¡°This is the new framing tactic you came up with? You just want an excuse to throw hands. This one is more than happy to oblige.¡±

    Tang Ye raised his chest and turned his head. Offended at the marginalising gesture, Xunfeng prepared himself to attack.

    ¡°Brother Xunfeng.¡± Subsequently, Song Chi whispered something to Xun Feng.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Xunfeng¡¯s rage vanished into thin air. He then turned to whisper to Bai Yumo.

    Bai Yumo: ¡°Ah, Brother Song, are you really the one who sent them?¡±

    With the exception of Song Chi, all of Song n¡¯s members weren¡¯t sure how to deal with the awkwarness.

    ¡°Yes. My brother and he have issues with each other, so I sent them to teach him a lesson. Sister-in-Law, are you intending to teach me a lesson for his sake?¡±

    The emphasis on ¡°Sister-in-Law¡± was deliberate ¨C to try and sway Shen Yiren. If word got out that she picked a fight with Song n for an outsider, her reputation would more than likely suffer a blow. Even if it didn¡¯t bother her, she would have to think twice as it would jeopardise Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°The matter has already been reported,¡± replied Shen Yiren.

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is furious.¡± Shen Yiren looked up at Song Chi for the first time since arriving. ¡°The Seven Champion White Princes have created enough of a mess as it is. In saying that, there is still time to salvage the situation. You are doing all this purely to see if His Majesty can impose his will. I believe you have found your answer. Kidnapping Ming Feizhen, on the other hand, is an embarrassing move. If you¡¯re unaware, I can tell you he¡¯s a member of Mount Daluo, a new duke and His Majesty personally conferred him the title of Hanlin Academician. To assault and kidnap someone of his standing as you please in the capital is to humiliate His Majesty. I¡¯m not here to catch up. If you return Ming Feizhen without a scratch or bruise on him, I promise you that the capital will be your nightmare.¡±

    Song Chi wore on a look of amusement. ¡°I did not expect that from you. To summarise, you are saying Ming Feizhen has gone missing and suspect I am the reason behind it?¡±

    Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t sure how to proceed next owing to how smoothly Song Chi responded.

    ¡°Vice-Captain!¡± A female constable suddenly stormed in without as much as a knock, which was beside her.

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Song from Daren Academy was attacked outside the academy, and his corpse currently lies there. Agent Dugu from Emperor¡¯s Entourage is still unconscious after chasing the suspect.¡±

    ¡°What?! Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s him ag-¡±

    ¡°M-my uncle was attacked?!¡±

    The female constable didn¡¯t recognise Song Chi, but she nodded. ¡°Yes. He can be found right outside the academy!¡±

    ¡°Sister-in-Law, my uncle is our n elder. I must change and go check on him. Please pardon me for the abrupt departure!¡±

    Shen Yiren had to let Song Chi go since he had a legitimate reason.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    When Song Chi returned to his room to grab his clothes, Song Ou, who was waiting there, asked, ¡°Why did you have to be so confrontational with Yiren?¡±

    While he kept busy, Song Chi¡¯s concern back when he spoke with Shen Yiren was nowhere in sight. ¡°Whether it is her background or martial prowess, she is among the best among women. Regrettably, she does not truly love you. Hence, our family has nothing to gain.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother, our n is not as wealthy as Gold and Silver Sect, not as close to His Majesty as ck Robe Brotherhood, not as important as Luo Ming, and not as in the loop as Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and Cold Mountain Temple. Talent? Can you, I and our younger sisterpare to Bai n¡¯s three brothers from back then?¡±

    Song Oumented, ¡°Why are you bringing this up again? Nobody else brings it up. Who in our family canpare to Bai n?¡±

    ¡°That is exactly my point. Our n has always beenst among the seven. Therefore, were His Majesty to get rid of one of us, he would start with our n first. This is not a personal issue. We are trying to grab at straws. Brother, you must never forget that, when pushes to shove, he who hesitates loses. I must be on my way now.¡±

    On his way out, Song Chi wore his anxious visage back on.

 Book 12: Chapter 88

    Book 12: Chapter 88

    There was no need for an official announcement. Word of mouth was all it took for news of Song Lian¡¯s demise to spread to every corner of the capital. Liu Shan Men discovered his separated head and body first. ording to regtions, his corpse was supposed to stay with them. Howbeit, Song Chi, also hailing from Song n, was allowed to take his body.

    Shen Yiren, sitting behind her desk in Vermillion Hall, perennially knocked on the desk with her eyes half shut. There were so many things going on at once that she had trouble determining what to tackle first. There were no clues to track down Ming Feizhen, and there was nothing to ascertain if Song Chi had anything to do with it. The atmosphere in the capital was shifting daily. One thing was happening one after the other every day, all of which seemed to spell the omen of imminent trouble. There was no suspect for the bronze-masked killer, and there was no clear motive. Meanwhile, be it aristocrats, the affluent ormon folks, everyone was living in constant terror.

    Picking up on approaching footsteps, Shen Yiren ceased her tapping. ¡°How is it, Xiao Han?¡±

    Su Xiao closed the door behind him. ¡°Brother Dugu is in aa. ording to the imperial doctor¡­ he was chopped on the back of the head with a de. Luckily, he was able to form a shield out of his energy in the nick of time, or his head would be separated from his body already. Even so, he may not wake up again.¡± Su Xiao was genuinely concerned for Dugu as the two had been working together since leaving the capital to visit Luo Ming.

    ¡°Chopped with a de?¡± Tang Ye turned to Shen Yiren. ¡°Mr. Lian¡¯s cause of death¡­¡±

    ¡°The culprit has been beheading all of his victims cleanly. Based on the thin and t slices, I surmised the culprit leveraged speed to slice straight through. Inparison, the wound of the Qilin Guard who had his face mangled, based on my own analysis, is not the type of wound a sharp weapon would inflict.¡±

    Shen Yiren developed a deeperprehension following her creation of ¡°Sharp and Blunt Synchrony¡±, allowing her to correctly identify the difference between Xian Yutuo¡¯s facial wounds and the other victims. The bronze-masked killer wielded a sharp weapon, while Xian Yutuo¡¯s face was smashed as if the killer was unable to chop him and therefore had to smash him to death. Compared to a skilled de wielder, it resembled the unbridled swinging of a raging, untrained man. Maybe there was a case to be made for Xian Yutuo having a harder neck and making it harder for the suspect with hisbat prowess; however, the killer could take down the third rank on Seventeen Hidden Dragons, Dugu, in a single sh. How could it have been harder to kill Xian Yutuo when Dugu was tougher?

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t a broadsword, could the culprit have imbued his de with qi?¡±

    ¡°Unlikely,¡± answered Shen Yiren. ¡°Qi des are sharper than metal and iron. If the suspect wasn¡¯t really strong, okay. How, then, were the cuts on Xian Yutuo so shallow?¡±

    ¡°The cuts were shallow? ¡­ What if it was a qi broadsword, then?¡± Su Xiao proposed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve considered that possibility. A strike from afar using qi broadsword is a lot weaker than broadsword qi. If it was broadsword qi, then it would be excessive force. If they could kill Song Lian and Xian Yutuo using broadsword qi, then their skills are out of this world. In that scenario, why not just directly cut them with the de instead? Why expend more effort using broadsword qi?¡±

    The trio continued brainstorming to no avail.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put it aside for now. Yan Ling, what did you find out whilst keeping a pulse on Song Chi?¡±

    ¡°He looked dejected when he retrieved Mr. Song¡¯s body. Although he didn¡¯t cry, it was enough to move people to console him.¡±

    ¡°Dejected? Pfft, he really is a real piece of work.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean Song Chi is responsible?¡±

    Su Xiao analysed Shen Yiren¡¯s sneer deeply. ¡°¡­ Are you insinuating he is the one who ordered the hit?!¡±

    Shen Yiren shook her head. ¡°While he was unquestionably acting, it¡¯s insufficient to prove he is the mastermind. Do you know where Song Lian stood?¡±

    Su Xiao replied, ¡°Isn¡¯t he Daren Academy¡¯s disciplinary officer?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but that¡¯s not all.¡± Shen Yiren brought her brows together. ¡°Song n isn¡¯t united. Their patriarch maye off as someone who keeps a low profile. In reality, he is connected to lots of people in the martial world. They respect him because he¡¯s decisive and impartial when it concerns their problems. Perceptive people will understand that he¡¯s taking the approach of a veteran. In this way, he doesn¡¯t expand too much that he crosses the imperial court, but it¡¯s also enough to not cancel his membership in the martial world. This slow-and-steady strategy has paid dividends, pitting them against Valley of Yearning forst ce. Howbeit, a defensive strategy makes it hard to create a new status quo. As such, there are dissidents within Song n.

    ¡°Mr. Song Lian is one of those vocal about Song n¡¯s current strategy. He argued with his elder brother over how they should operate twenty years ago, which impelled his brother to send him to Daren Academy. Really, he was exiled.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Patriarch Song sounds like a decent man, yet he¡¯s actually that overbearing? One argument is all it takes for him to exile his brother?¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°Well, ites with the territory. As the leader of a big n, he can¡¯t be wishy washy just to protect his brother. Patriarch Song actually only intended to have Mr. Song Lian stay at the academy for two to three years so that he¡¯d learn to get along with people; he didn¡¯t expect his brother to be so stubborn. By the time he tried to persuade Mr. Song Lian toe home, Mr. Song Lian refused to return to Yangzhou. All Song n members who came to convince him ended up copping earfuls before returning in defeat.¡±

    ¡°Wow, he always felt intimidating on the academy grounds, but I never knew he could be even harsher.¡±

    ¡°If he was only aggressive, I wouldn¡¯t suspect Song Chi. Though Mr. Song Lian was known to be quite strict, he was an upstanding man, and his students respected him sincerely. Likewise, the younger generation of Song n also hold him in high esteem. Those with schstic aspirations, in particr, considered him their leader. Innumerable civil servants are his students during his time at Daren Academy; you could argue that Song Lian was the one who established Song n¡¯s presence in the imperial court. The majority of branch family members who stand by his side are loyal to the imperial court and therefore seek careers as officials.¡±

    While Su Xiao was still musing over what was being implied, Tang Ye propounded, ¡°Those who considered him their leader will have no choice but to bow down to the main family.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Son n¡¯s main and branch families have been at odds for quite some time; it¡¯s just that Patriarch Song and Song Chi have continued to only say that they shouldn¡¯t fight with the branch family, citing they are all one big family. That¡¯s why there haven¡¯t been any hard shes. Now that Song Lian is no more, the branch family¡¯s only choice is to turn to the main family. Besides, the main family has always indicated that they will treat the branch family nicely, so the branch family really doesn¡¯t have an alternative aside from surrender.

    ¡°What sticks out like a thorn is the timing. Why would Song Lian be killed now of all times, when Song n needs power more than ever. Since Song Chi is in the capital. He can recruit the branch family whenever he wants after putting Song Lian to rest. Not only has he managed to polish his reputation as a virtuous, filial man, but he¡¯s also gained control over the entire n. If you ask me, Song Lian¡¯s demise is unlikely a coincidence.

    ¡°Song Chi is already considered the representative of the main family. He¡¯s been challenging fighters to raise his name all for the sake of the n. Considering his martial and schstic prowess, one could say he is the de Song n has spent over twenty years forging. Now that His Majesty hasmenced his operation to squash the remaining White Princes, don¡¯t you think Song Chi should make his move?¡±

    Su Xiao pursed his lips. ¡°And if Song Chi is responsible?¡±

    ¡°Then the bronze-masked killer is associated with him, which solves one problem on our tes. As for Feizhen¡­¡± Shen Yiren was convinced Song Chi was involved in Ming Feizhen¡¯s missing status. Unfortunately, she had no proof to substantiate her suspicions. ¡°For everyone¡¯s sake, it best be that he just had something to attend to and hasn¡¯t had time to contact us.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°That most certainly is not the case!¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming is the sort of person who will sit if he doesn¡¯t have to stand and lie down if he doesn¡¯t have to sit. If he has something to attend to, he¡¯ll send people to do his bidding; not even I would be spared. Besides Brother Hong, who isn¡¯t around now, he didn¡¯t notify anyone. He¡¯s definitely in trouble!¡±

    Deep down, Shen Yiren already acknowledged the reality that Ming Feizhen was in danger ever since finding the braised pork shoulders. Her denial was nothing more thanforting-seeking behaviour. ¡°We¡¯ve interrogated the ones who assaulted him, but nobody saw who wasst to see him when it wasplete chaos¡­ Have we heard from Hong Jiu?¡±

    Tang Ye answered, ¡°He must be of an errand, but we have not heard anything from him in days. Perhaps he hase across a challenging predicament.¡±

    Shen Yiren bobbed her head. ¡°Based on what Feizhen told me, Hong Jiu is the type of person you see for the minority of a year. Hoping that he¡¯ll be around to ask him something really is¡­¡± Shen Yiren stopped as she saw a bright light shone through the window.

    As if somebody had set the heavens alight, everyone could see the bright light that seemingly turned night to day.

    ¡°A natural phenomena? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Su Xiao shook his head. ¡°ording to what I¡¯ve read, it¡¯s called Sirius, uh¡­ I think that¡¯s all?¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°¡­ Nightfire?¡±

    ¡°Yan Ling, what did you just say?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an explosive item used in the Western Regions to transmit signals. The specially designed item is an expensive item that brightens the sky for a long time once it explodes. In my younger days, when I was at Bright Mirror Pce, I recall the adults bringing some back from the Western Regions to research. The colour was identical to the one we can see now.¡±

    ¡°A signal transmitter?¡±

    Shen Yiren: The ce they were shot from is very close to the capital. Who oversees the area, and why would they need to stand out so much? Is the military doing something? But Uncle never mentioned anything about it. Hang on¡­ There¡¯s no military garrison over there¡­

    ¡°I could be wrong, though,¡± opined Tang Ye.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°The nightfire I saw was only¡­ a ten thousandth of what we¡¯re seeing now. If it really is nightfire, how much was fired? The signal is used for covert operations. This is the equivalent of announcing the operation to the world.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    The light persisted until the middle of the night.

    ***

    Apart from all the things on her mind, the mysterious white light in the ether was the other cause that kept Shen Yiren up all night. She wasn¡¯t a fan of squandering time. Therefore, rather than aimlessly rolling around in bed for four hours, she spent the four hours going over the work Shen Kuang helped her with during the day, adding some revisions and whatnot.

    Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor erected seven tall walls ¨C the Seven Champion White Princes ¨C around the capital to inhibit invaders from pouring through inrge numbers. The seven¡¯s action of sitting back and letting anarchy ensue was their way of saying to the imperial court, ¡°Do you now understand our importance? Don¡¯t push it.¡± Not only did the measured tactic put pressure on Emperor Yuansheng, but it also achieved their goal without allowing him to make an enemy out of them. Should the situation not change for the better, perhaps he would be forced to cancel his ns for them. Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t going to buckle under their pressure. If he didn¡¯t take the opportunity Luo Ming created for him, how could he ever have the shame to mention it to his vassals?

    ¡°Scumbags¡­¡± Shen Yiren bit her brush again. Besides feeling stressed because of the seven, she felt powerless, as well. Of course, there was also¡­ ¡°Feizhen¡­¡± She loathed herself for not having a single lead despite losing someone she trusted.

    What would he say to me if he was here?

    The question Shen Yiren posed to herself made her conjure an image of him sitting beside her, grinning. As soon as he opened his mouth, she swung her inkstone at his image, effectively erasing it. ¡°If you really have something to say,e tell me in person!¡± Shen Yiren set her inkstone back down.

    ¡°Disappears whenever he feels like it. What do you think Liu Shan Men is? ¡­ What do you think of me?¡± Ponder and ponder, Shen Yiren pped the table. ¡°Just you wait. I swear I¡¯ll make youe back here!¡± Next, she cast her gaze to the mountain of documents waiting for her attention. ¡°Hmph! Bring it on!¡±

    Shen Yiren went through document after document, throwing them aside once she was done. Only once she reached for the next one and touched the table instead did she smile. ¡°Phew. No inanimate paper is beating me.¡± She grunted as she pushed herself out of her seat.

    ¡°Vice-Captain! Vice-Captain!¡±

    Shen Yiren flopped straight back into her chair upon hearing Chu Yinghua¡¯s shouting. Even as a martial artist, she was so taxed physically and mentally from the concentrated state she just spent four hours in, so falling back into her chair actually hurt. So that she wouldn¡¯t appear weak in the presence of her subordinates, Shen Yiren deliberately stowed away her ¡°weak¡± behaviours around them. Therefore, it was Chu Yinghua¡¯s first time seeing Shen Yiren grimace while beautifully looking as though she wanted to cuss.

    ¡°More documents? I just bloody finished! Wh-why are you delivering documents instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?!¡±

    Chu Yinghua: She¡¯s so cute¡­ Wait, what?

    ¡°Middle of the night? The sun has been up for a while, Vice-Captain.¡±

    As soon as Shen Yiren gazed out the window, she squinted due to the sting.

    ¡°And I did not bring documents.¡±

    ¡°Then, what are you here for?¡±

    ¡°A messenger from the imperial pce hase to fetch you. His Majesty urgently summons you.¡±

    After the bright stst night, it wasn¡¯t surprising Emperor Yuansheng wanted to meet Shen Yiren. Even though it was a reasonablemand, she still scrubbed her unkempt hair vigorously. ¡°Give me a moment to tidy myself up.¡±

    ¡°There is no time. The eunuchs are waiting for you. Let us sort your hair out on the way.¡± Chu Yinghua pushed Shen Yiren out.

    Apart from eunuchs, even Ye Luo was waiting outside. Dugu was the provisionalmander of Emperor¡¯s Entourage when Ye Luo¡¯s father was absent. Since even Dugu was out ofmission now, the onus ofmanding the unit fell in Ye Luo¡¯sp.

    They got into the carriage and set out before they even had time to exchange greetings.

    ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡± Shen Yiren needed a while to recall the name that hadn¡¯t been mentioned in twenty years. ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis is behind all the recent turmoil?¡±

    ¡°Who else would have the ability to cause this much trouble, not to mention assassinating people in the capital. Oh, there was also the signal boldly transmittedst night. If they¡¯re not crazy, then I don¡¯t have the faintest idea why they would do that,¡± replied Ye Luo.

    Shen Yiren: It certainly does seem like¡­ challenging death to a dance¡­

    ¡°All the bandits in hiding came out from hiding and began attacking military garrisons following the signal. They employed guerri warfare tactics, then went back to hiding in the mountains. We suffered losses as we weren¡¯t prepared for them. However, their teamwork was terrible; their timing was random and so were their formations, so our elites made quick work of them. I have no idea why they would try to attack our military if they weren¡¯t prepared.¡±

    Shen Yiren flinched at the news of how audacious Fiends¡¯ Genesis was, headbutting Chu Yinghua¡¯s head as she leaned back. ¡°What sort of strategy is that? What were they nning by hitting and running¡­? How did His Majesty determine it was Fiends¡¯ Genesis that was responsible?¡±

    Ye Luo answered, ¡°This is the urgent confidential report our agents submitted this morning. This is how His Majesty found out. Livid, His Majesty ordered Qilin Guards tomence arrests and then summoned us.¡±

    ¡°Arrests are being made already?¡±

    ¡°Of course. His Majesty can¡¯t let the crime go.¡±

    ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis members are in the capital?¡±

    ¡°Of course not a member of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. They¡¯re detaining the traitor who colluded with them. Think about it: Fiends¡¯ Genesis was practically exterminated twenty years ago. How could they rise again without someone supporting them? Moreover, their conspirator has to hold a high rank in the imperial court as well as be familiar with the military to be able to provide troop positions.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s their conspirator?¡±

    ¡°You will see. I am furious, too.¡±

    His Majesty was sitting in his throne in Wuying Hall, face devoid of any emotion. That was actually his fuming face. Seemingly ignorant to Shen Yiren andpany¡¯s arrival, he mmed his arm rest and brayed, ¡°You know well and truly how much I have sheltered your family! Have I ever said a word about you raising your own vassals and army or you bribing martial artists? Have I ever picked any bone with you when tutors at Daren Academy are constantly reporting you to me? Name another aristocrat in the capital with your privileges. Name one asion Red Prince abused his power when I named him state proctor. I¡¯ve turned a blind eye to yourwless, intolerable behaviour on ount of my brother¡¯s contributions to thisnd. Do you really think I will hesitate to execute you?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, Muye had no hand in any of it.¡± Li Muye¡¯s voice was as shaky as his body.

    Shen Yiren: Li Muye? Has he been eating something he shouldn¡¯t?

    ¡°Muye is innocent. Pl-please do not believe the fabr-¡±

    ¡°Zip it!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down!¡± Shen Yiren hurried out before Emperor Yuansheng to perform her salute. ¡°Shen Yiren¡¯s respects to Your Majesty.¡±

    Owing to the fact that almost everyone seated was a martial artist, they didn¡¯t have to perform theplete salute ording to the books. Additionally, Emperor Yuansheng was far too furious to care about those details.

    Emperor Yuansheng calmed down a tad thanks to Shen Yiren¡¯s appearance. ¡°Yiren, look at these ungrateful aristocrats and Princes I¡¯ve raised. They¡¯ve grown so bold that they colluded with fiends to raid our military garrisons!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Shen Yiren made her way to the front to see the faces of those ahead of her. She ignored the pleading eye signals Li Muye sent her, taking the stack of evidence Emperor Yuansheng passed over to scrutinise.

    It was obvious Emperor¡¯s Entourage collected the evidence. One of the letters in the stack was one that Li Muye penned to Fiends¡¯ Genesis, requesting an audience with them in addition to mentioning a deal concerning hundreds of thousands taels.

    ¡°I thought Sirius was devoured when I saw the lightst night. If it wasn¡¯t for all the debacles that followed, I never would¡¯ve known I had a traitor in my family. He can deny it all he wants; I¡¯ve already sent men to arrest those fiends. I¡¯ll make him admit to his crimes.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down. There are lots of suspicious things about all this. How ab-¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng waved his hand vigorously. ¡°I¡¯m not done! Yiren, I take it you haven¡¯t forgotten about Yongheng Bank¡¯s case. It¡¯s obvious this traitor is the one who stole it for those fiends! Men, lock him up in prison for prisoners on death row. Once the case is closed, he will be executed in autumn!¡±

    Glossary

    Sharp and Blunt Synchrony ¨C Because it would be a long name otherwise, I¡¯ve tranted it as so to capture the essence of the ability. If the name isn¡¯t telling, it describes Shen Yiren¡¯s ability to wield sharp weapons stylistically as blunt weapons (remember how she developed it with Ming Feizhen and Luo Ming¡¯s advice back in volume 11?).

 Book 12: Chapter 89

    Book 12: Chapter 89

    In less than three days following Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s implication in the military garrison attacks, hardly a person was seen, and seldom was a footstep heard. Due to the property being cordoned, their three thousand guests were evicted.

    The martial artists who usually visited for sparring matches showed loyalty to the family, expressing words offort to the family. In contrast, 70% of the ¡°loyal, respected adepts¡± Li Muye recruited were all out of there on the first day his death sentence was announced. 20% of them, of whom were scions or wealthy or respected ns, decided they would find new masters to serve instead of an unaplished, rude and ruthless kid. The remainder zipped straight over to Liu Shan Men to sob and state they had proof of his wrongdoings. If they didn¡¯t im they had apse in judgement or wrongly trusted him, they imed they stayed by his side to collect incriminating evidence so that they could eventually report him.

    Everyone is your friend when you are at the top and can provide them something. The moment you fall, they¡¯re no longer your friend. Li Muye showed what it meant to raise a child without educating them, as well as what it meant to fail in teaching one¡¯s child.

    Not a single report from anyone helped Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s case. Zhao Xin, Lu Feiming and Li Muye¡¯s usual cronies supplied a plethora of evidence, including how the job was executed, who would fulfil what role and when the job was to bepleted. Li Muye¡¯s involvement in the theft of Yongheng Bank¡¯s seal was as good as set in stone. It would be unfair to say they betrayed their friend because Li Muye never treated them as friends; he treated them as henchmen to do his bidding. When he wasn¡¯t pleased, he¡¯d give them earfuls or hit them. Besides, they weren¡¯t lying when they said he orchestrated the job.

    Upon learning his son, Zhao Xin, was the one who pinched the seal, General Zhao Tiankui personally turned his son in at Liu Shan Men. After saluting Shen Yiren, he ruthlessly beat his son sixty times using one of the courtroom cudgels. Afterwards, without checking on his son¡¯s wellbeing, he personally locked his son up in prison and said, ¡°Vice-Captain Shen, spare the wretched sinner no mercy.¡± For his impartiality, General Zhao Tiankui was praised.

    An employee from Wondrous Warrior Estate, who prepared the map and resources, leaked that Li Muye sent Miss Wen out on a job, and the direction she went was the direction that the nightfire was fired from. Her elder sister promptly had portraits of Miss Wen drawn up and demanded she be found.

    A leader from Hangzhou received news that a group of criminals, who turned out to be Fiends¡¯ Genesis, were hiding out in the outskirts of Jiangcheng. They managed to capture dozens of the criminals and got some to testify that it was indeed the leaders of Fiends¡¯ Genesis they were serving. Although they failed to apprehend the strong ring leader, over a hundred soldiers testified that they saw the maiden in the portraits.

    People were taken aback to learn that there were signs of residents in the estate so close to the capital. When they investigated the abode that they had missed for decades, they discovered that the decoration, its design, the furniture, nts, just about everything suggested it was Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s twin sibling. Even the etiquette procedures were identical. What really sealed the deal, though, was and title deed stamped with Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s seal.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Li Muye finally changed his tone when all the evidence wasid bare before him. He admitted he interacted with Fiends¡¯ Genesis but stated it was purely for bragging rights, not for treason. He asserted he had no involvement in their army garrison raids. Frankly, his disputes went nowhere when there were stacks of testimonies and evidence. In the end, the verdict was to execute him in autumn once the Ministry of Justice, Liu Shan Men and Court of Judicial Review finished interrogating him. The fact that Emperor Yuansheng named Secretary Leng the principal interrogator meant that he was going to be impartial. After all, Secretary Leng was the sort of man to argue with a monarch if thew book stated that an execution was in order even if the monarch tried to argue otherwise.

    Since Li Muye was virtually finished, his mother finally contravened the order to stay home and personally requested an audience with Her Majesty Empress Dowager. Unfortunately for her, she was rejected at the door and left with one word: denied. In response, she dropped to her knees and stated she wouldn¡¯t leave unless she was granted an audience.

    When she passed out two dayster from fatigue in addition tock of food and water, witnesses were going to help, but Her Majesty Empress Dowager decreed that nobody was permitted to help or feed her. Li Muye¡¯s mother was ordered to reflect on her wrongs and walk herself home once she came to the same way she walked her way into the pce. If she wanted to continue kneeling, so be it. Let her death be a warning to others.

    Once it was clear that Her Majesty Empress Dowager wasn¡¯t going to sour, Li Muye¡¯s mother decided to go into hiding with their n¡¯s loyal troops, effectively vanishing into thin air. Given Wondrous Warrior Estate was colluding with Fiends¡¯ Genesis, people were apprehensive about what she would do now that they didn¡¯t know where she had gone.

    Emperor Yuansheng expected people to speak up for Li Muye considering how many years they had been building their faction. Nevertheless, no one dared to say another word when Emperor Yuansheng red at them.

    Though the neutral faction might not have supported all the decisions thus far, they had seen enough of how vassals behaved to see who was on which side. Prime Minister Li just said it was too hot for him, so he left the capital, citing he was going to take care of his crops and avoid the heat wave.

    While the summer heat wasn¡¯t exactly friendly, it wasn¡¯t the reason Emperor Yuansheng scowled whilst reading. If someone had the audacity to raid military garrisons, was there anything they wouldn¡¯t have the audacity to do? That was not to mention they assaulted a new earl he personally awarded the title of Hanlin Academician.

    ¡°Your Majesty, he has arrived,¡± a eunuch notified.

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Emperor Yuansheng ced his book down. ¡°What insight do you have to share with me, Brother Huang?¡±

    Glossary

    Execution in autumn ¨C They said autumn¡¯s bleak atmosphere and cold soughing winds was the most apt environment to punish evildoers, hence themon choice to hold executions in autumn.

 Book 12: Chapter 90

    Book 12: Chapter 90

    Emperor Yuansheng instated Huang Yuzao as Daren Academy¡¯s principal as he respected thetter enough to permit him to carry a sword into the pce, not require him to address himself as a subject and not ban his nickname. Whenever they met, Emperor Yuansheng addressed Huang Yuzao as his elder brother. Today, though, he was just so furious and had a good guess behind the motivation for Huang Yuzao¡¯s visit, which was why he addressed Huang Yuzao as ¡°Brother Huang¡± instead of the usual ¡°Brother Yuzao¡±.

    Huang Yuzao subtly smiled. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Emperor Yuansheng turned the page, pretending he wasn¡¯t interested.

    ¡°You have your book upside down.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± With a beet-red face, Emperor Yuansheng flipped his book over, only to realise it was now in reverse, prompting him to smile. ¡°Brother Yuzao, you know I have a lot on my mind, yet you would use me for your own amusement?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Huang Yuzao held his hands in salute. ¡°This old one would never. This old one was merely afraid you would miss the wisdom of the sage in ¡®The Zuo Tradition¡¯, so he wanted to lift your spirits.¡± He sat down next to Emperor Yuansheng without any feeling of difort or awkwardness.

    Emperor Yuansheng went back to his straight face. ¡°I assume you must be here for that wretched traitor.¡±

    ¡°You are most perceptive, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Huang Yuzao stroked his beard. ¡°There are lots of questionable things about the whole case.¡±

    ¡°Such as?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, it is obvious at first nce. Fiends¡¯ Genesis have been off the radar for twenty years. You and I both lived through their reign of terror. How old is His Highness this year? How could he have been supporting them until today?¡¯

    ¡°Perhaps Muye couldn¡¯t, but what about his mother? You know as well as I do who has kept Wondrous Warrior Estate afloat all these years.¡±

    Li Muye¡¯s maternal grandpa, Zuo Qiukuang, was one of the strongest in the northern martial artsmunity and one of the few elite spear wielders. Since his mother inherited his martial arts plus tactician teachings, she was highly respected in the martial world.

    ¡°While she may be capable, would she? Twenty years ago, when her husband was still alive, when they were still in love, the likelihood that she wanted to harm you was extremely unlikely. Why would she need to wait twenty years if she truly wanted to harm you?¡±

    ¡°What do you make of this case, then?¡±

    ¡°Framing and sowing discord.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s visage didn¡¯t change despite the sound rhetoric.

    ¡°The Seven Champion White Princes are not taking your ns for them kindly. If they weren¡¯t purposely loosening the leash to encourage chaos in the capital, Fiends¡¯ Genesis never would¡¯ve had any opportunities to explooit. They p a ¡®white¡¯bel on themselves and then call themselves orthodox sects. When orthodox sectsmit murder, they do their best to avoid using their own weapon.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng let out a long exhale. ¡°So we agree, then?¡±

    ¡°What good is there if we agree? Your verdict says a thousand words. His Highness cannot wash his te clean. There are truths in the fabricated evidence, and there are fabricated facts in the real evidence to seal his fate. You cannot appease the masses if you do not execute him. As long as Fiends¡¯ Genesis do not surface again, the masterminds can sit back and watch you execute him. They have forced you to personally end Wondrous Warrior Estate and galvanised his mother to fight the imperial court. A most brilliant strategy.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, he deserves to die! He gave them his neck; it¡¯s what he gets for trying to y with people out of his league when he¡¯s just an ignorant brat. Had he not reached out to Fiends¡¯ Genesis, he wouldn¡¯t be in his current predicament. Even if I want to spare him, can I when all the evidence has incriminated him?¡±

    ¡°I now understand the source of your anger.¡±

    ¡°Does it make sense for me not to be angry? Brother Yuzao, you always taught me that death is nothing if a man dies for a just cause. I have no qualms sacrificing my life if it is for my people. What about him? Why is he risking his life? Does he not have enough food? Or does he not have enough clothing to stay warm? Neither. He was purely pursuing fame and glory. He believes he should stand above aplished young men because he¡¯s a Prince. Has he ever considered how much danger those aplished individuals had to ovee? Has he ever thought about how much blood and sweat it cost them? Has it never dawned on him that his house, his ie and the fear his fellow students feel for him is all thanks to his grandpa staking his life for it back then? What makes him think he can behave so preposterously without any ramifications? Has he ever spared a thought for his grandpa¡¯s sacrifices?!¡±

    Huang Yuzao gently raised his teacup for a nip of tea. ¡°Do you¡­ see someone in him?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng gazed into the distance for a while, then wiped the corners of his eyes. ¡°Ever since Cheng¡¯er¡¯s rebellion, I¡¯ve been questioning if I¡¯ve been wrong. Maybe he once had a just heart and righteous ambitions. Mayhap I am to me for prohibiting him from this and prohibiting him from that. Muye¡¯s case reminds me of Cheng¡¯er, so I just can¡¯t control my anger.¡±

    ¡°Perchance the battle to abolish the seven is stressing you out.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng exhaled again. ¡°There is a rat in the imperial court. I don¡¯t know who it is; perhaps everyone is a rat. My father once told me, tacticians are heartless, and rulers are ruthless. My vassals might once have had grand righteous ambitions, but time has wilted away their drive. I desire the abolishment of the seven for the sake of thend and people. They, on the other hand¡­ If it wasn¡¯t for them, why would I have to abolish them?¡±

    ¡°For that reason, you took the risk to participate in the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs and dragged this old one back to join your imperial court.¡±

    A smile came to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s lips. ¡°Different situations. You have the people¡¯s interests at heart. I ought to be grateful to you for all my life.¡±

    While he was adventuring in the pugilistic world thirty years ago, Emperor Yuansheng dragged Shen Wuzheng along to the East China Sea to visit Canghai¡¯s survivor. Impressed with Huang Yuzao¡¯s honourable character and indifference to materialistic desires, Emperor Yuansheng coerced Huang Yuzao into following him with a bit of wheat. Thanks to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s recruitment, schrs across thend saw hope, and a cleaner name for orthodox sects.

    Confucianism was as good as gone in the imperial court in the past, especially among the upper echelon. Consequently, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s decision to employ Huang Yuzao was met with a lot of objection; there was even an internal conflict that resulted in many elders quitting. Huang Yuzao took in those elders¡¯ students who chose to stay.

    As the head of Confucianism in the imperial court, Huang Yuzao encouraged people to study in hopes of one day finding employment as civil servants. This move raised the level of education in the imperial court. Because these actions removed Confucianism as a martial arts faction, one could say Huang Yuzao sacrificed Confucianism¡¯s future for the sake of the imperial court and, by extension, the people under Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s rule.

    ¡°I have always respected you for your devotion to thend and its people.¡± Emperor Yuansheng saluted Huang Yuzao.

    As such, Huang Yuzao, too, rose to return the salute.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Did youe here for the wretched traitor?¡±

    ¡°That is only one reason.¡± Huang Yuzao sat back down. ¡°It has been a long time since you have attended a ss. Seeing as this old one has cleared his schedule already, let us chat for a while longer.¡±

    Being young back then, Emperor Yuansheng was more prone to flouting conventions, which was why Huang Yuzao lectured him for his recruitment method. The man Emperor Yuansheng often called Professor Huang as a means of teasing him had the ability to make the monarch wear on a long face.

    A birdnded atop the pavilion in the imperial garden and then stopped moving just as everything, including the clear water, around was still.

    ¡°He who exercises government by means of his virtue may bepared to Pris, which keeps its ce and all the stars turn towards it¡­ Even with Li Lou¡¯s and the cleverness of Gongshuzi, one cannot form a square without rules. Even if one is blessed with Shi Kuang¡¯s intellect, one cannot produce the five notes of the pentatonic scale without the six pitches¡­ To win the world is to win the people.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had finished the book Huang Yuzao read out long ago ¨C many times by this point. Therefore, despite shaking his head, Emperor Yuansheng repeated after Huang Yuzao.

    ¡°You have read these books, and you understand their teachings. This peasant still has some things to add.¡±

    ¡°I am listening, Brother Yuzao.¡±

    ¡°First, you are a virtuous monarch. Howbeit, not everyone wants to see these situations. They could be wrong, and they could be right. They have their books and their reasons. You cannot reason if they do not respect your reasons. Your Majesty, when it is time to fight, you must fight.

    ¡°Second, you have a lot of children and even more capable individuals. This is a blessing for the country. Why would you find all means possible to stop their progress? When your family is healthy, things will fall into ce.

    ¡°Third, you must always ensure your provision storehouses are full and the people can lead peaceful lives. Never forget you once starved.¡±

    Huang Yuzao took out the wheat Emperor Yuansheng gave him back then.

    ¡°I often experienced hunger pangs in the pugilistic world, and I can confirm it does not feel nice to starve. Left with no choice, I had to pinch some wheat or corn. If I had to pinch to survive, I can only image the people are in the same circumstances. If they have to starve even more, they will probably have to sell their children. Although I am happy to nt this all across Jiangnan¡¯s north, there will be uncountable challenges to ovee in the process. I am but only one ipetent man. Please help me.¡± Emperor bowed his torso to parallel after he was done. This was the very speech he gave before taking the head of Confucianism with him back then.

    The nostalgiapelled both men to smile. One had spent thirty years of his life educating people. One had devoted thirty years of his life to running a country and trying to serve his people. From their perspectives, their efforts were worth it, and they would punctuate their journey with a smile.

    ¡°Lastly, this peasant, from the bottom of his heart, is grateful for your friendship.¡± Huang Yuzao bowed back to Emperor Yuansheng.

    As much as Emperor Yuansheng wanted to know the reason for Huang Yuzao¡¯s uncharacteristic behaviour, he respectfully bowed back.

    ¡°It is gettingte. This old one shall leave you to your business now.¡±

    ¡°I will be waiting for your next visit and your next lesson.¡±

    Huang Yuzao nodded with a smile.

    Huang Yuzao stopped by Daren Academy to check on many of his prized students he was hoping would pass the imperial exams. He asked how they were doing with schoolwork and stressed the importance of continuing to read outside of ss. Prior to departing, he took a piece of ruby from the academy.

    Instead of having a coach, Huang Yuzao rode a horse carriage alone. It had been many years since he personally had to ride himself, but he was still as masterful as ever as a jockey. He kept a letter, one that he had been separated from for twenty years.

    While the capital was on high alert ¨C courtesy of Fiends¡¯ Genesis ¨C people paid Huang Yuzao any mind given he only appeared to be going on a tour. Plus, his horse carriage didn¡¯t seem particrly dazzling enough for people to stop and care. In reality, it was the work of his Eclipse.

    The instructions in the letter were for him to just stroll around in the capital, and somebody woulde to lead him. Hence, he employed Eclipse in order to catch them off guard. His n was wless until he saw a man wearing a bronze mask watching him from the roof of a tall building. The masked man pointed northeast, then took off, vanishing into the night.

    Suffice to say, Huang Yuzao wanted to avenge Song Lian. Nevertheless, for the sake of the bigger picture, he had to wait.

    Huang Yuzao rode northeast as he was directed. Once he arrived at the designated location, the masked man, standing on a rooftop once again, pointed in the next direction. Huang Yuzao followed him until his navigator disappeared into an abandoned estate.

    Huang Yuzao dismounted to venture into the abandoned estate. There were no ambushes waiting for him. After all, hoping to sessfully ambush someone of his calibre was just wasting troops.

    I have an intellect, do I¡­?

    Huang Yuzao tried to get a read one his opponent¡¯s personality and tactics from the environment, striving to prepare himself mentally for as many scenarios as possible. Once he was within the premises, he found it was as brightly lit as day time. Though bewildered, he still pushed open the doors. The exterior signs indicated it was an abandoned estate, yet the interior was furnished with the most opulent chairs, rare animal furs for rugs and white tiger fur for back rests.

    Sitting beside the pretty man was a middle-aged man who looked slow. The pretty man didn¡¯t emanate a sinister aura. He adopted the posture of a wise sage, yet his gaze made a sick feeling visit Huang Yuzao¡¯s stomach. He asked of Huang Yuzao. ¡°I have heard of your reputation as an upstanding man, so I lit the ce nice and bright for you. Are you satisfied?¡±

    ¡°An upstanding man is one who does not let the darkness corrupt him. It does not mean he is a coward who does not have the courage to enter the darkness to y evil. Do not make a fool of yourself.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it really is hard to win an argument against you. If only your disciple was half aspetent as you.¡±

    Huang Yuzao was visibly uneasy. ¡°Where is Jizhi?¡±

    ¡°When your teacher met me, he knew how to address me. Did all your manners disappear along with Confucianism?¡±

    Huang Yuzao angrily knelt down to bow. ¡°Yuzao¡¯s humble greetings, Elder.¡±

    Glossary

    Half a Life Goes By in One Laugh ¨C For readers who don¡¯t understand what¡¯s implied, it¡¯s implying how one loses track of time in a joyous moment. The four-characters writing structure is verymon to describe losing track of time.

    The Zuo Tradition ¨C Originally, it was named ¡°Zuo¡¯s (Zuo Qiuming) Spring and Autumn¡±. In the Han Dynasty, it was renamed to ¡°Spring and Autumn Zuo¡¯s Tradition¡±. ¡°The Zuo Tradition¡± is the title assigned after the Han Dynasty. It¡¯s an ancient text traditionally regarded asmentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

    Li Lou ¨C A person supposed to have existed during the Yellow Emperor¡¯s time, who was blessed a pair of incredibly discerning eyes.

    Gongshuzi ¨C Real name Lu Ban. A structural engineer, inventor and carpenter during the Zhou Dynasty, he is revered as the Chinese deity of carpentry and masonry. Gongshu was his surname, while ¡°zi¡± is just amon honorary title in ancient times.

    Pentatonic scale and six tones ¨C This is a reference to the system used in traditional Chinese music. By our era¡¯s system, the five notes of the pentatonic scale would be C (gong), D (shang), E (jiao), G (zheng), A (yu). The six tones refer to the six out of the twelve-tone equal temperament system.

 Book 12: Chapter 91

    Book 12: Chapter 91

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The fact that the man attired in clean white garments couldugh so sonorously meant that they ensured no unwanted people were within range. As well, it meant the masked man was standing guard someone outside. ¡°It¡¯s pleasing to know you still know how to respect your elders. Have a seat.¡±

    Before Huang Yuzao could sit down, the sluggish man tugged the seated man¡¯s clothes. The man Huang Yuzao addressed as an elder lowered his head and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Shitou?¡±

    Shitou, eyes on a random spot, shook his head. ¡°Laugh¡­ Laugh¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, you want to know why Iughed? In my lifetime, I¡¯ve lost count of how many people are called elder, Supreme Daoist, Venerable Monk, Sword Deity, Brilliant Broadsworder, other insincere titles, and I¡¯ve met my fair share of people who want to start fighting before a conversation can be had. Only the leader of Confucianism started with formalities and then proceeded to reason. Think about it: he tried to reason with me, someone from an unorthodox faction.¡±

    A popr belief was that people who lived long lives developed quirky or profound personalities. This man, in contrast, embodied a fickle personality. Hence, it was safe to assume he didn¡¯t prolong his lifespan using any normal means.

    Shitou resembled a rock, but he was dressed and groom tidily. He reminded Huang Yuzao of someone he had once met; it reminded him of a terrified visage he once espied.

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ Is he Shang Bieshi¡¯s closed-door disciple, Wan Shi?¡±

    Before Shang Bieshi was forced to concede his leadership of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, he had a few disciples who were feared for their talent. Unfortunately, only one of them survived the war. The thirty year old man Huang Yuzao felt was familiar was the very survivor. Brilliant Broadsworder erased Shitou¡¯s courage during the war when they engaged each other in a grotto.

    ¡°That¡¯s him.¡± The man in white gently caressed Shitou¡¯s head while thetter dozed off. ¡°Shitou is that young boy from back then.¡± Once Shitou once sound asleep, the man continued in a soft voice, ¡°He was the most highly regarded disciple. Although I can¡¯t find him, taking care of this boy sustains the me of hope.¡±

    Huang Yuzao raised his hands in salute. ¡°Elder Gongsun¡­¡±

    ¡°I now go by the name Jiang Chen. Let us not use old names.¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon. Please tell me where Xie Jizhi is now.¡±

    Xia Jizhi, student of Huang Yuzao and tutor at Daren Academy, was a star hailing from Xie n. Unfortunately, despite possessing the knack for both schstic subjects and martial arts, he never excelled enough to establish himself in either, which was the reason he was never highly regarded. He went missing for a while yesterday ¨C before Huang Yuzao received the letter.

    Jiang Chen eyed Huang Yuzao as if thetter was a new toy he was examining. ¡°I would¡¯ve mistaken Xie Jizhi for your illegitimate son if you didn¡¯t tell me otherwise. You¡¯reing to his rescue instead of his actual family. He must really be like a son to you.¡±

    As a matter of fact, Xie n didn¡¯t even feel losing Xie Jizhi put as little as a dent in their n. Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t mention Xie Jizhi¡¯s disappearance to anyone just as his family didn¡¯t. The difference was, Huang Yuzao went to his rescue, while his family didn¡¯t even bother acknowledging him.

    Huang Yuzao bowed. ¡°Despite his ancestry, he exhibits no boastful traits. He wholeheartedly devotes himself to everything he does, strives to teach the next generation and contribute his part to the country. In the future, this country will have plenty to thank him for. Please spare his life.¡±

    Huang Yuzao advanced one step. To some, a step was but a mere step that needed no thought. Huang Yuzao, in contrast, stepped forward as though he floated to his new spot, yet it was solid, measured and taken with conviction. ¡°Please ept my gratitude in advance.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Jiang Chen deliberately drawled on his hum to create the impression he was musing deeply. ¡°As one would expect of Confucianism¡¯s leader, a man able to leave the past out if he gives his word to. Let us discuss the present, then. Have you brought what was requested in the letter?¡± It was impossible to get a read on Jiang Chen¡¯s thoughts from his tone.

    ¡°I have.¡± Huang Yuzao reached into his pouch that was glowing red.

    Jiang Chen reclined onto the tiger-fur backrest. ¡°Weplete the exchange simultaneously, deal?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Huang Yuzao shook his head and, in an indifferent voice, replied, ¡°Nine Dragons Fire Jade is a precious treasure of Confucianism. We only just found it again recently following its disappearance twenty years ago. How can I face my predecessors if I hand it over?¡±

    ¡°I know. I know.¡± Jiang Chen pped his hand. ¡°Everyone knows you won¡¯t let anyone threaten you. If I kill Xie Jizhi, not only will I not get my hands on the jade, but you¡¯ll also attack me, correct?¡±

    If Jiang Chen did kill Xie Jiuzhi, he wouldn¡¯t even get a glimpse of Nine Dragons Fire Jade.

    Following a silence contest, Jiang Chen stated, ¡°Xie Jizhi isn¡¯t in my hands.¡±

    This time, Jiang Chen tried to get a reaction out of Huang Yuzao. Scrutinise as he may, he couldn¡¯t detect any signs of fluctuation at the mental level. Even though they were on opposing sides, Jiang Chen admired Huang Yuzao¡¯s ability to keep a level head.

    ¡°Xie Jizhi is currently at a pub close to the south doors. I drugged him to capture him, and he forgot all about it by the time he came to; he just thought he was drunk. He will return to the academy of his own volition without any memory of the events. Likewise, he won¡¯t have any clue what his teacher did for him.¡± Jiang Chen smiled, but his smile was full of intimidation rather than joy. ¡°I didn¡¯t kidnap him for the seal. Someone as useless as him isn¡¯t worthy of the seal. I¡¯m not a tasteless hooligan, either. I won¡¯t expect a treasure in exchange for rubbish.¡±

    Huang Yuzao performed a hand salute. ¡°I am listening.¡±

    ¡°For instance, what would Confucianism¡¯s leadere to a barren ce in the city outskirts for? Isn¡¯t that interesting?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Huang Yuzao held up the letter he had pinched between his fingers. Unlike ordinary paper letters, this particr one had several bambooponents. ¡°I dide here with questions to ask, indeed.¡± He subsequently took out a yellow letter from his shirt and held them side by side. The two stamps on them were practically identical. ¡°Twenty years ago, did you visit Six Principles Hall by East China Sea.¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 92

    Book 12: Chapter 92

    Twenty years ago, when Huang Yuzao had been at Daren Academy for ten years, a tragic event unfolded at the old Confucianism headquarters. The previous head of Confucianism, Yu Sihe, was murdered in Principle of Six Hall, and the Nine Dragons Fire Jade he was entrusted with went missing. Huang Yuzao rushed back to East China Sea upon receiving word of the tragedy, which was why he didn¡¯t participate in the extermination of Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Even though Huang Yuzao knew he wasn¡¯t weed back home, he still rushed back to send off the man who trained him and Martial Paragon no matter what it took. He arrived on the day of Yu Sihe¡¯s funeral in an unkempt appearance, but nobody red at him. His juniors, as a matter of fact, grabbed onto his arms and still addressed him as their senior brother. That was when Canghai Sect changed their stance and installed Huang Yuzao as their new leader. As well, it was the first time the separated survivors of Canghai came together again.

    The priority after burying his teacher was to avenge him. Huang Yuzao¡¯s first suspect was League of Assassins. There weren¡¯t many groups out there that didn¡¯t fear Confucians, and there weren¡¯t many unorthodox sects that¡¯d dare to kill one. Therefore, the suspicion fell upon the four biggest unorthodox groups. The Western Region¡¯s Divine Moon Cult never did that sort of stuff. Sky Pce never left traces of their involvement when they acted, so, though they were a suspect, they weren¡¯t the prime suspect. Valley of Viins was highly suspicious as there was no evil they wouldn¡¯tmit and relish. Howbeit, they were without a leader at the time, while the ten viins were fighting to rule the group. It¡¯d be suspending reality to say they travelled so far to assassinate the head of Confucianism; they simply weren¡¯t that skilled. Thus, the only suspect group were the assassins who¡¯d kill anyone as long as the price was right. The fall of a kingdom would just be a money-making opportunity for League of Assassins. The only thing between them and Yu Sihe¡¯s head was the right price tag.

    The reason Huang Yuzao traced this particr line of thought was due to the letter he found on histe mentor¡¯s body. Several bamboos were painted onto it with heavy strokes, leaving quite the impression. In the letter, Yu Sihe was instructed to wait in Principle of Six Hall with Nine Dragons Fire Jade for an undisclosed reason.

    Although Yu Sihe¡¯s students shone more than him during his time, Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t seed him at thirty years of age because Yu Sihe was ipetent. The reason Yu Sihe didn¡¯t stand out was because he dedicated his life to educating the next generation. Rather than make a name for himself out in the world, he found it more meaningful to stay at his school and read or teach students. He didn¡¯t have a desire topete against other people to prove himself. The aplishments to Huang Yuzao and Feng Jie¡¯s names spoke volumes about Yu Sihe¡¯spetence.

    In Yu Sihe¡¯s generation, elders of Confucianism were eyeing the group¡¯s leadership. As such, they were constantly poking each other, and confrontations often escted into violent fights. Owing to the frequency of fights increasing, the faction leaders decided to hold a tournament to decide who had the final say. As a result, elders sent out their best disciples to fight, and thepetition only grew fiercer with each sessive bout. That was until a student ambled into the ring as though he was free of woe.

    Yu Sihe did his best to dissuade the bloodshed from continuing. Sadly, his pleas fell on deaf ears for he was nobody at the time. Consequently, a group that couldn¡¯t stand his rambling decided to put him in his ce. Armed with only a single iron sword, Yu Sihe disarmed, immobilised and soundly defeated the toughest challengers all on his own until they conceded. And that, was how he came to be the leader of Confucianism.

    As a student of Confucianism, Yu Sihe never cked off on his daily swordy and martial arts training. Outside of hours reserved for self-improvement, he taught other students. For him, that was the most fulfilling life he could ask for. Perhaps it was him, or maybe it was the elders, who never understood a vital element of Confucianism martial arts: the cornerstone of mastering Confucianism martial arts was to focus on one¡¯s character first and foremost, not relying purely on one¡¯s natural talent,prehension and analytical abilities.

    Yu Sihe possessed tolerance, empathy, gantry, wisdom and honour, and what you saw was what you got. What Confucianism wisdom others couldn¡¯tprehend for ages would take him but only one nce. Despite this ability, he was different to the smart people who pushed with a sense of urgency. Though they managed to shine a spotlight on themselves, they never achieved a level where a spotlight would shine on them without them shining it themselves. One might argue that they had no fruits to show for theirbour.

    All of the Confucian disciplines shared amon factor. A journey of a thousand miles began with one step. How could talent blossom if the tall mountains, long rivers, fields of dust, paths of thorns, challenges of nature and hard steps had not been crossed? If the journey of a thousand steps had not been taken, if the obstacles had not been ovee, what had been forged?

    Yu Sihe¡¯s true personality was visible through his reading habits. His aptitude for Confucianism martial arts disciplined was phenomenal. His patience was one in tens of thousands; every training session was joyous regardless of whether he progressed or failed. When he teaued, he¡¯d take it in stride; if he couldn¡¯t get it today, there was always tomorrow. By the same ount, he was willing to start anew if it were ever necessary.

    In time, Yu Sihe developed potent internal energy and swordy internal energy many could only dream of achieving. None of it was luck; it was the umtion of repeated, thoughtful efforts. Among hisbat skills, his specialty was Principle of Six Swordy.

    Principle of Six Swordy revolved around the concept of changes in yin and yang. ording to the Chinese calendar, months were either yin or yang. Over the course of twelve months, that would equal to six months of yin and six months of yang in a year. In music, there was yin and yang in the six pitches. For human beings, there was yin and yang in filial piety, friendship, marriage, humaneness, sympathy and harmony. Heaven, Earth and people all existed as yin and yang entities. That was what made the swordy distinctly Confucian in nature. The swordy wasplex because the user had to perennially measure everything using the Principle of Six. As such, even students of Confucianism themselves often thought that the swordy had been passed down in an iplete form. The same people who couldn¡¯t grasp it were the same people who found the output from the techniques wasn¡¯t proportional to the sophistication of the techniques. Only the studious, such as Yu Sihe, were able to perfect it. Specifically, it was their willingness tob through it from beginning to end over and over until there was no defect that saw them master the swordy.

    In the ten years Huang Yuzao spent at Daren Academy, Yu Sihe continued living in peace at home. Thus, he should¡¯ve polished his skillset even further. Yet, on the night he died, nobody was even aware of his assassination, and his body wasn¡¯t found until dawn. It was hard to believe League of Assassins could assassinate him without alerting a single soul. ordingly, the only usible theory was that the assassin was somebody Yu Sihe trusted enough to even bring out Nine Dragons Fire Jade.

    Yu Sihe¡¯s cause of death was a heavy palm attack at his back ¨C at the same level as his heart ¨C obliterating his viscera. Yu Sihe was unable to conjure his true qi armour in time, resulting in instant death. Nobody would ever know if he regretted letting down his guard. Or, maybe he assumed the culprit was suddenly having a spell of craziness or something else. Whatever the case, the assassin had to be a close friend.

    Yu Sihe never reached a ¡°sessful¡± state, where sessful was defined as many would. Confucianism didn¡¯t thrive under his leadership, either. In spite of his martial prowess, he was far too kind to excel in a leadership capacity. Huang Yuzao was the one who pushed Confucianism into new territory. Unlike his mentor, Huang Yuzao was approachable, but he was steadfast ¨C evident from the intimidation that students of Daren Academy felt. Even so, Yu Sihe would be remembered. Someone would remember him strolling into the arena with his sword. Someone would remember his sonorous voice echoing across the East China Sea. Someone would remember receiving a cake from the happy elder whenever he was hungry.

    Huang Yuzao often pondered how much better off Yu Sihe would¡¯ve been if he wasn¡¯t so nice, if he could be more cautious of people, if he could be less gullible and if he could learn to be wiser about the world. If he was just slightly, just fractionally, more cautious that night, mayhap he would still be alive and teaching at the East China Sea. Ironically, Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t notice he followed in his mentor¡¯s footsteps. As he gained more students, he enjoyed spending more time at the academy whilst gradually losing interest in the pugilistic world¡¯s affairs. Instead of the gossip, he cared more about who waste and who needed to be put in line. Without realising it, Daren Academy had be a copy of the school he came from. Without realising it, Huang Yuzao had be Yu Sihe. Actually, there was one distinct difference: Yu Sihe wouldn¡¯t detest someone to the point that he would bear a grudge forever. Huang Yuzao, on the other hand, would.

    ¡°Considering who you are, you can gain my teacher¡¯s trust. Considering your skill, perhaps it would be a challenge to kill him. If your leader were to make an attempt on his life, though, then it¡¯s possible for him to seed. Just like today, you threatened the lives of the students to force my teacher to show up with the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. In the midst of conversation, you assassinated him just as you are nning to do tonight.¡±

    The wind suddenly picked up, sending the mes on wicks into frenzies, but none of them surrendered.

    ¡°May I ask, did you visit Principle of Six Hall at East China Sea twenty years ago?¡±

    Speaking over the pping of his robe, Jiang Chen replied, ¡°Hey, hey, it¡¯s quite unlike a schr to incriminate someone based on theory alone, isn¡¯t it? Or have even cultured men learnt to incriminate people without evidence?¡±

    Huang Yuzao had created a field around them, almostparable to a new void with just them.

    ¡°You used me of stealing Yu Sihe¡¯s Nine Dragons Fire Jade, but it¡¯s with you.¡±

    ¡°I was able to retrieve it through sheer luck. I found it on one of my students following a series of coincidental events. You lost it twenty years ago, and it has returned to its rightful owner.¡±

    Still smiling, Jiang Chen bobbed his head. ¡°Where did it go missing in the first ce? Perhaps it was when we were defeated. Enlighten me: why would I need it? Why is it so important to me that I would assassinate the erstwhile leader of Confucianism? Is it not tantamount to offending every schr in the world?¡±

    ¡°You need it.¡± Huang Yuzao hadplete control over his emotions despite Jiang Chen¡¯s provocations. ¡°ording to legends, our treasure has the ability to multiply energy and erase special skills of unorthodox styles. Nobody, including my teacher, knew how to utilise it, however. Fiends¡¯ Genesis members learn unorthodox disciplines, so they have very little use for it. You are the only exception. Not only do you know how to use it, but you also don¡¯t have to fear the heat energy within thanks to your ¡°Drought Demons¡± discipline. In addition, you are the only person to have trained orthodox and unorthodox disciplines, so you are the only person who can maximise its benefits.

    ¡°Twenty years ago coincides with when Fiends¡¯ Genesis was the target of the orthodox sects¡¯ alliance, a time when you were in the most danger. Nine Dragons Fire Jade can raise your strength, which would¡¯ve given Fiends¡¯ Genesis a needed boost. You had thought it out well in advance. While we were busy scouring to find our teacher¡¯s assassin, we wouldn¡¯t join the expedition. You got two birds with one stone. You, however, didn¡¯t expect Bai Sang to escape. Neither did you expect Brilliant Broadsworder and Sword Deity toe after you.

    ¡°For twenty years, I was unsure of my own conjectures because I lost all leads to continue investigating once Fiends¡¯ Genesis vanished off the map. When I retrieved this recently, I realised it could¡¯ve been used as bait. As I suspected, this letter showed up in the mortal realm again, though I never expected so much chaos to apany your return.¡±

    Jiang Chen raised his supinated hands. ¡°You keep using me. Who am I?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never known who you truly are. My teacher addressed you as an elder and shared your name. I surmise not even he knew very much. Regardless, that no longer matters. All I need to know is that you have exining to do.¡± Huang Yuzao slowly opened his hands, levitating the two letters in his hands up and over to Jiang Chen.

    Leaning on the arm rest, Jiang Chen just stared at the sheets. He could sense an emotion from the two sheets ¨C hatred, direct and intense hatred. It didn¡¯t bother him. To the contrary, he relished the hatred. The violent hatred of Confucianism¡¯s leader was amusing and worthy of augh from his perspective.

    Jiang Chen grabbed the two sheets, folded them into paper cranes whilst innocently smiling, looked up and dered, ¡°I killed him.¡±

    The mes on the candles burst, flying away as if golden dragons rose from their slumber.

    ¡°I appreciate the arrogance and provocations. Had it not been for them, I would never have had the chance to find the answers to the questions weighing on my mind all these years. And thank you for the opportunity to avenge my teacher.¡± Huang Yuzao drew his sword, illuminating the room in a golden hue due to the mes¡¯ reflections. ¡°You never had the chance to test my teacher¡¯s swordy, so how about you give it a try now, scum?!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Book 12: Chapter 93

    Book 12: Chapter 93

    ¡°Winning Through Reason?¡± Jiang Chen mentioned Huang Yuzao¡¯s sword¡¯s name as though it was just any other sword. ¡°That¡¯s the very sword Yu Sihe used to im leadership over Confucianism. It¡¯s been twenty years. Mm¡­ this is not how it¡¯s supposed to go. Every generation¡¯s leader of Confucianism should have their own sword. You Confucians love to distinguish yourselves as special individuals, after all. Didn¡¯t anyone object when you decided to use the erstwhile leader¡¯s sword? Ah, I see. I see. How touching it is to see you decide to wield it until the day you have avenged him. You have my sympathy.¡±

    Yu Sihe didn¡¯t invest time investing in polishing his swordy or leave East China Sea. As a consequence, he had little experience inbat. His sword was just a sword that his mentor gave him as a graduation gift. He didn¡¯t take extra care of it because it was particr sharp or anything of that nature. It was bound to be damaged if he used it in a violent fight. The only solution to that was either not fighting or being significantly superior. It was because he soundly defeated his opponents and won over the entire group that they named his sword ¡°Winning Through Reason¡±, where the word ¡°Reason¡± shared the same character as ¡°Principle¡± in ¡°Principle of Six¡±, that the ordinary sword became a famous weapon. He simply stuck with it as he had no desire for material wealth or bragging rights.

    Despite being permitted to carry his weapon into the imperial pce for meetings, Huang Yuzao always visited unarmed. That was until he inherited histe mentor¡¯s sword. Up until then, martial artists practitioners in the imperial court had no idea Confucianism¡¯s leader wielded a weapon. One thing they had yet to know was just how impressive Huang Yuzao really was with a sword.

    ¡°What needs to be said has been said. Arm yourself.¡±

    ¡°I must respond in kind if you are going to pick that famous sword.¡± Jiang Chen stopped to think, then said, ¡°Give me a moment.¡± He spun around to scour his chair whilst continuing, ¡°I prepared a present for you, but I¡¯ve forgotten where I ced it. Shitou, if you can remember, help me out. Where did I put it?¡±

    Suffice to say, no present was going to persuade Huang Yuzao into sparing Jiang Chen, so searching for one was a pointless endeavour. Yet, Jiang Chen really did take out something from underneath the tiger fur. When he chucked it at the ground, the de dug into the ground without a single sound.

    The dark-purple broadsword plugged into the ground didn¡¯t have a dazzling appearance. In saying that, one close look would reveal that the de was reinforced withyers on top ofyers of metal and iron.

    Huang Yuzao was taken aback when he saw the weapon he knew far too well. As a matter of fact, it would be reaching if one were to im that any famous broadsword or sword wielder didn¡¯t recognise it.

    ¡°Seven Dynasty-Founding des¡­ Punished?¡±

    Originally, the weapon that a ruthless and tyrannical general wielded a century ago was nameless. Even from the perspective of an era of turmoil, he killed a lot. It was through all the blood it tasted that the de turned from silver into its eventual dark purple. Its sinister appearance became notorious for stealing the mind of targets right before they realised they were about to die.

    Because he killed over a thousand of Li n¡¯s warriors, Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor marched against him in a fit of rage. Against his strategies,bat prowess and disadvantageous terrain, Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor couldn¡¯t do anything against his forces. In a peaceful era, he was not the sort of man peace advocates would want on a throne. In a war-torn era, though, he was the man an army would want on their side. His only shorings were is over-reliance on his might and his penchant to choose bloody strategies.

    Hero Shenzhou leveraged the general¡¯s shorings against him to create a scenario where he would have to fight Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor in a one-on-one match. Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor would remember it as one of his toughest fights and the closest he had been to annihtion. In the end, nevertheless, it was Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor who returned the next afternoon of the duel with the fallen general¡¯s weapon.

    The bright sun on that day illuminated the silver armour Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor wore. At the same time, it highlighted his numerous wounds. Amazingly, he didn¡¯t appear the slightest bit sluggish or hurt. To the contrary, he bore his wounds as medals of honour. Those who saw him make his walk felt he looked even stronger than when he departed.

    Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor pointed his sword toward the ether and thundered, ¡°I have in your general and taken his de. His body has fallen into the gap between the mountains and will soon be the mountainous beasts¡¯ dinner. What sort of merciful deaths are you expecting if you hurt the innocent?¡±

    It was said that the number of deserters crushed under horse hooves outnumbered those killed in actualbat by ten times, thus bing one of the legends associated with Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor. That was also the battle that solidified Li n as the new most-qualified leader for the new era. His legendary ten-days duel against Hero Shenzhou followed after the battle.

    Due to the amount of blood that the de had spilt, Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor, after much brooding, decided to call it ¡°Punished for Ten Sins¡±, meaning it was a sinner among broadswords. For the same reason, while he loved the other six Seven Dynasty-Founding des, he disliked this particr broadsword.

    It wasn¡¯t until the former Emperor¡¯s generation that the de was trusted to someone else. He bestowed Punished upon the King of bandits, Gu Wuzhu. It was only a matter of time before his group of bandits were crushed when him and his bandits were always making more enemies. As a result, Punished went missing and somehow ended up in Jiang Chen¡¯s possession.

    Jiang Chen: ¡°Given it¡¯s the weapon of Confucianism¡¯s former leader, I must use something rare to show respect. Does this weapon express enough respect?¡±

    ¡°It does.¡± Huang Yuzao smiled as he stroked his beard. ¡°There couldn¡¯t have been a better weapon to keep youpany to hell.¡±

    Huang Yuzao made his move, producing a sound akin to a wind sweeping up rain droplets, then sshing them at a target.

    ¡°Beautiful ¡®Drizzle With the Wind¡¯!¡± Jiang Chen picked up Punished as he charged forward into the rain screen.

    Jiang Chen didn¡¯t decelerate whatsoever as he threw himself forward, taking all the droplets of rain as if he was a rock. In the instant before impact with Huang Yuzao, howbeit, he roared. As he dragged Punished from his rear to the front, he ushered all the sword qi around his broadsword, then whipped it over to Huang Yuzao¡¯s sword.

    To anyone who¡¯s name wasn¡¯t Huang Yuzao, ¡°Winning Through Reason¡± was just an ordinary weapon. To Huang Yuzao, though, it was a symbol of his mentor¡¯s honour and wrongful death. Jiang Chen targeted the sword first to humiliate Huang Yuzao¡¯s abilities and to force Huang Yuzao into protecting something he treasured. Jiang Chen had nothing to lose and everything to gain if Huang Yuzao cancelled his attack to defend. If he didn¡¯t, it still served its purpose of getting in Huang Yuzao¡¯s head.

    ¡°Your dishonourable tricks won¡¯t work on me!¡± Huang Yuzao swung down without hesitation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The further down Jiang Chen swung, the slower his seemed to travel. Three inches away from contact with Huang Yuzao¡¯s sword, Jiang Chen couldn¡¯t gain another inch. As they were both pushing against each other, all technique became irrelevant as it devolved into a brute strength contest.

    If one were to think of Huang Yuzao¡¯s sword qi as a wall, then Punished was a de sharp enough to cut into it but not through it.

    Principle of Six referred to six features: dao, virtues, temperament, spirit, wisdom and life. These six things existed everywhere and were observable everywhere. Principle of Six Swordy observed the internal structure of phenomenon one¡¯s senses could detect. It started with the smallponents and ended with the bigpleted image; it built from one into two, from two into three. The swordy observed the principles of nature and didn¡¯t support thoughtless action. Consequently, it required practitioners to learn to quell the chaos within them to regainposure. No matter how adroit the opponent was or crafty their techniques were, they were still subjected to thews of a system.

    It was easy to talk about the swordy, but it took an enormous amount of practice and introspection to understand how to measure all entities with the principle of six, as well as how to regain theirposure once they lost it. It was the same as learning to turn one thread into aplete product.

    Jiang Chen couldn¡¯t push further forward or pull Punished out of Huang Yuzao¡¯s qi wall. Meanwhile, Huang Yuzao thrust his sword at Jiang Chen, forcing thetter to raise his arm for a block.

    Glossary

    No matter how adroit the opponent was or crafty their techniques were, they were still subjected to thews of a system ¨C So that you may be more appreciative of what¡¯s being said here, and just not think it¡¯s word vomit, I¡¯ll put this in a less abstract way for you. No matter what, allbat must respect certain principles. As long as you are aware of those principles, it¡¯s possible to find a counter. For instance, if you are in close range (close enough tond elbows and knees), and you go side on to your opponent, you¡¯re at a disadvantage if they are square on. Why? Because you only have one leg and one arm to work with, while they have two arms and two legs to work with. You don¡¯t have as much time to think and react at that distancepared to when you are farther away. Additionally, the opponent can just turn by your shoulder to get your back, not to mention you¡¯ve already turned 90 out of 180 degrees for them. Thus, no matter how good you quick and crafty you are, fighting side on at that range is putting yourself at a disadvantage no matter what discipline/cross discipline contest you¡¯re in; it¡¯s four against two.

 Book 12: Chapter 94

    Book 12: Chapter 94

    Principle of Six Swordy

    ng! Jiang Chen sessfully denied Huang Yuzao. Jiang Chen revealed a short hook weapon simr to a scorpion¡¯s tail the same colour as Punished that he kept hidden all this time. At the same time the weapon emerged, the hilt of Punished went missing.

    Due to the change in forces resulting from their sh, the qi wall lost its shape, affording Jiang Chen the opportunity to pull Punished out of the qi mire.

    Hiding his exasperation, Huang Yuzao coldly questioned, ¡°When did you learn Gu Wuzhu¡¯s ¡®Ultimate Counter Token¡¯?¡±

    Punished was perfectlypatible with Gu Wuzhu¡¯s omnipotent counter discipline because the weapon itself could be transformed into different forms, allowing the wielder to switch forms for counters easily. For this reason, Gu Wuzhu was credited as the best wielder of Punished in history. His victims went down thinking they were in control, unaware of how they were countered.

    Jiang Chen pressed his hands together, transforming Punished into an executioner¡¯s broadsword. ¡°Out of pity for this old man who still can¡¯t retire at this old age, King Gu bequeathed a few techniques to him. If you¡¯re interested, I¡¯ll make some time to impart them to you.¡±

    As he spoke, Jiang Chen performed hand motions without needing to look at what he was doing. In correspondence with his hand motions, Punished transformed into a long and narrow de in addition to a short and wide de.

    Wielding dual broadswords wasn¡¯t just doubling on what one did with single wielding. The movements avable, the intention, the stances, the centre of gravity and method of exerting force changed; it was the same as allowing kicks and punches versus only punches in a fight. Tackling the different animal was literally learning a new discipline altogether.

    ¡°I refuse to believe this can¡¯t counter your swordy.¡±

    Contrary to his previous big swing, Jiang Chen made his subsequent attacks light. Huang Yuzao, on the other hand, stuck with the foundations of Principle of Six Swordy, sessfully repelling all iing attacks.

    In the dozens of subsequent exchanges, Jiang Chen transformed Punished into a single broadsword, a long cudgel, Emei piercers, a short axe and a long hook sword. He never learnt all of Ultimate Counter Token¡¯s mental cultivation, and he hadn¡¯t mastered the eighteen arms, but he was able to wield multiple weapons thanks to his vast knowledge. Compared to Gu Wuzhu, nheless, he was only 20% of Gu Wuzhu¡¯s level, at best. Nevertheless, Huang Yuzao had an answer for everything Jiang Chen threw at him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Principle of Six Swordy was the bane of Jiang Chen¡¯s style that constantly varied because the practitioner could figure out how the variations worked. Using that knowledge, they could nullify any tactics. Jiang Chen, as a result, eventually started repeating techniques once he ran out of variations.

    ¡°¡¯Ultimate Counter Token¡¯ is designed to be the counter. How can you be countering anything when everything you try is countered? Had you taught it to me, I¡¯d make you pay for every attack!¡±

    Huang Yuzaounched a thirteen-techniquebo, slipping past Jiang Chen¡¯s de each time even though none of his strikes were anything special. He demonstrated speed withoutpromising power whatsoever. To put it into perspective, it was akin to building a sand dune out of grains of sand. Suffice to say, Jiang Chen gradually struggled more and more under the pressure. Like a refined gentleman, there was no rush to break down an opponent, and there was no need to be shy. There didn¡¯t need to be eye-catching delivery. There didn¡¯t need to be special techniques. Every motion was measured. Every motion was purposeful. Every motion was polished. Eventually, though, there would be nothing you could do to stop him.

    Cornered, Jiang Chen inhaled and then pressed his palms together, transforming Punished back into arge broadsword. No more utilising someone else¡¯s technique. No more fun and games. Jiang Chen¡¯s every next technique was delivered with ruthless aggression. Fighting this way against someone with less experience than him might not have been the most brag-worthy, but he was fed up with being pushed around. s, not even this modification could ovee Principle of Six Swordy.

    Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t drill the skills he learnt from Yu Sihe into his body. After all, he barely had any time for himself once his duties as Daren Academy¡¯s principal were ounted for. Additionally, he didn¡¯t feel Principle of Six Swordy was verypatible with his personality. It wasn¡¯t the only swordy in the Confucian library. It might¡¯ve been a sophisticated discipline, but Huang Yuzao saw no reason to insist on learning it. Hence, he only started learning it after his mentor passed away.

    Through learning Principle of Six Swordy, Huang Yuzao began to understand his teacher¡¯s character, teachings and feelings better. As such, he devoted himself to studying it, turning it into his most polished swordy over the next two decades.

    Despite Jiang Chen discarding his gentleman fa?ade for a full-on vicious style of fighting, it just didn¡¯t yield results. All the power behind his attacks would dissipate each time they were supposed to deal damage.

    ¡°If a fiend is to hit my sword himself, I am obligated to fulfil his wish.¡± Huang Yuzao pressured Jiang Chen once again, forcing thetter into a desperate blocking spree. ¡°Teacher once said that you are a prodigy among prodigies of Confucianism. Even if you couldn¡¯t master Principle of Six Swordy, why can¡¯t you understand the principle of six? Your attacks are not attacks but insults! It is humiliating for my teacher to have died to y-¡±

    Huang Yuzao witnessed a dark purple qi stroke shoot up from the bottom ¨C fast. He didn¡¯t even have time to think about how Jiang Chen broke out of his control, yet his left shoulder had been tagged. He ignored the pain to retreat; however, Jiang Chen gave him no time to regain his base, aiming another attack at Huang Yuzao¡¯s belly.

    Huang Yuzao twisted out of the way whilst using his sword to block, his technique resembling steam pervading the atmosphere. At the same time, Jiang Chen countered with the same type of technique. To answer, Huang Yuzao switched to a swift strike, dispersing his confusion with speed. Once the mist was cleared, Huang Yuzao saw a dark-purple sword in Jiang Chen¡¯s hand. What really surprised him was the swordy pitted against him.

    As Huang Yuzao started a quickbo, so did Jiang Chen, mirroring Huang Yuzao¡¯s every motion. Their des didn¡¯t sh, but even the ignorant could recognise that the two men were utilising the exact same discipline. The swordy Jiang Chen employed was none other than the very swordy Huang Yuzao had spent thest twenty years studying ¨C Principle of Six Swordy.

    Jiang Chen didn¡¯t imitate Huang Yuzao¡¯s movements. Jiang Chen¡¯s Principle of Six Swordy was delivered with textbook precision and sound understanding of each motion. Jiang Chen¡¯s Principle of Six Swordy wasn¡¯t a bootleg version. It was the authentic Principle of Six Swordy.

    ¡°You have some nerve!¡±

    Never did Huang Yuzao imagine Jiang Chen was so familiar with Principle of Six Swordy, let alone execute it at such a high level.

    Jiang Chen hid the fact that he was an elite user of Principle of Six Swordy until now so that he could mentally break Huang Yuzao. He didn¡¯t need to break Huang Yuzao down for good; all he needed was for Huang Yuzao to doubt, to question if he still had more skills he had yet to show. One moment of distraction was plenty.

    As aforementioned, Principle of Six Swordy worked on a system ofyering a cake. ordingly, the more chances the wielder had, the bigger the advantage they could gain. When their proficiency with the swordy was so close, it would be difficult to win on even grounds. Thus, one had to somehow gain the upper hand over his opponent.

    Given Principle of Six Swordy was the swordy Huang Yuzao was the best with, even if he changed swordy disciplines, there was no guarantee Jiang Chen could switch to another swordy he was equally proficient at. That aside, how could it be considered revenge if he didn¡¯t win using Principle of Six Swordy?

    Huang Yuzao disengaged, then started up from the beginning again, ending the cycle of mirroring each other. Abandoning everything he was doing to restart helped to clear his mind. Once he erased his irritation, he realised that Jiang Chen¡¯s ns couldn¡¯t have been perfect. Principle of Six Swordy wasn¡¯t primarily about how to kill someone efficiently and effectively. Every technique left room to show mercy. If one was to gain the upper hand, as long as the opponent was willing to disengage, then there was room to pull back before it was toote. Understanding that it offered one the chance to live and fight another day, Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t need to retreat helter skelter.

    The two were back to a tit-for-tat match once they restarted, restoring Huang Yuzao¡¯s confidence and reminding him he had to avenge his mentor using Principle of Six Swordy.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally be overconfident.¡±

    Huang Yuzao suddenly felt his body go cold.

    Jiang Chen reversed his grip on his sword when it should¡¯ve been impossible to from his stance and arms¡¯ position, then thrust, knocking aside Huang Yuzao¡¯s sword to clear the way to Huang Yuzao¡¯s heart. The red fruits of Jiang Chen¡¯s magnificent reversal technique spilled out of Huang Yuzao¡¯s back.

    Yu Sihe never mentioned anything about such a reversal technique, and Huang Yuzao never realised the grip switch was possible despite all his research into the swordy. The reversal made it seem as though everything Huang Yuzao ever knew was wrong. That being said, Huang Yuzao should¡¯ve been able to avoid severe damage had he been vignt, especially since he had regained hisposure. s, Jiang Chen knew what emotional proceedings would ur in response to his words and actions, so he led Huang Yuzao into the real trap he had in mind from the beginning.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to think so hard. My swordy is superior to yours. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    Jiang Chen prepared to pull out his sword, only to see Huang Yuzao glow golden. Arge golden python opened its eyes and bit Jiang Chen, sending him straight to the ground so hard that half of his body was buried underground.

    Huang Yuzao looked down at Jiang Chen and, in a low voice, asked, ¡°Huh? What were you saying?¡±

 Book 12: Chapter 95

    Book 12: Chapter 95

    Although Huang Yuzao barely missed Jiang Chen¡¯s heart by inches, he almost prated an organ. Rather than praise Huang Yuzao, Jiang Chen deserved more credit for being able to slip away from death inside the confines Huang Yuzao established.

    Daren Art was the second, if not most, advanced mental cultivation in Confucianism¡¯s repository. As with any other Confucianism discipline, or any other discipline for that matter, patience, time and effort determined one¡¯s progress in the discipline. Most young students failed to master it because the gratification wasn¡¯t instantaneous enough for them. Feng Jie (Feng Xue) was the most special among the young students who learnt it. Howbeit, he was a master of many disciplines from different schools. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t be ssified as a representation of Confucianism disciplines.

    Huang Yuzao smoothly seeded his mentor as everyone expected. Compared to other sect leaders, though, he wasn¡¯t really anything special as a fighter. As a matter of fact, when he fought Beggars Sect¡¯s Chief Hong Ba, he was utterly demolished. They were never in the same conversation as the likes of Luo Ming and Martial Paragon unless they were talking about fame.

    At forty years old, while roving, Huang Yuzao sparred Mount Hua¡¯s patriarch for a night and ended up losing once in a thousand exchanges. If Mount Hua¡¯s patriarch wasn¡¯t getting on with age, he would¡¯ve defeated Huang Yuzao much sooner and easier.

    At the time of their duel, Mount Hua¡¯s patriarch said, ¡°This one¡¯s swordy cannotpare to Principle of Six Swordy. His internal strength cannotpare to the purity of Daren. He only emerged victorious because he has more experience and could react a little faster. His understanding of martial arts falls far behind yours.¡±

    Several yearster, by chance, Huang Yuzao fought Emei¡¯s Daoist Jinguan. At the time Daoist Jinguan had already been an established household name for decades; his granddaughter was learning to talk, and his disciple, Bai Lou, was already widely respected for her skills. Their matchsted for three days straight, with Daoist Jinguan eventually seizing victory through a quick sword technique. Instead of feeling bitter over his losses, Huang Yuzao, once again, smiled and expressed, ¡°That was magnificent. This one respects you from the bottom of his heart.¡±

    Instead of basking in his victory, Daoist Jinguan stared at his sword for a long time, then snapped it in two with two fingers.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡±

    ¡°This can¡¯t be counted as a victory,¡± Daoist Jinguan replied.

    Only a few yearster, Bai n¡¯s Bai Sang won against Huang Yuzao in less than a hundred exchanges, yet, as on previous asions, Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t express surprise.

    Huang Yuzao wasn¡¯t inept at learning martial arts, slow, inexperienced or not adroit. He was cognisant of why he lost and why his opponent won. It was only a matter ofcking the ability to correct ¨C or ovee ¨C the problem. What was so surprising about losing if one was inferior? That was why losing never left a bitter taste, and winning never was a reason for him to celebrate, just as Yu Sihe taught. When the time was right, things would fall into ce; rushing wasn¡¯t going to expedite the process. The principles of Confucianism martial arts were always written on the wall. People just refused to look or acknowledge them. Yu Sihe could wait, and Huang Yuzao could wait. That was the reason there were two heads of Confucianism.

    On a summer eight years ago, Huang Yuzao suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline while he was reading at the academy. He peered at the night sky whilst performing a sequence of moves. He could feel his true qi suddenly boost, but it wasn¡¯t the type to pour out or drip drops. It was a vague and abstract feeling. Sometimes he could feel it; sometimes it felt as though he was imagining things. He couldn¡¯t put into words the speed he felt, but he knew that it was time. That night, he experienced a break through to Divine Realm. Eight years ago, he was fifty-five.

    If Daoist Jinguan wanted to replicate his win over Huang Yuzao from over a decade ago now, it would only be a dream.

    Upon drawing out Punished, blood burst from Huang Yuzao¡¯s body, but the blood remained suspended in the air. Using his Enlightenment, Huang Yuzao ushered the droplets of blood back into his body. Though his wound was still gaping, no blood spilt. His injury would¡¯vepromised only 20% of hisbat abilities, at most.

    Inparison, Jiang Chen¡¯s breathing became short and shallow breaths from the golden python coiling around him.

    Huang Yuzao gasped a mouthful of blood. ¡°Hmph!¡±

    The golden python hoisted Jiang Chen up and then mmed him back into the ground. Impressively, Jiang Chen didn¡¯t even let out a muffled grunt despite all the dirt flying up. In fact, he was still forcing a smirk in spite of the blood around his mouth.

    ¡°You spread poison onto the point?¡± condescendingly questioned Huang Yuzao.

    ¡°Heh¡­ Heh¡­ Why¡­ bother asking a question¡­ you already know¡­ the answer to?¡±

    ¡°You have a point!¡±

    The golden python raised its output by several folds, suffocating Jiang Chen even more. He suspected his bones would break if he wasn¡¯t careful.

    The golden python was an entity that Huang Yuzao manifested uponprehending Divine Realm. In essence, he manifested his Enlightenment, giving it a solid form without expending internal energy. Thus, it was his spirit and body, and he was its spirit and body. He could have it attack or defend, shape shift as he needed and crush boulders to smithereens with its strength. Jiang Chen¡¯s internal energy resisted, obviously. Unfortunately, it was far from enough to break free.

    ¡°No point worrying about parlour tricks.¡±

    The golden energy enveloping Huang Yuzao seeped into his open wound simrly to water, encapsting the venom in his body so that it couldn¡¯t course through his blood to do harm. It would then only take him an hour to expel the toxins from his body. Instead of revelling in victory, though, he appeared disappointed and frustrated.

    ¡°I am disappointed in myself for falling for your stupidity. You are no match for me. Poison¡­ Heh, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d even try. Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to take a page out of Sky Pce or Valley of Viins¡¯ books?!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­¡± With droplets of Huang Yuzao¡¯s blood on his face, Jiang Chen said, ¡°You¡¯ve mastered Daren Art¡­ No wonder why a Confucian could join the imperial court when Confucianism has fallen out of favour. Very nice, very nice. My heart almost beat faster.¡±

    ¡°How about you?¡± Huang Yuzao scrutinised Jiang Chen¡¯s forced smile in disappointment. ¡°What was that supposed to be? You have let me down.¡± Huang Yuzao tightened his python¡¯s hold on Jiang Chen, squeezing another mouthful of blood out from Jiang Chen. ¡°I was wrong about you. How did I let you fool me intopeting in swordy with you? You¡¯re not qualified to challenge me.¡±

    The python squeezed until Jiang Chen coiled up.

    ¡°You challenged me when you can¡¯t even utilise Enlightenment? Just how foolish are you? Are you marginalising all the adepts across thend, or do you truly believe your broadsword, mind games andme broadsword skills are enough to smite Confucianism¡¯s leader?!¡±

    Up until now, Huang Yuzao considered Jiang Chen to be his toughest foe ever. He polished every Confucian skill he possibly could, including ones that would be gambling with his life; however, he was a gentleman. Yu Sihe addressed Jiang Chen as an elder and praised him. Even if Jiang Chen had to seek shelter with someone, they couldn¡¯t have been weak. Given Jiang Chen¡¯s age, his internal energy potency should¡¯ve been far superior to Huang Yuzao¡¯s.

    Confucianism only ever saw two individuals who realised the coveted Divine Realm. Therefore, their strength should¡¯ve been razor close if they were both capable of essing Divine Realm. Hoping to break the stalemate with technical superiority, Huang Yuzao polished Principle of Six Swordy as much as conceivably possible. But s, Jiang Chen had ounted for even that.

    All of Jiang Chen¡¯s provocations were bluffs to encourage a skill contest rather than an internal energy contest because Jiang Chen couldn¡¯t ess Divine Realm. All theyered subterfuge was designed to set up the thrust that finally caught Huang Yuzao. Huang Yuzao expected severe damage from the stab, so, even though he knew he wouldn¡¯t die thanks to Daren Art, he was sure he might have to go down together with Jiang Chen. Instead of suffering a mortal wound, though, it was just an injury. Needless to say, Jiang Chen wasn¡¯t being merciful; he was simply a powerless coward. To think Yu Sihe died to someone who needed trickery to kill him was infuriating.

    ¡°What sort of technique is that?! If we are at the same realm, you should¡¯ve killed me, if note close to killing me, with that stab. Why all the nonsense if you haven¡¯t even reached my realm? Is subterfuge all it takes to satisfy you? You think that harmless thrust is considered a win? How about if I stab you a dozen times?!¡±

    In ordance with Huang Yuzao¡¯s hand raise, the golden python converted its scales into swords, piercing holes in Jiang Chen. Huang Yuzao could¡¯ve taken Jiang Chen¡¯s life then and there, but he chose not to. Nevertheless, Jiang Chen still didn¡¯t groan. Most shocking, nheless, was that the swords didn¡¯t draw as much as a droplet of blood from Jiang Chen.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Grasping how Jiang Chen stopped himself from bleeding, Huang Yuzao shouted, ¡°You embarrassment!¡± He deplored Jiang Chen even more. ¡°Have you given up on being human?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ That¡¯s Confucianism¡¯s leader for you¡­¡± It took a long second and some serious effort, but Jiang Chen was able to procure oxygen to continue, ¡°Without ¡®Drought Demons¡¯, I would¡¯ve died already. Even if I didn¡¯t, at my age¡­ how much longer would I have had?¡±

    When learning ¡°Drought Demons¡±, learners would refine heat energy, but there were other things about it that enticed Jiang Chen.

    Jiang Chen once witnessed a disciple of ¡°Drought Demons¡± journey through a desert without requiring water. Initially, he thought the seventy years old elder maintained the appearance of a thirty year old man through potent internal energy. Upon consulting the man, he learnt that ¡°Drought Demons¡± was to be credited with those special abilities. Due to the degree of dryness in the practitioner¡¯s body, they would have extremely minimal blood in them and wouldn¡¯t require water for sustenance. In addition, it would dy aging.

    Aging and vitality were corrted; the more active one was, the faster they aged. The best qi cultivators, however, possessed potent vitality, so they dyed their aging. Still, that was onlypared to the average man. Assuming they could maintain their youth at sixty, what about when they were ny? What about a hundred? The only end to aging was death, and Jiang Chen didn¡¯t want to die.

    ording to the elder Jiang Chen learnt about ¡°Drought Demons¡± from, if one reached the pinnacle of it, one could reduce the aches and niggles of a body two hundred years old to preserve their prime performance. As a bonus, it would be tough to sustain injuries, or feel pain from the aches, for the reason that their body would be so solid. Even if their body was severely damaged, they only needed to sew their wounds and unclog blocked internal energy to be as good as new. It was literally a recipe that took one as close to immortality as possible.

    As soon as the elder shared the information, he never breathed another breath again. The culprit, of course, was no other than the man who ced the enquiries.

    At the end of the day, theory was theory. Plus, there were serious side effects such as loss of fertility. Just as importantly, the reaped benefits spoken of were exclusive to those who actually reached the highest levels in ¡°Drought Demons¡±, which would be an ordeal in and of itself.

    Jiang Chen was confident he could master it, and his arrogant mannerisms supported this. Nheless, he didn¡¯t spare ¡°Drought Demons¡± a nce long after he obtained it due to the innate weakness of mastering it. The elder he encountered in the desert was an advanced practitioner for sure given he didn¡¯t need water. Even then, he died, didn¡¯t he? Jiang Chen experimented on the elder with various methods for half a month, and the elder eventually died. So, immortality was only for those who could master the entire system. Else, they were just fodder. If life¡¯s events didn¡¯t force Jiang Chen to make a decisive decision, he still wouldn¡¯t have started on it.

    Though Jiang Chenughed off the eighteen stab wounds, his tone indicated he wasn¡¯t impervious to the pain. ¡°Do you honestly believe every discipline can be mixed? Daren Art¡¯s focus on nature makes it an orthodox discipline. I voluntarily went to the dark side; how much of my orthodox skills do you think I retained?¡±

    As blood was the source of human life, it made absolutely no sense to eliminate it from one¡¯s body. By extension, it made no sense to say that internal energy potency would increase as blood volume reduced. ordingly, every step towards mastery of ¡°Drought Demons¡± required Jiang Chen to abandon an equivalent of his original skills. To him, nevertheless, he would rather that than age. One could say, he had discarded his human-ness.

    Jiang Chen: ¡°If this match took ce twenty years, we could have a tit-for-tat match. Before I trained this discipline, considering our progress in Daren Art, you¡¯d deserve adtion forsting forty-five minutes. Now,¡­ how could I stop you without using strategy? Then again, if I didn¡¯t pick up this discipline, I¡¯d just be a tombstone in a few years, hahaha. I guess I¡¯m still winning.¡±

    ¡°You discarded your training for immortality?¡± questioned Huang Yuzao, sounding no different to a teacher lecturing his misbehaving student.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Putting all the pieces and crunching all the numbers, Huang Yuzao estimated Jiang Chen was over ny already. Hence, Jiang Chen had several decades on him. As Yu Sihe said of Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen truly was a remarkable man.

    Huang Yuzao sighed. ¡°Joining the dark side is one mistake. Forgetting your roots is another mistake. Have you any clue how many people wish they could learn the skills you were taught? How can you just discard them?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± Jiang Chen hiked up the corners of his lips a little. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I can¡¯t die, no?¡± Ignoring Huang Yuzao, who was mulling over what he implied, Jiang Chen continued, ¡°I have quite a number of haters, too, all of whom won¡¯t keep their hands to themselves. I lost my Enlightenment after he deleted my original skills to restart, and I had only about half of my strength left. I, consequently, had to hide on a mountain until I was sure I could defend myself.¡±

    The dense mountain Jiang Chen referred to was none other than the former headquarters of Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Jiang Chen stole a gander at Shitou, who was still snoozing in his chair. ¡°Thanks to the extra years I¡¯ve obtained, I¡¯ve had the fortune of meeting the kid, my younger brother and many other interesting children. Hehe, I may not have my own kids, but I sure have enjoyed the so-called happiness of raising kids.¡±

    Jiang Chen must¡¯ve had a big ambition to make the sacrifices he made. By the sounds of things, he developed Fiends¡¯ Genesis into the force it was reckoned to be. Assuming the assumption was true, what was his true aim as he worked in the shadows?

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think it¡¯s time.¡±

    The casual remark from Jiang Chen yanked Huang Yuzao out of his thoughts. Thus, Huang Yuzao tightened his python¡¯s hold on Jiang Chen. ¡°What are you nning?!¡±

    Jiang Chen spat out some blood. ¡°Hehehe, abusing an elder this way will cost you your lifespan.¡±

    The uneasiness of not knowing what to do frayed Huang Yuzao¡¯s nerves. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain from his chest. As soon as his face turned purple, he felt an onset of pain that pulled his torso down to his knees. Every inch of his body hurt to the point that he held his breath.

    Glossary

    Daren Art ¨C I¡¯m keeping it as ¡°Daren¡± art since there¡¯s ¡°Daren Academy¡±. ¡°Daren¡± simply means ¡°an important and lofty undertaking.¡±

    Qi cultivator ¨C While simr to the version spoken of in new-school xianxia and xuanhuan, we aren¡¯t talking about going through lightning tribtions and the sort. We¡¯re talking specifically about training methods that improve qi quality and utilisation.

    Drought Demon VS Drought Demons ¨C They are not the same thing. The former is an individual, while thetter is a discipline.

 Book 12: Chapter 96

    Book 12: Chapter 96

    Due to Huang Yuzao going down, his golden python also disappeared. Jiang Chen, having waited for this moment, immediately escaped and fetched his weapons from the ground to reconstruct them into Punished. ¡°I told you that you would sacrifice your lifespan.¡±

    Although Huang Yuzao knew a poison afflicted him, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint where it was hiding regardless of whether he used his internal energy or even Enlightenment. It wasn¡¯t enough to threaten his life; however, the pain was enough to render him dysfunctional.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy; you won¡¯t find it. I spread eight different types of poison onto the des, but not one of them is effective against you. I¡¯m guessing you wrapped the poison up? That¡¯s precisely why I added a little something extra.¡± Despite all the attacks Huang Yuzao stung him with, Jiang Chen was still casually smiling. ¡°It¡¯s something I just got my hands on recently called ¡®love is pain¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Tang n¡¯s ¡®love is pain¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Jiang Chen pped his hands. ¡°Precisely. You came here for revenge, yet you weren¡¯t angry or upset. You¡¯re so nice that you were somewhat upset to hear my story and show pity. Following my provocations, you were livid and, maybe, shocked. Are you enjoying the pain?¡±

    Technically, it wasn¡¯t a poison but a drug that prevented one from being emotional. Tang n¡¯s patriarch used it to be a martial arts adept. Once you consume it, no matter which emotion you indulged in, the poison would induce an unbearable pain. The only way to avoid the pain was to do away with all emotions. Since it wasn¡¯t a poison, it was impossible to locate as a ¡°poison¡±.

    Without the grudge, the traitor and the inevitable emotions experienced in battle, Huang Yuzao would¡¯ve had no problems controlling his emotions. s, that wasn¡¯t how life worked.

    Since the drug didn¡¯t impact true qi and internal energy to any appreciable extent, as long as Huang Yuzao was still breathing, the gap in strength would remain. That was why Jiang Chen instantly retreated out of Huang Yuzao¡¯s range when he regained freedom.

    ¡°I¡¯d say it¡¯s going to be hard for you to not be angry once I do what I¡¯m about to do. If there¡¯s anything worth observing, it¡¯s how much you can put up with.¡± Jiang Chen simpered. ¡°Besides ¡®love is pain¡¯, this here is another new toy I¡¯ve gotten my hands on recently. This is called a ¡®blood bomb¡¯. It only requires a small amount of heat to trigger an explosion, and don¡¯t underestimate its impact because of its small size.¡±

    Huang Yuzao¡¯s ears perked up.

    ¡°This is said to be a product that Demon Sect designed back in the way. I stole them off a kid who carried it on him. Don¡¯t worry. I have enough to use for today¡¯s agenda. Now, for the climax of the show. I¡¯ve set blood bombs underneath the candles here. Do you want to guess where I obtained these from?¡±

    Jiang Chen suddenly uncorked a scorching palm strike. Huang Yuzao turned side on, resulting in the candle behind him exploding instead of him. Had Huang Yuzao been any slower, he wouldn¡¯t have felt heat energyparable to boiling water, but he would¡¯ve ended up in the same shape as the candle.

    Following his dodge, Huang Yuzao instantly moved in, hoping to prevent Jiang Chen from triggering more explosions. Howbeit, another candle exploited before he could move, and he dodged it by a hair¡¯s breadth. Before Huang Yuzao could figure out how the second explosion urred with Jiang Chen lifting a finger, a third candle exploded. There was a small moment between each explosion, but it was that ¨C small, small enough that trying to blink before the next one was challenging.

    Heat triggered explosions. When a candle exploded, heat would disperse, which triggered another explosive. Therefore, it dawned on Huang Yuzao that the first explosion was all it took to cause a chain reaction. Each explosion would spread smoke. As the smoke spread, vision became more and more impaired. Furthermore, Jiang Chen made sure to strategically ce them in order to confine Huang Yuzao¡¯s avable area for movement.

    Internally, Huang Yuzao was partially disabled due to ¡°love is pain¡±. Externally, he had to evade whilst being wary about where he moved to in case he exploded. He might¡¯ve had Enlightenment to avoid being blown to pieces, but a momentary second of shock would make ¡°love is pain¡± kick in and disable him.

    In Jiang Chen¡¯s hand wasn¡¯t Punished¡¯s hilt but his third ace for the day. He kept count of the explosions so that he could time his decisive blow the moment it came to an end. However, there were only forty-three explosions when there were a hundred and twenty blood bombs.

    Jiang Chen: Are there faulty ones? He can¡¯t do anything right¡­

    Huang Yuzao burst out of the smoke screen, covered in wounds but still revving to fight. Though it wasn¡¯t easy, he maintained his golden python¡¯s form around himself. ¡°You don¡¯t know him well enough!¡± he brayed as he extended his sword toward Jiang Chen¡¯s chest.

    Left with no alternatives, Jiang Chen gritted his teeth and imbued Punished with crimson energy ¨C Enlightenment! Whatever he had left, this was it.

    ¡°Helldevil Broadswordy!¡±

    Winner and loser, this was the moment!

    ***

    ¡°My, my, Mount Qixia, my, my, what a magnificent treat for the eyes.¡± An individual cloaked in ck garments swung his arms around as he strolled with a gait as exaggerated as his arm movements. Why should he have cared when there was no one around to judge him as crazy or otherwise? As he danced and pranced, he looked around in a conspicuous fashion. ¡°What shall I eat for today? My, my, howe there¡¯s a door here?¡± There was no real sign to tell if his ¡°dance¡± opened revealed the secret door or if he triggered some contraption to reveal it. Either way, he jumped straight in without reluctance.

    A hidden chamber located at apex of a mountain, tucked away behind concealed contraptions¡­ there was no chance it was a coincidence.

    ckness filled every inch of the secret chamber taking the shape of strangely-shaped rock formations. Yet, the visitor found himself a ce to sit as though he was at home in the eerie space and casually remarked, ¡°Wow, everyone is early.¡±

    The eighth person seated at the long table griped, ¡°Why did you bring someone along?¡±

    The casual individual had a swordsman wearing a dragon mask right behind him. ¡°Xiongxiong, why so aggressive?¡±

    If ¡°Xiongxiong¡± had a de next to him, he likely would¡¯ve swung instead of sitting there in silence.

    The fifth individual voiced, ¡°Mr. An, if your provocations incite a fight, how are we going to talk?¡±

    Mr An replied, ¡°Ahaha, fight? Anytime. I¡¯ve pretty much forgotten the swordy you taught me back then, so how about some revision?¡±

    The fifth individual grinned. ¡°Shall I give you a handicap this time and use my left hand?¡±

    ¡°Enough,¡± a third person asserted.

    Mr. An assumed a serious demeanour for the first time. ¡°Boss is here, too?¡±

    ¡°Boss¡±, sitting in the middle seat, emotionlessly, yet authoritatively, questioned, ¡°Han Quan called for this meeting, and he arrived shortly after. Huang Quan, why did you personallye?¡±

    Mr. An crossed his legs and titled his head. ¡°Well, it¡¯s boring at Yellow Nether. What¡¯s wrong with checking up on what Jiangjiang is up to?¡±

    The person seated next to ¡°Boss¡± said, ¡°It seems he will soon be sessful.¡±

    The individual in the fifth seat opined, ¡°Confucianism¡¯s leader isn¡¯t fodder.¡±

    The person in the ninth seat conveyed, ¡°Huang Yuzao has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. Although eliminating him will make the capital susceptible to anarchy, Yellow Nethers¡¯ ambitions are greater than that.¡±

    The person in the eighth seat scoffed. ¡°If he can¡¯t even beat Huang Yuzao, he has no ce among Nine Nethers.¡±

    The person in the fifth seat scoffed back. ¡°Huang Yuzao is virtually Yu Sihe in his prime. You fought Yu Sihe to a draw, yet here you are talking big.¡±

    ¡°I would¡¯ve dominated him if I wasn¡¯t limited by time that day.¡±

    Mr. An: ¡°Kekeke, Xiongxiong is the best! Xiongxiong is the strongest!¡±

    The person in the eighth seat picked up his weapon. ¡°Zip it.¡±

    Everyone part of the quarrel piped down instantly.

    ¡°We are the heralds of Nine Nethers, people of high standing among of Nine Nethers. We have the best of the mortal realm at our fingertips. It is unttering to be bickering over something so trivial,¡± asserted ¡°Boss¡±. ¡°We will wait for Han Quan to report in.¡±

    The individual in the fifth seat inquired, ¡°He is currently out on a mission. If he is runningte, he most probably failed. What then?¡±

    ¡°Boss¡± hummed for a second, then questioned, ¡°Huang Quan, what do you say?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Mr. An crossed his arms, pretended to think and then, wearing a straight face, answered, ¡°Just kill him.¡±

    Glossary

    Springs and Quans ¨C All these sudden namesing up must¡¯ve had you scratching your head as I did until I read the entire chapter, so let me take a moment to unpack it. The ¡°Quan¡± in their names and locations, in this context, means ¡°spring¡±, but these springs are not the literal springs. These springs refer to the nine springs in the realm of the dead, hence the reason I changed the earlier trantion of ¡°Yellow Spring¡± to ¡°Yellow Nether¡±. It¡¯s now epted that they are the underworld, which contrasts the heavenly realm, which is above. So, it¡¯s not wrong per se to refer to them as springs, but it will mean that you need an extra level of understanding to understand the reason for the name, which is why I¡¯m making the change from ¡°Nine Springs¡± to ¡°Nine Nethers¡±. Moving on.

    All their names, or titles in this case, have ¡°Quan¡± in them because each of their names in the organisation is one of the nine springs hers). As they¡¯re proper names, I¡¯m leaving them in pinyin because I don¡¯t want to take liberties and start making up things that will cause confusion (*cough* wuxia¡¯s trantion *cough*). And, yes, their individual bases share the same name as their name in the organisation.

    Why is the underworld called ¡°Yellow Springs¡±? Because there was a belief that water looks yellow when it¡¯s deep.

    This is all you need to know for now.

 Book 12: Chapter 97

    Book 12: Chapter 97

    Jiang Chen dropped.

    The moonlight shining through the ceiling seemingly froze the rising dirt and mes on the floor.

    Huang Yuzao exhaled slowly. Scarlet droplet after scarlet droplet trickled down from his right arm that resembled the remains of a beast¡¯s dinner.

    The risk taken for the decisive exchange was unnecessary. Howbeit, the broadsword discipline Jiang Chen employed at the end was designed specifically for Punished. The discipline was designed with only one goal in mind ¨C to kill whoever was in front. The damage Huang Yuzao sustained in the exchange demonstrated how much lethal potential it was built into it.

    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Huang Yuzao concentrated his golden energy to his injured zone, staunching the blood. ¡°Anyst words?¡±

    Mayhap Jiang Chen had be a corpse from the day he chose to learn ¡°Drought Demons¡±, but his heart was well and truly alive. ¡°Should¡¯ve been a dragon.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Should¡¯ve been a dragon.¡± Jiang Chen kept his eyes shut. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Enlightenment that Daren Art practitioners manifest a dragon?¡±

    The leader of Confucianism was considered the messiah of mankind and a former sovereign of the martial world. In Chinese culture, amon term for a leader was a ¡°dragon head¡±. Without doing it purposely, Daren Art practitioners would manifest qi in the form of a dragon once they were considered a true master of Confucian arts.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± answered Huang Yuzao. He transformed the head of the golden python behind him into that of a dragon¡¯s head. ¡°To avoid His Majesty having qualms, I¡¯ve never shown this form.¡±

    Through thest half of their sh, Huang Yuzao had figured out how to work with the impact of ¡°love is pain¡±, so he could utilise his Enlightenment again.

    ¡°You care so much for that wretched Emperor.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a good Emperor¡­ You should get to know him better.¡±

    ¡°That will be unnecessary. I¡¯m soft hearted; if he¡¯s truly good, I won¡¯t bear to kill him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯ve tried. While you¡¯re formidable, this is all you¡¯re capable of.¡± Huang Yuzao had his colossal golden dragon howl, violently dispersing the mes as though it breathed them. Rather, it appeared as though the mes were fleeing from the dragon. ¡°Leave.¡±

    From the ground, Jiang Chen enunciated, ¡°Executioner.¡±

    A third qi source burst from within the room, almost erasing Huang Yuzao¡¯s dragon. Shitou vaulted up, armed with his usually in cudgel that now resembled a pir from heaven. The purple energy shrouding him put Huang Yuzao¡¯s golden dragon to shame. Huang Yuzao had no time to show shock for death was already descending from above.

    Jiang Chen exhaled slowly, then finally opened his eyes. ¡°Farewell, Confucian¡¯s leader. Your profound skills are no more.¡±

    Jiang Chen stood up after the long rest to recover enough to not hobble. He certainly needed more than three days to recover from the attack Huang Yuzao caught him with, but time wasn¡¯t a luxury he was afforded. Although his arms felt limp, he still had to pat down himself to maintain his appearance. ¡°The poison you wrapped up has started to spread. Soon, they¡¯ll take your life.¡±

    Huang Yuzao, lying in his own blood had more to worry about than just the poison. His viscera were damaged from the venoms. His arm was cut. His shoulder had an open sword gash. He had burns all over from the blood bombs. Shitou¡¯s strike at the dragon connected to him gave him an internal injury. All of these ailments beset him simultaneously.

    ¡±¡­ That¡­ was also calcted,¡± Huang Yuzao barely managed to say from his puddle of blood. ¡°It was always part of your n.¡±

    Jiang Chen held his hands up in salute and bowed the way a disciple would when meeting the head of Confucianism. ¡°I feel bad for defeating you the way I did.¡±

    Maybe Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t have anything to say. Maybe he was unable to speak.

    Maintaining his bowing posture, Jiang Chen continued, ¡°You¡¯re too strong to fight fair against. Twenty years ago, I was no match for you. Today, the gap has widened even more. Thus, I had to be tactical. I hurt your shoulder first to beat you at Principle of Six Swordy once, which opened the opportunity to use ¡®love is pain¡¯ and so forth, which eventually allowed me to disable your right arm.¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s n was actually at risk of falling on its own face when Ming Feizhen¡¯s blood bombs didn¡¯t go off as intended. Ming Feizhen carried around a stash of them for self-defence, but, owing to the exorbitant cost of obtaining them, he kept a few duds. In reality, if you just threw one of them, people would duck or run. That was why only a third of them were actual explosives. The bombs were supposed to have done more damage for Jiang Chen¡¯s final attack to have floored Huang Yuzao. Had Huang Yuzao shown no mercy in the final exchange, Shitou wouldn¡¯t have been able to drop Huang Yuzao.

    ¡°Thankfully, everything yed out the way I hoped for, and you lost.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ were so confident you¡­ could beat me with your¡­ Principle of Six Swordy?¡±

    Yu Sihe¡¯s teacher paled inparison to him with Principle of Six Swordy. Huang Yuzao hadn¡¯t reached Yu Sihe¡¯s level. Nevertheless, he was easily on par with the other top Confucian adepts. Nobody would ever believe Jiang Chen could beat Huang Yuzao at something thetter dedicated two decades to researching with his heart and soul when Jiang Chen joined Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    ¡°Every system starts from one small thing. Everything with a form cannot beprised of smaller parts than itsrge form. As such, everything with aplete form cannot be exceeded.¡±

    Looking at Huang Yuzao¡¯s forlorn expression, Jiang Chen bitterly smiled. ¡°Why not? My Gongsun family¡¯s swordys are innumerable. Principle of Swordy was created by us and has been passed down since. Do you really think¡­ I haven¡¯t worked out all of its possible variations after a hundred years of exposure to it?¡±

    Huang Yuzao went from disbelief to shock and then to disappointment, causing him to feel another jolt of pain from ¡°love is pain¡±. He asked, ¡°¡­ Shitou¡­¡±

    Shitou was as sound asleep as an infant.

    Jiang Chen responded. ¡°He¡¯s incredible, which is why my son took him under his wing. Unfortunately, due to someone¡¯s ill will, he can only stay awake for an hour a day, and expending too much energy will shorten that one hour. He likely would¡¯ve fallen asleep mid-fight if he fought you from the start.¡±

    Jiang Chen went through Huang Yuzao¡¯s shirt to take the pouch that Nine Dragons Fire Jade was stored. ¡°I will have to kill you now. Nothing thates after this is your problem.¡± Once he physically examined the piece of jade through the pouch, though, his hand froze. He hurriedly pulled it out of the pouch. Indeed, it was crimson, had some fire energy flowing through it and a pattern on it, but it was definitely not the same one from memory.

    ¡°Ha¡­ ha¡­ I, too, have learnt¡­ your deceitful ways¡­ Why would I bring the real thing¡­ when it¡¯s so important¡­? Ha, haha¡­ Kill me, and you¡¯ll never get your hands on the real one¡­ Ha¡­¡±

    Jiang Chen slowly turned to Huang Yuzao. Huang Yuzao, needless to say, knew Jiang Chen was furious enough to kill him. Howbeit, he couldn¡¯t ask for anything else when his skills had been erased.

    ¡°Good boy.¡±

    Huang Yuzao opened his eyes to look at Jiang Chen. Instead of scowling, Jiang Chen was smiling from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°Well done. Now, I can¡¯t kill you.¡± Jiang Chen sounded as though he had a weight lifted from his shoulders. ¡°You did the right thing. That¡¯s how you¡¯re supposed tobat viins, or you¡¯ll forfeit your life. You¡¯re a good boy. I should feel proud of you.¡±

    Huang Yuzao felt the look in Jiang Chen¡¯s eyes was the same way his eyes looked when he watched his students.

    Huang Yuzao: Why¡­

    Jiang Chen sealed Huang Yuzao¡¯s upoints, sleeping thetter. While he was at it, he applied the antidote and a drug to help with healing wounds onto Huang Yuzao despite himself still bleeding. ¡°Hehehe¡­ Hehehe¡­ I spared no efforts in designing a strategy. Yet, I can¡¯t kill you after crippling you. Heh, well done. Why didn¡¯t I have a disciple as superb as you back then?¡± Jiang Chen gazed up at the moon. ¡°The heavens take no sides. Destiny is not set in stone. He who wishes to wear the crown knows his destiny. Is it my penance for defying destiny¡­?¡±

    Jiang Chen suddenly gasped up blood, yet he started chuckling afterwards. ¡°Heh, I couldn¡¯t even handle this much? Haha, cough, cough, cough, hahaha. I have to do better¡­ I have someone waiting for me¡­ Shitou, let¡¯s get moving.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Just kill him.¡±

    ¡°Kill who?¡± A gentleman in a blue robe came through and saluted everyone immediately. ¡°I apologise for the long wait.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Mr. An scanned the gentleman as the gentleman surveyed him.

    ¡°Mr. An.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Jiang.¡±

    ¡°Long-time no see.¡±

    ¡°Long-time no see.¡±

    It didn¡¯t sound as though there was any enmity between them despite Mr. An just suggesting they kill him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Huang Quan, it took you long enough.¡± His voice overrode all other sounds in the dark chamber.

    Jiang Chen lit up a fire roll in his hand, illuminating the freaky interior. There were seven ¡°people¡± sitting in the nine seats. They would be perfectly normal people if they didn¡¯t have empty eye sockets, a trial of blood left from either socket, skinparable to tree bark, limbs that were crippled and minds that were empty. Instead of worrying about them, Jiang Chen took out a long stem pipe to light up for a puff. Once he was done, he saluted the person who just spoke out. ¡°Jiang Chen¡¯s respects, Grand Demon.¡±

    The body in the eighth seat scoffed, ¡°How arrogant.¡±

    The others agreed, yet one person voiced, ¡°Whoever killed Confucianism¡¯s leader is qualified to speak. Did you seed?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Jiang Chen.

    ¡°Have a seat.¡±

    Nobody dared to say another word as Jiang Chen went to assume his ce in the fourth seat from the top ¨C left-hand side. He kicked the body out of the seat and sat down.

    Grand Demon questioned, ¡°Huang Quan, are you sure you want to solo?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°I have never questioned your abilities. As long as you are confident, it is fine. You can select an executioner for the Jiangnan area.¡±

    Jiang Chen put his palm and fist together in salute. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°This is an era of turmoil. We shall correct this world¡¯s course. There is no need for thanks asrades who share amon goal.¡±

    The eerie phenomena in the chamber disappeared, and the seated messengers fell silent once Grand Demon finished, indicating everyone had departed. Only then did Jiang Chen feel relieved. He knew better than anyone that Nine Nethers had no mercy to spare. The moment they found out about his weakness, they would eliminate him before he could be a problem.

    ¡°Jiangjiang.¡± Mr. An appeared adjacent to Jiang Chen out of the blue and draped his arm over thetter¡¯s shoulder before he could react. He only needed a casual two taps to diagnosis Jiang Chen¡¯s condition urately.

    Still, Jiang Chen smiled. ¡°How can I help you, Anan?¡±

    Mr. An tapped Jiang Chen¡¯s shoulder again. ¡°Careful. The path is slippery on tall mountains.¡± With that warning, Mr. An strutted off with his swordsman,ughing hysterically on the way out.

    Jiang Chen exited the dark chamber once he was certain nobody was left. As soon as he stepped outside, he couldn¡¯t resist the urge to gasp another mouthful of blood. He cast his gaze from the blood stains up to the apex, where the argent orb overlooked the capital. ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    A man may be born with a hard hand, but that challenge puts him at ease. How dull is life if a man doesn¡¯t challenge what is considered impossible?

    Jiang Chen fired an arrow into the ether, where it exploded as fireworks. Now, the capital would find out that Confucianism¡¯s leader had been captured alive. Today a firework decorated the sky above the capital. Tomorrow, anarchy would congrate the capital.

    As he heartily descended the mountain, Jiang Chen sung, ¡°Born a madman, I leisurely take the long road. The phoenix rises against the odds. What reason is there tough at Confucius?¡±

    Glossary

    Singing Satire on Confucian Ideals ¨C I kept the literal trantion so that we can gain some insight into the meaning of this line. The linees from Li Bai¡¯s poem ¡°To the Royal Inspector Lu Xuzhou: An Idyll on the Mount Lu to a Folk Song¡±. During the Spring Period, a citizen of Chu State, Lu Tong (courtesy name: Jie Yu), grew disappointed with the political forecast, so he was called ¡°Madman of Chu¡±.

    Lu Tong wrote lyrics (not this poem) to dissuade Confucius from serving the imperial court of Chu State because he believed Confucius would only get himself in trouble. In the poem that this line derives from, Li Bai inserts himself as Lu Tong to express his dissatisfaction with the state of politics, as well as his desire to explore famous mountains and live the life of a recluse as Lu Tong did.

    Thest section Jiang Chen reads as he descends the mountain is a modified version of the original poem¡¯s lines as an answer to the original.

    Grand Demon ¨C This name may be subject to change. If I tranted on auto pilot, I¡¯d trante it as something along the lines of ¡°Heavenly Demon¡±. Considering theherworld is hell, it makes no sense to trante it as so. They¡¯re unlikely Buddhists, so ¡°Mara¡± wouldn¡¯t be the meaning here. ¡°Heavenly¡± likely means the same thing in English when we say, ¡°This tastes heavenly¡±. To that end, I¡¯m rolling with ¡°Grand¡± for now.

 Book 13: Chapter 00

    Book 13: Chapter 01

    ¡°You¡¯ve been out cold for seven days since arriving here. Even if injuries and illnesses gued you, you should already be up, no?N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°On that year with heavy snowfall, we happened toe across Dayue¡¯s ns to quell the chaos. I remember Dayue¡¯s Queen used deceit, and you and I had to fight for three days straight. We were just hacking and shing until everything we saw was red. Even though our clothes were filthy with blood, we passed out on the ground for three days as soon as we returned. By the time we woke up, the curtain on the war in the city had lowered. Our generals and the enemy generals both died, hahaha. They had no idea we were the ones responsible. Killing one is murder. Killing two is still called murder. What¡¯s the difference? They wanted our help. Why not? We just chose not to take sides, hahaha. We forced them to stop the war, didn¡¯t we? In the end, they still had to bow their heads to us, right, Lord?

    ¡°I didn¡¯te here for money or materialistic goods. I¡¯m here for you.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen suddenly became one of the strongest among the Central in¡¯s orthodox sects¡¯ martial artists, a direct disciple of Mount Daluo and appointed sessor. Heh, ¡®Exterminate Demon Sect to Protect What¡¯s Right¡¯, what a tag line. I wonder if you were one of the people who chanted the line that day at Lawless Cliff. Oh yeah, you¡¯re also Liu Shan Men¡¯s head constable at the capital¡¯s branch. You look like you¡¯re enjoying life as the Emperor¡¯s employee. Okay, okay. I really want to know if¡­ you¡¯re the one who got Master killed. If you are, hehe.

    ¡°The rule in the pugilistic world is, winner takes all. Your defeat here proves that karma exists. Your brain must be deteriorating early if you aren¡¯t taking too many shots to the head. Otherwise, I can¡¯t imagine how someone from Fiends¡¯ Genesis could capture you in broad daylight without anyone realising. Are you really the same person I know? You¡¯re looking less and less convincing. Is it because you¡¯ve lost all your internal energy? I suppose that¡¯d exin the reason you were helpless.

    ¡°Had I known you were defenceless, I wouldn¡¯t have had to wait for Fiends¡¯ Genesis to go after you. I need to know where you¡¯ve been thest six years, why you haven¡¯t returned to the Western Regions, why you¡¯re embarrassing yourself in the imperial court and why you¡¯re working as that wretched Emperor¡¯spdog!

    ¡°Ha, hahaha, I never thought I¡¯d meet you under these circumstances. Back then, you wouldn¡¯t even spare me a nce when you walked past. Am I really so worthless in your eyes? Even in the presence of Master, you would kill people without any qualms. Every follower would tremble just imagining your mask.

    ¡°They don¡¯t call you Lord San Shen and Lord Tianfa for no reason. If any of our brothers ever erred in the slightest, you¡¯d hunt them down no matter what. Meanwhile, you colluded with the imperial court to kill your brothers! Our brothers who lost their lives to the imperial court can¡¯t rest in peace! Who have you ever done right by?!

    ¡°¡­ I won¡¯t kill you yet; you¡¯re getting off the hook too easily if I kill you now. I¡¯ll wait for you to kneel at my feet and admit your mistakes before I dice you up nice and slowly while you cry. I¡¯ll rape the women you love in front of you so that you can experience the torment I¡¯ve been living with all these years. I¡¯ll finish you once you¡¯ve given up on trying.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zero what are you¡­¡±

    ¡°Sh.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Haha, he hasn¡¯t woken up yet. If he¡¯s pretending to sleep, my eyes will see right through him. Rx. I¡¯ve fed him. You did not need toe here in person for something so trivial. A captive waiting for his execution deserves to starve to death.¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t starve to death yet. The porridge and side dishes have gone bad. Prepare some new food. Make sure you add meat to every meal so that he¡¯s well and alive. Pry open his mouth and control his jaws to make sure he chews. Ensure he¡¯s eating a meal once a day. Notify me when hees to. I need to have a word with him.¡±

    ¡°Und-understood.¡±

    ¡°What are you shaking for? Am I that scary?¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest! Who, in the pugilistic world, has not heard of your revered self?¡±

    ¡°Whenever ¡®revered¡¯ is used as an adjective to describe someone, it¡¯s almost guaranteed the person in question is just another punching bag. Don¡¯t attach that word to me.¡±

    ¡°Understood, understood. You are Lord San Shen¡¯s best subordinate, a man on par with the something Great Guardians, uh¡­ yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t catch that. Care to repeat yourself?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I, uh, I, um, am not very literate. Please do not mind wh-¡±

    ¡°Lucky you. Otherwise, you¡¯d be a corpse right now.¡±

    ¡°S-sorry. Great Guardians or whatever they are called cannot hold a candle to you. Lord San Shen is but only your punching bag!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, sounds like music to my ears. What arrangements has Jiang Chen made?¡±

    ¡°The people who have convened here are all famous adepts.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°The revered, uh, hehe, the somewhat famous Soul-Stealing Twins and Mncholic Swordsman Wu Ping.¡±

    ¡°The brothers are worthy of their fame. Their Soul-Stealing Palms is one of the best disciplines out there. As for Wu Ping, his character leaves a lot to be desired, but his swordy is decent. Give him another three years, and he will be among the five greatest swordsmen in the northwest.¡±

    ¡°There is also Hua Laoyu.¡±

    ¡°That old hag has a good head to go with her skill. The previous three are a notch below her. Jiang Chen sure has his ways. He must¡¯ve paid a hefty sum to hire her.¡±

    ¡°There is also Cross Phantom Soul Broadswordsman, Lang Qing, and a schr named Ouyang Xiucai.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic. Fantastic. Those two must¡¯ve been hired to counter infiltrators from the imperial court. Fiend¡¯s Genesis¡¯ new base is as secure as can be this time.¡±

    ¡°With Master Gou and Master Gu here, as well, this ce might just be more secure than the imperial court.¡±

    ¡°Call them here.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I said, call them here to this dungeon.¡±

    ¡°Uh, but Sir Jiang Chen said th-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. I¡¯ll talk to him. I don¡¯t care about the other ces. This ce, however, must be guarded air tight.¡±

    ¡°B-but what if someone inv-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make them leave however they got in. Even the imperial court would need more than two months to find this ce.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ The person Sir Jiang Chen brought back is¡­ Confucianism¡¯s leader or something. We have to ensure there is a guard watching him, do we not?¡±

    ¡°Confucianism¡¯s leader or something? If he escapes, at worst, East China Sea¡¯s Sword Empress wille here for revenge. If this man escapes, your master won¡¯t be seeing the sun again. Call them over to guard the door.¡±

    Glossary

    Lord Tianfa ¨C Tianfa means ¡°Divine Punisher¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 1

    Book 13: Chapter 1

    Long, long ago, my shifu asked me, ¡°What will you do if you run into someone you can¡¯t beat some day?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Being na?ve, I answered, ¡°I¡¯ll train until I¡¯m stronger to run it back.¡±

    ¡°Is the space between your ears empty? Or do you want to be without a mother?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Shifu, can you not be so blunt?¡±

    Shifu shook his head. ¡°Martial arts is an endless journey. There will always be somebody better than you out there; how do you expect to have any guarantee that you¡¯ll be stronger. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s orthodox, unorthodox or bullcrapdox sects, there are all sorts of idiotic scum who won¡¯tprehend this. There¡¯s nothing wrong with stressing to students to train every day and to seek higher heights so that they don¡¯t get stomped in the future. If only their memory was any good, though. They never remember to check their stupid faces in their piss. Even if their students copy them down to the most minute details and raise another group of idiots, does that make them invincible? My point is, you must always be prepared for an opponent stronger than you.¡±

    I mulled over it and queried, ¡°In other words, even if I be as strong as you, there will still be someone stronger than me?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious, idiot?! Didn¡¯t you see your shiniang knock my socks off yesterday?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that because you were in the wrong?¡±

    ¡°Do you ever go a day without making a blunder?¡±

    A teacher was a teacher for a reason. What he pointed out never urred to me.

    ¡°So, what do I do if I can¡¯t beat them?¡±

    ¡°Run.¡±

    ¡°What if I can¡¯t shake them off?¡±

    ¡°Hide.¡±

    ¡°What if they find me?¡±

    ¡°That is the topic of today¡¯s lesson.¡± Shifu peered into the sky and, like a sage, said, ¡°You must learn to y dead.¡±

    ¡°y dead?¡± I scratched my head. ¡°That¡¯s something we have to learn now?¡±

    ¡°You really are thoughtless. Actually, Your brain really is empty. Actually, you don¡¯t have one. Actually, y-¡±

    ¡°Shifu, can you stop insulting me?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You think ying dead just means hibernating like a bear? You think a hunter leaves a bear alone just because it¡¯s hibernating?¡±

    ¡°Shifu, if my memory does me justice, it is people who feign death when they run into bears¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ That just means they¡¯ll die a worse death, moron!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t brush off ying dead as a trivial matter. It¡¯s deep and profound topic. Tell me: how do you usually feign death?¡±

    I had a think, sprawled out on the ground and shut my eyes.

    Shifu stepped onto my head. ¡°People won¡¯t buy it if it¡¯s too fake. If you look too convincing, though, they¡¯ll take steps to guarantee you¡¯re as dead as can be. That¡¯s calledmitting suicide, not feigning dead. What do you think should be done?¡±

    ¡°I think you should take your foot off my head.¡±

    Shifu mercifully removed his foot and then gazed up to the ether. ¡°Remember, the art of ying deades down to one word: tragic.¡±

    I crawled to my feet. ¡°Tragic?¡±

    ¡°Yes. An act is iplete without emotion.¡±

    ¡°Emotion?¡±

    ¡°What would you think if you saw a body covered in blood and still bleeding out all over the ground?¡±

    ¡°Ugh, yuck.¡±

    ¡°To be frank, I agree. That said, the majority of people will likely feel sorry for them. Even those associating as an unorthodox faction member, they¡¯ll still have kindness somewhere in their heart.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°ording to my research, the more diabolic they appear, the more kindness they have deep down. On the contrary, you have to be careful of those people who look cultured, educated and perfect. Feigning death is unlikely to earn any sympathy from them.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because an evil appearance is just another way of calling someone ugly. People who have it hard tend to be more empathetic. That¡¯s why you need to y to their buried kindness, drag it out and take a big dump on it.¡±

    ¡°y to their buried kindness, drag it out and, Shifu, slow down. I can¡¯t write as fast as you speak.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you need to assume a pose that will disgust them, an appearance that will make you look tragic, a form that convinces them you are going to die even if they just leave you be. Make it so bad that they lose interest in finishing you. Once you can achieve that, you¡¯ll be rewarded with the time to find an opportunity to exploit.¡±

    I grabbed my chin and deeply pondered. ¡°¡­ A tragic look?¡±

    Feigning death truly was a deep and profound topic. I couldn¡¯t figure out how to tick all those boxes. Shifu understood my struggle, so he kindly helped me out. ¡°From today onwards, you need to practicing feigning death every day. You need to be able to drop dead, and in a shape tragic enough to win their sympathy, at the drop of a hat.¡± After he said that, he kicked me down the slope¡­

    By the way, because I struggled to climb back up and forgot to y dead, Shifu kicked me back down.

    For the following three months since that day, Shifu would try to jump me out of nowhere be it day or night. If he didn¡¯t try to give me a fright while I was meditating ¨C putting me at risk of qi deviation ¨C he¡¯d dig pits along the path I practiced qinggong. Oh, there were also the flying daggers aimed at my head while I was eating. I couldn¡¯t counterattack because I was supposed to y dead¡­

    I performed decently ¨C save for the time a pot of hot pot was poured down from above while I was sleeping. Could you me me for catching two mouthfuls before dodging? Otherwise, I was so good that Young Shiyi sometimes cried, thinking I was actually dead.

    Three months in, I could y dead so well that I¡¯d move people to tears, although I hadn¡¯t had the chance to put it into practice in the real world.

    One day, when Shifu and I descended the mountain, he told me to buy some osmanthus cakes for Shiniang, and he¡¯d pick me up four hourster once he was done at Qinglu Brothel. What were the specifics off his trip? Some form of phnthropy work. Anyhow, once we returned to the mountain, we went to pay Third Shiniang a visit in her room.

    ¡°Shang¡¯er, I know that eating is one of your hobbies, so I went down the mountain for you,¡± Shifu conveyed. ¡°Feizhen, where is the osmanthus cake I asked you to buy?¡± While Third Shiniang was beaming, Shifu winked at me.

    ¡°You asked me to buy osmanthus cake from Qinglu Brothel? I don¡¯t know anything about it.¡± Next, I dropped onto the ground.

    ¡°What are you lying on the ground for?! Wh-wh-what are you doing?! You¡¯re ying dead, aren¡¯t you?! Get up!¡±

    ¡°What is this about Qinglu Brothel?! Feizhen, what¡¯s the matter? Was your shifu mean to you again?! Ming Huayu, you inhumane waste of oxygen! Why would you pick on a kid?! Come over here , right, now!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait! This is a skill I taught him! Traitor, you remember this! Traitor! Traitor! Ow, please have mercy!¡±

    At that point, I knew I had mastered the deep and profound art of feigning death.

    As my shbacks came to an end, I gradually regained awareness of my surroundings, though I didn¡¯t have the faintest idea how much time had passed. The first thing I heard was, ¡°Feizhen, wake up.¡±

    Shifu¡­

    ¡°Who are you calling ¡®Shifu¡¯? Since when did I have such a pathetic disciple? They caught you just like that?¡±

    But I¡¯m defenceless right now¡­

    ¡°So? Do you want to celebrate it with a meal? You embarrass me. If there¡¯s anyone left, don¡¯t tell them you¡¯re my disciple.¡±

    Come on¡­ Look at the state I¡¯m in¡­ Fine, I¡¯ll try my best.

    In a provocative tone that¡¯d make it easy to imagine his smirk, Ming Huayu questioned, ¡°You still remember what I taught you?¡±

    Of course¡­

    ¡°So what are you waiting for?¡±

    A man returned from the darkness¡­

 Book 13: Chapter 2

    Book 13: Chapter 2

    There was a rancid smell in the damp air because, every few days, the dungeon would be a waterlogged area for a day or two. For some bizarre reason, the water flushes couldn¡¯t take away the rotten stench.

    Jiang Chen imed the prison had existed for more than sixty years. Nheless, nobody had the bravery to ask him how he found such a brilliant ce. By extension, nobody dared to ask why he loaned it out for thest two decades and put up with his tantrums instead of taking charge.

    Jiang Chen, frankly, was a bag of mysteries even to members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. The authenticity of his origins, true skills, age, gender and any other visible data were questionable. Besides Shang Bieshi, nobody knew the real Jiang Chen. He was respected and trusted, nevertheless, because he was capable enough of always putting another one in the win column for them. Furthermore, he was the man loyalest to Shang Bieshi.

    No one knew who used to be locked up in the enormous prison, who built the prison and where the strange stink came from. The other buildings at Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ new headquarters were also particrlyrge to the point that one might mistake the buildings for one of the imperial court¡¯s former pces. The only aspect that could convince people that it was vacant was the terrain. Aside from a sect that wanted to iste themselves from the rest of the world, nobody would choose this ce without daylight as a base. Nobody, of course, besides someone who needed that sort of environment.

    Whether they were people who were trusted, invited or hired, the people guarding the new base abided by Jiang Chen¡¯s orders. Zero was an invited individual who Jiang Chen entrusted the new base to. Zero was given more authority than the others because Jiang Chen trusted him.

    Zero¡¯s order to guard the prison wasn¡¯t something they liked due to the horrendous smell, rats, bugs and whatnot.

    Aside from the two Stars of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, the people Zero assigned to the prison were all established martial artists. Among them, Lang Qing and Ouyang Xiucai were the best and arguably superior to the Stars ¨C Tian Gou and Kuanggu Sheng. Not even Zero could figure out how Jiang Chen persuaded them to aid his cause as they weren¡¯t the type to take orders for a bit of money. Mount Taixing¡¯s Soul-Stealing Twins were one of the keys to the group¡¯s alliance.

    The prison¡¯s patrol arrangement changed daily. On the top level, two adepts guard guarded the door farthest out. One guard was assigned to where the keys were inside. One guard was delegated to an exterior post, where they would watch and listen for danger. It was protocol to have two adepts inside at all times so that they could reinforce other, split tasks or any other necessary manner of action. Save for the day that water flooded in, other Fiends¡¯ Genesis members would be spread out in every remaining corner.

    Soul-Stealing Twins, two disciples of a secretive sect were known for their impable chemistry and dangerously violent natures. From the moment they debuted in the pugilistic world, they started going after officials along withmitting other crimes as they tore through Jiangnan¡¯s martial artsmunity. They only fled Jiangnan after Gold and Silver Sect put a bounty on their heads. They only returned to Jiangnan recently because the Seven Champion White Princes had stopped pressuring criminals, which was how they became acquainted with Jiang Chen and entered his employment.

    ¡°What are we guarding? A tiger or a lion? How many have they killed for us to be so cautious that we have to guard this ce for an entire day? Sounds like even Fiends¡¯ Genesis are afraid of death.¡±

    ¡°As long as we can protect this ce, Jiang Chen promised to give us the three missing pages of ¡®Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡¯. Once I master our forefather¡¯s skills, I¡¯ll no longer have to fear any man.¡±

    The most notable characteristic of the twin¡¯s ¡°Soul-Stealing Palms¡± family discipline was its ability to induce illusions in the target¡¯s mind once the practitioner was an advanced practitioner. However, it was only one part ¨C specifically, two tenths ¨C of ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±. If that small fraction was enough to make them a threat in Jiangnan, it shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise for theplete discipline to have been notorious and feared in the north before their time.

    The short and dangerous elder brother, Yan Jibei, red at his younger brother, Yan Jiangnan. ¡°As for your deed, I¡¯ll deal with it another time.¡±

    Despite being taller than his elder brother, Yan Jiangnan lowered his head in fear. Contrary to his ambitious elder brother, Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t particrly interested in power. When it came to making decisions, he¡¯d rather leave them to his brother. Ever since a particr incident, he was always trying to find something to do so that he wouldn¡¯t have to face his brother. Unlike in their room, unfortunately, there were only two chairs, a table, a pot of tea, two teacups, a wall and a captive in the dungeon. As such, he went to feed the captive instead of sitting face to face with his brother.

    While the task of delivering a meal a day to the captive was delegated to servants, there was no policy against others supplying him with mantous, water and the sort. Yan Jiangnan shoved a chunk of mantou into the captive¡¯s mouth, grabbed the captive¡¯s jaws to make him chew, then raised his head back so that he¡¯d swallow.

    The bearded captive didn¡¯t look old in spite of his white hair. His lips were chapped, face was ghastly white, skin was in bad condition and had bugs trying to explore the wound at his chest.

    Suddenly, Yan Jiangnan felt a hot breath on his hand,pelling him to lunge backward. ¡°Wh-what the?!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Yan Jibei grouched.

    ¡°I-I think he just moved!¡±

    ¡°He moved? Let me see.¡± Upon assessing the captive, Yan Jibei eximed, ¡°Moved, my foot! He¡¯s as still as a corpse.¡±

    ¡°But he really did m-¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Yan Jibei went back to his chair. ¡°He looks like an idiot. His corbone is broken. His arm and leg tendons have been destroyed. Even if he can move, is he someone you should be afraid of?¡±

    As much as Yan Jiangnan wanted to argue otherwise, he had no proof to support his suspicion, so he resumed feeding the captive, albeit paying more attention thanst time. Only a few pieces of mantou in, Yan Jiangnan eximed. ¡°He just spoke!¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Th-this guy! H-he just spoke!¡±

    Yan Jibei grouchily went to check again. This time, though, he was shocked to hear the captive constantly murmuring.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°He¡¯se to. Let¡¯s notify Zero.¡±

    ¡°Rx. There¡¯s no need to be so nervous. Heh, who would¡¯ve thought he¡¯de to on our first day guarding this crap hole.¡± Curious as to who the captive could possibly be, Yan Jibei leaned in to hear what the captive was murmuring. Whatever he heard impelled him to back off whilst pulling his brother along. ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Sh, don¡¯t let anyone hear us!¡±

    Wu Ping, who was on guard duty outside, questioned, ¡°Brother Yan, is everything all right inside?¡±

    Yan Jibei conversed with his brother using his eyes whilst answering, ¡°Thank you for asking. I was just arguing with my brother. Everything is okay.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    Bewildered by his brothers lies and actions, Yan Jiangnan queried, ¡°Brother, why are w-¡±

    ¡°One more useless word out of your mouth and I¡¯ll end you!¡± threatened Yan Jibei, in a stifled voice. ¡°Why, you ask? Because we¡¯d lose out if someonees, nimrod! Listen in closely. He¡¯s¡­¡± Yan Jibei¡¯s voice became a little shaky and drastically softer, almost as though he was afraid the captive would hear him.

    Yan Jiangnan leaned in as his brother suggested. ¡°¡­ Isn¡¯t this¡­¡±

    ¡°It is! He¡¯s reciting the key points of Sinister Soul Breaker Palms!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 3

    Book 13: Chapter 3

    ¡°How does he kn-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yan Jiangnan lowered his head.

    Yan Jibei already received one of the three promised pages from Jiang Chen, so he had evidence that thetter genuinely possessed the pages. Else, how else were the twins supposed to believe Jiang Chen could hold up his end up of the deal? While the pages might¡¯ve been less useful than scrap paper to everyone else, to the twins who felt they had reached a point of diminishing returns in their training, it was enough for Jiang Chen to have them hook, line and sinker with the single aforementioned page.

    Owing to his personality, Yan Jiangnan was still his usual self after receiving the first page of the mental cultivation. In contrast, Yan Jibei wanted to master the teachings straight away. Thanks to his efforts, Yan Jibei had improved considerably in mere months. That said, he was far from being overpowered due to it only being one page. Therefore, he was eager to finish the job for the remaining two pages.

    It was easy for Yan Jibei to identify what the captive was mumbling when he had spent months reading the connected text over and over. In the same vein, he could recognise the parts not included in the page he received. Rather than question how the captive knew the mental cultivation, Yan Jibei immediately started trying to memorise what was recited, so it was understandable for him to flip out at his brother when he was interrupted. Frankly, Yan Jiangnan shouldn¡¯t have had to bear all the me because Yan Jibei¡¯s memory was never great, not to mention his excitement also stealing part of his processing ability.

    It was apparent the captive was familiar with the discipline because he had recited seven, maybe eight, pages worth by this point, far more than Yan Jibei could possibly memorise in one sitting. Hence, he choked the captive and, in a muffled voice, questioned, ¡°Who exactly are you?! How do you know my n¡¯s mental cultivation?!¡±

    Yan Jibei¡¯s shaking made the captive cry, ¡°D-don¡¯t kill me! I didn¡¯t mean it¡­¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°Brother, how about we let Zero kn-¡±

    ¡°Shut up! How stupid can you be?! How can we let outsiders know of he¡¯s connected to our n?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me. Don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± the captive continued muttering.

    Yan Jibei: Could this guy have been scared out of his wits? I can see that he¡¯s been subjected to some serious torture by someone strong, but how can an adept be such a coward?

    ¡°I shall spare you. What¡¯s your name?¡± inquired Yan Jibei.

    ¡°My name is Yan¡­ Yan Nima, courtesy name Gua Liao.¡±

    What the hell? Is that even a name for humans?

    Instead of wasting time on a pointless topic, Yan Jibei continued, ¡°Why were you captured?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t do it again. Pl-please don¡¯t kill me.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t the question! Keep acting up and I¡¯ll kill you right now.¡±

    The captive tried to break free to no avail.

    His arms and legs are as good as done, so it¡¯s impossible for him to resist, but I need to prevent him from screaming.

    Yan Jibei squeezed the captive¡¯s throat with one hand. ¡°Answer my question!¡¯

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Th-this one is a farmer in the west beyond the Great Wall. He has always been diligent in his duty.¡±

    Beyond the Great Wall? That¡¯s where our n is located. He carries the ¡®Yan¡¯ surname, too. Is he my nsman?

    ¡°Cut the nonsense! I didn¡¯t ask if you¡¯re diligent or not! Tell me what I want to know.¡±

    ¡°Right, right. Three years ago, this one noticed something strange about the burial hole, so he boldly entered and came across a golden tablet with text carved onto it.¡±

    The brothers looked to each other.

    Carving onto golden wood is a habit of our ancestors. If he found it while cleaning the tomb, he¡¯s definitely a nsman.

    ¡°What happened next?!¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s ancestors are martial artists. It seemed to be a martial arts manual, so this one took it home. It was so scary how incredible the discipline seemed that this one threw it into the valley. Last year, an adept came and used this one of a crime, forcing him to hand over the tablet. He refused to believe this one didn¡¯t have it, so he forced this one to write the contents out.¡±

    Yan Jibei: If he didn¡¯t learn ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±, he wouldn¡¯t be in this sort of situation. It would seem Jiang Chen didn¡¯t recruit us solely for our schools. He must¡¯ve taken away this person¡¯s awareness so that he can¡¯t tell us anything even if he ends up in our hands. Unluckily for that conniving bug, he has given us the best gift we could ask for. Wait¡­ if Jiang Chen has the entire manual, why give me only pages? The pages are old enough to prove they have existed for a long time. Did he find the fragmented pages first and then went beyond the wall to find the rest? That makes sense, but¡­ we were also beyond the wallst year, yet we never heard anything¡­ Hmm, given the vastnd and small poption, news never travelled very fast. Still, something doesn¡¯t add up!His injuries are, at most, from two years ago; some wounds are still healing, even. If he was hurtst year¡­ the times don¡¯t match up.

    ¡°Second Brother¡­ Second Brother!¡±

    Yan Jibei choked the captive again because thetter screamed. ¡°What are you screaming for?! Want to die?!¡¯

    ¡°Second Brother¡­ Don¡¯t kill me! Didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯d spare me if I wrote it out for you?! Please! I won¡¯t tell anyone what I know! Please spare me! I won¡¯t tell anyone you seduced your sister-inw!¡±

    Yan Jibei looked back at Yan Jiangnan with his eyes double their usual size.

    Glossary

    Nima ¨C It¡¯s a homophone version of ¡°your mom¡± as in the usual ¡°your mom¡± diss.

    Gua Liao ¨C Means ¡°dead¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 4

    Book 13: Chapter 4

    As far as everyone was concerned, even though the elder brother was harsh and violent while the younger brother was smart and kind, the brothers of Mount Taixing were the ultimate duo. Even though Yan Jibei was always giving his younger brother earfuls and ordering him around, he never abandoned the brother he grew up alongside. Whenever they encountered dangerous opponents, Yan Jibei would always charge ahead first and retreat after his brother. Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t ipetent by any means, but his brother overshadowed him in the pugilistic world and ruled over him. Everything was cordial between them until it was time for Yan Jibei to marry.

    In contrast to Yan Jibei, his wife was lovable, soft and quiet. Though her influence pulled him down a notch or two, he¡¯d still explode once or twice a week. Whenever nsmen said he was scared of his wife, he¡¯d surprisingly blush without flipping out.

    Yan Jiangnan remained single even two years after his brother got married. Whenever his brother persuaded him to find a partner, Yan Jiangnan would flip some sort of switch and object adamantly enough for his brother to concede.

    e night, Yan Jibei came back from a job earlier than nned, only to find his wife wasn¡¯t in their room. Her family home was a good distance away, so the only possibility was that she was sleeping at someone else¡¯s ce. His brother still had his lights on, so Yan Jibei went over to ce and enquiry. Being as close as they were, Yan Jibei didn¡¯t bother knocking and weed himself straight in.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s me. Would you happen to know where¡­¡±The first thing to enter Yan Jibei¡¯s field of vision was his nude brother and wife who was pulling up the nket. Following a short freeze, Yan Jibei drew his de. ¡°You b******! You disgusting trollop!¡± Though he had his weapon raised, he didn¡¯t know who to chop.

    Yan Jibei¡¯s wife yelled, ¡°Are you going to kill us?!¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ Why can¡¯t I?! I¡¯m going to kill both of you!¡±

    Yan Jianggnan immediately knelt down on the ground to ept the ramifications of his actions. Meanwhile, Yan Jibei¡¯s wife righteously shouted, ¡°The two of us have been in love since we were kids! You¡¯re the one who forced us to break up! What gives you the right to kill us?!¡±

    Yan Jibei¡¯s state of mind wasparable to an untamed horse off its leash. As he looked at his brother¡¯s handsome face, memories of their days from childhood, their training, their life-and-death fights, the games they yed together and more came to the surface of his mind. He roared as he took a swing, murdering his wife in a single sh. He thoughtlessly threw away his de and then bolted out of the house.

    In the following year, the brothers never exchanged any words. Unfortunately, they had a lot of enemies, and their n¡¯s business needed to be maintained, so they were forced to continue operating together. Needless to say, just because something wasn¡¯t mentioned, it didn¡¯t mean it was water under the bridge. The incident became a taboo topic for Yan Jibei.

    ¡°Second Brother¡± and the recount of them working beyond the Great Wall coinciding with the captive¡¯s timeline pointed the fingers to one person ¨C Yan Jiangnan. Whenever the captive showed signs of waking, Yan Jiangnan also insisted on informing Zero ¨C interpreted as an intent to prevent the captive spilling any secrets. Therefore, Yan Jibei red at his brother whilst smirking, ¡°When we went beyond the wallst year, you had ns in mind beforehand, I see. No wonder why Jiang Chen¡¯s pages didn¡¯t interest you.¡±

    Recognising the smile that was an omen of his brother getting ready to attack, Yan Jiangnan cried, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, Brother!¡¯

    ¡°And now you¡¯re trying to alert someone for help?!¡± Yan Jibei extended his open hand at the same time he lunged at Yan Jiangnan.

    Had it been any other crime besides learning the intricacies of ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±, Yan Jibei wouldn¡¯t have chosen to take his brother¡¯s life. Howbeit, now that he suspected his brother might¡¯ve surpassed him, Yan Jibei put everything he had into his attack.

    Yan Jiangnan: We are brothers, brothers who share the same blood. Even though I once did you wrong, how can you justify killing me at the slightest suspicion?!

    Yan Jiangnan denied Yan Jibei¡¯s palm strike with one of his own, then immediately unleashed a second sharp, solid and dangerous one.

    Yan Jiangnan always held back against his elder brother because he didn¡¯t want to embarrass his brother. Jiang Chen selected Yan Jiangnan, not Yan Jibei. Frankly, even though he was six years younger, Yan Jiangnan was the only one among them who could master more difficult disciplines. Contrary to Jiang Chen¡¯s wishes, however, Yan Jiangnan never practiced anything he gleaned from the page he spared one look because he didn¡¯t want to ¡°steal¡± something his brother liked again.

    Yan Jibei threw one attack after the next, showing absolutely no intention of slowing down or pulling punches. ¡°Where are the skills you learnt from the manual, huh?! Use them! Use them!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan lost the motivation to live a meaningful life after his affair was brought to light. As such, he gradually reduced his output.

    Out of the blue, the captive said, ¡°Second Brother, don¡¯t kill me. I know you and Miss Yu Lian were in love. It was your elder brother pulling strings behind the scenes to convince your father to marry her to him. Don¡¯t tell anyone I told you, or I will be silenced.

    ¡°Br-Brother, is he telling the truth?!¡± Yan Jiangnan repelled his brother¡¯s next three palm strikes. ¡°Sister-inw, Yu Lian, was supposed to be betrothed to me?¡±

    ¡°So what if she was? And so what if she wasn¡¯t? Dad betrothed the harlot to me, yet she developed feelings for my brother. The shameless wench deserves to die a thousand times and more!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan could read his brothers tone and actions well enough to discern that the captive told the truth.

    Yan Jibei always knew his wife and brother were in love, but he also had a crush on her since childhood. He figured that he could win her over if he just spoiled her more and could make it up to his brother in other ways. He had kept it all secret, so he wondered how the captive knew about it.

    Big Bro is nning to kill me!

    Those seven words were the exact same words that came to mind when Yan Jiangnan was caught in bed with Yu Lian. This time, though, they took on a different tone. Yu Lian poured out her grievances to him and told him all about the abuse Yan Jibei subjected her to. Killing her only carved a reminder into Yan Jibei¡¯s mind, one that he couldn¡¯t erase until he could kill Yan Jiangnan. Now that the captive had given him a justifiable reason, Yan Jibei had the perfect excuse to kill Yan Jiangnan under the pretense of punishing a traitor to the n.

    Finding a desire to live, Yan Jiangnan responded with the identical palm attack his brother utilised, sending his brother backwards. Yan Jiangnan¡¯s superior strength under the same conditions further convinced Yan Jibei that his younger brother had learnt from more of the pages than he did. In turn, Yan Jibei pushed himself to be even more violent. Livid, Yan Jiangnan amped it up, as well.

    The captive¡¯s recital of ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker¡± was actually far from urate, but the brothers were too fixated on the fact that the discipline was a n secret. In addition, constantly exposing their secrets evoked so much tension that rational thinking capacity waspromised. His attempt to fan the mes wasn¡¯t perfect, either. The real catalysts for the life-and-death fight were the silences, the apologetic objections and the burdens of guilt. They were two barrels of explosives waiting to explode; the captive just happened to give them a reason to release all their pent up thoughts.

    One would have to be delusional to expect the brothers to make quick work of each other. After all, they were close in level and knew each other well. Expecting them to cause a ruckus loud enough to alert other people, howbeit, was easy. Once they were throwing hands at each other with the intent to kill, thest thing on their mind would be the guards outside.

    Soon enough, the clicking of the lock outside was audible, and in came Wu Ping, who had his hand on his sword hilt already. ¡°What are you two doing? Brothers shouldn¡¯t be fighting like this. Please cease this at once!¡±

    All of a sudden, the gust generated from someone extinguished all the candles, shrouding the prison in ckness.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Book 13: Chapter 5

    Book 13: Chapter 5

    Wu Ping drew his sword and assumed a defensive stance as soon as the ckout happened. The reason behind the sibling¡¯s quarrel was perceptively less dangerous than whatever could happen with zero visibility. As soon as he was on guard, he felt a strong draft edging toward him. Whichever brother it was, one of them had started pre-emptively swinging in case the other had a hidden weapon.

    Giving Wu Ping a sword was the equivalent of handing him a short ruler. Jiang Chen still chose him, nevertheless, because he was trulypetent. As soon as one of the brothers identally shed with him, they immediately recognised they had the wrong target due to his distinct style.

    The brothers could¡¯ve stopped now, but it became a case of, ¡°What if I stop and he doesn¡¯t?¡± As a result, neither of them were willing to be first to stop. Consequently, Wu Ping had to deflect their attacks, which only made it apparent to him that they were out for each other¡¯s lives. The three of them weren¡¯t buddies or in a hierarchal situation, yet here he was getting caught up in their fight because they couldn¡¯t do their jobs right. Irate over the fate, Wu Ping started to extend his shots. Suffice, he had an enormous reach advantage with his sword over the brothers¡¯ bare hands, yet the two didn¡¯t lose.

    ¡°Five Dragons Fight for the Crown, Sirius Fake Shot, Body and Essence Fusion¡­¡±

    There was no telling who was reciting the lines that might¡¯ve been martial arts techniques or a secret code. Wu Ping had it worst for he was already confused as it was upon arrival. He had no clue the captive hade to and hadn¡¯t heard his voice. ordingly, he assumed it was one of the brothers trying to distract him, impelling him to be more cautious.

    The Yan brothers understood what the captive was trying to tell them. Yan Jibei had been thinking about the contents of the page Jiang Chen gave them even while answering nature¡¯s calls. He, therefore, remembered the parts that the captive recited, except, prior to now, he didn¡¯t know when to apply the teachings. Once Yan Jibei performed the three moves in the very order recited, he noticed the output of his attacks rose notably. What Yan Jibeicked in skill and physical prowess, he made up for with ruthless aggression.

    Although he couldprehend things to a deeper degree and was presently more advanced, Yan Jiangnan struggled to find answers. Despite not changing his techniques, Yan Jibei¡¯s sudden increase in power, in addition to the intent with which he utilised the same techniques, put Yan Jiangnan into a state no different to covering up.

    Yan Jibei started snickering, feinted, then followed up with his masked attack, mming a hand flush onto Yan Jiangnan¡¯s chest. Yan Jibei moved to follow up, only for Wu Ping¡¯s sword to force him to retreat two steps. Learning to counter his brother was one thing, but countering Wu Ping¡¯s swordy was an entirely different beast.

    Wu Ping, oblivious to the change in the status quo, only wanted to get out without any damage, not to earn bragging rights for killing the brothers.

    Frustrated with Wu Ping¡¯s obstructions, Yan Jibei thundered, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As a result of this decision, Yan Jibei gave himself two opponents to tackle simultaneously. Wu Ping concealed Yan Jiangnan¡¯s attacks with his swordy, making it impossible for Yan Jibei to defend against Yan Jiangnan¡¯s attacks. Within their forty exchanges, Yan Jibei had been cut seven times and was bleeding; however, he had no time to wipe his wounds.

    Knowing the match had been decided, Wu Ping decided to perform a full sword flower, then stepped back and held his hands up in salute. ¡°Brother Yan, this one means no ill will towards you. It was you two who dragged him in. Why are you two fighting? This one c-, wh-! Brother Yan!¡±

    ¡°Brother Yan¡± referred to Yan Jiangnan this time.

    Whilst Wu Ping stepped back, Yan Jiangnan continued forward, uncorking a seven-hitbo that drilled straight into his brother, generating loud sounds and sparks of blood as if he was a breaking punching bag. For whatever reason, Yan Jiangnan wouldn¡¯t stop his assault, shocking even Wu Ping.

    No matter whatpelled them to fight so violently with their own biological brother, Wu Ping felt they owed Jiang Chen an exnation, so he went to light up the candles. Next second, he spun back and thrust as he picked up on a presence, only to catch thin air. He was still trying to catch up when he felt a jolt of pain at the bottom of his jaw! Next, he was forced up onto the wall with heavy impact. Wu Ping could tell it was some metal object that stabbed through from below at an angle he couldn¡¯t defend against, and it was still forcing its way into his body.

    While Wu Ping could sense the presence of the assant posterior to him, he couldn¡¯t see who it was. Whoever it was had a lot of strength in their arms, although not exactly praiseworthy, but there was definitely a way to beat them. Problem was, the fact that Wu Ping was struck at a vital yed with his head. Desperate as the feeling of death felt closer than ever, he extended both arms behind him as hard as he could several times.

    The assant had physical strength but undeveloped internal energy, so he managed to reduce the pressure on him. Most likely, he already broke a bone or two. s, the assant, as if they were an anaconda trying to find the finish, refused to back down. Wu Ping could feel his life fading away notwithstanding his efforts.

    The only person who could see who the assant was Yan Jiangnan, who was on the floor due to his broken back.

    Yan Jiangnan: Weren¡¯t his arm and leg tendons destroyed?!

 Book 13: Chapter 6

    Book 13: Chapter 6

    Yan Jibei had passed away in his own pool of blood. Yan Jiangnan had avenged his lover and broken free from his maleficent brother. Howbeit, his mind was a total wreck. As he took short, shallow breaths on the ground, he futilely tried to figure out why his brother died, why his back was broken, how Wu Ping died, how the captive regained freedom of movement, how the captive removed the stake in his corbone, how he was standing and who in the world he was.

    While the brothers were taught the same curriculum, Yan Jibei preferred to work on boxing, palm techniques, agility and moving whilst working his hands. On the other hand, Yan Jiangnan had a liking for internal disciplines, so he focused on strengthening himself. Yan Jibei¡¯s approach was the rmended approach for learning more advanced disciplines down the round, but it took a longer time to see usable results. If Yan Jiangnan could have another ten years, his brother wouldn¡¯t survive thirty exchanges against him. By extension, Yan Jibei interrupted ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡± from the perspective of a boxer and palm practitioner, while Yan Jiangnan interrupted it from the perspective of moulding qi.

    As aforementioned, although Yan Jiangnan only skimmed over the sheet Jiang Chen provided them, he still gleaned more from it than his brother after thetter¡¯s tireless analyses. Nevertheless, it was impossible for him to think as fast as his brother when the captive recited the lines during their fight that helped boost Yang Jibei¡¯s output. Why? Because Yan Jibei had spent more time studying it. Yan Jiangnan only had time to connect the dots Yan Jibei already connected when Wu Ping helped even the ying field. Every movement Yan Jibei made against Wu Ping mapped out ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡± for Yan Jiangnan.

    Within the forty-plus exchanges, Yan Jiangnan dismantled all of his brother¡¯s attacks, and he felt a trail of hot qi travelling to his upoints, opening up more than ten upoints. The improvement in his internal energy potency was so significant that he felt he even had a chance against Jiang Chen. It was understandable for him to feel so confident when it wasparable to gaining thirty years of training overnight and reaching his new peak.

    Because Wu Ping and Yan Jibei suddenly looked levels below him, Yan Jiangnan saw no need to hold grudges against them, so he nned to subdue them as peacefully as possible and turn himself, along with them, in to Zero and exin what happened. After that, he¡¯d demand the remainder of the manual from the captive. The n sounded wless. Out of nowhere, he felt as though his organs were jumbled around as he had the wind knocked out of him; he couldn¡¯t even gasp blood out. As blood spilt from his mouth, a hand tapped him on his lower back.

    While it was only a tap, it was precisely ced at where his qi was stored. As soon as he felt the tap, he felt all the energy he just gained coalesce around his right oblique and cease takingmands from him. In reality, it was just amon case of qi deviation, except taken to a severe degree that would render one a vegetable if not slowly addressed over the course of months. In essence, his assant provoked his own qi into breaking his own back.

    From the moment the world started spinning, to experiencing the sharp pain that had him break out in cold sweat, to dropping onto the ground, to losing his lifetime of training, it felt as though only a second had passed. By the time his brain had caught up, it dawned on him that he¡¯d never be able to walk again.

    The timing and cement of the tap indicated that the one who delivered was erudite on ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±. Who else but Yan Jibei knew it better than Yan Jiangnan himself among the three of them? Hence, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s first assumption was that it was all a part of his brother¡¯s ploy to cripple him. In the same vein, he believed the bleeding and cuts were all faked. Incensed, he mustered up everything he had to try ast-ditch effort to take his brother down with him. That was when he heard Wu Ping yell, ¡°Brother Yan!¡±

    Following the seven blows, Yan Jiangnan turned his brother into a corpse that still had its eyes open. As hended thest blow, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s back also gave in. Upon hitting the ground, he finally noticed the individual behind Wu Ping. It was as though snow had been piling up over the course of years, yet it was only visible once it had reached the heavens.

    Yan Jiangnan: Wu Ping, run!

    Yan Jiangnan wished with all his heart that Wu Ping would notice the person behind him since Yan Jiangnan himself was too weak to shout by then.

    The assant wasn¡¯t so fast that one would think he wasn¡¯t human, but he carried out his actions with the precision and resolution of a trained assassin despite his injuries seemingly still bothering him. It was as if he would never double check on his target since he was sure he finished the job properly every time. Maybe he could even see the deaths of his targets before he even finished them.

    Cornered, Wu Ping did the one thing nobody would expect him to do. In the loudest voice he had, he cried, ¡°Help!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Very soon after, somebody arrived outside and yelled back, ¡°Did something happen inside?!¡±

    Glossary

    The reason Yan Jiangnan¡¯s method was more rmended ¨C The easy way is to look at how martial arts have developed now. In the name of practicality, numerous martial arts schools are now moving away from the ¡°stance¡± work, the forms and so forth. By no imagination of the mind am I saying that ¡°traditional¡± or ¡°modern¡± are better than the other. You learn what you feel you need to learn. The point of standing in those wide ¡°unpractical¡± stances isn¡¯t just for looks but also for learning purposes.

    When you¡¯re in those wider stances of ¡°traditional¡± martial arts, you¡¯re more stable than if you were to assume a narrower stance. Ever noticed how boxers tend to take a wider stance thanbat sports where kicking is involved? It¡¯s easier to transfer power to the hands in the wider stance. By starting to learn punches from exaggerated motions, you also develop the neurological efficiency to use all the synergistic muscles in tandem, and then you can tighten your movements. In contrast, it¡¯s much more difficult to get the ¡°feel¡± from tight punches. Think about when you learn to spin, you start with using your arms because you may not know how to use your shoulders. As you get your reps in, you may gradually reduce arm contribution to the point that you can do the same rotations without relying on ripping it with your arms.

    Problem with teaching this way now is that gratification isn¡¯t instant enough. In order to ensure you retain students, you have to cater to them and make it less ¡°boring¡±. Secondly, it¡¯s hard work. Everyone wants to be a winner without putting in the hours on the stuff they don¡¯t like while talking about working hard on things they enjoy.

    All that said, it¡¯s important to bnce out the two. Otherwise, you have excellent technique but an inability to use it in chaotic situations, or you have bad habits that can be exploited.

    Bringing it back to Yan Jiangnan¡¯s approach, by focusing on learning how to transfer energy first, he¡¯s developed his ¡°base¡±. He may not have an arsenal of techniques as big as his brother, but every technique in his limited arsenal was maximised.

 Book 13: Chapter 7

    Book 13: Chapter 7

    The precise diagnosis for Ming Feizhen¡¯s condition was the inability to use the internal energy that had been mixed with essence over the years of training. They were still there; he just couldn¡¯t wield them as freely as he once did. Frankly, he deserved praise for being able to minimise damage to this degree considering who his opponent was. After all, living to tell the tale after shing with the mightiest entity since the world¡¯s creation should be considered a miracle.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t lose his abilities due to exhaustion as Pangu did. Pangu would recover its strength through hibernation; Pangu wouldn¡¯t even bother waking even when it finished recuperating. To put it into perspective, Pangu lost ¡°volume¡±, while Ming Feizhen lost ¡°quality¡±.

    Pangu utilised natural energy, while Ming Feizhen used man-made energy. Despite ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night¡± being a discipline that surpassed human limits at the present paradigm, at the end of the day, it still required the user to utilise man-made energy.

    The repercussion of expending all of one¡¯s produced energy was blockage of blood flow. As a consequence, true qi couldn¡¯t be circted at will. The body would instantly absorb any newly umted energy to promote blood flow. Hence, Ming Feizhen¡¯s body was akin to a bottomless pit that absorbed all the new energy he collected.

    People who examined Ming Feizhen would find that he didn¡¯t have any internal energy just as Tianhu did. All of the Fengpeng¡¯s energy had pretty much been absorbed, while the ¡°core¡± that circted the energy was immobilised since it was linked to blood flow. If someone were to examine him carefully, they¡¯d notice that his blood flow was nigh stagnant, as well. It was a miracle he was still able to go about his daily life without any hassles. If he wasn¡¯t umting an enormous amount of energy to stimte the Fengpeng¡¯s blood into cirction, he¡¯d already be dead. He would¡¯ve recovered faster if the adepts he came across would help him instead of primarily being out for him.

    One hundred days was only a rough estimation that could easily be an underestimation or overestimation based on numerous variables.

    Just as Ming Feizhen only lost the ability to employ his internal energy, the Fengpeng¡¯s power remained intact for as long as he was still breathing, still alive and still in contact with nature. Ever since the Fengpeng became part of him, he was physically stronger, more agile, immune to illness, had an inconceivable tank and could achieve more results with less effort. As long as his head wasn¡¯t separated from his body, he could recover from almost any injury without reliance on drugs or anything of that nature. The Fengpeng deserved a lot of credit for his survival against Pangu. As he expended the energy in the battle, he transiently lost those physical enhancements for a short period while the energy gradually restored itself.

    Ming Feizhen had the luxury to indulge in good food and rest ever since back in Nanjiang. As a glutton, all the premium foods Ming Feizhen dined on were the best nourishment ¨C excluding human flesh ¨C for the Fengpeng. In thest two-plus months, the Fengpeng¡¯s power had been restored to approximately 80%. The first sign that Ming Feizhen was recovering was the colour of his hair changing back.

    Hair was an extension of one¡¯s blood, so Ming Feizhen¡¯s hair reverted to white as blood cirction returned to normal. Had Jiang Chen seen the white hair, he might¡¯ve made a remark about Ming Feizhen having truly inherited Hero Shenzhou¡¯s teachings. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯tpletely defenceless when Jiang Chen kidnapped him; however, seeing as he knew nothing about Jiang Chen and nothing about what Jiang Chen knew about him, he chose to bear with it and wait.

    Jiang Chen was cognisant of what Ming Feizhen¡¯s silence meant. As a matter of fact, he could tell from Ming Feizhen¡¯s gaze that Ming Feizhen had something prepared enough to protect himself in his predicament. That was the reason he tortured Ming Feizhen and had Zero watch over him at their base. Jiang Chen¡¯s only miscalction was that Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t unconscious when he pierced thetter¡¯s corbone. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t unconscious for even a moment; it was all an act. Ming Feizhen was well aware that he couldn¡¯t escape Jiang Chen even if he could escape Tiangou, let alone Shitou.

    To reiterate for emphasis: Ming Feizhen never ran out of internal energy. He merely couldn¡¯t wield it. By extension, his incredible hearing was fully functional.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s hearing informed him that Shitou was a Divine Realm fighter, one who surpassed Jiang Chen by miles. That said, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t understand why Shitou was constantly sleeping and wearing a deadpan visage.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ever since Ming Feizhen started his sleeping performance, he didn¡¯t move. He only did one thing ¨C listen carefully for every iota of detail. He learnt how many people were around, what the arrangements were, what everyone¡¯s special traits were and a map of the base.

    ck and White Reflection covered the Yan brothers¡¯ matters ¨C and even mentioned Yan Jibei¡¯s wife¡¯s name was Yu Lian. As for the discord between them, eavesdropping on their everyday conversations, in addition to the information in ck and White Reflection, provided a lot of insight to form a reasonable theory.

    After much rumination, Ming Feizhen decided the Yan brothers were the ideal targets to start with because their discipline was the only one he knew well. From then on, it was triggering them and reciting the theory from the manual to create a discrepancy in their progress.

    Yan Jiangnan would never find out that he didn¡¯t learn his ancestor¡¯s disciple. The qi cirction method he learnt from watching his brother¡¯s movements derived from a discipline of Demon Sect, one that taught the practitioner how to go down with their opponent.

 Book 13: Chapter 8

    Book 13: Chapter 8

    Divine Moon Cult had several methods of taking one¡¯s enemy down with them. Ming Feizhen was terrible at martial arts, but he had a knack for memorising mental cultivation manuals. One might see the problems with a theory if they could see the exact theory, so he concealed it within Yan Jibei¡¯s movements, which led to Yan Jiangnan¡¯s misguided understanding, resulting in qi deviation. The moment Yan Jiangnan grew confident in his newfound power was the moment Ming Feizhen wouldmence.

    Jiang Chen wasn¡¯t wrong in his assessment that Ming Feizhen was dangerous, except he underestimated how dangerous Ming Feizhen was. He, otherwise, wouldn¡¯t have taken Ming Feizhen right back to his base. His second error was his incorrect assessment of Ming Feizhen¡¯s body.

    Normal people were done once their arm and leg tendons were destroyed. Someone with the Fengpeng¡¯s power, on the other hand, would treat it with less significance than a bruise. Typically, a Fengpeng wouldn¡¯t even suffer such an injury. If it did, within a few hours, it¡¯d be as good as new. In seven days, there wouldn¡¯t even be a mark left. Ming Feizhen could use his limbs as per normal days ago.

    Timing was paramount. Once Wu Ping entered the prison and unintentionally distracted the brothers, Ming Feizhen spat out a thin iron thread he hid behind his teeth. Using the techniques Ming Huayu taught him, Ming Feizhen easily unlocked his cuffs.

    Upon regaining freedom, Ming Feizhen put out the lights first because the iron rod in his corbone was essentially a seal on his abilities. For an unarmed and defenceless man, it was an even bigger burden. He didn¡¯t have any other weapon on him besides the iron thread, so he used his blood, which was the one thing he didn¡¯tck since his capture, to extinguish the mes. Even after days of lying still, he still had masterful control over his body.

    While the three were locked inbat, Ming Feizhen silently got to his feet. He had to immediately grab the bent iron rod behind him and hang it on the iron hook for hanging chains on the wall. He leveraged his bodyweight to pull the iron object out of his cuboid. Luckily, the dampness of the dungeon masked the smell of his blood and dead flesh.

    Owing to the movement of the iron object gradually moving as Ming Feizhen healed, it had virtually be a part of his chest, so the pain was enough to make him feel as if he was dying. He could feel his chilly droplets of sweat course down his face and his mind trying to shut down. Pulling a de out of one¡¯s body was always better than slowly dragging it out and prolonging the pain, let alone an iron rod. If he pulled fast, though, he¡¯d make a loud sound, sending vibrations through the air. In turn, the trio would likely turn back to see him. Putting out the lights was stretching himself already. Choosing to reduce pain in exchange for death wasn¡¯t exactly the goal.

    Once he finally pulled the rod out, Ming Feizhen reversed his grip on the rod as he slumped down to the bottom of a squat. He didn¡¯t crouch down due to the pain due to pain; he was biting his tongue the entire time to stay awake as he pulled it out. No mental or physical pain could stop him in that situation. He lowered himself merely to stop his blood from dripping onto the ground from a high height and alerting the three.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When Ming Feizhen recited the lines for Yan Jibei, it was to draw up what the status quo was for himself. If he spoke too fast or slow, Yan Jibei might¡¯ve lost too soon. If he raised his voice too much or was too t, the three might¡¯ve suspected him. Hence, he needed to sound as robotic as possible despite the challenge.

    Once Yan Jibei learnt what Ming Feizhen taught, Yan Jiangnan was on the path he wanted Yan Jiangnan to be on. As soon as Wu Ping backed out, it was the cue for Ming Feizhen to m his hand into one side of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s lower back. Yan Jiangnan then killed Yan Jibei, then became a cripple, while Ming Feizhen killed Wu Ping as he nned.

    Ming Feizhen had steady hands for sure, though it was his timing and skill that secured the kill. The upward thrust into Wu Ping¡¯s jaw wouldn¡¯t have killed Wu Ping right away, meaning Ming Feizhen had to keep driving it up against Wu Ping¡¯s strength. Like an anaconda, had he let up first, Wu Ping would¡¯ve turned the tables. For that reason, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t quit even after Wu Ping broke several parts of his arm during his resistance.

    Wu Ping¡¯s consciousness waned because Ming Feizhen drove the iron object almost up to his skull. Wu Ping¡¯s retaliation was purely survival instincts kicking in. The longer it dragged on, the weaker his attacks were, thereby increasing his danger whilst reducing his chances of survival. The converse was true for Ming Feizhen.

    Although Wu Ping eventually stopped resisting as a result of blood loss, Ming Feizhen continued applying pressure as he waited for confirmation that he finished Wu Ping. Once the air was still, following a momentary nk, Ming Feizhen slowly let go. Not only did he release his hold but also his tension. His mind was liberated from any thoughts in that moment as he allowed ecstasy and a sense of security to fill him. Ming Feizhen¡¯s humanness showed.

    In that fleeting moment Ming Feizhen enjoyed release from all his stressors, Wu Ping somehow cried out in a booming voice, ¡°Help!¡± Wu Ping¡¯s cry for help sabotaged all of Ming Feizhen¡¯s nning and efforts.

    ording to Ming Feizhen¡¯s calctions, he still had twenty hours before the three were supposed to switch with three others, granting him a window to continue his n. s, he was pulled back down to hell right after just crawling out of it.

 Book 13: Chapter 9

    Book 13: Chapter 9

    Thanks to the silver rays shining through the window, Yan Jiangnan could see the white hair, wounds and ghastly face. It was Yan Jiangnan¡¯s first time seeing Ming Feizhen¡¯s appearance properly, and he definitely resembled a corpse. If he wasn¡¯t in such horrible shape, Yan Jiangnan would¡¯veughed.

    The enraged captive pulled the iron object out of Wu Ping¡¯s jaw, plunged it into Wu Ping¡¯s corpse and then twisted it while it was still inside. Wu Ping was but only a corpse, yet Ming Feizhen tripped several times and scurried to his feet as though he was running out of time. Presumably still mad, he took up Wu Ping¡¯s sword to pierce Wu ping¡¯s face.

    Digging up someone¡¯s grave to desecrate their corpse ten years after their death wasn¡¯t anything new to avengers, so it was understandable for the ¡°weirdo¡± to mutte the corpse of the person who ruined his ns. That said, developing such an intense grudge for somebody you¡¯d barely just met was¡­ quite rare.

    Only when he watched with a more analytical mindset did Yan Jiangnan realise Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t actually venting. Every bit of damage inflicted was measured to the point that he assumed Ming Feizhen had choreographed the sequence beforehand. When Wu Ping wielded his sword, it wasparable to a grown man wielding a sewing needle ¨C nimble and full of variety. In Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands, it was wielded as a¡­ yes, a knife, not just any knife, though. It was akin to watching a doctor working a scalpel.

    Yan Jiangnan couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Feizhen cut off Wu Ping¡¯s fringe, shaved the strands of hair over the de and then started drawing circles. After a while, he saw Wu Ping¡¯s face in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands. Ming Feizhen stood up, dragged Wu Ping over to where he was originally restrained, albeit with quite a struggle, then cuffed Wu Ping¡¯s corpse the way he was cuffed. He unrobed Wu Ping and put him in a lying position simr to what he was in before.

    Next, Ming Feizhen fetched Yan Jiangnan¡¯s sword, sliced Yan Jibei¡¯s corpse mindlessly, then crouched down to do something. Subsequently, he moved Yan Jibei over to the table and set Yan Jibei¡¯s head down to resemble someone who passed out after some drinks.

    Just as Yan Jiangnan was freaking out due to bafflement, someone, from outside, asked, ¡°Did something happen in there?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen straightened up and inhaled deeply. He then suddenly charged at the door so hard that he knocked over the people on the other side. He immediately hurried to his feet and shouted, ¡°Stop right there!¡±

    The guards were totally baffled. Ming Feizhen looked as though he just took a bath in blood; even his face was mangled. Judging from the way he burst through the door and fell, hisbat abilities must¡¯ve beenpromised, as well. One of the guards who saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s shed-up face stuttered, ¡°M-Mr. W-¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped the guard viciously. ¡°What the hell are you looking at me for?! Huh?! What are you doing here when the assassin has escaped?!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan was startled to hear Ming Feizhen sound identical to Wu Ping.

    ¡°Who?¡± The dizzy guard queried. ¡°We have always been right outside, but we did not see anyone.¡±

    ¡°Are you blind?! The assassin infiltrated, hurt my brother and I, and then he just escaped in front of your eyes! Don¡¯t just stand here! Come chase him down with me, or I¡¯ll tell Mr. Zero about your dereliction of duty! I promise he¡¯ll amputate your arms and legs to turn you into ¡®human swine¡¯!¡±

    Aware that the punishment of being turned into a ¡°human swine¡± ¨C limbs chopped off, eyes gouged out, tongue, nose and ears cut off, forced to drink a muting drug, made dumb with toxins and locked in the pigsty ¨C the guards juddered. It was actually against policy for them to peek inside the prison. Due to the urgency of the situation, and the open door being opened, a few brave souls stole a quick gander.

    The guards saw exactly what Ming Feizhen wanted them to see ¨C blood for flooring, Yan Jibei barely breathing at the table, Yan Jiangnan ring whilst gasping for air from the ground and, fortunately, the prisoner still there. If the prisoner escaped, the whole group of them would be turned into ¡°human swine¡±.

    ¡°L-let¡¯s go!¡± As the twenty-plus guards went to give chase as instructed, their leader turned back when he noticed ¡°Wu Ping¡± not joining them. ¡°Are you noting with us?¡±

    Breathingboriously, Wu Ping replied, ¡°I¡¯m hurt quite bad, and the Yan brothers are also in bad condition. We¡¯ll likely forfeit our lives if we push ourselves. I¡¯ll nurse my wounds and help the brothers. Remember to lock the eight iron doors on your way out. We don¡¯t need any outsidersing in. Hurry now.¡±

    Once the eight heavy iron doors to the dungeon were lowered, it would take two hours to open one door even if someone knew how to open them. Hence, the guard opined, ¡°But if we lower the eight of them, nobody would be able to enter or exit for sixteen hours. Lowering them without notifying Mr. Zero first is a l-¡±

    Wu Ping pped the guard captain across the face as though thetter owed him money. ¡°It would take Mr. Zero an hour to arrive here at the earliest, you imbecile. The intruder must be one of the imperial court¡¯spdogs. He made quick work of us. If he has backup, there¡¯s nobody who can stop them from rescuing the captive. Are you so eager to be a ¡®human swine¡¯?! Once we lower the doors, our enemies will be cornered rats. If Mr. Zero can defeat them, he can capture them and thene to our aid. If he can¡¯t defeat them, we, at least, can stop them from escaping.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The guard captain couldn¡¯t abate his racing mind. Nobody had managed to infiltrate the new base since its inception, yet this intruder was able to easily hurt three adepts. He alone would be an ordeal to take down, let alone if he had reinforcements.

    ¡°You have a better idea?¡± Despite his condition, Wu Ping¡¯s gaze remained firm.

    ¡°I¡­ I shall go lower the doors right away!¡± With that, the guard sped off.

    Wu Ping hobbled back into the prison, using his sword as a crutch, once the guard was out of view. He chuckled to himself and then passed out on the ground.

    Glossary

    Human swine ¨CI inserted the nature of the punishment into the chapter so that you could understand what it entailed without having to break immersion to scroll or something. I¡¯m just going to give you some quick history on it now.

    During the Han dynasty, Empress Lv/Empress Lyu used the execution method to kill Concubine Qi. Emperor Hui was then taken to see the ¡°human swine¡± and became so shocked that he fell ill for a long time. When he saw his mother (Empress Lv), he said,¡±This is something done not by a human. As the empress dowager¡¯s son, I¡¯ll never be able to rule the empire.¡± From then onward Emperor Hui indulged himself in carnal pleasures and ignored state affairs, leaving all them to his mother, and this caused the power to fallpletely into her hands.

 Book 13: Chapter 10

    Book 13: Chapter 10

    Even though it was his personal room ¨C for now ¨C Dugu only had all the usual furniture in his room and very few personal belongings despite having plenty of room. He was paid a decent sry for sure; however, he didn¡¯t own anynd or real estate. In his capacity as a secret agent of the imperial family, he had to keep his assets a secret simr to his whereabouts.

    In the eyes of civil servants, Emperor¡¯s Entourage were essentially phantoms ¨C always out of sight but always monitoring their every move. This was the only way the agents would have any value. The agents weren¡¯t bestowed special titles thanks to their ancestors. Most of them didn¡¯t have children. Only those who had no attachments could devote their entire being to the imperial family. One of their unwritten rules was to not own real estate so that His Majesty would trust them. Hence, despite his injuries and unconscious state, Dugu Ye had to loan out one of Grand Commander Ye¡¯s ces.

    When the faint light came, the nts had a silvery sheen. Unfortunately, there were few nascent rays this morning.

    There was a belief that the fragrance of orchids was nicer indoors than outdoors when a breeze blew. They also said that they bloomed early in spring and shone during autumn as well as summer. Now that the temperature was trending upwards, the pot of orchids that Shen Yiren ced by the window could help calm one¡¯s mind.

    While Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t a fan of flowers, Shen Kuang was a big fan of them. Knowing his sister struggled with insomnia, he nted more orchids around her courtyard. Although it didn¡¯t treat the root of her insomnia issue, it was still a nice gesture. This pot she brought along with her for the person she visited was one of the pots that Shen Kuang nted.

    Though Shen Yiren¡¯s hands were arranging the orchids, her gaze was elsewhere, as was her mind. ¡°Thank you,¡± she expressed. She stopped arranging the flowers to give a respectful smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯de to so soon, so I didn¡¯t bring anything else.¡±

    Never did Dugu think the first person he¡¯d see upon waking was Liu Shan Men¡¯s vice-captain. He reciprocated the smile and gazed toward the flowers.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s my brother¡¯s work. He gives me a few every few days. I¡¯m no expert on flowers, so I usually offer them to Buddha.¡±

    ¡°Had you let this one think for a moment longer, he would have presumed something else.¡±

    ¡°I am honoured to know you would consider me a potential partner at all.¡± Shen Yiren helped Dugu sit up. The current culture paradigm would see people shun men and women who weren¡¯t family or romantic partners making physical contact. Shen Yiren, however, didn¡¯t care about such norms, surprising Dugu to an extent.

    Dugu could no longer remember when he first met Shen Yiren. For as long as he could remember, she was a constant topic in Emperor¡¯s Entourage. One reason was because she was the sessor of Liu Shan Men. The other reason, which was the most obvious one, was how much she stood out.

    Dugu looked at Shen Yiren¡¯s garments, her sword hanging from her sash, her boots and then remarked, ¡°You are alone again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Understanding what Dugu meant, Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°Xiao Han and Yan Ling have leads to follow, so they have split off. As for Feizhen, I am searching for him and will find him.¡±

    Hearing Shen Yiren¡¯s signature determined tone but with the poignant tone in the past, Dugu smiled. ¡°That is good to hear.¡±

    ¡°I dropped by since it was on the way to my destination, but I couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than for you to wake up. I was hoping I could hear your ount.¡±

    Dugu bobbed his head, expecting as much. Despite having just regained conscious and being pummelled with questions, his expertise in intelligence analysis made it possible for him to provide a detailed recount.

    ¡°That is the whole story. I actually told mymander what I could when I woke for a short moment. This ount is pretty much the same as what I told him.¡±

    Shen Yiren analysed the information in her mind. The bronze-masked killer¡¯s whereabouts and motivations were unknown; there was no predictability in his attacks. Yet, he fled when he encountered Dugu and then caught him off guard. While it was admirable for him to beat Dugu, his strategy against Dugu made him ¡°human¡±. The killer wouldn¡¯t have ran away the way he did if he didn¡¯t need to fulfil some condition or conditions. In the same vein, he wouldn¡¯t have needed to catch Dugu by surprise and yet still failed to kill Dugu.

    The worst sort of enemy was one without desire and was unpredictable. Once the enemy was ssified as just another ¡°human being¡± who needed to be taken down using ¡°strategy¡±, then there was a box to think within.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Do you remember how he delivered the blow that defeated you?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Why did youugh?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I just feel you are growing into bigger boots. Mymander asked the exact same question after a long and hard think.¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest, Brother Dugu. I can¡¯t hold a candle to Grand Commander Ye. It is understandable for you not to know since he caught you from behind. In saying that, it¡¯s inevitable for there to be signs before someone strikes. Did you notice anything deserving of extra attention before you were attacked? This is all I want to know.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Miss Shen, please edify me on a martial arts discipline.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°My skillse from my teacher, and I don¡¯t know much about other disciplines. Shen n has served as martial officials for generations, so you may recognise his broadsword techniques.¡±

    That was an extremely modest thing for Dugu to say. It was true, however, that Shen Yiren might¡¯ve had a perspective he didn¡¯t have.

    ¡°Broadsword? He wields a broadsword?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I am sure of it. He just tries to refrain from using it. I wish to hear your take on his broadswordy.¡± Dugu proceeded to convey his opinions.

    ¡°So¡­ he suddenly vanished from in front of your eyes and tagged you from behind? That is movement. What does it have to do with broadswordy?¡±

    ¡°That was my initial thought. Subsequent to reflecting, though, I can swear I saw him hundreds of steps away from me. After he chopped me, he moved away even faster. At most, he was only a few dozens of steps away when he disengaged. How could he have moved hundreds of steps? I suspect this difference is attributed to broadswordy, not movement!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 11

    Book 13: Chapter 11

    ¡°His chop should¡¯ve been fatal¡­ Unlikemon true qi armours, I can use my shield skill at will, but I didn¡¯t expect a blow to the back of my head, so the shield I produced wasn¡¯t as sturdy as it needed to be. Without it, I would be dead.

    ¡°Based on what I gleaned from the corpses, there are many things to consider. Sometimes, he attacked with as much precision and speed as conceivable. Otherwise, he used his de as though it was blunt. In particr, the way he butchered Xianyu Tuo was no better than a clumsy and untrained man¡¯s work.¡±

    Upon scrutinising Dugu¡¯s wounds and further rumination, Shen Yiren questioned, ¡°Your shield skill is without equal. Your injuries would not be severe to this extent if the strike came front on, correct?¡¯

    Dugu smiled. ¡°I dare not im it is without equal. Nevertheless, I should have gotten away unscathed.¡±

    Among the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, nobody had a defensive skill that could rival Dugu¡¯s; there were very few Non-Divine Realm people who could break it. Tianhu would have to use some degree of trickery on top of more than fifty exchanges to break the shield. Dugu¡¯s ranking on Seventeen Hidden Dragons could be solely attributed to the shield that protected Emperor Yuansheng alone.

    ¡°The fact that you are here now means that the killer simply caught you with something you didn¡¯t seeing, and you didn¡¯t have enough time to erect your best defence. I believe the reason for all this is due to theck of time.¡±

    ¡°Are you suggesting that he couldn¡¯t utilise his full power because he was in a hurry to leave? So, he was unable to kill me in that situation, not just incapable of killing me?¡± Dugu pondered the feasibility of the theory, then shook his head. ¡°We didn¡¯t have even trade blows once during the pursuit. He moved in a way I had never seen before; I even had trouble keeping up. Therefore, he had no reason to rush. In the scenario that he didn¡¯t know about my technique and couldn¡¯t confirm I was dead, what about Brother Xianyu?¡±

    Dugu was many levels above Xianyu Tuo, so why would the killer be pressed for time when killing someone considerably weaker than someone he could beat in one attack?

    ¡°But you have evidently considered the possibility. The only reason you didn¡¯t mention it is because you¡¯re not convinced.¡± Shen Yiren noticed Dugu was constantly contemting whether to voice his thoughts.

    ¡°Indeed. However¡­ it sounds like we are suspending reality too far.¡±

    ¡°This is what you meant by seeking my insight, I assume?¡±

    Dugu wore on a stern visage as if he was reliving that night. ¡°As I mentioned just before, he was, at least, three hundred steps away from me; I¡¯m absolutely certain of that. There¡¯s no movement discipline in existence that can empower someone to move hundreds of steps in a second. Sir Tianhu is exceptional in the speed domain, but there is no way he could hit someone with a de and then leap a hundred steps away in the next second. If the criminal is superior to Sir Tianhu, what are we even trying for? How many people in the capital could offer him a challenge?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you believe what makes him dangerous isn¡¯t his movement abilities but his broadswordy? What sort of broadswordy do you think it is?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s right. ordingly, I have a theory. What if¡­ he was already a hundred or two hundred steps away when he attacked me?¡±

    ¡°Hurting someone with a de from a hundred steps away? That¡­¡±

    ¡°Based on my observation of his qinggong, if he delivered the attack from two hundred steps away, then he could leap dozens of steps as I dropped to create the impression that he leapt three hundred steps away. Miss Shen, have you heard of any de discipline that contains techniques where the practitioner executes their target from a hundred steps away?¡±

    Shen Yiren thought long and hard, but she shook her head in the end. ¡°I have heard of wielding a sword using qi. Patriarch Luo is one of my shifus. He was called ¡®Heavenly Swordsman¡¯ when he was active in the pugilistic world precisely because of that skill. If he didn¡¯t use the Enlightenment of legends, though, it¡¯d be impossible for him to kill someone from a hundred steps away. The broadswordy you speak of is unimaginable¡­¡±

    Despite what she said, Shen Yiren continued thinking under the assumption that the method existed. As long as the idea was supported, then it¡¯d logically exin why they couldn¡¯t find any traces as well as why Dugu Ye and Xianyu Tuo weren¡¯t killed as easily as other victims. If the killer was wielding his weapon through qi from afar, then controlling his output would be a challenge. If he was a hundred steps away, then the only trauma he could inflict on targets came from his arm strength, uracy and the weapon itself. While the idea was wild, Shen Yiren had been surprised enough times to not speak in absolutes.

    On her way out, Shen Yiren came across a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, prompting her to stop. He was watching the fish in the pond, taking his time feeding them and enjoying their efforts to leap out of the water. ¡°Shall we have a chat?¡± he suddenly queried.

    Shen Yiren gave a small bow. ¡°Hello, Uncle Ye.¡±

    Even though he was stuck in a wheelchair, Ye Yu emanated a yful aura simr to that of a kid enamoured with some toy. The man with his hair casually syed said, ¡°Huang Yuzao has been abducted. Are you worried? Look at how on edge you are. Instead of taking after your father, you¡¯ve taken after Yan Shisan.¡±

    ¡°I am n-¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen was his name, wasn¡¯t it? I hear you two get along quite well. That¡¯s nice. Yan Shisan and your father would approve.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but may I ask what you are saying is nice?¡±

    ¡°Nice is nice. In any case, it can¡¯t be ¡®not nice¡¯. Where are you headed?¡±

    ¡°I am off t-¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to go. There¡¯s nothing to see at Daren Academy; you¡¯ll just be wasting your time.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Shen Yiren had been subjected to Ye Yu¡¯s confusing, disconnected way of speaking akin to a child switching moods. Still, she had no clue how tomunicate with him. When herte father was still alive, he could keep the man under control. Now, he was a menace in the eyes of every civil servant.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to visit the scene where Huang Yuzao was abducted, either. It¡¯s a waste of time, too.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying the two ces aren¡¯t worth a look. They should be examined, but you don¡¯t need to go.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°May Yiren ask what insight you have for her?¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one this case has triggered. Of course, His Majesty isn¡¯t the only person angry, either. His Majesty must be struggling to fend off all the attacksing his way. Liu Shan Men doesn¡¯t need to get involved.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°By the way, have you worked it out?¡± Ye Yu turned his head to make eye contact. ¡°Wang Muren is going to start.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 12

    Book 13: Chapter 12

    Wang Muren ¨C grandmander of the Qilin Guards and holder of the Baima title ¨C was not only a legend but also the goal many wished to be. Most of the stories surrounding the exalted scion of Wang n were closer to myths than actual ounts of real events.

    Wang Muren was credited with bringing the Qilin Guards back up to Liu Shan Men and Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s levels. Despite him being considered inferior to Yan Shisan, Shen Yiren, more than anyone else, knew how powerful Liu Shan Men used to be; anyone who knew Liu Shan Men¡¯s history well would know.

    In an era where the man who was considered the closest to bing the mightiest in all thend, Demon King Ximen, led the only faction that seemed powerful enough to topple the imperial court in thest century, Liu Shan Men was the only faction that didn¡¯t back down against Demon Sect.

    Liu Shan Men declined rapidly six years ago due to the loss of their three cornerstones ¨C Shen n, which carried on Liu Shan Men¡¯s authentic skills, Yan Shisan, who led them forward, and the twelve Divine Constables who were the main carries.

    Liu Shan Men originally had what they called seventy-two Celestial Gates, where each captain of each Celestial Gate would lead three hundred constables each. These groups joined the Qilin Guards and immediately became the fifth strongest force ¨C Qinglin (Cyan Scales), Chilin (Crimson Scales) and Feiyu (Flying Fish).

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s intelligence officers across Jiangnan¡¯s north, Nanjiang, Beijiang and the Western Regions¡¯ left for Emperor¡¯s Entourage, making up 20% of Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents.

    Of the seventy-two Celestial Gate captains, twenty-six of them were immediately transferred to the five chief militarymissions. Eight of them joined the Imperial Guards asmanders.

    The Liu Shan Men trainees across thend converted to roving warriors, making up 30% of the imperial court¡¯s frence warriors.

    A number of Liu Shan Men personnel retired from their job or followed their immediate superior to unknown ces.

    Even though many of Liu Shan Men¡¯s branches were empty or left unattended owing to manpower shortages, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t let Qilin Guards take over those branches. If Qilin Guards needed new offices, he¡¯d provide them with new ces ornd to build on. Clearly, Emperor Yuansheng still trusted Liu Shan Men. So, it shouldn¡¯t be hard to imagine how much power he gave them during Shen Wuzheng¡¯s time. In the same vein, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine the power Yan Shisan had when he was at the forefront of the war against Ximen Chuideng.

    In spite of all that, Wang Muren wed his way up and managed to stabilise Qilin Guards when their ce on the board was constantly being reduced. When the time was ripe, he promptly snatched up Liu Shan Men¡¯s resources to rece them as the imperial court¡¯s strongest unit in the martial world. Without him, even if Liu Shan Men didn¡¯t exist, Qilin Guards wouldn¡¯t be what it was now.

    Perhaps all of Wang Muren¡¯s gifts were invested into his talents, resulting in his tolerance threshold being extremely low. He respectedws and regtions, but there was nobody he had qualms osting. That was the reason nobody dared to make an enemy out of him. Had he not been protecting the border from foreign invaders, Liu Shan Men wouldn¡¯t have had any space to breathe, let alone expand. Even with Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s aid, it¡¯d have been difficult for Liu Shan Men to rebuild for as long as he presiding over the capital.

    ¡°Grand Commander Wang¡­ ising back?¡± Shen Yiren blurted.

    Ye Yu turned back to the fishes as he leisurely replied, ¡°What would happen to the Qilin Guards¡¯ reputation if they couldn¡¯t squash the chaos in the capital? During the battle at Lawless Cliff, while Tianhu, Yingfeng and I were fighting, he didn¡¯t lift a finger unless it was necessary; he behaved as though nobody was worthy of being his opponent.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°It is indisputable that few can measure up to Grand Commander Wang.¡±

    ¡°My foot. He has be the physical form of arrogance. He most certainly is strong, but he wasn¡¯t invincible six years ago. Had he joined, though, I could¡¯ve turned Ximen Chuideng to dust and avenged your father.¡± Ye Yu scoffed through his nose. ¡°If he was there on that day, I wouldn¡¯t have lost my legs to Ximen Chuideng, either.¡±

    Ye Luo¡¯s father was already famous across thend for his prowess from the erstwhile Emperor¡¯s era. Ironically, he was equally as arrogant as Wang Muren in his younger days. If Shen Yiren was popr in the imperial court, then Wang Muren and Ye Yu, as the respective leaders of Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage, were ultra popr.

    Shen Yiren never judged Ye Yu his odd character the same way many others did for he was one of her father¡¯s best friends. She remembered visiting Ye Yu¡¯s home as a six year old, learning how to use hidden weapons, learning qinggong and how to ride horses from him; every time, her mother would feel an urge to grab a kitchen knife and pay him a visit. As a matter of fact, her excellent equestrian skillsparable that of equestrians in Beijiang was Ye Yu¡¯s credit.

    Following Shen Wuzheng¡¯s passing, Ye Yu would lock himself at home and drown his woes in alcohol. Otherwise, he¡¯d spend his time researching Demon Sect. During the battle at Lawless Cliff, he was the first to attack and the one who did the highest volume of work. Unfortunately, it was that battle that cost him his legs.

    Shen Yiren believed Ye Yu was thest Tianhu. The current Tianhu was excessively youngpared to others. Moreover, contrary to the current Tianhu, the previous Tianhu avoided public appearances. Six years ago, Tianhu¡¯s whereabouts and actions were known to very few people.

    Ye Yun wagged his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that poignant look; save it for when I¡¯m dead. You¡¯re kind like your father, but kind people live short lives. I suggest you do something about that kindness as soon as you can. Nobody in the pugilistic world expects to age healthily. Ximen Chuideng is known to be protective of his people. If you think about it, I won considering I only lost two legs as a consequence for killing Wen Wudao. What happened to Ximen Chuideng in the end? He fell off Lawless Cliff. Is he happy?¡±

    While some people would develop an inferiorityplex over their ¡°imperfect¡± body, Ye Yu had no issues talking about how he lost his legs.

    ¡°Wang Muren has improved a lot in recent years. None of the Beijiangers dare to challenge him nowadays. Given how arrogant he was before, I bet he doesn¡¯t think he needs to personally bother at this point. He¡¯ll send some minion over in his ce.¡±

    ¡°Minion¡­?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Yi Ya.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 13

    Book 13: Chapter 13

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t expect to hear that name.

    ¡°I told you, Ye, Tingzhu and his sister, and a few other kids years ago that, among all of you, at the end of your martial arts journeys, Yi Ya would be the strongest. It¡¯s a pity he¡¯s stupid. He was doing fine in the capital, but, no, he runs off to suffer with Wang Muren at the border. ounting for your potentials, he was around 30% to 40% better than you. However, because of his stupid decision to serve at the border, he¡¯s had more opportunities to polish his skills, so he¡¯s now much farther ahead of you. A few years ago, he was ranked fourth on Seventeen Hidden Dragons. Now, I don¡¯t think anyone besides that Leng kid can match him.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t just know the Qilin Guards¡¯uded fighter; he even mentally defeated her. Shen Yiren¡¯s toughest obstacles in the capital were the Qilin Guards, not Wang Muren. Their standings were too far apart to cross paths; Shen Yiren never assumed she¡¯d be able to challenge him. When Yi Ya emerged on the scene, though, she started questioning if she was qualified to lead Liu Shan Men.

    Wang Muren wasn¡¯t sending his right-hand man back to the capital because the problems were too trivial to warrant his intervention. To the contrary, sending Yi Ya was a sign that Wang Muren took the situation serious.

    ¡°With Yi Ya¡¯s return, you know how much free time Liu Shan Men will have on its hands.¡± Ye Yu knew what was going through Shen Yiren¡¯s mind even though his attention was on feeding the fishes. ¡°There¡¯s no room for Liu Shan Men¡¯s involvement in this case. Huang Yuzao isn¡¯t only the patriarch of Canghai Sect, but he¡¯s also a symbol for schrs. There is more than one meaning to His Majesty having Huang Yuzao preside over Daren Academy.¡±

    When schrs had peace, everyone in the world had peace. Emperor Yuansheng asked for Huang Yuzao¡¯s help in the first ce with many intentions in mind. If their leader was in trouble, schrs would lose trust in the imperial court and begin attacking the imperial court, as well. That would lead the nation onto the course for disaster.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s palms felt cold despite it being a true summer day. She inhaled deeply before questioning, ¡°This is your work?¡±

    ¡°This old one isn¡¯t an official in the imperial court, and it has nothing to do with him. I never said it, but His Majesty understands. This is not the time and ce for kids to be ying house. He¡¯s the sovereign of a kingdom; he knows what he should do for his nation¡¯s sake and who should be dealing with what task. I know I¡¯m proud, upright and aloof; your mother¡¯s highest evaluation of me was ¡®Still can be considered human¡¯, and I feel her praise is too high. I¡¯m more often less human than I am human.

    ¡°Wang Muren is hubristic, and he¡¯s also loyal to His Majesty. Ever seen a prince, earl or duke pick a fight with him? They¡¯d be more than happy to erect a statue in his likeness at their door.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the noble aspiration to serve the people like Liu Shan Men, but I can incite chaos in the pugilistic world at will. Wang Muren can kill anyone and everyone in the pugilistic world. He doesn¡¯t care, and I don¡¯t care, but you care.

    ¡°He¡¯s an eagle. I¡¯m a dog. We serve His Majesty and are willing to get our hands dirty. What can you do? Right now, the imperial court doesn¡¯t need Liu Shan Men, especially your Liu Shan Men. So my questions for you are, what is your destination? What do you want to achieve? And what should you do?¡±

    Shen Yiren got the message from when Yi Ya was reported to be returning to the capital. Yi Ya¡¯s return implied that the Qilin Guards would have a provisionalmander to fill in the void in the central area. In other words, Yi Ya would be given the reigns in the capital, and Liu Shan Men¡¯s assistance would be redundant. It signified that everything Liu Shan Men had achieved to restore their glory had been washed away, banishing Liu Shan Men back to oblivion.

    The worst part for Shen Yiren was that she was aware that Liu Shan Men was of little help under the current circumstances ¨C even with Feizhen¡¯s firepower. To solve the problems they were presently facing, they needed manpower ¨C several times more than what they currently had. She had neither the manpower nor Ming Feizhen.

    Shen Yiren returned to Liu Shan Men without any recollection of what happened between her conversation with Ye Yu and journey back to Liu Shan Men. She was so lost for direction following the conversation that she decided to go home and sleep. There was a nk period in her memory from then until the next morning, when she woke up.

    Nobody and nothing came for Shen Yiren while she was sleeping; it was just as if Liu Shan Men had just vanished without any consequences. The employees were still as busy as usual. Howbeit, instead of feeling proud and pleased, it was extremely frustrating to see. Not one thing they did had any bearing on the anarchy taking ce outside their walls. It was a reminder to her that their efforts were futile.

    What took years of work and sacrifices was but a mundane task for the Qilin Guards who took over. The jobs that they would throw out, consider no skin off their back, were the jobs Shen Yiren would ept without hesitation. It had never been so apparent ¨C or perhaps she hadn¡¯t stopped to check until now ¨C that the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage still didn¡¯t consider her Liu Shan Men a threat. She was still just a powerless girl; nothing had changed.

    Shen Yiren exhaled at the heavens, got out of bed, got dressed, washed her face and then made her way out of her room.

    ***

    ¡°My humble respects, Sir.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°There¡¯s tea over there. There¡¯s no medicine for you. Although medicine could expedite your recovery, you¡¯re not getting any for embarrassing yourself. Sit. I assume you want to bring up Yiren? There¡¯s nothing to fret about. What hasn¡¯t she been through?¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Had Dugu not grown used to his superior answering all the questions he had before he could ask, he¡¯d have issuesing up with topics on the spot. ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°This tea is a gift to His Majesty, so you can¡¯t drink it. As for what you want to ask, listen to this story. Once upon a time, there was a man called Jia Chong who admired a man named Xia Tong. Jia Chong rearranged the military, adorned the steeds and carriages, ordered horns be blown louder as they passed Xia Tong. He then had beautiful maidens dance and sing before Xia Tong, yet Xia Tong didn¡¯t budge. Thus, Jia Chong said, ¡®This youngster of Wu has a body of wood and a heart of stone.¡¯ Understand now?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Right.¡±

    Glossary

    Leng kid ¨C In case you have forgotten, I¡¯m hedging my bets on him referring to Leng Jingliu, Shen Wuzheng¡¯s disciple, who gave Ming Feizhen quite the challenge back in Miguo arc.

    Jia Chong and Xia Tong story ¨C I ended up writing out the whole exnation and background information in this section, only to find out it was exined in the next chapter¡­ For now, don¡¯t worry about understanding the story because the section before this section is assumed knowledge. In the old days, not having the assumed knowledge was a sign that you didn¡¯t read enough, a sign that you were less literate, or possibly even not very knowledgeable at all. This is one reason reading archaic texts can be a headache. The author has to exin it in the next chapter as not even native speakers know it since it¡¯s no longer necessary to understand archaic Chinese.

    I tried my best to trante it in a way that doesn¡¯t remove too much of the vour, s¡­ This is derived from Volume 4 of ¡°Book of Jin¡±, which was initially published in 648, so you can imagine how different the writing style ispared to what you see now in the most webnovels.

 Book 13: Chapter 14

    Book 13: Chapter 14

    In the Jin Dynasty, there was a famous reclusive schr named Xia Tong. Defender-in-chief, Jia Chong, wanted to employ Xia Tong¡¯s talents upon hearing of thetter¡¯s stories. On a trip to Luoyang, Jia Chong witnessed Xia Tong¡¯s sonorous, clear voice that ovee the strong winds, travelled through the water and resonated in heaven. People would say that a trip to Luoyang just to hear Xia Tong would be worth it.

    The event motivated Jia Chong even more to recruit Xia Tong, so he rearranged his army, switched their gs for shy gs, had his soldiers carry themselves as though they were at a ceremony and adorned their horses and carriages. Jia Chong told Xia Tong that Xia Tong couldmand this army and ride in the luxurious carriages if Xia Tong joined him, but Xia Tong gave him the cold shoulder.

    Not yet resigned to defeat, Jia Chong ordered the beautiful women in the city to doll up and waltz around Xia Tong, unting their best voices and dance moves. Nheless, Xia Tong, once again, didn¡¯t bite.

    Owing to his two failures, Jia Chong said of Xia Tong, ¡°This youngster from Wu has a body of wood and a heart of stone.¡±

    Nowadays, ¡°a body of wood and a heart of stone¡± is a phrase used to describe someone as indifferent or having an indomitable spirit.

    Upon stepping out of her room, Shen Yiren heard people arguing, which was a rare urrence at the office. Every step she took cleared up her confusion a little more. Standing at the entrance of her study were Su Xiao, Tang Ye and the female constables. Standing on the opposite side of them were the Song brothers.

    ¡°You can say whatever you like. You¡¯re not allowed to touch anything here!¡± Su Xiao asserted, arms outstretched to indicate he wasn¡¯t letting the siblings inside. ¡°The documents are the documents Vice-Captain usually reads, and many other things within are her property. What gives you the right to take her stuff without permission?!¡±

    Bai Yeshuang, standing next to Su Xiao, sternly added, ¡°Exactly. You think you can just trespass and waltz off with her property? What are we? Corpses?¡± Bai Yeshuang was known for being polite, but she was incredibly assertive today.

    Song Ou snapped, ¡°Know your ce. I am the captain of Liu Shan Men. I have every right to touch anything I want on these grounds. No matter how you slice it, Yiren is part of Song n. What are you lot running your mouths for when she hasn¡¯t spoken up? If you don¡¯t like it, call her over.¡±

    Su Xiao ranted, ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. She¡¯s been exhausted. The Qilin Guards have taken our jobs. We¡¯re left with menial patrol jobs. Do you have in-grown eyes? Didn¡¯t you see what state she was in when she returnedst night?¡±

    ¡°What did you say about me? Listen, you Su Xiao Han, watch your tongue!¡±

    ¡°I said, you¡¯re heartless! Otherwise, how do youck any notion of empathy? Vice-Captain does all the heavy lifting and gives you the credit for her work, yet you¡¯re now trying to steal from your own people when Liu Shan Men is in a pinch!¡±

    Shen Yiren silently walked into the middle of the crowd. Though nobody visited her yesterday, it was clear there were people who cared about her wellbeing.

    Shen Yiren: You¡¯re a pretty smart bunch.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°If you want to enter, you¡¯ll have to step over my dead b-, eh, Vice-Captain?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, you think such childish tricks can fool me? Let me remind you that I¡¯m the boss around here. Since you¡¯re not very smart, let me imprint into your head for you!¡± Song Ou had yet toplete his first stride when he saw Shen Yiren¡¯s fatigued visage flit past. ¡°Yiren!¡± he eximed as he scuttled back six steps. ¡°I-I-I-I, Y-Yiren, wh-what brings you here?¡±

    Shen Yiren eyed the rtively small study. Unless she was out of town, there was never a day where Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t spend some time of her day at this study; actually, she might¡¯ve spent even more time at the study than out on jobs. Hence, the small difference to it today stuck out like a sore thumb.

    ¡°Mm¡­ The que was showing its age, and the southeast wall had some cracks. If we don¡¯t renovate it, something bad might happen, Xiao Han.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, right.¡±

    ¡°See if you can get abourer over today to fix it.¡±

    Though he didn¡¯t understand why Shen Yiren was so indifferent, Su Xiao continued ring daggers at the Song brothers. ¡°Okay¡­ But¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Shen Yiren scrubbed Su Xiao¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m proud of all of you. I¡¯m happy.¡± She then turned around to the brothers and pointed at Song Ch. ¡°Song Chi, what are you here for?¡±

    Su Xiao fumed, ¡°Vice-Captain, they want to take things from the study. They already had people move half of the stuff out before Tang Ye and I returned this morning.¡±

    Shen Yiren nodded with an emotionless expression. ¡°Song Chi, you are a guest at my house but not at Liu Shan Men. You are an owner at your house, but you¡¯re not the owner at Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Song Chi smiled and held his hands in salute. ¡°I would never be so presumptuous. Even at home, I am at your beck and call. I am here today under my brother¡¯s instructions. I would never presume I am above you or my brother. However, in light of the fact that my brother believed it was painfully necessary for him to take action before notifying you, I am merely here to lend a hand.¡±

    From behind Shen Yiren, Lan Kn grouched, ¡°Oh, emptying out Vice-Captain¡¯s room is just lending a hand? That¡¯s quite the big hand you have.¡±

    Shen Yiren raised a hand to signal for them to hush. ¡°Song Ou, this is your idea?¡±

    Song Ou looked to Song Chi forthwith. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ It wasn¡¯t my idea. I mean, I was only¡­¡±

    ¡°Sister-in-Law, my brother was merely following His Majesty¡¯s orders. Going forward, Liu Shan Men must wholeheartedly work alongside Emperor¡¯s Entourage and the Qilin Guards¡¯ operations. At the same time, Liu Shan Men must not neglect security in the capital. I believe it is safe to assume you already know the reason. As the captain of Liu Shan Men, my brother had to take action upon receiving His Majesty¡¯s decree. Since my brother was aware that you usually leave documents here, he believed it was only right for him to take them back to his office in Vermillion Hall.¡±

    There were enemies outside their walls and now two opportunists inside trying to seize power. The constables were ready to dish out some pain as soon as they were given the order.

    Shen Yiren stared at the brothers without a word for a long while before finally saying, ¡°Fine. Have it your way.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 15

    Book 13: Chapter 15

    Shen Yiren chuckled at her subordinates reactions of disbelief. ¡°Don¡¯t keep standing there. Help them move the stuff.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang: ¡°But¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren dimpled. ¡°Captain is right. In terms of rank, he is the leader of Liu Shan Men. I shouldn¡¯t have had to handle those documents. It¡¯s time to return them to the person in charge of them.¡±

    Forget Song Ou. Even Song Chi¡¯s brain had yet toe around. They knew Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t be be happy about it. They might¡¯ve expected her to start swinging, screaming or reporting them to Emperor Yuansheng, but they never expected her to acquesice.

    The entire event was premediated. The decree was real, but Song Ou just leveraged the circumstances to seize power. Liu Shan Men was a free bank ount and army for Song n, and it wasn¡¯t within the realm of things Song Chi was concerned about. Furthermore, ording to Song Chi¡¯s understanding,their n had yet to earn Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s trust. Therefore, in the current forecast, Liu Shan Men would neither have any big roles nor be of much help. Song Chi ounted for every strategic and physical challenge that might¡¯ve presented itself. ordingly, he had Song n¡¯s adepts from Yangzhou hiding around Liu Shan Men in case he needed to get physical, but Shen Yiren¡¯s reaction was unounted for and unforeseen.

    The brothers couldn¡¯t determine if Shen Yiren still had another trick up her sleeve or just feigning indifference.

    ¡°If you want to move stuff, help yourselves.¡± Shen Yiren had a nce at her study as though she was reluctantly bidding it farewell prior strolling off without looking back.

    As Shen Yiren passed by him, Song Chi quietly said, ¡°Had you stuck to being just my sister-inw, this wouldn¡¯t have happened.¡±

    Shen Yiren just continued on her way, puzzling Song Chi even more, impelling him to question if he was wrong all along.

    Once Shen Yiren was out of sight, Song Ou straightened up his back again and confronted Su Xiao because Su Xiao fought back hardest before. ¡°Hear that?¡±

    Su Xiao lowered his head and, in a muffled voice, answered, ¡°I heard.¡±

    ¡°Understand where you stand now?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    Song Ou pped Su Xiao over the head viciously. ¡°What are you standing here for, then? I want you to start moving the scrolls first.¡±

    Su Xiao looked Song Ou in the eye. ¡°I. Refuse!¡±

    ¡°What did you say?! What gives you the right to refuse?!¡±

    ¡°None. I just refuse.¡±

    If Song Ou couldn¡¯t put the l-, boy in his ce, how could he expect others to obey him at the office? Hence, he drew his sword and thundered, ¡°You going to do as you¡¯re told or not?!¡±

    Su Xiao stepped back as the sword cut into his private space. ¡°No!¡±

    As soon as Song Ou missed his three-hitbo, heunched another one.

    Six Phenomena Swordy might¡¯ve been a foundational discipline for Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables, but constables were only taught the first three moves. The remaining three moves required one to have reached a certain level in their training to have any hope of mastering them.

    Though Su Xiao recognised Song Ou¡¯s three attacks were feints once he leaned his head back and saw Song Ou change direction to catch him with the fifth move, it was toote.

    Since it was his first easy victory since serving as Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain, Song Ou was immediately full of himself. ¡°I could kill you without breaking a sweat. Now, are you going to do as you¡¯re told or not?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao looked away as if Song Ou¡¯s appearance was harmful on the eyes. ¡°I know you hold a higher rank than I and that the decree came from His Majesty. You hold the advantage over me in every way, but I don¡¯t respect you. I won¡¯t take any orders from you. If you bite me, I¡¯ll bite back. If you hit me, I¡¯ll hit back. If you kill me, so what? People will remember me as a hero who stood his ground. It¡¯s easy for you to kill me, but it¡¯s impossible for you to make me submit.¡±

    ¡°You really want to die, don¡¯t you?!¡±

    Su Xiao looked Song Ou dead in the eye despite having a sword at his neck. ¡°Myst name is Su, first name is Xiao. Do as you please. I¡¯m an impulsive person!¡±

    Song Ou, face as white as a sheet, never really had an intention to kill anyone. After being publicly humiliated, though, his hand on his sword that was increasingly heavy started to shake. Suddenly, the weight was lifted. By the time he focused on it again, he felt a burning sensation from his hand.

    Whilst disarming Song Ou, Tang Ye had already pulled Su Xiao behind him and retreated. ¡°Captain, Xiao Han is a kid. There is no need to draw a sword on him, is there?¡±

    As he didn¡¯t want to spill blood, Song Ou responded, ¡°As you have pleaded on his behalf, I shall spare him this once¡­ Wait, Tang Ye, where are you going?¡±

    Tang Ye looked over his shoulder. ¡°Ming Feizhen has gone missing. I¡¯m going to go search for him.¡±

    As soon as he heard ¡°Ming Feizhen¡±, Song Ou inhaled through his nose and then eximed, ¡°I don¡¯t approve!¡±

    Tang Ye calmly replied, ¡°Even His Majesty has given the decree to search for him. Why can¡¯t I search for him?¡±

    ¡°That is precisely why you cannot go,¡± Song Chi condescendingly voiced. ¡°Why waste extra resources when there a search team for him already exists? We have more important duties as constables of Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°Such as daily patrols?¡±

    ¡°That is a service for the people. Isn¡¯t that your favourite form of Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Tang Ye stood as still as a statue for a while, then released Su Xiao and sighed. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s fight.¡±

    ¡°Halt.¡± Shen Yiren drew all eyes over to her. She had attached Yujing to her stash and was trodding over atop Battle Cloud. ¡°Why do you need to fight during a meeting?¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°These two. You sure have an eye for people. Not one of them follows instructions.¡±

    Looking back condescendingly, Shen Yiren asked, ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask the obvious! Su Xiao and Tang Ye! You said you¡¯re impartial. What are you going to do about these two now?!¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡± Shen Yiren looked over to the duo. ¡°Tang Ye, Su Xiao.¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye: ¡°Present!¡±

    ¡°You would dare to defy orders?¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye: ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°Are apologies of any practical use?¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye: ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Do you ept your punishment?¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye: ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I hereby fire the two of you. Get out of Liu Shan Men! Now!¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye: ¡°Understood!¡±

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye draped their arms over each other¡¯s shoulders and jogged off as though they were heading out for a pic.

    ¡°Wh-wh-wh-wh-¡° Song Ou had yet to react to that matter when he espied Shen Yiren ride off. ¡°Wh-where are you going now?¡±

    Shen Yiren casually answered, ¡°I¡¯ve thought long and hard. Rather than doing what I can¡¯t, why not do what I can first?¡±

    Everyone present: And what is that?

    Shen Yiren smiled the same way she would after a refreshing swig of wine. ¡°With my light sword and fast horse, I shall adventure in the pugilistic world once again.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 16

    Book 13: Chapter 16

    ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± The two words that hit Ming Feizhen¡¯s ears sounded as though it was someone with a rock in his throat enunciating them.

    Ming Feizhen opened his eyes to find himself still in the dark, bleak and damp dungeon. His body was still on fire, fractures were still healing, and he still couldn¡¯t utilise internal energy for another month. If it wasn¡¯t for the chilly sword edge at his neck, he¡¯d be celebrating. After all, he had lost track of events in the outside world for quite some time.

    Ming Feizhen surmised Emperor Yuansheng was too busy to spare manpower to search for him, especially considering the significance behind Huang Yuzao¡¯s absence. If Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t held up, he wouldn¡¯t have returned to the capitalte, and, by the sounds of things, Fiends¡¯ Genesis had to have had a role in it.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao must have their hands full if they¡¯re following my instructions. Boss¡­ must be searching for me¡­

    For an inexplicable reason, Ming Feizhen had a vivid image of Shen Yiren galloping towards his direction to rescue him.

    Ming Feizhen day dreamt for a while before looking up at the shaky white-haired man holding him at de point.

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s white hair appeared as though it was sapped of moisture. Wu Ping¡¯s sword looked as intimidating as thin tin in his shaky hand.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls. ¡°Have alcohol?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed. ¡°I forgot you only have a pot of tea here. Could I bother you to pour me a cup of tea?¡±

    ¡°Stop acting smart! Who exactly are you? How do you know my ancestor¡¯s martial arts discipline? Why are you being held here? Wh-why did you kill my brother?!¡± Yan Jiangnan¡¯s voice was so uncharacteristically shaky that one shake too intense would¡¯ve seen him identally slit Ming Feizhen¡¯s throat. He, nevertheless, knew better than anyone that he couldn¡¯t have killed Ming Feizhen so easily if the de wasn¡¯t so sharp. Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t injured in battle, so he could still move around despite having his skills erased.

    As the prison Ming Feizhen was held sat at the rear of the eight doors, it had be an isted chamber. While isting it protected him from enemies, it didn¡¯t provide just him but also Yan Jiangnan with time to recover. That was how Yan Jiangnan managed to save himself from qi deviation ¨C for now, at the very least. Hence, Yan Jiangnan had the head start if they needed to fight.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who killed your brother. Not me. You. Or maybe you could me your umted hatred, jealousy or whatever else. Alternatively, you could me all of them. Slice it how you like, it wasn¡¯t me.¡±

    If the fact that Ming Feizhen was speaking the truth and the fact that he still had Wu Ping¡¯s face wasn¡¯t irritating enough, his condescending tone made it irritating enough.

    ¡°Had you not sewn discord, I wouldn¡¯t¡­ You¡¯re to me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who crushed his viscera with your own hand. Even if we factor in provocations, why would you need to hit him as if you were trying to kill an immortal? Why would you have delivered a fatal blow if you didn¡¯t hate him?¡±

    ¡°N-n-no, he tried to kill me, too! He tried to kill me, too! It was self-defence! You! You¡¯re the one who killed him! I didn¡¯t hit hard enough to kill him. You stabbed him several more times!¡±

    ¡°I stabbed his corpse. Well, if you insist he was still alive when I stabbed him, feel free. After all, there was still hope of saving him then.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You have hearing issues? There. Is. A. Way. To. Resurrect. The. Dead.¡± Seeing Yan Jiangnan¡¯s look of disbelief, Ming Feizhen stressed, ¡°There is. As a matter of fact, there¡¯s more than one way. Innumerable martial artists have researched taboos, such as immortality and eternal youth, for as long as they have considered their possibility. Resurrecting the dead is but one of four of the greatest taboos. You won¡¯t be the first to research it, and you won¡¯t be thest.¡±

    Fearing Ming Feizhen would stop broaching the topic, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s voice trembled even more. ¡°Ar-are you serious¡­?¡±

    ¡°There are currently four methods to revive the dead. The first method is to seek out the phoenix. If you can find it, you can nt its energy into the corpse to revive the dead. The method, however, is only for those who¡¯ve died within thest twenty-four hours and their head is still attached. It¡¯s still not toote for your brother.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan had heard of the phoenix¡¯s legend, except¡­ how was he supposed to find it within less than twenty-four hours even if it did exist? Moreover, it wasn¡¯t really what he wanted.

    ¡°You can¡¯t fool me!¡±

    Ming Feizhen cracked a smile after a long stare. ¡°Sounds like you don¡¯t want to revive your brother.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! What¡¯s the second method?!¡± Yan Jiangnan thundered, face red.

    ¡°Jiang Chen can implement the second method, and he¡¯ll help you, clearly. Feel free to implore him when you have the opportunity. If Miss Yu Lian¡¯s head is still attached, you can seek his help.¡±

    Though that was true, what bargaining chips did Yan Jiangnan, now a defenceless man, have at this point even if he was shameless enough to try?

    ¡°What about the third method?¡±

    ¡°Sky Pce knows how to go about it. Thosedies know more secrets about this world than anyone alive, and the third method is in their knowledgebase.¡±

    ¡°Enough with the pointless information. What¡¯s thest method?¡±

    Grinning, Ming Feizhen tapped his dome with a finger. ¡°In here.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 17

    Book 13: Chapter 17

    ¡°Within the ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a ¡®hun¡¯ spiritual, ethereal, yang soul, which leaves the body after death, and they also have a ¡®po¡¯ corporeal, substantive, yin soul, which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Daoism proposes a soul structure of three ¡®hun¡¯ and seven ¡®po¡¯. You can call the three ¡®huns¡¯ the spiritual soul and the seven ¡®pos¡¯ the seven physical souls. If you can retrieve their three ¡®hun¡¯ and seven ¡®po¡¯, as well as keep the deceased¡¯s corpse intact, it¡¯s possible to resurrect them.¡±

    ¡°H-how do I find them? Tell me, or I w-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not used to people talking to me in this tone.¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly stomped on Yan Jiangnan¡¯s kneecap, disabling the left leg he had all his weight on.

    Ming Feizhen ignored the swordsman now on the ground, sat up onto the bench, grabbed the teapot and poured it straight down the hatch. The tea wasn¡¯t exactly nice, not that anyone was expecting for prison tea to be, but it was even worse due to how long it had been left there for. Nheless, for someone who had been deprived for a while, it was rejuvenating to say the least.

    ¡°Yeah, tea leaves really are a big field to study. Would¡¯ve been nice if you kidnapped Mr. Shi along with me.¡± Ming Feizhen licked his lips in spite of what he said.

    Yan Jiangnan used the scabbard to get to his feet. Despite sweating buckets just staying on his feet, he felt it was necessary to thrust the sword in his right hand at Ming Feizhen¡¯s tummy with lethal intent. As neither of them had ess to internal energy and were hurt to rtively the same extent, their fight boiled down to who had the better technique. In terms of technique, Yan Jiangnan surpassed Ming Feizhen with every weapon.

    Yan Jiangnan couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t even react to the iing attack. Out of nowhere, a dead Yan Jibei jumped up. Scared witless, Yan Jiangnan lost his base and rolled across the ground. Seeing his brother re vindictively at and listening to his brother produce iprehensible sounds through his teeth, Yan Jiangnan pleaded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! I won¡¯t do it again!¡¯

    As Ming Feizhen licked his lips, he kept track of how much time his puppet still had left on his right hand based on the force he used to hit the corpse¡¯s upoints. Once time was up, he pped his hands, turning Yan Jibei into a statue. A brief momentter, Yan Jibei copsed.

    Breaking the silence that once again permeated the prison, Ming Feizhen stated, ¡°Now he¡¯s as dead as can be¡­ People can be brought back from the dead as I stated.¡±

    Crawling along the ground, Yan Jiangnan replied after a long silence, ¡°¡­ I saw.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t find a phoenix, not that anything would change even if you could. Jiang Chen will off you once you¡¯re no longer useful, so there¡¯s no point in begging him. Sky Pce, well, men aren¡¯t allowed in. With your looks, they¡¯ll attack you even faster, although you might hack it as a eunuch.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I am your only hope.¡± Ming Feizhen stood up. ¡°I can help reunite you with your lover again. I can walk the walk. What I need from you is your assistance in helping me escape. Clear and simple enough?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m now powerless¡­ How am I supposed to help you¡­?¡±

    ¡°Simple. First, answer a question for me.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°How long have I been out for?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Over two hours.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Ming Feizhen lifted up a corner of his lips slightly. ¡°The eight heavy doors have been lowered, so there¡¯s still time.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°I can erase your internal energy, and I can teach you to restore it. As a matter of fact, I can help you surpass your previous prime. I shall begin by treating your back first.¡±

    Ming Feizhen took the scabbard, then poked several major upoints on Yan Jiangnan¡¯s body multiple times. As he had to rely on pure arm strength, it took several jabs to seal the upoints. ¡°I haven¡¯t sealed your awareness, so I¡¯ll be knocking you outter. Just letting you know so that you¡¯ll be mentally prepared.¡± Ming Feizhen fetched Wu Ping¡¯s sword and a candle.

    Even though Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what Ming Feizhen was up to or understand the first thing about the resurrection method, Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t have any intent on resisting. ¡°Who exactly are you¡­? I¡¯ve never heard of you. I doubt you¡¯re a rtive of my Yan n, so how do you know my ancestor¡¯s discipline?¡±

    ¡°The discipline your ancestor¡¯s pass down is okay, but there are a lot of confusing parts. My shifu and I did a lot of exining in addition to patching up. Remember to send us a ¡®thank you¡¯ letter when you practice it in the future.¡±

    ¡°Just who in the world are you?¡±

    ¡°A big wig. A man who can resuscitate the dead. If you consider me a god, you¡¯re not wrong.¡±

    ¡°A god? Heh, yet you nearly died by my hand?¡±

    ¡°When did I ever nearly die by your hand?¡±

    ¡°When you were unconscious. How do you know I wouldn¡¯t dare to kill you? Had I chose to, you¡¯d be a wandering ghost right now.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a big ¡®if¡¯ there. If nothing else, you didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°If you chopped, I would¡¯ve woken up, genius.¡± Ming Feizhen looked at Yan Jiangnan as though thetter had screws loose. ¡°With your strength, I¡¯d have woken up as soon as you touched me. You were just kicked to the ground earlier. What changed?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Careful. I¡¯m going tomence now.¡±

    Watching Ming Feizhen raise the bench overhead to bring down, Yan Jiangnan cried, ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait! What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°What am I doing? Knocking you out.¡±

    ¡°What for? Why do you have to use the bench?¡±

    ¡°I need to cut open your lower back to adjust your bones¡¯ positions. You don¡¯t feel pain or something?¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re going to cut open my lower back?¡±

    It was one thing to hear of surgeries and another thing to be the patient of one. Plus, they usually used anaesthetics, not benches.

    ¡°Where do you expect me to find anaesthetics here? Just bear with it.¡±

    ¡°B-but how are you going to put my back together after cutting it open?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled out several silver strings from his hair. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough questions. What¡¯s the point of answering them? I¡¯ve already sealed your upoints. Rest assured.¡±

    ¡°Aaaah!¡±

    Bang!

    Glossary

    ¡°Hun¡± and ¡°po¡± ¨C Adding on to the section I inserted into Ming Feizhen¡¯s exnation in order for you to understand what he was even saying, ording to the 1992 version of the Xinhua Dictionary, ¡°hun¡± refers to the ¡°spirit¡± that can exist without a living body, while ¡°po¡± refers to the spirit whose existence depends on a living body. As they are two different types of ¡°spirits¡±, you¡¯ll sometimes find them used together (i.e. hunpo).

 Book 13: Chapter 18

    Book 13: Chapter 18

    Time never felt so hard to grasp for Yan Jiangnan. On one hand, it felt as if he had slept for a long time. On the other hand, it felt as though the conversation with Ming Feizhen had only been paused for a moment.

    Rather than feel ufortable due to the absence of sensations, Yan Jiangnan felt grounded. The only feelings he had was the burning sensation from his and chill from his rear end.

    ¡­ My rear?

    Yan Jiangnan went from slowly parting his eyelids to parting them as fast as he could. Lo and behold, Ming Feizhen was holding his trousers.

    Ming Feizhen stopped to think upon meeting eyes with Yan Jiangnan, then said, ¡°Congrattions. You have been purified.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡±

    To ovee one fear, one needed only to rece it with something scarier.

    ¡°You weirdo. Why is the first thing I see upon waking you holding my trousers? Wait¡­ Were you locked up here because of,¡± Yan Jiangnan moved his gaze up and down, ¡°this¡­?¡±

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?!¡± Ming Feizhen threw another pair of pants onto the ground. ¡°Jiang Chen kidnapped me because he was jealous of my good looks and feared my talents. You think you¡¯d have the fortune ofying your eyes on my great self, otherwise?¡±

    Despite being able to touch his lower back, Yan Jiangnan still had his doubts. His bones were shattered, yet he felt brand new; he¡¯d never heard of anything so magical.

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t pull apart your pants, I wouldn¡¯t have any thread to close the incision. Since I had to use your pants for that, I had to wear on your brother¡¯s pants for you. I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d suddenly wake up then of all times.¡±

    Frankly, Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t convinced. As he went to sit up, he felt a throbbing pain that deterred him from trying. ¡°H-howe I still haven¡¯t recovered?¡±

    ¡°Do you honestly believe I¡¯m a god? Given the limited instruments I have here, the most I can do is temporarily put your bones back in ce. You¡¯ll need another three months to be back to the usual. It won¡¯t be easy, but you can walk now; it¡¯ll take practice to adjust your gait so that nobody can tell you have an injury.¡±

    Recalling the deal he struck with Ming Feizhen, Yan Jiangnan started to feel sick again. ¡°What do you want me to do for you?¡±

    ¡°Act.¡±

    Ever since Yan Jiangnan came to, Ming Feizhen was constantly busy with his hands and hardly ever looking up.

    ¡°Just act beside me, and that¡¯s it. I¡¯ll provide the script when it¡¯s time,¡± borated Ming Feizhen.

    Yan Jiangnan bitterly smiled. ¡°Even if you say so, now that I¡¯ve lost all my internal energy, I¡¯m unab-¡±

    ¡°Cut the b.s. You lost all your internal energy because you learnt Demon Sect¡¯s skill. At the same time, it¡¯s qualified you to learn your ancestor¡¯s palm skills. Else, with the way you were going, you and your brother would¡¯ve caused your qi and blood to flow in reverse and have killed yourselves sooner orter.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t fool me.¡±

    ¡°Fool you? Your old man is still alive. How did you grandpa die? How did your uncle die? Oh, that¡¯s right. They experienced qi deviation, went crazy, danced and pranced for three days until they died of exhaustion. Need me to list their symptoms again? Your old man is, uh, quite old this year. Give him two more years, and he¡¯ll meet his end in a rtively simr manner.¡±

    Yan n¡¯s discipline derived from ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±, which Ming Huayu picked up at one point purely by chance. Although innovative, numerous parts of it were iplete. As a consequence, if their scions were to learn it, most of them would inflict self-harm upon reaching a certain point. Ming Feizhen was the genius behind several of the amendments that Ming Huayu spent several days making.

    ¡°By making you erase your skills, I gave you the chance to start over.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like I can return to where I was in a few decades. What¡¯s¡­ the n?¡±

    ¡°I certainly don¡¯t have a few decades to wait for you, which is why I¡¯m going to use a shortcut method. In several days, you¡¯ll be able to surpass your previous level.¡±

    He¡¯s knowledgeable and has all sorts of wild skills. Maybe he really can help me surpass my peak. He¡¯s a conniving one, but he doesn¡¯t think I won¡¯t need him once he helps me? I can just take him to Jiang Chen as a bargaining chip. This guy is unpredictable, so I best limit my interactions with him. I¡¯ll y along for now and then catch him off g-

    ¡°Argh! Wh-wh-why does it hurt so much?!¡± Yan Jiangnan coiled up on the ground.

    ¡°I put in an insurance policy when I performed your surgery,¡± replied Ming Feizhen, still working on whatever it was that he was doing. He took out a nail-sized white pill from his hair. ¡°This is a snowsilk gu from Tang n. It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve used one. I¡¯ve been keeping them on me ever since I¡¯ve felt uneasy.¡± Smirking, he continued, ¡°You¡¯re dishonest, despicable and stupid. The first question I asked you was how long I had slept for, and you answered two hours when I had slept for four hours. If I¡¯m not cautious of you, life is too unfair, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t know Ming Feizhen had a method of distinguishing the time.

    Howe I can¡¯t seem to hide anything from him?

    ¡°I-I¡¯m just trying to protect myself. I never had any intention of undermining your abilities. Please pardon me.¡± As soon as he finished pleading, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s pain ceased.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you. The snowslk gu follows my order. If I tell it to eat your heart out, you¡¯ll die within an hour ¨C painfully, hundreds of times more painfullypared to your brother and Wu Ping. Let¡¯s move.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan hurried after Ming Feizhen without knowing what he was supposed to do. Ming Feizhen stopped at the exit. While it could be opened from the inside, it wouldn¡¯t have been wise to leave when patrols were right outside.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the luxury of time to waste here, but you¡¯re more than wee to stay here for eternity if you please.¡± Ming Feizhen worked the door contraption, opening the door.

    The guards who had their ears on the door were bewildered to see the door open. ¡°Wh-what are you d-¡±

    ¡°I was hurt quite bad in my tussle with the intruder, so I recuperated behind these doors. What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°The eight doors have been lowered. Those opening up from outside should have opened up to the fifth gate by now¡­ Mr. Wu, may this one boldly ask, what is the situation ins-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste my time! What good is guess work? I asked what the status with the doors is and if the intruder has been found!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 19

    Book 13: Chapter 19

    Afraid of copping another attack, the guard captain replied, ¡°This one searched high and low with his brothers immediately after lowering the doors.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°We did not find anything else after speaking to you. This one presumes,¡± the guard captain looked up without moving his head, ¡°he must have escaped from the prison.¡±

    ¡°And did you continue searching? Tell me which ces you¡¯ve searched.¡±

    It was hard to fault Yan Jiangnan for feeling uneasy as he knew his fate was in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands, especially when he could see the guards¡¯ doubts; he could see the guard captain visually auditing Ming Feizhen. It was only fair for them to be suspicious when everything was Wu Ping¡¯s one-sided story, not to mention theplete absence of any evidence. There were all these strange happenings, yet they couldn¡¯t find any traces? Everything happened only to those in the dungeon. Furthermore, the prisoner was still confined. Nevertheless, there was one thing they were unaware of.

    Because Ming Feizhen ¡°unintentionally¡± revealed his control over the dungeon, nobody questioned Wu Ping¡¯s tattered clothing, the blood on his face and the blood around the ce. In other words, the target of their suspicions was Wu Ping. They were following the steps Ming Feizhen wanted to them to follow.

    ¡°Nobody appeared after the eight doors were lowered¡­ Did anyone in charge of the doors say anything?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Sir Zero told us to notify him directly if anything happened. Otherwise, we are to inform Young Master Ouyang or Mr. Lang. Right now¡­¡±

    ¡°Out with it. You¡¯re just worried about bearing the me, aren¡¯t you? When ites down to it, we leaders will be the ones who are questioned. If you¡¯re in trouble, so am I. We will bear all the me, right, Brother Yan?¡±

    ¡°H-huh? Y-yeah,¡± stuttered Yan Jiangnan, slow to catch up with the pace of y. ¡°We will bear all the me. Tell us without withholding anything.¡±

    The guard captain had no authority to lower the eight doors, so there was no way he could bear the ramifications. Regardless of whether there was an intruder or not, stepping across his boundaries would incur a penalty. Therefore, he bobbed his head confidently this time. ¡°The fifth and seventh door guards have sent signals to rush over here and then put our minds together toe up with a n.¡±

    ¡°The fifth¡­ If my memory serves, the leader of the fifth door should be Elder Lianhua, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is very reassuring to have her on our side.¡±

    The elder of an unorthodox sect was best known for her unique internal energy and fighting style.

    ¡°By the sounds of it, she needs some more time?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she is on her way, but it will take a while longer to open the sixth door. That being said, the leader of the seventh door has arrived.¡±

    While Yan Jiangnan¡¯s concern flitted his face as he looked to Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen just asked, ¡°Uhm, so¡­ who is guarding the seventh door?¡±

    ¡°Me, hahaha.¡± The burly man with the deep voice was incredibly short in stature, but his qinggong abilities propelled him extremely fast whilst making it appear effortless. The ruler of Guanhu Ind, Yuan Kou, was a man who was intimidating without needing to purposely act intimidating. Upon meeting Ming Feizhen, he cockily extended a hand at Ming Feizhen. ¡°Lame!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan instinctively moved to stop them from fighting, but the pain from his lower back stopped him dead in his tracks.

    When it seemed as though his face would be sttered, Ming Feizhen rolled his shoulder, catching Yuan Kou¡¯s hand on his shoulder.

    ¡°Hahaha, Wu Ping, you brag about your prowess with a sword, yet look at you now, ahaha,¡± said Yuan Kou, patting Ming Feizhen on the shoulder three times.

    Despite the pain, Ming Feizhen bore with it.

    ¡°Your internal injuries are this serious?¡± Yuan Kou eximed.

    Beads of sweat formed on Yan Jiangnan¡¯s forehead because Yuan Kou could¡¯ve easily killed both of them without breaking a sweat.

    Speaking through his clenched teeth, Ming Feizhen expressed, ¡°Brother Yuan, your ¡®Crushing Hands¡¯ skill is one of Shaolin¡¯s most advanced skills. I cannot withstand many blows from you.¡±

    Yuan Kou was obsessed with martial arts, so he felt as though he was in paradise when in the presence of so many adepts. Unfortunately, Ouyang Xiucai and Lang Qing were levels above him. Two of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ stars were Jiang Chen¡¯s subordinates, or Tian Gou would¡¯ve been a fun opponent. The Yan brothers and the Guxian Deities couple fought as pairs, so Yuan Kou was always outnumbered, and that wasn¡¯t fun to him. Therefore, Yuan Kou liked to spar with Wu Ping. For the record, Yuan Kou¡¯s idea of sparring was what he just did, approaching and suddenly uncorking an attack.

    ¡°Hahaha, even though you like to act tough, you¡¯ve finally admitted my ¡®Crushing Hands¡¯ skill is formidable. That being said, don¡¯t undermine yourself. You¡¯re also quite strong. Let¡¯s spar again once you¡¯ve recovered.¡± Yuan Kou and Wu Ping barely edged out wins against each other or sparred to draws. Hence, Yuan Kou was ecstatic to hear Wu Ping admit he was inferior.

    ¡°I¡¯m signed up.¡± If Ming Feizhen¡¯s real face was visible, everyone would think he was a brand new sheet of paper. Nheless, he was d to have gotten through it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Master Yuan, you have been careless. You let the brat fool you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen inwardly cursed. The olddy who spoke out had a hunched over posture, a head of white hair and plenty of wrinkles to convincingly tell someone she was eighty even if she tried to say otherwise, but Ming Feizhen definitely didn¡¯t want to see her.

 Book 13: Chapter 20

    Book 13: Chapter 20

    Unlike with the other mercenaries, Jiang Chen treated the olddy with a high degree of courtesy. When he heard her voice, while Ming Feizhen feigned indifference, Yan Jiangnan was visibly shaken.

    ¡°Hahaha,e on over, Granny. Aren¡¯t you going to say anything about Wu Ping being beaten into this poor state?¡± jovially asked Yuan Kou.

    The olddy coldly responded, ¡°Say what? You want me to remind you to drink a few more bowls of Granny Meng¡¯s soup in hell? I can do that.¡± From the beginning to now, her eyes were always focused on Ming Feizhen. ¡°Who are you, kid?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled unlike the other confused individuals. ¡°Elder, why are you asking the obvious? Please forgive this one forcking the wisdom to read between the lines.¡±

    With her vignt eyes still on Ming Feizhen, the olddy mmed her walking stick into the ground. ¡°This olddy had a rough upbringing and was sold multiple times, so she developed a bad habit of noting people¡¯s footsteps, breathing cadence, qi flow and pulse to avoid being fooled again. My vision may be deteriorating, but my ears still function perfectly fine.¡±

    Ming Feizhen replied, ¡°That is quite the arbitrary standard. One¡¯s footsteps, breathing and pulse will change ording to their health status. One¡¯s qi flow will change ording to their internal training. Are you sure you can always be right?¡±

    ¡°If I can¡¯t discern them, then they are one truly worthy of being called an adept. Howbeit, I¡¯ve never been wrong in thest two decades.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°Twenty years ago? Your internal energy is a force to be reckoned with, then.¡±

    Besides a gifted pair of ears, potent internal energy and a thorough understanding of internal disciplines were crucial to hearing one¡¯s flow of qi.

    Yuan Kou questioned, ¡°Really? So I am not an adept to your ears, then?¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest, Master Yuan. Your ¡®Crushing Hands¡¯ is rooted in your advanced internal discipline. As your breathing method is unique, you are particrly easy to identify.¡±

    Yuan Kou grabbed his head. Once he understood what was implied, he looked to Ming Feizhen.

    Elder Lianhua encroached upon Ming Feizhen, wearing her bloodlust as a coat. ¡°I remember very well Wu Ping¡¯s footsteps and breathing. I am very impressed you are able to mimic them perfectly.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan regretted jumping onto Ming Feizhen¡¯s boat. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean it¡¯s him?¡±

    Elder Lianhua shifted her menacing gaze to Yan Jiangnan. ¡°He is the real Yan Jiangnan. Regrettably, he has switched to your side. Not only do you have his breathing and gait down pat, but you¡¯ve also perfected his martial arts, urately capturing his ordinary internal energy and developed swordy. You hide your qi flow unlike Wu Ping, but I can hear it. What do you have to say?¡±

    Yuan Kou added, ¡°Yeah, what do you have to say?¡±

    ¡°What can I say? This is an usation that came out of nowhere and for no reason. Asking me to prove I am who I am is a bit ludicrous.¡±

    Ming Feizhen deemed Elder Lianhua to be the toughest person to deal with based on his scouting reports. She only spoke when necessary and refrained from utilising her skills; he only just found out now that she had enhanced hearing, a reveal that he struggled to offer an answer to.

    ¡°If you ask me, it¡¯s simple.¡± Yuan Kou enthused, ¡°I¡¯ve sparred Wu Ping many times now, so I can identify him. Wu Ping, draw your sword. Let¡¯s have a short spar for Granny to see.¡± He thereupon entered his ¡°Crushing Hands¡± stance.

    ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?¡± Ming Feizhen yfully chided. ¡°You can tell how badly I¡¯m hurt.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t ept, I¡¯ll consider the assassin a made-up story. Granny is right. We¡¯ll be first to crush you.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Elder Lianhua would think twice before attacking Ming Feizhen, but Yuan Kou would mindlessly jump into any fight.

    ¡°What does killing me in my injured state prove?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned. ¡°There¡¯s no need to expend so much energy to verify my identity.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Elder Lianhua held her walking stick parallel to the ground, somehow generating a cold draft that suffocated Ming Feizhen. Next, he was struck on the chest, sending him several metres back and making him gasp up blood.

    Elder Lianhua was surprised with the oue. She vigntly calcted every action the moment she arrived. She was wary of Ming Feizhen to the point that she chose to regroup with Yuan Kou first instead of trying to assassinate Ming Feizhen immediately. Had she not been overly cautious, though, Ming Feizhen would be dead.

    ¡°This olddy takes orders from Mr. Jiang Chen. He helped me in the past. One must repay favours. After much effort, he finally built this new base. I refuse to let it fall, and I refuse to let assassins run amok here.¡±

    Ming Feizhen struggled to his feet, yet he smiled. ¡°And Mr. Jiang Chen would pardon you for attacking injured personnel without rhyme or reason?¡±

    ¡°Genuine or not, I will kill you. If I am wrong, I shall ept my penance!¡± Elder Lianhua swung her stick at the back of Ming Feizhen¡¯s skull.

    Although Elder Lianhua was strong, she didn¡¯t actually send Ming Feizhen so far out of her own range. He ended up so far away owing to him deliberately riding the momentum some extra distance. He created the distance so that, before she could finish this predicted move, he could say, ¡°Ol¡¯ Yuan, your son will be born next year. Dividing your assets in the capital and converting to a legitimate business is certainly a good wish¡­ I wish you the best.¡±

    Seconds past after Ming Feizhen said that, yet the stick didn¡¯t hit him, and he didn¡¯t need to look to know why.

    With a vice-like grip on Elder Lianhua¡¯s stick, Yuan Kou asserted, ¡°Granny, he is the real Wu Ping. You can¡¯t kill him.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 21

    Book 13: Chapter 21

    ¡°That¡¯s everything?¡± asked Shen Yiren, in a soft voice.

    The estate should¡¯ve been a lot more opulent, yet the only decoration it now had was a few bamboo trees outside.

    ¡°Yes, this one cannot think of anything worth pursuing further,¡± answered Xie Jizhi, after thorough thinking. ¡°To tell the truth, this one is not good at holding his liquor, but he has never been inebriated, like this time, for an entire day before.¡±

    Prior to Huang Yuzao¡¯s disappearance, Xie Jizhi¡¯s whereabouts were a subject that was questioned. Xie Jizhi had a temporary nk in his memory before the day Huang Yuzao went missing. Like a rare few other people, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t just gloss over Xie Jizhi¡¯s memorypse even though he imed he couldn¡¯t remember anything.

    ¡°Principal Huang has gone missing.¡±

    Xie Jizhi fossilised. The version announced to the public was that Huang Yuzao moved into the imperial pce on His Majesty¡¯s decree, with the purpose of sorting out the imperial family¡¯s library of books. That was why nobody told Xie Jizhi the truth when they questioned him.

    Shen Yiren calmly recounted everything, to which Xie Jizhi responded, ¡°I¡­ had no idea that happened while I was unconscious¡­ So, I was unconscious because¡­¡±

    ¡°You are one of Principal Huang¡¯s most beloved disciples. If I were a betting woman, I bet there isn¡¯t a more effective method for luring Principal Huang to a secluded location besides ckmail. Although it¡¯s hard to imagine, Principal Huang faced an opponent even he couldn¡¯t defeat. Whoever that happens to be, they have now made an enemy out of the imperial court and issued a challenge. I need to find this person, and any information you can provide is critical.¡±

    Listening to Shen Yiren was the same as listening to his inner thoughts. Xie Jizhi knitted his brows tighter and tighter, but he still shook his head in the end. ¡°This one cannot think of anything worth noting. The suspect could not have been extra cautious when they drugged him. This one imagines you would receive the same response if you asked the waiter.¡±

    ¡°I want you, then,¡± Shen Yiren immediately responded, seemingly expecting the answer given.

    Xie Jizhi got up, took one step back, sped a hand over the other in front of him and bowed to parallel. ¡°This one is at your service.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    Shen Yiren exited Xie Duzhi¡¯s house once they decided when to meet up, but, as soon as she mounted her steed, she heard, ¡°Vice-Captain, wait up!¡± She looked behind to see Tang Ye and Su Xiao, one in front of the other, sprinting like bats out of hell, and said, ¡°Good timing. Saves me the trouble of running around.¡±

    Struggling to catch his breath, Su Xiao stated, ¡°Vice-Captain, I have something to say.¡±

    Catching up, Tang Ye informed, ¡°We¡¯re being tailed.¡±

    Shen Yiren shed the corner of her pearly whites. ¡°We certainly need to talk, but let me see how your qinggong is first.¡± And, she had galloped thousands of miles away before Su Xiao¡¯s brain could even finish processing what he heard.

    ¡°Meow?!¡± Su Xiao bolted after Shen Yiren at top speed.

    Without using his internal energy properly, Su Xiao would feel an immense physical burden when running at high speeds. Once he utilised it as Yijin Jing outlined, though, he would feel great whenever his internal energy was firing.

    Tang Ye had used long sprints as a means of polishing his qinggong, so he had developed the stamina for the race already.

    The tail Song n nted on the trio lost them in no time at all due to the element of surprise as well as their speed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren chose to let Battle Cloud rest and have a drink at a small creek with scenery she deemed nice. She herself sat down on a big rock to sort through her thoughts. It didn¡¯t take long for Su Xiao and then Tang Ye to arrive, neither having even broken a sweat. Had they yed the same game when the two first joined Liu Shan Men, they¡¯d feel as though their hearts would explode.

    ¡°What are your ns?¡± Shen Yiren asked as soon as they arrived.

    Su Xiao: ¡°Uh¡­ Big Brother Ming gave me a task before he left, so I n to see to it.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Before Big Bro left, he gave me a task, as well. I shall leave the capital toplete the task.¡±

    While Shen Yiren was aware of Su Xiao¡¯s job and didn¡¯t n to stop him, she had no idea Tang Ye also had a mission. ¡°He gave you a task? What?¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with Huang Yuzao or his disappearance. He said he was going teach me a bit just in case.¡±

    By teach, Tang Ye meant a mental cultivation discipline. He didn¡¯t speak explicitly simply because Su Xiao was present.

    ¡°What did he tell you to do?¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s cheek twitched. ¡°He wants me¡­ to withstand five attacks.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Scram!¡± Elder Lianhua ejected energy to force her stick through Yuan Kou¡¯s grip, clobbering him on the head.

    ¡°You old hag, my respect isn¡¯t a ticket for you to walk all over me!¡± Yuan Kou blustered.

    Back on his ind, Yuan Kou bossed people around, was the one who cursed people and was the one who was treated as a King. He nned to leverage Jiang Chen¡¯s influence to establish himself in the capital so that his future son had somewhere to lead a peaceful life. If it wasn¡¯t for his son¡¯s sake, he wouldn¡¯t have joined the new Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Yuan Kou uncorked a punch at Elder Lianhua¡¯s head. To his amazement, the elder didn¡¯t even need her iron stick to dismantle all of his strikes using just one hand. Following dozens of exchanges, she speared him on the square chest with her stick.

    ¡°This is what you get for disrespecting your elders.¡± Elder Lianhua raised an open hand to m down on Yuan Kou¡¯s dome.

    ¡°Brother Yuan!¡± Yan Jiangnan leapt into the fray with every muscle fibre he could recruit. He was in no shape to be fighting. As a result, he absorbed the palm strike flush on his face and then went rolling across the ground.

    The guards weren¡¯t happy with what they saw. As they weren¡¯t very high up on the hierarchydder, they weren¡¯t close to Elder Lianhua. Instead, they were on friendly terms with Yuan Kou. They weren¡¯t indifferent to ¡°Wu Ping¡± and Yan Jiangnan¡¯s injuries, either. Thus, seeing Elder Lianhua smack them around as if they were her servants didn¡¯t sit well with them.

    ¡°You¡¯ve all seen it now.¡± Ming Feizhen got to his feet, eyes remaining fixed on Elder Lianhua. ¡°I¡¯m not disrespectful to my elders. It¡¯s her who is going overboard. Granny, if you insist on testing me, I shall indulge you in five exchanges.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 22

    Book 13: Chapter 22

    From one team¡¯s perspective, the campaign in Nieyao was a sessful one worth celebrating. Luo Sword Manor didn¡¯t have to be exterminated. Luo Ming had his long-awaited revenge. Abels sessfully helped his wife restore her state. Emperor Yuansheng achieved his goals. Many of their followers were also handsomely rewarded in one way or another ¨C such as Long Zaitian¡¯sbat improvements and his promotion, as well as Shen Yiren¡¯s achieving a new level in her swordy and regaining functioning in her hand.

    ¡°You seem like you¡¯re fine with the pace of things,¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly said to Tang Ye one day in Nanjiang, lying back in their tent.

    ¡°What reason is there to rush?¡± Tang Ye responded.

    ¡°Yi Wangyou defeated you in Huzhou, and you didn¡¯t contribute whatsoever in Nanjiang. Su Xiao wouldn¡¯t mind, but wouldn¡¯t it be odd for you not to feel anxious as you watch everyone around you improve?¡±

    Although Ming Feizhen¡¯s frankness caught him off guard, Tang Ye quickly rposed himself and answered, ¡°My past self probably would¡¯ve.¡± He passed Ming Feizhen a cup of tea and sat down himself, then continued, ¡°The events in Huzhou reminded me that revenge isn¡¯t the only thing to life, and training isn¡¯t only for revenge. I feel even less pressed since I know where my target is. If there really is this enemy and he is watching me from the shadows, wouldn¡¯t my temptation for fast results y straight into his hands? I can¡¯t let him have his way.¡± Tang Ye¡¯s smile no longer had the aloof vibe it once had.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave the tea for now.¡±

    ¡°I just brewed it¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen stood up. ¡°Leave it aside for now. I¡¯ll teach you something first.¡±

    Shatter!

    Ming Feizhen turned around to see Tang Ye¡¯s teacup in pieces on the ground. ¡°I said ¡®for now¡¯, not ¡®forever¡¯. What did you smash your cup for?¡±

    ¡°You said no.¡±

    ¡°No what?¡±

    Tang Ye filled his chest with air. ¡°You said you wouldn¡¯t teach me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen scratched the side of his head. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t teach you if you¡¯re going out there to die, but,¡± Ming Feizhen folded his arms and finished, ¡°I can¡¯t turn a blind eye if someone wants you dead.¡±

    ¡°Who wants me dead?¡±

    ¡°If people who want me deade across you, they¡¯ll probably want you dead, as well. Unluckily for you, I¡¯ll be defenceless for a few months, while the odds of you encountering them are exceptionally high.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but that¡¯s still no reason to start rushing. It¡¯s not toote to teach me once we return to the capital.¡±

    Ming Feizhen reached overhead for a stretch and then spread his legs as if he was preparing for a pancake stretch. ¡°It makes no difference when I teach you these moves. Now, prepare yourself.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°Some sparring.¡±

    ¡°With you?¡±

    In the past, their matches were one-sided beatings ¨C with Ming Feizhen swinging the hammer. Now, Ming Feizhen was without internal energy to utilise, so the tables werepletely reversed even if Tang Ye pulled his punches. Yet, Ming Feizhen warmed up as though nothing had changed and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s reward?¡±

    ¡°In my bag.¡±

    ¡°Pass it over.¡±

    Ming Feizhen warmed up his legs and wrists before taking the Heaven Shocker sword off Tang Ye. He could see his own reflection in the de as he unsheathed it. ¡°Nice broadsword, nice.¡±

    Tang Ye wanted toment on Ming Feizhen¡¯sment, but he refrained. Instead, he questioned, ¡°Big Bro, how much?¡±

    ¡°How much what?¡±

    ¡°How much should I hold back?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had all his attention on Heaven Shocker. ¡°Forget about that. I¡¯m short on time. Now, answer these five attacks.¡±

    Ming Feizhen threatened Tang Ye¡¯s face with a stabbing motion, prompting Tang Ye to hurriedly dodge. As soon as Tang Ye dodged the first thrust, he had to dodge the next oneing from another direction. As Tang Ye bobbed, Ming Feizhen had already scored the checkmate, cing the de on Tang Ye¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°What just¡­¡± Tang Ye uttered.

    Ming Feizhen removed the sword from Tang Ye¡¯s shoulder and mumbled, ¡°Three is the limit, huh?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What exactly just¡­¡±

    ¡°Although you¡¯re able to use the right discipline for the right situation, who do you think will win between you, who utilises a mish mash of disciplines, and an opponent who has mastered one discipline? If you don¡¯t get it, we can go another round.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded, took a few steps back and monitored Ming Feizhen¡¯s armed hand. Suddenly he saw everything in front split. He forgot everything he learnt, dropped to the ground and rolled out of desperation. Ming Feizhen stabbed downwards,pelling Tang Ye to use his hip strength to bounce to his feet, only to feel the de at his neck.

    ¡°Still three.¡±

    ¡°Again.¡±

    In the next round, Ming Feizhen chose different angles, tempos and output. Tang Ye attempted to repel the attacks, but half of his body was trapped. In desperation, he turned and turned. s, Ming Feizhen¡¯s third attack stopped at his neck again.

    Tang Ye tried a defensive approach in the fourth round; however, he found himself running into the sword at the third attack.

    While Tang Ye didn¡¯t use his internal energy, he couldn¡¯t have used it even if he tried because it all happened too fast. Unless he used Yang Blood True Qi as armour so that he didn¡¯t need to worry about blocking, nothing would change. The more he tried, he more he couldn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°I¡¯m teaching you right now.¡±

    Tang Ye whipped his head up.

    ¡°These five attacks are the culmination of all my martial arts knowledge. Nobody taught me details before, and I won¡¯t teach you. What you learn through peeking and eavesdropping will always be remembered more than what you learn. Come see me daily ¨C as long as you¡¯re confident.¡± Ming Feizhen chucked the sword aside and turned around for a drink. ¡°Once you can survive my five attacks, you can start training.¡±

    Glossary

    Five attacks and five exchanges ¨C The title is supposed to reflect this theme that Ming Feizhen started. The problem is, in English, exchanges and attacks can¡¯t be use synonymously. Furthermore, the ¡°broadsword¡± and ¡°sword¡± words that Ming Feizhen deliberately swaps around are gone. ¡°Five swords¡± can mean five actual swords, five sword attacks or five exchanges involving sword(s).

 Book 13: Chapter 23

    Book 13: Chapter 23

    Ming Feizhen: There¡¯s not much time left.

    While the deal was five exchanges, it didn¡¯t mean that Elder Lianhua had to wait for the fifth to drop Ming Feizhen. She could¡¯ve ignored the unwritten rules of a match between an elder and a young individual to go all out right from themencement. So, technically, he might¡¯ve only had one chance. She wasn¡¯t the Yan brothers or Wu Ping; she wasn¡¯t going to reveal her skills in front of him and give him time to think of countermeasures.

    In all the time Ming Feizhen had been eavesdropping, he never heard any piece of information that provided insight into her skills. That was the reason he decided to bait her with his life. Even then, it only provided him a glimpse of one technique, and it was one that didn¡¯t have much behind it, signifying the fact that it wasn¡¯t her specialty. When she fought Yuan Kou, she usedmonly taught joint-locking techniques; however, she was proficient enough to reach a stalemate against him when he was serious.

    Following an inhale, Ming Feizhen adjusted the status of his muscles. An extensive period of food and water deprivation, fatigue from having his corbone pierced, the arm injuries sustained while, taking down Wu Ping, all these umted factors did a number on him. That was his problem, though, not his opponent¡¯s. As he meditated with his eyes clothes, he revised the information he gleaned on Elder Lianhua and analysed whatever he could.

    Just as Ming Feizhen was studying the eighty-year old elder, she watched him. Ever since sheid her eyes on him, Elder Lianhua was sure of two things: one, he wasn¡¯t very old. Two, he was a hazard.

    Elder Lianhua would¡¯ve remained retired if it wasn¡¯t Jiang Chen who requested her aid. Growing up alone, her determination and diligence were the source of her aplishments in the martial world. The only time she ever owed anyone was when Jiang Chen lent her a hand. She had kept a clean te for the first half of her life, and she intended to keep it that way until herst breath.

    Most of the adepts Jiang Chen hired were under the impression that it was easy money. Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ new headquarter truly was covered wellpared to their erstwhile base, never mind the numerous contraptions that provided a sound security system. In the unthinkable event that someone could locate their base, unless the intruder was of Lai Jingzhen¡¯s calibre, there was no way they were getting in. Even if they managed to go that far, there were plenty of secret passages for Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members to escape from. Elder Lianhua was the only individual to believe it was a high-risk job, a belief rooted solely in the fact that it was Jiang Chen who recruited them.

    When Jiang Chen still used his Gongsun surname, he was more handsome, more imperious and stronger than now. Had Elder Lianhua not seen him with her own eyes, she never would¡¯ve believed such a man existed ¨C even with eighty years of life to speak on ¨C yet he was soundly defeated. Of the three times she witnessed his defeats, his loss during Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ downfall wasn¡¯t the worst. Jiang Chen¡¯s worst defeat was when his ambition put the future of the country in the bnce.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Nobody was ever lucky in Jiang Chen¡¯s affairs. No degree of solid growth counteracted the inherent risks. The mercenaries here disliked Elder Lianhua for they interpreted her attitude as her being a diva. Their attitudes toward her convinced her even more that her decision was right as they couldn¡¯t see what she could see.

    Frankly, despite her hearing being superior to many others, Elder Lianhua didn¡¯t possess magical senses that could expose Ming Feizhen¡¯s lies. Wu Ping¡¯s master would likely believe he was Wu Ping. She lied when she said she could see discrepancies between Wu Ping and Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal disciplines. If Wu Ping truly was injured, then he would more or less be in the exact state Ming Feizhen was in.

    Mayhap it was her age. Mayhap it was her time living in seclusion. Whatever it was, it honed Elder Lianhua¡¯s senses. Honestly, she didn¡¯t need her hearing to detect something off. For her, it was akin to distinguishing between the sun and night. Perhaps not even Ming Feizhen was aware of what she was aware of.

    Wu Ping was ordinary; he didn¡¯t leave much of an impression. On the other hand, this ¡°Wu Ping¡± wasparable to a moving body of darkness. Wherever it went, it would unsettle people, visiting their stomach as a sick feeling and chilling their spine. As a matter of fact, he felt more dangerous than Jiang Chen. The danger he posed didn¡¯t need to be mentioned or proven. It was so great that it should¡¯ve been visible to the naked eye. Seeing him was the same as seeing the danger level of Jiang Chen¡¯s job.

    ¡°You said five exchanges, so what are we waiting for?¡± scathingly asked Elder Lianhua.

    Ming Feizhen slowly opened his eyes to see the gaze of somebody ready to go down with him if necessary. That was the most troublesome type of foe. ¡°I¡¯m not waiting for anything, but¡­ we seem to have a guest. Why not show yourself aftering all this way?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you noticed me, Brother Wu?¡± The mature man ambled out in his perfectly-maintained schr robe.

    Without looking behind her, Elder Lianhua asked, ¡°Young master Ouyang, why are you here¡­ instead of outside?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Ouyang Xiucai saluted Ming Feizhen and Elder Lianhua. ¡°While this one is not on patrol, he could not resist the allure of the many interesting ces at this new base. He did not expect to see a few brothers lower the eight doors, so he ended up confined here. Nevertheless, it is but only a trivial matter. Are you two about to fight?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan nearly gasped aloud when he saw Ouyang Xiucai.

    Anybody with a vested interest in the pugilistic world would recognise the name Ouyang Xiucai. Having returned from the Western Regions not too long ago, he started establishing himself in the north. Because he was good as he was bad, he had enemies from orthodox and unorthodox factions just as he had friends from both sides. If there was one thing both sides could agree on, it was that he wasn¡¯t somebody to underestimate. Jiang Chen hired him for a reason. If there was one another thing they could all nod to, it was Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s wayward temper.

    ¡°Hahaha, Brother Wu, if you don¡¯t show some of the advanced techniques from ¡®Mncholic Swordy¡¯, the elder will not spare you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°That certainly is the case.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 24

    Book 13: Chapter 24

    Ming Feizhen was aware of Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s inquisitive gaze a while ago. Whether calling Ouyang Xiucai over or not was a wise decision was up in the air. Nevertheless, every second was vital when the goal was to buy time.

    Ouyang Xiucai didn¡¯t take the exposure to heart until he heard Ming Feizhen say, ¡°If this one isn¡¯t wrong, you are not here just for this one.¡±

    While Ouyang Xiucai¡¯sbat prowess wasplimented, his perceptive nature wasn¡¯t highlighted as much. He didn¡¯t hide in the dungeon for a childish reason as ¡°broadening his horizons¡±.

    Although Elder Lianhua noticed Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s presence in the prison, too, she was unable to pinpoint his location. As soon as the eight heavy doors were lowered, he was able to show up nearby, meaning he was hiding around the vicinity of the fifth door. Based on that reasoning, it was obvious that she was his target.

    ¡°Nice head you have on your shoulders, Brother Wu. Even this one is wondering if you are truly Wu Ping now.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard to see the fangs behind Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s smile.

    ¡°Everything has its principles, like mist and like lightning. Yes is yes. No can also be yes. Is there any difference whether it is true or not, Brother Ouyang?¡±

    ¡°Are you admitting you¡¯re an imposter?¡±

    ¡°Would you also like to test this one?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai mulled over the question, ¡°Is there any difference whether it is true or not, Brother Ouyang?¡± for a while, then shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°You really have a way with words. Whether you are or not, it truly makes no difference to me, and I have no reason to oppose you.¡± He then said to Elder Lianhua, ¡°Upright people shoot straight. Granny, this one is here for you.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s original n was to catch Elder Lianhua off guard, but he was forever stuck waiting owing to her always staying cautious. For whatever reason, he decided to spill the beans ¨C in typical Ouyang Xiucai fashion ¨C after Ming Feizhen brought him onto the stage.

    Elder Lianhua was already prepared for an attack. ¡°May this olddy ask what you want from her?¡±

    ¡°Old issues.¡±

    ¡°This olddy has probably forgotten most of the things earlier in her life.¡±

    ¡°It only took ce a few months ago, so there is hope. May this one ask if you recognise this weapon.¡± Ouyang Xiucai held out an iron lotus the size of a chicken egg. ¡°Recently, there has been a lot of atypical activity in the pugilistic world. One of this one¡¯s friends lost his life to this iron lotus. This one searched for its wielder to avenge his fallen friend, but he had no luck finding the culprit. When he met Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen promised to share the origins of this weapon if this one could protect this ce for three months. During his stay here, this one noticed you are also a specialist at projectiles, and, coincidentally, your nickname happens to mean ¡®lotus¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You suspect this olddy?¡±

    ¡°No, this one is merely asking if you recognise this weapon.¡±

    Elder Lianhua shook her head. ¡°It¡¯smonce for nicknames to coincidentally match something else. If having ¡®lotus¡¯ in one¡¯s name makes them a suspect, why don¡¯t you investigate the Western Region¡¯s Lotus Cult? Aren¡¯t they even more famous? Please forgive this olddy¡¯sck of knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Lotus Cult? This one happens to know they are not the culprit. As for you, I guess we will find out once we try?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai spun the lotus in his hand, generating loud vibrations. When he somehowunched it from his hand, it flew so fast that Elder Lianhua had no time to dodge. As a result, she had to catch it in her sleeve, essentially using her circr arm catch as a body of water to decelerate the weapon.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While many were amazed with Elder Lianhua¡¯s skill, she wasn¡¯t so bright; she appeared annoyed over the fact that she did something she shouldn¡¯t have. On the other hand, Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s interrogative gaze screamed, ¡°You have anything else to say?!¡±

    Yuan Kou queried, ¡°Brother Ouyang, what was the point of that?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°The lotus is no ordinary projectile. As skilled as myte friend was, he was unable to find the projectile¡¯s secret. While the six petals look cumbersome, they¡¯re actually wondrous whenbined with the correct technique. The wilder can split the six petals off, essentially transforming one weapon into six and make it difficult to read. Although this onecks finesse, and the one who killed this one¡¯s friend was hundreds of times more adroit at wielding it, the principle remains the same. Unless someone knew how it worked, how could they catch it? What do you say, Elder?¡±

    The ksana lotuses were one of Elder Lianhua¡¯s favourite projectiles. Had it not been for the hazard¡¯s presence, she would¡¯ve rather let Ouyang Xiucai hurt her than reveal her secret counter for the weapon.

    Elder Lianhua recoiled. ¡°Life is truly unpredictable. In the end, who ever manages to get away?¡± She sighed, then continued, ¡°I shan¡¯t withhold it from you. I do know the origins of the weapon, but it has been a long time since I was active. I haven¡¯t fought anyone for around twenty years. Your friend¡¯s demise is not my doing.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai raised his hands in a cupped-fist salute. ¡°This one believes that. Before he took hisst breath, this one¡¯s friend told him the assant was a man, not an elderly woman. Howbeit, this one cannot overlook any possibilities and clues for the sake of revenge. Please pardon any rudeness.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing but respect for your courage to enter the tiger¡¯s den for yourte friend. As such, I am willing to be honest with you.¡± Seeing Ouyang Xiucai about to reply, Elder Lianhua gestured for him to pause. ¡°This man, however, is too dangerous.¡± She subsequently cast her gaze Ming Feizhen¡¯s way and added, ¡°If you can wait, I shall tell you everything I know once I have dealt with this problem.¡±

    In other words, ¡°Don¡¯t stop me from killing this imposter.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai smiled at Ming Feizhen. ¡°Brother Wu, it is not this one¡¯s ce to step in between your personal grudge with Elder Lianhua.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 25

    Book 13: Chapter 25

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, it¡¯s not very nice to kick me to the curb once you achieve your goal.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, to tell the truth, I am impressed with you, but Granny Lianhua is someone whom I respect. No matter how I think about it, the best approach is for me to not take any side. I sincerely do feel it is a pity, though.¡±

    ¡°You believe my funeral date is set?¡±

    ¡°If my eyes haven¡¯t failed me, apart from losing a significant portion of internal energy, your arms are also severely damaged. Swordy is your primary form ofbat; how will you wield your swordy withpromised arms? Additionally, while your swordy is praiseworthy,pared to Granny Lianhua¡¯s abilities, though, how do you feel?¡±

    ¡°In an internal energy contest, I am far from being her match. In a swordy contest, however¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen was no sword expert, wasn¡¯t knowledgeable on swordy and didn¡¯t sound confident. Luckily. Luckily, he had met his fair share of supreme swordsmen and could imitate them quite urately.

    ¡°Bring me my sword.¡± Despite his injuries and being the underdog, Ming Feizhen sounded confident when he gave hismand. Upon receiving his sword, he leaned his head back andughed, then said, ¡°Young Master Ouyang, I¡¯d like to have a bet with you.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai stole a gander in Elder Lianhua¡¯s direction before smiling. ¡°Among all the men I have met in my life, your fearlessness ranks among the top three. I admire your daringness to start something when you are about to meet your demise.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, should I win, all I ask is that you treat me to a drink. What do you say?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai felt he had heard the tone from somewhere in the past, but he couldn¡¯t name where and when. ¡°Deal. If you can get through this, we will drink until we are satisfied. Deal? Granny, this one shall act as today¡¯s witness.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been waiting to hear.¡±

    Elder Lianhua wasn¡¯t pleased with the development. Seeing as Ouyang Xiucai was going to act as a referee, it was now a fair duel in the pugilistic world, so she couldn¡¯t follow her original n of catching Ming Feizhen off guard.

    Ming Feizhen waved his Mncholic Sword around and praised, ¡°Superb broadsword.¡±

    Elder Lianhua was cautious ever since she heard Ming Feizhen spoke, so she was now even more defensive due to his confidence. With that much attention devoted to auditing every detail, she had no spare cognitive resources to engage in conversation.

    As Ming Feizhen ran his hand down the de, he asked, ¡°May this one ask how long ago was it that Mr. Jiang Chen helped you?¡±

    Elder Lianhua coldly responded, ¡°Why are you trying to lure me into divulging Mr. Jiang Chen¡¯s affairs?¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his head and paused. ¡°¡­ If I were to hazard a guess, I would estimate it was twenty years ago.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Elder Lianhua didn¡¯t appear bothered. ¡°What do you gain from knowing more about the past? This olddy¡¯s heart has turned to stone. Nothing you say can save you!¡± She mmed her walking stick into the ground, causing qi and blood in people around to swirl in crazy ways.

    At this point, Yuan Kou realised he would¡¯ve been done in no more than five exchanges if she didn¡¯t hold back against him.

    Yan Jiangnan knew better than anyone what sort of condition Ming Feizhen was in. Yan Jiangnan thought Ming Feizhen called out Ouyang Xiucai with a n in mind. At this point, though, it seemed as though death was still the end result for them.

    Ming Feizhen, in contrast, just stood there as though he was oblivious to his own circumstances. ¡°Your oath to kill this one leaves him with no choice. Before he dies, there is one thing he wishes you could tell him.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What else do you have to say?¡± questioned Elder Lianhua.

    ¡°Thirty years ago, many symbolic and tragic heroic events were recorded during the battle between orthodox sects and Fiends¡¯ genesis, some of which became heroic epics thatunched warriors to stardom. Many people, however, don¡¯t know that a romance that the world didn¡¯t look upon kindly also blossomed during the battle.¡±

    ¡°What are you¡­¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s question is, what is the line you hate most?¡±

    Elder Lianhua stretched her eyes open as she opened her mouth, but she decided against saying anything in the end.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°Love too deep is hard to sustain. Being too smart is tiring.¡±

    Elder Lianhua¡¯s legs buckled, her vigour seemingly evaporating along with her spirit.

    ¡°I was unsure when I saw just the kasna lotus, but I now understand why you refuse to tell what Jiang Chen, I mean, Mr. Jiang Chen helped you with. In your case, it¡¯s not ¡®deep¡¯, it¡¯s ¡®hidden¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Unequalled talent and craftsmanship.¡±

    ¡°So you are a member of Tang n.¡±

    Elder Lianhua trembled. She did everything she could all her life to keep her family background a secret, yet some young man she had known for less than fifteen minutes had ruined decades of effort.

    In Elder Lianhua¡¯s moments of distraction, a silver light filled her pupils. Everyone was watching from beginning to end, yet nobody, including Elder Lianhua, couldprehend how her lungs were impaled. She dodged the sudden attack, but Ming Feizhen followed up three more sessive strikes. Even though she could fight well, she could only dodge his attacks. When the fourth attack came, she found herself in no position to do anything besides eat the attack.

    Elder Lianhua struggled to procure oxygen as blood continued trickling from her chest.

    ¡°My mistake. Granny, your limit is four,¡± Ming Feizhen stated.

    Elder Lianhua looked back at him with the ultimate rity in her eyes. ¡°You ar-¡±

    ¡°Brother Wu, wait!¡¯ cried Ouyang Xiucai.

    ¡°Apologies.¡± Ming Feizhen twisted Mncholic Sword onto a horizontal axis, then yanked it out as though he wanted to drag whatever life was left out of Elder Lianhua¡¯s body.

    Blood shot from Elder Lianhua¡¯s chest as if it was a broken showerhead while she fell backward, gaze still fixated on Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen whipped the blood off his sword and frigidlymented, ¡°I did what I had to in order to survive. My apologies.¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Deep¡± and ¡°hidden¡± ¨C Just in case you missed it, Ming Feizhen is alluding to the lines that Elder Lianhua hates most, substituting the ¡°deep¡± with ¡°hidden¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 26

    Book 13: Chapter 26

    ¡°Wu Ping!¡± Ouyang Xiucai, being superior to Elder Lianhua, had clutched Ming Feizhen¡¯s throat by the time ¡°Ping¡± was audible. With his strength, Ming Feizhen was totally immobile once caught. ¡°Why would you go so far?! Y-¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai cut himself off for he hadn¡¯t forgotten that reason wasn¡¯t on his side. Elder Lianhua was the one who dered her intention to eliminate Wu Ping, even unveiling her own secret for that goal. Wu Ping had no choice but to be swift and ruthless when his injuries put him at an enormous disadvantage. The thing was, Wu Ping already won once he stabbed Elder Lianhua; there was no need to twist the sword inside her body.

    With a pale visage, Wu Ping asserted, ¡°Brother Wu, death may be amon consequence of a fair duel, but why did you have to go the extra step against an elder when you already won?¡±

    Ming Feizhen choked out, ¡°Why are you asking the obvious? How can I just let her say things that would harm me?¡±

    ¡°You knew I had questions for her¡­ Aren¡¯t you concerned I will kill you in retaliation?!¡±

    ¡°Word in the pugilistic world is that Ouyang Xiucai, although good and bad at the same time, is a man of his word, and I believe that.¡±

    ¡°What promise did I ever make to you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen hiked up the corner of his lips a tad. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re also forgetful. You just promised to treat me to drinks moments ago. How are you going to fulfil that promise if you kill me?¡±

    With it dawning on him that he fell for Ming Feizhen¡¯s ploy, Ouyang Xiucai thundered, ¡°You deplorable scoundrel! Bring me a cotton cloth to dress her wound.¡±

    Ming Feizhen swept his gaze over the still-stupefied henchmen and uttered, ¡°Get moving.¡±

    The guards finally rushed off to carry out their orders. Drugs, bandages and the sort were readily avable because they were used to prolong prisoners¡¯ lives when subjecting them to torture. Ironically, the dungeon was seldom used, so they were for Ming Feizhen, and now he was using them, except on somebody besides himself.

    Ming Feizhen tapped Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s hand. Ouyang Xiucai reactively released his hold on Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck. Ming Feizhen strode over to Elder Lianhua, took the chest of medical items off a henchman, instructed Yuan Kou to seal her upoints and provide a massage, then applied a drug to her wound.

    Ouyang Xiucai inquired, ¡°She can still be resuscitated?¡±

    Ming Feizhen stood up. ¡°There is no enmity between us. The reason she wanted to kill me is rooted in a misunderstanding. I had no choice but to hurt her for my own survival, but I would not kill her.¡±

    Yuan Kou, massaging Elder Lianhua, couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Nheless, he flicked up a thumb andplimented, ¡°Nice, Brother Wu.¡±

    Ming Feizhen cracked a smile that oozed a forlorn aura due to his mask. Subsequently, he found a spot to sit and meditated, trying to abate the pain and fatigue before it overwhelmed him. He was the only person who knew he just stepped into a coffin and then jumped out.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While Elder Lianhua¡¯s technical abilities were unknown, her internal energy was as developed as a first rate adept. Owing to the Fengpeng¡¯s energy, Ming Feizhen possessed significantly more strength than the average man. Howbeit, arm strength alone would barely be enough to edge out a victory against second-rate fighters, let alone Elder Lianhua. Thus, his only hope was a surprise attack.

    The five attacks Ming Feizhen utilised were the culmination of over a hundred manuals Ming Huayu tossed him, in addition to his fighting experiences. If there was one thing those five attacks were guaranteed to be, it would ¡°bizarre¡±, too bizarre to predict usingmon sense. They weren¡¯t restricted by instrument, meaning he could execute them with punches, kicks, swords, broadswords and so on ¨C withoutpromising their lethality whatsoever. They weren¡¯t fixed techniques, moves or even five techniques or moves. Every time he performed them, they looked different. The key to pulling it off was summarised as so: ¡°read the opponent¡¯s movements, and exploit an opening¡±.

    Forcing Elder Lianhua to show off a few skills revealed the openings in her movements. From there, Ming Feizhen attacked in a way that she couldn¡¯t answer to, putting her in a position where she couldn¡¯t counter. He could pull it off because he was Ming Feizhen; without his analytical eyes and knowledge of internal disciplines, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to grasp Elder Lianhua¡¯s openings.

    The toughest part of it all was understanding the opponent¡¯s style to a certain degree. Hence, Elder Lianhua was the worst opponent Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve asked for in that situation. Fortunately for him, Ouyang Xiucai showing the lotus projectile gave Ming Feizhen a clue to reverse engineer Elder Lianhua¡¯s identity.

    Ming Feizhen took in a big breath and, with his eyes still shut, conveyed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Brother Ouyang. I, too, know the answer to your questions; you don¡¯t need to wait for her.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai, who was now standing beside Ming Feizhen, heaved a breath. ¡°I heard your conversation with Elder Lianhua, so I am aware you are privy to the origins of the lotus weapon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ming Feizhen opened his eyes and helplessly smiled. ¡°You will have to wait a bit before I can tell you, though.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ouyang Xiucai didn¡¯t quite understand until his ears picked up on something. ¡°I understand now.¡±

    Eight hours had passed since Ming Feizhen passed out. It took two approximately two hours to raise one door. Elder Lianhua came from the fifth door. Yuan Kou came from the seventh door. ordingly, the guards farthest away would only need just over eight hours to reach the dungeon. Even the low-ranking troops could hear the footstepsing closer and closer by this point. There was only one group at the base that mobilised in such arge group.

    A silver-masked man came in first. ¡°Hehehe, who lowered the doors? Who imed an assassin infiltrated the base?¡± In no time at all, his gaze stopped on Ming Feizhen.¡±Let¡¯s find out if there really is an intruder.¡±

    The shocked henchmen finally came around and, in synchrony, shouted, ¡°Our respects, Mr. Zero!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 27

    Book 13: Chapter 27

    The earliest records of Divine Moon Cult in the Western Regions could be traced back to over two millennia ago. The credit for sustaining their existence despite the changes to their teachings and names went to the efforts of their followers. Among the legends their religion gave birth to, Lord San Shen was one of them.

    While Divine Moon Cult¡¯s leader was viewed as the cult¡¯s god¡¯s representative on Earth, Lord San Shen was considered the manifestation of the god of punishment. Based on their records, Lord San Shen held the same authority as their cult leader.

    Lord San Shen¡¯s duty was to enforce their teachings and ensure fairness. Legends said that he could find transgressors no matter how they hid or how far they fled.

    The difference between Lord San Shen and the cult leader was the same as the difference between light and darkness. Lord San Shen only descended upon the mortal realm once every few generations without anyone knowing the secretive procedure. All they knew was that nobody could inherit or covet his post. This presented a problem.

    Lord San Shen¡¯s faction was as real as real got and wielded considerable authority. However, Lord San Shen was a legend, one that whether one would see or not entirely dependened on luck. To ovee this hurdle, they needed someone to act as a provisional Lord San Shen in the time he was absent from the mortal realm to fulfil his role. The chosen individual would be referred to as ¡°Zero¡±.

    Zero, simply put, could be considered Lord San Shen¡¯s adjutant. From a prolonged-period standpoint, he should be ssified as the real leader of the faction.

    ¡°I¡¯m really keen to know who ordered the doors to be lowered,¡± the man in the silver mask expressed, his inquisitive nature showing through his eye slits.

    ¡°¡­ Me.¡±

    Zero instantly unleashed a heavy palm strike. His energy coiled around Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck as if it was a snake¡¯s venom, yet Ming Feizhen just weakly reclined onto the stone wall and shut his eyes. ¡°You have guts, but your skill is abysmal¡­ With your internal energy in the state that it is, you might as well be someone who¡¯s never trained a day in his life.¡±

    Until then, everybody watching thought that Zero just shed his hand.

    ¡°Now, I want to know what sort of prank this is supposed to be?¡± Before they knew it, Zero was already beside Elder Lianhua. ¡°Can someone tell me what happened?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai did the talking since he held the highest rank among those present. He kept the reason for Elder Lianhua¡¯s scuffle with Ming Feizhen even briefer than the rest of his recount as he honestly didn¡¯t know the underlying reasons. Although the others were aware that Ouyang Xiucai glossed over some reasons, they had already subconsciously taken Ming Feizhen¡¯s side due to Elder Lianhua¡¯s attitude during the confrontation, so nobody spoke up.

    Yuan Kou, who assumed the two had a grudge prior to the fight, because he was sure she mistook Wu Ping for an imposter, said, ¡°She¡¯s usually fine. I don¡¯t know how Brother Wu got on her bad side, but she was so furious that she insisted on fighting.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Wu Ping defeated Elder Lianhua?¡± Zero shifted his gaze to Ming Feizhen, keeping his energy coiling around Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck. ¡°Look at you. You ordered my men to lower the doors and thenpromised one of my generals. The ignorant would think you were the rat amongst us.¡±

    ¡°It was purely a misunderstanding. Had I not gotten hurt, I may have been able to hold out until you arrived. I beg your forgiveness.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m just surprised you could defeat her when you¡¯re as good as any random on the street, heh.¡± Zero¡¯s gaze on Ming Feizhen showed no changes.

    ¡°This one is not the only one severely injured. The Yan brothers are in trouble, as well. Brother Yan Jiangnan made it, but Brother Yan Jibei has¡­¡±

    Taken aback, Zero turned to Yan Jiangnan. ¡°How is your brother?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan felt all his muscles bundle up. ¡°H-he was¡­ unable to make it,¡± he tearfully replied.

    Yuan Kou and Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°Ah?!¡±

    Even though Yuan Kou and Ouyang Xiucai had seen death times than they could remember, and didn¡¯t witness and Yan Jibei¡¯s death, they felt sorry for Yan Jiangnan watching him shed tears. In reality, Yan Jiangnan cried as he thought about how many brushes with death he had already had and still was in peril; maybe his right eye shed tears of fear of death, and his left eye shed tears of fear of suffering.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Come here,¡±manded Zero, using his energy to pull Yan Jiangnan into his hand without contact. As with Ming Feizhen, he found Yan Jiangnan had his skills erased.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Initially, Zero suspected Wu Ping of pulling stunts, but Yan Jibei died. Yan Jiangnan had no reason to cover his brother¡¯s demise. Moreover, one person having their skills erased could be a suspicious, but two people losing their skills could no longer be dismissed.

    ¡°About your brother¡¯s unfortunate case, my condolences. Although you¡¯ve lost your skills, it may not be a bad thing. Jiang Chen can provide you with an opportunity to recoup what you¡¯ve lost. As for Brother Wu¡­ What exnation do you offer for my suspicions?¡±

    ¡°This one has nothing to say.¡± Ming Feizhen grimaced to match his condition. ¡°The situation was as tough as you heard. This one and the Yan brothers staked their lives to drive the trespasser away. Had we not lowered the doors, the damage would be drastically more than what it is now.¡±

    ¡°And the reality is, I didn¡¯t see anyone on the way in. You don¡¯t mean to tell me that the individual vanished into thin air here, do you?¡±

    ¡°This one cannot stop you from telling jokes.¡± Ming Feizhen threw Mncholic Sword over to Zero. ¡°It is not the first time you have suspected this one. Frankly speaking, Elder Lianhua said the same thing and used it as justification to fight this one to the death. Right now, this one is incapable of fighting back. Do as you see fit. This one cannot stop you from defaming him, either.¡±

    Zero: I don¡¯t remember Wu Ping being so good with words¡­ or so assertive.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Open the dungeon. I¡¯m going to inspect it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen felt beads of sweat forming on his back. Zero didn¡¯t follow the schedule Ming Feizhen wanted him to follow. If Zero checked the dungeon, he would piece everything together¡­

 Book 13: Chapter 28

    Book 13: Chapter 28

    ¡°Open thest door.¡±

    There were roughly 30% more people than before gathered at the dungeon.

    There was a casual man in his forties brooding away. Despite being famous, he didn¡¯t like to go around blowing his own trumpet and was seldom seen in the pugilistic world. He only spoke to people at the new headquarters out of necessity, otherwise keeping to himself just as he usually preferred; as a matter of fact, it was Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s first time meeting him.

    The dashing man and ssy woman who stayed together were known as the Guxian Deities husband and wife duo. Ever since their union, their reputations only elevated one another. For an unknown reason, they were helping an unorthodox organisation when they aligned with orthodox sects.

    Kuanggu Sheng, one of Fiends¡¯ Genesis Seven Stars, had an uncanny smile on his face and sat at the bottom of a squat when everybody else was standing. Thing was, he was so ¡°out there¡± most of the time that it had be normal to everyone who knew him.

    Zero had Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ remaining members stand behind the adepts, ensuring nobody could escape from the dungeon. Tian Gou was the only person left outside. Although Zero was cognisant of the fact that it would take a while for any trespasser to bypass all the secret contraptions, it was better to be excessively cautious inside because, if they escaped from the dungeon, then there was no way of catching them. Zero wasn¡¯t as willing to take risks as Jiang Chen.

    ¡°Open up.¡±

    Yuan Kou added, ¡°What are you waiting for? What are we worried about with Mr. Zero here?¡±

    The answer to Yuan Kou¡¯s question was, the infiltrator. They witnessed Ming Feizhen defeat Elder Lianhua in four attacks, when the infiltrator unterally demolished Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, they hurriedly opened up once they met with Zero¡¯s re.

    Yan Jiangnan could hear his heart beating in his head. If the fake scene was seen through, then death was the most desirable oue for him and Ming Feizhen. He¡¯d rather a swift death than endure all manner of torture before being sent to hell. He looked to Ming Feizhen to find thetter with his eyes shut as though he wasn¡¯t bothered. Unable to contain his anxiety, Yan Jiangnan stepped forward and shouted, ¡°Wait! I have something to say!¡±

    Zero looked to Yan Jiangnan out of his peripherals. ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not¡­¡± Yan Jiangnan suddenly felt a sick feeling in his stomach that shut his entire body down.

    ¡°He¡¯s not what? Hey, don¡¯t just leave us hanging,¡± griped Yuan Kou, scrubbing his head vigorously.

    When Yuan Kou went to grab Yan Jiangnan, he heard Kuanggu Sheng yell, ¡°Pull back!¡± Yuan Kou instinctively pulled his hand back, then questioned. ¡°What are you shouting about now?¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng coldly responded, ¡°He¡¯s been poisoned. If death is your wish, touch him.¡±

    Until then, Zero didn¡¯t pay attention to Yan Jiangnan, deeming the dungeon¡¯s status quo more important. As soon as he heard what Kuanggu Sheng pointed out, Zero pulled Yan Jiangnan into his grip. Yan Jiangnan¡¯s body was as cold as a block of ice. When Zero moulded internal energy to suppress the poison, chilly smoke whisked out of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s body, turning even the interior of the building chilly. Momentster, a rosy tinge was restored to Yan Jiangnan¡¯s pallor face, but his teeth continued chattering uncontrobly.

    Yuan Kou eximed, ¡°What the flying flip is that poison? I¡¯ve never seen anything like it in my life.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Snow silkworms.¡± Zero lifted up Yan Jiangnan¡¯s cor. ¡°What did the assant look like?!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan was fully aware that Ming Feizhen evoked the chilling sensation to punish him for trying to spill the beans, so he answered, ¡°It was¡­ was¡­ was anky person in ck garments¡­ I did not get a clear look at their face.¡±

    ¡°Was it a woman?¡± questioned Zero.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ Uh¡­¡± As Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t know what profile he gave the intruder, he tried to answer as vaguely as possible.

    As furious as Zero was with Yan Jiangnan, he could understand the reason for the incoherent speech ¨C the brush with death just now. Hence, he turned to Ming Feizhen. ¡°Wu Ping, you tell me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pretended to ruminate prior to replying ¡°They were so fast that I was too busy defending to check their appearance. In saying that¡­ I did smell a feint smell of perfume on them. It is possible they are a woman.¡±

    ¡°Perfume? What perfume?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Flowers, I think, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a flower from the Central in¡­¡±

    ¡°Roses?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. I knew I had smelt it somewhere before. Yes, it was the smell of roses from the Western Regions. You, too, have met people from the Western Regions, Mr. Zero?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°¡­ What was their fighting style like?¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t have a lot of strength in their arms, and their techniques weren¡¯t very polished. That said, they were inconceivably fast, and I still have no idea what weapon they wielded despite how long we fought for. It could have been a broadsword or sword. Sometimes it felt like a whip, and sometimes it felt like an axe.¡±

    Following a long thinking session, Zero remarked, ¡°Could it have been Xue Yanjun?¡±

    Everyone who heard the three words reactively took one step back and raised their hands. While Xue Yanjun didn¡¯t have as many underlings as de Demon or Sword Demon, she was considered someone who rivalled both of them. She wasn¡¯t one of Demon Sect¡¯s three Great Guardians for no reason.

    ¡°No, Wen Wudao and she perished at Lawless Cliff six years ago; I saw them die with my own eyes, but she¡¯s a slippery one, and I wouldn¡¯t put it past her to fake her death.¡± Zero didn¡¯t care that anyone else heard him for it was a topic spoken about exclusively between Divine Moon Cult members.

    Ming Feizhen simultaneously monitored zero and the prison next door. Once he heard what he wanted to on the other side, he asked, ¡°If it really is her, doesn¡¯t that mean she is your ally? D-does this not make it an internal struggle?¡±

    ¡°If it is her, this is going to be troublesome because she¡¯s always been on good terms with the man inside, so she will rescue him. Let¡¯s go check. Open up.¡±

    As soon as the doors were open, they heard a body of water mobilising with haste.

    The dungeon was flooded once every few fixed days, and today was one of those days.

 Book 13: Chapter 29

    Book 13: Chapter 29

    Roughly a fortnight ago.

    ¡°Help!¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend screamed at the top of her lungs, yet only a small indifferent group went to her location.

    ¡°You useless sacks of crap!¡±

    The group didn¡¯t know who to help because imperial troops had the ce surrounded, and their leaders hadn¡¯t given any orders. The imperial troops¡¯ leaders were in cahoots with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ leader, so they couldn¡¯t publicly assist Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Therefore, the best they could do was stop their soldiers from advancing under the pretext of staying out of danger.

    ¡°Damn it! Let¡¯s go!¡± Nine-Lives Cat Fiend dragged Drought Demon, who was stunned in ce, along.

    If their allies weren¡¯t so useless, Drought Demon wouldn¡¯t have been hurt so bad. To be fair, though, who would¡¯ve expected the tides to turn the way they did when Fiends¡¯ Genesis had an overwhelming advantage at the start.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis didn¡¯t expect Hong Jiu to actually turn around and fight Drought Demon when thetter provoked Hong Jiu. Suffice to say, nobody dared to get in between them once they started throwing cannonballs at each other as if they had unlimited ammo.

    Owing to his prior injuries, Hong Jiu, despite perennially leaking blood from his mouth onto himself, gained ascendance, but he couldn¡¯t capitalise to finish the job. Drought Demon, on the contrary, didn¡¯t mind a protracted battle since he had refined his internal energy for decades already. For some reason, though, Hong Jiu¡¯s morale seemed to rise with each passing second. Eventually, Hong Jiu managed to smash through Drought Demon¡¯s true qi armour and tagged Drought Demon.

    Never in Drought Demon¡¯s life had he met an opponent who could grow under those dangerous and disadvantageous circumstances. What¡¯s more, his opponent was able to neutralise his yin qi,e up with new ways to dismantle his attacks on the fly and even win an exchange.

    Right after tagging Drought Demon, Hong Jiu jumped onto the horse carriage, howled and then departed with his allies. Hence, Nine-Lives Cat Fiend had to flee the scene with Drought Demon even though she knew the imperial troops wouldn¡¯t attack them.

    The Stars¡¯ mission at the estate outside the capital was to tie Fiends¡¯ Genesis to Wondrous Warrior Estate. If they failed, then the team in the capital would be in a pinch. Now that they failed the simple task and cost Drought Demon his health, their ns were derailed.

    ***

    ¡°We have drugs? Anything? Tear me a bit of cloth. I can¡¯t stop his bleeding!¡± It took Master Qi about an hour to nurse Hong Jiu¡¯s wounds while they continued speeding in the opposite direction Nine-Lives Cat Fiend went. In the end, she had to use her cold internal energy to bring his bleeding under control.

    When Hong Jiu finally came around, the first thing he voiced was, ¡°Xiaoyu, you remember which way they went?¡±

    While Fang Xiaoyu didn¡¯t pay particr attention, he did pay some attention, so he knew which way they went. ¡°They went northeast. Brother Hong, what do you need to know for?¡±

    ¡°Northeast? Heh, that makes things easier. Hear that, Guan Ning? We¡¯re heading northeast.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still gasping blood,¡± Master Qi sadly expressed.

    ¡°Hahah- ha¡­ ha¡­ ha¡­¡± What was supposed to be a heartyugh ended up bing Hong Jiu¡¯s wheezing session. ¡°So what? As a girl, you lose quite a bit of blood monthly. Why should I be afraid of losing some blood?¡±

    ¡°Gasping blood¡± was an oversimplification of Hong Jiu¡¯s condition. To say he ¡°jumped¡± onto the carriage was a bit of a stretch because it was closer to him throwing himself onto it and rolling in. Had Master Qi not quickly reduced hisnding¡¯s impact, he would¡¯ve gone through the carriage. Now, he was gasping more blood with each gasp.

    Drought Demon was aplished before Jiang Chen further developed his skillset. In his fight with Hong Jiu, he used his Drought Energy to avoid fatal damage whilst utilising thirteen different types of yin energy to keep Hong Jiu upied with defusing attacks.

    ¡°You know your condition best. Even an untrained man could kill you in your current state, so why don¡¯t you stop acting tough?!¡±

    Hong Jiu opened his mouth to argue, only for blood to spill out again.

    ¡°See?! See?! See?!¡± Master Qi had no time to think of what else to say as she was busy wiping his blood.

    Hong Jiu grabbed Master Qi¡¯s wrist. He was out of energy, yet she couldn¡¯t break free. With his sincere gaze on her, he uttered, ¡°He¡­ is targeting my brother¡­ I can¡¯t leave him be.¡±

    ¡°What can you do in your current state besides dying?¡± Truthfully, Master Qi was usually friendly, but she couldn¡¯t stop herself speaking to Hong Jiu in a scathing tone for a reason unbeknownst to her.

    ¡°¡­ Haha, I can¡¯t die. The entire group wanted me to die, but here I am, alive and kicking. Xiaoyu, help me up.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu checked what sort of face Master Qi had on before daring to help Hong Jiu sit up.

    Hong Jiu inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, then assumed a serious expression. ¡°See? I¡¯m fine now. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°I object,¡± asserted Master Qi.

    ¡°Miss Wen,st I checked, we aren¡¯t close.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Master Qi jolted. ¡°That being the case, what I want to do is none of your concern. If you want to leave, you¡¯ll have to get through me.¡±

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi stared at each other for a while. Subsequently, Hong Jiu heaved a breath and conveyed, ¡°I must go. Miss Wen, I know you¡¯re kind at heart, but now is not the time for it.¡±

    ¡°Your brother is in the capital. Even if they want to harm him, northeast is the opposite direction of the capital.¡±

    ¡°Is a few hundred kilometres any sort of worthy obstacle for League of Assassins¡¯ best assassin?¡±

    While Master Qi had no retort on hand, their coach said, ¡°I have, uh, an immature suggestion.¡±

    Master Qi: ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°We are not too far from Valley of Yearning. How about we head there? We can nurse our injuries without worrying about anyone disturbing us. And, well, how do I put it¡­¡± Guan Ning scratched his cheek. ¡°It¡¯s the only route I know.¡±

    Master Qi was on board; however, Hong Jiu spoke out first. ¡°Why would we go there? I¡¯m going after the assassin.¡±

    Master Qi, Fang Xiaoyu and Guan Ning: ¡°You put a sock in it!¡±

    Hong Jiu: Are my ideas that bad?

 Book 13: Chapter 30

    Book 13: Chapter 30

    It was crazy to think anyone out on an adventure would be as blind as a bat without a map, yet the only route Guan Ning imed to remember was the way home. Even without light, he could navigate it as if it was daytime. Although Guan Ning gave the impression that he didn¡¯t pay attention to details, Hong Jiu knew Guan Ning was actually attentive; Guan Ning merely gave an excuse so that Hong Jiu wouldn¡¯t have to say he was unable to continue fighting. For that, Hong Jiu was grateful. Even when the others objected to Guan Ning¡¯s suggestion, he still rode toward Valley of Yearning.

    Fang Xiaoyu kept a pulse on Hong Jiu¡¯s pulse in case thetter puked blood again, while Master Qi directly sealed his upoints to immobilise him. Well, Hong Jiu was barely mobile due to his numerous injuries in the first ce.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It took a while, but Hong Jiu eventually stopped arguing to have his way. He was a man who knew what he wanted and wouldn¡¯t hesitate to voice his wishes. He seldom worked with anyone besides his siblings. This was one of the rare asions that he didn¡¯t fight to have his way.

    Leader, once I¡¯ve healed a little, I¡¯ll stop that guy. I won¡¯t let him harm you as long as I¡¯m still alive.

    Without Hong Jiu¡¯s protests, the only audible sounds were the horses and the fast-turning wheels. While Fang Xiaoyu soon fell asleep, Hong Jiu seemed to be on an adrenaline drip. Although Hong Jiu sustained severe injuries and lost a considerable of blood, he didn¡¯t expend much internal energy in the fight. To the contrary, the fight stimted his internal energy growth. Through refining it using his internal discipline, he calmed as well as refreshed his mind.

    Nothing in the carriage piqued Hong Jiu¡¯s interest until he saw the maiden sitting before him. Owing to the fighting to escape and utilising her internal energy to treat Hong Jiu afterwards, her breathing was slightly heavy, and parts of her garments were darker than others. Several strands of her hair stuck to her face. As someone who didn¡¯t use rouge, she didn¡¯t look too different, but she was charming in her own way even in the dishevelled state she was in.

    It was Hong Jiu¡¯s first time noticing howrge Master Qi¡¯s eyes were, how thin her lips were, how voluminous her cheeks were and how pleasing her smile was. Female martial artists in the pugilistic world were often hearty or charming, rarely sweet.

    Hong Jiu had saved more people than he could remember, and, among them, there were girls who fell for him, but he never cared for des, so he¡¯d take off as soon as he saved them. As a result, the shy girls wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to profess their feelings before he was gone. Therefore, he still couldn¡¯t write one sentence about a romantic encounter he had.

    Hong Jiu was constantly busy. If he didn¡¯t find trouble, trouble found him. If he wasn¡¯t being unfortunate, misfortune was out for him. There, therefore, was no time for him to have romantic thoughts even when he met pretty girls. This was his first time properly checking out a girl.

    Hong Jiu stared at the maiden with her face in her hands, gaze on the moon, and mind in another world, unaware she was reflecting on what transpired not long ago in the carriage.

    Son of a, no, you Hong Jiu! We¡¯re not close? Of course we¡¯re not! Who wants to be close to you?! If you didn¡¯t chase after me, if you didn¡¯t touch me ¨C yes, you vited me that day, you Hong Jiu! How dare you give me attitude when I still haven¡¯t made you pay for that?! Only an idiot would be close to you! Only an idiot would save you! Only an idiot would trade their life to stop you! With just one finger, I could pick up eight, nine, hmph, at least, twenty guys. I saved you, yet you¡¯reining. What the hell?

    As soon as Master Qi looked back at Hong Jiu, he looked away.

    ¡°Hey, you dead yet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡±

    ¡°Yet you¡¯re replying!¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious, then?¡±

    Master Qi hissed as she stretched her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything to say?¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s intention to apologise disappeared as soon as Master Qi gave him attitude. ¡°Well, sorry.¡±

    Master Qi: He¡¯s hurt. He¡¯s still hurt. Don¡¯t bludgeon him. Don¡¯t put a hole in his head. He¡¯s still hurt¡­

    Hong Jiu: Good. God. Whoever marries her must have the worst luck in the world.

    Over the next two days, the two hardly spoke a word to each other.

    The time they spent on t roads decreased, while time spent on mountain paths increased. Had it not been for Guan Ning¡¯s skills, the carriage would¡¯ve never made it through ¨C assuming they could even navigate the route first.

    ¡°We¡¯re at the front door of Valley of Yearning now. Fog shrouds this ce throughout the year, so it¡¯s hard for people to enter unless they know the way.

    Master Qi looked outside to confirm for herself, then smiled. ¡°Had you not led the way, who would¡¯ve ever imagined a big martial arts sect would be tucked away in these mountains?¡±

    ¡°The way forward leads to Valley of Yearning¡¯s territory. Please head back the way you came, or we will be forced to stop you,¡± someone suddenly demanded.

    Guan Ning enthused, ¡°Senior Brothers, it¡¯s me.¡±

    The two guards were d to see a familiar face. ¡°Oh, Brother Guan!¡±

    Following some idle chatter among the trio, one of Guan Ning¡¯s seniors said, ¡°Brother Guan, you forgot all about us after striking it rich, hey? You haven¡¯t visited since.¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest, Senior Brother. The pugilistic world is a perilous ce. I raised a white g not long after I started. I¡¯m back with friends, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    One of Guan Ning¡¯s seniors joked, ¡°Friends? If she¡¯s not our sister-inw, we can¡¯t let you through.¡±

    The three merrilyughed.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t make fun of me, Brothers. One of them is a respected friend in the pugilistic world. This is Mount Daluo¡¯s Br-¡±

    The two disciples suddenly drew their broadswords. ¡°Mount Daluo scum?! Where?!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 31

    Book 13: Chapter 31

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s eternal enemy!¡± Hong Jiu poked his head out of the carriage. ¡°Ehehe, may I ask what your grudge with Mount Daluo is? You are after them, as well?¡±

    Guan Ning¡¯s two seniors surveyed Hong Jiu¡¯s face. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how it is, Brother Guan?¡±

    ¡°Aha, ahaha, yes, yes, I should¡¯ve spoken faster. The three of them are enemies of Mount Daluo. The pugilistic world calls them, uh¡­¡± Guan Ning didn¡¯t have qualms lying to outsiders, but he had yet to master the art of lying to his fellow disciples, so he sent Hong Jiu eye messages.

    Receiving the distress call, Hong Jiu said, ¡°The three of us weren¡¯t acquainted before this. Two years ago, we were eating noodles on Subei Road, when we ran into Mount Daluo¡¯s shameless Lian Zhuiyue. We didn¡¯t say or do anything to him, yet he kicked the person he was duelling with into our table. We never saw iting. As a consequence of the impact, my brother here lost his hair. My sister here bleeds monthly. I¡­ It pains me to mention it, but the crash stuck a curse on me. Ever since then, I burn my mouth eating cakes, choke when I drink water and break the loo even when I made sure to bring paper. It has been a tragic two years.¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s heart rate didn¡¯t rise. He didn¡¯t trip on his words once. He didn¡¯t bat an eye.

    ¡°In the pugilistic world, they call us, uh, ¡®Bits and Pieces¡¯.¡±

    Suffice to say, Master Qi wanted to bludgeon Hong Jiu for the daily-life-inspired nickname.

    Guan Ning¡¯s brothers sighed. ¡°We had no idea you are our family. From now on, you are our family. Brother Guan, bring your friends along. Shifu and Shiniang are bound to like them. May we ask for your names?¡±

    Before Master Qi could argue, Hong Ji answered, ¡°My name is Hong Ji. In the middle is Yu Sui. Thedy is, uh, Gou Sheng.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the dog scrap!¡± thundered Master Qi.

    Hong Jiu quietly stressed, ¡°I¡¯m injured. I¡¯m injured. I¡¯m injured¡­¡± Once Master Qi backed down, although huffing and puffing through her nose, he smiled and continued, ¡°There¡¯s another member in our group named Ming Ling, but he¡¯s not here with us at the moment.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu didn¡¯t want to tell people he was a Shaolin disciple, but it was harmless for him to hide the fact. Mount Tianshan and Valley of Yearning never cut into each other¡¯snes, so Master Qi didn¡¯t have any reason to hide her identity. As such, having them suddenly assume new identities increased their likelihood of blundering. For that reason, they refrained from speaking at all.

    Master Qi stealthily pinched Hong Jiu¡¯s thigh ruthlessly. The gazes of Guan Ning¡¯s brothers that she interpreted as, ¡°It¡¯s a shame that such a nice girl is called Gou Sheng,¡± impelled her to pinch even harder.

    Whilst resisting the pain radiating from his thigh, Hong Jiu kept smiling as he conveyed, ¡°While we have been on the run recently, we had the honour of befriending Brother Guan. He invited us here to recover out of the kindness of his heart. Had it not been for our conditions, we would not impose on you.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it is our duty to help those in need. Please don¡¯t feel bad. Hop off the carriage. As it is difficult for horses to traverse the path ahead, we will transport you with a mule cart.¡±

    One of them helped lead the horse, while the other cleared a path. Master Qi was taken aback at how friendly the two were; however, the main thing that stuck out to her was how they made a decision without notifying their seniors. Coming from a big sect herself, she wouldn¡¯t do that. In contrast, Hong Jiu cheerfully thanked them as Master Qi and Fang Xiaoyu helped him down.

    Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi were shocked to see the state of Hong Jiu¡¯s shirt. Anyone experienced would immediately recognise that Hong Jiu¡¯s injuries were fatal if they espied his shirt. ordingly, Master Qi went to deploy some sophistry, only to hear one of the disciples say, ¡°Brother Hong, your injuries are quite bad. Let me take you to my shifu.¡±

    The two disciples helped Hong Jiu up onto the mule cart, while Guan Ning, Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi walked.

    It didn¡¯t take long before they came across several more disciples of Valley of Yearning. Once he heard the two disciples¡¯ brief summary of the events, one of the guards gazed at Hong Jiu with concern and conveyed, ¡°Within a vicinity of fifty square kilometres, only my shifu and shiniang could treat your wounds. Hurry on!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While the level of enthusiasm didn¡¯t raise Hong Jiu and Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s eyebrows, Master Qi felt uneasy.

    Guan Ning queried, ¡°Where is Shifu?¡±

    ¡°If you asked that question yesterday, we wouldn¡¯t know how to answer. Since returning from the Western Regions yesterday, he helped Shiniang search for something. Right now, he¡¯s at Dry Flower Valley.¡±

    Dry Flower Valley was located just beyond ten kilometres from where they were. Since Guan Ning knew the way, he led Hong Jiu andpany there without his seniors. Even up to thest moment, Guan Ning¡¯s seniors pestered him to rush Hong Jiu to their shifu.

    Once she believed the disciples were out of earshot, Master Qi asked, ¡°What¡¯s the deal? Is every member of Valley of Yearning a god guy?¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Let me tell y, argh!¡±

    After she punched Hong Jiu in the face, Master Qi smirked. ¡°I dare you to speak again, Brother Hong Ji.¡±

    Holding his face, Hong Jiu replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask, Sister Gou Sh-¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°S-sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Xiaoyu, you speak.¡±

    Because he was in the middleughing at theedy, Fang Xiaoyu almost choked as he went to clear his throat. ¡°My knowledge can¡¯tpare to Brother Hong¡¯s because what I know is simply what I¡¯ve read. ording to my knowledge, Valley of Yearning¡¯s disciplines focus on turning emotions into skills, so they let their emotions lead them. By the same ount, rather than selecting disciples based on physical potential, they prioritise character. Through repetition of this process, they have built a sect where everyone looks out for one another and dislikes quarrels.¡±

    Guan Ning: ¡°Ehehe, that¡¯s not entirely true. Before anything else, our patriarch¡¯s temper is the most important factor. My shifu is nice, so his disciples follow in his footsteps. From what I know, we had a patriarch who was obsessed with fighting at one point, which resulted in the disciples of that generation frequently pursuing fights. If my memory does me justice, that was when we were ranked first among the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    They picked up the scent of flowers as they came closer to an area where tall trees slumbered. Beyond them was a spacious world of flowers, butterflies and running water that calmed the soul.

    ¡°Bai n sure knows how to enjoy life,¡± remarked Hong Jiu.

    Master Qi was visibly fond of the flowers in the valley. ¡°I hear Bai n¡¯s Bai Sang is one of the most handsome men in all thend. I dare say the rumours are true based on how this garden is managed.¡± She asked a bare-footed farmer, ¡°Mister, may I ask if Bai n¡¯s patriarch is here?¡±

    The elder turned around. ¡°You¡¯re looking for me? Oh, you¡¯re finally back, Ning¡¯er.¡±

    Guan Ning tedly saluted the elder. ¡°Your disciple¡¯s respects, Shifu!¡±

    Hong Jiu, Master Qi and Fang Xiaoyu: ¡°Say what?!¡±

    Glossary

    Bits and Pieces ¨C The name is literally tranted as ¡°Chicken and dog bits and pieces¡±, which consists of four characters. Hong Jiu swaps out part of their names for one of said four characters for their names ¨C with the exception of Master Qi, who received an entirely original name.

 Book 13: Chapter 32

    Book 13: Chapter 32

    If he said he had been living in a jungle, people would believe him based on the shape of his beard. Howbeit, he had the bright eyes of a young man. Despite being dressed in coarse linen garments and going bare feet, he definitely had the appearance of a man who could¡¯ve stolen many girls¡¯ hearts in his younger days.

    ¡°I just returned from the Western Regions. I had to travel every corner of every region to procure the twelve torture instruments for your shiniang. You should¡¯ve seen how ecstatic she was after I lugged them up the mountain for her. I woke up early this morning to collect flowers for a flower wreath to keep her happy.¡± He held the wreath he mentioned in his left while he carefully plucked flowers with his right hand. The way he plucked the flowers created a stark contrast to the impression his attire created.

    ¡°If Shiniang wore the wreath on, she would definitely¡­ The flowers are spectacr,¡± Guan Ning couldn¡¯t resist praising when he saw the peony plucked.

    ¡°Your shiniangpletely outsses this flower. A Tang Dynasty poet wrote, ¡®While the peony glowed, a beauty passed by the window. Beaming, she asked, ¡®Is the flower prettier than me, or am I prettier?¡¯.¡¯ It was silly of her topete with a flower. What flower can possibly win against one¡¯s loved one? In your shiniang¡¯s case, she is thousands, tens of thousands of folds prettier.¡± He appeared to still be daydreaming about his wife¡¯s smile from yesterday.

    Long after he finished, Master Qi finally snapped out of her daze to ask, ¡°Y-you really are Bai n¡¯s patriarch, the best broadswordman among the Seven Champion White Princes, Bai Zhiqing?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes, I am. Are you looking for me, Miss?¡±

    Master Qi had her mouth agape.

    Spotting Hong Jiu, Bai Zhiqing remarked, ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you Hong Jiu? What brings you here for a stroll?¡±

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t expect to be identified without even saying a word. No degree of thinking rang any bells as to when and where he met Bai Zhiqing before.

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt quite seriously. What happened? I can¡¯t imagine who¡¯d dare to bully you if they knew who your dad and shifu are.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Well¡­ A lifetime of cultivation was lost in an instant. Every dog has its day.¡±

    ¡°Fair point. Walk for long enough and you¡¯ll eventually sprain an ankle. Pee enough times and you¡¯ll pee on your shoes one day. Long-time no see. When Ist saw you, you were a two-year-old toddler, and I was still a kid. Let¡¯s have a drink in a bit.¡±

    A marriage connected Mount Daluo and Valley of Yearning. To be specific, Bai Zhiqing¡¯s elder brother¡¯s only daughter was Ming Huayu¡¯s legal second wife, making Bai Zhiqing Hong Jiu¡¯s second shiniang¡¯s uncle.

    ¡°Your wish is this one¡¯smand, Third Gr-Grandpa Bai.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing scrubbed his head. ¡°Just how bad did you get hurt to be calling me ¡®grandpa¡¯? Oh, wait, you¡¯re right. My nephew married your shifu. Right, right.¡±

    Hong Jiu: He didn¡¯t remember? I want my respect back! I look like someone who¡¯s trying to get in his good graces.

    Bai Zhiqing shifted his gaze back to Master Qi and examined her. ¡°Mount Tian, right?¡±

    After she recoiled, Master Qi performed a cupped-fist salute. ¡°This one¡¯s surname is Wen. Her elder sister is Mount Tian¡¯s Wenyiyi. Her respects, Patriarch Bai.¡±

    ¡°You are acquainted with Mount Tian, Shifu?¡± queried Guan Ning.

    ¡°I certainly am,¡± enthused Bai Zhiqing. ¡°I sparred with Wen Yiyi ten years ago. Even though she is several years younger than me, she¡¯s a tad better than me. I was soundly whooped, hahaha.¡±

    While Guan Ning was used to Bai Zhiqing being so frank about the results of a personal match and even speaking so energetically about it, Master Qi was shocked.

    ¡°I take it you are Wen Yiyi¡¯s younger sister. I hear every one of the seven sisters are beauties in their own right. I can imagine how lively it would be when you seven marry. Your father is going to have a lot of festivals to enjoy.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Master Qi had no idea what to do with her hands after hearing that. Putting aside the fact that Bai Zhiqing was totally different to how legends depicted him, everyone seemed to be a deer and him a light. Though he behaved childishly, he never missed when he figuratively fired from his mouth.

    ¡°Hang on.¡± Bai Zhiqing passed the flower wreath to Guan Ning, then grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s arm and frowned. ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Jiang Chen did this to you, didn¡¯t he? Fiends¡¯ Genesis is back to wreak havoc?¡±

    Hong Jiu cracked a bitter smile. ¡°I did not meet Jiang Chen, but his younger brother, Drought Demon, has returned. Drought Demon was the one who hurt me.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing lifted Hong Jiu¡¯s left arm, then right arm, then left, then right and multiple more times. ¡°Drought Demon? He¡¯s improved by leaps and bounds since he wasst demolished back then. He¡¯s hot on his brother¡¯s heels now¡­ Wait, wait, I can see more than one person hurt you from your wounds. Whoever cut you here did it with incredible power. Though there are broadsword wielders among the Seven Stars, none of them could produce this much power.¡±

    Master Qi solemnly inquired, ¡°Patriarch Bai, will he be able to fully recover from the injuries?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing, using his hand as a broadsword, chopped Hong Jiu¡¯s arms eight times using circr chopping motions. Hong Jiu felt an indescribably soothing feeling upon absorbing the chops.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t ignore him after he¡¯s acknowledged me as his grandpa. Hah!¡± Bai Zhiqing went circles around Hong Jiu, chopping Hong Jiu on the body. There were no gales or whistling winds; however, it was clear that he was flowing with intent.

    ¡°Yearning Broadswordy!¡± Fang Xiaoyu blurted.

 Book 13: Chapter 33

    Book 13: Chapter 33

    Despite not being as famous as Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary or Luo Ming¡¯s swordy, Bai n¡¯s ¡°Yearning Broadswordy¡± was considered as profound as they came. People who personally saw it, though, would praise it for being somewhat unique but awfully shallow; nobody could understand it entirely.

    Yearning Broadswordy only consisted of twelve moves that weren¡¯t exactlyplex. No matter how many generations passed and new disciplines were invented, no moves were added or subtracted from Yearning Broadswordy.

    As soon as Master Qi heard Fang Xiaoyu blurt the name, she went to walk off because it was inappropriate to watch someone reveal their secrets in the pugilistic world ¨C even if the performer didn¡¯t mind. Guan Ning, nheless, pulled her back and shook his head. Since he even smiled, Master Qi didn¡¯t insist on leaving despite her puzzlement.

    Bai Zhiqing slowed down with each sessive strike until he seemed to be waiting in between strikes. Simultaneously, he kept increasing the distance between him and Hong Jiu until he was no longer making contact.

    Master Qi: No wonder why he doesn¡¯t mind anyone seeing him.

    Apanying each hand motion, Hong Jiu felt warm ripples stimting his true qi. Ever since Vivianite chopped him, Hong Jiu felt suffocated in spite of his true qi potency. After fighting Drought Demon, the ufortable sense of stuffiness inside him felt more pronounced.

    In the past, no matter the severity of his injuries, Hong Jiu would be bouncing off walls and ready to y tigers, yet he needed people to support him just to walk after more than two days this time. Following Bai Zhiqing¡¯s chops, Hong Jiu felt winded and disoriented. Hong Jiu was aware of the dangerous thing thatid dormant inside him, but he didn¡¯t dare to resist the illusions and difort.

    Bai Zhiqing¡¯s smile was praise for Hong Jiu. He repeated the broadswordy y for again for a fifth time. He started at the first move, ¡°Red Bean Born in the South¡±, concluded at the fourth move, ¡°This is What I Yearn for Most¡±, then repeated from the top again.

    Every disciple of Bai n had learnt the broadswordy as it was the first thing they learnt upon joining. Bai Zhiqing had mentioned time and time again that the wielder¡¯s intent is more important than their techniques when executing ¡°Yearning Broadswordy¡±. In other words, if two people were to perform an identical technique, the output and effect would differ depending on what intent they put behind it. Guan Ning¡¯s specialty was the fourth move because it was his favourite. Yet, Guan Ning couldn¡¯t fathom the intricacies as he watched.

    Hong Jiu could feel something dangerous inside him trying to escape from his body. Once the rumbling in his ears was so intense that his vision was distorted, he heard Bai Zhiqing inform, ¡°The intent imbued in the chops will meld with your body¡¯s discipline. It will follow whatever you do and feel what you feel. In essence, it is using your potent internal energy as a host. However, itcks vitality. Therefore, it will gradually erase your life force if it stays in you. Since it fuses with your true qi, you won¡¯t be able to find it or expel it even if you turn your body inside out.

    ¡°Fortunately, it hasn¡¯t been in your body for long. I am constantly feeding my intent into your body to draw it out. Once it¡¯s been removed from your body, not only will you be safe, but your internal energy will also be upgraded.¡±

    Suddenly, the Earth trembled. The viciously programmed energy nted shot out of Hong Jiu¡¯s body and rotated atop Bai Zhiqing¡¯s hand. Bai Zhiqing guided the energy up into the ether. From an energy-efficiency standpoint, Bai Zhiqing should¡¯ve dumped the energy into the field of flowers, but that would ruin the flowers. He then smashed the energy, only to lose his base and fall into the mud, panting.

    ¡°My, my, what a man. The man nted a gu in case it wasn¡¯t enough to kill his target. Who the hell is the genius?¡±

    Guan Ning approached his shifu but didn¡¯t help thetter up since he knew his shifu just expended plenty of energy. ¡°Shifu, are you all right?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll need up to five months to recover my essence because I just spent half of it.¡±

    Fang Xiaoyu and Master Qi looked at each other, unable to believe Bai Zhiqing would go so far without hesitation. He and Hong Jiu had barely spent five minutes together, after all. Martial artists valued what they developed more than anything. Even the benevolent monks of Shaolin would only save a life ¨C which wasn¡¯t frequent ¨C if there was no alternative. None of them would go hunting for previous herbs and give up their energy for someone they met for the first time. If they did, they were either incorrigibly stupid or plotting something. It made Fang Xiaoyu felt ashamed for he couldn¡¯t be as noble as Bai Zhiqing despite being a Shaolin disciple, so he ced his hands together and prayed for Bai Zhiqing.

    Bai Zhiqing wagged his hands. ¡°Please don¡¯t. I¡¯m not dead.¡±

    Hong Jiu rolled over and kowtowed thrice.

    ¡°Hey! Did you kowtow out of spite of me telling him not to recite a sutra?! Is it Tomb-Sweeping Day today?!¡± blustered Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°Hong Jiu is forever grateful to you, Third Grandpa Bai!¡± Hong Jiu looked up, eyes brimming with a shine unlike his usual domineering gaze.

    The choking sensation in Hong Jiu¡¯s neck and the asional spurts of cold shivers were gone. His energy and qi could flow with impunity. Instead of celebrating his level up, howbeit, he was grateful from the bottom of his heart. If Bai Zhiqing ever needed a sacrifice, Hong Jiu wouldn¡¯t hesitate to raise his hand.

    Even though it took Bai Zhiqing quite the effort to sit down, reinforced by his exhale, he smiled. ¡°The primary purpose of your visit is to seek my help. If I turned you away when I can help, a chunk of my conscience would be gnawed away. Rather than waffle and then live with regret in the end, why not just get straight into it? If I remove the energy from your body ten minutes earlier, I will be fully recovered ten minutes earlier. If you do the maths, aren¡¯t I winning? I don¡¯t do business if there¡¯s a negative return on investment, hahaha.¡±

    Master Qi and Fang Xiaoyu were still as surprised as when they first met Bai Zhiqing, but there was now genuine respect.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s gratitude was amplified even further. ¡°I shall not waste any more words on pointless appreciate remarks. If you ever need me in the future, your wish is mymand.¡±

    Glossaryn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tomb-Sweeping Day ¨C Also known as Qingming Festival. During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites, pray to their ancestors and make ritual offerings. If you y Genshin and yed Hutao¡¯s story, you should understand the aversion to death.

 Book 13: Chapter 34

    Book 13: Chapter 34

    ¡°They¡¯re seriously back?¡± Bai Zhiqing stroked his neck. ¡°I only have 50% of my power right now; I don¡¯t even know how many I can beat. Worstes to worst, we¡¯ll just have to squash them with numbers¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu and Guan Ning instinctively looked to each other, both recalling Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s grudge. Everyone saw how dejected she was that night. For someone as dangerous as her to emotionally break down in front of her enemies over something from twenty years ago, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how dreadful the experience was for her.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Bai Zhiqing asked, ¡°Hang on. Did the intruders scare my wife?¡± Despite losing half of his powers, he was able to project his question to his disciple with pinpoint precision.

    The out-of-breath disciple replied, ¡°She said she was feeling stuffy, so she left the mountain to see what all the noise below was about.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s group couldn¡¯t believe what they heard. She went down the mountain when she knew an enemy was in their territory? She had to be either mad or low on IQ.

    ¡°Say what?! How are they qualified to meet someone as benevolent as her and as beautiful as a goddess? Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m going to bury them.¡±

    Hong Jiu expressed, ¡°Third Grandpa, let us join you.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry, then.¡± Bai Zhiqing¡¯s feet moved as he spoke already.

    From the outside, the dangerous terrain of Valley of Yearning was invisible. Furthermore, unless somebody knew how to navigate it, it would be a tiring journey. As they climbed with Bai Zhiqing, they could see that, although it was located in Jiangnan, it was difficult to conquer but easy to defend thanks to the fact that the mountains were connected to each other.

    Thanks to their wise foreign investments, despite being located outside of Jiangnan, Bai n was considered a prosperous one. Even though Bai n had called Mount Wuju home since their first generation, and continued to stay there even after twenty-three generations, they continued operating a business on the water channels because that was what they came from. That was the reason that, among the three biggest martial arts ns that did business on the waters, Bai n¡¯s Peni Ind was the most influential.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    During an era of upheaval, nobody ever had any doubts when doing business with Bai n since Bai n was always transparent, as well as continued their blue-cor work ethic even once they had other options. Bai n would never try to go the extra mile to raise their earning potential. To businessmen, Bai n was Idiots n. Ironically, the careers of those who considered Bai n idiots were over.

    Given the current dynasty elected Jinling to be its capital, Bai n naturally became a n they wanted the support of. They were located close to the capital, possessed immense wealth, influence and power. Who could sleepfortably knowing there was a mighty tiger sleeping beside them?

    When Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor returned from a trip to talk to Bai n, he was all smiles. From that day onwards, Bai n became another member of the White Princes. From their patriarch down to their militia, they chose righteousness over money.

    Crowning Bai n their rank as a White Prince would easily be one of the most bizarre things in the world. They had a longer history as residents of Mount Wuju than the imperial court. Mount Wuju was located in an autonomous region. Their home was not a gift from the imperial court to them. They didn¡¯t have any money, food or troops shortage. Peni Ind had tens of thousands of troops to deploy if necessary. If they grew their military any more, the next Emperor after Emperor Yuansheng might never have been able to sleep. Given these points, bestowing them the authority to administrate their own region, recruit soldiers and collect their own taxes was meaningless.

    The militia at Valley of Yearning and overseas only acknowledged one ruler ¨C their patriarch. They acknowledged Bai n but not Li n. Even when they entered employment as a civil servant, they often continued living alone as a member of Bai n.

    So, they didn¡¯t gain anything besides an extra title, yet Bai n was happy.

    The other six White Princes never interacted with Bai n just as Bai n had no interest in befriending them. An ally you couldn¡¯t understand was more dangerous than an enemy. Howbeit, that was the very reason Valley of Yearning had few friends in the martial world and, by extension, few enemies. When there were disagreements in business, they would strive to resolve it so that both parties won. It went without saying that rarely did anyone have the courage to confront them; that went double in this generation with the three brothers constantly one-upping the other, effectively creating an infinite progression.

    This was only the second time somebody had trespassed into Valley of Yearning¡¯s backyard since Bai Zhiqing took the reins as valley ruler. If his wife wasn¡¯t the one in danger, he¡¯d probably have been thrilled.

    Because Hong Jiu hadn¡¯tpletely recovered, he couldn¡¯t perform his qinggong as he usually could. As a result of trying to keep up with Bai Zhiqing¡¯s brisk pace, he soon slipped and rolled down the mountain. Thankfully, someone caught him before he could tumble all the way down, so he looked up to express thanks, only to be met with Master Qi¡¯s stare of disdain. She said, ¡°You¡¯re as heavy as a pig,¡± then continued off.

    Hong Jiu: What¡¯s her issue?!

    Annoyed, Hong Jiu gave chase, stimting his newly developed internal energy. As a result, the intervals between his inhales grew longer and longer, not that it was enough to keep up with Master Qi¡¯s qinggong.

    As they raced alongside Bai Zhiqing, with neither of them taking the lead and seeing Hong Jiu¡¯s simper, Master Qi said, ¡°You need not worry, Patriarch Bai. We have fought with the intruders already, and we can say with confidence that they are not dangerous enough to be a threat to Valley of Yearning.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯sment wasn¡¯t ttery. If the erstwhile Fiends¡¯ Genesis wasn¡¯t the three brothers¡¯ match and wasn¡¯t match for Bai n¡¯s military, they weren¡¯t a match now. However, Hong Jiu saw beyond thement, so he checked on Bai Zhiqing. As expected, thement raised Bai Zhiqing¡¯s concern level. Hong Jiu was already running as fast as he could; if Bai Zhiqing increased his pace, Hong Jiu would have problems.

    Unsurprisingly, Master Qi then inquired, ¡°Does your wife not know martial arts?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s actually formidable, replied Bai Zhiqing. Before they could ask for further rification, he dered, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived!¡± He mustered up more qi,unching himself onto a boulder on the other side.

    At a nce, there were an estimated hundred people guarding the path upwards. In contrast, the enemies they were fighting only numbered a few dozen, so they had managed to hold the invaders back.

    Hong Jiu ducked behind a boulder to scope out the situation. The leader of the enemies was none other than the man who left first ¨C Hai Yecha. Judging from the fact that there were zombie-like soldiers on the field, it was safe to assume Drought Demon was close by, too.

    Hong Jiu: This is northeast of the Fiends¡¯ Genesispound we raided, isn¡¯t it?

    Hai Yecha¡¯s group left two days ahead of the rest, but they arrived after Hong Jiu¡¯s group for they didn¡¯t know the way in and had been trying their luck in Bai n¡¯s backyard. Had Bai Zhiqing¡¯s wife not descended the mountain, Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group might very well have still been wandering two weekster.

    ¡°My Lady, are you all right?!¡±

    Facing off against Hai Yecha on the boulder opposite him was none other than Bai Zhiqing¡¯s wife. The moment Hai Yecha espied Bai Zhiqing, he was so livid that he charged at Bai Zhiqing¡¯s wife without dy!

 Book 13: Chapter 35

    Book 13: Chapter 35

    Hai Yecha¡¯s booming power reduced as it closed in on Lady Bai, then started booming again, then abruptly went silent metres away from her. Subsequently, he raised his guard whilst retreating eight steps.

    Owing to inevitable aging, Hai Yecha lost the nimbleness in his youth, but his internal energy was more potent. During his youth, he trained submerged in water to build his raw strength. In spite of all that, and nobodyprehended it, the energy he produced went through an invisible, forck of better word, once it was thirty metres away from Lady Bai, half of which was instantly transferred out. Hence, he added another threeyers with dual palm strikes, which was why another loud gale was generated. Once again, though, the force dissipated, eventually being less than 30% of his original output once it was three metres away from her.

    Whatever sorcery she was using, it was capable of defusing every ounce of strength Hai Yecha did without suffering any noticeable ramifications. If she capitalised, he was most likely going to forfeit his life. For that reason, he created space forthwith.

    Hai Yecha regretted underestimating Lady Bai. He imagined he was riding a wave of momentum that he just had to ride to the end to triumph, never expected he would nearly slip to his death due to one wrong call. Nevertheless, now that he knew his mistake, all he had to do was calm down and go back to being calctive.

    Bai Zhiqing flipped through the air,nded in front of his wife and stretched his arms out to the side, only feeling reassured once he confirmed Hai Yecha wasn¡¯ting again. Then, he started waving his arms as if he was purifying the air for his wife.

    ¡°My Lady, are you all right? Why did youe down here? I was worried.¡±

    The beauty in her thirties with the appearance of a maiden in her twenties dimpled, changing her image of a snow Queen into a gentledy. ¡°It¡¯s okay. He was only testing my skills. Look at you: you¡¯re all sweaty.¡± Lady Bai took out her white handkerchief from her shirt to wipe her husband¡¯s sweat. ¡°You¡¯re already at Thousand Flowers Valley as soon as you¡¯re back. You really can¡¯t sit still, can you?¡±

    In truth, Bai Zhiqing wasn¡¯t really that sweaty, not at his level, but he purposely breathed harder as his wife wiped his face. ¡°I can¡¯t feign ignorance when I know you like the twelve instruments of torture. Since I know, I must obtain them for you.¡±

    Lady Bai nestled her head on her husband¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But I like you more.¡±

    Master Qi and Hong Jiu looked to each other as though to ask, ¡°Is it just me, or did I just hear snow crack?¡± If one were to describe Lady Zhuo as humanoid snow entity, Hong Jiu would agree. Although there was no arguing her appearance was something to marvel at, there was no arguing that she felt closer to a puppet than a human from her facial expressions when not interacting with her husband.

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me for so long, okay?¡±

    ¡°In that case, I shall not leave you. Forget the flowers, too. I shall stay on the mountain for three months to keep youpany.¡±

    Lady Bai lowered her head and, in a soft voice, uttered, ¡°Uhm.¡±

    Fed up, Hai Yecha said, ¡°And here I thought Bai Sang was some wondrous man. You¡¯re just a coward who fears his wife! Listen up: Fiends¡¯ Genesis is making theireback, and we¡¯re squashing a White Prince to announce our return. Since you Bais don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯ll be first to perish.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing grabbed the back of his head. ¡°Now that¡¯s odd. Since when did we ever not know what¡¯s good for us? Are you sure you have the right people?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While people cracked up, Hai Yecha snorted.

    Bai Zhiqing smiled. ¡°You are Hai Yecha? We met twenty years ago; there¡¯s no need to pretend you don¡¯t recognise me. Why would youe to my mountain and disrespect my wife? Should I destroy you or destroy you? Well, even if you do answer, as you disrespected my wife, there¡¯s no way we can settle this with words.¡±

    Hai Yecha, knowing Bai n raised romantics, wasn¡¯t going to try his luck in a word war with Bai Zhiqing. ¡°In that case, let me ask you this: why did you abandon my sister Nine-Lives Cat Fiend? Had she not protected you, that day would¡¯ve been yourst day alive. Is ying with a woman¡¯s heart and then throwing her to the curb the way a man ought to behave?¡±

    After hearing, ¡°ying with a woman¡¯s heart and then throwing her to the curb,¡± Lady Bai looked to her husband. ¡°You can speak, but don¡¯t speak nonsense.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing felt jittery at the mention of Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, but he didn¡¯t know how to respond, lest his wife get the wrong idea.

    ¡°Hmph, you know she loves you, yet you married another woman. If you never had any feelings for her, why did you make her fall for you? To this day, she is still loyal to you. Say something if you¡¯re a man!¡±

    ¡°She still¡­¡± Bai Zhiqing sighed, then continued, ¡°I made it very clear with her back then. Though I was and am still grateful to her for saving me, I never had any romantic feelings for her. In contrast, I fell for my wife at first sight. I never started a rtionship with her, so I never yed or abandoned her.¡±

    Lady Bai and Bai Zhiqing never had any subject restrictions between them. Still, to hear her husband mention a woman she had never heard of left a bitter taste in her mouth. ¡°Dear, who is sh-¡±

    ¡°Watch out!¡±

    Master Qi didn¡¯t notice anything, but Hong Jiu didn¡¯t miss the blue de stealthily turning into a ck de as it inched toward Lady Bai¡¯s neck out of nowhere. Given the speed of the attack and Hong Jiu¡¯s distance from her, he could only warn them as loudly as he could.

    Lady Bai calmly raised her hand, passed through the blue cover and denied the de any further ground. The de that symbolised death suddenly resembled nothing more than harmless tin. She knitted her brows together as though she found the assant rude and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Glossary

    Bai Sang ¨C ¡°Bai¡± refers to the family name. ¡°San¡± refers to the fact that Bai Zhiqing is the third eldest among his siblings. ¡°Lang¡± is another word for a man. All together, it effectively equals to ¡°Third Bai Brother among the Bai Brothers¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 36

    Book 13: Chapter 36

    ¡°Who are you, boy?¡± Lady Bai appeared as powerful as a goddess who could snap the de that drank the blood of innumerable adepts. ¡°It was rude enough for you to eavesdrop on an adults¡¯ conversation, and you¡¯ve made it worse by swinging around a de. I don¡¯t know which n you¡¯re from, so I¡¯m not in a position to teach you a lesson.¡±

    Vivianite inhaled all the air he could store, tensed up and ripped his de back, only for another energy source to send it sky-bound. Being adept at improvisation, he rode the vertical momentum to rise into the air and bound back to Hai Yecha¡¯s side.

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost interest in killing ever since I got married, so I shall spare you today. Watch yourself from now on,¡± stated Lady Bai.

    Vivianite slowly sheathed his weapon behind him, then silently retreated, erasing his presence from the field. Unless someone tried to find him, they¡¯d never detect his existence. Even though he was further away from Lady Baipared to Hai Yecha, he didn¡¯t feel he was out of her domain yet. The only other two people in his life to have shaken him up to this extent was the number-one assassin, Hong Xue and League of Assassins¡¯ boss. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was, but his instincts warned him she was equally dangerous.

    The three of them had the eyes of one who had seen what none other had seen, a rxed aura that roused jealousy so strong that you¡¯d want to cut them down where they stood. Lady Bai didn¡¯t look bothered in the slightest; it was as if she herself didn¡¯t realise how scary she was when she stopped the attack.

    Bai Zhiqing took hold of his wife¡¯s hand and yelled, ¡°Hai Yecha, you¡¯re here to pick a fight with me, not my wife, so why are you trying to kill her?¡±

    ¡°You dumped my sworn sister for that wench. Why are you surprised now?¡± Hai Yecha¡¯s gaze never left Lady Bai. Hai Yecha knew Vivianite put everything he had into that attack, and he was convinced it did, at least, something to Lady Bai even though he failed to produce any visible results. As soon as he saw her wobble a tad, he took it as a sign that he was right.

    Noticing his wife¡¯s hand turn cold, Bai Zhiqing anxiously questioned, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, My Lady?¡±

    Lady Bai shook her head. She needed a moment to add some rose back into her pale skin. Following a quiet sigh, she bit down on her lip and expressed, ¡°I haven¡¯t been feeling too well recently. I shouldn¡¯t have fought.¡±

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi pieced together the avable information to work out Lady Bai had a pre-existing injury. Otherwise, she could¡¯ve finished Vivianite after she caught his de. If they could figure it out, so could Hai Yecha.

    The same moment Hai Yecha intended to give his orders, Bai Zhiqing roared, generating a gale that created a vacuum devoid of oxygen. Hai Yecha tried to slip it, but the gale clipped his left shoulder, deadening his arm. With his life hanging in the bnce, he yelled in an unbing fashion, ¡°Do it already!¡±

    Bai Zhiqing felt two major upoints go numb before Hai Yecha even finished speaking, and he couldn¡¯t figure out how the enemy did it from so far away. Upon noticing grey and ck tornadoes simultaneously shoot forward from Hai Yecha¡¯s posterior, Bai Zhiqing used his hands as substitutes for broadswords to dismantle the attacks thrown his way. Following three quick exchanges, the three in the scuffle disengaged.

    Whether it was their strength or technical finesse, the two assants weren¡¯t inferior to Bai Zhiqing. Had they attacked him simultaneously instead of exchanging thrice with him individually, he¡¯d already be history. That being said, their contrasting styles of rigid and flowing made it more tiring for Bai Zhiqing than them, not to mention he exchanged six times, while they only engaged three times each.

    ¡°You are not members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis,¡± asserted Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°We are not worth remembering, and we are not worthy of being part of Fiends¡¯ Genesis.¡±

    ¡°Since when was Mount Wu friends allies of Fiends¡¯ Genesis and called ¡®not worth remembering¡¯?¡±

    The ¡°Darkcloud Rain Demons¡± duo were notorious in the pugilistic world despite never having set foot in Jiangnan. Attired in grey, Darkcloud, An Yun, was a man of few words. Rain, Bu Yu, who dressed in ck, was theplete opposite.

    ¡°It is said that Patriarch Bai is a master with the broadsword and has learnt from Brilliant Broadsworder. The legends are true, I see, hehehe.¡±

    ¡°If my brother truly did teach me, I would¡¯ve made mincemeat out of you both by now,¡± Bai Zhiqing responded in a deep voice. Though he sounded condescending, deep down, he was contemting how to deal with them because he¡¯d barely win against them in perfect form, let alone when he was now hurt.

    A month ago, Peni Ind came into conflict with Omnidirectional Fleet, so Valley of Yearning sent a batch of adepts to deescte the situation. Hai Yecha timed his invasion so that the dispatched adepts wouldn¡¯t make it back in time to reinforce the valley. Though Bai Zhiqing felt the sh a month ago was suspicious, he couldn¡¯t look into it since he was in the Western Regions. Having his disciples to charge without prior nning wasn¡¯t hard, except they¡¯d lose their lives or get hurt.

    Just as Bai Zhiqing had his concerns, so did Hai Yecha. Jiang Chen mentioned Bai n resembled scattered grains of sand on the surface but was actually a sturdy entity. Now that he had seen Bai n¡¯s disciples¡¯ unity andpetence, he understood what Jiang Chen meant. If the hundreds of disciples at the valley were to form a formation, it would be one gruelling fight. If they could stall until the greatest broadsword wielder arrived, then they would relive the defeat from two decades ago. In the lucky scenario that their worst nightmare didn¡¯t return, as long as Bai Zhiqing made the cruel call to stall Fiends¡¯ Genesis until his wife recovered, then they would still be in trouble.

    ¡°Who was the one who screamed out before?¡± Hai Yecha yelled out of the blue.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Someone screamed? Howe I never heard anything?¡±

    Master Qi smacked Hong Jiu over the head. ¡°He¡¯s talking about you!¡±

    Hong Jiu scrubbed his chin. ¡°No, he isn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Whoever it was that yelled out to watch out, show yourself,¡± demanded Hai Yecha.

    Master Qi red at Hong Jiu and, though her teeth, rhetorically asked, ¡°See?¡±

    Hong Jiu wagged his hand. ¡°No, he never said my name.¡±

    ¡°Hong Jiu, you think this old man couldn¡¯t tell it was you?¡±

    Master Qi narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°No, in the world, the number of people who have the name ¡®Hong Jiu¡¯ ar-¡±

    Master Qi front kicked Hong Jiu in the rear, sending him tumbling to Bai Zhiqing¡¯s feet.

    Oblivious, Bai Zhiqing questioned, ¡°Why are you saluting me so formally?¡±

    Hong Jiu calmly exined, ¡°Uh, there is trouble in the family. Sadly, this one is powerless.¡±

    GlossaryN?v(el)B\\jnn

    Fire in the backyard ¨C I contemted changing this to something less literal, but I decided I¡¯d leave it since it¡¯s the title and gives me room to share some trivia. ¡°Fire in the backyard¡±, where backyard can also be understood as the residential area of a mansion, means ¡°trouble in the family/organisation etc.¡±, which can carry the connotation of one having a quarrel with his wife(s). So, when Hong Jiu uses the phrase, he¡¯s essentially implying Master Qi is his missus. As for why I rephrased it in the meat of the chapter, you shall see.

 Book 13: Chapter 37

    Book 13: Chapter 37

    ¡°My respects, Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, uncles and aunties.¡±

    Given Bai Zhiqing was Hong Jiu¡¯s grandpa in martial arts seniority, the other disciples of Bai n were naturally his seniors. Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t someone who cared about how others perceived him, and he certainly didn¡¯t mind addressing people as seniors if customs dictated so. The guys didn¡¯t care, but the many of the girls were amused.

    ¡°Thank you for attending my performance,¡± expressed Hong Jiu, holding his hands up in salute. He then turned to Vivianite and ranted, ¡°Guy over there with the useless chunk of iron. We have a score to settle, so why are you going after someone else? I¡¯m right here. Let¡¯s y.¡±

    Though Vivianite¡¯s spirit took a hit from his failed assassination attempt, he was still as good as new. Hong Jiu challenged him knowing full well he wouldn¡¯t ept the challenge because he wouldn¡¯t kill for free. If Hong Jiu¡¯s opponent wasn¡¯t an assassin who never let his emotions dictate his actions, then Hong Jiu wouldn¡¯t have been so brash.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hai Yecha didn¡¯t bite the bait, either. By his machinations, the imperial court should¡¯ve locked up Hong Jiu and his friends already for colluding with Wondrous Warrior Manor. The fact that they weren¡¯t could only mean that Nine-Lives Cat Fiend and Drought Demon failed to fulfil their roles.

    ¡°Who are you calling your family?!¡± Master Qi chased after Hong Jiu, only to blush when she noticed all the gazes on him. Thus, she kicked him hard enough to make him jolt to his feet.

    The fact that Master Qi was present, as well, further supported Hai Yecha¡¯s hypothesis. Nheless, he had been through enough in life to avoid the mistake of wearing his true emotions on his sleeve. Wearing a forced simper, he mocked, ¡°Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider has be Cbash Rolling on the Ground.¡±

    While he was busy rubbing his bottom and inwardlyining, hearing Hai Yecha made Hong Jiu reply, ¡°If the chicken that fled can be here, why can¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, if anyone is unaware, he is Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple, the renowned Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider, also known as Hidden Hero ¨C Hong Jiu. We captured him a few days ago, and he waspletely at our mercy, like a pig waiting to be ughtered. Heh, the walking joke has run to Valley of Yearning with his tail between his legs to beg for help.¡±

    Hong Jiu shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m standing here to tell you, you screwed up. You can¡¯t stop me.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, why does a defeated general have so much to say? Haven¡¯t you learnt anything from your tragic defeat?¡±

    ¡°Says the one who let a defeated general escape. What does that make you?¡±

    Unaware that Hong Jiu was badly injured already, Hai Yecha was worried Hong Jiu would assist Bai n, making it impossible to confidently win. If he could¡¯ve somehow talked Hong Jiu into staying out of the matter, then their chances were a lot better. Unfortunately for him, Hong Jiu was a special type of shameless person in the martial world. He didn¡¯t care about crossdressing, let alone somebody calling him out for not having any shame.

    ¡°You lost to Vivianite in just one move, correct?¡±

    ¡°That day by the river shore, in our one-on-one match, I almost smashed your shell open, didn¡¯t I, turtle?¡±

    ¡°You may be young, but you are formidable, Young Hero Hong.¡±

    ¡°Likewise, likewise, Elder Hai.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing: ¡°Are we fighting or not?¡±

    Hong Jiu and Hai Yecha cleared their throats.

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Hong Jiu, your grudge with us can be settled another day. We have a score to settle with Bai Jerk over there. Why are you standing up for him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you pummel him to death,¡± Hong Jiu responded.

    Bai Zhiqing: ¡°Hey, hey, hey!¡±

    Hai Yecha smiled, so Hong Jiu wagged his hand as he continued, ¡°However, he just saved my life. So, now that I¡¯m witnessing this, I can¡¯t just turn a blind eye.¡±

    ¡°You have chosen death, then. We never had and don¡¯t have any grudge with Mount Daluo. You are the one who has incessantly meddled in our business. Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡± Hai Yecha might¡¯ve been conniving, but he did have a sense of honour.

    ¡°Hahaha, all right, if I die, it shall be considered my own issue; Mount Daluo will not hold you ountable. Listen up, everyone: if I die, tell my first brother and shifu not to avenge me.¡±

    Lady Bai asked her husband, ¡°Dear, his name is Hong Jiu, right? Is he not Ming Huayu¡¯s disciple? Howe he calls you ¡®grandpa¡¯?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing shrugged as he sighed and smiled. ¡°Some people, you treat them as a brother, and they marry your eldest nephew.¡±

    Suffice to say, Hai Yecha was relieved to hear Hong Jiu¡¯s oath. ¡°Hmph, even if you wish to die, I need to make time. Bai Jerk, will you insist on hiding behind Mount Daluo like the coward you are?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing: ¡°Erm¡­ There was an unusual sh of light a few days ago followed by uncharacteristic military activity in Jiangnan. Needless to say, I know you were behind it. Harassing the imperial court before attacking the White Princes, that¡¯s very unlike your old style. Honourable men do not insinuate. State the purpose of your invasion.¡±

    In spite of his peculiar character, Bai Zhiqing had the envy of many from twenty years ago for his schstic and martial arts aplishments. He didn¡¯t know all the details. Nheless, he could form a skeleton of what happened based on what he heard and saw.

    ¡°Seeing as you¡¯ve said that, this one shan¡¯t lie to you. We did return and challenge the imperial court with a specific goal. The Seven Champion White Princes are our targets, not just your family. Now, show our guests.¡±

    Hai Yecha¡¯s subordinates pushed eight people, men and women of varying ages, to the front. Though their bodies were painted red and facesden with dust, not one of them let themselves wobble or groan.

    ¡°Eh? Ya? What? How?¡± Bai Zhiqing recognised all the faces.

    Hai Yecha waved his hand condescendingly. ¡°It¡¯s not your n¡¯s descendants who we have captured. Everyone here is from a n of the Seven Champion White Princes!¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°Who are you calling your family¡± ¨C If I used ¡°wife¡± in the previous chapter, you can see how you¡¯d have a ¡°short circuit¡± trying to figure out how we went from a ¡°fire in the backyard¡± to a ¡°wife¡±.

    Thousand Miles (in the title) ¨C For the record, it¡¯s not actually a thousand miles. It¡¯s just an expression to indicate a long distance, like if I said ¡°a tonne of primogems¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 38

    Book 13: Chapter 38

    ¡°Song Yi, Song Yun, Ling Chixia, Stinkin¡¯ Monk Huijing and you are¡­ Jin Wangshou?¡±

    ¡°It has been a long time¡­ Third Master Bai.¡± Jin Wangshou, a haughty man roughly forty years old, lowered his face as he met eyes with his long-time rival.

    ¡°What tricks did you use to¡­¡± Bai Zhiqing cut himself off.

    Lady Bai opined, ¡°They are all injured in some capacity. If they weren¡¯t poisoned, they must¡¯ve been defeated in battle.¡±

    The captives all lowered their heads upon hearing Lady Bai¡¯s soft voice.

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Hahaha, these eyesores abuse their family privileges to do as they please. We didn¡¯t use any poison or ploys. We soundly crushed them in fair duels. Seven Champion White Princes, ¡®champion¡¯ of what?¡±

    ¡°Song, Jin, Mount Lu, Cold Mountain Temple descendants have been captured. What is Fiends¡¯ Genesis up to? Have they managed to gain support of someone with power? Are they really nning to be the godfather of the martial world?¡± mumbled Bai Zhiqing. Unable to find answers to his queries, Bai Zhiqing subsequently questioned, ¡°What are you capturing descendants of the Seven Champion White Princes for?¡±

    ¡°You spoilt people who grew up with silver spoons your ancestors worked for don¡¯t scare us. We don¡¯t have a grudge with you. We just need tributes to wee our master. We could make do with troops from other ns, but your Valley of Yearning is the most deplorable, so we won¡¯t have vented until we capture you, Bai Zhiqing.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, we¡¯re carrying out personal vendettas in the name of official duties now, huh?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you say.¡±

    Vivianite could just stand there in the audience stands to be a distraction. Therefore, Bai Zhiqing felt extra apprehensive when he knew Vivianite was targeting his beloved wife. Only he and his wife could match Darkcloud and Squall Demons among those present. At best, they¡¯d barely edge out a win against the duo with Vivianite distracting them. Nevertheless, Bai Zhiqing didn¡¯t want to regret getting his wife hurt in his gamble.

    Though Hai Yecha was ecstatic to sense Bai Zhiqing¡¯s hesitation, he pretended to not care. ¡°I know what you¡¯re worried about, but you don¡¯t need to worry. Let¡¯s do this: we¡¯ll send out one person to duel against you. One match and the result is final. If we lose, we¡¯ll walk back down the mountain. If we win, you¡¯reing with us.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing didn¡¯t fear a duel. Thing was, he was currentlypromised. He didn¡¯t have the confidence to out-skill Vivianite, either. Since his wedding, this was the first time he was stuck between a rock and a hard ce.

    ¡°Flipping Jiang Chen!¡± Bai Zhiqing cursed.

    Jiang Chen was the brains of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Without him, even if Hai Yecha couldmand the operation on his own, there was no way he had enough weight to hire the likes of Vivianite and Mount Wu¡¯s duo.

    ¡°Third Grandpa Bai, why are you frowning? I can take care of this trivial issue for you.¡± Hong Jiu sauntered up to Hai Yecha, stopping six metres away. ¡°Ol¡¯ Hai, let¡¯s have a chat.¡±

    Shocked, Master Qi went after Hong Jiu to whisper, ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing when you¡¯re still healing?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu looked over his shoulder and beamed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Master Qi absentmindedly nodded.

    Master Qi: Wait, what would I be worrying about? You¡¯re the one who should be worry.

    Hai Yecha smirked. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll chat right where we¡¯re standing.¡±

    ¡°Why so cautious? They say even turtles can triple their size if they have a bigger heart.¡±

    Frankly, Hai Yecha was quite annoyed he had to fight another verbal war after finally leading Bai Zhiqing into abandoning a numbers¡¯ war. ¡°We have no fear of fighting. That said, I am speaking to Patriarch Bai at the moment, so respect the pugilistic world¡¯s rules for a moment.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Hahaha, rules, your stinky foot. You know his wife is hurt, yet you had an assassin try to assassinate her. Write your rules onto a sheet of paper. Scrunch it up into a ball, and then shove it up your rear. You¡¯re just afraid Patriarch Bai gives the order for all his disciples to charge.¡±

    Despite Hong Jiu exposing him, Hai Yecha continued, ¡°Not bad. You¡¯re right. Doesn¡¯t Patriarch Bai also have his qualms? Everyone here can testify I offered him a fair duel with one of ourrades.¡±

    Yeah, like hell you¡¯d offer a fair one-on-one duel.

    ¡°What do you mean? That guy carrying scrap iron over there tried to assassinate Lady Bai. The midget and malnourished tree there tried to jump Patriarch Bai. Youe to Valley of Yearning and tell Valley of Yearning what to do? Who do you think you are?¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°You can mindlessly get into fights, but you can¡¯t mindlessly make enemies. If we¡¯re talking pugilistic world rules, we can¡¯t take this insult lying down.¡±

    ¡°And? What are you going to do about it?¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll do as you did. A one-on-one duel? epted. Under pugilistic world rules, where the stronger man has the final say? epted. However,¡± Hong Jiu showed three extended fingers, ¡°best out of three. Your team will be the three I just mentioned.¡±

    Hai Yecha frowned. ¡°Why should I ept?¡±

    Given the three Hong Jiu mentioned were the strongest elites, Hai Yecha nned to send out Vivianite if Bai Zhiqing epted the challenge. Thing was, Jiang Chen didn¡¯t provide him with only those three for the mission. epting Hong Jiu¡¯s proposition was the same as shooting himself in the foot.

    Hong Jiu grinned, then went up to a big rock and caressed it. For whatever reason, his grin turned into a bright smile. ¡°I thought you¡¯d have realised I did something unbelievably stupid. I¡¯m feeling excited.¡±

    ¡°Whatever it is you want to say, spit it out already. What are you acting all mysterious for?¡±

    Hong Jiu kept caressing the top of the rock while mumbling, ¡°They say Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ sense of camaraderie is strong. I wonder if that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I thought you knew about my epic victory. Three days ago, I went one on one, blow for blow against Drought Demon. I dropped him with a palm strike straight down on his dome.¡±

    Despite being shaken, Hai Yechaughed and replied, ¡°Even if he did lose to you, he¡¯d be hunting you down in less than three days. Keep that energy up when he visits.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha!¡± Hong Jiu¡¯s voice shook the tree leaves off their branches, startling elites and nearly knocking out amateurs. When they were wondering when it¡¯d cease, he abruptly stopped and, in a sonorous voice, rhetorically questioned, ¡°You think you have a solid body, but I don¡¯t have the power to tten a mountain?¡± He chambered both hands, then extended one into a palm attack ¨C Use Not the Submerged Dragon ¨C cracking the rock and sending it zooming into the distance.

    Mount Wu¡¯s duo stepped forward to intercept the rapidly-spinning rock. Unexpectedly, the rock broke into two, flying left and right from its original trajectory, which was where Mount Wu¡¯s duo were standing. In spite of the rock being half of its original size, the two parts flew with even more force as a result of their amplified speed. As they didn¡¯t expect the rock to target them all of a sudden, as well as fly faster, their momentum was still travelling forward ¨C straight toward the rocks. Darkcloud promptly threw a heavy punch; Squall used flowing hand movements to redirect the rock¡¯s direction. Though Mount Wu¡¯s duo managed to fend off the attack, their arms were numb, indicating the rocks had more force behind them than they anticipated.

    Lady Bai, nestling in her husband¡¯s arms, looked over to Hong Jiu and smiled, expressing praise. ¡°Dear, his internal strength ismendable. I would go as far as to say that he is above you, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be Mount Daluo¡¯s system.¡±

    While Lady Bai was a far more dangerous fighterpared to her husband, Bai Zhiqing was more knowledgeable than her on martial arts. He took her hand and exined, ¡°He learns a mixture of disciplines, namely Beggars Sect, Shaolin and Mount Daluo¡¯s internal disciplines. He was born without the woe of ever being lousy at martial arts. When I treated his injuries, I checked on his meridians, and I can say that his internal energy is over twice as potent as mine. ¡°

    Knowing Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t just provoking him but also making a statement, Hai Yecha¡¯s nerves bundled up.

    Hong Jiu retracted his arms, then asserted, ¡°That¡¯s what I hit Drought Demon with. Without Mount Daluo¡¯s proprietary pill, I guarantee he won¡¯t make it past the 7th next month.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So what do you want?¡±

    ¡°In consideration of our numbers, the inevitably protracted fight and casualties, I propose we meet up here again in three days¡¯ time with your three against our team of three. You win, and you can do as you please with Patriarch Bai and I, plus a pill for Drought Demon. If you lose, you¡¯re to never set foot in Valley of Yearning again.¡±

    ¡°¡­ The majority of Valley of Yearning¡¯s elites are overseas, so they can¡¯t make it back in three days. You think you can win with your current forces?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s only fun when nobody¡¯s victory is guaranteed. Else, I might as well send a letter to Beiping.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, who do you think you¡¯re scaring.¡± Of course, Hai Yecha was actually worried Hong Jiu sent a request for reinforcements. What were his chances if Hero Shenzhou or Ming Huayu came over? There were more benefits to waiting out the three days than not. Pretending to be reluctant, he responded, ¡°All right, epted. We¡¯ll be back in three days. An honest man¡¯s word¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ is as good as his bond!¡±

    Hai Yecha departed with his forces once they agreed on a time, to which Hong Jiu cackled over. Once they were gone, Hong Jiu dropped.

    Glossary

    A Gentleman Raises His Whip ¨C Means that someone is ready to get to work.

 Book 13: Chapter 39

    Book 13: Chapter 39

    ¡°Brother Wu, Brother Wu.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What is it, Young Master Ouyang?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. You just seemed to be zoning out. Did you remember something?¡±

    I had no idea where my panic attack came from. If I had to put it into perspective¡­ it was akin to your new wife running into a pervert, except I couldn¡¯t recall any familiar scenario of that nature.

    ¡°The bout against Granny Lianhua didn¡¯t hurt an organ or something, did it?¡±

    We had no choice but to pull out yesterday due to the flood in the dungeon. For all the expertise Yuan Kou had in water, the man¡¯s internal energy was lousy, while the water resistance was particrly high, not to mention the absence of light. Hence, he didn¡¯t find squat when Zero sent him on an exploration expedition down there.

    Apart from the Yan brothers being easy prey, I took into consideration the fact that they would be the closest to the flood when the water came in. If I couldn¡¯t stall until the flood, then my ploy would fall apart. For those reasons, I chose the specific time I chose to wake up.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    If Zero had anyone to me, it was himself. Despite being aware I could breathe internally, he locked me up in the deepest part of the dungeon just to torment me; every time the water level rose, I¡¯d basically be submerged in freezing water for two days. That told me half of the dungeon was actually underwater. Extrapting from that, we were either next to water or on an ind.

    My strategy only bought me two days¡¯ time, at best, and one day was almost gone already.

    Zero only instructed us to wait in a hall, forbidding us from wandering around. This was a clear sign that we still weren¡¯t cleared of guilt. Needless to say, the two primary factors for this was me ordering the guards to lower the heavy doors and injuring Elder Lianhua. Keeping us all in one ce made it easier to supervise and limited our chances of trying anything.

    They truly underestimated me. Even with all of them watching me, there was plenty of stuff I could do. For instance, thinking up my detailed profile for Wu Ping. My profile was that of a dashing, taciturn, tight-lipped young man. The reason for the particr profile wasn¡¯t due to fear of saying something wrong. The reason was the shoddy design of my mask that didn¡¯t amodate for much movement, so I was stuck in a deadpan face. Luckily for me, the silent hero who always looked as if he was mourning histe father was amon archetype in the pugilistic world. Considering Wu Ping¡¯s honest and rtively quiet nature, people would assume I was acting rather than being an imposter. Sure, I did a lot of talking before, but it was understandable since I was trying to survive.

    This mask stinks.

    The inside and outside of the rotten mask was smothered with blood, but I couldn¡¯t wash my face. If Ol¡¯ Xue was here, she could¡¯ve made me a proper mask in just five days.

    ¡°Allow me to check your pulse, Brother Wu,¡± expressed Ouyang Xiucai.

    With an aloof vibe with a hint of boundless loneliness, I slowly shook my head. ¡°You need not exert yourself, Brother Ouyang.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai forced the smile of a man ready to bolt for from a man who just took a big bite of coptis. ¡°As you wish¡­¡±

    Don¡¯t do this! I didn¡¯t mean it! Come back!

    ¡°You scared him off, you fool.¡±

    To match my character¡¯s personality, I turned back with the gaze of a hero. ¡°What insight do you have to share?¡±

    The maiden who insulted me scrunched up her face upon making eye contact with me. As her man went to speak, she pulled him aside to say, ¡°Why are you bothering with him, Brother Xian? He¡¯s a coward who lowered the eight doors over something trivial. We wouldn¡¯t be stuck here if it wasn¡¯t for him.¡±

    Liaodong¡¯s Gu Xianxian couple was as famous for theirbat prowess as their ability to rub people the wrong way. I was surprised to learn they were working for Jiang Chen because they had in plenty of underworld and unorthodox sect members.

    Last year, Ning Zhuoru, now also known as Lady Gu, was ranked twenty-seventh on Pink Reflection. This year, she had slipped to thirty-fifth ce. She might¡¯ve been married, but she showed no signs of losing her youth.

    Nobody in Liaoning dared to start with Ning Zhuoru as she was trained, and her family was influential in the region. One day, the descendant of another big and influential sect in Liaodong, Gu Xianxian, proposed to her in person. Henceforward, they were a couple.

    While Gu Xianxian was famous outside of the border, I never had an opportunity to meet him. Therefore, I didn¡¯t know his true capacity. One thing I could objectively say was that he was so ugly it hurt to look at him.

    Gu Xianxian ran his eyes up and down me, then bobbed his head. ¡°Dis ain¡¯t ya house. Ya just drop dee doors when ya want to drop dee doors? Me would¡¯ve dropped ya already if ya weren¡¯t hurt, ya fool.¡±

    Frankly, I couldn¡¯t understand everything Gu Xianxian said due to his Liaodong dialect.

    ¡°I merely did what I ought to do. If you have a problem with it, walk yourselves out.¡±

    The only reason the free-spirited couple stuck around was their fear of Zero.

    ¡°Who do ya think ya speaking to?! Me can go wherever me wants. Me just doesn¡¯t want to leave. Ru, let¡¯s wait for a while longer.¡±

    Frustrated that she had to be stuck in the same small room as so many men but with no alternative, Ning Zhuoru irritably sat back down.

    A Fiends¡¯ Genesis goon knocked, came in and went up to me to inform, ¡°Mr. Wu, Mr. Zero has asked for you.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes made their way to me.

    I nodded and replied, ¡°Not going.¡±

    ¡°Please walk in fr-, wh-what?¡±

    ¡°Not going. I¡¯ll make my way overter. You can report back now.¡±

    The goon stared at me dumbfounded for a while, then raised a thumb. ¡°All right, you have my admiration. I shall report back.¡±

    Once the goon was gone, Ouyang Xiucai chuckled. ¡°Zero holds the same rank as us, yet he expects us to take orders from him without question. I understand your intention, Brother Wu. It certainly is a good idea to show him he is not the rule around here.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°You misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? I do understand.¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai returned to his seat to muse.

    I¡¯d wager Zero just wanted to test me, not kill me, so there was plenty of wiggle room. I already yed prisoner for half a month, so I couldn¡¯t care less if he was trying to stress he was the boss. Why did I refuse to go, then, you ask?

    I picked up another drumstick and took a hearty bite.

    Because the chicken was nice.

    Note: Don¡¯t take tranted dialects as actual representations of how they sound in Chinese. I¡¯m simply modifying pronunciation to show a difference, not to depict or insinuate anything.

    Glossary

    Gu Xianxian shortening Ning Zhuoru to just ¡°Ru¡± ¨C This isn¡¯t exactlymon since ¡°Zhuoru¡± is her first name

 Book 13: Chapter 40

    Book 13: Chapter 40

    In spite of the windows being shut, whenever Zero was in the pitch-ck room, the wind would never stop. Ever since returning from the waterlogged dungeon, he had been lying on the ground of the room.

    epting Jiang Chen¡¯s job might¡¯ve been risky since the job site was near the capital, while Zero¡¯s status in Divine Moon Cult was enough to bring out the big lions. Nevertheless, the sound of Xue Yanjun¡¯s three underwater suitsnding at his feet wobbled his determination. Jiang Chen then added, ¡°Divine Moon Cult¡¯s leader is dead. The members are scattered. Bright Moon Cult is far away in the Western Regions. If they want to be restored, the erstwhile members must be gathered again. Use your Zero name and leverage mywork to that end. People don¡¯t have the confidence to say, I promise I can bring the ¡®one-in-a-thousand genius¡¯ to you.¡±

    Understandably, Divine Moon Cult went mute for years following their leader¡¯s demise. Nobody knew where any of the Guardians were following the battle at Lawless Cliff, let alone know the whereabouts of the six ck Lotus Apostles and Great Guardians.

    Jiang Chen was sure Zero would bite the bait, even if there was poison, without a moment of hesitation. As a matter of fact, as long as they were members of Divine Moon Cult, Jiang Chen was confident they¡¯d bite his bait. Anyone who saw the followers¡¯ reactions when Ximen Chuideng¡¯s death was announced would realise that they weren¡¯t done.

    Not only did Jiang Chen witness Divine Moon Cult¡¯s downfall in the Central in, but he also involved himself extensively in it out of interest in how they brought about their own end.

    Jiang Chen had to keep a pulse on all things in the pugilistic world so that he could eventually achieve his ambition of turning it upside down. Thanks to the observational habit, he tended to notice things that one would usually miss.

    Jiang Chen¡¯s affiliation with Fiends¡¯ Genesis was inconsequential to Zero. After all, the bad blood between Divine Moon Cult and the imperial court was far worse than that between Fiends¡¯ Genesis and the imperial court. The orthodox sects led the campaign against Fiends¡¯ Genesis, not the imperial court. The imperial court, however, spearheaded the Divine Moon Cult¡¯s purge.

    Jiang Chen had no idea Zero agreed to the proposed terms for the sake of finding a certain individual, someone of high rank as him but went silent after the battle, not the three Great Guardians. Without Jiang Chen¡¯s knowledge, despite it being owed to Jiang Chen¡¯swork, Zero managed to learn the individual he sought had be active in the pugilistic world again and started serving the imperial court. The person he sought had climbed to the rank of Earl and was all buddy-buddy with the imperial court¡¯spdogs. He was living the dream of men, sharing encounters with one maiden after another. Zero was under the impression that the man thought nothing of the past. Zero was ecstatic to have the man he brought to him, but he also had the fight the strong urge to behead the man¡­ or, perhaps, shed tears.

    Why appear before me in such a pathetic state if you¡¯ve chosen to ally yourself with the enemy?

    In thest fortnight, Zero had opportunities to torture answers out of Ming Feizhen and opportunities to utilise a special method of waking him. Howbeit, he never pursued either option for he was afraid. He was afraid he couldn¡¯t stop himself from questioning Ming Feizhen, afraid the possibility that Ming Feizhen would reply, ¡°Yes,¡± when asked if he betrayed them. The other reason was Xue Yanjun.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The snowsilk poison on Yan Jiangnan was Xue Yanjun¡¯s specialty. Assuming Wu Ping was telling the truth, it was someone linked to Xue Yanjun if it wasn¡¯t herself. Given her rtionship with Ming Feizhen, there was no way she¡¯d leave without taking him along. And, if they truly had to fight, there was no way he could stop them.

    I can¡¯t let her take him. I still have questions for him¡­

    Keeping Ming Feizhen imprisoned nearby prevented him from pulling any stunts. Howbeit, that vited the agreement with Jiang Chen, not to mention the arrest was predicated on mere doubt.

    Though he can breathe internally, he¡¯s been out cold for a long time. If he actually drowns this time¡­ What should I do?

    ¡°Where is he?¡± blurted Zero, recognising it wasn¡¯t who he asked for based on the approaching person¡¯s gait.

    ¡°H-he refused toe.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Look up centuries of history and you wouldn¡¯t find any faction in the pugilistic world that challenged the imperial court as tantly and as fearlessly as Divine Moon Cult. During their prime, they feared nobody. Compared to Jiang Chen, Zero wasn¡¯t friendly ¨C and understandably so given his rank in the cult. Despite him usually being giddy, he¡¯d kill people without batting an eye, so the henchman quaked in his boots.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± snorted Zero.

    He refuses to see me? He¡¯s definitely up to something.

    Of the two people Jiang Chen delegated leadership to in his absence, one of them was Elder Lianhua. Frankly, Zero couldn¡¯t see himself beating her within a hundred exchanges ¨C and that was assuming she was at her worst. Wu Ping wasn¡¯t shabby. However, there was no chance he could match Elder Lianhua, let alone hurt her in his injured state. Zero reasoned Wu Ping couldn¡¯t have possibly been coincidentally involved in all the bizarre incidents.

    ¡°What was he doing when you told him toe?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­ unless eating a grilled chicken counts.¡±

    Grilled chicken? Hah, it¡¯s just a ruse. He thinks I won¡¯t kill him, huh?

    There were only a few people Jiang Chen forbade Zero from killing; Wu Ping wasn¡¯t one of them.

    ¡°Drag him here if you must,¡±manded Zero, coldly.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Not long after, Zero faked a smile as he sarcastically remarked, ¡°Looks like my instructions are jokes now, huh?¡±

    The henchman prostrated himself on the ground. ¡°I did as you instructed. H-however, my calls fell on deaf ears when I called out to him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what he was busy with. Am I a joke?¡±

    ¡°He is in the middle of a fight.¡±

    ¡°H-he¡¯s fighting?¡±

    Shouldn¡¯t they be following the rules?

    Zero went back to his deep musings.

 Book 13: Chapter 41

    Book 13: Chapter 41

    I contemted my future as I enjoyed the chicken. Due to the twists and turns in the underground region, I couldn¡¯t figure out where the exit was even with my hearing. I didn¡¯t risk extending my earshot radius too far when I first arrived, lest Jiang Chen realise I had awareness of my surroundings, so I had no clue where the exit was. All I could remember was that it was far from where I was.

    It was impressive for Jiang Chen to find this perfect hiding ce only a few hours away from the capital. Based on what I saw, it was old enough for me to surmise that my grandmaster had seen the ce.

    Although I didn¡¯t understand Jiang Chen¡¯s rambling ¨C something about having a promise between him and my grandmaster to find a child ¨C they were likely acquainted. Given their ages, the child would probably a grandpa at this point¡­

    They had a lot of mouths to feed at thepound, yet they had done basically nothing in thest two weeks I¡¯d been held here. Thanks to that, I heard a lot of gossip. Including the two Seven Stars¡¯ members, the only other people directly connected to Fiends¡¯ Genesis were two to three hundred rogue warriors. All of the most dangerous people were outsiders, and themander of the ce was from Divine Moon Cult. Rather than call it Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base, you could easily call it a den of criminals. It didn¡¯t make sense to have so many adepts watching over just me and Uncle Huang. If they wanted to hide us, a much more economical approach would¡®ve been to put us in bags and send us off to the Western Regions or Beijiang.

    Seeing as Jiang Chen could fool Uncle Huang, I wasn¡¯t going to be able to see through whatever he was plotting. All I could do was cross whatever bridge I came to. At the moment, my priority was keeping my identity a secret. I needed to go put Yan Jiangnan in ce once he healed, or he was going to screw up when it counted.

    I was no longer in major danger, and people around had warmed up to the idea that I was Wu Ping after a day. In addition, since nobody here was close friends with each other, they¡¯d rather believe they underestimated Wu Ping than believe I was an imposter. Howbeit, that was my primary concern.

    While I could assume Wu Ping¡¯s appearance, it wasn¡¯t so simple to copy his character. If my orthodox-sect-upbringing aura leaked, tsk, tsk, it wouldn¡¯t be a joking manner.

    A henchman beside me whispered, ¡°Uh, Hero Wu, please allow me to clear the table.¡±

    As soon as he reached for my te, I booted him away. ¡°The hell is your issue? What are you doing when I¡¯m still eating?!¡±

    While he apologised, Ning Zhuoru griped, ¡°Wu Ping, have some ss. He was just tidying the table.¡±

    ¡°Ignore the jerk, Zhuoru.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru red straight through me. ¡°Thug.¡±

    Tsk, tsk, these unorthodox sects really don¡¯t have any respect for our orthodox sects. No wonder why Confucius said, ¡°They show no promise.¡± (Confucius didn¡¯t actually say this. Ming Feizhen is just under-educated).

    I took a big bite and another mouthful of wine.

    I suppose Zero will summon me again once I¡¯m done eating.

    I had to be cautious this time because I¡¯d be in deep trouble if he found out who I was.

    A creepy guy suddenly sat down in front of me with a bi8g fat grin on his face. I never noticed his presence due to his light movements. ¡°Hehe, Ol¡¯ Wu, isn¡¯t it boring to eat by yourself?¡± Kuanggu Sheng asked me.

    I had no recollection of Wu Ping ever interacting with the oddball, which could only mean¡­ Kuanggu Sheng was about to deploy some subterfuge tactic on me. Hence, I kept the visage of a man concerned for the people, the visage of a hero, the visage of shut-the-flip-up, and said, ¡°When one is cornered by circumstances, he must devote himself to improving himself. When one is in a favourable position, do that which benefits others. This one is awfully poor. Therefore, he is only taking care of himself.¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng cracked a stupid smile, then took out a dangerous object from his shirt ¨C a pair of chopsticks. ¡°Hehe, there¡¯s no need to be so isted. This one shall share the experience with you.¡±

    ck!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Everyone fell silent as they halted what they were doing.

    With my chopsticks mping Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s chopsticks together, I slowly raised my head to show a frigid gaze and, in a low voice, demanded, ¡°They say group joy is not as great as joy in solitude. Solitude is joyful. Now put down your chopsticks!¡±

    ¡°And¡­ if I refuse?¡±

    I narrowed my eyes. ¡°I advise you to value your life.¡±

    ¡°Everyone must die one day. Chicken must be enjoyed here and now.¡±

    ¡°Oi!¡±

    We both pulled our chopsticks back a tad, then drove them back in. Although I couldn¡¯t identify Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s discipline, it didn¡¯t change the fact that his style stressed precision and sharp attacks. Every attack seemed as though he was aiming to clip off some flesh.

    ¡°Nice.¡± Seeing me shoot for a piece of chicken, Kuanggu Sheng pulled back to defend whilst countering. Whilst pulling back, he aimed an attack two inches above my elbow.

    That being the case, I swiftly went for a second piece, prompting Kuanggu Sheng to intercept me in another exchange. No matter what he tried, my end goal never changed ¨C get the chicken. Little did Kuanggu Sheng know that the techniques I used belong to the unparalleled swordy from Night Net Manual ¨C Chicken Snatching Chopsticky. Regardless of how he tried, nothing could stop me from taking one piece after another.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, what do you think?¡± Yuan Kou couldn¡¯t understand our fight whatsoever because he didn¡¯t specialise in short-rangebat.

    Ouyang Xiucai replied, ¡°In my opinion, Kuanggu Sheng possesses splendid skills; the variations in his attacks render him a troublesome opponent to defend against. From a technical perspective, he is more than a notch above Brother Wu.¡±

    ¡°Why is Brother Wu so smug, then?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Well, Kuanggu Sheng is in it for a martial arts contest. In a martial arts contest, defence and offence are the priorities. On the other hand, Brother Wu¡­ is aiming for the chicken. It¡¯s hard for Kuanggu Sheng to protect the chicken when he¡¯s busy performing martial arts manoeuvres.¡±

    Me: What are you on about? What martial arts contest? We¡¯re fighting over chicken here.

    Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Is there a need to make such a big deal over a single piece of chicken?¡±

    And¡­ we came to a stop. We stared at each other for a long time while holding our poses.

    Kuanggu Sheng pulled his chopsticks back first. ¡°Respect.¡±

    I pulled my chopsticks back smugly. ¡°Doo gind, doo gind (too kind, too kind with a mouthful).¡±

    The cold-blooded killer from Dongying suddenly opened his eyes, looked around and then grumpily shut his eyes again once he discovered nobody was watching him.

    While I was chewing, I mocked, ¡°When ites to fighting for chicken, you have a lot to learn from me.¡±

    In a stifled voice, Kuanggu Sheng blurted, ¡°I know your secret.¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    I suddenly heard a grouchy chuckle in the distance. Who else could it have been besides Zero?

    ¡°Wu Ping, get over here!¡±

    Ah, man! Hey, hey, hey, don¡¯t go! What secret do you know?!

    Glossary

    Short-rangebat ¨C Just for rification, we¡¯re not talking about close-quartersbat, although the two are somewhat linked. Short-rangebat here is referring to keeping shots short rather than aiming for full extension. It¡¯s linked to close-quartersbat as it¡¯s more ideal in close quarters. The reason is simple: if you fully extend, it¡¯ll take longer to retract, while you aren¡¯t afforded as much time in close rangepared to long range. Hence, context determines how you should execute techniques.

 Book 13: Chapter 42

    Book 13: Chapter 42

    ¡°Wu Ping, you¡¯re such a hot shot that I can¡¯t even have an audience with you now, huh?¡±

    Despite needing to make, at least, three turns and go around six columns to reach the hall, Zero arrived so fast that I almost missed his footsteps. Nheless, I kept my deadpan expression. As a result of my reaction being unpredicted, his heart rate rose. Meanwhile, I was inwardly cursing him with every profane word in my dictionary because I was being threatened, and I didn¡¯t even know what secret had slipped!

    ¡°Please pardon this one. He was busy with something very important when you called.¡±

    Zero let out a sarcastic chuckle, remarked, ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± then turned and walked off.

    Instead of exposing me to Zero, Kuanggu Sheng sent me eye signals from a corner, then strolled off with his head down. People who didn¡¯t know better would¡¯ve thought that Kuanggu Sheng left because he was afraid of Zero, but I could tell he was saying, ¡°Call meter,¡± with his eyes.

    It then urred to me that Zero was the most out-of-ce person in the new Fiends¡¯ Genesis base. On the surface, Jiang Chen granted Zero the highest authority. In reality, they were taking orders from Jiang Chen, not him. The likes of Kuanggu Sheng, or Tian Gou, who didn¡¯t even show up, and the other mercenaries weren¡¯t going to put up with Zero. By extension, they weren¡¯t likely to cooperate with him.

    From what I could discern Kuanggu Sheng didn¡¯t harbour any hostility toward me. For all I knew, he could¡¯ve gotten this ¡°secret¡± wrong. No amount of thinking on my end led me to any useful answers.

    ¡°¡­ What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Thinking.¡±

    ¡°You think this is good?¡±

    I turned my head and replied, ¡°Everyone has the right to think regardless of gender or social status. Even if he has a de at his neck, a man is allowed to think. Am I wrong?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. But don¡¯t sit in my chair to think.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Wha?¡± I automatically found myself a chair and took a seat when I entered the room. ¡°Sorry, old habit, old habit.¡± I got out of the chair to go sit in the one opposite to it.

    Zero just stared at me without saying anything.

    ¡°Have a seat,¡± I said.

    ¡°¡­ Uhm.¡± At longst, he brushed his sleeve and sat down, but not without behaving as though he was worried about something sullying his clothes.

    You think I have cooties on my bum or something?!

    ¡°When was thest time you washed?¡±

    I don¡¯t have cooties on my bum!

    I swore on Wu Ping¡¯s name that I was squeaky clean, natural, edible and, before the thunder p, was told to stop.

    ¡°Strange.¡± Rubbing his ear behind his mask, Zero mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯re a new man after encountering the assassin.¡±

    I kept a straight face so that I wouldn¡¯t be read.

    Bobbing his head, Zero stated, ¡°You nearly died.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Between you and Kuanggu Sheng, he is the better fighter.¡±

    Zero picked up a chopstick to perform some movements that looked epic¡­ Yeah, I didn¡¯t see squat. Just know that I could see his wrist¡¯s afterimages, so it was epic¡­ probably.

    ¡°Every technique he performed could be changed into a lethal attack; he could¡¯ve killed you whenever he chose. Had it not been for him trying to protect his integrity and you cleverly aiming at his openings, you¡¯d already be dead.¡±

    ¡°Say what?!¡±

    That¡¯s scary! I thought he was trying to steal my chicken. It was a friendly game, yet he tried to kill me? Okay, so what secret did he try to tell me again?

    Although Zero was somewhat taken aback, he let me off the hook after a short visual audit, but it reminded me of what was most important in the moment.

    I held my hands up in salute and conveyed, ¡°Thank you for saving my life.¡±

    ¡°What are you thanking me for?¡±

    ¡°Had you not called for a ceasefire in time, this one would be at the yellow spring right now.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t saving you. I simply need you to answer some queries of mine. You weren¡¯t about to die yet when I stepped in.¡±

    The harsh answer from Zero was just intended to act as an interrogation tool, so it didn¡¯t bother me.

    ¡°This one shall not withhold any information if he knows the answer.¡±

    Judging from the way Zero looked at me, he was praising me. Never did I imagine someone in Demon Sect would be praising me one day.

    ¡°This indtruder you speak of, can you describe them?¡±

    ¡°This one did not get a clear picture. They were merely a flitting dark silhouette.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure they had the scent of roses on them?¡±

    ¡°Uh, this one did catch their scent. Howbeit, he cannot be sure if it was the smell of roses or not unless he gets another chance to smell it.¡±

    ¡°I heard you defeated even Elder Lianhua.¡±

    ¡°That was nothing. If you were in the audience, this one would have defeated her even faster.¡±

    Zero mmed the table, but he kept his smile. ¡°So you havepletely washed your hands off any involvement? If you¡¯re innocent in this spate of events, I¡¯ll write my name backwards from now on.¡±

    Zero produced a loud bang with the m, yet not one object on the table wobbled.

    ¡°Why are you spacing out? Say something.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ pronounced backwards would sound pretty nice, as well.¡± Seeing Zero roll his fingers into fists, I immediately wagged my hands as I added, ¡°This one was attacked by an intruder, suspected by Elder Lianhua and almost killed by Kuanggu Sheng. You summoned this one here solely to question him because you, too, suspect him. His life is not worth anything, but he is not about to let people squash him whenever they please. If you wish to kill him, you can. Ten Wu Pings would be no match for you, even. Does he even have a say? If you are going to frame him, though, you have to give him the chance to counter, do you not?¡±

    I had Zero stupefied.

    I smiled, brushed my hair aside and showed my neck. ¡°If you fancy it, how about you chop this spot right here?¡±

    Zero just sat there in silence.

    I rose to my feet and said, ¡°It appears you are not going to kill this one. That being the case, he shall excuse himself.¡±

    Stuck in a dilemma, Zero mindlessly blurted, ¡°You would dare?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Once I exited, I stated, ¡°Summon this one again if you need him for anything,¡± then covered three steps in two steps until I was far away.

    As if I cared if I ran North, East, South or West! I almost pissed myself! My legs were about to send me zooming out the door when he mmed the table. If it wasn¡¯t for my award-worthy acting, I¡¯d be a watermelon in pieces by now.

    Like hell I¡¯m answering any summon again. I¡¯m not answering even if you offer to have eight people carry me!

 Book 13: Chapter 43

    Book 13: Chapter 43

    Wu Ping is gone. I let him go. He¡¯s in worse shape than I assumed. His internal energy is virtuallypletely depleted. He has shown no signs of recovery even after a day.

    Damage to meridians was an omen of internal energy beingpromised. In the event that they could recoverter on, their meridians wouldn¡¯t return to their condition prior to the damage. As Ming Feizhen said, ten ¡°Wu Pings¡± weren¡¯t enough to offer Zero a meaningful challenge.

    Zero wouldn¡¯t have had any issue catching up to Wu Ping, but what was he supposed to do next? Drag Wu Ping back for a beating? Torture answers out of him? Zero knew none of those tactics would work on Ming Feizhen. The problem wasn¡¯t that Ming Feizhen was hiding secrets; the problem was that Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t spill anything no matter what torture method Zero chose.

    Havingpleted many spy missions, Zero was aware of what to look for. Wu Ping never showed any panic on his face or even lost control of his heart rate during Zero¡¯s interrogations. Wu Ping interacted with him as if they were friends ¨C calm to the point that it was suspicious. Either Wu Ping was born a spy or was so stupid to even fathom what was going on. Either way, torturing him wouldn¡¯t get any answers out of him.

    There was one thing that was hard to dispute Wu Ping¡¯s identity and allegiance: if he was a spy or plotting something, shouldn¡¯t he have tried to maintain a low profile? Why would he pick a fight and stand out?

    Wu Ping was better with a sword than he was given credit for. Kuanggu Sheng didn¡¯t rank toward to the bottom among the Seven Stars and was known for his swordy skills. If it wasn¡¯t for his affiliation, he would¡¯ve been mentioned in any swordmaster topic, yet he was unable to defend properly even once against Wu Ping.

    It was reasonable for Elder Lianhua to lose against Wu Ping given his skill, her overconfidence and his desperation. Had he been in Wu Ping¡¯s shoes, Zero would¡¯ve made the same call.

    Zero didn¡¯t keep Wu Ping as thetter¡¯s level of suspicion was gradually declining ¨C and had declined low enough for Zero to start doubting his own suspicions. Assuming Wu Ping¡¯s story was true, then the situation was far more serious than Wu Ping trying something. The part about Xue Yanjun was true.

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be her¡­¡±

    It would be fair to say that Zero knew Xue Yanjun well. She never had a toss to give out. Inconspicuous wasn¡¯t in her diary. If she actually came, she wouldn¡¯t just vandalise a dungeon and then leave; she¡¯d make sure to turn thepound on its head and inside out.

    The entire event was bizarre. Everything seemed logical, yet there was something that just felt ¡°off¡± to Zero. As he analysed the entire event from beginning to end, one possibility came to mind, and the tone, the eyes and even the manner in which Wu Ping left made it feel usible.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know swordy, though¡­¡±

    The quickest and fool proof way to determine if his wild suspicion was correct or not, was to venture down to the flooded dungeon to check on the detained prisoner. Only problem was, Zero couldn¡¯t go down there ¨C not while it was flooded.

    Defeated, Zero sighed, then removed his mask. Underneath the mask was the face of a natural beauty under twenty. Her most discerning facial feature was the mole under her eye. She would set hearts aflutter rather than scare people when she scowled.

    If Zero dove down, her true gender woulde to light. As for sneaking in, that was impossible.

    Zero lowered her head andmented, ¡°I need to wait one more day.¡±

    ***

    As soon as I was out of that woman¡¯s room, I went searching high and low for the rat.

    ¡°Brother Wu, looking for me?¡±

    I nearly jumped when I heard his creepy voice beside me. Out of all ces he could choose, the gnome chose to crouch down by a wall. Convince he wasn¡¯t trying to give me a fright. You can¡¯t.

    ¡°Brother Kuanggu, hohoho, short-time no see.¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng gave me a creepy smile. ¡°Pleasure to meet you. I am touched you would immediately search for me right after saving your life.¡±

    ¡°And you can drop the act while you¡¯re at it. Had you not held back, would I still be alive?¡±

    ¡°Too modest, Brother Wu. I had no chance of harming you at my level.¡±

    He sounds like he genuinely means it, so¡­ what exactly has he misunderstood?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hoho, so, what did you mean by what you said?¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng wore on an indecipherable smile. ¡°You¡­ already know, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course I do. My question is, what do you know?¡±

    ¡°Stop ying the fool, Brother Wu, hahaha. You know well and truly what it is.¡±

    I bobbed my head and smiled without knowing what the flip he was talking about. ¡°I know well and truly, my foot! You talking or not?!¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng awkwardly coughed. ¡°Rx, rx. Brother Wu, you are a prominent figure. Youe fr-¡±

    I flicked up a hand and turned my head to the side simultaneously. ¡°Stop.¡±

    Based on Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s confused expression, he probably didn¡¯t hear the person I heard passing by. Nevertheless, he heard them once they came closer to us, so he looked my way and widened his eyes.

    So who the hell do you think I am?!

    Ouyang Xiucai poked his head around the corner and beamed. ¡°Thank god you¡¯re here, Brother Wu. Come with me.¡±

    And what do you want?! I¡¯m discussing my secret here!

    Looking as if he was constipated, Kuanggu Sheng seemed to regret not spitting sooner.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, let¡¯s¡­ drink another time. I have something urgent to attend to.¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not drinking.¡±

    ¡°Okay, well, let¡¯s save whatever it is for another time.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Another time.¡±

    ¡°We really can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°We really can.¡±

    ¡°We really can¡¯t. It¡¯s urgent.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s the nun who can¡¯t bloody wait?!¡±

    ¡°Not a nun. Granny Lianhua¡¯s condition is worsening again. We don¡¯t have a doctor here, let alone one who is familiar with your swordy. You were able to serve her once. Why not work your magic again?¡±

    ¡°Ah, uhm, that is serious. Head over there first, and I¡¯ll be over there afterwards.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t work.¡±

    Why not?! You¡¯re not the one who¡¯s dying!

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t stopped gasping blood. If left be, she may go to Granny Meng soon.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s healthy and strong. She¡­ should be able to hold out for half a day, shouldn¡¯t she?¡±

    Ouyang Xuicai grabbed my arm. ¡°Brother Wu, you shouldn¡¯t be so petty. Even if she is stronger than you, you defeated her. You are now brimming with life. Forgive when you can forgive. I also need her. Help her on my ount.¡±

    ¡°You got it wr-¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai dragged me along. I was in no shape to outmuscle him!

    ¡°Wait! Wait!¡±

    ¡°Who were you speaking to?¡±

    Don¡¯t ask me that while you¡¯re dragging me along!

    Kuanggu Sheng stood bewildered until we disappeared in the corridor, then cracked a sinister smirk.

    Glossary

    Granny Meng ¨C The goddess of forgetfulness serving in hell in Chinese Mythology, who serves her special soup on the Bridge of Forgetfulness. The soup erases the memory of the consumer so that they can reincarnate into their next life without the burdens of their previous life.

 Book 13: Chapter 44

    Book 13: Chapter 44

    Elder Lianhua certainly was hurt bad. Had I dyed any further, there wouldn¡¯t be any need for me to visit. She might as well have contacted Mount Wudang since it was me who was responsible for her state, after all (ehe!).

    I honestly never wanted to kill Elder Lianhua. The circumstances simply forced me to make the moment count, or I would¡¯ve been the one to go down. As a result, my aim waspromised a little¡­ Okay, it waspromised a lot. Additionally, owing to her unique internal cultivation style, she wasn¡¯t able to urately form her true qi armour, which made me deviate even more from my intended target. I only intended to knock her out for a few days so that she wouldn¡¯t sabotage my ns.

    It took me a while to close the wound that opened again and get Elder Lianhua out of critical condition. By a stroke of luck, her condition gave me the opportunity to demand thirty-odd irrelevant herbs in addition to other items. While there was no doctor at thepound, Jiang Chen was a medical expert, so there were useful herbs stocked up. They had everything else I asked for, too. If I didn¡¯t know the ce was Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base, I would¡¯ve thought it was a misceneous store¡¯s warehouse.

    The candle me in the dark room acted as a clock.

    Elder Lianhua¡¯s shallow breaths steadied and then became soft. The creases between her eyes had smoothed out. Perhaps she hardly ever had many peaceful sleepsparable to this one given she had been on the run for ages.

    Tang n had been spending recent years expanding their forces and growing their influence. One could say they were the South¡¯s version of Mount Daluo. Sects and more sects treated it as an example to model themselves after, but Tang n remained an independent entity. I couldn¡¯t speak for the imperial court, but the pugilistic world had always talked about Tang n¡¯s ruthless behaviours that sent chills up spines. Elder Lianhua¡¯s cautiousness in such a secluded ce proved just how much of a threat Tang n posed.

    More than likely, Elder Lianhua was a mother to someone in Tang n. When I mentioned Tang n, I sensed her fear and concern. When I mentioned that particr individual, her response showed more than loyalty to one¡¯s master; there was determination to protect and tender love.

    When I was a kid, my shifu told me Elder Lianhua¡¯s story as a form of entertainment. Pugilistic world stories that came out of my shifu¡¯s mouth needed to be cross checked for legitimacy, so I wasn¡¯t sure how much of what I heard regarding her was true.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ouyang Xiucai left after taking me to Elder Lianhua¡¯s resting ce as it was his turn to be on guard duty. Therefore, only Elder Lianhua, a sleeping Yan Jiangnan and I were left in her room.

    Thanks to the beating Zero gave Yan Jiangnan, Yan Jiangnan was still trying to recover. Unfortunately for him, I needed him for numerous jobs, so I dragged him along to treat, as well.

    After I was done treating the two, I monitored the situation outside through my hearing, then promptly began preparing what I needed once I confirmed it was safe to do so. I pulled over two tables tobine into one big one, chucked a big white cloth over the top and spread all the herbs I had on top so that I could sort them into categories. Next, I set up thirteen small cauldrons to prepare different medicines. I didn¡¯t even need half of them. The remaining medicines were supplementary health soups to improve immunity, urine issues, avoid pregnancy and what have you.

    I didn¡¯t boil herbs up for the medicines; my intention was to create a smoke screen. There was nothing strange about there being a smell of medicineing from the room of injured people. Those who were educated in medicine, however, would also fulfil a purpose for me even if they didn¡¯t work out what half of them were. Of course, I kept my ears tuned in to what was going on the other side of the doors. If someone came, I¡¯d have toe up with an escape n.

    While it was safe, it was only safe until tomorrow. My puppet tactic and Wu Ping¡¯s faceless corpse would be unearthed once ¡°Zero¡± checked the dungeon tomorrow morning. Even if Zero was a few brain cells short, me posing as Wu Ping would be fairly reasonable conclusion. All I could do was make the most of what time I had. At the moment, there were other things surrounding me that were at greater risk of being seen through, ones that I couldn¡¯t easily talk my way out of.

    Though I told the minions to leave me in peace for a few hours, that didn¡¯t exactly leave me with spare time. I hurriedly pulled my face off to wash off the stains with a bit of water, dried it as fast as I could and cut a few more slits in it. These sorts of masks were designed for long-term usage, so they needed to be maintained using herb formtions and subjected to a special drying method. I didn¡¯t have the luxury for all that, so I had to make do with what I had.

    I wore the dried mask back on and took out the formtions I just concocted. Some of them were made to increase how well the mask stuck to my skin, while some of them were used to create fake cuts and scars.

    When I pped Wu Ping¡¯s face onto myself, I didn¡¯t have enough time to glue it on in a way that appeared natural. Thankfully, people didn¡¯t look carefully at my face and notice the various splits since it was mangled bad enough to disgust people. Wu Ping was a tidy person. I could use ¡°shock that led to forgetfulness¡± as justification for looking messy after the assassination and fight with Elder Lianhua. However, I needed to clean up after Wu Ping had a day to himself. I could change my clothester, but I had to fix my face as soon as possible.

    I modified the face to go from a man on the verge of death to a man in good health ¨C although it was stillparatively pale due tock of materials. Nevertheless, I could put that down to my injuries. To exin the splits, I made more splits and made them resemble scars.

    Apart from differences in individual attributes, disciplines and styles rendered every wound inflicted different. In other words, one could discern someone¡¯s discipline and style based on the nature of the wound, in addition to the weapon utilised to create said wound. The elites would try to make the wounds as ordinary as possible to hide their tracks, which demonstrated how skilled they were. Consequently, I made the wounds resemble wounds from hard stabs, with some of them being new wounds that had yet to close.

    In no time at all, I had transformed myself from an unkempt, bloodied man into a scar-faced, high-spirited young hero. For the sake of congruency, I made simr wounds on Yan Jiangnan, as well. Regrettably, due to time constraints, the wounds on my face were carefully crafted, while Yan Jiangnan¡¯s were rather sloppy. Having said that, his wounds were real wounds that I put effort into creating.

    Next, and this was the most important part as well as my disguise¡¯s most vulnerableponent, was my hair!

 Book 13: Chapter 45

    Book 13: Chapter 45

    My hair was grey and red, abination of mixing blood and dust together. It smelt pungent, too. You think I came up with the aloof character to live out my fantasies? I did it so that nobody woulde close enough to check my hair! I was beyond lucky for nobody to have seen my white hair because blood lost its colour in a day in your hair and equally lucky Jiang Chen had so many materials avable.

    Adepts¡¯ hair colours differed from that of ordinary people. The former had more blood circting to their head. As a consequence, advanced internal discipline practitioners had a darker ck lustre to their hair that didn¡¯t turn white with age. That was how my shifu duped countless, innumerable, uncountable scores of young girls into believing he was still in his twenties.

    By the time I cleaned out my hair, my head of white hair was fully visible. I syed my hair and rubbed in the chemical form I made as fast as I could. There was barely enough dye to cover my roots, so expecting to dye it as dark ck as an elite was impossible. I, nheless, had the excuse of being injured. I also made some hair dye in three of the thirteen cauldrons I had simmering.

    I needed to apply the three dyes one after another to ensure it couldn¡¯t be washed out with water ¨C as well as escape the perceptive eyes of adepts. I also needed to simmer them for six to eight hours for the dyes to work as intended. That was why I had some minions start simmering the ingredients for me while I was tending to Elder Lianhua¡¯s injuries. I had other cauldrons simmering at the same time in order to mask the smell of hair dyes.

    My hair dyes were ready, but did you think that was all I needed?! Wrong! Subsequent to applying the hair dye, I had to wrap my hair up and heat it with a me. Usually, I used my internal strength to raise the temperature,pleting the process within roughly an hour. Now, I needed, at the very least, two damn hours!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I could¡¯ve pped some herbs on my face if somebody suddenly entered and passed it off as washing my face. My hair, however¡­ Yeah, there was no improvising my way out.

    Why does my hair have to be a problem every time I¡¯m in trouble?!

    Boss almost saw my white hair in the pce during the revolt. Tian Hu gave me a hard time in Nanjiang over my hair. No lie: I sometimes considered if I should just go bald. Whatever the case, my only option at the moment was to hurry up with my hair dye.

    Once I walked to a spot in the room, I abruptly stopped. Then, I retreated a step. When I stepped on a particr spot on the floor, the sound my footstep produced was different to everywhere else, albeit barely noticeable even to me.

    There¡¯s no secret room where someone is monitoring me under here, is there¡­?

    I stamped on the spot twice and cursed, ¡°Your mother is dead. Hey, your mother is dead.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡®Kay, there¡¯s nobody down there.

    I held a torch up to my wrapped-up head with my left hand whilst knocking along the ground with my other hand, searching for where the echoes differed. By then, I was sure that it was hollow under the odd spot. Despite using thick boards, the fact of the matter was that it was different to other spots.

    My shifu was a master at setting contraptions. He had plenty of contraptions installed in his room, though he never answered why he needed them. After I moved out and Young Shiyi found my porn stash multiple times, I had to consult Shifu for advice on contraptions. I remembering him grinning as he remarked, ¡°I knew this day woulde to you.¡±

    Found it.

    I didn¡¯t let my thrill or unease cloud my judgement. Whenever something was concealed so carefully, it had to be some top secret. If there was a secret martial arts manual, some millennium-year-old demon or terrifying beast, I might¡¯ve lost my life as soon as I opened it.

    Mm¡­

    I rubbed the back of my neck.

    Well¡­ I have free time on my hands at the moment¡­

    I activated the contraption as my shifu taught me. The floor gradually rose. I pushed down, then activated the contraption again ¨C rinsed and repeated seven times. On the fifth repeat, I had to lift the floorboard out half an inch and then pulled the board out in the end. This was one of the several advanced methods Shifu taught me.

    ording to Shifu, these few methods he taught me failed more often than out. He said, generally speaking, they¡¯d only work when robbing graves. Although I wanted to know how he knew how to rob graves, I was aware it was best not to pry too much into his business, or my head would explode.

    Anyhow, the main focus was, why was there such a contraption in the room? The floorboard I removed wasrge enough for only one person to squeeze through.

    Aiming a torch at the dark gap only provided me a glimpse of a dozen-odd steps leading downward. Based on the echo, the passageway stretched dozens of metres.

    I stopped to think and then focused on listening to sounds outside. Nobody wasing, but I didn¡¯t head down straight away. I wrapped up the herbs and other materials I was using as well as put out the stoves so that the scent of the herbs would spread. I carried the stuff I wrapped up with me slowly down the staircase. Several steps down, I stopped to think again and decided to pull the floorboard back into ce so that nobody could tell it had been removed.

    Only once I closed the floor did I notice there were a lot of tiny holes in the ground that you couldn¡¯t see with the naked eye. Needless to say, they were for providing an airway for the underground passageway. That being said, the passageway wasrge enough for oxygen to not been an issue.

    I didn¡¯t hear any movement in the passageway until the moment I went to head down. I almost dropped the torch! Turned out it was just Yan Jiangnan waking up upstairs.

 Book 13: Chapter 46

    Book 13: Chapter 46

    Yan Jiangnan moaned in a feminine way before sitting up, got out of bed to wobble a bit, then started muttering to himself. ¡°My back doesn¡¯t hurt anymore¡­ Yet, why do I feel as though I have injuries? What the heck?¡±

    ¡­ What? Don¡¯t look at me.

    I obviously couldn¡¯t see what Yan Jiangnan was doing, though it was most likely stumbling around in shock at the cauldrons of herbs.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember there being a doctor at the base. Who would be preparing herbs? Granny Lianhua is also here¡­ This is the building for injured personnel.¡± Once he did ap to confirm there was nobody else, Yan Jiangnan resumed mumbling, ¡°There¡¯s nobody around. This is a good opportunity to train.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan sat cross-legged back on his bed, hands face up on hisp and shut his eyes. The internal discipline¡¯s mental cultivation he practiced was the one I taught him.

    The goal of the mental cultivation I created was to delete one¡¯s skills, damage their meridians, then recollect the residue energy to restore what was deleted via the original route. If one practiced it alongside Yijin Jing and Spring Wind Rainy Night¡¯s mental cultivation, it was easy toplete that goal. To achieve the goal with only external help, however, would be more than twice as difficult.

    I remember them hiding manuals, many of which discussed the idea of meridians that differed drastically from the Central in¡¯s views, back at Divine Moon Cult. Even though I never practiced them, I understood their described viewpoints. Still, it took me half a month and every ounce of energy toplete the discipline.

    Though Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t an annoying character, he was an eyesore. After all, he seduced his sister-inw and then tried to kill his brother, but hecked the guts to follow through. His timidness and indecisiveness, nheless, made him an easy target for my threats. I even contemted if choosing his brother over him might¡¯ve been the better choice. Either way, the dice had been cast already. Now that I taught him how to surpass his former self, I had him at my beck and call.

    While Yan Jiangnan spent the next four hours practicing, I hid in the passageway to wait for my hair to dry. Following a long exhale, he opened his eyes and effused, ¡°It¡¯s only been a few hours. I can¡¯t believe my progress rate. This internal discipline is incredible.¡± Though his voice was soft, he was audibly healthierpared to when he first woke up.

    Yan Jiangnan never actually lost all of his internal energy; I merely dispersed it so that he would perceive it as so. Now that he unblocked the blocks I made him install himself, his internal energy started to flow back into his dantian again. Despite the discipline¡¯s function, I did give him a way to improve slightly. Howbeit,bined with the suddenness, the three factors gave him the impression that he just grew at an exponential rate.

    Following a short silence, Yan Jiangnan wrathfully mumbled, ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t know if I can trust that old freak or not¡­¡±

    Old freak? Did Yan Jiangnane here on someone¡¯s orders and then put on a show to use my handsome looks and genius mind for some shameless evil?

    ¡°He has Fiends¡¯ Genesis in the palm of his hands. Judging from his incredible tactics, he¡¯s definitely a notorious demon.¡±

    There¡¯s someone so dangerous around here? That¡­ does sound somewhat familiar, though¡­

    ¡°Resurrecting the dead.¡±

    Hmm? That¡¯s me, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m going to off you sooner orter!

    ¡°He might not be lying, though¡­¡± Yan Jiangnan¡¯s tone changed. ¡°Cuilian, I will bring you back no matter obstacles lie ahead of me. I won¡¯t have any regrets no matter what price I must pay. If I can¡¯t bring you back¡­ I¡¯ll go keep youpany.¡±

    I held my hand over my chest. It itched my conscience to con a man like Yan Jiangnan.

    He sounds like he does have a heart, after all. Should I tell him the truth?

    ¡°But that old freak is too dangerous. I should keep a backup n to stab him in the back¡­¡±

    ¡­ I¡¯m going to off you by the end of today!

    I didn¡¯t know what Yan Jiangnan was going to do after he stood up, but Imanded, ¡°Freeze,¡± consequently making him shudder so hard that he nearly threw out his lower back. I bet he was looking left, right, up and down with his pallor face right now. As soon as he touched his ears, I said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking to you.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan gasped as he leapt back onto his bed. ¡°Eld-Eld-Eld-Elder, I-I-I-¡­¡±

    ¡°¡¯I what?¡± I snorted through my nose. ¡°You are nning to stab me in the back?¡±

    ¡°N-n-n-no, I just had a slip of the tongue because, uh, um, because¡­¡± As he replied, Yan Jiangnan tried to search for my location futilely.

    ¡°Searching for me? You think you can find me at your level?¡±

    ¡°Ar-are you using the legendary Voice Transmission? Y-you truly are¡­¡±

    I chortled. ¡°You deserve to die for your disrespect. Howbeit, I made a deal with you. I¡¯m not going to stoop down to your level and back out. With that said, your disloyalty is courting death. Hehe, what makes you think I can¡¯t kill you?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan jumped onto his knees to kowtow nice and loudly in every direction whilst repeating, ¡°Please forgive me! Please forgive me!¡±

    The moment Yan Jiangnan had his back to me, I lightly moved the floorboard to stealthily creep out and strolled over to the bed with my hands behind my back.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Please forgive me on ount of me still being useful t-, ah!¡± Yan Jiangnan panted as if he¡¯d seen a ghost, looking into my eyes as if he as looking at a god. ¡°What qinggong was that? That was incredible.¡±

    I tugged up a corner of my lips ¨C you know, the way a true adept would.

    The show served to make Yan Jiangnan revere me even more. Henceforth, he would never think about double crossing me again.

 Book 13: Chapter 47

    Book 13: Chapter 47

    ¡°I know exactly what you¡¯re thinking, kiddo.¡± I kept cackling to scare to Yan Jiangnan.

    ¡°I am blessed and honoured to have the opportunity to witness such greatness. You truly are¡­ are¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop ttering me. Although it is true, you don¡¯t need to repeat it so many times,¡± I humbly replied.

    Yan Jiangnan let out a long exhale. ¡°I finally realise there will always be someone better when you think you are the best. There truly are too many incredible people to meet in one lifetime. I doubted your im that you could resurrect the dead, but I no longer have any doubts you can do it.¡±

    Don¡¯t believe that. That part was all hogwash.

    I scanned the room, bringing to my attention how much rubbish there was. It¡¯d take me a good while to clean it all up. That was when Yan Jiangnan came to the front of my mind. I pointed to the herbs in the cauldrons and asked, ¡°See those concoctions?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Drink them all.¡±

    Needless to say, Yan Jiangnan reacted confused. As a ¡°demon¡±, I wasn¡¯t going to exin myself. Instead, I widened my eyes and rhetorically questioned, ¡°What are you waiting for?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan washed down all ten remaining cauldrons of without dy. Although most of them were random things I threw together purely for masking the hair dye and so forth, two of them were actually supplementary forms that were good for qi. Since he was in the process of regaining his energy, he needed expediency and no pauses. As for what were the ramifications of smashing back all of them at once¡­ I didn¡¯t think dying was one¡­ At least I didn¡¯t think so¡­

    Despite wanting to regurgitate, Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t dare to. Even if I didn¡¯t like him, I had to respect him. After all, I wouldn¡¯t have had the balls to drink them. They smelt pungent, tasted bitter, spicy and sour. The worst one to drink would also cause stomach issues because it wasn¡¯t intended to be orally ingested. The least worst of them tasted pretty much like mud since I actually added mud.

    ¡°I-I finished them.¡± Yan Jiangnan, drooling from the corner of his smile that someone demented might wear, lookedpletely out of it. Following a burp, he queried, ¡°Elder, what are they?¡±

    I furtively took a step back, raised my head and pinched my nose. ¡°It¡¯s a secret form I produced from 7749 supplementary herbs. After drinking it, any pain will disappear. Mosquitoes, bugs and insects won¡¯t bite you. Do you know what it¡¯s called?¡±

    ¡°Mighty power pill?¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± I coldly red at Yan Jiangnan out of my peripherals, prompting him to stand as straight as a soldier ¨C in spite of how tough it was for him. ¡°Remember the internal discipline I taught you?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I would never dare to forget it.¡±

    ¡°The mental cultivation I had you train is the authentic ¡®Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡¯ mental cultivation. Itplements what you formerly learnt, so, once mastered, you can look forward to surpassing your previous self. I would go as far as to say that you can expect to rival your ancestor.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    Well¡­ If you ask me with that much energy, I don¡¯t know how to answer.

    ¡°Of course. Having said that, you need to progress constantly and rapidly. That is why you need pure true qi supporting your endeavour at all times. At the moment, your injuries and fatigue are simultaneously weighing you down. As a consequence, your ability to collect internal energy and true qi arepromised drastically. You think you would¡¯ve progressed so fast without my, uh, qi-breaking-dao-fusion-Nuwa-stone-supplement-of-the-gods pill?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan pped his eyelids. ¡°I do not recall consuming any pill, though¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s the original name. I don¡¯t have a pill cauldron here. The version you drank is the pre-packaged version.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    I could hear the excitement in Yan Jiangnan¡¯s heart and throat. Who could me him? He was literally going from hell to heaven, after all.

    But¡­ he¡¯s not going to explode on me after drinking all that, is he?

    ¡°Now that you know, why haven¡¯t you found yourself a quiet spot? Make sure you train solo somewhere quiet. Go over it several times. The sooner you master it, the sooner you reach your goal.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan saluted and thanked me prior to leaving. I never found out if he was ecstatic over his aplishment or if he was dumbed down from drinking the sorcery I concocted. Whatever the case, he walked out as if he never hurt his back. I shook my head and ended that matter there.

    I only had the remainder of today to solve every problem as the dungeon would be essible tomorrow. Though I had ns, it was a challenge to implement them owing to the sparse resources I had ess to. It wasn¡¯t time to use Yan Jiangnan yet. I could¡¯ve used Ouyang Xiucai, except he wasn¡¯t up to scratch. All using Ouyang Xiucai would result in was both of us perishing.

    After pacing around for a while, my eyes made their way back to the hole in the ground again. I had no idea where the passageway led to or who used it. Using it to frighten people, nevertheless, was akin to using a magic item. That being said, if Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t have his back to me andcked brain cells, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pop out stealthily and scare him so easily. I would have to practice the move if I wanted to pull it off against someone smarter.

    I threw the stone board as I practiced until I could pull off the I¡¯m-an-unstoppable-wise-adept stunt fluidly ¨C which took somewhere around a dozen attempts. Subsequently, I used Mncholic Sword to make four tiny, inconspicuous holes in the ground so that I could see in four different directions from the bottom. I, of course, put a few holes in the other boards, too, so that it wouldn¡¯t be suspicious. I ended up bending the de, sure. Wasn¡¯t my sword, though.

    Hah, I¡¯m going to scare the piss out of Yan Jiangnan when hees back.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hearing footsteps, I immediately hid in the hole.

    A mature man crept in and said, ¡°There¡¯s nobody. Nobody wille to this secluded ce. Granny Lianhua doesn¡¯t have family, either; nobody will visit her. Zhuoru, it¡¯s time we have a proper talk.¡±

    All of a sudden, Gu Xianxian was able to speak textbook mandarin.

    Ning Zhuoru scoffed, ¡°What¡¯s there to talk about? As soon as we¡¯re out of here, we¡¯re announcing to the martial world that we¡¯ve amicably split.¡±

    Me: Wow, boring. I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re talking about thisme stuff when everyone is in trouble.

    ¡°Wh-who is he?!¡±

    Me: Oh? Now you have my ears.

    Glossary

    Mandarin ¨C The textbook standard of Mandarin that Ming Feizhen refers to is that of the north ¨C retroflex consonants.

 Book 13: Chapter 48

    Book 13: Chapter 48

    I vaguely saw Ning Zhuoru¡¯s expression change under the dim light as she clenched her teeth and responded, ¡°¡¯He¡¯ who? I have no idea what you¡¯re on about.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m that gullible? You¡¯ve been increasingly colder to me in recent months. During the day, you pretend to be in love with me. Nobody knows you won¡¯t even let me touch your hand when it¡¯s just the two of us. Yet, you im you don¡¯t have another man?¡±

    From the smooth delivery, it was obvious Gu Xianxian had been practicing his speech for a while. The man might as well have changed his name to Wu Dng.

    I ced my eyes as close as I could to the holes. The only regret I had was not having melon seeds to snack on.

    Ning Zhuoru snorted, then red at her husband without turning her head. ¡°Gu Xianxian, what sort of woman do you think I am?! We¡¯re divorcing because of our issues, not because of some third party! You think I¡¯m as filthy as you?!¡±

    Pause. Is she tacitly admitting she has a new man?

    Gu Xianxian, oblivious to what was insinuated, cried, ¡°Why am I filthy? I exined to you that I had to socialise with those girls because of business. Didn¡¯t you pardon me for that?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I pardoned you, my foot! I remember it as clear as day! Don¡¯t you dare try and y the fool with me!¡±

    Wow, what happened to her usual graceful and soft character?

    ¡°Tell me why, then. Otherwise, I¡­ I won¡¯t let you leave this room!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru went red in the face. ¡°Fine! He¡¯s taller and more handsome than you are. He¡¯s ten times richer than you and a hundred times stronger than you. I insist on being with him. I¡¯m his from now on. I¡¯ll spend day and night with him. Don¡¯t you dare touch me ever again.¡±

    Ouch, buddy.

    And¡­ Gu Xianxian grabbed his chest as he staggered back three steps, other hand pointing at Ning Zhuoru. ¡°You yed me like¡­ like¡­ like¡­ You want a divorce? As you wish.¡± With shaky lips and weak legs, he broken-heartedly uttered, ¡°Return the betrothal gifts I gave you, then.¡±

    Eh?

    ¡°Why should i?! You gave them to me as presents!¡±

    ¡°Those were my family¡¯s gifts to their daughter-inw. You don¡¯t want to be my wife, so how I can leave them with you?¡±

    Ning Zhuoru stomped. ¡°How shameless can you be?! How did I ever fall for you?!¡±

    ¡°Whatever you say. I want my gifts back.¡±

    Since their argument went nowhere, they left to find paper, ink and brushes to settle the debate.

    Love is iprehensible, I tell you. In the end, betrothal gifts were more important to the pugilistic world¡¯s model dream couple than their love.

    I was going to explore where the passageway led to, but I picked up on iing footsteps. The fact that the individual deliberately treaded lightly could only mean that they were waiting for the couple to leave so that they could sneak in. Though I couldn¡¯t see who it was, I could identify them by their steps ¨C Kuanggu Sheng.

    Upon entry, Kuanggu Sheng checked left and right, quietly cursed, ¡°Stupid couple, wasting my time,¡± then started scoping out the room for something.

    Instead of searching for Elder Lianhua or Yan Jiangnan, Kuanggu Sheng seemed to be searching for traces of my activities; he even thoroughly checked how I treated Elder Lianhua. He then went through the cauldrons, making sure to smell them, too. I could tell he was educated in medicine from the way he touched the herbs and cauldron. I suspected Jiang Chen couldn¡¯t have left so many herbs behind unless there was a medical practitioner at the base, and it seemed I had found who they were entrusted to.

    ¡°These medicines¡­ There are medicines for exterior injuries, frostbite and even urine problems. Elder Lianhua¡¯s condition sure isplicated,¡± mumbled Kuanggu Sheng. Frowning, he then questioned, ¡°But are these supposed to be consumed together¡­?¡± He sniffed Elder Lianhua just in case she was already dead.

    Of course, Elder Lianhua was fine since she wasn¡¯t the one who drank the plethora of medications.

    I wonder if Yan Jiangnan is still alive. He better be. I invested a lot in him.

    Finding nothing despite his thorough search, Kuanggu Sheng gently hit the table. ¡°Hmph, I knew it. Not even a trace is left behind.¡±

    Staring into space, Kuanggu Sheng started performing hand gestures ¨C the exact motions I performed when wepeted for chicken. Out of nowhere, he switched to performing god-knows-what swordy. Next, he sighed in Elder Lianhua¡¯s direction and sighed. ¡°He beat her in only four attacks. Just what sort of discipline is it?¡±

    Oh, that was my broadswordy?

    Kuanggu Sheng shook his head. ¡°Even if I can¡¯t find proof, he¡¯s trying to hide his identity as best as possible. He¡¯s helpless if I threaten him with his identity.¡±

    Y-you know who I am? He looks like someone who was dropped on his head. How did he identify me?! Crap, crap, what do I do¡­? Hah, I got this.

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng jolted upon hearing my deep sonorousugh bouncing off the walls and persisting. ¡°Br-Brother Wu?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know where I am?¡±

    ¡°Hah, with your prowess, of course I would¡­¡± At the same time he spoke, Kuanggu Sheng sped to the door with aesthetically impressive form. He was puzzled when he didn¡¯t find me there. When he went back inside to see me standing with my hands behind my back, he was startled. ¡°¡­ You truly are immeasurable, Brother Wu.¡±

    Glossary

    Wu Dng ¨C The ¡°Water Margin¡± reference again.

 Book 13: Chapter 49

    Book 13: Chapter 49

    The main source of the bizarre atmosphere was Kuanggu Sheng. First, he stared at me in disbelief. Next, he took several deep breaths andplimented, ¡°Brother Wu, your movement is amazing, I have never heard of such movement. You have my respect.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°You were looking for me, Brother Kuanggu?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    I could smell fear. It was a product of me demonstrating I could show up at will and read minds.

    He forced my hand. He imed to know one of my secrets. I wasn¡¯t afforded time to think and n. He wasn¡¯t weak and had a decent head on his shoulders. If I passed up the opportunity to get to the bottom of what he wanted, I might¡¯ve missed it for good. Therefore, I chose to try catching him unprepared. Judging from his high heart rate, sweaty forehead, red eyes and heavy breathing, however, I might¡¯ve overdid it. If we actually fought then and there, without a broadsword, he¡¯d smash me in the majority of the exchanges. Luckily, he was afraid of me. Even a tiger was harmless once it was afraid.

    My jerkfu (jerk of a shifu) once said. ¡°If you can make the enemy¡¯s human side constipate or runny at will, aren¡¯t you in control?¡±

    ¡°Brother Kuanggu¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As soon as I showed intent to stride forward, Kuanggu Sheng clenched his jaws, chambered his hands andunched himself at me.

    Hey, follow the script!

    I had no other option but to defend against the attack whilst inwardly cursing. The instant Kuanggu Sheng espied me raise my arm, he lunged back eight steps and assumed a defensive stance. Concerned it wasn¡¯t sufficient, he leapt onto the ceiling.

    ¡°¡­ Brother Kuanggu, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing, Brother Wu?¡±

    ¡°I,¡± I lowered my hand onto the table and smiled, ¡°wanted to offer you a seat.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Kuanggu Sheng hopped off from the ceiling and politely showed me a crushed spider in his hand. ¡°I was killing a spider.¡±

    The two of us let out a prolongedugh each.

    ¡°You¡¯re so silly, Brother Kuanggu.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re an amusing man, Brother Wu.¡± Kuanggu Sheng tapped the table. ¡°Now, let us not beat around the bush. Seeing as you are here, you must have heard me mumbling. I have but one question for you.¡± It might¡¯ve been just one question, but it took all the courage he could muster to inquire, ¡°You¡­ are not Wu Ping, are you?¡±

    Well, now I knew he wasn¡¯t just bluffing to ckmail me. I suspected Kuanggu Sheng was testing me at one point, Howbeit, it didn¡¯t sound as though he was unsure. His gaze indicated that he was ready to die to obtain an answer, a desire to take back the reins. That left me with a big question: why did he not expose me when he knew I was an imposter? If he was hypothetically at odds with ¡°Zero¡±, I still couldn¡¯t see the justification for siding with me. Given the circumstances I was brought back to the base, it should¡¯ve been self-evident that I was an enemy of Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Since Kuanggu Sheng was unaware he had the upper hands of upper hands, I had to y along. I simpered as I held my gaze against his, showing that I could kill him whenever I chose, but I softened it enough to convey I wasn¡¯t going to inflict needless harm. ¡°I am who you believe I am.¡±

    ¡°Refusing to be honest about even this shows that you do not trust me.¡±

    I wagged a hand. ¡°Brother Kuanggu, up until now, you have been constantly withholding your thoughts. What have you done to prove you are trustworthy?¡±

    I made sure to use my own tone and speech style to see how Kuanggu Sheng would react.

    Joy flitted across Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s face as he ced more faith in his conjecture. That only confused me further. How did me not being Wu Ping benefit him? Was it really something to be so delighted about?

    ¡°You are testing me, Brother Wu. Worry not. I know everything already,¡± assured Kuanggu Sheng, speaking at a faster pace. ¡°I know. I know.¡±

    ¡°What do you know?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, years ago, there was a kid who loved des in Nanjiang, but he didn¡¯t show much promise. After he joined an organisation and returned to the pugilistic world, he became a household name. Shanxi¡¯s Venerable Wuliang was but an ordinary monk who was unable to graduate from b-grade despite being over thirty. Only years after joining the organisation, the ¡®Venerable¡¯ part of his name finally meant something.

    ¡°Jiang Chen is able to rise time and time again thanks to the organisation¡¯s support. He left us to reap the gains from them alone. Despite questioning him numerous times, he refused to share, so I have no choice but to wait. Now, after so many years of waiting, I¡¯ve finally found an opportunity.

    ¡°You, are from there, the most secretive organisation in the Central in. You are the one the call the Executioner!¡±

    What the hell are you on?

    I was lost at the beginning. I had no clue what the organisation was and who the monk was. And who the hell was the Executioner?

    Just what organisation does he think I¡¯m part of?

    ¡°Correct? Correct?¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng looked so bright that I had to answer, ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew it! Brother Wu, may I have the honour of knowing your real name?¡±

    I suffered a mental nk. How do I put it? I followed my heart and replied, ¡°This one¡­ is Zhong Ning.¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng pped his leg. ¡°Fantastic! I heard that ¡®Mystery¡¯ joined the organisation. It is a pleasure to meet you, Brother Zhong.¡±

    Huh? Zhong Ning is a member of the organisation? What unbing organisation is this?

    ¡°¡­ This is the secret of mine you said you knew?¡±

    ¡°¡­ What secret did you think I was referring to, then?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Seeing the confusion and inquisition in Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s squinted eyes, I turned my head, licked my lips and pped. ¡°I thought you knew I¡¯m having an affair with Ning Zhuoru.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh, that is not a problem¡­ Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Nothing, nothing.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 50

    Book 13: Chapter 50

    The Seven Stars never pried into each other¡¯s backgrounds. They just mutually knew that every one of them had long stories.

    Among the seven, Hai Yecha, the calmest and most calctive of them, liked to talk about the past more than the other six, especially when it came to talking about how many battles he fought on and in water. From Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s perspective, that was just bragging.

    Kuanggu Sheng, born in a small vige by the northern border, was orphaned soon after birth due to a group of highwaymen piging his home vige. The bandits then had their ves raise the infant. He virtually never spoke growing up as he spent more time with snow and horses than he did with people. The bandits who adopted him were eradicated soon after they adopted him. The ves and kids didn¡¯t receive much food. At eight years of age, he roved the snowy border and lived off human corpses. On one asion, he happened to chance upon the kid of a rich family who¡¯d been taken hostage.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Mayhap it was owed to them being the same age, the kid often made conversation with Kuanggu Sheng. The wealthy kid from Tiezhen was born in the Central in because his parents were usually in the Central in for business. On their journey back north to visit family the year prior, they were unfortunate enough to encounter highwaymen. The boy lost his parents in the scuffle and was the taken hostage in exchange for a ransom from his grandpa.

    Kuanggu Sheng bit the boy to death, stole a keepsake the boy carried and used it to find the kid¡¯s home. He impersonated the boy to live a life of luxury. In turn, he learnt what family, love and normal were. Until then, he thought it was normal to eat the flesh of the dead. The sacrifice for the life offort was his identity and his past. Because he was living as someone else, he never trusted anyone besides himself henceforth. More precisely, he trusted his knowledge, power and wits that empowered him to create a world where he didn¡¯t need to live in fear. To protect those assets, he absorbed everything he could to upgrade those assets.

    When Shang Bieshi went down twenty years ago, Kuanggu Sheng was the only person present to not feel upset. He attributed the fall of the strongest person he knew tocency; he believed Shang Bieshi stopped pursing opportunities for more power, an act he would ssify as mitting suicide¡±.

    The first time he met Wu Ping, Kuanggu Sheng couldn¡¯t fathom why Jiang Chen¡¯s judgement would be so poor. Upon meeting the battered Wu Ping two days ago, Kuanggu Sheng had no criticism to offer. The change in Wu Ping¡¯s aura was so enormous to him that he couldn¡¯t miss it. It was as if Kuanggu Sheng could smell many times more blood from Wu Ping than the blood on his body and clothes. If Wu Ping said he had built mountains out of dead bodies and constructed rivers out of blood, Kuanggu Sheng would¡¯ve believed him.

    When it came to impersonating someone, Kuanggu Sheng was arguably an authority on the subject. There were many odd things about ¡°Wu Ping¡±. At the same time, though, the nature of the oddities and number of them were so perfect that you wouldn¡¯t think too much of them; you¡¯d just assume he had been withholding a lot about himself. Kuangu Sheng, however, saw many small details that gave ¡°Wu Ping¡± away.

    Upon discovering Wu Ping¡¯s secret, Kuanggu Sheng just found Wu Ping amusing. Only once he heard from Ouyang Xiucai that Wu Ping defeated Elder Lianhua in four attacks did he think of something.

    The organisation Kuanggu Sheng mentioned entrusted three Executioners to Jiang Chen. Havingpleted the organisation¡¯s baptism, all of them were dangerous elites. Two Executioners apanied Hai Yecha on his job, while one stayed behind. Kuanggu Sheng wanted to find out who the third executioner was so that he could build his path into the organisation. Or rather, so that he could obtain the means to surpass his current self.

    Kuanggu Sheng waited and waited for something to happen, for Wu Ping to expose himself. At longst, he got his wish. He pleaded with ¡°Zhong Ning¡± to introduce him into the organisation. Unfortunately, ¡°Zhong Ning¡± dodged the question, saying he would make a note and discuss itter. Nevertheless, for now, that was sufficient. As long as there was time, there was an opportunity.

    As he was excitedly walking off, Kuang Gusheng mumbled, ¡°But Ning Zhuoru having an affair¡­ I remember she¡­¡± He shook his head and then continued jogging energetically.

    ***

    Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t let anything distract him for twenty-four hours straight once he started training. Only once smoke started whisking from his dome did he stop to rest. The smokeing from his skull was a sign of him ¡°levelling up¡±. I estimated it would take him three to five days to reach his new level; I really underestimated him. He had a much higher aptitude for martial artspared to his brother. It was no wonder his brother was jealous of him. Looks, height and even strength, Yan Jiangnan won in every department.

    Following a long and slow exhale, Yan Jiangnan reported, ¡°Elder, I think I have recovered about 70% ¨C 80% of my original strength. Th-this is amazing.¡±

    Judging from his strong, as well as happy, voice, Yan Jiangnan had indeed recovered around 80% of his full power. Or, put in less abstract terms, without the snow silkworm poison, my chances of dying against him were considerably higher.

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s back pain had also improved significantly, which was much faster than I predicted. From what I remembered, the mental cultivation didn¡¯t expedite recovery from wounds.

    Is he really a prodigy?

    ¡°Hmph, what¡¯s so amazing about it? You spent an entire day learning. The water in the dungeon has receded, so we don¡¯t even have twelve hours left.¡±

    ¡°One entire day?! Wh-what do we do if Zero searches the dungeon?¡±

    ¡°Wu Ping¡¯s corpse has already been washed out. What are you worried about?¡±

    ¡°Then, both Wu Ping and you are no longer there. Zero seems to be out for you. He wille for us if he finds out you are missing. And then¡­ he may suspect the authenticity of your story next.¡±

    What the heck did you think I was doing while you were training?

    ¡°I already took that into consideration. The only way to shut down Zero¡¯s suspicions is to provide evidence, evidence of me being Wu Ping and evidence that an intruder exists.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan tilted his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill Tiangou.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 51

    Book 13: Chapter 51

    ¡°I must kill him to earn Zero¡¯s trust.¡±

    I could understand why Yan Jiangnan wore a long face. Not only was Tiangou one of the Seven Stars but also practically Jiang Chen¡¯s pet dog; Jiang Chen would hunt me down with a vengeance if I killed Tiangou. Although Zero currently held the highest authority, people in thepound only took orders from Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou. The impact of Tiangou¡¯s demise would cause much bigger ripples than Elder Lianhua or Yan Jiangbei¡¯s deaths. Triggering a riot wasn¡¯t conducive to my escape goal. s, I wish I had an alternative.

    ¡°But¡­ why Tiangou? Kuanggu Sheng would work, as well,¡± opined Yan Jiangnan. He feared Tiangou, not Tiangou¡¯s identity as Jiang Chen¡¯s trusted aide.

    The popr belief was that Tiangou was stronger than Kuanggu Sheng. Having fought both of them (getting beat up counted), my assessment was that it was an unfairparison.

    Kuanggu Sheng had better skills than Tiangou. When Kuanggu Sheng fought, he subconsciously liked to hold back.

    Tiangou¡¯s style was wild enough to describe it was the equivalent of a beast fighting and never stuck to a certain fighting pattern. As such, he appeared sharper than Kuanggu Sheng. People often equated a more brutal death to the murderer being more dangerous. Thus, theparison was unfair. Nevertheless, Tiangou¡¯s wild style was enough to instil fear.

    ¡°Tiangou needs to be killed first,¡± I asserted. ¡°Tiangou is virtually a real dog. Apart from not eating his own poo, he¡¯s inherited every other trait a dog has, especially his keen sense of smell.¡±

    The catalyst for a change in one¡¯s scent came from their internal system and wasn¡¯t something they could change at will. While a strong external smell, such as drugs or blood, could conceal one¡¯s true scent, it was only a transient effect. If Tiangou could smell even the slightest ¡°Ming Feizhen¡± smell, the disguise was as good as done. Likewise, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s body odour would change as his martial arts progressed changed, and Tiangou wouldn¡¯t miss it.

    ¡°I¡¯m not killing Tiangou for that alone. I need someone important to die at a specific moment, but they can¡¯t be someone too tough to take down.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°The moment we step into dungeon, the moment Zeroes across the me inside vanishes without a trace, I need someone outside the prison to die.¡±

    ¡°As long as someone strong outside dies at the same time we enter the prison¡­ we have proven there is indeed an intruder in the base. That erases all suspicion surrounding us!¡±

    All of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s energy evaporated when he met my frigid gaze.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to celebrate,¡± I stated with a straight face. ¡°In twelve more hours, Zero will summon us to open the dungeon together. If Tiangou doesn¡¯t die then, we¡¯ll be the ones to die.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if Yan Jiangnan¡¯s reaction was fear or determination to fight.

    ¡°Elder, I am at yourmand.¡±

    That was the first time Yan Jiangnan was so proactive since I had known him. We obviously weren¡¯t friends. Sharing amon goal was enough to draw out his full strength, nheless. I gave a special name to aforementioned power ¨C the power of stupidity.

    ¡°¡­ The timing,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°We need to make sure our timing is right so that Zero is convinced an outsider killed Tiangou. We need to kill Tiangou quick enough that people deem it impossible and then return to the scene.¡±

    ***

    Name: Tiangou

    Census registration: Unknown

    Hobby: Butchering people

    Tiangou always carried his broadsword. The guy wanted to test his de on anyone over the most trivial of things. When it was time to eat, he insisted on going on all fours¡­ on the table. If he ever had to abstain frommitting homicide for a while, he could go spastic. Long-story short, he inherited every personality trait of dogs, except for eating his own poo¡­

    I smugly set my brush down and proudly nodded at my handwriting.

    Yan Jiangnan pinched his nose and asked, ¡°Do you like it that much?¡±

    I bobbed my head. ¡°Of c-, ptoo!¡±

    What sort of question is that?! You like poo!

    ¡°To assassinate Tiangou, we must first analyse him.¡±

    ¡°Is it not toote for that?¡±

    ¡°Of course it is. That¡¯s why I finished ages ago. This is for you.¡± I pped the sheet of paper onto Yan Jiangnan¡¯s face, making sure the ¡°poo¡± character was flush on his face.

    We spent a fair amount of time on analysing Tiangou for our assassination n.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Tiangou is careless, so he won¡¯t notice changes to major things. For instance, he never raised his vignce after learning about the intruder. Having said that, he is extremely sensitive to hostility directed at him. He¡¯ll catch the scent of any assassin who tries to close in on him. Luckily, we are now hisrades. It¡¯s not difficult to make an excuse to approach him. What we need to do is make sure he doesn¡¯t join us before we enter the dungeon. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have no means of assassinating him. In other words, we need to single him out.¡±

    I caught Yan Jiangnan sitting with his eyes narrowed, seemingly having too much time on his hands. After I questioned him, I learnt he made a fatal assumption.

    ¡°What am I nervous about? I already thought it through. With your abilities, you will reduce Tiangou to smithereens.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not assassinating him.¡±

    ¡°What?! Wh-who will be assassinating him, then?¡±

    I tilted my head. ¡°You.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Why else did I train you?¡±

    ¡°But I have only trained for one day!¡±

    ¡°One day is too much? Okay, let¡¯s go now.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no!¡±

    ¡°What are you worried about? Haven¡¯t you recovered 80% of your abilities? You have nothing to fear.¡±

    ¡°I cannot defeat him in the first ce¡­ 80% is not enough to beat him now.¡±

    ¡°Knowing that you¡¯re a weakling, of course I had to pull some strings first.¡± I got up, put the cheques into my shirt and grabbed a few items I had prepared beforehand.

    ¡°Elder, where are we going?¡±

    ¡°To pull some strings. Let¡¯s move.¡± I picked up a wine jug and sauntered out with my head held high.

 Book 13: Chapter 52

    Book 13: Chapter 52

    Tiangou was the farthest away from ¡°normal¡± among the Seven Stars. He wasn¡¯t an oddball mentally or in appearance. Those ¡°umon¡± traits would only be enough to scare ordinary folks. Those who knew him well knew that he wasn¡¯t as ruthless as Kuanggu Sheng, not as mighty as Drought Demon and not as calctive as Hai Yecha. What made him far from ¡°normal¡± was his unfathomable knowledge underneath his asional silly smile. Very few members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis were aware that he excelled as a schr prior to bing a criminal.

    Not only was he one of the rare schrs of his vige, but he also passed the exams at sixteen years of age. It went without saying that he was the pride of the vige since their vige was impoverished. When it was time for him to head out for the imperial exams, there was a line all the way to the vige entrance. Sadly, that was his final moment of glory.

    Tiangou participated twice in the exams that came once every three years, but he could never replicate his sess prior. He wasn¡¯t ipetent. He merely refused to observe the unwritten rule and purchase his sess. They didn¡¯t demand an enormous sum since plenty of examinees didn¡¯te from wealthy families, and demanding too much was just being ridiculous. Howbeit, his refusal toply was tantamount to pping the examiners who held out their hands for money.

    Tiangou proved with his brush that he was good enough to be ranked amongst the best, which only peeved the examiner even more. The examiner thought, if Tiangou was already so arrogant just because he had a good head on his shoulders, how would he be treated once Tiangou climbed up in the world? In reality, Tiangou wasn¡¯t stuck up or tough. His reason for refusing was simple: his travel expenses came from his father¡¯s hard-earned savings. Forty kilometres wasn¡¯t a long distance ¨C enough for him to get by with a few mantous. Demanding more money from him, however, was asking him for something he didn¡¯t have.

    The failures didn¡¯t wither away Tiangou¡¯s determination. He wanted to be an official so that he could improve his hometown¡¯s living conditions. When the sun was up, he¡¯d be out in the fields. When the stars came out, he borrowed candles from the rich family in his vige to study. His taciturn father would silently work in the fields and eat just enough to survive, pretending there was an abundance of food for his son.

    Before his son¡¯s third attempt at the imperial exams, Tiangou¡¯s father knelt outside the examination venue for two full days. The unhealthy elder was unable to live out hisst moments in his hometown. At the time of his passing, Tiangou¡¯s father was only sixty-five. His most precious assets were his field and his son.

    When it was time for the exams, the examiner finally spared Tiangou a nce, though a contemptuous one, and righteously said, ¡°Your dad is dead. He knows the world better than you do. Not only did he kneel at my front door for two days, but he also gave me your worthless tiny field. I told him that, as long as I was overseeing the exams, you would never pass, so he decided to y dead at my door. In the end, he killed himself. He spoiled my mood. He had to leave me with bad luck, damn it. I ept your field. Come try again in three years¡¯ time. I may just be in the mood, recall your old man and let you pass.¡±

    Tiangou formerly believed that it took mountains to crush people. In reality, the blink of an eye was all it took for someone to be crushed. Unfortunately, it took his father¡¯s death for him to realise it.

    Tiangou¡¯s memory of life after that was fuzzy. All he remembered was collecting his father¡¯s corpse, cooping up at home for ten days, thenughing hysterically as he left home for good.

    A yearter, the examiner and his family were found dead, kneeling atop charcoal. At the same time, the name Tiangou was added to the pugilistic world.

    It had been years since Tiangou thought back on those events. He opened his eyes, keeping his hands on his weapon. In a deep voice, he asked of his uninvited guest in front of him, ¡°Kuanggu, what do you want?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Brother Wu, the dungeon¡¯s opening time is right around the corner, yet you don¡¯t seem to care,¡± Ouyang Xiucai uttered, watching me and Yan Jiangnan drink whilst enjoying some juicy chicken.

    I shook my head and indifferently replied, ¡°Why should I care? Thepound is in frenzy at the moment. Rather than worrying about what we should worry about, we¡¯re making wild guesses about things we don¡¯t know the first thing about. Who has bothered with the intruder even though it has been two days? If the intruder strikes again, hmph, we¡¯ll probably lose a few more people.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai bobbed his head to show he could see where I wasing from. As victims of the first attack, Yan Jiangnan and I were rightfully afraid of a second attack, especially when we were still ¡°badly hurt¡±, given we couldn¡¯t win the first time when we were in our best shape. Considering our qualms, it only made sense to stick to someone strong. Hence, Ouyang Xiucai didn¡¯t question he was said strong ally.

    I selected Tiangou as my target based on a process of elimination. I ruled out Ouyang Xiucai and Lang Qing in the first round for they were too challenging to kill.

    ¡°The only thing they care about is suspecting us. Inspecting the dungeon is just nonsense; they just don¡¯t trust us. Heh, as if I¡¯d want to waste my breath lying to them.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai smiled. ¡°Brother Wu, you sure still are hard to appease. Are you still hung up over Mr. Zero and Granny Lianhua¡¯s usations?¡±

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, if you just had a brush with death and then were physically interrogated by your own side, how would you feel? Besides, heh, am I their friend?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai just smiled because, from his perspective, I was purely venting at the only ce I could vent. Deep down, though, his trust in me was building.

    I told ackey to fetch us more wine once we finished what I brought.

    Ouyang Xiucai didn¡¯t mind drinking with us since he knew what I visited him for. Plus, he owed me a drink, so he might as well have honoured his promise. He passed me a bowl he filled up and queried, ¡°Seeing as you are here, can we talk about the lotus?¡±

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, you¡¯re a slippery one, hey? You said you were drinking with me, yet you are only drinking with me to fulfil your personal agenda.¡±

    ¡°At the drinking table, work affairs are personal affairs. Moreover, I joined Fiends¡¯ Genesis to avenge my friend. I can¡¯t leave without anything to show for it. I apologise for imposing on you.¡±

    To be fair, Ouyang Xiucai was quite the gentleman to not have pressed me once since I promised to answer him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen the projectile before. They¡¯re a tough one to defend against due to their attack range and unpredictability. My answer remains the same. Tang n manufactures them.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure it is Tang n¡¯s product?¡±

    ¡°When ites to hidden projectiles, if Tang n ims second best, nobody is qualified to consider themselves as the best. It¡¯s not impossible for artisans outside of Tang n to manufacture them. Producing them and then throwing them without collecting them, though, is something only their n can afford. On top of that, I have personally witnessed a Tang n member use them before. Don¡¯t forget, Granny Lianhua¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t need to say ¡°¡­ hails from Tang n,¡± as Ouyang Xiucai was there when I pointed it out.

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±

    ¡°I do believe you.¡± Ouyang Xiucai bitterly smiled, then added, ¡°That is the exact problem. I have been thinking long and hard since that day. ording to my knowledge, my friend never crossed paths with Tang n, so how did he incur their wrath?¡±

    ¡°That is impossible to answer. Tang n has been very active as ofte. For all we know, they might be trying to rule the martial world for entertainment. Perhaps your friend came across their secret operation and had to be silenced.¡±

    Following a hard think, Ouyang Xiucai shook his head. ¡°Tang n¡¯s leader, Tang Suchen, is the leader of the Six Gods of the south and is without equal in the southwest. He has every qualification topete against the patriarchs of the most prestigious orthodox sects. He is known to be wise and affable, so he would not do such a thing.¡±

    ¡°They say you can¡¯t know a book by its cover. Have you met Tang Suchen? If you haven¡¯t, how can you speak so conclusively?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I haven¡¯t¡­¡± Ouyang Xiucai knitted his brows together as he mused. Anyone would frown if their target for revenge was Tang n.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    From what I heard, Tang Suchen was actually a nice guy, and I would trust that evaluation given it came from Daoist Jinguan¡¯s table.

    Ouyang Xiucai knocked back a mouthful of wine. ¡°Whatever the case, I am grateful you would share what you know with me, Brother Wu.¡±

    ¡°I respect you for doing all you can for your friends, Brother Ouyang. Why not have three hundred toasts for your loyalty? What do you say, Brother Yan?¡±

    As soon as he met eyes with me, Yan Jiangnan yelled, ¡°Bring us wine!¡±

    While we were merrily drinking away and filling the floor with empty wine jugs, the water in the dungeon receded. We were out of it for hours. Rather, we were groggy until we received the signal to assemble in the main hall.

 Book 13: Chapter 53

    Book 13: Chapter 53

    Kuanggu Sheng chuckled as though he was oblivious to the hostile gaze on him. ¡°Tiangou, how long has it been since we had a conversation?¡±

    Tiangou¡¯s gaze remained unshaken, indicating he still sought a proper answer to his question.

    ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t understand. What I¡¯m saying is¡­ ever since our master was gone, how long has it been since we¡¯ve had a conversation?¡±

    Tiangou was taken aback before he lowered his weapon just a tad.

    Although they were part of the same group, not everyone in Fiends¡¯ Genesis considered each other friends. Everyone was rather nice to Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, so she was okay with everyone. Drought Demon was easy to get along with since he wasid back. The others weren¡¯t so buddy-buddy with each other. Furthermore, there was the fact that the current Seven Stars wasn¡¯t the same Seven Stars from twenty years ago. Shitou and Kuanggu Sheng were only instated as one of the seven post-war twenty years ago.

    While Shang Bieshi was still around, they wererades under the pretext of serving the same master, sharing the same purpose on the battlefield, and they shared a mutual respect for Shang Bieshi. Without Shang Bieshi, there was nothing to really connect them.

    While Jiang Chen had the ability to keep everyone united, he never had any desire to unite them. If it wasn¡¯t for Shang Bieshi¡¯s existence, nobody could say for certain if Jiang Chen would¡¯ve even stayed with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Had he not gathered the remnants of Fiends¡¯ Genesis to kill time, there wouldn¡¯t be any Fiends¡¯ Genesis in this era. That being said, the current Fiends¡¯ Genesis was just a fragile entity held together with lousy glue. Unless they were on the verge of annihtion, it was nigh impossible for any of the Seven Stars to have an audience with him. If there was any purpose they served to him, it was merely credit to tell Shang Bieshi ¨C if he ever returned ¨C hey, I kept your team for you.

    ¡°Those of us who stayed behind after our master left thought that we could aplish something big. It¡¯s been twenty years since, and all we¡¯ve done is continued acting as guard dogs,¡± Kuanggu Sheng said.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± questioned Tiangou.

    Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng could hold a conversation with each other, but there was no chance they¡¯d converse with the other five of Seven Stars. Though they were too independent and aloof to be friends, they would, at least, greet each other. That said, it was the first time Kuanggu Sheng brought up the topic they were on in the twenty years they¡¯d been part of the Seven Stars.

    Tiangou joined the unorthodox faction to avenge his father. Sure, he did crazy things, such as violently gashing people over minor offences, drinking their blood and digging people¡¯s nerves out. However, those wild behaviours were merely intended to shock his opponents, expanding his range of options inbat. He didn¡¯t have some sick fetish for them. He couldn¡¯t have just been reckless when it only took him a year to avenge his father. The entire revenge procedure was meticulously nned out beforehand ¨Csomething very Jiang-Chen-esque. Even with his knowledge and genius, nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t understand why Kuanggu Sheng suddenly broached the topic, not to mention now of all times.

    Kuanggu Sheng opened up the door and said, ¡°Come with me.¡± Before exiting, he added, ¡°I have something to tell you about our master.¡±

    Despite his unease, Tiangou went along.

    Kuanggu Sheng went straight to a secluded building. Tiangou was a loner and didn¡¯t enjoy aimless wanderings, so this was the first time he had gone to the building. Tiangou¡¯s keen sense of smell was disabled in the room due to the strong smell of medicine. As a matter of fact, he had to pinch his nose in order to prevent harm to himself. Two days had yet to pass since Ming Feizhen brewed the medicines. Plus, the roomcked venttion.

    ¡°What did you bring me here for?¡±

    ¡°To persuade you.¡± Kuanggu Sheng spun around. ¡°What I¡¯m about to say must never reach a third pair of ears. Elder Lianhua is unconscious, so she can¡¯t hear, and nobody wille by to overhear our conversation.¡±

    Tiangou¡¯s knitted brows came apart. ¡°¡­ If you¡¯re about to mention betraying Fiends¡¯ Genesis, it¡¯d be in your best interests to stop while you¡¯re ahead.¡±

    ¡°Why?! We¡¯ve wasted twenty years here. Twenty. Years. We haven¡¯t achieved a single thing in twenty years. You think we¡¯re here to take revenge? Wake up! We¡¯re not here to avenge our master or restore Fiends¡¯ Genesis. We aren¡¯t flipping nobly biding our time for a bigger goal. We¡¯re only here because Jiang Chen wants us here!

    ¡°We all fear him deep, deep down to the point that we even forget who we are. Truth be told, I¡¯m scared witless even as I speak to you now. I can¡¯t help feeling paranoid that he might overhear me. So what, though? Why does fearing him stop me from betraying him? Tiangou, an opportunity has fallen into ourp.

    ¡°This is our chance. I have connections. If you help me, I¡¯ll put in a word for you. The two of us can be so much more than we are right now. Jiang Chen won¡¯t help us. A man has to find and seize opportunities himself!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I know you want to find our master and revive Fiends¡¯ Genesis. We can achieve both of those goals if we can grow stronger and wield more power. We don¡¯t need Jiang Chen¡¯s help. We can find our master ourselves!¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s eyes were so bright that he could almost illuminate the room. It was as if he was speaking from the heart whilst blowing off all the steam that had been building for twenty years.

    ¡°I owe Jiang Chen, as well.¡±

    ¡°My bad. I forgot you¡¯re a loyalpdog. Indeed, a dog without its master is one without fangs.¡±

    Tiangou disapproved with head motions. ¡°I am Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ guard dog. I¡¯ll bite whoever tries to harm Fiends¡¯ Genesis, be it you or Jiang Chen. He hasn¡¯t done anything to ruin Fiends¡¯ Geneis, but you have.¡±

    ¡°To sum up, you don¡¯t want to join me, I take it?¡±

    Tiangou¡¯s gaze gradually turned frigid. ¡°You wish to kill me?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 54

    Book 13: Chapter 54

    ¡°What gives you that idea?¡± Kuanggu Sheng was still smiling, but he stopped bothering with his fa?ade due to Tiangou¡¯s stance. ¡°I only foresaw two results when I invited you toe with me. One, you would ept my offer, and we would achieve something big. Alternatively, I would separate your head from your shoulders the moment you asked me, ¡®You wish to kill me?¡¯¡±

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, you would rather be Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯pdog than your own man. Brother Tiangou, are you sure you want to perish along with Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    Tiangou unwrapped his broadsword with serrated edges and used the cloth for sheathing it to wipe the de. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in gods residing above us. They never answered my pleas.¡± He then gripped the cloth and his hilt in separate hands and added, ¡°I don¡¯t believe in monarchs. They won¡¯t give me permission to kill. I must kill.¡± Holding his gaze against Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s, he continued, ¡°Twenty years ago, Master took me in. I never begged him, but he chose me. Since then, I swore to be his guard dog until the day I am cold in the ground. I won¡¯t allow anyone to ruin his assets. At least, not as long as I am alive.¡± Tiangou subsequently folded his torso forward, seemingly preparing to propel himself forward violently. ¡°You, too, are something he left behind.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Once was.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°It would appear that I¡¯m not the only one who wants to kill you.¡±

    ¡°That connection you mentioned, does it have anything to do with why you¡¯re willing to remain in thepound?¡±

    Tiangou was the only sentry assigned during the new base¡¯s construction a few months ago as there was no need for a second member of the Seven Stars. Yet, Kuanggu Sheng offered to stay on the base ever since finding out an Executioner from the organisation had joined them there.

    ¡°Haha, Brother Tiangou, who¡¯s the better fighter between us?¡±

    ¡°Based on your Beijiang origins, that¡¯s a conversation that shouldn¡¯t even be had.¡±

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t deny that my foundationse from Beijiang. Likewise, your skills don¡¯t derive from an orthodox sect, either. Your foundation is underdevelopedpared to mine since you startedter in life. How many exchanges shall we have today?¡±

    Tiangou shut his eyes whilst answering, ¡°Master once said, once one has reached the final stage in their discipline, it doesn¡¯t matter when you started or what age you reached level so and so. You are whatever your level is.¡±

    Kuanggu Sheng sighed. ¡°Shang Bieshi is a true prodigy.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t address Master by his name.¡±

    ¡°How shall I address him? Suffocating-in-the-deste-mountains Loser?¡± Kuangu Sheng paused to exam Tiangou¡¯s reaction before adding the final insult. ¡°Or should I just be direct and call him Sore Loser?¡±

    ¡°You asked for it.¡±

    Tiangou opened his eyes, then, like an arrow off a loaded bowstring,unched himself forward and swung straight for Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s neck. There was no doubt that he¡¯d shave off a chunk of flesh if his de just grazed Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s neck.

    Casually strolling backwards, Kuanggu Sheng directed Tiangou¡¯s swing trajectory with his right hand whilst executing his hook counter off his left.

    Tiangou forged his broadsword skills in real-lifebat, so he was trained to fight ruthlessly. Plus, he wasn¡¯t nning to waste time on needless exchanges. He never expected Kuanggu Sheng to spot his opening so easily tounch a defence and counter simultaneously. Nheless, Tiangou responded with vertical shes.

    Kuanggu Sheng didn¡¯t foresee Tiangou¡¯s marvellous technical finesse, either, prompting him to retreat again and again.

    Right as Tiangou brought his de into position for his third attack, Kuanggu Sheng roared as he threw a ball at the ground, generating a loud sound. Unsure he could block Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s attack, Tiangou didn¡¯t try to stand his ground. Instead of a strike flying out, though, a field of white smoke formed, obstructing Tiangou¡¯s vision.

    Hearing the door ck, Tiangou thundered, ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Already outside, Kuanggu Sheng shouted back, ¡°Fine. You want to fight to the death?!¡±

    ¡°Your sentence was death from the moment you chose to betray Fiends¡¯ Genesis!¡±

    ***

    One only needed to look at the number of empty jugs strewn across the floor to tell that Wu Ping, Ouyang Xuicai and Yan Jiangnan were inebriated. The moment they set foot in the room, the twockeys who were the worst at holding their liquor nearly lost their legs. Their leader griped, ¡°What were they thinking? Mr. Zero is calling for them. Why would they choose now of all times to drink so much¡­?¡±

    ¡°So, do we just go and report back to Mr. Zero?¡±

    The leader shot a re in the direction of his mindless subordinate who voiced his suggestion, then instructed, ¡°Try waking them. You guys, bring some water. If we can¡¯t wake them up nicely, we¡¯ll just have to ssh them.¡±

    While Zero wasn¡¯t the sort of person they¡¯d like to be on the bad side of, sshing the elite mercenaries awake wasn¡¯t exactly the most respectful thing to do. All they could do was pray that the three usually-cordial adepts wouldn¡¯t make them pay for it. No matter how they called, they couldn¡¯t wake the trio up; not even sshing water worked.

    Ouyang Xiucai was first to regain awareness since he was the strongest. ¡°Who are you people? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Who dere?¡± Yan Jiangnan also came to, albeit without apletely functioning tongue.

    Wu Ping was the only one who had yet to wake.

 Book 13: Chapter 55

    Book 13: Chapter 55

    Yan Jiangnan rubbed his eyes and exhaled, seemingly just regaining awareness of where he was. As soon as he realised what was going on, he expressed, ¡°I had no idea. We really do lose track of time when we¡¯re having fun¡­ Brother Wu¡­ Brother Wu, it¡¯s time for us to get moving.¡±

    ¡°What are you calling him for? Hahaha, wasn¡¯t he the one who insisted onpeting?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, let him sleep. Tell Zero I let him sleep; tell him¡­ I told him to wait. We¡¯ll fight Lu Bu after our three hundred drinks!¡±

    ¡°Lu Bu?¡± Theckeys were visible puzzled.

    Ouyang Xiucai draped his arm over Yan Jiangnan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You know who this is? This is my third brother, Yide!¡± He then pointed to Wu Ping and said, ¡°You know who that is? My big brother, Xuande.¡± Next, he pointed to himself and asked, ¡°You know who I am?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Guan Erye?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Wrong!¡± Ouyang Xiucai hit the table. ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m your father! Hahaha!¡± Then, he sprawled back onto the table to resume sleeping.

    Theckeys: What the actual hell?

    ¡°Spoken like a drunkard.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan remorsefully conveyed, ¡°As you can see, the two of them are out of it. Brother Wu drank the most, so he is most likelypletely incapacitated. How about you report back for now and let Mr. Zero know that the three of us will definitely be thereter.¡±

    ¡°W-well¡­ Could at least two of youe with us? Otherwise, it will be difficult for us.¡±

    Smiling, Yan Jiangnan replied, ¡°We three will most probably be penalised for drinking and cking during this trying time. I can¡¯t dishonourably betray my brothers to save myself, can I? Together we ride. Together we die.¡±

    Although it sounded reasonable, the leader smelt foul y. Ouyang Xiucai and Lang Qing were the two most valuedbatants among the mercenaries. Not only was Jiang Chen respectful to them, but even Zero didn¡¯t boss them around. Ouyang Xiucai was easily two notches above Yan Jiangnan, so how was Yan Jiangnan functioning properly, while Ouyang Xiucai was having trouble staying awake? One conceivable exnation was that someone had tampered with the drinks. Since the leader couldn¡¯t voice his suspicion brazenly, he sneaked close to Ouyang Xiucai to gently pat him on the back and query, ¡°Excuse me, Hero Ouyang, are you all right?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°If that is not you, who are you?¡±

    ¡°Your father! Hahaha!¡±

    Needless to say, theckey was quite mad.

    ¡°Young Master Ouyang isn¡¯t the best at holding his liquor,¡± jibed Yan Jiangnan. ¡°He¡¯lle to soon enough given his internal energy. You don¡¯t need to worry.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­¡±

    ¡°As for Brother Wu, I¡¯ll wake him for you. I¡¯ll bring them along once they¡¯ve woken up. Hey, Brother Wu, wake up. It¡¯s time to get moving.¡±

    ¡°No, no, there is still some time.¡±

    Judging from the nonsense Ouyang Xuicai just spouted, even if he did meet up with the rest, there was no guarantee he wouldn¡¯t offend Zero with some other nonsense and instigate a fight. Wu Ping couldn¡¯t even respond, not to mention he dared to stab Elder Lianhua. If he were to open his mouth, there was a chance he¡¯d spout even more ridiculous things. ordingly, the leader made up his mind andmanded, ¡°You guys prepare a soup to help them relieve themselves. Take care of them, but make sure they wake up in time,¡± then departed.

    The leader had served enough temperamental and odd people from Fiends¡¯ Genesis to know how to deal with such situations. Since the three couldn¡¯t attend yet, he deemed his priority to be to report back to Zero.

    Zero didn¡¯t look surprised when he saw hisckey return alone. Instead, he just indifferently asked, ¡°They¡¯re noting?¡±

    ¡°The three of them were drinkingst night and are having trouble¡­¡±

    ¡°Having trouble? Did they really drink?¡± From what Zero knew, the three weren¡¯t alcoholics. Yan Jiangnan and Wu Ping weren¡¯t in any condition to be partying given their injuries. Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s training would make it nigh impossible for him to be inebriated.

    ¡°They started drinking fromst night. This one personally saw people constantly delivering wine to their room and carrying wine jugs out. They most likely did overdo it.¡±

    ¡°Did you hear what they talked about?¡±

    Theckey immediately realised Zero didn¡¯t trust the trio, especially Wu Ping and Yan Jiangnan. After all, those two were the ones who imed there was an intruder, so they had a reason to refuse joining the dungeon inspection.

    ¡°This one overheard them mention Tang n. Hero Wu also incessantlyined about being wrongly used.¡±

    Abreast of the trio¡¯s recent encounters and Elder Lianhua¡¯s connection to Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s revenge, Zero couldn¡¯t imagine them partying. If anything, it sounded as though they were drowning their sorrows in alcohol. Still, Zero coldly questioned, ¡°How much longer until the time I stated?¡±

    ¡°There are still fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°Go tell them that they don¡¯t need to show up if they don¡¯t show up in less than fifteen minutes. I¡¯ll personally skin them and throw them out.¡±

    Although Ouyang Xiucai had recovered somewhat after a bowl of soup to alleviate the symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption, he wasn¡¯t exactly functioning at full capacity yet.

    Concerned, Yan Jiangnanined, ¡°Mr. Zero is being too cold, no? What are we going to do in the dungeon besides inspecting it? Demanding we be present is just showing that he doesn¡¯t trust us.¡±

    The team leader responded, ¡°Young Master Yan, why must you make things hard for us?¡±

    ¡°How am I making things hard for you? Mr. Zero just doesn¡¯t trust us. We¡¯ll be on our way now. I¡¯ll lug them over if I have to.

    Fifteen minutester, the elites were gathered at the dungeon¡¯s entrance. By the time Zero opened the door, the water had receded enough for them to enter.

    Zero swept her gaze over the gathered elites andmented, ¡°Those three really have no respect for me, huh?¡±

    Ning Zhuoru pointed out, ¡°Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou are absent, too.¡±

    Zero red at Ning Zhuoru out of the corner of her eyes.

    ¡°Shut up.¡± Gu Xianxian pulled his wife over and, stifling his voice, chided, ¡°Those two are members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. They wouldn¡¯t attack themselves, so they don¡¯t need to be here.¡±

    A light lit up in Ning Zhuoru¡¯s head. ¡°Oh, so those three are under suspicion¡­¡±

    What sound grounds did Wu Ping and Yan Jiangnan have for their absence besides avoiding the ramifications of their betrayal? Traitors were a problem, but nothing for Zero to fear. Her true concern was that them telling fibs meant something bad had urred in the prison.

    ¡°Pass on my order: the three of them ar-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± In the direction of the hall¡¯s exterior, Ouyang Xiucai and Yan Jiangnan were visible. Yan Jiangnan voiced, ¡°We were only runningte a bit. Mr. Zero, you need not be so impatient.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai, having broken out of his drunken stupor somewhat, politely smiled. ¡°We just had a bit too much to drink.¡±

    Zero felt relived only transiently because there were only two people. ¡°¡­ Three of you drank together, so where¡¯s the third person? Where is Wu Ping?¡±

    Glossary

    Yide, Xuande and Guan Erye ¨C Assuming you don¡¯t already know, they are Zhang Fei, Liu Bei and Guan Yu, respectively.

 Book 13: Chapter 56

    Book 13: Chapter 56

    One performed de work too fast to see the de¡¯s form. His opponent weaved through his thrusts and shes too quick to look real. Before the beads of that sweat flew, fell and split into miniature forms of its former self, they had put metres between.

    The initial grunts and curses gradually softened until there was but silence. No words could¡¯ve expressed the hostility they harboured more urately than their gazes.

    The gales generated at the end of a sh were pushed back with the force of a counter palm. The broadsword wielder switched his techniques of choice before they became old, slicing apart the deflected gales in a circr motion that provided offence and defence simultaneously. If his opponent were to drop his guard, the broadsword wielder could¡¯ve ended his opponent at any moment. Despite knowing that, his opponent advanced to m his hand on the back of the broadsword.

    The ear-splitting winds that blew past their ears indicated that they were ready to die taking their opponent down. As if they had rehearsed beforehand, though, the broadsword wielder swung out to the side. At the same time, his opponent fired energy up and down simultaneously, scattering their energy into each other while they took three steps back, respectively.

    Whenever one went to attack, the other would counter instantly. Thus, there was no time for either of them to blink. If their brain or body was half a beat slow, they¡¯d already be a corpse. Despite their lives being at stake during those two hundred exchanges, neither of them was afraid, tense or even breathing erratically. The reason they could fight the way they did was attributed to the fact that their skills were learnt from the same person, the man who once led them ¨C Shang Bieshi.

    To be semantically correct, Shang Bieshi adopted Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng. When he met Tiangou, thetter had already lost every motion besides the desire to destroy things. As for Kuanggu Sheng, he was on the verge of death after escaping a rough fight. It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say they joined him simply because their only alternative home was hell.

    Shang Bieshi wasn¡¯t fond of prodigies. Usually, schools would base disciple selection on several criteria since expecting an army of prodigies was wishful thinking. Jiang Chen took a different stance. Instead of teaching everyone the same curriculum, he chose to teach his subordinates based on their aptitude.

    Given Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s decent basics, Jiang Chen gave him an internal strengthening manual. During his time posing as a rich man in Beijiang, Kuanggu Sheng had the opportunity to learn from numerous elites. He didn¡¯t have some big noble cause in mind, but his ambitious personality was enough to convince Shang Bieshi to impart advanced internal disciplines to him. As a result, Kuanggu Sheng was able to push the limits of his mish-mashed internal disciplines.

    Taking Tiangou¡¯s personality into ount, and the fact that he¡¯d just be a vengeful murderer without him, Shang Bieshi only taught Tiangou three broadsword moves. For Tiangou¡¯s purposes, those three moves were enough. If there were ns to start something new, those three moves would still suffice. And, as Shang Bieshi assumed, those three moves were enough for Tiangou to avenge his brother and climb the ranks to be one of the Seven Stars within a matter of years.

    It went without saying that Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou continued honing their skills, as well as got to know each other much better, ever since Shang Bieshi went missing.

    ¡°How will you make it up to Jiang Chen¡­ if you kill me?¡± They were done feeling each other out, so Kuanggu Sheng couldn¡¯t help asking.

    Tiangou¡¯s breathing started to pick up as he tightened his grip and widened his eyes. ¡°Killing you is the best thing I could do for Mr. Jiang Chen.¡±

    Aware that words would no longer serve any practical purpose, Kuanggu Sheng lowered his hands as he summoned all his might. ¡°Remember ourst fight?¡± he asked as he shut his eyes.

    Although he hadn¡¯t forgotten it, Tiangou didn¡¯t answer. Their first fight urred after Shang Bieshi¡¯s disappearance, and it was an intense one.

    ¡°Well deserved,¡± Kuanggu Sheng remarked that day in front of everyone.

    That day, without wasting a second, Tiangou, who was standing beside Kuanggu Sheng, roared as he smashed his fist flush into Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s face.

    Shang Bieshi had no desire to pursue authority or get rich, yet he created Fiends¡¯ Genesis, an organisation notorious for looting. He was usually a gentleman, but he could scare off demons once he started killing. He had no interest in ruling the martial world, yet he had a hobby of provoking elites in the martial world.

    Kuanggu Sheng only ever cared for himself. He coveted fame, prestige, power and anything else that would prevent him suffering again as he once did. Tiangou understood Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s disagreement with Shang Bieshi¡¯s views arose from his personal pains, but he wouldn¡¯t allow Kuanggu Sheng to insult Shang Bieshi as Shang Bieshi was more important than his own life from the day he swore fealty to Shang Bieshi.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Even though twenty-one years had passed since their savage fight, Kuanggu Sheng could still taste the blood in his mouth.

    Tiangou lowered his body, then sprung up, both hands on his hilt, ready to execute the final move he was taught. Kuanggu Sheng intently watched Tiangou swing down from above.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s evaluation was correct. Considering Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s superior internal strength and diverse repertoire of techniques, he tipped the scales in his favour against Tiangou slightly. In a life-and-death battle, nheless, superior thinking processes or a stronger will to win were enough to erase that slight advantage.

    Kuanggu Sheng knew strategy wasn¡¯t Tiangou¡¯s strong suit, and he knew what Tiangou¡¯s ace was. No matter how many new techniques or moves Tiangou might¡¯ve innovated in the past twenty-one years, when he desperately needed to win, he would only ever utilise one of the three moves Shang Bieshi entrusted to him. This particr one, he had seen more times than he could care to remember.

    Kuanggu Sheng subtly moved, changing the position of his limbs in space enough for Tiangou to miss. Following a vigorous turn of his body, Kuanggu Shengnded atop the back of Tiangou¡¯s broadsword and thrust both hands at Tiangou¡¯s chest!

 Book 13: Chapter 57

    Book 13: Chapter 57borate Assassination n (Part 7)

    ¡°Where is Wu Ping?¡± Zero didn¡¯t raise her voice, but everyone could tell she wasn¡¯t feeling yful.

    As he released the smell of alcohol from his mouth, Ouyang Xiucai enthused, ¡°He said he was answering nature¡¯s call. He will be here soon.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Man cannot triumph over nature, after all.¡±

    Zero snorted, then pped her hands. Following the p sequence, over ten individuals appeared around her. Though there were a few sporting ck hair, the fact that the majority of them had blonde hair, blue eyes and high noses indicated that they didn¡¯t share the same ethnicity as those from the Central in. All of Zero¡¯s personal warriors wearing ck mantles carried short swords on their sashes. Demon Sect¡¯s presence in the Central in might¡¯ve faded already, but anyone who knew who they were wouldn¡¯t trifle with them.

    ¡°Bring him to me.¡±

    Just as they were about to scatter on Zero¡¯s orders, Yan Jiangnan jumped out, arms outstretched, in spite of how terrified he felt. ¡°What are you nning to do? Mr. Zero, who are you telling them to apprehend?¡±

    Zero turned her head a tad to look to make eye contact with Yan Jiangnan through the corners of her eyes. ¡°You sure recover quickly.¡±

    Evidently, Zero paid attention to Yan Jiangnan¡¯s movement just before.

    Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s astonishment undid the effects of all the alcohol. ¡°Mr. Zero, what are you trying to achieve?¡±

    Without moving her head, Zero cast her gaze over to Ouyang Xiucai. ¡°Let¡¯s hope you were fooled and are not a spy.¡±

    ¡°Brother Wu drank all night with us. He¡¯s just using the toilet. I don¡¯t think this is how you should assert dominance.¡±

    ¡°Young Master Ouyang, your appearance suggests you are smart, but your head is just decoration.¡± While she did disparage him, Zero¡¯s tone was far more cordial than the tone she used prior. ¡°You believe he went to the loo. I believe he fled. Only Yan Jiangnan and he knows what happened in the dungeon. Everything shalle to light once I enter. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s absent because he doesn¡¯t want his deeds to be uncovered?¡±

    ¡°If he truly did something he should be concerned about, why is Brother Yan here? Brother Wu is but runningte, not running aw-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s an intruder. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°In the event that there is an intruder, there¡¯s only one way to exin the bizarre happenings as ofte, and that is that there is a mole among Fiends¡¯ Genesis, and he is the first suspect. I¡¯m not going to debate with you and try to justify him absconding. Get in my way again, and both of you will be considered aplices.¡± Zero turned back to her private subordinates. ¡°Bring him to me!¡±

    Zero¡¯s subordinates disregarded Yan Jiangnan to depart despite his efforts.

    Suddenly, Wu Ping¡¯s voice rang out.

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s going on? Who are these people? My apologies. My stomach was ying up. So, uh, what¡¯s going on here?¡±

    ***

    The three moves Shang Bieshi taught Tiangou didn¡¯t belong to any school; he made them up without much thought just for Tiangou. By extension, they didn¡¯t have names, and he never had any ns to name them.

    Tiangou repeatedly performed the three moves under a tree after he exacted his vengeance. When he finally stopped, he found himself crying uncontrobly.

    Shang Bieshi smiled and went over to the lost man. On that day, he gave the three moves proper names, namely, ¡°Bitter Meeting¡±, ¡°Painful Parting¡±, ¡°Forever Out of Reach¡±. He said, ¡°There are eight sufferings in life: suffering since being born, aging, illness, death, bitter meetings, parting with loved ones and not being able to have one¡¯s wishes. There¡¯s a sense of bitterness in your style. That¡¯s great; it makes it human. You don¡¯t use your skills for yourself. After I¡¯m gone, show the world the three moves so that people will remember I once lived, okay?¡±

    Shang Bieshi never spoke much with Tiangou, and Tiangou never forgot anything Shang Bieshi said to him.

    ¡°Bitter Meeting¡± was a straightforward attack that consisted of one such straightforward attack followed by sixteen wild techniques.

    Right after Kuang Gushengnded his attack, he pressed his hands up against Tiangou¡¯s chest to deliver the fatal blow. However, the de he was standing on suddenly vanished from underfoot.

    ¡°Bitter Meeting,¡± Tiangou uttered.

    Instead of whipping out another simple and quick attack, Tiangou violently swung as if he was an erupting volcano, forcing Kuang Gusheng to pull his arms back for defence. Kuang Gusheng struggled to defend the blow, but that was his only option.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Kuang Gusheng had a counter for all thirty-six wild attacks in Tiangou¡¯s arsenal. Actually countering them, though, was another challenge. If it were up to him, Kuang Gusheng would describe Tiangou¡¯s previous style as ¡°powerful¡± and this one ¡°torment¡±. It didn¡¯t feel as though he was defending against a bloodthirsty manic. Rather, it was as if he was fighting a vengeful man who¡¯d been tormented.

    ¡°Parting with Loved Ones.¡±

    Kuang Gusheng recognised the move, but the vour was totally different to what he recalled. If he wasn¡¯t on the receiving end, he¡¯d have praised thetching style as a magnificent manifestation of reluctantly parting.

    Shang Bieshit taught this mad dog some secret stuff, after all! Screw this! Screw this!

    There was no other way Kuang Gusheng could exin the style he had never seen. In reality, Shang Bieshi never lied to either of them. Whatever they needed, he provided. Instead of teaching Kuang Gusheng an internal discipline, he taught Kuang Gusheng a method to raise the potency of his internal energy. It was a high-return, low-risk tool for establishing himself. There was no need to research, think hard or focus on refining skills. The broadsword techniques he passed on to Tiangou were designed to take Tiangou to a realm that all martial artists sought, not just a bunch of haphazard techniques. Kuang Gusheng needed a tool, so Shang Bieshi gave him a tool. Tiangou needed a de, so he gave Tiangou a de. Shang Bieshi just never foresaw how sharp the de would be.

    Knowing that he was going to lose his life if he didn¡¯t fall back on to hisst resort, Kuang Gusheng reached into his shirt.

    Just as there were earnest martial artists with upright desires, there were those who were bottomless pits of greed.

    Kuang Gusheng took out a spherical object and activated it in his hand, lighting up the interior. Tang n called the item ¡°needlerain¡±, a variation of their infamous ¡°needle box¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 58

    Book 13: Chapter 58

    Despite almost having returned to his peak already, and arguably being more dangerous than before since he was more daring now, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s palms were damp in the presence of the Western Region¡¯s warriors. Yan Jiangnan was supposed to improvise on the spot if Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t arrive on time and Zero refused to wait. The worst came to worst, forcing Yan Jiangnan to try stopping the warriors from capturing Ming Feizhen.

    Yan Jiangnan genuinely wanted to stop them even if it came at the cost of his life. When he tried, though, he discovered it only took a light shove from them to send him backwards. If one person was that tough, what were his chances against more than sixteen of them? This also went to show that Zero could have everyone present killed without having to even lift a finger if she willed it. That being the case, assuming Ming Feizhen¡¯s n was a sess, it could¡¯ve very well been for naught. Thus, forcing him to sh his teeth when Ming Feizhen arrived was the best he could do.

    Casually looking around, Ming Feizhen questioned, ¡°Uh¡­ are you nning to destroy the building?¡± He sounded totally different to the usually prim Wu Ping, but everyone thought he wasining to Zero and missed it.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived, Brother Wu. If you had taken any longer, we would be in handcuffs right now,¡± Ouyang Xiucai sarcastically grumbled.

    Ming Feizhen, with his mouth open, deployed a few nods of enlightenment, then saluted Zero. ¡°Mr. Zero, this one apologises for holding everyone up.¡±

    Zero narrowed her eyes on Ming Feizhen. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of trust or not. There wasn¡¯t even a need to attack Wu Ping there due to suspicion for the truth woulde to light once they were in the prison.

    Fiends Genesis¡¯ members led from the front, lighting up torches in the dark and moist dungeon. The absence of any sound besides feet sshing water made Yan Jiangnan¡¯s pulse more pronounced to him. He couldn¡¯t discern whether the assassination was a sess or failure from Ming Feizhen¡¯s visage. To make matters worse, Ming Feizhen looked healthy when it should¡¯ve been impossible for him to havepletely recovered. Nheless, there was nothing he could since they had reached thest cell, the ce where it all began.

    Zero opened the door to aforementioned final room. Because of the flood, the furniture and so forth within had been morphed and moved, while the bloodstains were practically non-existent. Yan Jibei¡¯s corpse had turned into a sickening white due to being submerged in the water for an extended period; there were even small white insects crawling across parts of his body.

    Yan Jiangnan crouched down to hurl as soon as he saw his brother¡¯s corpse. Little did anyone know, he wasn¡¯t upset. The stress just got to him.

    Ming Feizhen involuntarily went soaring through the air, only stopping when the wall forced him to stop. Had the wall cracked any more than it did when hended, he might¡¯ve gone through it. Ignoring the blood he gasped, Zero stepped up to the man on the ground to ask, ¡°Where is he?¡±

    Zero¡¯s gaze oozed murderous intent as she hoisted Ming Feizhen up by the neck with one hand. ¡°That was a question directed at you. My fuse is short. I don¡¯t like beating around the bush with people. I know you¡¯re the one pulling the strings. I don¡¯t care for your reasons or who sent you. I only want to know one thing: where is he?¡± She mmed him into the ground hard enough for dust to rise as violently as a sandstorm, then brayed, ¡°Where is he?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen could smell and taste his own blood ¨C symptoms of being unable to withstand the internal strength of his opponent. If it wasn¡¯t for his Fengpeng powers, a man without any internal energy development would already be dead, not that anyone else would¡¯ve been much better off if they were up against her even if they developed their internal energy.

    As Zero went to attack again, Ming Feizhen curled up, rolled away and then drew out a dagger from his shirt to thrust at Zero. Zero smacked Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand, knocking the dagger out of his hand and then pressed him back onto the ground by his head.

    ¡°You would dare attack me?!¡±

    ¡°So what?! Kill me if you please! I¡¯ve had enough!¡±

    ¡°Fine. You¡¯re the one who asked for it!¡±

    ¡°Please wait, Mr. Zero!¡± Ouyang Xiucai performed a straight thrust at Zero.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Instead of dodging or moving her loaded hand, Zero generated a strong breeze beside her, making Ouyang Xiucai miss. Nheless, it was enough to stop her from finishing Ming Feizhen ¨C for now. ¡°Young Master Ouyang, not bad.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai hastily stepped forth and saluted. ¡°This one is not pleading for you to show mercy. While it is true that Brother Wu and Brother Yan failed in their duty, it was because their opponent was superior. The intrud-¡±

    ¡°Intruder, my foot!¡± Zero lifted Ming Feizhen up by the shoulder with her vice-like grip. ¡°Do you honestly believe their nonsense?!¡± Staring at Ming Feizhen, she continued, ¡°I have people watching every ce here. What are you and Yan Jiangnan sneakily stashing medicine and items for? Why did the two of you pretend to be out of internal energy? How are you still alive if you¡¯ve burnt through all of your internal energy?! How are you still alive after my assault?! I was going to watch your show to the end, but you¡¯re asking for it! One more time¡­ Where is he?!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan was going to confess. Howbeit, he stopped himself when he recalled Ming Feizhen¡¯s instructions. ¡°We don¡¯t know! You¡¯re killing the innocent!¡±

    ¡°Killing the innocent? Sure, let me do just that.¡±

    As soon as Zero raised her hand this time, a subordinate came in. God forbid he knew what was going on, but the scenery was enough to convince him to not withhold anything.

    Nobody could believe what he told them. Zero even released her hold on Ming Feizhen.

 Book 13: Chapter 59

    Book 13: Chapter 59

    Despite the wind blowing as if there was a storm and sparks shooting as though explosions were going off, there was only a single instance of metal nging. In spite of being hailed as the best hidden weapon, nobody lived to tell another about the appearance of needlerains. After all, it would only take a second for them to be punctured with enough holes to bleed out instantly.

    Caught by surprise, Tiangou frantically swung his weapon as he tried to dodge for his life. Had he not heeded his intuition¡¯s caution and stood in front of the golden light, he would¡¯ve been another victim of the legendary weapon.

    Tiangou was prostrated on the ground when the surroundings were silent again. Thirty-three metal needles were fired, all of which went straight through the walls without veering off path by the slightest inch. The urgent decision to go prone on the ground was the best choice he made for it was clear that none of his attempts to divert the needles seeded.

    Among the holes in the walls, Kuang Gusheng noticed that seven of them had traces of blood. If the needles could make Tiangou¡¯s weapon resemble a beehive, it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine how destructive the needles were. As a matter of fact, Kuang Gusheng couldn¡¯t see how deep the needles plunged in, the holes in the walls were enough to tell all that he needed to know.

    Kuang Gusheng exhaled after a long breath hold. ¡°You¡¯re finally on your way down. I¡¯ll see you off.¡±

    If Kuang Gusheng didn¡¯t have a reason to kill Tiangou before, then he had one after witnessing the way Tiangou just wielded his broadsword. That style was too simr to Shang Bieshi forfort. Unfortunately, Shang Bieshi¡¯s skills weren¡¯t easy to dismantle.

    ¡°Forever Out of Reach,¡± Kuang Gusheng faintly heard uttered.

    Using his hand as a de, the prone broadsword wielder rose up to sh. Kuang Gusheng saw Tiangou move, yet he couldn¡¯t defend. It was as though Tiangou blended in with nature to sneak up on him. Tiangou ploughed through Kuang Gusheng¡¯s true qi armour to break thetter¡¯s chest bones, almost wrecking his qihai in the process. This caused Kuang Gusheng to flop onto Tiangou¡¯s arm until Tiangou sent him flying into a wall.

    Kuang Gusheng struggled to his feet, face beet red. Within moments, he gasped up blood no less than that which Tiangou lost from the needles. Unlike the man staring at his own hand, unable to fathom how he pulled it off, Kuang Gusheng knew better than anyone his sneak attack gave Tiangou the push he needed to break through in his ¡°level¡±, and this made him seethe with jealousy.

    If Tiangou could¡¯ve calmed himself to reflect on the strike, he could¡¯ve leveraged the opportunity to ascend in his training. Regrettably, the only thing on his mind was his task at hand. His priority wasn¡¯t martial arts; his priority was Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    Tiangou sealed a dozen major upoints. s, he was still bleeding too much to even walk properly.

    Kuang Gusheng desperately and hectically tried to calm his energy flow and breathing. He had less than 40% of his power remaining after eating Tiangou¡¯s chop, but it was a kill-or-be-killed situation. Even though the jagged edge on Tiangou¡¯s de was no more, Kuang Gusheng knew it could still split him, so he wasn¡¯t going to let Tiangou get the initiative.

    ¡°What do you gain from this stubborn resistance?!¡±

    Without the ¡°magic¡± from before, Tiangou was just the Tiangou he was familiar with. Kuang Gusheng jumped over and uncorked two palm attacks. ¡°The needles in you are rainneedles. There¡¯s no saving you, so just roll over and die.¡±

    ¡°A New Discovery,¡± Tiangou uttered.

    ¡°Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!¡±

    In spite of how long they¡¯d known each other, not even Tiangou could name all of the techniques Kuang Gusheng threw in his flurry.

    Tiangou repeated the same three moves in his arsenal over and over, yet Kuang Gusheng couldn¡¯t do anything about them. Tiangou noticed this, and he could tell why Kuang Gusheng was failing tond. The problem wasn¡¯t that Kuang Gusheng had hit his ceiling; the problem was that he was no longer fighting strategically.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I am! I always have been! But is it wrong to be?!¡± Kuang Gusheng¡¯s movements sped up as his speech speed increased, ultimately exceeding the pace he was most familiar with. Yet, his power continued to rise. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back to those days! Never! You think your father¡¯s death is a big deal?! Have you seen people eating people by Beijiang¡¯s border? Have you seen bandits kill and skin people?! I want to live! I want live! I¡¯m not wrong! I¡¯m not wrong! You¡¯re the one who¡¯ll die! You! All of you deserve to die!¡±

    Kuang Gusheng perished at Beijiang¡¯s border. What continued living on was merely the collection of his fears.

    Kuang Gusheng eventually surpassed Tiangou¡¯s defence speed, pummelling Tiangou on the chest. As his bleeding opponent skid backwards, Kuang Gushengughed hysterically as he gave chase. ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to die! You!¡±

    For a moment in time, it looked as if snow coalesced and flitted through the darkness. By the time Tiangou¡¯s brain received the input from his eyes, his face was covered in blood, and an extra object that wasn¡¯t on the ground before was now there.

    Kuang Gusheng had be another part of history.

    Glossary

    Qihai ¨C I can¡¯t remember if I¡¯ve gone over this before, so this is to be safe. It¡¯s located 1.5 inches below the umbilicus.

 Book 13: Chapter 60

    Book 13: Chapter 60

    Wu Ping wrestled his way out of Zero¡¯s vice-like grip when the news loosened her hold and began coughing on the ground.

    ¡°Kuanggu Sheng¡­ is dead?¡±

    The henchman lowered his head and replied, ¡°It happened not long ago by the path farthest west. He hurried to the location of the noise we heard while on patrol. When we arrived, he was already dead, and the surroundings were in a mess. He was beheaded, and Sir Tiangou was badly hurt by the legendary rainneedles weapon.¡±

    Unsurprisingly, everyone was shocked to hear someone stronger than many of them had been killed. They couldn¡¯t call it a fib as the intruder supposedly broke out a prisoner in the dungeon, killed Yan Jibei, as well as injured Yan Jiangnan and Wu Ping. What truly shocked them was that the intruder could even hurt Tiangou badly in the process and get away without leaving a trace, then they were extremely dangerous, not to mention the appearance of a legendary weapon. If somebody that dangerous was spying on them from the shadows¡­ and they were definitely still around because all the escape routes had been sealed.

    Zero suppressed the urge to address her emotions so that she could monitor the reactions of those present because the best moment to collect the most data was before her. It was understandable for those below Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s level to be nervous. Ouyang Xiucai and Yan Jiangnan were shocked. Yan Jiangnan¡¯s open-mouth look wasn¡¯t an act. Zero knew very well that Yan Jiangnan wasn¡¯t a good actor. Wu Ping looked indifferent if it wasn¡¯t for his re screaming, ¡°I told you so!¡±

    ¡°I told you there¡¯s an intruder, but, no, you and Elder Lianhua refused to believe me,¡± grouched Wu Ping.

    ¡°You werete. How should I know if¡­¡± Zero stopped herself when she realised that, even if Wu Ping was fast enough to travel from the western side of thepound to the dungeon in time, it was far from likely that he could kill Kuanggu Sheng and hurt Tiangou in that timeframe.

    ¡°Your mom knows! You said you were going to kill me! Do it! If you don¡¯t, you¡¯re my son from now!¡±

    Seeing Wu Ping get up and roll up his sleeves, Wu Ping and Ouyang Xiucai quickly dragged him aside.

    Nobody uttered a word while Zero stopped to think, but that didn¡¯t mean they understood what her silence meant ¨C there was an intruder! Nobody could disprove the idea at this point.

    Zero cast her gaze back to the empty prison. Her mind went ck. The worst situation had been realised. Ming Feizhen had been rescued, and regardless of who it was, if Ming Feizhen could recover, nobody at the base was safe. The worst part, though, was if the intruder was Xue Yanjun¡­ It dawned on Zero. The base wasn¡¯t preventing Ming Feizhen and Xue Yanjun from escaping. The base was trapping her in with them. The hunter had be the hunted.

    ¡°Take me to Tiangou, now!¡±

    ***

    The first thing Tiangou never thought was possible was that he¡¯d open his eyes again, not after suffering damage from rainneedles. The second was that he¡¯d seen the person before him. ¡°Since when¡­ did Demon Sect take care of the wounded?¡±

    Zero¡¯s usual condescending attitude that seemed fake was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she looked serious. ¡°There¡¯s no product under the sky that can treat your wounds. My ¡®Skywind Nine Forms¡¯ can cover your open wounds, but it¡¯s up to you to recover before you bleed to death.¡±

    To cover Tiangou¡¯s open wounds, Zero spread her internal energy refined through ¡°Skywind Nine Forms¡± without releasing all the collected energy and had to ensure itsted for several hours. The fact that it was within her means indicated that she had mastered up to the ninth form of Skywind Nine Forms.

    Aware that he was significantly physically tougher than the average man, Tiangou knew he was going to make it. ¡°Hehe, the purpose of your visit is to question me, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Zero bobbed her head. After treating Tiangou, she examined the scene and Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s corpse several times. She was confident in her conjecture that Kuanggu Sheng died in the midst of his battle against Tiangou and was the user of the rainneedles. From that, she concluded that either the assant had a cheap shot or Tiangou was actually responsible. Thetter theory was unlikely based on their positions, which she deduced from the blood trails, and Tiangou¡¯s condition.

    Zero was fully aware that not every member of Fiends¡¯ Genesis was on friendly terms with each other, and they wouldn¡¯t air their conflicts out. Thus, she wasn¡¯t expecting Tiangou to exin the reason for his fight with Kuanggu Sheng. There was only one thing she needed to know.

    ¡°Is there truly an intruder?¡±

    Tiangou¡¯s eyes stopped moving as though his train of thought stopped at a certain moment in time. Following their next movement, he answered, ¡°Yes, and they are one of the most elite assassins in thend. I¡¯ve never seen any assassination technique as brilliant as that¡­ I barely even caught a glimpse of his silhouette. He picked his timing so precisely that I¡¯d describe it as¡­ as though he had blended into the environment and sneaked up¡­ I don¡¯t know when he appeared, but Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s head was on the ground before that moment was over. I still have no clue what weapon he used. Thinking back on it¡­ it was like an artistic performance.¡±

    That was the first time Zero heard Tiangou speak so much. Despite him seeming as mad as one could be on the surface, she noticed he actually had a side to him that was attentive to details. While part of his wild nature was arguably due to his odd training, part of it was a gimmick to intimidate people. He was far from being some brainless muscle-bound fool.

    Zero listened to everything Tiangou had to say before asking her next question, to which he answered, ¡°Why am I still alive? Good question¡­ He killed Kuanggu Sheng, yet he spared me. Perhaps he thought I would sumb to my injuries, or maybe he was aware guards wereing, so he ran. Either way, I don¡¯t have a good guess. I¡¯ll let you guess.¡±

    A short whileter, Tiangou fell asleep, and Zero quietly left his room.

    Tiangou¡¯s testimony was irond proof that there was an intruder, and the intruder couldn¡¯t possibly be Wu Ping. Assuming the assassin caught Kuanggu Sheng off guard, which would make it possible for Wu Ping to be the assassin, how could Wu Ping have been the assassin when he was drinking allst night? How would he coincidentally show up on the far west of the base, coincidentally chance upon them fighting and then coincidentally find a perfect moment to dash in and then out? Moreover, Wu Ping didn¡¯t have a weapon on him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If Wu Ping was innocent, then they were in a pickle for the intruder was amongst them.

 Book 13: Chapter 61

    Book 13: Chapter 61

    Tiangou was stuck in an involuntary cycle of sleeping for a bit and then waking for a bit after Zero departed. Eventually, a fever ailed him. He vaguely remembered responding to someone who checked on him every once in a while. He also vaguely remembered a number of people dropping in, but it was all too vague to remember. By the time his mind was clear, he had lost track of time.

    In Fiends¡¯ Genesis, results were the primary measure of one¡¯s value. Emotions were considered unnecessary for the most part, so Tiangou wasn¡¯t surprised nobody was looking after him. If it was another member on the bed right now, they¡¯d be all alone, too.

    With all the time in the world in his hand and a tranquil silence, Tiangou began revisiting his match against Kuanggu Sheng. There was a slightly solemn, ceremonial vibe to it if ounting for the fact that it was Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s final battle, not that it made any difference at this point. Tiangou now had the luxury of time to reflect on the style he had been trying to achieve for ages. However, his attention was more drawn to Kuanggu Sheng and his demise.

    Tiangou didn¡¯t hate Kuanggu Sheng even though they were pr opposites in every way, and they were each other¡¯s opposition at thest moment. Perhaps their scars were the most simr thing between them, and perhaps that was the reason they couldn¡¯t get along as friends. Theypleted numerous missions together in the past without exchanging many words, but theyplemented each other well. Tiangou would¡¯ve preferred to not kill Kuanggu Sheng unless there was no alternative.

    Tiangou didn¡¯t want any part of the Fiends¡¯ Genesis that Shang Bieshi left behind to break. As such, he was in a tug of war between whether he should¡¯ve killed or spared Kuanggu Sheng. Now that Kuanggu Sheng was gone, he wasn¡¯t sure if he should¡¯ve been relieved or angry that someone else killed him. Well, mayhap he should¡¯ve been afraid considering how the grey silhouette appeared out of nowhere and then vanished without a trace.

    Therge influx of thoughts and memories made it hard to form a clear train of thought, but one question gradually surfaced and became an unsettling thought: why did Kuanggu Sheng attack him? It was understandable for them to be at odds given their motivations for the same task would be different enough for there to be friction. That was not to mention that Fiends¡¯ Genesis was being threatened. That was exactly what didn¡¯t see right with Tiangou: there was a reasonable exnation for everything.

    Tiangou wasn¡¯t the type to avoid thinking about his shes with other members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. For instance, he didn¡¯t agree with Nine-Lives Cat Fiend¡¯s light sentence when she implicated Shang Bieshi due to her personal problems. Thus, there was a motive for them to oppose each other. In contrast, though, his issues with Kuanggu Sheng were in their minds, not something they acted on. Howe Kuanggu Sheng approached him out of the blue?

    When Shang Bieshi was still around, Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou were tasked with assassinating Solo Swordsman, Luo Hongzi, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s 28th master of Solo Branch. They were far inferior to their current levels at the time, so Kuanggu Sheng paved the way for Tiangou decapitate Luo Hongzi using a variety of subterfuge and concealed weapons to hurt Luo Hongzi. Given Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s cleverness twenty years ago, howe he only had one hidden weapon that he was reluctant to use until he had one foot in his tomb? For what reason would he underestimate the risk that he was about to undertake to approach Tiangou with only one hidden weapon? This question was just a snowke-sized thought Tiangou had, but it now became a huge snowball-sized thought.

    He knows me well enough to know that I¡¯d never betray Fiends¡¯ Genesis, so why did he suddenly ask me? Hang on¡­ He mentioned raising his worth, didn¡¯t he? He stated he stayed at this base to raise his standing, which means that the road upwards is here in thepound. But that doesn¡¯t exin why he¡¯d try convincing me to join him. He should¡¯ve known that I wouldn¡¯t join him. It¡¯s almost like¡­ he was provoking me into a fight. But he died instead of me¡­ Something isn¡¯t right.

    Not only did he only have one needlerain, but he also held onto it as an insurance policy. Whether it was equipment or strategy, he barely prepared to assassinate me. I can say with confidence that he only used the needlerain because he was forced to based on his reaction at the time. What is it that I¡¯m missing?

    When we fought, he started off only evading¡­ Before he started fighting back, he said something along the lines of, ¡°Fine. You want to fight to the death?¡± It¡¯s almost like he wasn¡¯t expecting to have to fight me. It doesn¡¯t make sense¡­ We¡¯re pieces on somebody¡¯s board. No, it¡¯s not just us. All of Fiends¡¯ Genesis must be pieces on this person¡¯s board.

    ¡°Sir Tiangou, it is time for your medicine,¡± someone outside knocked and notified prior to entering.

    As he was still musing, Tiangou just drank from the bowl held up to his mouth. Thanks to the subtle sweetness of the medicine, it wasn¡¯t disgustingly bitter, not that it was something he was concerned about in the moment. Something stuck to him, however.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The person who fed him his medication seemed used it. He very well could¡¯ve forgotten somebody was feeding him medicine and taking care of him whilst he was going in and out of sleep. Thing was, the personmunicated when they knocked, and clearly the message was intended for him. How would they have known he was awake when they hadn¡¯t entered, and why would they speak to someone not awake? When they entered, they went straight to his bed, set the tray down and fed him without any clumsiness.

    Tiangou knitted his brows together. What if he wasn¡¯t sleeping but just in a state of mind where he had very minimal self-awareness to remember, so they were used to waiting on him? He didn¡¯t think his external injury would resemble being poisoned so much.

    Remembering his important realisation a moment ago, Tiangou called, ¡°Um, go call¡­¡± Try as he may, Tiangou couldn¡¯t fight the weight of his eyelids.

    ¡°Hmm? Could you please repeat that?¡±

    Seeing as Tiangou had gone back to sleep, they tidied up and left the room.

    Once again, the darkness devoured the glimmer of light that Tiangou found.

 Book 13: Chapter 62

    Book 13: Chapter 62

    The privy people were told not to mention Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou¡¯s fight for the sake of avoiding panic. It was even more important than ever to make sure everyone was switched on since an enemy was lurking around. In reality, they wouldn¡¯t have mentioned a word of it or make guesses, lest Zero silence them.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis wasn¡¯t built in a day; there was enough time for rules, written and unwritten, and regtions to be imprinted into every member¡¯s minds. They knew the new Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base hid many secrets, but they also knew that covering their eyes and ears was the secret trick to a long life.

    Problem was, improvised solutions weren¡¯t good enough. They could hide the fight, but they couldn¡¯t stop unfound rumours from spreading. One such rumour was that an intruder dropped one and killed the other as soon as he came across the two, that the intruder was a fish to water in the contraption-riddledpound, that he could behead several people before having breakfast and so forth. Nobody bothered to think about how exaggerated the ims were or how the numerous rumours were all told by the same barely-literate person because they were too focused on their fear. The troops on patrol would touch their necks every few steps to check their head was still where it was supposed to be.

    Zero desired that high level of alertness for it was the only way they¡¯d have a chance of luring out the lurking intruder. That being said, she was surprised the rumours travelled so fast, proving that Fiends¡¯ Genesis were also good at information delivery.

    In response to the events and rumours, Guanhu Ind¡¯s master, Yuan Kou, moved his nkets and pillow to the dungeon. After all, the intruder was unlikely to return to the dungeon after they had assassinated their target there.

    The Guxian couple isted themselves in their room, citing, ¡°We have been diagnosed with weakness, pain and shortness of breath if we raise our voice.¡± Coincidentally, people who passed by their room reported hearing them arguing loud enough to be heard from twenty metres away.

    Then there was Lang Qing, who continued about his daily life as if he was on vacation, making sure he was getting through his days drunk and sleeping somewhere new daily. On the asions Ming Feizhen tested him, Ming Feizhen sensed hostility and saw the man reach for his weapon at record speed.

    Xian Shiteng, the cold-blooded assassin from Dongying, felt as though someone from his industry was challenging his pride, so he decided to investigate the intruder case on his own.

    When asked why he wasn¡¯t worried at all, Ouyang Xuicai shrugged and answered, ¡°Why? Fiends¡¯ Genesis captured the individual. If they want revenge, they would seek out Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Are Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s conditions not proof of that? Of course, I¡¯m not na?ve enough to believe they¡¯d target Fiends¡¯ Genesis exclusively. If they truly had what it took to wipe us out, though, what are they waiting for? Why would they need to try catching us off guard? Time that¡¯s spent worrying is time that could be spent figuring how to subdue the intruder.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t offer a counterargument even if I wanted to. It felt as though Ouyang Xiucai had improved mentally and physically. Had I chosen him as my victim instead of Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng, it¡¯d have been hard to fool him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You fooled him, though, did you not?¡± Yan Jiangnan still appeared scared of me. ¡°If we did not have Ouyang Xiucai as our witness, we would be hard pressed to prove we were not involved.¡±

    ¡°We did drink with him for several hours. Where is the lie?¡± I righteously argued. I was too busy with my concoction in the cauldron to care about what mental gymnastics Yan Jiangnan was doing in his head. ¡°Ask whatever it is you want to ask, or you won¡¯t have time for themter.¡±

    ¡°Did you not say your strength has hit rock bottom? How did you kill him so cleanly? Also, did you not tell me to go? Howe you swapped roles with me at thest minute? Also, I thought we were going to Tiangou, so howe Kuanggu Sheng died? Also, why do we have to switch to this room?¡±

    ¡°Your eyes not work? What you see is what it is. What¡¯s the point of asking me? More importantly, drink this.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan twisted his face into the shape of a shrivelled tomato, not that I could me him. I mean, I held the bowl as far away as I could. If you thought it was the same random concoction I madest time for him, you were right. I still had no clue what effects it had, but I could tell you the taste was weird.

    Frankly, it was so troublesome to concoct that I didn¡¯t want to make it a second time; however, Zero was monitoring our every move. If I suddenly didn¡¯t use as many herbs as I didst time, it¡¯d rouse suspicion, so, besides hair dye ingredients, I had the people at the dispensary fetch me a bunch of new herbs. Formting a new drug would take too much effort. Consequently, I just made the same one asst time. Yan Jiangnan was still alive after drinking itst time, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to drink again¡­ presumably.

    Before he resigned himself to drinking the concoction, Yan Jiangnan pleaded every deity in the firmament to rescue him and only brought it to his mouth once his pleas were ignored.

    ¡°Impressive.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan nearly sprayed everything out of his mouth when he heard the foreign voice.

    I continued on with my head down instead of looking back at Zero. She came up to the furnace and said to me, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you know how make medicine¡­ and so well.¡±

    I raised my hands in salute. ¡°You tter me. My knowledge is but only a drop in the bucket.¡±

    ¡°No need to be modest. Nobody in the base has medical knowledge, so, while they can heal internal injuries and deal with broken bones, sprains and the sort, nobody knows anything about medicine¡­ From today onwards, I shall entrust Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ new base¡¯s dispensary to you, Brother Wu. I thank you on behalf of everyone who needs to consult you in the future.¡±

    I spun around to Zero and squinted. ¡°Is this your request for peace?¡±

    Following a brief silence, Zero nced toward Yan Jiangnan and ordered, ¡°Leave us.¡±

    As much as he wanted to listen in, Yan Jiangnan had no ce arguing with Zero.

    ¡°Drink your medication before you leave,¡± I said.

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s twisted face made a return. He thought he wasn¡¯t going to have to drink it a second time. This time, however, he forced himself to guzzle it in case Zero¡¯s patience ran out. He went out the door with the barely any time in contact with the ground.

    Zero stared at me for quite a while before asking, ¡°Can I trust you?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 63

    Book 13: Chapter 63

    ¡°No.¡±

    Instead of getting annoyed at my staunchness, Zero chuckled under her breath so softly that you¡¯d think she was raised to be a gentle woman. ¡°I know you despise me. Frankly, the feeling is mutual. Right now, though, I need your cooperation, and you need my help. The only way we¡¯ll survive is if webine our strength. I assume you aren¡¯t the type to seek death.¡±

    ¡°You despise me?¡± I widened my eyes. ¡°Ha, haha, hahaha. I¡¯m too tough for your hands? Have I done anything wrong since that day? You¡¯re the ones who¡¯ve been heckling me and trying to kill me. Even though there were people around, you kicked me around as if I was your ball. That¡¯s not despising me; that¡¯s manufacturing conflict. How can we cooperate if our grudge remains?¡±

    ¡°I concede that I chose my words poorly. I apologise first and foremost.¡±

    This¡­ isn¡¯t supposed to be how it goes? She has looked down twice since entering. What does it take for thisss to be sensible?

    ¡°I wronged you. Whatever it is that you want aspensation, I shall ede.¡±

    Does she owe Wu Ping money or something? This is not the Zero I know for sure.

    I decided to shake my head after thinking it through and then replied, ¡°I will pass. We are on different levels. It¡¯s simple for you to kill me. I can¡¯t trust you when you can squash me whenever you choose.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like I have wronged you badly. You¡¯re right. A team without trust is a team without a foundation. I shall show my sincerity. I hope this will make you feel somewhat better.¡± Zero did thest thing I expected her to do ¨C remove her silver mask.

    Nothing you said could convince me she was from the Central in once I saw her face. Her round eyes were a distinct feature of gentle maidens in Jiangnan. She should¡¯ve been around Young Shiyi¡¯s age, but there was no way she looked even twenty.

    Um¡­ Who are you?

    She lifted the corners of her lips to her ears and shed her white pearls, giving a totally different vibe to her masked character. ¡°As everyone knows, Mr. Zero is the Western Region¡¯s Lord San Shen¡¯s proxy, the highest ranked leader under Lord San Shen¡¯s banner. A number of people have seen him. He is a man, not a woman¡­ Judging from your reaction, it seems you suspected I¡¯m not Zero.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I didn¡¯t suspect. I knew. I knew from the moment I was here.

    Zero worked under me for several years. As if Zero would stoop down to working for Jiang Chen. Heck, if Zero heard I was held here, I¡¯d have been taken out on a pnquin with gs all around.

    Back to my initiail question: who are you?

    ¡°I am a member of Divine Moon Cult, indeed, and I¡¯m not some low-ranked member, either. My Skywind Nine Forms is a secret part of a secret discipline of Divine Moon Cult that isn¡¯t taught to outsiders. That is solid proof of my membership.¡±

    Yeah, even the cleaners of Divine Moon Cult know Lawless Twelve Forms,dy.

    With that said, I could¡¯ve counted on two hands the number of people who mastered the second form, so being able to master up to the ninth form would make her on par with a Guardian.

    ¡°I¡¯m an important member of Lord San Shen¡¯s faction. I¡¯m posing as Zero to lure some people out, and¡­ it seems I failed after my initial sess.¡±

    You talking about me? But you weren¡¯t the one who lured me out? I used my true skills to make Jiang Chen capture me. Where¡¯d you learn your credit-stealing skills from?

    And, I still don¡¯t know who you are.

    She whispered to me how we fought side by side, counted chickens and stars whilst lying on thewn, and a whole bunch of other stuff that sounded convincingly real. Still, I couldn¡¯t identify her to save my life.

    ¡°Do you know who the dungeon escapee is?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a handsome guy?¡±

    Zero chortled. ¡°You may not believe me, but that was Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so Lord San Shen is a handsome guy.¡±

    Zero grumbled, ¡°You don¡¯t seem surprised.¡±

    ¡°How the hell do I not seem surprised? My shock has surpassed my anger. I¡¯m just¡­ using silence to neutralise sorrow. More pertinently, why did you capture Lord San Shen? Aren¡¯t you on the same team?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t capture him. He fell for a trap. Jiang Chen doesn¡¯t know his identity. Either way, none of this is important right now.¡± Zero gave me a smirk. ¡°You know all the secrets now. Sorry, but we¡¯re in the same boat now. It¡¯s toote for you to leave now even if you want to.¡±

    I blinked twice. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Secrets? What secrets?

    ¡°You know my secret and have seen Lord San Shen¡¯s true appearance, so¡­ you get it, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    So what secrets are we talking about?

    ¡°¡­ You know¡­ Forget it.¡±

    Let¡¯s not forget it. What secrets do I know now? It¡¯s a secret that I am myself now?

    ¡°Danger lurks around us as we speak. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have many men at my disposal. If I have to choose among the strangers to seek help from, you are my only choice.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Lord San Shen has been rescued but is trapped here, so they will seek revenge on us. That¡¯s why I chose you.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°The first person they want to kill is me. You¡¯re next.¡±

    ¡°And why is that?!¡±

    Why would I want to kill myself?

    ¡°Simple: you saw them and are the loudest advocate of there being intruders.¡±

    ¡°And what happened to Yan Jiangnan?¡± I grouched.

    ¡°Given how dimwitted he is, he¡¯s unlikely to be a threat. You could send him away with his tail between his legs if you made up a story. Dead or alive, he¡¯s irrelevant.¡±

    I don¡¯t know who you are, but you have discerning eyes. I¡¯ll give you that. How¡¯d you know I scared him off?

    ¡°So why choose me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re different. You¡¯re the only doctor in the base right now, and you have a good head. You understand my arrangements and actions. I¡¯m not used to working with idiots. Speaking to smart people saves a lot of time. Considering you defeated Elder Lianhua, you will be a helpful ally once you¡¯ve recovered. Furthermore, you didn¡¯t cower when I could¡¯ve killed you. I like your determined kind. Therefore, I removed my disguise and told you the truth.¡±

    Don¡¯t make it sound like I stripped you! I¡¯m a gentleman! You str-, removed your mask on your own ord!

    With a corner of her lips tugged up, she stretched a hand out to me. ¡°If you agree, we will be irond allies. What say you?¡±

    I took her hand and asked, ¡°Uh, is food provided for allies?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 64

    Book 13: Chapter 64

    Following Fiends¡¯ Genesis demise, they didn¡¯t have any spare energy for recruiting new members. Furthermore, given their vast business endeavours, the majority of which were illegal, even without consideringpetence, loyalty was a fundamental trait they needed. They, therefore, refused to recruit outsiders. Instead, they trained and promoted members internally, resulting in a long and exhaustive process.

    Tian Xiaogua, an official new member of Fiends¡¯ Genesis from the selection pool during their two-decade hiatus, was eight when he first joined during the 22nd year of Yuansheng¡¯s Reign and was from the third batch of children they found. Although he stuttered as a child, he had grown into one of the most notable members. Through diligent training and umting merit, he rose to the rank of captain of a small squad of five ¨C excluding himself. His loyalty to them and disdain for orthodox sects made him the exemry member for the faction.

    Being assigned to guard duty at the new base was a good sign that Tian Xiaogua was on his way to bing the right-hand man of one of the Seven Stars. Give him another two to three decades, and he might¡¯ve been a candidate to be one of the Seven Stars. He and those around him believed so. Strangely, though, he always felt as antsy as if he was haunted.

    On the same day Kuanggu Sheng perished, Tian Xiaogua randomly fell unconscious. When he woke up, Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s blood and head were already misced. It took him a while to digest the sudden shock, and then he was busy on cleaning duty and protecting Tiangou, so he never had time to muse over why he was unconscious out of the blue. Once he finally had time to breathe, Tian Xiaogua put two and two together.

    As a healthy martial arts practitioner, Tian Xiaogua seldom suffered any ailments and didn¡¯t have a ss chin. It was freaky to think he was unconscious without rhyme or reason, so every time he withheld from bringing it up, it became harder and harder to broach the topic with anyone.

    Extrapting from the fact that he was unconscious during the window Kuanggu Sheng was assassinated, Tian Xiaogua reasoned the culprit in both instances was the same person. The most unsettling part was that he, a minor minion, was targeted. In addition, the location he was knocked out and the location of Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s death weren¡¯t remotely close; as a matter of fact, they weren¡¯t even connected paths. Why knock out an average henchman who wasn¡¯t even conveniently on the way to Kuanggu Sheng? There had to be some purpose to the attack. The question was ¡°what¡±.

    In his search for answers, Tian Xiaogua exhaustively searched the passageway Kuanggu Sheng met his end at, the ce he woke up at in addition to the room Tiangou met with Kuanggu Sheng.

    Tian Xiaogua woke up in a storage room for misceneous items. The only thing noteworthy about the room was that people rarely went there, so it was very unlikely anyone would¡¯ve found him while he was out cold. People might¡¯ve even assumed he was bludging work if they found him there. In turn, he couldn¡¯t interfere with the intruder¡¯s ns. Since the culprit deliberately picked him and the storage room, Tian Xiaogua knew he needed to leave no stone unturned.

    The scarlet marks and trails in the passageway Kuanggu Sheng fell told everybody what happened. If the various factions were to have any friction that escted into riots, it would only be Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ issue, but it was infuriating to think the intruder would choose their timing the way they did.

    Tian Xiaogua expected to be disappointed, but he discovered something. He wasn¡¯t born sharp; he honed his attention to detail out of care and fear. Thanks to being able to see things from the perspective of an underling, he was able to see what even Zero missed.

    As a guard, Tian Xiaogua needed to carry out patrol duties daily, leading to him familiarising himself with the ce as well as developing habits that were conducive to the task. It dawned on him that the passageway was farthest away from the dungeon than anything else. Since Zero mobilised the majority of the forces to the dungeon during its exploration, this side¡¯s defences were naturally thinner. Plus, who¡¯d ever think Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou of all people would be in danger? On top of that, owing to the curved design of the passageway, it was difficult to catch anyone hiding in the small room around the corner, providing an assassin a prime opportunity.

    Tian Xiaogua couldn¡¯t figure out why Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou would move to the passageway, nor could he work out the motivations for their fight. Nevertheless, he cast those thoughts aside for the meantime as he didn¡¯t have an answer for them.

    Whatever the case, the culprit evidently designed the events; it wasn¡¯t a heaven-gifted opportunity that they capitalised on. Through examination and thorough analysis, Tian Xiaogua came up with a bold hypothesis: the culprit disguised themselves as Tian Xiaogua.

    The intruder left no traces of their presence. There was no chance, however, that they knew thepound better than Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members. Considering there weren¡¯t many ces to hide, the most efficient way of avoiding the patrols was to pose as one of them.

    If they disguised themselves as me and then asked the two to move to the passageway¡­ No, that¡¯d require two people. Mr. Zero said the intruder escaped with the prisoner, though, so that¡¯s two people, isn¡¯t it? But given the time between the events, the prisoner should¡¯ve been long gone. They could¡¯ve disguised themselves as our members to bring the two here, and then they did something to provoke a fight. Yes, yes, that¡¯s sounding right.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Tian Xiaogua subsequently investigated every nook and cranny of the room.

    It¡¯s said that there are experts of disguise in the pugilistic world who can have hundreds of appearances, and Xue Yanjun is supposed to be one of the best at the art. If she is the intruder, then it¡¯s a simple matter for her to pose as one of us and lure the two of them. For all we know, she could¡¯ve disguised as one of th-, how did I miss that?! Ipletely overlooked the possibility! They could¡¯ve posed as one of them to lure the other out and sow discord! That exins why Sir Tiangou said he met Sir Kuanggu Sheng here initially and then fought outside¡­ They switched out! The intruder knew we wouldn¡¯t try to dig into the details!

    Tian Xiaogua held his breath once he realised the truth he sought was in the very room he was in.

 Book 13: Chapter 65

    Book 13: Chapter 65

    It was vague andcked details, but Tian Xiaogua quickly built a skeleton of what transpired as if he was watching a rey of the events.

    One of them posed as Sir Kuanggu Sheng and went to invite Sir Tiangou. The other one posed as Sir Tiangou to invite Sir Tiangou. Sir Tiangou was invited to this room, which means Sir Kuanggu Sheng must¡¯ve been led outside. They stirred the pot to make a chink in the armour that they could leverage to sow discord.

    Tian Xiaogua ran outside as if he was chasing the shadows of the two from the room to the outside whilst keeping track of time.

    Given I took seven steps to reach the door, Sir Tiangou would¡¯ve needed less than seven steps and would¡¯ve made it out faster. Upon opening the door, he must¡¯ve been shocked to see Sir Kuanggu Sheng lividly staring back at him. Although there were questions in his mind, Sir Kuanggu Sheng must¡¯ve put it all aside to fight back since Sir Tiangou drew his weapon. Sir Kuanggu Sheng can¡¯t be med for reacting that way.

    Tian Xiaogua studied the depths of the footprints that stretched all the way to where Kuanggu Sheng spent hisst moment. He could almost hear, see and even smell every moment of the sh. Although his level was far too beneath them to make out the details of their exchanges, the scars on the ground and walls painted a clear enough picture to determine the truth.

    Once Sir Kuanggu Sheng seized the upper hand with his needlerain, he went to finish Sir Tiangou, but the intruder came out and beheaded him in one stroke.

    In spite of having worked out what happened, Tian Xiaogua¡¯s brows wouldn¡¯te apart because there was still one unanswered question: why Kuanggu Sheng? Both Kuanggu Sheng and TIangou could¡¯ve lost their lives. Why did the intruder only kill Kuanggu Sheng? Assuming the intruder only could¡¯ve killed one of them, for what reason did they choose Kuanggu Sheng?

    After processing his thoughts several more times, his eyes gradually made their way back to the room he just exited. There, he found something he missed before ¨C Dog Fang ¨C Tiangou¡¯s signature weapon that Kuanggu Sheng punctured holes in using needlerain.

    The intruder wouldn¡¯t have Dog Fang. If Sir Kuanggu Sheng survived, once he had time to reflect, he¡¯d see the holes in the intruder¡¯s plot. Sir Tiangou always keeps his de on him, so Sir Kuanggu Sheng would realise it didn¡¯t make sense for Sir Tiangou to approach him unarmed. Yes! I¡¯m getting close to the truth now!

    Tian Xiaogua spread out a sheet of paper on the table and used a charcoal pen to sketch a rough picture of thepound¡¯syout. He mainly needed the room he was in, Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s rooms. He left out the dungeon since it was on the other side, and the intruder had no reason to go back there. There were only approximately a dozen locations the intruder could¡¯vee from if they were to lure the two individuals to this room without letting them run into each other beforehand, all whilst avoiding patrols. Several of the possible hideouts included a number of people¡¯s upied rooms.

    Tian Xiaogua didn¡¯t rule out upied rooms because he recalled having a conversation at thest room he visited, though he couldn¡¯t remember what they talked about and who he spoke to. He felt he recognised the silhouette in his memory, but he couldn¡¯t see their features in enough detail to identify him. Nevertheless, his intuition told him that the person in question was connected to the hit.

    Someone I¡¯d meet would have to be someone I already see daily. Is there a traitor? That¡¯s impossible. Which means¡­ the mercenaries we hired¡­ No, that can¡¯t be right. They were with Mr. Zero, and we had guards watching over the three drunken mercenaries. The intruder can disguise themselves so well that¡­ Wait, wait, wait! What if the intruder didn¡¯t only pose as me but also had me pose as them?!

    Okay, okay, let¡¯s calm down first. The intruder needed someone to prove they weren¡¯t at the scene of the assassination. If they knocked me out and dressed me up as them, then left me unconscious, people would¡¯ve just assumed I was drunk. Those three were acting weird that day, and the room they used for their party is one of the feasible hiding spots I identified. They asked me to bring them alcohol! No wonder why he arrivedte!

    ¡°He didn¡¯t runte because he was carrying out an assassination but because he had to switch with me and dump me in the storage room. He assassinated Sir Kuanggu Sheng earlier on and then tampered with our sense of time. H-he¡¯s the intruder!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a smart guy. Unfortunately, there¡¯s no point in finding out now.¡±

    Before Tian Xiaogua could spin around or scream, he witnessed the world spin multiple quick revolutions and then heard nothing else. The room, once again, returned to silence as if nothing ever happened.

    ***

    ¡°Done?¡± I questioned without moving my head.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yan Jiangnan replied, ¡°Yes, Elder. Your foresight is truly miraculous. He really was a smart guy. If I were to put it into perspective, he was likely only one step away from finding out the truth. I selectively erased his memories using my ¡®Three Mind Warp Techniques¡¯, but I almost made a mistake due to my poor condition that day. I have made up for my error today.¡±

    Although the dispensary wasn¡¯t meant to be a residential building, Zero permitted me to stay there, so I boldly moved several beds in and told Yan Jiangnan to stay with me under the guise of making it convenient to take care of him. In actuality, it was just so it would be more convenient to give him orders.

    ¡°You¡¯ve improved your palm techniques at a splendid speed. I don¡¯t have anything else to say about it. In saying that, had you mastered it on the day of the operation, you would¡¯ve been able to do more than lead Kuanggu Sheng to Tiangou.¡±

    When I took cover in the underground passage, Tiangou bolted outside. Meanwhile, using his Three Mind Warping Techniques, Yan Jiangnan tampered with Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s senses and sense of direction to lead him to Tiangou over here. That was the best Yan Jiangnan could do with the skill he just learnt.

    ¡°He kept his brows locked as he looked high and low. I knew he suspected foul y from the moment I heard he was on his way to the room. It¡¯s hard to be at peace for as long as he¡¯s snooping around.¡±

    ¡°You are absolutely right.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan kept a big gap between himself and me. I think he grew fearful of me after witnessing how I set up Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng.

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for you to be afraid. It was either them or us.¡± Continuing to watch over my simmering herbs, I expanded, ¡°It was merely self-defence.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan mulled for a while, then nodded. ¡°I understand now. Please let me know what I should do next.¡±

    I nodded back in contentment and poured the ck medicine into a bowl, then passed the smelly concoction over to Yan Jiangnan. ¡°Here you go. Drink it, and then piss off and train.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 66

    Book 13: Chapter 66

    A poet had plenty of ways to praise midsummer. There was the proud sun, the sky-shrouding clouds, sun-reflecting lotuses and endless cicada concerts. Even so, nothing was ever more interesting than human beings.

    There was practically no gap between people on the busy streets. Everyone out there was running around to make ends meet and put food on the table. Women were constantly calling out for customers. The smell of freshly-prepared sweets gently wafted through the street along the path of their voices and gazes. Instead of the women gaining attention, however, it was the schr under the tree who seemed to attract more attention.

    The business at the end of the street closed their doors during the day, but it was rowdy inside. Anyone was allowed to enter the ce irrespective of affiliations. Although one could hear the names of various seafood items yelled perpetually from many different people, they weren¡¯t actually selling any seafood. Whether it was during war or an era of peace and prosperity, whether the ruler in power was wise or a hazard, nothing and nobody could stop gambling.

    At the gambling denmonly referred to as ¡°Money Market¡±, also known as ¡°General¡¯s tform¡±, the more reckless and bold one gambled, the bigger of a hero they were. Hence, their most valued customers were the wealthy and big spenders as well as the skilled gamblers. And, unsurprisingly, there were plenty of big spenders at Hangzhou¡¯s famous underground gambling den.

    ¡°One thousand taels.¡±

    The maiden¡¯s voice was akin to a de that flitted through a forest and finished as loud as thunderp. Her voice ceased the consistent mouring instantly, drawing all gazes towards her as if it was a matter of urgency, yet not one person regretted hitting pause on what they were doing. A poet had plenty of ways to praise midsummer, but she put midsummer¡¯s beauty to shame.

    Even though she smugly took a seat, the upward curve on her rosy lips was universally weed. Although she dressed modestly, unlike the women who preferred clothing that emphasised their proud shape and revealed their unblemished skin, she still had men ogling her undeniable curves. Nheless, it was her fiery gaze of steel that was most unforgettable.

    She yed ¡°guess the number¡±, the most popr and basic game one could y with a dice. While there were cases of people betting over a thousand taels after a dozen games three or four times in a business day, nobody had ever staked a thousand taels right off the bat.

    ¡°Miss, are you serious now?¡±

    The banker sneered. ¡°The only differentiations in a gambling den are big and small bets, winner and loser. You sneaked out from your mansion to y, am I right? You can just watch to expand your horizons, Missy. Why stake so much money?¡±

    She just stared back at the banker, yet he gradually felt as if she was going to eat him alive in a game instead of seeing her as the spoilt daughter of some wealthy family.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I have given my fair warning. I cannot be held ountable for your decisions. We only ept cold-hard cash, no credits. One thousand taels it is.¡±

    She set down a cheque onto the table and tapped it. ¡°Zero.¡±

    That got a couple of surprised reactions out of fellow gamblers.

    The banker took a couple of deep breaths before lifting the lid. Lo and behold, it was the lowest possiblebination ¨C Zero. In one game, they were going to have to pay out nearly two thousand taels, which was an entire day of their profits.

    ¡°Heh, so we have ourselves a hot shot. All right, we lose. Men, pay up. Shut the doors!¡± ordered the banker.

    While one worker pushed money over to her side of the table, other employees started yelling, ¡°We¡¯re closed for business for today. We¡¯re closing up,¡± as they shepherded customers out despite the customers¡¯ protests. This was all a part of the den¡¯s hidden rules.

    The banker held his hands in salute and expressed, ¡°Nothing has or will change. It is our Eternity¡¯s loss today. Please take your prize, Miss.¡±

    She waited in silence until everyone started fidgeting and muttering before silencing them with, ¡°Continue with these three thousand taels.¡±

    ¡°How can a gambling den run away from gambling?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! If you don¡¯t have the balls to gamble with her, you must well chop your hands off, wussies!¡±

    The banker went silent for a while prior to reaching for the dice shaker cup. Having been in the industry for over two decades, he, needless to say, was an expert, so he wasn¡¯t happy about losing to someone on their first round. His pride as a gambler, therefore, wasn¡¯t helpful against the provocations whatsoever.

    This time, he switched between eight different shaking methods to confuse her trained ears. As soon as he set the cup down, he heard her voice, ¡°Four and six.¡±

    The banker lifted the lid, revealing that she was correct. He stumbled back a few steps and bitterly smiled. ¡°This one admits defeat. He has yed in the north and south, and he has never met anyone with hearing as superb as yours. He wholeheartedly admits defeat.¡±

    The banker took out a dagger from his sash and extended his pinky finger out on the table. Without a moment of hesitation, he swung the dagger down at his exposed finger. Even though blood gushed forth and his face turned a pallor hue, he, in a shaky voice, said, ¡°Henceforth, I am quitting. I will never set foot in a gambling den again. Men, pay thedy.¡±

    Employees ced another seven-thousand-plus in front of her, only to hear her say, ¡°I¡¯ll stake all seven thousand taels this time.¡±

    Trivia

    An Yiren ¨C It¡¯s ¡°an¡± because ¡°Yiren¡± isn¡¯t pronounced ¡°Yeeren¡± but ¡°eeren¡±. Maybe I should make a video on how to pronounce the recurring character¡¯s names?

 Book 13: Chapter 67

    Book 13: Chapter 67

    The rules of gambling dens was that the den couldn¡¯t refuse challenges, but the banker had admitted defeat, chopped off his finger and announced his retirement just as the unwritten rules demanded, neverining or making a fuss over any part. Therefore, people assumed the maiden harboured some sort of grudge that she wouldn¡¯t set down until she buried them.

    As if she was unaware she caused the mouring, she dered, ¡°Seven thousand taels. Keep going.¡±

    ¡°Miss, are you trying to start a war with our Eternity den?¡± The banker wrapped his bloody left hand, then grabbed a broadsword by the side. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you came from or why you want to die so desperately, but I¡¯m not going to entertain you!¡±

    ¡°We ying, or not?¡±

    The banker was unsure how to proceed.

    Although ordinary folks operated gambling stores, they¡¯d never thrive if they didn¡¯t have connections with the orthodox and unorthodox factions. Information was crucial for them to survive and thrive. If they didn¡¯t know officials wereing, they¡¯d spend more time being detained than running their business.

    The banker asked the intel-collection employee who leaned in to him, ¡°Who is she?¡±

    ¡°In thest fortnight, she has been ying at every den in Suzhou and Hangzhou. She¡¯s be notorious for always staking thousands at the very least. After she¡¯s done ying, though, she¡¯d pass all her prize money to the local powerful people and ask them to distribute it.

    The banker pulled his brows together. From the information, he learnt that this wasn¡¯t the first time she was doing this and wasn¡¯t out for fame or money. He also learnt that she had a means of walking off after winning against businesses. Since when did any gambling den just let someone walk away with thousands of taels that belonged to the den? By extension, the sword that she carried wasn¡¯t just an ornament. Thest thing he noticed was the list of names she entrusted her prize money to; he couldn¡¯t afford to get on the wrong side of a single person listed. She wasn¡¯t just capable; she also had connections.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once he came to a decision, the banker set down his weapon gently and exhaled. ¡°Miss, may this one ask what you are after? You do not truly intend to challenge us, do you? This one wholeheartedly respects your skills, but he would like to ask that you do not go too far. Always leave a bridge so that we can remain on speaking terms.¡±

    ¡°I want to see The Master.¡±

    ***

    Three Hangzhou-born aplished and decorated martial artists were still considered part of Hangzhou¡¯s martial artsmunity despite no longer residing there. When they returned from adventures, they¡¯d have visitors seeking audiences with them. Yet, for some unknown reason, they all left for Night Fortress one day, turning the unknown faction into a huge deal overnight. Were it not for their presence, Night Fortress wouldn¡¯t have been able to be the only faction in Hangzhou to rival Wutong Jin Yuxuan.

    Outsiders didn¡¯t know that the trio were actually brothers who shared a famous grandpa. His actual name hadn¡¯t been used for so many decades that people only referred to him by his nickname ¨C The Master, or just ¡°Master¡± when speaking to him directly.

    The Master never really achieved anything big. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even really a formidablebatant. One time, someone witnessed him fight a young man, and it was hardly memorable. In any case, it ended up with The Master having to go get treated. Yet, he was famous ¨C extremely famous ¨C which was attributed to his immense wealth of knowledge. For instance, he knew about Tiezhen¡¯s ruler changing, why they changed, when they changed, and he knew all of this before their former ruler was aware they were about to be disced. He had never been to Mount Tian, yet he knew where their missing cial Water sword was located. If it wasn¡¯t for him, the reigning Emperor would never have found the missing imperial seal.

    Nobody knew how The Master knew so much. The most popr belief was that he had a private intelligencework, but that was nothing more than a popr legend. However he obtained the information, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was valuable to both sides of thew since he had so much information on hand. If you were to list the name of everyone seeking an audience with him annually, you¡¯d need a lot of paper ¨C and that was despite many of them never even being granted an audience. As long as he didn¡¯t want to show himself, no one knew where to find him¡­ At least until now.

    The elder in his eighties leisurely enjoyed some porridge with side dishes, while his eight subordinates stood beside him. Even so, the maiden before him didn¡¯t appear intimidated in the slightest.

    ¡°Good to meet you, Master.¡± In addition to casually greeting him, Shen Yiren casually helped herself to a stool, much to the chagrin of his subordinates. She tossed a stack of something onto the table and remarked, ¡°A small introductory gift for you.¡±

    The Master¡¯s subordinates went to get physical, only to halt in their tracks when they identified the stack as over thirty two hundred tael cheques.

    Intrigued, The Master nced at Shen Yiren, then went back to eating. Once he was done eating and relishing every drop of tea, which took him a good while, he asked, ¡°How long has it been since youst visited this old one?¡±

    ¡°Around six years?¡¯

    ¡°Mm, props to you for being able to find this old one.¡±

    Shen Yiren tugged up a corner of her lips ever so slightly. Her gaze had be a little piercing but not enough to overwhelm the gentleness in her expression. ¡°I know you do not want to see outsiders. I would never have been able to find you if you were hiding. However, you never change your gambling addiction.¡±

    The Master smiled heartily. ¡°Shen n is in good hands.¡±

    ¡°It matters not if it is not. As long as Liu Shan Men still exists, the orthodox factions will still have a haven.¡±

    ¡°This old one chose his words poorly. Yan Shisan is the one who has a capable sessor.¡±

    The two gave each other a smile of acknowledgement.

    ¡°When you asked this old one who was responsible for your family¡¯s demise, you left in a huff when he told you he doesn¡¯t know. What question do you have for this old one today?¡±

    ¡°I wish to inquire about three people. The first one is Feng Yuge.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 68

    Book 13: Chapter 68

    ¡°Feng Yuge, hmm¡­¡± The Master made his white beard even messier as he caressed his beard, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡°There aren¡¯t many martial artists who carry the ¡®Feng¡¯ surname. The most famous n of martial artists would have to be Luoyang¡¯s Feng n. You wish to look into the background of the highest-ranking consort?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Shen Yiren immediately answered. ¡°The person I am interested in has no connection to Luoyang¡¯s Feng n. I trust Brilliant Consort. She would never harm him.¡±

    It was hard to tell whether The Master was feeling nostalgic or consoled based on his visage, but it was visibly clear that he was no longer testing Shen Yiren.

    Acquiring urate information from The Master was no simple task. After all, his livelihood was sustained off selling information. For him, selling information was but another way to kill time. People couldn¡¯t be picky about the answers they received for he had no obligations. Be it true or false information, if it was being transferred across awork or had been mentioned, he knew about it. Put it this way: he didn¡¯t provide a service for separating fact from fiction even though he could. He only provided information to those who werepetent enough to unveil the truth.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    When The Master stood up, it was surprising to see how tall he was. Howbeit, his height didn¡¯t make walking any easier for an elder in his eighties. Shen Yiren, therefore, stood up to support him straight away.

    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re a smart girl, just like your father.¡±

    Shen Yiren showed her rarely-shown warm smile. ¡°I am happy to hear that.¡±

    The Master was a man who remembered past events long ago much better than more recent events. On the way to The Master¡¯s study, the two of them conversed about many topics, some of which Shen Yiren already heard about and some that urred before she was even born.

    ¡°Whenever this old one sees you, he goes on a trip down memoryne. Shen Wuzheng, Ye Yun, Wang Muren, Li Linglong¡­ they all visited this ce in the past,ing and going as they pleased. They seldom visited after they grew up. Is supremacy in the pugilistic world so important? This old one has always wondered: do people change once they grow older? He has been watching the world for many years. At this point, he can urately guess many things without even looking, but the one thing he still can¡¯t read is the heart of men.¡±

    ¡°Father would visit whenever he had time.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. He¡¯s soft unlike the other brats. When he was around your age, he performed the worst among his peers. He was a terrible fighter, and all he ever did was follow Fourth Prince around.¡±

    The Fourth Prince The Master referred to was the former Fourth Prince ¨C Emperor Yuansheng. Due to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s father refusing to crown a sessor, it led to an all-out fight for the crown. Emperor Yuansheng was lucky enough to be the Crown Prince and then ascended not long afterwards.

    Li n stipted that the Crown Prince had to go on a journey for some time because the founding Emperor ruled excellently after spending twenty years in the outside world. Emperor Yuansheng fulfilled the adventuring requirement. However, he never expected to inherit the throne, and he didn¡¯t have sufficient time to prepare for the role. ordingly, Emperor Yuansheng would take up every opportunity to explore the outside world. Even though the trip to Nanjiang was necessary, it was true that he wanted to enjoy an adventure, as well.

    Shen Wuzheng was the equivalent of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s shadow.

    ¡°Later on, though, he was the most aplished among them. It¡¯s a pity.¡± While he wasn¡¯t emotionless, The Master didn¡¯t convey any sorrow through his voice. This was because he had practiced not wearing his emotions on his sleeve.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Do you feel my father and I are alike?¡±

    Although The Master looked back at Shen Yiren, he didn¡¯t really need to look at her to know she was almost her father reincarnated.

    ¡°You two do look alike, though your gazes are different. He¡¯s more tolerant, clever, has a goodwork and doesn¡¯t like topete. He had the ability to solve everything as if it was a simple endeavour.¡± The Master faced forward again. ¡°You don¡¯t need to resemble him. Being too soft isn¡¯t going to do you any favours. You¡¯re perfect the way you are now, speaking your mind and never shying away from confronting things head on. You gambled at every single den until you found me. Well done. That mentality is what makes you harder to kill.¡±

    They arrived at The Master¡¯s study, which was situated between a verdant garden of bamboo, once they crossed the long corridor.

    ¡°Feng Yuge was an ouw. Forty years ago, he rose to notoriety in Shanbei. For a while, he was without equal. Due to the speed at which he grew, nevertheless, he was singled out and crushed by the orthodox sects¡¯ alliance. He was mighty enough to be considered a candidate for a rank among the Supreme Ten Saints. s, he was forgettable owing to his quick rise and downfall.¡±

    The Master set down the scroll in his hand, turned his head and continued, ¡°By the same ount, this old one needed to reference the scroll to make sure he was getting his facts right. Perhaps he was on par with the current generation of Supreme Ten Saints and several of the big names in the unorthodox factions. Hisrades in arms are no more, either. He had no sessor.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t seem to feel one way or another about Feng Yuge¡¯s story.

    ¡°Lass, if you¡¯re looking for him, you¡¯re wasting your time. I promised to provide you with free information once back then because I hadn¡¯t found the culprit behind your parents¡¯ unfortunate end. It was a waste of an opportunity to inquire about him.¡±

    ¡°Please help me with the second person of interest then.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± The Master asked in a tired tone.

    ¡°Dugu Longzi.¡±

    The Master shut the book on hand rather loudly whilst looking stoic. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel you¡¯re wasting an opportunity?¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°Dugu Longzi is a legendary swordsman in the world of swordsmen. More than sixty years ago, he was one of the Supreme Ten Saints and the greatest swordsman of his era, which is a status he held im to after defeating every other swordsman. In addition to excelling in the realm of swordy, he is the innovator who established the foundational theories and principles for swordy in future generations. Every swordsman recognises his name. If you¡¯re going to inquire about him, why not ask about Shaolin¡¯s Dharma or Wudang¡¯s Sanfeng? Don¡¯t you think your query is a waste?¡±

    ¡°You are right. In that case, I shall move on to the third person.¡±

    The Master grumpily sat back down and questioned, ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Gongsun Chu.¡±

    The Master let the breeze deliver a melody before he solemnly responded, ¡°Lass¡­ how much do you know, exactly?¡±

    Glossary

    Wudang¡¯s Sanfeng ¨C For the non-avid wuxia/tai chi fan, it¡¯s a reference to Zhang Sanfeng, whom you should know from Jin Yong¡¯s condor trilogy, whom also is the character Jet Li portrays in ¡°Tai Chi Master¡±, who Wu Yue portrayed in thetest remake of ¡°Tai Chi Master¡±. I could list a whole bunch more of media he¡¯s been featured in, but I think those are the most well-known instances of Zhang Sanfeng on the screen.

 Book 13: Chapter 69

    Book 13: Chapter 69

    The wind elevated leaves down to the bottomless sky. Fishes swam up toward the pool, the bubbles they produced falling downward. Light moved in slow motion. Heaven was down low. The ground was up above.

    From his perspective, foolish beings sucked the life out of living organisms in his silent upside-down world. The world had been in this form for ages, yet everyone within it was oblivious to it.

    Cicadas were still singing even though the sun had started illuminating the tree trunk they were on. Whether the sky was tangerine or shrouded by white clouds, nothing could be heard over their singing.

    ¡°Sun Xianggong! Sun Xianggong!¡±

    Miss Zhou¡¯s father was a woodworker at the vige. While his skills weren¡¯t noteworthy, he would visit people¡¯s homes to offer his services for spare change. Thanks to his honest and earnest work ethic, the vigers supported him enough for him to get married and raise an adorable daughter.

    Societal norms deemed it inappropriate for an eighteen-year-old maiden to visit a single man¡¯s home alone, but Miss Zhou was outgoing, and Sun Xianggong was someone she was familiar with.

    By the time Sun Xianggong was done meaninglessly brooding over the upside world, Miss Zhou¡¯s anxious expression had turned into a smile and popped through the door.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Blushing, Miss Zhou replied, ¡°Sorry, Sun Xianggong, but my dad¡¯s old illness is bothering him again.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°My goodness me. I have yet to get out of bed.¡±

    When Sun Xianggong first moved into the vige three years ago, the vigers were rather apprehensive about approaching him, not because he looked scary but because they felt someone as educated as him wouldn¡¯t mesh with them. After he rescued the vige chief who had one foot in his coffin, the vigers realised he was a friendly individual and therefore opened up to him.

    Sun Xianggong was an excellent physician, but he would never charge the vigers. As a matter of fact, he¡¯d visit his patients if he had time. Whenever he was called for an emergency, he¡¯d always bemoan, ¡°My goodness me,¡± first. Nevertheless, he¡¯d brightly and hurriedly race to those in need.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there right away.¡±

    Sun Xianggong promptly packed his basket. The basket he carried was the same type that schrs would use as a backpack for their books, yet he barely had any books because books weren¡¯t cheap. In saying that, he absolutely could afford books; he just developed a miser mentality after leading a simple life in the vige.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Shitou.¡±

    Shitou, a middle-aged man with the face of a kid, and Sun Xianggong were always in each other¡¯spany. Shitou was actually Sun Xianggong¡¯s niece. Although their appearances suggested otherwise, Shitou was actually older than Sun Xianggong. No doctor or form had been able to make Shitou any less ¡°slow¡±.

    In addition to being well-versed in medical practices, Sun Xianggong was erudite in reading the sr system. Using this knowledge, he educated the viges to improve theirnd, yields and helped them avoid losing crops due to harsh weather. People used to ask him if his ancestors were farmers, but he told them his ancestors were all schrs. This meant that Sun Xianggong wasn¡¯t knowledgeable but smart, unimaginably smart. If not even someone of his calibre could cure Shitou, then it was normal for people to be shocked.

    ¡°Did Ie too early?¡± queried Miss Zhou. ¡°Brother Shitou¡¯s hair is still messy.¡±

    Shitou always had a nk look on his face, but he dressed neatly and walked with a tall posture, so it was no surprise that he took care of his hair, too. Right now, his hair made it look as if he had been electrocuted.

    ¡°Probably?¡± joked Sun Xianggong.

    Walking beside Sun Xianggong with her hands behind her back, Miss Zhou cast her gaze to the ground and brushed her hair behind her ear as she said, ¡°Sorry.¡± She suddenly felt the parts of her face with sweat go chilly.

    Given girls weremonly married around fifteen and sixteen years of age, people often suspected there was something wrong with a maiden if she still wasn¡¯t married at eighteen. In the past, eighteen was considered a maiden¡¯s prime ¨C something Sun Xianggong agreed with. What can we say? Boys these days used their eyes for decoration.

    Sun Xianggong¡¯s definition of ¡°in the past¡± was different to others. His definition of ¡°in the past¡± didn¡¯t refer to a specific point in time but, rather, a specific era. People of this era would refer to his ¡°in the past¡± era as the previous dynasty. Sun Xianggong only had ¡°recent¡± and ¡°in the past¡± as measures of time.

    Sun Xianggong held the opinion that the world and its inhabitants were better in the past.

    The ¡°old illness¡± Miss Zhou mentioned was her father¡¯s chronic lower back pain. His condition was the umtion of decades of earnest physicalbour. Herbs and soups couldn¡¯t help him; only acupuncture, massage and adequate rest could help him. Telling him to rest, however, was akin to telling the sun to rise from the west.

    Sun Xianggong had helped Mr. Zhou numerous times before. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t resolve the root problem, so Mr. Zhou would suffer spontaneous bouts of pain. Today, though, Sun Xianggong noticed several different things to usual upon setting foot through the door.

    Firstly, there were their neighbours, business neighbours and even the vige chief¡¯s family of seven all gathered in the small courtyard. They gave Sun Xianggong smiles but didn¡¯t say a word. ording to them, they were just dropping in to visit their friend, so why was he getting more attention than Mr. Zhou? While Mr. Zhou¡¯s back would y up from time to time, it wasn¡¯t supposed to act up today, and his back certainly was fine. Mr. Zhou was a taciturn man, yet he didn¡¯t stop talking for an hour.

    ¡°After your massage, I need to apply some medicine. Please wait while I go collect the required herbs now.¡± Sun Xianggong got up and left in spite of Mr. Zhou wanting to keep him. ¡°Shitou, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Sun Xianggong certainly nned to fetch herbs. Howbeit, that wasn¡¯t his sole purpose for going to the dense forest. Two people emerged from the shadows in a manner that disyed their skills asbatants and genuflected at his feet.

    ¡°We are here to offer you our services.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t ept,¡± replied Sun Xianggong, focusing on searching for herbs.

    After many more futile attempts at persuading Sun Xianggong, the duo gave up but still stated, ¡°We will be back.¡±

    As Sun Xianggong predicted, most of Mr. Zhou¡¯s guests had left by the time he returned, with only the vige chief¡¯s family and Mr. Zhou¡¯s rtives remaining.

    As Sun Xianggong applied needles to Mr. Zhou¡¯s upoints a second time for the day, Mr. Zhou said, ¡°I noticed you¡¯ve been alone all this time. You see¡­ My daughter likes being around you. Though she is still young, she¡¯s a great girl. I think¡­ she likes you. She may be clumsy, but if you are okay, how about¡­¡±

    Sun Xianggong: I figured as much. I was right to wait for everyone to leave before returning.

    ¡°Sun Xianggong, wait for me!¡± Even though she was aware of what her father told Sun Xianggong, Miss Zhou still ran out after him.

    The temperature was still high, and the cicadas were still holding a concert in spite of the sun having bowed out for the day. The only thing that had changed around Sun Xianggong was that Miss Zhou¡¯s eyes were red unlike earlier in the day.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ept?¡± While she shot straight, her voicecked confidence. It was quite obvious what she wanted to say from her gaze alone. ¡°Am Icking?¡±

    Sun Xianggong shook his head.

    ¡°Did I make you angry?¡±

    Sun Xianggong shook his head again.

    ¡°Do you have someone you like?¡±

    Sun Xianggong nodded.

    ¡°Who do you like? Xiaofang? Weiwei? O-or is it Mrs. Li on the far east of the vige?¡±

    Sun Xianggong reactivelyughed to his own surprise.

    Miss Zhou stomped. ¡°Y-you¡¯re making fun of me!¡±

    ¡°No, no, Iughed because of how cute and innocent you are. I am not mocking you.¡±

    Though Miss Zhou could tell Sun Xianggong was being sincere, she still felt vexed. Lowering her head once again, she asked, ¡°So¡­ why did you not ept? I may not be good with my hands or cooking¡­ but I will put in the effort to learn. Am I too ugly for you?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not. You¡¯re a beautiful youngdy, and I believe you will earnestly learn. One day, you¡¯ll be the perfect wife.¡±

    ¡°So why?¡±

    ¡°I lost the desire to have a family after myte wife passed away.¡±

    Sun Xianggong gazed up at the stars. Perhaps he was looking at the world. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t gazing at anything in particr at all. Whatever the case, Miss Zhou saw love in his eyes.

    ¡°¡­ Do you still miss her?¡±

    ¡°If the world exists for another hundred years, two hundred years¡­ one thousand years, maybe I¡¯ll continue to miss her for as long as the world exists. Listen to the cicadas. The world is ever changing. Many things are no longer what they once were. Even so, the cicadas still sing like they sung back when she was sat beside me.¡±

    Miss Zhou looked up at Sun Xianggong. Mayhap she felt sorry for him; mayhap she felt sorry for herself.

    ¡°How long have you missed her for?¡±

    After he answered the question, Sun Xianggong took Shitou home.

    Miss Zhou stood under the night sky for a long time musing over the answer Sun Xianggong gave her: ¡°¡­ A hundred years.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 70

    Book 13: Chapter 70

    Miss Zhou

    From the moment he espied Mr. Zhou¡¯s facial expression, Sun Xianggong knew it was time for him to depart. Never staying in one ce for too long benefited him and those he interacted with. Spending three years at Peach Blossom Vige already exceeded the typical length he stayed in one ce. Perhaps life was too nice there that he forgot it was time to move on.

    When the time to leave hade, it was best to leave without a goodbye.

    As soon as the first golden rays hit the earth, Sun Xianggong set out with his prepared luggage. There wasn¡¯t worth much taking with him. To begin with, his small home was rather empty. In contrast, he left plenty of things behind for the vigers, including several small handbooks listing suggestions that he believed would improve their quality of life. His connection to Peach Blossom Vige was meant to end there. Howbeit, it was impossible for someone as astute and perceptive as him not to notice something was different about the vige.

    Miss Zhou was missing.

    Miss Zhou was constantly zoning out after she went home and badgering her father about whether he had heard of ¡°jadeite cicadas¡±. It went without saying that her parents knew very well the source of her emotional turmoil. Therefore, her mother spent all night keeping herpany, yet, much to her confusion, she couldn¡¯tprehend why her daughter kept saying things to along the lines of, ¡°He¡¯s so pitiful,¡± and ¡°Why does he have to suffer so much?¡± When her parents woke up the next morning, they discovered their daughter was missing.

    ¡°Jadeite cicadas, which are also known as ¡®jadeite primordial cicadas¡¯, are a type of insect that have a long lifespan as they seldom move throughout their lifetime. Should they survive for more than a century, their bodies will turn white, giving them an appearance simr to white jade, hence their name,¡± edified Sun Xianggong, setting down his luggage as he joined the conversation.

    Rather than adding to the panic, Sun Xianggong¡¯s appearance settled the uneasy hearts.

    ¡°Sun Xianggong, are you suggesting my daughter went off in search of them? What a silly girl.¡±

    ¡°I will bring her back.¡±

    None of the vigers doubted Sun Xianggong would fail.

    ¡°Shitou, stay here.¡±

    It was Sun Xianggong¡¯s first time not bringing Shitou along with him. It didn¡¯t take much effort for him to find his target in the forest, nheless.

    ¡°While a fair number of people in the martial world know of jadeite primordial cicadas and their use as a medicinal ingredient, Miss Zhou shouldn¡¯t know about them, and she shouldn¡¯t know they can be found in this forest.¡±

    Sun Xianggong¡¯s two visitors from yesterdays bowed their heads.

    ¡°We truly cannot hold a candle to you, Elder.¡±

    ¡°We took the risk of kidnapping her so that we could have an audience with you.¡±

    Sun Xianggong smiled. ¡°And an audience has been granted. Where is she?¡±

    ¡°She is over there.¡±

    Miss Zhou¡¯s limbs were bound, and she was muted with a white piece of cloth. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t have any visible wounds, though her eyes were twice their usual size.

    ¡°We would never dare to mistreat someone you care about, Elder.¡±

    ¡°Elder, the orthodox sects should have been erased long ago. The Seven Champion White Princes deserve to suffer every bit they are suffering for osting Fiends¡¯ Genesis, as well. With your influence, why would you not have a use for manpower? The two of us are willing to serve you without anyints.¡±

    Sun Xianggong just blinked twice. As the two couldn¡¯t make sense of his reaction, they decided to deploy their ace.

    ¡°We will not stop you from maintaining your current lifestyle, hiding your upation from her and marrying her. We will even keep your secrets for you. If, however, you reject us, we will have to take measures we do not wish to take.¡±

    ¡°We have two more brothers in the vige. You understand what we are saying?¡±

    Though Miss Zhou was ced out of earshot, she would see Sun Xianggong¡¯s skills once he retaliated.

    ¡°Your timing is not half bad.¡± Sun Xianggong bobbed his head. ¡°You¡¯re skilled and impressively cunning.¡±

    The duo didn¡¯t know how to react to the sudden adtion or what was being implied.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mistake what I mean. Cunningness is an excellent quality. How can a man expect to survive in this world without any cunning?¡±

    The duo thought they understood.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t like it.¡± Sun Xianggong unsheathed his sword.

    The duo had every right to feel proud. They had time to see snow seemingly cover the leaves around them in the three exchanges they had against Sun Xianggong.

    How disappointing. I probably only needed one strike if I was the version of myself from forty years ago. If I was myself from sixty years ago, I could¡¯ve shut them down with my gaze alone. In my prime¡­ Hah, what is the point of all these ¡°if¡± situations now?

    In Miss Zhou¡¯s eyes, the way Sun Xianggong wiped the blood of his sword was as elegant as him at work with a brush.

    Shitou returned to Sun Xianggong¡¯s side. Besides having some bloodstains on him, he was the same Shitou as always.

    ¡°Good boy.¡± Sun Xianggong caressed Shitou¡¯s head. Smiling amiably as always whilst freeing Miss Zhou from her confines, he expressed, ¡°Miss Zhou, you shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    Miss Zhou¡¯s response to the fiasco was as strange as Sun Xianggong¡¯s casualness. Instead of fear, she just felt that Sun Xianggong was a little different to the Sun Xianggong she knew. Her stiffness wasn¡¯t a product of fear but concern for him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re a man capable of great things and that it was only a matter of time before you left. If you won¡¯t leave today, you¡¯ll leave tomorrow. That¡¯s why I wanted to find this for you.¡± Miss Zhou opened her hand, revealing a jadeite cicada. ¡°I heard them say that this type of cicada has a long lifespan¡­ I want you to have this as a gift. Maybe¡­ it once sung a century ago.¡±

    After checking her for injuries, Sun Xianggong helped Miss Zhou up. ¡°¡­ Why go to such lengths?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Continuing with red eyes and tears coursing down, Miss Zhou conveyed, ¡°I, I just remember you saying you¡¯ve missed your wife for a hundred years. I don¡¯t know what you meant by that, but I can tell you love her and must miss her dearly. I don¡¯t know what I can do, so I just want to brighten up your day a little.¡±

    Once he finished tidying up her appearance for her, Sun Xianggong asked, ¡°Does seeing me make you cry? What¡¯s so good about me?¡±

    Miss Zhou shook her head, paused, nodded and then shook her head again whilst sobbing.

    Sun Xianggong let Miss Zhou cry for a while before shoving a sheet of paper into her hand. ¡°This form is for your dad. Whenever his back gives him trouble again, prepare it for him.¡±

    Miss Zhou grabbed Sun Xianggong¡¯s hand as though she was afraid he¡¯d vanish if she loosened up. ¡°C-can¡¯t you bring me with you? I¡­ I¡­¡±

    Thest thing Miss Zhou prior to falling asleep was the first genuine smile from the bottom of Sun Xianggong¡¯s heart.

    Sun Xianggong set Miss Zhou up against a tree, held his hands together before his chest and then gave her a deep bow. ¡°Your admiration for this one is appreciated. Howbeit, he is unworthy of you. His ambition renders his life perpetually at peril and a waste your earnest feelings. This body is already beneath the dirt. Should next lifee to be, he promises to repay your kindness.¡±

    Miss Zhou safely returned home.

    ¡°Shitou, it¡¯s time we be on our way.¡± Sun Xianggong chose the mountain path to journey to his next destination.

    As Shitou silently followed along, he stared at the jadeite cicada in his hand.

    ¡°Come. Let us bring ruin to this country.¡±

    What was wrong had to be corrected.

    The summer sun shone on Peach Blossom Vige again, but there was less a Shitou and Sun Xianggong.

 Book 13: Chapter 71

    Book 13: Chapter 71

    While the study located in the bamboo forest barricaded the summer heat, Shen Yiren¡¯s request lit a fire in The Master. ¡°Lass, how much do you know, exactly?¡±

    There were very people who interested The Master and even less people who could evoke concern. Shen n was one exception. They had been connected for decades, and he had no intention of severing the connection.

    The Master didn¡¯t raise his voice. Even so, his warning was visually and audibly perceptible because there was a stark contrast to his typicalmunication style. Nevertheless, Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes brightened up.

    ¡°Gongsun Chu was a massive Confucian influencer. A century ago, he was tasked with unifying the Confucian schools in the Nine Provinces and oversaw the martial world under orders of the previous dynasty¡¯s ruler. The Emperor named a child his sessor. Unable to resolve the crisis around them, the mes of war took hold of the country. Our dynasty¡¯s progenitor, as a scion of a family of soldiers, took up arms to end the people¡¯s suffering and usher in a new era. ording to historic records, Gongsun Chu perished in the final stand in the imperial pce. If he were still alive today, he would be a hundred years old.¡± Like a granddaughter acting coquettish with her grandpa, Shen Yiren picked up the elder¡¯s sleeve and winked. ¡°That is all I know. By your rules, that should be enough for you to share some facts, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± The Master sat back down in his chair, rubbed his face in frustration, then grumbled, ¡°Old Shen sure noted down a lot in his notebook. What kind of person would write that in their diary? You¡¯re a disaster for your descendants.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°Grandpa liked to keep a diary of things he had seen and things that piqued his interest. He also liked to record relevant information and notes for rification. For every matter mentioned, there¡¯d be several stories to go along with them for context. I used to love reading the stories as just stories.¡±

    The Master knew about those habits even without Shen Yiren mentioning them. The Master and Shen Yiren¡¯s grandpa were close childhood friends, after all. Although both men had a fondness for collecting information, The Master, contrary to his friend, preferred to only dot point key points. He believed all the extra notes were sphemy to an information collector, and he pulled no punches in letting his old friend know about it.

    ¡°You concluded the three people are one and the same person based on the notes?¡±

    ¡°I am here for a conclusive conclusion.¡± Shen Yiren figured The Master was in a sour mood because he was reminded of his friend, so she couldn¡¯t help smiling. ¡°I have been researching Jiang Chen¡¯s past as I suspect him. I noticed that one of the suspects in one of Tang n¡¯s cold cases share traits of Jiang Chen ¨C Feng Yuge. As I dove further into the case, I suspected Jiang Chen and Feng Yuge are the same person. The problem was that Feng Yuge is shrouded in too much history to continue tracing the lead on him, so I went through Grandpa¡¯s notebook for more information. Juxtaposing Feng Yuge and Dugu Longzi, including their swordy, I found many matching simrities. On Dugu Longzi¡¯s page, Grandpa made numerous notes regarding Gongsun Chu, as well. As Gongsun Chu lived a century ago, Grandpa didn¡¯t have much information. One thing that stuck out to me was that he made a note of Flying Fish on Gongsun Chu¡¯s page.¡±

    Even in the absence of further boration, The Master recognised the title ¡°Flying Fish¡± ¨C the founder of Liu Shan Men, a former number one of The Ultimate Three and an ancestor of Shen Yiren. Flying Fish and Gongsun Chu lived in the same era.

    ¡°Having read through Flying Fish¡¯s diary, I can only say¡­ the three of them have too many simrities that it¡¯s hard to believe it¡¯s coincidental. That is why I am here for a definitive answer from you. Your reaction has confirmed my suspicions. If you would, please supply me with all the information on him.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Following a silence, The Master lit up his pipe for a puff. ¡°Gongsun Chu,¡± he enunciated in a stoic voice. ¡°Merely mentioning the name is enough to bring the guillotine down upon yourself. Eastern China Sea¡¯s top swordsman would be willing to chase him to the ends of the world. You know about Gongsun n?¡±

    Shen Yiren shook her head. She did know Eastern China Sea¡¯s Supreme Swordsman inherited the ¡°Gongsun¡± surname but knew naught of Gongsun n.

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. Gongsun n is but a shell of its former glory. Over a century ago, before Broken Sword Imperial Tomb rose to the top, Gongsun n¡¯s swordy was considered the pinnacle of swordy. When ites to understanding swordy, Gongsun n stands atop all else. You shouldn¡¯t be surprised. In saying that, if you recognise Infinity Sword Ground, one of the current three sacred swordy grounds, then you will know the magnitude of Gongsun n¡¯s influence back then.

    ¡°Gongsun Chu was the face of Confucianism and the head tutor of the previous dynasty¡¯s imperial family. His tolerant, impartial and just ways earned respect from friends and foes alike. While he was affable, he was firm. To embody both leadership of Confucianism and the status of a supreme swordsman, he can be said to have been unequalled in his era.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t die in the final stand in the imperial pce. Or rather, he failed to die. Nobody can make his loyalty to the previous dynasty waver. No one. s, one man¡¯s power is limited; one man cannot change the world¡¯s tide. In the end, the dynasty he served fell, and the Li family imed ownership of thend.

    ¡°He had been mostly forgotten by decadester. He doesn¡¯t need to alter his appearance for he doesn¡¯t age. He is a man who has cultivated himself internally and externally. Even if his strength has diminished, his skills with a sword were more than enough to rise to the top of the world of swordsmen again as Dugu Longzi. Many of Confucianism¡¯s swordy techniques taught today are his creations.¡±

    ¡°I am no longer surprised Principal Huang was no match for him.¡±

    The Master apparently expected that response. He spoke of Gongsun Chu as though he was there with Gongsun Chu at the time. From the rises and falls in his tone, Shen Yiren could tell he admired Gongsun Chu as well as took pity on him.

    ¡°Feng Yuge and Jiang Chen are different names of the same person. This old one doesn¡¯t know what he is nning. With that said, whatever it is, it¡¯s nothing minor if he has returned. No matter how much his skills have regressed, someone who has lived for a 140 years and once been the pinnacle martial artists aspired to emte is no pushover. Think thrice before you try to tackle him.¡±

    The two spoke into the night, and Shen Yiren left after having dinner with The Master.

    ¡°You dropped by and are gone again?¡± The Master sounded as though he didn¡¯t want Shen Yiren to leave.

    ¡°Once I have settled this matter, I shall pay you another visit. Take care of yourself so that I can visit you.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t speak formally, but The Master preferred her casual manner of speech. It wasn¡¯t difficult to find someone who could speak better than they could write; however, there was only one person who spoke to him in such a casual tone.

    ¡°I promised to answer one of your queries, yet you didn¡¯t inquire about your parents¡¯ case.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You know the answer, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That being the case, why did you ask about something else? Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to spend the opportunity on your parents¡¯ case?¡±

    Shen Yiren went silent for a while, then chuckled. ¡°Yeah. Maybe I¡¯ve gone stupid?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 72

    Book 13: Chapter 72

    Shen Yiren pulled over after dozens of kilometres on the road so that she and her steed could rest. She caressed her Battle Cloud as it rehydrated from a small creek. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a ranch for some fun after I¡¯ve settled this, okay?¡±

    Battle Cloud suddenly whipped its head up in joy, throwing droplets of water everywhere.

    Shen Yiren gently pped her stead. ¡°We being naughty, are we?¡±

    Shen Yiren let Battle Cloud go off for some fun while she founding a sitting spot. Though she was the scion of a prestigious family, she was never uptight about behaving as a Princess, but she demanded Shen Kuang be presentable and carry himself with grace despite him having no desire to. As she munched on a mouthful of dry rations from her left hand, she opened a letter with her spare hand.

    She wasn¡¯t na?ve enough to think the capital would know peace while she was away. After all, it was where Fiends¡¯ Genesis chose to realise their ambitions. If Jiang Chen was the one tugging the strings in the capital, then his goal was unquestionably to ruin the Li family¡¯s rule. Hence, she instructed her subordinates to send reports at fixed intervals so that she could stay up to date.

    The news that drew the most attention as ofte was Baima¡¯s most trusted man, the symbol of the Qilin Guard¡¯s might ¨C the Qilin Guard¡¯s Yi Ya returning to the capital. Yi Ya was a household name in the capital, but he actually stayed at the northern frontier for the most part. For that reason, many criminals had forgotten how fearsome he was. Nheless, it only took one day for his enemies to remember why they feared him before he left for the north.

    Instead of greeting His Majesty or checking in at Qilin Guards¡¯ headquarters in the capital, the first thing Yi Ya did upon setting foot in the capital was to publicly remove three hundred unorthodox sects¡¯ members¡¯ heads from their shoulders. By the second day of his return, thirty demon-subduing poles, each with ten heads attached, had been erected outside the capital¡¯s south doors. Across the poles, the text, ¡°Any unorthodox factions intruding into the capital will be executed¡± was on disy. Regardless of affiliation, enemies or allies, people were shocked.

    Before the ink of officials could dry, the unorthodox groups, whether they were nning to intrude upon the capital, had connections in the capital or were concealing their true identities, all left the capital within ten days of the warning as they knew two things: first, Yi Ya only worked for one person. Second, life was precious.

    When Yi Ya reported in to the imperial pce, not a single person dared to pick a bone with him for acting without permission first. The Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ tactic of turning a blind eye to pressure His Majesty was brilliant. Their miscalction was not ounting for the threat it imposed on the capital, or rather that Yi Ya would return to the capital.

    The Qilin Guard would return without a doubt, and the Qilin could gnaw through anything once its master gave it permission. The fact that Yi Ya had returned meant that the Seven Champion White Princes had crossed the boundary and needed to start mming their brakes.

    Shen Yiren could depart with ease of mind because she knew the capital¡¯s tform would no longer have room for her. She was aware the Qilin Guards would take some action, and she never doubted theirpetence. That said, she was vexed, especially due to the fact that many of their current privileges, to some extent, were the acquired through achievements of the Liu Shan Men members they absorbed back then. She couldn¡¯t get involved in the situation purely because shecked the power to.

    Yi Ya¡¯s achievement upon his return didn¡¯t require anyone or anything besides himself. He employed the simplest strategy, yet he produced the most effective results anyone could¡¯ve asked for. If Shen Yiren was in his shoes, it would¡¯ve been impossible for her to execute the same n and achieve the same results. When she looked at her office¡¯s que, she could only pray they wouldn¡¯t be criticised.

    At the end of the day, there was a difference between having thepetence to execute something versus having the will to execute something.

    The contents of the letter affirmed Shen Yiren¡¯s belief that she was taking the correct course of action. The capital was safe from treachery. The turbulence hadn¡¯t ended, but it had migrated somewhere else. Doing nothing but defending wasn¡¯t just a shabby strategy; it was also an assist for the opposition.

    Shen Yiren felt apologetic to The Master for, given the way she went around searching for him at every gambling den in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Jiang Chen¡¯s informants would¡¯ve caught wind. Once they caught wind of the next piece of news she spread, they¡¯d leave no stone unturned to find her. In other words, The Master would be endangered. While The Master wouldn¡¯t foolishly wait for danger to sneak up on him, she felt bad about forcing him to move around. That was why she left him with the cheques.

    Following her departure from The Master¡¯s residence, Shen Yiren visited over twenty martial arts academies and told them she was searching for a swordsman by the name of Gongsun Chu. Needless to say, academies would air their grievances about the rude challenger, thus spreading her activities. Anybody but Jiang Chen would be confused about why she was searching for Gongsun Chu.

    The tant warning and provocation served but one purpose ¨C to force Jiang Chen out of hiding. Knowing a secret yet not making use of it wasn¡¯t Shen Yiren¡¯s style. She wanted the whole world to know, but she didn¡¯t want irrelevant people to perceive the details. In turn, Jiang Chen would try to locate and silence her before she could leak his secrets. And, as a result of that, Ming Feizhen was safe ¨C at least until Jiang Chen had confirmed Shen Yiren had been silenced.

    The consequence of Shen Yiren¡¯s tactic would draw a fire to her, and it most likely would find her sooner than she expected.

    Despite seeing the silver lights in between the surrounding vegetation, Shen Yiren didn¡¯t reach for her sword.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have what it takes to kill me,¡± Shen Yiren remarked.

    Seven assassins swiftly emerged from hiding while Shen Yiren was still sitting in the same spot. They went first. Shen Yiren arrived first. Once she effortlessly proved she was right, she mounted Battle Cloud and galloped away.

    Glossary

    Qilin ¨C For insurance purposes, qilins are a mythical creature.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 13: Chapter 73

    Book 13: Chapter 73

    ¡°Your hand needs to be lower. Even lower. That¡¯s wrong. This is the basic salute for when you meet someone of high standing. If you can¡¯t even remember it, you might as well surrender as soon as the contestmences. Why do something pointless?¡± Jin Zhaoying looked bored out of her skin with her face resting on one hand.

    Jin Zhaoying¡¯s voice in the spacious room made it seem as though it wasn¡¯t even summer. Furniture barely upied any space in the spacious room. In addition, it seemed as though the heat was afraid going near it. All that being said, anyone who knew her genuine nature would realise that she was already being friendly. If someone ignorant was to see her right now, her icy impression would melt.

    ¡°L-like this?¡± stuttered Su Xiao, trying his utmost to maintain his salute posture.

    Jin Zhaoying bobbed her head.

    Su Xiao exhaled his nerves out.

    ¡°Including that, everything is now wrong.¡±

    ¡°Eh?!¡±

    Jin Zhaoyang heaved a big breath and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve been teaching you for half a month; a monkey would¡¯ve got it down by now. What are you even doing?¡±

    Su Xiao jerked his head back as he widened his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve taught a monkey before? Why did you teach a monkey?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Originally, Su Xiao was only supposed to participate in the rites contest. Because Tang Ye and Ming Feizhen had vanished, though, Su Xiao had to prepare for all seven categories on his own.

    Shen Yiren and Tang Ye may have gone off to search for Ming Feizhen, but Su Xiao remembered Ming Feizhen stressing that he had to win the idolpetition. To achieve that, Su Xiao consulted Jin Zhaoying. ording to the students of Daren Academy, Ming Feizhen and Jin Zhaoying were in a rtionship where they¡¯d share a room with just the two of them. Su Xiao, nheless, didn¡¯t believe that. ording to Su Xiao, it was totally reasonable for someone as amazing as Ming Feizhen to know such a beautiful girl. After all, he most likely owed her an enormous sum of money.

    Su Xiao would take the token Ming Feizhen entrusted to him and frequent Flower Plucking Pce for lessons on rites, music, calligraphy and mathematics. Chariotry and archery were tough to master and certainly weren¡¯t his specialties. Hence, the n was to strengthen his strengths and avoid his weaknesses. While he didn¡¯t excel at martial arts, he had a superb memory. Moreover, given his foundations in calligraphy and mathematics, Jin Zhaoying was able to help him improve in those fields in a short time. His shorings in rites were merely a product of Jin Zhaoying splitting hairs with him.

    Someone knocked on the door, prompting Jin Zhaoying to look to Su Xiao. ¡°¡­ Someone knocked.¡±

    Su Xiao pped his eyelids. ¡°Yeah, so what do we do?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°¡­ Open the door.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You have to say ¡®please¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ling Xiang, get the door.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying only had two maids ¨C Ling Xiang and Zhai Ye ¨C as she liked an favoured lifestyle. She, however, didn¡¯t like personally attending to chores and ordering others around to do her bidding was a matter of course to her.

    Ming Feizhen and Jin Zhaoying¡¯s rtionship didn¡¯t stop at just knowing each other. She believed it was worth her efforts to make him owe her a favour. For as long as she had known him, though, she had never correctly predicted what he¡¯d do, not even once. He didn¡¯te to learn from her, suddenly vanished without a trace and entrusted a real piece of work to her.

    Whenever Su Xiao dropped in, he¡¯d conspicuously knock, enter and ask for tips while wearing a dorky smile, yet his smile was so bright that it made Jin Zhaoying feel ufortable in her own room. It was as though the sun barged into the moon¡¯s ce. At one point, he dined at her ce, slept on the ground, went to wash somewhere in the morning and then would return as if he was returning to his own ce. With Zhai Ye and Ling Xiang having their hands full trying to wait on him, they had less time to take care of Jin Zhaoying.

    Jin Zhaoying had a higher-than-average aptitude for learning, so she didn¡¯t have much patience when teaching others and often came up with things quick. Much to her chagrin, Su Xiao was able to keep up with her thinking. She was the type to be able to harshly criticise someone for days over a mistake. Problem was, Su Xiao didn¡¯t understand her insults. And, when he asked her what she meant, it¡¯d fan her mes even more. She had lost weight in two weeks just dealing with Su Xiao¡¯s idiocy.

    ¡°Sister Jin, I will be back again in a bit. I have to go to a meeting now.¡± Su Xiao walked out as casually as if he was leaving his house, then poked his head back in after setting foot outside. ¡°I¡¯d like to have roujiamo for dinner, hehe.¡±

    Catching her two maids smiling in amusement, Jin Zhaoyingpelled them to adjust their expressions with a re. As her personal maids, they had no obligation to cook for someone if they didn¡¯t want to. That was the primary source of Jin Zhaoying¡¯s headache.

    ¡­ Please let this be over soon. I don¡¯t know how much longer I can do this.

    Su Xiao had no choice but to select someone from the Quanmu ss to form a team with him since he didn¡¯t know many students at the academy. They were supposed to elect the third team member at today¡¯s meeting.

    ¡°Wu Dayong? Wu Dayong, are you there?¡±

    Indeed, Su Xiao¡¯s first teammate was none other than Wu Dayong, who had yet to show up at the agreed time.

    If you switched the ¡°Wu¡± character in Wu Dayong¡¯s name into the ¡°wu¡± for ¡°naught¡±, his name would read, ¡°Not of much use¡±. It was almost as if his parents knew he¡¯d look ordinary, perform ordinarily in academics, perform ordinarily in physical challenges and have an ordinary memory, the perfect extra viger character. He was up to date with all manner of rumours and gossip. He knew who was on friendly terms with who and who was whose enemy in the academy, and he was always first to find out new information. Evidently, he wasn¡¯t useful when it came to major things, but he was quite useful for trivial things. That was the reason Su Xiao picked him.

    Su Xiao was going to head back to Flower Plucking Pce to resume his training as Wu Dayong didn¡¯t show up when a familiar face that he found disgusting appeared.

    ¡°Baihu Su, long-time no see.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not good to see you.¡±

    Su Xiao walked past Song Chi, only for thetter to cut him off.

    Si Xiao: Well, look at this jerk. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s stopping me when I haven¡¯t made him pay yet.

    ¡°You want to fight?!¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m just thinking¡± ¨C Song Chi shook his head ¨C¡°you¡¯re not a student of Daren Academy, so¡­ it¡¯s not an issue if you¡¯re expelled, right?¡±

    Glossary

    Roujiamo ¨C Also known as rougamo, is basically a Chinese hamburger back in the day that originated in Shanxi. You can have a variety of fillings, so this is just an example, but the shape is fairly consistent. This is an image reference: /uploads/images/%img%/%book%_3

 Book 13: Chapter 74

    Book 13: Chapter 74

    Su Xiao stretched his eyes and mouth in front of the open hostility exhibited. It didn¡¯t take long for the gravity of his predicament to dawn on him. Song Chi clearly waited for Tang Ye, Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren to leave the picture before hunting him down.

    Against someone as evil as Song Chi, there were only two options ¨C fight or flight. Su Xiao predicated his selection on three criteria.

    Number one, fight only if winning was guaranteed. Erroneously measuring one¡¯s opponent wasmon, but it was scary to go up against someone who you clearly knew you had no chance against.

    Number two, if winning wasn¡¯t feasible, then fight if there was backup, such as having Tang Ye around.

    Number three, if winning wasn¡¯t possible, but the opponent was unbearable, fight him.

    Su Xiao knew he wasn¡¯t Song Chi¡¯s match from the day he watched Song Ou take back Vermillion Hall, but he still didn¡¯t back down. Now that he had a task, he didn¡¯t have the courage to be as reckless as that day. Nevertheless, he was somewhat aplished in the realm of recklessness and fooling people, though he never had a knack foring up with ns on the spot.

    ¡°Y-y-you intend to hit me?¡±

    For a moment, Song Chi wasn¡¯t sure how to react because it was the first time somebody asked him that question when he was about to throw hands with them. ¡°Uh¡­ yes.¡±

    H-he¡¯s serious about this.

    ¡°Wh-where are you going to hit me?¡±

    ¡°Why do you need to know?¡±

    Su Xiao mumbled, ¡°I need to find something to cushion the blows¡­¡±

    Song Chi: What the hell did he grow up on?!

    Ever since Song Chi had a degree of mastery over his n¡¯s broadsword skills, he favoured a strategy of utilising hostility to bait opponents in for a counter. If his opponent was Tang Ye, like any other elite fighter, Tang Ye would¡¯ve reactively done something to avoid harm. Song Chi would¡¯ve used the reaction as a means of measuring his opponent¡¯s capacity and initiated a counter of his own. He had great sess with the strategy even against opponent¡¯s who were otherwise superior to him. Su Xiao was the first person to not bite the bait. At the same time, though, it meant Su Xiao¡¯s internal strength was solid enough to resist the pressure of his hostility. It just didn¡¯t make sense.

    Su Xiao¡¯sbat experience could be counted on two hands. He would unlikely react in any meaningful way if someone swung a de at him, let alone be able to understand what hostile qi implied.

    ¡°Hmph, let¡¯s see what tricks you¡¯re up to!¡±

    Via a twirl of his wrist, Song Chi generated a breeze that pulled Su Xiao downwards to break Su Xiao¡¯s base. From there, he would finish the job with his broadsword. Fearing for his life, Su Xiao shut his eyes as tight as he gripped Ancient Cold and waited with bated breath.

    Song Chi: What the heck?! How advanced is this l-, guy¡¯s internal strength?!

    While Bai Yumo wasn¡¯t aplished as a martial artist in the martial world, her skills with a broadsword weren¡¯t a joke. Now that he was face to face with Su Xiao, Song Chi reasoned that he underestimated Su Xiao when he expected Bai Yumo to win. Boy, was he wrong. In reality, Su Xiao¡¯s kindness, upetitive nature and obedience to Ming Feizhen¡¯s instructions, in addition to his memory and aptitude for Buddhism, made him the prime root to feed Yijin Jing to. After all, Yijin Jing, like other Buddhist disciplines, required those traits of their practitioner.

    Had Song Chi gone straight to physically attacking Su Xiao, he wouldn¡¯t have broken a sweat. Trying to subdue Su Xiao in an internal contest was his mistake.

    ¡°Are you trying to start a fight? Do you realise you are in Daren Academy?¡±

    Su Xiao nced over in the direction of the person who came to his rescue. ¡°He Shi!¡±

    He Shi nodded. ¡°That is this one¡¯s name.¡± He confidently strode over with his brows so tightly knitted together that he could¡¯ve squashed a fly between them, ced a hand on his head and shook his head. ¡°To disregard morals in broad daylight, what a disgrace. What is going on? Are you trying to start a fight on Daren Academy¡¯s grounds?¡±

    Su Xiao wasn¡¯t familiar with He Shi as a person and didn¡¯t know what thetter was up to, but he never recalled He Shi having this sort of confrontational personality, and his memory was absolutely correct. If He Shi tried to confront Song Chi, Song Chi would have it out for him. Hence, he feigned ignorance to avoidplications.

    Song Chi simpered. ¡°Why pretend you don¡¯t know who I am?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Okay, allow me to rephrase that: this is Daren Academy, not Yangzhou¡¯s Song Fortress. Leave your tyranny for when you go home!¡±

    ¡°He Yingyang, Principal Huang¡¯s pet. I was never impressed with many students here prior to my arrival, but you were one of those who impressed me. Since you like choosing teams, how about joining mine? You suffer under Li Muye, do you not?¡±

    ¡°Li Muye has a lucky chance. You don¡¯t even have that much. Join you? What for? To be your fellow criminal?¡±

    ¡°You have a spine. I like it. Don¡¯t forget what you said today if you fail in the exams.¡±

    ¡°I shall not. If any conspiracy were to ever be brought to light, I¡¯ll be first on the scene to arrest you.¡±

    ¡°Haha, we¡¯ll see, won¡¯t we? Anyhow, I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re at liberty to get in my today. He¡¯s not a student or personnel of this academy in any shape or form. It¡¯s none of your business if I kick him out, is it?¡±

    Song Chi¡¯s initial n was to injure Su Xiao so that Su Xiao¡¯s right topete would be revoked. Since he couldn¡¯t achieve that, hisst option was to trump up a reason to have Su Xiao pre-emptively eliminated.

 Book 13: Chapter 75

    Book 13: Chapter 75

    ¡°The answer is simple,¡± He Shi casually remarked. ¡°He¡¯s my friend. As a student of the academy, I have the prerogative to invite friends in for a tour. Loud and clear?¡±

    Song Chi smirked. ¡°Loud and clear.¡±

    Frankly, Song Chi didn¡¯t harbour any malicious intentions toward Su Xiao besides disqualifying him pre-emptively. Worst came to worst, they¡¯d just have to win in the contest. He had nothing to gain, and potentially had losses to make, if he made an enemy out of He Shi, however. Though Huang Yuzao was absent, He Shi¡¯s entry into politics was guaranteed with Huang Yuzao backing him. Whether it was abuse of power or impartial judgement, Huang Yuzao would ensure He Shi partook in the imperial exams. Now that Huang Yuzao was out of the picture, howbeit, His Majesty would give He Shi bigger opportunities on ount of his old friend. He Shi just threatened to arrest him, did he not? What would give He Shi the authority to arrest him? An official post. If He Shi was confident he could enter politics without even being privy to Huang Yuzao¡¯s predicament, what would stop him now?

    Song Chi casually said, ¡°Enjoy your tour, Baihu Su. This one shall not keep you.¡±

    Su Xiao scratched his head while He Shi frowned, sensing the threat that was now going to burgeon in the shadows. He Shi knew full well that Song Chi wasn¡¯t going to be easy to stop.

    He Shi: To remainposed and calcte when he had an overwhelming physical advantage¡­ He has not let his n down.

    ¡°I suggest you avoid him in the future whenever you see him. You won¡¯t be so lucky next time. The extent to which I can help is l-¡± He Shi turned his head to see Su Xiao staring intently at him. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Join me, please!¡±

    He Shi had read ¡°stars in one¡¯s eyes¡± as a description before, but it was his first time seeing it in real life.

    Su Xiao tugged at He Shi¡¯s sleeve. ¡°You¡¯re so smart! How did you persuade him? I still can¡¯t even figure it out! You¡¯re Big Brother Ming¡¯s friend, right? Join my team!¡±

    Despite theck of context, He Shi understood what Su Xiao was talking about because Su Xiao and Tang Ye were popr at the academy. He could tell from his observations that the two were Ming Feizhen¡¯s friends. He wasn¡¯t close with Ming Feizhen, but he decided to speak up for Su Xiao on ount of Ming Feizhen and he being beat up together. That, nevertheless, didn¡¯t mean he had the slightest interest in participating in the idolpetition.

    ¡°Say ¡®yes¡¯ already. Stop thinking about pointless stuff.¡±

    Su Xiao looked up upon hearing the voice.

    ¡°What do you want to say this time, Wu Dayong?¡± questioned He Shi.

    Wu Dayong, sporting Western sunnies, strutted over at a pace three times slower than usual, making the fluttering of his robe subtler.

    ¡°Wu Dayong!¡± Su Xiao tackled Wu Dayong to the ground and stepped on him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop! Su Xiao, this is not elegant!¡±

    ¡°What time did we agree on?! What time is it now?!¡±

    ¡°I was there! I was doing what a gentleman should and staying aside so that you guys could flirt.¡± The only truth ¨C that was also only partially true ¨C was that Wu Dayong went into hiding as soon as he saw Song Chi getting confrontational. ¡°Plus, aren¡¯t I here to help you persuade He Shi?¡±

    Su Xiao removed his foot. ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡±

    He Shi grinned. ¡°Yeah, even I¡¯m curious what grand idea you have.¡±

    ¡°Heh, you bet it¡¯s grand.¡± Wu Dayong crawled to his feet and dusted himself. ¡°He Shi, say, ¡®yes¡¯. Stop being wishy washy with meaningless speeches.¡±

    ¡°Your persuasion tactic is anything but grand.¡±

    ¡°A life will be in danger if you don¡¯t ept.¡±

    ¡°Huh, danger to one¡¯s life? In the academy? Who?¡±

    Even though he still had a footprint on his face, Wu Dayong asserted, ¡°Me.¡±

    ¡°How is that my issue?!¡±

    Wu Dayong clung to He Shi¡¯s thigh. ¡°I went and challenged Ironhead Pce as soon as Su Xiao invited me to join him. I didn¡¯t expect Tang Ye to disappear. If you don¡¯t ept, I might be bludgeoned to death at any moment!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask for it?! Moreover, I¡¯m not much better off than you, okay?! Don¡¯t you know the second-generation rich kids hate me? They¡¯ll only beat you more viciously if I join you!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! They¡¯ll beat you instead of me! Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯ll be safe?¡±

    ¡°I pray for your death!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so cold-blooded. Are you really going to watch them murder your ssmate?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s riching from you! Also, there¡¯s no reason to cling onto my pants while you¡¯re speaking!¡±

    Wu Dayong knew well that He Shi wouldn¡¯t run around without his pants. Since hecked strength and stamina, relying on a single attack would be folly. Just as Qi general Sun Bin attacked Wei¡¯s capital at Daliang in 354 BC to lift the Wei siege on Zhao¡¯s capital of Handan, Wu Dayong attacked He Shi¡¯s pants to force He Shi to concede, or he¡¯d have to strut around without his pants. s, although his strategy was splendid, Su Xiao couldn¡¯t stand the moral wrongs.

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop. We¡¯re all ssmates. Shake hands and make up,¡± Su Xiao advised, prompting them to let go of each other. He then grabbed He Shi¡¯s hand and pulled it over.

    Wearing a grim expression, Wu Dayong asserted, ¡°Su Xiao, you can¡¯t let him go, or I¡¯ll be beaten to death.¡±

    He Shi wiped his forehead sweat. ¡°At least someone understands reason¡­ Hmm? Uh, you can hold my hand, but why did you rub a cinnabar on my finger? Hey, hey, hey, what are you grabbing from your shirt?! Stop! Stooop!¡±

    Su Xiao pressed He Shi¡¯s finger onto the registration form for the idol contest before happily releasing thetter¡¯s hand. ¡°Done.¡±

    Wu Dayong ecstatically pped.

    Meanwhile, He Shi flopped to the ground in tears. ¡°¡­ You ruffians¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point crying over spilt tea.¡± Su Xiao switched from a smile to a stoic face, crouched down and then, mimicking an English ent, said, ¡°You¡¯re already ours, son. Don¡¯t try to resist. You better give me a hundred and flipping eighty ideas a day, aye.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you stuck up prick. No point acting like a virgin now that you¡¯ve stamped it,¡± added Wu Dayong.

    ¡°This is unfair! I won¡¯t concede!¡± protested He Shi.

    Su Xiao: ¡°Hahaha, cry for help. Nobody wille to your rescue even if you scream till you lose your voice.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°You might annoy your enemies enough for them toe kill you, though.¡±

    ¡°Stop the futile resistance. Now, let us devise our strategy.¡±

    What could He Shi do besides let Su Xiao drag him, literally, along?

    Su Xiao and Wu Dayong¡¯s primary weakness was wits. Now that they found someone who could cover that part, there was no way they¡¯d let him slip away.

    In times of need, fairness and freedom were secondary considerations.

 Book 13: Chapter 76

    Book 13: Chapter 76

    He Shi was dragged to the secret base. The ¡°secret¡± base Su Xiao used for the contest preparation was just an unused room for storing misceneous equipment. Hong Jiu was the first person to solemnly introduce the room to Su Xiao, who solemnly introduced it to Wu Dayong, who solemnly introduced it to He Shi.

    Once his freedom was returned, He Shi fumed, ¡°It¡¯s not a contest of who has the biggest team; dragging me into it isn¡¯t going to help you.¡±

    Needless to say, the problem never crossed Su Xiao¡¯s mind. Nheless, problem solving wasn¡¯t his duty in the first ce.

    ¡°I know. There are seven subjects. I am taking on rites, arithmetic and martial arts. Wu Dayong is in charge of chariotry, calligraphy and music. You want to take part in archery?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You sure are good at delegating the right person for the right job.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, too kind, too kind.¡±

    Wu Dayong said, ¡°Su Xiao, let¡¯s re-evaluate this. I cane inst ce in calligraphy and music if we¡¯re lucky, but chariotry? I¡¯ll fall to my death.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a chicken! The heavens do not abandon those who try. Practice. Sister Jin said I should be able toe toe in second tost ce at the very least. See? I¡¯ve improved. There are still more than ten days!¡±

    Wu Dayong and He Shi could only feel sorry for Jin Zhaoying. As a matter of fact, they imagined she¡¯d be punching the air right now.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He Shi sighed. ¡°What gives you the idea you can win when you don¡¯t excel at any of the seven subjects?¡±

    As self-proimed second smartest person in the room, Wu Dayong responded, ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re here to strategize.¡±

    He Shi: ¡°¡­¡±

    No thug would let their captive go without a fight. Hence, He Shi caved in and opined, ¡°Frankly, the chances of this team winning the contest can be summed up in three words.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Dreamse true?¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°In the bag?¡±

    He Shi nodded. ¡°In your dreams.¡±

    ¡°Your attitude stinks! I have three words for you, too: watch your leg!¡±

    He Shi angrily stepped back to avoid Wu Dayong catching his injured leg and prepared to counter with a front kick, but Su Xiao pushed them back to stop them.

    ¡°Stop.¡± Feeling guilty, Su Xiao massaged He Shi¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Sir He, what shall we do, then?¡±

    Strategist He fumed, ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Take a page from his book and learn what guilt is.¡±

    Wu Dayong decried, ¡°Show us what you got then, tough guy. Everyone can talk.¡±

    ¡°Fine. You two went wrong at the most fundamental level!¡±

    The two looked to each other in confusion.

    Sounding is if he was lecturing children, He Shi borated, ¡°Did it ever cross your mind that the contest is the entire ss¡¯s problem? Why does only a portion of the ss have to bear the responsibility? Doesn¡¯t twenty people a stronger force than three people?¡±

    Su Xiao raised a hand. ¡°The rule limits us to three participants, though.¡±

    He Shi gracefully smiled. ¡°But there are seven subjects.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Spit it out already.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Just as the two ring at each other went to fight again, Su Xiao pulled them apart, not that it stopped them from throwing kicks at each other in the air.

    ¡°I¡¯m so mad that I¡¯ve forgotten what I was trying to say¡­ Right, there are seven subjects, but you don¡¯t need to win all seven to take first ce, correct?¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Wu Dayong licked his lips, then stoically asked, ¡°You¡¯re suggesting¡­ we bribe the examiner?¡±

    ¡°Take a walk to the loo. Dip your head in there. Flush everything inside out so that you can rece it with more useful stuff.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°I get it now!¡±

    He Shi smiled. ¡°There is hope yet.¡±

    ¡°We can get second ce and poison first ce so that we win first ce!¡±

    ¡°You need stop being so imaginative! What I meant is that there¡¯s no need for one team to win seven events when we have so many people.¡± Seeing the duo¡¯s impressed but perplexed looks, He Shi heaved a heavy breath. ¡°Other sses gathered their best and are only sending their best team topete, but there¡¯s no stiption that limits how many teams a ss can register. Hence, we can take an unconventional approach. We can form several teams, each team focusing on their speciality. As long as each team can win in their respective events, the overall is ours.¡±

    ¡°Oooooh!¡± Su Xiao and Wu Dayong nudged one of He Shi¡¯s shoulders each.

    ¡°Fear not the thug but the smart thug.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, you look honest to a fault, but you sure can be evil.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s riching from someone who wanted to bribe examiners and someone who wanted to poison contestants! Stopplimenting me with negative connotations!¡±

    ¡°Hang on.¡± Su Xiao stopped thumping He Shi¡¯s shoulder to pose as a thinker. ¡°What sort of teams should we form?¡±

    ¡°That is the key to this approach. We don¡¯t need to win all seven events. Know why?¡±

    ¡°Because bribing¡­¡±

    ¡°Because poisoning¡­¡±

    ¡°Because you only need to win four events to win the overall!¡± At this point, He Shi contemted giving up on academic pursuits to learn martial arts so that he could kill the two morons. ¡°Winning four out of seven eventss us the overall. What reason is there to win all seven? Hence, we need to focus our strengths on winning four events.¡±

    Su Xiao and Wu Dayong: ¡°Oooooh! Best of seven! Yeah!¡±

    ¡°¡­ You sure you understand? We haven¡¯t actually won yet¡­¡±

    Su Xiao beamed. ¡°I know! That said, thanks to your idea, I feel we have a real chance of winning now! I¡¯m happy!¡±

    He Shi shook his head vigorously, making sure he wasn¡¯t seeing things, then cleared his throat. ¡°Do you know who is most proficient in music at the academy?¡±

    Wu Dayong inted his chest. ¡°Right here.¡±

    He Shi: ¡°Well, hello, Mr. Good at Nothing.¡±

    ¡°I meant I know!¡±

    Su Xiao clocked Wu Dayong over the head. ¡°Then just say who it is!¡±

    ¡°So mean¡­¡± Rubbing his head, Wu Dayong continued, ¡°Shi Weiliang. Her family runs a restaurant. She only made it into the academy thanks to her music skills.¡±

    ¡°That makes things easy. Ming Feizhen and she are acquaintances. He should be able to persuade her to join us.¡±

    ¡°Cool.¡± Wu Dayong turned to Su Xiao. ¡°By the way, where is Ol¡¯ Ming? I haven¡¯t seen him in a while.¡±

    ¡°Tied up.¡±

    He Shi and Wu Dayong flinched.

    ¡°Uh, I meant as in he¡¯s tied up with helping people outside the city, yeah.¡±

    He Shi and Wu Dayong: ¡°Uhuh.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s not important right now! Let¡¯s go ask Miss Shi to help us! Let¡¯s move! Let¡¯s move!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 77

    Book 13: Chapter 77

    Daren Academy ran four sses daily, with an ample recess between each ss, which was also an opportunity for students to review materials. Right now, they were in a rest period between sses, so the tutor had yet to show up.

    Zhou Teng, shaking his head whilst holding a book to presumably read, looked up from behind his sses attached to a golden string. ¡°Su Xiao, long-time no see. What a coincidence for you three to be together. He sent his book down and politely expressed, ¡°Hello, Brother An Ran.¡±

    Wu Dayong courteously responded, ¡°Hello, Brother Zi Ang.¡±

    Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng were long-time friends at the academy, the type who¡¯d treat each other with the utmost courtesy and climb hurdles together, the type to read the same books,mit to the same causes for the betterment of mankind, the type to share the same pants if one didn¡¯t have pants. Given the fate of the ss hinged on the oue of thepetition, Wu Dayong decided it was best to not withhold anything from his brother from another mother.

    Su Xiao said, ¡°We heard Miss Shi is an expert in music, so we were nning to persuade her to join us in the music event.¡±

    ¡°I see. Dividing the seven events among us certainly is a good approach. You can count on Zheng Datong for mathematics, then.¡±

    ¡°Really? Hees from a family of mathematicians?¡±

    ¡°No, they sell vegetables.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s been helping them since he was a kid, so he¡¯s fantastic with working a calctor. Principal Huang personally paid him a visit after hearing of his skills and enrolled him on ount of his skills. While his ss scores have always been abysmal, he¡¯s the academy¡¯s ountant.¡±

    Of course, Su Xiao was jubnt to hear they had a second candidate when they were only expecting to find one.

    Wu Dayong smugly said, ¡°Told you so. You can trust my rmendations. Zi Ang pays attention to everything; his information is almost the most urate in the academy. He knows everything about everyone. As long as we have the will, there¡¯s nothing that can stop our ss.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± He Shi took out a test paper from his shirt. ¡°Show me.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Dah! Wicked fiend, watch me exorcise you!¡±

    Su Xiao chuckled. ¡°You can exorcise itter. Is Zheng Datong around?¡±

    Zhou Teng replied, ¡°Not at the moment. He¡¯s probably doing ounting work for the academy. He¡¯ll be back for ss. Why don¡¯t you speak to Shi Weiliang first? She¡¯s right over there.¡±

    Although sses were mixed gender, the boys and girls did build walls between themselves. That was the reason for the nigh non-existent rumours between ssmates.

    Many of the male students were old enough to be fathers in the current era, but very few of them had experience talking to girls. The girls weren¡¯t ugly by any stretch of the imagination; the students just livedparably to monks. Part of that was attributed to Principal Huang strictly managing the atmosphere and reputation of the academy. After all, who¡¯d dare send their daughter to the academy if there were rumours of boys mistreating the girls? Nevertheless, as they say, a dead mouse can¡¯t feel the cold. As the embodiment of that saying, Wu Dayong enthusiastically took the lead.

    Shi Weiliang had a tough side to her, but she was certainly approachable.

    Wu Dayong took three steps to cover his usual two strides and politely called to the maiden cheerfully chatting with her friends, ¡°Miss Shi.¡±

    ¡°Buzz off.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    As much as he was confused, Wu Dayong scuttled off in the face of Shi Weiliang¡¯s death stare.

    Zhou Teng questioned, ¡°Why is she giving you that cold attitude?¡±

    ¡°How should I know?¡±

    Confused and seeking answers, Zhou Teng decided to eavesdrop, only for Miss Wang Zi to stand up and thunder, ¡°How dare you not know?! Ask Wu Dayong if he¡¯s forgotten about how he vited Weiliang after he tripped onto herst time!¡±

    Face suddenly turning red, Shi Weiliang tugged at Wang Zi¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Zi¡­ you don¡¯t have to talk about it so loudly.¡±

    He Shi and Su Xiao looked back to Wu Dayong at the same time.

    Scratching his head, Wu Dayong said, ¡°I think I did¡­ not?¡±

    ¡°I see. Please give me a moment,¡± Zhou Teng gracefully said. ¡°He went and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s all right. You can tell me.¡±

    ¡°Tell you what?¡±

    ¡°Your final wish!¡±

    ¡°You wish! Oi, Mighty Eagle w?! You really trying to kill me?!¡±

    ¡°While we were studying, you went off to enjoy flowers by yourself! You have no right toin!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault Miss Wang won¡¯t reciprocate your feelings!¡±

    ¡°What happened to taking that secret to the grave?!¡±

    Wang Zi looked up and pped her eyelids.

    Zhou Teng looked back at Wang Zi and politely smiled. ¡°Miss Wang in the neighbouring ss. I prefer elegant girls more, hahah-, ugh!¡±

    After hitting Zhou Teng in the face with a copy of ¡°Analects¡±, Wang Zi cracked her knuckles. ¡°These soundrels really need a lesson.¡±

    Su Xiao charged in to pull them all apart. ¡°What in the world is going on?¡±

    Wu Dayong scrubbed his head. ¡°I think I bumped into something when I entered two days ago. As a result, I tripped and identally fell on top of Miss Shi.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°How can you act so indifferent after identally pulling a yboy ident?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m green with envy¡­¡±

    ¡°So it was a misunderstanding. Just clear up the air th-, wait, what?¡± Zhou Teng asked, ¡°Green with envy? Who just said that?¡±

    Su Xiao, Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng slowly shifted their gaze to the only person who hadn¡¯t said a word.

    He Shi: ¡°¡­ Not me.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Yeah right! You said it! I never knew you were a silent pervert!¡±

    ¡°I said it wasn¡¯t me! It was just a slip of the tongue. I mean, no! It wasn¡¯t me!|

    Su Xiao, figuring the discussion was going nowhere fast and wouldn¡¯t end anytime soon, went over to Shi Weiliang. ¡°Miss Shi, what happened was¡­¡±

    After she heard Su Xiao out and had time to ponder it, Shi Weiliang responded, ¡°I see. As the ss¡¯ reputation is at stake, it¡¯s only right for me to contribute in a way that I can. Okay, I¡¯m in.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Miss Shi, I admire your sense of justice.¡±

    ¡°Go die.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°¡­¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 78

    Book 13: Chapter 78

    There was no restriction on students of Daren Academy from leaving or entering at night. Save for He Shi and Wu Dayong clique, the other students had homes in the capital, so they¡¯d return home at night. Su Xiao was in celebration mode after they found someone to tackle mathematics and music, so he didn¡¯t want them to leave ¨C or in He Shi¡¯s case, to read. After all, Tang Ye and Shen Yiren had left the capital for some time, so Su Xiao had been on his own until he made new friends today. Nheless, they agreed to hash out the details tomorrow.

    Su Xiao lodged at Daren Academy ever since ¡°enrolling¡± there. As per routine, he nned to visit Flower Plucking Pce for extra training after sses. He still hadn¡¯t figured out why Ming Feizhen stressed he had to win the idolpetition, but he took it to heart, believing Ming Feizhen had his reasons for stressing it ¨C and even suspected his disappearance had something to do with it.

    Judging from the eerie atmosphere in the capital and number of people involved in thispetition, there must be aplexwork of things between them. Well, there¡¯s no point worrying about it if I can¡¯t figure it out.

    Suddenly, Su Xiao stopped walking.

    Someone is tailing me.

    The onset was sudden, but Su Xiao could vividly sense the malicious intent spawn behind him. Su Xiao formed the image of someone in ck attire sneaking around in the darkness. The individual on his tail was taken aback as they didn¡¯t expect Su Xiao to suddenly stop, much less realise it was because they had been detected.

    ¡°Are you going toe out,¡± Su Xiao had blurted before he realised, raised his head and raised his voice to add, ¡°or am I going to run?¡±

    Of course, nobody responded.

    Su Xiao lowered his head and bolted, resulting in him missing out on what took ce afterwards.

    The individual atop a building a hundred metres from Su Xiao¡¯s spot rose to their feet because they had been surrounded.

    He Kanyu, deputy principle of Daren Academy, was often called Iota Draconis since he was Huang Yuzao¡¯s left-hand man. Because he dressed inly, didn¡¯t resemble someone from a city and was honest to a fault, the students often picked on him. Little did they know, he was among the most dexterous people in the world despite being in his forties. He was one of the few people who knew the true reason Huang Yuzao left the capital. Therefore, he was the first person to order the guards to tighten security on the academy premises.

    Lan Jiqiong, often called Thuban since he was Huang Yuzao¡¯s right-hand man, led the elite guards over and, given he was known for being astute and clever, was given authority to speak first. He smugly said to the intruder, ¡°The feared and notorious bronze-mask adept failed to hide his appearance from a child. Embarrassing.¡±

    It took the intruder ten days to find the loophole in the new security system deployed at Daren Academy, yet all that effort was flushed away as soon as Su Xiao raised his voice. For whatever reason, the intruder chose to flee.

    ¡°You think you can juste and go as you please?!¡±

    Lan Jiqiong went to personally hinder the intruder, only to be given the slip. Reacting quickly, Lan Jiqiong pivoted to his side and threw three punches. He missed his first punch by a margin, second one by a fist and third one by an arm¡¯s length. Lan Jiqiong subsequently pounced forward to try a flying palm attack, hoping to use the extended force generated to catch his prey, only to barely close the distance.

    He Kanyu was sure the intruder was behind him, yet thetter was in front of him before he knew it. He Kanyu unsheathed his golden-energy-imbued sword with haste, but the intruder had somehow already armed himself with a broadsword and shut down He Kanyu¡¯s heat energy with his own circr silver energy.

    Leveraging the force produced from their exchange, the intruder soared off on an angle as lightly as a feather. His movement looked effortless, yet he had already be a small ck dot before Lan Jiqiong couldmand, ¡°After him with me!¡±

    All of a sudden, He Kanyu folded in front of them, while the others felt as if they were winded from a heavynding.

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± cried Lan Jiqiong.

    He Kanyu just uttered two words: ¡°Leave him.¡±

    ¡°Senior Brother, this is his first failure. We can capture him if we go after him now. We might even be able to learn where Shifu is. Please give me ten men. I am sure I can apprehend him.¡±

    s, He Kanyu would never green light the pursuit. Instead, he instructed, ¡°Prioritise the academy first.¡±

    ***

    Jin Zhaoying ceased writing for a while and lowered her head prior to resuming. Seeing as she was upied, Su Xiao went to leave on his tip toes, only to hear her ask, ¡°Where are you going?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ehehe, I¡¯m back. I was going to head into the courtyard since you are busy,¡± replied Su Xiao.

    Though she still didn¡¯t look up nearly enough to see Su Xiao, she said, ¡°There¡¯s food on the table. I¡¯ll continue your lessons after you have dinner.¡±

    As Su Xiao had no time to listen to his belly until now, he happily relished the bowl of porridge, colourful side dishes and steaming momo. ¡°Sister Zhaiye and Lingxiang sure are marvellous cooks. Everything they make is delicious.¡±

    After a while of eating, Su Xiao started to feel ufortable due to the silence,pelling him to ask, ¡°Sister Jin, do you think all of my practice will pay off?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Am I too dull?¡±

    ¡°No. You¡¯re not good at anything, but nobody can deny that you¡¯re a fast learner. Problem is, yourpetition have been training since they were toddlers. Expecting to surpass someone who has spent over a decade on a skill within two weeks is pathologically delusional.¡±

    Su Xiao dropped his chin for a good while. ¡°Why did you make me practice, then?¡± he eventually asked.

    ¡°I never demanded you to practice anything. You¡¯re the one who begged me to teach you.¡±

    Women are liars!

 Book 13: Chapter 79

    Book 13: Chapter 79

    Wealthy men and schrs held their open fans overhead as an umbre whilst making their way across the rather empty streets. Apanying the concert of raindrops outside, Jin Zhaoying continued making soft sounds as she put her brush to paper.

    ¡°I never said your practices would prove fruitful. Since you requested lessons, though, I gave you lessons.¡±

    ¡°Th-that being the case, what do I do about the rites contest?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for you to think about.¡± Jin Zhaoying¡¯s voice echoed in the room in a manner that made it seem as though she was there yet not. ¡°My job is to help you grow, not to help you win. If Ming Feizhen were here, he¡¯d be striving for the same goal.¡±

    Su Xiao thought he was seeing Jin Zhaoying¡¯s mood in the air.

    ¡°Before today, you didn¡¯t know what to do about mathematics and music, but you do know.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s brain reyed all of his encounters and conversations today.

    A just cause enjoys abundant support! Many hands make light work!

    ¡°Who should I seek for help in the rites contest then?¡± Su Xiao enthused.

    ¡°How should I know?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Even if I do know, I won¡¯t tell you. Else, aren¡¯t I just spoon feeding you? What you ought to focus on isn¡¯t how to pry the answer out of me but to find your own answer. Searching for answers is a part of the growth process. I only promised Ming Feizhen to take care of you. You¡¯re teeming with energy, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ve fulfilled my promise.¡±

    Su Xiao sort of understood. Nevertheless, he finished all of the momo, though it took a good while. Interrupting the rain and Jin Zhaoying¡¯s concert experience again, he called, ¡°Sister Jin.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying continued writing for a while before, and without stopping her hand, responding, ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°Do you like Big Brother Ming?¡±

    Jin Zhaoying suddenly stayed her hand. ¡°¡­ Yes,¡± she answered. Subsequently, she went back to writing as though the topic didn¡¯t bother her. A whileter, she asked, ¡°Do you not like my answer?¡±

    Su Xiao shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m happy to hear that. You¡¯re a good person. I¡¯m heading to bed.¡±

    Watching Su Xiao leave with a hunched over posture, Jin Zhaoying blurted, ¡°Wait.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Perhaps you don¡¯t need an answer from me. Perhaps I am the answer. Who am I? Surely I have utility in some capacity.¡± Although Jin Zhaoying didn¡¯t understand why she said that, it was toote to pretend she didn¡¯t say it now. ¡°That¡¯s all for hints. You¡¯re free to go.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Thank you¡­?¡± Su Xiao took his confusion with him.

    Su Xiao excitedly ran to the agreed rendezvous point the next day; he even left earlier than usual. He was always happy to make new friends and hit it off with pretty much everyone, but seldom did he have the chance to join a group of young friends striving for the same goal. To his surprise, He Shi, Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng were already at the secret spot.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you guys to be so early.¡±

    Zhou Teng pushed his sses up his nose. ¡°I-I¡¯m usually early. As a student, my studies are my priority. Arriving earlier than the sunrise is normal protocol for me.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°I had one foot in before Zhou Teng.¡±

    He Shi smirked. ¡°I arrived after them.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°You were waiting outside before we even arrived. We had to open the door for you to enter!¡±

    ¡°Which means I wasst to enter.¡± He Shi opened his panda eyes and cockily continued, ¡°You¡¯re upright young men in their prime. You were so excited over something so trivial that you couldn¡¯t sleep?¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Look at your eyes! Either you were a burrst night or spying on Su Xiao changingst night!¡±

    ¡°I just didn¡¯t sleep! Who are you using of peek-, ah¡­¡±

    Wu Dayong and Zhou Teng shed their pearly whites and raised their eyebrows a few times, making He Shi go red in the face.

    Su Xiao hugged the three of them. ¡°Hahaha, I get it. I get it. You¡¯re excited, right?¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Well, a little. It¡¯s the first time in my life that I feel like I can actually do something right. Plus, it¡¯s as a team.¡±

    Zhou Teng scratched the back of his head. ¡°Truth be told, my only friend at the academy in all these years is Brother An Ran. It¡¯s pretty cool to achieve something together.¡±

    He Shi: ¡°There were just too many mosquitoes bugging mest night¡­¡±

    Wu Dayong smacked He Shi over the head, then checked his empty hand. ¡°Mosquito.¡±

    He Shi silently stood up, took out a dagger and swung it at Wu Dayong. ¡°Why are you blocking?¡±

    ¡°At leaste up with an excuse for swinging at me! I justified hitting you, didn¡¯t I?!¡±

    ¡°Why the hell do I need to waste my energy making up an excuse?!¡±

    ¡°I have good news.¡± Zhou Teng ended the fight promptly with those four words. ¡°I asked Zheng Datong yesterday, and he has agreed to lend us his aid.¡±

    Su Xiao pped. ¡°Fantastic. Now we have someone for mathematics for sure.¡±

    ¡°However, he has a condition.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°We have to convince the academy to let his family be the academy¡¯s exclusive vegetable supplier. He told me his family¡¯s business has been on a steep decline ever since security in the capital became an issue, so his parents want him to quit studying.¡±

    The academy was an enormous entity. When talking about food, food hygiene and the wellbeing of students needed to be ounted for. Hence, they couldn¡¯t just switch suppliers because they wanted to. In addition, how would they hold themselves ountable to their current supplier?

    Su Xiao queried, ¡°If he¡¯s that confident in his family¡¯s vegetables, are their vegetables really good?¡±

    ¡°Top of the line. I¡¯ve visited his vegetable garden once. I guarantee their vegetables are levels better than what we¡¯re eating now,¡± asserted Zhou Teng.

    Su Xiao turned to Wu Dayong and He Shi.

    Wu Dayong opined, ¡°From what I know, the person in charge of purchasing ingredients is someone in the kitchen. I just can¡¯t remember who it is. Whatever the case, let¡¯s go talk to them.¡±

    Zhou Teng and Su Xiao: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Save yourself the trouble and stop.¡± He Shi borated, ¡°I know who is in charge. Everyone¡¯s bully, Xiang Baxian. Because of His Highness¡¯ treason usations, he¡¯s locked up, too.¡±

    Zhou Teng nodded. Wu Dayong nodded, as well. Su Xiao nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. To the prison.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 80

    Book 13: Chapter 80

    ¡°Entry into the Ministry of Justice¡¯s prison is prohibited. What are y-, eh?¡±

    Su Xiao beamed. ¡°Oh, Brother Li!¡±

    Zhonng Li was a high-ranking official and student of Secretary Leng whom Su Xiao got to know whilstpleting his work cement at the ministry. Though Su Xiao didn¡¯t work there for long, he treated his seniors to dinner whenever he was paid, which helped him make numerous friends at the Ministry of Justice.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Brother Su. You must be busy given His Majesty has been trusting Liu Shan Men with more jobs nowadays.¡±

    Liu Shan Men was busy, but they were only busy with the menial tasks after the Qilin Guards were done with the big parts of jobs, such as recording testimonies, checking crime records and the sort. The Ministry of Justice, too, had their hands full due to Yi Ya¡¯s return, or more specifically, the things he did. Zhonng Li was just being polite to Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao, of course, didn¡¯t mind it since he wasn¡¯t busy at Liu Shan Men. To the contrary, he cheerfully requested, ¡°We want to see a prisoner. Please take us to him, Brother Li.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Brother Su, you¡¯ve worked here previously; you know how we operate. We are impartial. I can allow you passage, but only once you can provide all the paperwork.¡±

    Su Xiao scratched his head. ¡°What shall we do, then? We don¡¯t have the paperwork.¡±

    ¡°Who do you want to say? There are literally a hundred prisoners inside. Who¡¯s your friend?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not a friend. I need to speak to him for business person. His name is Xiang Baxian.¡±

    ¡°Xiang Baxian?¡±

    While the upper echelon had stated that Xiang Baxian¡¯s verdict needed to be decided soon, nobody had stated how he would be dealt with, nor had they announced who would be in charge of executing the punishment.

    Lowering his voice, Zhonng Li asked, ¡°Do you have written instructions from Vice-Captain Shen?¡±

    Despite not knowing why Zhonng Li softened his voice, Su Xiao followed suit to answer, ¡°No.¡±

    Zhonng Li: Thought so.

    Shen Yiren was well-known for being a workaholic and someone nearly as rule-abiding as Secretary Leng, after all.

    Shen Yiren had apparently vanished to investigate a big case. If the upper echelon were going to send someone close to Emperor Yuansheng to question Xiang Baxian, then she would be the most suited candidate. Assuming Su Xiao was here in Shen Yiren¡¯s ce, Zhonng Li queried, ¡°What¡¯s his punishment?¡±

    Su Xiao quietly replied, ¡°I have questions for him.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please follow me.¡±

    Since Zhonng Li looked serious, Su Xiao nodded seriously. ¡°After you.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s three new friends looked to each other, amazed at how much power Su Xiao wielded.

    ¡°Xiang Baxian, you have a visitor.¡±

    Xiang Baxian shuddered whenever he heard the voice of someone from the Ministry of Affairs nowadays because they had been battering him three times a day for a confession. At first, he had no idea who his visitor was based on ¡°her¡± warrior robe and porcin-like face. Only when he put names to the three faces between ¡°her¡± did he remember who thess was. ¡°You¡¯re thess who hit His Highness!¡±

    ¡°Watch your wretched mouth!¡± brayed Zhonng Li. ¡°This is Secretary Leng¡¯s prized student, Baihu Su!¡±

    Xiang Baxian¡¯s soul almost left his body. As a mereckey of Li Muye¡¯s at Daren Academy, Xiang Baxian hardly knew anything about Wondrous Warrior Estate, so he¡¯d spill nonsense to get out of beatings, framing Li Muye¡¯s entire family ¨C present and past eight generations ¨C for crimes they never evenmitted. Little did he know Li Muye¡¯s family became part of His Majesty¡¯s family in their sixth generation. As a result, he ate yet more beatings. Now thess he had a grudge with was Secretary Leng¡¯s prized student? If Su Xiao had no qualms assaulting a Prince, what qualms would he have over beating a Prince¡¯sckey?

    Xiang Baxian hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground for mercy.

    Zhonng Li snorted. ¡°Good to see you know what¡¯s good for you. Baihu Su has questions for you.¡±

    ¡°Th-this one will not withhold anything he knows. It is true that Li Muye was plotting an insurgence. He spouted all sorts of treasonous words every day. This one only wished he could have torn the traitor limb from l-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I want to ask about.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Uh, this one will not hide anything.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. Are you in charge of procuring Daren Academy¡¯s vegetables?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ yes.¡±

    ¡°Are you still in charge?¡±

    ¡°May¡­ be? This one has been in charge of it for ten-odd years, so he should be most familiar with it.¡±

    Su Xiao turned back to his friends. ¡°He¡¯s still in charge. What next?¡±

    He Shi quietly instructed, ¡°Ask if he can be released, then. We can discuss the rest once we¡¯re back at the academy.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Su Xiao nodded, then asked Zhonng Li, ¡°Brother Li, can I release him?¡±

    Zhonng Li: Just as I expected. That said, what¡¯s with the excuse for his release? Vegetables?

    ¡°Of course. Please do what you need to do, Brother Su. Xiang Baxian, hear that? Why haven¡¯t you thanked Baihu Su yet?¡±

    If Xianj Baxian¡¯s mouth wasn¡¯t already virtually on the ground, it would be now. Once he finally processed everything, he cried as if Guanyin came down to save him. ¡°Miss Su, this one shall serve you with his life from now! Just say the word, and this one will be there!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a man!¡±

    Needless to say, Xiang Baxian didn¡¯t hear anything when he was crying so loudly. Su Xiao didn¡¯t waste any more time, so he bid farewell to his old colleague and headed back to the academy.

    Zhonng Li¡¯s shoulders felt considerably lighter after Su Xiao left. He had just poured himself a quality cup of tea and started wondering what the chef would make for dinner when another guest arrived. His mood was instantly spoiled when he identified his visitor.

    Lei Bao, one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons as famous as Long Zaitian, was another Qilin Guard vice-captain. Many referred to him as ¡°Ion Leopard Head¡±, while he liked to call himself ¡°Southern Dragon Northern Leopard¡± ¨Calthough nobody else knew about his self-proimed moniker. While he was respected as a fighter, it was hard to respect him as a person. Had his mother¡¯s elder sister not been one of His Majesty¡¯s concubines, a town-worth of people would¡¯ve rearranged the lecher¡¯s face already.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, Zhonng Li,¡± Lei Bao announced with a chopstick dangling from his mouth.

    ¡°How may this one help you today, Vice-Captain Lei?¡±

    ¡°Since when did I need your help? I¡¯m here to take a scumbag into custody.¡±

    As much as Zhonng Li would¡¯ve loved to rub his boot all over Lei Bao¡¯s smug mug, he had to hold it in. ¡°Who might that be?¡±

    ¡°Xiang Baxian.¡±

    Xiang Baxian? Oh, looks like the three offices are fighting for credit. I¡¯d rather let Brother Su win than this slimy jerk.

    ¡°Heh, coincidentally, he has been released.¡±

    ¡°Released?¡± Lei Bao dropped his chopstick from his mouth. ¡°Released, you say? Who gave you the audacity to release such an important suspect? You son of a¡­ Why did you release him?¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s officers came to take him. This one is busy. You will have to see yourself out.¡± Zhonng Li sat back down to resume drinking his tea.

    Lei Bao riveted in ce. Following some contemting, he thundered, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Bring in Song Smalldong!¡±

    Glossary

    Zhonng ¨C A rank simr to Su Xiao¡¯s Baihu rank. Unfortunately, there is no official English trantion for it (Charles O. Hucker. A Dictionary of Official Titiles in Imperial China, 2017).

    Omitted detail ¨C It was another case of another pronoun exclusive to Chinese. When Zhonng Li tells Su Xiao to follow him inside, he refers to himself as an official beneath Su Xiao despite being half a rank higher. I omitted it because there¡¯s no equivalent English pronoun, doesn¡¯t impact the plot and would only break your rhythm if I had to exin it. Zhonng Li does this because he assumed Su Xiao was carrying out a direct order from His Majesty.

    Smalldong ¨C Just in case anyone is not aware, ¡°dong¡± is Aussie ng for penis.

 Book 13: Chapter 81

    Book 13: Chapter 81

    Daren Academy was an entity that isted itself from the world. Although the students didn¡¯t feel that way, the Confucianism guards prevented any non-affiliated members from ever entering. Xiang Baxian¡¯s father was the academy¡¯s personnel, so Xiang Baxian technically inherited his father¡¯s post. Because they didn¡¯t know the nature or severity of crime he was arrested for, most members of the academy weren¡¯t surprised to see Xiang Baxian released and back at the academy.

    Xiang Baxian¡¯s temporary substitute wasn¡¯t as experienced as he was in embezzlement, bribery and the sort, so Xiang Baxian promptly resumed his post.

    Given how obedient Xiang Baxian now was to Su Xiao, he didn¡¯t hesitate to switch suppliers. Hence, there was now Zheng Datong on arithmetic and Shi Weiliang on music.

    ¡°Right, what¡¯s next?¡±

    With his arms crossed, Wu Dayong had a think before answering, ¡°I reckon we should carefully choose our remaining team members because, based on my evaluation of myself, I suck at all the ssics. Therefore, we need five more team members.¡±

    Zhou Teng: ¡°Try telling us something we don¡¯t know. Who should we pick for the remaining five topics?¡±

    He Shi: ¡°ss is about to start. Let¡¯s head back to ss first. We can devise a n after.¡±

    While they were in ss, Su Xiao squatted at the window until their ss was over. ¡°You guys are finally done!¡±

    Zhou Teng smiled. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect this, but Shi Weiliang said we can use her family¡¯s restaurant as a meeting spot after ss. Let¡¯s continue our strategy meeting there.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    When she approached the group, Shi Weiliang bashfully said, ¡°My parents said they would support me in any way they could when they heard I was participating. They said they¡¯re willing to cook for us until thepetition, too.¡±

    Wu Dayong effused, ¡°Why are we still here, then? Shi Weiliang¡¯s restaurant is the premium type!¡±

    ¡°So pathetic,¡± He Shi mocked as he nudged Wu Dayong¡¯s shoulder. He then solemnly asked Shi Weiliang, ¡°Do we get rice refills?¡±

    At Eight Deities, their most perceptive person and best strategist opined first, ¡°There are five more contests. I feel that everyone left is fairly close in all five subjects. I can¡¯t think of anyone who stands out in any particr subject.¡±

    Maybe out of anger over thest ident, Wang Zi scoffed, ¡°Let¡¯s have an equestrian contest. I¡¯ll give you a three second head start.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°I¡¯d give him six!¡±

    He Shi: ¡°Seven.¡±

    Zhou Teng: ¡°I hope you all can walk the walk! Gopete if you¡¯re so good!¡±

    The three turned away and whistled.

    Su Xiao chuckled. ¡°I guess that means you¡¯re all fairly close in skill, then. I¡¯m not very good at equestrian, either, although I can run faster than a horse now.¡±

    Everyone else: ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I really am bad at equestrian, though. Keep going, Zhou Teng.¡±

    Zhou Teng: ¡°Huh? Oh, right. So, I was thinking we need to ask for assistance from external sources. Let¡¯s fill the roles we can, and then we¡¯ll ask others to help for the ones we have no hope at, such as calligraphy and rites. We aren¡¯t really that bad. I mean, we could get by if wepeted.¡±

    Wang Zi: ¡°Don¡¯t we have the academy¡¯s self-proimed greatest schr? Surely calligraphy wouldn¡¯t be the slightest challenge for him.¡±

    Everyone cast their gazes towards He Shi, everyone except for Wu Dayong, who queried, ¡°Who? Me?¡±

    He Shi sighed and then kicked Wu Dayong. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to tell you I could win it, writing documents is only one facet of calligraphy, not to mention it is the event with the least weight among the six events. I¡¯m confident when ites to writing documents, but I bet Brother Zi Ang rivals my calligraphy abilities. That being the case, I¡¯m not better than the other sses in calligraphy.¡±

    Everyone heaved a big breath, everyone except Wu Dayong, who said, ¡°I know someone who¡¯s pretty good at calligraphy.¡±

    Everyone looked up and whacked Wu Dayong over the head. ¡°Then tell us!¡±

    ¡°Show some respect for the smartest man in the room, please.¡± Wu Dayong rubbed his head whilst telling them, ¡°Our ss¡¯s Mu Anan, duh.¡±

    Everyone had an ¡°aha¡± moment, everyone except Su Xiao, who questioned, ¡°Who?¡±

    Zhou Teng politely reminded, ¡°The girl who wrote you the love letter.¡±

    ¡°Love letter? ¡­ ¡®You are My 14th July¡¯?!¡± An unnatural white tinge came to Su Xiao¡¯s face.

    He Shi bobbed his head. ¡°I do remember Mu Anan is an aplished novelist and poet¡­ in a unique way. There¡¯s quite a number of her works at the academy, but I don¡¯t have the guts to read them, so I don¡¯t know what her calligraphy standard is.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s great,¡± asserted the self-proimed smartest man in the room. ¡°It was a respected calligrapher who rmended Mu Anan her to Principal Huang so that her talent wouldn¡¯t go to waste. Surely Principal Huang wouldn¡¯t ept her for her poems and novels, right? Surely.¡±

    Zhou Teng pped. ¡°I never knew you could be useful until now. Could we trouble our twodies to speak to Mu Anan on our behalf?¡±

    Shi Weiliang and Wang Zi exchanged eye contact, then looked to Su Xiao.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re needed¡­¡±

    ¡°If somebody would just wink, she¡¯ll jump on board.¡±

    As Su Xiao was still stuck in 14th July, he didn¡¯t notice the gazes on him.

    Among everyone in the group, He Shi had the best grasp on rites, followed by Zhou Teng. The problem was that He Shi¡¯s leg had yet to recover, so performing certain actions to a winning standard was impossible. Knowing this but not wanting to hurt He Shi¡¯s feelings, Zhou Teng conveyed, ¡°I guess we have three events sorted, then. We won¡¯t need outside aid for rites. I shall bravely volunteer.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Ol¡¯ He, we¡¯re not downying yourpetence. Your leg isn¡¯t 100% yet, so you¡¯ll just lose even if you try. We only need to win four out of seven events, so let¡¯s just consider it a handicap.¡±

    Su Xiao patted He Shi on the shoulder. ¡°We understand.¡±

    He Shi: ¡°Thank you. Let¡¯s just consider it a freebie for them.¡±

    Shi Weiliang: ¡°You can¡¯t win everything in life. Just consider it another trip on the journey.¡±

    Wang Zi: ¡°Heh, don¡¯t worry about it. There are worse.¡±

    Zhou Teng: ¡°If you¡¯re all so good, why don¡¯t you sign up?! Why are we giving them a free win?! How ipetent am I to you?! Hey! Looking at me when I¡¯m talking!¡±

    Following a brief detour from thepetition discussion, Zhou Teng said, ¡°Chariotry, archery and martial arts are the three events left to address, none of which are our specialties.¡±

    Wang Zi raised her hand. ¡°I know how to fight.¡±

    Coming from a family that operated a martial arts school, without Ming Feizhen, she¡¯d be the best fighter in their ss.

    ¡°I¡¯m probably not as good as Xiao Han, though. I¡¯m a little better than the average person at archery and riding a horse, but I¡¯m definitely not good enough to beat the freaks of Iron Head Pce.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°You can¡¯t put people on a pedestal like that. Archery and chariotry aren¡¯t martial arts disciplines. Heck, I¡¯ve even seen them ride a horse or shoot an arrow; they weren¡¯t that impressive. I think they¡¯re about your level. You might even be able to flog them if you spend a few days learning from an expert.¡±

    ¡°Where are we going to find an expert wiling to teach all of a sudden? Besides, do you even know a reputable archery teacher?¡±

    Wu Dayong had no response, so he turned to Su Xiao. ¡°Su Xiao, you know anyone?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I d-, wait. I do, actually.¡±

    ***

    ¡°So, that¡¯s why you¡¯re here to learn archery from me?¡± Ye Luo couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied Su Xiao, beaming brightly. ¡°I shall be in your care!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 82

    Book 13: Chapter 82

    A while ago.

    ¡°They about toe out?¡±

    ¡°ording to our scouts, soon. Just be patient for a while longer.¡±

    Arge group of people attired in ck clothing were hiding outside the Qilin Guards¡¯ office. Being there when Yi Ya had returned was the same as being neighbours with a grim reaper, not to mention Emperor¡¯s Entourage were searching high and low for them. Many, many times, they had strong urges to leap into the office and scout out the ce. Every single time the urge arose, though, they¡¯d remember Her Highness¡¯ orders and quell the urge.

    ¡°They¡¯reing out!¡±

    Despite having hid themselves well, they still unintentionally held their breaths as soon as their target appeared, fearing their operation would be sabotaged due tocency.

    They had been hiding there for half a year and waited for eighteen long days for the Qilin Guards to go collect Li Muye from the Ministry of Justice. In order to rescue Li Muye, they needed an important piece of information, and the only person in possession of that information was detained in the Ministry of Justice¡¯s prison. The Qilin Guards recently found out about this, which was why the individual in question needed to be finished sooner orter.

    Both the Ministry of Justice and Qilin Guards¡¯ office were execution grounds. However, there was one ce where there was hope ¨C the path between the two locations. Having identified the one and only opportunity, Li Muye¡¯s mother devised a strategy to have two teams, one outside and one inside, coordinating an operation to rescue the prisoner during transportation before the Qilin Guards could get their hands on him.

    The group waited with bated breaths to see who the escort was.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Is it Yi Ya?¡±

    The person with a telescope from the Western Regions, which they called ¡°Thousand Miles Eyes¡±, quietly answered, ¡°It¡¯s Lei Bao.¡±

    Everyone knew Lei Bao was tough, but they knew that only the top seven on Seventeen Hidden Dragons were beyond them. If Yi Ya was the escort, their n was over before it was even put into motion.

    ¡°Perfect. Stay close, and let¡¯s move.¡±

    They stealthily tailed Lei Bao to the Ministry of Justice¡¯s prison. Needless to say, they couldn¡¯t enter. That being said, they didn¡¯t need to enter for the operation was meant to take ce outside of the prison.

    The door was opened a second time a lot sooner than they expected, but they made no fuss and set their hands on their weapons. For some reason, however, Lei Bao didn¡¯te out with Xiang Baxian. Instead, he was grumbling to himself while heading in a direction they never foresaw.

    Hiding in an inconspicuous spot out of light¡¯s reach, the group began discussing what to do.

    ¡°¡­ So, what¡¯s going on now?¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s saying Xiang Baxian isn¡¯t here.¡±

    ¡°Where is he then?¡±

    ¡°¡­ ording to my lip reading¡­ he¡¯s at Liu, Shan, Men.¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°I think there¡¯s some conflict between them. Liu Shan Men took Xiang Baxian away before the Qilin Guards were scheduled to.¡±

    Having resided at Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor for an extensive period, the group of adepts knew all about the perpetual contest between the three offices, so it wasn¡¯t a surprising oue. There was a chance that things would be moreplicated if Xiang Baxian was now held at Liu Shan Men¡¯s office. That said, were their eighteen days of waiting supposed to just go to waste? Were they to just leave His Highness in prison?¡±

    ¡°¡­ After him.¡± The group leader instructed, ¡°While Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards are fighting each other, we¡¯ll sneak into Liu Shan Men and proceed. If the situation calls for it, you can spill blood.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Ok, take a deep breath in, pull the string back¡­ and release.¡±

    The arrow whizzed over eighty metres and hit the bullseye on the board.

    Wang Zi, cheeks flush, effused, ¡°I did it again! I¡¯vended eight consecutive bullseyes! Look!¡±

    Shi Weiliang sat in the bottom of a squat after a few shots because she didn¡¯t have the physical endurance to shoot for long. However, the others weren¡¯t exhausted, so they should¡¯ve apuded, yet they didn¡¯t even look in Wang Zi¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Hey! Did you guys see me or not?!¡± Wang Zi went over to them with her cheeks aerated.

    Zhou Teng: ¡°Y-yeah, you¡¯re pretty good.¡±

    He Shi: ¡°But, you see¡­¡±

    Wu Dayong stood facing the sun, exuding the aura of a transcendent being. The board in front of him was covered in arrows, a sight Wang Zi couldn¡¯t believe.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Zhou Teng went up to Wang Zi¡¯s side. ¡°He Shi and I told him we¡¯d call him ¡®Master¡¯ if he couldnd ten consecutive shots, and¡­¡±

    He Shi: ¡°We¡¯re now calling him Grandmaster¡­¡±

    Wang Zi: ¡°I-is he really that good?¡±

    He Shi shook his head. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen it all yet.¡±

    Wu Dayong shut his eyes, pulled the bowstring back and released it. As if the arrow had eyes and a mind of its own, itnded dead in the centre of the board.

    Wang Zi: ¡°He¡¯s a prodigy at archery?¡±

    ¡°Practice. The secret is practice.¡± Wu Dayong flicked his hair. ¡°As you can see, Miss Ye, I am the person you are searching for. Please show me the ways of archery.¡±

    Arms crossed, Ye Luo deployed a nod. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to take your ma at the back of your board when you leave.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°No wonder why you were suddenly a sharpshooter!¡±

    ¡°Walk your bum over here!¡±

    Ye Luo pulled Wang Zi aside, leaving Wu Dayong at Zhou Teng and He Shi¡¯s mercy. ¡°Miss, you have strong arms and learn fast. I can teach you for a few days.¡±

    Ye Luo started them off with a demonstration of her archery, impressing them, so Wang Zi was iparably happy to hear Ye Luo was willing to teach her.

    Ye Luo showed a stop sign with her hand. ¡°It¡¯s nothing worth thanking me for. I do, however, have a condition.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Ye Luo stepped closer to whisper in Wang Zi¡¯s hands. ¡°No going for Su Xiao.¡±

    Wang Zi¡¯s hairs stood erect instantly. ¡°Loud and clear!¡±

    Ye Luo finally smiled as she gently patted Wang Zi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Keep practicing. You have a bright future in archery, she praised prior to strolling off.

    Su Xiao smiled and expressed, ¡°Thank you so much, Sister Ye Luo. We still need someone for the martial arts and chariotry events. If it weren¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    Ye Luo reciprocated the smile. ¡°Speaking of chariotry, my father is an expert. He learnt his equestrian and archery skills from Beijiang. I¡¯ve never had a knack for horse riding. I do know someone inherited my father¡¯s skills, though.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Your vice-captain, who else? Her Battle Cloud was a birthday gift from my father. Well, technically, it was a graduation gift.¡±

    ¡°I dare not ask for equestrian tutge, so I guess we¡¯ll have to pin our hopes on martial arts.¡±

    ¡°What about Tang Ye? He¡¯s always been great at martial arts, and it looks like he¡¯s levelled up since Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°I n to participate in it myself.¡±

    ¡°You? But¡­ there are plenty of people with tough fists in the academy. If youpete¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. They have their fists.¡± Su Xiao tapped his Ancient Cold on his sash. ¡°I have my de,¡± he cheerfully stated.

 Book 13: Chapter 83

    Book 13: Chapter 83

    The days kept rolling by, and thest three were quite eventful. Mu Anan epted the request to tackle the calligraphy event, forming an official team with Shi Weiliang and Wang Zi. While Mu Anan¡¯s unique poetry set her apart, her handwriting was universally praised.

    Zhou Datong was assigned the arithmetic event. Shi Weiliang started practicing her instrument and brushing up on music theory. Wang Zi went straight to training at Ye Luo¡¯s house after sses. Su Xiao sent Zhou Teng to Jin Zhaoying¡¯s ce for lessons on rites, only for his stomach to act up due to the stress of making the deadline. Nevertheless, we shall not go into the details; just know that he addressed it and made sure to practice.

    Although Su Xiao continued staying at Flower Plucking Pce for the three days, he stopped practicing under Jin Zhaoying¡¯s watch. Instead, he trained alone when his teammates went to their practices. Considering Su Xiao¡¯s shallow knowledge in martial arts and the sophistication of Yijin Jing, expecting him to achieve mastery in three days was just being unreasonable. As he himself was aware of this ¨C plus his mentality towards martial arts training was never to rush ¨C he was never stressed about failure or distracted by sess. That was until now.

    Su Xiao mastered the firstyer of Yijin Jing in Nanjiang without realising it, empowering him with the ability to passively collect internal qi around the clock. While he wouldn¡¯t be collecting barrels of qi, the fact that he collected small amounts minimised inherent risks. As they say, little strokes fall great oaks. At this point in time, thanks to Ming Feizhen¡¯s tuition and his own efforts, weak internal energy was no longer valid criticism.

    Su Xiao, having sat crossed legged for a long time, exhaled nice and slow each breath whilst his true qi circted ceaselessly. For the privileged scion to reach this point, where they could meditate in another world of their own, it¡¯d take a decade. Usually, people¡¯s body temperature would rise when they were improving their usage of qi, which was why it wasmon to see white smoke whisking from their domes. Su Xiao, however, looked as if he was just meditating to collect his thoughts because there were no special phenomena.

    One might¡¯ve expected Yijin Jing to be Shaolin¡¯s close-kept secret given it had been respected for over a millennium. Howbeit, the converse was actually true. Plenty of Shaolin disciples practiced it; just very few ever went very far in their mastery of it. If one were to follow Shaolin¡¯s learning method, they¡¯d be a solid beginner within a year, reach the thirdyer in two years and, if there was enough rain, the nts on their tomb would be taller than the average man. Learning Yijin Jing carried a serious risk.

    The pain of altering meridians through Yijin Jing was noughing matter, and not everyone was built to endure it. Very few throughout history managed to stand the pain of developing their bones, joints and meridians in the thirdyer, and it only got harder with each sessiveyer. The faster one pursued progress in the discipline, the faster they perished. So, while there was no stiption forbidding Shaolin disciples from learning it, the discipline chose very few disciples.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s method of learning Yijin Jing was his own design. When he applied Night Steps¡¯ breathing method to practice Yijin Jing, he inadvertently developed his bones and meridians, and this method reduced the risk of mastering Yijin Jing¡¯s first threeyers to virtually zero. On top of that, he could continue going about his daily life instead of needing to sequester to train, all without anypromise in progression rate. Ming Huayu could argue his disciplecked aptitude for martial arts, but he couldn¡¯t deny his disciple had a knack for innovating unexpected ideas. Not sacrificing progression rate, however, didn¡¯t equate to ¡°expedited progress¡±.

    Even ounting for Su Xiao¡¯s talent and Ming Feizhen¡¯s support, it would take Su Xiao five to six years, at the very least, to master Yijin Jing¡¯s thirdyer. As a matter of fact, it would be borderline unthinkable. In saying that, none of the sessful monks learnt Yijin Jing using Ming Feizhen¡¯s method.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t afford five or six years, and watching how motivated his new friends were only made his sense of urgency intensify. Unfortunately, he hit a wall. The wall was actually there from day one. Despite breathing being the cornerstone of Ming Feizhen¡¯s method, moving about was better than sitting still when employing his method, yet Su Xiao sat still just as Shaolin taught. Although it still worked, it meant that he was only harvesting a portion of the seeds he nted. Topound the problem, he was hasty.

    All advanced Buddhist-based disciplines demanded that practitioners not let impulses and emotions rule them. It was an easy concept to understand but challenging to execute. Sessful practitioners of internal disciplines tended to be those who started from childhood as they had been raised to have less emotional attachments. Su Xiao previously progressed quickly thanks to how pure he was. Now that he started to harbour an emotional attachment to fast progress, it became his undoing.

    On the first two days, Su Xiao tried to ovee the hurdle with sheer will, resulting in him regressing. As a result, his concern grew, adding anotherplication. On the third day, it finally went wrong.

    ¡°Ah.¡± Su Xiao snapped out of his meditation with red eyes ¨C a definitive portent of qi deviation.

    Su Xiao knew his current training method wouldn¡¯t catapult him to the next level in a short time frame. Hence, he tried to master the secondyer via the Shaolin method. Due to having followed Ming Feizhen¡¯s method thus far, though, he already collected enough internal energy. In other words, he already fulfilled his physical requirements. Consequently, his true qi was constantly circting inside him to start developing his meridians. The problem started when he needed to be motivated by a pure desire to get better. Plus, he wasn¡¯t as fearless of death as young Ming Feizhen, wasn¡¯t fearless of a catastrophic death and wasn¡¯t afraid of dying for something not worth it. If he was going to learn qi deviation, he needed to do it Ming Huayu style ¨C throwing caution to the wind.

    Su Xiao couldn¡¯t avoid the inherent risk. When the painparable to feeling his veins burst set in, it only took seconds for his sweat to soak his clothing. His skin resembled a big map as he tensed up to resist the anguish, making his veins more visible than usual. Instead of passing out, however, he felt full of energy, not that it stopped pain and fear from entering his body every inhtion. His vision became indistinct blurs to that point that he didn¡¯t know how to move. Blood started to trickle past his crimson lips until it became vomiting blood.

    Ming Feizhen made the same mistake back then, resulting in Daoist Wushan losing his ability to erect a proud pir for eternity. The difference was that Ming Feizhen understood internal disciplines to an extent and was more advanced than Su Xiao right now. In addition, he had experts around to help him out. In contrast, Su Xiao still didn¡¯t know how to protect himself using his internal energy, so he could only deploy true qi for harming others. Moreover, there were no experts around toe to his aid.

 Book 13: Chapter 84

    Book 13: Chapter 84

    When Su Xiao fell under the illusion that his body was expanding and waiting to explode from the deluge of energy, he suddenly sensed cold qi nearby, and the closer it was in proximity to him, the less anguish he felt.

    Su Xiao¡¯s sheathed de started glowing white and apparently spawned energy of some sort that motivated his hand to reach for it. He drew out Ancient Cold and, as Yijin Jing¡¯s energy poured in, started to bring down the surrounding temperature. The cold alleviated the difort of the heat that made him feel that he¡¯d explode.

    Due to the activity of his internal energy, his vision was distorted beyondprehension. Without him having any conscious control over his body, he performed a technique from his family¡¯s discipline with the best execution ever.

    Su Xiao¡¯s family broadsword discipline was nigh universally criticised for being tooplex, having too many techniques, none of which connected, and its only lethal potential was making the opponentugh to death. Practically aside, it had no entertainment value, either.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Itsck of impracticality inbat was the impetus for Su Xiao to start learning new techniques as soon as he joined Liu Shan Men, less he perish in battle. Now that he wasn¡¯t consciously controlling himself, though, he was just going through the motions without all the cognitive biases he attached to the discipline. With each sessive technique, he¡¯d feel a little better. White smoke started to emanate from his body. Every swing would generate booming winds. The sounds would eventually die down, only to start howling again not long after the pause.

    The entire process continued to alleviate Su Xiao¡¯s pain until it felt bearable, with the only consistent symptom being the white smokeing off his body, which eventually shrouded him. Some time had passed before he started to regain consciousness. By extension, he stopped swinging his weapon as per his family¡¯s teachings. The only recollection he had was able to repeatedly perform the 1296 techniques multiple times without rest.

    The first two times Su Xiao went through the taolu, he didn¡¯t make a single mistake. From then on, it only got stranger and stranger with each sessive set. He started to forget the instructions for techniques and the order of techniques. Unfortunately, nobody saw what took ce inside the white smokescreen.

    A transformation took ce inside the field of smoke. When the smoke stopped moving, it vanished, revealing innumerable tiny rock fragments. Not even the most elite craftsman would be able to carve an equivalent product out of wood.

    The wild winds had halted. The bulging veins had calmed. Su Xiao passed out on his legs and fell to the ground.

    ***

    Instead of her usual statuesque aura, Jin Zhaoying was smiling as she read her book in a slouched posture. One could say, it was as if she had removed her mask of frost.

    ¡°Silver Sword Legend¡±, which some people also referred to as ¡°The Many Must-Tell Stories of Hero Yue and his woman and man¡±, was a popr adventure story that told a story of heroism and love. In addition to prose that flowed, the story progressed fast withoutpromising detail. The world built, descriptions and plotlines drew the reader into the world to reward them with an immersive experience. The book sold more than publication could keep up with as soon as it debuted, causing the price of paper in Luoyang to rise exponentially. The author, Anonymous, however, being as mysterious as his penname, couldn¡¯t be contacted for new copies until monthster it sold out.

    Jin Zhaoying was hooked from the first time she read the novel. The second time she read it, she didn¡¯t want to put it down. On her third and fourth times through, she was sad. What pains couldpare to waiting for an update? As soon as the second book was released, she had to rely on her wealth to secure one of the few copies. For that reason, she refused to see any guests until she was done reading the second book today. s¡­

    ¡°Che Gulu seeks an audience with Miss Jin,¡± a man outside announced in a booming voice.

    Zhe Ye and Ling Xiang¡¯s voices as well as Che Gulu¡¯s approaching heavy footsteps were already audible before Jin Zhaoying could register what was going on.

    Bang! Rather than say the door was opened, it¡¯d be more urate to say it was charged open.

    Che Gulu was a man who would easily leave a memorable impression. Contrary to his clean and white skin, tucked away under his white attire were rock-solid muscles. Once you saw him, you¡¯d never forget he was the current master Daren Academy¡¯s Ironhead Pce. Having migrated from a small state in Beijiang to the Central in since childhood ¨C as well as studied at Daren Academy for a long time ¨C he was fluent in Mandarin. That being said, his academic performance was abysmal, while he excelled in martial arts. Because everyone at Ironhead Pce revered martial arts, all the other studentsbelled them muscleheads with violent tendencies.

    ¡°Che Gulu, what do you want?¡± Jin Zhaoying asked after she haphazardly set down her book. ¡°It¡¯s rude to barge in like you just did.¡±

    ¡°Of course, that would be to visit the woman I miss.¡±

    Suffice to say, Che Gulu was happy to see he could throw Jin Zhaoying off her rhythm. She gave everyone the cold shoulder, yet he could bring out a softer side to her. To him, that was another beautiful side of her exclusive to him. Before he couldugh with pride, howbeit, she made him fossilise.

    Jin Zhaoying only needed to lower a gaze for people to understand she was conveying, ¡°Get out of my sight.¡± Despite knowing she didn¡¯t know how to fight, Che Gulu felt scared.

    Only a woman like this is worthy of me.

    Che Gulu offered up a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Miss Jin, I insist on winning this year¡¯s idolpetition. I will not hold back regardless of how you feel or who you support.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying just picked up her book, flipped pages and went about her reading.

    ¡°I heard you are supporting a man by the surname Su who is not even a student of the academy. Why? Why make enemies out of your fellow students when we are both outstanding students of the academy? I rmend persuading the boy to quit while he¡¯s ahead. That will also prevent him from suffering when hees up against me in thepetition.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying just kept reading.

    ¡°Is he really so good that even you can¡¯t help but be enamoured?! Do you want to marry him?¡±

    In spite of his long stay in the Central in, Che Gulu¡¯s Beijiang personality came out. Up north, they were very expressive and direct when conveying their feelings.

    Jin Zhaoying set aside her book, then gazed up at Zhai Ye and Ling Xiang. She wasn¡¯t giving an instruction but expressing her disapproval.

    One of the girls immediately nodded and conveyed, ¡°Young Master Che, please mind your manners. It is already wrong for you to storm into ady¡¯s room. Please do not force us to report you. It would hurt all of us if we have to take that step.¡±

    Che Gulu¡¯s long-standing love for Jin Zhaoying was no secret, but nobody talked about it due to how rare it was, on top of his status as the leader of Ironhead Pce. Che Gulu didn¡¯t make any bold moves previously since Jin Zhaoying was indifferent to everybody of the opposite gender. It all started with rumours between her and Ming Feizhen. Not long after, Su Xiao entered the picture. Che Gulu¡¯s jealousy couldn¡¯t be tamed after that ¨C no way.

    Seeing as the woman of his dreams wouldn¡¯t even spare him a word, Che Gulu deemed it necessary to retreat rather than keep pushing his agenda and make matters worse. ¡°Understood. I will see you at thepetition.¡± He saluted Jin Zhaoying politely prior to departing.

    Following a yawn, Jin Zhaoying enunciated, ¡°Get out.¡±

    Zhai Ye and Ling Xiang stepped outside.

    Jin Zhaoying waited for a while, slouched again, let out a long exhale, checked to make sure there was nobody around and thenughed heartily. She picked up her precious, limited-edition second volume and blew the cover to make sure it was kept in mint condition. She subsequently headed into the deeper section of her room to resume reading. Of course, there was also a ce to hide her book. People would mock her if they found out she enjoyed ¡°street-tier¡± books, after all.

    As soon as Che Gulu exited Flower Plucking Pce, his clique approached him.

    ¡°Boss, has Jin Zhaoying agreed to convince the punk to resign?¡±

    ¡°Resign?¡± Che Gulu halted in his tracks. ¡°Tell Third to grab some men and finish that punk. If I let a dimwit who dares to steal my woman live to see tomorrow in one piece, I¡¯ll write my name backwards!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 85

    Book 13: Chapter 85

    The weather was fickle today, clear after noon and then raining a whileter. The wet ck and white walls were sticky to the touch.

    Wang Zi entered the ssroom in a gloomy mood, saluted her teacher and then took a seat. Even the worst behaved students of the academy wouldn¡¯t dare to raise their voice when speaking to Professor Kong, but it was hard for Wu Dayong¡¯s small group not to notice the usually energetic girl was unsettled despite her burying her head in her book. Unsurprisingly, as soon as Professor Kong wasn¡¯t paying attention to her, she whispered to Shi Weiliang.

    Upon seeing Shi Weiliang¡¯s reaction, from behind, Wu Dayong asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Shi Weiliang almost turned around to shoot Wu Dayong a re. In the end, though, taking into consideration they were in Professor Kong¡¯s ss, she covered her face behind her book to whisper to him.

    After he picked up his jaw, Wu Dayong turned around the back to pass on the news. ¡°I heard Su Xiao has been hurt bad.¡±

    ¡°Someone hurt Su Xiao bad.¡±

    ¡°Someone hurt Su Xiao bad. He jumped off a building.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao jumped off a building andnded on Sir Bao from Shuntian Prefecture. Sir Bao wants his life now.¡±

    After listening to the message he received, He Shi repeated back, ¡°A bull crushed Su Xiao and Sir Bao when they were shepherding cattle in the west?¡± He looked to Wu Dayong and mouth, ¡°Really?¡±

    Wu Dayong mouthed back, ¡°Why are we talking about Sirius?¡±

    Wu Dayong: Nerds sure function on a different ne.

    He Shi: Why is he asking me why I¡¯m asking, ¡°Serious?¡± Who else should I be asking?

    ¡°Don¡¯t whisper.¡±

    Wu Dayong and He Shi whipped their heads back, but they didn¡¯t dare to look Professor Kong in the face.

    As he swept his gaze over the two, Professor Kong chided, ¡°Hmph, some students are like their names, destined to be useless. Some other students think they are all that over a small aplishment. They¡¯re also destined to never achieve anything worthy of mention.¡±

    He Shi and Wu Dayong rose up and apuded with giddy expressions. ¡°You are absolutely right!¡±

    You would second guess if elephants could climb trees if a professor wasn¡¯t telling off a student from their ss, let alone be surprised that a rock-bottom cer and a student with a problematic attitude were having their ears chewed off. It certainly wasn¡¯t the first time the two had copped earfuls.

    ¡°You are wasting my time! Sit down! What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± thundered Professor Kong.

    Despite Professor Kong¡¯s scolding, Wu Dayong had already rolled up a sheet of paper into a ball and boldly tossed it to He Shi.

    He Shi sat down to read, ¡°Su Xiao has been hurt badly and is currently at the physician¡¯s ce.¡± He looked up again to see all of his teammates wearing grim looks. He, too, scribbled onto a sheet and then passed it to Zhou Teng, who was closest to him. After Zhou Teng finished reading, he passed it to the next person and so forth until it reached theirst teammate ¨C Wang Zi. She opened it to read, ¡°Let¡¯s go visit him.¡±

    Even though all of them had their eyes on Professor Kong, they all bobbed their heads in synchrony. Mistakenly thinking he said something wrong, Professor Kong cleared his throat and switched books for his lecture.

    As amused as He Shi found everyone¡¯s reactions, he was equally concerned for the reason that they still had a long time before school was out. Professor Kong¡¯s ss alone still had two hours to go. Fortunately, looking at his teammates gave him an epiphany. He scribbled onto another sheet, rolled it up and subsequently threw it to Wu Dayong while Professor Kong wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± questioned Professor Kong.

    ¡°What a strong ominous breeze,¡± remarked He Shi, standing up awkwardly. He took big strides to reach Wu Dayong¡¯s side and, in an extremely slow motion, bent over to pick up a book. Smiling, he added, ¡°The wind is not literate. Why thoughtlessly open a book?¡±

    Catching on quick, Wu Dayong used his book to cover his mouth, then whispered, ¡°You have an idea?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Feigning illness.¡±

    ¡°Will it work?¡±

    ¡°When he asks you, just read out what¡¯s on the sheet of paper.¡±

    ¡°Easy.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll all be able to leave afterwards.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me, brother.¡±

    With the sheet now in Wu Dayong¡¯s hands, He Shi jogged back to his seat.

    Professor Kong shook his head whilst sighing. ¡°This ss truly is beyond saving.¡±

    Professor Kong always took pride in teaching the advanced sses. Unfortunately, due to Professor Xie taking sick leave, he had to stand in for Professor Xie. Not once did he leave their ssroom on a positive note.

    ¡°Professor Kong!¡±

    ¡°Now what?!¡¯ Professor Kong was once again agitated due to the sudden cry. He looked to Wu Dayong and questioned, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not feeling well!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Though strict, Professor Kong was a teacher who genuinely wanted the best for his students, so he couldn¡¯t bear to scold Wu Dayong.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Wu Dayong nced down to the sheet of paper and, before he could process what he was reading, blurted, ¡°¡­ am on my period.¡±

    Whilst the students burst out in hystericalughter, Wu Dayong slowly looked over his shoulders to He Shi for answers. He Shi flicked up a thumb.

    Wu Dayong: Stick that thumb up your rear!

    ¡°Y-you are on your period?¡±

    Wu Dayong looked back at He Shi again. He Shi shook his head, pointed to the rear of a portly ssmate.

    Wu Dayong: Big?

    He Shi drew a big circle with both hands in the air.

    Wu Dayong: Picture? Oh, big picture!

    Wu Dayong inhaled deeply and, on shaky legs, replied, ¡°Y-yes. Are you being sexist?!¡±

    ¡°N-no. In that case¡­¡±

    He Shi jumped up. ¡°Dayong! Why didn¡¯t you tell us?! Zhou Teng, give me a hand. Let¡¯s take Dayong out to rest.¡±

    Zhou Teng and He Shi grabbed Wu Dayong and bolted out.

    ¡°Stop right there!¡±

    He Shi: ¡°Professor, a life is at stake. It takes two of us to support someone as heavy as Wu Dayong.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind that, but why are the two girls following you?¡±

    Wang Zi eximed, ¡°Have you had a period before?! Do you know what to do about it?!¡±

    ¡°This old one¡­¡±

    ¡°We know. Without someone knowledgeable providing instructions, what happens if something goes wrong?¡±

    ¡°Only one person needs to apany them, then.¡±

    ¡°Our bodies are different. My body is different to Weiwei¡¯s, so we can provide different viewpoints. Weiwei may not look like it, but every nearby vige knows she¡¯s the expert on periods, right, Weiwei?¡±

    Shi Weiliang, face as red as a ripe tomato, muttered under her breath, ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    In the end, Professor Kong had to concede. Once they were out of his view, the five turned their walk into a run before Professor Kong caught on. They, however, didn¡¯t notice a group stealthily tailing them once they left the academy grounds.

    Glossary

    Serious and Sirius ¨CI tried to get as close as I could for the homophone gag. It worked far better in Mandarin.

    ¡°The wind is not literate. Why thoughtlessly open a book?¡± ¨C It¡¯s a throwaway phrase here, but it was a poetic line in the Qing dynasty, one that, during the eighth year of Emperor Yongzheng¡¯s rule, was a phrase that caused a huge stir in the imperial court. I¡¯m going to condense this as much as possible.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xu Jun was used of harbouring treasonous motives for writing the phrase, leading to his eventual execution. The phrase itself is innocent. The catalyst that turned it into a malicious phrase was the intent of the readers, resulting in speech crime. At the time, all eyes were on Emperor Yongzheng¡¯s moves to eliminate his brothers from the picture, so you could say it was internal strife. Xu Jun wasn¡¯t part of the imperial court. To create amon ¡°foreign¡± enemy for the imperial court (and their ethnic group), despite knowing it was a harmless phrase, Yongzheng pursued the matter to get the heat off him.

    A bum and a circle ¨C Bum = Chrysanthemum. Big = big. Circle = Surrounding. Tranted literally like that, it shares the same pronunciation as ¡°Prioritise the bigger picture¡±. It¡¯s with great regret that this joke doesn¡¯t trante to English.

 Book 13: Chapter 86

    Book 13: Chapter 86

    ¡°How are you, Su Xiao?!¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s new friends barged into the clinic to see Su Xiao leaning against the bed and spacing out. At longst, they heaved breaths of relief. Since Wang Zi first heard the news from Ye Luo, it was no surprise for Ye Luo to be present, as well. Su Xiao had yet to catch up on current affairs as he had just woken up.

    Shi Weiliang inquired, ¡°Sister Ye, what happened to Su Xiao?¡±

    Wearing a grim expression, Ye Luo answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know myself. I found him unconscious by my home entrance, so I brought him here straight away. The physician said it¡¯s no big deal, but his not sure what caused Xiao Han to pass out.¡±

    With the exception of Ye Luo, everyone was relieved. Although Su Xiao looked out of it, she spotted an aura waiting to jump out from his eyes ¨C a sign that he was ready to advance to the next level in his internal discipline. When she ced her hand on his forehead, potent energy deflected her hand hard enough for her to hiss. She knew it couldn¡¯t be a reaction he¡¯d purposely give considering how close they were. His internal energy was never that much inferior to hers. The new energy suggested he had improved noticeably. Whether it was from the perspective of a friend or a girl with a crush on him, she had every reason to be happy for him, but there was a big ¡°if¡± there.

    Su Xiao improving to this extent between when he returned to the capital to now was borderline impossible without a miracle, which left one other possibility ¨C qi deviation. Hence, Ye Luo nned to have her father diagnose him again despite hisck of other qi deviation symptoms.

    ¡°Eh? Why am I here? Eh? Why is everyone here? Ah, you¡¯re here, too, Sister Ye?¡± Su Xiao just came to, but he sounded the same as his usual self.

    Wu Dayong shed tears of joy. ¡°I¡¯m so d to see you¡¯re okay. Do you know what enormous price I had to pay to get here?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine what the aftermath at the academy would be following Wu Dayong¡¯s ¡°period¡±, and it certainly was something to look forward to.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He Shi: ¡°Don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself. We understand.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault in the first ce! All because of you, I¡¯m now Tiankui Yong instead of Wu Dayong! Show some remorse!¡± cried Wu Dayong.

    ¡°How can you say that? Is Su Xiao¡¯s friendship worth so little to you? What¡¯s spilling a little blood to a man?¡±

    ¡°Except I bled in the wrong spot! It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m a man that I can¡¯t spill blood there! How is this guy the top student of the academy?! He doesn¡¯t even know basic physiology!¡±

    Su Xiao had a goodugh before he got curious about what happened to him. Once he recalled how he was training in the back and then started swing, he reached to his waist for Ancient Cold. ¡°Hmm? Where¡¯s my weapon. Sister Ye, did you see my broadsword?¡±

    ¡°What broadsword? When I found you unconscious by my house¡¯s door, it was just you,¡± answered Ye Luo.

    ¡°Impossible! I always keep it on me!¡± Su Xiao got out of bed extremely deftly. ¡°I need to go find Ancient Cold.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao, rx. You must¡¯ve forgotten it somewhere. You can find it after you recover.¡±

    ¡°No, I need to have Ancient Cold in my sights.¡±

    Now that he was on his feet, they could See Su Xiao properly. His appearance appeared to be glowing pink unlike how it just used to look as supple as a young girl¡¯s. Su Xiao was Su Xiao, yet there was something different about him. He used to have a childish air about him, but he now emitted a sense of aloofness and transcendence. Even Su Xiao noticed the visible and invisible changes to his body.

    ¡°Ew, why do I stink?!¡±

    While they had no idea what Su Xiao was on about, Ye Luo had some conjectures based on the observable changes he exhibited. ¡°Xiao Han, have you been practicing a new discipline and had some sess? I noticed even your presence is different.¡±

    Su Xiao nodded, then shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve been training the same discipline as always.¡±

    ¡°Is Su Xiao here?¡± Three young men dressed in Confucian robes barged in without the slightest care in the world.

    Zhou Teng: ¡°Ironhead Pce¡¯s Ouyang Xiong!¡±

    As the deputy leader of Ironhead Pce and their third best fighter, Ouyang Xiong saw no reason to bother with Zhou Teng. ¡°Su Xiao here?¡±

    Su Xiao bobbed his head.

    Ouyang Xiong, wearing a smirk, swept his gaze over those present and stopped on Wu Daong. ¡°You are Su Xiao?¡±

    Wu Dayong shook his head as if his life depended on it. ¡°No, no.¡±

    ¡°No? Is Su Xiao here then?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ouyang Xiong: ¡°Where is he?¡±

    Su Xiao pointed to himself. ¡°Right here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Su Xiao?! I thought Su Xiao is a guy!¡±

    Ouyang Xiong: It¡¯s a she, no? A pretty one for that matter.

    ¡°Who are you people?¡± asked Su Xiao.

    One of Ouyang Xiong¡¯spanions thundered, ¡°We¡¯re here to teach Su Xiao a lesson. Don¡¯t try being funny with us, little girl!¡± then went over to p Su Xiao across the face.

    The swing looked so slow that Su Xiao grew curious enough to step forward and casually catch his assaulter¡¯s wrist and pull. Following a sonorous ¡°crack¡±, his assaulter screamed as if he was trying to expel his lungs from his body.

 Book 13: Chapter 87

    Book 13: Chapter 87

    Su Xiao himself was surprised he had such an easy time dropping the guy, let alone expecting the others to have seen how he pulled it off. Su Xiao only intended to stop the attack; he never expected the guy to be in so much agony.

    Ouyang Xiong, equally shocked, eximed, ¡°How dare you attack first!¡± and then tried to catch Su Xiao with a palm strike. While his speed wasn¡¯t extraordinary, the wind he generated from his hand was enough proof that he was a legit fighter.

    Ye Luo pressed her fingers together to furtively help Su Xiao out, only to suddenly hear two cries before a big body flew past her eyes. The first cry came from Su Xiao, who was still standing where he was. The second cry came from Ouyang Xiong, who was now some distance away.

    Just as with his previous foe, Su Xiao saw Ouyang Xiong move in slow motion. To avoid harming Ouyang Xiong as he did against his previous foe, Su Xiao only intended to push Ouyang Xiong back, never expecting to send thetter reeling without losing any ground when their hands connected. Su Xiao stared at his hands in confusion. It wasn¡¯t just his power. Even his sight and hearing had been amplified noticeably.

    Finally regaining his footing, Ouyang Xiong fossilised in horror. Upon making contact with Su Xiao¡¯s soft hand, he felt a wave of energy shunt him back. He instantly nted his feet and tried to mould energy, but his dantian hurt. Therefore, he gave away eight steps. s, not even that was enough to dissipate the oing energy. Had he not been training to reduce the impact of force from childhood, he would¡¯ve flown out the door and be diagnosed with an internal injury.

    Ye Luo didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what Ouyang Xiong was aiming for. Su Xiao¡¯s ssmates only knew Ouyang Xiong wanted to pick a fight with Su Xiao. Su Xiao, god forbid he knew what Ouyang Xiu wanted.

    Nobody was aware that Su Xiao¡¯s counter had already surpassed the capabilities of Yijin Jing¡¯s secondyer. In other words, he reached the thirdyer faster than Ming Feizhen did and would be among the three fastest learners of Yijin Jing. His energy feedback happened faster than the brain could process. His developed meridians allowed him to store and mobilise a greater volume true qi. Since his qi travelled faster, he saw things in slower motion than before. In the past, he needed to rely on wielding his broadsword to direct energy in order to bring out 50% of the possible power in a technique. Now that his tendons and bones had developed further, as well, he no longer needed a medium to achieve the same result.

    Ouyang Xiong entered the clinic again, though not with the same hubristic attitude.

    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± questioned Su Xiao.

    ¡°We¡­ We¡­ are here for Su Xiao,¡± answered Ouyang Xiong.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I am Su Xiao. What do you want from me?¡±

    Ouyang Xiong desperately tried to recall all the information he learnt before responding, ¡°You¡­ are Liu Shan Men¡¯s Su Xiao?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then, are you not supposed to be a man who¡¯s not very strong?¡±

    Su Xiao flicked up a thumb. ¡°You have good judgement.¡±

    Good judgement, my foot! You¡¯re a formidabless!

    ¡°I am surprised someone as formidable as you would be standing by given Liu Shan Men¡¯s plight. We, as students of Daren Academy, are duty bound to serve the p-¡±

    Zhou Teng, He Shi and Wu Dayong wagged their hands. ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Despite your indifference, on ount of our acquaintance, I am here to share some advice.¡±

    Wu Dayong: ¡°Yeah, yeah, Li Muye bullies the weak. You people bully everyone.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Wait, what do you mean by Liu Shan Men¡¯s plight?¡±

    Ouyang Xiong didn¡¯t expect that response from Su Xiao, so he asked, ¡°You¡¯re not informed? Liu Shan Men is in big trouble. The entire office has been vandalised. Surely you have heard about it?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ***

    It all started at Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vermillion Hall.

    Wearing a bright-red uniform, Song Ou smugly yed with his beard and squinted his eyes. He said to the person standing in front of him, ¡°Hmph, you used to be Yiren¡¯sckey.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, I am your subordinate,¡± argued Zha Pi, wagging his hand. ¡°From the day I walked through Liu Shan Men¡¯s doors, I was your subordinate, Captain. Everyone knows that he must faithfully serve in his post once he enters employment under an official to the death, and everyone knows Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain is none other than you. It was wrong for Shen Yiren, Ming Feizhen and those fools to oppose you.¡±

    Song Ou beamed as if he just dipped into a hot spring. ¡°You are very right. Forget it. Let bygones be bygones. Reform yourself and follow my instructions from now.¡±

    Zha Pi bowed. ¡°I am your spear. Wherever you point, I shall stab. I am the brick at your foot. Wherever you need me, I shall move to. Should you tell me to go west, I shall never go east. Should you tell me to beat a dog, I will never target a chicken. Where in the world can we find a ce without grass? For dinner, let us have s-¡±

    ¡°Enough, enough. Leave me. I have a job in two days¡¯ time; I will summon you then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Captain!¡± Zha Pi strolled out of Vermillion Hall with the face of a soldier ready to go down for his country. As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into a hostile group.

    ¡°Hey, where¡¯s Song Ou?!¡± brayed Lei Bao.

    ¡°Insolence! How dare you address the captain by his name?!¡± Zha Pi shouted back.

    ¡°Save me the b.s. Either you tell me where Song Smalldong is, or you can experience being ripped apart.¡±

    ¡°Listen here: even if you dig out my brains, sizzle, sizzle it in a pan of sizzling oil, I will never tell you Captain is right inside this building behind me!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see!¡± Lei Bao booted the door open and marched in with his men.

    Watching on from outside, Zha Pi yelled, ¡°He¡¯s not there! He¡¯s not there! I swear the guy sitting in the chair isn¡¯t him!¡± He stuck around to listen to furniture breaking, flesh banging on flesh and Captain Song¡¯s cries of pain. Feeling bad for Song Ou, he took out a few peanuts from his pocket to snack on. ¡°Nothing to do again today. Let¡¯s go home.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 88

    Book 13: Chapter 88

    The event ¨C actually, the day as a whole ¨C would go down in history books as Liu Shan Men¡¯s darkest hour. Although banishing Shen Yiren caused a bit of disorder, Song Ou wasn¡¯t willing to ask her toe back after tasting the sweetness of the nectar known as authority.

    As Song Ou sat in his chair, revelling in all the attention he now had, someone started yelling instead of knocking, not to mention yelling out his name instead of addressing him as ¡°Captain Song¡±. Therefore, it was hard to me him for being absolutely livid. As soon as he opened his mouth to reason with Lei Bao, he was pieced up.

    Lei Bao and Long Zaitian were the sort of buddies who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to share underpants. Since Long Zaitian had crush on Song Ou¡¯s fianc¨¦e, Lei Bao and Long Zaitian would frequently double team Song Ou just to vent.

    Lei bao wasn¡¯t aware Song Ou hade into power at Liu Shan Men, so the thought of sparing Song Ou some courtesy never crossed his mind. Song Ou wasn¡¯t that much weaker than Lei Bao; problem was, heckedbat experience. Whenever someone advanced aggressively, Song Ou would feel intimidated. Once he lost his confidence, he was considerably easier to pick apart.

    Having honed his ability to kill without leaving any traces, Lei Bao left Song Ou with only had a bloody nose, but that, needless to say, wasn¡¯t the only spot Song Ou was struck. Lei Bao was quite notorious for being the stereotypical bully in the capital. Now, he wouldn¡¯tmit heinous crimes under the Emperor¡¯s nose, so any assault could be swept under the rug. However, this was a task Yi Ya entrusted to him.

    It was important to remember that Yi Ya wasn¡¯t just one of the top fighters but also the face of the Qilin Guards. No one underneath him would say they didn¡¯t view him as their grandmander. Moreover, he was virtually parading as the supreme general of the capital this time in the capital. Song Ou generally had no means of answering the questions he had no involvement in. With no retreat options, Lei Bao had to go all the way, assaulting Song Ou until thetter was crying for dear life. As a result, Song Chi had to make a stand for his brother.

    Song Chi might¡¯ve been a man of greatposure, but in no shape or form did that imply he was a softy. As a matter of fact, fabricating excuses and scheming were two skills he had unshakeable confidence in. If he were to just let someone bully his brother on his turf, it wasn¡¯t practicing patience for some grand scheme but cowardice.

    Song Chi repaid the ¡°favour¡± the same way it was given. Being significantly stronger than Lei Bao, he subdued Lei Bao to bash and sent Lei Bao¡¯spanions home with their tails between their legs and hands on their heads.

    In retaliation, Lei Bao called for reinforcements from every martial arts academy in the capital he was friends with and, of course, his brother from another mother ¨C Long Zaitian. Long Zaitian was annoyed enough as it was when he heard Liu Shan Men took their captive, not to mention when Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren, Su Xiao and Tang Ye were out. When he heard about Song Chi¡¯s involvement, Long Zaitian rounded up his subordinates and a man who happened to be passing by ¨C Yi Ya. The initial matter could¡¯ve been resolved using the pugilistic world¡¯s rules ¨C an even score since both parties already beat each other once. Since Long Zaitian fanned the mes, though, Yi Ya¡¯s involvement made the matter snowball into aplicated matter.

    Everyone knew Wang Muren was tough on people and even tougher on himself, so anyone who survived under him wasn¡¯t easy work. Song Chi always believed he¡¯d likely have to fight Yi Ya one day. Yi Ya was designated a must-watch-targetbel years ago, and that hadn¡¯t change. Howbeit, Song Chi never thought that day woulde so soon, so abruptly and¡­ from such a bizarre flow of events.

    As soon as he rolled up, Yi Ya chose violence, forcing Song Chi to defend himself. Their fight was a sight to behold, although amateurs struggled to keep up with their pace. While those two were busy, Lei Bao and Long Zaitian took the honour of righteously challenging the man with the highest authority at Liu Shan Men ¨C Song Ou.

    Song Ou¡¯s nose had just stopped bleeding, and he had yet to cry for help, when his second beatingmenced.

    The other Qilin Guards showed no mercy in vandalising anything that could be vandalised. The male constables, having undertaken Ming Feizhen¡¯s hellish training, disyed their hare feet as soon as things were looking to head south. The female constables assembled in Shen Yiren¡¯s former residence, though the Qilin Guards weren¡¯t really out to pick a bone with them. The Qilin Guards who stooped low enough to pick fights with the female constables were easily dispatched.

    Nevertheless, the mess still could¡¯ve been reduced to a trivial conflict if a certain Prince didn¡¯t happen to pass by.

    Despite Red Prince¡¯s duty as state proctor having been taken from him once Emperor Yuansheng returned, the experience, adtion andwork he gained from his tenure would serve him handsomely. It was only a matter of having an opportunity before His Majesty would entrust important jobs to him again. While the streets were still in a state of anarchy, his group was united, nning and practicing. In fact, he went out to have wontons with Chu Yinghua a second time and headed back to Liu Shan Men the evening Liu Shan Men was raided.

    Red Prince and Chu Yinghua met up for lunch. Because Chu Yinghua¡¯s hobby was eating, they always went out to eat whenever they met up, not that Red Prince minded since he thought it was cute.

    With her eyes narrowed, Chu Yinghua stole a nce at the man walking beside her and asked, ¡°Your Highness, why do you always invite me out to eat wonton soup? Don¡¯t you have friends?¡±

    ¡°W-well¡­ I do have some,¡± answered Red Prince, scratching the back of his head. ¡°I just¡­ just¡­ well¡­ I have tea-drinking friends, swordy friends but no wonton soup friends.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, good one.¡±

    Red Prince¡¯s face went from red to very red, wondering if he said wrong to make Chu Yinghuaugh. ¡°We can say we are wontonmates now.¡±

    ¡°Wontonmates? Hahaha.¡±

    ¡°I, I, I¡­ I wasn¡¯t taught how to defuse this¡­¡±

    Chu Yinghua couldn¡¯t resist chuckling at the panicking Prince¡¯s demeanour, but he wasn¡¯t too concerned for he could discern she wasn¡¯tughing at him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been bad with words. I apologise forcking grace.¡±

    ¡°No, you said it well¡­ Puhahaha. Your Highness, you shouldn¡¯t tell jokes again. I won¡¯t be able to hold in myughter, and it¡¯s hard to even hold it in.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Oh, okay, I won¡¯t.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    What joke did I just tell?

    ¡°Well, this is my stop.¡±

    ¡°Have a good rest. I shall take my leave now.¡±

    Chu Yinghua cheerfully nodded. ¡°Thank you for the treat. I¡¯ll treat you to dumplings next time. The ce isn¡¯t a five-star eatery, though, so I hope you won¡¯t mind.¡±

    Given how tough it was to get a second ¡°date¡± with Chu Yinghua, Red Prince was ready to cry tears of joy at how easy it was to score a third ¡°date¡±, let alone wait to nod.

    ¡°Where shall we meet?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    Rumble! At the same time a gaping hole formed in Liu Shan Men¡¯s outer wall, bricks and dust flew at the duo standing outside. They didn¡¯t get hurt, but they were certainly startled.

    Upon peering through the hole, Chu Yinghua beheld Qilin Guards tearing down their ce. ¡°Your Highness, I have some family issues to attend to, so let¡¯s meet up there next time. Bye,¡± she said before diving through the hole.

    ¡°Eh? Where is ¡®there¡¯? ¡­ Where is ¡®there¡¯?¡±

    What did I do wrong? I¡¯ve done plenty of good deeds, haven¡¯t I? Why don¡¯t I feel like I am getting any good karma?

    Red Prince carefully poked his head through the hole to see dust in every direction. At that point, he didn¡¯t need to be told who was responsible for the hole in the wall.

    A pir of sword qi stretched into the ether above Liu Shan Men. Everybody there could sense the fury emanating from the pir of qi.

    ¡°Every single one of you, get over here!¡±

    Glossary

    Omitted joke ¨C The ¡°ton¡± in ¡°wonton¡± is a homophone for ¡°butt¡± in Mandarin. I couldn¡¯t find any way to rewrite the joke without leaving you so confused that I just removed it.

 Book 13: Chapter 89

    Book 13: Chapter 89

    The two fighting atop a roof over thirty metres away could distinctively hear Red Prince¡¯s sword qi humming.

    Yi Ya nced sideways out of his peripherals, then silently ¡°teleported¡± out of Song Chi and Red Prince¡¯s attack radiuses.

    Song Chi couldn¡¯t put a name to the swordsman. Nevertheless, he was genuinely impressed with Red Prince¡¯s skills. Using his hand as a de, he pointed it at the heavens and concentrated energy to it, making his body sh as if lightning was passing through. Upon bringing his hand back down ¨C Song n¡¯s Sundering the Nine Heavens ¨C golden lightning coiled around his hand. He only performed one sh, yet multiple afterimages of des formed in the air.

    Song Chi had been practicing the discipline from childhood, fused it into his broadsword techniques and even invented thirty-six extra broadsword techniques. At his level, his hand was as solid as an actual de.

    Red Prince thrust straight through the weak spot in Song Chi¡¯s technique as though he knew that was the weak point, rendering the golden lightning qi and sharp de useless. Calmly, Song Chi rolled off the roof.

    His swordy includes aponent of identifying the ws and strengths of his opponent¡¯s technique, allowing him to swiftly dismantle techniques. If we were to fight seriously, it¡¯d take us more than a thousand exchanges to decide on a victor, and it¡¯s unlikely I¡¯ll get out unscathed. This man is easily one of the top two swordsman in the capital.

    As a man who didn¡¯t fight fights he wasn¡¯t absolutely confident he could win in, Song Chi was hesitant to continue fighting. For him, the chances of losing needed to be ounted for before worrying about winning.

    Yi Ya went to plunge his fingers into the side of Song Chi¡¯s neck, prompting Song Chi to strafe sideways. Song Chi always had his eyes on Yi Ya, and Yi Ya certainly didn¡¯t have an invisibility skill, but Yi Ya didn¡¯t telegraph his attacks and moved faster than one would expect.

    In a fight of this calibre, no matter how fierce their offence was or how disordered their defence was,batants of their level always made sure to hold back a little in order to have rest between spurts. Yi Ya, however, didn¡¯t give his opponent time to catch their breath. The results of such an endeavour didn¡¯te fast. Nheless, it would gradually take away the opponent¡¯s chances of mounting a counter. To put it into perspective, it was the same as ocean waves constantly crashing onto you, making it impossible for you to swim forward. At the end of the day, no matter how big Song Chi¡¯s engine was and how potent his internal energy was, at some point, he would need to get air in. Yet, despite his predicament, Song Chi didn¡¯t let himself get panic stricken.

    Yi Ya suddenly cut his assault off to thrust his fingers toward his left, stopping the advance of a sword tip.

    Though Red Prince and Yi Ya recognised each other, they weren¡¯t exactly friends. They, as a matter of fact, fought without reserve plenty of times from the time they were kids. Red Prince was surprised to see that Yi Ya¡¯s opponent was a man around his age.

    Worried that he might disappoint Chu Yinghua or make her ufortable, Red Prince carried an ordinary sword instead of his signature Chilin sword. That being said, he was still a force to be reckoned with even without his signature sword.

    Red Prince had only just pushed Yi Ya back, when Song Chi came over swinging his hand as a de.

    As the one-versus-two, or maybe free-for-all, fight yed out, the three fighters¡¯ unique styles became distinctly visible.

    If one were to assess Red Prince¡¯s style at a surface level, they¡¯d only see a series of techniques. Spend a while watching and analysing, however, it should¡¯ve became clear that he fought systematically, utilising one technique to conceal another. He never threw haphazardly, praying something would stick. As the practitioner of the imperial family¡¯s martial arts, a student of Lai Jingzhen¡¯s internal energy discipline and ck Robe Brotherhood¡¯s mental cultivation, he had the makings of a master despite his young age.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Inparison to Red Prince, Song Chi¡¯s technical sophistication paled. Nheless, he was much more strategic. Making use of everyone¡¯s positioning and the terrain, he¡¯d move in a way that¡¯d reduce the number of times he had to engage whilst forcing the other two engage each other. Frankly, he fought the smartest fight.

    Yi Ya had yet to show any skills that¡¯d make one gasp. Having said that, all the ¡°ordinary¡± techniques he performed yielded results much better than expectations. Perhaps his style in the fight could best be described as a water current adapting to all obstacles in order to reach its goal.

    Song Chi could tell Red Prince was a notch behind him. In a fair scrap, his odds of winning were 70%. The thing was, they weren¡¯t in a martial artspetition, so there was a means ofpensating for the skill gap. The real threat to him was Yi Ya.

    Yi Ya didn¡¯t exhibit a definitive style; he¡¯d go from almost immobile to hyper mobile at the snap of a finger. No matter which pace he adopted, though, he neverpromised defence for offence or vice versa. They had been fighting for a while, but he had yet to even breathe differently to a casual spar.

    As the three traded a blow all at once, their energy forced them to separate onto three different roofs.

    With his sword ready down by his side, Red Prince questioned, ¡°Yi Ya, are you still going to hold back?¡±

    Yi Ya didn¡¯t reply.

    Song Chi let out a long exhale. ¡°You two truly are mighty warriors of this generation. What greater honour is there than to have a match with you?¡±

    Red Prince: ¡°If you have cold feet, you can quit.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that will not be necessary.¡± Making sharp des out of his hands, Song Chi concentrated energy into his hands until every strand of his hair stood erect.

    Red Prince, not one to underestimate his opponent after his opponent disyed his full strength, pointed the tip of his sword toward the ground and d it in qi ¨C the first stance of ¡°Myriad Sword Prison¡±.

    Yi Ya didn¡¯t budge a finger.

    They were ready to settle the score. Howbeit, a group with their own ns decided to emerge out of nowhere and picked the under-attack Liu Shan Men as their target.

 Book 13: Chapter 90

    Book 13: Chapter 90

    Northern Wondrous Warrior¡¯s group performed a carpet search after Lei Bao went back to the office to summon reinforcements. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t find Xiang Baxian. While it was dangerous to be within the vicinity of the fight, they chose to stay for they figured there¡¯d be more opportunities.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The group wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against Song Chi, let alone Yi Ya in a one-on-one fight. When it came to working as a group, though, they were professionals that Li Muye¡¯s mother trusted.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡±

    Their masked leader, watching the three elites fight on the rooftops and Qilin Guards vandalising Liu Shan Men below, replied, ¡°Get the leader.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a scion of Song n.¡±

    ¡°Shen Yiren isn¡¯t here, so we need to target Song Ou.¡± The leader palmed a hole in the wall with his left hand, revealing a man on the other side.

    A fight, one intense fight, took ce inside not long ago in the name of pride and love, with Song Ou ending in his own pool of blood. Like a soldier on a battlefield, heid in his own blood and two mouthfuls of saliva from his opponents. He wasn¡¯t ashamed. He was a true warrior. He fought against two opponents by himself to the bitter end, never giving up on escaping outside to find help. s, his opponents didn¡¯t give him the chance to call for reinforcements.

    Upon entering, they dropped profane bombs. Subsequently, one grabbed Song Ou by his head and the other by his leg, gained mount positions, then rained down ground and pound.

    Wiping his sweat, Lei Bao remarked, ¡°Man, you made me work.¡± He was so focused on avenging his shame that he totally forgot his superior¡¯s instructions.

    Ever since Long Zaitian heard about the Song brothers deposing of Shen Yiren, he had been thinking of ways to make them pay and bring them before Shen Yiren to curry favour with her. Sadly, he had to flog Song Ou before he had the chance to implement any ns. Nevertheless, it was a good way for him to burn some calories since he had been indulging a bit too much recently.

    Lei Bao and Long Zaitian left Song Ou lying in his blood ¨C plus their spit ¨C and went to feast their eyes on the tussle between the three elites.

    Song Ou wasn¡¯t hurt as badly as his appearance suggested. Besides, Lei Bao and Long Zaitian knew where to draw the line. Plus, on ount of the Dragon-Bird Alliance, Long Zaitian went a little easier. And finally, there was also Song Ou¡¯s acting. The man was crying, groaning and grunting before the duo even touched him.

    Song Ou got up once the two left.

    If I don¡¯t avenge this, I¡¯m not a man! I¡¯m going to subject the both of you to every form of torture in existence. Dragon-Bird Alliance? My foot!

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Song Ou eximed upon espying people in the corners of his eyes.

    The individual rammed his fist straight into Song Ou¡¯s eye, dropping him back into his blood.

    I can ept a rival hitting me, but who do you think you are to hit me?!

    In a fit of rage, Song Ou retaliated ¨C tried to. Before he could achieve anything, s, the other ck-d intruders had covered him in a hail of ground and pound.

    The leader hoisted Song Ou up by hispels and asked, ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± queried Song Ou.

    The leader clobbered Song Ou over the head. ¡°Xiang Baxian!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    The individual next to the leader whacked Song Ou over the head. ¡°You think you can fool us?! He¡¯s already been brought into Liu Shan Men!¡±

    ¡°Who the devil are you even talking about?!¡±

    The group exchanged eye contact, unable to believe what they were hearing.

    Zha Pi, having returned with help, thundered, ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?! Why are you being so cruel to my captain?!¡±

    One of the intruders responded, ¡°Smashing him. Why?¡±

    ¡°Tough guy, are you? Hit him now if you dare.¡±

    The intruder pped Song Ou without hesitation. ¡°There you go!¡±

    Zha Pi: ¡°Try it again if you dare!¡±

    The intruder pped Song Ou again. ¡°Done!¡±

    ¡°Okay, tough guy¡­¡±

    Song Ou: ¡°Are you just trying to entertain yourself?! Tell him to release me!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry. You are wisest, Captain. Let him go. If we charge you together, your heads will roll!¡±

    The leader pushed two fingers up against the side of Song Ou¡¯s neck. ¡°If you don¡¯t hand him over, he¡¯s finished.¡±

    ¡°You better honour your word! Wait, who do you want?¡±

    As the match on the roof reached its climax, Yi Ya suddenly remarked, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

    Song Chi and Red Prince watched Yi Ya saunter toward them, but their bodies wouldn¡¯t react once he was within range. Attacking before one¡¯s opponent was ready was amon sense tactic. Despite knowing that, they couldn¡¯t tell how Yi Ya toppled them; they only knew he broke their bnce, causing them to fall. Only after the fact did the two realise they were over thirty metres away from each other, yet they dropped so fast that they couldn¡¯t tell who dropped first.

    Yi Ya continued on his way, seemingly teleported into the middle of the group donning ck robes,id out the leader in one strike and had him in his hands. ¡°Where¡¯s Lady Su?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you wish.¡±

    Yi Ya hit the leader with a palm strike and then let the corpse with bloodying out of its orifices slip out of his hands. He turned around and, before anyone realised it, had subdued the others as well as called for his subordinates to haul them back to his office. With his jobpleted, he strolled off without ever looking back at Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain lying on the ground.

    From that day onwards, Song Ou would know why Yi Ya was feared.

 Book 13: Chapter 91

    Book 13: Chapter 91

    It¡¯s barely been a few days since we left¡­ Vice-Captain is going to let every single one of you have it once she¡¯s back.

    Su Xiao nearly passed out again, although for a different reason this time. ¡°How is the situation now?¡±

    Ouyang Xiong didn¡¯t know what the catalysts behind the big fight were, so he could only ry the events. Hence, he wrinkled his nose and squinted. ¡°Why are you asking me when you¡¯re the one who¡¯s a part of Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Evidently, Su Xiao was too worried to think straight.

    Ouyang Xiong suddenly smiled. ¡°Looks like you have enough of a headache, so I¡¯ll be nice. I have a piece of advice I suggest you heed. M-, Brother Su,e over here.¡±

    Ouyang Xiong didn¡¯t approach Su Xiao with good intentions to begin with, and Ye Luo could see through the fake smile and sudden friendly tone. However, before she could intervene, Ouyang Xiong had already extended a hand toward Su Xiao¡¯s small neck violently.

    ¡°Mm?¡± Su Xiao casually reached out, catching Ouyang Xiong¡¯s elbow despite it purely being an instinctive reaction without any martial intent.

    Struggle as he may, Ouyang Xiong couldn¡¯t muster any strength to break free. To say Su Xiao used a joint lock would be wrong since he wasn¡¯t even holding Ouyang Xiong¡¯s elbow in a way conducive to joint locking. Any expert the art of joint locking would know that the second step after controlling a joint was to snap it. Ouyang Xiong didn¡¯t feel anything break, but he was as weak as if he was heavily intoxicated.

    ¡°Eh? Y-you tried to attack me?¡±

    Ouyang Xiong lowered his head in shame, prompting Ye Luo to snap, ¡°Feeling ashamed again, scumbag?!¡± She thenunched a push kick straight into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

    ¡°I need to return to Liu Shan Men. Regardless of how bad Captain Song is, he is still one of us. Plus, I need to see if anyone else is hurt,¡± voiced Su Xiao.

    Ye Luo nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you. Bai Yeshuang is my friend, so I¡¯d like to check on her.¡±

    Suffice to say, Su Xiao was happy to hear Ye Luo would be joining him, so he bid his ssmates farewell and left. On their way out, Su Xiao subconsciously reached for his weapon, only to remember he had misced it.

    ¡°Ah, my Ancient Cold¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll find it for you. Maybe you misced it on the side of the road. You know who I work for. As long as it¡¯s still in the capital, I guarantee it can be found.¡± Ye Luo¡¯s assurance didn¡¯t help, evident from Su Xiao¡¯s frown. ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Sister Ye¡­ I recall you saying you found me by your home entrance.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I, too, am puzzled how you managed to recognise my house when you were hurt so severely,¡± bashfully responded Ye Luo. While she was certainly worried about Su Xiao¡¯s condition, she was also d that he was her first choice for aid when he was in trouble.

    ¡°But I remember training on Qixia Mountain before I passed out.¡±

    Ye Luo suddenly found herself unsure how to respond. The mountain in the northeast part of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province wasn¡¯t close to Ye Mansion by any standard. While it was reaching to say that Su Xiao could stumble from Daren Academy to Ye Mansion in his injured state, it was still within the realms of reality. To travel from Mount Qixia to her home in that condition, though, was easily suspending reality.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been puzzled ever since I woke up in the clinic. Now that I think about it, if somebody didn¡¯t bring me back to the capital and to your door, it¡¯s impossible for me to have made it back.¡±

    The only reason Ye Luo¡¯s assessment was wrong was due to the fact that she didn¡¯t know the whole story.

    ¡°If somebody just happened toe across you, they wouldn¡¯t have brought you specifically to my ce. If they were someone you knew, they should¡¯ve taken you to Liu Shan Men. Whoever it was knows you and even about our friendship. Your weapon is most likely in their possession now.¡±

    ¡°My Ancient Cold¡­ Who would they be?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hehe, don¡¯t you worry about that. As I said, as long as it¡¯s still in the capital, I guarantee it can be found. Head back to Liu Shan Men for now, and leave the search to me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡±

    ***

    Emperor Yuansheng was furious once he heard what happened at Liu Shan Men a few days ago. Ming Feizhen and Huang Yuzao were missing. The Seven Champion White Princes were being thorns in his side. Fiends¡¯ Genesis were causing panic among the people, and now the three offices overseeing the martial world, three descendants of reputable families and a Prince fought each other at a government office, and they even vandalised Liu Shan Men.

    When summoned, Yi Ya recounted how he captured the group sent to break Xiang Baxian out of prison, then didn¡¯t say another word. Long Zaitian and Lei Bao kowtowed, opining His Majesty worry about the people and not their reward because capturing criminals was their duty; they made it sound as though the only thing they did was good.

    On the other hand, Liu Shan Men couldn¡¯t offer any exnation as both of their leaders couldn¡¯t make it to the summoning. Song Ou was bedridden due to the three beatings he suffered, while Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t in the capital.

    Didn¡¯t His Majesty have good reasons to be mad?

    If Shen Yiren was still around, there was no way she¡¯d have let anyone wreck her family¡¯s generations of work.

    Although His Majesty mercilessly sted the three Qilin Guards in public, he issued an edict to have Shen Yiren summoned back for her penance, as well.

    Yi Ya did capture the Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate¡¯s group and did quell the turmoil in the capital, so his merits cancelled out his faults. Long Zaitian and Lei Bao were demoted three ranks. Lei Bao was assigned to guarding the city doors, while Long Zaitian was sent to an army camp to work as an instructor for new blood. Red Prince had his ie for the next twelve months taken from him and was grounded until His Majesty allowed him out. Red Prince never cared for wealth, but being grounded meant that his wonton date with Chu Yinghua was dyed until His-Majesty-knew when.

    One of the three culprits who vandalised Liu Shan Men¡¯s roofs returned to Daren Academy, specifically Flower Plucking Pce.

    With his hands in salute, Song Chi expressed, ¡°Please forgive this one for underestimating you.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 92

    Book 13: Chapter 92

    Neither owner of the stretched shadows said a word, but neither seem bothered. Jin Zhaoying took her time pouring tea to ensure every movement exuded grace. Song Chi just watched on as a customer admiring her grace.

    Even by the strictest standards, Jin Zhaoying was a beautiful maiden. Having said that, she was at a level where she could mesmerise her beholder at first sight. In fact, she was best known for herpetence, not her beauty. What kept Song Chi¡¯s attention wasn¡¯t her beauty; it was the slight upward curve at the corner of her lips, her immacte fingers and gaze on the tea. It¡¯d be annoying to watch someone taking their time toplete a task when there was no need to, but watching her in slow motion was the equivalent of watching a spectacle, one that men would neverin about it being too long. If eloquence had a human form, it would called Jin Zhaoying. Song Chi, however, was not in the mood.

    ¡°Do you think silence is eptable justification?¡±

    Song Chi didn¡¯t want to be first to speak. s, he forfeited the first contest. He quitted because he knew Jin Zhaoying was more than happy to keep silent all night. If anything, continuing topete in the war of attrition would¡¯ve likely resulted in him falling for some trap. Since he had gone on the offence, he decided it was best to keep going until he won.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure what your n or stance was before today, but I now understand you have drawn a line between us. Considering our long friendship, it breaks my heart to know that we cannot continue working together.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying smirked whilst shaking her head as if she was a clueless child. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean by drawing a line. Brother Song, enlighten me, pretty please?¡±

    Song Chi frowned. ¡°Among the Seven White Champion Princes who entered the capital this time, three of our families have sent descendants. You are the only one among our families who stays in the capital, biding her time to strike at the right moment. I didn¡¯t suspect anything at the start, but my suspicions continued to pile up. Following Jin Wangsun¡¯s actions, Gold and Silver Sect has undergone a big internal transformation. Even without the internal restructuring, Gold and Silver Sect would not have the courage to work with us after Jin Wangsun¡¯s crimes.

    ¡°Among us seven, my n and Jin n¡¯s foundations are the feeblest. On the surface, we appear to be glowing, but we¡¯re extremely prone to copsing. Putting Song n in your shoes, if we had a Jin Wangsun, I would never dare to even think of opposing the imperial court for as long as I have a brain. Patriarch Jin is far wiser than I am. There is no way someone as clever as you would not be able to read the board.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying casually had a nip of tea.

    ¡°As such, I assumed that was the reason behind your ambiguous stance. Still, concerned and determined to find out the truth, I tasked a messenger with personally delivering a letter to Patriarch Jin in Zhenjiang. The letter was the allied n for our four ns. The reply I received stated that your n was too busy sorting out its sessor to worry about external issues. Suffice to say, it explicated your n has no intentions of joining hands with us. You are not in the capital for your n. From the beginning, you were here for something else.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying gently set down her teacup and sarcastically pulled her brows together.

    ¡°Where is Xiang Baxian? Can you tell me now, Sister Jin? I have looked into the Qilin Guards¡¯ raid on Liu Shan Men already. You are sheltering Su Xiao, so he may not yet be aware of your ns. Had he not taken instructions from you, though, he unlikely would have thought of going to the Ministry of Justice¡¯s prison. As for the reason nobody can find Xiang Baxian after he returned to the academy, I believe you are the reason.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Jin Zhaoying finally honoured Song Chi with a gaze. ¡°I¡¯ve also thought the eldest Patriarch Song¡¯s three sons to be the most capable, while his third son was second best. Pffthaha, I can now say I¡¯m a great judge of character.¡±

    ¡°You have yet to answer my quest-¡±

    ¡°You never wrote or sent any letter,¡± Jin Zhaoying interrupted in a breathy voice. ¡°You don¡¯t know anything, either. You¡¯re testing me. How underhanded.¡±

    Song Chi blushed as he retreated several steps in the face of Jin Zhaoying¡¯s simper. As a man on a mission to grow his n, he was usually indifferent to women, but Jin Zhaoying had a way of breaking him down. Nheless, he promptly calmed himself and, after thinking of a counter,ughed before saying, ¡°It is said that you know everything happening in the world without having to step outside. I have always been curious how that is possible.¡±

    ¡°Do you feel I am not capable enough to know that much?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. It is entirely possible for one to be up to date on the world¡¯s happenings without leaving their home. His Majesty knows about events across thend without needing to leave the pce.¡±

    ¡°Are youparing His Majesty to yourself?¡±

    Song Chi flinched after realising his idental mistake. ¡°That was a thoughtless remark. His Majesty is unmatched throughout history as a ruler. I would never dare topare His Majesty to someone as insignificant as myself.¡±

    ¡°That goes without saying.¡± Without waiting for Song Chi to meet her gaze, Jin Zhaoying added, ¡°You think you¡¯re worthy?¡±

    There was no anger to speak of, just unspeakable fear and regret ¨C the regret of approaching Jin Zhaoying on his own ord. Despite knowing she was physically weak, Song Chi¡¯s fear continued to spread as if it was venom spreading throughout his body.

    ¡°That was a mistake on my part. There truly are plenty of ways of knowing what is happening without leaving one¡¯s home. Sect patriarchs and family patriarchs are always keeping a pulse on the world¡¯s movement, and they can learn receive lots of intelligence reports.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting further and further away. What n am I the matriarch of? What intelligence reports did you see me receive?¡±

    Song Chi cupped his fist in salute and smile. ¡°You are not a matriarch, and you do not need to be. You do not need to receive intelligence reports on matters widely discussed.¡±

    ¡°Though you say that, it seems you¡¯ve been investigating and been unsessful in the endeavour. Being cautious so that you never make any errors, it must be tough trying to grow your n with your personality.¡±

    Indeed, Song Chi had been monitoring Jin Zhaoying for a length of time and never once caught her receiving any information pertaining to the pugilistic world. Given his pedigree and skill set, he should¡¯ve been a confident individual, but he was always walking as if he was treading on a tightrope. His father also said that he would struggle to achieve anything big with that personality despite his talents.

    Jin Zhaoying was the type to be able to deduce a plethora of things based on someone¡¯s single sentence, so trying to debate against her was just asking to have your ego smashed.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Song Chi smiled. ¡°Please forgive me. I have a tendency to let my mind wander. They may be useless thoughts, but I cannot stop myself. There is a cause and effect for everything in the world. Since you are not receiving reports, I am very curious how you know so much.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying gestured for Song Chi to continue with a smirk.

    ¡°I have finally worked out how you know so much. You like topete against other schrs with your brush. I am curious if all that is in those letters you exchange with each other is literature. I followed this thread to learn that you send a letter to a specific ce at a fixed interval.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying¡¯sck of a reaction almost had Song Chi second guessing himself.

    ¡°¡­ Hangzhou.¡±

    Jin Zhaoying¡¯s elegant smile didn¡¯t leave, but that only spurred Song Chi¡¯s hear to beat faster.

    ¡°I have always wondered who you are taking orders from. It was not until Xiang Baxian was rescued that I could confidently assert you are opposing us.¡± Song Chi paused for a deep breath. ¡°So it is true¡­ your rtionship¡­ is deep?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, what do you think?¡±

    The only thing Song Chi got out of Jin Zhaoying¡¯sugh and response was that she could resemble a kind neighbourhood elder sister when she answered.

 Book 13: Chapter 93

    Book 13: Chapter 93

    Although Liu Shan Men¡¯s property was left mangled, thankfully, nobody was injured. As long as they didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone, Song Chi, Yi Ya and Li Tingzhu could hold back enough to avoid hurting anyone intentionally. Besides, since Yi Ya singlehandedly ended the fighting, the coteral damage was minimised. Moreover, the majority of Liu Shan Men¡¯s members had assembled in a different location during the attack to defend themselves, so they were out of harm¡¯s way.

    On paper, Su Xiao and Tang Ye had quitted Liu Shan Men. Therefore, they had no right to be paying visits in the office. For as long as Song Ou was in charge, Su Xiao would only be putting his friends on the spot if he went in to visit them. To circumvent that problem, Su Xiao decided to visit (read: sneak in) at night.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Su Xiao found a quiet ce to recalibrate his flow of true qi while waiting for night to fall in the evening. As far as internal disciplines went, he had predominately only trained them; rarely did he utilise them in actualbat. In and of itself, it wasn¡¯t a bad thing because there were disciplines that weren¡¯t designed forbat, such as Internal Vision Technique. Su Xiao felt as though his true qi wasn¡¯t obeying him, so he wanted to try bringing it under control using his usual approach.

    While measuring his ¡°volume¡± of internal energy wasn¡¯t possible for him, it was an irrefutable fact that he moulded the same amount in the past in half the time, and his true qi circted ten times faster than usual. It was surprising to him since he didn¡¯t know what developing meridians, tendons and bones meant to a martial artist.

    Martial artists who cared their progress would change their religious beliefs if they could develop their meridians, tendons and bones the way Su Xiao did. After all, they formed the potential for how far one could go in their martial arts quest. There was a reason that the majority of elite martial artists were those who started early on in life. Even though Su Xiao had Yijin Jing¡¯s magic on his side, it wasn¡¯t until he was fifteen that he started actively developing those threeponents, so the fruits of thatbour would be limited. If Yijin Jing could magically develop them without any limits, he¡¯d inevitably end up suffering qi deviation as he did on Qixia Mountain. Luckily for him, he managed to progress through multiple levels, which permitted his body to undergo the transformation. The only concern for him was his personality not keeping up with his physical transformation; this issue was evident from the fact that he struggled to control his internal energy.

    Qi that was potent without being unbridled was the sign of Just Realm internal energy graduating. In other words, one¡¯s internal energy was no longer some entity floating on the water surface but had be part of the water ¨C or in this case, one¡¯s body.

    Although he was ecstatic about his progress, Su Xiao didn¡¯t let it go to his head. Instead, he patiently tried to synchronise his breathing with his flow of internal energy as Ming Feizhen taught him. As the vigorous flow of true qi slowed, aforting feeling akin to sitting on soft cotton overcame Su Xiao.

    Realising the frosty and dreamy night had fallen, Su Xiao whistled, but it unintentionally came out as loud as a whistling wind coursing through a forest stretching several kilometres. Nobody in the capital would pointlessly show off their might. Hence, Su Xiao¡¯s whistle invited unwee guests.

    ¡°Bronze Mask!¡± Su Xiao eximed upon spotting a vague silhouette at the end of the long street.

    There were no reported cases of the bronze-masked killer showing up in front of his victims before ending them, but there wasn¡¯t a shadow of doubt that there was a bronze-masked man armed with a de at the end of the street right now. Su Xiao could sense danger just looking at the de in his hand. As soon as the individualunched himself forward, Su Xiao instinctively reached to his hip, only to remember Ancient Cold wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t fair! I don¡¯t have my weapon!¡±

    The masked man surprisingly stopped a metre away from Su Xiao. The even more shocking fact was that the man¡¯s clothing didn¡¯t billow and qi flow didn¡¯t flow helter skelter after decelerating from that speed. Once he finished surveying Su Xiao, he pulled back his extended de, and it seemingly vanished into thin air.

    Just as Su Xiao went to breathe a breath of relief, his attacker finished taking his third step back, formed a fist with his left and open hand with his right, inviting Su Xiao to attack. At a nce, his stance was akin to Shaolin¡¯s ¡°Mount Ling Salute¡± and Mount Hua¡¯s ¡°Green Pine Wees the Guest¡±, except his pose didn¡¯t look good or practical. The one thing Su Xiao was certain of was that his opponent wasn¡¯t going to just walk away.

    Since he wasn¡¯t well-versed in hand to handbat, Su Xiao threw a lousy palm attack. While his opponent was much slimmer than him, he didn¡¯t to fight back with his longer limbs. The masked man¡¯s fist looked small and cute on its own, but it looked huge in the darkness, and the apanying howling wind showed it wasn¡¯t wise to try catching it.

    Before mastering the thirdyer of Yijin Jing, seeing the punch would¡¯ve been impossible. Even with senses heightened enough to sense an iing punch, there was no guarantee Su Xiao could actually dodge it.

    Su Xiao moved his head off centre and his feet to his right without conscious thought. s, the punch still caught Su Xiao on his left shoulder, sending him several steps back whilst groaning. To say he was terrified was an understatement, but, for some reason, his assant didn¡¯t go head hunting.

 Book 13: Chapter 94

    Book 13: Chapter 94

    The attack wasn¡¯t premeditated; it was purely spurred on in the moment after hearing Su Xiao¡¯s whistle. As an elite assassin, he determined Su Xiao was quite an aplished martial artist based on the whistle. Bronze Mask neither expected Su Xiao to be such a shabby fighter nor for his internal energy to be so potent. In a logical world, somebody who could unleash that loud of a whistle shouldn¡¯t have performed worse than an amateur fighter, yet there was irrefutable proof before his eyes now that somebody could.

    While Bronze Mask didn¡¯t expect to kill Su Xiao with the punch, since he didn¡¯t even intend for it to kill, considering the amount of internal energy he put into it, it should¡¯ve broken every bone in a colossal bear, yet Su Xiao only groaned. Given Su Xiao¡¯s shoulder didn¡¯t even suffer any damage, it was conclusive that the whistle only disyed a fraction of Su Xiao¡¯s internal energy potency.

    It went without saying that Su Xiao only whistled as a means of easing his excited true qi. There was a difference between a clear whistle versus a whistle to assert dominance and one to enhance performance, but Bronze Mask wouldn¡¯t have known that without the context.

    Suddenly, a violent gust blew, prompting Bronze Mask to get into a stance. Unfortunately, the pressure was so immense that he couldn¡¯t get into his stance. Since defence wasn¡¯t going to cut it, he switched to try to grab his opponent. He caught the small and slippery foot with just one hand and then grabbed Su Xiao¡¯s small calf with his other hand. Su Xiao couldn¡¯t break the hold on his leg, but it didn¡¯t hurt. The exchange came to an abrupt halt when Bronze Mask tried sealing Su Xiao¡¯s leg.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Not only had Su Xiao been learning martial arts from Ming Feizhen, but he also learnt fight IQ. When he saw Bronze Mask¡¯s hesitating to attack, Su Xiao whipped a kick at Bronze Mask. Regrettably, Su Xiao learnt to attack, but he hadn¡¯t inherited Mount Daluo¡¯s teachings in their entirety yet, so he didn¡¯t hide his sneak attack. Had he graduated from Mount Daluo¡¯s curriculum, his kick would¡¯ve found its target instead of getting caught and his leg sealed.

    Bronze Mask was stunned that his opponent would try catching him off guard when his opponent looked terrified. On the other hand, Su Xiao was stumped for a solution as Ming Feizhen never taught him what to do if his sneak attack was caught.

    Bronze Mask released his hold on Su Xiao¡¯s leg because Su Xiao undid the seal with a single breath. After that, he just stood in ce.

    Su Xiao was happy to be liberated until he felt the atmosphere wasn¡¯t so positive. ¡°Ar-are you unhappy?¡±

    Bronze Mask didn¡¯t say a word and fought in a very reserved manner, so one could argue that silence was his trademark. Su Xiao, howbeit, sensed something else aside from the silence, although it wasn¡¯t a strong signal.

    ¡°You seem¡­ angry?¡±

    Bronze Mask got back into his fighting stance.

    ¡°Why do you want to keep fighting?!¡±

    Maybe Su Xiao pointing out a pain point triggered Bronze Mask. Whatever the case, it seemed as though Bronze Mask was insistent on measuring Su Xiao¡¯s capacity, attacking at a tempo slower than a teacher teaching his disciple how to defend.

    As long as his opponent wasn¡¯t trying to fight to win, Su Xiao¡¯s sparring experience at Liu Shan Men was sufficient for him to get by. Though his opponent didn¡¯t go all out, the technical proficiency gap was in to see. Even though Su Xiao dismantled dozens of attacks and got into a rhythm, he was still getting caught all over, albeit in less and less pathetic ways. He couldn¡¯t associate his opponent¡¯s technique with a discipline, but his opponent certainly wasn¡¯t swinging wildly and praying for a lucky shot. His opponent clearly understood fundamental principles enough to apply them to any discipline and create variations where needed be.

    As Su Xiao continued absorbing blows whilst feeling confused, he graduallyprehended the art of defence and attack. As a result, he gradually learnt to defend and counter more efficiently, though his execution didn¡¯t exactly look clean. Maybe the hostile aura in the atmosphere grew because Bronze Mask recognised that.

    Another hundred exchangester, Su Xiao cheered as he intercepted a punch he sawing, making it the first time he cleanly blocked an attack in their scrap. Immediately after, he heard a crisp and condescending scoff from hisnky opponent. Next thing he knew, he saw a strike thrown without any reserve.

    Bronze Mask didn¡¯t up the speed; he simply changed his execution. As a consequence, he confused Su Xiao again just as he did before Su Xiao¡¯s upgrade.

    The bizarre thing about the fight was how Bronze Mask kept pulling back before the shots couldnd, but he kept making each consecutive strike harder to read than thest. While he might not have been able to end Su Xiao in one strike, he most certainly could¡¯ve taken an arm and a leg in the first exchange if he didn¡¯t hold back, and every other blow would¡¯ve just been a bonus. Instead of taking that easy option, however, Bonze Mask fought as if to prove that Su Xiao had no answer for any of his attack before switching to the next one to prove the same point again. Su Xiao didn¡¯t hear anything said, but he got the vibe that Bronze Mask was screaming, ¡°See? Look at this punch. Look at this kick. I can kill you whenever I please!¡±

    ¡°You could kill me in one attack. You only live once. Do you have to kill me a dozen more times before you¡¯re satisfied?¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t expect hisint to be oil on a fire. Though Bronze Mask didn¡¯t speed up, he made his attacks even moreplex. Su Xiao couldn¡¯t recognise what was iing, let alone deal with the attacks. In saying that, he thought they resembled the techniques Tang Ye used against Kunlun¡¯s patriarch, Yi Wangyou. The name was a distant memory he couldn¡¯t recall, but he remembered how Yi Wangyou countered Tang Ye, so he did the same thing.

    Su Xiao hardly understood anything about creating variations of techniques or mental cultivation, nor had he learnt Kunlun¡¯s internal discipline. All he did was push the same way Yi Wangyou did when he countered Tang Ye¡¯splex attack pattern with a single thrust from Deste Sword Dance. Combined with his photographic memory, Su Xiao¡¯s internal energy was more than enough to deliver the power needed for the simple strike to be effective.

    Despite not being able to counter the finger attacks from Bronze Mask, Su Xiaonded his attack precisely on Bronze Mask¡¯s palm, preventing thetter from using any further variations. Because being denied twice was the equivalent of losing, Bronze Mask grew furious enough to start lighting up Su Xiao to send Su Xiao rolling across the ground and bleeding from his mouth. Even at that point, Bronze Mask continued advancing whilst keeping his right hand in the back for defence and left hand in front to stter Su Xiao¡¯s head.

    Suddenly, Su Xiao had a shback, prompting him to swing upwards with his hand as if it was a de. In spite of his speed, the wind didn¡¯t howl. If Bronze Mask¡¯s attacks were a dark shrine, then Su Xiao¡¯s were the silent night. On one hand, his swing looked as though it offered defence and offence simultaneously. On the other hand, it lookedpletely useless. Yet, there was no doubt the swing was the equivalent of an unbreakable.

 Book 13: Chapter 95

    Book 13: Chapter 95

    With all the thoughts going through his head, Su Xiao¡¯s eyes failed to keep up with hisnky opponent¡¯s swift retreat. The only proof that Bronze Mask didn¡¯t teleport was the white smoke emanating from his dome as a result of an acute and intense production of energy to leap away. That was the first time Bronze Mask had not held back against Su Xiao.

    What¡­ was that just now?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Fear only set in once Bronze Mask¡¯s heart rate had dropped back to normal, and the fear only intensified as he graduallyprehended what almost caught him. No matter what counter he tried, it would¡¯ve been futile against Su Xiao¡¯s desperate attack. Analysing and deconstructing it only made Bronze Mask feel more defeated and helpless.

    What¡­ was that?

    Su Xiao stared at his hand, unable to believe the surreal experience orprehend it. His reaction was evidence that his counterattack wasn¡¯t intentional.

    Bronze Mask dropped the analysis with an inhale, then refocused on Su Xiao.

    An innate aptitude for martial arts, a kind personality, a character that sometimes goes off the rails and a splendid appearance, that¡¯s everything ¡°he¡± likes¡­ All these factors can be the reason he was chosen. However, that counter was different.

    Perhaps not even Bronze Mask could exin the nature of the counter. It was neither de work nor an internal discipline; as a matter of fact, it shouldn¡¯t have even been ssified as martial arts.

    Bronze Mask leapt backwards and silentlynded on a roof behind him. Su Xiao figured Bronze Mask wouldn¡¯t hurl insults given thetter¡¯s refusal to speak, but they were too far apart to fight, yet Bronze Mask didn¡¯t appear to have any intention of leaving.

    Without moving from his spot, Bronze Mask raised his right hand, revealing a broadsword thatplimented the silver moon with its quaint green colour.

    It might¡¯ve been a picturesque scene, but Su Xiao could sense imminent danger. As soon as he espied Bronze Mask raise his de parallel to the ground, Su Xiao instinctively strafed to his right. The grinding was barely audible, but, by the time he looked back, there was a thin slit in the ground where he was standing prior.

    Bronze Mask brought his de posterior to himself and then violently swung it forward. This time, Su Xiao leapt back the opposite way, and the wall immediately behind him before was left with an identical scar to the ground.

    Su Xiao: He can deal damage even from a hundred metres way?No wonder why he could assassinate people without ever being seen. Given how much space he has between himself and his targets, his timing and positioning, his assassinations virtually can¡¯t go wrong. Plus, escaping will be far easier than having to be in close quarters.

    Legends of beheading people from a hundred metres away had always been told, but, even among the elites of the martial world, only a few of them would¡¯ve been able to perform the feat.

    I have no chance. I need to escape!

    Bronze Mask stopped and stowed his weapon away. Su Xiao surprisingly picked up on the amusement Bronze Mask felt. Bronze Mask locked eyes with Su Xiao onest time before leaping off the roof and disappearing.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t feel confused for long for he soon heard footsteps of over a hundred people rushing over. Aside from his whistle, fighting the way they did inevitably alerted people to the secluded location. Besides, who among the three martialw offices didn¡¯t want to capture Bronze Mask?

    Dugu spotted Su Xiao about the same time Su Xiao spotted him. Although Su Xiao had nothing to feel guilty about, if Dugu dragged him off for questioning, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak into Liu Shan Men to visit his colleagues, so he, too, tried to fade into the darkness.

    As Dugu was familiar with Su Xiao, he didn¡¯t think anything was up when he saw Su Xiao sneak off. Instead, he instructed his subordinates to find evidence while he led a team to pursue Bronze Mask.

    ***

    Su Xiao used the roofs to make his escape from the scene.

    Although Su Xiao was pretty much Bronze Mask¡¯s punching bag and toy for mind games, the experience significantly improved his usage of internal energy. Until the scrap, Su Xiao couldn¡¯tbine internal energy with movement. During the match, however, he was able tobine them to amplify his evasion manoeuvres. Perhaps out of desperation, he learnt how to deploy internal energy as a veil of protection on his body, as well.

    Every step Su Xiao took as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop was basically revision of what he learnt. Therefore, he took every step with joy¡­ until he returned to Liu Shan Men.

 Book 13: Chapter 96

    Book 13: Chapter 96N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s interior truly was torn apart as Ouyang Xiong briefly mentioned. Su Xiao checked on everyone from their windows and was relieved to find nobody was hurt. The whole point of visiting at night was to avoid detection, but he couldn¡¯t help inconspicuously helping them tidy up as he watched everyone trying to clean up the scattered bricks and concrete. It was even harder for him to leave when he saw how badly damaged Ming Feizhen¡¯s ce was.

    The cornerstone of qinggong was how one breathed. With Night Steps as his breathing foundation and his recent progress, nobody noticed Su Xiao¡¯s presence. He spent an hour watching the people around him whilst helping up with the tidying, and then pulled out a big chest from under Ming Feizhen¡¯s books.

    Big Brother Ming reads books now? And this many?

    Su Xiao was about to open the heavy chest when he heard arguing in the distance. As he had yet to adapt to his amplified hearing, he was startled when he heard the dialogue as clearly as if they were right next to him.

    Due to the ten-odd constables standing around Liu Yuan, he had to keep raising his voice to be heard over them.

    ¡°You signed the agreement when you joined up. Unless there were problems outside of anyone¡¯s control, you can¡¯t leave until your term of employment is over. How long has it been since you signed the agreement for you to leave?¡±

    ¡°And when are we going to leave if not now? When we¡¯re beaten so bad that we need to be taken out in a casket?¡±

    ¡°Look at the buildings. Does it look like we can be put together like buildings?¡±

    Judging from the fact that Su Xiao couldn¡¯t recognise some voices, they had to be new recruits who joined Liu Shan Men after the Nanjiang campaign.

    ¡°Sir Liu, if this is not beyond anyone¡¯s control, what is? I¡¯m so embarrassed now that I don¡¯t want to tell anyone I work at Liu Shan Men¡­¡±

    ¡°Prestige is nothingpared to keeping our lives. We aren¡¯t strong. We¡¯re no match for these bullies.¡±

    ¡°Sir Liu, please let us leave.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± thundered Liu Yuan. ¡°You can¡¯t fight when the enemy attacks, but you run faster than anyone. We protected you precisely because you¡¯re not strong. Did any of your seniors push you to the frontlines?¡±

    ¡°Well said!¡±

    ¡°Eh? Xiao? Xiao Han?¡±

    A brief momentter, Su Xiao was spotted zooming over. Given the chest weighed around thirty kilograms at a nce, the youths were thoroughly impressed Su Xiao couldnd so softly from a vertical descent with it in his arms.

    ¡°Xiao Han, howe you¡¯re back?¡±

    ¡°I came back to visit everyone after I heard about what happened at the office.¡± Su Xiao cracked a smile as he scanned the new recruits, unintentionally scaring them. ¡°Do you still remember why you joined Liu Shan Men? Have you achieved your initial goals?¡±

    One muttered, ¡°Not yet¡­ but it¡¯s not worth risking our lives for¡­¡±

    ¡°And your safety is guaranteed after you quit?¡± At a speed faster than Liu Yuan¡¯s eyes could track, Su Xiao already had his index finger barely an inch away from the speaker¡¯s forehead. ¡°Someone has died every day for the past month in the capital, some of whom we know and some of whom we don¡¯t. You could be strolling along the street, and your head could be rolling across the street before you realise it. Do you think it¡¯s safe?¡±

    Needless to say, the newbie was terrified.

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to scare you. If you¡¯re this scared when you practice martial arts, how do you think those who don¡¯t train at all feel? How do you think your rtives at home feel? How would your future wife and children feel? Do you intend to let them suffer the same humiliation? When I first joined, I couldn¡¯t do anything right. I¡¯ve only started to improve a little thanks to the opportunities Vice-Captain gave me. How can you expect to grow if you never leave yourfort zone?¡±

    Liu Yuan flicked up a thumb and whispered, ¡°That¡¯s the most effective tactic.¡±

    ¡°Vice-Captain once said, as long as there is still someone, Liu Shan Men still exists¡­ Uh¡­ Big Brother Ming also said, as long as pork shoulders are served, he¡¯ll still be around.¡±

    Liu Yuan frowned at the mention of Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t dispute the fact that thest batch of constables Ming Feizhen trained behaved themselves exceptionally well.

    ¡°We need to retain our members. Sir Liu, please tell our fellows colleagues that we all need to bear with it a little. Once we lose our sense of direction, it¡¯ll be hard to bring us to together.¡±

    ¡°Well said!¡±

    The person who responded was standing on the opposite end of the area. He had a tobo pipe in his mouth, a broadsword hanging from his belt, a tiger fur waistcoat over his shoulders and a medical patch on his right foot. Sauntering over, he said, ¡°You took the words right out of my mouth.¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Zha Pi?¡±

    The new recruits suddenly assumed disciplined postures you¡¯d only find in the disciplined army. ¡°Brother Zha!¡±

    Zha Pi casually bobbed his head in response. He nced at one of them through the corner of his eyes, walked over and, as soon as they met eyes, whacked the new recruit over the head. ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡±

    ¡°N-no?¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    ¡°Then who?! Who else?!¡±

    ¡°N-no one!¡±

    ¡°No one? Then, what are we all standing here for? Everything done already? Go help civilians on the street, then! Buzz off!¡±

    Within a second, they had sped off.

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re like a big boss, Zha Pi,¡± remarked Su Xiao.

    ¡°You speak in jest. It¡¯s all thanks to Master Ming¡¯s teachings.¡±

    ¡°What did he teach you?¡±

    ¡°He said that newbies aren¡¯t mentally, so he told me to keep an eye on them. If I do well, he¡¯ll give me thirty silver taels as a reward.¡±

    ¡°So, the money is the real motivation?¡±

    Zha Pi shook his head. ¡°Is that the sort of person you see me as? Master Ming also said, if I failed in my duty, he would rip me apart and feed me to the wolves at the back of the mountain¡­¡±

    Liu Yuan and Su Xiao: ¡°Oh, I get it now.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 97

    Book 13: Chapter 97

    Ming Feizhen and Bai Yeshuang were the only two head constables at Liu Shan Men¡¯s Nanjing branch. As a head constable, one of Ming Feizhen¡¯s duties was to oversee the training and development of other constables. However, due to him being upied with numerous misceneous tasks, his tendency toze off on the job, pinch food and owe money, he really didn¡¯t like spending his time on training new recruits. Hence, he handballed the task to the arguable veteran ¨C Zha Pi.

    Zha Pi was basically in a role whereby he filled whatever shoes needed to be filled. If you wanted to ensure he did a job properly, you only ever needed Ming Feizhen to give him the order. Bullying the weak and ying the pet of the powerful were skills Zha Pi had mastered to the ultimate level, so it wasn¡¯t surprising for him to bask in the glory of his seniority to make the new recruits bend the knee to him.

    After Su Xiao¡¯s departure, Liu Yuan and Zha Pi invited a group of female constables they got along with, and the two enjoyed every moment of it.

    ¡°I had no idea all of you were deliberately sitting back.¡± By this point, Su Xiao had heard the details of the raid. ¡°I thought the Qilin Guardspletely outssed us.¡±

    There was no arguing that the Qilin Guards were stronger than Liu Shan Men, but that was mainly in regards to the abilities of their strongestbatants. In the capital, besides Yi Ya, none of the other Qilin Guards were that much stronger than Liu Shan Men¡¯s members. In particr, Shen Yiren¡¯s personally-trained female constables were formidable in their own right. With Song Chi stalling Yi Ya, Liu Shan Men had a solid chance at kicking out the Qilin Guards.

    In regards to why Bai Yeshuang didn¡¯t stop the Qilin Guards, she exined, ¡°I was just carrying out Vice-Captain¡¯s orders. She told me to fulfil my duties. Personal grudges are outside of my jurisdiction.¡± Or more frankly, Bai Yeshuang didn¡¯t like Song Ou, so she left him to his own fate.

    ¡°How is Captain Song?¡±

    ¡°Not too bad. Just can¡¯t speak smoothly. He had it rough. Maybe his olddy can¡¯t recognise him right now. Those Qilin Guards really stuck it to him.¡± The angry Zha Pi flicked up a thumb.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t have an easy time holding in hisughter. ¡°Any news on Vice-Captain?¡±

    ¡°Nothing since she left. She hasn¡¯t contacted us even once. I heard Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents sighted her in Hangzhou, but her traces were gone before they could confirm. I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s tracking down Head Constable Ming.¡±

    Putting aside Ming Feizhen¡¯s aplishments, the members of Liu Shan Men had been around Ming Feizhen long enough to genuinely feel concerned for him.

    Liu Yuan: ¡°I¡¯ll give at least five silver taels as condtory money.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang: ¡°Me, too.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming isn¡¯t dead!¡±

    Since the female constables were close to Ming Suwen, they didn¡¯t think poorly of Ming Feizhen, well, except for the special girls, such as Lan Kn.

    ¡°We¡¯ll offer two silver taels!¡±

    ¡°I said he¡¯s not dead!¡±

    Knock, knock!

    Chu Yinghua opened the door.

    Having heard about Su Xiao quitting Liu Shan Men, Su Xiao¡¯s ssmates and Ye Luo were worried he¡¯d run into trouble once he went back, so they waited and waited for his return at the academy, but they didn¡¯t know he didn¡¯t head straight to Liu Shan Men. When their patience ran dry, they made their way to Ye Luo¡¯s ce, where they ran into her heading out. The new group happened toe across Chu Yinghua, who was cleaning up, at the door, so she brought them in.

    Su Xiao¡¯s ssmates quickly befriended Liu Shan Men¡¯s members, and Ming Feizhen bing the connecting figure made that even easier. Unfortunately, owing to them being students, they expressed they could only afford to express their condolences with words.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need your money! He¡¯s not dead!¡±

    Ye Luo tapped Su Xiao on the shoulder. ¡°Xiao Han, I have something for you,¡± she said before passing over his signature weapon.

    ¡°Ancient Cold!¡± Su Xiao rubbed his cheek against his prized weapon. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I promise I¡¯ll never misce you again!¡±

    Unlike Su Xiao, though, Ye Luo didn¡¯t look relieved.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Sister Ye?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Xiao Han, you¡­ haven¡¯t gotten on the bad side of any weird people recently, have you?¡±

    ¡°N-no¡­ Wait, I think there¡¯s one ¨C the assassin wearing the bronze mask. For whatever reason, he started on me.¡±

    While most people listening flinched, Ye Luo wagged her head. ¡°No, not that type of weirdo. Mm¡­ He¡¯s like a madman. He looks¡­ pretty handsome. I¡®d say he¡¯s thirty-forty-ish? He never has two coherent sentences, and he¡¯s really annoying.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    ¡°Have another think. He¡¯s really picky and seems to be able to read your mind. He walks with a bit of a limp even though he tries to hide it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, nobody like thates to mind. If there was such a person, I¡¯d remember them for sure. I haven¡¯t met any strangers in thest few days.¡±

    Ye Luo still didn¡¯t look fully relieved.

    ¡°Sister Ye, was it not you who found Ancient Cold?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Well, I was the one who found it.¡± Ye Luo gyrated her lips. ¡°That said, how I found it was rather weird. My family steward gave it to me¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, your family steward found it?¡±

    ¡°If only. He said my dad gave it to him. If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s weird. Surely my dad wouldn¡¯t have been the one who dumped you at my front door¡­¡±

    Liu Yuan and Bai Yeshuang looked to each other. While Ye Luo¡¯s father and Song Ou were pretty much the same in standing, the former was realms ahead of Song Ou. Perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that catching the attention of Ye Luo¡¯s father was scarier than catching the attention of Bronze Mask. Ye Luo herself knew Su Xiao probably wasn¡¯t about to be lucky if her father took the initiative to interact with Su Xiao. It would¡¯ve been a lot ¡°safer¡± for him if her father got to know him through her.

    ¡°Well, misfortune will never let up until it catches you. Xiao Han, you better check your weapon in case my dad tampered with it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve carried on me from childhood, so I can tell if someone tampered with it or not as soon as I touch it.¡± In spite of what he said, Su Xiao still drew his broadsword to perform a flower.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t expect to unwittingly chop off the lock on the chest he had. As a result, the books spewed out of the chest and onto the ground.

    ¡°Ah, Big Brother Ming¡¯s books.¡± Su Xiao looked down to pick up the books and, out of nowhere, cried, ¡°Ming Feizhen, don¡¯t evere back for your own sake!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 98

    Book 13: Chapter 98

    The silhouette of the elder trekking through the forest would blend in with the shadows one moment, then stand out the next. Despite the slopes changing in steepness constantly, he showed no signs of struggling to traverse the trail. His rxed pace made it appear as though he was riding the warm winds that moved the white puffs high above the flowing water. Despite the muddy path forcing him to set his foot firmly each step, he barely left any visible footprints.

    Although most people would struggle to put a name to his face, he was far from being a nobody. Descendants of prestigious martial arts ns would address him as ¡°Master¡± or ¡°The Master¡±.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Shen Yiren¡¯s whereabouts came onto the radar when she visited The Master, but instead of worrying, he left Hangzhou and made his way to Mount Qixia. As a resident of Nanjing, he had been to Mount Qixia plenty of times, except he wasn¡¯t in a good mood this time. To the contrary, he was more vignt than someone on vacation would need to be. He went down the mountain after climbing it, then repeated the process multiple times. He had been at it since the morning, but he suddenly stopped at a vacant slope once the sun reached its peak. Given there was no water or shade there, he couldn¡¯t have stopped for a respite.

    The Master gazed to the sun with his eyes squinted. ¡°How sunny. It took all morning, but I¡¯ve finally found you. If you keep hiding, you¡¯re bullying an elder,¡± he voiced in a cordial tone that wasn¡¯t even loud enough for there to be an echo.

    ¡°We never expected anyone to notice us. Please wait a moment. The two of us shall greet you right away.¡± The tone in which he used to provoke The Master was annoying to listen to because he kept alternating between loud and soft.

    The wind began to billow harder as two objects violently approached in spiral motions. The Master turned sideways, giving the two iron chestnuts the slip, only for them to somehowe zooming back. The Master waved his arm, using the gale generated through his sleeve to decelerate them into the ground. Despite their thin shape and light weight, they made the wind whistle as if it was crying for help. Even The Master¡¯s internal energy wasn¡¯t sufficient to deflect them backwards.

    As the hidden duo¡¯sughter echoed across the entire mountain range, the duo in their fifties had already found themselves a spot face to face with The Master. The taller and rtively leaner one had the sort of smile that screamed ¡°I¡¯m a viin¡±, while the shorter and stockier one switched his viinous smile for a friendly one.

    The shorter one held his hands in salute and expressed, ¡°It was surprising that you could see through our ¡®Hidden Dragon¡¯ skill so easily when we have mastered it for a long time. There is no doubt your searching ability is extraordinary. We made a fool out of ourselves with our performance. We offer our humble respects.¡±

    The Master nced down to the muscr duo¡¯s weapons on the ground and simpered. ¡°Hmph, you sure did put on a performance, but I don¡¯t know about the respect part. Is sneak attacking an elder your idea of showing respect?¡±

    The shorter one responded, ¡°Hahaha, not at all. Howbeit, had we not greeted you, we would have not had any means of measuring your true capacity. Without knowing your capabilities, we cannot show respect.¡±

    While the taller one continued trying to pierce The Master with his gaze, the shorter one cordially continued, ¡°The legends say The Master is all knowing. May we ask if the purpose of your visit is to enlighten us?¡±

    The Master: He¡¯s a perceptive one.

    If there was a prize for hiding one¡¯s traces, The Master would be a champion. This was one of the very rare asions where someone would confront him without him giving away himself.

    ¡°You tter me. I am but an old man with a peculiar hobby. Friends merely share things here and there on ount of my age. I am in no position to enlighten anyone. However, I was born in Nanjing and spend most of my time here, so visiting Mount Qixia is amon excursion. How can I turn a blind eye to a distinguished guest?¡±

    The shorter one: They say this old man knows everything despite being a hermit. Could he be here to investigate one of our organisation¡¯s secrets? Surely he couldn¡¯t have known where we were hiding as soon as he arrived¡­ Surely¡­

    The duo believed that no soul knew about the months they had been hiding at Mount Qixia, not to mention their real identities hadn¡¯t been mentioned in ages. Therefore, it made no sense for someone to visit them purely to check up on them.

    Though the shorter man¡¯s mannerisms suggested he was affable, he was actually considerably more ruthless than the taller impulsive killer. For their safety¡¯s sake, the shorter man had already made up his mind to kill The Master there. Even so, he continued with his salute and polite tone. ¡°The two of us may be living in solitude here. However, we are but unimportant people; by extension, it would be inappropriate for us to be your esteemed guest. That being said, pleasee inside our humble abode so that we may serve you some tea as a means of expressing our respect.¡±

    The duo was stalwarts at their academy in their younger days and had achieved mastery over their disciplines in thest two decades. At this point in time, they were dangerous alone, let alone when they worked together as a team. Why, then, would they invite someone into their hideout full of secrets? The Master proved his internal energy wasn¡¯t to be underestimated. If they started a big fight in the open, their ns to stay hidden would likely fall through.

    The Master wagged his hand. ¡°No, no.¡±

    The short man queried, ¡°You do not wish to share some tea with us?¡±

    The Master shook his head. ¡°No, no.¡±

    ¡°May this one ask what you are saying ¡®no¡¯ to?¡±

    ¡°Mount Hua and Qingcheng¡¯s stars were ranked among the best of the orthodox sects twenty years ago. What do you mean by ¡®unimportant people¡¯?¡±

    Thenky man thundered, ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?!¡± without hiding his hostility whatsoever.

    Contrary to the rumours that the pair perished twenty-odd years ago, they actually deserted their respective sects so that they could learn unorthodox skills. Prior to then, they didn¡¯t have shiny and muscr bodies, fight the way they fought now or wield projectiles that misled people into thinking they hailed from the same sect. Suffice to say, they didn¡¯t hide their true identities just because they didn¡¯t want to be dragged into worldly affairs.

    ¡°You two are ¡®dead¡¯. You ¡®died¡¯ many years ago. Why are you back?¡±

    Unlike hisrade, the shorter man would exhibit friendlier mannerisms as his bloodlust burgeoned. And right now, he was beaming. ¡°They say there is nothing The Master does not know, only that which he does not wish to know. It is an honour to know The Master would spare us a spot in his mind.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡± The Master shook his head as though he wasmenting. ¡°Who cares who wins between a three-legged cat and four-legged dog or if the neighbour¡¯s daughter is able to have an affair or not? What honour is there to speak of?¡±

    The short man smiled even brighter. ¡°That being the case, what do you intend to do with your knowledge of our secret? Spread the word?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. This old man isn¡¯t here for you, either.¡±

    Chuckling as he ambled forward, the short man surreptitiously concentred internal energy to his hand behind his back, while his partner followed in perfect synchrony.

    ¡°What are you here for, then?¡±

    The Master shook his head. ¡°Did I not answer this question already? I am here to visit a distinguished guest.¡±

    Although the duo had no clue what The Master was ying at, they assumed advantageous positions to The Master¡¯s right and left to swiftly finish him.

    The Master shook his head once again and sighed. ¡°Too soon.¡±

    The shorter man shed a corner of his teeth. ¡°What crazy nonsense is that before your death?¡±

    The Master didn¡¯t bother moving once the duounched themselves toward him. Instead, he looked at them as if they were pitiful and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯m not here for you? And¡­ I don¡¯t like speaking to the dead.¡±

    ¡°Y-¡± The shorter man suddenly saw The Master split into a left and right half that wasn¡¯t symmetrical. Try as he may, he couldn¡¯t get figure out what happened as a red waterfall poured down from his skull that impaired his vision. Try as he may, his body wouldn¡¯t obey his will.

    The duo had no idea what cut open their heads or what pushed their bodies into the ground.

    From next to the two lifeless bodies on the ground, a man politely conveyed, ¡°How unbing for you two to let an elder stand in the harsh sunlight for so long.¡±

    Sitting on a big rock, the middle-aged man wore a smirk that suggested he was ready to make a sarcastic remark to anything despite his legs not being fit for walking.

    Glossary

    Qingcheng ¨C The sect name, like Wudang, derives itself from the mountain it was located on, which, in this case, was Mount Qingcheng.

 Book 13: Chapter 99

    Book 13: Chapter 99

    ¡°You pick up news quite fast, old man.¡± Sitting on the big rock, Ye Yun gazed into the expansive scenery with mesmerisation.

    The Master wasn¡¯t aware of Ye Yun¡¯s presence on the slope that¡¯d be hard for Ye Yun to climb with his handicapped legs because he was smart. He simply deduced Ye Yun would be there based on logical reasoning. By extension, he knew he would never locate any trace of Ye Yun if Ye Yun didn¡¯t leave a trace for him to follow.

    The Master sauntered over to the man he watched grow up. He had seen the many sides of Ye Yun, and he had also seen the young spirit that never left Ye Yun no matter which phase of life he was in. Perhaps that intense temperament andrge variety of characters were the reasons Ye Yun could pass off as a man in his twenties, thirties or forties.

    ¡°Not as fast as you, though.¡± While The Master was a fan of watching clouds drift, too, he preferred to watch birds chase the clouds. ¡°I caught windte. By the time I made my way here, I was already a few dayste. I presume this wasn¡¯t unintentional? If it was premeditated, this old one¡¯s pace would be too slow.¡± He looked over to Ye Yun and smiled. ¡°You were even the one to send him back. No matter how you look at it, I was not as fast as you.¡±

    ¡°It was just a matter of coincidence,¡± Ye Yun replied in an indifferent tone. ¡°There are very few spots in the capital that I don¡¯t have a visual on. I came to check out Mount Qixia due to an anomaly I noticed and happened toe across him.¡±

    The majority of the Nine Provinces was on Ye Yun¡¯s radar, let alone just the capital. When it came to intelligenceworks, not even The Master couldpare to Emperor¡¯s Entourage. An anomaly that could spur Ye Yun into action was no anomaly to be dismissed, and the two he just murdered in cold blood definitely had some connection.

    ¡°You coincidentally came across the kid?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe how coincidental it was. I saw him as soon as I arrived. I didn¡¯t even recognise him at first. All I could tell was that he was a brat ying ¡®training¡¯ here.¡±

    ¡°Considering your description, the kid isn¡¯t half bad, then?¡±

    ¡°You couldn¡¯t be more wrong. The only positive is that his internal discipline training is passable.¡±

    As somebody extremely skilled, with extremely-high standards and no desire to withhold his opinion, Ye Yun¡¯s assessments of martial arts were respected. If he ssified someone as ¡°okay¡±, ¡°passable¡± and the sort, then they should¡¯ve celebrated since it was incredibly rare for him to give that much praise.

    ¡°Internal discipline training? He¡¯s learning an internal discipline?¡±

    ¡°Big deal. Who can¡¯t? I was going to erase all of his skills when I came across him suffering from qi deviation to save his life.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save him, then? It would¡¯ve been as easy as snapping your fingers for you.¡±

    Ye Yun pulled a zany face. ¡°I have to help someone just because it¡¯s as easy as snapping my fingers? What sort of world are we in?¡±

    The Master figured Ye Yun probably wasn¡¯t that cold blooded and actually helped Su Xiao, except that he refused to break character. ¡°Ok, moving on. What happened next?¡±

    ¡°What happened next? Next, I saw that move.¡±

    All of a sudden, there was only the sound of the rustling leaves.

    A whileter, Ye Yun cast his gaze toward the azure dome and casually said, ¡°After I saw the move, I knew who the kid was, so I had to save him. Since he¡¯s acquainted with my daughter, I brought him back to my ce. Then I came back here to wait it out for three days just in case somebody noticed. Since I had free time on my hands, I found a bandit hideout to tear apart. I knew about the two in hiding, but it was too much of a hassle to go after them, so I spent my time taking in the scenery. Your arrival was a sign that the secret was kept, so I just helped you kill the two while I was here.¡±

    The Master strongly believed Ye Yun actually covered all possible trails. The Master found out about the incident from a source that provided him with steady updates, and then he deduced what happened from the intel he received. Given he could only achieve so much, it was incredibly improbable that people in the pugilistic world heard about it. Despite that, Ye Yun still personally went to Mount Qixia to check for witnesses.

    The Master exhaled softly. ¡°Were it not for your clean up, the kid would probably be dead already.¡±

    Ye Yun chortled condescendingly. ¡°Why do you keep probing around when you¡¯re no longer part of Emperor¡¯s Entourage? Regardless of how shiny you polish my shoes, I won¡¯t permit your reinstatement.¡±

    ¡°Who wants to be reinstated?!¡±

    ¡°d to hear that.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to about Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re the only tards who want to destroy the heavens, earth and air. You think they¡¯re tougher than Ximen Chuideng?¡±

    The Master sighed. ¡°Yiren came to see me.¡±

    ¡°I know. I¡¯d be surprised if she didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°She pretty much has identified Jiang Chen, but she hasn¡¯t given up. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s without a n.¡±

    ¡°What are you on about?¡± Ye Yun looked serious for the first time in their conversation. ¡°She¡¯s Shen Wuzheng¡¯s daughter.¡±

    ¡°Hah, I forgot about how you quit ying as soon as Shen Wuzheng is mentioned.¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you want from me?¡±

    The Master always liked Ye Yun¡¯s ¡°normal¡± mode whenever Shen Wuzheng was mentioned, so he enjoyed a good chuckle before switching back to business mode. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was a sessor. I thought the sessor was long dead.¡±

    ¡°Even I thought that.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have any means of protecting him, then? You know how dangerous it is to leave him be.¡±

    ¡°Toote for that.¡± Ye Yun let out a rare bitter smile.

    The Master titled his head.

    ¡°Someone is already protecting the kid. Do you know the reason he suffered qi deviation? Think about where, who, why and how he was training¡­¡±

    ¡°Yijin Jing?¡±

    Ye Yun¡¯s ¡°there¡¯s hope for you yet¡± expression verified The Master¡¯s guess.

    ¡°What is the point of internal energy when he already has¡­¡±

    ¡°It is pointless, hahaha, but he still imparted it. He used the discipline to tell us nosy people, ¡®It¡¯s fine. Sit still,¡± so I¡¯m obediently staying away.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°How arrogant must one be to use the most treasured discipline among internal disciplines to tell people to back off?¡±

    ¡°If you were half aspetent as him, you can be just as arrogant without giving people any right toin.¡±

    ¡°Are you acknowledging you are inferior?¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°What are youughing about?¡±

    Ye Yun keptughing for a while prior to replying, ¡°Whopares man to god?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 100

    Book 13: Chapter 100

    Pleasure to meet you all. My name is Ming Feizhen. I¡¯m but an ordinary handsome man. Just call me ¡°Handsomezhen¡±. I know it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve had screen time. You must¡¯ve missed me. Thank you for the love. I love you all, too. Look, there was a legitimate reason for myck of screen time. In case you forgot, I¡¯m still a martial arts cripple!

    The heavens wouldn¡¯t respond when I prayed to them, and the earth wouldn¡¯t reply when I prayed to it. I had been cooped up for so long that I had forgotten what a normal life was like. Once upon a time, I was roaming the world on my terms. Now, I had to rise earlier than chickens, lived sloppier than pigs, ate food worse than what dogs ate and toiled harder than donkeys. Can youprehend how miserable I felt?

    ¡°Boss, here is your tea,¡± Young Tian Xiaogua said in a ttering tone.

    ¡°Put it there. Which tea is it?¡±

    ¡°Calend tea. It is said that half a kilogram of the leaves cost more than half a kilogram of gold. This is from Sir Zero¡¯s private collection.¡±

    ¡°Oh, grab me another two chests, then.¡±

    ¡°B-but you would not be able to finish that much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my problem, not yours. I can use it to soak my feet.¡±

    Let us ignore the fool and continue with our main topic. Now, where was I? Right, my misery. I¡¯m telling you: the days were too miserable for any human being to weather.

    This tea smells nice.

    I wasn¡¯t miserable, you say? I was doing quite well, you say? That was for the sake of infiltrating their ranks. The fastest method of gaining someone¡¯s eptance was to stand on the same side as them. The luxuries I enjoyed would eventually be the miseries they suffered. Better?

    White paper turns ck if it¡¯s soaked in ink for too long? Name me one orthodox sect member who truly turned to the dark side three years after three years on the dark side. You think I¡¯m joking? That was because theycked practice. You think my Mount Daluo pedigree and heroic bloodline can be contaminated so easily? You know how respected I was among the orthodox sects? Besides, Mount Daluo was still pure.

    ¡°Boss, your chicken.¡± Tian Xiaogua served up a basin of chicken.

    I spat out the small nibble I had. ¡°It¡¯s overcooked. What do I mean? You know I am? I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m a second rate newbie at Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ new base. This is what you serve me? Prepare it again. Don¡¯t serve me no chicken that hasn¡¯t been simmered with shark fins for six hours.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Hang on.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to personally trouble yourself with something so trivial. Xiaogua, you¡¯re my favourite trainee. Get someone else to take care of it.¡±

    ¡°Understood, understood. Then, I shall¡­¡±

    ¡°Bend over so that I can rest my feet on your back.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Young people these days.

    As you can all see, they spared no efforts in finding ways to torment me, and they even made me train their new recruits.

    I had another drink of tea.

    To tell the truth, life at thepound wasn¡¯t exactly enriching. I had to fight for it, but I managed to improve my quality of life; I¡¯ll spare you the details. The primary change was my standing. The ordinary swordsman had transformed into¡­

    ¡°Doctor Wu, my chest keeps aching recently. Please help me.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t help someone bound to die.¡±

    ¡°Doctor Wu, it has ailed me for many years. I feel I won¡¯t make it¡­¡±

    ¡°Pray to Buddha. Hallelujah.¡±

    ¡°Doctor Wu, I have a stomach ache.¡±

    ¡°Crap it out.¡±

    ¡°Doctor Wu, I have a stomach ache, too.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions. You¡¯ll have a chubby kid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a man!¡±

    Aside from entrusting the clinic and dispensary to me, Zero also announced I was her right-hand man henceforward. My tasks were handling internal logistical affairs and working as the sole doctor on the base. At first, not everyone was on board. Therefore, I broke the legs of two guys getting rough with me and then fixed them up for everyone to see. I also performed acupuncture on Ouyang Xiucai and helped him get a problematicdy off him (I won¡¯t borate on this since it had nothing to do with medicine). Long-story short, once they beheld my god-tier skills, I transformed from a swordsman into a doctor. More urately, I turned into a doctor with a big heart andpetent hands,.

    ¡°Doctor Wu, I¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not sick. Next.¡±

    ¡°I gasped blood! Wait! I lined up for two days already. Are you sure you¡¯re not a quack?!¡±

    Yes, I was still searching for a means of escape. I had a vague idea, but my ducks weren¡¯t lined up yet for me to escape. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to ¡°help out¡±. On one hand, I could reduce their fighting power legitimately and kill time. Two birds with one stone.

    ¡°Next.¡±

    All of a sudden, the line at the door lost order. I figured someone had pushed in, yet nobody seemed to dare confronting whoever it was.

    ¡°Doctor Wu is booked out today. Come back tomorrow,¡± asserted Gu Xianxian. ¡°You have a lot of patients here. I shooed them off for you.¡±

    The person I want to get lost most here is you! You¡¯re not half bad at fighting, but you¡¯re ten times more of a pain in the neckpared to anyone else!

    Gu Xianxian looked around and then whispered, ¡°I need a favour.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s important, well, not really important. Just know that it¡¯s an urgent issue I wish to consult you on. You¡¯re helping everyone, so you might as well help me. I promise to pay you handsomely.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I could tell it was going to be a troublesome matter based on the way he broached the topic alone.

    ¡°Well, I guess I can. That being said, as I am the consultant, you have to abide by my rules.¡±

    ¡°What are they?¡±

    ¡°Just four simple ones.¡±

    Gu Xianxian smirked. ¡°Forget four. I¡¯ll abide by even ten. Go ahead.¡±

    I counted off four fingers whilst stating, ¡°Use as few words as possible. Get lost as far as possible. Don¡¯t take any medicine. Leave the cash.¡±

    ¡°Are you a doctor or a highway robber?!¡±

    Despite his outcry, the shameless prick still didn¡¯t buzz off.

    ¡°So what is it?¡±

    Again, Gu Xianxian checked all around prior to answering, ¡°I feel like my wife has been behaving weirdtely.¡±

    Huh? That¡¯s it?

    ¡°All the best to you two, then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 101

    Book 13: Chapter 101

    In case you forgot, allow me to give you a friendly reminder. Gu Xianxian may be a name you vaguely remember because his name came bundled with his wife¡¯s. It took Liaodong¡¯s Gu n and Ning Xinzhu more than twenty years of work to create ¡°Divine Couple Guxian Deities¡±.

    Gu n used to make a living from hunting in the mountains. Therefore, developing martial arts was a necessity. Later on, whether it was due to them being punished for animal abuse or realising they could never achieve greatness in the mountains, they left the mountain they called home to start a business. In time, Gu n became another member of Liaodong¡¯s martialmunity.

    Gu Xianxian always felt he was above others, and, thanks to his father¡¯s fame, he became quite well known for his cudgel skills in his youth. While I had never seen his skills, I had seen his n¡¯s cudgel discipline. To be fair, they were pretty good. On one of my birthdays, my friends in Hangzhou lined up at Night Fortress to put on performances. His old man, who was 104th in line, gave me a bear paw as a birthday gift and performed for me as I enjoyed the premium bear paw. The bear paw was sharp. I mean, his discipline was tasty. What? Let¡¯s move on.

    Gu Xianxian was young, prettypetent and looked decent, I guess? In Liaodong, his family was loaded and had a degree of influence, but ¡°ssy¡± and ¡°Gu n¡± didn¡¯t associate. I¡¯d say his father was lucky he didn¡¯t look like him. Anyhow, considering Gu Xianxian¡¯s resume, he was deemed a perfect match for Ning Xinzhu¡¯s eldest daughter.

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru¡¯s families tried to build them into heroes. s, they ended up bing maggots of the pugilistic world. Instead of praising them as ¡°Divine Couple Guxian Deities¡±, people did a y on the first ¡°xian¡± in ¡°Gu Xianxian¡± and remarked, ¡°Envy mandarin ducks, not guxian deities¡±. Before they were married, they kept unting their rtionship. After marriage, they unted their wealth. If people didn¡¯t respect their parents, they¡¯d likely be dead already. But you had to give them courage for still carrying themselves the same way; surely they had something going for them.

    Gu Xianxian¡¯s gait was steady, and his internal energy development had reached about 80% of his father¡¯s level. From what I could tell, he didn¡¯t acquire his skills from wrestling bears or his internal energy from his father.

    Once he kicked everyone out, Gu Xianxian heaved a big breath. ¡°I think¡­ I should share this embarrassing matter with you. Luckily, there are no outsiders now.¡±

    ¡°Says who?¡±

    ¡°As a true man, are you still bearing a grudge over what I previously said? Men value other men based on guts. Now that I¡¯m pouring my heart out, we¡¯re friends.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an outsider if I say so.¡±

    ¡°You know what they call you? A tsundere.¡±

    ¡°He might be referring to me,¡± Tian Xiaoguo voiced.

    ¡°Whoa! How can a footrest speak?!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I¡¯m not a footrest. I¡¯m a human being.¡±

    ¡°Tell him to leave!¡±

    I ced my chin onto my hand. ¡°You still haven¡¯t gotten to the main subject after all this time. I bet you won¡¯t finish sharing your issue anytime soon, either. You expect me to go without a drink for so long? If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m fine with you brewing tea, serving refreshments, giving me a massage, cleaning the floor and¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay, fine. Let him listen in.¡±

    I did mention Gu Xianxian looked nothing like his old man. However, they were both as shameless as each other. I didn¡¯t invite his old man to my birthday, yet he still invited himself. His son pulled over a chair for himself and even leaned in to grab my shoulders, so I whacked his hand away and said, ¡°You can talk, but don¡¯t sit. Take his chair away, and don¡¯t give him any tea. I¡¯d rather you clean the floor with it.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just joking. I¡¯ll pass on tea. I¡¯ll have some wine.¡± Only once he confirmed Tian Xiaogua had left to fetch wine did Gu Xianxian let out a sigh. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve needed to resort to consulting you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself. Piss off. Don¡¯t ask for my help.¡±

    ¡°Come on, you¡¯re being petty again. I was just kidding.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have all day.¡±

    Long after a hard think, Gu Xianxian pped his tea and, speaking through his clenched teeth, told me, ¡°Okay, listen carefully because I¡¯ll only tell it once.¡±

    To summarise, the husband was useless, and his wife w-, excuse my slip of the tongue. The husband was handsome, and his wife was pretty; they had rabid fans wherever they went. That was what they saw, not me or anyone else. As annoying as it was to witness them publicly flirt, there most certainly were people who envied them.

    ording to Gu Xianxian, his wife started having bigger and bigger fits in the past year, seemingly taking issue with everything. She would swear at him, hit him and even get in his old man¡¯s face to curse at him. On ount of Ning n, Gu Xianxian¡¯s old man didn¡¯t escte the issue with his daughter-inw, which only resulted in her taking yards for every inch she was given. Gu Xianxian had no idea what caused her change in temperament, but he had grown ustomed to putting up with it, so nothing changed.

    A few months ago, Ning Zhuoru told Gu Xianxian that she received amission that required their help in exchange for a handsome reward. Given he was already rich, Gu Xianxian didn¡¯t care for the reward, not to mention how sketchy it all sounded to him. Before he could deny the request, however, he gave in once Ning Zhuoru gave him the first smile in a long time and beseeched him to help. That was how he ended up at Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ newpound.

    Their rtionship improved upon arriving at the base, but things had begun deteriorating recently, and Ning Zhuoru grew increasingly distant once again. I knew about this part since I overheard them already.

    ¡°I just can¡¯t figure it out. Brother Wu, you¡¯ve been promoted to right-hand man and know how to diagnose illnesses. Help me work out what¡¯s going on. Is there an ailment that makes people¡¯s personality change drastically?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious.¡± Seeing Tian Xiaogua return with wine and refreshments, I signalled for him to stop. ¡°Wait. That¡¯s the wrong tea.¡±

    Tian Xiaogua: ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Give him some biluochun, longjing, maojian, shoumei or xueya t-¡±

    Gu Xianxian stood up. ¡°Enough, enough, stop talking about green-coloured teas! What are you trying to tell me?¡±

    Tian Xiaogua and I stared at Gu Xianxian. It took a while, but Gu Xianxian eventually burst out crying.

 Book 13: Chapter 102

    Book 13: Chapter 102

    Gu Xianxian passed out three times from exhaustion. In the end, Tian Xiaogua had to help him limp out. I couldn¡¯t me him. After all, no young man would ever think he¡¯d be a victim so soon after marrying a prettydy. That being said, based on surface-level evidence, there wasn¡¯t enough proof to prove his wife made him a cuck. I just couldn¡¯t think of any other exnation on the spot, and I was tired, so I just mindlessly gave him that conclusion. I¡¯ll have you know I did think before I answered, and the result of my contemtion was that my afternoon nap was more important.

    There was no natural light here, so I had totally lost track of time; you could say there was no day or night here. Moreover, though we were supposed to be guarding the ce, the majority of us didn¡¯t even know where the entrances and exits were.

    At first, everyone was on high alert following Kuang Gusheng¡¯s demise. After some time, people grew sick of being so vignt perpetually, and Zero didn¡¯t make a fuss, so everybody was practically back to their usual selves. Hence, everyone¡¯s daily chore had basically be waiting for an intruder to show up. People were sleeping during the day, patrolling at night, or sleeping in the evening and then waking up in the middle of the night ¨C which was the majority of us. And so, I, too, started having afternoon naps. Unlike those who mindlessly napped, though, I was a meticulous afternoon-nap hobbyist.

    Ack of sunlight didn¡¯t mean it was impossible to discern the time. There were specific personnel for keeping track of time in thepound, and they utilised a bell clock from the Western Regions as insurance. If I had to rely on those two methods to tell the time, I¡¯d have to go to the clock room each time. The flow of energy through one¡¯s body moved in rhythm with nature, so having awareness of one¡¯s body was another method of determining the time.

    I used my flow of energy from midnight to noon as a timer. My true qi had gone past twelve small intestine channels of my hands¡¯ taiyang. My qi and blood were at my chongxue meridian in my heart. Based on the Western Region¡¯s method of calction, it was half past two in the afternoon. Tell me that wasn¡¯t the perfect time for an afternoon nap.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Usually, the entrance to the dispensary would be blocked with people waiting to be tended to. Thanks to Gu Xianxian, though, I didn¡¯t have a crowd to deal with. In saying that, nobody would¡¯ve tried to stay if I told them I wanted to take an afternoon nap.

    There were pros and cons to taking charge of the dispensary. Now that my ranking was higher, I wasn¡¯t put under surveince and even had my own subordinates. I could procure all the resources I needed, which eliminated the need to constantly repair my mask, too. Due to my role as a doctor, howbeit, I had to stay at the dispensary for the most part. Since it was partially a public spot, I couldn¡¯t tamper with anything. I slept in a room not too far from ¡°Zero¡± at night, so I really couldn¡¯t do anything at night, either. For those reasons, my afternoon nap time was when I was truly busy.

    At present, I had three urgent matters to deal with.

    First and foremost, I needed to locate the darnpound¡¯s exit. In the event I couldn¡¯t escape, I needed to get the message out that I was stuck here. No matter what I tried thus far, I didn¡¯t have a definitive answer as to where the exit was and who was guarding it.

    I may have looked as though I was living the blessed life, but I was actually in danger every moment. There were only so many people in the dungeon. I couldn¡¯t just pick on the weaklings, right? If I broke the power bnce, and someone caught something, I¡¯d be sent to the guillotine. Additionally, I had no clue when Jiang Chen might return. While I had yet to interact with him much, I could tell from his gaze that he¡¯d easily squash me.

    Secondly, I needed to find out who the person Kuang Gusheng was trying to get in the good graces of. Considering the mysterious organisation was one that Kuang Gusheng wanted to join and that Zhong Ning was part of it, chances were it wasn¡¯t an orthodox organisation. If Kuang Gusheng was willing to abandon Fiends¡¯ Genesis to join them, then they couldn¡¯t have been some feeble organisation. Moreover, the mysterious individual was monitoring the base in secret, so ¡°Zero¡± probably didn¡¯t know who they were, and they were unlikely on the same team as Fiends¡¯ Genesis.

    To tell the truth, I wasn¡¯t worried about the mysterious individual recognising me. The type of character to operate in the shadows typically had a functioning brain. Given their background, they couldn¡¯t have been weak, either. They wouldn¡¯t kill me or expose me if they knew who I was. To the contrary, they¡¯d try to strike a deal with me. Based on the fact that Zhong Ning was one of them, I was confident my stash of 108,000 ¡°A Riot of Colour Means Springtime. Azure Luan and Crimson Phoenix Dance¡± (read: pornos) would be enough to seal a deal.

    What? You think I¡¯d leave my porn-, treasures at my secluded home? Amateur. Who leaves something so valuable out of reach? I selected the most profound and treasured ssics that gentlemen studied. I could win without fighting.

    When Young Shiyi and I first went to Liu Shan Men, I stashed my collection at the inn. Once we had proper lodging, I hid the collection at the foot of a wall.

    If you thought Boss would find my collection, you underestimated me. To avoid Boss¡¯ death penalty, Su Xiao scratching me, Tang Ye¡¯s cold shoulder and Liu Shan Men gazes of despise, I spent three full days building a fake wall in my room. It looked like the corner of a wall, but it was actually a hidden section. Unless you tore the wall down, you¡¯d never find it. Unless the Qilin Guards came over to start a fight, there was no chance in hell the wall wasing down. You think they¡¯d dare to start a fight when Boss was there? Hahaha, you amateur.

    Man, I feel a little sad now that I think about the chest. Anyway¡­

    So, I wasn¡¯t worried about the mysterious individual recognising me; I was worried they wouldn¡¯t recognise me! If they were convinced I was Wu Ping, they¡¯d off me along with the rest of Fiends¡¯ Genesis just as I offed Wu Ping and Yan Jibei to silence me! That was why I¡¯d rather tell them who I was. Problem was, I needed to find out who the mystery person was. If I just randomly went around telling people I wasn¡¯t Wu Ping, ¡°Zero¡± would ensure I didn¡¯t live to see another day.

    I¡¯m telling you, you had no human rights if you can¡¯t fight.

    ¡°Hey, piss off! Can¡¯t you see Doctor Wu ising through?!¡± I kicked aside a henchman and boldly strutted through.

    Where was I again? Right, you had no human rights if you couldn¡¯t fight.

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 103

    Book 13: Chapter 103

    I did my best to hide the urgency in my brisk steps back to the room where the injured rested, which brought me to the third urgent matter I needed to deal with ¨C the ¡°Godly Hole¡±. Once I arrived, I listened in closely for any presences nearby, ced my hands against the door and then listened in again¡­ You could never be too cautious.

    Once inside, I hastily opened up the passageway and raced down. Time was of the essence! If only the damn passageway full of twists and turns covered the perimeter of the capital. The bottom was nowhere in sight, and there were flipping forks in the road, not to mention the paths led up, down, back up, back down! In my multiple exploration trips, I never found the base floor. The passageway was a dungeon inside a dungeon.

    The first time I explored the passageway, I kept running into walls for twenty minutes, and there was no end in sight. I only grew more and more bemused as I explored it, so I gave up. I tried to explore faster the second time so that I could find out where it led to at the very least. s, despite being able to go further in the same time frame, I still didn¡¯t find out where the end was; in fact, I didn¡¯t see any signs of finding the end.

    While I was exploring the passageway, I had visitors upstairs, yet I wasn¡¯t there. That was a close call. To avoid eventually getting myself killed, I made it a point to check if anybody wasing to the room before I went down or had ns to. I told everyone to knock first so that I¡¯d have time to wake up, or I¡¯d execute anyone who didn¡¯t respect my terms. Well, I¡¯d most likely be killed if it came to that, but¡­ anyway¡­

    Lots of the forks in the passage must¡¯ve been abandoned projects. Some of them stretched over thirty metres, while some were basically caves. If they were trying to dig a passageway, I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around the purpose of digging that way. Mayhap they used to serve another purpose. Problem was, I couldn¡¯t think of what purpose that could be.

    On one path, I came across a half-broken stone throne, which I could only assume was used to worship something. One time, I picked up a small shiny thing that I spotted under a me. At a nce, it was probably aponent of some big tribute item. If it was decoration, it definitely lookedpatible with the stone throne, except it didn¡¯t appear to be the right size. In other words, there used to be a number of copies of the stone throne, all of varying sizes and all worth a big sum of money. I could only imagine whatever object they worshiped was worth even more. Look, I didn¡¯t put it in my own pocket because it was worth a lot; I only took it because it was likeable. Why wasn¡¯t it shiny? Ah, that was because it was made from gold. I wasn¡¯t a ¡°finders keepers¡± sort of person, all right? I was nning to donate it to charity. Believe me!

    All those ¡°afternoon nap¡± expeditions helped me eliminate all the wrong paths. Last time, it took an hour, but I found what I believed was the bottom, so today was important for me.

    I raced along the path I had never taken to reach the final location ¨C a spacious and bright area. Dozens of metres up above, many, rtively speaking, small mes resembled made the ceiling resemble a starry night. The area gave off the aura of a ce ¡°connecting to heaven¡±. Even though I was breathing hard, I tried my best to investigate the space.

    At the end of the space, there was an enormous door made from bronze. No sound, air or energy could pass through. There was no doubt it was built to create an isted area. Though I didn¡¯t know what was on the other side of the door, the door alone instilled a sense of tranquillity and mystery.

    I gulped loudly and began advancing toward the door, intent on achieving something significant today, only to hear knocking.

    God damn it, why now of all times?!

    ***

    ¡°Dr. Wu? Dr. Wu? Are you awake yet?¡±

    Just as the manager went to knock again, I pushed open the door and asked, ¡°¡­ What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    ¡°Good afternoon, Doctor Wu. Sir Zero wishes to see you.¡±

    The manager switched from a polite smile to surprise. ¡°It must be tough on you. You sweated so much from sleeping.¡±

    ¡°Spare¡­ Spare¡­ Spare the nonsense. Lead the way.¡±

    Because of the manager distracting me upstairs, I ended up forgetting which way to go in the hidden passageway.

    ¡°Zero¡± frequently summoned me for absolutely nothing important. Every single time, she just asked me if I noticed anything. I was busy trying to break out, man. What could¡¯ve been suspicious?

    I knocked, waited for permission from ¡°Zero¡± and then entered her room. Upon looking up and seeing me, she queried, ¡°What happened?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Nothing. Couldn¡¯t sleep, so I shadow boxed.¡± I wiped my sweat. ¡°So, what is it?¡±

    She didn¡¯t look convinced, but Zero didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it. ¡°Due to it being too peaceful recently, I suspect Lord San Shen has already escaped.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I escaped already? Howe I don¡¯t know about this?

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate him. Despite him not being able to fight now, he¡¯s always been a scheming one, and it¡¯s possible that the Western Region¡¯s top genius, Xue Yanjun is assisting him, so they are capable of anything. Perhaps he has already made his escape and is recovering, biding his time until he can return to take revenge.¡±

    Stop ying. I¡¯m right here.

    ¡°Hmph, you think he¡¯s some useless bum who¡¯d be staying in a cage?¡±

    Be grateful I haven¡¯t recovered enough to stter your head! So what if I¡¯m a useless bum?!

    ¡°Zero¡± looked at my exasperated expression in confusion. ¡°¡­ In short, I suspect he¡¯s already left thepound.¡±

    ¡°But this base is considered an impregnable maze; flies that fly in are isted immigrants. Can he actually escape?¡±

    ¡°Zero¡± smiled underneath her mask. ¡°That¡¯s why I n to check the exit. Youing?¡±

    ¡°I see. My back is aching from slee-¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d be too tired from seeing patients all day. Since you¡¯re noting, I¡¯ll go by myself.¡± With that, ¡°Zero¡± got up to leave.

    I smiled as I raised a hand to wave goodbye.

    Hold on. Where did she say she was going?

    I leapt over to cling to her leg. ¡°Boss, wait up! Please take me along!¡±

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 104

    Book 13: Chapter 104

    ¡°Why did you suddenly change your mind?¡±

    Even though she didn¡¯t deliberately speak in a lower register, thess had the manly voice down perfectly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been in this crappy ce for ages, yet I don¡¯t even know where the exit is. Of course I have to expand my horizons.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t the only one in the dark. Therefore, there was nothing fishy about my response. Every now and then, I¡¯d wonder if Jiang Chen set up explosives somewhere. If he did, and the explosives were to go off, the only ce they could go to was the next life.

    ¡°Crappy ce? Huh, your personality is much nastier than I imagined. I never realised.¡±

    ¡°You tter me. We both share that same trait. You are also withholding a secret, are you not?¡±

    The further we went, the more popted the ces were. We went past the usual meeting hall and then to the northwest corner. We passed many ces I was familiar with, but none of which were connected.

    ¡°Gu Xianxian spoke to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, one of his private issues. He told me not to share, so I don¡¯t ask me about it. I will never reveal whether or not his wife is putting something that shares the colour of fresh grass on his head, so quit while you¡¯re ahead.

    ¡°Zero¡± suddenly stopped to turn around to me. Hence, I, too, stopped to look at her.

    ¡°Ahem, I don¡¯t care about their private matters whatsoever. You two aren¡¯t close, yet he shared his private life issues with you?¡±

    ¡°Well, you know,¡± I thumped my chest, ¡°I¡¯m charismatic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Zero¡± stared at me, and I stared back.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    We eventually reached a point where there were no guards ¨C nobody out in the open. The only people present were those hiding in the shadows. From their breathing patterns, they were considerably stronger than the guards working in visible areas. Most likely, they were there to stop anyone who identally entered the zone and to catch intruders. The ignorant might¡¯ve thought they assumed their positions without any thought process behind it. In reality, they formed a formation that made it unclear whether they were guards or assassins. They¡¯d offer ¡°Zero¡± a bow, and she¡¯d bob her head back.

    There were lots of rules to observe in thepound. Many ces were off limits, which was why I couldn¡¯t just strut around freely. I, therefore, didn¡¯t pass up the rare opportunity to expand my hearing radius to locate the secret guards based on the flow of air. That was the reason we didn¡¯t speak during this part of our journey.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never brought anyone here before.¡±

    Slow down! I haven¡¯t finished memorising theyout!

    ¡°You are the fourth person among everyone in thepound to know about this ce.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t include me so soon. I still don¡¯t know where the exit is, even.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    I could only believe her when she was the only one who knew better. With that said, the so-called exit¡­ was a wall.

    ¡°This is it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I bobbed my head as I scanned the wall. ¡°It sure resembles an exit.¡±

    ¡°ording to my promise with Jiang Chen, I¡¯m not supposed to show anyone this spot. However, in light of me needing you to take care of personnel in order to deal with Lord San Shen, I need to be honest with you, so I¡¯m making an exception.¡±

    ¡°I am grateful.¡±

    ¡°No need. This is my personal concern. You just happened to be there when the opportunity presented itself.¡± Eyes on the wall, Zero smirked. ¡°Needless to say, this might be part of his ploy. For all we know, he could be waiting for me to approach the exit, and then he¡¯ll jump out from nowhere and escape.¡±

    Don¡¯t suddenly grow a brain!

    ¡°I just can¡¯t help feeling anxious unless I personally check this ce.¡± She ran her hand along the stone wall, then tapped it a few times. ¡°This is actually a ginormous stone door that is lowered and lifted using arge mechanism. Dozens of people need to activate the mechanism at once in order for it to work. The first step in opening this door is activating the hidden locks in the dungeon. Perhaps you didn¡¯t notice, but I¡¯ve already activated them.¡±

    Yes, I remember the passwords, so open up thisst door for me please.

    The wall suddenly rumbled as though there was an earthquake from beneath, and the door began to slowly lower. I had assumed it was too difficult to lift up a door so heavy, so I gained confidence in my conjecture as to who built the underground base. There was no way Fiends¡¯ Genesis alone could¡¯ve constructed a ce that operated on so manyplicated contraptions in a short time. Furthermore, I was confident I had seen the gold thing in my shirt somewhere before.

    A golden light the heavens bestowed shone through.

    How long has it been since I¡¯ve seen sunlight?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ah, th-th-this is¡­¡± I looked over to ¡°Zero¡± with as much excitement as I could muster.

    ¡°Zero¡± cautiously approached the ¡°exit¡±, surveyed the surroundings and then exhaled. ¡°Thank heavens, nobody has been here.¡± She subsequently looked back at me and bobbed her head, answering, ¡°This is the exit. The vast world is just on the other side.¡±

    It took me a while to finally pick up my jaw and shout, ¡°This is a rat hole!¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Can a person even fit through this?¡±

    ¡°Probably not.¡±

    ¡°Then, why were you worried Lord San Shen escaped?¡±

    ¡°What if he¡¯s learnt some skill that allows him to shrink?¡±

    ¡°Shrink into what to fit through this tiny hole?!¡±

    ¡°Where there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way. Moreover, nothing is impossible now that Xue Yanjun is with him.¡± She visually audited the surroundings one more time before smirking. ¡°It seems they aren¡¯t hiding nearby. You cane out now.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai and Cross Phantom Soul Broadswordsman, the strongest two-man team in thepound, stepped out from hiding. Usually, one would be happy to be tidy, yet they looked disappointed.

    What the hell are you two doing here?!

    The fact that I never heard them meant that they were hiding their presence and waiting to erase life from someone.

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°Hahaha, you are working really hard these days, Brother Wu, working with patients and now even conducting inspections here with Mr. Zero.¡±

    I tried to keep on a friendly vibe as I responded, ¡°What are you doing here?!¡±

    ¡°Have you noticed anything out of the norm during your time here?¡± Zero asked of the duo.

    Lang Qing, Cross Phantom Soul Broadswordsman, replied, ¡°No.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai borated, ¡°Unless his qinggong is twenty folds superior to my own and has some secret path to hide himself, I can say with absolute confidence that nobody could havee here.¡±

    Given it was practically impossible to even be ten times above Lang Qing and Ouyang Xiucai, it was tantamount to saying that Lord San Shen couldn¡¯t have made it to this spot. If only they knew.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± conveyed ¡°Zero¡±. ¡°He didn¡¯t take the bait. You can head back now.¡±

    The two saluted and left.

    ¡°And that was?¡±

    ¡°Fishing.¡± She scoffed before continuing, ¡°If Lord San Shen was watching from the shadows and trying to find a way out, Ouyang Xiucai, Lang Qing and myself would¡¯ve worked together to subdue him. The three of us can beat him if he hasn¡¯t recovered hisbat abilities. Regrettably, he¡¯s smarter than I thought and didn¡¯t take the bait.¡±

    You baited me sessfully and almost had my fooled. If that rat hole didn¡¯t stun me in ce, I¡¯d be in pieces by now!

    ¡°What happened to me being fourth to know?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they second and third?¡±

    Based on your logic, you might as well tell every outsider! Do you think it¡¯s appropriate to hide secrets from your teammate? Wait, why the hell is a rat hole even a secret?! You¡¯d be insulting your teammate if you told them this is an escape route!

    ¡°Are you seriously telling me this rat hole is the exit?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    ¡°I came in through this hole?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    In response to my flummoxed expression, ¡°Zero¡± expounded, ¡°It is the entrance/exit. There is a second stone wall where the rat hole is.¡±

    ¡°Another hole?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The doors operate on the principle of yin and yang. As one rises, the other one lowers; when the first door is lowered, the second door is raised. The light you saw before was thest ray of light as the opposite stone wall rose. You can probably imagine that much light couldn¡¯t possiblye through this tiny rat hole. In order to get out, the second wall needs to be lowered, which means the first wall needs to be raised.¡± She pointed to the first wall and went on. ¡°In order to raise this wall, you need to unlock all of the hidden locks that I¡¯ve just locked, thene back here and open the doors as I just did. Therefore, it¡¯s literally impossible for someone to escape by themselves.¡±

    ***

    I felt defeated afterwards. Thess wasn¡¯t even worried I¡¯d be able to escape when she took me to the exit.

    Dear whoever designed the Heaven and Earth Doosr ¨C and had the dozens of people build the contraptions ¨C I hope you trip on your face and break all your teeth! Rather than figuring out how to unlock the locks twice at the same time, I¡¯d be better off finding a way to shrink myself enough to fit through the damn rat hole!

    I nned to down two pots of tea and then knock off once I returned to my room, but someone suddenly pulled me aside.

    ¡°What¡¯s your deal?¡±

    Gu Xianxian hastily dragged me along. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    ¡°If you want me to follow you, you should at least tell me where we¡¯re going.¡±

    ¡°To my wife¡¯s room.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ inappropriate, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°What are you thinking about? I want you to check out my wife¡¯s room. Her lover might¡¯ve left traces there!¡±

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 105

    Book 13: Chapter 105

    ¡°Let me give you a disimer: I¡¯m here to help you take a look. If any secret happens tond in myp, you can¡¯t silence me.¡±

    Yes, I was free, but we needed to have a proper agreement in ce.

    ¡°I won¡¯t. Brother Wu, is that the sort of person you take me for? Besides, would I tell you I¡¯d silence you if you asked? I would deny any intention to, brother.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What are you looking at me for? Is there a clue on my face?¡±

    ¡°Not a clue, but a green hue.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A doctor had no business with investigating cases, but I was curious if Gu Xianxian was truly given the green hat, and I figured I could use the process of elimination to eliminate candidates of the organisation Kuanggu Sheng mentioned.

    All of the rooms in the base were designed the same. Even though being simple was a universal trait, the couple did add their own touch of personality. Rather than describe it as a couple¡¯s room, it resembled the room of a maiden from a rich family.

    ¡°Yo, Brother Gu, your room oozes the vibe of a virtuous maiden. It looks as if you don¡¯t sleep here.¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Say what?¡±

    Gu Xianxian scratched his cheek. ¡°This isn¡¯t my room; my room is next door. Ah, you already know my embarrassing predicament, so I won¡¯t hold back. The two of us have been sleeping separately for a long time. Not only does she avoid me at night, but she avoids me during the day, too. Even now, she¡¯s out instead of staying here because we don¡¯t need to be together for anything.¡±

    Needless to say, I knew he meant she only avoided him when off duty. The majority of people stationed at the base didn¡¯t care about the time outside, frankly.

    We split up to frisk the room since it¡¯d be inappropriate for me to be going through her bed and clothing cupboards. Hence, I went through the vases, bookshelves and what have you. Upon finding a chest of herbs, I inquired, ¡°These yours?¡±

    ¡°No, they must be hers.¡±

    I nced down at the herbs and thoughtlessly questioned, ¡°You brought drugs into the base with you?¡±

    ¡°No, there was no way we¡¯d have had time for that. We only brought a select few set of clothes. The majority of our clothing was provided by the base.¡±

    In other words¡­

    ¡°These must¡¯vee from the dispensary, then.¡±

    ¡°Probably. Why?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I shut the chest with an inkling as to what caused their marriage to fall apart.

    Gu Xianxian emotionlessly went through the bed and underneath it. All of a sudden, he spaced out and shed tears.

    I had finished going through everything worth inspecting when I spotted small box inside a hanging flower vase. Inside the box was a stack of paper.

    Gu Xianxian wiped his tears and asked, ¡°You found something?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I waved around a few sheets of paper.

    With red eyes and his jaws tightly clenched, Gu Xianxian eximed, ¡°I see how it is. I¡¯m going to copy down all the love letters she wrote to her lover. Ning Zhuoru, you wronged me! Let me see!¡±

    ¡°Rx.¡± I checked the desk, then stuck my hand under the top part to find yet another stack of paper. I proceeded to find a variety of differently-sized sheets of paper in books, under the inkstone and even bricks on the ground.

    ¡°Br-Brother Wu, are you born in the year of the dog? H-how did you even know there was a sheet under the brick?¡±

    ¡°Save yourself the headache of trying to understand the professional knowledge because you won¡¯tprehend it even if you try. More importantly, do you want to know what¡¯s written here?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± blurted Gu Xianxian, only to stop himself before he fully stretched his hand out. Curious, yet afraid of facing reality, he chose to let me read on his behalf and just tell him the results.

    ¡°This one, contains insults towards you. This one, is about insulting your dad. This one, addresses your dog. This one, consists of insults for Jiang Chen.¡±

    ¡°Definitely. Jiang Chen definitely deserves to be insulted.¡±

    ¡°Wait, my mistake. It¡¯s another page dedicated to insulting you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Pretty much all of it were grievances about their everyday life. Ning Zhuoru used writing as a means of venting; however, she couldn¡¯t burn or throw the sheets out since her husband was her neighbour, so she hid them away.

    ¡°Is there not a single one that isn¡¯t about herining?!¡±

    ¡°There actually is. Thisst one. And I must say, the writing is quite enthralling.¡± I waved around the sheet I found under a brick.

    ¡°What is it about?¡±

    ¡°An assassination n.¡±

    It took a moment for Gu Xianxian¡¯s brain to start operating again. ¡°What?!¡±

    I cordially pointed to the sheet. ¡°Look. Doesn¡¯t it state so right here? Assassination n, day, year and month of the job¡­ No specific name is written, only a target.¡±

    Gu Xianxian snatched over the sheet to read for himself, making himself sweat bullets of cold sweat.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about this?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. If I knew¡­¡± Gu Xianxian lowered his voice prior to continuing, ¡°How should I have known she¡¯s been desperate to do this?¡±

    I was confident I knew what Gu Xianxian¡¯s ¡°this¡± referred to. There had to be some exnation for his wife¡¯s recent odd behaviour. In addition, there were only two ¡°assassinations¡± in the base recently ¨C Yan Jibei and Kuanggu Sheng. Lord San Shen was only a suspect at this point in time. Gu Xianxian was most likely imagining the scene of his wife assassinating Kuanggu Sheng.

    I had no reason to be fretting as I knew who the true culprit behind those assassinations was. That being said, I had no idea Ning Zhuoru was plotting an assassination, and I had no idea who she was targeting.

    Who could she assassinate here with her skills? And those herbs¡­ It doesn¡¯t make sense.

    The two of us rubbed our chins as we contemted different things.

    Gu Xianxian suddenly looked up at me and asked, ¡°Do you reckon we should notify Zero?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s your wife, you know?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter! Kuanggu Sheng is dead! What if I¡¯m the next assassination target?!¡±

    I stopped to think, then shook my head. ¡°Have you considered what would be of your wife if you report this to Zero?¡±

    ¡°Obviously¡­ She¡¯d be ced under arrest. But, as her family, I am duty bound to report such malicious conduct.¡±

    Your sense of duty to ruin your wife sure is strong, buddy.

    Before I coulde up with an excuse to prevent Gu Xianxian from acting on impulse, I heard light footsteps outside from someone not deliberately trying to sneak up on us. Gu Xianxian soon heard the footsteps, as well.

    The handsome guy opened the door whilst drinking wine and froze upon seeing us. ¡°What are you two doing here?¡±

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 106

    Book 13: Chapter 106

    Lang Qing weed himself in and questioned Gu Xianxian as though he was stepping into his own home, so, despite not being to read his mind, I didn¡¯t have a hard time figuring out what images Gu Xianxian conjured in his mind.

    ¡°That¡¯s my question! What are you her for?! This is my room!¡±

    Lang Qing stared at us for a while. ¡°So it was you,¡± he remarked whilst smiling with his head tilted sideways.

    For as long as I had been in the base, Lang Qing had been drinking and keeping to himself, yet, even if you ounted for his ungroomed beard, there was reason to dislike him. To the contrary, you¡¯d think he oozed the masculinity that Gu-Xianxian-like pretty boyscked. As much as it pained him, even Gu Xianxian couldn¡¯t deny that Lang Qing had the charm andpetence to charm women.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s mine. What about it?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s not an issue for you to be here.¡±

    Lang Qing¡¯sposure caught Gu Xianxian off guard, although Lang Qing¡¯s maturity must¡¯vee off as an offence rather than something appreciated.

    In a low voice, Gu Xianxian voiced, ¡°H-he said ¡®nothing¡¯? He¡¯s messing with me!¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s cultured,¡± I suggested.

    ¡°Cultured? More like shameless!¡±

    Lang Qing started going through the items in the room as if we weren¡¯t there, prompting Gu Xianxian to thunder, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    Lang Qing didn¡¯t respond until Gu Xianxian yelled for a third time. Even then, Lang Qingzily replied, ¡°Mrs. Gu asked me to pick up an item. I shall leave once I find it.¡±

    Gu Xianxian sneered. ¡°Why would my wife need you to grab something for her?¡±

    ¡°How should I know? She is your wife. Why don¡¯t you ask her?¡±

    Gu Xianxian felt as though his heart was being deformed from pain. ¡°You think I was born yesterday? Even Zero respects you, yet you take orders from my wife?¡±

    Lang Qing looked back at Gu Xianxian for the first time. ¡°Since when do I have to exin myself to you?¡±

    ¡°Fine. I shall save you the trouble!¡±

    Gu Xianxian¡¯s martial arts skills were limited to cudgel skills. He could throw kicks and punches, but his hand-to-handbat was nothing special. Well, Lang Qing was supposedly a broadsword wielder, so maybe it bnced out?

    ¡°Man, this is epic. He trying to crack, crack, crack, but the other man counters, and, pak, pak, then follows up with a bang, boom, bang, boom, dang, dang, dong. Oh, ooh, oh, nice. And, dong, chang, whoa, nice. That¡¯s, oh wow. That was killer, son.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop with the sound effects?! How about giving me a hand?!¡±

    Don¡¯t say that.

    Back in the day, Shaolinbined music with dance. They were a match made in heaven. Look, it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want to help. The problem was, you see, when it came to hand-to-handbat, it wasn¡¯t my field of expertise. Watching the two of them, all I could see was the two putting on a choreographed-like routine. I had no idea why they wouldn¡¯t just kill the other already.

    Young Shiyi said I was broken when it came to counter fighting. When it came to technique, I¡¯d leave the audience wondering what exactly I was doing even though I knew what I was trying to do. When it came to martial arts, Sixth was an encyclopedia. If we were to perform on a show, it might as well have been him performing alone and me collecting the ticket fees.

    Back on topic.

    The secret signal really was just Gu Xianxian letting Lang Qing catch him and serving six big ps before throwing him aside. Even if I was technically ignorant, I could tell how big the gap between them was. If I didn¡¯t step in, Gu Xianxian wouldn¡¯t survive. Did I care about what happened to his face? No. However, I didn¡¯t want to risk myself being next.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop short.¡± I stepped in between them to break them up. As elites of internal disciplines, the two of them were tough to split up since they bothbined qi in their movements. That was why I timed it right after Lang Qing threw aside Gu Xianxian and had yet to decide on killing Gu Xianxian. That way, I wouldn¡¯t have to expend energy and could keep their residue qi from hitting the other.

    Lang Qing flinched at my two-hundred IQ strategy, letting a fearful expressione to his face.

    Oi! Work with me here! What¡¯s with your ¡°This guy might be fun to fight¡± look?! Stop before I run off!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Thankfully, Gu Xianxian had enough rage and determination to get back to his feet. He ced a shaky hand on my shoulder and uttered, ¡°Bro, st-step back. I got it.¡±

    Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

    Gu Xianxian didn¡¯t recklessly charge in this time. s, he was too inferior skill-wise, not to mention he was emotional. Before he could engage in anypetitive exchanges, Lang Qing sent him reeling yet again. Gu Xianxian had blood dripping down the side of his face, and the bruises on his face kept increasing.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you embarrassed? This is all you¡¯ve got?¡± mocked Lang Qing.

    ¡°Kill me if you can, big mouth, or I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re six foot underground today!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know much about Lang Qing. However, speaking from experience, broadsword wielders with his dress up had an easier time killing people than butchering chickens, and they had no issues doing it in cold blood. If Gu Xianxian riled up Lang Qing with his reckless fighting, Lang Qing would make sure to kill Gu Xianxian even if it cost him an injury. That wasn¡¯t the ending I was after.

    ¡°Hang on,¡± I interjected.

    ¡°What do you want now, bro?¡±

    Gu Xianxian put himself at a huge disadvantage from the beginning with his emotional state, and then hisck of experience inparisonpounded his weaknesses.

    ¡°If you want revenge, follow my instructions.¡± I stepped in between the two of them again.

    Lang Qing ced his right hand behind his back. ¡°Step aside.¡±

    I looked back at Lang Qing. ¡°There is one universal word everyone must submit to.¡±

    Lang Qing stepped forward with his hostility on his sleeve. ¡°You want to reason with me?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°And that word is ¡®power¡¯.¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Might makes right. That¡¯s only truer for us folks in the pugilistic world. We speak of loyalty, but, when ites down to it, the stronger man has the final say. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you abuse your power when it¡¯s everyone else you¡¯re dealing with, and now you worship power? I¡¯m sick of your nonsense. I¡¯m not Zero. That doesn¡¯t work on me. Now, move.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re mistaken, Brother Lang.¡± I shook my head again. ¡°I never said you¡¯re strong.¡± I pointed to myself with my thumb and rified, ¡°I¡¯m the strong one.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    I pulled out the most exaggerated facial expression I could. ¡°I¡¯m motherflipping strong. Haven¡¯t you heard of ¡®Killer 3000.0, 1-on-1 King Zh-, Wu Ping¡¯? I¡¯d school ten of you on my own, so I what I say goes today!¡±

    Following a chuckle, Lang Qing¡¯s tension faded. ¡°There is only one 1-on-1 King. He is undefeated in the Western Regions and has even defeated Demon Sect¡¯s Ximen Chuideng. They call him Western Emperor of the Night, ?akra. He is the leader of the Western Regions¡¯ Lotus Cult and never shows himself in public.

    ¡°He crushed allpetition in the Western Region¡¯s seven states. He is the strongest man alive, the symbol of power and the goal for any martial artist. I wanted to visit him when I visited the Western Regions, but it was impossible to be granted an audience with him.

    ¡°You call yourself a 1-on-1 King, too? How curious.¡±

    All because I mentioned that baldy, Lang Qing and I decided we¡¯d spar tomorrow night at the same time in the very room Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou faced off. Lang Qing was dead set on showing me that my blood was red.

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Brother Wu, you are truly my brother from another mother. I must¡¯ve been blind to have not realised you were such a good friend before this.¡±

    ¡°Well, you better be more observant from now.¡±

    ¡°Are you really going to fight him tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°I was just scaring him. Go eat another beating tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    I treated Gu Xianxian at the dispensary before going back to my room.

    Making Gu Xianxian rematch Lang Qing tomorrow night was thest resort. Although my better alternative was a hassle, it was worth the hassle. Why was I troubling myself with the issue? Because I couldn¡¯t recruit Lang Qing, and I couldn¡¯t beat him, either. I couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than having a legitimate excuse to get him off the guard team. How was I going to win? Come on now. Cheating! Cheat my way to a win!

    I opened the door to my room and shouted, ¡°Younger Yan, we have a job. Get up!¡±

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 107

    Book 13: Chapter 107

    ¡°Come to the dispensary and give me a hand. We need new drugs.¡±

    I had to tell the tant lie because the room was no longer shared between only Yan Jiangnan and I. My excuse for sharing a room with him was to heal him quicker and, more importantly, elevate his skills quicker for my own ends. For thetter reason, I borrowed a guard from Zero to be Yan Jiangnan¡¯s sparring partner. He needed to be able to apply his knowledge and skills in realbat, after all.

    The guard I borrowed from Zero was a blonde, tall, green-eyed agile fighter hailing from the Western Region¡¯s Asa. Asa was the strongest state among the seven states as well as the state in which Divine Moon Cult¡¯s headquarter was stationed. Because the majority of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s elites gathered there, Asa was blessed with plenty of elite fighters. This man was one of them.

    He was a better boxer than Yan Jiangnan and possessed more raw might, so it shouldn¡¯t have been hard for him to defeat Yan Jiangnan, yet he couldn¡¯tnd a single punch on Yan Jiangnan. When he thought he¡¯d finally caught Yan Jiangnan, and Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t show any signs of dodging, he missed as if his body altered the trajectory of his punch without his conscious input.

    Yan Jiangnanunched his first counter, palming the guard flush on the face as though he knew exactly where his target would be and locked it in ce. With his victory decided and silence restored, he retreated back to his bed.

    The guard broke out in cold sweat, not out of fear or regret, but out of admiration.

    ¡°Master Yan, you truly are a prodigy at martial arts. This humble one can no longer match you. Eh? Doctor Wu, when did you arrive?¡±

    Ten-odd days ago, the guard was even with Yan Jiangnan, but that was in the past now. ¡°Sinister Soul Break Palms¡± had a unique ability to distort the enemy¡¯s senses to the point of totally disabling them. That was reason the guard didn¡¯t hear me until now.

    I saw the guard off, shut the door and double checked for eavesdroppers prior to asking, ¡°How many exchanges did it take for you to beat him?¡±

    Sitting on his bed, Yan Jiangnan seemingly ignored me for a good while beforeughing. ¡°Seven.¡±

    ¡°I thought I told you to hold back.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yan Jiangnan swiftly moved from his bed to my back. I slowly looked over my shoulder to meet with his conceited gaze. He held his gaze against mine for a while and then, in a low voice, replied, ¡°Haha, I did not need to use my full strength against him; I only used 30% of my power. I pretty much did not use the palm skills you taught me. Elder, you truly possess unmatched wisdom.¡±

    Initially, I had no ns to strike that agreement. However, I had to enforce that rule once he started running through Zero¡¯s guards with ease. Nobody in their right mind would ssify his progress rate as ¡°normal¡±.

    The secret manual I gave Yan Jiangnan was the original copy of his n¡¯s discipline. I understood the internal training part, but I wasn¡¯t educated in palm techniques. As a result, he produced results I couldn¡¯t predict. Credit to him, though, for being able to raise his level by several folds in the limited time we had. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea and assume he was some genius. His aptitude was honestly just ¡°passable¡±. Tang Ye and Su Xiao¡¯s aptitudes far surpassed Yan Jiangnan¡¯s, let alone Grandmaster or Young Shiyi. Inparison to my shifu¡­ There was no point in trying topare to freaks.

    I had contemted slowing down Yan Jiangnan¡¯s progress because, I mean, look at his attitude. He was drunk on his own power. He wouldn¡¯t be at the level he was now if I deliberately stunted his growth; however, for him to progress at the rate he did after all the injuries and qi deviation he suffered, his growth rate still would¡¯ve been categorised as significantly faster than the average rate. Growth that couldn¡¯t be exined was the most dangerous risk, so I intended to step in. That, howbeit, was when I found out the catalyst behind his growth. He didn¡¯t mutate, and the discipline didn¡¯t trigger some special effect. The formtions I had him drink were the catalysts.

    I didn¡¯t expect the stinky mixture of hair dye and pot of healing herbs to sooth meridians, heal, strengthen essence and expedite internal energy development. While the internal energy boost wasn¡¯t big, the unclogging of his clogged meridians healed his internal injuries and grew his ego.

    ¡°Though you¡¯re stronger now, there are plenty of other strong people in this base. Don¡¯t let anything slip.¡±

    ¡°That goes without saying. I am still hoping to learn how to revive Yulian from you, Elder.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan turned his face into a nk smile, the sort that told me he was losing his human rationality. There was nothing I could do about that, nevertheless.

    ¡°Here, have this ¡®unknown pill¡¯.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s visage instantly went from sinister to terrified. ¡°Again? More drugs?!¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    I pulled out a chest from underneath the bed. Inside the chest was a big vase used as a bottle cork. Inside that was another flower vase to seal that bottle. Inside that¡­ Inside a teeny-tiny flower vase was a small porcin vial. As soon as Yan Jiangnan saw the porcin vial, his face had, ¡°Farewell. Let us meet again. I¡¯m out of here!¡± written all over his face.

    I swiftly pulled out the cork and poured out a pill. The rancid stench permeated the room within a second as if an explosion just went off. I locked Yan Jiangnan¡¯s shoulders up and smashed the pill into his mouth. He swallowed it with a look of despair, then passed out.

    I didn¡¯t waste a second tucking the vases back in and sliding the chest back under the bed.

    For all I knew, the pills could¡¯ve been ssified a weapon already. Ever since I realised the miraculous effect of the form, I concocted ten pots of ingredients to concoct one pill. I fed him a pill a day, and, without surprise, his progress rate increased drastically. Unfortunately, due to the stench, he passed out every time he consumed a pill.

    The first thing Yan Jiangnan wanted to upon waking up was answer his desire to puke, but he didn¡¯t dare to. Thus, he did his best to digest it as far as he could through training.

    See what I mean? Give them a drug that was strong enough, and everyone would train diligently.

    It was a while before Yan Jiangnan finally exhaled through his mouth, only for me to smack him to ensure none of the pill contents were wasted.

    ¡°Elder¡­ I really want to know what ¡®unknown pill¡¯ means.¡± Yan Jiangnan was back to the non-sinister normal Yan Jiangnan that I knew.

    ¡°As in ¡®Immovable Unknown Power Pill¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell him ¡°unknown¡± was a shortened version of ¡°crap-tasting-smelling-nonsense-form-produced-shady pill¡±, right? Sometimes, being mysterious was the kinder thing to do.

    ¡°Stop spacing out now. We have work to do.¡±

    ¡°Elder, who are you plotting to harm now?¡±

    Don¡¯t learn from this kid. Don¡¯t speak facts like that.

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 108

    Book 13: Chapter 108

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The persuasion speech I prepared went to waste because Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t even bat an eye when he heard the target was arguably the strongest individual.

    ¡°It¡¯s unarguable that you¡¯ve improved quite fast recently, but you¡¯re quite drunk on your power. Not even Lang Qing scares you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Not entirely. It¡¯ is just¡­ In your opinion, who do you think is stronger?¡±

    Is that a trick question? Have you no shame?

    ¡°Previously, if ten of you were to fight one of him, there¡¯d be nine corpses of you and one¡¯s ashes.¡±

    Given Yan Jiangnan¡¯s former temperament, the moment Lang Qing beheaded the first one, the remaining nine would¡¯ve fled helter skelter.

    ¡°And now?¡±

    ¡°Three of the current you against one Lang Qing, there¡¯s a chance you might be able to exhaust him to death.¡±

    That didn¡¯t mean that Lang Qing was three times stronger than Yan Jiangnan. That was factoring in their experience, knowledge, skills, strategies and the sort. Even if you created two clones of the same person, there would be a w to exploit as long as they were working together.

    From what I could discern, Lang Qing¡¯s experience in realbat surpassed his actualbat skills. Such an opponent was hard to mentally shake up and was tough to outwit. As long as he could inhibit Yan Jiangnan¡¯s strengths and maximise his own, killing four Yan Jiangnan¡¯s was definitely within the realm of reality for him.

    ¡°I thought the gap would berger. I feel reassured to hear that.¡±

    ¡°Did you hear me properly? I said three of you might have a chance. There¡¯s only one of you, though.¡±

    ¡°That makes me feel even more confident. Since there is a bigrge gap between us, the primary effort will not be my responsibility.¡±

    Do I need to add ¡°improves cognitive function¡± as one of the benefits of my form? He sounds smarter than when I first met him.

    ¡°Having worked with you until now, unbelievable things have be very believable.¡± Yan Jiangnan smiled. ¡°Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng lost to you. You are leading Zero around by the nose. As long as I follow your instructions, is our victory not guaranteed?¡±

    Okay, I need toadd ¡°improves cognitive function¡± as one of the benefits of my form!

    ¡°d to hear you¡¯re quick on the uptake. All right. You will need to fight, but we need toy some groundwork first.¡±

    ¡°I knew it.¡±

    Seeing how excited he is, am I usually underhanded in my approaches?

    ¡°Since we have time, let¡¯s go now.¡± I wrapped some tools up in a bag, tossed it to Yan Jiangnan and then headed out to our destination.

    Yours truly wasn¡¯t an expert on ying dirty. Yours truly¡¯s main strategy revolved around in and honest tactics.

    Truthfully speaking, I didn¡¯t know much about Lang Qing. I sort of remembered his Cross Phantom Whatever Broadsword, moniker however. Apparently, he was practically unmatched thus far. He seldom formed any friendships and operated solo. I had no clue how Jiang Chen convinced him to work for him. While I had yet to see him wield a broadsword, based on his tactics, there was no mistake he wielded a broadsword.

    Quietly, I informed, ¡°He wields a broadsword. I¡¯m guessing he¡¯ll try to finish you in the first exchange.¡±

    ¡°Is that the style of broadsword wielders?¡±

    ¡°Always. That¡¯s how I roll.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°For that reason, we need to make his first attack fail. As long as you can weather his first attack, the rest is easy. Until then, employ various strategies to set a clever trap. Once he loses his cool, his attack will fail.¡±

    ¡°But even if I survive the first attack¡­ the remaining attacks¡­¡±

    ¡°What remaining attacks? Who keeps shing after their first attack fails? Name a broadsword wielder who¡¯s that shameless.¡±

    I saw a droplet of sweat flow down the side of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s face.

    ¡°I am starting to feel concerned now¡­¡±

    ¡°About what? Give me the bag.¡±

    We had arrived at the very ce Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou threw down, which was also the scheduled arena for tomorrow.

    I pulled the bag off Yan Jiangnan¡¯s shoulder and emptied it out onto the ground.

    ¡°And these are¡­?¡±

    ¡°The magic tools we need.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan scrutinised the dark, in, straight items that had the smell of soil on them and then asked, ¡°¡­ A¡­ shovel?¡±

    I shook my head, then pointed to the item next to it. ¡°And a pickaxe.¡±

    Seemingly following my train of thought, Yan Jiangnan licked his lips, tilted his head a few times and finally queried, ¡°The clever trap of ours is¡­¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± I picked up a shovel and passed one to Yan Jiangnan. ¡°Dig.¡±

    ¡°Dig?¡±

    ¡°You dig here. I¡¯ll dig over there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Time is of the essence. Get digging.¡± With that, I strolled off with my shovel.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!¡±

    I looked over my shoulder. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Elder, may I ask, will there be another trap in addition to the holes we dig?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Are we going to bury something in the holes, then?¡±

    ¡°No. What would you bury?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan narrowed his eyes as if he just got punched three times.

    By the time I had two shovels, I looked over to see Yan Jiangnan still had yet to start. ¡°Any other questions?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Ask away.¡±

    ¡°Can I opt out?¡±

    Man, what is your problem? Why are you suddenly backing out?

    ¡°You¡¯re too soft. You can¡¯t kill someone you don¡¯t have a grudge with? What are you ever going to aplish in life? Besides, you just need to cripple him, not kill him. Do you cherish life that much?¡±

    ¡°I am cherishing my own life!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We are digging holes to defeat someone of his calibre?!¡±

    I pped my eyelids. ¡°You have a better idea?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop standing around. Get cracking.¡±

    I dug all night, went back for a respite and then came backter to continue where we left off. We were around half way done with what I wanted by the end of the second shift.

    While I was satisfied with the ten-odd holes, Yan Jiangnan wore a deadpan look.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan shook his head. ¡°Elder, I can easily hop over these holes¡­ Lang Qing is three times better than I am.¡±

    ¡°Even if he was ten times better, he¡¯d still fall in: even a tiger wouldn¡¯t be able to escape its fate.¡±

    ¡°Not even a dog would fall into these tiny holes! Elder, have I done something wrong? Are you trying to get rid of me?¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, what are you up to, my brothers?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I didn¡¯t mention I heard Gu Xianxian approaching because it was Gu Xianxian. As he wasn¡¯t privy to what happened between us, Yan Jiangnan immediately sent me questions with his gaze after flinching. I shook my head to indicate not to harm Gu Xianxian.

    Cackling, Gu Xianxian inquired, ¡°Coming up with ways to cheat against Lang Qing, aren¡¯t ya? Let me join. I am the main protagonist of this arc, after all!¡±

    As soon as I saw Gu Xianxian stride toward us, I warned, ¡°Stop. We¡¯re only half done.¡±

    Gu Xianxian looked down and remarked, ¡°Yo, there are holes in the ground.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan grabbed his own face. ¡°Not even someone with a dead brain would fall in!¡±

    Gu Xianxian stepped to his left and then jumped. We heard a crack and then heard him tumbling a dozen times and still going.

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s mouth hung open.

    I grumbled, ¡°I told you we aren¡¯t done. Stop ruining our progress.¡±

    <strong></strong>

 Book 13: Chapter 109

    Book 13: Chapter 109

    Thanks to Gu Xianxian¡¯s interruption, I forgot where I was supposed to dig and the formation, making me have to map it out in my head again. Yes, there was a strategic thought to the digging. I learnt the method from myte grandmaster. Wait, I meant my grandmaster!

    Till today, Grandmaster¡¯s wondrous abilities to arrange army formations were still talked about. I couldn¡¯t imagine him as Zhang Fei on the battlefield based on the legends passed down, but I did hear he was bloody formidable. From what I heard, he used formations to defeat divisions numbering tens of thousands and once surrounded dozens of elites alone.

    In my shifu¡¯s generation, Grandmaster¡¯s formations underwent another evolution. Although I couldn¡¯t say if my shifu truly surpassed my grandmaster, but I could guarantee that his formations were ten times better at triggering people. My jerkfu was a genius when it came to setting people up. There had yet to exist an underhand tactic that he wasn¡¯t a master at. You could teach him aplex formation, and he¡¯d transform it into a trap to screw someone over.

    If I had the luxury of time, I¡¯d have loved to show Lang Qing my Shifu¡¯s two ultimate formations ¨C ¡°Feces Holes Eighteen Trips¡± and ¡°A Fierce Man is Just Clothing¡±.

    Shifu once said that the essence of hole digging lied in the phrases, ¡°Outside the long pavilion. Beside the old road. Above the fragrant grass.¡± Evidently, he was an expert. However, I was told to learn what they meant on my own.

    The formation I was digging up shared origins with my grandmaster¡¯s formation theories and my shifu¡¯s improvements. I couldn¡¯t tell you the first thing on the theory side. My shifu considered himself above digging holes, so I was the one who dug holes for his traps the majority of the time. The saying went that the participant typically couldn¡¯tprehend the formation. As formations were ineffective on me, though, I ended up memorising the arrangement of the holes.

    I think the holes had a wicked name like ¡°Heavenly Dog Steed Fooks Your Dad and Aunt¡±. Don¡¯t take my word for it. I didn¡¯t understand the intricacies of the name, but can you argue that a formation that can screw over even your dad and aunt is overpowered?

    We made a lot more progress thanks to Gu Xianxian¡¯s assistance. Though he didn¡¯t have a good head, he was physically fit. Plus, he was motivated to get revenge, so he worked harder than Yan JIangnan and I. We used the spare time to disguise he holes before we took a rest.

    We had two hours until the allotted time for the duel.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time.¡± I got up and dusted myself. ¡°What do you think our next step is?¡±

    ¡°Wait to butcher Lang Qing!¡± enthused Gu Xianxian.

    ¡°Please use somemon sense. Killing Lang Qing isn¡¯t a big issue, but have you thought about how you¡¯re going to exin yourself to Zero?¡±

    Gu Xianxian mmed the table. ¡°My wife was stolen! Has Zero thought about he should exin himself to me?!¡±

    I¡­ didn¡¯t think about that¡­N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°But I was the one who challenged him to a duel. I can¡¯t just butcher him without any preparation first.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°I thought I am butchering him.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°What¡¯s yours is mine, and what¡¯s mine is yours. There¡¯s no need to fuss over such a minor point.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I need to go have a chat with Zero. I¡¯m going to tell him Lang Qing has a grudge with me and seek protection.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°Come back as soon as you can. Otherwise, there will only be two of us¡­¡±

    ¡°How long do you think it takes to get across a few sentences? Look at you shake.¡±

    ¡°Zero¡± actually knew about Gu Xianxian¡¯s matter. While Gu Xianxian distracted ¡°Zero¡± from suspecting me, I wasn¡¯tpletely safe. Since she knew Lang Qing¡¯s personality, she most likely would¡¯ve justughed off my usations and wouldn¡¯t be able say anything even if I turned Lang Qing into a vegetable. After all, it¡¯d be her fault for ignoring me when I reported the issue. Needless to say, I wasn¡¯t going to tell her we had a duel arranged. The story would go that Lang Qing suddenly picked a fight with me, forcing me to defend myself. For that reason, speaking to her about Lang Qing was necessary.

    I didn¡¯t run into anyone on the way to Zero¡¯s ce. Howbeit, I noticed someone closing in real fast on me without any signs of slowing down. In other words, they were approaching me with a purpose. Most importantly, I had never seen them before, or I had never noticed them before as I had never heard his gait rhythm before or sensed his qi flow route.

    Despite not sensing any qi locked onto me, he had amassed internal energy in his hand.

    What is this?! What is this about?!

    The moment I took a step forward during an opening, he chopped at me using his hand in an axing motion. Whoever he was, his internal strength rivalled Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng.

    Who the hell is this guy? Is he the ambassador of that perverted organisation Kuanggu Sheng wanted to join?!

    I dropped and rolled. As a result, he chopped the wall and scattered stone chips. I called my evasion manoeuvre ¡°Donkey Roll After Stealing the Tiger¡¯s Dinner¡±, which was listed in my ¡°Night Net Manual¡±. I initially created it as an evasion manoeuvre for after you stole food from someone. It might not have been the prettiest move, but it was effective regardless of the opponent¡¯s three consecutive attacks. Its only weakness was that it only worked inbat, not when the opponent sneak attacked. Put inly, you had to notice the iing attack, or it was up to your luck. After all, in a fight for food, nobody was just going to sit back.

    He reacted surprised that I managed to evade his sneak attack when he ensured everything was in his favour. At the same time, my profound martial prowess left him with qualms.

    Come on, man, don¡¯t give me that look. We really going to keep going?

    Thus, I had to dodge three more times and asked, ¡°Are you the one dispatched by the organisation?¡±

    He flinched and stopped. Even though he had everything but his eyes and hands covered in ck garments, his hesitation was visible from the way his eyes darted back and forth. As he heard the sounds of guardsing over in response to the sound he made, he snorted haughtily in a soft voice that had me scratching my head over his gender. Subsequently, he took off.

    It was kind of awkward to see him withdraw so coolly while I could clearly hear him head south and find a hiding spot¡­

    Shall I go have a chat with himter?

    Judging from the shape of the shattered rock, he was quite strong. I thought he was the person Kuanggu Sheng mentioned.

    It didn¡¯t take long for ¡°Zero¡± and her henchmen to arrive on the scene. She sighed a breath of relief when she spotted me, but she went back to being stern the moment she saw the shattered pieces. Therefore, she ordered the immediate capture of the culprit.

    ¡°Zero¡± questioned me over every detail she could think of, and I gave the most detailed answers I could provide. The only moment she wasn¡¯t her usual collected self was when she heard I managed to dodge the first attack. Additionally, she kept asking me if there was only one person or if there were two.

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®him¡¯!¡±

    You trained to read minds?!

    She sounded as though she had been waiting to hear about the person in question. Well, she was probably mistaken over his identity, unfortunately.

    ¡°Lord San Shen¡¯s patience has finally run dry.¡±

    No, it hasn¡¯t.

    ¡°What makes you say it¡¯s him?¡± I asked.

    She pointed to the damaged wall. ¡°Look at the damage.¡±

    ¡°You can tell which sect¡¯s skill was used to inflict the damage?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t belong to any sect. The palm strike was delivered with pure brute strength. The internal energy has no properties, but it¡¯s overwhelmingly potent. It¡¯s an external Hard Realm internal energy.¡±

    ¡°How does that lead to the conclusion that it¡¯s ¡®him¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Because he doesn¡¯t utilise any specific discipline.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It feels like she¡¯s worked out the important part of an unimportant fact, but that fact is also wrong¡­

    ¡°He¡¯s made his move¡­ He¡¯s finally made his move,¡± she muttered.

    It doesn¡¯t seem like this is the right time to bring up Lang Qing¡¯s issue. How about I just off him first and then reportter?

    As I quietly retreated, I quietly said, ¡°I shall take my leave¡­¡±

    ¡°I know how now!¡± She suddenly looked up and told her subordinates, ¡°Follow Mr. Wu around the clock.¡±

    ¡°By your order!¡±

    What? What did you just say?!

    ¡°Wait!¡± I yelled.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What are they following me around for?¡±

    ¡°To protect you, obviously. He is watching from the shadows, and we don¡¯t know what he¡¯s plotting. The fact that he started with you first proves that my conjecture is correct. Since he failed on his first attempt, there¡¯s a possibility that he will try again. You¡¯re his target, so we can catch him if we guard you.¡±

    Her subordinates who went off before returned to report that they couldn¡¯t find any traces of him.

    What do you mean? He¡¯s hiding right there!

    ¡°He only just made his move, yet he¡¯s vanished without a trash? He must have a base¡­¡± She looked at me with a piercing gaze. ¡°He must have another identity here. That¡¯s the only way to exin how he vanished without a trace.¡±

    Don¡¯t follow that line of thought! I have a second identity, but he has another base! You can¡¯t do this! What did I ever do to deserve this?! I¡¯m innocent! Why is some group of perverts the one to ruin all my nning?! Just you wait. I¡¯m going to drag you out of your hole!

    ¡°But I, it¡¯s inconvenient for so many people to be following me around.¡±

    ¡°You have something important to do?¡±

    I have an arranged duel to attend!

 Book 13: Chapter 110

    Book 13: Chapter 110

    ¡°Finally.¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Yan Jiangnan didn¡¯t have anything else to do, so they invested time in perfecting the holes and arranging them in a formation that even they¡¯d struggle to avoid. The fact that not even they knew where the holes were was the reason they stood dumbfounded in the centre of the formation. Nevertheless, Ming Feizhen would surely know his way around, so they decided to sit down where they were and kill time with a chat until Ming Feizhen returned.

    ¡°Brother Wu really has a good head,¡± praised Gu Xianxian, admiring his work.

    Yan Jiangnan wagged his head. ¡°You have only seen the tip of the iceberg.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? What else can he do?¡±

    ¡°Ordinary things like nning and excellent foresight are both things you¡¯ve seen. Even more impressive, though, is he can resurrect the dead, raise soldiers out of beans andmand the five chief demons of wealth to create wealth.¡±

    Gu Xianxian gasped. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯s a god?¡±

    ¡°Considering how vast thisnd is, there¡¯s nothing to be surprised about.¡±

    Gu Xianxian, too, wore on a face of admiration. ¡°I am truly blessed to have such a powerful ally.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why Lang Qing will be easy work,¡± asserted Yan Jiangnan, grinning whilst tapping his knee with a finger. ¡°Lang Qing¡¯s fate will be sealed once he returns.¡±

    As soon as they heard footsteps outside, the duo looked to each other and smile.

    He arrived.

    He arrived as expected.

    Lang Qing arrived.

    Elder, I thought you weren¡¯t trying to get rid of me!

    Even though he wobbled, Lang Qing still drank several more mouthfuls of alcohol and spared neither of them a nce. ¡°Where is he?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: Since Elder is not here, we can take advantage of the situation to buy time.

    Gu Xianxian thundered, ¡°We can¡¯t just because he¡¯s not here? The two of us will fight you to the bitter end!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: Just you alone!

    Yan Jiangnan couldn¡¯t just run off given Ming Feizhen entrusted the duel to him, nheless.

    Gu Xianxian whispered, ¡°Even without Brother Wu, we have all these holes. Why do we need to fear him?¡±

    Since he agreed, Yan Jiangnan voiced, ¡°Indeed. We will fight you instead of Wu Ping.¡±

    Lang Qing looked to Yan Jiangnan, but he didn¡¯t ask why Yan Jiangnan was siding with Wu Ping and where he got the balls to fight from. Instead, he had another big mouthful of wine. ¡°No point in exnations if you can resolve it with a chop.¡±

    Lang Qing threw his wine pot away, sending a stinging smell into the duo¡¯s noses with its spice. Unlike before, his eyes gleamed with energy. ¡°If it¡¯s a fight you want, you have yourself one.¡± He moulded energy to his feet andunched himself over to the duo.

    Yan Jiangnan and Gu Xianxian: ¡°That¡¯s cheating!¡±

    ***

    I think it¡¯s time for the duel¡­

    ¡°Where are you going, Doctor Wu?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    I had been doingps in the base with the four guards for a good hour; however, I still hadn¡¯t decided where to go. As Zero¡¯s personal guards, they weren¡¯t weak, didn¡¯t take orders from anyone besides Zero and weren¡¯t exactly courteous to me, let alone obedient to me.

    I was going to lead the guards to my assant so that they¡¯d fight each other. If they killed him, it was a wild card dealt with. If he killed them, he solved an issue for me. Unfortunately, he was gone. I surmised he practiced a skill that either covered his traces or concealed the majority of his presence. There were two types of people who¡¯d master such an advanced skill: the first were elite assassins (League of Assassins¡¯ folks or perverts whose brains were filled with lust , such as my shifu). Based on the fact that their organisation was home to perverts, I wasn¡¯t surprised.

    The one thing that didn¡¯t make sense was how he existed. I never heard his footsteps or energy moulding method before despite how long I had been in the base. Consequently, I suspected he had a second identity as I did and switched appearances for different roles. In that scenario, I had hardly eliminated any suspects.

    Most of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members were trained in thepound over the course of years. Kuanggu Sheng would¡¯ve identified him if he was one of them instead of mistaking me for being his target. I always assumed the emissary was an outsider, so I was back to square one.

    ¡°Doctor Wu, where exactly are we g-¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m just taking a stroll. If you¡¯re tired, let¡¯s sit down to take a rest.¡±

    The four guards looked at me as though I wasn¡¯t right in the mind and then silently found themselves a spot to sit, although they strategically sat in four corners to ensure I was dead centre. I couldn¡¯t have run off, but it really felt as if I was a prisoner.

    I, too, took a seat to start strategizing. It wasn¡¯t difficult to shake off the four; if I disappeared, however, they¡¯d immediately report back to Zero, and they¡¯d all then assume I was attacked again. How could I eliminate Lang Qing under those circumstances? Hence, I had no other option besides befriending them.

    While I didn¡¯t know many people from Asa, I did get to know a small group from Asa during the battle in the past. I, therefore, approached them under the assumption that they might know each other.

    ¡°Ahaha, I heard you gentlemen are elites from Asa. When I went to the Western Regions for in the past, I got to know the captain of a small team from Asa. His name was Usel-, Sammitong Sading. It¡¯s true when they say friendship grows from an exchange of blows.¡±

    The guards looked to each other.

    ¡°Never heard of him.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡­ Uselessammitong, you really are just like your nickname! Your old man is a duke, for crying out loud!

    Uselessammitong, the eldest son of aforementioned duke, was out on another trip to extort ¡°protection fees¡± from the citizens with his twockeys when I ran into them. After I smashed him, I dumped him at a military camp, where he spent the next few years working his way up to lead a small squad.

    ¡°W-wait. Do you mean¡­ Prince Sammitong?¡±

    The other three guards jolted.

    The guard who asked the question then continued, ¡°Five years ago, Duke Sameu took the crown, turning His Highness into a Prince. Prior to that, I think he was indeed¡­ the captain of a small squad.¡±

    ¡°Nah, no way¡­ Prince Sammitong is one of the few royal family members who¡¯s a warrior. Friendship grows from an exchange of blows¡­¡± The guard eyed me.

    He¡¯s a Prince now?

    Sameu was a trulypetent man. The erstwhile King was old, didn¡¯t have any children and could never form his own opinion, so Sameu took care of all major military and political problems; it wasn¡¯t surprising he inherited the mantle. Thing was, Sameu was Zero¡¯sckey, not the imposter Zero in this base, but my realckey Zero. Sameu would¡¯ve jumped off a cliff if Zero told him to. I¡­ wasn¡¯t so sure it was the best idea to entrust Sameu with the throne considering that¡­ In addition, Uselessammitong would be wailing the moment he ate one punch. A rare warrior? In what universe?

    Since the four guards stared at me with suspicion, I hurriedly wagged my hands. ¡°We only met once by chance. Think about it: how am I in any position to be friends with Useless-, Prince Sammitong? Uh, I was close to his subordinate, Brother Luosu. We drank from the same pot and slept on the same bed back then.¡±

    ¡°L-Luosu?¡±

    The four of them exchanged eye contact. ¡°G-General Luosu?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not General Luosu anymore,¡± corrected one of the guards. ¡°He¡¯s now Bright God Divine Pce¡¯s Martial Commander.¡±

    ¡°Brother Luo Su?¡± The four of them looked at me again, except with more respect for a chance.

    Come on now. He really was a younger brother to me! Man couldn¡¯t aplish anything, frequently got lost, cried for help whenever he was in a fight and ate less than me. You¡¯re telling me he¡¯s a general? How far have your state¡¯s standards fallen?!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know he was a general when I got to know him, so I spoke fairly casually to him, hahaha¡­ I was actually closest to his underling¡­ We peasants can¡¯t expect generals to be our friends, huh?¡±

    ¡°May I ask what the name of his underling was?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Su Qi.¡±

    ¡°You even know Cavalry Captain Su Qi?!¡±

    Who let you guys get promoted so fast?! I don¡¯t know anyone beneath you idiots! How was I supposed to know a snotty-nosed kid following behind Zero and I could be a cavalry captain?!

    ¡°Cavalry Captain Su Qi is here!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I never heard anything about this.

    ¡°You met him. How did you not recognise him? He is the most senior person here.¡±

    He¡¯s here?

    ¡°Go ask Cavalry Captain Su toe over! Hurry! He would be ecstatic to meet an old friend.¡±

    They dispatched the lowest-ranked member among them without even asking for my opinion¡­

    One of the guards sneered. ¡°Aren¡¯t you close? How did you not notice?¡±

    ¡°Central iners sure know how to blow smoke up their own rear.¡±

    Arge man in his thirties to forties ¨C judging from his appearance ¨C soon arrived where at rest spot. With a piercing gaze and in a deep voice, he questioned, ¡°Doctor Wu, what sort of joke is this supposed to be?¡±

    That¡¯s my question! How did youpletely change?! What happened to the feeble Su Qi who always had two trails of snoting from his nostrils?!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I could identify him from his facial features. His physique, on the other hand, hell, I¡¯d believe him if he imed to be Su Qi¡¯s father!

    ¡°Doctor Wu, I don¡¯t remember having met you before.¡±

    The more I scrutinised him, the more traits I could identify. Su Qi had a big scar on his neck from an injury sustained in a battle back then. He was unbelievably lucky to have survived that incident, but it seemed that his luck was far from out.

    Due to his broad shoulders, despite not being as tall as me, as soon as Su Qi took two steps closer, he looked no different to a bully picking on a smaller guy.

    ¡°You im to know General Luo Su, Prince Sammitong and myself. What is the purpose of your im? If it¡¯s a lie, you won¡¯t be excused.¡±

    I smacked my lips and sighed. I couldn¡¯t believe the former wuss was mouthing off at me.

    I could¡¯ve saved myself a tonne of trouble and time if I knew you were here.

    I headed off to my meeting ce with Lang Qing. Incensed, Su Qi seized my shoulder. I took advantage of our close proximity to whisper to him. First, he widened his eyes. Next, tears welled up in his eyes, and he went down onto his knees.

    ¡°What is the matter, Cavalry Captain?¡±

    ¡°Cavalry Captain?!¡±

    Su Qi wailed as he watched me leave. Meanwhile, the four guards were at aplete loss for what to do.

 Book 13: Chapter 111

    Book 13: Chapter 111

    If there had to be an exnation for Lang Qing¡¯s behaviour, it was simply due to the fact that he was nosy. His affiliation between orthodox and unorthodox in the pugilistic world was unclear; killing someone or saving someone was purely a whimsical thought away. His only defining trait was that he was a loner.

    Lang Qing was scouted solely because he was strong, and he epted for an equally simplistic reason. His decision making process was a lot more thoughtless than people imagined. He believed that one only needed a single goal in life and that everything else was but only an appendage to that goal. Nevertheless, this wasn¡¯t what was truly important.

    At the end of the day, Lang Qing was a martial artist, a true broadsword wielder. Jiang Chen discerned this fact, so he was sessful in recruiting Lang Qing. All it cost Jiang Chen was a few months of average food, drinks, lodging and a duel after the project.

    Although Lang Qing didn¡¯t involve himself with anyone upon arrival at thepound, it didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t change. He didn¡¯t go out of his way to give people attention or turn them away just as was typical of him. He merely lent pitiful Ning Zhuoru a hand out on a whim. Gu Xianxian¡¯s misunderstanding didn¡¯t bother him.

    Lang Qing cared about very little, including his life, and he had no qualms showing the fact. He never rejected a challenge even when he knew he¡¯d lose. For that reason, whether it was Wu Ping¡¯s challenge, the obviously questionable challenge and the sudden change in opponents, to him, it was just another fight.

    As they had never practiced fighting as a team, Yan Jiangnan and Gu Xianxian reacted so clumsily that they deserved to die. Consequently, Lang Qing easily plunged down from above and split them up, positioning himself between them without even having to draw his weapon.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Unlike in his first fight against Lang Qing, Gu Xianxian wasn¡¯t hot headed this time. s, it was reced with astonishment. Gu Xianxian couldn¡¯t utilise even 60% of his full abilities, not that he would¡¯ve offered Lang Qing a challenge even at 100%. Gu Xianxian found himself in danger three times, and it was Yan Jiangnan who saved him each time. Gu Xianxian never knew Yan Jiangnan was so agile, technical with his palm techniques and unpredictable. In Gu Xianxian¡¯s opinion, Yan Jiangnan¡¯s reputation didn¡¯t do his abilities justice.

    Once Gu Xianxian fixed his mental state, he gave away less openings to exploit. For him to havested more than twenty exchanges against Lang Qing, it was clear that his head was in a much better ce.

    Even Lang Qing approved of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s performance. That was not to say that he felt Yan Jiangnan could qualify as a threat to him. Lang Qing¡¯s first impression of Yan Jiangnan was ¡°ordinary¡±. While the gap between them was still enormous, Yan Jiangnan had grown enough for Lang Qing to not toy with him.

    Lang Qing tugged up a corner of his lips and flipped over his hands. With his hand reserved for Yan Jiangnan, he chopped violently to ovee Yan Jiangnan¡¯s palm technique variations, quickly punishing Yan Jiangnan for being sophisticated. At the same time, he focused on sophistication and fluidity against Gu Xianxian, forcing thetter to focus solely on defending until he shelled up.

    Since the beginning of time, hardness and softness were on opposite ends of the spectrum. It was painfully difficult to integrate the mental cultivation of rigidness with fluidity. Lang Qing didn¡¯t synthesise them; instead, he performed two different styles simultaneously. Due to the the two concepts opposing each other, it was difficult enough to perform simultaneously, let alone with the level of Lang Qing¡¯s proficiency. In addition to be able to utilise both styles, one also needed an additional discipline to reconcile the opposing styles. To achieve what Lang Qing did, he needed to apply it to his broadswordy, as well, which was advancing the skill another big step.

    In spite of their dire predicament, howbeit, neither Gu Xianxian nor Yan Jiangnan showed any concern. Lang Qing couldn¡¯tprehend what they were thinking until he heard, ¡°Because I have arrived!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Because I have arrived!¡± I stepped into the arena, albeitter than scheduled to Su Qi and the guards. ¡°Stay your hands!¡±

    Based on my estimations, Gu Xianxian and Yan Jiangnan were three exchanges away fromying down their lives. Lang Qing¡¯s abilities were precisely as I predicted. That was why he needed to go!

    Lang Qing chuckled and then spun around without any regard for the fact that he gave his back to his opponents. In the same time he turned around, Yan Jiangnan performed another five attacks, while Gu Xianxian performed another twelve, bothpletely missing and not even realising their opponent had disengaged until they finished. As soon as they finished, their legs buckled, and they started gasping for air on the ground. The white smoke curling upwards from their hands indicated that they pushed themselves to their absolute max in the fight.

    ¡°You finally show up when your men have lost?¡±

    You think I didn¡¯t want to show up? My men held me up!

    As a man who never let himself lose a war of words, I sneered and asked, ¡°You just managed to gain the upper hand. How does that count as your victory?¡±

    Lang Qing had a heartyugh and then suddenly reached behind to grab the duo by the cors. Next, he hurled them at me as though they were balls. The stunt was amon method elites used to measure their opponents. A nice catch earned you respect, while a catch that showed you needed to exert effort cost you respect. For that reason, it wasmon for people to try their best in this situation even if they were actually inferior to their opponent. In my case¡­ Well¡­

    They spun around on a horizontal axis three and a half times, thennded beside me with heavy thuds. I could tell they almost had their organs squashed based on the blood that got caught on my boots and their groans. Still, I just kept my gaze trained forward, a hand behind my back, as well as an upward curve on my lips.

    Lang Qing looked unnerved at my nonchnce. His eyes seemed to say, ¡°How cold.¡± I didn¡¯t know what the hell he was expecting!

    ¡°The louder they bark, the weaker they are,¡± I insulted, finally sparing the duo a nce.

    As Lang Qingbined malleability and rigidity into his throw, no matter how I caught them, I¡¯d still hurt them. Thanks to me not catching them, the two opposing energies cancelled each other out, preventing them from receiving a severe injury. Luckily for them, they had trained enough to only suffer skin-level injuries.

    After wiping his bloody lips, Gu Xianxianined, ¡°Why are youte?!¡±

    Yan Jiangnan pleaded, ¡°Elder, avenge us!¡±

    ¡°Lang Qing, I was only running a tadte. Don¡¯t you know what patience is? Don¡¯t get your opponent wrong.¡± Of course, even if he did get his opponent wrong, it didn¡¯t make any difference at this point for the two of them were done.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯ste, yet you make it sound as if I¡¯m in the wrong.¡±

    ¡°You are. I ept your apology if you offer one.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough tripe. Are we fighting or not?¡±

    If possible, can you just let me do the hitting?

    The world was crueller than you could imagine. What option did I have besides personally getting my hands dirty?

    Now, why did these two fools fight him when we spent all that effort digging holes?

    ¡°Fight?¡± I chuckled in an annoying voice. ¡°Lang Qing, you think this is just any other arena?¡± I pointed to the t surface and jibed, ¡°Hahaha, look how t this ce is, you f-, what the hell?!¡±

    Upon catching my re, Yan Jiangnan stated, ¡°Ah, we had time, so we decided to cover them.¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Yeah, how nobody can tell where they are. Look how lost the scumbag is.¡±

    That ¡°nobody¡± includes me, you imbecile! How do I fight now?!

 Book 13: Chapter 112

    Book 13: Chapter 112

    I maintained my big-man-hubristic sage pose whilst contemting what to do. I could lose to a man, but there was no way I was losing a battle. ¡°Hahaha, Brother Lang.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s negotiate, shall we?¡±

    ¡°How much more time do you intend to waste?¡± Lang Qing advanced towards me.

    Fight, fight, fight, are you Tang Ye 2.0?! If you want to fight so bad, give me half a month, and I¡¯ll happily whoop you! Stay back!

    I swear to the mountains, seas and on my 108,000 greatest hits pornos that I was on the cusp of tucking tail.

    Following an uncertain step, Lang Qing went ¡°Mm,¡± made a small hop, uttered a confused, ¡°Haa,¡± followed by eighteen legato consecutive thuds, he cursed, ¡°Crap,¡± and then everything went silent. None of us, including the man who just tumbled into a hole, could keep up with what happened.

    Still standing in my awe-inspiring pose, I was first to break the silence. ¡°Hah, arrogant fool.¡±

    That moment, I gained the respect and admiration of two idiots.

    ¡°Wu Ping!¡±

    ¡°Brother Lang, where are you?¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Good question. Howe you¡¯re in a hole?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to deny your involvement in these traps, do you?¡±

    ¡°Brother Lang, there are many surprises in life. How did you suddenly fall into a hole?¡±

    I didn¡¯t trip him up. Based on my design, Lang Qing was supposed to fall into the first hole, not the seventh hole. If you ask me, he deserved it for sprinting when he had excellent qinggong.

    Lang Qing was as smart as his appearance suggested. Within moments ofnding in the hole, he figured out he had unknowingly stepped into a formation. He calmed himself down after our brief round of verbal warfare to start analysing his own body as well as the formation. Unfortunately for him, no matter how smart he was, he wasn¡¯t going to outsmart my shifu in his lifetime. If formations didn¡¯t work on me, not even I would¡¯ve been able to escape it, ahahaha!

    Did I just insult myself? At any rate, he was screwed, hahaha!

    My victory was supposed to be set in dirt when Lang Qing suddenly vaulted metres into the sky. s, hended straight back where he started. Clearly, he underestimated the formation. If it was an easily-broken formation, would it have such an awesome name?

    Lang Qing took a moment to gather his thoughts, then concentrated energy into his arms to sh and gash. I could describe it, but, regardless of what discipline it was or how sophisticated it was, all broadswords just made the ¡°whoosh, whoosh¡± sounds, so whatever. Whenever he hit dirt, dirt would rise and spinparably to a sandstorm. As a result of his wild swings, all of Gu Xianxian and Yan Jiangnan¡¯s work came to light, much to their anger. I had to stomp on their heads to shut up their constant cursing from the ground.

    Lang Qing eventually stopped. Even though he squinted, I saw the terrified look in his eyes once he realised that, even if he wanted to escape, he didn¡¯t know where to start. When he leapt vertically, he must¡¯ve saw a possibility, but it was different to what he eyes saw, so his efforts were misdirected.

    The most challenging aspect about beating Lang Qing was moving faster than him. No matter what it was, hesitation wasn¡¯t a part of his vocabry. He trusted his own judgement, had plenty of experience, was strong and was correct more often than not by far. As such, he had very few weaknesses.

    Lang Qing took a step to the side, then a quick step forward since he realised the formation was designed to zap the confidence of ordinary folks. From there, he jumped.

    ¡°What?! That¡¯s¡­!¡±

    ¡­ going to make you hit your head¡­

    Before I could finish, Lang Qing had suavely dug his head into the ground.

    Confidence is good, but don¡¯t be so confident¡­ You didn¡¯t need to move so fast. I could¡¯ve warned you, otherwise.

    If just going the reverse direction was enough to escape the formation, my shifu wouldn¡¯t have been called ¡°The Martial World¡¯s Most Troublesome Prankster¡± and remained the owner of the title for decades.

    Lang Qing and I silently stared at each other. You know, I felt a little sorry for him. Although he had something to say, he tightened his jaws and stopped himself. Upon closer inspection, though, I noticed him swallow.

    It¡¯s dirt! You swallowed dirt, didn¡¯t you?! Is looking cool really worth swallowing dirt for?! It¡¯s not the end of the world if you spat out the dirt and let meugh at you, sheesh. Plus, you do realise I don¡¯t respect you any more just because you¡¯re stubborn, right?!

    Though Lang Qing eventually regained speech capabilities, due to how dry his mouth was, he had trouble, so he cut it short and said, ¡°Come kill me¡­ if you can.¡±

    As the winner, I casually smiled and replied with¡­ uh¡­n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    How shall I kill him?

    The original n was to have Yan Jiangnan fight Lang Qing in the formation. Once Lang Qing failed to win in his initial strike, we would turn him into a vegetable, like Tiangou, while he was demotivated. I had trapped him, but¡­ how was I supposed to turn him into a vegetable when I wasn¡¯t in the formation?

    ¡°Attack him with fire!¡±

    ¡°Use poison!¡±

    ¡°Pierce him with arrows!¡±

    ¡°Drown him!¡±

    ¡°Strike him with lightning!¡±

    ¡°Jump in and bite him to death!¡±

    Can you two morons shut up? If I knew you two were so ¡°smart¡±, I would¡¯ve rmended you as strategists to Zero so that I wouldn¡¯t need to endanger myself.

    I could understand Gu Xianxian¡¯s distaste for Lang Qing, but I guess getting whipped the way he did got on Yan Jiangnan¡¯s nerves, too.

    Lang Qing voiced, ¡°No way. No way. No way. There¡¯s no way someone would go through all this effort to trap someone, yet not have thought about how to finish the job. Nobody that stupid could possibly exist, could they?¡±

    ¡°Correct. Only a genius would fall into a hole and eat a mouthful of dirt.¡±

    ¡°Let me out, and fight me fair and square if you¡¯re tough!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, sorry, but I can¡¯t help you.¡±

    Unless we called a truce so that I could go and pull him up, I genuinely had no clue how to direct him out. After all, we weren¡¯t seeing the same thing.

    Mayhap he was incensed. Whatever the case, Lang Qing started swinging wildly. With his internal energy, he had no trouble making his hand as sharp as a de. I didn¡¯t really care that there was no visual of him due to the veil of dirt. After all, he had no chance of escaping unless he wrecked the entire formation. In the event that he did sabotage the entire formation, he¡¯d be so fatigued by the time he escaped that Gu Xianxian would be able to demolish him.

    My concern was what to do about Lang Qing. The formation couldn¡¯t keep him confined forever. Even if I could dig a few more holes to confine him for a few more days, if ¡°Zero¡± demanded us to call a truce, we¡¯d have to make up. I didn¡¯t want to give up, though, not after all the effort I invested into duping him.

    Suddenly, a gust pulled me forwards two steps. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    My instincts told me we were in trouble, so I reached for Yan Jiangnan. Unfortunately, he was too slow and therefore missed the opportunity to resist the gust. As a result, Gu Xianxian and Yan Jiangnan fell into the formation, scattering the dust screen.

    ¡°You¡¯re now stuck here with me.¡± Lang Qing had the eyes of a lone wolf that finally caught its prey after starving for days.

    I knew he was tough to deal with! I didn¡¯t know this guy was as nasty as me!

    All the swinging was intended to make me drop my guard and obstruct my vision so that he could draw us in without me noticing. Had I been prepared, he couldn¡¯t have possibly pulled us inward at our prior distance.

    Lang Qing charged toward me.

    It was myst chance.

    Utilising my qinggong skill, ¡°Tiger Steals the Meal¡±, I jumped into another hole whilst uncorking three consecutive palm attacks to keep my distance. Out of nowhere, Lang Qing felt a wind rise behind him. The three palm attacks I performed were the signal for Yan Jiangnan to strike. Due to the speed at which he advanced on me and his direction, Lang Qing had no choice but to turn around and defend the strike.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Zero had arrived at the exterior of the formation with a group before I realised it. She was, without saying, mad at the sight she beheld, evident from the fact that she amplified her voice with enough energy to hurt someone. Her shout startled Yan Jiangnan, costing him a fraction of a second. Although that still wasn¡¯t enough time for Lang Qing to evade, it was long enough for him to fortify his guard by multiple folds. Nheless, there was still enough force behind Yan Jiangnan¡¯s attack to make Lang Qing gasp blood.

    I had no idea why Zero suddenly showed up and how she found out about the duel. Su Qi wouldn¡¯t have dared to stop me even if he found out about it.

    That guy in ck who tried to assassinate me¡­ Yeah¡­

    Lang Qing was undoubtedly injured, but he hadn¡¯t lost his ability to defend himself yet. Sometimes, an injured lone wolf was more dangerous than when it was fresh. As he roared in pain, he leveraged the momentum of Yan Jiangnan¡¯s blow as aunch pad to hunt me down. I was in a pinch as I couldn¡¯t dodge again after using ¡°Tiger Steals the Meal¡± three times consecutively.

    ¡°Lang Qing, I told you to stop!¡± thundered Zero.

    Despite hearing Zero loud and clear, Lang Qing ignored her warning. I could see it in his murderous eyes; there was something more important to him than his own life. I could see it in his face; he was thrilled in spite of the situation he was in. Only a mad man could feel the sense of thrill that came on when triumph and their life were at stake. To savour it in its entirety, he finally drew his weapon.

    Lang Qing performed two consecutive criss-crossing shes. The reason he could execute two totally different styles simultaneously was because ¡°Cross Phantom Soul dework¡± required him to wield two des of different lengths at the same time.

    Zero had a mask on, but it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine her straight face when she saw Lang Qing reveal his true skill.

    No matter how you defended, it¡¯d be extremely difficult to defend when Lang Qingbined a fluid and rigid style simultaneously as he could adapt easily.

    How does he know this discipline?

    I sped my hands together and smoothly snatched Lang Qing¡¯s short de from him as if I¡¯d practiced it billions of times before. Even once we passed by each other, he still couldn¡¯t fathom what transpired. The two of us looked at each other in puzzlement.

    I heard over ten people yell, ¡°Stop,¡± as they raced over, so I hopped to my left, and¡­ I heard eighteen thuds.

 Book 13: Chapter 113

    Book 13: Chapter 113

    ¡°Why are you fighting each other?¡± Zero asked as soon as everyone was finally pulled out of the holes ¨C which took an immense amount of effort.

    In addition to her bodyguards, Zero had Ouyang Xiucai, Yuan Kou, Ning Zhuoru and the other elites with her.

    I failed. Based on the oue, my n failed miserably. I hung my head in defeat. Though my team didn¡¯t suffer any casualties, and we managed to wound Lang Qing, he only had an internal injury, and we had no second chance to finish the job. If we considered the consequences of our scrap, we might even have incurred losses.

    As nobody answered her question, Zero looked to me. Since I was in no mood to entertain her, I performed a few hand signals for her to decipher herself.

    Gu Xianxian yelled, ¡°I was the one who wanted to fight him! Brother Wu and Brother Yan were just helping me out! They have nothing to do with it!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru, who had lots to say from the moment she saw her husband battered, pulled his sleeve. ¡°What were you thinking?! Why would you fight Lang Qing? H-how are you feeling?¡±

    The first question expressed disapproval, the second dissatisfaction and thest affection.

    Gu Xianxian¡¯s red face looked ready to go up in mes. ¡°You can betray me, but I can¡¯t settle the score with him?!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru bit her lip and responded, ¡°What did I do?¡±

    ¡°You know well and truly what you did!¡±

    ¡°You ba$tard!¡±

    Zero pretty much connected the dots from their conversation, but that also put her in a dilemma. From her perspective, neither Lang Qing nor Gu Xianxian were allies or enemies, so she could be impartial. If she didn¡¯t want to trouble herself over love affair, she could just leave them to their own devices. The problem was that she needed hands on deck. Lang Qing was worth three copies of the couple. From a morality standpoint, however, Lang Qing was in the wrong. If she let Lang Qing win the case, she¡¯d have trouble earning respect from others.

    ¡°It¡¯s my loss,¡± stated Lang Qing, despite not everybody agreeing. ¡°You stopped my attack. It¡¯s my loss.¡± After he said that, he turned his back to us and added, ¡°My life is yours. You can take it whenever you please,¡± and left, just as typical Lang Qing would.

    Yan Jiangnan, surprised, muttered, ¡°What¡­ a guy. Is he serious?¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?!¡±

    ¡°Your wife and I are innocent. She merely asked me to fetch some medication for her. You can ask her why yourself.¡±

    Gu Xianxian stood there stupefied. When he turned to his wife, she stomped and ran off, prompting him to chase after her.

    Lang Qing definitely wasn¡¯t the type to offer an exnation, so my counter clearly affected him. Honestly, I was stupefied when I realized I could dismantle his attack myself. It wasn¡¯t because hecked creativity that I found a counter; if he made a tiny adjustment, he could¡¯ve taken my soul. His folly was that he performed it textbook standard and so well. I knew how to dismantle his attack precisely because I created it.

    How does Lang Qing know my technique?

    Zero had a quick word with me before chasing down the couple. Though she was clearly curious about the formation that not even she could escape, now was not the type to be inquiring about it. Seeing as she departed, everyone else awkwardly dispersed. I used work and training as an excuse to get rid of Yan Jiangnan, too.

    I went to a rtively concealed stone room. Of course, patrols were bound to pass by, but I knew they would be ordered to go somewhere else as someone was going to pay me a visit. It didn¡¯t take long for me to see Su Qi pop in.

    Once he confirmed nobody was eavesdropping, Su Qi quietly voiced, ¡°My Lord.¡±

    I wore on a straight face and replied, ¡°Come in.¡±

    Su Qi zipped inside and went to salute me, but I instructed, ¡°Shut the door.¡±

    Su Qi gently shut the door, then genuflected before me and effused, ¡°This one is¡­ is beyond ecstatic to see you again. He is truly¡­ truly¡­¡±

    ¡°Truly full of crap!¡± I jumped up and kicked Su Qi flush on the face. ¡°Your balls have gotten bigger, huh?! So you were the one watching over me all this time! You! You had the audacity to watch over me!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! This one would never disrespect you in the slightest even if his guts were asrge as the sky!¡±

    But you did! I could forgive someone else, but how dare you not recognise me after all we had been through together?! Whatever your reasons are, I¡¯m going to knock your socks off first!

    I stomped on Su Qi, I said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t identify who was watching me during my confinement. You did a good job of hiding yourself.¡±

    ¡°Th-this one was always watching.¡±

    ¡°And you didn¡¯t release me!¡±

    ¡°This one wanted to release you, but he was hesitant¡­¡±

    ¡°Hesitant, your oompa-loompa foot! What was there to be hesitant about?!¡±

    ¡°Th-this one did not dare to confirm if you were the one being confined¡­ Based onmon sense, who could possibly capture you?¡±

    Am I someone who could be measured bymon sense?!

    I bashed Su Qi for a while longer prior to getting down to business.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Uselesstong? What about the Regent?¡±

    Su Qi enthused, ¡°They have be His Highness and His Majesty, respectively.¡±

    Oh, right, forgot about that.

    ¡°Ah, whatever. I can¡¯t remember. They doing well?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you, they are both well. His Highness¡¯ child is now three and a half.¡±

    Wow, that guy had yet to even marry when I left, and he already has a kid? Hang on.

    ¡°Why are you guys here in the Central in when you¡¯re doing well in the Western Regions?¡±

    ¡°We are here because,¡± Su Qi sighed, ¡°it is a long story. The main reason is because His Great Majesty has been sick recently.¡±

    His Great Majesty referred to Bright Moon Cult¡¯s leader, who was second only to Ol¡¯ Ximen in Divine Moon Cult. Ol¡¯ Ximen was actually supposed to inherit the seat, but he decided to run the entire show. Therefore, somebody else had to fill the shoes.

    For the reason that the current generation of Bright Moon Cult was in charge of the people, they wielded the greatest power. As such, their leader was basically the vicemander of the sect. Even among the seven states, he was someone who was pretty much above everyone. Since Ol¡¯ Ximen was no longer around, he was actually the absolute authority in the seven states.

    I remembered he was a healthy person, so I was surprised to hear he was ill.

    ¡°By the way, who¡¯s the chick? Why are all of you taking orders from her?¡±

    ¡°You have already figured out who Mr. Zero is? You are as impressive as ever.¡±

    I chided, ¡°Why would you go along with her idea of posing as Zero?¡±

    ¡°We would never dare to misuse Zero¡¯s name. We merely used the name for the conveniences it offered. Moreover, she is not an outsider. We could not object since she insisted. Do you know who she is?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t that be my question?¡±

    ¡°Do you remember how the sessor is selected in Bright Moon Cult?¡±

    Uh¡­ Give me a hint? How the hell am I supposed to remember everything in the holy scripture?

    ¡°She is the third Saintess.¡±

    Say what?

    ¡°She¡¯s a Saintess?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 114

    Book 13: Chapter 114

    One of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s old traditions was that, instead of the leader selecting a sessor, the three Saintesses would elect the next leader. Long, long ago, the leader selected their sessor ¨C don¡¯t take that as gospel. Several leaders passed on leadership to their ipetent heirs, which caused problems in the cult. Hence, the system was edited.

    The sect elders nominated one Saintess each from among Bright Moon and Dark Moon factions based on various criteria ¨C most importantly, their lineage. Aforementioned criteria were entirely up to the reigning sect leader¡¯s whims. Though there were numerous ways of nominating candidates for leadership in Divine Moon faction, in the end, the three Saintesses had the final say.

    The Saintesses may have been held in very high regard, but they didn¡¯t have an official post. After all, low-ranked members couldn¡¯t boss them around, while high-ranking members such as the three Guardians¡­ Stuff it. My head hurts just thinking about it. In any case, they had another significant role.

    In addition to having the final say on who could take up leadership, their other role was to act as backup sessors. If an ident were to happen, such as the reigning leader being assassinated or passing away unexpectedly before a sessor was elected, they had the authority to take the mantle until the three of them chose a new leader. This was where ¡°lineage¡± became important.

    Using Bright Moon faction as an example, the only possible Saintess nominees for them were blood-rted rtives of the previous leader or the cult elders. This guaranteed that they wouldn¡¯t choose a sessor who¡¯d harm the cult. Second, in the event that they really did inherit the leadership role, they would respect their blood-rted predecessor¡¯s wishes. It went without saying that the insurance policy had rarely been enacted in the history of Divine Moon Cult. The policy came to save the day once again in this generation.

    Dark Moon Faction faded away once Bai Tianbin was gone, so they had no Saintesses to speak of. Ximen Chuideng¡¯s status was unknown, but he never selected a Saintess prior to his downfall, so there was no way there could be three. As a consequence, the usual method of picking a leader was impossible to implement for both Dark Moon and Bright Moon factions. Therefore, it was most likely that one of the Saintesses would stand in as leader for Bright Moon Faction. In other words, the Zero imposter was possibly Bright Moon¡¯s current leader.

    ¡°Wait a sec. I don¡¯t remember her being your state¡¯s Saintess.¡±

    I mean, she shares somemon features, but she¡¯s too young to be the same person.

    ¡°Ah, yes, this one has not shared the good news with you yet. This one mentioned His Highness is married and has a child.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°His Highness married that Saintess! She is now a Princess.¡±

    Huh?! Wow, Uselesstong, you go, son! You managed to score a Saintess and have a kid with her? Hang on, hang on¡­ I¡¯m remembering this has something to do with me, but I can¡¯t put my finger on what it is¡­

    ¡°You were the one who helped them get together.¡±

    Oh? Ooooh, now I remember!

    Uselesstong developed a crush on the Saintess and then fell into depression out of yearning. Everybody but I was against his crush for the sake of the spring in his heart and the sun to illuminate the noble earth. I didn¡¯t and still couldn¡¯t understand why the Western Regions¡¯ people were so close minded about the whole thing, demanding an endless list of this and that. I despised the irrational adherence to traditions that the elders imposed on the young generation.

    Under my tutge, Uselesstong used every trick in the book to woo her. Most importantly, he beat her fianc¨¦ and captured her heart.

    What happy news.

    ¡°Wait, wait, from what I remember, a Saintess gave up her rights to appoint a leader once she married, right?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. You have a really good memory. How about you remove your foot while this one exins?¡±

    I grumbled, ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s skin is thick. He is worried your foot might get ufortable if you leave it on his head for too long.¡±

    Okay, I ept your justification. See? My boys are different.

    I removed my foot and helped myself to a seat.

    Su Qi jogged over to my back and began knead my shoulders. ¡°My Lord, is this the right amount of pressure?¡±

    ¡°Not bad. You still remember and haven¡¯t lost your touch, either.¡±

    With tears in his eyes, Su Qi conveyed, ¡°This one has been diligently practicing all these years so that he could give you a decent shoulder massage when he met you again. Compared to this one, General Luosu invested far more time and effort, even seeking the instruction of an Indian massage therapist. They now nickname him ¡®Fingers of God¡¯.¡±

    What sort of twisted motive motivated you morons to learn massage instead of martial arts, and how the hell did a massage therapiste into the picture?! Also, that¡¯s a sleazy nickname!

    ¡°Tell me what I need to know, and save me the rubbish.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, right. This one apologies for digressing.¡±

    So, the former Saintess went on maternity leave and, although she could¡¯ve kept her title and privileges, lost her voting as well as stand-in rights. Coincidentally, the leader of Bright Moon Faction fell ill at the same time, while there was no appointed Saintess. In other words, no sessor was chosen, either, leading to unrest. To quell the unrest, the younger sister of the former Saintess was elevated to Saintess status.

    I¡¯ve been under Uselesstong¡¯s sister-inw¡¯s watch all this time?! For every time I meet you, Uselesstong, I¡¯ll beat you twice!

    ¡°What are you guys doing in the Central in?¡±

    I still hadn¡¯t figured out why a Saintess woulde to the Central in if she could enjoy life in the Western Regions, not to mention teaming up with Jiang Chen. Most importantly, where the hell did I fit into all of it?!

    Su Qi lowered his voice. ¡°Under His Majesty and His Great Majesty¡¯s orders, we are here in search of the missing Guardians and Apostles. More importantly, we are searching for our great leader.¡±

    I suddenly felt as though time was rewound back to that day six years ago, the day I did my absolute best but still failed to stop him from falling off Lawless Cliff. The time that stopped that day finally started moving forward again.

    You¡¯ve finallye, huh?

 Book 13: Chapter 115

    Book 13: Chapter 115

    No one heard about Ximen Chuideng¡¯s whereabouts after he fell from Lawless Cliff six years ago. I didn¡¯t believe he perished simply because I didn¡¯t find his corpse. Maybe he was reduced to dust, or maybe someone took off with his corpse, the fact was that I didn¡¯t find his corpse at the bottom no matter how I searched, and I searched every inch. Knowing that was enough for me. I told the people I smuggled back to Divine Moon Cult¡¯s headquarters in the Western Regions the same thing back then.

    In the Central in, the majority of the martial world was convinced Ximen Chuideng met his demise at Lawless Cliff. In contrast, the members in the Western Regions who never went to the Central in thought their leader had only gone missing. Due to his long absence, though, starting from the members of the cult themselves, word began to spread that Ximen Chuideng met his end in the Central in, and it only became increasingly harder to stop the spread.

    The ruler of the Western Region¡¯s seven state¡¯s decision to not go to war with the Central in despite Ximen Chuideng¡¯s end was a personal one. In his opinion, his citizens¡¯ livelihood took priority over everything else. Howbeit, owing to the magnitude of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s influence in the seven states, nobody could predict how violently their followers would respond once they learnt their leader died in the Central in or that the Central in¡¯s imperial court was responsible. One thing was for sure, though: if someone exploited those strong feelings, they could spark a war between the Western Region¡¯s seven states and the Central in even if the seven state¡¯s sovereigns didn¡¯t desire it. To make matters worse, they were aware that someone with that thought existed.

    It wasn¡¯t just a handful of people whobelled the defeated group ¡°Demon scum¡± when thetter pulled out of the Central in ¨C as was in the case of Dark Wind Hall¡¯s remnants. Frankly, I couldn¡¯t tell you how many people harboured hostility towards the other in the Central in and the Western Regions. Regardless, once the Western Regions¡¯ militia was set on revenge, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to extinguish their anger. The only way to stop the me from incinerating everything would be to extinguish the militia.

    For the aforementioned reasons, Asa¡¯s ruler¡¯s most pressing task was to find authoritative figures of Divine Moon Cult, whether they were the Great Guardians or Guardians, anyone would do, and the more the better. Of course, nothing could beat finding Ximen Chuideng.

    ¡°Nobody can say what will happen if we cannot find Master.¡± Su Qi¡¯s gaze showed me he was no longer a snotty-nosed brat. ¡°His Majesty said that we were only had two years, at most. The seven states are not united in heart. There are people waiting for an opportunity to exploit for their own profits. If Master is still absent and someone stirs the pot, the consequences will be dire.¡±

    I tugged up the corners of my lips a tad. ¡°He would¡¯ve shown his face already if he could.¡±

    ¡°M-My Lord, are you implying th-¡±

    ¡°No, you should believe in him. He¡¯s not the kind of man to just roll over and die without a scene. If he was going to explode, he¡¯d make sure he stained the sky with his blood on his way out. I don¡¯t believe falling off a cliff is enough to finish him.¡±

    ¡°You scared me there. What did you mean, then?¡±

    ¡°Exactly what I said. I¡¯m not convinced he¡¯s dead. He must have his reasons forying low, whether that because he¡¯s been captured, is a vegetable in some forest, refusing to leave the warm embrace of a beauty, starting something big somewhere else or crazy. All of the above are realistically possible. Nothing he does can surprise me.¡±

    The fact that Su Qi didn¡¯tugh proved that I wasn¡¯t exaggerating.

    In my serious voice, I said, ¡°Listen: you need to stop putting all your hopes on him alone. He¡¯s a lot less reliable than you people give him credit for. Stop imagining he¡¯ll one day suddenly appear to rescue you from danger. It¡¯s like betting on a 1% chance of sess. What you need to do is think about how you¡¯ll stop a riot without him.¡±

    ¡°This one understands. Please enlighten him.¡±

    ¡°d you understand. Tell your King I told you that. Rather than search for Ximen, your priority should be instating a new leader for Dark Moon.¡±

    Su Qi widened his eyes, seemingly understanding where I was going.

    ¡°Instate a new head.¡±

    The new head could be elected from either Dark Moon or Bright Moon Factions. As well, both factions could give their input to choose someone. ordingly, the selection of Dark Moon¡¯s new leader was importantlyimportant. The only way a new head could be chosen is if both Factions were to re-elect a new head.

    ¡°Even if Ximen returns, he won¡¯t bring peace back. Selecting a new head is the most practical way to stop a war.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ We have considered it, but, as you know, even if we can reassemble Dark Moon Faction, based on the rules, the next head needs to be from Dark Moon¡­ That is¡­¡±

    Identifying the main problem proved Su Qi had matured.

    While Dark Moon Faction had fallen apart, Bright Moon Faction was in power. As a matter of fact, thetter had the seven states¡¯ followers in the palms of their hand, which was why Bright Moon stood above the sovereigns of the seven states. Hence, crowning a new leader was essentially changing who held ultimate authority. What was the likelihood that thepetent members and elders of Bright Moon Faction were just going to acquiesce just for the sake of ¡°tradition¡±? What Su Qi hesitated to mention was that Bright Moon Faction wouldn¡¯t wee back Dark Moon. In turn, it¡¯d be a struggle to appoint a new leader for Dark Moon Faction, let alone Divine Moon Cult. This was the very reason nobody bothered mentioning Dark Moon Faction since they were dismantled.

    Asa¡¯s sovereign valued friends and family, especially his friendship with Bai Tianbin. Yet, he didn¡¯t show any intent of restoring Dark Moon Sect, either, for he knew that whoever helped Dark Moon Faction out in the current forecast was sending them to their death. The same oue would ur even if it wasn¡¯t him who tried. Nobody was about to thoughtlessly oppose Bright Moon Faction.

    ¡°Go ahead without reservation. In the event that someone does try to stop you,¡± I smiled to myself, ¡°I¡¯ll back you.¡±

    Su Qi looked ready to start jumping on the spot. ¡°Really? Really? Really?! If you are speaking up, who would dare say otherwise? Fantastic, fantastic, His Majesty would throw a celebration to celebrate your return!¡±

    I bitterly smiled. ¡°You seem to have forgotten that I said I¡¯d never set foot in the sacred pce again when I turned against Ximen.¡±

    ¡°You merely said it out of anger! Besides, you are Lord San Shen; you hold the same authority as Master and have the same authority as him when ites to electing a new leader. Nobody would dare to argue with your orders even if you were to give them from ten thousand miles away.¡±

    Su Qi couldn¡¯t keep his hands still as he spoke. He¡¯d probably have been pping with his hands and feet if I wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°Okay, now for the most important issue. How do we get out?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ***

    Imbecile didn¡¯t know how to get out! He told me to discuss it with ¡°Zero¡±.

    After my conversation with Su Qi, I stomped off in a fit of anger. Thess wouldn¡¯t stop mumbling in my ear, wanted to get rid of me as soon as I woke up, and I couldn¡¯t beat her. Discuss it? How? I wasn¡¯t exactly worried she¡¯d find out my secret since Su Qi wouldn¡¯t just sit there and watch her murder me. Problem was, I wasn¡¯t even sure he could beat her. Moreover, even if we could persuade her, I still had all of Fiends¡¯ Genesis out for me. Plus, there was that perverted organisation snooping around in thepound.

    Now I¡¯m back to square one. How am I going to escape this ce? Unless she allies with me, there¡¯s no way I can get out without her permission. Maybe¡­ I can find a helper to take turns in opening the doors? But who can help me?

    I had to enter my room when I heard Gu Xianxian¡¯s brisk footstepsing closer.

    Just the man I needed.

    ¡°Brother Wu, I need you urgently!¡± Gu Xianxian had a bag of herbs on hand. ¡°My wife told me th-¡±

    ¡°Congrattions. Your wife is pregnant.¡±

    Gu Xianxian fossilised. ¡°Could I¡­ trouble you to repeat that?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you¡¯re here to ask about?¡±

    ¡°But how did you¡­¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you carrying herbs?¡±

    ¡°I came here to ask you if th-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Shisan Taibao.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s such a cool name. Is it¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me save you the trouble. It¡¯s for miscarriage prevention.¡±

    Gu Xianxian contorted his face as though every reply from me was another punch to his face.

    ¡°Which means that my wife saying she is pregnant is¡­¡±

    ¡°True, for sure.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°I knew from the start. Didn¡¯t we find herbs and the sort in her roomst time?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner?!¡±

    What sort of question is that? If I told you, would you have helped me with Lang Qing?

    I covered my ears and responded, ¡°What sort of question is that? If I told you, would you have believed the child is yours?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°If I told you under those circumstances, I¡¯d be adding oil to a me. Moreover, I don¡¯t know who the father is. It¡¯s best if it¡¯s you. If you suspect foul y and go confront Sister-in-Law, though, you¡¯ll survive with some bruises, but you¡¯ll have to live with eternal regret if the child bes coteral damage. Now that I know Lang Qing is innocent, and Sister-in-Law is truly pregnant, I have to congratte you, don¡¯t I?¡±

    With misty eyes, Gu Xianxian expressed, ¡°Brother, Big Bro, say less. You are my blood-rted big bro.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sometimes, I liked the kid ¨C gullible kid.

    ¡°I have a job for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still recovering from my wounds, Big Bro.¡±

    Okay, I don¡¯t like when this kid uses his head.

    ¡°Can¡¯t help it. You¡¯re the only one who can take care of this.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ What is it?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t forget that we didn¡¯t find just herbs in your wife¡¯s room today, did you?¡±

    Gu Xianxian took a moment to recall, then eximed, ¡°The assassination n!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Your wife refused to tell you about her pregnancy and asked someone else to fetch her herbs for her. You think that¡¯s normal? I suspect it¡¯s all connected to the assassination n.¡±

    ¡°I, Ipletely forgot about that. I will talk to my wife about itter.¡±

    ¡°As you should. How can you sleep at night without an answer?¡±

    I had no idea how to lure out the guy from the perverted organisation, but Ning Zhuoru should¡¯ve been a good starting point. Even if you only had a quarter of your brain functioning, you could tell the assassination n and the perverted organisation were linked. For the meantime, all I could do was wait for Gu Xianxian to pry out some intel for me.

    He sure is a strange guy. Clearly, she didn¡¯t mention her pregnancy because she was ckmailed. Once her pregnancy is no longer a secret, he can¡¯t ckmail her. If I were him, I wouldn¡¯t leave Ning Zhuoru alive. Wait¡­

    ¡°Damn it!¡± I grabbed Gu Xianxian and sprinted out the door.

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong?!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want your wife and kid to lose their lives, then hurry back to them! He¡¯s definitely going to get rid of them!¡±

    Of course, that galvanised Gu Xianxian to bolt faster than I could possibly keep up with. Nevertheless, I didn¡¯t need to apany him. I, instead, paid Su Qi a visit. By the time I arrived, I espied Ning Zhuoru and her husband in a tearful embrace. Anyone else who saw the scene would¡¯ve just considered it a serene scene.

    Su Qi crept over to me and whispered, ¡°There was someone after her life as you said. I scared off the assant before he could strike with my earlier arrival.¡±

    I bobbed my head to signal Su Qi could leave, but he just went and stood guard not too far away.

    ¡°How could you be so silly, Ru¡¯er? I couldn¡¯t be any happier to know you¡¯re pregnant. How could you keep it a secret?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hide it from you. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Ning Zhuoru sighed as she started crying.

    ¡°Ahem, it warms my heart to see you are both safe and sound,¡± I conveyed.

    ¡°Big Bro, you overreacted. Ru¡¯er is fine. That said, we didy it all out just before. We¡¯re okay now.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions. So, what exactly is the deal?¡±

    Gu Xianxian scratched his head. ¡°Uh, the reason is¡­¡±

    Once Gu Xianxian looked to his wife, she said to me, ¡°Doctor Wu, I am eternally grateful you waited until the right moment to tell my husband.¡±

    I guess I get the dynamic now. She¡¯s the brains between them.

    I held my hands up in salute. ¡°You have nothing to thank me for. Just treat me to a meal someday.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru ground her teeth.

    Gu Xianxian pped his own thigh. ¡°That goes without saying. That goes without saying! Ru¡¯er, you have no idea how good Brother Wu is to me.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru exhaled loudly. ¡°Okay, as you wish.¡±

    I politely smiled. ¡°So what exactly is the situation? I need it to be demystified.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what exactly is the situation?¡±

    Ning Zhuoru red at me, looked to her husband and then lowered her head. ¡°All right, I shall tell you.¡±

    Glossary

    Shisan Taibao ¨C A herbal soup that consists of thirteen herbs, hence ¡°Shisan¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 116

    Book 13: Chapter 116

    ¡°This isn¡¯t something I want to share with outsiders; however, since my husband trusts you¡­ Okay, I shall tell you.¡±

    Before I let Ning Zhuoru start her speech, I had the kitchen serve me up thirteen dishes of side dishes and thirteen pots of wine. Good thing I had them prepare me a snack because it was one long story. Once I heard the story, I understood why she was reluctant to bring it up.

    Allow me to summarise.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It all began half a year ago. While they were unmistakably getting sick of each other, they were in love pretty much congruently with the pugilistic world¡¯s recounts. Sadly, amon problem between married couples soon crept into their rtionship ¨C no offspring.

    Initially, nobody had an issue with Ning Zhuoru not producing a child. Gradually, though, the pressure was mounted onto her. Gu Xianxian didn¡¯t realise it, but Ning Zhuoru was always trying for a child; she resorted to all sorts of old-school methods whether they were purely superstitious or not. Gu Xianxian thought he was levelling up his game when it was really just the magic of Ning Zhuoru¡¯s supplemental soups that she made him drink every night. Unfortunately, none of the tricks she tried helped. When she consulted doctors, they didn¡¯t dare to tell her the true diagnosis. She, therefore, resorted to asking a respected doctor, who frankly told her that she¡¯d gically struggle to conceive. In other words, Gu Xianxian wasn¡¯t the problem. She was.

    Naturally, the revtion of not being able to conceive for a woman seeking to be a mother was a painful blow. The depressing news negatively impacted her mood. Gu Xianxian was too straightced tofort his wife despite his love for her. As a result, arguments became moremonce.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me sooner?¡± Gu Xianxian¡¯s eyes were red. ¡°I had no idea you had done so much for us. It must¡¯ve been so hard to bottle up all those feelings.¡±

    ¡°I think about you just as you think about me. I¡¯ve always wanted to give you a child, but I¡­ I considered asking you to divorce me instead of burdening you. I kept being prickly to deliberately annoy you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so silly like that!¡±

    The two shared a tearful embrace.

    It wasn¡¯t really a big problem. More precisely, it wasn¡¯t really a major problem from Gu n¡¯s perspective. After all, wealthy households, like Gu n, had a simple solution to the problem ¨C take a concubine. Liaodong people considered a lot of popr formalities red tape, and they didn¡¯t care about lineage most of the time. Even if Ning Zhuoru couldn¡¯t conceive, Gu Xianxian¡¯s old man still would¡¯ve had his son take a few concubines. That said¡­

    ¡°Ru¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Xian.¡±

    The two of them were unlikely to agree to that.

    I had a bite of my meat bun and questioned, ¡°Why argue? What are doctors for?¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Read the room!¡±

    Wow, the perfect sync of a couple.

    Ning Zhuoru then continued with her story.

    Ning Zhuoru received an invitation out of the blue from an unknown individual. In addition to the letter, they left behind a note promising a magic solution to her problem. At first, she brushed it off as ame person¡¯s prank, but her interest was piqued once she heard a woman in a nearby vige managed to ovee her inability to conceive. That became the catalyst for her to follow the letter¡¯s instructions, which eventually led to her finding Jiang Chen.

    Jiang Chen candidly requested Ning Zhuoru guard Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ new headquarters in exchange for the form. She mulled it over plenty of times before she epted the deal.

    ¡°Ru¡¯er, how could you do business with someone like him?! Do you honestly think I would betray your feelings for a child?¡±

    ¡°I know you love me. However, how could I leave you and your family without a sessor? You have no brothers or uncles; you¡¯re the only man in your family. How can I let you down when you chose to stick with only me?¡±

    ¡°Ru¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Xian.¡±

    ¡°Ru¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Xian.¡±

    I took a bite out of my chicken feet and suggested, ¡°You can adopt.¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Keep your nose out of our business!¡±

    ¡°In any case, that¡¯s how I came here. Thankfully, his form worked. I¡­ I¡­¡±

    Tsk, tsk, Jiang Chen is smart, can fight and even make kids? One is never too old to learn. My seniors, you have done me proud.

    ¡°Congrattions, Ms. Gu. At least the form is legit.¡±

    ¡°You knew long ago, didn¡¯t you? I¡¯ve had to order my herbs from your dispensary recently, and you even added a few herbal soups to help me with my mood. You clearly knew I was pregnant, yet you pit my husband against Lang Qing. Had anything happened to him, I¡¯d be cutting you up right now.¡±

    A good wife sure certainly reduces her husband¡¯s problems. Didn¡¯t expect you to find out.

    Ning Zhuoru red at me. ¡°Trash friend.¡±

    I licked the grease off my fingers. ¡°You are right. Thing is, I still don¡¯t know where Lang Qing fits into the picture.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Dear, could you go grab something for me?¡±

    Now that he knew the truth, Gu Xianxian was back to his pampering self and immediately left, leaving just Ning Zhuoru, I and her yet-to-be-born kid.

    ¡°Sister-in-Law, this isn¡¯t appropriate, is it?¡±

    ¡°This involves a secret that will put the lives of those privy at risk.¡±

    ¡­ Gu Xianxian, get your bum back here!

    And, as you¡¯d expect, I dragged Gu Xianxian back.

    Ning Zhuoru griped, ¡°Hmph, scoundrel!¡±

    ¡°Say what you will, but there¡¯s no chance I¡¯m going to be the sacrifice while you two get off scot free.¡±

    ¡°My husband¡¯s trust is wasted on you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Friends share the joys and woes. Right, Brother Gu?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, absolutely.¡±

    Though Ning Zhuoru inted her cheeks, she knew I wasn¡¯t going to back down. ¡°For a while, I was happy after I found out I was pregnant. One day, though¡­ I received a letter¡­ from an anonymous sender. He urately detailed every part of my deal with Jiang Chen, including the form. I felt as though he had my every move in the palm of his hands. I was ckmailed into helping him. He threatened he¡¯d poison my soup to take my child from me. I could only submit when he was so far ahead of me.¡±

    What the hell is Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ deal? They use letters for invitations, deals and even ckmail now? You the post office now?

    ¡°What¡¯s his demand?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure until I received a¡­¡± Ning Zhuoru took out a booklet from her shirt, the very one that was contained the assassination n. ¡°He told me to memorise everything in this booklet and then burn it. The intruder showed up, Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou¡¯s fight happened, and my husband never left my side, so I didn¡¯t have an opportunity to read it. I finally had time more recently, but my ability to remember things has beenpromised since I was pregnant, so¡­ I couldn¡¯t memorise everything.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t felt healthy. Even though I use Jiang Chen¡¯s form daily, I¡¯m still extremely susceptible to a miscarriage, so I need to have the miscarriage prevention soup daily, too. I couldn¡¯tplete the task assigned, so I¡¯m constantly afraid that I¡¯ll be poisoned, yet I can¡¯t tell anyone. One day, I found a spot to cry, and that¡¯s where I came across a drunkard sleeping on the ground.¡±

    ¡°It was Lang Qing, am I right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes. He is a good man. Because I was feeling depressed, I thoughtlessly aired my grievances, but I only mentioned my inability to tell my husband about my pregnancy challenge. Despite his aloof appearance, Hero Lang offered to fetch my medication for me with a promise to never let anyone tamper with it. After that, I entrusted him with bringing me my medication.¡±

    Gu Xianxian expressed, ¡°I misunderstood him. I wronged him.¡±

    I voiced, ¡°Yeah, you should really apologise for letting him rock your socks.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru instantly red at me again. ¡°I was terrified when I learnt you got into a fight with him. I decided I had to tell my husband the truth when I heard the misunderstanding, but I didn¡¯t expect¡­¡±

    I bobbed my head. ¡°So you knew someone wasing for you?¡±

    ¡°Yes. After I was pregnant, I seemed to be more sensitive to danger¡­ While I couldn¡¯t sense a presence, my intuition warned me someone was lurking nearby; it was just an ufortable gut feeling. As soon the Western Regions¡¯ guard arrived, the sense of danger disappeared.¡±

    Gu Xianxian cried, ¡°Someone really targeted you just now?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Captain Su Qi told me that there was someone snooping around, but they fled too quickly to track down.¡±

    As Ning Zhuoru went into silent mode, an unnerving silence shrouded over us.

    ¡°Ms. Gu, forgive my rudeness, but I have a question I¡¯d like to ask.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Have you never found it odd for Jiang Chen to expend so much effort into employing you? Why do you think he requested your aid?¡±

    With a grumpy undertone, Ning Zhuoru questioned, ¡°My family is considered a prestigious n in Liaodong. Why can¡¯t he employ me?¡±

    ¡°Although I¡¯ve heard of Ning n, I don¡¯t know much. What does your family do?¡±

    Ning Zhuoru proudly boasted, ¡°Our family is the best at engineering and manufacturing contraptions in Liaodong.¡±

    ¡°So, your family picks locks?¡±

    ¡°Engineering and manufacturing contraptions!¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°My father-inw can open any lock in Liaodong.¡±

    ¡­ And that¡¯s lock picking!

    ¡°So, Ms. Gu, may I ask if you can pick locks?¡±

    Ning Zhuoru¡¯s face and ears turned red. ¡°I-I married young. I never had time to learn such aplex and vast topic¡­¡±

    In other words, you cked off.

    I couldn¡¯t figure out what criteria Jiang Chen followed to recruit helpers. In terms ofbat abilities, save for Lang Qing and Ouyang Xiucai, the rest weren¡¯t of much use. Elder Lianhua could¡¯ve been useful, but Gu Xianxian, Ning Zhuoru, and the Yan brothers, none of them were exactly strong. If loyalty was the metric he used, then the most loyal person was Tiangou, while the others weren¡¯t even loyal to him but their long-lost master. Others didn¡¯t even share the same goals as him. It was almost as though he recruited anyone as long as they fit his budget. Yet, he went as far as sharing a herbal form to ovee pregnancy issues and went out of his way to recruit a young wife who wasn¡¯t even of much help.

    This Jiang Chen runt sure had some wild tastes. Sorry, I meant: what the hell was this Jiang Chen runt nning?

 Book 13: Chapter 117

    Book 13: Chapter 117

    I honestly didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what Jiang Chen was thinking. As a matter of fact, the new base didn¡¯t make sense to me. To put it inly, it was a giant jail, yet the only captive besides me was Uncle Huang. It was overkill to have a prison thisrge for just the two of us, not to mention the amount of effort and resources invested to select the guards. Moreover, detaining me at the base was an idea Jiang Chen came up with in the spur of the moment.

    As Jiang Chen didn¡¯t expect to capture me or know how to deal with me, he just dumped me here. If that wasn¡¯t the case, then the tools to confine me wouldn¡¯t have been so simplistic. In the imperial prison for goners, they had restraints designed to restrain martial artists. All Jiang Chen restricted me with was two iron rods. As if that was enough to hold me down.

    If I wasted anymore time, Boss would go crazy searching for me. If she notified Mount Daluo, even Young Shiyi would find out. Jiang Chen owed me three days¡¯ worth of beatings just for worrying them. Well, I could¡¯ve pretended to be bed ridden once I escaped so that Boss would feed me food, Young Shiyi would feed me soup, and I could have them keep mepany.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    I came back to my senses to see Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru staring at me.

    ¡°What? Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    Gu Xianxian replied, ¡°Nothing. You just looked angry one moment and happy the next. I couldn¡¯t tell what you were thinking.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru teased, ¡°His wife, obviously.¡±

    Why do you care what I¡¯m thinking about?!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, look at him act shy.¡±

    ¡°Big Bro, it¡¯s normal to miss your wife. I think about my wife daily, right?¡±

    Don¡¯tpare me to you! I chase greatness! I don¡¯t have time to flirt and think about romance, big busts and b-, you two are a bad influence!

    ¡°You two still don¡¯t seem to understand the situation you¡¯re in. I suggest you be more alert.¡±

    Tian Xiaogua suddenly knocked on the door from outside. ¡°May I ask if Doctor Wu is in?¡±

    I had Tian Xiaogua prepare me wine and snacks, but I told him not toe near the door without my permission. Hence, I coldly stressed, ¡°I told you not to disturb me unless it was something urgent.¡±

    ¡°It is urgent.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t care! You prefer to die?¡±

    ¡°The kitchen has run out of chicken.¡±

    Okay, that is urgent.

    ¡°Duck ormb are fine substitutes.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Still ten?¡±

    ¡°Moremb.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± With that, Tian Xiaogua jogged off.

    I was wondering why Su Qi would carelessly let someone near. Sounds like he still gets me.

    ¡°Uh, where were we?¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru: ¡°What happened to being more alert?!¡±

    ¡°Given the status quo, I¡¯ll tell you the truth: I am not Wu Ping.¡±

    Their eyes doubled in size.

    Ning Zhuoru was first to recover. ¡°Then, who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the person who was held captive in the dungeon who also then went missing.¡±

    Gu Xianxian barely caught himself from falling when his knees buckled, while Ning Zhuoru instinctively protected her stomach. Their reactions were understandable considering they believed the captive was someone dangerous enough to threaten the entire base.

    ¡°Your reactions prove you understand. Let me start with the ending. Wu Ping is dead. Although I didn¡¯t kill Yan Jibei, you can assume I pretty much did. I was also the one who killed Kuanggu Sheng and set up Tiangou.¡±

    Quaking in their boots was no longer just an expression to the couple.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I harbour no ill will towards either of you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ru¡¯er, listen to me. If Brother Wu wanted to kill me, he¡¯s had hundreds of chances already. I don¡¯t believe he wants to harm us.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru remained vignt. ¡°Then, who are you?¡±

    I paused before answering, ¡°I¡¯m an employee. An employee of Liu Shan Men.¡±

    They looked to each other as if to jibe, ¡°Yeah, sure, buddy.¡± I knew they wouldn¡¯t believe me.

    I set my token down on the table. ¡°This is my badge.¡±

    They stared at the token in silence for a good while. Then, Ning Zhuoru whacked my token away and eximed, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just draw it up?!¡±

    I flipped my hands over to supinated positions. ¡°You expect me to be able to continue carrying my real one on me? Even if I could, it would¡¯ve been confiscated when I was brought in.¡±

    The two of them nodded in unison, seemingly agreeing with my logic.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you two this to silence you but to be honest with you.¡±

    I summarised everything I went through since arriving at thepound. The two of them appeared to not be convinced so many twists and turns had happened.

    ¡°I¡¯m sharing the truth because I know we¡¯re in simr situations. Someone wants to harm you two, and someone is trying to harm me, as well. We have no quarrels between us and are in simr predicaments. Brother Gu and I hit it off in our first interaction. I hope we can work together.¡±

    ¡°Why did Jiang Chen capture you?¡±

    ¡°He has a grudge with my sect. Luckily, I managed to survive, but I ran into him while on duty in the capital. Were it not for his arrogant nature and desire to humiliate my shifu and grandmaster, I¡¯d probably be dead already.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid this important information¡­¡±

    I patted Gu Xianxian on the shoulder. ¡°Of course not, brother.¡±

    With misty eyes, Gu Xianxian conveyed, ¡°Say no more, Brother!¡±

    Don¡¯t get emotional! I¡¯m genuinely not concerned!

    It was only a matter of time before they told the fake Zero who I was. If I really wanted to, I could¡¯ve ordered Su Qi to silence them.

    ¡°I¡­ did not know you¡¯re such an honest man. Please forgive my earlier rudeness,¡± expressed Ning Zhuoru.

    Stop. This is making me feel bad because I considered silencing you guys just a while ago.

    Gu Xianxian took a hold of my hand. ¡°Big Bro, what¡¯s your real name? Can you tell us?¡±

    ¡°My usual surname is ¡®Ming¡¯. Most of the time, I¡¯m ¡®Ming Feizhen¡¯. Perhaps you¡¯ve heard of Liu Shan Men¡¯s top constable¡¯s¡­¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve never heard of you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I forgot the two of them had a knack for pissing people off.

    ¡°But, Big Bro, among the three of us, one of us is pregnant, and the two of us are too injured to fight. Meanwhile, we don¡¯t know where the enemy is hiding, so we¡¯re far from safe.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Rx. The safest people in thepound are now my people.¡±

    Since they didn¡¯t look as they believed me, I borated with a smile, ¡°As long as Jiang Chen doesn¡¯te back, I can guarantee you¡¯re safe. Also, that guy who tried to attack Sister-in-Law hasn¡¯tpletely covered his tracks.¡±

    ¡°You have leads?¡± Ning Zhuoru effused.

    ¡°You can say that. I have reasonable intelligence and surmise he¡¯s not part of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, which means he¡¯s one of us outsiders. Fortunately, there aren¡¯t many suspects then, are there?¡±

    I suddenly heard footsteps belonging to a man I wasn¡¯t too familiar with. He was the person I suspected the most, as well.

    Knock, knock.

    ¡°¡­ Mr. Zero has summoned you.¡± He showed up just as sudden as a ghost and even oozed the same eerie vibe.

    I looked in his direction, and the couple covered their mouths as if they realised what I was thinking.

    ¡°I will be there right away.¡±

    The man standing on the other side of the door was the only person I hadn¡¯t fought before ¨C Musician Assassin, Teng.

 Book 13: Chapter 118

    Book 13: Chapter 118

    ¡°Mr. Teng, you are from Dongying, right? How long have you been in the Central ins?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. Teng, where are you living in the Central in? How old are you this year? How many people do you have in your family? Any wife or kids?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard your martial prowess is as splendid as your unrivalled musical skills. May I ask where you learnt from? How many strings do you y with? Which fingers have thicker callouses?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It might¡¯ve sounded as though I was bullying him or trying to introduce ady to him, but neither were my intentions! I didn¡¯t know squat about him and never interacted with him, so I needed information if I was going toe up with an anti-Teng n. It wasn¡¯t my fault I came off as a nosy gossiper; even I didn¡¯t feelfortable.

    ¡°Mr. Teng¡­¡±

    Teng halted in his tracks, causing me to identally bump into him. He just looked over his shoulders, looked at me through his peripherals and smirked.

    Say something!

    Teng shook his head and then continued forward.

    I didn¡¯t even dare to ask any more questions after that, so we walked to Zero¡¯s ce without a word exchanged. Speaking of the fake Zero, I couldn¡¯t understand why she had Teng of all people summon me. Whatever the reason, he took it upon himself to step aside for me to enter once we arrived.

    ¡°Why did you fight with Lang Qing?¡± Zero asked as soon as I set foot inside.

    ¡°¡­ Is he all right?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not hurt too bad, but he won¡¯t tell me the reason you fought no matter how I asked.¡±

    That was just Lang Qing being Lang Qing. No broadsword wielder ever debated their loss. It was a personality thing.

    ¡°It¡¯s not his fault he won¡¯t talk. His fault for entering someone¡¯s wife¡¯s room without permission and not exining himself.¡±

    You expected me to have some justifiable reason after they ruined my n to cripple Lang Qing?

    Ever since I found out her true identity, I felt closer to ¡°Zero¡±, in the sense that she feltparable to a long-distance nephew? I wasn¡¯t vexed despite the fact that she sabotaged my n.

    ¡°What exactly happened?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly as you know it.¡±

    ¡°I know it?¡±

    ¡°Think for yourself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re beside yourself. Why are you absentminded and sounding as if you¡¯re just humouring me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    I remember thest holy maiden was Bright Moon Faction¡¯s granddaughter, so she is, too?

    ¡°You¡¯re acting weirder and weirder. Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    While I was still in the Western Regions¡¯, she was only thirteen, fourteen, or even younger? I don¡¯t remember her. Oh, I think I remember now.

    ¡°Wh-what are you leaning in so close for?¡±

    Looking straight at her as if I was trying to see behind her mask, I queried, ¡°Did you like drawing on your face when you were young?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Just asking. You don¡¯t have to answer.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ What is your deal¡­?¡± She reactively touched her mask as though to check if it was broken.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I remember thest holy maiden liked to paint on her face, not that I understood what the symbols or whatever meant. Nheless, they looked quite nice, so I asked. I still had no recollection of the fake Zero, though.

    Why does she remember so much about me?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I just remembered some trivial stuff. As you know, we fought Lang Qing purely because of Gu Xianxian¡¯s issue. I just had a chat with the couple and found out there were some misunderstandings.¡±

    I went on to tell Zero about Ning Zhuoru¡¯s pregnancy and how she asked Lang Qing to fetch her herbal soup for her. Needless to say, I left out all the other causes and effects. It was only fair for an outsider, like me, to not know the details.

    ¡°All because of Gu Xianxian¡¯s jealousy, I had to fight a needless fight for him.¡±

    ¡°The only person who should beining is the one who was hurt. Didn¡¯t you stop to think how capable Lang Qing is?¡±

    ¡°This is all you sent someone to fetch me for?¡±

    Zero fiddled with her mask whilst muttering something, then replied, ¡°Of course not. Do you know how I knew you were fighting?¡±

    Because of the rat, obviously.

    ¡°I certainly would like to know.¡±

    ¡°It was Ouyang.¡±

    ¡°Ouyang Xiucai informed you?¡±

    S-someone as upright-looking as him is part of the organisation of perverts?

    ¡°No. He was worried, so he went back to monitor the exit, and that¡¯s how he discovered someone had sneaked over there. Ouyang knew he couldn¡¯t keep up with the individual¡¯s qinggong and stealth skills, so he tried to stop them straight away but still couldn¡¯t make it in time. The shadow he saw wasn¡¯t enough to discern even the body shape of the individual.¡±

    Wait, wait, wait, he¡¯s watching the exit, too? I want to be stationed there! Wait, wait, wait. I thought I¡¯m the only person who¡¯s interested in the exit. Is he addicted to posing as me and wants to be me?

    ¡°But what does catching that person have to do with you finding out about our scrap?¡±

    ¡°I happened to be chasing him nearby and heard Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s whistle, so I rushed over and stumbled upon him giving chase.¡±

    Damn, missed out on a good show.

    ¡°So, did you get a good look of who it was?¡±

    ¡°I saw him; however, the man in ck, despite sharing a simr height to Lord San Shen, didn¡¯t seem to be him.¡±

    Yeah, because he¡¯s not me¡­

    Zero most likely believed it was Xue Yanjun if not me, so whatever.

    ¡°And you lost him?¡±

    ¡°Ouyang and I pursued him for a while; I even came close to catching him once I utilised Skywind Nine Forms, but he suddenly reversed directions in a way I¡¯d never seen before and escaped our encirclement. He just said, ¡®If you don¡¯t hurry over, Lang Qing will kill Wu Ping,¡¯ and continued on his way. Although I didn¡¯t believe him at first, I was partially convinced when I recalled you mention the rift between Gu Xianxian and Lang Qing. Therefore, I left Ouyang on watch duty while I rushed over. I didn¡¯t expect him to be right.¡±

    ¡°How was he right? He waspletely wrong. Wu Ping was about to kill Lang Qing. If you didn¡¯te and make a scene, right now, Lang Qing would be, hmm, hmm.¡±

    No, not dead, bed ridden.

    ¡°That¡¯s big talk for someone who¡¯s still recovering and had to fight dirty. Lang Qing could defeat the three of you singlehandedly. Speaking of which, how did you defuse Lang Qing¡¯s attack? It¡¯s a fact that you can¡¯t utilise internal energy at the moment, but you defused the attack as if you were the creator of the attack. Are you two from the same sect or something?¡±

    Damn, you smart. I, too, want to know how Lang Qing learnt my technique. It seemed like he had been practicing it for a long time, yet I¡¯ve never met him before. Well, this topic isn¡¯t to my benefit, so let¡¯s switch it up, shall we?

    ¡°Since you heard them speak, you know if they¡¯re a man or woman, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, acting dumb is your specialty, isn¡¯t it?¡± Zero knew I deliberately tried to change the topic. ¡°They used an internal discipline to alter their voice, so I couldn¡¯t determine their gender. I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s more like Xue Yanjun, who uses masks, rather than His Lordship, Lord San Shen.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­?¡±

    That¡¯s what I thought. You guys still don¡¯t have a single clue after all that?

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Hang on¡­ His Lordship?

    ¡°It¡¯s your imagination!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your imagination even after you say something!¡±

    Even though she had her mask on, I could imagine her red cheeks.

    She¡¯s always called me ¡°His Lordship¡±? You¡¯re my fan?

    ¡°In any case, I called you here as I have a task for you.¡±

    You sure you should be talking to me in that tone, fan girl?

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    I could vividly image the upward curve at the corners of her lips when she responded, ¡°A dangerous job.¡±

    ¡°Pass.¡±

    ¡°Denied. Do you remember the path I showed you? The one we took before going to the exit.¡±

    ¡°I do. And?¡±

    ¡°Okay, go again.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ need a hint. I can¡¯t remember everything when it¡¯s such a long route. Also, it takes a bit of effort, but I can¡¯t see how it¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you think, then it makes it easier for me.¡± She lifted the corners of her lips higher. ¡°You have to pass that route to reach the exit. Lord San Shen andpany must be racking their brains to figure it out. Now that you¡¯re being targeted, what do you think will happen if you walk that path alone?¡±

    ¡­ My money is on ¡°nothing¡±.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, though. I¡¯m not trying to harm you.¡± She patted me on the shoulder. ¡°I sent Teng to fetch you precisely because I was worried they¡¯d harm you. I¡¯ll have him continue watching from the shadows this time to be safe.¡±

    Can¡¯t you send someone else?! Heck, I¡¯ll go alone! I¡¯m in the most danger if you send him!

    ¡°Teng is a capable fighter, so you can rest easy.¡±

    That¡¯s anything but assuring! The more capable he is, the greater my risk. I can only run if he attacks me!

    ¡°He is a master at wielding strings from musical instruments as weapons. While he may not be as strong as Lang Qing, he is better at bodyguard duty. He can nt a nut on you so that he can protect you from afar.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t that mean I can¡¯t outrun him?! You already know I¡¯m an imposter, don¡¯t you?!

 Book 13: Chapter 119

    Book 13: Chapter 119

    ¡°Zero¡± forced me to do ap with Teng in spite of my protests. I think it was partially because she wanted to put me in my ce for stepping out of line. My beef with it was that the punishment could very well escte into my death sentence.

    ¡°Mr. Teng, this is my first time working alongside you. I never got to know you before; you don¡¯t mind me asking you a few questions, do you?¡±

    Teng gave me a creepy smile and nodded.

    ¡°What is your weapon?¡±

    I was about to bolt for dear life as soon as Teng raised his arm. I only felt slightly relieved once I saw the thin and long thread in his hand.

    I had heard of the Music Assassin, but there really was no shortage of musicians who yed stringed instruments in Dongying, especially assassins. One of my trash friends was one such assassin, and he was the one who inspired my Night Net Silk skills.

    Speaking of which, my discipline, which technically should¡¯ve been categorised as a skill, differed from the typical martial arts. Manipting strings to an advanced level was a rare talent for everyone¡¯s fingers, finger mobility and understanding of space varied. Due to the individual differences, each person achieved different results ¨C in terms of style, not proficiency. Inbat, their progress in their respective internal discipline needed to be ounted for, too. Besides precise control of one¡¯s true qi, one needed internal energy potent enough to actually inflict damage, after all. If their internal energy wasn¡¯t up to scratch, their ability to use strings as weapons was also limited.

    ¡°That¡¯s a curious weapon. How do you wield it?¡±

    With a whip of his hand, Teng made a loud ¡°crack!¡± sound in the air and left a whip mark on the wall.

    Yep, his internal energy was potent.

    ¡°How much thread you have?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Three hundred and thirty-three metres.¡±

    That was the first time he spoke to me, wasn¡¯t it?

    Surprisingly, Teng¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t creepy, although his ent was quite pronounced. I didn¡¯t really care about his voice or mature impression, though.

    How many metres did he say?! You don¡¯t find it heavy?! How badly do you want to kill me?!

    ¡°You won¡¯t make it in time to rescue me from so far away, then.¡±

    Teng stretch out his arm and then retracted it, and a fist-sized rock came back to his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll pull you back.¡±

    ¡­ Are you implying for me not to try running away? Is now my only chance to run?

    ¡°If we¡¯re too far apart¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll always be within sixty metres of you.¡±

    ¡°Are you knots solid? How about I untie it and retie it for you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s my unique method.¡± Teng then flung the rock and began making it dance in the air with his left hand, yet the rock didn¡¯t show any signs of slipping out from the knot. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s my mentor¡¯s secret method. Only three people in Dongying can undo the knot.¡±

    ¡­ Was that a second to not try anything or fleeing? Is it toote for me to run now?

    ¡°¡­ I need to go.¡± And then Teng jogged off behind me.

    Don¡¯t go! You¡¯re in the zone, aren¡¯t you?! You¡¯re going to start ripping me apart, aren¡¯t you?! Don¡¯t go prepare!

    ¡­

    ¡­

    It was painfully scary to walk silently all on my own. I mean, it¡¯d be weird for someone hiding in the shadows to converse with me, but I felt as if I was a blind man walking the streets with a ghost tailing me.

    ¡°Mr. Teng, how about we chat? Hahaha.¡±

    The silent reply I received even had a, ¡°I¡¯m speechless¡± vibe.

    Obviously, we couldn¡¯t chat when he was supposed to stay hidden. However! I had no reason to fear exposing him when he was the biggest mistake that could¡¯ve possibly happened! Not only was he out of my field of view and behind me, but he even had a thread on me. What other conveniences did he need to assassinate me?

    As I covertly undid the knot on me with my hands, I loudly said, ¡°Mr. Teng, you must be really popr with thedies given how cool you look, hey? If you¡¯re single, I can introduce a few girls to you. I promise they¡¯re all cream of the crop.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    All I could do was feel the terror mounting with every step I took for around fifteen minutes. Thankfully, I did stand to gain something. After all, I needed to have a better understanding of the contraptions if I was to escape. I remembered how to work the contraptions from when I visited with ¡°Zero¡± as well as their locations. That said, I was bound to miss details with only one look. Whilst pretending to be indifferent and looking around as though I was checking out a hot chick, I was actually sneaking nces at the contraptions. Whilst pretending to, wait.

    When I closed in on the third contraption a little more for a second time, I noticed someone had tampered with after Ist saw it, and the one responsible was clearly not erudite in working contraptions ¨C evident from the fact that they didn¡¯t restore it to its original state. From the perspective of the ignorant, the arrangement of the rocks weren¡¯t important. We experts, or handsome guys who¡¯d seen the original arrangement, howbeit, could instantly tell someone had touched them.

    There was a fat chance that the rat Ouyang Xiucai chased was the one who tried to work the contraption.

    Why the hell does the rat care about the exit so much?

    Suddenly, I heard a familiar breathing pattern, the only one that stuck out to me,ing closer.

    Here hees. ¡°Zero¡± sure is good with predictions. Teng is still directly behind me, while this guy ising from a different direction. Have I wrongly suspected Teng?

    By the time I was done pondering, I already saw his dark silhouette in my line of vision. Despite not wearing his hostility on his sleeve this time, he closed in faster thanst time. I stayed as cool as an iceberg in the ocean, the moon in a well, and used my immeasurable intelligence to bring forth an epiphany, a moment of wisdom.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Help!¡±

    Of course I screamed towards my back!

    Teng yanked backwards as fast as ¡°Zero¡± promised he could. The string I untied went zooming back faster than my eyes could follow¡­

    I¡¯m still here! You reacted too fast! Is this revenge for not introducing a girl to you?!

    I sprinted for dear life. ¡°Ouyang, Lang Qing, Zero, Lord San Shen has shown up! Come whoop him!¡±

    My attacker stuttered, seemingly not expecting me to cry for help straight off the bat, and surveyed the surroundings to protect himself from an ambush. Once he realised it was a bluff, nheless, he resumed his advance.

    Needless to say, the extra time I bought was worthless as I wasn¡¯t able to run fast! Since I couldn¡¯t use qinggong, it only took him two jumps to get behind me and within range to grab me. His refined technique and force created a suction force around us, but I managed to give it the slip. Before I could celebrate, however, I bumped into something.

    An ambush?!

    ¡°Wh-wh-who are you?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Your ally.¡±

    ¡°You fight. I hide.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Be careful.¡± Teng swapped ces with me without hesitation.

    ¡°You are a great man, Mr. Teng. To thank you, in our next life, we shall¡­¡±

    Although you might not be able to tell from the fact that I ran fast enough to be able of your hearing range already, trust me, Mr. Teng. I¡¯ll introduce a girl to you if I find one!

    I had yet to get any meaningful distance away when I heard Mr. Teng eat a palm blow and copse on the ground.

    Teng was a specialist at assassinations from a distance, not close-quartersbat. He couldn¡¯t retreat in the same direction I ran to maintain distance since he needed to buy me time. His fluid style was the easiest matchup for a hard hitter in close quarters. Now that he had been hurt first, too, he was at a massive disadvantage. To top it off, he was the inferiorbatant between the two of them in the first ce. Putting aside the fact that his internal energy was finite, fighting under conditions he was not trained for would burn through his internal energy stores even faster, and the effects of the injury he just sustained would eventually rear their heads. At the current rate, he was only about forty exchanges away from dying.

    Cornered, I clicked my tongue and shouted, ¡°I know who you are!¡± whilst continuing to run away. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell everyone who you are right now.¡±

    I managed to ruin his rhythm for a second, but he promptly refocused and pressured Teng, showing he didn¡¯t believe me.

    Several metrester, I yelled, ¡°You think I can¡¯t identify you just because you¡¯re using palm techniques? Your ¡®Pure Yan One Qi¡¯ is still immature. You think you¡¯re clever? I don¡¯t agree.¡±

    I felt as though a big target was formed on my back.

 Book 13: Chapter 120

    Book 13: Chapter 120

    The guy ignored Teng to pursue me just as I wished for. He abruptly halted soon aftermencing his chase as he had a feeling that someone invisible was pulling on his limbs. By the time he figured out who it was, it was already toote. Teng slowly released his hostility from behind.

    The best way to counter a string user was to apply high pressure against the user in close quarters, making sure to disable the opponent¡¯s offensive abilities as quickly as possible so that the string user had no chances of creating distance. As long as they were the superior fighter and followed the sound strategy, they would¡¯ve demolished Teng. Yet, whether it was attributed to his teacher or his natural talent, Teng managed to remain calm enough to not let it snowball into his defeat when all the odds were stacked against him.

    Teng¡¯s opponent couldn¡¯t make short work of him. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t afford to let me get too far away. In the end, he elected to sacrifice his advantage. Based on the oue, it was evident that he underestimated Teng.

    His slow reaction demonstrated that he didn¡¯t expect Teng to catch him, and he definitely didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be so hard to close the distance to finish Teng once Teng had his required distance. At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t be able to finish Teng before reinforcements arrived.

    It was child¡¯s y for Teng to set up a plethora of traps in the darkness in order to inhibit the guy from catching up for me. Meanwhile, I kept yelling for help as I ran at top velocity.

    When ¡°Zero¡± arrived with Su Qi andpany, the assant had no choice but to call off his n. Having said that, ¡°Zero¡± was stunned, while the assant cursed aloud when they saw Su Qi charge at him as if he was hell-bent on carrying out a vendetta.

    When I brought Teng to the dispensary, I noticed just how badly he was hurt based on hisplexion. He really fought with everything he had whilst trying to not crumble to his pain.

    ¡°Mr. Teng, thank you for saving my life.¡± I ordered men to go prepare the herbal soup and, only once I confirmed nobody was within earshot, said, ¡°That said, you went too hard; you nearly died back there.¡±

    Teng smirked, the way a scoundrel would when his shady ns went as desired.

    Don¡¯t tell me you two are in cahoots!

    In a quiet voice, Teng informed, ¡°¡­ My teacher is Fusang¡¯s respected master, Yuan Mu.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°Uh, your shifu¡¯s name is Yuan Mu?¡±

    So?

    Teng first frowned, then smirked again.

    Help! Murderer!

    Teng suddenly switched up thenguage he spoke in. ¡°This one¡¯s teacher is one of Fusang¡¯s three geniuses ¨C Zhi.¡±

    Zhi? Zhi?!

    ¡°Zhi is your grandmaster?¡±

    ¡°Please forgive this one for not showing you due respect, Senior.¡± Teng bowed his head loudly onto the ground. ¡°This one did not dare to identify himself as you kept a low profile.¡±

    Zhi, was one of the three strongest Fusang warriors by the standards of the Central in; they even nicknamed him ¡°Moving Mist Convent¡±. He was one of the bad friends I made when I was still a na?ve kid and the one who inspired Night Net Heavenly Silk.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this. Come on. Get up. Your skills don¡¯t resemble Ol¡¯ Zhi¡¯s.¡±

    Does your grandmaster know you¡¯re so pathetically weak? Your personalities are totally different, as well. Zhi would eat people whole, while you¡¯re honest and earnest. You must¡¯ve been taught something else.

    Teng smiled.

    That¡¯s the one! You found the feeling, didn¡¯t you?!

    ¡°This one¡¯s aptitude is disappointing, so he did not learn everything. That is the reason this one was dispatched to the Central ins to learn. This one grew up on your legends, so he came to seek your guidance. He never thought he would have the luck of meeting you by chance.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re around the same age as Zhi, though.¡±

    ¡°Grandmaster is a prodigy without equal in his age bracket. It is embarrassing to admit, but this one only learnt a third of his teachings.¡±

    You¡¯re exaggerating. If you were a third of his level, you wouldn¡¯t have been beaten so soundly.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Hang on. How did you recognise me in this appearance?¡±

    ¡°Your fingers.¡±

    Oh!

    ¡°String disciplines are finger based, so we pay a lot more attention to our opponent¡¯s fingers than others. Grandmaster used your hand as an example once. This one picked up a lot from watching your finger work. To tell the truth, this one noticed you were not Wu Ping the first time he saw you, but he was not sure who you were. With time, this one naturally identified you, but he did not know what you had in mind, so he continued watching in silence to go with your flow.¡±

    Teng surprisingly had a lot to say once he switched to speaking Japanese. Of course, I could only understand 70% of what he said given my limited Japanese. I couldn¡¯t speak Japanese to save my life, so I stuck to Mandarin.

    ¡°This one is blessed to meet you here.¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect to meet you here, either. Zero¡¯sckey¡¯sckey¡¯s¡­ckey, Zhi¡¯s disciple¡¯s disciple, a Lang Qing who learnt my broadsword technique from somewhere and the Gu couple, how the hell did I end up under the watch of you lot for so long?! Say something, Zhi¡¯s disciple¡¯s disciple! I thought some mysterious assassin was targeting me this entire time! I know how many times leadership changes in your country when you¡¯re virtually a country of assassins.

    I could finally understand why Teng couldn¡¯t befriend anybody on the base ¨C limitednguage proficiency.

    ¡°Is Zhi doing well?¡±

    ¡°Grandmaster has not been too bad, but¡­¡± Teng pulled his brows together a tad. ¡°War perpetually gues our country. The lord Grandmaster supported was assassinated a few months ago, so he is awfully busy. If you have time, perhaps you should pay him a visit. He mentions you a lot. He would be happy to see you.¡±

    Of course. Who doesn¡¯t like me?

    I told Teng to recuperate in the dispensary and cautiously went to where I fought Lang Qing on my own. I didn¡¯t just sit there doing nothing since I still had some things to do. Howbeit, it didn¡¯t take long for the person I expected to show up.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally decided to show yourself?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 121

    Book 13: Chapter 121

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The guy attired in ck brazenly entered with utmost confidence. ¡°I¡¯m truly intrigued. You¡¯re far cleverer and braver than I gave you credit for, Brother Wu, leaving a sign to invite me here despite knowing I wouldn¡¯t show mercy.¡±

    Even though I had my back to him and was seated, he casually ambled with his hands behind his back instead of quickly ending me. ¡°You not going to run this time?¡±

    I casually tossed my scribble onto the ground. ¡°The first time we met, you were out for my head. Just now, you weren¡¯t. Since you don¡¯t wish for my death, you must want to talk. Why should I be scared of a chat?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± He imbued hisughter with bloodthirsty qi, making my ears feel as though needles pricked them. ¡°A fine young man you are. Let me grant you an opportunity. Tell me: do you truly know who I am?¡±

    ¡°I learnt of your existence from Kuanggu Sheng. All I know is that you hail from a mysterious organisation.¡±

    He increased the volume of bloodlust he leaked. ¡°Don¡¯t even think you can fool me. Your attempts to be smart will only make your death more painful. Did you never see anything from my skills?¡±

    ¡°Are you referring to your Pure Yang One Qi?¡±

    In the martial world¡¯s previous generation, whenever martial arts was the topic at hand, ¡°Three Fists, Five Palms, Supreme Sword and Two Broadswords¡± was a phrase that would always be mentioned.

    Although ¡°Supreme Sword and Two Broadswords¡± might¡¯ve given the impression that they referred to martial arts disciplines, they actually referred to the three most outstanding people with the sword and broadsword. Speaking of ¡°Supreme Sword¡±, yes, that referred to my shifu, though I was of the opinion that the ¡°sword¡± part was a misattribution. Nevertheless, there was nothing I could do as everyone believed it was right. My shifu¡¯s swordy honestly wasn¡¯t anything special; he was truly elite at deception. He actually talked his way to his title as the Supreme Swordsman. I myself couldn¡¯t believe I couldn¡¯t dispute it.

    One of the broadsword wielders in ¡°Two Broadswords¡± referred to Demon Sect¡¯s de Demon, and one of them referred to my shifu¡¯s father-inw ¨C Elder Brilliant Broadsworder. The two of them deserved every ounce of adtion showered upon them. If they were to ever face off, regardless of how steep the price for a ticket was, I¡¯d definitely pinch a ticket to watch it.

    At this point, the three of them were pretty much retired. My shifu not daring to show his face was only natural considering his mountain of debts. de Demon, who was always an introvert to begin with,pletely disappeared after Ximen Chuideng¡¯s fall. Not even I knew if he was dead or alive. As for Elder Brilliant Broadsworder, he was an elder I sincerely respected.

    Elder Brilliant Broadsworder self-proimed himself ¡°Fifth in the World¡±, asserting that only four people in the world could beat him. I couldn¡¯t tell you who those four individuals for, but I admired that breadth of mind and judgement. We once merrily shared a hundred drinks (a hundred jugs) at a wine store before. Not only could he hold his liquor well, but he was also the man who could dine and dash faster than anyone I¡¯d ever met. As you might expect, it was hard to see him even if you wanted to when he was so fast.

    In contrast to those three, ¡°Three Fists, Five Palms¡± were far more active. Howbeit, this phrase didn¡¯t refer to eight people but eight extremely advanced martial arts disciplines, specifically boxing and palm disciplines. Among the ¡°Five Palms¡±, Mount Daluo¡¯s Empty Palms and Beggars¡¯ Sect¡¯s Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms were included. Pure Yang One Qi was one of the revered boxing disciplines despite not having ¡°boxing¡± or ¡°fist¡± in its name and a single ¡°punching¡± technique.

    ¡°Pure Yang One Qi¡± was a discipline that offered internal and external development through the development of Innate Pure Yang true qi. At the pinnacle, one would have a potent, bright energy that could plough through almost anything. Its most valuable facet, though, lied in the words ¡°One Qi¡±.

    An internal discipline taken to an advanced level would add attributes to one¡¯s internal energy, such as density and sharpness. When it came to evaluating who was more advanced, speed of churning and efficiency were the measuring sticks.

    In a fist fight, nobody could throw an attack with 100% power whenever they wanted because it took time to mobilise internal energy, and proficiency was also a factor in that equation. Thus, for a full power blow, one needed some time to prepare the fuel for it. Nobody was going to stand there and let you load up. As such, the ante would be upped gradually, which was why it often took more than a hundred exchanges before anyone was throwing at maximum power. By extension, that was when you could urately tell who was more advanced. The more advanced fighter would be able to churn out their internal energy quicker.

    All else being equal, if one person always needed to collect their energy before they threw, while their opponent could throw at full power without needing that time, then thetter was clearly superior. Take the same two people and give them the same amount of time now. If one could only muster up 30% of their full power in a minute, while the other could muster up 60% in the same minute, then a victor was only a couple of exchanges away.

    Pure Yang One Qi was categorised as ¡°Three Fists¡± as it was the ultimate method of unleashing power. It taught the practitioner to develop pure yang true qi from beginning to end, ensuring the initial phase and final phase aligned. Through its qi-moulding approach, the practitioner could deploy 100% into every strike. For that reason, they said of it, ¡°One who possesses immense power fears nothing.¡±

    The only people I could name who were capable of throwing with 100% power at free will were Divine Realm adepts. Anyone who had yet to enter Divine Realm would unlikely be able to achieve that even if they were only half a step away. If, however, one practiced Pure Yang One Qi, they could develop the ability to throw at maximum power just as Divine Realm adepts could without having to achieve Divine Realm status. I had no idea how that worked for the reason that it was a discipline only developed more recently. People who imed it was created around the same time as Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms were crapping out of their mouths.

    Among the many people who hated Pure Yang One Qi was my shifu even though it was his first creation in his younger days. Between fifteen and sixteen years of age, he pursued a pure yang internal discipline. When it came to guaranteeing no mistakes were made along the way of learning internal disciplines, earnestly solidifying the foundations was the only option, so there were no shortcuts. Shifu didn¡¯t like the fact that progress came so slow, but he didn¡¯t want to change the training method. That motivated him to find a means of elerating the process.

    Shifu¡¯s ability to beat opponents stronger than him in his younger days was credited to his deadly extraption skills from shallow knowledge, fast learning, mental flexibly to defuse any dangers, and catch his opponents with full-power shots before they could. It didn¡¯t matter if they were superior to him at their peak. While they were still warming up, he¡¯de out of the gates at full velocity, so he rendered the gap meaningless.

    Nobody benefited from Pure Yang One Qi more than Mount Daluo. By the time Shifu was allowed to leave the mountain, he barely even used Pure Yang One Qi. When he mentioned it to me, the old bugger told me he had forgotten the majority of it, so teaching it to me would be risky. I can¡¯t believe I actually believed him.

    If you even stopped to think for a split second, do you think the risk would be setting a foot in a coffin, on average, fifteen times a year?! So, you might be wondering why the discipline would be shared in the pugilistic world. Well, ording to Shifu, he taught a few military friends of his thirty years ago, and then they went on to establish themselves in the pugilistic world. After I did my research, the old bugger tore apart his manual and exchanged page by page for alcohol at brothels. That led to his meeting with my first shiniang, who challenged to him to a drinking contest because he rubbed her the wrong way, which then led to their one night st-, one lifetime of love.

    Huh, sounds like Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary actually have a good reason to despise us¡­ Ah, whatever, his fault for running into my shifu.

    Anyhow, the discipline could be integrated with any weapon. The reason it became considered a boxing discipline, though, was due to the initial students in the pugilistic world being boxers. When they passed it down, they passed it down as part of their boxing. Despite it being categorised as a boxing discipline, nevertheless, it still had the honour of innovation.

    It was improbable for this guy to be acquainted with my shifu. Despite him having learnt Pure Yang One Qi, he had a long way to go before he could im he mastered ¡°One Qi¡±. My most-likely-correct guess was that he picked up a page from a brothel.

    Truly befitting an organisation of perverts, even your martial arts knowledgees from brothels.

    ¡°Hmm, is it truly possible to achieve that sort of level from Pure Yang One Qi¡­?¡± he muttered in a tone full of hope. He then shook his head and exhaled a big breath. ¡°That was enlightening. I take it you were bluffing when you imed to know who I was, in that case? That certainly was clever of you, Brother Wu. No wonder why you can control your environment in spite of your injuries and fake identity. You¡¯re on apletely different level to the hubristicss.¡±

    Thess he mentioned was none other than the Zero imposter. There was nothing to be surprised about given how long he¡¯d been posing as one of their allies. Nobody knew Zero¡¯s identity or gender, so ¡°Zero¡± was legit no matter what gender was assigned to Zero.

    So he knew I was posing as Wu Ping. Why does it seem like this disguise of mine has failed to deceive any considerable number of people?

    ¡°My match against Lang Qing must¡¯ve exposed me.¡±

    After recovering from his flinch, he gave me a thumbs up. ¡°Correct on first guess. You really are clever. To tell the truth, had you not exceeded Wu Ping¡¯s level, I never would¡¯ve suspected you. After all, Tiangou and Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s battle misled me until then.¡±

    Had he known I was the captive earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have made an attempt on my life the first time. Hence, he didn¡¯t approach me with bloodlust the second time. It wasn¡¯t after he fled the second time that I realised he wasn¡¯t hostile whatsoever until I mentioned Pure Yang One Qi.

    ¡°Since I know you¡¯re not Wu Ping, and you know I am not on Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ side, I believe a man of your astuteness should know the purpose of my visit. I followed your marks to find out if we might be able to coborate.¡±

    I certainly had qualms working with the perverted organisation, but it was the only option among my limited options. It was painfully difficult to escape alone, but the rat most likely sneaked out dozens of times already. All that was left was to hear what he wanted my help with. ¡°Hmph, there¡¯s still one thing I don¡¯t understand. If you don¡¯t exin it, I¡¯ll always bear a grudge.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And that is?¡±

    ¡°Why did you keep trying to frame me when you knew I was an imposter? Why did you deliberately visit the exit to mislead Zero and Ouyang into assuming I was trying escape?¡±

    ¡°Frame you? I never did¡­ Oh, I know what you mean now. I visited the exit to figure out how to get out. Running into Ouyang and Zero was purely a coincidence. How did I frame you?¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Wait, doesn¡¯t that mean¡­

    ¡°So¡­ you want to work with me on¡­¡±

    He smiled. ¡°Indeed, I¡¯d like to work with you to get out of this ce.¡±

    Only my eyelids moved.

    ¡­ Doesn¡¯t this mean you don¡¯t know how to get out?! So all those visits and fiddling with the contraption was because you¡¯re also stuck?! My goodness gracious me. Whoever sent you in as a spy needs to be fired, and you need to have some shame. How are you even fulfilling your duty if you can¡¯t get out, you joke? Give me back my hope and time spent designing ns!

    Nevertheless, having help was better than doing it alone. As I rubbed my face, I questioned, ¡°So, how do you want to do this?¡±

    ¡°Haha, you seem to have mistaken something.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    He stepped closer and cracked his fists whilst letting me know he could crush me with his aura. ¡°First of all, start showing me respect instead of speaking so casually. Secondly, semantically, it¡¯s a coboration. Technically, you¡¯re following my orders. You seem to have forgotten that might makes right here.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°And you seem to have forgotten I beat Lang Qing.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you underestimate this one.¡± He pointed to the holes. ¡°You relied on a formation to defeat him, no?¡±

    ¡°Your point being?¡±

    ¡°I once had the honour of learning formations from an expert, so I¡¯m erudite on the topic. How else did you think I escaped the encirclement? It wasughable watching you try to catch me with a formation. Brother Wu, you made a miscalction!¡± He vigorously whipped his sleeve, propelling himself several metres sideways and then cleanlynded.

    ¡°Eh?¡± He immediately stepped left thrice but didn¡¯t drop.

    He was definitely educated on formations. He managed to take three more steps than the others before tumbling eighteen times, and he went down face first.

    Following an awkward silence, he chuckled as he picked himself up.

    You don¡¯t need to act tough, buddy. The expert who taught you might¡¯ve been an expert in quotation marks, but my shifu is a true expert.

    I tossed him a small red porcin vial. ¡°Eat the pill, and I¡¯ll help you out.¡±

    Refusing to spare the vial a nce, he responded, ¡°I¡­ would rather die than live with humiliation.¡±

    ¡°You best honour that.¡± I took out a cylindrical object and aimed it at him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What¡¯s that in your hand?¡±

    ¡°This? It¡¯s called needlerain.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯d believe that nonsense?¡± As soon as he saw me start turning it, he cried, ¡°Okay, okay, okay!¡± and picked up the vial. ¡°What is this drug? What are the ingredients?¡±

    ¡°Just an organ destroying drug. Unless you consume the antidote every seven days, your organs will rot.¡±

    ¡°What is the meaning of this? You intend to control me?¡±

    I kept turning the device. ¡°Just rotten organs, no biggie. A true man doesn¡¯t fear death.¡±

    He immediately lifted the vial to his mouth to swallow a pill.

    ¡°Good. Wait there. I¡¯ll get you out in a tick.¡±

    He shook with anger for a while before he calmed down. ¡°How¡­ did you get your hands on a needlerain?¡±

    ¡°This is Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s. What makes you think I could afford this thing?¡±

    ¡°Kuanggu Sheng¡¯s? Didn¡¯t he¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he emptied it out, so there¡¯s nothing in this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    I think he licked his lips and pursed them following the second round of awkward silence.

    ¡°¡­ You lied to me?¡±

    ¡°No. You consumed the pill before I was done talking.¡±

    He turned his back to me and hammered the ground. Rather than say he was vexed, it was more of him feeling sorry for himself. I sorted out the device on my hand without paying him any attention.

    ¡°You think this is enough to control me?¡±

    ¡°You have any other tricks up your sleeve?¡±

    He put a palm over his fist and held them up. ¡°You really are a reclusive elite. I admit I was careless. Howbeit, this formation is only enough to confuse me for a while. I have figured out its transformative nature. Your poison won¡¯t activate for now, will it?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    He moved in a manner that created the impression of him sending clones in different directions.

    That side¡¯s where¡­

    Thud!

    ¡­ the wall is¡­ Why do all of you refuse to listen and insist on crashing into a wall?

    Unlike Lang Qing, he didn¡¯t get angry. ¡°¡­ I see,¡± he remarked, surveying the formation with a hand pinching his nose. ¡°Brother Wu.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Can I have a hand?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I extended a hand to pull him out.

    He politely fixed up his attire once he was out, although he was caked in dirt. ¡°Brother Wu, you have my respect. You are the boss from now.¡±

    ¡°I like your attitude. Should¡¯ve adopted it sooner, though. Brother Yuan Kou, it¡¯s out of character for you to go in circles like this.¡±

    ¡°Man, it¡¯s just that I¡­¡± I tilted his head. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What did you call me?¡±

    ¡°Brother Yuan Kou.¡±

    ¡°H-how did you, how, you, ar-re you a monster?! H-how did you, how exactly, aaaaaah!¡±

    I don¡¯t like to talk behind people¡¯s backs, but I saw a trace of tears in the veteran¡¯s eyes.

 Book 13: Chapter 122

    Book 13: Chapter 122

    ¡°Y-you, just how, how, what the bloody, motherflipping, son of a motherflipping ^%$%#*¡±

    And his ability to speak cohesively regressed to iprehensible levels once I overcame thest weapon he had up his sleeve. Being the kind gentleman I was, I firmly pped some sense back into his head.

    ¡°Enough with the h b, and take off your mask.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be quite correct to describe the mask he unmasked to berge as he looked gaunt ifpared to usual, though that didn¡¯t mean he looked hideous. He usually appeared as a short and stubby man, so nobody would¡¯ve expected the tall and toned masked man to be him. More than likely, his public appearance was achieved through some body maniption method, and the keg of a belly was used as a storage unit.

    A disguise that prised your actual appearance was the hardest sort of disguise to see through, reason being that it was tough to bear withpressed bones for an entire day no matter how good you were at it.

    Guanhu Ind was a big fat question mark in the minds of the major popce, and Yuan Kou¡¯s appearance was rarely a topic in the pugilistic world. For that reason, people would assume his first appearance to be the real him, which benefited his purpose of moonlighting as the man in ck. Unless he was caught, ¡°Zero¡± probably never even considered suspecting him. I suspected him only after suspecting Teng. When his strategy was so sound, he was defeated and bemused how I found out.

    ¡°How did you recognise me?¡±

    I sneered. ¡°You probably don¡¯t know which industry I work in.¡±

    Yuan Kou whacked his thigh. ¡°You¡¯re a diviner from Wudang?¡±

    ¡°Ptoo!¡± I pointed to myself with my thumb. ¡°Top public servant at Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°They would employ even you?¡±

    ¡°The world is at peace now; it¡¯s not like back in the day. As long as one ispetent enough, His Majesty is willing to give you a chance to protect his vastnd. Someone of your calibre has no fear of absence of opportunities to realise your ambitions. Why not use your knowledge and skills for the imperial court and imperial family?¡±

    Who did I get that script from? Why am I trying to recruit for the imperial family? These thugs would only cause chaos if they worked for the imperial court.

    I shook my head. ¡°Besides, your back story is utter nonsense. Jiang Chen would arrange for your son to take the imperial exams in exchange for your service? Do you even know how the exams are conducted? Prime Minister Li is in charge of this year¡¯s imperial examinations. Name one man who could possibly fool him.¡±

    ¡°Not even Jiang Chen? My son is in the capital.¡±

    Wait. Are you telling me that wasn¡¯t horse feathers?! This story is precisely what made me suspect you! You can¡¯t be serious now. Isn¡¯t your perverted organisation¡¯s ambition to ruin the nation? What do you want your son to be a civil servant for? At least think through your logic!

    ¡°What¡¯s that look for? We people across the sea wish for nothing more than a stable life. The six thousand residents of Guanhu Ind struggle to get by. What else could I ask for if my son could live afortable life in the Central in? You make it sound nice and all, but would the imperial court truly employ me?¡±

    I scratched my head. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°I knew you moralistic-spouting civil servants ar-, what?¡±

    ¡°I said, ¡®Sure.¡¯¡±

    ¡°You said¡­ You said, ¡®Sure?¡¯¡±

    I thought he was going to jump at me. ¡°Yes, I said, ¡®Sure.¡¯ You¡¯re skilled, can disguise yourself, can assassinate and more. You possess rare skills that cost a lot to learn. If you offered your services, the departments would be fighting for you. Why would you put yourself down like that?¡±

    Yuan Kou¡¯s teeth chattered. ¡°But I¡¯m a foreigner. I¡­ I¡¯m also from an unorthodox faction.¡±

    ¡°Big deal.¡±

    More unorthodox than me, buddy?

    ¡°It¡¯s never toote to turn over a new leaf. Write me your resume, oh, but don¡¯t list your criminal history.¡±

    ¡°I never evermitted any crimes! We men from Guanhu Ind are upstanding men! Can you really¡­ really¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you know whose presence you are in? I am the glorious man His Majesty personally conferred the title of Dal-, duke! My words hold the weight of official paperwork.¡±

    Yuan Kou dropped to his knees and kowtowed. ¡°Big Brother, henceforward, I am at yourmand!¡±

    Man, you unorthodox guys. Big Brother? What? Am I the leader of some gang?

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t stand on ceremony. Don¡¯t let unnecessary, frivolous formalities spoil our friendship.¡± I patted Yuan Kou on the shoulder as I spoke. ¡°By the way, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°The organisation doesn¡¯t trust Jiang Chen, so they had the great m-¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°¡­ my humble self to monitor him. However, Jiang Chen is shrewd and frequently off the base, so I have not been able to do much.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Where did you learn Pure Yang One Qi? Why is it iplete?¡±

    ¡°Over twenty years ago, when I was still a young man, I was the strongest on the ind, but I was just a frog in a well, in reality. One day, while training at the bottom of the sea, I discovered dozens of skeletons, so I asked people to pull the skeletons out of the water. We rarely had visitors on the ind. Given they all wore military uniforms, I assumed they soldiers. Weter found their sunken ship that resembled the aftermath of arge beast¡¯s assault. Whatever the case, the soldiers met their end in the water. I told people to search their bodies for something to identify them by so that we could at least erect tombstones for them. On one of them I found an iron letter which contained Pure Yang One Qi.¡±

    Hmm, sounds like it wasn¡¯t the brothel version but one that one of Shifu¡¯s friends wrote. Why would one of Shifu¡¯s friends perish in the sea, though, if he had mastered Pure Yang One Qi? Something reeks of foul y. I best have a word with Shifu.

    I finally understood why I couldn¡¯t hear the cadence of Yuan Kou¡¯s qi flow. Since Pure Yang One Qi¡¯s method of moulding qi was uniform from beginning to end and unconnected to Guanhu Ind¡¯s disciplines, when he moulded qi using the two different methods, I¡¯d easily mistake it for there being two different people.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s that, then. Next, why are you in such a hurry to escape?¡±

    While we were both stuck, I had to worry about my life. On the contrary, Yuan Kou didn¡¯t have to be worried for his life. As such, I found his sense of urgency to be odd.

    ¡°You are a clever man, Big Bro. I am desperately trying to get out as soon as possible because I¡¯ve unearthed a secret: Jiang Chen ns to kill all of us.¡±

    Glossary

    Iron letter ¨C Like bamboo ordions, they¡¯re just another ancient writing medium.

 Book 13: Chapter 123

    Book 13: Chapter 123

    Wh-what?

    ¡°Jiang Chen ising back?¡±

    I¡¯m getting the flip out of here!

    ¡°Rx, Big Bro; you misunderstood. He won¡¯te back. Coming back would only ruin his n.¡±

    After listening to the whole analysis, I wagged my hand. ¡°Well, scared me there. Also, stop calling me Big Bro. You¡¯re considerably older than I am; it¡¯s awkward for me.¡±

    Yuan Kou jerked in surprise at the revtion, then started to feel embarrassed before once again showing admiration. ¡°Although I am older, at the end of the day, you are my superior. I ought to show due respect. But you truly are a man with a big heart. That being the case, your brother shall follow your instructions¡­¡±

    ¡°Call me ¡®Sir¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Yes, sorry, Sir.¡±

    You already want to be my brother? If I leave you unchecked for a few days, are you going to start calling my ancestors grandpa and grandma?

    ¡°Give me the details. What exactly is Jiang Chen up to? Who is he after?¡±

    ¡°Please allow your subordinate to report.¡±

    Wow, you sure got into role fast. You must¡¯ve been dying to work for the government.

    ¡°This one monitored every minute detail in the base ever since he came here. Recently, he discovered a big secret and, based on it, confirmed that Jiang Chen ns to kill all of us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and that¡¯s what I¡¯m waiting to hear more about.¡±

    The more I heard, the straighter my hairs stood up. By the end, I couldn¡¯t help gasping. ¡°Can¡¯t we get out, though?¡±

    ¡°This one went to check in order to check his suspicion¡­¡±

    By the time I finished listening to Yuan Kou¡¯sst discovery, I was speechless. I never would¡¯ve thought Jiang Chen could be so cold blooded. We were defenceless, would be subject to hell, and he was dead set on killing us. By a stroke of fortune, perhaps not even he realised that we¡¯d discover his fool-proof n before he couldplete it. The element of surprise was our only hope. Perhaps, he never thought I¡¯d be the wrench in his n.

    ***

    ¡°I called everyone here for an extremely pressing matter.¡±

    Save for ¡°Zero¡± and her personal subordinates, pretty much all outsiders to Fiends¡¯ Genesis had gathered in my room. With Gu Xianxian, Ning Zhuoru and Yan Jiangnan seated to my left, and Ouyang, Teng and Lang Qing to my left, Yuan Kou stood beside me to help conduct the meeting.

    ¡°Nobody here is an outsider.¡±

    That line of mine prompted everyone to look to each other as if to ask, ¡°You¡¯re one of us?¡± or ¡°You¡¯re one of us, too?¡± ordingly, I let them have their little moments. Ouyang Xiucai, of course, was the most lost man as he was the only one who couldn¡¯t understand the eye signals.

    ¡°Mr. Zero isn¡¯t here,¡± stated Ouyang Xiucai.

    ¡°Of course not. Imagine if Zero was here,¡± responded Yuan Kou. ¡°Today¡¯s conversation must be kept a secret from everyone affiliated with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. If anyone lets a word slip, hmph,¡± he added with the domineering aura of his true identity.

    Everyone was rather taken aback at Yuan Kou¡¯s bold tone of speech toward Ouyang Xiucai. Teng squinted, while Ouyang Xiucai replied, ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡±

    Yuan Kou smirked. ¡°Ouyang Xiucai, my knuckles taste good, hey?¡±

    ¡°It was you!¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai jumped to his feet and sent his palm toward Yuan Kou¡¯s face. Expecting the violent reaction, Yuan Kou brushed the attack aside without needing to move from his feet or torso.

    Having confirmed Yuan Kou was the man in ck, Ouyang Xiucai thundered, ¡°Brother Wu, what is the meaning of this?¡±

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, Ol¡¯ Yuan, you two barely even exchanged a few moves; it can¡¯t even be counted as a fight. You two don¡¯t have any enmity between you. Calm down and sit down.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t pursue him for a personal vendetta. His origins are fishy, and his behaviours are suspicious. How can I work with him if I don¡¯t know the truth?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we getting to that? You interrupted me.¡±

    With that, Ouyang Xiucai was willing to return to his seat, although not without stopping to think first.

    ¡°Okay. To tell the truth, nobody here is an outsider. Some know who I am, as well. Let¡¯s do this. I¡¯ll start: I¡¯m not Wu Ping.¡±

    I received an unexpectedly quiet response. Ouyang Xiucai was the only one to react with disbelief. Lang Qing remarked, ¡°I knew that.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai questioned, ¡°So who exactly are you?¡±

    ¡°I was the captive held in the dungeon. I¡¯m a constable of Liu Shan Men. Understand now?¡±

    ¡°Everyone here knew?¡±

    Gu Xianxian and his wife nodded, whilst the others shook their heads. ¡°Never heard about it.¡±

    How the hell are all of you so calm, then?!

    I took advantage of Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s speechless moment to tell them everything, including a rough recount of how I distorted the perception of time to kill Kuanggu Sheng.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, a man as smart as yourself knows we public servants oppose Jiang Chen. I¡¯m not his enemy because I did something bad. He is the one who confined me, so I had to defend myself. You¡¯re not his ally, so there¡¯s no reason for you to oppose me, right?¡±

    Based on what I knew about Ouyang Xiucai, he was an upright man. Therefore, I wasn¡¯t concerned he¡¯d tell me fibs.

    Once he finished musing, Ouyang Xiucai pointed to the others. ¡°But they¡­¡±

    ¡°They all have their reasons. Lang Qing, you lost to me, and I never demanded your life. Can you work with me, though?¡±

    I interpreted Lang Qing¡¯s silence as a ¡°yes¡±.

    ¡°Going forward, Yuan Kou is Liu Shan Men¡¯s undercover constable. I don¡¯t need to exin any more, right?¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect Yan Jiangnan, Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru to be the most shocked. Their reactions were obviously, ¡°He can even sneak spies in. Thank heavens, we¡¯re on the same side.¡± I gave them a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m d that¡¯s how you feel.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai scoffed, ¡°You think you can intimidate me with numbers? Are you not afraid I¡¯d tell Zero?¡±

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, you¡¯re a good man. I harbour no ill will towards you. I won¡¯t stop you even if you leave now. As for Zero, once you hear what I have to say, I won¡¯t have to worry about you siding with him or Jiang Chen.¡±

    ¡°So what exactly is it you want to tell us?¡± queried Ouyang Xiucai.

    I gestured with my head for Yuan Kou to speak.

    Yuan Kou informed, ¡°This is something I noticed. I discovered Jiang Chen ns to kill all of us.

    Everyone: ¡°Jiang Chen ising back?¡±

    That was my reaction¡­

    Clearly, Jiang Chen had instilled fear in them. Only Lang Qing was excited at the thought of Jiang Chen was returning.

    Yuan Kou shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    When everyone heaved breaths of relief, Lang Qing was the only person to hang his head.

    Man, you and your hunger for fights! I don¡¯t want to see Tang Ye in you! I¡¯m going to have to change Tang Ye a second time when I get back now, or he¡¯ll be another you.

    ¡°He can kill all of us without returning.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°Nobody noticed that we don¡¯t have enough supplies for another five days.¡±

    Everyone: ¡°What?!¡±

    Hang on. Hear me out¡­

    Before I could piece together my speech to deliver, Yuan Kou exined, ¡°None of you cared to check on the supplies. You all grewcent and assumed there¡¯d be plenty of water and food. Two things have changed, though. Firstly, since Wu Ping¡­ Sir Wu was brought in, nobody else has beene in. Months before his arrival, no supplies were transported in or out. Second, do any of you know how supplies are brought in?¡±

    Everyone shook their heads.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, and I reckon Zero doesn¡¯t know, either. It¡¯s our most important resource, yet not one of us knows a thing. We don¡¯t know where the supplies are kept, how they¡¯re sent in, and we weren¡¯t even aware that deliveries had been cut off. Have you considered what will happen if this continues?¡±

    Lang Qing: ¡°We¡¯ll run out of supplies.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! I¡¯ve sneaked into the supplies storehouse several times and discovered that there¡¯s not much left in the once full storehouse. Jiang Chen left us with just enough for a few months. He doesn¡¯t even need to lift a finger to trap us here. Since we can¡¯t get out, we¡¯ll have to starve here.¡±

    At this point, everyone understood the gravity of the matter I wanted to talk about. In five more days, we¡¯d start fighting amongst each other inevitably. Even if we were lucky enough to survive, we certainly wouldn¡¯t be unscathed, and we¡¯d still be without sustenance. ordingly, the corpses strewn around would be our first source of sustenance. Once we had finished going through the corpses, we might very well cave in and start fighting amongst each other. Naturally, the strong would win a few more days to live, but it¡¯d be no different to hell on earth.

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Zero can get out.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Yan Jiangnan asked, ¡°Are we going to threaten Zero? Is that our ticket out?¡±

    That was pretty much what everyone was thinking. He wasn¡¯t just blindly bold. We really did have a conceivable chance of winning against Zero¡¯s group if we worked together. Sadly, Yuan Kou shook his head and said, ¡°We¡¯ve already considered that.¡± He spared me a nce, then continued, ¡°Acting on Sir Wu¡¯s orders, I checked the exit and contraptions, where I bumped into Ouyang Xiucai and even had a scrap with him. I found that the contraptions had changed. I doubt even Zero can open the exit now.¡±

    Yuan Kou wasn¡¯t responsible for the tampering traces on the contraption, but it wasn¡¯t because he was an amateur at contraptions. If he was, the perverted organisation wouldn¡¯t have tasked him with keeping surveince on Jiang Chen. To speak more urately, they were traces of modification. As long as someone amongst Fiends¡¯ Genesis was willing to modify the contraption and thenmit suicide, it was entirely possible, especially given how many martyrs they had. To sum up, we couldn¡¯t escape even if Zero agreed to let us go.

    Yuan Kou sighed. ¡°Luckily, we unearthed the n in time. If we put our minds and hands together, perhaps there is hope of escape.¡±

    Yuan Kou said what everybody was hoping for.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you noticed,¡± Ouyang Xiucai expressed in admiration.

    ¡°Jiang Chen is a shrewd man, and he was particrly careful with this n, attacking us where we were mostcent.¡±

    ¡°Then, how did you¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°ording to Jiang Chen¡¯s n, we were supposed to only find out we were out of supplies and trapped ten to twenty days from now. Starting from a few days ago, though, I kept hearing the kitchen workers talk about a food shortage. Chicken, duck, fish and evenmb were running out fast; once, ten serves ofmb went missing in one go. That¡¯s when I started piecing things together. I immediately went to check the supplies storehouse and discovered the food shortage, which eventually led me to Jiang Chen¡¯s n. The credit for the discovery belongs to one individual.¡±

    Everyone cast their gazes my way.

    That¡¯s right! It was all thanks to me! I exposed Jiang Chen¡¯s ns pre-emptively with just my appetite. Thank me! I am the miscalcted variable in his mastern!

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°So you were the one who ate all the bloody food!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Are you actually a pig?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan, with his eyes red, cried, ¡°You ate all that while I ate all those horrible things?! And that much, for that matter?!¡±

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Ten serves ofmb in one meal? Ten?¡±

    Lang Qing: ¡°I believe you finished all the wine, too?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°Brother Wu, please take responsibility.¡±

    Why am I the first victim of this new alliance?! Let me exin myself.

 Book 13: Chapter 124

    Book 13: Chapter 124

    ¡°In summary, I¡¯m not the one trying to harm you all; it¡¯s Jiang Chen. Shouldn¡¯t you be attacking me physically and verbally? Let¡¯s shout our mantra together now: Jiang Chen is a piece of crap! Jiang Chen wipes his butt crack with his hands, not paper!¡±

    The best way to resolve an internal conflict was to redirect the target of hate to something or someone else ¨C or create amon enemy. Jiang Chen just happened to be the perfect scapegoat.

    Come on, guys! Don¡¯t be scared! Don¡¯t stay silent! How can we have any hope of seeding if we¡¯re already mentally defeated! Muster up your warrior spirit!

    Lang Qing folded his arms. ¡°Makes no difference to me. I only joined Fiends¡¯ Genesis to fight him. I couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than to force him to move the match forward.¡±

    Stop! You better not! Who knows how much manpower he¡¯ll bring back. You might get us all killed!

    All thanks to Lang Qing¡¯s uncalled forment, everyone else started thinking about things I didn¡¯t need them thinking about.

    Yan Jiangnan, Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru discussed the feasibility of restraining Jiang Chen once he returned to find an escape.

    Are your brains just there for the sake of it?! He¡¯d stomp the three of you simultaneously without needing a warm-up!

    Yuan Kou, smirking, whispered to me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Do something about it! Had you not gone and exposed me for eating all the food, would I be getting the boycott treatment?!

    Teng raised a fist. ¡°¡­ He doesn¡¯t use paper!¡±

    You¡¯re toote! And speak louder! It sounds weird as hell with the first part being enunciated so quietly!

    Ouyang Xiucai, still not convinced, voiced, ¡°I have another question.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    ¡°What about Mr. Zero?¡±

    Everyone ceased talking.

    Lang Qing: ¡°That¡¯s tough.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zero is our superior on paper and the person in charge. Ignoring whether he is aware of the circumstances or is on our side of not, he will find out about this meeting sooner orter. Brother Wu, have you consider how you¡¯d deal with the situation if he decides to punish you?¡±

    Yuan Kou condescendingly replied, ¡°Off him.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°Are you serious right now?¡±

    Yuan Kou robotically answered, ¡°Jiang Chen appointed Zero. Now that we¡¯ve discovered Jiang Chen¡¯s scheme, why should we take orders from him. The person in charge he appointed, in particr, deserves to die¡­¡± he stopped and nced at me before clearing his throat and changing his tone. ¡°Murder is not a very fortuitous deed, so I suppose he can be spared. Everyone knows how powerful Mr. Zero is. That being said, given Jiang Chen chose him, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s, uh, definitely reliable, which isn¡¯t to suggest he isn¡¯t reliable.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t even been under my wing for long, but he had learnt a bit already. Just listen to him.

    ¡°So a fight is unavoidable,¡± opined Ouyang Xiucai. ¡°If we¡¯re going to oppose him, we need to be mentally prepared for his calibre. Having travelled in the Western Regions, I know a little more than you. Do you know who Zero is? Zero is Divine Moon Cult¡¯s interim Lord San Shen. That puts him on par with Demon Sect¡¯s three Great Guardians; in Lord San Shen¡¯s faction, that puts him above them. He went undefeated during his rampage to conquer the Western Regions.

    ¡°Moreover, though his warriors from the Western Regions weren¡¯t part of that rampage, all of them are elites. The cavalry captain is arguably on my level. There¡¯s no guarantee we¡¯ll win a physical sh. Additionally, if Jiang Chen wants us dead, then all of the Fiends¡¯ Genesis members here will be our enemies, too. Don¡¯t you think brazenly revolting is being rash?¡±

    He was right in some ways and wrong in some ways. While Zero certainly was a menace in battle, a lot of legends were just the gum work of friends spreading stories to create the legend. I won¡¯t go into detail about what I said and did in my youth. It¡¯s embarrassing.

    Anyhow, Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s input triggered hesitation in the others, including Yuan Kou. Considering Divine Moon Cult was part of the only entity to dare oppose the imperial court, nobody would belittle them even when they were bruised and battered.

    ¡°Young Master Ouyang is correct. Zero does indeed deserve to be considered someone who can rule the Western Regions,¡± I said. ¡°Having said that, that¡¯s predicated on her being Zero.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± expressed Ouyang Xiucai.

    ¡°Why, that would be that the masked individual we¡¯re familiar with isn¡¯t the real Zero, of course.¡± I ignored their surprised reactions and borated, ¡°I can assure you all that, besides her mask being authentic, she doesn¡¯t have the slightest connection to Zero. Take off her mask, and you¡¯ll just be treated to the beauty of a young maiden, not some menacing Zero who¡¯s unrivalled in the Central in.¡±

    None of the men batted an eye, and who could me them? Not one of them was in any position to be talking about girls.

    Ouyang Xiucai questioned, ¡°Who is she, then?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake that she¡¯s an important figure in Divine Moon Sect. However, she can¡¯t hold a candle to Zero when ites to martial prowess, status or importance. We have the upper hand in a fist fight. With that said, there¡¯s no need to go there. Instead, we need to join hands.

    ¡°I clearly remember mentioning that Jiang Chen¡¯s targets are all of us. Else, there¡¯d be no reason to alter the contraption without notifying the Zero imposter. If she was, then we¡¯d still be in the dark by the time we die from starvation. As she is also one of Jiang Chen¡¯s targets, we can work together. I didn¡¯t invite her to this meeting because she has too many subordinates and a special identity. She¡¯s thest person to convince. In regards to Young Master Ouyang¡¯s points, they¡¯re not hard to resolve, but that doesn¡¯t make them easy to resolve, either.¡± I had a nip of tea, then asserted, ¡°I shall personally confront her.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai furrowed his brows. ¡°You?¡±

    Teng: ¡°¡­ I do not know if that is a good idea.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°y dirty.¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Big Bro, I don¡¯t want to say this, but why is it that you think with your lower half whenever ites to girls?¡±

    What are all of you even talking about?! That¡¯s not what I meant!

    Ning Zhuoru ¨C being the only woman around ¨C applied her meticulous nature and sixth sense as a woman. ¡°She¡¯s your wife?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°You were referring to her when you mentioned missing your wife? No wonder why you said you can deal with her.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°Ah, a marital spat¡­¡±

    What?! What?!

    ¡°I¡¯m not that tasteless! My wife is much prettier. She¡¯s¡­¡±

    Everyone pinned their gazes on me: ¡°Who is she?¡±

    ¡°Your mom! Get back to business! Why do you care who my wife is?!¡±

    Suddenly, the door flew open, and everyone went silent as they slowly turned their eyes to the door, where they saw a silver mask hiding the so-called pretty maiden.

    It was just her, staring at me. I was some distance away, but I could feel a fire burning me from her eyes.

    ¡°You,e with me. We need to talk.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 125

    Book 13: Chapter 125

    And¡­ as she said, we relocated to a secluded room with only the two of us. When we arrived, I strutted straight in, sat down in a chair, poured myself a cup of tea, knocked back the decent-tasting tea, and then poured myself a second cup.

    ¡°Don¡¯t purposely erect a barrier between yourself and the other people here,¡± I casually said in response to her gaze that could scorch the floor. ¡°Everyone here can be used. Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members should know this ce better than us. If you keep them at arm¡¯s length, you¡¯re only handicapping us. You should hold a meeting with everyone and give them the general gist that we want to get out. If they resist, th-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    She shrieked so loud that the echo was akin to a nail scrapping a board,pelling me to cover my eyes.

    She aggressively removed her mask and hurled it at the ground, splintering the metal mask, yet the sound couldn¡¯tpare to her shriek.

    ¡°What a waste. Zero really did wear that mask before, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve heard it all from Su Qi.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡±

    As she breathed harder, dug her fingernails into her palms until her hands looked ghastly pale and scarlet droplets began dripping onto the ground.

    ¡°Strictly speaking, this is our first official meeting, so let me introduce myself. Hi, I¡¯m Ming Feizhen.¡± I gently pulled off my mask, which was extremely refreshing for my skin given the shabby quality I had to put up with. I subsequently turned my head sideways and said, ¡°Your turn.¡±

    The silence that permeated the room couldn¡¯t drive out the silent fury heating up the air.

    ¡°That¡¯s how you¡¯re going to answer me?¡± Every step she took echoed so loud that you¡¯d think she¡¯d perhaps crush the concrete. Her violent aura devoured any peaceful silence.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯ve been posing as my partner to mislead people whilst forming your own team. You think I¡¯m foolish and gullible? I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯ve always been aware of every move you made, from you approaching Gu Xianxian and his wife, you and Yan Jiangnan¡¯s fabrications, your fight against Lang Qing, your knowledge of formations and swordy that aren¡¯t part of Wu Ping¡¯s package, I knew everything. I just wanted to use you to draw Yuan Kou out. I just didn¡¯t think it was you. You!¡± She screamed in a blood-curling voice. ¡°Where do you find the audacity to brazenly sit before me? You think I¡¯m easy to entertain? You think you can make me take your side with as long as you say the word?

    ¡°You think that I¡¯ll sing your praise and take orders from you just because Su Qi is your former subordinate and I¡¯m Divine Moon Cult leader¡¯s granddaughter? You think that I¡¯ll hold you in such high esteem that I don¡¯t dare to meet eyes with you? You think you can just enter a room with me, whisper into my ear, ¡®I¡¯m Lord San Shen, the person you looked up to, so follow my orders. Help me escape, and help me overthrow Jiang Chen. I shall continue ruling over all of you, so continue worshipping me and following my orders?¡¯ Are you crazy?!¡±

    There was anger in her voice but despair on her face. ¡°You wish. You don¡¯t have the right to do that. If Su Qi obeys you, I¡¯ll kill Su Qi. If Ouyang and Lang Qing obey you, I¡¯ll kill them. I won¡¯t let you be the worshipped Lord San Shen. I¡¯m going to kill you, take your corpse back to Asa, hang it up in the headquarters and tell everyone you¡¯re the one who betrayed our sect leader! You kill him and sold your loyalty to the imperial court!¡±

    My mind crossed the desert, the long journey through the storm to reach the golden opulent pce underneath the sun. They were all yelling at me the same way, breathing heavily as if they were going to kill me in the same way. From my perspective, all the yelling, huffing and puffing was useless as they were just a veil for something else ¨C fear.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m waiting for you to finish. Carry on,¡± I replied.

    She gritted her teeth and responded, ¡°You¡­ would dare¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of?¡±

    She mmed her hand through the circr wooden table in front of me, reducing it to small particles.

    ¡°What exactly are you afraid of? I know you¡¯re stronger than me right now, yet you¡¯re afraid. What are you afraid of?¡±

    She had her top teeth in her bottom lip, but her pale visage proved to me that I hit the nail on the head.

    ¡°Did you not hear what I said?¡± I held my gaze on her so that she couldn¡¯t oppose me. I knew how pious they were, so I knew how to shut them up even though I didn¡¯t want to ever resort to it.

    Eventually caving in, she lowered her head and uttered, ¡°¡­ Elise.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Elise is your name. Now we can continue.¡±

    I knew how to demolish herposure. That was why I ensured my tone was rational and impartial, just as the contents I chose to voice.

    ¡°You mentioned Xue Yanjun and I numerous times. I clearly heard what you said, so there¡¯s no need for you to repeat yourself. All I want to know is, is that what you think, or is it what Bright Moon Faction thinks.¡±

    Since she didn¡¯t answer, I deliberately provoked her. ¡°So, can I understand it as Bright Moon Faction wanting to overthrow the system and rule themselves?¡±

    ¡°How dare you bring up overthrowing?! You think I don¡¯t dare to kill you?!¡±

    ¡°Sit down.¡± Looking at her emotionlessly, I repeated, ¡°Sit.¡±

    Elise shook as violently as though it took every ounce of mental fortitude to hold back from clocking me. ¡°Why should I listen to you when you¡¯ve lost your ability to fight?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a holy maiden. Don¡¯t bring shame to your title.¡± I tilted my head and added, ¡°You¡¯re standing before me with a belly of fire, yet you haven¡¯t bothered to ask for an exnation. Who told you I¡¯m a traitor? Is he also the one who told you I colluded with the imperial court and killed Ximen Chuideng? What evidence does he have? Putting aside whether his ims are true or false, did you just let him baselessly besmirch me? Are you iming you don¡¯t know who rescued Dark Moon Faction¡¯s members when you were in the Western Regions? Why, then, would you believe I¡¯m a traitor?¡±

    Elise hugged herself as if it was the only way of protecting her beliefs from running away. ¡°You¡­ did rescue our brethren from Dark Moon Faction. However, do you think they¡¯re grateful? You rescued them from the jaws of the imperial court and hid them in Hangzhou, but they¡¯ve lost all their pride and honour. Every single one of them wants to be ying enemies and avenging our sect leader. They¡¯re warriors; they¡¯re born for glory. They lost their master in the Central in, yet you sent them back in dishonour.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t agree, but I think life is more important than the honour of fighting a war in a foreign country.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you rescue them? Can you exin?¡± Elise asked with her head down, seemingly unable to bear with the anguish any longer. ¡°How much manpower did the imperial court have then? Even if you excluded Dark Moon Faction¡¯s family members, there were thousands of them. Why was the imperial court willing to let them go? If you didn¡¯t collude with the imperial court, how did you rescue them? Were you trying to stop them from taking revenge, or were you the target of their revenge?!¡±

    I had seen the look in Elise¡¯s eyes innumerable times, and they were all attached to people desperately searching for trust, honesty, something they could believe in, something they could wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to when they were lost.

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like this!¡± Elise grabbed mypels so tightly that I suffocated. She only needed to pull a little harder topletely cut off my oxygen supply, yet she was the one who cried. ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like this! Don¡¯t do this to me! Don¡¯t treat me the same way you treat others when you brush them off.¡±

    I knew what she was afraid of. I knew from the moment I saw the look in her eyes. She was afraid that her assumptions were true.

    Elise¡¯s strength gradually left her hands. ¡°Please¡­ Don¡¯t lie to me. Don¡¯t brush me off. I look up to you, Zero and everyone else a part of the Lord San Shen faction. Your faction upheld justice and punished evil. You were the example to follow. What youbelled as evil was evil. What you said was wrong, I believed was wrong. Whoever¡¯s life you want me to take, I¡¯ll take, including mine. Why did it have to be you? Why did you have to be the traitor? Why? Please. I beg you. Don¡¯t kill His Excellency. Please¡­ Tell me! Are you the traitor? Did you betray His Excellency?! Tell me!¡±

    Knowing my prepared long speech was now meaningless, I let out a big sigh. ¡°No.¡±

    She threw myself into her arms and let her tears and stress out without reserve. Despite knowing she had found what she wanted, I knew I couldn¡¯t just leave it there. As I gently stroked her head, I said, ¡°I¡¯m not a traitor. I didn¡¯t betray him. Why did I rescue our Dark Moon Faction brothers? Simple. Because I didn¡¯t save Ximen.¡±

    The memory was as close as yesterday to me, and I never believed there¡¯d be a day where I¡¯d forget it. The physical wounds that still seared my scap and the rest of my body couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the pain of the memory.

    ¡°I watched him fall from Lawless Cliff. I didn¡¯t jump down after him because I had to rescue the others. I knew that everyone else there that day would¡¯ve perished if I was gone, too. That¡¯s why I watched him fall farther and farther away until he was no longer visible. The scar has stayed with me. Ever since the scar formed, everything underneath has rotted, and the wound has continued to bleed. Mayhap I really will never see him again. Mayhap he was reduced to dust at the bottom of the cliff. Mayhap only his bones remain there. Whatever the case, I¡¯ve stubbornly told myself that he¡¯s not dead. Who knows? I could rescue them because I watched my sworn elder brother die. Is this answer satisfactory?¡±

    Elise stared nkly at me for a beat before shedding more tears. ¡°Why¡­ did you not avenge him?¡±

    In a quiet voice, as quiet as if I was the only person left in the world, I replied, ¡°You don¡¯t know what happened. Ximen Chuideng should not have been there that day. Nobody can stop him if he wants to walk away. Everything happened far too quickly, and the coincidences were far too coincidental. I, too, don¡¯t know the answers.

    ¡°The thought of killing everyone there that day crossed my mind. Everyone there who stopped me had a hand, whether it was directly or indirectly, in Ximen¡¯s death, and I wanted to kill every single one of them. Our brothers wanted to kill them, too. Ol¡¯ de Demon disappeared since he couldn¡¯t suppress his urge. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever see him, either. Maybe he¡¯s already passed away.

    ¡°I managed to suppress the impulse, but that was only thanks to someone who told me that my life was more important than anything to her. I know she considers me the most important person in her life, so I couldn¡¯t throw my life away.

    ¡°I want to find out the truth. I want to know what exactly happened that day and who our enemies truly are. Until I have the answers to those questions, I won¡¯t let anyone of you take any action that involves taking revenge¡­ all right?¡±

    Elise kept crying, though I didn¡¯t know for whose sake. From her crying visage, I was also watching the forsaken Dark Moon Faction thousands of miles away, from across the vast golden desert. They lost everything. They didn¡¯t know what to believe and what to suspect. Nobody besides their enemy knew what nefarious intentions shrouded them. But, they understood each other¡¯s pain, hatred, rage and tears.

    All I could do for Elise was wipe her eyes until she fell asleep and ept her response properly. Before she fell asleep, she nodded with all her might and responded, ¡°Yes.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 126

    Book 13: Chapter 126

    ¡°God,¡± asserted Yan Jiangnan, firmly. He swept his gaze over everyone, pped the table and stressed, ¡°I don¡¯t care what you or anyone else says. He is god. And nobody can change my mind,¡± then knocked back an ¡°unknown pill¡±, scaring everyone a big step back with its smell.

    Gu Xianxian rubbed his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you or anyone else says, Big Bro is my biological big bro. He has my respect from the bottom of my heart.¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°Incredible. Everything he does is worth learning from. He is my superior, and nobody can change my mind.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai, gazing with the eyes of a man questioning the world, eximed, ¡°How?¡±

    Lang Qing shut his eyes.

    Teng: ¡°¡­ No objections.¡±

    They didn¡¯t take their eyes off us for a split second.

    Ning Zhuoru smiled. ¡°I told you the two of them are a couple.¡±

    ¡°Lord S-, My Lord, you must be tired. Would you like a back massage?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, are your clothes too thick? Shall I fan you?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°My Lord, I did not realise you were so tall from far away.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, try this. I brought it over from the Western Regions and saved it all this time.¡±

    ¡°My Lord¡­¡±

    ¡°My Lord¡­¡±

    Ever since Elise woke up, she perpetually orbited around me. Every time she discovered something, she¡¯d make a huge deal out of it. As soon as I got up to help her with the tea, water and what have you, she¡¯d immediately push back. My snacks doubled. The moment I conveyed my appreciation, she¡¯d look ready to shed tears, questioning if her performancecked. I couldn¡¯t do anything except sit still and smile like a dork. I never expected the smile to make her squeal and bolt outside, so I became pedantic about keeping a straight face. Her solicitous behaviour made me feel bad and everyone else misunderstand me for being a kidnapper of na?ve young girls.

    Elise showed her real face once she returned with me, so there was no reason for me to continue wearing a mask. If you think about it, if the two of us were to show up at the same time, given my handsome f-, her beauty, she¡¯d steal all the attention. Instead, however, her attitude towards me stole the limelight.

    ¡°You know¡­¡±

    As soon as I opened my mouth, Elise stopped arranging the dishes she served up and cleaning the table to happily turn to me.

    ¡°Are you hungry, My Lord? I shall fill your bowl right away.¡±

    ¡°Fill it to the brim.¡±

    Wait, that¡¯s not what I was trying to say! Wait! Well, if you¡¯re gone¡­ give me some extra.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± eximed Ning Zhuoru. ¡°We¡¯re short on food. He can¡¯t eat so much on his own.¡±

    ¡°Who are you to tell me what to do?¡± rhetorically asked Elise, as cold as usual, especially towards Ning Zhuoru.

    Elise was a holy maiden, someone exalted amongst so many others, not to mention she was also the granddaughter of Bright Moon Faction¡¯s leader. I vividly remembered the former holy maiden was equally cold to outsiders.

    ¡°He must be satisfied even if that means he has to eat all the food. What do your lives matter to me?¡±

    Needless to say, nobody who wanted to live was happy to hear that, except they weren¡¯t willing to argue with her.

    Only Su Qi nodded at everything Elise said. Seconds after she was done, though, he mumbled, ¡°Isn¡¯t it dereliction of duty if I just sit around while he is starving? What was the point of all my training, then? What sort of man am I if I can¡¯t repay my predecessors?¡± He then turned to me and said, ¡°My Lord, your subject shall go fetch you some meat,¡± then grabbed his de and sprinted off.

    Get back here! What sort of meat are you going to cleave with that massive broadsword?!

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop. Let¡¯s focus on the discussion. Leave the food iss-¡±

    Elise sent down the bowl in her hand and mmed the table. ¡°How can we leave it?! Are you trying to starve my lord?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s war!¡± Su Qi drew his broadsword.

    ¡°Stop, stop. After we¡¯re done, go see how much you can share with everyone else, and then sort out my food for the next few days¡­ and then grab me a bit extra from their shares, happy?¡±

    Su Qi and Elise immediately returned to my sides. It was the same as back in the Western Regions, and it was headache inducing. The audience couldn¡¯t even get angry.

    ¡°Elise, is there really no way out?¡± I queried.

    Elise stared at Ning Zhuoru hostilely a few times, then turned to me and beamed brightly. ¡°Yes! I have tried to open the doors multiple times to no avail. It would seem Jiang Chen has had someone modify the contraption,¡± she replied with the anticipation of praise.

    What are you so happy about¡­?

    ¡°Okay, do you know who modified it?¡±

    Su Qi responded, ¡°I have looked into it. It is one of the base¡¯s general managers. Hemitted suicide after he modified it. Cough, he is evidence, so when you are hungry¡­¡±

    What was that reminder for?! I don¡¯t eat humans!

    ¡°He did not leave any traces for us to explore. I personally examined his corpse and can confirm his cause of death was suicide. There was no attempt to hide his cause of death.¡± Elise then proudly nced my way and whispered, ¡°I kept his body,¡± then leaned her head in towards me.

    Throw it away! I don¡¯t eat humans! Who started this rumour?!

    ¡°Understood. There¡¯s no point fixating on who was responsible for modifying it. We need to decide on our next course of action. The most urgent task at hand is to unite everyone.¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Aren¡¯t we all here already?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I mean everyone. Not the few of us here. Not including the men Elise brought. Everyone in the base. Everyone.¡±

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Including Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    ¡°Correct. My first rmendation is, spare Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members.¡± Since nobody said a word, I added, ¡°I¡¯ve been listening for a long time. None of them havemitted any heinous deeds; they just happen to hold membership in Fiends¡¯ Genesis. They¡¯ve been trained for many years. Some of them have never even been outside this base before. They¡¯re not guilty of anything deserving of a death penalty here.¡±

    Elise: ¡°So, we all need to¡­¡±

    ¡°So, as I said, unite everyone ande up with a n for everyone to safely escape.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 127

    Book 13: Chapter 127

    Surprisingly, Lang Qing decided to share his opinion. ¡°You think they¡¯ll take orders from you, too?¡±

    There were far too many people involved already for me to know who ¡°too¡± referred to.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t try, the answer is always ¡®no¡¯. Moreover, Jiang Chen intends to kill all of us, which means they¡¯re included. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re stupid enough to remain loyal to a master who abandoned them.¡±

    Lang Qing: ¡°Be my guest, then.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave that discussion forter. Right now, we can¡¯t dy our escape a second longer. With his double lock, Jiang Chen could kill us without lifting a finger. I need to get a grasp of the contraption first. Elise.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. Thanks to my lord¡¯s generous appreciation, I shall tell you all what I can. However, there is one disimer I need to make. All my knowledge of contraptionses from Jiang Chen. Whether he taught me anything wrong or not is beyond my awareness, and I have no means of testing. Please be sure to proceed with extra caution.¡±

    Elise proceeded to exin what she understood about the double lock, how to unlock it as well as the immediate problem. ¡°There¡¯s a contraption room north, east, south and west of thepound. Half of them require a specific method to trigger, while the other half require people in the rooms to operate at the same time. Jiang Chen has had both sides modified, so there are no means of determining how to open the doors.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been here long enough to take a detailed look at the contraptions. I can say for certain that Jiang Chen didn¡¯t have thispound constructed. If you ask me, it¡¯s most likely an abandoned ruin from long ago. As such, I suspect the contraptions weren¡¯t originally designed to trap people. Jiang Chen merely made use of its existence to trap us. Since it wasn¡¯t designed to be a confinement mechanism, there has to be a w somewhere. Is it possible to try activating them one by one?¡± I asked.

    Elise replied, ¡°I have tried that. However, I do not know anything about contraptions.¡±

    Assuming Yuan Kou was knowledgeable on contraptions, I shifted my gaze over to him.

    Yuan Kou said, ¡°I, too, have checked them carefully. You are correct, Sir. Perhaps we can find out how to work them for our purposes if we experiment with each one. In saying that, owing to theplexity of the contraptions and their age, they are highly vulnerable to damage. If anypetent is damaged, ourst hope will be dashed. It would be best if someone who has a wealth of knowledge on contraptions and can keep a pulse on all of them were to check; perhaps they can glean something.¡±

    All of us looked to Ning Zhuoru and then sighed.

    With red cheeks, Ning Zhuoru snapped, ¡°Wh-what?! It¡¯s not like anyone can master them just because they want to.¡±

    ¡°Ipetence is the mistake that has bred all these problems.¡±

    ¡°You voiced your thoughts aloud!¡±

    Eh? Did I say it that loudly?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ouyang Xiucai smiled. ¡°To be fair, Ning n¡¯s contraption expertise lies in unlocking locks. They don¡¯t extensively work with contraptions. Lady Gu probably wouldn¡¯t be able to figure out how to open the doors even if she inherited all of her family¡¯s teachings.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we trying to unlock a lock?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ If only we had Elder Lianhua. As a member of Tang n, she may be enlightened on the topic of contraptions.¡±

    The problem was, she was hurt bad, had been unconscious for ages and was old. Nobody was even sure if she¡¯d wake up again.

    Me: ¡°Exactly, exactly.¡±

    Everyone narrowed their eyes on me: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ it was deliberate on your part.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? How is it my fault?¡±

    All I did was increase the dosage¡­ What drug? Don¡¯t ask. If you do, I¡¯ll tell you I fed her sedatives.

    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ I¡¯ll go wake herter.¡± What could I do besides surrender under duress? ¡°That being said, we need an immediate solution. Elise, are there any other ways?¡±

    ¡°Jiang Chen only told me¡­ Hang on. He did¡­¡± Elise furrowed her brows. ¡°He did mention an alternative method to open the heaven and earth lock. After he taught me how to open the doors, he said that, once the door is shut, nobody can enter. I didn¡¯t want to believe that was true, so I asked if there was no other way. Otherwise, would we not just be trapping ourselves if someone sabotaged the contraption? He told me there was a contraption between the two locks that could open the doors.¡±

    ¡°Between?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, do you remember the stone door with the hole?¡±

    ¡°The rat hole?¡±

    ¡°Yes. That hole leads straight out of the base.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s a rat hole.¡±

    ¡°Yes, there is a device inside the hole. Jiang Chen said that specific device can open the main doors.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Who designed it? Were they expecting a rat to unlock the doors for them?!¡±

    Elise smiled as she shook her head. ¡°That would not actually be difficult. After all, beast taming is not a rare skill, although it would be quite challenging to train a beast toplete a task of thatplex degree. Nevertheless, the point is that it is virtually impossible to open the doors.¡±

    We still can¡¯t get out when even rats can unlock locks now?

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°First, there is an engraving in there that will immediately drive beasts to madness as soon as they enter due to the engraver¡¯s internal energy. As soon as the engraver¡¯s internal energy and intruder¡¯s internal energies connect, thetter will be influenced. How would they unlock it under those circumstances?

    ¡°Second, you need to follow a specific form to activate the device inside. Therefore, they would need to know how to work the device or be an expert in lock picking. A tamed beast, suffice to say, would not be able to do any of that.¡±

    I looked over to Ning Zhuoru again, prompting the angry woman to hide behind her husband.

    Gu Xianxian remarked, ¡°Honey, you really should¡¯ve learnt even a little.¡±

    Of course, Gu Xianxian earned himself a heartless p.

    I whined, ¡°Just who designed the damn lock? It¡¯s clearly designed to be impossible to unlock.¡±

    ¡°Um, My Lord, there is actually a third issue¡­¡±

    ¡°There are still more problems?¡±

    ¡°Third, ording to Jiang Chen, the key for the lock is made from an antique metal. The key requires twopletely opposite materials to manufacture. Jiang Chen referred to the key and lock as ¡®Jade de Frost Key¡¯ and ¡®ck Aurum me Key¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Frost jade? ck aurum? Combined to make a key? Who the devil would have such a thing?!¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°Wu Ping.¡±

    ¡°Me? I don¡¯t.¡±

    Yuan Kou rified, ¡°No, this one meant the swordsman you killed ¨C Wu Ping. He insisted that the only thing keeping him from reaching the same ranks as the first-rate swordsmen was due to himcking a good weapon. For that reason, he spent years searching for a first-rate weapon. Supposedly, he collected quite a bit of ck aurum fragments to forge a good sword. Unfortunately, before he could finish forging it¡­¡±

    Ah¡­ He died by my hands? Come on now. Even if you gave him the best sword in the world, Luo Ming would¡¯ve ended him in two swings. You can¡¯t me me.

    ¡°He may be dead, but his belongings are still there. I can search through them. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to find those fragments. Uh, as for frost jade, though¡­¡± I nced to Yuan Kou.

    Yuan Kou shook his head. ¡°If I had something so valuable, would I need to work under you?¡±

    True.

    I turned my attention to Elise.

    Elise dejectedly said, ¡°We do not like jade in the Western Regions¡­ If I knew you were a fan, I would have bought all of it with my pocket money.¡±

    It¡¯s not about whether I like jade or not! By the way, are you telling me your holy maiden is given pocket money?!

    Lang Qing suddenly dered, ¡°I have a piece.¡±

    ¡°Hand it over!¡± I enthused.

    ¡°It probably cannot be used since it has not been polished, though. The polished one is outside. If you want, I can give it to you once we¡¯re out.¡±

    And why in the world would I need it once I get out?! To sell?!

    ¡°Your words, not mine!¡±

    He wasn¡¯t wrong, though. It took a lot of knowledge and skilful hands to produce a key out of cold jade.

    And¡­ we¡¯re still stuck¡­

    Elise opined, ¡°We would need a team that had someone who learns internal discipline centred around mental skills, someone with jade frost, someone with ck aurum, someone who can unlock the locks, and someone who can ce the cold jade into the correct position in order to activate the contraption. Where would we be able to find a squad like that, though¡­¡±

    True. How would we coincidentally have a team capable of all that out of us injured and defeated individuals?

    As I ruminated on all the conditions we needed to fulfil, I swept my gaze over everyone in the room.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 128

    Book 13: Chapter 128

    Ning Zhuoru hailed from a family of mechanics.

    Yan Jiangnan was taught a mental-oriented internal discipline.

    Teng had a string skill to pick locks.

    Wu Ping had ck aurum.

    Lang Qing had cold jade.

    Tang n members were experts in forging stuff out of metal.

    Jiang Chen collected a whole team to pick locks and put them all in one ce? What¡­ a flipping idiot, ahahaha! What a noob. Recruit more people, you moron. I bet you never thought you¡¯d be your own undoing. This is what you get for being too smart for your own good!

    Once I shared my discovery, everyone viewed me in a positive light. Had I not stopped them, they would¡¯ve hugged me.

    Elise, Su Qi, stay away! No hugging me!

    I told Yuan Kou to search Wu Ping¡¯s belongings.

    Lang Qing happily handed me his cold jade.

    Teng went to grab threads that were easier to manipte.

    Yan Jiangnan enthusiastically prepared forbat.

    When Yuan Kou came back with some ck aurum fragments, all of us looked to thest person on the team.

    ¡°I¡­ I really can¡¯t!¡± Ning Zhuoru was ready to break down in tears. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know how to work contraptions! My dad is great at opening locks, yes, but I never learnt any of his skills!¡±

    Tch, letting us down when it counts. Fine, I¡¯ll get my hands dirty.

    ¡°Leave the lock to me,¡± I said.

    Ouyang Xiucai responded, ¡°You know how to, too?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not bragging, but a man who can make a lock I can¡¯t open is yet to be born.¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°As expected of Big Bro.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°You are a true role model for thieves.¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°You are the example we should aspire to be.¡±

    Teng flicked up a thumb.

    I proudly ordered, ¡°Elise, lead the way!¡±

    Elise: ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Due to some of Fiends¡¯ Genesis still be counted as hostiles on the way, we had to take the most convenient approach. After many twists and turns, and dropping a few guards in hiding, we finally arrived at the ¡°Earth Door¡±. The ¡°Heaven Door¡±, however, was where the rat hole was.

    I questioned, ¡°Hang on a second. If the device is located inside the rat hole, doesn¡¯t that mean we need to open the ¡®Earth Door¡¯ first in order for the rat hole to be visible? If we could activate the device, why would we need a key?!¡±

    Elise exined, ¡°Fret not, My Lord. I initially wondered the same thing, so I asked about it.¡±

    ¡°The ¡®Earth Door¡¯ can be opened?¡±

    ¡°Although it cannot, please look!¡±

    I followed Elise¡¯s finger to see a tiny dark hole in a corner anyone was unlikely to notice. ¡°Both doors have rat holes?!¡±

    ¡°Correct!¡±

    Was the designer born in the year of the rat?! Why must all the contraptions be in rat holes?! You have extra-long arms or something?! We have to unlock Earth Door via Earth Door¡¯s rat hole and then unlock Heaven Door through Heaven Door¡¯s rat hole? What the hell is this design?! If you don¡¯t have descendants, good. You deserve it! If you do have descendants, I swear I¡¯ll find them and smash their faces in!

    ¡°Teng,e give me a hand.¡± I patiently instructed, ¡°First, switch your strings for the thinnest type you have. Then, use your internal strength to shred it so that it¡¯s approximately 30% sharper than it currently is. Actually, reduce it by 30% in consideration of the excess yin qi¡­¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for Teng to find what he believed a keyhole following my instructions, but that was where we ran into a problem, as well.

    ¡°¡­ There is an obstruction inside¡­ I am unable to navigate the interior,¡± notified Teng, pinching his brows together.

    Elise opined, ¡°It must be the engraving I mentioned.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan: ¡°I have some knowledge in mental disciplines..¡±

    ¡°You? Bugger off. Yuan Kou,e here. Use your internal energy to assist him. Hit his shenmen upoint first, then press his dazhui upoint using your yang qi to gradually get in. Slow down. Slow down! You trying to kill him! Still too fast!¡±

    I said to Teng, ¡°Ignore everything and everyone except for me. Concentrate on feedback from the thread. Yan Jiangnan, if he starts looking weird, use ¡®Soul Retriever Third Technique¡¯ to consecutively hit his seven upoints, specifically his shentang, xinyu, daling¡­¡±

    As I spoke, I pointed out the location of the upoints. I finished showing him what to do before he could wrap his head around what to do.

    ¡°Lang Qing and Ouyang, if Yuan Kou¡¯s internal energy isn¡¯t sufficient, you two aid him. Same method. Remember this theory¡­¡±

    Lang Qing and Ouyang Xiucai instantly focused on what I recited to memorise the theory.

    ¡°Teng, focus on your own job. We¡¯re clearing a path for you, not giving you time to take a break. I can tell whether you¡¯re moving or not even without my internal energy. Keep moving, and memorise every detail. If you can¡¯t give us a proper blueprint, I promise you¡¯ll never be able to return to Dongying.¡±

    Teng immediately refocused.

    Ning Zhuoru quietly asked, ¡°Is it safe for me to assume he could escape all on his own?¡±

    Elise proudly answered, ¡°Whenever he pleases!¡±

    Gu Xianxian bobbed his head. ¡°I¡¯m going to give Big Bro a back massage!¡±

    Elise: ¡°I dare you to try stealing my job!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Firste first serve.¡±

    ¡°Try it. I¡¯ll split your head in two!¡±

    I thundered, ¡°Su Qi!¡±

    Su Qi: ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Ready your de. If anyone gets in the way, execute them on the spot!¡±

    ¡°As youmand!¡±

    Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru: ¡°Y-you¡¯re not serious, are you?¡±

    Elise shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s not talking about you,¡± she rified before turning to the back.

    Gu Xianxian and his wife finally noticed the growing group of people creeping up from behind. We already dropped the spies and moved as fast as we could. s, they had a method of contacting each other that we weren¡¯t aware of.

    Teng expended an enormous amount of internal energy and mental energy to fulfil his duty whilst battling an engraving that tried to invade his mind. Though Yuan Kou and Yan Jiangnan supported him, if any of them were to let external factors distract them, then they¡¯d suffer grievous injurious, while Teng would lose his support while he was extremely vulnerable. That was the reason Imanded Su Qi and his cohorts to keep watch for us.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members had begun to assemble and found us outsiders crowding around at the exit. However, they didn¡¯t know what we were up to, while we wanted to avoid distractions. Thus, we locked ourselves in a stalemate.

 Book 13: Chapter 129

    Book 13: Chapter 129

    The stalemate was sustained for around four hours. I urged Teng to retrieve his thread and rest because his face was as white as a sheet. He needed a short break before he could even speak.

    Teng: ¡°¡­ I confirmed¡­¡±

    ¡°He confirmed there is a device in there as we suspected.¡±

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Hmm?¡±

    I borated, ¡°But it really will be a challenge. Teng will run into the engraving one way or another, and that will impact his mental state. Even if I guide him, he will only be 50% faster. As you all saw, four hours is our limit even with three helpers. We now need a day to recover enough to make another trip inside.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Teng: ¡°???¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only the first problem. He missed a fair number of spots inside, so we¡¯ll likely have to start again from scratch tomorrow.¡±

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Why didn¡¯t you just do it yourself¡­?¡±

    ¡°Because your internal energy is better than mine.¡±

    Teng: ¡°???¡±

    ¡°The situation isn¡¯t uplifting. If we use the current method, we¡¯ll need, at least, five days to determine the shape of the key. If we include the time needed to make the key¡­ Even if Elder Lianhua knows how to make the key, it¡¯s no easy task tobine ck aurum and frost jade to make a key, not to mention theck of tools here.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai: ¡°The effort invested is in our hands. The oue in heaven¡¯s hands. Doing something is better than nothing, right?¡±

    Lang Qing grinned. ¡°Worstes to worst, we die. Quaking in our boots isn¡¯t going to achieve anything.¡±

    Yuan Kou simpered. ¡°Exactly. Everyone here lives life with their pants over their heads. Who here fears death?¡±

    Stop trying to make yourself a hero! You¡¯re about their level inbat. And, you¡¯re more afraid of death more than anyone else! Also, why would you wear pants on your head?! Keep them over your legs! Stop trying to use pugilistic world proverbs without understanding them!

    Lang Qing and Ouyang Xiucai did make good points, though. The worst oue was death, and we controlled our efforts.

    Ouyang Xiucai smugly pointed out, ¡°Moreover, while we don¡¯t have tools, haven¡¯t the people with tools offered themselves up to us?¡±

    I looked over to the group of Fiends¡¯ Genesis members in the distance. Tian Xiaogua fidgeted and let his eyes dart around more than anyone else, so I marched over. ¡°Perfect timing. We want to talk to you, too.¡±

    ***

    Negotiations didn¡¯t always go smoothly. Despite exining the situation and Jiang Chen¡¯s intentions, there were a surprisinglyrge number of Fiends¡¯ Genesis members refused to join us, although the number wasn¡¯t unexpected. Based on my observations, they were loyal to Fiends¡¯ Genesis, or even something else, not Jiang Chen.

    Based on what I had been told, Jiang Chen was a rtively foreign existence to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members. Although he was the leader of the Seven Stars and acted as the brains of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, he only ever showed himself or interacted with grunts to give out orders. His operations positioned Fiends¡¯ Genesis as a mere disposable pawn. Perhaps it was his attitude towards them that galvanised them to treat him the same way. I, therefore, leveraged this point to persuade them to join our cause.

    In my information, I spiced up information on Jiang Chen, switching perspectives to paint him as the bad guy. If you listened to my version, even if you didn¡¯t know Jiang Chen, you¡¯d likely want to skin him alive, let alone they who didn¡¯t exactly like him.

    In the end, they decided they wanted to discuss it amongst themselves further. Luckily, they agreed to lend us the tools for making a key, promised not to fight over the food for five days and to not sabotage us.

    I went to wake up Elder Lianhua while Teng was resting. Elder Lianhua¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t a concern long ago; she couldn¡¯t wake up purely because I sedated her. She just took the ck aurum and frost jade once I filled her in. She didn¡¯t even ask us what type of key she needed to make. I just assumed she knew what she was doing.

    Teng was able to draw a much more detailed map after exploring the hole again the next day. Part of his sess was attributed to his personality. Unfortunately, that was also an issue. Due to his personality making him extra vulnerable to mental attacks ¨C and to a greater degree ¨C the more detailed he wanted to get, the greater the engraving impacted him. As a result, his progress was slowerpared to the first day. The second problem was that his internal energy regeneration rate waspromised. He emptied his tank yesterday; there was no way he could have a full tank again within a day.

    Since Yuan Kou had to protect Teng¡¯s consciousness on top of supplementing internal energy, he was even more fatigued than Teng despite his internal energy being more developed than Teng¡¯s. I did my best to avoid passing the job to Ouyang Xiucai and Lang Qing as Fiends¡¯ Genesis would have more fire power than us if the two of them were incapacitated. Elise, Su Qi and the others werepetent in their own right, but a victory without damage wouldn¡¯t be possible in a fight.

    Frustration only mounted with the passage of time. I never thought Yan Jiangnan would be the first one to offer to help me.

    ¡°Senior, I wish to help in any meagre way I can.¡±

    ¡°And what can you help me with?¡±

    ¡°Everything I have now is thanks to you. How can I by and watch from the sidelines when you are doing everything in your power to help us escape this mire?¡±

    Because he appeared so sincere, I hesitantly said, ¡°You know¡­ resurrecting someone is a pipe dr-¡±

    ¡°I know it is impossible.¡±

    ¡°You knew?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Yan Jiangnan bitterly smiled. ¡°You are too kind.¡±

    No, no, you¡¯re truly at the end of your road. Even though I think it¡¯s cruel, I still have to kill youter.

    ¡°You have always hinted it between the lines, so this one pretended to be ignorant. Resurrection is an uncertainty. I¡­¡±

    I patted Yan Jiangnan on the shoulder. ¡°I didn¡¯t lie. Resurrection is actually possible. Having said that, the method and meaning of it probably isn¡¯t what you imagine it to be. Whether it¡¯s the resurrected or resurrect-er, neither of them will like the results. You shouldn¡¯t research it or count on it.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan looked downtrodden.

    ¡°What were you saying you would help me with?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, I almost forgot. What is your current challenge?¡±

    ¡°What else but Teng¡¯s state?¡±

    ¡°That is what I wanted to talk about. Your istion caused your oversight. You have a treasure in your hands.¡±

    ¡°I do now?¡±

    ¡°Are your concerns not the slow replenishment of internal energy and vulnerability to the engraving?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°See?! Have you forgotten how I recovered so fast from my injuries, developed my internal energy at an expedited rate and improved rapidly in my learning of a mental discipline?¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re talking about¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Yan Jiangnan beamed. ¡°Unknown pill!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 130

    Book 13: Chapter 130

    Regardless of gender or race, everyone took eight steps back ¨C and then another eight ¨C as soon as I took out an unknown pill from the porcin vial. From afar, they shouted, ¡°Are you sick in the head?! What the hell is that?!¡±

    Yuan Kou was the only one to mutter under his breath, ¡°Thank god, I had the better one. I should count my blessings.¡±

    Let¡¯s skip over the process and just get to the oue. After Teng obediently consumed three unknown pills, we removed his hand and leg cuffs, wiped the blood left behind from when we nicely fed him the pills and then patiently waited for him to wake up.

    It would¡¯ve been a waste if Teng consumed all of the unknown pills I produced, so I looked to Ouyang Xiucai.

    Ouyang Xiucai asserted, ¡°Schrs study to protect morals. How can we practice unorthodoxy for the sake of a shortcut in our training?¡±

    I looked to Lang Qing, who stated, ¡°¡­ I¡¯d rather die.¡±

    Elise went red in the face. ¡°Unl-unless you agree to¡­ No, no, no, I would still refuse.¡±

    Why are you all so scared? These pills aren¡¯t that bad.

    Since nobody wanted a pill, I hurriedly stowed the remainder back into the vial and buried it deep underground.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    While Teng resumed exploration, Yan Jiangnan imparted his knowledge, and the others supported Teng. Su Qi and Elise¡¯s group continued monitoring Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group.

    ¡°Elder, how is iting along?¡±

    Elder Lianhua¡¯s movements were so gentle that nobody would believe she was working with one of the most valuable metals in existence. Having said that, considering her age and the delicacy needed for her job, she deserved respect. The changes were very minor, but you could see the two materials¡¯ changes with the naked eye.

    Elder Lianhua set down the stuff in her hand and acknowledged me with a head gesture. ¡°Your courtesy is appreciated.¡±

    I, in return, saluted her. ¡°If anything, I owe you an apology for my rudeness in our earlier confrontation. Due to the circumstances, I had no choice but to vite you. I beg your forgiveness.¡±

    Elder Lianhua scanned my face closely, then chuckled under her breath. ¡°What a strong resemnce.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What?¡±

    Elder Lianhua turned her back to me and returned to work.

    To make it less awkward, I pretended to take in the scenery. ¡°Uh, you are quite good at it.¡±

    ¡°This olddy is familiar with the process.¡± Elder Lianhua¡¯s graceful and smooth movements made the process look far easier than it actually was. She wouldn¡¯t have had trouble convincing someone she couldplete the job with her eyes shut. ¡°When Mistress learnt to smelt as a child, this olddy kept herpany. Due to herpetitive nature, she wouldn¡¯t tell anyone her struggles when she faced a challenge. Instead, she¡¯d wait to quietly ask this olddy. Decades have flown past in the blink of an eye.¡±

    It was precisely because I knew who this ¡°Mistress¡± was that I was even more surprised. Holding my hands in salute, I expressed, ¡°I did not know you were the mentor of Tang n¡¯s matriarch. It is an honour.¡±

    ¡°This olddy doesn¡¯t qualify as a teacher. Howbeit, this olddy did take care of Mistress. This olddy did her best to impart her knowledge to Mistress.¡±

    We chatted about the past, and I waited for a long time before finally saying, ¡°I have a question that might anger you, so I please allow me to apologise in advance.¡±

    ¡°It must have been hard to resist asking all this time.¡±

    As it looked as though she already knew what I wanted to ask, I had no qualms asking, ¡°Unlike the other members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, you are loyal to Jiang Chen. Why, then, are you helping us?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Without stopping her work, Elder Lianhua questioned, ¡°As you know that, why are you trusting this olddy with these tasks?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I do not have a choice. You are the only one with knowledge on this. Whether I have chosen to mount a horse or a donkey, time will tell.¡±

    Elder Lianhua chuckled. ¡°Real men do not act. You are very straightforward man unlike the so-called orthodox disciples of the martial world.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell if I was being insulted or praised.

    ¡°Regardless of what agreement this olddy had with Jiang Chen, you can rest assured that thepleted key will be given to you.¡±

    ¡°That is all I ask for. Thank you in advance.¡±

    ¡°Are you in a rush to get out for a woman?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, partially? Although the food and drinks here are passable, I do miss the view of the moon and sunset during June and July by West Lake.¡±

    ¡°Your shifu was quite thedies¡¯ man. You¡­ should be quite the womaniser yourself even if your maisation is only half of his.¡±

    ¡­ Elder, are you still bitter about my attack? Just say it if you are. Mount Daluo are professionals at paying medicalpensation fees. Don¡¯t insult me with your eyes ¨C and so politely at that!

    ¡°From what this olddy has heard, your shifu has three beautiful wives. He must be on cloud nine every day.¡±

    ¡°My shifu and three shiniangs are always romantic and harmonious. The three of them are one body¡­¡±

    Hmm? Wait? I¡¯ve heard this inquisition procedure many times hundreds of times before. This is exactly howdies ask about my shifu¡­ Wow, wow, wow, Shifu, you¡¯re scum of the earth! What did you do to an elder?! Why is she thinking about you?!¡±

    ¡°It looks like you have a misunderstanding¡­ This olddy and Patriarch Ming are not acquainted. He most likely does not remember this olddy.¡±

    Oh, really? Oh¡­ So it¡¯s a crush. I strongly you suggest you give up on him. The scumbag isn¡¯t worth it.

    ¡°¡­ It does not make sense for someone of your calibre to be in this situation. Did an ident rob you of your internal energy?¡± Elder Lianhua sounded genuinely concerned for my wellbeing.

    ¡°Seventeen days.¡±

    ¡°Mm?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for asking. In seventeen more days, I will have recoveredpletely.¡±

    Elder Lianhua was taken aback when I gave such a precise timestamp. Nevertheless, she bobbed her head and replied, ¡°Indeed, there is sound reason to be concerned until then.¡±

    I nodded back with a bitter smile. ¡°I bet all the things that could go wrong will go wrong.¡±

    Not only did the unknown pill help Teng, but it also upgraded his internal energy considerably, granting him significantly greater resistance against the engraving. I had him keep a pill in his mouth when using his internal energy as a means of avoiding qi deviation when the engraving attacked him. Maybe it was thanks to the stink, but the engraving couldn¡¯t influence his mind whatsoever anymore. In just three days, he was able to describe every detail of the lock for me to draw out and use as a means of deducing the key¡¯s shape for Elder Lianhua. Elder Lianhua had finished fusing the two materials into one with an uneven ratio and just needed to give it a form. In just five days, we were able to produce a key.

    Upon returning to ¡°Earth Door¡±, we all looked to Teng, entrusting him with our hope.

    Teng used three strings to get the key into the hole, while Ouyang, Lang Qing and Yuan Kou supplemented him with internal energy whenever he was short. With an unknown pill in his mouth, his focus was optimised to slot the key into the keyhole with two strings. Everyone¡¯s heartbeats were audible as they waited with bated breath.

    Once he turned the key, Teng exhaled hard. ¡°Done.¡±

    Everybody else exhaled, too. We listened to the sound of the door slowly lowering that we yearned for.

    The next step was the most important step.

    Teng took a few breaths to readjust and focus. Elise switched out with Yuan Kou as thetter expended the most energy.

    After a short exploration, Teng smiled. ¡°¡­ They¡¯re the same.¡±

    We all understand that meant we didn¡¯t need to spend more time going through another round ofbour to open ¡°Heaven Door¡±.

    Once again, Teng took a few deep breaths to steady his shaky hands and slotted the key in. Right as we focused all of our attention on his hand to await the turn, the wind howled out of the blue. Following several quick thuds in sessions, we turned to see Gu Xianxian and two warriors cough blood as they dropped. Due to the distance between myself, Yan Jiangnan and Su Qi, I ended up being taken hostage.

    ¡°Sir, you truly surprised me. I didn¡¯t expect you to open the convoluted lock, hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Are you not afraid of my poison anymore, Yuan Kou?¡±

    Yuan Kou responded, ¡°Hahaha, how much longer do you think I¡¯ll let you fool me? Your so-called poison was but powder ground from snow silkworm¡¯s shell. You think I¡¯m medically illiterate?¡±

    Elise roared, ¡°Yuan Kou, release him this instant, or do you prefer to die?!¡±

    ¡°Do I prefer to die? Hahaha.¡± Yuan Kou, grabbing me by the back of my shirt, held me out in front of him as a meat shield. If he exerted any force upon me, he¡¯d kill me instantly, and so nobody dared to recklessly advance on him. ¡°What can you do to me when he¡¯s in my hands? Be it here or beyond these doors, if you refuse to follow my demands, I might identally exert too much force and snap someone¡¯s neck. Open the door!¡±

    Teng hesitated.

    Elise yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t open it!¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai stressed, ¡°Once the door is open, he¡¯ll escape, and it¡¯ll be even more difficult to rescue Brother Wu.¡±

    ¡°You think you¡¯re the only smart ones? Get in my way, and I¡¯ll kill him.¡± Yuan Kou struck the air with his palm twice, hitting Ouyang Xiucai, who ate the shot without moving, hard enough to draw blood from his mouth.

    ¡°Open up or he dies here. Open it!¡± Yuan Kou brayed, holding his left hand open over my skull.

    In a one-on-one fight, nobody present could stop Yuan Kou, let alone trying to fight him whilst considering me.

    Elise tightened her fists until they turned white.

    Teng, having kept silent the whole time, hesitantly turned the door, opening ¡°Heaven Door¡±.

    ¡°Hahahaha, I appreciate it, Brother Teng. Now, all of you stand to one side.¡±

    Sunlight nobody had seen gradually sneaked through the door.

    ¡°Nobody is to follow me out. Teng, close the door once I get out and toss me the key before it shuts. Don¡¯t try anything cute with me.¡±

    Though Teng didn¡¯t respond, Yuan Kou knew Teng wouldn¡¯t disobey him.

    Once the opening was big enough for an adult to fit through, Yuan Kou condescendinglyughed as he leaped out.

    All of a sudden, everyone heard a high-pitched cry from the other side of the door that startled them and finally sent chills up their spine because they recognised the owner of the voice ¨C Yuan Kou.

 Book 13: Chapter 131

    Book 13: Chapter 131

    Even though it was risky, Yuan Kou¡¯s final crypelled everyone to rush to the scene.

    Yuan Kou lied still on the ground with his face scrunched up and eyes wide open. Not even he knew how he perished. I was very, very, very lucky because I nearly died, too.

    Right as we went through the door, I released myst snow silkworm. The shell Yuan Kou ate was easy to attract. Because it attached itself to him, he froze, though I never imagined a practitioner of ¡°Pure Yang One Qi¡¯ would fear snow silkworms. I had the silkworm bite him so that I had a window to escape; I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be the catalyst for his demise.

    Due to Yuan Kou stepping down heavily, the stone wall anterior to us fired a hail of ck arrows, and, in the blink of an eye, Yuan Kou died.

    ¡°My Lord, your arm!¡± cried Elise, focusing on the dozen-odd needles in my left arm.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me.¡± I extended an arm to prevent Elise froming closer. ¡°The needles have poison that will block your airways¡­ The poison is what took Yuan Kou¡¯s life. Hurry back.¡± I resisted the pain to shepherd everyone back to the other side of the door, which was easy considering what they just saw. ¡°That exit is a no go.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t force out the poison as I couldn¡¯t mould internal energy, but the poison wasn¡¯t fatal on me. Nevertheless, I felt the pain, and it was enough to make speaking a pain. ¡°We could¡¯ve gone out that way, but now¡­¡±

    I genuinely believed that the other side of the Heaven Door was the outside world because the sunlight and breeze proved so. When Elise demonstrated how the Heaven Door¡¯s rat hole worked the first time, I believed that I found hope. What I never expected was for the stone wall in front to shoot out needles from some holes and let sunlight through other holes.

    I was taken aback when Teng unlocked the second door for the reason that the sound of the contraption differed to that of the first door. I initially assumed it was just a difference between the two doors. Now that I thought back on it, the difference wasn¡¯t the doors but the mechanisms. The sound I heard came from deeper within, not between the two doors; it was soft enough for people to easily mistake it for a breeze from the outside.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but the contraptions at the exit were triggered, which have locked the exit, and all the contraptions there are now lethal ones,¡± I informed. ¡°Elder, what are those types of contraptions called?¡±

    Elder Lianhua had a long think before answering, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s not Heaven and Earth Lock but ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯? The blueprint for creating the contraption went extinct over a century ago. If it was Jiang Chen, though¡­¡±

    ¡°Can I ask what an Autumn Lock is, Elder?¡±

    ¡°Autumn Locks aren¡¯t designed solely to eliminate enemies but as a device to protect valuables. To unlock them, you need to first unlock the ¡®Speechless¡¯ lock, then ¡®Pain of Parting¡¯ lock. ¡®Speechless¡¯ is difficult to unlock, while ¡®Pain of Parting¡¯ is easy to unlock. Howbeit, as soon as both are unlocked, ¡®Speechless¡¯ leads to the escape, while ¡®Pain of Parting¡¯ leads to the path of death.¡±

    Elder Lianhua clearly had plenty of knowledge on contraptions. Sadly, I didn¡¯t understand much even with her extensive exnations.

    Elder Lianhua continued, ¡°That being said¡­ Unless the underground base is a¡­¡±

    I interrupted, asking, ¡°Is the other person who can unlock it Jiang Chen?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Unlikely.¡± Elder Lianhua stopped to think before carrying on, ¡°If it really is an Autumn Lock, he wouldn¡¯t have gone unlocked ¡®Speechless¡¯ now; he would¡¯ve unlocked it when he was here.¡±

    ¡°It must¡¯ve been an unforeseen situation.¡± I confidently asserted, ¡°Jiang Chen didn¡¯t think we¡¯d actually be able to open the doors, so I doubt he unlocked the lock. That said¡­ what exactly happened on the other side to activate a mechanism in here? They didn¡¯t activate it to trap us¡­¡±

    The one thing everyone knew for certain was that we now had no way out, and it was written on everyone¡¯s faces.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be down. We just have to rethink our strategy. Teng, open Earth Door. Everyone head back first. I need to readjust this stuff,¡± I said, pulling out the needles in my arm and throwing them on the ground.

    Teng had two rounds of experience, so it took him no little effort to reopen the door.

    While we were resting back inside the base, I applied some drugs to my wound. I was going to offer some words offort when I noticed something off. ¡°Su Qi, what¡¯s the deal?¡±

    Su Qi quickly noticed what I noticed and rushed out to check, then raced back to report, ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members areunching an attack on us!¡±

    I focused my gaze into the distance, where I saw the armed group charging towards us. Elise¡¯s small group of subordinates had already been subdued.

    ¡°They¡¯re taking advantage of the situation!¡± Elise raged.

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°They must know we can¡¯t escape, so they want to take the supplies!¡±

    It was safe to say that the recent failed attempt to escape only amplified everyone¡¯s anger.

    ¡°We¡¯ll fight them to ourst breath!¡± brayed Elise.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No, we retreat,¡± I firmly ordered. ¡°Don¡¯t make emotional calls. It¡¯s just an unexpected turn of events. There are plenty of stone rooms we can use to easily defend. Pull back for now.¡±

    I didn¡¯t see thating, but I was sure it wouldn¡¯t be thest thing I didn¡¯t seeing.

    Elise led a group to bring up the rear. Lang Qing led Gu Xianxian, Ning Zhuoru, Ouyang Xiucai and Elder Lianhua. Yan Jiangnan and I retreated via the least popted route. We already had a retreat n in case we couldn¡¯t ally with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group, so it was just a matter of implementing the n.

    During our retreat, Yan Jiangnan inquired, ¡°Senior, did you know Yuan Kou would betray us?¡±

    ¡°No. I knew he was never meant it when he said he wanted to join me. In saying that, I never foresaw the timing of his turn. I guess I should¡¯ve expected it from a group of perverts.

    ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ riot¡­¡±

    ¡°Was also unforeseen. I thought they¡¯d agree to work with us, but we roll with the punches. It is what it is.¡±

    ¡°Your foresight is usually unbelievable, yet you have been repeatedly wrong today.¡±

    ¡°Not entirely, though. For instance, your intention to kill me was expected.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 132

    Book 13: Chapter 132

    I drew a de, thrust without hesitation and pulled out. Scarlet droplets shattered on the ground before Yan Jiangnan could grab his open chest and express shock. Meanwhile, I focused on listening to the sounds in the distance whilst analysing the battlefields.

    I picked up the bloody sabre I threw to the ground and rested it on Yan Jiangnan¡¯s shoulder. Even though I hadn¡¯t used the Western-Regions-designed sabre in a long time, it was still quitefortable to wield. ¡°Yuan Kou¡¯spetence was presumably developed in the line of duty. He can control his heart rate, breathing and hostile aura, lowering them to a point that¡¯s hard to detect his presence. He has the ability to seed as a scout and assassin. That was why I couldn¡¯t predict when he¡¯d make his move despite knowing he wasn¡¯t trustworthy. Had I not used a snow silkworm before, I¡¯d have likely died to the poisonden needles. You, on the other hand, are different.¡±

    I looked back at Yan Jiangnan, making him flinch with eye contact. ¡°You haven¡¯t developed the same skillset, and you¡¯re too physically close to me. I know all about the times you contemted assassinating me in my sleep and had to fight the urge. The majority of your skillse from me. Unfortunately for you, you did a poor job of absorbing the knowledge; you don¡¯t even have the ability to alter the procedure.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan clenched his teeth to stop them from chattering. ¡°You¡¯re the one who killed my brother, fooled me and used me! You told me you could revive the dead! You lied!¡±

    Most of my stress evaporated when I heard Elise and the others escape. ¡°I know that it¡¯s a lie, and so did you. We just didn¡¯t mention it. One, you feared I lied. Two, you feared I¡¯d kill you if you revealed your hostile intents. That¡¯s why you allied with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group, correct?¡±

    When I looked back at Yan Jiangnan a second time, his face had gonepletely white. ¡°The timing of their riot is perfect. You told them to start as soon as we failed?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan smirked. ¡°So? Is there a rule that you can fool me, but I can¡¯t fool you? You¡­ You¡­¡± Seemingly running out of gas, he dropped his head.

    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re awaiting a logical exnation from me. Funnily, you wouldn¡¯t give me any chances if I was the one at your mercy, though, would you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I would,¡± Yan Jiangnan uttered from behind his clenched teeth. ¡°¡­ Despite knowing you used me¡­ you taught me martial arts; I owe you for recreating me. Despite knowing the chance was slim, I still wanted to hear you personally assure you that you weren¡¯t lying, that you truly could resurrect the dead.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing to say.¡± I pressed the de up against Yan Jiangnan¡¯s neck, making a small slit. ¡°Everyone only has one chance at life. If you want it, you have to fight for it with your own hands. From the moment you, your brother and Wu Ping were on duty, our loyalties were clear. No matter who killed who, we all deserved it. Right now, you¡¯re sort of an ally. Killing you would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. You have your justifications for hating me. I gave you a chance to kill me, but you made poor use of it. Neither of us owe each other anything any longer. We¡¯re back to the same situation as that day. I could¡¯ve killed you or spared you that day. I chose to spare you purely because the benefits of sparing you outweighed the cons. If I spare you again now, there will be more cons than pros. That being said, your value that day and meaningless value today cancel each other out. I¡¯ll pretend this never happened. Continue working for me, and you won¡¯t have to fear for your life. In contrast, you¡¯ll have another chance to avenge yourself in the future.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ serious?¡±

    ¡°You could die if you prefer. Just say the word.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yan Jiangnan had a long think prior to nodding. He didn¡¯t have an alternative, really. If the standoff continued, he¡¯d die from blood loss without me needing to lift another finger. I couldn¡¯t care less what he did next, so I headed off to our agreed rendezvous point.

    Everyone was present in the room Elder Lianhua recovered in while she was injured. I had two reasons for choosing this particr spot. First, it was secluded, making it tough to find. Second, if a group tried to attack us, there were only two long and narrow paths to reach the room. They would have to bypass my holes formation if they wanted to cross one of them. Hence, we would only need to focus our efforts on guarding the alternate route. No matter how many of them there were, the narrow path limited how many we¡¯d have to fight simultaneously.

    ¡°Good to see everyone safe and sound. I can¡¯t be bothered with pleasantries. Yuan Kou¡¯s death has cost us considerable strength. Elise, Su Qi, you two lead a team to guard the chokepoint. Teng, Yan Jiangnan, subdue anyone who manages to cross the holes formation using qinggong. Ouyang, Elder Lianhua and I shall strategize from back here. Brother Gu, Mrs. Gu and Yan Jiangnan shall be in charge of delivering messages and resources. Lang Qing,e with me; I have a task for you.¡±

    Everyone who needed to move set off to their stations.

    Ouyang Xiucai expressed, ¡°Brother Wu, you remain calm in the face of danger and lead logically. Please forgive me for ever underestimating you.¡±

    I cracked a smile. I kept Elder Lianhua and Ouyang Xiucai here with me as the two of them were far better at using their headspared to the others.

    ¡°Elder, what wisdom can you share with me?¡±

    Ever since she mentioned ¡°Autumn Lock¡±, Elder Lianhua¡¯s brows had been glued together. More than likely, she had some new hints on the way over.

    ¡°Hero Ming, this old one has thought of something she needs to urgently check out, so she shall take her leave for a while.¡±

    ¡°But Fiends¡¯ Genesis is now trying to eliminate us. Perhaps¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because they have yet to finish congregating that this olddy needs to go now. Otherwise, it might not be possibleter. She shall exinter. Please rest assured. This olddy has her own ways of defending herself.¡±

    I didn¡¯t bother stopping Elder Lianhua since she had made up her mind. As anybody would¡¯ve expected, Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group encroached upon us not long after she left.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ forces numbered over a hundred of varying threats. The toughest opponents were those hiding in wait at the exit. Since their task was to stop the strongest fighters on base, they had to be capablebatants and trained in formations. Toplicate matters further, I didn¡¯t know how many of them there were.

    There weren¡¯t even twenty assaulting our new fortress. While Elise¡¯s small team was strong in their own right, a number of them had been taken captive and others injured when Fiends¡¯ Genesis caught them by surprise before. Teng was fatigued from opening the doors three times, so there was no way he could endure for long. If it wasn¡¯t for Elise and Su Qi, we¡¯d have been at a huge disadvantage. Still, they had limited energy.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, I need to do some thinking so, so please don¡¯t speak to me until I¡¯m done.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai watched me take out a stack of paper from my shirt and set out the drawings in a specific order. I drew this map of the base ording to what I picked up aurally and where I had explored in person. The base resembled a formation my shifu once arranged. From what I was told, Shifu referenced Luoshu Diagram (Inscription of the River Luo), one of the two cosmological diagrams. I didn¡¯t understand a lick about it and still don¡¯t. I had a feeling that the base was arranged in a certain system.

    Following a lot of contemtion, I drew a circle on the edge of the papers.

    ¡°Brother Wu, that is the location of Heaven and Earth Doors, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    I subsequently drew another circle at another edge ¨C the location of one mechanism I heard. Of course, it was only a rough guess since I couldn¡¯t hear it too clearly.

    ¡°And that is¡­?¡±

    I focused on studying the map instead of answering. Every contraption had to abide by a certain system, operated out of sight and have a catalyst. Its operations provided information.

    I drew a line based on the sounds I heard when the Heaven and Earth Locked operated the first time. Then, I drew another line based on the second sound I heard not long ago.

    Elder Lianhua said ¡°Autumn Lock¡± consists of two locks ¨C namely Speechless and Pain of Parting. If the one we just went to was ¡°Pain of Parting¡±, then ¡°Speechless¡± is where the other circle is. The two contraptions follow the same direction to send signals to each other. This is the ce that the two locks are meant to lock down.

    I honed in on where the two tracks met, stopped to think and then took out a golden ornament to ce on the intersection. It was obvious at a nce that the ornament was from a dynasty long, long ago.

    The intersection point was none other than the room we were in.

    Glossary

    Luoshu Diagram ¨C Better known as the Hetu and Luoshu Diagrams. As I slipped into the chapter, the two were cosmological diagrams used in ancient China. Daoists and Confucians used them to exin the corrtion of the hexagrams in Yijing Jing. They¡¯re also employed in geomancy.

 Book 13: Chapter 133

    Book 13: Chapter 133

    I was now confident that Elder Lianhua went to ¡°Speechless¡± to then deduce where the godly hole, which I¡¯d prefer to rename as godly cavern to describe it more appropriately, was based on the position of the two locks. Her thought was correct, but she didn¡¯t realise I already found the cavern.

    ¡°Brother Ouyang, switch out with Su Qi. He¡¯s a power fighter, so he¡¯s likely to cause a lot of injuries and deaths. There¡¯s still room for reconciliation between us and Fiends¡¯ Genesis, but there won¡¯t be if one side falls.¡±

    ¡°Reconciliation? Ah, you¡¯ve found a way to escape?¡±

    I did say Ouyang Xiucai was a smart man.

    Considering we were nearly out of supplies, if Fiends¡¯ Genesis wasn¡¯t hiding any secret stash, then we were soon going topete in who could survive for longer. If I couldn¡¯t find a way out, we could skip any truce negotiations; in fact, it¡¯d have been wiser to mount a counterattack to get our hands on any food we could.

    ¡°We will follow your instructions, Brother Wu. I shall go switch with Su Qi.¡± Watching me stand up, too, and slip the map back into my shirt, Ouyang Xiucai queried, ¡°Where are you heading now?¡±

    ¡°Going to make a trip outside.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ we are stuck in a pincer attack.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not going either direction.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    As soon as Ouyang Xiucai exited, I slipped into the godly cavern. I had continued exploring it since thest time I mentioned it; however, it wasn¡¯t very often. I couldn¡¯t tell Yan Jiangnan about it when he wasn¡¯t faithful. He didn¡¯t have the guts to harm me, but it was still better for him to be kept in the dark.

    The copper door at the bottom was shut tight, and there weren¡¯t any signs around that indicated they could be used to open aforementioned door. In other words, there had to be some mechanism that locked the door from the inside. I knew my conjecture was right before I even reached the door for one simple reason ¨C there was a breeze.

    Thest time I was here, it was dead silent. The breeze didn¡¯t magically disappear, but I couldn¡¯t feel it on my skin. This time, I could feel the wind blowing, which meant that some mechanism down here was triggered when we unlocked the Heaven and Earth Doors.

    When I arrived at the bronze doors, they were open. The bright luminous golden glow of thousands of eternal mes behind the door stunned me in ce.

    I wasn¡¯t sure why it was my first impression, but my intuition told me that the owner of the kneeling skeleton at the centre of the room was a woman. I didn¡¯t know who or what she was praying to or for, but her posture made me feel sorry for her. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the remains of her garments would also whittle away to the point that it couldn¡¯t stay on her. Considering the size of the small bones beside her and the curled posture, they had to have belonged to some animal.

    It was quite clear that she didn¡¯t suddenly die; she remainedposed despite knowing her death was inevitable. Even in herst moments, she didn¡¯t cower or panic. She was definitely smiling as she faced death head on, though her smile would¡¯ve been one of grief and sorrow. Maybe I¡¯d question myself if it was someone else, but I wholeheartedly believed that the marks on the ground anterior to her were her tears. How did I glean so much without any thought? I had no way of knowing.

    With tears welling up in my own eyes against my own desires, I stepped forward to gently take hold of her hands held in prayer. As if a touch of reassurance was what she had been waiting for all these years, her hands, then her forearms and finally her arms fell. As though she was entrusting it to me, an ordinary emerald piece of jade from her handsnded in my hands.

    The moment the piece of jadended in my hands, I knew it wasn¡¯t some special piece of jade. As a matter of fact, it wasn¡¯t even made well enough to be worth much in the markets. Still, I held it solemnly in my hand and just stayed silent until I lost track of time.

    You didn¡¯t fear death. You prayed despite deathing, yet you couldn¡¯t abandon this piece of jade? Who did you want to entrust it to?

    ¡°Thank you for entrusting this to me. I swear to not let you down.¡±

    Nobody could or would tell me why, yet I could sense the serenity from a bronze coffin ced not too far away from her. I gently set her inside. In spite of the extra time it cost to be so gentle, not to mention shutting the lid gently, I did so anyway.

    Though the eternal mes weren¡¯t exactly antiques, it was obvious that they weren¡¯t a design from the current dynasty. More than likely, they were set up at the same time this underground base was built.

    Doesn¡¯t this mean this ce has existed for at least a century?

    There had to be an aperture of some sort, or there¡¯d be no oxygen to sustain the mes for so long.

    I let out a big and slow exhale prior to continuing further in along the two rows of eternal mes.

    It didn¡¯t take long for me to reach a dead end. There was no other route no matter which direction I looked. Though there was a stone hole in the wall at the end that could fit a hand, there was nothing actually inside.

    Up above, there were more of those holes that stretched as far as the eyes could see, lining up into two horizontal lines ¨C a shorter one on top and a longer one at the bottom. I quickly figured out that the holes were there to facilitate climbing vertically, so I wasted no time heading north.

    Since the purpose of ¡°Autumn Locks¡± were to guard treasures, once both locks were unlocked and the treasure trove was open, there was a death trap and an escape route avable. There was treasure here, meaning there had to be a secret path to ess the treasure. The most reasonable assumption was that the hidden route led directly to and from the room with treasures. That very same route should¡¯ve been the ticket out.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ascending was far more tiring than descending, especially in this painfully narrow space. I couldn¡¯t even see where the path ahead led to. I guess you could say it felt a little akin to climbing the ¡°stairway to heaven¡± for me.

    After approximately an hour of climbing, I pulled myself over the ledge to reach the top. I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes. I expected a secret passage, not another vast underground base that I had been spending my recent days in. I soon realised that the space I was staring into was actually about the same level ¨C as in height ¨C as the ce beneath.

    I lit up a sheet of paper torch for lighting, had just managed to start walking not for long and ran into another huge bronze door that was also open.

    The two locks must¡¯ve unlocked the two folding doors.

    There was nothing worth mentioning farther up until I touched a big stone carving that read ¡°The treasure is found here.¡±

    Found it! Finally! After all that searching for treas-, an exit, I¡¯ve finally found something useful.

    There were three stone doors beneath the huge rock carving. Whoever carved the text was as good with a sword as he was with a brush ¨C evident from the small text carved on the rock below. The text read, ¡°This one¡¯s surname is Gongsun. He is a schr of Daxia. Traitors have ruined the nation. There is no hope of salvation when there isck of talent and regard for right and wrong. This one is determined to serve his country till hisst breath. s, he is but one ipetent man with a dream perhaps too big for his capacity. These treasures are left for one in the future who can make better use of them. This one has one request for he who finds this. The three stone rooms house all the valuables this one collected in his lifetime. Please make use of all the resources to restore Daxia¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t read the rest because there was something else that grabbed my attention.

    Hmm¡­ This tone reminds me of someone¡­ Jiang Chen is definitely the one who carved this! It¡¯s my pleasure to plunder your treasures!

    I turned back to the three doors and read aloud the text on the first door, ¡°¡­ Tomb of my beloved.¡±

    ¡­ My beloved? Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen, is that a term you should be using at your age, you old fart? I can¡¯t just walk away now.

    I prepared a ball of saliva to spit when I saw thest bit of the text: ¡°For a true gentleman.¡±

    Mm, I¡¯m a true gentleman. I won¡¯t stoop to your level.

    I swallowed my saliva, then looked over to my shoulder to read the text on the second door. ¡°¡­ An exceptional collection of secrets for the intellect.¡±

    Say what? A book of gossip? How is that a treasure? You know what my subscription number to ck and White Reflection is? You think I need you to learn gossip? Yes, I like my gossip, but there¡¯s a time and ce for it! You think I have time to read gossip in this sort of greed-baiting situation?

    The text on the third door read, ¡°Valuable treasures of the world for a true hero.¡±

    That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!

    Judging from the eternal mes, bronze doors and coffin, even if Jiang Chen wasn¡¯t the mastermind of the ce, whoever built the ce was unmistakably filthy rich.

    Don¡¯t forget I still had an enormous debt. For all I knew, they could¡¯ve sneaked in a few dayster to squeeze the money out of me. Nevertheless, I wasn¡¯t an impulsive person.

    I returned to the door most anterior and glossed over the text until I saw, ¡°¡­ Howbeit, life is not perfect. You can only choose one of the three rooms. If two rooms are opened, the three rooms will close. Please choose carefully. Please choose carefully.¡±

    Thank heavens I wasn¡¯t impulsive! Jiang Chen, you sly coot.

    I had noment on the rule. You know how it goes. If you had two wives, they may have gotten confrontational with each other. If you had three wives, they¡¯d definitely fight. The idiom went, ¡°Something is bound to happen when several women get together.¡± My shifu was a walking. I couldn¡¯t stand his shamelessness, promising Matriarch Zi he¡¯d marry her, too.

    Speaking of which, I wonder if he¡¯s finished his preparations. If he screws up, it¡¯s going to be all-out war between our sects. All of their female disciples are going to be insulting us at every chance they get even if we¡¯re not there. Hang on. Doesn¡¯t that mean Lass Yu and Young Shiyi will have to fight? How do I intervene? It feels like I¡¯m forgetting something¡­ Oh, right, I was opening a door.

    A bad shifu¡¯splex marital issues will distract you like that.

    Let¡¯s get this door open, shall we?

    As I mumbled to myself, I mindlessly pushed the door opposite me, swinging it open.

    Eh? Which door was this one? Eeeh?! Wrong door!

    Glossary

    Eternal me ¨C A mythical me that supposedly burns forever

 Book 13: Chapter 134

    Book 13: Chapter 134

    I rushed to pull the door back. s, the door didn¡¯t have a handle, not to mention it was a heavy stone one¡­ As a result, I tripped and stumbled inside. And, of course, it just had to be the first door of all doors¡­

    *&^%#!

    Who would want to watch Jiang Chen bury his beloved?! I wanted treasures! I had a debt to pay off!

    Fine, let¡¯s see what your beloved is! Let¡¯s see if it¡¯s worth a million silver taels!

    The room behind the door was unexpectedly narrow and small. I¡¯d say it couldpare to Liu Shan Men¡¯s doghouse. It was virtually empty, too.

    I rolled to my feet with the support of my hands. ¡°Hah, you think a mere door can obstruct m-, whoa! Ow!¡±

    As I rubbed my head, I looked at the big box that dropped onto my head.

    ¡­ Are you three years old?! Are you a brat who just started sleeping on his own?! How childish do you have to be to be pulling the object-above-a-door prank?!

    In my fit of anger, I flipped the box over and back to check it out. Whatever it was made of, it was damn heavy. The text on it read, ¡°He who is struck by this upon entering is of anserine stupidity.¡±

    Anseriwhat?

    In small font beneath the word, it said, ¡°He who does not know the word ¡°anserine¡± is an insult to the intelligence of pigs.

    ¡­ Okay¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll let you win for now.

    I angrily opened the box. The interior text read, ¡°It is rude to look.¡±

    It is rude to look? It is rude to look?! So this box was there just to smash me on the head?!

    I was extremely close to smashing the box on the ground, but the graceful gentleman in me urged me to ce it on the sole long-square stone shelf.

    I picked up a torch to survey the room, and there really wasn¡¯t anything besides the shelf. I moved the torch up close to the tform for a closer look, where I spotted a small square slot in it. The text in the slot¡¯s base read, ¡°Insert box here.¡±

    So the box is the key to operate the mechanism?

    Once I finished slotting the box in, a muffled sound starteding from the tform until there was a small opening in the side of it. Once the lock came undone, the tform became just a thin stone b that I could lift off to see below.

    At the bottom was a stone coffin and more text carved onto the lid. The text read, ¡°You truly are a gentleman. Most people would throw away the box in retaliation to the insult. This box¡¯s materials are special. Once you open the box, if it bumps into anything, it is very responsive to altering shape, which would render it impossible to operate the mechanism. The fact that you are reading this now proves you are a truly magnanimous man.¡±

    I¡­ feel bad now.

    The only reason I didn¡¯t smash the box was because I didn¡¯t see anything else in the room. Maybe the box was worth a coin or two.

    ¡°You are a true gentleman who can be trusted. This ce is the resting ce of Daxia¡¯s Tianfeng imperial family.¡±

    Ah? Wasn¡¯t Tianfeng n the rtives of the previous¡¯ dynasty¡¯s Empress? How did they suddenly be the imperial family itself? I suppose that exins the murky aura in here, as well as the expensive coffins and doors. Since it¡¯s the imperial family¡¯s tomb, it, no, it still doesn¡¯t exin the extreme opulence. I don¡¯t know if even Emperor Yuansheng would embellish his tomb with such valuables.

    ¡°This one¡¯ste wife is the imperial family¡¯s Princess. This one¡¯s eternal regret is that he could not be by her side to take care of her after his abrupt departure. Please help him put histe wife to rest. You shall be handsomely rewarded as appreciation.¡±

    The person in the coffin is Jiang Chen¡¯ste wife?! So his ¡°beloved¡± is his wife?! I hope every generation of your family is dead broke! I thought your ¡°beloved¡± was some ancient treasure! You want me to put your wife to rest after all the crap you put me through?! You im you¡¯re from the same generation as my grandmaster, yet you don¡¯t bury your wife after marrying her?! Embarrassing! You make men look bad!

    I was furious, yet I started thinking back on the skeleton praying in the well-lit room.

    ¡­ Even if I¡¯m willing toy her to rest, where am I going to find a hole big enough for the coffin, not to mention myck of tools?

    ¡°All required tools can be found beside the stone tform,¡± was carved onto the stone along with considerate directions to the coffin. Its exact location to bury her was described in immense detail. The man was asking for a favour, yet he even fussed over the fengshui.

    I begrudgingly picked up the tools that I was too familiar with ¨C shovel, hoe, axe¡­ Every time I shovelled, I cursed Jiang Chen. Every time I swung the hoe, I cursed his mom. I ended up cursing eighteen generations of his family twice before I dug as deep as he requested.

    Uh¡­ How do I bury her when the coffin is so heavy?

    ng! I lost my grip on the shovel when I hit something so solid that my hand went numb.

    ¡­ Jiang Chen, don¡¯t tell me you deliberately buried a rock down at this specific spot. I¡¯m done! This is as far as I¡¯m digging!

    Strangely, the solid object was as t as a board. Unable to resist my curiosity, I scraped aside the mud with the shovel. As soon as I identified it was a stone b, I saw more damn text!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You are a man who can trust others. Burying this one¡¯ste wife is an unwarranted request that you could have ignored. Greed is a normal part of being human. If someone with malicious intent pried open the coffin for valuables, the poison arrow inside would take their life. Their death is only but well deserved.

    ¡­ I just forgot there were usually things buried with the dead¡­

    The fact that you are reading this indicates you are a man of your word with a magnanimous heart, the sort of man this one seeks. Being able toe this far proves that you are a man of great intellect and courage.

    I never wanted toe here! You kidnapped me! Also, I only ended up here because I identally opened the wrong door!

    ¡°However, there is no shortage of smart and strong people who are actually nefarious in nature. The heart of man has never been easy to read. This one¡¯s master lost everything precisely due to mistrusting the wrong person. This one set up three locks to test visitors¡¯ characters.

    ¡°The first tested trait is sincerity. While one who is willing to obtain martial arts secrets possesses wisdom and big ambitions, he is not the one this one seeks. This is the only room with valuables to be taken. The other two rooms are traps that will cost the seeker¡¯s life. He who enters them will rot along with this cavern, and no pity will be offered.¡±

    ¡­ Are you three years old?! Are you?! Why does someone deserve to die just because they¡¯re not willing to bury your wife?! Who would leave empty handed after all the crap they had to endure to get here? What are you even angry about?! If I didn¡¯t happen to be the first person here, god knows how many people you¡¯d kill!

    ¡°The second tested trait is tolerance. To see the stone b after the insults is proof you have a big heart. The third test trait is trustworthiness. He who cannot dig deep is not one who keeps his word. You are reading this now because you have a sincere heart and strong will. This one can trust this ce to you.¡±

    I discovered that, at the end of the carving, there was a movable door in the centre of the stone b.

    Finally found it!

 Book 13: Chapter 135

    Book 13: Chapter 135

    I was going to zip through the door at first, but I ended up stopping myself because Jiang Chen might¡¯ve had more traps waiting for me to set off. Even if they didn¡¯t kill me, I¡¯d have been vexed if I was hit on the head one more time for his amusement. I cautiously checked the surroundings before I slipped through the moving door.

    I knew I was in the right ce as soon as I reached the bottom. Instead of being pitch ck, there was the fluorescent green light I espied when I looked up from below. The source of the light were the ten ¨C based on my quick count ¨C luminous pearls.

    What? Take them all? Amateur. I¡¯d take three to check for authenticity first. They alone were enough to repay the majority of my debt, after all¡­

    I lit up a roll of paper used as a torch to light up the unused candles on the wall. With enough light, I finally realised how enormous the room was; it wasrger than the three rooms abovebined. More importantly, there were more big chests than I could count! You bet I rushed over to the chests!

    The dozens closest to me were virtually empty. Some of them were used to store rusty armour. I guess it would¡¯ve made sense if Jiang Chen already used some of the equipment and weaponry. Judging from the golden powder in the chests towards the rear, they were most likely once used to store gold. The twenty-plus big chests right at the back were the ones that had me grinning from ear to ear. They were big chests, and two of them were packed with gold!

    I didn¡¯t cry. That was some dust in my eyes.

    Finally! At longst! Waaah! Gold! Gold! I love you, Jiang Chen!

    The two chests of gold distracted me for a long time. The majority of the other chests among those twenty-plus stored antiques and other valuables.

    Mm¡­ It¡¯s all mine now! Nobody is to touch any of it!

    I buried histe wife for him. I righteously and fairly earned my remuneration. I didn¡¯t steal. I didn¡¯t need to share it with anyone!

    Behind the chests was another dark roombelled ¡°Righteously stolen rare treasures across the world¡±. This meant that the military equipment and valuables outside the room weren¡¯t the most important items.

    I pushed opened the door to behold dozens of bookshelves lined up along the left and just one weapon rack on the right. I saw martial arts manuals for advanced skills from over a hundred sects. Given how much variety there was, it was impossible for any sect topare; not even Shaolin, the supposed progenitor of all martial arts, had as many manuals in their possession. The swordy manuals, in particr, made up around 70% of the total.

    I skimmed through one book and discovered the manual¡¯snguage was so sophisticated that I actually needed to invest effort to understand it. I recognised some of the manual names, but I had never heard of any existing practitioners. In other words, at some point, the knowledge within had ceased to be passed down. The swordy skills, in particrly, hadn¡¯t been disyed in a very long time.

    If someone was to use the knowledge to raise an elite unit¡­

    I shook my head. Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members were terrible fighters. Fiends¡¯ Genesis had been famous for two to three decades already. Plus, they had plenty of time to cultivate the current generation after their leader went missing. Therefore, time couldn¡¯t have been the barrier to their development.

    Wait a minute. The empty chests outside¡­ Maybe Jiang Chen already tried? Was he willing to teach but unable to see his efforts being meaningful and concluded it was too hard to develop a group of elites? Whatever. I can muse about itter.

    I went over to the weapon rack. There were only five weapons on the lonely rack, all of which had varying degrees of wear. The one farthest away from the centre was a wooden cudgel that was probably only added recently considering its condition.

    The top line of the rack¡¯s text read, ¡°Sacrificial Sage¡±, and the small text underneath it read, ¡°My son¡¯s self-created weapon¡±. Based on the fact that I heard Jiang Chen refer to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ as his child, it was safe to conclude that the cudgel was Shang Bieshi¡¯s weapon.

    From what I heard, Shang Bieshi was an extraordinary fighter who could virtually do it all. It was surprising to learn his preferred weapon of choice was a cudgel. I presumed that an ordinary wooden cudgel was put in its ce since the real one was taken out for some purpose.

    Further back, there was a sword with thebel ¡°Normal¡± underneath it. When I pulled it out of its slot, sparks went flying violently, startling the daylights out of me. When I touched the ck rack, I discovered it was made from ck aurum, yet the sword left a big scratch due to me pulling it out. ¡°Normal¡±, my foot. It could almost rival Overarching Heaven.

    Wait! Isn¡¯t ¡°Normal¡± the signature sword of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Sword Immortal Grasshouse¡¯s patriarch, Wordless Sword Deity? What the hell is it doing here?! So Wordless Sword Deity and Elder Brilliant Broadsworder lost their weapons despite badly hurting Shang Bieshi?

    Supposedly, the fight two decades ago was very close. However, judging from the fact that ¡°Normal¡± and Shang Bieshi¡¯s weapons were both here, some part of the story was never told to others not directly involved in the tussle.

    Given their weapons are here, does that mean the weapons stored on this rack are all the best weapons in the world?

    The third weapon was a spear that was significantly longer and heavier than the typical spear. I couldn¡¯t see how it was superior to other spears besides its sturdy build, though. The tip, as a matter of fact, was round enough to be ssified as blunt and carried rust. It was hard to imagine it could¡¯ve even cut pork in its prime. In spite of all that, I believed that it was a symbol of unspeakable courage and hope; wherever the wielder was, it was the safest ce in the world.

    The name of the spear was ¡°Unstoppable de¡±. The attached text was, ¡°Thete General Ran¡¯s weapon. This one has been all over the world and met innumerable extraordinary men but noneparable to General Ran. Despite not having a sharpened de, there is not a single weapon capable of stopping it. This one has taken it upon himself to respectfully keep his spear protected.¡±

    Following a long silence, I offered the spear a respectful bow, pulled it out and set it on the ground. I touched the spear simrly to a child ying with his toy, searching for even the smallest fragment that could be used to restore its former glory. Unfortunately, an iron spear was only an iron spear at the end of the day.

    ¡°¡­ Thank you. I¡¯m doing well.¡± I wiped the spear a few times prior to setting it back.

    ¡­ Let¡¯s bring it along when I get out of here.

    The next weapon in line was a pudao, which was likely a substitute, as well. Beneath it, there was one word ¡°Punished¡±.

    Jiang Chen even has one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding des? I¡¯m finally understanding what he meant by having collected all the best treasures in the world.

    Considering the weapons and manuals in Jiang Chen¡¯s collection, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised in the slightest if it was revealed that there was a Divine Realm warrior under him.

    Thest weapon wasbelled, ¡°Family heirloom sword¡±, and there was no extra boration. All it had going for it was its antique designed. But, speaking as an experienced martial artist, it was usually the ordinary-looking weapons that were the best.

    Jiang Chen imed to be a bearer of the Gongsun surname, which was the surname of the world¡¯s top sword n from ages ago and even now. Eastern China¡¯s Sea¡¯s Sword Sage was a descendant of Gongsun n. You think a sword passed down in their family would be ordinary?

    I drew out the sword, and it was bizarrely ordinary.

    Mm¡­ Graceful sword. Very graceful.

    I swung the sword around a few times, but it didn¡¯t impress me. I felt I could swing even a kitchen knife quicker.

    No, no, this is unmistakably a truly supreme sword. To still keep a low profile at this stage¡­ you know it¡¯s the cream of the crop!

    I violently chopped the rack with the sword.

    ng! The ringing echoes hurt my ears!

    I knew it was a godly sword! With a straight face, I pulled the sword back and gently brushed it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°This one learned swordy from childhood. In one swing, he can drop neen, hmm? Was the sword always this short?¡±

    After running my hand halfway down the de, I realised¡­ the other half was missing. I nced out of my peripherals to see the other half lying on the ground. I picked up the disced half, shoved it back into the sheath and then shoved the part in my hand back in on top.

    ¡­ Oh crud¡­ Let¡¯s put it b-, no, I should take it! I¡¯ll have Sword Sage chasing me to the end of the world and back if word gets out that I snapped Gongsun n¡¯s family heirloom. Yes, it¡¯s not a crime unless you get caught!

    I ran out of the room and into the second room without thinking. There were only four stone walls in the room, but the murals on them grabbed my attention straight away. In the centre, there was a line of text that read, ¡°Supreme Demon Destroys the World Mural¡±. I checked out the uneasy drawing and read the first two Chinese characters I noticed, and the two that concerned me most, ¡°Demon Star¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 136

    Book 13: Chapter 136

    ¡°Demon Star¡±, was a phrase synonymous with ¡°Cmity¡±.

    There were nine drawings ¨C or nine scenes ¨C on the walls that made up ¡°Cmity¡± and not much text. To speak more precisely, there were few Chinese characters to glean much from the artwork. At the top of each drawing, there were several lines of text that I could onlypare to runes that spirits would use or something. The only way I could tell that the texts had actual meaning was the section dead centre which connected to the different big text in the middle ¨C Supreme Demon Destroys the World Mural.

    The only other line of legible text for me was the text in the top left of the first drawing, which was where I spotted ¡°Cmity¡±. The full section read, ¡°Chaos descends upon mankind and threatens to bring ruin. It all starts with Cmity.¡±

    It was clear that the same person wrote the two sections ofprehensible text based on their handwriting. I assumed the ¡°Supreme Demon Destroys the World Mural¡± section was something that somebody from ater generation tranted as the difference in when the murals and text were added was evident.

    I folded my arms and ruminated on the ¡°Cmity¡± part. I had heard it mentioned more recently as well as long ago, and I had heard it from different people. Jiang Chen had mentioned he was still searching for it. Grandmaster mentioned it once, and I believed it was a big deal because he had his brows furrowed when he brought it up, although he usually had his brows together due to his poor eye sight. Anyhow, I believed that frown was different to his usual frown. Shifu didn¡¯t seem to give a toss when he mentioned it, so I didn¡¯t care about it, either. I vaguely remembered Ximen Chuideng mentioning the word had something to do with an old legend. The word left a big impression on Ximen Chuideng because he didn¡¯t realise the legend was also told in the Central in. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t privy to the details.

    While I didn¡¯t know much about what the world implied, thanks to my wisdom, I was able to draw an inference based on the reactions from various people. I believed Cmity referred to an individual, not a star.

    ¡­ Who just called me stupid?! I can hear you!

    I wasn¡¯t about to believe that so many old folks qualified to call themselves stalwarts of the martial world just happened to be astronomy hobbyists. If you told me they got together to y mah-jong, I¡¯d believe you. If you told me that were counting stars and praising the night scenery together, I wouldn¡¯t be able to imagine it, nor would I dare to.

    If this individual in question wasn¡¯t important, Jiang Chen wouldn¡¯t have spent decades searching for them and still be searching. From this alone, we knew two things. Firstly, the individual was incredibly important. Secondly, they were tough to find. I was dead sure about the second point since even Grandmaster couldn¡¯t find the individual with his wealth of knowledge.

    Jiang Chen suspected my shifu and Shang Bieshi of being Cmity, but it waster proven that neither of them were Cmity. Shifu and Shang Bieshi didn¡¯t have any connection. From what I knew, Shang Bieshi was the scion of some mysterious imperial family or military family of an erstwhile dynasty. My shifu was a bum from a fishing vige. Seeing as Jiang Chen considered them to be Cmity, it was probably safe to assume that Cmity¡¯s identity didn¡¯t have anything to do with lineage. They couldn¡¯t have been someone rted to martial artspetence, either, since Shang Bieshi wasn¡¯t able to fight before Jiang Chen took him in, and my shifu only learnt martial artster in life. The onlymon denominator between Shang Bieshi and my shifu ¨C as much as I hated to admit it ¨C was that they were both blessed with woman-killer appearances. But how did looking ugly or cool have anything to do with a cmity destroying the world?

    The young elites of Valley of Viins were called ¡°cmities¡±, too.

    I better be careful from now on just to be safe.

    Jiang Chen¡¯s so-called big secrets are these murals?

    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the murals were drawn over a century ago given Jiang Chen¡¯s age, but I didn¡¯t have any reliable estimation as to when they were drawn.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Instead of drawing the murals with the intention ofbining hues into a pleasing colourbination or ck and white aesthetics, the artist boldly filled in all of the space without any regard for aesthetics or order. That disorder and rawness made the art feel more chaotic and creepy. The demons had long eyes and sinister grins that looked extra freaky with the demented trails of blood. This art style waspletely unlike anything I knew of in the current era. Even if you had been staring at it for a while, which was tough to do, it didn¡¯t feel any less freaky. Calming colours were rarely used in the murals, while red, dark purple and dark blue upied most of the space. The ubiquitous sh of colours created the impression of constant chaos. The grinning demons looked ready to pounce at any onlooker who disapproved of their behaviour.

    I had to meticulously study the murals to realise that the murals had actually been moved to these walls from somewhere else. Besides the way it was awkwardly attached to the unfitting wall, the splits around were also unnatural. Judging from the colouring job at the bottom looking undone, the section underneath must¡¯ve been torn off, or they failed to move it over.

    Assuming this cavern was the tomb of the previous dynasty, then this ce was constructed around decades to a century ago. This stone room waspleted before that, but only around thest century mark. This mural was brought over from somewhere else, meaning that the mural was possibly even older than this room. However¡­ the colouring job looked unreasonably new no matter if you argued I was in a dark room or if you shone a bright light on it. It was almost as if the mural was some ancient blood-sucking demon.

    As I stood there examining the mural, it genuinely felt as though I was standing there among a group of demons. It was impossible to feel any peace for as long as you stood in the room. The art style, or maybe it was the colour scheme, instilled fear.

    Just who would draw this?

 Book 13: Chapter 137

    Book 13: Chapter 137

    In some scenes, only beasts and monsters existed in the chaotic world depicted.

    In some scenes, mankind, fighting in some big battle, ruled the world.

    In some scenes, demons and devils fought against mankind¡¯s physical weapons with their ws, fangs and magic. In the same scenes, there were crying women, elderly, children, as well as young animals fleeing for dear life.

    In other scenes, there were demons and devils merrily sharing banquets with humans. In the very same scenes, there were some demons cunningly shing a corner of their fangs. Some demons proudly geared up in armour.

    In one drawing, humans hunted demons down and skinned them alive no differently to what one might imagine hideous demons would do unto humans.

    In one drawing, there were six individuals d in blue glows. They seemed to be the only symbols of justice in the nine drawings. Their leader inherited the power of the five other members to separate humans and demons, effectively creating a new world order.

    In one drawing, nine individuals attired in ck overcoats descended from the sky. Their leader, brandishing a scarlet sword, destroyed all order with a single sh. Strewn weapons and armour were left lying in the middle of the battlefield. No human cried. No demon panicked. There was but only violence imposed on one another.

    The drawing to the farthest left was the sole piece that echoed the emergence of Cmity. The descent of Cmity from above blotched out all light in the world and thrust misery upon all life below.

    Contradicting all the other disturbing drawings, the final image depicted an infant soundly sleeping. The others in the drawing were cheerfully singing and dancing away.

    Speaking from the perspective of an intellectual, the nine drawings seemed to tell a story, except it was tough to determine where the beginning and end were.

    So, as I was saying ¡°Cmity¡± referred to an individual, and said individual was the infant. And then! The birth of the infant preceded the demon¡¯s descent, which meant that the demon was his dad. ¡°Cmity¡± was bullied, so his old man had toe and stand up for his kid. After that, the whatever-the-hell-they-were freaks came out and bullied ¡°Cmity¡±. That was the ck head went and smoked them.

    Hang on¡­ Have I got it backwards? Uh¡­ I think I did.

    L-look, just know that the drawings were a prophecy. This isn¡¯t my profession. You think everyone could do Lai Jingzhen¡¯s job?

    Long-story short, the birth of ¡°Cmity¡± would give rise to an unpredictable catastrophe.

    Wait. If it does give rise to a catastrophe, does that mean the big ck head is ¡°Cmity¡±? Nah, nah, nah, I can¡¯t be wrong. The infant is ¡°Cmity¡±. Jiang Chen wants to restore the previous dynasty and cause uproar, so he needs to find ¡°Cmity¡± to facilitate that. Full marks for me.

    What sort of secret is this? Jiang Chen, have you any shame, calling yourself a schr? A superstitious mind is the downfall of even a bright man.

    I¡¯ll take these drawings back for Shifu and Grandmaster to take a look. They should understand it. Even if they don¡¯t, it¡¯s still an antique, which Shifu loves. Yeah, I can use it as his wedding gift! Tsk, tsk, I envy you for having such an outstanding disciple, Shifu.

    I left the second room without any weight on my shoulders and then entered the final room ¨C the stone room that was where Jiang Chen supposedly prepared the coffin for histe wife. Thus far, all the rooms had contained exactly what he imed them to have. Since I had found Jiang Chen¡¯s treasure trove and had no intention of giving anything back to him, I felt it was best to actuallyy histe wife to rest. I didn¡¯t expect thest room to beid out identically to the room above.

    Another stone tform, tsk, tsk.

    I opened the door, and another boxnded on my head, again! I pulled out his family heirloom and chopped the stone tform without any remorse, cracking the sword in several ces.

    Now I feel better. Listen, Jiang Chen: the next time you hit me on the head with a box, I¡¯ll sell this sword to a brothel!

    There were no devices inside the box. Instead, there was just an iron scroll. I went to sit on the stone tform to read the contents. ¡°If you were hit by this box again, you have proven yourself honest to a fault. You may use this stone tform as your seat.¡±

    Thanks for being so considerate. Couldn¡¯t you have ced the box on the tform, then?! You three years old?!

    ¡°Given you are here, you have inherited this one¡¯s treasures. To clear any unease and confusion you may have, allow this one to exin in this scroll. This one¡¯s name is Gongsun Chu. He was a minister who served Daxia. Thanks to His Majesty¡¯s generosity, this one was granted Princess Pingan¡¯s hand in marriage, a blessing that is iparable to anything else.

    ¡°Traitors have sabotaged the peace. The pce was breached, and this one was powerless to stop the invaders. This one has decided to sacrifice his life to thank his father. His only hope is to protect His Majesty¡¯s descendant and raise them so that they can restore the glory of Daxia. This is all that this one can do to repay His Majesty¡¯s kindness.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°This one¡¯s wife was blessed with extraordinary intellect and talents. Pingan thought of building out the storage in the imperial tomb in hopes of empowering our next generation. s, as a consequence of overworking herself to design the storage areas, a severe condition ailed her. At the same time her health began to wane, evildoers decided to invade aggressively. Sadly, this one was not their match. Knowing her wick was burning out fast, Pingan activated ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯ to protect this one by segregating us into different sections. As much as this one wanted to go out there and fight the enemy, he could not unlock ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯. By the time we were reunited, ownership of thend had exchanged hands. Li n rose to power, and hopes of restoring Daxia seemed dashed.

    ¡°The stone rooms to store valuables outside the stone pce were built for someone in the future generation to hopefully find.

    ¡°The underground pce is difficult to navigate. There are only two paths that can be used, one of which only this one knows and the other which is only visible once ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯ is unlocked. You must have found your way here via thetter path.

    ¡°This one knows you are a man of your word. You may take any valuables you desire here, be it weapons, martial arts manuals or anything else. This one only asks that you graciouslyy histe wife to rest.

    ¡°This one always held himself in high esteem, yet he could not do anything for his country. He failed to apany his father, failed to keep his promise to his friends and cannot be reunited with his wife. Please bear in mind this one¡¯s failures to not make the same mistakes.¡±

    I touched the piece of jade in my sash. I finally knew who she wanted to pass it on to.

    You have my word.

    ¡°Activating the mechanism at the stone tform will permit ess to the outside world.¡±

    I froze in ce as joy washed over me.

    ¡­ This is what I was looking for!

    The iron scroll even had a map to get out from the stone tform, and aforementioned map was exactly identical to the one I envisioned. In other words, I had found my ticket out!

 Book 13: Chapter 138

    Book 13: Chapter 138

    I was in no rush to leave. Instead, I returned to the stone room to analyse all the information once again. I examined the stone carvings again in detail, went back to the room with books and did everything I could to facilitate the search for ¡°Cmity¡±.

    By the time I unlocked the secret path and left, I had learnt enough of Gongsun Chu¡¯s history to understand how Gongsun Chu transformed into Jiang Chen.

    To say Gongsun Chu was a schr was greatly downying him as a character. He was born the scion of the world¡¯s brightest swordsmen and studied under respected mentors from childhood in numerous subjects. He was a just and upright man with a promising future. He had already earned the respect of many others as a youth for punishing evildoers. Once he began his career as a civil servant, his impartial temperament and sesses saw him soar up the rankings. People had begun to call him the star of the sword and brush, a catalyst to the imperial court¡¯s sess. He never thought that two strongly simr people would appear a decadeter, and those two didn¡¯t meet a better end by any stretch of the imagination, but let the afterstory be another topic.

    The Emperor passed away during a tumultuous time, leaving his barely-seven son to inherit the mantle. At the same time, the country¡¯s vassals pursued their own selfish motives while foreigners were looking to take a piece of the cake.

    He was ready to give up when he realised his efforts to save the nation were futile. That was when another reliable individual suddenly called it quits and turned on his former master at a pivotal time. Another violent wave crashed down and swept across thend until a new family name took over the dynasty that had a millennium of history.

    Once the new order was established, he risked his neck to raise the former dynasty¡¯s g with the help of histe wife¡¯s belongings and ran toward the long, thick wall he couldn¡¯t possibly move. He had lost his motivation to live. From the moment his wife sacrificed herself to cut him off from the bronze pce, he was but a soulless sack of flesh striving for but only one goal ¨C to restore the former dynasty. How that turned out needed no boration beyond the name ¡°Jiang Chen¡±.

    The two powers associated with Gongsun Chu further proved his hopeless efforts as well as his efforts to overthrow the reigning rule. Confucianism went from the ruler of the martial world to a small group in the corner of East China Sea and had to rebrand themselves as Canghai Sect. Gongsun n was left with only their past glory to talk about.

    I had heard plenty regarding Gongsun n. They were held in the same regard as Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Serene Sword Immortal Grasshouse when it came to being ¡°heaven¡± for swordsmen. However, even the young generation of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary were now more famous than Gongsun n.

    Gongsun n¡¯s downfall was a natural decline. There was never any witch hunting of Gongsun n in the pugilistic world, and the imperial court never once obstructed them. I never understood how the greatest n of swordsmen vanished into obscurity until I read through the secret manuals and Gongsun Chu¡¯s notebooks.

    The secret manuals were Gongsun n¡¯s foundation; you could even say it was all of Gongsun n.

    Gongsun n rushed to express friendship when the new dynasty¡¯s Emperor marched into the Central in. As the head of the n, Gongsun Chu sold out his former master for ¡°glory¡±, effectively creating a rift in the family, and he hid all their manuals in the underground pce. His actions sealed the fate of Gongsun n.

    Without Gongsun n¡¯s passed-down swordy collection, all that remained was the knowledge that Gongsun n members had at the time. Even if their knowledge was coted, it would still only be crumbs of the entire system. Moreover, there were some selfish people who refused to share their knowledge, elerating the n¡¯s downfall.

    As a consequence of his actions, Gongsun Chu was no longer epted in his own n and even considered a sinner of Confucianism.

    Perhaps Gongsun Chu returned to the underground pce many times following his departure over the course of the next century. Howbeit, he never left another message. Mayhap all he ever added was the sparse text on the weapon rack. Despite him never mentioning anything further, I knew what he came back for ¨C equipment and manuals to continue his rebellion efforts. After his first failed attempt, he tried a second time and then a third¡­ He was so hell-bent on restoring Daxia that he even searched out the vague existence of ¡°Cmity¡±. To achieve his goal, he established Fiends¡¯ Genesis and raised Shang Bieshi, but he only seeded in failing time and time again. Of course, he also came back for histe wife whom he had been separated from for eternity.

    Gongsun Chu might¡¯ve only learnt how to unlock ¡°Autumn Lock¡± recently considering it was among the most advanced topics in the subject of contraptions. In spite of Mount Daluo¡¯s long history, in addition to Grandmaster and Shifu¡¯s vast knowledge, even we didn¡¯t have such a bigwork of mechanisms set up on Mount Daluo.

    I was only able to unlock Heaven and Earth Lock thanks to the conditions for unlocking it on top of the people I had at my disposal. Unlocking ¡°Autumn Lock¡± was a whole different animal. Unlocking ¡°Autumn Lock¡± must¡¯ve costed Gongsun Chu a lot of time, or he wouldn¡¯t have needed to reach out to Tang n, which led to him bing acquainted with Elder Lianhua. He didn¡¯t tell Elise the conditions for unlocking the locks so that she could open the doors; he wanted her to be a medium that passed on the knowledge. He, obviously, wasn¡¯t trying to pass the information to me but to Blood Demon ¨C Xue Yanjun. Xue Yanjun had the ability to unlock Heaven and Earth Lock on her own, after all.

    As I silently travelled down the dark path, I contemted everything about Gongsun Chu and the praying skeleton. Grandmaster told me that there was a ruthless purge of the previous dynasty when the Nine Provinces¡¯ dynasty was established. Whether it was objects, culture or buildings of the previous dynasty, everything was ordered to be erased. As a result of the purge, there were no cultural simrities between the current and erstwhile dynasty; even notable figures of thest dynasty were seldom mentioned.

    Given the extent of the purge, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine what happened to the personnel of the former dynasty. Following the eradication of thest dynasty¡¯s vassals, the new guardians of the new order were the Seven Champion White Princes.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The iron-fisted rulested until our second Emperor. Instead of eliminating vassals of the former ruler, he treated the former ruler¡¯s vassals with integrity. Only once his stance was clear did people start searching for descendants of the former dynasty. s, there were only few survivors by that point.

    My fourth brother was one of the protected survivors.

 Book 13: Chapter 139

    Book 13: Chapter 139

    Tianfeng n, as far as I was aware, was a big family of the previous dynasty that produced many Empresses for that dynasty. Including myself, not many people could name many members of thest dynasty¡¯s imperial family, but it wasn¡¯t surprising now. If Jiang Chen told the truth, and ¡°Tianfeng¡± was the surname of the previous dynasty¡¯s imperial family¡­ then the purge back then was far crueller than I imagined.

    The reason, or perhaps the condition, for sparing Tianfeng n was that they weren¡¯t allowed to state their affiliation. Tianfeng was a surname that was asionally mentioned in the pugilistic world afterwards, but nobody connected the dots or found it surprising. A number of survivors from the previous dynasty¡¯s vassals survived and still lived thanks to Grandmaster sheltering them.

    Those survivors did everything in their power to raise Fourth, sheltering and training him to be impervious against even des as they feared the Tianfeng bloodline would end. However, they never once considered urging him to restore his family¡¯s glory. Maybe their life of seclusion dulled their desire to restore their dynasty. Having said that, I believed there was a more important reason.

    One question of concern was, why did Gongsun Chu note to Mount Daluo to snatch away Fourth when his desire to restore Daxia was so strong?

    I returned to the surface of the underground pce following the directions Jiang Chen left behind. I hadmitted the map to memory. There were no enemies around. However, finding a way back to where everyone was wouldn¡¯t be easy since Fiends¡¯ Genesis had blocked both paths there. I was trying to figure out how to get back when I heard footsteps.

    ¡°Ouyang?¡±

    ¡°Brother Wu? You¡¯re back!¡± Although Ouyang Xiucai was rendered a mess after all the fighting, he looked happy to see me.

    The two of us conversed as we walked. During my absence, Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group had constantly mounted attacks on us. Teng managed to hold off on one side with the assistance of the holes formation, Gu Xianxian and Yan Jiangnan. Elder Lianhua and Lang Qing didn¡¯t join the fight after they came back. To ensure we always had enough manpower to fight on two fronts, Elise and Su Qi insisted on driving back the enemies alone multiple times for an entire day straight. Only once they exhausted themselves did Elder Lianhua and Lang Qing swap in. Meanwhile, Ouyang Xiucai was sent to search for me. Thanks to hispetence and familiarity with theyout, he was able to take out some of the enemies outside, reducing the pressure on the others. Unfortunately, the situation was still deteriorating for us.

    Elise and Su Qi weren¡¯t going to be back at 100% anytime soon. If we continued having energy issues, it was only a matter of time before we were done in. How was I going to calm down both tense sides and tell them I found an exit?

    ¡°Brother Wu, you must have found a way out.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Let¡¯s talk about it once we regroup. How do we get back?¡±

    ¡°This way. There are no enemies in this direction. We will return via the holes formation. This one was wondering how he¡¯d return, but we will be okay now with you back.¡±

    I trusted Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s judgement, so I followed him.

    ¡°Brother Wu, have you really found a way out?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Whilst still contemting Gongsun Chu¡¯s matters, I casually shook the ornament around. ¡°We need this.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s the former dynasty¡¯s symbol.¡±

    I looked over to Ouyang Xiucai in surprise.

    Ouyang Xiucai smiled. ¡°They liked white birds. The white bird emblem was the noble¡¯s favourite.¡±

    ¡°You really do know a lot. What made you take up embroidery?¡±

    ¡°You mean this one¡¯s knowledge is shallow. He once travelled around the Western Regions, where many cultural things from the Central in are no longer avable. He just happened to see the symbol by luck.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was true that the Western Regions collected a lot of old items from our former dynasties.

    ¡°There really isn¡¯t anyone here. You¡¯ve found some good ces just wandering around.¡±

    There really wasn¡¯t a single enemy footstep to be heard when we entered the stone room. Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s exploration skills weren¡¯t as advanced as mine, but it was still first rate. It was quiet, quiet to the point that I felt a chill up my spine.

    ¡°Oi, oi, don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± I halted in my tracks and grabbed my head. ¡°So this is how it is?¡±

    I let out a big sigh. I spent all that time exploring, yet I glossed over something.

    ¡°The timing of Yuan Kou¡¯s betrayal was unexpected, but he was going to turn sooner orter. Yan Jiangnan insulted his own intelligence with his turn. The most surprising part about Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ turn is their loyalty to Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Even though there was almost an element of surprise each time, I had a way of defusing the situation. You, to the contrary, truly surprised me.¡±

    Without changing his facial expression, Ouyang Xiucai stretched his hands out to his sides, seemingly touching two walls of qi that restricted us to a fixed space that neither we nor our voices could pass through.

    ¡°Su Qi isn¡¯t your match,¡± I muttered. I had a think before adding, ¡°Neither are Yuan Kou nor Elise. Lang Qing might¡¯ve had a chance, but not now that he¡¯s lost his edge.¡±

    ¡°Brother Ming, how does it feel to be the prey?¡± Ouyang Xiucai queried in his usual tone and apanying smile.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± I smiled back. ¡°At least it¡¯s something new.¡±

    ¡°You managed to ovee obstacle after obstacle and even undid Heaven and Earth Locks. Jiang Chen had no idea you were this capable. His instructions for me are rather simple.¡± Ouyang Xiucai shrugged. ¡°I just have to kill anyone who can leave, no matter who it is.¡±

    I took a big breath. ¡°I knew Jiang Chen had a backup n; I should¡¯ve expected it even more after learning his true identity. I had to get rid of them, but I didn¡¯t know who it was. I thought I¡¯d have to kill Elise or Yuan Kou. Never did you cross my mind.¡± I rubbed my head and sat down. ¡°Can you at least entertain my curiosity? Why would you take orders from Jiang Chen?¡±

    ¡°You sound like you know me well, Brother Wu.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Not really.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai stared at me for a long time and then sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I feel what you said to me is true. To show sincerity, I shall be honest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°I did, for a fact, lose my friend. What I didn¡¯t publicise was that he was my closest friend. We trained together, studied together and experienced a lot together for over fifteen years. The only lie I told was that I knew how he died and already tried to avenge him. Sadly, I almost lost my own life in the process due to my ipetence. I always wanted to infiltrate Tang n¡¯s ranks to find the culprit, but I was never sessful.¡±

    ¡°I heard Tang n is facing internal turmoil. They never liked having outsiders in their business, so I strongly advise against trying that again unless you have a death wish.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai shook his head. ¡°Whether there is internal strife or not is of no concern to me, and the existence or absence of danger means nothing. All I want is for the culprit to pay with his life. I agreed to help Jiang Chen because he promised to provide me with a chance to infiltrate their ranks.¡±

    ¡°He definitely likes you. You¡¯re cut from the same cloth, after all,¡± I mumbled, ignoring whether Ouyang Xiucai heard me or not. ¡°That¡¯s your motivation for killing?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I won¡¯t kill?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai had always been categorised as someone whose affiliation was unclear due to how he conducted himself.

    ¡°You may not be a man of benevolence, but you wouldn¡¯t deign to assassination.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai nodded. ¡°You certainly do know me, Brother Wu. I was against the exchange until I learned who would be here. Evildoers from Divine Moon Cult, an assassin from Dongying, a martial-arts-obsessed maniac who¡¯s taken countless lives¡­ None of the others are worth me personally killing. Only you and Yuan Kou were unforeseen.¡±

    ¡°So you deliberately befriended me after I defeated Elder Lianhua to measure me?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely. The more I spent time with you, the more fun I had. If I had the choice, I¡¯d very much wish to befriend you once we were out of here. Regrettably, life does not always work out the way we wish for it to.¡±

    I shut my eyes to analyse all the events, causes and effects. ¡°I always thought it was odd¡­ It all went too smoothly. Instead of mocking Jiang Chen for being overconfident, it feels more like he doesn¡¯t want to concern himself with us. It seems as though he was sure that we would fail no matter how we wore ourselves out. His confidence in our failure must¡¯ve been rooted in his arrangements. Everyone, including Elise, served a function in here. In her case, that was drawing out Xue Yanjun. You were the only one who didn¡¯t have a defined role. The fault lies with me for failing to realise your role.¡±

    I opened my eyes and exhaled a slow breath. ¡°I finally know who unlocked the other lock of Autumn Lock. Jiang Chen, I hate to admit it, but he¡¯s a bloody smart bugger.¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s gaze never left my hands no matter what I said. ¡°You don¡¯t have a formation here or your hidden weapons. Do you have any other means of protecting yourself?¡±

    In a fair fight, I still wasn¡¯t his match. All I could do topensate for the gap was to exploit his weaknesses. He was the ideal executioner, cautious and attentive, reducing his risks of failing to zero. Therefore, it seemed that dying here was my only option.

    ¡°I have witnessed your earnest efforts during this time, and I must give you well-deserved adtion. I admire you. Brother Wu, let us meet again in the next life.¡±

    Jiang Chen. Gongsun Chu. To hell with you, man¡­ You win.

 Book 13: Chapter 140

    Book 13: Chapter 140

    ¡°Rose petals rained down like rain, like tears from a romantic, like blood from a heart hopelessly in love, shrouding the heavens and conquering the mountain. Many moons ago, the romantic nted a mountain of roses for the girl of his dreams just because she said she liked roses. She, however, didn¡¯t feel the same way about him. Heartbroken, he abandoned thousands of furious nsmen and disciples, burnt all the roses, left and began the life of a nomad. This was the reason ¡®Flower Mountain¡¯ had been barren until more recently.

    ¡°This ce is Valley of Yearning, a ce home to stories of love.¡± ¨C ¡°ces Couples Must Visit Rankings 3¡±, ck and White Reflection.

    Hong Jiu soundly slept on a long and narrow bed for a full two hours already since forcing himself to scare off Hai Yecha¡¯s group. During that time, Bai Zhiqing was always there to constantly check his pulse in his left wrist, then his right, then back to his left, then to his left foot¡­ until he went to reach for Hong Jiu¡¯s lower back, prompting Master Qi to exim, ¡°P-Patriarch Bai!¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Since she didn¡¯t think of what to say first, Master Qi mumbled under her breath, ¡°How¡­ is he?¡± as she stole a nce at Hong Jiu.

    Having heard Hong Jiu¡¯s loud voice, seen his exaggerated mannerisms and seen him in action, Master Qi felt it wasn¡¯t right for him to look so weak, to be out, to be deprived of his impressive energy, even though she disliked him.

    Bai Zhiqing shook his head and just looked at Master Qi out of his peripherals.

    ¡°Is his condition really bad?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing shook his head. ¡°Are you¡­ his wife?¡±

    ¡°No! Absolutely not!¡±

    ¡°I see. I guess that¡¯s fine.¡±

    Master Qi, confused, looked to Guan Ning, only to see another puzzled face. ¡°By ¡®fine¡¯, do you mean he is okay or not okay?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing, with his brows knotted, scanned Master Qi over and over until she felt so ufortable. ¡°Are you really not his wife?¡±

    ¡°No! What exactly do you want?!¡±

    ¡°Long legs, narrow waist, she¡¯s Mount Daluo¡¯s type, yet she¡¯s not? She sure had ate growth spurt,¡± Bai Zhiqing muttered. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that what I¡¯m about to say is reserved only for his wife to hear.¡±

    There were many circumstances where someone had to entrustst words to a rtive in the pugilistic world, most of which were times when someone didn¡¯t have much longer to live. Bai Zhiqing¡¯s tone and choice of words had Master Qi going between pale and rosy.

    Master Qi: How am I supposed to find his wife all of a sudden? Besides, he¡­ a girl would have to be blind to like him.

    Fang Xiaoyu lost his patience and asked, ¡°Is Brother Hong done for? Patriarch Bai, you are a man of great skill and knowledge. Please find a way to save him.¡±

    Even after Guan Ning joined in with Fang Xiaoyu, Bai Zhiqing just shook his head as if he didn¡¯t hear them and questioned, ¡°So who is his wife, then?¡± as he quickly swept his gaze over them and stopped on Master Qi, again. ¡°Must be you.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Master Qi red at Bai Zhiqing with her eyes as wide as they could go, not that it scared him in the slightest.

    ¡°So, you hate him?¡±

    ¡°To death.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Based on my experience, women love to say the opposite of how they truly feel. You say you hate him, but you can¡¯t ignore him. Hey, hey, keep your sword sheathed. I can¡¯t beat your sister. Let me ask you this: do you always hate him? Are there never moments where you think he¡¯s quite reliable, quite manly?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Whatever came to Master Qi¡¯s mind, it was enough to shut down her retort.

    ¡°So there are.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s it to you?! Just tell us how he¡¯s faring.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing shrugged. ¡°So are you his wife or not?¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine, I am! Now tell us!¡±

    ¡°You would¡¯ve saved everyone a lot of time if you were just honest from the beginning. Give me your ear.¡± In a voice only the two of them could hear, Bai Zhiqing whispered, ¡°I can tell only you this.¡±

    Master Qi was mentally prepared to hear that Hong Jiu¡¯s condition was so terrible that he¡¯d need to be transported back to Mount Tian for her sister to help.

    ¡°I¡¯ve checked carefully. He¡¯s very healthy. His wife is blessed to have a husband so healthy even when he¡¯s been hurt so bad.¡±

    Master Qi went totally red in the face. ¡°What nonsense are you talking about?!¡±

    ¡°Uplifting the sad mood,¡± replied Bai Zhiqing, with a straight face. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of foreign energy attacking his body. His meridians are damaged. He should rx and avoid vigorous activity for half a month after the spirit of the broadsword attack is expelled if he wants a full recovery. Yet, he forced himself to perform such a powerful palm strike. Logically speaking, his meridians should be dead and injuries incurable; it¡¯d be a waste of herbs to treat him.¡±

    ¡°H-he¡¯s crippled? He¡­¡±

    Because of one sentence from Drought Demon, Hong Jiu jumped into the battlefield despite having the advantage already, and in spite of him being surrounded in enemies, he managed to smash through Drought Demon¡¯s true qi armour. He would talk the talk, but he would also walk the walk. He was a man of his word, and he always delivered with a strong impression.

    You¡­ seriously must be¡­

    ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t jump to your own conclusions. Didn¡¯t I preface it with ¡®logically speaking¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Miss Wen, my idol preaches a saying that you ought to remember. When someone in the pugilistic world says ¡®logically speaking¡¯, never believe a word that is in the same sentence. If everything in the pugilistic world followed logic, who would bother learning martial arts? They¡¯d pick up books and brushes to debate logic. Believe a de, not logic. This is an unyielding truth.¡±

    Since he said that, Master Qi drew her sword and thrust it toward Bai Zhiqing¡¯s head.

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, rx! I was just joking! Rx!¡±

    Suddenly, Hong Jiu snored loudly, making Master Qi stop in her tracks. No matter how she reflected on it, she didn¡¯t feel it was the snore of someone hanging on by a thread or still injured.

    ¡°He¡¯s resting. I repeat: not recovering. Resting.¡± Bai Zhiqing dusted himself and sauntered over to Master Qi. ¡°Logically speaking, he should be crippled, but he¡¯s not. As a matter of fact, he¡¯s healing from his injuries. Parts that were supposed to die are healing. By the time he wakes up, he¡¯ll be overflowing with energy again.¡±

    Master Qi heaved a breath of relief and loosened her grip on her sword hilt.

    Bai Zhiqing added, ¡°He truly is blessed with immense talent; there¡¯s no way you can reach his level with smarts alone. He¡¯s one in a million. He¡¯s even physically built to excel at martial arts. I genuinely can¡¯t think of a reason to deny him leadership of Mount Daluo.

    ¡°Remember how confident he sounded back there? Based on the unyielding truth, he¡¯d fight to be patriarch if nobody gave it to him, and nobody could stop him. Yet, instead of seeding his teacher or fighting for the seat, he¡¯s willing to be Night Fortress or whatever¡¯s second inmand, and he¡¯s happy about it. Hahaha, life sure is full of surprises.¡±

    Staring at Hong Jiu, Master Qi suddenly said, ¡°Because he has acknowledged a certain someone. Someone like him won¡¯t change their mind once they acknowledge someone¡­ He¡¯s a true idiot.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s gentle tone was totally incongruent with what actually came out of her mouth. She, actually, appreciated that part about Hong Jiu.

    As he watched her expression, Bai Zhiqing wiped away his serious face and¡­ officially started revelling in the fun he could have from teasing.

    ***

    As soon as Hong Jiu opened his eyes, he rolled out of bed and onto the ground in a fighting pose. ¡°I¡¯m back and better than ever!¡±

    ¡°You sure woke up early.¡±

    Hong Jiu turned to the speaker. ¡°Third Master.¡±

    ¡°No more ¡®Grandpa¡¯?¡±

    Hong Jiu wagged his hand. ¡°That was to make you look good in public. It is not something you can treat seriously.¡±

    ¡°True. It feels wrong to be your senior when your shifu is my idol. Just call me ¡®Third Brother Bai¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Third Brother.¡±

    The two shared a nce, then heartilyughed without any regard for the people sleeping.

    ¡°I estimated you¡¯d be back to 50% by tomorrow, but it looks like you¡¯re already 80%-ish better. Have a seat.¡± Bai Zhiqing opened a jug of wine.

    ¡°This is nothing. Just rub some spit on it, and I will be fine.¡± Hong Jiu heartily took the jug and knocked it back.

    Anyone with half an ounce of sensibility would know that consuming alcohol while recovering was a bad idea, so the two of them knew that even better than anyone else. That was the reason Hong Jiu made sure to gulp mouthfuls.

    ¡°What injury ails Lady Bai?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not an injury.¡± Bai Zhiqing picked up the jug to have a drink, then continued, ¡°My wife¡¯s martial arts discipline is synchronised. She¡¯s never felt too well ever since she gave birth. Have you met Yumo?¡±

    ¡°Miss Bai? I have once, yes.¡± Hong Jiu scratched his head, feeling it was pointless to even mention it. ¡°So, Lady Bai¡­¡±

    ¡°My wife is older than me by six years. She was already an established adept while I was still a bumbling unknown face in the crowd. It¡¯s unfortunate that her skills have regressed as a consequence of not taking care of her properly after giving birth. This year, she¡¯s regressed even more due to bing pregnant again.¡±

    That exined why Bai Zhiqing was constantly fretting about the slightest thing as long as his wife was involved.

 Book 13: Chapter 141

    Book 13: Chapter 141

    Lady Bai had the skills to singlehandedly settle the problem Valley of Yearning was facing. Unfortunately, that was asking too much of her during her pregnancy. The martial arts discipline she practiced and her mindset were connected. Therefore, pregnancy impacted her ability to bring out its maximum potential. Even if Hong Jiu wasn¡¯t aware of this fact, nothing would change considering how much Bai Zhiqing doted on his wife.

    Hong Jiu held his hands up in salute and expressed, ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing was startled when he felt the sincerity. However, he then sighed. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have realised that this means you shoulder more now. Or have I misjudged and that you not only have recovered but also still have a hidden ace you¡¯re waiting to reveal?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I wish. Worstes to worst, I will bite the dust. You think they scare me?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing had a good think before he bobbed his head. ¡°I can¡¯t turn a blind, either, not after you congratted me. We¡¯ll have to think of something. By the way, that was a really clever way to buy three days¡¯ time. You reminded me of your shifu¡¯s guile.¡±

    ¡°It would be unfair if I took all the credit. He is just stupid and too cowardly to act when he should. Had they marched us down, we would have been totally at their mercy. While your nsmen could have stopped the minions, Vivianite and the two what¡¯s-their-faces guys would have been too much for them. No matter how it started, it would have been our eventual loss purely from fatigue. Hai Yecha fell for my attempt to buy time because he wanted to win in dominating fashion.¡±

    ¡°Only a victory would afford us more time. A loss would have only bought us another three days. We suffered a lot in our campaign against Fiends¡¯ Genesis, and that was because of Hai Yecha¡¯s ploys. He¡¯s not really strong, but he definitely is smart. He didn¡¯t ept your suggestion to give you three days; he¡¯s using three days to mobilise his forces here. He wants to trap us in to avoid any possible mistakes when hees for us the second time. His forces are only our first problem. More than likely, he will be transporting machinery to ovee our advantage on the mountain. In the event that he does lose to us, he¡¯ll likelye up with some excuse tounch catapults or something of the sort at us.¡±

    ¡°You make very valid points. We cannot be too cautious of that old fox.¡±

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis used to be the overlord of the waterways, so there was no chance they¡¯d resurface without fearsome weapons and machinery when they were making sure the world knew they were back. If there was anything odd, it was odd for Bai Zhiqing to speak as though he had seen their equipment when he only met Hai Yecha once recently.

    ¡°I have a way of dealing with their heavy weapons, and there¡¯s no need to fear he does not keep his word. Our primary concern is the three matches. Do you have any n?¡±

    ¡°Well, somewhat. I am just not sure it will work. What about you, Third Brother Bai?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bai Zhiqing shook his head. ¡°No matter who he is, he is not without weakness. Do notpete with skill. Man uses the skills. Compete with the man. That is what your shifu said. If he hasn¡¯t told you, I am telling you now.¡±

    ¡°It certainly sounds like something he would say. That is a fine strategy.¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d get it. I couldn¡¯tprehend even a fraction of it when I first heard it. Isn¡¯t it obvious man can use martial arts? People fight, not disciplines. What else would you bepeting against? It took me years to finally understand what he meant. You¡¯ve proven you¡¯re a true Mount Daluo disciple. My internal energy has beenpromised, so I¡¯m unlikely to be of any help in the three matches. At best, I will onlyst one match. You will have to be the main yer.¡±

    ¡°I am aware. Do not worry, Third Brother.¡±

    ¡°I shall tell you their strengths and weaknesses.¡±

    Hong Jiu held Bai Zhiqing¡¯s martial arts evaluations in high regard, so he was happy to lend an ear.

    ¡°Mount Wu¡¯s two demons have established themselves as real threats for decades through their brutal fighting style. The only people on our side who can match them are you, me and Miss Wen. Other disciples have virtually no chance. What makes the duo most formidable is theirbined style, which isn¡¯t to say that they are weak alone. Darkcloud is slippery, but it¡¯s rumoured that his penchant for chasing kills often puts him in trouble. Squall has a bad habit of underestimating his opponents. An opportunity will present itself if we can leverage these bad habits against them.¡±

    Hong Jiu shed a corner of his teeth. ¡°One is a tunnel-visioned murderer, while the other is careless. I am amazed they are still alive and even have that whatever nickname. The pugilistic world must be getting soft.¡±

    In saying that, not everyone could analyse his opponents as precisely as Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°The most troublesome foe is thestpetitor, the one with the big de ¨C Vivianite. He wasted quite a bit of energy trying to sneak attack my wife. I struggle to evaluate him urately. He most likely was putting on a fa?ade for us to be careless so that he has better chances the second time around. Be it in wits orbat, he is a foe not to be taken lightly. Not only are we going to have to spend the next three days brainstorming a counter against him, but we¡¯ll need to be wary of him sneaking in to assassinate someone, too. Assassination is his specialty, and he has no reason to respect the pugilistic world¡¯s unwritten rules.¡±

    ¡°I will prioritise him,¡± coldly stated Hong Jiu.

    ¡°Mm. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone else who can defeat him. I heard you already fought him. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°We only had one exchange. He dropped me in one swing. From what I could tell, he was holding back. I cannot understand how his discipline works. By the time he initiates his attack, there is no viable escape route.¡±

    ¡°From what Fang Xiaoyu told me, you have his manual?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, Xiaoyu did recite the manual.¡±

    ¡°In that case, we do have a starting point.¡± Bai Zhiqing set his jug down, went to the door and loudly ordered, ¡°Fetch me my broadsword.¡± He then looked back at Hong Jiu and exined, ¡°It¡¯s only natural for you to be confused if you don¡¯t understand how broadswords work. I shall teach you the basics of broadswordy. When you fight him again, you can catch him by surprise with broadsword techniques.¡±

    The person at the door came back with a chest on his back. He politely set down the chest and took out a shiny, yet in, broadsword. Bai Zhiqing took it off the person and ced his free hand on the de. Even though he didn¡¯t imbue it with any energy, the temperature in the room began to drop.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have a broadsword, so use mine for the fight. This broadsword is called ¡®Hunt¡¯.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 142

    Book 13: Chapter 142

    Bai Zhiqing tossed his broadsword to Hong Jiu and queried, ¡°From what I can see, you can wield all eighteen arms, correct?¡±

    Hong Jiu smiled. ¡°I would not say I am proficient at all of them, but I can wield them.¡±

    ¡°Not bad. You¡¯re rightfully in first ce on Seventeen Hidden Wyrms.¡± Bai Zhiqing knocked back a mouthful of wine, then grabbed the closest broadsword on the broadsword rack, spun around and got into his stance. ¡°Show me your skills with a broadsword.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no. You¡¯ll make fun of me. How about you just tell me.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Bai Zhiqing burped at the ceiling. The alcohol-infused mist he released into the atmosphere reduced the rity of any visible points it covered. ¡°If you don¡¯t get this right, you¡¯ll forfeit your life here before the deadline.¡±

    Hong Jiu felt as though there was a pair of glowing eyes inside the mist staring at him. He was indoors, yet his skin stung as though he was caught in a snowstorm on a mountain. His instincts kicked in,pelling him to mould energy to his hands and assume a defensive stance.

    ¡°Use the broadsword.¡±

    Started, Hong Jiu whipped the broadsword at the iing alcoholic mist. The de should¡¯ve sliced through the mist without any problem, yet Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t cut through it. He quickly switched his method of attack and unleashed a ten-hitbo.

    Ten ngs loudly rang out as if they were ringing over one another.

    Due to the situation with his internal energy, Bai Zhiqing dispersed alcohol as mist to obstruct Hong Jiu¡¯s vision. Since he couldn¡¯t see properly, Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t rely on his internal energy specialty, forcing him to actually rely on his broadsword skills. Knowing that, he started to attack faster, steadier and more violently, taking away Bai Zhiqing¡¯s opportunities to counter. Still, the mist was as solid as an iron wall.

    With a strong shout, Hong Jiu pushed the pace even further, but every attack was deflected, prompting him to amplify his own efforts. The entire time, Bai Zhiqing just defended.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    About one hundred exchangester, Bai Zhiqing voiced, ¡°Not bad, but you¡¯re just depending on your discerning abilities, quick hands and effort. You don¡¯t respect a broadsword for what it is, so you won¡¯t be a threat. Back off!¡±

    With a release of broadsword qi, Bai Zhiqing dispersed the alcohol and froze Hong Jiu¡¯s broadsword, giving himplete freedom to attack Hong Jiu¡¯s opening. Hong Jiu mmed the bottom of Hunt¡¯s hilt with his other hand, using brute force to deny Bai Zhiqing¡¯s broadsword, resulting in a draw.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, you learnt those skills from Moyan n?¡±

    ¡°You could tell?¡±

    Hong Jiu gained most of his recent broadsword experience from Moyan Changping in Nanjiang, so he subconsciously utilised all of his knew knowledge once he had a broadsword in his hand.

    ¡°Is it really not good enough?¡±

    ¡°Hunt isn¡¯t a shabby broadsword among the top-tier broadswords, but look.¡± Bai Zhiqing flicked the broadsword he held. His weapon didn¡¯t sustain any damage throughout their spar. ¡°When ites to top-tier weapons, the pugilistic world divides them into three categories. The first is the mostmonly seen ¨C so-called famous weapons. Most of them are forged from rare metals and can be used once they have taken form. They aren¡¯t particrly dangerous on their own, but they¡¯re definitely quality weapons. The best part about them is that anyone can wield them; tempering isn¡¯t necessary.¡±

    ¡°Would you be referring to the cksmiths¡¯ stories of using true qi to temper weapons, Elder?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer it if you stuck to calling me ¡®Third Brother¡¯. Anyway, you are correct. The second type is this. They look just like any other mass-produced ordinary weapon; some even look shabby. However, once an adept wields them for some time, they¡¯ll gradually evolve into powerful weapons. This is what is meant by tempering weapons with true qi. Experts in internal disciplines use their true qi to temper weapons, which then gradually be their signature weapon. It matters not if the weapon was metaphorically dull or shiny initially; they can all be tempered.

    ¡°Once a weapon is tempered using this method, it¡¯s impossible to reverse the result. Even if someone more advanced than them was to wield it, it¡¯d be next to impossible to modify again. Due to the weapon being tempered via a certain discipline for a prolonged period of time, its usage method gradually changes in congruence. As such, the wielder needs to meet a lot of requirements in order to wield it.

    ¡°This is what happens with weapons passed down in big sects. Consequently, only their disciples can inherit the weapons. That being said, there will be differences in level even if one generation surpasses the next or doesn¡¯t, so the next person can only bring out 70% of the weapon¡¯s capabilities. If an outsider can¡¯t even bring out a fraction of its potential, it¡¯spletely understandable.¡±

    ¡°How about the third category?¡±

    ¡°The third type refers to weapons anyone can use and bring out the full potential off. Weapons in this category have an innate unique attribute, and they can¡¯t be tempered with true qi. Therefore, we typically refer to these weapons as supreme weapons.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be the Seven Dynasty-Founding des. You have one back on Mount Daluo, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Hong Jiu nodded, then looked down to the weapon in his hand.

    ¡°Every patriarch of Bai n has had his own signature broadsword. I forged this one, but I never used it after I forged which, so the weapon nurturing process nevermenced. I don¡¯t really use a broadsword anymore these days.¡±

    Understanding that was Bai Zhiqing¡¯s way of gifting him a broadsword, Hong Jiu caressed the de and expressed, ¡°Hunt¡­ I like the name.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, make sure to spend more time with it, then¡­ The one you¡¯re holding was forged from Seasteel and ck Aurum, so it¡¯s heavy. This one in my hand was forged from ordinary iron. Yet, you couldn¡¯t even crack mine after over two hundred shes. How do you expect to kill someone?

    ¡°Bai n¡¯s broadswordy¡¯s foundation lies in the word ¡®Yearning¡¯. No matter how you slice it, it alles back to your mind. For that reason, in our history, there have been prodigies, like my first brother, who is unmatched with a broadsword, and there were confused people. I won¡¯t write you a wall of text to teach you our discipline. Figure it out yourself.¡±

    ***

    Hong Jiu spent the next 24 hours sparring Bai Zhiqing. When Xiaoyu andpany dropped by, they deemed it best to not interrupt. Of course, they¡¯d stop for a drink or some food.

    Suddenly Hong Jiu heard someone condescendingly say, ¡°You think you can beat Vivianite with just three days of broadsword training. Is this what they call delusional?¡±

    ¡°So what? Whoever says delusional people can¡¯t win cane find out with me.¡±

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t need to look to know it was Master Qi taking jabs at him again.

 Book 13: Chapter 143

    Book 13: Chapter 143

    Master Qi finally managed to get appropriate rest once the group settled down at Valley of Yearning. Fang Xiaoyu and she were treated as VIP guests at the valley. After a refreshing night of sleep, she dressed up in an emerald-green shirt that highlighted her perfect skin tone.

    While Master Qi wasn¡¯t particrly interested in dolling up, she knew how to since she had plenty of sisters. She didn¡¯t go out of her way to doll up this morning. She just reached for the rouge before she knew it. She had every reason to justify wearing her original clothes, but Lady Bai insisted Master Qi wear the clothes she offered.

    A fluffy white rabbit came bounced up to her door in the sunny and warm morning, putting a sweet smile on Master Qi¡¯s face. Perhaps that had something to do with why she spent considerably longer than usual grooming herself. Only once she finished did she realise there was no one to impress. Now, that wasn¡¯t to say that she had to. A bored maiden had a good reason to find someone to kill some time with, though, right? Unfortunately, there were no servants around to brainstorm ideas for her. Thus, she had no choice but to lure the rabbit over with a carrot.

    ¡°Hey, cutie, shall we go to the mountain stream? You like that, right? All right, let¡¯s go.¡±

    The rabbit just munched away at its carrot and let the maiden carry it to the mountain stream.

    Although the view at the mountain stream was gorgeous and rxing, it wasn¡¯t close to the living quarters of Bai Zhiqing or Bai n¡¯s disciples; in fact, seldom did anyone visit it. With nothing besides the scenery, the mountain stream only served the purpose of being a chatting location. Now, however, it had also became the training location of an annoying idiot.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re delusional? What makes you think three days of training will be enough to beat Vivianite?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu¡¯s attention was entirely focused on studying his new weapon. That wasn¡¯t to say he didn¡¯t see anything out of his peripherals just because he had his head down. As a matter of fact, he was stupefied to see his visitor.

    Is this any time to be dolling up? Women. The longer their hair, the dumber they are, huh? Although she does look quite nice. I wonder if she¡¯s married. Wait, wait, if she¡¯s here wasting her breath, I¡¯m going to be distracted from my training. Moreover, it¡¯s best if I don¡¯t look at Mount Tian¡¯s maidens, or people will nder us Mount Daluo disciples for peeking on orthodox sects¡¯ maidens. Mm, I need to leave some reputation for Leader to sabotage in the future, or he won¡¯t have any way of exercising ev-, justice. Pretend you don¡¯t see her. Pretend you don¡¯t see her.

    Hong Jiu, however, didn¡¯t realise he was holding the scabbard, while the broadsword was actually slotted into a rock by the side and ying with the sunrays. In a way, he had reached the realm Bai Zhiqing described as ¡°casting aside the existence of man and broadsword¡±. As Master Qi didn¡¯t understand what Hong Jiu was examining, she couldn¡¯t help but feel annoyed. She wasn¡¯t expecting praise. After all, what did his opinion matter? Thing was, it was annoying to think that he didn¡¯t even consider her worth a nce. A mere scabbard was more important than her? How dare he, right?

    ¡°Hey ¡­ how long have you been training here?¡±

    Hong Jiu shifted his posture and, with his back facing Master Qi, touched the scabbard. ¡°¡­ A day.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s your progress?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Can you really master Bai n¡¯s sophisticated broadsword discipline within such a short time frame?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Master Qi aerated her cheeks. ¡°Would it kill you to give longer replies?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Though she was mad, Master Qi was the type to take someone down with her if she was going down. Thus, she chopped Hong Jiu right on the skull.

    ¡°Did you just hit me, you tigress?!¡±

    ¡°I did! What about it?! That¡¯s what you get for ignoring me!¡± Master Qi gave Hong Jiu a push kick without a moment wasted.

    Hong Jiu had never put up with this sort of bullying before. Even if he would have to, it¡¯d never be at the hands of a petite maiden.

    ¡°Oi!¡±

    Master Qi leaned her face in. ¡°What? Hit me! I dare you.¡±

    Whether he put his hands on ady or let her put hers on him, Hong Jiu wouldn¡¯t win in the public eye. And so, he had stayed his hand before he even raised it.

    God damn thisss is constantly giving me grief. Just you wait. I¡¯ll have you tied up for a spanking one day. I¡¯ll spank you until you run out of energy to cry.

    Without realising she had been reduced to a crying, pleading maiden in Hong Jiu¡¯s mind, Master Qi smugly walked ap around Hong Jiu. ¡°Hmph.¡±

    ¡°Hmph what?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, hmph!¡±

    ¡°What the devil is, ¡®Hmph, hmph¡¯? Speak if you have something to say.¡± Despite his angry tone, Hong Jiu was already cowering as he inhaled Master Qi¡¯s scent.

    Master Qi lifted her chin. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Of what?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even though Hong Jiu¡¯s response made her cheek twitch, Master Qi raised her head a tad to unt her neck and the rest of her body line. She elegantly rotated on the spot and then proudly asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Of what? Oh? Oh, oh, oh, your clothes!¡± Hong Jiu pped his hands.

    Master Qi first lowered her head and cast her eyes down, only to look back up with pride. ¡°Hehe, nice?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely!¡±

    Master Qi had only just started to make a small smile when Hong Jiu added, ¡°You¡¯re ying a middle-ageddy today, yeah? Green is to counter red? To neutralise bad luck? Very smart move,¡± and held up two thumbs.

    Hong Jiu genuinely respected the smart move. Therefore, he couldn¡¯tprehend why Master Qi was silent and emitting a dangerous aura. He scratched his cheek, assuming she was mad, but he didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea if she was actually mad or what she was mad about. He didn¡¯t even know why she came by. Nevertheless, his intuition told him it was dangerous to provoke her. As he searched for words to defuse the situation, he noticed the ball of fur by her feet.

    ¡°What¡¯s that by your foot?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I forgot about you.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 144

    Book 13: Chapter 144

    Master Qi instantly looked cheerful when she looked down to her foot. She picked up the rabbit in her embrace and gently caressed it. ¡°Sorry. I was so busy speaking to an idiot that I forgot about you. Are you angry? You¡¯re so soft and fluffy.¡± She rubbed her cheek gently against the rabbit¡¯s cheek, which the rabbit kindly responded to, lifting her spirits even further.

    Hong Jiu was stunned. He had opened his mouth to speak when he realised he didn¡¯t know what to say. It took him a moment to realise something was wrong about what Master Qi said. ¡°Wh-who are you calling an idiot?¡±

    Master Qi looked up at Hong Jiu, wrinkled her nose and poked her tongue out. ¡°Whoever asks the question is the idiot.¡±

    Hong Jiu looked as if his soul was knocked out of his body.

    Incredible. Incredible. In-flipping-credible. What discipline was that? It¡¯s odourless and invisible, yet itpletely stunned me in ce. I always thought I was strong, but what the hell?

    Hong Jiu sealed off his vital upoints to stabilise his mental cognition. Sadly, that was tantamount to telling eunuchs that brothels could solve their problems. He couldn¡¯t take his eyes off her. As soon as she was without a smile, he was restless.

    Confused, Master Qi continued ying with the rabbit. ¡°See, Meme? He really is a big idiot.¡±

    Hong Jiu was angered, and he wanted to dispute it, yet not a single word came to mind. ¡°Ah? Is he? Am I? Right? Right. Right.¡±

    ¡°Who asked you?¡± Master Qi stood up with her self-named rabbit to see Hong Jiu acting weird. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? You¡¯re acting weird.¡±

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t know what to do with his hands or why he was flustered. ¡°Ah? N-n-nothing. I just thought of my big brother, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    You ignored me before and now you¡¯re talking about someone else.

    ¡°So, what did you think of him for?¡±

    Hong Jiu frantically scoured his database for things that Master Qi liked so that he could bring them into the conversation. When he found the rabbit in his line of sight again, he said, ¡°Your rabbit reminded me of him. He likes white rabbits, too.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s raised a rabbit before?¡±

    ¡°Of course. However, he¡¯s cooked rabbit hot pot, sushi¡­¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s aura turned dark and heavy, shutting Hong Jiu up. Her death stare snapped him back to his normal self.

    Wh-what was wrong with me just now? Why was Ipletely besides myself? H-how did she transform so fast? If only she continued being that her from a moment ago. Why? What exactly is going on with me?¡¯

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a jerk!¡±

    ¡°Ah? How?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know! You just are!¡± Master Qi gave Hong Jiu her back.

    ¡°Fine, fine, fine, I¡¯m a jerk. I¡¯m sorry, okay?¡±

    Master Qi giddily looked back. ¡°So how are you going to make it up to me?¡±

    ¡°You decide. As long as it costs less than a copper coin, I can pinch it for you.¡±

    ¡°You need to pinch something that doesn¡¯t even cost one copper coin?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re sorely underestimating how much those items are sought after. The moment a barrel of leftovers is poured out, everyone will charge toward it.¡±

    ¡°What am I supposed to do with leftover food?¡±

    ¡°The only other stuff worth a copper coin are these leaves and branches.¡±

    ¡°Why would anyone want leaves and branches?!¡±

    ¡°So what do you want, then?¡±

    Somewhat pleased, Master Qi replied, ¡°Mm¡­ Keep mepany.¡±

    Hong Jiu wagged a hand. ¡°I can¡¯t. I need to train.¡±

    Master Qi gave Hong Jiu the death stare.

    ¡°¡­ Okay. Let¡¯s keep it quick.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Master Qi cracked a small smile, set Meme down and said, ¡°Meme, go y by yourself for a bit. Don¡¯te over this way, okay? I need to have a word with the big idiot.¡±

    A soothing sensation wrapped Hong Jiu up, making him feel restless again.

    What is the name of this discipline? I can¡¯t even muster the courage to tell her off. My eyes, my hands, my feet, it feels like I can¡¯t control them. Has Mount Tian developed a new discipline? If you can truly master this, you¡¯d almost be invincible. I need to report this to Leader as soon as possible, lest he falls prey to it like me.

    The most head-scratching thing to Hong Jiu was how he didn¡¯t harbour a single negative feeling towards Master Qi despite ¡°falling under¡± the influence of her ¡°technique¡±.

    ¡°Stand right there.¡± Master Qi crossed the stone bridge, effectively positioning herself on the other side of the bridge that Hong Jiu was standing, drew her sword and aimed it at Hong Jiu. ¡°I¡¯m bored. Spar me.¡±

    ¡°This is what you meant by keeping yourpany?¡±

    Master Qi wrinkled her nose. ¡°What else? You¡¯ve always been an eyesore. I¡¯m going to plug you full of holes like a beehive before I¡¯m happy.¡±

    Hong Jiu knew she didn¡¯t actually mean that. There were plenty of people she could practice with at Valley of Yearning, so the only reason she would choose to practice with him was to help him train. Since everyone at Valley of Yearning learnt the same discipline, there was no point in another member teaching Hong Jiu what Bai Zhiqing taught him. As for Lady Bai, well, she was pregnant. The only strongest person left was Master Qi.

    Had it been any other day, Hong Jiu would¡¯ve just appreciated Master Qi¡¯s thoughtfulness. For whatever reason today, though, his heart figuratively felt warmer when he realised her true intent.

    ¡°As that is your wish, I shall oblige.¡± Hong Jiu got into his stance.

    Master Qi lowered her sword. ¡°What are you doing? Are you going to spar me with a scabbard?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Hong Jiu looked down to his hand.

    What the hell?! She switched out the broadsword for the scabbard without me even realising? Mount Tian¡¯s new discipline is far scarier than I thought!

    Glossary

    Meme ¨C Pronounced ¡°Mermer¡±.

 Book 13: Chapter 145

    Book 13: Chapter 145

    ¡°Dork.¡± Master Qi enjoyed a giggle. Noticing Hong Jiu space out, she said, ¡°Dork, it¡¯s time to fight. Stop spacing out. Think fast!¡±

    Upon seeing the spurt of sword qi flowing behind Master Qi¡¯s thrust, Hong Jiu spun around to pull out Hunt from the rock and swung back right away, blocking the entirety of Master Qi¡¯s sword qi thrust.

    Master Qi had yet to learn Dead Water cial Purification Swordy, so she couldn¡¯t be ssified a master swordswoman. Her expertise was integrating the ¡°cial¡± part, but she couldn¡¯t utilise internal energy since it was just a spar. That meant she had a big disadvantage against Hong Jiu since she was the inferior fighter in the first ce. In order to provide a practical challenge, she had to attack violently.

    Hong Jiu maintained a defensive strategy, standing his ground and blocking all the attacks directed at him.

    Master Qi knew she¡¯d never conquer Hong Jiu¡¯s defence if she didn¡¯t incorporate her internal discipline, especially now that he knew her techniques and style. It took two hours, but her aim of helping him had borne fruit. Whenever she moved in close with her attacks or used tricks at close range, though, he¡¯d start to panic for some odd reason.

    ¡°Why is your broadswordy so weird?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, well, they say you must be one with your weapon. If the wielder is odd, so will the weapon be. What can I do about it?¡± Hong Jiu swung vertically downwards, stabbing straight into the centre of the stone bridge.

    Master Qi recognised she¡¯d have been soundly defeated if he used that much force and speed in realbat against her. At the same time, she recognised he had levelled up in his training. With a joyous beam, she eximed, ¡°You demonstrated advanced broadswordy understanding with that. You¡¯re no longer a beginner at broadswordy.¡±

    Hong Jiu stood tall with his hands with his hands behind his back and a small upward curve on his lips. Little did Master Qi know that he was forcing himself to act. He still couldn¡¯t identify the reason, but he felt out of his wits whenever he was close to her. The big chop was an improvised creation to avoid being spellbound again. He could only feel safe when she was on the other side of the bridge.

    Hong Jiu released a pent-up breath. ¡°I owe it all to Patriarch Bai. While he didn¡¯t tell me a single thing from the mental cultivation, he generously sacrificed his time to enlighten me in realbat. Without him, I still would be ignorant to the true meaning of broadswordy.¡±

    As already established, Hong Jiu could basically perform the majority of broadsword techniques. Howbeit, there was no system until now.

    Master Qi cleared her throat deliberately.

    Hong Jiu pped his hands. ¡°And, of course, thanks to you. Had you not sparred with me, I wouldn¡¯t have been able toe up with the technique.¡±

    Hong Jiu meant every word he said. Meanwhile, Master Qi¡¯s cheeks turned rosy.

    ¡°Mm¡­ I wasn¡¯t entirely going out of my way to help you, to tell the truth. You know how I¡¯ll have to fight the day after, too.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing was barely stronger than either Darkcloud or Squall in a one-on-one fight, so Master Qi¡¯s odds against one of them was unfavourable, to say the least. Therefore, she hoped to glean some useful pointers for her match. She, of course, knew that nobody liked her odds among the three who¡¯d be fighting. In fact, they were most likely going into it with the assumption that she as doomed to lose. She, nevertheless, didn¡¯t want Hong Jiu to share that assumption; she didn¡¯t want to be a deserter before the fight evenmenced. She believed that a man who wouldn¡¯t quit when his chances of winning were nigh non-existent would understand her.

    ¡°Can you¡­ give me some pointers?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu just stood as still as a statue.

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t you have anything to say?¡±

    Hong Jiu reached for the back of his head. ¡°Uh, eat well and sleep well?¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s widened eyes gradually became misty. ¡°You¡¯re a jerk!¡±

    ¡°Huh? What did I do this t-¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± As Master Qi went to turn and leave, she discovered her feet were too numb to move as a result of Hong Jiu¡¯s new technique ¨C Ultimate Dragon.

    Jerk!

    Even though she was angry, Master Qi didn¡¯t want to appear weaker and call for his help. During her moment of hesitation, she heard a cracking sound.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Master Qi suddenly lost her footing. As she descended involuntarily into the stream, she cried, ¡°Help!¡±

    Due to how short and narrow the stone bridge was, in addition to Hong Jiu practicing all night there and their spar, it was no longer able to withstand the brunt of Hong Jiu¡¯s Ultimate Dragon technique.

    Hong Jiu swiftly pulled Hunt into his embrace. At the same moment, he heard a loud ssh of water.

    Hong Jiu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Master Qi silently got out of the water, slowly turned her head around and looked at Hong Jiu.

    Hong Jiu opened and closed his mouth numerous times as he stared at the soaked maiden. ¡°Uh, I, umm¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°Hong Jiu!¡±

    One fell into the stream. The other had a full hand tattooed onto his face.

    The final verdict: it was a draw.

    ***

    Lady Bai, who was flower gazing in a garden, turned around to see Master Qi with her head hanging down and clothes dripping water. Master Qi awkwardly greeted Master Qi. ¡°Good morning, Lady Bai.¡±

    ¡°What happened? Why are you soaking wet?¡±

    ¡°It was all because of that big idiot!¡±

    It was hard to fault Master Qi for being frustrated when she purposely dressed up, yet he didn¡¯t acknowledge her, made some randomments and then let her fall.

    Why did I even wear this to go see him?! It didn¡¯t do anything. It just¡­ just¡­ hmph!

    Lady Bai was never good at reading people, let alone reading theplex mind of the young maiden. Nheless, she could see the displeasure in Master Qi¡¯s gaze. Hence, she pulled the maiden into an embrace, caressed her head and, in a gentle voice, queried, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Lady Bai was simr to Master Qi¡¯s elder sister in number of ways ¨C simple, caring and mysterious.

    After bashfully sharing her name, Master Qi conveyed, ¡°Sorry for getting your clothes wet, Lady Bai. I shall wash them before I return them to you.¡±

    Lady Bai shook her head. ¡°If you like him, there is no need to be hasty. If he, too, likes you, he will eventually let you know.¡±

    Master Qi shook her head as if her life depended on it. ¡°Who would like him?! Besides, given he¡¯s so dense, he wouldn¡¯t kn-, I mean, I don¡¯t like him for sure.¡±

    Lady Bai gently brushed Master Qi¡¯s hair and smiled. ¡°You are exactly how I initially was.¡±

    Understanding what was implied, Master Qi hurriedly bid farewell and ran off.

    Once she was back in her room, Master Qi couldn¡¯t stop tossing and turning, flip flopping between anger and concern. She wasn¡¯t angry with Hong Jiu for being dense or the fact that he chose to save his broadsword over her¡­ Okay, there was a bit of bitterness of that if she was honest¡­ Okay, very angry if she was more honest¡­ To be fully honest, she was extremely inmed about it. Could she be med, though? The main source of her frustration was that he, like everyone else, wrote her off already.

    Master Qi didn¡¯t fear risks. She didn¡¯t fear staking her life in her life. She was only afraid of being a quitter before it even started. She didn¡¯t mind if people wrote her off as long as it wasn¡¯t Hong Jiu.

    ***

    On the morning of the contest, Hai Yecha arrived on time with the exact team Hong Jiu¡¯s group predicted. The battlefield was the same big tform they had their first confrontation.

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m surprised you had the guts to show up. You had your chance. It¡¯s toote to tuck tail now. Darkcloud!¡±

    With every step, Darkcloud left a dent on the stone tform. The whole point of the stunt was to intimidate his opponent. As far as his record showed, it had proven an effective strategy thus far. This time, be it Master Qi or Bai Zhiqing, neither of them looked confident.

    Master Qi didn¡¯t have as much internal energy as Darkcloud, while Bai Zhiqing¡¯s internal energy stores were more depleted than the first encounter since he had been training Hong Jiu. Hai Yecha took this into ount when he picked Darkcloud as their first contestant. Even though Hai Yecha knew he had a massive upper hand, the chance of losing was still there, and there was no way he was going to ignore that slim chance. He instructed Darkcloud to viciously kill his first opponent irrespective of who it was to deal a blow to the enemy¡¯s morale. Obviously, it would¡¯ve been best if it was Bai Zhiqing.

    Hai Yecha: ¡°Hahaha, we¡¯ve made our call. Your turn.¡±

    Master Qi took a few deep breaths, trying to summon courage to enter the arena. Bai Zhiqing knew they¡¯d inevitably lose one match, so he gave her a nod. As she went to speak, she head, ¡°I see you¡¯re all still looking as ugly as a few days ago.¡±

    Hong Jiu came out from a stone cave, eyes bleary and reeking of alcohol, most likely exined by the wine cbash hanging from his sash.

    Darkcloud didn¡¯t jump Hong Jiu when Hong Jiu set foot in the arena. Instead, he oriented himself side-on to express he wouldn¡¯t attack until the officialmencement was announced.

    ¡°Hong Jiu,¡± Knowing that Hong Jiu was his enemy¡¯s ace, Hai Yecha grouched, ¡°you¡¯re wagging your tongue as though this has nothing to do with you. If you don¡¯t want to fight, bugger off.¡±

    ¡°Who told you I¡¯m not fighting?¡±

    Everyone but Lady Bai sounded surprised. She took hold of Master Qi¡¯s small hand and whispered, ¡°See? He¡¯s here to tell you.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s face and ears turned bright red.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Hong Jiu used his loudest voice to dere, ¡°I¡¯m fighting this match.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 146

    Book 13: Chapter 146

    Hai Yecha wasn¡¯t the only person taken aback; not even Valley of Yearning¡¯s own members could wrap their heads around it. Bai Zhiqing knew Hong Jiu wanted to fight Vivianite, so it was unexpected for Hong Jiu to take to the arena already. Thus, he asked, ¡°Why do you want to fight the first match? You¡­ want to beat him? You should rest for now if you want to fight Vivianite.¡±

    Even Hai Yecha had a good guess of Hong Jiu¡¯s n after hearing that. Hai Yecha had confidence in Darkcloud¡¯s skills, but he could never ount for all the possible underhanded tricks his opponent might deploy. If Bai Zhiqing was right, then Hai Yecha¡¯s guaranteed victory was no longer guaranteed.

    If Hong Jiu defeated Darkcloud and then Squall, there would be no reason to fight Vivianite as it was best out of three. Of course, that was the best oue. The worst oue was that Darkcloud beat Hong Jiu. However, the worst oue was also the best because, if he couldn¡¯t even beat Darkcloud, then Vivianite would kill him all the same. The only difference would be who killed him. Bai Zhiqing couldn¡¯t see Hong Jiu losing to Darkcloud, having said that.

    The primary concern was that Hong Jui would wear himself out. If he barely won against Darkcloud, and then Bai Zhiqing lost to Squall, then¡­ Hong Jiu would have to face a fearsome opponent he had previously lost to in one exchange. Even with his newfound skills and being in optimal shape, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t even have a confident fifty-fifty chance of winning against Vivianite.

    ¡°You must preserve your internal energy,¡± stressed Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to use your head that much, Third Brother Bai.¡± Hong Jiu pointed to Darkcloud. ¡°One.¡± Then, he pointed to Squall and said, ¡°Two.¡± Finally, he moved his gaze to where Vivianite was hiding and dered, ¡°I¡¯m going to exterminate three stinky bugs in one go today.¡±

    Darkcloud and Squall were livid. Although Vivianite had yet to reveal himself, it was irrefutable that he, too, wasn¡¯t happy about what he heard.

    ¡°Excellent! Excellent!¡± Hai Yecha was wise enough to know what Hong Jiu was trying to achieve without having to think too hard. So, in a booming voice, he praised, ¡°No wonder why they call you a hero, the most courageous hero of the young generation. I respect you from the bottom of my heart. Some people have mouths that are as useful as butt cracks, except butt cracks can relieve difort, while their mouths only spit stupid garble.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, why don¡¯t you finish what you¡¯re trying to say. Don¡¯t be a pussy now.¡±

    ¡°We agreed to three matches. You can dispatch three people for three matches or one person for three matches. You can¡¯t fight two and then have someone else substitute.¡±

    Hong Jiu was Valley of Yearning¡¯s ace, but even he wouldn¡¯t be able to beat Darkcloud and Squall back to back. However, he¡¯d be able to tire out Squall to an extent. That would make it easy for Bai Zhiqing to beat Squall so that he could then fight Vivianite. Vivianite couldn¡¯t perform the technique he defeated Hong Jiu with consecutively. Consequently, if Bai Zhiqing could force Vivianite to use it, then Valley of Yearning¡¯sst contestant would have a much better chance of winning. Therefore, Hai Yecha wanted to stipte a rule that circumvented the strategy.

    ¡°That was the n all along. What was the point of you even saying that?¡±

    Hai Yecha: Where is his confidenceing from? Did he contact Mount Daluo for help? I better have someone look into it.

    Hai Yecha spun around and ordered one of his subordinates to investigate.

    Master Qi: I get the impression he was nning to fight all three of them from the beginning. What exactly is he thinking? Does he truly believe he can defeat all three of them?

    Master Qi had every intention to chide Hong Jiu, but her vocalised words ended up bing, ¡°¡­ Be careful.¡±

    Hong Jiu looked over his shoulder to meet eyes with Master Qi. He froze up for a good while, then shed a big smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be very careful.¡±

    ¡°Pay attention then.¡± Despite possibly having an element of surprise working in his favour, Darkcloud decided to vocally prompt Hong Jiu first and cancel out his advantage.

    Darkcloud dashed in and swung his eagle w hand at Hong Jiu¡¯s xuanji upoint on his chest. The violent wind created from his arm motion would usually be enough to terrify his foe into freezing up. Their subconscious would prompt them to dodge. As soon as they moved, though, they¡¯d be out of position to block the attack.

    As an expert on hand techniques, Hong Jiu felt no fear. Standing his ground, he executed ¡°The Dragon Fights in the Wilderness¡±. A loud boomparable to thunder p overpowered the sound of Darkcloud¡¯s winds. Darkcloud was rather far away from Hong Jiu before heunched his offense, but he had enough time to charge up an attack, so a loud wind was expected. On the other hand, Hong Jiu was only just over three metres away when he retaliated, yet itpletely overpowered Darkcloud¡¯s wind.

    Hong Jiu extended his arms straight out, confident that no weapon, no shield, no defence, absolutely nothing could deny him.

    Although Darkcloud had heard the legends pertaining to Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, he had confidence in his own skills, especially when he had been training for longer. He extended his other hand into an attack, each hand performing a different w technique that positioned Hong Jiu¡¯s extended arm in a pincer between his two hands. No matter how much firepower Hong Jiu packed in his hands, it was nothing to fear if his arm was snapped.

    Before Darkcloud¡¯s hands could touch Hong Jiu¡¯s extended arm, a ball of white light spawned and expanded, redirecting the trajectory of Darkcloud¡¯s hands with loud ngs apanying the shes.

    Once Darkcloud had orderly retreated several metres, he saw Hong Jiu still standing in the same spot, except he was now armed with a sharp and shiny broadsword. Darkcloud flicked his hands, summoning a half-length metal cudgel from his sleeve.

    Darkcloud might¡¯ve been more bloodthirsty than Squall, but he was also shrewder. Hence, he prioritised his life over taking another life. He did his research on his three anticipated opponents, making sure to note the unique things about their skills, their weapon of choice and so forth. Master Qi was written off. Bai Zhiqing led a life of seclusion, so he was the one shrouded in the most mystery. As for Hong Jiu, who didn¡¯t know of his palm specialty when he had a long track record across thend? For that reason, Darkcloud¡¯s game n centred around disabling Hong Jiu¡¯s arms. Never did he expect Hong Jiu to use a broadsword, not to mention so proficiently.

    While Hong Jiu¡¯s broadsword counter didn¡¯t belong to a particr discipline, it was clear that he knew how to use a broadsword properly. His swings might¡¯ve been thoughtless, but the ferocity nearly cost Darkcloud his hands instead of him taking Hong Jiu¡¯s hands. Had he not kept the short staff hidden inside his sleeve, the match would¡¯ve been over already.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu held Hunt up high to reflect the sunlight. ¡°I¡¯m the godfather of open-handed techniques. I promise I can split you in two with one swing. You look malnourished. Come over. I¡¯ll give you a hand.¡±

    In a low voice, Darkcloud apathetically responded, ¡°Don¡¯t get full of yourself.¡±

    Contrary to his conniving personality, inbat, Darkcloud was a brute force fighter.

    As Darkcloud closed in a second time, Hong Jiu stood his ground. Hong Jiu might¡¯ve learnt mental cultivation from Yearning Broadswordy, but his techniques were rooted in Moyan n¡¯s ferocious style, which was the most ideal style to adopt against Darkcloud¡¯s style.

    As the two began trying to catch the other, the gaps in between their collisions reduced. This sort of constant-shing fight was rather rare when the contestants were at their level. At their level, the typical fight would consist predominately of feints, evasions and moving around. In the early stage, the two of them evaded some attacks. As time went on, though, it became a situation where they abandoned evasion and went blow for blow.

    Unable to fathom the strategy the two were following, Master Qi queried, ¡°Patriarch Bai, has¡­ he fully recovered yet?¡±

    Focused on observing the match, Bai Zhiqing absentmindedly replied, ¡°Mm, he was already fine by the second day, and his internal energy had improved. Darkcloud¡¯s internal energy is really potent. He shouldn¡¯t be this good.¡±

    Even if the Mount Wu duo was truly prodigious, there had to be a limit to what they could achieve. Under normal circumstances, physical attributes should¡¯ve diminished with age, yet Darkcloud was proving he had exceeded his standard during his younger days. Watching Darkcloud made Bai Zhiqing feel more and more perplexed. ¡°How is he so strong?¡±

    Hong Jiu and Darkcloud had upped the ante to a point where there was no possibility of stopping short. Hong Jiu¡¯s broadsword skills were no longer enough to fight on even footing, forcing him to sporadically rely on his palm skills to reset the odds. The only problem was, he wasn¡¯t Song Chi, so his switches left him with openings to exploit. Luckily for him, he was so advanced with palm skills that supplementing his palm skills with his broadswordy made for a tough system to conquer.

    By this point, Darkcloud had demonstrated he could perform eagle w, wolf w and tiger w all to high standards. One bizarre thing that stood out was that he delivered them in an orthodox manner rather than using foul y or oozing any sort of sinister energy.

    Upon spotting another opening, Darkcloud seized Hong Jiu¡¯s shoulder with his right hand and squeezed. As soon as Hong Jiu felt the sharp pain in his shoulder, he used Empty Palms to slip out, much to Darkcloud¡¯s chagrin.

    There was no clear victor after the long round, but there was a trail of blood to show that one of them had gained the upper hand, and Hong Jiu was the one who was holding onto his bloodied shoulder.

    ¡°Fool.¡± Darkcloud flicked his hand to get the blood off. ¡°That¡¯s what happens when a beginner gets cocky.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡± Hong Jiu checked his wound and chuckled. ¡°No wonder why you¡¯re so arrogant. You¡¯ve learnt Shaolin¡¯s Dragon w, I see.¡±

    Glossary

    Xuanji upoint ¨C Right below the cor bone, in the middle of your sternum

 Book 13: Chapter 147

    Book 13: Chapter 147

    ¡°Dragon w¡± was the ultimate external discipline among all external disciplines in existence. And, after Yijin Jing and Bone Marrow Cleansing Manual, Dragon w was the third most elite Shaolin discipline.

    Fang Xiaoyu eximed, ¡°It really is Dragon w, and that was one of the nine techniques, ¡®Dragon Fang¡¯.¡±

    Dragon w consisted of nine techniques, which were taught to nine strictly selected Shaolin monks. The duties of those nine high-ranking monks were to uphold justice and protect the monastery.

    Bai Zhiqing recognised the discipline, but he was more concerned about how an orthodox discipline ended up in the hands of a cold-blooded murderer. When he turned around to his wife, she nodded and stated, ¡°It is not passed on to outsiders.¡±

    Lady Bai was more known for her perceptive eyes than herbat skills. She could tell if someone was just shy or if they were truly skilled, so Bai Zhiqing had absolute faith in her judgement.

    Hong Jiu wiped away his smile. ¡°Shaolin¡¯s disciples have isted them in their temple for years. Fang Xiaoyu is one of the few exceptions. What¡¯s your story? How did you learn Dragon w?¡±

    Dragon w was a difficult discipline to learn. Judging from Darkcloud¡¯s performance, he had no less than twenty years of training. Lady Bai¡¯s statement indicated that he learnt it from a legitimate Shaolin source.

    Despite having turned heads and made some people apprehensive, Darkcloud wasn¡¯t celebrating as he was forced to pull out Dragon w. He¡¯d have rather avoided using it if he could help it because he and Squall would have Shaolin on their tails if Shaolin found out he had learnt their skills. He, however, had no choice if he wanted to beat Hong Jiu. Nevertheless, there was a perfect solution to the new problem, and it didn¡¯t require any extrabour. All he had to do was kill all the witnesses. As a bloodthirsty murderer, the realisation only excited him. ¡°Why should I waste my breath on someone about to die?¡±

    ¡°I guess you have a point,¡± responded Hong Jiu. He tore off his sleeve to wrap his wound, but blood still leaked through.

    Wounds inflicted through Dragon w were the hardest to nurse; even if the wounded sealed their upoints, the bleeding wouldn¡¯t stop. Darkcloud nearly managed to reach Hong Jiu¡¯s shoulder bone. Consequently, though Hong Jiu could still move his arm, he had lost more than half of his maximum capacity.

    Hong Jiu took a big breath. ¡°I was never nning on sparing any of you. It makes no difference whether you can use Dragon w or not.¡±

    ¡°Your mouth certainly still is big. Who lost just now?¡±

    Hong Jiu grinned back. ¡°We young people don¡¯t remember things from so far back.¡±

    Hong Jiu swung Hunt at Darkcloud.

    Darkcloud was experienced enough to realise that Hong Jiu had only graduated from learning the broadsword during theirst round. There was no way Hong Jiu¡¯s broadsword skills were remotely as dangerous as his palm skills.

    He thinks he can beat me with the element of surprise? Fool. Without your Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, you¡¯re just a foolish brute with a de. I gave you hints twice. Don¡¯t me me for your own stupidity.

    Since his secret was out, there was no point in Darkcloud holding back anymore. Every time he finished an attack, a howling wind would blow from the point where his hand finished. Hong Jiu had a sharp weapon in his hand, yet he didn¡¯t dare to block any of the attacks.

    Hong Jiu had to drop and roll to barely avoid getting caught with the first two attacks. The follow-up w attack forced him to reduce the power with Empty Palms. In just three attacks, Hong Jiu had been in much more danger than in the previous round.

    In the past, Darkcloud could end a fight as soon as he utilised Dragon w. This was the first time he could have some fun before killing his target. ¡°If you surrender now and be my disciple, I¡¯ll spare you.¡±

    ¡°Really? Do you really not realise you¡¯re about to die?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Fine!¡± Darkcloud turned it up another notch.

    Hong Jiu lifted Hunt overhead and then hurled it away.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s more like it.¡±

    Hong Jiu ced his hands together and performed ¡°The Dragon is Seen in the Fields¡± off both hands to stop Darkcloud¡¯s strike. s, his defence fell after deflecting just the first attack under Darkcloud¡¯s pressure. Hong Jiu knew full and well that defending didn¡¯t win fights; he needed a straightforward attack to stop the pressure and capture a win.

    The two locked in the heat of battle didn¡¯t seem to realise how strong the gales they produced were. To the audience, it looked as though they were standing inside a tornado. Darkcloud had pretty much devoted all his resources to focusing on what was right in front of him and what he was doing.

    Darkcloud changed his approach again. As soon as he did that, what resembled a dragon took form inside the tornado ¨C Dragon Fang. In response, Hong Jiu uncorked ¡°Dragon Soars in the Sky¡± to stop the force from reaching him. Unfortunately, Darkcloud still managed to touch Hong Jiu, and blood was spilt.

    Right after Darkcloud cracked a smirk, a silver bolt shed down between them, smashing into the Dragon Fang. In the same instant, blood spurted in every direction. Nobody could understand what happened until the violence came to a halt.

    Hunt was nted in Darkcloud¡¯s head as though it tried to dig Darkcloud out of his grey robes.

    Hong Jiu took a heavy step and pulled out his shiny broadsword. ¡°I told you that you were dead, but you didn¡¯t believe me.¡±

    ¡­

    Valley of Yearning¡¯s fossilised members burst into cheers.

    Master Qi had her hands over her mouth in disbelief. Watching him use the technique they created together to win gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling. Regrettably, she couldn¡¯t celebrate.

    Hong Jiu had two wounds, the second of which was the worst. Darkcloud didn¡¯t have enough time to exert his energy, but the w wound on Hong Jiu¡¯s chest was no joke. The white smoke coiling up from Hong Jiu¡¯s skull proved he had expended an excessive amount of strength.

    ¡°You shall pay for my senior brother¡¯s life with your own!¡±

    Before Hong Jiu could react to the threat, Bai Zhiqing had zipped past to trade thrice with Squall.

    Once they split, Bai Zhiqing yelled, ¡°If you want to hurt any of them, you¡¯ll have to get through me first.¡±

    Squall scoffed, ¡°Old Bai, you¡¯re as weak as a starving beggar, so why don¡¯t you bug off? Oi, brat, are you going to fight or not?!¡±

    Bai Zhiqing grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s hand and, whilst helping him recalibrate his qi flow, whispered, ¡°You got through the first round. Take a break.¡±

    Hong Jiu took a few breaths and then opened his eyes. He gave Bai Zhiqing a head bob of appreciation before taking three steps forward. ¡°I¡¯ll maul you, too!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 148

    Book 13: Chapter 148

    ¡°Your ego is too big for your body! I won¡¯t spare you even if you beg me!¡± thundered Squall, charging toward Hong Jiu.

    The elder in ck transformed his right hand into a w, and, as expected, it was ¡°Dragon w¡± again. Since Darkcloud perished, it was up to Squall to protect their secret. The less scheming one of the pair didn¡¯t hold back whatsoever in his fit of rage.

    Due to the injury at his left shoulder, Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t utilise his left arm optimally,promising his output. His chest wound rendered him more sluggish. Under those circumstances, all he could manage was swinging Hunt around to avoid getting hit. Unfortunately, Squall¡¯s pressure made evading as about as useful as not evading.

    Based on the observation that Darkcloud could perform each strike consecutively without leaving any space in between, he clearly had a better grasp of Dragon w¡¯s mental cultivationpared to Squall.

    Hong Jiu suddenly moved in the Big Dipper formation and flipped himself aerially whilst swinging his de in a curving motion while upside down. It might¡¯ve looked as though he was spraying and praying, but he moved with conviction. Most importantly¡­

    ¡°You shameless brat!¡± Squall¡¯s next attack looked violent and devoid of control.

    Thud! Squall held his ground, while Hong Jiu went reeling and rolling across the ground, almost leaving just his blood in the ring.

    ¡°Hmph, conniving brat.¡±

    While it appeared to be Squall¡¯s victory, he was actually the one who was yed. He nned to start with a constant barrage of attacks to pressure Hong Jiu. Howbeit, Hong Jiu baited him intoing out of the gate with solid blows, which gave Hong Jiu a repellent force to use as aunch pad to create distance. Squall was so prone to Hong Jiu¡¯s provocation because he was furious. Despite the different medium and differences in execution, the positioning and mental cultivation Hong Jiu applied with his finisher was an obvious imitation of ¡°Dragon Fang¡±. How could he not be mad when someone was able to imitate the technique so closely when he spent decades to be an expert at it?

    All that being said, Hong Jiu was still bleeding and light-headed. In fact, his shoulder injury had worsened after being forced to block Squall¡¯s attacks. He lost even more blood after thest blow made him cough up blood.

    ¡°Brother Hong, that¡¯s ¡®Shrouding the Moon¡¯,¡± Fang Xiaoyu yelled between his hands.

    Hong Jiu recognised the discipline without Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s information. Hero Shenzhou¡¯s ¡°Divine Palms Manual¡± might¡¯ve had ¡°palms¡± in the name, but it didn¡¯t epass only palm techniques. He included punching, wing and finger techniques, as well. Although Hong Jiu never devoted himself to punching and wing techniques, he certainly had a better understanding of them than an amateur.

    ¡°Divine Palms Manual¡± naturally touched on Dragon w. After all, Hero Shenzhou included his analyses of martial arts into the manual. Although he seldom gave praise, he was particrly generous whenmending Dragon w, calling it the best external discipline of Shaolin. When Ming Huayu taught Hong Jiu, he even said, ¡°Given his pride and giarism habits, you can be sure you¡¯re in trouble against that Pig Feet Dragon w stuff when he doesn¡¯t shut up about how good it is. Thank god Shaolin¡¯s monks are soft-hearted. If they let one person embody all of it, sh!t.¡±

    ¡°Sh!t¡± was Ming Huayu¡¯s go-to description when the situation was as bad as ¡°I¡¯m screwed¡±. Most of the time, he used them in the presence of beautifuldies. Hardly ever did he use it in rtion to martial arts.

    Hong Jiu knew ¡°Shrouding the Moon¡± was part of the Dragon w sybus, but, unlike ¡°Dragon Fang¡±, it wasn¡¯t a technique rooted purely in brute strength.

    ¡°I practice flexibility and fluidity, making me your Subduing Dragon Eighteen Palms¡¯ worst enemy. You won¡¯t fool me like you fooled my senior.¡± Despite his anger still swelling inside him, Squall didn¡¯t press the attack. Instead, he kept his distance as he continued, ¡°It would leave a bad taste if I defeated you in your current state, undermine the might of Dragon w and take away the satisfaction of revenge. Bug off. Let me kill Old Bai first, and then I¡¯ll reunite you with him.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing already discerned Squall could rival his senior after their three exchanges. Now that his true qi was alsopromised, Bai Zhiqing had no chance. Nheless, for the sake of Hong Jiu, he replied, ¡°Hahaha, funny. You make it sound as though this one doesn¡¯t have a de to kill.¡± He nced to Hunt in Hong Jiu¡¯s hand and awkwardly cleared his throat before adding, ¡°Uh, I shall go fetch my brother¡¯s de. Excuse me.¡±

    Hai Yecha questioned, ¡°Hey, how long is it going to take?¡±

    ¡°Not long, not long. It¡¯s at the back of the mountain. Just give me six hours.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m an idiot?!¡±

    ¡°What do you know?! A special weapon needs to be hidden away carefully. I¡¯m not exaggerating when I say this, but my brother¡¯s broadsword literally glows when unsheathed, shrouds the moon when raised, quells waves with a swing, changes the direction of wind wh-¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Yeah, save me the lies. I¡¯m not going to let you buy time! You said you¡¯d be back in a sh back then, and then you were gone for two decades! You think I¡¯d believe you?! Sister,e out!¡±

    People started whispering, ¡°The old fart has a sister?¡± They couldn¡¯t believe it when a gorgeous middle-aged woman stepped out into view.

    Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, Ye Yexin, stole the attention of all the young men in her thin robe, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice as her attention had never left one man ever since she arrived.

    ¡°You left my sister heartbroken for two decades after you ran off. Do you admit to this deed or not?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing expected to see her again for the first time today, but it still felt so sudden. He held his hands up in salute to thedy who hadn¡¯t seemed to have aged a day and politely expressed, ¡°It has been a long time, Miss Ye.¡±

    Ye Yexin had had imagined herself cursing him for being heartless and then running a de through his heart. She had imagined many other scenarios of her doing a variety of things. In the end, when they finally met, and when he greeted her the same way when they met for the first time, she looked down to hide her red face and mumbled, ¡°Mm.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 149

    Book 13: Chapter 149

    ¡°Open your eyes! He is our enemy! Had it not been for him, our master wouldn¡¯t be missing. Have you forgotten why you lost the fruits of your cultivation? Have you forgotten how you went from our second strongest to your current state? He¡¯s not a man of his word. He has no loyalty to speak of. He deserves to die a thousand times over. Are you still fantasising of being together with him?!¡± roared Hai Yecha.

    ¡°Shut up, Hai Yecha. What hogwash are you spitting?!¡± Bai Zhiqing shouted. ¡°I made it very clear to Miss Ye that I didn¡¯t have feelings for her. It was love at first sight when I met my wife, and my heart won¡¯t change. How dare you use me of being disloyal? You¡¯re the one spouting lies. It¡¯s true that Miss Ye saved me from your jaws back then, but when did I ever make any agreement with any of you. If I ever bowed my head to you even once, I¡¯ll be struck by lightning where I stand. How am I disloyal?¡±

    ¡°Fine¡­ Fine¡­ Hehe¡­ Fine.¡± Hai Yecha gave Bai Zhiqing a thumbs up. ¡°It¡¯s amazing how you orthodox folks prove yourselves shameless every time you open your mouths. You¡¯re a brave man, Patriarch Bai. Allow me to ask you: my silly sister is your benefactor since she let you escape, correct? My master didn¡¯t kill you, which means he never went back on his word, correct? You, on the other hand, came back with a team to destroy Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Will you deny you¡¯re not the one who led the group back? Did you consider my sister for a single moment when you made the decision? Did you know she waspletely defenceless when your cursed brother and that old Lu dirtbag ughtered their way in? Did her safety ever cross your mind?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing shook his head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to stop my first brother in my injured state¡­ That is my fault, indeed. With that said, I never led them to Fiends¡¯ Genesis, or I would¡¯ve asked my brother to spare Miss Ye.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You can im whatever you want now. Will it change anything? Fiends¡¯ Genesis is no more. We¡¯re but lifeless sacks of flesh now. You, and all of you, must pay.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing frowned. ¡°It is within reason for us to bring you down when you weremitting all forms of heinous deeds. It¡¯s true that Miss Ye saved me, but that is between the two of us. I crushed Fiends¡¯ Genesis to do what¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you think, then you¡¯re not an idiot but the stupidest idiot. Who do you think advocated for our destruction among you Seven Champion White Princes? Who stood to benefit from our demise? You¡¯re the only idiot who thinks it was all for justice.¡±

    ¡°Regardless of the motivations, it¡¯s an irrefutable fact that you people were responsible for the loss of countless lives, the sorrow of countless parents and the misery of the children you kidnapped. Did you ever think about how those parents felt when they had to helplessly watch you snatch their children from them and live with the nightmares of their children suffering? There are things a man ought to do and things that he ought not to do. Were you targeted because you were living proper lives? Did we target your for no rhyme or reason?!¡±

    Hai Yecha went mute.

    Ye Yexin grabbed Hai Yecha¡¯s arm and shook her head. ¡°Forget it. Let it go¡­ I chose to save him¡­ He never did wrong by me. Don¡¯t avenge me.¡±

    ¡°How can I let him off?!¡± Hai Yecha strode forward once. ¡°If you¡¯re a man,e down here and ept your death! Since we can¡¯t coexist, one of us has to die today. What are you waiting for?!¡±

    ¡°Me.¡±

    Everyone looked to Hong Jiu in surprise.

    Hong Jiu took his hand that resembled smoking-hot iron and pressed it against his shoulder wound. The sizzling was audible. The smokeing from it and beads of sweat forming on his face were visible. Yet, he chuckled as though he couldn¡¯t feel anything.

    Master Qi, standing beside Hong Jiu, whined, ¡°Why are you so stubborn?! I said I could freeze your wound for you!¡±

    Hong Jiu removed his hand from his shoulder that had now stopped bleeding, exhaled and chuckled. ¡°Meat smells better grilled. Have a whiff.¡±

    Master Qi turned her head away and pinched Hong Jiu¡¯s hip.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Hong Jiu looked to Squall. ¡°I apologise for the long wait. You didn¡¯t nod off watching their romance drama show, did you?¡±

    ¡°And what martial arts performance will you be putting on?¡± Squall simpered. ¡°Do you honestly think you can beat me? Who do you think you are? The Western Region¡¯s Sakra?¡±

    Hong Jiu grinned. ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve gone and mentioned him, I can¡¯t afford to lose, or my leader is going to tell me off.¡±

    ¡°What are you waiting for, then? Come.¡±

    ¡°Nah, you¡¯re going to have to wait.¡± Hong Jiuzily took three steps forward, dragging Hunt behind him. He grabbed the cbash from his sash, drank a mouthful of alcohol and then sprayed at the heavens. Rather than spreading out ording to the wind¡¯s demand, the alcohol remained stationary in the air.

    Squall might¡¯ve had a propensity to be careless, but seeing the bizarre phenomena for the first time kept him on his toes,pelling him to assume a defensive position. No matter how long he spent waiting, though, the only change was the alcoholic mist multiplying and remaining airborne. Though he didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what function it served, if he left it be, the mist would encircle him. So as to not lose the initiative, he sumbed to his impatience and leapt into the thick mist.

    Immediately upon entry, ngs were audible, though they weren¡¯t often audible. From that, they assumed Squall was still in charge of offence.

    Lady Bai enthused, ¡°Dear, that¡¯s your ¡®Thousands of Autumns Passing By¡¯.¡±

    As happy as he was, Bai Zhiqing was also embarrassed. As he scratched his cheek, he replied, ¡°Ah, man, he can learn it if he wants. I¡¯m amazed he learnt it so fast. I just wish he wouldn¡¯t show off my embarrassing trick.¡±

    Lady Bai shook her head. ¡°Who says it¡¯s embarrassing? The kids and I love you.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing gave his wife a dorky smile. She took his hand and lean her head on his shoulder.

    Ye Yexin couldn¡¯t stop the sorrow permeating in her heart as she watched the two of them. Never had Bai Zhiqing looked at her with the same affectionate gaze. She understood she was but a benefactor to him. Even without Lady Bai, he wouldn¡¯t have fallen for her. Despite knowing there were innumerable people in the world, she still felt lonely when the realisation dawned on her.

    Master is gone. What is the purpose of taking revenge against the Seven Champion White Princes? Even if we get our revenge, will that help us find Master? Do we really have to follow his instructions? He¡¯s also a White Prince, though¡­ Is it really worth sacrificing so many lives for this?

    Nobody answered the questions on Ye Yexin¡¯s mind. Once again, she cast her sad gaze into the arena.

 Book 13: Chapter 150

    Book 13: Chapter 150

    Squall had an extremely hard time. He couldn¡¯t locate his foe, and he was eager to make it quick, so he strung together one attack after the next. He was able to touch Hong Jiu in some way each time, but nobody outside the mist could hear a thing. The reason was that Squall¡¯s force would disintegrate as if he was punching into water when Hong Jiu used Hunt to dismantle attacks. Since Squall had never heard of such a skill, he had no answer for it.

    There was only one version of Yearning Broadswordy. Howbeit, Bai n¡¯s forefather never stopped members from inventing new skills. In fact, it was mandatory for direct descendants to create their own skills in the name of growing the n. It wasn¡¯t actually too difficult for them. Considering the depth of Yearning Broadswordy and the diligence of their members, they¡¯d have invented their first skill by roughly twenty years of age. One of Bai Zhiqing¡¯s elder brothers created his first skill at twelve years of age, while his other elder brother created his first at seventeen.

    Bai Zhiqing didn¡¯t have the aptitude of his brothers, and he wasn¡¯t as dedicated as them. Therefore, he was often mocked behind his back when he was still unable to create something past the age of twenty, not that it bothered him. It all changed when he met his wife. From the moment heid eyes on her, she was his world. That emotional attachment brought out the potential of Yearning Broadswordy because the discipline wanted its wielder to imbue emotion into the skills.

    Following several sleepless nights of training with his feelings at the forefront of his mind, Bai Zhiqing came up with ¡°Thousands of Autumns Passing By¡±. Just as his love for his wife was infinite, just as every thought about her connecting to another thought, his skill expressed the concept of ¡°infinity¡±. Despite not having ¡°do harm¡± as its aim, the techniques would empower the practitioner to dismantle all attacks.

    Hong Jiu, so far, had employed a hard-hitting style, but his mind frequently started thinking about the broadswordy recently. Even without practical practice, it seemed to just click with him. Owing to Hong Jiu having yet to master ¡°Thousands of Autumns Passing By¡±, the mist was even harder to decipher.

    Squall¡¯s attempts to disperse the mist were constantly halted. However, his ¡°Shrouding the Moon¡± was also a sticky style, so he wasn¡¯t afraid. The problem was that he couldn¡¯t disperse the mist if he was upied with sticking to Hong Jiu. If the situation didn¡¯t change, it would be a pure internal energy endurance contest. Given Squall had decades of training on Hong Jui, he was more than wee to entertain the idea, except he felt the direction of the match was unsettling.

    Once again, Hong Jiu deflected another w attack.

    Darkcloud didn¡¯t hold back. While Squall didn¡¯t know how Hong Jiu created the tornado, but he supposed it couldn¡¯t have been magic, which meant that only violent internal energy maniption could¡¯ve produced it. Adding on thest sh that ended his brother, Hong Jiu should¡¯ve been exhausted. Yet, here he was still able tost at the current high pressure.

    show those living within the walls how miserable life is outside so that they¡¯ll be satisfied with their lives inside the walls

    No wonder why my brother lost to him. For a man of his age, it¡¯s almost insane how much internal energy he possesses to sustain this pace for so long. If this is the level of Ming Huayu¡¯s second disciple, his most senior disciple must be unbelievable. If I don¡¯t kill him today, he¡¯ll be a thorn in our side tomorrow.

    Thus, Squall pushed harder even if it costed him more energy in order to make Hong Jiu¡¯s injuries tire him. Strangely, even though he was feinting more than he was actually attacking, it was evident that Hong Jiu was growing while he wasn¡¯t. In turn, he kept trying to raise his output. As a consequence, longer exchanges reduced in frequency. After two hours of fast-paced exchanges, in spite of him gradually gaining the advantage, and in spite of his superior condition, he just couldn¡¯t prate Hong Jiu¡¯s fortress.

    If we sustain this pace, I¡¯ll be able to finish him in less than three hundred exchanges, but I¡¯ll be bedridden, lose arge portion of my abilities and lose twenty years of my life. It¡¯s not easy to shake him off to disengage, though.

    As he couldn¡¯t think of any solutions, Squall decided to gamble on being able to disperse the mist with his full power, escape and then kill his opponent. To that end, he stopped trying to be tactical and went for simplicity that maximised his power ¨C the same as thest technique his senior executed. This was ast resort for him because he couldn¡¯t maintain the dragon form for a consecutive second usage.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A giant dragon silhouette spawned did just as when Darkcloud performed ¡°Shrouding the Moon¡±. However, instead of spawning a dragon head as Darckloud did, Squall spawned a scaly dragon. Like the legends of old and the name suggested, the technique summoned a giant dragon soaring the skies, shrouding the moon and blocking out the clouds. If it descended, it would spell destruction for life below. What could alcoholic mist possibly do to stop a dragon embodying such might?

    The audience finally got to see Hong Jiu. He was covered in blood; his eyes were empty. He looked no different to a man continuing to hold out purely on muscle memory.

    The protracted fight was but a veil created from the alcoholic mist. By sticking to Squall, Hong Jiu saved the equivalent energy of several moves so that he could perform one heavy blow. His increasingly stronger counters were predicated on deliberately blocking several shots first. There was no way he wasn¡¯t tired and hurt after fighting for so long. The smell of alcohol reduced the rity of the smell of blood. As a result, even when Squall smelt blood, he mistakenly assumed it was blood from before they started, so he was unaware how debilitating Hong Jui¡¯s injuries actually were.

    As ¡°Shrouding the Moon¡± entered its final phase, the dragon rose into the ether before it would begin its destructive descent.

    Hong Jiu mumbled, ¡°Wasn¡¯t your brother a cold-blooded homicide monger? I made him lose the will to kill and to go out without taking a single life. Aren¡¯t you careless? I wanted you to be cautious, to rack your brains and die without realising where you went wrong. You¡¯re about to die, you know?¡±

    ¡°Your tough talk won¡¯t save you now!¡±

    Hong Jiu drew a circle in the air with his open left hand. The following instant, a huge crater formed where he stood. Even though a mighty creature once hailed as a ruler had forced itself onto Hong Jiu, the sensation in Squall¡¯s hand told him that he hadn¡¯t caught his pray. ordingly, Squall began to analyse. Two things stood out to him ¨C Hong Jiu¡¯s affiliation and one of the disciplines he learnt.

    Time seemed to freeze for Squall as he contemted a question. Only now did it ur to him that, during the course of their prolonged fight, never once did they truly touch each other¡¯s bodies, and never once did he see Hong Jiu use a technique from the discipline when it was the discipline he relied on most. Why?

    Has everything he¡¯s done been just to bait me into using ¡°Shrouding the Moon¡± to maximise the flexibility of Mount Daluo¡¯s Empty Palms?

    ¡°You¡¯re correct.¡±

    Squall never had enough time to figure out if he heard the answer before or after his head hit the ground. As soon as a silver light curved through the air out of nowhere, there was an extra head on the ground. The sound of flesh hitting the ground was incredibly soft, yet everyone fell silent for they forgot to make a sound.

    The man who had all eyes on him ambled over to Darkcloud¡¯s corpse. ¡°I beat power with power.¡±

    He picked up a head. ¡°I beat sophistication with sophistication.¡±

    He picked up another head and tossed both to his feet. ¡°Any of you have a problem?¡±

    ¡°We won!¡± Bai Zhiqing yelled.

    Nobody reacted to the important announcement for they were still marvelling ¨C or shocked. Hai Yecha had a fabricated excuse prepared in the event that Squall lost so that they could invade Valley of Yearning, yet even he was stuck in a daze for a while before saying, ¡°You have my utmost respect, Hero Hong. Winning and losing aremon in life. It¡¯s our loss. We shall retreat. Haha, see you again soon.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing frowned. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®See you again soon¡¯?¡±

    Hai Yecha answered, ¡°We¡¯ll be back in two to four hours. What a stupid question. Our score has yet to be settled, Patriarch B-¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    Hai Yecha flinched as soon as he met eyes with Hong Jiu. Hong Jiu had the appearance of a man on the verge of death; even someone without any martial arts training could tell it¡¯d be hard to say if he¡¯d survive based on his shallow breathing alone. Yet nobody felt he was anyone¡¯s prey. To the contrary, they felt he was dangerous. Hai Yecha couldn¡¯t even find it in him to argue.

    Hong Jiu only spared Hai Yecha a glimpse before shifting his line of sight to his sole target from the very start. Following a deep inhale, he roared, ¡°Vivianite, show yourself!¡±

    The area went dead silent again for a good while. Subsequently, a ck mist formed in the centre of the area and gradually solidified. Nobody witnessed how he reached the location. His height and his broadsword made some people reactively jolt.

    Hong Jiu and Vivianite had a long stare down before Vivianite coldly stated, ¡°You, really have yourself a death wish.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 151

    Book 13: Chapter 151

    The ck mist that the sunlight couldn¡¯t prate was as freaky as its conjurer. Unlike Hong Jiu¡¯s alcoholic mist, the ck mist wasn¡¯t a manufactured entity. It was a product of Vivianite¡¯s ck garments distorting the image that light shone on it produced with his movements. In addition to the freaky image, it also concealed his presence from the human subconscious. Vivianite wasn¡¯t someone who should¡¯ve shown up in sunlight. Once he did, his existence alone would stress people out.

    Hong Jiu¡¯s reputation was bound to grow to new heights after beating the Mount Wu demons solo and back to back. There was no doubt that, going forward, he¡¯d also be feared for his broadsword skills. Of course, the des came at a price: he was in so much pain and fatigue that he couldn¡¯t move. He only looked tough because he was standing upright simrly to a general who died fighting till hisst breath atop a mountain of corpses.

    Guan Ning was one of the people who proudly cheered for Hong Jiu when thetter triumphed, but he had gonepletely mute. ¡°Shifu, we won! What are we standing here for? Brother Hong cannot fight any more. Stop him. He¡­ Vivianite is too dangerous. Brother Hong might not even be able to beat him in tip-top form, let alone now¡­¡±

    ¡°I know what he¡¯s doing, which is why I can¡¯t stop him.¡± Bai Zhiqingmented, ¡°He¡¯s made up his mind.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Ning¡¯er, man must sometimes indulge in foolish endeavours. You can¡¯t stop him when he chooses to do so, not that you will be able to. Look at her. She¡¯s young, yet she knows better than you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Miss Wen.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s brows were knitted together. She couldn¡¯t hear what anyone around was saying as all her attention was focused on the two standing still. She was aware of what Bai Zhiqing talked about. If anything, she knew better than Bai Zhiqing because she knew how simple and direct Hong Jiu was, just like his palm techniques. Once he acknowledged someone, there was no changing his mind. ¡°¡­ You idiot.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so depressed. I reckon he still has a chance.¡±

    Master Qi jolted when she heard the voice next to her ear. ¡°Patriarch Bai.¡±

    ¡°They may look like they¡¯re on two totally different levels, but they¡¯ve been sizing each other up all this time.¡±

    Master Qi wasn¡¯t actually focused on their abilities but something else. Bai Zhiqing snapped her out of her thoughts. No matter how she analysed the match up, the reality was that her knowledge was limited, so she couldn¡¯t grasp the state of affairs as urately as Bai Zhiqing.

    Bai Zhiqing pointed to the ck mist and smiled. ¡°His skills aren¡¯t actually that impressive. He didn¡¯t forge his skills in realbat or train his way up in a school. When ites to foundations, he¡¯s inferior to the two demons of Mount Wu, let alone Hong Jiu. The real challenge is that single sh of his. He practices just that one attack.¡±

    Nobody understood what Bai Zhiqing meant better than Hong Jiu. Vivianite had honed the one technique until it became a technique that could lead him to victory whenever he utilised it. Vivianite didn¡¯t have the foundations Hong Jiu did to learn everything fast, didn¡¯t need developed internal strength, or fast eyes and hand. All he needed was to be able to kill his target upon drawing his de.

    ¡°Heh, that means they are the pr opposite of each other as martial artists.¡±

    Yes, Vivianite took shortcuts, used unorthodox methods and only sought to be proficient rather thanplete. However, that was the perfect route for an assassin. Vivianite¡¯s type weren¡¯t supposed to fight duels or fair fights. The moment he revealed himself, he forfeited his option of assassinating his opponent, but he only made that decision because he believed he could unmistakably beat Hong Jiu in thetter¡¯s condition.

    Due to the two of them silently sizing each other up, everyone else instinctively reduced their voices to whispers. People couldn¡¯t understand why Vivianite was still standing there when it was obvious that Hong Jiu was too weakened to even beat a foot soldier. Even if he was concerned about Hong Jiu ying possum, he was being far too cautious.

    Owing to the silence, one man¡¯s breaths gradually grew increasingly clearer. It was clear that he was hurt and tired. The strange thing was, his breaths kept growing louder and louder ¨C loud to a point that it seemed abnormal.

    His breaths stayed in time with the cadence of the breeze freely coursing through the trees, the swirling leaves that fell from the trees and covered the ground.

    With his gaze on the sun, Bai Zhiqing mumbled, ¡°Strange. What is this?¡±

    The silence had to have been hiding something, or it wouldn¡¯t have been so unsettling.

    ¡°It¡¯s the breathing,¡± Fang Xiaoyumented, drawing all eyes toward himself. As he frantically waved his hands, he exined, ¡°I-I don¡¯t know, either. It¡¯s what Brother Hong said. When I recited Vivianite¡¯s broadswordy for him, he said the most dangerous part about Vivianite¡¯s broadswordy is his breathing.¡±

    Guan Ning expressed, ¡°But it¡¯s Brother Hong who¡¯s breathing loudly right now.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know any more than you do. I might¡¯ve been the one to recite it, but I don¡¯t understand anything in it. Brother Hong was the one who exined it all to me. He¡­ must¡¯ve grasped something, I guess?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Everyone on Bai n¡¯s side figured it out from that exnation. The gaps between the breaths were the reason Vivianite hadn¡¯t made a move. Soon after, even the non-elites caught on. It wasn¡¯t that Vivianite didn¡¯t make a move but couldn¡¯t.

    The air trembled. The hearts of those watching thumped harder and faster. Those simr to Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s level struggled to breathe.

    Suddenly, a cry of pain echoed throughout the heavens.

 Book 13: Chapter 152

    Book 13: Chapter 152

    Birds fled from tree branches, while insects sped off helter skelter. Within seconds, the forest had been emptied out.

    ¡°The Proud Dragon Repents,¡± Bai Zhiqing stated, making everyone blink and move again. Stroking his chin with absoluteposure, he borated, ¡°It¡¯s thest technique in Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, a discipline that shouldn¡¯t exist. ¡®The Proud Dragon Repents¡¯ is the misery of heaven for it grants man power that surpasses that of the heavens. Naturally, the poweres with a hefty price.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing set a hand atop Fang Xiaoyu¡¯s dome and transferred qi over to calm thetter. Howbeit, Fang Xiaoyu fell asleep due to the pressure exceeding what he could endure. Bai Zhiqing then instructed, ¡°Disciples, do not resist. Trying to resist the most powerful discipline in existence will only result in harm. Just let physiological reactions naturally happen. If it¡¯s unbearable, knock yourself out on a tree stump.¡±

    Some disciples immediately banged their heads on trees, while some attempted resisting for a brief while before following suit.

    Bai Zhiqing went back to his wife¡¯s side and gently took her hand. ¡°Are you all right, mydy?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Lady Bai gently inteced her fingers with her husband¡¯s. ¡°His skills are truly overpowering.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing bobbed his head. ¡°In the thousand-years of Beggar¡¯s Sect¡¯s history, nobody has mastered the technique. How did he mast-¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t mastered it,¡± asserted Lady Bai.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t? So he¡¯s using it to bait Vivianite? If Vivianite refuses to attack, then¡­¡±

    ¡°He will.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing hadn¡¯t heard his wife speak with such conviction in a long time.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to block his palm attack, either.¡±

    ¡°Mydy, your judgement is impable. Do you think they¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Both of them practice special disciplines, so it¡¯s a 50/50 between them. At this point, it¡¯s no longer a test of skill but of will. In saying that¡­¡±

    It was obvious what Lady Bai was trying to say based on the visible difference in health between the two contestants.

    Bai Zhiqing said, ¡°After two tough matches¡­ he might notst.¡±

    Lady Bai looked at Vivianite and then Hong Jiu. ¡°He¡¯s a man with a will of steel. There¡¯s no guarantee that someone more skilled than him can beat him.¡±

    It was true that very few people in the world could block the iing palm attack, even the man Vivianite crowned as his god. However, it was only unstoppable if it was uncorked. Just because the executioner could change natural phenomena, it didn¡¯t mean that he could finish the technique; not every soul alive could manipte so much power. Lady Bai was right. Hong Jiu had yet to master the technique. Having said that, even if he didn¡¯t finish the attack, if the energy he collected was to implode, Vivianite would likely perish along with Hong Jiu in the explosion. There were less than thirty metres between them, so it was already toote to start running. It was kill Hong Jiu now, or perish with him.

    The masked man in the ck mist strode out of his mist and reached for the big de on his back. He strode and reached simultaneously, yet the audience saw two differently timed movements. He meandered over to Hong Jiu without giving any sense of tension. His steps were so aligned with Hong Jiu¡¯s breathing rhythm that you would mistake them for being the same person.

    ¡°Die.¡± Five metres out from his target, Viviniate drew his de.

    Vivianite¡¯s attack actually started from the moment he had his hand on his weapon¡¯s hilt. Yet, even now that the navy de was inching closer to him, Hong Jiu was still standing still, and his eyes were still nk.

    ¡±You¡¯re the senior brother? What makes you senior? Pull your pants down for me to see.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You flipping yed me again! Hey, hey, hey! Stay back! There¡¯s manure behind m-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re younger than me, yet you want me to call you my senior brother? Keep wishing. I¡¯d rather jump off a cliff than acknowledge you as my senior brother!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why did you shield me from the de after all I¡¯ve done to you?¡±

    Hong Jiu never forgot hearing the strongest man reply, ¡°Hahaha, real men don¡¯t sweat the small stuff. I¡¯ve acknowledged you as a brother; not even Yama can take you from me. Aren¡¯t we both still alive?¡±

    Leader, I think this is the end of the line for me.

    The navy de pierced his body, and the violent energy began to spread out inside him.

    Leader, sorry for being so useless. I¡¯ve lived for more than thirty years, yet I have yet to achieve anything. I couldn¡¯t be as respected as Grandmaster or get ¡°don¡¯t-care- do-something-about-it¡± power like Shifu. I was never strong enough to achieve anything, not even finding myself a wife. I don¡¯t recall ever doing anything right. But you know what? My proudest achievement in life was being your brother. I got to know ass recently. She¡¯s freaking violent, but she can be adorable. I¡¯ll introduce you two some time.

    Leader¡­ Leader¡­ Damn it. I wanted to see you onest time before I choked. I wish we could¡¯ve drunk with all our brothers one more time. I¡¯ve never respected anyone in my life besides you. I¡¯m not a smart man, so I¡¯ll do as you say. If anyone tries to harm you¡­

    Like a dragon out of a nightmare, a hand speared straight through the ck mist and caught Vivianite¡¯s throat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn who you are.¡±

    The de in his body stopped moving entirely before it started moving backwards as when Lady Bai caught it. They called him ¡°Hidden Hero¡±, but he resembled anything but a hero then.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch my brother!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 153

    Book 13: Chapter 153

    What transpired could no longer be ssified as a martial arts contest or a war because the former had no aesthetic value or thrill, and it didn¡¯t have the violence or seriousness of thetter. It was basically a brawl in mud.

    Vivianite could only guess Hong Jiu managed to see through his attack to prevent him from halving Hong Jiu. In reality, the purpose of Hong Jiu¡¯s breathing style wasn¡¯t merely to support Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms but also to find Vivianite¡¯s rhythm.

    Though Hong Jiu managed to catch Vivianite, he lost, and was still losing, a lot of blood to aplish it. In fact, all his closed wounds opened up. There was no reason for Vivianite to feel apprehensive when his opponent, who was already on the cusp of death, had been stabbed, as well. The only emotion he felt was rage.

    Vivianite: What do you want? What the hell are you talking about?

    Hong Jiu squeezed harder and harder as he used his right hand palm Vivianite over and over no differently to a street thug spraying and praying.

    Vivianite: How much longer do you intend to humiliate me for? You expect to defeat me with these weak tickles? You think you can defeat League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin like this? Don¡¯t mess with me!

    While Hong Jiu¡¯s strikes didn¡¯t have much behind them, they weren¡¯t just tickles. A fly might not have been able to crash into a human adult and kill them, but the constant buzzing wouldn¡¯t be annoying, no?

    Vivianite rotated his arm, chopping the quze upoint in Hong Jiu¡¯s elbow pit to try liberating himself. Siphoning internal energy through the pericardium meridian of hand-jueyin was the best option since Hong Jiu was weakened. As expected, Hong Jiu gasped blood instantly. If Vivianite hit Hong Jiu there a few more times, Hong Jiu¡¯s heart meridians would be damaged, which would spell death. Unfortunately, Vivianite¡¯s strike didn¡¯t loosen Hong Jiu¡¯s grip in the slightest.

    Vivianite gradually started to feel lightheaded, but he kept trying to think, leading him to the image of Hong Jiu using Dragon w.

    Vivianite: Wait, don¡¯t tell me this hold is¡­

    Even if Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t master a technique he saw for the first time, there was the fact that Shaolin and Mount Daluo were allies. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for disciples of either sect to exchange pointers with each other. Assuming Hong Jiu¡¯s Dragon w was ¡°good enough¡±, Vivianite was going to have a hard time breaking free.

    Vivianite struck the same point with his hand again for he knew there was no time to lose. However, as he found his target, he suddenly felt impact on his skull and his vision distort. Once he recovered, he realised that Hong Jiu¡¯s hand found his face at the same moment he found Hong Jiu¡¯s quze upoint.

    They were too close for the masked man to dodge. Hong Jiu didn¡¯t care what results he produced with his hammering. Regardless of what was in front of him, what his opponent hit him with, what came after or what risks existed, Hong Jiu just kept pounding away with his palm.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Maybe he was weakening, but Vivianite¡¯s arm grew number and number after each consecutive attack he blocked. Vivianite hit Hong Jiu in different spots to try stopping the onught, but none of it deterred Hong Jiu from continuing to batter the same spot over and over again.

    Vivianite finally realised the gravity of his predicament. He couldn¡¯t break Hong Jiu¡¯s control, and he couldn¡¯t stop the crude attacks. In a contest of finesse, Vivianite won by arge margin. In those close quarters, though, none of it could save him. All the sophistication and all his cleverness couldn¡¯t do anything to reduce the simple, arguablyughable, problem. Eventually, the sound of muscle and bones against an iron mask could be heard. Vivianite resorted to joint locking, kicking, punching and even ocr techniques to no avail. As a matter of fact, the smack to his face caused him to cast his ocr technique on himself, resulting in himself bing sluggish.

    Ocr techniques were a manifestation of one¡¯s determination. In other words, Vivianite¡¯s determination was weaker than that of a man hanging on by a thread.

    Vivianite¡¯s strikes were effective ¨C evident from Hong Jiu¡¯s injuries worsening. Nevertheless, they were meaningless unless they couldpletely shut down Hong Jiu.

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t change techniques, angles or tempos. Even after breaking down Vivianite¡¯s defence, he just kept hammering at the same spot. Even once Vivianite¡¯s mask shattered, he¡¯d keep going at the same spot. When he couldn¡¯t support Vivianite¡¯s weight anymore, he mounted Vivianite to continue pounding away on the ground.

    ¡°Spare me¡­ Spare me!¡± Underneath Vivianite¡¯s mask, it had be a pool of blood, yet Hong Jiu didn¡¯t cease. ¡°Spare me! I, I¡¯ll tell you what Jiang Chen wants me to do. Spare m-¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you League of Assassins¡¯ secr-¡±

    Bang!

    ¡°Spare¡­ me¡­¡±

    Bang!

    Cries became mutters. Mutters became murmurs. Murmurs became silence.

    Strikes became taps. Taps became touches. Touches became desperate swings moving inches. Swings that travelled inches became motionless limbs.

    Hong Jiu, taking shallow breaths as he towered over his foe lying in his own blood, raised his hand one more time. ¡°If you¡¯re afraid of death¡­ don¡¯t chase a career in the pugilistic world.¡±

    Leader, I¡¯m going to kill him¡­ Once I kill him¡­

    Hong Jiu suffered a moment of vertigo as he nked out.

    Oh, that feels good.

    A cold sensation enveloped Hong Jiu. He slowly felt relief from all the burning sensations from his wounds. Next, he felt two small, soft and icy hands on his raised hand.

    ¡°He won¡¯t¡­ harm your senior brother anymore. You¡¯ve won. He¡¯s not worth it. Don¡¯t kill him, okay?¡±

    He could see the worry and fear in her eyes if he couldn¡¯t feel the shaking in her hands. He rxed his mp to gently touch the maiden¡¯s cheek. ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll stop killing.¡±

    A heavy weight fell into the maiden¡¯s arms.

    Thest thing he faintly recalled seeing was the maiden¡¯s happy nod.

 Book 13: Chapter 154

    Book 13: Chapter 154

    During Hong Jiu¡¯s slumber, he had all sorts of wild dreams, such as running from monsters on Mount Daluo¡¯s mountains, being teleported to a city rampart to witness a war taking ce, eating a whipping hook from Ming Feizhen that sent him flying. He wasughing as he aerially performed upside rotations when a golden chickennded in manure¡­ Shocked, he haphazardly grabbing something mid-air, only to be pulled upward. He nced to a b beside him that was somehow floating in the air. No matter, he quickly grabbed it to prevent himself falling. The b was quite special. It was soft, yet hard, hard, yet soft and even somewhat warm. If he had to say, he had felt the same sensation somewhere before¡­

    ¡°Miss Wen, don¡¯t draw your sword!¡±

    ¡°Sister Wen! A man doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing in his sleep!¡±

    ¡°Move aside. I¡¯m going to hack him apart!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s injured!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just chop him three times then!¡±

    Among all the ruckus in the room, Bai n¡¯s new hero opened his eyes to see Guan Ning and Fang Xiaoyu shielding either side of him from Master Qi. Guan Ning and Fang Xiaoyu were as happy as men who found treasure. Master Qi bit her bottom lip for a while before finally lowering her sword.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Hong Jiu still thought he was still dreaming. Checking his hand, he mumbled, ¡°What the heck was that? Hard and¡­ somewhat soft¡­ I feel like¡­¡±

    Master Qi took big strides forward and p!

    Hong Jiu didn¡¯t say anything for a while. He then put a hand on his poor cheek and asked, ¡°Can I ask¡­ why you hit me?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Are you ady or a tigress?! I just finished fighting, and you¡¯re assaulting me?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so? Hit me, too, if you have a problem!¡± Master Qi leaned her face in close.

    What sort of man could let ady get him twice? s, Hong Jiu stuttered, ¡°I-I don¡¯t care for hitting such a tiny face.¡±

    Master Qi wrinkled her nose and smiled. ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t dare to.¡±

    ¡°Ayo, another couple quarrel?¡± Bai Zhiqing giddily came through the door.

    Master Qi bashfully replied, ¡°Patriarch Bai, you need to mind your words.¡±

    ¡°My bad, my bad. This couple r-¡±

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    He might¡¯ve been tough enough to beat three first-rate fighters back to back and had skin thicker than a city wall, but even Hong Jiu tried to change the topic. ¡°I am d to see you doing well, Third Brother Bai.¡±

    Thest thing Hong Jiu remembered was beating Vivianite. He was aware that he hadn¡¯t resolved the crisis yet with his three victories, so he figured Bai Zhiqing must¡¯ve settled it given Bai Zhiqing was now healthily standing before him.

    Apanying a nod, Bai Zhiqing immediately checked Hong Jiu¡¯s pulse. ¡°You really are built different. After all that damage you took, your hands and fingers are as fast as lightning after just a few days of sleep.¡±

    Hong Jiu raised his hands into a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Hehe, too k-, ah¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu fell over as his vision darkened, but Master Qi caught him in time and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Hong Jiu rubbed his head. ¡°My body¡­ feels like it¡¯s not mine.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing enlightened, ¡°That¡¯s what you get for trying to be mischievous after all you put yourself through. If you were an ordinary person, you¡¯d have died eight times from that much blood lost. Luckily, my wife happens to be a medical specialist, or you would¡¯ve died without the blood transfusion.¡±

    Hong Jiu: I had no idea she was one of the few people who could perform blood transfusions. No wonder why I¡¯m still alive.

    ¡°What happened to Fiends¡¯ Genesis in the end?¡±

    Bai Zhiqing casually answered, ¡°They left.¡±

    ¡°They left?¡±

    The entire sh with Fiends¡¯ Genesis was weird. They only knew a lick about Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ goals, ns and logistics. They had an inkling to what the end goal was ¨C and that many people would be harmed ¨C but they had no clue what the exact details were. They knew Fiends¡¯ Genesis had a sizable force, but they didn¡¯t know the specifics. They defeated a fair number of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members, but they had yet to prevent Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ designs.

    Hearing the disappointment in Hong Jiu¡¯s voice, Bai Zhiqing chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t be disappointed. They may have left, but we gained something from the whole event, too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I managed to capture several of them and interrogated them.¡±

    ¡°You did?¡±

    After Hong Jiu won the three matches, Bai Zhiqing threatened Hai Yecha with violence if thetter didn¡¯t release the kidnapped scions of the Seven Champion White Princes. Though Hai Yecha¡¯s chances of winning weren¡¯t null after losing his three fighters, a dominant win was no longer possible. Had it not been for Hong Jiu¡¯s performance, Hai Yecha would¡¯ve insulted Bai Zhiqing. After that performance, though, he was in a dilemma between agreeing and disagreeing.

    Bai Zhiqing subsequently had his nsmen form formations and attacked before Hai Yecha was ready. Just because Hai Yecha lost three reliable fighters, it didn¡¯t mean that Bai n could fight without any risks. Thankfully, Bai n¡¯s morale was elevated thanks to Hong Jiu¡¯s achievements, while Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ morale dropped. Like an army of Lu Bus, Bai n¡¯s members fearlessly smashed Fiends¡¯ Genesis, rescued the captives and captured a number of Fiends¡¯ Genesis members of their own.

    Hai Yecha was furious, obviously, but he was experienced enough to not let his emotions lead him by the nose. Therefore, he chose to retreat before he lost even more for nothing.

    Hong Jiu smacked a thigh. ¡°If only I was there to smash them, as well. If my leader was here, it would¡¯ve been even more excited. He knows my shifu¡¯s ¡®Nine Heavens Ten Earths Featherfallen Lute Alkaid¡± formation. With just a few of us, we¡¯d knock their socks off. What? You don¡¯t agree, Master Qi?¡±

    Master Qi grumbled, ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Why the long face, then?¡±

    ¡°If you have to smack a thigh, can you p your own?!¡± eximed Master Qi, gaze fixated on the hands that had vited her several times.

    Hong Jiu wagged his hand. ¡°I¡¯m injured. I don¡¯t want to worsen my condition.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t p.¡±

    ¡°Then the atmosphere won¡¯t be right.¡±

    Master Qi turned her head, refusing to waste her breath any further.

    Hong Jiu felt ufortable when he saw audience member Bai Zhiqing¡¯s grin, so he diverted the topic. ¡°Did you find out anything from your interrogations?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, I was going to talk to you about it. Fiends¡¯ Genesis is indeed plotting something big, and they¡¯ve likely enacted the majority of it. We¡¯re a bit toote to stop them now.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 155

    Book 13: Chapter 155

    Today, the sunshine was in the bones. The cicadas¡¯ voices sounded as though they were trapped in a heated cauldron and pleading for help with theirst breaths. While a frog would asionally make a ripple in the clear water that destroyed the annoying fiery orb reflected in there, the moment of relief was but fleeting.

    ¡°White hair isn¡¯t bad at all,¡± a young schr in ck remarked. Sitting atop a rock, he didn¡¯t seem bothered that his fishing rod beside him hadn¡¯t been touched in a long while. ¡°Shitou, don¡¯t go too far.¡±

    The man crouching by theke flinched when he heard the man¡¯s voice. Until then, he had been staring at theke as though he was eager to jump in or he was angry with the frogs. He scurried back several steps simr to a child realising he had done something wrong, spun around, crouched back down and then resumed nkly staring at theke.

    Satisfied with the obedience demonstrated, the schr returned to reading the book in his hand.

    Neither of them seemed bothered sitting in the heat despite the water offering no cooling benefits.

    A long whileter, the schr closed his book and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s going to bite any moment now.¡±

    The fishing rod didn¡¯t budge. Instead, an individual in ck attire disrupted the peace to speedily arrive. The masked man stopped before the schr and respectfully bowed. ¡°Mr. Jiang Chen.¡±

    The fishing rod suddenly jumped. Jiang Chen picked it up and pulled out an arm-sized fish that easily weighed over a kilogram. He stood up, dropped the fish into his bamboo basket and made a small smile. ¡°It is an honour to have a visitor on such a steamy day. Allow this one to fulfil his duty as a host and offer a cup of tea.¡±

    ¡°I shall graciously impose then.¡±

    There was a hay cottage set up beside theke, but, despite it being an impromptu setup, it had an aura of elegance to it, and the surrounding bamboo perceptively reduced the heat.

    The masked man was courteous in epting the offer, but he started to feel frustrated when he watched Jiang Chen take his time brewing the tea because he had urgent business. As soon as tea was served, he finished it in one go. ¡°You are truly enjoying the best serenity the world has to offer her, Sir.¡±

    Jiang Chen enjoyed a small nip. ¡°It must be tough to leave the capital at the moment.¡±

    The man stopped to think and then dropped his tone. ¡°You are indeed correct.¡±

    ¡°The capital is in a tense state. Unorthodox faction members have all be driven out. Yi Ya is acting as the second Jinyong City. Everybody and everything leaving or entering the capital has to undergo strict inspections.¡±

    ¡°Mm, fortifying defences and leaving nothing for the enemy. Wang Muren has an excellent sessor.¡± Jiang Chen stopped to check on Shitou. ¡°Who is Wang Muren? A very capable man who is tough to deal with. It¡¯s best if we can avoid him, or our ns will go awry.¡±

    Shitou lowered his head. ¡°Mm.¡±

    The masked man didn¡¯t understand how Jiang Chen and Shitoumunicated when Shitou never opened his mouth. Nevertheless, since Jiang Chen didn¡¯t seem to bat an eye to his information, he continued, ¡°Wang Muren certainly is capable. Likewise, Yi Ya is toughpetition.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Jiang Chen smiled. ¡°He follows Wang Muren¡¯s style, though he is more democraticpared to his leader. Nheless, he, too, is an able leader.¡±

    The masked man grinned. ¡°I know you must have nted arge number of spies and men in the capital, but how many do you have left with Yi Ya running around?¡±

    Jiang Chen touched his chin. ¡°To tell the truth, only two or three left.¡±

    ¡°We are quickly losing manpower, as well. As long as Yi Ya is around, it will be difficult for us to achieve anything. I am here to propose we target him and¡­¡± The masked man performed a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

    ¡°Hahaha, to be honest with you, Yi Ya is a superb fighter. I may very well not be his match.¡±

    The confused man lost his spirit. ¡°Does that not mean the n is ruined? This pertains to both of our groups¡¯ ambitions. Please do not joke about it.¡±

    ¡°I would never.¡± Jiang Chen jovially borated, ¡°I¡¯ve already implemented solutions. There is no need to target Yi Ya or the Qilin Guards. I respect them for their diligence in guarding the borders. I have never had any intention of harming them.¡±

    Like many others, the masked man didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what Jiang Chen was up to, so he tried provocation. ¡°Can I understand that you intend to invade the imperial city and carry out your n by yourself?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways.¡±

    Because of how confident Jiang Chen sounded, the masked man stopped to think before saying, ¡°I know you are capable in your own right. That is why I have chosen to work with you. I hope you seed.¡± Since Jiang Chen didn¡¯t respond, he added, ¡°Should you truly seed, I promise Fiends¡¯ Genesis will never have any material deficits henceforward, and neither you nor yourrades will be wanted criminals any longer.¡±

    Jiang Chen shook his head.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Who cares about Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    It was a sweltering-hot day, yet the masked man felt his hairs rising up. Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ safety was the condition for their alliance, so what was the purpose of the alliance if Fiends¡¯ Genesis was not worth caring about?

    ¡°Who cares about material wealth?¡±

    The masked man felt awfully stressed. He had a feeling that his hidden trump cards had been exposed; he didn¡¯t feel he could hide anything from the man before him.

    With a smile, Jiang Chen voiced, ¡°Don¡¯t insult my intelligence. I was forced to take orders for two decades. I am still alive. What has he achieved? Every generation of Li n has been a generation of traitors who¡¯ve wanted my head. Have any seeded?¡±

    It dawned on the masked man that the difference between them was time ¨C a lot of time. The experience of a much longer life was not something he could hope to match.

    ¡°I suggest you stop pursuing your agendas. I will fulfil my agreement with you. Likewise, you mustplete your end of the deal. Else, I guarantee you will die a painful death.¡±

    Glossary

    Jinyong City ¨C Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, had a hundred-foot building constructed in the northwest corner of the ancient city of Luoyang during the Han and Wei Dynasties. Cao Rui then expanded it into a military fortress. When Jin Dynasty was established, Emperors and Empresses of Wei were exiled to the city. Although it was a small city, it was a solid defence chokepoint. So, Yi Ya is being described as a tough defender of the capital.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Book 13: Chapter 156

    Book 13: Chapter 156

    The sun high in the sky was enthusiastic about driving out the remnants of darkness today.

    The capital enjoyed peace again following Yi Ya stamping out the troublemakers. The unorthodox faction members who couldn¡¯t escape in time were locked up, and there were enough of them to turn the prison the busiest ce in the capital. s, Yi Ya¡¯s efforts didn¡¯t usher in peace but tension ¨C an unsettling gut feeling that a storm was imminent.

    The citizens were at a loss for how to react to the abnormally fast changes. Unlike the imperial court, they were barely privy to the details. Nevertheless, they couldn¡¯t shake off their suspicions that something big was looming.

    To the contrary, the imperial court¡¯s officials were confident there wouldn¡¯t be any problem. Yi Ya had swept out the criminals and made arrangements to safeguard the city. Emperor¡¯s Entourage had uprooted informants and spies of unorthodox factions. Not even the troublesome Bronze Mask had resurfaced again. Meanwhile, Ye Yun and Tianhu were working behind the scenes to ensure safety within the imperial city.

    Yi Ya being Yi Ya, didn¡¯t concern himself with any of the rumours. On the other hand, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s apprehension gued him all the same as since the start of the debacle.

    Li Dynasty¡¯s second Emperor constructed Wutui Pce, and its furniture arrangement had been kept simple for as long as it had stood. As they were a family who started in the martial world and imed thend with their swords, they never hid or tried to hide their roots. Despite the name of the pce literally meaning ¡°to retire from martial arts¡±, it was the pce most often used to host visitors from the martial world. The second Emperor didn¡¯t excel at martial arts, but he loved interacting with people from the pugilistic world, which motivated him to build a meeting spot for him and them. Unsurprisingly, Wutui Pce was the one pce with the fewest academic-based officials.

    Even though Her Majesty was apanying Emperor Yuansheng in Wutui Pce, neither of them said a word. They weren¡¯t in a cold war; Brilliant Consort had been mediating for them, so His Majesty had been spending more time with Her Majesty as ofte. Sadly, Her Majesty was aware that national affairs bogged down His Majesty, so she didn¡¯t want to bother him.

    His Majesty slouched to the side, crossed his arms and spaced out. Yi Ya did an outstanding job, but His Majesty¡¯s problems only increased. Shen Yiren had departed. Ming Feizhen went missing. Song Ou was too incapable to give Liu Shan Men a chance at growth. In other words, one of the three offices had just been removed from the picture. With the bnce no longer in ce, the Qilin Guards wielded the most power.

    Meanwhile, His Majesty couldn¡¯t cover the news that Huang Yuzao had gone missing. Clearly, somebody privy was purposely spreading unease. Eastern China Sea had most likely caught wind of it.

    Although Fiends¡¯ Genesis started a revolt, their attempt was quelled in time. That said, they had yet to be exterminated.

    Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s group hadn¡¯t shown up again, which could only mean they were hiding and waiting for a chance to make their move.

    Based on all the events thus far, there was no specific aim, and the imperial court had yet to suffer any damage. At a surface level, there was nobody was being ¡°clever¡±. However, if the situation spiralled out of control¡­ His Majesty didn¡¯t even want to think of one matter going out of control.

    No matter which problem it was, the imperial court managed to address them before they snowballed into more serious problems. The impable timings were too impable forfort. It was almost as if somebody was behind them all. The most unnerving part about it was that, although the problems were prevented before damage was sustained and they were all stopped before the imperial court needed to unite, none of the problems were actually resolved entirely. There, in fact, was no perceivable solution to any of the problems.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage couldn¡¯t find a single lead on Ming Feizhen and Huang Yuzao.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis sustained heavy casualties, but not a single authoritative figure was captured. They were continuing to run amok with their remaining forces. They took routes nobody predicted or routes that had been overlooked.

    Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s wouldn¡¯t be easy to find if they were trying to hide. His Majesty sympathised with their powerless state, so he couldn¡¯t find it in his heart to crush them. If the mastermind had ounted for even His Majesty¡¯s softheartedness, then they were very dangerous.

    Think and think, His Majesty couldn¡¯t work out what the motive(s) behind the actions were or who was behind them. All he was confident about was that there was only one mastermind, and they were hiding just outside of the imperial court¡¯s reach.

    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, there was also the need to question if the Seven Champion White Princes were now allies or enemies. Given they were desperate enough to warrant sending their descendants to the capital to reap whatever benefits they could, they couldn¡¯t surprise His Majesty. He had read the report about Fiends¡¯ genesis dering vengeance and kidnapping members of the seven, but he couldn¡¯t piece together anything no matter how many times he read the report.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis irrefutably had a supporter for their return. His Majesty never believed Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor was behind them. Since Li Muye was just a fool who was led by the nose, the person behind it had to be one of the Seven Champion White Princes.

    After a eunuch called out to His Majesty multiple times with no result, Her Majesty gently called, ¡°Your Majesty, your guests have arrived.¡±

    His Majesty exited his internal ne to see five people kneeling.

    The five politely, and collectively, voiced, ¡°Our respects, Your Majesty.¡±

    His Majesty responded, ¡°Excuse me for not noticing. Rise now.¡±

    Song Chi, Xun Feng, Bai Yumo, Jin Zhaoying and Ling Shaoxuan rose to their feet.

    Though they were supposed to visit His Majesty at set intervals during their stay in the capital, they hadn¡¯t visited in a long time due to the chaos outside. That was the reason His Majesty requested their presence, as well as Her Majesty¡¯s, at Wutui Pce.

    ¡°Take your seats.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 157

    Book 13: Chapter 157

    There were no seats for the practices and formalities of schrs were seldom observed in Wutui Pce. Therefore, eunuchs had to bring in chairs.

    Song Chi expressed, ¡°Zi Li is ashamed for he has not paid both of you a visit in so long when you have always treated his family with generosity.¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of us, Young Master Song.¡±

    After the other four conveyed their formal greetings, as well, His Majesty said, ¡°The capital has been deprived of peace recently, so deviating from usual routines is perfectly eptable. The fact that you have kept me in mind means that you have kept everyone¡¯s wellbeing in mind. I heard that Miss Jin possesses great knowledge, but is it true that you are not trained in martial arts?¡±

    Jin Zhaoying softly replied, ¡°It is true.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± With a hand on his beard, His Majesty continued, ¡°We are all on the same side, so I shall not withhold this. I believe everyone here is aware of the recent news pertaining to Fiends¡¯ Genesis?¡±

    Naturally, considering their family backgrounds, they all affirmatively nodded.

    ¡°Despite their modest numbers and might, outsmarting them has proven difficult. As a result, efforts to wipe them out have not borne fruit. The Seven Champion White Princes were the ones who advocated for Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ termination two decades ago. For that reason, Fiends¡¯ Genesis have been fixated on targeting the seven. As you are all part of the Seven Champion White Princes, all of you need to be careful. I shall assign a few groups of Qilin Guards to your lodgings to protect youter.¡±

    While His Majesty had yet to prove the five were innocent, it would be wrong if he was to wrongly use them and not extend a helping hand when it was within his power to.

    Song Chi conveyed, ¡°You can rest assured, Your Majesty. They would be nothing but ragtag criminals after their leader, Shang Bieshi, went missing twenty years ago. Commander Yi effortlessly drove out the criminals and has turned the capital into an iron fortress. No matter how capable Fiends¡¯ Genesis may be, it will be no easy feat for them to invade.¡±

    He makes a good point.

    ¡°I hope it is as you say. They really are¡­¡±

    A eunuch informed, ¡°The Directorate of Imperial Observatory requests an audience!¡±

    It certainly was rude to request an audience while His Majesty was busy receiving guests. Howbeit, His Majesty knew the Directorate of Imperial Observatory well enough to know that he wouldn¡¯t have requested an audience under these circumstances unless there was a pressing issue.

    ¡°Let him in.¡±

    The Directorate of Imperial Observatory briskly entered instead of meandering as he usually would.

    ¡°Director Wen, what has you so uptight and worried that you have disregarded the rules?¡±

    Knowing His Majesty was displeased, Director Wen prostrated himself. ¡°Please forgive your subject for the fault. It is just that this matter is too important to dy.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± His Majesty smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t mean to tell me there is an astronomical phenomena you wish for me to view, do you?¡±

    ¡°You are correct,¡± Director Wen replied with a straight face. ¡°Please follow your subject. You need not make a long journey. The top of the observatory will suffice.¡±

    Ol¡¯ Wen, why can¡¯t you be more sensible? How can I waste time gazing at the sky when there are so many national issues waiting for me to attend to?

    ¡°Your subject is willing to stake his head that this is important. Pleasee with him for a look.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was aware that Director Wen didn¡¯t speak lightly and was always sensible. ¡°Your Majesty, what say you?¡±

    Since she knew Emperor Yuansheng wanted a legitimate reason to excuse himself, Her Majesty solemnly answered, ¡°Director Wen is deserving of punishment for failing to respect the rules. However, on ount of his glowing track record, it would not hurt to take a look before you make your judgement.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you think so? In that case, I shall follow you. My five esteemed guests, would you ept my invitation to join me?¡±

    Needless to say, neither of them would reject His Majesty.

    Technically, the observatory could function as a military structure since it provided a view of the entire imperial pce. For that reason, it was heavily guarded.

    Emperor Yuansheng witnessed Sirius explode not long ago, and he was in no mood for gazing at the sky. Moreover, what rare phenomena could there have possibly been when the sun was still shining bright? He changed his mind as soon as he looked up from the observatory. In fact, everyone was stupefied.

    They saw a man neatly attired in ck sitting under the scorching sun. There was no shade whatsoever, yet he was leisurely reading a book in the heat.

    ¡°Umm¡­ What¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t find the words to speak just as nobody else could.

    Head down, Director Wen exined, ¡°This phenomena appeared not long ago. Your subject happened to see him sitting in the sky when he was gazing at the heavens. That is why he rushed to report in to you.¡±

    ¡°Th-this is most certainly no trivial matter. You did well to report it to me.¡±

    There was no doubt the people would be making a fuss out of the matter, so Director Wen was right to report it, which would give the imperial court time to deal with it. Else, somebody was going to leverage it in some way for their own ends.

    ¡°Just¡­ what manner of trickery is this?¡± uttered Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°¡­ A mirage.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng looked to Song Chi.

    ¡°Ah, please forgive Zi Li. In your subject¡¯s opinion, the phenomena should be a mirage, but that is the extent of what he knows. Director Wen will have to enlighten us.¡±

    Director Wen bobbed his head. ¡°You are well learned, Young Master Song. This one agrees with your evaluation. With that said¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng could finish the sentence on his own. It wouldn¡¯t have been odd to see a mirage in the desert or at sea, but in the maind of the Nine Provinces? That was a first. More importantly¡­ one that highlighted a certain man¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°What exactly¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng suddenly noticed the man mouth, ¡°Summon Li Shijiao.¡±

    Li Shijiao, rank eight on Seventeen Hidden Dragons, was as respected for his vast variety of knowledge as he was for his martial prowess. Among those random subjects he waspetent in was lip reading.

    As he anxiously waited for Li Shijiao, Emperor Yuansheng mumbled, ¡°¡­ How? How?¡±

    Even though Li Shijiao was filled in on the way over, he was still startled when he saw the man that made a throne out of air. In the middle of deciphering what the man mouthed, he suddenly went down on his knees. ¡°Your subject dares not say the treasonous words he is saying.¡±

    ¡°I will not hold you ountable. Tell me what he said!¡± Li Shijiao¡¯s hesitance to speak triggered His Majesty. ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll hold you ountable for the same fault as if you were to say those words!¡±

    Li Shijiao brought his head down numerous times, and Emperor Yuansheng had to assure him just as many times to convince him to interpret.

    ¡°He is repeating the same line over and over¡­¡±

    Upon finally learning what was mouthed, Emperor Yuansheng felt a sick feeling in the stomach. He had a name for the face.

    He had made his move, and he had seeded. He had emerged from the shadows, slipped through the iron fortress and arrived before the monarch of the Nine Provinces. With a grin on his face, he announced, ¡°This one is Jiang Chen, ender of thou dynasty.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Book 13: Chapter 158

    Book 13: Chapter 158

    All of a sudden, there was a ceaseless influx of eunuchs reporting that officials requested an audience. Those who heard what their subordinates deciphered from Jiang Chen¡¯s lips bolted straight out their doors. With the entire capital in uproar over the phenomena, no official could live in peace. Prime Minister Li Si was the first person to arrive at the observatory to see His Majesty.

    Owing to how many people wanted an audience at once, His Majesty dispiritedly said, ¡°Please convene at the za in front of the pce.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng gloomily walked into the spacious za full of officials. Before he had even uttered half a word, they had fearfully denounced themselves for dereliction of duty, resulting in the nefarious phenomena appearing. It was no surprise that they were scared for their own lives. After all, during the recent tussle between the Seven Champion White Princes, the various officials formed factions, and not many of them aligned themselves with Emperor Yuansheng. If he were to leverage the phenomena as an excuse, he would have a legitimate reason to eliminate all his vassals who opposed him.

    Emperor Yuansheng raised his voice over all the people speaking. ¡°He is Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Jiang Chen. Alone, I would be without a countermeasure against his treasonous ambition of sabotaging our reign. With all of you here, I feel much more confident.¡±

    Not only did his words provide them with relief, but it also instilled gratitude.

    Peering into the heavens, or rather, the man in the sky, Emperor Yuansheng pondered how Jiang Chen possessed such a youthful appearance. He was always aware of Jiang Chen¡¯s existence within Fiends¡¯ Genesis, but he didn¡¯t know much more than that. He had heard Jiang Chen was recognised as an elite during the campaign twenty years ago, so how did Jiang Chen not age a day?

    Ever since Emperor Yuansheng saw him, Jiang Chen had been repeating the same line. Out of the blue, he changed it to, ¡°I assume you have seen this now, Li Yong.¡±

    Thest Emperor coveted achievements, and achieving something new was part of that. Perhaps that was a reason that he had a penchant for trying to differentiate himself from others, even when he named his sons. He named his eldest son Dafang (Generous) ¨C courtesy name She De (to hold no grudge). Wondrous Warrior wasn¡¯t bestowed that title because he excelled inbat but because his name was ¡°Zhan¡±, which meant ¡°battle¡±, ¡°fight¡± and so forth. Wondrous Warrior¡¯s courtesy name was Mo Nan¡¯er ¨C to do the hard stuff. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s real name was Li Yong (Mediocre), courtesy name Hu Tu (Fool). This was the reason people seldom used Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s real name, not to mention the troubles that potentially came with using it.

    Of course, the officials immediately started insulting Jiang Chen for addressing His Majesty by his real name. When else should they have tried to show their loyalty? Only Li Shijiao felt scared because he felt as though they were insulting and threatening him. Had His Majesty not given him a shoulder pat and reassured him it would be fine for him to continue interpreting, he probably would¡¯ve quitted.

    Li Shijiao interpreted Jiang Chen casually saying, ¡°I do believe Jiang Chen isn¡¯t a foreign name to you. You have searched for me for a long time, after all.¡±

    Jiang Chen started speaking freely. ¡°Forgive me for visiting you in this form. Believe me. I have been looking forward to this day.¡± He paused as though he was giving Li Shijiao time to interpret, then continued, ¡°Regrettably, I still can¡¯t speak directly to you. It would make for quite the amusing situation otherwise. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had never ¨C and probably never would¡¯ve ¨C felt so many emotions at once no matter how sinister his opposition was. The fact that Jiang Chen maintained a cordial and rxed approach made it seem as though Jiang Chen was speaking to him as an equal rather than a bitter enemy. Moreover, Jiang Chen¡¯s words were ¡°ender of thou dynasty¡±, indicating his ultimate target was the entire dynasty, not Emperor Yuansheng as an individual.

    Emperor Yuansheng inhaled deeply. ¡°You are the mastermind behind the current turmoil in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I am.¡± Jiang Chen had his eyes down as if he was holding his gaze against Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s. ¡°You are correct. I am responsible for all of it. I captured Huang Yuzao. Howbeit, you can rest easy. He is still alive. He is a capable man. He has deterred me from killing him. I captured Ming Feizhen, but I cannot guarantee he is still alive. I have not had the time to concern myself with him recently. Let us just hope he is still alive. I am the instigator of the recent string of criminalsmitting crimes in Jiangnan. I believe you are capable enough to stop them, true?¡±

    ¡°Enough with the waste of words. You didn¡¯t go to these great lengths just to have a meaningless chat with me. Tell me what it is that you want!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d.¡± Jiang Chen paused, seemingly waiting for whatever emotion he was feeling to past before borating, ¡°I¡¯m d I don¡¯t have to personally hear you proim yourself Emperor. I¡¯d be rather annoyed, otherwise. I have but one question for you today.¡±

    ¡°Out with it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush now.¡± Jiang Chen cracked a smile. ¡°Maintaining some mystery is vital to maintaining interest.¡± He rotated his head to the side a tad. ¡°By the way, gentleman, are you all doing well?¡±

    While the majority of officials were wondering how to react, Prime Minister Li already had his sleeves rolled up as he blew his beard and thundered, ¡°Come down here if you¡¯re as tough as you act. This old one will teach you a lesson!¡±

    ¡°You gentlemen might not know me, but none of you are strangers to me. Secretary Lu, your wife just gave birth to a boy. He¡¯s cute, isn¡¯t he? General He, your eldest daughter wore on perfume before leaving this morning? Does it not concern you that she will returnte? Secretary Lie, your eldest grandson has the skills toplement his handsome appearance. He reminds me of you in your younger days¡­¡± Jiang Chen continued addressing another dozen officials, then shut his eyes and went mute.

    Emperor Yuansheng wasted no time asking his officials what that was all about. From his questioning, he learnt those Jiang Chen addressed had in fact not had family members gone without a trace for days already.

    ¡°The Qilin Guards have done amendable job in defending the capital. For that, they have my respect,¡± Jiang Chen suddenly voiced. ¡°They are excellent at safekeeping the capital from foreign enemies, indeed.¡± He opened his eyes and amiably added, ¡°Unfortunately, they seem rather ck when ites to those leaving the city.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A dozen-odd people were brought up to Jiang Chen¡¯s mirage¡¯s side. Some of the officials cried out as soon as they saw the people¡¯s faces. Indeed, they were their family members.

    ¡°Li Yong, the fault is yours for relying solely on the Qilin Guards to protect the capital.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 159

    Book 13: Chapter 159N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Had it not been too perilous to dy, Emperor Yuansheng wouldn¡¯t have granted the Qilin Guards all the power. It was something he kept to himself, so Jiang Chen exposing itpelled all the officials to turn to Emperor Yuansheng. While he was visibly displeased, he didn¡¯t copse. ¡°Hmph, sowing discord? I know very well what your aim is. If you weren¡¯t afraid of the Qilin Guards, you wouldn¡¯t be hiding behind your magic tricks and mind g-¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside the imperial court for now. As Emperor, you¡¯ve done a lousy job of maintaining the martial world. The Seven Champion White Princes do as they please and are deserving of punishment by execution, yet the best idea you have is stripping them of power?¡±

    Jiang Chen sessfully had the officials gossiping and His Majesty in a corner since members of the seven were present.

    Following a talking hiatus, Jiang Chen said, ¡°You gentlemen are all cultured men. These boring words of a ruffian must be toxic for your ears. That said, you may be interested in what I have to say.¡±

    Without Jiang Chen needing to send a signal, more people were brought before the imperial court. All the officials were trembling, wondering which familiar face they¡¯d see. To their surprise, nobody recognised the individual brought before them. Instead, the calmest person among them was the one who thundered, ¡°How dare you kidnap my third uncle?!¡±

    The hostage was none other than Patriarch Song¡¯s third youngest brother ¨C Song Zhi ¨C and the inmed individual was none other than Song Chi.

    ¡°Zi Li, don¡¯t get worked up. Let¡¯s see what he¡¯s up to.¡± Xun Feng gently pressed down on Song Chi¡¯s shoulders, though his own hands were shaking. ¡°¡­ My uncle is there, too.¡±

    Song Chi wasn¡¯t a stranger to Monk Dadao or any of the others there. Since Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t put a name to every face, he asked Song Chi to help him identify them. Every time Song Chi uttered a name, Emperor Yuansheng would bring his brows closer and closer together.

    ¡°Li Yong, seeing as you are incapable of filling your shoes, allow me to assist you.¡± Jiang Chen stood up and meandered up to one hostage¡¯s side. ¡°This is Jin n¡¯s Jin Shixun. He takes advantage of his ancestors¡¯ achievements to indulge in alcohol, food, rape and any other heinous deed you could think of¡­¡±

    A trail of blood formed on the ground. Jiang Chen flicked his sleeve and swung his sword at Jin Shixun¡¯s throat. Jin Shixun stretched his mouth wide as if he was gasping for air. His eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets. Everyone watched as he silently writhed his way to bing a legitimate corpse. Despite the heat, they pulled their clothes tighter to their skin.

    ¡°Perhaps some of the people I have here are innocent, and perhaps some aren¡¯t. Nevertheless, as they have all enjoyed privileges as White Princes, they should contribute their share to their families, right? When their family¡¯s survival is hanging in the bnce, they should courageously sacrifice their lives, should they not? If they were to try tuck tailing in the face of danger, you¡¯d want to kill them even if I don¡¯t, right?¡±

    Li Shijiao¡¯s robotic trantion perfectly fitted Jiang Chen¡¯s emotionless expression and amble.

    Nobody could predict what Jiang Chen would do next.

    ¡°Based on this logic, wouldn¡¯t you agree that, the higher up you are on the hierarchy as the executioner, the more fun it is?¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s gait as he walked toward each person, his gestures and posture were identical to when he executed Jin Shixun. ordingly, everyone watching interpreted the visual cues as portents of another execution. He never identified who they were. Instead, the people below would pronounce the names of the individuals he approached.

    ¡°That¡¯s my father!¡± Ling Shaoxuan rubbed his eyes and then rubbed them again. In the end, even his legs buckled underneath him. ¡°Your Majesty, Aunt, th-that¡¯s my father!¡±

    ¡°I can see that!¡± Her Majesty grouched through her clenched teeth.

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Ling Shaoxuan kowtowed repetitively at Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s head despite his blood staining the concrete.

    ¡°You have some nerve!¡± Emperor Yuansheng roared.

    Jiang Chen cracked a smirk and then startedughing. ¡°Li Yong, don¡¯t you feel these people are hypocrites? They¡¯re always prattling on and on about their loyalty to your face. When they¡¯re in a pinch, though, they have no loyalty. Fiends¡¯ Genesis just happens to have an unquenchable feud against the Seven Champion White Princes. How about I give you a hand in sorting them out?¡±

    ¡°Your attempts at sowing discord will not seed!¡± thundered Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°It¡¯d be boring to just watch from the sidelines. As such, I¡¯ve prepared a small surprise so that you can get involved.¡±

    Another person was brought forward from behind Jiang Chen. Unlike previous hostages, everybody instantly recognised him, but none of them understood why he was there.

    ¡°His Highness Red Prince!¡± blurted Prime Minister Li.

    ¡°¡­ Chi¡¯er! How did you get your hands on Chi¡¯er?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng shouted.

    ¡°This son of yours seems to have a lot of confidence in himself. Of all the times he could choose, he chose to leave the capital in its current state. Well, I guess he inherited his self-confidence from you. After all, you let me get my hands on two of your sons.¡±

    Another bound hostage was brought up to Red Prince¡¯s side.

    ¡°Cheng¡¯er.¡± Her Majesty almost passed out when she saw her exiled son.

    ¡°So, do you believe it¡¯s fair now, gentlemen? Everyone is now on the same boat.¡±

    With tears coursing down her face, Her Majesty gripped His Majesty¡¯s sleeve as she pleaded, ¡°Your Majesty, please save Cheng¡¯er. He only has onest life. Please save him.¡±

    Even with his face as white as if he¡¯d seen a ghost, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t take his eyes off Jiang Chen.

    Jiang Chen sat back down and dusted himself. ¡°Emperor who considers his people his family. Answer this: in exchange for the safety of your sons and people, are you willing to forsake your throne? I¡¯m truly curious.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 160

    Book 13: Chapter 160

    Aiming his finger at the mirage above, Emperor Yuansheng firmly asserted, ¡°You won¡¯t have your way! I know exactly what you¡¯re aiming for. You want to ckmail me into abdicating in exchange for their lives. You can forget about it! Even if I step down, you still have my sons and my vassals¡¯ family members in your hands. That¡¯s the same as giving you the throne. You¡¯ll then start hunting my family down in the midst of the chaos and then impose your will. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll be stuck between a rock and a hard ce, just as you want. You think you can force me to submit with a hostage strategy? You¡¯re dreaming!

    ¡°If I don¡¯t abdicate, you¡¯ll sow discord between my vassals and I. I may not be able to control a man¡¯s loyalty, but I refuse to let you lead me by the nose. It¡¯d be my fault for being a fool if I didn¡¯t understand your ploy. Since I do know, you can forget about your mind games. If I were to have any irrational softness left in me, I¡¯d be the worst sinner in the world!¡±

    Despite how long they had known Emperor Yuansheng for, the imperial court¡¯s officials saw him in a new, more positive, light after his unwavering speech.

    Emperor Yuansheng turned back to his vassals and, without any signs of hesitation, told them, ¡°My trusted aides, I cannot submit now. I shall ept any criticism you direct toward me. However, I have made up my mind. I hereby offer you my sincere apologies.¡±

    The officials with family members at the mercy of Jiang Chen¡¯s whims knelt down.

    ¡°You are at no fault, Your Majesty. His Highness Red Prince was kidnapped, as well. Your sacrifice for the world is no less than anyone¡¯s. How can you be a sinner?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You owe none of us an apology, Your Majesty. Compared to the lives of the entire world, the life of your subject¡¯s unbridled son is not worth a mention.¡±

    With his torso bent over, Prime Minister Li advanced to the front to convey, ¡°Since the dawn of man, it is the fault of the vassal if his master is threatened. To let Your Majesty¡¯s name be smeared in spite of knowing your sacrifices for the country is an even worse negligence of duty. What right would such a vassal have toin? Gentlemen, is there anyone among you who does notprehend His Majesty¡¯s pain?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°But¡­ But¡­¡± The only one who was in opposition to His Majesty¡¯s stance was his weeping wife.

    Orange Prince had been living a miserable life without the support of the imperial family since his exile. Every time Her Majesty¡¯s informants reported back to her about his life outside the pce walls, her heart would ache, yet she didn¡¯t dare to send him a penny. Honestly, she was content if he could just live out the rest of his life. Thest thing she expected was for her son to be a hostage and his father to sacrifice him.

    ¡°Your Majesty, he¡­ he¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng asserted, ¡°My Lady! We cannot yield to criminals! You need not say more!¡±

    Her Majesty finally sumbed to the stress and passed out.

    Emperor Yuansheng had Bai and Jin ns¡¯ daughters take care of her before turning his attention back to Jiang Chen, who appeared to be meditating. Containing his sorrow whilst maintaining a straight face, Emperor Yuansheng yelled, ¡°Listen carefully: you should¡¯ve done better research if you were going to try overthrowing me. Since my ancestors¡¯ time, not one of us, from elders to children, has any of us ever surrendered?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t care that a mirage didn¡¯t have an audible voice; he didn¡¯t even care that it was just a mirage; he didn¡¯t care of Jiang Chen knew what was taking ce in real time. ¡°Since it¡¯s my life that you want, I¡¯d rather die standing than live on my knees! After you kill me, you¡¯ll have to go through my sons, my daughters and my sons-inw. Even if you wipe out my entire bloodline, you¡¯ll have to kill every single loyal vassal of mine, and then their descendants will continue our fight. You¡¯ll have to kill and kill until there¡¯s not a single one of us left. You will never hear me say, ¡®I surrender!¡¯¡±

    A ray of light pierced through the white puffs, contorting the mirage of Jiang Chen.

    ¡°I look forward to hearing your answer five days from now.¡±

    Once the ray shone through the mirage, it rippled away.

    A long silent permeated in the za until Emperor Yuansheng turned to his vassals.

    ¡°You are most wise, Your Majesty.¡± Song Chi knelt down first, and then the other descendants of the Seven Champion White Princes followed suit.

    Emperor Yuansheng pulled Song chi up. ¡°Zi Li, why are you suddenly saluting me?¡±

    ¡°In the heat of the moment, Zi Li forgot his priorities and wanted to send a letter home to Yangzhou to request a negotiation with the rebel. Had Zi Li not heard your rebuttal that foiled the rebel¡¯s ns, he would have erred. He is grateful for your wise judgement.¡±

    The others followed suit to express appreciation for the correct call.

    Had it been under different circumstances, Emperor Yuansheng would¡¯ve been unhappy to hear that Song Chi prioritised his family over the imperial court in troubled times. Under these circumstances, however, he felt Song Chi spoke from the heart. In fact, Emperor Yuansheng was confident it was the first honest thing the five had said since they arrived in the capital.

    ¡°Zi Li could learn from your strong will to do what is right despite having to sacrifice your family. Zi Li would like to dere that, on behalf of Song n, we will do everything in our power to assist you. If you could try to rescue Zi Li¡¯s uncle from peril, he would be immeasurably grateful.¡±

    The reason Fiends¡¯ Genesis was so tough to locate was due to the fact that there were a lot of ces in Jiangnan that wasn¡¯t linked with the imperial court¡¯s intelligencework. It might¡¯ve appeared as solid as a fortress, but those with insider information would know how abundant the ways to avoid detection were. Therefore, if Song n were to lend a hand, they¡¯d provide a much-needed boost to the uncovered areas.

    ¡°It is my duty to crush vermin. Allow me to express my thanks in advance.¡±

    After hearing the other four express the same wish, Emperor Yuansheng was revving to go.

    ¡°Get up, Zi Li. You four, too. I know the reason for your visit. I truly do. All of us have important people to us whom have been taken hostage. If we continue second guessing each other and plotting behind each other¡¯s backs, we would be ying into his trap. If we don¡¯t unite, he will have thestugh. The Seven Champion White Princes and imperial court were one to begin with. Had the seven not deviated from their original path, I would never cut them off or even think of stripping them. Does that reassure you?¡±

    Those in the capital for their families were relieved to hear that directly from Emperor Yuansheng. ¡°May we always safeguard the capital!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng stroked his beard. ¡°Excellent! Summon Ye Yun and Yi Ya. I need to hold a strategy meeting with them.¡±

    Not long after, Eunuch Wang reported, ¡°Your Majesty, the two of them seemed to have expected your summon, so they sent messengers. The messengers said¡­ they have gone to hunt the criminals.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 161

    Book 13: Chapter 161

    Where Should a Dislodged Head Go?

    At the same time the sun erased the mirage, Seventeen Hidden Dragons¡¯ third and fourth ranks showed up at a small forest outside the capital. They never arranged to meet up at the same time, but they both found the same lead.

    As he went zooming through the forest, rustling the leaves, Dugu asked with a smile, ¡°I never thought we¡¯d be able to work together again. I believe it¡¯s the first time we¡¯ve been on a mission together since Ling Ling left?¡±

    Though Yi Ya didn¡¯t respond, Dugu didn¡¯t lose spirit. ¡°He really just got up and left. That being said, I was reassigned to guarding His Majesty in the pce after his departure, while you were barely in the capital. Every time you returned, we¡¯d barely have any time to spend together.¡± In a serious tone, he then said, ¡°This is a big matter. His Highness Red Prince and Li Cheng¡¯s kidnappings have dealt a heavy blow to the imperial court. One misstep could result in nationwide panic. We need to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s speed up,¡± Yi Ya finally replied.

    Dugu smiled. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Originally, Dugu¡¯s qinggong was a notch above Yi Ya¡¯s, but he could no longer get in front even at maximum velocity. The Seventeen Hidden Dragons were ranked based onbat merits. During his time at the border, Wang Laimu racked up the most credit since hardly any of Yi Ya¡¯s achievements were reported. In spite of that, Yi Ya remained in fourth ce, and third ce didn¡¯t seem too far ahead of him. Nevertheless, Yi Ya didn¡¯t care. Yi Ya¡¯s only concern was fulfilling his duty. He never coveted credit, but his performances were impable, so he collected adtion without actively pursuing merits.

    Yi Ya looked over his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m happy.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Dugu smiled again. He knew that, deep down, Yi Ya could be verypetitive. ¡°We¡¯ve reached our destination.¡±

    Theke was dead still. The two of them reverse engineered the mirage to deduce this was the location it was cast from, which they then made haste for. The schr in ck at the edge of the water and theke were undoubtedly linked to the mirage.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ssh! Ten individuals vaulted out from below the water surface.

    ¡°Guards.¡± With a wave of his arm, Yi Ya sent five individuals back into the water. It wouldn¡¯t have been farfetched topare to an arrow that couldn¡¯t be stopped as he charged toward the schr sitting on the big rock.

    ¡°Stop him,¡± the schr ordered.

    s, Dugu was already in hot pursuit.

    ¡°Jiang Chen?¡±

    The schr got flustered for a second when he espied the duo¡¯s swift advance. Nheless, he quickly got up and thrust his sword with precise control. Regardless, his match against Yi Ya was a short one just as Yi Ya¡¯s matches always had been.

    Yi Ya had an innate talent for identifying his opponents¡¯ weaknesses and using them to his advantage. That was how he built a resume of dominating foes who should¡¯ve outssed him. Yi Ya snapped his opponent¡¯s sword and then used his bare hand to disce his opponent¡¯s head from his shoulders. Meanwhile, Dugu was still fighting off the guards. Yet, Yi Ya showed signs of confusion instead of joy.

    ¡°¡­ Something¡¯s wrong.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not him.¡±

    Yi Ya looked up to see a man in a wheelchair exit the thatched cottage nearby.

    When Dugu caught up and saw the man in the wheelchair, his spirits were lifted several folds. ¡°Commander, you arrived before us?¡±

    Ye Yun casually remarked, ¡°The guy sitting on the rock didn¡¯t even realise I entered the cottage. He doesn¡¯t have what it takes to pull off the stunt.¡±

    Dugu was so surprised to hear the schr was but only an imposter that he nearly missed the stench of blood leaking from the cottage. When he looked inside, he discovered over ten corpses.

    ¡°They¡¯re all dead and gone. The only exnation for why the image quality was so clear and ced so urately is that it was conjured using a machine of some sort. Moreover, there was a dy between the mirage and what happened in real time. By the time we saw it, the hostages had already been relocated.¡±

    ¡°The copses¡­¡± Dugu stopped himself when he remembered that Ye Yun asked questions without doing any prior research themselves. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out they were part of the Seven Champion White Princes based on Ye Yun¡¯s unwillingness to waste his breath.

    ¡°There¡¯s not a single lead for us to find where the hostages have been taken. I¡¯ve looked around, and it truly seems like they just evaporated. Nothing is out of ce.¡± Ye Yun condescendingly scanned the head on the ground. ¡°There¡¯s no doubt we saw an execution. Jiang Chen has managed to ckmail the imperial court without even needing to show his face. Heh, now this is getting fun.¡±

    ¡°How long have they been dead for?¡±

    ¡°Yi Ya, you sure have climbed up in the world, huh? You¡¯re even questioning me now.¡±

    ¡°I would never,¡± replied Yi Ya, still visually auditing the state of the corpses to deduce when they were killed.

    Since the time he was a kid, Yi Ya had always prioritised his duties over all else. He was the type who lived on extremes. The thought of being rude never crossed his mind; he simply deemed it a more economical use of time to visit the scene of a crime rather than on formalities and pleasantries.

    Yi Ya had discerned that the dead died around the same time and most probably to the ck-attired schr. Sadly, that was all he could work out.

    ¡°If only Liu Shan Men was still in capable hands,¡± Dugumented.

    Yi Ya didn¡¯tment because hypothetical situations weren¡¯t going to crack the case for them. Instead, he looked to the one person who might¡¯ve held answers for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s not my speciality,¡± stated Ye Yun.

    Simrly to Yi Ya, Ye Yun was all aboutpleting tasks as fast as possible, which was why he actually liked Yi Ya in some ways.

    Subsequent to his own inspection, Dugu asked, ¡°Kidnapping members of the imperial family and Seven Champion White Princes to force His Majesty to abdicate makes him a one of a kind rebel. Surely his tactics won¡¯t end here, though. Otherwise, how is it any different to waiting to be killed? It¡¯s a matter of time before we find him. If he harms His Highness, not only will he sabotage his own goal, but he¡¯ll also put his own life in jeopardy. Is he not stupid for trying this?¡±

    To be clear, Dugu wasn¡¯t suggesting Jiang Chen was a fool. To the contrary, he was confused why someone who could ckmail a monarch with a mere mirage would do something that hadn¡¯t been thought out.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand Jiang Chen because you weren¡¯t part of the campaign against Fiends¡¯ Genesis back then.¡± Ye Yun rested his chin on his fist. ¡°He¡¯s even harder to track than Shang Bieshi; it¡¯s as if he knows every route on thisnd. He¡¯d even use a rat hole to hide. Lai Jingzhen was the one who solved their contraptions back then, but not even he could locate Jiang Chen.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that we didn¡¯t have a lick of news on him before heunched this operation. He knows exactly how to evade Emperor¡¯s Entourage and even the imperial court. I always knew of his existence, but I could never find his traces because of that. He¡¯s got a good head, a scarily good one.

    ¡°He knows how many his enemy¡¯s numbers and what sort of counter will being his way. He has a clear pulse on everything that¡¯s happening on the board. We can¡¯t catch him even if we can beat him in a single blow.

    ¡°He has ambition, guts and strategy. He¡¯s a dangerous old maniac. Why would he give us time to rejuvenate when he has every advantage? How much can be achieved in five days?¡±

    Ye Yun stopped to think for a while, looking more perplexed than usual, and then shook his head. ¡°Slow. Ignorant.¡± He subsequently gave Yi Ya a smirk. ¡°Qilin Guard, go collect your reward for beheading the enemy leader.¡±

    After he did his own thinking, Yi Ya queried, ¡°Where is Tianhu?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know. He¡¯s not under my jurisdiction. What he wants to do is his business.¡±

    If Jiang Chen knew the three offices¡¯ modus operandi, then perhaps the only person who could find him was Tianhu. After all, Tianhu didn¡¯t abide by the imperial court¡¯s system.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for him to do something.¡± Yi Ya saluted Ye Yun, patted Dugu on the shoulder, and then off he went.

    Ye Yun chuckled as he watched Yi Ya take off. ¡°Now we have Wang Muren 2.0.¡±

    Dudu smiled. ¡°Still, he is different to their grandmander.¡±

    ¡°Both are going to die at the border. What¡¯s the difference?¡± Ye Yun turned his attention to Dugu. ¡°Fetch Navagraha Star Summoner.¡±

    ¡°Are we really summoning Commander Tianhu back to tackle this?¡±

    ¡°Huang Yuzao failed. Gongsun Chu is no ordinary man. Considering he had the guts to take on the imperial court, the mirage can¡¯t be the only trick he has prepared. The death of an aristocrat¡¯s family member is none of my business. The Seven Champion White Princes going into frenzy isn¡¯t my problem, either. Since he decided to go after the Emperor, though, he¡¯s going to have to pay with his life. Do you still remember who we are?¡±

    Dugu bowed. ¡°We are Emperor¡¯s Entourage, the only and strongest shield of our monarch.¡±

    ¡°Go.¡± Once Dugu left, Ye Yun gazed up at the bright sky. ¡°¡­ As long as I¡¯m around, Emperor¡¯s Entourage will never copse. Rest assured. Qilin Guards are akin to this sun in the sky; they¡¯re the sharpest spear, and the next Qilin has matured. Liu Shan Men¡¯s final fate¡­ rides on this. Yiren, you¡¯re going to have to watch out.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 162

    Book 13: Chapter 162

    Summer dazzles.

    Armenian plums shine.

    Golden clouds drift.

    Winds gently brush.

    Quarter past noon, a maidenes by,

    You are all familiar with her name ¨C Shen Yiren.

    With a hand on her sword hilt, her brows furrowed, the corner of her lips tugged up, she brayed, ¡°Five, was it? You flipping liar!¡±

    If even snakes were only left with their skin, then humans unquestionably despised the heat. What would refresh someone more than a cold beverage and some food under some nice shade? As soon as one entered the inn, where a sweet aroma of alcohol waft through the street, though, they saw a maiden going toe to toe with the inn¡¯s waiter.

    ¡°Five silver taels for a jug of wine? You think I don¡¯t know maths, or you think I¡¯m a hermit? I see how it is. You want to scam a poor girl because she¡¯s not a local!¡±

    ¡°I would never. I am charging the exact price we charge. Green Plum Armenian Plum Inn is known far and wide, and many people go out of their way to enjoy our drinks. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask anything within a hundred kilometres if there¡¯s another ce that sells wineparable to ours.¡±

    The inn was far from any town or gathering point, yet they operated out of a two-storey tall building. They say that an inn has no need to fear a long alley if their wine is aromatic. ¡°Hundred Mile Aroma¡± was the top wine in the area. They procured the water from a nearby mountain spring and brewed their wine using their proprietary method that had been passed down for thest century. They said that you¡¯d fill tipsy before a drop even touched your lips. Green plums and Armenian plums each had their own strengths that kept people hooked. Five silver taels for a jug certainly was a steep asking price, but they never had any demand shortages. There was something for every budget, so the inn couldn¡¯t be ssified as a den of scammers when there were willing customers.

    ¡°A hundred kilometres? I can travel four hundred kilometres in a day! Here is one silver for one jug. Give me another two. Keep babbling and I¡¯ll make you crawl home.¡±

    ¡°Tw-two silver taels is not even enough for half a j-¡±

    The maiden raised her hand with a re, scaring the waiter into the bottom of a squat. His reaction put a smug grin on her face.

    The waiter had served enough varieties of people throughout his career to be a menace with words, but there was nothing he could do against the maiden with a fuse shorter than her modest height and temper that was fierier than her body should¡¯ve been able to store.

    ¡°Serve her the wine she asked for,¡± instructed the owner.

    ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s more like it.¡± The maiden headed up to the second floor.

    Hearing his waiter grumble under his breath, the proprietor stressed, ¡°Don¡¯t wake up our guests.¡±

    ¡°But, Boss, she¡­¡±

    ¡°Switch to two small jugs, and don¡¯t fill thempletely.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t worth disturbing all the other guests for the sake of one customer. However, the waiter also realised why he wasn¡¯t in charge after hearing those instructions, and he had no qualms following them.

    Once the youngdy had a big mouthful, she said, ¡°Hmm, it really isn¡¯t too shabby. Still, five silver taels is too dear. At most, it¡¯s worth three silver taels. That said, your boss agreed to two silver taels for two jugs, so you better make good on it.¡±.¡±

    As she smugly continued drinking, she ordered, ¡°Give me another one and a half kilos of beef with extra green onions and¡­ You havemb shanks? You¡¯re a disgrace! Give me three extra kilos of braised beef, then. What are you staring for? You think I can¡¯t afford it? Even if I can¡¯t, you think this sword isn¡¯t enough to pay for it?¡±

    From what the waiter could see, even if the sword itself wasn¡¯t worth much ¨C which didn¡¯t appear to be the case ¨C the gold gilding looked convincingly real.

    The maiden enjoyed her meal without a care in the world. Given how steamy the weather was, people didn¡¯t want to expend extra energy speaking, so the sound of her chewing and guzzling wine were easily audible.

    The fragrance of Armenian plums, the long daylight, and the view from the windows created an idyllic atmosphere until she mmed a wine jug onto the table and brayed, ¡°Bugger the flip off!¡± Even though she woke up the sleeping guests, she continued raging, ¡°For goodness sake! You people have been sticking to me for half a month already. I¡¯ve left you alone on ount of the mercy of heaven, but you motherflippers don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you. I finally get to enjoy a meal, and you disturb me. Fine. I¡¯ll turn you to ashes and throw you into the wind!¡±

    Another thirteen assassins cloaked in ck garments presented themselves before her again. She had ceaselessly set up traps to kill them, but there seemed to be no end to them, and they¡¯d keep catching up to her somehow.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The notoriously impatient maiden drew her sword and made her move. The veteran assassins chose to forgo their advantage under the cover of darkness and strike in the middle of the day because they¡¯d also had enough of her. More than thirty of their brethren had fallen to her traps and attacks in thest two weeks they¡¯d been on her tail. Considering none of their sneak attacks at night worked, they figured they¡¯d only incur more casualties if they tried again in the dark.

    ¡°Bloody everyone thinks they can beat me these days just because they¡¯ve trained.¡±

    Despite the advantage the assassins had in their superior numbers, they were no match for her blistering speed, ferocity, potent internal energy and ruthless uracy in targeting their vitals. She tactically manoeuvred in between the furniture to inhibit their attempts to swarm her, creating situations for herself to pick them off one by one. Frustrated, they started flipping, kicking and chopping tables to remove the obstructions.

    ¡°Let me teach you fools what happens when you decide to prove yourself useless,¡± she smugly remarked. In the next instant, she had thrust her sword through the throat of the person to her left. She immediately moved in the direction of the new opening to jump out the building, but the waiter happened to freeze in the way at wrong ce at the wrong time. As a result, the assassins encircled her again. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re with them!¡±

    She had raised her sword and was ready to make the waiter wish he wasn¡¯t there when she heard, ¡°Wawa, don¡¯t hurt the innocent.¡±

    The owner of the soft voice vaulted through the window, dropped four assassins, broke the encirclement and reached the livid maiden.

    ¡°Why did you show yourself? I thought you weren¡¯t going to show yourself unless it was a critical moment.¡±

    The maiden with more blessed assets replied, ¡°I¡¯ll exinter. ¡°Oi, you bunch of fodder, buzz off now.¡± With a piercing gaze, she threatened, ¡°Or else, I¡¯ll skewer your testicles while I finish my drink.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 163

    Book 13: Chapter 163N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The assassins struggled against the Shen Yiren imposter, let alone fighting the imposter and the even more powerful real Shen Yiren simultaneously. They didn¡¯t even see how she put them away. In their profession, rarely were they shown mercy, too. Therefore, they didn¡¯t hesitate to flee when offered the option.

    The imposter folded her arms. ¡°You¡¯re just going to let them off? Are you keeping them alive so that they can kill youter?¡±

    ¡°Is that possible with their skills?¡±

    Even though the two were identical to each other in appearance, the auras they emanated were totally different.

    Shen Yiren tossed a silver ingot onto the table. ¡°Bring us another five silver taels worth of wine.¡±

    The waiter was still crouched down on the ground until Shen Yiren¡¯s voice snapped him out of it. Still somewhat out of it, he looked up to see two identical maidens. As confused as he was, he didn¡¯t have the guts to inquire. Instead, he raced downstairs after replying, ¡°Here you go. Please take your time.¡±

    The sword-wielding maiden bobbed her head. ¡°You certainly should treat me to a drink. You think it¡¯s easy to go around fooling people into believing I¡¯m you?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s imposter was none other than the former Evil Spirits¡¯ disguise expert ¨C Mountain Monster. Shen Yiren called her along when she left the capital, and nobody knew she had left since she was an expert at covert operations.

    Mountain Monster¡¯s disguise method required a fresh corpse to produce a perfect disguise.

    Since Shen Yiren revealed herself, it meant that Mountain Monster¡¯s job wasplete, so she removed her disguise. While her height wasn¡¯t too far off Shen Yiren¡¯s, she had to fill up a lot of other spots to sport an identical body. As she dumped the plethora of stuffing onto the table, Mountain Monster grumbled, ¡°It¡¯s more tiring to pose as you than to pose as three other people. I can put up with having to stuff myself full to get your mountains, but I have to deal with all the scumbags ogling me. If I had a bad temper, I¡¯d have reduced them to ashes¡­ dug their graves and erected their tombstones.¡±

    Shen Yiren cast a quick nce at Mountain Monster and then grinned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you get to eat, drink, y and shop? I covered all your expenses. Would you get to live sofortably outside of a city?¡±

    As soon as food and drinks were mentioned, Mountain Monster stopped whining. She honestly did livefortably with the budget she was provided; she made sure to indulge in dining and drinking.

    ¡°Come, have a seat. This wine really is decent,¡± enthusiastically invited Mountain Monster. ¡°You¡¯re too honest for your own sake. You¡¯re wasting your potential as a constable. Ever heard of squeezing the people for yourself? Are you really going to pay five silver taels? I didn¡¯t even spend five silver taels for these two jugs and all this meat.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°You know how to enjoy yourself, but you didn¡¯t realise they switched out the jugs.¡±

    Once she was enlightened, Mountain Monster yelled, ¡°Hammers are for hitting iron. My fists are for bashing them!¡± However, Shen Yiren stopped her before she could unleash hell.

    ¡°They transparently stated their price was five silver taels a jug, but you insisted. How can you argue that they¡¯re unreasonable?¡±

    ¡°If nothing else, I need to give them a beating¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren ended Mountain Monster¡¯s fuss with a re. ¡°Is it even an issue worth fighting over? Liu Shan Men frowns upon bullying the weak more than anything. Don¡¯t make the mistake around me, or I¡¯ll spank you with a rod.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to hit me? After everything I¡¯ve done?¡±

    Shen Yiren clobbered Mountain Monster over the head before thetter saw iting. ¡°You¡¯re a glutton, and you¡¯ve been getting into fights everywhere. You¡¯ve been ruining my reputation. You think I¡¯m Feizhen?¡±

    With watery eyes and her hands on her head, Mountain Monster mumbled, ¡°Your reputation isn¡¯t any better than his. Didn¡¯t I leave out your ¡®love-to-sh-people¡¯ trait? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d still hit me, thug¡­ By the way, why did you show yourself? You haven¡¯t answered me. You were the one who said she wouldn¡¯t show herself unless it was a life and death situation, so I was supposed to hope I was lucky. You needed a drink?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, you think I¡¯m you?¡±

    The two of them had always been around each other for thest fortnight. They got along perfectly fine since they were both straight shooters. While Mountain Monster operated iconspicuously, deliberately letting people know Shen Yiren was present, Shen Yiren shadowed her from the shadows. Using her observation skills, Shen Yiren was able to see every detail. At the same time, she maintained contact with the capital to figure out where her target was.

    As soon as the wine was served up, Shen Yiren picked up the jug and knocked back a big mouthful.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that mine?! You seem carefree. Isn¡¯t the capital in chaos?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Shen Yiren set down the jug and pulled her brows together, not happy with how tasteless the wine was. ¡°There¡¯s no point in me worry about it, though. I¡¯m better of spending that time searching for the enemy and hostages. It¡¯s been my job since the beginning, and there¡¯s no reason to quit half way.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ve progressed?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve discovered the three moles in the capital and sent their locations back to the capital. The mirage won¡¯t cause any furtherissues. However, we still need to locate the hostages.¡± Shen Yiren had another mouthful of wine. Instead of looking drunk, she looked more energetic with each drink. ¡°I came out because I just received some news. We need to wait here for a certain person. Once he shows up, our job is pretty much done.¡±

    Since waiting for someone didn¡¯t sound risky, Mountain Monster let down her guard to enjoy the food and wine whilst engaging in casual chatter.

    ¡°Did the Emperor piss his pants when he saw the mirage?¡±

    ¡°Wawa¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s never happened before. As soon as Tiezhen¡¯s young King heard there was war, he turned as pale as if he saw a ghost, hahaha.¡±

    Over the course of the long summer day, there wasughter, the sound of people hitting their tables, the waiter¡¯s voice, the sound of guests snoring, and the ringing of coins as they went into cashier all mixed together.

    ¡°Just who are we waiting for? Tell me so that I can mentally prepare myself.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯d be¡­ No need to wait any longer.¡±

    The waiter¡¯s voice could be heard as he loudly expressed, ¡°Wee, guests. Pleasee on in. Please head upstairs to enjoy our idyllic atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± A schr attired in ck and hispanion sauntered up the stairs and entered Shen Yiren¡¯s field of view.

 Book 13: Chapter 164

    Book 13: Chapter 164

    The schr took his time finding a seat. He performed every motion incredibly slowly, but there was no pause at any point. He didn¡¯t utter a word or do anything that stood out, but the imposing aura he emanated continued to intensify.

    The loud snore of the guest at the neighbouring table created an atmosphere akin to an imminent storm that had everyone on their toes. As she couldn¡¯t bear with the tension, Mountain Monster mmed her table, halving it upon impact. As a result, the ambience went back to normal.

    ¡°What the hell is that pretty boy?¡± grouched Mountain Monster.

    ¡°Schr scum,¡± quietly answered Shen Yiren.

    ¡°I could tell with just a nce. Not a single schr acting dignified is good news.¡±

    ¡°This one, in particr, is bad. Don¡¯t praise him now.¡±

    The schr chuckled under his breath. ¡°It is obvious you both have an issue with this one. Perhaps it is rude, but he would like to invite you to join him at his table.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Mountain Monster fearlessly strutted up to Jiang Chen and sat down opposite him. ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of you. Tell me what you want.¡±

    ¡°This one does not recognise you. May he ask you to introduce yourself?¡±

    Jiang Chen liked Mountain Monster¡¯s reaction. He deliberately tried to override the harmonious atmosphere when he entered. If his foe couldn¡¯t resist the urge to attack him as a means of stopping it, they¡¯d be walking into his trap. You could say it was a way of gaining the upper hand before even throwing a strike. However, she evened out their auras with her table break and then further pushed him back with her verbal tirade. While itcked finesse, it certainly was effective.

    ¡°The name is Gui Laimeng. I¡¯m not associated with any sect. It¡¯s toote for you to start sucking up to daddy now.¡±

    Jiang Chen bobbed his head. ¡°Judging from your palm strike just now, it derives from Beijiang¡¯s style ¨Cbining softness and rigidness. Your internal energy cultivation is certainly praiseworthy. The stuff on the table is equipment for a disguise, correct? Beijiang¡¯s Evil Spirits group happens to use this internal discipline. Among the four, only Mountain Monster is well-versed in the art of disguise. I apologise for not recognising you at first, Miss Mountain Monster.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Mountain Monster found herself unable to bite back. She never expected Jiang Chen to identify her from a single strike.

    Shen Yiren made her way over and sat down beside Mountain Monster.

    Jiang Chen felt the gaze in his young foe resembled that of someone he knew in the past. She had the gaze of someone who¡¯d seen what hell truly was yet was still willing to choose the hardest road without an ounce of quit. Everypetitor who shared that gaze was worthy of him going all out to eliminate for they would eliminate him instead, otherwise.

    ¡°You finally decided to personally take action?¡±

    ¡°I have to. It is the only way to show due respect. Miss Shen, your family would be proud to see you as you are now. Yourte father was called ¡®Official Spirit¡¯ and was hailed as Li Yong¡¯s most capable personal warrior. I have always held him in high regard. Life is truly fickle.¡±

    ¡°If he were still here, your tricks wouldn¡¯t have achieved anything. Enough with the tripe. This is our first meeting, isn¡¯t, Jiang Chen? Or should I address you as Gongsun Chu?¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s sudden hostile aura change almost prompted Mountain Monster to draw her sword to guard herself, but she realised she didn¡¯t even know where to start defending once she had a brief moment to think. It would¡¯ve been her defeat if they were to actually fight right then and there. Inparison, Shen Yiren¡¯s demeanour almost made it seem as though she was oblivious to the change.

    The hostility vanished within a split second following its surge. Jiang Chen¡¯s dted pupils gave away the fact that he was genuinely riled up as a product of Shen Yiren¡¯s question. Nevertheless, he quickly rposed himself back to his prior self.

    ¡°Where did you hear that name from, Miss Shen?¡±

    ¡°I like reading gossip and letting my mind run wild. You¡¯re not exactly secretive. The only thing that catches people off guard is your lifespan that is abnormally longpared to the average person. If you can ept that as being reasonable, then it¡¯s not hard to decipher who you are. You know what my surname is.¡±

    Jiang Chen let out a long exhale. ¡°Shen Yu was an obstacle to my ns back then. I never imagined he¡¯d spoil my ns again after so many years.¡±

    Shen Yu, founder of Liu Shan Men, led the first generation of The Ultimate Three as Feiyu ¨C Flying Fish.

    ¡°My ancestor showed great respect for you in his notebook. Having said that, he also stated that, for as long as you were alive, the world would never enjoy peace and prosperity. Based on your deeds following his time, it¡¯s evident that he was right.¡±

    ¡°It is an honour to receive adtion from him. Your ancestor thwarted my attempt to infiltrate the pce and assassinate Li Wuming. The three of us fought three times and only slightly gained an upper hand. I suppose he was Li Wuming¡¯s favouritepdog for a reason.¡±

    ¡°I see you are without shame.¡± Shen Yiren didn¡¯t care for the insinuation that he was the superior fighter. ¡°The reality is, you couldn¡¯t kill my ancestor; you couldn¡¯t kill any Emperor of Li n. All you managed to do was kidnap a Prince like a sore loser. My ancestor supported the country and lives of the people. On the other hand, you possess skills and knowledge that people envy, yet you have only employed them to cause harm. It¡¯s shameless for you topare yourself to my ancestor.¡±

    Despite Shen Yiren pulling Jiang Chen down enough pegs to level the ying field, he didn¡¯t let it bother him.

    ¡°There is a lot you have yet to learn. This one dares not use you of being wrong. It is merely a case of us serving different masters to their best of our abilities.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. We are both acting for the sake of our masters. Since we are both carrying out undertakings, it is merely a questionable of who lives longer. Gongsun Chu, I know your secret and will publicise it. What are you going to do about it?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 165

    Book 13: Chapter 165

    ¡°This one must admit he took you too lightly. Had it not been for your tactic, this one would not have taken the risk to show himself.¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s deepest secret wasn¡¯t something only he knew. However, all those privy had a duty to keep it a secret. On the other hand, not only did Shen Yiren manage to dig up the deep-seated secreted, but she even used it to force him out of hiding.

    ¡°Enough with the nonsense.¡± Shen Yiren had a grin she didn¡¯t hesitate to unt. ¡°I¡¯m the one who waited for you. You¡¯re not the one who came to seek me, no?¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s biggest strength wasn¡¯t his swordy or wits but his ability to remain undetected. Remaining off the radar was his secret to protecting himself. He never expected Shen Yiren to suddenly show up at the tavern and be waiting for him. He wasn¡¯t speaking figuratively when he said showing up was taking a risk, but, to speak more precisely, the risk was meeting Shen Yiren. Unless he could figure out how she deduced where he¡¯d show up, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep at night, and he¡¯d have to pause his operation, lest it failed.

    ¡°Since you have brought that up, this one has a question for you. How did you know this one would be here today?¡±

    ¡°A Confucian sage is asking poor little me?¡±

    Jiang Chen had a moment to himself, then sighed. ¡°This one is not almighty. In fact, he is often powerless to implement his ns. For instance, this one didn¡¯t ount for two people in this operation.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°One is too hidden. There is a force that has always existed and continued watching from the sideline, but this one has never been able to find them, which is troubling. The other¡­ There was not enough time, so this one left him alone.¡± Though Jiang Chen¡¯s gaze was fixed on Shen Yiren, his mind seemed elsewhere far away.

    ¡°Where did you hide Feizhen?!¡± Shen Yiren regretted asking the question, but she blurted it instinctively when she discerned Jiang Chen referred to Ming Feizhen with his eyes.

    ¡°Your concern for your subordinate is surprising, Miss Shen. Were the rumours that you are engaged false?¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t have an answer for the teasing undertone. ¡°Enough. Answer my question.¡±

    ¡°This one thought you¡¯d be able to find out yourself. You were able to dig up all of his spies in the capital from all the way out here, after all. Do you really need this one to tell you where is being held?¡±

    Jiang Chen was persuaded he needed to take the risk of confronting Shen Yiren once he learned that she located his spies when she was so far from the capital.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t find them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve kept in contact with the capital at fixed intervals. All of your arrangements have been ryed through the reports. All I did was share what I know about your personality and habits. They are the ones who found the spies.¡±

    Jiang Chen shook his head with a smile. ¡°You never sent any letters to the capital.¡±

    ¡°Believe what you will. I¡¯m just telling it as it is.¡±

    Jiang Chen watched Shen Yiren for a while before saying, ¡°You¡¯re not lying. You relied on analysis and deduction to find my spies and even¡­ my whereabouts?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s weird to you, but I actually have a method. I can tell you if you want to know how I did it. I didn¡¯t try to track you down or where you¡¯d sojourn. The reality is that you¡¯re always been surreptitious. I wouldn¡¯t find anything if I tried. However, there was one trace you kept providing me.¡±

    ¡°Are you referring to the assassins this one sent?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± Shen Yiren tugged up a corner of her lips. ¡°I followed the tracks of every assassin you sent, how you sent them instructions, where from, the money you sent, the source of the resources, their contact points, methods, their origins and the reasons you chose them. Although you¡¯re a cautious individual, you have your selection criteria, and not every switch was productive.

    ¡°You don¡¯t trust anyone, including League of Assassins. That¡¯s the reason you primarily hire desperate people in the pugilistic life. Though that makes it hard to find out where the origin of the transaction starts, it also means that you use the same method every time.

    ¡°While Wawa drew out the assassins, I stayed out of sight to take notes and study them. I determined thirteen ces where you would your hideout might be based on your tendencies. I assumed one of them had to be where you held him.¡±

    The longer Jiang Chen¡¯s silence went on for, the more tension there was between them.

    ¡°This one heard Yan Shisan has an internal discipline called ¡®Precision Scout¡¯ that allows the practitioner to urately perceive the most minute of details and store said details in their mind, thereby multiplying what they glean in an investigation. Based on what you said, though, the discipline goes far beyond that. You can umte evidence and details, but you can¡¯t analyse them, not even Yan Shisan. How exactly did you deduce this one¡¯s whereabouts?¡±

    ¡°Since you know of Precision Scout, that makes things easier.¡± Though she sounded casual, Shen Yiren a silver pearl slid down from her forehead as she moulded energy to withstand the pressure Jiang Chen imposed. ¡°Not only can I work out your route, but I can find out where you hold people, too. Want to test me?¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s look of confidence gradually disappeared as he listened to Shen Yiren read out, ¡°Five Miles, Autumn Light Temple, Long Fortress, Mountains and Rivers¡­¡± Every time she listed a location, he¡¯d pull his brows tighter together, and that repeated thirteen times.

    ¡°You¡¯ve given me the answers.¡±

    Jiang Chen put a smile back on his face. ¡°In that case, congrattions.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren took in a big breath and then threw a ball of paper out the window. Battle Cloud neighed and then galloped away.

    ¡°That¡¯s Liu Shan Men¡¯s Battle Cloud. Is it going to deliver a message?¡±

    ¡°Autumn Light Temple.¡±

    For the first time, Jiang Chen showed consternation. For the first time, he felt that he wasn¡¯t controlling the entire board.

    ¡°You¡¯re good. I can¡¯t read you whatsoever. The person behind you, though, doesn¡¯t know how to lie. He answered my query.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 166

    Book 13: Chapter 166

    Jiang Chen pulled his brows together as though there was something confusing him before releasing them as if he remembered he was with a guest. ¡°This one respects your courage. You purposely came here to find out where this one is holding him from me and then sent a notification out. Your willingness to exchange your life for his is admirable.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like you admire anything considering how rxed you are.¡±

    ¡°This one genuinely respects howplete you are. Sadly, it is all for naught.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°Your steed will be stopped.¡±

    Battle Cloud neighed in the distance as a group of assassins obstructed it. With just a glimpse, Shen Yiren could tell the group was a lot more dangerous than the ones she had encountered thus far. They didn¡¯t wear their hostility on their sleeve, so they were barely noticeable even at close proximity. The three leaders¡¯ appearances were clear giveaways that they were hidden aces up Jiang Chen¡¯s sleeve. She could tell she had no hope of winning if she were to fight the trio at once, let alone if Jiang Chen joined the fray.

    ¡°So they¡¯re the ones who¡¯ve been going around kidnapping the Princes?¡±

    ¡°Your intellect far exceeds what this one gave you credit for.¡±

    Shen Yiren smugly tapped her head with her finger. ¡°I agree. I can be quite clever at times.¡±

    Jiang Chen showed no intention of interrupting Shen Yiren.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been good at lying. I can count on one hand the number of times I¡¯ve told a lie. I was told that an honest person is a lot more persuasive when telling a liepared to someone smart, so I took his advice for a ride.¡±

    ¡°You told a lie?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± Shen Yiren tapped her head again. ¡°Of course you shadowed me while I shadowed you. You won¡¯t pay attention to an opponent who has no trace; you won¡¯t fall for such an obvious trap. That¡¯s why you had a pulse on where I was when I tried to analyse you. Clever. However, not all of your calctions are correct. There aren¡¯t two of us. There are three of us.¡±

    Jiang Chen used silence as a means of telling Shen Yiren to borate.

    ¡°We¡¯ve had apanion all this time. While I followed Wawa, he followed me. We¡¯ve never been too far from each other. He would always be waiting for us at our lodging each night. He never showed himself even when we were in danger because we all had roles to fulfil. My job was to collect evidence, find you and protect Wawa. He only had one job: once I passed on intel, he was to prioritise the rescue. Only one person in Liu Shan Men is capable of that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tang Ye.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Battle Cloud suddenly shone a golden beam into the heavens, but the assassins within its vicinity immediately put the light out.

    ¡°He¡¯s received the order.¡± Shen Yiren took her gaze off the distance and back to Jiang Chen. With a smile, she said, ¡°I assume you wouldn¡¯t give me the chance to send a signal if I were to try sending one right in front of you. However, you wouldn¡¯t feel it¡¯d be necessary for you to personally deal with Battle Cloud.¡±

    Jiang Chen cast his gaze in the same direction Shen Yiren did.

    ¡°Tang Ye has gone off to rescue him. If you¡¯re going to stop him, be quick. It¡¯ll tough to stop him if he goes all out.¡±

    Jiang Chen¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t budge, yet the assassins split up to give chase as if they were able to read each other¡¯s minds.

    ¡°Voice Transmission¡­ Just how many types of legendarymunication methods are you capable of? It¡¯s kind of scary.¡±

    Jiang Chen directed a sigh toward the ceiling. ¡°¡­ This is impossible for you.¡±

    Based on Jiang Chen¡¯s gaze, Shen Yiren felt convinced that nothing could surprise him because he could see through her. If there was someone who would never be lost for direction, it was him.

    ¡°It¡¯s odd. Whether it¡¯s the clear view of the situation, the counter strategies or finding this one¡­ It¡¯s impossible for you to achieve it all alone. It¡¯s more than you¡¯re capable of. Who¡¯s the one helping you?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I¡¯ve maintained contact with the capital?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I also tell you that you haven¡¯t been in contact with the capital?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, well, I guess it boils down to how much confidence you have in yourself, then.¡±

    Jiang Chen folded his arms and adopted an apathetic visage. ¡°¡­ He¡¯s not at Autumn Light Temple.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt you¡¯re clever. It¡¯s also true this one is holding captives at Autumn Light Temple. However. Ming Feizhen isn¡¯t there.¡± Jiang Chen turned his palms up. ¡°This one ran out of time to deal with him; he¡¯s the only risk this one left unchecked. This one doesn¡¯t know what variables he introduces, but, dead or alive, he may very well bring about disaster. Right now, you should be praying that he won¡¯t be the cause of trouble. This one has always liked to have a backup n. Therefore, should he be the one to cause trouble, he will be the one eliminated.¡±

    Shen Yiren felt lightheaded. Everything she had done up until now suddenly felt meaningless. She drew Yujing and roared, ¡°I¡¯m going to fk you up!¡±

    Yujing in Shen Yiren¡¯s hand was akin to a fiery dragon as opposed to a sword. ck-White Hair¡¯s intention was the culmination of Luo Ming¡¯s perspective on swordy. While it took a lot from Repository Swordy, the majority of it didn¡¯t. As a result, Shen Yiren¡¯s swordy was unorthodox. Her explosion, therefore, created a fiery aura. As a master of the sword, Jiang Chen could appreciate the sophistication of the thoughts behind the swordy more than anyone else. At the same time, he respected her enough as an opponent to draw his own sword.

    As a silver ray descended, the tavern split apart.

 Book 13: Chapter 167

    Book 13: Chapter 167

    Jiang Chen emerged from the dust and rubble with a sword the same colour as the micro particles in one hand and his other hand behind his back. With a smile, he softly called, ¡°Shitou.¡± Whilst waiting for Shitou to slowly catch up, Jiang Chen dusted himself. ¡°Not bad. You didn¡¯t dodge toote.¡±

    Shen Yiren had some cuts on her, but her breathing was still smooth, and her gaze was still full of spirit. The maiden she was supporting, however, wasn¡¯t in such good shape. It might¡¯ve been hard to believe, but Mountain Monster was even more pale than usual. As soon as Shen Yiren tried transferring true qi to her through her back, Mountain Monster gasped a mouthful of blood.

    As a broadsword and dagger expert, Mountain Monster was dealing with a handicap since she had to use a sword while posing as Shen Yiren ¨C not to mention Shen Yiren already took the sword off her. Additionally, she was in close proximity when Shen Yiren and Jiang Chen suddenly decided to start fighting. She didn¡¯t expect Jiang Chen to demolish the entire building in a single swing, either, so she waste to stop his sword qi from invading her.

    Shen Yiren desperately tried to expel Jiang Chen¡¯s sword qi from Mountain Monster. Luckily, despite his conniving mind, his swordy was as orthodox as her own, so she was able to expel 80% of it in no time.

    Mountain Monster tugged at Shen Yiren¡¯s shirt. Shen Yiren took her hand and asked, ¡°Wawa, what do you have to say?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ Why¡­¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ are you unscathed? Did you use me as a shield?¡±

    ¡­ Is this the right time for you to be wondering about this sort of b.s.?

    ¡°No, I¡­¡±

    An iing burst of sword qipelled Shen Yiren to instinctively backflip, letting the sword qi pass underneath her and to the person directly behind her before. As she lied on the ground, Mountain Monster looked up at Shen Yiren and used her gaze to convey, ¡°?!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I never used you as a shield!¡± eximed Shen Yiren. ¡°I just dodged faster.¡±

    Luckily for the duo, the sword qi wasn¡¯t concentrated in one spot, and Jiang Chen was using just an ordinary sword, so Mountain Monster didn¡¯t suffer too much.

    Shen Yiren turned back to Jiang Chen. ¡°Have you no shame as a student of Confucianism? Is picking on the injured all that you amount to?¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand. This one thought hygiene mattered to you two, so he wanted to kindly dust you off.¡± Jiang Chen ambled over as though he was watching his trapped prey.

    Shen Yiren helped Mountain Monster to her feet. ¡°You all right?¡±

    ¡°That can wait¡­ Are we fighting or legging it?¡± Mountain Monster gasped another mouthful of blood after three breaths. ¡°If we¡¯re fighting, ugh¡­ I can only tank one more shot for you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, one is¡­¡±

    Mountain Monster started retching again.

    ¡°Okay, okay, we¡¯re legging it! Okay? You¡¯ve coughed up enough blood. I get the point.¡±

    Mountain Monster wiped the fake blood at the corners of her mouth. ¡°So, how are we getting away?¡±

    Another sword qi wave that was bigger than before interrupted them, prompting Shen Yiren to pick up Mountain Monster and roll across the ground.

    ¡°This one hopes to learn a thing or two from you two. Please make your move.¡± Wryly, Jiang Chen questioned, ¡°Or did you realise that Shen Wuzheng and Luo Ming are pitifully weak after getting caught?¡±

    ¡°Shut your potty mouth up!¡±

    ¡°Hey! You said we¡¯re running!¡± Before Mountain Monster could pull Shen Yiren back, thetter had already charged forward.

    ¡°Six Phenomena Heart King¡± formed the foundation of Shen Yiren¡¯s swordy and helped herprehend Repository Swordy. After she learnt the spirit of ck-White Hair, her proficiency with Six Phenomena Heart King improved exponentially, but she hadn¡¯t had a chance to disy her new level yet.

    As a stern person, Luo Ming always focused on order and development. His patience in development was visible in the way he expressed his affection towards people and violence with a sword. As such, Shen Yiren¡¯s straightforward nature made her a prime candidate for learning his style of swordy. Unfortunately, owing to the various tragedies she had to face, her temperament gradually transformed. Yes, she still had a quiet side to her. Howbeit, annoy her for long enough, and she¡¯d start expressing herself with her fists instead of words. In that aspect, her spirit wasparable to that of Luo Ming¡¯s as a cksmith ¨C unforgiving towards half-heartedness.

    Shen Yiren produced six diamonds in a specific formation, each of which contradicted Yujing¡¯s tenderness and could cut deep. It had been a long time since Jiang Chen had seen Shen n¡¯s ¡°Liu Shan¡± technique. It was nostalgic to see the very technique her ancestor used to beat him three times in the past, but it was also reassuring to see a technique he had been prepared to now counter.

    Jiang Chen drew circles in front of him with his sword, deleting the six diamonds one by one and then releasing energy with hisst circle, sting Shen Yiren back. To his surprise, she dispersed the energy, rolled backwards and returned to Mountain Monster¡¯s side. Jiang Chen was impressed with the fact that, though Shen Yiren¡¯s style appeared extremely rigid and ferocious, she didn¡¯t sacrifice the fluidity that ck-White Hair promoted.

    ¡°God damn it. He¡¯s too strong. There¡¯s no chance of winning,¡± grouched Shen Yiren.

    Relieved to see Shen Yiren still alive, Mountain Monsterboriously queried, ¡°Sh-shall we start running now? How are we going to escape?¡±

    Whilst maintaining her intense stare on Jiang Chen, Shen Yiren answered, ¡°I¡¯ll stall him. You break through the enemy lines.¡±

    Mountain Monster looked over her shoulder, then quietly informed, ¡°Those pricks have blocked the escape route.¡±

    ¡°F***!¡±

    Mountain Monster was stupefied for a second when she heard Shen Yiren spit profanity again. She poked Shen Yiren¡¯s soft cheek.

    Shen Yiren: ¡°?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ like your fiery temper. If I was a man, I¡¯d do you a favour and take you as my concubine¡­¡±

    ¡°Since when does getting hurt make you horny?! Can you give it a flipping rest?!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 168

    Book 13: Chapter 168N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Here hees.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s sword qi scattered as it met Jiang Chen¡¯s wall of sword qi, resembling silver sparks flying about. The billowing gale brushed her hair backwards, but she remained unshakable mentally and physically. She lined her hand up along Yujing and then propelled herself upward on an angle to avoid the forward force of Jiang Chen¡¯s sword qi. Suddenly, the wall of sword qi split into small qi des that chased her into the air.

    Since the tactic change rendered her into the state of a leaf in the wind, Shen Yiren used her thin sword as a sledgehammer and mmed downwards, shattering two qi des. The reciprocal force almost knocked blood out of her nose, but she focused on leveraging the new force trajectory that was introduced to reposition herself. As the qi des exploded, the dispersion of qi knocked her back down.

    ¡°You have disyed a most pure heart and spirit, Miss Shen. That is the first time this one is seeing that discipline. Is that something you created?¡±

    Praise for an opponent was never a sign of mercy. If anything, it was a sign that the one giving adtion wasfortable.

    Shen Yiren back tucked andnded without a speck of dust on her, but she had to wipe blood off her face. The grades of her sessive injuries were progressively worsening with each exchange, yet she hadn¡¯t managed to see any chance of closing the distance. Not only was he more technically sound with a sword, but even his internal energy was levels above her own. Even if he wasn¡¯t fast, that much internal energy would easily make him the superior qinggong user. If nothing else, there was the undebatable fact that he had evaded capture from elites for a century. Though she had met her fair share of adepts, it was her first time facing someone soplete ¨C potent internal energy, unbelievable perceptiveness, refined swordy and an immeasurable depth of knowledge. While time was Jiang Chen¡¯s enemy, it also provided him with more opportunities than anyone to develop every facet of being a martial artist.

    Jiang Chen chose to crush Shen Yiren through the pure might of sword qi because he was aware that Luo Ming¡¯s style was highly sophisticated. He was confident he could beat Shen Yiren, but it¡¯d have taken more effort to out-skill her than to just crush her through physical prowess. Unless his opponent had reached Divine Realm, they were going to have a hard time when he had an answer for everything.

    A seemingly unbeatable foe stood before her. A group of assassins were waiting to jump them at the back. And, she had to escape with Mountain Monster. Sess never felt so impossible before.

    ¡°Do you still wish to continue, Miss?¡±

    He obviously wasn¡¯t in her head, yet Shen Yiren heard his voice as though he was in there.

    ¡°He who knows what¡¯s best for him is a true warrior. The gap between us is no small one. Even if you try your best, it is unlikely it will go beyond ten exchanges. For as long as you live, you can fight another day. Why waste your efforts for nothing?¡±

    ¡°We already established we serve different masters. All the necessary talking has been said. Any more yapping is only going to make me think less of you.¡±

    Jiang Chen slotted his sword into the ground. ¡°You are a very perceptivedy. Howbeit, you have forgotten something, the most important thing.¡± Jiang Chen¡¯s gaze suddenly became piercing. ¡°You have forgotten who you are. You are strong, smart and fearless. There is nothing wrong with being willing to sacrifice yourself. However, you have forgotten how many other people care about you, and they are all people who matter.¡±

    ¡°You want to take me hostage to ckmail His Majesty? He is a monarch; he won¡¯t forsake the bigger picture to quell his personal emotions.¡±

    Jiang Chen shook his head. ¡°Although Li Yong can forsake his children, he won¡¯t forsake you as he feels he owes your family. If I were to take your brother hostage, he may very well immediately bestow the throne upon me.¡±

    ¡°Fk off.¡± Shen Yiren pointed her sword diagonally toward the blue dome and started emanating white smoke around herself. ¡°That¡¯s the longest version of saying ¡®ckmail¡¯ that I¡¯ve ever heard. Shen n may have a daughter who died in battle but never a daughter who surrendered.¡±

    Jiang Chen bitterly smiled. ¡°What a shame.¡±

    ¡°Come forth!¡±

    If she was inferior in every way, then there was only trying. If defeat was the only possible oue, then it just meant dying.

    As Shen Yiren churned out every ounce of energy she had, dust rose and swirled until nothing but dust was visible. Only rays of sunlight could stream through the gaps, creating a shiny sandstorm. Thebination further obstructed Jiang Chen¡¯s vision whilst hiding Shen Yiren.

    For the first time in their match, Jiang Chen pulled his sword out of the ground to prepare for the maiden¡¯s ultimate attack, the absolute best she had to offer from her lifetime of umtion.

    Shen Yiren manifested the spirit of ck-White Hair into the realm of man to execute a strike that couldn¡¯t be stopped with brute force alone.

    Growing up with a sword in hand, creating countless techniques for Confucianism swordy, it was impossible for Jiang Chen to have no passion for swordy even though he carried the burden of revenge.

    From the moment he saw the strike, Jiang Chen began thinking of a counter. In the end, he determined that it wasn¡¯t an attack that he could technically dismantle. Thus, he thrust straight forward, running his sword tip into Shen Yiren¡¯s.

    Shen Yiren could taste blood in her mouth and from her nose. Despite her best efforts, she was still repelled. Unable to disseminate the force imposed upon her, she crashed straight into the sandstorm she whipped up and deep into the ground.

    Jiang Chen weakly lowered his extended up and smiled bitterly. ¡°¡­ That was a nice one.¡±

    Everything stopped moving. Had it not been for a random snoring sequence that the airborne dirt transported around, it would¡¯ve been dead silent. The snore came from the same person who was snoring in the tavern before. In spite of how weird it was, nobodyughed when the snoring came from the ruins of the tavern. Quite to the contrary, Jiang Chen was more focused than ever before.

    Having received their orders, the assassins abandoned the encirclement to head to the ruins. Meanwhile, Mountain Monster crawled over and pulled Shen Yiren out of the hole. Shen Yiren was hurt bad, but she still had enough strength to move her own weight, and her spirit was unbroken. Mountain Monster gulped and then shook Shen Yiren by the shoulders, ¡°Hey, hey, Lass Shen, are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡±

    Shen Yiren raised her chin, turned it off to the side and aggressively spat out the dirt in her mouth while looking absolutely frightening. ¡°¡­ If you¡¯re thinking, ¡®Fking son of a fking b****, I¡¯m going to get buried,¡¯ then, yes.¡±

    ¡°Damn, you sound hot when you¡¯re pissed off.¡±

    ¡°One more time and I¡¯ll bury you alive!¡±

    Despite how loud Shen Yiren raised her voice, the snoring volume was still louder. As a matter of fact, it kept getting louder and louder until the leaves in the trees started trembling.

    ¡°Show yourself!¡± thundered an assassin. ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill you where you stand!¡±

    The people standing beside the assassin didn¡¯t even hear him yelling because of the snoring.

    Jiang Chen voiced, ¡°If you havee all the way here, why not show yourself instead of ying tricks?¡±

    At longst, the snoring ceased. A whileter, the snorer, in a groggy tone, bemoaned, ¡°Who woke me up? Hmm? Why is it dark? Why did this ce fall apart? Proprietor, your ce was built poorly. I¡¯ll repair it for you.¡±

    They heard a folding paper fan snap open, and then they saw the broken building flying back to where it was supposed to be. Pirs, bricks, rails and furniture, were hurled back into their original spots one after another. The four big pirs that Jiang Chen sliced looked as good as new ¨C though they weren¡¯t actually as good as new. In an unbelievably short amount of time, the tavern was restored, albeit dangerous unstably.

    If the waiter hadments or remarks formentary, he had none left after what he witnessed. The proprietor saluted the person who repaired his tavern and expressed, ¡°Thank you for your help, Young Master.¡±

    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony. Your wine is great. I¡¯ll take some for my master. He might promote me a few ranks. If anything, I should be thanking you.¡±

    The young man stretched out his upper body and sat up, fanning himself with his paper fan. Leaning on the railing, he casually conveyed, ¡°Wow, so many unfamiliar faces. Hey, my name¡¯s Tianhu. Nice to meet y¡¯all.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 169

    Book 13: Chapter 169

    Ultimate

    Tianhu sat down on a stone step at the front of the tavern, formed a fist with the hand he held his fan in and rested his cheek on it. ¡°Your reaction tells me you didn¡¯t expect me.¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s appearance was troublesome for Jiang Chen in multiple ways. The Ultimate Three weren¡¯t just the imperial court¡¯s mightiest force, but they were all unparalleled in the martial world alone. The name ¡°Tianhu¡± itself was a weapon, and this generation¡¯s Tianhu particrly excelled in the art of leaving people bewildered.

    This generation¡¯s Tianhu¡¯s whereabouts were always a mystery just as his predecessors. However, he didn¡¯t stir the pot or monitor the martial world from the shadows as his predecessors did. Instead, he went around getting rid of potential threats to the imperial court, whether that was through subjugation, destruction¡­ whatever manner he chose, you¡¯d have to add ¡°alone¡± to the end of the description. The solo modus operandi of his resembled Baima¡¯s penchant to act alone. Thanks to Tianhu, Baima could focus solely on guarding the border from the ambitious Beijiang. Nobody knew the reason for Tianhu¡¯s modus operandi changing, and he never bothered exining himself. The previous Tianhus controlled the martial world from outside of public view, while this Tianhu¡­ nobody could urately describe what he was doing. In fact, no one knew what sect he came from, where he was born or even his real name; no one included even Emperor Yuansheng.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The first time Emperor Yuansheng met the current Tianhu was only a few years ago, when the previous Tianhu introduced him and vouched for him with his life. There was never any stiption that Tianhu had to be someone that the previous one knew from childhood. That being said, it was the first time there was a Tianhu shrouded in so much mystery. Nevertheless, Emperor Yuansheng provided the man he knew nothing about with the title, financial support, honours, trust and everything else that came with the role as he understood the role of Emperor¡¯s Entourage. Everyone in Emperor¡¯s Entourage was his tomand.

    Tianhu sighed. ¡°To tell the truth, I can¡¯t get motivated to deal with these issues. Let me make it clear: I don¡¯t care about anything in the world or feel one way or another about any part of it. I wouldn¡¯t confront you if you didn¡¯t bug me. Having said that, I draw clear lines. Dealing with you goons isn¡¯t easy. Can you just surrender to have me some energy? It¡¯ll save you energy, too.¡±

    Mountain Monster said, ¡°Ol¡¯ Shen, what does he mean? Trante for me.¡±

    Shen Yiren stopped to think prior to opining, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, he means that everyone here is garbage.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Miss Shen.¡± Tianhu yawned and then mumbled, ¡°I like to fight, but fighting you lot is as interesting as watching paint dry.¡±

    As assassins, their sole thoughts were how to take out their target. The target¡¯s words and mannerisms were but only tools to take advantage of. They didn¡¯t choose to strike now because of Tianhu¡¯s bold words; they timed their attack based on the fact that his posture and flow of true qi left him most vulnerable now.

    Although Jiang Chen had trust issues with the executioners that the ¡°group¡± provided him, it wasn¡¯t an issue for them. He never trusted anyone, let alone expected anyone to be loyal to him. The only basis he used to pick them to be his hidden ace waspetence. They were all first-rate adepts in the pugilistic world, and he still had another insurance policy hidden among them.

    Tianhu¡¯s appearance was unounted for. Nheless, Jiang Chen had put in ce preparations for when he had to face the imperial court¡¯s most dangerous forces. Jiang Chen discarded his schr¡¯s sword, took out several metal parts from his book basket andbined them into a weapon, a de that was dark purple ¨C Punished.

    While not even Jiang Chen could maximise the potential of Punished, he was still a menace through imitating Gu Wuzhu¡¯s discipline.

    It may have seemed as though the seven assassins were standing in random spots, but that couldn¡¯t be any further from the truth. By the time they had closed in on Tianhu, they had formed a specific formation to secure the kill. The initiator aimed his dual short swords straight at the side of Tianhu¡¯s neck. Another assassin behind Tianhu swung his bronze whip over. At the same time, a sword wielder and broadsword wielder closed in on his sides. Tianhu also had to fend off a sickle heading towards his stomach and a wing down from above, all whilst having to worry about the airborne explosives and des.

    ¡°This is painfully boring.¡±

    Still sitting, Tianhu snatched the two short swords, then plunged them through the head of the assassin behind him. He subsequently took the bronze whip to twist the owner¡¯s body until he was dead. He used the spear to kill the sword wielder, stole the broadsword and sword to kill another two, shoved the bombs into the mouth of the flying daggers assassin and easily caught the des. After all of that, he threw away the flying daggerszily.

    Jiang Chen disintegrated all the flying daggers with Punished, only to almost lose his grip on his weapon all of a sudden. Upon realising Tianhu had disarmed him before he realised it, Jiang Chen used every ounce of internal energy tounch himself away whilst doing everything he could to prevent Punished from slipping out.

    Tianhu ced his hand on Jiang Chen¡¯s chest and casually pushed, sending Jiang Chen and his blood reeling for metres before he could catch himself.

    ¡°This is painfully boring.¡±

    Even after all of that, Tianhu still looked genuinely bored out of his skin. Throughout the entire sequence, his expression didn¡¯t change once. Nheless, nobody could argue he was pretending because he was still sitting on the same step in the same posture.

    Tianhu wasn¡¯t a sophisticated fighter. To the contrary, he fought in a simplistic manner. He was just too fast for any of them to defend against.

    The brief exchange provided enough evidence for Jiang Chen to know that he couldn¡¯t hold back.

    ¡°Shitou.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 170

    Book 13: Chapter 170

    Executioner

    ¡°Shitou, get away from here.¡±

    Shitou nkly backed off a tad.

    Jiang Chen took a deep breath, took apart Punished and drew out a thin purple sword from within. The forger seemed to intentionally leave the criss-cross patterns on the de as if to symbolise destruction.

    Jiang Chen assumed his stance and invited engagement with a hand gesture. Rather than look ready for a fight, it looked as if he was asking for a spar. ¡°This is a swordy I created. It¡¯s called ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Still boring.¡±

    Jiang Chen smiled. ¡°The most important part of swordy is reflecting and analysing. How can someone passionate about martial arts pass up an opportunity to learn from someone of your calibre?¡±

    Jiang Chen flicked his de with his left hand. At first, the echo was nothing special. Howbeit, it clearly wasn¡¯t normal when the echo never ended, while his own aura grew stronger ¨C dominant to the point that it seemed capable of overtaking Tianhu¡¯s.

    Jiang Chen was more than happy that Tianhu didn¡¯t budge from his spot as it gave him time to build up to his peak. And, at longst, Tianhu budged. He gave up sitting to lie down on the step in afortable posture for a nap. He opened his fan to gently fan himself and took his eyes off Jiang Chen entirely.

    Jiang Chen¡¯s aura dropped at a blinding rate. ¡°Impressive.¡±

    Jiang Chen advanced without waiting for his energy flow to reach his desired destination. Not even Jiang Chen could work out how Tianhu punctured a hole in his flow to interrupt his qi flow. Regardless of how he did it, it was a convincing sign that wasting another moment was just wasting energy. Considering Jiang Chen¡¯s internal energy was inferior, as well, the more time that passed, the more trouble he¡¯d be in.

    With every step he took, Jiang Chen brought along a leaf. As though he was the master of nature, he turned the collected lush leaves into fallen autumn leaves. Not even the creator of ¡°Drought Demons¡± ever realised his discipline could be taken to such a deadly level.

    The way Jiang Chen¡¯s purple de flitted through the hail of crusty leaves bore a strong resemnce to Shen Yiren¡¯s final thrust. However, his intent, spirit, power and technique left Shen Yiren¡¯s version in the dust.

    ¡°It¡¯s true I have a love for fighting. At one point, I was happy to kill every adept in existence if I had the chance, but then I¡¯d be lonely. That¡¯s why I never followed through with the thought. You, on the other hand, share a simr thought, and you¡¯re trying to follow through.¡±

    Jiang Chen smiled. ¡°Actually, our thoughts aren¡¯t remotely simr.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. You care about your country and people, so you want to take revenge for your country. You have many goals. I have but only one. Why?¡±

    It didn¡¯t sound as though Tianhu sought an answer or was even asking someone a question he cared for; it just sounded as if he was voicing his own confusion. It would be hard for people to fathom why he of all people would talk about wanting to kill everyone, but his reason for abandoning the thought was even more perplexing. Perhaps he was mentally where nobody else was. Mayhap he was standing atop some hill that allowed him to see what others couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Why have you not started your own group to achieve your grand ambition instead of serving as the imperial court¡¯spdog?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said we¡¯re different. Your idea of fighting is exchanging ideas, analysis and physicalpetition. In contrast, a fight is just that to me, a fight. Blood and blood, wounds and wounds, death and death. My definition isn¡¯t asplicated, and it shouldn¡¯t be.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Jiang Chen couldn¡¯t respond as his power had peaked, yet he still struggled to gain ground. He was only an inch away from his target, yet his freaky de wouldn¡¯t slide forward even a fraction of an inch between two fingers.

    ¡°Your thrust ticks the form box, but what does it matter if you can¡¯t find your target? If you want to kill me, then imbue the thought into your thrust. You want revenge?¡±

    The distance between the tip of the purple de and its target gradually increased.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in martial arts, but I know about you. Why don¡¯t you utilise your n¡¯s swordy when it¡¯s so good? I didn¡¯t see any signs of Gongsun n¡¯s swordy at the location you fought Huang Yuzao, either. Did you forget the swordy?¡±

    Aware that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to outmuscle Tianhu, Jiang Chen released his hold on his sword, while Tianhu kept the de afloat between his two mps.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Punished?¡± Tianhu threw aside the sword without sparing it a nce. ¡°I¡¯m not Huang Yuzao. I won¡¯t be soft on you or anyone else.¡± Tianhu immediately followed up with the same palm strike he caught Jiang Chen with the first time, except he meant violence this time.

    ¡°Executioner!¡±

    The silent man usually beside Jiang Chen jolted violently. Life and vigour filled his nk eyes. He vaulted over the two adepts and brought a big shiny cudgel down on Tianhu.

    ¡°Sacrificial Sage?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    The silent man finally looked happy.

    ¡°Now this is an interesting fe.¡±

    Blue and white energies extending into the heavens pushed up against each other simr to clouds and sunlight fighting for the dominant position.

 Book 13: Chapter 171

    Book 13: Chapter 170

    Silver Crow

    Each time their energies shed, the air roared ¡°boom!¡±

    Although Shen Yiren had witnessed more than one sh between Divine Realm adepts, every single time, something woulde up that¡¯d force her to miss the full match. That being said, she was never interested in watching those matches at the time. She only appreciated it now thanks to Luo Ming changing her perspective on the purpose of martial arts.

    The blue mes, like the blue part of a me, flickered, swirled and spread its scorching heat around Shitou, granting him an overbearing presence that you¡¯d just want to escape from. As he expanded his Enlightenment, the silhouette of his ck cudgel resembled a hail of iron pirs.

    Sacrificial Sage, which was forged using abination of rare metals, was constructed as a cudgel due to the difficulty of giving the metals a form. In particr, it was a nightmare for its opponents due to the variety of ways it could be wielded based on Shang Bieshi¡¯s teachings. Perhaps only a weapon that robust could endure the violence of the blue mes. Yet, it only took one hand to stop the advance of the blue mes.

    Tianhu¡¯s white glow didn¡¯t look special or even cover nearly as much area as the blue mes, yet he didn¡¯t even break a sweat catching every attack that came his way.

    With a smile, Tianhu voiced, ¡°Hey, bro, you¡¯re going to need more than this to put me away.¡±

    With a gleaming trail of light behind his eyes, Shitou roared as he leapt up once again.

    Shitou was Shang Bieshi¡¯s most prized disciple. Well, technically speaking, he was Shang Bieshi¡¯s only disciple. Shang Bieshi had taught people from all walks of life, including strangers, whether it was passing on his knowledge in academics, martial arts or another field. Shang Bieshi was an odd one among the unorthodox factions¡¯ members because he was fond of teaching and was easy to approach. Whether Gongsun Chu deliberately let him develop as so would be left a mystery, but Gongsun Chu was happy that Shang Bieshi didn¡¯t take after every other ¡°demon¡± in the unorthodox factions. Perhaps Gongsun Chu never realised he was happy to see a reflection of himself.

    Shang Bieshi possessed vast knowledge, a productive temperament, a sense of self-awareness, a nice voice, as well as the habit of reflecting on rights and wrongs after fights for improvement. Inparison, his disciple was stubborn and kept making mistakes. He always had to scold his disciple, at least, twice a day and have him stand for six hours as punishment. Yet, Shitou neverined. It was these traits of Shitou that made him the fastest learner; he picked up everything he was taught straight away and achieved mastery frighteningly fast. After just a single lesson in wielding the cudgel, he schooled Hai Yecha.

    Shang Bieshi imed that Shitou would be a star in the future, but Shitou didn¡¯t understand, not that he cared. Shitou just wanted to spar Drought Demon and Tiangou, prank Hai Yecha and Ye Yexin. Even though he¡¯d be scolded daily, he still considered those days the happiest days of his life. Had things not gone awry for Fiends¡¯ Genesis, nobody would¡¯ve contended him seeding Shang Bieshi. If he hypothetically had a change of heart and switched affiliations, he¡¯d still be a superstar in the orthodox factions.

    Gongsun Chu left Shang Bieshi to his own devices despite not holding the same opinion on numerous things. When it came to Shitou, though, he had to disagree. Until everything was taken from them, Shitou was supposed to be one of the brightest stars in the pugilistic world. Now, he was but a rock on a leash.

    As the imposing silhouette flitted along with the directions of the mes, Shen Yiren saw innumerable clones of the same silhouette blot out the sky. Although she couldn¡¯t tell apart the clones and real one,mon sense told her that the real body was among them, except not even Precision Scout could help her.

    Blue-me-d Shitous rained down onto Tianhu, burying his white glow in the hailstorm of cudgel swings.

    Boom!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sacrificial Sage¡¯s mes went out upon hitting a hand.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    Shitou belted as he spawned clones again, each wielding Sacrificial Sage.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t reached your cap,¡± stated Tianhu, urately and methodically stopping every strike targeting him. ¡°Someone has done something to limit how much strength you can use. It¡¯s a shame, not because you can¡¯t beat me but because I can¡¯t witness your full capacity.¡±

    Shen Yiren finally fathomed what it meant to have attained Divine Realm status.

    Anyone with a functioning brain would realise that Shitou¡¯s ferocious onught would eventually end, and, once he stopped, it would be Tianhu¡¯s opportunity to counter.

    ¡°You have been a little careless.¡±

    A red Enlightenment rose from the four cardinal directions and shot towards Tianhu simr to snakes striking after biding their time in the grass. Four swords pierced Tianhu¡¯s true qi armour and pinned him to his spot by his shoulder.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± questioned Tianhu.

    ¡°This one told you already. It¡¯s called ¡®Autumn Lock¡¯,¡± answered Jiang Chen.

    In spite of him being confined to one spot, Tianhu still fended off Shitou¡¯s attacks without any struggle. He calmly moved his hand holding the fan.

    ¡°Indeed, this isn¡¯t enough.¡± Jiang Chen tightened his grip on his sword.

    Tianhu wryly responded, ¡°There¡¯s no room for your involvement in this fight.¡±

    Jiang Chen began strolling forward, keeping Tianhu¡¯s attention fixed on him. ¡°Silver Crow.¡±

    A silver sh of light flitted out from underneath the downed assassins¡¯ hands. Nobody knew when he started posing as an ordinary assassin, but it wasn¡¯t important. What mattered was that the de entered Tianhu¡¯s body.

 Book 13: Chapter 172

    Book 13: Chapter 172

    Superiority

    ¡°I created Autumn Lock to restrain strong opponents. Since defeating you isn¡¯t possible, I have to restrain you for a moment.¡± Jiang Chen continued forward. ¡°Executioner can only stall you, upying your full attention.¡± He stopped three metres away from Tianhu and continued, ¡°The one who¡¯ll kill you is Silver Crow, Six des¡¯ Silver Crow.¡±

    Silver Crow thrust through Tianhu¡¯s heart one more time, creating a vacant hole in thetter¡¯s chest. ¡°Thank you. It is my honour to serve Jiang Chen.¡±

    Thenky, tall, silver-masked assassin who had yet to even live for thirty years was still standing over thirty metres away from Tianhu and still had his weapon in his hand. ¡°I have fulfilled my contract and received my remuneration. Please excuse me now.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Jiang Chen, I can only kill one person for you. If you wish for me to kill another person, you need to open a new offer.¡±

    Jiang Chen shook his head, but it wasn¡¯t the sort of condescending victor shake. ¡°You haven¡¯t killed him.¡±

    Silver Crow pulled his brows together.

    Jiang Chen inspected Tianhu¡¯s wound and his own stiff wrist. Drought Demons gradually eroded his own strength. He deleted some of his strength against Huang Yuzao and then earlier again against Tianhu. In exchange for sacrificing strength, he gained a longer lifespan and was more resistant to damage. Therefore, injuries, particrly internal injuries, were a different concept to his body. Had it not been for Tianhu¡¯s unique way of applying force, he might not have even suffered the most minor injury.

    Jiang Chen sighed and, with his eyes on Tianhu¡¯s unmoving body, said, ¡°How much longer do you n to sleep for? I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s enough to kill you. I¡¯ve fought Tianhu before. If you are at his level, that¡¯s not nearly enough to kill you. Enlightenment allows you to mobilise your organs.¡±

    Naturally, the Tianhu Jiang Chen referred to wasn¡¯t the one on the ground but the one who formed Emperor¡¯s Entourage.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t called Tianhu when I got to know him, and the imperial court had yet to organise a The Ultimate Three group. Who crowned you three the title of The Ultimate Three? Did you ask for the opinion of the rest of the world?¡±

    Upon regaining functioning of his wrist, Jiang Chen flipped his palm up to face the sky. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to behold Gongsun n¡¯s swordy?¡± With a sword suddenly floating above his outstretched hand, he stated, ¡°This is one discipline.¡±

    Shen Yiren: Flying Sword Technique!

    Shen Yiren never saw how the sword spawned or how it moved.

    Decapitating victims from a hundred metres away was done through using qi to control a flying sword. Without being constrained to human biomechanics, the wielder could perform feats otherwise impossible. In order to perform the feat, though, they¡¯d expend an enormous amount of internal energy, so only those who cultivated internal as well as external attributes could master the skill. To actually send a sword flying forbat would require Divine Realm to bypass the limit of internal energy. The ability to perform the skill was the reason Luo Ming was hailed as Heavenly Swordsman. To pilot a sword, however, was a myth believed to have started a millennium ago.

    The im was that one had to mentally connect with their sword¡¯s spirit to fly on it, not master some martial art. It sounded ridiculous, but it was an undeniable fact that swordy was the foundation of Gongsun n.

    There were only three people alive who could perform the feat ¨C Wordless Sword Deity, Sword Sage and the great sage from a century ago, Gongsun Chu.

    The purple sword circled Jiang Chen three revolutions at varying heights without him showing any signs of mobilising energy.

    ¡°I know that wasn¡¯t enough to kill you. That said, you¡¯re hurt badly. Let¡¯s skip the pointless chatter and fight properly. Didn¡¯t youin about being bored?¡± Jiang Chen donned crimson energy that had bloodlust wreathing around him. ¡°Executioner.¡±

    Shitou conjured another army of clones in the forest, all of which were d in his blue mes. The clones than began to fuse with each other, increasing the intensity and radius of the blue mes. By the time it was just him again, his eyes emitted intermittent shes of lightning as the field of mes around him flickered.

    ¡°Silver Crow.¡±

    Silver Crow trusted his long, thin and sharp broadsword. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to join hands with Jiang Chen and Shitou under the current circumstances.

    ¡°Silver Crow¡­ Hmm, I don¡¯t know you, so it shouldn¡¯t matter if I kill you, right?¡±

    A ck hand went straight through Silver Crow¡¯s body. In the time it took for Silver Crow to grab his chest and flee through the forest, Shen Yiren, Mountain Monster, even Jiang Chen and Shitou, didn¡¯t even have enough time to react.

    ¡°Ah, man, I let him get away.¡± Tianhu slowly pulled his undting ck hand back to his side, then sat up in the posture he assumed while rxing on the stone step. It was as if he just reset time to the moment he took his seat. The only difference was that he was shrouded in ckness, the type that felt as though it had no issue devouring everything in existence. Even the brightness of day seemed to be a fantasy.

    Jiang Chen struggled to hold his gaze against his foe¡¯s; even trying to stay conscious wasn¡¯t easy. ¡°What is that martial art?¡±

    ¡°Did I ever say this is a martial art?¡±

    Boom!

    The battle between Sacrificial Sage and the ruler of darkness resumed, but it didn¡¯tst for long. In the end, neither the blue sky could be restored, nor could the aerial purple sword remain afloat.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°How can a man¡­ be this strong?¡± Jiang Chen could barely see or think, but he was certain that the Tianhu before him was superior to the Flying Fish he fought back then.

    ¡°This is boring.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 173

    Book 13: Chapter 172

    Let¡¯s Go! Time to Find Jiang Chen!

    Though Jiang Chen left the sky, the impact he left on those who beheld his mirage didn¡¯t leave. People who could lip read shared what he said to others. Therefore, the imperial court didn¡¯t have any time to censor the information, and it only took one person for it to spread to hundreds of others.

    Needless to say, Jiang Chen took into ount the impact of his strategy and nned it to achieve aforementioned impact. The citizens were convinced he could overthrow the reigning ruler since he could even kidnap Princes. The sense of urgency he created as well as the pressure inside and outside the pce walls understandably took a toll on Emperor Yuansheng.

    Emperor Yuansheng was always aware that there were extant potential problems in the martial world. However, Jiang Chen was the first threat to the peace since Ximen Chuideng. Ever since the mirage debacle, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s desk had been inundated with a plethora of suggestions and opinions, but they all shared onemon denominator ¨C they all ssified Jiang Chen as a tumour that had to be removed. There were some reports that weren¡¯t just sent in to tick off a box ¨C thankfully. Unfortunately, even though they could urately deduce the status quo, they couldn¡¯t offer any feasible solution. At the end of the day, the martial world¡¯s problems required the martial world to solve them.

    Despite saying he was ready to sacrifice them, Emperor Yuansheng was ready to rescue his sons even if the chances were slim as long as there was an opportunity. Additionally, he was obligated to help the Seven Champion White Princes rescue their family members now that the seven had explicated they wanted to mend their rtionship with the imperial court.

    Knowing that waiting for orders to reach his soldiers would cost them time, Emperor Yuansheng permitted the Qilin Guards to have full control over the operation with his entourage supporting them. Try as they may, however, the Qilin Guards couldn¡¯t find any conclusive answers on the whereabouts of Jiang Chen¡¯s groups after three days of around-the-clock investigations. Qilin Guards weren¡¯t specialists in investigations, after all. Instead of the Qilin Guards looking bad, though, their failure highlighted Liu Shan Men¡¯s mistakes.

    Liu Shan Men couldn¡¯t justify their absence since Song Ou was still present, which made the chink in their armour stand out. In Song Ou¡¯s defence, he wasn¡¯t useless. He just didn¡¯t have the manpower to execute even if he had ideas. Song Chi¡¯s assistance made a big difference, so Liu Shan Men became useless once Song Chi was busy running around to deal with Jiang Chen.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s report saved Liu Shan Men from falling further because, had it not been for her information, the Qilin Guards wouldn¡¯t have been able to capture Jiang Chen¡¯s informants in the capital and destroy the mirage-conjuring device. s, all this aplished was essentially flipping a table over.

    Since Jiang Chen lost hismunicationwork in the capital, who could say for sure he wouldn¡¯t kill the hostages out of spite? ordingly, the imperial city was in panic in spite of the imperial court sending more and more manpower out of the capital on search missions. Luckily, the Seven Champion White Princes provided aid. With the information of orthodox and unorthodox factions in Jiangnan on hand, the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage were able to dispatch members more urately and capture Jiang Chen¡¯s subordinates. Sadly, the whereabouts of Jiang Chen and the heads of Fiends¡¯ Genesis remained a mystery.

    ¡°That is the status quo. We have two days left, I believe.¡± Bai Zhiqing filled Hong Jiu¡¯s group in based on what his daughter told him in her letter from the capital.

    Hong Jiu exhaled a big breath. ¡°Sheesh. Jiang Chen has impressed me. The Qilin Guards had the capital as solid as an iron dunny¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an iron barrel!¡± Master Qi grouchily corrected.

    ¡°My bad. As solid as an iron barrel, yet Jiang Chen still managed to slip through? I really want to see what he¡¯s made of.¡±

    ¡°Is staying on topic for three sentences your limit? Jiang Chen really is¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just mad your Li Whatever buddy get roped into it. It¡¯s a good thing for men to go through some rough experiences. It¡¯s just prison. Big deal. Plenty of men end up there once.¡±

    Master Qi red at Hong Jiu. Seeing as he was behaving as usual, she asked, ¡°Are¡­ you sure you¡¯re okay?¡±

    ¡°With what?¡±

    ¡°Your senior brother¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re not worried?¡±

    Given Hong Jiu mauled Vivianite without any hesitation just for threatening him with Ming Feizhen¡¯s life, Master Qi expected an even more violent reaction upon hearing Jiang Chen had kidnapped his brother. Surprisingly, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t appear bothered.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Wagging his hand, Hong Jiu replied, ¡°He¡¯s unmatched in brains and brawn. What could stop him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay, tough guy. You flew off the handle over your senior brother, twice.¡±

    ¡°That was because I was worried he¡¯d be in danger. Now that I know what happened, there¡¯s nothing to fear. Who gives a toss about some random rebel? My senior brother could drop a couple thousand of them before breakfast.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure. If there are thousands of them, then there¡¯d be daily rebellions.¡±

    ¡°Anyone who opposes my leader is a rebel. Haven¡¯t you heard Mencius¡¯ quote? ¡®Even against thousands, I go forward.¡¯ That means, if a thousand people oppose my leader, I¡¯lly you all out, you rebels.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you sure Mencius said that?¡±

    ¡°Of course! My leader asked a psychic, and he said that¡¯s what it meant.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡­ I feel sorry for disciples of Mount Daluo. How did they get that from, ¡°I will forge forward even if a thousand men stand before me¡±?!

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m most worried about him running into some old friend or newdy. A rebel? Easy work.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing bobbed his head. ¡°As long as you¡¯re okay. Most importantly, though, is that I haven¡¯t finished.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what else is there?¡±

    ¡°This is the most important part.¡± Bai Zhiqing took out a letter from his shirt and fondly expressed, ¡°This is a record of Mo¡¯er¡¯s growth! Look how cute she is! Look at this round handwriting¡­¡±

    Master Qi and Hong Jiu started discussing their next move, ignoring the father bragging about his daughter. They couldn¡¯t stay at Valley of Yearning forever, and they had to do something about Jiang Chen¡¯s ns.

    ¡°I have an idea.¡± Bai Zhiqing pitifully set his daughter¡¯s letter down whilst shooting Hong Jiu bemoaning nces.

    Hong Jiu feigned oblivious to the nces. ¡°Please share what you think, Third Brother.¡±

    ¡°Oh, my wife said she knows where Jiang Chen is.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 174

    Book 13: Chapter 173

    Didn¡¯t Find Flipping Jiang Chenn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The group from Valley of Yearning weren¡¯t feeble amateurs, but Lady Bai and Bai Zhiqing werepromised; even Hong Jiu had just woken up not too long ago, so he needed time to get back into shape. Besides Master Qi, the others couldn¡¯t serve much purpose in a high-level fight. They would be the group that needed people to give up their seats for them upon arriving at an inn.

    Afraid his wife wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the stress of travelling, Bai Zhiqing arranged for a carriage to make the journey easier for her. Not only was the carriage furnished opulently, but it was able to fit the eight of them, which meant they needed four healthy horses to pull them along. On top of that, Bai Zhiqing brought along three cooks, six performers, nine musicians and six stage actors in case his wife was bored. He even brought along gardeners to keep their campsitesfortable and craftsmen who could produce fireworks. It might¡¯ve sounded excessive for a martial arts family, but Valley of Yearning was a group that had a penchant for being anti-stereotypical. Hong Jiu was the type of person who¡¯d ask for a dance with death for the experience, so he merrily pped away and showered the idea with praise.

    Whilst chewing two bananas, Hong Jiu asked, ¡°I still don¡¯t get it. How does Lady Bai know where Jiang Chen is?¡±

    As she gently tapped her finger to the rhythm of the music outside the courage, Lady Bai turned her head towards Hong Jiu and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Hong Jiu blinked three times. ¡°Third Brother.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, she doesn¡¯t know,¡± responded Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°Wow, how heartless! That is the opposite of what you told us yesterday!¡±

    ¡°Jiang Chen sent me a letter, but I can¡¯t reveal the contents,¡± stated Lady Bai.

    Hong Jiu blinked another three times. ¡°Third Brother¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. It¡¯s making me blush.¡±

    ¡°Who cares if you blush? Didn¡¯t you say Lady Bai knows where Jiang Chen is?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I think she knows where Jiang Chen is.¡±

    ¡°You are locating him based off feelings?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know how good my wife is. We have interlinked hearts, interlinked minds, interlinked s-¡±

    ¡°I know. I know. Heart diseases, mental illnesses and corrupted s-¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t get it at all! Are those things you use to praise people?!¡±

    ¡°Get to the point then.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so impatient? I meant to say that I know what she is thinking. Although there are some things she can¡¯t work out, I can help her work it out. Although we cannot reveal the details, one of Jiang Chen¡¯s hideouts was revealed in the letter. Even if he is not there now, he would have to visit it sooner orter. For all we know, maybe your brother is there. There¡¯s nothing to lose if we go check it out.¡±

    Something about it all sounded wrong, but Hong Jiu had to admit that he didn¡¯t have a better idea.

    Despite iming he wasn¡¯t worried, Hong Jiu knew that it was noughing matter if Ming Feizhen ran into some old ¡°friends¡± within the twenty days ¨C plus or take. Divine Moon Cult misunderstood him. League of Assassins weren¡¯t his friends. Sky Realm Pce¡­ Well¡­ Considering how many of their hideouts he had been sabotaging over the years, yeah¡­ Among the big four unorthodox factions, three of them wanted him dead. Now there was Jiang Chen¡¯s group that came out of nowhere, too.

    Since there were no traces to follow, it was better to gamble on Lady Bai¡¯s only clue rather than trying to search a haystack for a needle. When he came to terms with it, Hong Jiu was in such high spirits again that he went to fill the shoes of their coach and the musicians¡¯ conductor, asionally humming a tune or two himself, as well.

    Lady Bai remarked, ¡°He sure is healthily energetic.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing said, ¡°As long as there is energy,petence will never be an issue for him.¡±

    Under the leadership of Hong Jiu, the grand escort arrived in Hangzhou eight dayster.

    For as long as Valley of Yearning had existed, they had liked to dress in white clothing. Therefore, as they hit gongs and pulled a carriagerge enough to transport a casket, people immediately moved away in case they interrupted the ¡°funeral procession¡±. Some people shed a tear for them because they thought they were trying to cover their sorrows with cheerful music. Master Qi adamantly refused to join them because it was embarrassing, so she rode alone right at the rear.

    Hong Jiu had recovered 40% of his full strength. If nothing else, he could walk without support again. Unfortunately, even after leading a search team around a mountain range, the only thing he found was a temple named ¡°Ksana Temple¡±. Due to its spaciousness and proximity to ake, its neighbouring paths weren¡¯t difficult to traverse despite being on a mountain. It wasn¡¯t the 15th or some special day, yet there was a constant stream of visitors. If Jiang Chen wanted to choose a ce for a secret base, it wouldn¡¯t make sense to choose such a popted ce, not Hangzhou¡¯s most popr temple. Worried he might¡¯ve missed something, he even went in posing as a customer, but there wasn¡¯t a singlebat-trained monk or anything out of ce. As such, they had to spend the night in Hangzhou before deciding on their next course of action.

    The next morning, they decided to pose as a rich family running a business seeking a religious rite for theirte rtive. Bai Zhiqing and his wife were the patriarch and his wife. Hong Jiu was the head steward. Guan Ning was a servant. Master Qi and Fang Xiaoyu were Bai Zhiqing¡¯s children. While the monks were upied, their n was to sneak deeper into the temple to investigate. Since they already made a spectacle of themselves with their unending performance all the way through to Hangzhou, nobody suspected their backstory.

    At the break of dawn, Bai n offered a generous sum to Ksana Temple to perform the religious ritual. Understandably, the head monk of the temple jovially weed them, praised them for being noble people and offered all the blessings he could. If Bai Zhiqing had a career in praising people, he¡¯d have pockets as deep as Gold and Silver Sect. The head monk was so happy to take the job without question that Hong Jiu wondered if his suspicions were unwarranted. When they asked to stay at the temple for seven days, however, the monk¡¯s face twitched.

    ¡°Uh, well, if you need lodging, there are plenty of great inns in the city for every budget. There is one only five kilometres from the temple. Our small temple and tough lifestyle might be too demanding for you. Moreover, we, um, cannot allow female guests to stay, so I am afraid¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu: Save the b.s. for a monk whose eyes don¡¯t light up like stars when he sees money, you con artist. You¡¯re better at asking for money than I am asking for food. You lead tough lives? You think Hangzhou citizens are any better? Cold Mountain Temple has guest rooms for female guests. Look at the size of your temple. Besides, look at yourself, you money-grubbing fatso. Who do you expect to believe you don¡¯ty hands on the innocent women of the local socialites? I knew this temple was fishy.

    Bai Zhiqing: ¡°Haha, in that case, my wife and daughter shall head back, while I shall stay with my steward.¡±

    ¡°Our humble temple is not befitting someone of your standing. This one is afraid he cannot take proper care of you, so¡­¡±

    Bai Zhiqing wagged his hand as he chuckled. ¡°Okay, okay. I appreciate you taking care of us so earnestly. In that case, I shall leave just Steward Hong behind. Though he oversees our finances, he is but a servant at the end of the day, and a servant would not be living a more luxurious life than you, right? You need not worry about your lodging not being up to standard for him, hahaha.¡±

    The monk¡¯s eyes started darting around as soon as he heard ¡°finances¡±. Beaming, he replied, ¡°You speak in jest. Steward Hong is our honoured guest.¡±

    They sorted out the details, and Hong Jiu stayed for the night.

    The head monk didn¡¯t exaggerate when he said Hong Jiu would be their honoured guest; they let him choose from any of the sparkling-clean rooms. Given Hong Jiu could sleep soundly in the wild, it was no surprise that he was snoring not long after mindlessly selecting a room.

    Someone gently pried open his window in the middle of the night, waking Hong Jiu up. He rolled over to his side, opened his eyes ever so slightly and saw someone slip a pipe through the gap to release some sort of white gas.

    You amateurs. If you¡¯re going to sedate someone with a gas, you should add some sedatives into their food, as well.

    If you hit someone with an excessive dose of one sedative, they¡¯d suffer from a headache the next day. Use too little and it wouldn¡¯t be enough to sedate someone in such a spacious room. If you spread the dosage between two different sources of sedatives, however, they¡¯d wake up the next day only feeling hung over, so they wouldn¡¯t suspect they were drugged.

    Hong Jiu sighed, sting the gas back through the pipe it came through. Within moments, he heard the person outside drop to the ground. Hong Jiu immediately went to look through the window. Unsurprisingly, there was a novice male monastic on the ground. He picked up the monk, dumped him on the bed, covered his head with the nket, set the monk in a spot that was easy to spot and then exited the room.

    Not long after Hong Jiu left, a group of monks sneaked up to the room and then entered it when they didn¡¯t see their fellow monk. Since they saw ¡°Hong Jiu¡± sleeping as soundly as a corpse, they tip toed over and lugged him out without noticing that Hong Jiu witnessed everything.

    At most, their behaviour only proved the temple was shady. It wasn¡¯t proof that they were in cahoots with Jiang Chen, nor did it provide clues on Jiang Chen¡¯s whereabouts.

    Upon hearing someone zoom up to his side, Hong Jiu frowned. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    The maiden in ck attire lifted her chin and poked her tongue at him. ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here?¡±

    ¡°Did Third Brother Bai send you?¡±

    Master Qi nodded. ¡°Even I can beat you right now. He sent me over in case you were assassinated here.¡±

    While it was true that Bai Zhiqing was concerned for Hong Jiu, Master Qi just put words into his mouth. She was the one who couldn¡¯t help herself and ended up running over to the temple.

    After hearing his suspicions, Master Qi scoffed, ¡°Scums of the earth. They were ogling Lady Bai and me. I would¡¯ve skewered their eyes if it didn¡¯t get in the way of our main objective.¡±

    ¡°Thing is, we¡¯ve hit another dead end.¡±

    Master Qi stopped to think before asserting, ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°Think about how many people they have. Why was the old monk against letting us in during the day? Don¡¯t you find it strange that they won¡¯t let women stay when they can¡¯t stop ogling us?¡±

    Hong Jui pped. ¡°You¡¯re a genius.¡±

    Master Qi fossilised for a moment as her brain processed what she heard. As a rosy colour came to her cheeks, she stuttered, ¡°Wh-who asked for your praise?! Weirdo!¡± and then turned her head away.

    ¡­ You¡¯re the weirdo.

    The moment Hong Jiu turned his attention back to the temple, he heard voices. ¡°People are conversing in the main hall. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    It was odd for people to be conversing in the middle of the night in the main hall, so Master Qi followed along without question. They somersaulted off the roof and made haste for the main hall, unaware of a gaze watching them in the darkness.

    The more energy she focused to her ears, the clearer the conversation was to Master Qi.

    ¡°You have clues?¡±

    ¡°No! I wish it was that easy! It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how weird that guy is.¡±

    One of the men had a soft voice, but his wife induced a sense of grogginess when you listened to him, indicating he learnt some sort of internal discipline that had hypnosis functions. The other one had a sonorous voiceparable to shouting even though he was speaking at a conversational volume. The louder man sounded as though he had a Liaodong dialect. Given how many thick walls separated Hong Jiu and them, it went without saying that it was thetter speaker who drew Hong Jiu¡¯s attention in the first ce.

    It was a stretch to state that the two of them were speaking in secret. After all, they didn¡¯t do anything to hide the fact that they were there in the middle of the night and talking. Unable to fathom what it was all about, Master Qi looked to Hong Jiu, who muttered, ¡°Why is he here¡­? And who¡¯s the other guy? It¡¯s not Leader¡¯s birthday yet, and I didn¡¯t invite anyone, either. Why are they here in Hangzhou?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 175

    Book 13: Chapter 175

    Dads, Disciples, Wives

    As her hearing wasn¡¯t as keen as Hong Jiu¡¯s, Master Qi moved a tile to give herself a small gap to see through. In spite of the heat, both therge man andnky man wore bear fur and an overcoat, respectively. The fact that neither of them had a single bead of sweat on them was a sign that their internal strength had been cultivated to a respectable degree.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here. We¡¯ve been waiting,¡± therge Liaodong man remarked.

    The young man who came through the door saluted the duo politely. ¡°This one is younger than you. If there is an issue, you, as this one¡¯s elders, can just deal with him. Why did you have to meet here in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°Cut the rubbish. Until you hand over the de, we¡¯re all swatting flies. What use does dealing with you serve? Why would we call for you? For you to put on a broadsword performance?¡±

    ¡°This one is not holding onto the broadsword. He just dares not to use his mentor¡¯s weapon unless there is no risk. As veterans in the martial world, you would understand.¡±

    The other man, who resembled a foreigner, simpered. ¡°As reasonable as you sound, there is no such thing as zero risk. Are we going to just keep counting the stars here until there is no risk? Teacher Ning said to wait a few days if there is a 30% chance of sess. Who knows what the situation is inside?¡±

    The young man shook his head. ¡°There is only one copy of the broadsword. If it was just any weapon, then so be it. This one¡¯s mentor would not chide him even if this one lost a rare item. However, how can this one make rash decisions when failure would threaten his teacher¡¯s safety?¡±

    The Liaodong man debated, ¡°Your shifu¡¯s safety? What about my son and daughter-inw¡¯s lives? You¡¯re handing it over whether you like it or not tonight.¡±

    ¡°Elders, do you intend to steal it by brute force?¡±

    ¡°Abnormal times call for abnormal approaches!¡±

    Thenky man voiced, ¡°Don¡¯t use us of bullying a junior now. We won¡¯t work together. We¡¯ll fight you one on one. Defeat me, and I shall ignore my son¡¯s life. I won¡¯t shameless try to rob you, either.¡±

    The young man smiled. ¡°You truly are an upright man, Senior Yan.¡±

    Master Qi instantly recognised the man from the north had plenty of power in his body and a skill to protect him from des. Considering their age gaps, the young man shouldn¡¯t have been his match, yet the young man snickered. ¡°That being the case, why carry on with this farce? The two of you are dead set on obtaining this jade broadsword. What one on one? We all know it is a means to the same end, so how about letting me learn a thing or two from you both? That will save people saying I was such a chicken that I didn¡¯t dare to fight two pieces of scum at once.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you¡¯re as good with your hands as your mouth. Brother Yan, stand back. Allow this old one to see how capable Lang Qing¡¯s disciple really is.¡± The Liaodong man¡¯s voice created ripples in the air, disrupting everyone¡¯s flow of qi and blow.

    Yu Yeshan scoffed as he assumed his defensive stance with his broadsword. Since his voice didn¡¯t do the trick, the Liaodong man took out a ck iron cudgel that easily weighed twenty-five kilograms from behind.

    ¡°Why are you fighting each other when we¡¯re all on the same boat? Besides, why are you so intolerant when he¡¯s younger than you?¡± A middle-aged man in green garments sauntered over from the centre of the hall. As soon as he ced his hands on the weapon¡¯s, the tense atmosphere eased off.

    Yu Yeshan respectfully expressed, ¡°Greetings, Mr. Ning.¡±

    Mr. Ning acknowledged Yu Yeshan with a nod, then turned to the Liaodong man and smiled. ¡°The weapon is Young Master Yu¡¯s property. We may be in a pinch, but that does not justify stealing. Your reputations will bepromised if the public hears about this. Gu, you¡¯re too impulsive.¡±

    Gu Bushang may have been one of the scariest men in Liaodong, but he wasn¡¯t an unreasonable individual. In fact, he was somewhat considered a hero in Liaodong for distancing himself from material wealth and protecting the innocent. Had it not been for his emotions running high due to his family being kidnapped and Yu Yeshan¡¯s provocations, he wouldn¡¯t have gotten physical. Since he was Mr. Ning¡¯s inw, they were friendly with each other and could ept criticism. The troublesome person in the ordeal was the foreigner.

    The foreigner offered Mr. Ning a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Compared to your impartial and virtuous conduct, my behaviour has been disgraceful. Having said that, all I know is that the fates of my two sons depend on Young Master Yu¡¯s jade broadsword. If he refuses to cooperate, I will have to take it by force. If it costs me my reputation, then so be it. Compared to my sons, my reputation is worthless.¡±

    ¡°My shifu is also among the hostages. You speak as if you are the only anxious one. This broadsword is the only hope to rescue him. I¡¯m not giving it away unless it¡¯s guaranteed to get him out.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Ning said to take action as long as we¡¯re 30% confident, but you insist on 100%. When in life is anything 100% guaranteed? Nobody knows what the hostages¡¯ circumstances are. If we don¡¯t take a risk, are we just going to wait to regret it for the rest of our lives?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Yan, you¡¯re being impulsive. The letter stated that there was enough food for another month. The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. Are you not afraid of making the wrong move?¡± responded Yu Yeshan.

    ¡°All of us are anxious; you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s so calm. Is it because you¡¯re not rted by blood, or are you hoping your shifu perishes so that you can surpass him?¡±

    The upward curves at Yu Yeshan¡¯s lips dropped to a horizontal line. ¡°What was that?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Hahaha, what was that? Our children who¡¯ve been taken hostage don¡¯t have a fraction of our shifu¡¯s knowledge or experience. If anything happens, your shifu will survive, but our family members are doomed. You think I don¡¯t know what sort of calctions you¡¯re running in your head?¡±

    Yu Yeshan¡¯splexion changed for the worse.

    The foreigner then asked the person beside him, ¡°Wu n¡¯s sister-inw, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    The youngdy sitting beside him emotionlessly exhaled. ¡°This one is but a useless woman. She can only entrust her husband¡¯s safety to you gentlemen. She shall follow your lead.¡±

    Her words reced their rage with helplessness.

    ¡°We all share the same wish. Why, then, do we need to test who is superior to who? In this old one¡¯s opinion, we should evaluate our options and n. He just went to check the lock hole and found¡­¡± Mr. Wu suddenly raised his volume. ¡°How about you show yourself? A gentleman does not snoop around!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 176

    Book 13: Chapter 176

    You¡¯ve Finally Arrived

    Master Qi stole a nce Hong Jiu¡¯s way to see his nose wrinkled. Even if he wasn¡¯t busy thinking, she figured she¡¯d have to figure something out since he wasn¡¯t in any condition to fight them. She jumped down,nding in front of therge Buddha statue. As soon as shended, she felt a strong wind blowing toward her face, so she titled her head backwards.

    ¡°Nice head movement,¡± praised Gu Bushang, ceasing his offence after he missed his swing with his cudgel.

    Before Master Qi could steady herself, she felt a vertical and horizontal wind wave on her skin from two broadsword swings. As there was no way she could dodge attacks that were so fast, she rode the momentum of her evasion manoeuvre to draw her soft sword from her waist. Although the sword Lady Bai gifted her wasn¡¯t insanely sharp or anything, its flexibility made it convenient to carry. Topensate for theck of strength it had, she used her internal strength to stiffen it and then stabbed right at the centre of where the shes crossed.

    ¡°Not half bad.¡± Yu Yeshan took two steps back and stopped attacking, but he had taken a position, rtive to Gu Bushang, to surround Master Qi.

    Mr. Ning walked over with a hand on his beard. ¡°May this one ask what your rtionship with Mount Tian¡¯s cial Sword Empress is? How shall he address you?¡±

    Gu Bushang and Yu Yeshan both impressed Master Qi with their skills, but Mr. Ning impressed her significantly for with his ability to recognise her affiliation from the single strike she performed. Based on their skills and knowledge, there was no doubt that they were respected in the martial world. The reason for a bunch of strangers from different regions ¨C save for the Liaodong man and Mr. Ning ¨C convening in Hangzhou, and in a ce associated with Jiang Chen, raised questions.

    Following some pondering, Master Qi answered, ¡°You can address me as you fancy. I¡¯ve been exposed already anyway.¡±

    ¡°It is understandable for you to hesitate. This one apologises for the thoughtless question. Howbeit, it is of great importance for us to know the purpose of your visit at this time of the night. Do please tell us,¡± conveyed Mr. Ning.

    Besides the woman who seemed defenceless, everyone else in the hall didn¡¯t look weak. It was impossible for Master Qi to fight her way through, meaning her only option was to buy time for Hong Jiu to call for help.¡±

    Master Qi cracked a grin. ¡°I also want to ask you who you are to question me. You a monk¡¯s rtive?¡±

    ¡°And if this old one is?¡±

    ¡°Strange. I met several monks earlier in the day, but he never mentioned having so many non-monastic rtives. What is the purpose of my visit, you ask? I could ask you the same question. I think we should call the head monk over before we continue.¡±

    All of them pulled their brows together.

    Mr. Ning smiled. ¡°You wield words very skilfully. We have important business here. Though we cannot divulge details due to various reasons, none of them include illegal activity. We are not criminals. Can you answer the question now, Miss?¡±

    Master Qi cackled behind her hands. ¡°Why should I tell you when you won¡¯t tell me? Besides, if it¡¯s legal for you to be gathering here in the middle of the night, is it illegal for me, a girl, to be here in the middle of the night? Since none of us have a say here, let¡¯s ask the head monk to give the final verdict.¡±

    The Liaodong man voiced, ¡°Since you insist, let us invite the head monk over.¡±

    They heard someone enter, which was strange if they were operating secretively, and it was none other than the fat head monk.

    Trembling, the head monk asked, ¡°May this one asked what you summoned this old one f-, eh, Miss Bai? Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°So your surname is Bai. This old one mistook you for being Mount Tian¡¯s Wen nsmen.¡±

    The Liaodong man indifferently urged, ¡°Forget everything you heard and saw. You should leave.¡±

    The head monk nked out before lifelessly exiting the hall.

    Master Qi subconsciously gulped. The fact that the Liaodong man could erase someone¡¯s memories and control their mind categorised him as a Heart Realm specialist. His opponents would have to be wary of mental attacks on top of physical attacks whilst locked inbat with him.

    The Liaodong man said, ¡°You¡¯ve seen the head monk. I take it you have no more excuses? Should you refuse to dere the reason for your presence, we will have to make you talk.¡±

    ording to Master Qi¡¯s calctions, Hong Jiu had enough time to get away and call for reinforcements already, so she decided to end the farce. ¡°At the end of the day, you¡¯re just using your numbers to bully me. Fine. I¡¯lly you all out.¡±

    Gu Bushang thundered, ¡°This old one will be more than enough to beat you.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not alone.¡±

    As soon as she heard the voice of the person outside, Master Qi shivered. She never picked up on their arrival, and their voice was eerily devoid of emotion. He came inside and raised his arm, knocking tiles upward and dropping someone through the gap.

    Mr. Ning asked, ¡°Master Mu, who is¡­¡±

    Mr. Mu was extremely short, but he had an authoritative gaze. ¡°¡­ He was spying from above.¡±

    The Liaodong man scoffed, ¡°So you weren¡¯t alone, Miss.¡±

    ¡°Why are you still here, you idiot?!¡± eximed Master Qi.

    Hong Jiu rolled to his feet, then ducked behind Master Qi and quietly replied, ¡°I lost awareness of my surroundings while I was thinking. What¡¯s going on here?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear a word?!¡±

    ¡°There is a time and ce for flirting.¡± The Liaodong man took two steps closer. ¡°If you can¡¯t exin your reasons for being here, we will be forced to make things hard for you.¡±

    Hong Jiu offered up a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Head chef or sous chef, they¡¯re still chefs. The North is part of the pugilistic world and so is the South. Sure, we can tell you why we¡¯re here, but shouldn¡¯t you also introduce yourselves so that we can determine if it¡¯s worth telling or not?¡±

    The Liaodong man responded, ¡°Fine! This old one is Mount Taixing¡¯s Yan Liren. This is Yu Yeshan. This is Dongying¡¯s Master Yuan Mu. Brother Gu, you don¡¯t need me to introduce you, do you?¡±

    Since Gu Bushang was in his own world, Mr. Ning did the honours and said, ¡°Liaodong¡¯s Ning Shixin. This is Gu Bushang. Pleasure to meet you.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ah, Patriarch Yan of Heavenbound Valley, Cross Phantom¡¯s sessor, Dongying¡¯s string expert Master Mu and Liaodong¡¯s Mr. Ning. We¡¯re friends, then.¡±

    Yan Liren retorted, ¡°How do we know if we¡¯re friends or not if you don¡¯t exin yourself?¡±

    Hong Jiu held his hands up in salute, ¡°Wusuli¡¯s Honger Huz-, ow! Why¡¯d you hit me, woman?!¡±

    ¡°His name is Hong Jiu.¡± Master Qi lowered the hand she smacked Hong Jiu over the head with. ¡°Is it the time and ce to be telling fibs?!¡±

    ¡°Even if I don¡¯t l-¡±

    Yan Liren, still not convinced he was face to face with the man of legends, responded, ¡°Ah, the famous Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider, Hero Hong. May this one ask why you two are h-¡±

    ¡°Oh my lord!¡± suddenly screamed Gu Bushang. ¡°What brings you here, Sir?! I thought I recognised your voice. Please forgive this one for not recognising you! Every one, please rx. We are all on the same side. Brothers,e greet one of the two greatest heroes in all the Nine Provinces, the undefeated-eternal winner, Night Fortress¡¯ second inmand, Second Leader, Hero Hong, Hong Jiu.¡±

    Ning Shixin was befuddled as to why Hong Jiu didn¡¯t mention Gu Bushang when he greeted them, but now he knew why ¨C they were acquainted.

    ¡°What brings you here, Second Leader? I headed straight to Night Fortress as soon as I arrived in Hangzhou to see if there were any jobs that I needed to help with, but the brothers on the mountain told me that none of you were present, so I was told to stay on standby. Did you just arrived? Has Master been well?¡±

    Owing to Gu Bushang¡¯s attitude towards Hong Jiu, the atmosphere went from hostile to, ¡°Uh, what are we supposed to do now?¡±

    Yu Yeshan questioned, ¡°Elder Gu, can you exin what is going on?¡±

    Gu Bushang gave Yu Yeshan the ¡°you idiot¡± look as he exined, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just introduce him? He is the undefeated-unequalled-unparral-¡±

    ¡°I heard. I heard,¡± Ning Shixin grumbled. He knew Gu Bushang was a loyal fanatic of Night Fortress¡¯ master because he had listened to one of thetter¡¯s never-ending speeches about him. ¡°Brother, did you ask Hero Hong toe here to help?¡±

    While it was inappropriate for Gu Bushang to leak their meeting location ¨C assuming he was the one who called Hong Jiu in to help them ¨C it was forgivable since it was well-intended.

    ¡°No. I wanted to ask the bosses of Night Fortress to help, but none of them were present. Of course, it was embarrassing to even mention the pinch we¡¯re in.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    When Ning Shixin looked to Hong Jiu, Hong Jiu gave him a smile and voiced, ¡°Ol¡¯ Gu didn¡¯t know I¡¯d be here. As a matter of fact, I don¡¯t even know why you are here. I¡¯m guessing, though, that this has something to do with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Jiang Chen, correct?¡±

    Everyone flinched.

    Ning Shixin queried, ¡°Does that mean¡­ H-have there been rumours of some sort spreading in the pugilistic world?¡±

    Hong Jiu pieced it all together when he saw how shaken they were. ¡°You can rest assured. I didn¡¯te here because I heard something. I have family who has fallen into Jiang Chen¡¯s grasp, and an elder I know received a letter from Jiang Chen, which led me¡­¡±

    They were all relieved to hear Hong Jiu mention ¡°letter¡±.

    Yan Liren: ¡°S-so you¡¯re thest person! We¡¯ve been waiting for you!¡±

    Hong Jiu: Huh? What for?

 Book 13: Chapter 177

    Book 13: Chapter 177

    Epiphany

    ¡°You were waiting for me?¡±

    Hong Jiu¡¯s reaction didn¡¯t surprise them for the reason that they, too, didn¡¯t trust any of the others when they were in his shoes.

    Ning Xinshi suggested, ¡°Let us continue this conversation elsewhere in case we alert the government.¡±

    Ning Xinshi went to the back of the Buddha statue to operate some device that had the statue¡¯s base rumbling as a door behind the statue came into view. Besides a long staircase, there was nothing else in the dimly lit room. Where could there have been a more favourable location to ambush someone than in a long and narrow path? If there were one or two simple contraptions that could shoot weapons out from the rear, where could the target take cover?

    Seeing Master Qi and Hong Jiu show no signs of setting foot inside the passage, Gu Bushang politely assured, ¡°Second Leader, this old one can swear on his life that we harbour no ill will.¡±

    To erase any doubts, Ning Xinshi said, ¡°Let us head down first.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be worried about?¡± Hong Jiu went down first with a smile.

    Master Qi was going to caution Hong Jiu, but she decided to follow him after a brief think. And, nothing happened after the others filed in just as Gu Bushang assured. If Hong Jiu didn¡¯t convince them he was reliable yet, the courage disyed removed all doubt about him.

    It took them fifteen minutes of walking to reach the base, where there was arge stone door with a small square slot in it. The big chests of dry rations, water and torches left alongside the tables and chairs by the door indicated that the users had made camp there very recently.

    Ning Xinshi gestured for everyone to take a seat, then told Hong Jiu and Master Qi, ¡°It must havee as a surprise to see us gathered together and even arguing amongst each other, especially when we do not keep in touch.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t surprised, but it¡¯s not hard to realise it must have to do with Jiang Chen.¡± Hong Jiu smiled amiably. ¡°You all received a letter, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± Ning Xinshi borated, ¡°Several months ago, this old one received a letter supposedly from Jiang Chen himself, informing this old one that his daughter had been taken hostage in an underground pce in Hangzhou, so he challenged this old one to unlock the lock. This old one didn¡¯t fully believe him given Jiang Chen¡¯s notoriety in the martial world. Although this old one has never heard of any nefarious deeds he was responsible for, some affiliated with an unjust association could not be trusted. However, it was hard to brush him off when the letter included a belonging of this old one¡¯s daughter.

    ¡°As such, this old one immediately contacted Master Gu. Since he is this old one¡¯s daughter¡¯s father-inw, he knew her whereabouts better than this old one. To this old one¡¯s surprise, Master Gu arrived at this old one¡¯s ce before he could set out, and the first thing he said was, ¡®My son has been kidnapped.¡¯¡±

    Hong Jiu bobbed his head. ¡°And I bet he brought a letter with the same content over.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Gu Bushang exined, ¡°The letter this old one received was basically identical to Brother Ning¡¯s. This one was told toe to this temple if he wanted his son and daughter-inw back.¡±

    ¡°So everyone here¡­¡±

    ¡°Same. My two sons epted a business offer from Jiang Chen, but I received a letter saying Jiang Chen had locked them both up and toe collect them here,¡± informed Yan Liren.

    Yu Yeshan said, ¡°I received my letter a month before they received theirs. I was told my shifu had been captured, so they demanded I bring Frost jade to exchange for my shifu. This broadsword is my shifu¡¯s prized weapon. I thought Jiang Chen set him up to get his hands on the weapon, but I never heard from Shifu, so I came here to check just in case. Only when I arrived in Hangzhou did I realise I wasn¡¯t alone. I do feel apologetic about starting fights with them without first understanding the situation.¡±

    It was safe to assume they weren¡¯t ¡°spars¡± from Yu Yeshan¡¯s tone, but only they knew who won. More pertinently, it was clear that Jiang Chen knew exactly how to spur them into action based on his bespoke letters. Most importantly right now, though, was that nobody was dead because they were all fairly evenly matched.

    ¡°Sister-inw is?¡±

    Ning Xinshi enlightened, ¡°She is the wife of Mncholic Swordsman ¨C Wu Ping. She, too, received a letter.¡±

    Judging from the difort she showed while in their presence, she was likely the only untrained person among them.

    ¡°This one was told to bring ck Aurum fragments here if she wanted her husband back. Therefore¡­¡±

    Although Dongying¡¯s Yuan Mu didn¡¯t say much, in short, he received a letter, as well.

    Hong Jiu: Jiang Chen kidnapped their family members to coerce them toe here, yet it doesn¡¯t sound like any of them have met Jiang Chen. Why did he demand their presence if he¡¯s not going to meet them? Based on what Ning Xinshi told me¡­n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Mr. Ning, is this the door you have been asked to unlock?¡±

    The famed lock cracker of Liaodong answered, ¡°That is correct. ording to the letter, he confined our family members in the underground pce, but there was no word of them. This old one and Brother Yan met Master Yuan Mu behind the Buddha statue while searching the entirety of the temple. Master Yuan Mu noticed the statue was no ordinary statue, so we spent a long time studying the contraption, which eventually led us here.¡±

    ¡°Can the door be unlocked?¡±

    Ning Xinshi shook his head. ¡°Sadly, not even this old one can open it. The core of the lock is located inside the small slot, so it is impossible to see it. Master Yuan Mu tried to figure out the shape using string, but there was a carving inside that invaded his mind. Had it not been for Master Yuan Mu¡¯s training, he would have fallen victim to Jiang Chen¡¯s trap.¡±

    Hong Jiu pondered for a while, then questioned, ¡°Brother Yan would be an expert at mental techniques, right?¡±

    Yan Liren replied, ¡°This one is modestly educated on the topic. Thanks to the efforts of Master Yuan Mu, we were able to finally draw a rough image of the lock after many days of exploration. Regrettably, Master Yuan Mu informed us of an obstacle.¡±

    Ning Xinshi expanded, ¡°The key for the lock needs to be made from frost jade and ck Aurum.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡± Master Qi instinctively looked at Yu Yeshan and Lady Wu.

    ¡°It is exactly as you assume. Jiang Chen specifically gathered us to unlock the lock.¡± Ning Xinshi elucidated, ¡°This old one cannot call himself an expert on contraptions. He is not confident he could produce the special key, either. At most, there is only a 30% chance he will be sessful. You both heard our conversation earlier. For that reason, this old one has been wondering if there is a contraption expert and a cksmith who have yet to arrive. Thus, this old one assumed you two were the people we were waiting for.¡±

    Hong Jiu pped his thigh. ¡°I get it now. Wait up!¡±

    With that, Hong Jiu sped off so fast that Master Qi couldn¡¯t even react in time.

 Book 13: Chapter 178

    Book 13: Chapter 178

    Craftsmanship on Par with Gods. Unrivalled Beauty and Talent in Shu

    Nearly two hours passed they heard footsteps from the top. They were shocked just to hear Hong Jiu leading the Bai couple down the steps. None of them dared to mention a word about the kidnapping, yet Hong Jiu didn¡¯t hesitate to share the news. Hence, all of them were grumpy when Hong Jiu brought the Bai couple to them ¨C although Master Qi was actually grumpy because Hong Jiu ran off without her.

    Bai Zhiqing strode forward and said, ¡°Don¡¯t stand on ceremony. Get out of your seat for my wife.¡±

    Suffice to say, Bai Zhiqing making such a demand out of the blue upon arrival didn¡¯t sit well with any of them. Ning Xinshi, being the gentleman he was, let Lady Bai have his seat, but he still turned to ask Hong Jiu, ¡°Hero Hong, can you exin¡­?¡±

    ¡°Allow me to introduce them. This is Valley of Yearning¡¯s Patriarch Bai and his wife.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing needed no detailed introduction once his name was tied to his face, except that didn¡¯t erase the hubristic impression he left due to his attitude upon arrival. If anything, he just made himself more enemies.

    Ning Xinshi sternly stated, ¡°Hero Hong, this is not a matter that can be publicised, even if the listener is Valley of Yearning¡¯s patriarch.¡±

    Yan Liren, as an unorthodox faction member, didn¡¯t pull any punches. ¡°If you have no business here, please leave.¡±

    Once she was seated, Lady Bai leisurely said, ¡°My presence is not important. If my husband were to leave, however, you¡¯ll have nobody to cry to. Brother Hong, enlighten them.¡±

    Hong Jiu informed, ¡°You were mistaken. I am not the person you have been waiting for. These two are the people you have been waiting for.¡±

    Lady Bai filled them in on the letter she received.

    Hong Jiu pieced together what they told him and what Lady Bai told him about a secret that Jiang Chen had taken their rtive hostage, which led him to the conclusion that the Bai couple were the final pieces of the puzzle.

    Lady Bai stated, ¡°Wet nurse is inside.¡±

    Seeing them look perplexed, Bai Zhiqing grouched, ¡°Her wet nurse, you morons!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Uh, Third Brother, I believe they knew that.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Then why look confused? My wife is saying that she, too, received a letter. Her wet nurse from when she was younger is locked inside, like your family members. My Lady, don¡¯t rush. Take your time.¡± Bai Zhiqing helped his wife over to the locked door.

    The group finally noticed the small bump on Lady Bai¡¯s tummy and understood why Bai Zhiqing was constantly high strung.

    After checking the slot, Lady Bai inquired, ¡°We have someone who can use string?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Yuan Mu: ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Check it again. I¡¯ll take a look.¡±

    For some reason, Yuan Mu didn¡¯t show distaste despite the bossy vibe that Lady Bai gave off with her manner of expression. He took out a ball of silk and, in Mandarin, conveyed, ¡°Brother Yan.¡±

    Yan Liren ced both hands on Yuan Mu¡¯s shoulders to support thetter.

    ¡°Use one hand,¡± instructed Lady Bai.

    Yan Liren immediately frowned, but Lady Bai just put her hand on Yuan Mu¡¯s right shoulder,pletely ignoring Yan Liren. Yan Liren didn¡¯t mind at that point since he realised she wanted to partake.

    Yuan Mumenced his exploration again. Thanks to his experience in the slot, he avoided the early traps and only let Yan Liren take control in times of tight junctures. Unfortunately, 80% of the design was the best they could achieve. This time, Yuan Mu sensed a soothing qi envelope him once he focused. This time, none of the mental obstacles got to him. Needless to say, he could tell it was thanks to the warm qiing from his right shoulder.

    ¡°Done.¡± Yuan Mu retracted his string and instantly started drawing what he saw.

    Meanwhile, Bai Zhiqing hurried over to help his wife. ¡°Are you tired? I see sweat.¡±

    Lady Bai smiled as her husband helped her wipe her sweat. ¡°No, they did all the hard work. I¡¯m fine.¡± The moment she turned back to the crowd, she went back to indifferent expression that they had just erased. ¡°Pass me the frost jade and ck Aurum.¡±

    Yu Yeshan and Wu Ping¡¯s wife took a moment to ept what they just heard.

    ¡°This broadsword is this one¡¯s shifu¡¯s prized weapon. Unless sess is absolutely guaranteed, please forgive this one for not obliging. W-, what are you doing?!¡±

    Lady Bai seemingly ambled over, yet Yu Yeshan never realised how close she was. As soon as he felt her hand encroaching upon his back, he immediately spun around and jumped backwards. ¡°Lady Bai, pl-¡± He reached behind to discover the broadsword was already missing.

    Lady Bai had already finished her trip to Wu Ping¡¯s wife¡¯s side and was on her way back to her husband¡¯s side, with one de in her hand and a small pouch in the other. ¡°Mm, this is enough. I shall make it.¡±

    ¡°W-when did you¡­ Give me back my weapon!¡±

    ¡°Dear, find me a cksmith workshop.¡± After gently expressing her request to her husband, Lady Bai turned back to Yu Yeshan and coldly chided. ¡°You¡¯re immature.¡± She stretched out a finger and extended her arm towards Yu Yeshan. As soon as the most terrifying thing ever to Yu Yeshan touched his chest, he fell over.

    Bai Zhiqing wasted no time checking his wife¡¯s pulse and massaging her arm. ¡°I¡¯ll bring thirty to you, even, let alone find you one. But, how do I leave right now?¡±

    Having witnessed Lady Bai¡¯s finger skill and ability to take the items without breaking a sweat, Ning Xinshi queried, ¡°Is this one correct in his assumption that you know how to forge items, Lady Bai?¡±

    Lady Bai tilted her head. ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°What sort of stupid question is that? If my wife doesn¡¯t know how to, everyone else should switch to kitchen work. Don¡¯t just stand there. Bring me a workshop.¡±

    Gu Bushang: ¡°Didn¡¯t your wife ask you to find one? How do you bring one over?¡±

    ¡°Another stupid question. You expect my wife to bring it over?¡±

    ¡°What is your probl-¡±

    ¡°Brother.¡± Ning Xinshi cut Gu Bushang off and said, ¡°Make a trip with a group. Pay them double, and try your best to bring the workshop over.¡±

    Gu Bushang looked back at Ning Xinshi, then Hong Jiu. Ning Xinshi and Hong Jiu deployed nods. In the end, Gu Bushang went off whilst cursing under his breath.

    Lady Bai took her husband¡¯s hand. ¡°I can go.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing shook his head. ¡°Stay here and rest. You just exerted yourself and will need to make the keyter. You can¡¯t waste energy.¡±

    Ning Xinshi stared at Lady Bai, forgetting how long he was staring.

    ¡°What sort of schr are you, staring at a man¡¯s wife without blinking? I don¡¯t care how beautiful my wife is. You¡¯re not allowed to stare.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°He has a point, Mr. Ning.¡±

    Ning Xinshi still didn¡¯t bat an eye. Instead, he kept wrinkling his nose until he finally asked, ¡°This old one has a feeling he has met you before. Could you possibly¡­ tell him the name of the wet nurse?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Lady Bai¡¯s beauty that captivated Ning Xinshi. It was her aloof demeanour akin to that of stone that he could never forget.

    ¡°Are you serious right now? Brother Hong, can I have my broadsword back right now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve met before,¡± emotionlessly replied Lady Bai.

    ¡°My Lady?¡±

    Lady Bai gently nodded her head. ¡°I remember seeing you at Mount Qingcheng¡¯s forgery event twenty-six years ago with your father. I believe I exchanged a greeting or two with you.¡±

    Ning Xinshi stretched his eyes wide. ¡°It¡­ It¡­ You really did not die. Fantastic. Fantastic! With you here, there is no lock that can stop us. Even if Jiang Chen were here, he would only be holding his own funeral.¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°Mr. Ning, you know her?¡±

    ¡°Putting aside whether this old one is acquainted with her or not, who does not recognise ¡®Craftsmanship on par with gods. Unrivalled beauty and talent in Shu,¡¯ Tang n¡¯s former matriarch?!¡±

    Trivia

    Refer to Chapter 66 of Volume 11.5 for some mystery busting. You should be able to piece some things together from it.

 Book 13: Chapter 179

    Book 13: Chapter 179

    Ambush

    In all the time he had spent alone, the silence he could hear in the forest never preceded any good news; it was either a portent of taking damage or perishing. In spite of that, he¡¯d lie prone there for three days straight without budging a muscle if he needed to. Ironically, he barely had opportunities to disy his natural gift as a hunter. He, instead, spent the majority of his life chasing after invisible darkness with his life constantly in jeopardy, but he was willing to see it through because he carried the ¡°Tang¡± surname, because he was the son of Bright Mirror Pce¡¯s patriarch, Tang Nuan, and because of the look in his mother¡¯s eyes in her final moments.

    He had forgotten how it felt to chase happiness while living with the pain, the pain that couldn¡¯t be discerned as the pain of being burnt or the pain of being torn, the ambiguous pain that was always there and immeasurable. Since that fateful day, hatred became his sustenance; he did everything in his power to squeeze out every ounce of power from it. As a result of his diligence, he grew at an unbelievable rate. If any survivors of Bright Mirror Pce were to see him now, he¡¯d be unrecognisable. They wouldn¡¯t be able to believe the dull boy who used to always be bullied had grown into the Tang Ye of today.

    His job was to reach Autumn Light Temple before daybreak. Shen Yiren ¨Cperhaps Mountain Monster, too ¨C sacrificed themselves to deliver the information to him. He knew what his job was from the moment he began following behind Shen Yiren. He didn¡¯t need to protect her or rescue the hostages. Rescuing the hostages was for the Qilin Guards, or maybe Emperor¡¯s Entourage, or maybe some other force of the imperial court. His sole task was to pass on the information even if it meant sacrificing the backbone of Liu Shan Men.

    As soon as he started moving, the assassins started their pursuit. Despite taking paths that were hard to traverse, he was in danger several times due to the experienced and patient assassins¡¯ strategies. At the same time they baited him into aiding his abandonedrades, they prevented him from exiting the forest, constantly keeping him within five kilometres of reach. Furthermore, he was racing against the clock to save the hostages. Consequently, a confrontation was inevitable.

    Tang Ye positioned himself out in the openparably to highway robbers, making it seem as if he was their hunter. As soon as they were face to face, he made his move. As veteran assassins, they had honed their ability to handle sudden attacks, so he was unable to surprise them.

    Two of the three assassins drew their broadswords at the same time and upied both of Tang Ye¡¯s sides. Based off thest day they had been ying cat and mouse, Tang Ye discerned they didn¡¯t pale inparison to him inbat. Therefore, he never nned to hold back. However, he still underestimated them. Even though he used different techniques off both hands, all he could do was stand in ce whilst deflecting attacks.

    As the heat of Yang Blood True Qi burst into the air, the two assassins retreated right after the first exchange, zig-zagged across each other and then closed in again, stabbing at his chest and shoulder simultaneously. Broadswords didn¡¯t pack the biggest punch when it came to stabbing techniques, yet Tang Ye felt his skin sting from the emitted qis alone. He spread his fingers and banged down on their des one after another.

    Having erased the internal energy he obtained from Poison King and Luo Sword Manor¡¯s ¡°Scorching Sun Spirit¡±, his internal energy had regressed back to when he left the capital despite his efforts over thest six months. Thanks to the trip to Nanjiang, though, he switched from developing internal energy potency to learning how to maximise his use of it.

    Although the two assassins¡¯ internal energy was on par with Tang Ye¡¯s, they both grunted as they weren¡¯t prepared for the heat of Yang Blood True hitting their meridians. In a contest of skill, they were his match. Whenprehension and usage were added to the equation, though, they were not his match. More often than not, strength and finesse didn¡¯t win fights. Implementing the right tool at the right moment won fights. Having said that, assassination was no ordinary profession. They didn¡¯t learn martial arts for the sake of learning. Plus, they were under no obligation to engage in a martial arts contest.

    The two assassins who initiatedbat had fulfilled their roles as veils for the third assassin to nk Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye kept some attention on the third assassin. s, he didn¡¯t expect the third assassin to utilise such an elusive style. Instead of hitting a vital, the third assassin sliced Tang Ye¡¯s hamstrings. It didn¡¯t look deep or serious, but the constant blood loss would zap away Tang Ye¡¯s energy. More importantly, it¡¯d hamper Tang Ye¡¯s chances of escaping.

    Instead of dodging to reduce the damage, Tang Ye extended through his back, crossed his arms over and performed a scissoring motion onto the assassin¡¯s neck. In the end, he traded a leg for a life.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye was never fond of hearing the bone-crunching sound (a description his shifu used when he taught the technique) for reasons he didn¡¯t like to mention to the point that he avoided using the technique. An aversion to shedding blood was arguably the reason he could never be a true avenger.

    Tang Ye instilled fear in the other two assassins with his kill,promising their abilities enough for him to finish them in the next ten exchanges. In order to beat the clock, he snapped their des and crushed their skulls from the front.

    Once he calmed his breathing down, Tang Ye sealed the upoints in his leg to slow down the rate of blood loss, but he remained vignt the whole time for he clearly recalled there were four assassins who tailed him.

    ¡°You¡¯re still a weakling after all these years.¡± The assassin standing in the distance practically presented himself the same way Tang Ye did when he challenged the three. From his appearance to his aura, perhaps even his childhood, he bore a strong resemnce to Tang Ye. If he were to remove the ck veil covering his face, there was no doubt Tang Ye would be able to put a name to his face.

    ¡°¡­ Tang Za.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 180

    Book 13: Chapter 180

    Tang Ye (Part 1)

    Imagine how your mouth and guts would feel if you identally ate a bug. That was exactly how the two felt when they saw each other for the first time in six years.

    Tang Za lived under the assumption that Tang Ye was no longer in this world, so he was shocked when he heard thetter was a subordinate of his target. Tang Ye, likewise, didn¡¯t immediately recognise Tang Za.

    Tang Za was a notorious bully in Beihai as a kid. However, just because he bullied smaller kids to unt his might, it didn¡¯t mean he only had brawn. To the contrary, he learnt the importance of having proof of might at a young age. To him, Tang Ye was just another stone he kicked away and forgot about once thetter had served his purpose as a punching bag.

    Tang Ye rarely ever reminisced on his days being bullied as a kid once he left home because revenge took up all the space in his mind.

    Although they never realised it, themon denominator between them was that neither of them ever saw the importance of the other.

    Tang Za no longer boisterouslyughed before smirking and jumping his victims. However, Tang Ye could tell the bully was still an aggressive person. The emotions in one¡¯s eyes was difficult to erase, regardless of whether that was hostility, fatigue or anything else. Like armour that suppressed fatigue until it was removed, the wearer themselves wouldn¡¯t be aware of it.

    In contrast, Tang Za barely recognised Tang Ye. Tang Ye was more reticent than in memories, had shed the image of a na?ve kid and had gone from a skinny boy into a grainy rock. His gaze was unique, in that it was empty, as though his target was never before his eyes. If you lined up a bunch of people, his eyes would make him stand out straight away.

    Tang Za wasn¡¯t interested in how Tang Ye¡¯s gaze transformed into that of a staunch warrior¡¯s. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill them?¡±

    Tang Za received the silent treatment just as he used to.

    ¡°Is it because they carry the Tang surname, as well?¡± Tang Za didn¡¯t care whether his guess was correct or not. The only thing he ever cared about was making sure that everything unfolded the way he desired. ¡°How childish.¡±

    ¡°They also carry the Tang surname¡­ but not Beihai¡¯s Tang, correct?¡±

    The look in Tang Za¡¯s eyes served as the answer.

    There were two powerful Tang ns in the world, one in the south and one in Beihai. Regardless if it was the one in the north or the one in the south, they both produced an abundance of elite fighters, hadpetent leaders and, most importantly, some of the most innovate forgery techniques.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Every few generations, either Shu¡¯s Tang n or Bright Mirror Pce¡¯s Tang n would change thendscape. There was never a period in which anyone could say one Tang n had surpassed the other. At least for thest twenty years, the image of peace between the two ns had always remained; there were never any rumours of them having squabbles. Howbeit, that wasn¡¯t fortunate news. The appearance of Tang Za and the other two Tang surname bearers revealed that the peace was but only an illusion. If more proof was required, their attitudes toward each other should¡¯ve cemented the fact.

    ¡°I thought you were dead all these years, but it turns out you¡¯re still alive and still a weakling. I¡¯m only going to say this once, so listen carefully: no matter how different you are and no matter how weak you are, your surname is Tang, so you should take part.¡±

    Tang Za gave Tang Ye no credit for surviving the ambush. Instead, he was focused on how it was a waste that Tang Ye couldn¡¯t serve him due to his merciful decision. After all, who needed a subordinate who couldn¡¯tplete jobs? Still, he hoped to recruit a member of Bright Mirror Pce, especially one who inherited the Tang surname.

    ¡°The time for the two Tang ns to merge is at hand, and nobody can prevent it. Everyone who inherits the Tang surname carries a tattoo on their shoulder. Are you light or darkness?¡±

    Tang Ye only needed the minimal information to understand everything pertaining to the matter. Their encounter was by pure chance; nobody Tang Ye wanted to hide his existence from knew about it. If they did, he¡¯d already be dead.

    While they were now serving different groups, it didn¡¯t interfere with Tang Za taking Tang Ye under his wind. To Tang Za, Tang n forever took priority over the martial world. Therefore, he wanted a clear-cut decision despite the circumstances.

    Besides his loss of blood and injuries, Tang Ye still had trouble breathingfortably, too. The repercussion of refining all of one¡¯s true essence in a short amount of time was that their internal energy wouldn¡¯t return to the level it should¡¯ve been at. This impelled Tang Ye to seriously contemte his chances of winning against Tang Za.

    Tang Za excelled in martial arts from the time he was a kid. Even if he had grown up in afortable environment, what was there to say that he wasn¡¯t still superior to Tang Ye? Moreover, the fact that his aura had changed so drastically meant that Tang Za hadn¡¯t been livingcently.

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t think he¡¯d meet Tang Za again after thetter broke his nose. That was not to say that the aim of fighting now was to severe his past from himself. Frankly, he didn¡¯t remember much of his younger self, but he did remember contemting how to avenge his fallen nsmen when he was getting bullied back in Beihai.

    Tang Ye slowly and vigntly mobilised his breath, waiting for his meridians to loosen. Tang Za interpreted the silence, watchful gaze and inaction as resistance, which he didn¡¯t appreciate in the slightest.

    His fuse is a lot shorter than I remember. Does it have anything to do with his wicked gaze? There¡¯s no doubt he¡¯s killed plenty of people, or this wouldn¡¯t be his personality now. Who has he killed?

    Tang Ye ran his gaze down from Tang Za¡¯s gaze down to the hidden scar on his neck, all the way down to the sword at his sash, which he couldn¡¯t help but stop on. The sword reminded him of Tang Za¡¯ste father, who was an excellent broadsword wielder in his own right, one capable of ranking among the best in Bright Mirror Pce. He could proudly say that he had fought virtually all the elites of Bright Mirror Pce. He loved to use profanity as much as he loved to fight; he was first to charge the enemy lines if a foreigner tried to harm them. He had as many fans as he did haters.

    Tang Za was practically his father¡¯s spitting image. He loved to follow his father around as he kid. You couldn¡¯t convince him to take any advice if it didn¡¯te from his father. The only time he acted the way a kid would was around his father. Therefore, Tang Ye wondered when Tang Za switched to using a sword instead of a broadsword.

    Apparently, Tang Za¡¯s father lost his life two years ago, and his murderer was still free to walk around.

    Tang Za couldn¡¯t forgive somebody visually auditing him, especially when it was a weakling who disrespected him. His rage tensed up the atmosphere and drew his sword out of its sheath.

    ¡°Neither dark nor light,¡± answered Tang Ye.

    Tang Za didn¡¯t remember ever hearing Tang Ye speak so softly ¨C or even a full sentence.

    ¡°I found out long ago that no Tang surname bearer had any characters tattooed onto their shoulders, but all of them had ¡®death¡¯ tattooed onto their forehead.¡±

    The most urate way to describe Tang Ye¡¯s current eyes was that they could see through the darkness. For the first time ever, Tang Za was impressed with Tang Ye for being able to know that.

    The Tang surname bearer who joined Liu Shan Men didn¡¯t resemble any Tang n member. Instead, he resembled a constable. People would mock them if they heard Tang n member resembled a constable, but among those people, Tang Za wasn¡¯t included. He, instead, would want to kill that constable. If one couldn¡¯t resemble a Tang n member, no matter what their origins were, they were disqualified from being part of Tang n.

    As soon as Tang Za drew his sword, he aimed it straight at Tang Ye¡¯s forehead. As vast as Bright Mirror Pce¡¯s martial arts disciplines were, none of them taught the technique Tang Za performed. However, Tang Ye, who had travelled the world, recognised that it belonged to Tang n, the other Tang n.

    Tang Ye desperately dodged the attack. Tang n¡¯s swordy was vicious and poisonous ¨C literally. While the style was vicious, Tang Ye didn¡¯t believe Tang Za¡¯s father would¡¯ve lost to it if it wasn¡¯t for the rippling green glow he could see on it. Contrary to his clear thoughts, Tang Ye¡¯s evasion manoeuvrecked finesse.

    There was no way Tang Za was going to spare Tang Ye for numerous reasons, one being his secret. Each attack was delivered with the intent to kill. The swordy was designed to take lives. The person who taught the swordy to Tang Za told him, ¡°If you¡¯re not going to kill, you must kill yourself.¡± Tang Za would nevermit suicide.

 Book 13: Chapter 181

    Book 13: Chapter 181

    Tang Ye (Part 2)

    Initially, Tang Ye naively thought he could flee if he couldn¡¯t win. Once he saw Tang Za¡¯s attitude in his assault, he realised turning his back was the faster way to die. Firstly, his leg wounds hampered his speed when Tang Za was already superior in qinggong. Secondly, Tang Za¡¯s swordy was extra effective on victims who tried to run from it.

    While Tang Ye was weighing his options, Tang Za cut the former¡¯s left arm open. Tang Ye¡¯s blood turned green as soon as it hit the ground. The venom slithered into every nook and cranny of his body to ensure nothing would function as it was supposed to. The tiny amount of poison was sufficient to set Tang Ye¡¯s defeat in stone.

    The venom was particrly effective against advanced internal discipline practitioners as their need to mould energy would spread the poison even faster. If abatant lost their ability to fight as a fight went on, it was obvious what would happen. There weren¡¯t many ways to develop immunity to poison. The most effective way was to just grow ustomed to them. ordingly, Tang Za once consumed a teeny bit of poison once a week, gradually titrating the dosage. At first, it was absolute hell to deal with. After months of suffering, his body was able to dismiss it so that he could function normally.

    Tang Za¡¯s father didn¡¯t know his son developed immunity to poison. His father, in fact, looked down poison, considering it a cheat that only weaklings needed. As such, he refused to study poisons. That proved to be a fatal mistake.

    Tang Za remembered his entire body shaking, his grip almost slipping off his sword hilt when he impaled his father through the throat. He couldn¡¯t think of any shock that could surpass the shock he felt when he took his father¡¯s life ¨C excluding his swordy mentor. To suppress his demons, Tang Za justified his actions as making sure Tang n would be strong and, to that end, that eliminating weaklings was a necessity.

    Tang Za couldn¡¯t figure out ¨C nor be bothered trying to figure out ¨C why he was so riled up against someone he was about to cut down any second now. Whenever Tang Za performed the swordy, his target would perish. Through trapping his opponent within his striking range, he¡¯d be able to kill his target, or in today¡¯s case, open a new cut to push his foe of the metaphorical cliff of life. Progress was slow this time, though, vexingly and undesirably slow. He was catching Tang Ye time and time again, yet thetter just wouldn¡¯t go down. The fact that someone he thought lowly of wassting so long only made Tang Za¡¯s pride suffer more. Tang Za had no clue that Tang Ye had once used a poison expert¡¯s method to improve his own internal energy. While that internal energy was gone, the knowledge and abilities remained with Tang Ye. Poison, regardless of type, no longer affected Tang Ye anywhere near as much as prior to training Poison King¡¯s skills. Additionally, the scorching heat of Yang Blood True Qi was the worst nemesis for poison.

    Although injuries gradually took a toll, Tang Ye was able to free his clogged true qi flow, albeit slowly. When he was finally ready to start his own offence, he came out with a whipping fiery punch, forcing Tang Za to haphazardly dodge the fist that would¡¯ve melted his face.

    In the past, all their fights had been a one-sided beating with no resistance, let alone a counterattack that nearly turned the tables.

    It was Tang Za¡¯s first time dealing with someone who employed suchplex style, denying his every attack using different techniques from different disciplines. As much as it bruised his ego, he had to admit that Tang Ye¡¯s execution was exactly what every practitioner of every technique performed should¡¯ve strove for. The best Tang Za could do against the ever-changing plethora of techniques was stopping Tang Ye from escaping.

    All else being equal, a betting man would be risking his fortune for a fifty-fifty if he was betting on them. Nevertheless, there was no such thing as an ¡°all else being equal¡± fight in a life-and-death fight. One of the most important variables was mindset.

    Physically, Tang Za had a huge advantage over his wounded foe. The problem was that he forgot he was an assassin. He was supposed to assassinate Tang Ye, not engage him in a fair duel. He should¡¯ve leveraged hisrades¡¯ sacrifices to finish Tang Ye, not engaged in a catch-up session and then forgotten his primary objective. Assassins weren¡¯t supposed to engage in pointless chatter or ignore opportunities to take out their target. He was enraged with the resistance, shocked at his opponent¡¯spetence and then wanted topete in a contest of skill. The problem was, he was inferior to his opponent who¡¯d been living offbat.

    Though none of Tang Ye¡¯s punchesnded on Tang Za¡¯s sword, the manner in which he punched convinced Tang Za that he was desperate enough to throw away his life if necessary.

    ¡°Every member of Tang n has the character ¡®death¡¯ carved on their head.¡±

    Tang Za couldn¡¯t name a single past victim of his who could speak under duress, let alone with so much control that it sounded effortless.

    ¡°I also bear the Tang surname.¡±

    Tang Ye chopped towards Tang Za at the same time Tang Za went to stab Tang Ye through the gut. The heat burning Tang Za¡¯s skin warned him that they were going tond at the same time and that Tang Ye was taking him down with him. How could Tang Za im nobody would survive once he used the swordy if he had to exchange his life for another?

    Tang Za changed the trajectory of his sword to dodge, never expecting Tang Ye to change direction, too, and use the rotational force to get his back. Before he knew it, he absorbed a punch to the back of his skull that rocked him.

    Tang Za¡¯s swordy certainly was arguably the ultimate killing swordy. It was also capable of erasing fear from its victims and wielder.

    Tang Ye caught Tang Za as thetter passed out on his feet. He set down his unconscious cousin and said aloud, ¡°Tang Za of Beihai, I hereby arrest you on suspicion of involvement in a homicide two years ago. You can try to hide your secrets all you want, but I have my ways of making you spill all of them.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye took inhaled an abundance of air to prevent himself from passing out. It was impossible to magically recover from the damaged that utilising his essence caused and the fatigue built up in a few minutes. Additionally, the poison that afflicted him was gradually taking an obvious toll. Fortunately, as long as he maintained his usual demeanour, he could fool enemies into thinking he was fine.

    ¡°What are you still waiting for? You cane out now,¡± Tang Ye stated.

    Whether it was to observe or otherwise, the individual concealing themselves in the darkness waited a good while before replying, ¡°How did you know this one was here, Brother Tang?¡±

    Based on the appearance of the short person who emerged from the shadows, there was no way he could¡¯ve been older than fourteen. Inplete contrast to Tang Za, he had the smile and aura of a child who you¡¯de across every day at a lively market. He had all the hallmarks of a true assassin. He saw his fourrades go down. He was supposed to finish Tang Ye once thetter dropped his guard before Tang Ye even realised he died. Somehow, though, Tang Ye detected him.

    Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t run away as Tang Ye expected him to. Instead, he surveyed Tang Ye as if Tang Ye was some new creature he was seeing for the first time, but Tang Ye knew he was trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

    Even if the assassin before him wasn¡¯t the toughest fighter, he was unquestionably the shrewdest. Tang Ye was only a shell of his optimal self right now; it was taking everything to just stay conscious, but he couldn¡¯t afford to show any weakness, or the assassin would finish him with his broadsword ¨C Tang Ye¡¯s intuition told him his opponent was a broadsword user. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t y tough guy, or the assassin wouldn¡¯t hesitate to strike because nobody would believe he was still in tip-top shape after fighting the four assassins.

    Tang Ye¡¯s survival hinged on selling the illusion that he was baiting out an attack to counter. The moment hisck of desire to fight was noticed, the assassin would no longer have any qualms. As an assassin, he only killed those he was sure he could kill. You couldn¡¯t work in the assassination industry if all you had was brawn. Thankfully for Tang Ye, he was a naturally convincing speaker.

    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t know. I only saw people¡­ but Tang Za showed himself too fast, making me think he wouldn¡¯t be so reckless unless there was a contingency n.¡±

    Despite his best efforts to sound normal, Tang Ye¡¯s speech cadence fluctuated, and then his voice gradually softened towards the end. At first, he thought it was over for him, but he didn¡¯t think it was too bad once he spoke. He could write it off as having lost strength from his injuries or misunderstood as bait. Since the ultimate goal was to make his opponent hesitant, why not be a little bolder?

    ¡°Smart.¡± The assassin sarcastically pped, smiling as though he was anticipating some sort of entertainment from a zoo animal. ¡°All of us made guesses as to who would take you down. The majority of us believed your first assant would be yourst. Tang Za was the only one who insisted he could kill you. I was the only one disputed against the odds, and nobody believed me.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 182

    Book 13: Chapter 182

    Tang Ye (Part 3)

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious you believe I¡¯ll be your victim.¡±

    The assassin started questioning if showing himself was a mistake. The worst mistake an assassin could make was attempting an assassination without a n. Visually and audibly, Tang Ye was clearly barely hanging on, but what if it was all a ruse? Nheless, a professional assassin wouldn¡¯t tuck tail after a mere few words.

    ¡°It looks like you can still manage one more kill, Brother Tang. Am I wrong?¡±

    Tang Ye shook his head and forced a smile. ¡°It¡¯s tiring to even stay standing. If you have a walking stick, I don¡¯t mind borrowing it. You could kill me with just a shove right now. How about giving it a try?¡±

    Tang Ye was bleeding and poisoned, so the assassin couldn¡¯t put his finger on why he was still hesitant, but he figured it out once he remembered Tang Za was now unconscious when thetter was probably thinking the same thing before being defeated.

    ¡°Hahaha, what do you think your chances of winning are if I attack now?¡±

    An obvious provocation but also a brilliant way of testing his target. No matter what answer Tang Ye gave, his answer could very well have turned his deceit against him. As soon as they started throwing, Tang Ye¡¯s true condition woulde to light within three exchanges.

    During his time in the martial world, Tang Ye learned that everybody had tags, a nickname or whatever you wanted to call it. The tag or nickname reflected the owner¡¯s personality and behaviours that might not have been real, but the ignorant would believe those traits were real. The assassin definitely didn¡¯t know Tang Ye well as a person, but he definitely know he tags associated with Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye ¨C a man of few words who¡¯d ept every challenge.

    Tang Ye smirked. ¡°Why ask? You¡¯ll know once we fight, won¡¯t we?¡±

    The ¡°Tang Ye¡± response faded away the confidence in the assassin¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°I have been reckless.¡± The assassin flung two darts at Tang Ye at high velocity.

    The way Tang Ye evaded the darts betrayed his fa?ade.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re a shrewd guy, Brother Tang, hahaha.¡± The assassin propelled himself toward Tang Ye along the same path of the two darts,nded, drew his iron broadsword at his waist and plunged it straight through his injured prey.

    Even though he was leaning, Tang Ye suddenly cracked a grin. Following a reactive gasp, the assassin punched the ground with his front foot to dodge the iing fingers that would¡¯ve rendered him in the same state as his fallenrades.

    ¡°That was clever, Brother Tang. I¡¯m not going to hang around.¡±

    Once the assassin was gone, Tang Ye gasped a mouthful of blood. If keeping up the act was taxing, then it was no surprise he felt even worse after having to actually fight. He could barely feel his true qi since thest finger spear reduced his fireball of true qi to a mere spark of true qi. Still, he had to keep moving because, while an assassin wouldn¡¯t go back to check the scene of their assassination, an assassin who failed to eliminate their target would.

    Tang Ye dragged his mangled body in the opposite direction the assassin fled. It was close to daybreak, and he had to pass on the information before noon, or the hostages at Autumn Light Temple would be in danger. He couldn¡¯t move fast, but he moved in the right direction. Given the distance between where he was and where the closest Qilin Guards¡¯ base was located, they¡¯d immediatelye running if there was a fuss ¨C and provided they weren¡¯t sleeping on the job. Yelling out loud in the dark forest was still the most dangerous method of drawing attention as hecked the energy to defend himself until they could arrive; he couldn¡¯t even yell anywhere near as loud as usual, for that matter.

    Tang Ye suddenly felt pain in his chest. Had he not shifted his weight off onto an angle the moment he sensed danger, the sword that pierced him from behind would¡¯ve punctured his heart. Nevertheless, blood shot from his chest. Through sheer will, he managed to drop and roll to catch a glimpse of the man who tried to kill him.

    Wearing a triumphant smile and carrying a bloody de in his hand, the assassin said, ¡°Your bluff was so hard to see through. You had me totally fooled. Respect.¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t believe a word that came out of the assassin¡¯s mouth, and the assassin probably didn¡¯t believe he meant a word he said, either.

    The assassin didn¡¯t fall for Tang Ye¡¯s lie. He deliberately pulled out, reasoning that prey would be easiest to take down once they lowered their guard. A beast¡¯s desperatest-ditch attack was always the most ferocious attack they could offer. Therefore, he waited until Tang Ye was convinced he was safe before making his move.

    Tang Ye¡¯s strategy was immacte. However, he failed to give enough credit to his opponent¡¯s shrewdness and didn¡¯t realise his opponent was the toughest fighter among the group. In what world would someone as proud as Tang Za do a job for someone else and y supporting character? He didn¡¯t only took action first because he wasn¡¯t as strong; he coveted the merit.

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt Tang Za is stronger than you, yet he surprisingly lost to you. What do we call it? Talent? I¡¯m sure my memory doesn¡¯t do me justice. I¡¯m stronger than Tang Za, but I¡¯d still lose to you because of that stupid talent.¡± The armed assassin vigntly closed in without any emotions to speak of. ¡°You forgot one thing: I¡¯m an assassin, not a martial artist.¡±

    There was still ack of sincerity in his tone, but it sounded more genuine than anything he¡¯d said thus far. If this manner of speech wasn¡¯t a universal characteristic of assassins but an individual one, then Tang Ye couldn¡¯t imagine getting along with him.

    Tang Ye took breaths as big as a fish in a filthy tank. He was a subscriber to the axiom that how one lived changed their personality, and it didn¡¯t take long for the changes to take ce. Tang Za had changed, and so had the assassin. The first events Tang Ye started to reflect on weren¡¯t the academy challenges but the days of going on patrol at Liu Shan Men.

    Every day started off with tidying himself up, assembling for debriefs and then leading a squad out on patrol. If there was nobody around, he¡¯d get dragged over to fetch water, sweep the floors and cook. Time flew at Liu Shan Men, not because the days were filled with joy but because of how packed his schedule was. Shen Yiren reasonably squeezed every ounce of energy and time out of her subordinates; she wouldn¡¯t kill them, but she wouldn¡¯t let them have time for leisure. Rather than saying he infused martial arts into his life, it¡¯d have been more urate to say he was forced to infuse martial arts into his daily life.

    As a product of life experiences, some people ended up on the wrong and some ended up on the right path. Some people ended up being a blessing for the world and others a menace. Like it or not, nobody went through life without ever changing.

    At the start, vengeance was Tang Ye¡¯s steroids. At some point in time, that changed. Maybe it was during the morning training sessions. Maybe it was during thete-night patrols. Maybe it was when the stall owners on the streets called him ¡°Constable Tang¡±. Maybe it was when everyone at the office started relying on him.

    A lot of thoughts went through Tang Ye¡¯s head in a short time. Of course, he also thought about what¡¯d happen if he was in the palm of someone¡¯s hands again. At the end of all the thoughts, the realisation of what impelled him to drag his worn-out body along no matter what put a smile on his face. ¡°You sure you want to be back?¡±

    The assassin first thought it wasn¡¯t another bluff, but then he decided it was just another attempt to fool him. Using a strategy that didn¡¯t work the first time for a second time was the pinnacle of idiocy. Working in the line of assassination, he had seen more idiots begging for their lives than he could remember, and it always worked one way or another. Howbeit, he didn¡¯t want to see Tang Ye pleading for mercy as it¡¯d ruin his desire to kill.

    ¡°You¡¯re not my match.¡± Despite Tang Ye¡¯sborious breathing and hunched-over posture, he kept up his amateurish acting. ¡°You won¡¯t evenst five attacks.¡±

    Is he crazy? Does he really think he can fool me again? There¡¯s no reason for me to feel uneasy. I¡¯m not going to let him y me again.

    The assassin struck out.

    ¡°One.¡± Tang Ye surprised the assassin with an eye poke technique.

    ¡°Two.¡± Tang Ye changed the trajectory of his finger spear, forcing the assassin to pull his de back parallel to the ground for a block.

    ¡°Three.¡± Tang Ye hit the side of the de with his open hand.

    ¡°Four.¡± Tang Ye reversed the de and set it next to the assassin¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Five.¡± Tang Ye pushed the de in.

    The assassin¡¯s short and final cry startled the birds off the trees, but his blood continued to spray everywhere for a while from his neck.

    ¡°Hey, over here!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Tang Ye!¡±

    Qilin Guards who recognised Tang Ye sped over to him.

    Tang Ye¡¯s head felt so heavy that he didn¡¯t know why he was smiling, but his instincts moved his limbs for him. His actions might¡¯ve been innocuous, but it was critical to the oue of Jiang Chen¡¯s ns. Before he was no longer lucid, Tang Ye didn¡¯t forget to throw the letter.

 Book 13: Chapter 183

    Jiang Chen

    At the same time the hostages held at Autumn Light Temple were rescued, Jiang Chen¡¯s team members in the capital were either detained or killed. The power of the Seven Champion White Princes exposed them, and the Qilin Guards were on the scene before they could even react.

    Valley of Yearning had a messenger send incriminating evidence to the Ministry of Justice to prove Li Muye was framed, and Secretary Leng promptly took action to clear Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s reputation.

    Following the copse of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯work, Jiang Chen¡¯s ns started being uncovered one after another, unravelling the mysteries so effortlessly that had peoplementing, ¡°I can¡¯t believe we were yed by someone like this?¡±

    Meanwhile, Jiang Chen covertly entered the prospering city of Hangzhou. His Fiends¡¯ Genesis cohorts had also fled into the borders of Hangzhou, but they had to often fight the martialmunity there that put up a strong resistance. Needless to say, there were also people who were waiting for him to show up at Ksana Temple so that they could rip him to shreds.

    Jiang Chen effortlessly went around crowds without being detected. He didn¡¯t stop to check anything because nothing was worth his time, particrly when he believed he was on the cusp of turning it all on its head. Once he arrived at West Lake, he meandered to the bottom once nobody was paying attention, just as he had done every time.

    Losing the hostages wasn¡¯t the factor that cost Jiang Chen his master n since kidnapping them never was the cornerstone of his master n. His n was actually nothing special; nobody would say, ¡°Wow, that¡¯s brilliant.¡± All he sought to achieve was make himself less visible and to make himself harder to read.

    Even with a century of studying and experience, not one of Jiang Chen¡¯s countless attempts to overthrow Li Dynasty even wobbled their reign. ¡°Better strategies¡± wasn¡¯t his limiter. He had bloodier and more ruthless means even now, such as colluding with Beijiang, the dissatisfied seven states of the Western Regions, releasing Six Evils, joining the unorthodox factions and plenty more. All of them offered better odds of sess and would provide more opportunities to pull off brilliant strategies, but he refused to go down any of those paths. Gongsun Chu was still Gongsun Chu after a century. Hatred, failures, anger, not one of these negatives emotions could change his character. Had any of those emotions changed him, he¡¯d be dead. He insisted on relying on just his waning power and abilities to take revenge his way. Framing people, kidnaps and inciting chaos, not one of those activities were truly sessful; all of them had ws, and they were eventually countered. He was aware of the ws because the reactions were a part of his n.

    After rescuing the hostages, the Seven Champion White Princes would reconcile with the imperial court, and the rift that formed as a result of Luo Ming¡¯s forfeit would be mended. Nobody would believe the friendship was solid for a second, but it¡¯d rob the imperial court of the best opportunity to strip the remaining six of power. If the seven wanted to have another go, they¡¯d need plenty of time to reprepare, and now was the best time ever.

    Jiang Chen hadn¡¯t lost. As long as the Seven Champion White Princes still had the means of resisting the imperial court, then there was always a me to fan. It was just a matter of time. The Seven Champion White Princes were different to foreign enemies, in that they were insurgents¡¯ abettors. What Jiang Chen wanted to see was them tearing each other apart.

    The envoys of the Seven Champion White Princes wouldn¡¯t be aware of Jiang Chen¡¯s intentions. Soon, they¡¯d give him the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, granting him the power to awaken the godson from his long slumber.

    Everything went ording to Jiang Chen¡¯s ns and predictions, everything until Shen Yiren jumped on stage. The one thing he never anticipated was Tianhu¡¯s involvement.

    Tianhu was unimaginably stronger than Jiang Chen ever thought. Even after expending all of his defensive power, even after Shitou suffered severe injuries that¡¯d be hard topensate for, even after mustering every ounce of might he had, he couldn¡¯t even tickle Tianhu. Despite him and Shitou using everything at their disposal, they barely managed to escape from the man who refused to stand up. But, that was only one problem.

    There was an exnation for Tianhu¡¯s prowess one way or another. However, he wasn¡¯t supposed to know where Jiang Chen was. Tianhu only found him because he tailed Shen Yiren, but Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to find him; it was supposed to be impossible. He had developed confidence in his conjecture of how it was possible by the time he dragged his wet body onto the dark path. Assuming his hypothesis was correct, he had genuine respect for the new genius who¡¯d emerged. Whatever the case, it was time for him tomence thest step of his n. Thest step was unrted to his master n to overthrow the imperial court, but nothing else couldpare to its importance.

    Although Jiang Chen didn¡¯t vomit blood or anything of the sort due to the physical changes to his body, he was too weakened to mould any internal energy whatsoever. When he arrived at a ce he was familiar with ¨C or rather, a ce he should¡¯ve been familiar with ¨C he froze for he sensed a change in the atmosphere thatpelled him to pick up the pace in spite of his poor condition.

    Upon seeing the faint golden light, Jiang Chen futilely tried to contain his excitement. It was the first time he used every ounce of energy ¨C technically, he had when implementing his ns, but this was a different form of it, one filled with desperation and anticipation ¨C to find any way he could to get their sooner, breathing in nose and mouthfuls of air in hopes that he could reach his destination sooner. He became tunnel visioned on the one desire to reach his destination sooner.

    It took Jiang Chen nearly a hundred years to learn how to unlock Autumn Lock. He could unlock one of them, but he couldn¡¯t unlock both simultaneously. Hence, he wanted the five he gathered to unlock it for him through saving the hostages. His n was to have the group at Ksana Temple unlock ¡°Speechless¡± while he sneaked into the underground pce to unlock ¡°Pain of Parting¡±.

    Speechless being unlocked was calcted since Lady Bai should¡¯ve easily been able to unlock it as long as she still had a fraction of her skill when she was at the pinnacle. Who, though, unlocked Pain of Parting, and just who would be capable of that? Nevertheless, the answers no longer mattered.

    With the golden light highlighting his face, Jiang Chen entered the room with the beam of a crazed religious follower. ¡°Ping-¡±

    Jiang Chen stopped in his tracks. At the end of the day, he was still Gongsun Chu. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    No outsiders were allowed in there, yet there was no mistake that a foreign source of anger permeated it.

    He had Gongsun n¡¯s treasured sword ¨C a snapped version ¨C in his hand, a te of roast chicken he wasn¡¯t done eating, grease on his lips, and he was sitting on the bronze coffin of Jiang Chen¡¯s wife.

    ¡°You¡¯re back early. Have you had dinner yet?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Book 13: Chapter 184

    Book 13: Chapter 184

    Ming Feizhen

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± Jiang Chen almost knocked himself over with his roar. ¡°You¡­ What is Ouyang Xiucai doing?!¡±

    ¡°Oh, him?¡± Ming Feizhen set his te down on the coffin lid and took his sweet time licking the grease off his fingers. ¡°I hate to sound like I¡¯m lecturing you, but you really need to do better research. You ordered him of all people to kill me? Do you know what our rtionship is?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head as if he was disillusioned with a student.

    Yesterday, Ming Feizhen leaned back on the wall as he awaited the finishing blow. Elise andpany were on the other end of the underground pce holding back the Fiends¡¯ Genesis group, and the only person who could move about freely was Ouyang Xiucai. Poisons, hidden weapons, provocations, mind games, none of them were effective against Ouyang Xiucai, nor could any of them deter him. For those reasons, Ming Feizhen realised his only option was to use the card he had been holding on to.

    ¡°What¡­ did you just say?¡± Ouyang Xiucai never imagined he¡¯d take it upon himself to pause his attack or that he¡¯d be stunned stiff for so long after hearing Ming Feizhen¡¯s short question. The longer he scanned Ming Feizhen, the more Ming Feizhen¡¯s face fit the image of a certain white-haired youth. Even his tone of speech felt increasingly identical.

    The fact that Ming Feizhen was still alive proved to him that the card he held onto was effective, so he asked again, ¡°Is your dad, Zhuo Fengru, still well?¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    In response to the change on Ouyang Xiucai¡¯s face, Ming Feizhen cracked a smile that didn¡¯t belong to Wu Ping, Lord San Shen, or the schemer Jiang Chen ordered the death of. Ouyang Xiucai recognised the authentic smile that he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Zhuo Yupin.¡±

    Had he heard that name before he saw the smile, Ouyang Xiucai ¨C or rather, the swordsman going by the name Ouyang Xiucai ¨C would¡¯ve instantly killed the speaker on the spot. After all, what good will could someone possibly be harbouring if they were aware of his secret, yet they never mentioned it?

    ¡°Are you really¡­¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Ming Feizhen. I whooped you several times back then. Need I say anything else?¡±

    Ouyang Xiucai dropped to his knees. ¡°Zhuo Yupin¡¯s humble greetings, Hero Ming! Please allow this one to give you the bow he never had the chance to give you for saving his family!¡±

    Zhuo Yupin was actually a bearer of the ¡°Xu¡± surname and an inheritor of the one of the six Repository Theories. Guilt-ridden after learning Xu n¡¯s discipline without permission, Zhuo Fengru, a man who once had a hand in assisting the Western Regions¡¯ Lotus Cult¡¯s Lord Miguo cause grief in the Central in, swapped his daughter for Xu n¡¯s son so that he could pass on the knowledge to the rightful heir. Instead of bearing a grudge after learning Zhuo Fengru wasn¡¯t his actual father, Zhuo Yupin treated the man who raised him with even more gratitude.

    After Zhuo Fengru retired to the Western Regions¡¯ with his family of four, Zhuo Yupin diligently studied under Zhuo Fengru, changed his name to Ouyang and established himself as someone deserving of respect through his adventures in the Western Regions.

    Zhuo Fengru had no qualms with his daughter staying in the Western Regions, but he didn¡¯t want Xu n¡¯s knowledge to be lost to history, so he told Zhuo Yupin to return to the Central in for self-development and that he could use the Xu surname whenever he deemed appropriate.

    Zhuo Yupin insisted on bearing the Zhuo surname, but he switched to using Ouyang so that he could protect Zhuo Fengru¡¯s peace. The surname swap was the reason nobody ever managed to find out his history, not even Jiang Chen.

    After his heartfelt bow, Ouyang Xiucai helped Ming Feizhen up from the ground. ¡°I apologise for my rashness. Hero Ming, why are you h-, no, more importantly, why did you never tell me your true identity?¡±

    Although Zhuo Yupin and Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t start off on the right foot, all grudges were erased after Ming Feizhen saved his family from Miguo. Moreover, Zhuo Fengru often apuded Ming Feizhen and expressed regret that Zhuo Yupin didn¡¯t have more time to learn from Ming Feizhen. Of course, he frequently stressed that Zhuo Yupin was to help Ming Feizhen in any way he could to repay all Ming Feizhen did for them.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me how Elder Zhuo is doing.¡±

    ¡°Though he has not fought since retiring to the life of a recluse, his love for martial arts has taken him to new heights. He has always been well in health.¡±

    ¡°He was already strong back then. I really want to see him now. Tell him I¡¯d like to catch up with him over some drinks.¡±

    Ming Feizhen recognised Zhuo Yupin from the first time they met in the underground pce, and that was also the same moment he began plotting to bring Zhuo Yupin onto his side. If he hadn¡¯t been backed into a corner, he never would¡¯ve exposed Zhuo Yupin since thetter was never a threat to him.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡± Jiang Chen didn¡¯t have the faintest idea why Ouyang Xiucai would spare Ming Feizhen and how Ming Feizhen could be in the sacred ce without as much as a bruise. It no longer mattered, nevertheless, as Ming Feizhen had desecrated his wife¡¯s tomb. ¡°Get down from there!¡±

    ¡°Fine, geez.¡± Ming Feizhen begrudgingly hopped off, still holding onto the snapped sword. ¡°Wait, I can¡¯t leave my chicken behind.¡± He clumsily turned around to grab the te, resulting in grease sullying the coffin.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Book 13: Chapter 185

    Grounds for a Showdown

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s eyes were bloodshot. Despite hisck of internal energy, every step he took, he staggered forward with conviction and hostility. It was as though his fatigue and anger had overruled his rationality as he drew the short sword in his shirt. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he¡¯d have to swing a weapon in the sacred zone, histe wife¡¯s resting ce and his ideal final resting ce. By the same ount, he never imagined anyone would see the mes and coffin before him. He never even had the chance to see his wife¡¯s final moment. He was robbed of almost all his hope when Daxia copsed; thest thing he expected was this sort of unwee reunion.

    As ironic as it was, Gongsun Chu¡¯s anger was justified in the revenge plot. If it wasn¡¯t his wife who was the victim, he¡¯d haveughed at the contrast between reality and what he imagined. He couldn¡¯t, though, because anyone who entered the sacred ce was deserving of death, let alone one who showed absolutely no hint of shame.

    Ming Feizhen flinched when he noticed Gongsun Chu lean forward, had a think, jogged forward again, then supposedly thought of something, so he raised the te and hopped his bottom back onto the coffin. ¡°Stop right where you are! If I drop this, it¡¯s going to be a nightmare to clean the grease off!¡±

    Nobody would think such a childish trick would work against one of the most revered men in the history of Confucianism, yet Gongsun Chu halted in his tracks because he couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t forgive himself if anything ever so slightly sullied histe wife¡¯s coffin. He had lost his country, master, family, friends, lover and martial skills. The only meaningful things he had left in his life were his damaged body and wife¡¯s tomb; there was no way he was going to lose her tomb, as well.

    As soon as he saw the bitter dilemma on Gongsun Chu¡¯s face, Ming Feizhen cried, ¡°My hand is slipping! Whoa! My hand is shaking so much that I can¡¯t control it! Step back!¡±

    Gongsun Chu gave Ming Feizhen a vengeful re. If he could¡¯ve burnt Ming Feizhen, the entire ce would be barren ckness already. Regrettably, his shameless foe had identified his weakness, while he had yet to find any openings to exploit.

    Ming Feizhen knocked on the coffin with the broken sword. ¡°Hurry up now.¡±

    With his teeth mped together as tightly as his grip on his sword, Gongsun Chu backed off. The moment Ming Feizhen dropped his guard, there was no mistake he would take Ming Feizhen to hell with him if it was thest thing he did.

    Ming Feizhen wiped his sweatless forehead and curled his hair. ¡°That¡¯s more like it. We¡¯re both gentlemen, so let¡¯s talk this out.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! The only way this will be settled is if one of us dies.¡±

    ¡°Kill yourself then!¡±

    ¡°You asked for it!¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, stay where you are! I¡¯ll pour this oil onto the coffin and set it alight. Trust me: even though she¡¯s just bones now, she¡¯ll smell aromatic!¡±

    Even when his rage had blinded him, Gongsun Chu was smart enough to calm himself right away before there was no salvaging the situation. The reason why Ming Feizhen was in the room was no longer of importance. What mattered was how to get rid of him. He was able to quickly recall Ming Feizhen¡¯s flinch from moments ago, but he wasn¡¯t the only one using his head.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, pointing a de at me, huh? Put it on the ground.¡± Without giving Gongsun Chu time to think, Ming Feizhen heavily tapped the coffin with the snapped sword again. ¡°Or I¡¯ll have to reduce her to ashes.¡±

    After all of Gongsun Chu¡¯s efforts to calm himself, the threat undid all his efforts. Suppressing his urge to plunge his short sword through Ming Feizhen¡¯s throat, he slowly crouched down. In that small timespan, he had figured out how Ming Feizhen entered the room.

    The group at Ksana Temple were required to unlock Speechless lock ¨C same as Pain of Parting lock. Had it not been for the assistance of Mount Daluo¡¯s most senior disciple, though, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to unlock the locks. There was no point mulling over how someone who had their scap pierced and lost all their internal energy could aplish the feat. After all, what benefit would it serve besides warning Gongsun Chu to not underestimate his opponent? There were likely people in the underground pce who aided him, which was particrly admirable considering he hardly had a bargaining chip that came to mind. Someone who could convert people simr to a sun lighting up darkness with its mere appearance was dangerous.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The unknowing Ming Feizhen continued tapping on the coffin. ¡°Don¡¯t act the fool with me! Th-throw the de farther away!¡±

    ¡°¡­ What¡¯s the issue with it being close?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m scared!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As he slowly set his weapon down, Gongsun Chu queried, ¡°Where are they?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s ¡®they¡¯?¡±

    ¡°In the underground pce.¡±

    ¡°Man, so you can speak without yelling. Can we not do the whole threaten-to-kill-you thing when we¡¯re both people of prestigious standing, especially when I can¡¯t beat you?¡± Ming Feizhen clumsily got off the other side of the coffin with his te still in hand. ¡°They¡¯re gone. All of them. You think they¡¯d hang around when I¡¯ve found the exit?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re lying. You wouldn¡¯t know where the exit is.¡±

    Ming Feizhen casually pointed out the location of the exit as if it was never a secret.

    Following a silence, Gongsun Chu restored the frigidness to his eyes. ¡°They¡¯re all gone? Then why are you still here? Are you¡­ not afraid of death?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 186

    Round Two

    Seeing as Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t reply, Gongsun Chu lowered his face diagonally. ¡°Pingan¡­ Why are my wife¡¯s remains in the coffin?¡±

    Is he really as old as Grandmaster? How the hell does he still look so young? What does he eat and drink? Bloody hell.

    ¡°I put her to rest. How could you marry a woman and then not put her to rest? Shame on you, man.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Although the answer wasn¡¯t surprising, Gongsun Chu wasn¡¯t about to believe that Ming Feizhenid her to rest out of the kindness of his heart.

    Seriously, how does this guy look cool no matter what he does? Wait a minute¡­

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve lost all your internal energy, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Right back at you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen casually set the sword down. ¡°Say so sooner, man. I wasted all that energy being on edge for no reason.¡±

    Smiling, Gongsun Chu walked forward, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all a misunderst-¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, step back! You think you get special privileges just because you lost all your internal energy?! Your type is the most dangerous! There¡¯s only one new lord in this ce! Back off!¡±

    Gongsun Chu stopped in his tracks. ¡°You¡¯re really cautious, Night Fortress¡¯ master.¡±

    ¡°Right back at you, Gongsun Chu.¡±

    ¡°Given you¡¯ve found the exit, you must¡¯ve found my stash of treasures, as well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t need to analyse anything to figure that out when he had already seen his n¡¯s heirloom in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands. All the valuables added up together weren¡¯t worth a tile in this room, so it didn¡¯t bother him. As a matter of fact, being reminded of the treasure trove settled his anxiety and rage. ¡°How could you peek at someone¡¯s secret like that? I¡¯ll blush.¡±

    ¡°As you should. How old are you to be kidnapping a good family¡¯s young man?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mount Daluo is ¡®good¡¯?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Damn, you got me there!¡±

    ¡°Why are you still here if they¡¯ve left?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking the obvious? How am I supposed to get my revenge if I leave?¡±

    ¡°You knew I would be back?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you standing right in front of me?¡±

    ¡°Last question: have all of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ team died?¡±

    ¡°No. They left, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Was it Kuanggu Sheng or Tiangou who died?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°If they were present, they wouldn¡¯t have let you done as you pleased. Therefore, you couldn¡¯t have left them alone if you wanted to control everyone else. However, you have limited means of killing them. Sowing discord is Mount Daluo¡¯s ultimate skill. Ming Shiuyue was Prime Minster, a first rank official, before he was conferred the post of Marshal. He was the highest ranked official on the military officer and civil servant. How would sowing discord be a foreign concept to you considering the number of times you people have done so?¡±

    Hold up. Grandmaster was Prime Minister and Marshal? What was he bribed with to quit his post?

    ¡°Kuanggu Sheng is dead.¡±

    ¡°Thought so. He¡¯s too pedantic about the means and conniving to be Tiangou¡¯s match. They weren¡¯t on bad terms, s¡­ Speaking of Kuanggu Sheng, his needlerain is now in your possession, correct?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hands. ¡°No, no, no, never nned to sell it.¡±

    ¡°After sowing discord between them and getting Kuanggu Sheng killed, what did you do with Tiangou?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°Kept him sedated.¡±

    ¡°Without a leader, they¡¯d inevitably die trying to take you down if that¡¯s what it took. What did you tell them?¡±

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ group had been trained to be so loyal that they wouldn¡¯t stop fighting Elise andpany even after Ming Feizhen informed them he had found the exit.

    ¡°Because Tiangou woke up. I filled him in on your n to use starvation as a trigger to kill everyone. After he thought about, he told them to stop and took them with him.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The people in the underground pce were just bait ¨C or potential pawns in the future ¨C in Gongsun Chu¡¯s calctions. If they were pawns, they would be useless until Speechless was unlocked. If he was held up and couldn¡¯t return for two months, they were better of eradicated than being useless, hence the starvation design. ¡°People¡± here included all of Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ members, including two of the Seven Stars.

    Unlike Shang Bieshi, Gongsun Chu considered all members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis to be his pawns. As such, he could imagine how dejected Tiangou was when he learnt of the backup n. As Shang Bieshi¡¯s loyalest dog, there was no one better suited to inherit his will than Tiangou. Since Tiangou wanted to keep Fiends¡¯ Genesis together and to wait for Shang Bieshi¡¯s return, he made the choice that benefited them the most. Even though the traitor was his master¡¯s foster father, there was no better choice than abandoning a traitor.

    Gongsun Chu found Tiangou¡¯s decision so predictable that he almost chuckled.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look troubled in the slightest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually terrified.¡±

    ¡°Okay, take your piss and piss off?¡±

    ¡°Could try.¡± Gongsun Chu confidently smiled without any trace of the rage prior. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to revenge? Why don¡¯t you try now?¡±

    ¡°Why does it sound like you¡¯re about to regenerate your fighting ability?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re different. I¡¯m always tackling challenges with my life at stake, so I have more solutions than you do.¡± Jiang Chen popped some pill into his mouth and looked invigorated following only a few breaths. ¡°This is something I came up with. It restores my internal energy temporarily for an hour and fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°Sounds the exact same as Resurrection Pill.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee to try.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 187

    Who Would¡¯ve Thought?

    Before he finished speaking, Gongsun Chu¡¯s sword on the ground flew up towards Ming Feizhen¡¯s heart. Easily realising that Gongsun Chu merely wanted him to get away from the coffin, Ming Feizhen jumped several inches away from the coffin, dodging the attack entirely. However, the price of the evasion was that he wouldn¡¯t be able to return to the coffin and survive, so he made haste for the exit. As Ming Feizhen predicted, Gongsun Chu raced over to the coffin and grabbed his sword.

    Gongsun Chu caressed the coffin the same way he gently held histe wife¡¯s hand for the first time, as if he was afraid using too much force would disturb her peace. Had it not been for the subtle eye twitches, anyone would¡¯ve thought he was emotionless from his facial expression.

    In that short time frame, Gongsun Chu once again saw his young wife smiling whilst waiting for him to cross her path in an opulent pce. She used to pretend running into him when he entered the pce was pure coincidence, and she believed she had the greatest swordsman of the time fooled, ignorant to the fact that her eyes had betrayed her. The first time they met, the first time she smiled, he discerned exactly how she felt about him. He always believed he was blessed for he couldn¡¯t perceive how he was worthy of her.

    ¡°¡­ Pingan¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry for letting the misfit disturb your rest.¡±

    Needless to say, Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t intend for histe wife to hear that; he¡¯d never let a third person hear his conversation with her.

    Rage quickly reced the joy of reunion. It was as though a big fire had started in the atmosphere.

    ¡°I will make him pay. She won¡¯t be angry over something so trivial.¡±

    Staring at the coffin, Ming Feizhen re-imagined the life Gongsun Chu and his wife shared, putting a smile on his face. ¡°She must¡¯ve had a really big heart.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Gongsun Chu felt confused.

    ¡°Just guessing. Am I wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hmph, that¡¯s not going to stop me from killing you.¡±

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s pain disappeared from his face as fast as it surfaced, showing the pill he took was too strong for even him to keep a straight face. How could a drug be without side effects when it forcibly refined essence in someone severely hurt? His attempt to hide his reaction didn¡¯t escape Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes. Knowing Gongsun Chu wouldn¡¯t have the power for long, Ming Feizhen jogged toward the exit.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. If you¡¯re tough, fight me one on one!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was hoping for.¡± Gongsun Chu followed Ming Feizhen out.

    Neither of them wanted to fight inside the bronze pce.

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t waiting for a handicapped Gongsun Chu who needed performance enhancing drugs. He was ready for the best Gongsun Chu, but the preparations weren¡¯t in the bronze pce. However, he gravely underestimated Gongsun Chu.

    Just after reaching the big tform on the way out of the pce, Gongsun Chu stopped and asked, ¡°What¡¯s underground?¡±

    Ming Feizhen subconsciously scratched his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You think you could fool me?¡±

    Gongsun Chu performed a whipping motion with his sword, blowing away a cover on the ground that concealed holes. Ming Feizhen sacrificedst night¡¯s sleep time to dig the holes and was in the middle of eating when Gongsun Chu returned. Had he not used the coffin as a shield, he would¡¯ve perished already, and all the digging would¡¯ve been for naught ¨C not that they now served their intended purpose.

    Instead of trying to leap over the formation as Lang Qing did, Gongsun Chu walked straight into the formation, stupefying the man who had a needlerain tucked away in his sleeve. Gongsun Chu sauntered through the formation as if he was in his own room, only stopping asionally to run calctions prior to moving again. It hardly took him any time to clear half of the formation.

    ¡°Not even this can get you?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Gongsun Chu angled his face and added a condescending smirk. ¡°A mere formation is no obstacle to me.¡±

    How the hell does he look cool even when he¡¯s being a jerk?! I hate cool guys who are smart, too! But enough of that. Time to bolt.

    While Ming Feizhen started running, Gongsun Chu remained indifferent as he climbed out and ambled towards his prey. ¡°This is an improvised version of Ming Shiyue¡¯s formation. While his version is respectfully sophisticated, you have no idea how to employ it. What can you do with this childish version? You didn¡¯t even prepare a helper when you have to beat me? Are you stupid or confident? I¡¯m truly curious how Ming Huayu raised such an ipetent disciple.¡±

    Arriving at the exit of the dark path, where water came up to his ankles, Ming Feizhen turned around to question, ¡°You think I can¡¯t beat you?¡±

    ¡°You seem to think you¡¯re the only one with good ears.¡±

    Like Ming Feizhen, despite not entering Divine Realm, Gongsun Chu could hear his surroundings well enough to determine how many enemies were lying in ambush. He wouldn¡¯t have chosen this location to fight Ming Feizhen had he detected strong enemies lying in wait.

    ¡°You may possess unimaginable internal energy, but yourbat skills are as ridiculous as a child¡¯s. Your death is inevitable today.¡±

    Ming Feizhen took out several items he had stashed away in his bag and started throwing them mindlessly. Gongsun Chu continued advancing whilst chopping apart the balls hurled his away. Several times, he¡¯d skewer several airbone balls simultaneously. Each time Gongsun Chu busted one open, the smoke within would disperse in the air.

    The smoke might¡¯ve been enough cover against someone else, but it wasn¡¯t sufficient to inhibit Gongsun¡¯s vision. After all, not even Mount Daluo¡¯s notorious formation challenged him in the slightest. He scoffed as he precisely tracked down Ming Feizhen in the smoke and stabbed diagonally. When all that was left was to pass a fraction of an inch and pierce Ming Feizhen¡¯s forehead, he aborted his attack to yank his entire body back, then started twirling his sword in circr motions. Sparks appeared left, right and centre in the air as metal nged against metal so fast it sounded almost as if it was a single ng.

    ¡°Tsk.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s projectiles found the right spot; they just couldn¡¯t reach their intended target.

    Compared to Gongsun Chu¡¯s swordy, Tiangou¡¯s broadswordy was virtually useless. Holding his sword by his side, Gongsun Chu proudly proimed, ¡°If that¡¯s how you¡¯re going to use needlerain, you¡¯re just wasting metal.¡±

    Despite Elder Lianhua¡¯s efforts to restore the needlerain, it was only half as dangerous as it once was. In saying that, since it was fired at close range, the impact of the shots was enough to induce numbness in Gongsun Chu¡¯s limbs and nearly make him lose his grip.

    Once the smoke settled, Ming Feizhen was standing opposite Gongsun Chu, assuming Mount Daluo¡¯s swordy stance.

    ¡°Are you joking right now?¡± Gongsun Chu pulled his brows together in disgust. If his disciple was still making so many amateurish mistakes at Ming Feizhen¡¯s age age, he¡¯d have amputated his disciples hands for his own reputation and disciple¡¯s sake. ¡°You want topete against me in swordy? You¡¯re begging to die.¡±

    ¡°Never say never. You scared to lose or something?¡± Ming Feizhen showed no signs of self-doubt.

    Gongsun Chu snorted. ¡°You¡¯re an insult to swordy!¡±

    Gongsun Chu bound forward. Following just one brief exchange, the match was settled. If there was an audience, they¡¯d be scratching their heads. The two came in close, then separated instantly. Ming Feizhen dropped. Gongsun Chu remained standing.

    It took the bloodied Ming Feizhen a lot of energy to sit up and equally as much energy to resist the pain. ¡°You¡¯re ruthless.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled out the sword in his shoulder that felt painfully heavy and threw it to the ground. When he saw the sword leave Gongsun Chu¡¯s hand, he thought it was possessed for a second, but it reversed and would¡¯ve put a hole in his heart if he didn¡¯t dodge in time.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could fly swords¡­ I don¡¯t even have bloody internal energy, yet you still fight dirty? You¡¯re a cheat!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Gongsun Chu coughed more than ten times to get all the dust out of his mouth from the balls he burst. Compared to Ming Feizhen, he was far moreposed, except he looked baffled. ¡°¡­ Your sword¡­ can explode?¡± Immediately after he posed the question, Gongsun Chu covered a section of the ground in a mouthful of his own blood.

 Book 13: Chapter 188

    Rematch

    Although he didn¡¯t bleed profusely from his opened wounds, he resembled a humanoid humidifier with all the smokeing from him. It had been decades since Gongsun Chu was in deep waters.

    The reason Ming Feizhen preferentially utilised the blood bombs and refrained from using the short sword that he got from Xue Yanjun was due to thetter requiring calcted usage, lest it be disabled after one use, something that Ming Feizhen was awful at. There was concrete proof on the scene ¨C the fact that Gongsun Chu was caught in the explosion that caused the sword to resemble charcoal.

    When Gongsun Chu wiped the ck stains on his face with his sleeve, it dawned on him that his body was more damaged than he assumed. His body was highly resistant to explosions thanks to his training in Drought Demons, so the cause of the damage wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen¡¯s short sword.

    After Gongsun Chu gasped another mouthful of blood, Tianhu¡¯s face came to mind. Tianhu¡¯s martial prowess wasn¡¯t the only scary thing about him. Gongsun Chu was rarely ever wrong in his judgement of people, and he had met plenty of people across his long lifespan. Tianhu¡¯s darkness, his aura and everything else about him was a giveaway that he¡¯d never be content with serving as someone¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Scoundrel.¡± Ming Feizhen, angry about getting countered, grumbled, ¡°What happened to our fair duel? Why are you levitating weapons now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re clever¡­ but you¡¯re still not my match.¡±

    Though Gongsun Chu¡¯s internal energy was now close to zero due to his umtive injuries, he was still stronger than Ming Feizhen thanks to the drug. Ming Feizhen¡¯s skills were inferior to Gongsun Chu¡¯s even with internal energy avable, let alone now when thetter had fuel, while the former didn¡¯t. There was nothing to suggest Ming Feizhen could save himself; at best, he could only dy the inevitable.

    Ming Feizhen went through his bag for some herbs and bandages to stop the bleeding at his shoulder. Without even looking at his opponent once, he responded, ¡°You¡¯re clever, too, but you haven¡¯t fought a perfect fight. Look at you. You probably don¡¯t believe me, either. Allow me to prove my point.¡±

    Once he was done, Ming Feizhen took out the snapped sword tucked away in his sash. He cockily drew the sword from its sheath and chopped a rock with it.

    ¡°How dare you?!¡±

    Gongsun Chu immediately felt as if his entire body was being ripped apart despite not suffering any further injuries since they disengaged. Not only could he feel muscr pain, but the sensation was even stronger than before he lost the ability to feel muscr pain. It hurt so bad throughout his skin, muscles and even bones that he arched back, only for it to hurt so bad that he squatted down. None of the special properties he developed could ease the pain in the slightest. It seemed as though he was losing every advantage over Ming Feizhen one by one and, ironically, was feeling more human than ever. That said, the pain wasn¡¯t enough to hamper his reasoning abilities.

    ¡°What was that smoke?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head and sighed.

    ¡°¡­ You used it, yet you don¡¯t know how it feels when used?¡± The owner of the breathy, soft voice was neither Ming Feizhen nor Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°And that¡¯s your second mistake.¡± In an emotionless tone, Ming Feizhen borated, ¡°I know you have good ears, but they¡¯re not as good as mine. Plus, you¡¯re even weaker now since you¡¯re injured. I have a helper; you just never noticed.¡±

    The person who spoke before Ming Feizhen limped out. His life force was even weaker than that of the bats in the cavern. As soon as Gongsun Chu saw him, Gongsun Chu understood why he overlooked him.

    ¡°Huang Yuzao.¡± As Gongsun Chu always searched for an elite fighter, he never noticed the head of Confucianism who¡¯d lost all his strength and was virtually disabled. Putting together his condition and what Huang Yuzao said, Gongsun Chu pieced it all together. ¡°Love is Pain¡­ Elder Lianhua gave it to you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen found himself a rock to sit on and crossed his legs. ¡°I ground them to powder. Still think the needlerain is useless?¡±

    The needles weren¡¯t meant to inflict harm or buy time. Their purpose was to force Gongsun Chu to breathe whilst in the field of smoke. Due to the force that the needles produced, even Gongsun Chu would have to expend true qi to block them, and each one disrupted his natural breathing rhythm, prompting him to reactively inhale.

    Use ¡°Love is Pain¡± to impact an opponent¡¯s condition, wear them out and then utilise explosions to affect their emotions. That was the exact procedure Gongsun Chu used to take down Huang Yuzao. Ming Feizhen giarised Gongsun Chu¡¯s entire script to save himself the trouble of having to think.

    As much of a pain ¡°Love is Pain¡± was, it was harmless as long as someone could remain indifferent to all things. That was a little challenging, though, when someone unlocked the locks, disrupted his wife¡¯s peace, injured him and poisoned him. Nheless, Gongsun Chu was no ordinary man.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen tapped on the rock again twice with the broken sword, almost triggering Gongsun Chu again. ¡°Uncle Huang, you¡¯re happy now, right? How are you going to thank me?¡±

    ¡°¡­ As a consequence of skipping sses without a reason for one month, you are two stand facing a wall for two months and to copy ¡®The Analects¡¯ a thousand times.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®without a reason¡¯ when I was kidnapped?! Is a teacher not supposed to help his student arrest his kidnapper?!¡±

    ¡°Then shut up and watch.¡± Huang Yuzao dragged his lifeless body forward.

    ¡°You think you could offer me a challenge when you¡¯ve lost your internal energy?¡± Gongsun Chu smirked.

    ¡°And you¡¯re doing better?¡±

    Gongsun Chu felt confused, unable to see what exactly Huang Yuzao was thinking. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Ming Feizhen threw two wooden swords to the ground that he had prepared.

    Huang Yuzao picked up the wooden sword thatnded in front of him. ¡°I lost to you, but my shifu¡¯s swordy will never lose to you. Gongsun Chu, I hereby challenge you,¡± he dered before assuming the fighting stance that he already lost to Gongsun Chu with ¨C Principle of Six Swordy.

    Gongsun Chu spent a while musing before he picked up the wooden sword at his feet. He finally understood what he couldn¡¯t figure out prior. He chided himself for failing to understand what Huang Yuzao¡¯s gaze conveyed. Huang Yuzao wanted to avenge his shifu, to prove his shifu¡¯s swordy would never fail against a traitor. Wasn¡¯t it ridiculous for Gongsun Chu to have not recognised it at first nce ¨C considering he had spent the majority of his life trying to achieve the same goals?

    The burning sensation from before returned to Gongsun Chu¡¯s arm once he picked up the sword, but he just epted it as a form of penance. ¡°Gongsun Chu epts.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 189

    Principles

    While their observable techniques differed, the intent and spirit behind each technique was identical. Like a heavy downpour, one exchange immediately followed the next, passing targets by a hair¡¯s breadth. Finally, after more than a hundred exchanges, their wood swords met as loud as a wave crashing onto shore. At that point, they resembled two frozen fossils until one of them decided to exit the strength contest. Their pace went from absolute stillness to multiple afterimages within the blink of an eye, but their movements still didn¡¯t make the slightest sound. It was as if two lights were trying to outshine each other on a clear night.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bother watching because he neither could see their movements clearly, nor could he appreciate what he saw. Nobody could see better than him that, although there only a few metres, there was a clear boundary, a boundary that set apart swordsmen. It wasn¡¯t something he could fathom; he never attempted to for he was aware that he wasn¡¯t a swordsman. He, however, could see the boundary purely because he was born with the perceptiveness.

    Ming Feizhen sat there as he hinged everything on Huang Yuzao¡¯s performance. Either he was going home victorious with Huang Yuzao, or he was surrendering his head, as well.

    Up until this point, Huang Yuzao and Gongsun Chu¡¯s swords had intersected no more than three times, yet none of them had varied their swordy once.

    The swordy Gongsun Chu specialised in exceeded Huang Yuzao¡¯s knowledge by an enormous margin. Ignoring the fact that the current Confucian institute was only a branch of the former Confucian institute, the swordy taught now was only a fraction of the original. Their swordy techniques were Gongsun Chu¡¯s collective knowledge, if not his creations. To make matters worse for Huang Yuzao, Gongsun Chu also inherited Gongsun n¡¯s knowledge. In terms of swordy knowledge, it¡¯d be insulting to mention them in the same breath.

    Huang Yuzao stubbornly insisted that the swordy he learnt from his shifu would beat Gongsun Chu despite Gongsun Chu being its inventor. He never considered using another swordy from the moment he issued his challenge.

    As the creator of ¡°Principle of Six Swordy¡±, Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t respond with a different swordy. As such, he didn¡¯t consider utilising another swordy, either.

    The cornerstones of ¡°Principle of Six Swordy¡± revolved around ¡°dao¡±, ¡°virtue¡±, ¡°nature¡±, ¡°spirit¡±, ¡°enlightenment¡± and ¡°fate¡±. Nothing in the universe could be without the six. Furthermore, the swordy progressed from small torge, just as everything in the universe grew from small torge. Its design reflected Gongsun Chu¡¯s mindset when he cared for the wellbeing of the world.

    Virtually nobody came close to Huang Yuzao¡¯sprehension of Principle of Six Swordy when he had patiently studied it for two decades in every way he could. s, it was impossible for him to grasp it better than its creator.

    After passing the five hundred exchanges mark, their swords intersected more frequently, showing that one of them was starting to struggle. All else being equal, it was obvious who understood the intent behind each technique better.

    Huang Yuzao¡¯s ranges of motion continued to shrink. Meanwhile, Gongsun Chu pulled his brows closer and closer as he sped up.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The next time their swords met, Gongsun Chu clearly had Huang Yuzao at his mercy.

    ¡°How many times do you need me to tell you? How could you beat me with what I created? Confucianism ends here due to your arrogance.¡±

    It was perfectly normal for Huang Yuzao to be panting and in pain given he lost his internal energy and was fighting intensely after a long period of inactivity. However, he was frowning because he was contemting something. Not one part of his expression suggested he was risking his life when he wore the same look as he often did at the academy. Even for his opponent, it was an annoying reaction.

    ¡°Who killed my shifu?¡± Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t mean to question anyone. He merely mumbled aloud a thought on his mind.

    The question stupefied Gongsun Chu to the point that he froze for a moment before cracking a helpless smile. ¡°You¡¯re still asking that question in this situation?¡±

    Huang Yuzao continued musing for a moment prior to focusing on Gongsun Chu, then shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have what it takes to kill him.¡±

    Gongsun Chu smiled. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered who could kill my shifu, not to mention without leaving any traces. Not only do they have to be strong, but they also need to be close to him. For those reasons, I suspected you all this time. Despite you having learnt an unorthodox discipline, you still remain very capable, and I stopped questioning myself once you asserted it was you.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I did say it was me.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, you did say so, but how could it be you?¡±

    Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t get angry over the mumbling and questions that didn¡¯t seem to be for him. ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t you.¡± Huang Yuzao shook his head again. ¡°I believed it was you until just now. Having witnessed your version of Principle of Six Swordy as well as having exchanged hundreds of blows with you, I¡¯vee to realise that the culprit couldn¡¯t have been you. You¡¯re too weak¡­ You¡¯re insulting Principle of Six Swordy with your level.¡±

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s smile disappeared. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Your Principle of Six Swordy looks legit, but it¡¯s riddled with mistakes. If your principles are wrong, how can your Principle of Six Swordy be correct? You can¡¯t even beat me with it when I¡¯m still inferior to my shifu¡¯s level back then, so how could you have killed him?¡±

    Gongsun Chu, finally ticked off, argued withposure, ¡°Reality decides whether I can or can¡¯t.¡± He raised his wooden sword and brought it down again.

    ¡°I just told you that you have it all wrong.¡±

    Silence. Again.

    Their swords continued travelling past each other once again. It was very obvious this time that there were two breezes. Although they blended together, they were distinctly unique. They both had their own interpretations.

    This time around, Gongsun Chu ended up with a sword pointed at his throat.

    ¡°See? You¡¯re wrong.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 190

    Who Would¡¯ve Thought (2)

    Even though Huang Yuzao had his sword aimed at Gongsun Chu¡¯s throat, every time he tried to force it forward an extra inch, it¡¯d start splintering from the tip.

    Gongsun Chu stated, ¡°You defeated even nature. How could I be an exception?¡±

    The superior swordsman had been undisputedly determined, same with the stronger swordsman.

    Gongsun Chu never used internal energy. His previous victory against Huang Yuzao now seemed to be but a fluke. Whether it was strategy or swordy, he was the loser today, forcing him to rely on brute strength. Huang Yuzao crumbled do the ground simrly to his sword. After all, he was already on wobbly legs. The wooden chips that Gongsun Chu made with his true qi rained down as if to symbolise Huang Yuzao¡¯s end.

    Due to theck of light in the underground pce, the shadows cast on Gongsun Chu¡¯s face gave him the aura of a dispirited man. Gazing at the man on the ground, he, in a low voice, said, ¡°Yu Sihe uses Principle of Six Swordy better than I do.¡± There wasn¡¯t any bitterness in his raspy voice.

    ¡°From what I know, he was devoted solely to teaching and growing Confucianism¡¯s branch. The only time he bore his fangs was during the internal power struggle. He deserves to be praised as a leader of Confucianism. Only his version of Principle of Six Swordy is worthy of being passed down.¡± Gongsun Chu raised his wooden sword and imbued it with true qi to sharpen the de. ¡°But he still died, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    Huang Yuzao lifted his heavy head to look into his enemy¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t find any emotion in Gongsun Chu¡¯s eyes. It was as though he was the one who consumed a ¡°love is pain¡± pill instead of Gongsun Chu.

    Recognising the inquisitive gaze, Gongsun Chu answered, ¡°Yu Sihe didn¡¯t die in a fair duel. He lost his life to an assassination plot. His Principle of Six Swordy beat mine, but he was the one who died. Here I am standing in front of his disciple today. You learnt your shifu¡¯s swordy, but you will forfeit your life. It intrigues me. Did you never learn your lesson?¡±

    ¡°You lost your principles.¡± There was no quit in Huang Yuzao¡¯s gaze.

    The staredown was practically a third match that resembled their rematch ¨C silent, yet intense.

    ¡°Is it because you¡¯re afraid of death?¡± questioned Huang Yuzao, genuinely curious. ¡°Do you spout this sort of nonsense because you fear death? My shifu died to someone¡¯s subterfuge, not because he was wrong. He couldn¡¯t avoid the de that took his life, but he lived a just life. Mayhap only a few people remember him, but those who do remember him will never forget him. I¡¯m not losing my life today because I¡¯m wrong; I just couldn¡¯t beat you. Your principles will never prevail. As its creator, you should know what the nature of Principle of Six Swordy, so why would someone who controls their temper approve of the facy? Is death truly so frightening?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Gongsun Chu¡¯s loneliness stemmed from the fact that he didn¡¯t feel anyone understood how he felt. ¡°This sky and this earth, both of them are in disorder. I peered down from above the clouds, dove deeper and deeper under the ocean, watched birds fall towards the sky and fish fall out of the water surface. The order is wrong.¡±

    Gongsun Chu cracked a forlorn smile. ¡°What principle is there?¡±

    Huang Yuzao possessed enough self-awareness to know that he couldn¡¯t convince somebody so smart and stubborn. How would he undo a belief Gongsun Chu held on to for a century within a few sentences?

    ¡°Who killed my shifu?¡± The reason for the duel had changed. More importantly, the culprit was still unidentified, so Huang Yuzao pressed on. ¡°Since you knew that letter would be convincing bait, you must know the details. At least tell me the truth before you kill me.¡±

    ¡°A will of steel and stubbornness even in death, you truly are Yu Sihe¡¯s disciple.¡± Gongsun Chu rested his sword on Huang Yuzao¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Were His Majesty still alive, I¡¯d endorse you. You¡¯d have a good opportunity to realise your goals and even seed me.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty has already allowed me to carry out my goals.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, your Emperor has given you the chance already.¡± Gongsun Chu lost motivation to settle personal vendettas long ago. If Emperor Yuansheng was useful to his goal, Gongsun Chu would spare him. ¡°As for your question, I can¡¯t answer it. We have some deals between us. I can¡¯t betray him until I have the person I need from him.¡±

    Huang Yuzao clenched his teeth and lowered his head.

    ¡°We have the final result yet?¡± Ming Feizhen got up, yawned and scratched his belly as he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve finished my nap, and you¡¯re still going?¡¯

    Gongsun Chu smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I¡¯ll kill you one by one. You¡¯re next after him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly very Gongsun Chu of you.¡± Ming Feizhen flipped his palms face up. ¡°But what makes you believe I¡¯m history?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not the type to sit around counting down his final moments. All that attitude from before must be because you¡¯re waiting for help. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to be disappointed. You were able to ess the bronze pce because you unlocked ¡¯Pain of Parting¡¯ from inside while others unlocked ¡®Speechless¡¯ from outside. What you don¡¯t know, is that the path that¡¯s essible after unlocking ¡®Speechless¡¯ leads straight to the two big rocks where ¡®Pain of Parting¡¯ is. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen all the traps there already.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is pretty dangerous.¡±

    ¡°If your saviours barge in, their corpses are most likely there.¡±

    ¡°Oh really? Tsk, tsk, tsk, man, my luck with people.¡±

    Gongsun Chu furrowed his brows. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Ming Feizhen picked up the sword that pierced his shoulder to file his fingernails and check their shape. ¡°Nothing. Conversation requires response, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Frankly, Gongsun Chu was sick of Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind games. Ming Feizhen surprised him each time, admittedly, but he wasn¡¯t convinced Ming Feizhen still had any trump cards.

    ¡°Of course, if someone doese to my rescue, they might ignore everything to search your wife¡¯s coffin for treasures.¡±

    Gongsun Chu instantly aimed his sword at Ming Feizhen, prompting Ming Feizhen to straighten up as if a teacher caught him cking off in ss.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just mention I have a helper? I¡¯d be careful if I were you.¡±

    He¡¯s not referring to Huang Yuzao?

    ¡°Don¡¯t kid me now. How could Uncle Huang help me in that state? My helper is dangerous, man.¡±

    ¡°Hah, and where is he? Call him out.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I-I don¡¯t want him to scare you.¡±

    Gongsun Chu simpered. ¡°Now I¡¯m even more curious. Call him out.¡±

    Watching Gongsun Chu encroach step by step, Ming Feizhen frantically voiced, ¡°I¡¯ll count down from three, and he¡¯lle out. Three, two¡­ hey, wait!¡±

    ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Just wait a bit.¡±

    Gongsun Chu started channelling qi into his sword. ¡°I¡¯m wasting my time with you. I don¡¯t care how many helpers you have. I¡¯ll kill them all. Now die!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As soon as Gongsun Chu raised his sword, he heard, ¡°Would you really have the guts to fight me if Ie out? You sure?¡±

    Gongsun Chu freaked out.

    He suddenly showed up in the centre of the tform, carrying a man in one hand. Despite his appearance being shrouded in the darkness, Gongsun Chu would never forget the voice.

    ¡°Tianhu!¡± For the first time, Gongsun Chu felt that he was not in control.

    Tianhu mindlessly threw the man in his hand on the ground and thumped his own shoulders. ¡°I lost track of you while I was following you. Thankfully, a couple of nice guys wandering around mentioned a boulder blocking the way and there being a whole bunch of contraptions inside for capturing idiots, so I helped them break everything.¡±

    ¡°¡­ But there was a stone wall¡­¡±

    ¡°That mound of dirt? I just put a hole in it, hahaha.¡±

    While the wall wasn¡¯t some solid-godly material, it was still ridiculous for a human to punch a hole through it.

    ¡°Ahahaha, Brother Tianhu, you came just at the right time. Do a good job, and I¡¯ll wash your hair with one bowl less of manure.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± For the first time, Tianhu couldn¡¯t find it in himself tough.

 Book 13: Chapter 191

    Who Would¡¯ve Thought (3)

    After a long moment of speechlessness, Tianhu grouched, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Ming Feizhen gave Tianhu a wink. ¡°Aren¡¯t you asking the obvious? Aren¡¯t you here to save me?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No,¡± answered Tianhu, after a think.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a bit too cold? Come on, bro, we¡¯re too close to be ying these games, no?¡±

    Ming Feizhen went over and draped his arm over Tianhu¡¯s shoulder. Though Tianhu tried to shrug Ming Feizhen off his shoulder, his small shrug was powerless against Ming Feizhen¡¯s shamelessness. Ming Feizhen went off on a tangent, reminding Tianhu of the beautiful times in Nanjiang and their deal. While Ming Feizhen was in high spirits, Tianhu¡¯s mood kept plummeting and plummeting.

    The stupefied Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t determine what their rtionship was ssified as. One of them made it seem as though they were best buddies, while the other appeared to be at the mercy of the shameless one.

    ¡°I heard you wereing. If I wasn¡¯t so busy listening for you, Jiang Chen wouldn¡¯t have been able to creep up on me and almost end me.¡±

    It¡¯d take a while to reach their location from ¡°Pain of Parting¡±. Assuming Ming Feizhen heard Tianhu¡¯s presence from then already, then he arguably had the best ears among all living men.

    Upon ncing down at the person Tianhu threw aside before, Ming Feizhen cried, ¡°Ya! Ya! Yayayaya!¡± as he walked over and pulled him up. ¡°Oho, Yuan Kou, you still alive?¡±

    What could Yuan Kou do at that point besides forcing a chuckle when his attempt to hide his face failed. ¡°Your subordinate is d to see you safe and sound. He cannot be forgiven for disobeying his superior.¡±

    ¡°Come on. I wouldn¡¯t hold a grudge over something so trivial. You good? What happened? How are you still alive after getting hit with such a strong venom?¡±

    ¡°It was all thanks to your subordinate¡¯s training in Pure Yang One Qi granting him high immunity. Your subordinate expelled it from his body while he was still breathing.¡±

    ¡°I remember you dying.¡±

    ¡°You outnumbered your subordinate. Since he could not win against all of you anyway, he decided to make use of his underwater breathing training from back home to¡­¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. So, you¡¯re caught now?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case. While I was in the middle of expelling the poison, he came in. I tried to catch him off guard with a ferocious, I mean, gently tap him, and I was captured. I only found out he is one of The Ultimate Three afterwards¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I got you.¡± Ming Feizhen thumped his chest. ¡°Tianhu and I are buddies. I¡¯ll put in a word for you. I promise you¡¯ll be treated well.¡±

    Tianhu was an honourable man. The only time he¡¯d flout thew was when it was for the sake of his own interests, so how could he look happy when he heard he was being asked to flout thew for someone else?

    ¡°Shut up. Did I say I was here to save you?¡±

    ¡°Tianhu, don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s no big deal if you don¡¯t save me, but think about it: if people heard you managed to reach the enemy¡¯s base, yet some half-dead guy managed to kill me, what would people think of you?¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡± Tianhu nced over to Gongsun Chu.

    Gongsun Chu went flying into a stone wall. Merely seeing Tianhu in his sights was enough to make his wounds hurt more. He was always ready for a hard fight, but fighting Tianhu was just getting into a one-sided ughter. That was exactly why he buried his fear and tried to remain as calm as possible. Even with a ghastly pale face, he didn¡¯t let himself look defeated. ¡°¡­ It seems my death is unavoidable.¡±

    Tianhu didn¡¯t hear any quit in Gongsun Chu¡¯s tone despite the choice of words.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you can be proud of yourself. I¡¯m in this predicament all because of you,¡± stated Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°Of course!¡± responded Ming Feizhen.

    Gongsun Chu wiped the blood on his lips, shook himself out, then got up. ¡°Tianhu, there is no doubt that you are fearsome. Perhaps there is only one person I¡¯ve met who could match you.¡±

    Gongsun Chu already realised Tianhu was prideful, wayward and inherently a lot more eager to fight strong opponents than his appearance suggested.

    ¡°Who? Just know that I¡¯m still detaining you even if you do tell me. I know several people who match your description; I just haven¡¯t had the chance to cross paths with them.¡±

    ¡°No need to go far. He¡¯s right in here.¡± Gongsun Chu smiled for he came up with an idea that would grief Ming Feizhen if he couldn¡¯t finish him.

    ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t even remind me.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to sow discord, aren¡¯t you?! Tianhu, go! Kill him!¡± eximed Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Now I have to hear what he has to say,¡± replied Tianhu.

    Although Gongsun Chu wasn¡¯t privy to the details, he did know where to steer the conversation. ¡°¡­ He¡¯s just lost all his strength at the moment.¡±

    Tianhu widened his eyes.

    ¡°For some reason, he¡¯s lost all his strength, but he¡¯ll recover it all soon. If it¡¯s a challenging opponent you seek, he is the one you¡¯re looking for. He¡¯ll be an opponent you¡¯ll never forget.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    Tianhu didn¡¯t say anything when he looked to Ming Feizhen, but even Yuan Kou could sense the threat that emanated from his eyes. Likewise, Gongsun Chu knew he had achieved his goal.

    Ming Feizhen looked at Tianhu, then red at Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ You were careless.¡± Suddenly, Gongsun Chu¡¯s lowered hand spawned a threatening red energy.

    Tianhu casually cancelled Gongsun Chu¡¯s sword spirit with a wave of his hand.

    ¡°I told you: you were careless,¡± Gongsun Chu was heard saying after the sword in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand flew out from his hand ¨C his special flying sword technique!

    Tianhu caught the short sword, but a torrent of arrows from above, left and right flew towards them. Tianhu d himself in his unique glow to deflect all the arrows whilst pushing Ming Feizhen out of harm¡¯s way. At the same time he was protecting Ming Feizhen, smoke started emanating from the bottom of the stone walls, separating them. Since Tianhu pushed Ming Feizhen away, Ming Feizhen was now some distance away. Tianhu managed to pass his aura through the wall and catch Ming Feizhen, but he couldn¡¯t pull thetter through a solid wall.

    The stone walls fused together.

    Gongsun Chu once fought off dangerous opponents here when he was separated from his wife. He remembered where all the traps were and what they did. This closed-off zone littered with traps was hisst resort.

    The exit was to the rear.

    Three of them were trapped together ¨C powerless Ming Feizhen, badly injured Huang Yuzao and armed Gongsun Chu.

 Book 13: Chapter 192

    One Man, One Nation

    Gongsun Chu stared at the stone wall as though he could see all the way through to the depths of the bronze pce.

    ¡°You sure seem confident,¡± remarked Ming Feizhen, seemingly unbothered in the slightest about his predicament. ¡°You not afraid Tianhu will find your wife?¡±

    Tianhu may not have gone through the bronze pce when he found the underground pce, but this ce wasn¡¯t exactly tough to find if he just patiently went back the way he entered to search considering it wasn¡¯t far away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll close the door to the bronze pce after I kill the two of you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°You reckon you can give Tianhu the slip?¡±

    ¡°Nothing in life is guaranteed. It¡¯s just a matter of trying or not.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t think Gongsun Chu was going to try something risky from thetter¡¯s tone, but he didn¡¯t bother questioning further. ¡°Since you activated the contraption, nobody will be able to enter for a good while, which gives you time to prepare a n to kill everyone whoes in,¡± said Ming Feizhen, then shaking his head. ¡°But you can¡¯t,¡± Ming Feizhen asserted, locking eyes with Gongsun Chen, ¡°because I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What do you have to say this time?¡±

    Ming Feizhen drew a circle up in the air and self-righteously dered, ¡°As your sessor, I¡¯ve called dibs on all of your belongings! You¡¯re not taking a single thing from me!¡±

    Ignoring Gongsun Chu¡¯s death stare, Ming Feizhen then said to Huang Yuzao, ¡°Uncle Huang, if you will,¡± then strolled over to the wall.

    On the surface, it appeared as though Ming Feizhen left his fate in Huang Yuzao¡¯s hands. However, Gongsun Chu recognised what Ming Feizhen was plotting based on thetter¡¯s position ¨C he was still counting on Tianhu.

    Gongsun Chu spent the conversation window recalibrating the scarce true qi he had left, avoiding the damaged meridians to power himself. It went without saying that casting his Enlightenment whilst attacking would take a toll on him, but there was absolutely no way he was going to give Ming Feizhen a chance to bring Tianhu back. No chance in hell. As soon as he was ready, he thrust towards Huang Yuzao¡¯s neck. This time, though, he wasn¡¯t going to stop until it went out the other side.

    All of a sudden, Huang Yuzao inhaled, locked his fingers together and stabbed straight at the tip of Gongsun Chu¡¯s wooden sword. The shockwave that the crash caused, and the qi that came from Huang Yuzao¡¯s finger, shot through the sword shot and straight back through Gongsun Chu¡¯s body, giving him a big jolt. Gongsun Chu yanked his sword back and hastily suppressed the qi that was imbued with properties that countered his Drought Demons qi.

    ¡°You were hiding thatst ounce of strength?¡±

    ¡°This old one¡­ put himself through hell this month to fight you.¡±

    The magic behind Huang Yuzao¡¯s hidden spurt of internal energy derived from a notorious pill named ¡°unknown pill¡±. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t forget to abuse his authority to feed the pill to his unconscious teacher. While the pill couldn¡¯t heal his permanent internal injuries or restore his internal energy, it empowered him to develop new internal energy via his usual discipline. From there, Huang Yuzaopleted the first level in the two weeks¡¯ time he had to develop the tiny ounce of internal energy that just saved their lives.

    Never giving up even when all hope seemed lost was an ironicmon denominator between Huang Yuzao and Gongsun Chu.

    Gongsun Chu: My junior is getting more and more adorable to me.

    The Principle of Six Swordypetition was over, and Gongsun Chu wasn¡¯t going to contest the result. Howbeit, he destroyed Huang Yuzao¡¯sprehension of swordy, demonstrated they were still on different levels despite both having reached Divine Realm and proved that, based on technique alone, he was vastly superior. When it came down to it, Huang Yuzao¡¯s win wasn¡¯t really a win. Huang Yuzao saved them, but it only dyed the end result.

    In the next three turns, Gongsun Chu damaged Huang Yuzao as if he used a steel sword. However, Gongsun Chu was left heaving harder than he expected.

    Before Gongsun Chu could move on, the walls rumbled violently. The traps hadn¡¯t ended, yet Tianhu had already started tearing down the walls. Based on the rumbling sounds, not even Gongsun Chu could be sure if the wall would hold up for another ten blows.

    ¡°Monster,¡± Gongsun Chu cursed under his breath, then swung his sword in an arc, lopping off two of Huang Yuzao¡¯s fingers.

    Huang Yuzao¡¯s garments were dyed crimson before he could scream, except the blood came from Gongsun Chu¡¯s mouth as a consequence of pushing his body beyond its physical limit. That being said, the me that lit the fuse was Huang Yuzao¡¯s ¡°Grand Undertaking¡± discipline¡¯s true qi from the sh prior. This was only the beginning of forcing his body to utilise more internal energy than it could naturally handle. Not even the unorthodox Drought Demons could get around thew of nature.

    One more¡­ I just need one more strike to¡­

    No matter how much internal energy Gongsun Chu tried to muster up, his body just wouldn¡¯t grant it to him. Frankly, Huang Yuzao wasn¡¯t doing well, either; he had lost two fingers, was injured more than Gongsun Chu and couldn¡¯t squeeze out even a drop of internal energy due to how weakened he was.

    Huang Yuzao dropped to the ground. The only thing he was now capable of was counting down hisst moments, yet the spirit in his eyes burned as hot as ever. ¡°¡­ You¡¯re not a despicable person. You don¡¯t fear death, covet glory or material wealth¡­ You love your wife. You don¡¯t hurt the innocent. You know what happiness is. You have self-awareness, so you should know¡­ even if you kill His Majesty and exterminate every official, the dynasty of old won¡¯t return. Even if you start a new rule, it won¡¯t be the same Daxia. What is it that you¡¯re after in the end for you to be so stubborn?¡±

    Though his head was down, Gongsun Chu tightened his grip on his sword. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m going to turn this world around. I want to see birds fly into the sky and fish dive into the ocean. I want this world to return to the way it should be.¡±

    Despite how challenging it was just to get air into his lungs, Gongsun Chu felt everything was moving slow and everything was clear. Every crack in the rocks was vivid; every footstep from Hong Jiu¡¯s group¡¯s footsteps from far, far away sounded as clear as though he were there with them. He could hear that Tianhu was three blows away from breaking through the wall.

    ¡°I am after the restoration of Daxia.¡±

    Huang Yuzao vigorously raised his head. ¡°Daxia is gone! Open your eyes!¡±

    Gongsun Chu erected his posture as straight as a brush. ¡°I¡¯m right here!¡± he roared. When he closed his eyes and opened them once again, there were the people crying andughing from a century ago. Regardless of if they had been forgotten or not, all of them once lived, and he could prove it.

    He was alive.

    He was able to stand on his own.

    He was a nation.

    ¡°Daxia is not gone!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s red energy enveloped his sword and body. His senses were more heightened than ever in his life, and Tianhu was still two blows away from getting through. Gongsun Chu was familiar with the portent. He was on the cusp of attaining power on par with a miracle again. With his current red energy, he could take two heads as long as he wanted to. He was on the cusp of entering Divine R-

    Some tiny green object, a piece of ordinary jade, came into Gongsun Chu¡¯s field of vision all of a sudden. Akin to a big block of ice being thrown into a pool of water, all of his emotions burst. ¡°Love is Pain¡± erased the red Enlightenment and reminded him of an excruciating pain he had forgotten about.

    The person who threw the wrench ¨C or piece of jade, in this case ¨C into Gongsun Chu¡¯s n had already lost all hisbat skills, yet Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t notice him. By the time Gongsun Chu noticed him, he already had his other hand on Gongsun Chu¡¯s chest. Gongsun Chu caught a glimpse of Ming Feizhen¡¯s emotionless face.

    ¡°Your mom is gone!¡±

    Boom! A blood bomb exploded right up against Gongsun Chu, sting him into a dark passage. Nothing was left. It was as if he never existed.

 Book 13: Chapter 193

    The Most Beautiful

    Juxtaposed beside each other, there was no telling if the source of the ckness was the ckness that split the stone wall and spread or the environment itself. Nobody would ever point to the ck energy and say that it belonged to an orthodox discipline practitioner or someone with a sense of justice, not just because of its hue but also due to how it was indiscriminately spread.

    As the soon as the ck energy sted through the wall, Huang Yuzao suffered a severe bout of vertigo until he heard, ¡°Rx. He¡¯s gone.¡±

    The ck energy disappeared in an instant, and the dark underground pce was noticeably brighter.

    Gongsun Chu overestimated the number of blows Tianhu needed to break through. Tianhu only needed eight blows.

    ¡°You let him escape?¡±

    Gazing at the direction the water flowed toward, Ming Feizhen nodded, only to then shake his head after. ¡°No way! Why would I let him escape? You have no idea how tense the situation was. He¡¯s bloody strong. You won¡¯t find a lobster just fished out with anywhere near as much energy as him. He nearly killed us both with his wooden sword. Had you been a secondter, the two of us would be salted fish.¡±

    Sitting on the ground, Huang Yuzao went through his own emotions instead ofining about beingpared to fish. Despite them being on opposite sides, he felt Gongsun Chu deserved better if they hadn¡¯t met in the wrong era. His primary concern, though, was that his mentor¡¯s death had reverted back to a cold case status, and it was beyond him to avenge his mentor now since all of his training had been erased.

    Tianhu, without saying, didn¡¯t buy Ming Feizhen¡¯s story. ¡°He can¡¯t have gone far. I¡¯ll go capture him now.¡±

    ¡°Ow! I identally¡­¡± Ming Feizhen tripped onto Tianhu. ¡°He¡­ He caught me with his ¡®Lethal Third Heaven Palms¡¯. Without twenty chickens and three-head abalone after getting hit with it, the victim will melt into a puddle of blood after three days. Tianhu, please take me to an inn.¡±

    Of course, Tianhu knew Ming Feizhen was trying to pull some stunt again, but he didn¡¯t know what. In any case, he shook Ming Feizhen off, smirked and said, ¡°Sure. Since Duke Ming is hurt so badly, let me check your pulse.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stretched both arms out. ¡°Here. You¡¯re my son if I¡¯m lying.¡±

    Tianhu checked Ming Feizhen¡¯s pulse as he said he would, frowning and pushing Ming Feizhen¡¯s hands away afterwards. ¡°Your internal energy status is still the same as it was in Nanjiang; there¡¯s nothing there. You have my admiration, Duke Ming. I¡¯m amazed you managed to survive here in your condition.¡±

    Ming Feizhen closed his eyes, lifted his chin and tugged up the corners of his lips. ¡°This is called real Kung Fu. I can still make it without any martial arts.¡±

    Tianhu went over to the exit, but he couldn¡¯t sense Gongsun Chu¡¯s presence in any direction. He knew Gongsun Chu was an elusive individual, so he ruminated on whether it was worth pursuing thetter of not.

    Ming Feizhen tapped Tianhu on the shoulder. ¡°Hey, why are you so hellbent on capturing him when you don¡¯t have a feud between you?¡±

    ¡°How do you know we don¡¯t have a feud?¡± Tianhu sneered. ¡°I have a score to settle with him.¡±

    ¡°Ah, forget it. I reckon he only has a few days left in him. You came here on a rescue mission, not a revenge mission. There are two injured people right here. You should be thinking about where to d-, take the injured to for treatment.¡±

    Tianhu stopped to think, scanned the ce briefly and then replied, ¡°We¡¯re just going to leave like this? I reckon there¡¯s more than what meets the eye down here. How about we search the ce? We might find something interesting.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stood erect. ¡°No need. I spent a month here and saw everything there is to see. There¡¯s nothing here. There¡¯s nothing valuable! Rats leave this ce with tears.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll write a testimony for you. If I lied even once, I¡¯m a puppy!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to go that far. I¡¯m not interested in the world¡¯s matters to begin with.¡± Tianhu crossed his hands behind his back, gaze on the darkness. ¡°Just pray I don¡¯t ever catch you slipping.¡±

    In spite of the threatening atmosphere, Ming Feizhen indifferently queried, ¡°And if you do?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tianhu looked back at Ming Feizhen and cracked a smile, yet it seemed as if a monster was smiling as it watched its prey.

    Huang Yuzao coughed. ¡°Tianhu, could you please help this useless old man up?¡±

    Not even Ye Yun could tell Tianhu what to do, and there was nobody who truly understood him, but Huang Yuzao sensed danger from his smile. If he wanted to, he could¡¯ve killed Ming Feizhen and then Huang Yuzao to prevent leakage of his deeds, so Ming Feizhen was ying with fire, while Huang Yuzao had no way of talking Tianhu out of it. Therefore, Huang Yuzao¡¯s only option was to interrupt them.

    Tianhu helped Huang Yuzao up without aint; however, Huang Yuzao knew he roughed up Gongsun Chu based on their short dialogue before. Huang Yuzao just chose not to say anything as it wasn¡¯t his business.

    Huang Yuzao couldn¡¯t swim in his state. Hence, Tianhu wrapped Ming Feizhen, him and himself in his true qi armour. None of them had a droplet of water on them once they reached the shore. Yuan Kou, on the other hand, had to swim himself.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we in Hangzhou?!¡± eximed Ming Feizhen, upon reaching the shore.

    Master Ming¡¯s anger was justified. After all, nobody knew he was there when Hangzhou was practically his second home? It was tantamount to someoneing into his house and bullying him. Even after they arrived at ¡°Verdant Mountains Yonder¡±, which he frequented, got a room, had a bath and sumptuous full course meal, he still continued grumbling.

    I shouldn¡¯t have let Gongsun Chu escape! I should drag him back to beat his bones into smith-

    ¡°Leader?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen ced his wine cup down and cast his gaze toward the sunset. ¡°Second?!¡±

    While Hong Jiu¡¯s group failed to locate the underground pce, they did find the note Tianhu left behind, so they headed back, so hours had passed since Tianhu¡¯s group arrived. Nevertheless, the most important thing was that they were reunited.

    Ming Feizhen threw his cup away and opened his arms. Hong Jiu ran over with tears pouring down from his eyes. The brothers held each other in a tight embrace underneath the tangerine sun.

 Book 13: Chapter 194

    How They Showed Up

    The group that was holding their ¡°funeral procession¡± decided to perform the rites at ¡°Verdant Mountains Yonder¡±. People passing by trembled. Had there been someone ying a suona and the sight of a memorial tablet, people would¡¯ve thought they were holding Duke Ming¡¯s funeral from the way Hong Jiu cried.

    ¡°Stop crying, Second. I¡¯m still alive. If you keep crying, I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    ¡°You suffered so much. Look at you. Those jerks locked you up for so long that you¡­ you¡­ eh? You have not lost any weight?¡±

    ¡°They treated me all right. You, on the other hand, have dropped some noticeable weight.¡±

    ¡°Thank heavens! I was so worried that you were suffering. It appears they do have functioning eyes. They must have prostrated themselves in servitude once they witnessed your dominance. That being said, the score still needs to be settled. Do not worry. Our Night Fortress brothers will not turn a blind eye to this. Do you remember who the enemy is? We shall wipe them out. I shall assemble a team and move out right away.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had to expend a painful amount of effort to convince Hong Jiu to rx.

    Master Qi had her nose pinched the entire time in disgust. Ming Feizhen noticed all of her movements from beginning to end. With a small smile, he asked, ¡°Second, why have you still not introduced us? Aren¡¯t we friends?¡±

    ¡°Of course we are!¡± Behind the well-groomed schr were another buff man and their kids ¨C the Gu and Ning families. Ning Xinshi expressed, ¡°This one is grateful from the bottom of his heart for taking care of his daughter and son-inw in the underground pce.¡±

    The would-be victims of Gongsun Chu¡¯s n were going to go their own way once they escaped the underground pce, but Ning Zhuoru noticed the symbol that her n and Gu n used to contact each other in the city. She was perplexed, so she teamed up with the others to stealthily probe around.

    Ning Xinshi¡¯s group at Ksana Temple didn¡¯t leave traces since they were operating secretively. Their group raced to Verdant Mountains Yonder once they surfaced from the underground pce following a fruitless search. Thankfully, Lang Qing¡¯s perceptiveness helped him identify the group as a group of skilled martial artist, which brought the two groups together. That was the reason their group arrived after Hong Jiu¡¯s.

    The would-be victims shared their experiences in the underground pce, naturally, leading to their family members learning that it was the Wu Ping imposter who saved them all. Gu Xianxian¡¯s exaggerated praise for Ming Feizhen further established thetter as some great noble individual. That was the reason Gu and Ning ns were incredibly grateful to Ming Feizhen. If Gu Bushang found out Ming Feizhen was the Master Ming he had looked up to all this time, he¡¯d be extra grateful.

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hands. ¡°I only did what I should have. We were just looking after each other as fellow martial artists, hahaha. Have a seat. Have a seat. The imperial court is paying for this. Waiter, bring us some wine.¡±

    Hong Jiu quietly inquired, ¡°Elder Ning, where is everyone else?¡±

    Ning Xinshi scratched his cheek. ¡°Everyone else went on ahead.¡±

    While Hong Jiu didn¡¯t understand, Ming Feizhen did. Why would Yan Jibei, Wu Ping and Lang Qing¡¯s family members join them when he killed the former two and defeated thetter? Elise couldn¡¯t show up in public due to her identity. Ouyang Xuicai and Elder Lianhua went into hiding with Elise¡¯s group, too.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Ming Feizhen decided to leave locating Elise¡¯s group forter, saluted the Bai couple and then, after Hong JIu¡¯s introductions, conveyed, ¡°Patriarch Bai, it is an honour to finally meet you. For me, it is a wish fulfilled.¡±

    Bai Zhiqing nodded. ¡°I met you when you were younger. You sure have learnt how to talk, but you were more handsome when you were young. Did you have a growth disability?¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡­ I knew it. All cool-looking guys are jerks.

    Ming Feizhen was shocked when he first saw Lady Bai. Nevertheless, he then politely saluted her with both hands. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Third Grandma.¡±

    Lady Bai, too, subconsciously flinched when she saw Ming Feizhen, but, once her conscious mind reminded her that he wouldn¡¯t harm her, she smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve heard my husband mention you. You are not doing too well, if I am correct?¡±

    Despite the first sentence and her second sentence having a disconnect, Ming Feizhen understood what was beingmunicated. ¡°Not too bad. Not too bad. Low profile. Low profile.¡±

    Able to read between the lines, Lady Bai nodded back. ¡°Not a word. Not a word.¡±

    Finally getting to Master Qi, Hong Jiu pulled her over and brightly introduced, ¡°Leader, this is, uh¡­ A, uh¡­ friend.¡±

    Ming Feizhen blinked rapidly.

    The hell is wrong with Second? This isn¡¯t how he usually talks. He¡¯s never so flustered around girls.

    Master Qi grouchily shook Hong Jiu off. ¡°Already met.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, she¡¯s the one who hung around His Highness,¡± said Ming Feizhen, eyes darting back and forth between Hong Jiu and Master Qi. He looked over to Bai Zhiqing and received a nod, so he tapped himself on the head and said, ¡°Ah, I see. We¡¯re all in this together, then. Uh, Miss Qi, please, take a seat.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had a skeleton of the situation in the capital since he questioned Tianhu, so he knew that Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s case was among the big ongoing cases. He pulled Second over to pour a cup of wine and sincerely told Master Qi, ¡°I never would¡¯ve expected this to end up like this when I left. His Highness has it tough. That saying has truth to it. Second, help me jog my memory. How does it go again? The harshest¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, the harshest family to be in is the Mount Daluo family.¡±

    ¡°That one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®¡­ in the royal family¡¯!¡± Master Qi blurted.

    Ming Feizhen hit himself on the side of his head. ¡°Ah, yes, in the royal family, hahaha. You¡¯re really well learned, Miss Qi. It¡¯s sad now that I have time to think about it. His Highness and I used to be really close. All of a sudden, we¡¯re separated forever in the span of a month. Life truly is unpredictable, but this was still a shock. It truly, uh, Second, what¡¯s the line again? Life is¡­ is¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, life is as short as a dwarf.¡±

    ¡°That one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s, ¡®Life is as short as a half-taken breath¡¯! Li Muye isn¡¯t dead, either! He¡¯s just imprisoned for a while. It¡¯s been substantiated that he was framed. His Majesty will release him.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    At that point, Ming Feizhen was done embarrassing himself, so he changed the topic. Even though he cropped and simplified a lot of details, his experience was great entertainment for his audience. Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru, in particr, were shocked when they learnt the truth.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we brothers haven¡¯t seen each other in a while, so we need to have a little chat. Um, Miss Qi, please don¡¯t worry. I will return him to you in a moment.¡±

    Master Qi¡¯s face turned as red as a ripe tomato. ¡°I don¡¯t care about him!¡±

    Ming Feizhen justughed it off as he dragged Hong Jiu into a room.

    ¡°Leader, I missed you.¡± Hong Jiu started crying again as soon as they entered the room.

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop. Why are you with them?¡±

    Hong Jiu ryed everything he¡¯d been through recently.

    ¡°Six des? They¡¯re League of Assassins¡¯ top team. Why the hell would they help? How loaded is Jiang Chen?¡±

    ¡°No, I heard Six des¡¯ captain, Red Snow, didn¡¯t take the job just for the money. Jiang Chen must¡¯ve offered more than that.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t confirm what the real motive was, so he set it aside for the meantime. ¡°You sure took some serious damage. Let me take a look.¡± He grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s arm. ¡°Dragon w? And this sh¡­ Second, you¡¯ve improved. You haven¡¯t embarrassed me. Good job beating the three of them.¡±

    ¡°It was nothing. You survived in the underground pce without internal energy. That is true elite-ness.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it at that. We both had it rough.¡± Ming Feizhen pulled his hand back, picked up a brush and started writing a medicinal form. ¡°Make sure to take this on time, then mould energy ording to this procedure, and you won¡¯t have any after effects seven dayster.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Leader, your medical knowledge seems to have improved?¡±

    ¡°It has. You can¡¯t remain in the same spot forever. By the way, how is Third Grandpa Bai¡¯s wife so good at fighting?¡±

    After listening to Hong Jiu¡¯s recount, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°Wow, Bai n sure is something else. I thought Third Grandpa Bai was just the Prince of romance. I didn¡¯t know he¡¯s the King of romance.¡±

    After that, Ming Feizhen scanned Hong Jiu in a way that made thetter feel ufortable.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Leader?¡±

    ¡°Good stuff, Second.¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to the door. ¡°Thess looks pretty adorable. Not bad, not bad. You have good taste this time.¡±

    Hong Jiu wagged his hands. ¡°Stop making fun of me, Leader. She¡¯s feisty. Besides, she¡¯s His Highness¡¯ childhood friend. She¡¯s taken.¡±

    ¡°Nah, she¡¯s not.¡± Ming Feizhen shook his head as though he heard the most ridiculous thing. ¡°I already checked it out for you. From her reaction when she spoke about Li Muye, they¡¯re only friends.¡±

    Hong Jiu was surprised, but he felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

    ¡°Besides, so what if she¡¯s feisty? Do we have anyone feisty back home? When have any of us had trouble putting a feisty woman in her ce? Have I?¡± Ming Feizhen subconsciously performed neck circles. ¡°Plus, none of them are nearby.¡±

    ¡°Is Ming Feizhen here?¡±

    As soon as Ming Feizhen heard her voice, he was reminded of the aroma of street food wafting past his nose as the sun took its time bowing out.

    Gu Xianxian got up to inquire why she asked about Ming Feizhen.

    The armed maiden smiled. ¡°He has procrastinated on work for too long. I¡¯m here to pick him up.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 195

    In Times of Bad Health, True Feelings are Revealed

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s cup of wine slipped through his fingers and shattered on the ground. ¡°Howe Boss is here?!¡±

    Watching Ming Feizhen frantically search for a hiding spot, Hong Jiu said, ¡°Why are you panicking, Leader? Miss Shen is a nice person if you ask me. She started searching for you as soon as she entered when she has been running around all this time.¡±

    ¡°She is nice, but I don¡¯t have the strength to withstand beatings at the moment.¡± Ming Feizhen crawled under the bed, though it wasn¡¯t easy due to his height.

    As Hong Jiu helped push Ming Feizhen under, he mumbled, ¡°What does having the strength to withstand beatings have to do with anything? Why would Miss Shen beat you?¡±

    Once he was set, Ming Feizhen tugged the bed sheet down to cover himself. ¡°Think about it: during all the time I was missing, she was risking her life to find me and even nearly fell into Jiang Chen¡¯s grasp. What do you think she¡¯d do if she found out I got kidnapped because I was procrastinating?¡±

    Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t forgotten the beating he ate after rescuing Shen Yiren at Canhu Town, so there was no way he was going to flirt with any risks.

    Hong Jiu scrunched up his face as he reflected on what Ming Feizhen taught him moments ago. All of a sudden, Ming Feizhen crawled back out.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Leader, why aren¡¯t you hiding?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to but that I can¡¯t.¡± Ming Feizhen dusted himself. ¡°It¡¯s a rat hole in there. As soon as I went down there¡­¡±

    ¡°Strange. I thought small animals fear you.¡±

    ¡°They do. I¡¯m covered in rat droppings.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As he listened to the footsteps edging closer, Ming Feizhen started mumbling, ¡°Crap, crap, crap, I¡¯m screwed, I¡¯m scr-, I know!¡±

    As the door opened, Shen Yiren¡¯s scent entered. Everything about her, from her light steps to the sunset highlighting her skin was perfect, but anyone who saw her in that moment would be more focused on her assets stretching out her robe. Despite the absolute messy and dusty state of the room, she only had eyes for him.

    ¡°Feizhen!¡± Shen Yiren rushed over to the side of the bed, but her smile became wide eyes. She had feared Ming Feizhen would be in horrific shape, but she tried to convince herself otherwise all the time. Instead of being greeted with his usual reassuring smile, he was bed ridden, taking shallow breaths and had a pale face. ¡°Wh-what happened, Feizhen?¡±

    Ming Feizhen fought with himself to open his eyes. When he saw Shen Yiren, he weakly smiled and replied, ¡°B-Boss¡­ I thought I might never see you again.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what happened to you?¡±

    Why the bed-ridden situation? Because Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t hurt him if he was injured. Why was he bed ridden? It fell into Hong Jiu¡¯sps toe up with an exnation.

    ¡°Miss Shen, my brother, he¡­ might not make it.¡±

    ¡°Him?¡± Shen Yiren¡¯s joy turned to dread. ¡°Wh-why?¡±

    ¡°Hang on.¡± Ming Feizhen faked a cough and softly exined, ¡°There is still hope.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen, how exactly are you?¡±

    Hong Jiu stole a quick nce at Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes, then sorrowfully borated, ¡°Jiang Chen caught him with a palm attack. He now presents with symptoms of early-stage, uh, mad dogness.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Did Jiang Chen hit him, or did a dog bite him?¡±

    If res could inflict damage, Ming Feizhen¡¯s re would¡¯ve had Hong Jiu bleeding from his orifices.

    ¡°I-I just got a little hurt. Boss¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Shen Yiren finally found a little relief when she heard a more energetic voice from Ming Feizhen. A secondter, she noticed the bottles of wine scattered across the floor. ¡°You¡¯re hurt, so this alcohol¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu and Ming Feizhen made eye contact, then Hong Jiu suddenly pped himself twice and said, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I¡¯m horrible. I forced my injured brother to drink with me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. How can you let someone injured drink alcohol,¡± scolded Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Yeah, the injured can¡¯t drink, Leader.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t make me drink! Get! Out! I don¡¯t want to see you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t have been happier that Hong Jiu promptly exited. Frankly, he was worried about what other nonsense Hong Jiu woulde up with.

    Shen Yiren helped Ming Feizhen up once Hong Jiu left. ¡°Feizhen, are your injuries severe? I should¡¯ve expected this¡­ People will take advantage of you now that you¡¯re defenceless. Where did you get caught? Have you seen a doctor?¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head as if it was hard to. ¡°I wasn¡¯t feeling well, but I¡¯m feeling much better after seeing you.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± With a rosy hue on her cheeks, Shen Yiren chided, ¡°What are you saying? Can¡¯t you be serious?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t fearless. He was just upied with distracting Shen Yiren from asking why he was kidnapped. ¡°What do you mean I¡¯m not serious? Boss, as soon as I see you, I feel like life flows into me. It was worth it.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ failed to look after you. Had I noticed the happenings in the capital sooner¡­¡± Shen Yiren dejectedly sat down on the side of the bed and ced her hand on Ming Feizhen¡¯s forehead.

    Upon catching a whiff of her hand, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t help taking a closer look at Shen Yiren. ¡°Boss, it looks like you¡¯ve lost a bit of weight.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes resembled panda eyes, and her robe was noticeably looser on her than before the whole fiasco. On a more positive note, her aura was a lot more dominating. Nevertheless, Ming Feizhen was more concerned about her visible fatigue. No matter how sharp a sword was, constantly umting shes took a toll on it.

    ¡°Boss I¡­ I¡¯m actually okay.¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯ll be okay¡­ I kept telling myself that you¡¯ll be fine, that you had to be fine, so that I wouldn¡¯t think about the state you were in and be distracted from finding you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen grabbed hold of Shen Yiren¡¯s hand and sincerely conveyed, ¡°Boss, it¡¯s been hard on you¡­ And, thank you.¡±

    Shen Yiren squeezed Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand. ¡°You bet. Who do you think I am?¡± She yfully smiled and continued, ¡°You think only you can save me? I¡¯ll save you when you¡¯re in trouble ¨C no matter where you are.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t say a word until his guilt finally destroyed him. ¡°Boss¡­ I want to tell you something.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    After a long and hard think, Ming Feizhen decided to express his true thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s a challenge to move at the moment. Could you please¡­ feed me?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 196

    Yizhen?

    ¡°Boss.¡±

    Shen Yiren gently lowered Ming Feizhen¡¯s head onto her pillowy thighs. In the moment, hepletely forgot to breathe.

    Ming Feizhen tilted his chin up. ¡°Ah.¡±

    Shen Yiren gently spoon fed ¨C literally ¨C Ming Feizhen. She clearly wasn¡¯t used to feeding people based on how clumsy her movements were. ¡°Seriously, can¡¯t you feed yourself?¡±

    ¡°No. My injury¡¯s medical name is will-starve-to-death-if-not-fedsease. Boss, ah.¡±

    Ming Feizhen received another mouthful of food. He couldn¡¯t remember thest time he had experienced a taste ¨C and the warmth ¨C of heaven. He opened his eyes, where he saw skinparable to a peeled boiled egg out the corners of his eyes. Perhaps not even deities in heaven were as blessed as he was.

    Shen Yiren avoided fitting garments from the age of fourteen, opting for clothes that fit loosely and then tying up the section around her abdomen. She would ask the tailors to produce her clothesrger than average so that her mobility wouldn¡¯t be hindered. However, since she bought her current robe while on the go, she couldn¡¯t have it customised. If Mountain Monster were to wear it, not only would there be wrinkles all over, but she¡¯d resemble a coat hanger from the front. On Shen Yiren, to the contrary, skin would pop out while she was moving around in a seated position. The most alluring part about Shen Yiren¡¯s beauty was that she was oblivious to her own blessings, which highlighted her natural charm.

    Ming Feizhen pinched his nose before blood started spurting from there and rolled onto his side.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing.¡± Ming Feizhen cleared his throat as he recited scriptures in his mind. ¡°Boss, I request an extra duty at Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Dressmaking. I want to be your personal tailor.¡±

    Shen Yiren wrinkled her nose in confusion and replied, ¡°Sure, if you know how to make clothes. I always need to have my clothing modified outside the office, so you¡¯d be saving me extra work if you know how to. Once you¡¯ve healed¡­ modify this set for me. It¡¯s a little¡­ stuffy.¡±

    Shen Yiren wrinkled her face as though it really did bother her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. Happiness hase so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    Shen Yiren gently blew the next spoonful of food and fed Ming Feizhen again. She was both d and relieved to see him enjoying the food.

    Most people assumed Shen Yiren was good at taking care of people, when that couldn¡¯t have been further from the truth. She, after all, never really lived the life of an ordinary maiden. Shen Kuang was fantastic at taking care of people, on the other hand. When he fell ill one time as a kid, his sister poured boiling medicine into his mouth, had chilli rubbed onto his feet, green onions¡­ Long-story short, after experiencing near death, he did his best to develop independence and to take care of his health, lest his sister have to ¡°take care¡± of him. While Shen Yiren was happy her brother had so much initiative, she regretted missing out on opportunities to develop the skills to take care of another.

    ¡°I must warn you that I¡¯m not good at taking care of people, so don¡¯tin.¡±

    Afraid that she¡¯d repeat the same mistakes from the past, Shen Yiren was careful with everything she did. It might¡¯ve been a trivial task to some, but she treated it with the integrity of a young girl trying to help out at home, putting an upward curve on the corners of Ming Feizhen¡¯s lips. He ate mouthful after mouthful without thinking as he waspletely enamoured with watching her face.

    Upon meeting eyes with Ming Feizhen, Shen Yiren questioned, ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    ¡°Because I like watching you.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s hand and mind froze. Her reaction made Ming Feizhen realise what he said. Suddenly, the room temperature shot up, and their mouths felt awfully dry.

    ¡°No, no, what I meant to say was that I¡¯m feeling a little sleepy, yeah, sleepy, y-you know, feel like sleeping, ahaha.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, right. Okay, sleep. I¡¯ll stay by your side.¡±

    Shen Yiren was totally oblivious to her poor choice of words. Only once she read the surprise in Ming Feizhen¡¯s gaze did she slowly feel her cheeks being seared while her brain overheated. Shaking her head frantically, she eximed, ¡°No, no, I meant that I¡¯ll stay with you! No, I mean, I¡¯ll stay next to you while you sl-, you¡¯re annoying me! Are you going to sleep or not?!¡±

    ¡°Of course. Of course. I¡¯ll sleep now. Boss, will you¡­ keep mepany?¡±

    ¡°Close your eyes!¡±

    Ming Feizhen did as he was told. How was he going to sleep when Shen Yiren was still holding the bowl with food still in it, though?

    ¡°Boss.¡±

    Shen Yiren flinched as her heart beat faster and skin burned. Ming Feizhen, naturally, could feel her trembles through her thighs.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I¡­ suddenly can¡¯t fall asleep.¡±

    Shen Yiren patted her chest in relief, puzzling Ming Feizhen. ¡°I-I see. I shall sing you a song, then.¡±

    ¡°Stay your voice! We¡¯re not enemies!¡±

    With her head slightly angled and mouth slightly open, Shen Yiren asked, ¡°You saying I¡¯m a bad singer?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ming Feizhen almost shook his head, but he thought it was better not to gamble with his life, so he nodded, ¡°Mm.¡±

    Shen Yiren pouted, then shoved a spoonful of food into Ming Feizhen¡¯s mouth. ¡°Eat your food!¡±

    Ming Feizhen was more than happy to eat more and talk less. If Shen Yiren was too busy feeding him, she wouldn¡¯t remember to ask how Gongsun Chu kidnapped him.

    Shen Yiren set the big bowl onto the table beside the bed once Ming Feizhen was done and seemed to be in high spirits. The brothers¡¯ fib didn¡¯t fool her; for a moment, she did consider dragging him out of bed when they tried to fool her until she spotted the scar on his shoulder. She didn¡¯t need to be a doctor to tell that it was new. Therefore, she decided against yelling at him and sat down next to his bed.

 Book 13: Chapter 197

    Yizhen is Canon?

    A lingering silver droplet slipped from Shen Yiren¡¯s head, slid down her neck to reach the valley. Due to theck of space between her and her garment, the droplet melted as it sat there. Strangely, neither of them felt awkward despite the silence and heat. Instead, they gave each other a smile.

    Shen Yiren stood up, lit up the candle, peered outside the window and softly said, ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s going to rain.¡±

    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s a surprise.¡±

    Shen Yiren made her way back to the bed, but she stopped before she reached it, then hopped straight onto it and found herself afortable spot to sit.

    ¡°Boss, isn¡¯t this stealing from the injured?¡± Despite hisint, Ming Feizhen gave way.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to continue fooling me?¡± Shen Yiren huffed a breath onto her fist. ¡°On ount of your suffering, I¡¯ll spare you today. The next time you pretend to be in poor health, you know what¡¯sing.¡±

    ¡°But the thought of hurting me never even crossed your mind.¡±

    ¡°You knew?¡±

    ¡°If you were going to hit me, you wouldn¡¯t use your fist but your¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren reached into her sash and presented an inkstone. ¡°You mean this?¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t meant to be a cue for you to take it out! Why would you bring that along if you wereing to rescue me?!¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± holding up the inkstone, Shen Yiren smugly replied, ¡°who knows if you did something wrong again or not? There¡¯s no harm in being prepared. Besides, I need it for writing letters. When used for writing letters, external threats are neutralised. When used to smack people, internal threats are neutralised. Two birds with one inkstone.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his cheeks as though he was preparing for the inevitable.

    The thunder pped, but there was no breeze to relieve them of the sweltering heat. Even when thunder pped again, the two continued holding their gazes against each other. Itsted until Shen Yiren startedughing, which prompted Ming Feizhen to chuckle, too.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d look at me.¡± Shen Yiren leaned back onto the wall and moaned as she rxed. She was exhausted, but the time and ce was never right.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d look at me, too.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you dork.¡± Shen Yiren giggled again as she stretched out her limbs. Once she was done, she exhaled hard. ¡°I¡¯m exhausted. I¡¯ve forgotten when was thest time I got to sleep on a bed.¡± She was performing shoulder circles when a thought came to mind, prompting her to stop. ¡°Why do you think I looked at you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had a think and then smiled. ¡°Mm¡­ you recalled some past experience?¡±

    ¡°Eh? How¡¯d you know?¡±

    Ming Feizhen leaned onto the same wall, reducing the distance between them to half a person. ¡°You looked like you were reminiscing when you mentioned the rain.¡±

    ¡°Am I that easy to read?¡± Shen Yiren turned her head towards Ming Feizhen, sporting a yful look she rarely showed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t really know how to read people in the first ce,¡± Ming Feizhen turned toward Shen Yiren and looked down at her, ¡°but I can read you.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t question the authenticity of the im because Ming Feizhen had promised to never lie to her. She wanted to see his eyes more as though it was a window to his heart. ¡°I did recall something.¡± She gazed out the window again and continued, ¡°I said, ¡®Hmm,¡¯ when I mentioned the rain because the rain impacts paths, which I don¡¯t like. Youmented, ¡®¡­ that¡¯s a surprise,¡¯ because you like rain, correct?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct. Everyone has their own perspective of the same thing. It¡¯s interesting.¡±

    Shen Yiren cracked a smile that expressed her satisfaction with Ming Feizhen¡¯s perceptiveness. ¡°A simr thing happened when I was born.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    The thunder roared again, yet the quietness in the room seemed impervious.

    ¡°My dad always treasured my mother, so he was reluctant to leave her side when she was pregnant with Kuang and I, especially when she was close to bringing us to this world. He even asked his close friends to guard our home, so we had the most elites in the capital at the time.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t help smiling as he imagined the unimaginable scene of Shen Wuzheng panicking around his wife.

    ¡°On the day I was born, Uncle Ye, Shifu Shisan and my dad waited outside. My uncle said he would¡¯ve been there if he didn¡¯t receive wordte. We didn¡¯t know my mother was carrying twins, so my mother¡¯s maid went out to notify them that I was born. Apparently, Shifu said, ¡®Would¡¯ve been better if it was a boy¡¯. Uncle Ye said, ¡®Oh, a girl, nice.¡¯ Dad said, ¡®That¡¯s a surprise¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, his reaction doesn¡¯t surprise me.¡±

    ¡°I was told he was so happy that he cried.¡± Shen Yiren grabbed the jug of wine at the corner of the table and had a mouthful. Whether it was to avoid exacerbating his wounds or to avoid them both merrily drinking, she didn¡¯t pass it over to Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen quite liked the unforgettable Shen Wuzheng despite them sharing few interactions.

    Ximen Chuideng never shared the details of what transpired back then with Ming Feizhen, so clearly there was more to it. Afterwards, Divine Moon Cult paid an unsalvageable price for it.

    ¡°Personally, I want to be like my father.¡±

    ¡°You can.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, here you go again.¡±

    The two separated by a jug of wine looked straight ahead as they conversed without reserve.

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you my story. Now I need to hear yours.¡±

    ¡°Too many.¡±

    ¡°I want to hear them.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his chin, trying to think of one that he could tell without leaving his listener more confused than before. ¡°When I was seven, my shifu said I could start learning to drink.¡±

    ¡°You started learning to drink when you were seven?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Shifu said, ¡®You may still be young, but there are all sorts of dangerous, twisted, voodoo tricks that you can¡¯t defend against, especially alcohol.¡¯ He then passed me fifteen jugs to drink.

    ¡°Being only seven years old, I started drinking and asked, ¡®Would they poison the alcohol¡¯?

    ¡°Shifu replied, ¡®I would.¡¯

    ¡°I spat that thing out without a moment of hesitation and cried, ¡®Shifu! There¡¯s something wrong with the alcohol you gave me!¡¯

    ¡°Shifu, with a straight face, told me, ¡®Never forget: as long as it¡¯s alcohol, there¡¯s something wrong with it. There is no such thing as non-problematic alcohol. How else would you exin why people are iprehensible after drinking? Did Li Bai resemble a human in any form after he drank? Do human beings write the lines he wrote after he drank?¡¯

    ¡°¡¯What do I do then?¡¯ I asked.

    ¡°¡¯The only solution is to build up tolerance. You drink water, don¡¯t you? Do you have a problem with drinking water? No. Therefore, when you can drink alcohol like you drink water, the problem is solved.¡¯

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really get it, but it made sense to me, so I smashed back one jug after another. There was unmistakably something wrong with the alcohol. Some of them set my belly alight after I drank them, while some gave me splitting headaches, and then same made me high. Shifu would be there next to me mumbling something like, ¡®This drug can be sold¡­¡¯, ¡®This one won¡¯t work,¡¯ and so forth.

    ¡°The ufortable experiences did gradually subside. By the time I was close to eleven, I no longer felt any pains. Nowadays, I can, wait. What? Sell? Did Shifu use me as ab rat to test poisons?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± As she rolled on the bed with her hands around her stomach, Shen Yiren cried, ¡°You only just realised?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen went on a verbal tirade for a while and then ended upughing with Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll tell you the story of how we walked corpses in Xiangxi.¡±

    ¡°You walked corpses?¡±

    ¡°Man¡­¡±

    Time flew by as the two chatted. By the time they realised it, Ming Feizhen was already recounting his time in the underground pce and how he drove off Gongsun Chu. Luckily for him, the inkstone never visited his face.

    ¡°Feizhen, you¡¯ve added another big merit next to your name.¡±

    ¡°Really?! I achieved something despite being locked up for so long?¡±

    ¡°The imperial court may not officially acknowledge it since it was technically Tianhu who drove Jiang Chen off, not to mention his status. I, however, know who actually drove off Jiang Chen.¡±

    ¡°I want a reward.¡±

    Had it been under different circumstances, Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve received his reward already ¨C a peck on the cheek with an inkstone.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Shen Yiren bent her knees up, wrapped them around her arms and rested her cheek on them. ¡°So what do you want?¡±

    There was a sudden moment of pause in the conversation while nature went about raging outside. Ming Feizhen stared at Shen Yiren¡¯s pair of lips without uttering a word.

 Book 13: Chapter 198

    Of Course Yizhen is Canon!

    The humidity didn¡¯t bother them even though Ming Feizhen¡¯s spirit was elsewhere. Shen Yiren¡¯s response was just so different to what he was used to that his brain struggled to keep up.

    Eventually, Ming Feizhen shifted his line of sight away in case Shen Yiren could read his mind. Little did he know that she saw something else.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s mind was focused on the scar that she saw on Ming Feizhen¡¯s other shoulder when she was feeding him. She didn¡¯t know the details, but she could tell it was rtively new, caused by the same weapon and most likely acquired around the same time. What did the weapon pierce? His scap. She could imagine what the smiling guy went through when he wasn¡¯t around her, yet he hid it all behind his smile.

    When the next lightning bolt loudly shed its might, it cast a shadow over Shen Yiren¡¯s face.

    ¡°Feizhen, you won¡¯t lie to me,¡± softly uttered Shen Yiren.

    Despite not following where she was going, Ming Feizhen still nodded. ¡°Mm, I won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I have a few questions¡­ I¡¯d like to ask.¡±

    ¡°As long as it¡¯s you, I¡¯ll answer everything I can.¡±

    ¡°Okay, first question.¡±

    ¡°Mm?¡±

    ¡°Did you suffer a lot?¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have confidence in his judgement when it was hard to see Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes clearly behind the welled-up emotions. That being said, he noticed where she stared. With a smile, he replied, ¡°No. Really.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a weirdo.¡± Shen Yiren suddenly reached out to caress Ming Feizhen¡¯s face. ¡°You promised not to lie to me. Maybe you¡¯re not aware of it, but you¡¯re actually an expert liar. You told me lie after lie when we first got to know each other¡­ and I was totally oblivious. But¡­ But you promised not to lie to me. Ever since then, you stopped telling lies¡­ Or more correctly, you only tell obvious lies.¡±

    With a smile, Ming Feizhen removed the small hand from his face. ¡°You left the capital and Liu Shan Men, and almost ended up in Jiang Chen¡¯s grasp, to save me.¡± He squeezed her hand as he recalled the poor state she was in upon arrival. ¡°Boss, aren¡¯t you the one who suffered?¡±

    Shen Yiren just stared at Ming Feizhen before responding with a smile, ¡°I didn¡¯t suffer, either.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a weirdo, too.¡±

    They didn¡¯t realise that their smiles were identical, but Ming Feizhen soon realised that Shen Yiren wasn¡¯t her usual self. He could smell alcohol on her. While true that she had quite a bit to drink and drank it rather fast, knowing her tolerance, it shouldn¡¯t have impacted her so much. They usually drank three times more than that without showing any signs of inebriation; to the contrary, she¡¯d look wider and wider awake as she drank. Right now, she looked out of it and ready to pass out.

    ¡°Boss, are you¡­ sleepy?¡±

    Shen Yiren shook her head. ¡°¡­ No.¡±

    ¡°How¡­ many days has it been since youst slept?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? How many was it again?¡± Shen Yiren started counted off on her fingers and then cackled as she shed three fingers in her left hand and four fingers in her right hand. ¡°Ten days!¡± Realising what she said and showed weren¡¯t congruent, she checked her fingers again. ¡°Hmm? Ten¡­ Ten days? Hmm?¡±

    There was no mistake Shen Yiren was sleepy. Thebination of sleep deprivation, rxation upon seeing Ming Feizhen and alcoholpletely wrecked her brain. Shen Yiren¡¯s mannerisms showed that Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t be able to receive his reward. Part of him was d, though, for she¡¯d have whacked him with the inkstone for ogling her lips. The best course of action right then and there was to let her catch up on some much needed sleep.

    ¡°Boss, do you¡­ know who I am?¡± Ming Feizhen tried to pull Shen Yiren over toy her down, but she put up a feisty fight.

    ¡°You¡¯re Ming Feizhen. I¡­ I have a question for you.¡± Shen Yiren aerated her cheeks. ¡°Whenever I ask you something, you refuse¡­ to give me a straight answer.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you one, okay? Lie down first.

    ¡°¡­ Then, tell me, one plus one¡­¡±

    ¡°Two. Lie down.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ What about two plus two?¡±

    Shen Yiren kept pulling in the opposite direction Ming Feizhen pulled her. Out of nowhere, she pushed in his direction, pushing him down below her. ¡°¡­ Tell me¡­ Tell me¡­¡±

    Fighting back the pain of his head banging on the bed frame, Ming Feizhen replied, ¡°Okay, ask and I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

    Shen Yiren brushed her hair aside and leaned in. ¡°¡­ Okay¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren asked a whole series of questions that Ming Feizhen answered, but he didn¡¯t remember the answers he gave for all he remembered was her voice. Not the melody of the rain. Not the roars of the heavens. Her voice. Thest spurt of summer heat was right next to his ear.

    ¡°¡­ You have good ears? Can¡­ you hear if anyone is around? No one¡­ is eavesdropping? No one¡­ is peeking?

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The torrent of rain started pouring down, driving out the heat that had permeated on the all this time.

    She slept with her weight on one of Ming Feizhen¡¯s arms. He ced his free arm on his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. Nothing should¡¯ve been audible but the sound of rain running off the eaves, yet all he heard was her soft and rxed breaths. His heart beat nearly as loud as the raindrops sttering outside.

    Will Boss remember¡­? Most importantly¡­ why¡­ did she kiss me?

 Book 13: Chapter 199

    One Day Later

    Every iris would stop for a moment to take in the mascara of light in the sky, yet Hong Jiu paced back and forth by the door to Ming Feizhen¡¯s room with his brows glued together. He¡¯d asionally scrub his chest as though he was wrestling with emotions trying to surface.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Hong Jiu jolted upon hearing the voice, which showed just how anxious he was. That being said, he identified her based on her voice alone. As soon as he heard her voice, he spun around and covered her mouth with a hand. ¡°Pipe down! Don¡¯t talk. Follow me.¡±

    Had a constable passed by while a man of Hong Jiu¡¯s stature just silenced Master Qi the way he did and said what he said, he¡¯d have been caned until his butt muscles were torn even if he was shown mercy. He avoided a ferocious kick to the shin only because Master Qi knew him well enough.

    Once they were out, Hong Jiu wiped his head of sweat and let out an extended exhale.

    ¡°Why are you snooping around like a burr?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean I¡¯m snooping around? You¡¯re the one snooping around. I didn¡¯t even hear your steps.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re guilty! What¡­ were you doing by the door? Is there any enemy on the other side?¡± Master Qi remained vignt despite it now being safe, and Hong Jiu¡¯s anxious look was rare, so she couldn¡¯t stop herself thinking in that direction.

    ¡°No,¡± Hong Jiu waved his hand, ¡°just a bedroom.¡±

    ¡°A bedroom? ¡­ You¡¯re gross. What were you eavesdropping on?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s my Leader¡¯s bedroom.¡±

    ¡°Yuck! That¡¯s even grosser!¡±

    ¡°Stop reading books that aren¡¯t rted to education. There¡¯s someone in the room with my Leader.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So?¡±

    ¡°Come on. You still don¡¯t get it?¡±

    Hong Jiu checked around for anyone listening in, then quietly started exining. Master Qi bobbed her head after every sentence and then covered her mouth with both hands after thest.

    ¡°She didn¡¯te outst night?¡±

    Hong Jiu held his index finger over his lips as he looked around. ¡°Don¡¯t shout! Is it something the world should know about, you tigress?¡±

    With rosy cheeks, Master Qi, too, lowered her voice as she asked, ¡°But¡­ Miss Shen is Yan Shisan¡¯s disciple, right? I heard she has extremely high demands. Why would she ever fall for your brother?¡±

    ¡°Are you reallyparing him to those plebeians? He has plenty of charm.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Miss Shen engaged?¡±

    ¡°So? Is my brother the sort of man to care about those worldly customs? Even if she¡¯s married, has a kid and grandkids, my brother would still, uh, probably not go after her. My point is, the spirit.¡±

    ¡°Ew! What¡¯s your brother¡¯s deal? If he likes Miss Shen, then do it the proper way and propose properly. Why do this¡­?¡± The blushing maiden couldn¡¯t help stealing a nce in the direction of Ming Feizhen¡¯s room. ¡°What¡­ did they do behind the doors?¡±

    ¡°What do you know? Is my brother the type of person to do that sort of thing? Not even Liuxia Hui is as virtuous as my brother. I guarantee they yed checkers or something together all night ¨C that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°Go inside and take a look, then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s inappropriate.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    Hong Jiu fidgeted with his fingers. ¡°Well¡­ even Buddha must rest. What if¡­ the scene is too intense¡­ right?¡±

    ¡°¡¯Right¡¯ what?¡± Master Qi genuinely couldn¡¯t understand what was being implied and why Hong Jiu was being so fidgety.

    ¡°Whatever the case, I can¡¯t go in. It¡¯s inappropriate for a junior to butt into his senior¡¯s private life.¡±

    ¡°Get someone else to take a look, then. I¡¯ll check it out for you.¡±

    ¡°Stop! That¡¯s even more inappropriate! Is this something that outsiders should know?¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Annoyed over the fact that her sincere offer was rejected, and that she copped a lecture, Master Qi grumbled, ¡°Are you your brother¡¯sckey or something?¡±

    ¡°Lackey?¡± Hong Jiu thumped his chest. ¡°Brother from another mother!¡±

    Master Qi pulled a face of disgust before a thought hit her. ¡°Hang on. I saw you pacing back and forth like an enemy wasing, yet you refused to go in. What were you doing, then?¡±

    Hong Jiu dragged Master Qi farther away from the room by the hand. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    ¡°What is it? Why are you acting like it¡¯s some big secret? Aren¡¯t we already far away?¡±

    ¡°Juste with me.¡± Hong Jiu dragged Master Qi into a small room on the second floor, locked the door shut and even lowered the bed curtains despite them going under the bed.

    ¡°Just what is it?! It¡¯s filthy down here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve received word from Mount Daluo.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    Mount Daluo was virtually a mythical entity to the majority of the martial world ¨C even in spite of Ming Huayu tarnishing their name in thest few decades. People who had just debuted, like Master Qi, saw Mount Daluo as a legitimately upright sect. It was surprising to hear that Mount Daluo chose to get involved when they were rarely involved in the martial world¡¯s affairs.

    ¡°And what were you told?¡±

    ¡°We are getting help.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±

    Hong Jiu rolled his eyes. ¡°My grandauntpletely went off the rails after she heard my brother was kidnapped; she¡¯s the one who¡¯sing to help.¡±

    Why would someone who¡¯s in the same generation as Hero Shenzhou be unwee? What is this idiot worried about?

    ¡°Is she notpetent or something?¡±

    ¡°Ah, pfft. If she¡¯s ipetent, there¡¯s nobodypetent in the entire world.¡±

    ¡°So what are you making a fuss for?¡±

    ¡°The problem is, she cares too much about Leader.¡±

    ¡°She¡­ got careless and kidnapped, too?¡±

    ¡°No. My grandaunt has always been the type to n meticulously before taking action, especially when it¡¯s a big deal.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Haha, good thing? Haha, you have jokes, huh? She spent nearly a month sending out letters in her cousin¡¯s name ¨C her cousin is our grandmaster, by the way ¨C assembling an army numbering ten thousand from the northern martial world and Beijiang to march into Jiangnan.¡±

    Glossary

    Liuxia Hui ¨C I¡¯m pretty sure I mentioned this at one point, but you probably don¡¯t remember. He, like yours truly, was a man who basically symbolised virtue. The ancient Chinese politician once held ady in hisp without the slightest imputation on his moral character.

 Book 13: Chapter 200

    Reducing a Big Problem into a Small One

    ¡°He¡­ is nning an insurrection?¡± Frankly, anyone would¡¯ve jumped to the same conclusion after what they heard, so Master Qi asked a perfectly reasonable question.

    ¡°Would you believe me if I said, ¡®No¡¯? As soon as the taskforce was formed, they shed with Blue Prince¡¯s forces.¡±

    ¡°Blue Prince? They shed with the prodigy among the Princes?!¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately. Blue Prince¡¯s fief is in Beiping. Could he overlook an army numbering ten thousand? As soon as he started looking into it, they shed.¡±

    ¡°You need to save your grandaunt as soon as possible, then.¡±

    ¡°Save her? She said it¡¯d make for the perfect opportunity to train troops. She absolutely relished the beating her group dished out; she even pursued them all the way to Blue Prince¡¯s manor and nearly kidnapped the Prince. My third brother told me that the imperial court and Blue Prince thought the force was Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ trump card, so they¡¯re preparing to assemble a reinforcement toon.¡±

    Beiping wasn¡¯t too far from Jinyong, which was a city by the border, so it effectively acted as the secondyer of defence against Beijiang. Emperor Yuansheng once nned to move the capital to Beiping. Thus, the fact that he entrusted it to Blue Prince said a lot about his evaluation of Blue Prince. Blue Prince wasn¡¯t most respected for hispetence as a military leader but his unblemished record against foreign forces. Yet, he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Mount Daluo, not to mention his opponent only fought him in the spur of the moment. Moreover, Mount Daluo managed to assemble a force of ten thousand within the span of one mere month. If the imperial court found out, ¡°terrified¡± would be understating how they felt once they found out they were oblivious such a big force was hiding in the martial world the entire time.

    ¡°This is a secret of secrets. Don¡¯t tell anyone else about this.¡±

    Master Qi nodded, mind still upied with marvelling over the achievement. ¡°Wait, why are you still here, then?! Why aren¡¯t you stopping them? Your first brother is fine.¡±

    Even if Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch was kidnapped, forming an army was overkill. The outside world had no ce debating Mount Daluo¡¯s decision to treasure Ming Feizhen, true. Mount Daluo marching on Fiends¡¯ Genesis for kidnapping Ming Feizhen ¨C fair. Those arguments, however, fell on their faces since Ming Feizhen was fine! As a matter of fact, he and ady were¡­

    Blue Prince practically bit the dust for no sound reason. If the imperial court¡¯s forces joined the fray, then they were fighting for the wrong reasons, too.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already written a letter I nned to have delivered, but what if something happens before the letter reaches her? That¡¯s why I was going to ask Leader if I should personally deliver it. If Grandaunt reaches Jiangnan, forget Fiends¡¯ Genesis, we might as well go all the way and revolt.¡±

    Master Qi nodded since she didn¡¯t have a better solution, but she then shook her head. ¡°How are you going to deliver it? You¡¯re still recovering yourself. You¡¯d be slower than a pigeon.¡±

    Hong Jiu had the same concern. His qinggong waspromised due his injuries. Hai Yecha¡¯s group were still around and capable enough to starch him. With that said, he wasn¡¯t privy to the circumstances in Beiping. If someone killed the pigeon before it could deliver his letter, then a disaster was inevitable.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to talk to Leader about it, but he¡¯s busy¡­¡±

    ¡°Just go talk to him!¡±

    ¡°Pass me the letter.¡±

    Master Qi and Hong Jiu ripped her heads up upon hearing the third voice, smashing their heads onto the base of the bed.

    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    When the duo crawled out with their hands on their heads, they saw exactly who they thought it was ¨C Tianhu. While Master Qi was curious about when he arrived, Hong Jiu¡¯s focus was elsewhere.

    ¡°You eavesdropped on us? You bring shame to The Ultimate Three name.¡±

    ¡°You two barged into my room to discuss a secret. How is it my fault?¡±

    Master Qi: This is his room?

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to the point. Leave it to me. Hong Jiu, give me the letter. I¡¯ll deliver it.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re serious or not. My grandaunt hates your guts as much as possible. What do you n to do?¡±

    Tianhu sneered. ¡°She hates me? I don¡¯t like her, either. As for what I¡¯m going to do, I¡¯m just going to make her stop and then push all the me onto Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Doesn¡¯t that solve the issue?¡±

    ¡°You want to frame Fiends¡¯ Genesis? That idea is so¡­ damn ingenious. Wait, wait, wait, is it really that simple?¡±

    ¡°Also, why are you helping? You¡¯re with Emperor¡¯s Entourage. Aren¡¯t you Liu Shan Men¡¯spetition?¡± added Master Qi.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Because it¡¯s too troublesome.¡± Tianhu heaved a tired breath. ¡°I¡¯ve heard what you mentioned. The next developments are easily predictable. Since I¡¯ve gotten involved with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ activities, the imperial court will send me on subjugation jobs, which, simply put, is too much trouble. The matter is a product of misunderstandings, so what¡¯s there to resolve? Why not just me Fiends¡¯ Genesis for all of it? They need to be destroyed one way or another, so they might as well take the fall for this, too.¡±

    Tianhu, gaze on Hong Jiu, yawned before continuing, ¡°Besides, I could reach Beiping in a day. You two? What do you think?¡±

    Even though there was a risk of entrusting it to an unsolvable body of mystery, Hong Jiu didn¡¯t have a better alternative, so he eventually asked, ¡°Would you helping us¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t want Mount Daluo to perish yet.¡± Tianhu got up, took the letter from Hong Jiu¡¯s shirt and droned with a smirk, ¡°I hope your senior brother will be in different shape by the time I return.¡±

    Master Qi asked, ¡°So¡­ your senior brother¡­¡±

    Hong Jiu shook his head. ¡°Since there¡¯s no rush, let them sleep.¡±

    Tianhu bobbed his head. ¡°Them?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 201

    A Small Matter Blown Into a Big Matter

    Most of the raindrops fromst night were nowhere to be seen on the leaves. If the tree bark wasn¡¯t still a tad damp, nobody would think there was heavy downpourst night.

    Strolling in the small yard out the back of the inn, Song Chi said, ¡°Zi Li worried for nothing. Had he known you were here, he would not have worried about Fiends¡¯ Genesis running rampant.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As a man who believed in observing customs, Song Chi visited Bai Zhiqing first upon arriving in Hangzhou. In addition, he implied who he saw as his closest ally among all the other important people at the inn.

    Considering how capable Song Chi was among the young generation of the Seven Champion White Princes, it was no surprise that, like the other elders, Bai Zhiqing evaluated Song Chi positively. Bai Zhiqing wasn¡¯t fond of interacting with outsiders, especially the next generation of the Seven Champion White Princes. Song Chi was an exception as he and Bai Yumo were rather close; he was one of the few people whom Bai Yumo trusted outside of her immediate family. Bai Yumo was practically Bai Zhiqing¡¯s life. Song Chi, therefore, knew that she was his ticket to an alliance with Bai n even if Bai n preferred to stand alone.

    Walking beside Song Chi, Bai Zhiqing wagged his hand as he replied, ¡°No, no. I didn¡¯t even see Jiang Chen or Shang Bieshi. Hai Yecha almost subdued me. Had Mount Daluo not intervened, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to speak to you now.¡±

    Song Chi smiled, but his thoughts contradicted it.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ rampage had yet to be resolved, but Jiang Chen¡¯s defeat reduced the level of their threat drastically. Those who had a fast-moving newswork and perceptive eyes would realise that the turmoil wouldn¡¯tst much longer. The truly astute would be looking at the future developments already.

    Due to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ actions, Emperor Yuansheng was forced to rekindle his friendship with the Seven Champion White Princes and strengthen it. As a result, Luo Ming¡¯s act of forfeiting autonomy and privileges no longer served his intended purpose. Emperor Yuansheng wouldn¡¯t kick away thedder after he finished climbing, meaning that he couldn¡¯t attack the six for another two to three years, which would be prime time for the six to strengthen themselves. If the six couldn¡¯t convince Emperor Yuansheng to lower his vignce against them in that time frame, then an eventual fight or truce was inevitable. Among the White Princes, some had already decided which path they preferred. Regardless of whether it was peace or war, theing two to three years they had were critical.

    Song Chi was aware that his n hadn¡¯t determined their course yet. Conflict wouldn¡¯t serve them, or any of the other five for that matter, positively. The most ideal scenario for the White Princes was to maintain their status quo ¨C controlling a military unit of their own, collecting their own taxes and being in a strategic location to the capital. In essence, reaping what their predecessors sowed for thest century. As long as they could enjoy those perks, no matter how rocky it was in the martial world, nobody could drag them off their thrones. Having said that, it was wishful thinking.

    The Seven Champion White Princes always had a part in the fight for the throne. It was an inexorable fact; if somebody wanted to climb the steps, somebody had to give way. Emperor Yuansheng even wanted them to take the initiative to get off stage.

    Song Chi appreciated the value of having allies. For that reason, he made as many friends as possible whilst minimising enemies. As such, he hesitated once Mount Daluo was part of the picture again.

    Thanks to the letter that Hong Jiu and Master Qi sent to the capital, Hong Jiu saved Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor. In and of itself, the merit wasn¡¯t a huge aplishment. Howbeit, Emperor Yuansheng could give infinite weight to the aplishment in order to hold back the rewards he granted the White Princes. At least, that would¡¯ve been Song Chi¡¯s approach if he was in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s shoes.

    Mount Daluo would move closer to the centre of power once the dust settled, and they would quickly be the main attraction of the martial world after that. In turn, the three offices overseeing the martial world would dip into gloomy times.

    Shaolin stuck to their own small world. Wudangcked young disciples who¡¯d go out and spread their name. Mount Daluo was practically in obscurity if it weren¡¯t for Lian Zhuiyue. That being said, since he went around duelling and rarely stayed in one spot, he was off the radar for the most part.

    Emperor Yuansheng discussed with Lian Zhuiyue how Mount Daluo and the imperial court would work together going forward when they met in Nanjiang. That went to show that Emperor Yuansheng wanted the aid of Mount Daluo, and it was easy to see why. In the event that the Seven Champion White Princes were plucked, there¡¯d be a power vacuum in Jiangnan¡¯s martialmunity. Therefore, somebody would have to pick up the mantle the seven left behind. Ideally, the sect that reced them would be a supporter of the imperial court. Mount Daluo had been on friendly terms with the imperial court since the dynasty¡¯s founding, and the former didn¡¯t desire glory or material wealth. What sword could beat a sword that only wanted to serve? If Mount Daluo wasn¡¯t so valuable, Song Chi couldn¡¯t see how Emperor Yuansheng justified promoting Ming Feizhen to Hanlin Academician and conferring him the rank of Duke.

    Although Hong Jiu¡¯s achievement this time came by way of coincidence, it carved open a path for Mount Daluo to enter the fray. It was pretty much a given that Emperor Yuansheng would be generously rewarding Mount Daluo. Thus, Song Chi needed to figure out what attitude to adopt toward Mount Daluo.

    Mount Daluo was about to go on an upward trajectory. Emperor Yuansheng would undoubtedly entrust big tasks to them. Many members of the imperial court had yet to recognise these facts. Even if they realised, they wouldn¡¯t have any ce directly striking up a friendship with Mount Daluo unless they wanted Emperor Yuansheng to suspect them of dubious intentions. So, what benefits did someone without the capacity of an imperial court council official stand to gain from befriending Mount Daluo?

    Song n¡¯s approach had always been to make friends as a means of expanding. Song Chi didn¡¯t have some unforgivable grudge with Mount Daluo. Among all the shes they had, they could all be easily resolved if he just paid them a visit to apologise in person. The only problem was¡­ befriending Mount Daluo meant befriending Ming Feizhen, Mount Daluo¡¯s future patriarch. Considering even someone of Hong Jiu¡¯s standing was at Ming Feizhen¡¯s beck and call, there was no detour around Ming Feizhen. Song Chi had a dilemma: his brother¡¯s interests and his n¡¯s interests didn¡¯t mesh. Thankfully, Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren were clean, so there was still hope.

    There¡¯s still time to consider our path. Let¡¯s just y it by ear. Whatever. Let¡¯s talk to Shen Yiren before contemting which way to go.

 Book 13: Chapter 202

    A Small Matter Blown Into a Giant Matter

    Captain Song had a lot of spare time on his hands as ofte. Though he didn¡¯t collect any credit in the squashing of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, Liu Shan Men was rewarded a merit.

    Liu Shan Men made a considerable number of blunders in Shen Yiren¡¯s absence, but Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t hold Song Ou ountable as he knew thetter didn¡¯t have any actual authority at the office. Therefore, Shen Yiren would have to pay for the majority of the consequences. That made for a prime opportunity to seize power at Liu Shan Men.

    Song n contributed notably in bringing down Fiends¡¯ Genesis via contacting the other White Princes in addition to offering support in Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s greatest time of need. The future wasn¡¯t bright for them yet, but a weight had certainly been lifted from their shoulders.

    Song Ou, seeing an opportunity to progress his agendas, enthusiastically began discussing business with his most capable assistant. ¡°Tell me: who is the strongest in Liu Shan Men?¡±

    His capable assistant answered in a sincere tone, ¡°Is it not written on the wall? That would be you.¡±

    ¡°Tell me: who holds the highest authority, and who is the most dashing in Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°Captain, I hate to sound like a nag, but you are too modest. Remove the question marks and speak from the heart. You embody all adjectives of praise.¡±

    ¡°Then, tell me: how is this report for His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°One word: spectacr. Captain, just how do you do it? How are you so talented?¡±

    Song Ou: Exactly. You people just don¡¯t recognise talent. Ming Feizhen? He deserved to be kidnapped.

    By this point, Zha Pi probably no longer recognised the person he had elevated into the heavens.

    Song Ou pped the table with the ordion in his hand. ¡°Hmph, overlooking me, not letting me take the reins and running off whenever you want. Even your subordinates have no manners. I¡¯m going to have His Majesty transfer you to another branch outside of the capital. I¡¯d like to see you boss me around again!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Captain, this move of yours is better than anything Zhuge Liang ever came up with up. Genius,¡± praised Zha Pi. ¡°Here, have lunch first.¡±

    Song Ouughed heartily, smirked, grinned and smiled before he finished his bowl of soup. When he saw the dishes, though, he froze up. ¡°Why¡­ is it all green vegetables?¡±

    ¡°Did you not say you wanted to go vegetarian? A clear mind makes you wiser.¡±

    Song Ou: I think I did say that? There¡¯s just something off putting about all this green, though. It makes me feel like I¡¯m about to lose something, like something bad is about to happen.

    ¡°Ah, whatever, I¡¯ve lost my appetite. Give me some fruit. What fruit is on the menu today.¡±

    ¡°Uh, watermelon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Song Ou¡¯s unease burgeoned.

    ***

    ¡°What brings you here, Brother Dugu?¡± Hong Jiu saw Dugu standing politely on the other side of the doors as soon as he opened them.

    Dugu smiled. ¡°I was wondering where you had gone, Brother Hong. Is Sir Tianhu here by any chance?¡±

    Because he had a part in defeating Jiang Chen, Tianhu had to provide a location, thereby divulging his whereabouts, but there was no guarantee that he¡¯d stay in Hangzhou for long, which was why Dugu rushed over.

    Hong Jiu nodded. Dugu peered into the room to see Tianhu looking invested in whatever he was chatting with Master Qi about.

    ¡°Where? Where? Let¡¯s go see.¡±

    Master Qi smiled. ¡°Is it really so interesting?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡± Tianhu hurried to his feet to leave, wearing a smile that suggested he was about to go the most important event in the world.

    Dugu stepped inside and went up to Tianhu. ¡°Your subordinate is here on orders from above. Sir, may we step aside to talk?¡±

    ¡°Not free. If there¡¯s something important, save it forter,¡± replied Tianhu, continuing out on his way.

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi looked at each other, puzzled, then asked Dugu. ¡°Important matters are left forter?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Sir Tianhu refuses to listen to trivial things,¡± replied Dugu. ¡°What is he off to see?¡±

    Hong Jiu smacked himself on the head. ¡°I totally forgot! We need to stop him. Why does he want to peek on people sleeping?¡±

    In spite of Tianhu¡¯s strong interest, he travelled at a casual pace, seemingly not wanting to ruin his joy of anticipation, which gave Hong Jiu andpany time to catch up.

    ¡°Hey, Tianhu, you can¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Hong Jiu? Why are all of you gathered today?¡± Carrying a cbash of wine and a bag of peanuts, Mountain Monster questioned, ¡°Hey, you forgot who I am? You still owe me a hundred thousand taels from our bet.¡±

    Hong Jiu was about to answer the questions until he heard the mention of the debt, which prompted him to scratch his head. ¡°Huh? That happened? Who are you again, Miss?¡±

    Suffice to say, Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t fool the disguise expert. However, knowing Mount Daluo only ever took, never gave, she didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it. ¡°Stop acting. I¡¯ll just forget about the bet. What are you all doing? By the way, have you seen Ol¡¯ Shen? I came here with her, but I don¡¯t see her anywhere.¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Shen?¡±

    ¡°That recklessss who looks sweet, has a hot voice and extrarge udders. You know her.¡±

    Master Qi, Hong Jiu and Dugu: ¡°Oh, Miss Shen!¡±

    Hong Jiu and Master Qi knew where Shen Yiren was, but how were they supposed to answer that¡­?

    The dapper adept went on ahead with a skip in his step, virtually humming, ¡°Follow me. Follow me. I know where she is.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s an intelligence agent for you.¡±

    Thus, Mountain Monster joined the crew.

    Just outside the doors to Ming Feizhen¡¯s room, the group bumped into Song Chi and Bai Zhiqing.

    ¡°What a coincidence. Hello again, Hero Hong,¡± expressed Song Chi.

    ¡°What are you here for?¡± Hong Jiu, evidently, wasn¡¯t a fan of Song Chi.

    ¡°It seems there are some misunderstandings between us, Brother Hong. I shall catch up with after I greet my sister-inw.¡±

    Oblivious to the bad blood between them, Bai Zhiqing pointed to the doors. ¡°It¡¯s this room, but why are the doors open?¡±

    Tianhu didn¡¯t even pretend to hide his interest. Dugu checked inside, and the informed pair couldn¡¯t help stealing a nce, too. Regrettably, the scene they wanted to see wasn¡¯t avable. All they could see through the gap was Shen Yiren¡¯s tired face. While she was tidy for the most part, it would¡¯ve been safe to assume she slept without changing out of her outside clothes and forgot to tidy up herself upon waking. That was a rare urrence for the young maiden who was usually well-groomed. She stood at the doors, spacing out as if she wasn¡¯t sure if she was going to step out of not.

    Song Chi retreated one step and saluted Shen Yiren. ¡°Zi Li pays his respects.¡±

    Mount Monster: ¡°Ol¡¯ Shen, you sleep yourself into stupidity? You reek of alcohol. Why didn¡¯t you invite me if you were going to drink?!¡±

    It took Shen Yiren a while to identify who was who. In a dazed voice, she said, ¡°Hmm? Oh, it¡¯s you guys. Why are you here? Ah, it hurts¡­¡±

    Mountain Monster jogged up to Shen Yiren. ¡°Hurt? Where?¡±

    Song Chi reflexively asked, ¡°Sister-inw, what is bothering you?¡±

    ¡°Boss, your sash, huh?¡±

    The people gathered at the door froze upon hearing the voice from the man behind Shen Yiren. Everyone fixed their gazes on the man rubbing his eyes as he went to the door and holding out a sash.

    Song Chi: Hurts¡­ Sash¡­ Brother, what do I do¡­?

 Book 13: Chapter 203

    Ming Feizhen Weighs the Gains and Losses

    Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren resembled hostages trapped in a room as they stood in the encirclement, yet they seemed oblivious to the fact that they had be the centre of attraction.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡± After he scanned Shen Yiren from head to toe and back to front, Hong Jiu checked out Ming Feizhen in the same fashion. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk¡­ Hmm?¡± He cracked a big smile and continued, ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡±

    ¡°Speak Mandarin!¡± Ming Feizhen clocked Hong Jiu over the head.

    Using one hand to rub his head, Hong Jiu flicked up a thumb in his other hand. ¡°Leader, good stuff. Good stuff. Very good stuff.¡±

    ¡°What is good?¡±

    Hong Jiu looked around despite already knowing there was someone seated in every cardinal direction, and then quietly praised, ¡°Leader, you did not even wait for Miss Shen to change¡­ Wow, that is next-level skill.¡±

    ¡°What sort of sick thoughts are you letting your mind wander off to?!¡±

    ¡°You do not have to hide it from me, Leader. Look at your hips. There is a bloodstain right there.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked down to the spot where Hong Jiu pointed, which was exactly ¡°that¡± spot. ¡°It¡¯s my blood, you dimwit! What¡¯s so strange about spilling some blood when I¡¯m injured?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Are you saying nothing happened between you twost night?¡±

    Ming Feizhen opened his mouth to scold Hong Jiu, but some memory made his face red, thereby galvanising him to swallow the words on his tongue. The reaction all but cemented Hong Jiu¡¯s suspicions, so he zoomed over to Shen Yiren straight away and conveyed, ¡°Congrattions, Sister-inw!¡±

    Shen Yiren wasted no time shooting Ming Feizhen a re, yet he looked away instead of panicking, confusing her.

    Tianhu went up to Ming Feizhen and expressed his genuine feelings. ¡°I have business I need to attend to, but I¡¯ve pushed it back two hours for your sake.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go now. But before that, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°Am I invited to the wedding banquet?¡±

    ¡°Piss off!¡±

    Tianhu shook his head, pretending he was disappointed in a friend, and then giddily left with Dugu.

    Mountain Monster draped her shoulder over Shen Yiren¡¯s shoulder and caressed thetter¡¯s cheek. ¡°Ol¡¯ Shen, your skin is so nice, so smooth and supple.¡±

    ¡°Really? Wow¡­ I think you¡¯re right. I slept wellst night.¡±

    ¡°Of course you did. Having said that, good sleep is the secondary reason. The main reason is the rejuvenation.¡±

    ¡°What rejuvenation?¡±

    With a smirk, Mountain Monster bumped Shen Yiren on the shoulder. ¡°Hurts, hey?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a little. Not that much.¡±

    Mountain Monster cackled behind her hand. ¡°Well, that¡¯s understandable since it was your first time. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±

    ¡°Just what in the world are you talking about?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s not because¡­¡± Mountain Monster finished off the rest in Shen Yiren¡¯s ear.

    Before Mountain Monster could finish, though, Shen Yiren whacked the former over the head. ¡°I was talking about a headache!¡±

    Hong Jiu: ¡°You can get headaches from it?¡±

    ¡°Sh-shut up. I forbid you from making it moreplicated than it already is.¡± It was the meekest scolding Ming Feizhen ever gave.

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Feizhen looked devoid of life, like someone who didn¡¯t get any sleep for a night. Nheless, she didn¡¯t think too much about it as she had nothing to fear when she knew she didn¡¯t have anything to be guilty about. They didn¡¯t cross any linesst night. Plus, she trusted Ming Feizhen could shut all their gossiping mouths up, but¡­ he seemed beside himself today. Ming Feizhen, casting his gaze heaven-bound, had his brows glued together. He was sitting in the middle of an encirclement, yet his mind was off in another dimension. Knowing that he wasn¡¯t going to return to reality any time soon, she had no choice but to dismantle the situation on her own.

    ¡°Hey, you¡­¡± When she attempted to exin what transpired, Shen Yiren realised that it wasn¡¯t going to be easy based on the gazes on them. She had a feeling that it was a mistake to not exin, but it was also a mistake to exin. With hot flushes on her cheeks, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t get creative. W-we didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°I did not ask anything.¡± Song Chi showed open hands.

    ¡°You trying to y games with me, you runt?!¡±

    No, Song Chi truly didn¡¯t ask for an exnation; why would an exnation be necessary? Only a fool would question himself when he saw it all with his own eyes.

    Song Chi felt tired because, whether it was from a personal or career perspective, he didn¡¯t want Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen to be close. At this point, they weren¡¯t close; they were inseparable¡­

    On his way out, Tianhu reminded Dugu to ask for leave as soon as possible, or he wouldn¡¯t be able to take time off to partake in the wedding banquet once invitations were sent out. Hong Jiu already started inquiring which shop in Hangzhou made the best stickers, which shop would be able to meet the demands for cakes and so forth. Mountain Monster and Master Qi, meanwhile, discussed what sort of style Shen Yiren should go with for her wedding robe. Bai Zhiqing and his wife yed guests, savouring the tea, feeding each other and watching the next generation chatter as if they were watching their children.

    Boss doesn¡¯t seem to remember anything. If she remembers kissing me¡­ will she tten me with the inkstone in one m? But if she doesn¡¯t remember, doesn¡¯t that mean I was kissed for nothing? The best choice would be to feign ignorance, but I do remember, yet I can¡¯t mention it¡­ It¡¯d be best if nobody remembers anything because anything can happen when you¡¯re intoxicated. Plus, I¡¯m safe if Boss doesn¡¯t remember, and I won¡¯t have to take any responsibility, but¡­ does she not remember? How can she forget when I vividly remember the smell and taste of her warm lips¡­?

    Noticing everyone being busy with different things and ignoring her, Shen Yiren inhaled deeply and then mmed the table with her hand,manding all attention once again. ¡°Quit the yammering! Don¡¯t you find yourselves annoying?!¡± She swept her piercing gaze over them, then continued, ¡°I told you already. I drank with Feizhenst night and then fell asleep in his room. We shouldn¡¯t be talking about it when we¡¯ve all been on battlefields. This ends here. If I hear anyone mention it, I¡¯ll lock them up for thirty years!¡±

    All the yammering and teasing ceased.

    ¡°Seriously. I have to get mad for you to stop. We didn¡¯t even do anything; what¡¯s with the big reactions?¡± Shen Yiren mumbled. ¡°Right, Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Wh-what? Ah, right, right, right. Yes, yes, yes. W-we didn¡¯t¡­ do anything.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s teasing smiles returned, sending Shen Yiren into panic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t react like that! It creates the impression we did something!¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed.

    ¡°Why did you sigh? We¡­¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed.

    ¡°Why are you sighing?!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 204

    Shaken Song Chi

    Song Chi let out a heavy sigh. Not even good judges could settle another¡¯s family matters, not to mention¡­ it didn¡¯t make any sense.

    ¡°I have business to discuss with you, Sister-inw¡­ and Duke Ming.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Song Chi looked at the others in the room as though he was defeated.

    Bai Zhiqing and his wife were in their own world. The waiter was in conversation with Hong Jiu, Mountain Monster and Master Qi.

    ¡°Jade Phoenix have the best celebration cakes in Hangzhou. There¡¯s no second shop thates close¡­¡±

    Comprehending Song Chi¡¯s mannerisms, Shen Yiren bobbed her head. ¡°All right, let¡¯s take it to another room.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren took seats in the new room, but Song Chi remained on his feet and saluted them. ¡°If I wronged any of you in the past, please pardon me.¡±

    Shen Yiren knew Song n well enough to find Song Chi¡¯s behaviour within the bounds of typical. Even if she didn¡¯t like Song Ou, she genuinely respected his father for his dedication to developing their n and helping others. Whenever there were gains to be made, Song n would do a one-eighty faster than anyone else in the martial world and without any hesitation.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want my Vermillion Hall anymore?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I would never dare. The first thing I do once I return to the capital will be to convince my brother to not oppose you, Vice-Captain Shen.¡±

    Addressing Shen Yiren as ¡°Vice-Captain Shen¡± indicated that the conversation was between Song n and Liu Shan Men, rather than Song n family members.

    ¡°Forget it. You are one of the rare ones among the White Princes who genuinely cares for his brother. It¡¯s understandable for you to stick up for your brother when I boss him around.¡±

    Song Chi was actually ready topensate Shen Yiren with a handsome sum as he never expected her to leniently let them off the hook for their actions.

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t fault you since you don¡¯t know the details. You weren¡¯t present when I made the promise with your father, and I doubt he¡¯d mention it to anyone. I can tell you without any guilt that I pled His Majesty to give your brother his post, and I was the one who agreed to leave. It¡¯s his business if he wants to monopolise power or steal credit. As long as he doesn¡¯tmit any heinous crime, the most I¡¯ll ever do is give him a thrashing. I will never strip him of his rank. I made it clear to your father: if he wants to take Liu Shan Men, break a leg, or I¡¯ll be leading him by the nose. He can¡¯t help your brother no matter how pitiful he thinks his son is, and he promised so.¡±

    Very few members of Song n were privy to the details of Shen Yiren¡¯s engagement details. Despite how long they had been engaged for, there was still no proof of their engagement. Every time she visited Song n, Lady Song would mock and lecture Shen Yiren in order to force thetter into marrying sooner. Her husband, however, would always just be smiling it off. Even at this point, Song Chi was sure there were more details he wasn¡¯t informed of.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put it behind us. They were all trivial issues anyway. Your brother was just venting; it won¡¯t damage Liu Shan Men. I¡¯ll turn a blind eye. I¡¯m more interested in what your ns are now that you¡¯ve brought all this up with me.¡±

    ¡°I n to participate in the special exams to officially serve the imperial court.¡±

    He still wants to participate in the special exams when he just had a hand in squashing Fiends¡¯ Genesis?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Everyone, including Shen Yiren, assumed that the five sent to the capital for the special exams were sent there to buy time for the White Princes. Even if His Majesty didn¡¯t turn hostile on the White Princes, it didn¡¯t mean that he nned to support them. Who, under those circumstances, would be willing to carve open a path for the White Princes? Participating in the special exams meant that they were forced to prove their worth. If Song Chi was confident he coulde out on top, then he deserved respect.

    ¡°You¡¯re a splendid martial artist. Even if you can¡¯t make it as the victor, you will definitely be acknowledged as one of the best. If you join the military, though, you will be stationed at the borders for three years. Is your family okay with that?¡±

    Song Chi smiled. ¡°No. I grew up in Jiangnan; the cold is my nemesis, and I will not be allowed to go. Therefore, I am taking part in the academic exams.¡±

    ¡°You want to be a civil servant?¡±

    ¡°To tell the truth, I have always enjoyed reading. I would like to think I am better with a brush and paper than I am at martial arts.¡±

    People hailed Song Chi as the best palm techniques and broadsword user in Jiangnan, not to mention he was ranked in the same rank as Lian Zhuiyue on Hidden Wyrms rankings, yet he desired to be a civil servant. Meanwhile, there was a man in the same room as him who was borderline illiterate, yet he was Hanlin Academician.

    Song Chi moved his gaze from Shen Yiren to Ming Feizhen. ¡°If I ever offended you, please forgive me, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°Even I get an apology? Boot licking can be sold as buy one, get one free now?¡±

    The cultured young man smiled it off. ¡°Brother Ming, Mount Daluo will soon be entrusted with big undertakings. If we bicker as His Majesty¡¯s vassals, we will only be making things hard for him. Why should we do that?¡±

    ¡°Mount Daluo will be entrusted with big undertakings? Why?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ Why must you ask the obvious?¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have to think very hard to recall several of His Majesty¡¯s attempts to befriend them. While they hadn¡¯t fleshed out the details, his intent to ally with them was unquestionable. His shiniang had also mentioned he needed to pick a Prince to support. In other words, if Mount Daluo was getting involved, they were taking the side of a Prince.

    ¡°I have nothing to say. I¡¯ve never had the final say in Mount Daluo¡¯s affairs,¡± Ming Feizhen nonchntly responded.

    Song Chi: What? Isn¡¯t he Mount Daluo¡¯s next leader?

    ¡°But I should give you a reminder in case any mistakes are made in the future.¡± Ming Feizhen expanded, ¡°In general, all disciples of Mount Daluo are nice and respectful, but they¡¯re all prideful. Don¡¯t sh with any of them. Otherwise, any one of them could be your nightmare.¡±

    No matter how many times Song Chi repeated the information in his mind, it didn¡¯t sound as if it was something an orthodox sect would say; that was even more threatening than what unorthodox sects would say. Nheless, Song Chi courteously thanked Ming Feizhen for the warning and then saw himself out.

    Once Song Chi was out of earshot, Shen Yiren questioned, ¡°Feizhen, what¡­ do you think he¡¯s nning?¡±

    ¡°What else? How to pussy his way out.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not surprised about Song n¡¯s tone, but¡­ don¡¯t you think he pussied out too soon?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had a think before shaking his head. ¡°I think so, too. He must have some other hardship; it doesn¡¯t make sense for him to submit so fast considering his abilities.¡±

    The two poured themselves some tea, putting the awkwardness from earlier in the morning behind them.

    ¡°We¡¯re heading back to the capital today. Get ready a bitter.¡±

    ¡°I came empty handed; I¡¯m going back empty handed¡­ but I do have something important to do.¡±

    Shen Yiren nodded, yawned and rubbed her eyes.

    ¡°Still sleepy? Didn¡¯t sleep wellst night?¡±

    ¡°I slept very well.¡± Smiling, Shen Yiren exined, ¡°It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t slept so well in so long that I still feel sleepy now.¡±

    ¡°Pass me your hand.¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    Ming Feizhen grabbed Shen Yiren by the wrist and set it on the table. ¡°I¡¯ll check your pulse. You really don¡¯t care of yourself enough, Boss. Mm¡­ Your injuries are fine. You¡¯ve just overworked and stressed yourself out too much. Sleep more and spend more time taking care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so annoying.¡± Shen Yiren instinctively lowered her head to hide her red cheeks. ¡°You could just tell me what to look out for.¡±

    Doctor Ming shook his head.

    This patient is too barbaric.

    Song Chi opened the door and said, ¡°I have brought some gifts f-¡±

    There he saw Ming Feizhen gazing at Shen Yiren with a gentle gaze. He took a step back out, shut the door and quietly left. He hurried back to his room to pen a letter, telling his father to call off his brother¡¯s engagement, but that was a story for another time.

    Glossary

    Omitted section ¨C When Song Chies back, he actually hears Ming Feizhen say, ¡°Take care of your liver,¡± which is actually another way of referring to someone as ¡°Dear¡±, ¡°Honey¡±, ¡°Darling¡±, you get the gist of it. How you can actually turn that into English¡­ I can¡¯t even think of a rewrite. You think I¡¯m Casanova or something? I¡¯m pure.

 Book 13: Chapter 205

    Nice Name

    Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren never ran out of subjects to talk about. They had pretty much finished talking about the entire debacle yesterday, but there were no restrictions on what they could talk about with each other, not to mention all the ways conversations could branch off. Their conversation wasn¡¯t limited to just national affairs; it also included gossip.

    ¡°Her Majesty seriously liked to bite feet when she was a kid?¡±

    ¡°My shiniang told me. Where¡¯s the room for doubt? Brilliant Consort was an even bigger fan.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Obviously because¡­ What time is it?¡±

    Shen Yiren gazed out the window and chuckled. ¡°We almost lost track of time. If we don¡¯t start getting ready, we won¡¯t be able to head back today.¡±

    Saved! Almost had to tell the story with Brilliant Consort there.

    ¡°Boss, I have some business to settle.¡±

    ¡°No worries. I have to talk to Wawa anyhow and clean up. We¡¯ll leave from the front doors in two hours.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Roger that.¡± Ming Feizhen went off to find Hong Jiu. Finding Hong Jiu pacing around at the front of his room, thinking about what to do about the wedding cakes whilst enjoying a chicken drumstick, Ming Feizhen called, ¡°Second, I have a job for you.¡±

    Hong Jiu instantly spat out the chicken bone he had in his mouth. ¡°At your service.¡±

    Ming Feizhen dragged Hong Jiu over to quiet corner and quietly instructed, ¡°I have a stash of valuables hidden at¡­¡±

    With every nod, Hong Jiu¡¯s eyes and mouth would stretch wider. ¡°Leader, you struck it rich.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve done the math. The longer we leave it, the more chances there are for things to go awry, so gather up our Night Fortress brothers to assist. However, you can¡¯t take too many people into the underground pce, so select capable people, like Hawk de, Wolf Sword and whatever, about twenty people. Move the stuff at night. Keep the majority of the team on lookout outside. Prepare¡­ several hundred chests. Don¡¯t leave anything behind. Two items are especially important. Don¡¯t let anyone see them. Give me your ear.¡±

    Afraid he¡¯d miss something whispered to him or that someone would catch it if he noted the instructions down on paper, Hong Jiu scribbled hundreds of symbols on his body. ¡°Understood. I will first cover them with cloth sheets and then have them transported after I remove it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°Return to the capital once you¡¯re done. My future hinges on it, so I have to entrust it to you.¡±

    ¡°It is no big deal, Leader. You would have to be blind to dare rob us in Hangzhou. I am just worried about letting you head back alone.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. What¡¯s there to fear now that Jiang Chen is gone? During my time as a captive, I discovered that it makes no difference whether I have my internal energy or not. Worstes to worst, I¡¯ll fool some more people. Besides, you¡¯re not in much better shape than I am. Have our Night Fortress brothers keep you safe in the centre. Maybe nobody dares to climb our mountain, but that¡¯s not necessarily the case in the city. Some Fiends¡¯ Genesis members were caught there not long ago, no? You need to look out, too.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯m a little sad that we have to separate already when we¡¯ve just been reunited.¡±

    Ming Feizhen grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s hand and patted it. ¡°I know. Once we¡¯re done settling everything in the capital, let¡¯s go chill for a few months. Once we¡¯re back, I¡¯ll set up your marriage. You¡¯re not a kid anymore, yet you¡¯re still single. Uncle Hong Ba must be worried sick.¡±

    Hong Jiu scrubbed the back of his head. ¡°No one cares if he is worried, but I cannot get ahead of you.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Whatever Ming Feizhen thought of made him blink a lot and space out.

    ¡°Leader?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Uh, oh, it¡¯s still too soon for me. You first.¡±

    In his mind, Ming Feizhen saw a vivid image of someone smiling side by side with him in the moment that he spaced out; never had he pictured such a scene so vividly. The mere thought of it made his heart would beat faster.

    Boss?

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head.

    What¡¯s the matter with me? Joking around is more enough. Why am I hoping to have someone¡¯s wife?

    Ming Feizhen shook his thoughts out, then continued, ¡°Take care.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall get moving, then.¡±

    ¡°Godspeed.¡± Recalling a message he forgot, Ming Feizhen grabbed Hong Jiu¡¯s arm after his good wish. ¡°If you run into trouble, don¡¯t try to fight. If I don¡¯t have money, I can always find more, but I only have one second brother.¡±

    Hong Jiu acknowledged with his head and then departed.

    The underground pce was no longer a secret to the imperial court, Fiends¡¯ Genesis or his own allies anymore. In fact, there were probably more people eyeing the treasures who he didn¡¯t know about. That was why Hong Jiu deemed it necessary to plunder it today. Once he finished nning the job out in his head, he bid farewell to Bai Zhiqing, Lady Bai and so forth, then headed out without a moment of hesitation. When he reached the main doors, though, he started walking at a crawl.

    ¡°Leaving?¡± Master Qi stepped out of the inn briskly.

    Despite having a tonne of prepared things to say, Hong Jiu ended up stiffly replying, ¡°Mm, I have a job.¡±

    Master Qi inhaled. She had the grumpy face of someone who didn¡¯t receive their rightful goodbye, and she wanted to curse at Hong Jiu, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to.

    Why do I have to curse him? What right do I have to curse him? What obligation does he have to tell me he¡¯s leaving? He¡¯s a disciple of Mount Daluo, the young master of Beggars Sect. Does he have to report every single thing to you when he¡¯s busy?

    Bottling up all her anger, Master Qi nodded. ¡°Fair. I have to return to the capital, as well.¡± She looked intently at Hong Jiu and added, ¡°¡­ Take care,¡± then headed back inside.

    As he watched her silhouette shrink, Hong Jiu started to feel antsy, but he knew he couldn¡¯t dally. Among Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples, he was usually the one who came up with the most ideas, yet he suddenly couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. Before shepletely vanished, he yelled from where he stood, ¡°I-I¡¯ll be heading back to the capital in a few days, too!¡±

    Master Qi flinched and stopped on the spot for a moment, then sprinted back to Hong Jiu. With a finger pointed at his nose, she eximed, ¡°Wh-wh-what¡¯s that got to do with me?!¡±

    ¡°Never said it had anything to do with you! I was just saying.¡±

    ¡°Tell someone else, then, weirdo! I¡¯m leaving!¡± Master Qi stomped prior to running back inside.

    The confused hidden hero defeatedly left.

    ¡°Wait.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hong Jiu looked over his shoulder. Master Qi, lips pursed and nose wrinkled, stood staring back at him in the distance.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My name is Wen Qiqi.¡± She then ran two steps, only to turn around with red ears. ¡°Forget it already! You¡¯re so annoying!¡± This time, she ran off without looking back, so Hong Jiu never saw the small upward curve at her lips.

    Hong Jiu stared in the direction Wen Qiqi went for a while before stupidly smiling. ¡°What a nice name.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 206

    It¡¯s a Promise

    ¡°I want to be an¡­ osmanthus cake seller?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled for dear life to stop his steed from bolting off. ¡°Oh, never imagined Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain would want to be an osmanthus cake seller.¡±

    Amused with the way Ming Feizhen struggled to rein his horse in, Shen Yiren casually responded, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you wanted to be a doctor, either. Doctor Ming, where do you want to set up your clinic?¡±

    ¡°Too much knowledge never hurts in the pugilistic world, and practice makes perfect. You need to be able to utilise what you learnt as a child. To be honest, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s such a bad idea to be a butcher. You could eat all the pork you want, when you want, and all you have to do is physicalbour. Score a beautiful wife, have a few healthy kids, and life is perfect.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren rode off toward the capital after bidding everyone else farewell. Mountain Monster stayed behind in Hangzhou to finish reaching out to the others she needed to. The duo barely made any luggage, so it was a rxing journey full of dialogue.

    Shen Yiren caught Ming Feizhen ncing her way after mentioning having kids. She would¡¯ve immediately told him off if it was any other day. Today, however, some sweet, burning feeling surged up inside her; she couldn¡¯t tell if it was embarrassment or joy, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to reprimand him. All she did in the end was fake a soft cough to warn him against crossing the line.

    Realising he was caught, Ming Feizhen cleared his throat, too, regretting his prior decision. He knew Shen Yiren was observant, not to mention how good their chemistry was; he just couldn¡¯t control his eyes. Ever since that night, he perceived her differently. He could no longer admire the maiden, who somewhat resembled him, for her character. Whenever he saw her now, he¡¯d imagine¡­ not so good things¡­ images he couldn¡¯t put into words. His hands would move towards her out of instinct, or he¡¯d fix his gaze on her lips. He knew the problems with those behaviours. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t care, or he would have trouble exining himself.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡± questioned Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    If she was honest, not even Shen Yiren could figure out why she asked the question. It was supposed to be all in the past after she faked her cough, but she couldn¡¯t stop her mind posing questions afterwards. That was why her gaze only had curiosity in it when she voiced her question; she never considered the significance of the answer she¡¯d receive.

    ¡°Because¡­ Because¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen: Yeah, because of what?

    While Ming Feizhen was still weighing his gains and losses from answering the question, he instinctively replied, ¡°Because I¡­¡±

    ¡°The next time I catch you looking where you¡¯re not supposed to, I¡¯ll dig your lecherous eyes out.¡± Shen Yiren rode forward a tad, allowing her to feel some relief from having to face the consequences of asking the thoughtless question.

    Shen Yiren: What did you were expecting to hear, idiot? Are you¡­ in any position to be stirring another?

    Ming Feizhen was equally relieved. Not even he knew what he was going to answer with or the ramifications of his answer. Nevertheless, he was confident the consequence would be more damaging than the kiss. All that said, he found Shen Yiren¡¯s way of ending the topic to be uncharacteristic of her. Usually, she¡¯d have thest word ¨C and possibly smack him with his most despised inkstone.

    Once Ming Feizhen caught up to Shen Yiren, they rode on for a while without exchanging any words.

    ¡°Why osmanthus cakes?¡±

    ¡°Because of my mother.¡±

    Shen Yiren peered into the forest, paying particr attention to the movements of the leaves as though she was checking if it was safe or not. Really, though, Ming Feizhen¡¯s instincts would¡¯ve told him if there was any danger. The instincts didn¡¯t just switch on and off because he was rxed or tired. Shen Yiren¡¯s tone just softened since she was talking about her mother.

    ¡°My mother often made osmanthus cakes for Kuang and I when we were kids.¡±

    ¡°She knows how to cook?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, if she cooked, you wouldn¡¯t have enough time to run out of the house to call for help before the house was up in mes.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s reaction put a smile on Shen Yiren¡¯s face.

    ¡°My mother is a beauty you¡¯d only find once in a lifetime. She was a straight shooter who frequently loved to let people know what she thought of them. I¡¯m simr to her in that regard.¡±

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯d buy two boxes of osmanthus cakes from you even if I don¡¯t eat them. How are you any inferior?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t keep any conversation serious, can you?¡± Despite the chiding remark, Shen Yiren was all smiles. ¡°My mother wasn¡¯t a good cook. She wanted to learn after she married my father, but she didn¡¯t progress after several tries. In contrast, my father was so good that she was always vexed about it. She never stopped pressing us to try her cooking, though. She sought out a teacher to learn how to make osmanthus cakes, and, for some reason, that was the best dish in her repertoire.

    ¡°Restoring Liu Shan Men to its former glory is my goal in life, and ensuring evil doesn¡¯t go unpunished is my wish. That¡¯s why I¡¯d sell osmanthus cakes if I¡¯m not a roving warrior. Or maybe I can be a roving warrior who sells osmanthus cakes. That doesn¡¯t seem too bad.¡±

    ¡°If there was another roving warrior as beautiful as you, boy, there¡¯d be some fun things to see.¡±

    ¡°Considering how much Liu Shan Men has on its te, though, I¡¯ll be eighty if not seventy by the time I can leave the capital. At that point, I can¡¯t be a roving warrior; I could only be an old granny selling osmanthus cakes.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d still be pretty even when you¡¯re a granny.¡°

    Shen Yiren chuckled. ¡°Would youe buy from me?¡°

    Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°I only eat free ones.¡±

    Shen Yiren didn¡¯t reply for a while. Following a nod, she responded, ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll make them for you, then.¡±

    Although Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t understand the meaning of the short pause, he did understand that a path appeared before him after it. The path was shrouded in mist and littered with thorns for sure, but there was definitely a path in front of him. At the other end of it, a maiden had prepared some osmanthus cakes for him.

    Looking Shen Yiren straight in the eyes, he softly expressed, ¡°In that case, I shall cross all the mountains, oceans, dens of wolves and wyrms, windy deserts, thorny forests, towering cliffs, oceans of mes and roads of des no matter what the cost to eat them.¡±

    In a low voice, Shen Yiren looked back and replied, ¡°¡­ It¡¯s a promise.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a promise.¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 207

    It¡¯s a PromiseN?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°I have a few people I¡¯d like to recruit.¡±

    The duo could reach the capital around noon the next day given they hade so far in just one day.

    Ming Feizhen touched his chin. ¡°Let me guess: Fang Xiaoyu and Guan Ning¡­ and maybe Miss Wen?¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°Correct. Your second brother is much better than you in this respect. Take a page out of his book. Not only did he take out enemies, but he even befriended a number of talented people.¡±

    Ming Feizhen whined, ¡°I just haven¡¯t tried. If I tried, I¡¯d be able to recruit no less than seventy people for you.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, says the one who was kidnapped and locked up for a month in a cave.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had vaguely recounted his experiences over thest two days. Shen Yiren initially red at him plenty of times, but she spared him the inkstone on ount of his scar. Instead, she pinched his cheeks as punishment.

    ¡°I was just careless. I¡¯m an a-ss recruiter. I swear, Boss. I¡¯ll recruit a few elites for you. You have no idea how respected I am in the pugilistic world. Come on now. Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m serious!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re the best with people, okay?¡± Shen Yiren scrubbed Ming Feizhen¡¯s head the way an adult would scrub a kid¡¯s head.

    Worried she might not be able to reach, Ming Feizhen had to lower his head to make it easy for Shen Yiren to reach.

    I¡¯m going to give Boss a big surpriseter.

    ¡°Fang Xiaoyu was nning to join Liu Shan Men. Although he¡¯s still young, the Shaolin disciple certainly is a capable investigator. With the right training, he has all it takes to be apetent official.

    ¡°Guan Ning and Miss Wen are children of reputable families, so we can be confident in their martial prowess. The young individuals from Nanjiang all have the potential to be skilled constables we can¡¯t be without. There¡¯s just one thing they need.¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°Time.¡±

    Shen Yiren sighed. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°At the moment, we have a plethora of things going on. Fiends¡¯ Genesis isn¡¯t done. The three offices will likely be dispatched more and more, so they won¡¯t have time to train or get used to the job.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about it. The friction between the three of us is only ever increasing, and it¡¯s no longer a conflict we¡¯re waging under the table anymore. They¡¯re going to have to learn on the go.¡±

    ¡°Boss, there¡¯s someone up ahead.¡±

    Shen Yiren peered into the distance and waited for a while. ¡°It¡¯s okay. He¡¯s a messenger from the pce.¡±

    The two columns of people geared up in the pce guards¡¯ uniforms added up to around two hundred. The man between the two columns beamed upon spotting Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren.

    ¡°It has been a long time,¡± expressed Wang Tushui, stepping forward to speak.

    ¡°This one apologises for making youe all this way.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty was worried the journey back would be tiring, so he sent this old one to pick you two up.¡±

    The duo originally nned to check in at Liu Shan Men first, but they were now forced to change their priorities, not that it was a huge deal since Emperor Yuansheng was probably dying to see them.

    ¡°His Majesty alwayses first. Please lead the way, Eunuch Wang.¡±

    The journey back was a lot less tiring thanks to the carriage that Eunuch Wang brought along.

    His Majesty was already seated with Emperor¡¯s Entourage, Qilin Guards and even Song Ou in Wutui Pce by the time they arrived. Representing the White Princes was Xun Feng, Ling Shaoxuan and Bai Yumo. Secretary Leng was summoned, as well.

    When greeted, Emperor Yuanshengzily responded, ¡°Rise.¡±

    Shen Yiren rose, but not without feeling something was odd. Yes, Eunuch Wang was all smiles on the way; however, he didn¡¯t speak, which was very contrary to his usual character. Emperor Yuansheng looked indifferent to her and Ming Feizhen¡¯s greeting. Instead, his gaze was locked on some letter in his hand.

    A whileter, His Majesty folded up the letter and smiled for the first time. ¡°It has been a long time, Duke Ming. It has been hard on you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was so surprised he was spoken to first that he looked to Shen Yiren before clumsily saluting His Majesty. ¡°It is all because of your subject¡¯s own ipetence that he was captured. His fault is onlypounded by the fact that he made you worry. Please do not be too harsh with his punishment.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand. ¡°You aplished a mighty feat for the country in Nanjiang; you are a pir of the country. It is understandable for you to not be a superb fighter when I conferred you the title of Hanlin Academician. The fact that you were kidnapped in the capital goes to show that someone failed to fulfil their duty. What wrong have youmitted?¡±

    Though Ming Feizhen expected some sort of rebuttal to spare him, he never expected Emperor Yuansheng to use the opportunity to find fault with someone.

    ¡°Your subject is grateful for your pardon. Fiends¡¯ Genesis is a slippery group with a broadwork. It would be unjust to say someone failed in their duty. We were only able to bring down Fiends¡¯ Genesis this time thanks to¡­¡±

    ¡°A lucky man has the support of heaven.¡± Emperor Yuansheng chuckled in an un-Emperor-Yuansheng manner. ¡°Duke Ming is a civil servant, yet he was able to escape the jaws of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Is this not a feat that disys ourpetence? Is it not a feat deserving of reward?¡±

    Everyone voiced agreement and even showered Ming Feizhen with adtion. Despite how shameless he was, even Duke Ming felt it was overkill for the group.

    ¡°Uh, your subject was only able to survive the month thanks to your blessings. What did he ever aplish? How about we do not spread the word?¡±

    ¡°You make it sound too light. You were kidnapped. There¡¯s no way you didn¡¯t suffer while held captive. I can¡¯t let you suffer for nothing. Tianhu reported that you had a hand in driving off Jiang Chen. You fearlessly faced Jiang Chen despite the discrepancy in your strength. How can I withhold the story of your courage and intellect?¡±

    Ming Feizhen might not have been the best person at reading another, but even he could pick up on how bizarre the atmosphere felt. Emperor Yuansheng had yet to spare Shen Yiren a single nce since their entrance, and he positioned Ming Feizhen¡¯s aplishment as something that Shen Yiren¡¯s merits couldn¡¯t hold a candle to.

    Tianhu defeated Jiang Chen. Hong Jiu found the way into the underground pce. Tang Ye rescued the hostages, but his sess came from operating with Shen Yiren, not to mention she was the one who located Jiang Chen¡¯s team in the capital. Yet, she wasn¡¯t spared a nce or word of praise when Emperor Yuansheng was a pathological daughter-con. Who¡¯d think that was normal?

    Shen Yiren remained collected, scanning everyone to figure out what happened.

    Ming Feizhen was going to divert the conversation to Shen Yiren when Emperor Yuansheng said, ¡°I am very pleased with your performance, Duke Ming. You will be rewarded generously, but perhaps it is best for you to rest now. You may leave.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Ming Feizhen genuinely didn¡¯t expect a reward for being detained for a month. Additionally, it was clear that he was no longer needed in the pce. Knowing who the target was, he looked to Shen Yiren with his nose wrinkled.

    Shen Yiren shook her head, instructing Ming Feizhen to return to Liu Shan Men first. He thought it through, then performed the hand salute. ¡°Your subject is grateful. Howbeit, there is something he would like to mention.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Mount Daluo is Mount Daluo. Your subject is your subject.¡±

    Nobody budged a muscle or uttered a word.

    Emperor Yuansheng narrowed his eyes. In order to maximise Mount Daluo¡¯s powers in his hands, he needed to build them up. Ming Feizhen practically just said, ¡°Even if you build me up, Mount Daluo won¡¯t just start waiting on you hand and foot.¡±

    ¡°Your subject is a free spirit. Although his mentor has blessed him with the chance to be senior disciple, your subject does not n to inherit the leadership mantle. Should you wish to employ Mount Daluo, you will need to seek out your subject¡¯s juniors.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng smiled with a well-thought-out n in mind. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Ming Feizhen blinked several times as he tried wrapping his head around the reply, then said, ¡°Your subject would also like to mention that Vice-Captain Sh-¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t need to trouble yourself with that, Duke Ming.¡± Emperor Yuansheng emotionlessly signalled with his hands. ¡°Wang Tushui, see Duke Ming out.¡±

    Why is Boss getting the cold shoulder when she contributed the most? Why didn¡¯t he ask for any details when he wanted to see us? Why were the other members of the three offices, ambassadors of the White Princes and even Secretary Lie there? Who wrote the letter His Majesty was reading when we arrived?

    Though he had plenty of questions going through his mind, the one thing that eased Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind was that Emperor Yuansheng wouldn¡¯t make things hard for Shen Yiren.

    Upon returning to Liu Shan Men, it felt as bizarre as the ambience in Wutui Pce. People he knew didn¡¯t greet him. Instead, they whispered about things that made zero sense to him. Deeper inside, he saw signs of repairs and damage to the property.

    ¡°What is going on here? A makeover? This is a shoddy job. Why are there holes everywhere?¡± muttered Ming Feizhen. A few stepster, he ran into the chef blocking his way. ¡°Ol¡¯ Cai, you¡¯re in. What¡¯s the deal here?¡±

    The two were close, so Ol¡¯ Cai didn¡¯t hide the events from Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen crossed his arms. ¡°Huh, what a bunch of thugs. We¡¯ll gather a team and go y with them tomorrow, too. You didn¡¯t stop me to tell me this, though, did you?¡±

    ¡°There is¡­ something I should tell you first so that you can mentally prepare yourself, Head Constable.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    Ol¡¯ Cai cracked a weird smile and whispered what happened.

    ¡°What?! Th-th-th-the wall in my room copsed?!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 208

    Social Death

    Ming Feizhen sped back to his room. Since his room was located rather far away from the epicentre, the renovators hadn¡¯t reached it yet. He rummaged through the debris, rubble and disced items to find his dream. ¡°Crap, crap, crap, they¡¯re all gone! My ultimate generational collection is gone! Someone took my treasures!¡±

    Wait, wait, wait. The chest isn¡¯t even hard to open¡­ How am I supposed to live if everyone has seen inside the chest?! Considering everyone¡¯s attitude towards me when I returned¡­ If they¡¯ve seen what¡¯s in the chest¡­ Aaaaaah! I need to leave the capital for three months! I need to get out of here! I need to go!

    ¡°Big Brother Ming?¡± Su Xiao called from the door.

    ¡°Not in! There¡¯s nobody here!¡± Ming Feizhen tore his sleeve to wrap up his face and then opened his window to climb out.

    Su Xiao pulled the back of Ming Feizhen¡¯s sash. ¡°You¡¯re right here!¡±

    ¡°Nobody¡¯s here! Really! Come back once I¡¯m gone!¡±

    ¡°Nobody¡¯s here? I have something important to tell you about.¡±

    Isn¡¯t that an even more motivating reason to leave?!

    ¡°Xiao, let me exin. The books in the chest are study materials. You see¡­¡±

    Su Xiao yanked Ming Feizhen back inside. ¡°What are you talking about?! Tang Ye gasped blood!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen removed the needles and then ordered the people around to clean up the blood Tang Ye gasped. ¡°Let him sleep for a day, and he¡¯ll be much better. As for his damaged true qi, I have a new medicine to fix him up. Go and prepare some medicine to supplement his qi and essence.¡±

    The doctors started getting busy straight away.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, impressive. Very impressive.¡±

    Su Xiao looked to the sleeping Tang Ye, pursed his lips and sighed. ¡°Was the enemy that strong?¡±

    ¡°No, Tang Ye is the impressive one.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just one person who hurt him. I¡¯m sure he went through a war. I also heard he travelled through the night whilst fending off pursuers. He was probably empty by the time he engaged in thest fight.¡± Ming Feizhen pulled Su Xiao away from Tang Ye so that Tang Ye could rest in peace. ¡°Based on my assessment, he must¡¯ve used ¡®Ancient King¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Ancient¡­ King?¡±

    Ming Feizhen blended the essence of Ancient King String into the five de techniques he taught Tang Ye. Each time Tang Ye ate a beating, he understood a bit more about the five de techniques via different means. The essence of Ancient King¡¯s mental cultivation wasn¡¯t just countering but also absorbing and simplifying.

    Mount Daluo¡¯s martial arts curriculum was vast to begin with, and Ming Huayu shoved over a hundred different disciplines into Ming Feizhen¡¯s brain. Ming Feizhen ended up learning a little here and a little there, but he managed to gain a solid grasp on all the disciplines¡¯ most important aspects. Ancient King String was his way ofpiling all his knowledge into a summary if you will, and the result of absorbing everything was the five de techniques. On its own, Ancient King String was a trap-and-annihte discipline that contained techniques ready to be transformed for different scenarios, but it all came back to the five de techniques at the end of the day.

    Tang Ye, too, learnt from a lot of different teachers as well as had plenty of experience. However, he made the mistake of trying to learn Ming Feizhen¡¯s Ancient King String when he hadn¡¯t learnt the same disciplines as Ming Feizhen, so it was a fruitless endeavour. Through reflecting on the five techniques Ming Feizhen imparted while he was still in the capital, Tang Ye consolidated his own skills. It was in the heat of the moment that he managed to understand the essence of Ancient King. That was when he stopped trying to imitate Ming Feizhen and, instead, synthesised it with his own training and experience. As a result, he saw growth once again. Had his opponent been significantly superior to him, he¡¯d have been toast, though.

    Ming Feizhen pped his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll exin in the future. It¡¯s tooplicated for you right now. How have you been recently?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my question!¡± Su Xiao rushed up to Ming Feizhen and started touching Ming Feizhen all over despite not having a lick of medical knowledge. ¡°It must¡¯ve been a terrible experience.¡±

    ¡°You were worried?¡±

    Su Xiao gave a big nod. ¡°Uhm!¡±

    Su Xiao threw himself at Ming Feizhen. ¡°I¡¯m so d you¡¯re alright,¡± he expressed. He then lowered his head and continued, ¡°But I was worried that nobody would fulfil your instructions¡­ and I couldn¡¯t go search for you. Plus, Vice-Captain Shen went, so I stayed in the capital.¡±

    Ming Feizhen caressed Su Xiao¡¯s head. ¡°Idiot, I feel much more reassured knowing you¡¯re in the capital. Boss has too much on her te for her alone to handle, and Tang Ye is not the right person for this type of work. Without you, the situation right now would only be worse.¡±

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t do anything?¡± Su Xiao titled his head.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°You can only do one thing right at a time, and that¡¯s enough. By the way, what¡¯s the situation with the idol contest?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been pushed back!¡± grouched Su Xiao. ¡°We spent ages preparing, only for some viin to perform some sorcery in the sky a few days ago, sending the entire capital into panic. I was scared, too. The academy said that, due to the magnitude of the idol contest, it would likely incite disorder if it was held, so it was pushed back a few days. So, we have four days to go.¡±

    Oh¡­ Thank you for that Gongsun Chu, or I¡¯d have no way or repaying my debt.

    What? Don¡¯t I have the stash from Gongsun Chu now? That was my money! Nobody was getting their filthy hands on it! They were the ones who said they¡¯d write off my debt if I won the contest. I wasn¡¯t giving them a penny!

    The academy¡¯s status quo was far from as terrible as Ming Feizhen assumed. The Bai couple was set to escort Huang Yuzao back to the capital, and Confucianism disciples would pick him up on the way. Therefore, Huang Yuzao would be fine. Su Xiao mentioned Huang Yuzao¡¯s students had done amendable job of managing the academy in his absence; not even rumours were able to cause any stirs. From Ming Feizhen¡¯s perspective, they also owed Gongsun Chu because Gongsun Chu spared them. Had he actually gone after them, the fact that Huang Yuzao had lost all his martial arts training would be sufficient to mess up Confucianism¡¯s order.

    ¡°Unhurried, very Confucianism-like,¡± remarked Ming Feizhen.

    After they caught up on the recent affairs, Ming Feizhen remembered something important that he could only broach once he had ¡°coughed¡± twice. ¡°So, uh, Xiao, I have a question.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Uh, so, in my room, there¡¯s this small-little chest. Did you, maybe by ident, see where it is?¡±

    ¡°No clue.¡±

    No clue? Phew. At least I don¡¯t have to embarrass myself in front of Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao got up and pulled out a big chest from underneath Tang Ye¡¯s bed. ¡°But I did find a big chest that I ced here.¡±

    It¡¯s right here! And it¡¯s been opened! You saw everything inside?!

    ¡°Big Brother Ming.¡±

    He was called the same way not long ago, but this version was different. Dangerously different. Ming Feizhen looked back to see the eyes of someone looking at a bug.

    ¡°This, is yours?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Averting his gaze, Ming Feizhen answered, ¡°No, not mine.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Very-truly-absolutely really.¡±

    ¡°Shall I take it to Vice-Captain to check, then?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Ming Feizhen crossed his legs. ¡°Who you scaring? It¡¯s mine just because you say it is? Are you thew?¡±

    Su Xiao took out a book, opened it, between two hands and pulled in opposite directions.

    ¡°How could you tear it?! I was going to pass it down to the next generation! That could make me the great ancestor of my family!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, it¡¯s mine. Didn¡¯t I tell you? It¡¯s study material?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so¡­¡± Su Xiao took out another book. ¡°What do you learn in this ¡®A Hundred Flowers¡¯ Contest¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Fl-flower arrangement.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Room Chronicles¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Arch-architecture¡­¡±

    ¡°¡¯A Hundred Delectable Tastes¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Fine cuisine!¡±

    ¡°I see. You truly embody a vast library of knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you tter me. It¡¯s just academic research.¡±

    Su Xiao deployed several nods. ¡°So, ¡®Unparalleled Wife and Charming Maid¡¯, ¡®Please Be Naughty with Me Again¡¯ and ¡®Please Love Me One More Time, Aunt¡¯ are also academic research?¡±

    Ming Feizhen prostrated himself on the ground. ¡°Please spare me, Master Su. Please do not read out the titles, or this peasant will have to kill himself.¡±

    Su Xiao returned the books to the chest, shut it, folded his arms, said, ¡°Y-y-y-y-you are n-not¡­ What are you reading?!¡± and then bolted out.

    Once Su Xiao was gone, Ming Feizhen tedly repossessed his precious chest. ¡°My babies, I¡¯ve finally found you.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hang on.

    Ming Feizhen slowly turned his head to see Shen Yiren standing outside the door and started shaking.

    Wh-why is Boss back already? I haven¡¯t hidden the chest yet!

    Shen Yiren entered the room, seemingly oblivious to the presence of the chest. ¡°Feizhen¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen heard a gentleness in Shen Yiren¡¯s voice that she¡¯d never let a third person hear. He cautiously shifted his gaze up to see tears welled up in her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?! Boss, what¡¯s wrong? Come here. Come here. Don¡¯t cry.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren, after hupping several times, stated, ¡°Feizhen¡­ Uncle¡­ scolded me.¡±

    Glossary

    Ancient King String ¨C For anyone who feels the description in the chapter head scratching, let me use something less abstract to exin it. Let¡¯s use the jab, cross, rear hook and rear uppercut to put it into perspective. While each punch¡¯s trajectory differs and typicallynds at different spots on a target, no matter how you slice them, the body mechanics are still the same. You can adjust the angle at which you throw them to suit different scenarios, but you¡¯re still performing the same foot, hip torso and head rotations; you¡¯re still using your torso as a fulcrum, rxing to thest minute and tensing up right as you get ready to make impact. So, in Ancient King String, you could perform techniques in the sybus differently, but they¡¯re still just branches of the five de techniques. Hopefully, this makes more sense to you. If you¡¯d like a visual of this, let me know, and I¡¯ll be happy to film it.

 Book 13: Chapter 209

    Incensed

    Ming Feizhen would scoff at anyone who told him Shen Yiren would cry. As soon as he saw her tears, he set down the chest and used his sleeve to wipe her tears. ¡°What happened? Come sit down. Tell me what happened. Don¡¯t cry. What gave His Majesty the nerve to make you cry? Wait for me, Boss. I¡¯ll go pull his beard out.¡±

    ¡°H-he¡­¡±

    Shen Yiren recounted how His Majesty started questioning her after Ming Feizhen departed.

    ¡°¡­ Do you recognise your wrongs?¡± Emperor Yuansheng questioned.

    ¡°Your subject¡­ let you down. She pleads guilty.¡±

    ¡°You plead guilty? You¡¯re here to plead guilty?¡± Emperor Yuansheng sat up straight and mmed his table, silencing everyone in the pce. ¡°The three offices overseeing the martial world have distinct duties. Your Shen n has safeguarded the capital for generations. Do I need to remind you what Liu Shan Men¡¯s responsibility is? Who was meant to be in charge of protecting the capital after Ming Feizhen and Huang Yuzao went missing, and Fiends¡¯ Genesis surfaced?¡±

    ¡°Liu Shan Men,¡± softly answered Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Right. Emperor¡¯s Entourage?¡±

    A member of Emperor¡¯s Entourage cupped his hands before him. ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°Your duty is to supervise all officials. Who was in charge of guarding the capital?¡±

    ¡°Commander Ye initially led, and then the reins were passed over to the Qilin Guards.¡±

    ¡°You hear that? Where were you during that time?¡±

    ¡°Away from the capital,¡± Shen Yiren answered.

    Emperor Yuanshengughed sarcastically. ¡°You all hear that? Away from the capital. Away from the capital, she says. All sorts of criminals infiltrated the capital; the capital was in utter chaos. Fiends¡¯ Genesis took advantage of the situation to rampage. I almost had a Prince executed in public. Have I ever had to go through anything as remotely ridiculous in the thirty years I¡¯ve been on the throne? Meanwhile, my Liu Shan Men threw their duty into someone else¡¯sp, and their leader left the capital without permission. What is the point of employing Liu Shan Men?!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng threw the report in his hand to Shen Yiren¡¯s knees. ¡°Read it for yourself.¡±

    Shen Yiren picked it up to read.

    ¡°Is what¡¯s reported there true? Did you really say you¡¯re quitting Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Once she finished reading, Shen Yiren nodded. ¡°It is.¡±

    Secretary Lie voiced, ¡°Your Majesty, Vice-Captain Shen is still young; young people speaking impulsively ismon, is it not? This old one often says the wrong things. If every word he said was taken seriously, he would not have enough heads for you to remove.¡±

    ¡°You need not speak up for her, Secretary Lie. Is it reasonable to publicly dere you are quitting? Is it legal for an official of the imperial court to unliterally leave the capital without my approval? Couldn¡¯t she have at least informed me first before deciding to leave even if she truly wanted to leave Liu Shan Men? If this goes unchecked and others started following her example, who am I?!¡±

    There was no way Secretary Lie was going to be able to defend Shen Yiren after that. Everyone was aware of how lenient Emperor Yuansheng was towards Shen Yiren. Therefore, he had to be inmed to an extreme point for him to be taking the matter so far with her.

    ¡°Captain Song is here right now. He had to take care of the capital in your absence. Do you think I¡¯m ignorant to how you oppress him at Liu Shan Men? Do you think I¡¯m ignorant to who Liu Shan Men¡¯s members take orders from? Do you think I¡¯m unaware of who should be held ountable for this?¡±

    Song Ou wiped his tears. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng paid no heed to Song Ou. ¡°If you could handle the situation well, then so be it, but the capital was never in this much disorder even when your father and shifu were away. In contrast, Liu Shan Men has been aplete mess without you. What use do I have for such an ipetent Liu Shan Men?!¡±

    Not a single person in the pce wasn¡¯t worried after hearing that.

    Liu Shan Men was an important stepping stone for Song n, so all of Song Ou¡¯s suffering over the years wouldn¡¯t pay off if Liu Shan Men was shut down.

    The White Princes wanted the three offices to keep each other in check. In the scenario that Liu Shan Men was removed, the Qilin Guards would be getting a free bye. That wouldn¡¯t benefit the White Princes as the Qilin Guards were in support of stripping the seven.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage would be in a dilemma. While they¡¯d be more than happy to see Liu Shan Men go, they couldn¡¯t publicly say so, particrly in the presence of Emperor Yuansheng.

    As such, everyone tried to dissuade Emperor Yuansheng from shutting down Liu Shan Men.

    On the other hand, Shen Yiren just raised her hands in salute. ¡°Your subject was wrong.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng held his gaze against Shen Yiren¡¯s for a while prior to pping himself on the thigh. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I¡¯ve spoilt you rotten. I doted on you after Brother Shen¡¯s passing, afraid you¡¯d be treated unfairly, but that¡¯s only made youwless! What do you see the imperial court¡¯sws as? What do you see my trust as?!¡±

    Shen Yiren lowered her head. ¡°Your subject was wrong.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng found Shen Yiren¡¯s reaction even more infuriating. ¡°You still don¡¯t think you¡¯re wrong? Do you remember what I asked you prior to the imperial martial arts tournament?¡±

    ¡°You asked if your subject was mentally prepared, and your subject replied that she was.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Now, Emperor¡¯s Entourage, the Qilin Guards and Song Ou havee together to request an investigation into you beunched. You were mentally prepared, weren¡¯t you? So, tell me, what I should do?¡±

    Those who vocally backed Shen Yiren a moment ago awkwardly cleared their throats. Everybody knew the three offices had squabbles with each other, but nobody expected His Majesty to point it out so tantly in his fit of rage.

    Shen Yiren raised her head and, still emotionless, stated, ¡°Please investigate your subject.¡±

    ¡°You think I won¡¯t?!¡± Emperor Yuansheng jumped to his feet and thundered, ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking you¡¯re being treated unfairly just because you contributed. Had Tianhu not tailed you, you¡¯d be dead already, yet you still want to act tough in front of me?!¡±

    Shen Yiren appeared unshaken. Those who weren¡¯t convinced she could lead Liu Shan Men sessfully at her young age no longer questioned her mental fortitude. If they were in her shoes, they¡¯d have started begging for mercy already.

    No matter how long he stared back, Emperor Yuansheng couldn¡¯t find a hint of surrender in Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes. In the end, he mmed his table again before dering, ¡°Shen Yiren, on ount of your contributions, I shall not strip you of your rank or demote you. However, you are not allowed to remain in the capital. Once the special exams are over, you are to leave the capital and improve yourself. Once you have matured enough to fulfil your post, you can return. Get out of my sight.¡±

    Shen Yiren bowed, then left without a trace of fear or regret, all the way until she returned to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Feizhen, Uncle told me to get out of his sight!¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 210

    Ming Feizhen, True Hero (Part 1)

    ¡°Feizhen, Uncle scolded me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a lot more upset than I expected.¡± Ming Feizhen scratched his head. ¡°It was just a short scolding.¡±

    ¡°No it wasn¡¯t!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Ah? He even hit you?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ He told me to get out of his sight!¡±

    Ming Feizhen had trouble deciding if he should¡¯ve passed Shen Yiren a handkerchief or a basin of water. In the end, she ended up grabbing his sleeve again. He was afraid someone would hear or see her crying, so he wanted to go close the door, but she forcibly kept him by the sleeve. She was virtually a different species. She was gentle, pitiful, sweet, and the way she looked at him as if to ask, ¡°Where are you going?¡± nigh pushed blood out of his nose.

    Helpless, Ming Feizhen had to sit back down and sacrificed his sleeve. ¡°Boss, you didn¡¯t have to front in the pce. You could¡¯ve given in.¡±

    ¡°Why would I give in?! Never!¡±

    ¡°His Majesty was just worried about you. You could¡¯ve just admitted you were wrong.¡±

    ¡°What did I do wrong? I refuse!¡±

    ¡°Then why are you crying?¡±

    Shen Yiren had a brain stutter for a second, only to then start sobbing momentster. ¡°Uncle scolded me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen starteding up with silly ideas to make Shen Yirenugh, something he was aplished at thanks to his time with all the women and girls on Mount Daluo. With so many examples at his fingertips, it was easy toe up with a funny face. However, right as he was about to pull one, Shen Yiren sniffled and said, ¡°Mm, I¡¯m good now.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay now.¡± Shen Yiren pulled Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleeve over to wipe her nose, flicked it away and then exhaled sharply. ¡°I feel much better after getting it all out. Song Ou, that pussy, no matter who he prays to, I¡¯m going to make him regret dobbing on me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t feel it was a shame that he didn¡¯t get to show off his skills atforting ady, but he wondered why she cried when she never cried in the past when she went through adversary.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± Ming Feizhen crossed his arms whilst examining Shen Yiren.

    Ever since returning from Hangzhou, Ming Feizhen noticed that he saw Shen Yiren differently, and her attitude towards him noticeably changed slightly, as well. She seemed¡­ more weing. Sure, she didn¡¯t observe formalities around him in the past, but she never cried without reserve. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t what was important at the moment, so he put it aside for the meantime.

    ¡°Boss, have you thought it through?¡±

    ¡°Leaving my post without permission isn¡¯t that serious, and it¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve done that. Although the timing wasn¡¯t the best this time, it¡¯s not enough to justify Uncle being so livid.¡±

    ¡°So, what was his n?¡±

    ¡°Remember the conversation we had on the way back? What Liu Shan Men needs most right now is¡­¡±

    ¡°Time.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Liu Shan Men has lost too much time, and there¡¯s too much in the way to recover to even half of our prime. Uncle just gave me an opportunity.¡±

    The father-con wouldn¡¯t suddenly change into a menacing father. The main source of Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s anger came from seeing his adopted daughter¡¯s suffering away from home. Her suffering motivated his decision.

    Though the three offices took different actions in response to the crisis, they all contributed. Emperor¡¯s Entourage collected information. Tianhu drove the nail into the coffin. Yi Ya, representing the Qilin Guards, safeguarded the capital and eliminated invaders,ying down the foundation for the imperial court¡¯s overall victory. Without his actions, they never would¡¯ve been able to crush Fiends¡¯ Genesis so efficiently. Representing Liu Shan Men, Shen Yiren located Jiang Chen, and Tang Ye ryed information to rescue the hostages. The White Princes¡¯ efforts also needed to be acknowledged. Had any of them not done their part, Fiends¡¯ Genesis would likely still be rampaging.

    When it came to the sacrifices, Tianhu didn¡¯t have as much as a scratch, and the other agents of Emperor¡¯s Entourage were safe and sound. The Qilin Guards barely suffered casualties whilst defending the capital; they, in fact, looked almighty. In contrast, Ming Feizhen was kidnapped and missing in action. Shen Yiren operated covertly. Mountain Monster and Tang Ye nearly perished in action. Shen Yiren was Liu Shan Men¡¯s ace, but she showed through the fiasco that she couldn¡¯tpare to Ye Yun and Wang Muren when they barely did a thing the entire time. As a matter of fact, Liu Shan Men nearly lost their leader. The gap between the Qilin Guards, Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Liu Shan Men was never as obvious. How was Emperor Yuansheng supposed to feel when he perceived the discrepancy?

    It wasn¡¯t a problem of who took home the most credit. Emperor Yuansheng had all the authority he needed to promote Shen Yiren to Captain of Liu Shan Men if she was willing to ept his good will. If he did that, though, she wouldn¡¯tst in the seat. He knew that, if he put her in the seat, he¡¯d be putting Liu Shan Men six feet underground because of Liu Shan Men¡¯s core problem ¨C ack of firepower.

    Shen Yiren was recruiting members as fast as she could, but it wasn¡¯t easy to catch up to herpetitors. When they took in Liu Shan Men¡¯s members back then, they didn¡¯t face any obstacles unlike Shen Yiren¡¯s current predicament.

    After reflecting on the status quo and ounting for the future, Emperor Yuansheng decided that the best course of action was to get Shen Yiren out of the capital as a means of providing her time to develop, track down former Liu Shan Men members and train her subordinates. He hadn¡¯t wanted to do so in all the years prior because he wanted to wait until she was mentally ready. Had he sent her off before that, he might not have been able to shield her from harm. It wasn¡¯t an easy decision for him to make, but he had to make it in order to help her fulfil her wishes.

    ¡°My parents are gone. Besides Kuang, Uncle is the only person who cares for me most. He genuinely sees me as his daughter¡­ I know it hurt him more than it hurt me to reproach me. I couldn¡¯t hold back my tears when I imagined how hard it must¡¯ve been for him, but it was refreshing to cry out all my grievances, too.¡± Shen Yiren patted Ming Feizhen on the shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s no point mulling over it. We¡¯ll have to deal with the problems as theye. I don¡¯t have the faintest idea where I¡¯ll be sent. Youing with me?¡±

    ¡°To the ends of the world, I¡¯ll go. To be honest, I¡¯m already sick of the capital ¨C except for Mr. Shi¡¯s braised pork.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? In that case, I¡¯ll be bringing you along.¡±

    ¡°At your service. Not even eight horses will be able to hold me back.¡±

    The two exchanged a smile, conveying all the thoughts through their smiles.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the chest behind you?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 211

    Shen Yiren, True Heroine (Part 2)

    Since Song Ou turned Vermillion Hall into his office, Shen Yiren brazenly used the training ground as her assembly point. It took a few minutes for Shen Yiren¡¯s subordinates to assemble upon catching wind of her return.

    Liu Yuan, curious visually surveyed the two he hadn¡¯t seen in a while, greeted Shen Yiren first, then asked, ¡°Ming Feizhen, why are you rubbing your face again?¡±

    Ming Feizhen, standing beside Shen Yiren, rubbed his ttened face as he answered, ¡°What¡¯s it to you?!¡±

    Shen Yiren: ¡°Hmph, reaped what he sowed!¡±

    Everything in the chest was presented before Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes after she opened the chest of earthly treasures. It was an entirely new world to her. Ming Feizhen was smacked with the inkstone until he was floored and in tears in retaliation for him trying to snatch the books back.

    Liu Yuan had a good guess as to what happened based on their reactions alone.

    Shen Yiren swept her gaze over her subordinates and then expressed, ¡°I finally feel that I¡¯m truly back now that I¡¯ve finally gotten to see you all.¡±

    The elders who had served at Liu Shan Men for decades were moved. ¡°It has been hard on you, Vice-Captain.¡±

    Shen Yiren consoled the tearful elders before turned to her recruits. ¡°I believe everyone has heard about how His Majesty reproached me.¡±

    News in the imperial court always spread faster than you could imagine. In the time it took for Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren to have their conversation, word of her being reprimanded had reached every corner of the capital.

    Seeing the concern in her subordinates¡¯ eyes, Shen Yiren brushed her shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s start with the conclusion. His Majesty is going to transfer me.¡± In response to the concerned and exasperated reactions, shemanded, ¡°Don¡¯t panic.¡±

    Despite Song Ou¡¯s interference, despite His Majesty relocating her, Shen Yiren¡¯s words still provided them with reassurance unlike anything else.

    ¡°I can¡¯t oppose His Majesty¡¯s orders. There are wolves prowling around in the capital for prey. Your Captain Song wants to seize authority. The Qilin Guards want to supnt us. Emperor¡¯s Entourage don¡¯t want to see us win. We¡¯re no match for any challengers who mighte out from the forest out of the blue. I¡¯m not worried, though. You know why?¡±

    Shen Yiren was pleased to see spirited gazes. ¡°Ever since I was put in charge of Liu Shan Men, I¡¯ve failed to restore Liu Shan Men to its former glory despite my efforts. I¡¯m not Yan Shisan; I can¡¯t be him. That¡¯s why I established the female constables division to increase our numbers. While they have not lived up to my expectations, I¡¯m satisfied. Do you know why?¡± Seeing smiles, Shen Yiren smiled, too. ¡°Because the people haven¡¯tined.¡±

    As she advanced into the crowd, Shen Yiren borated, ¡°I always pay attention to what spirits the people are in when I go out. Everyone knows how perceptive I am. I saw bitterness, joy, crying andughing, but I¡¯ve never seen despair. That¡¯s how I know that we¡¯re doing the right things.

    ¡°The people don¡¯t have a phobia of us. When they do have grievances, they have no qualms telling us. When they need help, they reach out to us. When they¡¯re wrong, they¡¯ll hit the drum. When they speak about Liu Shan Men, they¡¯re confident in us; they believe we¡¯ll stretch out the hand they need.

    ¡°Many people don¡¯t understand me and Liu Shan Men. The Qilin Guards want us out of the picture. Emperor¡¯s Entourage want to rece us. But, neither of them know what they¡¯re really fighting for. I know that, win or lose, it¡¯ll be hard to shake our foundations. They¡¯re under the assumption that warriors make up our foundation. They thinknd size is our foundation. They mistake me for being the foundation of Liu Shan Men. For as long as the people trust us to help them, Liu Shan Men¡¯s foundations remain. Liu Shan Men doesn¡¯t need to be the top dog among the three offices or the martial world. As long as we can serve the people, that¡¯s enough. What does everyone think?¡±

    All Liu Shan Men members: ¡°Agreed.¡±

    ¡°Do you know why I¡¯ve always deprived Captain Song of authority?¡±

    Bai Yeshuang: ¡°Yes, because he cannot do what needs to be done.¡±

    ¡°Precisely. As an individual, he¡¯s not a bad guy. He doesn¡¯t covet authority. He has a background that not many people can match. With training, he has enough martial arts knowledge to stand out. Many of you here today will never be able to match him. However, he¡¯ll never go and visit amoner¡¯s home. He doesn¡¯t care if there are people suffering or not. He doesn¡¯t fathom how much trust people have in us when they hit the drum to trust us with protecting their justice. That¡¯s why he isn¡¯t qualified to lead Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Every Liu Shan Men member knew the health of Shen Yiren¡¯s rtionship with Song Ou. Their falling out over Vermillion Hall instilled even more unease, so Shen Yiren wanted to give them peace of mind.

    ¡°Shuang¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°I feel reassured with you leading the capital¡¯s female constables. You¡¯ve been my best helper for all these years. Come with me; help me start a new team.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang lifted her hands into salute. ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Liu Yuan.¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve stopped bullying people, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh, you speak in jest, Vice-Captain. I have changed my ways long ago. I am no longer interested in that behaviour.¡±

    ¡°Others may not see it, but I can see that you¡¯re a splendid manager. Without you overseeing things, Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables would be leaving loose ends everywhere. I want you to stay in the capital to take care of our new members.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Han.¡±

    Su Xiao raised his hand. ¡°Here, here, here!¡±

    Shen Yiren gazed at the childish face the way an elder sister proudly looked at her younger brother. ¡°After Tang Ye recovers, you twoplete the procedures and return to Liu Shan Men. Once His Majesty¡¯s decree arrives, you two and Ming Feizhen will leave with me.¡±

    That was great news to Su Xiao. Ever since he was fired, he was worried about someone pulling some strings to prevent him from ever being able to return. Now, he had legitimate justification to return.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Present!¡±

    ¡°You know what I¡¯m going to say?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    ¡°You do when I haven¡¯t said anything?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I will soon.¡± Ming Feizhen scratched his face.

    ¡°Pfft, the most unique thing about you is that, regardless of what I¡¯m saying, you have the nerve to space out in my presence.¡±

    ¡°You have plenty of talent. Me? I just need to spectate.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You wish. His Majesty made it clear that I would be transferred after matters in the capital are settled. I still have jobs to do in the capital.¡± Shen Yiren red at Ming Feizhen, then the others. ¡°The special exams are held in a few days¡¯ time. Have you all prepared?¡±

 Book 13: Chapter 212

    Special Exams Right Around the Corner

    The special academic and martial arts exams were tomence on the same day. That being said, examinees had to abide by different sets of rules, participate in different locations and for different lengths of times.

    The academic exams were to be held at Taishu Courtyard or Daren Academy. Usually, they needed three days, which included all the time for eating, sleeping and so forth. Once the papers werepleted, they needed to be handed up, recorded, assessed by the examiners and His Majesty. The judges needed an extensive read and discussion before they determined who passed. Roughly speaking, it took more than a month after the exams before the results were announced.

    In regards to the martial arts¡¯ exams, they were typically conducted at the military camp. They, too, held them over three days in front of the examiner. Twenty-four finalists would thenpete in front of the main pce for His Majesty¡¯s viewing. Since wins and losses were determined on the spot, the finalist would be announced on the same day.

    Though there were differences, at the end of the day, the pressure and difficulties were all as high as could be.

    Although the many contests who journeyed to the capital for the exams were still unsure of uing exams¡¯ details, there was no questioning their abilities.

    The selections for academics had always been strict. Consequently, those participating in the exams were those who already aplished. As rather few were selected from the finalists¡¯ pool, thepetition was extra fierce.

    Due to the lenience towards the Seven Champion White Princes ¨C in addition to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ recent rampage ¨C the journey to the capital was more dangerous than ever. Before Yi Ya returned, reaching the capital was basically a preliminary elimination round. Therefore, any martial artist still alive was the real deal.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There wasn¡¯t much time to prepare for the forting exams. Liu Shan Men had no spare time to prepare due to the fiasco. Shen Yiren knew about it, which was why she sighed and said, ¡°There have been two exams since I took the reins. Shuang¡¯er once won an exceptional improvement prize, but that¡¯s been the only aplishment we¡¯ve everted. This special exam is an opportunity. I understand you hardly have time to prepare, but you never cked off on training, so you could test your mettle in the ring. Liu Shan Men has twenty nominations. Don¡¯t let yourselves down. If you¡¯re confident, register with your direct superior, and discuss it with me. Oh, by the way,¡± Shen Yiren tapped Ming Feizhen on the shoulder, ¡°you can also consult Head Constable Ming. He¡¯s well-informed on the subject.¡±

    When all the wide eyes focused on him, Ming Feizhen widened his eyes, too. ¡°Wait. Boss, am I?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Should I be?¡±

    ¡°Stop acting.¡± Shen Yiren leaned in and whispered, ¡°Didn¡¯t you¡­ win once?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Ming Feizhen pped his eyelids until he realised what Shen Yiren referred to, prompting him to shake his head vigorously.

    That wasn¡¯t me!

    It was public knowledge that Jingan¡¯s husband was an exam winner who passed the academic and martial arts exams with flying colours. He was the only person in Li Dynasty¡¯s history to ever win in both categories. Besides his status protecting him from criticism, it was his unmatchablepetence that rendered him immune from criticism despite being away from the capital and missing from the radar for months at a time. He was the only man in the imperial court who could get away with that. But Ming Feizhen knew that the real winner wasn¡¯t him but his shifu.

    Not even Ming Feizhen knew what sort of crooked-unvirtuous-unscrupulous stuff his shifu did before throwing it all in hisp.

    ¡°B-but my experience is probably insufficient. Advising others is¡­¡±

    Su Xiao raised his hand sky high. ¡°Vice-Captain, Big Brother Ming cannot hack it.¡±

    ¡°Hear what Xiao said?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± inquired Shen Yiren.

    Su Xiao exined, ¡°Because he has to participate in the exams, as well.¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Shen Yiren: ¡°What?!¡±

    Su Xiao stretched his eyes at the chemistry disyed. ¡°Why¡­ have you two forgotten? Big Brother Ming attended Daren Academy to study for the exams, did he not? His Majesty also mentioned wanting to see him win.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°It is?!¡± eximed Ming Feizhen. ¡°I object! I¡¯ve just been released and am still in my healing period; I haven¡¯t even been able to sit on a stool yet or tidied up my treasures, and you want me to take an exam? I refuse.¡±

    Whether it was surviving having his scap pierced, turning the tables on people trying to assassinate him or surviving Gongsun Chu¡¯s attacks, Ming Feizhen had a way to get out, but there was no way he could pass the exams. There was nothing he could do. Nothing. Forget the win; trying to make him scorest ce was an ordeal. If the examiner were to see the paper he submitted, he¡¯d pay Ming Feizhen a visit with a butcher knife. Only problem was, how was he going to exin the ancient knowledge he supposedly possessed when Emperor Yuansheng asked?

    Bai Yeshuang: ¡°Head Constable Ming, are you defying an imperial decree?¡±

    Cleaner Huang cautioned, ¡°Head Constable Ming, defying an imperial decree incurs the death penalty.¡±

    Liu Yuan: ¡°Exactly, stop acting up. Telling you to take the exams is praising you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen: ¡°That still doesn¡¯t justify forcing someone injured to take an exam! Who would milk their vassal like this?! Right, Xiao?¡±

    Su Xiao: ¡°Right! Big Brother Ming has only just returned; he is hurt and tired. Besides, how can you expect him to get anywhere with his brain? Big Brother Ming, stay here, okay?¡±

    ¡°Xiao, you¡¯ve grown so much in the time I¡¯ve been gone, although one line in there sounded wrong¡­¡±

    ¡°Ehehe.¡± Su Xiao scrubbed the back of his head.

    ¡°You must go,¡± asserted Shen Yiren. When she saw the eyes of a betrayed soul from Ming Feizhen, she wagged her hand. ¡°No, no, I¡¯m not exploiting you.¡± She lowered her voice before borating, ¡°You¡¯re still recovering, so just mindlessly participate. Even if your results are abysmal, you can use your condition as an excuse, and Uncle will still confer you a rank. If you miss this one, the next one will be a strict one that you can¡¯t avoid.¡±

    That sounds¡­ logically sound¡­

    ¡°Ehehe, you have a point. I shall force myself to partake, then.¡± Ming Feizhen overlooked one thing. ¡°Abysmal results¡± wasn¡¯t a synonym for not trying whatsoever.

    Shen Yiren dismissed everyone after over four hours of talking. Naturally, she went to drink plenty of water afterwards, which was when she saw Ming Feizhen head out. ¡°You¡¯re heading out?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Mm, I have some stuff to do.¡±

    Shen Yiren checked around for people and then, in a quiet voice, reminded, ¡°You need another seven days before you¡¯re recovered. It may be more peaceful now in the capital, but not everyone is friendly. Be careful out there.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t be going far. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Shen Yiren wanted to continue the conversation. Unfortunately, Bai Yeshuang andpany had approached her with a stack of documents, forcing her to bid him goodbye.

    Ming Feizhen climbed onto a horse carriage once he exited Liu Shan Men.

 Book 13: Chapter 213

    Special Exams Right Around the Corner

    ¡°That¡¯s Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Several people on the rowdy streets at sunset intently watched the horse carriage¡¯s curtains. The speaker blended into the crowd perfectly.

    Without making contact with the speaker, his allies asked, ¡°Why is he here when Mr. Jiang Chen kidnapped him?¡±

    ¡°The operation¡¯s failure could be his fault.¡±

    Indeed, Jiang Chen¡¯s subordinates who were in charge of disying the mirage were detained or killed, but you¡¯d be grossly underestimating him if you assumed they were his only subordinates in the capital. Not even they were fully aware of their own allies¡¯ existence or backgrounds. They were a group willing to die as martyrs for Fiends¡¯ Genesis, so it should¡¯ve been assumed that they were considering their next move after learning of Jiang Chen¡¯s defeat.

    ¡°How about we capture him to ckmail them for Mr. Jiang Chen?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure if Mr. Jiang Chen is captured or not, but capturing Ming Feizhen certainly might pave the way out of the capital.¡±

    ¡°No need to capture him,¡± asserted the first speaker. He walked off, maintaining the same pace as before. ¡°Kill him to tell the world Fiends¡¯ Genesis lives.¡±

    ***

    Shen Yiren wrestled with her fatigue to get through the amassed reports during her absence from Liu Shan Men, as well to write the detailed report on her recent operation. Once she finished the fundamental stuff, she entrusted the editing to her subordinates.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Shuang¡¯er?¡±

    Bai Yeshuang, holding onto a report Shen Yiren passed her, asked, ¡°Vice-Captain, this says that you collected information and then delivered it back to the capital, which was how you located Jiang Chen, the hostages and his subordinates.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t assert the credit was mine now. I only wrote what I did.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ we did not receive any letters.¡±

    If somebody intercepted Shen Yiren¡¯s letters meant for Liu Shan Men, then there was a serious problem.

    ¡°Oh, that. I didn¡¯tmunicate with you. Jiang Chen had surveince on all ourmunicationworks ¨C our meaning us, Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards. That¡¯s why we¡¯ve never been able to capture him. I, therefore, used a newmunication line.¡±

    ¡°A newmunication line?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a private route.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang stretched her eyes out. The cost of establishing a new and reliablemunication line was no joking matter, not to mention under a condition when all letters you sent were seen. Despite how covert the imperial court¡¯s lines were, Gongsun Chu was still able to figure them out. As such, it sounded ridiculous for Shen Yiren to have established one in such a short time.

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t send my letters to the capital.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang tilted her head.

    ¡°I sent my letters to Hangzhou and then had them delivered to the capital. I don¡¯t know how they did it, but there¡¯s no need to worry; the line is fine. They were a tremendous help. When you write your report, just follow mine.¡±

    Once she regathered her thoughts, Bai Yeshuang sat down to write a few lines before her mind wandered off to something that still didn¡¯t click for her. How was somebody supposed to be of ¡°tremendous help¡± to Shen Yiren when none of her problems were trivial problems? At the same time, though, receiving and redirecting a letter for her wasn¡¯t exactly solving a big problem, either. Shen Yiren¡¯s primary problem was locating Gongsun Chu; her toughest challenge was rescuing the hostage. Not even Emperor¡¯s Entourage couldplete those assignments. So, the only thing they could¡¯ve done for her was to ¡°analyse¡± the information she supplied. In other words, the person in Hangzhou analysed the information they received and converted it into practical information. That meant¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Otherwise, I¡¯d need to be able to perform sorcery to pinpoint where Jiang Chen¡¯s subordinates were hiding in the capital¡­ That being said¡­ there really might be someone who can see any corner of the world from anywhere. I mean, didn¡¯t the person I contacted deduce where Jiang Chen was based on my dot points? Honestly, I¡¯d consider them a monster.¡± Shen Yiren then returned to work as though the rest of it was not her problem.

    Bai Yeshuang stared at her halfplete report, unsure how to continue.

    ***

    The breeze spread the smell of viscous blood in the dark alley, making even the dusty ground smell putrid. Had the coach not been entrusted with a job, he would¡¯ve preferred to stay away from the alley with strewn bloody bodies. Nheless, he gulped and searched around for someone still somewhat conscious. When he found one individual, although barely able to open his eyes or breathe, he said, ¡°Head Constable Ming told me to deliver a message: tell the other morons to behave if they don¡¯t want to die.¡±

    He¡­ knew we wereing. Who¡­ were the people who attacked us?

    ¡°If you see your boss, tell him¡­¡±

    And¡­ the individual passed out.

    ***

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, is that really you?!¡±

    The students of Daren Academy couldn¡¯t control their surprise when they saw their long-absent ssmate.

    ¡°Hi guys. Bye guys.¡± Ming Feizhen kept briskly going on his way, turning a few corners, going down a narrow path, turning more corners and finally reaching a small courtyard. Semantically, it was referred to as a pce, which was one of the few special buildings that only special students resided in.

    Ming Feizhen showed no hesitance pushing any doors open or stepping into any buildings, repeating until he reached the room farthest in, which was left untidied. The owner of the room was leaning back on her soft cushion, had her left leg crossed over her right and was reading a book whilst enjoying a crisp fritter. The two of them froze upon seeing each other, both mid motion.

    ¡°¡­ Ah?¡± She dropped her fritter. ¡°Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing here?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen, ignoring Jin Zhaoying¡¯s flustered reaction, found himself a seat and took the fritter she dropped. He took a bite as he poured himself a cup of tea and said, ¡°Tastes decent. This is a new item from Tianjiu, isn¡¯t it? You have good taste, Miss Jin.¡±

    The blushing maiden speedily sat up straight and tidied herself up, although her posture itself was part of the reason most of her forearms and thighs were exposed. That being said, it was her posture that kept eyes away from her. At the very least, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t notice. She cleared her throat and then tried to sternly say, ¡°Why are you here all of a sudden? You should¡¯ve told me in advance! Why didn¡¯t the maids stop you?!¡±

    ¡°Some of them are in the backyard. Some of them are in the study. I sneaked in while they weren¡¯t paying attention.¡± Ming Feizhen had another drink and then continued, ¡°Boss told me you helped her find Jiang Chen and deduce where the hostages were held. I¡¯m not surprised. If it wasn¡¯t you, I can¡¯t think of anyone else who could find someone not even Emperor¡¯s Entourage could find based on sparse information. Having said that, I have a question I must ask.¡±

    Ming Feizhen put his cup down, stared at the flushed maiden and queried, ¡°Why did you do that?¡± His eyes were on her, yet it didn¡¯t seem as though his attention was on her. ¡°You never do anything without an end purpose. What do you stand to gain from helping Liu Shan Men find Jiang Chen?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t quite know¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t know. Call her out.¡±

    Ming Feizhen watched as the darting eyes steadied, the redness in the cheeks recede and as she her brush aside her dress, putting her smooth legs on full disy in all their glory.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right.¡± She interlocked her fingers and set her chin atop them. She tugged up the corners of her lips slightly, tilted her head and adopted azy tone. ¡°When have I ever done anything that wasn¡¯t for you? What you said breaks my heart, Fuma.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 0

    Golden Wind from the Western Regions

    A legend in the Western Regions told a story of a demon illuminating the small room he was born in golden light when he was born. Legends of unexinable phenomena urring when children were born weren¡¯t rare. His father thought the golden glow wouldn¡¯t disappear once he was born, but the golden light only shone again on the second day of his son¡¯s birth.

    In and where religious beliefs were part of nearly everyone¡¯s life, news of special newborns unsurprisingly travelled fast. Before the official and local shrines could determine if the newborn was the portent of an ominous future or a blessing from the gods, bandits had arrived.

    Wealthy families thatcked anything but money would love to have a special child for bragging rights. Any monarch of the seven states would love to have a new and unique toy. The bandits killed everyone except for the infant and the infant¡¯s mother. For bandits who¡¯d mercilessly kill anyone for their gains, it proved to be a fatal mistake.

    When the bandits snatched the infant from his mother¡¯s arms, the golden glow returned, crushing the bandits¡¯ organs and reducing them to cesspools of flesh within an instant. A bloody and gross scene it may have been, it was also divine enough to earn reverence. He was heaven¡¯s chosen child among the countless people in existence.

    Ever since that day, the infant¡¯s golden light became a legendary topic across the seven states, while the infant himself became a symbol of divinity. There was no exnation for what exactly the golden light was; they only worked out that it would spawn whenever the infant was emotionally stimted and that he had the potential to surpass the strength of mankind.

    People foresaw the story bing a huge deal in and that viewed religion with so much importance, but nobody could stop its spread. People travelled from afar, wishing to see the supposed miracle for themselves, wishing to see if someone had truly inherited a gift from above. They were disappointed. The child was human. He still wobbled when walking. He didn¡¯t wear sparkly garments. He still liked clinging to his mother.

    To protect the mother and child, the shrine prohibited people from disturbing their life. They knew the people would be hellbent, but they underestimated the degree. Those people knew that the child¡¯s mood was the key to a miracle, specifically, rage.

    On a starless night, a light from below brightened every corner of the sky that the eye could see. It wasn¡¯t a miracle; it was man made. They believed that an inheritor of divine power was impervious to fire, but they never saw the child they believed in run to his mother¡¯s rescue when their home went up in mes. As they listened to the pitiful cries from within, they cursed and spat. They felt deceived; they had no self-awareness of what they had done.

    Eventually, they were face to face with a three-year-old child, which was when it dawned on them that a child wouldn¡¯t have the ability to speak about their emotions at such a tender age and shouldn¡¯t have had a stoic face caked in white ash. Only when his emotions exploded did they realise they had woken the most terrifying demon of the Western Regions.

    The child massacred everyone in the small town. Everyone. After he departed, the story would continue to be recounted in every state for eternity.

    Henceforth, they described the child as one with emerald eyes, hair akin to fire, green face, fangs, bones of iron, skin of bronze, as well as invulnerability to des and elements. They said he was a demon from the depths wielding a titanic axe weighing tonnes. Supposedly, he was an indiscriminate killing machine who terrorised every state without anyone able to stop him in his tracks. As a result, martial artists confident in their abilities travelled far and world to find him, which was simple, only to pad his record and feed the earth. The only person he hadn¡¯t defeated was the Western Regions¡¯ true ruler ¨C the leader of Divine Moon Cult. That was a scenario that would never happen, though, as he had joined the cult and was unfaultable unless he purged the cult. At that point, everyone expected him to be invincible, and they were right¡­ until he met ¡°God¡±.

    ***

    The pce walls didn¡¯t magically reflect the sunlight. The walls ¨C every part of the city, as a matter of fact ¨C was constructed using gold and had white jade iid. You¡¯d find women who¡¯d have men drooling in the pce, white deer, lions and apes in the meticulous garden. The Central in was blessed with wealth and vastnd, but you¡¯d be hard-pressed to find a city as opulent as this one.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    This was the headquarters of the seven states of the Western Regions¡¯ true ruler, the guardian of all those under the sun and moon, the guardian of the night, the leader of the boundless deserts and oceans, the only person truly respected above all else, the offspring of god and god¡¯s representative, the one tasked with spreading the teachings ¨C the leader of Divine Moon Cult. Trying to find anything sinister here would be tantamount to finding a drop of water in gravel.

    The blonde elder on the golden throne was once a man who had women swooning over him, but time had taken a toll on his appearance. He stared at the book on hand as though he was measuring the world impartially, just as he seemed indifferent to the oral reporting from below.

    ¡°Your Great Majesty¡­ he escaped.¡±

    The elder adorned in the most premium clothing money could buy slowly set down his book, not because he was old but because he was weighing whether the report or the contents of the book were more pertinent. In the end, he took a nce down.

    Aforementioned escapee was a menace to mankind. The buildings were all but debris. The guards were skeletons. Nothing in the vicinity wasn¡¯t burnt. The huge hole in the wall looked as if someone melted it with a fireball.

    ¡°Yong Ye.¡±

    The youth beside the elder took a close look and then turned back to report, ¡°It is Agni Twelve Heavens.¡±

    The single sentence eliminated the possibility of foreign assistance. Agni Twelve Heavens was one of the prisoner¡¯s most polished disciplines.

    ¡°Put out the fire.¡± The elder left with his arms folded.

    ¡°You Great Majesty, he¡­ is a menace. He may very well bring harm to the seven states again. Are we not going to send¡­¡±

    ¡°Give a Divine Realm name who you could send after him.¡± The elder stopped in his tracks to ask, ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    ¡°ording to reports, he is heading towards the Central in.¡±

    The elder smirked. ¡°Let ¡®God¡¯ deal with it.¡± Speaking from a past memory, the elder added, ¡°Mayhap it is their fate.¡±

    A gentle breeze brushed the elder¡¯s hair on his temples, starting the unbridled, scorching, ominous golden wind from the Western Regions.

 Book 14: Chapter 1

    A Still Shadow on Peace

    ¡°Fuma.¡± Although her exterior packaging had changed, her innate ssy aura was undeniable.

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t exin why, but he hated the charm.

    ¡°H-how did you get in?!¡± A maid in the rear finally noticed Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen never deliberately concealed his presence when he entered, but none of the maids noticed he was there until now.

    ¡°How dare you barge into Mistress¡¯ room? Get out! I¡¯m reporting you to the principal and making sure you¡­ you can¡¯t participate in exams!¡±

    One maid after another confronted Ming Feizhen as though they were going to carry him out, but he just kept drinking his tea.

    ¡°He¡¯s my guest.¡±

    The maids ceased their shouting instantly.

    The maids weren¡¯t supposed to react so out of control. One could pretend, but it was extremely difficult to hide your internal breathing, so Ming Feizhen knew all of them could hold their own weight in a fight. While they had the physiques of typical maids, they most likely favoured swordy judging from the shapes of their wrists and the conditions of their hands. Given their petite physiques, they¡¯d easily assassinate their target once they had encircled them. The only reason they feigned panic was to eliminate the risk of their mistress¡¯ first mask. In other words, they knew about their mistress¡¯ transformations. All these factors qualified them to act as her bodyguards on the academy grounds.

    ¡°Jin Zhaoying¡± instructed her maids to fetch her zed bowl to wash her hands. With a modest upward curve to her lips, she slowly cleaned her hands and remarked, ¡°Thisss is a glutton.¡±

    Ming Feizhen tilted his head to the side. ¡°You sent your puppet here as soon as you returned to Hangzhou. You really are obsessed with the capital. Why not just build a sojourn pce in the capital? Given how much your father loves you, wouldn¡¯t it be better to live closer, Your Highness?¡±

    People tended to forget Jin Zhaoying gained her reputation after her meeting with Li Jingan. Jin Zhaoying was never known to be a genius with a brush until they met. Many years ago, she was a girl with no interest in martial arts, politics, status in the n or wealth. She, in fact, was frowned upon simrly to other girls who were born with silver spoons.

    Bai Yumo was young and seldom ventured into the pugilistic world, but she was a legit inheritor of Bai n¡¯s broadswordy and proved so when she put away several notorious viins.

    Luo Sword Manor¡¯s Luo Mingzhu embodied Mount Tian and her father¡¯s swordy, so she had her swordy.

    You could send a gang running if you just mentioned the names of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary or Song n¡¯s eldest daughters.

    ck Robe Brotherhood had Princess Li Hongzhuang. Who¡¯d darepare themselves to her?

    Since everyone in her bracket shone so bright, Jin Zhaoying¡¯s ordinariness stood out. Luckily for her, she met Li Jingan.

    Li Jingan once paid a visit to Jin n¡¯s headquarters in Zhenjiang, where she became acquainted with Jin Zhaoying. The former encouraged thetter to read more poetry and to work on developing her character so that she wouldn¡¯t lose the ticket to a bright future, iming that women didn¡¯t need to fight to get ahead in life. The gluttonous fan of sleeping and anti-work maiden took Li Jingan¡¯s advice on board, eventuallymunicating through letter exchanges with other schrs, which started her meteoric rise in the Central in.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen knew there was more to the story, but he was still surprised when he learnt what Li Jingan achieved. Jin Zhaoying was still the gluttonous maiden who liked to sleep, read fiction andze at home, and yet Li Jingan singlehandedly turned Jin Zhaoying into a genius through just writing.

    To change one¡¯s goals was far beyond something you could perform through martial arts ¨C or knowledge. As established, ssifying Heart Realm disciplines as martial arts disciplines was pushing the definition of martial arts. How they functioned and how they were performed werepletely unlike the other seven types of martial arts discipline categories. The user didn¡¯t require internal energy, and its effectiveness wasn¡¯t predicated on their internal energy attributes.

    Martial arts disciplines that affected one¡¯s mind didn¡¯t require training in internal disciplines or physical training, but the user could perform almost miraculous feats, such as changing another person¡¯s motivations.

    There was plenty of interest in disciplines that attacked the mind, but the information on it wasn¡¯t credible since they were primarily hypotheses or rumours. That being said, they genuinely existed, and there was an abundance of examples to prove the fact.

    It was practically impossible to identify someone as an expert in them since the training and utilisation processes were different to all other martial arts. They could¡¯ve been an elder who needed a walking stick or some bratty maid. This was the reason they weren¡¯t part of the martial world. When they passed away or passed knowledge down, it went under the radar.

    Ming Feizhen had a much deeper understanding of the disciplines due to the fact that ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡± that Ming Huayu taught him was recorded using a mental discipline. That was how he saw through Li Jingan when he saw Jin Zhaoying for the first time. Whether her instant admission was a form of honesty or not would be only something she knew. As to how Li Jingan pursued ¨C or conquered ¨C Jin Zhaoying, that, too, was beyond Ming Feizhen¡¯s deduction abilities. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t important.

    ¡°I refuse.¡± Once the maids exited, Jingan, with a hand over her mouth, quietly said, ¡°Is my father not yours, My Lord?¡±

    Every single time they met up, Ming Feizhen had to deal with her teasing, even when she was Jin Zhaoying.

    Ming Feizhen stood up, sat down on the couch and responded, ¡°Oh, so you haven¡¯t forgotten I am your husband. This is how you take care of your husband? Where¡¯s my massage?¡±

    Glossary

    Internal breathing ¨C Unlike breathing that requires you to use your nose and mouth, this is a fictional method of breathing that martial artists use, whereby they can absorb and expel oxygen through their skin.

 Book 14: Chapter 2

    Martial Arts Demonstration

    Her wrists were visible while she gently kneaded Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders. The heat permeated the room with her scent. Yet, Ming Feizhen only cared for the crispy fritters that Jin Zhaoying had her maids line up for whilstining, ¡°Put your back into it. Have you not eaten today?¡± Nevertheless, Li Jingan diligently kneaded and thumped away, putting her skin up against his neck.

    ¡°How is this, Fuma?¡±

    Ming Feizhen, legs crossed, continued eating and reading a fiction novel. ¡°So-so, but passable.¡±

    Li Jingan suddenly stopped. ¡°You are constantly around with sparing a thought for me as I painfully yearn for you all by myself.¡±

    ¡°You still have that? Get rid of it already.¡±

    ¡°No. I want to take care of you.¡±

    ¡°What are your hands doing?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Li Jingan resumed drumming Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulders, but she did it with joy this time. ¡°Are you not going to Beijiang anymore?¡±

    Ming Feizhen yawned. ¡°Eh, can¡¯t be bothered running around. Just came back from Nanjiang, only to be locked up in a dog kennel. Why is a woman asking so much about a man¡¯s affairs? Keep your mouth shut, and work your hands.¡±

    Li Jingan did as was demanded off her, gradually easing off the pressure once Ming Feizhen fell asleep. It wasn¡¯t until a long whileter that Ming Feizhen yawned and rubbed his eyes as he arose from his slumber. Li Jingan was still sitting beside him, wearing a sweet smile.

    ¡°You sure are holding back today.¡±

    Every time they met, Li Jingan would try all sorts of seduction methods. Although she still tried this time, she was a lot more reservedpared to previous times.

    Li Jingan supported one arm with another. ¡°It is not my body, after all. I must take care of the body Sister Zhaoying lent me.¡±

    That was an unexpected reason considering Li Jingan had no interest in people around her, treating them as mere discardable vehicles to her goals. Her reasoning made sense, though. She didn¡¯t care for Jin Zhaoying out of friendship or respect; she merely needed to take care of her vessel to the world outside of her doors. She wouldn¡¯t go against her education if it wasn¡¯t necessary. She was unpredictable because she managed her operational principles without any emotional attachment.

    Li Jingan leaned into her surprised husband¡¯s ear and, in a breathy voice, added, ¡°Plus, no woman would let another woman get close to her husband.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was thinking how he was going to pry the truth out of Li Jingan, but it seemed unlikely she¡¯d divulge anything remotely rted to the truth.

    ¡°Spare me. Why did you help Boss Shen?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so cold-hearted.¡± Jin Zhaoying couldn¡¯t pout so seductively even if she tried. ¡°You fell for another girl, and I helped you, yet you are scolding me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen fanned the stench of bullcrap with his hand. ¡°I misspoke. It¡¯s not, why did you help Boss Shen. It¡¯s why did you go after Jiang Chen?¡±

    The two questions seemed unconnected, but they were actually dependent of each other. The n wasn¡¯t to have Shen Yiren tackle Jiang Chen; the n was to tackle Jiang Chen. It just so happened to be that using Shen Yiren as the medium to tackle Jiang Chen was the best way to cover her own tracks.

    ¡°You deduced where Jiang Chen was, didn¡¯t you? He never would¡¯ve imagined you¡¯d be the one to catch him.¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t giving yourself enough credit.¡± Li Jingan apuded cheerfully. ¡°Had it not been for you, Jiang Chen wouldn¡¯t have been defeated so easily. While others may be unaware, I know you yed a pivotal role.¡±

    Ming Feizhen frowned as he didn¡¯t expect Li Jingan to know about his match against Jiang Chen.

    ¡°I know more than just that.¡± Li Jingan lowered her hands, titled her head and grinned. ¡°For instance, about your martial arts¡¯ abilities.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed upon picking up some sounds. ¡°You¡¯re still out for your husband¡¯s life.¡±

    Four maids from before emerged from Ming Feizhen¡¯s rear, all armed with swords as cold as their expressions contrary to before.

    Li Jingan came up with the simple assassination plot after hearing about Ming Feizhen¡¯s defenceless condition. It might¡¯ve seemed to be a sloppy idea, but, in reality, it was clever as she didn¡¯t have to bear any risk. If it failed, then it was just another failure among many previous failures. If Ming Feizhen took Jin Zhaoying hostage, then it¡¯d be a crime against Jin Zhaoying, and the four maids¡¯ actions would be justified as protecting their mistress.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t turn around to face the assassins. Instead, he leaned in towards the face his wife of three years. Li Jingan didn¡¯t know what his n was, but she looked up at him.

    Ming Feizhen chuckled through his nose. ¡°I didn¡¯t even get a drop of alcohol. I¡¯m not too happy about that.¡±

    Ming Feizhen flipped off the couch, drew a sword from his sash and, following a sequence of four ngs, the maids¡¯ swords snapped and desnded on the ground with the same interval between them.

    ¡°Wudang¡¯s Tai Chi Swordy spirit!¡± eximed a maid.

    In the meantime, Ming Feizhen had returned to where Li Jingan was and started drinking from the teapot that he held overhead. Once refreshed, he exhaled and gave her a smile. ¡°What was that about my martial arts abilities, Your Highness?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 3

    Be Careful

    Ming Feizhen returned the sword to its sheath without looking, then took a seat beside Li Jingan. She, like him, fed him a crispy fritter as though nothing happened, and he epted it likewise.

    After Ming Feizhen licked his lips, Li Jingan softly said, ¡°Fuma, the sword is good,¡± with her eyes down on the quaint sword.

    Ming Feizhen took another bite and, before swallowing it, replied, ¡°This broadsword is just normal.¡±

    ¡°Which of the many renowned cksmiths is credited with its creation?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s a renowned cksmith or not, but I do know its name.¡±

    ¡°And its name is?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just tell you? It¡¯s called ¡®Normal¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Wordless Sword Deity¡¯s signature sword!¡± eximed a maid.

    Among Eastern China Sea¡¯s Supreme Swordsman, Mount Tian¡¯s cial Sword Empress, Wordless Sword Deity and the elder of the imperial family¡¯s mausoleum, Wordless Sword Deity was the most mythical of them for his aplishments, so it was no surprise that his signature sword was praised as highly as him. For years now, he had secluded himself at Grasshouse. Therefore, every time there was news of him again, the world of swordsmen would be rattled. As practitioners of swordy since childhood, the maids were naturally surprised to see his sword in the capital.

    ¡°So it¡¯s Sword Deity¡¯s sword.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t know that. I just found it.¡±

    Li Jingan narrowed her eyes. ¡°Thank you for sharing some pointers with the four girls, Fuma.¡±

    Even an idiot could perceive the provocation in Li Jingan¡¯s eyes; she was convinced that Ming Feizhen only beat her maids because he caught them by surprise with his Tai Chi Swordy and possession of Normal.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Ming Feizhen sat up and, before Li Jingan could give the order to assassinate him, offered, ¡°I guess I need to share some pointers with them, then. I suppose you won¡¯t mind, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°If you would please, Fuma.¡±

    ¡°The four are already decent with their tools and coordinate splendidly. They never panicked even after I broke their des, truly impressive.¡± Ming Feizhen moved his gaze to the four. ¡°You four coordinate your attacks as though you are one entity. That¡¯s not easy to achieve, and it¡¯s certainly effective, but it¡¯s useless against someone perceptive. In order to maintain your synchrony, you must maintain your speed in every movement at an average level; you even must engage and disengage at the same time. That¡¯s just silly.

    ¡°In a real fight, many things change in a split second. All the enemy has to do is bait you into attacking the same spot, and your formation will be your own undoing. There¡¯s nothing special about synchronising your engagement and disengagement. You finally get it when you can attack at different times from different ces and stillnd in the same spot.¡±

    The four maids felt as if a lightning bolt just pped right by their eyes. Until now, all their training had focused on synchronising to apply their formation; they never ced any importance in one-on-onebat. Yet, they found that it basically impossible to improve their formation recently no matter how much they trained. Not only did Ming Feizhen just draw their attention to a weakness they were ignorant to, but he also provided a hint to improve.

    Ming Feizhen smiled as he nced back at Li Jingan.

    ¡°Where is Fuma¡¯s thank you?¡± Li Jingan rhetorically questioned without a change in temperament.

    ¡°Thank you for your advice, Fuma,¡± the four maids conveyed in unison.

    ¡°Fetch my wine for Fuma. I must personally make it up to him.¡± Once her proprietary wine arrived, Li Jingan personally filled a bowl with her fragrant concoction and passed it to Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°This is good.¡±

    The maids had to stop their jaws from hanging agape as they watched Ming Feizhen chug the bowl in one shot.

    Once he set the empty zed bowl down, Ming Feizhen wore on a long face. ¡°Lass, what exactly are you plotting?¡±

    ¡°I like it when you call me that.¡± Li Jingan¡¯s cheeks turned rosy. ¡°Am I the only one you treat this way?¡±

    What the hell is there to like about that?! If you like being called ¡°Lass¡±, will you moan in joy if I call you ¡°Hoe¡±?!

    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±

    Li Jingan flipped her palms face-up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to answer it,¡± she responded. Once she saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s defeated look, however, she cackled and said, ¡°However, if you guess correctly, I could nod.¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine! No going back on your word! Why did you go after Jiang Chen? Did he get in your way?¡±

    Li Jingan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t budge in the slightest.

    ¡°Who did you hear about my encounter with Jiang Chen from? There were only a few people at the scene. Was it Boss Shen? Isn¡¯t there friction between the Seven Champion Princes and your dad? Why help Jin n? What¡¯s your rtionship with Jin Zhaoying? Why are you in her body? You had a role in manifesting the duel between Jin Wangsun and I in the pce. He went missing afterwards. Did you off him?¡±

    Since Li Jingan promised to nod if he was right, Ming Feizhen decided to throw out all the questions he¡¯d be dying to know the answers to regardless of relevancy.

    ¡°Also¡­ uh, do you have anything to eat? I¡¯m hungry?¡±

    Li Jingan angled her head and smiled behind her hand. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Great! No, wait, answer at least one of the questions before that one! You didn¡¯t nod once! Are you using me for entertainment?!¡±

    Li Jingan set her chin onto her hand and gazed at Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°¡­ What are you thinking about?! Say it out loud!¡±

    Li Jingan smiled. ¡°I¡¯m wondering what our child¡¯s temperament would be like. What should we name them? If it¡¯s a boy, how about calling him Ming¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop. Please.¡± Ming Feizhen extended his arms out as if he was using them as posts to keep a menace away.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Li Jingan pulled back into a graceful sitting posture. In a voice as soft as an ill patient, she voiced, ¡°In your opinion, what would you say is the most important part when deciding to do something? In my opinion, family, is the most important.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wrinkled his nose, unable to fathom what was implied.

    ¡°Fuma won¡¯t be staying the night. See him out.¡±

    No matter how much they respected Ming Feizhen, Her Highness¡¯ orders were absolute. Therefore, the four maids approached him before he was done thinking to escort him to the door. Even by the time he was at the door, he still couldn¡¯t figure out what Li Jingan tried to convey.

    ¡°Fuma.¡± Li Jingan looked perfectly calm as she continued, ¡°Your sword is sharp. My four maids are no match.¡± She paused to give Ming Feizhen time to process what she implied, then went on. ¡°There is no shortage of dangerous people in the capital; there¡¯s no guarantee they can¡¯t do something to you.¡± Wearing a forlorn look, she finished with, ¡°You must be careful.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 4

    Be More Careful

    The leader of the four maids was incredibly tall for a seventeen-year-old girl. She always red at people strangers, but I wasn¡¯t sure if that was just because she was the serious type or just not good at social interactions.

    ¡°There were two more girls thest time I visited, right?¡±

    The most talented and pretty maid smiled. ¡°You have a great memory, Fuma. There were only two of us at first. They only came here recently.¡±

    ¡°Thought so.¡± I scanned the surroundings, then lifted the chin of the leader. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    She didn¡¯t expect me to make such a bold move, and she couldn¡¯t resist owing to my status. With her face red and eyes shut, she whispered in a nigh-inaudible voice,¡±¡±¡­ This one¡¯s name is Ling Xiang.¡±

    The other girl smiled. ¡°Ling Xiang, Fuma is speaking to you. Why are y-¡±

    I pulled her into my arms before she could finish, making all the students passing by or around the academy¡¯s main doors pause and widen their eyes. Her smiling visage turned into a ripe tomato.

    ¡°And what¡¯s your name.¡±

    ¡°Th-this one is Zhai Ye.¡±

    ¡°Ling Xiang, Zhai Ye, elegant names you have.¡± I pulled them both into an embrace. ¡°Her Highness¡¯ people are my people. Didn¡¯t she tell you that?¡±

    While the two were at a loss for what to do, the other two maids yelled together, ¡°Please exercise self-respect, Fuma!¡±

    ¡°Good point. There are four of you; I should be equally fair to all of you.¡± I looked to the free two, spurring jolts from them. I gently pushed the two in my arms away, giving them the chance to regroup. ¡°Hahaha, I need to get going.¡±

    The four stupefied girls and students watched me leave. You think I cared about them? Absolutely not. I strolled brazenly through the streets, winking and greeting people without any qualms. Once I confirmed nobody was on my tail, I bolted until I was sure the four wouldn¡¯t pop out from nowhere and behead me!

    How was I supposed to know they¡¯d be so dangerous once they were a team of four? Had I not brought along Wu Ping¡¯s Mncholic Sword and sessfully passed it off as Wordless Sword Deity¡¯s ¡°Normal¡±, they¡¯d have kept shing at me! You think I was safe since they courteously saw me to the door? Since when did you need four people for that? They were obviously going to go for a second round. Had I not been a pro at pleasing girls, fooled them, shared some advice, established myself as the boss in front of their mistress to earn some respect and yed with their bod-, minds, I¡¯d have perished by the door.

    Don¡¯t misunderstand. I wasn¡¯t afraid of death. Death was just a moment of pain for me, but it¡¯d be a lifetime of pain for my father-inw and mother-inw.

    I only wanted to ask Jingan what she was up to; I forgot about her anti-husband propensity and constant attempts on my life every time.

    You know what? Let me grab a te of pork shoulders to destress.

    I could barely withhold my drool as soon as I thought about pork shoulders. Although the food in the underground pce was decent, their chefs weren¡¯t even qualified to cook rice for the head chef of Eight Deities.

    As I made my way to Eight Deities, I mulled over what Jingan meant. Boss Shen sought out Jin Zhaoying¡¯s assistance as she heard Jin Zhaoying and I were acquainted. Jingan had no reason to help Boss Shen, yet she went as far as taking Jiang Chen out. She had to have a reason for being so invested, but she refused to answer my queries. ¡°¡­ Family is the most important¡± seemed to be a hint for me, but I couldn¡¯t understand what was implied. What did ¡°family¡± represent? Where was her ¡°family¡±? Hangzhou? The capital? How was that connected to her motivations for taking down Jiang Chen? Surely, she couldn¡¯t have meant for me to be wary of her four maids. What was I supposed to cautious off when Gongsun Chu had been defeated?

    Ah, toss it. She always says confusing stuff like this. If I keep thinking about it, I¡¯ll be up all night. Nothing takes priority over pork shoulders.

    ¡°Mr. Shi, your frequent customer is back,¡± I proudly announced as I climbed the stairs, waking the owner who had dozed off at the counter. The two of us gazed at each other. I expected that strong gaze from my long-term debtor. I took a seat and, with a smile, said, ¡°What are you staring at? Your customer is waiting to be served.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Proprietor Shi walked off.

    He¡¯s¡­ not going to fetch an axe, is he? I don¡¯t have any money on me today, either, but we¡¯ve been friends for years. Surely¡­

    Proprietor Shi came back briskly.

    ¡°You¡¯re being petty, aren¡¯t you? Don¡¯t run off. All the good food and drinks¡­¡±

    Before I could finish what I wanted to say, the kitchen staff, maids, waiter, coach, basically everyone breathing, carried out a te of food each, all of which were dishes I loved, and right in the middle was a golden-aromatic-juicy-piping-hot te of braised pork shoulders in soy sauce.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Shi¡­¡±

    Ol¡¯ Shi did a quick check for anyone who shouldn¡¯t have been around and then, despite seldom drinking, held up a drink to share with me. ¡°¡­ You better live a long life.¡±

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Shi.¡±

    Ol¡¯ Shi! I¡¯m so flipping touched! I¡¯m gonna cry! I never knew such a nice debtor could exist! I¡­ I¡­

    As two waterfalls descended from my eyes, I started digging in. ¡°I never knew you were the nicest to me, Ol¡¯ Shi.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    God damn, you distracted me from the taste of my food.

    Proprietor Shi sat down beside me.

    ¡°Your pork shoulders are smell so good. What¡¯s the secret?¡±

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re alive,e here and I¡¯ll make it for you.¡±

    I only realised how bizarre that sounded once I was nearly done eating. ¡°You make it sound like I¡¯m in danger.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Haven¡¯t you lost all your martial arts?¡±

    I fossilised. ¡°Even you know? Since when did you start paying attention to the top secrets of the martial world?¡±

    ¡°What top secret? Are you telling me you¡¯re unaware?¡± Once again, Proprietor Shi checked over his shoulders prior to whispering, ¡°Word on the ck market is that Ming Feizhen of Liu Shan Men has lost all his martial arts. Someone has ced a handsome bounty on your head. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know about this.¡±

    I still looked stupid.

    ¡°Are you serious? You¡¯re going to die without even knowing why, then.¡±

    What?! Someone is saying that I¡¯ve lost all my martial arts in the ck market?!

 Book 14: Chapter 5

    Cornered

    ¡°How far has the news spread on the ck market?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ It¡¯s rather weird. It seems somebody is deliberately restricting its spread. There aren¡¯t a lot of people in the capital who know about it.¡±

    The weirdest part about it was the restriction. Who exactly did they want to know about it because the entire imperial court was aware I was an amateur at martial arts? Tianhu¡¯s hair was sacrificed to cement the fact; His Majesty saw with his own eyes. If the imperial court heard an amateur could no longer fight, they¡¯d just say, ¡°My condolences¡± at most. His Majesty might even piggy back off it to have me tackle more civil-servant-type of tasks. That was no skin of off my back. I was unsure how many people in the capital were interested in my head, but relying on that news to assassinate me was an inefficient tactic.

    ¡°You have let your emotions cloud your judgement. If the information was too widespread and your sect found out, who¡¯d be able to harm you?¡±

    The older the wiser, they say. Now I understand why they confined the news to the capital. You bunch of conniving pricks.

    No matter if the bounty hunters knew who I was or not ¨C even if they were after indirectly defeating Mount Daluo ¨C there¡¯d be no shortage of bounty hunters willing to give it a crack. Suffice to say, people who were willing to risk their lives for the fat sum woulde after me, too. As for those who genuinely hated my guts, if they happened to be in the capital and caught wind of it, why wouldn¡¯t they try to use me for training? There was motivation for every sort of character toe after me.

    ¡°Whoever came up with it is ruthless; it looks like they won¡¯t stop until you¡¯re dead. Any clue who they might be?¡±

    Is that a trick question? Who else would it be besides Jingan?! Who else would have so much free time and spare money to do this? Now I know what she wanted me to be careful of. No wonder why I felt like some sort of hunter was watching me when I left. If it wasn¡¯t for my handicap, you pricks would¡­

    As I bit into thest bone, I asked, ¡°Ol¡¯ Shi, how many people do you think wille after me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll depend on how many people you¡¯ve osted.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    D-does the capital even have enough space for that many?! Is the imperial court opening tourism for funds?! Am I the imperial court¡¯s newmodity?! You sure are your money-grubbing father¡¯s daughter, Jingan, never forgetting to fill the national treasury at the same time you harm someone.

    ¡°Rx. Didn¡¯t I tell you that the news hasn¡¯t left the capital?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t reduce the numbers tofortable levels. I just have to walk out the door to have haters.¡±

    Proprietor Shi shook his head and then casually took two bites. ¡°It¡¯s you we¡¯re talking about. You have your ways, right?¡±

    ¡°No need to worry about getting burnt when you¡¯re watching a fire from the other side of the bank, huh?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ve warned you. How you deal with it is your problem. More importantly,¡± Proprietor Shi grinned, ¡°when are you getting married?¡±

    ¡°Is this the right time for this?!¡±

    ¡°How is it not? I watched you grow up. If you have even 10% of your shifu¡¯s luck with women, you should have girls chasing you now, r-¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±

    The two of us looked behind Proprietor Shi to see a young girl ring daggers at me.

    ¡°Sh!¡±

    ¡°Sshh!¡±

    We both understood that was a cue to pause our talk regarding the pugilistic world.

    ¡°Hahaha, wee back, my daughter.¡±

    ¡°Wow, my nephew has grown so big already. Let Uncle¡­¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, that¡¯s inappropriate. Eh? Wait.¡± Proprietor Shi looked back to his daughter and then me. ¡°Wait! Wh-wh-what have you done?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got it all wrong! The pace just threw me off. What could I have done when I was gone for months?!¡±

    ¡°Is this appropriate?! We¡¯ve known each other for so many years, y-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re jumping to wrong conclusions on your own!¡±

    ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Shi Weiliang looked at us as though we were crazy.

    We awkwardly chuckled and then red at each other.

    ¡°Who are you calling your nephew?¡± snapped Ol¡¯ Shi.

    ¡°Dad, take a seat first. I need to speak to Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! Are you still going to im innocence?!¡±

    ¡°I told you that you¡¯ve got it all wrong! But I¡¯ll go.¡±

    ¡°Is this appropriate?! Is this appropriate?!¡±

    I jogged downstairs with Shi Weiliang before Ol¡¯ Shi burst a vein. She led me to a quiet corner.

    This¡­ is inappropriate, isn¡¯t it?

    Without realising I was still mulling over what her dad said, Shi Weiliang said, ¡°You¡¯re finally back.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, I am.¡±

    ¡°So, what do you think?¡±

    Huh? This is definitely not appropriate.

    ¡°I think we should just forget it. After all, there are a group of people I¡¯m still having trouble sorting out.¡±

    ¡°What?! Xiao Han didn¡¯t tell you?¡±

    ¡°Tell me what?¡±

    ¡°The academy idol contest!¡±

    Ooooh, I totally forgot about that. Nearly forgot I had to win that darn thing to repay my debt.

    ¡°What about it, though? I heard from Xiao that preparations are going well. I¡¯ll bring Tang Ye along on time, so we¡¯re good, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Are you getting senile?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, seriously! The idol contest and special exams fall on the same day!¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    So? So what if they¡¯re on the same d-, hold up!

    ¡°You¡¯re joking me!¡±

    ¡°You finally realised?! This means you have to take the special exams. Not only you, but several others in our ss have to take them, too. You and He Shi have been ordered to take part in the exams. I heard His Majesty named you two in particr; everyone in the academy knows.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t that mean our hopes of winning the contest are dashed? Even if we do win, how can I convince them to let me hog the prize? Am I not cornered?! I get it now. Even if you don¡¯t send assassins, you can still publicly end me. You Lis are picking on me! Fine, let¡¯s see who ends who!

 Book 14: Chapter 6

    Minor Character¡¯s Persistent Struggle

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s predictions and concerns weren¡¯t just warranted and urate, but they were still imperfect. Although he had plenty of enemies and had a penchant for offending more people from every corner of thend, not all of them were in the capital. Those in the capital who wanted to harm him were either short on money or bore a grudge against him. Considering he rarely used might to get his way in the world nowadays, hisck of fighting abilities didn¡¯t impact him meaningfully. As for old acquaintances he¡¯d smashed before, there weren¡¯t many who were privy to the extent of his abilities.

    What he overlooked was that, though there weren¡¯t many of them, they existed. Once one of them made an attempt on his life, they¡¯d act as a trigger that¡¯d galvanise others to follow suit. The people who didn¡¯t know the extent of his abilities but took issue with him would eventually join those taking the initiative to go after him. As the fire intensified, those who were originally afraid and chose to sit out at first would also join. Already, there was one person at Liu Shan Men who caught wind of the situation and wanted to join.

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Ming Menqing, I¡¯d like to see you continue being audacious now!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After Emperor Yuansheng rewarded him and he legitimised his post as captain of Liu Shan Men, Song Ou would hug and give a smile to everyone he came across and even purchased himself a green hat before the New Year. Even Long Zaitian received a hug and friendly greeting. There was nothing and nobody Song Ou could find annoying ¨C except Ming Feizhen. Every time he recalled the humiliation Ming Feizhen imposed upon him, all those nights¡­ dozens of nights he visited Shen Yiren¡­ for work¡­ Still counted as a private meeting between a man and woman.

    Despite knowing Song Ou was at Liu Shan Men, Ming Feizhen still boldly hung around Shen Yiren. How was that any different to taking a dump right on his head? Ming Feizhen even told Hong Jiu to beat Song Ou up. All the unhappy memories erased Song Ou¡¯s celebratory mood and smile. Not even Long Zaitian felt warm in his arms anymore. Of course, Long Zaitian¡¯s two body rips hurt, too. Most importantly, Emperor Yuansheng wanted to reward Ming Feizhen, as well!

    Song Ou was rewarded for doing nothing, but Ming Feizhen did even less! The only reason Ming Feizhen was rewarded for being kidnapped was because he had strong backing, right? Song Ou reasoned that all of Ming Feizhen¡¯s audacious behaviour stemmed from him being Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple, and Emperor Yuansheng had to praise him no matter what because he wanted Mount Daluo¡¯s support.

    Inparison to Mount Daluo, Song n had only escaped suspicion, so they were far from being trusted. It was a depressing realisation, frankly, more depressing than when Shen Yiren shackled him. At the end of the day, Shen Yiren was his fianc¨¦e no matter how overbearing she was. Therefore, he¡¯d be called someone who respected hisdy. In the scenario Ming Feizhen sessfully ascended the hierarchy and stole Shen Yiren, then Song Ou wouldn¡¯t be able to show his face in public. Just the thought of people saying, ¡°South Green Prince, North Song Ou¡± sent shivers down Song Ou¡¯s spine. Moreover, he refused to leave Shen Yiren.

    While his parents definitely had a hand in ordering Song Ou to marry Shen Yiren, his say was an important part of it, important enough to say that, without his enthusiastic advocacy for it, the engagement wouldn¡¯t have gone so smooth.

    Was it a surprise, then, that even Song Ou¡¯s boogers were prancing when he heard there was a bounty for Ming Feizhen¡¯s head? He was yelling, ¡°Justice is served! The heavens have taken my side,¡± in his head.

    Song Ou wanted to spectate the discussions between the bounty hunters on how to eliminate Ming Feizhen to the point that he couldn¡¯t focus on everyday tasks. Now that there were so many people that you needed a ticket if you wanted to enter, he could no longer sit by and wait. How could he, Song Ou, miss out on killing a woman stealer? Furthermore, what risk was there when so many people joined ahead of him? Once he had a n, he called for his trusted aide.

    A young man heavily stepped into the room as though he sprinted through and, before catching his breath, voiced, ¡°Captain, your loyal subordinate is at your service!¡±

    Song Ou bobbed his head as he scanned his trusted aide. He was the subordinate everyone needed if they wanted to achieve big things. A good subordinate needed to give his all for his superior and to say pleasing things. The sweat on his head and the ck bags under his eyes were proof that his subordinate was dedicated.

    ¡°Head Constable Zha.¡±

    Head Constable Zha was originally assigned menial tasks, such as watering nts, taking care of the soil and so forth. Afterwards, he was assigned to teams and jobs where there was a manpower shortage, so he technically wasn¡¯t even a constable. Song Ou saw potential in Zha Pi, so he instated thetter as an official constable.

    While a head constable of Liu Shan Men wasn¡¯t a hot shot in the imperial court, they were highly respected within Liu Shan Men despite their modest pay for they led all the other constables. Yan Shisan¡¯s legendary team of twelve constables were all but only head constables. Bai Yeshuang and Ming Feizhen were the only two head constables Shen Yiren instated, and she went through a lot of considerations before she promoted Ming Feizhen to the role before she knew how strong he was. Shen Yiren chose Ming Feizhen based on his potential and projected growth.

    You had to give it to Song Ou to find gold in dirt; he, too, must¡¯ve refined his eyes in a pill cauldron to select Zha Pi among the one-hundred-plus constables as his trusted aide.

    Song Ou¡¯s loyalest aide, who¡¯d spent thest two nights ying mah-jong, stared as sternly as he could at his superior. ¡°Just say the word, and your subordinate will follow you to the ends of the world.¡±

    Song Ou proudly smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Follow your captain on a covert patrol.¡±

    ***

    The small teahouse on the big street outside the Ande door, which was located on the western side of the capital, was where criminals gathered most often since that was where news was traded. Having said that, you wouldn¡¯t feel as if you walked into a barrack of criminals or something when you went there. However, the ce had been packed and bustling ever since a certain piece of news spread.

    Song Ou, posing as a loaded young master, spent ages in the long line with his attendant before they managed to get inside.

    ¡°Captain, what is this ce? How dare they make you line up?¡±

    ¡°I know. They clearly don¡¯t resp-¡±

    A yelp, the sound of a bone breaking and then four people dropping, followed by the sight of dust rising cut Song Ou off.

    ¡°Stay home if this is all you can manage.¡± The speaker, a tall and imposing man who mopped the floor with the four, took two steps forward. ¡°I am Zhao Tiankui. I have a bone to pick with Ming Feizhen. This will be you if you get in my way.¡±

    Glossary

    South Green Prince, North Song Ou ¨C If you¡¯re thinking, ¡°It must be a parody of Semi-Gods and Demi-Devils¡¯ North Qiao Feng, South Murong,¡± you¡¯re right.

    Ande Door ¨C Pronounced ¡°Arn-der¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 7

    Debtors at the Door

    Song Ou lowered his head as fast as a mouse fleeing from a cat. Yes, they were both government officials, but Liu Shan Men and the Three Chief Military Commissions were different establishments. As Zhao Tiankui only had an audience with His Majesty if he was summoned, Song Ou and Zhao Tiankui had never met before. Song Ou had only ever seen Zhao Tiankui once from afar; he unlikely would¡¯ve recognised Zhao Tiankui if they ran into each other on the street. The fact that Zhao Tiankui entered the establishment in rustic apparel could only mean that he had his own agenda. Just in case Zhao Tiankui recognised him, though, he figured it was better to avoid being recognised.

    ¡°You certainly have a lot of strength in those arms. However, you don¡¯t need a lot of strength to kill someone if you have skill.¡± Thenky speaker who stepped out from behind his fallen brethren never looked Zhao Tiankui in the eyes and exhibited no signs of hostility.

    ¡°So, what? Are you going to kill me?¡± questioned Zhao Tiankui, face straight.

    ¡°I would never dare to even think of that.¡± The guy walked over to Zhao Tiankui¡¯s side.

    Zhao Tiankui abruptly widened his eyes, belted and, as everyone saw clearly, threw a short-ranged punch with his veiny arms, nearly tipping the shelter over. Yet, the guy not only survived without a scratch, but he even turned and walked away as though nothing happened.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Zhao Tiankui whipped his arm after he retracted his punch, leaving a trail of blood on the ground. Further up his arm, there was a new cut several inches long.

    Thenky guy shook his head and sighed. ¡°You are strong. You have my respect.¡± Immediately after, he sted the floor with a ball of blood.

    It didn¡¯t seem as though anyone recognised either of the two who qualified as first-rate fighters in the martial world.

    ¡°Even the notorious Shadow de is here for the entertainment?¡± scoffed a white-dressed twenty-six-year-old swordsman sitting in the corner.

    To say a few people recognised Shadow de by his face was overstating it, but he still had his gaze fixated on the floor. ¡°Birds die for food. People die for money. I do wish I wasn¡¯t such a disappointment, Young Master.¡±

    An aloof-looking middle-aged man performed a visual audit of the handsome swordsman and asked, ¡°You are a Confucianism member?¡±

    The swordsman, though surprised, smiled. ¡°I will leave that up to you to guess.¡±

    ¡°Confucians value faith and righteousness. Why is a self-proimed orthodox sect member here? Are you after wealth or blood?¡±

    ¡°What makes you think you¡¯re qualified to question me?¡±

    The aloof man simpered. ¡°What sort of qualifications do you require?¡±

    Right when it appeared as though the situation would boil over, a maiden voiced, ¡°Valley Master Yan, it would be in your best interests not to be careless. He is Daren Academy¡¯s Thuban, Abandoned Jiqiong, Lan Jiqiong.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong condescendingly exhaled through his nose. ¡°Good eyes you have. Who are you, Miss?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong never raised his voice, yet some unorthodox sect members felt as though their blood and qi were swirling inside them in an unbridled manner, while orthodox sect members felt as though they dipped into a hot spring.

    The maiden responded, ¡°Hmph, why do you need to bully a weak maiden when you are an elite, Hero Lan?¡± After that, the fifteen-year-old girl emerged from the crowd using a respectable level of qinggong.

    ¡°How did you recognise me?¡± Lan Jiqiong showed no interest in her pristine appearance, rosy cheeks andrge eyes.

    The girl smiled behind her hand. ¡°You are famous in the capital. Anyone who pays a little attention would recognise you, so how would I not when I¡¯m not stupid?¡±

    Valley Master Yan ¨C Yan Liren ¨C failed to notice that he was just insulted. ¡°So you¡¯re Thuban Lan. Can you answer your purpose ining here now?¡±

    Since Yan Liren asked the same question a second time, everyone tuned in this time, some even moving to where they were situated for the fastest escape route. After all, not only was he one of Daren Academy¡¯s strongest, but he was also a close associate of the imperial court. If he informed the imperial court of their den, then their ns were dashed, and assassinating Ming Feizhen would be impossible.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Though Lan Jiqiong knew what they were thinking, he focused his attention on those seated. ¡°That should be my question for everyone seated here. Are you after wealth or something else?¡±

    Zhao Tiankui answered, ¡°I already stated my reason.¡±

    Shadow de: ¡°¡­ Money.¡±

    ¡°And you?¡± Lan Jiqiong shifted his gaze to Yan Liren.

    ¡°He killed my son.¡± Yan Liren pointed to a mournfuldy beside him. ¡°Her husband was also his victim. Can there be a bigger grudge?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong needed a moment to process the surprising answer, then bobbed his head as he went into his thoughts.

    ¡°This one¡¯s godfather perished by his hands,¡± stated the young girl. ¡°The feud will not end until he is dead.¡±

    Once he heard the answers from those he deemed most capable, Lan Jiqiong conveyed, ¡°Ming Feizhen harmed my teacher; I have a score to settle with him, but that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean I have to kill him. Let us all give it our best and settle our own grudges with him without getting in each other¡¯s way. I never knew he had so many enemies.¡±

    The girl said, ¡°He thinks he¡¯s untouchable because he¡¯s Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple and has Night Fortress backing him. This one will make sure he suffers.¡±

    One person after another started sharing how they ended up as victims of Ming Feizhen. Every word they said, everyint they made and every curse they spat resonated with Song Ou.

    ¡°Well said!¡± In his emotional moment, Song Ou failed to control his strength and snapped the table in half with his hand. Everyone in the vicinity directed their attention to the direction that they heard the table break.

 Book 14: Chapter 8

    Brain-dead Legend

    Song Ou only wanted to see how the bounty hunters would end Ming Feizhen, not to be the centre of attraction.

    ¡°Wh-what do we do?¡± stuttered Song Ou.

    Calmly and quietly, Zha Pi answered, ¡°Act and conceal our identities.¡±

    Song Ou flicked up a thumb. ¡°You are my Kongming.¡±

    Zha Pi gently patted his shoulder. ¡°Watch.¡±

    Song Ou hubristically crossed his legs, picked up his bowl of tea and blew it. He wasn¡¯t just looking down on them; he was looking down on even mankind.

    ¡°What wisdom do you have to share with us?¡± someone questioned.

    Song Ou had a sip of tea, seemingly unable toprehend the lowlynguage of humans. ying the role of a stuck-up-wealthy young master who saw people of the pugilistic world as worms was something he inherited, so people had already armed themselves. Had it not been on ount of the table he halved, they would¡¯ve given him a piece of their minds already. While he might not have been proficient at realbat, he was certainly capable enough to put on a performance.

    While Song Ou enacted the ¡°act¡± policy, he was oblivious to the fact that Zha Pi had found an exit that he could jump through and escape from within a blink. Nevertheless, Song Ou¡¯s indifference when he was surrounded deterred anyone from taking action.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Yan Liren eyed the timber table that was cleanly split as if a sharp de was used to slice it. ¡°Very few ns teach a discipline that could achieve such a clean break; it¡¯s clear youe from a respectable n, so why don¡¯t you dare tell us?¡±

    Song n¡¯s ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡± certainly was a discipline that could turn a flesh hand into an iron hand. Combined with mastery of Edge and Hard Realms, the practitioner would be able to poke holes in weapons with a single finger. As a palms specialist, Yan Liren could perceive the lethality of ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡± even without knowing its name.

    Song Ou learnt from his family, had spent years practicing it and had practiced Liu Shan Men¡¯s Six Phenomena Heart King in recent years, so it wasn¡¯t easy to identify the origins of his palm techniques. Otherwise, anyone who knew a thing or two about Song n would¡¯ve recognised it as ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡±.

    Catching on to the situation, Zha Pi asserted, ¡°You gentlemen are not qualified to know who my master is.¡±

    Song Ou instantly rode the momentum to pull his shoulders back.

    Lan Jiqiong started pping. ¡°Great, so you¡¯re a distinguished individual. The majority of people here don¡¯t want to identify themselves. Fine by me. However, anyone hear is either looking for revenge against Ming Feizhen or want the money. We can¡¯t just turn a blind eye if we don¡¯t know what everyone is after.¡±

    Song Ou made no effort to spare Lan Jiqiong even a nce. Instead, using the skill that Shen Yiren almost made him forget with her shackles, he tapped his chin, indicating for Zha Pi to speak on his behalf.

    Zha Pi straightened up his posture and yelled, ¡°To avenge the grudge of stealing a man¡¯s wife! He stole my master¡¯s wife!¡±

    Song Ou, catching himself before he fell off his seat, waved his hands as though his life was on the line. ¡°No, no, no! I just have a small feud with him!¡±

    Despite his best efforts, Song Ou was toote to stop the gazes off sympathy.

    The young girl was first to express, ¡°What a scumbag. So he put a green hat on you?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong and Zhao Tiankui: ¡°That is a tragedy no man can look straight at.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to show me sympathy! I¡¯m fine! I have a big heart! Wait, wait, wait! I meant, that never happened! Never!¡±

    All the men just nodded. Yan Liren and Wu Ping¡¯s wife expressed, ¡°Stay strong.¡±

    ¡°He killed your son, and he killed your husband, so why are you consoling me?! You don¡¯t need to console me!¡±

    ¡°Let usbine our minds to devise a n to avenge the young master.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to avenge me! Don¡¯t you have your own vengeances to exact?!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± They all sighed. ¡°How pitiful.¡±

    ¡°Listen to what I¡¯m saying!¡±

    The discussion ran until the middle of the night. The alcohol and attitudes of the pugilistic world folks turned a should-have-been serious meeting on assassinating Ming Feizhen into a Ming Feizhen cursing session. Once they moved the meeting point to a tent outside the city, more people joined them.

    One loud-mouthed bloke rambled about wanting to hack Ming Feizhen, then Liu Shan Men and then the Qilin Guards. Another guy wanted to raid the imperial pce to assassinate Emperor Yuansheng. Needless to say, Zhao Tiankuiid them out on the spot. When it came tombasting Ming Feizhen, Song Ou was an expert, especially once he was intoxicated. If you thought Li Bai was impressive with his creativity when drinking or Zhuge Liang making Wang Situ vomit blood with his sharp words was awe-inspiring, wait until you saw Song Ou go at Ming Feizhen.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Where are your virtues? How are you supposed to achieve anything?¡± The main character of the tragedy, now red in the face from over a hundred drinks, pointed at the people around as he yelled, ¡°Morons. What could you achieve?¡±

    ¡°What the hell is that supposed to mean?¡±

    Song Ou stomped, crushing something underfoot that startled everyone. ¡°Listen to me, or I¡¯ll go ever there and say it.¡±

    All of a sudden, silence permeated the tent.

    Swaying as he tried to stay on his feet, Song Ou said, ¡°You¡¯re all capable, but you¡¯re all disconnected. Is a punch more lethal when your fist is tight or when it¡¯s loose? If you go after him one by one, that¡¯s just offering him a sacrifice. Work together, form a tight fist, and then you will be able to crush him.¡±

    Since Song Ou sounded so smart and resourceful, they started hurling questions at him.

    ¡°We need to unite! We need to form an alliance! We need toe together to achieve big things! How about taking a page out of our predecessors¡¯ books. Drink some wine and blood, kneel and swear an oath. We¡¯ve drunk the majority of the wine. All that¡¯s left is some blood. If you are in, how about¡­ swearing on my left foot!¡± Song Ou lifted his left foot, earning respect.

    Were they not drunken stupid, Song Ou would¡¯ve lost his foot. On this night, however, Lan Jiqiong was first to go up to Song Ou¡¯s foot, took out a long scroll, bit his finger and wrote his name down in blood.

    ¡°I, Lan Jiqiong, swear on this left foot that I will join the alliance! I will not change my mind until I am dead!¡±

    Lan Jiqiong¡¯s actions served as the catalyst for everyone else to follow suit. Some bit their own finger. Some bit someone else¡¯s finger. Some bit somewhere that had people screaming. Those who could write either wrote paragraphs or just variations of curse words. Those who couldn¡¯t write stamped the scroll with their finger, hand, foot, saliva or butt cheeks. Perhaps the event was among the three worst desecrations to a scroll since its invention.

    A burly man with a foreign ent bit his wrist, wrote two big characters and then sonorously voiced, ¡°I am from Nanjiang. He took one of my arms and beat me. I will never stand together with him. In my opinion, this young master is correct. We need to band together to fight the demon. Do you agree?!¡±

    The group voiced their support energetically.

    The Nanjiang man asked, ¡°Our alliance needs a good name, agreed?¡±

    ¡°Agreed!¡±

    ¡°I came from Nanjiang, so I saw the shop he opened in Nanjiang. I know for sure that¡¯s his secret. Since the purpose of the alliance is to kill him, how about we use his store name against him? Let¡¯s call it Yizhen Alliance, meaning, ¡®Ee, you¡¯re dead this time, Ming Feizhen!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡­¡± Song Ou pointed his shaky finger the man as he heaved big breaths. ¡°That¡¯s a great idea!¡± He turned toward the others and cried, ¡°Yizhen Alliance has been established!¡±

    The crowd started chanting, ¡°Long live Yizhen! Long live Yizhen! Long live Yizhen!¡±

    One person after another signed, and once there was only one person left, they all looked to him ¨C Song Ou. With eyes on him and chants drumming in his ears, Song Ou borrowed a sword, walked up to the front of the ground and cried, ¡°Today! I shall be your model! I will sign with my carotid¡¯s blood!¡±

    Everyone rushed forward as soon as they saw Song Ou aim the sword at his neck. Thankfully, Lan Jiqiong was fast enough to stop Song Ou. Everyone else had to restrain Song Ou as he carried on crying and yelling he wanted to sign with his neck¡¯s blood.

    Everyone excluded Zha Pi, who just spectated the birth of a brain-dead legend and provided his ownmentary.

 Book 14: Chapter 9

    Brain-dead Legend Chapter Two

    If it was possible, Song Ou would¡¯ve liked to have vomited his headache out along with the sick feeling in his stomach. He spent a while chucking up before he gradually made out his surroundings, determining he was in a bedroom, through the rays of light. He rubbed his head as he struggled to sit up and called, ¡°M-men.¡±

    ¡°Captain, your loyalest subordinate is right here.¡± Zha Pi helped Song Ou sit up and passed over a half-full bowl of hot tea. ¡°Tea, Captain.¡±

    Song Ou drank the tea thoughtlessly, then tried to recall what happened between hisst memory and how he ended up in the room. Every detail he recalled nched his face a little more.

    Zha Pi set the empty bowl down and queried, ¡°Captain, how was my performance yesterday?¡±

    ¡°Excellent.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Excellently bad!¡± If he wasn¡¯t feeling so weak, Song Ou would¡¯ve given Zha Pi a flying side kick.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°What was that nonsense you said when they asked what my grudge with Ming Feizhen was?¡±

    ¡°I was nning to distract them with some nonsense so that we could escape?¡±

    ¡°Then tell them some nonsense! Why did you tell them the truth?! Would anyone not feel sorry for me when you made me sound so tragic? They even want to avenge me now. Their grudges are bigger than mine!¡±

    ¡°That is but a minor issue, Captain. One must not mind the trivial issues if they wish to achieve great things. Think about it, Captain. How many new allies have you gained from this misfortune?¡±

    ¡°What allies? How can Liu Shan Men¡¯s captain associate with the unorthodox faction?¡±

    ¡°You do not want to ally with them?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. How can orthodox and unorthodox be friends?¡±

    ¡°When you joined their conversation, you joined so fast that I could not stop you in time.¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to spectate! I didn¡¯t expect to be dragged into it! And what¡¯s with the stupid name?!¡±

    Song Ou cursed the Nanjiang man in his mind as he recalled everyone shouting, ¡°Long live Yizhen!¡± Even if the name was necessary for plucking the thorn in his side, every time he heard the name, his brain would turn a little greener.

    ¡°Drag you into it? Are you still dreaming?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Song Ou¡¯s memories nked out at the point where everyone started chanting ¡°Long live Yizhen.¡± Everything that followed was fragmented, but he prayed he quitted the alliance afterwards. ¡°I wasn¡¯t dragged into the alliance?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Song Ou was on the cusp of cheering when Zha Pi added, ¡°You are the forefather and patriarch of Yizhen Alliance. You dragged them into it. Who could drag you into it, Captain?¡°

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m the alliance leader?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Zha Pi shook his head gently as he expanded, ¡°Despite being a newly established alliance, you have established thirty-eight rules, instated six vice-leaders and yourself as leader. You have a mighty force at yourmand.¡±

    ¡°Leader?! Why am I the l, ow! Wh-why does it hurt?¡± Song Ou felt a sharp pain as soon as he hopped off the bed that made him feel as though he¡¯d break into cold sweat. ¡°My back hurts like mad. What happened? It¡¯s like it¡¯s being seared.¡± Song Ou sat back down on the bed.

    ¡°Ah, that.¡± Zha Pi went out and came back with a bronze mirror. ¡°Take a look at your back.¡±

    With Zha Pi¡¯s help, Song Ou managed to twist his torso enough for a view of his back. All the scabs on his back had started bleeding again due to his vigorous movements. The writing on his back resembled demented worms that couldn¡¯t decide which way they were supposed to wriggle their bodies. There were many mistakes made in the writing, which required them to be crossed out. The line written up the top in small font read, ¡°Just as the sun will always rise in the east, I will never be defeated.¡±

    Song Ou covered the ground in a mouthful of his own blood, prompting Zha Pi to hurriedly help him up, but not without groaning, ¡°Man, I just mopped the floor.¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-wh-what the hell is this?!¡±

    ¡°Uh, it is a first-ss battle scar. No ordinary man could take so many cuts and not bat an eye. Yue Fei only had four characters carved onto his back. You had more than double. I look up to you from the bottom of my heart.¡±

    ¡°I look up to you from the bottom of my bum crack!¡± Rejuvenated, Song Ou checked his back again. ¡°Who did this?! Who! Did this?! Why are there so many errors?!¡±

    ¡°You told them to carve it on, though,¡± Zha Pi answered in a confused tone.

    ¡°Why would I do that?!¡±

    ¡°That is minor. Had we not stopped you, you would have slit your own throat. You said you wanted to swear an oath with your carotid blood. We went through a lot of effort to stop you, but then you started crying that a true man must shed blood, so you had a dozen people carve text onto your back. They started cutting away as soon as they drew their des, and you did not bat an eye. Honestly, it was an amazing scene to behold.¡±

    ¡°B-b-b-but what is this of all things?¡± Song Ou kept checking the text over and over.

    ¡°That was your wish.¡±

    ¡°Me? Again?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. You said, besides Yizhen Alliance, you wanted to establish ¡®Bird Worship Cult¡¯. To that end, you wanted to remove your pants and sh your bird on the spot. We expended a lot of effort to stop you, but you were adamant about leaving the text even if you could not sh yourself. You are the one who came up with the text. Lan Jiqiong said the others had terrible calligraphy, so he personally carved the small text at the top for you.¡±

    ¡°What was paper invented for?!¡±

    Song Ou thought he¡¯d be able to start expanding his power after all he went through, but now he would have to take half a month off, or he might not even be able to walk around.

    ¡°Idiots. All they did was y me for a fool. What about the real goal?!¡±

    ¡°It is going forwards, of course. Have you forgotten that, as well?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Zha Pi folded his arms. ¡°Possessed by Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu, while you were letting them carve on your back with your pants down, you shared your strategy.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what did I¡­ Wait, wait. Didn¡¯t I not pull my pants down in the end?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that was at the start. When we stopped paying attention to it, you pulled them down.¡±

    Song Ou¡¯s cheeks inted with blood, prompting him to cover his mouth, but some still leaked from the gaps. ¡°Wh-what was my strategy?¡±

    Zha Pi extended a thumb. ¡°That would be assassination.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 14: Chapter 10

    200 IQ Moves (Part 1)

    There was no mistake that somebody was out for my life.

    As I strolled along the streets, I read thetest edition of ck and White Reflection whilst trying to predict what would happen next. Thanks to their recounts and what I heard at Liu Shan Men, I was able to finally fill in the nks during my time held captive.

    I had to tip my hat to Gongsun Chu for the mirage strategy. Had Tianhu not decided to y the long game and locate Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base, Gongsun Chu likely would¡¯ve remained under the radar for another decade. What I couldn¡¯t understand was what Gongsun Chu¡¯s end game was. He should¡¯ve expected The Ultimate Three to go after him when he pulled the stunt. Had Jingan and I not introduced unounted problems into his n, what would¡¯ve been his next moves? He should¡¯ve been aware that killing Princes and members of the Seven Champion White Princes wouldn¡¯t overturn the imperial court. If he didn¡¯t realise any of those things, then he had no ce challenging the imperial court. I wasn¡¯t convinced he was that stupid.

    Gongsun Chu had to have a backup n. There was no way he was delusional enough to think he could destroy Li Dynasty in one fell swoop; a second person might¡¯ve attempted that as Ximen Chuideng did, but that second person would never be Gongsun Chu. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t still be alive after all his failures in thest century.

    We needed to pinpoint Gongsun Chu¡¯s original objective as, given his intellect, there was a high chance that his ns were continuing in spite of his absence. Moreover, there was no guarantee that he¡¯d never return now. He possessed vast knowledge beyond our imagination, excelled with the brush as much as he excelled with a sword, and likely knew more secrets than we thought, so it¡¯d be na?ve to assume he had no means of recovering from serious wounds in a short time frame. That was not to mention he had the support of some perverted organisation. For all I knew, he could¡¯ve very well returned one day and joined the group out for my head.

    Did I mention there was no mistake that somebody was out for my life?

    Shifu said, ¡°Walk along a river and your shoes, socks, dress and undergarments will eventually get wet.¡± Although the description made it sound as though you were teasing girls in the water, nobody could deny that he was a true thug, which gave his teaching credibility.

    Given how long I¡¯d spent on both sides of thew, those who hated me, wanted to kill me for money, in addition to those who considered me a hindrance, were more than likely plotting my demise. Before worrying about old nemeses, Gongsun Chu¡¯sckeys were probably part of the party already. Would they have the guts to go after Tianhu? How about poor defenceless me? They already tried once; what was stopping them from trying again?

    Yan Jiangnan¡¯s old man was part of the unorthodox factions, and I happened to kill his eldest son. If he didn¡¯t try to avenge his son, I¡¯d have no respect for him. Of course, there was no way I¡¯d know whether Yan Jiangnan would apany his father.

    If you added up all the people I smashed, touched and harmed, that was a lot. As for those purely after the prize money, I didn¡¯t know how many there¡¯d be, but there was certainly no shortage of those in that line of work within the capital. While the Qilin Guards had driven out a group that entered the capital recently, surely there should¡¯ve still been five or so small mercenary groups. If the Qilin Guards had to screen them, then they had to be dangerous. As for those tucked away way out of sight, they might¡¯ve stayed hidden, but I wasn¡¯t confident I could handle them if they decided to take action. Worst of all, I couldn¡¯t go into hiding until the exams and all that were over. Hence, my fastest solution was to find bodyguards.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye were the most ideal bodyguards. Plus, since they had improved considerably as ofte, it was a good opportunity to put their learning into practice. Problem was, Su Xiao was focused on the academy idol contest, while Tang Ye was still nursing his injuries.

    Whether it was the special exams, the bounty hunters Jingan arranged toe after me or the idol contest that ck and White Reflection wanted me to win, I¡¯d have struggled even if I could fight at full capacity, let alone now.

    Hmph, since you guys started it, don¡¯t cry when I p back.

    ***

    Just as you finish pork shoulders bite by bite, troubles needed to also be solved one by one.

    At the snap of a finger, I had two brilliant ideas to ovee the exams.

    Option one: read for a few days and then, given my gifted talents and efforts, I¡¯de out on top. While I was a dropkick on Mount Daluo and deadst at Daren Academy, I believed I could take first ce considering my top-notch aptitude. However, after reading ¡°Analects¡± for a damn good while before realising I had the book upside down, I deemed option one not the best one.

    Option two: cheat. To facilitate the strategy, I was waiting outside a modest, cultured, opulent manor.

    The manor located amongst the homes of other officials in the capital was average in size ¨C both residential area andnd-size wise ¨C but it stood out amongst the mansions of the other officials.

    I followed the steward through several courtyards before I finally saw the man I needed to see. I rushed over to him and grabbed his hands.

    They say shoot the horse down if you want to dismount the jockey and capture the leader if you want to capture the bandits. Therefore, if you want to cheat, you needed to strike at the head examiner first.

    ¡°My respects, Prime Minister. I have missed you so dearly. Let us head inside to talk.¡±

    The touched prime minister responded, ¡°Is this still my house?¡±

    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony, Prime Minster. Nobody said this was not your home.¡± I dragged Prime Minister Li inside, sat him down in the master¡¯s seat and helped myself into a guest seat.

    When his middle-aged wife came out to greet me, Prime Minister Li expressed, ¡°This is Duke Ming and the student His Majesty entrusted to me.¡±

    Lady Li, smiling, conveyed, ¡°I hear a lot of positive things about you, but I have not had the chance to meet you. I now see that the praise is rightfully deserved.¡±

    ¡°It is an honour to meet you, Lady Li.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Prime Minister had his son and granddaughter greet me before the two of us had some private space ¨C although his wife stayed. He kept the conversation casual, never questioning the purpose of my visit, and I went along cordially.

    ¡°Ah, this old one is really getting old.¡± Prime Minister Li hit himself on the head and smiled. ¡°An honoured guest is visiting, yet this old one didn¡¯t tell anyone to prepare you a meal. My Lady, please tell the kitchen staff to prepare dinner. Duke Ming, please give this old one a moment. He remembers there were some leftover steamed corn breads from yesterd-¡±

    I caught Prime Minister Li and said, ¡°Prime Minister, it would be inappropriate to trouble you when this one is younger and your student.¡± I passed him a thick ordion that I took out from my shirt.

    Prime Minister Li smiled. ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°This is the menu. You can just follow it.¡±

    ¡°Understood. My Lady, let the kitchen staff have the rest of the day off.¡± Prime Minister Li sat back down and red at me, to which I chuckled, so he chuckled along. With a thumb up, he told me, ¡°This one was right about you. You truly are as shameless as this old one.¡±

    ¡°This one has always aspired to be as perceptive as you.¡±

    ¡°Duke Ming, get to the point. Or are you nning on eating me into bankruptcy?¡±

    I flicked up a thumb. ¡°Before I descended the mountain, Shifu said everyone in the imperial court except for you should take a hike because only you could keep lead the country to prosperity. I can now say that I witnessed the greatness that he spoke of with my own eyes.¡±

    Prime Minister Li chortled. ¡°That was our progenitor¡¯s words. Patriarch Ming has an admirable memory. This old one is useless now. They are too kind.¡± Stroking his beard, he then added, ¡°It is about time you exined the purpose of your visit now, right?¡±

    ¡°I want to cheat in the exams.¡±

    ¡°My Lady, shut the doors!¡±

    Lady Li shuddered, hurriedly shut the doors and told the servants to leave. Judging from her swift reaction and initiative, I was willing to bet it wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d had to put a lid on a secret discussion at the manor.

    Despite the door getting shut and servants being shepherd away, Prime Minister Li still checked around prior to grumbling, ¡°Duke Ming, it¡¯s good to be frank, but you¡¯re too frank here.¡±

    ¡°I am just cornered.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been excused of preliminary county exams and gone straight to the finals. Shouldn¡¯t you be d?¡±

    ¡°Why would that be something to be d about?! If I could take part in the county exams, would I be worried about this? I would not even make the cut for the county exams.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, everyone but you hopes to win the grand prize. How curious. Unfortunately, this old one cannot help you. Countless students study assiduously until they have grey hairs, even dreaming of passing in their dreams. This old one would be wronging them if he helped you.¡±

    ¡°I know. I know you will not help me change my name on my test paper or amend my paper. You just need to tell me the topics.¡±

    ¡°Amend your paper? You sure are daring. This old one will not help you with even one word. You are a constable of Liu Shan Men; you are trusted with maintaining order in the martial world. His Majesty is only entrusting civil tasks to you temporarily. He will eventually return you to the pugilistic world.¡±

    You¡¯re far too optimistic, Prime Minister. I think His Majesty will send me to the execution grounds after he sees my paper.

    I expected to be rejected, so I cleared my throat before deploying my trump card.

    ¡°Prime Minister, you may not know, but a certain group of viins are targeting me.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 11

    200 IQ Moves (Part 2)

    ¡°Oh? Hmm¡­ You need to be careful, then, Duke Ming.¡±

    I stressed, ¡°Prime Minister, they have no respect for anyws. It is reasonably possible that they will infiltrate the exam venue to assassinate me.¡±

    ¡°Infiltrate the exam venue?¡± Prime Minister Li bobbed his head with his brows together. ¡°Tell me more.¡±

    ¡°They will be after me, but they may not know where I am. Therefore, they will inspect the rooms one by one. They might kill the examinees inside if they enter the wrong room.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°So, for the sake of ensuring the safety of all examinees, I have chosen to bravely face the viins. However, while I am taking care of them, I will not have time to fill out my answer sheet. As such, I n-¡±

    ¡°As such, we need to strengthen security measures. Fret not. This old one will request a decree from His Majesty to have elite guards stationed outside and inside the venue, and he will ask Tianhu to help out. If there are assassins, we will arrest the assassins. If there are cheaters, we will arrest the cheaters. You can rest assured that the exams will be fair and square. Rest assured, Duke Ming.¡±

    ¡°You are truly wise.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You tter this old one. You do not wish to have dinner anymore? See our guest out.¡± Prime Minister Li drove me out without giving me any chance to speak.

    ¡°Wait, wait, I was not nning to leave yet.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything else this old one can do for you?¡±

    My eyes darted around as he scoured for ideas. ¡°If I am not wrong, you were the one who rmended Mount Daluo to His Majesty. As well, you were the one who told me we could work together, right? Besides, am I not your student? You would not turn a blind eye to my predicament, would you?¡±

    Prime Minister Li smiled. ¡°It is not an issue of this old one not wanting to help, and it is not a question of whether he can help or not. It is a question of whether or not this old one can face His Majesty with a clear conscience.¡±

    ¡°You are only leaking test the topic. It is not for the sake of glory or profit. What is there to feel guilty about? You need not worry. I will not pay a single coin for the answers.¡±

    Prime Minister Li, seemingly proud of my shamelessness, red at me. ¡°And you were going to even try to cheap shot this old man. Duke Ming, you want to win when you want to bribe this old one without offering anything?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Does that not demonstrate you are incorrupt?¡±

    ¡°This old one will not budge even if you bring him mountains of gold and silver. Moreover, do you think you can win just because you know the topic?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I will find my own way. You just need to tell me the topic.¡±

    Prime Minister Li shook his head. ¡°How should this old one answer if His Majesty asks if there was any cheating?¡±

    ¡°You can tell him that you just told me during a casual conversation. It does not count as cheating since it was just a casual chat.¡±

    Prime Minister Li shook his head.

    ¡°If you turn a blind eye, you cannot hold me ountable for the consequences! I will stay at your house, eat your food, drink your tea and use your resources without paying anything. If you refuse to help me, I will refuse to leave.¡±

    Prime Minister Li smirked. ¡°You think you can outsmart this old one? My Lady! Clean a room. Duke Ming will be staying. And then tidy up another room. Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-Captain Shen will be staying over, as well. This old one is going to restore some youth by spending more time with the young ones.¡±

    ¡°You refuse to help, correct?!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t help!¡±

    ¡°B-but I am being hunted!¡±

    ¡°This old one will request Tianhu¡¯s aid!¡±

    ¡°Will he oblige?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°If you cannot, you must tell me the topic!¡±

    ¡°If this old one can¡¯t, he will, ahem. This old one will ask someone else. In any case, you can rest assured that the exam venue will be secure.¡±

    Damn! I just can¡¯t get this fox!

    ¡°Okay, you better not regret your decision.¡± I flicked my sleeve and left.

    Prime Minister Li, chuckling, as he saw me to the entrance, said, ¡°Duke Ming, this old one cannot help you cheat. The results are in your hands. Who knows? Maybe you will be lucky enough slip your way to a win.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the good wishes. I just hope you do not send me down a slippery slope to a loss.¡±

    Brightly stroking his beard, Prime Minister Li expressed, ¡°Confucius said, ¡®He who does not suspect another of dishonesty or second guesses another¡¯s honesty is virtuous. You should not suspect this old one, Duke Ming.¡± Because I looked confused, he added, ¡°Do you not understand the phrase? It means¡­¡±

    ¡°I do. I do. I just saw it in ¡®Analects¡¯.¡± I offered up a cupped-fist salute, conveyed, ¡°Thank you for listening to me,¡± and walked off while Prime Minister Li watched on as if he was watching an idiot leave.

    I was busy. I had somewhere else to be straight after my visit to Prime Minister Li¡¯s residence, and I had to drop in while the sun was still up.

    Thest time I visited this ce, I think it was when Xiao and the others attacked them? I could still the que Xiao chopped in half and then glued back together. The person who saw me knock headed inside to report and then soon came back to retrieve me. After hearing my request, he headed back in to report. I had to wait for a while again before I was escorted to my destination.

    Long Zaitian, head drooped, read one of the imperial court¡¯s short newsletters as though he was watching paint dry. Without looking up at me or paying, he asked, ¡°What do you want, Ming Feizhen?¡±

    I cracked a smile. ¡°I came for a stroll.¡±

    ¡°A stroll?¡± Long Zaitian set his newsletter down next to his teacup and scanned me. ¡°This is our office¡¯s prison for prisoners. What do think this ce is? A brothel? What¡¯s there to see?¡±

    ¡°Would there be a need to check out a brothel? That¡¯s the same as being at home.¡±

    ¡°Get out. I don¡¯t have time for your nonsense.¡± Long Zaitian waved me off with his hand. ¡°We¡¯ve arrested more criminals than there are cooties in existence. God knows how many Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ crooks are among them. I¡¯m busy dealing with them one by one. I don¡¯t have time for your rubbish. Bugger off.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s have a bet: you¡¯ll beg me to go inside in a bit.¡±

    ¡°Me? Beg you? If I beg you, I¡¯m that!¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine. I¡¯m off, then.¡±

    ¡°Buzz off already!¡±

    The messenger arrived as I walked off. Once Long Zaitian heard what the messenger had to say, he jumped to his feet and yelled, ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t you just tell me you¡¯re here on His Majesty¡¯s orders to interrogate the criminals?! Come back! Ming Feizhen! Duke Ming! Radish Ming! Come back!¡±

    Glossary

    Omitted joke ¨C The Confucius line tranted literally is, ¡°If one does not presume another is dishonest, not one million, not believe¡­¡± The phrase ¡°not one million¡± can be used as a phrase to imply dishonest y, but Ming Feizhen, oblivious to that meaning, assumes that it means ¡°¡­ Without being paid a million, I don¡¯t believe you.¡± So, he has a monologue about how wise Confucius was because not even he would demand so much to trust someone. Ick the creativity to somehow trante that phrase whilst keeping what ¡°not one million¡± implies in Chinese, so I omitted it to avoid confusion.

 Book 14: Chapter 12

    200 IQ Moves (Part 3)

    On ount of the fact that I had spent a long time with Fiends¡¯ Genesis during my kidnap, I told His Majesty that I could identify them from their appearances and therefore requested a decree. It was tough to identify who was with Fiends¡¯ Genesis from amongst those arrested given how many were detained. Moreover, the Qilin Guards were brilliant inbat, but interrogation wasn¡¯t a specialty of theirs. For those reasons, His Majesty agreed to my request promptly.

    Gongsun Chu categorised them as disposable pawns. Therefore, they lost their value once they were arrested; even if he did have a backup n, it wouldn¡¯t include them. It went without saying that I had no intention of helping arrested members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis. I had my own agenda.

    Dim lights were spaced out twenty metres from each other, making it seem as though they wanted to demotivate prisoners from activity. Prisoners would roar at me, beg for mercy, or cry out their names and plead me to deliver a message to their family. The guard escorting me appeared to be used to it.

    I demanded that I started from the prisoners farthest to the back. The Qilin Guards categorised their captives,belling those farthest in as most likely associated with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Upon peering through the rails of the cells right at the back, I feigned surprised and asked, ¡°Ol¡¯ Gu? Why are you and your wife here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Gu Xianxian and his wife were ecstatic to see me. ¡°Please save us, Benefactor!¡±

    I held their hands. ¡°It has been a while. Howe you two are here?¡± I nced over to nearby cells and saw more familiar faces. ¡°Brother Lang! Brother Teng! How did you all end up here?¡±

    Unlike Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru, it seemed as though Lang Qing and Teng never wasted their energy resisting.

    Gu Xianxian inquired, ¡°Big Bro, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, His Majesty tasked me with a job.¡±

    Gu Xianxian immediately squeezed my hand as though I was the final vine preventing him from plummeting to his death. ¡°Big Bro! Benefactor! Please do not forget us!¡±

    ¡°What happened to you? What crime did youmit?¡±

    ¡°On our way home, we ran into Qilin Guards! We failed to defeat them and were arrested!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean we ¡®ran into¡¯ them?! There¡¯s no chance there can be such a coincidence!¡± fumed Ning Zhuoru. ¡°I don¡¯t know who it was, but some dirtbag reported us to the Qilin Guards. Theybelled us conspirators of Fiends¡¯ Genesis as soon as they saw us. How would they have known that if someone didn¡¯t tell them?!¡±

    Needless to say, that someone was yours truly. No, no, no, I didn¡¯t sell them out for money. It was true that they conspired with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. It was only a matter of time before Emperor¡¯s Entourage found out and arrested them. Why not give them an opportunity to atone for their wrongs? Capturing them, then convincing His Majesty to entrust them to me, where I could have thempensate for their wrongs benefited every party. I had nned to save the chance forter, but circumstances forced me to prematurely employ them.

    Ouyang Xiucai, also known as Zhuo Yupin, and Elder Lianhua most likely fled to Valley of Yearning. Emperor¡¯s Entourage would have to give up on them since they wouldn¡¯t want to cross one of the Seven Champion White Princes.

    I didn¡¯t expect Lang Qing to be captured so soon when he was around Zhuo Yupin¡¯s level.

    ¡°¡­ Yi Ya¡­¡± Lang Qing stated through his white wall.

    Oh, forget what I said. Getting whooped against someone who could survive as Baima¡¯s disciple waspletely normal.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to catch up with an old friend. I¡¯lle back to you guys in a bit.¡±

    ¡°Benefactor! Benefactor! Please do not forget us!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡±

    Save for Ning Zhuoru, they could all be useful in some capacity. The only problem was that they weren¡¯t smart and corrupted enough, which limited the sorts of circumstances they¡¯d be useful. I had one more person I always believed would be useful.

    I had the escort open the cell right in the rear for me to enter. As soon as I stepped inside, they locked the door without a moment wasted and exined, ¡°Please understand, Duke Ming. He is dangerous, so we have to implement safe measures.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Wait for me to call for you.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± The escort left us.

    I went up to the man who had his entire body tied up in iron chains. The once spirited man now resembled a depressed and fallen man.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Ol¡¯ Yuan.¡±

    Yuan Kou raised his head to survey me, lowered his head again, then sighed after a long pause. ¡°Master Ming, this is wrong.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°After I was brought here, they serve me three beatings daily, don¡¯t feed me and restrict my freedom. Most importantly, the only question they ask is if I will confess or not. When I ask them what they want me to confess to, they beat me again.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, nice. Never expected you to be ssified as a S-rank criminal. That goes to show that they think highly of you.¡±

    ¡°I would be more than happy to let them think highly of you instead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. I¡¯m seen in a high enough light.¡±

    Yuan Kou let out a long sigh again. ¡°Did you not promise to protect me in the underground pce?¡±

    ¡°You said you wouldn¡¯t betray me.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Did I not own up to it?¡±

    ¡°Never said I believed you.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Y-you cannot do this. The two of us bowed our heads to the ground and¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, stop. Are you a part-time author? When did that ever happen? If you want to bow so badly, go line up outside.¡±

    ¡°Is that not the problem?! They said they would call an interrogation expert over in a few days. Please, Master Ming, get me out of here. Once I am out, I promise, I swear to protect you.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear what you have to offer first.¡±

    I called over the escort to open up once we were done conversing. I strolled out of the prison with my hands behind my back, ignoring all of the stuff yelled at me.

    Following a short conversation with me outside the prison, Long Zaitian asked, ¡°You want to take them all?¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 13

    200 IQ Moves (Part 4)

    ¡°You want to take them all?¡± Long Zaitian smirked as he eyed me from head to toe. ¡°Who do you think you are? You think you can boss me around because you¡¯re a Duke? You been drinking divine water? You been stuffing green onions up your nose? You been wearing dresses in freezing winter?¡±

    ¡°You n on reciting every allegory?¡±

    ¡°Shut up. Speak properly.¡± Long Zaitian looked over his shoulders, then quietly voiced, ¡°Ming Feizhen, what do you think we¡¯re doing? You think we¡¯re a charity?¡±

    ¡°You have some nerve bringing that up. None of them are being fed.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re being fed.¡±

    ¡°Yet you have the shame to mention ¡®charity¡¯?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly my point! This is Yama¡¯s Pce. This is a burbling pan. We eat people whole here. You want to take people from here? In your dreams.¡±

    There was a way to deal with scoundrels. Luckily for me, Long Zaitian was no gentleman.

    Lowering my voice, I informed, ¡°I questioned them already. They won¡¯t tell the truth. I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ll get anything out of them here. Let me take them back to Liu Shan Men for questioning.¡±

    ¡°Is it soplicated? Besides, how am I supposed to exin it to my superiors?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°There¡¯s no way of justifying it, indeed.¡± With a smile, I suggested, ¡°How about youe over to Liu Shan Men, too?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Bugger off. Long Zaitian was born a Qilin Guard and will be a spirit of the Qilin Guards in death.¡±

    ¡°You guys have a shortage of spirits?¡±

    ¡°Watch your mouth! Not even Zhong Kui can take me away.¡± Long Zaitian took another nce over his shoulders¡­ and then again.

    ¡°Nobody is asking for you. Seriously, though, I need them. I need their assistance in resolving a big conspiracy.¡±

    Long Zaitian¡¯s eyes darted around before he asked, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ someone is after His Majesty¡¯s life.¡±

    No, my life.

    ¡°Something like that. Just find an excuse to let them go. I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re covered once I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, piss off. You make it sound easy, but what excuse am I supposed to use to justify releasing so many criminals at once?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t use your head. Use mine.¡± Wearing the smile of a tutor, I told him, ¡°Give me the key. Go for a meal. By the time youe back, things will be settled over here.¡±

    ***

    I twirled the key around in my hand as I boldly walked back to Yuan Kou¡¯s cell. ¡°Yo, Ol¡¯ Yuan, still chilling?¡±

    Yuan Kou beamed as bright as a kid seeing his father and then timely started wailing. ¡°Sir, I have been a blind fool. I am a bum-sniffing dog. From today onwards, you are my new father, my new parents. As long as you set me free, I will apany you anywhere and through everything. I know it will not be easy, b-¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap. This key is for the outside door. I don¡¯t have the key for your cell.¡±

    ¡°¡­ If you want me to talk, take a look at your reflection in your piss first¡­¡±

    ¡°But I can pick the lock of the chains on you with an iron string.¡±

    ¡°Sir Ming! I am your filial son!¡±

    ¡°Men, give him some work.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, please no! I was just joking! Hehe, seriously, though, as long as you free me, I will be at your service. I swear.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be at my service?¡±

    Yuan Kou nodded.

    ¡°Even if you have to risk your life?¡±

    Yuan Kou nodded twice.

    ¡°You¡¯ll answer any questions I have?¡±

    Yuan Kou gave a b-, half a nod, then shook his head.

    I cracked a grin. ¡°I won¡¯t ask about the perverted organisation. You won¡¯t tell me anyway.¡±

    Yuan Kou exhaled. ¡°Aside from that, I will follow all your orders and answer all your queries.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s Jiang Chen¡¯s goal? How much do you know?¡±

    ¡°He is a certified maniac.¡± Yuan Kou condescendingly borated, ¡°He wants to copse Li Dynasty.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Captain Obvious. Only you consider that a secret. The kids running around outside already know about it. My question is, what was Gongsun Chu¡¯s original goal?¡±

    ¡°You are putting me on a pedestal too high up. Why would he tell an outsider?¡±

    ¡°Cut the bullcrap. Even if he didn¡¯t mention a word, you think I believe you wouldn¡¯t have noticed anything?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Men, bring out the big toys.¡±

    Yuan Kou jolted so violently that I could hear the chains rattle. ¡°Okay, okay, okay! Calm down!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening. If you lie even once, I¡¯ll boil you alive.¡±

    Yuan Kou hissed prior to answering, ¡°ording to his agreement with us, his job was to incite disorder in the capital, but he never stated how he would achieve that. He barely used any of us. I heard only a few retired monsters, which included Mount Wu¡¯s two demons and Goryeo¡¯s shrewd Bai Ju.¡±

    As Yuan Kou was arrested immediately after he exited the underground pce, he was unaware Hong Jiu had already finished Mount Wu¡¯s duo, so I had proof he didn¡¯t lie.

    ¡°Go on.¡±

    ¡°Though I do not know how he intends to overthrow Li Dynasty, nor do I have the faintest clue, I have asked members of the organisation. Based on the variety of answers I heard, I have an inkling.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°He should be in an alliance with the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    I concealed my exasperation under a calm fa?ade. ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°That was what the two demons of Mount Wu imed. They are both elders. They felt Jiang Chen has his guard up against them and ordering them to attack the Seven Champion White Princes is part of a ploy against them. For that reason, I am guessing that Jiang Chen was only pretending to be an enemy of the seven.¡±

    That was a point I glossed over. Gongsun Chu wouldn¡¯t be able to survive against Lady Bai without suffering anything. Were she not pregnant, it wouldn¡¯t have been surprising if she ughtered her way through the underground pce. If Patriarch Bai wasn¡¯tpromised, he¡¯d have been dangerous, as well. Without taking any credit away from Mount Wu¡¯s two demons and Vivianite, it¡¯d be hard to say if they could¡¯ve even beat Lady Bai alone. That being the case, would someone as shrewd as Gongsun Chu take such a big risk?

    Boss told me Gongsun Chu had a Divine Realmbatant and a member of Six des apanying him. If he truly wanted to conquer Valley of Yearning, then him and his team would¡¯ve been the safest bet.

    ¡°I kept pondering what Jiang Chen was up to. Kidnapping those people, yet not killing them, would create amon enemy, which would be him. Considering how conspicuous he was about it, I am guessing he wanted to himself the target to be lynched in order to hide his true direction. If my theory is correct, he has yet to use his trump card.¡±

    ¡°Pass.¡± I squatted down and took out a maroon pill that resembled viscous liquid. ¡°You could qualify to be a constable.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°What are you waiting for? Take this and you¡¯re a free man.¡±

    Glossary

    Zhong Kui ¨C To remind you, Zhong Kui is considered a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings.

    Goryeo ¨C A Korean kingdom founded in 918.

 Book 14: Chapter 14

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s Brainn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Qilin Guards owed me a thank-you letter for virtually clearing out the deep section of their jail. Since no assassin, shady or harmful people would show up here, I took the opportunity to sort through my thoughts.

    Ever since Gongsun Chu kidnapped me, I was forced to go with the flow. While events were happening one after another outside the underground pce, I was cut off from all of it. Upon returning to the capital, nothing I saw or heard felt right. Everyone I met gave me a weird feeling; it was incredibly subtle, but I could sense it. No matter if it was His Majesty¡¯s attitude, the White Princes¡¯ movements, the reactions of the three offices, the daily life of Daren Academy or therge capital¡¯s atmosphere, I couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that everything was shrouded in a veil.

    Whenever I interacted with people, it became more apparent to me that I had be someone¡¯s ns. The spectators, however, went about what was seemingly normal daily lives amidst that disconcerting atmosphere as none of them noticed they were inside a trap. People couldn¡¯t clearly perceive what happened when they were walking into small traps one after another. Had I not entered the capital from outside or spent enough time in the underground pce to understand Gongsun Chu, I probably wouldn¡¯t have picked up on the elusive atmosphere.

    The start of it all traced back to when Luo Ming surrendered his status as a White Prince. His move foiled the ns of the remaining six White Princes, yet their reaction was clumsy, just unnatural. They were privy to His Majesty¡¯s intentions prior to the fiasco Luo Ming started. Aside from Valley of Yearning, ck Robe Brotherhood in the capital most likely spent every day thinking of a countermeasure to the eventual stripping of their powers.

    On the surface, His Majesty appeared to have not taken any action. Howbeit, he epted Luo Sword Manor, and his forces in Huzhou were on standby. That was the same as riding the wave Luo Ming started to force the remaining six into dering their stances, effectively creating two factions within the six. Given how clever the strategy was, I doubted His Majesty was its father. If it wasn¡¯t one of the six secretaries¡¯ idea, then I was willing to bet Prime Minister Li manifested the idea.

    The six White Princes were supposed to be cornered, yet all they did was send a few of their children to the capital to participate in the special exams, stopped restricting the activities of the unorthodox factions and turned a blind eye to the deterioration of safety. By all means, their strategy qualified as a form of resistance, but it didn¡¯t resolve their problem. Even if someone in court voiced support for them, as long as His Majesty refused to let the six ns¡¯ children win in the exams and then dispatched Qilin Guards to enforce his will with an iron fist, the six White Princes¡¯ tactic would crumble. Based on how sly I knew the old slimeballs were, I wouldn¡¯t believe their best n was something so sloppy even if you threatened me with death.

    Yuan Kou gave me a new perspective.

    The six remaining Champion White Princes did deploy a strategy, and it was so clever that it went unnoticed. Mayhap their initial plot was straightforward, but it all transformed once they met Gongsun Chu. Sending their children to the capital and ignoring the madness were part of a smokescreen strategy designed to mislead His Majesty into misjudging them. In other words, they created troubled waters to subsequently catch the fish in troubled waters.

    The White Princes knew that, until the time was ripe to turn on His Majesty, the only way for them to keep his support was to create amon enemy. Thatmon enemy was Gongsun Chu. Gongsun Chu¡¯s forces and his constant threat in the dark made him the most reasonable threat, not to mention the mirage strategy that put everyone on high alert. Had Tianhu not unexpectedly entered the fray, Gongsun Chu would be watching the three offices tackle Fiends¡¯ Genesis and bury his pawns so that the imperial court would be upied with finding him. In the meantime, the White Princes in cahoots with him would have time to catch their breath. Considering His Majesty¡¯s personality, they¡¯d have years to prepare for war. That being said, His Majesty¡¯s strategists were unlikely to just sit back since they never gave up on stripping the White Princes of power.

    The capital ¨C and even all of Jiangnan ¨C had be victims of the schemeyered in schemes on top of more schemes. The three offices¡¯ ideas, the officials¡¯ ideas, His Majesty¡¯s ideas, the Six Champion White Princes, Fiends¡¯ Genesis, Daren Academy¡­ everyone¡¯s thoughts, desires, joys and grudges had been interwoven into a web, one that the true nature of had be indiscernible. Gongsun Chu achieved what he set out to achieve.

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s sudden departure from the board left a vacuum; it was akin to an archer losing his target and his tensioned string snapping. Once chaos erupted as everyone went to do their own thing, nobody would be able to guess what Gongsun Chu was after and what he would do. That was the moment he¡¯d achieve his true goal.

    In order to see the true picture, I needed to leave the forest. Once you were no longer staring down at the board through the dark clouds, it was obvious that the conflict still centred around the White Princes and the imperial court. Neither Gongsun Chu nor Fiends¡¯ Genesis could dismantle the imperial court. The only entity that could do so were the Champion White Princes. You had to keep that point in mind if you didn¡¯t want to let Gongsun Chu fool you.

    Neither His Majesty nor the Champion White Princes had any intention of mending their rtionship. All thepromises made and truces were for the sake of the current peril. Gongsun Chu had created a situation where nobody could predict when war would break out.

    Speaking from a reasonable prediction, His Majesty would hold off on stripping the Champion White Princes for at least two years. Even if he did have some spectacr n, he¡¯d need to wait for them to drop their guard, which could be months or years into the future. Whichever it was, it wasn¡¯t now.

    On the other hand, there was no way of predicting when the Champion White Princes would take their shot. One thing was certain, though, and that was that they were set on protecting their privileges.

    It seemed as though the two parties would fight after matters were settled, but ¡°seemingly¡± and ¡°certainly¡± weren¡¯t synonyms.

    Assuming the six had colluded with Gongsun Chu, it was easy to work out when they¡¯d strike ¨C when the imperial court rxed. Who would let their guard down more than a hunter watching his prey? When was a better time to strike than after shaking hands and making up? If that was the case, wasn¡¯t that prime opportunity now?

 Book 14: Chapter 15

    Shifu¡¯s Brain

    I should¡¯ve been able to vividly hear my brisk pacing in the silent prison, but I was focused on trying to think from the White Princes¡¯ perspectives. Regardless of how many scenarios I imagined, my conclusion remained the same: the best moment for them to turn around and catch His Majesty of guard was when their rtionship seemed mended. When one was celebrating how they caught another in their trap, that was when they were most vulnerable to forgetting they, too, weren¡¯t impervious to traps. Thatst realisation spawned numerous more thoughts.

    Even in the scenario that they had a grand n, the White Princes still needed to ount for possibilities ¨C unless they were nning to mindlessly fight it out, which would be ridiculous considering theycked the manpower to conquer the imperial city. What gave them the confidence to bite the imperial court? Emperor¡¯s Entourage kept a pulse on Jiangnan at all times, which was the reason the Qilin Guards stationed at the borders had to be summoned back to the capital. Who in their right mind would go pick a fight with a fully-equipped army? Whatever they were aiming for, their only viable approach was relying on small groups of elites. This fact overturned my theory that the White Princes would soon make a move.

    How many elites would they have? How would they enter the capital? Gongsun Chu had spent a century studying the capital, yet he didn¡¯t dare to enter and even fled straight after deploying his mirage strategy, let alone after the Qilin Guards just carpet swept the capital for his spies. And, just as he suspected would happen, he ate a beating not long after he provoked the imperial court in the capital. If the White Princes were to send their elites into the capital under these conditions, they¡¯d be waltzing to the doors with a ¡°just arrest me now¡° sign on their chests.

    I sat down on the ground in defeat.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Was I wrong? Although they¡¯re colluding with Gongsun Chu, all they¡¯ve achieved is turning around the predicament Luo Ming put them in. Giving themselves a year or two to breathe is just an average move. There¡¯s no reason for them do just stall¡­ And this only benefits the six of them. Gongsun Chu despises the entirety of Li Dynasty, and the White Princes yed a pivotal role in Li n¡¯s ascension, so he can¡¯t be supporters of the six. Sacrificing a group he invested decades into only to provide the six with an opportunity to catch their breath didn¡¯t benefit him. How are they nning to take down the imperial court? Am I thinking in the wrong direction?

    I scrubbed my head vigorously.

    I tried exploring another avenue, but I only grew increasingly confused.

    At times like this, I need to adopt Shifu¡¯s perspective. Ah, damn it! His sted face just ruined my concentration!

    Shifu would always crack a grin when it appeared that the game was over and drop his opponent¡¯s jaw with a y they never imagined was possible. At the same time, that gave me unshakeable confidence. If Shifu was ying this game¡­ he wouldn¡¯t be defeated yet.

    If Shifu was at the board, he¡¯d choose to make his move now. Guard the capital as tightly as you like, he¡¯d still be able to bypass all the security. Why could he bypass security when the six couldn¡¯t? Idiot, is it so strange that a goshawk can fly over a wall that a fly can¡¯t? If a fly wanted to be able to fly over the same wall¡­ they¡¯d need someone to open a hole for them. In other words, for the Champion White Princes to infiltrate the capital undetected, they¡¯d need someone in the capital to help them. The further I went down the hole, the more I was confident that it was a blind spot.

    If there¡¯s a secret passage in and out from the capital and the person inside could arrange for them to sneak in¡­ nah, that¡¯s unreasonable. The imperial family has run the ce for a century. The three offices keep surveince day and night. If it¡¯s not the Mount Daluo trio digging at night, then the only way someone could dig a tunnel of that magnitude without anyone realising was if His Majesty personally had his family dig one. Damn, another dead end?

    I sighed, then got up to leave, but something clicked for me.

    Li n? Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor! Damn! Now I get why they were involved!

    I was right. It was impossible to dig a tunnel of that size in the capital unless it was the imperial family. Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s original master was His Majesty¡¯s brother. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if someone who also contended for the throne had ess to such a secret tunnel and then passed it down in the family.

    Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor was a n that had a penchant for travelling underground to avoid detection from Emperor¡¯s Entourage. The tunnel itself wouldn¡¯t suffice for a conquest of the capital; however, if it was utilised for smuggling people into the capital, then it was a far safer approach than Gongsun Chu sending spies in that only took Jingan a few days to locate.

    Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t set up Li Muye to have a scapegoat; he wanted to motivate Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor to side with the Champion White Princes on their own ord. Think about it: who would Li Muye¡¯s mother most likely choose to ally with once she was disappointed in His Majesty and the imperial court? Had Hong Jiu not intervened, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor would¡¯ve already bitten the bait Gongsun Chu gave them.

    I get it now! I finally get it now! Gongsun Chu, ah, Gongsun Chu, you are one sly coot. I nearly cursed once I realised your n. I shouldn¡¯t have let you go.

    Their scheme was no longer fearsome now that I knew it. Moreover, Li Muye was very likely to be released, so Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor didn¡¯t have much of a reason to help the White Princes anymore.

    Shifu said, ¡°It¡¯s normal for a man to idently fall into a few hundred traps while in the pugilistic world, but it¡¯s a grave sin to climb out of the holes empty handed. If a thief doesn¡¯t pinch meat, what is he pinching? The old vige chief¡¯s wife?¡± His teaching stuck with me all these years.

    Heh, good luck with your ns now.

    I jovially headed out, coincidentally bumping into Long Zaitian, who was returning from his meal.

    ¡°Where are they?! Where have they all gone?! Didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯d exin?¡±

    ¡°I released them.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, I¡¯m going to strangle you to death!¡±

    I dodged Long Zaitian¡¯s charge. ¡°Do you want an exnation or not?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of your crap. Is there anything left for you to exin?¡± Long Zaitian raised his fist.

    ¡°Sure. One sec.¡± I cleared my throat and yelled, ¡°Long Zaitian released the prisoners!¡±

    ¡°Oi! No, no, no, I didn¡¯t! Hehe, they¡¯re still here! Listen to me, guys! They¡¯re all still here!¡±

    While Long Zaitian was busy trying to salvage the situation, I sneaked off and bolted as fast as my legs could take me.

 Book 14: Chapter 16

    First Scene ¨C End

    ¡°So, in conclusion, I told them to assassinate Ming Feizhen on the streets?¡± Song Ou had his hands in his head as if it was going to burst despite the nice and bright sunlight.

    Loyal Zha Pi loyally nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What sort of stupid idea is that?!¡±

    Zha Pi shook his head. ¡°It is not stupid.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything you can¡¯t support?!¡±

    ¡°The person you sent was none other than Shadow de. He is an expert assassin who also carries out jobs inconspicuously. You can rest assured that he will not leave traces. Besides, the assassination spot you picked is part of our patrol route, so Ming Feizhen is very likely to show up there, yet there is no need to worry Emperor¡¯s Entourage of Qilin Guards can capture Shadow de. Those were your words.¡±

    ¡°I said that?¡± Song Ou suddenly somewhat regretted forgetting his majestic Emperor-like mannerisms when he gave out decrees in his drunken mode.

    Song Ou: Ming Feizhen is dead now. Dead¡­ Hmm? Dead?

    Because of the cold sweat that formed on his back, Song Ou¡¯s wounds were irritated, making him shriek.

    Song Ou: There¡¯s nothing to be happy about! The alcohol is to me for these wounds!

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Song Ou growled through his clenched teeth.

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°To stop him!¡±

    ¡°Do you not want him dead, Captain?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about his life. The point is that His Majesty wouldn¡¯t spare me if he found out I ordered the hit. Ah, my back bloody stings!¡± Song Ou hissed as he sat back down.

    ¡°Captain, you can rx. If neither of us mention a word, who would know you ordered the hit?¡±

    Although Song Ou felt Zha Pi made a good point, he still had to ask, ¡°Where is my brother? Didn¡¯t he just return? Tell him to go stop the hit.¡±

    Song Chi had to return despite his hectic schedule due to the special exams inching closer.

    Zha Pi scratched his head. ¡°Uh¡­ I think he went to some Deities to search for someone?¡±

    ¡°Deities?¡± Song Ou straightened up his back, ¡°Eight Deities! Go there as my, fark! It stings like fark!¡±

    ***

    Thanks to Long Zaitian¡¯s cooperation, I was able to easily escape the prison with the crew.

    There were two days until the academy¡¯s idolpetition, three days until the special exams and six days until I could be my old self again.

    Proprietor Shi served me up a pot of alcohol. I poured myself a cup and had a sip. The only people in in Eight Deities were us and the group of people I just rescued standing behind me. Nobody uttered a word.

    Though they had just gotten out, I had already assigned them roles. Lang Qing and Teng were obviously my bodyguards. As long as I had them, I didn¡¯t need to care if you tried to assassinate me up close or from afar. Gu Xianxian had abysmalbat abilities, but he was good enough to run errands. Ning Zhuoru was pregnant, so it was only right for her to be protected sufficiently. Yuan Kou took orders directly from me and had an all-rounder role.

    Even though I released them, they seemed to have realised something that led to them looking at me unkindly. It didn¡¯t bother me, though.

    ¡°You¡¯re not using us as tools, are you?¡± questioned Ning Zhuoru.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I answered, ¡°Considering your level of intellect, you would need to be wealthy to avoid being a tool.¡±

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    I set my cup down and turned around to them. ¡°Who in life can guarantee they¡¯ll never be a tool? What¡¯s important is how the tool is used. In my hands, you¡¯ll all be splendid spears. In the hands of someone else, there¡¯s no such guarantee.¡±

    ¡°The way you speak is annoy-¡±

    ¡°A customer has arrived.¡±

    Eight Deities was guaranteed to have a busy day today. It was just that nobody knew who¡¯d be the first customer.

    The customer eyed the empty ce and then asked me, ¡°Ming Feizhen?¡±

    I smiled back. ¡°A true capable and fine young man, you are.¡±

    Song Chi began to make his way over to me. He could sense the animosity from Yuan Kou and Lang Qing from both sides, so he smiled back and waited.

    I conveyed, ¡°Take a seat.¡±

    Only once he received permission did Song Chi continue forwards and sit down.

    It was arguably our first official meeting since we barely exchanged any words back in Hangzhou.

    ¡°I did not expect it to be you,¡± was the first thing Song Chi said to me after sitting down, puzzling everyone.

    To add even more puzzlement to the mix, I replied, ¡°If Patriarch Song wants to live, he shouldn¡¯t get involved with this.¡±

    Song Chi narrowed his eyes. ¡°What matter are you referring to?¡±

    ¡°All of them.¡±

    ¡°Can you be more specific?¡±

    I poured two cups of wine, ced one in front of me and stated, ¡°Assassinating me,¡± then ced the other cup in front of him and added, ¡°Assassinating His Majesty.¡±

    That put everyone in tense mode.

    Song Chi stared at the two cups for a while and then sighed. ¡°So it was you.¡±

    ¡°You know me?¡±

    Song Chi gazed at me as though he knew me, yet it didn¡¯t seem so. He nodded, then shook his head. ¡°Song n is not involved with either matter and never was. I hope you can ept, Duke Ming.¡±

    As soon as I heard him refer to me as ¡°Duke¡±, I knew I wasn¡¯t getting an exnation.

    ¡°I have told Father to cancel my brother¡¯s engagement to Miss Shen. Song n is your ally, not your enemy. Thank you for the drink.¡± Song Chi gave me a cupped-fist salute and then headed downstairs.

    I was as shocked as the crew behind me.

    Boss¡¯ engagement has been called off? Boss¡­ is no longer engaged?

    A mixture of joy and bewilderment created a swirl of emotions that I couldn¡¯t make sense of.

    As soon as I shook out the thoughts from my head, I was hit with a barrage of questions; even the usually taciturn Lang Qing asked, ¡°Someone is after His Majesty¡¯s life?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the situation. Now that you are working for me, I have no special orders or instructions. The less you know about these matters, the better it is for you.¡±

    Gu Xianxian eximed, ¡°We¡¯re going to oppose rebels?!¡±

    Yuan Kou roared, ¡°Give me the antidote!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru: ¡°You¡¯re so weak, yet you want to lead us in a resistance effort against someone so dangerous?¡±

    ¡°I have but one demand.¡± I got up, whipped a long sword behind me, plunging it straight through the throat of silent assassin behind me who was about to pull out his de from his sleeve. Even after he started bleeding out and his corpse dropped to the floor, I still didn¡¯t look back as I sheathed the sword. Like a bite that cut off everyone¡¯s apprehension, the sword clicked into its sheath. ¡°You must obey me at all times.¡±

    Nobody uttered a sound.

    I sat back down to resume drinking. After two sips, I said, ¡°Oh, by the way, I¡¯m weak, so you killed him, got it?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 17

    Interlude 1

    Like a de slicing open the sky, a shooting star zipped across the ck dome as heat continued to st the border of the Western Regions and the Central in.

    Despite both the Western Regions and the Central in remaining vignt of one another and having had border rules broken before, they had never shown any actions symbolic of dering war against each other for a century. Therefore, nobody expected some alien shooting star thatnded on the city wall would be the trigger for the first battle.

    You couldn¡¯t take a step in the city without seeing corpses, mes or stepping on blood. Not even the trained warriors of the city had seen a scene remotelyparable to the freakiness, nor had they ever encountered a terrifying enemy of that magnitude.

    ¡°Monster!¡± The border general, second rank on Seventeen Hidden Dragons ¨C Zhan Qiu ¨C took a swing at the demon bathed in mes. His blue energy sessfully dispersed the mes, yet the appearance that he beheld fossilised him.

    Hidden inside the mes was a face that was ironically burnt, a face that looked as though there were worms nted inside. While there may have been a hint of pity for him, the only way to atone for attacking the city and taking so many lives was to pay with his own.

    Zhan Qiu axed the person ¨C if he could be considered a human being ¨C again without any mercy.

    Skeletons stacked up into a pagoda of skeletons. Blood collected into ake. Before they could take form, they were burnt to ck crisps.

    Zhan Qiu wasn¡¯t aware that that the scene could elevate his bloodlust. When it peaked, not even gods could stop his murderous urge.

    The attackerughed loudly as a golden light burst.

    The sound of nging metal, groans, winces¡­ all the sounds associated withbat ceased before dawn.

    In one night, a city of over a thousand people was wiped out.

    A monster from the west continued eastward.

    ***

    Even monsters needed to rest after they¡¯d had enough of killing. In his slumber, he recalled an event from long ago that took ce far from his golden home, yet close to his golden home. The familiar view, people, smell¡­ It was nostalgic.

    The most materialistically wealthy state in the Western Regions had a pce that enjoyed the reverence of thousands. By extension, the master of the pce also enjoyed more wealth, power and women than he could partake in within his lifespan. The reason for the special privileges was simple: he, too, was a god, a living god.

    The monarch was gifted with might that was nigh impossible for man to ever obtain from the moment he was born. He was the only individual permitted to view the cult¡¯s secret manual ¨C Spring Wind Rainy Nights Art. He was the only one whoprehended the teachings within and, instead of suffering because of it, gained unequalled might from it. The manual never should¡¯ve been given to him.

    Ximen Chuideng was a hero with a heart as big as his ambitions. He plundered the seven states without a care in the world, weed the chosen one inside into the sacred pce with open arms and gave him the most respect possible. That was how the chosen one unparalleled might.

    The monarch possessed authority to do as he wanted with the people; that was authority on the level of gods. He had everything one could ask for and made use of it without an ounce of guilt.

    During the years the monarch was worshipped, the people of the seven states didn¡¯t lead prosperous lives due to his unpredictable mood. He liked novel things, new things and valuable things, but he despised the couriers, so everyone who entered the visit to pay their respects was executed. City-states who didn¡¯t send tributes, though, would also perish. The courier had to be heirs of the most important person in a city. It was a rule he stipted as part of his game, and it wasn¡¯t even among the top ten most entertaining things in his book. For him, the ¡°game¡± only served to kill some of his boredom. When he killed them, he wouldn¡¯t even smile or bat an eye because man¡¯s feelings were iprehensible to God. He never smiled until that fateful day.

    When he saw the white-haired youth enter the sacred pce, the monarch beamed as purely as a child for he had finally found a simr being to himself. The youth had the same blood-red eyes as the monarch.

    ¡°The people are gullible,¡± God loudly dered. ¡°They believe God exists, so they worship me as God. They believe God has the authority to y with their lives, so they allow me to y with their lives. All beings are but bugs. What makes you different?¡±

    After setting foot in the pce, the white-haired youth ambled toward God without reserve, without stopping to listen and without answering the question posed.

    Nobody, not one of the guards eyed the youth. Perhaps it¡¯d be more urate to say that nobody saw him. They couldn¡¯t describe his appearance if they were asked to describe him again.

    Once he was face to face with God, the youth took out a blunt weapon from his sash, but he continued advancing. At close range, the monarch realised that they were not cut from the same cloth. The youth¡¯s red eyes were more sinister than his own.

    ¡°I¡¯vee for your life.¡±

    With a swing of his ck de, the sacred pce crumbled to the ground.

    ***

    Virtually half of the city of gold was reduced to ruins in the ensuing fight. Afterwards, the city was given aplete makeover externally and internally. The God on the throne was reced with a young man sporting white hair.

    He woke up from the enraging memory as the first rays of light introduced themselves at daybreak.

    There was someone waiting for him. An internal prison couldn¡¯t confine him. Iron shackles couldn¡¯t restrain him. ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night Arts¡± told him that his target, the sinner who reced ¡°God¡± was still up ahead. He only had one reason to exist and that was to kill the sinner. To that end, he needed to spill more blood and take more lives.

    He set off once again. Wherever he went, there was destined to be bloodshed. His final destination was going to be hell.

    Glossaryn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Master of the pce ¨C I¡¯m adding in this note now in case it bes relevantter on. The pronoun he is denoted in the narration is a special one reserved for monarchs, just as the Emperor in the Central in refers to himself with an exclusive pronoun for himself, hence the reason I went beyond the text to emphasise it. For the record, the former¡¯s pronoun is pronounced the exact same way as ¡°he/she¡± in Chinese and doesn¡¯t discriminate between genders. We have no clue who this monarch is because they¡¯re just constantly referred to as ¡°The monarch¡±.

 Book 14: Chapter 18

    Ingenious Solution (Part 1)

    The couplet up outside Eight Deities read, ¡°Boxing rules within eight kilometres of Nanjing. Kicks rule Beipings twenty-one alleys.¡± In the centre, the text ¡°From an exchange of blows, friendship grows,¡± was written in calligraphy. The smudges from that the breeze made were still there.

    I tossed away my brush and returned to my seat without sparing a nce for my opponent who was carried.

    ¡°How can you be that weak?¡± Gu Xianxian got out of his stance and continued, ¡°How delusional must you be to be a ring fighter if that¡¯s all you can do?¡±

    Gu Xianxian just kicked his opponent downstairs with his Long Fist.

    Challenging people to ring fights in the capital was hubristic, but that wasn¡¯t all.

    ¡°Come watch! It¡¯s not every day that you see this. Duke Radish has set up a ring. There are first-ss, second-ss and third-ss seats, but you¡¯ll miss out if you¡¯rete.¡±

    Proprietor Shi¡¯s wife was ticked off about me reserving the entire ce and forbidding her froming up to the second floor, so she sold drinks, peanuts and stools. In addition, she set up four seating sses. In no time at all, there was a crowd bigger than Eight Deities had ever seen and more money than ever to be made.

    Who set up the ring? Me.

    How did you participate? Just sign the waiver that you wouldn¡¯t hold me liable for casualties. If you had a problem with that, I was sitting right there, but you wouldn¡¯t be fighting me. If you wanted to vent, you¡¯d have to beat my six generals.

    What do you think everyone in the line downstairs was here for? Either they still had a grudge against me or were after the bounty thanks to Jingan spreading the news that I couldn¡¯t fight. Since they were all after me, I set up the ring to wait for them. Rather than sit around uneasily waiting and apprehensively guessing when they¡¯d jump me every day, why not force them to abide by my rules?

    So far, only those who Gu Xianxian and Lang Qing could mop the floor with had shown up. The real threats were those looking for a way to assassinate me despite having an avenue to do so publicly. Thankfully, my ears functioned well enough to detect them if they tried.

    ¡°How¡¯d you go?¡±

    Yuan Kou, having just returned from his job, took off the ck cloth covering his face, then blew out a big breath. ¡°All captured. All twelve disciples of Yishou have been detained. Knowing old Immortal Yishou¡¯s stubbornness, though, it is unlikely this will be enough for him to turn himself in. Among the twelve, we have his son. Do you think¡­¡±

    ¡°Break all their legs, except for his son¡¯s, and then kick them out of the city.¡±

    ¡°Why? ¡­ Oh! As long as we keep his son, he will have motivation to seek revenge, but he will not dare to return to the capital for a dozen years in order for his useless son to mature. That is genius!¡± Yuan Kou rushed off immediately after he was done talking.

    When it came to harming people, you could expect the bad guys to be most excited.

    As Ning Zhuoru waited on me with tea, water and so forth, she kept silent, but she kept stealing nces my way, so I asked, ¡°You have a crush on me.¡±

    ¡°Blegh!¡±

    ¡°What do you keep looking at me for, then?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, are you really a disciple of an orthodox sect? You¡¯re better at setting people up than all of the unorthodox faction membersbined who I know.¡±

    ¡°If I was worse than them, you, your husband and unborn son would perish here.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Mind you m-, wait, wait? I have a boy?! Oh my god!¡± Ning Zhuoru started jogging toward her husband, but she stopped once she remembered she wasn¡¯t done saying what she wanted to say. ¡°I was trying to say: are you going to be able to clean up this mess afterwards?¡±

    ¡°Can you help me clean it up?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. However¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, shove it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it! Xian¡¯er, don¡¯t stop me! Ever since we got out of the underground pce, he¡¯s¡­¡± Even as she was dragged off, Ning Zhuoru still shot me a re over her shoulder, ¡°been giving us attitude!¡±

    As I resumed watching Lang Qing continue to sweep the floor with challengers, I tried to work out who the assassin was.

    Teng came up behind me. ¡°She has a valid point.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I checked to ensure there was nobody eavesdropping who shouldn¡¯t have been before borating, ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. If I bear with it whilst living at Liu Shan Men, the people here will go to Liu Shan Men instead ofing here. Liu Shan Men doesn¡¯t have what it takes to deal with the force in the dark yet. Moreover,¡± I looked back at Teng and smiled, then added, ¡°I¡¯ve put up with it for a long time. I deserve to vent.¡±

    Teng smiled. ¡°We have found clues on the question troubling y-¡±

    ¡°Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor is the key.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to be a jerk, cutting Teng off. I just didn¡¯t want to spend until tomorrow talking about the topic because he never got to the point and was slow in responding. ¡°Though they¡¯ve gone into hiding, it won¡¯t be hard to find them. The real challenge is having a conversation with them. If the first talk goes awry, then they¡¯ll hide themselves to the point they¡¯re invisible. That¡¯s not going to be good.¡±

    Teng nodded. ¡°If you are a high-ranking official, they might grant an audience.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°It was the same back at home. The higher one¡¯s rank is, the more popr one is.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not always the case here. Furthermore, Li Muye¡¯s mother is no ordinary woman.¡±

    Out of nowhere, I saw Yuan Kou swing into the second floor from the eaves as if he weighed half of his true weight.

    ¡°Done?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and no.¡± Yuan Kou rushed over to my side, bent down and whispered, ¡°Yishou¡¯s matter is done, but Zhao Tiankui has arrived and has insisted on seeing you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ One of them has finallye. Turn him away.¡±

    Yuan Kou scratched his head. ¡°He willpete if you turn him away.¡±

    ¡°The whole point of releasing all of you was to deal with difficult people, like him.¡± Seeing the bloodlust in Yuan Kou and Teng¡¯s eyes, I rified, ¡°He¡¯s a high-ranking military officer. You think I could kill him? If I don¡¯t kill him, he¡¯ll kill me, but I don¡¯t have a method of stopping him without killing him at the moment.¡±

    That was partially true. In my current state, at most, I only had a 40% chance of killing Zhao Tiankui. Even if I hit someone with all my might at the moment, I might not have even hurt them if they practiced Hard Realm internal energy disciplines, so I¡¯d need a quality de that could break through his qi. If I went that far, then I¡¯d have to kill him. If you asked me to beat him fair and square in a ring, that was asking for the impossible.

    ¡°If he wants topete, Ol¡¯ Yuan, he¡¯s yours.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Yuan Kou frowned. ¡°But I might kill him, too.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about? What to be an official? Commit crimes and take advantage of co-option. Worstes to worst, gather up your brothers and rebel. I¡¯ll then lead an army to subdue you guys and pretend to lose. I¡¯ll then tell the imperial court that I convinced you to surrender. You¡¯ll be in the perfect position to negotiate favourable terms.¡±

    Yuan Kou held up a thumb. ¡°I shall go kill him now.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count him out so soon.¡±

    ¡°What chance does he have?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t speak on his skills, but his internal strength¡¯s potency can rival yours. The only way we¡¯ll find out who¡¯s stronger is if you two fight.¡±

    Yuan Kou headed off.

    ¡°All right, I need an afternoon nap. Teng, lower the screen.¡±

    Teng lowered the ck curtain and then started snoring.

    ¡°It¡¯s all in your hands now. I have to go do something.¡±

    You¡¯re right. I was getting the hell out of there! Only an idiot would wait around to be killed. They could line up until the season changed for all I cared. I had important business to attend to.

    ¡°Hope you have a good day.¡±

    I wore on my new mask, transformed myself into the waiter and sneaked out through the back door of the kitchen. You bet I was cautious and triple checked to make sure I wasn¡¯t tailed. I arrived back at the academy in less than an hour.

    After searching high and low, I finally found who I was looking for outside Uncle Huang¡¯s room sighing. ¡°Hey, He Shi, I¡¯m looking for you. Why are you running? Hey! Who poisoned Uncle Huang?! Hey! Come back!¡±

    Glossary

    Boxing rules within eight kilometres of Nanjing. Kicks rule Beipings twenty-one alleys ¨C There are numerous theories as to why this sort of saying exists, but I side with the belief that the southern disciplines were famous for their hand techniques, while the northern disciplines had kicks that really stood out, so I reckon it¡¯s more that the saying sensationalises the uniqueness rather than actually their focuses. After all, there are tonnes of kicks in southern disciplines just as there are an abundance of hand techniques in northern disciplines. It¡¯s kind of like the situation with Taekwondo, where ITF Taekwondo, which bnces hand techniques and kicks, is poprly in oblivion while WTF Taekwondo, which is the Olympic Taekwondo, that emphasises kicks gets more exposure, so Taekwondo gains the rep as a kicking-only discipline.

    Why did one region practice more of the other? I think the theory with the most weight would be terrain. It¡¯d be safer to keep your feet nted and fight with your hands on a boat, for example, right? It¡¯d make more sense to focus on hand techniques if you¡¯re going to have to fight in narrow environments or forests, right?

    Long Fist ¨C Arguably better known as Changquan and referred to as Long Boxing in the context of actualbat. It¡¯s a fusion of disciplines from northern China. The forms emphasise fully extended striking techniques, part of which is meant to improve mobility in training. From a contemporary standpoint, it¡¯s best known for its acrobatic movements. Bear in mind that its evolution of Jiang Jieshi and the closing of the Nanjing Guoshu Institute saw a shift from it being focused aroundbat to demonstration focused. I never dove extensively into it, so I can¡¯t exin all the disciplines itbines for you, unfortunately. Fun fact: Jet Li specialised in it.

 Book 14: Chapter 19

    Ingenious Solution (Part 2)

    ¡°What happened to Uncle Huang?¡± I stepped on the rope He Shi tried to unknot and made sure he waspletely immobilised before letting go. ¡°You think I¡¯d harm Uncle Huang?¡±

    Surrendering to his fate as my captive, He Shi heaved a big breath. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What did you run for, then?¡±

    He Shi shook his head in disillusionment. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be coteral damage when the faculty members butcher you.¡±

    ¡°They want to butcher me?¡±

    What? I saved Uncle Huang. Shouldn¡¯t they be worshipping me? Wow, how broken is their moralpass?

    ¡°Principal Huang has been bedridden since he returned, pale, vommitting, having diarrhoea and unable to fight off a fever.¡±

    Not sure what you people expected when he had to fight a strong opponent in a badly injured state. He¡¯d be dead if it wasn¡¯t thanks to his extensive training and sound foundations. Give him two days, and he¡¯ll be mint.

    ¡°And he keeps mumbling your name.¡±

    ¡°To be expected. I saved him, after all. No need for thanks.¡±

    ¡°You wish. He keeps mumbling your name and crying, ¡®No!¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    N-no? S-so all of his disciples and grand disciples stood next to his bed listening to him yell, ¡°Ming Feizhen, no,¡±?

    He Shi heaved another big breath. ¡°Heaven knows what you did to him.¡±

    Don¡¯t make me puke!

    For some reason, He Shi kept scuttling backwards despite being tied up.

    No wonder why they want to butcher me! I¡¯d want to butcher me, too! All I did was force feed him ¡®unknown pill¡¯, though, not to mention he was the one who asked me to help him restore his internal energy! I¡¯m innocent!

    ¡°What could I have possibly done to him?! All I did was fed him a pill to save his life.¡±

    ¡°Kukuku, we might believe that if they weren¡¯t you. You know what officials in the capital say about you? They say you¡¯re bisexual, but you have a preference for men. What do you think everyone in the academy thinks?¡±

    What the hell?! Why am I being suspected of molesting an old man when I saved his life?! What¡¯s wrong with this world?! I¡¯m not Liu Yuan! Ah, forget it. There will be a way to rify it¡­ First things first.

    As soon as I cut He Shi¡¯s restraints with a pocket knife, he immediately put distance between us.

    ¡°Come back!¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± He Shi realised he was backed up against a wall, ¡°but we have to keep our distance.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    There will be a way to rify it!

    ¡°Fine, stay there. I have something important to talk to you about.¡±

    ¡°Business or private?¡±

    ¡°Will you cut it out?! Is there any difference?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We can talk business. Private things¡­¡± He Shi moved a step sideways since he was backed up against the wall. ¡°Let¡¯s stop while we¡¯re ahead.¡±

    Do you schrs all have some intellectual disease?! Why are all of you sick minded?!

    ¡°Business! You know the exams are around the corner, right?¡±

    He Shi¡¯s mood changed positively an instant. ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°I have important information to share with you.¡±

    ¡°What important information would you have?¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± I smiled wryly. ¡°He who does not suspect another of dishonesty or second guesses another¡¯s honesty is virtuous.¡±

    ¡°From ¡®Analects¡¯ book fourteen. Your point?¡±

    ¡°Exactly! You, too, know you can¡¯t trust them unless they give you one million.¡±

    He Shi framed. ¡°No need to give one million.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s the attitude. Never believe them without one million.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± He Shi looked at me the same way Prime Minister Li did.

    ¡°I got the quote from the Prime Minister.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    I raised two fingers up. ¡°If I lied even once, I¡¯ll be fed ten fat pigs a day until I die from bloating.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t need to go that far. I should believe you if you¡¯re willing to swear an oath. Hmm¡­ But why are you telling me this?¡±

    I gave him a smile with narrowed eyes. He looked back in confusion. Once he finally got it, he sprinted off. I was ready for that, so I grabbed him back straight away.

    As he tried to wrestle free, He Shi yelled, ¡°Y-you¡¯re breaking thew! You want me to be your aplice?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡±

    ¡°Never. I never asked you to leak the topic. I¡¯m good enough to pass on my own.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I won¡¯t make it without you.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you leak the topic to me?!¡±

    ¡°Well, that makes you my aplice.¡±

    Finally realising his predicament, He Shi eximed, ¡°You shameless vermin!¡±

    I didn¡¯t visit Prime Minister Li to try and pry out the topic. What he told me might not have been the topic, either, but it came from his mouth, and my oath was real. All I had to do was convince He Shi that he was my aplice.

    ¡°I won¡¯t help you.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in the same boat now. No need to stand on ceremony.¡±

    ¡°I want to stand on your head! If you have an ident, I¡¯ll be in trouble! I refuse!¡±

    He had a good head, but I didn¡¯t have just one trump card.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. What if I can help you?¡±

    ¡°With what? I don¡¯t want the topic.¡±

    ¡°Sharing the topic was just an expression of sincerity. Aren¡¯t you supporting Blue Prince? What if I support him?¡±

    He Shi¡¯s brain fell behind mine. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Blue Prince is trapped on Mount Dayan in Beiping. If you help me, I¡¯ll give him a hand and help him escape.¡±

    Following a hard think, He Shi shook his head. ¡°I will never help you outright cheat. I¡¯ve spent all these years studying assiduously to win. I can¡¯t let Principal Huang down when he has so much faith in me. How am I supposed to help you when there are so many eyes?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to write on my behalf or switch names with me. You wouldn¡¯t be able to learn my handwriting in the short time we have. Even if you could, it¡¯d be impossible for you to write on my behalf in front of so many proctors.¡±

    ¡°What do you want, then? Pre-write you a paper? I¡¯m telling you: that quote alone could have thousands of possible responses. If the examiner adds the context of the national status quo and requires real references, then there are infinite possibilities. There¡¯s no way I could pre-write you a paper.¡±

    ¡°No need to.¡± I grinned. ¡°When the timees, just¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s all?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± I smiled. ¡°Simple, right? No risk to you and no risk of getting exposed. You can do it without getting caught for sure.¡±

    He Shi nodded. ¡°Well, if I turned even that down, then I¡¯d be too nasty. Fine.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    That was a big-heavy weight off my shoulders.

    ¡°By the way, regarding the idolpetition, wh-¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the loud voice to see two columns of guards. The person at the forefront shouted, ¡°You have some nerve showing up at the academy! Arrest him!¡±

    Glossary

    One million ¨C Okay, this is impossible to trante. It¡¯s the same quote Prime Minister Li said to Ming Feizhen in chapter 11 of this volume. If you didn¡¯t read the glossary from then, I can¡¯t help you.

 Book 14: Chapter 20

    Ingenious Solution (Part 3)

    Things¡­ didn¡¯t look optimistic. Confucianism disciples didn¡¯t excel in offence, defence or evasion; they were average at all aspects ofbat. That was their strength, though. Therefore, the more advanced they were, the harder it was to determine their weaknesses, which only became even harder to identify once they reached Divine Realm.

    My shifu never respected Uncle Huang¡¯s character or skills, the former because Uncle Huang was too wishy washy, while thetter was because it was an utter mess. When speaking on Yu Sihe, however, Shifu evaluated him positively, saying, ¡°His swordy is passable.¡± Without knowing my shifu, you might¡¯ve brushed off Yu Sihe. Since I knew my shifu¡¯s character, however, I never underestimated Confucianism¡¯s martial arts disciplines. That went double in my current state. Of course, whether I tormented myself trying to pinpoint their weaknesses or they tormented me after capturing me on suspicions of me harming Uncle Huang, it was still torturous. That being said, I had a more important question: couldn¡¯t they choose different time to have a misunderstanding?!

    The leader was the type I hated the most ¨C a pretty face on a guy. He was different to the cordially-smiling schr, though. I could tell at a nce that he¡¯d have butchered me already if he wasn¡¯t trained to always follow procedures.

    It was all a misunderstanding. How could I throw a fit with Uncle Huang¡¯s disciples and grand disciples considering my rtionship with him? I could talk it out with them, and we could even be friends. As academicians, what could we not settle with words?

    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you,¡± he said with a smirk.

    ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Lan Jiqiong.¡±

    I offered a thumbs up and bright smile. ¡°That is the hallmark of a true academician. Material wealth is all dung. Even the ¡®qiong¡¯ in your name is there to emphasiseck of wealth. My humble respects!¡±

    Lan Jiqiong¡¯s pretty face twitched. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s the ¡®qiong¡¯ in firmament.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ahaha¡­ Hahaha, I am the new Hanlin Academician His Majesty appointed. We are fellow schrs, descendants of Mencius, uh¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen your test paper.¡±

    Fark!

    I didn¡¯t know he was a marker!

    ¡°Uncle Huang and I are close. I think there is a misunderstanding. In the underground pce¡­¡±

    Lan Jiqiong unsheathed his sword. ¡°I am Principal Huang¡¯s direct disciple and Daren Academy¡¯s current Thuban.¡±

    Thuban¡­ So¡­ if left is superior, he¡¯s third rank around here?

    Lan Jiqiong kept imbuing qi into his sword even after the qi stung my face without direct contact. ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what happened in the underground pce, Shizun has not forgotten the name of his mortal enemy even in his unconscious state. He mumbles your name every day in his nightmares. Every one of us is heartbroken, yet you have the nerve to stroll around here as if nothing happened?¡±

    He even spoke with decorum, never explicating the contents of Uncle Huang¡¯s nightmares.

    Don¡¯t tell me their misunderstanding isn¡¯t that bad, and it¡¯s all a product of their own twisted imaginations.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, I shall make you pay with your blood! Hold him down, and pull his pants off!¡±

    They really have twisted it with their imaginations, and bloody hell their imaginations are vivid! Is there nobody at this academy who¡¯s not off their rockers?!

    ¡°Wait! If you¡¯re Thuban, what about Edasich?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong, startled for a second, reflexively questioned, ¡°What now?¡°

    ¡°Why isn¡¯t he here?¡±

    I saw Lan Jiqiong avert his gaze for the split second before he grouched, ¡°My senior brother isn¡¯t here. What does it have to do with you?¡±

    I scratched my head. ¡°Could it be that he believes the full story is not yet clear and is against you taking action in the meantime, but you have chosen to act against his orders?¡±

    ¡°N-no!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    You¡¯re too honest for you own good, bro.

    ¡°Help! Thuban Lan is trying to kill me!¡±

    ¡°You! Stay still if you¡¯re tough!¡±

    ¡°Only an idiot would stay still for you to hack him!¡±

    As I ran, I continued crying for help. As expected, the chicken instructed his group to pull out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! If Senior Brotheres over and finds us here, we¡¯ll be in trouble!¡±

    In no time at all, they were gone. I had to get going, too, because who knew of the Edasich was also an outlier to normal. If he, as well, misunderstood, then I¡¯d have the entire academy hunting me down.

    ¡°He Shi, I need to get moving, but before that, I have just one question: can you still participate in the idolpetition?¡±

    The spectator returned to reality. ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. The rites and calligraphy contests are on the first day, after all. The examsmence on the second day, though, so I can¡¯t participate from then.¡±

    As long as He Shi could take care of his portion, Tang Ye and Xiao could handle the rest.

    ¡°Sounds good. I¡¯m going on ahead.¡±

    I sneaked out of the academy. Suffice to say, I couldn¡¯t avoid being seen. Nevertheless, they didn¡¯t show signs of pursuit, so the Edasich must not have misunderstood me.

    I went to deliver a letter to Beiping first as nned and then dropped into Heavenly Fragrance Garden to see if Shifu tried to contact me at all.

    There was a solution to the exams at longst.

    I had to be cautious of Gongsun Chu, who could¡¯ve shown up again at any moment.

    I was dealing with the assassins, but Jingan¡¯s ns were never so simple.

    Mount Daluo hadn¡¯t contacted me at all since thest time we made contact.

    Has Shifu been busy? He must be so busy with one of hisdies that he doesn¡¯t even know his disciple almost got minced. What an irresponsible adult.

    I had just stepped out of Heavenly Fragrance Garden when I sensed danger at my neck.

    Not even this ce is safe now?

    I ducked under the sword and then heard, ¡°Ming Feizhen, if you make it out of here alive, I¡¯ll spell my name backwards from now.¡± I then saw an angry young girl armed with a sword.

    ¡°Eh? Aren¡¯t you thess that sick Fu Xiang groomed?¡±

    ¡°You killed my adopted father, and you¡¯re still smearing his name?! Die!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 21

    I am the Ultimate Shuttle Sharpshooter

    Oh, thisss is Sisi, Fu Xiang¡¯s adopted daughter. Well, considering what I did to her before, I guess her anger is justified?

    Sisi¡¯s style emphasised dexterity and relied on her ability to vary her swordy. She overlooked so many openings that I didn¡¯t even need to dodge; I dismantled her offence with a single knife hand strike.

    ¡°Wait. Fu Xiang isn¡¯t dead.¡±

    ¡°How dare you lie to my face!¡± With bloodshot eyes, Sisi pulled out a short sword from under her dress and thrust it diagonally towards my neck.

    Sisi was no expert in short swords. Her entire style revolved around performing subterfuge with swordy, which was amon style that League of Assassins employed.

    As I evaded Sisi¡¯s attack, I asked, ¡°What makes you say I¡¯m lying?¡±

    ¡°I waited for him for a long time, used all of our secretmunications signals and never found him at our appointed rendezvous point. If he¡¯s not dead, where is he?!¡±

    ¡°How should I know? Considering how perverted he is, maybe some perverted organisation kidnapped him.¡±

    ¡°How dare you continue to nder him!¡±

    Unlike Zhao Tiankui, Sisi didn¡¯t fight aggressively, and she wasn¡¯t wless as Confucianism disciples, nor did she have as many bloody techniques in her arsenal as them. That being said, her internal energy was more potent than mine despite hers not being potent in the first ce, so a protracted battle did me no good. As I went to subdue her, though, she whistled.

    Eight people disguised asmon folks rushed over and drew their weapons. I wasn¡¯t surprised she could arrange an assassination squad considering she was a part of League of Assassins. I was prepared for a simr situation.

    ¡°I was saving this for Jiang Chen¡¯sckeys, but this encounter with you was unexpected, Miss Si. Allow me to show you my hospitality.¡± Despite the assassinsing closer, despite Sisi¡¯s gaze of despise, I stood my ground and yelled, ¡°Go doggy!¡±

    ¡­

    Nothing happened.

    The assassins kept inching closer. Sisi showed me even more despise.

    I sprinted the other way!

    ¡°Hey! Come out! If I die, you won¡¯t get any reimbursement!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the only dog here!¡± Out of nowhere, a candied haw seller pulled out two shiny long knives and charged towards the assassins.

    Like a butcher getting a rush of adrenaline, the seller littered the ground with strewn corpses in just minutes.

    In the meantime, I was busy dispersing the crowd. ¡°Officials kill-, working. Please give way. Anyone who sticks around to watch will be arrested. Move! Move!¡±

    Once the violence settled, there was a sweaty Mountain Monster trading with Sisi. Though it was twin knives against twin swords, Wawa had to go all out to kill the assassins, so she was tired. Nheless, in the skill, shrewdness and experience departments as an assassin, Wawa had an enormous advantage. Wawa deliberately revealed an opening, and Sisi bit straight away. Wawa subsequently drove her foot into Sisi¡¯s chest, sending thetter upm away and back onto the ground.

    ¡°Oi, Ming Feizhen! The name time you summon me as a dog, I¡¯ll watch you die!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, thank you. Rx. Take a break.¡± I cackled as I meandered over and looked down at Miss Sisi. ¡°Miss Sisi, I never killed your father, but you have made several attempts on my life. You will not get away this time.¡±

    Sisi fearlessly looked up to meet my gaze. ¡°Do what you will with me.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, I couldn¡¯t bear to kill such a beauty. I happen to be short on manpower. Be my maid and y-¡±

    Gui Wa and Sisi: ¡°You wish!¡±

    I pulled Gui Wa over. ¡°Why are you copying her?¡±

    ¡°Why do you get a maid when I still don¡¯t have one?¡±

    What the hell are you starting an internal struggle for now, you vicious loli?!

    ¡°Would you be able to enjoy life in the capital without me?!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, different matters.¡±

    ¡°Different things!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    How the hell did I let a Beijiangss shut me down in Mandarin?

    ¡°What was your level then, and what is your level now? You have no shame demanding a maid in your state. She¡¯s mine!¡± asserted Gui Wa.

    She had a point. She could stick a knife in my back, and I¡¯d be helpless, let alone fight her.

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡±

    ¡°I never agreed to anything! You two are shameless!¡± eximed Sisi.

    ¡°Does your opinion make any difference? Hahaha,ss, just surrender. I promise you¡¯ll have fun with me.¡±

    Was Gui Wa an orphan dumped at the foot of Mount Daluo? Why is she so good with the Mount Daluo lines?

    Gui Wa knocked out Sisi, shoved her into a sack and then hoisted thetter onto her shoulders.

    ¡­ Is it just me, or was that criminally professional?

    Gui Wa looked over her shoulder to tell me, ¡°Did you know people from the imperial court arrived at Eight Deities after you left and dered they had an arrest warrant for you because your fightingpetition disturbed the peace?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I pointed to my ears.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Monster ears.¡± Gui Wa stomped. ¡°I¡¯m off! Look after yourself! I¡¯m not bodyguarding you!¡±

    I headed off to Liu Shan Men since someone needed to clean up the mess. As for my arrest warrant, I couldn¡¯t help it. It was myst resort. I didn¡¯t like it, but I¡¯d have to ask Boss to shelter me. When I arrived at the outer walls, I saw somebody with a scarf wrapped around his head, knotted around his nose, peeking into the courtyard from a corner of the wall.

    Man¡­ thieves these days sure are bold, targeting a government office. What is wrong with the world nowadays? He must be one of Gongsun Chu¡¯s boys. If I let you slip away, I¡¯ll bring shame to my post as head constable.

    I reached into my shirt and slowly took out my precious bamboo tube the size of my arm, removed the cover to unveil the shiny and sharp projectiles within. If I pressed the trigger inside, it¡¯d fire silver shuttles out; it was a needlerain modified for the better. Needless to say, there was no auto-aim feature. In the hands of someone as skilled as yours truly, however, hah, you¡¯ll wish you never made an enemy out of me.

    I narrowed my eyes, zoomed in on my target, stabilised my hands and pictured the perfect shot. The thief kept moving left and right, but it was useless against a god-tier shuttle sharpshooter. I slowly increased my pressure on the trigger.

    Zoom!

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    Eh? Where have I heard this voice before?

    The man lying in his blood looked up at me in disbelief and roared, ¡°Ming Feizhen! Is this treason?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 22

    Dragon Butt is Hard to Kiss

    Following a shrieking yelp and my magnificent treatment, His Majesty healed to full power. I tossed aside the cloth strip covered in blood once we sat down on the steps of Liu Shan Men¡¯s entrance. There wasn¡¯t much tension between us despite me pricking him. After all, we¡¯d been through life and death so many times already.

    ¡°You son of a Ming Feizhen! Use your eyes before you shoot things! How dare you mindlessly shoot projectiles?! How the hell do I resemble a thief?! If I¡¯m a thief, who is running the country? Besides, even if I did resemble a thief, you can¡¯t just start shooting people with that thing! It freaking hurts!¡±

    Still mad, His Majesty tried to stab me with the silver shuttle I stuck in him. Hence, I took out the reserve Dragonstorm Chrysanthemum Shuttle, set it down and coughed, galvanising His Majesty to back off. It went without saying that the strategy would have a negative impact on my future and retirement. Therefore, I had to call upon my unequalled dragon butt kissing skills. I had been honing the skills under my shifu since I was a kid. Not a soul ever said I was poor at it; I was universally praised at it.

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± I showed a look of pleasant surprise before finishing, ¡°You seem to have grown taller.¡±

    His Majesty merrily responded, ¡°Shut up! Would my bottom be swollen if you didn¡¯t stick a shuttle in there?!¡±

    No, I was pretty sure he was quite happy to hear my praise if I didn¡¯t end up with his saliva on my face.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I performed a divination with my fingers and then informed, ¡°Your subject just performed a divination for you. Purple Star Astrology is in a crisis. Specifically, its bottom is at risk of injury, and sneak attacks will be hard to avoid. Perhaps there is an om-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t act the fool with me! What does you mindlessly shooting projectiles have to do with heavenly will?!¡±

    I offered up a thumb. ¡°You are amazing, Your Majesty. You had your back to your subject, yet you were able to foresee the shot! You truly are a wise monarch!¡±

    The happy Emperor gritted his teeth and eximed, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for your contributions, I¡¯d twist your head off your shoulders if I hear anymore rubbish from you!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, your delivery proves that you are a true monarch.¡±

    By this point, His Majesty had calmed down significantly. ¡°Whatever¡­ I need you to promise me one thing.¡±

    ¡°Your subject is listening.¡±

    ¡°Stop boot licking so much, or my boots will be so shiny that the sun¡¯s reflection will blind people.¡±

    See? Ipletely appeased him.

    ¡°Your Majesty, what are you doing here?¡±

    His Majesty cleared his throat and adjusted his posture. ¡°Nothing. I had nothing to do, so I came out for a stroll to help with digestion.¡±

    ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ issue has yet to be resolved, and the responses of the Champion White Princes remains ambiguous, so I can understand you not having anything to do. However, walking all the way here is quite the long walk. Are the flowers in the imperial pce gardens no longer bright?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t y the fool when you already know the answer.¡±

    ¡°Your subject was worried it would be awkward if he guessed incorrectly.¡±

    His Majesty pointed to his dragon bum. ¡°More awkward than this?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Possible, but not easy.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, enough with the ignorant act. I¡¯ve heard what you¡¯ve been up thest two days. How many heads do you have to forge an imperial decree to free prisoners?¡±

    ¡°You even knew about that? You truly have extraordinary foresight¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up. Shut up with that nonsense. The ointment has yet to eliminate the pain. Every time I hear those words, the pain res up again.¡± His Majesty adjusted his lower body posture again. ¡°What are you hoping to achieve by taking all those prisoners?¡±

    I quietly exined my n to His Majesty.

    As he bobbed his head, His Majesty questioned, ¡°So, you believe they can be trusted?¡±

    ¡°Trust is something you should avoid doing if you can help it. The Seven Champion White Princes could be trusted. How did they end up in your hands?¡±

    ¡°Do I need you to educate me on how tomand my subordinates?¡±

    ¡°Your subject cannot hold a candle to you in that department, but you do not have your subject¡¯s level of insight onmanding objects.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat people as people. Use their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. Due to their affiliation in orthodox and unorthodox paths, demanding their loyalty is demanding the impossible. However, if they can be used, there is no harm using them on special asions.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat people as people,¡± repetitively mumbled His Majesty, nodding at the same time. ¡°That¡¯s not something I can follow. The imperial court will not ept such uwful practices. In the pugilistic world, you have to mingle between ck and white, but Yiren is too honest and always follows proper procedures, which makes her vulnerable to sly people. You make up for that shoring of hers. By the way, you said you were using them to fend off assassins?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They are all strong ande from a variety a of backgrounds, so they are tough to stop and dig up information on.¡±

    In a deep voice, His Majesty queried, ¡°Is Jiang Chen one of them?¡±

    I furrowed my brows. ¡°No matter how tough he is, it would take him more than a year to recover from damage Tianhu inflicted. It has only been days since his defeat, so it cannot be him.¡±

    The fact that His Majesty exhaled a breath of relief showed just how dangerous His Majesty considered Gongsun Chu. His Majesty had some knowledge of Gongsun Chu¡¯s backgrounds by this point. Considering what he was able to achieve in his regressed state, there was no denying Gongsun Chu¡¯s threat. His Majesty likely couldn¡¯t sleep in peace until he knew where Gongsun Chu was.

    ¡°Your Majesty, your subject needs to request a decree from you.¡±

    His Majesty frowned. ¡°Ming Feizhen, you are the disciple of an orthodox sect and a constable of Liu Shan Men. I can understand your passion for the pugilistic world, as well. Howbeit, the exams are right around the corner. You promised me you would rank. I boasted my new Hanlin Academician is erudite on many things. You better not embarrass me. At least, read for two days or something. Don¡¯t get overconfident and then end up being your own undoing.¡±

    I¡¯d be going crazy had I not spoken to He Shi about it.

    ¡°Rest assured, Your Majesty. Your subject may not cut it as the winner, but he will definitely make it into the top three.¡±

    His Majesty¡¯s wrinkles smoothed out a tad.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear. So, what request do you have? Who do you want to release this time?¡±

    I shook my head frantically. ¡°No, no. Your subject merely wants to take some weight off your shoulders in light of the mess in the capital. Your subject wants to have a chat with Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor.¡±

    ¡°You can locate Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor?! Tell me mor-, ow, my bum!¡±

    Glossary

    ¡°¡­ You had you back to your subject, yet you were able to foresee the shot!¡± ¨C There¡¯s an omitted joke in here. He actually said, ¡°To see clearly¡± as opposed to ¡°foresee¡±; however, I switched it because one of the characters in this version of ¡°too see clearly¡± is ¡°hole¡±, which he¡¯s alluding to as the butt crack. He then switches to saying, ¡°good eyes¡±, and ¡°eyes¡± can be another way of referring to a butt crack. Therefore, he basically praised Emperor Yuansheng for having a nice butt crack twice.

    This chapter as a whole makes a lot of jokes using specific Chinese characters that don¡¯t carry over to English.

 Book 14: Chapter 23

    Father and Daughter Catch Up

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, if you can talk to them, I will not punish you for your rash act today.¡±

    Eh? Wasn¡¯t the apology enough? You¡¯re petty, Your Majesty.

    ¡°Your subject has ways he can try. He cannot promise he can find them, but he is willing to try his best.¡±

    ¡°Go for it. As long as you try your best, I¡¯m satisfied. If you do manage to find them, try to dissuade Commandery Princess. We¡¯re family. Let¡¯s look out for each other.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, they basically have gone through half of their rebellion. It would be their blessing to not punish them. His Highness is now safe and sound, as well. Why would they continue opposing you?¡±

    ¡°She grows more frank and stubborn with age. She may be younger than me by a few years, but she¡¯s persistent; she¡¯s not someone you should trigger thoughtlessly. Although it may appear as though Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor can¡¯t create any big waves in the capital, my entourage would not be able to find any traces of them if they go into hiding, which proves that the power they¡¯ve built is not to be underestimated.

    ¡°While it¡¯s true that her son was framed and Li Muye didn¡¯t have good intentions, all their manor¡¯s guests have left them. It¡¯ll be hard for them to establish themselves in the capital again. She is unlikely to forgive. If you find her, tell her that the imperial court has pardoned Li Muye, has released him already and sheltered him in the imperial pce. As for rebuilding Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor, the imperial court is willing to negotiate.¡±

    I mulled over all the contents and thenmented, ¡°Your Majesty, you are too nice to them.¡±

    ¡°Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor is now but an empty shell. Li Muye has lost his father, while his mother lost her husband. It¡¯s not easy for her to raise Li Muye as a single mother whilst building their n. She hailed from the martialmunity at the northern border. It is my oversight that allowed her family to be set up. My second brother wouldn¡¯t be able to rest in peace if he knew about his family¡¯s circumstance. I am just doing what¡¯s morally right.¡±

    We sighed and then peered into the firmament.

    ¡°Ah, your subject has not yet told you what decree he needed.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Your subject may not fulfil tasks ording to standard, so he needs to enter the pce consistently to report in. If you could permit him to enter the pce and report in to you at any time, then it would best.¡±

    ¡°Any time? I can¡¯t do that. You can¡¯t enter the pce whenever you want.¡±

    ¡°Your subject would not trouble you during the times that entry is banned.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± His Majesty took out a token from his shirt. ¡°Hold onto this. Presenting this is the same as presenting me. You¡¯ll be able to travel without restriction.¡±

    I took the golden token to fiddle with. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± I cried, then squeezed more times. ¡°It is gilded?!¡±

    ¡°Golden tokens are just for show. Why do you need one made from real gold? How many times do I have to stress not to do things that cost the people?¡±

    I waved around the token that could probably float on water. ¡°You could gild an iron token, then. Is this not wood?¡±

    ¡°Give it back if you don¡¯t want it.¡±

    ¡°Leave it with me.¡± I hurriedly stuffed it into my shirt.

    ¡°Innumerous people want it, yet you¡¯reining.¡±

    ¡°Uncle? Feizhen?¡± Boss appeared behind us in her white garments. Judging from the stack of documents she was carrying, she most likely came over to check out who it was when she heard our voices. ¡°What are you two sitting at the entrance for?¡± Boss shifted her surprised gaze down to the majestic dragon bum. ¡°Uncle¡­ how did you get hurt?¡±

    The instant after His Majesty¡¯s piercing rended on me, Boss¡¯ ferocious rended on me. I followed their line of sight and looked to the empty spot behind me and red at the cockroach.

    His Majesty: ¡°Leave the cockroach alone! It¡¯s you I¡¯m looking at!¡±

    Boss: ¡°You hurt Uncle?!¡±

    Me: ¡°How dare you hurt His Majesty?! How many heads do you have, cockroach?!¡±

    ¡­ Needless to say, I failed to save myself.

    We moved inside, where His Majesty took the master seat, while Boss took the guest seat. Of course, His Majesty could only put one bum cheek on the seat. As soon as I went to find a seat, Boss red at me and said, ¡°You stay standing! How long has it been since you¡¯ve returned? I¡¯ve lost count of how many messes you¡¯ve made in the short timeframe. Stand.¡±

    His Majesty smugly looked my way, forgetting about his injury and carelessly hurting himself again.

    Boss didn¡¯t know the reason for His Majesty¡¯s visit. Therefore, she brewed him a pot of tea and served it up herself instead of having someone else do it. As she gently passed over a hot cup of tea, she quietly asked, ¡°Your Majesty, has something happened for you to act covertly?¡±

    ¡°I just came out for a stroll, haha.¡± Only once he confirmed Boss wasn¡¯t disappointed to see him did he feel a weight lift from his shoulders. ¡°Yiren, I¡­ harshly scolded you in the imperial pce¡­¡±

    ¡°I know it was for my sake.¡± Boss smiled. ¡°You have always had justifications for your decisions, and you have always doted on me. It would have pained you to scold me, as well.¡±

    His Majesty shed tears, proving that he never wanted to scold Boss for the sake of scolding her at all.

    They spent some time before moving onto the main topic.

    ¡°I spoke to you about it before the imperial martial arts tournament, and I¡¯ll bring it up again. If you insist on taking this path, I won¡¯t stop you. If you know you¡¯re in danger, I will announce you are my Princess tomorrow in an official decree.¡±

    ¡°Uncle¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His Majesty smiled. ¡°I know you won¡¯t listen to me, just like your father, promising me he¡¯d heed my caution, yet he continuedbating Demon Sect behind my back on his own¡­ Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have to suffer the sorrow of losing a brother.¡±

    ¡°Uncle, I have never forgotten to avenge my father.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your vengeance alone. Everyone has to acknowledge your effort in the capital ever since Liu Shan Men¡¯s ster members departed, but your efforts have incurred jealousy among some who will hinder you. I¡¯m transferring you so that you have an opportunity to build.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    I seemed to be invisible to them.

 Book 14: Chapter 24

    Post-Meeting

    ¡°One of the reasons I allowed Liu Shan Men to fall from grace was because I was displeased with your Shifu¡¯s ridiculousness. The other reason was for bncing power in the imperial court. I don¡¯t hide anything from you as I consider you my daughter. At its peak, Liu Shan Men had so much power that it was close to being out of control. Never in our dynasty¡¯s history had one of the three offices held so much power. Admittedly, my support for your father yed a role in that, but Yan Shisan and his capabilities were undeniable.

    ¡°Your father was the centre of their generation. Ye Yun, Muren and Ling Long all orbited around him. He was the best candidate to maintain the bnce between the three offices. Yan Shisan was a genius you¡¯d only find once in a century. Frankly, Liu Shan Men was probably capable of anything and everything if they were independent during that time. I would never have allowed such a powerful force to exist if I wasn¡¯t friends with your father and if your n wasn¡¯t loyal. Even with your father and Yan Shisan at the helm, Liu Shan Men started to change for the worse inter years. That was why I didn¡¯t stop Liu Shan Men¡¯s downfall, so I am partly to me for its current state.¡±

    I watched His Majesty¡¯s expression turn bitter as he recalled the sorrowful memories, never taking my eyes of his airborne bum cheek. I held my fist up in front of my mouth and bit down on my thumb so that I wouldn¡¯tugh.

    ¡°Frankly, the Qilin Guards are on the same trajectory as Liu Shan Men was, but I know Wang Muren is intolerant and harsh. The Qilin Guards have peaked. It¡¯s Liu Shan Men¡¯s turn to rise again.¡±

    Boss smiled as though she expected to hear that, that not being the permission to rebuild but the consideration reserved for her.

    ¡°While it appears that I¡¯ve demoted you, I¡¯ve actually promoted you. The security of the capital is in safe hands. Should something befall it, like this time, The Ultimate Three will step in. Liu Shan Men¡¯s abilities are limited in its current immature state. Go and establish yourselves. As for the branch in the capital, you can leave it to its own device once you have finished setting up. Your female constables seem quite good. I¡¯m aware you¡¯ve been recruiting subordinates. Have you already started nning for a branch outside of the capital?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Boss smiled. ¡°Once upon a time, Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables were ubiquitous across thend. I cannot limit Liu Shan Men to the capital since I have inherited my father¡¯s will. I have dispatched a team to search for our erstwhilerades, but they will return to holding down forts outside of the capital.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    His Majesty proudly smiled upon hearing Boss¡¯ n.

    ¡°Regarding the headquarters in the capital, I am not concerned. Besides, do we not have a captain in charge here?¡®

    ¡°Hah, Song n¡­ Song n!¡± Feeling so inmed that he couldn¡¯t think of anything to say besides repeating ¡°Song n¡± twice went to show how inmed His Majesty was. ¡°He has some nerve agreeing to the engagement. Had you not talked me out of it, I would¡¯ve personally gone to Yangzhou myself.¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Song is a reasonable man. It was my request. Had I not promised to convince y-¡±

    ¡°Convince me, right?! You making a promise is one thing. How dare he agree?! Had it not been for you, would the engagement have ever gone through?! As for Song Ou, I want to smash him whenever I¡¯m reminded of him. He didn¡¯t speak up for you once when I scolded you. Is that how a husband ought to be?!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, you know that w-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± His Majesty got to his feet vigorously, forgetting all about his injury. ¡°The more I think about it, the madder I get. I¡¯m going to go back and find an excuse to make him suffer. I¡¯d like to see him do something about it!¡±

    As he limped out, His Majesty said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about seeing me out. I have carriage parked outside.¡± As he passed by me, he told me, ¡°Do as you see fit. I¡¯ll back you.¡±

    ¡°Your subject will bear it in mind.¡±

    Silence permeated the room for a while after we courteously saw His Majesty out.

    Boss and I looked to each other.

    ¡°¡­ Pfft! Hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    We rolled around on the floor as weughed.

    ¡°Boss, I can¡¯t believe you could hold it in until now. I had to bite my finger from when His Majesty started gazing into the sky.¡±

    Boss wore on a straight face. ¡°You know Iugh easily! Don¡¯t you dare use Uncle¡¯s bum to¡­ puhahaha!¡±

    We continuedughing for a good ten minutes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t use Uncle¡¯s injury foredy.¡± Boss wiped her tears with her hand that wasn¡¯t wrapped around her tummy.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll do my best,¡± I breathlessly replied.

    Was it my fault His Majesty hurt his butt of all ces? No.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enoughughing. What did you want to tell me?¡±

    ¡°A lot of stuff. Sit back down.¡± I didn¡¯t even know where to start, so I just randomly chose the fighting contest. When I went to move on to cheating in the exams, I picked up on a presence. ¡°Come in.¡±

    ¡°You are as impressive as ever.¡± Yuan Kou flipped through the window.

    The fact that Boss didn¡¯t even spare Yuan Kou a nce indicated that her internal energy had gone up another notch again. Though I sensed him first, she sensed him before I could call him out.

    Yuan Kou couldn¡¯t take his eyes off Boss. ¡°Eh, greetings, hehehe. I am Sir Ming¡¯s most trusted subordinate. My name is¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, mind your manners. Remove your filthy paws. Are you qualified to touch Vice-Captain Shen¡¯s hand?¡± I took Boss¡¯ hand and pulled it over to myself. ¡°Even I have yet to touch it. What¡¯s all the fuss about that you even had toe here for me?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Yuan Kou nced in Boss¡¯ direction.

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Speak without reserve. What Vice-Captain Shen says is what I say. You should treat her as you would treat me.¡±

    Boss smiled at me as if to convey, ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    ¡°Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You going to let go?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, I forgot. Sorry.¡±

    My dorky smile put a smile on Boss¡¯ face.

    ¡°You should protect your secrets. I have things I have to do, too. You two talk.¡±

    As Yuan Kou ogled Boss leave, he grinned to himself. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡±

    ¡°Want me to make you groan instead?! Speak Mandarin.¡±

    ¡°Uh, as per your instructions, your subject waited at Eight Deities all day for the fights. Zhao Tiankui came by.¡±

    ¡°And? Did anything special happen?¡±

    ¡°Not special, but hehehe¡­ I lost.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡­ Wait.

    ¡°You lost?!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 25

    Procedural Progression

    ¡°You lost? You lost? What the hell were you doing?!¡±

    Yuan Kou didn¡¯t dare to dodge my kick. Instead, he raised his bum to take the shot with a smile.

    I¡¯d stick a shuttle in your bum, too, if you weren¡¯t useful! It¡¯s only the first day, yet you already went and lost!

    ¡°Life is as unpredictable as the weather.¡±

    ¡°My foot! I never expected you to lose.¡±

    And to lose to Zhao Tiankui, no less! Isn¡¯t he just going toe straight for me now?!

    ¡°You were the one person I believed wouldn¡¯t lose. Where will we find the shame to continuepeting now that you¡¯ve gone and lost?!¡±

    ¡°I never knew you evaluated me so highly, Sir. I thought Lang Qing was ranked higher than me. Every fibre of my being is touched.¡±

    ¡°You two are same-same, but you¡¯re slyer than he is, so you¡¯re likely toe out on top against him.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you are too kind.¡±

    ¡°Kind, my foot!¡± I kicked Yuan Kou over and set my foot on his head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you be sly with him?! You usually have buckets of ideas! How did you let him win?!¡±

    ¡°Sir, you will understand once you take a look.¡± With a sour face, Yuan Kou said, ¡°His boxing style is bizarre.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve learnt three fists five palms, and you developed your internal strength under water. How can hepare to you?¡±

    ¡°It is possible.¡±

    ¡°Possibly your hogwash! Tell me about it as we walk!¡±

    Whilst carrying me toward Eight Deities, Yuan Kou recounted, ¡°My Pure Yang One Qi is about the same level as his internal energy just as you said, but it was as if his punches could prate through all of my openings. Of course, I used a lot of variations to hide the nature of my discipline, or I would have taken a lopsided beating.¡±

    ¡°You were totally outssed, then. You didn¡¯t take any damage?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, it is not that easy. I had three hidden derringers. The shots produced mist, and the mist contained poison. I had to use up all of my shots to fight an even fight.¡±

    ¡°¡­ He didn¡¯t get hurt, either?¡±

    ¡°Strangely, he dodged all the shots. Had he been caught, we would have fought to a draw.¡±

    ¡°His boxing can¡¯tpare to your Pure Yang True Qi, and his internal energy development should be around your level, but hisprehension of boxing is head and shoulders above yours, and he must be a realm above you, so he managed to counter all of your movements. That being said, he should¡¯ve only reached his current level recently, and he must still be trying to consolidate it, or he would¡¯ve ended the match in just a few exchanges, and your damage wouldn¡¯t have been so minor¡­ It doesn¡¯t add up. If there was such an excellent fighter in the military, I should¡¯ve heard about them.¡±

    ¡°Not even I have heard of him. I paid a lot of attention to the imperial court while I was in the organisation, yet I never heard about him being so skilled.¡±

    I sat back in my chair once I greeted Lang Qing andpany at Eight Deities and crossed my arms. ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°He is still waiting at the entrance. He said he would be back tomorrow,¡± answered Yuan Kou.

    He¡¯sing back tomorrow? What is he? Medical ster?! Leave me alone! If you want to even the score for bashing your son a few times, beat up my son. Why are youing at me?

    ¡°Sir, in the worst-case scenario, you may have to personal-¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not going to fight,¡± I objected. ¡°You think it makes sense for me to publicly kill a government official? Moreover, based on your description, if he¡¯s as strong as you im he is, I¡¯m not even sure I can kill him.¡±

    ¡°He is parking at the door, though. Did we not promise to ept all challengers?¡±

    I nodded and then pointed to Yuan Kou. ¡°Go take a few more beatings.¡±

    Yuan Kou headed off with his head drooped down.

    Zhao Tiankui and Lan Jiqiong were troublesome enough to deal with without ounting for the military and Confucianism factions supporting them. Plus, the news that Jingan spread didn¡¯t attract just them. There was Gongsun Chu himself, hisckeys still roaming free, the perverted organisation and my old enemies¡­ All theming at me at once was a headache. More importantly, I had to find Li Muye¡¯s mother to dissuade her from allying with the Champion White Princes and persuade her to ally with His Majesty. If she allied with the Champion White Princes, good god.

    The real challenge wasn¡¯t locating Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor but figuring how to negotiate¡­ Why should a Princess have cared about a duke of Nanjiang? I might not have even been granted an audience. I only had one choice; if I screwed up, I wouldn¡¯t be able to find them again.

    By the time I sneaked out, the sun was setting, so the hustling and bustling crowd had thinned out. I couldn¡¯t see the person I was searching for no matter which direction I looked. I cleared my throat and, in a quiet voice, questioned, ¡°Uh, you there?¡±

    The guy selling candied haws behind me jogged over and said, ¡°Martial world¡¯s mobile treasury, at your service.¡±

    ¡°Goodness me, you¡¯re even in the candied haws industry now?¡± I chilled out at the candied haw stall as I munched on one.

    ¡°It is our great honour to receive praise from you.¡±

    Although he had a different appearance, the sarcastic ttery tone was the same as always. Never showing surprise and asking for money right away were ingrained habits. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t bring up money yet.

    ¡°Are you looking for me to repay your debt?¡±

    I take back what I said.

    ¡°Forget that sort of crude stuff. I need to consult you on a job.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Feel free to inquire. ck and White Reflection will not withhold information.¡±

    ¡°Good. Help me locate Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s group.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Please wait.¡± Wearing his smile, he suddenly fossilised; even his eyes were out of focus. Were it not for his audible heart beats, you¡¯d presume he was dead. In no time at all, he restored life to his eyes. ¡°Fourteen possible locations in the capital have been identified, but they are subject to change at any given moment.¡±

    I got what I was looking for.

    ¡°She is a cautious individual. Take heed for one careless error maypel her to vanish without a trace.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I know what to do. You can leave.¡±

    He surprisingly got up and walked off.

    ¡°Hey¡­ aren¡¯t you going to bring up the money?¡±

    Wearing a blinding smile, he responded, ¡°You have already obtained Gongsun Chu¡¯s hidden collection. Do we need to be concerned about it any longer?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡­ Have you people been stalking me?!

 Book 14: Chapter 26

    A Visit at Night (Part 1)

    In an ideal world, I¡¯d have formed a team to jump Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor, but it was too hard to gather the dream team. If Yi Ya or Dugu were to suddenly vanish off the radar or be seen near their gathering spot, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s group would relocate. There was no way I could arrest them without elite fighters, like Dugu. If I even tried, I¡¯d end up getting the short end of the stick. Worse, if someone out for me ran into us on the way to their spot, boy, would you have a mess. Therefore, the only usible approach was to visit them alone.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Simrly, if they suspected their location had been revealed, they¡¯d relocate, and not even ck and White Reflection might be able to find them again.

    That was where the challenge came in: how was I going to convince them, especially Li Muye¡¯s mother, to negotiate peacefully with me? Introducing myself as Ming Feizhen certainly wouldn¡¯t grant me an audience. Even Boss wouldn¡¯t be granted an audience since Liu Shan Men supported the imperial court at the end of the day and remained impartial. If I told them I wanted to discuss some shady business with them for selfish gains, they would unlikely buy it; it could work, but the risk of it failing was high.

    I needed an identity that could represent the imperial family, but the same person needed to be rather distant from the imperial court. Else, it woulde off as a monarch negotiating terms and conditions with them. There was one person who came to mind.

    I visited a few stores for human-skin masks and hair dye before everyone closed up shop. By the time I was done finishing up my new appearance, the time was ripe to act.

    Though the streets were empty, I had to avoid the night patrols to stealthily reach my destination. There were plenty of purchased but uninhabited houses in the capital, and this one in the northwest corner wasn¡¯t exactly tucked away, but I didn¡¯t pick up on any sounds or sights of habitants when I first located the property.

    Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor members didn¡¯t inherit just Wondrous Warrior¡¯s gics but also his military habits and training. Otherwise, how could they be so proficient at concealing their whereabouts?

    I walked towards the location I heard someone, picked up a rock and threw it at the wall as ck and White Reflection taught me. I waited on the spot until the moon was high in the sky.

    The man on the other side of the wall asked quietly, ¡°What brings you herete at night?¡±

    ¡°I seek an audience with Her Highness.¡±

    A good whileter, I heard someone elsezily ask, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Fuma Jingan.¡±

    The second individual who spoke to me was unmistakably someone important in the group. They called him over because they had nned to kill me; nobody who found their hiding spot was going to be spared. That was the reason he tried to drop my guard with azy tone. While I did throw an unforeseen factor into his n, he didn¡¯t show any surprise.

    ¡°May this one ask if you can prove your identity?¡±

    I tossed over the token His Majesty gave me earlier. When he picked up the token thatnded on the shrubs, he was still confident I was an imposter. Nheless, considering the gravity of the situation, he deemed it best to report back.

    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±

    When he came back a whileter, he was evidently in a considerably more serious mood. A short man respectfully bowed to me after opening a secret door in the corner of the wall. ¡°Pleasee this way, My Lord.¡±

    Despite there being several courtyards inside the manor, it couldn¡¯t hold a candle to mansions of officials, which wasn¡¯t to say that the ce had a dead vibe.

    I silently followed the man leading with his torso down severalps around in the same area. Following severalps, he finally asked with a smile, ¡°May this one ask how you found this ce?¡±

    I smiled back. ¡°I have studied a little divination and geomancy; I have some confidence in my ability to find people and things.¡±

    ¡°This one happens to have studied a bit of them, too, so he is curious how you managed to find Her Highness when you have never seen her.¡±

    ¡°It would truly be an ordeal to find an ordinary individual, but how many people possess the greatness of Her Highness?¡±

    His silence was a sign that he didn¡¯t believe me.

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±

    ¡°This one dares not question you. Howbeit, due to the importance of the matter, could he trouble you to reassure him? How about you take a look into this one¡¯s profile?¡±

    All the humbleness was but a cover on top of his tests. The fact that he asked a Fuma to reassure him could only mean that he wasn¡¯t a low-ranking servant. I had already made some conclusions based on my observations of his internal discipline and muscles.

    ¡°In that case, allow me to see¡­¡± I pretended to think hard and then smiled. ¡°It is my great pleasure to meet the northern border¡¯s famous Mighty Nail, Zuo Xiuluan, and Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s steward.¡±

    I mentioned his title before mentioning his current identity to acknowledge his status in the martial world. As expected, he smiled.

    ¡°You truly are a man of great talent.¡±

    ¡°You still don¡¯t seem to trust me, though, Steward Zuo.¡±

    ¡°This one dares not.¡± Zuo Xiuluan stopped, turned around and straightened up his torso. ¡°This one would not dare to make a call on his own ord without knowing for sure.¡±

    Glossary

    Omitted line ¨C After revealing Zuo Xiuluan¡¯s identity, Zuo Xiuluan continues addressing Ming Feizhen using a pronoun that is really formal (no longer used today), which makes Ming Feizhen say, ¡°You still don¡¯t seem to trust me, though.¡± Only problem is, there are only so many ¡°you¡± pronouns in English.

 Book 14: Chapter 27

    A Visit at Night (Part 2)

    ¡°Does this ce still count as the home of the imperial family?¡±

    ¡°Her Highness and His Highness are still here. Wherever they reside, it is the home of the imperial family.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. I won¡¯t ask any more pointless questions, such as why you suspect me. I only want to know how I can convince you to trust me.¡±

    ¡°Haha, you are very straightforward. They say His Majesty spared no resources and efforts to find Princess Jingan a suitable partner, and the winner of the contest for candidacy is a man as clever with a brush as he is formidable with a sword.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered.¡±

    ¡°It is too early for you to respond to that. There is no room for doubting your courage when you have the courage toe herete at night. There is no questioning your capacity since you could find this ce. You have proven yourself with the brush, but how about your sword?¡±

    Mighty Nail was a title Zuo Xiuluan gained when he singlehandedly took down dozens of armoured cavalry soldiers. Nobody could denybat skills developed in realbat. I was confident I could subdue him if I used a ploy, but he wouldn¡¯t ept his defeat, and if we had to fight a second time, I¡¯d have to kill him. I couldn¡¯t kill him when I was unarmed, though, not to mention there were even stronger foes at the outer perimeter surveying the manor. Most importantly, the nned negotiations would be off the table if I killed him.

    ¡°How about you disy your skills to convince this one that you are the rightful Fuma Jingan?¡± Zuo Xiuluan advanced a step with a menacing aura.

    ¡°That¡¯s a fair point.¡±

    As soon as I stretched my arm out, Zuo Xiuluan readied himself to counter, but he ended up just watching me snap a tree branch beside us.

    ¡°I am sincerely seeking an audience with Her Highness; fighting with you gentlemen never crossed my mind. If we were to fight, would that not create unnecessary animosity?¡±

    Staying vignt, Zuo Xiuluan replied, ¡°Her Highness will not take it to heart since she knows we forced you to get physical.¡±

    ¡°That would be true if the only opponent was you. A spar will not ruin a cordial rtionship.¡± I plucked the leaves from the branch as I continued, ¡°However, fighting one person after another would disturb her peace, would it not?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean fighting one person after another?¡±

    ¡°Am I wrong?¡± I looked up and smiled. ¡°Considering the speed the broadsword wielder on the roof disyed at the northern border, it would take a number of exchanges. I would have done wrong by you just by damaging his shoulder and crippling him as a martial artist.

    ¡°The young swordsman situated behind the tree to the rear is a disciple of Beiping¡¯s famous Slithering Snake Swordsman, correct? If he were to attack with his Slithering Snake Swordy, I would be forced to hit his zhangmen upoints.

    ¡°Our boxer behind the door has learnt authentic Wudang boxing, and his internal discipline training has reached a respectable level. Were it not for the unfortunate fact that he has yet to master Seven Star Fist, we could have sparred.

    ¡°Our friend by the northeast wall¡¯s Fallen Seven Stars archery is a magnificent and rare discipline our dynasty can only im as ours thanks to the northern border¡¯s martial artsmunity. If possible, please do not aim at my head. I can¡¯t dodge a shot whether I move left, back or forwards.¡±

    I changed the colour of Zuo Xiuluan¡¯s face each time I pointed out each person.

    Some of them were members of Li n, while some of them were Zuo n nsmen. They didn¡¯t spread their names, or I would¡¯ve known their names. From the moment I arrived, though, I paid attention to everyone¡¯s energy-moulding methods and breathing styles. On top of their unique traits, as all of them practiced orthodox disciplines, they were easy to identify. I even recognised their weaknesses when we closed the gap, and they started preparations to assassinate me. Since Zuo Xiuluan was unaware of my abilities and was sure I couldn¡¯t have found out before my arrival, he believed I used another means of identifying them.

    ¡°Y-your skills are truly on another level¡­ We¡­¡±

    ¡°No need to rush.¡±

    I swung the branch in a brushing motion at Zuo Xiuluan¡¯s face. I actually aimed for his body, and it wouldn¡¯t have even hurt him; I might not have even been able to kill him with a pocket knife to the body considering how solid his body was. His fear instincts, however, prompted him to dodge with haste. He dodged my next swing, but I managed to graze the top of his dome with my third swing. Though he didn¡¯t take any physical damage, the colour of his face told me his ego took damage.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I discarded the branch onto the ground and saluted him with both hands. ¡°It was just a friendly spar. You don¡¯t need to be so invested in it, Brother Zuo.¡± In a louder voice, I then voiced, ¡°Yuan Xu, Yuan Shijia, seeks an audience with Your Highness. He harbours no will to fight your esteemed warriors. Please grant this humble one an audience.¡±

    Convinced I was Fuma Jingan and grateful I spared his life, Zuo Xiuluan reciprocated my salute with sincerity. ¡°Please wait a moment, Fuma.¡±

    Phew, finally got over the first hurdle.

    Zuo Xiuluan led me down to an underground building that was lit and furbished as though it was reserved for socialites. Thest room we entered was slightlyrger than even Prime Minister Li¡¯s main hall.

    Nobody would believe you if you said she had a son nearly twenty years old based on her graceful appearance. As a matter of fact, people would think they were siblings if juxtaposed.

    Apanying a subtle bob of her head, she conveyed, ¡°It is an honour, Fuma.¡±

    ¡°You need not stand on ceremony, Your Highness. Technically speaking, we are family, but how should this one address you?¡±

    She nced up at me and smiled. ¡°That will depend on how you position yourself, Fuma.¡±

    Huh, adding context between the lines and countering whilst defending. Okay.

    ¡°Hmm, Yuan Xu, Yuan Shijia, that is a very interesting name. May this one ask what the hidden meaning of it is?¡±

    ¡°This one¡¯s father is a fan of Confucius and Zhuang Zhou. He once said, ¡®There is no truth in this world. Why seek the truth?¡¯¡±

    Her Highness looked as though she yearned to see the man of legend. ¡°He must be an erudite man, or he would not have such profound understanding.¡±

    Stop! Can you not let my shifu court your from afar?! I already want to puke from his courtship skills! Don¡¯t give me another live performance!

    Glossary

    Zhangmen upoints ¨C Refer to the image in here http://.100md/html/201406/2653/5926.htm

    Seven Star Fist ¨C It¡¯s apulsory discipline beginner Shaolin disciples must learn. My knowledge on it is extremely limited, so I can¡¯t tell you much about it, and I don¡¯t want to parrot things without actualprehension of it and disseminate misinformation. The craze to replicate techniques from taolu into actualbat based on appearances or vice versa (to try and validate stuff) is bad enough already without me adding half-baked knowledge into the mix.

    Yuan Xu ¨C Means ¡°false origins¡± or ¡°fake to begin with¡±.

    Yuan Shijia ¨C Same as ¡°Yuan Xu¡±; just another way of saying the same thing.

 Book 14: Chapter 28

    Unfairn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    From her pristine skin and shape to her narrow waist and long legs, Princess Zuo ticked every box on my shifu¡¯s checklist. If he managed to score even her, Mount Daluo and the imperial court¡­ Before that was even a problem, I¡¯d have to worry about having the problems dumped in myp again.

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that, Fuma?¡±

    I cleared my throat. ¡°I, no, this one, umm, this humble one¡­ This humble one is sought and audience with Shiniang, sorry, Your Highness¡­¡±

    Princess Zuo smiled. ¡°Rx. Have a drink first.¡±

    Zuo Xiuluan took the initiative to pass me tea and then Princess Zuo. I gave him my thanks when he served me the tea, while Her Highness quietly asked, ¡°You lost in three exchanges?¡± Even at his level, the teacup in his hand started rattling.

    ¡°This one was inferior. Please pardon his ipetence,¡± Zuo Xiuluan expressed.

    Princess Zuo allowed Zuo Xiuluan to finish setting her cup down without sparing him a nce.

    With a pallor face, Zuo Xiuluan said, ¡°This one is ashamed of himself and has brought shame to our manor. He shall take his own arm to apologise.¡± Immediately after, he raised his right hand to chop down on his left shoulder without mercy.

    ¡°Stop.¡±

    A schr beside Princess Zuo effortlessly parried Zuo Xiuluan¡¯s hand before itnded. The schr in his early thirties was likely one of the strongest fighters in the group considering his skill. Even the way he nonchntly released Zuo Xiuluan¡¯s arm and retreated supported the conjecture.

    Soaked in his own sweat, Zuo Xiuluan conveyed, ¡°Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness.¡±

    Princess Zuo still didn¡¯t spare Zuo Xiuluan a single nce.

    Zuo Xiuluan bowed to Her Highness and then offered the schr a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said prior to stepping back.

    The schr bobbed his head and remained in the shadows, showing no intention of greeting me.

    Princess Zuo gently brushed aside the lid of the teacup and blew her tea. ¡°Your martial prowess is a great surprise, Fuma. Do you think we are pushovers because I am a widow?¡±

    ¡°You speak in jest, Your Highness. This one merely needed to speak to you urgently and therefore had to cross the line. Please pardon his rashness.¡±

    She smiled and replied, ¡°Pay it no mind. I am used to people barging in. Please inform me why you are here.¡±

    I held my hands up in salute. ¡°This humble one shall respond in kind. His Majesty wishes for you to return to your rightful manor. There are no strings attached.¡±

    ¡°So you are here on behalf of His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Uh, indeed, indeed.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡± Princess Zuo elegantly had a nip of tea. ¡°My son was framed, imprisoned and nearly executed. Even if he was in the wrong, his punishment should not have been so severe. In the blink of an eye, the twenty years I invested into building our reputation and the people I gathered have all but disappeared. How can I face myte husband? Before our doors were cordoned, my son was put under house arrest. We are supposed to wrap this up with His Majesty¡¯s short instruction to return? Fuma, would you be able to ept this oue?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± I tried to show the biggest and brightest smile I could. ¡°Just say the word, and this humble one shall remove the cordons for you. His Highness will also be able to return safe and sound. This humble one hopes you can exercise tolerance.¡±

    ¡°Exercise tolerance? Did I mishear you? Did you say, ¡®hope,¡¯ Fuma?¡± Princess Zuo loudly set down her tea cup. ¡°Her Majesty Empress Dowager said she would not see me, and she let me kneel outside her pce. Did the imperial family give me hope when I pled them to spare Mu¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, you need to look at the full picture of the hope. From your current perspective, you may not see it. If you stand at¡­¡±

    ¡°Spare me. It is toote to talk about heart when they were heartless. You will only be able to persuade me with logic. If you have any wise logic, I am waiting to hear it.¡±

    His Majesty was right. Zuo Suniang was no moron who just rushed head first into things. She never factored ego and cordial rtionships into her calction. She didn¡¯t choose to go into hiding out of spite, or she wouldn¡¯t have granted me an audience. She was after a price tag that she could ept; she wanted to recoup everything she lost or, ideally, even more. His Majesty underestimated her weight, however. He would be in for it if she insisted on allying with the White Princes.

    ¡°I have seen you for who Fuma Jingan is today; the praise for you is exaggerated. While you are capable, you are not capable enough to convince me to change my mind. If there is nothing else I can do for you, please leave.¡±

    ¡°Rx. Rx.¡± I had a drink of tea prior to expanding, ¡°What I just told you was His Majesty¡¯s thoughts. Now, I will tell you my thoughts.¡± Cracking a smile, I queried, ¡°What did the Champion White Princes promise you?¡±

    Princess Zuo sneered. ¡°You already wish to impose your will one me in our first meeting?¡±

    ¡°As I mentioned, this is my personal thought. His Majesty is unaware, hehe.¡±

    ¡°Feel free to report to His Majesty. You might be able to walk out of here alive, but you will never see any of us again. His Majesty will not let you go unpunished.¡±

    ¡°That is a given. However, should Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor revolt, His Majesty will not spare His Highness. In the end, it wille down to whether they can conquer the imperial pce faster or if the executioner brings the de down faster. I would not suggest attempting to catch them off guard. Since I already know there is an infiltration squad, His Highness¡¯ life will be like a rat hole, like the waters of the Yellow Rivere pouring from the sky, rushing towards the sea and nevering back, as soon as the thread so much as budges. In short, whatever Li Bai did to the Yellow River, I shall do to him.¡±

    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±

    ¡°To tell the truth, this is one of the only things I am good at in my limited skill set.¡±

    Zuo Suniang unleashed a golden glow as she pulled out two sections of a spear from her sleeves, fitted them together to be a golden spear and thrust it towards my face!

    I sat as still as an indomitable mountain. My heart remained as settled as still water. My face remained as still as stone.

    After a long confrontation, Zuo Sunniang uninstalled her spear, slipped them back inside her sleeve, erased the golden energy and sat back down. ¡°You have respectable bravery.¡±

    I smiled.

    Respectable. Respectable. You almost killed me! Thisdy doesn¡¯t fight fair!

    Glossary

    Cordoned doors ¨C /a/366582885_390690 Maybe you¡¯ve seen these before if you¡¯ve consumed enough costume media. They essentially ce stickers, typically in an ¡°X¡± shape across doors and sometimes windows to indicate that a ce has been sealed (no entry/exit permitted). It was quitemon to see when someone was evicted for crimes.

 Book 14: Chapter 29

    Negotiator Ming (Part 1)

    I slowly exhaled as a trail of sweat slid down my spine. How was I supposed to know she was so dangerous with a weapon? Who said she was a housewife? Bloody hell, Zuo Qiukuang must¡¯ve trained his daughter into a weapon of a woman.

    Frankly, I almost lost my life to my own carelessness. Zuo Suniang thought I was fearless of even an avnche because I didn¡¯t even envelop myself in true qi when her spear tip was a hair away from my face. Had she not stopped herself, I¡¯d be bleeding simrly to a fountain from my face. She made the erroneous assumption based on the fact that I was able to defeat her steward in just three exchanges.

    ¡°You threatened me first, so please pardon my rudeness,¡± expressed Zuo Suniang, returning to her seat as though nothing happened.

    I smiled. ¡°Pay it no mind.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She watched me for a while before resuming our conversation. ¡°May I ask why you brought up the Champion White Princes?¡±

    ¡°Honest people do not lie. You have to tell the truth to me. If it were not for their support, how would you have the confidence to bring your son home without pandering to His Majesty? It is not a difficult situation to read. Like you, they seek gains. The difference is that their appetite is significantly bigger than yours. The difference between you and them is, His Majesty has no love for them, while he only means well for your family. This is a point I must make clear.¡±

    ¡°¡­ His Majesty knows already?¡±

    ¡°No, and he will never know.¡±

    Zuo Suniang unconsciously lowered her raised shoulders. If His Majesty knew about the alliance, even if he didn¡¯t pursue the matter now, the bottled resentment would only bring misfortune down the road. In turn, she¡¯d decisively choose to stand with the White Princes. Everything she plotted and coveted was for the sake of empowering her son to have a solid career and inherit a Prince status. Therefore, whoever had Li Muye, had the bargaining chips.

    His Majesty¡¯s promise topensate Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor for their losses was treating a symptom, not a true solution to his actual goal. While it was unlikely, Zuo Suniang was in a position to have a foot in each team, and nobody could¡¯ve done anything to stop her. The way forward was to give her a treat but also to suspend her off a cliff. Who better to achieve that than grandmaster negotiator Feizhen?

    ¡°I do apologise for threatening you with His Highness¡¯ safety. Still, I hope you reconsider if the White Princes can give you more prestige than you receive at current. Furthermore, will they truly be sessful? Their goales down to prestige, profits and protecting their status. Their motivations are the same, but the amount you each respectively demand is different. What big aplishments does he who chases profit aplish? Their goal is merely to shake up the imperial court; do you think they would truly revolt? Li Dynasty has stood the test of a century. Six Princes have grown into men. Deep roots give rise to flourishing leaves. How will they shake up the imperial court?

    ¡°Where do the White Princes get their prestige from? The imperial family. What would the world¡¯s evaluation of them be if they bit the hand that fed them? His Majesty can¡¯t remove them in one breath, and they cannot overturn the imperial court. At the end of the day, it boils down to whopromises more. Irrespective of who surrenders, though, you will not gain anything out of siding with the White Princes. Should the White Princes gain power, you will still be in the capital. Should they lose power, you will also still be in the capital. Would someone as wise as you fall for such an obvious trap?¡±

    After mulling over what I told her, Zuo Suniang sighed. ¡°His Majesty has a splendid son-inw.¡±

    ¡°You tter me, hehe. You actually made your decision already; you merely listened to me to show respect. For that, I wish to express my appreciation.¡±

    Zuo Suniang giggled. ¡°You sure like to tell jokes, Fuma. I must say I ought to aspire to have His Majesty¡¯s sense of judgement.¡±

    I flicked up my thumb. ¡°You and Steward Zuo are the ones with good judgement. Had you turned me away at the door, this would not be possible.¡±

    Zuo Suniang leaned back slightly. She sat as she would in a formal council meeting, but she was charming in her own way. Li Muye¡¯s dad had good taste in women.

    ¡°So, what is it you seek from me, Fuma?¡±

    I cleared my throat. ¡°I wish you to do two things.¡±

    ¡°Speak without reserve.¡±

    I raised up my index finger. ¡°First, tell me what the White Princes are nning. When do they n to enter the capital, how they intend to enter and how many are dispatched. Ideally, I would like to know their identities, as well. I will not ask where as it is your manor¡¯s trump card, and you will probably not tell me, either.¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t answer, her silence was evidence that Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor did have a secret route to enter the imperial pce.

    All three of His Majesty¡¯s brothers were a handful. Wondrous Warrior coveted the throne, too. Unfortunately for him, he valiantly perished on the battlefield before he could make use of his preparations for the contest. Of those preparations, a secret path into the imperial pce was quite reasonable considering every member of the imperial family historically built themselves a secret passage. The first reason for constructing one was providing themselves with an escape route in case they were forced to abdicate. The second reason was tomit deeds that the public should¡¯ve have otherwise not known about. Considering Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s secret passage led into the imperial pce, they were most likely nning to use it for thetter.

    ¡°No problem,¡± Zuo Suniang casually responded.

    I extended my middle finger. ¡°Second, return to Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor. That is all.¡±

    Even the biggest idiot would realise that the alliance had fallen apart if Zuo Suniang¡¯s family returned to Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s residence. The White Princes and Gongsun Chu tried to leverage Zuo Suniang¡¯s despair and losses. Therefore, trying to pick a bone with Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor after they had their prestige restored would be shooting themselves in the foot. His Majesty would have to be intoxicated to not ride the momentum and crush those groups. Even if he wasn¡¯t dirty enough to think of it, there was me. Sorry, I meant, even if His Majesty wasn¡¯t smart enough to think of it, there was still me!

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    I never expected negotiations to go so swimmingly. I reached out to shake her small hand and said, ¡°Looking forward to working with you.¡±

    Zuo Suniang instantly pulled her hand away, hurting my feelings.

    ¡°Your Highness, you are a heroine from the northern border. Such trivial things should not bother you.¡±

    ¡°Handshakes can wait.¡±

    Huh? So we can shake on it?

    ¡°Our negotiations have not concluded.¡±

    ¡°Did you not ept my requests?¡±

    ¡°You have mentioned your demands, but I have yet to mention mine.¡±

    She didn¡¯t?

    ¡°You have more demands?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 30

    Negotiator Ming (Part 2)

    As a master negotiator, I was obligated to forget the other party¡¯s terms, and I was sessful if I could make them forget their terms, too. Unfortunately, Zuo Suniang didn¡¯t forget.

    ¡°Of course. I have more than you, in fact.¡±

    Damn, she¡¯s a tough nut to crack. Struggle all you want. This master negotiator will break down you down and spit on you.

    ¡°Are you feigning ignorance, Fuma?¡±

    I scratched my head as I chuckled. ¡°I let my joy get the best of me and forgot.¡±

    Zuo Suniang red daggers at me, but all I could focus on was her scent. ¡°I was never aware you were so shameless. I want to take back my praise for His Majesty from before.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    As a master negotiator, feigning ignorance and provoking people were necessary skills for the job.

    I stretched out my hand. ¡°I am all ears.¡±

    It was clear from Zuo Suniang¡¯s unbothered mannerisms that she had prepared a list in case His Majesty sent a messenger. She proudly stated, ¡°Please listen closely. I have four demands. If even one is not met, there is no room for negotiation.¡±

    ¡°Since I am here, I am in a position to call the shots. Feel free to list your demands.¡±

    Zuo Suniang confidently smiled in a most pretty way. ¡°First, I want to expand Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor. Specifically, I wish to expand our manor by half of its size.¡±

    As soon as she started, Zuo Suniang seemed as though she was standing before the grandpletion of the manor with her son by her side, speaking aloud her wishes with passion.

    ¡°His Majesty can use that as a means of telling the public that we have not fallen out of grace so that the traitors regret their decision, so that those who mocked us will be speechless, so that those watching and waiting for our dem-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± I helped up my hand and eximed. I grabbed a brush and sheet of paper from my pocket. ¡°Please give me a moment to write it down. I have a lot on my table at the moment, so I am prone to forgetting things.¡±

    As Zuo Suniang watched on unhappily, I took out an inkstone, inkstick and asked for water. Needless to say, her mood had turned for the worse by quite a bit by the time I was done with my preparations.

    Zuo Suniang cleared her throat and gracefully said, ¡°I shall repeat myself again. My first demand is that His Maj-¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ How do you write the character for ¡®to¡¯ in ¡®To Your Majesty¡¯?¡±

    ¡°¡¯To¡¯?! When did I ever mention that in anything I said?!¡±

    ¡°This is meant for His Majesty. Can you address His Majesty in a letter without showing due respect?¡±

    Zuo Suniang clenched her fist, walked over to me and reached out to show me how to write the character. I genuinely thought I was going to get hammered. She sat back in her seat once she finished, took a few breaths and then said, ¡°Can I start now? My first dem-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°What was your surname, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Zuo!¡±

    ¡°Right, right, Zuo.¡±

    ¡°My f-¡±

    ¡°What was your name, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to write my name!¡±

    ¡°Right, right, Princess Li. I know how to write that.¡± I smugly focused in on my exquisite calligraphy.

    Zuo Suniang hastily repeated her first demand before I started interrupting her. Seeing me diligently write was a relief to her.

    ¡°Second, I wish for His Majesty to spare a thought for the separated members of Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor. We used to have filled our ce with guests, but they have all turned on us after we were framed.¡±

    If there was an artist around, he¡¯d have drawn a beautiful portrait of a sorrowful maiden shedding a tear as she paid a visit to nostalgia.

    ¡°I wish for His Majesty to write a recruitment for us to recruit members once again. Although we cannot restore our former glory, we will be a lot better than now with His Majesty¡¯s help.¡±

    I nodded as I wrote until¡­

    ¡°Okay¡­ If even one is not met, there is no room for negotiation¡­ Okay, okay. What was your first demand again?¡±

    ¡°If you want to fight, just say the word!¡±

    Zuo Suniang jumped to her feet. Had the man behind her not tugged her sleeve and quietly whispered to her, ¡°Calm down. You cannot kill His Majesty¡¯s son-inw,¡± she probably would¡¯ve stabbed me in the face with her spear.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You don¡¯t remember Chinese characters, but you remember every word I say,¡± Zuo Suniang uttered through her teeth.

    I smiled. ¡°I grew up in a poor family, so I did not have the luxury to read. I have to rely on my memory to get by. Your Highness, please repeat what you said.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Zuo Suniang grouched through her clenched teeth.

    From her tone, she was cooperative. From my many years of research into literacy, though, I was pretty sure she wanted to say, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll repeat it again for you, you stupid bucketrd of spit,¡± or something to that effect.

    The man at the back quietly warned, ¡°You cannot let him lead you by the nose¡­ You must stick to your n no matter what he tries. Say a sentence. Watch him finish writing and then go on. Do not let him provoke you.¡±

    From what I could discern, not only was he the strongest in the group but also one of the wisest.

    Zuo Suniang was more methodical once she took his advice on board, making sure to watch me finish writing before she continued, and she didn¡¯tsh out again.

    ¡°Third, I wish for His Majesty to announce that Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s collusion was unfounded and that it had nothing to do with us so that my son receives the justice he deserves, and so that we are not branded traitors whomitted treason.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t be too nasty, so I wrote everything down properly this time, making sure to repeat back what I wrote.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s collusion¡­ Nothing to do with us¡­ My son¡­mitted treason. Right. Next?¡±

    I wrote fast, yet Zuo Suniang didn¡¯t look happy. Instead, she red at me as though she¡¯d swallow me bones and all.

    What¡¯s her deal?

 Book 14: Chapter 31

    Negotiator Ming (Part 3)

    As peeved as she was, Zuo Suniang decided to finish stating herst demand. ¡°Lastly, I want my son, Muye, to return to my side. A date must be set for him to inherit the rank of Prince, as well. To that end, I would like to ask if His Majesty could kindly set up a nice marriage for him prior. This is myst demand.¡±

    ¡°Right, right, my son, Muye¡­ inherit the rank of Prince¡­¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°My son!¡¯

    ¡°Right, your son, your son.¡±

    ¡°With my son!¡±

    I scrubbed my head. ¡°Whose son is he, exactly?¡±

    ¡°Move! I¡¯ll write it myself!¡±

    I passed over the sheet of paper without hesitation. ¡°Feel free.¡±

    She snatched the sheet over, set it down t and grumbled under her breath, ¡°As mighty with the sword as he is with the brush. Now I wonder if it was all a fluke. Can¡¯t even write ¡®to¡¯ and this handwriting is¡­¡± She made three attempts to put brush to paper, only to sumb to the red flushes that dyed her cheeks. In the end, she passed the sheet back and said, ¡°You write.¡±

    ¡°Mm? You do not want to write it now?¡±

    ¡°Cut the nonsense!¡±

    Though she grew up in a strict household, the majority of the northern border¡¯s martial artsmunity were focused on martial arts, not academic excellence. Therefore, while she was literate, her handwriting might not have been the greatest. Were she to be juxtaposed against someone who was forced to learn to write from childhood ¨C and won the top prize in the special exams ¨C then she¡¯d look bad.

    ¡°Write!¡±

    I finished writing Zuo Suniang¡¯s final demand properly, blew it dry and courteously told her, ¡°I will pass this on to His Majesty. Please remember what you said and fulfil your end of the deal. All the requests are reasonable and easy to fulfil. Considering His Majesty¡¯s respect for your family, it will go smoothly.¡±

    Her demands were a little, no, very much excessive. A rtive of the imperial family had a secret passage to infiltrate the imperial pce, and here they were demanding prestige, a privilege to raise their own warriors and Prince rank. It was tantly demanding authority. That being said, she had the bargaining chips for those privileges.

    I was the only person who could negotiate on behalf of His Majesty for the reason that others, including His Majesty, had yet to realise the importance of Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor in the whole equation. Based on our agreement, I had to keep the fact a secret. Therefore, it would take anyone else several visits and attempts to pry if they were to dig up Zuo Suniang¡¯s trump card, which would mean that they¡¯d walk away today without anything aplished. By my estimations, they¡¯d only reach the point I had reached in the middle of the exams. By then, she¡¯d have turned on His Majesty ¨C or even allowed a few members of the White Princes in as a warning. Obviously, she¡¯d be even more demanding then since the circumstance would be His Majesty needing a way out from a crisis.

    ¡°Fuma, it should go without saying that you cannot mention a word of what you said to His Majesty. Else, our conversation was never had, and I will support the other side. Please bear that in mind.¡±

    In other words, I had to persuade His Majesty to ept her demanding terms without divulging the value of Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor in the status quo. It was a test of my abilities, not their stance.

    The man at the back asked, ¡°Fuma, are you certain that His Majesty will oblige?¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured. I am an expert in this field.¡±

    ¡°Can you guarantee it?¡±

    ¡°You do not trust me?¡± With a smile, I said, ¡°I heard Mount Tian¡¯s Teacher Wen was a famous gentleman. I never thought you would have such a paranoid personality?¡±

    ¡°You know me?¡±

    ¡°Who does not know Mount Tian¡¯s matriarch¡¯s uncle?¡±

    The two of them saw each other¡¯s shock when they exchanged eye contact. Mr. Wen hid his identity whilst staying here for the sole reason of remaining as a hidden trump card. Anyhow, I went on to voice my true demand.

    ¡°I will fulfil my promise as I said I would. In turn, I hope you can fulfil one demand, as well, Your Highness. Could you please fulfil the first promise now?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°We do not know if you can persuade His Majesty. You think I am a three-year-old kid to just divulge the secret?¡±

    ¡°When can you fulfil it, then?¡±

    ¡°At least after Muye returns and His Majesty decreed our return.¡±

    ¡°So, a few days from now?¡±

    ¡°Naturally.¡±

    I shook my head as I sighed. ¡°I see.¡±

    I took out a sheet of paper from my shirt, picked up my brush and started writing whilst reading aloud, ¡°To Your Majesty, Her Highness wishes for a broken home, three dead dogs, to admit guilty, to forfeit a Prince rank¡­¡±

    Zuo Suniang¡¯s fury grew to the point that she couldn¡¯t find the words to say by the time I was done.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± thundered Mr. Wen.

    ¡°What else do you think? Is this not expected? I told you: I can convince His Majesty regardless of the circumstances.¡± I blew the ink dry and pped the two sheets with a smile. ¡°If you can be so sure, tell me the White Princes¡¯ plot right now, and this sheet will be yours. A luxury abode, rich fields, loyal warriors, enviable prestige, clean name, glory, united family, Prince rank and a nice wife fit for His Highness that I will personally request from His Majesty.¡± I put one sheet on the table, mmed my hand onto it and adopted a cold aura. ¡°Should you refuse, it will be a house made of straw, a tarnished name, a son taken hostage in Beijiang and a scarecrow for a daughter-inw.¡±

    With shaky shoulders, Zuo Suniang uttered, ¡°You are a bully.¡±

    ¡°I have been sincere, so I hope you will reciprocate the respect. If you do not immediately sever your ties to the White Princes, our alliance is a castle in the sky. If I cannot leave with their secret today, you will not have another visitor from the imperial court. Your Highness, it is true that you have bargaining chips, but let me be honest¡­¡± I held my gaze against hers and asserted, ¡°When ites to the welfare of the kingdom, there is no room for error.¡±

    Once she reacted with a stern face, I smiled and added, ¡°Plus, your son is still in my hands. So, give me a definitive answer.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 32

    Bronze Mask

    ¡°Tomorrow! As long as you can provide me with a definitive answer, I will tell you everything you want to know.¡±

    I requested the token from His Majesty precisely so that I could get an answer from him at any moment. Finding out what the White Princes were up to tomorrow was on schedule for me. Hence, I held up my hand in front of me. ¡°It¡¯s a promise. Give me a five!¡±

    Zuo Suniang, stupefied, stared nkly at my hand, looked down to her hand and then hesitantly gave me a five.

    ¡°Brilliant!¡±

    Zuo Suniang jerked when she realised she had fallen into my rhythm, and, as she expected, I didn¡¯t leave right away. Why would I walk away when she had just started makingpromises?

    I had Zuo Suniang write three agreements. First, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor was not to pick a bone with me once they returned to their former glory. Second, they had to supply me with authentic information. Third, they had to spare no effort in working with me during this period, which included letting me use their manor and hiding spots. In short, there were unreasonable terms that were genuinely very unreasonable that they couldn¡¯t object to.

    You could say, it was a joyous alliance. As soon as I set one foot out the door, I heard Mr. Wen yelling in a muffled voice, ¡°Stop! Stop! Put your spear away! If you kill him now, everything will fall apart!¡± It was reassuring to know someone so reasonable was holding down their fort. He raised Wen n¡¯s standing in my mind; I felt Hong Jiu¡¯s marriage was a good one. We would¡¯ve made great inws. After that, I needed to set up Third, Fourth and Six. Our livelihood was in good hands as long as I had juniors to marry off.

    I changed back to Liu Shan Men¡¯s Ming Feizhen, also known as Duke Ming, once I exited the abode. I had a legitimate, pre-made excuse to be wandering the streets at night as Liu Shan Men ¨C working. On the other hand, it¡¯d be difficult to prove I was Fuma Jingan and exin what I was doing; I might¡¯ve even been dragged back to His Majesty. Even so, I had no intention of returning to Liu Shan Men or Eight Deities.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It waste into the night by the time I returned to the streets, so onlymanders instructing their troops were still on the streets. There were very few clouds in the sky tonight, so only the most daring ¨C and the most amateur ¨C assassins would attempt to assassinate me tonight.

    It took around fifteen minutes for me to get as far away from the patrols as possible and then turn the corner. Fifteen minutes was an abundant amount of time to try something. I leaned onto a wooden cart that had a tyre missing and stretched out my arms overhead.

    Shadows rushed out from the two adjacent buildings to catch me in a pincer attack. The group was the one worth paying attention to. Not only did theye from various backgrounds that weren¡¯t obvious, but they were also stronger than the others. As they drew their weapons and sneered, I shut my eyes.

    Choosing to bare their fangs on the long street, even for people of their calibre, showed that they were far fromparing to professional assassins.

    Two rows of heads ascended vertically without their attached body parts, apanied only by the blood stored within both ends. Their violent gazes and sneers remained on their faces even once their heads rolled onto the ground. There was no sign of puzzlement on their faces.

    A man dressed in ck silently appeared beside me and, in a deep voice, reported, ¡°They have been eliminated, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Dark Wind Branch is as clean as ever with their work.¡±

    It should¡¯ve been obvious that Wawa wasn¡¯t my only bodyguard. If I was going to ask for bodyguards, I needed professionals.

    I had no interest in checking out the heads after opening my eyes. Compared to the headless group, Dark Wind Branch were a group of true assassins. Nobody discovered their presence despite them apanying me the entire time, and they only showed themselves to behead the assassins silently and urately. Even the sound of the headsnding was synchronised. I was reminded of hoes; maybe they honed their teamwork in the fields?

    I didn¡¯t have the slightest apprehension about the assassin industry. I only cared about one thing.

    ¡°Do you know who they are yet?¡±

    Leader of Dark Wind Hall and one of the Great Guardians of Lawless, Long Cheng, waited for his subordinates to report to him before turning to me and answering, ¡°The majority of their backgrounds remain unknown. Some of them are established names in the pugilistic world, but they do not have a long profile; it is highly probable that their profiles are forged. Judging from their modus operandi, they resemble the newly trained members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis in thest two decades.¡±

    ¡°You can tell?¡±

    ¡°Your subject was under orders to investigate Fiends¡¯ Genesis back then, which led to physical confrontations with them. They all share amon denominator, and that is that the roots of their martial arts are hard to identify, but they have all trained to a decent degree. They could be anyone or no one.¡±

    I agreed with Long Cheng¡¯s evaluation based on my faith in their abilities and my own theories. Based on the collection of martial arts manuals in the underground pce, there was no doubt in my mind that Gongsun Chu could¡¯ve trained a few hundreds of assassins of the level I witnessed, especially since he had twenty years. It was practically impossible to determine how many of his people blended into the citizenry of the capital.

    I used myself as bait to lure them into the open. Theck of coordination when they attacked me was a sign that they didn¡¯t train and live together. In addition, it was possible that some of the assassins in the group were vagabonds they hired to help them hide their own identities. ordingly, I had no means of telling apart who was with Fiends¡¯ Genesis and who wasn¡¯t.

    While the results of my test weren¡¯t ideal, at least it confirmed for me that Gongsun Chu¡¯s people wouldn¡¯t carelessly reveal themselves. Put another way, they were unlikely to join the ns to assassinate me.

    ¡°I guess we achieved our goal.¡±

    In a low voice, Long Cheng said, ¡°But you said there is still one more¡­¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve spent an entire day waiting, but they just won¡¯t make a move. They won¡¯t have another chance if not now.¡±

    I got up and used my hands as a speakerphone to yell across to the building up ahead. ¡°Buddy up there, you must be bored of waiting. How about youe down for some fun? We have plenty of burly men for you.¡±

    As awkward reactions permeated around me, a bronze mask slowly came into view on the rooftop across from us.

    Glossary

    Bronze mask ¨C It¡¯s basically a bronze mask with green tints, like this: /newsapp_bt/0/14938959277/1000

 Book 14: Chapter 33

    Ming Feizhen, Are You Still Going to im You Can¡¯t Fight?

    The masked individual was the one who¡¯d be notorious in the capital during my absence from the capital. He emerged at the same time I was kidnapped and, ording to Uncle Huang, helped him find Gongsun Chu, but his motives remained a mystery even after killing so many victims. Every single deed he was responsible for suggested he was part of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, but both Uncle Huang and I didn¡¯t believe that to be the case.

    ¡°Uncle Huang said, ¡®Unlikely¡­ He acts alone; he doesn¡¯t give the impression of someone willing to serve another,¡¯¡± I said whilst bending over as if I was an old man.

    Long Cheng slowly turned his head away to pretend he was looking up at the roof.

    Hey, you¡¯re making me look stupid!

    The masked killer didn¡¯t jump down to fight me, probably because it was unwise to attempt an assassination when I had to many strong fighters around me. That being said, I was curious why he showed himself under these circumstances.

    The masked killer acknowledged me with his head, took a small step backwards and then went the other way, only to stop right after. Long Cheng shed up behind him and uttered, ¡°You¡¯re not leaving,¡± before drawing his weapon.

    Aside from me, nobody else could see anything but silver speckles and hear the sound of metal friction. One of the Dark Wind Hall guys gulped and asked me, ¡°My Lord, Great Guardian Long and the masked weirdo are¡­¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Very advanced dework.¡±

    A sentence from me was worth more than ten years of training, so the others copied me, watching the rooftop to try and glean something. They were bound to be disappointed, though, as not even I could see their de movements. All I saw was tiny silver lines here and tiny silver dots there against the ck canvas¡­ It had to be their moving des¡­ right?

    One silver stroke emitted blue mes, which I logically theorised was the product of them utilising true qi. The constant and prolonged ngs proved that the masked killer was able to hold his own weight against Long Cheng.

    The moment the blue mes shed, the two dark silhouettes split off in opposite directions. The masked killer rebounded off the ground to retreat again uponnding on the roof, while Long Cheng chased after him, and the two of them vanished once they jumped down.

    ¡°My Lord¡­ Guardian Long won, right?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll find out soon.¡±

    We didn¡¯t have to wait around for long before Long Cheng came back empty handed. He knew what we were waiting for as soon as he saw our faces. He reached into his sleeve and presented a de that had been snapped.

    ¡°Boss, it does not count as a loss since your weapon is inferior.¡±

    Long Cheng shook his head. ¡°His de wasn¡¯t made from any special iron, but its thin and light design isn¡¯t ideal for hard shes. I forced him into blocking, but he was able to spot the weak spot in my weapon. I lost in the contest of perception.¡±

    They were upset to hear their leader admit defeat, but they didn¡¯t debate it since they knew that was just how he was. I heard the break when it happened, but I wasn¡¯t sure who broke whose de.

    ¡°Can¡¯t catch him with your qinggong?¡± I questioned.

    ¡°I am inferior,¡± haplessly replied Long Cheng.

    I didn¡¯t expect that answer. Long Cheng¡¯s ¡°Wind of Death¡± was one of the few qinggongs that elerated movement speed drastically, so it shouldn¡¯t have been easy to escape him even if one¡¯s qinggong was superior to is, which in and of itself was a daunting demand. In other words, the masked killer¡¯s qinggong was superior to Long Cheng¡¯s even when he was enhanced. That being the case, he probably rivalled my third brother in the qinggong department. I started to understand how he managed to evade capture all this time in the capital.

    ¡°His qinggong is incredible. I was unable to capture him even at my best effort. Additionally¡­ His qinggong is really strange. He was able to surpass my Wind of Death when he used it to flee.¡±

    There you had it. There was a reason the masked killer could uses assassinations as his autographs.

    I nodded. ¡°Are you able to identify his discipline with your vastwork?¡±

    Long Cheng had a moment to think prior to answering, ¡°It does not belong to any n in the martial world.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not Fiends¡¯ Genesis, either, correct?¡±

    ¡°That is absolutely correct. Fiends¡¯ Genesis either use disciplines from established schools in the north or west, or they use disciplines from groups in the mountains. While their skills are a mixture of disciplines, there are traces you can identify them from, and you will find that they derive from the Central in. Therefore, his teacher is either someone possessing immense knowledge or someone who hasbined disciplines from the north and south.¡±

    ¡°Or he might have both.¡±

    ¡°That would make him one of the most erudite people alive.¡±

    Long Cheng was born in the Western Regions, but he resided in the Central in for ages in order to fulfil the mission Ximen entrusted to him. During his stay, Long Cheng never stopped educating himself on the Central in¡¯s martial arts.

    ¡°His qinggong is unique in that ites from a single discipline unlike the popr disciplines of the martial world at present. I am unable to identify what school he trained under.¡±

    ¡°I, on the other hand, reckon it¡¯s quite familiar¡­¡± I muttered with my arms folded.

    ¡°?¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°This job can be considered done. I had your team enter the capital as a safety measure. I¡¯d have let you guys go earlier if the Qilin Guards weren¡¯t being so tough with security.¡±

    Nobody could save Dark Wind Hall if they were discovered to be in the capital. The only reasons I managed to get them outst time were because none of The Ultimate Three were present, and Kong Duan took all the me. If they were arrested now, I had no means of protecting them, not to mention the Qilin Guards were a new version of themselves now.

    ¡°Our anger cannot be quelled even if we killed all of them for having the audacity to kidnap you here. You need not worry about us, My Lord. Assassination was our profession. You need only select a day, and we shall ensure the insolent cretins are dead.¡±

    The man had no idea he was in danger.

    ¡°You¡¯ve killed enough. Have all those days working in the field not dampened your bloodlust? How are the cropsing along?¡±

    ¡°Spring ploughing ended long ago. The summer crops are doing fine. We asked the neighbouring vige to help us keep an eye on the crops, so it should be fine even if we do not tend to them immediately¡­ With that said, Qu the Third is not an honest man. We cannot guarantee he did not steal the golden egg during our absence.¡±

    ¡°Golden egg?¡±

    ¡°The henmander.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Allow me to provide a disimer: Dark Wind Halls¡¯ method of raising poultry was different to the norm. They ranked hens based on their reproductive potential. The henmander was the top hen. Beneath it would be the hen guardian, hen branch leader, hen branch vice-leader¡­ They even respected the hens enough to asionally bring them inside for drinks with the group. Don¡¯t ask me to exin what the cow general and puppy red were. Just being reminded of them gave me a headache.

    ¡°Qu the Third will definitely steal the eggs. I saw Huang Honggun drag him outst time.¡±

    Huang Honggun was probably a yellowish dog.

    ¡°If he was a virtuous man, why would he steal the trousers of the wife of the pork butcher on the east side of the vige?¡±

    ¡°If he even steals trousers, why would he leave eggs alone?¡±

    Thus, they started discussing how to safeguard their home.

    Hey, I¡¯m still here. Should I have stopped them changing too much?

    I rubbed my head, showed Long Cheng a ce and then passed him a sheet of paper. ¡°It¡¯s unsafe for our members to be seen in the capital. Head to this ce. There will be people to assist. I¡¯ve written instructors for you inside.¡±

    ¡°But if we are not apanying you¡­¡±

    ¡°I got it. The majority of the dangerous ones are gone. I can handle the rest. I¡¯ll call for you when I need you. Your current life wasn¡¯t easily earnt, so cherish it.¡±

    Touched, Long Cheng grabbed hold of my hand. ¡°My Lord, your graciousness, by the way, we are still raising the five pigs you ordered. I do not think we would be able to bring them into the capital at pre-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s leave that for another time. Get going.¡±

    If I didn¡¯t stop him, I¡¯d probably have had to stand on the street all night listening to him talk about farming. Thankfully, I was able to disperse them before the patrols arrived. What were they going to say when the guards saw them and a bunch of headless corpses? I had to im I was responsible; you could say it was a deterrence.

    When a group carrying torches turned the corner, I emotionlessly voiced, ¡°Who else has a death wish?¡±

    I didn¡¯t see the patrols I expected to see. Instead, I saw Long Zaitian and Lan Jiqiong leading a group of guards from Daren Academy. They looked at the strewn bodies and heads with wide eyes, then used the same eyes to look up at me.

    Lan Jiqiong pped his eyelids. ¡°You¡­¡±

    Before Lan Jiqiong could finish, Long Zaitian shouted, ¡°Ming Feizhen, are you still going to im you can¡¯t fight?!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 34

    Nepotism for the Win

    ¡°Why would you actually arrest me?¡±

    They and Lan Jiqiong¡¯s group didn¡¯t have the slightest connection. It was by pure chance that they ran into each other and then came across me, as well as the corpses. If they were someone else, I could push them around with my status, but I couldn¡¯t fool them. As a result, Long Zaitian took me in to the Qilin Guards¡¯ base.

    ¡°Hey, Long Zaitian, why would you do this to your friend?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your fiend?!¡± The way Long Zaitian jumped off the cell rails that he was leaning on made me think he was about to transform. ¡°You think I¡¯ve forgotten all the times you yed me, fooled me, framed me¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t going to talk about that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s talk just about Miss Shen. Who the hell do you think you are to fight me for a woman?! Be honest. H-h-how far have you gone with Miss Shen? You returned together with her. Did anything that shouldn¡¯t have happened happen on the way? Did you put your hands where they weren¡¯t supposed to go?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s it to you?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re never getting out of there!¡±

    ¡°Fine. You¡¯ll eventually beg me toe out!¡±

    Long Zaitian ended the childish banter not long after.

    ¡°Tell me: why were you out on the streets in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell you? I was just out for a stroll and then I ran into assassins.¡±

    Long Zaitian scanned me with distrustful eyes. ¡°His Majesty and Tianhu confirmed you suck at martial arts in Nanjiang.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°So how did you kill more than ten fine fighters?¡±

    ¡°I was born strong.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I respect your determination.¡± Long Zaitian gave me a thumbs up and then called over a dozen Qilin Guards armed sporting spiked clubs. ¡°These guys should be about as strong as those guys you killed. Give me a demo of your god-given strength. Open the doors!¡±

    ¡°Hey! If I get hurt, you won¡¯t be able to bear the consequences.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯ll take responsibility for all of it. Unlock the door.¡±

    ¡°People will say you guys arrest the innocent. You arrested a good man for a personal vendetta.¡±

    ¡°Piss off with your ho-b-nese. You¡¯re a good man?¡±

    ¡°How am I not?!¡±

    ¡°A man who wanders the streets in the middle of the night and kills a dozen people is a good man?¡±

    ¡°How is a man who wanders the streets because he can¡¯t sleep at night and defends himself when he runs into bad guys not a good guy?!¡±

    A Qilin Guard went over to Long Zaitian to quietly inform, ¡°Ming Feizhen has a visitor.¡±

    ¡°At this hour? Who?¡±

    ¡°They have Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-Captain Shen¡¯s letter.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Long Zaitian looked back at me and narrowed his eyes. ¡°You dobbed?¡±

    ¡°And how would I have dobbed when I¡¯ve been locked up here?¡±

    ¡°True¡­¡± Long Zaitian mumbled something and then invited in a man wrapped up in a long robe. He visually audited the man, but he didn¡¯t dare to try anything since he was Boss¡¯ messenger. ¡°Keep it short.¡±

    The man bobbed his head and then hurried to my side.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± I used my eyes to send hints as I asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s not safe here?¡±

    ¡°We have an urgent problem,¡± Gu Xianxian replied.

    How urgent can it be that you have to enter the ho¡¯s nest?! You¡¯ve just escaped from this ce!

    ¡°Zhao Tiankui beat Lang Qing.¡±

    My brain stopped processing for a second before I could query, ¡°He won again?¡±

    ¡°Right? He camete tonight and fought Lang Qing for a hundred rounds. Lang Qing fought empty handed and lost in one exchange. Since he beat Lang Qing, nobody can offer Zhao Tiankui a challenge, so everyone is waiting for you.¡±

    I frowned, looked outside at the Qilin Guards, stopped to think and then responded, ¡°I can¡¯t. Tell Yuan Kou to rematch him.¡±

    ¡°Ar-are you sure? He was already beaten once.¡±

    ¡°Then, losing once more won¡¯t make any difference. Does it look like I can leave?¡±

    Gu Xianxian didn¡¯t have a better idea, so he had to ept my proposal. As soon as he turned to leave, though, he ran into Long Zaitian¡¯s face. ¡°Whoa! What the hell?!¡±

    Long Zaitian rubbed his chin as he eyed Gu Xianxian. ¡°You look familiar.¡±

    Gu Xianxian immediately tightened his hood over his face. ¡°You must be mistaken.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ didn¡¯te from here, did you?¡±

    ¡°N-no.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re that guy from Liaodong, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°G-Guangdong.¡±

    Long Zaitian pped himself on the thigh. ¡°You¡¯re not going to confess unless you feel pain, huh?! Come back!¡±

    Once Long Zaitian led the Qilin Guards on a rabbit chase, I took out an iron thread from my sash, picked the lock and stepped out of the cell. I wasn¡¯t locked up in the main prison since I wasn¡¯t a dangerous criminal; I was just held in their office. Therefore, I wasn¡¯t far from the exit. Wasn¡¯t it natural for me to sneak out?

    While Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t have done anything to me, and was just trying to get back at me for releasing the prisoners, he¡¯d keep me locked up for a day or two. I didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to waste when there were so many things waiting for me.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    I was still nning my escape route when I was heckled again. ¡°Out of here.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong stood at the exit with a corner of his lips tugged upwards. I thought he gave up on picking a bone with me since he never showed up after escorting me to the Qilin Guards¡¯ office with Long Zaitian.

    You Confucians are painfullyme.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do to you exactly what you did to my shifu.¡±

    ¡°Uh, you¡¯re going to save my life?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to smash you!¡±

    I told you I saved him! You people are so unreasonable!

    I thought the misunderstanding had been settled for the most part after I avoided them for a day. I didn¡¯t expect to be locked up, have my ring removed and still be heckled by the damn Confucians!

    I racked my brains for ideas, but none of them provided an alternative to fighting him, let alone escaping before Long Zaitian returned.

    Eeeehh! Don¡¯t try to hit me while I¡¯m thinking!

    As soon as two of the academy¡¯s guards approached me at angles, everyone heard, ¡°Who¡¯s going toy their hands on him?!¡±

    She briskly entered the door and made them all fossilise with her re as she strolled over to me. I had to look downwards to make eye contact with her, yet she seemed to be the giant in the room.

    She checked me from head to toe before she rxed her expression. ¡°You all right?¡±

    Boss!!!

 Book 14: Chapter 35

    Subtle

    Lan Jiqiong was surprised to see Boss, but he wasn¡¯t ready to back down. ¡°This isn¡¯t Liu Shan Men. You think you can stop us on your own?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong didn¡¯t perceive Boss to be someone he couldn¡¯t afford to offend despite His Majesty¡¯s obvious favouritism. The reason was simple: the three offices overseeing the martial world and Daren Academy belonged to different bodies. His Majesty wouldn¡¯t punish the academy even if they had a conflict with any of the offices because none of them was stronger than the other by a marginrge enough that there could be bullying. The problem was, Boss and Ibined weren¡¯t their match.

    ¡°Move or I will have to make things hard for you,¡± threatened Lan Jiqiong.

    ¡°Boss.¡± I whispered by Boss¡¯ ear, ¡°Forget about me. The worst they could do is beat me up. If you get involved, both of us will get beaten. It¡¯s best if you stay out of it.¡±

    Boss looked stupefied at first, smiled brightly and then gestured for me to bring my head closer. When I lowered my head, she leaned in and whispered, ¡°This is the first time you¡¯ve spoken at such a close proximity to me since we returned from Hangzhou.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Thement that came out of nowhere brought back memories from the night at the inn at Hangzhou. In turn, I instinctively looked down to Boss¡¯ lips, but she didn¡¯t notice.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been keeping your distance from me when you speak. Why?¡±

    ¡°H-have I? Isn¡¯t that normal?¡± I reactively shifted back half a step before I realised it.

    Boss looked disappointed when she saw me back up, but she wasn¡¯t the type to be a loser, so she wrinkled her nose. ¡°You just lied to my face!¡±

    I coughed. ¡°Boss, this is not the time and ce for this. You see¡­ there are still people asking for trouble.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong: ¡°It¡¯s fine. Take your time. We can wait.¡±

    I don¡¯t need your generosity! Aren¡¯t you here to avenge your teacher?!

    Lan Jiqiong whispered to the guys next to him. ¡°I always heard they were having an affair. It looks very likely to be true. Once they progress further, we¡¯ll catch them red handed for our alliance leader. I can¡¯t wait to see them in misery.¡±

    You have an alliance leader?! What brain-dead alliance is this?! Why do you care what¡¯s going on between us?! I meant, there¡¯s nothing going on between us¡­ Why do I keep getting confused?

    Since Lan Jiqiong wouldn¡¯t help, I had to tackle Boss¡¯ piercing gaze on my own. Thankfully, she saw my attention was elsewhere, so she let me off the hook with just a ¡°hmph¡±.

    ¡°Boss, do you have an idea?¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m you, acting without any boundaries?¡± Boss turned back to face Lan Jiqiong.

    Based on the flow of qi around Boss, she showed no intention of fighting or catching Lan Jiqiong off guard with a flying kick.

    ¡°Mr. Lan, I am not here to oppose you. However, I cannot watch you harm my subordinate.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference? Protecting him is opposing me.¡±

    ¡°That is not true. May I boldly ask why you are after Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°He hurt my shizun!¡±

    ¡°I am here to address that matter. Mr. Lan, I can clear up your confusion; you just need to make a trip with me.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong looked to me with distrustful eyes. ¡°What sort of tricks are you trying to y?¡±

    ¡°You have more people. What tricks could possibly help us win against you? Should you still not believe Feizhen is innocent once we arrive, I will be more than willing to fight.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong had a long and hard think, then nodded.

    ***

    ¡°That is absolutely ridiculous!¡±

    And so, Lan Jiqiong copped a ruthless scolding once we returned to Uncle Huang¡¯s room at Daren Academy.

    ¡°Sh-Shizun¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your shizun. I don¡¯t have such a foolish student.¡± Despite Uncle Huang having to lean against the couch for support, his eyes were full of vigour. ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ Jiang Chen was the one who hurt me. How does it having anything to do with Ming Feizhen? He saved my life, yet here you are trying to harm him. Even if you were ignorant to the facts, is it appropriate for a mentor to harm a student? What do you have inside your skull?¡±

    I muttered under my breath, ¡°Feed for pigs.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong red daggers at me.

    ¡°Your brain is filled with feed for pigs, the cheapest type!¡± thundered Uncle Huang. ¡°Is he wrong?!¡±

    Needless to say, I was more than happy to listen to Uncle Huang clear up my name. At the same time, I asked Boss, ¡°Boss, how did you know Uncle Huang woke up?¡±

    ¡°You were hyper focused onpetitions of wits and valour,pletely forgetting to stop and think why you were being framed. Principal Huang waking up is no small matter, yet you two were so busy running around outside that you were unaware. Had I not heard you were held at the Qilin Guards¡¯ office and fetched you, I wouldn¡¯t have known Mr. Lan was also there.¡±

    Oh, I see.

    I spent quite a while negotiating with Zuo Suniang, while Lan Jiqiong was too busy searching for me to contact the academy to find out Uncle Huang had woken up.

    ¡°I knew why they had you surrounded as soon as I saw the situation. Since Principal Huang had woken up, you were safe.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I had to give Boss credit for being so quick on her feet ¨C and for getting Lan Jiqiong into trouble.

    Boss has such a good head, appearance, body scent, lips are soft and¡­

    I furtively took a small step backwards, but Boss caught me again. She didn¡¯t say anything, but her cold ¡°hmph¡± shook me.

    ¡°Pleasee this way to continue our conversation.¡± Thankfully, unlike his students, Uncle Huang was a sensible man.

    ¡°Coming,ing. Boss, Principal Huang called for us.¡±

    Boss red at me before she walked over to the couch.

    Our interaction put a small smile on Uncle Huang¡¯s face. When he looked over to me, he switched it out for a grin.

    You can¡¯t do this! I saved you, remember?!

    ¡°This old one understands his foolish disciple wronged you. If you could find it in your hearts, please pardon him for the sake of this old one.¡±

    Of course, we were quick to pardon Lan Jiqiong.

    ¡°Aside from this¡­¡± Uncle Huang was tired since he had juste to and had just been stressed out, so he paused and shut his eyes for a moment. He exhaled once he was ready, opened his eyes and conveyed, ¡°This one is aware you are Yan Shisan¡¯s disciple. Therefore, he has a request he would like to trouble you with.¡±

    Boss bowed. ¡°Please do not hesitate, Principal Huang.¡±

    ¡°This old one¡­ wishes to ask for your help in investigating a case from twenty years ago.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 36

    An Old Case from Twenty Years Ago

    Uncle Huang had everyone but Boss and I stay. He gazed off into the distance without any visible emotions and, in a low voice, recounted, ¡°One night twenty years ago, by the sides of Eastern China Sea, my teacher, Yu Sihe, was summoned to Principle of Six Hall. That was the same night he met his unjust demise. To this day, nobody knows who the culprit is.¡±

    In spite of how many years had gone by, Uncle Huang¡¯s voice still turned raspy when he recalled the experience.

    ¡°This old one¡¯s teacher was the erstwhile leader of Confucianism and one of the greatest martial artists under heaven; he surpasses this old one far more than one could imagine. Therefore, he would not have been easy to harm. He was a man who was scrupulously honest even when there was nobody around to judge him. He was not the type of person to meet anotherte at night. As such, there is no doubt that the person who called for him must be close to him, shrewd and strong. It is regrettable that he put his trust in the wrong person.¡±

    ¡°I do believe I know of this case.¡± Boss lowered her chin in between her thumb and index finger to have a think. ¡°Among the cases Shifu Shisan talked about, he ssified it as one of the eighteen most mysterious homicide cases. As you said, nobody knows the truth to this day.¡±

    Boss¡¯ remarks provided Uncle Huang with a respite from his agony. ¡°This old one consulted Constable Yan on the case previously. He said¡­¡±

    ¡°There is insufficient evidence, and there are not many suspects.¡±

    Uncle Huang nodded. ¡°Even if we ount for underhanded tactics used, it is a fact that they killed the leader of Confucianism, which is not a feat many in the world could aplish. In regards to the evidence¡­¡±

    Uncle Huang took a while to prop himself up, then passed over two identical letters. One of them had turned yellow, while the other was visibly new despite the few wrinkles. ¡°This old one only had this old letter to show Constable Yan, which is the letter that summoned Shifu to the hall. This one is a new one this old one received twenty yearster.¡±

    Boss epted the letters passed over and juxtaposed them against the me. ¡°Is this new one the one that Jiang Chen used to draw you out?¡±

    ¡°That is correct.¡± Uncle Huang, following a sigh, informed, ¡°They are identical in every way, leading me to believe that Gongsun Chu was the one who killed my teacher. That was what he wanted me to believe.¡±

    ¡°And now you believe that is not the case?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°It¡¯s not him.¡± Uncle Huang shook his head gently but with absolute confidence.

    ¡°It¡¯s not him,¡± I confirmed.

    Boss looked up at me and blinked. ¡°You¡¯re speaking up for Jiang Chen?¡±

    I was going to shake my head, but I nodded on second thought. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are many people who can say they know Gongsun Chu better than I do. He might¡¯ve been more dangerous twenty years ago and be dangerous enough to convince Uncle Huang, but he couldn¡¯t have killed Elder Yu if Elder Yu was as skilled as the legends say, let alone assassinate him without alerting anyone.¡±

    ¡°Gongsun Chu¡¯s Principle of Six Swordy is not enough for him to defeat this old one¡¯s teacher. He abandoned his principles; no matter how skilled he is with a sword, he could not have defeated this old one¡¯s just principles. Due to his rage, this old one assumed his teacher would meet with Gongsun Chu on ount of them being from the same school. Even if Gongsun Chu was inferior, it was possible for him to win if he worked with Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ leader. Howbeit, upon further evaluation, it would not make sense for this old one¡¯s teacher to not be vignt if Gongsun Chu had joined Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Therefore, it would be impossible for him to havemitted the deed without anyone finding out until day. Gongsun Chu wanted this old one to believe he was responsible so that he could catch this old one with ¡®love is pain¡¯ and then take the Nine Dragons Fire Jade.¡±

    Uncle Huang and I deployed nods in unison, only for Boss to say, ¡°Please let me cut you two off for a moment.¡± Boss held up the two letters. ¡°The content and even the handwriting is identical.¡±

    Boss had used her special inquisition skill on the letters, but she didn¡¯t find anything suspicious. ¡°I am not saying that experts in forgery do not exist, but the writer of the old letter was an elite martial artist. To imitate their style with this level of precision is nigh impossible. It¡¯s like¡­¡±

    When Boss looked to me, I bobbed my head.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± I stated. ¡°No matter whose handwriting it is, I can name one person who can copy it exactly. Gongsun Chu sent the letter to Uncle Huang precisely because he, too, can.¡±

    ¡°How are you so certain?¡± inquired Boss.

    Uncle Huang chuckled. ¡°Because nobody has seen Gongsun Chu¡¯s abilities up closer than him.¡±

    I gave Uncle Huang a smile.

    The only person confused was Boss.

    ¡°His shifu, Ming Huayu,¡± Uncle Huang crossed his arms as he recalled memories he didn¡¯t want to admit to, ¡°was able to write with both hands simultaneously. He once forged thest Emperor¡¯s responses to the council reports; the twenty-two forged memorials that he finished within two hours are still stored in the imperial court, and nobody has ever found out.¡±

    Once he finished speaking, Uncle Huang let his arms down and heaved a breath. ¡°Had this old one recalled Ming Huayu sooner, he would not have been fooled by Gongsun Chu.¡±

    Boss spent a moment processing what she just heard and then turned to me. ¡°Your shifu modif-, forged the former Emperor¡¯s correspondences?!¡±

    I held my index finger over my lips. ¡°Sh, don¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Boss blinked rapidly, still unable to believe her ears.

    If Boss and Shifu were to meet one day, will he anger her to death?

    Uncle Huang muttered, ¡°This old one used to be obsessed with personally avenging his teacher. Now¡­ From now on, this old one will never regain his strength. It is unlikely he will ever achieve his goal¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, there is actually hope,¡± said. ¡°As long as you t-¡±

    ¡°This will have to be entrusted to the next generation!¡± Uncle Huang energetically interrupted.

    Uncle Huang¡­ does unknown pill scare you that much?

    ¡°This old one originally suspected Gongsun Chu. Now that Gongsun Chu is no longer a suspect, the list of suspects has narrowed significantly.¡±

    ¡°Because of his connection with the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± For the first time since he woke up, Uncle Huang looked ready to cause damage. ¡°If he¡¯s not the culprit, then he and the culprit are in close contact. Else, he couldn¡¯t have known the truth and even have been able to forge an identical letter. Based on the existing evidence, his conspirator is one of the Seven Champion White Princes. The one who killed my teacher is also one of the Seven Champion White Princes!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 37

    His Majesty¡¯s Orders Can¡¯t be Defied

    I never thought Uncle Huang came to the same conclusion as I did while he was recovering in the underground pce.

    ¡°All this old one can do with all the time on his hands is mull over these things. If he still knew less than you, then he lived his life in vain.¡± Uncle Huang, seemingly reading my mind, chuckled, and then turned to Boss Shen. ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis stressed us. The White Princes benefited. Is there still anything that isn¡¯t obvious?¡±

    Boss was smart ¨C just a tad less than me. She had a hard think, then punched me, went back to thinking and exhaled. ¡°It is hard to ept. I never thought all of our struggles against Jiang Chen were just a front to so much more.¡±

    Uncle Huang coldly said, ¡°Opposing the imperial court is courting death. Fiends¡¯ Genesis suffered, while the White Princes gained all that there was to gain. If they were not colluding, would someone as shrewd as Gongsun Chu be willing to work for another? Fiends¡¯ Genesis are fools; their trust in someone as ruthless and shrewd as him will be their own undoing.¡±

    Uncle Huang fell asleep a whileter as we continued talking, but he didn¡¯t forget to stress that we had to find out the truth before he sumbed to his fatigue. After shutting the door gently behind us, Boss and I could see the dilemmas we were both facing. There weren¡¯t many among the White Princes who had what it took to kill Elder Yu, but no names came to mind. They were all wielded authority and physical might that could almostpare to Shaolin¡¯s abbot. If they killed the head of Confucianism, they¡¯d cause a huge stir.

    Uncle Huang would¡¯ve used someone if Confucians were okay with falsely using people. The culprit undoubtedly left too little evidence, or Yan Shisan would¡¯ve already found out who it was.

    ¡°Are we really going to pick up this case?¡±

    Walking beside me, Boss bobbed her head. ¡°Not us, though, but me.¡±

    ¡°Did I just get fired?¡±

    ¡°Do you have time for it? The sun ising up.¡±

    The two of us cast our gaze to the horizon, where we saw the first rays of sunlight and sighed in synchrony, except I lowered my head afterwards to steal a nce of Boss¡¯ face. Perhaps the angle I saw her face from was even more mesmerising than her beauty, making me reactively lower my head again.

    ¡°Another day has passed by.¡± Boss looked towards me. ¡°The academy idol contestmences tomorrow. Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s daybreak¡­¡±

    Of course¡­ not. I wasn¡¯t preparing for the idol contest, and I had things I still needed to wrap up. I heaved a big breath.

    ¡°Something stressing you out?¡±

    ¡°Nah, just some shameless military guy who¡¯s bloody strong is making life hard for me.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Boss patted my head. ¡°Don¡¯t call people shameless when you¡¯re no better.¡±

    I was speechless, not because I couldn¡¯t think of aeback but because I recalled that night at the inn.

    ¡°¡­ You best make sure you¡¯re in a spot to say that before you say it.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°Ahem, Boss, head back and catch some sleep. I need to pay His Majesty a visit.¡±

    Boss was visibly somewhat peeved I took a ¡°natural¡± step back, but my second sentence distracted her. ¡°You¡¯re going into the pce at this hour?¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I took out a golden¡­ piece of wood from my shirt. ¡°Yes!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Idiot! Moron! Fool! Brainless¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Why did you wake me at this hour?¡±

    Even though His Majesty had his finger pointed at me, it was too early in the morning for him to find the words to insult me with.

    I apologetically cupped my hands in salute. ¡°Your subject apologies for waking you up, but your subject has an urgent report to make.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t justify having someone pull me out of bed! To make matters worse, you had Wang Tushui go ask Her Majesty go to Brilliant Consort¡¯s pce to wake me. You really want to see me miserable, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Nobody else would dare to go, though.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t just-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor have shown up.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± His Majesty leaned his face that resembled the aftermath of a maniac cat¡¯s attack closer and gestured with his hands. ¡°Come closer to speak.¡±

    I jogged over straight away despite not knowing why we had to be so close when the only other person in the pce besides us was Eunuch Wang.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look! This sets the atmosphere!¡± chided His Majesty. ¡°So, what did she say?¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, she said, as long as¡­¡±

    And so, I doubled Zuo Suniang¡¯s demands ¨C especially when it came to how many people she wanted to recruit and how much money she needed. Don¡¯t get it twisted now. I wasn¡¯t trying to make things difficult for Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor; I just wanted His Majesty to not have an excessively positive impression of them. That was my insurance policy in case they came after me in the future. Moreover, His Majesty wouldn¡¯t ept her ridiculous terms, so why not raise the bar to give him room? In that way, he¡¯d still be able to satisfy her demands even if he shaved off 50%.

    You can call me Master Negotiator Ming.

    ¡°Approved.¡± His Majesty nodded. ¡°Is that it?¡±

    Wh-what did His Majesty just say? Why are you being so generous?! Pay me back my three hundred thousand, then! You have money to renovate their manor but not pay me for going to war for you?! Is this surnameism?! I can call you ¡°Dad¡±, too! I¡¯m your son-inw, after all!

    ¡°They had to suffer unjust punishments. Li ncks men in the family. We muste together in the future, so we cannot lose Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s support.¡±

    ¡­ And what about me? Now there¡¯s a fat extra sum.

    ¡°All that said, it¡¯s not enough to earn her trust. Go tell her that, not only do I agree to her terms, but I will also double them!¡±

    ¡°Huh?! Four times?!¡±

    ¡°What? Double is twice. Where did you learn your maths from?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no, you see¡­ your subject was stupefied.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t this mean¡­ I¡¯ve just earned a huge sum?

    ¡°As long as she¡¯s willing to tell me where the secret path is, her demands are trivial.¡±

    ¡°What secret path?¡±

    His Majesty looked at me as if I was a moron. ¡°What sort of question is that? How can I trust them if I don¡¯t have jurisdiction over the secret passage?¡±

    Oh¡­ I see you haven¡¯t woken up yet. You want their secret passage? I promised not to ask for it.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°No matter what you have to do, find out where it is.¡±

    ¡­ Your Majesty, do you remember I have to attend the exams? How can you order me around like this? Since you¡¯re forcing my hand, I¡¯ll have to ept the generous extra sum!

 Book 14: Chapter 38

    The Mind-boggling Mind of a Woman (Part 1)

    With every step I strutted, I could feel the joyous weight of a bag of money notes and dreams. I just had to win the idolpetition to clear my debts, and this fat extra sum I conned out of His Majesty would be mine. In total, I¡¯d walk away with more than 2,175,560. What was I going to do with all that? Build ¡°Feizhen Restaurants¡± all over thends! I¡¯d like to see someone stop me from eating pork shoulders, then!

    Out of nowhere, a bossy person hollered, ¡°Is that Ming Feizhen up ahead?¡±

    I raised an eyebrow and looked over my shoulders. ¡°Possibly not.¡±

    I shall skip the introduction for the tall and muscr man resembling a fortress because I recognised him.

    ¡°You are Ming Feizhen!¡±

    ¡°No! No! No!¡±

    Isn¡¯t Zhao Tiankui at Eight Deities?! What is he doing here?!

    I bolted along the path of hopes, while a muscr man chased after me.

    ***

    I spared no energy, no strategies, no blood bombs, no smoke bombs and no alleys for shaking people off to sneak into Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s hiding spot. Zhao Tiankui continued searching for me nearby.

    I knew my way around by the second visit, so I waited around for a while for the steward to take me to Zuo Suniang. She saw me alone this time, proving that I had earnt her trust.

    ¡°You are really cunning, Fuma. After we finished negotiations, you turned around and sent a team to keep surveince on us. Do you deem me untrustworthy?¡±

    You thought I sent Long Cheng¡¯s group to keep tabs on you? I sent them here to stay out of view.

    I was going to rectify the misunderstanding until it dawned on me that I could turn it in my favour.

    ¡°The agreement is between Your Highness and His Majesty, not me. Is this minor problem too much for your already?¡±

    Zuo Suniang¡¯s gaze read, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t on ount of that, I¡¯d have plunged a new hole in your head with my spear already.¡±

    Since business was my primary goal, I cut to the chase. ¡°Are you not curious why I am back so soon?¡±

    It took her a quick nce toe to an overjoyed conclusion.

    ¡°His Majesty has acquiesced?¡±

    I cracked the grin of a master strategist. ¡°His Majesty and I are inws. It never was hard for me to put in a word.¡±

    ¡°Words cannot do my gratitude for you justice.¡± Zuo Suniang gave me possibly the most charming bow I¡¯d ever seen.

    I had never seen her so polite, so I instinctively got up and told her she didn¡¯t have to go so far. I felt bad about it because¡­ I hadn¡¯tpleted His Majesty¡¯s mission.

    ¡°It is still too early to express gratitude. I have not finished.¡±

    Zuo Suniang went from a bright expression to a vignt one faster than I could blink. ¡°His Majesty refuses to ept the demands?¡±

    I leisurely picked up my hot tea for a nip.

    ¡°If His Majesty has concerns about my demands, why not just outright tell me, Fuma? For what reason must you keep me guessing?¡±

    Zuo Suniang assumed she was rejected as she deep down felt her demands were excessive. I¡¯d agree. Even though His Majesty epted her demands, she most probably was prepared for the possibility of rejection. Hence, she believed there was room for negotiation today. Being aware of what her trump card was manufactured confidence for me.

    ¡°His Majesty will ept if I speak up. You need not be concerned, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°In that case, what else was it that you had to say?¡± Zuo Suniang sat back down.

    I met with her gaze using an aggressive one. ¡°After I spoke to him, not only has His Majesty approved, but he has also said he would provide you with five times what you requested! All that remains is for you to agree to one condition.¡±

    Zuo Suniang stretched her eyes reflexively. ¡°Wh-what condition?¡±

    Got you now!

    As a master negotiator, I had to withhold the answer to induce a sense of urgency.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I wore on a refined smile as I scanned Zuo Suniang¡¯s face. ¡°Why not take a guess?¡±

    Then, I had another drink.

    If she wasn¡¯t smart, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive while she had two parties pressuring her ¨C and even find a way to thrive. After she finished ruminating, she looked up at me, and I smiled back. Then, her face started to turn pale. In a shaky voice, she uttered, ¡°You don¡¯t mean to tell me¡­¡±

    ¡°With your intellect, you would know that ordinary things cannot satisfy me or the glory and wealth Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor covets. I want Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s most prized possession.¡±

    Zuo Suniang gasped. ¡°Y-you would dare¡­¡±

    Looks like she¡¯s guessed it.

    ¡°Hahaha, indeed, it is as you have guessed.¡±

    Zuo Suniang mmed the table and pointed at my face. ¡°You¡¯re contemptible!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    Hmm? Uh¡­ that was not what I expected to hear.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Dream on!¡± Face as red as fresh blood, Zuo Suniang bit down on her lip and shouted, ¡°I have protected it for more than ten years since my husband passed away! I will not let you ruin it! You¡­ You¡¯re young, yet your audacity knows no bounds! How dare you threaten me with this?!¡±

    Erm¡­ I understood she protected the secret passage for more than a decade and that it was her family¡¯s most important secret, but¡­ that reaction was weird, no? Contemptible?

 Book 14: Chapter 39

    The Mind-boggling Mind of a Woman (Part 2)

    Despite how mad she was, the fact that she hadn¡¯t pulled her spear out on me probably meant there was still a chance. I wagged my hand and casually responded, ¡°Are you not tired after so many years of dedication? Why are you hesitating when there is a prime opportunity now? Are you not lonely?¡±

    You just have to agree, and your son will be returned to you¡­ Surely this is her weakness as a widow.

    ¡°What do you mean lonely?! Why would I be lonely?! Do not talk to me like that!¡±

    ¡­ Is her son not her actual son? No, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s her biological son.

    I scratched my temple. ¡°But it is true that you need money, correct? Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor needs to be rebuilt, and you need the imperial court¡¯s assistance to rebuild, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yuan Shijia, have you no sense of shame? What did you learn from all the Confucianism books you read?¡±

    What does shame have anything to do with this? Is it because schrs shouldn¡¯t ckmail people?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Your Highness, youe from a family of martial artists at the northern border. You need not be so pedantic about your dedication. Think of all the ancient examples¡­ Uh, Cao Cao read plenty of books, but he was also a scheming man, right?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you could say that! Compared to Cao Cao, you¡­¡±

    ¡°It does not matter who I ampared to, Your Highness. What is the big deal? What is the point of being so dedicated? This has always been on His Majesty¡¯s mind.¡±

    Zuo Suniang jerked her head back. ¡°His Majesty is also¡­ You brought this up with His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Of course. This is actually His Majesty¡¯s idea.¡±

    Zuo Suniang looked as if she just saw a ghost. Whatever she imaginedpelled her to wrap her shoulders.

    ¡­ Is His Majesty so fearsome? Come on,dy. If you¡¯re such a chicken, why would you try to negotiate with the imperial family?

    Eyes misty, Zuo Suniang jumped to her feet and pointed at me. ¡°Despicable¡­ Despicable! Both of you are¡­ are despicable! How can you disgrace me like this?!¡± She eventually gassed out and fell back into her sat, panting as the world spun before her eyes.

    I didn¡¯t expect her to be so mad, but my only option was to push on. ¡°Ever since your husband passed away, it has always been on His Majesty¡¯s mind. His Highness is still young. Think about the events that urred this time. It is every man for himself. If you continue dedicating yourself as you have been, life will not get any better for you. His Highness¡¯ life would still be at the mercy of His Majesty¡¯s mood. Even if it is not for your sake, should you not consider His Highness¡¯ life?

    ¡°I will concur that His Majesty is in the wrong for having desires, but you are not from some ordinary family. You carry the Li surname, as well; you are part of the imperial family. His Majesty is doing it for Li n. Think about it, Your Highness. There is ack of men in the family. As long as you agree, everyone can trust each other going forward; everyone will be closer than before; everyone will be truly family. Li n will grow. I swear this is what His Majesty said.¡±

    Zuo Suniang seemed to lose her energy to speak. With tears welling up in her eyes, she uttered, ¡°Shameless¡­¡±

    I was only one step away, so I walked over, making her tremble intensely. ¡°It matters not if I am shameless or not. I insist on making sure this works out today. Your Highness, please agree!¡±

    Zuo Suniang bit down on her lips whilst maintaining a determined expression and then¡­ shut her eyes.

    Did¡­ she not hear me? Why did she shut her eyes? Come on. Yes or no? What sort of resistance is shutting your eyes?

    She suddenly opened her eyes and red at me. ¡°D-don¡¯t you feel you¡¯ve betrayed Princess Jingan?¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°Jingan is involved? Wh-where is she? What did she tell you?¡±

    Zuo Suniang tilted her head. ¡°Huh?¡±

    I tilted my head. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you mention Jingan?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes. Isn¡¯t she your wife?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What did she tell you?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Your family¡¯s secret passage.¡±

    ¡°I was talking about you coveted m-¡± Zuo Suniang¡¯s emotions seared her cheeks, and she looked ready to cover her face up.

    ¡­ What? Coveted what? Don¡¯t tell me she knows about me trying to embezzle money¡­ No way¡­

    ¡°You were saying that His Majesty wants ess to our secret passage?¡± Thedy hiding behind her sleeve asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then, the dedication you mentioned¡­¡±

    ¡°You have dedicated your life to protecting it for so many years. It is time you told His Majesty, right?¡±

    Why am I having to repeat myself again?

    Zuo Suniang started making weird grimacing noises from behind her sleeve, impelling the guards toe in, but then she scolded them and kicked them out, and the situation continued for about fifteen minutes.

    ¡°So, His Majesty will only ept the demands if I hand over the secret passage?¡± Zuo Suniang was back to herposed and dignified self.

    ¡°Your Highness, what w-¡±

    ¡°Shut your trap!¡±

    With a spear at my head, I responded, ¡°Okay, okay¡­¡±

    ¡°I am sure I told you that it is my family¡¯s secret, and you promised to not reveal it. What happened to that promise? Howe you changed all of a sudden?¡±

    That¡¯s rich¡­ing from someone who seems to have split personalities¡­

    ¡°As I said,¡± Despite the hostile re, I continued, ¡°it is actually risky for you to control the secret passage; it is not an asset. It might not be a liability if His Majesty does not know of its existence, but he will never trust you now that he does. How far do you think Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor can go even if His Majesty does ept your demands? To be frank, you know His Highness¡¯ capacity. In your hands, the secret passage can be exchanged for wealth and support. Once it is in His Highness¡¯ hands, it will likely only be exchanged for disaster. Please think it over.¡±

    I got a visible reaction out of Zuo Suniang, but it wasn¡¯t a big deal to me since I had already seen a bigger reaction.

    ¡°Allow me to think it over.¡±

    ¡°There is no time. This is an important matter. You must make your decision now.¡±

    ¡°That is precisely why I cannot make an impuls-¡±

    ¡°If you agree now, I can guarantee you with my head that I will spare no efforts in personally convincing His Majesty to give you five times the requested amount!¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡± Zuo Suniang immediately gave me a hi-five!

    Done! Yes! I haven¡¯t let you down, Your Majesty! I will embezzle all this money for sure, hahaha!

    I had another win on top of the financial benefit. Once I knew where the secret passage was, I could tell Boss, and we¡¯d be able to figure out who would show up, who colluded with the rat, Gongsun Chu, and who was most suspicious of assassinating Elder Yu Sihe.

    Smiling from ear to ear, I said, ¡°Tell me, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Tell you what?¡±

    ¡°The secret passage.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± She giddily looked at me and borated, ¡°I will tell His Majesty myself.¡±

    ¡°Y-you are not going to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Why would I?¡± Zuo Suniang blinked. ¡°It is no joking matter. Since I have agreed to share it, I can only tell His Majesty. You¡­ do not seem to have the right to know.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why she got back at me, but she got back at me.

    ¡°That is not fair of you, Your Highness. I need the information. Since you are going to share it, nobody will use it in the future. Why not just tell me?¡±

    ¡°I refuse. You can leave now, Fuma.¡±

    This woman is getting on my nerves! You best believe I have my ways of making you talk.

    ¡°Your Highness, if you insist, I will have to publicise what happened here.¡±

    ¡°I dare you!¡± She came back after walking away and grabbed my cor.

    ¡°I¡¯m so scared.¡± I made a zany face. ¡°I have nothing to lose. If I publicise what happened today, I promise you will be the most popr person in the capital for the next three years.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what happened to her, but surely that fit of hers couldn¡¯t have worked in her favour.

    ¡°If you dare tell a second soul, you think you will be unscathed after Princess Jingan finds out?¡±

    She¡­ had a point.

    ¡°Since we both have weaknesses¡­ how about we both make apromise. Under what condition can you tell me?¡±

    To some extent, my persistence swayed her.

    She knew the secret passage wouldn¡¯t remain a secret from Fuma Jingan for long anyway as His Majesty would definitely send someone to survey it, and that someone was most likely to be me. Her refusal to tell me was just childish revenge. I, however, knew that I wouldn¡¯t be dispatched since His Majesty didn¡¯t know Fuma Jingan was involved.

    ¡°How about this¡­ I have been suffering from a headache that has kept me up at night. I hear you can work miracles. If you can cure my headache, I can tell you.¡± Zuo Suniang cockily asked, ¡°How about it?¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    The two of us sealed the deal with three hi fives.

    ¡°I still have business to attend to, and you need to report back to His Majesty. How about you treat my headache at your next visit?¡±

    Right, right, right, reporting back and filling my pockets takes priority. I can deal with your worthless head next time, not that I could even treat it now without needles and herbs.

    ¡°I shall see you out, Fuma.¡± She got up and made her way to the door, but she stopped and turned back to me when she realised I had yet to budge. ¡°Why are you still not leaving, Fuma?¡®

    ¡°I can¡¯t leave yet.¡±

    Confused, she retreated a step. ¡°What do you want now?¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand.¡± I wagged my hand and decided to be tell the truth in case I created another misunderstanding. ¡°A guy called Zhao Tiankui is blocking my way outside. I am not willing to stoop to his level and damage my reputation. Your Highness, how about you help me drive him off?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Tiankui is standing in your way? How?¡±

    ¡°How not? Is there anything he does not dare to do?¡± I grouched.

    The man just chased me across eighteen streets, for crying out loud.

    Zhao Tiankui dropped all the people I went through hell to break out of prison. If I were Gongsun Chu, I¡¯d have picked him to guard the underground pce.

    ¡°Zhao¡­ Tiankui is hindering you? Do you know who he is?¡±

    ¡°Who is he? A shameless thug in the army.¡±

    ¡°That is not wrong¡­ You do know he is a member of the Three Chief Military Commissions, right?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°You also know he is the subordinate of the Three Chief Military Commissions¡¯ Commissioner-in-chief¡­ right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ think I heard that before.¡±

    ¡°Then, why are you afraid of him?¡±

    I felt I was being treated as an idiot.

    I¡­ don¡¯t see the connection? Should I know the Commissioner-in-chief?

    ¡°Commissioner-in-chief Yuan, are you joking with me right now? You, as the leader of the Three Chief Military Commissions want me to help you deal with your subordinate? They say Zhao Tiankui fears you as much as he fears tigers, yet you are hiding from him. I never knew rumours could be so far from the truth.¡±

    ¡­ I¡¯m the Commissioner-in-chief?! Shifu, how many more shady things have you done behind my back?!

    Glossary

    Omitted part ¨C During the Cao Cao references, there¡¯s a mention of Xiang Yu due to Ming Feizhen mixing up the ¡°Hegemon-King¡± characters in Xiang Yu¡¯s title used in a phrase. It doesn¡¯t trante to English and only muddles with your understanding, so I omitted it.

 Book 14: Chapter 40

    Three Chief Military Commissions

    The Three Chief Military Commissions consisted of three teams: infantry, cavalry and navy. Zhao Tiankui was themander of the infantry unit. The Commissioner-in-chief was the superior of the three units¡¯manders, which meant they held the highest rank in the military ¨C which Hero Shenzhou once held.

    Ever since Hero Shenzhou stepped down, there was nobody to fill the void, making them an unimaginably dangerous variable. That was the reason people tried to take apart the Three Chief Military Commissions ever since the dynasty was established. Soldiers traded their weapons for hoes in the fields. Generals either turned to serving the Ministry of War under a new promotion system or went on to lead one of the three units. They and their descendants were paid an average wage and lost their voice in the imperial court council. In the end, they fell from power and kept being torn down further over the years.

    The dynasty¡¯s growth wasn¡¯t smooth sailing after it was established. When soldiers were needed, the Commissioner-in-chief would receive a decree to assemble a new army and train them. Whether they crushed foreign invaders or quelled internal rebellions, the three units¡¯manders always left their mark in history. Unfortunately, in the aftermath, they never climbed the ranks.

    There were no big battles during Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reign; when riots started, the Ministry of War quelled them. As a result, the Three Chief Military Commissions were unable to establish themselves.

    The three currentmanders were descendants of former generals, so they inherited their predecessors knowledge. Those who participated in thest big war still remained and continued training themselves as well as the next generation. Regrettably, there hadn¡¯t been a war in over two decades, so the new generation wasn¡¯t as experienced as thest. Additionally, that rendered the military officials without authority and work. ording to the imperial court¡¯s rules, military officials with military ranks weren¡¯t permitted from leaving the capital without consent. As such, the military officials with too much free time on their hands were stuck wasting away in the capital. In turn, there would sometimes be the likes of Zhao Tiankui¡¯ son, Zhao Xin, among them despite how strict and disciplined they were.

    Commissioner-in-chief might¡¯ve sounded as though it was a big deal, but it was a rank without any real authority. Most importantly, their ie was the lowest among first-rank officials.

    When Fuma Jingan won the contest three years ago, Emperor Yuansheng didn¡¯t know what to do with him. As chance would have it, the Commissioner-in-chief post happened to be vacant, so His Majesty put Fuma Jingan in the spot. It was a respectable post, shut down all the critics getting ready to st him for gifting his son-inw an unwarranted high rank and saved him money.

    ¡°So that¡¯s how the Three Chief Military Commissions work¡­¡± I stopped rubbing my chin and questioned, ¡°So the Commander-in-chief is a pretty high rank?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking me?!¡±

    Because I don¡¯t know?

    Zuo Suniang had a drink of tea since she had just finished giving me a long breakdown on the system. The way she drunk and red gave me the impression that she was done keeping up appearances around me.

    ¡°You could spend ages naming people you should not trifle with among the Three Chief Military Commissions. I believe they were referred to by a different name during the Founding Emperor¡¯s generation. Mm¡­ My husband mentioned it when he was still alive, but I do not remember it now¡­¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    I had yet to fullyugh before I was forced to desperately dodge a spear aimed at my face. I crawled to my feet, saw a satisfied smile on Zuo Suniang¡¯s face and then sighed. ¡°Your Highness, it appears you are reducing the amount of manners you show around me more and more.¡±

    ¡°Acting elegant in your presence makes one a fool. Where was I now? You just had to cut me off!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thankfully, I didn¡¯tugh again.

    ¡°In any case, they were mighty under Hero Shenzhou¡¯s leadership, decimating every foe who stood before them, and they had plenty of secrets to teach their descendants. More than thirty years ago, they fought alongside Flying General. That is why there are plenty of elite fighters still serving in the Three Chief Military Commissions. That being said, not one of them can leave the capital or make a name for themselves. His Majesty also has no intention of employing them.¡±

    That was bewildering to hear. His Majesty was willing to employ anyone as long as they were talented, and he had a keen eye for spotting talent, too. After all, he employed me.

    Zuo Suniang shrugged. ¡°Zhao Tiankui can be considered one of the mighty generals. He is an eleventh-generation graduate of Yuansheng¡¯s martial arts ss. Not only does he excel in martial arts, but he is also respected as a tactician.¡±

    I touched my chin. ¡°He¡­ really must be a great general, then.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately for him, His Majesty does not favour him, and the capital is too peaceful. At the end of the day, he is relegated to being a forgettable infantrymander. How did you two start fighting?¡± Interested in finding out more, Zuo Suniang hiked up a brow and leaned in. ¡°Power struggle?¡±

    ¡°It is not a fight. It is more like¡­ I have a friend named Ming Feizhen. He assaulted Zhao Tiankui¡¯s son. Since Zhao Tiankui has not been able to catch him, he is trying toin to me. As his superior and Ming Feizhen¡¯s friend, I am trying to avoid the dilemma of being in the middle.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen? The recently popr Ming Feizhen stealing all the headlines.¡±

    ¡°Yes, him. That is the one.¡±

    ¡°What is he like?¡±

    I extended up my thumb. ¡°One word: handsome. His face is art. It is perfect-¡±

    ¡°Is it true that he is in a rtionship with what-was-her name at Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°Who would believe those rumours.¡± I shook my head, then haplessly smiled. ¡°But he is handsome, which causes all sorts of unnecessary misunderstandings. He and Sh-¡±

    ¡°Is it true he is in a rtionship with Eunuch Sui?¡±

    ¡°Who said that?!¡±

    Why do the wealthydies of the capital believe everything they hear?! Isn¡¯t that the rumour some paper spread?!

    ¡°Farewell! I cannot stand being here for another moment! I must be on my way!¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t have asked for more. Get lost!¡±

    I no longer had to fear Zhao Tiankui since I now knew he was my subordinate. I proudly and hurriedly searched for Zhao Tiankui nearby since I heard him.

    Honestly, I was still nervous. I didn¡¯t know how Shifu fooled him in the past and what sort of appearance he assumed. If they were on bad terms, wouldn¡¯t I be amb to the ughter? I didn¡¯t have a better idea, though, so¡­

    Eh? I¡¯m sure I heard him here, but¡­

    I looked around, but there were only a few big rocks and corn that had been crushed under horse hooves, as well as¡­ a tree? I suddenly saw a human shadowe down from above as if they were going to attack me. Hended before me and narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°Were you trying to scare me to death?! What the hell were you hiding up on the tree for?!¡±

    He suddenly swept aside his robe and genuflected. ¡°Your subject¡¯s respects, Commissioner-in-chief!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 41

    Su Xiao¡¯s Strategy Philosophy: Simple and Aggressive (Part 1)

    ¡°Your subject is d to see you are in good health after all these years.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ Hi.¡±

    Zhao Tiankui whipped his head up and narrowed his eyes.

    What are you suspecting?! Was my response out of character?

    I recalled the graceful tone Shifu usually conversed with people in and asked, ¡°Bloody useless sack of crap, you didn¡¯t even send someone to wee me when you heard I was returning? Where is my litter? What about my wine? Where are the girls? What are you here for? You think you¡¯re eye candy?¡±

    Zhao Tiankui rxed his eyes. ¡°Your subject did not kn-¡±

    ¡°Now you know, so where is my litter? What¡¯s the point of employing you as a general if you can¡¯t make a litter appear out of thin air? Go fetch me a litter.¡±

    I had seen Shifu¡¯s manner of talking to people millions of times already, so I could imitate it, but I had no idea if a soldier would feel insulted and attack me¡­

    Zhao Tiankui stood up vigorously.

    I was just saying that! Don¡¯t hurt me!

    Zhao Tiankui went down on all fours and elevated his back. ¡°There is no litter prepared, so your subject will have to ask you to make do with this.¡±

    ¡­ Shifu¡­ What the hell did you do to the man?

    ¡°Get lost. I don¡¯t touch men.¡±

    Zhao Tiankui stood up without any other hints of suspecting me. ¡°Your subject shall go fetch a litter and wom-¡±

    ¡°Wait. I have orders.¡±

    ¡°Your subject is at your service.¡±

    I felt apologetic for making Zhao Tiankui show so much respect. Sure, he was a battle monger and unreasonable, but he was a true man.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen is my friend.¡±

    Zhao Tiankui juddered.

    ¡°Why are you trying to fight him?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ambition.¡± Zhao Tiankui bit down on his bottom lip and borated, ¡°Your subject cannot stand it.¡±

    I raised a brow. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°He is the most standout individual at the moment. Your subject wishes to defeat him to establish himself.¡±

    I thought you wanted to avenge your son! This is the real reason behind your loyal and dominant fa?ade?

    ¡°Your subject¡¯s foolish son happens to have a feud with him, so your subject has challenged him to a duel as a martial artist. Unfortunately, he refuses to ept.¡±

    That was expected, but one thing stuck out to me.

    ¡°Why do even you call your son foolish?¡±

    Isn¡¯t that an indirect insult at yourself as his father?

    ¡°Is that not the name you gave him? Ever since you called him that, your subject has followed suit. You are right. He is a fool.¡±

    Shifu¡­ You¡­

    Zhao Tiankui appeared very on board with the name. ¡°Your subject has missed you during the years you have been absent. Everyone believed in you ever since you single-handedly defeated every man in the courtyard. Your subject still remembers it as if it happened yesterday.¡±

    It finally all clicked together for me. The Three Chief Military Commissions did continue receiving flying-colours level acknowledgement, but they couldn¡¯t do anything about being discarded afterwards. They had essentially came together to survive and created a small closed-off world that housed their disappointment and anger. Understandably, they¡¯d react strongly if His Majesty assigned someone tomand them all of a sudden.

    It suddenly dawned on me that perhaps it wasn¡¯t His Majesty who wanted to instate Fuma Jingan as Commissioner-in-chief. To some extent, Jingan must¡¯ve been involved. If her husband obeyed her, then she virtually had a military force under her control.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shifu must¡¯ve been stupefied when he entered the Three Chief Military Commissions¡¯ headquarters and saw all the hostility directed at him, but, him being him, he wouldn¡¯t have been stupefied for long. Knowing him, he¡¯d haveid them all out. Considering how Zhao Tiankui treated him, Shifu probably subjected them to a host of more ruthless stuff.

    On behalf of Mount Daluo, sorry guys¡­

    ¡°In any case, Ming Feizhen is my friend.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Your subject will not bother him again.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± To be safe, I added, ¡°We went through life and death together; we¡¯re as close as blood brothers. He should be treated as if he¡¯s me.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all. Since he is your brother, he is your subject¡¯s father.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    Hi, my son!

    ¡°I still have business to finish, so head back.¡±

    ¡°You still have business? Your subject was hoping to consult you on his training. Please do not refuse him.¡±

    Consult me on your training? Crap¡­ I don¡¯t know their martial arts. How am I supposed to teach him¡­? Drats. I¡¯m not in a position to refuse.

    ¡°What do you want to know?¡±

    ¡°The Pure Yang One Qi you taught me¡­¡±

    Shifu, you never even taught me Pure Yang One Qi, yet you taught him?! Who¡¯s your real disciple?! Now I know why this guy managed to beat my two aces. All because of you, he¡¯s improved by leaps and bounds in thest three years!

    ¡°Your subject dares say he is quite educated in the art of using fists, but he still has numerous questions regarding Pure Yang One Qi. May h-¡±

    ¡°I know someone who is also trained in it. Practice with him again.¡±

    Zhao Tiankui was ted to hear he¡¯d have answers to his queries, but something then struck him. ¡°Why did you say ¡®again¡¯?¡±

    ***

    ¡°Amitabha. You have finally woken up.¡±

    Tang Ye reflexively went to touch his hair when, but he stopped when he identified ¡°her¡± voice. ¡°Xiao Han.¡±

    Tang Ye looked down to see Su Xiao, sitting by Tang Ye¡¯s bed, knocking on a small wooden fish. ¡°Am I¡­ dead?¡±

    Su Xiao stopped knocking. ¡°You wish. There¡¯s plenty of work waiting for you to finish. Do you have any self-awareness of your importance to the people?¡±

    Tang Ye had a think, then nodded as best as he could with his stiff neck and replied, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You need to develop it fast, then. You¡¯d be dead if they didn¡¯t feed you. Think about it: your medicine, room, nkets, it alles from the tax they pay. You need to do everything in your power to repay them.¡±

    From that day on, Tang Ye agreed with Ming Feizhen¡¯s evaluation: they didn¡¯t need to worry about Su Xiao getting into a fight. They needed to worry about Su Xiao being too educated.

    ¡°How much time do we have left until the idolpetition?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow?¡±

    Tang Ye pulled his brows together. He was already worrying before he could find out the status of his condition. Ming Feizhen stressed over and over that he had to win, but Tang Ye couldn¡¯t even remember what he would bepeting in. Hispetition, on the other hand, had plenty of confidence; the scions of the White Princes alone were a handful.

    ¡°Rx. I already have it all nned out,¡± asserted Su Xiao, knocking on the wooden fish twice.

    ¡°Where¡­ did you get the wooden fish from?¡±

    ¡°It is my wooden fish,¡± answered a monk, standing with his hands behind his back and smile that exuded a refined demeanour.

 Book 14: Chapter 42

    Su Xiao¡¯s Strategy Philosophy: Simple and Aggressive (Part 2)

    Xun Feng affably gave Tang Ye, who was still on the couch, a nod.

    Tang Ye turned his eyes towards Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao directed his open hands towards Xun Feng. ¡°This is our new ally, Monk Xun Feng!¡±

    Tang Ye rubbed his head simrly to an alcoholic double checking himself. ¡°¡­ You incited him to defect?¡±

    ¡°As if. The Seven Champion White Princes are an alliance that have been built and consolidated over generations. Who could convince them to defect.¡±

    ¡°Thought so¡­¡± Unsure what to criticise first, Tang Ye decided to start with questions. ¡°So, how did you convince them to ally with us.¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡±

    Su Xiao¡¯s smile told Tang Ye that he shouldn¡¯t expect anything good.

    ¡°I formed alliance with the four of them.¡±

    Tang Ye nearly passed out. ¡°Four?¡±

    Xun Feng chuckled. ¡°We were all surprised when Baihu Su approached us, too.¡±

    ¡°How did you do it¡­?¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡± Su Xiao counted off on his fingers as he reported, ¡°I know Sister Jin Zhaoying, who introduced me to Sister Bai. Sister Bai introduced me to Monk Xun Feng. I then sought out Song Chi, and our alliance was formed.¡±

    Xun Feng said, ¡°Baihu Su told us that Quanmu ss needs the win and that everything else could be negotiated. As such, we were offered the prizes as long as the ss could win. We have no reason to refuse.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ You believe in such a childish alliance?¡±

    ¡°We have a written agreement.¡± Xun Feng added, ¡°All students of Quanmu have signed the agreement. If you win, the prizes go to us.¡±

    ¡°Give me a moment to sort it out¡­¡± Tang Ye held on to his head as he analysed everything he¡¯d been told. ¡°Monk, can you give us a moment? We need to discuss how to back out of the agreement.¡±

    Xun Feng heartilyughed. ¡°Of course. Backing out is always an option. Whether it is a fair contest or not, we will never lose. I shall excuse myself.¡±

    After Xun Feng left, Tang Ye red at Su Xiao. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely!¡±

    ¡°Why are we creating an alliance?¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid? If we¡¯re allies with our enemies, we no longer have enemies.¡±

    Tang Ye blinked a few times and then lied back down. ¡°Pretend I never woke up.¡±

    ¡°Get up! Do you have hemorrhoids?!¡±

    They froze and then looked out the window to see me waving.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re back, Big Bro.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± I climbed through the window, shut the window behind me and announced, ¡°Yes! I am back!¡±

    Su Xiao rushed over to hug me, while Tang Ye greeted me with a smile. I gave Tang Ye a nod and Su Xiao¡¯s head a scrub whilst smiling. ¡°Are you stupid?! If we¡¯re allies with our enemies, we no longer have enemies?!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you called me stupid again!¡± Su Xiao broke free and ducked behind the pir. ¡°I¡¯m smarter than you!¡±

    Thank heavens that¡¯s all you have for brains. If you were a hundred-times smarter, our country would probably be doomed already!

    I strolled over and sat beside Tang Ye, then asked, ¡°What¡¯s your opinion?¡±

    ¡°Obviously suspicious,¡± answered Tang Ye.

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    Tang Ye shrugged. ¡°I assaulted the monk, yet he¡¯s giving me smiles now. He¡¯s definitely looking to stab me in the back.¡±

    Su Xiao, learn from Tang Ye! This is what you call keeping your wits about you! All you do is screw me over!

    ¡°The n doesn¡¯t end at the alliance. I have moreyers to the n,¡± eximed Su Xiao.

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°You see, they were bound to ept the alliance suggestion.¡±

    ¡°Even I would! Who¡¯d refuse a free win?!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more to it!¡±

    ¡°You know how to deploy strategies now? Stop while you¡¯re ahead. You¡¯re probably going to screw me over a few more times. Tang Ye, what ideas do you have?¡±

    The pir Su Xiao hugged was too hard to pull him off.

    After he had a chance to contemte, Tang Ye opined, ¡°Pinch the agreement after the contest?¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°Song Chi will be prepared for any thieves. He just needs to entrust the contents to a credible body or person, and he¡¯ll be insured once they announce it; the written agreement itself will be useless. Song Chi wouldn¡¯t have any issue finding someone credible in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Let me finish!¡± Su Xiao jumped onto the bed, in between Tang Ye and I. ¡°Let me finish!¡±

    ¡°You have two sentences,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Hmph! All you do is look down on me!¡±

    That¡¯s two.

    Su Xiao sat down and hugged the nket he rolled up for some reason. ¡°The four of them have to take part in the special imperial exams. If their problem is simplified, they save time and effort as well as the need to search for team members.¡±

    ¡°So? They¡¯ll form a team with you? You¡¯ll give them the prizes, too?¡±

    Do you realise giving away the prize means I can¡¯t repay my debt?!

    ¡°We are in a pickle ourselves. He Shi also needs to take the imperial exams. Our individual practices¡­ haven¡¯t gone well. Sister Ye Luo said we have no chance at winning archery, but we might be able to shoot ourpetitors. Sister Jin said we have no chance at winning in rites, but we might be able to make ourpetitorsugh to death.¡±

    Why am I feeling more and more uneasy every time I hear more? So, all the training is only good enough to harm yourpetitors?!

    ¡°That is why forming an alliance is the only option!¡±

    That¡¯s not an option! I need the prizes!

    ¡°What other good ideas do you have?¡± I still didn¡¯t know what Su Xiao¡¯s end game was.

    Su Xiao cackled. ¡°I didn¡¯t just form an alliance with them.¡±

    That¡¯s not the only problem you caused?!

    ¡°Are you going to give me your head, or do you want me to go over to whack it?¡±

    ¡°Why would you hit me?!¡± Su Xiao took out a sheet of paper with a bunch of signatures on it from his shirt. ¡°Look.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Agreement with Che Gulu. If he wins, he won¡¯t take the prizes?¡±

    Che Gulu? Isn¡¯t he the guy from Kiliya, Biliya or whatever? Why would he¡­

    ¡°Young Master Che has a crush on Sister Jin, but she spares him no attention, so he tried to start on me.¡±

    ¡°So you formed an allied with him?¡±

    ¡°Of course not so fast. I told him that Sister Jin likes heroes, so I suggested he stop clinging to her. I told him that Sister Jin would think more highly of him if he won the idolpetition, so he gleefully agreed. We have no hope of winning, but we can hinder them. We can¡¯t win ourselves, but we can sabotage ourpetition. Hehehe, simple, right?¡±

    So, Song Chi¡¯s clique would let Su Xiao win. Then, Su Xiao¡¯s group would sabotage the clique to help Che Gulu win. Finally, Che Gulu would give Quanmu ss the prize, which renders the agreement with Song Chi¡¯s clique invalid? Is this what they call shorting? Is Xiao secretly a genius?!

 Book 14: Chapter 43

    Interlude 2

    The Central in had always been the preferred home for monarchs. No other ce had mountains and tall city wallsparable to inside the border. No city had more monarchy ties than Changan. The result of monarch after monarch inhabiting Changan over so many ages was a city that had a unified aesthetic that stretched to every corner.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone.¡±

    The bouncer of the gambling den on Vermillion Street grouched, ¡°Who? How old?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Can you describe them? Short, tall, fat or skinny?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Man or woman? Most importantly, are they one of our frequent customers? Surely you know that.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know, either.¡±

    ¡°Then what are you even here for?¡°

    ¡°To look for someone.¡±

    The pretty boy thrown out onto the street had a very approachable aura from head to toe; even the way he fell to the ground didn¡¯t look bad. The weather was perfect, so he would¡¯ve taken a nap right there on the ground if there wasn¡¯t the concern of people stepping on him.

    ¡°Not here, either.¡± He dusted himself once he rose to his feet and then resumed his search.

    His search for the important individual in question was important, but appeasing his hunger pang was even more important. As he walked, he surveyed everyone passing by. When he and an old man holding a biscuit saw each other, they stared at each other.

    The young man brightly approached the elder and, with a cupped-fist salute, expressed, ¡°Elder, let us negotiat-¡±

    ¡°A resounding no!¡± The elder pulled his biscuit towards him. ¡°Look at you. You¡¯re young and capable; why would you try to fight for food with an old man? I¡¯d even be willing to betroth my daughter to someone as handsome as you, but you are not having this biscuit!¡±

    The young man wagged his hands. ¡°I can let anything go but that biscuit!¡±

    ¡°And if I refuse?¡±

    ¡°You refuse? Have you no shame?!¡± The young man dropped to his knees. ¡°Elder, have some pity. I have not eaten in two days¡­¡±

    A girl passing by eximed, ¡°Stop! What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°Begging for food.¡±

    ¡°Why are you trying to steal an elder¡¯s food when you are perfectly able?¡±

    ¡°I have no lofty ambitions.¡±

    Miss Qin was loved in Changan for her kindness since she was a child, not to mention her family¡¯s wealth, as well as her father and brothers¡¯ respected characters.

    ¡°You can work abour job, then. How about this? Come work at my home, and I promise you will get to eat your fill.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t regret it afterwards.¡±

    Qin n¡¯s third daughter purchasing a new servant from the streets without a second thought was nothing new. What was strange was that a young man as handsome was willing to sell himself to a maiden he¡¯d met for the first time without a second thought.

    ¡°Young Master.¡± Another young man who was only given an average appearance showed up behind the handsome one sitting on the ground eating a big biscuit. ¡°How is the search going?¡±

    ¡°Fruitless,¡± the young man on the ground answered.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The young man standing sighed.

    The young servant frowned. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    The young man shrugged. ¡°A prodigy of Shaolin, the next leader of the martial world alliance, yet you can¡¯t find one person?¡±

    The young servant curled his lips. ¡°How much did the old abbot promise you for you to spew all this irrelevant stuff for him?¡±

    ¡°You know better than anyone how much of a miser your abbot is. What makes you think he¡¯d be willing to bribe me?¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡±

    ¡°You, on the other hand, have received plenty from him. Martial world alliance leadership. Think about it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to. I¡¯d rather have a field, a cow, wife, kid and warm bed.¡±

    ¡°Shaolin must have their hands full with you.¡±

    ¡°Better than following you.¡± The young servant shrugged. ¡°How was your search?¡±

    ¡°Sessful, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°Qin n.¡±

    ¡°Qin Bohu of Qin n whose specialty is the twin maces?¡±

    ¡°His daughter, Third Mistress¡¯ Qin n.¡±

    The young servant suddenly felt that reality and what he expected were incongruent.

    ¡°Why his family?¡±

    ¡°I heard he has a female chef who is really good at making sweet green rice balls.¡±

    The young servant bobbed his head. ¡°That Qin n.¡±

    Qin n¡¯s third mistress had no qualms paying for an extra servant when he was introduced.

    Although the duo had to rise early and turn inte, take a paltry sry whilst working tirelessly and virtually never had days off, they felt the lifestyle was decent as they were always cking off. They were nowhere to be seen even once the sun was visible above. When it was time to eat, though, they were first to arrive. The steward beat them up three times daily, but they¡¯d be perfectly fine the day after. Instead, the steward would have to buy three new whips.

    One night, the young master chanced upon Qin n¡¯s Miss Qin meeting Zuo n¡¯s scion in secret.

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± Miss Qin would never be able to show herself in public if a fourth person found out, but she was too kind to silence the young master.

    ¡°There is too much good to appreciate at once,¡±mented the young master. ¡°Keep it up.¡±

    s, their rtionship was eventually brought to light. Patriarch Qin had everyone privy to the rtionship brought to the main hall. All of the servants needed to be killed to protect their n¡¯s reputation. The young servant was perplexed as to why he was amongst those assigned the death penalty when he was clueless.

    The young master shrugged. ¡°I reckoned it would be lively today; just hang around and watch.¡±

    Not long before the duo was meant to be executed, a fireball descended from above, setting Qin Manor aze. Patriarch Qin had never seen such a violent fire and such an un-human-like human being. The invader emerged from the mes and started taking lives until someone made a stand.

    The young servant, wearing his usual uninterested expression, stood before the invader.

    ¡°He may look deadpan, but he is Xian Suiyue, also known as Langya. He holds first ce on Seventeen Hidden Dragons.¡±

    Patriarch Qin juddered as he pulled his chin in.

    ¡°Me? My name is Li Qingzhuo.¡± He cracked a pretty smile. ¡°I¡¯m a nobody.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 44

    Jingjing

    As expected, the energy and passion of youth for glory was ubiquitous on the first day of the academy idolpetition. Why was I strolling around the academy and only watching from afar? Because there was no longer any need for me to partake.

    Thanks to Su Xiao¡¯s ¡°shorting¡± strategy, they managed to send eight teams¡¯petitors to the doctors in the first round of rites through beautiful trips. In the second round of calligraphy, they put something into the ink of otherpetitors, drawing a swarm of bees to theirpetitors, resulting in another dozen teams needing medical attention. Wu Dayong proudly epted the insulting nicknames they were assigned after the first day.

    As a result of Quanmu¡¯s activities, Che Gulu managed to take home first ce in rites and calligraphy without even knowing how. Song Chi¡¯s clique forfeited events without falling prey to Quanmu¡¯s dirty tactics and walked away with third ce. By the looks of things, Song Chi¡¯s clique had yet to catch on to Su Xiao¡¯s ploy.

    Honestly, I didn¡¯t feel I could do any better than Su Xiao even if I joined them, so I had a lucky break from work.

    The dangerous assassins after me had been eliminated. I had cleared up Daren Academy¡¯s misunderstanding. Zhao Tiankui kowtowed to me, cracking the floor with his head, apologised and boasted he¡¯d be willing to help me with anything I ever needed him for. Needless to say, I epted his apology and offer. I expected His Majesty to double my reward when I shared the sess of negotiations with Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor, but he only gave me a short sentence of praise. Never again was I going to ve away for the damn cheapskate.

    Jingan¡¯s intentions, the White Princes¡¯ scheme and Gongsun Chu¡¯s whereabouts were thest three problems I needed to address, and all of them were a pain to deal with.

    ¡°So that is why you came to visit me?¡± Jin Zhaoying ¨C or rather, Jingan ¨C interacted with me as eloquently and lovingly as always.

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve never been able to figure out what you¡¯re thinking, after all.¡± I didn¡¯t have any qualms eating the food on the table.

    Although Jingan was fairly nonchnt about most things, when it came to her food, she was very particr. You¡¯d never find another chef who could reproduce aparable vour to her chef. Since Jin Zhaoying¡¯s maids were maids Jingan assigned, the chef had to be her personal chef from Hangzhou, too.

    ¡°Here is the chilled plum wine you love.¡±

    I certainly loved the chill and taste of plums that went down the hatch every time I was at Jingan¡¯s abode. However, I was stumped for a moment because we were in summer. Where would you get ice from if you didn¡¯t have a few hours to prepare beforehand in summer?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I had to prepare the ice since I knew you wereing,¡± stated Jingan, seemingly reading my mind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve defeated everyone you sent. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?¡±

    Jingan covered her mouth andughed.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±

    Jingan looked at me in a teasing way. ¡°Would you havested if I actually sent people after you?¡±

    ¡°D-d-d-d-don¡¯t you give me that! Don¡¯t go doing whatever you want in Miss Jin¡¯s skin. This trick doesn¡¯t work on me.¡±

    Jingan tilted her head. ¡°So it would work if it was me personally?¡±

    I gasped. ¡°N-n-no, it won¡¯t work no matter who it is! Answer the question!¡±

    Thisss always makes conversing a chore!

    ¡°Are you saying I haven¡¯t encountered the people you sent?¡±

    ¡°Did I say that?¡°

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ I did, but I do not acknowledge it.¡±

    ¡­ What the hell is she on about?!

    I could never understand what Jingan actually meant, and I could never tell if she meant what she said. She, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy me watching me confused.

    ¡°I still have some questions I would like to ask you. If you answer them, I will tell you everything I know,¡± said Jingan.

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    Jingan telling the truth was rarer than rare, so I forgot what she demanded of me for a second.

    ¡°What¡­ do you want to ask? I¡¯ll have you know we Mount Daluo disciples eat and dr-, have a lot of secrets. Don¡¯t even try. I won¡¯t answer.¡±

    ¡°Whatever secrets Mount Daluo has, your shifu divulges them at the brothels. If you feel the questions are too hard to answer, you do not have to answer. You have nothing to lose, after all.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear them first¡­¡±

    ¡°What is so good about Shen Yiren?¡±

    I nearly sprayed the wine from my mouth. ¡°What sort of question is that?!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to answer it or not?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± I flicked my sleeve and went to put on a serious face when I saw her fiddling with something, so I queried, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Navagraha Star Summoner.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s it used for¡­?¡±

    ¡°To summon Tianhu.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Tianhu head¡­ If hees back now, then Mount Daluo¡­¡± I smiled. ¡°Jingjing.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re naughty.¡±

    Jingan bashfully nodded. ¡°I am.¡±

    I leapt over to Jingan. ¡°Give it here!¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Jingan managed to foresee the angle I¡¯d approach from and pre-emptively dodged out of the way. However, she was a weak woman at the end of the day, so it made no difference even if she had more arms and legs than me.

    ¡°Hand it over, or you¡¯ll have to suffer physically!¡±

    ¡°If you want it,e take it.¡± Jingan opened her cor and stuffed the piece of jade into her valley. ¡°Hehehe,e get it, Fuma.¡±

    ¡°D-d-d-don¡¯t think that will deter me! Even if it¡¯s Miss Jin¡¯s body, it¡¯s still you who¡¯s in the wrong.¡±

    ¡°Then, what are you waiting for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m no gentleman. I¡¯ll peep and then assert I never saw anything!¡±

    ¡°Wow, how exciting!¡±

    Thisss ispletely off the rails! I¡¯ll teach you what perverted means in real life!

 Book 14: Chapter 45

    Jingan¡¯s Answer

    I had reached towards her valley, but, in the end, I stopped at her cor and asked, ¡°That¡¯s a replica, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve seen the Navagraha Star Summoner; it¡¯s much bigger than what you have.¡±

    Jingan gave me small and silent ps. ¡°You¡¯re really smart, Fuma.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t smart¡­ I just couldn¡¯t go ahead with dipping my hands in there. I wasn¡¯t afraid of touching Jin Zhaoying. I just didn¡¯t know how to exin it to Boss afterwards. I couldn¡¯t withhold the incident from Boss, but I couldn¡¯t tell her I had to¡­ remove part of Miss Jin¡¯s garments to retrieve it. If I hadn¡¯t learnt anything after all the times I¡¯d been smacked with the inkstone, there¡¯d be no hope for me. While I was going through all those thoughts, it dawned on me that I had seen that Navagraha Star Summoner before.

    ¡°What is so good about Shen Yiren?¡±

    ¡°What sort of question is that?!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re biased.¡± Jingan pouted. ¡°You and another woman are hitting it off, yet you won¡¯t let your wife ask you about it? You¡¯re biased.¡±

    As soon as Jingan poked me on the chest, I hurriedly stumbled back. Meanwhile, she was clearly teasing me from the look in her gaze.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to hurt your self-esteem.¡±

    Don¡¯t me me for not being considerate now!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°How is she inferior to you in any shape or form? She has a big ch-, magnanimous heart. Look at her, and then look at you. Is she as conniving as you? Has she tried to harm me before? Look at her¡­ She¡¯s sincere, earnest, kind, just and cares for the people. She has goals and dreams she doesn¡¯t give up on. Even though¡­ she¡¯s had a hard life.¡± I was oblivious to the fact that my voice sounded increasingly tender as I went on. ¡°Despite witnessing her family¡¯s tragic demise with her own eyes, she has continued to strive for higher heights without losing her way. She¡¯s lonely, but there are people who care about her. His Majesty wants to crown her as a Princess, but she chose the toughest path. You can call her foolish, but I b-¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± All emotions were gone from Jingan¡¯s face.

    ¡°I¡¯m not done yet.¡±

    ¡°Stop. That¡¯s enough.¡±

    Thest two words sounded improvised.

    Wh-what¡¯s her deal?

    ¡°Uh, aren¡¯t you the one who wanted to know?¡±

    Jingan had her brows together for whatever reason, making me feel bewildered, too.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough. Wh-why did you say so much?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, it was your question. What¡¯s the second question. Didn¡¯t you have three questions for me?¡±

    I called Jingan¡¯s name several times, but she seemed to be in another dimension.

    ¡°Hey! The second quest-¡±

    ¡°Not asking anymore.¡±

    What?! If you¡¯re going to y hard to get, at least y! What¡¯s the deal with starting and then stopping before you even finish step one?!

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like asking anymore.¡± Jingan, for the first time in memory, couldn¡¯t control her eye movements for a while. When she moved her gaze back to me, she had her brows knitted together. ¡°I want to sleep now,¡± she said before reaching around on the bed for a pillow.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    You¡¯ve bewildered me enough! I¡¯m not going to let this end on your terms, too!

    ¡°I answered one of your questions, so you should at least answer one of mine!¡±

    Jingan climbed into her nket and pulled it up to her the top of her lips. ¡°What question?¡±

    I stopped to think. No way was I letting such a rare opportunity slip through my fingers. ¡°Who did you send after me?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why do you want Navagraha Star Summoner for? You seem to fear Tianhu.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Who wouldn¡¯t be fearful of one of the three strongest?¡±

    ¡°So, he will cause you trouble if hees back?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily, although he did say he would.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I heard he wants to test your fighting skills. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°You have spies among Fiends¡¯ Gen-, no, you¡¯re manipting someone in Fiends¡¯ Genesis, as well? No, no, no, don¡¯t change the topic!¡±

    ¡°Do you want to know the situation in Beiping?¡±

    ¡°You even know what¡¯s happening in Beiping¡­¡±

    ¡°Ming Suwen marched a force to Sixth Brother¡¯s abode. Six Brother defended his home against the her force of thousands upon thousands of elites with over a thousand of his troops for six days. Ming Suwen nned to infiltrate with a group of elites. No matter who wins, a grudge will be formed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t worried about Young Shiyi¡¯s safety. I was worried she¡¯d run out of patience and ask Grandmaster to join¡­ Or lie that Blue Prince bullied her to make him give her a hand. Grandmaster was old, but, if he decided to fight, Blue Prince would probably be sent back to the capital as an example, and Mount Daluo would be the biggest threat to the nation.

    ¡°Has Tianhu not arrived yet?!¡±

    ¡°He has. Whatever he told her led to Ming Suwen losing her vigour, and she withdrew her troops. Knowing how petty Sixth Brother is, he most likely will try to chase up the matter with Mount Daluo.¡±

    ¡­ We¡¯ll cross that bridgees to it.

    Both parties were far apart, so they¡¯d leave me be for now.

    ¡°Fuma, do you know what Navagraha Star Summoner is?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°It is an item passed down every generation within Emperor¡¯s Entourage. Navagraha Star Summoner is separated into two parts, with the main part kept safe in the imperial pce.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°There certainly isn¡¯t anyone who could pinch it if he¡¯s guarding it.¡±

    Jinganughed behind her hand. ¡°You¡¯re so naughty. I had no idea you knew so many things about our family.¡±

    ¡°What exactly are you trying to say?¡±

    ¡°The secondary part is made by every generation¡¯s Tianhu using their own material of choice. The current Tianhu made it out of jade.¡± Jingan took out the halved piece of jade from under the nket. ¡°I heard the piece of jade was given to him by the most important person to him, but someone in Beiping snapped it. The person responsible happens to share some semnce to you¡­ I have given you your answer. Please solve it on your own.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 46

    Unforeseen Situation

    I walked out of Eight Deities with the halved piece of jade. I never expected Jingan to assign Tianhu to my life. I discerned at first nce that the person who broke the piece of jade broke it using Mount Daluo¡¯s martial arts. I couldn¡¯t identify who it was, but the amount of force required to break the jade piece would require them to have mastered Mount Daluo¡¯s Castoff.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Based on Jingan¡¯s recount, I was quite confident in my conjecture of how it happened. Tianhu must¡¯ve jumped into the battlefield while they were fighting, and some piece of crap sneak attacked Tianhu using Mount Daluo¡¯s skills. Tianhu probably didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it on ount of them being from Mount Daluo, but he didn¡¯t know they broke his possession and pinched half of it. The assant didn¡¯t show their real face. Instead, they posed as me to create a misunderstanding.

    Since Jingan had spies in Fiends¡¯ Genesis and Nanjiang, she learnt about Tianhu testing and suspecting me ¨C as well as his enmity towards me. If someone with my appearance attacked him to protect Young Shiyi and, as a consequence, broke his most treasured possession, then he¡¯de back to me looking for revenge.

    I only had oneint. I couldn¡¯t care less how hard it was for them to find the actor; at least get your facts right. I never even learnt Castoff! Where would you find someone remotely as handsome as me to pose as me?! Everyone knew I didn¡¯t know a lick of Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines!

    I wanted to learn Castoff; it was Mount Daluo¡¯s signature internal discipline, after all. Whether you shed, stabbed, punched or pped, everybody would recognise you were Hero Shenzhou¡¯s disciple if you used Castoff. Before my shifu reduced Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation to its current tragic state, you just had to give them a tiny taste of Castoff, and allies would bow down in reverence, while hostiles would dig themselves holes. It was the equivalent of shing an Emperor¡¯s token.

    Besides Sixth, no members of Mount Daluo dared to utilise Castoff anymore, and they¡¯d keep a low profile if they had to. If allies heard, they¡¯de chasing after them to demand alcohol and brothel debts. If enemies heard, they¡¯d gather their brothers for a war. Therefore, I didn¡¯t care for it now. Back then, though, I was a diehard fan of it and even pestered Shifu to teach it to me.

    Back then, Shifu puffed out a breath of smoke from his pipe, narrowed his eyes and replied, ¡°Why do you want to learn it? Its name itself is a tell-tale sign that it¡¯s bad luck. Castoff, Castoff, casting off life for sess. What¡¯s being cast off? The disaster it is, is being cast off. Shut up. No learning Castoff. If you have time to waste on it, spend that time practicing our sect¡¯s Yijin Jing, Tai Chi¡­ Just learn other stuff, okay? Leave me alone now. I¡¯m busy thinking¡­ Red dragon!¡±

    Whenever I thought of Castoff nowadays, I¡¯d also imagine a red dragon mah-jong hand.

    Tianhu only left for Beiping a few days ago, so the jade issue was recent. They worked incredibly fast considering they already delivered the jade back to the capital. Assuming the jade was TIanhu¡¯s and the story was genuine, then Tianhu was most probably already on his way back for me.

    If Jingan sent someone connected to her to kill me, then Mount Daluo would eventually trace it back to her. Tianhu, on the other hand, was on the imperial court¡¯s side, thereby reducing her damage to the absolute minimum. That being said, it was unwise for her to opt to kill me now of all times. Though she had tried an assortment of assassination methods in the past three years, she never attempted any of them with absolute determination to kill me. At most, she wanted me close enough to death that she could preserve my crippled body in a vat or something.

    Mount Daluo hadn¡¯t weakened just because we¡¯d been keeping to ourselves for many years. If Grandmaster and Shifu were toe down from the mountain, the number of people who could handle them¡­ Just know I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle them. Jingan must¡¯ve known this fact, so it perplexed me as to why she¡¯d be in a rush to kill me. It still didn¡¯t make it reasonable if it was on ount of me being defenceless. Rather than kill me, wouldn¡¯t it have been a better opportunity to marinate me in a vat of soy sauce and vegetables? The risk to return on investment ratio was terrible. Nevertheless, the fact that Tianhu had been assigned the task of assassinating me meant that she was determined to have me killed.

    I didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what Jingan¡¯s group was plotting behind everyone¡¯s back, much less know what happened to spur them into suddenly wanting my life. Maybe I found out something that became a hindrance to their agenda?

    ¡°Benefactor, are you all right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, why?¡±

    ¡°It just that you have been sitting in a squat at the door for ages. How abouting inside?¡±

    I didn¡¯t even realise I was crouching at the entrance of Eight Deities until Gu Xianxian pointed it out. Teng andpany gave me a smile when I entered, seemingly impressed with how I managed to settle Zhao Tiankui.

    ¡°You seem to be troubled,¡± expressed, Gu Xianxian.

    Trying my best to ease their unease, I tried to sound as casual as possible as I answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that Tianhu ising for my life.¡±

    It was suddenly so quiet that I could even hear the breeze outside.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked.

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®What¡¯?! Do you know who Tianhu is?!¡±

    Some guy who has to let me wash his hair with manure?

    Lang Qing: ¡°The debt may be written off.¡±

    Teng: ¡°They say all debts are off when a man is dead. The saying is very reasonable.¡±

    ¡°Most importantly, can you beat him? Are you not history if he attacks you?¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°I¡¯ve been through all sorts of hells. I don¡¯t care even if he¡¯s The Apex Ultimate Three.¡±

    The group began whispering amongst each other.

    ¡°Will it really be all right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°Shall we leg it?¡±

    ¡°Will we make it?¡±

    ¡°Ask him.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be shameful to betray him?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s dead meat. The best we can do ise back to offer essence.¡±

    ¡°True.¡±

    The three of them then came back to me acting innocent. ¡°Benefactor, we have something to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Eight Deities¡¯ food nice?¡± Taking advantage of their stumped reactions, I continued, ¡°Yuan Kou ate it, and so did you three.¡±

    The three of them looked depressed and enraged, especially Gu Xianxian.

    ¡°Your wife is pregnant.¡± I wagged my hand. ¡°You¡¯re too paranoid. I wouldn¡¯t poison her.¡± Right when Gu Xianxian and his wife swapped their negative opinion of me for a good one, I added, ¡°What good is she? She can leave whenever she wants.¡±

    I¡¯ve been paying for your wife¡¯s food and living, yet she hasn¡¯t produced any results ¨C except for your kid. I¡¯d have kicked her out if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she had nowhere else to go.

    ¡°Rx. It¡¯s not like assassins will jump through the window any second. Will there be any end to it if you start worrying already?¡±

    I had just finished reassuring them when a st of qi came slicing down from the ceiling.

    ¡°An assassin really is here! Run!¡± cried Gu Xianxian.

 Book 14: Chapter 47

    An Attack from Above

    The qi from above came down as violently as a waterfall that¡¯d splinter anything it came into contact with. I rolled across the ground without sparing a care for appearances, but I still didn¡¯t escape its range. ¡°Guards!¡± I shouted.

    Lang Qing ripped out his broadsword and swung at the assant¡¯s neck. Since he couldn¡¯t block the attack from above, his only option was to force the assant into cancelling his won attack to defend himself. The aerial bronze-masked assant adjusted his qi to lower himself to meet Lang Qing. Lang Qing didn¡¯t have enough time to execute Cross Phantom Soul dework, but they were matched in terms of internal energy. As a result, their collision repelled them from each other.

    Lang Qing was close to the rails of the second floor, so he needed to rely on a chunk off his own strength to break his backward drift. He had his teeth clenched, ended up sinking several inches into the floor when he finally stopped and had blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.

    The exchange resulted in a draw, but Lang Qing took internal damage, while the assant used Lang Qing¡¯s force as a tform tounch themselves towards me. I saw a sh of golden light, and then my left shoulder was spraying blood. Had I not dodged quickly, half of my head would¡¯ve been missing.

    As I judged the next attack to be impossible to evade, I ignored the pain to yell, ¡°Needlerain!¡±

    Ning Zhuoru, who hid behind the wine counter from the start of the attack, popped up and fired a rain of needles. The distraction bought me a brief moment before the masked assassin imbued their de in golden energy and deflected all the needles. Meanwhile, Ning Zhuoru ducked behind the counter again as per my earlier instructions. However, the assant sent the needles back in Ning Zhuoru¡¯s direction at more then ten times the original velocity, so they prated the counter without any hassle.

    Gu Xianxian roared at the top of his lungs as he listened the clings and ngs that resembled a synchronised collision. Ning Zhuoru fell to the ground with a pallor face, but she didn¡¯t have any injuries.

    I had Proprietor Shi add two extra iron boards into the counter beforehand in case of such events, and the couple was aware. The assant¡¯s might was just so far beyond their expectations that they forgot about my insurance.

    The assassin hadn¡¯t forgotten I was his target, but the path to me was now obstructed.

    The assassin whipped his broadsword horizontally, stopping a nigh-invisible steel string. Even though he cut the string sessfully, he didn¡¯t carelessly advance into the ten more strings hidden behind them.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Teng used the extra time to increase the distance between them. Lang Qing, having recovered from the damage, returned to my side. Yuan Kou raced up from the first floor.

    I took out a pipe and said, ¡°This is a real needlerain. Want to try deflecting needles again?¡±

    The assassin eyed me from head to toe, snorted, jumped out the window from the second floor and vanished without a trace.

    I rose to my feet and vigntly scanned the floor for any dangerous presences prior to tearing a part of my clothing, sealing my acupoint to staunch the bleeding,thering some herbs on and bandaging my wound. Needless to say, I remained vignt of my surroundings whilstpleting the process.

    Gu Xianxian, still tense, asked, ¡°Is he gone¡­?¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Should be.¡±

    Everyone exhaled a breath of relief.

    Though I had encountered several assassins over thest few days back to back, all of them added up weren¡¯t half as dangerous as the two swings at me. Had Ning Zhuoru been a momentte, I¡¯d have less a limb ¨C if not dead. Not only was the assassin skilled and quick, but he was also smart. As an assassin, he was first rate. The most dangerous skill he had, though, was his ability to avoid my ears.

    It wasn¡¯t that I could hear everyone¡¯s movements, much less when I had no internal energy. The ability to avoid detection wasn¡¯t based on their progress in their training but their type of discipline. Plenty of people had tried to assassinate me before, but they all made one particrmon mistake. I could hear the flow of blood and qi in people; in the case of not having internal energy, I¡¯d have to be in close proximity to hear them. Assassins would mould energy to veil their movements and maintain an emotionless visage, but I already heard the reactions of their meridians when they collected internal energy, so I knew they were going to attack. The more one was advanced in their internal discipline, the clearer I could recognise the patterns. For that reason, the most ideal candidates to assassinate me were untrained people. Among the highly trained, only the direct subordinates of League of Assassins¡¯ boss could hide themselves to a point where they could get close to me without detection.

    There were only three other types of people who could assassinate me ¨C the dead, the cream of the crop and gods.

    The dead were those who could feign death convincingly. There weren¡¯t many of them in the world; if you ran into them, you could only consider yourself unlucky.

    The cream of the crop were the worst type. Either they had pushed their internal energy development to a stage that surpassed Divine Realm, or they knew me so well that they could imitate the movements of people around me precisely down the most minute detail. The former was limited to just three people ¨C Shaolin and Wudang¡¯s patriarchs, as well as my grandmaster. My shifu was the prime example of thetter. He could creep up on me without me ever realising it was him.

    The gods were as rare as they came because¡­ they didn¡¯t involve themselves in the mundane world. They resembled the immortals and deities you heard of in myths, not because their martial prowess was beyond human imagination, but because the disciplines they trained tended towards the voodoo, spiritual ¨C forck of better words ¨C sort of stuff. The only person I knew of who fit the bill was Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s Sword Deity, who imed to be learning the workings of heaven through swordy ¨C hence the title Sword Deity.

    The masked assassin blended in with nature perfectly until the moment he struck, so I¡¯d ssify him as someone who belonged to the ¡°gods¡± category.

    I already have a god on me before Tianhu even returned? How many people are out for my life, man¡­?

    Unable to hold it in any longer, Lang Qing regurgitated a mouthful of blood. I went to support him, only for him to push my hand away.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°His sh¡­ is the same as yours!¡± Lang Qing viewed me as someone he needed to be extremely wary off.

 Book 14: Chapter 48

    Broadswordy Origins¡­ What?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lang Qing spent a while staring at me, only to then shake his head. ¡°No, there are some differences.¡±

    In that timeframe, Lang Qing¡¯splexion worsened, indicating his injuries were exacerbating. Therefore, I immediately checked his pulse, then called Teng and Yuan Kou over to massage specific meridian points to stimte healing.

    Hiding energy was an advanced method among internal discipline practitioners. Not only did he imbue the energy into his de in an undetectable manner, but he even predicted Lang Qing would block the seemingly moderate sh in order to stay engaged.

    The assassin¡¯s single sh contained threeyers of concealed energy. The energy didn¡¯t instantly start causing trouble as soon as it entered the body. Instead, it remained dormant, only reacting and wreaking havoc once the victim moulded energy. Like three sharp des, the victim would inflict more damage to themselves every time they moulded energy, so the cause of death could remain undetectable. Luckily for Lang Qing, I knew how to treat the condition.

    After Yuan Kou expelled the first energy source, I said, ¡°I need to make a trip to the academy. You guys get ready. Actually, have a pigeon summon Zhao Tiankui over.¡±

    Yuan Kou subconsciously shelled up with his arms. ¡°What are you calling him here for?¡±

    ¡°Without him, we¡¯ll be in a mire. Go!¡±

    Since I was stern for once, Yuan Kou knew I meant what I said.

    If my opponent was someone else, as long as they hadn¡¯t reached Quasi-Divine, then I¡¯d have some way of dealing with them. The masked assassin, however, was full of mysteries. I wasn¡¯t going to risk leaving Eight Deities without an up-to-standard bodyguard squad.

    As I watched Teng nurse Lang Qing¡¯s injury, I reflected on the details of the assassination attempt. I never heard any of the assassins¡¯ movements, so I could say with absolute certainty that he learnt some discipline rted to understanding heaven¡¯s workings.

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°He must be part of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, right? I heard they have a Sword Immortal Grasshouse that teaches people how to understand heaven¡¯s workings. It matches up with everything you have said.¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s not all.¡± I shook my head and sighed. ¡°Although I hate to say it¡­ they are not they only ones. Among the Seven Champion White Princes alone, there is also Bai n.¡±

    ¡°Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n?¡±

    ¡°Among the White Princes, Luo Sword Manor and ck Robe Brotherhood practice their ancestors¡¯ disciplines. Song and Jin ns blend a multitude of stuff into their martial arts. Cold Mountain Temple wouldn¡¯t be chasing heaven¡¯s dao when they¡¯re monks. Only Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary Sword Deity and Valley of Yearning¡¯s Brilliant Broadsworder research heaven¡¯s ways.¡±

    I basically repeated Grandmaster¡¯s conclusions. When it came toprehension of martial arts, you could trust his judgement. Shifu did say Bai n and Sword Immortal Grasshouse¡¯s martial arts had no connections, but he never denied that Brilliant Broadsworder, who was able to survive solo in the pugilistic world, trained martial arts connected to heaven¡¯s dao.

    ¡°Bai n¡¯s current representatives in the capital are Bai Yumo and Bai Laimu. Mount Lu¡¯s is Ling¡­ Mabi¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s his name. The assassin would beat all three of them simultaneously without breaking a sweat.¡±

    Yes, there were enough people in the capital out for my life that you could build a mountain out of them, but it didn¡¯t make sense for the White Princes to target me. There was no logical reason for them to personally get involved.

    Luo Ming was forced to kill me ¨C and he was sort of crazy ¨C because I was a hindrance to his revenge n. He wouldn¡¯t have tried to kill me if he had an alternative. All the upper echelon of the Seven Champion White Princes were aware that Mount Daluo was no pushover. My shifu alone made them suffer plenty. Mount Lu¡­ Well¡­ Just know he made them suffer plenty of times.

    Why would they want to assassinate me now? Or am I on the wrong track, and the masked assassin isn¡¯t connected to them? Is it just pure coincidence that I ran into him? But, then, why would he want to kill me?

    I wanted to hurry to the academy to test my theory.

    Teng¡¯s progressed drastically in his internal discipline after leaving the underground pce, so he was able to expel the remaining foreign energy from Lang Qing¡¯s body.

    Lang Qing slowly exhaled with a much healthierplexion.

    ¡°What were you on about?¡± I asked. ¡°You said his de techniques are the same as mine?¡®

    Since when have I swung a de around in your presence?

    ¡°Do you know why I have been willing to follow you?¡± queried Lang Qing.

    Isn¡¯t it because of my great looks and cultured personality?

    ¡°Because of your broadsword techniques.¡±

    I nodded.

    So, when did I use a broadsword around you?

    ¡°You dismantled my broadswordy in the underground pce.¡±

    I reflected.

    I don¡¯t think I dismantled your technique. It was your technique that was virtually the technique I created. Also, I only created one technique. I¡¯m still wondering how you managed to create an entire set of broadsword techniques.

    Although Lang Qing hand a tight grip on his long and short broadswords, he chose to draw his long one. ¡°Originally, I used a single broadsword,¡± he said, then added the short one to his grip. ¡°I switched to Cross Phantom Soul Broadswordy because I picked up a snapped broadsword many years ago.¡±

    ¡°Snapped de?¡±

    ¡°A snapped de with text carved onto it. Although it was notplete, it imparted an amazing broadsword discipline.¡±

    ¡­ What?

    ¡°Despite all the years I had trained for, I had never seen anything as sophisticated; everything I learnt prior was worthless inparison.¡±

    ¡­ What?

    ¡°I was obsessed with learning it since I discovered it. I was never considered a respected broadsword wielder in the pugilistic world until I studied the manual.¡± Lang Qing cast his gaze my way. ¡°I know you won¡¯t tell me why you were able to dismantle my technique, but I worship the discipline, yet I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve even learnt one-fifth of the original. Therefore, I¡¯m determined to find the creator to learn more.¡±

    What?

    ¡°I have obeyed you in order to learn who the creator was. I would like to consult him on the discipline and hope to learn some more.¡±

    ¡­ Mm¡­ What?

    ¡°The masked assassin used a simr mental cultivation to the one you used when you dismantled my technique, so I thought you learnt from the same teacher. When I think about it, though¡­ It made no sense since he tried to kill you. If that¡¯s the case, why are your techniques identical? Can you give me an exnation?¡±

    I shifted my gaze from Lang Qing¡¯s dome to his feet.

    ¡­ What the hell are you talking about again?

 Book 14: Chapter 49

    Explosive Broadswordy

    Give me a sec¡­

    I think it was¡­ ten years ago? That was when innocent me was blindly running around in the pugilistic world and was led astray. I couldn¡¯t tell you the details even you put a de up to my neck because I couldn¡¯t even remember what I did on which day when so many things happened. Long-story short, those were my wild years of youth. Those days, I was a tad-slightly-just-a-little unstable.

    At the time, I felt I hadpleted my training and believed I was unstoppable, so I eschewed a condescending attitude. I¡¯d walk out the door believing I was the man with the strongest arms, the man with the greatest charm and the man who could do the most harm. Since I had my junior brothers following me, I believed the entire world was my domain after a few drinks. Patriarchs, matriarchs, shifus, cult leaders, sect leaders, world leaders, I believed I could drop one with one punch and two with one kick. When I was in a good mood, I¡¯d show some respect. When I wasn¡¯t in a good mood, they had to call me ¡°Daddy¡±!

    My chunnibyou days didn¡¯tst for long, but I didmit a number of wild deeds, such as using a slingshot to shoot the que of Shaolin¡¯s Buddhist Texts Library,thering Wudang¡¯s statue with mud, divulging my shifu¡¯s whereabouts, pissing into a sandstorm with Ximen Chuideng¡­ Just, you know, not virtuous stuff. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, scoundrels around me sowed discord, leading to yours great truly losing his way.

    Every great master since the beginning of time had to create his own martial arts to leave his mark in history. Grandmaster had Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual, and Shifu had Heavenly Net Sacred Records. If people discovered I was still relying solely on my shifu¡¯s teachings and other disciplines I learnt via unscrupulous means to make a name for myself, they¡¯dugh themselves to death. As such, I manifested the desire to create a never-before-seen-historic-unmatched-evil-spirit-scaring-god-staring-heaven-shaking-earth-trembling-explosive martial arts discipline. However, as you could see from my description, due to myck of liter-, experience due to young age, I couldn¡¯t think of where to start after several days of hard thinking.

    I could use a decent number of disciplines, but it was dreadfully difficult to create a new discipline whenter generations of Mount Daluo copied our predecessors¡¯ works, but I had held the wolf by its ears; I couldn¡¯tpromise my credibility after all my talk, right? For that reason, I synthesised all the skills I could utilise to create the de techniques.

    Everyone pped with disappointment until I performed the techniques seven times consecutively. That was when they finally unanimously admitted it was a never-before-seen-historic-unmatched-evil-spirit-scaring-god-staring-heaven-shaking-earth-trembling-explosive set of de techniques. Later on, I learnt that all their praise was just lip service and that they thought I was pathetic, so I unfriended them.

    Everyone has been young once, so let¡¯s not talk about our childish times, okay?

    Once I had a few more years to mature and read more, my literacy l-, experience levels caught up, when I was adept with the pen as I was with the sword, I came up with the epic-explosive Seven King Strings!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tell me now that I¡¯m illiter-, inexperienced!

    Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Although the usage method differed, I only created the one set.

    I believed Lang Qing improved by leaps and bounds after learning the techniques given it was a never-before-seen-historic-unmatched¡­ heaven-shaking-earth-trembling-explosive set of de techniques. However, I remembered my knowledge was not that m-, a lot lower than it was at present, so I couldn¡¯t understand how I could¡¯ve possibly written so much text¡­ that was actually evenprehensible. A manual? That was impossible for me to author. Everyone on Mount Daluo knew I mistook swordy manuals for broadswordy manuals and mistook broadswordy manuals for recipe books. The only thing you¡¯d be through studying my broadswordy manual would be an excellent chef. Jin Dagang¡¯s corpse was still warm, yet here we had another broadsword freak. I didn¡¯t even know what year Lang Qing referred to. Moreover, even if Lang Qing did somehow pick up a broadswordy manual I somehow managed to write, that didn¡¯t exin why the masked assassin shared the same techniques.

    ¡°How should I know?!¡± grouched Lang Qing. ¡°His techniques and the way you snatched my weapon from me is identical. Although the visual appearance was different, the amount of force and method of applying force were identical. How could they be so simr if the mental cultivation was different?¡±

    Yes, I did use my original skill to disarm Lang Qing, but it was effortless because his technique derived from mine. It was basically taking back what was originally mine.

    If the masked assassin¡¯s technique derives from the same source, then¡­ did he also pick up the manual? Is his version more sophisticated because he knows more of itpared to Lang Qing?

    That doesn¡¯t make sense, though¡­ Sure, my techniques were explosive, but they had nothing to do with heaven¡¯s dao. That proved that the masked assassin learnt his martial arts from somewhere else that had nothing to do with me. In other words, in addition to training my discipline, he trained a discipline rted to the research of heaven¡¯s dao. The conclusion just led me back to the starting point.

    There were reasonable grounds for me to suspect Bai Yumo and Bai Laimu. On top of their affiliation, the fact that Zuo Suniang nned to bring in elites meant that the assassin could very well be a part of them. So, in the end, the Seven Champion White Princes were still the prime suspects.

    Lang Qing said, ¡°I assumed you two were fellow disciples, but now I have no clue since he wants your life.¡±

    ¡°Stop thinking. The carriage has arrived.¡±

    Yuan Kou and Zhao Tiankui entered.

    Zhao Tiankui saluted me with a cupped-fist salute. ¡°My respects, Duke Ming.¡±

    Boy, was I d to see Yuan Kou. No matter how tough the masked assassin was, surely he couldn¡¯t slip past Zhao Tiankui and Lang Qing, right? By the time he was locked up with them, the Qilin Guards would have enough time to arrive on the scene.

    ¡°Brother Zhao, you need to be on 120% alert level!¡± Imanded.

    Zhao Tiankui. ¡°120%?¡±

    ¡°As high as you can go. Protect me with everything you have! You don¡¯t have to worry about anything else!¡±

    Teng, Gu Xianxian, Ning Zhuoru and even Yuankou reactively glued themselves to me.

    ¡­ Fine. Better to have meat shields than nothing at all. Your lives, not mine.

    The short journey from Eight Deities to Daren Academy went without a hitch. I felt a weight off my shoulders once we entered the academy. Besides the skilled security detail on the academy grounds, Uncle Huang¡¯s direct senior disciple, He Kanyu, who was said to have reached Quasi-Divine was also around. Still, I told them to tighten up security. Thankfully, the first day of the idolpetition had ended, so the team wasn¡¯t too spread out.

    When I met Tang Ye, I asked him how things were going.

    ¡°We have a bit of a problem,¡± answered Tang Ye. ¡°Che Gulu¡¯s group basicallypeted forst ce in mathematics, but Xiao Han won when it seemed that Song Chi¡¯s group would win.¡±

    ¡°Su Xiao¡¯s calctions were so on point?!¡±

    ¡°I guess. Xiao Han said he was good at mathematics before he left home to be begin with and had expanded his knowledge under Miss Jin¡¯s tutorship.¡±

    That exins how Su Xiao suddenly had so many ploys and deployed them so skilfully. Why didn¡¯t His Majesty send Xiao to the Ministry of Revenue to study when Xiao has a photographic memory? He probably could¡¯ve cooked the books to make me some extra dozens of thousands of pocket money.

    ¡°In short, we are at an advantage at the moment; I guess we¡¯ll see how the next two rounds go. Right now, though, there is something more important.¡± The most important thing at the moment was determining if the Seven Champion White Princes were allies of the masked assassin. ¡°Ling Mabi around?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking about him? He¡¯s not around; I haven¡¯t seen him once today.¡±

    ¡­ What? Besides being vain and looking useless, thatme guy is useless. Is he actually Sword Deity¡¯s secret disciple? Is Sword Deity¡¯s vision impaired or something? His choice in disciples is worse than my grandmaster¡¯s.

    ¡°Stop where you are!¡±

    I left my mental ne to see Lan Jiqiong chasing Ling Mabi right past me.

    ¡°How dare you peep on students bathing on the academy grounds?! It¡¯s wrong to peep on female students, but you peeped on male students!¡± raged Lan Jiqiong, racing after Ling Mabi like a mad bull.

    ¡°It was for love! Love!¡±

    Probably every corner of Daren Academy heard Ling Mabi¡¯s promation.

    Once they were out of sight, Tang Ye pulled his clothing tighter around his body and muttered, ¡°No wonder why he was nowhere to be seen today.¡±

    I take back what I said. There was no way Ling Mabi was Sword Deity¡¯s disciple. He¡¯d never learn from a sword deity; the only deity he¡¯d learn from was the sick-pervert deity! I, therefore, figured the Seven Champion White Princes weren¡¯t guilty of targeting me.

    ¡°Is Bai Yumo around?¡± I queried.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Phew. d to know I was overthink-

    ¡°She just came back; she pretty much returned right before you did.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 50

    Epic Family Reunion Scene

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t been around for a while. She was supposed to participate in the mathematics contest, but someone had to stand in for her due to her absence. My memory is definitely correct.¡± Noticing my squint, Tang Ye lowered his voice. ¡°I then saw her hurry to the room they rendezvous.¡±

    Lang Qing, standing beside me, asked, ¡°It has to be her, then, right?¡±

    Yuan Kou mumbled, ¡°How surprising to know ass could be so dangerous. The organisation never mentioned her, either¡­¡±

    If they did tell you and you didn¡¯t tell me, I¡¯d have butchered you already.

    I muttered, ¡°Valley of Yearning¡¯s Bai n¡­¡±

    Among the Seven Champion White Princes, Cold Mountain Temple, Jin n and Bai n could be trusted. Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Venerable Monk and Jin n¡¯s patriarch were both respected people and friends. Bai n¡¯s third master was my shifu¡¯s henchm-, mighty lieutenant! For his daughter to be an assassin who¡¯d killed so many people¡­

    ¡°Worst case scenario, we can just ask her in person¡­ Tang Ye, how many deaths is the bronze-masked killer responsible for up until now?¡±

    Tang Ye went silent.

    ¡°Seventy-three people.¡±

    I looked over my shoulder to see Long Zaitian, now sporting a green robe with a tiger sewn on, sauntering over with his chin hiked up.

    What happened to this guy¡¯s favourite pink? And why is even the pattern on his robe different? Only third-rank officials can use tiger patterns¡­

    Seeing my agape mouth, Long Zaitianughed with satisfaction.

    I took two steps towards Long Zaitian. ¡°Cuck, what¡¯s with your getup?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, surprised? This c-, fark you, Ming Feizhen!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, my mouth was faster than my brain. What¡¯s your deal? Why are you sporting a different appearance today?¡±

    ¡°Different, right?¡± smugly asked Long Zaitian.

    I bobbed my head.

    Long Zaitian pointed to his chest with his thumb. ¡°I got promoted!¡±

    ¡°Congrats, congrats. What worthless rank are you now?¡±

    Long Zaitian cracked a big smile that went from one ear to the other until he realised what I said. ¡°Don¡¯t screw with me!¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, look at you. Are you our The Ultimate Four¡¯s green tiger?¡±

    ¡°Shut up. From now on, call me Marshal Long!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the King of a mountain?¡±

    ¡°Piss off! His Majesty kindly conferred me the title of Capital¡¯s Guard Marshal. From now on, I¡¯ll be in charge of the capital¡¯s security alongside Sir Bao, especially the security of the nine gates.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t that make you the top guard dog of Heaven Gate?

    ¡°Since when has a third-rank marshal even existed?¡±

    ¡°His Majesty said there are no vacant important posts, so he assigned me this post for now to train new recruits and whatever. I¡¯ll be promoted to Marshal.¡±

    It sounds like you were just coaxed into ving away rather than being promoted.

    I wagged my hand. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you, either. I¡¯m here to investigate a case.¡±

    ¡°What case? Liu Shan Men is typically in charge of investigations, while you Qilin Guards arrest the culprits. Why are you doing our job now?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, you didn¡¯t know Vice-Captain Shen is being transferred? Since she¡¯s being transferred, someone needs to step up and protect the peace in the capital. You can¡¯t entrust the job to Song Ou, right?¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Therefore, being the wise monarch that he is, His Majesty thought of a dashing and mighty candidate. Guess who he chose?¡± Long Zaitian raised his eyebrows smugly.

    ¡°Wang Tushui?¡±

    ¡°No, why would he have to oversee the martial world?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Prime Minister Li?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s someone from the three offices overseeing the martial world.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then it must be Dugu. He¡¯s experienced and high ranked.¡±

    ¡°Wrong!¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you? I¡¯ll make it easy for you: he¡¯s a Qilin Guard.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh! Yi Ya?¡± I guessed.

    ¡°No!¡±

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Zhan Qiu!¡±

    Zhao Tiankui: ¡°Xie Duzhe!¡±

    ¡°Wrong! All wrong!¡±

    ¡°All wrong?¡± I turned to Tang Ye. ¡°Anyone else?¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone.¡±

    ¡°Me!¡±

    Us: ¡°Ooooooh.¡±

    ¡°Just you fools wait! I¡¯ll personally crush all of you one day!¡±

    ¡°What exactly are you here for? Can you stop the crosstalk? My time is precious!¡±

    ¡°How dare you lose your temper first?! I came here after hearing you know the whereabouts of the bronze-masked assassin. What were you talking about before I came? Any clues?¡±

    Lucky Long Zaitian was in the capital. I shared everything I knew since there was no reason to withhold it from him.

    With a constipated expression, Long Zaitian voiced, ¡°You¡¯re saying Bai n¡¯s Bai Yumo is the masked assassin? Ever heard of watching your mouth? Do you realise how much her father and mother dote on her? If you piss her father off, you¡­¡± He leaned in and whispered, ¡°He¡¯s the least likely to revolt. Don¡¯t give His Majesty grief.¡±

    ¡°What grief? You can¡¯t just leave a potential threat in the capital alone, right? She has permission to have an audience with him. What if she uses the pretext of putting on a performance to assassinate him?¡±

    Long Zaitian took it to heart. Based on what I knew about him, he was more loyal to Baima than he was to His Majesty. However, there was no guarantee the next Emperor would acknowledge the promise to promote him to marshal, so he had every reason to be concerned.

    ¡°There certainly is a need to seek confirmation, then. Let¡¯s go. Where is she?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to interrogate her? Serious? You Qilin Guards would even rule a death by being hanged, drawn and quartered as suicide at this rate. You¡¯re alerting the snake in the grass, you dummy. Aren¡¯t you just giving her the chance to prepare an alibi? Let a professional handle it. Tang Ye, where was I before I was interrupted?¡±

    Tang Ye lowered his head. ¡°You said we were going to go question her.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s go ask her, then.¡±

    As I started walking away with the group, Long Zaitian eximed, ¡°You really have no shame! What happened to alerting the snake in the grass?!¡±

    Uh, the snake has toe out of the grass for you to catch.

    ¡°Do you have a n?¡± inquired Long Zaitian.

    ¡°Who cares about strategy when we have so many people? Aura! Aura is the most important, understand?!¡±

    Everyone: ¡°Understood!¡±

    Before we even knocked on Bai Yumo¡¯s door, someone inside asked, ¡°Who is the audacious individual outside? Is Confucianism not worthy of your respect?¡±

    Eh? They¡¯re prepared?

    ¡°What are you just standing there for? Move. Tax inspection!¡± Long Zaitian booted the door open. Next thing we knew, he had yelped and jumped back out the door, one hand being used to stop the bleeding from his behind. ¡°Pussies use projectiles!¡±

    I was trying to warn you that there was an ambush waiting to spring by the door¡­

    Inside the room were Song Chi, Xun Feng who fired the projectile, Ling Mabi and the person we were looking for ¨C the seemingly scared Bai Yumo.

    ¡°We thought someone dangerous was barging in. Please forgive us, Captain Long,¡± expressed Song Chi,ing out with his hands in salute.

    Their reaction was totally understandable. Shooting projectiles if an aggressive group of fighters kicked their door down was a rtively nice responsepared to the alternatives.

    Xun Feng smiled. ¡°This one would not have fired a poisonous projectile had he known it was you.¡±

    To keep up appearances and his imposing manner, Long Zaitian yanked the projectile straight out, causing his bum to bleed profusely. Face straight and voice low, he asked, ¡°There¡¯s poison on it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°The antidote.¡± Realising his attitude might never get him the antidote, Long Zaitian added, ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Xun Feng affably conceded.

    When Long Zaitian met with my gaze, he lowered his head in shame.

    Now watch a real pro in action.

    ¡°Please pardon us foring over so rashly,¡± I conveyed, toning down the intensity of the atmosphere.

    ¡°Might you be able to tell us the reason for you visit, Duke Ming?¡± Song Chi looked towards me. ¡°I thought we made it clear between usst time.¡±

    ¡°Never said I believed you.¡±

    Song Chi set one hand behind his back, then, using Voice Transmission,municated, ¡°Song n truly does not wish to oppose you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to oppose you, either. I¡¯m not here for you. I have something I want to ask Miss Bai.¡±

    The three guys¡¯ reactions told me that they wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if I was looking for them.

    Bai Yumo batted her eyelids. ¡°Wh-what do you want to ask me about? I-I barely know you.¡±

    Hah, your acting skills are an insult to my intelligence.

    I smiled. ¡°Indeed, we do not know each other well, but that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re not linked in any way. My shifu and your father are closely acquainted. My shimu is also your father¡¯s¡­ niece¡­¡± I started pausing in between my words because it felt weird to say. ¡°So¡­ in terms of seniority¡­ I¡­ should have to address you¡­ as¡­¡±

    Is my brain not keeping up with my mouth?! Can¡¯t I find different words for befriending her?!

    ¡°¡­ Aunt¡­¡± I had a strong feeling that I managed to single-handedly destroy our imposing aura.

    Bai Yumo hid her rosy cheeks behind Song Chi. ¡°¡­ Yes?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 51

    Allow Me to Host a Serious Meeting

    You weren¡¯t supposed to respond to that! Don¡¯t give me that dirty look! I wasn¡¯t trying to reunite with family! I didn¡¯t even remember our connection existed! It¡¯s my shifu¡¯s fault!

    ¡°Your embarrassment!¡± Long Zaitian pulled me back. ¡°Marshal Long here has questions for you lot.¡±

    Song Chi politely instructed, ¡°Brother Xun Feng, hold off on sharing the antidote for a moment.¡±

    ¡°You can go.¡± Long Zaitian backed down.

    Tang Ye pushed Long Zaitian and I back. ¡°Miss Bai, where were you during the mathematics contest?¡±

    Bai Yumo poked her head out from behind Song Chi and looked weing.

    Lass, you need to protect your tummy if you crush on good-looking guys!

    ¡°I was with Young Master Ling.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan sonorously asserted, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Why did you leave when you were registered for the mathematics contest?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan barked, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business! Who are you to question her?¡±

    ¡°We are here on business.¡±

    Song Chi smiled. ¡°Business? You have been reinstated? The Ministry of Personnel has yet to receive your paper work; you are not permitted to carry out work, are you?¡±

    Tang Ye couldn¡¯t argue when he knew Song Chi was privy to the details since he helped Song Ou run Liu Shan Men. Hence, he pointed to the dragon behind him. ¡°He is here to carry out a job.¡±

    Long Zaitian restored his tough-guy aura. ¡°Exactly. What are you staring at?! I¡¯ve just been promoted. I¡¯m overseeing security in the capital from now. I¡¯m here for the bronze-masked killer. Thess return-, Miss Bai, this one has a few questions for you.¡±

    Tang Ye frowned. ¡°Why are you chickening out?¡±

    ¡°You going to shield me from Third Master Bai if hees to avenge his daughter?!¡± Switching his tone back to a polite one, Long Zaitian resumed, ¡°Miss Bai, our¡­ group, through analysing arge body of data using high-quality analysis methods, have discovered some things worth looking into. The evidence suggests that you may have a slim chance of being connected to the bronze-masked killer who has beenmitting many murders in the capital. Of course, we are maintaining that these are only suspicious. Coincidentally, you happened to be missing when the bronze-masked killer showed up not long ago. Therefore, we wish to inquire where you have been.¡±

    ¡°I just told you: I was with Young Master Ling.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Case cleared. You have proven your innocence!¡±

    ¡°No she hasn¡¯t!¡± eximed Tang Ye. ¡°There are seven categories in thepetition, yet you are choosing to excuse yourself from participation from whenever you choose without any exnation? May I ask what you were doing with Young Master Ling? ording to our knowledge, he was too busy running just a while ago to even catch his breath.¡±

    Xun Feng stepped forward to confront Tang Ye. ¡°Why is there anything suspicious about that? Was it not Su Xiao who suggested the n? Why does it matter if we participate or not when we are deliberately throwing the contest?¡±

    ¡°Please answer the question.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan grouched, ¡°Don¡¯t push it! What are you going to do if we refuse to answer?!¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s question was nothing more than a procedural question without any substance. It¡¯d take a special idiot to think Bai Yumo would admit, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the masked killer. Bring it on.¡± Hence, it was a useless question no matter who posed it. The real aim of asking the pointless question was to buy me time to listen to how Bai Yumo¡¯s qi flowed.

    While the bronze-masked assassin utilised a bizarre internal discipline and could hide all movement sounds inbat, nobody would always be moulding energy the same way for every day life as they would inbat.

    When I fought Ling Fengxing, I remember him virtually blending into nature once he drew his sword. Purely through interlinked minds, I couldn¡¯t sense his presence; it was as if I was fighting nature itself. However, outside of that scenario, his flow of qi was vivid to my ears and simr to every other disciple of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, so it was safe to assume the concealment was a result of the internal discipline he learnt. Assuming Bai Yumo also practiced a discipline that explored the dao of heaven, then her qi flow would be unique. Irrespective of how she concealed it, there was bound to be some trace of difference. That was why I concentrated solely on listening to her qi flow while they engaged in verbal warfare.

    ¡­

    ¡­

    Mm, she¡¯s growing healthily. She¡¯s in perfect shape to give birth¡­ It¡¯s just a pity there¡¯s an imbnce of yin and yang in her body¡­ What the hell am I listening to?!

    Her flow of qi only proved that she was a typical maiden. Her internal flow was different to ordinary folks, but that was merely because she practiced Bai n¡¯s martial arts; it wasn¡¯t anything jaw-dropping. At most, she was a tad superior to Bai Laimu, but they were definitely practitioners of the same discipline ¨C Bai n¡¯s Yearning Broadswordy.

    As I was musing, I identally met with Bai Yumo¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°¡­ Hello, Aunt.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, hello.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you doing well?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ Thank you, nephew.¡±

    Why am I just staring at her?! Why did you have to marry his eldest niece, Shifu?! Let me smack you one! Now I understand how it feels for Shifu to run into Young Shiyi and why he runs! This is painfully embarrassing!

    As soon as I retreated a step, I noticed all the inquisitive gazes on me. When I flipped my palms face up, they all insulted me with their gazes.

    I never said I could definitely find out the truth! I said I¡¯d try! When did I ever promise anything?!

    ¡°That¡¯s all we have to say! What else do you want to ask?!¡± loudly asked Ling Shaoxuan, breaking my train of thought.

    Song Chi stepped out from his group of allies with his hands in front of him. The way his sleeves billowed made it clear that he had no qualms throwing hands. ¡°I was the one who asked Sister Bai to stay in the capital, so I have a duty to ensure her safety.¡±

    None of us could beat Song Chi one on one, so¡­

    ¡°Let me.¡± Zhao Tiankui marched to the front.

    ¡°He¡¯s pretty tough. Not even you may be able to beat him,¡± I warned.

    Eyes on the front, Zhao Tiankui whispered back, ¡°It¡¯s a chance to gain fame.¡±

    Go challenge Baima if you¡¯re so darn desperate for fame! Give me back my gratitude for mistaking you for supporting me!

    Since Song Chi never had even a lick of respect for Long Zaitian, he spoke directly to me. ¡°Duke Ming, you are a man who carries a prestigious identity. You would not abuse your power to make life difficult for a young girl, would you? That is not to mention she is your aunt.¡±

    Don¡¯t go leveraging family rtionships now.

    I reactively angled my face away from them.

    ¡°Or do you genuinely feel she and the assassin bear a strong resemnce?¡±

    ¡°Quite the contrary.¡± I shook my head. ¡°That being said, what the eyes hear may not correspond with what the eyes see.¡±

    I abruptly focused my gaze on Song Chi. He held his breath as he prepared to perform a palm technique with his left hand and knife-hand technique with his right. Neither of us won the mental warfare. I inhaled, then belted, ¡°Tang Ye!¡±

    Tang Ye zipped to the right from my left, passing Song Chi and Xun Feng, then chopped at Bai Yumo¡¯s neck without any reservation. With his skill, his hand was as sharp as an actual de. Bai Yumo crossed her arms to block, but she was toote.

    Tang Ye¡¯s technique was derived from a technique of Ancient King String designed to work as a counter. He passed through Bai Yumo¡¯s guard as if she never put up a guard and headed straight to her chin. A moment away from Tang Ye taking off her head, she fell backwards. Tang Ye suddenly rotated, and a sound of metal grinding came from his hand as he treated, effectively avoiding Song Chi¡¯s hand whip.

    At the same time Tang Ye steadied himself on his feet, Zhao Tiankui grunted as he advanced with his own punch, meeting Song Chi¡¯s palm head on with his fist. Both Zhao Tiankui and Song Chi were quite surprised by each other¡¯s strength when they were repelled seven steps back each. Realistically speaking, Zhao Tiankui would¡¯ve lost in an actual fight since Song Chi only intercepted with his palm when he had another knife hand ready, yet their sh resulted in a draw.

    Tang Ye cast the projectile he caught to the ground. Rather than be mad about Tang Ye catching his projectile, Xun Feng was angrier over the fact that Tang Ye slipped past him. Nevertheless, checking on Bai Yumo was more important than picking a fight.

    Ling Shaoxuan swiftly caught Bai Yumo when she passed out, so she didn¡¯t suffer a concussion. ¡°She¡¯s not hurt. She just passed out.¡±

    Tang Ye knew how to control his output, so he never hurt Bai Yumo. Judging from her reaction, she was just scared out of her wits. Her reaction erased virtually all suspicions surrounding her. That was good news for everyone, but the situation was rather¡­ awkward¡­

    Xun Feng scoffed, ¡°Does this mean our alliance is called off?¡±

    Uh¡­

    Long Zaitian whispered, ¡°Give me the antidote first.¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s off!¡±

    ¡°My antidote, you jacka$$!¡±

    ¡°We have a matter of right and wrong before us. Marshal Long, can you please not abuse your power in times like this?¡± Despite what he said, Xun Feng generously tossed Long Zaitian the antidote, to which thetter epted with a beam.

    ¡°Su Xiao¡¯s n is not going to work. Che Gulu isn¡¯t worth our time, either.¡±

    You guys all saw through Su Xiao¡¯s ploy? Why would you forfeit the chance to win, then?

    ¡°We never were confident in rites, calligraphy and mathematics, so it makes no meaningful difference if we let you take them or not. If it is enough to make you happy, though, then it is worth the sacrifice,¡± condescendingly mocked Xun Feng.

    Xun Feng was said to be a splendid poet. Even if his calligraphy was inferior to He Shi¡¯s, second ce should¡¯ve been guaranteed. It only just dawned on me that the children of the White Princes were always in second and third ce in the scenario that there was strongerpetition. They coaxed us into building overconfidence and erasing tension when they would¡¯ve ced second anyway. Had we not learnt this now, it might¡¯ve costed us significantly tomorrow.

    ¡°Alliances and what have you are but games. We had no choice but to win from the beginning. We could¡¯ve taken the glory and prizes without your permission, so why do we need to care about your feelings?¡±

    ¡°Easier said than done. As long as I am around, you won¡¯t have your way,¡± I replied.

    Xun Feng chuckled. ¡°You have to take the imperial exam tomorrow.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°And you don¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Hahah-, mm?¡±

    Xun Feng held his hands up in a cupped-fist salute. ¡°His Majesty has allowed us to participate in the idolpetition and then take the imperial exams at night.¡±

    Why do they get this special privilege?!

    Long Zaitian quietly said, ¡°If your ancestors helped establish the dynasty, maybe you¡¯d get to enjoy simr privileges.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what my grandmaster did?!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re still alive after all the times you disrespected His Majesty.¡±

    You make too much sense! So, they get to continue participating in the idolpetition tomorrow, while I have to take part in the imperial exams?! Doesn¡¯t this mean they can do whatever they want?!

    ***

    I was supposed to return to Eight Deities, but nobody was going to challenge me there anymore, and I wouldn¡¯t be there for the next three days, so I removed the ring and returned to Liu Shan Men. If nothing else, I was safest at Liu Shan Men.

    We didn¡¯t get anything out of our interrogation ¨C besides me and one of my aunts getting to know each other. Well, there was Long Zaitian getting a hole in his bottom, but that was a good gain.

    ¡°This is the worst gain.¡± Long Zaitian started rambling as soon as soon as he set his bowl of rice down, ¡°Those White Princes treat everyone like they¡¯re peasants on the curb off the road. Just because I was being polite, they treated me as if I¡¯m nobody. The moment His Majesty assigns me a post outside of the capital, I¡¯ll go through their taxes three times in a single day.¡±

    ¡°They manage their own taxes, not to mention you¡¯re a military official, not a civil servant. Just deal with it.¡±

    While I did say that, it was hard to say I didn¡¯t feel vexed. I had to fend off an assassination attempt, and all my investigation efforts had yet to bear any fruit. My appetite was so bad that I pushed away my ninth bowl of seaweed soup.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, stop thinking. Let¡¯s talk shop.¡± Long Zaitian rubbed his hands together as he chuckled. ¡°Where¡­ is Miss Shen?¡±

    ¡°Busy working. She won¡¯t being in today.¡±

    Long Zaitian hung his head down, not that I felt any better.

    Boss was looking into Elder Yu Sihe¡¯s case, which was another tough nut to crack.

    The situation was getting as messy as my hair that I rubbed. There was the idolpetition to win, the imperial exams to pass, the cases to investigate, the Champion White Princes¡¯ ns with Gongsun Chu and then there was Jingan, and it had to all hit me when I wasn¡¯t able to fight. If only all of them were just one case.

    For instance, the bronze-masked killer was presumably the one who killed Elder Yu Sihe and was a member of the Seven Champion White Princes. Since they were going to infiltrate the capital via the secret passage Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor provided ess to, Gongsun Chu would join them. Jingan¡­ Jingan¡­ About her¡­ I had no clue what she was thinking.

    I took all the cases and all the existing clues, swirled them around in my brain, and¡­ I managed to just make myself more confused. Even though I entertained the possibility, I knew it was ridiculouslyughable that I¡¯d even consider it. If Bai Yumo was the masked killer, how could she have killed Elder Yu Sihe when she wasn¡¯t even born at the time, not to mention the assassin was piss weakpared to Uncle Huang.

    Hang on, hang on, what?!

    Why would the bronze-masked assassin need the secret passage when he was already in the capital? That meant he wasn¡¯t affiliated with the White Princes. Naturally, then, the passage would be reserved for their secret weapon, and there weren¡¯t many candidates. If the person who killed Elder Yu didn¡¯t count, then who would?

    I whacked my thigh, eximed, ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out!¡± and sat up straight.

    Long Zaitian jolted. ¡°Figured what out?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out!¡±

    ¡°Figured out what?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally figured it out!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to tell us what or not?!¡±

    I finally figured out the reason the bronze-masked assassin was after my life! It always perplexed me why he wanted to kill me when we had no bad blood between us. It was because I asked Zuo Suniang to seal the secret passage! They nearly had me fooled. Whether or not Bai Yumo was the wearer of the mask, if the assassin wasn¡¯t part of the White Princes, I¡¯d let you kick my head around as a ball!

    I was willing to bet that they had caught wind of me visiting His Majesty to provide updates. Their goal wasn¡¯t to kill me; their goal was to use the attempts on my life as a warning to Zuo Suniang. They wanted to deter her from sabotaging the n. As long as she didn¡¯t betray them right away, they still had an opportunity to strike.

    Credit to them for a smart y. The one thing their strategy didn¡¯t ount for was that I didn¡¯t visit Zuo Suniang as Ming Feizhen, so she wouldn¡¯t be shaken unless she heard Fuma Jingan was assassinated.

    I still had time. Before they realised Zuo Suniang didn¡¯t receive the warning and implemented a second tactic, I needed to gain ess to the secret passage!

    ¡°Call everyone in. We need to hold a meeting!¡±

    I stationed the team at all patrol points and had Teng install a string formation, or I wouldn¡¯t have been able to eat without worrying for my life.

    Everyone was solemn since I was serious. Tang Ye seemed to particrly admire my serious demeanour.

    ¡°Big Bro, what is the main topic of our meeting?¡±

    ¡°This pertains to a national affair, so I need everyone to take this serious!¡± I picked up the brush to scribble on a sheet of paper and pasted it on the wall. ¡°The purpose of today¡¯s meeting is to discuss¡­¡±

    A widow¡¯s sleep.

 Book 14: Chapter 52

    A Serious Meeting

    ¡°Widow?! Who?!¡±

    ¡°Man, have some shame.¡±

    ¡°Ptoo! I can sleep just fine!¡±

    ¡°This is a national secret?!¡±

    I stepped onto Yuan Kou¡¯s head and exined, ¡°Princess Zuo of Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor is sleep deprived due to a chronic headache. If I can treat it, then she¡¯ll tell me a big secret.¡±

    As long as I knew where the secret passage was, I could have a team stake out there.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of this meeting then?¡± grumbled Ning Zhuoru. ¡°Who here could match your medical knowledge? Go treat her if she¡¯s sick. Now that we¡¯re all gathered, we¡¯re all here for someone to¡­¡± she looked around for any threats.

    ¡°This is why we need a group to brainstorm.¡± I wagged my hand. ¡°Her headache is a product of her training gone wrong. While I do know how to treat her, it¡¯d take half a month.¡±

    Ning Zhuoru: ¡°I only have the stuff you prescribed for my pregnancy.¡±

    Yeah, never had any of my hopes on you.

    Gu Xianxian suggested, ¡°Headaches are not an illness, but they can be awfully painful. My family told me I had to take a lot of medicines when I was a kid due to frequent headaches. My family has a form we can try. We need a handful of sophora vescens, sophora japonica, pangolin, sicklepod¡­¡±

    ¡°And consume the blend with centipede oil?¡±

    ¡°You copied my family¡¯s form?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the copying part, but I know it¡¯s not for treating headaches?¡¯

    ¡°What is it for, then?¡±

    ¡°Loaded families use it to make kids who they deem stupid smarter.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I had to take it until adulthood¡­¡± Gu Xianxian turned to his wife forfort.

    Ning Zhuoru clenched her fist. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dear! Remember the form well. We may need it for our son!¡±

    Yuan Kou grumbled, ¡°Nothing beats massage and acupuncture, Sir. I can promise immediate results. Even if it does not work, it will be an enjoyable procedure.¡±

    Long Zaitian: ¡°She¡¯s a widow, you sicko.¡±

    Yuan Kou shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? A widow is everyone¡¯s widow.¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you hear that?! He¡¯s your subordinate, right?¡±

    ¡°I heard. I heard. I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±

    ¡°You shameless bunch! I have to do some good for this world and take out the trash today.¡±

    ¡°See the spiritual power of Liu Shan Men¡¯s? Even a Qilin Guard has found motivation to stand up for justice.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious right now?!¡±

    A man who kept his silence the entire meeting raised his hand. ¡°I have.¡± When we looked over to him, he finished, ¡°A secret form.¡±

    ¡°You have a secret form?!¡± I shouted.

    Teng shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡­ Do you think you¡¯ll be spared a beating just because you don¡¯t say much? You¡¯re testing me.

    ¡°I used. To have headaches. But no more.¡±

    ¡°How did you treat it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Because. I consumed that.¡±

    Though Teng didn¡¯t specify what ¡°that¡± referred to, everyone, except Long Zaitian, scrunched up their faces; even Tang Ye looked disgusted despite not following.

    ¡°What are their reactions about? What did they consume?¡± questioned Long Zaitian.

    I knew ¡°unknown pill¡± was potent, but I had no idea it could cure headaches, too.

    Teng pointed to his head. ¡°Never had another one.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Teng never said much, but he was a responsible man, so I deemed him trustworthy.

    As soon as I pulled out a big porcin bottle from my shirt, virtually everyone backed off. ¡°Deliver this to the ce I tell you and follow the procedure I¡¯m going to tell you. Someone will meet you.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t visually obvious, but Teng was actually surprised. ¡°You are trusting me with it? Is it not a secret location?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re trustworthy.¡±

    I wrote a letter for Teng to take with him. There was no room for mistakes this time, so I needed to cover all bases. He ced the stuff inside his shirt and swore he wouldn¡¯t let me down. To be honest, my primary concern was that Zuo Suniang would take my head off as soon as she smelt the stink. That being the case, it was safer for me if someone else delivered the goods.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get down to business now.¡±

    ¡°What were we discussing just then?¡± questioned Long Zaitian.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°That was small talk in case there were eavesdroppers. I¡¯m 90% sure there are no eavesdroppers now.¡±

    I never actually expected Teng to provide a solution.

    ¡°How are you so sure?¡± Long Zaitian queried.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, the capital may be a mess.¡±

    ¡°You just ignored my question!¡±

    ¡°Based off recent events, Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ rampage is just the warm-up. The real fight is yet toe.¡±

    The topic was serious enough for Long Zaitian to stop badgering me.

    I provided a brief rundown of my analyses and then said, ¡°The Champion White Princes and Jiang Chen are colluding with each other. Jiang Chen is using Fiends¡¯ Genesis as martyrs to disrupt order in the capital, never expecting he¡¯d get caught. The White Princes, on the other hand, have yet to execute their backup n. It¡¯s quite likely the capital will be in turmoil once they make their move. At the moment, the capitalcks the power to ride out the wave without casualties. When the capital ispromised, I want you to protect Liu Shan Men and the people around it.¡±

    The gravity of the situation and their tasks shut them up.

    ¡°Yuan Kou, Lang Qing, Teng, Gu Xianxian and your wife, you all once worked for Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Marshal Long has promised to not penalise you for any of your past crimes as long as you contribute in this battle.¡±

    Long Zaitian leaned over towards me. ¡°I never said that.¡±

    ¡°You can say it now.¡±

    ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°You want to be marshal or not? How are you going to get there without achieving anything?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re saying the Seven Champion White Princes n to revolt? Ignoring whether that¡¯s true or not, could they pull it off? The moment they mobilise their three hundred thousand troops, every intelligence collector would be alerted instantly. You think this is Nieyao City again, where the outside world has no clue how big the army is inside? Besides, how much power do they packpared to the capital? Do they even have any chance of victory?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t dispute Long Zaitian¡¯s points as I had been wondering the same things. Whatever their n was, even with ess to Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s secret passage, it¡¯d be impossible for them to overthrow the imperial court as soon as they made any obvious moves. None of His Majesty¡¯s sons were people you could just walk all over when you wanted. He also had plenty of capable and loyal retainers to take back the throne under new leadership. If the White Princes had no ns to take any actions soon, though, then Gongsun Chu¡¯s actions made no sense.

    Long Zaitian stretched out his back as he nced out at the dark sky and yawned. ¡°You can¡¯t even convince yourself. This dragon will have to pass up on this opportunity for glory.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Though that¡¯s the case, you should be ready for any invasions that might happen within the next few days.¡±

    Long Zaitian shook his head, pulled on his ears and then walked off. I sent the team back to their positions and ordered Teng to go make the delivery while I continued musing in the room.

    Why does it just not make sense? What makes the Seven Champion White Princes daring enough to overthrow the imperial court when Ximen failed?

    ¡°You had a meeting? There sure were a lot of people.¡±

    I mindlessly responded to the domineering and somewhat serious tone, ¡°Yeah, but none of them were any use.¡±

    ¡°What did you discuss?¡±

    ¡°A widow¡¯s sleep¡­ Hmm?¡± I looked up to see Boss with her arms crossed and a smile on her lips. It wasn¡¯t very visible without paying attention, but I saw some veins on her forehead.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear more about it.¡±

    My hearing suddenly levelled up. I fore-heard the sound of an inkstone sliding against clothing and a scream.

    Smack!

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    It was a serious meeting! I swear!

    ***

    I tried, but I still ended up losing to the inkstone. I stood next to Boss, who sat in the master seat, as I answered questions alongside Tang Ye. I assumed Boss was back to share some new discoveries with me.

    Boss narrowed her eyes. ¡°Zuo Suniang is married, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Huh? Why are we talking about this?

    I wagged my head. ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Boss grabbed me by my ear. ¡°And so you seduced her?!¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°So how do you know she suffers headaches?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer that¡­ Answering it would expose the fact that I took a kickback. Thus, I sent Tang Ye signals with my eyes. ¡°Tang Ye, tell Boss how I know.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Vice-Captain, would you believe it if I said I found out through investigations?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You are too smart.¡± Tang Ye looked back at me. ¡°Big Bro, she doesn¡¯t believe me.¡±

    Go kill yourself! At least try to think of something before you speak! You never intended to help me, did you?!

    ¡°I like to think I know the imperial family well, yet you know something I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something she can bring herself to tell outsiders, right?¡±

    ¡°And she¡¯s fine with telling you?¡±

    ¡°Not even me!¡±

    Man, this mouth of mine!

    I racked my brains to recall the meeting with Zuo Suniang and find the right words. ¡°She didn¡¯t bring it up. Sh-she didn¡¯t tell me. I insisted on asking.¡±

    ¡°You insisted on asking a widow about her sleep?¡±

    I flipping give up!

    ¡°Despite all the important tasks that require attention, you spend your time on this sort of nonsense.¡± Boss released my ear. ¡°I have important news to share.¡± She stopped for a moment to check me out and then conveyed, ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re all right.¡±

    Did Boss¡­ hear about the bronze-masked assassin¡¯s attempt at assassinating me? Boss, I¡¯m touched. I knew you cared about me.

    The fact that Boss heard about it already implied that someone was trying to make it known. Consequently, the bronze-masked assassin had to be part of the Seven Champion White Princes!

    ¡°I have two things to share: first, we finally have information on the bronze-masked killer. He¡¯s League of Assassin¡¯s top assassin, the backbone of Six des. His alias is Patina, which is probably rted to the colour of his bronze mask. The second thing I want to tell you is that Elder Yu Sihe¡¯s killer is likely someone part of Mount Lu.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 53

    Tang Ye Gradually Getting Used to Pretending Nobody is Around (Part 1)

    No wonder why he was so damn hard to guard against. Wait¡­

    ¡°Mount Lu.¡±

    ¡°I disagree,¡± I voiced¡­ perhaps too firmly.

    As expected, Boss narrowed her eyes on me with rosy cheeks. ¡°You haven¡¯t even heard everything I have to say! You think you run the show now just because youpleted a task or two?¡±

    Boss raised her hand to hit me, but she stopped and then turned her head to look at Tang Ye, who watched us without batting an eye. ¡°¡­ Yan Ling, what are you watching?¡±

    Tang Ye blinked. ¡°Nothing. Did you not have something to tell us, Vice-Captain?¡±

    ¡°Uh, right, right, go on Boss.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boss chose not to voice her queries. Instead, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t cut me off again,¡± then red at me.

    Boss seems to be particrly prone to anger today. Is it the umted fatigue from work? I should find an opportunity to give her a massage again. She smells nice right after washing up, tsk, tsk.

    Catching me smile, Boss took out the inkstone and mmed it on my face without hesitation. ¡°That¡¯s what you go for fantasising about a man¡¯s widow again! Sicko!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent! I did it all for the greater good!¡±

    ¡°What were you thinking about, then, to smile so perversely?¡±

    ¡°I was wondering if I should give you a massage or something!¡±

    Although she sported a strange face, Boss had hot flushes on her cheeks. ¡°You¡­¡± She stopped and nced sideways to see Tang Ye recording something. ¡°¡­ You didn¡¯t write anything, did you?¡±

    Tang Ye stopped writing, rolled up the sheet and stuffed in his shirt. ¡°Not anymore.¡±

    Boss took a big breath to recollect herself before resuming. ¡°I checked out numerous scrolls¡­ I¡¯ll start with my conclusion. I believe the culprit is very likely part of Mount Lu.¡± She paused to check if I¡¯d interrupt her again, but I was still rubbing my face, so she continued, ¡°ording to Confucianism¡¯s records, the precise time Elder Yu was assassinated was around one to quarter-past five in the morning of 12th August twenty-one years ago. Since you said Gongsun Chu and the Seven Champion White Princes are colluding, Gongsun Chu knows the details and the seven are suspects, I focused my research on what they did eighteen to twenty-five years ago.

    ¡°Twenty-one years ago, Gongsun Chu was still Shang Bieshi¡¯s second-inmand. There were no clear traces of him doing anything under his real name, so I investigatedmunications between Fiends¡¯ Genesis and the Seven Champion White Princes.

    ¡°There are no records of Fiends¡¯ Genesis and the Seven Champion White Princes ever being in contact. Fiends¡¯ Genesis did business on the waters, so they frequented the waters of Jiangnan. In turn, they constantly shed with the Seven Champion White Princes who guarded Jiangnan. Two battles in particr were most worthy of being recorded.

    Based on Liu Shan Men¡¯s records, Mount Lu¡¯s patriarch, Ling Hanzhong, led the orthodox martial artsmunity on the first expedition on Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ seas on 15th April twenty-two years ago. Only Bai Zhiqing and a small number of martial arts escaped under his leadership. The Seven Champion White Princes lost over two hundred members, which included their elites, such as Sword Deity Junior Jian Changzai, Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s temple guardian, and two respected broadsword wielders from Valley of Yearning. On the other hand, Fiends¡¯ Genesis only lost two of their Stars. Following that battle, Bai Zhiqing and Shang Bieshi were known worldwide, and their feud was cemented.

    The second campaign was when Sword Deity and Brilliant Broadsworder invaded Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ waters and defeated Shang Bieshi, which happened a year after the first battle, but there was no specific date. Based on forty-six pieces of verifiable information sources, though, I calcted it to be around 27th July to 3rd August.

    Going off the information at present, I assumed that if the eight were involved in Elder Yu¡¯s death, then the truth lied within the eight days.

    Boss was detailed with her analyses unlike me. My only beef with it was the excessive amount of numbers. I started feeling sleepy half way through because of all the numbers. In contrast, Tang Ye nodded whilst taking notes, or so I thought¡­

    When I looked at the sheet in Tang Ye¡¯s hand, I discovered he was notating music! All the nods must¡¯ve just been him bobbing his head to the rhythm! Moreover¡­ of all the songs he could choose, he chose ¡°A Moonlit Night on the Spring River¡± by Zhang Ruoxu!

    If you have time to entertain yourself, pl-y Five in a Row with me!

    I poked Tang Ye.

    He knocked back. (What?)

    I knocked back thrice. (y Five in a Row).

    He knocked back five times. (I don¡¯t have a death wish just because you have one.)

    What do you mean?!

    I knocked him again.

    ¡°I admire your courage.¡±

    I felt five steel fingers mp down on my head.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow! Boss, please show mercy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m analysing a case for you. You think I¡¯m holding a lecture, don¡¯t you?! You want to y Five in a Row, do you?!¡±

    How did Boss read my secret code?!

    I looked Tang Ye¡¯s way, and he knocked me a few times. (Vice-Captain asked, so¡­)

    ¡°Still sending signals in front of me?!¡±

    What the hell is the point of secret codes now?!

    (I knew you betrayed me! Why would you share the code with a woman?! How are we supposed to sneak out for fights and drinks now?!)

    ¡°Where are you going?!¡±

    Crap! Got so mad I got stupid!

    ¡°Nowhere! It¡¯s normal to feel sleepy when you hear so many numbers, isn¡¯t it? I just Tang Ye to move around with me to keep our minds fresh.¡±

    ¡°Too many numbers? 600 grams of pork shoulders cost 264 taels. 600 grams of roast chicken costs 137. One baked wheat rolls costs 24. After 3.3kg, you were still hungry, so you ordered another 4.35kg of roast chicken and then ate another 2.5kg of roast pork shoulders and nine baked wheat rolls. How much of your sry do you have left?¡±

    ¡°66 taels and a 160 something coins? How am I supposed to survive for thest two weeks of the month?¡±

    ¡°You just did the maths faster than you can blink!¡±

    Eh? Why was I so quick this time?

    Glossary

    The maths ¨C I converted so that they¡¯re visualise-able and rounded for ease, so don¡¯t expect it to be exact. Not making excuses for being a dropkick at maths¡­ which I am.

 Book 14: Chapter 54

    Tang Ye Gradually Getting Used to Pretending Nobody is Around (Part 1)

    ¡°Listen to me properly!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am¡­¡±

    I ate more shots as I expected.

    Have I been taking a few too many beatingstely?

    Despite all the attempts on my life, I took more damage from my own teammates than the assassins.

    Tang Ye switched out his sheet music for his notebook faster than I picked people¡¯s pockets! His Majesty gave him a fitting nickname!

    Watch your back, you traitor! Just you wait for me to recover!

    To avoid another beating, I imitated Tang Ye down to the most precise details.

    ¡°You¡¯re distracted again! Your face itchy again?!¡±

    Why does Tang Ye get to wear this look, but I don¡¯t?!

    Thankfully, Boss didn¡¯t hit me a second time because I became a good boy. Plus, there were more important things.

    ¡°Word in the pugilistic world is that Swordless Deity only came out of seclusion due to losing Sword Deity Junior, Jian Changzai, and Third Grandpa Bai getting injured. Brilliant Broadsworder also returned from overseas for revenge. Most people believe Brilliant Broadsworder raided Fiends¡¯ Genesis out of rage, but beliefs are mixed in regards to Swordless Deity¡¯s story. Brilliant Broadsworder is rumoured to be protective of family and have a fiery temper, so his supposed reaction is reasonable. On the other hand, Grasshouse members are mostly obsessed with refining their swordy and researching heaven¡¯s workings. Wordless Sword Deitying out of seclusion back then would be the first time in decades, which was why people argue that he never actually came out of seclusion. On top of that, the two of them are virtually described as mythical beings when hardly anyone has personally seen them in action. To im that two people of their standing would team up against one opponent sounds unbelievable.¡±

    Indeed, Shang Bieshi was basically Swordless Sword Deity and Elder Brilliant Broadsworder¡¯s junior going by age. Their reputations would be tainted if they teamed up to pick on someone younger than them. Besides, there was no need for them to team up given their individual prowess. One person fought while the other kept enemies at bay didn¡¯t make sense, either. They came from different groups, after all. If they arrived together, then people would use them of bullying Shang Bieshi no matter what they said. Even if they didn¡¯t fight him simultaneously, they¡¯d still be used of taking turns. It was the same as my shifu and grandmaster going to fight someone younger; their opponent would have to be an idiot to believe my shifu if he told them he was just going to spectate. Of course, that was putting aside my shifu¡¯s personality. The only way it¡¯d be believable was either Wordless Sword Deity or Elder Brilliant Broadsworder swore to stay out. However, considering the enmity they harboured towards Shang Bieshi for hurting their family members, the likelihood of them fighting amongst each other first was considerably possible.

    ¡°What do you think, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Boss shook her head. ¡°The pugilistic world is a cesspool for falsehoods being disseminated and bing more exaggerated versions. The story could almost qualify for a storyteller to tell as a fiction novel. Many of the details wouldn¡¯t hold up against scrutiny. Jian Changzai perished in Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ waters, while Third Master Bai escaped. Wordless Sword Deity has a much morepelling reason to take revenge than Elder Brilliant Broadsworder, yet the stories im the exact opposite. If what¡¯s being told now was what was spread then, I suspect someone manipted the information.¡±

    I cracked a smile. ¡°Manipting news is a specialty of the Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I suspected foul y, prompting me to focus on looking into the activities of Wordless Sword Deity and Elder Brilliant Broadsworder.¡±

    ¡°What did you find?¡±

    ¡°Swordless Sword Deity seldom steps into the pugilistic world. The only time he¡¯s been said to have set foot into the pugilistic worlde from rumours; nobody I know of has actually seen him, and there¡¯s no proof to any of the ims. As for Elder Brilliant Broadsworder, we can confirm he returned from overseas in July twenty-one years ago. Whether it was to remind people of his dominance or some other reason, he beheaded a strong martial artist upon returning in the presence of arge crowd on the 4th July. He returned to Valley of Yearning thereafter. Although his whereabouts were a mystery afterwards, nobody questioned if he actually raided Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that corroborate with what is imed?¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s what¡¯s important. We are possibly the only outsiders who know for certain that Wordless Sword Deity was present at the battle.¡±

    ¡°¡­ ¡®Normal¡¯?¡±

    Boss grinned. ¡°Exactly. Had he not been there, the sword would still be at Grasshouse, not the underground pce Gongsun Chu kept it. Surely you wouldn¡¯t argue Gongsun Chu stole it from him.¡±

    ¡°Haha, if he could¡¯ve infiltrated Sword Immortal Grasshouse to steal the sword, I¡¯d be dead sixteen thousand times already.¡±

    Boss smiled. ¡°Exactly. Therefore, we have concrete proof that Swordless Sword Deity did go there. On the other hand, despite the rumours of Elder Brilliant Broadsworder and his activities corresponding, I couldn¡¯t find anything on him before and after the battle to support the ims that he participated in the raid.¡±

    I folded my arms. ¡°In other words, you suspect Elder Brilliant Broadsworder didn¡¯t actually participate? While it¡¯s a bold assumption¡­ there¡¯s no evidence to back it up.¡±

    ¡°Theck of evidence isn¡¯t why I have my reserves. Suspicions without evidence are nothing more than wild guesses; I don¡¯t have time for that. Since there were no mentions in the official records, I switched sources. I went over the martial world¡¯s events twenty-one years ago that my grandpa recorded.¡±

    I wrinkled my nose. ¡°Are you talking about the diary that your grandpa recorded anything that piqued his interest, including how many dishes there were at a wedding?¡±

    Boss curled her lips. ¡°It¡¯s still sometimes really handy. Plus, my grandpa has never been wrong in any of his notes. I deduced Gongsun Chu¡¯s identity based off his notes.¡±

    ¡°I wish you could see how smug you look right now.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Boss wrinkled her nose as she prepared to boast as per usual, but she stopped herself and looked to Tang Ye, who was scribbling something.

    You were still here?!

    Boss asked, ¡°Why¡­ aren¡¯t you speaking up?¡±

    Like it was supposed to be taken for granted, Tang Ye rhetorically questioned, ¡°Is this not how I always am?¡±

    Neither boss nor I had a valid counterargument.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°¡­ Is there something odd about you two?¡± queried Tang Ye.

    Boss and I shook our heads in synchrony.

    Boss cleared her throat and then returned to the topic at hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything useful in my grandpa¡¯s notebook until I found an anecdote of an event in Jiangnan. Numerous people knew about the event owing to the magnitude of the impact, but those involved made strong efforts to suppress its spread, eventually culminating in a situation where nobody dared to mention it.¡±

    ¡°The involved parties have to have a serious amount of authority if they could pull that off.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. How about¡­ Yan Ling, how about you have a guess?¡±

    Tang Ye slowly and silently raised his head, looked at Boss, who appeared ufortable, and then me. ¡°Big Bro, aren¡¯t you going to guess?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t have a clue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you!¡± announced Boss. ¡°Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s patriarch, Ling Hanzhong, took a beating.¡±

    Tang Ye and I looked to each other.

    Tang Ye was shocked since ¡°Took a beating¡± meant that it wasn¡¯t an ambush or assassination; it was the result of a fair fight. Whoever was responsible clearly didn¡¯t fear Mount Lu seeking revenge. I thought it was me for a second, but that was twenty-one years ago.

    ¡°While Ling Hanzhong didn¡¯t establish himself via his martial prowess, even if he¡¯s worse, he¡¯s still the head of the Seven Champion White Princes, not to mention all the capable swordsmen of Mount Lu. My grandpa suspected it was Elder Brilliant Broadsword who beat him. Coincidentally, the fight took ce on 3rd August.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t thatnd on thest day that you said they should¡¯ve raided Fiends¡¯ Genesis.¡±

    ¡°In other words, either Elder Brilliant Broadsworder raided Fiends¡¯ Genesis, then immediately had the energy to beat Ling Hanzhong, or he never raided Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ headquarters.¡±

    ¡°If he didn¡¯t raid Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ headquarters, then¡­ only Wordless Sword Deity raided their base?¡±

    I still couldn¡¯t understand how all this led to Boss concluding that Mount Lu assassinated Elder Yu.

    ¡°Do you remember telling me your second brother heard Third Master Bai and Hai Yecha¡¯s dialogue at Valley of Yearning? Hai Yecha stated he personally saw Elder Brilliant Broadsworder cut his way through their forces.¡±

    Second said that? Ah, right, I think I did. I only mentioned it in passing. How did Boss remember something I forgot? I must¡¯ve been too busy¡­ Yeah, that must be it!

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean both of them went to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base and then returned to Mount Lu?¡± I mumbled to myself before realising it didn¡¯t add up. ¡°Oh! But¡­¡±

    ¡°But that would remove any motivations for Elder Brilliant Broadsworder to assault Ling Hanzhong. Mount Lu didn¡¯t seek payback for the assault, indicating that Mount Lu was in the wrong to begin with. Furthermore, it¡¯s hard to imagine Elder Brilliant Broadsworder had the energy to defeat Fiends¡¯ Genesis and then immediately rush over and defeat a force of Mount Lu¡¯s calibre.¡±

    That was what I was going to say. Why did you have to steal my moment, Tang Ye?!

    Boss looked to Tang Ye proudly when I thought of it, too!

    ¡°Don¡¯t we have a contradiction, then?¡± I asked.

    Boss nodded. ¡°That was my initial thought, too. However, try putting the two together. We are assuming Hai Yecha knows Elder Brilliant Broadsworder.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ Someone from Mount Lu posed as Elder Brilliant Broadsworder to apany Wordless Sword Deity? That would make it all logical. Elder Brilliant Broadsworder and Wordless Sword Deity certainly wouldn¡¯t team up against someone younger. So, Wordless Sword Deity took a disciple with him? Elder Brilliant Broadsworder got angry over the fact, so he assaulted Wordless Sword Deity!¡±

    Boss beamed. ¡°Exactly!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 55

    I Demand an Exnation

    As Elder Brilliant Broadsworder didn¡¯t attack Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ waters, Mount Lu became exponentially more suspicious.

    Boss invested an immense amount of time and effort into finding out the truth, so she couldn¡¯t stop herself from tugging up a corner of her lips. ¡°Hence, I¡¯m guessing the culpr-¡±

    ¡°I still think there¡¯s something missing.¡± Only once I blurted what I had on my mind did I realise I just cut Boss off again.

    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ your opinion?¡±

    I felt as though my hunter was staring at me. When Boss subconsciously touched herself, I recognised I was seconds away from shing with the inkstone again.

    ¡°I¡¯m just puzzled.¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Well, even if Elder Brilliant Broadsword didn¡¯t go to Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ base, why would Wordless Sword Deity allow a junior of his to pose as Elder Brilliant Broadsworder? Wouldn¡¯t it be more beneficial for Mount Lu¡¯s reputation if Wordless Sword Deity crushed Fiends¡¯ Genesis on his own?¡±

    Boss looked somewhat annoyed that her logic was wed. ¡°¡­ Only catching the important parts¡­¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Boss cleared her throat as she covered her rosy cheeks. ¡°I had considered that point, and it¡¯s the reason I said it¡¯s very likely. At the end of the day, we¡¯re just making conjectures. Weck evidence to verify our theories, which limits how much we can deduce and extrapte. Shifu Shisan only got so far when he was still in office, so there isn¡¯t much in his notebook.¡±

    ¡°Yan Shisan kept a notebook, as well?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Of course. Principal Huang requested his aid in investigating the case, remember? You want to have a read?¡±

    When it came to detective work, Yan Shisan was second to none in my experience. Maybe my three shiniangs were as good as he was at catching my shifu cheating, but they could never peel backyers uponyers of mystery and catch criminals tucked away almost in the depths of obscurity. Thus, it was worth taking a look at his notes.

    I took the book Boss passed me.

    First line: Seven Champion White Princes ¨C suspicious.

    Okay, a useless note.

    Second line: stronger ones ¨C even more suspicious.

    Even more useless!

    This just adds to the possibilities! What happened to promising Uncle Huang to investigate the case?! You left no stones unturned to catch me, yet you ck when it¡¯s real work?!

    I was about to scrunch the book up when Boss snatched it back.

    ¡°You want another beating?!¡± Boss dusted her treasured notebook and then stashed it away. ¡°You¡¯re the one who wanted to take a look. Even though it¡¯s just two lines, they¡¯re important bits of information to consider.¡±

    If that¡¯s considered important, I have thirty thousand more for you!

    Boss pouted. ¡°This is all I dug up after pulling an all-nighter. If you¡¯re not happy with it, investigate it yourself.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I have not a singleint. There are just some things that I can¡¯t wrap my head around yet. Uncle Huang entrusted this case to the two of us; I can¡¯t let you tackle it all on your own. I haven¡¯t contributed at all. You¡¯ve been the one who¡¯s had to suffer.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had to suffer? Do you truly feel that way?¡± Boss had her eyes narrowed, refusing to miss any subtle changes in my bodynguage.

    ¡°Y-yeah, why?¡±

    ¡°I get the feeling you¡¯re withholding things from me today.¡±

    I took a step back when Boss took a step forward. She narrowed her eyes even more and said, ¡°And, recently, you¡¯ve¡­¡± Boss nced in Tang Ye¡¯s direction, but she looked at him with a firm gaze this time.

    I followed suit, casting my gaze over to Tang Ye, signalling, ¡°Help me out here!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going to discuss our strategy for tomorrow with Xiao Han. You two take your time,¡± said Tang Ye.

    Boss bobbed her head. ¡°Remember to shut the door on the way out.¡±

    Me: Why are you running?! Weren¡¯t you getting by just fine under the radar?!

    As soon as Tang Ye shut the door, I was sent airborne and restrained in the eight-immortals chair.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been acting weirdtely!¡±

    ¡°Please show mercy! I will never cut you off again!¡±

    Boss¡¯ arm strength had increased dramatically since thest time; she couldn¡¯t lift me up with just one armst time to beat me.

    ¡°That¡¯s not my issue.¡± Boss leaned her face in close to mine so that she didn¡¯t miss even the most minute changes. ¡°Are you hiding something from me again?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Boss stared straight into my eyes.

    ¡°N-no.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s a yes! Speak!¡±

    Due to Boss¡¯ intimidation, I identally let it slip that I took kickback from Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s deal. To nobody¡¯s surprise, she was livid.

    ¡°I just wanted that little bit. Besides, Her Highness was overjoyed to receive that small sum. I haven¡¯t finished the task yet, so I haven¡¯t done anything corrupt yet. Boss, think about it: am I that sort of person? For your sake and for Liu Shan Men¡¯s reputation, I would never do something like that ¨C at least not conspicuously.¡±

    ¡­ Although I was going to say that half of it had been given to Fuma Jingan, in which case, I¡¯d still be able to talk my way out of it if His Majesty asked even if Zuo Suniang dobbed me in. That wouldn¡¯t stain Liu Shan Men¡¯s reputation, right?

    ¡°Boss, I admit I¡¯m in the wrong for taking kickbacks, but I haven¡¯t actually received it yet. Please spare me on ount of that.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Boss nodded to my surprise. ¡°But that¡¯s not what I was asking about.¡±

    ¡­ What?! That¡¯s all I¡¯ve been hiding from you, though! What were you talking about, then?!

    ¡°Can we press reset and pretend I ever mentioned anything?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­ in your dreams! You dobbed yourself in. I see you¡¯ve matured, huh? You¡¯ve learnt the corrupt ways, huh?¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not something I just learnt.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    The more I said, the more mistakes I made, so I needed to distract her.

    ¡°Wait! Boss, this is all I¡¯m hiding from you. What else were you asking about?¡±

    Boss aerated her cheeks and grabbed me by the cor. ¡°Bold of you to bring it up. Ever since we came back from Hangzhou¡¯s inn, you¡¯ve been acting weird around me.¡±

    ¡­ Why are we talking about this again?

    Whenever Hangzhou¡¯s inn was mentioned, I could hear the raindrops, smell her fragrance and feel the warmth on my lips again.

    I shuffled backwards. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡±

    Boss pulled me forward again. ¡°You¡¯re doing it again! Again! This is what I¡¯m talking about! If you don¡¯t give me an exnation, you¡¯re not leaving!¡±

    Glossary

    Eight-immortals chair£¨°ËÏÉÒÎ) ¨C It¡¯s a literal trantion since no English one exists. Essentially, it¡¯s a wide wooden chair simr todder chairs. Here is a visual reference: http://.yumu365/cantingjiaju/canyi/32.html

 Book 14: Chapter 56

    White Rabbit and a Liar

    ¡°Long ago, there was a gentle, ssy, dashing¡­ suave¡­ Just know he was a really, really handsome young hero. The twenty-nine-year-old hero who possessed a strong sense of justice and knowledge travelled the world¡­ and, uh¡­¡±

    Whack!

    ¡°Stop hitting my face!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for lying!¡±

    ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll start over. In short, the really handsome hero met a maiden one day. The only way you could describe the admiration she harboured for him is head over heels because, not only was he strong, but he had arger-than-life physique, the aura of an alpha and the temperament of a gentleman. Most importantly, he was dashing, cool and remarkably handsome.

    ¡°The brash maiden often found herself in all sorts of troubles. The first time the hero saved her, she harboured great admiration and respect. After he saved her a second time, she worshipped him. After he rescued her a third time, he was the equivalent of a god. His appearance alone was enough to make her drool.

    ¡°Thus, at some point in time, wicked thoughts flourished in her mind. On a wet stormy night, she could no longer resist those feelings swelling up in her chest. As a result, she pushed him down. The hero resisted with all his might. It was no joking matter, right? The public unanimously concurred that was a morally-outstanding gentleman. s, the maiden had a little too much to drink that night, so she wasn¡¯t aware of what she was doing. Sadly¡­ the hero was unable to fight her off. Consequently¡­ In summary, it was tragic. He could smell the alcohol in his own mouth. The poor hero couldn¡¯t sleep that night as he couldn¡¯t get it off his mind. On the other hand, the maiden slept soundly through the night and totally forgot what transpired the next morning.

    ¡°Ever since then, the hero avoided getting too close to the maiden. He wasn¡¯t sure why himself. Mayhap it was due to his excellent virtuous character!

    ¡°The end.¡±

    I looked into Boss¡¯ round and glowing eyes. ¡°Understand now?¡±

    ¡°What the heck? What sort of bizarro story is that?¡±

    ¡®Kay, so you didn¡¯t understand a thing.

    ¡°And where did you find the two puppets?¡± Boss pointed to the puppets in my hands that made the story more engaging and immersive.

    Whenever I couldn¡¯t do the story justice using words, I used the male and female puppets to provide a visual representation. When I announced the end, the two of them were ced together.

    ¡°Uh, I pinched them from Su Xiao¡¯s room to add vour to the story.¡±

    Wait, wait, wait, that¡¯s not what¡¯s important.

    ¡°Do you really still not understand when I made it so clear?¡±

    ¡°Understand what?¡±

    ¡°The story. Don¡¯t you understand it?¡±

    ¡°The story¡­ Who¡¯s the young guy? Does such a gross person actually exist?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s cool?¡±

    ¡°No. Good looks are just a good exterior. More importantly, isn¡¯t he a hero? How did a weak maiden physically control him so easily. What a loser. Hero, my foot. On the other hand, the maiden isn¡¯t afraid to express herself. I like her.¡±

    That was because I couldn¡¯t use my martial arts! Plus, do you realise how strong you are? Are you weak?! You could restrain a leopard with a single hand! How the heck do you manage topliment yourself when you don¡¯t understand the story?!

    I grouchily put away the puppets and asked, ¡°What sort of man do you consider cool?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ like my dad? Or¡­¡± Cheeks rosy, Boss stuttered, ¡°B-bald is not bad, either.¡±

    Bald? What¡¯s cool about being bald?! That bald monk you haven¡¯t seen again in ages, really?! Who the hell is he?! Why the hell can¡¯t she get him off her mind when god knows where he¡¯s been all this time?!

    ¡°I¡¯m the one asking the questions here!¡± Boss grabbed me by my cor again. ¡°What is that nonsensical story? Did you think you could distract me like that?¡±

    No, you¡¯re the one who didn¡¯t get it! How else can I convey this when the story makes it as clear as can be?! Handsome hero! Who else could it be?!

    ¡°Who is it?¡± asked Boss.

    ¡­ Boss definitely hasprehension issues!

    ¡°Boss, I have a question for you: do¡­ you worship me?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Huh? No? You don¡¯t worship me? I¡¯m already so¡­ so¡­ Don¡¯t you worship me?

    I felt the image I invested all my time into building was starting crumble.

    What does Boss see me as?

    The world started spinning before my eyes as though what I¡¯d trusted all this time was gradually disappearing.

    Is this¡­ how it feels to be sacked by the Rabbit Cult master?

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Seeing my poignant expression, Boss went to pat me on the shoulder.

    Failing to control my legs, I retreated a step before I realising it. As a consequence, Boss¡¯ hand missed her target.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What is your deal?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ Do you¡­ really want to know?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t I been trying to find out all this time?¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡±

    ¡°Why are you being so wishy washy? Are you worried I¡¯ll tell people everywhere I go or something? Do you distrust me this much despite how long we¡¯ve known each other?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about you telling people; I¡¯m worried you¡¯ll silence me¡­¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure I should tell her. Boss was the serious type. Who could guess what she¡¯d think if she found out she took advantage of me.

    If Boss doesn¡¯t worship me, why did she kiss me? The answer I had for it is no longer looking correct.

    ¡°Oh, fine, if you don¡¯t want to tell me¡­ then don¡¯t.¡±

    Serious? I¡¯m winning so easily? Wait, she¡¯s the one who took advantage of me and got away with it.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Due to the heat and amount of thinking she engaged in, Boss had to bush her bangs on her temple away.

    My heart beat faster and faster as I watched her every movement. Such a thing had never happened before.

    Boss, having finally finished making her decision, said, ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been through quite a bit recently. I waspletely useless when the capital was in peril. Song Ou took Liu Shan Men from me. There were lots of challenges and brushes with death when I looked into Gongsun Chi,peted against him in a contest of wits and went after the hostages. Uncle transferred me out of the capital for my own sake, but I¡¯d be lying if I said I felt good about it. I¡¯d have broken down if so much happened at once in the past.¡± The gaze in her eyes was enough to move hearts. ¡°Some people think I have a heart of stone, only see the world in ck and white, am immune to fatigue, don¡¯t understand people, don¡¯t feel pain and only know how to act reckless. The truth is, though, none of it is true. If such a person exists, they have my utmost respect.¡±

    As someone by her side, I knew that better than anyone. Nobody was truly that mentally strong. It was just a case of having a higher pain tolerance whilst charging head first in. It was a case of being able to disregard the fatigue and risk of injury whilst forging forward until you reached your destination. It was a case of being able to put one foot in front of the other until you reached your destination despite not havingpanions. It was a case of silently bearing with open wounds, or not even waiting for them to close, and continuing on. If Shen Yiren had a special attribute, it was being able to get used to loneliness, pain and being able to numb her emotions.

    ¡°But not anymore,¡± Boss stated in a rather hurried tone that suggested she was worried I¡¯d misunderstand. The heat and tension from her small hand on my cor emanated towards me. ¡°I¡­ have you guys now.¡±

    Perhaps it was impossible for her to soundposed in spite of her best efforts since it had been the first time she spoke to someone not as a leader.

    ¡°So I can tough it out. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s suffering. I enjoy every day nowadays. I know I¡¯m doing the right things. I know someone will support me if I stop and pull me up when I trip. If we all fall, they¡¯ll join me on the ground. Among them, you¡¯re the one I trust the most. Ming Feizhen, I don¡¯t worship you. I trust you, and I want you to trust me. I want to be someone you can depend on, and¡­ I want to count on you.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t focused on what she said, but I¡¯d never forget it. I heard those words before.

    Boss released her grip on my cor, then took a step back. The sudden increase in distance between us made me feel a little sad.

    ¡°Besides my dad, Kuang and Uncle¡­ you¡¯re the only other man I trust most. While I¡¯m aware you have a lot of secrets, a lot of which you don¡¯t want to share and a lot of which you may never tell me, I don¡¯t expect you to tell me everything. I just want you to know that, no matter what happens, I don¡¯t want you to avoid me.¡± Boss took one more step backwards. ¡°You¡¯ve avoided me a total of seven times. The first time, it was one foot, one inch. The second time, it was one foot, three inches.¡±

    She stepped back a tad when she mentioned the second time, making my heart ache a little more.

    ¡°The third time, it was one foot and four inches¡­¡± She took another tiny step back, although she still had a small smile. She then stepped forward once. ¡°The fourth time, it was over nine inches¡­ I was still happy then as I felt the distance was reduced, so I thought the distance would continue to reduce until you wouldn¡¯t avoid me.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°But the fifth time¡­ it was one foot and five inches.¡± She stepped back again. ¡°The sixth time¡­ The seventh time¡­ I don¡¯t want to count anymore¡­¡± She started walking over again until she was close enough for me to hear her heartbeats clearly. ¡°Don¡¯t go.¡±

    I didn¡¯t avert my gaze.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to tell me, I won¡¯t force you to. However, can you promise¡­ not to avoid me?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t go.¡± I took hold of her hand. ¡°I won¡¯t. I won¡¯t ever avoid you.¡±

    From the look in her eyes, she seemed to understand the countless words I had yet to say.

    I shouldn¡¯t have forgotten, yet I forgot for a moment that she was Shen Yiren. She lived a life as bright as the summer sun. She imposed her will relentlessly enough to intimidate grown men. How, then, was it normal for her to look at me the way she did? Nothing actually changed. She just kissed me ¨C big deal. She was still the same Shen Yiren. Why did I need to avoid her? All that changed for me was that I had someone I didn¡¯t want to lose.

    ¡°Boss, I¡­¡± I suddenly noticed the triumphant look in her eyes.

    Boss reversed my grip to take control and grinned. ¡°So you telling me or not?¡±

    ¡°D-didn¡¯t you just say I didn¡¯t have to tell you?!¡±

    ¡°I did, but you never said you wouldn¡¯t tell me or otherwise.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who insisted on bringing it up. You¡¯re the one who insisted on listening, okay?¡±

    When Boss joyously raised her head, I thought I saw two furry white ears pop up from her head.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally going to tell me?¡±

    Yeah¡­ but I need to make some preparations.

    I ced the two puppets into Boss¡¯ hands and stered their faces together.

    ¡°The heck?¡±

    ¡°Keep them there. Don¡¯t move them¡­ By the way, do you remember who else there was at the inn in Hangzhou?¡±

    ¡°Your¡­ second brother. Patriarch Bai and his wife, and some other people in the pugilistic world.¡±

    Her memory was as good as I expected.

    ¡°Remember the girl by the name of Miss Wen with my second brother?¡±

    ¡°I do. She was thin, tall and quite cute even though she was prone to anger? She¡¯s Muye¡¯s aide. I¡¯ve exchanged a few words with her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s right. She had a white bunny with her, remember?¡±

    ¡°I do. It was a cutie.¡±

    Every girl I knew would smile whenever they talked about anything cute, and Boss was no exception.

    ¡°Do you remember its name?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Meme?¡±

    ¡°Okay. So, do you¡­ remember having a bit to drink that day?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have done that if you didn¡¯t drink while you were so worn out and sleepy.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s ¡®that¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You pushed me down onto the bed, restrained me and then had me check if there was anyone eavesdropping.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°And?¡± I stepped out of the door, closed the doors just enough for my face to be visible and continued, ¡°Recall what the name of the bunny was? Bye.¡±

    Boss looked up, stopped to think, looked down to the puppets and paused for a second. Face as red as if she sshed red paint on herself, she stuttered, ¡°I-I-I-I-I-I¡­. Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh! That night, I, I wasn¡¯t, you¡­¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Just joking.¡±

    Boss fell into a mentally and physically paralysed state. ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°Boss, that would never happen given your ability to hold your liquor. I was just joking.¡±

    Boss, I really want to stay by your side. I want to do anything I can to stay by your side for a little longer, so¡­ let me lie to you one more time.

    ¡°The truth is, I discovered a collection of valuables in the underground pce and nned to take it all for myself. I¡¯ll tell you more next time.¡± I shut the door away straight afterwards. As for the kiss, I decided to just let it remain as a nice memory.

    ***

    A while after Ming Feizhen left, Shen Yiren was heard shrieking in a high-pitch voice nobody at Liu Shan Men had heard until that day. Ming Feizhen stopped anyone from going near her room the first time, but Liu Shan Men would be erased from the martial world if they ignored it a second time. Upon arrival, however, Shen Yiren told the female constables in her usual stern tone, ¡°D-don¡¯t worry! Don¡¯te in. Yeah, yeah, don¡¯te in.¡±

    Nobody would ever attribute the scream to Shen Yiren, not knowing her character, nor would they dare to. Some of them thought it was some signal from her that she had been ckmailed or threatened, but it didn¡¯t seem to be the case after they inquired. In the end, they had no choice but to leave since she insisted they left her alone.

    Feeling as though her cheeks alone could sear through, Shen Yiren touched her lips, only to make the heat even more intense. ¡°Liar.¡±

    She recalled everything there was to recall, as vividly as it could be, but he chose to cover for her.

    She picked up the puppets and used the female one to kick the male one. ¡°Liar¡­ Liar¡­ Liar¡­¡±

    Was she reprimanding him,ining about him or calling him stupid? How much of it was fondness? Not even she knew.

    After repeating, ¡°Liar¡± for the dozenth time, she stayed her hands and gently ced the puppets¡¯ faces together again with red cheeks. In a soft voice, she, once again, muttered, ¡°Liar.¡±

    Glossary

    Getting hit in the face ¨C Ming Feizhen actually mixes up homophones in his allegories, which led to him saying lewd things. As a result, Shen Yiren hit him for it, but you can only have one or the other in English, so I had to rewrite as best as I could.

 Book 14: Chapter 57

    I End My Turn. Come Kill Me.

    ck and White Reflection had mentioned more than once that ¡°Six des¡± was vastly superior to other assassination groups and had a more polished job record. Though Mystery was ranked second in League of Assassins, the gap between them was enormous.

    In terms of fighting power, Mystery was only average in League of Assassins. However, Jia Yunfeng was the patriarch of Mount Hua and Orange Prince¡¯s bodyguard, while Yu Ye held an important post in the imperial pce. Owing to their statuses, they were able to obtain valuable information from the orthodox sects as well as the imperial pce.

    There were two types of people who could bypass the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ surveince to assassinate their targets. The first type was those who were unimaginably skilled. The second type were those who knew the Seven Champion White Princes¡¯ every move. Mystery was able to obtain information that unorthodox factions could never get their hands on, allowing them to design safe and sound ns that didn¡¯t divulge their identities. Their ess to the information was the reason they were the sole group able to infiltrate the imperial city and corner His Majesty ¨C that was without ounting for the fact that His Majesty still had trump cards at the time.

    Six des was a different animal. Annihting them would be a momentous win for the orthodox factions since it¡¯d be tantamount to crushing the symbol of League of Assassins. Unlike the massive Demon Sect or the elusive Sky Realm Pce, League of Assassins were often out in the pugilistic world, making them highly prone to being targeted. Six des was special, though. They had the privilege of demanding any form of support from League of Assassins¡¯ headquarters, be it assistants, assassins, authority or financial funding. That privilege was a lethally attractive privilege for assassins. ordingly, on top of outsiders, even other assassins would target Six des, yet they managed to stay at the top for three years. Nobody could bring them down once they reached the apex.

    Following their ascension to top dog, Six des changed the way League of Assassins¡¯ modus operandi was perceived. You could tell if you looked at their list of victims; their victims were increasingly famous and strong. Every sessive job they took was tougher than thest one. In the past, League of Assassins would ept any and all jobs offered. Six des made it seem their policy was, ¡°the harder the better¡±. It¡¯d be crazy to say it wasn¡¯t a scary to go up against them knowing that.

    Their arrogance,posure, greed and absence ofcency influenced the younger generation, spurring on many of League of Assassins¡¯ other assassins to level up to some extent. That being said, the reverence of power didn¡¯t dim anyone¡¯s desire to rece Six des. After all, how could an assassin be without a desire to kill? Yet, nobody could rece them simply because nobody was capable enough to threaten them. Time and time again, in spite of being the target of unorthodox and orthodox factions, Six des sessfullypleted one job after the next.

    Six des was a group that were tough to catch due to their modus operandi, too. Rumour had it that they didn¡¯t even know each other well. Even Six des¡¯ employer had a rough time locating them, let alone the orthodox and unorthodox factions. Anyone who could hire Six des was someone not to be trifled with.

    I should¡¯ve thought of them when I heard Bronze Mask because every member of Six des had a signature de and mask. The fact that I was targeted could only mean that I was the target of their mission. It was extremely unlikely they would give up after they failed, so I left Liu Shan Men via the back door and used the cover of night to take the usual route to Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor.

    Just how I couldn¡¯t find him, he wouldn¡¯t have an easy time finding me, either. I couldn¡¯tpletely erase my presence, but you couldn¡¯t use the typical method owing to the state of my internal energy level. Save for Bronze Mask, every other assassin was small fry to me because he was the only one who could get close withouting onto my radar.

    I sent the secret signal and then entered the hiding spot. I didn¡¯t rock up without a disguise because Icked time; I needed to meet Zuo Siniang once as Ming Feizhen to make life easier when I needed to connect with her down the road.

    Long Cheng greeted me first. ¡°My respects, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°I only want to know the results: Teng still alive?¡±

    In a quiet voice, Long Cheng replied, ¡°Mr. Teng is still alive. He is in the back.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡±

    I followed Long Chen into the residence and made my way to the room Teng stayed.

    ¡°Let me see. Good stuff. Good stuff. I was worried sick. You¡¯re still alive?¡± I remarked.

    Teng: ¡°¡­ Why?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, nothing. Where is Her Highness?¡±

    ¡°Main building.¡± Teng wore a puzzled look.

    You don¡¯t need to understand, buddy. Just know you¡¯re one of the good people out there.

    I shook Teng¡¯s hand, and he just went along.

    ¡°I¡¯m off for now.¡±

    I went to the main residence and notified them of my arrival. The steward led me to the hall I previously met with Zuo Suniang. She was apletely different woman this time; she seemed to have reversed her age by years. She had a young appearance to begin with, but she could convincingly pass off as Li Muye¡¯s elder sister this time.

    Unknown pill can improve beauty now, too?

    ¡°Please forgive this one for thete-night visit, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°You have done nothing wrong at all, Duke Ming.¡± Zuo Siniang surprisingly stood up to greet me. ¡°The pill you had delivered is nothing short of a miracle pill. My sleep has never been better.¡±

    Are you sure that wasn¡¯t because you passed out?

    ¡°This one only did what he was duty-bound to do. How can he ignore the orders of Fuma Jingan?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bring him up, hehe.¡±

    I guess you hate his guts now.

    ¡°The pill was incredibly effective. The headache has stubbornly gued me for years, and there was nothing that could alleviate it. Your knowledge truly amazes me.¡±

    ¡°It is nothing worth mentioning, Your Highness.¡±

    Zuo Suniang wore on a bright smile. ¡°You are young, yet you are not hungry for merits. You truly¡­ truly¡­¡±

    Zuo Suniang looked so touched.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Did you really take it?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­?¡± Although apparently confused, Zuo Suniang still maintained a smile. ¡°I heard Duke Ming is Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple and has been His Majesty¡¯s favourite since returning from Nanjiang. I never expected your medical prowess to be so exceptional, as well.¡±

    ¡°Please pardon this one if this is rude, but he is genuinely curious. May he ask¡­ if you have minor olfactory issues?¡±

    Zuo Suniang looked even more touched. ¡°Y-you are truly magical. You even discovered my problem from childhood?¡±

    If your nose was operational, how would you have dared to consume the pill?!

    ¡°I was a brat when I was a kid; I loved learning martial arts, especially speary. Sadly, my family was against me learning martial arts and pushed for me to read more. Howbeit, I was born into a family of martial artists and never knew I would marry into an imperial family. How could I have earnt respect in the family if I didn¡¯t know any martial arts? Moreover, it was my passion. As such, I practiced in secret, usually out in the spacious wild. I covered my head and face with a hoodie in case the cold at the northern border damaged my skin, but my nose was exposed¡­ Eventually, my nose became blocked. I didn¡¯t think much of it and just considered it something that was meant to be. I didn¡¯t notice any issues once I was home, so I just let it be.

    ¡°A few yearster, I mistook alcohol for water and bludgeoned myte husband at the banquet¡­ Ah, we were not yet acquainted at the time. Needless to say, it was a big mistake. Thankfully, myte husband was fond of my straightforwardness and visited me to propose.¡±

    In my head, I was going, ¡°Whoa! Whoa¡­ Whoa¡­ Whoa!¡± while Zuo Suniang blushed.

    ¡°That incident brought to my attention that my sense of smell was crippled, which changed my sense of taste, as well. I surmise I damaged my nose from my younger days of training in the cold.¡±

    You could be a woman of legend. If your son was half as diligent as you, he¡¯d be someone worthy of respect by now. But, man, that¡¯s crazy. Was yourte husband one of those, ¡°I like sessful women¡± type of Princes? Never knew you could beat your way into an imperial family.

    Thest guy I knew with the same taste had yet to have wonton soup with Chu Yinghua.

    ¡°Based on your description, it must have been the old. Since you did not notice, there is hope.¡±

    ¡°You can even treat my nose?¡± enthused Zuo Suniang.

    Yeah, I¡¯ll pass. The first thing you¡¯ll probably do once your nose is working will probably be to chase us down with your spear.

    ¡°There is hope. Once this one finishes up his current tasks on hand, he will try to make time to take a look. For now, we have something we need to return to the point of tonight¡¯s visit.¡± I took out a pouch from my shirt. Inside the twenty-plusyers of cloth that Proprietor Shi wrapped for me were small pills, all of which were unknown pills. ¡°There are seventeen pills here. Your headaches should be permanently cured after a few more pills. You can save the rest for unforeseen circumstances.¡±

    ¡°I cannot ept this!¡± Zuo Suniang got up to push the pouch back. ¡°My wish has already been granted, and Fuma Jingan¡¯s promise has been fulfilled. I cannot ept so much. Such miraculous pills would not be cheap, would they?¡±

    That¡¯s¡­ not really true¡­

    ¡°Indeed.¡± I nodded whilst wagging my hand. ¡°Mount Daluo disciples are taught to be generous and not fuss over trivial details. You need not hold back, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°It would be rude for me to continue rejecting you. However, I insist on covering the cost of the pills.¡±

    I handed Zuo Siniang the pouch and solemnly told her, ¡°You are mistaken, Your Highness. You must pay. Otherwise, this one would be punished.¡±

    If I gave her the pills for free, Boss, who thought I was into the widow, would rip me limb from limb.

    ¡°I understand. It is wise to avoid leaving room for suspicion.¡± Zuo Siniang epted the pouch with a smile.

    ¡°So, could you¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Zuo Suniang fetched a brocade box from her table. ¡°Please pass this on to Fuma Jingan. The address has been written inside. My agreement with him has now been fulfilled; we are now even. Please pass on to him that I never wish to see him again.¡±

    ¡°I shall ensure he receives the message!¡±

    ***

    Entrusting the blueprint to His Majesty¡¯s son-inw was probably a form of surrender that implied she was entrusting her everything to the imperial family, effectively dissociating herself from the Seven Champion White Princes.

    Theplete blueprint of the secret passage was provided inside the brocade box, pointing out the location of the passage, in addition to all details of its internal structures and dimensions. Having said that, there were no descriptions of the contraptions or how to operate them. Zuo Suniang only promised Yuan Xu that she¡¯d tell him where the passage was, so she didn¡¯t y dirty. If anything, I received the blueprint sooner than I predicted.

    The passage was located within the imperial city, a normal but not-often-seen location. It was close to the interior of the imperial city, but it wasn¡¯t inside the imperial pce. Nheless, it¡¯d be as easy as ¡°one, two, three¡± for a military force to besiege the imperial pce if they set out from there. The entrance to the pce was located dozens of kilometres outside the capital, giving them the potential to turn the tables if they leveraged the passage.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The fact that Wondrous Warrior couldn¡¯t defeat hispetitors for the throne proved that it was a harsh and intense power struggle for the throne.

    The design of the passage increased the capacity for additional contraptions to operate doors, whether that was to increase escape routes or trap people. Since Zuo Suniang hadn¡¯t activated the contraptions,rge forces couldn¡¯t mobilise through the passage. It didn¡¯t matter at this point since she had chosen to back out of her partnership with the White Princes, meaning they couldn¡¯t use the passage to besiege the imperial city. The entrance was going to be closed in three days¡¯ time. Therefore, nobody would be able to pass through. In other words, the White Princes had three days from now to dispatch their forces through the passage.

    Starting from tomorrow, the special imperial examsmenced, rendering me isted for three days straight. ordingly, the White Princes needed to act fast, whether that was mobilising troops oring for my life.

    The next three days decided the final victor.

 Book 14: Chapter 58

    Interlude 3

    Nothing but smoke, mes and fresh blood was within sight. Nothing but groans, grunts, roars and cries was within earshot. Somehow to him, though, it was perfectly normal.

    ¡°God? God?¡± he mumbled to himself as he meandered.

    In the titanic city of gold, he was the only person who¡¯d search for him. They called him Executioner Zero ¨C Lord San Shen¡¯s representative in the world of mortals. Until Lord San Shen descended into the world of mortals, all the rules and authorities of Divine Moon Cult were in his hands. Even though he¡¯d have to hand over the reins once Lord San Shen arrived, he never felt dissatisfied about it. To the contrary, he¡¯d be excited and d ¨C at least in the beginning ¨C because he, too, believed in Lord San Shen.

    If Executioner Zero didn¡¯t believe in Lord San Shen more than anyone else, he wouldn¡¯t have epted the role as Lord San Shen¡¯s representative. He dedicated his entire life to the cult for his master who was destined to descend in time. The arrival of Lord San Shen was tantamount to showing the world his beliefs and would render him one of the few lucky individuals in the cult¡¯s history to personally see the lord of legends. Despite his strong feelings, when Lord San Shen descended, he couldn¡¯t help doubting himself.

    The blonde murderer had an innocent smile despite all the heads strewn on the ground, ck rocks and shrouded sky. Just because the small city¡¯s lord refused to surrender his daughter¡¯s heart to the cult, the young man marched a force all the way over to annihte the developing city.

    Even the loyalest soldiers of the cult started to question if they should¡¯ve swung their des for that. Zero understood that God¡¯s orders were absolute, meaning they were sinners if their god was a sinned. Howbeit¡­ he questioned if the ruthless massacre was truly necessary to fulfil the cult¡¯s calling. Was God¡¯s smile a product of carrying out his duty? Were all the homicides theymitted truly for the sake of the Lord San Shen faction? If that was the case, why did God look so bored as he stood there in the once-lively city?

    Sitting on the ground before the young man was a maiden who¡¯s expression had been stuck in a state of shock due to paralysis of witnessing the catastrophe. Zero couldn¡¯t exin why, but he went over and knelt before his master, then said, ¡°My Lord, she is just an ordinary girl. She has not done anything.¡±

    The ignorant would¡¯ve thought God didn¡¯t hear Zero, but anyone remotely familiar with God would¡¯ve known that Zero just saved her life.

    As the maiden finally came around, she shrieked, but it onlysted a second for her wrist had been forcibly severed from her arm before she realised it.

    God tossed the hand down to Zero and ordered, ¡°Eat it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    God smiled. ¡°Are you defying me?¡±

    Zero picked up the hand and, even though every fibre of his being trembled, he took a big bite out of the hand. The blood that spurted every time he took a bite was the exact same as how he wanted to spit it all back out quick, fast and in a hurry. Every bite was an undeniable sense of learning, learning of what torture meant.

    ¡°How boring,¡± remarked God, watching Zero emotionlessly eat. ¡°Has the thought of opposing me never crossed your mind?¡±

    Without any emotional turmoil in his voice after finishing the hand, Zero replied, ¡°Your subject is your loyalest servant.¡±

    ¡°What if I killed your entire family?¡± With his chin on his hand, God questioned, ¡°Would you hate me?¡±

    ¡°Your subject left his family from the moment he joined the cult.¡±

    God nodded, then smiled when a ray of sunlight finally managed to peek through the smoke and mumbled, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you have an illegitimate son. Would you eat him if I told you to?¡±

    Zero couldn¡¯t ever forget the taste of blood going down his throat when he heard that.

    If Lord San Shen¡¯s legends are true, why did a demon descend? Heaven, please forgive my disrespectful doubt. Is he¡­ truly our Lord San Shen?

    The sun on that day was particrly bright; the sky was particrly clear. It was though it was out to purify the desecrated city and sinful hearts. The demon of the golden pce revealed a smile. Perhaps others didn¡¯t notice, but at that close range, Zero sensed the genuine joy emanating vividly.

    ¡°You seem happy, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ Hahahaha.¡±

    God¡¯s unpredictable temperament was nothing surprising by this point, and he never exined himself, but today was an exception for whatever reason.

    ¡°Do you know why I do however I please?¡±

    God asked the very question daily. Zero wouldn¡¯t have been Zero if he couldn¡¯t answer it.

    ¡°You have only given the vermin the punishment they deserved.¡±

    Though there seemed to be a hint of scorn in Zero¡¯s tone, God didn¡¯t pay it any heed since the lives of mortals didn¡¯t matter to him, or perhaps his interest lied elsewhere considering he had his gaze locked on something else approaching from the distance.

    God raised his arms high and wide. ¡°Because I want to die!¡±

    Nobody understood what the crazy remark implied ¨C which was the case every time he gave some borderline-insanemand.

    ¡°He¡¯sing. He¡¯sing!¡± God pranced as if he was a child receiving a new toy. ¡°He¡¯s finally here.¡±

    God didn¡¯t know how it started, but he knew that it was linked to his actions in the past few years. As long as he continued carrying on the way he was, they¡¯d eventually meet. God never thought he nted the seed of karma when he had Zero eat the hand, and he never noticed the heart of his loyalest follower on his knees was beating as hard as if it were going to burst.

    ¡°My maker has arrived!¡±

    Following a sh of ck light, the golden pce came crumbling down, and mes spread. The billowing winds that ensued prevented everything from flying everywhere. As crimson eyes met, golden and grey energies shed.

    Save for Zero, who was skilledpared to the others, everyone else only saw collisions and roars. The only way Zero could describe the battle was, ¡°A sh between gods.¡± It wasn¡¯t surprising half of the golden city was destroyed. After all, it was a fight between gods. However, Zero couldn¡¯tprehend what he saw notwithstanding how close he was. The only vivid memories had before passing out from the pressure were the unsettling red eyes of the white-haired youth. He could never forget the white-haired youth cutting down the blonde demon. He remembered shedding tears at the sight of the scene and tasting blood in his mouth again.

    ***

    The blonde demon woke from his slumber after revisiting the events of that day one more time. It was the same dream every time he fell asleep in the cell. His nameless opponent at Changan fought him all night to a draw. He was a worthy opponent to continue fighting if he didn¡¯t have someone more important to kill.

    The expansiveness of the Central in fed the blonde demon¡¯s desire topete, consequently helping him grow once again after a severe regression. He was stronger than he was back in the Western Regions and stronger than when he invaded Changan. He was confident he could crush the nameless youth at Changan if they ran it back.

    Just like the day he was defeated, the sun on the horizon drew his gaze toward it. It wasn¡¯t time for him to stop yet. He needed to continue killing in order to progress back to where he was prior to his fall. Since Changan wasn¡¯t popted enough for him to replenish what he¡¯d lost, he needed to kill more citizens of the Central in.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The blonde demon rose to his feet.

    At his current pace, he would reach the capital in less than three days.

 Book 14: Chapter 59

    This Prosperous Era

    End of June, 31st year of Yuansheng¡¯s rule ¨C the first day of the imperial exams.

    The middle doors of the imperial city were open to wee examinees from across thend, so all the buff imperial guards adorning their shiny white armour were standing guard with stern faces.

    Taishu Hall, situated southwest of the imperial city¡¯s exterior and neighbouring Hanlin Academy, was the library of the imperial pce. On days without pressing matters to attend to, His Majesty would visit Taishu Hall to listen in to lectures as per the stiption of Li Dynasty¡¯s second Emperor. This year, Taishu hall was chosen as the imperial exam venue.

    Exams were either held at Taishu Hall or Daren Academy. Due to the short timeframe they had to prepare this year, though, they had to start preparations as soon as autumn walked in, which shed with the timing of Daren Academy¡¯s idolpetition. To make matters worse, Principal Huang wasn¡¯t in any shape to be on host duties, which was why they chose Taishu Hall.

    The announcement of a special imperial exam was worthy of a nationwide celebration, especially for civil servant advocates. After all, Li n was a n of martial artists, so Li Dynasty¡¯s military officials flourished under their rulepared to civil servants. However, after five generations of Emperors, six including Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s reign, the bnce was no longer as skewed as it once was. Although it took a century, civil servants¡¯ push for giving them more importance was gradually paying off.

    The civil servants believed that a prosperous rule required a push for literacy, and what better time was there to push for it when the world was at peace and the people¡¯s basic needs were met? It was time toy down arms and pick up books. The fact that His Majesty was willing to add an extra imperial exam proved that he saw the value in academics.

    One would never see so many handsome, well-groomed boys and girls resembling characters out of paintings flocking to a single destination in the early morning besides the main doors of the imperial city. In fact, the elders of Hanlin Academy all came out to catch the grandeur view. Professor Wang Zhenyun, who¡¯d spent his entire career as a lecturer for Hanlin Academy, couldn¡¯t hold back his tears as he watched the examinees make their way to the doors. He patted the shoulders of his young students and, in a shaky voice, said, ¡°Twenty years. It took me twenty years of teaching to finally see this noble scene. Principal Huang and His Majesty have done so much for this country.¡±

    Twenty years ago, which was exactly a decade into Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s rule, the nation finally escaped the clutches of war, so it was time for a much-due period of growth. Professor Wang didn¡¯t have a grey beard back then and didn¡¯t hold a post remotely close to his current one, but he had started tutoring by then, so he knew what the exam standards of the time were as well as the level of schrs back then. At the time, very few people showed up for the imperial exams. To make matters worse, most of them thought reading was a waste of time; they thought they could participate as long as they could swing a weapon. In those days, catching examinees who couldn¡¯t fulfil the fundamental courtesy procedures was the equivalent to an entire day¡¯s worth of work. Today, there were cleanly dressed and groomed young schrs exuding elegance. Mayhap the star who could take literature culture to the next level was among them.

    Arms were losing prevalence. The brush was rising.

    Professor Wang¡¯s youngpanions who shared his dream gazed in the same direction he did.

    ¡°To see such a prosperous era makes this old one, old one¡­ hmm?¡±

    Right at the back of the group was a tall man over dressed slovenly whilst hanging a green foxtail from his mouth. To make matters worse, he yawned non-stop, wobbling thrice every step. To say he was a ruffian from the streets would be an insult to the ruffians. Even worse, all his cronies behind him were clearly bad news. The most passable one was a pregnant woman.

    ¡°What a sphemy to culture! Who is he?!¡±

    ***

    I was as sleepy as hell. I didn¡¯t get any shuteyest night ¨C again. It felt as though I hadn¡¯t slept in ages. I regretted not epting Boss¡¯ offer to let me sleep at her cest night. I was up all night brainstorming since I finally had the blueprint of the secret passage, yet not one feasible idea came to mind.

    There was no doubt in my mind that the Champion White Princes would make their move while I was busy with the exams. It was actually simple to counter their n: seal the passage. If I told His Majesty about the passage, he¡¯d have it sealed off, and the problem would be solved. The next problem was that it¡¯d also alert them. Though I didn¡¯t know the specifics of their n, I had an advantage since I knew they were nning to use the passage. If we sealed it off, it¡¯d just squash that specific n. If we went all in on that, we¡¯d be caught off guard in the event they switched to an alternative n. Plus, it might seal off our route to investigating who killed Elder Yu. Why? Because the passage limited the number of people who could simultaneously pass through, meaning only their elites or bestbatants would use it.

    While Boss¡¯ hypothesis wasn¡¯t wless, Mount Lu certainly wasn¡¯t free of suspicion by my ounts. With that said, I couldn¡¯t form any conclusions unless I personally saw their memberse out from the passage. On the other hand, I could narrow down on suspects significantly if I knew who came through the passage. Whoever colluded with Gongsun Chu would have to be the one who killed Elder Yu, after all. For that reason, I kept my newfound knowledge of the passage a secret. Surely His Majesty, a grown man, wouldn¡¯t be in trouble just because of that, right? Protecting him wasn¡¯t part of my job description.

    When I yawned again, Long Zaitian grumbled, ¡°How many times is that now? Whose house did you break intost night?¡±

    I had someone summon the new guardian of the capital¡¯s nine doors first thing in the morning to discuss our defensive strategies for the next three days. Of course, my other motive was to have an extra bodyguard. If there was one decision I couldn¡¯t be wrong on, it was having more bodyguards. I didn¡¯t expect the moron toe alone! What help was one extra Long Zaitian going to be?! Thankfully, I had Yuan Kou andpany apany me. I stressed to them to be vignt for anyone who tried to approach me.

    Long Zaitian was genuinely concerned about the capital¡¯s security, so we discussed it the entire way. I had capable fighters by my side, and Bronze Mask hadn¡¯t struck, so why did I have to put up with Long Zaitian?

    ¡°Who the hell are you calling a criminal? Daddy was busy for the sake of this nation allst night. Watch your doors. Stop making us at Liu Shan Men carry you. Don¡¯t forget I climbed the ranks faster than y-¡±

    ¡°sphemy to culture! sphemy!¡±

    Who the hell is this now?

    I looked over my shoulder to see a man in his sixties charging over to me.

    ¡°Uncouth speech, bizarre attire, a bad influence on virtues, this¡­ this¡­ is sphemy to culture!¡± thundered the elder, pointing in my face as he spoke and then yanking the green foxtail out of my mouth. He threw the foxtail on the ground and stamped on it. ¡°Who are you? Are you an examinee? Why are you dressed this way? And why have you assembled so many unbing people?! Why are you loitering when you¡¯ve arrived outside the imperial city? Have you any idea what time it is?¡±

    So¡­ who is gramps here?

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Back up!¡± Yuan Kou pushed the elder straight to the ground. ¡°You know how this man here is? You¡¯re a bit too old to be trying theseme extortion tactics.¡±

    Why did you push Gramps over when I have yet to identify him?

    ¡°Y-y-you would¡­ dare to assault this old one¡­?¡± The old man struggled to his feet, still livid.

    ¡°How could you assault someone as a student?¡±

    ¡°Gentlemen use reason, not their fists.¡±

    ¡°Elder Wang is in his sixties. What happens if you hurt him badly?¡±

    The young individuals dressed in officials¡¯ uniform really didn¡¯t hold back.

    If they¡¯re being so respectful, could he be an official? Best not to offend him, then.

    Gu Xianxian: ¡°Man, shut up! You think we don¡¯t know how to walk in ourselves? You should be honoured Sir Ming is here to grace your venue with his presence. If he doesn¡¯t want to take the exam, you¡¯d all be without a job.¡±

    ¡°Hora, bakayaro!¡± Teng yelled in Dongying¡¯s underworldnguage with his eyes wide.

    Lang Qing silently started drawing his de, prompting the young ones to scuttle back.

    ¡°What are you doing?! Mind your manners!¡± I chided.

    Goodness me. How brash can you lot be?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As soon as he saw me show signs of walking towards them, Long Zaitian stopped me.

    Long Zaitian know him?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, don¡¯t be careless. What if he¡¯s posing as someone?¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡±

    Long Zaitian had a point. It certainly was suspicious for someone to approach me out of the blue. Nevertheless, the elder seemed to want to have a word with me. Thus, I took a step back and shouted, ¡°Elder, did you want to speak to me?¡±

    The elder, having now finally stabilised himself on his feet, pointed to me and shouted, ¡°This old one wants to talk some sense into you! Come over here to talk!¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, sure. However, I will need you to cooperate for a moment.¡±

    The elder looked perplexed.

    ¡°Frisk him,¡± I instructed.

    Yuan Kou and Gu Xianxian boldly frisked the elder in broad daylight in spite of the shocks voiced around. Yuan Kou tipped the elder upside down, while Gu Xianxian searched the elder¡¯s body and tugged on his face. Once done, the two of them tossed the elder to the ground.

    ¡°He is clean, Sir. He does not seem to know martial arts.¡±

    ¡°His face is genuine, Sir.¡±

    Cool. Good to know.

    I smiled and headed over. ¡°From a trade of blows, friendship blooms.¡±

    ¡°Get lost!¡± The elder got up a second time, but he looked ready to put his life on the line. ¡°You lot¡­ You lot¡­¡± Panting, he seized my cor and roared, ¡°You¡­ You thug. You are scum of the earth! Who is your pathetic teacher? Go change right this second! Get rid of these vermin and apologise to me sincerely. Otherwise, you will not be entering the exam venue!¡±

    ¡°Easy, easy. Calm down first, Elder.¡± I gently patted the elder¡¯s hands. ¡°May I ask who you are?¡±

    Since I was affable, the elder raised his chest and flicked his sleeves. Gaze cast heaven bound, he leisurely answered, ¡°This old one is Wang Zhenyun, professor at Hanlin Academy.¡±

    Ah, a colleague at Hanlin Academy.

    ¡°Are you here as an examiner today, Elder?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Are you in charge of inspections outside the exam venue today?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, no.¡±

    ¡°Are you an assessor?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± I stepped back two steps, pointed at the elder and thundered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you just an ordinary citizen, then?! What are you acting tough for?!¡±

    You scared me, you coot! I thought you were an examiner! How dare you even insult my shifu?!

    The elder grabbed his chest. ¡°You would dare speak to me in that rude tone?¡±

    ¡°What about it? Do something about it. Keep it up and I¡¯ll¡­¡±

    Yuan Kou whispered, ¡°Sir, you need to be a little refined for the exams.¡±

    ¡°Refined? I¡­ I¡­ I will insult you every time I see you!¡±

    Everyone headed for the entrance stopped to spectate.

    ¡°Your attire fails to observe formalities. You will not set foot into the imperial city in that clothing!¡±

    ¡°Formalities, you say? Okay, what formality?¡±

    ¡°Students entering the imperial city must be dressed in clean and neat clothing, as well as groomed cleanly. What makes you think you can disrespect the imperial city?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s the imperial city¡¯s formalities, right? Okay, let me ask you a question.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Have I entered the imperial city?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Why on earth are you bringing up the imperial city¡¯s rules with me, then?!¡±

    The elder looked close to passing out from anger.

    The impression of the imperial court that examinees heading to the venue that day formed was based on a single scene ¨C an elder and a young man going on verbal tirades against each other.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe there is someone like you outside the imperial city on the day of the imperial exams in this prosperous era.¡±

    ¡°In what era has there not been people with bad manners? How can you be so narrow-minded after living for more than sixty years of life?! Never seen a bad guy in a prosperous era?!¡±

    Glossary

    Middle doors ¨C Take it literally. They are the doors in the middle section of the imperial city.

 Book 14: Chapter 60

    A ce for Men to Do Big Things

    ¡°Should he refuse to kowtow to this old one, this old one who prohibit him from entering the exam venue.¡±

    ¡°Cut the rubbish out. If you¡¯re as tough as you act, swear that you¡¯ll die if I set foot inside.¡±

    ¡°This old one swears that, if this sly-shameless thug sets one foot inside the venue, this old one will smash his head on a w-, wait, why should this old one have to die for your sake?¡±

    ¡°Because you stupid? How should I know?¡±

    Since nobody was willing to pass up the opportunity to watch some drama, things¡­ got a little hard to clean up. Though the guards didn¡¯t recognise me, they recognised Long Zaitian, and he was their newmander, so nobody dared to arrest me when he was standing on my side. Some officials at the rear didn¡¯t care about Long Zaitian, but they recognised me, so they didn¡¯t want to involve themselves. Time continued to pass, yet nobody passing by showed any interest in the exams anymore. As such, I could tell that the situation was getting harder and harder to wrap up with each passing moment.

    A young civil servant hurried over to us and saluted us. ¡°Please wait a moment. Prime Minister has summoned you.¡±

    The elder and I immediately showed respect upon hearing the mention of Prime Minister Li.

    ¡°If it were not for the fact Prime Minister needs to talk to this old one, he would not let you off the hook. No matter. He shall report your unbing appearance and contemptible deeds to Prime Minister Li. Given our rtionship, hmph, let¡¯s see if you can still take the exams!¡± In order to impress his juniors, the elder loudly asked, ¡°Ahem, what does Prime Minister seek this old one for?¡±

    The young official replied, ¡°Uh, Prime Minister did not ask for you; he asked for him.¡±

    ¡°Him?¡± The elder looked back at me.

    ¡°Hah.¡± I condescendingly stepped forward. ¡°Given our rtionship, hmph, let¡¯s see if you can keep your post!¡± With that, I strutted past the incensed elder and into the venue.

    A whileter¡­

    Like a bat out of hell, I sprinted back out of the venue to change into the clothes Gu Xianxian held onto for me. I would¡¯ve been kicked out of the exam venue before I even sat the exam if I didn¡¯t change! Thankfully, there was no one in my way when on my way back in.

    There were hundreds of small segregated rooms lined up in dozens of columns that had weathered decades of time. There was a shabby wooden bed, desk, stool spittoon, inkstone, brush, ink, and ink grinder in each room. Even the best inkstone had a chip corner. Our Emperor was either frugal or a cheapskate. Inparison, the Western Regions¡¯ rulers splurged on every form of luxury they could.

    I didn¡¯t have much time to check the ce out for we needed to hurry in.

    Prime Minister Li beamed upon spotting me. ¡°Hahaha, Duke Ming, Duke Ming, you made this old one wait for ages.¡±

    ¡°I missed you, Prime Minister!¡±

    ¡°Have a seat. Have a seat. This old one feels like days aren¡¯tplete if he doesn¡¯t see you. What ailment could this be?¡±

    ¡°The people say that meetings in this lifetime are flowers of seeds nted in thest life. Perhaps we were somewhat acquaintedst life, but this one did not have the fortune of bing your son-inw.¡±

    Prime Minister Li frowned. ¡°Whatever do you mean? We hit it off from our first meeting. It is a familiarity embedded in our bones. Inws? More like father and son. Definitely father and son!¡±

    ¡°Really? Do I really bear such a striking resemnce to yourte father?¡±

    ¡°Your mouth is truly¡­ truly¡­ Come on in.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, after you.¡±

    The civil servants who watched us converse and enter were so confused that their confusion was confused. Some of them even looked at me believing I could¡¯ve been in a father-son rtionship with Prime Minister Li in my past life.

    Prime Minister shooed everyone out and poured me a cup of tea. ¡°It has been a rough journey for you.¡±

    ¡°It is nothingpared to the toiling you aremitted to for the country and people.¡±

    ¡°This one means what he says.¡± Prime Minister Li slid my cup over to me without the usual yful look on his face. ¡°How could this one have not heard about the assassination attempts on your life when every corner of the capital has heard about it? Is it true you even found Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor? This one is genuinely concerned for your wellbeing since you couldplete such a momentous task under such precarious circumstances.¡±

    You know how you could tell Prime Minister Li was a smart veteran? From beginning to end, he never mentioned his status or his stance; he inquired solely using the tone of an elder concerned for someone younger, but there was plenty of information conveyed between the lines.

    I graciously had a drink of tea. ¡°To hear that from you makes it all worth it. You can rest assured. No matter how bold Bronze Mask may be, it is unlikely he would carry out an assassination on the imperial pce grounds.¡±

    ¡°Unlikely does not mean there is no chance.¡± Prime Minister Li stroked his beard.

    Prime Minister Li¡¯s apprehensions were warranted. After all, the imperial city and imperial pce were extremely close, and there was an assassin who was bold enough to kill people in broad daylight in the heavily-guarded capital. Though security in the imperial pce had been strengthened significantly after my shifu and Ximen Chuideng went nuts in there, it had been a long time since the security detail had to deal with such infiltrations. If they hadn¡¯t practiced, it was understandable for them to be rusty. Moreover, even if no harm was done, it would certainly cause public uproar if people heard an assassin was able to infiltrate the pce and give His Majesty a fright. In contrast, I wasn¡¯t too concerned about Prime Minister Li¡¯s concerns primarily because I had information they didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Prime Minister, Hohoho.¡± As I rubbed my hands together, I asked, ¡°The examsmence today. You should fill this one in, right? Did¡­ His Majesty tell you to pass on anything?¡±

    ¡°Such as?¡±

    ¡°¡­ He did not say anything?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    No? Your Majesty, you still want me to ace the exams when I¡¯ve already done something so big for you?!

    ¡°Rx, Duke Ming. His Majesty is just treating this as a procedure for you.¡±

    Thank heavens. You had me panicking for a second there.

    See? I told you His Majesty wouldn¡¯t be so nasty.

    ¡°Considering your knowledge and intellect, the exam is not even worthy of being your warmup; you could win even with your eyes shut.¡±

    That¡¯s what he means?! Win with my eyes shut?! Who do you think I am?! My shifu?! Your Majesty, you have too many misunderstandings about me! I might not even understand the topic!

    Had I not pre-emptively made preparations, I wouldn¡¯t just be sweating cold bullets but even handing in my resignation letter.

    ¡°Are you not going to give me any special privileges? If nothing else, I,¡± I lowered my voice prior to continuing, ¡°what happens if someone infiltrates the venue to assassinate me?¡±

    ¡°Did you not just say it was not a concern?¡±

    ¡°I was trying to be polite!¡±

    Bronze Mask could easily bypass these shabby security protocols to assassinate me!

    ¡°In your opinion, do we have to guard against Bronze Mask, then?¡±

    ¡°You are asking me?¡±

    If you¡¯re asking me¡­

    ¡°Yes! Absolutely! Not just against Bronze Mask but even Fiends¡¯ Genesis and the four unorthodox factions! The line of people out for my life could fill every space from east coast to west coast. Is this something to be taken lightly? Prime Minister, you mentioned summoning Tianhu back. Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ He has not returned yet.¡±

    ¡°It would be pointless even if he dide back!¡±

    I removed my boora and took out a halved piece of jade.

    Prime Minister Li pinched his nose. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s¡­ Is the rumour actually true?¡±

    ¡°What rumour?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Prime Minister got up to pace around, moving further and further away from the piece of jade.

    Do you need to go so far? I wash myself every day. It¡¯s not¡­ blegh. Okay, I forgive you.

    ¡°Rumour has it that Tianhu lost a most valued possession of his in Beiping, leading to him going on a rampage that resulted in him injuring many members of the north¡¯s martial world. He usually is untraceable, but he did not hold back this time at the cost of giving away his whereabouts.¡±

    ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°I do not know. Ye Yun said he has gone off in search of his lost property. We have been wondering what could possibly make him act out of character. If it is this piece of jade, then it all clicks together. How did you get your hands on it, and why is there only half of it?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell Prime Minister Li about Jingan, or I¡¯d onlyplicate the situation even more. Hence, I vaguely answered, ¡°Simply put, I have been framed.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tianhu uses the piece of jade as Navagraha Star Summoner¡¯s child piece. Putting aside its value to him, this old one heard he would not spare anyone¡¯s life if they touched it. You split it in two?¡°

    ¡°I have been framed!¡±

    ¡°You were framed, yet you are holding onto it? Well, hid it in your shoe?¡±

    ¡­ I was worried I¡¯d lose it if I changed my clothes like usual¡­

    Still pinching his nose, Prime Minister Li told me, ¡°Are you truly looking to live a short life? This old one reckons he might even ignore His Majesty¡¯s orders to retrieve the piece of jade and kill you¡­ Also, wash your shoes.¡±

    I knew it was my shoes¡¯ problem! I wash these daily!

    ¡°Surely I can talk it out with him.¡±

    ¡°Hard to say. Nobody can dissuade him once he goes berserk. If he wants to kill you, he will fight his way into the capital for your life no matter who stands before him. Taishu Hall has absolutely no means of holding back The Ultimate Three.¡±

    ¡°There is no guarantee he wille.¡±

    ¡°Where does your optimisme from? If you were truly framed, then someone is evidently provoking Tianhu into killing you. Therefore, they would leak who is in possession of it. Truly a vicious scheme.¡±

    I¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m going to report you. You called Her Highness vicious! If I¡¯m going down, I¡¯m bringing everyone down with me!

    ¡°Are you not going to give me any special privileges, then?!¡± I mmed the table and cried, ¡°I was counting on your promise to have Tianhu fend off assassinsing for me, but even Tianhu wants to kill me now! If you do not change the rules, I will not be responsible when assassins barge in and sabotage the exam!¡±

    ¡°Rx.¡± Prime Minister Li looked ready to dominant any situation with the way he waved his hand. ¡°This old one always has two backup ns. Come!¡±

    As soon as we stepped out the door, we ran into Old Wang. He greeted Prime Minister Li, but he scoffed at me.

    ¡°What did you do to anger him?¡± queried Prime Minister Li.

    ¡°He is such a nuisance. He confronted me outside the venue, so we ended up arguing and hating each other.¡±

    ¡°It is unwise to anger him,¡± Prime Minister Li advised as we continued along.

    ¡°He is an official of Hanlin Academy, right? He is not an examiner or auditor. What reason is there to fear him?¡±

    ¡°While that is true, all the examiners and auditors are his subordinates.¡±

    He¡­ They¡­ What?

    ¡°He is an erudite teacher whom even His Majesty shows respects. He is the head examiner this time.¡±

    ¡°I thought it was you!¡±

    ¡°That is true, but it is only in name. This old one just needs to assume responsibility for the overall event; others take care of the bits and pieces.¡±

    ¡°So he is¡­¡±

    ¡°Professor Wang Zhenyun, or moremonly Professor Wang. You are in for it now. In saying that, that is only a minor issue. Come.¡±

    Minor? How?! Let¡¯s keep talking about this Professor Wang! Hey, wait!

    I followed Prime Minister Li into the exam venue and headed towards the end of the exam rooms.

    ¡°You need amander tform, a space where you can muse and resolve personal matters without any external influences, a private space that cannot be monitored and, ideally, a space that allows you topete against your enemies.¡±

    That was a veteran of three reigns for you. He was on the money. His title of the ¡°man who never ages in politics¡± was well deserved.

    We finally arrived at themander tform Prime Minister Li mentioned. There was isted private space. The space could be used to prepare an assortment of items. No prying eyes could see inside.

    ¡°While notrge, it has enough room to house three people. The door can be locked. I shall leave the key with you. I have told the others that this is your exclusive ce, so nobody will bother you.¡±

    I pinched my nose. ¡°Prime Minister, can you please cut the nonsense?¡±

    Prime Minister gave me the young-people-these-days look and tapped on the isted building. ¡°Fragrant rosewood. It will not attract attention.¡±

    No matter if you iy it with gold or silver, it¡¯s still a toilet! I can¡¯t just run to the toilet whenever somethinges up, can I?!

    ¡°Have you not heard the saying?¡±

    ¡°Which one?¡±

    Prime Minister Li formed a fist. ¡°The toilet is where men do the big jobs!¡±

    ¡­

    By the time I finished processing what I just heard, Prime Minister Li was out of sight.

    Come back! Is this what you ssify as big jobs?!

    I can¡¯t believe he just left me stupefied! You slippery old geezer!

    Come back! I don¡¯t want to do big things here!

 Book 14: Chapter 61

    Exam

    Prime Minister Li truly was a vital pir of the nation. He wasn¡¯t trained in martial arts, yet he already vanished before I could evenin. Any qinggong ranking without him on it was illegitimate. Prime Minister Li was meticulous, too. He assigned me a room that was next door to the specific toilet.

    I had no choice but to take the exam and deal with the things as they came. It was my first time ever taking an academic exam.

    I chewed the tip of my brush as I waited to see what setting I was dealing with. The first part of the event was listening to the elder tutors of Hanlin Academy give speeches about things I couldn¡¯t give a toss about. Next, we had to write on the exam papers to prevent anyone posing as an examinee. I didn¡¯t have an issue with that procedure since I couldn¡¯t ask for anything more than to have someone pose as me.

    I already knew that we would have to fill in ten nks, write an essay and review political policies. The fill-in-the-nks portion was supposedly the easiest. The essay needed to be written in the same format officials would have to write when submitting documents; while it was a test of literacy finesse, it wasn¡¯t too difficult. The most challenging part was the review of political policies. It required the examinee to write their opinions of the nation¡¯s economy and life of the people; it was a test of character that also demanded eloquent expression. The previous Emperor even had a poetry exam, but Emperor Yuansheng saw more value in practical knowledge, so he did away with it.

    What was I well-versed at? Everything I just mentioned. You read that right! That was all I heard from the professors at Daren Academy. Read, you say? Hahaha, you aedian? Hahahaha! You tripping.

    I was as cool as a cucumber when I received the question paper. What was there to be worried about as long as you took it serious? As I ground my ink and set my tools up, I started searching for the serious guy. Through listening to heart beats, I quickly found where He Shi was. Told you. What was there to be worried about as long as you took it serious? I had a strategy, and it was called ¡°He Shi¡±.

    He Shi was to mull over his approach once he received the question paper and then quietly read aloud his answers. I could hear whatever he mumbled with my enhanced hearing to then copy. I couldn¡¯t be used of giarism when there was only one correct answer for each nk in the fill-in-the-nks section. As for there being two identical essays and opinion pieces on political policies, I already ounted for that. I told He Shi to mumble an eptable response to the questions and then spend the remaining time on his own answers. He was able to finish writing his papers before I even understood the questions back at Daren Academy, so writing two responses within three days was a walk in the park for him. In any case, it was easier than me having to write my own. Besides, he didn¡¯t need to put too much effort into mine. He could knock himself for his own papers.

    Even if I couldn¡¯t top the exam, I¡¯d still ce among the top candidates with He Shi¡¯s responses.

    In the event I was unlucky and there were so many freaks this time that I didn¡¯t ce, I¡¯d still have had presentable papers. If left up to me alone¡­ His Majesty would probably have a heart attack reading my papers. I couldn¡¯t take away a great Emperor from the people, right? I wasn¡¯t cheating for my sake; it was for the sake of the greater good. I felt tears well up just imagining the tragedy.

    As soon as He Shi started mumbling, I put my brush to my paper.

    ¡°Confucius said¡­¡±

    A shadow that was suddenly cast over the top prompted me to look up, and I saw Old Geezer Wang who I verbally destroyed.

    You¡¯re not even in charge of patrolling as a proctor, and even if you were, do you need toe straight to the room beside the toilet?! You¡¯re just picking on me!

    He Shi mumbled at a perfect pace and earnestly despite not knowing how I was going to obtain what he mumbled. However! I didn¡¯t understand! I had no idea how to write what he mumbled. I got ¡°Confucius said¡± and ¡°Yi said¡±, and then I had no clue how to write the rest.

    My listening was good enough to deduce what characters He Shi wrote based on the sound of his brush against his paper. Owing to the simplicity of the fill-in-the-nks part, though, he wrote at the same time as he mumbling, effectively covering the sound of his hand movements. Right after he finished filling in the blinks, he immediately moved onto his essay, yet I didn¡¯t understand what he mumbled. I forgot I couldn¡¯t write to save my life even if I could hear him.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± I raised my hand as though my life depended on stretching it out on time.

    The proctor assigned to my area frowned and came over with gentle steps. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I need to use the toilet!¡±

    Yep, I was the first examinee to use the toilet.

    ¡°The toilet? Why?¡±

    ¡°I have a stomach ache!¡±

    ¡°Keep your voice down!¡± The proctor checked on the surrounding examinees and then whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t try anything funny. Make it quick. You must leave your papers here.¡±

    ¡°Understandable, understandable.¡°

    You make it sound as if it¡¯ll suddenly make sense to me if I take it with me!

    I had my arms wrapped around my abdomen as I ran to the toilet. I never expected the Prime Minister¡¯s assistance that I despised woulde in necessary so soon.

    The toilet was built as a temporary solution that hadn¡¯t been used yet ¨C let us just assume so for my own psychological wellbeing. Considering it was genuinely made from Chinese rosewood, it was probably safe to assume it was reserved for nobles and officials. That said, given Prime Minister Li told me it was amandeering table for me to use, I figured it couldn¡¯t be so simple.

    I searched high and low to eventually find out that the hole in the base was actually hollow. There weren¡¯t any objects left behind for me, but I could hear a breeze from below. I contemted, mulled and mused. In the end, I took the leap of faith ¨C literally ¨C and jumped down.

    The ground at the bottom was dry and odourless. Based on the sound of the breeze, I determined that the underground passage¡¯s other end wasn¡¯t too far away, meaning the passage wasn¡¯t exactlyrge, but it wasrge enough for a few people to traverse simultaneously.

    I guess this is what he meant by it being a ce for big things. Still, this isn¡¯t enough to solve my current dilemma.

    I climbed back out and opened the toilet door slightly. I gestured to the sentry outside, who was tasked with making sure I wouldn¡¯t run off or cheat, and cordially hollered, ¡°Excuse me, Sir. Pleasee over here for a second.¡±

    The guard showed a disgusted face and retreated a step.

    That¡¯s not what I meant! Nobody is going to do anything to you!

    ¡°Your spear is nice. Lend it to me.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The guard mumbled under his breath, ¡°Y-you sicko! Y-you would¡­¡±

    You¡¯re too imaginative for your own good! I want the spear in your hand! What spear are you thinking about?!

    ¡°What do you want it for?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ have a use for it.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t even find the words to describe the guard¡¯s reaction. He probably only lent it to me in the end so that I wouldn¡¯t ¡°harass¡± him. I had no alternatives, though. Had I not had experience dodging Zuo Suniang¡¯s spear attacks, the guard would¡¯ve put a hole in my head with the way he handed it over!

    I shut the door once I got the spear.

    The first night finally came, and the first day of the imperial exam came to an end. At night, all papers were sealed and submitted to the examiners for safekeeping. If anyone hadn¡¯t finished writing and didn¡¯t want to hand their paper up, they could request three candles to finish overnight. There weren¡¯t many questions for this exam, nheless, so three days was more than enough time. Most examinees chose to sleep and recover at night in order to maintain their performance. In other words, the only lights in Taishu Hall at night were the candles ¨C the perfect environment for those who operated at night.

    He Shi was part of the group who turned in early. He had finished the majority of his answers and handed them in before sunset so that he could have ample time for eating and resting before bed. If he waited toote, the snoring would make it hard to sleep, after all. Howbeit, he was probably too busy thinking about his future or something because he couldn¡¯t fall asleep straight away.

    ¡°You can¡¯t sleep, so let¡¯s chat.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°What¡¯s there to talk about? The exams are continuing tomorr-¡± He Shi sat up as if he just sensed an assassin and went to scream.

    I mmed my hand onto He Shi¡¯s mouth and pressed him down onto the bed. I set the spear aside and quietly told him, ¡°I need to talk to you.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 62

    Magnificent Beauty

    ¡°In spite of Daren Academy¡¯s enduring polished reputation as one of the most important ces to study at for any serious academician, it inevitably started to feel too old-school for the younger generation that had continued to modernise with each passing generation. The academy itself had no way of sensationalising itself solely as a ce where knowledge was abundant. In its history, all graduates were individuals who enrolled as young students and graduated as old graduates. While true that the graduates were astute and honoured individuals, it seemed that they were all copies of each other. Thus, its poprity paled inparison to academies that produced graduates of all different characters. By education standards, Daren Academy did no wrong, but it struggled to establish itself as a leader in education if one assessed it based on appearances. The imperial court recruited officials almost solely from Daren Academy, resulting in peoplementing that the academy didn¡¯t live up to its reputation.

    ¡°Ever since Huang Yuzao took up leadership, Daren Academy underwent enormous changes. Since he expanded their offerings to thirty-six subjects, schrs had the ability to choose other careers aside from civil servant jobs. Aware that the next generation didn¡¯t necessarily share his hobbies, he encouraged students to seek their own development paths, granting students unprecedented autonomy in development. Among the additions that made the academy more colourful and livelier in contrast to its past stuck-in-the-mud and outdated image was the academy idol event.

    ¡°Students were permitted to pursue their own interest and nominate themselves for the idolpetition, while the tutors of Daren Academy would support them. Since its introduction, thepetition had evolved into one of the academy¡¯s most important event.

    ¡°To nobody¡¯s surprise, the event was criticised for being beyond the scope of education. Of course, there were some who supported it. Had Huang Yuzao not adamantly advocated for it, the event would¡¯ve been abandoned already. If thepetition didn¡¯t have a childish aspect to it, then it wasn¡¯t a true representation of the students¡¯ pursuits.

    ¡°Daren Academy enforced strict disciplinary practices, but they had produced a number of atypical talents in recent years because they started epted students who otherwise should not have been epted. Consequently, there were questions raised about Daren Academy copying Qiyuan¡¯s ybook. All in all, though, Daren Academy¡¯s evolution was irrefutable.¡± ¨C Chapter three of Daren Academy¡¯s Guide, ck and White Reflection, Academy Edition.

    The first day of Daren Academy¡¯s idolpetition saw thepletion of the rites, mathematics and calligraphy contests.

    In the rites event, Che Gulu¡¯s team took first ce, followed by Wu Dayong and Song Chi¡¯s teams, respectively.

    In the calligraphy event, Che Gulu¡¯s team took first ce. Shi Weiliang and Mu Anan came in as runner ups, while Song Chi¡¯s group ced third again.

    In the mathematics event, Su Xiao¡¯s team came out on top. Song Chi¡¯s team came in second ce, and Wu Dayong¡¯s team picked up third ce.

    Based on the results thus far, Che Gulu led by arge margin, but his team¡¯s failure to ce in the top three in the mathematics contest reduced the gap considerably.

    Quanmu had secured second ce for the overall, and Song Chi¡¯s group had secured third ce.

    ording to the original n, Song Ou¡¯s group would forfeit to Su Xiao¡¯s group, and Su Xiao¡¯s group would throw the contest to Che Gulu, who¡¯d then forfeit the prizes to Su Xiao. s, Su Xiao and Song Chi had made it known that neither side was going to follow the agreements any longer, meaning it now came down to a contest of truepetence. It was a rather awkward situation for the reason that Che Gulu reaped all the benefits from the disregarded agreements.

    ¡°Crapmu¡­¡±

    ¡°Trashmu¡­¡±

    ¡°Filthy.¡±

    ¡°No sportsmanship whatsoever¡­ Trash.¡±

    ¡°Shameless¡­ Shameless Wu Dayong.¡±

    Other sses harshly denounced the Quanmu ss after the first day due to Su Xiao and Wu Dayong¡¯s tactic. 30% of the contempt actually came from their own ss; the girls who participated, in particr, pulled no punchesmbasting the boys who they now evaluated even more negatively. The face of Quanmu ¨C Wu Dayong ¨C could¡¯ve soaked up all the praise easily, but he had already left for he, Zhou Teng and He Shi needed to take the imperial exams. As such, Su Xiao and the girls had to bear all the spite.

    Su Xiao was not one who¡¯d let harmless words stop him from achieving his goal. Besides, he wasn¡¯t even a student of Daren Academy, so what reason did he have to care? He was supposed to be at war with descendants of the Seven Champion White Princes, yet he had no qualms seeking Jin Zhaoying¡¯s advice. Unlike him, though, the girls didn¡¯t have skin as him. Therefore, they stayed in their ssroom.

    ¡°Today is music, chariotry and archery.¡±

    Mu Anan had her head down, a scary smile and was always writing. Needless to say, she didn¡¯t hear or see Wang Zi count off the contests.

    ¡°Shi Weiliang will take care of music. As for Chariotry and archery, they will depend on the boys. Considering Brother Yan Ling is even ranked as one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons, surely he can handle it, right?¡±

    Shi Weiliang, in an unconfident tone, replied, ¡°Don¡¯t say I¡¯ll take care of it. There¡¯s no guarantee I¡¯ll win. Wu Dayong¡¯s group is all to me for this. Why insist on taking part in the idolpetition when you have imperial exams, as well? We¡¯d have much better chances if they were stillpeting. Wu Dayong really should be renamed to Wu Wuyong!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡±

    Shi Weiliang had a bad feeling as soon as she saw Wang Zi¡¯s smirk, but she was too slow to react.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t he swear to marry you?¡±

    All the girls whistled as Shi Weiliang went bright red in the face.

    ¡°He was just fooling around!¡± Shi Weiliang stomped, but it only motivated her ssmates to giggle.

    ¡°Hehehe, you dered in front of the whole ss that you¡¯d marry him if he won.¡±

    Other ssmates: ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Is there any chance he¡¯d win?! I was just riled up. He, like his name, is useless. His academic scores are inferior to mine. He has no chance of winning.¡±

    Shi Weiliang and Wu Dayong had a typical daily argument yesterday, with neither of them giving way. Emotionally riled up, Wu Dayong asserted, ¡°If I win, your family has to feed me for three years!¡± Unwilling to back down, Shi Weiliang fired back, ¡°Forget feeding you, I¡¯d marry you!¡±

    Wang Zi cackled, ¡°So¡­ are you going to marry him if he wins?¡±

    ¡°H-he¡­ won¡¯t win¡­ If he does, you¡¯ll have to be his concubine!¡±

    Now it was Wang Zi¡¯s turn to have a taste of her own medicine. ¡°N-no, that was all you! I never said that!¡±

    As Wu Dayong and Shi Weiliang went back and forth yesterday, Shi Weiliang dragged her best friend into the bet after Wu Dayong stated, ¡°Who¡¯d want you for a wife?!¡± to which Shi Weiliang responded, ¡°Wang Zi will be your concubine, then! Both of us will marry you! If you don¡¯t win the exams, you can go jump into the ocean!¡± While Shi Weiliang looked meek and prim, she had a wild side when it came to gambling.

    ¡°You agreed to it. I remember it. Everyone else remembers it, too, right?¡±

    ¡°I dare any one of you to raise your hand!¡± Wang Zi swept her enraged gaze over all her ssmates, shutting them all down.

    ¡°I remember,¡± Mu Anan whispered.

    ¡°Anan! You betrayed me!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, but I do remember. Ah, Brother Yan Ling.¡±

    The girls stopped arguing instantly.

    Tang Ye probably would¡¯ve remained invisible after entering had it not been for Mu Anan pointing out he had entered.

    Tang Ye bobbed his head. ¡°Hello.¡±

    Tang Ye was perplexed as to why the ss fell silent as soon as he entered. It never urred to him that he had an appearance and aura that intimated men and galvanised women to act prim. Though he was only neen, he had solidified himself as one of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons. ordingly, plenty of female students had their eyes on the single as soon as he arrived at Daren Academy, and he only grew more popr once they knew his status. Among potential-husband candidates, he had the whole package. As expected, then, girls would try to impress him. Little did they know how tough of a nut to crack he was.

    ¡°Where is Xiao Han?¡± queried Tang Ye. He never picked up on the fact that girls were trying to impress him. ¡°There is only an hour before thepetition starts. Has Xiao Han not arrived yet?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. He went to pay Jin Zhaoying a visit, but he said he¡¯d be back before thepetition starts.¡±

    The first event was music, so Tang Ye wasn¡¯t too concerned if Su Xiao wasn¡¯t there by then. The thing that he couldn¡¯t work out was why Su Xiao needed to see Jin Zhaoying at this point. Without considering the first round over the next three days, Su Xiao should¡¯ve been the one teaching Jin Zhaoying archery and chariotry. After all, she rose to her current position through intellect, not martial arts.

    Tang Ye was interrupted when he caught the sight of someone in his peripherals. ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Is there a rule stipting I can¡¯te here?¡± Si Fu brushed her bangs by her temples with a smile. ¡°The academy is open today. How could one waste an opportunity to expand their horizons? We Qilin Guards need stress relief activities, too, considering our work load.¡±

    All the girls came to the same conclusion when they saw Si Fu¡¯s long legs, hourss figure and smile ¨C none of them could hold a candle to her. Her friendly tone towards Tang Ye almost had them in tears.

    Tang Ye tried to think of an exnation for the misunderstanding, but he didn¡¯t know where to start, so he said, ¡°Enjoy your tour,¡± then spun around.

    Needless to say, Si Fu wanted to clobber the block of wood.

    Though Shi Weiliang and Wang Zi wanted to ask who the beauty was, Tang Ye looked uninterested.

    ¡°I have a case to tell you about.¡±

    Tang Ye spun back around to Si Fu instantly. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This way.¡±

    Tang Ye followed Si Fu into the courtyard without another word. Upon arrival, he asked, ¡°What case? Did youe here for it?¡±

    Si Fu didn¡¯t visit for work. The idolpetition was a big deal, so plenty of people working for the government attended, which led to her thinking that she might bump into Tang Ye there. Thest thing she expected was to be discussing a case with a block of wood.

    ¡°It¡¯s the, uh¡­ Ming Feizhen¡¯s assassination.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s news on Bronze Mask?¡±

    Bai Yeshuang and Shen Yiren were more experienced detectives than Tang Ye. Having said that, he learnt how to pick up on key points quickly from Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°No¡­ but we recently discovered a group that means Ming Feizhen harm called Bird Worship Cult.¡±

    ¡°Bird Worship Cult?¡± Tang Ye wrinkled his nose. ¡°What sort of demented cult is it?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? The head of the group is shrouded in mystery. It¡¯s spected that they have covered they are affiliated with the imperial court and Seven Champion White Princes.¡±

    ¡°Such a person exists?¡±

    Si Fu nodded and then sighed. ¡°The capital has yet another matter to tackle now.¡± She then nced at Tang Ye, who was thinking, and quietly questioned, ¡°Do you have ns tonight?¡±

    ¡°No. Big Bro is off to the exams. Xiao Han and I are holding down the fort here. We do need to discuss tomorrow¡¯s schedule, that being said.¡±

    ¡°You call Su Xiao Xiao Han and he refers to you as Yan Ling?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    In socialite, nobility and academic circles, referring to someone directly by their name was considered rude. In the martial world, there was a mixture of how to address someone; it should¡¯ve been obvious based on how often people referred to others by random titles and names. That being said, those born into prestigious martial arts families, particrly families tied to the orthodox sects, would still address each other by their courtesy names. Su Xiao and Tang Ye were used to it since they grew up in families that emphasised following all the formalities. What stuck out was the fact that Tang Ye didn¡¯t address Ming Feizhen by his courtesy name, but Si Fu chose not to ask about it since there was something more pressing to ask.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re free after the day¡¯spetition, how about w-¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Tang Ye flicked up a hand as he cast his gaze into the distance. ¡°Give me a moment,¡± he said before heading off.

    Si Fu tracked Tang Ye to see an eighteen-year-old girl holding a bag of mantous, strolling through the strolling through the corridor. She didn¡¯t try to be special, yet she created a picturesque vibe akin to a maiden strolling through drizzle on a mountain path.

    ¡°Miss Bai.¡±

    Si Fu realised Bai Yumo was no ordinary maiden from the way Tang Ye called out to her.

    Bai Yumo supposedly waited for Tang Ye to close in before reacting. She looked at him confused and asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Tang Ye,¡± answered Tang Ye.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yumo giddily scrubbed her head. ¡°Um¡­ Who is Tang Ye?¡±

    At this point in his life, Tang Ye was used to dealing with people who seemed to always be lost.

    ¡°We¡¯ve met a few times before, most of which consisted of me giving you trouble. You may not remember, but Monk Xun Feng must have mentioned, or more likely, cursed me frequently.¡±

    The mention of Xun Feng gave Bai Yumo an epiphany.

    ¡°Ooooh, it¡¯s you.¡± Bai Yumo enthused, ¡°I remember you now! Sorry, I¡¯m rather¡­¡± She suddenly took two steps back as if it was urgent. At the same time she retreated, she reached for her broadsword at her sash. Because she didn¡¯t bring her weapon today, however, she ended up pulling out a mantou and pointed at Tang Ye. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Tang Ye easily took the mantou from Bai Yumo¡¯s grip, leaving her unsure what to do with her hands. ¡°My Big Bro thinks you¡¯re suspicious, and I do, too, so I want to ask you directly: are you Six des Bronze Mask?¡±

    ¡°No! Who is Bronze Mask?¡±

    Bai Yumo had her vignce dialled up as high as it could go, and so did Tang Ye. If she was Bronze Mask, then he was no match for her. Tang Ye slowly put the mantou into his mouth, slowly chewed and slowly swallowed as Bai Yumo watched on with her eyes wide.

    Once he finished eating the mantou, Tang Ye said, ¡°You best not be lying.¡±

    Only once Tang Ye retreated a step did Bai Yumo feel secure. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t reduce the rage she felt over having her food stolen for some random reason. She pulled an angry face, only for him to look over his shoulder, prompting her to change her face back to normal as fast as lightning and count off her fingers.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°The mantou¡­ is a little cold,¡± Tang Ye informed before leaving.

    Bai Yumo watched Tang Ye leave with a radiant and enchanting old woman dressed unbingly.

    ¡°What a jerk!¡± Never had Bai Yumo met such a big jerk in her life. Not only did he take her mantou, he also took his sweet time, causing it to go cold and thenined about it to her. ¡°What an absolute jerk!¡±

    Bai Yumo didn¡¯t stop jogging for anyone until she returned to the room her group assembled. Only once she sat down in the room she was familiar with did she feel relieved. The others were all confused to see the usuallyid-back maiden look furious and running.

    Ling Shaoxuan inquired, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me! I ran into a jerk!¡±

    They were all surprised to hear Bai Yumo could hate someone.

    Bai Yumo took out a mantou and bit into it as if it owed her money, then took out another one and went over to give it to Xun Feng. ¡°I understand you now!¡±

    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Xun Feng was as confused as could be. Since he knew how protective she was of her food, though, he was smart enough to express appreciation if she shared.

    Ling Shaoxuan knew something happened, but he was never interested in girls¡¯ issues, so he sheathed his sword. ¡°You came back at the right time. The three of us are up next. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ***

    They walked for a while before Si Fu finally asked the question she¡¯d been dying to ask. ¡°What was that about?¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°Stop ying the fool!¡±

    Si Fu: What was that reunion-between-a-male-and-female-lead-in-a-novel scene about?! Why did you suddenly question her?! Is it because she¡¯s pretty? If you had questions for why, just ask her? Why did you take her mantou and even eat it? Why did you even intimidate her afterwards? Is that your way of hitting on girls, you block of wood? You made all three typical moves when hitting on girls!

    ¡°You need to improve your observation skills,¡± stated Tang Ye.

    Now it was Si Fu¡¯s turn to not understand.

    ¡°Did you notice that she had a vice-like grip on her mantou? That proved she cares immensely about the mantous. She looked depressed when I pinched one from her, which further supports that.¡±

    Si Fu: Probably because she¡¯s a glutton?

    ¡°I deliberately ate it in front of her to anger her, hoping to make her reveal an opening. I never expected her to have such good control over her emotions.¡±

    Whatever do you mean?! The refined maiden pulled a face at you because you stole her mantou!

    ¡°As for what I said before I left¡­ I was just sharing my opinion. It really was a little dry and cold.¡±

    Si Fu was a thought away from palming herself on the face.

    Though it was called a music contest, they weren¡¯t tested on traditional music theory. Based on traditional definitions, expertise in music theory didn¡¯t refer to musical performance capabilities. It was still a part of Confucianism, but the definitions had evolved with the times. In the distant past, musical skills, especially the type of performances to be disyed today, were frowned upon. Musicians who relied on performances to earn a living were considered pathetic. Thendscape had changed, nevertheless. Starting from the previous dynasty, music was given respect, and musicians were honoured more than any previous dynasty. Perhaps they were no longer as valued nowpared to a century ago, but they were no longer considered pathetic or bottom-tier of society. Therefore, there was no shortage of young individuals eager to pursue music aspirations.

    The musical contest didn¡¯t abide by antique standards. Instead, students were encouraged to perform freely for the professional musicians and professors to score. It was practically a concert. The freedom granted was a major reason the music contest was one that most were enthusiastic about. Up until now, it was the event with the most spectators.

    Allpetitors had arrived at the venue and carved off, leaving the centre vacant for those performing.

    The music tutor for the imperial family, the Director of Music for the academy and music industry, and most importantly, a legend of the music industry, Professor Guan, were invited to judge the musicpetition. Professor Guan, also hailed as the best string-instrument yer in Jiangnan, was the head judge.

    The legend in his fifties had either shaken his head in disappointment or raucously criticised the performances thus far. The highest praise he had given out so far was a small nod and two words, ¡°Not bad.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan made his way to the performance spot, catching the eyes of everyone present with his snow-white robe. Xun Feng followed behind him, carrying an iron broadsword for whatever reason. Needless to say, Professor Guan frowned when he saw the two of them show up without a music instrument.

    ¡°Are you two performing as a duet?¡®

    ¡°This one is performing alone. Monk Xun Feng is merely assisting,¡± answered Ling Shaoxuan.

    Professor Guan questioned, ¡°What are you two going to perform?¡±

    A performance with assistance was typical. In saying that, bringing a sword would make sense if there was a sword performance to apany music, but a broadsword?

    Ling Shaoxuan drew his sword slowly using Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s signature method. The sound of the sword tip¡¯s flicker was akin to music from a bamboo flute, while the breeze added a serene ambience. He cracked a smile and announced, ¡°Please watch on as this one performs a piece for you.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ling Shaoxuan thrust forward, while Xun Feng blocked with the broadsword. Despite the sh of sharp weapons, nobody could sense any hostility. Instead, the sound of the two des gently grinding wasparable to nature¡¯s melody in the mountains. Ling Shaoxuan drew his sword backwards to thrust again and again. The remaining echoes stacked on top of each other became a legato piece. Howbeit, each thrust produced a different pitch, ensuring there was an actual musical piece being yed. As Ling Shaoxuan retracted his sword in a circr motion this time, the friction against the air produced a soft and slow sound.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary disciples practiced their Flying Thrust technique underneath waterfalls; if thrusting droplets of water was possible for them, then this performance was a walk in the park for Ling Shaoxuan.

    Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s piece soothed the mind. Even by the time he sheathed his sword, nobody looked ufortable for a split second. It wasn¡¯t until a while after he was done did he receive a thunderous ovation.

    Professor Guan nodded. ¡°Not bad. Combining music with martial arts, a fine performance, indeed.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan racked up the highest score thus far.

    Due to the pressure of meeting Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s standard, sessive performers haplessly made blunders in their performances.

    Shi Weiliang nned to perform on a stringed instrument, but there was no way she could outshine Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s performance no matter how good she was at music. Both Tang Ye and Wang Zi signalled for her to just try her best and not stress over it. Shi Weiliang, nheless, showed a rare expression of determination and headed to the performance spot without her instrument.

    ¡°I¡­ will sing a piece.¡±

    Not even Shi Weiliang¡¯s friends were aware why she wanted to sing when she never made any practiced singing for the contest. Once she started singing, though, nobody made a sound as they listened to the song they¡¯d never heard before. It wasn¡¯t the emotions she roused that enchanted everyone but the tune and lyrics themselves. It was hard to imagine she¡¯d be the lyricist given the contents.

    Xun Feng and Ling Shaoxuan gave each other a nod. Xun Feng whipped his sleeve to shield Ling Shaoxuan behind him. Ling Shaoxuan stealthily drew his sword and flicked the tip.

    Shi Weiliang grimaced, losing her control over her perfect breathing.

    The basic technique from Flying Thrust emitted a formless and nigh silent sound that hurt the target. The technique wouldn¡¯t inflict any damage unless the performer utilised a high concentration of energy; however, it was enough to interrupt the flow of qi and blood in ordinary folks. As a consequence, Shi Weiliang¡¯s voice was impacted.

    Tang Ye realised what was going on from Shi Weiliang¡¯s abrupt and brief pause. Before he could make his move, though, Bai Yumo pushed Ling Shaoxuan out from Xun Feng¡¯s back. Ling Shaoxuan sheathed his sword awkwardly as he red at Bai Yumo. Bai Yumo red back and grouched, ¡°Why are you picking on her?!¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    Xun Feng didn¡¯t step in since he and Ling Shaoxuan aplished their goal.

    While Shi Weiliang was able to finish her song, it was imperfect. When perfection was the goal and she had to impress Professor Guan of all people, he most likely penalised her the majority of her points.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± stammered Shi Weiliang, once she finished singing. Tears eventually started coursing down her face.

    ¡°Twenty years¡­ Twenty years¡­ It has been twenty years since this old man has heard ¡®Magnificent Beauty¡¯. The great Li Longlong rose to fame through the song. She stole every woman¡¯s thunder when she performed the dance atop the city wall. After she married off to Beijiangter on and never returned to the capital, ¡®Magnificent Beauty¡¯ has never been performed again. This old one never expected to hear it again. If you are not first ce, nobody else is deserving of the honour!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 63

    Redirected Attention

    ¡°That was amazing,¡± remarked Su Xiao, bobbing his head from a distance.

    Su Xiao neither recognised Shi Weiliang¡¯s song or saw her performance, but he was sure she won with her performance. ¡°Why did you call me out for a walk? I missed Miss Shi¡¯s performance. Say something!¡±

    ¡°I will. I will. Please wait for a while longer.¡± Xiang Baxian, standing in front of Su Xiao, couldn¡¯t stop checking around.

    Xiang Baxian was basically out of bounds by the terms of his curfew during martialw. Confucianism¡¯s elites had sealed off Daren Academy from foreigners, which included government officials who hadn¡¯t been granted permission. The Ministry of Justice would need to have Principal Huang¡¯s approval if they wanted to bring Xiang Baxian in again, let alone have the luxury of time to arrest him again during times of political unrest. As such, he had the fortune of enjoying peace at the academy.

    As Tang Ye assumed, Su Xiao had nothing left to learn from Jin Zhaoying when he visited. At most, Jin Zhaoying could only share whatever tidbits she had on the remainingpetitions, so the visit was short. Su Xiao should¡¯ve been able to arrive at thepetition venue before itmenced given the remaining time. s, Su Xiao bumped into Xiang Baxian, who told him he had something to tell him. Su Xiao thought it¡¯d be a quick sentence or two, never expecting to walk circles endlessly without any exnation.

    ¡°There are a lot of outsiders on the premises today, so I cannot feel assured unless I check thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the eighth time you¡¯ve said that! You said that when the first contestant took to the stage, and the event is over now!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Please be patient. Please be patient.¡± Xiang Baxian¡¯s eyes never rested for he was constantly on the lookout for someone who might pop out of some obscure corner. ¡°I grew up in the academy. There should not be any outsiders who know this ce, so it should be safe.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you scared?!¡±

    ¡°This is no trivial matter. Would I be able to bear the consequences if someone found out I revealed this?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Xiao took out a small notebook and charcoal pencil from his shirt. ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Do you remember how we went and interrogated Miss Bai, the girl with the Seven Champion White Princes, about where she went?¡±

    ¡°You know about that?¡±

    Xiang Baxian made a face to suggest it was asking the obvious. ¡°I know everything that happens in the academy, not to mention you all speak in bloody loud voices.¡±

    I see.

    ¡°You know something about it that we don¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No. However¡­¡± Xiang Baxian pulled his shoulders up to his ears as if to protect his neck from a sneak attack. ¡°I do not know about Miss Bai, but the young master with her, he left the academy.¡±

    ¡°The young master?¡±

    Song Chi¡¯s face came to Su Xiao¡¯s mind. He was the only person who fitted Su Xiao¡¯s definition of a refined young master. Plus, Song Chi was good with broadswords.

    Xiang Baxian shook his head. ¡°No, no, Young Master Song was always on the academy premises. He has not left in days. Whenever he has time, he reads in the courtyard or somewhere else; he seems to not associate himself with any of the idolpetition; he did not even prepare for it. He had been reading for two hours in the courtyard before you arrived to question Miss Bai.¡±

    ¡°Who is the young master if not him?¡±

    ¡°There is one more person!¡± Xiang Baxian looked around again and then, in a softer voice, said, ¡°The one with the sword that¡¯s kind of like a girl.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Su Xiao pushed the door open and entered with heavy steps.

    ¡°Su Xiao.¡±

    Shi Weiliang andpany were ecstatic to see Su Xiao return. They¡¯d be in a serious dilemma if their team¡¯spetitor had yet to return when the next event was about to begin, after all.

    As soon as he saw Shi Weiliang, Su Xiao grabbed her hands and beamed. ¡°Miss Shi, that was amazing. Your performance was magnificent!¡±

    Although Shi Weiliang was happy to receive praise, she was concerned to see Su Xiao seemed oblivious to the fact that he was next up.

    ¡°Su Xiao, we were just discussing the song,¡± Mu Anan came out of nowhere to say.

    Su Xiao immediately released Shi Weiliang¡¯s hands and took a giant step backwards upon seeing Mu Anan. As soon as he avoided Mu Anan, though, Tang Ye gripped his shoulders and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally back.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Switching to a whisper, Su Xiao told Tang Ye, ¡°I need to have a word with you in a second.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded.

    ¡°Miss Shi, did youpose the song? It sounds amazing! Can you sing it for me more often in the future?¡±

    ¡°I can, but it¡¯s not myposition. You think too highly of me; there¡¯s no way I couldpose such a nice melody or write such beautiful lyrics.¡±

    Gossip-gobbler Wang Zi immediately asked, ¡°Professor Guan said something about it being the most talented woman, Li Linglong¡¯s song. Where did you learn it?¡±

    Li Longlong remained a household name frequently mentioned despite her retirement a long time ago. Legend was that she performed a dance atop the city walls despite the war between the Central in¡¯s and the foreigners. How could Wang Zi pass up an opportunity to find out more when she learnt for the first time that her best friend was connected to a woman of legends?

    Shi Weiliang smiled. ¡°When I was young, a youngdy and her husband came to eat at my ce, and she stayed around to teach me for a few days after she saw me ying my instrument.¡±

    The ss, green with envy, nodded.

    Wang Zi queried, ¡°Was she the Li Longlong Professor Guan mentioned?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know. I only remember she was really pretty and had a really nice voice. Ah, her husband was really handsome, too.¡±

    Shi Weiliang¡¯s ssmates started whispering about how they wanted to see the couple. Meanwhile, Su Xiao and Tang Ye had sneaked outside.

    After hearing Su Xiao¡¯s recount of what Xiang Baxian shared, Tang Ye replied, ¡°In that case, there¡¯s more to this than what meets the eye, and Ling Shaoxuan is suspicious.¡±

    Su Xiao nodded. ¡°Big Brother Ming did say that either Ling Shaoxuan or Bai Yumo are up to something¡­ Judging from what we know now, they both seem shady.¡±

    Tang Ye stopped to think, then stated, ¡°Let¡¯s test them out one by one in the contests.¡±

    Su Xiao understood the assignment because archery was up next.

 Book 14: Chapter 64

    Archery ¨C Scene 1

    The music contest took up the majority of the morning slot for the reason that they couldn¡¯t have multiple contestants performing simultaneously.

    The sound of gongs in thepetition location signalled the change in events. While the audience wasn¡¯t as energetic as in the previous event, there were now more of them in attendance. The young generation was passionate about music, but archery and chariotry were popr among all ages and genders in the current dynasty.

    The rules of archery were simplepared to the other events. Contestants¡¯ total scores came from two sources ¨C their performance itself and their score on the target board. Multiple boards would be presented to provide different types of challenges. There were add-ons, such as wearing blindfolds or plugging ears. However, archery was also considered a rite of Confucianism, so there were etiquette standards to shooting form. As such, the ability to shoot urately with the form demanded was pertinent, or put more crudely, it was a beauty pageant contest. You could take the prettiest girl and have her assume a ridiculous stance, but she could still make it look good if she was pretty. That was the reason all the selected archers were blessed with good looks on top of archerypetence. Understand why the venue was packed before the contest even started now?

    ¡°Today¡¯spetition has our hearts pounding, minds in anticipation and bodies prancing. Greetings,dies and gentlemen. I am your host for today, Jin Yingjun.¡± The young schr who apanied his introduction with exaggerated gestures at the centre had everyoneughing. ¡°Yes, indeed, the famous genius of all six categories, the ¡®All-knowing Schr of the Pugilistic World, Genius of the Nine Provinces¡¯, Jin Caitan, is my elder brother. This dynasty¡¯s top Talented Maiden, Goddess Jin Zhaoying whom destroys all talent north and south with her brush is my younger sister. So, you must be wondering what I¡¯m here for. Well, I am here to work with everyone to ensure Daren Academy¡¯s idol contest runs smoothly.¡±

    Jin Yingjun was actually quite famous himself, especially for his way with words. In fact, anytime nobility in the capital nned an event, the first person they considered inviting was him because he brought the party wherever he went.

    ¡°I will not bore you any longer. Let usmence.¡±

    The archery contestants stepped into the arena.

    Since final points were individual, there was no limit to participants in the contest. In other words, all three members of a team could participate, or they could just have one person participate. It went without saying that forfeiting, as Shi Weiliang¡¯s group did, was also permitted. Su Xiao entered two members, while the White Princes entered their full team of three.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°First round, 100 Metre Pierce! In this contest, not only will vision, strength and uracy be tested, but stamina will also be challenged. If there is no winner in a round, the boards will be moved thirty-three metres farther and repeated until there is a winner! Only the top twenty-four from the first round will be allowed through to the second round. Contestants, hold nothing back.¡±

    Hitting a target a hundred metres away wasn¡¯t difficult for martial artist with archery training, so moving it thirty metres away wasn¡¯t a big deal. The real challenge was still having the strength to pull the bow string after rounds and rounds of shooting even if the target wasn¡¯t very far away. For individuals who practiced internal disciplines, such as Su Xiao and Tang Ye, endurance wasn¡¯t an issue; uracy was their challenge.

    Archery was easy to pick up but difficult to be proficient in. Tang Ye studied a myriad of disciplines, and he had experience in hunting with a bow and arrows, but he wasn¡¯t good at archery. In saying that, he believed he could handle thepetition. The primary concern was the beginner ¨C Su Xiao. Tang Ye felt a weight lifted off his shoulders after seeing Su Xiao pierce the board with an arrow. Su Xiao¡¯s vision and handling improved visibly after his recent internal energy breakthrough.

    Su Xiao¡¯s team and the White Princes all managed to snag a ce among the twenty-four who went through to the second round. Xun Feng, Ling Shaoxuan and Bai Yumo passed easily.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll be facing off soon,¡± remarked Ling Shaoxuan, as he spotted Tang Ye and Su Xiao among the contestants. ¡°Enjoy it while you still can. You¡¯re not even going to have a shoulder to cry on soon.¡±

    Su Xiao, with a straight face, responded, ¡°Hmph! Tang Ye, I can lend you mine.¡±

    With a film of sweat on his face, Tang Ye said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    As soon as Bai Yumo saw Tang Ye, she threatened, ¡°Coward! Watch yourselves!¡±

    Tang Ye fired back, ¡°If you cry, I¡¯ll give you a mantou. My mantous taste great.¡±

    Bai Yumo widened her eyes. ¡°Had it not been for you, would my mantou have not tasted nice?! I bought white, fluffy mantous that were just done steaming¡­¡±

    Now also sporting a film of sweat on his face, Xun Feng shepherded them along. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go¡­¡±

    ¡°Round two is the one everyone is looking forward to ¡®Star Plucker¡¯. Please watch carefully.¡± Jin Yingjun threw a tiny target board into the air.

    As soon as the crowd spotted the te-sized target, an arrow zoomed through the board and brought it back to the ground. Upon looking up again, they saw Jin Yingjun holding a bow.

    ¡°That is it.¡± Jin Yingjun lowered his bow and smiled. ¡°All twenty-four of you have proven you possess splendid archery skills. We need something more challenging to offer you a challenge. In this round, we martial arts instructors will throw these round boards into the air constantly. The twenty-four of you will shoot from a distance. You earn one point per each board you hit. The winner will be the one who scores the highest. The top two scorers will go on to the finals.

    ¡°Please be aware that a point is only earned if the arrow remains on the board; if the arrow goes through the other side, no point is awarded. Additionally, please note the square boundary lines on the ground. Should the boardnd outside of it, no point will be awarded, either.¡±

    The only way to not knock the boards too far away was to pierce them, which was easy for the contestants given their strength. However, it was challenging to control their output so as to keep their arrows stuck to the boards without knocking them outside the boundary.

    Before Jin Yingjun¡¯sst word tapered off into silence, a martial arts instructor had thrown a board. It had yet to even travel an inch when the sound of a string, the sound of an arrow flying and a thud were heard.

    The martial arts instructor gulped upon hearing and seeing the boardnd on the ground. After all, the board would¡¯ve been his head had it missed by a margin.

    ¡°That¡¯s it? Aren¡¯t we continuing? I¡¯m waiting to win.¡± The big guy who lowered his bow was someone who had been written off from the beginning. Che Gulu performed a few shoulder circles and frowned when he noticed everyone¡¯s stare on him. ¡°What? First time seeing archery or something?¡±

    Whether it was Tang Ye, Su Xiao or even the White Princes¡¯ trio, they all thought the same thing: why did you have to be the best archer?!

    Glossary

    Jin Yingjun ¨C His name means ¡°Jin the Handsome¡±.

    Small te ¨C I don¡¯t want to make wrong assumptions and say all, but Asian cultures I¡¯m aware of use a te/bowl per menu item at the dinner table rather than everything in one, so that¡¯s the size they¡¯re referencing.

 Book 14: Chapter 65

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 1)

    Before other contestants could even reach for their arrows, Che Gulu fired off his shots, urately hitting all seven boards thrown into the air.

    Shi Weiliang gasped, ¡°How is he so good?¡±

    Veteran Wang Zi, who had less than ten days of archery training, proposed, ¡°People from Tiezhen are typically good at horse riding and archery.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s from Kiliya, though.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that further north of Tiezhen? Just know that the further north they are, the better they are at horse riding and archery.¡±

    Despite having her misgivings, Shi Weiliang chose to not express her disagreement with her best friend who actually had a martial arts background.

    While ¡°¡­ the further north they are, the better they are at horse riding and archery,¡± was an erroneous fact, it was true that Kiliya people were well-versed in the arts of equestrian and archery. Kiliya people, also called Gaolis, were a country of fishers and hunters in the north. Che Gulu began his path in archery at the age of three and was able to pull bowstrings back at the age of ten. Before he came to the Central in, he remained in the list of top archers back home. What archers of the Central in considered challenges was just a matter of opening his eyes and shooting to him.

    Che Gulu continued shooting down everyone¡¯s boards before they could get a chance to shoot.

    Although Su Xiao¡¯s alliance proposal was attractive, it didn¡¯t mean Che Gulu was without a n. From beginning to end, his sole goal was the win the heart of Jin Zhaoying. The only other obstacle standing between him and having the beauty in his arms ¨C besides not having a tform to disy his greatness ¨C was a flower boy blessed with better looks than him who wouldn¡¯t stop hanging around Jin Zhaoying. His main quest was still winning the idol contest, but he added a side quest for himself ¨C teaching Su Xiao a lesson! If he gave her all the glory and prizes, would Jin Zhaoying not throw herself into his arms?

    Che Gulu inhaled deeply as he imagined himself with Jin Zhaoying in his arms.

    Since ancient times, it was typical for minor characters to believe the words of a hero. Why, then, would the great Che Gulu need to feel guilty about not adhering to the agreement? Never had there been a hero who didn¡¯t win through excellent strategies. The Central in even had the saying, ¡°There can never be too much deception in war.¡± Che Gulu didn¡¯t just sit on hisurels after he arrived in the Central in. He, however, didn¡¯t realise that Su Xiao had already ignored the alliance agreement on his own side.

    Song Chi¡¯s group was set on taking home first ce from the start, while Su Xiao¡¯s side only had one viable solution ¨C prevent Song Chi¡¯s group from taking home first ce. The simplest way for Su Xiao¡¯s group to achieve that goal was to win the contest themselves.

    There was nothing wrong with letting Che Gulu be the overall winner; Su Xiao¡¯s team just didn¡¯t believe Che Gulu was capable of beating Song Chi¡¯s group. Hence, hedging their bets on Che Gulu could result in their own team not racking up enough points, and Che Gulu would still ce second even after Su Xiao¡¯s team gave up their points. To avoid the fate, Tang Ye and Su Xiao were desperate to obtain points even if it meant defeating Che Gulu. In that regard, the White Princes¡¯ squad was on the same page.

    Be it Tang Ye or Xun Feng¡¯s teams, neither team had an archer who could rival Che Gulu. They most definitely could¡¯ve hit the targets, but to hit them as soon as they were airborne and with the ability to bnce their strength so delicately was no easy matter. Shooting asionally would suffice to hit the edges of boards Che Gulu aimed for, but hey wouldn¡¯t earn them any points, not to mention he could fire a second shoot if they didn¡¯t knock the boards out. Su Xiao was among the worst shooters in both teams, both technically and from a strength-control perspective. Hisst shot sent a board flying over sixty metres out of bounds. He certainly had strength. Controlling it, though¡­n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Che Gulu had bothpetitor teams mad as he continued to score over and over again.

    As another board ascended, Su Xiao, who¡¯d been holding an arrow on a pulled bowstring for a while, released the arrow. s, a ¡°twang¡± rang out before his arrow left his bowstring. Just as the thirteen previous times, Che Gulu hit the target first and obtained another point.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Su Xiao shot another arrow.

    Snap! Instead of a board dropping to the ground this time, a splintered board and snapped arrownded together. Not only did Su Xiao¡¯s catch up to Che Gulu¡¯s arrow, but it even destroyed the board and Che Gulu¡¯s arrow.

    ¡­

    ¡°What have you done?!¡±

    Only once they heard Che Gulu bray did the silent crowd remember they were supposed to apud.

    ¡°Xiao Han¡­ What did you put on your arrow? Tang Ye asked.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. I just used a bit more strength,¡± answered Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao impulsively dialled up the intensity because he was frustrated, never expecting to produce such a result. He had no clue his progress in Yijin Jing had reached a respectable level.

    Tang Ye monitored Su Xiao¡¯s confused reaction for a while as he contemted, then muttered something under his breath.

    Su Xiao widened his eyes. ¡°Ah? Can we?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll work. Let¡¯s give it a try in a bit.¡±

    Following his own contemtion, Xun Feng whispered to his teammates, as well.

    ¡°Will it work?¡± Xun Feng¡¯s teammates queried.

    ¡°I reckon it will,¡± replied Xun Feng.

    As soon as the instructors released another five boards into the air, Che Gulu fired five shots without hesitation. Before his arrows could reach their targets, two arrows went past the targets and crashed straight into Che Gulu¡¯s arrows, generating another thunderous ¡°snap¡±! Five arrows were then heard zooming through the air and hit five boards, all of whichnded in front of Tang Ye.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye gave up on trying to hit target boards. Instead, they changed their strategy to shooting Che Gulu¡¯s arrows to sabotage him. It was a risky strategy as their arrows would fly straight to the judge¡¯s tables and probably skewer a few innocent people. Thankfully, Su Xiao could now see arrows in slow motion. Though hitting the boards without sending them out of bounds was difficult, hitting arrows without having to worry about them flying out of bounds was easy.

    In the next wave, Che Gulu fired five shots to attack five boards again, only for Su Xiao to sabotage his arrows again. Unfortunately, Tang Ye failed to reach the targets this time for Xun Feng hit the five boards before his arrows could reach.

    Tang Ye lowered his bow and looked to the handsome monk.

    Xun Feng smiled. ¡°Too kind. Too kind.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°Slimeball!¡±

    Xun Feng: ¡°Likewise, likewise.¡±

    Che Gulu: ¡°Shut up! You¡¯re all slimeballs!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 66

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 2)

    Su Xiao only needed to ensure he was fast enough to catch up to Che Gulu¡¯s arrows. As long as he fulfilled his role, Tang Ye would have an opportunity to obtain points while Che Gulu was stuck. The duo, however, failed to ount for the fact that the Xun Feng wasn¡¯t alone, either. Moreover, Xun Feng had one more person than they did, meaning Tang Ye had topete against two people. Competing against Xun Feng alone was Tang Ye¡¯s limit, so it was impossible for him to continue obtaining points against an extra twopetitors.

    ¡°Damn slimeballs,¡± Tang Ye muttered under his breath.

    ¡°You¡¯re no better than them!¡± brayed Che Gulu, who continued trying to keep scoring as a one-man team.

    Seeing the tables turn in their favour, Ling Shaoxuan cockily said, ¡°What happened? What happened? I told you there¡¯s no hope for you! I gave you a chacee to submit to me, but you chose to embarrass yourselves. I truly feel sorry for you pitiful worms.¡±

    ¡°Brother Ling, there is no need to add insult to injury. Don¡¯t burn bridges in the pugilistic world,¡± casually urged Xun Feng.

    ¡°Insult to what, Brother Feng?¡±

    ¡°Injury.¡±

    ¡°Where are they hurt?¡±

    ¡°In their feelings.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Ling Shaoxuan pped himself on the thigh. ¡°Monks of Cold Mountain Temple are truly different. I¡¯ll ignore the fools, then.¡±

    Bai Yumo giggled until she saw Tang Ye¡¯s scary gaze, prompting her to duck behind Xun Feng.

    ¡°What now, Tang Ye?!¡± questioned Su Xiao, continuing to hinder Che Gulu.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Che Gulu: ¡°If you¡¯re angry with them, shoot their arrows! Why are you targeting me?!¡±

    Tang Ye had a good hold over his emotions, but the smugness of Xun Feng¡¯s trio lit a fire under him. ¡°I have a n.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Where the head goes, the body goes¡¯ is a universal principle.¡±

    ¡°Their head?¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me. You learnt martial arts from Big Bro; I learnt experience. How are we going to help Vice-Captain Shen build another Liu Shan Men after we leave the capital if these scoundrels are too much for us?¡±

    Tang Ye never had the same attachment to his identity as a constable of Liu Shan Menpared to Su Xiao, so Su Xiao was ecstatic, more ecstatic than winning thepetition, to hear Tang Ye dere himself a part of Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°Good stuff! I knew you¡¯de around! I¡¯m counting on you!¡± Su Xiao gave a big nod, then shot another arrow, knocking down another arrow Che Gulu tried to sneak past them.

    Che Gulu hurled his bow aside. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡±

    Tang Ye entrusted it all to Su Xiao with a nod, stopped shooting and gazed over to Xun Feng¡¯s clique. Once he had an idea, he lowered his bow to use his hands as a speakerphone. ¡°Ling Shaoxuan, have you no shame, speaking to us after stealing underwear?!¡±

    It went without saying that Daren Academy¡¯s schrs were incensed. How could they ept there being such a shameless pervert amongst their rank of elegant schrs? Nheless, Young Master Ling had to been to every brothel in thend and been put on the spot on big asions plenty of times. He finished his shots, hitting all the boards he aimed at, leisurely lowered his bow and then responded, ¡°How could you broke peasants understand the attraction we aplished ones do?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan most certainly was shameless, but he was indubitably suave in his mannerisms.

    Tang Ye added, ¡°Not only did you steal, but you stole a man¡¯s underwear.¡±

    The crowd went from silent to mouring instantly. Ling Shaoxuan nearly misfired his arrow at Xun Feng¡¯s dome.

    Xun Feng yelled, ¡°Brother Ling, careful!¡±

    During themotion, Tang Ye shot three arrows, hitting three target boards.

    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± After Ling Shaoxuan apologised to Xun Feng, he turned to Tang Ye. ¡°Oi, don¡¯t nder my good name! Wh-wh-when did you ever see me steal a man¡¯s underwear?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely certain you never stole, correct?¡±

    ¡°Never! Absolutely never! I swear to the heavens I am an upright man.¡±

    Xun Feng tugged Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s sleeve and, in a quiet voice, urged, ¡°Drop it! Focus on defending! You¡¯ve fallen for his ploy!¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan shook Xun Feng off. ¡°I still have to clear my name even if I fell for his ploy! How am I supposed to show my face in the capital if this gets out?¡±

    Tang Ye scored another four points while the duo argued.

    Realising they were in trouble if nothing changed, Xun Feng reached for his bow to stop Tang Ye, only to hear thetter add, ¡°I, Constable Tang of Liu Shan Men, saw you steal underwear with both eyes. You still think you can weasel your way out?¡±

    ¡°Who gives a toss about a lowly constable! What proof do you have?! Please do not believe his lies. Oi, I can report you, you know!¡±

    ¡°You can stop resisting. Howe Brother Yang from the next-door ss lost his underwear? Howe it happened on the same day you peeked on him washing?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s absolute nonsense! I peeked on a guy with the surname Jiang!¡± Only after he blurted it did Ling Shaoxuan realise he dug his own grave. ¡°I-I meant that I happened to pass by and¡­¡±

    Lan Jiqiong, watching from the audience area, roared, ¡°I personally chased you over that! You im it¡¯s a lie?!¡±

    Lan Jiqiong had to give up on arresting Ling Shaoxuan that day due to Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s identity and failing to catch him red handed.

    ¡°No, no, no, Brother Jiang personally invited me to watch! It¡¯s love!¡±

    When those acquainted with Brother Jiang, who was at the front row, looked to him, he frantically exined, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me! I never said anything like that! Y-you shameless freak! Forget viting me like that; you would even frame me?!¡±

    ¡°Forget it?¡±

    No matter who asked the rhetorical question, it immediately increased the quality of the rumours.

    Not only was Ling Shaoxuan heartbroken from the betrayal, but he also struggled to find the words to rescue himself.

    ¡°You¡¯re dancing to his tune, Brother Ling!¡± eximed Xun Feng.

    How was Xun Feng¡¯s voice going to reach Ling Shaoxuan when his mother¡¯s voice probably couldn¡¯t have reach him even if she tried.

    Xun Feng took in a deep breath and using his school¡¯s Lion¡¯s Roar, thundered, ¡°Please give us some silence!¡± overpowering thebined voices of the spectators to reinstate order. He subsequently continued, ¡°Please do not listen to Tang Ye¡¯s fibs. This is tant disrespect for the traditional idol contest. He is clear to see he is deliberately trying to mislead you onto an unvirtuous path. He¡­¡±

    Tang Ye obtained a few more points, finally overtaking Che Gulu to take first ce. ¡°Strange. Monk Xun Feng, you seem adamant about sheltering him. Are you two in some sort of rtionship that can¡¯t see the light of day?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 67

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 3)

    Xun Feng: ¡°Ami-your-mother-tabha! Come fight me! Ladies and gentlemen, please hear this one out!¡±

    Tang Ye was smooth in his execution, but two arrows redirected his arrows, causing him to miss. He looked over in the direction they came from to see Bai Yumo ring at him. Though he never quite understood the reason for her grudge against him, neither of them was about to ept a truce with just a recement mantou anymore, not when she had a strong sense of justice, as well.

    ¡°I am going to beat you fair and square today,¡± dered Bai Yumo.

    ¡°Bai Yumo, how did the mantous you stole from the kitchen taste?¡±

    Bai Yumo lowered her bow. ¡°I bought my mantous!¡±

    Bai Yumo had one true love since she was born ¨C food ¨C and she had an abundant amount of pocket money, so she had no qualms paying for food. How could she let someone smear her holy culinary career?

    ¡°I have proof. You sneaked into the kitchen at X o¡¯clock, X date, X month, to steal two tes of roast chicken, a dish of lettuce, a dish of cucumber and a dish of stir-fry Chinese leeks with pork.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°So it was you!¡± shouted one of the kitchendies watching the contest. She copped earfuls and even had her sry deducted for losing food, so she remembered the exact day and month it happened. Needless to say, she hated the perpetrator with a vengeance.

    Growing up jaded, nobody would dare to frame Bai Yumo, so she had silver crystals in her eyes when she was suddenly told off. She was innocent. The real perpetrator was Tang Ye¡¯s superior ¨C Liu Shan Men¡¯s Head Constable Ming.

    Si Fu watched Tang Ye smoothly dismantle hispetitors and slide into first ce with her mouth agape. ¡°Scary. Truly scary schemes you can¡¯t defend against.¡±

    The other person shocked at the turn of events was the best archer in the contest ¨C Che Gulu.

    Che Gulu: How did this happen?! I didn¡¯t want to resort to this, but I have no choice now.

    ¡°Uncle Ju!¡±

    A man in his forties behind Che Gulu slowly picked up a timber bow from the ground. Seeing the officialpetition bow for the event, the audience realised that the man was actually part of Che Gulu¡¯spetitive team. Hisrge forehead, narrow eyes and towering height weren¡¯t often-seen features in the Central in. Considering Che Gulu also addressed him as ¡°Uncle¡±, it was a safe bet to assume he was from Beijiang¡¯s Kiliya, too.

    Uncle Ju reached overhead for a stretch and then said, ¡°How many times have I told you that you don¡¯t need to take archery so serious.¡±

    In contrast to Che Gulu¡¯s fiery, sharp and intense shooting style, Uncle Ju performed every movement so leisurely that people would think he was wasting time on purpose, and itcked the ferocity of Che Gulu¡¯s mannerisms.

    ¡°A true archer understands that he must finish it in one shot. Gulu, you must grasp the key in archery.¡± Uncle Ju released the arrow he loaded.

    The shotcked any aggression, yet Jiangnan¡¯s most poetic monk couldn¡¯t help blurting profanity as he watched the arrow take flight. He dropped to his knees, leaned back and held his bow parallel to the ground. ng! He haphazardly fired off an arrow before the one moving towards him could prate him. He struggled to his feet as half of his body was numb and then looked around for the ck-attired man who shot at him and belted, ¡°You shot at me?!¡±

    ¡°See that?¡± Uncle Ju turned back to Che Gulu. ¡°Shoot the horse before you shoot the rider; shoot the archer before you shoot the arrow.¡±

    Che Gulu held his hands up in a cupped-fist salute. ¡°One teaching from you is worth ten years of hunting. Gulu understands now.¡±

    Subsequently, Che Gulu and Uncle Ju ignored the aerial boards to shoot at other contestants.

    ¡°Eh? Why are they aiming at me?!¡± cried Su Xiao.

    ¡°This is what you get for cheating!¡±

    Su Xiao swung his bow as if it were Ancient Cold, breaking his bow in the process of stopping Che Gulu¡¯s arrow.

    ¡°How could you shoot at someone!¡± Su Xiao never expected to be a target because he was fixated solely on shooting enemy arrows that entered the airspace.

    ¡°Is there a rule against it? Catch this!¡±

    Uncle Ju destroyed threepetitors¡¯ bows and then started shooting three arrows simultaneously every time, forcing Xun Feng¡¯s team to fetch new bows. Meanwhile, Che Gulu fired three consecutive shots at Su Xiao¡¯s face, forcing thetter to draw Ancient Cold for self-defence. Although Su Xiao blocked every shot, his wrists started to suffer a toll.

    Angry, Su Xiao redirected true qi to his wrists for healing, which boosted his strength at the same time. He decided that, if Che Gulu were to fire another arrow at him, he¡¯d turn it into a death match. However, that didn¡¯t happen as Che Gulu saw no reason to continue heckling someone who no longer had their bow, so he resumed shooting target boards. Che Gulu was about to have his return to form when an arrow sped up from behind and knocked his arrow, making it fire downwards. A small me was visible in the air when the two arrowsnded on the ground.

    ¡°Why the hell are you still being a nuisance?!¡± raged Che Gulu, turning towards Tang Ye.

    Having heard Uncle Ju¡¯s advice, Che Gulu took aim at Tang Ye. Tang Ye discarded his bow and caught Che Gulu¡¯s three arrows with his bare hands. Despite being enraged, Che Gulu smiled and flicked up a thumb. ¡°I respect your courage and skill!¡±

    Kiliya people respected strong people; Che Gulu was no exception.

    ¡°If you can defend my arrows, I¡¯ll forfeit on the spot!¡± Che Gulu immediately followed six arrows.

    Tang Ye caught, chopped, poked and speared the iing arrows, but he needed to take steps back each time to dissipate the force.

    ¡°Stop this one, and I¡¯ll forfeit!¡± Spotting an opening, Che Gulu fired without hesitation.

    Stopping nine shots was Tang Ye¡¯s best. ordingly, he shifted his head to dodge thest arrow, only for him to realise that no arrow was fired. He looked back in Che Gulu¡¯s direction to see Che Gulu still standing in position to fire. All the audience members could attest that Che Gulu never fired an arrow. Che Gulu¡¯s quiver was empty by the time he saw an opening to exploit.

    ¡°Hmph, if I had an arrow, you¡¯d be dead.¡±

    ¡°If it was a fair fight, there¡¯s no guarantee you could fire off nine shots against me.¡±

    Someone hit the bronze gong again, and Jin Yingjun appeared again. ¡°Time! The contest hase to an end.¡±

    As soon as the contest turned into a human-target-shooting contest, Jin Yingjun went into hiding since he didn¡¯t want it to be hisst day alive.

    ¡°The winner of this round is Tang Ye! Let us give him an apuse!¡±

    It took a long while before some small ps were given. After all, it was a lot to digest. Many of them were still fixated on Ling Shaoxuan and Xun Feng¡¯s dirtyundry instead of the contest. The small ps were expected; everyone would want a piece of the pie if it was enormous. If it weren¡¯t for her friendship with the duo, Bai Yumo would¡¯ve loved to have gone into the crowd to discuss it with them.

    Che Gulu eyed Tang Ye and smirked. ¡°Heh, good stuff.¡±

    Although Che Gulu walked off to Uncle Ju right after, Tang Ye and Su Xiao could feel that they were officially enemies now.

    Uncle Ju had every intention to depart after hearing the gong, but Xun Feng called, ¡°Please wait.¡±

    Uncle Ju stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder. Xun Feng approached him with his brows together. ¡°Would you happen to be Beijiang¡¯s renowned Genius Bai Ju?¡±

    ¡°So what if I am and so what I am not?¡±

    Xun Feng was confident in his conjecture based on the man¡¯s appearance, archery and strategy. ¡°Why is someone of your standing partaking in apetition for students?¡±

    Jiang Beiju stared at Xun Feng with inquisitive eyes until Xun Feng felt uneasy, then turned away. ¡°I am here for the same reason you are. See you soon.¡± With a wave of his hand, he walked off.

    Tang Ye took first ce, followed by Xun Feng and then Che Gulu. The only way they could put a safe gap between them was to win convincingly in the chariotry contest up next.

    Worried but without a viable n, Su Xiao lowered his head, only to see something that made him yell, ¡°Your hand!¡±

    ¡°His arm strength¡­ is impressive,¡± stated Tang Ye, with blood covering both side of his hands.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t believe for a second that arm strength alone was to hurt Tang Ye that badly. Not only did Tang Ye have handsparable to des, but he even caught the shaft of Che Gulu¡¯s arrows, not the points.

    ¡°We¡¯ll cross whatever bridge wee to. Let¡¯s go,¡± said Tang Ye.

    A thought came to mind, but Su Xiao couldn¡¯t put it into words even though he knew it was important.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± queried Tang Ye.

    ¡°Nothing. I just feel like I¡¯ve forgotten something important¡­ but I can¡¯t remember what it is.¡±

    ¡°Put it aside for now, then, because,¡± Tang Ye pointed to the racecourse in the distance, ¡°the chariotry contest is starting any moment now.¡±

    Glossary

    Genius (nickname) ¨C This particr ¡°genius¡± refers to being someone who¡¯s able to put people in between a rock and a hard ce, so a smart person, if you will.

 Book 14: Chapter 68

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 4)

    Chariotry is a contest of speed between horses ¨C was everything Jin Zhaoying told Su Xiao in regards to the contest. Although Jin Zhaoying ¨C or rather, Li Jingan ¨C wasn¡¯t an expert equestrian, herck of expertise wasn¡¯t an obstacle to her understanding the key concepts of a topic. She was right when she said the essence of chariotry was ¡°speed¡±.

    Compared to other events, chariotry¡¯s overarching concept was simple ¨C reach the destination before anyone else. As for the other rules, Li Jingan couldn¡¯t be bothered expanding on them.

    Contestants were allowed to make brocade gs or decorate their chariots as much as they fancied. The students of Daren Academy were creative, many of whom collected things to enhance their appearance. Nevertheless, owing to ack of proficiency and interest in equestrian, their chariots were rather dull.

    It was rare for any Daren Academy students who grew up in the capital to have an interest in equestrian. Martial arts was a special course for students, so the majority only engaged enough for the health benefits. It was viewed as a waste of time, after all, for those seeking civil servant roles after imperial exams. Other students who had other aspirations considered it unnecessary, as well. As for the rich second-generation kids, the only things they would personally move themselves for were eating and using the bathroom.

    It was quite enough to see there were a fair number of students willing to pick up archery when it was so hard to find students interested in martial arts as it was. As for horse riding, it was so seldom required for them, not to mention it required an extensive time investment that didn¡¯t pay off in terms of progress rate. Young masters of wealthy families could all ride horses, so why would they relive the hardship of learning to ride a horse in their childhood a second time at the academy?

    In addition, travel in Nanjing was predominately water routes, so boats were utilised more often than horses, not to mention people from the southern region were never as skilled as the poption in the north, and then the poption in the north paled inparison to Beijiang¡¯s citizens. Growing up in the capital, Shen Yiren wouldn¡¯t have been remotely close to her level if she didn¡¯t have the tutge of Ye Yun.

    Daren Academy maintained it as an item in the idol contest because of its ce in the traditional Six Arts.

    In summary, chariotry was an event that was purely skilled based and devoid of any colour.

    ¡°Drug them?¡± For a moment, Su Xiao questioned if the Tang Ye standing before him was Ming Feizhen posing as Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t do that. We¡¯ll be disqualified from the entire contest if we infringe on the rules, not to mention the horses are innocent.¡±

    Tang Ye shrugged. ¡°You were the one who asked me what I¡¯d do if I was Big Bro.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ is true¡­¡±

    Neither Su Xiao nor Tang Ye excelled on horseback. Su Xiao, as someone from Suzhou, only knew the very basics. That was why he was hoping there¡¯d be some trick to helping him increase their odds of winning. Since both of them were the honest type, they had to try using Ming Feizhen¡¯s brain.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming sure has no morals, drugging poor horses.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t drug them, the only option remaining is to create obstacles.¡±

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t know how to react to hearing Tang Ye brazenly mention cheating.

    ¡°In what way?¡±

    Tang Ye wagged his hands. ¡°Nothingplicated. Just forcing them to dismount.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What if they try it back?¡±

    ¡°Throw hands.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it just be a fight, then?¡±

    ¡°You have a better idea? We will lose in a race for sure, which would mean that we¡¯d have to dominate the martial arts contest. There will be only us two, so our chances of winning will be slimmer. On horseback, though, I¡¯m confident I can dismount over half of ourpetitors.¡±

    Being from the north, Tang Ye wasn¡¯t as skilled as Che Gulu in equestrian, but he wouldn¡¯t be poorer than Xun Feng¡¯s trio. Plus, Tang Ye would excel in horseback warfare, a situation where many variables could change at a lightning pace, thanks to his martial arts prowess and fast reactions.

    ¡°Xiao Han, don¡¯t give it too much thought. We¡¯re not really breaking the rules. Beyond the border, Beijiang people ride horse primarily to engage inbat. Horsebackbat is part of horse riding, so we¡¯re technically reflecting our equestrian skills in the contest.¡±

    Su Xiao stared at Tang Ye, who could distort logic with a straight face now, in disbelief.

    Big Brother Ming must¡¯ve brainwashed him!

    ***

    ¡°Drug them?¡± Ling Shaoxuan furrowed his brows upon hearing the suggestion from Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s respected monk. ¡°How? Where? What sort of drug? Can we kill them?¡±

    Not only did Ling Shaoxuan jump on the wagon almost instantly, but he wasn¡¯t even aware that Xun Feng referred to drugging the horses.

    ¡°No way,¡± softly voiced Bai Yumo. ¡°Although they are bad, how can you poison them? Don¡¯t you feel any shame suggesting something so wicked as a monk?¡±

    ¡°I never said we have to go as far as poisoning them. We only have to feed them a small amount of drugs. Besides, I never said it was for human beings.¡±

    Bai Yumo lifelessly listened to the conversation for she was t out of ideas ¨C and was still mentally broken from the scolding she copped from thedy who worked in the kitchen. Thedy dragged her to kitchen after the archerypetition, where the head chef tearfully admitted he stole the food. Had it not been for him, Bai Yumo wouldn¡¯t have been freed. Of course, she also had to write an oath that she was still working on. She deserved praise for not crying.

    Aware that Bai Yumo wouldn¡¯t be any hope, Xun Feng went over to Ling Shaoxuan to engage in whisper.

    ¡°Oooh, nice! I like it. Let¡¯s do that,¡± enthused Ling Shaoxuan.

    Bai Yumo saw more than friendly conversation as she watched the two. She saw a handsome monk lean in close to a young man and whisper. Then the young man smiled mischievously. She swallowed and promised herself to share the news with her best friend ¨C Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s eldest sister.

    ***

    The total contestants who signed up chariotry didn¡¯t even match one-tenth of those in archery. Further, not one of them looked enthusiastic about it ¨C except for the one who knew he was the best at it. Che Gulu resembled a general looking down at his fallen foes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Picking his nose behind Che Gulu, Bai Ju casually questioned, ¡°Gulu, what¡¯s your n?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, leave them in the dust. Who can beat me?¡±

    As soon as the gong rang, Che Gulu tapped his horse before anyone even realised the race hadmenced. His horse loaded up, raised its head and neighed. Next, it foamed at the mouth and copsed on the ground. Before Che Gulu could make sense of the situation, he felt a foot crash into his face and branches scratch him as he went rolling into the shrubs.

    The idol contests inest event kicked off.

 Book 14: Chapter 69

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 5)

    After crawling out from the shrubs in confusion, Che Gulu witnessed people flying, some horses neighing in pain, horses speeding off into the distance, four originally-healthy horses on the ground foaming at the mouth and people, presumably their riders, strewn across the floor groaning.

    He massaged the spot he took the kick as he stumbled over to the dirt, where Bai Ju was standing stationary.

    ¡°Uncle Ju, what just happened?¡±

    ¡°Your horse fell. That Tang kid kicked you away.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    At the same time Tang Ye kicked Che Gulu away, his own horse sumbed to injuries and fell. Xun Feng¡¯s trio raced off, while Tang Ye and Su Xiao robbed the horses of neighbouringpetitors to catch up.

    ¡°My horse is done, too. I was just waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°The horses are innocent! How could they be so ruthless?!¡±

    cried Che Gulu. The Kiliya nomads were emotionally attached to horses as they learnt to ride on horseback from a very young age, and Che Gulu was no exception. He hugged his steed around its neck and cried,

    ¡°What did those slimeballs do to you?! Tell me!¡±

    ¡°Based on my inspections, they¡­¡±

    Bai Ju took a step back. A putrid fountain of brown matter burst from the horse. Che Gulu was just about to say he was lucky the horse¡¯s anus wasn¡¯t aimed in his direction, only for the other three horses to st their toxic faeces waves.

    Che Gulu temporarily withdrew from the contest. Xun Feng and Su Xiao¡¯s teams led the pack by arge margin, with the remaining contestants trailing behind.

    Su Xiao and Tang Ye didn¡¯t n to implement their strategy straight away, and Che Gulu was never their target; they weren¡¯t sure how strong he was, after all.

    On the other hand, they had witnessed Xun Feng and Ling Shaoxuan in action. As for Bai Yumo, Tang Ye heard enough about Valley of Yearning to warrant preparing several backup ns.

    Tang Ye, however, never foresaw his and Su Xiao¡¯s horses being drugged. Nevertheless, as a man who could defeat Lu Bu, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with his quick thinking on the fly, Tang Ye immediately attacked Che Gulu, followed by two other students hailing from noble families for their horses.

    What Su Xiao and Tang Yecked in equestrian skill, they made up for in martial prowess.

    Moreover, Tang Ye discovered something with the passage of time. With Bai Ju and Che Gulu removed from the contest, Tang Ye was arguably the best jockey remaining. Although Xun Feng¡¯s trio was slightly ahead, Tang Ye was confident he could easily catch up. The only problem was whether Su Xiao could catch up or not.

    Therefore, Tang Ye held back so that Su Xiao could keep up, only to discover that Su Xiao was able to keep up without Tang Ye having to hold back as much as he predicted. As Tang Ye gradually increased his pace, Su Xiao was still able to keep up, even once he maxed out.

    To the contrary, Su Xiao was close to catching up. Had it not been for the time constraint, Tang Ye would¡¯ve given Su Xiao his horse since his was a tad better than Su Xiao¡¯s.

    Thest thing he expected was for the lesser rider to surpass him on a lower-performance steed. Noticing the duo closing in on them from behind, Ling Shaoxuan shouted, ¡°They switched rides! I told you drugging the horses wouldn¡¯t work! What now?¡± Grumpy Miss Bai responded,

    ¡°Then why did you drug them?! I feel sorry for them!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re about to lose. If we lose here and at the exams at night, who¡¯s going to feel sorry for us?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve any pity! My parents wouldn¡¯t scold me for something so trivial. They¡¯d only scold me if they found out I conspired with you two to drug innocent horses.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop? They¡¯re right on our heels.¡±

    ¡°Stop arguing,¡± ordered Xun Feng.

    ¡°And stop worrying. Brother Ling, how many horses did you drug in total?¡±

    ¡°Four.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you were quite hard handed, then. No wonder why the horses copsed so fast. They should¡¯ve only copsed after some distance, so you were quite generous with the dose.¡®

    ¡°Uh¡­ So¡­¡± Tang Ye¡¯s horse neighed loudly, and then Tang Ye went rolling onto the ground.

    ¡°Hahaha, good going, Venerable Monk!¡± While Ling Shaoxuan drugged four horses, Xun Feng drugged his neighbours¡¯ horses. Ling Shaoxuan looked back to enjoy the miserable reactions of his opponents, only to blurt, ¡°Sheet!¡±

    ¡°Brother Ling, there¡¯s no need to voice your joy.¡±

    ¡°Joy, my foot! Look for yourself!¡±

    Xun Feng could already hear horse hooves hitting the groundparably to thunderp, but he was stunned when he finally saw Tang Ye sitting behind Su Xiao as the two of them zoomed towards the trio.

    ¡°What the?!¡± Xun Feng clearly remembered the drugged the four houses next to Tang Ye and Su Xiao. The drug he formted was enough to bring down the healthiest of horses, so Su Xiao¡¯s horse should¡¯ve been out ofmission. Frankly, Tang Ye was equally puzzled.

    Tang Ye realised he was fooled the moment before his horse dropped, and the horse he snatched was also drugged. All of a sudden, he saw Su Xiao reach a hand out to him, so he mounted Su Xiao¡¯s horse without a second thought.

    Even more surprising was how the horse was able to run so fast with an extra passenger.

    Su Xiao was oblivious to the unbelievable-ness for he didn¡¯t realise his hands on the reins and his legs were leaking potent, harmless true qi that gave the horse a boost.

    On top of that, the horse was able to expel the harmful substance through sweating. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Despite himcking skill at riding, his horse fired on extra cylinders to catch up. Tang Ye watched Ling Shaoxuan as a hunter watched its prey.

    ¡°Ling Shaoxuan! Take this!¡± Ancient Cold appeared in Su Xiao¡¯s eyes.

 Book 14: Chapter 70

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 6)

    For some reason unbeknownst to the rest of his allies, Song Chi shelled up and refused to sh with Liu Shan Men. In other words, he nned to sit back unless the safety of his allies waspromised. Nevertheless, Xun Feng was no slouch in a strategist role.

    They were fully aware that chariotry would be the most challenging event for them. Tang Ye was correct in his assessment that they didn¡¯t excel at horse riding in spite of them growing up around martial arts. They had the basics down, while he had gone beyond the basics. That, however, didn¡¯t mean they were limited to only a contest of speed.

    While the drugs did y a role in creating the big distance between them at the start, it only dyed Tang Ye by a smidge. The formation Xun Feng designed was actually what kept Tang Ye at bay. At the right distance, the three of them formed an invisible qi barrier. It was a popr practice for martial artits to don an armour of qi, but only advanced practitioners of internal disciplines could deflect des from a distance with their qi armour. Xun Feng, Bai Yumo and Ling Shaoxuan were all in the advanced category.

    To maximise theirbination, Xun Feng arranged for Bai Yumo¡¯s broadsword qi to act as the vanguard, while Ling Shaoxuan released waves of sword qi towards the rear. Xun Feng used his temple¡¯s discipline to synthesise their internal energies into a single source since he was the best among them at delicate control of internal energy, empowering him to adjust as needed. Xun Feng used their qi barrier to reduce the wind resistance they experienced, therebypensating for theirck of skill in addition to blocking attacks from the rear.

    ¡°I never expected them to be capable of this.¡± Tang Ye flicked stones at the trio from Su Xiao¡¯s horse multiple times to no avail.

    To erect that barrier was proof ofpetence, but Xun Feng pioneered a new level when he synthesised three different disciplines¡¯ qis simultaneously.

    Tang Ye was so focused on trying to hinder the trio that it was toote when he realised Su Xiao had mentally veered off track. Su Xiao had forgotten the contest, even the fact that he was on horseback, and was dead set on verifying one suspicion ¨C was Ling Shaoxuan Six des¡¯ Bronze Mask?

    Because of his conversation with Xiang Baxian, Su Xiao couldn¡¯t stop imagining Bronze Mask splitting Ming Feizhen in two. He slowly released his hold on the reins and stood up on the horse. Unlike his hair blowing against his cheeks and billowing clothes, he didn¡¯t wobble whatsoever.

    Tang Ye grabbed the reins in a hurry, took over the driver role and looked up at Su Xiao. He looked ready to go to hell and back.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Ling Shaoxuan! Take this!¡± Su Xiao whipped out a silver streak with Ancient Cold.

    Not only did Su Xiao¡¯s sh tear down the barrier upon impact, but it also unbnced them. However, only one person fell off his horse ¨C Ling Shaoxuan. The other two¡¯s horses frantically ramped up their pace.

    Although he didn¡¯t know what Su Xiao did, Tang Ye decided he couldn¡¯t let Su Xiao¡¯s efforts go to waste, so he sped past the Ling Shaoxuan and Su Xiao, who fell to the ground, as well.

    Nobody was more bbergasted than Xun Feng. He never detected the iing attack from behind. He only reacted after Su Xiao¡¯s attack cut through the barrier. He vividly remembered feeling a chilly sensation down his spine from his neck. Even after he and Bai Yumo rode some distance away from the zone of the attack, he still couldn¡¯t stop his trembling.

    The barrier¡¯s primary purpose was to prevent the wind slowing them down, so it didn¡¯t cost much true qi. For that reason, it wasn¡¯t particrly suitable for defending against strong attacks. If the three of them were stationary, Tang Ye would¡¯ve taken five palm strikes, at most, to break it. That said, Xun Feng would¡¯ve realised the barrier was under attack. If there was someone who¡¯s internal energy was ten times more potent than his, then he¡¯d sense their attack due to the magnitude of iing energy. Nobody was denying that there were people who could get in and take out a target without anyone realising, but that was justpressing qi to the point that the target couldn¡¯t react in time. The moment the barrier went down, though, he¡¯d still be alerted, yet Xun Feng never realised what happened until Ling Shaoxuan fell. It¡¯d even be reaching to say that all Divine Realm adepts could¡¯ve pulled it off using their Eclipse.

    Xun Feng had been to Shaolin, met the Western Regions¡¯ top monk¡­ the supposed greatest in all thends, Di Shitian. His shifu was also one of the top martial artists in the world. Still, Eclipse wasn¡¯t sufficient to exin Su Xiao¡¯s attack. Eclipse concealed presences, but it didn¡¯t magically change the method for breaking a qi barrier. Therefore, mayhap he would¡¯ve realised his barrier fell a littleter than usual, but that wasn¡¯t the problem. The scariest part was how Su Xiao broke the barrier.

    Rather than describe it as Su Xiao breaking the barrier, it was more as though¡­ he sucked the barrier into oblivion or¡­ it was cancelled out when the two energies came into contact, so the trio couldn¡¯t have reacted in time even if Su Xiao attacked the barrier while they were watching. It was unscientific from a martial arts standpoint. Or rather, it was impossible to understand if viewed through a martial arts lenses.

 Book 14: Chapter 71

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 7)

    Xun Feng couldn¡¯t shake off the unease and urge to dig into how Su Xiao¡¯s attack worked, but he still told Bai Yumo, ¡°We need to take first ce. Continue heading to the finish line; I¡¯ll head back to check.¡± Without waiting for a response, he turned his steed around and yelled, ¡°I¡¯ll stall Tang Ye for a while. Go!¡±

    Bai Yumo indicated she heard him loud and clear with her head, then continued on as fast as she could.

    Xun Feng stretched out his two arms. Notwithstanding his speed as he advanced towards Tang Ye, his sleeves billowed as if there was mud in them, making them look as though they were distortedly long. Cold Mountain Temple called the skill ¡°Iron Sleeves¡±. With one flick, they could send a breeze through a forest without budging a leave, or they could splinter rocks and gold.

    Tang Ye knew he was inferior to Xun Feng, but his specialty was no longer a strong thirst for battle as prior to Huzhou. He calmly vaulted and sted energy to either side through both hands, sending the horse underneath several metres away. Heunched himself in the opposite direction using the reciprocal force. The horse continued galloping forwards once its feet hit the ground, while Tang Ye mustered up all the strength he had to bolt. He and his horse circled around Xun Feng and then rendezvoused behind Xun Feng.

    Although Xun Feng was ready to whip, Tang Ye¡¯s change in position required Xun Feng to go through more steps. Once again, Tang Ye outmanoeuvred Xun Feng. The constant losses to Tang Ye ignited Xun Feng¡¯spetitive spirit, but Su Xiao was still the most important to him. More precisely, Su Xiao¡¯s attack was the most important. Having said that, Tang Ye wasn¡¯t going to be let off the hook so easily.

    ¡°You won¡¯t get away from this one!¡±

    Xun Feng whipped his sleeves behind him, ripping them off from the shoulders. One sleeve targeted Tang Ye¡¯s horse, while the one following behind targeted Tang Ye. Based on Tang Ye¡¯s qinggong prowess and his timing, Xun Feng would¡¯ve caught Tang Ye in the back the moment Tang Ye mounted the horse. Xun Feng had practiced the technique hundreds and thousands of times, and he was calcted in his execution.

    Instead of mounting his horse, Tang Ye tugged the rein from below, pulling himself up to its side. Additionally, he managed to lower the horse¡¯s height, resulting in Xun Feng¡¯s sleeves flying overhead.

    Xun Feng made haste for the location where Su Xiao broke his barrier, where he eventually saw Ling Shaoxuan and Su Xiao fighting.

    Following every big swing, the frigid qi emitted from Su Xiao¡¯s Ancient Cold intensified as he increased his internal energy output. Even though Xun Feng was still some distance away, even he felt his qi and blood flow interrupted due to the cold; he had to mould energy to protect himself and his steed.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ling Shaoxuan was the one who first developed an interest in Su Xiao after hearing Ming Feizhen mention Su Xiao was a guy (when Su Xiao posed as Ming Feizhen¡¯s concubine the first time they met), but after learning Su Xiao was under government employment, assaulted a Prince and was known as ¡°Deadly and Brutal Young Girl¡± in the capital, he found Su Xiao distasteful. After all, wasn¡¯t that basically Shen Yiren 2.0?

    Ling Shaoxuan was under the impression that only unreasonable women came out of Liu Shan Men until he met Shen Kuang, which made him back track on that evaluation. He had lost interest in Su Xiao by that point, nevertheless. He couldn¡¯t understand why Su Xiao clung to him; Su Xiao literally pounced on him before they started fighting in the midst of the race.

    Though Su Xiao¡¯s skill with a broadsword wasn¡¯t enough to impress, Ling Shaoxuan found Ancient Cold to beparable to Mount Lu¡¯s treasure ¨C Five Elders ¨C in terms of sharpness. However, the cold energy was iprehensible. Never had he heard of iron being able to emit frigid energy. Of course, he didn¡¯t discount Su Xiao¡¯s internal energy.

    Say what you wanted about Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s character, but it was a fact that he was a direct disciple of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary and had Flying Thrustmitted to memory. ordingly, he managed to avoid being cornered when Su Xiao attempt to corner him. In saying that, it wasn¡¯t enough to defeat Su Xiao. While Su Xiaocked the skill to definitively win, his internal energy proved troublesome for Ling Shaoxuan.

    In an attempt to find a win via close-quartersbat, Ling Shaoxuan jumped up, drew his sword and swung. Not only did his sword snap upon impact, but the force produced from the collision of des sent the chill into his body. Consequently, he swung his sword frantically to defend the iing thirty attacks before he could expel the cold.

    Another thing Ling Shaoxuan couldn¡¯t understand was howe he was feeling increasingly tired, yet Su Xiao appeared increasingly energetic. Thebination of Ancient Cold and Su Xiao¡¯s internal energy permeated the chilly energy that was challenging to defend against. On top of slowing down Ling Shaoxuan, he had to constantly mould internal energy to protect his organs from the cold. Since he carried an ordinary sword on him today, his sword was unable to hold up against Ancient Cold, as well. A protracted contest, therefore, would inevitably result in Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s loss.

    For the reason that Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s only chance of winning was to make use of his superiorbat skill, Ling Shaoxuan gathered all his strength to execute Flying Thrust. To both his and Xun Feng¡¯s astonishment, instead of clumsily blocking as he had been doing, Su Xiao started moving akin to water flowing artistically, very much the same way Bai n¡¯s Yearning Broadswordy flowed.

 Book 14: Chapter 72

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 8)

    Since mounting the horse, Su Xiao¡¯s concentration was off the charts; he was oblivious to the fact that he rode faster and faster. All he could see was Bronze Mask killing Ming Feizhen over and over. He wasn¡¯t even aware of the precarious situation he was in when he stood atop his steed, yet he performed wlessly. Only afternding on the ground with Ling Shaoxuan did he snap back to reality.

    When he came to, Su Xiao was holding Ancient Cold and watching Ling Shaoxuan fly toward him, sword aimed at his face. Su Xiao had to enterbat mode before he could sort out everything in his mind.

    Though Su Xiao gained more experience from his fights in Huzhou and Nanjiang, he was still green. Likewise, despite being a direct descendent of Ling n, sheltered Ling Shaoxuan hadn¡¯t lived a violent lifestyle, so he wasn¡¯t that much more experienced than Su Xiao.

    Ling Shaoxuan still didn¡¯t dare to go all out due to Su Xiao¡¯s dismounting attack traumatising him, so he lost a prime opportunity to seize victory. On the other hand, Su Xiao entered the zone as the fight dragged out. Ever since Su Xiao was forbidden from utilising his family¡¯s broadswordy in battle, he only had Liu Shan Men¡¯s swordy and Ming Feizhen¡¯s teachings to fall back on. In this match, Su Xiao relied on the swordy he was most familiar with ¨C Six Phenomena Swordy. Using Six Phenomena Swordy against Flying Thrust was practically insulting thetter, but Su Xiao¡¯s progress in internal trainingbined with Ancient Cold allowed him to fight an even fight. Frankly, Su Xiao felt as anxious as Ling Shaoxuan did.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t realise the cold energy emanating from his de was enough to inflict damage to his opponent; he, instead, tried all sorts of ways to hold his own against an opponent he deemed more skilful than himself. What made this fight different to all of Su Xiao¡¯s previous fights was that it was the first time he tried to use strategy in battle. In his past matches, if the match didn¡¯t end in the blink of an eye, someone took over, so he never had the chance to use his eyes and mind to observe, deduce and map his own route to victory. Moreover, all his opponents were more skilled and experienced than him, leaving him with no alternative besides imitation. This time, he was able to learn defence and offence from Ling Shaoxuan.

    When Su Xiao snapped the tip of Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s tip, he failed to ride the wave of momentum due to inexperience. He knew he had the upper hand in terms of equipment, but he thought, ¡°Ah, my weapon is better. Maybe this means I will win unfairly,¡± instead of continuing to press the attack and shut out Ling Shaoxuan. Had he done so, he could¡¯ve defeated Ling Shaoxuan already. If you overlooked that, however, Su Xiao had shown marked growth because he wouldn¡¯t have been able to snap Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s sword if he was his past self.

    Although the offensive and defensive skills Su Xiao learnt from Ling Shaoxuan were abysmal, he was gradually able to apply them in a real fight. Thebined knowledge helped make things that didn¡¯t make sense in the past finally click. Gradually, he inwardly relished the experience of fighting, which eventually reminded him of the night he shed with Bronze Mask.

    As Su Xiao believed Ling Shaoxuan was Bronze Mask, the battle reminded him of the fight from that night. That was when Ling Shaoxuan suddenly went into top gear and executed Flying Thrust. Su Xiao didn¡¯t have an answer, so he resorted to the method Bronze Mask used against him, copying it exactly as he remembered it.

    ¡°H-how do you know that style?!¡± Ling Shaoxuan also recognised Yearning Broadswordy.

    In a nutshell, Flying Thrust was a styleparable to a waterfall column. If Ling Shaoxuan had mastered it to the same level as his cousin, Ling Ruoyun, then he¡¯d be able to modify the tempo for apletely different weapon. s, Ling Shaoxuan revealed holes as soon as he reduced his speed.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t attempt to continue using Yearning Broadswordy when his was only a terrible copy. Hence, he instantly followed up.

    Ling Shaoxuan knew one of the most basic principles of attack and defence was, when one fell, the other rose. Still, he couldn¡¯t evade in time, especially since the cold energy had virtually frozen his feet. As such, he held his sword parallel to the ground as ast line of defence, only for Su Xiao to snap it in a single sh without producing any sound.

    Seeing that Su Xiao was going to press forward again, Xun Feng hastily yelled, ¡°Stay your hand!¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan was supposed to have ended up in the same state as his sword in the next split second, but Su Xiao suddenly performed a broadsword flower and then gently set his de beside Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s neck.

    Wearing an expression as cold as his de, Su Xiao ignored Xun Feng and threatened, ¡°Are you Bronze Mask?! Answer honestly, or I¡¯ll tear your head straight off!¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re Bronze Mask. Why would I¡­¡± Ling Shaoxuan could barely talk as his proximity to Ancient Cold made him awfully cold.

    ¡°Then why did you lie on that day?!¡±

    ¡°When did I lie?¡±

    ¡°We have a witness who can testify they saw you leave the academy that day!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m never telling you!¡±

    ¡°Brother Ling, if there is a misunderstanding, exin yourself sooner.¡± Xun Feng, anxious watching, urged, ¡°Miss Su has no hesitation assaulting a Prince. She is definitely not shouting empty threats.¡±

    ¡°One more chance! If you don¡¯t talk, I¡¯ll take your head off! Why are you after Big Brother Ming¡¯s life?!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Book 14: Chapter 73

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 9)

    Feeling as though he¡¯d freeze to death without Su Xiao having to make another move, Ling Shaoxuan cried, ¡°Okay, okay! Take this cursed de away!¡±

    ¡°Watch your mouth! This is my mother¡¯s gift!¡± Su Xiao mercilessly pped Ling Shaoxuan over the head.

    Xun Feng: ¡°Miss S-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a guy!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Okay, Constable Su, your broadsword is special, so Brother Ling can¡¯t speak if you don¡¯t move it.¡±

    Su Xiao stopped, thought, picked up the disced half of Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s sword and then reced Ancient Cold with it. Merely removing Ancient Cold was enough to restore a pink tinge to Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s face.

    ¡°Answer the question!¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not Bronze Mask or whatever.¡± Despite having taken several breaths, Ling Shaoxuan teeth still chattered during speech as he couldn¡¯t eliminate all the cold energy from his body. With that said, he looked pure when he exined, ¡°I-I did leave the academy, but it¡­ it was for love.¡±

    ¡°Say something that makes sense!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ went to watch Young Master Jiang change.¡±

    Su Xiao pressed Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s head to the ground with his foot. ¡°So youmitted indecency on top of murder?!¡±

    Su Xiao had encountered numerous perverts on duty, but he never expected to run into a criminal within his realm of duty at the idolpetition.

    ¡°Don¡¯t frame me! Young Master Jiang invited me!¡±

    Su Xiao squinted. ¡°Keep going.¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s brows danced as if merely recalling the view was enough to set his heart aflutter. ¡°Young Master Jiang invited me out for tea at Winter Sce, hehehe.¡±

    Xun Feng closed his eyes. ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    Su Xiao picked up his foot, then stomped down on Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s head. ¡°Where would there be a winter sce in the middle of summer? You think I¡¯m a kid?!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you?! You don¡¯t even know what Winter Sce is!¡±

    ¡°What is it, then?!¡±

    Xun Feng: ¡°Brother Ling, please mind your manners.¡±

    ¡°Will manners save my life?!¡± eximed Ling Shaoxuan. ¡°It¡¯s a private ce for us young men of nobility.¡±

    ¡°A private ce?¡± Su Xiao wrinkled his nose. ¡°What for? What do you do there?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan ignored all the eye signals Xun Feng sent him to loudly reply, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just tell you? For tea, hehehe.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe?¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan gave a quiet and brief exnation.

    ¡°Ew! You sickos!¡± denounced Su Xiao.

    ¡°What¡¯s so sickening about love?¡± For a moment, Ling Shaoxuan sounded proud before deting. ¡°Sadly, I spotted my babe changing from outside his door when I went to pay him a visit, only for that pain in the neck, Lan Jiqiong, to ruin it.¡±

    As much as Su Xiao didn¡¯t want to believe it, he had nothing to argue the authenticity of the story.

    ¡°Do you have proof?¡±

    ¡°Proof?! Does love need proof?!¡±

    Right as Su Xiao went to assault Ling Shaoxuan, Xun Feng said, ¡°You can verify the story if you just have someone ask at Winter Sce. As a constable of Liu Shan Men, it would be even easier for you, M-, Constable Su.¡±

    It was a valid point. Besides, Su Xiao could question the Jiang guy if that didn¡¯t work. Even without a witness testimony, Ling Shaoxuan had pretty much convinced Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao: Wait, if he¡¯s purely perverted, then¡­

    ¡°You said Bai Yumo went with you, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she stood guard for me. How else would you have found out?¡±

    ¡°So¡­ was she with you when she stood guard?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a stupid question! Would I let a girl be present when me and my babe are¡­ hehe.¡±

    ¡°Darn it! Tang Ye!¡± Su Xiao turned around to run, only for a gust of wind to impede him. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    Xun Feng helped Ling Shaoxuan to his feet, then casually waved his hand, knocking Su Xiao back. ¡°You cannot leave yet, Constable Su.¡± Xun Feng tucked his hands behind his back and meandered towards Su Xiao with a smile. ¡°You have obtained what you wanted, but this one has not.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I never had a deal with you.¡±

    ¡°True. You used force to interrogate Brother Ling. This one wishes to see if the same trick will work on you.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, spare me. I¡¯m not going to believe your gentleman fa?ade when we¡¯re in the middle of a fight.¡±

    ¡°Good to see you are frank.¡±

    ¡°Be careful of his weapon!¡± warned Ling Shaoxuan.

    While Ancient Cold still discharged cold energy, it was less intensepared to when Su Xiao crossed des with Ling Shaoxuan. As Su Xiao always carried it on him, he was ustomed to the chill, not to mention he had practiced Yijin Jing, but that didn¡¯t mean he could control it. He wasser-focused in the heat of battle against Ling Shaoxuan, consequently augmenting the cold. Now that he had rxed, the temperature was harmless against people without internal energy.

    Ling Shaoxuan knew of Xun Feng¡¯s literary talents, but he seldom saw Xun Feng fight. If Xun Feng wasn¡¯t confident he could do something about the cold energy, he wouldn¡¯t amble toward Su Xiao, which suggested he was far more capable than Ling Shaoxuan gave him credit for.

    ¡°Constable Su, that weapon is too bloodthirsty; it does not suit you.¡±

    ¡°I will attack if you take another step forward.¡±

    Since Xun Feng didn¡¯t stop, Su Xiao prepared to attack as he monitored every move the former made.

    ¡°Out of my way!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 74

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 10)

    The yeller stormed in between Xun Feng and Su Xiao on horseback. The sound of the hooves and the fact that the ck horse could squeeze in between he gap was a testament to the rider¡¯s skill. While Su Xiao didn¡¯t recognise the horse, he recognised the rider atop it. ¡°Che Gulu!¡±

    Che Gulu didn¡¯t stop for anyone, but the interruption sabotaged the confrontational atmosphere Xun Feng built up.

    ¡°¡­ Rumour has it that the master of Ironhead Pce possesses a splendid Beijiang steed called Startan. He must¡¯ve switched horses.¡±

    ¡°Is that¡­ within the rules?¡±

    ¡°Drugging horses, people, and kicking them for that matter, aren¡¯t permitted. I assume he raised those points to make a case against switching horses. It¡¯s not asking for too much if you consider what he went through. Nheless¡­ that horse is too fast.¡± Xun Feng turned to Su Xiao. ¡°Constable Su, how about a temporary truce?¡±

    ¡°Agreed.¡±

    They both had no doubts that Che Gulu would catch up to Tang Ye and Bai Yumo in no time at all, which would inexorably lead to another intense contest.

    ¡°Leaving already? Am I so unworthy?¡±

    Xun Feng and Su Xiao only just noticed the small horse struggling behind them. The trio fighting before felt sorry for the horse, which was a feeling amplified when they saw the sloppily-dressed man atop it.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel it when I drugged them, but I feel sorry for them now that I¡¯m seeing the consequences,¡± expressed Ling Shaoxuan.

    ¡°I feel the same way.¡±

    The rider yawned. ¡°Why are you still here when you drugged the horses?¡±

    Su Xiao stopped himself as he went to fire a retort for he was rmed, and his two former nemeses felt the same warning.

    ¡°Elder Bai, are you here for revenge?¡± questioned Xun Feng.

    ¡°Revenge? No.¡± Bai Ju looked as though he had a hard time keeping himself awake. ¡°Gulu is my eldest nephew. I only joined on request to make up the numbers. A children¡¯s game is a children¡¯s game at the end of the day, right?¡±

    ¡°Your magnanimity is something we ought to learn. You are absolutely right.¡± Xun Feng was arguably the most vignt he had ever looked.

    Bai Ju nodded. ¡°Gulu¡¯s not bad as a fighter. I have no reason toin if he¡¯s willing to fight one on one, agreed?¡±

    Xun Feng nodded. ¡°You¡­ are correct.¡±

    Bai Ju nodded again. ¡°Hurting the horses is no big deal, either, right?¡±

    Xun Feng chose silence, while Ling Shaoxuan caved in to the pressure and responded, ¡°You are correct.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± Bai Ju shook his head.

    ¡°Pfft!¡±

    Ling Shaoxuan flew past Su Xiao, leaving a trail of crimson pearls in the air, some of whichnded on Su Xiao¡¯s face. Only after the fact did Su Xiao realise the swordsman behind Xun Feng was already on elsewhere on the ground. Even with Su Xiao¡¯s ability to see Che Gulu¡¯s arrows in slow motion to intercept them, he couldn¡¯t keep up with the movements just now.

    Bai Ju yawned and then cast his gaze Su Xiao bound. ¡°You¡¯re the one who shot down Gulu¡¯s arrows?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±

    ¡°Not bad. Not bad.¡±

    Su Xiao went to open his mouth, but a mind-numbing pain spread from his chest, shutting down his control over his limbs as he went airborne. He broke through a tree trunk several metres away, but he didn¡¯t end up a bloody mess as Ling Shaoxuan did. Su Xiao managed to crawl to his feet notwithstanding the pain. Only after wobbling a few times, he sprayed a fountain of blood and then copsed again. He didn¡¯t even get to see how he was crushed.

    ¡°Not bad. I intended to erase your training. Your internal progress is admirable. It¡¯s rare for someone of your age to have made such progress.¡± Bai Ju shifted his line of sight to Xun Feng. ¡°Shall I skip the drivel?¡±

    The two remained still as a hot breeze blew past.

    The small horse neighed, prompting Bai Ju to stroke its head. ¡°Impressive,¡± he remarked with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m very impressed you dodged my whip.¡±

    Xun Feng ced his hands together in prayer as a gesture of appreciation.

    ¡°I should¡¯ve expected Liaoliao¡¯s disciple to be capable of as much. Get lost now.¡±

    Xun Feng let out a long pent-up exhale once Bai Ju was no longer in sight. He headed towards Su Xiao following some musing, but then he halted in his tracks when he heard Su Xiao moan and exhale before opening his eyes. He sat up in one go despite there still being blood around his mouth and then looked up at Xun Feng. Su Xiao asked, ¡°I passed out?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Xun Feng needed a moment to process what he just witnessed, then nodded. ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Judging from the look in Su Xiao¡¯s eyes, he wasn¡¯t harmed seriously at all, which was a testament to his progress in his internal discipline. That being said, he was injured without a shadow of doubt.

    ¡°Hey, Ling Shaoxuan! How are you?¡± yelled Xun Feng.

    Su Xiao supported Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s head in his head. ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t die on me! Can you hear me? How do you treat wounds this bad?¡±

    Xun Feng froze on the spot as he watched Su Xiao show concern for a foe he was fighting to the death not long ago.

    ¡°Hey, Monk!¡±

    ¡°H-huh? Oh, yeah?¡±

    ¡°Come check him. Is he going to die? I can¡¯t stop the bleeding. Bring your horse over. He needs to see a doctor urgently.¡±

    ¡°¡­ We can¡¯t transport him by horse; it¡¯ll exacerbate his injuries. Carry one side, and I¡¯ll carry the other. Try to not touch his wound. We¡¯ll carry him back.¡±

    ¡°d you have a solution. Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Xiao looked up to see Xun Feng standing still. ¡°Why are you just standing there?¡®

    Xun Feng looked at Su Xiao, down to Ling Shaoxuan, then shook his head, smiled helplessly and sighed. ¡°Amitabha. Coming now.¡±

    Glossary

    Startan ¨C Made up name

 Book 14: Chapter 75

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 11)

    ounting for the fact that Tang Ye had the superior horse, it was only a matter of time before he caught up to Bai Yumo. Unfortunately, his horse wasn¡¯t in the best shape. Su Xiao did expel the drug from the horse¡¯s body using Yijin Jing, but it lost its energy once Su Xiao was off, and the fact that it carried both of them for a while also added to its fatigue. If Bai Yumo wasn¡¯t the worst rider in her team, she¡¯d have already crossed the finish line.

    Though it took a while, Tang Ye caught up. Once he was within range, he started flicking stones at Bai Yumo and shooting qi darts from his fingers to hinder her horse. Following a few sesses, he managed to reduce the gap between them to ten metres. At that important juncture, Tang Ye frowned and mumbled, ¡°Flying Snow?¡±

    Tang Ye extended his hand out to catch a snow-white pigeon descending that instantly flew off again upon perching.

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s information transmittance couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s andcked the speed of the Qilin Guards¡¯ horse-back messengers. It was during Orange Prince¡¯s insurrection that Shen Yiren saw the need for a means of transmitting information in times of battle. Bai Yeshuang had been training Flying Snow for thest six months to fulfil the duty, and Flying Snow made its long-awaited debut today. Liu Shan Men used Flying Snow to deliver information on the battlefield. Flying Snow was handpicked from among several superior pigeons and, after undergoing training, could identify its target from among a hundred people,nd safely and then depart with haste to avoid being caught or in.

    Tang Ye was aware Su Xiao brought Flying Snow into the academy, so he assumed it was Su Xiao who dispatched Flying Snow. He unrolled the note to see the following message: ¡°Bai Yumo is Bronze Mask.¡±

    Although Su Xiao was negligent, Tang Ye knew he kept things simple for himself. Since Su Xiao was certain Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask, it indicated that he had verified Ling Shaoxuan was innocent. Armed with this new knowledge, Tang Ye couldn¡¯t help suspecting if the maiden riding in front was lulling him into a false sense of security. Ever since he lost to the excessively-equipped Yi Wangyou in Huzhou, Tang Ye learnt two important lessons: there would always be someone stronger out there, and anything could happen in the pugilistic world. So, who could guarantee Bai Yumo wasn¡¯t just acting innocent and pure to conceal a murderous personality?

    Bronze Mask was able to resoundingly crush Dugu, so Tang Ye would be risking his life if he passed Bai Yumo, thereby exposing his back, not to mention Bronze Mask beheaded his targets from a hundred metres away. As Tang Ye weighed his options whilst maintaining his distance, he heard a horse closing in fast from behind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally caught up with you cheaters!¡± Despite not having any reins or stirrups for his feet, the rider who was said to be superior to Shen Yiren caught up to the two leading even though he got lost on the second time through.

    Tang Ye and Bai Yumo¡¯s stood still as they watched Che Gulu speed in between them.

    ¡°You yed dirty, so don¡¯t me me! Have these knuckle buns!¡± Che Guluunched himself up and above his horse to throw a windy punch at Tang Ye.

    Che Gulu wasn¡¯t familiar with schrs¡¯ ideals; he didn¡¯t even intend to ce in the academic events. Su Xiao, however, gave him a chance, so he dragged himself through them for the archery and chariotry events. He went in believing he¡¯d crush everyone except maybe Xun Feng. Time after time, though, he was yed. Everyone had a tolerance limit, and his had been breached.

    Based on the sting of the gust from above, Tang Ye knew that the punch would split rocks if itnded. If he didn¡¯t block, though, he¡¯d lose his steed. If only he knew that Che Gulu wouldn¡¯t ever hurt a horse in spite of his brash attitude.

    Tang Ye hastily stripped his jacket and thrust his arms forward. As his jacket drifted off to his rear, two iron darts flew out from the sleeves. The two darts plunged into the neighbouring tree trunks on either side, suspending the jacket as the attached strings received tension. Tang Ye followed his jacket and then back tucked out of the way.

    Considering how fast and powerful Che Gulu¡¯s punch was, Tang Ye might¡¯ve lost if he advanced into it, let alone backing off. As a consequence of his decision, Che Gulu managed to bridge the gap enough to be within striking distance of Tang Ye¡¯s chest, yet, to his Che Gulu¡¯s surprise, he missed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tang Ye propelled himself higher up using his suspended garment after back tucking instead ofnding. Due to him positioning the makeshift springboard at the back, Che Gulu passed by the horse, effectively leaving the horse in safe territory.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of all this shy, slippery stuff?! Give me your head!¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t justunch himself up to avoid Che Gulu¡¯s punch; he used it to close in on Bai Yumo, as well.

    Startan scared Bai Yumo¡¯s horse stiff, while she covered her eyes as she thought Che Gulu¡¯s punch would make a bloody mess out of Tang Ye, never expecting the taciturn youth to show up in front of her in a single jump.

    Uponnding on Bai Yumo¡¯s horse, Tang Ye politely expressed, ¡°Long-time no see, Miss Bai.¡±

    Bai Yumo was going to rebuke Tang Ye until she realised Tang Ye was sitting less than an inch away from her.

    ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Bai Yumo pped her eyelids in confusion until she felt a violent gale inching closer from behind.

    Che Gulu would¡¯ve been a fool if he didn¡¯t immediately attack again when Tang Ye paired himself together with Bai Yumo into a buy-one-get-one-free package. Howbeit, since Tang Ye and Bai Yumo sat face to face, with thetter having her back facing Che Gulu, she was the only one who couldn¡¯t dodge.

    Bai Yumo didn¡¯t expect to be dragged into the battle out of the blue, and she wasn¡¯t as quick as Tang Ye. Hence, her only option was to follow her uncle¡¯s teaching and swing back with her hand. Her interception looked effortless.

    Che Gulu didn¡¯t get moved, but the area around his feet split into a circr shape, sinking him into the ground. Bai Yumo, on the other hand, went reeling due to the shockwave produced from the collision. While she did stagger uponnding, she wasn¡¯t hurt.

    Tang Ye deliberately lured Che Gulu over to force Bai Yumo into showing her true skill, never expecting her to intercept the attack with an ordinary chop. People said Valley of Yearning was famous forplexity, so he didn¡¯t expect something so simple that it might as well have been called a stroke of internal energy.

    Notwithstanding the might of Che Gulu¡¯s punch, he needed to load up and use a run up in order to produce that much force. In contrast, Bai Yumo intercepted his punch without needing any of that. One was sent reeling, while the other sank into the ground, but the fact that Bai Yumo didn¡¯t need any prep work indicated that her internal energy was more potent than his even though she was only seventeen years old. Though Che Gulu didn¡¯t put everything behind the punch, the oue was enough for him to recognise the fact. Che Gulu and Tang Ye now were both wary of Bai Yumo.

    Tang Ye dismounted.

    All three of them could¡¯ve quickly reached the finish line considering where it was, but it was up to their skills now.

    Bai Yumo took a few breaths to check for injuries. Once she confirmed she was sound, she shot Tang Ye a re. ¡°You slimeball! Why did you set me up?!¡± she eximed, as she picked up a tree branch to swing at Tang Ye.

 Book 14: Chapter 76

    Slimeball Among Slimeballs Among Slimeballs (Part 12)

    A branch might¡¯ve been harmless in the hands of someone untrained, but an advanced martial artist could easily have split jade with a thin branch. Even in the scenario that Bai Yumo wasn¡¯t Bronze Mask, the internal energy potency she disyed prior was proof that taking a swing from her was unwise. In addition to her attack, there was also Che Gulu¡¯s next punch iing.

    Tang Ye slipped away through the only opening, so the cannon-ball of a bunch would¡¯vended on Bai Yumo. Che Gulu couldn¡¯t pull a punch he had released, but Bai Yumo could change the trajectory of her movements at will, so she torqued sideways to let the punch go past her torso and continue on to Tang Ye¡¯s head. In turn, Tang Ye was caught in a pincer.

    One on one, the odds weren¡¯t in Tang Ye¡¯s favour, let alone fighting both of them at once, but he had a brain. He flicked at their wrists with both hands. The slight burning sensation bought enough time for him to roll out of the way. However, Bai Yumo pressed the attack immediately after her short stutter, leaving three rows of split earth with a single swing of her branch.

    Virtually no one at Valley of Yearning could detail Bai Yumo¡¯s skills, just as they couldn¡¯t tell you anything about Lady Bai¡¯s background. Her eldest uncle had praised her for being a prodigy at broadswords, but none of the disciples dared to train with her, so they only knew as much as Tang Ye did, which was ¨C she had extremely potent internal energy and fought in a very straightforward style.

    Bai Yumo didn¡¯t waste a drop of true qi, and, in spite of her movements looking clumsy, Tang Ye couldn¡¯t spot a single opening to exploit. She might¡¯ve been inexperienced inbat, but that didn¡¯t imply she was defenceless. Thanks to her learning from the unmatched broadsworder in the world from a young age, she had oceans and mountains of knowledge; she could spot openings based purely on instinct. In just their few exchanges, Tang Ye deemed her tougher than Che Gulu. If it weren¡¯t for herck of experience, Song Chi would¡¯ve been beneath her.

    Bai Yumo never did anything outside of the basic chop, sh, sweep and stabs, but all of them were connected to Yearning Broadswordy, something which Tang Ye couldn¡¯t wrap his head around. Outsiders frequently misunderstood theplexity of Yearning Broadswordy. While ¡°Yearning¡± was in the name, it could¡¯ve been any other feeling for the reason that it was practically a ceholder. Like a lovesick man, Bai Sang attacked simrly to an endless avnche. Since she was straightforward and did little in terms of thinking, Bai Yumo¡¯s attacks were simple. Though different in style, it was still Yearning Broadswordy. She didn¡¯t need thirty attacks to beat Tang Ye one way or another ¨C if he was pre-Huzhou Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye retreated several steps, making all of Bai Yumo¡¯s swings hit thin air.

    ¡°Strange,¡± remarked Bai Yumo, noticing how effortless Tang Ye gave her the slip.

    Offence wasn¡¯t the only thing he gleaned from Ancient King¡¯s training method. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t pass on his five sword techniques to expand Tang Ye¡¯s already vast array of offensive options or to level him up. Ming Feizhen wanted to empower Tang Ye with another chance of survival.

    What Ming Feizhen gave Tang Ye was the equivalent of the sentient Spring Wind Rainy Night Art conscious that he nted in Shen Yiren that saved her in Huzhou. Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve just taught Tang Ye martial arts to save time and effort if it weren¡¯t for his condition. Ming Feizhen¡¯s decision proved right because Tang Ye had to fall back on it already. That being said, not everything unfolded ording to Ming Feizhen¡¯s predictions.

    It should¡¯ve been expected that Tang Ye spent day and night mulling over the knowledge Ming Feizhen shared. Ming Feizhen never expected Tang Ye to have an epiphany of some sort and learn any impressive martial art. Ming Feizhen ssified Ancient King as a culmination of internal disciplines¡¯bat methods, not a fighting discipline. If he was the one who received the ¡°secret manual¡±, the first he would¡¯ve done wouldn¡¯t have been researching it but cursing. For Tang Ye, in contrast, it was the door to a new world.

    Ancient King¡¯s method of umting everything into one concept was the perfect remedy for Tang Ye¡¯s mishmash of disciplines, but he was able to get even more out of it. Mayhap it never urred to Ming Feizhen that the five sword techniques in Ancient King weren¡¯t just a method of umting everything into a single concept, but the method of fighting itself was a clever martial arts discipline. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising considering the five sword techniques he invented were the synthesis of over a hundred internal disciplines.

    No matter how much Ancient King simplified Ming Feizhen¡¯s collective knowledge, the same questions as every technique remained: how was one supposed to use the ¡°what¡±? When were they supposed to use the ¡°what¡±? When were they meant to use the ¡°what¡± to corner the opponent? Ancient King¡¯s answer to the ¡°when¡± was, to counter.

    Tang Ye¡¯s innate talent and his experience in ¡°shortcut¡± methods were the reasons he was able to see what others would never have seen in Ancient King. In saying that, had Ming Feizhen not lost all his internal energy, he would¡¯ve imparted the five techniques using an assortment of energies, making it too difficult for even Tang Ye to have learnt as much as he did. Ming Feizhen wanted to pass on how to ¡°synthesise¡± everything, while Tang Ye learnt ¡°how¡± to use it. ordingly, Tang Ye inherited more than what he was taught.

    Aside from getting hit and imitating the usage method, Tang Ye kept wondering if it was truly impossible to dodge the five attacks. When he concentrated on just dodging the ever-evolving techniques, he started to discern a vague footwork pattern. Tang Ye subsequently mulled over it. If there truly existed footwork that could dodge the five techniques, then there weren¡¯t many people left in the world who could hit him. He only ever performed the footwork in his mind. Hisprehension of Ancient King reached new heights after he defeated Tang Za, consequently increasing the resolution of the footwork in his mind. Under the pressure of Che Gulu¡¯s sneak attack, evasion was his best option, making it the first time he utilised the footwork, and it was as sensational as he imagined.

    Bai Yumo had no clue where to attack next after Tang Ye utilised the footwork. Tang Ye once assumed that he would be akin to a me in the wind whilst employing the footwork. He gave it the temporary name ¡°Hazy Steps¡± to illustrate the difficulty in understanding it. Upon finally using it, however, it dawned on him that it far surpassed his imagination. When using it, he was virtually the shadow of a disorganised fireball in the wind. That was why Bai Yumo questioned if her eyes were dysfunctional.

    ¡°What the hell is that footwork?!¡± eximed Che Gulu. He knew Tang Ye outwitted him when he missed,pelling him to wait for another opportunity, but he couldn¡¯t make heads and tails of Tang Ye¡¯s movements. Had he not been exposed to Confucianism for an extensive period, he would¡¯ve yelled, ¡°How dare a demon run amok in broad daylight?!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye had gotten used to the five sword techniques, but he didn¡¯t realise they were constantly evolving. To any spectator, they resembled countless ever-changing afterimages. That being the case, the same approach needed to be adopted in order to avoid them.

    Faced with uncertainty inbat, Bai Yumo and Che Gulu vigntly disengaged. As soon as Tang Ye came to a stop, he felt as though his qihai would explode, limbs would fall off and the world was rotating as fast as desert winds. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there were two opponents still present, he would¡¯ve gasped blood. The world was ck for a while before Tang Ye could see and hear properly again, but his limbs still felt detached. He breathed as softly as he could to hide the fact from his opponents. Luckily for him, his facial expressions were usually so minimal that it was hard to notice anything different.

    Upon checking himself, Tang Ye discovered he had expended over 60% of his internal energy, an amount that exceeded even the most advanced technique in his repertoire. Evidently, the footwork was reserved for those who had a huge volume of internal energy; anyone without enough would just bemitting suicide.

    It was a double-edged sword. While Tang Ye was concerned and lost an immense amount of fuel, he didn¡¯t notice that his two foes were so fearful that they didn¡¯t dare to get close.

    Considering how elusive Tang Ye was just a moment ago, Bai Yumo and Che Gulu had every reason to be worried that three Bai Yumos plus Che Gulu would still be assassinated without knowing how. They assumed he was holding back the entire time since he was capable of unterally dominating them. Little did they know the assumed-knightly young man was actually exhausted.

    Once his true qi flow returned to homeostasis, Tang Ye caught on to the assumptions hispetitors made. ¡°Both of you are incredibly skilled. This one has always looked up to your teachers and respected your skills. This is but a merepetition; there is no need to risk our lives and make enemies. How about we take turns crossing the finish line? No matter who finishes in first ce, this one is happy to finish second. Should he go back on his word, he will suffer for eternity!¡±

    Bai Yumo and Che Gulu exchanged contact; both could see the respect in each other¡¯s eyes. They simultaneously offered a cupped-fist salute and conveyed, ¡°Thank you, Brother Tang.¡±

    Tang Ye wagged his hand. ¡°This one is only doing what he should!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 77

    Xun Feng

    Following many pleasantries, the final decision was to give Bai Yumo first ce, Tang Ye second and Che Gulu third. Virgin Che Gulu was adamant about not hurting women due to it being nothing to brag about and actually shameful. In addition, he was worried about being embarrassed if he lost. Was a man¡¯s pride worthless? He epted Tang Ye¡¯s good will, so he might as well have forfeited first ce. Plus, he could just make it up in tomorrow¡¯s contest. Thus, Bai Yumo gained first ce without having to do any thinking whatsoever.

    It went without saying that Tang Ye didn¡¯t want Bai Yumo to be the ultimate winner. Sadly, the consequences of using Hazy Footwork rendered him upetitive; he needed medical attention fast, lest he ran the risk of qi deviation, let alone fight.

    Bai Yumo was reluctant to ept the win, but she wasn¡¯t apetitive individual, so she preferred amicable solutions.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Brother Tang, can I call you Brother Tang from now? From an exchange of blows, friendship grows. From now on, you¡¯re wee to join me in my small kitchen.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too kind, Miss Bai.¡±

    Bai Yumo now viewed Tang Ye as someone who respected societal norms as opposed to her former impression ¨C a dumb block of wood.

    People rubbed their eyes when they saw the three get along. Quanmu assumed Tang Ye seduced Bai Yumo with his looks and then joined hands to subdue Che Gulu, but Che Gulu was celebrating. Xun Feng was the only one who wore a forced smile whilst never taking his gaze off Tang Ye.

    Once Tang Ye bid Bai Yumo and Che Gulu farewell, he headed off to his ss¡¯s location. Before anyone could congratte him, he sent Shi Weiliang an eye signal and shook his head. She immediately signalled for her ssmates to form a circle around Tang Ye. Only Si Fu ambled forward and smiled to ask, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I got hurt; it¡¯s nothing serious.¡± Tang Ye¡¯s low voice was an indication that his internal injury was pretty serious.

    Since Si Fu and Tang Ye practiced internal disciplines in different realms, she couldn¡¯t mindlessly help him. ¡°Bear with it. I¡¯ll go fetch you some medicine.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded, and then Si Fu left. As soon as she departed, someone weaved through the crowd to gently pat Tang Ye on the shoulder. Because Tang Ye wasn¡¯t focused, he failed to dodge in time. The physical contact was enough to give away his condition if the individual was observant, but Tang Ye yed it cool and calmly looked behind him.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± queried Tang Ye.

    Xun Feng chuckled cordially. ¡°You make it sound like we don¡¯t know each other. Thepetition is over, Brother Tang. Would you apany me on a walk

    Tang Ye ran his eyes down to Xun Feng¡¯s feet, back up to his head, scuttled back a small step and asked, ¡°Are you really into this sort of stuff?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to follow me to find out, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Though Tang Ye knew Xun Feng would be a handful if he were to be shameless, he wanted to know what Xun Feng wanted to talk about.

    ¡°Brother Xun Feng, could I apany you two?¡± All of Bai Yumo¡¯spanions seemingly vanished not long after she left, so she came over when she spotted Xun Feng. She didn¡¯t know what Xun Feng was up to based on what he told Tang Ye, but she was concerned since Xun Feng was the one who suggested they drug the horses. As Tang Ye let her win, she didn¡¯t want him to be Xun Feng¡¯s next victim. If Xun Feng refused to let her join them, then her conclusion was that Xun Feng would attempt to assassinate Tang Ye.

    Xun Feng chuckled. ¡°No man could ask for anything more than thepany of a beautifuldy. By all means, join us.¡±

    Students of the academy saw Tang Ye follow expressionlessly, Xun Feng lead brightly and Bai Yumo constantly scanning.

    Xun Feng started the conversation with, ¡°Not many direct disciples of Beihai¡¯s Bright Mirror carry the Tang surname.¡±

    It was Bai Yumo¡¯s first time learning Tang Ye was from Bright Mirror Pce.

    ¡°Ever since the internal upheaval in Tang n, they were divided into north and south. The faction in the south inherited the Tang n name, while Tang Qiong led the others north to restart as Bright Mirror Pce. Even after the split, the conflict never ceased. It has been over two decades since thest war between the two ns. One contributing factor was Bright Moon Pce¡¯s loss of direct descendants. Compared to Shuzhong, Bright Mirror Pce has hardly any Tang-surnamed descendants. As a consequence, the power bnce eventually skewered to one side.¡± Xun Feng maintained his smile and didn¡¯t even spare Tang Ye a nce, but it was obvious where his words were aimed and at whom. ¡°Why, in that situation, would they allow one of them to enter Liu Shan Men? Does Bright Mirror Pce have no intention of reeling their people in?¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t give any sort of response.

    ¡°Was Bright Mirror Pce¡¯s leader, Matriarch Tang Mian, the elder sister?¡± Ignoring Tang Ye, Xun Feng continued, ¡°Tang n has grown their influence, but they still haven¡¯t been able to cross the boundary separating north and south. Despite their wealth and manpower, they can¡¯t match the martial world¡¯s three biggest sects or the unorthodox factions¡¯ four biggest groups unless someone obtains Evil Exterminator to reunite the Tang n that¡¯s been split for centuries. She was young and capable, but it was too much for her to hold up the fort without sufficient support. It was tragic because she had no means of retaliating to all the provocations.¡±

    Tang Ye just silently followed along. No matter how much Xun Feng might¡¯ve detested Tang Ye, he felt genuine respect for the youth who didn¡¯t bite his bait.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Xun Feng audited Tang Ye from top to bottom. ¡°Your life must¡¯ve been rough. You were born into a prominent family, yet you have never been able to stop running forwards ¨C and have been forced into joining Liu Shan Men. If fate was kind enough to give you an alternative option, you would be so much farther than where you are now ¨C and definitely not be forced into thisme contest. It pains me just to think about what could have been.¡±

    Fed up, Bai Yumo admonished, ¡°Brother Xun Feng, you are going too far. Every family has its story. It has nothing to do with an individual¡¯s futur-¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand, Sister Bai. I am pitying Brother Tang. I am not discussing his future.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Xun Feng turned his attention to Tang Ye. ¡°I am talking about the. Massacre. Of. Shang. Ri. La.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 78

    The Lesser Lord¡¯s Wound

    ¡°Surely you have heard about the massacre at Shangri-La, Sister Bai. It was a bizarre massacre that took ce at a small town in Beihai around ten years ago. The 313 residents died overnight without any witnesses or clues, resulting in numerous rumours being propagated. One rather interesting theory is that, if there was a Liu Shan Men at Beihai¡¯s border, then the tragedy never would¡¯ve taken ce. Do you know why I am bringing this up, Sister Bai?¡±

    Bai Yumo shook her head, but she had a feeling that the answer wasn¡¯t nice.

    ¡°Because Brother Tang¡¯s father, a swordsman by the name of Tang Nuan, was among the victims. Since there was no clue as to who the culprit was, Brother Tang¡¯s mother sumbed to depression and passed away afterwards, orphaning him. Frigid snow and ice envelope Beihai¡¯s winters, yet a boy twelve years old at most had to step into the pugilistic world. His lonely, sad and frustrated gaze that cursed the heavens for being unfair might still be the same now.¡±

    Bai Yumo moved her gaze to Tang Ye. His gaze had all the characteristics and oozed the same vibe Xun Feng just illustrated. Even though it was her first time seeing that sort of gaze, she didn¡¯t fear him. Instead, she pitied him.

    ¡°I really want to know if a young man as I described would be disappointed after joining a Liu Shan Men that still has yet to achieve anything. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Brother Xun Feng. If what you say is true¡­ If what you say is true¡­ In any case, you can¡¯t dig into someone¡¯s painful past like this.¡±

    ¡°What gives you the right to tell me what to do, Sister Bai?¡±

    ¡°How should I know?! Just¡­ Why are you even bringing up this bizarre topic? I¡¯ll be the first to beat you if you keep talking about it.¡±

    Xun Feng shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re really emotionally mature, Brother Tang, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s not really masculine to hold it in?¡±

    ¡°I thought I told you to stop!¡±

    ¡°Sister Bai, you¡¯re wrong if you think Brother Tang purposely let you win. If I¡¯m not wrong, although I don¡¯t know the reason, he has suffered a serious internal injury. He¡¯s no match for neither you nor Che Gulu in a one-on-one fight at the moment. He fooled both of you to secure second ce. Think about it: isn¡¯t Liu Shan Men in first ce now based on total points?¡±

    Bai Yumo turned to Tang Ye with wide eyes, but Tang Ye didn¡¯t look her way.

    ¡°Venerable Xun Feng, the mad monk said to be a wealth of knowledge who was said to sing heartily after wine, is one of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s smartest among their Four Holy Monks. In short, you¡¯re not as useless and ipetent as the image you¡¯ve built based off your performance in the capital. I¡¯ve had my eyes on you since day one. You don¡¯t need to put on the fa?ade in front of me; it¡¯s never worked and won¡¯t work. You seem eager to provoke me into attacking so that you have an excuse to kill me.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be fun otherwise, Brother Tang.¡± Xun Feng looked even happier despite Tang Ye¡¯s scathing response. ¡°Tomorrow is thest day, so why don¡¯t we be frank. Since you¡¯re curious, please pardon me for a moment as I fetch some evidence of my sincerity.¡±

    The atmosphere turned awkward when Bai Yumo and Tang Ye were left alone, so awkward that Bai Yumo forced herself to ask, ¡°Hey, are you really hurt bad?¡±

    Tang Ye nced to Bai Yumo out of the corner of his eyes, scaring her for a second. She was the one who was duped, yet she was puzzled as to why she felt guilty. Tang Ye lowered his head and then chucked up blood all of a sudden.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t indifferent to Xun Feng¡¯s taunts. Ever since utilising Hazy Steps, his true qi flowed rampantly; he could hear the surging true qi flowing erratically inside him while firing back at Xun Feng. Xun Feng left to reduce Tang Ye¡¯s stress. As a result of rxing after prolonged anguish, Tang Ye couldn¡¯t control his injury and lost hisposure. Assuming Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask, she was presented with a prime opportunity to finish him without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°How are you?!¡± Bai Yumo lunged over to support Tang Ye.

    Tang Ye vigntly looked up at Bai Yumo. Though he was the one who was powerless to retaliate, she was the one who panicked.

    ¡°Do you have any medicine? I¡­ I can feed it to you.¡±

    Although Bai Yumo was skilled in wielding her internal energy, she hadn¡¯t learnt to imbue objects with it ¨C besides her de ¨C which was why she didn¡¯t know how to treat Tang Ye¡¯s injury. He was going to shake his head, but his eyes instinctively made their eyes down to his chest. Catching that, Bai Yumo reached into his shirt for the small crimson porcin bottle.

    ¡°Is this it?¡± Spotting the Tang Ye¡¯s face go bright red and signs of him about to bleed even more, she started panicking even worse. ¡°Hurry, hurry!¡±

    The stench that burst out once Bai Yumo pulled out the cork would easily make a crowd think an explosion went off. She had to bear with the pungent stench whilst trying to pry open Tang Ye¡¯s mouth, yet he refused to let her open his mouth.

    ¡°T-take it already!¡± Because he seemed on the verge of death, Bai Yumo teared up. ¡°You¡¯re so annoying!¡±

    Both Bai n¡¯s virtuous and stubborn characteristics burst to the surface, prompting Bai Yumo to pressed Tang Ye onto the ground. Having his head bounced off the concrete caused him to open his mouth a tad, which Bai Yumo instantly jumped on. Although he was still seeing stars, Tang Ye knew what danger wasing as she pried his mouth open more since his olfactory system still functioned just fine.

    There was only the one pill, the pill that Ming Feizhen upgraded using a better furnace and luck ¨C unknown pill 2.0, ¡°life and death unknown pill¡±. ording to Ming Feizhen, he could resurrect the dead with it.

    Tang Ye diverted his strength to his jaws.

    This guy is so annoying! Why is he resisting when he¡¯s about to die?!

    Bai Yumo set the pill down on the ground so that she had two free hands for prying Tang Ye¡¯s mouth open. Tang Ye stopped resisting at the point since she didn¡¯t have a spare hand to feed him the pill. Liu Shan Men¡¯s lesser lord ounted for the clumsy mistake. However¡­

    Bai Yumo, mounting Tang Ye, bent over to pick up the pill with her mouth and then stered her lips to his.

 Book 14: Chapter 79

    Legend of Lord San Shen

    Many yearster, when people asked Tang Ye how his first kiss felt, he chuckled and frankly replied, ¡°It tasted like explosive powder mixed in a pit of manure.¡± When their lips made contact, depression enveloped his body; he felt that he had no escape. He just stared at the sky and spaced out. The only other proof he was alive besides his beating heart were the tears rolling down from the corner of his eyes. Tang Ye did an abundance of thinking as he lied there helplessly.

    When he was around seven, his kind mother hugged him and stressed, ¡°Ye, don¡¯t ever do bad things.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t, Mother, because doing bad things makes you a bad person, right?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Tang Ye¡¯s mother caressed her confused son¡¯s cheek. ¡°I¡­ have asked a diviner to take a look into your future. You will never do bad things. Always bear in mind that bad luck will befall you if you do bad things; if you aren¡¯t assaulted and cursed, you will be abused. If you continue to err, you¡¯ll be poisoned or even¡­ You won¡¯t understand even if I tell you. Thankfully, you¡¯re not a girl, so you won¡¯t have to suffer ramifications. As a matter of fact, you might even find yourself a wife as a result¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have said that. Just remember to never do bad things.¡±

    As his soul returned from a trip around the world, Tang Ye listened to the sound of cicadas¡¯ chirps.

    People truly shouldn¡¯t sin. Why didn¡¯t I listen to my mother¡­? Why did I tell a fib¡­?

    Tang Ye shut his eyes and let the disgusting taste explode in his mouth. When he opened his eyes again, tears streaked down his cheeks.

    Bai Yumo, crouching on the ground as she cleaned her teeth using a branch and teethpowder, stuttered, ¡°Y-you okay?¡±

    ¡°How long was I out for?¡±

    ¡°Just a short while; basically, as long as it took me to grab stuff to brush my teeth. You feeling better?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Still alive.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Want to brush your teeth?¡±

    Tang Ye sat up and extended a hand in a way that could be interpreted as him trying to strangle innocent Bai Yumo or ept a brush. Of course, he was after the brushing implement as he would never sin again. Bullying his saviour wasn¡¯t a good deed by any stretch of the imagination, right?

    The two of them earnestly brushed their teeth in crouched postures.

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t keep ¡°life and death unknown pill¡± on him to save a life but for interrogation purposes. It was a hassle to carry around a bunch of tools, but it was convenient to carry just one pill, after all. Heck, he could¡¯ve neutralised even the sharpest of des if he were just to take the cork off. Never in his wildest dreams did he predict he would be the one to consume it¡­ not to mention have a girl straddle him and force feed it to him.

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s face stiffened when he heard the ¡°criminal¡± and his saviour speak.

    ¡°I¡­ think you should refrain from fighting Brother Xun Feng.¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what Bai Yumo was trying to convey.

    ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting he wasn¡¯t out of line, but¡­ you can¡¯t beat him in your current state.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t fight him.¡±

    ¡°But the stuff he said¡­¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t kill my father.¡± Tang Ye grabbed the cup of water to rinse his mouth. ¡°I have no right to avenge my father if I can¡¯t even tell who my enemy is. Don¡¯t worry. I know who is and isn¡¯t my enemy. He¡¯s just a joke.¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of me, Brother Tang.¡± Leading at the front, Xun Feng led two big men behind him carrying a stretcher.

    Tang Ye squinted. ¡°You¡¯re back with what you said you were going to fetch?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? No matter what tricks you try, the end result will be the same. We will win. We will dominantly win.¡±

    ¡°What have you done?¡±

    ¡°See for yourself, Brother Tang.¡±

    The two burly men came forward and mindlessly threw the stretcher onto the ground. The person on the stretcher didn¡¯t even make a sound upon impact with the ground. As soon as Tang Ye identified the individual on the stretcher, he lunged at Xun Feng and chopped at thetter¡¯s face. Xun Feng smiled, expecting the violent reaction.

    Bai Yumo shoved Tang Ye back before he couldnd his strike. ¡°Don¡¯t you have your priorities backwards? Check on your friend first.¡±

    Bai Yumo was right, so Tang Ye went back to check on Su Xiao.

    Su Xiao never looked so drained ever since practicing Yijin Jing. His face was smudged with dirt. His breathing was weak. His heart beats were slow. The worst injury on him was the attack he absorbed on his chest, which wasn¡¯t to say the finger spear thatnded on his back was negligible. His chest wound was either from taking impact from a whip or the wind pressure generated from a palm strike that broke through his qi armour. The finger spear on the back was the main reason he was unconscious. Being erudite in finger techniques, Tang Ye instantly recognised the culprit finger speared Su Xiao using a Buddhist technique.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tang Ye took out the crimson vial again, pulled off the cork and waved it around Su Xiao¡¯s nostrils. It didn¡¯t take long before Su Xiao vomited up a big mouthful of blood. With lifeless eyes, Su Xiao gripped Tang Ye¡¯s arm with everything he had left and uttered, ¡°Tang Ye¡­ be careful¡­¡±

    Tang Ye gratefully responded, ¡°Don¡¯t speak. Rest.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± When Su Xiao shut his eyes again, his breathing was considerably smoother thanks to the whiff of ¡°life and death unknown pill¡±.

    Xun Feng smiled. ¡°Brother Tang, you moved to first ce using your wits, but you have lost a helper. How will you keep your cing tomorrow? We have Song Chi to substitute, but you are one man down.¡±

    ¡°Easy.¡± Tang Ye picked up Su Xiao and, with his back facing Xun Feng, stated, ¡°It¡¯s the martial arts contest tomorrow.¡±

    Not even Tang Ye could exin how he felt so confident.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to crush all of you.¡± Tang Ye looked over his shoulder. ¡°Dead people can¡¯t take prizes.¡±

    Su Xiao opened his eyes just enough to see Tang Ye¡¯s dominant form.

    Su Xiao: Tang Ye, Tang Ye, I knew it. You really are Lord San Shen!

 Book 14: Chapter 80

    Meeting at Night

    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Song Chi had his brows knitted as he looked at Ling Shaoxuan lie unconscious on a bed.

    While the five families shared amon goal, it was Song Chi¡¯s idea for the five of them to visit the imperial pce, so he was duty-bound to take responsibility for Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s current state.

    ¡°Bai Ju, Che Gulu¡¯s uncle, is here.¡±

    Song Chi recognised the name associated with fearsome whip skills in Beijiang for thest two-plus decades. Bai Ju would¡¯ve been significantly more famous if he was active in the Central in. Considering the gap in Bai Ju and Ling Shaoxuan¡¯s skills, on top of Ling Shaoxuan not recognising him, the oue wasn¡¯t surprising.

    ¡°Why has someone of his calibre returned to the Central in?¡°

    Ever since Song Chi withdrew from the idolpetition, he spent his days reading in popted ces to avoid criticism down the road. He would¡¯ve continued ignoring the idolpetition and wouldn¡¯t have visited if Ling Shaoxuan didn¡¯t get hurt.

    ¡°He said he¡¯s here to help his nephew.¡±

    ¡°You believe that nonsense?¡±

    Smiling, Xun Feng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe nonsense.¡±

    ¡°How are you still smiling when Brother Ling is in this state? I thought nothing could go wrong with you watching over, but yourck of investment has resulted in the operation falling apart. Do you have any excuses?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean I haven¡¯t invested?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not feign ignorance with each other. I consider myself passable in martial arts; I¡¯m unanimously considered among the top five in our generation in Jiangnan. I¡¯ll shamelessly say they¡¯re not far off, and I¡¯ll go as far as to im there aren¡¯t many who¡¯d argue otherwise. Still, I have no confidence I could beat you.¡±

    Xun Feng tacitly agreed with a smile.

    ¡°Moreover, you have obtained the ¡®Venerable¡¯ title. Cold Mountain Temple entrusted you to reach out to the Western Regions¡¯ Lotus Cult because you¡¯re clever and strong. You alone are more than enough to dominant thispetition.¡±

    Xun Feng sighed. ¡°Brother Zi Li, as your elder, allow me to say this first: if you were with us today, Bai Ju would not have had any hope.¡±

    Song Chi couldn¡¯t argue. ¡°I¡­ do admit that is my mistake.¡±

    ¡°It is true that I held back on purpose today. Although Tang Ye and Su Xiao are decent, in a one-on-one contest, it would be easy to crush them without breaking a sweat. Che Gulu, on the other hand, is not someone to be underestimated, much less Bai Ju. You know as well as I do that Sister Bai and Brother Ling cannot hold their own weight in a real fight.¡±

    ¡°I can agree with Brother Ling, but Brilliant Broadsworder personally taught Sister Bai, not to mention her internal energy rivals ours, yet you im she wouldn¡¯t be helpful?¡±

    Xun Feng wagged his hand gently. ¡°You know what I mean. Shecks experience in spite of that. She loses in a real fight solely on the mental front. As well, have you forgotten why Ming Feizhen questioned her? If Bronze Mask isn¡¯t her, then it¡¯s Brother Ling. Is Brother Ling still a suspect in his current state?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely ridiculous! Bronze Mask is an assassin with Six des. Would Elder Brilliant Broadsworder¡¯s disciple work as an assassin? That¡¯s preposterous!¡±

    ¡°Rx. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any validity to that now, either. In summary, though, the two of them don¡¯t cut it. How am I meant to win without you?¡±

    Song Chi waved his hand. ¡°The idolpetition is a trivial matter. It doesn¡¯t matter if we lose.¡±

    ¡°I may beid back, but I do know there is a time and ce to take things seriously. If the idol contest is a trivial event, what does that make our alliance? We swore to go through all the ups and downs together. You are our leader; what are we supposed to think if you back out now?¡±

    Song Chi shook his head. ¡°I admit I didn¡¯t think things through enough before bringing you all with me to the capital, consequently putting us between a rock and a hard ce. In saying that, I have my reasons. I did, however, say that I wouldn¡¯t continue participating in the operation. You can take my spot. Why would you go as far as hurting Su Xiao?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what you¡¯re unhappy with me about.¡±

    ¡°I do believe I stressed multiple times that we can¡¯t make enemies out of Liu Shan Men. Why would you make such a foolish decision?¡±

    ¡°I cannot be med for this.¡± Xun Feng wiped away his smile. ¡°Today, Su Xiao performed a broadsword technique that broke my true qi as smoothly as a hot knife through beef grease.¡±

    ¡°Broadsword techniques that generate violent winds is nothing rare. That is your reason for hurting Su Xiao?¡±

    ¡°Would I care if it was a martial arts¡¯ skill? That attack is arguably the nemeses of all internal disciplines. Regardless of your internal energy potency, it can break through in one go.¡±

    ¡°That would make it a voodoo technique, then. Why would you exaggerate like that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t recognise the discipline myself. With that said, I can say with unshakeable confidence that it will be a breakthrough in martial arts that will shake up the concepts of martial arts. I do not have a passion for martial arts, but the survival of us seven is inevitably linked to martial arts. Even if it is not my desire, I have to get to the bottom of it.¡±

    ¡°If what you say is true, then Su Xiao¡¯s background is nothing to scoff at, yet you dared to hurt him?¡±

    ¡°My intention was to find out the source of Su Xiao¡¯s martial arts. For some reason, she has learnt Buddhism¡¯s most advanced internal discipline, and her counters be even more dangerous once external threats trigger her. I, therefore, had no choice but to go heavy handed.¡±

    ¡°What did you do while she was unconscious.¡±

    Xun Feng wore on a hapless smile. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. Although I like to drink, eat meat and admit Su Xiao is pretty, I have never had an interest in women. I would rather not be the victim of a woman. Plus, did you know that the internal discipline she practices is Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Song Chi widened his eyes reactively. ¡°She¡¯s a direct disciple of Shaolin? It¡¯s said that there are few students of Yijin Jing. Shaolin thinks so highly of her?¡°

    ¡°Right? That is why I would never ost such a powerhouse when we are no longer fighting with the imperial court even if you dared me.¡±

    Song Chi understood the reason and believed the justification. It had nothing to do with confidence but everything to do with stance. As a disciple of Cold Mountain Temple, if Shaolin wanted an exnation for the attack, then Shaolin would take issue with all of Cold Mountain Temple, not just Xun Feng. There was no way Xun Feng would drag his entire sect into a conflict. Song Chi was d to know that.

    ¡°So, you leveraged it to provoke Tang Ye so that you could kill him?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. To be specific, I just need to injure him bad enough so that he has to withdraw from tomorrow¡¯s contest, which would reduce the number of opponents we have to face. In turn, we would have more energy for Che Gulu and Bai Ju.¡±

    ¡°But you did not kill Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°There were two things I did not expect.¡± Xun Feng raised a finger. ¡°First, Sister Bai is surprisingly quite fond of Tang Ye. I could not do anything because she kept sheltering him, though I did manage to test her. You will be d to know that she is not Bronze Mask.¡±

    ¡°What does that have to do with me?¡± coyly responded Song Chi. ¡°Stay on topic. What is the second thing?¡±

    Xun Feng shrugged. ¡°Second, I thought Tang Ye was not a worthwhile opponent, but he has changed my mind after today.¡±

    ¡°It is rare to hear you praise someone. You think he is a worthy foe now?¡±

    Xun Feng shook his head with a long face. ¡°He is a foe who must be exterminated.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 81

    Wildfire

    Liu Shan Men had been busy in their own office sincest night, and they were still busy tonight. The majority of the constables had yet to leave the courtyard where Vermillion Hall was located as they running back and forth between two rooms.

    ¡°Hurry, hurry! We¡¯re out of ice, too! Bring all of them in!¡±

    ¡°This is thest bucket of ice! There¡¯s no ice left in the icehouse. This is the bucket we put in just hours ago.¡±

    Zha Pi booted the constable away. ¡°Then go get another one! A life is on the line here! Knock on every wealthy household¡¯s doors and demand some. If they refuse, tell them we¡¯ll be looking into their taxes three times a day! Get going!¡±

    The constable obediently headed off, while Zha Pi entered another room.

    ¡°Everything done here, Doctor?¡±

    ¡°It is, Sir. Once his feveres down, he will be all right.¡±

    Zha Pi flicked up a thumb. ¡°Good stuff. See the doctor out. I will have someone send payment over once I report to the higher ups.¡±

    ¡°No problems. No problems. How about providing free consultations for Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°I admire you! The doctor doesn¡¯t need payment!¡± Before the doctor could protest, Zha Pi shoved forced two small silver ingots into the doctor¡¯s hands, pushed him out and then entered another room.

    Bai Yeshuang wasn¡¯t satisfied with the way Zha Pi ordered the constables around, but it was a fact that he now held the same rank as her, so she couldn¡¯t tell him off.

    ¡°Leave it to him. He might not be helpful as abatant or strategist, but he most certainly is quick on his feet. He can take care of it,¡± stated Shen Yiren.

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Bai Yeshuang nodded and then cast her gaze to the two rooms. ¡°They¡­¡±

    Tense, Shen Yiren exined, ¡°Xiao Han got hurt, but he¡¯ll be better in a day or two. He¡¯ll be fine as long as he rests.¡±

    Shen Yiren happened to be at the office when Su Xiao and Tang Ye were brought back on stretchers. She let them in without a word and immediately went to work on nursing them. By the time she heard the detailed reports, it was already night time.

    ¡°Are Baihu Su¡¯s injuries minor?¡±

    ¡°The opposite, actually. He took two blows from an internal discipline expert without preparation. Because he was struck so fast that he didn¡¯t have a chance to dodge, there¡¯s no way to determine what discipline it was. Second, it was a sneak attack. Fortunately, Xiao Han¡¯s internal strength is excellent, or he wouldn¡¯t have survived. As long as you don¡¯t sumb to your internal injuries on the spot, there will be a way to heal you.¡±

    Secrets were no longer secrets after Shen Yiren personally checked all of their injuries.

    ¡°The biggest problem is the second point that has shut off all fives of Xiao Han¡¯s senses. Even if he can recover, it¡¯s hard to say when he will wake up. Thankfully, someone expelled the damaging qi before it could cause further damage.¡±

    ¡°I did not realise he was in such critical condition. How about Brother Tang¡­?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Shen Yiren led Bai Yeshuang into Tang Ye¡¯s room.

    All of the furniture had been moved out to make room for arge cylindrical wooden tub. Tang Ye, sitting in the tub with his eyes shut, resembled a ripe tomato. You didn¡¯t even need to go close to feel the heating from within, not to mention the steam making the room resemble a hot spring on a mountain.

    ¡°Unplug it!¡± yelled Zha Pi.

    A team immediately unplugged the base of the tub from two ces to release the hot water inside outdoors. Following that, Tang Ye started grimacing.

    ¡°Pour water in and plug it up! Move it!¡±

    Several young constables started plugging the tub, while the other dozen-odd started emptying buckets of well water into the tub. Once Tang Ye¡¯s brows came apart a tad, Zha Pi ordered, ¡°Hurry, ice! Fill it to half!¡±

    Once ice was added, Tang Ye gradually rxed more and more.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Once the water is hot, you need to drain the tub, and the other group needs to refill it quick, fast and in a hurry,¡± instructed Zha Pi.

    In less than fifteen minutes, the cold water became hot water you¡¯d find in a hot spring. A whileter, steam covered the entire room.

    ¡°All right, the water is about to boil! Go!¡±

    The constables repeated the process again, except they didn¡¯t add ice this time.

    Zha Pi heaved a big breath. ¡°We added water too slowly. Two groups have gone to fetch water. Have theme over as soon as they¡¯re done. Everyone not busy can wait in the courtyard. The water needs to be reced timely.¡±

    It had be routine for Zha Pi since he¡¯d been repeating himself for thest day more times than he could care to remember.

    Ever since he was brought back, Tang Ye¡¯s body temperature was bizarrely high, and it was different in that he was akin to iron that had been heated up, so nobody dared to touch his skin directly. Shen Yiren had to wrap him up inyers of cloth and dump him into the tub of water to cool him off. The problem was that the water would roil in no time at all, and Tang Ye would start groaning. In the end, they had no choice but to constantly change the water and add ice to provide him with relief.

    They tried moving Tang Ye to the icehouse, only for him to melt the ice around. Since he needed to have a constant supply of ice, their only option was to move him back and then change the water as well as add ice at intervals.

    Shen Yiren knew that Tang Ye wasn¡¯t hurt but that he was evolving as a result of martial arts training. For whatever reason, the internal discipline he practiced had created a drastic change. His Yang Blood True Qi rampaged for some reason and gained a scorching hot property. Perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be far-fetched to describe it as a me beast waiting to break out of its shell and rampage. Nobody could say for sure whether that would upgrade his internal energy dramatically or reduce him to ashes, but he¡¯d definitely perish before they could find out if they didn¡¯t intervene.

    Shen Yiren attempted to sooth Tang Ye¡¯s flow of qi, only for its heat to be too much for her to bear for long periods. All they could do was buy him time.

    Tang Ye pivoted between falling into a daze and showing aggression. Whenever he¡¯d asionally open his eyes, he¡¯d scare the young constables onto their bottoms.

    Shen Yiren was extremely familiar with the phenomenon since she got intimate with it when she had one foot in a coffin. She¡¯d witnessed internal energy improving an unreasonable degree in a short period. She¡¯d also witnessed true qi and characters going wild. She saw all of them in Huzhou; she saw Luo Ming exhibit all those things.

 Book 14: Chapter 82

    First Night

    ¡°Shh! Shh! It¡¯s me!¡±

    When He Shi finally recognised who the man who pushed him down and mounted him was in the middle of the night, he questioned, ¡°Why are you here? How did you get in?¡±

    As if he expelled his tension with his voice, He Shi calmed down.

    ¡°I have ess to a secret passage. I dug my way here from the toilet.¡±

    ¡°You dug your way here? From the toilet?!¡± He Shi pinched his nose.

    ¡°You got it wrong¡­¡± I had to exin how to reached his room and hint multiple times that Prime Minister Li assisted me with the process. All He Shi needed to know was that His Majesty and Prime Minister Li tacitly approved of my actions, so he was in no position to be worrying about the details. He Shi just had to write the answers using my handwriting, or he could forget seeing another day, let alone bing a civil servant once His Majesty and Prime Minister Li were mad.

    ¡°How does that constitute as assisting? Who doesn¡¯t know the Prime Minister has survived in the political arena for so long thanks to his cleverness? It¡¯s obvious he gave you a toilet to cut ties with you. It wouldn¡¯t be his problem if you were caught. Who¡¯d believe the Prime Minister¡¯s assistancees in the form of a toilet?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Hey! Stop underestimating toilets! That¡¯s where we do big things!

    ¡°Plus, I agreed to mumble the answers once; I never agreed to write your answers for you. You¡¯re asking for too much. I refuse. Please head back to your r-, toilet and do your big things.¡±

    Give me a second to figure out how to convince you! The three most important things in a man¡¯s life are getting promotions, getting filthy rich and celebrating his wife¡¯s death! Wait, no, I meant marrying a wife! I refuse to believe you¡¯re not a man.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this. Think about it: the Prime Minister and I are practically best friends, while His Majesty and I have gone through life and death together.¡±

    Did we not go through life and death together when I stuck a shuttle in His Majesty¡¯s bottom? Couldn¡¯t he have had me executed in a fit of rage? Didn¡¯t that count as having gone through life and death together?

    ¡°Think about it: would I mistreat you in the future if you helped me cheat? I¡¯m a Duke already. If I put in a word for you at His Majesty¡¯s ce, won¡¯t all the glory and riches be yours? It¡¯ll only be a matter of time before you¡¯re climbing to the top of the hierarchy. You¡¯ll have any cap, robe, size gold bars and women you want when you want and how you want. Think about it: we can do this.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    I thought about how to find He Shi before I arrived, but I didn¡¯t think about how to persuade him as I never expected him to be so firm in his stance.

    Damn it. You can¡¯t force this guy. He has the stubbornness of a schr and a good head. What do I do¡­?

    He Shi suddenly got to his feet and whipped his sleeve. ¡°I was once eager to link with the influential and nobility to keep profile. Now that the exams are in front of me, I am empowered to pursue my ambitions and earn His Majesty¡¯s respect throughpetence. I refuse to believe His Majesty doesn¡¯t value talent. I won¡¯t do your bidding.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, I don¡¯t want to criticise you as we were fortunate enough to be acquainted. As schrs, we ought to raise our standards and strive to achieve our goals, notmit deeds that instil a sense of guilt. Should I ever be sessful, I hope the people under my jurisdiction will sing praises of a just world, not curse officials for corruption. I hope my family and friends will be proud of me. I hope I can answer every one of my superior¡¯s questions with a clear conscience. That¡¯s all I have to say. Leave. I won¡¯t help you cheat! If you continue to pressure me, I¡¯ll have to call someone over.¡±

    For a moment, I considered giving up on persuading him, knocking him out, taking his paper to copy for myself and then return it to him. However, I heard someone creeping over under the cover of the night. It was obvious to my ears that their destination was He Shi¡¯s room.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hit pause for now. Someone is looking for you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    I rushed back into the passage.

    He Shi¡¯s visitor gently brushed aside his curtain and said, ¡°Stay quiet.¡±

    To his visitor¡¯s surprise, He Shi was as cool as if he was ustomed to visitors at night.

    ¡°You¡¯re still awake?¡±

    Even though He Shi had built immunity thanks to me, he was still stunned when he identified his visitor. ¡°Examiner Wang?¡°

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    The old fart from earlier in the day strutted in and told He Shi to sit.

    ¡°May¡­ this one ask what the purpose of your visit is? Did he do something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, hohoho.¡± Wang Zhenyun was satisfied with He Shi¡¯s reaction. ¡°Rx. This old one is here because he thinks highly of your abilities.¡±

    He Shi still looked puzzled. Wasn¡¯t it perfectly normal to be baffled if the head examiner suddenly called you over during an exam?

    ¡°You know: you are the star everything thinks most highly of among all the examinees this year. No matter how many enter, none of them have a chance of stealing your thunder. This old one never considered anyone else besides you.¡±

    Uh¡­ Is the old far into guys? Interrogating an examinee in his exam room some sort of new fetish I don¡¯t know about?

    Probably suspecting the same thing as me, He Shi sweat cold bullets. ¡°Please be frank, Examiner Wang. If you refuse to state the purpose of your visit, this one would like to turn in now.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course, it is time to rest.¡± The way Wang Zhenyun grinned and stroked his beard made even my hairs stand up. ¡°This old one is here for¡­ hohoho.¡±

    He Shi retreated three steps and grabbed his inkstone when he saw Wang Zhenyun reached for his sash. Wang Zhenyun pulled out several sheets of paper. ¡°Hoho, this old one wants you to write¡­ an answer paper.¡±

    He Shi pulled his brows together. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Like a snake watching a frog, the old fart replied, ¡°This paper will be for this year¡¯s winner. Understand yet?¡±

    He Shi went even paler. Voice low, he asked, ¡°Examiner Wang¡­ what do you mean by this?¡±

    What does he mean by this?! How can you be so stupid?! Even I understand! The shameless old fart is trying mess my ns up!

 Book 14: Chapter 83

    Road to the Prize

    ¡°What do I mean? Hmph.¡± Wang Zhenyun sternly got to his feet. He twerked his neck side to side and blinked as if he was about to foam at the mouth.

    As I grabbed my tummy and thumped the wall to stop myselfughing whilst imagining the intimating aura in the night, they continued their conversation.

    ¡°A schr¡¯s career is determined the moment he¡¯s born. If born into wealth and influence, and he is innately clever, he¡¯ll be able to seed with two to three decades of dedication, but do you think you¡¯re free of woes once you win? You¡¯ll either be ced into a bottom-rung office or transferred to the outskirts, and you¡¯ll have to rebuild yourself from scratch a second time. If everything goes smoothly, rising to sixth rank is the highest you¡¯ll go in your lifetime.

    ¡°Had his son taken the exam route, it¡¯d have been slightly smoother. Perhaps it would¡¯ve taken only eighteen years, or fifteen if he was lucky. If no major problems ur for three generations and every generation productively inherits their predecessors¡¯ intellect, perhaps he¡¯ll finally be able to set foot into the imperial court. If the heavens protect the family and everything goes well for six generations, perhaps one will make it to Grand Secretariat, or even one head one of the ministries. This is the most optimistic oue.

    ¡°Prime Minister Li is a branch family member of the imperial family. He was born a winner of the imperial exams. Did you honestly think he is an erudite gentleman? If it wasn¡¯t for his family¡¯s backing, he wouldn¡¯t have been Prime Minister for three generations.

    ¡°Hmph, those muscle-bound durds do climb the ranks fast. Little do they know it¡¯s just His Majesty giving them a small treat to rope them in. How much authority can military officials possibly have even if they¡¯re at the very top? Even if they¡¯re a first rank official, how much influence do they have? The three offices watching over the martial world are limited to that ¨C the martial world. Song Ou is the biggest joke among first-rank officials; he can¡¯t even manage his own office.

    ¡°He Shi, tell this old one: how nice do you think your career will look considering your parents aren¡¯t schrs, and you aren¡¯t from an influential family? Can you ept being amoner for life?¡±

    He Shi found himself unable to argue otherwise. His internal turmoil was obvious from his visage.

    ¡°He Shi, this old one considers you the brightest star among all the stars, but you haven¡¯t jumped to the conclusion that you¡¯re different to other stars, have you? Stars are stars. No matter how bright they shine, they can never outshine the sun.

    ¡°Huang Yuzao¡¯s introduction of numerous new schrs has changed Daren Academy. At the same time, howbeit, he has created too many young individuals who don¡¯t understand how the world works. You know how many officialse from Daren Academy, but so what? How many do you think from Quanmu will get there? Those who enter the imperial court are those who were destined to from the very beginning. This old one can¡¯t deny that you are a rare talent toe by and have maximised your potential. Based on anecdotes, this old one can confidently say that there are no more than five schrs who could rival you in thest twenty-odd years. Still, do you think that empowers you to do as you please? Do you truly believe that you can have an audience with His Majesty through cing first in the imperial exams and pursue your ambitions? That¡¯s delusional.

    ¡°You will not win just because your papers reach His Majesty. Without this old one, your highest possible cing would be twelfth, and you will out of ce more than anyone at the banquet. You¡¯ll then be sentenced to the outskirts of oblivion, and you¡¯ll be forced to deal with broke, nasty people if you manage to reach your post alive. Nobody in the capital will know who you are in a few years, and nobody will mention you, just like every other delusional young person before you. Remember those five schrs this old one mentioned? Not one of them ced first.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ happened to them in the end?¡±

    ¡°One returned to his hometown to open a shop, never able to return to academics. That¡¯s considered a decent end. Two of them refused to ept their fates and insisted on bringing it to His Majesty¡¯s attention. One perished in the wild, while one lost his mind. Two retired to temples and have be quite the respected individuals. Do you know how thest two did that?¡± Wang Zhenyun leaned in and, in quiet voice continued, ¡°They worked with this old one.¡±

    Ignoring He Shi¡¯s silence produced from astonishment, Wang Zheyun straightened up his torso as he returned to his cordial fa?ade. ¡°The top five have already been determined.¡±

    ¡°In that case, why do you want this one to write on a paper¡­?¡±

    ¡°Two reasons. First, it is your proof of allegiance. We can¡¯t trust you unless you are part of us. Second, your paper will be brilliant for sure. It will be obvious there was foul y if His Majesty personally views the papers and notices the difference between yours and the top five. We need to circumvent any potential problems.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help raising my head up. The old fart really lived up to the impression I had of him.

    You ever heard of loyalty to the country, you shameless coot? I despise you from front to back, back to front, right to left, left to right, outside to inside, inside to outside and even your old finger and toe nails. After all that reading you supposedly do, you don¡¯t even know what firste first serve is?!

    Wang Zhenyun leaned in again with a smirk. ¡°As long as you agree to cooperate, you will take sixth ce. Since this old one can select the top five, he can select the top six. He can promise you a smooth-sailing journey henceforth and status you couldn¡¯t imagine. It¡¯ll only be a matter of time before you¡¯re climbing to the top of the hierarchy. You¡¯ll have any cap, robe, size gold bars and women you want when you want and how you want.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He Shi¡¯s nk look made Wang Zhenyun question if he said something wrong or if He Shi didn¡¯t understand. Why? Because I already said the same thing!

    Wang Zhenyun, I never expected someone like you to share the same thoughts as another great mind.

    ¡°Please give this one time to consider it.¡±

    ¡°Of course. This old one will visit again tomorrow night. That is enough time, isn¡¯t it?¡± Wang Zhenyun patted He Shi on the shoulder. ¡°Glory and wealth are within your reach. Don¡¯t make a mistake.¡±

    While it wasn¡¯t a tant threat, Wang Zhenyun¡¯s constipated face and words were enough to realise he was saying, ¡°You¡¯re either with me or against me.¡±

    Once the old fart was far gone, I crept out from the hole again.

    ¡°Hey, He Sh-¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    Don¡¯t lose your mind just yet! Do you still remember what you were going to write?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for him,¡± coldly stated He Shi.

 Book 14: Chapter 84

    Against Schrs

    What? Did He Shi expect the old fart to pull this card?

    Despite the visible rage on He Shi¡¯s face, he used a snarky tone to say, ¡°I knew the civil servants were rotten to the core, but I never personally met one. I really feel sick to the stomach now.¡±

    ¡°You foresaw the old farting here to ckmail you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Old fart? I like it. I¡¯m calling him the same thing from now. I had imagined simr scenes more times than I can remember, but I never thought it¡¯d be delivered so uncouthly. I thought a civil servant would be able to word a threat more gracefully. It blows my mind that he¡¯s been the head examiner for two decades.¡±

    I sat down on He Shi¡¯s bed and flipped my hands over. ¡°Anyone can deliver it proficiently if they¡¯ve had twenty years of practice. He¡¯s not wrong, and his terms aren¡¯t bad. If you take the exam fair and square, you really will be dispatched to the borders. You don¡¯t want to work as an official?¡±

    ¡°I want to even in my dreams.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you acquiesce then?¡±

    ¡°Huh, I did say I have my own ideals. A man wastes his eight-foot vessel if he doesn¡¯t pursue his ambition.¡±

    ¡°You? Eight foot?¡±

    ¡°My height is none of your business. You want my answer or not?¡±

    ¡°Lord He, take a seat.¡± I tidied up the bed sheet and nket so that there wasn¡¯t as much as a wrinkle.

    ¡°I don¡¯t insist on being a high-ranking official or even bing one. I never thought about going down in history. The reality is many who¡¯ve gone on to be officials with aspirations met tragic ends. I don¡¯t fear a tragic end; I fear dying before I can do anything.¡±

    I bobbed my head. ¡°No wonder why you want to serve Blue Prince.¡±

    He Shi gave a startled reaction as though he just got to know me for the first time. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to discern that. Principal Huang is the only person to have realised that.¡±

    It¡¯s not hard to figure out. You¡¯re the one who talked about being prone to falling as an official, so it only makes sense for you to find a big tree to shelter you from the turbulent winds. Who else in the imperial court can be considered bigger trees than the six Princes? Who¡¯d dare to touch you even if messed with the wrong people as long as you have Blue Prince¡¯s support?

    ¡°You¡¯re correct. If possible, I¡¯d rather be an advisor working behind the scenes. I don¡¯t seek history¡¯s acknowledgement. As long as one¡¯s master is wise, there is no concern of not being able to chase aspirations. Blue Prince¡¯s gantry isid bare. He has always had big aspirations; he¡¯s the one who wants to achieve big things most among his brothers. It¡¯s not umon for me to lose debates, but I have proof of Blue Prince¡¯s strengths, so I don¡¯tpromise. Haven¡¯t I lost a leg as a consequence?¡±

    ¡°If Blue Prince finds out about this, his evaluation of you will shoot to the sky.¡±

    He Shi smiled weakly. ¡°Unfortunately, His Highness is too proud to spare anythingmon a thought. Unless I do something big, it¡¯s unlikely he¡¯ll give me any thought.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, you made yourself known in the capital first and then n to win the exams?¡±

    ¡°Precisely. I knew it would be a tough journey. Hasn¡¯t the old fart tried to impede my journey?¡±

    I never realised there was so much to it. I folded my arms and asked, ¡°How much do you know about the old fart?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any details. Principal Huang did mention that there are worms in the imperial court, but it¡¯s painfully difficult to clear and even more difficult to identify them due to the vastwork they¡¯ve established. Even if you had an axe and staked your life to clear them out, you¡¯ll eventually discover you only managed to chop a few branches and still haven¡¯t found where their roots are. Before you know it, new weeds will grow and proliferate again.

    ¡°The civil servants¡¯ corruption is already visible to the naked eye; even a mere student, like me, has heard about them selling posts for profit. Nobody besides they know how manyyers of schemes their deals consist of. I didn¡¯t realise the corruption ran so deep until the old fart came here. They have been filtering who gets to go through from the start of the exams in order to ensure everyone who is in high ces are their allies; the structure guarantees they¡¯ll be there to control every link in the chain. How can anyone get to the bottom of their corruption when the roots themselves have decayed. I¡¯m going to report them to Principal Huang.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What? You think my decision is wrong?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°How do you know for sure it starts at the roots? What¡¯s to say it doesn¡¯t start from outside or¡­ I don¡¯t know how nts grow, man, but on what basis are you concluding the exam team is the root?¡±

    ¡°You mean to say¡­ it isn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°All you¡¯ve seen is an old fart ckmail. I don¡¯t know the details, either, but do you honestly believe that ugly demon effigy has been able to threaten His Majesty for decades? If that were the case, I bet my head that Emperor¡¯s Entourage would have their blood on their hands tomorrow morning.¡±

    He Shi pinched his chin.

    ¡°The old fart was right about one thing: there¡¯s no way a bunch of military generals alone can keep a country operational; even I know a country would be damned if it wasn¡¯t for the civil servants. That being said, he is wrong in one assumption. Our dynasty likes to asionally recruit people focused on martial arts because our rulers hail from a family of martial artists. They¡¯re not useless because His Majesty doesn¡¯t see their value or trust them; they just have different duties to civil servants.

    ¡°Military officials were never meant to be used as examples for the people or to run a country. They wouldn¡¯t be called military officials if they were. They¡¯re des; they¡¯re weapons for His Majesty to secure his rule. He needs to have a weapon fight his way out of crises. That¡¯s the whole point of The Ultimate Threes¡¯ existence.

    ¡°You think the corrupt civil servants have been able to threaten His Majesty for decades and have not been exterminated by The Ultimate Three overnight because they¡¯re covering their tracks well? Or do you think it¡¯s because they, too, have weapons to defend themselves?¡±

    After a long silence and locking his brows together, He Shi let out an extended exhale. ¡°You make good points. I¡¯ll keep them in mind. My only viable strategy at the moment is to not act rashly.¡±

    ¡°Mm, so you agreeing to his terms or not?¡®

    ¡°Why are we back to this again?¡¯

    ¡°Just asking. If you¡¯re going to agree, how about writing another one while you¡¯re at it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, don¡¯t give me that look. I know you won¡¯t agree to his deal. How about just writing me one?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Still too much? You ying hard to get a bit too much.

    ¡°I can¡¯t outright refuse the old fart, so I can ept your request. In return, you need to help me deal with this.¡±

    ¡°Easy.¡±

    ¡°You already have a solution?¡±

    Can¡¯t say I don¡¯t have one. You can say I haven¡¯t a clue.

    ¡°Of course. Burn the midnight oil. Write¡­ three. I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±

    ¡°Three? How are you going to take care of it?¡±

    One for me. One for the old fart. One for you. Everyone wins. Solved, right?

    ¡°Secret. He Shi, you have to keep in mind the scoundrel¡¯s background. I can do several hundreds of what he did in a few blinks. By the time I¡¯m done going to the toilet, the problem will be resolved.¡±

    He Shi and I subsequently discussed how he¡¯d respond when the old fart came back. Notwithstanding his apprehensions, He Shi epted my proposal in the end.

    By the time I returned to my room, it was dawn. Nheless, I yawned and climbed into bed.

    I never imagined the exams would be so tiring. His Majesty sure had it rough. Not only did he have to deal with the conniving Champion White Princes, but his subordinates were also stepping out of line. If I were him, I¡¯d havee up with some excuse to push it all on my son and go on vacation. Shifu was right. Nobody would want to be an Emperor once he¡¯d ruled a mountain for three years.

    I didn¡¯t want to ignore He Shi¡¯s problem. However, I had to go back to exams once the sun was up. The proctor patrolling would evene to check our papers, yet I couldn¡¯t even remember what I wrote for the life of me. I was worried sick just trying to work out how I was going to get past this obstacle. Plus, I had to watch out for assassins. Life was miserable. I had been working so hard; wasn¡¯t it normal for me to be sleepy?

    As I thought and thought, I dozed off for a while. By the time I woke up, the red sun was already up.

    Looks like my sleep quality was bad. How is it still not bright when it was dawn when I dozed off?

    ¡°Good work, everyone. The sealing of day two¡¯s papers shallmence in a moment. Examinees who are not writing at night, please start sealing your papers.¡±

    ¡­ It¡¯s sunset?! I slept for the entire day?! Has the patrol proctor dropped by?! I haven¡¯t even started preparing for the inspection!

    ¡°Hey, what are you yelling about?¡±

    I replied to the schr-looking guy, ¡°Your momma! When did I ever yell?! Eat a dick!¡±

    Don¡¯t distract me when I¡¯m not even ready for the patrol proctor!

    The schr walked off in tears.

    For some reason, nobody came to inspect me even after a while.

    Ah, whatever.

    I sneaked off to the toilet and infiltrated He Shi¡¯s room once it was dark.

    He Shi wasn¡¯t asleep this time. When we met, he chopped me on the head and said, ¡°Light sleep? Your snoring rung across the sky.¡±

    ¡°You heard?¡±

    ¡°Half of the venue heard you. You made the patrol proctor cry when he went to you.¡±

    ¡­ So he was¡­

    It wasn¡¯t my fault. It was his fault for being soft.

    Is he going to report me? I need to find an opportunity to alter his report before I embarrass myself in front of His Majesty.

    ¡°The old fart will be here any moment now. Are you sure I should respond as per our agreement?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. Just repeat it word for it. Leave the rest to me.¡±

    I found out He Shi wrote one and a half papers already ¨C one for himself and half of the one he was submitting to the old fart. I had myints, but what could I have done? After all, He Shi had to ensure the papers he wrote matched the abilities of the person he was writing on behalf of. The one he gave to the old fart would have to be the best ¨C also known as He Shi¡¯s genuine abilities. His own would have to resemble sixth ce, while mine just needed to ce. That was the equivalent of him taking the exam three times, ensuring he ced all three times. He already did an impressive job considering the time budget.

    The shameless old fart finally arrived.

    ¡°Hoho, this old one knew you wouldn¡¯t let him down.¡± Once the old fart saw that the paper was only halfplete, he frowned. ¡°Why is it notplete?¡±

    ¡°As it will be presented to His Majesty, it needs to be up to standard. There is still tomorrow. This one will finish before night falls for sure.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The old fart ruminated on it and then smiled. ¡°No rush. This old one has faith in you.¡±

    Despite what he said, the old fart only felt reassured once he had examined He Shi¡¯s paper in great detail. If His Majesty saw how much better sixth ce¡¯s paper waspared to first ce¡¯s, the cat would be out of the bag. Although the old fart and his conspirators could destroy a paper, it would be suspicious if His Majesty didn¡¯t see the famous He Shi¡¯s paper. Forging one would take time and manpower, too.

    ¡°We are in a time of peace, yet nobody remembers us.¡± The old fart set the paper down and set a hand on He Shi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Those meat heads have blinded His Majesty for too long; His Majesty has overlooked us for too long. Nevertheless, he will eventually realise we are the only ones who can show the people the right way. In these times of peace and prosperity, people like you and I are needed to maintain the peace and prosperity.¡±

    ¡°This one understands.¡±

    He Shi saw the old fart out.

    The old fart gave me an idea that I shared with He Shi.

    ¡°¡­ Only viins like you coulde up with this.¡±

    Hey, how can you say that about your saviour?

    As soon as I finished discussions with He Shi and arrived back at my room, someone outside called, ¡°Ming Feizhen?¡±

    It was the patrol proctor from earlier.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    An unsettling silence followed. As I went to ask what he wanted, a spear thrust through the curtains!

    Glossary

    The nickname Ming Feizhen gave Wang Zhenyun ¨C In Mandarin, Ming Feizhen calls him ¡°Old Wang Eight¡±, which is a y on words to mean ¡°Old B*stard¡±. The word y doesn¡¯t work in English, so I went with a different option.

 Book 14: Chapter 85

    So It Begins

    The spear was thrust through without any intention of stopping. Even though it wasn¡¯t thrust with so much force that I couldn¡¯t stop it, it was so sudden that I¡¯d have been scratched even if I dodged. Luckily, I was still hiding in the passage leading to He Shi¡¯s room. Correct, I dug a hole from my own room to He Shi¡¯s, as well. It was a hassle to run to the toilet every time, after all.

    After the spear failed to feel flesh, the wielder shook it, then gently pulled it back.

    Theck of force behind the thrust indicated that the assant hadn¡¯t developed their internal energy, meaning it was delivered purely using arm strength. What itcked in force waspensated with in the element of surprise. I never expected an attack as the patrol proctor wasn¡¯t trained in martial arts.

    I hit the trigger, sending a shuttle flitting. The shuttle that nearly slew a dragon slew plunged through the proctor¡¯s body, but no guards were alerted when he dropped to the ground. He didn¡¯t choose now of all times to assassinate me without reason. The old fart naturally had to send the guards away when he wanted to visit He Shi, so it was also the prime opportunity to have me assassinated.

    I wasn¡¯t surprised about how easy it was to take out the proctor since he wasn¡¯t a martial artist. What had me scratching my head was the fact that he didn¡¯t bring along help or have a backup n in case his first attack failed. To the contrary, he stood in ce after missing. Who¡¯d hire such a stupid assassin?

    I scouted the surroundings for a while through my ears before dragging the proctor into my room. As I thought, he was the proctor from earlier in the day. I flipped his eyelids to see his lifeless eyes. His breathing traces were abnormal, so I suspected someone had used a martial art of some sort to distort it. You¡¯d assume he was just ill if you didn¡¯t check meticulously. All the clues pointed to one person ¨C Yan Liren.

    The Yan brothers¡¯ father was an expert on brainwashing arts. While Yan Jiangnan left me be since I spared him, Yan Liren had no reason to spare his eldest son¡¯s killer. I expected his eventual wrath, but I didn¡¯t expect him to brainwash a patrol proctor to assassinate me.

    Yan n¡¯s Soul Stealing Palms was a branch of Sinister Soul Breaking Palms, so it didn¡¯t have the ability to erase memories or install false memories. However, it was still capable of controlling weak-minded people who didn¡¯t practice martial arts, which wasn¡¯t to suggest that it was easy.

    Whether by coincidence or not, Yan Liren¡¯s decision to note after me himself was a wise call. Never did I stop listening for any strong people in my vicinity, including the imperial guards. For that reason, my vignce against non-trained individuals was extremely low. Even if it was by sheer luck, he would¡¯ve seeded if I wasn¡¯t hiding in the passage.

    Based on the fact that Yan Liren was able to refrain from personally taking action, he certainly lived up to his reputation as a sly and ruthless person. He was the type to never quit after just one attempt.

    When I heard voices in the distance, it dawned on me that the goal from the beginning was to frame me! I didn¡¯t know how he did it, but people were already talking about a proctor going missing aftering this way from the toilet. Confining me to prison would make assassinating me significantly simpler!

    There was no way I was going to be a sitting duck. Therefore, I picked up the proctor and raced into the third exam room from my room. Like a sh of lightning, I took out a pill from my boot and shoved it into the mouth of the sleeping examinee, knocking him out cold before he could yell. Next, I ced the proctor next to the examinee, stripped the two of them and then bolted back to my room. Once I entered, I covered the passage entrance, took off my shoes and climbed into bed.

    The guards shouldn¡¯t have left their posts, so they would be held responsible if an incident urred during their absence. However, the old fart reacted even faster than them because he sent them away, and it was his subordinate who was now missing. That being said, his calm pace suggested he already had a n. He told themander walking alongside him, ¡°Chen Lin is a weak, spineless schr. An examinee must have put him up to no good. There is no need to show lenience when you find him; you can arrest him on sight. As for his conspirators, this old one will personally make sure they pay.¡±

    While the guards started their search from the toilet, the old fart made a beeline for my room. He entered and used the me to scan my room without reservation, then snorted. Far be it from me to be fearless when he had a dozen imperial guards behind him. If they searched carefully enough, they¡¯d discover my hidden passage.

    I yawned, sat up and feigned startlement. My reaction put a grin on the old fart¡¯s face.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Old Fart?¡±

    ¡°What did you just call me?!¡±

    ¡°Slip of the tongue! Slip of the tongue!¡±

    But what was his name again?

    ¡°Hello, Sir Fart. How can I help you in the middle of the night?¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling a fart?! This old one¡¯s surname is Wang!¡±

    He wasn¡¯t the sharpest tool in the shed, but the old fart was an experienced scoundrel, so he was able to regainposure. ¡°A proctor has gone missing. We suspect he has colluded with an examinee, which is why we have entered the exam venue at this hour. Have you seen him? I heard you and Proctor Chen Lin had an argument during the day. Was that a secret code of yours to meet at night?¡±

    The grin and tone were evidence that the old fart nned to frame me from the very start.

    I curled my lips. ¡°I have not. Sir Fart, you are being unfair. Why would he want to collude with someonecking education, like me? If he was going to collude with someone, he would collude with the talented prospects.¡±

    ¡°Wh-why?¡±

    ¡°For the answers of course, so that he could then sell it to the kids of rich families he struck a deal with prior. That way, he earns from two sources and earns in every way possible. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°H-h-how could a mere patrol proctor pull it off?¡±

    ¡°Incredible insight. He would not have what it took. Based on your vast knowledge and veteran status, who would you say could?¡±

    ¡°The answer is written on the wall. In terms of prestige and abilities in Hanlin, that would be¡­ Wh-what are you trying to imply?¡±

    ¡°Nothing at all. I am merely curious who would be able to pull it off. What say you?¡±

    The longer he looked at me, the more uneasy the old fart felt. ¡°Guards, this is the examinee who colluded with Chen Lin. Arrest him! Once Chen Lin is arrested, as well, this old one will leave them to His Majesty.¡±

    Two imperial guards stepped into my room. They only had one foot in when themander hurried to the old fart¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°We found him.¡±

    ¡°So be it. I have found his conspirator, too.¡± In a soft voice, the old fart informed, ¡°He is the scapegoat.¡±

    ¡°That is not what I mean! We found him, but¡­ he was found in an examinee¡¯s room.¡±

    In a publicised search, no matter how much authority themander wielded, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop rumours from spreading since many imperial guards were witnesses to where Chen Lin was found. Plenty of the imperial guards were descendants of big-name households who were signed up for experience. Thus, they didn¡¯t need to fear their superior. If they still tried to frame me, there was a high risk of their agenda leaking, rendering it impossible to frame me.

    Although disappointed, the old fart was already thinking of his next n to frame me. ¡°Forget it, then. The scapegoat is no longer useful. Arrest whoever owned the room.¡±

    ¡°That is the very source of the problem!¡± In a quiet voice, themander said, ¡°He was found in Young Master Feng¡¯s room.¡±

    ¡°Feng?!¡±

    Young Master Feng was the individual the old fart set up to ce first in the exam. Feng Jiutian, also called Feng Shanshan, was the only legitimate inheritor of the richest family in Luoyang ¨C and the Central in.

    ¡°Neither of them were dressed,¡± themander added.

    The old fart froze up as his jaw dropped.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I should¡¯ve been entertained, but I couldn¡¯t find it in me tough because, at the same time the old fart fossilised, the two imperial guards in my room stealthily drew their des. One of them had the same lifeless eyes as Chen Lin; suffice to say, Yan Liren had brainwashed him. The other one was emotionless for he was a genuine assassin. I was in a situation where I couldn¡¯t resist.

    The breeze was clear. The sky was dark. So it began¡­

 Book 14: Chapter 86

    So It Begins

    The moonlight and me fluttered as though the wind moved them. The night scenery was beautiful. s, the silence, tension and movements performed deliberately slow to hide secrets ruined the beauty.

    Quietly, Wang Zhenyun instructed, ¡°Keep this secret. Nobody else is to hear about this.¡±

    There was only one me for light in my room, while there were two armed assassins shrinking the thirty steps we had between us one step at a time simrly to snakes.

    ¡°Of course. In saying that, what do we do about the situation here?¡± inquired the imperial guardmander.

    The time frame one could control another¡¯s mind using ¡°Soul-Stealing Palms¡± was rather short, and it was impossible for the controlled subject to performplicated movements. Ming Feizhen knew these weaknesses very well thanks to his knowledge in ¡°Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡±. Even in the original version, one couldn¡¯t control someone for an hour or performplex movements unless they killed the subject before brainwashing them.

    Controlling another¡¯s mind was difficult for every human being. After all, one¡¯s mental ce was a different subject of mystery to study outside of martial arts. Even Divine Realm adepts, for as long as they weren¡¯t Heart Realm practitioners, were the same as ordinary men. That was why it should¡¯ve been impossible for someone to have a puppet follow Wang Zhenyun andy low until now ¨C unless the order given was to imitate someone close by.

    ¡°Take him away yourself. No matter what method you use, you mustn¡¯t let anyone else know about this,¡± answered Wang Zhenyun.

    The exam rooms were small, so there weren¡¯t many options besides fighting intruders head on if someone barged in. Furthermore, if everyone was alerted, the room would be a cordoned crime scene for investigation, which would sabotage Ming Feizhen¡¯s exam. To make matters worse, there was nowhere to run since he was on the bed.

    Wang Zhenyun waited for themander to carry off Chen Lin before loudly dering, ¡°He had the audacity to barge into an examinee¡¯s room with the intention of ckmailing the examinee. Luckily, we discovered him in time. Arrest him, and make sure he is put under strict surveince in prison.¡±

    The head of the smirking assassin suddenly became a geyser of blood. Ming Feizhen stashed away his shuttle, caught the unbnced corpse, wiped the blood and set it down without making a sound. Next, he got up and plunged a needle through the neck of the brainwashed guard who¡¯d frozen up due to losing his guide. Ming Feizhen caught the second corpse and repeated the process again without making a sound. The only sound that broke the silence and drew attention was the sound of an arrow piercing the tiles above.

    Wang Zhenyun and the imperial guards instinctively headed to Ming Feizhen¡¯s room upon hearing the sound of the arrow smashing into the tile.

    Without looking, Ming Feizhen titled his head, letting the arrow pierce into the dead corpse, whilst he fired another needle from his shuttle. The archer muffled his own groan that gave away his shock prior to fleeing for dear life.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡± Wang Zhenyun stopped outside the entrance to Ming Feizhen¡¯s room. ¡°This old one has recorded the way you disrespected a proctor. It is a matter of time before this old one sees you punished.¡±

    ¡°I will never do it again. Please have mercy,¡± Ming Feizhen pleaded without any sincerity.

    Wang Zhenyun: Hmph, even you don¡¯t stand a chance against me. Hmm? What¡¯s that strange smell?

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, what are you doing?¡± Wang Zhenyun brushed the curtain aside and entered Ming the small room to see Ming Feizhen sitting on his bed and blocking the light out of his eyes as someone would upon waking. Unable to find anything to use against Ming Feizhen, he warned, ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t try anything funny.¡±

    ¡°I would never dare to.¡± Ming Feizhen wore on an innocent smile.

    A lot had happened in a single night. Even if it meant crossing Young Master Feng, Wang Zhenyun had to question Chen Lin on why he sneaked into Young Master Feng¡¯s room. He didn¡¯t need an answer that¡¯d make him happy; he needed the honest and urate truth. He alone couldn¡¯t shoulder the consequences if the matter was leaked; in fact, his life was riding on it. He was equally as prone to the consequences he threatened He Shi with. All of ¡°them¡± faced the same fatal risks at all times. They¡¯d be abandoned as soon as they were no longer useful. Wang Zhenyun had witnessed it frequently enough to know better than to consider himself an exception.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Not longer after Wang Zhenyun departed, Ming Feizhen uttered under his breath. ¡°Four¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen had dumped two bodies in the passage and scared one off. The fourth andst assassin who wielded a spear could be heard clearly moving closer. For whatever reason, thest assassin called off the attempt once he reached the entrance to Ming Feizhen¡¯s room. Once an assassinationmenced, it was supposed to be one wave after the next, so Ming Feizhen was certain there had to be more than four assassins eyeing his room, but the procedure was abandoned due to the fourth assassin not sticking to the n.

    The most logical exnation was that there was someone helping him, except Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t find any persuasive evidence to support the hypothesis, and it was a bad idea to trust a conjecturecking credible proof. What was more frustrating was the fact that he couldn¡¯t prove they were on his side, either.

    The situation was different to that back at the underground pce. The underground pce was an isted sandbox. ordingly, the number of people present, their habits, their manners, the patrols n and the terrain remained constant. Ming Feizhen, therefore, only needed enough time in order to get a grasp of every detail. In contrast, he was now in an unfamiliar situation and up against an enemy he knew nothing about. On top of that, he had to hide the fact he was being targeted, or Wang Zhenyun would promptly move him out of the exam venue, which would be exactly what the assassins wished for. Thest thing he wanted to do was to fight off assassins in the presence of an audience.

    Though there wasn¡¯t much Ming Feizhen could do, he knew for sure that sitting around and waiting was one of the things he shouldn¡¯t have done.

    ***

    ¡°Wang Hu? Wang Hu?¡± The imperial guards¡¯mander started feeling anxious after not getting an immediate response.

    ¡°Pr-present.¡±

    Themander spun to the stutterer and red at him. If it weren¡¯t for his old man being somewhat respected in the capital, themander would¡¯ve smashed his face in for being slow after all that had happened.

    ¡°Jia Ren.¡±

    Once again, no response. Themander calmly repeated one more time, ¡°Jia Ren.¡±

    Themander looked around one more time before he decided to yell, and he spotted the moron in the crowd. ¡°Are you deaf?!¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± responded Jia Ren.

    ¡°Who else?!¡±

    Jia Ren ¨C Ming Feizhen ¨C promptly responded, ¡°Pr-present!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 87

    Night

    ¡°Present? Why didn¡¯t you respond?¡±

    ¡°That dimwit Chen Lin annoyed me, so I was distracted.¡±

    Although themander could sympathise, he still cursed under his breath. Their entire squad ran around all night only to run into two naked men. Should he have not been annoyed at Chen Lin for not choosing a better time?

    Themander resumed roll call and then after giving out instructions, stressed, ¡°Stay sharp and don¡¯t ck. If you mess up tonight, you¡¯ll have my de for breakfast.¡± Right after, he used needing medical attention for an old injury to rush off with hare feet.

    Themander epted 1520 silver taels from Wang Zhenyun to assist him on the nights of the imperial exams, but he now regretted epting the offer. He thought it¡¯d be an easy job since he couldn¡¯t imagine schrs causing a big mess; never did he imagine he¡¯d chance upon Young Master Feng¡¯s big secret. To make matters worse, he foolishly obeyed Wang Zhenyun¡¯s instruction to move Chen Lin. If Chen Lin was truly Young Master Feng¡¯s romantic partner, not even offering their heads would be enough to appease Young Master Feng. As if he was going to stick around for an extra second.

    It went without saying that the absence of themander was a wishe true for Ming Feizhen. He didn¡¯t have to worry about anyone finding out he wasn¡¯t in his exam room for he was the very person assigned to that zone. The arrangement was no coincidence. As soon as the others realised that they also discovered Young Master Feng¡¯s secret, they reacted the same way as theirmander. They couldn¡¯t have been happier to hear foolish Jia Ren was willing to take charge of the area. For that reason, there were no guards within the vicinity of Ming Feizhen¡¯s column.

    Ming Feizhen picked a spot to sit down, wrapped his arm around a broadsword and reviewed what happened.

    One of the assassins was a brainwashed imperial guard of Yan Liren. One of them was Jia Ren, the imperial guard he was now posing as. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t know where the real Jia Ren was because he pulled the face of the assassin straight off to use as a mask. Considering Jia Ren¡¯s skills with a broadsword, Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve perished had it not been for his modified shuttle. As for the archer, he had evidently trained to an aplished level in his internal and external training based on the fact that he pierced the tile without making much nose. Thus, he was the most advanced martial artist among the three assassins. Due to the fourth assassin disappearing before he could take action, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t determine exactly how many assassins were at the exam venue.

    Three hundred imperial guards were stationed at the exam venue. There couldn¡¯t have possibly been more than thirty assassins because it¡¯d no longer be an assassination if they exceeded 10% of the total imperial guards. At that point, they might as well have walked straight up to Ming Feizhen and gutted him without any regard for stealth.

    The guards outside the imperial city weren¡¯t particrly strict, but that wasn¡¯t to say that it was easy to sneak past them. The fact that so many people could sneak in at once indicated that the centralmand group ¨C majority of members of Hanlin Academy with the highest authority ¨C were likely under Yan Liren¡¯s control already. They were an easy and ideal group to target; they couldn¡¯t fight, and they held authority. This wasn¡¯t the root of the problem, though.

    Yan Liren shouldn¡¯t have had such a formidable assistant. Given the upheaval in the capital, he shouldn¡¯t have been able to recruit such capable assassins on the spot. Moreover, there was another faction that had infiltrated the exam venue for another purpose besides avenging Yan Liren¡¯s son.

    ¡°Motherflipper¡­¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There was still one more day to go until the end of the imperial exams. Wang Zhenyun was hellbent on sabotaging Ming Feizhen. Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯tpleted his exam, which woulde back to bite him if he didn¡¯tplete it; he¡¯d be in trouble with His Majesty, and, even if he could get out of it, there were still more problems he couldn¡¯t exin. How was he going to exin how he single-handedly took out numerous assassins when he couldn¡¯t fight well? Tell them he had befriended a band of criminals?

    Hence, rather than wait around, Ming Feizhen decided the best course of action was to try and find out who the people after him were.

    ***

    The archer zipped through the pce doors and shut the door.

    ¡°You got hurt?¡± questioned the person in the darkness.

    The middle-aged man checked around and then pulled the archer in between the two rows of bookshelves for cover.

    The abandoned pce in the Imperial Library was reserved for misceneous items that didn¡¯t belong anywhere else, but it had now be a hiding spot for assassins.

    The man used his tools to remove the needle in the archer, applied herbs and wrapped up the injury proficiently. ¡°How did you get hurt?¡±

    Once he caught his breath, the archer answered, ¡°He¡­ used the trajectory of my arrow. Before I could move after shooting my arrow, he caught me¡­ What weapon did he use?¡±

    The archer glued his brows together when he saw the weapon the doctor held up. ¡°A shuttle?¡±

    The two of them looked up at each other and saw each other¡¯s wide eyes.

    An arrow could hit with enormous force thanks to the string system, and its force could be multiplied even from afar through adding internal energy. A shuttle, on the other hand, was a hidden weapon that was designed for convenience. As such, it was faster to operate than bow and arrows, but itcked the same force capacity, yet there was undeniable proof before them that it could.

    It was difficult to track down an archer based on the trajectory of an arrow, but the amount of internal energy needed to shoot a shuttle the same distance and still inflict serious harm was unthinkable.

    ¡°Is he¡­ even human?¡±

    The doctor shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t take it to heart. There¡¯s still one more day. There are still nine of us. We can definitely kill him.¡±

    The archer nodded, then shook his head. ¡°No¡­ There aren¡¯t just nine of us. There¡¯s another group, as well.¡±

    ¡°Yan Liren? He¡¯s on our side¡­¡±

    ¡°No. I monitored the situation for a long time from the roof. While I failed to kill Ming Feizhen, I saw a myriad of other things¡­ We are not the only ones targeting Ming Feizhen.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 88

    Night Night

    If there was going to be another assassination attempt, the scene of the attempt would still be Ming Feizhen¡¯s exam room. There wasn¡¯t actually an ¡°if¡± in there, though. All ducks needed to be in line even though he didn¡¯t know why he was targeted. He realised he wasn¡¯t the only one in an unfamiliar environment. There was no justifiable reason to sit idly and wait for them to ready up.

    Ming Feizhen got up after waiting pointlessly for two hours. The cover of the night made the perfect opportunity for him to sneak into the pce where Wang Zhenyun andpany rested. The pce neighbouring the Taishu Hall was often reserved as a resting ce for the examiners during the exams. If the Hanlin Academy officials needed to work and couldn¡¯t leave due to the imperial city doors closing, then they could stay the night there. The ces they used daily were the exam venues for examinees in the future, so it was easy to imagine how many unnecessary desires the conveniences gave them. Wang Zhenyun wasn¡¯t fearless just because the illusion of ¡°the fate of the world is in my hands behind the doors¡±, but it wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen¡¯s problem. That being the case, he had no qualms infiltrating the pce.

    Even without internal energy, it was so simple that it was boring for Ming Feizhen to sneak into the resting pce. Although there wasn¡¯t a shortage of strong guards in the imperial guards, which was why Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t identify the assassins based on theirbat skills, strength didn¡¯t equate to patrol skills. Of course, they had specific and strict procedures to follow, such as maintaining a specific distance between their neighbouring ally, but they weren¡¯t superior to Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables at patrolling once circumstances forced them to operate outside of their guidelines. Unlike the guards in charge of security deep within the imperial pce grounds, the imperial guards out here didn¡¯t receive advanced training in tailing, patrolling and pursuit. ordingly, they weren¡¯t equipped with the skills to judge the risk of off-radar operations or think fast on their feet. Strictly speaking, the imperial guards¡¯ primary function was to intimidate not to actually subdue hostiles. They weren¡¯t going to be very effective against an elite from the martial world, after all. The martial world¡¯s conflicts were best settled between members of the martial world.

    It would¡¯ve been a totally different story if the Qilin Guards were stationed in the outer section of the imperial pce. While they did have spare manpower in the capital, they were stationed elsewhere. Compared to the likes of Gongsun Chu, the safety of the examinees were several seats in the rear.

    Few people, including Emperor Yuansheng, noticed that Gongsun Chu and the White Princes had impacted security in the capital. Notwithstanding him noticing it, Ming Feizhen was powerless to counteract it. Nobody was sure if Gongsun Chu actually was hiding somewhere whilst scheming something, nor could they say with certainty if the White Princes had genuinelyid down their arms. Under such circumstances, it¡¯d be folly to persuade Emperor Yuansheng into allocating more security to the outer zone of the imperial pce. The brilliance of Gongsun Chu was his ability to make it impossible to erect a defence strategy, putting his opponent in a fully defensive position until he made his move ¨C despite it possibly being another part of his strategy.

    As Ming Feizhen walked, he inwardly sang Gongsun Chu¡¯s praises again. At the end of the day, though, he wasn¡¯t really invested in stopping Gongsun Chu because he was Ming Feizhen, not a monarch with a duty to protect the people.

    Following an aural audit, Ming Feizhen entered the building and then gently leaned onto the door¡¯s pir. He slowly pulled the hoodie of his light armour over to cover his eyes. Even after so many years, covering his eyes with a hoodie still gave him a sense of security. By this point, he had be a part of the darkness.

    In spite of howte it was, members of Hanlin Academy were still awake.

    ¡°What were you doing in Young Master Feng¡¯s room?!¡± Though the pce was quite far from the exam venue and everyone present was on the same side, Wang Zhenyun still didn¡¯t raise his voice. Perhaps it had be a habit to control his volume no matter what in case he was ever overheard.

    The drenched proctor shivered as puzzlement, terror and the cold disabled him from figuring out what he was supposed to do upon waking. Chen Lin was just another disposable member of Hanlin Academy, and he knew it. He was privy to corruption in the circle for many years, but he knew he was a coward they didn¡¯tck. His forefront thought was also staying alive. Hence, he relied on feigning the fool to survive when others had been carried out despite it not being how he envisioned his life would be.

    There weren¡¯t many means of entering Hanlin Academy; studying and purchasing a spot were two ways. Chen Lin, though he took the former route, and it was anything but smooth. Born into a well-off merchant family, he preferred reading over acting and manipting as wasmon in the business world. Quite frankly, he was the odd one out in the family. He didn¡¯t have a talent for studying; he took ten tries to memorise what others would¡¯ve memorised in three attempts. Nevertheless, he was able to learn. After twenty-one years of dedication, he realised his dream of entering Hanlin Academy and was appointed a scribe post. To his shock, it wasn¡¯t any nobler in Hanlin Academypared to the outside business world. Who¡¯d ever think Hanlin Academy was a noble academy for the top schrs? Who¡¯d ever walk out from there and say they were living in prosperous times? s, he was never a brave character, and he knew that he would never be able to go further. Recently, he had a chronic headache that came out of nowhere, but he couldn¡¯t identify what the condition was. He nned to ask Wang Zhenyun for a consultation with an imperial physician after the imperial exams. Thest thing he¡¯d have ever imagined was his current predicament.

    The usually graceful officials had Chen Lin bound in a chair in the centre of their encirclement. Even if he only had two brain cells, he knew what was happening when he saw the twisted faces that other former members had probably seen in theirst moments.

    Chen Lin had yet to voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± when he was pped so viciously that he heard ringing in his ears.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that nonsense! How dare you collude with Young Master Feng. Do you know how much we could earn from this? I thought you were honest, but you turned on us to steal our money?!¡± Wang Zhenyun assaulted Chen Lin¡¯s face and head again. ¡°If you don¡¯t tell the truth, this old one will have someone take your life. Speak: how much did Young Master Feng pay you? What did he promise you?¡±

    Chen Lin released blood everywhere from his mouth as heughed hysterically.

    ¡°What are youughing about?¡±

    Had they not tightened the rope around his hands and feet, Chen Lin would¡¯ve keptughing until he fell over.

    ¡°I¡¯mughing at you, you and you, all of you¡­¡± Chen Lin cast his gaze onto one official and said, ¡°Come here. I¡¯ll tell you what Young Master Feng told me.¡±

    While the official did feel a sense of fear deep down when he saw the look in Chen Lin¡¯s eyes, he wasn¡¯t convinced the usually honest scribe would try anything. Besides, he couldn¡¯t chicken out in the presence of his colleagues. Hence, he stepped forward and warned, ¡°Don¡¯t try anything funny. If you tell the truth, this old one can give y-, aaahh!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Had Wang Zhenyun instructed nobody was to approach the building, the scream probably would¡¯ve had guards rushing over. The scream of the official who had to hold his hand over his bloody ear instilled fear in all the others, all except for Wang Zhenyun.

    Chen Lin spat the disgusting ear fragment out, then another few more mouthfuls of blood and thenughed again. Wasn¡¯t it funny? They had him restrained and surrounded to ask questions he couldn¡¯t fathom, yet they didn¡¯t look at themselves in the mirror. Wasn¡¯t itughable that he was once afraid of a group of people who feared a weak and defenceless schr would escape? The first thing they asked him was if they were in trouble, if they had offended someone they couldn¡¯t afford to offend and if someone had cut into their profits. They weren¡¯t intimidating; they were scared silly. If they were so afraid of him, wouldn¡¯t they look even more ridiculous when trying to ingratiate themselves with their superiors?

    As heughed, tears welled up in Chen Lin¡¯s eyes. He had his eyes on text all day as a scribe, yet he couldn¡¯t remember some of the stuff he read in his childhood. He hadn¡¯t forgotten the burning passion he felt inside him when he read Confucius¡¯ teachings for the first time. What he had forgotten were the big aspirations he kept close to his heart when he first came to Hanlin Academy. All he saw before him now were a bunch of people who only cared for money pretending they were noble examples caring for their world.

    Chen Lin suddenly felt a blunt object collide with his skull, sending him and the chair to the ground. He had no idea how much he was bleeding from his forehead.

    ¡°Ignorant fool. Who do you think you are?¡± Wang Zhenyun threw aside the hu he used to knock Chen Lin out and then emotionlessly ordered, ¡°Kill him.¡±

    Glossary

    Hu ¨C It¡¯s a t scepter that they used to use as narrow tablets for recording notes and orders. You can see several examples in this link: /p/48595001

 Book 14: Chapter 89

    Night Night Night

    ¡°It seems inappropriate to kill him before we get anything worthwhile out of him.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, Chen Lin has always been faithful. Killing him like this is a little¡­¡±

    ¡°His father is a merchant, too. If he looks into his son¡¯s death and reports it to Liu Shan Men, we will have a problem.¡±

    The only one who didn¡¯t speak up was the official who lost a chunk of his ear.

    While Wang Zhenyun didn¡¯t expect to hear an immediate response, the reactions of his colleagues had him seething. It all boiled down to nobody wanting to get their hands dirty.

    You think people are just going to line your pockets when you¡¯re such big cowards?!

    They weren¡¯t just spineless; they were also without ambitions. All they wanted was to make an extra lump sum at every exam every three years and then to return to getting by without any aspirations. Wang Zhenyun was frustrated because he needed such a band of disappointing colleagues to realise his grand ambition of pushing civil servants to the top.

    ¡°You think this old one shouldn¡¯t kill him?¡± Nobody dared to meet Wang Zhenyun¡¯s gaze as he swept it around. ¡°Hmph, did you actually think this old one wants to kill him due to his impertinence? You¡¯re wrong. What is our goal for this imperial exam? Feng n has paid the most among the five ns who¡¯ve bought the top five cings from us. This is Young Master Feng¡¯s first step into the political arena. He is the nephew of Consort Huang, who is most favoured at the moment, and is the only inheritor of the wealthiest family in our country. Do any of you realise how important that is? What purpose will he serve once he enters the political arena?

    ¡°Prime Minister Li won¡¯t grow younger, yet there is nobody to seed him in the imperial court. There are ims that Secretary Lu will seed him if not Secretary Zhang, but think about it. How well do Secretary Zhang and His Majesty get along? Secretary Lu is not only a foreigner, but she¡¯s also a woman. Kong Duan had hope, but there¡¯s no need to say any more about him. Young Master Feng will be the person His Majesty trusts most if he can win this exam. At most, Prime Minister Li probably only has another ten years in him before retirement. Who will seed him if Young Master Feng can add several big aplishments to his name in the next ten years? Won¡¯t we be credited with supporting him?¡±

    Every word Wang Zhenyun spewed reassured his colleagues more and more.

    ¡°There¡¯s no room for even the slightest error! Chen Lin seduced Young Master Feng to have an affair in the night. There¡¯s no doubt he took a bribe from Young Master Feng. Everyone knows Young Master Feng spends generously. A small token of reward for him is enough for people to live off for an entire lifetime. If people find out Chen Lin and he were in this sort of rtionship, would any of you be able to shoulder the consequences when Young Master Feng¡¯s career is ruined? Who do you think our higher ups will choose to side with if they find out about our deal with Young Master Feng?¡±

    If the ¡°upper echelon¡± insisted on supporting Feng n into a Prime Minister role, then they¡¯d be willing to offer up even blood and corpses, let alone material wealth. By all means, Hanlin Academy was important. As long as they had the power to choose the ¡°home¡± of civil servants, then, presuming nothing went wrong, they wouldn¡¯t have anypetition. At the end of the day, however, Hanlin Academy was nothing more than a que; its members were what mattered. The upper echelon could¡¯ve swapped out the members whenever they wanted, especially when His Majesty was already too busy with the Seven Champion White Princes to pay as much attention as usual to Hanlin Academy.

    Wang Zhenyun¡¯spatriots immediately started searching for daggers, pocket knives and whatever else they could think of, but they couldn¡¯t even find a pocket knife. Where were they going to get one from when they never thought about self-defence? Nevertheless, they were people who¡¯d done plenty of studying, so they weren¡¯t limited to only those crude tools. One after another, they made suggestions such as roasting, drowning, burying alive, bombing, having a horse stomp Chen Lin into mush and more.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to be thatplicated. This old one has a dagger. My dear colleagues, we¡­¡±

    ¡°Say less, Sir. This one shall slit his throat, and then we shall take turns shing his corpse once each. This way, everyone will have been part of it. What say you?¡±

    See? They had done plenty of studying; they didn¡¯t need a weapon to implicate someone.

    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s do it.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen had no grudge against Chen Lin, not to mention he was the one responsible for Chen Lin¡¯s predicament, but he didn¡¯t stop the motley crew for he was waiting for the assassins. Someone from Hanlin Academy had to be assisting the archer to have assumed a high position without being detected, as well as to have Chen Lin brainwashed and dispatched. Judging from the position of the archer, he must¡¯ve been cooperating with one of the examiners. Since Wang Zhenyun was high on energy, the brainwashed examiner had to be one of his colleagues.

    The most ideal target to brainwash was someone weak minded, someone who wouldn¡¯t dare to fight back even when someone bound bit their ear. In saying that, one examiner wasn¡¯t enough to give them a sufficiently big advantage ¨C as the operation tonight proved. The fact that Ming Feizhen was so ¡°skilled¡± that he could hit an archer using ¡°martial arts¡± highlighted the fact. The assassins weren¡¯t going to ept the fact that they failed and alerted their target. After all, it¡¯d be harder to assassinate him tomorrow now that he would be more prepared. In order to seed, they needed a strong and authoritativemand centre so that they could do as they pleased at the venue without detection. That¡¯d only be possible if every examiner was helping out. If the examiners had solid spines, then the assassins would¡¯ve been forced to resort to murder as a means of threatening them. Howbeit, the cowardice the examiners just showed put the assassins at ease.

    ¡°You certainly are ruthless, Sir.¡± A man chuckled as he seemingly spawned into the building from thin air.

 Book 14: Chapter 90

    Night Night Night Night

    Save for the two servants who oversaw serving food and tea, the only people who essed the pce were the ten-odd of them. Wang Zhenyun was the leader of the operation, and only those who were willing to participate were allowed in, yet he didn¡¯t recognise the voice.

    A man attired in ck garments with his face covered emerged from the darkness. The dark-long-rectangr iron chest on his back had to be the storage for a weapon, but it was too short to store a sword-length weapon and too narrow for an axe. Needless to say, his appearance and the suddenness of his appearance had the defenceless elders shaking in their boots.

    ¡°Who¡­ are you?¡± Wang Zhenyun fearlessly questioned.

    ¡°You?¡± The intruder snorted condescendingly.

    More than four trained individuals suddenly appeared behind Wang Zhenyun¡¯s group. Despite having the physical advantage, the group still blocked all escape routes. Their leader cooly said, ¡°Rx, brothers. Rx.¡±

    The four individuals retreated three steps and assumed rxed postures that showedplete disregard for vignce. One sat down on a chair and crossed his legs. Another stood by Chen Lin¡¯s head. One assumed the bottom of a squat and picked his nose.

    Wang Zhenyun could tell they were dangerous from their behaviour and the fact that they could infiltrate the imperial city, but he didn¡¯t panic. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had faced off against martial artists. He boldly stepped forward and offered a cupped-fist salute. ¡°May this one ask for your names? While his knowledge is shallow, he may recognise you.¡±

    The leader cidly wagged his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t ask someone dressed in ck in the middle of the night for their name. I¡¯ll be upfront with you. We hail from different parts of thend and take jobs from people from all walks of life to stay afloat. We only banded together for we share amon enemy, but we have be sworn siblings. We aren¡¯t any acknowledged group; it doesn¡¯t matter who we are.¡±

    ¡°May this one ask what your goal is? What can we senile fools do for you?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, you are not our goal, and we have no vested interested in joining your grand n. As for how you can help, there certainly are a few things you could aid us with¡­ Sir Qi, it is rude to run away without greeting visitors.¡±

    Sir Qi, the very person who was missing a part of his ear, was rolling around on the ground whilst groaning and moaning. The arrow plunged through his chest was shot into a non-lethal spot purely to make him feel pain.

    ¡°Brother Archer, watch them closely. They all read a tremendous amount; they can think of infinite things that we brutes could never think of.¡±

    ¡°Brother Archer¡± was none other than the archer who tried to assassinate Ming Feizhen. His injury didn¡¯t hamper his shooting speed, so there was no need to be concerned about anyone escaping for as long as he was watching.

    Only now did Wang Zhenyun¡¯s colleagues realise that the leader was in full control notwithstanding that appearing so. Hence, they gave up any thoughts of running away.

    ¡°He must be the one who has been helping you from the inside.¡± If Wang Zhenyun couldn¡¯t figure out Sir Qi was in cahoots with the five, then he wouldn¡¯t havested in the political arena for so long.

    ¡°Excellent perception. What do you think of my decision?¡±

    ¡°Good, but not good enough.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a spineless scoundrel who was willing to sell his wife for a meagre sixty taels. His kind is easy to purchase, but he is only a burden in the pursuit of big goals.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it sounds like you have better advice for me?¡±

    ¡°That would be this old one.¡± Wang Zhenyun tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be here right now otherwise. Given you have amon enemy, you must be here to kill him, but he is either too strong to kill or it is too difficult to approach him due to the imperial guards. Is it safe for this old one to assume you seek his assistance?¡±

    The leader pped nice and slowly. ¡°I must admit I underestimated you. I should¡¯ve expected this from academicians. It¡¯s true that we can¡¯t seed without your assistance.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You need not downy your abilities. It takes true skill to infiltrate the imperial city. Tonight may be the start of a long-standing coboration between us. There will be times that this old one will need your skills, and he can promise generous renumeration.¡±

    In one fell swoop, not only did Wang Zhenyun meet their needs, but he also secured his safety. He was a man who understood the idea that both parties had to continue providing benefits in order to have a long alliance, and he understood the importance of not burning bridges.

    The leader showed neither distaste or joy. ¡°Thank you in advance.¡±

    ¡°May this old one now ask what your goal is?¡±

    ¡°We are after one person¡¯s life. He is one of the examinees this time.¡±

    ¡°You would not have had to take the risk of infiltrating the imperial city if your target was not an examinee. How about you state his name so that this old one can see how he can assist you?¡±

    ¡°I like it. We made our first attempt tonight, but it ended in failure.¡± The leader pointed to Chen Lin and smiled. ¡°We brainwashed him and sent him to our target¡¯s room. Do you know who he is now?¡°

    Wang Zhenyun¡¯s smug expression stiffened. ¡°Wh-what? You sent Chen Lin to his¡­ Y-you would dare to kill him?! H-have you any idea who he is?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course we do. He is known far and wide. Even His Majesty speaks to him with courtesy, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    Wang Zhenyun: And yet you would have the gall to kill him?! Kill that Ming Feizhen, why don¡¯t you?! What gives you the gall to kill Young Master Feng?!

    ¡°If you know that, then why¡­?¡±

    ¡°Personal vendetta.¡± The leader smirked. ¡°I can understand you not wishing to help, and I have never wanted to kill a government official. All I would¡¯ve asked for you to do is give orders. Regrettably, since you know everything, you¡¯re part of us now, and I can¡¯t let you off. Luckily for both of us, you¡¯re not clean, either. Should you dare to leak a word about what took ce here tonight, you can count on me to ruin your n.¡±

    Wang Zhenyun would perish all the same if he aided them in assassinating Young Master Feng!

    The leader had the archer continue watching them while he discussed with hispanions how to proceed. No matter how long they dragged out their talk, they only discussed positioning, method of assassination and so forth. One listen and a veteran would realise they weren¡¯t experts on the subject.

    Think and think, Wang Zhenyun couldn¡¯t figure out what sort of personal vendetta wouldpel them to want Feng Jiutian¡¯s life. ¡°What¡­ exactly do you people want?¡±

    As the leader went to answer, he heard a man say, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m curious, too. Do tell.¡±

    The assassins instantly spread out to defend themselves. When the leader saw the face of the speaker who appeared seemingly out of thin air, he yelled, ¡°It¡¯s you! Brothers, our target has app-¡±

    The man with his eyes covered raised his hand. Following something simr to an ember shooting up, the archer groaned as he plummeted from the beam onto the ground. While the assassins were shocked someone could take out the third strongest among them in one wave of his hand, Wang Zhenyun celebrated as he identified the man wearing the hood based on the assassins¡¯ leader¡¯s reaction.

    Wang Zhenyun: I had no idea Young Master Feng was well-versed in martial arts! We can turn the tables now! No, this is a chance to shine!

    ¡°Young Master, this old one shall protect you!¡± Wang Zhenyun put his life on the line as he jumped into the frontline, only to be hammered on the skull with a hammer. Although Young Master Feng didn¡¯t support him as he expected, he loyally extended his arms out to the side as he lied on the ground and bled. ¡°As long as this old one is still breathing, you¡¯ll have to step over his corpse to reach Young Master F-, ow!¡±

    Even though ¡°Young Master Feng¡± stepped on him, Wang Zhenyun¡¯s smile didn¡¯t fade. ¡°This old one apologises for getting in your way, Young Master Feng!¡±

    ¡°I never knew you were so faithful to me.¡± The man stepping on Wang Zhenyun¡¯s head lowered his head so that Wang Zhenyun could see his face. Smiling, he proposed, ¡°How about we join hands, Sir Fart?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 91

    Night Night Night Night Night

    ¡°Sir Fart, you look terrible. How about joining hands with me?¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­ Why are you here?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°Should I have waited for you to get ready ande knock?¡±

    ¡°Kill him!¡± The leader regainedmanded once he regained hisposure, reaching for the iron case on his back. ¡°He has lost his internal energy! He has lost his internal energy! Now is the prime opportunity to kill him!¡±

    The vital piece of information was what empowered the leader to lead the group as it was something only he knew, but his iron case wasn¡¯t there when he was supposed to have reached it. He never took his eyes off the battlefield.

    The hammer user could produce hundreds of pounds of force in a single swing, yet Ming Feizhen used his own hammer to puncture his throat as soon as they were within arm¡¯s reach. The axe user, who had once in a tiger on his own, got caught by a sh of ember from Ming Feizhen¡¯s left hand, went reeling and perished. Two other assassins worked together to put Ming Feizhen in a pincer attack. The swordsman and broadsworder were both respectable in their fields and had splendid chemistry, yet their opponent somehow simultaneously had the swordsman pierce the broadsworder¡¯s throat and broadsworder separate the swordsman head from his shoulder. It took Ming Feizhen a total of five steps since entering the building to leave behind four casualties ¨C if the archer teetering the line between life and death wasn¡¯t counted. Perhaps the onlyfort in all of it was that he made their deaths instantaneous.

    The leader couldn¡¯t tell how Ming Feizhen did it, what martial arts discipline he used or if it even was a martial arts discipline.

    ¡°You¡¯re right in that I have no internal energy.¡± Ming Feizhen shed a corner of his white pearls as if he read the leader¡¯s mind. ¡°You¡¯re just weak.¡±

    Ming Feizhen drew his broadsword from his scabbard. The leader had never seen such dominance and speed in his life. All his saw after the de appeared was it being sheathed back in. Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder to search for Wang Zhenyun and then said something that made Wang Zhenyun mumble with a pallor expression. After that, Wang Zhenyun¡¯s lips looked as though they were terrified of something. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t move from his spot, yet his voice sounded as though it wasing from further and further away, while the leader heard his own heart beats louder and louder, until he finally felt sharp pain from all four limbs. As blood gushed from his limbs, he copsed to the ground as though his limbs were mush.

    The leader wasn¡¯t sure if he was cut four times or in one single motion, but he knew that his limbs¡¯ tendons were sliced when he saw the de. Even though pain would be the primary feeling for people in his condition, fear overrode the sense of pain; no matter how close he got, no matter how clear he could¡¯ve seen, the fear of the giant man, or monster, before him wouldn¡¯t subside.

    Ming Feizhen went back to the leader once he said what he wanted to Wang Zhenyun, pulled his face covering and asked, ¡°Name?¡±

    The leader bit down on his lip and lowered his head, only for the death god to tell him, ¡°If you¡¯re waiting for your threepanions in the corridor, you¡¯ll be here forever because I dealt with them before I came here.¡±

    The leader looked up with his jaw hanging down. He could no longer tell if he was up against a human being or a monster. Ming Feizhen cracked a smile and voiced, ¡°You want to kill me, but I don¡¯t want to kill you. Some of your brothers, such as the archer and doctor, are still alive and capable. I can spare you, but on the condition that you tell the truth. Who are you people? Why are you trying to kill me?¡±

    Who wouldn¡¯t fear an opponent they knew nothing about? Mayhap the man with his face covered by his hoodie wouldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Who are we? Who are we? Do you really have no recollection?¡±

    Ming Feizhen took a close-look at the no-longer-young man, then shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t remember you.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course you don¡¯t remember me or us. We are devils out for your life¡­ H-how would you remember us? You¡¯re Ming Feizhen. You¡¯re the Ming Feizhen who murdered the heroes of the three rivers in a single night.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was taken aback. He only mentioned the story to the few people he was close to¡­ or old enemies, so he didn¡¯t expect the man before him to know about it. The leader himself was aware that he was only going to have one chance in a lifetime to catch Ming Feizhen by surprise. The leader knew about the existence of ¡°that¡± from the archer, but he was unable to dig up anything deeper. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t the first failure to get closer to the secret, but they were happy enough to have verification that it did exist. They exchanged their entire team¡¯s lives to confirm that Ming Feizhen was still dangerous without his martial arts skills, but their assassination operation crumbled before its full design could be implemented. Fortunately, an opportunity had presented itself. Ming Feizhen opened himself to ¡°it¡±!

    Like an ephemeral spirit, a human silhouette and blue eyes behind an iron mask, alongside his blue-glowing broadsword, materialised. The de had prematurely ended many heroic tales and granted its wielder the title of League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin.

    ng! The lethal sh grazed thin air prior to colliding with the solid ground.

    ¡°Kid, where did you learn that technique from?¡±

    The voice would go on to be Vivianite¡¯s most traumatic memory.

    ¡°You would dare to attack me with it?¡±

    The moment they met eyes, Vivianite felt an indescribable sick feeling in his gut that he¡¯d never felt before.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 14: Chapter 92

    Leader

    Missing was unimaginable, but losing track of his target was iprehensible. His reputation of felling his opponent once he drew his weapon suddenly became a punch line.

    ¡°I knew you were here. I was aware of your presence the entire time.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s tone was devoid of any emotion. ¡°Maybe there is a method of avoiding my detection, but you certainly don¡¯t know it. I can sense you as if I have you in the palm of my hand. You¡¯re delusional in thinking you can catch me for sure as soon as you strike.¡±

    The inability to exin the anticlimactic oue left Vivianite enraged. The harder he thought about it, the more he mentally trapped himself. Fiends¡¯ Genesis would have to show him courtesy, yet the death god said to seal anyone¡¯s fate in one sh was now relegated to a role as insignificant as the old men covering their heads.

    Vivianite¡¯s biggest loss against Hong Jiu was losing his signature weapon. If he couldn¡¯t retrieve it, he couldn¡¯t prove nor continue bearing the Vivianite title; Six des wouldn¡¯t wee him back, either. Aside from that, he was still able to fight just fine and still had the same skills prior. You win some and you lose some. He didn¡¯t lose his confidence just because he lost once. Losing 30% of his internal energy in the duel was nothingpared to Hong Jiu¡¯s injuries, not to mention his own damage was recoverable. Moreover, internal energy was never his specialty; his specialty was assassination.

    When it came to assassination, nobody in the building could¡¯ve held a candle to him. He felt insulted when he heard the group refer to themselves as assassins and talk about assassinating someone. At the same time, that help him ovee his trauma of defeat.

    Vivianite cloaked himself in energy as he bared his fangs once he regained his confidence and restarted his search for his target. Still, he couldn¡¯t locate his target. Howbeit, he persuaded himself that there was no way someone could move without whilst concealing their presence to the point of invisibility, not to mention someone who couldn¡¯t ess their internal energy. Thus, he utilised his ocr technique to finally pick up a mobile silhouette.

    ¡°That¡¯s not me.¡±

    Vivianite saw his foe standing less than three metres away from, holding onto his broadsword. For a moment, Vivianite questioned if he was qualified to call himself an assassin when his foe demonstrated prowess far more befitting of an assassin.

    ¡°This is,¡± Ming Feizhen raised his weapon parallel to the floor, ¡°how an assassin ought to be.¡±

    The three balls of varying colours that Ming Feizhen held out in his spare hand had Vivianite stunned as he just realised that Ming Feizhen pinched them from him without him even realising it. Humiliation flourished in Vivianite¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Red signifies a bloody battle. Blue signifies foregone conclusion. Green signifies to stay away. You have a habit of using the balls in reverse, however.¡±

    Green smoke coiled towards heaven. The colour of the smoke was but a smokescreen for the odour to work its magic.

    ¡°Stay away!¡± eximed Vivianite.

    ¡°I was waiting for that.¡± Ming Feizhen raised his hand, somehow opening a big hole in the door and killing the person behind it before fading out of fields of perceptions again.

    It was thebination of quick direction and level changes that created the impression Ming Feizhen was disappearing. Anyone who had practiced the motions for a few years could¡¯ve performed them as proficiently as him, but even the likes of Vivianite would need time to piece all the manoeuvres together and make sense of their purpose, let alone when he was busy trying to figure out how Ming Feizhen was dropping people effortlessly. From Vivianite¡¯s perspective, he could only imagine an assassin who¡¯d killed innumerable people moving so fluidly.

    While Vivianite was musing, his three assistants had perished before him. Before he could even think about telling his assistants to back off, he heard, ¡°Six des operate alone, but you require help since you¡¯re injured. It¡¯s not wrong¡­ but it disqualifies you from being League of Assassins¡¯ number one.¡±

    What do you know? Without backup? You expect me to learn from that solo idiot? What good is anything if you¡¯re dead?

    ¡°So be it if you die. You expect a good ending as an assassin?¡±

    The anger of being read like an open book took away Vivianite¡¯sposure, leading to him thinking that his target was an enemy, not a conversation partner, so why bother responding? He charged at his target fast enough to generate whistling winds, sure he would finally seed this time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Still too slow.¡±

    Vivianite¡¯s de cut thin air again.

    ¡°You were a few inches off to the rightpared tost time.¡±

    Vivianite unleashed a torrent of shes, reasoning it¡¯d take away Ming Feizhen¡¯s hopes of counterattacking, but he never made contact.

    ¡°The more you try to be fast, the slower you end up.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s voice entered Vivianite¡¯s ears as slow as footsteps and as soft as a disillusioned master teaching his disciple who was full of openings.

    ¡°If you want your attack to be undetectable, you need to pay more attention to how you mould internal energy, or are you incapable of attacking without giving yourself away because you¡¯re using a different weapon?¡±

    Failing to catch his target on three asions was a worse feeling than failing an assassination. They had been going at it for a while, yet Vivianite had yet to catch a clear image of his opponent¡¯s face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Can¡¯t see me?¡®

    Vivianite heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s only a few steps away from his left side, but his consecutive misses warned him that his perfected techniques wouldn¡¯t work against his foe. The leader could also tell that there was a gap between them that Vivianite couldn¡¯t close. Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t significantly stronger than Vivianite; Ming Feizhen just knew what wasing and was ready every time. Needless to say, Vivianite had grown aware of the fact, too.

    Vivianite focused all his strength into his right arm and swung, hoping to ovee skill with overwhelming might. s, his wrist stung only half way through the movement. The sound of his dending on the ground and his wrist tendon snapping off the bone hit his ears at the same time. He looked up in shock at his bored opponent.

    ¡°Did you think that¡¯d work?¡± Ming Feizhen flicked the blood off the de that was still warm. ¡°Just because you¡¯re trying to ovee technique with brute force, doesn¡¯t mean you should abandon protecting your arm. Did your teacher never teach you this?¡±

    While it didn¡¯t require much strength for one to sever a tendon as a counter, it required them to know precisely the volume of energy their target utilised at all times whilst putting themselves in the line of fire without slow judgement. The difficulty waspounded due to the nature of Vivianite¡¯s concealed style.

    If there was ever a need for proof that Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t utilise his internal energy, then this risky strategy was proof of it. That also meant that he could only attack when his opponent was weakened. As long as Vivianite could deceive Ming Feizhen into believing he was weakened, then there was an opening to exploit, such as now!

    ¡°You¡¯re an assassin.¡±

    Vivianite started bleeding from a body part he had yet to cover in true qi, forcing him to switch from attempting a sneak attack to using his true qi for defence. As a result of the sudden change in direction, though, his back was no longer shielded. The pain of a cold de prating his back made him lose control of his true qi, effectively cancelling out his armour.

    Speaking from overhead, Ming Feizhen chided, ¡°Why would you think of absorbing damage to counter?¡±

    Nobody was more perplexed about how a supposed-to-be examinee, who was devoid of internal energy, dominated League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin without breaking a sweat or giving the assassin a single chance than the assassin himself.

    Vivianite¡¯s instincts warned him to crawl away, but the pain of having his qi armour pierced still incapacitated him, so he could only wait for Ming Feizhen toe close. The sense of powerlessness gradually shaved away at his will to fight. Even when he went up against Lady Bai and Redsnow, he never felt this sense of helplessness. No matter what technique, methods, strategies, assassination techniques, whatever it happened to be, his opponent predicted it and dismantled it faster than he could impose his will. It was as if¡­ he was fighting himself.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know who I am. There are a number of things I want to say to you, though.¡± Ming Feizhen removed Vivianite¡¯s mask. Instead ofmenting on the handsome assassin¡¯s young age, Ming Feizhen fiddled with the mask as he reproached, ¡°You¡¯re too impatient. You¡¯re brash, impatient, hubristic and overzealous for sess. You have no respect for anyone since you¡¯ve reached a feared level. You¡¯re a good fighter, but the priority for an assassin is their mental cultivation, not the process of hiding, waiting and striking. Can you see my attacks when I perform them in front of you? Have you considered defence?¡±

    Vivianite had a moment of enlightenment, the knowledge to surpass his current self.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point.¡± Ming Feizhen shook his head when he saw Vivianite ruminating. ¡°While it¡¯s not easy to realise it, it¡¯s even harder to do. It¡¯s pointless for me to point it out to you. If you were several times more talented than you are and were willing to dedicate ten years to training, you might be qualified to challenge me¡­ From the look in your eyes, you must¡¯ve thought of someone, but that person isn¡¯t you, is it?¡±

    This is unfair! I just grasped an advanced concept! I can¡¯t die here! I can¡¯t die yet!

    ¡°Impossible¡­¡± Vivianite uttered in a raspy voice. ¡°You lost all your internal energy¡­ You¡­¡±

    ¡°I admitted to that.¡±

    When Ming Feizhen smiled, Vivianite noticed Ming Feizhen was around his age.

    ¡°But it¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve been without internal energy.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s smile was that of one reminiscing the past. ¡°I killed a tougher opponent than you when I was unable to utilise internal energy. If you think you¡¯re tough to kill, you¡¯re putting yourself on a pedal much higher than you¡¯re qualified for.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me¡­ Don¡¯t kill me¡­ I¡¯ll tell you everything I know.¡± The man referred to in the pugilistic world as the death god spilled all the beans on Six des without even first waiting for Ming Feizhen to agree to his proposal. He disclosed the history of their formation, the unique traits of every member, all their rendezvous points, their oral codes, bans, rules¡­ He didn¡¯t withhold any information. Once he rain out of content, he continued racking his brains for more.

    Ming Feizhen snorted under his breath. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve looked me up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me¡­¡±

    ¡°You know I don¡¯t like to kill, specially after I¡¯ve gained something, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡±

    Ming Feizhen could tell Vivianite had lost an excessive amount of blood based off thetter¡¯s heavy breathing and was close to passing out. ¡°I have a question.¡±

    Vivianite squinted.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°You¡¯re Vivianite, correct?¡±

    Vivianite couldn¡¯t understand why he was asked the question when the answer was obvious. Nheless, he nodded.

    ¡°Hmm, so I have the right person. I heard you hurt my junior brother.¡±

    The appearance of the person to hand Vivianite his first defeat in the pugilistic world came to the front of his mind. Perhaps it was impossible for him to forget due to how deeply the result was imprinted in his mind; for a point in time, he forgot he and Hong Jiu were one a piece each.

    ¡°Makes things easy since you remember.¡± Ming Feizhen got his answer from the look in Vivianite¡¯s eyes. He got up with a smile and continued, ¡°Although you did a sloppy job of learning the technique, I never taught it to Second, so he didn¡¯t know how to defend against it. Thankfully, he had seen my de techniques, so he still remembers a fragment of the mental cultivation, or he¡¯d have perished when he defended your attack.¡±

    So that¡¯s why he survived¡­

    Hong Jiu was the first person to be hit with the technique and not meet his demise on the spot, which Vivianite couldn¡¯t understand how. His initial mindless theory was that Hong Jiu was just tough enough to not be split in two. But now that he learnt Hong Jiu happened to understand the technique, a myriad of new questions spawned. For one, what did, ¡°I never taught it to Second¡± mean? The inability to find answers drove him mad.

    ¡°You¡¯re right about me. I, indeed, don¡¯t like to kill people if they offer me something useful. That said, that is under the condition that they don¡¯t hurt people around me.¡±

    Vivianite saw the de in Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand leave behind a silver trail as it travelled downwards and then blood pouring down. It took a second for it to dawn on him that the de had just been pulled out from his back; however, it happened so fast that he never saw the process. Vivianite would be able to mould energy a brief while after the de was pulled out from him, so even an idiot would know why Ming Feizhen pulled the de out.

    No! No! No!

    ¡°¡­ I can¡¯t die. I can¡¯t die¡­ I¡­ I am¡­¡± His voice wasn¡¯t loud, but Vivianite repeated himself tirelessly in the loudest voice possible.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are.¡± A silver light flitted from one side of Ming Feizhen¡¯s eyes to the other. ¡°Don¡¯t touch my second brother.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 93

    Protector

    Ming Feizhen whipped the broadsword again. While it wasn¡¯t umon for a de user to make their de appear transparent, it was incredibly rare to find someone who could perform it as smoothly as Ming Feizhen. The leader, who watched everything unfold, still found it all surreal.

    After ensuring every Hanlin Academician was unconscious, the leader of the assassins questioned, ¡°Is¡­ he dead?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    The speed at which Ming Feizhen replied gave the impression that he was always watching him, so the leader juddered.

    Ming Feizhen went up the leader and looked down at him. ¡°He gave me something I want, so I gave him back a little. He cut my junior brother, though, so he has to pay with blood and pain close to death. I erased his martial arts to give him a taste of his own medicine.¡±

    The leader would¡¯ve doubted Vivianite was still alive when he saw the cut marks on Vivianite¡¯s exposed back bones. After witnessing it all in real time, nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t doubt it; in fact, he wasn¡¯t sure who was scarier between the one who pulled off the feat or the one who survived the damage.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Enough wasting time. I know you heard my conversation with Vivianite. You know I won¡¯t kill if I get something out of you.¡±

    The leader forced himself to smile. ¡°Thought so¡­ You wanted me to hear that.¡±

    ¡°I spared your three remaining allies. Tell me: who are you people?¡±

    ¡°Will you really spare us if I tell you?¡±

    ¡°On my honour.¡±

    ¡°Can you let the two of them go first?¡±

    Ming Feizhen spun around and chopped the archer on the ground.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to let him go conscious? Oi,e in!¡±

    A middle-aged man outside the door shakily entered.

    ¡°Pick him up, and get out of here.¡±

    The doctor stole a quick nce at the leader, then picked up the archer and speedily left. Firstly, he didn¡¯t want to waste the leader¡¯s decision. Secondly, he knew the archer needed treatment ¨C fast.

    Once he ensured the doctor had escaped, the leader heaved a breath. ¡°¡­ Can you tell me where we went wrong? How were you alone able to corner us?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Slow. You¡¯re slow and drag your feet. Furthermore, youck experience in assassination. It¡¯s true that my options are limited at the exam venue. At the same time, however, that applies to you, too. ordingly, you were forced toe after me one at a time, so I only had to fight one at a time. You¡¯d have had better chances if you were like Yan Liren. Unfortunately for you, all of you personally jumped into the arena. That¡¯s a terrible risk for an assassin. There¡¯s no room for error against an opponent stronger than you. What gave you the idea that I wasn¡¯t a threat as long as you assembled a team while I¡¯m weaker than you? You should¡¯ve pulled out after the first failure. Instead, you chose to assemble. I¡¯ve yet to see a stupider decision.¡±

    ¡°How did you¡­ know we¡¯d assemble?¡±

    ¡°I may be alone, but all of you are my eyes and ears.¡± Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I can hear you as soon as you speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So that¡¯s it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen riveted for a moment, then smiled again. ¡°So you had another member hiding underground.¡±

    Just then, Ming Feizhen heard unusual sounds underground, presumably that of an assassin fleeing.

    ¡°Did you ask me all those questions to gather data so that you could make another attempt on my life?¡±

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re still human¡­ we¡¯ll have another opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Break a leg. A chance certainly wille. I just let another off. You should answer my question now, right? Who exactly are you people?¡±

    ¡°Who are we? Who are we?¡± The leader felt as though he was looking at the same dispassionate Ming Feizhen from that day, that battle, in the past, killing people without batting an eye. Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t changed.

    Innumerable heroes were soaked in their own blood in death that day. The world believed that the culprit was Sky Realm Pce¡¯s leader, but the leader of the assassins knew who the true culprit was.

    The leader used to be called Mao Dalong, Brocade Jade, because he also carried around his iron case on him, which housed his signature weapon ¨C a jade belt. Almighty Escort Service¡¯s owner thought most highly of Mao Dalong among the young generation for his skill with the soft weapon.

    Almighty Escort Service used to be one of the top four escortpanies in the martial world. If they saw Almighty Escort Service¡¯s gs, no bandit would dare to raid their escort.

    That fateful day, the weather was perfect; even the water was clear. Yet, it became a day where many lost their most important people and many became obsessed with revenge. Ever since that day, they had to wander from ce to ce with nowhere to call home. Whilst training to exact their vengeance, they left no stones unturned to find the sparse information they could on the culprit. Sometimes, their searches were fruitless, but they didn¡¯t give up. When they heard people after Ming Feizhen¡¯s life were assembling in the capital, they immediately joined. There was no way they were going to let Ming Feizhen find out where they were hiding, or their revenge would be dashed.

    Mao Dalongughed hysterically and then turned his head to bite a red ball by the side of his neck. Ming Feizhen reacted faster than the naked eye could follow, slicing the half of the ball still exposed from Mao Dalong¡¯s mouth. The part still in Mao Dalong¡¯s mouth exploded inside his mouth.

    You demon¡­ We¡­ we¡­ we will eventually kill you¡­ I will not let you know where our base is¡­ Brothers, hide yourselves well. Hide your des. Wait for the moment under our new banner. Wait¡­ until¡­ we can personally take his¡­

    ¡°Hahaha, hahaha, Long live¡­ Yizhen Alliance!¡±

    Thud!

    Mao Dalong went out with a bang ¨C literally.

    Wang Zhenyun hurried outside to assure the imperial guards that nothing requiring their attention had taken ce.

    Ming Feizhen stood in ce for a long, long time. ¡°Yizhen Alliance¡­ What the hell is that?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 94

    Lucky Che Gulu

    A few days ago, when Ming Feizhen was sleeping soundly, thest event of Daren Academy¡¯s idolpetition was held. Everyone who registered for the martial arts contest had prepared long before the contest, but only the true few who had a meaningful chance at winning knew that it was toote by then.

    Che Gulu was pacing around and sighing at Ironhead Pce early in the morning. Meanwhile, Bai Ju leisurely had a nip of wine, smacked his lips and then reprimanded, ¡°Gulu, if you want to burn the building, it¡¯d be far more efficient to use a fire torch than the friction from your shoes.¡±

    ¡°Uncle, enlighten me: howe Miss Jin hasn¡¯t invited me over yet despite my aplishments?¡±

    ¡°Your aplishments? What aplishments?¡±

    Che Gulu sighed again. ¡°Look at my unmatched good looks. Howe Miss Jin isn¡¯t interested?¡±

    Bai Ju, who had a different definition of ¡°good looks¡± to Che Gulu, replied, ¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t like good looking men.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m screwed, then. What else do I have besides good looks?¡± Che Gulu squatted down and grabbed his head.

    Bai Ju had another drink of alcohol. ¡°Win the martial arts contest for a start.¡±

    ¡°That is exactly what I am worried about right now.¡± Che Gulu sighed yet again.

    Concerned that Che Gulu would grow up into a menace to animals (even his own peopleined he had too much strength), he was sent to the Central in to spend more time with books, so hearing himin about fighting was a first.

    ¡°Are you implying you don¡¯t feel confident you can win?¡±

    ¡°Should I not? I have seen Ling Shaoxuan; he cannot beat me. The Bai girl has skill, but shecks experience in realbat. The main problem is¡­¡±

    Bai Ju smiled. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s monk?¡±

    ¡°No way¡­ but he is not easy to beat.¡±

    If he was honest, Che Gulu was worried about Xun Feng. In a contest of martial prowess, Che Gulu had no apprehensions; even losing to Xun Feng wouldn¡¯t be something to be embarrassed about, not to mention you couldn¡¯t win all your fights. What he feared was Xun Feng drugging him or utilising some other dirty trick.

    ¡°Gulu, you don¡¯t need to think that hard. You just want me to help, right?¡±

    Che Gulu smiled as he scratched his head. ¡°I would never dare demand that of you. Are you volunteering to help?¡±

    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve learnt to put on facades and go in circles like people in the Central in¡­¡±

    ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    In the event that Bai Ju lost, it¡¯d still have saved Che Gulu one match, and he¡¯d have more energy than his opponent. Moreover, he couldn¡¯t have been interested in a wife, so he had no concerns there.

    ¡°But I won¡¯t fight Xun Feng.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what stupid ideas you¡¯re having, but it¡¯s because his shifu and I are of the same generation. I can¡¯t pick on someone a generation younger than me. I could ignore that if I wasn¡¯t aware, but I am. I fought him yesterday, but there was no winner, and there¡¯s no reason to rematch.¡±

    That was the first time Che Gulu heard someone survived three whips from Bai Ju. Growing up, he referred to Bai Ju in secret as ¡°Three-whips Uncle¡± because of that.

    ¡°I thought you were going to help me, Uncle.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not your only contenders.¡± Bai Ju grinned. ¡°Isn¡¯t there still Liu Shan Men¡¯s duo? Did you forget about them?¡±

    Che Gulu scratched his cheek. ¡°I saw that Tang Ye guy yesterday spewing blood. Can he even fight still?¡±

    ¡°Spewing blood? I bet it was actually his internal discipline going wrong.¡±

    ¡°Is there a difference? Can he still fight today after suffering qi deviation?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, it he actually suffered qi deviation, he¡¯d have suffered it long ago. You think he could¡¯ve resisted it until the chariotry event? More than likely, he¡¯ll probably level up before the contest starts.¡±

    Che Gulu: He can level up before the contest? We should buy a lottery ticket together; we¡¯d walk away with first prize.

    Noticing Che Gulu brush off the proposition, Bai Ju smirked. ¡°Go check if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    ¡°I sure will!¡±

    Che Gulu charged the door open and stormed off without even shutting it. Bai Ju watched Che Gulu shrink into the distance, then poured himself another drink, had a drink and remarked, ¡°Finally, some peace and quiet.¡±

    ***N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The team at Liu Shan Men finally finished up soon after dawn. Despite feeling awfully sleepy, nobody at Liu Shan Men had the luxury of time to get make-up sleep. They were lucky if they could squeeze in an extra two hours somewhere.

    Tang Ye regained some degree of conscious when the first rays of sunlight came out to y. Although he spent all night in agony as his true qi went wild him, he now felt invigorated. The chilling from his stomach bnced out the heat rampaging around him, giving him a chance to finally rest.

    Even though Tang Ye was still in a bleary state when he heard someone enter, he surprised himself when he could identify who it was based off the sounds of their footsteps as it was a first for him. ¡°Xiao Han?¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Did I wake you?¡±

    Su Xiao woke up far earlier than anyone expected. Owing to the fact that Yijin Jing had high resistance to Xun Feng¡¯s discipline, Su Xiao¡¯s healing rate was expedited ¨C though he still wasn¡¯t healthy enough to fight.

    Su Xiao went to check on Tang Ye after he was filled in.

    Che Gulu was standing outside Tang Ye¡¯s room, albeit whilst avoiding a visible spot. Since Liu Shan Men virtually didn¡¯t have security, he decided to sneak in. He inwardly celebrated, calling himself lucky, when he saw Su Xiao check the surroundings before whispering something. In order to hear the secret, he moved closer and crouched under the window.

    ¡°Tang Ye, you¡¯re Lord San Shen, aren¡¯t you?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 95

    Don¡¯t Fight Him. He¡¯s¡­

    Che Gulu shuddered.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao yelled, ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    Che Gulu bolted out without a second thought. While qinggong wasn¡¯t his forte, he had enough strength in his legs to take him far fast.

    Su Xiao did identify the eavesdropper was Che Gulu, but he didn¡¯t care. ¡°It was Che Gulu. He must¡¯ve been here to check on your condition.¡±

    Scouting reports were important in any contest, so it wasn¡¯t surprising. Su Xiao was carried off in a stretcher before Tang Ye was, so there wasn¡¯t much room for guessing, either. Tang Ye, too, just nodded, especially since he was aware of Che Gulu¡¯s impulsive and straightforward personality. After all, if Che Gulu was plotting something, he wouldn¡¯t have run off whilst making no effort to hide his identity.

    ¡°Xiao Han, what did you just ask me?¡±

    It took all of Su Xiao¡¯s courage to ask the first time, so he didn¡¯t have any left for a second time.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Umm¡­ Well..¡±

    ¡°You can walk around already?¡°n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The two looked over to see Shen Yiren leading a team. In contrast to her subordinates, she brimmed with vigour despite skipping sleep as her subordinates did.

    ¡°How are you feeling, Yan Ling?¡±

    Tang Ye took a breath to check himself, then smiled. ¡°I am perfectly fine now¡­ Vice-Captain, it feels like magic.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. While you have recovered considerably, we¡¯ve only treated the symptom, not the root of your problem. Look at your waist.¡±

    Tang Ye looked down to his sash. Not only did it resemble the colour of snow, but it even emitted a chill into his gut. At the same time, he could feel heat fighting back from the inside.

    Shen Yiren was correct. The phenomena hadn¡¯t ceased. A bnce had merely been achieved, with each energy keeping the other in check.

    ¡°This sash¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ is Feizhen¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m sure you recognise it.¡±

    Tang Ye definitely recognised the sash Ming Feizhen made out of the legendary spider silk. Ming Feizhen stopped wearing it after he emptied out his internal energy, so he had to stow it away in his box reserved specifically for his clothing items made from the unique material. Nobody could wear it because they¡¯d suffer from it before they saw any benefit. Tang Ye was the exception as the material¡¯s chill suppressed the burning true qi inside Tang Ye. Since his true qi reached the surface of his skin, it boiled water, not to mention it was impractical to be constantly bathed in water. There was no way he could put up with the heat for a prolonged period, so Shen Yiren decided to experiment with Ming Feizhen¡¯s garment.

    The fierce chill from the celestial spider silk was intense enough to freeze even Tang Ye¡¯s brows, but it was impossible to cut the garment, so Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t give Tang Ye just a portion. Thankfully, she spotted the sash with her sharp eyes. As the sash sat over his dantian, it was the perfect item to keep the two energies in check.

    Though all seemed well, Tang Ye still had his qualms. If he didn¡¯t continually absorb the chilly venom, he wouldn¡¯t be able to control his true qi, but it wasn¡¯t easy to get along with the cold energy, either. He wasn¡¯t sure if there were any other side effects that he wasn¡¯t aware of. If dosages mattered in medicine, would the sash suddenly be an exception? In saying that, his true qi was easier to controlpared to before ¨C although he didn¡¯t understand the reason for it. Thus far, the cold venom hadn¡¯t had any noticeable harm; it actually seemed to be a match made in heaven with his true qi.

    ***

    Bai Ju was enjoying his alcohol when Che Gulu came racing back and yelled, ¡°Uncle! We must not fight!¡±

    Bai Ju looked down to his cup. ¡°Fight what? I didn¡¯t fight.¡±

    ¡°We cannot fight in thepetition!¡± Che Gulu somehow picked up manners between his trip out and back. He shut the door behind him for a change. After that, he went and harmed the window; he shut everything that could be shut. Then, he rushed over and took Bai Ju¡¯s cup from him. ¡°Uncle! We cannot fight Tang Ye. Do you know who he is?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    Che Gulu checked high and low, then, in a quiet voice, answered, ¡°Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen!¡±

    Bai Ju licked his lips, then hit himself on the forehead. ¡°The alcohol isn¡¯t strong¡­ I¡¯m not drunk,¡± he muttered to himself, before walking out.

    Che Gulu initially thought Bai Ju was just fearless. When he realised Bai Ju didn¡¯t believe him, however, he chased after his uncle. ¡°Uncle! You must believe me! Uncle!¡±

    ***

    The rules for the martial artspetition were simple. Not only were the members of Daren Academy inexperienced in organising ring fights, but hardly anyone was even interested, so¡­ For sure, the young students enjoyed watching contests, but they considered swinging real weapons at each other unsightly. The female students, in particr, disliked watching fights for the most part. Plus, everyone knew it was Che Gulu¡¯s specialty. What could possibly have been interesting about it? It was different this time, nevertheless.

    This time, there were numerouspetitors who they¡¯d otherwise never see in action, all of whom were blessed with looks that could set hearts aflutter. Thus, whether it was interest in their skills or appearances, students had a new reason to spectate the event. In saying that, the rules didn¡¯t evolve just because there were good-looking contestants this time.

    The rules were simple. You qualified if you stepped into the ring. You lost if your limbs were outside of the ring. If you were thest man standing, you won. Simple rules didn¡¯t mean easy wins, however.

    The more members a team had, the bigger their advantage in winning, and the more chances they had before they were eliminated. Li Muye would¡¯ve had an overwhelming advantage in that sense; he could¡¯ve pushed all thepetitors off if his squad just stood in the ring. Hence, only a small number ofpetitors would enter the ring at the start so that other team members could save their energy and see how things yed out. Today, it was totally different to past contests.

    Tang Ye, Bai Yumo, Xun Feng, Che Gulu and Bai Ju all flew onto the ring as soon as the announcer announced themencement. At first, the students thought the five were supposed to be sacrificial pawns. Once they saw otherpetitors being thrown off effortlessly, they realised the five entered from the beginning as they knew only the other four would present any challenge.

    In no time at all, only the five of them remained in the ring. Had they not held back, the ring would¡¯ve been cleared out several times faster. Among them, Tang Ye was most reserved since he didn¡¯t want to divulge his handicap. As he had only just recovered, he wasn¡¯t sure if his true qi still operated as always. While his experiment provided a satisfactory result, he only used 10% of his full power against the students, so it wasn¡¯t representative of higher intensities that he¡¯d need against the other four.

    Tang Ye was his team¡¯s solepetitor due to Su Xiao being out. On the other hand, both the other teams had two members each. As such, his primary concern was the four of them teaming up to eliminate him first. If he was in their shoes, that would¡¯ve been his strategy of choice because it was the safest means of eliminating an unpredictable variable ¨C provided he was confident in himself. Strangely, Che Gulu and Bai Ju jumped Xun Feng and Bai Yumo straight away, acting as if Tang Ye wasn¡¯t even in the ring.

    Xun Feng wanted very much so to team up with Ironhead Pce, but Che Gulu uncorked a huge punch just as Xun Feng went to propose the idea.

    ¡°You want to set me up, too?! Shameless monk! Your voodoo tricks won¡¯t work on me!¡±

    Xun Feng had absolutely no clue what it was all about or what Che Gulu was even talking about.

    Bai Ju, who started meandering toward Tang Ye, heard, ¡°Uncle! Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t fight him! He¡¯s¡­¡±

    Desperation led to inspiration. Che Gulu suddenly yelled, ¡°Oi, Bai Yumo, th-the person who stole the food and got you in trouble was my uncle!¡±

    ¡°So it was you!¡± Livid once she recalled all the suffering she wrongly went through, Bai Yumo changed targets.

    Tang Ye stood stupefied in the ring. He wanted a piece of the chaos, but nobody gave him time of the day.

 Book 14: Chapter 96

    Like Ice and Fire

    ¡°Uncle! Uncle! You can¡¯t fight him!¡± Che Gulu cried whilst throwing punches at Xun Feng¡¯s face. All of Che Gulu¡¯ previous fear of Xun Feng seemingly became a thing of the past.

    Bai Ju was so annoyed that he smiled. He believed that his gullible nephew had fallen for another enemy ploy. He was never one to care for reasoning with people, and he wasn¡¯t about to make an exception. Nevertheless, in order to impose his will, he needed to deal with an obstacle first.

    For once, Bai Yumo pulled no punches. She wasn¡¯t trying to murder Bai Ju, but she was angry and sensed that her opponent was dangerous. Her instincts told her that she¡¯d still fail to hurt the elder even if she went all out. Just as she feared, she didn¡¯t have the strength to even break his true qi armour.

    Seeing as strength wasn¡¯t a viable solution, Bai Yumo switched up her style. Instead of trying to overpower Bai Ju, she stuck to him; even if she wasn¡¯t his match, he¡¯d have no time to think about getting away since there was always another attack to deal with.

    Bai Ju chuckled, finding Bai Yumo more interesting than he gave her credit her. Unfortunately, herck of realbat experience andck of desire to inflict harm rendered her impressive internal energy and broadsword prowess moot. Had she utilised another broadsword discipline with such an innocent mindset, he¡¯d have been able to punch her guts out in one shot. Thanks to Yearning Broadswordy being a manifestation of one¡¯s mindset, though, she was able to bring out a profound version.

    If it was Bai Zhiqing utilising his ¡°Troubled Heart Broadswordy¡±, then Bai Ju really would¡¯ve had a hard time disengaging. However, the young maiden was inexperienced and, therefore, was highly susceptible to the most effective way of dismantling her broadswordy ¨C her mind.

    ¡°Lass, you have a crush on that boy?¡±

    ¡°You! You¡¯re a pathological framer!¡±

    Combining the usation with the theft of food sent Bai Yumo into a fury. She whipped out a violent gust of wind with her next sh; she was clearly too inmed to remember that the person who framed her for stealing food was actually the person she was protecting.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Bai Ju took his head off the line and then initiated an attack. To his surprise, Bai Yumo elerated herself backwards and raised her de parallel to the floor to block. Still, she went drifting off as a result of the impact.

    Bai Yumo saw Bai Ju split in two, so she hurriedly tried tond to go to Tang Ye¡¯s aid. She didn¡¯t expect Bai Ju to use it as a feint. By the time she was aware of it, he had parked himself at hernding spot and aimed his finger spear at her face. The qi she moulded was old by then, and she couldn¡¯t pull herself out of its trajectory. She expected to be hit, but she saw the five fingers change direction and smash a brick before turning back to her, by which point she had already retreated several inches out of range. A momentter, it urred to her that she could smell a man and feel a hot hand around her waist. She looked over her shoulder to Tang Ye, who kicked the brick in between before pulling her out of range.

    Bai Ju: Interesting. I left you be, yet you came to offer up your own life?

    ¡°We¡¯re enemies today. Why did you help me?¡± questioned Bai Yumo.

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t sure how to answer. He was aware of the fact. He was bored standing around just spectating. When he saw Bai Yumo losing, if he didn¡¯t help¡­ He had too much time on his hands¡­ If he helped¡­ He¡¯d still have too much time on his hands. Since he wasn¡¯t doing anything, he figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to help when she was finally in danger. It wasn¡¯t a nice answer, so he chose to coldly ask, ¡°Why did you help me?¡±

    Bai Yumo, whether she wanted to admit it or not, did have some intention of helping Tang Ye back there. ¡°No reason in particr¡­ You¡¯re hurt. I was worried you¡¯d be killed.¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t know how to respond as he never thought Bai Yumo was so nice.

    ¡°It¡¯s time you two face reality.¡± Bai Ju was nice enough to give them time to converse in the middle of a ring, but even he had his bottom line. ¡°Did you know that we old ones have a saying? If you¡¯re in a ring, but you don¡¯t fight, you¡¯ll have to give each other three hundred kisses.¡±

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t bat an eye, while Bai Yumo gasped and touched her lips, wondering if that many kisses would leave her lips too swollen to eat.

    Tang Ye was aware of the fact that he was taking a risk when he chose to intervene, particrly when he knew he wasn¡¯t going to be able to just run through his opponent. Both his experience and knack forbat rmed him to the fact that Bai Ju was on a different level to his previous opponents. Their previous sh also highlighted the gap between them. It, nheless, wasn¡¯t the first time he was pitted against an opponent stronger than him. Ever since setting foot into the pugilistic world, he was mentally ready for the scenario of encountering a foe tougher than him. Besides, he wasn¡¯t alone this time.

    ¡°You attack. I¡¯ll back you up.¡±

    Even though they only had physical contact for a brief while, Bai Yumo¡¯s heart rate did pick up. She instinctively looked over her shoulder and nodded. Then, Tang Ye shoved her away.

    Unprepared Bai Yumo: ¡°???¡±

    ¡°I thought you nodded¡± Tang Ye: ¡°???¡±

    ¡°Does the order matter when you¡¯ll both lose in the end?!¡± Bai Ju vaulted up with a smile and unleashed a vacuum palm strike that raised a wall of dirt, separating the two.

    As she wondered what to do, Bai Yumo heard Tang Ye say, ¡°Draw your de. Fight.¡±

    Despite not knowing how to attack when the force of Bai Ju¡¯s palm strike had yet to evaporate, Bai Yumo chose to trust Tang Ye. She stacked three attacks on top of each other, easily prating the big shockwave to target Bai Ju with a stab. Upon slicing an opening into the vacuum, she saw Tang Ye finger thrust scorching true qi through the vacuum.

    Strength-wise, Tang Ye couldn¡¯t ovee Bai Ju¡¯s strength even if he imbued his strikes with Yang Blood True Qi. However, reducing the surface area he had to infuse with true qi empowered him to pierce through Bai Ju¡¯s vacuum through reducing the amount of force he had to ovee. Equally deserving of praise was Tang Ye¡¯s ability to urately predict where Bai Yumo would strike and coordinate ordingly in the short time.

    Bai Ju¡¯s double palms went in circles, forcing him backwards, putting him in a defensive and passive position for the first time in the fight. Upon regaining bnce, he grinned. ¡°Good stuff, kid.¡±

    While Tang Ye remained vignt, Bai Ju chuckled as he relished the challenge. Bai Ju might not have been famous in the Central in, but nobody would¡¯ve left him out of a conversation centering around the martial world, and nobody in it would brush him off. He had no defined principles and hard to request the service of, but he was unquestionably good at destruction once he got going. Not many people knew about Bai Ju¡¯s life besides him being unmatched as a whip user in the north. Had he not been in a small country, people believed he could¡¯ve rivalled the best of Beijiang. Tang Ye should¡¯ve been honoured to receive praise from Bai Ju, but Bai Ju didn¡¯t just value Tang Ye¡¯s skill.

    Bai Ju spread open his old ck cloak. Bai Yumo and Tang Ye instantly felt somewhat suffocated. Bai Ju slowly raised his arm, creating a diagonal line as his arm rose. The summer breeze didn¡¯t move the cloak even a fraction. The sight resembled dark clouds shrouding the sky. Bai Ju reached out his right hand, introducing a silver light against the dark backdrop. Ling Shaoxuan and Su Xiao were both dropped before they even got to see Bai Ju¡¯s notorious ¡°Iceriver Whip¡±. Seeing it was a sign of receiving respect from Bai Ju as it signified that he was going to get serious.

    Still feeling as though her insides were being jumbled around despite using her energy to resist, Bai Yumo questioned, ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    Tang Ye never took his eyes off Bai Ju, but he wasn¡¯t so tunnel visioned that he couldn¡¯t think. He felt he had a reliable skeleton of Iceriver Whip¡¯s form based off the silver glimmer he caught under the ck coat. He was able to rapidly formte ideas based on the sparse information whilst mentally remaining as still as water, simrly to the two opposing true qis in him maintaining a perfect bnce.

    Upon inhaling deeply, Tang Ye felt icy energy wreath around his scorching true qi without either cancelling out the other; it as if they had formed an alliance to fight amon foe. Rising to the summon of his energy, in a voice that carry the vigour of his fiery energy and the calmness of frozen water, he answered, ¡°Fight head on.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 97

    Dragon Emerges from the Clouds

    Still sticking to the formation of Bai Yumo at the front and Tang Ye at the rear, Bai Yumo swung for the neck of the man hiding in his cloak. She didn¡¯t allow the fact that she swung fast enough to create small boom sounds topromise her control of internal energy.

    Tang Ye looked rx at the back, almost as if he was going for a stroll, yet there was a faint rhythm to his movements that followed Bai Ju¡¯s breathing. Thus, Bai Ju had no doubt that Tang Ye could instantly surpass Bai Yumo¡¯s speed to coordinate a dangerous attack if he ever deviated from his current rhythm.

    The audience couldn¡¯t appreciate the subtleties, but the abrupt and sharp changes in contrast when Tang Ye moved kept them hooked. A heat wave spawned when he stepped with his left and then a chill that made them tremble for a second spread when he stepped with his right foot. They perceived everything in slow motion once Bai Yumo initiated her swing. They subconsciously synchronised their breathing with each other.

    Bai Ju recognised the danger of internal energy that could manipte people around them, and the contrast in his opponents¡¯ slow and fast speeds kept him busy. However, he smiled for he enjoyed the challenge. When you were young, fearless and shining, you had the capital to rude. When you were old and inactive, you expected to be underestimated. At the end of the day, though, one thing never changed in the pugilistic world: might made right. If he feared two young kids, he¡¯d have been unworthy of his reputation.

    Bai Ju stood his ground, yet, as the only person standing still, became akin to a titanic iron nail that prated a tornado. Unsure what dangers belied that stillness, that base that the nail now covered, Tang Ye and Bai Yumo were persuaded they were in a passive position for a split second. After the split second of doubt past, they realised they had been deceived.

    Like a dragon emerging from the clouds, Bai Ju unleashed his whip with the force of an avnche. The mere gale generated blew their dominant momentum to oblivion.

    Tang Ye¡¯s decision to fight Bai Ju head-on was the right call, and he was perfect in its execution. Had it not been for his opponent¡¯s overwhelming strength that didn¡¯t need any shy embellishments, Tang Ye would¡¯ve had his way.

    Bai Ju¡¯s sandstorm not only disconnected the duo, but it almost crushed them, too. Despite the catastrophe-like attack, Tang Ye didn¡¯t budge. Instead, Tang Ye brought his palms together, then sted out cold and hot energy from them to resist.

    Boom! The collision of energy resulted in a big hemisphere over five inches deep forming from the middle of the ring and extending towards the boundary.

    Tang Ye had trails of blood running from his nose, while his arms felt as though they had been torn off the bones. The effort paid off as it created an opening above, where there was no hostile energy. He subsequently rxed his body, stomped the ground and rode the wind Bai Ju created to fly up and out of the tornado¡¯s range.

    Bai Ju¡¯s tornado eventually lost its form as a result of Tang Ye sabotaging its core, leaving the ring resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster. Meanwhile, the two who escaped continued to ascend; if Bai Ju didn¡¯t kill them, then they¡¯d fall to their deaths if they kept ascending at that rate.

    Bai Yumo performed a spinning side kick at Tang Ye¡¯s waist, sending him back to the ground. Tang Ye opened his eyes, then pulled on the scabbard attached to her sash. The two secured themselves on the ground without any damage, earning a standing ovation from the audience.

    ¡°Hahaha, taking a break already? Why don¡¯t you keep your elderpany for a little longer?¡±

    Bai Ju tore through the airborne dirt, whipping apart the veil of dirt with sounds that gave him the resemnce of a slithering snake showing its tongue. By the time he said hisst word, Tang Ye and Bai Yumo had moved.

    Maintaining a fixed distance against a mid-ranged weapon user was foolish; closing the gap and staying in the pocket was the most ideal range. That was one reason Tang Ye deemed it appropriate to fight head on. Bai Ju, nheless, wasn¡¯t so foolish or inexperienced that he didn¡¯t realise the typical counters to his style. Treating Bai Ju as an ordinary whip user would be a fatal mistake; in fact, their weaknesses were his best strengths. That was the reason the duo was prepared for an even tougher fightpared to long-range fighting once they bridged the gap. Hence, dodging was their best option for the meantime.

    As soon as the two got out of the way, the areas they previously stood split as though someone mmed the ground with an oversized axe.

    Every step Bai Ju advanced, concrete would split and stones would shatter. Just as they thought highly of him, he thought highly of his opponents, so he never let himself ovemit. He expended nearly 80% of his internal energy in thest head-on sh and was now resorting to ¡°Dragon Emerges from the Clouds¡±, one of hisst-resort techniques he nigh never had to use. Using it as his first choice upon pulling out Iceriver Whip was extremely rare, and using it against someone younger was a first for him. Never did he expect they could escape his tornado, let alone still be running around.

    Although Tang Ye impressed with his strength, it was his abilities to stay calm under duress,e up with a disengagement strategy and have the courage to trade that Bai Ju respected most.

    The most lethal part of ¡°Dragon Emerges from the Clouds¡± wasn¡¯t the destructive potential, but the fact the entire attack was linked, so thest hit did as much damage as the first. Bai Ju wasn¡¯t respected as the best whip user in Beijiang for his destructive power but his precise control of internal energy. As the force was the same at the head as it was at the tail, no matter how clever, sophisticated or strong you were, there was no weak spot to cut it off or escape through. In the meantime, you¡¯d be tired from trying to block Bai Ju¡¯s sneaky attacks simultaneously. When he first came up with the technique inspired by a tornado across a grass in, his internal energy was nowhere near his current level, yet it was menace to his opponents precisely because of its wless nature.

    ¡°Dragon Emerges from the Clouds¡± was a technique designed to create an opportunity, not one designed to finish an opponent. Bai Ju didn¡¯t expect Tang Ye to sh with it head on from the start. The counter to the technique was to stop it before you were caught in it since the force would be concentrated on just your front side rather than it spread out all around you. The strategy, however, would¡¯ve backfired if Tang Ye was fighting alone.

    While Tang Ye didn¡¯t buy much time, it was enough time for Bai Yumo to escape, and she showed great chemistry when she used the time to cut open an escape route for them. Their chemistry put to shame the couples in the pugilistic world describedparably to fiction.

    ¡°You two¡­¡±

    Tang Ye and Bai Yumo tuned in to hear what their foe had to say.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Bai Ju caressed his chin and finished remarking, ¡°could make a couple.¡±

    The duo was mentally and physically stumped, resulting in them almost getting whipped.

    Tang Ye and Bai Yumo: You fight dirty! No mind games!

 Book 14: Chapter 98

    Sonorous Roar

    Bai Ju¡¯s constant attacks eced the entire ring in a barrage of whip afterimages instead of using big techniques, such as ¡°Dragon Emerges from the Clouds¡±. Tang Ye was too damaged to stop more big blows head on, so he had to evade attacks. What intrigued Bai Ju was how Tang Ye was able to evade his attacks effortlessly when Ling Shaoxuan and Su Xiao went down without even seeing how. Tang Ye demonstrated he could time breathing and true qi to block an attack using a method he was still amateurish with, but he was now able to continue evading using an unfamiliar discipline whilst injured. Despite Bai Ju¡¯s speed and theplexity of his discipline, Tang Ye improved as the fight dragged on.

    Since Tang Ye had learnt to wield whips in the past, he was aware just how difficult it was to reach Bai Ju¡¯s level. Personally, he could tell how humungous the gap between them was with a whip.

    As the whip came within three inches of killing him, Tang Ye could see its trajectory clearer than ever before. The surreal experience had continued to happen multiple times since he woke up from hisst injury. This time, though, he chose to trust what he saw ¨C not that he had another option. Following what he saw in his mind, he dodged the whip time and time again, but the ease of dodging it was even more unbelievable to him.

    While it wasn¡¯t something for Bai Ju to smile about, it wasn¡¯t his first his first time facing a simr situation. There was nothing voodoo or sinister about Tang Ye¡¯s style; however, it was a difficult style to master. The style required one to develop their true qi into another sensory organ. Though it wasn¡¯t possible to tell where Tang Ye learnt it from, it was safe to assume Tang Ye expended a copious amount of internal energy in order to sustain it. Talent alone wasn¡¯t enough to adopt the style. If nothing else, considering Tang Ye¡¯s age and internal energy, something unordinary must¡¯ve happened for Tang Ye to still be able to run it at this point.

    Bai Ju felt sorry for the youth trying so hard because he could see that he wasn¡¯t even taught it properly; more than anything, something probably clicked for Tang Ye, and he was just going along with it. Moreover, there was no turning back once one chose to pick up the style.

    One couldn¡¯t just change their internal style whenever they wanted; it only became exponentially more challenging once one progressed further in their internal discipline. Thus, there were only two possible oues for Tang Ye. He would copse as he did during the chariotry contest due to not meeting the internal energy requirement, and he¡¯d struggle to build himself into a fighter. To put it more bluntly, he¡¯d be a cripple. Or, he¡¯d meet the requirements of the discipline and gain internal energy that had martial artists green with envy. There was no third option.

    Tang Ye wasn¡¯t the only rising star who would keep the martial world interesting. Just as Tang Ye sessfully read the flow of true qi to decide how to dodge, Bai Yumo had also remained untouched. Unlike Tang Ye, Bai Yumo never focused on dodging. To the untrained eye, her dodges seemed to be mindless, but that was the opposite of the truth. She never jumped in big angles, but she was as mobile as though she was riding the winds rather than using raw power tounch herself away. If anything, her evasion skills surpassed Tang Ye¡¯s.

    Were the two able to survive without using their specialties because Bai Ju was regressing, or was the next generation just getting better? It didn¡¯t matter to him.

    Growing tired of theck of engagement, Bai Ju chuckled and sped up even more. Since the duo based their actions depending on their opponent, or the whip in Tang Ye¡¯s case, they stopped in their tracks when Bai Ju stopped advancing.

    Because Bai Yumo stopped, she lost the feeling of drifting freely through the air and couldn¡¯t enter that mode again as it was a zone she entered by happenstance. Waking up from her dream-like state, she could no longerprehend what she saw in her nce. However, she recognised the danger she was in thanks to the cold tickle down her spine.

    Tang Ye nearly failed to decelerate in time and would¡¯ve tripped out of the ring. Luckily for him, the bits and pieces of the damaged ring provided a spot for him to decelerate himself. Upon stopping, he discovered he was drenched in sweat, had smokeing from his dome and a face of the same colour as the smoke. Bai Ju was correct in his assessment that Tang Ye¡¯s method of evasion costed him an exorbitant amount of internal energy. This time, he was certain that the method of evasion drained his internal energy dramatically to enhance his detection of true qi and breathing. Thankfully, by whatever magic of the celestial spider silk sash, it reced his expenditure to an extent. At the end of the day, even with the sash providing extra fuel, he was expending his own to sustain the ability and could only absorb so much at the same time.

    Tang Ye¡¯s respect for Ming Feizhen grew to a new level with the knowledge. After all, Ming Feizhen had the internal energy and physical ability to wear entire garments of celestial spider silk without suffering any burden or anyone noticing anything odd. Tang Ye had trained both, yet he had trouble wearing just the sash in istion.

    Bai Yumocked experience and proficiency. Tang Yecked stamina and internal energy. Now that they were no longer mobile, they had to use their own strength to move and fight head on. That was when Bai Ju would seize victory.

    Bai Ju somehow increased the girth of his whip before taking to the air. He created an enclosure around the two with his whip, then promptly shrunk it. The moment his whip shrunk enough to make contact, they would suffer utter defeat. s, he ended up having to widen his eyes for a double check.

    Bai Ju had reduced their movement capacity to a level he could control, but Tang Ye suddenly did the unthinkable. Tang Ye picked up Bai Yumo and somehow escaped the enclosure without even letting Bai Ju see how.

    Bai Ju tugged up a corner of his lips. He thought he could see a second silhouette ¨C the silhouette of Tang Ye¡¯s teacher ¨C behind the young man who just threw Bai Yumo out of the encirclement and was breathing heavily. Though Tang Ye was too weak for him, he had to admit whoever taught Tang Ye was an elite among the elites, rousing Bai Ju¡¯spetitive spirit that he thought he had lost.

    ¡°The new generation has proven its greatness. You impress one after another.¡± Bai Ju told himself he wouldn¡¯t use 80% of his full power today, but life was full of surprises.

    This is all because you deceived my nephew.

    Bai Juughed in a thunderous voice subsequently to inserting a self-made excuse. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you two can dodge this.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Bai Ju straightened out his whip into the shape of a cudgel and smiled. ¡°If you can¡¯t, die.¡±

    Bai Ju added sky-blue energy to his whip.

 Book 14: Chapter 99

    Gulu and Xun Feng

    Boom! The new dent in the ring that Che Gulu created was tinypared to the one Bai Ju made, but it was still a respectable demonstration of strength.

    Xun Feng lightly moved out of the way before Che Gulu¡¯s punch couldnd, demonstrating a high-degree of proficiency in using disciplines requiring little ¨C rtively speaking ¨C physical strength.

    Although Xun Feng and Che Gulu put on an interesting back and forth, the unbelievable performance Tang Ye and Bai Yumo put on stole all the attention. Xun Feng and Che Gulu¡¯sst one-hundred-plus exchanges were thrilling if you were interested in a fight with numerous close moments,e backs when one was on the cusp of defeat, breaking previous limits and fast pace, but Bai Ju stole their thunder with his tornado. Ever since Bai Ju pulled the big card out, Che Gulu and Xun Feng were relegated to the fate of invisible side characters. When Che Gulu countered Xun Feng¡¯splicatedbo of locks, people shouted, ¡°Nice dodge!¡± Someone else shouted, ¡°How did they dodge that when I can¡¯t even see the whip?!¡± Another person shouted, ¡°I¡¯m cheering for you two!¡±

    The atmosphere demotivated Che Gulu. ¡°How about¡­ we pause this for a while?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± responded Xun Feng.

    Che Gulu¡¯s father was one of the top fighters in Beijiang. Che Gulu was a born natural when it came to pure might, and he was always the strongest among those in his age bracket. He never cked off on his training aftering to the Central in.

    There were hardly any students at Daren Academy interested in learning martial arts despite Principal Huang¡¯s prowess, not to mention that not everyone was built for martial arts. Martial arts weren¡¯t a part of the imperial exams, and sess in it didn¡¯t take one very far in politics. Scions of nobility weren¡¯t willing to suffer if they weren¡¯t learning at home already. Hence, Che Gulu was a rare talent that the martial arts instructors liked ¨C though his slowness in grasping internal disciplines was painful. When it came to learning physical techniques, especially when it came to overwhelming opponents with strength, he learnt unbelievably fast. The best part about him was his attitude; he neverined no matter what hardships he was put through, which was the rarest trait to find among Confucians.

    Under the tutge of Daren Academy¡¯s martial arts instructors, Che Gulu finally added a tiny bit of softness into his repertoire of all-out hard strikes and blocks. At the moment, he had his hard-hitting techniques synthesised with Confucianism¡¯s mental discipline that gave even Shen Yiren trouble.

    Xun Feng¡¯s martial arts abilities were shrouded in mystery. It was quite surprising to realise that he hardly got into fights when he had no trouble flirting with women, drinking and making enemies daily. Till this day, he was still most known for going to Lotus Cult in the Western Regions and shutting them down in a debate ¨C not with fists. His mentor, the abbot of Cold Mountain Temple, was also an individual few knew details about. In spite of him managing so many monks, both hisbat prowess and even appearance were a mystery for he spent the majority of his time tucked away on the mountain, reading scriptures.

    Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s monks had been active in the pugilistic world for decades, so their fame in martial arts had spread, but the nature of the martial arts they were known for was incredibly diverse. The Venerable Monk¡¯s four senior disciples earned their temple a ce in heaps of categories; however, each one of them were well-versed in multiple facets of martial arts, and it was hard to seemon denominators. As such, it was difficult to determine what exactly Cold Mountain Temple specialised in. By extension, nobody was sure how much effort Xun Feng put into the fight with Che Gulu.

    While the environment between them continuously suffered major damage, neither Xun Feng nor Che Gulu had no time to bother with any of it. Thanks to the respite, they were able to catch a glimpse of what had unfolded. Although the two of them had a part in ruining the ring, it was unlikely they contributed even 10% of the damage that they witnessed. At most, they put a few holes in the ring. At this point, losing by way of ring out probably needed to be removed.

    ¡°My goodness me! Uncle! I told you that you can¡¯t fight him!¡±

    Che Gulu¡¯s uncle might¡¯ve been the toughest man of Kiliya, but his opponent was the reincarnation of a god, a man who couldmand the seven states of the Western Regions, not to mention Divine Moon Cult. If Lord San Shen didn¡¯t join Liu Shan Men for free rent, food and women, then he had some other goal. Regardless of what the goal was, he wasn¡¯t someone they could afford to cross! If rabbits bit people, why would Lord San Shen be an exception? Their entire race could be at risk of extermination if Lord San Shen wanted revenge? Even if he didn¡¯t pay with his entire race, Che Gulu would lose his uncle, his strongest soldier. Long-story short, it was a terrible deal!

    Che Gulu prepared to run over and stop his uncle, when he sensed a wind arrowparable to those fired back homeing,ing for his head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Xun Feng never took his attention off the other fight in the ring, even whilst dodging punches, though the damage to the ring exceeded his imagination. It didn¡¯t change the order of his priorities, nheless.

    Bai Yumo and Tang Ye winning against Bai Ju didn¡¯t sound possible. Howbeit, Bai Ju shouldn¡¯t have had a desire to win; he must¡¯ve just had an itch and couldn¡¯t hold back. By that reasoning, Bai Ju would¡¯ve lost his reason topete and pull out once the source of his motivation was eliminated.

    Xun Feng¡¯s finger spearnded exactly where he wanted it on Che Gulu¡¯s back. To his surprise, though, it felt two mps on his extended arm. Though hended his sneak attack, Che Gulu leapt up and used his legs to lock Xun Feng¡¯s arms as he spat blood in the opposite direction. Che Gulu was still in the fight, but he was hurt bad. Xun Feng tried to mould energy to push through three times, only to remain in the same spot.

    ¡°You conniving monk! I¡¯ll cripple you if it¡¯s thest thing I do!¡±

    Xun Feng knew very well that Che Gulu was the type to really throw his life away for a goal, so he desperately tried using a flexible method of getting away. Unexpectedly, Che Gulu utilised Confucianism¡¯s mental cultivation to maintain control of Xun Feng¡¯s arm.

    Feeling his arm about to break, Xun Feng resorted to using his free hand to spear Che Gulu on the back of the head. No matter how impulsive Che Gulu was, even he knew it would¡¯ve killed him if he took the spear. ordingly, Che Gulu released his hold. Xun Feng immediately switched back to his free arm, pushing forward from close quarters to palm Che Gulu flush on the chest!

    Hit with 90% of Xun Feng¡¯s full power, Che Gulu inevitably went reeling out of the ring. In saying that, he managed to wind up and smash Xun Feng¡¯s shoulder with a huge punch before he was sent out of the ring. Due to their position in the exchange, Che Gulu flew across the entire ring and out, while Xun Feng, who was already at the edge of the ring,nded outside despite Che Gulu¡¯s weaker punch. s, nobody noticed they had been eliminated.

    All eyes were on the erect ck whip resembling a sword drawn from the ether.

    ¡°Ready?¡± questioned Bai Ju. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t deliberate, but even he failed to notice his nephew had lost.

 Book 14: Chapter 100

    100% Kill Rate ¨C Life and Death Unknown Pill

    It was a clear day, yet the ck whip created an ominous atmosphere. Were Che Gulu still conscious, he would¡¯ve belted, ¡°Sonorous Roar!¡± Quanmu¡¯s students had started yelling out to Tang Ye, trying to persuade him to give up; even students from other sses persuaded Bai Yumo and Tang Ye to forfeit the match for a loss to Bai Ju was nothing to be embarrassed about. Si Fu turned around so that she wouldn¡¯t have to see Tang Ye perish to the azure energy that she could tell was Bai Ju¡¯s ultimate technique. The only person who watched on without batting an eye was the person most confident in Tang Ye ¨C Su Xiao.

    With his arms crossed and gaze on the match, Su Xiao reproached, ¡°Hmph, put a sock in it, or you won¡¯t know where your jaw went once Tang Ye makes his move!¡±

    Bai Yumo remained as cool as a cucumber. Whether she was stupefied or incapable of discerning the danger was uncertain, but it was just the way she was. In fact, she was more worried about Tang Ye than Bai Ju. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Thest time Tang Ye used the mobility skill, his meridians were set alight. This time, he perspired profusely and couldn¡¯t stop trembling. Bai Yumo was more freaked out about it than he was. He could feel half of his body scalding, while the other half was ready to freeze. Bai Yumo didn¡¯t need to be a doctor to see he was in a bad state.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ that pill.¡±

    Tang Ye could only think of one cause. He was aware that his new internal energy was supplied from an external source, but he never questioned how he¡¯d be able to control it so freely if it was. Although he was no expert on controlling internal energy, his usage of it a few days ago should¡¯ve been his personal best, considering it wasn¡¯t even as impressive as when he first joined Liu Shan Men. After all, despite not having the knowledge and experience he now had, his control of his internal energy and Yang Blood True Qi was excellent.

    Tang Ye sabotaged himself following his defeat at the hands of Yi Wangyou, so he asked Ming Feizhen to erase Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King¡¯s martial arts from his body when he returned. As a result, he was back to 80% of his level prior to Huzhou. Little did he know that, though the discipline Luo Ming coborated with Poison King toe up with wasn¡¯t orthodox, it was the product of two cream-of-the-crop martial artists¡¯ dedicating ten years of their life to. Boosting Tang Ye¡¯s internal energy by 70% within a matter of days couldn¡¯t be put down to just ¡°unorthodoxy¡±.

    ¡°Binary Poison¡±bined the concept of ¡°fight fire with fire¡± to boost strength and the concepts of ¡°Repository Swordy¡±. He was able to improve drastically in ¡°Scorching Sun Spirit¡± within a short time frame thanks Yang Blood True Qi acting as his foundation. That said, it was only expedited because Poison King used poison to force two different heat energies to synergise. The thing was, Poison King used an extremely potent poison ¨C gu poison.

    Gu poison could potentially cling to its host¡¯s body and feed off the host¡¯s body, thereby strengthening itself perpetually. Using Tang Ye as an example, the exceptionally hot energy was the result of the gu¡¯s work. Carelessness was all it took for one to lose their mind and control of their martial arts. Even Luo Ming nearly lost his mind and swordy had Ming Feizhen not given him a taste of death.

    Tang Ye had Binary Poison erased from his body for a simple reason: it didn¡¯t belong to him. An unwritten rule in the pugilistic world was to not keep what wasn¡¯t yours. Had Tang Ye kept Scorching Sun Spirit, he¡¯d have his hands disabled aseuppance.

    As a consequence of removing Scorching Sun Spirit, the gu lost its source of sustenance, so it ¡°threw a tantrum¡±. Though Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve expelled the poison from Tang Ye, he would¡¯ve regressed Tang Ye¡¯s progress, too. The ramification could¡¯ve been subverted; however, Ming Feizhen only supressed the poison using his internal energy until he had the luxury to get rid of the poison. Consequently, Tang Ye¡¯s original internal energy from Yang Blood True Qi as well as the Binary Poison¡¯s were inessible. His growth in thest six months was solely in terms of knowledge and maturity. The five de techniques Ming Feizhen imparted expanded his knowledge, but it didn¡¯t raise his strength. Tang Ye assiduously studied the five techniques as he had a strong suspicion that his internal energy wouldn¡¯t increase again no matter how he trained. Considering it karma for his thoughtless decisions, he gave up on improving his internal energy. He came to terms with the fact that he¡¯d have to take revenge with skill alone. His reasoning was wed, though.

    Development from training couldn¡¯t just evaporate without a catalyst. The internal energy, including that of which he developed in Huzhou, he developed had to go somewhere inside him. Ming Feizhen suppressing the gu poison was just that ¨C suppressing it; he didn¡¯t set it into a dormant mode. The qi and essence developed continued to develop as the gu fed off him. It just couldn¡¯t be withdrawn since Ming Feizhen suppressed it. Gus had an insatiable appetite by nature, so the real reason Tang Ye teaued was due to the gu continuing to use Binary Poison¡¯s method of absorbing the heat energy. Tang Ye wasn¡¯t privy of the fact until he was hurt badly against Tang Za. Most importantly, he had learnt techniques from Ming Feizhen¡¯s Ancient King String.

    Not even Ming Feizhen realised that his techniques that shared Ancient King¡¯s origins loosened his seal on the gu, allowing it to attempt forcing its way out of its confines. Ever since then, Tang Ye felt the flow in his meridians was clunky. The second time he utilised Ming Feizhen¡¯s skills was when he employed Hazy Steps.

    There was no way Tang Ye could¡¯ve performed Hazy Steps based on his internal energy development; not even Ming Feizhen could perform it. The intense drainage pattern of internal energy, nevertheless, closely resembled the way Ming Feizhen moulded energy, which was extremely close to what humans could achieve. What Tang Yecked in internal energy, Ming Feizhen made up for with his seal. Ming Feizhen¡¯s internal-energy-moulding method sucked the internal energy right out of Tang Ye in addition to the true qi that made up Ming Feizhen¡¯s seal. As a result, the gu escaped, dragging the uncontroble heat energy along.

    The gu had feasted off the heat energy Tang Ye toiled for and the huge amount of heat energy it absorbed prior. Thus, when it surfaced again, not only was there uncontroble heat energy but also its own venom. Without Ming Feizhen¡¯s seal and the Binary Poison¡¯s refinement taking ce, there was nothing inside Tang Ye to restrain the gu. Given the way it rampaged inside him, Tang Ye should¡¯ve been nothing more than charcoal before he could¡¯ve returned to Liu Shan Men. His saviour was Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°life and death unknown pill¡±.

    Ming Feizhen never imagined anyone would consume a ¡°life and death unknown pill¡±. If he ever needed to feed it to anyone, he would¡¯ve done so with the intent of poisoning them since, despite it being able to neutralise venoms, it was so potent that people would¡¯ve died before it could¡¯ve neutralised the poison. In saying that, he decided to add ¡°life¡± into the name as it also had the potential to save someone on the verge of death¡­ though the odds were slim. Before the pill could torment Tang Ye, it killed the gu inside him. Overnight, the pill also cleared out the poison they couldn¡¯t do anything about. Thus, Tang Ye¡¯s body transformed.

    The gu¡¯s escape restored Tang Ye¡¯s internal energy back to his level in Huzhou, which was 70% higher than when he joined Liu Shan Men. His internal energy development over thest sixth months was also liberated from its constraints. Subsequently, the internal energy that the gu refined was restored. Lastly, ¡°life and death unknown pill¡± converted the gu¡¯s poison into more potent internal energy using Binary Poison¡¯s method. From a volume perspective, Tang Ye essentially gained four times his original internal energy.

    On top of all that, his heat energy was no longer that which he developed via Yang Blood True Qi. Owing to the gu¡¯s refinement approach, itbined Yang Blood True Qi and Scorching Sun Spirit. Tang Ye was unable to control the heat energy moulded through that method, leading to the anguish he went through allst night. The heat energy was too intense for him, while Binary Poison didn¡¯t need one extreme.

    Celestial spider silk and its cold venom was a delicacy to Tang Ye¡¯s heat energy. ordingly, they synthesised without a hitch, bing a new energy source beyond hisprehension. Sadly, he still had no discipline to reign them in. Every time he exceeded his expenditure limit, he¡¯d be left wondering how to keep the energy under control. He hadn¡¯t found an answer, and his opponent certainly wasn¡¯t going to wait for him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Now, die.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 101

    Bai Yumo and Tang Ye

    In spite of how scary the whip appeared, Bai Ju resembled someone who had lost the will to fight. Anyone privy would know that anyone who was good at their craft could make hard feats look easy.

    ¡°He¡¯s been off the grid for ages, and he starts a big scene as soon as he returns to the Central in¡­ I wish I could stab him a few times,¡± remarked Lan Jiqiong, ¡°but that attack¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed, he has improved since thest time he was here,¡± finished He Kanyu, Huang Yuzao¡¯s senior disciple.

    He Kanyu discerned that Sonorous Roar had surpassed the restraints of a whip and fused swordsmanship into it to a degree that you could argue it was a sword technique. He was d to see the elder he once fought had improved since theirst sh.

    Lan Jiqiong, in contrast, took offence to Bai Ju¡¯s actions, deeming it an insult to the academy¡¯s reputation. Were it not for He Kanyu¡¯s presence and himself being inferior, he would¡¯ve banned Bai Ju from participating in the idolpetition. In his world, a man dressed slovenly was unbefitting topete in a contest for idols!

    When the aura of Sonorous Roar started emanating, it gave the impression that not even its caster could cancel it once it was executed. Although Bai Ju didn¡¯t look overwhelming, the ball was in his court. He Kanyu had the elites of the academy spread out to protect the people in attendance, especially since not even Tang Ye and Bai Yumo were likely going to be able to protect themselves, let alone the audience, as well.

    ¡°Hero He.¡±

    He Kanyu turned around upon hearing his name called. He recognised the concerned maiden, but he had never seen her look worried the few times they met in the past. ¡°Ma¡¯am Si, how can this one help?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± The usually smart maiden hadn¡¯t finished putting together her thoughts, so she suddenly found herself unsure of what to say next.

    He Kanyu put together her concerned expression and the fact that she kept ncing in Tang Ye¡¯s direction. ¡°Is there a concern about the match in the right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hero He. I wanted to ask¡­ does the young man in the ring have any chance of winning?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No.¡± He Kanyu shook his head. ¡°Bai Ju is exceptionally skilled. While the young man is impressive, it is impossible for him to defeat Bai Ju.¡±

    He Kanyu was a credible judge of the topic; it went double in his case since he had fought Bai Ju previously.

    Si Fu felt as if her heart stopped beating.

    ¡°But¡­ there is hope they will not lose.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Si Fu whipped her head up.

    ¡°Bai Ju stated he would forfeit if they could survive the attack. He has always been a man of his word. Therefore, as long as they can survive the attack, they may not win, but they may not lose.¡±

    Si Fu turned her attention back to the ring.

    Bai Ju cracked a smile, taking away the intimidation factor of the whip, but the reality was that it had actually increased in output. After all, he had spent longer charging it up.

    ¡°The young man has problems with his internal energy,¡± informed He Kanyu. ¡°He has scary internal energy; he would not be beneath Bai Ju if he could master it. It would be sufficient to block this attack. Unfortunately, it is currently unbridled. Unless he can systematically utilise it, he will lose all his progress today. All hope lies in Miss Bai.¡±

    Si Fu shifted her line of sight to the young maiden who looked spaced out, somewhat flustered and totally unreliable.

    ¡°If she can buy enough time for the young man to refocus, there is hope for victory.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Hey! Hey! What¡¯s the matter!¡± Bai Yumo called out to Tang Ye for the nth time.

    Besides looking ghastly white, one side of Tang Ye was too scalding hot, while the other side was too ice cold to touch. He had ayer of qi enveloping him that knocked Bai Yumo¡¯s hand away so hard that it hurt when she tried to touch him.

    ¡°Tang Ye! Tang Ye!¡± When she snapped out of it for the second time, Bai Yumo found Tang Ye in the bizarre state, and she couldn¡¯t snap out of it. ¡°Don¡¯t ignore someone after you rescue them!¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s five senses were shut off, so even his eyes were lifeless. The only proof he was still alive was the temperature of his body.

    ¡°Save your energy, Miss Bai.¡± Bai Ju yawned. ¡°He can¡¯t control his internal energy. He¡¯s close to qi deviation.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do you know?¡±

    Bai Ju supinated his free hand. ¡°He obtained an enormous amount of energy from somewhere, but he can¡¯t control it, so he¡¯s in a dilemma. Though I don¡¯t know the details, I can tell there is one heat and one cold source, two seldom seen energy sources. His experience is a lesson to never take what¡¯s not yours. How befitting of thispetition to include an educationponent on top of entertainment. It¡¯s not apletely bad thing, though.¡±

    ¡°What do you want to say now?¡± Bai Yumo finally looked back and red, although she wasn¡¯t imposing.

    ¡°Have you seen the process of porcin work? How about water freezing? How about forging sariras with fire?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps thebination of the two will refine something valuable or a valuable.¡± Bai Ju smirked. ¡°Are you not benefitting by being close? Isn¡¯t it a good thing?¡±

    Upon seeing Bai Yumo scowl, Bai Ju wagged his hand. ¡°I was just kidding. Don¡¯t you have a sense of humour?¡°

    As soon as Bai Yumo let it go, Bai Ju added, ¡°If there was something to gain, I¡¯d have kicked you out of the way for Gulu.¡±

    Bai Yumo got to her feet.

    ¡°Worry about yourself first. I don¡¯t have worthless sympathy. I¡¯ve never spared a young individual just because they could be polished into something better. You¡¯re only still in one piece because this takes a long time to charge.¡±

    The imposing aura that seemingly disappeared burst from the whip glowing blue again, startling the audience.

    ¡°In positions!¡± thundered He Kanyu.

    The elites under He Kanyu¡¯smand immediately started using their internal energy to recite something to protect the meridians of the students. The winds around picked up as though the ck sword couldmand the wind, yet Bai Ju¡¯s clothing didn¡¯t even flutter.

    Bai Ju¡¯s silence rubbed off on everyone else.

    ¡°Out of the goodness of my heart, your best option is to run away. Abandon him, and at least one of you will survive. I don¡¯t want to kill you since I respect your uncle. Don¡¯t overestimate yourself.¡±

    Bai Yumo turned back to Tang Ye, wondering why he didn¡¯t run. She couldn¡¯t understand why he was stubborn and isted. He could¡¯ve escaped when Bai Ju performed Dragon Emerges from the Clouds, yet he took the brunt of the attack when he was at the rear. Had he retreated, she would¡¯ve been the only one to take damage. He could¡¯ve left the ring in the second attack, but he chose to save her. He wasn¡¯t the type to put his life on the line for this sort ofpetition, not when he had a grudge to avenge. He could bear with Xun Feng¡¯s provocations, so surely he had a lot of goals, or at least a big one, to chase.

    ¡°You stayed back to save me, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t receive an answer, all her concern converted to courage. She slowly rose to her feet, then turned to the man spawning a catastrophe. ¡°I¡¯ll fight you alone.¡±

    Bai Yumo¡¯s life had always been simple. Her parents doted on her. Everyone back at Valley of Yearning liked her somewhat na?ve, easygoing sense of personality topped with a strong sense of justice. Her only hobbies were training and eating. She had yet to personally experienceplicated things in life or learn about them from her parents. She understood honour from the moment she was born and remembered the broadswordy her uncle taught her.

    Bai Yumo¡¯s supposed unstoppable monster of a murderous broadsword-wielding uncle was just a doting elder in her eyes. When spring walked in at Valley of Yearning, he sat on a big boulder on the mountain, while she got to sit in hisp as a kid as they listened to the sound of nature and the waterfall.

    A grudge must be repaid as must a favour. We do not let grudges go unpaid, and neither do we let favours go unpaid.

    ¡°If you want to kill him you¡¯ll have to go through me first.¡± As everything eventually stood still, Bai Yumo dered, ¡°Bai n members have never known what¡¯s good for them.¡±

    Bai Yumo advanced on Bai Ju speedily without showing any signs that she was rushing to stop Bai Ju before he could deliver the blow. Her steps wereparable to a clear breeze that wouldn¡¯t provoke any hostility despite also being akin to an iron hammer hitting metal. She ramped up her intensity so fast that it had the audience holding their breath.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Bai Ju recognised what he was watching ¨C heaven¡¯s dao.

    All the attention moved to her ordinary broadsword. The moments leading up to, and the moment, a young maiden abandoned all fear to sh into what resembled a natural disaster would be remembered vividly by all those there that day.

 Book 14: Chapter 102

    Lord San Shen¡¯s Hammer

    Light flickered sporadically, while thunder roiled intermittently as if it was the chorus to the harsh winds, yet it felt as if the desert was still. No other sounds from the real world reached this world. Practitioners of internal disciplines called the maddening experience ¡°signs of qi deviation¡±. Howbeit, the catalyst behind Tang Ye experiencing it wasn¡¯t qi deviation.

    Theplicated origins of Tang Ye¡¯s energy was the reason for him struggling to control it. Although the heat energy belonged to him, he could only wield a portion of it. The synthesised heat energy forged from the gu¡¯s refinement, Yang Blood True Qi and Scorching Sun Spirit burnt far hotter than that which he developed. It was the reason he was able to manifest mes with his bare hands in Huzhou; it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how much more potent it was now six monthster.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The celestial spider silk¡¯s venom was also extreme. Its characteristics wereparable to Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King¡¯s gu poison, except it was a ¡°yin¡± energy, while thetter was a ¡°yang¡± energy. Nanjiang¡¯s Poison King wouldn¡¯t have been able to find the main body Ming Feizhen retrieved it from even if he had another century to live, let alone subdue it. Even in a box, its venom could still freeze anything within a thirty-metre radius, so its toxicity was dozens of times that if it was ced directly on living organisms. ordingly, it couldn¡¯t used as armour despite how tough it was. It was harmful to everyone besides Ming Feizhen and Tang Ye.

    The harmful cold poison was the perfect brake for Poison King¡¯s heat energy. It hadn¡¯t urred to Tang Ye that the sash had stopped bothering him. The cold energy had seeped into his meridians ¨C any corner the heat energy had passed through before ¨C searching for heat energy to fuse with. He had no idea he had created an incredibly potent internal energy that any martial artist would kill to have. The only problem at the moment was his inability to rein it in, which was an inevitable consequence of gaining energy that he didn¡¯t work for. To add to the problem, the internal energybined two sources. One could say he was a rich second generation kid who didn¡¯t know how to spend money wisely. Notwithstanding being synthesised, fire was still fire, and ice was still ice, both of which were potent.

    The mental cultivation of Binary Poison was the most advanced mental cultivation from Repository Sword Theory, so it wasn¡¯t passed on to Tang Ye. Luo Ming could find a way to rein in the energies, but demanding the same of Tang Ye was just being ridiculous. How was he supposed to create his own mental cultivation at his age and level?

    The two perpetually active energies didn¡¯t sh, but they didn¡¯t take orders from Tang Ye. The pain of them living in his meridians one side each was painful enough. Once it leaked out, his meridians expanded until they were on the verge of exploding due to the potency.

    The painting of a qilin, a chimerical creature, snapped Tang Ye out of it. There was nothing special about the quality of the painting itself, but it took his father and mother. Tang Ye had it tattooed on his arm so that he¡¯d never forget the fact.

    What is someone like me still afraid of? Death? I¡¯m afraid¡­ of death?

    Tang Ye vigorously opened his red eyes. He was still immobilised, and the energies still ravaged him. He vividly remembered trying all the mental cultivations he knew before he was trapped in the illusion, but it was futile. How was he supposed to control the icy energy, too, when he couldn¡¯t control the foreign heat from Yang Blood True Qi? The anger that snapped him out of his stupor didn¡¯t help, but neither did the despair of hopelessness. He had learnt plenty of disciplines, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to go through them as the first one that came to mind was the set Ming Feizhen taught him.

    The result of trying to control his true qi using Hazy Steps and the other profound survey method, only to have his soul jumbled around, nearly sent him back into an illusion. As both of them were highly-advanced mental cultivation disciplines, they expended an immense volume of internal energy. Trying to eke out more true qi when he had exhausted his own stores almost killed him, but he was fixated on the five techniques because recalling Ming Feizhen¡¯s teaching process eased the difort somewhat.

    Tang Ye recalled taking a beating from Ming Feizhen and the feeling of subconsciously uniting all his martial arts knowledge into one system. He believed that the five techniques served another purpose. As he reflected and contemted, he could vividly feel the two internal energies in him suddenly budge. The more he focused on thinking about the five de techniques, the less pain he felt.

    Hazy Steps might¡¯ve been profound, but it wasn¡¯t an authentic mental cultivation discipline. The five de techniques were actually a mental cultivation for amalgamating all of the disciplines one excelled at into a single system. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t impart the five de techniques in hopes Tang Ye would imitate and learn techniques; the point of learning them was for Tang Ye to recognise what exactly he could do.

    What I can do is take all my knowledge andbine it into a single system.

    Ming Feizhen created Ancient King String with the intention of blending all of the internal disciplines he learnt into a single system. The defences, counters and so forth were a by-product of the plethora of internal disciplines in his database. Although Tang Ye simrly knew a diverse range of disciplines, he learnt via imitation, leaving room for ws that he couldn¡¯t address. Coincidentally, now was the best time for Tang Ye to grasp the fusion method, however.

    Tang Ye gradually recalled all of his knowledge and, following the five de techniques¡¯ method, blended them into a single system for himself. The two energies still flowed their own ways; however, they were no longer unrestrained.

    Subsequent to Hazy Steps draining his energy, the two energies ruined Tang Ye¡¯s Yang Blood True Qi, so the potency would¡¯ve beenpromised even if he could¡¯ve used it again. He was in dire need of a new mental cultivation that empowered him to control the monster of internal energy. Ancient King String was the basis for that to ur.

    It took a while, but the process of moulding true qi started to pick up pace. Though the flow was as slow as trudging through a desert, it obeyed and moved unlike previously. Afterpleting one cycle, the two energies flowed faster upon convening. The energy went from a swamp to sand, from sand to grass on tnd, mounted a horse and then rode the wind. The agony gradually eased off. Despite the new system that Tang Ye formed still being blurred and prone to error, he had undeniably recreated himself.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Tang Ye charged into the tornado, where Bai Yumo was bleeding from her mouth and nose as she resisted the ck sword¡¯s downward force. His voice reduced stones to dust and big bs of concrete to tiny stones.

    Once the dust settled and the catastrophe-like phenomena had ceased, the audience looked back to the ring, and the three same people were there. Bai Ju had retracted his whip. The unconscious maiden was in Tang Ye¡¯s arms. None of them were outside of the ring¡¯s boundary. Tang Ye had sessfully stopped the mighty whip with his palm strike.

    ¡°See?¡± He Kanyu cracked a smile. ¡°They did it.¡±

    Si Fu certainly did see, but she nearly fell out of her chair in the process simrly to the rest of Quanmu.

    Only one person still had their arms folded, a long face and the expression of someone who foresaw the result. Su Xiao inwardly remarked, there¡¯s no mistake!

    Trantor note: is it just me, or did this chapter literally fluff around the same thing with different wording multiple times? This is the exact sort of chapter I dislike in the xuanhuan and new-school of xianxia genres. I¡¯m d it¡¯s finally over.

 Book 14: Chapter 103

    Mo Yubai and Tang

    Su Xiao was smug since he was the only person to uncover Tang Ye¡¯s secret time and time again when there were so many people Tang Ye came across every day. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him meow and jump. It was scarier than usual because he was thinking about a secret, but there was the fact that his senses had been enhanced far above average thanks to Yijin Jing, yet he never sensed any presence.

    ¡°Shh.¡±

    Upon seeing who covered his mouth, Su Xiao eximed in a muffled voice, ¡°Baisu-apdin!¡± (Vice-Captain)

    Shen Yiren held her free index finger over her lips. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Of course, Su Xiao was overjoyed to receive a mission, but he faked a cough and stopped walking. ¡°Uh, um, Vice-Captain, are we going to leave Tang Ye behind?¡±

    Su Xiao wasn¡¯t concerned for Tang Ye since he knew Tang Ye was Lord San Shen, but he still needed to pretend he was worried. Ming Feizhen did teach him to cover his bases when fibbing, after all. However, because Su Xiao ssified lying as a sin, he wasn¡¯t sure if he should¡¯ve pretended. He was the type to spend ages deciding if he wanted porridge or tea at breakfast, so the scale of this problem gave him a headache.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been watching from the shadows. If Tang Ye truly is in danger, I¡¯ll intervene, but he¡¯s already won. We have another job waiting for us.¡±

    Su Xiao regained his joy as he didn¡¯t expect Shen Yiren to care so much about them. Nothing could¡¯ve gone wrong if she was ready to help them. This was why he could never understand why people used her of being nasty.

    Shen Yiren couldn¡¯t resist scrubbing Su Xiao¡¯s head when she saw him smiling to himself. ¡°You¡¯re worried about him, too, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°N-, yes! Absolutely!¡± Since Shen Yiren was smiling and so nice, he couldn¡¯t break it to her. Hence, Su Xiao scrunched up his face and said, ¡°Mm¡­ B-Bai Ju is really strong.¡±

    ¡°Bai Ju? Hah.¡±

    Smelling danger, Su Xiao deemed it best not to ask what the reaction meant. ¡°Vice-captain, where are we going?¡±

    ¡°I promised Principal Huang to look into who is responsible for killing his mentor. I can¡¯t find any traces, so I referenced Shifu Shisan¡¯s handbook.¡±

    ¡°You found something worth investigating in there?¡±

    Though she was still smiling, Shen Yiren shook her head. ¡°Shifu Shisan is the greatest detective of this generation; I can¡¯t decipher what he can¡¯t. I¡¯m not unmotivated. I just know I¡¯m not capable enough. There¡¯s no point in me trying to do what he fails. However, considering how many years it¡¯s been, and Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ rampage this year, I finally have several more clues that Shifu Shisan didn¡¯t have back then. This is the only thing I can hedge my bets on.¡±

    ¡°So there has been progress?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. I just noticed some things that don¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°O-oh¡­ I think Big Brother Ming is also investigating the case, but he has not found anything.¡±

    Su Xiao wasn¡¯tpletely confident, but he thought he saw Shen Yiren¡¯s smile sweeten when he mentioned Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Your big Brother Ming certainly hits the nail on the head quite often and is perceptive; however, he often overthinks while overlooking details. I reckon the things he overlooks are the things I pay the most attention to. Maybe those are just the things we¡¯re missing. In other words, perhaps there are things we missed regarding the events in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, but I was in the capital!¡± Believing he understood what was implied, Su Xiao thumped his chest. ¡°Ask away. I know everything.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t need to ask. I have a good grasp of things. That being said, I overlooked some details in the reports. You know Liu Shan Men was vandalised in my absence, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I returned to Liu Shan Men that night.¡±

    ¡°Lots of things happened that day, and you all reported a lot of things, but there were things omitted. You might¡¯ve thought they weren¡¯t important details, but there are things that don¡¯t add up to me. Did you know Song Ou was assaulted that day?¡±

    While Su Xiao was surprised to learn Song Ou was assaulted, he didn¡¯t see why it mattered.

    ¡°Who was behind it?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor. They have been arrested.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ because they did not like him?¡±

    ¡°See? You¡¯re blindly guessing, as well.¡±

    Su Xiao went red in the first.

    ¡°Like you guys, I initially disregarded it as unimportant as I¡¯ve never considered anything rted to Song Ou as an important matter. But then I thought: what grudge could Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor possibly harbour against Song Ou that they¡¯d dispatch a team to assault him at the cost of being arrested? Isn¡¯t it bizarre that that they¡¯d sacrifice over a dozen men when they¡¯re short on troops they can use in public given their circumstances?¡±

    ¡°That is suspicious, indeed. What is your opinion, Vice-captain?¡±

    ¡°Opinions are pointless; you need proof for investigations. I interrogated the captives at the Ministry of Justice one by one and have formed a skeleton. They went to Liu Shan Men in search of someone.¡±

    ¡°Who would be worth such a big risk?¡°

    ¡°They refused to divulge who it was, but I continued to go down the hole. Based on their tracks, I discovered they had been camping outside the Ministry of Justice long before they sprang into action. During the time they staked out there, only one person was released from the Ministry of Justice, and he happened to be the person the Qilin Guards fetched. ording to Long Zaitian, the person in question knew a secret, which was why he was so valuable.¡±

    ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re about to see him.¡±

    Shen Yiren opened the doors to the room used for a variety of purposes. There were surprisingly people inside. A slender maiden who looked as though she hadn¡¯t stepped into sunlight in ages was pummelling a grown man. Because he cried and groaned, she yelled at him and reached for the spiked club in the corner, threatening to shove it up his nose, which prompted him to plead for mercy.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    The young maiden looked over her shoulder and smiled brightly upon seeing who entered. Simrly, the man getting beat up cried out for help in joy.

    ¡°Ol¡¯ Shen, got him. Cooking him right now. Whatchu want me to do with him?¡±

    The man almost passed out.

    Shen Yiren had always been good at selecting the right person for the right job. Since she needed to do something shady, she entrusted it to a specialist in criminal activity. She had a close friend she had great chemistry with just right for the job ¨C Mountain Monster. Mountain Monster was starting to feel the capital was too dull and wondering when she could see some enemy blood when Shen Yiren offered the job. How could she turn down the offer when she could finally scratch an itch?

    Stunned for a second, Shen Yiren asked, ¡°He won¡¯t confess?¡±

    Mountain Monster scratched her head. ¡°Confess what?¡±

    With tears coursing down his face, Xiang Baxian cried, ¡°All you¡¯ve done is beat me up! You started assaulting me without even asking anything!¡±

    Mountain Monster spun around and delivered a backhand to Xiang Baxian¡¯s face. ¡°Did you just raise your voice at me?! Huh?! Take a look at this spiked club!¡±

    ¡°Enough.¡± Shen Yiren rubbed her temples. She clearly recalled telling Mountain Monster to interrogate the man, but that clearly went out the other ear. Shen Yiren ambled over to Xiang Baxian. ¡°You Xiang Baxian?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Shen Yiren. Do you know me?¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for Xiang Baxian to locate the name in his database. ¡°Everyone knows Vice-captain Shen!¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Shen Yiren pulled two chairs over and sat in one. ¡°I have a question for you. I look forward to hearing your honest answer.¡±

    ¡°Vice-captain Shen has questions¡­? What an attitude. Is having someone assault someone you require the assistance of how you treat people at Liu Shan Men?¡±

    Shen Yiren signalled with her hand for Mountain Monster to not grab the spiked club. ¡°Cut the b.s. I know what sort of person you are. I didn¡¯t give her an order to assault you, but I never stopped her, either, because I don¡¯t see it as a bad thing. How many students have suffered your tyranny at the academy? On what grounds are you demanding the treatment of a guest?¡±

    Xiang Baxian averted his eyes when he met with Shen Yiren¡¯s piercing gaze. ¡°Wh-what do you want?¡±

    ¡°Tell me: why does Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor want you?¡±

    Xiang Baxian had made up his mind to hide at the academy forever and stay away from things he shouldn¡¯t have known about. Thus, he chose to keep mum.

    ¡°You once worked for Li Muye, and Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor is searching high and low for you. It¡¯s obvious you know a secret of theirs.¡±

    Xiang Baxian raised his head in astonishment.

    ¡°A secret of theirs that is their primary concern at the moment. Only two things fulfil the criteria. Li Muye¡¯s safety and their family¡¯s secret passage. Given Li Muye is in the imperial court¡¯s hands, there¡¯s nothing you can do to help there. As such, you must know about the secret passage. Do you really know where the secret passage is¡­? I¡¯m surprised you know.¡±

    A trail of sweat flowed down Xiang Baxian¡¯s temple.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why they¡¯re trying to silence you? They¡¯re silencing you because Li Muye told you the location of the secret passage? Good reason. I thought it was over at this point, but life sure is full of surprises, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m starting to wonder why you know its location. Only two people from Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor know of the secret passage ¨C Li Muye and his mother. How do you know about it? The only possibility is you heard about it from Li Muye, but why would he tell you? The only logical conclusion is that the passage was no longer exclusively theirs, which means that you aren¡¯t the third person to know. Rather, you are one of the few people privy to it.¡±

    Xiang Baxian looked as pale as a man listening to his sentence in hell.

    ¡°When¡­ will the secret be publicised? That would be when they decide to use the passage, correct?¡± Shen Yiren grinned. ¡°Since I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around it, I ced characters onto a sand board and simted scenarios for nights.

    ¡°Li Muye is frivolous. As a result, he was set up after initiating an alliance with Fiends¡¯ Genesis. What gave him the idea he couldmand Fiends¡¯ Genesis? Without someone¡¯s support, he wouldn¡¯t have had the gall to provoke an unorthodox group. Her Highness is impatient, but she¡¯s not reckless. I was shocked when I found out she formed a pact with the White Princes. She had been cautious in every step of building up her family, so why would she abandon caution all of a sudden? Only once I ced the mother and son together did it ur to me that, no matter what, she was always a mother, and her son would always be her son no matter how foolish he was. Li Muye established the alliance with the White Princes, but both Fiends¡¯ Genesis and the White Princes betrayed him. Fearing the repercussions her son would have to face, Her Highness had to agree to their demands. That brings us to the core of the problem.

    ¡°How do you know the passage¡¯s location? I surmise it was when Li Muye gave the White Princes¡¯ envoy a tour of the passage and proudly boasted about his ancestors¡¯ project to boost his own value. On top of his stupidity, he¡¯s also a coward. He needed a bodyguard when he met with them, but he didn¡¯t dare to take one of his guards as he was afraid his mother would discover his n, and he couldn¡¯t trust an outsider. Therefore, his only option was someone who¡¯d served him extensively and held membership at Daren Academy. Xiang Baxian, you apanied Li Muye for the tour, correct? Not only does Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor know you know the passage¡¯s location, but they also know you met the envoy.¡±

    ¡°You done?! What do you want to ask when you know everything?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know everything. Which n does the envoy belong to? That¡¯s all I want to know. Answer me!¡±

    Their identity would help identify who killed Yu Sihe and who was leading the fight against the imperial court.

    With blood and tears running down his face, Xiang Baxian mumbled, ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t tell you anything. There¡¯s only one person I¡¯ll tell. I will never tell anyone else. Never¡­¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why I brought him with me.¡± Shen Yiren pulled the other chair over. ¡°Xiao Han,e in, and take a seat.¡±

    Su Xiao entered without the foggiest idea what was going on. When he and Xiang Baxian made eye contact, both of them froze.

    ***

    Even though it was summer, there was chill in the air at sunset that couldn¡¯t be erased. The chests of the audience, however, burned with excitement. For the most part, the elder was viewed as an existence that shouldn¡¯t have existed, but there were those who acknowledged his might.

    In contrast, the pair that fought side by side against a menace had be the dream couple that was supposed to only exist in fiction. The way they held on to hope and sacrificed themselves for each other and eventually won gained them an army of fans.

    Bai Ju furtively picked up his nephew and found a secluded spot to p him awake. Every one of the three ps carried the same amount of force just as his Dragon Emerges from the Clouds.

    Still groggy, Che Gulu asked, ¡°Uncle? Why am I here? What about thepetition?¡±

    ¡°Lost.¡±

    Che Gulu spent a while to process what Bai Ju meant. ¡°Uncle! You came around!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You finally listened to me, right? I told you we can¡¯t fight him. You didn¡¯t fight him, right? Wait! What about the cheating monk? He tricked me several times, Uncle. We have to smash him. That baldy¡­¡±

    Bai Ju tied up his nephew¡¯s head with Iceriver Whip and walked off without listening to his nephew¡¯s yelling.

    ¡°¡­ Make him bleed! I¡¯ll give him a finger spear, too. Uncle! Uncle! We actually have to smash him! It¡¯s a fight we must fight!¡±

    They never received a wee, and they never received a goodbye, for everyone was focused only on the young man setting the maiden on the ground to treat. Even with several hundreds of eyes on them, he still only looked at her.

    Tang Ye had a fair number of people he could call acquaintances, but he virtually couldn¡¯t ssify any of them as close acquaintances as he refrained from getting close to people. The shameless one he couldn¡¯t shake off even if he tried ¨C Su Xiao ¨C and the one he never had to worry about losing because he was practically invincible ¨C Ming Feizhen ¨C were the only two exceptions. He definitely had opportunities to develop closer rtionships with others; however, he chose to erect walls or cut them off. Though revenge was no longer the only thing that mattered to him, he still preferred to not have too much. He didn¡¯t like the feeling of losing people and things; it wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say he actually hated losing anything or anyone. If he didn¡¯t have anything or anyone to lose, then he¡¯d never suffer from the emotions that came with losses. Nevertheless, someone was knocking on his door hard.

    He vaguely heard Bai Yumo call out to him when he was immobilised. He only intervened merely because he didn¡¯t want to live with the guilt of ignoring her when he could¡¯ve saved her. She, on the other hand, faced an opponent levels above herself, one who could crush her without having to even go all out, yet she stood her ground. He could feel someone trying to pry open his locked doors, but he refused to give in.

    Tang Ye cracked a bitter smile, then nced up to see Si Fu. Although her concern was easy to see, he chose to reject the feelings for the same reason he decided he wouldn¡¯t interact with Bai Yumo again once he finished healing her.

    Sensing the vignce in Tang Ye¡¯s gaze, Si Fu mped her jaws and walked off. Tang Ye immediately averted his gaze, although it was unclear if it was because he refused to be affiliated with her or if he didn¡¯t want to hurt her anymore than he already did.

    Sorry¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ ept something so precious. I¡¯m not worthy.

    Tang Ye raised a hand to mould energy, only for him to ck out for a split second. Even after several recovery breaths, he couldn¡¯t fight off the fatigue that pervaded every inch of his body. The only way he could rival someone of Bai Ju¡¯s calibre was if he could gain appropriate control over his new potent internal energy. The new mental cultivation he came up with wasn¡¯t enough to control all the internal energy; he merely created tracks for the new true qi to travel on. More work was needed for his meridians and muscles to handle it.

    When Tang Ye moulded energy by force just now, it was akin to a kid able to lift five kilograms then thinking he could lift a fifty kilograms hammer, only for his unprepared self to end up gasping blood. Tang Ye recognised he might¡¯ve been able to do what he wished if he could master Ancient King String one day, but today was not the day.

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush. Try to slowly mould energy.¡±

    Tang Ye gave it another try after hearing He Kanyu¡¯s advice. Since moulding the two energy sources was tantamount to tyres stuck in a swamp, moulding little by little over time gradually set the energies in motion. Only now did Tang Ye realise he only controlled 20% of the internal energy at most. If he attempted to control more than that, he¡¯d end up injuring himself if he didn¡¯t go at the current slow pace. It went without saying that it¡¯d be a fatal issue in livebat.

    Tang Ye slowly siphoned small amounts of the internal energy over to Bai Yumo, lest he cause more harm to her. Thanks to her internal training and her internal discipline not discriminating between yin and yang qis, she was able to absorb it.

    Discerning she was faring better when herplexion changed, Tang Ye took a deep breath and then siphoned a bit more. Despite his internal energy sharing unorthodoxponents, it worked on Bai Yumo as long as he went slow.

    Nobody left the audience stands as they all looked forward to what they presumed would be a touching reunion.

    ¡°Bai Yumo¡­ can you hear me?¡±

    Bai Yumo slowly opened her eyes as Tang Ye expected. For the first time ever, Tang Ye felt she was pretty.

    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡±

    Tang Ye jolted whilst spraying blood from his mouth before he realised he had been kicked. The contest wasn¡¯t over even though the atmosphere created the impression it had. There were still two people in the ring.

    Tang Ye raised his hands to block the deing down from above, but the force sent him flying out of the ring.

    By the time the clouds were a red tinge, only Bai Yumo stood emotionlessly in the ring. The words she mouthed to him from the ring were colder than the cold in his heart. The maiden he wanted to keep at arm¡¯s length opened the door in a way he never imagined.

    ¡°My name is Mo Yubai.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 104

    Heading South Quick, Fast and in a Hurryn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Xiang Baxian seeded his father¡¯s job at Daren Academy that he couldn¡¯t be sacked from since he was a kid. Taking advantage of his might and martial arts knowledge, he decided to bully other students. He¡¯d feel he was in the wrong when he reflected at night, but he¡¯d continue the next day. He never thought he¡¯d one day be linked to such a big secret and be the target of dangerous folks.

    Xiang Baxian resolved to only ever tell one person the secret, the person who saved him and gave him a chance to turn over a new leaf ¨C Su Xiao. ¡°It¡­ It was¡­¡±

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Shen Yiren pulled Yujing up parallel to the floor. The qi was invisible, yet it nearly knocked her sword out of her hand.

    ¡°Xiang Babang!¡± cried Su Xiao.

    The assassin actually attacked twice. The first one was used to draw the sharpest person away so that the second one could kill Xiang Baxian.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡±

    Shen Yiren stormed out the door, while Mountain Monster drew her des. Meanwhile, Su Xiao rushed to the man who¡¯d lost everything from his right arm up to his neck.

    ¡°Xiang Babang, h-hang in there. I¡¯ll get you a doctor right away.¡±

    Xiang Baxian forced a smile and shook his head. It was impossible for him to breathe properly anymore, let alone speak. As Su Xiao wept, Xiang Baxian squeezed Su Xiao¡¯s hand as hard as he could, then shakily stretched his hand out to write on the ground using his blood. He only managed to write a squiggly ¡°Mu¡± (wood; Ä¾) before he was forced to stop.

    While Su Xiao was still in a state of shock, Mountain Monster had her teeth clenched and eyes actively moving. She didn¡¯t even sense the attack; being a mass murderer, she was sensitive to the smell of blood and hostility to the point that only monsters on Abels or Ming Feizhen¡¯s levels could¡¯ve caught her by surprise, yet she failed to notice anything this time. On top of that, even Shen Yiren failed to discern the real attack from the feint. Had the assassin targeted any one of them, they would¡¯ve ended up in the same state as Xiang Baxian.

    ¡°I lost them. Their qinggong is too good. I only caught a glimpse of their silhouette from afar before I was shaken off.¡±

    ¡°Well, you suck,¡± disparaged Mountain Monster, despite eyeing Shen Yiren from head to toe to make sure her new friend wasn¡¯t hurt.

    ¡°Xiao Han, he¡­¡±

    ¡°Teat (dead),¡± replied Su Xiao, face smothered in his own tears. ¡°He¡­ He wrote this.¡±

    Mountain Monster remained on guard duty, while Shen Yiren went to check on Xiang Baxian. Not even Shen Yiren could identify the discipline utilised to kill him.

    ¡°Vice-captain, what did Xiang Babang tell us? What does the ¡®wood¡¯ character mean?¡±

    ¡°Based on his dying wish and the nature of his death, that would have to be the identity of the culprit. I¡¯ve looked into his history. If there was anything he had yet to arrange, he would¡¯ve done so in thest few days he¡¯s been living in fear. I¡¯d venture¡­ he wanted to tell us who the envoy representing the White Princes is. There¡¯s no one else who¡¯d harm him at this point in time.¡±

    Su Xiao tried to calm himself. ¡°But¡­ is there anyone among them rted to ¡®wood¡¯?¡±

    Mountain Monster stole a quick nce in the character¡¯s direction. ¡°Was he trying to say the killer¡¯s surname is ¡®Mu¡¯?¡±

    Shen Yiren shook her head after a closer look. ¡°No. He only wrote half of theplete character he wanted to write.¡±

    Due to Xiang Baxian not extending the nted right falling stroke, it made it appear to be iplete, but the dot next to it was emphasised, which gave the impression it was thest part of the character. That being the case, there should¡¯ve been another part next to it to go with the radical,pleting the character.

    ¡°Wood¡­ Characters with wood¡­¡±

    ¡°Song (ËÎ),¡± suggested Mountain Monster.

    ¡°Song? Song n?¡±

    Shen Yiren used silence to object.

    ¡°Valley of Yearning¡¯s ¡®yearning¡¯ (Ïà).¡±

    ¡°We were waiting, Yan Ling.¡± Shen Yiren identified Tang Ye without having to look back. She picked up the ability recently without any purposeful effort, but she was more taken aback over his injuries that had somehow worsened since she left the ring.

    Xun Feng helped Tang Ye into the room. Their faces were caked in dust, but Tang Ye¡¯s injuries were obviously on the severe side.

    Shen Yiren spun around to check Tang Ye. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Bai Yumo¡­ is Bronze Mask,¡± answered Tang Ye.

    It wasn¡¯t just Bronze Mask¡¯s identity that astonished them but also the timing. How did they learn that now of all times?

    ¡°Edasich He, what exactly happened?¡±

    He Kanyu, who entered with Tang Ye and Xun Feng, replied, ¡°We have suspected she was Bronze Mask after the first time Bronze Mask infiltrated the academy. My suspicions were confirmed when I witnessed the invisible broadsword qi sh, so I immediately tried to apprehend her. I managed to force her to reveal her true skills with my surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°Where is she now?¡±

    ¡°She got away.¡±

    If not even Huang Yuzao¡¯s prized disciple couldn¡¯t catch her, then there was no doubt Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask.

    ¡°Her qinggong is incredible. I never expected problems here, though. She must have let loose because she has yet toplete her task.¡±

    ¡°League of Assassins¡¯ number one¡­ Six des.¡±

    Before they could continue, Lan Jiqiong entered the scene in a flustered state.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± He Kanyu knew his junior came bearing other news based on thetter¡¯s look.

    ¡°The White Princes¡¯ forces¡­ have mobilised.¡± Lan Jiqiong wasn¡¯t one to have exaggerated reactions, but even he didn¡¯t sound calm this time. ¡°It¡¯s not clear why Song n, Bai n, Cold Mountain Temple, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, and Gold and Silver Sect have all deployed their elites outside the city, but the imperial court hasmenced discussions to stop them.¡±

    Only after Lan Jiqiong finish speaking did he notice the corpse on the ground that made him reactively gasp. All the others felt the smell of blood had grown stronger.

    Glossary

    Chinese radicals ¨C A graphicalponent of a Chinese character under which the character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary.

 Book 14: Chapter 105

    Why I¡¯m Not Afraid

    It had been decades since the White Princes had assembled their armies outside a city. The newly-promoted Nine Gates Infantry Commander reacted as fast as lightning, mobilising imperial guards to the exterior of the city before anyone else reacted. While Long Zaitian deserved praise for his quick wits, Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents also deserved credit for faithfully fulfilling their duty. As soon as the White Princes made their move, the agents zoomed back to the capital. The military gave Long Zaitian the order to respond the emergency as soon as they caught wind.

    While the officials were debating how to respond to the situation, Emperor Yuansheng was away at a pce that could only fit twenty-odd people, tucked away in a corner that hadn¡¯t been renovated or redecorated in ages.

    ¡°Finally made their move, huh?¡± remarked Emperor Yuansheng, slouching in his seat as if he was catching up with old friends. ¡°Ye Yun, is this what you referred to when you mentioned signs of trouble?¡±

    The man in seated in his bamboo wheelchair chuckled under his breath. ¡°They¡¯re doing such aughable job of trying to lure us out of our base. The more they try to conceal their intentions, the more conspicuous it is.¡±

    ¡°So your opinion is?¡±

    ¡°Bait.¡± Even though nearly the rest of the world was in uproar, Ye Yun treated it as nothing more than a performance deserving of being panned. ¡°If you sent a messenger, or even a letter, to pose an inquiry, you will soon receive replies along the lines of, ¡®It is a misunderstanding,¡¯ or ¡®It is just a coincidence¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What are they after?¡±

    ¡°No clue. Jiang Chen¡¯s ace is making others do the dirty work for him; or in this case, taking down a nation for him. He is not a fearsome general on the battlefield; he is a schemer through and through. Doing the heavy lifting is not his specialty, but he is excellent at using the least effort for the biggest result possible.¡±

    The mirage strategy was basically the exact same thing, so there was no room for argument there.

    ¡°What do you think, Commander Yi?¡±

    The youngmander who was supposed to be hunting down Fiends¡¯ Genesis outside the capital gave a bow and answered, ¡°If what they seek is not outside the city, it must be inside.¡±

    ¡°Do you agree, Commander Ye?¡± questioned Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°Yes,¡± stated Ye Yun.

    ¡°Why did you not mention it, then?¡±

    ¡°Because it is unclear what they are after despite knowing what they seek is within the walls.¡±

    ¡°¡­ That makes them even more of a threat. What do you two suppose I do?¡±

    Yi Ya and Ye Yun: ¡°Nothing.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng bobbed his head. ¡°Continue.¡±

    Themander in armour raised his hands in salute as he bowed his head. ¡°They will show themselves if you stay put. We shall guard the city interior and nothing else to disrupt their ns. You need not worry about security.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Guard the city interior¡­ city interior¡­ How are supposed to guard every nook and cranny of this expansive capital city? Do you two truly have no clue what their aim is?¡±

    Ye Yun chuckled as he listened to the forceful questioning. ¡°No.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng cast his gaze in Yi Ya¡¯s direction.

    Yi Ya nced to Ye Yun, then said, ¡°Please reconsider, Your Majesty. Offence will notst long. Once it is old, it bes a useless tactic. The enemy wants us to give in to urges. We can force them to reveal their intents if we can just stay patient.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng turned back to Ye Yun. ¡°Surely you have gleaned more than this. Is it too much to ask you to share?¡±

    Ye Yun chuckled. Even Yi Ya frowned as he recognised Ye Yun was testing Emperor Yuansheng.

    ¡°It is but mere conjecture. Conjecture devoid of evidence is pointless chatter. Do you genuinely want to listen?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no harm.¡±

    ¡°The simplest way for Jiang Chen to achieve his goal of overthrowing the imperial court is to cripple our manpower. If the goal is in the capital¡­ perhaps it is to assassinate the imperial court council members, secretary, Prime Minister and then the officials.¡±

    Yi Ya shook his head at the insolent things he heard.

    ¡°You disagree, Commander Yi?¡±

    ¡°Commander Ye was right; the conjecture is devoid of any evidence.¡±

    ¡°Pause, pause, I know you two aren¡¯t easy to deal with. Commander Ye, what is your opinion?¡±

    ¡°Please enjoy a nice break. Stay out of the public eye for the new few days.¡± Ye Yun¡¯s gaze gave the impression he was saying, ¡°Just stay out of the way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Not really. Please also approve a request for me.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    ¡°Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s crimes are deserving of the death penalty.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng nodded, then asked Yi Ya, ¡°Commander Yi, you are here on behalf of your grandmander. Since he is absent, you¡¯re his representative. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°In your subject¡¯s opinion¡­ it is not that serious.¡±

    Ye Yun chortled. ¡°You¡¯re nice.¡±

    ¡°What about your shifu, Commander Yi?¡±

    ¡°Do you mean Grand Commander¡¯s opinion, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s say so.¡±

    Yi Ya bowed. ¡°Execute.¡±

    Ye Yun stared at Yi Ya.

    ¡°Is what he would say if he was here.¡±

    Yi Ya bent over. His mannerisms reminded Emperor Yuansheng and Ye Yun of the imperial court¡¯s mightiest warrior, who was currently protecting the northern border.

    ¡°Kill them. Annihte the soldiers outside the city, and then annihte Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor inside the city. Nobody can be spared, and nobody should be spared. The White Princes¡¯ actions already constitute insurrection. Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor may be descendants of the imperial family, but they allied with rebels. Therefore, their actions are also ssified as treason. Should you ask Grand Commander for his opinion, there is no doubt he will answer, ¡®Kill them all.¡¯¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng had a moment of silence. ¡°¡­ Who should kill them?¡±

    ¡°We are your sword and shield. We shall clear a path for you. Should you give the order, we will put our lives on the line to fulfil your orders.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng sighed. ¡°Let me ask: based on the imperial court¡¯s military power, what are my odds of winning?¡±

    Ye Yun immediately responded, ¡°Provided three things do not happen, 100%.¡±

    ¡°Which three?¡±

    ¡°Brilliant Broadsworder does not return. Sword Deity does not emerge. Dark Robe Brotherhood does not turn.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng spotted Yi Ya¡¯s stiff expression that signified he agreed. Emperor Yuansheng cracked a smile. ¡°If my second brother was here, he¡¯d have a solution to this.¡±

    Ye Yun wore on a long face. ¡°If he was still here, were these legs fed to a dog?¡±

    ¡°If Linglong was still here, she wouldn¡¯t want to exterminate Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor, either.¡±

    Ye Yun had no retort.

    Once upon a time, not long after Emperor Yuansheng inherited the throne, the young Emperor would ditch the imperial court council to hold a private meeting with his young vassals in this very pce. Needless to say, there were always differing opinions, but a young man and maiden would always be able to sort out the disputes to form a solution they would all be satisfied with. Unfortunately, the maiden had left with her new family in a distantnd, while the young man was no longer with them.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to a decision. Commander Yi, you may leave. Guard the city interior as you suggested.¡±

    Yi Ya didn¡¯t know why Ye Yun suddenly went quiet, but he departed as he was told.

    The young monarch who had entered his middle ages smiled at the vassal he had known for half of his life. ¡°I heard her song was performed again at Daren Academy. Don¡¯t you want to see it?¡±

    Ye Yun shook his head. ¡°So be it if she married, but she never got to enjoy peace. Why would she return to the capital? Teaching ¡®Magnificent Beauty¡¯ to someone is the same as telling her enemies where she is.¡±

    ¡°This world would be lonely if Li Linglong stayed out of trouble.¡±

    Ye Yun appeared to agree.

    Emperor Yuansheng fixed his gaze on the spot Yi Ya stood before. ¡°Yiren, Yi Ya, Dugu, Leng Ling, and even Xian Suiyue, are all decent, but they serve only one Emperor. I don¡¯t need them yet.¡±

    Ye Yun furrowed his brows. ¡°You are not old.¡±

    ¡°Age has nothing to do with it. Despite how long I¡¯ve ruled for, it¡¯s only urred to me in recent years that an Emperor can only do a few things in his life. Do too much, and the people suffer. Do too little, the people will suffer. I can¡¯t be too fast or too slow. All I need to do is to do a good job of those few things.¡± Smiling, Emperor Yuansheng wagged his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have done a fair amount, and it¡¯s not time for me to abdicate. Look how much I¡¯ve done, and then look at the problems inside and outside the walls. Inside, the imperial exams are a mess. I¡¯m not even sure if Ming Feizhen can help me. The four unorthodox factions are eyeing the imperial court. The Seven Champion White Princes¡­ They count as inside the walls. Plenty of enemies stand in the way outside. Gongsun Chu is one right now. A problem from a previous era is leaving a trail of mayhem. Even so, I can sleep well every night. You know why?¡±

    Ye Yun shook his head.

    Although Emperor Yuansheng was a straightforward monarch who never thought aboutplex things, very few were able to read his mind.

    Emperor Yuansheng simpered. ¡°I have all of you.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng swept his gaze over the building, stopping in the spots his old friends used to be when they held meetings, not missing any of them. ¡°The security of the city is in your hands over the next few days. I¡¯m going to keep Brilliant Consortpany.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 106

    Interlude 4

    It had been many, many years, yet the sound of countless birds chirping frantically and the ck de sounding as though it split the ground when it collided with the ground were unforgettable. Every blow was heavy and scary. In the end, God fell into an unimaginable, unforgiveable abyss. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on the reason for his defeat.

    Snapping back to reality, he threw away the bone on hand. He was thirsty again. He cast his blood-red gaze into the darkness, searching for more lives that could supply him with power.

    The Central in¡¯s martial world was unprepared for the demon¡¯s invasion. While he was able to leave a trail of infernos and corpses in his path, someone had yet to have an answer to the threat he posed due to his speed. He was akin to a bolt of lightning zipping straight to the core.

    He couldn¡¯t remember how many people he had killed or how much blood he had drank. He only remembered the insatiable thirst he had deep in his bones, the instinct propelling him to search for power. He was well aware where his power was hidden; the bones he dug up, the holes in the ground and the corpses he treaded over told him that his unmatched power lied in mayhem.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s rude to barge into Mount Lu in the middle of the night without our permission?¡±

    The thirsty demon was sure he heard two people despite being in a dark, dense forest. He could sense their essence that was superior to ordinary folks. One of them was a tall guy, but the bags under his eyes made it seem as if he¡¯d been walking for hundreds of kilometres, while the other was a middle-aged man who was also tall and dressed in but tidily. Despite his attire suggesting he was erudite, he sported an unfettered smile.

    It was ridiculous for a predator to waste its breath on its prey, yet the blue-adorned schr said, ¡°You must be the demon indiscriminately massacring people along the path of Jiangnan. I¡¯ve been wondering who was capable of fighting Zhan Qiu and then Xian Suiyue only days apart, and still managed to scorch the earth and kill thousands. I guess I shouldn¡¯t have assumed it was the work of a human being.¡±

    The smell of something burning was unmissable due to the mes, while the smell of blood pervaded the air.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The middle-aged man pped. ¡°I thought the demon used sorcery, but it¡¯s just martial arts. Let us put him down.¡±

    Ling Fengxing replied, ¡°Provisional Patriarch, he is tough.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the task. How am I supposed to continue managing Jiangnan if I can¡¯t do as much as Jiangnan road¡¯s overseer?¡± The middle-aged man smiled as though there was zero tension.

    ¡°Are you going to personally fight?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± The man patted the sword at his sash, but he looked worried for once. ¡°But we treat swords as a symbol of glory and honour at Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary. We¡¯ve lost Five Elders, and King Yao isn¡¯t here, so I¡¯m having a headache figuring out how I should fight.¡±

    Ling Fengxing scoffed under his breath. He remembered the provisional patriarch was sitting around with a group of members roasting meat when Five Elders was stolen. He never mentioned Five Elders after rushing to the scene to save him. When Ling Shaoxuan went to request a job, he was in the middle of arguing about sries with the gardener, so he mindlessly smashed Ling Shaoxuan in the face with King Yao and told him to bug off. Yet, here he was talking about swords being a symbol of glory and honour.

    The older man snapped a tree branch and passed it over. ¡°Not going to show me something?¡±

    The swordsman crowned as Mount Lu¡¯s top swordsman smiled. ¡°Against someone who has reached Divine Realm, I can only use my sword to protect Provisional Patriarch.¡±

    The demon unleashed a spurt of fire energy. Irrespective of what they said, his goal never changed.

    ¡°In that case, this is my only choice.¡± The older man thoughtlessly pped, then quietly called, ¡°Men.¡±

    Resembling an ocean wave, hundreds of swordsmen emerged from the shadows. All of them wore different expressions, showed different emotions and looked unidentical, but they all strangely shared simr auras.

    As hundreds of swords emerged from their sheaths, the demon¡¯s fire met their des head on. It was akin to a hail of swords trying to put out an inferno trying to scorch the earth. Furious after being assaulted in this manner for the first time, the demon belted at the heavens, enveloping himself in golden energy. In two swings of his arms, seven swordsmen bled from every orifice in their bodies. No organs, flesh or bones were intact upon taking damage.

    Seven more swordsmen jumped in as soon as the demon put away seven, enraging him. Their swords were powerless against his golden energy, yet the pitiful humans thought they could ovee their weakness through sheer numbers. The demon viewed their belief as the apex of idiocy because he once made the same mistake; it was as if he could see their fear and refusal to admit defeat. Howbeit, they didn¡¯t cower and flee when he disyed how dominant he truly was. No matter how many he demolished, another wave would charge at him. The furious demon lost his patience expanded the radius of his fire.

    ¡°Stack,¡± instructed the older man.

    The dispersed swordsmen moved even faster than before to stack themselves, effectively creating a wall of shields to disperse the mes over a bigger surface area and rendering the mes harmless.

    Watching the battle closely, Ling Fengxing queried, ¡°Are you sure we do not need Xuezhao¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°I tried, but he wants to sleep.¡±

    ¡°We have already lost thirteen people.¡±

    ¡°In what universe can you take down Divine Realm adept without sacrifices?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running!¡± the older man yelled.

    Twenty-odd swords shone brighter than before, and the demon who tried to vault out of the formation was forced to descend. Although it was impossible to identify each person a part of the formation, it was easy to see there were differences in proficiency between them despite them all being in the same generation. The swordsmen selected for the formation weren¡¯t haphazardly picked.

    ¡°One Divine Realm adept can match one thousand enemies; however, that is his limit if he is stalled. Any more than that and he will perish. Man¡¯s power is limited. That is thew of nature that confines all men. Uncle Feng, remember to harshly beat me when we get back.¡± The schr didn¡¯t just watch the demon trying to survive under duress, but he also checked the corpses of the swordsmen who¡¯d never rise again. Every time a member of Mount Lu perished, he requested Ling Fengxing beat him. That was his way of reminding himself that he couldn¡¯t mindlessly sacrifice lives.

    ¡°¡­ I will.¡± Ling Fengxing tried to sound happy.

    ¡°You say that every time, but you are never harsh enough.¡±

    Ling Fengxing smiled at the jibe. ¡°Stop making things hard for me, Provisional Patriarch. This old one is the only one on the mountain who would dare touch you.¡±

    The scratched and bleeding demon trapped in the formation started to feel strangely frustrated the same way he felt that fateful day many, many years ago. For a moment, he thought he heard the sound of a collision akin to thunder p and saw a ck de flit through the sky. Suddenly, the mes intensified to the point that they went from leaking through the wall of swords to tearing it apart.

    The demon doused in mes levitated towards the ether using the two me wings that sprouted from his back.

    ¡°Since when did humans fly¡­?¡± muttered Ling Fengxing.

    The middle-aged man voiced, ¡°That¡¯s Ximen Chuideng¡¯s exclusive discipline. You can only grow me wings when you push Agni Twelve Heavens to its absolute limit. You won¡¯t be able to soar like birds, of course, but,bined with elite qinggong, he¡¯ll be able to fly over three hundred metres without needing a break. In the world of qinggong, there¡¯s no other discipline that can surpass it when ites to oveing walls or bodies of water. Ximen Chuideng used it back then to infiltrate the Imperial City. This man is likely affiliated with Divine Moon Cult. Prepare the next formation!¡±

    Not one of the swordsmen panicked despite what they saw. They orderly executed their instructions, but the demon had no will to fight. The demon spread his wings and flew off, leaving behind innumerable lit feathers to fall and disperse.

    The middle-aged man ¨C Ling Yaoshi ¨C knew someone was about to suffer as he watched the streak of light speed across the dark canvas.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary lost seventeen swordsmen, and eighty-three more were suffered damage. As they were the group to take the least damage since the demon¡¯s invasion, their reputation saw a resurgence.

    The fire demon was off to his final destination after obtaining the most potent power.

 Book 14: Chapter 107

    Grand Examiner

    It was the third andst day of the imperial exams. Therefore, there was no surprise that the sound of brushes moving quickly never ceased, and the proctors sternly patrolled the venue. This was the only ce in the capital that knew tranquillity ever since the White Princes deployed their forces. Once dawn arrived, the new winner would be decided.

    While a number of imperial guards had been reallocated to guarding the city doors, there were still enough guards outside Taishu Hall to watch even mosquitoes. It seemed more as though they were there to prevent anyone from running out rather than infiltrating the venue. Cheating wasn¡¯t tolerated in such a sacred ce. Hence, arge number of cheaters were detained, stuffed into sacks and then dumped into the firewood room overnight to await their punishments. Every single one of them disputed that they never cheated, earning themselves harsh beatings.

    All the examiners had been sent out on patrol duty. Every single one of them were detailed in their checks, sincere in their conduct and pped on both cheeks. No examinee dared to look up at the faces with hand prints on both sides. Theyter heard that, not only did they have hand marks, but some of them also had shoe marks, swollen lips and crooked noses. The examinees had no idea that one of them was no longer in his exam room.

    Head examiner Wang Zhenyun poured tea for the examinee sitting at the big table in the centre of the examiners¡¯ room.

    Ming Feizhen finally understood the severity of cheating in the imperial exams. His Majesty certainly wouldn¡¯t have been happy to see how many cheaters there were. His Majesty ordered him to participate in the imperial exams, while Prime Minister Li ditched him without even pretending to care about the exams. He, therefore, assumed they wanted him to investigate the corruption in the imperial exams.

    His Majesty had discussed the prevalent cheating in the imperial exams with Prime Minister Li on more than one asion. If they had a civil servant investigate the cheating, it was likely there¡¯d be conflict of affiliations, which would make them hesitant. Martial officials, on the other hand, didn¡¯t understand enough andcked a reason to enter the venue. Even if they could get in, the foxes would be ready for them. That was where Duke Ming came in.

    Duke Ming, being as intellectual with a brush as he was mighty with a sword, could partake in the imperial exams and held his own in a ring. Moreover, he was an experienced detective. Most importantly, nobody would think the insolent duke was His Majesty¡¯s best undercover agent. His Majesty hoped Ming Feizhen could earn the trust of the cheaters or obtain incriminating evidence for him to deal with them. Ming Feizhen had gone beyond what was necessary, though.

    Ming Feizhen was now in charge of the examiners, imperial guards, patrols and disqualification of examinees who bribed the examiners. In other words, he now had the reigns to Taishu Hall. Not only did he gain the trust of the cheaters, but he had also be their boss. He was now ¡°grand examiner¡±.

    ¡°The tea is cold. Do you drink cold tea? Go brew me a new pot. Tell the chef to cook something. I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    ¡°Again?¡± eximed Wang Zhenyun. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just eat two tables-worth?¡±

    ¡°You think I had any appetite while having to see you corrupt pricks?! I had no appetite for anything after that. God. Damn. Go tell the chef to get cooking!¡±

    If he had to deal with the honourable type, like He Shi, Ming Feizhen might¡¯ve had to knock them out to steal some evidence, but there was a plethora of strategies that worked against the corrupt type. After fighting off the assassinsst night, Ming Feizhen rounded them up and pped them all eighteen times each regardless of whether they were in the wrong or right. Once they were in bad enough condition to warrant medical attention, he then wrote down their crimes and had them sign. He had trouble convincing them to sign until he took out the other unknown pill he had in his shoe, which solved the problem instantly. He subsequently had them write down all the names of all bribers to then have them arrested under the pretext of them cheating in the exams.

    ¡°How are we supposed to exin it to His Majesty when they never cheated despite paying us?!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to forge evidence?!¡± Ming Feizhen smashed them in their faces with his shoe.

    Even though the corrupt examiners were veterans, it was their first time forging evidence to frame rich young masters. They had forged evidence to eliminate examinees, but it was the first time they heard of someone forging evidence to uphold justice. Needless to say, it was a lot of work, so they toiled into the night.

    ¡°Remember this: from now on, I run the show at Hanlin Academy, so wise up,¡± warned Ming Feizhen, enjoying his eighth table of food.

    Wang Zhenyun voiced, ¡°There is no boss of Hanlin Academy, and there is no real hierarchy. Every-¡±

    ¡°Ptoo! No boss? Yet they all took orders from you? Who are you trying to fool?!¡±

    What could Wang Zhenyun have done in his predicament?

    ¡°The top five haven¡¯t been detained yet, right?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    ¡°They can¡¯t be detained. Duke Ming, they are different to the examinees who are just rich. Should anything happen to them and their backers pursue the matter, we will all be in serious trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡¯We¡¯ doesn¡¯t include me, so it¡¯s not my problem.¡±

    Wang Zhenyun slyly smiled. ¡°You are our boss, are you not? They will go after you if they have a bone to pick.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine. That said, they¡¯ll have to scoot over in the cings.¡±

    ¡°That is the only option.¡±

    ¡°You chose Feng Jiutian or something for first ce? Why?¡±

    Wang Zhenyun proudly asserted, ¡°Young Master Feng¡¯s talent is one that is rar-¡±

    Ming Feizhen threw a bone at Wang Zhenyun¡¯s face, cutting him off. ¡°Keep wasting my time, and I¡¯ll reduce your bones to powder for frogs.¡±

    ¡°¡­ His family is wealthy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    Although Feng Xue dressed sloppily since leaving home, Ming Feizhen knew Brilliant Consort well enough to know how rich Feng n was.

    ¡°How much did he pay for it?¡±

    ¡°800,000.¡±

    Ming Feizhen sprayed all the tea he just put in his mouth. ¡°How much?! All he gets for that is a first ce?! Does that sound fair?¡±

    A few pages of He Shi¡¯s writing is only worth 800,000?!

    ¡°If¡­ this was donated to the country, what¡¯s the point of even sitting the exam? Just give him the uniform.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°The most important thing for an official is his background. Young Master Feng is a phoenix of the nine heavens, the direct inheritor of Feng n. If he can win the imperial exams, as well, he will have an immacte background, which equips him with a limitless future.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded as he listened to the newfound knowledge, but only he knew how much he actually understood.

    ¡°Remember to refund him since his hopes are dashed.¡± Ming Feizhen pulled Feng Jiutian¡¯s application out.

    Though Wang Zhenyun had ament to make, he refrained.

    ¡°Once you¡¯ve collected the papers tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll have copies written, while the original versions will be entrusted to Prime Minister Li. Examine the copies here and then submit them to His Majesty, understood?¡±

    Wang Zhenyun was going to pretend to go along, then proceed as per his original ns once Ming Feizhen left tomorrow. However, a cold gaze from Ming Feizhen and a, ¡°Understood, Examiner Wang?¡± shut him down.

    ¡°Und-understood.¡±

    ¡°Bug off now.¡±

    Ming Feizhen exhaled once he was alone in the room. The corruption in the exams had been resolved. He Shi was going to have to make copies so that he could exin the situation to His Majesty. His next concern were the assassins. He didn¡¯t have the faintest idea what the Yizhen Alliance was. Though Vivianite being one of the assassins was unexpected, he was an assassin, so someone must¡¯vemissioned him. That being the case, he just needed to interrogate Vivianite.

    Yan Liren¡¯s whereabout was still unanswered. He had yet to reveal himself, and Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t locate him using his ears. In saying that, since Yan Liren had entered the venue, he couldn¡¯t leave the exam venue until it was over, which meant that he was still in the vicinity.

    One more thing that was important was figuring out who helped him. There was no guarantee they were a friendly, but there was nothing to prove they were part of Yizhen Alliance. The person who helped him never showed themselves, either.

    Wang Zhenyun suddenly returned.

    ¡°What?¡±

    The confused examiner passed Ming Feizhen a bamboo tube. ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s Vice-captain Shen sent this¡­ This one does not dare to open it without permission.¡±

    Ming Feizhen snatched it over straight away to read. ¡°Huh?! Serious?!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 108

    Admiring Flowers on the Eaves

    The mighty power of the Seven Champion White Princes was public knowledge, and everyone knew Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t happy about it. Ever since Luo Ming reduced them to Six Champion White Princes, their fate hung in the bnce.

    Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ rampage was but a verse in a song. While they did push the envelope, there weren¡¯t many of them, and they didn¡¯t achieve much. Although Jiang Chen wasn¡¯t able to aplish his goals in the end, he was the only person who managed to put the capital in a state of unrest. Thebination of Qilin Guards arresting people affiliated with the martial world and guards patrolling strictly every single day had the people in a state of unease around the clock. Since there was already tension, the appearance of five armies showing up outside the city incited chaos inside the walls. Ever since dawn, there had been plenty of wealthy residents trying to flee north; when more residents attempted to flee, the once busy streets were blocked as tight as a can of sardines. Thankfully, Long Zaitian promptly shut the doors. Zha Pi yelled and then dragged off five wealthy former officials, whipped them and then dispersed the masses, earning Liu Shan Men a merit.

    Due to the situation, Bai Yumo¡¯s escape lost its re. Her identity as Bronze Mask was unsurprisingly censored, but Emperor¡¯s Entourage had dispatched agents to collect information. How much Emperor Yuansheng would learn was still unknown. Nheless, it didn¡¯t require a genius to realise that it¡¯d be an important case secretly submitted to His Majesty as it had the potential to be the impetus for him shing with Valley of Yearning.

    His Majesty refused to see anyone while he was on vacation, but the officials were aware that he privately met with high-ranking representatives of Emperor¡¯s Entourage and Qilin Guards before he went on vacation. Therefore, they were sure he had a countermeasure in mind. While the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage were taking action, Shen Yiren was mad because Liu Shan Men was left out of the meeting.

    Tang Ye and Su Xiao were still recovering at Liu Shan Men. Shen Yiren had her hands full with a case. In the end, she kicked Song Ou out and forced him to personally patrol the city. It was a waste of talent to waste his high-calibre skills on such a menial task, but, for the sake of never having any chance of appearing, he figured he¡¯d have to start being seen working at the current rate things were going for him recently.

    Song Ou appearing meant that he¡¯d bring his right-and-left hand man with him ¨C Zha Pi, the expert at bullying the weak. No citizen dared to attempt running from the capital for as long as Zha Pi was watching over them. As for Song Ou, he was annoyed over the fact that he was egged as soon as he stepped onto the street toplete his simple job. Why was he egged? Think about his family affiliation.

    The White Princes¡¯ descendants didn¡¯t have it easy in the capital. There had been numerous negative rumours about them floating around sincest month, so the recent event pushed the people¡¯s despise for them to the peak. Song Chi andpany were ordered to stay on Daren Academy¡¯s grounds for their own safety. In reality, they were under house arrest.

    Bai Yumo had fled. Jin Zhaoying acted alone. Ling Shaoxuan was still unconscious. Thus, there were only Song Chi and Xun Feng.

    ¡°You found out Bai Yumo is Bronze Mask?¡± Xun Feng sounded irritated as he bandaged his injured shoulder.

    ¡°Not too much.¡±

    ¡°What is that supposed to mean? That means you knew? Why did you not tell me, then?¡±

    ¡°She never tells me what she does the same way Sister Jin does not. Moreover, I only have a vague idea¡­ Sister Bai¡­ has hallucinations.¡±

    ¡°Hallucinations? You mean¡­ she doesn¡¯t have awareness of her actions?¡±

    The condition was simr to sleep walking, except the victim could operate for longer. You could see it was akin to being in a nightmare as it there was rationality involved in some facet rather than random wandering. What they seen might¡¯ve been fragmented, but you could identify the source.

    Song Chi nodded. ¡°Third Uncle Bai stressed multiple times that she has suffered from it since childhood. I never thought¡­ it was so serious when it afflicted her. I noticed her gaze changepletely every now and then; I¡¯d describe her alter ego as a de out of its sheath. Those must have been times she was victim to it.¡±

    Xun Feng wasn¡¯t fully convinced just yet. After all, he had never seen such a severe case. Plus, he didn¡¯t see her behaving as if she was sleeping; her actions were methodical. He¡¯d have been more convinced if he was told that she switched personalities. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t time to be arguing with Song Chi.

    Since Bai Yumo won the martial arts contest, their team won the idolpetition. Although she did switch characters at the end, she was still technically Bai Yumo, right? The prizes would be handed out tomorrow night at the bonfire ceremony.

    ¡°Sister Bai can¡¯t be used, then.¡±

    Song Chi grouched, ¡°You want to use her?¡±

    ¡°If she¡¯s Bronze Mask, there¡¯s no harm. Maybe she could even open a new path for us. Anything beats being under house arrest here.¡±

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t consider us allies, how does the thought of using a seventeen-year-old girl even cross your mind?! You are a monk!¡±

    Xun Feng smirked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t change the fact that she¡¯s Bronze Mask. For all we know, we might be next on her hit list. Her internal energy is impressive enough, and her broadswordy is no joke. I always said she was inexperienced, or she¡¯d be incredibly helpful. Little did I know she¡¯s far better than I gave her credit for. You weren¡¯t there, but I saw her knock Tang Ye away with a single wave of her hand. Not even He Kanyu and Lan Jiqiong together could hold her back. There¡¯s a chance that neither of us could match her, either. Also, have you forgotten she killed your uncle?¡±

    One of the reasons Bai Yumo was able to sessfully behead Song Chi¡¯s third uncle and make him one of her stepping stones was thanks to her staying at Daren Academy.

    Song Chi sighed. ¡°Perhaps it no longer matters.¡±

    ¡°True. The imminent crash course is what¡¯s most important at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Brother Feng, why must you provoke conflict? You know the five armies didn¡¯t assemble to sh with the imperial court.¡±

    ¡°Tell me the reason, then.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know at first myself, but I told my father that we can¡¯t sh with the imperial court under any circumstances, and he promised he wouldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Brother Song, why do you always put people up and yourself down. Why are you always wavering and changing sides?¡±

    Song Chi¡¯s aura changed hostile. ¡°I have only ever taken one side ¨C Song n¡¯s side. Everything I have, wear and think aboutes from Song n. For Song n, I will not hesitate to sacrifice my life. Should anyone try to harm Song n, I¡¯ll put my life on the line. If you want to humiliate me, why don¡¯t you just fight me. Why wag your tongue?¡±

    Notwithstanding getting along cordially when they first linked up and arrived, they had started to argue frequently more recently, and the tension had reached a new peak.

    Xun Feng grinned. ¡°For your n? Have you forgotten the imperial court is trying to strip us?! If you¡¯re trying to help your n, why are you hesitating to take action? Are you just going to let them destroy our ns? I never intended to insult you; I¡¯m saying this for your sake. You know better than me how hard it was for your n to build itself into what it is today, so why would you hand it over to someone else? Your n and Jin n started from zero. What did this dynasty¡¯s progenitor tell your ancestors? Did he say they would take back their promise whenever they pleased? Who¡¯d respect them if that happened?¡±

    ¡°This is something you ought to keep between only us. It¡¯s treason if someone else hears that,¡± Song Chi asserted in a quiet voice.

    ¡°Tell that to someone who isn¡¯t a monk who does as he pleases and is often disrespectful. All that¡¯s missing is a pot of tea.¡± Xun Feng took out a pot of wine and cup from his sleeve, then poured himself a drink.

    Song Chi couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Brother Feng, you¡¯re already quite drunk without even having had a drink.¡±

    ¡°Why else would I have said what I said? Drink with me.¡±

    Song Chi forced himself to have one drink, while Xun Feng knocked back three.

    ¡°It¡¯s good,¡± praised Song Chi.

    ¡°Brother, not being able to appreciate the wine is wasting my wine, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Song Chi smiled, ¡°To tell the truth, our divide has arrived.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Xun Feng had another three drinks. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to disagree with the fact that the imperial court is treating us unfairly.¡±

    ¡°It is unfair. Howbeit, who gets to say what is fair and unfair? He is the Emperor. That is already the most unfair thing in the world.¡±

    Xun Feng spent a while digesting what he heard, then knocked on the table. ¡°Well said! Were it not for what you said, I would¡¯ve thought books had softened you. I¡¯m a monk; I don¡¯t care for mundane matters. All I want is fairness!¡±

    Song Chi bitterly smiled. ¡°You misunderstood.¡±

    ¡°Misunderstood?¡± Xun Feng hiked up a brow. ¡°You¡¯re speaking up for His Majesty now? You think it¡¯s right to remove us from power? You, Song n and the rest of world thinks it¡¯s reasonable?¡±

    ¡°That no longer has any importance. It¡¯s written on the wall based on His Majesty¡¯s tactics that he is not backing down.¡± Song Chi shook his head, paused, then continued, ¡°You mentioned the rest of the world. Let¡¯s put aside the reality that they may not even support us. His Majesty has an honest, generous and benevolent reputation to protect, so he won¡¯t do the things you suggested. By extension, he won¡¯t resort to violence as his first choice. Instead, he will take us down one at a time. Luo Sword Manor started since Luo Ming is tied to His Majesty. Didn¡¯t we foresee it when he was in Huzhou? Brother Feng, this is an inevitable course.¡±

    Xun Feng lowered his head.

    ¡°Moreover, the imperial court is sincere¡­ I¡¯m not arguing he¡¯s trying to strip us of our power, but tell me what happened to Luo Sword Manor afterwards? You saw the decree this morning¡­ What happened to Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor? Aren¡¯t they still doing fine?¡±

    The Six Champion White Princes discussed what their choice would be before the five of them were dispatched. Using Luo Sword Manor as an example, they managed to weaken the resolve of some. It went without saying that profit was always the priority. It was best to avoid being stripped of their title; who¡¯d sacrifice their own family¡¯s profits for peace? Plus, it¡¯d be impossible for them to rise from the ashes if they handed over all their tools to rise. The decree sent this morning basically glossed over Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s crimes and praised them for massive contributions instead. The reward handed out to them would make one drool. That further diminished the will to fight amongst those wishing for a peaceful resolution, and among those was Song Chi.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we White Princes have toe together, no?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a wise decision and also the reason I am here,¡± responded Song Chi, ¡°but what happens after?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Irrespective of how united we are, we are still six different families at the end of the day. Ling Hanzhong used tomand our families, only for the Qilin Guards to practically eat him from behind. Had he truly tried, there¡¯d have been no peace in thesest few years. Thankfully, he stopped before he crossed the line and passed the reins over to his son. Ling Yaoshi would never make such a foolish mistake.

    ¡°Brother Feng, you know as well as I do that this status quo can¡¯t be managed for long. At most, we can only keep this up for a year and a half. We¡¯ll go back to governing ourselves afterwards, while His Majesty will continue to press the attack. There¡¯s no avoiding the pain of choosing between war and peace.¡±

    ¡°War.¡±

    ¡°Why not peace? It¡¯s not us who are dishonouring the promise back then.¡±

    ¡°Why did Li n¡¯s ancestors promise when they started the nation? As long as they were in power, we seven would remain Princes. Oh, so they forgot because it¡¯s been a century? When have we ever held back at all when it came to protecting the capital? I lost over forty senior brothers in the campaign at Lawless Cliff six years ago. Did Cold Mountain Temple everin? Did our abbotin about leading an army of monks into the war to help? Look at how we¡¯re being treated now! You¡¯ve read all those books in vain!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust them, and I don¡¯t believe I did any wrongs, either.¡±

    ¡°Why are you being such a coward? You¡¯re a man with big ambitions. You led us into the capital and knew Bai Yumo¡¯s secret; how can someone like that be without a desire? Why are you suddenly cowering? What are you fearful of?!¡±

    Song Chi held back from arguing several times. In the end, he replied, ¡°Because our odds of winning aren¡¯t great.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re surrendering before the battle has even started!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do some simple calctions: what are our odds of winning against the imperial court in a war?¡±

    ¡°If Dark Robe Brotherhood joins us, 60%,¡± Xun Feng got to his feet to assert.

    The two of them had the most reliable evaluation of the status quo; His Majesty would more than likely agree with them.

    ¡°They won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You think so? Have you heard some rumour or something?¡±

    Judging from Xun Feng¡¯s bright smile, it was obvious that Dark Robe Brotherhood was divided internally, but Song Chi still didn¡¯t see anything to celebrate about it. Based on his own knowledge, he didn¡¯t raise their odds of winning by much even if some of them did support the war.

    ¡°Even if I haven¡¯t heard anything, there are three words that guarantee they won¡¯t join us.¡±

    ¡°Which three words?¡±

    ¡°Wang Muren.¡±

    Both of them went silent as if he could hear them despite knowing he wasn¡¯t within earshot.

    ¡°He¡¯s a mad dog His Majesty raised. He¡¯ll bite anyone who dares to even think of harming His Majesty even if they¡¯re his own kin. If Wang and Xie ns dare to revolt, he won¡¯t hesitate to ughter every single one of them. What difference would it make even if Dark Robe Brotherhood revolted? Could you confidently say that either of us knows Dark Robe Brotherhood better than Wang Muren?¡± Since Xun Feng spent a long time musing, Song Chi urged, ¡°I came to the realisation a long time ago that whether or not the White Princes can stand the test of time doesn¡¯t depend on the imperial court but ourselves. No matter what contributions we have made, the moment we shake up His Majesty¡¯s rule, we won¡¯t be pardoned.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, what a joke. If it¡¯s on us, why is it that we¡¯re in this predicament in this era after five Emperors?¡±

    ¡°Heed my advice, Brother Feng. Give up on war. It won¡¯t yield the result you desire.¡±

    ¡°Even Bai Yumo is more courageous than you!¡± Xun Feng was so furious that he started pointing at Song Chi as he went on. ¡°Even Bai Yumo can send ripples through the capital. You¡¯re a scion of Song n, yet you¡¯re being a coward. Are you okay with giving your ancestors¡¯ blood, sweat and tears to someone else?¡±

    Song Chi stood up. ¡°I am a scion of Song n. I will give my all for Song n. I¡¯m not a tool to do someone¡¯s bidding, help someone gain wealth and fulfil their ambitions at the cost of my n¡¯s wellbeing. What¡¯s there toin about when we have a healthy family? You¡¯re telling me to gamble on a 60% chance, not for the people, but for someone else? Is that how you truly evaluate this situation? Really?¡±

    They stared at each other for a long time before Xun Feng sighed and sat back down.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of this argument, even? It¡¯s all on tomorrow.¡±

    ***

    The White Princes had lost several hundred troops by the next day. When they sent envoys to inquire what the cause was, they were just told, ¡°A demon¡¯s wind.¡±

    In just one day, twenty-eight thousand elites had gathered under Secretary Lie¡¯s banner, and the number was still rising.

    The Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men had increased their patrols in case of unforeseen security issues, as well as handed out firework signals to officials so that they could notify guards and the three offices in emergencies. Forty-five minutes before nightfall, the first firework ascended into the ether from the direction of a street nobles lived on.

    Guards rushed to the street, only to see a second firework signal in the opposite direction. Consequently, the constables and guards had to rush over right after. After that, a trail of fire streaked through the air from a direction that no firework should¡¯ve been spotted in. The fatigued constables and guards were unsure how to respond to the emergency. The worst part of it all was that the biggest me exploded above a terrible ce.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Prime Minister¡¯s estate!¡± The Qilin Guards sped over.

    There were unconscious servants strewn across Prime Minister Li¡¯s estate. The intruder scared all the servants who tried to stop him without even having to lift a finger. Just after the Emperor¡¯s Entourage agents and Qilin Guards assigned to the estate dropped at the man¡¯s feet, Bai Ju yawned andzily questioned, ¡°Prime Minister Li live here?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 14: Chapter 109

    Ubiquitous Sparks of War in the Capital

    While the lights in the night sky were pretty, nobody celebrated when those stationed in the public eye and those stationed in the dark had their hands full to different degrees. All sense of order had seemingly gone out the window. They already had enough trouble deciding if they had to go to the rescue of a secretary or a Prince¡¯s maternal uncle. Therefore, the fire from the residential area ofmoners stressed them out even more.

    The fire in the residential zone a long distance from where they were had the various groups yelling and running disorderly, leaving them vulnerable to ambushes and the sort. The fire in the sky was no more than a ripple in the water, but it had potential to copse the entire security system from within.

    Though the groups in every cardinal direction were affected, the faction that suffered most was the biggest faction ¨C the security department in charge of all nine gates. It¡¯d take someone with only half a brain cell to think that the chaos was coincidence. The enemy wanted to put them in a dilemma; regardless of whether they chose to rescue the officials or citizens, they¡¯d be wrong one way or another. Needless to say, the leaders would be afraid of the consequences they¡¯d have to bear. It would take time ¨C a luxury they didn¡¯t have in the moment ¨C to report to their superiors and request instructions.

    ¡°Go! Go! Go! I don¡¯t want to see anyone standing around!¡± urged Long Zaitian, deciding to prioritise the safety of the citizens. ¡°Go! Go! Go! I¡¯ll hang anyone who dares to stand around from the city walls without his pants!¡±

    Long Zaitian wasn¡¯t a noble official who cared for the citizens as if they were family; he made the decision solely because the person he respected the most was a hero who could hold off Beijiang¡¯s army at the border alone. Long Zaitian simply put himself in Wang Muren¡¯s shoes to make the decision.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Brother!¡± Long Zaitian grabbed Song Ou¡¯s shoulder and yelled, ¡°If we work together, we¡¯ll get through the chaos tonight!¡±

    Teary, Song Ou broke out of Long Zaitian¡¯s grip. ¡°Brother? Are we even friends?¡±

    ¡°Can we put aside our grudges for the meantime?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who bullies me¡­ Aren¡¯t we sweeping your actions under the r-¡±

    ¡°The country needs us! Why are you letting your foolishness blind you?!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tell me what needs to be done first.¡±

    ¡°See the anarchy?¡±

    ¡°I have eyes.¡± Song Ou had an inkling his family might¡¯ve been involved.

    ¡°Someone is setting fire in the capital on purpose to mislead us. I¡¯m going to lead a team to bring the situation under control.¡±

    Song Ou wrinkled his nose. ¡°You haven¡¯t even checked on the officials. Aren¡¯t you asking for trouble? Moreover, isn¡¯t the best strategy in this situation to ignore the fires? Aren¡¯t you ying right into their hands by running around?¡±

    ¡°Did you forget your brain at the office?!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Wh-¡±

    Before Song Ou could finish wiping the saliva off his face, Long Zaitian borated, ¡°You think the enemy didn¡¯t ount for that? They¡¯ve been preparing for a long time. If we go to the assistance of the officials, the citizens¡¯ district could be up in mes. There¡¯s no way there are many of them setting fire, so they can¡¯tunch attacks in both directions simultaneously. As soon as they notice us stop, they¡¯ll set fire before you do your little ¡®ignore the fires¡¯. What¡¯s an easier way to incite panic than arson? There isn¡¯t.¡±

    Long Zaitian pointed in the direction that the imperial guards went. ¡°There are lots of residents in the residential area. Not only are the buildings close, but they¡¯re also built from wood. If they use the slightest iota of intelligence, they¡¯ll be able to roast several hundreds of people with a small fire.¡±

    Song Ou patted Long Zaitian on the shoulder. ¡°Gotcha! You¡¯re a real one! What do you want Liu Shan Men to do?¡±

    ¡°The imperial guards are armed and strong, but they don¡¯t have any elite fighters. In contrast, we may number less, but one of us equals many of them. I¡¯ll protect the citizens. You protect the officials and whatnot. Don¡¯t let the enemy have their way.¡±

    ¡°Brother Long!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Long Zaitian, go for it. I¡¯ll cover this side.¡±

    ¡°Ou!¡±

    ¡°Long!¡±

    The duo: ¡°Take care!¡±

    Just as Long Zaitian predicted, a small fire started in an alley of the residential zone not long after the imperial guards rushed over; it was a few kilometres from where the closest fire was. The fire probably could¡¯ve burnt down two streets if the imperial guards didn¡¯t arrive in time to extinguish it.

    On Song Ou¡¯s end, some fires were real. Some household suffered casualties, supposedly at the hand of a group masked men who started ughtering people without a word. They would¡¯ve suffered even more casualties if the killers stayed around for long. Some fires, however, were fake, and residents stated they never saw anyone despite a fire actually starting in their backyards somehow.

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s constables and the Qilin Guards had nothing to show after all their running around. Clearly, the enemy¡¯s strategy of creating false rms and sprinkling in real problems worked wonders.

    ¡°After all this time, there¡¯s not even a trace despite all the nning for tonight,¡± remarked Dugu, crossing roofs as if he was working on t ground with a team.

    ¡°If this n is his alone, then you have to respect him even if he is an enemy,¡± replied rank eight on Seventeen Hidden Dragons, Li Shijiao.

    The ¡°he¡± they referred to was none other than Gongsun Chu.

    Ever since Yi Ya returned to the capital, it would¡¯ve been extremely difficult for Gongsun Chu to nt moles and the sort in the capital, not to mention a lot of time would¡¯ve been needed to prepare the fire strategy. The best time to have prepared it was a month ago, when there were all sorts of people in the capital.

    Gongsun Chu had arranged his men into several teams. Some of them helped make the mirage possible. Some did the leg work to draw attention. Thest group set up the fires for tonight.

    The hidden dragons immediately began searching for the culprits upon seeing the fires. As they were a group of elites rather than a group that maximised head count, they weren¡¯t the best choice for rescue mission, but they were perfect for search and destroy jobs.

    Upon finally founding one of the sources of the chaos, Dugu said, ¡°I never expected the notorious Bronze Mask to be a young girl, but I¡¯m even more surprised that the one snooping around starting fires is League of Assassins¡¯ number one.

    Bronze Mask went from roof to roof with a fire torch in hand using her incredible qinggong. Dugu figured out why he failed to identify Bronze Mask no matter how he looked after he learnt Bronze Mask¡¯s true identity. Daren Academy provided a convenient hiding spot, while her affiliation with the White Princes erased her suspicion. It might¡¯ve seemed a waste to have her set fires when she was skilled enough to defeat Dugu, but her qinggong made her the best candidate for the job.

    Dugu halted a dozen-odd metres away from Bronze Mask. ¡°Miss Bai, your father is a famous and respected hero. He would not be happy to see you turn to the dark side.¡±

    The other five Hidden Dragons dispersed, essentially encircling Bronze Mask, yet she didn¡¯t look worried in a slightest.

    ¡°Weaklings.¡± Bronze Mask shed out broadsword qi in a curve, bringing all five Hidden Dragons into her attack range.

    All the Hidden Dragons had to block the attack. In the meantime, Bronze Mask shed at Bai Laimu. Though they came from the same n, he had never seen Bai Yumo attack so ruthlessly. In his moment of panic, Bai Laimu failed to put up a defence in time. ng! Sparks rained down from Bai Laimu¡¯s forehead level.

    While Dugu managed to protect Bai Laimu with his shield, Bronze Mask leveraged the impact to bounce back, effectively putting more than twenty-five metres between her and her opponents. She spun whilst still in the air and shed another trail of broadsword energy, voiding her pursuers¡¯ formation; they either had to move or block. Uponnding on a roof, she tried to vanish into the darkness.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡± Dugu yelled.

    Bronze Mask¡¯s sixth sense kicked in, informing her of an arrow that was headed towards her neck. She ducked down, only to see a second arrow, forcing her to turn her head, then had to sweep in front with her de to intercept the following three arrows. By then, the six Hidden Dragons had closed the gap.

    Bronze Mask nced out of her peripherals to see Ye Luo loading up more arrows from over two hundred metres away. Bronze Mask took a deep breath, and then Ye Luo lost track of her in a blink. The other Hidden Dragons saw the same sight. Rather than say she disappeared, it was as if her existence was an illusion.

    Dugu hurled his shield and shouted, ¡°Ye Luo, dodge!¡±

    Ye Luo lowered her bow as she retreated, but she heard a quick ¡°ng¡± on her iron blow. Her bow snapped in half before she realised it happened. At the same time, she started bleeding from her left arm and ribs.

    Bronze Mask knocked Dugu¡¯s shield aside and ran. In spite of having defeated Dugu once, she knew it was unwise to fight the group under Dugu¡¯s leadership. Even so, her retreat looked orderly and calcted. Dugu had trouble believing a seventeen-year-old maiden could make decisions so quickly.

    Where did things go wrong? Who is she helping? Who hired League of Assassins¡¯ top assassin group, and what is their goal?!

    If parents of Daren Academy¡¯s students hadn¡¯t picked up their children, then the students studied in their rooms. As a result, the award ceremony for the idolpetition was quiet.

    ¡°Chaos has descended outside,¡° Xun Feng remarked, peering into the alight sky.

    ¡°It is none of your business,¡± reminded Lan Jiqiong.

    Due to Ling Shaoxuan and Bai Yumo¡¯s circumstances, only Xun Feng rocked up to ept the prize.

    Xun Feng smiled. ¡°The situation outside seems to be on your mind.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong heaved a breath. ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I said that wasn¡¯t true. Tonight is bound to be different to every other night.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong grabbed a box from the desk behind him. If the transparent blue box was made from the legendary ice jade that was insted from heat, then it was worth a handsome amount. ¡°This is the prize you three won.¡±

    Glossary

    Omitted joke ¨C ¡°Brother Long¡± sounds the same as ¡°breast enhancement surgery¡±, so it went like this:

    Song Ou said, ¡°Brother Long!¡±

    Long Zaitian responded, ¡°You enhance your breasts. I don¡¯t need breast enhancement with my thick pecs!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 110

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s Pinch

    ¡°Is this the famous Nine Dragons Fire Jade?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Lan Jiqiong leisurely grabbed a small box from the bookshelf. ¡°It¡¯s the ¡®Cool Cool Reading Token¡¯, which allows you to read any book at the academy freely for one year! With it, you will never have to worry about any hitches in your academic career!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Oh.¡± When he saw Lan Jiqiong grab another small box from the bookshelf, Xun Feng almost lost control over his breathing.

    ¡°Th-¡±

    ¡°Nine Dragons Fire Jade!¡±

    ¡°No! This is ¡®Strong Studies Token¡¯, which allows you to visit any professor any time for supplementary tutoring. With it, you will never have to worry about any hitches in your ac-¡±

    ¡°Academic career, right?¡± Xun Feng wore a long face.

    ¡°Exactly. Why don¡¯t you look happy? Why do you have so little interest in studying?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I am not your student.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, the prizes are all here.¡± Lan Jiqiong palmed himself on the forehead, then pushed the cold jade box over. ¡°This is the third, which is the Nine Dragons Fire Jade you mentioned.¡±

    Xun Feng, beaming, reached both hands for it, but Lan Jiqiong didn¡¯t let go.

    ¡°Thuban Lan? Why are you not letting go?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong pressed down on the box whilst staring at Xun Feng¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Is¡­ your shoulder injured?¡±

    Considering Che Gulu caught Xun Feng on the shoulder yesterday, yet Xun Feng strangely had plenty of strength as he tried to wrestle the box from Lan Jiqiong.

    Xun Feng formed a small smile. ¡°It is, but I have bandaged it.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, take care.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your concern. Could you let go now?¡±

    Lan Jiqiong didn¡¯t budge.

    ¡°Thuban Lan¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t give it to you yet. Our sects get along quite well, and our teachers are even closer. As such, I need to give you a disimer. Do you know why we need to use this ice jade box for the item?¡±

    ¡°Is this a test?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I shall answer, then.¡±

    ¡°By all means.¡±

    Gaze fixated on Lan Jiqiong and hands pulling, Xun Feng responded, ¡°Nine Dragons Fire jade is among the best of the Dragon Fire Jade series. The immense amount of heat energy in it puts it in a ss of sacred items for yang items. It¡¯s said to be capable of collecting and sting mes that will incinerate all objects and burn living organisms forever. Left unchecked, there would never be a day of peace at Daren Academy. Thus, the ice jade box is the best candidate to contain it. Seeing the box is the same as finding Fire Jade.¡±

    ¡°Correct. However, you should be aware of the Fire Jade¡¯s value, I assume? Carelessness will¡­¡± Lan Jiqiong swiftly shifted his gaze from Xun Feng to out the window, ¡°result in someone trying to steal it!¡±

    Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. Neither of them moved.

    ¡°There is nobody¡­¡±

    ¡°Seriously,¡± mumbled Lan Jiqiong. ¡°My senior brother and I have discussed this extensively. We both agree that this draws viins to it, but we don¡¯t know who that¡¯ll be. We thought it would be the prime opportunity today, but nobody has shown up surprisingly.¡±

    Xun Feng picked up the box as if it was rightfully his. ¡°You are thinking too much.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why the two of us came to a conclusion.¡±

    ¡°What conclusion?¡±

    ¡°Whoever is so eager to grab it is the one in question. Simple, right?¡±

    Xun Feng smiled whilst watching Lan Jiqiong, but never loosened his grip. ¡°What are you implying?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Your shoulder is injured?¡±

    Gales suddenly spawned in the room as a result of dozens of blows being exchanged. Subsequently, Lan Jiqiong ploughed through the door against his will. Lan Jiqiong spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed, ¡°You¡¯ve been hiding your true skill all this time, huh?¡±

    Xun Feng ambled out from the dust and showed no surprise when he came into the encirclement of Confucianism disciples. He threw a firework into the sky, adding another stroke to the dark canvas. Quite obviously, he was part of the reason for the chaos out on the streets.

    ¡°Hero He, have you no shame, putting on this fa?ade as the next head of Confucianism?¡± Despite how many people were present, Xun Feng only ever looked at He Kanyu.

    He Kanyu meandered forward. ¡°Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Four Holy Monks are all exceptional individuals. Your actions at the academy have casted suspicion on yourself, and those suspicions have proven warranted.¡±

    Lan Jiqiong was a capable fighter, but it barely took Xun Feng any time to hurt him bad, not to mention Xun Feng had topromise one hand in order to hold the ice jade box. Clearly, his draw against Che Gulu was a result of him deliberately throwing the match, and the shoulder injury was a hoax.

    Xun Feng held his spare hand in prayer. ¡°I came for this jade item. Since I have obtained it, I have no reason to continue pretending. Your praise makes me blush, Brother He.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to blush. If there was no one else who¡¯d try to steal the Fire Jade today, I would never have suspected it was you. By extension, you are involved in tonight¡¯s uproar.¡±

    ¡°My only task was to obtain this Fire Jade. I will not tell you what to think now that I have achieved my goal.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ve achieved your goal?¡±

    Xun Feng opened the ice jade box slowly to discover it was empty. ¡°¡­ Now this is a tested and tried Confucianism tactic.¡±

    ¡°You speak too highly of us. We are fools who have fallen for your ploys until now.¡±

    Xun Feng shut the box and looked annoyed. ¡°Where is it?¡±

    ¡°Are you not even going to try pretending anymore?¡°

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask again: where is it?¡±

    ¡°Do you genuinely think I¡¯d tell you?¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Xun Feng snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again after I have my hands around Huang Yuzao¡¯s throat.¡±

    Sword qi and a gale from Xun Feng¡¯s palm collided. Though Xun Feng managed to make short work of Lan Jiqiong and had yet to show his full capacity, nobody was convinced he could beat He Kanyu in a fair fight until they saw two hand prints on He Kanyu¡¯s chest.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Lan Jiqiong rushed forward to catch He Kanyu, while the twenty-plus others quickly assumed a defensive position.

    He Kanyu, ghastly pale, needed several breaths to regain hisposure. He looked furious before grimacing. It was Lan Jiqiong¡¯s first time seeing his senior so enraged.

    He Kanyu struggled to his feet and slowly exhaled. ¡°You used poison!¡±

    None of the others could determine when Xun Feng poisoned He Kanyu.

    Xun Feng supinated his free hand. ¡°Tang n has a poison called ¡®love is pain¡¯. I¡¯m weak, only got my hands on a small dose, and you are vignt. My only option, therefore, was to put it in the firework.¡±

    Since He Kanyu was already afflicted with ¡°love is pain¡±, he was vulnerable when his teacher was threatened, rendering him open to Xun Feng¡¯s attack. It wouldn¡¯t have been hard for He Kanyu to apprehend Xun Feng with his team, but their two best fighters were now injured. Knowing that, He Kanyu raised his sword, stepped forward twice and instructed, ¡°Left and right, get in formation. If he can¡¯t be subdued, kill him.¡±

    He Kanyu¡¯s cold voice put everyone on high alert, and they immediately surrounded Xun Feng.

    Xun Feng sighed. ¡°I knew you would be trouble. Hero He, to be frank, I have been searching in the academy for a long time, and you have been the person I have feared most. You look ordinary, but you leave no openings. Before I attempted to search for Nine Dragons Fire Jade at night, I would have to consider what to do if you discovered me. Were it not for you, I wouldn¡¯t have wasted my time and energy on that lousy idolpetition. I was waiting to steal it and then leave straight away. I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still so calm in this situation. You don¡¯t think this is all I¡¯m capable of, though, do you? I didn¡¯t shoot the firework just to poison you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him! Take him down!¡±

    ¡°Why do you refuse to believe me? Bronze Mask!¡±

    He Kanyu instinctively bound backwards. He felt the wind of the broadsword qi thatnded an inch in front of his foot and saw the dust rise.

    Bronze Mask¡¯s appearance on the rooftop made the Confucianism members gasp. While she had their attention, Xun Feng sneaked off speedily.

    He Kanyu resisted the pain to shout, ¡°You¡­ colluded! After him!¡±

    Xun Feng miscalcted the fact that the item wouldn¡¯t be in the box, but there weren¡¯t many boxes that could function the same way. As such, he figured the Nine Dragons Fire Jade had to be stored in location with simr conditions, and he had one ce in mind, which was the very spot he was speeding towards.

    ***

    ¡°You¡¯re the branch leader of Jiuqu Gang. Why are you setting fire here?¡±

    The culprit ceased his hand.

    ¡°Serving him is ame excuse. Where is Gongsun Chu?¡± Ye Yun sighed. ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t know; I was just trying to see your reaction. Lame. Stop trying to dere your loyalty. You¡¯re just doing this for money.¡±

    The arsonist, who never had a chance to say a word, felt more fearful than ever in his life. It didn¡¯t take long before his head sttered.

    ¡°You people are like bugs. There¡¯s no end to you no matter how many I kill.¡± Due to his post, Ye Yun wasn¡¯t suited for work on the frontline. Due to his personality, he wasn¡¯t an ideal bodyguard, either. He was only out on the front line to force Gongsun Chu out from hiding.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage deduced that Gongsun Chu left a small number of elite fighters in the capital to carry out secret missions; however, they were unable to find any trails to follow. The fireworks appearing in every direction caught Emperor¡¯s Entourage off guard as it wasn¡¯t a n that a small group could¡¯ve executed. Upon looking into it further, Ye Yun got mad for the reason that their presumption was theplete opposite of reality. If the people left in the capital weren¡¯t small-fry criminals, they were clerks at stores. The strongest one was no match for the Hidden Dragons working together, while the weakest was basically never trained. It was no wonder they avoided Liu Shan Men and Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s detection. If Gongsun Chu wanted to prove that he didn¡¯t needpetent fighters and could make the security protocol look so pathetic with enough numbers and a month, he seeded.

    Ye Yun had killed roughly thirty arsonists tonight, but the fireworks had already disrupted all order. That being said, both Ye Yun and Gongsun Chu knew that the mind game was meaningless even if it could irritate Ye Yun for as long as the White Princes¡¯ armies didn¡¯t move. That, of course, would be a different story if the armies tried to assault the city. In that scenario, the head of the Ministry of Defence would lead an army to battle. Before that, though, The Ultimate Three might¡¯ve returned to collect a few heads; this would¡¯ve been the easier solution. Ye Yun wasn¡¯t convinced that Gongsun Chu would use such a predictable strategy, nevertheless. Ye Yun believed Gongsun Chu had sneaked into the capital and had himself covered. Shitou most likely apanied him at all times, so it certainly wouldn¡¯t have been easy to restrain Gongsun Chu even if they were in the capital.

    Ye Yun hoped killing the pawns would force Gongsun Chu to personally carry out his ns. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of that happening.

    What is¡­ or who is he waiting for?

    ***

    Ming Feizhen grabbed a sheet of paper, a brush and then started writing. Within moments, he called Wang Zhenyun over and instructed, ¡°Send this to Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ During the exams, sending information out is¡­ Though this old one is the head examiner, this is t-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, save me the tripe. The first thing you¡¯d want to do if anything goes awry here is to contact your ¡®superior¡¯, right? You must¡¯ve been dying to contact them all this time. Go ahead, but don¡¯t lose this letter, or you¡¯ll be losing your head next.¡±

    Needless to say, Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t referring to His Majesty¡¯s decree for an execution but an actual beheading. These sorts of threats worked wonders in Taishu Hall.

    Once Wang Zhenyun left, Ming Feizhen returned to contemting until he heard the sound of fireworks. ¡°What¡¯s there to celebrate, you twats?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was unaware of the events urring outside. The letter did provide some information, but it didn¡¯t cover what was currently going on. Nevertheless, he felt relief to finally have confirmation that Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask, although it was a surprise. The other thing Shen Yiren mentioned was He Kanyu¡¯s n to capture Xun Feng, but shecked faith in them. Based on the timing of things, Ming Feizhen assumed they¡¯d be fighting right about now. As for the White Princes¡¯ activities, he couldn¡¯t wrap his head around the logic. Nheless, he didn¡¯t bother thinking about it because there was someone smarter outside.

    Ming Feizhen paced around in the room. He expected big events to take ce tonight. Regrettably, he had yet to fully recover, and the exams weren¡¯t over yet. He took two bites out of a side dish and a drink of alcohol to feel better. He still felt uneasy even after clearing the table, but no amount of thinking got him anywhere. In the end, even the food didn¡¯t taste as it would¡¯ve.

    ¡°Tangyuan brewed in osmanthus wine!¡± cheered Ming Feizhen, watching a waft of dessert.

    The cooks at Taishu Hall were really good. Ming Feizhen ordered Wang Zhenyun to fetch him a bowl as soon as he smelt the tangyuan, but Wang Zhenyun was out on a job¡­ Thus, Duke Ming personally went to st- (steal), grab a p- (pot), bowl!

    Ming Feizhen still had his wits about him in case of assassins.

    The cooks were still busy cookingte at night. Nobody would kick Ming Feizhen out even if they noticed him since he was in an examiner¡¯s uniform. With that said, it was still best to not be seen. He slipped over to the steaming big pot, grabbed a massive bowl and emptied out the pot while nobody was paying attention. Because hedled out the tangyuan in a crouched posture, he only grabbed six balls, while the rest was the broth. Suddenly, he heard a soft exmation.

    The pretty woman who suddenly came to life when she saw Ming Feizhen was probably in her thirties. He immediately gestured for her not to scream. She checked around, then quietly whispered, ¡°Why are you here, Sir?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ was hungry.¡±

    The cook smiled and whispered, ¡°Head out first. I shall bring you some in a moment.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic!¡±

    Not long after Ming Feizhen sneaked back out, the cook came out with a big pot of tangyuan. Owing to how physically weak she was, Ming Feizhen rushed to her aid before she spilt the delicacy and said, ¡°You should not take such a big basin. You should have considered your limitations.¡±

    ¡°I was worried you would not have enough¡­ Are you going to eat here?¡± questioned the cook, noticing Ming Feizhen close to drooling.

    ¡°I will take it back to eat.¡±

    ¡°Would it not be tiring to carry such arge pot back? Besides, I would be scolded if a pot was missing from the kitchen.¡±

    She had a point. She covered her giggle as she watched him space out. ¡°There is a storage room over there opposite the garden. Help yourself.¡±

    ¡°Please show the way!¡±

    For a storage room, it was decently clean and tidy. There was a chair, a table and all the writing instruments, probably since it was prepared for an examiner. Ming Feizhen set the pot down on the table and then noticed something odd ¨C there was only one chair for the square table.

    ¡°Your name w-¡±

    She suddenly hugged Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Stop! What are you doing?! We can talk this over! I don¡¯t pay!¡±

    The cook knocked Ming Feizhen into the chair with her momentum. He had more to say, but he suddenly felt his arms restrained. He heard the sound of mechanisms clicking, and all four of his limbs were confined to the chair. No matter how he struggled, he couldn¡¯t even loosen the metal restraints.

    The cook stood up and informed, ¡°My name? My husband¡¯s surname is Wu, ¡®Wu¡¯ in ¡®Wu Ping¡¯!¡±

    Glossary

    Tangyuan ¨C A traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice shaped into balls that are served in a hot broth or syrup.

 Book 14: Chapter 111

    Feint

    ¡°I am Wu Ping¡¯s wife, Cuo Xitong, and your maker!¡±

    Wu Ping collected a fair amount of ck aurum over his lifetime, some of which Cuo Xitong used to make a key to the underground pce. She never cried or made a scene when she heard about her husband¡¯s death. Instead, she pled Lady Bai to convert the key into the dagger she had taken out from under her skirt. With a de made from ck aurum and frost jade handle, she¡¯d have no issues making iron look like mud.

    Cuo Xitong was pretty, but she didn¡¯t stand out. Ming Feizhen never even considered her a possible avenger. The only thing that supported her after learning of her husband¡¯s death was the name of the culprit. Ever since she heard his name, she was resurrected; violence and hatred returned to her weak and lifeless body.

    Cuo Xitong wasn¡¯t trained in any martial arts, but the fluidity she demonstrated in setting the de on Ming Feizhen¡¯s neck suggested she had practiced it no less than a hundred times with intention.

    ¡°Ah! Ms. Wu! My god!¡± Ming Feizhen looked as d as if pork shoulders just dropped in hisp. ¡°Are you here for revenge or to retrieve yourte husband¡¯s belongings?¡±

    No matter what trickery Ming Feizhen tried, Cuo Xitong didn¡¯t stop, but his question managed to stop her in tracks. The joy he showed didn¡¯t move her one bit, and nothing he said could change her decision to kill him. Thest part, however, was something she cared about it.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Ming Feizhen showed a look of confusion. ¡°Eh? You didn¡¯t know? Did no one tell you? You got me good this time. I¡¯m done for this time. That said, how do you not know when Hero Wu hasn¡¯t passed on his most important possession?¡±

    The two unrted topics forced Cuo Xitong to divide her attention.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. What are you talking about?¡±

    Ming Feizhen sighed in a way that made him seem mncholic without having to say a word. ¡°Since we served different people, Hero Wu and I agreed to a duel. I killed him, and he hurt me, but I respect him as a man.¡±

    Being the weakest among those in the underground pce, nobody cared about him, and he wasn¡¯t given any respect in death. The families who searched for their family members with Cuo Xitong never cared for him or her feelings, either. Therefore, as the emotions rushed in upon hearing his killer talk about respecting him, she couldn¡¯t help shedding tears.

    ¡°We got along. Sadly, we were on opposing teams. I serve the imperial court, and he was too strong. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve done my best to not have killed him. The world could always do with one more hero.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to keep bbering lies.¡± Cuo Xitong wiped her tears and red with the intensity of someone ready to eat him whole. ¡°He was a man who kept to himself, disliked socialising and was never any great man. Nothing you said matches with who he truly was. I heard you lost your cultivation, so I didn¡¯t believe you managed to kill him on your first meeting. Now that I¡¯m watching you spew lies and y mind games once you¡¯re doomed, I believe the ims. No wonder you were able to escape the underground pce alive. While my husband wasn¡¯t as strong or quick-witted as you, nor was he any hero, he loved me more than he cared for his own life. I can¡¯t call myself a human being if I don¡¯t avenge him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re formidable. I mean it. After all, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s been able to catch me despite how many have tried.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re ready to ept death?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°So you¡¯re not curious what Hero Wu said in his final moment? You don¡¯t want to retrieve his Mncholic Sword, either?¡±

    Cuo Xitong pressed the dagger forward, drawing Ming Feizhen¡¯s blood. ¡°You can tell me, or I can finish you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll stab me either way. That being said, I have to tell you since I¡¯m in your hands now. I just have one condit-, wait, wait. I have no hope of getting away at this point, and I am not delusional enough to think you would spare me. I just have one request. I just want to see Elder Yan so that I can at least see the appearance of the mastermind who caught me.¡±

    Cuo Xitong wrinkled her nose. She never mentioned Yan Liren anywhere, yet Ming Feizhen somehow knew. Owing to the fact that she wasn¡¯t a martial artist, she didn¡¯t fathom theplexity of the chair¡¯s contraption and weight of its materials. If she could¡¯ve moved the chair around, then elephants could¡¯ve climbed trees, not to mention it took more than might to smuggle it into the imperial city. ordingly, the only feasible exnation was that Yan Liren brainwashed people to smuggle it into Taishu Hall.

    Ming Feizhen sessfully roused hesitation. After all, the information and sword were valuable to her, and what he requested was eptable.

    ¡°Elder Yan, if you don¡¯te out, this won¡¯t end tonight.¡± Ming Feizhen raised his volume, but he didn¡¯t speak so loudly that he¡¯d startle Cuo Xitong and make her stab him.

    ¡°Xitong, you¡¯re still too soft-hearted,¡± Yan Liren said from the door. ¡°Didn¡¯t I stress not to listen to him and to end him as soon as he was in the chair?¡±

    Teeth clenched, Cuo Xitong stabbed the table, then wiped her tears. ¡°Elder, since you are here, please help me.¡±

    Yan Liren pushed open the door. Although it was hard to tell exactly what the imposing man felt when he looked at Ming Feizhen, it was clear that he was trying to hold himself back from shredding Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Elder Yan,¡± Ming Feizhen sarcastically remarked.

    ¡°It¡¯s our first meeting, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°We did meet in Hangzhou, but we didn¡¯t greet each other. You left a deep impression, having said that.¡±

    Ming Feizhen managed to infuriate Yan Liren.

    ¡°Surely, you don¡¯t think you can sweep the pain of losing my son under the rug.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°The first time I saw you, I knew you were a short-sighted, violent, insincere, impatient sack of dung who didn¡¯t care about sacrificing people. You say one thing and do theplete opposite, all while thinking of another thing. The fact that you¡¯ve been hiding until now further proves this.¡±

    ¡°You want to die so soon?!¡± thundered Yan Liren.

    ¡°You sure you want me to die?¡± Ming Feizhen hiked up the corners of his lips. ¡°If I die, where will you get ¡®Sinister Soul Breaker Palms¡¯? Don¡¯t tell me you aren¡¯t here for it.¡±

    Yan Liren went silent.

    ¡°Eld-Elder¡­¡± Cuo Xitong looked over to Yan Liren in disbelief.

    ¡°What were you expecting?¡± Ming Feizhen rhetorically questioned. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill me. The stabbing method he taught you wouldn¡¯t have killed me; all you would¡¯ve done is made me bleed out. He wanted to wait for me to be on the verge of death before showing up for his own ends. He won¡¯t kill me. I can demonstrate if you don¡¯t believe me.

    ¡°Ms. Wu, you¡¯re actually pretty good. You¡¯re mentally strong, have a strong physique and, most importantly, a good head. It¡¯s fine if you haven¡¯t trained before; as long as you invest the effort, you¡¯ll surpass your dead husband. Well, he won¡¯t have the honour of seeing the upgraded version of you since I killed him the first time we met.¡±

    Cuo Xitong pulled the dagger out of the table and swung at Ming Feizhen¡¯s head, but a burst of energy knocked it out of her hands before she was anywhere close to her target. She looked over to Yan Liren in utter despair.

    ¡°See? You think he¡¯d be so nice? Had he not known that my weakness was people who aren¡¯t trained, he probably would¡¯ve seduced you already instead.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± belted Yan Liren.

    Notwithstanding Yan Liren being able to recover to a calm demeanour, Cuo Xitong had developed vignce toward the elder who had always conducted himself withposure.

    ¡°Besides, Elder Yan probably doesn¡¯t think that far ahead. I bet he only used you because of someone gave him the idea the same way he knows I know his family¡¯s Sinister Soul Breaker.¡± In a louder voice, Ming Feizhen voiced, ¡°Brother Jiangnan, is there any point continuing to hide?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan showed up at the door.

    Ming Feizhen figured the two identical pulses and breathing among the imperial guards had to be Yan Liren and Yan Jiangnan. In saying that, he struggled to hear their movements due to how cautious they were. Once he was captured, though, they had to personally show up, allowing him to pinpoint them. All the ttery and nonsense he spewed to Cuo Xitong was intended to avoid her making him bleed out. He had no qualms verbally sting Yan Liren since he knew thetter wouldn¡¯t kill him until he got his hands on the manual.

    In spite of not having a detailed recollection of Ming Feizhen¡¯s appearance, the tone and voice of the man who had everything under his control was an unforgettable nightmare for Yan Jiangnan.

    ¡°D-Dad, kill him already.¡±

    Yan Liren didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°Dad, he¡¯s trouble! If you leave him, he w-¡±

    ¡°Shut up! He lives until we get the manual.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Dad, he killed Big Bro. He killed your son. How can you not avenge your son?¡±

    ¡°Brother Jiangnan, you were the one who killed his brother. Telling your father to avenge his son would be making him relive the pain of losing a son again. Have you no pity for him?¡±

    Yan Jiangnan ignored the specialist at sowing discord and continued egging his father on.

    ¡°Jiangnan, I¡¯m not going to me you for your brother¡¯s death. He¡¯s to me. However, he has our family¡¯s secret in his skull, and the secret is the key to our n¡¯s glory. You stay put! I¡¯ll kill anyone who tries anything!¡± Yan Liren gave Cuo Xitong a warning with his re that leaked internal energy.

    Cuo Xitong felt her body go cold and started trembling. Except for Ming Feizhen¡¯s snicker, there was no other sound.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get smug.¡± Yan Liren shed his fangs. ¡°Taking back my family¡¯s secret manual is fair. If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll make you wish you were dead.¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I tell you? I can recite a section for you right now if you like.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 112

    Counter

    Yan Liren frowned. ¡°What are you up to this time?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°I¡®m a fish on a chopping board. All I can ask for is to be spared; nothing else matters. Besides, what use do I have for your family¡¯s secret that¡¯s for practitioners of internal disciplines? Isn¡¯t it moronic to throw away your life for someone¡¯s family¡¯s secret manual?¡±

    It all flowed reasonably, but Yan Liren still felt it was too easy to be true. A man as distrusting as him wouldn¡¯t trust someone so easily.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not giving it to you for free. You have to spare me if I write it out.¡±

    Yan Liren smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a true cowardly scoundrel. Deal. I swear not to harm your life today if you write it out.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°There are three of you. What good is it if only you swear the oath?¡±

    Cuo Xitong had a grudge she was hellbent on avenging, while Yan Jiangnan was against his father pardoning Ming Feizhen from the beginning, so Yan Liren red at the two and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m here. I won¡¯t let them harm you, either, good enough?¡±

    ¡°What if you don¡¯t, and you don¡¯t let them, but you control the mind of a guard to stick a spear in me?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck. Killing you is as easy as killing a chicken right now. Don¡¯t forget you still owe me a son. Don¡¯t assume I have that much patience. If you think you can go on living without any qualms after giving me the manual, you¡¯re dead wrong. I only promised to let you off the hook today. Keeping pushing it, and I¡¯ll remove all your limbs before I interrogate it out of you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen simpered. ¡°The way you throw your weight around makes me want to puke. Can you drop the pretence? Remove my limbs? You won¡¯t get half a word out of me if I¡¯m so much as less one strand of hair. You want to interrogate me? Go for it. I¡¯ll be happy to write you a manual to drive you mad.¡±

    The reason Yan Liren was courteous initially was due to the points Ming Feizhen pointed out. The original n was for him to y good guy after Cuo Xitong hurt Ming Feizhen. Despite his skills, Yan Liren had no answer for Ming Feizhen¡¯s shamelessness.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t going to go anywhere. It¡¯s hard having a life as valuable as mine. Fine, we can forget the oath. Hero Yan, swear another oath to protect me, and I¡¯ll believe you.¡±

    Yan Liren went along with the demand since it was his only option.

    ¡°Okay, please release my right hand now.¡±

    Yan Liren: ¡°What for?¡±

    Ming Feizhen narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. ¡°How else am I meant to write? Show me how you write with your foot. Even if I could, my feet are restrained.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± replied Yan Liren, smiling. ¡°You were able to turn the underground pce on its head despite having no internal energy, and you managed to fend off all the assassinsst night. Giving you a free arm might be more than we can handle.¡±

    Yan Liren actually had Cuo Xitong prepare Ming Feizhen¡¯s foods every night at the behest of Yan Jiangnan, but he never expected tonight to be the night Ming Feizhen walked into the trap.

    ¡°How am I supposed to write, then? If I could use telekinesis, I wouldn¡¯t be tied up here. I¡¯d have used my mind to cut all of you up already.¡±

    ¡°You have a mouth. You recite it. I¡¯ll write it.¡±

    ¡°Recite it?¡±

    Yan Liren smirked. ¡°Is there a problem? It sounds like you really like trying to y games.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen shook his head in disbelief. ¡°Fine, but under one condition.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Knock the other two out.¡±

    While the two were evidently enraged, Yan Liren questioned, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°For your sakes. You can¡¯t let outsiders hear the secret. Ms. Wu is a smartdy and has a good memory. What alternative do you have besides silencing her?¡±

    ¡°Why do I have to knock out my son, then?¡±

    Ming Feizhen chortled, making the father-son duo feel uneasy. ¡°I already imparted a portion of ¡®Sinister Soul Breather Palms¡¯ to Brother jIangnan, and he¡¯s already progressed along quite a bit. Although he¡¯s still inferior to you, his potential is limitless. You two have quite the rift between you right now. Are you sure you won¡¯t betray each other down the road? If I were in your shoes, I wouldn¡¯t feel so safe.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t sow discord between us! Dad, h-he is spewing nonsense.¡±

    Yan Liren raised a hand for silence, got behind Cuo Xitong and knocked her out. ¡°Jiangnan is my son. Just recite it.¡±

    Yan Jiangnan, relieved, fetched writing instruments, then started recording.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re happy. All right, I¡¯m starting.¡±

    Yan Liren expected Ming Feizhen to continue stirring the pot as he recited the manual, but there was no foul y. In fact, Ming Feizhen asionally provided extra notes for rification.

    Yan Liren went up to Yan Jiangnan¡¯s back and queried, ¡°Jiangnan, does that correspond to what you know?¡±

    Whilst writing, Yan Jiangnan replied, ¡°Yes. It is our fam-¡±

    Yan Jiangnan felt a soft palm strike to his back prior to passing out.

    Yan Liren pulled his son off the chair, picked up the brush and demanded, ¡°Repeat thest four lines.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, that¡¯s father and son for you.¡± Ming Feizhen subsequently resumed reciting the manual.

    Yan Liren didn¡¯t believe there were any false parts in the recital he heard; if there were, then he could only me his own ipetence for not picking up on it. It wasn¡¯t a long manual, and Ming Feizhen went rather quickly, so it only took just over an hour to recite the entire thing.

    ¡°Man, my mouth is dry. Elder Yan, if you have any good in you, can you get me a drink?¡±

    Yan Liren exhaled after spending a decent while revising the manual. ¡°Finally. My family¡¯s secret manual has finally returned to its rightful owner,¡± he remarked prior to fetching Ming Feizhen a bowl of water and feeding him.

    Ming Feizhen chugged the entire bowl of water. ¡°You¡¯re a pretty good guy, Ol¡¯ Yan.¡±

    Yan Liren snickered. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard to recite it, and the journey will be tiring. Wouldn¡¯t it be too miserable if you had to go without any water?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ming Feizhen formed a small smile. ¡°Where am I journeying to? I don¡¯t work without pay.¡±

    ¡°Theherworld. You¡¯ll have to go without water or food.¡±

    ¡°I thought there were people among the unorthodox factions who kept their word. Guess I was wrong?¡±

    ¡°I do honour my word. I always uphold my oaths.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, then?¡±

    ¡°I sword to not harm you if you gave me the manual. Did you write it? My son and I wrote it. What part did you have in it?¡±

    ¡°Ah, gotcha. No wonder why you said all that h b about not harming today to distract me from the key to your oath. Scum. True scum.¡±

    Yan Liren wiped away his smirk. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ve had it with you. You killed my eldest son and turned my sons against each other. I can¡¯t pardon you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you can make another son. You only care about the manual. As for the brothers fighting, didn¡¯t you deliberately force Yan Jiangnan to break up with his lover? You¡¯re the one who incited it, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You sure you want to spend yourst moments worrying about someone else¡¯s family problems?¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? Hey, hey, help me out here!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you think I wasn¡¯t aware you recited the manual to buy time? Aren¡¯t you puzzled as to why nobody is here after so long? I already took control of the two examiners guarding the door. Nobody else wille here tonight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m seriously going to die if you keep chilling!¡±

    ¡°What an embarrassment. Die!¡±

    A strong breeze spawned from behind Yan Liren¡¯s head as he raised his hand.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯re the Grand Examiner. Aren¡¯t you supposed to be a hot shot?¡± Unlike the breeze, the speaker¡¯s voice was soft.

    Yan Liren spun around and uncorked his palm strike behind him instead of at Ming Feizhen, but blood poured from his left shoulder. Although the de didn¡¯t shine, there was no doubt that it was a broadsword that nearly cleaved his shoulder off. While Yan Liren was strong enough to fight an armed opponent without a weapon himself, the fact that he was injured first put him at a disadvantage.

    The broadsword user was around, yet Yan Liren couldn¡¯t spot him. Every time Yan Liren did catch a glimpse, his opponent came at him from unthinkable angles.

    ¡°Childish!¡± Yan Liren used his hands as if they were yin and yang, ensuring he could fend off any attack regardless of where it came off.

    Upon blocking his opponent¡¯s attack, Yan Liren heard, ¡°Bitter Meeting¡± enunciated.

    As the de emerged from behind ck garments, fragmented fabric rained down. At the same time, the de went spinning towards Yan Liren at high velocity. Even though Yan Liren managed to block the shes, he gradually collected increasingly more cuts on his hands; it was as if he was up against someone with a grudge that wouldn¡¯t be settled until he was totally shredded. His opponent was one of the very few broadsword users who prioritised the intent behind strikes rather than its form. Twenty-plus shester of gradually increasing speed, the broadsword user suddenly stopped in front of Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be tough? How did you end up as a prisoner in a chair?¡± the broadsword wielder queried.

    ¡°I was out of my element. I was waiting for you toe to my rescue, but damn were you slow. Anyter and I wouldn¡¯t be trash talking with you.¡±

    Yan Liren: What¡­ is he doing? Why did he disengage?

    The broadsword wielder smirked. ¡°How did you know I was here?¡±

    ¡°I started figuring out who helped me on the first night by process of elimination. You were the only likely person. By the way, how did you sneak in?¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    When the broadsword wielder removed his ck cloak, Ming Feizhen gasped in surprise.

    Yan Liren: What are you two¡­ do¡­ ing¡­?

    Yan Liren¡¯s vision suddenly went dark. A head rolled off the shoulder supporting it. The rest of his body fell apart, literally.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I thought it was weird when I couldn¡¯t find anyone who fit the bill among the imperial guards. Disguising yourself as an examinee ¨C clever. How did you do it? Are the examiners so darn useless?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not useless. At least, they¡¯re as adept at fooling people as I remember. I had to put in some work to make it in again. Don¡¯t celebrate just yet. Though I¡¯m wearing this disgusting attire, I can still kill you.¡±

    The familiar face belonged to none other than the unquestionably loyal man to Shang Bieshi, the guard dog ¨C Tiangou.

 Book 14: Chapter 113

    Dragon Fire Jade

    Bronze Mask shadowed Xun Feng through the academy from the rooftops, making their shadows resemble a single individual under the moonlight.

    Xun Feng couldn¡¯t actually control Six des¡¯ activities. They merely epted the job because they epted payment. While he didn¡¯t realise Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask at first, it wasn¡¯t a reason for him to falter in his goal. Actually, he wished he knew her identity sooner so that he could¡¯ve been more sophisticated in his preparations. The silly game of cat and mouse wasn¡¯t something he wanted any part in. Thus far, the oues were just eptable since the n wasn¡¯t defused yet, but it was far from being splendidly executed.

    The longer the chase dragged out, the stronger He Kanyu¡¯s suspicion he still hadn¡¯t given Xun Feng enough credit. Perhaps Xun Feng was just half a notch below him, but Xun feng was the weakest among the Four Holy Monks. Considering Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s respect in the martial world, they didn¡¯t get there by sheer luck. Confucianism was way behind in that regard. The scariest thing was that Xun Feng seemed familiar with all of Confucianism¡¯s pursuit formations. No matter how they tried to catch him, he¡¯d be able to identify the weak point in their formation to slip away. They already had two handicaps before even ounting for Bronze Mask. Regardless, they had to stop the duo from reaching their destination no matter the cost.

    The Confucianism disciples drew their swords on He Kanyu¡¯s orders as they bridged the gap. Like a crescent moon, an invisible st of broadsword qi zoomed towards He Kanyu¡¯s neck. He Kanyu subtly bent his torso to block it. If he kept dodging, Xun Feng would continue having time to run, so He Kanyu forced himself to block the attack.

    The running monkughed. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about a Dragon Jade¡¯s location if we have the academy¡¯s Edasich.¡±

    Xun Feng suddenly spun around and struck at an angle He Kanyu was unprepared for. He Kanyu didn¡¯t expect a monk from Cold Mountain Temple to know how to counter Confucianism¡¯s swordy. Nevertheless, He Kanyu promptly inhaled and deployed a golden glow that locked Xun Feng into his attack range.

    Unexpectedly, Xun Feng smiled. He was already privy to the fact that He Kanyu had reached Quasi-Divine realm and could apply Enlightenment to his sword. He also caught how He Kanyu blocked Bronze Mask¡¯sst sh, so he recognised that He Kanyu¡¯s scabbard was partially made with Darksteel. Therefore, He Kanyu¡¯s surprise attack had no element of surprise. That being said, a strike imbued with Enlightenment was still tough to defend against. Xun Feng wouldn¡¯t have had an answer ¨C had only He Kanyu not tried a surprise attack.

    He Kanyu wasn¡¯t one to go sneak attacking people, but it didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t know how to. He wasn¡¯t a stick in the mud who didn¡¯t know how to be flexible while caught in a pinch. Plus, it should¡¯ve been more surprising to enemies when someone who fought fair and square suddenly went for a sneak attack.

    This time, not only was He Kanyu¡¯s tactic was clever enough to fool his opponent but even himself. Lan Jiqiong rushed towards him when he blocked Bronze Mask¡¯s attack; however, his opponent expected that exact reaction.

    Xun Feng: It¡¯s unfolding just as Mr. Jiang Chen said it would!

    Xun Feng slipped He Kanyu¡¯s strike to strike at the chest of Lan Jiqiong, who came to his senior¡¯s aid. Being weaker than Xun Feng and injured prior, Lan Jiqiong¡¯s meridians were instantly sealed upon contact.

    Under normal circumstances, Lan Jiqiong would¡¯vested twenty to thirty exchanges even in an injured state, but He Kanyu lost his assistant before he even had a chance to make use of Lan Jiqiong.

    Xun Feng picked up Lan Jiqiong upon making contact and used him as a shield against He Kanyu¡¯s attack that was swinging towards his back. Although it was a risky move to give He Kanyu his back, it paid off. He Kanyu slowed down upon seeing Lan Jiqiong lifted, allowing him to stop in time without suffering internal injuries, which wouldn¡¯t have been possible at his level a few years ago.

    As soon as He Kanyu pulled his attack, he had to spun around to defend against broadsword qi from above, only to see Xun Feng¡¯s imminent palm strike. Xun Feng switched between punches, palm strikes, chops, ws, hooks and finger spears without any struggle. He Kanyu unleashed sword qi as sparks from his glowing de, dismantling the duo¡¯s attacks with vigorous spinning attacks.

    Xun Feng backed off, smirked and then squeezed, breaking Lan Jiqiong¡¯s arms using his unique method.

    ¡°Stop!¡± thundered He Kanyu.

    Xun Feng grabbed Lan Jiqiong¡¯s throat, prohibiting He Kanyu froming closer. ¡°Discard your sword!¡±

    Throwing away his sword was the equivalent of handicapping himself for He Kanyu. Xun Feng knew He Kanyu was the type to abandon even his parents when he had made up his mind, let alone a junior brother. Hence, he didn¡¯t wait for long before raising a hand up to signal he¡¯d stter Lan Jiqiong¡¯s skull.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill him!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± After much painful hesitation, He Kanyu consigned his sword to the ether, then immediately propelled himself up to kick the hilt, sending it flying towards Xun Feng¡¯s throat.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°There is a technique in Confucianism¡¯s swordy called ¡°Sacrifice for Justice¡± that¡¯s reserved for critical situations. Using their feet to facilitate a swift movement, they¡¯ll aim a lethal strike at the target¡¯s throat. Although there is supposed to be an innate risk in performing it, it¡¯s difficult to defend against. Even if you do block it, they¡¯ll be able to rescue the hostage.¡±

    ¡°How¡­ should one counter it, then, Elder?¡±

    The schr adorning ck garments in the toilet slightly tugged up a corner of his lips and replied, ¡°Why bother? Since it¡¯s the hostage he wants, hand over the hostage.¡±

    Despite being prepared, Xun Feng nearly failed to react in time. He pushed Lan Jiqiong away once he saw the de advance on him. Due to his moment of hesitation, though, the sword missed Lan Jiqiong¡¯s throat and only pierced his shoulder. Nheless, as a result of the unexpected, He Kanyu¡¯s poison hit him again, leaving him vulnerable to the broadsword qi that sessfully sliced him in the back.

    Xun Feng nced up to the roof. Bronze Mask sheathed her weapon and then ran off when she noticed a group on her tail.

    It all happened so fast that the disciples couldn¡¯t react in time. Xun Feng, of course, wouldn¡¯t let the opportunity slip. He followed up with a palm strike straight to He Kanyu¡¯s chest, sending He Kanyu¡¯s blood out of his mouth and back to the ground.

    Everything yed out exactly as the schr in ck said it would. Somehow, the schr was able to predict everything, including the unexpected changes, in the n he provided days ago. The predictions were further verified when Xun Feng took out the ice jade box Lan Jiqiong had in his shirt.

    ¡°The Dragon Fire Jade is with Huang Yuzao, isn¡¯t it?¡± questioned Xun Feng.

    He Kanyu groaned as a result of the poisonplicating his injuries.

    ¡°Thank you for the answer, Edasich.¡± Xun Feng threw a palm strike at He Kanyu, forcing He Kanyu¡¯s allies to block it for him. That gave Xun Feng the opening he needed to get away. Nobody could offer Xun Feng a challenge since the two cores of the formation were incapacitated.

    If the ice jade box was on Daren Academy¡¯s grounds, there was only one possible function it served ¨C to store the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Since the box was empty, it had to mean they had removed it and used the box to bait Xun Feng into showing his hand, never expecting him to be prepared. By logic, then, they couldn¡¯t have separated the two items too long ago. In addition, they would¡¯ve stored the jade back inside before its fire ability could be exhibited. They couldn¡¯t have entrusted such an important item to anybody. Thus, the safest bet would¡¯ve been Huang Yuzao¡¯s room. That also exined why Lan Jiqiong chose to carry around the heavy box.

    Everything went ording to Jiang Chen¡¯s predictions!

    Xun Feng naturally knew where Huang Yuzao¡¯s room was given he had been staying at the academy for a while. Before he even opened the doors, he could already feel the heatparable to standing in a cksmiths active workshop.

    It¡¯s here as expected!

    The dry water stains around the bronze basin in the centre of the room and the basin that was on the verge of melting further cemented the fact that Xun Feng had found his target. He said to the elder sitting behind the desk, ¡°Principal Huang, apologies.¡±

    The moment Xun Feng went to fetch the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, he felt a violent wind blow in his direction. He never feared Huang Yuzao since he was informed Huang Yuzao had lost all of his training. As soon as he felt the wind, he knew who hindered him.

    ¡°Song Chi, what a strong sense of righteousness you have.¡±

    Song Chi stepped out from behind the screen. ¡°I warned you already. There¡¯s still time to stop before it¡¯s toote.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 114

    Scum

    The two who once chatted merrily upon entering the capital were now ready to throw down.

    Notwithstanding hearing elites closing in, Xun Feng casually smiled at Huang Yuzao. ¡°Has he been in that state since returning?¡±

    Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t seem able to hear anything. The nk look on his face suggested he was without a consciousness.

    Song Chi slowly drew his broadsword enveloped in his purple energy and then held it out horizontally, blocking Xun Feng¡¯s line of sight to Huang Yuzao. ¡°You won¡¯t be taking him hostage.¡±

    Song Chi gave the impression that he had be one with his broadsword, causing Xun Feng to have an illusion that distorted the line between whether Song Chi was a living being or a statue. Song Chi rightfully earned his ce as first rank on Seventeen Wyrms.

    ¡°You certainly know me well, Brother Song.¡± Xun Feng maintained his usualid-back attitude. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a long time, but we¡¯ve never fought. Who do you reckon is stronger?¡±

    Song Chi chuckled under his breath. ¡°Song n is but a family that came from rags. A family history spanning a century disappearing is nothing worth mentioningpared to the millennium of Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s history. Moreover, your mentor is an eminent monk. I would forfeit without a fight if my opponent was Drinking Monk.¡±

    In other words, Song n couldn¡¯tpare to Cold Mountain Temple, but Xun Feng was nothingpared to Song Chi.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­ Hahaha, so you¡¯re not even going to pretend if it¡¯s not my senior brother?¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    ¡°You asked for it!¡±

    Xun Feng twirled his sleeve and sted out a cylindrical shockwave of energy from his sleeve. The Buddhist technique required one to create the shockwave from their sleeve, so there was no wind to st. Xun Feng made use of the fact that it wasn¡¯t easy to detect him charging it up for sneak attack purposes.

    Prepared, Song Chi imbued his de in undting qi, making it appear as though his de was bending simrly to waves without the violence or sound of waves. Had veteran broadsword wielders of Jiangnan seen the young man in white¡¯s fluid movements, they would¡¯ve remarked that Bai Zhiqing had a sessor. His purple qi looked harmless and pretty rather than dangerous, but the sound generated upon making contact with Xun Feng¡¯s blow sounded identical to iron on iron.

    Despite Xun Feng promptly retreating, his left sleeve¡¯s fragments resembled butterflies slowly descending. Had Xun Feng pulled back a momentter, it would¡¯ve been his left arm rather than his sleeve.

    ¡°Splendid ¡®Misty Dreams Swamp¡¯!¡±

    Song n¡¯s philosophy was, as long as they allied with enough weak allies, they had strength in numbers that couldn¡¯t be underestimated. While they didn¡¯t have someone in their family who could be called first-rate, they made up for it with ¡°Sundering the Nine Heavens¡± that they learnt from someone else.

    Sundering the Nine Heavens was a palm discipline that mixed the metal qi of des into the palm techniques, which was different to how other hard-hitting palm disciplines approached it. The discipline that was included in ¡°Three Fists, Five Palms¡± utilised internal energy to forge the practitioner¡¯s flesh into a weapon.

    All members of Song n were permitted to practice Sundering the Nine Heavens; however, effort and discipline weren¡¯t enough to develop a bodyparable to that of a respected weapon. Unfortunately, having the physique for it was a requirement.

    Song Ou wasn¡¯t a martial artist. Song Chi wasn¡¯t blessed with the body to excel in martial arts. Only their youngest brother truly had the potential to reach the pinnacle of martial arts. Song Chi never used that as an excuse to neglect his training, nevertheless. Even when his father thought Song Chi would struggle to continue progressing, Song Chi searched on his own until he found a way to continue pushing his boundaries.

    Song Chi did the opposite of Sundering the Nine Heavens¡¯ design; he took the qi and imbued it into his broadswordy. As such, while he didn¡¯t have hands that could function as des, he wasn¡¯t limited to one broadsword. Once he started, the de qi became a mist of qi refined via Sundering the Nine Heavens¡¯ system. Wherever he swung, one sh became the equivalent of hundreds of shes.

    Xun Feng had heard about Song Chi slicing his opponent¡¯s all over their body before they even realised it. He initially assumed it was because Song Chi was an expert at being fluid and sophisticated, which was why he tried to nullify it with a hard, sudden attack. He lost confidence in a sure victory the moment he heard their ng upon contact.

    ¡°Hahaha, your family toiled so hard, yet you have blown it all without any hesitation. It¡¯s easy to discard things that aren¡¯t yours, huh?¡±

    Song Chi, d in his mist of des, had a voice that was even as cold and sharp as des. ¡°I¡¯ve done more for Song n than you could imagine. I don¡¯t expect you to understand; I only ask that you forgive me. I never wanted to kill a friend.¡±

    Now that he knew Song Chi¡¯s level, Xun Feng didn¡¯t interpret it as an empty threat. Though he wasn¡¯t confident he could beat Song Chi, he had a trick up his sleeve that he¡¯d been saving.

    Xun Feng advanced again in a manner that made it seem he had been cloned himself. Regardless, it was meaningless against Song Chi¡¯s boundless mist, so his true self was bound to be forced out once they shed. Howbeit, Xun Feng¡¯s target was Huang Yuzao. He had used the bait and switch targets multiple times today alone. The difference this time was that he wasn¡¯t utilising Jiang Chen¡¯s teachings against Confucianism disciples. Hence, he wasn¡¯t able to gain any noticeable advantage against Song Chi.

    Song Chi looked so bored that he resembled Huang Yuzao in the chair. Song Chi shed a wave of purple qi from his mist at Xun Feng¡¯s neck. Xun Feng dropped and rolled, but Song Chi immediately figured out what Xun Feng¡¯s aim was.

    ¡°You¡¯re courting death!¡± brayed Song Chi.

    Xun Feng ignored Song Chi¡¯s expanding broadsword qi radius to continue towards his goal. Even though Song Chi drew blood from his back with a sh that made him growl, he focused his energy to his feet tounch himself away. By the time Xun Feng regained his footing, he had already suffered more than twenty cuts.

    Song Chi paused. ¡°You¡¯re painfully stubborn. You¡¯re not my match, and there are more guards outside. What difference will obtaining it make?¡±

    The panting monk still had an ice jade box in his shirt that housed a fist-sized piece of jade that continued glowing brighter and brighter red. The piece of jade continued to heat up perpetually since he first set foot in the room. Attacking Huang Yuzao was but a red herring for him to snatch the Nine Dragons Fire Jade nobody dared to touched on the ground. As he was the only person who had the ice jade case, he was the only one who would¡¯ve picked the piece of jade up. As Song Chi said, though, picking it up was only adding to Xun Feng¡¯s burdens. Xun Feng, on the other hand, felt ecstatic and thrilled, believing he was going to triumph now.

    ¡°Song Chi, I admit you¡¯re strong than me, but you were careless. You think I risked snatching the fire jade at this critical juncture without any confidence that I¡¯d be able to escape?¡±

    rmed, Song Chi swung down before Xun Feng could finish.

    ¡°Toote!¡± Cracking a savage smile, Xun Feng manifested some sort of dark-purple mark on his palm that could¡¯ve either been defined as a collection of blood or a popped vein. He leisurely struck the bottom of the ice jade box with his palm.

    A violent fire spawned in between Song Chi and Xun Feng! Within in an instant of its birth, every visible corner of the room was engulfed in mes. The innate power of the me knocked Song Chi¡¯s weapon out of his hand as well as nearly sent him into the mes. In spite of Song Chi promptly fetching his broadsword to shield himself, his clothing and part of his hair all caught fire. Had he not spun away, he would¡¯ve suffered burns.

    ¡°Hahaha, so this is the power of Nine Dragons Fire Jade!¡±

    ¡°So this is how you use Nine Dragons Fire Jade¡­¡±

    The first speaker was the fire summoner. The second speaker was the elder who¡¯d kept to himself the entire time.

    ¡°Thank you. You¡¯ve provided an answer to a query that¡¯s troubled me for twenty years.¡±

    Xun Feng: Damn it! I never nned to make an enemy out of Confucianism in today¡¯s n! I messed up! Whatever¡­ It¡¯s toote now.

    Xun Feng palmed the bottom of the ice jade box again. Since Song Chi and Huang Yuzao were the only others in the room, nobody would know a thing if they perished in the inferno. Nine Dragons Fire Jade unleashed more mes from its container.

    Put on the spot, Song Chi was undecided between rescuing Huang Yuzao or bringing down Xun Feng, and there wasn¡¯t much time before the room fell to the fire.

    Seven swordsmen suddenly appeared. Xun Feng recognised their swordy at first nce ¨C Confucianism swordy. He knew well and truly that he wasn¡¯t their match, so he palmed the box again, releasing more mes to prevent them getting close. ¡°Eastern China Sea¡¯s Seven Swordsmen. That exins where your confidence.¡±

    The seven guardians of their base in Eastern China Sea were stronger and more respected than words did justice. They usually stayed back at the headquarters, meaning the only reason they left was to protect Huang Yuzao.

    The fire in Huang Yuzao¡¯s eyes burnt fiercer than the infernos consuming the room. At that point, it urred to Xun Feng that Huang Yuzao was fully aware of Nine Dragons Fire Jade¡¯s importance and cing it on the ground was merely to test him. Otherwise, the seven swordsmen would¡¯ve cut him down the moment he set foot inside. Huang Yuzao willingly exchanged the item for the truth.

    ¡°Please forgive this one for not keeping youpany.¡± Xun Feng ran the other way, but not without continuing to leak mes wherever he went.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡± Song Chi gave chase.

    The seven swordsmen carried Huang Yuzao out on his chair. Huang Yuzao kept his eyes shut for a long time, allowing everyone to do whatever they needed to do. When he finally opened his eyes, he cast his gaze towards heaven and, with tears in his eyes, cried, ¡°Scum!¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 115

    Truth

    ¡°Is Prime Minister Li not home? I shalle backter, then,¡± said Bai Ju, still sounding casual after destroying half of the mercenaries at Prime Minister Li¡¯s mansion. Had it not been for the fact that he showed no intentions of holding back and had put away the guards, you¡¯d have thought he was a friendly visitor.

    The mercenaries who arrivedter headed straight inside and called, ¡°Prime Minister? Prime Minister, are you there?¡± rather than offered the whip specialist a challenge.

    ¡°Hmm? That¡¯s Prime Minister Li, right?¡± The slovenly-dressed man finally spotted an elder who seemed to be on vacation and ticked all the other boxes his target was supposed to have, except he was tooid back.

    The elder, adorned in green robes and sporting a small hat, sat barely inches away from the wreckage. He should¡¯ve considered himself lucky to havee out of thest blow unscathed, yet he sat there reading and drinking tea.

    Breaking the long awkward silence between, Bai Ju voiced, ¡°You must be Prime Minister Li. This one is Bai Ju. I have been tasked with either capturing you or killing you. It would be bad to have the wrong person. I have always been a miser in business, so I never kill two people if I have only received payment to kill one person. Please help me out.¡±

    Although the elder didn¡¯t give him time of the day, Bai Ju had achieved his goal with his words.

    ¡°Prime Minister Li is busy reading. If you need to see him, book an appointment. What makes you think you can suddenly demand an audience?¡±

    Upon seeing the young maiden speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Li step out, Bai Jumented, ¡°My, you are in great health, Prime Minister. Never did I ever imagine you would have such a beautiful woman at home. I dare say there no girls in any of the capital¡¯s brothels who couldpare to her. How much for a night, Miss?¡±

    ¡°Not much.¡± Shen Yiren removed her sword from her chest and stabbed it onto the ground with a smile. ¡°Cut off your balls, and I¡¯ll drink tea with you for a night. I always keep my word.¡±

    Drinking tea with a beauty of Shen Yiren¡¯s calibre would still be a dreame true. Betraying one¡¯s balls that had served him for decades, however, wasn¡¯t worth it.

    Bai Ju sighed. ¡°I shall pass, then. That said, I¡¯m not here for you. Please stay out of adults¡¯ conversations.¡±

    When he returned to his normal tone, Bai Ju got serious. Even the aura around him changed drastically. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll take orders just because you¡¯re whatever-captain of Liu Shan Men.¡±

    Shen Yiren smiled. ¡°Since you know who I am, that makes things easier.¡±

    ¡°What things?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a detective. Shouldn¡¯t I be here when the culprit is here?¡±

    Bai Ju stopped to think, then stroked his beard whilst mumbling, ¡°What culprit? I guess I can¡¯t deny I¡¯m old now; I can no longer understand the linguistics of young people.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who killed Xiang Baxian.¡±

    Bai Ju shook his head. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not myprehension but my ears that have declined. Howe I just heard the fair-and-justice Vice-captain Shen of Liu Shan Men frame an innocent citizen?¡±

    ¡°Xiang Baxian wrote one character before he left this world.¡± Shen Yiren carved the character onto the ground in the same style as Xiang Baxian.

    ¡°That¡¯s hideous handwriting,¡± remarked Bai Ju. ¡°Still being able to write with such grievous injuries is impressive, having said that. ¡®Wood¡¯ points to Valley of Yearning, doesn¡¯t it? Wasn¡¯t Bronze Mask the culprit?¡±

    Shen Yiren added a stroke. ¡°There¡¯s a left sweep above the ¡®wood¡¯ character.¡±

    The left sweep to the top formed the ¡°grain¡± character.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through all of Xiang Baxian¡¯s records at the academy, paying particr attention to his handwriting. He always leaves the left sweep at the top forst when writing the ¡®grain¡¯ character. ordingly, he writes ¡®wood¡¯, then adds the left sweep.¡±

    ¡°Right? So it has nothing to do with me.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Xiang Baxian isn¡¯t part of the martial world. He¡¯s but a bully at the academy who happened to have some training. He¡¯s not privy to the martial world¡¯s affairs. I asked him who the envoy Li Muye met with was. Before he died, he couldn¡¯t recall their affiliation, but he did recall their appearance. The ¡®grain¡¯ character isn¡¯t the radical in Valley of Yearning but the radical in ¡®monk¡¯. He tried to convey that Li Muye met with a monk.¡±

    ¡°See?! That¡¯s more proof it¡¯s not me! It¡¯s the monk you¡¯re looking for!¡±

    ¡°The monk wasn¡¯t present at the time, so how could it have been him? He didn¡¯t need to personallymit the deed if he just wanted to keep a lid on things, though. He just needed an ally who could silence Xiang Baxian on his behalf.¡±

    Bai Ju yed with his chin. ¡°And the powerful ally you speak of is this old one?¡±

    ¡°The moment Cold Mountain Temple lured you in, they no longer had a bottom line to speak of. Bronze Mask is Bai Yumo, so Valley of Yearning has been dragged into the mess. No matter if Bai n is revolting or not, it¡¯s an irrefutable fact that Bai Yumomitted murder. Cold Mountain Temple has yet to make any public moves, but they¡¯ve pushed all the me onto others. Meanwhile, the imperial court council is debating whether or not Valley of Yearning will rebel.¡±

    Bai Ju pped his hand. ¡°She¡¯s a decent fighter and has a heart of gold; she wouldn¡¯t revolt. It¡¯s the other her who¡¯s revolting.¡±

    Shen Yiren ignored the information she heard for the first time. ¡°Numerous people are operating tonight for goals I¡¯ve yet to identify. Whether it¡¯s you, Jiang Chen or Xun Feng, you¡¯re all striving for the same oue. Principal Huang will handle Xun Feng at Daren Academy. The group running rampant won¡¯t have their way now that the Qilin Guards¡¯ Yi Ya is back in the capital.¡±

    Bai Ju feigned sadness and shock. ¡°Yi Ya is back? How is anyone supposed tomit murder, then? Tsk, tsk, magnificent! All of you have performed magnificently! I¡¯m heading home now. I won¡¯t being back to the capital.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s clear that the source of all this mayhem is the unexined military activities of the White Princes. You rode the momentum to your advantage. It¡¯s time to for your malicious intents to be unveiled, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Not quite.¡± Bai Ju cracked a smirk. ¡°I don¡¯t have Prime Minister Li yet, do I?¡±

    ¡°You think you¡¯ll have your way with me here?¡±

    Bai Ju smiled as if he just heard a hrious joke. ¡°Vice-captain Shen, if you are even half as strong as your rack, I¡¯ll seriously let you put me in cuffs. Otherwise, I suggest you step aside now.¡±

    Bai Ju maintained his aura that could seemingly crush anything before him. While Shen Yirencked any dominance, there was no sign of her being intimidated. Bai Ju evaluated Tang Ye as a clever young man with a bright future. Had he not held back to conserve energy, Bai Ju wouldn¡¯t have minded killing Tang Ye. Inparison, Shen Yiren had a calmness to her that Tang Ye couldn¡¯t match despite being close to his age. Whatever facilitated it, it was something that Bai Ju found intriguing.

    ¡°Before we fight, I still have a question.¡± Bai Ju questioned, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going toe at me together?¡±

    A young man d in ck armour leapt out from the rubble.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t know you were here, Yi Ya,¡± coldlymented Shen Yiren, without attempting visual confirmation.

    Yi Ya, too, only focused on Bai ju. ¡°Prime Minister Li¡¯s safety can¡¯t be ignored.¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s visit was unnned from Prime Minister Li¡¯s side. Prime Minister Li¡¯s safety was entrusted to someone else.

    Yi Ya¡¯s appearance changed the atmosphere immediately.

    ¡°They say the Qilin Guards¡¯ God of Battle is the next Wang Muren. I wonder. If Wang Muren is here, I¡¯d tuck tail without a word right now. Hey, kid¡­¡± Bai Ju donned his blue energy. ¡°You sure you can cut it?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 116

    Divine Realm

    Bai Ju¡¯s aura intensified even further despite him having yet to budge a step. He was on apletely different level to when he fought Tang Ye and Bai Yumo. The only exnation for how they survived against him was that he held back.

    Yi Ya quietly asked, ¡°Divine Realm?¡±

    ¡°Unsure,¡± answered Shen Yiren.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen him fight. What¡¯s your evaluation?¡±

    ¡°Stronger than you.¡± On the rare asion, Shen Yiren made her annoyance obvious.

    ¡°He¡¯sing.¡±

    Based on Bai Ju¡¯s experience, he was dead sure that holding back against the two of them wouldn¡¯t bring him any pleasant surprises. Moreover, he couldn¡¯t fulfil hismission with flying colours if he wasted too much time on unexpected variables. Hence, he came out of the gate at maximum capacity. Shrouded in a faint blue energy, Bai Ju rushed towards the door with brisk steps. ¡°There are all sorts of wonders across the heavens, in the heavens and down on earth. Be sure to be considerate of your elders¡­ and don¡¯t die too fast.¡±

    Though Bai Ju didn¡¯t perform an attack, his blue energy tore through the ground as if it was a live anaconda moving even faster than his whips. Among the various methods of utilising Enlightenment, converting energy into a physical entity, such as Luo Ming¡¯s titanic sword and Abels¡¯ spherical shield, offered the most mobility. It was also the ability that maximised one¡¯s power the most once they had fused it with their martial arts discipline. The onlymon denominator between the three was the immense force they produced, making it a challenge to block.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shen Yiren and Yi Ya simultaneously dodged. They weren¡¯t pressed so hard that they needed to evacuate as if they¡¯d die the next instant, but neither of them could see themselves stopping the attack head on.

    ¡°Blue Enlightenmentbined with long streaks of blue and green. Although there¡¯s ack of purity, it¡¯d pay to be cautious of his ¡®sharpness¡¯ and ¡®weight¡¯.¡± One of the benefits of directly serving under one of The Ultimate Three was gaining immunity to fear of Divine Realm. It was true for Yi Ya, and it was true for every generation before him. Unlike Shen Yiren, Yi Ya didn¡¯t miss the opportunity, and he made sure to take the experience serious.

    ¡°You won¡¯tst long if all you do is dodge, you know?¡± Bai Ju¡¯s target was clear based on the trajectory of his whip.

    Yi Ya exploded into motion, leaving the ground behind him to shatter.

    ¡°Nice dodge!¡±

    Bai Ju¡¯s best skill wasn¡¯t manipting the giant python he formed using Enlightenment; his specialty was wielding Iceriver Whip. He started to make another swing for Yi Ya, only to sense a thinyer of sword qi on a thin sword tip aimed at his exposed shoulder. Thus, Bai Ju jerked his shoulder, redirecting Iceriver Whip back to coil around the sword. s, the golden glow on the de passed through theyers of Iceriver Whip to continue towards his shoulder. Surprised but not disabled, Bai Ju yanked his whip back vigorously, yet she was still able to continue thrusting through the small loops as if she had the eyes of an eagle.

    Bai Ju had always been proud of his visual prowess thanks to his specialty in archery and citizenship as a Kiliya, and he had every right to be. Figuring Shen Yiren would be able to still continue even if he formed another loop, he decided to give up on his tactic, cancelling out his python and then casting Enlightenment on himself. Given the gap in their levels, she couldn¡¯t inflict any damage even if she did tag him.

    Shen Yiren¡¯s thrust was a variation she picked up during her fight against Gongsun Chu. She reviewed it tirelessly after Ming Feizhen gave her some pointers until she was able to execute it at will. As such, it was a strike Bai Ju had to counter. She immediately cancelled her attack and retreated, though, when he tried to catch her, confident that she wasn¡¯t within his range. Bai Ju was astonished that small interval between him erasing his python and trying to counter Shen Yiren was sufficient for Yi Ya to close the gap.

    Bai Ju knew it was ill-advised to block Yi Ya¡¯s attack before even seeing Yi Ya. Hence, he dragged his whip swinging towards Shen Yiren back to his side. Unfortunately, he made a mistake when he tried to measure Yi Ya¡¯s speed based on what his eyes could see.

    One opponent had better vision than him, while the other was faster than him. Thest thing Bai Ju expected was for the two he dominated with his aura would be the one pressuring him, but he relished it.

    Shen Yiren, mounting a second offensive, and Yi Ya were both shocked when he literally disappeared without any foreshadowing.

    Adepts sized each other up based on their other¡¯s aura, which was why they didn¡¯t need to see to determine the level of theirpetitor. All practitioners of internal disciplines devoted themselves to honing their senses so that they had a more vivid picture of their opponent¡¯s aura since it was the equivalent to having an extra eye and arm. There was only one exnation for how Bai Ju was able to go against thismon sense.

    ¡°Eclipse!¡± eximed Shen Yiren.

    Not even someone as fast as Yi Ya could move fast enough to erase all traces of his presence; only reaching a realm that enabled an ability to erase one¡¯s presence from their opponent¡¯s radar could one erase their existence. Being able to utilise Enlightenment wasn¡¯t enough to prove one had reached Divine Realm. The moment they could utilise Eclipse, however, they were truly in a different realm.

    ¡°Yi, head!¡± yelled Shen Yiren.

    Yi Ya immediately shifted positions, making the ck python that came down smash his afterimage and the ground. Yi Ya¡¯s explosiveness and speed saved him again. With that said, he was cognisant of the fact that he would¡¯ve been demolished back there if it wasn¡¯t for Shen Yiren¡¯s warning.

    Upon rendezvousing with Shen Yiren, the Qilin Guard calmly stated, ¡°He¡¯s a Divine Realm adept.¡±

    ¡°Never said otherwise.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Stillvoid.¡±

    ¡°Say something I can understand.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s reached Divine Realm, he can utilise Stillvoid to move the presence of all things in existence at will. Not only will very few disciplines work against it, but he will even be able to recover at an inhuman rate. Neither of us have cast Enlightenment, so he can take our attacks without any significant consequences. He has Divine Realm attack and speed, but he seems tock defence and recovery abilities thate with it. It¡¯s odd.¡± Yi Ya then asked Bai Ju, ¡°You can use Enlightenment and Eclipse, yet you can¡¯t cast Stillvoid?¡±

    Shen Yiren, following some rumination, questioned, ¡°You took a shortcut?¡±

    The duo¡¯sposure was literally an insult to the Divine Realm elder.

    ¡°Hey, hey, I¡¯m a Divine Realm adept. I¡¯m strong. I¡¯m tough. Can¡¯t you show a little surprise? You¡¯re hurting my feelings.¡±

    Again, in his emotionless tone, Yi Ya said, ¡°We need to employ guerri warfare. We can¡¯t match him face to face. Wear him down slowly. Divine Realm adepts can fight for days without pause; however, having excess energy doesn¡¯t mean having excess time. He¡¯ll lose hisposure once he¡¯s pressed for time. That¡¯s the opening we need. Mr. Bai, I respect your skills. I¡¯m not your match, but this is a fight, not a martial arts contest. Forgive me for being tactical.¡±

    Even though there were no signs of a joke in there, Bai Ju nearlyughed.

    Yi Ya already prepared his body to start implemented his tactic as he spoke. If he made his move while Bai Ju was speaking, breaking their formation and escaping with Prime Minister Li to recruit help, then Shen Yiren might¡¯ve been spared. He burnt his first priority, protecting Prime Minister Li, second priority, his ally¡¯s safety, his third priority, the oue of his mission, and hisst priority, victory, into every fibre of his being.

    Yi Ya was the worst type of opponent for anyone. While Bai Ju was the stronger fighter, Yi Ya wouldn¡¯t stop experimenting with any method to seed. Bai Ju would¡¯ve risked failing his principal goal if he focused too much on winning. A warrior who was always level-headed about what he needed to do was a valuable warrior no matter where his battlefield was.

    Wang Muren really is a freak. How did he turn an innocent child into a copy of him?

    ¡°Yi,¡± quietly called Shen Yiren, showing no formalities for the warrior who was considerably older than her. ¡°You created some new technique or something?¡±

    Yi Ya had an inkling that he was onto something, but he wasn¡¯t confident in the gut feeling. He was never quite adept at socialising, after all. ¡°Do you really hate me?¡±

    ¡°I neither like you nor Leng, but you¡¯re a tad better. I really¡­ really hate that guy¡­ He always makes me look like an idiot.¡±

    Nobody got on the nerves of Shen Yiren during her childhood more than her father¡¯s direct disciple, her senior brother. He picked up everything he learnt in one try, so she always felt that she was stupid when he learnt everything faster than her. It got to a point where she no longer wanted to learn from her father.

    ¡°He makes everyone look like an idiot.¡± Yi Ya was sort of happy to hear he wasn¡¯t the most detested.

    ¡°So do you have a new technique or not?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°How pathetic.¡±

    ¡°And you do?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely.¡±

    Yi Ya bobbed his head instead of biting back. He wasn¡¯t expecting an encouraging answer, but her answer did rouse a bit of anticipation.

    ¡°Eclipse is hard to detect,¡± Shen Yiren stated. ¡°I¡¯ll help you locate him. I¡­ can see him.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    Out of nowhere, an ominous feeling got everyone¡¯s attention; even Bai Ju felt as if his heart had just been seized. A handsome, yet cold, young face appeared from a veil of ck fog. He walked straight over to Prime Minister Li as if nobody else existed.

    ¡°Old man, is he at Taishu Hall?¡±

    Prime Minister Li nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, d to know!¡± Tianhu zipped off into the skyparably to a bolt of lightning.

    Even after the thunderous sound of Tianhu¡¯s departure finished ringing, silence and awkwardness still permeated the area. None of the three ignored individuals knew what to say as they just stared at each other, lost for words.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m a Divine Realm adept, you know? I¡¯m strong, you know? Check this out¡­¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 117

    Darkness Arrives at the Imperial City

    Ming Feizhen suddenly shivered an inexplicable reason. Meanwhile, Tiangou sat down in front of Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Long-time no see. You kn-¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we talk after you free me?¡±

    ¡°This is fine.¡± Tiangou shed his fangs. ¡°What¡¯s the rush? How long has it beenpared to how long you kept me unconscious at the underground pce?¡±

    Well, it certainly wasn¡¯t much considering being drugged daily and then force fed an unknown pill to recover his strength.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t pose as an examinee to fulfil your former dream, did you? I have assistants working here, so if you need, I c-¡±

    ¡°No need. Your system sickens me. I wouldn¡¯t return here if it wasn¡¯t to approach you.¡±

    ¡°Approach me? Why?¡±

    ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis needs your help.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°The majority of our brothers at the new base survived thanks to you. In contrast, Jiang Chen tried to destroy them and spared no thoughts for our long-time brothers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the reason you helped me.¡±

    Putting aside revenge against Gongsun Chu being too weak of an impetus, it was poor timing if that was the goal considering the fact that there was no safe haven for Fiends¡¯ Genesis in the capital at the moment. Additionally, not everyone in Fiends¡¯ Genesis would support tackling Jiang Chen. He did raise Drought Demon and Nine-Lives Cat Fiend, after all. They wouldn¡¯t fight back even if he went to behead them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t n to get revenge on Jiang Chen.¡±

    ¡°Can you get to the point? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Nine Dragons Fire Jade.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Despite it being an illogical answer, Ming Feizhen chose to continue listening. It couldn¡¯t have been impertinent if Tiangou was willing to take such a big risk, after all.

    ¡°You know what I¡¯ll ask, so why don¡¯t you just give me the answer?¡± Tiangou cast his eyes downwards. ¡°It¡¯s said that Master fought two great warriors once and then vanished after being outssed.¡±

    ¡°That certainly is the rumour. It¡¯s said that Sword Deity and Brilliant Broadsworder marched in after Shang Bieshi offended their sects and defeated him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s false. Master killed Jian Changzai when he came to our base twenty years ago, angering Swordless Sword Deity intoing out from seclusion. Despite how big of a name he was, he sent a letter beforehand. We thought Wordless Sword Deity was nning to challenge all of Fiends¡¯ Genesis, yet Master and Jiang Chen casually told us to remove our traps and to wee him as an esteemed guest. At the banquet Master prepared, they got along cordially, with neither of them mentioning Jian Changzai. A dayter, though, they fought. At the time, we thought they fought because they couldn¡¯t see eye to eye.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that obviously wasn¡¯t the case. It¡¯s said that Wordless Sword Deity was a world-known, respected schr before he became a revered swordsman. If Jiang Chen educated your master, they¡¯d be about the same level. Factoring in their skillsets, it¡¯s no surprise they felt as if they met a bosom buddy, so they discussed academics first. How could they not discuss martial arts after?¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like you were personally there. Master and he chatted over swordy. They¡¯d spar, then chat, spar and then chat. There was no definitive winner after several nights. I¡¯ll never forget the intensity of thest match. I¡¯ve yet to ever see such sophisticated disys of martial arts¡­ They both exchanged a smile after the match. I heard Wordless Sword Deity made up his mind to retire to the mountains permanently afterwards.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t avenge his beloved disciple? Really?¡±

    ¡°Jian Changzai¡¯s death was an ident. For whatever reason, he was extremely hostile to my master, trying to kill my master as soon as they met. Owing to Jian Changzai¡¯s skill and the number of respectable allies he had, my master had to kill him, or he would¡¯ve been the one who perished. Wordless Sword Deity was more interested in getting to the bottom of the matter rather than avenging his disciple.

    ¡°Jiang Chen said Wordless Sword Deity has an honourable and noble character. The misunderstanding was cleared after he met Master, and there was a clear opportunity to clear the air with Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, as well. Jiang Chen was right. Wordless Sword Deity and Master are both heroes. Wordless Sword Deity understood there was more to it as soon as they met. Both of them respected each other as great men in a matter of days. Nobody ever thought¡­¡±

    Tiangou¡¯s voice got deeper and deeper, raspier and raspier, shakier and shakier.

    ¡°We had another visitor not long after Wordless Sword Deity¡¯s departure, but he didn¡¯t introduce himself. Instead, he went on a killing spree, cutting down every one in his path. We were in the midst of celebrating Master making a new friend. As a result, we were unprepared for an attack¡­¡±

    ¡°Elder Brilliant Broadsworder?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had his brows glued together for he never recalled Brilliant Broadsworder being that sort of man. While the elder was a fiery man who could¡¯ve gone trigger happy if he was furious, his third brother didn¡¯t die at Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Moreover, the person in question clearly timed his attack to take advantage of Shang Bieshi¡¯s fatigue following his matches against Wordless Sword Deity. Such a scheming person was unlike the elder who wore his emotions on his sleeve.

    ¡°We thought it was him, and I believe Hai Yecha still believes that to be the case. It¡¯s true that we hurt Bai Zhiqing. ording to rumours, Elder Brilliant Broadsworder had also returned to the Central in by then. We couldn¡¯t name anyone else who could¡¯ve been as formidable as the killer, either. Master tried to stop him alone and told us to escape. Only Shitou¡­ that stubborn guy stayed behind and ended up as a man in his thirties with the mental age of a kid.¡±

    ¡°What happened back then?¡±

    ¡°Defeat.¡± Tiangou scowled. ¡°Master lost and was subject to some sort of seal that¡¯s put him in a slumber tough to wake from. The attacker cast the seal on Shitou, too, although Shitou¡¯s isn¡¯t as bad, but it¡¯s enough to show how damaging the seal is. ording to Jiang Chen, Master has been moved to somewhere hard to find. Shitou needs to have his mind cleared in order to find him, which is why Confucianism¡¯s Nine Dragons Fire Jade is necessary to break Shitou¡¯s seal without damaging his mind.¡±

    Tiangou took the risk of sneaking into the imperial city to meet Ming Feizhen because thetter was one of the people with the best chances of getting his hands on the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Even if his friendship with Huang Yuzao was ignored, Tang Ye and Su Xiao would¡¯ve shared it with him if they got their hands on it.

    ¡°I understand now, but what are you giving me in exchange?¡±

    ¡°Yu Sihe¡¯s killer. Good enough?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Tiangou was one of thest people Ming Feizhen expected to hold the answer he sought.

    ¡°Huang Yuzao would be the most interested in the answer. Regrettably, considering his hatred for Fiends¡¯ Genesis, he won¡¯t do business with me. It¡¯s better to deal with you.¡±

    ¡°Slow down! Slow down! You really know who killed Yu Sihe?¡±

    ¡°I take it you¡¯ve agreed to the exchange?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely! Tell me!¡±

    Tiangou nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to work it out. Yu Sihe had Nine Dragons Fire Jade, so his killer was after it.¡±

    ¡°Someone who wants Nine Dragons Fire Jade¡­ That would be¡­¡±

    ¡°Two possibilities. The first is someone affiliated with Fiends¡¯ Genesis who has the goal of waking our master. The second is the person who cast the seal on him and doesn¡¯t want him to wake up.¡±

    ¡°What a vicious motherflipper! So, who is it, exactly?¡±

    ¡°Do you know¡­ who tucked Fiends¡¯ Genesis away twenty years ago?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s first thought was Gongsun Chu obviously hid them, but further thought made it clear that Gongsun Chu wouldn¡¯t have done so notwithstanding his ability to have done so. Whoever did so needed to be able to hide them from both sides of thew, not to mention their former base was right in the heart of Jiangnan.

    Jiangnan¡­ Seven Champion White Princes¡­

    ¡°Which¡­ of the White Princes was it?¡±

    Tiangou grinned. ¡°Cold Mountain Temple.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so shocked. Who do you think I believe killed Yu Sihe?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped his eyes subconsciously whilst lowering his jaw. ¡°What are you implying? It sounds to me like you¡¯re saying¡­¡±

    Tiangou bobbed his head.

    Cold Mountain Temple¡­ Cold Mountain Temple¡­ Xun Feng¡­ Xun Feng must be trying to steal the Nine Dragons Fire Jade to finish the unfinished job from then. Yu Sihe didn¡¯t have the Nine Dragons Dragon Jade on him when he died. Uncle Huang kept its whereabouts a secret. Why try to steal it now? Wait¡­ Is it because there soon won¡¯t be a reason to fear the imperial court anymore?!

    Ming Feizhen realised his folly ¨C assuming Gongsun Chu was the ultimate mastermind. Gongsun Chu wanted to restore his dynasty. His goal was to destroy Li n and then the imperial court. On the other hand, the White Princes was only after His Majesty as he was the only monarch in history who wanted to and worked to strip them of power. Most importantly, Emperor Yuansheng had a lot of firepower. Besides the three offices overseeing the martial world, he had even more allies out there. The current generation of The Ultimate Three were arguably the strongest trio in history. The fact that Luo Sword Manor took the initiative to step down was a testament to Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s power. He was determined, had the ability, and had momentum on his side.

    The White Princes wouldn¡¯t want to support another dynasty as their special privileges came from Li Dynasty. In other words, they wanted to maintain the status quo. They needed Fiends¡¯ Genesis so that someone could bear the sin for them and so that the next Emperor would continue counting on them. More specifically, Gongsun Chu would bear the burden of the crime. Besides it being a specialty of his, perhaps he felt that Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s death would bring about real chaos. There was no doubt they had made a pact based on their conditions.

    The White Princes mobilised their forces to serve as a distraction. Once all attention was focused on the outside of the walls, someone would sneak in to assassinate Emperor Yuansheng. That person would be none other than the same person who killed Yu Sihe.

    Confirming his theory, Ming Feizhen heard someone emerge from Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s secret passage. Based on the immense strength and discipline he sensed, he identified them and their aim. His inexplicable shiver came from the evil that had entered the imperial court.

    ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    Everyone in Taishu Hall, including Tiangou, passed out. Ming Feizhen remained conscious, but he was unable to move. Even though the puzzle had beenpleted in his mind, he was unable to undo it.

    Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Venerable Monk had arrived to assassinate His Majesty!

 Book 14: Chapter 118

    For Seven Steps

    Taishu Hall fell as silent as the arrival of the monk shrouded in ayer of mist. He resembled a snowke blending into the misty rain. He ambled as though he was on a night stroll in the green wilds. Only when he pushed open the main doors to Taishu Hall did the moonlight give him a physical form.

    His eyes under his ck veiled disyed emotions of pity andpassion, the sort of gaze the world believed a messiah chosen at birth would have. He held his hands in prayer with the utmost sincerity to move people to tears.

    ¡°All men have their sufferings.¡±

    His voice that indiscriminately entered ears could¡¯ve convinced criminals to turn over a new leaf, but it was ineffective against the young man before him. The silver rays cast on the young revealed a slightly tugged-up corner of his lips. The monk knew that the young man would never surrender or allow another to use him as a tool. He also knew that the young man, who wasn¡¯t supposed to be present, was a tribtion he had to face. In the worst-case scenario, the young man should¡¯ve been away from the capital on travels or sneaking around to fulfil a secret mission. Only two people weren¡¯t surprised he was present.

    The schr in ck set down his book and gave the usual sharp condescending look that suggested he didn¡¯t have room for the world rather than the world not having a ce for him. The young man¡¯s refusal to submit or take orders made him an excellent coborator as he¡¯d be the best ally for as long as they could both reap benefits from each other before the alliance was off.

    The monk was in agreeance with the schr ¨C although for a different reason.

    The schr formed his judgement based on personal experience, while the monk knew he¡¯d need the support.

    ¡°Greetings, Tianhu,¡± expressed the monk, sounding as cordial as though they were meeting on a chilly mountain somewhere far away from the capital on a clear day.

    The indifferent youth had his interest piqued once he put a name to the monk¡¯s appearance. He expected to see the monk here at this time as little as the monk expected to see him. ¡°Venerable Monk? You revolting?¡±

    ¡°You are still within range.¡±

    There was no room for more words for the monk had made his move.

    A green glow and ck glow collided. Visually, it looked as though the green a swarm of fireflies devouring the darkness. There was no need for two people of their calibre to waste time feeling each other out. They pitted their supreme mental cultivations and might against each other without reservations.

    As Tianhu closed in, a ck hand choked Venerable Monk, yet thetter recited, ¡°Amitabha.¡±

    Venerable Monk expanded his green energy radius, forcing the ck energy around back and deleting the hand around his throat from existence.

    For once, Tianhu¡¯s unique attack failed, and he wasn¡¯t showing his usual thrilled smile in the heat of battle. He always smiled against entertaining opponents; it made no difference what their status was. He¡¯d lose interest in the matter if he didn¡¯t see an opportunity to throw down with a White Prince, but he looked emotionless this time. He didn¡¯t derive any joy from fighting the monk. As a matter of fact, he didn¡¯t even feel he was fighting a human being, which was a first for him.

    Tianhu turned his ck energy into a sword and spear that could transform at will. Despite him having surpassed human limitations, the unmoving monk didn¡¯t arm himself with his energy for a while. Notwithstanding them using different mental cultivation disciplines, Venerable Monk was somehow able to replicate Tianhu¡¯s form with his energy.

    ¡°Karma Path¡± was one of the unique abilities to Divine Realm adepts. Once it was imprinted in one¡¯s mind, their intelligence would improve by leaps and bounds. Advanced monks would also gain a weak version of looking into the past and futures on top of the heightened intelligence. Unlike divination, they either received visual images, hints or feelings. That was why Venerable Monk expected Tianhu and was able to defuse Tianhu¡¯s techniques easily.

    Tianhu knew it was futile to continue fighting using techniques, which was why he switched to attacking with Enlightenment. He turned his ck energy into a ck fox that he had circle the monk.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± questioned Tianhu.

    ¡°Amitabha, this one is here to take seven steps.¡±

    Tianhu didn¡¯t ask for rification since he knew he¡¯d receive an boration.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The monk took his first step, spawning a green lotus from the dirt beside his feet that grew into a giant lotus. In a sh, the green energy devoured Tianhu¡¯s ck energy.

 Book 14: Chapter 119

    Green Lotus

    The giant lotus that looked as if it just rose from pure waters was undoubtedly real. The size of it should¡¯ve been intimidating, yet its moist appearance and hue made it seem too beautiful to be true.

    No traces of Tianhu¡¯s ck energy were visible, and there were no signs of him resisting from within. There was no distinguishing if the world within or the exterior world was the real world. There was reality, bitterness, friction, contradiction, everything had followed a system, operating on a parallel system to the real world. Those inside would lose the ability to discern fact from fiction, therefore losing the ability to fight against the new world. Nasumerujez¡®s scripture provided incredible cultivation, while the illusion of the green lotus was an otherworldly ability.

    The monk recited scriptures leisurely, yet it simultaneously sounded as quiet as mosquitoes buzzing and as loud as the first long echo of the gong at dawn. Those were the only audible things. The lotus started to autonomously rotate under the influence of the recital ritual. The leaves grew whilst evolving into a purer appearance. Howbeit, as with all things, nothing at the mercy of nature could survive forever.

    The leaves started to split, wither and fall as if autumn walked in until only the seed was left behind. Once the lotus had reverted into its seed form, the person inside would forever be a resident of the new world, forever experiencing the process of samsara until their body degenerated into nothingness.

    Once silence loomed over the area again, the monk¡¯s arrival was once again a secret unknown to anyone else.

    ***

    There was actually one person who was aware of the monk¡¯s presence, but he was relegated to just checking out the unconscious useless folks on the ground¡­ and an old man who¡¯d been cut into pieces.

    ¡°Karma Path¡­ Just like Luo Ming. No wonder why he coulde up with such a convoluted strategy. Uncle Jiyi went savage with this.¡±

    As Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s secret passage had been sealed, only a small number of people could pass through, but the White Princes never intended to mobilise arge force into the imperial city through the passage. If they did that, they¡¯d have been ssified insurgents and wouldn¡¯t have had any ce they could call home in the Central in, which would¡¯ve left them with no other option besides fighting the imperial court to the death, and that would¡¯ve inexorably resulted in their defeat. Killing His Majesty to upy the imperial city wouldn¡¯t do them any favours; they needed to assassinate him without letting anyone know they were responsible. Still, Ming Feizhen did not expect the person assigned to the job and the mastermind to be Venerable Monk Jiyi.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi, who swore to release the ghouls of the three rivers, was arguably the idol of monks. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t expect to run into him at the imperial city, for these reasons and that he had participated in a fair number of secret operations to rule the pugilistic world over the years. Ambushing Shang Bieshi, putting Gongsun Chu¡¯s back against a wall, making use of Fiends¡¯ Genesis and raising an army was all for being able to turn the tables when he was in a pinch. After killing Yu Sihe but failing to obtain the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, he managed to put Confucianism in a pinch. While Huang Yuzao managed to take up the mantle, Confucianism was unable to rise in the pugilistic world, and that became inevitable after Huang Yuzao opted to educate students for the imperial court.

    If Venerable Monk Jiyi seeded in his assassination, then Gongsun Chu would be lynched, so he¡¯d go into hiding. If Emperor Yuansheng was assassinated, a new Emperor would need to be crowned, and the five White Princes wouldn¡¯t hesitate to jump on the opportunity to make him a puppet. In the worst-case scenario, where their chosen monarch wasn¡¯t crowned, the imperial court would have to put off stripping them and drink poison to quench their thirst.

    Had it not been for Tianhu, Ming Feizhen saw a chance of the n seeding. Either way, it had a better chance of bearing fruit than praying for Emperor Yuansheng to spare them. There were adepts in the pce, but it still would¡¯ve been hard to defend one attack after another.

    Ming Feizhen wore a long face.

    ¡°Can someone free me?!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It had been four hours since Cuo Xitong trapped Ming Feizhen in the chair. In addition to his sore back, his restrained limbs made it feel awful, not to mention all the mental gymnastics he couldn¡¯t resist performing whilst stuck. Even if he had to stay stuck, couldn¡¯t someone at least get out of the dangerous ce?!

    ¡°I swear to never mindlessly eat tangyuan again! Just get me out of here! Eh? Wait¡­¡±

    Before Ming Feizhen had more time to analyse what he heard, several big men barged into the room.

    ¡°Who are you people?! What do you want?!¡±

    The group picked Ming Feizhen up, while was still on the chair, and carried him out. Combined with the group carrying him, there were twenty-four big men waiting out in the garden. The onlymon denominator between them was that they were openly hostile. Some of them were chubby. Some were the condescending type who¡¯d been fighting since they were eight. Some looked like the type to poison their parents¡¯ dinner. Some of them looked as if they were on the run from the government and didn¡¯t even have time to change their clothes. Only one face was familiar.

    ¡°Gongsun Chu?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 120

    Bet Between Gentlemen

    Ming Feizhen had imagined numerous scenarios of how he and Gongsun Chu would meet again, including if they met tonight, but thest thing he expected was to be carried to the handsome bugger standing amongst a group of strong men.

    They entered Taishu Hall the same way Venerable Monk Jiyi did, except Gongsun Chu came straight to Taishu Hall and gave up on the imperial pce. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t even hazard a guess for why Gongsun Chu decided to show up here and now.

    From Gongsun Chu¡¯s appearance, it was visibly clear that he hadn¡¯t been living afortable life since theyst met, though he had recovered a portion of his strength. At the very least, none of the injuries from then were noticeable. The primary reason for his subtle scowl was that he was still angry. Provoking Gongsun Chu when Ming Feizhen himself was helpless would¡¯ve been the epitome of stupidity.

    ¡°Long-time no see, Brother Chu.¡± Ming Feizhen showed the friendliest smile he could show, one that he hoped would make Gongsun Chu forget about the former desecrating histe wife¡¯s coffin, cheating in their fight, breaking his family heirloom and sabotaging his attainment of Divine Realm. To y it safe, he added, ¡°Brother Chu, where did you find all these, uh¡­ strong men? All of them are excellent men. It must have been quite the ordeal to gain their support.¡±

    ¡°They are disciples of Confucianism who I trained. You can say they¡¯re the seeds I left,¡± emotionlessly replied Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°Confucianism?¡±

    Where¡¯s the Confucianism?!

    Ming Feizhen took another close look just in case.

    Twenty-four faces of prisoners on life sentences¡­

    ¡°Oh, for sure, you can tell they¡¯re men of intellect at a nce. We used to have a lot of robbers back on the mountain, too.¡±

    ¡°I deliberately have their appearances the way you see them. They weren¡¯t like this to start.¡±

    How much do you hate them, then, to turn perfectly fine people into that state?!

    ¡°Hmph, it was all to avoid your spies. Be it the orthodox sects or the imperial court, all of them assume my people will be refined gentlemen with the aura of academicians. I can¡¯t let you be right.¡±

    That doesn¡¯t excuse what you¡¯ve turned them into! They¡¯ll be arrested for other reasons! Look at their appearances! They¡¯d receive serious sentences just for the way they look!

    ¡°Enough with your drivel, Ming Feizhen. It should¡¯ve been on site with you.¡±

    That was actually relieving for Ming Feizhen; he knew the reason Gongsun Chu wasn¡¯t dead set on killing him on the spot.

    ¡°Where is Pingan¡¯s coffin?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had Hong Jiu earnestly put Gongsun Chu¡¯ste wife to rest after escaping the underground pce and to do so without leaving any traces. Hong Jiu burnt everything after he cleaned out the ce, then flushed it with water so that there were no traces left behind. The two of them were the only people who knew where Gongsun Chu¡¯ste wife was. Thus, Gongsun Chu was still toote even though he sneaked back into the underground pce before he recovered.

    ¡°That, of course, would be a safe ce. You can rest assured.¡±

    ¡°Tell me, and I¡¯ll spare you.¡±

    A man of integrity would honour his word, but Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t going to pass up an opportunity when Gongsun Chu¡¯s qualms were obvious. Sparing him wasn¡¯t attractive enough.

    ¡°Brother Chu, about that, let me tell you about it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think I have issues killing you. Even when you returned to the capital, you still couldn¡¯t use your martial arts, which means somebody else had to hide her coffin away. The only people you¡¯d trust are Mount Daluo or Divine Moon Cult members. I can find out from the people around you instead of you.¡±

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Ming Feizhen was actually exasperated. ¡°Since you know my background, that makes things simpler, right? If you kill me, you think people around me will tell you? Also, I might as well tell you: my shifu hid the coffin.¡±

    Seeing Gongsun Chu¡¯s distrust, Ming Feizhen added, ¡°I¡¯d believe me if I were you. His wedding with Hangzhou¡¯s Matriarch Zi is just around the corner. It¡¯s perfectly normal for him to be here to hold the wedding. So what if he¡¯s here? You think I¡¯d be stuck here if my shifu and future shiniang are inseparable? You think you¡¯d be able to bully me? You looking to get buried?¡±

    Ming Huayu and Zi Wutong¡¯s marriage was public news already and a hot topic of discussion among the public. They said the two made the perfect couple because the groom was loose, while the bride was unbridled. Wutong¡¯s Jin Yuxuan was based in Hangzhou. Moving all the items out of the underground pce definitely required arge group, and their disciples were known for their brute strength. Not even the clever schr could tell if it was all a coincidence or not. Regardless, hearing the mention of Ming Huayu definitely worried him. After all, Ming Huayu was one of the few people he¡¯d rather have not ever had to oppose. He himself was hard to read and locate, vtile, unorthodox, awfully shrewd and tough to beat in a fight.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°How about we have a bet?¡±

    ¡°What bet? How?¡±

    ¡°Simple. I¡¯m immobilised, and you can¡¯t kill me. This is between the two of us. It has nothing to do with them. They have no reason to bother with us after they¡¯re done fighting. Venerable Monk knows me, so he won¡¯t leave me be. If Tianhu wins, he wouldn¡¯t be Tianhu if he didn¡¯te for you. Put simply, out fates are in the hands of the two fighting outside.¡±

    Indeed,pared to the grudge between himself and Ming Feizhen, the fight between Tianhu and Venerable Monk Jiyi was the truly pivotal event. If Venerable Monk Jiyi won, Gongsun Chu¡¯s promise to spare Ming Feizhen would be meaningless. If Tianhu won, it¡¯d be impossible to kill Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Let¡¯s bet on the oue of the fight. What say you?¡±

    With a piercing gaze, Gongsun Chu queried, ¡°What¡¯s on the line?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°If I win, you release me and spare me today. If I lose, I¡¯ll tell you where your wife is, and you can do as you please with me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re bold.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As a silver pearl streamed down the side of Ming Feizhen¡¯s face, he replied, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t ept the bet, otherwise, would you?¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so? What if I ept?¡± Gongsun Chu was aware that he was the one with power in their negotiation since he had the power to decide Ming Feizhen¡¯s fate, while Ming Feizhen only had information.

    On the surface, Gongsun Chu stood to gain more from the bet. In reality, it was two for one. He ruled over Ming Feizhen¡¯s fate, so why did he need to win again? That was why Ming Feizhen perspired. Gongsun Chu quite enjoyed watching Ming Feizhen worry up close.

    ¡°What¡¯s your goal?¡± Gongsun Chu took two steps closer and asked. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t recklessly bet unless you were confident you could win.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°No reason. I just don¡¯t believe Tianhu will lose.¡±

    The oue of the fight didn¡¯t decide just their bet but also the result of tonight¡¯s operation.

    Gongsun Chu chuckled. ¡°You can hear the activities in that direction, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    The fact that Gongsun Chu asked the question indicated that he, too, could hear them. They couldn¡¯t see, but he and Ming Feizhen could infer what was happening based off their own experience and training. Ming Feizhen showed no signs of doubt.

    ¡°Fine. This is intriguing.¡± Gongsun Chu returned to his seat. ¡°I¡¯ll entertain your bet. However, I have one question.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Tianhu will kill me if he wins.¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡±

    ¡°But he won¡¯t kill you, as well?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 121

    Marked White Wall Behind Cold Mountain

    The ominous atmosphere during the confrontation had vanished. The scene of Venerable Monk Jiyi bathing in the moonlight conveyed serenity. The monk paused his recital, gently grabbed the leaf that settled on his shoulder and set it on the ground. The leaf converted into dirt, fused with the dirt and grew again as a lotus. Subsequently, he shut his eyes and resumed his recital. The new lotus reverted to its seed form under the influence of the recital, except there was a man who could shake up the entire world bound within it this time.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi didn¡¯t use a sutra but a legitimate martial arts discipline; however, no eminent monk from any generation of Cold Mountain Temple would¡¯ve recognised the discipline or which sect it originated from.

    Aside from his reputation as an abbot, his deep knowledge on Buddhism and benevolence, Venerable Monk Jiyi was also renowned for his formidable martial prowess. One would¡¯ve assumed they would¡¯ve gleaned the tip of his skills from his four senior disciples active in the pugilistic world, but very few people could actually im they had seen him fight, not to mention the sparse number of rumours going around about him. That should¡¯ve made it clear that it wasn¡¯t much easier to assassinate himpared to assassinating His Majesty owing to the number of guards he had at his disposal. There was no reason for him to show his mettle when others could do so on his behalf. Truthfully, though, not even those immediately around him knew much about what he was capable of.

    Not even members of Cold Mountain Temple knew of the existence of an inscription on the white wall in the backyard of Cold Mountain. Judging from the font and fragmented characters, it should¡¯ve been carved on too long ago for people in the current era toprehend. For that reason, members were only prohibited from interrupting anyone practicing there instead of being prohibited from being in the area whatsoever.

    The inscription had existed before Cold Mountain Temple was even established. The monks of Cold Mountain Temple never thought much of it since it had been there for ages, so it ended up being another rock covered in moss.

    When a monk from the Western Regions once visited Cold Mountain Temple before it was Cold Mountain Temple, he saw an unkempt monk sleeping under the rock. It left a deep impression on him because who¡¯d sleep between a waterfall and mountain stream? Unfortunately, he had to move along as he had urgent business to attend to. The monk from the Western Regions, who was considered the bestbatant among Buddhism followers, visited the Central in to spread awareness of Buddhism. Years after his journey to the south and north to pass on Buddhism, he returned to Cold Mountain Temple. There, he saw the same monk sleeping in the same spot and the same spot. Howbeit, all the stalls and people had left the area. The only thing that hadn¡¯t changed in the area was the monk¡¯s position.

    The two rocks on either side of the monk, however, now had a line of text each. Combined, they read, ¡°You can move the sky and earth. I shall sit right between the rocks.¡± The most amazing part was that the writer carved on using his bare fingers. As a symbol of admiration, the monk stood beside the dirty monk and recited sutras for seven days straight, never stopping for water or food. The dirty monk finally woke up when he was convinced the other monk was sincere. The two of them learnt new things from each other during their conversation. They carved their thoughts on the white wall, and the spot would be their meeting spot, which eventually became Cold Mountain Temple.

    While Cold Mountain Temple never ceased to pass down their martial arts knowledge, not every generation concentrated on martial arts. Their first generation emphasised academics over martial arts. For that reason, they only gleaned Buddhism teachings from the carving instead of tying it to martial arts. There were monks who focused on martial arts who read the text, but they never deduced the secret hidden within. Nobody would¡¯ve imagined a samanera nobody remembered would decipher the secret.

    The samanera was thirteen when he was sweeping the backyard whilst reading the inscription. He had a gut feeling that there was more to it than just Buddhism knowledge, but he was unaware of the true qi surging up inside him. He thought he was supposed to feel that way when practicing internal disciplines. From then on,bined with assiduous practice, he progressed rapidly. Only when he effortlessly sent his shifu reeling one day did he realise how wrong he was.

    What the samanera learnt was Buddhism¡¯s supreme mental cultivation discipline. The two monks in the past did discuss Buddhism wisdom, but they were also exemry martial artists of their era, so they wrote down the essence of Buddhism¡¯s martial arts. Their intention was never to teach but to pass down a formidable set of skills for one who fate paired it up with. As such, the samanera didn¡¯t learn it because he was a prodigy but purely because fate chose to link him up with it. Due to it being predicated on sheer happenstance, there was only one person who ever had the fortune of learning it.

    Thanks to the discipline and his own efforts, the samanera surpassed everyone at the temple by an enormous margin, became the youngest abbot in history and the only monk among Buddhism who could stand side by side with Shaolin¡¯s Abbott Kongxu in terms of hierarchy. It was poprly assumed that the samanera was born a genius and invented it, never realising they gave him more credit for intellect than his progress deserved.

    Tianhu was supposed to eventually lose all ability to resist just as what happened to Shang Bieshi all those years ago.

    Shang Bieshi was the most intriguing man Venerable Monk Jiyi ever met. He had his own unique view of the world and was too optimistic to fold to hopelessness. Despite his injuries and being cornered, Shang Bieshi never submitted to the lotus. Had Shang Bieshi not split some of his strength of to save his disciple, Shitou, Venerable Monk Jiyi wouldn¡¯t have subdued him so easily.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Venerable Monk Jiyi had continued to improve over thest two decades, yet¡­

    ¡°This is your ability.¡± There wasn¡¯t a trace of hatred or anger in Tianhu¡¯s voice. It was pure intrigue and a smidge of boredom.

    The lotus abruptly snowballed into a bigger and bigger seed, growing from a table to a building-sized lotus and yet still not stopping. The lotus also lost its shape, turning into some sort of twisted ck form. Eventually, Tianhu¡¯s ck energy tore open the lotus. The ck lotus in the space between them created a stark contrast to the air that Venerable Monk Jiyi gave off.

    ¡°Was that Buddhism¡¯s newest sleep aid?¡± When Tianhu yawned, trails of tears rolled down his face. ¡°It¡¯s pretty effective. I almost fell asleep, after all.¡±

    Venerable Monk Jiyi didn¡¯t respond to the provocation.

    Tianhu donned his ck energy again, but his opponent wasn¡¯t intimidated in the slightest. There wasn¡¯t a hint of emotion in Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s eyes. Had it not been for their location and timing, Tianhu might¡¯ve thought he met Buddha. Venerable Monk Jiyi no longer viewed himself as a human being.

    ¡°You seem to think you¡¯re really smart. I have it, too.¡±

    Though Venerable Monk Jiyi might not have understood what Tianhu was implying, he didn¡¯t interrupt.

    ¡°It¡¯s just Karma Path.¡±

    Venerable Monk Jiyi realised Tianhu had the same quality as him when he saw the translucence in Tianhu¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s what it¡¯s called in Buddhism, right? People in the Central in call it ¡®Wisdom Unlock¡¯. I call it ¡®Three Realms Six Paths Philosophy¡¯. Same thing, different name, so who cares. From what I know, nuns and monks can see their own past and future once they grasp it. Do you see more of the past or the future?¡± Tianhu waved his hand, seemingly uninterested in the answer. ¡°A pointless question. You called me your doom, so you peeked into the future, right? What a boring way to use it. What fun is there in life if you know everything ahead of time. I¡¯m curious, though: didn¡¯t you see me killing you?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 122

    Subduing Evil and Upholding Justice

    Tianhu¡¯s ck energy, as if it could feel his emotions, expanded its radius, wrapping around him as though it was his armour. He was a man who could look refined with a fan in hand, but his true calling was standing on a battlefield, and there was no evidence more captivating than the upward curve on his lips.

    In the blink of an eye, Tianhu had a wall of various weapons from his de energy that were all constructed better than a cksmith could¡¯ve forged. Despite his affiliation, and contrary to the lotus, all the weapons oozed an aberrant aura akin to that of fiends and demons that smelt blood.

    Tianhuunched his weapons without creating a sound, yet the bursts of qi could¡¯vepared to a cannon being fired from a deste mountain. The consecutive attacks would¡¯ve destroyed a military formation, yet he didn¡¯t think he could defeat the monk who managed to stop all the weapons six inches in front of him.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi ced his hands into prayer, shut his eyes and started reciting a scripture. Gradually, a faint green glow covered his surroundings. Not even Enlightenment could prate the wall of green energy. Not only could he trap his enemies inside an illusion, but he could also barricade himself inside his energy fortress. All Tianhu¡¯s weapons could do was circle around six inches away from the thin wall.

    Tianhu could tell that the other side of the green wall was an actual world different to the one he was in since he had been in there. All human emotions existed in the world, but, putting it crudely, it sucked. It was¡­ boring. The boring nature of the world inside the illusion disappointed him more than anything about the world. Illusions were meant to be different to reality, weren¡¯t they? Otherwise, who¡¯d want to stay in there? In his opinion, it¡¯d have been more entertaining to change reality. That was the impetus for him to wake from the illusion, and nobody or anything could stop him once he chose to. Fate couldn¡¯t bind him, and illusions weren¡¯t going to start.

    Insulted that his opponent would think he could be stopped with an illusion, Tianhu unleashed his plethora of weapons down upon the top of the green fortress.

    In spite of the fortress starting to flicker and distort under the pressure, Venerable Monk Jiyi remained unshakeable. He never assumed he¡¯d be able to destroy Tianhu in one shot; that¡¯d have been unforgivable arrogance and stupidity. He wasn¡¯t going to let himself be a fool, not even once. Besides, it¡¯d have been disappointing if the notorious Tianhu only took one shot to finish.

    Behind theposed and emotionless exterior of the mysterious monk were a pair of eyes that had always been monitoring the pugilistic world and a mind constantly fanning to the mes. Even though he seldom personally involved himself, he had a clear pulse on the pugilistic world and imperial court.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi didn¡¯t know the details of every elitebatant in the imperial court¡¯s employment; however, he left no stones unturned in trying to study The Ultimate Three and their processes.

    The Qilin Guards still put their disciples still put their disciples through hell to expedite their growth, and one of the disciples would be selected as the next grandmander. That was how Baima was chosen and was also how he trained his disciples.

    As for Liu Shan Men, not even Venerable Monk Jiyi ever thought about opposing Shen Wuzheng for thetter genuinely respected even his enemies. That being said, there was one representative of Liu Shan Men who was always in the picture. There was never a moronic debate about who the imperial court¡¯s strongest individual was, and the three offices neverpeted in an embarrassing manner. When he was still in office, everybody did their best to try to keep up with him. When the man who dedicated half of his life tobating Divine Moon Cult was still in office, the thought of opposing the imperial court never even crossed Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s mind.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi met Ximen Chuideng at Lawless Cliff after thetter drove off Blood Demon¡¯s force. Blood Demon had great intellect; the army, though¡­ Nheless, there was no force that could stop thebined might of Cold Mountain Temple and Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi wouldn¡¯t make the mistake of disying his true skills in the presence of elites and risk divulging the origins of his martial arts. Thus, he headed to the apex of Lawless Cliff, where he saw the man he¡¯d never forget after one nce. That man was the true definition of a demon in Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s book.

    Notwithstanding how many adepts had gathered atop Lawless Cliff, notwithstanding how big their advantage was, everyone was tense solely because of one man, solely because of Ximen Chuideng. It should¡¯ve been considered the greatest honour in life to fight Ximen Chuideng and the hardest fight of one¡¯s life. Anyone who could¡¯ve ticked off the bucket-list item and lived to tell the tale was not somebody to trifle with. If Yan Shisan was still in office, Venerable Monk Jiyi wouldn¡¯t have been here tonight. Perhaps not even the White Princes would¡¯ve considered opposing the imperial court. There was no worst feeling than wanting to do something but being unable to do so.

    Liu Shan Men¡¯s representative for The Ultimate Three was always their office¡¯s internal pick. If they didn¡¯t have someone worthy, then they wouldn¡¯t pick someone or go out of their way to train someone as was evident during the current generation of Liu Shan Men.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage had a rather unique way of selecting their representative. Tianhu was an alias that had been used since the first era, but the first generation Tianhu actually used the Yinglong alias. Regardless, Tianhu was present during the Yinglong era in a number of pivotal events. He was connected to a lot of events, yet there was no concrete proof that he was involved. Even in thest few eras, only His Majesty knew Tianhu¡¯s background ¨C or if he even existed. The current Tianhu was the most distinctive one in history due to him not having reservations about showing up in public and being easy-going. That all changed at the battle on Lawless Cliff.

    The battle to end Divine Moon Cult¡¯s expansion in the Central in came with a lot of sacrifice. Crimson Demon, better known as Ye Yun, lost his legs at the hands of Ximen Chuideng at Lawless Cliff. The man who could¡¯ve pried anything out of anyone with his gaze alone reced his usual cold gaze with one replete with bloodlust. While Ye Yun didn¡¯t fall into a pit of depression afterwards, he did step down from his duties.

    Since Ye Yun, who was Tianhu at the time, lost his legs, the next Tianhu should¡¯ve been chosen. It was eptable to pick a Tianhu who wasn¡¯t part of Emperor¡¯s Entourage; however, they needed to be someone Ye Yun and the imperial family could trust. Hence, Ye Yun brought the next Tianhu back. Not even His Majesty knew the current Tianhu¡¯s background, but he was acknowledged, so he was qualified to inherit the post. Venerable Monk Jiyi could testify in support of that right now.

    When the hail of weapons finally cracked the green fortress, Venerable Monk Jiyi finally saw a concrete picture of the mysterious young man.

    So, violence is your nature?

    The barrier shouldn¡¯t have broken since it wasn¡¯t predicated on strength but principles of the world. Therefore, the only exnation was that Tianhu had figured out how the discipline worked and identified a chink to exploit. There shouldn¡¯t have been a chink since Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s martial arts discipline derived from nature. In other words, Tianhu had to have learnt the workings of the world. No matter how smart and strong Tianhu was, working out a solution within one exchange was unbelievable, yet there was no denying he did. Perhaps it was possible if Tianhu had maximised his Karma.

    Before the weapons could hack him apart, Venerable Monk Jiyi enunciated, ¡°Second step.¡±

    Venerable Monk Jiyi expended another field of green energy, erasing the weapons from existence. Contests of Enlightenment were rarely decided in physical exchanges. He subsequently took one step forward. His green energy rose and crashed against the ck energy no differently to ocean waves. Another lotus came into existence.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Unlike thest lotus, the lotus that formerly trapped Tianhu no longer had the asional illusionary nature anymore; it was a simple, authentic lotus.

    Whilst thinking of a counter to his opponent who dialled up the intensity, Tianhu heard, ¡°Third step,¡± and saw his opponent take another step forward.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s lotus destroyed Tianhu¡¯s weapons, and then arge Buddha that made Tianhu¡¯s weapons resemble a child¡¯s toys spawned from the centre of the lotus.

    ¡°It is over,¡± dered Venerable Monk Jiyi.

    The colossal Buddha ced his hands in prayer and scowled!

 Book 14: Chapter 123

    ying Buddha

    Ming Feizhen and Gongsun Chu both knew why it seemed as though their senses were inhibited after they heard the lotus revive. The fact that their senses were blunted when Venerable Monk Jiyi and Tianhu¡¯s Enlightenments hadyered the sky spoke volumes of thetter two¡¯s abilities.

    ¡°¡­ Do you know much about Liaoliao¡¯s martial arts?¡± inquired Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°Liaoliao¡¯s martial arts? What a tongue twister,¡± responded Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve done more reading.¡±

    Since he couldn¡¯t cover his mouth with his hands, Ming Feizhen turned his head away and cursed under his breath ¨C even though he knew it wouldn¡¯t bother Gongsun Chu whatsoever. Gongsun Chu had interacted with enough uncouth people before to not mind Ming Feizhen. To the contrary, he was reminded of the tough monarch he formerly served. It went without saying that Gongsun Chu promptly brushed off the thought and apologised inwardly since it was insulting to his former master.

    ¡°Liaoliao¡¯s martial arts skillse from an inscription on a white wall at Cold Mountain Temple. He¡¯s the first person who coincidentallyprehended the text that nobody couldprehend in ages.¡±

    ¡°How do you know so much?¡±

    ¡°In the twenty years I was hiding, I interacted with Cold Mountain Temple a fair number of times.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you hate him? He smashed Shang Bieshi, destroyed Fiends¡¯ Genesis and threatened you for two decades.¡±

    ¡°No. My sonmitted his fair share of deeds in the pugilistic world. Neither he nor I shouldin about our fates; we¡¯re just doing our best.¡±

    Ming Feizhen just bobbed his head a few times nonchntly.

    ¡°You¡¯re right about one thing, though. Liaoliao has done amendable job of censoring information on himself. I¡¯ve never looked into his martial arts background, nor have I ever wanted to. I know about it simply because it¡¯s something I knew.¡±

    Considering Gongsun Chu¡¯s age, something that escaped Ming Feizhen for a moment, it shouldn¡¯t have been strange if Gongsun Chu had been to Cold Mountain Temple and seen the white wall in question. It actually would¡¯ve been strange if he hadn¡¯t been to the ancient temple given his post in the former dynasty and his personality.

    ¡°Do you know who authored the text? One of them was the greatest monk in Buddhism at the time ¨C Eminent Monk Tu Yunting from the Western Regions. Not only did he have a solid grasp on Buddhism, but he was also so formidable in martial arts that people of them time called him Buddha on Earth. If you looked at his aplishments, there was no doubt he was a reclusive adept of Buddhism.¡±

    ¡°Oi, oi, your shifu is spilling pugilistic world secrets over here. He¡¯ll silence you guys afterwards. Aren¡¯t you going to chop him up before he does?¡± Ming Feizhen shouted to the twenty-four men, knowing Gongsun Chu¡¯s reason for sharing the information.

    ¡°I¡¯m not their shifu. I simply adopted them, fed them and taught them to read and write. None of them walk my path. I told you: they are the seeds I left for Confucianism. They have their own wishes and lives. There¡¯s nothing strange even if they take theplete opposite path I take.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stole a nce at the twenty-four blokes standing behind Gongsun Chu. ¡°They don¡¯t take orders from you? Have you even looked at them?¡±

    ¡°I am their benefactor. They¡¯re merely repaying me. Do you orthodox sect people not advocate for the same behaviour?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was wiser than to try debating a debate he couldn¡¯t win. ¡°So who was the other author?¡±

    ¡°A one-of-a-kind prodigious monk in thest millennium ¨C Hanshan.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped his eyelids. ¡°Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Hanshan? His name is Cold Mountain?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t construct the temple, but Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s name certainly was his Dharma name.¡±

    After hearing the full story from Gongsun Chu, Ming Feizhen remarked, ¡°They must¡¯ve been two at the top of the peak, then. I wonder if they ever fought.¡±

    ¡°They did.¡± Gongsun Chu formed a small smile. ¡°The two of them carved all their knowledge on the wall following their conversation. I¡­ and a friend caught up with the abbot when we visited Cold Mountain Temple, which was when I learnt that the two of them alsopared their Divine Realms. Tu Yunting made a lotus grow every time he took a step on the stone path. Hanshan brightly apuded the incredible discipline. It didn¡¯t matter to Hanshan if the seven lotuses were authentic or illusions, but his smile was unquestionably more genuine than any of them, a fact that Tu Yunting respected from the bottom of his heart.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay, Monk Hanshan is incredible.¡±

    ¡°From the perspective of us unenlightened folks, Tu Yunting only lost by a small margin. From Buddhism¡¯s perspective, on the other hand, the order of arrival takes precedence; sess is considered Buddha. Thus, Hanshan was Buddha and so was Tu Yunting.¡±

    ¡°Good call. Good call. Focusing on winning and losing isn¡¯t the way of Buddhism.¡±

    Gongsun Chu nodded. ¡°The discipline that produced a lotus each step came from Tu Yunting. As for the unfettered mental cultivation, it came from Hanshan. Venerable Monk Jiyi has managed to synthesis the both of them for himself. Are you still betting on Tianhu winning?¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t already obvious, Gongsun Chu brought all that up to dampen Ming Feizhen¡¯s spirit.

    Ming Feizhen titled his head. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re done?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m raising the stakes.¡±

    Gongsun Chu wrinkled his nose. ¡°¡­ What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I said, I. Am. Raising. The. Stakes!¡±

    Not only did Gongsun Chu doubt his hearing, but he even questioned Ming Feizhen¡¯s sanity.

    ¡°If you win, I¡¯ll return your family heirloom, all the other goodies and even pen a letter telling Mount Daluo to not avenge me ory a finger on you.¡±

    ¡°Your weird shifu would take orders from you?¡±

    ¡°Hell no. In fact, he¡¯ll do theplete opposite of my request and have someone kill you. Still, that¡¯s better for you than him and Grandmaster ganging up on you, no?¡±

    ¡°That is true.¡±

    ¡°So are you ying along or what?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be the loser if I didn¡¯t,¡± Gongsun Chu answered with a smile, then pointed to the group behind him. ¡°If you win, the twenty-four of them will be yours. You can rest assured that they will wait on you hand and foot.¡±

    ¡°You might as well have just said you¡¯re folding!¡±

    Ignoring the fact that they were students of an enemy, look at their aggressive expressions. Even if you personally recruited them, you¡¯d think twice about trusting your back to them. Taking them back to Liu Shan Men would¡¯ve been the equivalent of throwing rice into a mischief of rats.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± Gongsun Chu waved a hand. ¡°A-Kang, show him.¡±

    A man with wide shoulders and meaty wings for a back stepped out from the group. A single punch from him delivered hundreds of pounds of force, shattering bricks on the ground. If the other twenty-three were also on his level¡­

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll respect my elders.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the oue dependent on the two of them?¡±

    Gongsun Chu and Ming Feizhen focused on their hearing again. s, they couldn¡¯t hear anything from the two engaged inbat for it all happened in silence.

    The coalesced qi from the green lotus transformed into Buddha and, like a mountain dropping down, obliterated the ck Enlightenment from existence all together. Venerable Monk Jiyi referred to Tu Yunting¡¯s ability as ¡°Lotus Every Step¡±. After the seventh step, the lotus would have sprouted, and impossible would virtually be just a word.

    Venerable Monk Jiyi managed to wipe away the demon that refused to surrender with his third step, so he stopped, believing he had vanquished the demon until he heard¡­n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Lend me three mountains¡¯ swords. Lend me the de in the ocean. Lend me the wondrous warriors. Lend me the robe of the monarch. Grant me the unpredictable power of the red moon and stars. Sun. Grey dog. Grant me the nine realms¡¯ fury to impose disaster. Severing Sword. Wipeout Broadsword. Rise divine soldiers. Don the monarch¡¯s rob. Rise red moon. Transform stars. Rise sun. Howl dog. Let the fury of the clouds scream and wins howl!¡± As a giant ck spear pierced the green lotus, Tianhu uttered, ¡°I y Buddha.¡±

    In one swing, Buddha¡¯s head rolled!

    Glossary

    Tongue twister ¨C Gongsun Chu poses his first question in a manner that has you pronouncing ¡°Liao¡± multiple times in the same tone. After Ming Feizhen fires back, Gongsun Chu makes it even more of a tongue twister by adding even more ¡°Liao¡± characters. Unfortunately, I¡¯m quite certain that¡¯s impossible to replicate in English, so I improvised the section.

 Book 14: Chapter 124

    God of Battle¡¯s Orphaned Son. Flying General¡¯s Sessor.

    The lotus withered along with its scars as the Buddha faded away.

    Tianhu flowered away his broken ck spear and remarked with three fingers up, ¡°That¡¯s three steps.¡± He then smirked, extended a fourth finger and said, ¡°If the remaining four steps are equally boring, just take all four steps at once to save me the trouble.¡±

    Tianhu wasn¡¯t bored at all. To the contrary, he had more fun than he expected. He never expected an opponent of Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s calibre, much less this format ofbat. He was so entertained that he tried to goad his opponent into showing thest four steps. It wasn¡¯t about winning something or losing something, surviving or dying. The majority of people couldn¡¯t fathom how hard it was for him to find a worthy opponent.

    The Buddha¡¯s might was genuinely freaky. For a moment, Tianhu saw himself losing in the future when the Buddha uncorked a palm strike, except he didn¡¯t consider being split in half any fun. Hence, he chose to swing his spear. Even though he overcame the future, he wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about it. He wanted to see himself fail. At the same time, though, he wanted to do everything in his power to ovee the challenge. If the difficulty was far beyond his capabilities, then he would¡¯ve been happy regardless of the oue. The disappearance of the Buddha ushered in disappointment. The onlyforting exnation he could provide himself was that his opponent truly was capable of fulfilling the prophecy. He couldn¡¯t help cracking a smile that was replete with hope.

    In contrast to Tianhu¡¯sid-back state, Venerable Monk Jiyi, who didn¡¯t expect to encounter such a dangerous opponent, wasn¡¯t keen on chasing thrill. He needed toplete his task fast without letting anyone connect the deed back to Cold Mountain Temple ¨C at the very least, not right away. That would result in the yet-to-mature monarch they supported in the future resisting them, effectively limiting the White Princes¡¯ movements. To that end, Gongsun Chu and Valley of Yearning were designated scapegoat roles. Hence, Venerable Monk Jiyi should¡¯ve been the more anxious person between him and Tianhu, yet that didn¡¯t appear to be the case at all.

    Tianhu was d to see his opponent wasn¡¯t anxious in the slightest. Or rather, he liked that the moonlight on his opponent now looked ominous rather than tranquil.

    ¡°Are you the orphaned son of God of Battle, or the sessor of Flying General?¡± Without seeing Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s appearance, you would¡¯ve thought you were listening to a schr reciting a poem.

    It was the first time Tianhu felt he heard the Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s real voice. After a think, he smiled and asked, ¡°Which one do you fear more?¡±

    ¡°Amitabha, this one was not yet the leader of Cold Mountain Temple when that speary swept its way across the Central in; however, this one had the honour of personally witnessing the beauty of ¡®God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams¡¯.¡±

    Venerable Monk Jiyi recalled the scenes that nobody could view and say they weren¡¯t shocked. It was the worst feeling for someone who could create illusions. When Youtu¡¯s forces descended south, the Central in¡¯s imperial court did a lousy job of stopping their advance. Virtually no city was spared from bloodshed. Under a scarlet sun, one man rode alone into the enemy ranks and unleashed hell on them. One man, his stallion and spear showed Youtu¡¯s forces what a nightmare truly was. Anyone who dared to consider themselves outstanding paled miserably inparison to him.

    ¡°This one has never seen such splendid speary since then¡­ or such a marvellous warrior.¡±

    Even though Venerable Monk Jiyi sounded devoid of emotion, hisst few words carried hints of genuine respect despite never being a fan. Mayhap not even he was aware of his rise in emotions.

    ¡°Are you giving up?¡± questioned Tianhu, stopping Venerable Monk Jiyi before his fun was reduced as a result of the unexpected inquisition. ¡°Are you going to take thest four steps? If not, I¡¯m making my move.¡±

    ¡°You have not answered this one¡¯s question, no?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered me, either, no?¡±

    ¡°If you are the sessor to Flying General and was fated to learn the superb discipline, then it was your fate. This one has a gift for you.¡±

    ¡°You even have a gift?¡±

    Tianhu: So he¡¯s really done fighting. This sucks.

    ¡°It is Flying General¡¯s spear called ¡®Unstoppable de¡¯. This one has looked forward to seeing it since hest witnessed it.¡±

    Venerable Monk Jiyi was unaware that the spear had changed hands long ago. If anything, Tianhu was closer to it than him since Tianhu had been into the underground pce it was stashed.

    ¡°And if I am Battle of God¡¯s orphaned son?¡±

    ¡°The orphaned son of Battle of God would be an imperial family member of thest imperial family. It is inevitable he would be eyed, not to mention General Ran¡¯s descendant deserves to be taken care of well.¡±

    Tianhuughed as he pped. ¡°Great to hear. Great to hear that you¡¯re reminded of your old hobbies. You want to give a present after seeing God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams, but you never mentioned his descendant.¡±

    The mention of Ran Feikong¡¯s descendant erased Venerable Monk Jiyi¡¯s intention to speak.

    ¡°Those who inherit his bloodline can learn any martial arts discipline without limitations. In other words¡­ they are the best candidate for learning the four supreme disciplines of all eras, correct?¡±

    Hearing his own thoughts read out to him, Venerable Monk Jiyi smiled.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve gotten your hands on something amazing, Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Liaoliao.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You have yet to answer this one¡¯s question.¡±

    Tianhu just smiled. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, you won¡¯t be screwed just once.¡±

    Irrespective of what Venerable Monk Jiyi wanted, Tianhu still only wanted just one thing ¨C a fun fight.

    ¡°¡¯God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams¡¯ is a discipline without equal. If this one has truly met a student of the discipline, he must ask¡­ do you still want to fight?¡±

    Apanying his smile, Tianhu¡¯s aura intensified. ¡°You sound scared.¡±

    ¡°General Ran slew the Preceptor of State and Budda, causing a worldwide panic. Although his contributions in the war were unmatchable, he nted seeds of disaster, which eventually sprouted and came back to bite him.¡±

    ¡°He slew viins deserving of death using ¡®Unstoppable de¡¯ and killed corrupt monks, like you.¡±

    ¡°There is no doubt that Flying General is a hero, a hero possibly never to be seen in ages. Sadly, he chose the wrong people to associate with. Choosing to be with Tianfeng Yu was a mistake. We all know even the greatest men struggle to ovee the beauty of women, but Ran Feikong¡¯s decision to give in to his lust cost him his family. At the time, not a soul had any pity for the witch. Is your mother being asked the same questions as she bathes in seas of boiling oil in hell? Is she, too, being asked why she chose to be a witch who ruined a hero?¡±

    For once, Tianhu was dead silent. Not even Liaoliao, who thought he now had a grasp on Tianhu¡¯s personality, expected those words to trigger Tianhu.

    For the first time in the sh, Tianhu didn¡¯t attack for the sake of entertaining himself. Just as whenever he meant to do harm, there was a strong stench of blood.

    ¡°Your death wish is granted.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 125

    Quiet Night. Imperial City. Lonely Moon.

    Another green lotus spawned on Liaoliao¡¯s fourth step, but it was significantly brighter than its predecessors. Even though he erased the ck energy again, he couldn¡¯t find it in him to celebrate since he had reached the bleakest point of the night.

    The green lotus resembled a green frog that had taken in a belly-expanding amount of air in and was ready to explode at any moment. Its leaves swayed as though they were on the cusp of falling. Reinforcing the lotus with recitals couldn¡¯t increase its threat; it was purely a waste of energy and opportunity. Tianhu would break out and emerge at his peak with no other intent than to harm the monk who¡¯d lost his momentum.

    Liaoliao didn¡¯t take the fourth step because he wanted to. He was unexpectedly forced to. He might¡¯ve been the one to mention Ran Feikong and Tianfeng Yu first, but he wasn¡¯t sure what specifically set Tianhu off.

    Liaoliao confirmed Tianhu wasn¡¯t a descendant of Ran Feikong based on thetter¡¯s responses. His provocations were mere experiments to see if he could get a glimpse into Tianhu¡¯s rtionship with Ran n or a skeleton for him to continue exploring. Liaoliao didn¡¯t intend to provoke Tianhu into attacking.

    Liaoliao couldn¡¯tprehend why someone who wasn¡¯t a member of Ran n was so riled up. The most frustrating thing was that he couldn¡¯t verify if his assumptions were actually wrong. To make matters worse, Tianhu didn¡¯t show a single perceivable w.

    Not even an avnche would be enough to make Liaoliao bat an eye at his level, but Tianhu didn¡¯t show a single opening when he flipped out despite Tianhu seemingly executing it as though he didn¡¯t need to give it conscious thought. No matter how skilled and experienced someone was, they were still meant to express emotions, meaning their emotional state should¡¯ve affected their performance and the manner in which they performed their movements. When someone was as livid as Tianhu was, it should¡¯ve been the norm to lose uracy, yet Tianhu proved himself to be an exception to the unwritten rule.

    The moment the ck des poured down from above, Liaoliao knew he had lost the initiative and was forced to take his fourth step. If it was one of Tianhu¡¯s tactics, then he deserved praise even as an enemy. Not even the likes of Yu Sihe and Shang Bieshi were able to pin Liaoliao in such a passive position.

    Despite taking a fourth step, there was still foreign energy brewing inside the lotus, ready to st its way out.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ***

    Ming Feizhen looked as if he just had his braised pork shoulders stolen from under his nose after he heard the conversation between Tianhu and Liaoliao and went silent. Gongsun Chu, too, didn¡¯t utter a word. Eventually, the difort built up enough for Ming Feizhen to say, ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard being a sessor of a hero,¡± remarked Gongsun Chu, gazing at the moon. ¡°It¡¯s hard.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wanted to scratch his nose in response, but his hands were stuck. ¡°You know what the hell a God of Battle Nine Diagrams is?¡±

    Gongsun Chu gave Ming Feizhen a sarcastic, ¡°Why are you asking when you know?¡± look and then replied, ¡°It¡¯s Ran Feikong¡¯s creation. In terms of formidableness, it¡¯sparable to Li Wuming¡¯s Broken Sword Eight Layer Light. Were it not for the Broken Sword series producing one of the world¡¯s Four Great Books, it¡¯d be impossible to tell which is superior.¡±

    ¡°Sick.¡± Ming Feizhen made it clear from his exaggerated expression that he asked the question for a purpose besides actual curiosity. ¡°Does that mean Liaoliao has his hands on Broken Sw-?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer, either. Cold Mountain Temple and I are only in contact for business. While I have my own conjectures, I have nothing to support them. I wouldn¡¯t tell you even if I knew. You don¡¯t seem to have any self-awareness of your background, my captive Lord San Shen.¡±

    Ming Feizhen did his best to shrug. ¡°Just a casual conversation. What¡¯s wrong with small talk as you enjoy a show? If you win and Uncle Jiyies over to kill me and I haven¡¯t even had a chat, I¡¯d have missed out, no?¡±

    ¡°Jiyi?¡± Gongsun Chu simpered. ¡°He was a different man when he went by that name.¡±

    ¡°By the sounds of it, General Ran¡¯s discipline can rival our founding Emperor¡¯s, correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hard to say. Their personalities are simr, and their disciplines are interlinked with their thoughts. If they fought based on their own principles, it¡¯d be hard to predict the victor. Based on martial arts disciplines alone¡­ Broken Sword Eight Layer Light is not something human might can stop or top.¡±

    ¡°In other words, our founding Emperor was the superior man?¡± Ming Feizhen appeared to genuinely be invested in the debate.

    Gongsun Chu snorted through his nose. ¡°Hisprehension of Broken Sword was thanks to the Four Great Books. How does he get credit when it was all thanks to the wisdom of his predecessors? On the other hand, Ran Feikong created his own discipline; that¡¯s called true genius. In no way was he inferior to Li Wuming.¡±

    ¡°Not bad, not bad. You seem to be all-knowing, Mr. Chu.¡±

    ¡°Live long enough and you¡¯ll know a little more.¡± Gongsun Chu looked over to his entertained opposition. ¡°Are you enjoying this, or are you not afraid of death? You¡¯re smiling when you¡¯re dead either way tonight?¡±

    ¡°I am afraid of death.¡± Ming Feizhen did a quick eyebrow hike. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll die here, though, so why be depressed? You still down to bet?¡±

    Though they were engaged in conversation, the two of them could hear Tianhu on the cusp of breaking out from his confines.

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Even when the monk is about to get stomped?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. Since you know my identity within Divine Moon Cult, I¡¯m upping the ante. If I lose, not even Divine Moon Cult can go after you.¡±

    ¡°If I lose, you can keep all the items you¡¯ve taken.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡± On second thought, Ming Feizhen found it odd that Gongsun Chu was so confident in Liaoliao. ¡°Why¡­ are you so sure Uncle Jiyi will win? What tricks are you hiding?¡±

    ¡°Since when was I sure? Neither of them are ordinary folk, not to mention they have to release all reserves. How could I be sure who will win?¡± Seeing as Ming Feizhen was still bewildered, Gongsun Chu remarked, ¡°Ah, I see now.¡± Whilst pping, he added, ¡°You haven¡¯t seen them yet.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ***

    This time, Tianhu¡¯s ck energy didn¡¯tpletely erase the green lotus upon breaking out. Instead, Tianhu¡¯s des and Liaoliao¡¯s lotus pushed up against each other in a deadlock.

    The monk with his hands in prayer still had the sorrowful look as he held back the onught of attacks. If there was one thing that was certain, Liaoliao had grasped the essence Tu Yunting tried to express as perfectly as Tu Yunting himself wished.

    ¡°You do not have a spear nor a heart dedicated to speary. You are proficient with weapons, but yourck of dedication to spears as your sole weapon renders it impossible for you to break through in one spear attack.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± condescendingly responded Tianhu, continuing to dial up the intensity. ¡°It was pretty smart to incite disorder in the capital and distract the intelligence agents; however, if you can drop me by midnight, the warriors swapping in and out inside the imperial city will arrive. Then, the people in the imperial pce will arrive. Whatever it is your goal is tonight, I¡¯ll be making sure none of them are achieved.¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s anger and hostility were apparent, but it was impossible to tell why.

    Liaoliao sighed. ¡°Brother Gongsun, it really has turned out how you predicted. This is a challenging task. This one has no other choice.¡°

    Quiet night.

    Imperial city.

    Lonely moon.

    As Liaoliao took his fifth step, he softly enunciated, ¡°Executioner.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 126

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s Gambling Nature

    The unounted variable introduced had even Ming Feizhen blue in the face. Despite being aware of Shitou¡¯s whereabouts, he never thought Shitou would be an obstacle. Although he thought there was more to Shitou than what met the eye when he first saw Shitou with Gongsun Chu, he had never seen Shitou fight.

    ¡°He is¡­¡±

    ¡°Shang Bieshi¡¯s sole sessor,¡± answered Gongsun Chu.

    Shang Bieshi might¡¯ve liked ying teacher, but he rarely taught martial arts to anyone. The only one who Gongsun Chu considered a legitimate disciple of Shang Bieshi was Shitou.

    Had Liaoliao not held back to preserve energy for his assassination task, Tianhu wouldn¡¯t have dominated. Even now, it was a 50-50 situation. A Divine Realm adept¡¯s involvement would tip the scale in one direction. To make matters worse, Ming Feizhen heard twenty-eight people emerge from the secret passage. In other words, there was still one more person hiding.

    ¡°A force like this¡­¡± Ming Feizhen locked his brows. ¡°What is your goal?¡±

    ¡°To kill you.¡± Gongsun Chu formed a smile, sending chills down Ming Feizhen¡¯s spine. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to kill you since we were in the underground pce. You haven¡¯t forgotten why, have you?¡±

    A trail of sweat coursed down the side of Ming Feizhen¡¯s face. ¡°About that, haha, better another friend than another enemy, hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I do want to kill you, but there¡¯s a procedure for killing someone, isn¡¯t there?¡±

    Ming Feizhen felt as though he just fell into a trap he set himself. Only now did it dawn on him that the conversation was following a script; the bet he suggested was foreseen. Gongsun Chu always preferred methods that gave the greatest return on the smallest investment, which he proved with his mirage tactic.

    ¡°Since I¡¯m on your chopping board now, can¡¯t you just finish me?¡±

    Had Gongsun Chu finished Ming Feizhen the first time promptly, he could¡¯ve saved himself plenty of trouble. They were in the same situation again.

    Gongsun Chu and Ming Feizhen met eyes. There was a mixture of emotions in Gongsun Chu¡¯s eyes, but it was hard to tell what they were. He lowered his head and muttered, ¡°Ending your life isn¡¯t enough. It doesn¡¯t count as defeating you.¡±

    ¡°And killing His Majesty in front of me does?¡±

    ¡°Liaoliao will kill Li Yong. I don¡¯t need to get involved.¡± Gongsun Chu peered into the ether. ¡°Many things wille to an end tonight ¨C if everything goes as nned¡­¡± He turned back to Ming Feizhen and added, ¡°It would be regrettable if I don¡¯t get to see you die before my body expires.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t bother prying further since he knew he wouldn¡¯t get an answer. He also knew for certain that the oue tonight would depend on the results of Tianhu¡¯s fight.

    ***

    Tianhu felt a sting on his face from the wind as he saw what was presumably a rock burst out from the green lotus. Following a loud ¡°boom¡± produced from an iron weapon smashing into qi, he saw what resembled a golden dragon fill up his field of vision. The proof that it had nothing to do with Liaoliao was that his lotus¡¯ power only increased as he continued his recital, inhibiting Tianhu from closing in.

    Not only was the cudgel swung with an unexpected amount of force, but it was aimed at the weakest spot in Tianhu¡¯s defence, too. When he absorbed the impact on his chest, he had a shback of a warrior who left a deep impression on him.

    Tianhu¡¯s blood froze and then roiled. The force of the impact split the ground in multiple directions for several metres. Though Tianhu managed to eventually stop its travel with his hand, the residual force continued to hit simrly to crashing waves. Only when he tasted blood in his throat did he realise he had stained hispels with his own blood. Finally, Tianhu realised his new opponent was the nk Divine Realm warrior he already defeated once.

    Though Tianhu sprayed a mist of blood, he didn¡¯t drop or lose his Enlightenment around him. At his level, settling his essence was a quick and easy job, but it was hard to say what the result would be if he took another shot.

    Shitou continued to push out internal energy through his cudgel perpetually. In addition to the violent gales, his blue mes that enveloped him added a vicious heat element to the winds. Even though his eyes had a threatening glow in them, there was no life in them. His one loss to Tianhu didn¡¯t make the fact that he was dangerous obsolete.

    Tianhu collected ck energy to his palm, then formed broadswords and swords out of it. No matter how tough it was defend, though, he reacted toote.

    Shitou created a wheel of fire and wind with his circr cudgel movements, dispersing Tianhu¡¯s ck energy. Tianhu only needed a second to heal himself using his Stillvoid, but he was forced to disengage and reset as he couldn¡¯t maintain his weapons.

    Shitou¡¯s cudgel that was imbued with blue mes had the potential to kill on impact, and there was a specialist at creating opportunities for them. Liaoliao connected the roots of his lotus and used them to tie up Tianhu¡¯s feet. Freeing himself from the roots whilst defending against Shitou¡¯s barrage was a luxury that Tianhu couldn¡¯t afford.

    Tianhu roared as he gathered ck energy to the edges of his hands, consolidating them so that the energy couldn¡¯t be dispersed or absorbed. When he rammed his hands into Shitou¡¯s cudgel¡¯s tip, splintered stones and concrete went everywhere, but neither of them lost his bnce.

    Notwithstanding how busy he was, Tianhu could sense the presence of one of Six des¡¯ assassins whom he¡¯d sensed before ¨C Silver Crow! Silver Crow didn¡¯t remain hidden because he didn¡¯t see an opportunity, but the fact that he was lurking still acted as a threat Tianhu needed to be aware of at all times. After all, it only took one sh to end the fight.

    It finally clicked for Tianhu. Shitou and Silver Crow was a team that he fought once already when he first tried to kill Gongsun Chu in the bamboo forest. The difference was, swapping Gongsun Chu for Liaoliao increased the difficult drastically. Nevertheless, why did Gongsun Chu have Silver Crow on standby? It was as if he expected to be ambushed. Of course, there was no chance he foresaw the ambush, but he was ready to test Tianhu and chose to go ahead with the test when Tianhu unexpectedly showed up. After that scuffle, Tianhu was no longer a mysterious puzzle to Gongsun Chu. Gongsun Chu wasn¡¯t present because he had fulfilled his role inbating Tianhu. On top of this realisation, Tianhu also came to understand that the person who was meant to lead Silver Crow and Shitou was Liaoliao all along since Shitou was considerably harder to deal with this time.

    Shitou, Silver Crow and Gongsun Chu were all better at offence than defence, so their sole tactic under Gongsun Chu¡¯s leadership was to trade blow for blow. The other two couldn¡¯t assist in a battle between Divine Realm adepts. Since Liaoliao assumed a defence-only role, Shitou was able to go all out without reserve, maximising their teamwork. More importantly, Liaoliao still had the ability to give Tianhu a run for his money. Thus, Silver Crow became the vital ingredient to the mixture as he was the best candidate to jump in when an opportunity was presented. The strategy was truly Gongsun-Chu-esque.

    Tianhu never expected thebination to be thought out, and he certainly didn¡¯t think Liaoliao would be the catalyst to allow his Shitou to attack faster. On one hand, he had to use his ck energy to prevent the green lotus¡¯ illusion from forming and swallowing. On the other hand, he had to fight off the ming cudgel. Regardless of which task it was, they both required extreme control and finesse. Moreover, he had to do it all without opening himself up to Silver Crow. His foes couldn¡¯tprehend why little by little, the corners of Tianhu¡¯s lips curved upwards. To Tianhu, more pressure equalled more joy.

    It wasn¡¯t everyday that one had the opportunity to fight two Divine Realm adepts simultaneously while barely being able to wield his Enlightenment. While he was disappointed Liaoliao¡¯s fourth step wasn¡¯t intended to finish him, he was satisfied as the risk of death each time he collided with Shitou thrilled him. As the vision of his death gradually took form in his mind, he mumbled, ¡°Divine Realm? So what?¡±

    Despite Shitou erasing the ck energy in his hands, Tianhu continued, ¡°Two Divine Realm adepts? So what?¡±

    The green lotus¡¯s petals glowed brighter and erged.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in gods and demons. I don¡¯t pray at temples. I don¡¯t care for nature¡¯s opinion. I don¡¯t fear death.¡±

    Shitou and Liaoliao didn¡¯t like where it was going. It was pure intuition, not a special ability that Divine Realm granted.

    ¡°I¡¯ve taken down generals tucked behind an army of a thousand, taken a treasured spear thousands of miles away, forged a sword over ten years, trained for twenty years¡­ to be unstoppable.¡± Every time Tianhu¡¯s palms crashed into Shitou¡¯s cudgel, a trace of his ck energy was left behind, and they now suddenly formed a straight line. ¡°Who cares about Divine Realm? I crush Divine Realm!¡±

    In one thrust, the green lotus¡¯ form distorted, and Shitou flew off as ck snowkes fell.

    Utilising his essence alone to produce his spear that nearly blew the lotus and Shitou away whilst fighting them off was as close tomitting suicide as Tianhu could¡¯ve gotten. If he failed to kill them, then he was doomed, but nobody expected him to be such a risk taker or understand why he would take the risk.

    Before the ck spear pierced Shitou, Liaoliao saw thetter holding his head and wailing in his mind.

    Shitou hadn¡¯t forgot the misery of trying to save his mentor, only to implicate his mentor. Every time he swung his cudgel henceforth, it was painful for him, as well. Perhaps the real reason he couldn¡¯t wake up was the pain, not the seal cast on him.

    Shang Bieshi was more of a handful than Liaoliao expected him to be, but he gained a new pawn from the struggle. Ever since the war twenty years ago, Liaoliao continued to have Shitou train his body and skills in the illusion so that he¡¯d have a Divine Realm puppet at his beck and call. The moment he saw Tianhu pull out his big techniques, Liaoliao knew it was time for him to release the seal on Shitou so that thetter could employ his full potential, which would grant him twenty-four hours of normal functioning and maximum strength.

    ¡°Great Sage.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Shitou¡¯s cudgel suddenly vanished and then re-emerged against Tianhu¡¯s spear. The lotus¡¯ petals fell, and the two fighters reced them. One was crouched down, while the other doused in blue mes was in dominant form.

    ¡°You are Tianhu?¡± Shitou asked of his foe akin to a corpse on the ground. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to see my skill? Why aren¡¯t you getting up?¡±

    Shitou was still under Liaoliao¡¯s control to an extent and hadn¡¯t caught up on everything yet, but his instincts as a warrior prompted him to pose the questions.

    ¡°Kill him,¡±manded Liaoliao, taking a fifth step that regrew his lotus from Tianhu¡¯s body. Subsequently, he took a sixth step. ¡°It¡¯s time we go kill His Majesty.¡±

    ***

    Ming Feizhen exhaled heavily. ¡°You went through all that to wake him?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely.¡±

    Gongsun Chu¡¯s choice of words and tone made it clear that, though everything thus far was part of Liaoliao¡¯s ns, Gongsun Chu still had the ability to seize the upper hand. For one, Fiends¡¯ Genesis would be revived if Shitou didn¡¯t perish tonight.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to write your will?¡± questioned Gongsun Chu, cutting off Ming Feizhen¡¯s train of thought.

    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? They¡¯re still going, aren¡¯t they? I don¡¯t remember Confucianism¡¯s Great Sage Gongsun Chu being dishonourable.¡±

    Gongsun Chu shook his head.

    ¡°What makes you think so?¡±

    ¡°Tianhu is indeed a notch superior, and God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams is a supreme discipline in this era. Howbeit, he is pushing his envelope too far and depending on it far too much. Hisst attacked exceeded his life essence volume. Without even considering his strength, he most likely shaved off his lifespan, yet he was unable to defeat Shitou. What chance does he have of winning?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not dead yet. That¡¯s his strongest ace.¡±

    ¡°Toote. Besides you, I can also hear them.¡±

    Predicting the appearance of The Ultimate Three was possible. The military mobilisation and panic in the capital served the primary purpose of distracting the majority. Although Ye Yun was cognisant of the fact, he didn¡¯t think they¡¯d be willing to go as far as directly attacking the imperial city. Gongsun Chu and Liaoliao focused all their firepower in the imperial city. In the scenario that Tianhu did stop Liaoliao and Shitou, there was still Silver Crow and Gongsun Chu himself. By the same ord, even if the guards in the imperial city could stop Liaoliao, there was no guarantee they could stop Gongsun Chu¡¯s sneak attack, not to mention he might¡¯ve had a plethora of more tricks in his back. If Tianhu came over, then Ming Feizhen would be history.

    ¡°Damn, you really worked your brain to kill me.¡±

    ¡°This world needs to be restored to its rightful state,¡± emotionally dered Gongsun Chu. ¡°There¡¯s never been anything more important than that to me. You and Li Yong are insignificant pebbles. Write your will. Wait for Tianhu. You can die after Li Yong¡¯s head has been collected.¡±

    When Gongsun Chu stood up and turned his back, he heard, ¡°I¡¯m raising the stacks,¡± so he turned back around.

    ¡°I¡¯m still gambling. Sit back down.¡±

    It was the first time Gongsun Chu saw Ming Feizhen¡¯s equanimity and confidence that he shouldn¡¯t have had as the restrained prey.

    ¡°What capital do you have left to bet?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you that it still won¡¯t be easy to kill me in my current state? Even if you ignore my grandmaster¡¯s existence, you¡¯re not killing me any time soon.¡±

    Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t argue that, not when he knew about the catastrophic power dormant within Ming Feizhen. If they had to fight the creature, then the night¡¯s n would have to be scrapped. That was one reason, and maybe the principal reason, that Gongsun Chu hadn¡¯t killed Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°If you win, I¡¯llmit suicide after I write my will. I¡¯ll save you the trouble. I¡¯m betting Tianhu will win.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine.¡± Gongsun Chu picked up his sword, then turned his back again. ¡°I¡¯ll go fetch Tianhu¡¯s head myself right now. Then, I¡¯lle back to watch you take your own life.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 127

    The Winner Is?

    The clouds had shrouded the moon. The grey brick walls were the same grey brick walls that stood erect for every night as they had been for ages, but the absence of moonlight cast an eerie silence. The one who was entrusted with guarding the imperial city from the hostiles outside was lying still on the ground and had no audible breaths.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Kill him. Evil must be thoroughly eradicated.¡±

    All of a sudden, the idyllic monk had a sinister vibe, while the warrior who wielded jet-ck energy came off as the one you¡¯d call a hero in a pinch.

    Shitou, staring at the body on the ground, didn¡¯tprehend the order because ¡°killing¡± was a verb only applicable when the subject was alive. Killing a dead man wasn¡¯t amand he could carry out.

    Divine Realm adepts who were able to perform demanding skills whilst hanging on by a thread weren¡¯t invincible. In the event that they had ran out of gas, died or passed out, they were helpless. Considering how unimaginably difficult it was for a Divine Realm adept to be unconscious, that possibility was ignored. In order to cast Enlightenment at maximum power and Stillvoid to reduce damage in the blink of an eye, essence was necessary. Death was self-exnatory. Running out of essence and Tianhu¡¯s state didn¡¯t match up. Anyone who witnessed the battle that was still ongoing a moment ago would¡¯ve concluded that Tianhu couldn¡¯t get up again.

    Frankly, the potency of Tianhu¡¯s internal energy significantly exceeded Liaoliao¡¯s estimations because it exceeded the potency among Divine Realm adepts by an enormous margin. Without discussing Tianhu¡¯s reckless method of sting without reservation, Tianhu abandoned all considerations for uracy and technique, purely throwing weapon after weapon at his enemy without any consideration for internal energy expenditure. Nobody in their right mind would¡¯ve done that unless they had a death wish. Thus, the only exnation was that Tianhu had a huge reservoir.

    More than once, Liaoliao wondered if Tianhu cared more about killing himself than defeating his opponents, especially when Tianhu opted to destroy the illusion despite already breaking free of the lotus. Tianhu seemed persistent on winning through overwhelming internal energy, and even thoughtlessly utilising Battle of God¡¯s Nine Diagrams, when it was unlikely necessary.

    Battle of God¡¯s Nine Diagrams derived its techniques from nine insurmountable rules of nature on top of Ran Feikong¡¯s speary. While it required immense internal energy to execute each section, it didn¡¯t expend arge volume. To the contrary, as the discipline loaned natural energy rather than drawing it from the practitioner, the practitioner had the ability to constantly utilise the skills. That was how its practitioner could fight for days on end. Considering Ran Feikong went up against thousands of troops and over a dozen generals on his own, it made sense that he needed that sort of system. Though he was no longer alive, the enemies by the border still sung his praises.

    Compared to Tianhu¡¯s approach, Ran Feikong was calcted in his usage of God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams, which wasn¡¯t to say that it was a fundamental rule. That was why Liaoliao thought Tianhu didn¡¯t hold back in expending internal energy when thetter started using God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams, so the thought of abandoning the scrap did cross Liaoliao¡¯s mind early on. Sure, he had a backup n, but it was impossible to be too cautious against God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams. For that reason, he was quite vexed with himself when he realised his assessment of Tianhu was erroneous.

    Tianhu¡¯s version wasn¡¯t developed through the same internal discipline or the same mental cultivation Ran Feikong practiced. Tianhu either saw the original or left-behind version somewhere, analysed it and then came up with his own interpretation of it. Therefore, despite sharing the same spirit, the result was different, one such result being the cost of internal energy being more than twenty-times more. In addition, he was unable to sustain his loan of natural energy for more than a moment, which was usually long enough for him to overwhelm the majority of his opponents. Evidently, Tianhu was neither an inheritor of the blood lineage or a student of the legend. If anything, Tianhu humiliated the discipline and Ran n¡¯s name with his disy.

    Inparison, Liaoliao learnt the authentic version of ¡°Lotus Every Step¡± and had been practicing it from a young age. If they continued their one-on-one, it was only a matter of time before Liaoliao inexorably won unless Tianhu had another trick up his sleeve. God of Battle¡¯s Nine Diagrams had the potential to ovee Lotus Every Step; however, Tianhu used the discipline incorrectly, not to mention there was Shitou, as well.

    Notwithstanding knowing that Liaoliao was biding his time, Tianhu made no effort to change his strategy, insisting on using his Enlightenment that he could barely maintain to resist the fourth lotus whilst fighting Shitou. The second spear attack was borderline insane, utilising his own energy to pull it off. Liaoliao absorbed the majority of the energy Tianhu released, while Shitou forced Tianhu to utilise high amounts of energy through his explosive and fast-paced style.

    Because of how insane Tianhu¡¯s strategy was, Liaoliao becamecent for a while. Tianhu would¡¯ve been a much morepetitive opponent if he just switched to another discipline earlier. Bound to thews of physics, the collision of Tianhu and Shitou¡¯sst attacks sent the reciprocal forces back to them. Shitou still had energy to dissipate the force, but Tianhu was too spent to manifest qi armour solid enough to withstand the force. The force they generated was enough to shatter organs and bones in an elite fighter, let alone an exhausted mad man.

    ¡°Kill him.¡± There was urgency in Liaoliao¡¯s tone.

    As Shitou had only just woken from the illusion he¡¯d spent two decades in, his brain functioning was stillpromised. He only remembered that the dead person on the ground was an opponent worthy of respect. Although he was now a grown man, he was put under an illusion when he was still a naughty brat.

    Shitou¡¯s talent and keen senses were still intact, and his trapped mind got a breath of fresh life. He was starting to build up his cognitive capacity at a gradually increasing rate, but therge volume of information influx inevitably slowed down his ability to receive the input, integrate it and make a decision. His limbs just wanted to move on their own as soon as he heard Liaoliao¡¯s order; it was a feeling of despise from deep within that kept him from executing the order.

    ¡°Shitou, kill him.¡±

    Shitou remembered the new voice. It belonged to the man he respected the most and the father figure of his teacher. Gongsun Chu was someone who could spur Shitou into action.

    Gongsun Chu was privy to the fact that Liaoliao wasted no time for he wanted to promptly put Shitou back under his control. Liaoliao was one to minimise risks. Were Shitou to resist, Liaoliao wouldn¡¯t hesitate to bind him inside a lotus again.

    Shitou raised Sacrificial Sage.

 Book 14: Chapter 128

    Word of the World

    Tianhu heard being called, ¡°Hideous¡­ How hideous¡­¡± as he did in the distant past. It had been a long time since he had been at the scene of the inferno that nobody, including himself, could extinguish. It was an enormous fire, yet it was tiny, so tiny that it couldn¡¯t harm him whatsoever, yet it took from him something important that he could never get back. Seeing it once was more than enough for him to be fed up with it, yet some numbskulls had forced him into watching it again. Perhaps it was something he said mindlessly to test the waters.

    It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen these light golden mes.

    Tianhu didn¡¯t debate his defeat. He was entertained. Shitou¡¯s participation was a surprise, and Silver Crow¡¯s setup was smarter than he gave it credit for. Most importantly, Liaoliao was strong. A loss was a loss. He had no ns of contesting the details; the only thing that¡¯d prove was where his limits lied. There was nothing toin about. He was satisfied, and he was happy to abide by the unwritten rules and let them go, but he was presented with the scene of a fire disaster.

    The fire was burning right before his eyes, but he didn¡¯t know what to do. The child at the scene of the disaster that fateful day froze the same way.

    Monk, you shouldn¡¯t have said that. You shouldn¡¯t have tried to be smart. If you want to kill His Majesty after clearing the Tianhu gate, so be it. Whatever you wanted to do, you should¡¯ve just gone and done it. Why did you have to say that? I was going to let you off the hook.

    The dormant ck energy rose intensely as if it was breaking out of its seal. Tianhu cracked a derisive smile since his prey would¡¯ve have seen it anyway.

    Lotus Every Step, being a discipline that focused on illusionary attacks, kept the battle hidden from the inner sanctum of the imperial pce. Failing to discern the illusionary world from reality would result in the viewer getting stuck in the illusion. From the exterior of the illusion boundary, nobody could see anything outside of the norm within the boundaries. If something did happen, an asional mishap was within the eptable boundaries.

    ***

    Instead of bringing down Sacrificial Sage after lifting it up, Shitou, in a distrustful tone, asked, ¡°Who¡­ are you people?¡±

    Anyone ced under the illusion seal should¡¯ve remained under control for twenty-four subsequent hours of their release ¨C no exceptions. It was the first time a Divine Realm warrior had done the unexpected.

    ¡°Shitou, finish him,¡± ordered Liaoliao.

    Gongsun Chu should¡¯ve been d Shitou was free of Liaoliao¡¯s shackles; however, breaking the alliance with Liaoliao now would¡¯ve been a terrible idea for them.

    ¡°Brother Liaoliao, it¡¯s pointless to force him in his current state,¡± expressed Gongsun Chu.

    ¡°This one is not forcing him,¡± replied Liaoliao.

    Gongsun Chu had never seen Liaoliao hesitant to speak. He looked around and confirmed there was something odd about the surroundings, but it was Liaoliao¡¯s credit. It hadn¡¯t urred to him until then that Liaoliao had already taken his sixth step, yet the lotus remained in its seed form; however, it looked ready to overwhelm the moment it sprouted. That indicated Liaoliao had had a vision of imminent danger and thus prepared the lotus for when the time came.

    Knowledge Path ¨C or better known as Karma Path ¨C didn¡¯t grant a irvoyance superpower. If it did, Daxia¡¯s fall would¡¯ve been foreseen and could¡¯ve been prevented. Buddhism¡¯s elites who unlocked Karma Path didn¡¯t actually see into the future; they simply increased the uracy of their predictions through increasing their intellect drastically.

    To speak precisely, Karma Path boosted memory, thinking capacity and observational abilities. Though there could be an enormous discrepancy between physical capacity and mental capacity as a result of the boost, some people could clearly see the trajectory of their life; they¡¯d be able to awaken forgotten events or things they only ever caught a glimpse of and never thought much of. Some people were able tobine personal experience and information from the external world to deduce reasonable developments of events ¨C also known as the future. The more knowledge and data one had, the more urate their prediction of the future was bound to be. Buddhism and Daoism practitioners also practiced divination which, whenbined with Karma Path, empowered them to get small peeks into the future.

    While Gongsun Chu, who didn¡¯t heed unsubstantiated predictions, didn¡¯t have faith in Liaoliao¡¯s predictions, as long as there was a prediction, there was a chance of failure. Having said that, it was because Liaoliao could see information on himself, was extremely sensitive to threats directed at himself, and the hostility on his face, that rmed Gongsun Chu. As soon as Ming Feizhen¡¯s face came to Gongsun Chu¡¯s mind, he firmlymanded, ¡°Shitou, kill him!¡±

    ¡°We have more attendees now, I see,¡± Tianhu was heardmenting after Sacrificial Sage smashed loudly into the ground.

    While Shitou stared nkly at his cudgel that missed its target, Liaoliao shut his eyes to track down Tianhu, but it was Gongsun Chu, who had spent the longest time amongst them training his observation skills, who found Tianhu first. Unfortunately, he was unable to determine how Tianhu reached his location, when or how.

    ¡°Divine Realm consists of Five Apotheosis. In the linguistics of Buddhism, that¡¯d be Skyeye Path, Foot Path, Interlinked Minds, Karma Path, Godrealm Path¡­¡±

    Although they were slower, Liaoliao and Shitou finally saw the man who started talking as if he was in a chat with friends.

    ¡°Skyeye path.¡±

    Tianhu managed to grab the assassin who even Liaoliao could barely sense and then hoisted him into the air. Not only did Silver Crow get caught without having time to react, but he couldn¡¯t even work out how he was spotted. Silver Crow blended into the environment, effectively bing the equivalent of a nt, as he had spent ages practicing to perfection, not to mention he was hiding within Liaoliao¡¯s illusion, as well. He didn¡¯t expose himself when Tianhu went down since he had served his purpose, yet Tianhu¡­

    Silver Crow: Was it¡­ Skyeye Path?

    Finding Silver Crow wasn¡¯t enough to win, though. After all, none of Six des¡¯ members were pushovers. He drew his de at his sash to start casting Enlightenment.

    ¡°Foot Path.¡± Tianhu squeezed his mps around Silver Crow¡¯s neck, bursting thetter¡¯s neck and ending it all without receiving any resistance or hearing any audible groan.

    Silver Crow¡¯s head and body dropped to the ground one after the other. Meanwhile, Tianhu remained standing in the same posture.

    ¡°Interlinked Minds.¡±

    Tianhu stepped on Shitou¡¯s right foot before thetter could jump up. Neither Gongsun Chu nor Liaoliao were aware that Shitou nned to stealthily leave the ground, yet Tianhu picked up on it. Once Tianhu had his foot on top, Shitou couldn¡¯t budge his foot an inch. Nevertheless, Shitou wasn¡¯t Silver Crow.

    Shitou swung his cudgel at Tianhu¡¯s skull. At the same time, Gongsun Chu thrusted his purple-glowing sword at Tianhu, cutting off Tianhu¡¯s retreat route.

    ¡°Godrealm Path.¡±

    Gongsun Chu and Shitou suddenly lost track of Tianhu.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°And Karma Path.¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s expression suggested he was thinking, ¡°Bloody Karma Path.¡± He shimmied the blood and flesh off his hands with a straight face.

 Book 14: Chapter 129

    I Am God

    Gongsun Chu, Shitou and Liaoliao all felt they were in danger the moment they met eyes with Tianhu. Tianhu looked the exact same as before he was floored and still doused himself in ck energy, but who wouldn¡¯t fear someone who had unlocked all five abilities of Five Apotheosis?

    Nobody felt the change in Tianhu¡¯s vibe more prominently than Liaoliao. His Karma Path¡¯s warnings motivated him to brainstorm alternative strategies one after another because none of them led to a desirable oue. As Tianhu pointed out, there wasn¡¯t just one Karma Path. Whatever he could see, his opponent could see, as well.

    ¡°Do you care more about the past or future?¡±

    As soon as Tianhu raised his head, Liaoliao¡¯s illusion crumbled apart, revealing a bald head of squiggly, bulging green veins and eyes that should¡¯ve been attached to a menacing fiend. Despite the difference in demeanour, his features were identical to the monk nearby. As expected, the appearance of the barbaric-looking monk erased the idyllic monk, showing that the idyllic monk was but an illusion. His ¡°Lotus Every Step¡± discipline was one that operated on the principle of falsehoods and truths coexisting; the moment one saw the lotus, they were already in the illusion.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°No wonder you covet Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Shang Bieshi caught you good, didn¡¯t he?¡± sarcastically questioned Tianhu.

    There was no hiding the rage buried inside Liaoliao. Besides being seen through, the other source of his anger was the fact that he couldn¡¯t work out how Tianhu found out about hispromised state.

    The day Liaoliao chose to ambush Shang Bieshi after thetter¡¯s duel against Wordless Sword Deity was an unforgettable day. Posing as Brilliant Broadsworder, he thought he¡¯d be able to fool Shang Bieshi, but Shang Bieshi called him out as soon as they came to face to face and then tried to lecture him. Though Liaoliao managed to bind Shang Bieshi into his illusion, thetter still managed to do a number on him.

    ¡°You are still trapped,¡± Shang Bieshi¡¯sst words, were akin to a curse that Liaoliao couldn¡¯t stop repeating to himself. The fact that Shang Bieshi said them with a cudgel in hand made it seem as if he was a teacher trying to enlighten his student yfully. Ever since hearing those words, Liaoliao discovered he was missing a portion of Lotus Every Step¡¯s mental cultivation whenever he cast it. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to perform Lotus Every Step¡¯splete version without Tu Yunting and Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s Unfettered Mental Cultivation, but Shang Bieshi¡¯sst word virtually opened a whole in his perfect chamber, making it impossible for to ever perform theplete version since. As a result of using his own advanced training to forcibly execute the seven steps, he¡¯d push himself to the point where all his veins came to the surface. Over time, the veins ended up bing highly visible.

    Due to the contrast between Unfettered Mental Cultivation and Lotus Every Step, the students Liaoliao taught the discipline to unanimously ended up emitting a nefarious aura whenever they utilised it. He, while looking stern and benevolent, reproached his disciples for being impure when he saw the fact, never realising how ominous it manifested when he himself performed it.

    Despite his scowl, Liaoliao failed to intimidate. If anything, his wriggly veins might¡¯ve disgusted his foe. ¡°This old one shall exterminate you now!¡±

    Liaoliao regrew his lotus underfoot, only this time, it was bigger than ever before. Though Tianhu had seen through his illusion, the fact that Lotus Every Step was a formidable skill remained ever the same. He had never had to take two consecutive steps until now, but that also meant that its power was multiple folds stronger than theirst round.

    ¡°Why isn¡¯t it a golden lotus?¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s question that came out of left field mentally rocked Liaoliao enough for the lotus he spawned to fade away. All three of them saw Tianhu move his hands, but none of them could tell exactly what he did to make the lotus wither.

    Liaoliao mped his teeth together. ording to the inscription, Tu Yunting manifested golden a golden lotus each step, yet Liaoliao he was unable to. He initially attributed it to everyone¡¯s Enlightenment being different until he still couldn¡¯t spawn a single golden lotus no matter how much effort and time he invested. In other words, he went wrong from the beginning.

    Tu Yunting truly embodied the upstanding honour of Buddhism and had no desire to shed blood orpete for glory. Lotus Each Step was designed to win without having to fight ¨C an expression of benevolence. Liaoliao, in contrast, trained it with the intention of submitting all opposition. Had it not been for Unfettered Mental Cultivation supporting him, he never would¡¯ve even spawned half of a lotus. Never in his wildest imaginations did he think Shang Bieshi would be able to figure out Unfettered Mental Cultivation. The iplete skills, the countered mental cultivation and his wicked appearance were all pain points that Liaoliao never wanted to think about.

    Liaoliao took the fifth and sixth steps to clear the obstacle before him, saving the seventh step for assassinating Emperor Yuansheng, which put him in a dilemma. He had already given himself away. If the n failed, and Tianhu was still around, Cold Mountain Temple would inevitably be exterminated, which was an even worst fate. Thus, he manifested another lotus.

    Lotuses were the purest and most sacred object in the three realms. It was a flower, a vegetable and seed all in one entity. It would wither and then rise again forever as though it ascended from the cycle of life and death. It could die in a breath and rise in the next breath.

    ¡°Boring,¡± droned Tianhu.

    Liaoliao couldn¡¯t even remember when was thest time he got hurt. It had been ages since there was someone with eyes and a body fast enough to stop him. He saw Tianhu wave his arm in front of him at close range, but he already found himself on the ground before he could tell what Tianhu specifically did. Liaoliao tried to bounce back up to his feet instantly, and he would¡¯ve been able to had it not been for the blood that suddenly burst from his mouth. By the time he processed the thought of stopping the gasping, his hands had already covered his face, informing him they were covered in blood and that his blood already stained the ground. At the same time, Tianhu was already a good 30 metres away. His attempt at healing through Stillvoid failed, too.

    Liaoliao: I knew it. He¡¯s grasped the principles.

    Panting, Liaoliao struggled to his feet. He felt he finally caught a glimpse of the truth Tianhu tried to hide. He was now sure that Tianhu not onlyprehended the principles, but he was also able to coexist with them. He saw Tianhu as something other than a human being. After all, there was a red tinge that resembled blood.

    ¡°We need to fight him together, or we¡¯ll all perish here!¡± There was no need for Liaoliao to yell, but it was instinctive, an instinctive reaction to calm his frayed nerves.

    Liaoliao didn¡¯t intend to count on Gongsun Chu, but there was hope since Shitou had his limiter unlocked, and he himself together with Shitou were a menace.

    Liaoliao summoned back two lotuses to absorb the energy they absorbed from Shitou. Shitou unleashed over a dozen attacks on Tianhu within seconds, making sure to cover himself at the same time he attacked, thereby forcing Tianhu to dismantle each attack. Gongsun Chu joined Shitou, letting his sword go without reserve. Liaoliao recited his scripture to mobilise his green lotus at high speed, but the lotus was unable to contribute meaningfully.

    I¡¯ve already absorbed his internal energy into the lotus, so why¡­?

    There were no distinct movements between Shitou and Tianhu. Periodically, Tianhu would smack Gongsun Chu metres away whilst keeping his duel against Shitou going effortlessly. It took a while for them to realise Tianhu was only using one arm.

    ¡°Countries. People. Ambitions¡­ Subduing demons. Protecting justice,¡± mumbled Tianhu, manifesting a spear. ¡°Which one of you honestly believes he has what it takes to stop true evil when it descends?¡±

    There was no energy collision. The ck energy shrouded the blue mes, green lotus and crimson sword qi the instant they showed themselves.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try.¡± Tianhu disengaged via his ck energy, then swept his gaze over the three spewing blood and breathingboriously. ¡°Give me your lives.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t their fast time seeing a ck energy spear, but there was a golden glow coiling around it that never existed in previous iterations. The ck energy was Enlightenment, and the golden energy was Enlightenment, too. They had every reason to feel apprehensive about the strongest energy of justice and the most dreadful energy of evil. There were no questions left regarding why they couldn¡¯t win.

    While the trio was contemting, Tianhu transformed the spear into a mist of ck energy, dispersed it and then converted it into a field of sorts. The golden energy followed suite, enveloping the ck energy within,pressed it and refined it. The ck energy would expand and then getpressed. It was as if the golden energy was the cksmith and the ck energy the metal. When the end product was released, the trio continued to fight, but it was solely because they had no means of escaping. The size of the ckness was something that not even Liaoliao was sure he could house inside his lotuses.

    The spear tip pierced the trio simultaneously. Their fates were all but sealed from the moment Tianhu returned to the realm of man.

    Tianhu erased his spear and watched the illusion¡¯syers fall apart. He was devoid of any joy for there was no joy to be harvested from carrying out what was inevitable. Like the moon, he was in a vast world but without anyone who could quell his loneliness.

    ¡°Who exactly are you?!¡± roared the floored monk. He wouldn¡¯t be able to rest in peace if he didn¡¯t know the answer by the time he died. More specifically, he wanted to know why someone so powerful would serve the imperial court.

    Keeping his gaze on the horizon, Tianhu turned his head towards Liaoliao. ¡°I judge all living beings. I stand above all living beings.¡±

    Tianhu pointed to the ether. As if answering a call, the moon shone a single ray onto him.

    ¡°God.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 130

    Lord

    The legend that would go on to live for ages started from something minor, yet something that had to be mentioned.

    ¡°In return for stopping him, this one shall forever pray for your blessings and erect your tablets.¡± After he said that, Liaoliao palmed Shitou and Gongsun Chu on the shoulders. The monk with a big hole in his shoulder and blood smeared around his mouth then sped off.

    Liaoliao knew as well as anyone that he had zero hopes of escaping without Shitou and Gongsun Chu holding off Tianhu. As the one with the lightest injuries and being the most advanced martial artist among the three of them, he had the best chance of escaping. While he couldn¡¯t use his seventh step to assassinate Emperor Yuansheng or kill Tianhu, it was good enough for him to make a clean escape. In the blink of an eye, he had entered the secret passage and vanished without a trace in the next blink.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Tianhu to chase down Liaoliao; however, he saw no need to hunt down Liaoliao once thetter had escaped into the secret passage leading out of the city. If Tianhu were to just ignore the Fiends¡¯ Genesis duo and closed the gap Liaoliao created, then it¡¯d have taken him no time at all to remove Liaoliao¡¯s head from his shoulders. Perhaps Tianhu chose not to give chase as it¡¯d take long enough for the Fiends¡¯ Genesis duo to escape.

    Liaoliao had developed his strength to an incredible level, but his fighting techniques weren¡¯t spectacr, which was the reason he didn¡¯t fight Tianhu in close quarters. As Shitou blocked the majority of Tianhu¡¯s attacks in Liaoliao¡¯s ce, he was hurt the worst. Though Shitou¡¯s blue mes intensified and he gained momentum with the passage of time, thebination wasn¡¯t enough to get over the wall that was the gap inbat prowess. It would¡¯ve been a painfully tall order for Shitou to reach Tianhu¡¯s level in his lifetime; he would¡¯ve perished if Tianhu hit him with the intent to kill.

    ¡°Mr. Jiang Chen.¡± Knowing what the oue of fighting Tianhu alone was, Shitou turned to Gongsun Chu and gave a bitter smile. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Twenty years ago, Shitou was a decisive and determined man. Twenty yearster, he was still a decisive and determined man. He unwittingly sabotaged his teacher twenty years ago, but he still made up his mind to risk his life for the man he respected most despite having juste to his senses for the first time in twenty years. Gongsun Chu could hear and see, ¡°I will never forget what you have done for me in thest twenty years,¡± from Shitou¡¯s smile.

    As Shitou headed into the scariest battle of his life, Gongsun Chu walked the other way for he couldn¡¯t waste the precious time Shitou sacrificed his life in exchange for. There was no one around who could¡¯ve beaten Tianhu. Shitou would¡¯ve only been able to buy a small amount of time once Tianhu was ready to kill.

    Even if they went back a hundred years ago, besides Li Wuming, Ming Shiyue and Gongsun Chu himself from back then, there was unlikely more than a handful of people throughout history who could¡¯ve defeated Tianhu. Gongsun Chu himself couldn¡¯t believe the imperial court would employ such a monster.

    Ming Feizhen knows Tianhu¡¯s true identity. No, perhaps even he doesn¡¯t know. God? There¡¯s only one person arrogant enough to call himself god. Perhaps ¡°him¡± isn¡¯t the right definition. Is the imperial court out of their mind? Is Ye Yun¡­ crazy?

    Gongsun Chu pieced it all together only a short while into his analysis and worked out why Ming Feizhen was unshakably confident. Even if Shitou and his deaths were inevitable, he wasn¡¯t going to let their deaths be in vain. He had goals he had yet to aplish.

    Upon dragging his bloodied and battered body back to Taishu Hall, nothing had changed, except the twenty-four guards were bbergasted at Gongsun Chu¡¯s state.

    ¡°You¡¯re leading him here?! How sort of scoundrel are you?!¡± eximed Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Hmph, you two know each other, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s time for you two to have a catch up.¡±

    He¡¯s here!

    Shitou¡¯s best efforts barely bought any time. There was no way to outrun Tianhu. That being said, what reason was there to run anymore?

    Tianhu gave Gongsun Chu no attention. His gaze was fixed on the man locked in the chair. Although it required some extra help, Gongsun Chu was d to see his n had borne fruit. In saying that, he never expected Tianhu and Ming Feizhen to have such deep enmity between them.

    Following a long staring contest, Tianhu whipped his hand, freeing Ming Feizhen of his restraints. Ming Feizhen let out a long sigh. What happened next remained iprehensible to Gongsun Chu for the rest of his life.

    The monster who crushed two Divine Realm adepts simultaneously dropped to his knees before the man resting his chin on his freed hand. ¡°Your subject, Zero, pays his respect, My Lord.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 131

    Interlude 5

    The moon was virtually tucked away behind the dark blobs, so the fire streaking through the sky should¡¯ve been a relieving sight, yet it had the opposite effect. It was a human being ¨C or rather, once was a human being. From his appearance, mannerisms to emotions, there was nothing about him that was human. Had it not been for him roaring under his breath, ¡°¡­ Die¡­¡± there¡¯d have been no telling he was a living organism.

    Every inch he reduced between him and his final destination, a sense of release washed over him. Besides the times he was devouring flesh, seldom did he feel a sense of fulfilment. Hatred, blood, flesh, flesh on flesh mashing together, anger and the sensation of burning weren¡¯t worthy of his time; not even the time he spent imprisoned was deemed worthy. The only things that could make him budge were things rted to ¡°God¡±.

    Not long after he was born in an impoverished vige by the border that virtually had no travelling merchantsing through, the individual who was held in the highest regard in the Western Regions visited the sandy vige. Someone who had ascended the ranks of mankind couldn¡¯t have human family and friends. Thus, no residents of the vige lived to see another day after the day the prodigy was taken.

    He possessed a rare fire attribute. Viges with nothing more than dirt and stones were the most likely ces to give birth to such children, but this particr boy stood out even among prodigies; he had the capacity to learn Lawless Twelve Stances and the potential to reach the apex.

    The pure-minded boy learnt of the massacre at a tender age, but he didn¡¯t see an issue with it since he had done the same thing prior. To him, severing ties with the world of mankind was the duty of one apotheosising. Or rather, it was an act of severing himself from pollution and idiocy.

    He was the representative of the god of punishment. Everyone was meant to bow to him, yet there was one person who had the audacity to walk up to his face. When they first met, the infant was still a clingy baby who couldn¡¯t speak. However, he was ecstatic to see the child for the child¡¯s existence proved the legend was true and that the prodigy truly existed. Who could leave God be when God had finally arrived?

    The other states were against him taking the infant away by force. Hence, he and the other elders nned out a kidnapping, not that it was any more convoluted than how he was taken away at a young age ¨C severing connections.

    The elders were the only people he could count on, so it wasn¡¯t up to him to disobey their will, except he was oblivious to the fact that he was a puppet on their strings. That being said, none of the elders had their guard up against him since he had long be one of them. The fact of the matter was that God was God; God was different to mankind. Nobody could¡¯ve taken him away against his will even if he was only a three-year-old kid. Nobody.

    He watched the child emerge from the inferno with so much joy that he shed tears. He believed that he created God. One time, they lost track of ¡°God¡±, and he had be a demon feared across all seven states by the time they found him. The elders allowed ¡°God¡± to rob the seven states as they believed he¡¯d return to his rightful ce at the end of the day. When Ximen Chuideng weed God into their ranks, he nearly killed himself because God said to him, ¡°I remember you. You were the first one to set fire,¡± in an innocent tone.

    He didn¡¯t understand what was implied in thement, but he recalled the scene of him using his fire ability to set alight the child¡¯s small home in front of his zealots. He remembered the scene of people futilely trying to extinguish the fire and the child¡¯s eyes interrogating the world. As a smile came to his lips, he stopped himself, reminding himself that it was necessary for God to be born, not something he wanted to do for his selfish ends. To his surprise, God pardoned him with a smile because God understood it was all for the sake of the cult.

    In the following years, life was miserable as God turned his understanding of religion on its head. God exterminated the elders, orphans and even servants who sacrificed themselves, but God spared him. If punishment was the intent behind sparing him, then the punishment was resoundingly sessful. He gradually didn¡¯t know what to believe. He blindly followed all of God¡¯s orders until God gave him a human arm and told him to eat it.

    He never understood why God made life hard for him. He blindly believed there was a purpose to every action, except he was unable toprehend them. Hence, he did as he was told again. After the first bite, terror flourished in his mind. The taste and texture were certainly a part of the reason, but the vition of the cult¡¯s rules and the vition of the elders¡¯ stiptions created a sense of thrill he had forgotten for a long time. From then on, eating raw human flesh became one of his hobbies.

    Over time, he became weirder and weirder. Not only did people distance themselves from him, but they even began to ignore him, except he was oblivious to the fact. To the contrary, he felt he was getting better and better, believing what he worshipped was being restructured. Though it was twisted and ugly, it was his. He was ecstatic to see the distorted growth. It was all God¡¯s gift. His faith in God knew no bounds. Eventually, he came to understand why he was chosen as a substitute.

    When he went through his breakthrough, he saw the God-like golden glow. As God¡¯s recement, he swore to serve God until the end of his life, which was why he despised the human who defeated God. The only exnation he had for why God would serve a human being was that he had been fooled and was too kind. Why was God not Lord San Shen?!

    Lord San Shen zealots were blinded by power and madness, perpetually umting essence and sin to create the demon.

    When he sensed ¡°that¡±, his spirits ascended past the clouds. ¡°That¡± was God. God had finally woken up, pped his fiery wings and brought the Western Region¡¯s golden wind to the Central in.

    Unless essence was constantly fed, the me wings didn¡¯t hold up long. Afternding in a quiet spot, the best course of action was to recuperate, but he wasn¡¯t willing to wait. Besides, there was no reason to be guilty about stealing blood and absorbing essence for a demon. He had been recovering, raising his level, reaching newfound heights and transforming his appearance into a more savage along the journey east.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The demon loved the taste of flesh, so he never thought it necessary to clean up himself. It didn¡¯t matter what shape the flesh was presented to him. Due to his activities of mayhem on the journey, he was covered in a thickyer of ck, putrid stuff. It was hard to tell what his bizarre ¡°armour¡± was made from, but it¡¯d grow thicker after each new location he visited. To be fair, he didn¡¯t look freaky; he only started looking freakier and freakier as he engaged in more and more violent activities on the way over. Having flesh and blood smeared all over his body as he feasted on raw flesh was a paradise joyful enough to ease the aggression in his eyes ¨C a fact that even he was unaware of.

    When hended in the realm of man, there were more buildings around than any city he¡¯d been to in the Central in or Western Regions. The troops who chased after him were also incredibly swift. Nheless, he didn¡¯t budge.

    The demon sprouted me wings from his back again, pping them at a higher frequency than birds by far, thereby blowing over boulders and taking the troops¡¯ bnce from them. The mes made it clear what the stench on him the entire time was ¨C human flesh remains. As for what the ck stuff spread all over him was, that was self-exnatorily disgusting.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine his excitement level considering he was only a few kilometres from ¡°God¡±. He didn¡¯t care about the humans who just approached him. s, his wings wouldn¡¯t take form no matter how he tried. Somebody was using their power to impede him. Enraged, he dispersed a st of mes, only to hear a voice in the night that was even freakier than a demon¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Your¡­ ugly wings look familiar.¡±

    A gentleman who couldn¡¯t use his legs showed up.

 Book 14: Chapter 132

    Iing

    Thebination of pressure and disorder urring simultaneously made it impossible to determine the catalyst. The sense of danger evoked a subconscious assumption that something worse was imminent, especially since nobody was sure state the imperial city was in. The nine gates¡¯ forces were stationed exterior to the city walls in case a military force that never would¡¯vee came. While they had heard some news of events within the walls, they didn¡¯t dare to oppose orders.

    Long Zaitian¡¯s attempts to thwart arsons in the residential area were fairly sessful until a fire snake crashed down and caused innumerable casualties. The fire that spread as a result took even more lives. Nine Gates Infantry Commander Long angrily ordered his troops to fire arrows at the fire snake whilst instructing others tobat the ravenous fire. Luckily, there were a lot of them, and they were prepared for the fire attacks, so they managed to contain the spread without too many casualties.

    In contrast, Song Ou had an easy time. Ye Yun eliminated the enemies and spies before Song Ou¡¯s arrival, so even those who had yet to be detected wouldn¡¯t show risk showing themselves. Song Ou was constantly afraid someone would shoot him down from some corner, so his men were deployed as bodyguards rather than as a search and destroy team.

    Head Constable Zha, who was tasked with leading the protection squad, took out his anger on the corrupt merchants and officials without any sense of shame. While he failed to catch more than two criminals, he did make several trips of carrying chests of money back to Liu Shan Men.

    Xun Feng held onto the Ice Jade box as if his life depended on it. All the work up until this point would¡¯ve been pointless if he lost it, after all.

    The deal was that Gongsun Chu would design the n, take Shitou into battle and bear all the consequences of assassinating Emperor Yuansheng. In exchange, Liaoliao had to provide him with Nine Dragons Fire Jade. They both saw it as a fair exchange, so they allied. For that reason, Gongsun Chu detailed all of Confucianism¡¯s members¡¯ weaknesses and taught them how to exploit weaknesses.

    Xun Feng was guaranteed to improve significantly and have counters if he had a few years to study the knowledge and surpass all of his fellow disciples. Perhaps Gongsun Chu believed it was an appealing trade. Xun Feng couldn¡¯t make any changes to the n, but he was fine with it because he didn¡¯t want any mishaps to happen once he obtained the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. However, that was a cause of misery as he saw a different approach and didn¡¯t have any wish fulfilled at the end of it all.

    Liaoliao¡¯s order for Xun Feng was to immediately escape the capital once he obtained the Nine Dragons Fire Jade and to not trust anybody with it ¨C particrly anyone associated with Fiends¡¯ Genesis, but he never mentioned Gongsun Chu. Although Gongsun Chu was meant to bear the brunt of the consequences, Liaoliao never had any intention of allowing Gongsun Chu to leave the capital alive. Gongsun Chu was meant to perish beside Emperor Yuansheng and exined as Gongsun Chu being rash. There was no doubting Gongsun Chu¡¯s skill, but it wasn¡¯t strange for him to die due to fatigue after assassinating Emperor Yuansheng even though it might¡¯ve been unexpected.

    Though Xun Feng did perceive the strategy to be ruthless, he justified it as eptable since the victim was Gongsun Chu. If Gongsun Chu managed to get his hands on the Nine Dragons Fire Jade ¨C and even wake Shang Bieshi ¨C then Cold Mountain Temple was at risk. That was a potentially venomous seed Liaoliao created for them when he attacked Fiends¡¯ Genesis twenty years ago.

    Liaoliao didn¡¯t tell Xun Feng all of the truth. Therefore, Xun Feng didn¡¯t know that Liaoliao struggled to utilise Unfettered Mental Cultivation again ever since he fought Shang Bieshi. Liaoliao had improved since then; however, his improvements were tiny. Every time he forcibly performed Lotus Every Step, he drastically reduced the time limit and effect each sessive time he performed it. Of course, there was also the fact that his appearance became increasingly hideous and had no cure for it. The collection of problems was the reason Liaoliao rarely personally engaged inbat since; even during the battle at Lawless Cliff, he was nothing more than a bystander.

    The only tool Liaoliao knew of that could fix his problem and prevent Shang Bieshi from escaping his illusion was Nine Dragons Fire Jade. As such, he was forced to assassinate Yu Sihe back then. s, Yu Sihe didn¡¯t have Nine Dragons Fire Jade on him as he was told to. Consequently, Liaoliao nted a death g for Cold Mountain Temple without anything to show for it.

    Despite hiding several times and nning toy low until there was an opportunity to slip out, Song Chi was able to find Xun Feng every time. Fed up, he uncorked a palm strike back this time instead of hiding again. Unfortunately, Song Chi¡¯s swing came too fast, forcing Xun Feng to abandon his counter and twist his body away. Turning away meant exposing his back, and Song Chi wasn¡¯t a fool to give up the opportunity. ordingly, Xun Feng had to roll in a circle to avoid the next three swings. Xun Feng leveraged the rotational momentum to spin back and uncork three variety of kicks, buying himself enough time and distance to return to his feet.

    ¡°Song Chi, are you seriously not going to give up until one of us is dead?¡± The question was just an act to lower Song Chi¡¯s guard so that Xun Feng could hit him with a charged-up palm attack.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Chi started swinging again twelve times, forcing Xun Feng to prematurely use up his attack and back up against a wall.

    Song Chi calmly responded, ¡°You give me no choice. You can save yourself the trouble of trying anything funny. You¡¯re not my match. Surrender now.¡±

    Xun Feng was livid about Song Chi chasing him, but he was also angry Song Chi was a dog wagging his tail for his future master without even being asked to. ¡°I¡¯m not your match? You sure?!¡±

    Xun Feng, an expert in hand-to-handbat, wasn¡¯t necessarily equipped to beat Song n¡¯s Severing the Nine Heaven¡¯s palm discipline, and the difference was even more pronounced since Song Chi applied it to his broadswordy. As soon as Song Chi started performing Misty Dreams Swamp, Xun Feng lost a significant range of movement because dodging a discipline that could be fluid and hard at will was the toughest task for him. In no time at all, Song Chi had blood and flesh on his de. In less than nine attacks, he had dropped Xun Feng and ced his de beside Xun Feng¡¯s neck.

    Had Xun Feng not fought Confucianism¡¯s disciples beforehand and been handicapped one hand from having to hold the box, he wouldn¡¯t have gone down so fast.

    ¡°Song Chi, don¡¯t you feel ashamed at all killing me?¡±

    ¡°We have our stances. What¡¯s there to feel ashamed about? I tried to convince you to change your mind, but you refused to heed my advice. Why should I feel ashamed?¡±

    ¡°Not now of course. You¡¯re trying to better Song n; I¡¯m trying to better Cold Mountain Temple. We are both from the White Prince line. I am risking my head to protect the White Princes. As if being a bystander wasn¡¯t bad enough, you¡¯re assisting the imperial court in dismantling us; you¡¯re their assassin. I¡¯d like to hear you say the same thing when the imperial court goes after your n. When Song n is relegated to the status ofmoners, when your n is split, when nobody remembers Song n in thirty years¡¯ time, when you see your hands stained with blood, will you be able to say the same thing?¡±

    Song Chi knew that the imperial court wouldn¡¯t spare Song n no matter how much they contributed to the imperial court. No matter how much they did, the imperial court would never have said they contributed more than Luo Sword Manner. On top of that, there was Luo Ming¡¯s friendship with Emperor Yuansheng to consider. The best oue for Song n was being a second Luo Sword Manor. The worst oue¡­ Song Chi didn¡¯t even want to think about it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the first day the imperial court has wanted to dismantle us¡­ It¡¯s been a long-timeing.¡± Song Chi lifted his de from Xun Feng¡¯s neck. ¡°Hand it over, and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Xun Feng showed a surprised smile. ¡°The imperial court won¡¯t punish you?¡±

    ¡°I suggest you listen to me before I change my mind.¡±

    Xun Feng didn¡¯t show any intention of getting up.

    ¡°Have you made up your mind to die?¡±

    ¡°What makes you think I didn¡¯t deliberately lead you here?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 133

    Imminent

    Song Chi frowned as he was disappointed his former ally would behave so unbingly when he was cornered. He had been long aware that many things in life were outside of his control, but he held on to a shred of hope until he saw the state of the renowned monk before him when wealth and power were on the line.

    Song Chi shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve seen your despicable ways; however, it¡¯s irrefutable thatpetence makes right in the pugilistic world. Since you can¡¯t beat me today, no amount of strategy will help you. Last chance: hand it over, or I won¡¯t show mercy.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Song Chi brought his de back, except he aimed it at a primary meridian this time. Hitting upoints was typically performed using fingers, but experts in internal disciplines could also achieve the same oue using their fists and palms. Song Chi was able to perform the stunt as he melded Sundering the Nine Heavens into his broadswordy. As impressive as that was, Xun Feng suddenly uncorking a palm attack strong enough to knock Song Chi¡¯s de off its trajectory and almost unbncing him was even more surprising.

    Song Chi took several hasty steps back and reassumed his stance. That was the strongest palm strike Xun Feng had executed ever since they started fighting. Despite Xun Feng being quite strong to begin with, he was supposed to be considerably weaker than Song Chi. Song Chi wasn¡¯t one to believe in luck, and the exnation was only a nce away.

    Even though Song Chi had never seen the wriggly purple squiggles on Xun Feng¡¯s arm before, he was certain that they were the magic behind the palm strike that was arguably four times¡¯ stronger than usual. After all, the arm was now an entire circumferencerger was the arm Xun Feng used to deflect his weapon. As an exemr to follow among the orthodox sects, Cold Mountain Temple wouldn¡¯t suddenly create an unorthodox discipline just to oppose the imperial court. Additionally, nobody passed down martial arts by happenstance. Nobody would change the energy-moulding method, techniques, mental cultivation and applications without reason. In other words, the discipline didn¡¯t justnd in Cold Mountain Temple¡¯sp. By extension, it had to be a discipline that Cold Mountain Temple passed down.

    Xun Feng was virtually selected instantly when they decided to choose candidates to enter the capital for the imperial exams. He wasn¡¯t the best fighter or the smartest among Liaoliao¡¯s senior disciples; however, he was the one who obeyed Liaoliao more than anyone. For that reason, he was chosen for the job without a second thought, and that was why he was taught the discipline.

    The original Lotus Every Step was a harmonious discipline without an ounce of evil. Owing to Liaoliao¡¯s character, though, it became an unorthodox discipline that went from pure to dark. It wouldn¡¯t have been as formidable as it was if it weren¡¯t for the fact that Liaoliao had an alternative mental cultivation method.

    The monk who befriended Tu Yunting was more advanced than thetter as a martial artist. His Unfettered mental cultivation helped the practitioner escape the limits of Lotus Every Steps, so it reduced the side-effects of the discipline. Unfortunately for Liaoliao, he couldn¡¯tprehend Unfettered in its entirety and therefore couldn¡¯t maximise it. As such, he feared someone could grasp the true essence of the discipline. To avoid that scenario, he kept Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s mental cultivation a secret whilst teaching his wrong version of Lotus Every Step to his disciples. It, therefore, resulted in his four senior disciples frequently going wrong in their training. The most obvious proof of it were their purple veins and nefarious aura that Liaoliao tried to hide. On top of that, some of them struggled to control their emotions ¨C as one would expect of learning a sinister discipline. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t make Lotus Every Step harmless.

    Notwithstanding the problems with learning the incorrect material, they still managed to obtain hard-to-match power. Prior to Xun Feng leaving, Liaoliao taught Xun Feng the discipline again from scratch based on the new knowledge he picked up over thest two decades. Thanks to Xun Feng¡¯s existing foundations, the new version was a huge upgrade.

    ¡°What discipline is that?¡± Song Chi suddenly felt he didn¡¯t know Xun Feng at all.

    ¡°Hahaha! How would you recognise a sophisticated discipline that¡¯s been passed down for centuries?¡±

    Song Chi performed Misty Dreams Swamp again. Not allowing an opponent to implement their skill set was the right choice. Even if one did gain a significant amount of damage output, internal energy limits didn¡¯t change. Using a mental cultivation discipline to enhance strength came at a cost. In Xun Feng¡¯s case, using his arm with the purple veins would expend more internal energy than usual. It was akin to taking a loan you before you were sure you could repay it. On top of that, there was no way topensate for arge skill gap in a short time frame.

    Xun Feng was on his back foot again not long after they resumed fighting as expected. In exchange for strong joint locking techniques, Xun Feng sacrificed his ability to adjust and utilise variety on his right arm. While Xun Feng struggled to catch Song Chi¡¯s swings, Song Chi had no issue overpowering and hurting Xun Feng. Just because Song Chi didn¡¯t adopt stiffness in Misty Dreams Swamp, it didn¡¯t mean his swingscked power.

    Xun Feng only just realised that he was nowhere close to Song Chi in terms of skill. Putting aside their level difference in skills requiring internal energy, Song Chi had a higher aptitude in creativity. Even the extra might that his right arm offered wasn¡¯t enough topensate for the gap in skill. Meanwhile, Song Chi noticed Xun Feng¡¯s internal energy rapidly fading and his arm gradually shrinking. Xun Feng was well aware that he was far from gaining an upper hand, let alone winning. Nheless, today¡¯s scenario was a little special.

    Xun Feng took in a deep breath, then extended his right arm. There wasn¡¯t anything special about the way he extended it, but the force produced nearly disarmed Song Chi, ending Song Chi¡¯s flurry.

    Song Chi was able to quickly identify how Xun Feng managed to increase his output when his internal energy stores had dropped. ¡°¡­ Nine Dragons Fire Jade.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, you truly are a smart guy. If only you weren¡¯t overconfident. Did you know that this is pointless to you lot trying to oversee it, but it¡¯s virtually a godsend for me?¡±

    Because Liaoliao learnt an incorrect version of Lotus Every Step and umted an extreme amount of sinister energy, controlling his body became awfully difficult. Expecting to train internal disciplines for his body was a nigh hopeless endeavour, so his only hope was using external items. The yang heat of Nine Dragons Fire Jade functioned as an eraser of the sinister energy within him, allowing him to return to his prime. Sucking out the unwanted energy in him was the new idea he discovered twenty years ago.

    Xun Feng utilised it in the very manner Liaoliao wanted to use it. The fact that it could suck out the unwanted energy was the reason he dared to touch it with his bare hands and had no qualms cing it in the box. Instead of the heat energy hurting him, it relieved him of his agony. Instead of losing energy as his arm returned to normal, he gained strength. Having experienced the miraculous result, he was sure Liaoliao would be able to reign supreme in the martial world going forwards.

    Song Chi realised it was extremely difficult to win from theirst exchange. There was no way he could match Xun Feng¡¯s internal energy when thetter had a tool to boost it. Moreover, Song Chi hadn¡¯t figured out the limits of Xun Feng¡¯s right arm. Thus, Song Chi jumped back to disengage. He was never one to try fighting when it was bound to be a messy fight.

    There were plenty of people around who wanted to tear Xun Feng apart. Hence, there was bound to be no shortage of helpers if they could change locations. However, Xun Feng¡¯s giddy smile made Song Chi uneasy. Still, it was riskier to stick around, so Song Chi continued retreating. All of a sudden, he felt his qi drop so drastically that he returned to his feet. Uponnding, he felt a sharp slicing pain from his rib. When he couldn¡¯t contain it with his own qi, he realised he had fallen for a ploy.

    ¡°Hahaha, I knew you wouldn¡¯t join me fromst night, so what makes you think I¡¯d risk letting you go? You think I was born yesterday? Song Chi, you¡¯ve put in painstaking efforts for Song n, but you just don¡¯t see which path is the best path.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 134

    Arrival

    Song Chi, face pallor, knew he had been poisoned when he could feel the pain minimise once he calmed his mind. Xun Feng saw Song Chi as a dead man walking, but he had to give due credit for Song Chi¡¯s equanimity. Xun Feng had defeated advanced monks and daoists in the past using the poison due to them losing theirposure.

    ¡°What did you poison me with?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to ask, right? Just so you know, you¡¯re not the only one afflicted with it. It was prepared for He Kanyu, but he got hurt before the poison affected him. He might not live to see tomorrow.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Although He Kanyu¡¯s defeat came as a result of Lan Jiqiong¡¯s failure, Xun Feng had prepared a backup n that didn¡¯t require Lan Jiqiong¡¯s involvement just in case. Said n revolved around poisoning He Kanyu with the very poison he caught Song Chi with.

    Song Chi was quite freaked out after seeing a smug and evil side of Xun Feng that he hadn¡¯t seen before. The fact that Xun Feng knew when the poison would take effect proved that it wasn¡¯t the first time Xun Feng used it. Xun Feng¡¯s evilness wasn¡¯t a side of him that surfaced or grew as a result of circumstances; it was his true nature.

    ¡°Your so-called best path is joining you and your corrupt allies? The monarch on the throne wouldn¡¯t resort to such despicable means. Who knows if Song n will be the first target in the future if I join you?¡±

    ¡°I know I¡¯m repeating myself, but I must say you¡¯re not stupid at all.¡±

    All the friendship Xun Feng showed was but a ploy to pull Song n into the pro-war group among the White Princes. He didn¡¯t understand why Song Chi was so against war; Song Chi¡¯s judgement even impacted the patriarch of Song n. Every time Xun Feng was reminded that Song Chi ruined his mission, he was annoyed. Needless to say, Song n¡¯s involvement wouldn¡¯t consolidate the alliance¡¯s foundations, but they would be the first sacrifice in the conflict with the imperial court. Should there have been another conflict when the White Princes supported a new monarch to the throne ¨C which was highly possible ¨C Song n would¡¯ve been chosen as the first scapegoat. It sounded as though Song Chi knew exactly what Liaoliao and Xun Feng¡¯s ns were.

    Having somewhat recovered, Song Chi asked in a low voice, ¡°Have you no sense of guilt or shame in considering an ally a sacrifice between the alliance is even established?¡±

    In a cold voice Song Chi hadn¡¯t heard before, Xun Feng responded, ¡°¡­ What did the imperial court do when my senior brothers¡¯ bodies had yet to go cold? They stormed the temple in the name of cleaning and paying respects when the military stayed in Suzhou in March. The imperial court¡¯s envoy demanded 30% in taxes in Suzhou when my senior brother was unwell. They fabricated a narrative that they were after a viin digging up remains in the temple to kill my senior brother as a deterrence¡­ Those moments convinced me to revolt. Six years ago, Emperor¡¯s Entourage hung my senior brother¡¯s corpse outside the temple doors and imed that Demon Sect was responsible for the act of vengeance in order to scare off any monks who wanted to join us. They thought they were clever. Ever since then, I¡¯ve sworn to kill the tyrant on the throne.¡±

    Song Chi didn¡¯t know there was so much to it, but it wasprehensible when he reflected on his personal experiences. Song n and the imperial court were friendly one moment and distant the next; their rtionship was built purely on ploys. Song Ou being sent to the capital long ago was evidence of the fact. The only reason Song Ou hadn¡¯t been sacrificed any further was thanks to his father¡¯s cleverness. While sending Song Ou appeared foolish, it was the smartest decision. Else, Song n would¡¯ve been making moves already. If Song Ou met his demise in the capital, the imperial court wouldn¡¯t trust Song n even if Song n had no intention of revolting. Song Ou essentially acted as a hostage. Technically, Song Ou did a fantastic job as a sacrifice.

    ¡°Brother Song, nobody can go back and forth between two sides forever.¡± The jade piece in Xun Feng¡¯s hand glowed simrly to a snake sticking its tongue out. ¡°You know better than I do that you can¡¯t turn back once you¡¯ve chosen the path of a viin, or your ending will be far worse than you imagine. The first time I killed, I was somewhat shaken. Once I got used to it, it no longer bothered me. What difference does it make if you kill with a de or poison? Despite the poison¡¯s effectiveness, it won¡¯t kill you ¨C even though I think you should go. To be honest, I didn¡¯t want to kill you today.¡±

    Song Chi didn¡¯t lower his guard. Instead, he squeezed his hilt tighter as he awaited Xun Feng¡¯s attack. Rather than attacking him, though, Xun Feng grimaced when the jade piece glowed brightly. Notwithstanding Xun Feng¡¯s pain response, the me¡¯s radius increased. That was when Song Chi realised Xun Feng couldn¡¯t control the Nine Dragons Fire Jade.

    Neither of them could exin why the fire energy kept surging forth and leaking out. Instead of acting as an eraser of yin energy, it sprayed mes as if it was a dragon rising from the earth.

    Xun Feng groaned, released the box and rolled out of the way before the me could consume him. The piece of jade floated in the air whilst continuing to st mes from its centre, cracking its container until the container shattered into tiny fragments.

    Song Chi and Xun Feng ran for it as their lives were at risk if not even the Ice Jade box could restrain it. They had only taken a few steps when they saw a nightmare, a demon, a devourer of life wearing burnt flesh as armour descending from the sky. Their first thought was that the winged creature crawled out from hell. The two of them dove roll across the ground when the monster pped its wings. Both of them knew they wouldn¡¯tst ten exchanges against the monster. They weren¡¯t even sure that there was anyone alive who could scratch the monster that had holes and bumps all over him but not a single scratch. After all, he had a hole at his left rib that was still bleeding, and his heart was exposed from an arrow wound or something of that nature, yet he was still alive. What could they have done to win against something that could survive such wounds?

    The demon, who only showed up there because he saw the violent mes, didn¡¯t feel any pain from any of his wounds. His burns stopped him from bleeding out or the wounds erging. It was one way of addressing the problem, though it probably wasn¡¯t the best option for human beings.

    The demon had no intention of fighting the man in the wheelchair as it was a waste of essence he had to collect. Although that meant he couldn¡¯t heal his injuries, which would put him in increasingly more danger as they deteriorated during the course of their fight, hisbat senses led him to this location. Luckily for him, his wings empowered him to escape Ye Yun¡¯s restraints, though it came at the price of the big wound in his rib.

    ¡°¡­ Mine!¡± The demon reached for the suspended piece of jade and shoved it into the hole in his torso, unafraid of the mes that burnt indiscriminately. As someone who was born with a unique fire attribute, he saw it as a trigger for revival rather than something to fear.

    As if he just gained another heart, mes burst from his orifices, and all the menacing energy he oozed disappeared. The smoke that rose from the veil of smoke resembled a dragon dering its advent. He shed his filthy exterior and reced it with new silky skin you¡¯d only find on infants. The hole that should¡¯ve been his weak point became his strongest fortress. As the mes¡¯ radius extended to ten metres, it dawned on him that the item was what he had been searching for all this time.

    Nine Dragons Fire Jade was an ideal apaniment supplement for anyone who wanted to master Agni Twelve Heavens. He had managed to get his hands on it thanks to someone¡¯s mechanisations, but he wasn¡¯t in any condition to realise it.

    Using his me wings¡¯ that had expanded in size, he took off toward the ether and into the imperial city.

 Book 14: Chapter 135

    All Those Painful Years of Investment

    The exasperation of the demon taking off and sparing them no attention preceded the anger that flourished in their minds. Win or lose was of no significance to Song Chi since his primary goal was to disy his loyalty, which was theplete opposite of Xun Feng¡¯s wish.

    Xun Feng had it in the bag, only to suddenly lose the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. The most important task he carried on his shoulders when he was assigned to the capital was obtaining the Nine Dragons Fire Jade that Liaoliao had been painstakingly searching for. How was he going to face his fellow disciples and mentor now that he had lost it and costed them significant problems? The failure also dealt a heavy blow to his pride. As he couldn¡¯t take his anger out on the monster that had taken off, he had to take it out on the only other person present.

    ¡°Brother Song, it would seem that both of our hopes have been dashed. What are we even fighting for anymore?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Just say you want to kill me. There¡¯s no need to try luring me into a false sense of security; it won¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Do you think so little of me?¡±

    Xun Feng wore on his typical kind smile, which was solid proof to Song Chi that Xun Feng was determined to kill him more than ever.

    Xun Feng pped once, then said, ¡°You just reminded me: I wonder if the old dirtbag would be able to stayposed if I present your head to him and tell him that the imperial court killed you.¡±

    Xun Feng already considered killing Song Chi if thetter couldn¡¯t be recruited from day one and then fabricating a story. What evidence could be morepelling for his tall tale than a bloody head? There was no need for it to be Song Ou¡¯s head. Why would a scion who only had a surname to his im to fame be worth more than the next patriarch of Song n?

    ¡°My father is not the narrow-minded person you think he is, and I¡¯m not as important as you assume. Besides, you can¡¯t kill me.¡±

    Xun Feng, realising Song Chi was trying to expel the poison from a while ago, smirked. He Kanyu would¡¯ve needed an hour, at the very least, if he was in top shape. While Song Chi could rival He Kanyu, there was no way Song Chi had enough time to expel it.

    ¡°We won¡¯t know until your head is handed to the old fence sitter, will we?¡±

    Despite losing the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, for better or worse, the power of Xun Feng¡¯s next palm strike came out with the proper power of Lotus Every Step. In exchange for the speed and dexterity of Buddhism¡¯s joint-locking skills that didn¡¯t cost exorbitant amounts of internal energy, his right arm was no longer impervious to des. Until this point, he didn¡¯t know how Lotus Every Step was meant to feel in his body, nor could he truly appreciate how Liaoliao became Abbot at a young age.

    Song Chi lost control of the fight in a matter of handful of exchanges. He had trouble performing as he should¡¯ve due to the poison, while Xun Feng regained normal functioning in both arms plus an enhancement in strength.

    Xun Feng felt sluggish when he first incorporated Lotus Every Step into Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s disciplines, but it felt increasingly natural as he used it more. In saying that, he still didn¡¯t understand how a discipline from the Western Regions blended perfectly with a discipline from Cold Mountain Temple. Strangely, however, he couldn¡¯t finish Song Chi despite seizing the dominant momentum.

    ¡°Your resistance is futile!¡± Xun Feng dialled up his speed, varying his strikes between palm strikes, finger spears and ws.

    Even though Song Chi looked ghastly white, he was far from slow. While he couldn¡¯t execute Misty Dreams Swamp at the same level again, he was able to time perfect counters that got him out of hell every time he was supposed to go down. Every time Xun Feng pushed harder, Song Chi would push back harder. It was vexing for Xun Feng as he was supposed to be only one inch away from crossing the finish line each time, only for Song Chi to thwart him in thest moment. Xun Feng knew Song Chi couldn¡¯t hang in there for much longer. It wasn¡¯t a question of whether he could end Song Chi or not; it was a question of whether it was worth the effort or not. In the event that Song Chi could stall him for long enough for the others to catch up, then that was a stupid way to fail his mission.

    The two of them were suddenly rmed as a presence they were around not long ago returned. Xun Feng initially thought she wouldn¡¯t have been of much help, but she had changed his mind. It wasn¡¯t clear how she shook off her pursuers, but it wasn¡¯t unthinkable considering thepetence she had disyed.

    She emerged in between them without any hints prior or any sounds. Had she attacked in the same moment, they both would¡¯ve perished on the spot. They both knew that Song Chi had absolutely no chance of survival if she joined the fray.

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    Bronze Mask drew her broadsword with a reverse grip. Just a blink after Xun Feng yelled the order, his chest had be a geyser of blood. Even by the time he was lying in his own puddle of blood, he still couldn¡¯t fathom what happened. They hired Six des, so why did Bronze Mask swing at him?

    Bronze Mask ambled over to Song Chi, then removed her mask. She was unmistakably Bai Yumo, but her aura was a stark contrast to her usual aura. ¡°You all right?¡±

    Dusting himself off, Song Chi emotionlessly replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I got caught with poison, but I¡¯m okay now.¡±

    If it wasn¡¯t for Bai Yumo¡¯s emotionless tone, anyone would¡¯ve thought the two were close. She wasn¡¯t Bai Yumo, though. An equally unbelievable matter was hearing Song Chi state he was fine after he was poisoned not long ago.

    ¡°Confused?¡± Song Chi condescendingly cast his gaze onto Xun Feng.

    Realising his foe hid his true strength the entire time, the floored monk roared, ¡°Song¡­ Chi!¡±

    ¡°I told you what I do for Song n far surpasses your imagination.¡± Song Chi leisurely extended his broadsword that shone a purple glow.

    ¡°¡­ Purple Jade¡­ You¡¯re¡­ Purple Jade¡­ Young Master Purple Jade¡­¡±

    ¡°You joined the dark side to avenge your senior brother and stooped to low levels. Me? For the sake of Song n, I joined the dark side and became an assassin.¡± Song Chi didn¡¯t seem to care about Xun Feng¡¯s feelings. ¡°Both of us are victims of circumstances. You left no stone unturned to steal the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Even if you didn¡¯t give it to me or lose it to the freak, Bronze Mask would¡¯ve taken it from you, and you still would¡¯ve failed in your undertaking. You were always a clueless pawn. Every time I watched you, I pitied you. I didn¡¯t want to kill you, but you left me no choice.¡±

    Xun Feng¡¯s anger turned to exasperation, then hatred, then fear before finally ending as sorrow.

    ¡°I¡¯m not killing you out of personal enmity but personal gain. I am exchanging your life for my n¡¯s security. I have no right to fault you, and you don¡¯t need to forgive me. Farewell, Brother Feng.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Xun Feng met a silent end identical to his victims over the years.

    Members of Six des changed, but their weapons never changed. Six des didn¡¯t symbolise there were six members but the six des they wielded. One member was an assassin, but his mannerisms as the young master of an influential family distinguished him from the others. People only recognised him by the purple jade ornament on his sash and his purple broadsword and therefore called him ¡°Young Master Purple Jade¡±.

    ¡°The Nine Dragons Fire Jade was stolen in the end¡­ Bronze Mask,¡± Purple Jade said in a stiff voice. ¡°What are Her Highness¡¯ orders?¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 136

    Her Highness

    Purple Jade was a special one among Six des¡¯ members as he had the least hallmarks of an assassin. His palm techniques and broadswordy were as orthodox as orthodox got. Even by the loosest standards, nobody would say he was an assassin if they watched him fight. He always eliminated his targets in public as if it was a fair-and-square martial arts duel. These points prompted people to give him the ¡°Young Master¡± prefix. In contrast, his group wasn¡¯t happy with him, but they never exiled him.

    Purple Jade had established himself as a core member of Six des over the years. He was the principal mastermind for Six des, which was the reason he was the only person whose true identity was known between the Six des cohorts. Song n¡¯s vastwork provided the group with an ocean of information. Combined with Song Chi¡¯s meticulous strategies, they had a significantly easier time entering locations that would¡¯ve otherwise been painful to infiltrate. The others certainly could¡¯ve collected the intelligence and figured out a way themselves, but he was the only person who was willing to remove his mask.

    Song Chi knew Bai Yumo was Bronze Mask long ago, but he never interacted with her in private more than necessary as it was against Six des¡¯ rules. Every experienced assassin knew that today¡¯s friend could¡¯ve been tomorrow¡¯s enemy for plenty of possible reasons. There was no such thing as pity,passion, trust or luck in the cold world of assassins. The price of oversight was often death or even worse consequences. Regtions were the only means of providing a sense of security, the simplest of which was, don¡¯t trust anyone and don¡¯t expect to be trusted.

    Six des didn¡¯t make emotional decisions; everything and everyone followed rules. Members didn¡¯t need to have chemistry, befriend each other or invest any emotions. As long as they followed orders and abided by the rules, they¡¯d be fine. Of course, rules without consequences wouldn¡¯t work. Naturally, viting the strict rules incurred bloody punishments, and there was one name that guaranteed punishments would be handed out ¨C Redsnow. Anyone who chose to contravene a rule did so knowing full well they were risking their lives. The looming threat was the spell that maintained members¡¯ distances.

    Private interactions were prohibited, especially interactions with Purple Jade. As the collector andmunicator of information, the group¡¯s operations would be impacted if his public identity was stained. For that reason, not even Bronze Mask would approach him even without their masks. Technically, she shouldn¡¯t have shown up at this point in time; her task was to snatch the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, not assassinate Xun Feng. She shouldn¡¯t have concerned herself with Song Chi¡¯s wellbeing. She should¡¯ve taken Xun Feng¡¯s head when he fled with the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Hence, Song Chi asked, ¡°What are Her Highness¡¯ orders?¡±

    Although Song Chi made no efforts to hide any identities, ¡°Her Highness¡± was actually a codename for the true leader of Six des.

    Jingan began working with them long ago.

    When Song Chi joined Six des, there were only Bronze Mask and Redsnow despite them being called Six des. Jingan already knew them at that point. Song Chi never forgot the shock he felt when he saw Jingan and Redsnow ying checkers together. One of his strengths was being able to stop himself from thinking about what he didn¡¯t need to know; that was a necessary skill for anyone who wanted to live a long live, and he evidently inherited the skill from his predecessors.

    Redsnow gave a simple instruction for what to do with Li Jingan ¨C obey her. It took a few years of interaction, but Song Chi eventually understood why Redsnow gave the instruction. She provided far more than a client would.

    The first time Song Chi worked with Li Jingan, he questioned if he was seeing things due to the paltry sum she offered for the target shemissioned them to take out. He and the new Silver Crow nearly lost their lives on the mission. Though they were sessful, they had toy off for three months to recover from their injuries, so they took it up with Redsnow. Instead of debating with them, Redsnow mmed a mission blueprint that was sent along with their payment down onto a table. They couldn¡¯t believe that the assassination blueprint detailed even which hand their target preferred to drink with. Song Chi trembled when he read the detailed n that convinced him even someone untrained and weak could¡¯vepleted the job.

    ¡°This should be your standard,¡± Li Jingan said with a smile. ¡°Otherwise, you can submit your head and de.¡±

    Li Jingan showed no hostility in appearance or tonality, yet Song Chi couldn¡¯t stop shaking. That was the first time he realised she was a lot moreplicated as a character than he gave her credit for. Behind her charming smile was a void that he didn¡¯t have the courage to explore.

    Clients couldn¡¯t interfere with assassins¡¯ training, not even Li Jingan. Redsnow didn¡¯t waver when it came to honouring the rules. However, he permitted her to train them using different means. Allowing the group to follow her suggestions and codenames crossed the line between a mere client and mercenary. As a result, members were inevitably curious about Redsnow and Li Jingan¡¯s rtionship, but none of them dared to voice it.

    It was clear that Redsnow and Li Jingan weren¡¯t in a romantic rtionship. Redsnow was virtually a de, while Li Jingan¡¯s idea of love was¡­ atypical ¨C as per Song Chi¡¯s observations and assessment. Most likely, they were equals in the coboration. Nobody knew what the deal between them was, but surely there was some sort of deal established.

    Every time theypleted jobs she suggested, they gained more fame and skill. The bigger the challenge, the more capable they were at oveing it. Most importantly, she never owed them payments or dyed payments. Ensuring that much was the most basic disy of respect for them, and it was Redsnow¡¯s primary concern. Never crossing Redsnow was the most important rule for members of Six des.

    While Six des¡¯ ce as the top assassination group was a product of their own efforts, the role that their training yed in it also needed to be credited.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to resist, but Song Chi stopped himself whenever he had the urge to pry. After all, that difort was far better than seeing his family hung. Over time, he stopped thinking about what Li Jingan¡¯s goal was or what she wanted. All he had to do was respect the rules.

    ¡°Tonight¡¯s tasks have beenpleted. n Bingchou.¡±

    ¡°Bingchou¡± was a task assigned only a handful of times in the three-plus years Song Chi worked in Six des as retreating and erasing all traces of their involvement was something they seldom did. If they didn¡¯t have enough time to erase their involvement, they had to prioritise their lives. Thus far, the strategy had only ever been deployed when unforeseen circumstances suddenly arose. In other words, something unpredicted had cropped up.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Whether Bronze Mask wouldn¡¯t divulge Li Jingan¡¯s true intent or whether she didn¡¯t have the time to understand the intent, Bronze Mask didn¡¯t borate, though she was never one to speak unless absolutely necessary. Unsubstantiated guesses were pointless, after all.

    Since Six des epted missions as their monikers, they could¡¯ve been working in the same vicinity but on different jobs and for different clients. In the event that their missions shed, they had a means of resolving it. In saying that, it was extremely rare for them to not run into each other when there were four of them in the same city at once.

    Song Chi was d the mission was called off despite being perplexed about numerous things. Frankly, he almost jumped when he heard Bronze Mask was tasked with assassinating Ming Feizhen. Knowing how dangerous Ming Feizhen was, he would¡¯ve declined the assignment if Li Jingan offered it to him. Declining amission didn¡¯t mean failing one. He learnt of Bronze Mask¡¯s assignment through Jin Zhaoying, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the other two members¡¯ jobs were rted. If they ran into Ming Feizhen, then all he could do was wish them good luck.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡± Song Chi asked.

    ¡°Gengwei.¡±

    ¡°de?¡±

    ¡°Bold form. Cicada Wing.¡±

    Song Chi smiled. Seeing howposed she was, he realised how needless the sleepwalking story he fabricated was.

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed you could locate ¡®cksmith¡¯ when the capital is in this shape.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I did it myself.¡±

    Song Chi nodded and set aside Xun Feng¡¯s corpse. ¡°Where are the pursuers?¡±

    Bronze Mask wore on her mask. ¡°Will be here in a second.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Who are the concerns?¡± As he conversed, Song Chi moulded energy to make himself look pale and activated the poison residue still in him.

    ¡°Shield and bow.¡±

    ¡°So two people. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°Coming.¡±

    Song Chi feebly blocked Bronze Mask¡¯s sh, looking as if he was almost going to be cut in two. After only a few exchanges, they heard, ¡°Brother Song!¡±

    Bronze Mask scoffed and jumped. Dugu managed to locate her from the ngs, but he lost her. He was going to give chase again until he saw Xun Feng¡¯s corpse.

    Song Chi bitterly smiled. ¡°It is a long story, but I finally took him down. Unfortunately, I lost the item.¡±

    ¡°Brother Song, are you¡­ poisoned?¡±

    ¡°He¡­¡± Song Chi shook his head, ¡°colluded with Six de¡¯s Bronze Mask. I was hopelessly outnumbered. Had you been a momentter, you would have found my corpse instead of me.¡±

    It was hard to figure out the details based on the situational evidence, but there was no question that there was an intense fight. He witnessed Bronze Mask put Song Chi in a pinch, so Dugu had no suspicions.

    ¡°Brother Song, duty calls, and I cannot split myself, so I shall have Brother Shili escort you. I shall go after her.¡±

    ¡°You must be careful! Her qinggong is unbelievable, and she is clever. If you have an archer apanying you, you must protect her, or she will¡­¡± Song Chi looked unable to continue speaking.

    Dugu couldn¡¯t argue otherwise. It was unwise for Ye Luo to continue the pursuit in light of her injury; if Ye Yun found out his daughter got hurt, as well¡­

    ¡°Thank you for the warning, Brother Song.¡± Dugu proceeded to have a team protect Song Chi and told Ye Luo to stay put prior to continuing his pursuit.

    In the end, Dugu couldn¡¯t track down Bronze Mask.

    ***

    Not even a century of learning and experiences helped Gongsun Chuprehend what he was watching despite how obvious it should¡¯ve been from the scene itself. The man kneeling on the ground expressed respect and humility through his manners and tone. Even though the man on the chair looked as if everything happening was naturally a given, he ticked all the boxes of a master sitting before his servant.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°You two¡­¡±

    One was one of the imperial court¡¯s The Ultimate Three, while the other was Lord San Shen of the imperial court¡¯s long-standing nemesis, Divine Moon Cult. Moreover, Gongsun Chu himself had pitted them against each other numerous times. Following several rounds of contemtion, he came to terms with the fact that he wouldn¡¯t be able to understand what was going on.

    Glossary

    Six des¡¯ codes (bingchou etc.) ¨C I¡¯m sticking with the pinyin for now because they don¡¯t mean anything, at least at this point in time. The characters don¡¯t mean anythingbined, but if they do down the road¡­ That¡¯s going to be a hassle, so I¡¯m treating them as just nonsensical names, which they appear to be on the surface.

 Book 14: Chapter 137

    Miracle

    The dark patches in the ether signalled an imminent storm. Without the moonlight, Taishu Hall was shrouded in darkness.

    ¡°Thanks for all the hard work,¡± Ming Feizhen expressed brightly.

    ¡°It was only a few cronies. It was nothing at all,¡± responded Zero, stopping his shakes of joy before anyone spotted them. Of course, the statement caught Gongsun Chu¡¯s attention, but Zero red at him as if it was an offence. ¡°You have something to say?¡±

    Hearing the childish tone, Gongsun Chu just replied, ¡°¡­ No.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s time we settled the score between us.¡± Though he didn¡¯t rise, Zero activated his ck energy around him again.

    Gongsun Chu still had no idea what he said or did to anger Tianhu until he heard, ¡°I should¡¯ve killed you long ago for kidnapping my master. Why did I spare you when killing you ten times wouldn¡¯t be enough for your sphemy?¡±

    Finally understanding what was going on, Gongsun Chu scoffed, ¡°What do you expect when you let cmity breed?¡±

    ¡°Cmity? You? You¡¯re not qualified to be an insect. If Master¡¯s safety didn¡¯t take priority, I¡¯d have killed you a hundred times in the underground pce. How long have you lived for? A century? I guess you must be tired of living?¡±

    ¡°Your master was in danger because he¡¯s ipetent. Why are you so worked up when he hasn¡¯t said anything?¡±

    ¡°I see you really are sick of living.¡± Tianhu fired a ck energy arrow straight at Gongsun Chu with enough force to erase every trace of him from existence.

    ¡°Zero.¡±

    The arrow suddenly changed its trajectory to the heavens. Once it ascended into the clouds, it produced a web of lightning. In the meantime, Tianhu bowed his head down to Ming Feizhen and kept it down. He didn¡¯t realise he interrupted his master and even made a decision without seeking prior permission. ¡°I apologise for the unbing behaviour, Master.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing to¡­¡±

    Tianhu was overjoyed to hear his master was tolerant of lowly scoundrels and willing to pardon him stepping out of line, both things he himself wouldn¡¯t have the tolerance for. In reality, Ming Feizhen just didn¡¯t want Tianhu to kill Gongsun Chu before he could pry out the answers that he sought from Gongsun Chu. It¡¯d be awkward to rify that now, so he skipped over it.

    ¡°Mr. Chu, this is our first time having a proper conversation, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Ming Feizhen questioned with a smile whilst looking at the schr on the ground.

    Controlling his demeanour as well as ever, Gongsun Chu responded, ¡°Where is the ¡®proper¡¯ when I am on the ground?¡±

    Tianhu¡¯s frown interpreted: ¡°You should be grateful my master has kept you alive for so long, you ant. How dare you even think of asking for a seat.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Zero, seat.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Tianhu hoisted Gongsun Chu up, then shimmied his shoulders whilst whispering, ¡°Sit yourself down, or I¡¯ll rip you up.¡±

    ¡°Zero.¡±

    ¡°This way, Mr. Gongsun.¡±

    Whilst inwardly praising Ming Feizhen for managing to hear his whisper, he led Gongsun Chu to the chair opposite Ming Feizhen, shoved Gongsun Chu in and then returned to Ming Feizhen¡¯s side.

    Looking at the schr who had trouble breathing after the shove, Ming Feizhen conveyed, ¡°Please pardon me.¡±

    Noticing Gongsun Chu didn¡¯t hear Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°instruction¡± ¨C and not wearing the correct expression ¨C Tianhu said, ¡°Old insect I¡¯m warning you: my master is about to speak. Keep that neck clean and get on your knees afterwards¡­¡±

    ¡°Zero.¡±

    ¡°Apologies, Master. I have overstepped my boundaries.¡± The usually bored young man looked as if he was just praised.

    Having always struggled to fulfil his role as a leader, Ming Feizhen scratched his temple. As a superior, he had a duty to do something about his prodigy of a subordinate who had a foul temper and was prone to violence, but he was worried that telling off his subordinate would cause his subordinate to lose respect amongst his peers and underlings. He didn¡¯t know how to give a lecture whilst sounding cool. Hence, he just adjusted his posture to appear more domineering.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Tianhu ¨C also known as Zero ¨C used to fill Ming Feizhen¡¯s post. Well, strictly speaking, he acted on behalf of the lord who was supposed to exist only in legends. Unless Lord San Shen assigned the ¡°post¡±, iming to hold the post was a crime. To Ming Feizhen, Lord San Shen was just a position forced onto him even though that couldn¡¯t have been further from the truth. On the other hand, Tianhu was a fan of the definitions.

    Nobody was aware that Zero, who virtually glued himself to Lord San Shen and followed his every step, was once their god. They couldn¡¯t have been expected to know that the blonde man who seldom removed his mask and sported a bright smile was their god. Despite how many generations the legend of Lord San Shen had been told in the Western Regions, very few people actually knew his true appearance. Before Zero was found, even Divine Moon Cult questioned the existence of Lord San Shen.

    There was one detail about Lord San Shen¡¯s legend that left no room for doubt: he brought a miracle with his birth. While the miracle in question had been edited (read: embellished to be more ¡°human¡±) to fit each era by the broadest of standards. To put it another way, in times when faiths were most prone to breaking, Divine Moon Cult needed a ¡°god¡± to descend and appease their followers. Owing to the standard of miracles being so low, such as surviving natural disasters or healing illnesses, there numerous coincidences during the unstable era.

    Given Divine Moon Cult¡¯s long history, it shouldn¡¯t have been surprising that they had attempted to ¡°create god¡±. In contrast, the leaders¡¯ teachings became stricter and stricter as the cult added rules. Lord San Shen¡¯s faith, or rather, the results of being passed down generation after generation, was basically a disaster.

    Without the true abilities of ¡°God¡±, it was hard to fulfil the expectations of the role. Compared to the miracles that were man-made, Lord San Shen¡¯s death was a problem they had no real solution for. Even if God was walking the dimension of man, his lifespan was the same as human beings. How did they exin his death? Throughout the cult¡¯s history, all of the leaders jumped through plenty of hoops to resolve the issue. The best-case scenario was if Lord San Shen didn¡¯t appear, and Zero just filled the shoes since Zero could punish transgressors without a hitch. Save for the few situations they needed to reinforce their believers¡¯ faith, nobody wanted to take the risk and invest the effort into fooling their believers into believing in a god above themselves. The problem was that none of them could do so as Lord San Shen was bound to appear.

    Despite it sometimes being several generations between an appearance, despite the location never being fixed, it was a fact that the god of punishment would descend. And, every time a god was born, he¡¯d bring a miracle along. The miracle he brought along was proof of his status. Aforementioned miracle was the ess to a realm that martial artists considered the apex ¨C Divine Realm.

    God was born able to ess Divine Realm. God would always return to Divine Moon Cult. It was said that God was born able to ess Karma Path to see the cycle of life, to see their own previous life and find their identity.

    Over twenty years ago, a house glowed golden. There, God descended.

 Book 14: Chapter 138

    I Shall Bless You (Part 1)

    God had a happy family in his early years. Everyone in the town knew a special child was born when they saw the house glow golden on the day of his birth. Some imed the golden glow left eight nannies blind, while some imed he ate all the food in the city in a single day. Some imed he was impervious to des and had to have a dozen warriors take turns chopping his umbilical cord to sever it. A cksmith in town imed God was able to speak fluently from the moment he was born and used it as an opportunity to im God sung his praises. Needless to say, all the nonsensical rumours didn¡¯t stop the truth from spreading.

    They never had the money to hire a nanny. The boy¡¯s parents were concerned over the fact that he didn¡¯t breast feed. Their town had a bountiful harvest, so they enough to feed their family for up to four years thanks to the town administrator¡¯s gifts. The golden glow almost made their neighbours trip. His father was quick on his feet, but he and his wife were apologetic when he idently scratched his son¡¯s forehead. The cksmith who tried to advertise himself was the worst cksmith in the town. People only believed what they wanted to believe, though. They didn¡¯t care about priorities.

    While the infant wasn¡¯t as incredible as the rumours imed, it was a fact that he was different. He looked as though he had self-awareness and was searching for answers from the second he was born. His curiosity was so obvious that his parents were shocked. He virtually never cried; instead, heughed heartily. He was physically stronger than infants by far; he was strong enough to twist his parents¡¯ thumbs into pain. Nheless, there was no more defining proof of his uniqueness than the golden glow that apanied his birth.

    Even though they were shocked for a moment when their child was born, none of it mattered when he was in their arms, and none of it reduced their love for him. His mother was sure he¡¯d grow up to be as handsome as his father. They could sense his high intellect from the look in his eyes. Though he didn¡¯t cry much, they preferred his smile. When he hurt his father with his unnatural strength, he frowned, seemingly apologetic and aware that he made a mistake.

    The town administrator, wealthy merchants and religious members gave their son titles as they pleased, acting as if the sky would fall down without him. People who viewed him as something ominousined that difficulties and tragedies in life were his fault, while those who viewed him as a blessing put their happiness and fates in the hands of the infant who couldn¡¯t speak yet. No matter what they tried and said, though, his parents turned them down. They then turned around and hated the family as if they were in the right for taking someone¡¯s child from their family, cursing the family for tarnishing a miracle. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that they couldn¡¯t publicly kidnap a child, supporters would¡¯ve implemented some sort of underhanded tactic.

    All of a sudden, the world became aplicated world where everyone was talking about them. The young couple didn¡¯t ask for hardly anything in life, yet everyone wanted to take their newborn from them. Inside their property, nevertheless, the family led a simple life. It wasn¡¯t their son¡¯s fault that people suddenly started heckling them after he was born.

    The young child smiled brightly around his parents until a group of bandits barged into their home on the child¡¯s second night in the world of man, striking before any of the other factions had made a decision.

    All the other factions after the infant were bbergasted as they were sure they kept the infant¡¯s existence and significance a secret. Living in heavily-guarded fortresses, mansions, pces and whatnot, they never expected bandits, who actually had more ears to the ground than anyone, to find out. If they never heard about it and never predicted it, then it was reasonable for them to be slow to respond, right? They werew-abiding citizens, but bandits performing uwful acts was nothing surprising, right? There was nothing and nobody greedy bandits wouldn¡¯t target, right? So, it was perfectly logical if bandits kidnapped an infant to sell, right?

    Whatever the case was, there was no debating that bandits raided the home. It was such an easy job that the bandits themselves were surprised how smoothly it went. The infant couldn¡¯t understand why his father clenched his teeth, grabbed a machete and went outside. He couldn¡¯t fathom why his mother screamed and broke down in tears when she heard the horse hooves and screaming outside. Still, the infant cried, triggering his golden glow once again, covering the property and protected his mother the same way his courageous father tried to protect them before being stomped to death.

    As a result of the infant killing everyone present but his mother ¨C an oue nobody foresaw ¨C his status as a sacred infant gained even more support. The ruler of the city treated him with the utmost respect. The shrines sent members to arrange new housing for the widow and orphan. Surprisingly, it was a joyous oue.

    The faction that imed the infant was a demon could no longer argue he was a demon. What sort of lunatic would it take to im that an infant who saved his mother and slew bandits was a demon? Thus, no second soul suggested harming the infant. It all seemed nothing short of a miracle. Nobody cared how bloody the backstory was. Nobody cared that his mother lost her husband. Nobody. The infant who slept soundly in her arms was oblivious to the fact that he had lost his father.

    She raised her son on her own in the small town he was born in.

    The factions that fought over ownership of the infant struck a fragile bnce between them. The monarchs, territorial rulers, nobility and representatives of the shrines fought with each other over the issue many times. Although the shrine was the guardian of the infant, they had to permit the territorial ruler visits from time to time and couldn¡¯t monopolise the infant. As much as it aggravated the shrine, they were unable to stop the visitations. All of them tried to pry and orbit around the infant, hoping to see his future based on his behaviour. Sadly, that disappointed them.

    The infant never deployed his miracle again ever since the tragic night. To the contrary, he resembled an ordinary human being more and more over time. He learnt to speak, walk and y with the other kids the same way every other kid did. As a matter of fact, he was even more ordinary than the bossy daughter of the terrible cksmith.

    It was obvious where the believers would ce their anger if the legend that had garnered the support of thousands of people was proven false. The shrine went from feeling confident in their investment to feeling they were walking a tightrope above a fire pit ¨C no guarantees, no gains and only potential destruction in sight. To counteract their potential destruction, they futilely tried to keep the believers at arms¡¯ length and instated ridiculous visitation stiptions.

    Innumerable people visited the shrine and asked to see the child who inherited heaven¡¯s blessings, believing the child was someone worthy of their worship. ording to Divine Moon Cult¡¯s records, anyone who was ssified as a miracle upon birth was worshippedter in life. Some even believed the miracle bringer was God manifesting himself as a human in the human realm, the host of the generation¡¯s Lord San Shen. Meanwhile, the shrine knew that all those fantasies were justpounding the interest they¡¯d have to pay.

    The believers who managed to see the child had started to have their suspicions. Despiteing from thousands of miles away, they didn¡¯t see how the child stood out from among other children. Being a tad smarter than the average child wasn¡¯t enough to warrant their worship. The fact that the child yed with the other children in the town roused even more debates. Over time, the child didn¡¯t exhibit any different traits or growthpared to the other children. As the shrine predicted, the seed of disappointment grew.

    Try as they may, the shrine was unable to convince people that the child was from heaven. While they were busy with that problem daily, they had no means of dealing with verbal attacks from the monarchs, rulers and so forth. They asionally took him out to y with animals to publicly shame him. As the shrine¡¯s power plummeted, they could only hope for a glimpse of the golden glow, but nobody caught a glimpse of it. Once the pressure mounted to a breaking point, the shrine remembered that the glow appeared on the night the bandits attacked the family. Nobody from the shrine witnessed the event; none of them saw the miracle. Plenty of people spoke about it; however, words were mere words without proof. Whether they continued pushing the narrative or turned their back, they would¡¯ve ended up damaged. They managed to hang in there for more than two years before they hit their limit, when an opportunity presented itself.

    A mysterious group in the golden city going by the collective name of ¡°Elders¡± were a high-ranking group within the cult. As searchers of miracles in the human realm, they were symbols of the cult¡¯s ¡°divine mission¡±. Since they were taking a big risk, what harm was there in experimenting? If they were sessful, then they would be unstoppable. In the case they failed, then losing their leverage would get them out of a pinch. One exnation for how God died was returning to heaven via immtion, after all.

    During their preparations, the shrine kept hinting that the child¡¯s godhood needed to be put to the test, implying that fire triggered his power so that radicals among the believers would do the dirty work. Thus, a big fire broke out when the boy was close to three years old.

    The windows and doors to the house his mother and he lived in were locked from the outside. The followers themselves had never seen a fire spread so fast. His mother, who woke in the middle of her sleep, used every ounce of strength she could master to try and break out. s, she was unable to break the wooden board outside despite bashing it until she was bleeding from her head. She eventually realised that the territorial lord who visited a few days ago and insisted on renovating their house for her son no matter how she rejected was in on the n. Desperate, she pushed her son under the bed, but a big pir squashed her underneath it before she could do anything else.

    The boy nkly stared at the mes and listened to his mother¡¯s harrowing cry, unable toprehend why a fire broke out and what he should¡¯ve done. The more he panicked, the less golden energy he harnessed. He desperately tried to lift the pir off his mother. Sadly, he couldn¡¯t budge it no matter how burnt his hands ended up. He cried, screamed, pulled, and tried to bump it off his mother, but she kept gasping one mouthful of blood after another. His blood-curling cries were fruitless.

    ¡°Blessing.¡± His mother pushed him away and then, with herst ounces of strength, forced a smile. As the mes evaporated her tears, she uttered, ¡°Live well, okay? Take care¡­¡±

    When the mes almost consumed him, too, when the sting of the mes registered, and when the mental anguish gnawed at his soul, he finally summoned a golden dragon that swept the fire away, resulting in an explosion with him at the epicentre. Hisst home and his second home both disappeared in an instant.

    He strolled out from the inferno with an expression on his dustden as empty as his heart. He was akin to broken crystal, nice on the eyes but dangerously sharp. That was what the worshippers wanted to see. In that moment, the faith that had almost faded returned and peaked. They believed their misery would finally turn into bliss. Howbeit, their fantasy ended there for the golden energy indiscriminately obliterated everything in its path. Every time he took a step, another dozen corpses would be left. He just continued putting one foot in front of the next without sparing anyone any attention or disying any emotion, yet everyone who saw him would think he was a titan from heaven. He didn¡¯t dare how many corpses he created on his way out of town. That night, he cemented the legends and vanished from the witnesses.

    The entire town was ughtered to censor all information on him after that night. The believers who left the town prior to the extermination became the first people to spread the story and its only witnesses. Those who controlled the spread of information spared no pains to ensure the story was told. In no time at all, the existence of an authentic god in the Western Regions became the hottest topic they all celebrated. They saw value in their faith again when they saw a miracle and had confirmation of its authenticity. Nevertheless, nobody realised the significance of the fire nor did they care about the three-year-old boy lost in the sandy, treacherous Western Regions.

    The boy had lost too much before he could understand the concepts of losing and had having stolen. Following the first few years of his departure, he grew up alongside the animals in the forests up on the mountains. He didn¡¯t have any problems because the animals feared him. Unlike the foolish humans who had an appetite too big for their heads to satisfy, animals could discern what made him special. They didn¡¯t conceal their hostility or dislike for him, wouldn¡¯t harm him or do what humans did, so he didn¡¯t feel apprehensive around them. Whenever he showed up, the animals would automatically make way for him and avert their gazes.

    Being as smart as he was, he constantly contemted about himself. He never forgot his past experiences, all of them from the moment he was born, even if he couldn¡¯t understand them. Even the shape of the clouds he saw out the window remained vivid in his mind. He didn¡¯t forget the firstdy to hold him, which was their neighbour, almost dropped him. He remembered every moment with his mother and every look she ever wore. He never forgot how his father rushed over to catch him and crashed into the cupboard in the process. He was still a fan of his father¡¯s hair that resembled the warm sunlight on his bed. He was aware that none of his family and their family friends were around. He remembered the songs his mother sung every night during their three years together, the games he yed with the other kids, the daughter of the terrible cksmith bullying him and the nod he gave her when she said she¡¯d marry him when they were older. He was aware they were no more. He was aware he was the only survivor. Notwithstanding all the vivid memories, he was unable to understand what happened.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As he grew in height, so did his hair grow in length and his physical strength. Additionally, he gradually learnt to control the golden energy. After several years, he returned to a human town. He definitely looked the part of someone living in a jungle when he first entered a small town. Nevertheless, he quickly learnt their way of living and speaking. He remembered everything said, how to start conversations and how to spend money. After seeing people exchange animal fur and bones for money, he followed suit and earnt a decent living.

    The town life was indescribably moreplex than life on the mountains, but he let himself go with the flow for he wanted to blend into theplex world. He sought the knowledge to understand what the pain he felt when he watched his father leave meant, what his mother¡¯s final words meant.

    The three years he spent at the town to be one of the rich residents were three very important years in his history. Business was the activity that allowed him to collect the most experience possible, which motivated him to choose the route. He got to know a lot of people, worked an abundance of jobs and visited a variety of ces.

    Upon turning twelve, he had an epiphany andprehended all the emotions he had experienced. That moment gave birth to the demon that spread mayhem across all seven states of the Western Regions.

 Book 14: Chapter 139

    I Shall Bless You (Part 2)

    Just over two years ago, a young man going by the name ¡°Endian Mora¡± opened Mora Pharmacy at the end of the busiest street in Bn Town. Pretty much the only thing to do in the area was to shop, and there was never a day where it wasn¡¯t bustling. Bn Town wasn¡¯t capable of serving two shopping districts simultaneously at the time.

    Merchants sold jewellery, clothing and other varieties of items in the heart of the town, so that was where the best goods were found. In second ce was the big market, where you could find an assortment of items women loved, as well as toys, snacks, glossy-red apples and piping-hot bread that children drooled over. While the end of the street was quiet inparison, it was far from being deste.

    Pharmacies were a dime a dozen in the Western Regions; you could find several in every town. It was a necessary facility for doctors and priests to serve every poption, after all. Generally speaking, though, it was usually impossible to open a clinic in a bustling spot because patients didn¡¯t usually go directly to pharmacies but to priests. Well-off merchants would see doctors. Pharmacies made meagre earnings. Therefore, they often had side hustles to stay afloat. It was easy to see why it was hard to profit from a pharmacy located in the heart of a city or town. Mora Pharmacy was an exception, however.

    Mora Pharmacy always stocked rare items people never thought of or would never use, yet they piqued a lot of people¡¯s interest. For example, the tail of a blood scorpion was extremely valuable as a medicinal ingredient that could cure internal injuries, but it was so rare for ordinary folks to even chance upon once, let alone be able to afford it. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t stop people from visiting to expand their horizons.

    Although Mora Pharmacy didn¡¯t have thergest customer base, it was a handsomely profitable business endeavour thanks to the rare herbal ingredients Endian found. He was able to obtain ingredients one would have to scale treacherous cliffs for with ease, so he had even more than the shrine had even if ounting for their reserves. Then there were the other things, such as blood scorpions¡¯ shells, that he sold off to wealthy families that just wanted to unt their wealth. Thus, he was able to pay half a year of rent in a single transaction.

    Endian initially considered the life of a hunter since he developed familiarity with the line of work during his time in the wild. However, when it came time to hunt, he realised he didn¡¯t have it in him to harm the animals. Despite him being the feared one during his life on the mountain, he enjoyed theirpany. As a hunter, he¡¯d have to hunt down the animals that he needed and sell their remains. He didn¡¯t understand the emotion that dissuaded him from going through with it, but he was d when he forewent the thought. He cherished the pivotal moment for he believed it was the key to unlocking the mystery of ¡°emotion¡±, so he engaged in retrospection for days. Unfortunately, he returned to his old self following the decision.

    Thanks to the pharmacy, Endian had the opportunity to meet a lot of people, all of whom he viewed as learning opportunities. It took no time for him to master the arts of deceit and bat¡±. He effortlessly reversed the roles on a child-trafficking mob to sell the mob to ve traders. When the mob realised they had been fooled, they angrily approached Endian. That day, he learnt that fighting was something simr to ying with animals, except it was a naughtier version. In the aftermath, the four crooks with missing teeth and broken legs walked themselves to the ve trader¡¯s home and begged him to take them in. The event acted as a free lesson to the rest of the townsfolk to not mess with Endian. In turn, people had another reason to visit his pharmacy, and the wealthy merchants were even happier to hand over their money to bask in the glory of being his associate, which boosted their name.

    Not too long after, Endian grew bored again. Business boomed, and his wealth continued to grow, yet he grew increasingly lost. He stopped learning. The surprising feeling in his chest whenever he met people stopped triggering; he lost interest in interactions. Sadly, he couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was or the reason behind it. If he could¡¯ve forgotten past events, then he would¡¯ve conceded to the peaceful of a pharmacy owner. He just couldn¡¯t ept it when he faced the animals, though, because he was still curious about what ¡°emotions¡± were.

    The ten-year-old boy picked up a shiny golden coin that had the power to make anyone tense. The coin he exchanged twelve wolf heads for was enough for his old neighbour to pay all of his annual expenses. As he rubbed his thumb over the round, cold object that people were willing to trade their most precious belongings for, he ruminated on its meaning, but ¡°transaction¡± was the only reasonable word he coulde up for. People with a lot of the coins would force those with lesser coins to sell their belongings to them. People with a lot of coins didn¡¯t have a lot of coins to begin with, but they could obtain them. Those who didn¡¯t have a lot of coins could obtain coins through the process. It seemed to be a process where two parties willingly exchanged objects.

    He heard people would sell their ancestors¡¯ belongings for the small circr object, only to then look as if the wind could blow them over once they got their hands on the coins. Some children were battered when they refused to let go of their parents trying to trade them for coins, and their hands would be a bloody mess by the time they were taken away. It was tamepared to the bloodiness of a hunt, yet the scene was more exasperating than hunting. If it was also a ¡°transaction¡±, then why were transactions at his pharmacy different? Wasn¡¯t it a situation where both parties voluntarily exchanged property? Why did one person look more aggressive and disgusted, while the other looked happier?

    He asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you voluntarily sell her?¡±

    One person yelled back, ¡°Voluntarily?! Who¡¯d voluntarily sell their daughter?!¡±

    ¡°Why did you sell her, then?¡±

    ¡°Because we¡¯d starve otherwise. They already bought everything we have from us and pay us next to nothing. I toil tirelessly every day, yet we¡¯re still going to starve to death. What other choice do I have?¡±

    Endian stared at the coin in his hand, but he didn¡¯t receive any epiphanies. Luckily, he had other ways of understanding people. Aside from selling pharmaceutical products, he also sold things that didn¡¯t rake in money and took a lot of effort on his part. On one asion, he spent three days constructing a rooster out of iron sheets and wooden blocks. He also made a ¡°Swift Dog Bone 2.0¡± that ran faster than a dog. Version 1.0 costed him quite a bit of gun powder and iron, but version 2.0 had better longevity since he didn¡¯t use as much gun powder. There was no price tag on them, so when kids wanted them, instead of asking for money, he said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll trade it for your most valued possession.¡± In that way, he obtained a plethora of valuable items.

    Endian had a chest of valuables that included a slingshot Kawa made, a flower wreath Saiawei made, clothes Miss A-Fei made him, a pretty stone Ker picked up by ake¡­ Every kid was reluctant, ready to cry when they looked at the blonde young boy smirking. They¡¯d think and think before eventually passing over their prized possession reluctantly. It was simr to selling, except it wasn¡¯t. He treated every item with respect, remembered every face and every scene where he received the items. For some reason, they put a smile on his face, and he¡¯d enjoy a nice dream every night he added another item to the chest.

    The worst cksmith in his hometown was the one he learnt the method from. The method for making the toys, the trade idea, the crossed-arms plus smirk expression and the prank-like setting were all things he copied from the cksmith. The difference was that Endian wanted to get in contact with the human heart, while the cksmith did business that way. Endian worked out why the cksmith was universally considered the worst cksmith after he did the same thing. No business-minded individual would forsake a profitable market to make toys for kids or other bizarre toys that didn¡¯t sell. When people looked to buy from him, he was either too busy or was asleep. If Mora was still alive and found out Endian copied him, he¡¯d have probably forced Endian to marry his daughter.

    By the next year, Endian had grown a little taller, richer and familiar with the townsfolk. With that said, Pig Lord ¨C as they referred to him due to his idiocy and appearance resembling a pig ¨C a man who had nothing but fat for brains and no respect for anyone.

    The majority of people Endian was close to were children, some a year or two older than him and some the same age of him. Either way, they were predominately the children who filled his treasure chest.

    Among the children he was close to was a girl whose frequent visits eventually became her virtually parking there. Although Jie¡¯er was born the same year as Endian, she never explicated which month she was born. Nheless, she always referred to him as ¡°Brother Endian¡± as if he was older than her. She wasn¡¯t a belle ¨C and even had freckles ¨C but her big eyes reminded Endian of a deer three months¡¯ old. She didn¡¯t think it was cute, but the way she always held up her skirt to prevent it catching filth was pretty cute. She¡¯d often rub her skirt so roughly that he¡¯d worry she¡¯d start a fire with her head down and, in a soft voice, say, ¡°Brother Endian, I¡­ don¡¯t know this word¡­¡±

    Jie¡¯er was different to the other kids. She wasn¡¯t really keen on the toys ¨C and obviously not the pharmaceutical ingredients ¨C but she had a soft spot for books. Literate families were the minority in the Western Regions. Besides affiliated members of Divine Moon Cult or children from wealthy families, the majority were close to illiterate. It didn¡¯t help that books were expensive in the Western Regions.

    Endian had quite a collection of books at his store for the sake of expanding his knowledge of the world. Since he never forgot anything that he¡¯d seen or experienced, books were a quick source of permanent information for him, so building literacy was a simple matter. The first time Jie¡¯er saw books at his ce, she was so enamoured that she started visiting his store multiple times daily. Whenever the blonde owner spoke to her, she¡¯d hide her rosy cheeks and walk away, only to return the next day. After three months of avoiding him, she finally found the courage to seek out his help.

    Endian, smiling, replied, ¡°I¡¯ll trade it for your most precious belonging.¡±

    Jie¡¯er cut a section of her hair off for Endian, earning her the right to practically live at the store.

    When he was afforded free time, Endian taught Jie¡¯er how to read. She didn¡¯t learn fast; however, she was earnest about studying. With time, she was able to read a script.

    At twelve years old, Endian was already taller than some adults. He had to bend down to reach Jie¡¯er¡¯s ear and then asked, ¡°¡°Which one?¡±

    ¡°This one¡­¡± Jie¡¯er would¡¯ve shut the book if it didn¡¯t defeat the purpose of studying.

    ¡°Oh, not bad.¡±

    While Jie¡¯er almost shut her eyes, Endian took a look at the swirly archaic word with intrigue. Jie¡¯er was somewhat disappointed that he didn¡¯t spare her a nce, but that fact shocked her. Worried that her nervousness was detectable, she gripped her skirt with her free hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a word. It¡¯s an archaic symbol. In your opinion, what does it resemble?¡±

    The boy who wanted to learn about human emotions had no clue he missed on a valuable opportunity to learn more about the topic.

    Jie¡¯er tried to refocus her attention on the book. ¡°Mm¡­ a flower.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Well done. It was a symbol of love in the old days. Love and flowers were thematically connected, so it¡¯s unsurprising for it to mean love.¡±

    ¡°Love¡­¡± Jie¡¯er stole a nce at Endian¡¯s face.

    Endian had the long face of someone who recalled some bad memory. She noticed that, though he was approachable and friendly with everyone, he seemed to have some resentment bottled up. Whenever she looked into his eyes, she felt a faint urge to cry. The long face of his was one that rubbed off on her and made her feel sad. Due to his reaction, she made up her mind.

    ¡°Are you leaving already?¡±

    ¡°Uhm!¡± For once, Jie¡¯er nodded without hesitation. ¡°I will be back tomorrow, Brother Endian. Y-you have to wait for me, okay?¡±

    Notwithstanding his puzzlement, Endian nodded and saw her off with a smile.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Endian waited untilte at night the next day, but Jie¡¯er never dropped by. He didn¡¯t see her for two weeks straight. Hence, he went and asked around. Upon learning what happened, he returned home and closed shop for a day. For once, he didn¡¯t realise he was home until a long time after the fact.

    Jie¡¯er¡¯s parents made a ¡°transaction¡±. They sold all of their sheep a while ago for the small golden circles. Her family was poor, and their financial situation had continued to deteriorate. They didn¡¯t do anything wrong, and their transactions looked mutual, but their tireless toiling didn¡¯t reduce their debt. They had sold their home and anything else they could to repay their debt. This time, they sold their daughter to Pig Lord as a concubine to reduce half of their debt.

    The next time Endian saw Jie¡¯er, it was not long before she was scheduled to be married. She was dressed in the best clothes he had ever seen her wear when he saw her standing at the door to his store. She had a depressing aura to her that she shouldn¡¯t have had at her age. The only thing about her that hadn¡¯t changed was her smile. That day, he experienced not remembering what she said to him, not remembering things for the first time in his life. He only remembered her putting a scrunched sheet of paper into his hand, taking a few steps back and then, coyly smiling, expressed, ¡°Brother Endian, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going now.¡± The taciturn girl¡¯s eyes seemed to be able to convey messages that day.

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Endian stood in ce for a long time after Jie¡¯er left, mindpletely nk. It took him a while to remember he had a sheet of paper in his hand.

    There were her tears dropped onto the sheet while she wrote it. Pig Lord didn¡¯t live far away, so it wasn¡¯t as if it¡¯d have been hard to visit her. Besides, death wasn¡¯t doing them apart. Her parents paid off a chunk of their debt, so their burden was reduced. Pig Lord had plenty of books that she could read. The problem got added to the problem of the golden coins that he couldn¡¯tprehend. He couldn¡¯t figure out why he couldn¡¯t figure out the problem when everything was correct? He even stashed the sheet of paper at the bottom of his treasure chest, not daring to read it.

    Life continued on. Business grew even more. The toys gained poprity even in the neighbouring town. Life wasn¡¯t bad. The only thing missing was Jie¡¯er¡¯spany.

    An adult told Endian, ¡°Have some alcohol and have a dream.¡±

    Dreams were a foreign concept to Endian as he everything he wanted to see and didn¡¯t want to see always existed in his mind, yet he fell in love with alcohol after experiencing the wild dreams that didn¡¯t make any sense. He didn¡¯t feel he made any mistakes even though he saw Jie¡¯er cry in his dreams and heard her plea him because she didn¡¯t want to marry someone else, but he could neverprehend their significance.

    One day, Endian heard Pig Lord had abused Jie¡¯er to death. He fell down into the dumps in an instant. The only reason he was able to get back on his feet was the sheet of paper. After waking from his daze, he violently rummaged through his treasure chest for the sheet of paper with squiggly text.

    ¡°Brother Endian, thank you for teaching me to read and write. This is my first letter. I wanted to write my first letter to you. Thank you for always taking care of me. I have to get married. I don¡¯t actually want to marry him. I think I will reject the marriage, but I may die if I do. It¡¯s okay, though. I¡¯m not scared. I will tell him that I¡¯ve always had someone in my heart.

    ¡°Brother Endian, I¡¯m actually older than you by four months, you know? I don¡¯t want to tell you that because I like calling you Brother Endian. I am the only daughter in my family. I¡¯ve always wanted an older brother. I¡¯d be the elder sister if I told you I¡¯m older. Please don¡¯t hate me for that.

    ¡°Brother Endian, I know you¡¯re heart broken. You must¡¯ve suffered a lot in the past. Don¡¯t be so sad. If you have time, spare me a thought. I¡­¡±

    The only other bit on the sheet was a swirly flower symbol.

    Endian had another dream, where everything in the world¡¯s was misced in reverse, but the dream was more real than real life. She was there behind his rear that he didn¡¯t pay attention to, smiling coyly. When he woke from his dream, his pillow was wet. ¡°Emotion¡± was a concept that he had felt and understood long ago, but it was toote.

    Mora Pharmacy closed its doors permanently. Jie¡¯er¡¯s parents moved far away to settle down at a new ce after receiving a big sum of money. Pig Lord¡¯s head was hung at the top of his city. On the town wall was a symbol nobody could decipher drawn on using blood.

    The symbol was a correspondence, a letter, that could never reach the person it was meant to be for. It wasn¡¯t dedicated to a god. It was dedicated to a girl. It was from Endian Mora to Jie¡¯er.

    It was also a deration of war.

    Not a deration of Endian Mora to Pig Lord.

    It was God¡¯s deration to the world.

    Glossary

    Endian Mora ¨C ¡°En¡± in ¡°Endian¡± is pronounced like ¡°Urn¡±. It means ¡°Blessing¡±.

 Book 14: Chapter 140

    I Shall Bless You (Part 3)

    Pig Lord¡¯s death caused a massive stir. Territorial lords were high-ranking people in the Western Regions. Territorial lords who were nobility were practically monarchs of a small state. They collected tax, collected supplies, raised their own militaries and could pass down all their privileges in the family. As stupid as Pig Lord was, he was a Duke, a rtive of the royal family.

    Numerous territorial lords raised their rms before the monarchs flew off the handle, strengthening their security. It was the first time in ages that someone had dared to openly challenge the authority of nobles; not even Divine Moon Cult would challenge nobles so brazenly in spite of Pig Lord¡¯s disgusting behaviour and idiocy. Only thew, three cardinal guides and five constant virtues in the feudal ethical code were the most important for the territorial lords¡¯ glory.

    Citizens of the various cities were uneasy due to armoured mercenaries flocking to the cities. The lords spent copious sums without an end date in sight, yet none of their apprehensions came to be.

    Pig Lord¡¯s demise was a big shock, but it passed quickly. The monarch returned to his indulgent lifestyle after realising his rage didn¡¯t have much impact. The lords started to mock Pig Lord¡¯s assassin for being a wuss after their panic settled, and they started assuming one of his concubines got lucky and managed to assassinate him out of spite. Then, their conversations started taking a lustful turn and filled withughs as if the real culprit never existed. They never cared who died or who was alive as long as they weren¡¯t affected. They all forgot about the bloody symbol on the wall.

    A new lord was assigned to the town, and the mercenaries who flocked there moved to other ces in search of new clients. It took less than two months for the entire event to die down as if it never happened. The only noticeable change was that Jie¡¯er¡¯s family no longer resided there, and Mora Pharmacy was gone.

    One day, a twelve-year-old boy showed up at Devil Den, a gathering spot horseback bandits used. They were a group of people who turned to banditry due to circumstances, descendants of bandits, or people who lived proper lives during the day and bandits at night. Horseback bandits didn¡¯t use sheer power tomit crimes. Instead, they relied on a drop-and-go style. After raiding cities, they¡¯d flee hundreds of miles into the desert where nobody resided, and they¡¯d vanish before militaries or religious groups could reach them.

    If the military chased them, the soldiers would either perish in the desert or be taken down once they were fatigued from their travelling. The bloody historic events taught their nemeses that the best strategy against them was to guard against them before they could strike. In other words, develop a patrol system, and deployrge forces to deter them. At the same time, they had to redirect the bandits to another target.

    Since the bandits were statistically sessful, their arrogance grew, but nobody dared to search for their den in the desert.

    Due to the bandits¡¯ unique nature, it was umon for them to coborate or even speak. Despite them sharing different affiliations, though, they had a ce to convene to contact each other.

    Horseback bandits employed mobile attrition tactics inbat and usedbat as a means of training. When they went out on jobs, they ransacked cities and towns for supplies rather than bringing their own along. That made it easier to deal with any pursuers, but those in their industry patronized them. Horseback bandits seldom followed carefully-crafted ns ¨C and carefully-crafted ns tended to turn out for the worst. They usually decided on jobs without much thought, but that frequently resulted in them finding out other bandits also had their eyes on the same target when they arrived. Such encounters were typically destructive. Why would a bunch of bandits out for money call it quits just because they ran into a hassle or two? They didn¡¯t even fear the religions and royal family, let alone another bunch of horseback bandits. Their solution to the problem was primitive but effective ¨C violence. However, a consequence of the approach was that the loser would be badly damaged, while the victor wouldn¡¯t have time to replenish their supplies before fleeing. As a consequence, the military often managed to catch and destroy them. Once it became a recurrent problem, the bandits decided it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a word with other groups before making a move. That was where Devil Den entered the picture.

    The heads of the gangs would meet up at the secret hideout that the military had been unable to locate. The only certain knowledge about the hideout was that it wasn¡¯t fixed, was hard for ordinary men to reach and that the bandits could flee at the drop of the hat. The heads met up there to discuss their uing ns for the future months and years so that they could ensure nobody stepped on anyone¡¯s toes. Naturally, dividends were divided based on power. They were people who used violence to have their ways. Plus, none of them could pige the entirety of the Western Regions alone. Thus, virtually none of them had any issue with splitting in ordance with power.

    Twenty-seven leaders gathered at Devil Den that day and had determined there was no need for another meeting for the next two years, so everyone was supposed to go their own way in a few days. Never did they expect a runt to scoff and mock, ¡°I thought bandits were supposed to be some fearsome folks, but you¡¯re all just a short-sighted bunch of hooligans.¡±

    The leaders were ready to show their hare feet upon hearing him, but the blonde teenager managed to stop them. The fact that he managed to sneak in without anyone detecting him until he spoke up was a testament to his skill. There were multiple paths to exit the stone cavern, but humiliation wasn¡¯t the worst oue. Losing their heads without knowing why would¡¯ve made them walking punch lines, yet they halted in their tracks.

    He didn¡¯t move or say anything after he ¡°introduced¡± himself. Instead, he tossed some stuff to the ground that drew all eyes to the objects. They all recognised the golden glow even though the sound might¡¯ve been foreign. He picked up a golden bowl that rolled down to his foot to examine. The level of gold purity in the items and the number of items was enough to motivate people to kill. One item after another dropped to the ground as though it was raining gold. He shed all that wealth purely for an opportunity to speak to them. Having learnt to understand humans, he had also learnt how to motivate humans to take actions he wanted them to take.

    The small coins could be traded for a lot of things and could mislead people into believing they voluntarily made purchases. As for the source of his wealth, he obtained it the same way the bandits did. Prior to tearing Pig Lord¡¯s head off, he looted all of Pig Lord¡¯s wealth, leaving thetter¡¯s sessor with nothing more than an empty city.

    He mocked the twenty-seven leaders for being ipetent, being unambitious and short-sighted in one breath. Once they were ready to draw their weapons, he presented them with a map disying the location of the biggest treasure trove in the Western Regions ¨C Divine Moon Cult¡¯s hidden stash.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Every single one of you will be able to live lives of luxury if you could get your hands on the stuff here. It all depends on whether your leaders are willing to take it or not. I have limits as only one man, so I can¡¯t trigger the entry mechanism. With enough people, I can.¡±

    Every resident of the Western Regions was aware that 70% of the seven states¡¯ wealth was in the hands of the cult, while only 30% was in the hands of the people. Every literate individual was affiliated with Divine Moon Cult. Every wealthy family, every noble, every member of royalty believed in Divine Moon Cult. One only needed to take one nce at the golden city to end all debates on Divine Moon Cult¡¯s prosperity.

    The bandits were fully aware of the fact because, as daring as they were, they only ever dared to steal from the 30%. Even if their brains were dead, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to touch the other 70% with a 10-foot pole. They were able to survive for so long as they remained between the conflicts between the religions and royal family. If they convinced Divine Moon Cult to look their way, they¡¯d have been toast in moments. Was it surprising, then, that they were shaken when they saw a map of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s treasure trove? The fact that he had his hands on something so valuable also cemented his abilities.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re cowardly dunces. You don¡¯t have to believe me. We¡¯ll have a chance to meet again.¡± After unleashing his verbal barrage, he left them with the stash.

    Every demon who saw Endian bragged about the rarity and value of the items he left as well as the map that guaranteed a life of luxury. The leaders were sure that Endian was plotting something, so they prohibited discussions on the topic. Problem was, they were never a disciplined group to begin with, so there was no censorship, and the information reached every corner of the Western Regions.

    He appeared again two yearster at Devil Den. Instead of meeting with twenty-seventy bandits, however, he met with one hundred and thirty-six bandits. Suffice to say, not every bandit group participated in the meetings at Devil Den, but there were undoubtedly multiple times more. He showed up as suddenly as his first visit and never exchanged a word with anyone. He opened his blue eyes and asked, ¡°Gentlemen, are you ready to enjoy the riches with me?¡±

    Nobody wanted to wait for another two years, so they unanimously responded supportively.

    Endian was a man of action. He led the bandits into the bandit without much rification and eventually found the legendary ruins of Divine Moon Cult. There were many contraptions built into the ruins, so it was true that there were quaint items belonging to Divine Moon Cult in there, except there were no valuables.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re greedy,¡± Endian suddenly remarked to the terrified leaders. ¡°No matter what you threaten greedy people with, they won¡¯t make anypromises, but a treasure trove that doesn¡¯t exist will motivate them to travel to the end of the world. I couldn¡¯t capture all of you even if I was ten times stronger than I am now, but haven¡¯t you all gathered up before me? You think you can escape?¡±

    Unless the difference between ¡°subduing¡± and ¡°killing¡± didn¡¯t matter, then Endian subdued them without even using his hands.

    Despite a hundred and thirty-six groups losing their leaders overnight, they didn¡¯t disband. Instead, they assembled before the young man sitting on the throne in the ruins no differently to vassals assembling before their ruler.

    ¡°We are bandits. It is in our nature to pige. We are supposed to be bloodthirsty lions, wolves and tigers; not dogs and cats. Why are we waiting to be fed? Why are we hoping for a stable life? I have already removed the foolish heads. Bandits ought to steal. They ought to use their teeth and bones to get their prey in their mouths.¡±

    He spoke in a gentle voice, yet their souls were set alight. One of them asked, ¡°Who is the target?¡±

    With a smile, Endian replied, ¡°That, of course, would be the biggest sheep.¡±

    In under three years, Endian assembled practically all of the bandits in the Western Regions and initiated thergest and most violent robbery in the history of the seven states. The bandits attacked civilians, vandalised property and violently robbed the masses, but they suddenly seemed harmlesspared to Endian.

    In their first raid, they raided three shrines at night, taking all items, money and lives, then set them aze. The blood of every shrine member formed a swirly moon on the ground outside the shrine. Not even the boldest of people dared to challenge the cult during their lowest period to that extent.

    The cult responded with haste and tenacity that made all the statements about bandits being hard to locate nothing more than myths. As long as they could capture the bandits, all the disturbances would be nothing more than mere words. The cult had the most talent, the most informants and people who could traverse the deepest parts of the desert that others couldn¡¯t. Their informants wouldn¡¯t miss if the bandits tried to run. Therefore, the cult had more experience than anyone and was more qualified than anyone to capture the bandits. s, the bandits didn¡¯t flee. Instead, their new leader led them on a counterattack expedition.

    The rag-tag group of bandits that were usually only good for bullying innocent civilians had the cult baffled. The bandits coordinated their actions and showed no fear in battle. Their superior numbers on top of that gave them another advantage. While the bandits suffered quite the number of casualties after a month of fighting, they were able to wipe out the cult¡¯s forces. The only belongings of the cult that made it back to their city were the bloody heads of the twelve priests dispatched.

    The royal families were shaken up the most following the event. They had never dared to oppose the cult no matter how much enmity they harboured. For a long time, the cult overlooked the bandits so that they could disturb the peace. Needless to say, the cult was furious about the ¡°betrayal¡±. Though the royal family members didn¡¯t discuss the matter, they all offered the new bandit leader an olive branch explicitly and inexplicitly, hinting they wouldn¡¯t deploy troops to oppose the cult. In other words, the government wouldn¡¯t stand in their way and would help.

    Naturally, the one conflict that the cult and the state monarchs couldn¡¯te to a middle ground on was the distribution of authority. Who¡¯d allow another to overstep their authority? Regardless of what shape the world was in, the two factions constantlypeted to be the ultimate authority. It was particrly important for the royal families as the cult leader of the generation bossed around the royal families based on his whims. Cult leader Ximen once publicly bashed Lizhe¡¯s monarch. If it wasn¡¯t for his position, the monarch would¡¯ve burnt down the shrine before the bandits did. Hence, the cult deploying a second force to exterminate the bandits promptly was expected.

    Even though the cult had just been smashed, they were able to pull together an elite squad, which included heavily-armoured cavalry, numbering over three thousand in no time at all. If they needed, the seven states could¡¯ve put together another army or two of the same calibre, but only Divine Moon Cult had the ability to pull one together as if nothing happened in such a short time frame.

    Since the bandits received gestures of friendship from the monarchs, they were on cloud nine. After all, those were prideful monarchs who were now backing them. As such, the second sh was pivotal for them. They had never been willing to risk their lives, but the opportunity spurred them on.

    Endian continued tomand the bandits with equanimity. In one battle, he appeared in a quiet camp, walked through a hail of arrows without a scratch and beheaded the enemy cavalrymander, crushing the enemy forces¡¯ morale. In the second battle, the victor was decided in a mere three months. Having said that, both parties came out with lots of casualties.

    From the bandits¡¯ perspective, they had raided over a dozen shrines, killed innumerable troops of Divine Moon Cult, walked off with a huge paycheque, survived the vengeance of the cult and sessfully hidden themselves away in the desert, so they didn¡¯t see it as failure no their part. From the cult¡¯s perspective, they had finally forced the bandits into their own turf. Neither side acknowledged their failures, but they both failed to realise that they had recognised each other as equallypetitivepetition. If anything, the biggest gain was that the bandits no longer viewed the cult as untouchable; the best proof of the fact was that the monarchs had expressed friendship a second time.

    The bandits didn¡¯t manage to destroy the cult¡¯s forces; however, they had proven themselves a force to be reckoned with in the Western Regions. When they asked their leader if they should ept the olive branches, Endian chortled and agreed to grant the seven envoys an audience. The meeting started the same way he met with the bandit leaders ¨C a promising start and headless end. On the same day, he mobilised a force into the heart of Lizhe, burning any shrines on the way and charging into any military camps he passed. Had he not encountered the neighbouring state¡¯s backup forces, he would¡¯ve ughtered his way into the royal pce of Lizhe to spank their monarch. They gained an abundance out of it, but it was an awfully short-sighted decision because he simultaneously triggered Divine Moon Cult and the states. It was only then that the bandits realised their new leader was a mad man.

    Endian always targeted territorial lords, monarchs, the militaries, Divine Moon Cult¡­ Basically, the less he was supposed to challenge them, the more he challenged them. The consequences of his actions were written on the wall ¨C fast. They had lost members at an rming rate; their rate of recruitment wasn¡¯t remotely close to their rate of loss. Their leader hadn¡¯t shown any care for their lives in spite of the worrisome problem. Instead, he had continued to rob the seven states with reckless abandon. They never noticed that, though they were getting richer and richer, they were losing more and more members, as well. Compared to prior to Endian¡¯s leadership, they were less than 25% of their prior size. No faction could continue fighting the way they had been fighting.

    When the bandits questioned their leader, he responded, ¡°Are your lives valuable? Why wouldn¡¯t you risk them?¡± His gaze was innocent, yet he pushed them towards hell again.

    Henceforth, Endian adopted a more low-profile attitude whilst doing his utmost to reduce the number of bandits. One day, a rather unique guest paid him a visit. Ximen Chuideng piqued his interest in humans again.

 Book 14: Chapter 141

    I Shall Bless You (Part 4)

    Thanks to being blessed with a photographic memory, extra-sensitive senses and brighter mind than the ordinary person, Endian could get a vivid visual of a scratch on a tile a hundred metres away with a quick nce, and he could distinctively hear the sounds of a bird pping its wings even if he didn¡¯t focus on it. In addition, he discovered his immense might and unbelievable speed during his time at Bn Town. In recent years, he discovered he gained new abilities. Additionally, the distance he could see clearly and his hearing radius had continued to increase. He initially thought they were just a part of growing up until he discovered they weren¡¯t.

    Endian¡¯s advancements were basically mutations by the world¡¯s standards. Without looking or listening, he was able to vividly sense people approaching; it wasn¡¯t a sensation he could just block out. Hence, he was able to sense everyone¡¯s movements within five hundred metres. How they walked, what they carried, the functioning inside their bodies and even the expressions they wore. Although it seemed as though what he heard and saw were veiled in a thinyer or ck and white and details weren¡¯t as detailed as if he was directly viewing or listening, nothing could stop him from seeing and hearing. After researching further, he learnt that what he sensed was people¡¯s qi.

    Once vision and hearing developed to a certain point, one was able to perceive the most subtle movements. They could sense the flow of oxygen in the air with their eyes shut to draw deductions as if the atmosphere was their eyes. Endian was able to go even further, sensing people¡¯s qi on top of motions.

    Endian could identify different qis without needing to look or listen. When his developing eyes and ears supported his qi detector, he could perceive things as if he was staring directly at them. When the flow changed, he could tell what environment was the impetus for the change and even sense the change in the stillness was. In Buddhism, they called it Skyeye Path. In the Western Regions¡¯ old records, Skyeye path was a miracle they referred to as ¡°Hearing the sound of all life¡±. Endian was unable to determine if he used his ears or eyes to perceive the things.

    The huge influx of information was the biggest headache for those who unlocked Skyeye Path; not even assiduous training over a long period guaranteed they could sort out the ocean of information. Endian was an exception as he had an ability the empowered him to sort it out. Over time, he was able to rece his eyes and ears with the ability for everyday life. At one point in time, he tried sensing different qis as a form of entertainment. In a way, it was a great training method because being able to distinguish different qis essentially meant being able to get a glimpse at part of one¡¯s true nature.

    Those who had slow-flowing qi were honest and warm people who adopted a calm approach. Those who had frigid qi killed people without batting an eye, and there were always some of them among those who opposedws and regtions. Some people had warm qi as warm as their personalities, but some of them were able to achieve big things. Qi could change just as people could change. Endian liked to deduce one¡¯s personality from their qi and then called them over to check if he was right or wrong with his eyes and questions. What he considered a game was nothing short of a miracle to others. The miracle scared the living daylights out of the bandits summoned. When their smiling leader gestured for them to leave, they walked off without daring to take a breath.

    Endian, waiting for his guest in his chair deep in the ruins, almost jumped to his feet when he sensed Ximen Chuideng. Ximen Chuideng was different to everyone Endian had ever met. Ximen Chuideng just casually strolled in, yet Endian could only describe the qi he sensed as an unstoppable ocean wave. When Ximen Chuideng entered the pce, Endian could onlypare himself to a candle in the wind when juxtaposed against Ximen Chuideng. It was his first time feeling he was lucky to have even survived; it was the first time he saw a drawback to Skyeye Path, as well. Had his golden energy not instinctively illuminated him as a form of armour, he would¡¯ve lost hisposure. Only once Ximen Chuideng sat down did Endian return from the dimension of doomsday.

    Some people couldn¡¯t be read easily. They were the warriors who had defined themselves through countless fights with their life on the line. It would¡¯ve been insulting if a measuring skill one was born with could measure such warriors. Frankly, it was quite stupid to think it was possible.

    Ximen Chuideng had a look as frank as his crimson eyes. Even though his silk robe must¡¯ve been customised for him, it looked out of ce on him ¨C not in a derogatory sense. His hair and beard were left unkempt, and he sported dirty straw sandals, when his robe was clearly meant to be for someone wealthy.

    Once seated, the man a head taller than Endian dusted his shoulders and chuckled heartily. Endian expected a handshake and then a violent confrontation when he finally met the mightiest man in the Western Regions. He had imagined how his fight with Ximen Chuideng would y out numerous times since he assumed thetter could¡¯ve been hisst opponent. Instead, he got mmy hands and felt his cold sweat warning him to not act rashly. He was dead certain that the hands Ximen Chuideng dusted his shoulders with were lethal weapons.

    For a moment, Endian was sure that Ximen Chuideng would¡¯ve shattered the chair when he sat down. He first thought that Ximen Chuideng was the true definition of being without equal, but then he soon realised that Ximen Chuideng was actually more reckless than himself. If Endian was born the chosen one, then Ximen Chuideng built himself into the ultimate being in the human realm.

    It was typical for visitors to bring Endian gifts to get in his good graces. In the short time he had been alive, he would¡¯ve had more than he could¡¯ve spent in a lifetime if he added up all the gifts, except he gave all of them to his subordinates. Instead of bringing expensive gifts, though, Ximen Chuideng only brought a big wine jug almost higher than himself.

    ¡°If I don¡¯t flipping drink with you, I¡¯d have flipping lived a flipping life in vain, hahaha.¡± Ximen Chuideng knocked the cork out and filled up two big bowls with strong alcohol.

    After three back-to-back drinks, Endian questioned, ¡°What are you here for?¡±

    Endian¡¯s tone made it sound as though he was saying, ¡°Since you knocked on my door, don¡¯t cry when I meet you with closed fists,¡± which was a tone he rarely used. After all, why else would the toughest man in the Western Regions approach the young man who¡¯d been creating mayhem in the Western Regions? That was why Endian did some reading beforehand ¨C his idea of preparing for a fight. When they finally met, however, Endian realised he wasn¡¯t Ximen Chuideng¡¯s match; Endian was sure he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away even if he tried.

    Endian was gifted with abilities some would never attain and talent that people would kill for. Howbeit, he never trained in martial arts. He was aware of the existence of martial arts, but he hadn¡¯t met anyone who could match him, so he didn¡¯t know how to improve, resulting in slowed progress. The inability to identify how to improve troubled Endian for a long time. Ximen Chuideng¡¯s appearance enlightened him to where his weakness was ¨C ack of martial arts training.

    ¡°No answer?¡± Even though Endian didn¡¯t fear death, he didn¡¯t want to die without knowing why he had to die.

    Ximen Chuideng wiped his mouth, then, in a sonorous voice, asked, ¡°You pitted the bandits, shrines and military against each other so that they¡¯d all suffer, correct?¡±

    Pleased with the silent response, Ximen Chuideng pped himself on the thigh. ¡°Hahahaha, I knew it. Those dunces still don¡¯t believe me. Now they all owe me a drink.¡± He then licked his lips, savouring the taste still lingering.

    There was a dime a dozen of crooks at Bn Town who behaved the same way Ximen Chuideng did, except they weren¡¯t Ximen Chuideng. Hence, Endian crossed his arms, vigntly leaned back a tad and frowned. ¡°What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Aren¡¯t you going to avenge all the people I killed?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, there was that.¡± Ximen Chuideng palmed himself on the head as though he actually forgot about it. He subsequently filled up another two bowls.

    Despite not nning to drink, Endian saw a threatening gaze, prompting him to have another three drinks.

    ¡°Those priests have been on my nerves for a long time. To hell with them. As for those shrines, they¡¯re constantly painting weird stuff and pushing gods and Buddhas; they spout lies without anything to support their nonsense. Now that they¡¯ve been burnt, we get a bit of aesthetics. I quite like the flower you draw. At least it makes me feel better.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Gods and Buddhas?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it. It¡¯s understandable you don¡¯t know about them. I just describe it that way all the time, so I say it by default. I¡¯m not actually from the Western Regions.¡±

    Endian expected an abstract or confusing answer. Seeing as Ximen Chuideng was so frank, Endian no longer cared if he was listening to a secret or not.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I was born in the Central in. My name is from the Central in, too. Don¡¯t you find it hard to pronounce?¡±

    The possibility never crossed Endian¡¯s mind as he had never been to the Central in. As for it being hard to pronounce, that was just one of Ximen Chuideng¡¯s running gags. Who in their right mind in the seven states would dare to address him by his name?

    Wagging a hand, Ximen Chuideng continued, ¡°Hahaha, my old man brought me here when I was thirteen. Everyone looked down on me when I first arrive and called me names, but I became the flipping ruler of the Western Regions¡¯ cult. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a strange world we live in?¡±

    Ximen Chuidengughed as he continued pping his thigh smugly. Probably nobody would¡¯ve had their wits about them if they were listening and watching him.

    Ximen Chuideng continued sharing his backstory without caring for whether Endian was listening or not. Ximen Chuideng¡¯s father was a high-ranking member of Divine Moon Cult, while his mother was from the northern region of the Central in. Owing to the years he spent growing up in the Central in, he was quite different to people who were born and bred in the Western Regions. Tobat the severe bullying, he trained to return the favour. After he dished out several beatings, both cult factions sent emissaries to recruit him. He ended up choosing to join Dark Moon Faction based on his preference for their alcohol. By coincidence, the leader of that era left them, so he was somehow instated as the new leader.

    There was no doubt that there was plenty of bloodshed on the way up, but Ximen Chuideng made it sound as if he smoothly rose to leadership by luck. It sounded as though none of the machinations that targeted him ever traumatised him. He made his recount of his fights engaging, only hesitating when he mentioned the death of his brothers during a period of upheaval. Still, he just wiped his eyes and changed the topic as if he was a kid.

    After a few more drinks, Endian started to speak more, too. They had barely just met for two hours, but he felt Ximen Chuideng was trustworthy, the sort of man that the Central ins defined as a true man.

    Ximen Chuideng, unwilling to believe Endian¡¯s story, betted ten grilledmbs until he actually heard the details, at which point, it was convincing since it was so detailed. It wasn¡¯t until their conversation that XImen Chuideng believed in the Divine Realm abilities.

    ¡°Good job!¡± praised Ximen Chuideng, mming the stone table when he heard how Endian executed Pig Lord. He didn¡¯t damage the table, but Endian felt the entire ruin quake. ¡°I always said those pricks are a bunch of crooks. They always y the goodie two shoes in front of me, but they¡¯re crooks behind my back. If I knew he was doing that sort of stuff, I¡¯d have torn his head off before you.¡±

    Despite how long Ximen Chuideng had taken over as leader of the cult, his tasks were actually a foreign topic to him. In fact, the new members who joined knew better than him. He had significantly moreints about the religion than things he agreed on them with. Whenever he saw the priests, he wanted to walk the other way. If there weren¡¯t mandatory tasks that he had to personally take care of, he would¡¯ve handballed everything off. Even then, he avoided jobs until it was impossible to avoid. He was aware of the turmoil in the Western Regions. Unfortunately, there was only so much that he could do.

    Divine Moon Cult, having ruled for a millennium, had an extremely thick book of rules that were basically shackles to Ximen Chuideng. Hence, notwithstanding all the things he took issue with, he couldn¡¯t just beat them up. He couldn¡¯t match the priests at the debate table, either. The crooks of among the Elders were the worst. If one of them wasn¡¯t also a fire expert, he could¡¯ve roasted a few of them the time he stealthily tried to burn them.

    The cult leader¡¯s schedule was packed. The leader could mobilise the cult¡¯s forces at will to expand the cult¡¯s influence, but they couldn¡¯t dip their hands in established entities, such as the Elders or the religious pricks of the golden city. For that reason, Ximen Chuideng did his best to keep those within reach in ce, namely the seven monarchs of the seven states. The seven he selected were constantly summoned for education. Ximen Chuideng was basically illiterate, and he couldn¡¯t use martial arts to get his point across, which was a pain in the neck, but he did educate them. In summary, he stressed the importance of keeping their underlings in line, not letting them harm the people and telling their underlings to watch their own underlings. They were touched and praised him for having a heart of gold, which he was proud about. Nheless, there was no telling how they performed back in their own states. Consequently, he summoned them whenever there was the slightest sign of trouble. As a result of getting involved with the states¡¯ affairs, the cult indirectly got involved with the power struggle for authority.

    Ximen Chuideng knocked back a full bowl of wine. ¡°When the buttface ruler of Lizhe got a maid pregnant and then tried to abandon her, I had him captured and bashed him in front of his vassals. Had he forced her to get an abortion, I would¡¯ve given him hell.¡±

    That was a shortened version. Following the beating, Ximen Chuideng ordered the King to marry the maid and to treat her the same way he would a consort. Unsurprisingly, the vassals objected until he red and rolled up his sleeves. Divine Moon Cult wasn¡¯t the state religion of Lizhe. Lotus Cult was. Was it surprising, then, that Divine Moon Cult earned the ire of many? The maid went on to be Empress Dowager, and her son inherited leadership. Both of them were grateful to Ximen Chuideng, so they eliminated all the corrupt vassals and did their best to serve their people.

    Endian just smiled as he listened. Regardless of what he or anyone said, Jie¡¯er wouldn¡¯te back.

 Book 14: Chapter 142

    I Shall Bless You (Part 5)

    Ximen Chuideng virtually rolled around in his chairughing as he listened to how Endian intimidated the bandits into working for him.

    ¡°You should check out the Central in when you have time.¡± Ximen Chuideng burped twice after more drinks. While his face didn¡¯t go red, he was evidently somewhat tipsy. ¡°They have an interested ce.¡±

    ¡°What ce?¡±

    ¡°The martial world.¡±

    Reviewing what he had read in books, Endian asked, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it. Is it in Hangzhou?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Endian furrowed his brows. ¡°In Jiangnan?¡±

    ¡°Jiangnan? No, but yes.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Beiping?¡±

    ¡°Beiping? No, but yes.¡±

    At that point, Endian was almost ready to switch topics. ¡°Where is it, then?¡±

    Ximen Chuideng wagged his foot. ¡°Nowhere, but everywhere.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Does that mean ¡®martial world¡¯ is a specific location for martial artists?¡±

    ¡°You can interpret it however you fancy.¡± Ximen Chuideng knocked back another bowl.

    ¡°Does the Western Regions not have one?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it does; maybe it doesn¡¯t. I think there is, but there are plenty of times where it doesn¡¯t exist if you ask me.¡±

    Endian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll check it out if I have the opportunity. Who should I pay attention to?¡±

    ¡°Besides one person, everyone else is fine.¡±

    ¡°Besides who?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll never shake his hand!¡±

    The two of them spent three days drinking, but they finished the giant jug Ximen Chuideng brought on the first day, so the next day was spent drinking alcohol that Endian¡¯s subordinates had to fetch them. Regardless of what alcohol was served up, they drank without hesitation. By the third night, there were empty jugs and pots strewn everywhere in the pce.

    Endian mindlessly tossed an empty pot onto the ground before thest one he tossed had finished spinning, shattering them together. ¡°Why don¡¯t you conquer all of the Western Regions? The Western Regions might see better days with you at the helm.¡±

    ¡°Maybe. What if I¡¯m no longer at the helm?¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s not my problem. I stay in myne and you in yours. Perhaps we¡¯ll meet on a battlefield one day. Don¡¯t feel bitter when that timees.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, bloody cocky runt. You think you¡¯re my match?¡±

    ¡°Just because I might not be today, it doesn¡¯t mean I never will be.¡±

    ¡°That certainly is possible,¡± Ximen Chuideng responded in a low voice, rubbing his beard with his eyes squinted. Before Endian could figure out what Ximen Chuideng¡¯s answer referred to, Ximen Chuideng said, ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯ll be taking you with me today.¡±

    Endian frowned, unaware that Ximen Chuideng had always been someone who acted on whims even if his decision turned out wrong. More often than not, though, his impulsive actions produced unexpected results.

    With an upward curve at the corners of his lips, Ximen Chuideng expanded, ¡°Aren¡¯t they looking for God? I¡¯ll bring one back for them. Don¡¯t you want to be a menace? I¡¯ll give you a tform to be a catastrophic menace.¡±

    Dayster, Ximen Chuideng had arrived with Endian at the most important golden city for Divine Moon Cult ¨C Aiajianan. All the seniors, the Elders and believers who worshipped Divine Moon Cult¡¯s gods were found at the city. The golden buildings were symbols of their cult¡¯s honour and glory. The ruler of the city didn¡¯t have to listen to the cult leader if thetter vited the cult¡¯s policies.

    Despite being the cult leader, they were at the mercy of the cult¡¯s policies. If it weren¡¯t for the policies, Lord San Shen¡¯s faction could¡¯ve punished even the cult leader. That was the reason Zero¡¯s group didn¡¯t fear the cult leader until Ximen Chuideng brought Lord San Shen back. The veterans didn¡¯t understand. Even though the menace who had been robbing the seven states was Lord San Shen, Ximen Chuideng¡¯s timing was terrible. They had made hundreds of attempts to bring in Lord San Shen, except they weren¡¯t capable enough for any attempt to seed.

    Thest thing anyone expected was for the cult leader and Lord San Shen to stand by side. Every cult leader had the authority to unite and govern everyone. While Ximen Chuideng didn¡¯t exhibit any holy behaviours or traits, he had certainly proven he had the power part down better than any previous cult leader. Two faction leaders and three Great Guardians serving under the cult leader was rare ¨C very rare. On top of that, he was able to find the ck Lotus Envoy, who was supposed to be nigh impossible to find. As such, Ximen Chuideng¡¯s Divine Moon Cult became the strongest version of Divine Moon in centuries. Of course, that also meant that spreading their teachings was easier than ever. Everything was fine except for the fact that Ximen Chuideng wanted to involve himself in the mundane world.

    Even the blind could see that Ximen Chuideng had no desire for authority, but he was displeased with the priests representing the shrines. He was a pragmatic man and acted primarily based on how he felt, which made him the least ideal man to govern the cult. If the cult operated based solely under his leadership, it might¡¯ve copsed during his reign. Nheless, the argument didn¡¯t shake the opposing faction. Bishop Akatuo, notwithstanding being as important as Ximen Chuideng and living high up in the golden city, had started digging himself an escape tunnel from the day Ximen Chuideng came into power. If Ximen Chuideng wanted to publicly spank him, he¡¯d have been at the former¡¯s mercy.

    The only effective weapon Bishop Akatuo¡¯s faction had was the cult¡¯s policies. The teachings could¡¯ve been interpreted a myriad of different ways and had a plethora of contradictions that Ximen Chuideng didn¡¯t want to touch with a ten-foot pole. As it was the foundation of Divine Moon Cult, however, not even the cult leader could modify it, or the cult would crumble. Thus, it was Ximen Chuideng¡¯s Achilles. Ximen Chuideng had no respect for the cult and would¡¯ve happily set the ¡°pricks¡± on fire, but he wouldn¡¯t do anything that brought harm to his brothers.

    Divine Moon Cult wasn¡¯t a religion or system to protect authority to Ximen Chuideng. He viewed it as an entity that he and his brothers went to hell and back to protect. In saying that, the entity was always secondary to his brothers who went to hell and back with him. Zhuxing Wuchang, Bai Tianbin and so on were the sincerest followers of Divine Moon Cult in Ximen Chuideng¡¯s eyes.

    Ximen Chuideng¡¯s best strength was also his weakness. Although it was where he was weakest, it wasn¡¯t something one could crack with hard attacks. Instead, reasonably restricting his options was effective. For a long time, being able to restrict him was the opposing faction¡¯s means of protecting their power. s, Ximen Chuideng smashed their weapon apart when he brought back Lord San Shen.

    The policies and teachings that they relied on didn¡¯t apply to God. Even if they wanted to object, Zero had already dropped onto his knees and called Endian ¡°God¡±. Lord San Shen¡¯s representative couldn¡¯t be wrong. What could they have done at that point?

    ¡°I recognise you,¡± Endian remarked to Zero with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re the one who set fire first.¡±

    The ecstatic bishop stole a quick nce at Endian. Despite seeing a smile, the sharp bishop saw a ck spark. Because of the strong vengeful aura, he paid extra attention, bringing to his attention that Endian and Ximen Chuideng were simr in a way. Ximen Chuideng was an unpredictable person who had no qualms shedding blood, but he had beliefs nobody could make him diverge from. He had clear desires, but he was never a ve to his desires. Such an individual was impossible to make use off. Bishop Akatuo recognised his good days were over the moment he saw Ximen Chuideng. In contrast, Endian was the manifestation of hatred. Endian¡¯s desire was simple, but it required an ocean of blood and mountain of corpses to fulfil, making him the ideal candidate to use. If Zero¡¯s rule couldn¡¯t be questioned, who¡¯d question Lord San Shen?

    As soon as Zero recognised Endian as Lord San Shen, nobody else dared to sing a different tune. Endian subsequently moved onto the throne of the golden city and enjoyed the worship of thousands. Meanwhile, the bishop¡¯s faction started preparing to pit Ximen Chuideng and Lord San Shen against each other.

    God had an insatiable desire to wreak havoc. If they could manipte it and make him lose his way, Ximen Chuideng would have to pay the price for it one day. All they had to do was wait for said day. It was clever; however, they made one miscalction ¨C ¡°they¡± included both factions. Endian and Ximen Chuideng weren¡¯t on the same trajectory.

    Ximen Chuideng wanted Endian to teach the corrupt pricks a lesson ¨C a simple and effective strategy. Bishop Akatuo¡¯s faction¡¯s strategy was a roundabout method, but it was clever. The problem was that both of them forgot Endian never wanted to be God. He just wanted to be a menace, to shed blood. His aim wasn¡¯t to fill a void; he purely believed it to be a price that had to be paid. Outside of the golden pce, the bandits were his de for plundering the world. Inside the golden walls, he got an even bigger weaponpared to the bandits to hack the world. Ximen Chuideng spent three days chatting with him, but the former never understood thetter. Nobody could.

    Every time he closed his eyes, Endian relived the deaths of his father, mother and Jie¡¯er. The inferno and crescent flower were as vivid as the first time he saw them. He wanted more power, and martial arts was one vehicle. In addition to the authority he was granted, he needed martial prowess. He had already identified an obstacle in his way that he couldn¡¯t ovee without elevating his martial arts ¨C Ximen Chuideng. Unless he could surpass Ximen Chuideng, all of his goals were consigned to his sleep hours.

    While he had his subordinates carry out all sorts of ridiculous ¡°divine¡± orders, Endian spent his time marinating in martial arts. He didn¡¯t overlook any details whether it was theory or implementation. He hadmitted the cult¡¯s ¡°Agni Twelve Heavens¡± and ¡°Freedom Manual¡± to memory; however, he didn¡¯t practice them since he didn¡¯t think spending a year on them couldpare to the decade Ximen Chuideng spent on them. Hence, he ced his hopes on the one discipline nobody could decipher or dare to learn ¨C Spring Wind Rainy Night Art. s, after reading through it once, he realised that, like Ximen Chuideng, he wouldn¡¯t be able to master it, either.

    Ximen Chuideng couldn¡¯t understand the artwork, but he had both factions¡¯ knowledge, so he was able to learn a portion of the theory that ordinary people couldn¡¯t. In spite of being only a portion that generations managed to collect and even went crazy for, it was sufficient for Ximen Chuideng to reign supreme. Endian imprinted the artwork into his mind and could trante it into words for a fuller picture. Therefore, he was able to go further in it than Ximen Chuideng, but that tiny bit further was his limit. He knew he hit his limit when his golden energy turned into jet-ck energy.

    Endian believed ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡± was a key to a domain. The closer one edged towards the domain, the more power they gained. He gained the power, too, but the quick nce¡¯s time delivered more energy into him than he could house. As long as he spent enough time digesting the power, he had the quality to rival Ximen Chuideng. Unfortunately, that was the maximum extent he could achieve, let alone exploring it. The world inside the artwork was an indistinguishable haze without borders. Endian tried to look around, but there was nothing to see.

    The dimension seemed to house all entities, except nothing was in its expected form. That was the nature of Chaos. Everything existed, but nothing had been distinguished. ordingly, the rules of all things in existence didn¡¯t apply in the dimension without order. Anyone who spent too long in there would lose their mind. Realising that, Endian only took what he could handle. Just because God could understand what he saw, it didn¡¯t mean he could master it. It was a trap designed to prevent people from pursuing power outside of their league. Because Endian realised that, he didn¡¯t go mad.

    Once Endian obtained the incredible power, there was nothing left to stop him. Mass murder was just the start. He had no pity to speak of. All those involved in the death of his parents and Jie¡¯er all suffered at his hands before he turned his attention to Ximen Chuideng. City administrators who didn¡¯t pay him tributes paid with their lives. As sure as night followed day, bodies were left littered in the wild daily. The people who once believed they were untouchable in the Western Regions were dragged out and roasted in the sun.

    In a matter of years, the golden city started to be called a city of sins. Endian did nearly everything he wanted. Divine Moon Cult, influential figures and bandits were all subjected to violent rituals. Perhaps they didn¡¯t feel remorse even in theirst moments, but Endian didn¡¯t care. He just wanted them to pay for their wrongs.

    Endian continued to wait for a warrior brave enough to challenge him once he backed them up against the figurative wall from his throne. Having achieved all his goals, he was just waiting for death to release him from his anguish. At longst, the challenger he waited for arrived.

    ¡°I came to kill you,¡± asserted the white-haired youth armed with a jet-ck de.

    Without further exnation, the white-haired youth chopped down the golden pce. They called Endian a menace, but his challenger, who was supposed to end the menace, was even more ominous. The only thing that didn¡¯t crumble as the battle raged on were Endian¡¯s ck and golden energies.

    Endian recognised the discipline the white-haired youth utilised, but he was still surprised to see someone not affiliated with the cult using it. There was no mistake his challenger used ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡±. Originally assuming he was Ximen Chuideng¡¯s closed-door disciple or someone Bishop Akatuo dispatched, Endian soon realised neither of them could¡¯ve raised such a monster. Endian should¡¯ve grasped more of Spring Wind Rainy Night Art than anyone alive, and nobody else should¡¯ve been able toprehend the artwork more than Ximen Chuideng if their name wasn¡¯t Endian, yet it was an irrefutable fact that the white-haired youth had a better grasp of it than him. His red eyes were proof that he opened them from Chaos and proof that he returned from Chaos.

    Nobody had any grounds to say they could beat the first person to master ¡°Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡± in history, not even God.

    Upon waking up, Endian couldn¡¯t believe he was still alive.

    ¡°Ptoo! Ptoo, ptoo! Flipping Ximen Chuideng, what happened to being invincible after I mastered it?! My back hurts like crazy after mastering it¡­ Toss this Lord Whatever guy, too. Motherflipper didn¡¯t pull no punches.¡±

    After hearing theints, Endian felt every muscle in his body unable to obey hismands and hurting enough to question if that was how imminent death felt. Knowledge Path was the only reason that rified he wasn¡¯t dead. He tried to make some noise to attract the victor¡¯s attention so that he could be finished off ¨C and maybe with an insult.

    ¡°I can¡¯t kill you. I¡¯m spent.¡± The white-haired youth stretched his arms out overhead. ¡°Killing you takes too much effort. Even if you¡¯ve expended 99% of your energy, if you squeeze out thatst 1% to protect yourself, I¡¯ll have to take down a few more buildings to kill you. Just quit so that we can both be done with our jobs. Man, you don¡¯t even have a bench here? Far out.¡±

    Watching the white-haired youth fumble through the ruins for a bench as if it was the most urgent matter at hand, Endian queried, ¡°I¡¯ve killed so many people¡­ Why aren¡¯t you killing me?¡±

    ¡°Did you kill my family? Why is it my business, then?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that, in the future, I will¡­¡±

    ¡°Will what? Can you beat me?¡± The white-haired youth effortlessly kicked over a stack of rubble, covering the sky in dust. Meanwhile, the rubble toppled over another building before it stopped. He dragged out the throne that Endian had used as his signature seat for years, picked up his ck weapon, slouched into it and exhaled relief. Looking down from above, he said, ¡°You¡¯re an odd one. You¡¯re like a caged prisoner, yet you don¡¯t want to free yourself.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ did youe here for?¡±

    The white-haired youth shrugged. ¡°Ximen Chuideng said some young guy is on the wrong path, so he wanted me to kill him. I tried to kill you, but I failed. No lie, there aren¡¯t many people who can survive if I want to kill them. Why are you trapping yourself when not even death can bind you?¡±

    Once he dozed off on the throne, the white-haired youth yelled, ¡°Pork shoulders! Mine!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Why are you trapping yourself when not even death can bind you?¡± was a question that struck a chord in Endian¡¯s heart. From childhood, he had been fixated on doing something for histe parents and Jie¡¯er, aiming to end the story with his demise. The warrior who slew him was supposed to usher in a brighter future for the Western Regions, one he wasn¡¯t able to imagine. After a reflecting for a long time, he cracked a bitter smile.

    Not even the death god wants me, huh?

    Though it was fleeting, he saw more possibilities than he had ever seen in his mind. As he mused over what to do since he couldn¡¯t die, he sumbed to fatigue and had another dream.

    Mora Pharmacy was the cksmith¡¯s neighbour. The crackling furnace in the pharmacy provided some warmth for the town stuck in the winter season. Jie¡¯er was reading whilst he and Mora¡¯s bossy daughter were trading toys with other kids. Meanwhile, his mother was sewing a thin carpet for the winter, while his father returned home after a long day at work.

    Rubbing his heavy eyes as he rose from his slumber, the white-haired youth voiced, ¡°Okay, okay, I can¡¯t kill you, so I¡¯m out of here. What spell did you cast on this chair? It¡¯s toofortable. I can¡¯t even feel any soreness anymore.¡±

    ¡°You can have it if you want.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I like the sound of that. Getting a chair whilst getting to fight is¡­ What are you doing?¡± The white-haired youth sat up in a hurry. ¡°Hey! What are you kneeling to me for?! Qingming Festival is tomorrow! What are you bowing your head to me for?¡±

    ¡°Name¡­ Give me a name.¡±

    ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t have a name?¡±

    ¡°I do, but he¡¯s dead¡­ I want to live for myself from now. Please give me a name.¡±

    The white-haired youth couldn¡¯t wrap his head around what it was all about. He wasn¡¯t even sure what name to give someone so strong. All the names that came to his mind were the likes of ¡°Zhu Basan¡±, ¡°Gou Niaohuang¡±, ¡°Chashao Si¡±. After a while of mulling, he pped his hands together. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a pretty cool name before. You said you¡¯re going to be a new you, right? That means you¡¯re starting from scratch, so this name fits you perfectly.¡± With a smile, he rhetorically asked, ¡°¡¯Zero¡¯ is a pretty good name, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Whenever Endian ¨C Zero ¨C recalled the scene, he always thought it was heaven¡¯s will, God¡¯s beacon for him, a beacon to give him another chance to choose.

    Zero bowed his head. ¡°Zero¡­ at your service.¡±

    Glossary

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s names ¨C The first one is a y on Zhu Bajie, the second is ¡°Dog Piss¡± and the third one is a y on ¡°Charsiu¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 143

    Art of War

    Thest thing Ming Feizhen expected back then was that their duel would turn him into Lord San Shen and the former Lord San Shen into Zero. No matter how one sliced it, Ximen Chuideng was the biggest winner in the deal. Thinking back on his sworn brother made Ming Feizhen have an urge to be frank.

    ¡°There have been too many surprises this year. I was lucky you were around in Nanjiang.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gewu came knocking after Ming Feizhen exhausted himself sending Pangu back to its slumber. Had Zero not arrived in time, Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve been done in. Ming Feizhen summoned Zero over before taking on Pangu because he expected to spent afterwards, except it all started earlier than he expected. If he had Zero¡¯s help against Pangu, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have been in such a pathetic state.

    Ming Feizhen took a hundred days to return to his peak after his fight against Zero, while Zero took half a year to recover. The duel was informative in the sense that Ming Feizhen learnt what the consequence of exhausting himself using Spring Wind Rainy Night Art would be. For all he knew, Zero might¡¯ve just been a fossilised Tianhu against Pangu, which would¡¯ve only became extra dead weight.

    Ming Feizhen shook his head with a smile. ¡°Thanks to you putting on a show with me for His Majesty, I¡¯m saved of suspicion in the future.¡±

    ¡°Your subject deserves death!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Your subjectid his hands on you and never had the opportunity to apologise. He has been living with anxiety. Sadly, ordinary weapons cannot hurt your subordinate. Baima¡¯s spear is a bit useful, but it had to be returned. Your subject has been searching for a weapon you could use to hack your subordinate with.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, I ordered you to do that. There¡¯s no need to punish you,¡± Ming Feizhen responded as he wagged his hand.

    ¡°That will not do! Your subject hurt you badly. How can th-¡±

    ¡°Zero.¡± Ming Feizhen switched to a serious expression. ¡°I said no punishment. Are you questioning me?¡±

    ¡°Your subject is grateful for your magnanimity.¡±

    Ming Feizhen had to speak in a serious tone because he knew that Zero was always serious about this sort of stuff. If he wasn¡¯t stern, Zero might¡¯ve gone somewhere secluded and cut himself, not that it would¡¯ve been anything serious considering Zero¡¯s abilities. Moreover, he was in need of abatant, so it was a stupid to diminish Zero¡¯s capacity.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t youe for the jade¡­?¡± queried Gongsun Chu, finally spotting an apt moment to speak.

    Zero took out the broken jade from his shirt. ¡°Why should I care about it? I came back for Master. This is just for fooling the moron.¡±

    Aforementioned moron was none other than Li Jingan.

    ¡°Why does Jingan want to kill me? I can¡¯t figure her out.¡±

    ¡°Well said, Master. If you cannot figure it out, how about we not waste our energy on trying to figure it out?¡±

    Knowing Zero was clever, Ming Feizhen questioned, ¡°You have a n?¡®

    Zero held his hands up in salute. ¡°How about we kill her first?¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± Ming Feizhen nearly fell out of his chair for a second. ¡°I have enough on my te. If you kill a Princess, I¡¯ll retire if His Majesty doesn¡¯t have wanted posters for me and a bounty avable internationally.¡±

    Zero stopped to think, nodded and then suggested, ¡°That is true. Your subject has been studying the imperial city¡¯s defence protocol in thest few years. How about we take out His Maj-¡±

    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop! How many people do you wanting after me! Hey, Gongsun Guy, don¡¯t listen to him! What are you looking disappointed for?!¡±

    ¡°Does that not mean you will have suffered for nothing, Master?¡±

    ¡°A little bit of suffering is nothing. If we follow your suggestion, we¡¯ll be so busy running that we¡¯ll have no time to enjoy pork shoulders or women. Don¡¯t kill them, okay?¡±

    Gongsun Chu was no longer sure how to feel as he knew that the suggestion was actually doable for the duo.

    ¡°Okay, so, Mr. Gongsun,¡± called Ming Feizhen. ¡°We made a bet, right?¡±

    Gongsun Chu simpered. ¡°Yes. So?¡±

    ¡°I just want to discuss the art of war with a veteran rebel.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°As mentioned in Sun Tzu¡¯s Art of, ¡®The highest form of generalship is to baulk the enemy¡¯s ns; the next is to prevent the junction of the enemy¡¯s forces; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.¡¯.¡±

    Gongsun Chu responded, ¡°The section from Sun Tzu¡¯s ¡®Art of War¡¯ ¨C Attack by Strategem states, ¡®The highest form of generalship is to baulk the enemy¡¯s ns; the next is to prevent the junction of the enemy¡¯s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy¡¯s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.¡¯ You missed one.¡±

    Zero narrowed his eyes.

    Ming Feizhenughed heartily. ¡°We brutes aren¡¯t educated. If I missed one, so be it. Neither of us are in top form today, so how about we have a strategy contest instead?¡±

    Gongsun Chu just smiled. It was stereotypical for Ming Feizhen to try to push for more gains when he had the upper hand, so it was clear he was after something, except it wasn¡¯t clear what it was.

    ¡°If you have no objections, let¡¯s start with ¡®baulk the enemy¡¯s ns¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Please go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Would you believe me if I told you I predicted we would meet tonight?¡±

    ¡°Why not? Your hobbies certainly are special, like sitting in a chair with a trap installed, trying to win against someone dangerous when you have no ess to your internal energy, and trying to control the board without lifting a finger?¡±

    ¡°The board? Mm, you speak to highly of me. The board has nothing to do with me, really. I never controlled anything. Plus, while it is a clever strategy, it is far from being extraordinary.¡±

    ¡°What makes it ordinary? Could you enlighten me, Duke Ming?¡±

    Ming Feizhen held his hands up in salute. ¡°There were two aims behind the strategy: craftily steal Nine Dragons Fire Jade and lure everyone away to assassinate His Majesty. Liaoliao had a good n, had the skills and the brains, but hecked judgement. He couldn¡¯t beat Shang Bieshi, yet he approached you. I bet he genuinely believed he¡¯d be able to kill you after he got his hands on Nine Dragons Fire Jade, never realising he was set up from the get-go. He thought he was clever, but he was no match for you.¡±

    ¡°Me? You tter me. I am no match for him. I was relying solely on Shitou; however, Shitou doesn¡¯t obey all my instructions. If he truly turned against me, there would be nothing I could do.¡±

    ¡°That is the contradiction, and he didn¡¯t even get it.¡± Ming Feizhen shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t benefit directly from His Majesty¡¯s death. You want to destroy Li Dynasty. Killing one Emperor will just open up space for another Emperor, but you¡¯re the only person alive who wants to restore the previous dynasty. How stupid would you have to be to risk your life with him, not to mention he had his intention to kill you afterwards on his sleeve? You just worked with him to release Shitou. Shitou was free to run once he was free. While Fiends¡¯ Genesis is history, the Seven Stars are still alive for the most part. The moron used all of Cold Mountain Temple as his bargaining chip, yet he thought he was getting a deal. He probably thought he was a genius for the idea, too. Uncle Jiyi really needs Buddha.¡±

    Gongsun Chuughed and then pped. ¡°You truly don¡¯t give yourself enough credit. That¡¯s an amazingly unscrupulous strategy you came up with.¡±

    ¡°I am just reciting your strategy.¡±

    ¡°True, true. In that case, would the n have worked without you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. A convoluted n to steal a valuable item and assassinate an Emperor, where the two masterminds are each harbouring their own agenda, seeding would take a miracle and a half. He went wrong from the moment he decided to count on you. Coveting the Nine Dragons Fire Jade on top of that was another mistake. If he wanted to seed, he needed to give up on one, which was either giving you the jade and taking His Majesty¡¯s head. That might¡¯ve worked out if you, Shitou, him and Silver Crow worked together. Obviously, that¡¯s a moot point if you ran into Zero.¡±

    ¡°To sum up, Tianhu is the reason for the n¡¯s failure, no?¡± Gongsun Chu stole a nce in Zero¡¯s direction. ¡°That does not qualify as strategy, does it?¡±

    ¡°Zero bodying you lot was pure coincidence. I knew you¡¯d be back after we went our own ways at the underground pce. That was why I had Zero return from Beiping right away. Jingan wanted to provoke Tianhu into killing me, and you thought it was ingenious. He was never far from me. He only went to confirm that my allies were safe and sound. Your encounter with him was bound to happen as long as you came after me. The fact that you didn¡¯t know who Zero was is proof that I¡¯m smarter than you.¡±

    The defeated gentleman shrugged it off. ¡°I have nothing to say. It is my loss.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t mind the insincere surrender. ¡°Since we¡¯ve concluded our ¡®baulk the enemy¡¯s ns¡¯ contest, let¡¯s move on to ¡®prevent the junction of the enemy¡¯s forces¡¯.¡±

    Gongsun Chu bobbed his head with a smile. ¡°That is even more interesting. What say you?¡±

    ¡°Remember we made a bet?¡°

    ¡°I do. I do. I did not say what would happen if I lost in thest bet, did I?¡±

    Ignoring the shamelessment, Ming Feizhen, wearing a small smile, demanded, ¡°Gongsun Chu,e serve me.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 144

    Prevent the Junction of the Enemy¡¯s Forces

    ¡°That is a very fascinating proposal.¡± Gongsun Chu folded his arms, assuming an ambivalent attitude. ¡°Are you serious, Duke Ming?¡±

    ¡°Dead serious.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m confused.¡±

    ¡°My ears are yours.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I have made numerous attempts on your life. Your magnanimity is admirable. That said, it is unbelievable for you to not harbour any grudges for it. Are you not afraid I would stab you in the back?¡±

    Ming Feizhen earnestly contemted and then shrugged. ¡°What if I told you I¡¯m not?¡±

    ¡°Why me, then?¡± Gongsun Chu remainedposed. ¡°What do you see in this one?¡±

    Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. ¡°You are testing me, but fine. I shall indulge you. Zero, pass it over.¡±

    Zero extended his hand and summoned a ck cudgel that had been scratched, then caught it at lightning speed.

    ¡°Where shall I start?¡± Ming Feizhen took Sacrificial Sage off Zero and knocked on the ground a few times with it as he thought. ¡°Got it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen kept dragging Sacrificial Sage along the ground despite the sparks and ck burns left on the ground. The small swordsman wearing a high hat resembled Confucius, so he didn¡¯t look remotely simr to Gongsun Chu, yet Gongsun Chu found himself speechless.

    ¡°You were born a scion of Gongsun n, a n of swordsman, and went on to lead the n. From a century ago, you have remained one of the world¡¯s three top swordsmen and one of the few great sages of Confucianism. You were established in the martial realm before my grandmaster. That was why you Daxia highly valued you and considered you one of their pirs that held up the dynasty alongside my grandmaster who was born into a family of generals.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s tone gave the impression he could match his words with the revered swordsman from a century ago. ¡°I heard you loved wearing white in that era. Have your tastes changed due to how long you¡¯ve spent away from the limelight?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for not referring to Daxia as ¡®the former dynasty¡¯,¡± expressed Gongsun Chu, following a think.

    ¡°You quickly rose through the ranks. On top of that, you wed a Princess. Before you knew it, you were the star of the whole world and had every top prize you could¡¯ve had. You were crowned the greatest martial artist at the age of thirty-two and had a Princess for a wife. You lived what thousands before, then and after considered a dream life.¡±

    Gongsun Chu cracked a bitter smile as he recalled the memories and juxtaposed it to the present. For some reason, Ming Feizhen was always able to stir Gongsun Chu emotionally with his words. Despite knowing Ming Feizhen took his belongings from the underground pce and knew more about his past than many others, Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t help feeling an emotional connection whenever he heard Ming Feizhen mention his past.

    ¡°I always wondered what sort of person Princess Pingan was.¡± Ming Feizhen took out the piece of jade that made Gongsun Chu lose his mind in the underground pce and lose their contest.

    Gongsun Chu always felt he was undeserving of Princess Pingan ¨C even when he presented her with the piece of jade. Those days, he never had free time even though they were newlyweds. He earned a nice sry, and Gongsun n was at its prime, but he spent all his daysbouring for the sake of the country. He was willing to sell even his home if it helped the country. Therefore, all he could afford to gift Princess Pingan was the cheap peace of jade, yet she kept it on her at all times, refusing to ever take it off.

    ¡°¡­ Where did you hide her?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when the time is right.¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°Fairness.¡± Face straight, Ming Feizhen borated, ¡°I see you as great talent, and I believe you consider me a human being. I hinged my life and future on the bet. I took a legitimate risk. Had you insisted on killing me, I would¡¯ve died before Zero arrived. How did you make it into a joke? I feel it is unfair you would flip the table after losing. If you do not add to your bet, you should at least see who cannot afford to lose, right?¡±

    Gongsun Chu adopted a stern gaze upon meeting Ming Feizhen¡¯s gaze. ¡°I appreciate the kind words, but I have made up my mind to only ever serve one person.¡±

    ¡°Daxia is gone and so its monarch.¡±

    ¡°Since the world is broken, it ought to be fixed!¡±

    ¡°I admire your spirit!¡± Ming Feizhen flicked up his thumb. ¡°In saying that, I don¡¯t want you to serve me as a vassal. I want to hire your services.¡±

    ¡°If I still refuse?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°Seeing as you consider Daxia, I take it you n to revive Daxia?¡±

    ¡°Asking the obvious is not a virtue.¡±

    ¡°Can you achieve that goal if you die here, though?¡±

    ¡°This is not preventing the junction of the enemy; it¡¯s tant ckmail, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Face reality. No matter what perspective you¡¯re evaluated from, you¡¯re a bad guy. Am I supposed to pour my heart out to you or something?¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°Join me. For the next twenty years, you are not to initiate any revolts.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard for Gongsun Chu to live for over another century, so waiting twenty more years was an easy request to fulfil. If he didn¡¯t agree, his chances of reviving Daxia would be zero on the spot.

    ¡°Are you saying you will spare me if I agree? Even my n to assassinate the Emperor will be swept under the rug?¡±

    ¡°Is it so hard to understand?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t stand to gain anything.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, but it¡¯ll make me feel better if nothing else.¡±

    ¡°¡­ One day, you¡¯ll regret this.¡±

    ¡°I know I will.¡± Ming Feizhen grinned. ¡°Killing you will be an even bigger regret, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Mayhap you will regret it sooner than you think.¡±

    A streak of fire in the sky parted the clouds and descended!

    ¡°I¡¯m raising the stakes.¡±

 Book 14: Chapter 145

    Mr. Gongsun

    ¡°Done.¡±

    Zero had sensed a familiar presence for a long time and knew the individual in question was nning to invade the capital. However, the individual had changed dramatically since then, so Zero didn¡¯t recognise it was his former subordinate ¨C the former Zero. When his erstwhile subordinate trained Spring Wind Rainy Night Art back then, he wrecked his own sanity, so him reaching Divine Realm was unexpected. Getting his hands on Nine Dragons Fire Jade took him up another rung.

    Gongsun Chu had a hand in bringing the former Zero to the Central in just as he had a hand in many other secret alliances and mercenaries he had gathered. Barely anyone outside of the cult knew the identity of the former Zero. Gongsun Chu heard Lord San Shen used to be a menace to the Western Regions before he was forced to fight numerous battles to make up for his mayhem. The convoluted tale roused Gongsun Chu¡¯s suspicion of Lord San Shen¡¯s actual identity. Upon learning Ming Feizhen was Lord San Shen, he mistakenly thought the Lord San Shen who held captive Aiajianan was the former Lord San Shen. ordingly, hemanded his subordinates in the Western Regions to release Lord San Shen no matter the cost. The mad believer sought only revenge and went on a rampage all the way to the Central in as Gongsun Chu desired. After hearing the results of the former Zero¡¯s fight against Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, Gongsun Chu believed that the former Zero woulde in useful for the operation tonight. He deliberately stalled Ming Feizhen to give the former Zero time to reach his destination.

    Zero, immediately catching on to Gongsun Chu¡¯s n through, raised a hand to eliminate Gongsun Chu before the situation spiralled out of control. Gongsun Chu was obviously prepared to be attacked, but he didn¡¯t expect Ming Feizhen to react so casually and quickly.

    Ming Feizhen, smiling, continued, ¡°Since you¡¯re raising the stakes, I¡¯ll raise mine, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What?¡±

    The sound of the former Zero¡¯s movement had risen to a point that ¡°fast¡± was no longer sufficient to describe his pace.

    ¡°If you win, Mr. Chu, you can have your way. I¡¯ll take His Majesty¡¯s head for you to use as a potty if that¡¯s what you demand. On the other hand, should I win, I¡¯m changing my demand.¡± Ming Feizhen stopped to think, then whacked his thigh. ¡°For as long as I¡¯m alive, you¡¯ll have to cease activities as a dissident.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°Considering your attainments, you will have a way to live longer than I will. Besides, who knows if Li Dynasty will still exist by then.¡±

    Gongsun Chu: What is he talking about? What is going on?

    A series of possibilities flitted through Gongsun Chu¡¯s mind as he gazed at the iprehensible man before him. Zero wasn¡¯t going to be able to multitask while fighting against his former subordinate, which would leave Ming Feizhen at Gongsun Chu¡¯s mercenary. As long as he could¡¯ve aplished that much, Gongsun Chu considered it a win.

    Concerned, Zero voiced, ¡°Master, if we do not kill him now, then¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised a hand. ¡°This is a bet between us. I shouldn¡¯t sabotage myself now, should I? He hasn¡¯t attacked, so I can¡¯t go back on my word and harm him. Plus, I need to prove myself to Mr. Chu.¡±

    Gongsun Chu pulled his brows together. ¡°Prove what?¡±

    Golden energy illuminated Taishu Hall, turning night into day. With his appearance somewhat obstructed, Ming Feizhen, ¡°A bet and hiding yourte wife¡¯s coffin isn¡¯t enough to make you submit. I need to make a point. I¡¯m saying this with my chest.¡± Ming Feizhen started doing shoulder circles as he continued, ¡°For as long as I¡¯m alive, none of your ns will seed.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°In other words, I¡¯ve expressed my sincere thoughts and ckmailed you. I have toplete the package, right? I have to ¡®besiege the walled cities¡¯.¡±

    The fire demon descended from the sky, bringing with it a fire that would inevitably set the opulent city aze. ¡°¡­ Scoundrel who caused God to fall! I¡¯m going t-¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ming Feizhen looked up at the crimson-eyed demon and asked.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Suddenly, the ¡°scoundrel¡± disappeared from the ground. Like a ck fiery dragon rising into the heavens, Sacrificial Sage soared vertically, parted the dark clouds and continued to increase the circumference of clear space, allowing the moonlight to shine through.

    The descending demon felt an ache in his head out of nowhere. The huge fire enveloping him split in two and ascended. He felt a sense of peace for the first time since childhood; it was as though all of the ghouls clinging to him departed. There were no more cries in his head, no more voices yelling at him to seek out blood and flesh, no more fire incinerating him. All that was left in the world was himself and a man with red eyes.

    It was the demon¡¯s first time seeing the white-haired man up close. He remembered how livid he felt when he watched the man cut down God, yet he no longer felt any hatred towards the man. In addition, he could smell blood and flesh, a stench he was supposed to most familiar with and found mostforting. His flesh armour shouldn¡¯t have had any smell anymore since the flesh was burnt, so who did it belong to? Himself? It wasn¡¯t until the next moment that he felt his body falling apart slowly. His flesh armour peeled off in grains as small as grains of sand. Bones dispersed and drifted off no differently to specks of dust. It happened so fast that he didn¡¯t feel anything; he only saw his body disintegrate. He didn¡¯t know what happened nor how, but he realised he was dying.

    Is this how death feels? Is it so peaceful?

    The demon exploded, parting the dark clouds even more.

    Ming Feizhen slowly descended back to the earth, his white hair flowing down onto his shoulders.

    Gongsun Chun: He¡­ killed a Divine Realm adept in one swing?!

    ¡°This is a quality cudgel. I wanted to see what a weapon Shang Bieshi forged would be like, and here we are. This is good stuff.¡± Ming Feizhen mindlessly threw the cudgel to Zero, but he carefully slipped the Nine Dragons Fire Jade into his shirt. ¡°This thing is worth a lot of money.¡±

    Despite its heat, Ming Feizhen treated the Nine Dragons Fire Jade as if it was a mantou or something.

    Zero brightly caught Sacrificial Surge, then heaved a breath of relief. ¡°Congrattions on your recovery, Master. Your subordinate was worried for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Only just now, to be honest. He was unlucky, and I was lucky.¡± Ming Feizhen turned to Gongsun Chu. ¡°Do you ept defeat now, Mr. Chu?¡±

    Gongsun Chu took a while to realise Ming Feizhen was speaking to him. ¡°¡­ You¡­ What¡­ sort of monster are you?¡±

    Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t hide his own anxiety. He thought Ming Feizhen was bluffing, but he now realised he was wrong for assuming so. He also realised his bigger mistake was making an enemy out someone who could thwart any ns he could design.

    Ming Feizhen strolled over to Gongsun Chu. ¡°Mr. Chu, I don¡¯t see you as an enemy after all you gave me. I betted with you today because I want to save your life.¡±

    ¡°Save me? When did I ever need your help? Should a man fail in his undertaking, death is the only option. Why do I need to be saved?¡± For the first time since being shocked, Gongsun Chu held his gaze against Ming Feizhen¡¯s red eyes without any backing down just as he never backed down when he was cornered.

    ¡°Princess Pingan.¡±

    In two words, Ming Feizhen extinguished Gongsun Chu¡¯s fire.

    Ming Feizhen held up a piece of jade. ¡°When I found this piece of jade, I found her with her hands together, kneeling on the ground. I have never seen someone die so indifferently before. She left in a peaceful state of mind, yet it seemed as though she was praying to heaven for something. I found this piece of jade in her hands. She¡¯s admirable. She entrusted this piece of jade to me, but she actually meant to entrust her husband to me. How can I deny the wish of the deceased? That¡¯s why I suggested a bet.¡±

    Gongsun Chu lost control of his tear ducts when he saw the jade piece. Even a centuryter, she saved his life once again without being present. He could hear her say, ¡°I just wish for you to be safe and sound. Can you promise me that?¡±

    ¡°The ce I am about to move to is basically darkness no matter where you go. I am no academic, sopleting business procedures is tough. As such, I had no choice but to seek help. No matter how I look at it, I believe you are the best man for the job.¡±

    Gongsun Chu made a small smile as he listened to the arrogance. After all, Ming Feizhen was asking one of Confucianism¡¯s most decorated sages to serve him in an assistant capacity. Gongsun Chu found Ming Feizhen an interesting character now.

    ¡°This world is out of ce, upside down. I remember you saying that more than once.¡± Ming Feizhen ced the piece of jade into Gongsun Chu¡¯s hand. ¡°The sky has always been the sky. The earth has always been the earth. Perhaps they¡¯ve changed and are changing every second, but they¡¯re never in reverse.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rose to his feet. ¡°How do you know if you haven¡¯t personally experienced this era and world?¡±

    Gongsun Chu looked up at Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°If you think the world is upside down, maybe you¡¯re just standing the wrong way up.¡± Ming Feizhen walked back over to Zero. ¡°I believe you can get away on your own legs? I won¡¯t keep you any longer. See you next time, Mr. Gongsun.¡±

    Note: Ming Feizhen switches back and forth between Mr. Gongsun and Mr. Chu. That¡¯s not inconsistency in trantion.

    Volume 14 END

 Book 15: Chapter 1

    Exam Papers. Taishu Hall.

    The secret passage still existed. Gongsun Chu still had his twenty-four bodyguards. There was nobody around in Taishu Hall who wanted to kill him. If anyone witnessed what took ce, they¡¯d realise that any tricks he might¡¯ve meant to try would¡¯ve been meaningless.

    Strolling ahead with a smile, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°I remember the two of us being unable to ess internal energy back then and having to fix up the city walls we destroyed. I would¡¯ve legged it if the food wasn¡¯t decent.¡±

    Luckily for the golden city that the two tore half apart, nobody from the seven states dared to make an enemy out of the city. On top of that, Ximen Chuideng sent envoys to protect it. Otherwise, there would¡¯ve been a furious mob of residents who lost their homes who would¡¯ve rioted. The two of them hid deep inside the pce while they were unable to defend themselves, chatting, ying go, fighting or fixing the walls. For Zero, who hadn¡¯t had friends in a long time, those were some of the brightest days of his life.

    Following behind Ming Feizhen, Zero smiled, too. ¡°It is only fair that we repair the damage we caused.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that.¡±

    Zero felt there was something weird about the reply, but he chose not to speak up.

    ¡°Zero, how long has it been since we¡¯ve had a proper conversation?¡±

    Zero silently stared at the back in front of him as he relived the days they pulled big stunts. Nobody expected Lord San Shen and his servant to lead a team of four across the seven states on an unstoppable run. Those days, the seven states knew a peace that was different to the violence back then that Lord San Shen implemented in the name of ¡°the war of repentance¡±; few people still linked it to Lord San Shen.

    ¡°Your subject is more than happy to share drinks with you.¡±

    ¡°All right. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, you¡¯ll have toe join me no matter where I am or you are.¡±

    ¡°Your subject will drink three extra jars if he fails to show up.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good!¡±

    They continued strolling happily until Ming Feizhen reached his destination.

    ¡°I¡¯ve arrived.¡± Ming Feizhen checked out the decimated section of Taishu Hall where Zero and Venerable Monk Jiyi faced off. ¡°Find it.¡±

    ¡°What are we looking for?¡±

    ¡°Paper.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ paper?¡±

    ¡°My exam paper! I mean, the paper someone wrote for me. The exam paper I¡¯m meant to submit. Understand now?¡±

    Part of being a good subordinate was not wasting one¡¯s superior¡¯s time, which meant being frank.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Look at what you and Venerable Monk Jiyi did to this ce. I¡¯m supposed to submit an exam paper!¡±

    ¡°Please forgive your subordinate for his ignorance, but the paper someone wrote for you is¡­¡±

    ¡°And you im to have unlocked Knowledge Path. This is the exam venue. Do you think I could pass it? What option do I have besides cheating? Cheating means having someone write on my behalf.¡±

    Zero nodded, then said, ¡°But the venue is¡­¡±

    The venue was constructed using poor materials and craftsmanship because His Majesty argued, ¡°The venue is used once every three years. Why would we need to use expensive materials? What happens if there¡¯s natural disaster, man-made disaster or invasion? Use cheap materials.¡± Venerable Monk Jiyi crushed buildings and buried examinees beneath stuff as a result. While injuries were inevitable, nobody died.

    ¡°Repair it. Restore the buildings, and then find my paper. Also, you have to treat all those your crushed.¡±

    Zero nced at the venue, then smiled. ¡°Do you not feel you are exaggerating? There is no reason to panic, is there? It is unlikely the examinees will wake up before dawn. The two of us will be more than enough to make it in time.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. A lot of them haven¡¯t finished writing their papers. Wouldn¡¯t it be suspicious if they were out until dawn? If there is suspicion of foul y and I have to resit the exam, I¡¯ll be annoyed. You have one hour to fix up this ce, heal them and find me my paper. Then, wake them up. As for me, I¡¯m going to eat Tangy-, drink some tea. I suggest you get cracking.¡±

    Zero took another look at the scenery and blinked. ¡°Master, your subject has no objections topleting the big job.¡±

    ¡°Then get started.¡±

    ¡°However, the guards should be on their way.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pped his eyelids. ¡°¡­ So?¡±

    ¡°If your subject does not intercept them, there will be no secret.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, it will have to be on you.¡± Zero took off straight away, looking back to affably remind, ¡°Remember: you only have one hour.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t forget about the hair wash with manure!¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 2

    A Mysterious Eighteen Years

    Ming Feizhen alternated between using Spring Wind Rainy Night to raise the walls, Tai Chi to return things to their original spots and Yijin Jing to fix items in ce without taking any breaks. He wasn¡¯t being ridiculously demanding when he only gave Zero an hour to restore the zone as he still had to wake up all the examinees afterwards to create a false impression that only a short while had passed by, so they¡¯d have enough time to finish their papers.

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t heartless. He already helped the examinees deal with the corrupt examiners, so why wouldn¡¯t he help them a second time? Why let a delusional monk waste the assiduous efforts of the young dreamers? Plus, he hadn¡¯t had the time to copy the paper He Shi promised to write for him! If all the boasting didn¡¯t match up with his performance, it was obvious how His Majesty would react. Was that a mistake he could afford to make?

    At the same time Ming Feizhen was busy restoring Taishu Hall, the fires outside the imperial city had somehow ceased. Long Zaitian¡¯s group did severalps of the city and were unable to find any new fires ¨C thankfully.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Bloody pricks, pissing off after they¡¯ve had their fun. What do they think the capital is? I¡¯m skinning the lot of you once I catch you,¡± cursed Long Zaitian, from atop his steed. Long Zaitian expected the enemies to go into hiding and waiting for a better opportunity to escape. Hence, he ordered his subordinates to arrest anyone suspicious regardless of who they were.

    Out of consideration of his identity, Song Ou had Zha Pi take care of the officials, nning to visit them afterwards when things had calmed down. When he started paying them visits, all of them greeted him brightly and weed him as an honoured guest. Little did he know Zha Pi had epted bribes, but he realised he¡¯d be harshly punished if any of Ming Feizhen¡¯s clique found out. Consequently, Zha Pi switched up and said he had evidence against over forty officials for acts of bribery. The framed officials begged him to not report them, so what were they meant to do when Song Ou showed up?

    Zero entered the pce as Tianhu and told the guards on duty that there were indeed intruders; however, he had made short work of them. Additionally, he told them that he¡¯d guard Taishu Hall for the night, so there was no need to assign guards there. Since his master was busy at Taishu Hall, he chose to go the person he believed would¡¯ve most likely chosen to enter the pce at this point in time. As he expected, he saw the man who vouched for him to be Tianhu.

    Upon spotting Zero outside the city, Ye Yun asked, ¡°Was it you or him who killed the intruders?¡±

    Ye Yun had been able to tell what happened without being there in person too many times for Zero to be surprised. That being said, the man who still had his hostility cloaking him zipped over to Ye Yun. ¡°If you refer to him in that tone again, I assure you that it¡¯ll be me who kills you.¡±

    Ye Yun grinned. ¡°There are still twelve more years before you can kill me.¡±

    ¡°Why else do you think you¡¯re still alive?¡±

    Zero¡¯sck of emotion whenmunicating with him made Zero the easiest person for Ye Yun tomunicate with.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you answer the question, then? It¡¯ll save both of us time.¡± Ye Yun did away with his grin. ¡°Has he recovered?¡±

    ¡°Our agreement included a condition that I¡¯d never do anything that endangered him. Have you forgotten?¡±

    ¡°Just asking. Since you don¡¯t want to talk about it, then it must mean it really was him who killed the freak.¡±

    Zero thought he wouldn¡¯t think about his former subordinate again until Ye Yun mentioned him. That said, the extra time to think reminded him that he owed Ming Feizhen yet again for cleaning up a loose end he didn¡¯t clean up. Smiling warmly, he responded, ¡°It makes no difference who killed him. You know he wouldn¡¯t harm the imperial court. To the contrary, he has helped you on many asions. Had he not entered the depths of Nieyao City to face the dragon alone, whether or not your Emperor would still be alive would be unanswered. Who would¡¯ve stopped the cmity if not him? You?¡±

    ¡°I have always respected the beast yers from the bottom of my heart and possibly only less than His Majesty by a smidge. None of them covet wealth, fame or power to protect the future. In saying that, as themander of Emperor¡¯s Entourage, I can only give one man my loyalty, and that is His Majesty.¡± Meeting with Zero¡¯s cold gaze, Ye Yun chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can tell he harbours no ill will from my observations. Do you think I would¡¯ve let him approach His Majesty otherwise? Sometimes, I get curious, though, about what your master¡¯s goal is. What¡¯s so bad about retiring to a reclusive life in the mountains? Why get involved with the bloody world again?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of living in the mountains if your mind isn¡¯t at peace? How is living in a bustling city with a blemished heart any different to living a reclusive life? Only Master knows what he¡¯s thinking. All I know is that, if the Emperor and Master are in trouble, I¡¯ll abandon our agreement without hesitation.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, great.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Putting your master in trouble isn¡¯t that much easier to reaching heaven, is it? That being the case, fulfil your role as Tianhu while Emperor¡¯s Entourage develops for another twelve years, deal?¡±

    Zero was always one to honour his word. ¡°If you¡¯re here, who¡¯s taking care of Bai Ju? Do you genuinely think he¡¯s a pushover, or is your Prime Minister secretly an elite fighter?¡±

    Ye Yun smirked. ¡°Who¡¯d underestimate Bai Ju? With that said, isn¡¯t Prime Minister Li always being bodyguarded?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 3

    Shouting from a Small Room

    Taishu Hall¡¯s guards found themselves waking up from awkward lying postures; however, they didn¡¯t notice anything amiss due to the dizziness and nausea that hit them the same way before they passed out, forcing them to open their eyes in a rush and get to their feet. They had to bear withck of sensations for a while before they felt they were in their own bodies again. One othermon denominator was that they were all scared since they fell asleep on the job. After all, regardless of what your family background was, all imperial guards had to abide by the same set of strict rules and suffered the same penance. In the best-case scenario, they¡¯d be whipped thirty times. In the worst-case scenario, they¡¯d lose their heads. Upon finding even the superiors snoring, though, they started to question what happened and realised everyone else shared the same experience and feelings. It was illogically possible for the entire squad to have dozed off on the job. Hence, themander led a team to inspect the exam venue.

    They didn¡¯t see any mes from the outside and nothing upon entering the exam venue. A tile slipped and nearly cracked themander¡¯s head open, however. Considering the fact that the tile shouldn¡¯t have shattered into dust from the height that it fell, it suggested that the tile waspletely mashed to begin with. After he inwardly remarked that the exam venue needed to be renovated badly, he continued further in. While he found some examinees sleeping, the majority of them were writing as if their lives depended on it.

    Flipping schrs get to sit on their arms and write while I have to walk stand on guard. Waste of my time worrying.

    ¡°Continue the patrols. Do not drop your guards,¡± themander instructed.

    The moon¡¯s position had changed.

    Ming Feizhen pped He Shi on the face. ¡°Wake up! He Shi, wake up!¡±

    Still groggy but regaining awareness of his surroundings, He Shi stuttered, ¡°St-stop!¡± grabbed Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand and yelled, ¡°You¡¯re going to knock me out if you don¡¯t stop!¡±

    As he lubricated his neck with some neck movements, He Shi asked, ¡°Why did I fall asleep? Why are you here? Why¡­ is the room different?¡±

    ¡°How is it different?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve spent two days here. I know how many tiles there are and how many cracks there are on the wall. The tiles look like they were haphazardly stuffed together a moment ago, and it looks hideous. Wait, what are you doing here? What have you done?¡±

    ¡°This is not time to be worrying about minor issues. Long-story short, I¡¯ve sorted out the old fart. I need what I requested from you now.¡±

    ¡°You sorted him out?¡±

    A short whileter, Ming Feizhen sat on the ground to start copying the response He Shi provided him. As per their agreement, He Shi wrote two excellent responses and one shoddy response. Feng Shanshan was obviously no longer going to need his copy.

    ¡°You subdued all those corrupt officials? Now I understand why His Majesty wanted you to sit the exam. He must¡¯ve entrusted the case to you since he knows you¡¯re a detective. Else, he¡¯d have been feeding to the wolves.¡±

    ¡°Of course His Majesty knows me.¡± Ming Feizhen took out a pear from his shirt for a snack. ¡°Since you have nothing to do, tell me what suggestions you have for the imperial court.¡±

    Watching Ming Feizhen copy his paper, He Shi cracked a smile. ¡°Is there any point in telling you?¡±

    ¡°You know I¡¯m close to His Majesty. You never know if I might be able to pass on a suggestion. Come on. We¡¯re buddies. Let¡¯s help each other out.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Suffice to say, Duke Ming wasn¡¯t looking to help and be helped. He was worried His Majesty would be so pleased with his exam paper that he¡¯d get inquisitive, and Duke Ming wouldn¡¯t know how to answer. Hence, he tried to prepare for the unexpected.

    ¡°My suggestions for the imperial court? That¡¯s a tough one. How about the imperial court¡¯s suggestions for itself.¡± He Shi stopped to think, then opined, ¡°The imperial court has three major topics they are discussing at the moment, so I shall speak on them. Aside from the military affairs concerning the north, south and west, the three biggest concerns are, who lead the civil and military factions, the internal strife and the sessor.¡±

    ¡°Good eyes.¡± Ming Feizhen casually took a bite out of his pear, insincerely pped, then stated, ¡°Keep going.¡±

    After his cheek stopped twitching, He Shi shook his head and sighed. ¡°The martial and civil officials arepeting between themselves. The fact is, civil servants have always been granted higher regard ever since the dynasty was first established. Unfortunately for them, the three offices overseeing the martial world were created. In addition to having immense power, they virtually stand above all other ranks. No official has any right to refuse if Liu Shan Men is working on a case that requires their cooperation. The Qilin Guards control the military. Emperor¡¯s Entourage is an Emperor¡¯s most trusted aide nobody dares to cross. The civil servants are extremely displeased about it, but Emperor¡¯s Entourage won¡¯t just step aside.

    ¡°The internal strife is, needless to say, the Seven Champion White Princes. You can tell from the recent turmoil that His Majesty is insistent on tackling them. If the White Princes of them can recognise what they should do in these times, they¡¯d follow Luo Sword Manor as soon as possible. If they wise up, they might enjoy prosperity for a few more years. Otherwise, trouble will be on their doorstep before they know it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen raised his head. ¡°Do you think they recognise the times?¡±

    He Shi scoffed, ¡°Would they be struggling if they did?¡±

    ¡°Good point.¡±

    ¡°The matter of session is self-exnatory. Nobody knows what to expect until a Crown Prince is named. That¡¯s why all the Princes are forming factions. Until one is named, none of them will settle down.¡±

    Continuing to copy, Ming Feizhen queried, ¡°Tsk, tsk, everything is a big problem. You¡¯ve noticed it all?¡±

    ¡°Big problem?¡± He Shi snorted. ¡°How are they big problems?! The drought in Hedong, the locust infestation in Shanxi, Beijiang¡¯s military activity, the homeless citizens, the struggling citizens¡­ these are what you call big problems. A group of selfish civil servants trying to climb the hierarchy, nobles trying to fight for authority, a bunch of officials struggling to choose a faction, and forcing His Majesty to make a choice are big problems? A natural disaster takes tens of thousands of lives. A locust infestation means a famine in the subsequent year is inevitable, which means keeping the death toll to less than thirty thousand would be amazing. Beijiang has been looking to form an alliance, which means we need to ease tensions between us and the Western Regions, or we¡¯ll be hit from both sides. These are big problems.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 4

    Sentiments that Could Reach the Imperial Pce

    ¡°¡­ Not a big¡­ problems. Okay. Slow down. That¡¯s a good response. I like it,¡± Ming Feizhen mumbled as he scribbled down He Shi¡¯s response onto a nk sheet of paper. He didn¡¯t bat an eye when he looked up to see He Shi¡¯s stupefied look. ¡°In your opinion, these, uh, three things don¡¯t qualify as big problems? The consequences are significant, though. If nothing else, this, uh, power contest between the martial and civil officials could cause considerable problems. That¡¯s not a big problem?¡±

    He Shi stared nkly for a while before shaking his head, sighing three times and then borated, ¡°His Majesty is able to tackle all three issues alone. While the two factions arepeting, nobody has the upper hand. While the three offices overseeing the martial world have matured, their authorityes from His Majesty. ordingly, the other faction will go down once His Majesty picks one. Simrly, if His Majesty wants to dy the stripping of the White Princes, they¡¯ll have to live with their tails between their legs until he decides he wants to strip them. Who would dare to oppose him? As for the Crown Prince matter, His Majesty has his ways of dealing with the foolish officials trying to pressure him. Although it may prove challenging and time consuming, His Majesty can sort all three matters out on his own. His Majesty has shown our country¡¯s power as well as his own. As well, he has shown he is both a man of benevolence and virtue, generous and humble. These people and their agendas will be thwarted in due time.¡±

    ¡°Slow down. What was that about benevolence and what? That¡¯s a good line I need to remember.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty can handle those three problems, but natural disasters and foreign invaders aren¡¯t issues he alone can deal with. Not only are they out of his hands, but they both harm the nation. If priorities aren¡¯t sorted out properly, then a real disaster is unavoidable.¡±

    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not something you can say directly. Do you have any roundabout butt-licking things that you can say without any hesitation?¡±

    He Shi just stared at Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°¡­ Ahem, ahem, even if they aren¡¯t big problems, they need solutions. You, uh, have any solution?¡±

    ¡°The martial and civil officials don¡¯t see to eye to eye, and it¡¯s nothing new. The likes of Old Fart struggle to impose their will under His Majesty¡¯s governance, so they can only wait for openings to exploit. As long as His Majesty doesn¡¯t let them have their way, the civil officials will quit sooner orter. The biggest issues in this matter aren¡¯t the corrupt officials trying to stir the pot but the conflict between the two factions. Even if the contest ceases, the two still won¡¯t see eye to eye. A problem isn¡¯t solved until the root of the problem is addressed.¡±

    ¡°What solutions do you suggest, Professor He?¡±

    ¡°Simple: mix them up.¡±

    Biting his brush, Ming Feizhen inquired, ¡°How?¡±

    He Shi smiled. ¡°Who says schrs can¡¯t wield swords? Who says warriors can¡¯t write? It¡¯s a virtue for a man to be as mighty with a sword as he is eloquent with a brush in the first ce. Why is there a need to pick one over the other in the first ce? Have schrs learn martial arts, and have warriors learn literature.¡±

    Merely thinking about excelling in both domains gave Ming Feizhen a headache. Nevertheless, he believed in He Shi¡¯s judgement, so he noted it down.

    ¡°As for the White Princes, they¡¯re not a big problem, either. It boils down to decorated vassals formingworks that make them challenging to stop. His Majesty needs time; the more time he has, the more beneficial it will be for him. If he could slowly whittle away at their privileges and im their territories, they will seek peace with him once they can¡¯t resist any longer. Thus, they will resolve the internal strife themselves.

    ¡°As for the session, it¡¯s supposed to be a topic for discussion in court. The former Emperor selected a Crown Prince early, leading to the battle with his brothers still traumatising His Majesty. It¡¯s clear that His Majesty has no ns of crowning a Crown Prince beforehand. Pushing for the instatement of a Crown Prince is crossing the line for a vassal. There¡¯s nothing to discuss. It¡¯s not as if His Majesty doesn¡¯t know who to choose.¡±

    Considering the Crown Prince matter was the most frequently discussed matter in court, sometimes, Ming Feizhen was d he wasn¡¯t an Emperor. He Shi¡¯s perspective on it was akin to the needed ray of light on a cloudy day.

    ¡°People with working eyes wouldn¡¯t focus on the small immediate benefits. The White Princes do have hope. I don¡¯t know the standing and rankings of the next generation; however, it¡¯s hard to not know about Luo Siming taking over as Luo n¡¯s head in charge of the military¡¯s armoury, Song Chi¡¯s travels between Yangzhou and Nanjing to form an alliance with the imperial court and Ling n¡¯s Ling Ruoyun contacting His Majesty. Sadly, these capable young men aren¡¯t interested in building up the country; they¡¯re only after their own ns¡¯ gains.¡±

    ¡°If they¡¯re short-sighted, who¡¯s far-sighted?¡±

    ¡°Do you really think nobody is doing anything about the three big problems? Starting from two years ago, Green Prince hasmenced preparations for droughts. He has travelled almost across the entirend. Everywhere he¡¯s gone, he has offered supplies to assists in disasters, invested in farming and schooling.

    ¡°You think Blue Prince has been twiddling his thumbs in Beiping while you martial artists make life difficult for him to move around? He spends six months between his Luoyang and Beiping territories. He should be in Luoyang right now, so why is he in Beiping right now? That would be to destroy Beijiang¡¯s attempt at an alliance. That¡¯s called foresight. If the White Princes could see the big picture like that, they¡¯d realise their n could thrive even without their title.¡±

    Though the White Princes held a prestigious title, they weren¡¯t the only big ns in the pugilistic world. There were big ns that had more prestige than history than the seven of them. If the White Princes didn¡¯t stop for the sake of their privileges, they really might¡¯ve developed far more than they had.

    He Shi stood up. ¡°Whether or not one the people are in support has always been the key to stability. How much noise is there regarding the stripping of the White Princes. How close are they to Nanjing? How often have you heard the peopleining about it, though? To the contrary, because His Majesty has the support of the people, ow!¡±

    A big tile slipped through a hole in the ceiling andnded flush on He Shi¡¯s head, knocking him out instantly. Since it would¡¯ve been rude to disturb He Shi¡¯s sleep, Ming Feizhen got up and stretched out once he was done copying.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve gained a lot. See you.¡± Ming Feizhen tucked He Shi in and then noticed several sheets of paper on the ground.

    Uh¡­ Who do those belong to? This one in my hand is the one He Shi gave me. Why are there four copies? Shouldn¡¯t there only be three?

    Ming Feizhen scratched his head as he attempted to figure out the situation. Eventually, he recalled himself randomly shoving papers here and there when the building copsed. In other words, he might¡¯ve picked up someone else¡¯s paper.

    I need to return this, but¡­ who does this belong to?

    Ming Feizhen looked over to He Shi, then back down to the papers in his hand.

    Eh, whatever. Doesn¡¯t matter.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s thoughtless decision nted the seed for a result that couldn¡¯t be repaired or reversed.

 Book 15: Chapter 5

    Formless Water Transforms into a Swamp

    Rewinding a little.

    Unforgivingly dark clouds loomed over the half-mangled estate of Prime Minister Li while intermittent sound effects rung out beneath, and two dark silhouettes seemingly spawned and vanished. When the two finally disengaged, they stood as still as rocks staring at each other. The only sign that action was imminent were the whisks of white smoke coiling around the energy moulders.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Head, face.¡±

    Yi Ya disappeared again. In less than a blinkter, the ground at his feet before cracked, followed by a dispersion of dust and strong winds.

    Shen Yiren, protecting Prime Minister Li, could see Bai Ju¡¯s intention from the trajectory of his whip once again.

    Despite having the advantage in realm, internal strength, internal energy andbat skill itself, Bai Ju was unable to catch Yi Ya since they began fighting. Ever since he peaked, he had never encountered such tenacious young opponents. Before they even started fighting, the two already decided to prioritise the bigger picture.

    Yi Ya gave up on trying to win before they started, purely dodging while trying to pinpoint Bai Ju¡¯s weaknesses and openings. The moment Bai Ju switched his target to Shen Yiren, he would¡¯ve be the hunted. From Bai Ju¡¯s perspective, he would¡¯ve preferred Yi Ya to actually attack as he was confident he wouldn¡¯t lose if he fought them simultaneously. However, Bai Ju knew that Yi Ya would¡¯ve just escorted Prime Minister Li away if he went after Shen Yiren, which would result in Bai Ju failing his job. As for the maiden instructing Yi Ya, she showed no signs of considering escape from the beginning. Thus, there was no means of reliably predicting where the battle would go.

    Bai Ju relished the unpredictability of the fight for he was a thrill seeker ¨C even given the circumstances.

    Bai Ju lowered his hand and chuckled. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be hard for me to kill the two of you, but I¡¯m too nice to kill my juniors with bright futures. One more chance. You can still walk away. If I change my mind, your futures will be gone.¡±

    Receiving the silent treatment, Bai Ju shrugged and smiled. ¡°I thought so. I¡¯ll get serious, then. Be careful, okay? Uncle here is very strong, you kn-¡±

    Yi Ya hadunched himself at Bai Ju before thetter could finish. Still, he was too slow. At the same time Bai Ju whipped at Shen Yiren, he palmed a vacant spot. The suddenness and the simultaneous attack were predictable, but they didn¡¯t foresee Bai Ju giving his palm strike the function he did. Though he didn¡¯t catch anyone with the palm strike, it served to cut off Yi Ya¡¯s advance, so he couldn¡¯t go to Shen Yiren¡¯s aid. Evidently, Yi Ya wasn¡¯t the only person who¡¯d been subjected to countlessbat circumstances to hone his skillset.

    Bai Ju spread his blue energy in all directions as though he was drowning the duo in it. The spot he hit with his palm resembled an invisible wall.

    Yi Ya chose to engage in close-quartersbat without another moment of hesitance. After all, hesitation was the enemy when dealing with a tough technique to counter. Besides, he had the confidence tost more than one exchange even against a Divine Realm adept. That was exactly what Bai Ju desired.

    Bai Ju let go of his whip, letting it continue toward Shen Yiren using his Enlightenment. Meanwhile, he stacked his free hands up to m towards Yi Ya, striving to subdue Yi Ya in the first exchange. People assumed Bai Ju relied on his whip, never expecting him to be as good as he was at hand-to-handbat. Even without his Enlightenment, he had enough skills to overwhelm the likes of Xun Feng with his hands alone.

    Yi Ya was supposed to charge straight into Bai Ju¡¯s palms, resulting in massive impact due to his own speed and perish. However, Yi Ya managed to elerate himself in the opposite direction, disengaging before he crashed.

    By thews of inertia, one¡¯s viscera still continued travelling in the same direction the body was. Therefore, changing directions at Yi Ya should¡¯ve caused organ issues, which would¡¯ve caused true qi flow issues. Considering Yi Ya¡¯s speed before and after the switch, he should¡¯ve ended up damaging himself beyond repair.

    Bai Ju¡¯s second surprise came when he heard Shen Yiren knock his whip back with her thin sword as if she had a titanic hammer. While it wasn¡¯t easy for her, she did manage to reverse its direction.

    ¡°I¡¯m not holding back anymore!¡± Bai Ju released even more blue energy.

    Trivia

    Yi Ya¡¯s direction reversal ¨C The section talking about the impact on organs is absolutely true (inertia). In my work, it¡¯s quite often Ie across people with previous injuries or collisions who think they¡¯re fine, only for us to find out that their pain/tightness is in part caused by their organs. While I can¡¯t confirm if the idea is undeniable fact or not, I believe it has relevance considering the number of times I¡¯ve done a lung mobilisation to improve range of motion/reduce pain for shoulders, necks and hamstrings. If you¡¯ve ever had a nagging muscle issue you couldn¡¯t fix permanently, check your viscera! Your muscles are your viscera¡¯s bodyguards.

 Book 15: Chapter 6

    No Constant State

    Bai Ju gave his Enlightenment blue energy the form of a spider and octopus, except each leg could morph into tough as steel or flexible as strings of water simrly to how he wielded his whip.

    Shen Yiren indulged Bai Ju in a few exchanges before being forced to back off. Her limit was taking on one leg at a time. She had witnessed the special abilities that Enlightenment granted before, but she had never seen anyone manipte their Enlightenment so proficiently that they could use it as limbs.

    Bai Ju wasn¡¯t able to use his Enlightenment as his whip because he learnt some unique or sophisticated discipline; he simply refined and improved every technique in actualbat. There was no way he was only at He Kanyu¡¯s level. While both of them were blessed with simr talent for martial arts, the gap was a product of training methodology. He Kanyu took the conventional route of progress, while Bai Ju, being someone who valued realbat most, pressure tested himself to grow. When he advanced into Quasi-Divine and grasped Enlightenment, instead of treating it as a martial arts realm, he treated it as a supplementary tool. Since then, he tirelessly experimented with imbuing his techniques and reactions into his Enlightenment in actualbat.

    Upon ncing at the eight tentacles again, Shen Yiren saw the remaining tentacles targeting Yi Ya. Based on the nature of Bai Ju¡¯s ability, it was clearly most apt for team fights. Even alone, he had the ability to take on a hundred men. It was apparent, then, that, regardless of where he built it up, he had far more experience than one could¡¯ve imagined. When he said he wasn¡¯t holding back anymore, he didn¡¯t mean it in the sense that he was going to kill them. If that was the goal, then he could¡¯ve just overwhelmed Shen Yiren with eight tentacles and killed her instantly.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re just going to be able to keep your distance, kid?!¡± Bai Ju ignored Shen Yiren to single out Yi Ya, which didn¡¯t make sense when he no longer had a reason to avoid fighting them both at the same time.

    Yi Ya, once again, retreated away from Bai Ju¡¯s attack without telegraphing, but he wasn¡¯t able to create as much distance as prior.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Shen Yiren discerned that, given Bai Ju¡¯s power and weapon, he could still hurt his opponent with dozens of metres between them. If Yi Ya went any further, with Bai Ju at the centre, Yi Ya would¡¯ve had to travel a hundred metres to reach Shen Yiren. ordingly, he¡¯d have to be twice as fast as Bai Ju if he were to assist her. They couldn¡¯t just join up because neither of them could predict what sort of assault they¡¯d be subjected to once they were close to Bai Ju. Fighting a Divine Realm adept required careful deliberation each step to avoid the predicament they were in.

    Yi Ya propelled himself towards Shen Yiren. s, without Bai Ju even having to lift a finger, his blue eight tentacles intercepted Yi Ya. Yi Ya managed to slip past the first three, but the fourth and fifth trapped him. Bai Ju subsequently had the remaining tentacles attack Yi Ya, too.

    Bai Ju got the inspiration to name his Enlightenment ¡°Celestial Spider¡¯s Eight Bandits¡± from a big hot shot. No matter how skilled and crafty you were, there was no way you¡¯d be able to take on eight Bai Ju¡¯s simultaneously. Despite how impressive it was, he was still unable to subdue Yi Ya.

    Had Bai Ju not recognising Yi Ya¡¯s techniques, he would¡¯ve had to assume Yi Ya had ten legs.

    The man who trained Yi Ya at the frigid northern border once said, ¡°There is no such thing as an enemy that can be predicted and no enemy who never changes. Remember that.¡± Even though he was only told that once, Yi Ya never dared to forget it because the consequence was far worse than mere death. His thousands of brothers buried beneath the frozen earth was a reminder. Yi Ya never wasted time, including when it came to training. The ¡°No Constant State¡± discipline was a symbol of it. Its essence was to change as one¡¯s opponent changed. As a defensive method, people who mastered it were virtually untouchable.

    Yi Ya didn¡¯t lie when he said he didn¡¯t learn any new skill. It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t capable of learning a new one; he simply saw it as a waste of time. He created ¡°No Constant State¡± in his younger years, but he never had the opportunity to use it.

    Although Bai Ju could see exploitable ws in Yi Ya¡¯s techniques, it was impossible to spot any openings while attacking because that¡¯d the same as finding his own openings. In terms of technique alone, Yi Ya had outssed Bai Ju.

    This kid¡¯s style is going to make him the next Wang Muren.

    Upon feeling a sting on his cheek, Bai Ju was forced to summon over two tentacles to defend him from Shen Yiren¡¯s sword attack that he couldn¡¯t determine the target of. Yi Ya immediately jumped on the brief lull in pace, back tucking out of the tentacles¡¯ range.

    These two runts are so annoying! Why can¡¯t you just quiet?! I¡¯d spank the both of you if it weren¡¯t for Master!

    ¡°Being ferocious is one thing, but youck brute strength.¡±

    Bai Ju finally used his whip, summoning a tornado more dangerous than the eight tentacles.

    They call me ¡°Disaster¡± in the Western Regions because I¡¯m considered one of the four worst natural disasters. If I let you kids still wet behind the ears stop me, I¡¯ll never live down the shame! I¡¯mying you both out!

 Book 15: Chapter 7

    Unreadable and Unrestrained is the Path to Legendary

    Bai Ju was a notorious weirdo in Beijiang by the time he was in his teens. The loner liked to be out in the wild and enjoyed hunting. Despite his exceptional skill on horseback and with a bow that propelled him to the top of his n, he didn¡¯t think anything of it. His n leader praised him for having hawk eyes, meaning that his eyes weren¡¯t focused on the earth below but the sky higher and further above.

    Following the passing of his parents, the sixteen-year-old Bai Ju took histe father¡¯s horsewhip and left the n on his own. He was a free soul who didn¡¯t like being told what to do or restricted. Wandering on his own wasn¡¯t exactly fantastic, especially since he was considered a foreigner. It was during the beatings he suffered that he learnt more about fighting and refining his skills. Every time he went somewhere new, he upgraded his skillset again. When his shoes were unable to support him any longer, he fought for money. When he was tired and sleepy, he slept wherever he could. When it was cold, he warmed himself up with alcohol because, as everyone knew, it was possible to use a horsewhip to brew alcohol. He had been to half of Nanjiang and the Central in before he was thirty, but he returned to the Western Regions since he felt lonely.

    Ten years ago, when Bai Ju just turned thirty-six, he fought He Kanyu in the capital to a draw. He liked He Kanyu for being different to other Confucian proponents despite being a student of the system. As for He Kanyu, he liked the fact that Bai Ju was unorthodox in his approach to martial arts, constantly innovating anding up with surprises. Though their disciplines weren¡¯t remotely connected, they had no qualms sharing anything, which facilitated their significant growth.

    Bai Ju¡¯s training method was as unadorned as his personality. He was supposed to have perished in his third war, though it barely counted as a war since he had thousands of soldiers, while he only had two foes. However, that battle was his first time seeing hell in the flesh. The only reason he survived was thanks to the man wearing a fanged-demon mask saving him ¨C or maybe sparing him. The man hoisted him up as if he was a chicken and, in Mandarin, suggested, ¡°You¡¯re pretty good at fighting. Want to join me? I¡¯m recruiting.¡± Being as stubborn and unwilling to bend the knee unless he felt genuine respect for someone, Bai Ju only epted the offer because he was told, ¡°We can negotiate the terms. You don¡¯t have to worry about fighting, though; you¡¯ll have your fill. If you¡¯re not keen, then so be it.¡± Because he didn¡¯t have to deal with convoluted terms and conditions, Bai Ju joined.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For the next few years, Bai Ju served in the capacity as a member of San Shen Faction ¨C envoys of God and punishers of the Western Regions. During that time, he and his whip earned the moniker ¡°Disaster¡±. He was first given the moniker when he had to fight his way to the crumbled back lines to save his brethren. As they were in the desert and severely outnumbered, Bai Ju whipped up a tornado to ovee the urgency, destroying the enemy reinforcements with his lightning-blue tornado. Survivors went on to describe the tornado as a monstrosity worse than a natural disaster. His three other brothers also went on to gain nicknames that described them as freaks of nature. Of course, they were no match for the two at the very top.

    Bai Ju¡¯s two seniors led Bai Ju and his three brothers on so many expeditions that they had no time to care about the border. The six of them obliterated states. Bai Ju didn¡¯t think too much about it; he merely followed the duo because he saw them as people worthy of his time. It didn¡¯t even ur to him that he unlocked Divine Realm until after the fact.

    Zero told Bai Ju that he hadn¡¯t consolidated his progress into Divine Realm as he had physically arrived there but not mentally. He had might, but hecked the immense might, defence and recovery capabilities that Divine Realm granted. Thus, he was warned that he wouldn¡¯t have had much of a chance if he was matched up against a Divine Realm adept, but he didn¡¯t care. He had achieved half of his dream of travelling the world, and he had made close friends, so he didn¡¯t see any problem.

    Years after Ximen Chuideng¡¯s fall, Bai Ju returned to the Central n. San Shen Faction differed to other factions. Bai Ju¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t to protect the cult¡¯s prosperity but to fulfil Lord San Shen¡¯s orders. Under Lord San Shen¡¯s orders, he looked into the truth behind Ximen Chuideng¡¯s demise. He was under the impression that his three other brothers were assigned the same task, and Zero infiltrated the imperial court to do the same.

    Bai Ju couldn¡¯t find any breakthroughs in spite of spending months on the investigation. Every survivor of the Lawless Cliff battle gave simr recounts, most of which was likely hearsay and own imaginations. The unverifiable information only made it tougher to fish out the truth. Investigating the people who would¡¯ve actually been part of the fight, such as Ye Yun, was impossible to look into. At the time, the Qilin Guards were swiftly hunting down remnants of Divine Moon Cult, resulting in him getting stuck. If it weren¡¯t for fearing Baima¡¯s return, he would¡¯ve killed dozens of Qilin Guards already.

    At the end of the day, having a vast range of knowledge and being adept at investigation were two separate matters, thetter of which Bai Ju wasn¡¯t an expert in. Having said that, he was bold, detailed and innovative. Since he couldn¡¯t gain anything from orthodox factions, he reasoned he could gain information from unorthodox factions. Lord San Shen ordered an investigation as he suspected foul y. Orthodox factions wouldn¡¯t y dirty, or Ximen Chuideng would¡¯ve perished long before the battle at Lawless Cliff. In other words, unorthodox factions had to have had been on it. For Bai Ju, being a part of an unorthodox faction was akin to fish to water.

    Bai Ju was famous, but he wasn¡¯t a draw before he returned to the Western Regions. Because of his improvements since his departure and his aplishments, however, the Western Regions had started spreading ims that he had the potential topete against the two mightiest of the Western Regions. Why reject the reverence? Thanks to the fame he gained, he finally found a lead worth following.

    While Bai Ju did nothing but drink and fight on the surface, he never stopped checking every suspect. In his investigation, he found out there was a group of unidentified people present at the battle of Lawless Cliff, but he couldn¡¯t find out anything further until he met him, a man iming to be a referrer for an ¡°organisation¡±. In addition to proposing he join them, they also offered him a whip manual that had been lost for a long time. He took the risk of turning them down, believing they would risk approaching him a second time since there was a first time.

    The second referrer sported a totally different appearance; however, they had a simr tone. Neither of them could fight, but they were both blind. Bai Ju spent two years to be an executioner for the organisation. In thest three years, he hadpleted a fair number of missions, yet he still had no clue how many others there were. Nobody was as fast at collecting information as Ye Yun¡¯s group. Over the three years, he was unable to find any meaningful clues or find out about other members. To the contrary, the number of things he was unable to do only increased. It was as if they had a system to protect information from the get-go, and anyone who knew something they shouldn¡¯t have would¡¯ve been silenced.

    Bai Ju was mad about being dispatched as Gongsun Chu¡¯s assistant this time. Putting aside the level of difficulty, he was supposed to take Prime Minister Li and, ideally, draw all attention onto himself. If The Ultimate Three returned, they¡¯dy him horizontal for sure.

    Lord San Shen was in the capital, so Zero was most likely protecting him. Considering how vast Lord San Shen¡¯swork was, there were a lot of people Bai Ju couldn¡¯t harm. In order to remove suspicion from himself as someone associated with Ming Feizhen, he targeted Su Xiao in the idol contest. He had to hold back against Tang Ye. Now, he had to fight Shen Yiren. Even if he didn¡¯t have eyes, he could tell what was going on between Shen Yiren and Lord San Shen. He couldn¡¯t hit her, scold her or touch her. The only thing she was good for to him was eye candy, but what use was that on a battleground besides being a distraction? Moreover, she wasn¡¯t someone he could shake off easily. She wasn¡¯t an amateur he could subdue in less than thirty exchanges, had awfully sharp eyes and a brain as shamelessly impressive as her mountains. How was he supposed to take Prime Minister Li hostage with her guarding him?

    Seeing as there were no other options, Bai Ju went after Yi Ya. Howbeit, Yi Ya was also a handful. Notwithstanding how long they had been fighting, Bai Ju still couldn¡¯t figure out the depth of Yi Ya¡¯s abilities or determine how many exchanges it¡¯d take to win. Contrary to Yi Ya¡¯s straighced appearance, he was annoyingly flexible, and his ¡°No Constate State¡± discipline made it seem as though Bai Ju¡¯sst ten years of training were a waste of time.

    Furious, Bai Ju summoned a tornado with his whip that was more dangerous than the one he spawned against Tang Ye and Bai Yumo. Yi Ya used his hands to try breaking the tornado, while Shen Yiren deflected any whips trying to stop Yi Ya while staying behind him. Once Bai Ju¡¯s blue energy rose in the tornado, the weak spot and the strong spots constantly changed, tiring Shen Yiren out. Yi Ya had to stay close, or he wouldn¡¯t have made it in time to escape with Prime Minister Li, so he had to just shield them.

    Without giving the two any time to think, Bai Ju whipped again, sealing the sole opening in the tornado. Given he just whipped virtually consecutively, he¡¯d have expended a considerable volume of internal energy. Considering his strength, he¡¯d have been able to hurt them badly even if he gave them more time before the second whip.

    Crack! Bai Ju whipped a third time, shifting the tornado. At that point, the two inside realised that he was trying to move all them using the tornado. It would¡¯ve taken them a considerable amount of time to break out since he had whipped three times. It was a manoeuvre that Bai Ju just came up with on the spot to deal with the problem. s, the toll it took on him left him ghastly pale as he swallowed a mouthful of blood. If he took too long, then escaping would be another challenge. Without even ounting for Ye Yun¡¯s return, Yi Ya was probably going to be able to break out in a matter of time.

    The elder who was reading had finished the teapot besides him and didn¡¯t even realise he held an empty cup up to his mouth.

    Bai Ju offered up a cupped-fist salute. ¡°Elder, there is no bad blood between us. I merely have no choice. I promise to return you safe and sound once I am done with you.¡±

    The elder heard Bai Ju loud and clear, but he continued reading as though the world was at peace.

    Looking down on me, are you?

    ¡°I am a viin. Can¡¯t you give me some respect? I¡¯m not going to ever run out of lines otherwise.¡±

    Being a man who respected his elders, Bai Ju decided he was just going to grab the elder who continued to give him the cold shoulder. In order to get deeper into the organisation, he had no choice. As soon as he advanced a step, though, he was told, ¡°I suggest you don¡¯t continue forward.¡±

    Bai Ju stopped as if he crashed into an invisible wall. He couldn¡¯t fathom why he had that feeling when it was just a sentence. He made sure to check there was nobody around, yet he heard the warning from every imaginable direction. He was unable to pinpoint the speaker¡¯s location ¨C or if they even existed, for that matter. He devoted as much focus to his eyes and ears as he could, trying to sense a presence, but the only person moving was the elder.

    Bai Ju¡¯s pores were wet. It was the first time he felt rmed since he reached his current level. Clearly, the speaker didn¡¯t want to be detected even before he moved in to finish his target. Perhaps not even Zero was able to incite the same feeling. On shaky legs, he stuttered, ¡°Wh-who are you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ An old toilet cleaner.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 8

    A Sh*tshow

    ¡°The wind loudly weed sunrise.

    Water flows torrentially. The wind slows. The sunlight peeks into therge corridor.

    Dozens of busy summers. Cicadas sing the chorus for autumn snow.

    Months to years. Famines forgotten.

    Life is short. Summer is long.¡±

    ¨C Wang Tushui.

    Wang Tushui, since he entered the imperial pce as a kid, always had to wake up a few hours before sunrise to start work. It was a rule he had to abide by even though he had risen to the post of General Manager.

    The eunuchs following behind Wang Tushui and himself crossed a long hall without barely making a sound.

    As he silently stood in a room with his head down, Wang Tushui silently approached the bedside of the Emperor he assisted to the throne on his coronation day. Back then, Emperor Yuansheng was unable to sleep due to his anxiety and almost missed his first morning court. When he woke up, he hastily got dressed and basically sprinted to court.

    ¡°What time is it?¡± Emperor Yuansheng asked.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°It is five in the morning, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Emperor Yuansheng got out of bed to go through his morning routine with the assistance of a number of others. After he examined himself in the mirror, he heaved a big breath and, in a deep voice, asked, ¡°Wang Tushui, my eyebrows are looking more and more¡­ like I¡¯m blessed.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Wang Tushui took small steps over, nced up and praised, ¡°You have the appearance of the chosen one.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Emperor Yuansheng proudly smiled, twisted his brows to perfection and then said, ¡°All right, all in your hands now. We need good luck.¡±

    Once Emperor Yuansheng was done fixing his appearance and prepared to call for his sixteen golden sashes over to pick, Wang Tushui informed, ¡°Your Majesty, the court officials are waiting.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? I didn¡¯t wake upte this morning.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. However, you are far from the court pce today.¡±

    Following an awkward silence in the pce, everyone picked up the pace in a panic, and Emperor Yuansheng ended up rushing to morning court again.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave a nod to the two separate columns of martial and civil servants. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±

    As he took to his throne, the officials dropped to their knees and chanted, ¡°Long live, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Everyone looks gloomy today. I slept wellst night. How about you, gentlemen?¡± Emperor Yuansheng had his n formted when he sat down to see all the gloomy faces, Song Ou with his brother, Long Zaitian¡¯s robes smudged and even He Kanyu present.

    Last night, around 30% of the officials below were either dealing with fires in their homes or fooled, while another 10% were racing to the scenes of fires or being fooled. They had taken peace in the capital for granted so long that they were unprepared for the messst night.

    ¡°Say something!¡± thundered Emperor Yuansheng.

    The first person to speak up was the man who was notorious for taking me when he was actually innocent. On shaky legs, Sir Bao stuttered, ¡°Y-your Subject failed in his duty.¡±

    Right after Sir Bao spoke up, one man after another cried, ¡°Your subject requests permission to speak!¡±

    All the reports were essentially the same: viins infiltrated the capital and brazenly ran amok, burning homes, killing citizens and assaulting estates of officials.

    The six secretaries reported that they were fortunately prepared, or their families and themselves would¡¯ve been in peril. Only Secretary Leng was so pumped up he had someone to fight that he killed the criminal on the other side of his door when he booted it open, so he couldn¡¯t sleep the rest of the night due to disappointment.

    Song Ou reported that a group of unidentified people in the pugilistic worldmitted violent crimes.

    Long Zaitian reported that a group of unidentified people in the pugilistic worldmitted arson in the south and west of the capital.

    Daren Academy and Song Chi reported that Xun Feng attacked members of the academy, colluded with criminals, stole the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, and Song Chi eventually subdued him.

    Prime Minister Li reported he was lucky Shen Yiren and Yi Ya were there to protect him, or he would¡¯ve lost his life.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage reported on a fiendish being with me wingsmitting mass homicide and tried to infiltrate the imperial pce to assassinate His Majesty, but Tianhu managed to eliminate him.

    In summary, criminalsmitted violent crimes in the capitalst night when the White Princes besieged the city. ording to a report in the morning, the White Princes had withdrawn their forces and were no longer a threat.

    ¡°It is clear that they were in on it together!¡± Secretary Leng was fuming when he saw the state of the city on the way into the imperial pce in the morning. ¡°Your Majesty, they were trying to draw our elite troops out of the capital so that their elites could sneak in and cause havoc. Please grant your subject permission to raise an army and annihte them in a year¡¯s time.¡±

    The fact that Secretary Leng spoke politely and didn¡¯t use profanity indicated just how furious he was. Unsurprisingly, there were officials who argued that concluding the White Princes were involved in the violence was premature based on the avable information.

    Emperor Yuansheng let them debate for a while before mming his desk and said, ¡°Zi Li, you speak. What was Xun Feng¡¯s involvement?¡±

    Song Chi went down on his knees. ¡°Xun Feng was in collusion with League of Assassins¡¯ Bronze Mask. Zi Li pursued him after he stole Daren Academy¡¯s Nine Dragons Fire Jade but was unable to retrieve the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. The fire-d fiend stole it.¡±

    ¡°Tell me more about Bronze Mask.¡±

    ¡°Bronze Mask is¡­ Bai n¡¯s Bai Yumo. She and Xun Feng were working together, with her using Daren Academy as a cover tomit murders.¡±

    ¡°So, why did Xun Feng want the Nine Dragons Fire Jade? Where is He Kanyu?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 9

    All Problems are Heaven¡¯s Blessings

    All principals of Daren Academy were conferred official ranks as officials ever since the academy was established. However, since they didn¡¯t attend the councils, they were never referred to by their rank. In terms of actual authority and rank, He Kanyu was the vice-principal of Daren Academy, and he was a third-rank official in the imperial court. As such, he referred to himself as ¡®your subject¡¯.

    ¡°Your subject would never brush off your queries. Howbeit, your subject genuinely does not know where to start,¡± expressed He Kanyu. He took out a letter and conveyed, ¡°Daren Academy¡¯s Principal Huang has a letter addressed to you. He asks for forgiveness for not personally passing it on to you due to health issues.¡±

    ¡°There is nothing to apologise for. To not forget about national affairs when he is unwell should bemended. Wang Tushui, bring me the letter.¡±

    Wang Tushui brought the letter back to Emperor Yuansheng, who proceeded to read the letter in detail on the spot, then mmed his desk, scaring everyone into silence. ¡°Secretary of the Ministry of Rites.¡±

    ¡°Present!¡±

    The promotion of Quan Woshuang, newly instated head of the Ministry of Rites, was an exception to the rules. Unlike Kong Duan, he was popr and known for being just. To have ced first in the imperial exams at twelve, been nominated at neen and then be promoted to Secretary of the Ministry of Rites before forty, he was evidently brilliant. However, he was one of those strongly opposed to conflict with the White Princes.

    Emperor Yuansheng remembered recognising Quan Woshuang as one of the people who would go ces when he read his exam paper. Quan Woshuang showed a burning desire to improve and to serve the nation, which Emperor Yuansheng felt made them simr. He even had no qualms confronting others about their wrongdoings. Therefore, Emperor Yuansheng dispatched him to the north and south to build experience, hoping he would return to the imperial court as someone he could depend on. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Quan Woshuang transformed into the sort of civil servants he used to hate once he was promoted to Secretary of the Ministry of Rites. In fact, he became a key figure of the pro-peace faction after Kong Duan was removed.

    Given Quan Woshuang¡¯s skills with words, he was able to deflect and dismantle Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s arguments every time. Even when Emperor Yuansheng provoked and threatened him, Quan Woshuang refused to budge. If anything, Quan Woshuang was more stubborn than the Ministry of Personnel¡¯s Zhang Chunfeng.

    Calling Quan Woshuang out in the given circumstances raised the temperature between Emperor Yuansheng and the pro-peace faction. At the same time, Emperor Yuansheng was implicitly scolding him.

    Emperor Yuansheng threw the letter to Quan Woshuang¡¯s feet. ¡°Read it out!¡±

    Quan Woshuang bent down to pick it up without daring to raise his head. He locked his brows together after reading a few lines. By the time he had read half of it aloud, the officials were wishing they weren¡¯t there.

    Principal Huang used Venerable Monk Liaoliao of posing as Brilliant Broadsworder twenty years ago and assaulting Fiends¡¯ Genesis, using their headquarters for himself, and then assassinating Yu Sihe. The proof was Xun Feng¡¯s body just outside, and the witnesses in Xun Feng¡¯s assault on Huang Yuzao, He Kanyu, Lan Jiqiong andpany, as well as him stealing Nine Dragons Fire Jade, and colluding with Bronze Mask. Huang Yuzao personally witnessed Xun Feng use a sinister discipline to control the Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Others might not have recognised it, but Huang Yuzao recognised it as a discipline passed down in Cold Mountain Temple, and he didn¡¯t hesitate to point it out in the letter.

    Before Liaoliao was injured, he already noticed his training was missing something, which he discussed with Yu Sihe. Yu Sihe identified the danger of the discipline being unbridled, but he didn¡¯t explicate the fact since they practiced different beliefs, not to mention it could¡¯ve embarrassed Liaoliao. Yu Sihe mentioned it to his pupil, so Huang Yuzao recognised it as soon as Xun Feng utilised it. Based on extraption, Huang Yuzao worked out Liaoliao was the one who killed his mentor. As for proof of Liaoliao posing as Brilliant Broadsworder, Tiangou could attest to the fact.

    Without even considering the contents, it shouldn¡¯t have been surprising that Huang Yuzao made it soundpelling considering his literacy prowess.

    Before Quan Woshuang could say anything after he finished reading it aloud, Emperor Yuansheng signalled for him to stay his tongue and said, ¡°No need. Zi Li, you said Bai n¡¯s Bai Yumo is League of Assassins¡¯ Bronze Mask. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°It is, Your Majesty. Edasich He confirmed it on the day of Daren Academy¡¯s idolpetition. Afterwards, the agents of Emperor¡¯s Entourage chased her. Regrettably, her whereabouts remain a mystery.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic. Excellent. Jiangnan¡¯s seven guardians have raised splendid children,¡± sarcastically praised Emperor Yuansheng, turning his attention back to Quan Woshuang. ¡°Secretary Quan, you have sung the praises of the Seven Champion White Princes. You didn¡¯t speak up for them because they bribed you; I know that you did it for my reputation. What do you have to say now, though? He took control of Fiends¡¯ Genesis twenty years ago for ulterior motives.

    ¡°All of you always use me of not doing enough for contributors. Has the imperial court not done enough for this group? They collect their own taxes and raise their own militaries. Do any of my sons enjoy those privileges? Our progenitor granted them privileges for their immense contributions, out of righteousness, and out of a need for trustworthy vassals. Tell me: are they raising their militaries to protect me or the imperial court? Who do their soldiers aim their weapons at? For whose sake do they train?

    ¡°The imperial court crowned Venerable Monk as the head representative of all monks. What did he do in return? Assassinate the head of Confucianism? Raise Fiends¡¯ Genesis? Enlighten me: why did he raise criminals? Oh, wait, they invaded the imperial cityst night!¡±

    No matter if anyone ever got any benefits from Cold Mountain Temple, regardless if they were military or civil servants, everyone who ever supported Cold Mountain was drowning in regret.

    Not every pacifist epted bribes. In saying that, among those who built upworks and factions ¨C or joined factions ¨C many of them were trying to protect their ces. Of course, there were some who genuinely believed war would be detrimental to the country. The majority of thetter were supporters of Cold Mountain Temple as they didn¡¯t think a temple would cause any problems, not to mention Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s good reputation. The only person who looked unbothered was the man at the forefront, standing as straight as if he expected the oue ¨C Quan Woshuang.

    Quan Woshuang bowed. ¡°Your subject protected the wrong people and failed to discern good from bad. It is only fair and just for you to order their removal for the sake of doing what is just, and protecting the nation. You are punishing people in the wrong. The White Princes are at fault, not you.¡±

    Owing to Quan Woshuang¡¯s delivery, a realisation suddenly flourished in the officials¡¯ minds. He was an imperial exam winner whom Emperor Yuansheng personally appointed. Nobody ever took it from him; he chose to walk away. What would¡¯ve it taken to make him switch? Who would it take to corrupt him? Who could¡¯ve given him guts to defy Emperor Yuansheng? His sudden switch, his arguments, his sudden decision to stand out, his sudden decision to defy His Majesty, they were all decisions that led to the officials who epted bribes from the White Princes to see him as a representative. The fact that he could suddenly make himself righteous, suddenly go from meat shield to a neutral party, and an ungrateful official who opposed His Majesty to an official willing to be a martyr for His Majesty, proved that he was different to the others. Quan Woshuang was a weapon His Majesty nted into their ranks!

    They found out toote. Quan Woshuang¡¯s assertions were always intended to protect His Majesty¡¯s reputation. He was going along with Emperor Yuansheng. When everyone was deemed conspirators, it was toote to drag him down with them even if they resorted to framing him.

    ¡°Cold Mountain Temple and Valley of Yearning are colluding, and they are even colluding with Fiends¡¯ Genesis and League of Assassins. Excellent.¡± Emperor Yuansheng swept his gaze over the officials, giving them the feeling that they were at a guillotine that could¡¯ve beheaded them at any moment. ¡°Is that all? As Secretary Quan asserted, the White Princes are in the wrong. Are you telling me the two of them are all the parties involved?¡±

    There was a sudden silence in the pce until someone knelt down, an official who usually defended the White Princes. ¡°Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary once bribed¡­ the former secretary, Kong Duan, of the Ministry of Rites with 140,000 silver taels, gold, gems, and more on top of it. Your subject personally saw it!¡±

    The pressure finally broke those who knew they¡¯d be given their walking papers if they didn¡¯t own up. In an instant, all those who sided with the White Princes were revealed. They turned their arrows on their supporters and supported impeachment of the White Princes.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave a small nod. ¡°Yi Ya?¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    ¡°I hereby order you to go to Cold Mountain Temple and correct the wrongs of Elder Yu¡¯s death.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is wise.¡±

    The older officials who were against the stripping of the White Princes turned to the man who praised Emperor Yuansheng without a moment¡¯s hesitation and said, ¡°Prime Minister, that¡­ maye back to bite us.¡±

    ¡°Thunder and rain are blessings from the heavens. Do they have a right to refuse? Your Majesty is most wise!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Quan Woshuang bowed, too. ¡°Your Majesty is most wise!¡±

    The terrified officials followed suit, crying, ¡°Your Majesty is most wise!¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng gave a small nod.

    Emperor Yuansheng: Yes!

 Book 15: Chapter 10

    Hail on a Dragon¡¯s Parade

    By the time Ming Feizhen set foot outside of Taishu Hall, a lot of things had changed without his knowledge. There was finally an aperture in the figurative dark clouds, and a defined path to travel.

    His Majesty had finally hit the drum to begin ns to revoke rights from the White Princes in the morning. There were no more officials arguing for peace, pestering him to reconsider, or pressuring him with the founding Emperor¡¯s oath. Those who epted bribes had fallen from their pedestals thanks to Quan Woshuang. There was no longer any room for turning back.

    Everyone knew Emperor Yuansheng wanted to have all the court officials supporting him; he couldn¡¯t allow fence sitters to continue sitting on their fences. If they did, then they weren¡¯t on either side. His reaction to the event proved that he had thought it through long ago. Thepass already pointed in the direction he wanted before the mess, but he gave the White Princes¡¯ supporters a chance. He didn¡¯t publicise his intention to them or the world, but he stressed the importance of the endeavour numerous times. Therefore, nobody knew the specifics of his n. Before they were dismissed, he instructed Wang and Xie n¡¯s seniors to share a meal with Song Chi in order to bring them closer.

    Emperor Yuansheng gave out a warning and showed hisst act of good will in the morning. He was able to have Quan Woshuang put up with all the stress until Cold Mountain Temple sabotaged themselves to use the card he nted, which indicated he had been nning for a long time. Two things were self-evident from his decision to keep a lid on the specifics of his n.

    Firstly, Emperor Yuansheng no longer trusted some people in the imperial court. While they weren¡¯t demoted, they had to now show that they were loyal in order to win back his trust.

    Secondly, and most importantly, Emperor Yuansheng was giving them ample time to sever ties with the White Princes before he made his move. Anyone who didn¡¯t realise or didn¡¯t ept his olive branch was going to be mercilessly run over. It went without saying that the White Princes would strive to create disorder and discord inside and outside of the imperial court first and foremost. More than likely, the first thing they¡¯d do would¡¯ve been to publicise the list of officials who epted their bribes. Unless handled pre-emptively, Emperor Yuansheng would¡¯ve had to scramble for a solution instead of focusing on taking them down. Of course, those on the list would¡¯ve faced miserable ends.

    The wise officials started doing what they had to while their superiors got started on their tasks. For those who were in too deep, Emperor Yuansheng already gave them an obvious hint. Wang and Xie ns ¨C Dark Robe Brotherhood ¨C was an entity they could form a pact with. In other words, allying with a White Prince that he epted was fine. In essence, his goal was to get rid of the enemy within before thwarting external aggression. In the case anyone tried to switchter, his fellow faction members would likely have dealt with him without Emperor Yuansheng needing to take any action.

    The third big change Emperor Yuansheng triggered was instructing the Three Chief Military Commissions that had been given the cold shoulder for years so start training soldiers again. Calling on them signalled war was imminent. Secretary Lie gave a loud kowtow as soon as he heard the order and walked out with the threemanders, chatting merrily. The decision was concrete evidence that Emperor Yuansheng was set on stripping the White Princes notwithstanding not mentioning it.

    The special imperial exam indicated that Emperor Yuansheng was searching for talent and would use those who ced. Daren Academy would be rewarded for nurturing talent. By extension, it was a sign that the civil servants were seen as valuable, something they were all happy to celebrate. Within the celebrations around the matter, though, there was one more aim that they weren¡¯t yet aware of. Just because he was going to tackle the White Princes, it didn¡¯t mean he gave up on pushing for the military and civil departments¡¯ progress. They were both valued, and that wasn¡¯t changing.

    Fourth, the three offices overseeing the martial world contributed enormously in thwarting the attackst night. Emperor¡¯s Entourage took the biggest prize as they arrested culprits, correctly predicting the enemy¡¯s plots and ying intruders. They didn¡¯t care too much for all the material wealth they were rewarded, however.

    Many officials showered Liu Shan Men¡¯s Song Ou with praise. Shen Yiren saved Prime Minister Li, which was a huge deal, except Prime Minister Li said, ¡°She did save this old one, but the viin escaped.¡± Bai Ju was gone by the time Yi Ya and Shen Yiren returned to Prime Minister Li¡¯s abode. The duo was perplexed as to why Bai Ju took off and left Prime Minister Li. Frankly, it was concerning to think there was someone stronger than Bai Ju lurking in the capital. Once the silence had time to ferment, Prime Minister Li added, ¡°And tore up half of this old one¡¯s abode.¡± His Majesty consoled Prime Minister Li and promised to repair his home. As for Yi Ya and Shen Yiren¡¯s contributions, they were written off for the meantime, so only Song Ou¡¯s contribution counted towards Liu Shan Men¡¯s credits.

    All officials were in support of rewarding Song Ou for his ¡°loyalty¡± and contribution. Had his two buddies not stabilised him and pushed him forward to ept the praise and the whole spiel, he would¡¯ve copsed from joy. On ount of the officials¡¯ support and Song Chi subduing Xun Feng, Emperor Yuansheng granted Liu Shan Men the liberty of training a new team that operated outside of conventional military boundaries. Song Ou was ted he was put in charge of the new unit and safeguarding the capital.

    ¡°No way.¡± Walking behind Wang Tushui, Ming Feizhen frowned.

    After finishing with the imperial exam, Ming Feizhen had to go through the body search and simr procedures. Subsequently, he went to abuse the Hanlin Academicians, picked his bone with Tiangou, then talked to Zero before leaving. The imperial guards waiting by the entrance were bewildered when they saw him step out from the toilet. As soon as he exited Taishu Hall, Wang Tushui summoned him. Wang Tushui told him that Emperor Yuansheng had been summoning a number of people since morning court and rewarded them with a banquet. Needless to say, Duke Ming wouldn¡¯t turn down the opportunity to attend a banquet.

    ¡°He can build his own unit now?¡±

    The imperial court had its limits on how many employees it epted. After all, they had to ount for weapons, sries and food. Who¡¯d work without those rewards?

    Liu Shan Men chose to focus on building a force of elites, resulting in their shortage of manpowerpared to the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage. There was no reason they couldn¡¯t change their approach, having said that. Shen Yiren already began and nned numerous ns. She covered the costs of raising the recruits from Nanjiang. Now that Song Ou was allowed to raise a unit of five hundred constables without having to pull a penny out of his pocket, it was an actual meaningful rewardpared to positions such as Hanlin Academician or Duke Daluo. Since Emperor Yuansheng personally appointed Song Ou to captain the squad, the squad wouldn¡¯t have to obey Liu Shan Men¡¯s traditions. No matter how ipetent Song Ou was, Song Chi would be there to make sure his elder brother didn¡¯t blow it. As such, the privilege was equivalent to Emperor Yuansheng personally giving Song n an army of five hundred soldiers.

    ¡°What about the Qilin Guards?¡± queried Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°My god!¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked in the direction of the yell he heard. ¡°Long Zaitian?¡±

    Long Zaitian ¡°drifted¡± past Ming Feizhen as if he was too depressed to see anything. Every few steps, he¡¯d cry, ¡°My god!¡±

    ¡°As you can see,¡± Wang Tushui sighed, ¡°Captain Long has been demoted just after being promoted.¡±

    ¡°Again?!¡± Ming Feizhen examined Long Zaitian. ¡°Who did he wee on this time?¡±

    ¡°Nobody, and that is the source of the problem.¡± Wang Tushui heaved another breath. ¡°This one feels sorry for Captain Long. He rushed to put out fires for civilians, but he failed to capture a significant number of arsonists and offended almost all officials instead.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Long Zaitian had a team of elites and plenty of them ¨C enough to fight a war. There was no doubt plenty of loaded people gave him presents on the day the White Princes mobilised their armies to protect themselves. When hell descended, though, he took his men to the residential district. Had it not been for Song Ou¡¯s intervention, there probably would¡¯ve been thirty less officialspared to before. It¡¯d have been weird if they didn¡¯t hate his guts for his decision.

    ¡°Captain Yi Ya¡¯s contributions have also been written off, so he¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen: Poor guy¡­ Really poor guy.

    ¡°Eh?¡± It finally urred to Ming Feizhen that he still had no clue what Emperor Yuansheng summoned him to the imperial pce for. After all, it was unrealistic to assume it was just to treat him to food.

    Ming Feizhen: Wait, He Shi mentioned three issues being discussed the most at the councils. There¡¯s a n for Seven Champion White Princes now. The friction between civil and martial servants seems to have been settled for the most part. Does that mean this is about the Crown Prince?

    ¡°Duke Daluo has arrived!¡± announced Wang Tushui.

 Book 15: Chapter 11

    Joy, Small Shock, Pupil

    It wasn¡¯t surprising for the six ministries¡¯ secretaries to be in attendance, but it was surprising to see threemanders of the Chief Military Commissions, and other important military and civil officials, to be in attendance, as well. The officials who usually wouldn¡¯t even spare each other a greeting were now getting along merrily at the tables. Emperor Yuansheng first jumbled the status quo, then organised the banquet to rebuild their rtionships.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen pays his respects, Your Majesty.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng was chatting with his father-inw when he saw Ming Feizhen and called him in. In contrast to the officials¡¯ side, Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s side didn¡¯t have any food or outsiders around.

    ¡°Duke Ming¡­ when did you have time to pick up all that food?¡±

    Ming Feizhen had roughly twenty small tes of food in his hand, a roast duck hanging from his mouth, and two jugs of wine and a bag of fruits by his feet. He took a bite out of his roast duck, mindlessly set it down on a te and replied, ¡°It is just experience, Your Majesty. Please pay it no mind.¡±

    ¡°Take a seat.¡±

    Ming Feizhen already helped himself to a seat before Emperor Yuansheng finished. Emperor Yuansheng was willing tough off the attitude on the ount of Ming Feizhen having been stuck in the exam venue for three days and having to respect all the protocols. Ming Feizhen took out someone¡¯s silk handkerchief from his shirt to wipe the grease off his hands once he finished his duck.

    ¡°Eunuch Wang mentioned you have cemented decisions for numerous big matters, won the support of everyone in court and carved out a potentially bright future. Your subject has not had the chance to congratte you yet, but you look as though you would not be able to digest a meal.¡± As he spoke, Ming Feizhen sneakily pulled small dishes towards himself that Emperor Yuansheng had been eyeing asionally.

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s concern was even more obvious up close with just the two of them.

    ¡°Duke Ming, do you know what troubles me?¡±

    ¡°Your subject is as foolish as a brick. How would he ever hope to fathom your genius? With that said, your subject believes the court discussions are not your primary concern. Their harm cannotpare to locust infestations, droughts, and the military situation in the north. Mayhap all three trouble you.¡±

    ¡°Brilliant!¡± Emperor Yuansheng mmed his table and flicked up a thumb. ¡°Now that is what I call dependable!¡±

    ¡°You tter me, Your Majesty. Your foolish subject was merely blindly guessing. It is your endless concern for the country that must not be overlooked.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so humble. Come sit here.¡± Emperor Yuansheng pulled over a small campstool for Ming Feizhen to join him on the ground. ¡°That chair is too high. It¡¯s ufortable speaking there. Gold chairs and benches areme. Sitting on the ground brings us closer. Give me a drop of your wine.¡±

    ¡°Right away, Your Majesty!¡± Ming Feizhen poured one drop into a cup and passed it over.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re too much of a miser, Duke Ming?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, your word is thew. How could your subject defy you?¡±

    ¡°In that case, give me b-¡±

    ¡°We must drink more to grow closer.¡± Ming Feizhen finally poured a full cup for His Majesty.

    After some pointless chit chat, Emperor Yuansheng said, ¡°I¡¯m not fast at making decisions; I spend a fair amount of time mulling over things before making a decision. Although the numerous topics bother me daily, they¡¯re not the most important matters to the country. The things you mentioned are the topics that upy my mind even in my sleep. It¡¯s impossible to avoid natural disasters, but there is a way to recover from them. On the other hand, man-made disasters can make natural disasters even worse. My worst fear is that, when a natural disaster strikes, the imperial court will only have corrupted and selfish officials. How many innocent lives would be tragically lost to that? That¡¯s why I¡¯ve always been concerned about personnel.¡±

    He Shi did say that those who considered the future would¡¯ve already began making their moves in regards to the three biggest issues. Having said that, it would¡¯ve been pointless no matter how early they got started if the monarch didn¡¯t approve. There was an important distinction, though. Even if they had foresight, they¡¯d start from the bottom of the matter. Emperor Yuansheng, on the other hand, started from personnel, which was practical and cut to the core of the problem.

    Ming Feizhen gave a big nod. ¡°You have done an outstanding job of dissolving the enmity. What about it troubles you?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng shook his head. ¡°Was Father still alive, he would have had a more expedient solution.¡±

    ¡°Fast is not necessarily better. At the very least, the damage has been minimised.¡±

    Ming Feizhen genuinely meant it. He had interacted with a number of monarchs in the Western Regions and Nanjiang already. Some of them were more decisive than Emperor Yuansheng, but their quick decisions were also more destructive. None of them minimised damage the way Emperor Yuansheng did. If the wisest monarch of the Western Regions were to reconfigure rtionships between his vassals as Emperor Yuansheng did, they¡¯d have lost half of their vassals, at the very least. After all, elimination of those you didn¡¯t need was always the quickest method. While the aggressive approach would¡¯ve impaired their ability to implement policies for a while, it was a method that allowed them to suffer once and be done with it. Still, damage was damage; it didn¡¯t just not exist because there were more gains than losses no matter the magnitude of the gains.

    Though Emperor Yuansheng dragged his feet, he didn¡¯t ruin the existing foundation, effectively bncing damage and gains. Despite his impressive aplishment, he looked worried, though.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Had it not been for Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s loss of patience, I would¡¯ve had to wait for ages before I could¡¯ve implemented my n. Prime Minister Li always reminded me when I tried to avoid studying that my potential isn¡¯t even one third of myte father¡¯s. I must say he was too kind when he said that. Father coulde up with seven, eight ns in the snap of a finger unlike me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t even born when Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s father was on the throne, and he never knew much about the wildest Emperor in their dynasty¡¯s history. Based off Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s depictions, his father was also quite a deep thinker and decent father. Else, he wouldn¡¯t have missed his father when he spoke about it.

    ¡°Your subject is not aware of the former Emperor¡¯s ways of doing things, but you are two different people. It is a fact that you solved this matter well. There is no need to fret about it.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng clinked his cup against Ming Feizhen¡¯s and lowered his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯ve done your fair share, too. Based on your abilities, the exam shouldn¡¯t have been too difficult. Wang Zhenyun, though, hohoho, he made life tough for you, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng¡¯sment proved Ming Feizhen¡¯s conjecture to be true.

    Ming Feizhen wagged a hand. ¡°Him? Hohoho.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Do you know why I summoned you?¡±

    Ming Feizhen waved the chicken drumstick in his hand. ¡°Your subject would not have dared toe if it was not for food and drinks.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s nice to speak to someone frank. You¡¯re always able to remind me of the days in the pugilistic world. With that said, let me ask you again: have you considered the prince factions?¡±

    Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t forgotten about the letter his shiniang sent him. As a reclusive sect, Mount Daluo kept to themselves unless they needed to step out. Their disciples out in the world were out there for training, not to partake in the worldly affairs. While they would be a powerhouse once they got involved, they chose to get involved with the imperial family this time. In other words, they were showing approval in the Prince factions. The most direct method to involving themselves ¨C in terms of direct impact on the imperial court ¨C was to support a Prince. Without Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s support, their involvement would be suspected as trying to bring a Prince over to their side for selfish means. Lian Zhuiyue discussed the matter with Emperor Yuansheng in Nanjiang, but they didn¡¯t go into any details as the attitude of Mount Daluo¡¯s next patriarch was instrumental to the oue. Until Ming Feizhen made his stance clear, Mount Daluo wouldn¡¯t make any moves. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t be thoughtless, or his n to escape from Mount Daluo and patriarch duties would¡¯ve gone down the drain.

    ¡°Your subject is in support of the idea, but as for the details¡­¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng held up a hand. ¡°I used to believe that people in the pugilistic world didn¡¯t have respect for rules, which would be a bad influence on the Princes. Now that I think about it, I must¡¯ve not thought it through properly. Right now, the restrictions on them are excessive, and that is my fault. Kunlun¡¯s Patriarch Yi is a great man. Had he been able to act in the capacity of an advisor, Lyu¡¯er might not have be the mess that he did.

    ¡°As crazy and unbridled State Preceptor Lai is, he is trustworthy. Chi¡¯er is upright thanks to his advice. I have been thinking that, if the Princes¡¯ supporters are trustworthy, it¡¯s fine to give them a boost. It would be even better if they could have an official rtionship.¡±

    Ming Feizhen shivered when he heard ¡°official rtionship¡±.

    ¡°Um, uh, your subject does not quite follow.¡±

    Emperor Yuansheng smiled. ¡°I wish for you to take my son under your wing as your pupil.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 12

    Turmoil from Thirty years Ago

    Ming Feizhen, squinting to avoid the golden rays¡¯ reflection off the walls, mused over his discussion with Emperor Yuansheng as he followed Wang Tushui out of the imperial pce.

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect all of my sons to be aplished. The people of old said, ¡®One would rather a foolish son than one who suffers misfortune.¡¯ The same goes even for me. I only wish that they can live a happy life free from misfortune. It¡¯s popr for one to wish their children stand out, but that¡¯s not necessarily a good thing. All my brothers were capable and qualified to seed my father. How did they end up? They ended up fighting each other viciously and plunging the world into tragedy for ten years. Even I was not spared from their hostility when they held me in their arms when I was a kid¡­ took me out on hunts, taught me and showed me their crushes.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t wanted to talk about these things since I was crowned. It breaks my heart, but I have no idea who to me. Eventually, nobody wanted to talk about. The mere mention of it would make my face long for days. Perhaps it¡¯s due to age, or perhaps I¡¯ve ovee imposter syndrome after ruling for so long. Whatever the reason, I¡¯ve finally found the courage to reflect. I don¡¯t know how brothers who hunted together, carried each other¡¯s bows, carried jugs and pots of wine together, doing what servants would do as if they had to personally do everything, could turn on each other like that.

    ¡°My eldest brother¡­ was a veryid-back person. He spoke slowly, liked tough and didn¡¯t like violence. He was affable with us brothers as you¡¯d expect from an elder brother. He took us out to y. When we made mistakes and Father was going to hit us, he¡¯d shield us. After he got married, we three brothers made a trip to Beiping to find him rare stuff as gifts. Heughed hysterically when he saw our pathetic states upon return, but he angrily told us to never do it again after he saw our injuries. The four of us¡­ drank a lot that night.

    ¡°Second Brother was the man. He was in every fight, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that he also took a lot of damage. He only cared about backing his brothers and friends, though. His mansion was a gift from Father, but he gifted it to me since he knew I liked it. He said he preferred living in the army barracks, so there was no point in giving it to him. At the time, I promised myself to build him a mansion ten times bigger than any other mansion once I had enough money regardless of what anyone told me. That was why I personally spent a long, long time inspecting the estate when Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor fell¡­

    ¡°Third Brother was a graceful gentleman, but I knew he was a kind man who could think for himself. When a big bear charged at me one autumn hunt, I just ran for it since even Second Brother was hurt, yet Third Brother stood his ground. Being smarter than all of us, he knew all four of us would¡¯ve perished if he fled, as well. He alone stalled the bear until the guards found us.¡±

    As he so seldom recounted the stories, Emperor Yuansheng had to take breaks in between here and there to string togetherprehensible sentences, but the moist in his eyes showed he meant every word he said.

    ¡°I always wondered what triggered their change. I see the same old brothers in my dreams. No matter how long I spend thinking, I just can¡¯t work out what motivated them to strive for the throne so much. That¡¯s not who they were¡­ I¡¯m telling you all this to let you know that, although I do hope they excel, I¡¯m okay if they don¡¯t as long as they can live a healthy and happy life.¡± Emperor Yuansheng set down his cup and smiled.

    ¡°I won¡¯t force you. Besides Chi¡¯er and Qing¡¯er, you can choose to take any of them under your tutge. I¡¯m counting on you.¡± After he said that, Emperor Yusheng patted Ming Feizhen on the shoulder and left, telling Wang Tushui toe in and fetch Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°¡­ and that¡¯s how it went,¡± stated Ming Feizhen, squatting by a wall whilst munching on a handful of dry herbs.

    The herbs helped offset the side effects of Ming Feizhen¡¯s recent sleep deprivation. Plus, it didn¡¯t taste too shabby. Most importantly, he felt ufortable discussing things if he didn¡¯t have something to eat while he was talking. Since he didn¡¯t have enough time to drop into the kitchen, he therefore went to the pharmacy.

    ¡°I had tried to turn down the job, but I couldn¡¯t walk off when His Majesty was pouring his heart out. You guys can¡¯t imagine it. If I walked out, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to call myself a human being. That sly coot. Guess that¡¯s why he¡¯s the Emperor.¡±

    Covering the fist mark on his eye, Tang Ye was still dealing with the aftereffects of being woken from his sleep with a fist and being told, ¡°Piss off. Piss off somewhere far away.¡±

    ¡°Big Bro, have you recovered your ability to fight?¡±

    ¡°You only just realised? How are you supposed toe drink all the wine in the world and court all the chicks in the world with me if you¡¯re so slow?¡± grouched Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°¡­ I feel like a lot of big things happenedst night.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re imagining things. Someone farting is a big deal in this day and age. Focus on analysing for me. I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Ye grabbed his rattling head to try recall the information, then requested, ¡°Could you repeat it one more time?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Tang Ye got the realbat training he always asked for.

    By the time Ming Feizhen repeated himself, Mountain Monster, Shen Kuang, Su Xiao, Liu Yuan and even Zha Pi were in attendance. Basically, save for Song Ou and Shen Yiren, who were busy with the banquet in the pce, everyone who had some degree of authority at Liu Shan Men was present. They weren¡¯t a group that would gather unless Ming Feizhen was present. As soon as they got together, though, they had no qualms gossiping. In no time at all there were melon seed shells, tea leaves, fruit peels and the sort all over the ground.

    Ming Feizhen harrumphed. ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Two brains are better than one. Help me brainstorm an idea. Young Master Kuang, you start.¡±

    Shen Kuang started choking on the tea he was drinking, while Su Xiao patted his back. ¡°¡­ Thank you, Xiao Han. I, uh¡­ I don¡¯t know much about the topic, but I think the Princes are pretty strong in their stances, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessarily a job to be envious about. His Majesty is eager, though. You must think it through carefully, Brother Ming.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded.

    Munching on melon seeds, Mountain Monster opined, ¡°Since red and cyan are off the table, that means there are four left. The orange one is gone, right?¡±

    Also munching, Zha Pi opined, ¡°Green is a bad idea, too. After all, it¡¯s a terrible colour and not good for Head Constable Ming¡¯s reputation. That leaves yellow and blue.¡±

    Liu Yuan shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t forget there¡¯s also Prince Zi, who will soon officially be conferred the rank of Prince. That leaves you with at least three options.¡±

    Mountain Monster: ¡°Oh, pick one easy to control, then.¡±

    ¡°Slow down,¡± interjected Ming Feizhen. ¡°When did I agree to taking a Prince under my wing?¡±

    Mountain Monster spat out a melon seed. ¡°What? Too good for it? Besides, I¡¯m not the one telling you to teach one. Would you actually dare to oppose the old man?¡±

    ¡°Stop, stop, stop. You¡¯re a viin. Your opinion doesn¡¯t count. Tang Ye, you have the looks and background of an orthodox sect disciple. You tell me.¡±

    Tang Ye: ¡°You can¡¯t refuse His Majesty as she said.¡±

    ¡°Screw the lot of you! Xiao, what say you?!¡±

    Su Xiao wrinkled his face. ¡°Big Brother Ming, you have to refuse if you don¡¯t want to do it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s m-¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t just kidnap an innocent girl and demand her to marry you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ There¡¯s something wrong about that.¡±

    ¡°Plus, who¡¯s responsible if Big Brother Ming turns him into a stupid Prince? Would we be implicated as his colleagues?¡±

    ¡°Refuse. Make sure to refuse, or resign first, okay?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, you, you, and the rest of your families, so much.¡± Ming Feizhen put a full stop on the topic and decided to wait for Shen Yiren to return.

    If there was truly no option but to ept the role, Ming Feizhen was nning to do what they said in the first ce. Those were the only three Princes who had room for him to do anything. He didn¡¯t know much about Yellow Prince, but Blue Prince would¡¯ve been a tough nut to crack. As for Purple Prince, he was a suitable candidate in all facets, except he was young. In saying that, Ming Feizhen wanted to minimise interactions with Zizi since he knew his mother.

    Ming Feizhen decided to leave the issue forter as there was still one more person he needed to speak to.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 15: Chapter 13

    Stupefied

    ¡°Venerable Monk¡¯s n failed entirely. Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s demise is just a countdown at this point. I imagine the order to take them out will be given today.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s boring me.¡± Jin Zhaoying yawned, shut her eyes and let her eyelids copse partially.

    Mo Yubai returned back to Jin Zhaoying¡¯s section of Daren Academy after she escaped. While it was designated as a temporary contact point, Jin Zhaoying¡¯s room was a hiding spot. Since there were over a dozen maids serving Jin Zhaoying, it wouldn¡¯t have been suspicious if there was an extra young maid or if there was more food delivered. Considering Mo Yubai¡¯s qinggong prowess, there was no fear of being discovered if nobody knew she sneaked back in and she remained low for a while.

    The bowing assassin, with her mask worn on the side of her head, had seen Li Jinganzing around more than once, but she recognised there was something different to the usual despite the emotionless expression on the Princess¡¯ face. However, she knew better than toment. Even when Li Jingan behavedzily, there was still an air of grace unlike jin Zhaoying. Today, though, there was a clear emotional difference to the usually unreadable Princess. Perhaps nobody was more qualified to speak on the topic than someone who had two identities. Neither the fighter ¡°Mo¡± or the glutton ¡°Bai¡± were any better than the other at reading emotions. With that said, Mo Yubai could detect the absence and presence of emotions.

    Li Jingan found the report boring as she predicted Venerable Monk Jiyi was destined to fail from the start. While he looked emotionless on the surface, he was insufferably arrogant. His own arrogance limited his growth and perception. Otherwise, he had the luck to go much further.

    The capital was safe and so was the imperial pce. Li Jingan understood her father¡¯s character and fathomed what he was capable of. Although he wasn¡¯t a man who could contrive the most convoluted machinations, he could convince people to serve him faithfully. Based on her experiences, his type was a tough type to beat.

    Emperor Yuansheng was the first Emperor in Li Dynasty¡¯s history to have the three offices so united and enthusiastic when it came to protecting him. Liu Shan Men, in particr, would choose to side with the people whenever their interests and Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s interests opposed each other. This was in spite of the two groups having different pursuits. When it came to her father, he had his sworn brother who maintained the three offices alone.

    Li Jingan remembered Shen Wuzheng¡¯srge and warm hands, and hisforting smile. Even though he was likely incredible in martial arts, he preferred to reason with people. When violence was the only option, he had a way of ending disputes peacefully. He was a man who managed to have Wang Muren, Ye Yun and Li Linglong set aside differences to serve one man loyally. Had his existence not grown into an obstacle for the world¡¯s order at the time, he deserved to live longer. s, not even his death was enough to destroy the three offices¡¯ unity. Li Linglong departed, while Wang Muren and Ye Yun didn¡¯t get along; however, they were still loyal to Emperor Yuansheng. For all the confidence Liaoliao had, he was a fool for not recognising that reality.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to hear anymore. You can leave.¡±

    Mo Yubai bowed out, then retreated into the underground passage. She didn¡¯t consider having to hide there by herself for a few days a form of suffering as she was used to being alone; she¡¯d be fine for even a year as long as her other personality toe out.

    Li Jingan gently poured herself a cup of tea as she analysed all the reports on the capital¡¯s events. She had already deduced what information contradicted what and what possibilities there were as a result from them as if she had a bird¡¯s-eye view of the events. Being able to do all that as a child was exciting, but it was too dull to even qualify as a time killer. Despite being able to control such an enormous world, her eyes were devoid of emotion.

    There were very people who understood Li Jingan. Not even the mentor who taught her everything she knew could see her soul ¨C if there even was one inside her skeleton. Nothing inside the thing called ¡°the world¡± could respond to her. Her mother could¡¯ve been considered among the top five smartest people. Had it not been for her poor health taking her too soon, the world would likely have been far more eventful. In saying that, not even her mother and elder brother, both of whom had more resources than her, could rece her.

    There was no way to tell if Li Jingan¡¯s entire family had unique views on the world due to gics or not. Her mother saw the world as one big dream, a game to y without any emotions that she could walk away from whenever she was bored. As she sought little, she could see more. She had the mindset of a military strategist. Cyan Prince was a Prince who had the support of the people. Nobody could measure the extent of his ambitions, but he was destined to be greater than a military strategist. Li Jingan didn¡¯t want anything. The world to her was just a ck void. Her eyes suggested some sort of attachment to a desire, but it was impossible to tell what. That was the reason she was her mentor¡¯s sole inheritor of intellect and knowledge. Whether she wanted to or not, she could find the best answer. To her, it was no different to answers being delivered to her without deliberation.

    Li Jingan had a nip of tea.

    Li Jingan had gone through the information dozens of times. selected the most reasonable possibilities, and emotionlessly defined her next dozens of steps. In saying that, there were some parts that werecking information, such as Liu Shan Men, the imperial pcest night, and Taishu Hall.

    As Mo Yubai returned to the academyst night, she wasn¡¯t privy to what happened in the imperial pce in the morning. Considering it was still early in the day, it was natural for information to still be sparse. That being said, she would¡¯ve managed to collect some information ofst night¡¯s events even as Jin Zhaoying if she tried. Nevertheless, Li Jingan chose not to ask for Mo Yubai¡¯s opinion. She chose not to ask about Ming Feizhen even though it only required a few words.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In a second, Li Jingan could¡¯ve imagined numerous ways Ming Feizhen died. He was defenceless against Tianhu, Liaoliao, and Gongsun Chu. She didn¡¯t want to think about it when it was able to be a reality, though. It was as if thinking about it would save him, as if he¡¯d mock her from somewhere. She could¡¯ve saved him from her plot, but she wouldn¡¯t for it was his fault.

    Before one saw a flower, they didn¡¯t know where the flower was or where the mountain it grew on was located. When they searched, the flower would be in front of them. There, howbeit, was no way of knowing how many springs it wouldst.

    Li Jingan marinated in the void she couldn¡¯t control.

    ¡°Hey, Lass.¡±

    Li Jingan subtly raised her head and looked at him with a tinge of disbelief. ¡°Fuma¡­ you¡¯re still alive?¡±

    ¡°TIanhu, Venerable Monk and Gongsun Chu all failed to kill me.¡± Ming Feizhen picked up a snack to start eating smugly as he always did.

    ¡°Confused? Hahaha, I have my ways.¡± Since he got the awkward silent treatment, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°Wifey, it¡¯s harder than that to kill your husband.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    Ming Feizhen fossilised as he watched Li Jingan bend backwardsughing.

    ¡°You¡¯re alive. You¡¯ve regained your martial arts. You¡¯ve¡­ regained your martial arts.¡± Li Jingan lowered her head and changed her aura to a second ago. ¡°Great. Great.¡±

    Li Jingan got up and strolled outside. When she turned back to take a look at Ming Feizhen, sheughed heartily again.

    Is she¡­ out of her mind?!

 Book 15: Chapter 14

    The banquet was still going by the time the sun came up. Emperor Yuansheng personally set up with them after they got changed for the banquet, but he and Prime Minister Li left early on the premise that they weren¡¯t able to hold their liquor, telling the rest to continue celebrations. The officials got the message to keep it goingte into the night, so they partied merrily.

    It was rare for Emperor Yuansheng to splurge on banquets ever since he came into power, so it stood to reason that there was another purpose to the banquet besides celebration. The fact that he was whispering to Prime Minister Li and left it was further supporting evidence. Plus, if the beef stew presented was only prepared overnight, it wouldn¡¯t have been so delectable. In other words, the banquet was nned before Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s treason was brought to light. As the banquet was premeditated, it had to serve another purpose.

    Smart people should¡¯ve figured out which faction to join and what to do from Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s first sentence. Anyone who made the most of the opportunity would¡¯ve kicked their old allies off the highest cliff they could find and jumped onto the new ship about to sail. Anyone who could pick up on the cue to reshuffle their factions would¡¯ve pleased him. The second half of the night was for review. Only a fool would¡¯ve given up the prime opportunity.

    Suffice to say, there were major winners at the banquet. The first was none other than Dark Robe Brotherhood¡¯s officials. The second was the official who was adamant about wiping every White Prince off the map ¨C Secretary Lie. Hence, it was no surprise that Secretary Lie and his friends even cleared the table and pulled out dices. Had Secretary Lu not punched him over the head, Secretary Lie would¡¯ve continued his shirtless sword performance into the next day. Since the tide was now on Secretary Lie¡¯s side, the civil servants who never gambled in the past joined him at this gambling table to get into his good graces.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Those who didn¡¯t join Secretary Lie promptly got to forming their factions, too. It went without saying that the veterans, especially the fence sitters, didn¡¯t have much change to deal with. On the other hand, new and rising officials were a different story ¨C in particr, Liu Shan Men¡¯s Song Ou. He was in the brightest spotlight ever in his life. His Majesty praised him twice and gave him a reward, so the officials saw him as a rising star to befriend. After his performancest night, even more people saw him as a potentially profitable stock.

    At first, Song Ou wondered if he really was so cool as the officialsplimented him. As more praise added up, he was convinced he shouldn¡¯t have ever doubted himself. As a man who was no beginner to big social events, though, he started to feel something was off as more praise poured on to him. Even without the experience, he had some degree of self-awareness. He had never been lucky in life. He was called slow when he started studying as a kid. When he started training martial arts, he was told he was hopeless. People he tried to befriend looked down on him. When it came to finding a marriage partner, there were no ideal partners for him. Once he hit adulthood, he neither excelled with a brush nor a sword. He barely had any friends, and his marriage was a business transaction. He finally got a fewpetent subordinatesst year, one of whom was Ming Menqing. Evidently, his luck was horrendous.

    A sudden mountain of good lucknding in Song Ou¡¯sp prompted all sorts of paranoid thoughts. He had no issue giving back good luck that wasn¡¯t his; he was worried he¡¯d have to repay it with interest that could¡¯ve potentially been as high as his life. As a consequence, he responded as if with the attitude of someone walking on egg shells, using ¡°Yes¡± and ¡°thank you¡± as his sole replies. He even contemted telling Zha Pi to invite some spiritual masters to purify him of the bad luck once he returned to the office. In contrast, the people who spoke to him misunderstood him to be some mysterious, immeasurably clever individual and thought that he had been ying the fool all the time. Had he paid more attention, he would¡¯ve realised that the important people at the banquet weren¡¯t paying attention to him but his younger brother behind him. While it was true that Song Ou had gained some shine, he hadn¡¯t reached a level to demand so much respect.

    Permission to build his own team and expand was a handsome and practical reward worthy of envying. Nheless, the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage didn¡¯t see it as anything that could challenge their power.

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage monitored the imperial court¡¯s officials and the martial world; nobody knew for sure how much dirt they had on people. Their forces might not have appeared dominant orrge on the surface, but nobody was actually certain if that was an impression they intended for the world to perceive. The only certainties were that nobody knew the full extent of their capabilities, and nobody had heard of anyone or anything escaping thempletely.

    The Qilin Guards didn¡¯t need to care about a small unit of five hundred when they had tens of thousands of soldiers at their disposal. They were highly-valued warriors who grew in deadly battles against foreign enemies in freezing weather. How could a haphazardly put together motley crew of five hundred match them?

    Still, it was a big move for Emperor Yuansheng to grant Song Ou the privilege. Notwithstanding how much he doted on Shen Yiren, Emperor Yuansheng had been scolding her a lot recently and even assigned her away from the capital. Nobody was dysfunctional enough to think that Emperor Yuansheng was recing Shen Yiren with Song Ou. Nevertheless, Song Ou had Song n¡¯s support. Permitting Song Ou to form a team and lead it didn¡¯t just mean empowering Liu Shan Men, but it also meant Song n was going to resurge in the capital. By extension, it was highly likely he was going to start trusting Song n again. Those who caught on to the possibility naturally had to befriend Song Ou.

    Nobody noticed Shen Yiren had quietly left the imperial pce on her own. On her way out, she spotted him and smiled. ¡°Hey, recovered?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 15

    No Sight Better than their Smiles

    ¡°Recovered?¡±

    ¡°Could kill two tigers.¡±

    ¡°How about you don¡¯t. They¡¯ll go extinct. You people have no love for animals.¡± Shen Yiren picked up a hairpin when they walked by a stall selling ornaments. ¡°This hairpin is pretty. Its quality is good, and the design is fresh. The flower pearls are nice, too.¡±

    Shen Yiren casually slotted the hairpin into her hair. As men walked past, they couldn¡¯t stop themselves from staring.

    ¡°Drink?¡± Ming Feizhen passed over a cup of alcohol.

    Shen Yiren epted the drink, but she didn¡¯t drink.

    ¡°Boss is unhappy, huh.¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Want to tell me about it?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Though her pace was leisurely, Shen Yiren¡¯s expression told a different story. ¡°Feizhen, we¡¯re going to war.¡±

    There were people who were ecstatic over Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s deration of war, and there were some who were defeated. There were glory-seekers who were preparing to chase glory and people who were waiting to see how it yed out. Only Shen Yiren mentioned war despite supporting Emperor Yuansheng from a business and personal perspective.

    ¡°I wonder how many casualties there¡¯ll be this time.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was aware that Shen Yiren was only focused on the casualties despite all the possible turmoil, battles of wits, and wars of morals would be waged. She was prepared to spill blood, but she couldn¡¯t stand watching the innocent bleed. That was why everyone knew that Liu Shan Men couldn¡¯t be taken over. Whether Liu Shan Men collected power and authority or dispersed it, they wouldn¡¯t disappear as long as someone with Shen Yiren¡¯s mindset was in charge.

    ¡°Feizhen, there are many innocent people. Song Chi can be unscrupulous for his family¡¯s sake. He said it back home that all of his decisions and actions were for the sake of protecting Song n. From the perspective of the White Princes, he may be a traitor, but who has any right to say that his family deserves to die for someone else¡¯s ambitions? While there¡¯s no arguing plenty of members of the Seven Champion White Princesmit sins, not all of them do. They¡¯ve had a hold over Jiangnan¡¯s martial artsmunity for too long. Many have lost their freedom to choose. We should give them what they deserve. Perhaps they should¡¯ve created the conditions for their demands long ago, but they were slow. As soon as the warmences, they¡¯ll have to struggle for their lives. There will be a lot of unnecessary bloodshed.¡±

    The civilians of Jiangnan were bound to be plunged into the mes of war once the imperial court and the Seven Champion White Princes started fighting. In order to take the seven down, the imperial court would¡¯ve had no choice but to attack akin to a hurricane moving with urgency. Otherwise, there would¡¯ve been a lot of variables that¡¯d be hard to ount for. If the war moved west, if the White Princes expanded their territorial boundaries to resist, or if foreign opportunists joined the fray, then the war would be an even tougher one. The imperial court would¡¯ve consequently been forced to send out a force dozens of timesrger, turning it into an even bigger war. No matter how swift the war went, lots of innocent lives would inevitably be lost, nevertheless.

    The civilians who would be coteral damage were innocent; however, even some of the participants in the war didn¡¯t want to fight. The imperial court¡¯s warriors were citizens of the country, were they not? They would have to fight their fellow countrymen, would they not?

    Shen Yiren continued, ¡°Not everyone should be their pawns. They should have lives with more value. If fighting is inevitable, it should be honourable.¡±

    Ming Feizhen set his empty wine jug down. ¡°That¡¯s something my shifu vehemently disagrees on. He says that everyone is a pawn, many of whom have no say, and many of whom are granted an existence. They can be angry and hopeless, but it won¡¯t change the fact. Trying to find a release is butical and delusional. When has a forest burnt itself? When has a river dried itself up?¡±

    ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°I argue people are people. Tragedies are inevitable. People want to eat people, don¡¯t they? Of course, there are people who don¡¯t, but there are people who do. It¡¯s notplicated; joy and sorrow are part of being alive in this world. There are forests, rivers, the sun, stars, grass, and the wind. Everyone has the power to be better than they are today. That power gives the world the potential to be better than it is today.¡±

    A sense of tenderness came to Shen Yiren¡¯s gaze. ¡°Do you think we¡­ can have that sort of power?¡± she asked, squeezing a hairpin in hair hand dangerously tight.

    Ming Feizhen took the hairpin off Shen Yiren and straightened up her posture. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pressed down on Shen Yiren¡¯s shoulders to stop her from lifting her arms. Though she was shy, she rxed her shoulders as the corners of her lips subtly raised without her awareness.

    ¡°I might hurt you if I¡¯m not careful. Boss, grab me a flower.¡±

    It felt as though it had been ages since Shen Yiren had seen Ming Feizhen¡¯s yful smile.

    ¡°A pomegranate flower that¡¯s like a cut-up piece of red silk. Don¡¯t let its struggle in summer go to waste.¡± Ming Feizhen slipped the ck hairpin into Shen Yiren¡¯s hair smoothly.

    Shen Yiren titled her eyes with a smirk as if to ask, ¡°Does it look good on me,¡± but she asked, ¡°Are you really illiterate?¡±

    ¡°Only when it¡¯s convenient.¡± Ming Feizhen looked into Shen Yiren¡¯s eyes and smile, making her a rosy tingee to her cheeks.

    The sound of cicadas had never been so rxing. The warm wind had never felt so smoothing. The ruthless sun had never felt so perfectly warm.

    ¡°Feeling better now?¡°

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    They left the stall with a rxed stroll and sweet smiles.

    Glossary

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s literacy ¨C Ming Feizhen made a reference to Bai Juyi¡¯s line on how pomegranate flowers like cut up red silk. It¡¯s considered a clever line from someone highly literate since theparison isn¡¯t something illiterate would¡¯ve thought of or had heard.

 Book 15: Chapter 16

    Leaving off a Jade Hairpin. A Suave Man¡¯s Depiction.

    I had recovered back to my usual self for seven days by this point. I had been through a hundred painful days and finally enjoyed seven good days. I had an urge to cry whenever I recalled the one hundred days of bullying that I suffered. Thus, Ized in bed, refused to see anyone besides the people delivering my food by demand, and spent my time catching up on missed releases of ck and White Reflection, to make up for lost time. The seven days of bliss almost erased all the misery I was subjected to for a hundred days. I almost forgot the sight of Uncle Jiyi fleeing into the secret passage. I vaguely remembered Zero beating up a bald block. I thought Zero picked up some weird fetish while working for the imperial court. Of course, all was well once I woke up. s, my vacation was nearly over.

    Uncle Huang and Boss were both looking forward to my return and borrowing my genius. It was tough carrying everything. Specifically, Uncle Huang told me, ¡°If you don¡¯t return to sses, you¡¯ll be expelled,¡± and Boss told me, ¡°Get yourzy bum back to the academy.¡±

    Tsunderes.

    I was pretty sure something else happened in the capital while I was cooped up in my room because there was a line of people looking to lick Song Ou¡¯s boots glossy every day. He should¡¯ve been happy to have received the greatest privileges in his life, yet he tried hard to create a righteous character as if to avoid some sort of imminent omen he foresaw, checking everyone who wanted to join him. As a result, he was the busiest person at the office; he looked so gaunt when I saw him that I thought I saw a ghost. On the other hand, Zha Pi, who¡¯d been setting traps with his right hand and embezzling with his left hand, had visibly gained weight.

    There were no more security concerns after the White Princes¡¯ debacle. Had it not been for Gongsun Chu¡¯s rich experience going up against the three offices, the White Princes wouldn¡¯t have had their way from the beginning.

    I told Gongsun Chu that I¡¯d summon him with a letter when I needed him. I didn¡¯t see a reason to worry about my career anymore since he had the looks, brains, experience, andpetence.

    Zero came to bid me farewell before he had to leave to deal with a problem at the southern border. Among my friends from back in the day, he was the only person left who supported me after I sought employment under the imperial court, but he had to leave, too.

    Sad.

    Even Boss had been so busy outsidetely that I barely saw her. Last time, she came back just to change before heading out again. I think she was involved in discussions on how to approach the White Princes going forward. She packed some luggage, probably to stay in the pce for a few days, and then left after a few words. Logically speaking, she should¡¯ve focused on organising the office since we had to leave the capital soon, yet she didn¡¯t seem to care that Song Ou was slowly seizing control.

    The day following the day they withdrew their troops, the White Princes sent letters of apologies to His Majesty; Cold Mountain Temple was among them. They unanimously swore that they mobilised their forces because they received reports that a dangerous enemy was closing in on the capital, so they had to take action before they had time to notify His Majesty. They imed to be ignorant to the fact that they were being used as part of the perpetrators¡¯ plot.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary mentioned they fought the dangerous foe, but the foe escaped them and went for the imperial pce. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary¡¯s sincerity and testimony had Emperor Yuansheng gluing his brows together.

    Emperor Yuansheng was furious when he read Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s letter. Uncle Jiyi med Xun Feng for everything, and he offered to step down for failing in his duty as a mentor. He further imed that Uncle Huang was either framing him for Elder Yu¡¯s death, or there was some misunderstanding. Therefore, he was willing to visit the capital in person for His Majesty to judge him. When Yi Ya arrived at Cold Mountain Temple, the monks of Cold Mountain Temple had handcuffed themselves, gathering a huge audience all around Suzhou. Yi Ya apprehended all of them, but he couldn¡¯t just extradite all of them back to the capital on ount of their reputation. Plus, it wasn¡¯t the order he was given, so he resorted to locking them up in Suzhou until he received further instructions.

    Uncle Huang didn¡¯t have evidence to prove that Uncle Jiyi was the culprit in Elder Yu¡¯s death. Tiangou¡¯s testimony alone wasn¡¯t sufficient to incriminate him. Uncle Jiyi really did n well. If nothing else, he could¡¯ve escaped from Suzhou¡¯s prison whenever he wanted at his skill level.

    I yawned as I stepped out of my room for the first time in days.

    The imperial court had a lot on its te, but how much could I have done as one man?

    You want me to take one of your sons on as my pupil? Ha! I just escaped hell, and you want to push me into a pit ofva?

    Sixth was losing his touch. Who in their right mind would work with the imperial court? Mount Daluo? Come on. How was a sect of generational thugs, I mean heroes, supposed to fit in to the imperial court? We couldn¡¯t even do a proper job of supporting a Prince. What were we supposed to do? Commit arson, extortion, and intimidation? Besides, how could we go against our own kind and help the wealthy imperial family bully we good men in the martial world? Wouldn¡¯t we be the imperial court¡¯s legitimatep dog, then? People in the martial world would mock us for eternity. This matter required more deliberation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shiniang told me to pick a Prince to support. She never specified we had to be a part of his faction. I could say we were supporting a Prince¡­ As for being a mentor¡­ yeah, forget it. Every single one of them was trouble in their own way. If one of them had a short circuit and copied Orange Prince, myself and everyone rted to me would¡¯ve been executed.

    I arrived at Eight Deities. Boss and I had wanted to expand Liu Shan Men. Since the imperial court was going to give us troops, we had to recruit members ourselves. I happened to have an ingenious idea.

    ¡°Good to see everyone here.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 17

    With the Power of Alcohol, the Hairpin is Yours

    Ning Zhuoru grumbled, ¡°What sort of host shows upter than the invitees?¡±

    Lang Qing shook his head. ¡°We have ordered a table of food. We can¡¯t run even if he iste.¡±

    Yuan Kou, who clearly had a bit too much to drink already based on him drumming the table with his drumsticks, said, ¡°Sir, you are too stingy. You do not need to be sote even if you do not want to treat us. You have to have three drinks as punishment.¡±

    Teng: ¡°Wee.¡±

    Ever since they started hanging around me, all of them had grown more shameless.

    ¡°There seems to be a misunderstanding.¡± I sat down, had two drinks, finished a drumstick and then continued, ¡°I did note to treat you.¡±

    Once they looked confused, I stated, ¡°I shall be frank with your judgements.¡±

    Though the five of them were bouncing off walls at the moment, they were still criminals who were only released temporarily thanks to me. They, however, seemed to forget the fact since they stayed put in the capital. Actually, they sounded as if they were ready to be residents of the capital.

    Gu Xianxian and his wife started crying.

    ¡°Our poor unborn child.¡±

    ¡°You, too, my dear wife! All three of us!¡±

    Lang Qing and Teng exchanged eye contact, both nning to jump out the building and speed off, but Yuan Kou grabbed them and said, ¡°Rx! We don¡¯t even know what they¡¯ll do with us yet. What¡¯s the hurry? Sir, what is going to be done with us?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Exile.¡±

    Gu Xianxian and his wife cried louder. Lang Qing and Teng no longer had any hesitations. Yuan Kou was ready to run, too, but the trio couldn¡¯t move. Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru freaked out as they watched the three shiver as they were pulled back to their seaks.

    Lang Qing: ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    I removed my celestial spider silk, then helped myself to another cup of wine. It wouldn¡¯t have been possible to pull all three of them back using a vacuum from a single palm strike, so the silk saved me the trouble of striking twice.

    ¡°What are you all panicking for? I did say exile, but I never said suffering. Rx.¡±

    Yuan Kou, catching on fast, even gave up on resisting the cold energy. ¡°Sir, just tell it to us straight. Stop toying with us.¡±

    ¡°So, about this meal?¡±

    ¡°We will pay for it.¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡± I tossed a peanut into my mouth. ¡°Your crimes were supposed to have been swept under the rug. Unfortunately, you know about Fiends¡¯ Genesis¡¯ and Jiang Chen¡¯s recent activities. Jiang Chen assaulted the imperial city. That¡¯s treason at the highest level. Therefore, it goes without saying that Fiends¡¯ Genesis are heinous criminals. Everyone in the imperial court unanimously supports annihting Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Thing is, Fiends¡¯ Genesis isn¡¯t easy to locate. What are they going to do if they can¡¯t find the culprits? Would you be able to let the offence go if you were in the imperial court¡¯s shoes?¡±

    They had a think and then painfully shook their heads ¨C except for Yuan Kou, who mumbled, ¡°I could. I could. The imperial court is tolerant. They only killed a couple of people and set a few fires.¡± I red Yuan Kou into shaking his head.

    ¡°Right? Who could take it lying?¡± I gently tapped the table, then resumed, ¡°What else could be done if you didn¡¯t want to take it lying?¡± I swept my gaze over them before borating, ¡°Venting.¡±

    Gu Xianxian replied, ¡°But they can¡¯t find Fiends¡¯ Genesis.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Precisely. Since they can¡¯t find the culprit, they¡¯ll have to vent on the culprit¡¯s associates, right? Brother Gu, since you¡¯re so clever, how about taking a guess as to who that would be.¡±

    Gu Xianxian stopped to think, then responded, ¡°There only seems to be the five of us, then¡­ Wait, what?! They¡¯re going to take it out on us?!¡±

    I flicked up a thumb. ¡°You really are a genius, Brother Gu. I¡¯ll go and give them the feedback. I promise you¡¯ll have your way.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Gu Xianxian nearly copsed.

    Lang Qing questioned, ¡°It sounds like they haven¡¯t decided to kill us yet, correct?¡±

    ¡°Not far off, though. In short, the imperial court isn¡¯t taking this lightly. You all know who Secretary Lie is, right? He¡¯s in charge of the Ministry of War. Fiends¡¯ Genesis inmed him. He¡¯s been warming up his hands to go hack some fiends.¡±

    Secretary Lie truly was busy, and his department was also busy enough for citizens to have noticed. The five of them also seemed to have heard or seen something rted.

    ¡°You can rx, though. While the imperial court is united in the decision, you have me, right?¡±

    Yuan Kou: ¡°What did you say, Sir?¡±

    ¡°I tried to dissuade them! I poured my heart out to His Majesty; I had to drink three barrels of tea a day to rehydrate. I spoke to everyone involved to convince them to finally reduce your sentences to exile.¡±

    ¡°Exile is still too much.¡± Teary, Ning Zhuoru sobbed, ¡°I¡¯m pregnant. I can¡¯t stand that much stress. Besides, my child would be¡­ would be¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You still have me. Who am I? I wouldn¡¯t leave you to your fates after all that you five helped me with, right? I kept pushing. I said that exile was fine, but that I would have to make the decision on how that was implemented. You know how close His Majesty and I are. He gave me the nod.¡±

    ¡°S-so how will you exile us, Sir?¡± questioned Yuan Kou.

    ¡°Simple. Our boss at Liu Shan Men has been relocated away from the capital, so I suggested bringing you five along. Since you must travel a long distance, it counts as exile. Helping Liu Shan Men out at the office and taking care of affairs in the pugilistic world counts as serving your sentence.¡±

    Even Teng and Lang Qing rxed after hearing that.

    Considering their skills, they would have had to have their martial arts deleted before they were exiled. That wasn¡¯t a concern if they were travelling with Liu Shan Men. Plus, they were used to the freedom of the pugilistic world, so asking them to perform manualbour as servants was no different to a death sentence. Allowing them to deal with problems in the martial world granted them a degree of freedom. Yuan Kou, in particr, was obsessed with employment under the imperial court, so whatint could he have possibly had?

    After thanking me, enjoying a rxing meal, then bidding me goodbye, they headed off to pack up and prepare to report in to Boss at Liu Shan Men.

    Honestly, they would¡¯ve been helpful to Liu Shan Men. And honestly, the story I told them was absolutely fictitious. The imperial court forgot about them long ago. Long Zaitian erased their records to save his own rear for losing them, so they were never arrested. My date of departure hadn¡¯t been decided; how could I let Boss leave the capital without a single bodyguard? The five of them were more than qualified to be door guards, so I saw no reason to waste their abilities? Moreover, why not maximise freebour when Boss was strapped for money? Well, it wasn¡¯t as if I could pay them even if they asked for it.

    As I cleaned my teeth with a toothpick, Proprietor Shi came to sit down opposite me. ¡°Want a drink?¡±

    Proprietor Shi gave me a nod. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What do you want then?¡±

    ¡°Your owed money.¡±

    ¡­

    While I was recovering at Liu Shan Men, I had my subordinates go buy me take-away from Eight Deities so that I wouldn¡¯t have to get out of bed. ordingly, I had to put all of it on my tab.

    ¡°I owe payment for thest seven days already?¡±

    Proprietor Shi shook his head.

    Thought so.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t paid for any of your meals.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Brother, this is for your sake. What do you think would happen if I cleared all my tabs? You¡¯d lose a frequent customer. I can¡¯t sabotage you like that, right? I won¡¯t pay anything for now.¡±

    ¡°What?! Is he not paying again?! Say something!¡± Proprietor Shi¡¯s wife thundered from the kitchen.

    ¡°H-he is,¡± replied Proprietor Shi, then turning back to me haplessly.

    ¡°¡­ Okay, on ount of you being in hard times, I¡¯ll pay today.¡±

    Ol¡¯ Shi stared at me ¨C confused.

    ¡°What? Why would I bring money when I want to eat out?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Proprietor Shi turned to call for his employees to block the exit.

    ¡°No, no, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. Wait here. Someone will bring the money.¡±

    ¡°Your foresight is truly impressive, Brother Ming.¡± A man slowly ascended the stairs and came over to me. He set down a heavy box on the table and conveyed, ¡°I hope you have been well, Brother Ming.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°You seem to be doing well, too, Brother Gou.¡±

    See? I told you there would be moneying.

 Book 15: Chapter 18

    With the Power of Alcohol, Turn the Hairpin to the Dark Clouds

    Tiangou, smiling, leisurely sat down without caring for the gaze on him. Even though his grey robe came with a hoodie, he chose to leave his forgettable face exposed. He looked more worn out than he should have for someone his age.

    Tiangou was exempted from the Fiends¡¯ Genesis arrests still taking ce in the capital. Having said that, none of the arrested ¨C dead or alive ¨C members of Fiends¡¯ Genesis in the capital were notable members of the group, though the Seven Stars were never considered suspects in the first ce ¨C except for Jiang Chen. I stayed in contact with Tiangou after I ced him back in his exam room using Voice Transmission. He left Taishu Hall before I did on thest day of the exam, so nobody suspected him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°No words can express my gratitude, Brother Ming. I have filled Shitou in on everything.¡±

    Tiangou wasn¡¯t thankful I ced him back in his exam room. As soon as he woke up, he met up with Shitou ¨C probably on Gongsun Chu¡¯s instructions.

    Gongsun Chu couldn¡¯t get along with Fiends¡¯ Genesis when he used them as disposable pawns. While it was true that he held a high position and was the brains of the group, Tiangou could no longer trust him. Shitou was likely Gongsun Chu¡¯sst gift for Fiends¡¯ Genesis. Considering Shitou¡¯s skills, there would only be a handful of elites in the capital capable of locating him once he recovered.

    ¡°How is Brother Shitou doing?¡±

    Tiangou shook his head. ¡°Due to the length of time he was in that state, it¡¯s hard for him to fully recover. Moreover, he is hurt badly. He was virtually unable to walk when I found him. He slips in and out of consciousness; I assume he is still slipping back into the illusory world. When he is fine, he speaks identically to back then. When he¡¯s in the illusion, though, he¡¯ll cry, smile and be hostile at random. It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t take the fire jade.¡±

    Tiangou tapped on the box. ¡°Thanks to you having someone send it over, we managed to deal with the urgent problem. Had it not been for your timeliness, he might¡¯ve hurt people around and himself even more. Otherwise, he would still be a mad man even though he has been freed from the illusion. There is no way we could repay you for it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing.¡± I couldn¡¯t stop Tiangou from kowtowing to me, so I just had to force a smile. I may have been shameless, but I didn¡¯t just let people bow to me. I only felt a little more epting since he had attacked me, and I had drugged him.

    Tiangou was unaware of my rtionship with Zero and wasn¡¯t aware my subordinate was responsible for Shitou¡¯s severe injuries. I had Zero lend them the Nine Dragons Fire Jade topletely rid Shitou of his old problem. I couldn¡¯t pay Gongsun Chu much, so I figured I¡¯d help him clean up where I could.

    ¡°It may be nothing to you, but it is tantamount to giving us life.¡± Tiangou got to his feet. ¡°That is why I must say it again: sincerely, thank you very much, Brother Ming.¡±

    I stood up to reciprocate. ¡°You need not thank me. Have a seat.¡±

    As we sat back down, I swept the box over to myself. It wasn¡¯t easy to sell the box I used to store my celestial spider silk, but it was worth a lot. Plus, I needed the jade to repay my debt.

    ¡°What ns do you have next, Brother Gou?¡±

    ¡°We n to retrieve what belongs to us.¡±

    The look in Tiangou¡¯s eyes signalled that he already had aplete n. He was loyal to Shang Bieshi, so it was natural for him to rescue Shang Bieshi now that Shitou had returned and attained Divine Realm. Although Fiends¡¯ Genesis wasn¡¯t a mighty force, they had grown their forces over thest two decades. Yes, the imperial court was hunting them down, but those in the underground pce definitely weren¡¯t involved with the fiasco. With Shitou and the Seven Stars still alive supporting them, they had a reasonable chance of growing into a group that could rival the Cold Mountain Temple that the Qilin Guards had put under siege.

    ¡°Is Fiends¡¯ Genesis really going to return?¡±

    I didn¡¯t probe into whether they knew Shang Bieshi¡¯s whereabouts or not since that was their privacy and secret. I was under the assumption Shitou knew Shang Bieshi¡¯s location. There was no better time to rescue Shang Bieshi than when Uncle Jiyi was busy with his headache. I was willing to bet Fiends¡¯ Genesis had people watching Cold Mountain Temple already to prevent any information leaks. Shang Bieshi would¡¯ve likely added another strong wind to the ongoing tornado once he returned.

    Tiangou stopped to think prior to replying, ¡°Master once said that we have our principles; it is just that they may not be the same as yours. Fiends¡¯ Genesis has always been a ce for those who are outcasts in your world, but it was never a utopia. We must still struggle to survive; however, we know for whose sake we do what we do. We were and are not pawns created for Jiang Chen to use.¡±

    ¡°I like it.¡± I mmed the table. ¡°It¡¯s an honour to drink with someone like you. When you finally return, don¡¯t forget to invite me. I¡¯ll be there to support you.¡±

    Tiangou was surprised ¨C in a good way. ¡°There has never been a better instance of forming a friendship after an exchange of blows. Brother Ming, I am proud to call you a friend.¡±

    Tiangou pulled out a small knife from his short, sliced the tip of his finger and then dripped his blood into his cup. ¡°If you would please.¡±

    I epted the knife passed to me and praised, ¡°It¡¯s a good knife.¡±

    ¡°Master personally forged the knife. I hope you ept it as a gift.¡±

    ¡°Shang Bieshi truly is special.¡± I sliced the tip of my finger and dripped a drop of blood into my cup.

    After we finished our drinks, Tiangou threw his cup and conveyed, ¡°Henceforth, Fiends¡¯ Genesis is your ally. We will be there with you through thick and thin. All our conflicts in the past are past tense.¡±

    ¡°From an exchange of blows, friendship grows.¡±

    We enjoyed a merry drinking session and set a reunion date before we went our own ways.

 Book 15: Chapter 19

    A Cup of Wine to Ward Off the Cold. In the Pugilistic World.

    I started fiddling with the knife after Tiangou departed. It wasn¡¯t a weapon for close-quartersbat; it was too short and thin for any purpose, actually. The de was only longer than half a finger, and the sharp section was extremely short. It would¡¯ve made sense if it was meant to be used as a projectile. The ¡°Ages are the Border¡± text carved onto it made me think of the phrase ¡°eternal life¡±. When I deliberated further, I realised that monarchs considered the four oceans surrounding us to be the borders, but here was a man who used time as a border.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Based on Shang Bieshi¡¯s background, and his aplishments, if he was willing to mentor a Prince for me once he returned, I¡¯d be willing to pay him twice his Shifu¡¯s sry!

    When I heard Proprietor Shi sneakily approach, I said, ¡°Rx. Rx. Didn¡¯t I tell you the money ising?¡±

    Eyeing the box in front of me, Proprietor Shi asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t he bring you money?¡±

    I promptly swept the box into my arms.

    ¡°That box looks like it¡¯s worth quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°Man, she¡¯s just your wife! Why do you copse under pressure so easily?!¡±

    ¡°You want to relieve me from the pressure, then?¡±

    ¡°No. I can only say that because you¡¯re shouldering it. Just wait a little longer. The money is on the way.¡±

    I turned Proprietor Shi¡¯s head away because he gave me a look of distrust. Subsequently, I looked around for a while, sent a few singles, whistled twice, and by the time he turned back around, his waiter was sitting opposite me. I shooed off the confused proprietor.

    He was unmistakably the waiter, but he was now someone else¡¯s employee. No matter how many times I saw him, I could never get used to him.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t win, but I did obtain the prize. My debt is cleared now, right?¡± I slid the box over to him. ¡°We agreed to clear my debt with this. Don¡¯t go back on your word now.¡±

    The waiter just giggled and then gave me an affable smile.

    ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t want it?¡±

    ¡°Please do not make things hard for this one.¡± The waiter scratched his head as if I was putting him in a dilemma. ¡°This one seeks the other two items, not this item that will have every Confucian disciple hunting him down. Everyone knows the worst people to shake off are schrs who want to kill.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re willing to write off a debt of one million, yet this isn¡¯t what you want? Don¡¯t tell me you want thoseme study tokens. What do you want them for? All the writers and editors of ck and White Reflection going on some study group camp or something?¡±

    ¡°No, this one¡¯s job and ck and White Reflection¡¯s jobs are separate jobs.¡±

    ¡°Basically, left hand into the right pocket. You should¡¯ve told me sooner if it was those two tokens you wanted. It¡¯s your fault for not rifying it. I went through a lot to get this jade piece. If you¡¯re not going to state your reasons for coveting the two tokens, I¡¯m not swapping.¡±

    He gave me a coy smile. ¡°You are so naughty, Duke Ming. You already have them on you; you are just testing this one. Otherwise, you would not offer a celestial-spider-silk-woven box. It is this one¡¯s honour that you would think so highly of him.¡±

    He got me there. The Nine Dragons Fire Jade wasn¡¯t worth a million. If it was, Uncle Jiyi would¡¯ve already bought it. It, as he said, was genuinely risky to hold on to given its importance to Confucianism. Besides, these pricks were in the business industry.

    ¡°I feel like I lose every time I do business with you. I¡¯m not making the same mistake again. If you¡¯re willing to write off my huge debt for something besides this, you¡¯re after something big. I¡¯m not going to let you do something I¡¯d rather you not. Make your decision.¡± I mmed the items he wanted onto the table. I wasn¡¯t concerned he would snatch them from me.

    He looked down at the items, looked away and then back multiple times. ¡°You truly are making it difficult for this one. As a researcher of treasures, this one is interested in all manner of treasures. Why would Daren Academy be an exception. There are things he wants from them, but he cannot say it. How about we do this: in addition to your debts that are calcted as the typical rules, we have to calcte your interest and the dy in payment. Let us write off your interest in exchange for no questions. How about it?¡±

    I shook my head vigorously. ¡°You¡¯re winning. The head of Confucianism, Huang Yuzao, is my elder, my respected elder.¡±

    ¡°This one shall repay your debt to Eight Deities, as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± I mmed the table. ¡°And today¡¯s drinks.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Uncle Huang would toil all his life at the current rate. It was time for him to retire and let his students do the heavy lifting. They needed training and experience if they were going to seed him, right? I wasn¡¯t the kind of person to ask for a referral award. Uncle Huang and I were family, after all. Thus, wepleted our exchange merrily.

    I was free of debt, but don¡¯t forget, I still had all the valuables from the underground pce! Yes, selling this jade piece would bring trouble, but there were plenty of rich idiots in the martial world. Why would I say no? Why should I have been the unlucky one?

    Pork shoulders, dices, and wine, here Ie!

    After the waiter went back to being a waiter, someone came with my money ¨C the money I needed to pay plus another five hundred for me to spend. Didn¡¯t I tell you the martial world¡¯s treasury and I were buddies?

    Before night fell, Long Cheng, in his disguise, came to see me, a representative for League of Assassins, and even Wawa dropped by to pinch some desserts. Long Cheng filled me in on news in the capital and Hangzhou, as well as the mysterious new organisation called ¡°Yizhen Alliance¡±. No lie, I felt my hairs stand up whenever I heard the name ¡°Yizhen Alliance¡±. It had to be the most ridiculous name I¡¯d ever heard. League of Assassins came to apologise for Vivianite¡¯s actions. I guess they were used to me being a constable of Liu Shan Men now, but¡­ I had to question if I had been standing out too much. Wawa dropped in purely to leech.

    Proprietor Shi didn¡¯t pester me to leave even when there were no more customers at night. I drank alone until thest customer for the day arrived.

    ¡°Is this old one here early?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d sayte.¡± I finished my drink and then stood up to salute the elder. ¡°Take a seat, Prime Minister.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 20

    Whilst Anticipating, the Wine Slipped into the Flower

    Proprietor Shi had to have a worker set up the table again since he cleared it before Prime Minister Li arrived.

    Watching Prime Minister Li approach, I held up a cupped-fist salute and offered a smile. ¡°There are officials who are trulypetent, conniving officials, corrupt officials, foolish officials, upright officials, and clever officials, but there is only one Prime Minister Li.¡±

    Prime Minister Li stroked his beard brightly. ¡°This old one has met plenty of folks from the pugilistic world, too, from heroes, to prodigies, but there is none other like yourself.¡±

    ¡°Old fox.¡±

    ¡°Shameless youth.¡±

    Prime Minister Li and I: ¡°Hahaha, have a seat.¡±

    I poured Prime Minister Li a drink, myself one, and then we shared a drink before business.

    ¡°This is good.¡± Prime Minister Li licked his lips, but I had no idea what he tasted that I failed to taste. ¡°This is good. It¡¯s strong, but it leaves a sweet aftertaste. Although it doesn¡¯t originate from a graceful ce and takes a bloody style, it¡¯s elegant. Not bad. Not bad at all.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Perhaps it has been left for a bit too long. I believe this pot was poured in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Still wine.¡±

    The two of us shared three more drinks.

    ¡°Thank you for the praise, Prime Minister. It is true that this one does not have a prestigious background, and has been involved in bloodshed, but it is also true that he has no grace.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? You have the world and its people in your heart. This old one has yet to thank you for your bravery at Nieyao. Had you not taken the risk, we would not be here today.¡±

    I wagged my hand. ¡°It is not this one who has the world in his heart but the unorthodox factions, Cold Mountain Temple, and some others. This one only has pork shoulders, roast chicken, wine and beautiful women in his heart, and that is all he has room for.¡±

    Since we both understood each other, there was no need to continue the topic any longer.

    ¡°Prime Minister, this one invited you here to seek enlightenment on some topics.¡±

    ¡°What else would this old one be here for? This old wine of yours?¡± Despite what he said, Prime Minister Li drank as if it¡¯d be a waste to leave a drop behind.

    ¡°This one is your student in name. As your student, this one seeks enlightenment.¡±

    Prime Minister Li set his cup down and chuckled. ¡°This one would not dare to call himself your teacher when Professor Ming is still present. This old one merely helped His Majesty that day.¡±

    Professor Ming? What other travesties has Shifu subjected the capital to? Why does even Prime Minister Li sound scared of him. On second thought, I should just pretend I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t even pay his existing debts as it is.

    ¡°This one wanted to ask for your opinion on the status quo. What big matters are about to implode in the imperial court?¡±

    Following a nip of tea, Prime Minister Li queried, ¡°You are looking to get involved in politics?¡±

    I shook my head.

    Prime Minister Li had a waiter switch the wine for some vintage nv¡¯er hong. ¡°That was a pointless question. As a bearer of the Ming surname, it is only natural for you to stay away from politics. In saying that, this old one is curious what your opinion is if it were not for that restriction.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°This one is not interested in any business that involves more than ten people. Any more and you are just asking for trouble. Even if you had the chance to start over, you would be starting over fully blemished. That is the reason this one will not step into the political arena.¡±

    ¡°This old one feels the same way.¡± Prime Minister Li hit the table, then ordered two fish tails. ¡°The wine here doesn¡¯t impress, but the fish is fantastic. Why are you asking about politics if you are not interested?¡±

    That was how you spotted a brilliant Prime Minister! His strategy of slipping in food discussions whilst discussing business made me almost think he was treating me today. A jug of nv¡¯er hong cost over a hundred, and he asked for the fish tails to be prepared in six different ways.

    ¡°This one is merely preparing in case His Majesty asks him about it.¡±

    ¡°This old one heard His Majesty has inquired. How did you respond?¡±

    I recited everything I remembered telling His Majesty since Prime Minister Li¡¯s question was broad. He had the same bright reaction His Majesty had.

    ¡°He Shi certainly has learnt well under Principal Huang¡¯s tutge. That¡¯s rare insight, and it¡¯s even more praiseworthy that he was willing to share it. It would seem that his goal is not to be an official but to leave the world a better ce without the honours. An exemry young man he is.¡±

    ¡°Uh, Prime Minister, I did not ask for the knowledge. I worked for it.¡±

    ¡°He Shi is right about the problems; you can parrot him without concern. With that said, his statements are not without ws. He deliberately left the ws there. It would be wise for you to repeat it with caution. His Majesty already has a rough n for the major matters, so he will not probe too deep into them, especially considering you will be leaving the capital very soon.¡±

    I just nodded after every sentence. I didn¡¯t understand, and His Majesty wouldn¡¯t ask me. What would he do if I was wrong?

    ¡°Your nonchnt response shows that you are actually interested in something else, correct?¡±

    Seriously, Prime Minister Li¡¯s observation skills were almost on my shifu¡¯s level. I wasn¡¯t too concerned about His Majesty asking for my thoughts on politics. I wasn¡¯t going to be in the capital for much longer, after all.

    ¡°There is one thing this one must know. His Majesty wants Vice-captain Shen and this to leave for training and to expand Liu Shan Men¡¯s influence. Both are necessary, but they are time consuming. It could take up to five years to see the desired results. It would not have been considered a long time in Yan Shisan¡¯s era.¡±

    Prime Minister Li had a taste of the big-head carp served up. ¡°It is unlike you to pad your question with so many prefaces. What is it that you want to ask, Duke Ming?¡±

    ¡°What changes in the capital can we expect during our absence?¡±

    ¡°You are interested in the capital.¡±

    ¡°A tiny bit absolutely interested.¡±

    Prime Minister Li gave a condescending look, smiled, took more bites, then questioned, ¡°You are not worried about the capital. You are worried that you will miss out on information, correct?¡±

    He was good.

    ¡°There¡­ certainly are things to pay attention to down the road. If we are talking about years, there are three.¡±

    ¡°This one is listening.¡±

    ¡°The imperial exam is one. The results of thetest exam will be visible within two years. Otherwise, His Majesty¡¯s effort to host a special one would have been for naught. He will promptly select talent he can trust. If you leave for longer than three years, it is possible there will be one or two new trusted officials upon your return. Since you also participated in the exam, it would be wise for you to befriend a few you evaluate highly.¡±

    The exams¡­ the exam results¡­ will be okay¡­ right? Some of them took the exams properly¡­ It¡¯ll be okay¡­ I think¡­

    ¡°The second matter is obviously the conflict with the White Princes. His Majesty does not want war. While the circumstances leave him with no alternative, he is soft at heart. The confrontation was anticipated. Howbeit, it is only a question of how long.¡±

    ¡°What is considered long? And what is considered short?¡±

    Prime Minister Li contemted prior to answering, ¡°Long, could be as long as the end of time. Short, could be as soon as tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You are saying that the White Princes are battling serious internal strife, which means there is still time to be bought regardless of the path.¡±

    ¡°Very little time. Cold Mountain Temple¡¯s situation is self-exnatory. As long as Ling Hanzhong is leading Mount Lu, their destruction will only take a short time. If it was his son in power, they would be an unpredictable variable. Valley of Yearning have always been a group that acted on emotions. They do have old grudges with the imperial court. Now that Bronze Mask is involved¡­ Gold and Silver Sect, and Song n are friends with everyone and friends with nobody. Therefore, they cannot be trusted. Dark Robe Brotherhood¡­ this old one is not the right person to ask.¡±

    I bobbed my head. ¡°Baima is the one to ask.¡±

    ¡°Buying time is only possible if Dark Robe Brotherhood do not turn. Otherwise, it will be one battle after the next.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    This wasn¡¯t a conversation for court. The White Princes were akin to seven people in a tiny box. They had very little room to manoeuvre. Even though Song n had indicated that they did not want to oppose the imperial court, there was nothing to guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t down the road. The only way to avoid war was to have all seven give up resistance.

    If the leaders of the insurgence, namely Cold Mountain Temple, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, and Valley of Yearning, changed their minds, then the White Princes had no hopes of winning. Dark Robe Brotherhood had a vastwork in the imperial court. Despite not having a fief or an army, they were even worse to deal with than the other six if they were to revolt. Hence, the only way to make the other five contemte, thereby granting the imperial court time, was to secure the support of Dark Robe Brotherhood. In turn, that would reduce the chance of war. Expecting Baima to keep them all in line, however, was a tough task even for him as he was unlikely going to have the luxury of leaving the northern border.

    ¡°¡­ What is the third matter?¡±

    ¡°The third matter would be¡­¡±

    Frigid sword qi suddenly came down from the ceiling. I caught the sleeve of my assassin and pressed his face onto the table, resulting in his sword dropping onto the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re an assassin?¡± I asked of the assassin looking at me.

    ¡°D-die?¡±

    Glossary

    Nv¡¯er Hong ¨C In case I haven¡¯t covered it somewhere yet, it¡¯s just the name of a wine that you¡¯ll likely see in every wuxia.

 Book 15: Chapter 21

    Raging Winds as Beautiful as a Hairpin

    The twenty-seven-year-old assassin had all the features to be ady killer. The hilt of his sword nted into the floor was embellished with an egg-sized shiny pearl, while the de itself shone brighter than jewellery.

    Why the hell are you working as an assassin when you¡¯re already so loaded?! Do you realise it¡¯s an illegal profession?! I¡¯ll report you to League of Assassins! God damn, have some respect for the profession!

    I couldn¡¯t put a name to his face no matter what angle I checked; I couldn¡¯t imagine him being a part of League of Assassins, either. He was skilled enough to give Red Prince a run for his money, but I couldn¡¯t fathom why he would use such an expensive sword¡­ or why he had such a cold gaze¡­ or why he suddenly tried to kill me when I didn¡¯t recognise him.

    ¡°If you know what¡¯s good for you, bind your own hands, kneel down, and beg for mercy, and I might consider sparing you. Actually, I can¡¯t spare you. I¡¯ll just make it quick.¡±

    ¡­ Due to how menacing his threat was, I almost thought I was the one pressed down on the table.

    ¡°Brother, who are you? Why are you trying to kill me?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I can tell you, but you¡¯ll probably piss your pants and tuck tail. It¡¯s too much of a hassle to find you.¡±

    ¡°Tell me, then.¡±

    ¡°I just exined why I wouldn¡¯t tell you! Wait, you want to run, don¡¯t you?! I almost fell for it! You¡¯re conniving! Have you no shame, taking pride in fleeing from battle when you¡¯re a martial artist? Let¡¯s fight fair and square!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I¡­ didn¡¯t know where to start with my criticisms. What tripe was he even spitting?!

    Prime Minister Li whispered to me, ¡°Are all your martial artists like this?¡±

    The random assassin who came out of nowhere just embarrassed every martial artist in one go!

    ¡°Brother, do you not realise that you are in your current position because you lost to me?¡±

    He had a moment of panic as it urred to him that he was the one pinned to the table, but that was fleeting.

    ¡°Let me go if you¡¯re a man. I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m made of.¡±

    I¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to say to that; I just silently set him free.

    I retreated more than ten metres as soon as he was free. I thought he was going to retrieve his sword since he flitted in its direction, only to see him zip past it and towards the stairs. Had it not been for my skills with my celestial spider silk, he would¡¯ve had me. I dragged him back,pletely immobilised him with my celestial spider silk, and left just his mouth mobile so that he could speak.

    ¡°You¡¯re shameless! Release me! I¡¯ll call for reinforcements ande fight you to the death. You¡¯re a spineless thug.¡±

    I grabbed a piece of cloth to stuff his mouth. Even though Prime Minister Li wasn¡¯t educated in the martial arts, even he could see what I saw. The guy must¡¯ve had a screw loose.

    ¡°¡­ What do you think, Prime Minister?¡±

    Prime Minister Li eyed the assassin, then shook his head. ¡°Mm, this old one truly does not know,¡± he answered, using dipping his finger into the wine and writing ¡°Blue Prince¡± on the table as he spoke.

    Now that was a bit of a surprise, not because Prime Minister Li didn¡¯t explicate his identity aloud, but because Blue Prince was behind it, though it didn¡¯t surprise me for long. After all, considering what Young Shiyi did, it was only reasonable for him to harbour a grudge against Mount Daluo. He wouldn¡¯t attack Mount Daluo considering His Majesty¡¯s ns for Mount Daluo, but targeting someone specifically was another story. Among all famous Mount Daluo members in the capital, I was the easiest target.

    I knocked out the assassin, then queried, ¡°Prime Minister, this guy is Blue Prince¡¯s subordinate?¡±

    ¡°His name is Feng Qizhi,¡± responded Prime Minister Li, smiling subtly. ¡°His nickname is Falling Phoenix, but he is also called ¡®ck Crow Falling into a Phoenix Nest¡¯. He is a descendant of Luoyang¡¯s Feng n. He¡¯s considered to be talented at swordy and one of their n¡¯s martial arts prodigies. For one reason or another, he aligned with Blue Prince. This old one has never met him, but the sword gave it away. The rumours of him behaving atypically seem to have proven themselves here.¡±

    For real¡­

    ¡°Would you happen to know why he tried to assassinate this one?¡±

    ¡°This was the third matter I was getting to.¡± Haplessly smiling, Prime Minister Li asked, ¡°His Majesty asked you to take one of his sons on as an apprentice, but you appear reluctant, correct?¡±

    ¡°You could tell? This one is ashamed.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to be ashamed. Ignoring whether or not you would be sessful, think about whether the proud Princes born into prestige would be willing to learn from a constable of Liu Shan Men.¡±

    I never even thought about that! I only thought about it from my perspective! If I walked off on the job, I¡¯d just have had to run before I got caught. If a Prince didn¡¯t want me, though, they¡¯d send assassins after me. Blue Prince already started. Only the other Princes knew what they were going to do.

    ¡°This¡­ is one matter that will have an influence on the future. Their ambitions will grow as they age. Should they have good friends and mentors, they may be a good Prince, or potentially a wise monarch. This is not a matter that should be taken lightly. This old one asks that you think about it carefully.¡±

    Prime Minister Li was right. It was important to my precious life. I didn¡¯t expect them to send any dangerous assassins, but it would¡¯ve annoyed the life out of me! If secrets got involved, my goodness gracious me.

    ¡°This one¡­ will consult you on itter.¡± Since Prime Minister Li had been a mentor to an Emperor, I figured I could learn something from him.

    ¡°Hoho, this old one cannot promise he could teach you anything worth your time. Shall we end today¡¯s conversation here? Thank you for the meal.¡±

    ¡°No, thank you for the wisdom. This one shall take this salted fish.¡±

    Hang on.

    ¡°Uh, this one did not hit this assassin. He tripped on his own. Let this one exin this martial arts thing to you.¡±

    Prime Minister Li wagged his hand. ¡°No need. Though you are remarkable in academics, your martial arts skills are abysmal. This old one personally saw the assassin trip on his own.¡±

    I flicked up a thumb. ¡°Fantastic! Goodbye, Prime Minister!¡±

    Once I disappeared from the stairs, Prime Minister Li shook his head jovially. ¡°There is another remarkable man for this world now.¡±

    When he sensed someone suddenly standing beside him, Prime Minister Li nearly jumped. ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    Proprietor Shi quietly passed over a sheet of paper. ¡°The bill.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± pping andughing simultaneously, Prime Minister Li instructed, ¡°Wrap up that sword and send it together with this bill to Liu Shan Men. Ask for Vice-captain Shen. This old one promises you will receive an extra two hundred.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 22

    Flowers Bloom. Flowers Rain. Flowers Hail.

    Needless to say, I had no basis to interrogate the assassin I carried back to Liu Shan Men. Putting aside the probability of him being as mentally demented as his family being rich, I couldn¡¯t afford to offend his associates. After all, not even Prime Minister Li dared to explicate his identity publicly. I would probably havended myself in hot water if I used Blue Prince of sending an assassin after me.

    Blue Prince was apparently one of the few Princes with a good head, good being defined as undesirably clever if you were his enemy. If youpared him to his brothers, then I couldn¡¯t be wrong ¨C with the exception of Green Prince. Despite being the sixth youngest, he proved himself capable at a young age with his many merits. He then went on to be the only Prince to oversee two cities. It was understandable for him to be proud when he had been treated as a precious gem since he was a kid.

    As Blue Prince¡¯s turf include Beiping, it stood to reason that he kept a pulse on the north¡¯s martial artsmunity. Shaolin and Wudang picked their Prince long ago. Among the three biggest sects, Mount Daluo was the only one left that hadn¡¯t aligned with a Prince. More than likely, Blue Prince already designated Mount Daluo as an important sect to win over. Had it not been for the fact that my brothers were hard to find, and it was hard to climb our mountain, we probably would¡¯ve run out of room for gifts already. That was until Young Shiyi gave him a thrashing¡­

    Blue Prince lost faith in Mount Daluo after Young Shiyi¡¯s actions, and he realised the threat we posed, especially Young Shiyi. After all, she didn¡¯t take his status into ount, had the ability to summon an enormous force, and she was a dangerous fighter. Therefore, resorting to violence to deal with us was a reasonable conclusion¡­ until I ran into his assassin.

    My suspicion had changed to suspecting Blue Prince wanted to kill two birds with one stone. In the event that his assassin seeded, Blue Prince would more than likely had im that his assassin acted out of his own volition. Any grudges that formed between Feng n and Mount Daluo as a result were problems reserved for His Majesty and Feng n. In the scenario that his assassin failed, he got rid of a brain-dead subordinate without having to do the dirty work himself. As a matter of fact, he could¡¯ve leveraged it to pit Feng n and me against each other. You know what they say, strike venomously.

    The good thing about Blue Prince was that he had a functioning brain, which meant that he could be reasoned with. That being the case, it was best to not make an enemy out of him if possible. To begin with, there was no enmity between us to begin with. If anything, Young Shiyi was to me for hitting him first, although there was no way we would¡¯ve epted him hitting her back. Since he just took a beating, though, I guess there was no bad blood. In any case, we needed to discuss it.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s why you barged in while I was washing?¡±

    Despite there still being a veil of steam from the hot water, the sword in Boss¡¯ hand and her smile were ice cold. If it weren¡¯t for those facts, it would¡¯ve been the most seductive scene you could¡¯ve been in.

    Boss thrust at my head! Considering her improvements, I would¡¯ve been skewered if this happened a few days ago. This skill of ducking a strike without shifting my gaze was a one Shifu taught me when he once had to use it at a brothel. It required both the return of my abilities and the knowledge, or I would¡¯ve perished.

    ¡°And you¡¯re still staring!¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not!¡±

    ¡°Exin your drool.¡±

    ¡°I am strategically staring.¡±

    Boss didn¡¯t know that her moist assets jiggled as she thrusted her sword. Of course, my response forced me to dodge another three thrusts.

    ¡°Still going to im it was an ident?!¡±

    ¡°The heavens can prove I didn¡¯t mean to barge in!¡±

    ¡°Even if I believe you¡­ wipe your bloody nose.¡±

    Your fault for trying to attacking me three more times.

    Boss knew the Princes from childhood, and I didn¡¯t know who better to discuss the assassination with, so I came over when Boss happened to returnte at night. Yes, I heard Boss and the sound of water when I was outside. However, I thought she was just washing her face, so I weed myself in. Plus, Boss usually washed after midnight, but she washed earlier for some reason tonight. I also didn¡¯t know she kept her sword beside her when she washed up.

    Boss fastened her towel around her and stared at me without batting an eye or saying a word even though she wanted to. Compared to the past, she was less¡­ casual. In the past, she would¡¯ve justshed out at me for a while, literally kicked me out, got dressed, and then came out to beat me up again, only stopping once I was bleeding. Otherwise, she¡¯d pretend to seduce me to lure me closer, and then she¡¯d p me with an inkstone, then leisurely get dressed while I was nursing my face. Or, she would¡¯ve coyly scolded me for a bit and then let the matter go. This time, however, she was angry and panicked. She gave the impression that she wanted to reproach me, but she couldn¡¯t find the words, wanted to hit me, but couldn¡¯t bear to. She didn¡¯t blush or react as an inexperienced maiden would, though. She was just mad. She loved using profanity, but she rarely got mad.

    Come to think of it, it feels like Boss has been avoiding me, but why?

    Boss leaned on the tub for a while to think, then slotted her sword into the ground. ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    Boss, staring at me, retreated and puffed her cheeks. ¡°No looking!¡±

    ¡°I swear I won¡¯t.¡±

    Boss retreated behind the screen, then waited to confirm I wasn¡¯t trying anything before she actually got dressed. She didn¡¯t seem to realise that I could see her silhouette thanks to the design of the screen and the candle! I spun around the other way after catching a glimpse of her entire nude silhouette.

    ¡°Feizhen, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-n-nothing! I¡¯m fine, ahahaha, just a little warm, haha¡­¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I didn¡¯t peek, but I couldn¡¯t block my ears. In turn, I couldn¡¯t stop myself from having vivid imaginations. I tried shaking the thoughts out of my head, but it didn¡¯t work. Therefore, I looked down to cast my focus elsewhere, only to see a big tub of warm water with flower petals floating on the surface. I could smell¡­ Boss. Once again, I saw images of the water caressing her skin.

    I gulped.

    No, don¡¯t get the wrong idea! I¡¯m no sick pervert! I was just researching! Studying! Exploring!

    ¡°Vice-captain, I have an urgent matter to report!¡±

    In my moment of panic, I blurted, ¡°Ce in,¡± before I realised my mistake.

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®Come in¡¯?! I¡¯m still looking for my clothes!¡± grouched Boss.

    I happened to spot Boss¡¯ pyjamas sitting right next to the tub. She clearly forgot to grab them when she hurriedly retreated behind the screen.

    ¡°Hmm? Big Bro? Are you inside? I¡¯ming in,¡± announced Tang Ye.

    ¡°I¡¯m changing!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re changing in Vice-captain¡¯s room?¡±

    I could virtually feel the temperature on the other side of the screen rise, but what options did I have?

    ¡°Yes! So don¡¯te in!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay.¡±

    Phew.

    ¡°But it¡¯s fine for me to wait inside, right?¡±

    Tang Ye pushed the doors open!

 Book 15: Chapter 23

    Where Can One Find a Brightly Blooming Flower?

    Perhaps out of trust in me, Tang Ye weed himself in without any hesitation. He didn¡¯t believe anything could¡¯ve gone wrong, and I would¡¯ve been capable of dealing with any problems, since I had recovered my ability to fight. There was a problem, though! An internal problem!

    Tang Ye looked at me, who just felt relief. I looked back.

    ¡°Wh-wh-what?! What are you looking at?!¡±

    Tang Ye scanned the room. ¡°Oh, just you?¡±

    ¡°Who else should be here?!¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Just asking.¡±

    There was no bath tub and nobody behind the screen. It was just me, a table, a tea pot, and two tea cups. Everything was natural, graceful and serene¡­ although I had to prepare it all on my own. The moment Tang Ye reached for the door, I performed a simultaneous double palm strike to my rear, sending the bath tub behind the screen without spilling a drop of water with one hand, and gently putting Boss onto the bed with my other hand. Due to the vacuum generated making it hard to even breathe normally, Boss was unable make a sound. The residue force closed the bed curtains as the tub silentlynded on the ground. Ipleted the task before Tang Ye even set foot inside.

    I¡¯ll have you know exhibiting precise control of strength, the ability to link movements, all within in instant, and without hurting Boss was a daunting task, far more demanding than dicing the turkey a few days ago. Despite the awe-inspiring feat, Tang Ye frowned.

    ¡°What now?!¡±

    Tang Ye eyed me from head to toe. ¡°I thought you said you were changing.¡±

    Can you please not have such a good memory?!

    ¡°I¡¯m done. My bad for making you wait. Had I not been quick, you would¡¯ve seen me naked. Brother, even though we¡¯re both men, let¡¯s respect each other¡¯s privacy, shall we?¡±

    Tang Ye looked even more confused.

    ¡°Now what?¡±

    ¡°What happened to the clothes you changed out of, then?¡±

    ¡­ Who did you learn detective work from?! You¡¯re investigating me now?!

    ¡°Oh, is that yours?¡± Tang Ye spotted a set of clothes behind me.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just changed out of it. See, the smell¡­¡± I picked up the set to sniff. It wasn¡¯t different to the smell from the bath tub; it made my heart beat even faster than that. The light-pink set of clothes that Boss loved had the mixture of her sweat and fragrance. In other words, it was as if I had my face up against her skin! ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that ady¡¯s clothing?¡±

    Don¡¯t point it out! What sort of unaware guy, are you?! I¡¯m already feeling awkward enough as it is! Can¡¯t you just keep it to yourself?!

    Tang Ye crossed his arms. ¡°Based on its condition, it should be an old set. Judging from its size, the owner shouldn¡¯t be tall. Also¡­¡±

    Your eyes are too good, but they¡¯re too good for the wrong reason! I never asked you to examine this!

    ¡°Stop him already! He might as well profile me if he keeps this up!¡± Boss thundered using Voice Transmission.

    ¡°It¡¯s mine!¡± I eximed.

    ¡°Really?¡± questioned Tang Ye.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°So you brought it here?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Yes!¡±

    Tang Ye tilted his head to the side. ¡°So, you wore on women¡¯s clothing in Vice-captain¡¯s room?¡±

    Y-¡­ No!

    I shook my head vigorously.

    ¡°¡­ I guess that doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    I nodded vigorously.

    ¡°So, you walked around in women¡¯s clothing, then changed here. Ah, you didn¡¯t want anyone to see, right?¡±

    How did you get to that conclusion?! How did you get to that conclusion so casually?! How much have you grown in the capital?!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What exactly are you here for?!¡±

    ¡°I needed to talk to Vice-captain, but talking to you about it would be the same thing since you can pass it on.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask why Tang Ye was so sure I could pass it on. I didn¡¯t predict what he had to say.

    ¡°What? Traces of Demon Sect?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Emperor¡¯s Entourage found traces of Demon Sect. Although Sir Dugu mentioned there were probably only a small number of them, and did not evaluate them as being very skill, it does not change the fact that they hate the imperial court to the core. Given the current tensions in the capital, infiltrating the capital now is walking straight into their grave.¡±

    Considering how much Tang Ye spoke, he knew the critical level of the matter. He was vaguely aware of my connection to Divine Moon Cult, after all. He would help me cover, nevertheless.

    ¡°Should we help them?¡±

    My first reaction was to tell him to smuggle them out of the capital, but then I remembered Boss was right behind me!

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°I assume they are y-¡±

    ¡°I should discuss something so important with Boss first!¡±

    How did this kid nearly kill me socially and physically twice in a matter of minutes?! Did you evolve?!

    ¡°I know what to do next. You can leave now.¡±

    If my boss, who had already spewed over four hundred profane phrases, had to wait any longer, I probably wouldn¡¯t have got to see tomorrow.

    ¡°Are you not leaving with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ will stay here for a while longer.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ still want to change?¡±

    I never changed! Forget about the whole thing, will you?! Forget it once you step outs-, no forget it right now!

    ¡°What else are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m, uh, well, thirsty. Want some tea? Haha.¡±

    Tang Ye shook the teapot. ¡°It is empty, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go for drinks. I will pay.¡±

    I want to, and I¡¯m thankful you¡¯ll pay, but I really can¡¯t leave! If I leave now, Boss will hold a grudge! Plus, I needed to speak to Boss to begin with!

    ¡°Just because there¡¯s no tea in the teapot, doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s no tea in the cup.¡± I set down the teacup in my hand. Needless to say, I filled it with the steaming amber liquid faster than Tang Ye could catch on. As for the liquid came from¡­

    No, I was not going to drink it! No! I just wanted to prove my point! I did not drink the water from Boss¡¯ bath tub! I smelt nice and looked nice, but I would never!

    Despite having been proven wrong and rendered speechless, Tang Ye showed no intention to leave. Instead, he appeared to be searching for the next thing to say.

    Since when did Tang Ye hesitate to speak his mind? Since when did he offer to buy me drinks?

    ¡°My junior, you have some problems you wish to consult me on, right?¡±

    Tang Ye nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    I was pretty confident I knew what troubled him. As leaving Boss on the bed for too long would be inappropriate, I took out a notebook from my shirt and tossed it onto Tang Ye¡¯s chest. It hit him faster than he could react, but he managed to catch it. After he skimmed it, his eyes widened.

    ¡°You think I¡¯ve spent thest few days just snoozing? Take it.¡± I smiled. ¡°While your internal energy is admirable, it¡¯s not something you developed yourself. That¡¯s going to make it impossible to perform what you wish at will. The technique from Ancient King that you practicees from realbat; you never learnt the supporting mental cultivation.¡±

    Thest part was because I never wrote the mental cultivation. I spent ages deliberating and then noted down my thoughts in there. Use it as reference material for your own thinking. Let me give you a disimer, though: I have no means of teaching you every martial art I¡¯ve learnt. Ancient King¡¯s mental cultivation was designed to synthesise disciplines, but it¡¯s notplete. It¡¯s brief, but I¡¯ve recorded how to utilise and develop internal energy in there. Although I created Ancient King String, I¡¯ve never sifted through to trim unnecessary things. The essences of all thirty-six techniques are written in there. If you can master it, controlling ice and fire is easy. The two of them might not be enough for you, as a matter of fact.¡±

    Tang Ye lowered his head. ¡°Ancient King String?¡°

    ¡°Yep. Go study up. You can leave now, right?¡±

    Tang Ye inhaled deeply, looking touched. ¡°No, not yet. I have one more thing I need to talk about.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t what you wanted to talk about?! Why are you moved, then?! Give me my secret manual back!

 Book 15: Chapter 24

    Two Flowers Dancing Amongst a Butterfly

    Despite how wide I had stretched my mouth, Tang Ye showed no intentions of leaving. Even more surprising, though, was that I could actually read his emotion ¨C nervousness. I didn¡¯t even know he could feel nervous, so my interest was piqued.

    ¡°What exactly is the matter?¡±

    (¡°You¡¯re the problem!¡±) I heard from behind.

    (¡°Shuang¡¯er will be here to report to me in a bit!¡±) Boss continued.

    (¡°¡­ Why here?! Why now?!¡±)

    (¡°Who expected you to barge into my room?!¡±)

    Tang Ye went through several expressions, several thoughts, and then finally made up his mind to inform, ¡°I have something I need to discuss with you.¡±

    ¡°Does it have to be right now? How about another day?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯d be better to talk about it now.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, I guess there¡¯s nothing we can do about, then.¡± ¡°We have to talk about it now! Okay! Okay!¡±

    My dry fakeugh and sudden increase in volume left Tang Ye wondering which screw went loose in my head.

    Don¡¯t give me that look! It¡¯s all your fault! Why the hell is so much happening now of all times?! Boss is so ticked off that she¡¯s gone silent! I¡¯m screwed¡­

    ¡°So¡­¡±

    Shut up! I haven¡¯t decided if I want to hear it or not yet! Boss is still wrapped up under her nket! Have some decency, will you?!

    ¡°There¡¯s this girl¡­ I can¡¯t forget.¡±

    Say whaaat?

    Even Boss was probably tuning in and forgot about her anger.

    ¡°I have not been able to stop myself from thinking about her for thest few days. Although thinking about her is not productive, I cannot stop myself.¡±

    If that¡¯s not having a crush, I don¡¯t know what it is.

    I could hear Boss dying trying to suppress her urge tough even harder than I was. I crossed my arms, bobbed my head and, utilising Voice Transmission, remarked, ¡°The kid has grown up.¡±

    Also using Voice Transmission, Boss replied back, ¡°He¡¯s reached puberty.¡±

    Tang Ye¡¯s eyes darted around as he instinctively reached for the back of his neck. ¡°Is there really just the two of us in here?¡±

    ¡°What are you being paranoid about now?¡±

    Yeah, he was growing, all right; even his hearing had improved.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try to seal the deal within the next year, hey? I¡¯ve been doing this professionally for thirty years. I promise you¡¯ll look dashing and pretty. If you¡¯re worried I can¡¯t deliver up to standard, pay me twenty thousand, and I promise you won¡¯t be disappointed.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°Never mind. Keep going. Who is she?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Bai n¡¯s Bai Yumo.¡±

    Hoho, I s-, you¡¯re insane! She¡¯s a criminal¡­ and an assassin!

    ¡°She is an assassin¡­ and your aunt.¡±

    Ah, crap! I forgot about that! Can¡¯t you pick a better girl?!

    ¡°I was unsure if I should talk about it, but I do not feel she is sleep walking or whatever Song Chi described it as. I feel that she is different person when she is Bronze Mask.¡±

    Tang Ye filled me in on everything he remembered on the day he was struck out of the ring and introduced to Mo Yubai. From her speech mannerisms to her style of attack, everything was measured, which was unlike someone diagnosed with Delusion. The fact that she could slip in and out from Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents without a struggle, and the fact that she managed to stay off the radar after her crimes, reinforced Tang Ye¡¯s conjecture.

    I had heard that Song Chi imed Bai Yumo had a serious case of Delusions, but that was more than likely him crapping out of his mouth. People diagnosed with Delusions didn¡¯t function so methodically, not to mention the stark contrast in personalities. If she was diagnosed with such a severe case, I would¡¯ve noticed something when I met her.

    ¡°I am sure she could have killed me, yet she left me for some reason. Perhaps she did not want to make an enemy out of Liu Shan Men.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if Tang Ye¡¯s confidence was a product of his feelings for his crush or not. Poor fellow fell for an assassin wanted by thew for his first love, while he was a constable himself. The poor fellow consulted me for advice on how to help his crush because I had experience on both sides of thew. I had my answer ready; I was just waiting for him to ask for it.

    ¡°So, we must capture her,¡± Tang Ye asserted.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°She has two personalities, and there is no telling when she switches, which makes her dangerous. She has already proven this with her score of assassinations in the capital thus far. Furthermore, she is a scion of Bai n. It will be even more difficult to capture her if we let her escape from the capital. Hmm? What¡¯s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    ¡­ Kid, you change your rhythm too fast for me to keep up. Do all young people these days like to add cuffs to romance? Is this some sort of new fetish?

    From behind the screen, Boss suddenly harrumphed. Tang Ye¡¯s train of thought was the reason Boss couldn¡¯t resist!

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Tang Ye leapt towards the screen.

    Boss, what are y-, wait! She¡¯s not even dressed!

    ¡°Stop, runt!¡±

    I managed to beat pin Tang Ye to the ground with one arm before it was toote, but his head passed the bath tub. Had I been a momentter, I¡¯d hate to imagine what would¡¯ve transpired.

    Boss brushed open her bed curtains.

    ¡°Who dares to barge int-¡±

    Tang Ye lowered his head right after he looked up. It had nothing to do with the fact that I pinched his eyes.

    Who let you look?! I only just saw for the first time before¡­ No looking for any reason!

    ¡°What are you doing? Let go of Yan Ling.¡±

    I pped my eyelids. I had no eye idea how to react to seeing a skirt in front of us. I looked up to see Boss sitting on her bed, arms and legs crossed, and wearing a frown on her face.

    ¡°B-Boss¡­¡±

    I nced to the side, where I spotted a cupboard. Based on that, I surmised Boss managed to sneakily grab her clothes from the cupboard while Tang Ye and I were talking. However, so much happened in such a short time frame that I had trouble processing it all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Your chest is amazing. I meant your head is amazing!¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 25

    White Heron Leads a Confused Phoenix

    I sat in the bottom of a squat with my face in my hands.

    Boss dusted her hands after setting her inkstone.

    Tang Ye cooly fixed his clothing and then pulled his brows together. ¡°Why are you in your room, Vice-captain.¡±

    Boss answered, ¡°Secret passage. I have a secret passage to enter my room. You know how risky it is in our line of work. We need a means of avoiding murderers, stalkers and the sort.¡±

    If I could lie as fluently and righteously as Boss, I¡¯d never be fooled.

    Tang Ye pulled his brows in tighter. I had seen Su Xiao and Zizi make the same face before. Every single time I saw that face, I¡¯d hear something ridiculous afterwards.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Why¡­ did you not tell me, then?¡±

    I take back what I said.

    ¡°¡­ I guess you¡¯ve grown up, and today is a special today, so I told you. I have a secret passage in and out of my room, okay?¡± replied Boss.

    ¡°Is there something special about today? Vice-captain, you seem to be sweating. What is the bath tub over h-¡±

    ¡°¡­ Shut up and ept what I said, or I¡¯ll send your head to the manure dump.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    I finally understood why Boss wasn¡¯t worried.

    ¡°What¡­ is everyone doing here?¡± Bai Yeshuang walked straight in to check without knocking. To nobody¡¯s surprise, her attention was immediately drawn to the bath tub. ¡°Vice-captain, this bath tub h-¡±

    ¡°You want to go clean the manure, too?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s not every day that everyone is together. Sit.¡±

    Bai Yeshuang¡¯s report was brief. She just needed to notify Boss about the preparations for all our documents pertaining to Boss¡¯ new post. Although His Majesty had yet to announce the destination or date, we all knew it would be soon. That was why we were able to start on documents and the such that we¡¯d inevitably have to deal with. Boss signed a series of papers faster than my eyes could follow and then dered she was done. Before we were able to feel impressed, she had startedforting Tang Ye.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any genius idea for what to do with Bai Yumo. She hasmitted crimes, so she must be arrested. Her case is in Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s jurisdiction, so not even we have the right to follow it up. If we insist on tracking her down, we will have conflicts with Emperor¡¯s Entourage as it is a tant show of trying to take credit. You don¡¯t need to look like that now. Detective work has never been Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s strength. If it takes long enough, they will have to seek professional assistance. Who do you think they will turn to in that situation?¡±

    Both Tang Ye and I had an epiphany. Emperor¡¯s Entourage didn¡¯t crack cases through their observation and deduction skills, but their enormous intelligencework. Unfortunately, the information wasn¡¯t shared to every corner. The people on Bai Yumo¡¯s case didn¡¯t necessarily have ess to the same amount of information as their superiors did. If they couldn¡¯t dig up any traces, then perhaps setting the case aside for the meantime was their sole option. However, the imperial court were adamant about apprehending her. Her affiliation alone was enough of a reason for them to not dismiss her. Everyone knew Bai Zhiqing was a man who acted on emotions, a man who prioritised his love over all else. Therefore, the imperial court desperately needed to find her before Valley of Yearning could in order to maximise her value. As to who Emperor¡¯s Entourage would turn to, that was self-exnatory.

    ¡°¡­ Me.¡±

    ¡°No, it was me.¡± Boss formed a small smile and shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re still a longshot away.¡±

    Both Tang Ye and I were lost for words.

    Boss, I thought you were trying tofort him! All those words were just to brag?!

    ¡°Yan Ling, it¡¯s true that you¡¯ve improved significantly as a martial artist since joining, and it¡¯s something I¡¯m very happy about. With that said, you need to remember that Liu Shan Men¡¯s specialty isn¡¯t solely fighting power, which isn¡¯t to say that fighting ability isn¡¯t important. However, don¡¯t forget the basics. Don¡¯t be disappointed. I never said you¡¯re ipetent, haha.¡± Boss patted Tang Ye on the shoulder. ¡°You haven¡¯t regressed as a detective just because you¡¯ve been busy. I¡¯m d to see you improving in every aspect. We¡¯ve just been too busy for you to have an opportunity to show what you¡¯re capable of it. Think about it: have you cracked any big case? You haven¡¯t even cracked many small cases, let alone ones with plenty of mystery. Now that I think about it, Liu Shan Men cracked the most cases when Sister Ming was here.¡±

    Of course. Young Shiyi inherited Shifu¡¯s brains, quick wit, daring spirit and meticulous mind. On top of that, she learnt from my shiniangs¡¯ investigating Shifu and catching him cheating. How many years do you think she had on Tang Ye in that department?

    Tang Ye looked as if he received enlightenment from heaven. He left to look for Bai Yeshuang, probably to ask for a few big cases to investigate.

    ¡°¡­ Boss, was that on purpose?¡±

    Boss shrugged and, wearing a smirk, replied, ¡°We have a mountain of cases to work on, but I can¡¯t count on Song Ou after we leave. A young man with a burning passion is the best candidate to handle them. Love is the best motivation, after all.¡±

    Wow! When did Boss learn to manipte people in this roundabout way?!

    Tang Ye marched out of here as if he was grateful that she motivated him!

    ¡°It¡¯s for his sake. He¡¯ll have an easier time getting promotions if he can crack big cases now and build experience. Plus, I don¡¯t have time, but the people need help.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Makes sense.¡±

    Yep, I wasn¡¯t going to make an enemy out of a woman. Ever.

    ¡°By the way, what did you want to tell me?¡±

    Damn, Ipletely forgot about it.

    ¡°Boss, how much do you know about Blue Prince? And some Feng guy?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Boss¡­ looked as if she just saw something filthy.

 Book 15: Chapter 26

    Catkins Dancing to the Wind¡¯s Concert

    ¡°Blue Prince is the only Prince worthy of beingbelled as being an excellent achiever,¡± I answered after Boss asked me what I knew about Blue Prince. ¡°Well, at least that¡¯s the rumours im. I¡¯ve never met him, so I only know this much.¡±

    I summed up my headaches, including His Majesty¡¯s request for me to mentor a Prince, Mount Daluo supporting a faction, and Feng Qizhi trying to assassinate me. Have you any clue how rare it was for me to sit down and talk with Boss? Why wouldn¡¯t I take the opportunity toin about His Majesty?

    ¡°Rumours among the people are even less credible than rumours in the pugilistic world, though. In short, he¡¯s the only actualpetent Prince.¡±

    Considering Green prince and Orange Prince¡¯s records, it didn¡¯t mean much to be the ¡°only¡±. As far as I knew, only Red Prince was a failure, falling for Chu Yinghua and still not having had a single bowl of huntun with her.

    ¡°We, as officials, are in no position to critique the imperial family.¡± Boss cleared her throat, then lowered her voice. ¡°Seeing as Uncle wants you to mentor a Prince, it would seem he wants Mount Daluo to support the imperial court, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s his only goal. Rather, I suspect it¡¯s not even his primary goal.¡±

    ¡°Where did thate from?¡±

    Thement was tantamount to raining on the efforts Shifu and I had spent building Mount Daluo¡¯s great reputation up.

    ¡°Do you realise how disastrous it would be for all women in the world if Shifu decided toe out of seclusion to show what he was made of?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help.¡± Boss smiled. ¡°The best I can do is allow you to personally apprehend him.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°Hell no! He may be shameless, but I¡¯m not.¡±

    Boss whacked me over the head. ¡°Uncle has yearned for Mount Daluo¡¯s support for a long time. He has faith in Mount Daluo; I would go as far as saying he respects Mount Daluo. You can tell from the way he speaks of Mount Daluo. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have had Mount Daluo as his principal guest when he invited the three patriarchs to the capital years ago. Of course, there is also Hero Shenzhou¡¯s reputation in the equation.

    ¡°As opposed to saying that Uncle wants to win Mount Daluo¡¯s support while the opportunity is here, it¡¯d be more correct to say that he never gave up trying to win Mount Daluo¡¯s support. Bringing you on board is just one step in the process. I¡¯ve never seen Uncle stop trying; you just weren¡¯t aware of his attempts. Mount Daluo has always been dancing to its own beat and often kept to itself. You might think he only started trying to recruit Mount Daluo after speaking to your sixth brother. Think about it, though. He had tried to recognise you before that without being too obvious, correct?¡±

    I never thought about any of that. If the imperial court had the backing of the three biggest sects, then it was a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who participated in the battle at Lawless Cliff could¡¯ve attested. Even the Seven Champion White Princes wouldn¡¯t be as much of a threat anymore. It wasn¡¯t easy to recruit three sects that carried on as they saw fit, having said that. Mount Daluo didn¡¯t like to stand out. When it was inevitable, we avoided letting it be known that it was us. Even if our involvement was known, that was a result of someone else mentioning it. Shaolin had kept to themselves for years; it had reached a point where it was impossible to tell if Mount Daluo was the recluse or if Shaolin was. Wudang, which was closest to the imperial court, had a fortress around themselves. Lai Jingzhen was sane for, what, half of the time? It¡¯d take a special kind of stupid to assume they could control Wudang through him. Control was impossible, so the nextpromise was an alliance. The nextpromise after that was to just have the support of the three sects.

    From the looks of things, His Majesty had secured Shaolin and Wudang¡¯s support for Red Prince and Cyan Prince. Although the imperial court had yet to face a crisis that required reinforcements from the two sects, there was no issue publicising the two sects supported the imperial court. At the very least, the two sects had tacitly consented. From Shifu¡¯s perspective, it was possible for Mount Daluo to receive the same treatment. Thing was, Shifu¡­ never showed any signs of support or even sending a messenger.

    As Boss mentioned, His Majesty never mentioned supporting a Prince prior to his conversation with Sixth. Perhaps he had been nning it long beforehand, except he withheld because he expected to be rejected. Maybe he didn¡¯t get the hint from me but from experience? For all I knew, Shifu might¡¯ve rejected him once already, prompting His Majesty to tread carefully around me.

    I folded my arms to deliberate why Sixth was allowed to make contact and reintroduce Mount Daluo but not before. Shifu never mentioned getting involved in any manner. It was my brothers who delivered hints. I trusted them, but it was uncharacteristic of Shifu. I didn¡¯t want Mount Daluo to be a supporter solely due to the fact that I¡¯d be the one who passed the policy. As a consequence, I¡¯d be the patriarch even if I wasn¡¯t the legitimate patriarch. More importantly, it was foolish to connect Mount Daluo to the imperial family too tightly.

    Mount Daluo watched over the most desired thing in the world, and the entity with the greatest potential to misuse it weren¡¯t the violent people in the pugilistic world but he imperial family. Emperor Yuansheng wasn¡¯t the sort of scum to try using Six Evils, but that didn¡¯t mean others in the family weren¡¯t. It only took one, whether they were born yet or not. That was not someone who Mount Daluo should¡¯ve weed in.

    If I could think of reasons to refuse supporting the imperial family, Shifu had to have had thought of them, too. That aside, he hated collusions more than anything. If someone wanted to form an alliance with him, they needed to walk themselves over and kowtow first before he rejected them with any vigour. Otherwise, they could¡¯ve just stopped while they were ahead. Therefore, it made no sense to me why he made an exception this time.

    I didn¡¯t have free time to talk with Sixth in Nanjiang due to Pangu waking, and then Fiends¡¯ Genesis kept me busy afterwards. Most importantly, I couldn¡¯t ess my internal energy to do any digging. Now that I thought about it, the reason my shiniangs urged me to support a Prince was rather far-fetched. There was amon denominator in all the rmendations to support a Prince ¨C it was never Shifu who told me to. It had been years since I had seen Shifu, and it had been years since I had been back to the mountain. The only way I¡¯d know if his mindset had changed or not was if I personally visited him.

    By the time I shook my head, I realised I had been ignoring Boss for a while, but she didn¡¯t mind.

    ¡°Sorry, my mind wandered off,¡± I expressed with an apologetic smile. ¡°Where were we?¡°

    Boss cracked a smile. ¡°I was about to answer your question on Blue Prince when you looked possessed. Somethinge to mind?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t sorted it out yet. How about you go first. Is Blue Prince as the rumours im?¡±

    ¡°Okay. My conclusion may not agree with yours.¡± Boss wiped away her smile. ¡°He is as the rumours say. In fact, he¡¯s more talented than the rumours im. Blue Prince isn¡¯t interested in the contest for power because, if he wanted to be Crown Prince, he¡¯d already be Crown Prince.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 27

    ¡°Blue Prince is no ordinary individual¡­ Yeah, no ordinary individual,¡± Boss muttered as though she still had something she hadn¡¯t finished analysing.

    I could sympathise with her. Back when I was exercising heroism across the world, I lost count of how many good deeds Ipleted. Su Xiao asionally asked me to share stories of my noble heroism, but due to being too busy, there were some things I couldn¡¯t recall even now. The take-home message here was that always being in a hurry to go from one task to another and being too busy had implications on one¡¯s memory. Every time it was time to pay for my food bill, I¡¯d suddenly be inundated with work. Fate was a cruel monster to owners of restaurants.

    ¡°Feizhen, what nonsense is your mind drifting off to again?¡±

    My brooding distracted Boss from her brooding. Compared to my brooding, clearly, she was levels below me. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t on the level I reached when I ate out.

    Boss crossed her arms, pushing her assets up and out further. I blinked to prevent myself from shifting my line of sight down and away from her piercing gaze, but it was hard.

    ¡°Let me tell you now that, if you try to dine and dash, and peoplee here demanding justice, I¡¯ll arrest you.¡±

    I already knew you would!

    I shook my head. ¡°This one is a gentleman. A gentleman does not conduct himself in such a shameless manner. This one would never do that.¡±

    ¡°Do what?¡±

    ¡°Not pay.¡±

    Paying would make it a business transaction, wouldn¡¯t it? This gentleman would never do something so shameless.

    ¡°There is a price to pay for speaking the truth no matter what era one is in. The people who had to pay said price never wanted to cause harm. They are people history remembered and hailed as heroes. There was Qu Yuan in the State of Chu during the Warring States period, and there is handsome Feizhen today. Politician Qu waded into the Miluo River while holding a rock tomit suicide, while handsome Feizhen took six inkstones to the face without batting an eye. If you juxtapose the two of them, you will see they are both two greats who will live on for eternity.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re about to suffer for eternity if you keep spouting your nonsense! You want to join Sir Sui in the garden, too?!¡±

    The memory of Sir Sui¡¯s visual survey whilst he wore a shady smile made me shiver. ¡°N-no, please continue.¡±

    Usually, Boss would look satisfied after beating me. Today, however, she seemed to raise her inkstone reluctantly and didn¡¯t seem to mean to hurt me.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite informed about the fighting in the imperial court. One matter still waiting to be resolved is the selection of the Crown Prince. At one point in time, though, it was almost perfectly ended. Although not too many people know about it, but the end decision remains a mystery. I still don¡¯t understand it any better than I did back then.¡± Boss slowed down towards the end, and a rosy hue came to her cheeks. ¡°Ahem, Feizhen, help me analyse it.¡±

    I was a little lost myself after hearing Boss out. It turned out that there was a small state between Beijiang¡¯s two states that wasn¡¯t acknowledged. The citizens were travelling merchants who struggled to make the long journey and therefore chose to seek residency there. Over time, the wish of bing an autonomous state flourished among the citizens. It was a precipitous and strategic ce to be as it was a ¡°cushioned¡± zone for Tiezhen and Luocha states. For centuries, it belonged to Tiezhen, and for other centuries, it belonged to Luocha. It was the first time in ages that someone tried to designate it as an independent state.

    Initially, everyone brushed the matter off. After all, they had no farmnd,nd for crops, sources of food, or even someone they could call a leader. Thus, the two Beijiang states looked forward to someoneing forward as a leader since that would make things far simpler than dealing with a group of people of many thoughts. That decision led to an oue that had them speechless. Before they knew it, the small zone had grown into a lively and wealthy entity with walls being built higher and higher, and thicker and thicker. In no time at all, their poption exploded in growth.

    The young leader leading an army of old, weak and damaged soldiers adamantly dered his will to establish a state in from of envoys. Owing to his decision to ignore Tiezhen and Luocha¡¯s monarchs¡¯ warnings, they were naturally inmed. On top of that, the envoys told their monarchs of his rudeness, urging their sovereigns to crush the state by force. The oue was a foregone conclusion when he announced his n. When Blue Prince¡¯s g appeared atop the city walls, however, the two monarchs realised their errors.

    It wasn¡¯t a conflict between two big states and a tiny town. It was a conflict between three big sovereignties. Beijiangs¡¯ monarchs knew they¡¯d be dering all-out war if they attacked a city with the Central in¡¯s g. The mastermind pulled Beijiangs¡¯ two sovereigns in without them even noticing.

    While it might¡¯ve sounded as though the small zone was Nieyao in Nanjiang, it wasn¡¯t remotely simr. To put it into perspective, the location was essentially a de in one¡¯s gut. It¡¯d have been delusional thinking to assume it was possible to defeat Beijiangs¡¯ thriving states. As a defensive tactic to keep Beijiang from invading the Central in, though, it was marvellous enough to be considered a merit worthy of lifetimes of merit. The arguably most impressive aplishment, in saying that, was the fact that the Central in didn¡¯t have to pay anything to implement the strategy. The earnings frommerce opportunities provided made the investment a high return on investment. On top of that, they increased their poption. The biggest gain of all was the residents¡¯ strong will to fight for their independence.

    Blue Prince merely loaned his figurative vocal support and a few thousand troops. He achieved the feat without needing even one more troop. By the time the monarchs caught on, the designer of the strategy was already on his way back to the capital.

    His Majesty decided to immediately name the Crown Prince when he found out about Blue Prince¡¯s aplishment.

    ¡°Uncle had been hesitant about selecting a Crown Prince due to concerns of officials objecting, but it was unlikely anyone could¡¯ve objected to Blue Prince being crowned when he returned triumphantly. However, nothing happened because Blue Prince turned down the idea. I don¡¯t know the details. I¡¯m familiar with the Princes and Princesses as children. The Princes left for their assigned territories once they grew up, so we¡¯ve hardly been in contact. Had Blue Prince not returned to the capital, I wouldn¡¯t know any more about him than someone on the streets.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 28

    Once This Flower Blooms Completely, There will be Less Petals

    Without even ounting for the clever and calcted strategy Blue Prince designed, Emperor Yuansheng was overjoyed with Blue Prince¡¯s aplishment. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s primary goals were never to increase his own material wealth or expand his territory. Instead, he wanted to protect his people from harm. Rather than be most happy about the threatening tool Blue Prince managed to wedge in between them and Beijiang, Emperor Yuansheng likely loved the fact that Blue Prince didn¡¯t sacrifice a single life to sessfully carry out the n even though there was no way to verify if Blue Prince purposely ounted for that.

    Apparently, Emperor Yuansheng summoned someone else covertly into the pce before Blue Prince¡¯s audience with him. It went without saying that it was a happy and exciting conversation centred around the election of a Crown Prince. Emperor Yuansheng was in high spirits all the time after hearing of his son¡¯s exploits. He was probably looking forward to crowning a Crown Prince everyone was satisfied with and could live up to expectations. Suffice to say, crowning a Crown Prince introduced a plethora of new variables, and Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s past experience reminded him that having a Crown Prince didn¡¯t guarantee peace, but it was a rare opportunity. Perhaps he was only able to settle on a Prince because he was high on emotions. s, the result of their meeting left everyone scratching their heads.

    Officials who heard about the meeting stayed up all night, but news of Blue Prince being conferred the title of Crown Prince never came. It was said to have been an unhappy night. Blue Prince left the pce in a huff, packed up his luggage and nned to depart from the capital immediately. Had the official in charge of Censors not stopped him, Blue Prince would¡¯ve left. Emperor Yuansheng, simr to his son, was furious, but they managed to contain it to just breaking some bowls and tes. Though they managed to censor the matter from the public, the servants spread word of it. Emperor Yuansheng was known for being able to control his temper, so vandalising stuff was a first for many of them.

    Nobody would¡¯ve thought Blue Prince returned to the capital victorious if they saw his cold demeanour after that night. He left the capital after a few days without taking His Majesty¡¯s reward along with him. Nobody ignorant to the talk that night was certain if Blue Prince was too proud to care for the rewards or if he and his father truly had a break down in their rtionship. Anyone who knew the contents of their talk never dared to mention a word. From then on, Emperor Yuansheng never mentioned crowning a Crown Prince again.

    Boss only had her conjectures based on conversations with His Majesty.

    ¡°They say that the six Princes have all formed factions for the throne. In my opinion, a fair number of them aren¡¯t that zealous about the throne. At the very least, Green Prince and Red Prince aren¡¯t interested. As for Blue Prince, he has an enormous faction of supporters and soldiers. The majority of his soldiers are stationed up north to deal with Beijiang, while the remainder are stationed in his territories. I heard he recently leveraged the small state to sabotage Luocha and Tiezhen¡¯s alliance. Compared to the Seven Champion White Princes, he¡¯s far more of a hero. It¡¯s hard to argue he¡¯s conspiring to something when he doesn¡¯t want to be Crown Prince. What is he after? Does it make any sense to you?¡±

    I thought Blue Prince was a weirdo, but he was weirder than I gave him credit for.

    ¡°If you¡¯re asking me, everyone has their reasons for their decisions. There are only two possible reasons he wouldn¡¯t ept the role. One of them is that it¡¯s a tough shoe to fill.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s obvious. You think he¡¯s qualified?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    Perplexed, Boss shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s smart and incredibly proud of himself. He¡¯d only need a few reads to memorise what others took an entire day of studying to remember; that applies for all books. He liked challenges, which was why Uncle entrusted two areas to him. He¡¯s the only person to say, the more the better, and happily tackle the daunting task. If Crown Prince¡¯s shoes were tough to fill, he¡¯d be happy to ept the challenge. Uncle initially picked him precisely owing to this trait of his. It¡¯s not surprising Uncle was mad when he refused.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± I bobbed my head. ¡°That leaves only the second possibility.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not interested.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Not interested?¡±

    ¡°If someone doesn¡¯t want to be Crown Prince, the only possibility besides it being too difficult is that they¡¯re not interested in being Crown Prince.¡±

    Boss widened her eyes at first. ¡°We¡¯re talking about the Crown Prince seat here.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°No matter what it is, if you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t like it. Aren¡¯t I uninterested in being Mount Daluo¡¯s patriarch, too? No matter who tries to persuade me, no matter what reasons are offered, I¡¯m not interested. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

    Regardless of what Blue Prince¡¯s motivations were, it had to have included those two reasons. I didn¡¯t care why he wasn¡¯t keen, but there were plenty of people and things that didn¡¯t fit into stereotypes. My shifu preferred women over the world. He¡¯d rather y mahjong and hit ondies than rule the world despite how strong he was. Grandmaster sat at home for a century, watching clouds or sleeping. Wouldn¡¯t you consider the two of them weird? I didn¡¯t understand their mentality in any greater depth despite growing up around them. With that said, my inability to understand them didn¡¯t hinder them or reduce my respect for them. If any misfortune were to befall them, I¡¯d have ced my life on the line for them.

    Subsequent to some mulling, Boss showed a bright smile. ¡°Thanks for the insight. Now that you mention it, I can see how that is possible.¡±

    I, too, was relieved and happy to see her smile. ¡°It¡¯s just my personal thought. I¡¯m thirsty after all that talking.¡±

    Though the tea was cold and tasted nothing like tea, the cool tea was soothing to the throat. I just couldn¡¯t my finger on where I smelt the scent from, but it was familiar.

    ¡°You¡¯re thirsty? I just finished the tea¡­ What did you just drink? Did I still have a cup?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    You finished it? Wait! Wait! Didn¡¯t I also realise there was no tea left?!

    ¡°I¡¯ll have someone refill. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-n-nothing. J-just¡­¡±

    Don¡¯t think about it! Don¡¯t think about it, or you¡¯ll be a freak, Ming Feizhen! Don¡¯t!

    ¡°Was it good?¡±

    ¡°Very!¡°

    ¡­ I¡¯m not a freak!

 Book 15: Chapter 29

    Let Spring Leave. Autumn Keeps One.

    The fragrance of the new tea Boss poured into my cup was appetising, but I couldn¡¯t feel any excitement to try it as I watched it the liquid fill the cup.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Not to your liking? This is a gift from Uncle.¡±

    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s nice. Maybe it¡¯s too hot¡­¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The only way I could describe my mood was returning empty handed after diving deep into the mountains for a treasure.

    Did I lose something so valuable without realising it?!

    I followed the trajectory of my cup that was stolen from me, raising my head to see Boss holding it carefully in her hands to blow it.

    ¡°Here.¡± Boss tenderly ced the cup in my hand and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay now.¡±

    I nkly stared at the cup in my hand for a moment before swooping down for a nip. The moment the warm tea passed down my throat, all of my disappoint vanished.

    When did Boss learn this magic spell?

    I greedily, yet slowly, finished my drink, then giddily passed it back to Boss for a refill. She gave me a yful re, then refilled my cup whilst saying, ¡°Uncle wants you to teach them.¡±

    I thought about that possibility, but I couldn¡¯tprehend the full scope of His Majesty¡¯s thinking. He hadn¡¯t minded that previous attempts to recruit Mount Daluo didn¡¯t bear fruit, and he was probably just riding the wave this time, too. Based on Boss¡¯ logic, though, he didn¡¯t care too much about whether or not we supported a Prince.

    ¡°I¡¯ve mentioned supporting the Princes already. That¡¯s not Uncle¡¯s true aim, so you can take it in stride. If it works out, great. If not, so be it. Uncle won¡¯t take issue with it. I¡¯m quite confident his main goal is to have you mentor them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the most perplexing part. What would he want me to mentor a Prince for? Does he want them to be worse than they already are?¡±

    How would it make any sense to ept missing out Mount Daluo and choosing me? There were only two possible reasons I could think of. Firstly, he wanted to use me as a lever to control Mount Daluo, so there¡¯d be hope even if we didn¡¯t align with a Prince. I thought this was the most probable exnation until hearing Boss¡¯ opinion. She had started to convince me that he didn¡¯t have high hopes for recruiting Mount Daluo. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have passed up so many opportunities to discuss it with me after we returned from Nanjiang. The second possible reason was that he saw through my weakling fa?ade. It didn¡¯t seem probable after the act I put on with Zero.

    There might¡¯ve been more possible exnations; however, I couldn¡¯t think of any usible ones. If it was the second one, I should¡¯ve been packing my luggage and running. Even if he knew my true skills, he shouldn¡¯t have discovered I was Lord San Shen yet, which wasn¡¯t to say that he wouldn¡¯t start questioning everything rted to me prior to his discovery. Therefore, my days in the imperial court¡¯s employment would be in peril.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you ept that perhaps Uncle genuinely values you more than Mount Daluo?¡±

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s eptable to say that he¡¯s confident in recruiting me but not Mount Daluo, albeit pushing it. After all, he¡¯s never interacted with Shifu, while he has gone through some rough stuff with me. That being said, I¡¯m not a deviant, but neither am I prim and proper. His Majesty thinks so highly of me?¡±

    ¡°First, there¡¯s no proof that he hasn¡¯t interacted with your shifu before. Second, why can¡¯t you ept that Uncle doesn¡¯t think highly of Mount Daluo¡¯s mighty sessor, but simple Ming Feizhen?¡±

    For some reason, it sounded as though Boss had an answer for my query ready for a long time already.

    ¡°Me? For?¡±

    ¡°You want to know?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Boss suddenly went silent, probably to decide whether to answer the question or not, but she blushed for some reason as if it was something embarrassing to say. She poked my forehead and said, ¡°Probably your stupidity.¡±

    I suddenly had a d¨¦j¨¤ vu moment. Thest time I remembered this happening was also at Liu Shan Men, but the girl that day had changed.

    ¡°There¡¯s this guy who¡¯s stronger than a monster, done so many unbelieve things that many would consider him a hero, yet he chooses to work as a low-ie constable at Liu Shan Men. He told me he sticks by my side because I¡¯m stupid, but I¡¯d argue he¡¯s stupider. He¡¯s the strongest martial artist I¡¯ve met, yet he desires neither power nor authority. Instead, he only cares for food and wine. He¡¯s done lots of things people would be considered a waste of time. He¡¯s ordinary. He looks ordinary, speaks in an ordinary manner, likes ordinary things, and everything following him is ordinary. His hobbies are also ordinary. There are so many things out there that he could take as long as he wanted to, but he isn¡¯t interested in them. Still, he¡¯s always clear on what¡¯s most important to him. I can understand the things he cares about.¡±

    I had no clue how to react when Boss removed her finger from my forehead, but I saw her smile with a tinge of embarrassment.

    ¡°He¡¯s an idiot, but he knows what¡¯s most important in life. Though he possesses supreme might, he remembers to eat, sleep, make friends, live, and he knows how to live as a human being. Many who acquired his might forget, or perhaps they stopped caring, but he¡¯s continued to care.¡±

    I was sure those were words I should¡¯ve said. Her eyes, the upward curve at her lips, they gave me the impression that she was pouring out her heart, but I couldn¡¯t focus on anything besides what my eyes saw. I felt she had been avoiding me today, trying to hide something from me, and I now realised there was a tinge of gentleness in her eyes that justified shyness.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing, just, uh¡­ just shocked.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah?¡±

    Whatever came to Boss¡¯ mind next led her gaze underneath my nose a tad, and then she coughed.

    ¡°Back on topic. Based on my understanding of Uncle, I¡¯m 80% sure I know why he holds you in high regard.¡±

    Reflecting on big events, I had confidence in Boss¡¯ confidence.

    ¡°Each Prince had his temperament and strengths. However, they grew up sheltered and treated as special people, so they don¡¯t understand the people¡¯s hardships. Or rather¡­ they¡¯re indifferent. I believe Uncle wants them to learn to sympathise with the people.¡±

    ¡°The people¡¯s hardships, huh?¡±

    I was an expert on that field and definitely overqualified to teach the subject, but¡­

    ¡°I still can¡¯t take them under my wing.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I exined my woes and the uneptable risk of bringing them into Mount Daluo¡¯s direct disciple line. It wasn¡¯t a risk I could overlook. Even if their family was blessed, even if his sons weren¡¯t ambitious in the wrong way ¨C although that sounded so ridiculous to me ¨C even if his sons didn¡¯t want to be involved with Six Evils, even if they were too cowardly, or even if they feared Mount Daluo, who could¡¯ve continued guaranteeing that remained true in the future? It took one precedence to trigger an avnche. Humans had a limited lifespan; Six Evils didn¡¯t. Who could¡¯ve foreseen what¡¯d happen once Grandmaster, Shifu and I were gone? If I let one of them through our doors, how would I know if a future patriarch of Mount Daluo would have the balls to stand up against pressure and refuse another member of the imperial family through our doors if I was struggling already?

    Even if the Prince I took under my wing swore to not sabotage our sect if he didn¡¯t ascend to the throne, I still had to seek approval from Grandmaster and Shifu. It wasn¡¯t something I could haphazardly agree to. In this day and age, people would eat and then righteously walk out the front door without paying the bill. Ask them to pay, and they¡¯ll deny it until you give up, let alone obtaining the authority to rule the world. What if they agreed to my terms and then dishonoured it a few years down the track?

    ¡°That¡¯s what you were worried about? Not all teachers require people to be an official disciple to teach them literacy, martial arts or recite wisdom from sages, right, Can¡¯t-fight Head Constable Ming?¡±

    I¡­ I¡­ That¡¯s¡­ a good point.

 Book 15: Chapter 30

    A Prince¡¯s Missing Phoenix. Kunlun.

    I was fixated on the thought that mentoring someone meant weing through Mount Daluo¡¯s doors because I thought under the assumption that His Majesty¡¯s primary objective was Mount Daluo, not me. If Boss¡¯ conjecture was right, then treating them as a guest was sufficient. His Majesty saw me as a weakling, so what reason was there for me to take a Prince on as a Mount Daluo disciple? Plus, His Majesty never mentioned anything about having to train a Prince in martial arts. I never realised this was alternative way of looking at it!

    ¡°I always knew people working for the government are corrupt. Damn, that was quick thinking.¡±

    Whack! I took an inkstone over the head

    ¡°Who are you insulting?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, I blurted it out of habit.¡±

    It would¡¯ve been discourteous of me to refuse His Majesty, and I wasn¡¯t sure what was going on back on Mount Daluo, so I concluded the safest course of action was to agree for the meantime. However, I needed to make it clear that me mentoring someone didn¡¯t equal Mount Daluo epting a disciple. As for whether I¡¯d point that out to His Majesty or not, I¡¯d obviously drag it out for as long as possible. With all that said, I had circled back to a problem that cropped up since the idea was suggested. Every one of the Princes were a handful.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. Why me? Are you sure he¡¯s not setting me up?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps¡­ he thinks you¡¯ll do a good job?¡±

    As our conversation went on, we eventually brought up Feng Qizhi, prompting Boss to give me the filthy look again.

    ¡°I know that Feng Qizhi you mentioned. It¡¯s best for you to stay as far away from him as you can.¡±

    I thought that was a given, but I wasn¡¯t sure why Boss said that.

    ¡°He is a decent fighter. He¡¯s only a tad easier to beat than a fly. If he¡¯s lucky, he might be able to match some forgettable flies,¡± I opined.

    I wasn¡¯t insulting him. Never underestimate flies. They were great at dealing with people who tried to swat them. They¡¯d go up, down, sideways, round in circles, ascend, and dive. Thest was the worst to deal with. It was akin to poison. No matter how good you were at expelling poison, it was still poison. Leave it for long enough, and it could cause problems. On the other hand, poison didn¡¯t fear itself. Imagine that on a fly that had a strong will to live.

    I used to y ¡°stab the flies¡± with Chicken Yun back at Wudang with the stiption of neither of us utilising internal energy. I always lost. Even though I improved, without using internal energy, I was only able to catch eight at most out of ten. I got so mad that I created three sets of qinna techniques and a set of finger skills in ¡°Night Net Book¡±, namely, ¡°Headless Buzzing Hand¡±, ¡°Azure to Cyan Light Severing Loop¡±, and ¡°Great m ws¡±, each focusing on either freedom of movement, fluidity or intensity. Theybined qinna, palm techniques, and w techniques. ¡°Directionless Fly King Fingers¡± was a deadly set of skills I created whilst drinking and eating in the dead of night at an eatery by a creek. My two fingers would never miss if I used those skills. Even so, I only managed to catch nine out of ten.

    In contrast Chicken Yun was able to skewer ten out of ten with his sword to roast if he wanted. I still couldn¡¯t figure out how he did it.

    Shaking her head and wagging her hand, Boss said, ¡°I¡¯m not worried he¡¯ll harm you, but he¡¯s special.¡±

    Special? I¡¯d actually say he¡¯s¡­

    ¡°And he¡¯s not right up north.¡±

    That¡¯s exactly what I thought!

    ¡°I mean when I say he¡¯s special. He¡¯s not bad as you say, but his luck is as bizarre as it gets. One time, he was challenged to a fight to the death in Beijiang. His opponent was a monster in Beijiang, and the location for their duel was in enemy territory; it was beside a big swamp. He was a level below his opponent and outnumbered, yet Feng Qizhi fearlessly agreed to the duel. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s an idiot?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡±

    ¡°He should¡¯ve perished there, yet he managed to throw his opponent off his game. His opponent had his subordinates hide nearby for an ambush if he was losing.¡±

    Don¡¯t call a monster despicable. Would someone be called a monster if they weren¡¯t despicable?

    ¡°Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t show up at the appointed time. He was still nowhere to be seen four hours after the agreed time.¡±

    ¡°Was he hiding to try and assassinate the monster?¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t have been dishonourable even if he did that since deception was the art of war, not to mention his opponent tried to do the same thing.

    ¡°His opponent made the same attention, so he never took his eyes off the swamp, fearing Feng Qizhi was hiding deep underneath. His opponent decided to wait on the surface since there was a limit to how long one can hold their breath underwater, but wait and wait, nothing emerged by the time night fell. Having lost his patience, the monster had his subordinates dive in to check it out, and there really wasn¡¯t anyone down there.¡±

    ¡­ My man took deception to a new level! He didn¡¯t even show up?!

    ¡°So they didn¡¯t even have the match?¡±

    ¡°No, Feng Qizhi did go there, but¡­ he got lost. He was nning to hide in the swamp and assassinate his opponent, but he chose to hide farther away on ount of maintaining stealth, never expecting to end up hiding in a nearby loo after getting lost. When his annoyed opponent grew sick of waiting and went to the loo, Feng Qizhi soared up from below, slicing his opponent right up the middle.¡±

    Put some respect on the man¡¯s name. That¡¯s what you call enduring hardship to achieve a goal!

    Feng Qizhi could¡¯ve formed a group with Second and Sixth to debut. I even had a name ready for them ¨C Crap Digging Trio. I could guarantee it was a name that hadn¡¯t been used in two hundred years and wouldn¡¯t be used for at least another two hundred years.

    ¡°Unlike your second brother, he¡¯s not just unlucky.¡± Boss scrunched up her face. ¡°In addition to having horrible luck, he¡¯s not too right up north, so he often contaminates other people with it. He¡¯s special because of his ability to spread his own terrible luck.¡±

    Hong Jiu couldn¡¯t master that. Although he wasn¡¯t healthy right up north, either, he was a smart fellow. Feng Qizhi¡¯s uncanny ability to make others unlucky was just like¡­ just like¡­

    ¡°Just like you, right?¡±

    Hey! Who called me a gue?!

    ¡°But back on topic. If you can avoid publicising our involvement with him, that would be for the best. The only thing you will get out of that is trouble. Not only is he Blue Prince¡¯s subordinate for many years, but he¡¯s also a descendant of Feng n. I assume you know Feng n¡¯s rtionship with Uncle? While he and Brilliant Consort get along now, their marriage was to leverage Feng n¡¯s wealth to begin with. We¡¯re not afraid of the wealthiest n in the world, but it¡¯d be better to not make an enemy out of them for something so trivial. Plus, I don¡¯t want to put Brilliant Consort in a tough spot.¡±

    We¡¯re scared of Feng Qizhi? She¡¯s just Brilliant Consort! Tell her I¡¯m knocking. I refuse to believe she wouldn¡¯t forsake her nephew for me.

    ¡°Hmph, I was nearly assassinated.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, I meant you beating him is trivial. As for the assassination part, you didn¡¯t tell me anything about all the attempts on your life while you were defenceless, but it¡¯s ¡®poor me¡¯ now that you can?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯ve gotten used to it. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t mention every little thing. Besides, I survived, didn¡¯t I? Are we really going to ignore Feng Qizhi?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Boss suddenly frowned. ¡°Wait a second. What are you going to do if not ignore? Did you¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I captured him.¡±

    ¡°What the hell for?!¡± Boss flicked me on the forehead and then took out her inkstone.

    ¡°Boss! What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°I just told you he¡¯s trouble, yet you hid him at Liu Shan Men? If anything happens, both of you are going to be sacrificial tributes for a Daoist.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to! I didn¡¯t know his background until now.¡±

    ¡°Before he wakes up, and before he brings us grief, get rid of him. Also! Do not tell anyone we captured him, understood?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡±

    Seriously, Boss. What gue, trouble, and bad luck. I can¡¯t believe you believe in those childish superstitions.

    ¡°Reporting! Someone from Eight Deities has sent a package over,¡± someone reported outside.

    ¡°What package?¡± Boss asked.

    ¡°A sword¡­ and a bill for two hundred silvers that is apparently Head Constable Ming¡¯s.¡±

    Wow, the moon outside is so round¡­

    ¡°Ming Feizhen!¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 15: Chapter 31

    Imagining the Scene of a Prince¡¯s Forgiveness

    ¡°He came towards me like diarrhoea, quick, unpredictable and stinky beyond belief.¡±

    Dugu, Ye Luo and Tie Hanyi scrunched their faces.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t let him get close, right? Who am I? Who is he? I am a strong advocate for hygiene. Is a shot of diarrhoea a joking matter? Using ¡®Phoenix Hits the Grounds¡¯, I bobbed my head down.¡±

    Ye Luo asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t it supposed to be Phoenix Lowers Its Head?¡±

    ¡°Great question. That is the usual name. However, as you might be able to imagine, just ducking your head under that technique would avoid the thrust, but it wouldn¡¯t create enough distance to avoid the stench. Hence, I had to duck and drop to the ground.¡±

    ¡°I see. Excellent thinking, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°Although I¡¯m inferior to him as a martial artist, my evasion manoeuvre caught him by surprise. I then grabbed a shuttle I shot His M-, an un-blockable shuttle and, zoom! ng! Hit his sword with perfect precision. See this? This is his sword.¡±

    I held out the sword that cost two hundred silver taels for shipping and a bunch of whacks from Boss. With just one glimpse, you could tell that you¡¯d be able to get rich just from putting it up as an exhibition item in the capital. All three of them gasped the same way I did when I saw it.

    ¡°This is no ordinary sword. You know Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan?¡±

    The trio: ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°This is the sword Emperor Xuanyuan fought Chiyou with.¡±

    The trio: ¡°Wow.¡±

    I flicked the sword. ¡°Look. If you ever suffer from insomnia, swing it at the moon. You¡¯ll hear rain and see light erased. Fengbo the Taoist deity of the wind will even sing and prance for you in heaven.¡±

    Tie Hanyi: ¡°Isn¡¯t Fengbo Chiyou¡¯s subordinate?¡±

    ¡°What happens after you lose? Surrender to the opposition, right? They say a hero can serve two masters is just as a beautiful woman doesn¡¯t fear being a concubine.¡±

    The trio: ¡°Oooh.¡±

    ¡°Anyhow, this sword is worth a lot of money. Since the three of you are quick with information, please help me find out who the shameless assassin is. I have no use for this sword, so I shall gift it to whoever identifies the shameless scumbag first.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t ept such an honour,¡± replied the trio, taking the sword straight away and promising I could count on them.

    I had to pretend I didn¡¯t recognise Feng Qizhi since Boss didn¡¯t want anyone to know we were involved with him. If Emperor¡¯s Entourage exposed him, then the bone to pick was with them, not Liu Shan Men. The trio I recruited weren¡¯t materialistically greedy ¨C and they probably weren¡¯t short on money ¨C and they couldn¡¯t embezzle the important evidence. Anyone in the martial world would¡¯ve loved to have a few days to y with the sword. Besides, it wasn¡¯t a hard task for them.

    ¡°Lame. I¡¯m going home.¡± Long Zaitian got out of his seat and walked out.

    I was somewhat perplexed. Typically, Long Zaitian wouldn¡¯t leave Liu Shan Men until he saw Boss every time he dropped in.

    ¡°What are you going to do at home?¡± I asked.

    Long Zaitian halted in his tracks, bit down on his bottom lip as he fought back the silver pearls that had formed in his eyes. ¡°To cry,¡± he answered before running off.

    No matter how strong one was, they¡¯d cry, too, if they went from heaven to hell ¨C and had to spend three days there. Long Zaitian had one hell of a story to tell. I think there were already performance teams selling out their ¡°Strong Small Dragon Resists His Tears¡± performance, though I wasn¡¯t sure if Long Zaitian was paid any royalties. For thest few days, he had been drowning his woes in alcohol all day. He didn¡¯t look haggard, but he must¡¯ve snacked a tonne while drinking because he looked heavier. I couldn¡¯t find the words to describe how sickening it was to watch a gruff guy turn into a snowke, but his experiences were worthy of a handful of tears.

    ¡°Brother Tie, where has Ol¡¯ Long been reassigned?¡±

    ¡°The barracks outside the capital.¡±

    ¡°As grandmander of a thousand troops?¡±

    ¡°Team captain of a team of ten.¡±

    ¡°Tasked with training?¡±

    ¡°Tasked with standing guard at gates.¡±

    ¡°Of the barracks?¡±

    ¡°The kitchen¡¯s back door.¡±

    See? Sad, right? Well, I only called him over to use as a red herring. The Emperor¡¯s Entourage trio were the main stars I needed to spread the news of the sword and assassin.

    ¡°Oh, by the way.¡± I wore on a serious face. ¡°The assassin and this sword must be kept secret. Please do not divulge this matter to anyone under any circumstances.¡±

    Tie Hanyi and Dugu raised their hands. ¡°Rest assured. We are well-known for keeping secrets. Secrets are secrets for a reason, right?¡±

    ¡°I shall leave it all in your capable hands, then.¡±

    As soon as the three of them left, the person in the rear asked, ¡°Is my sword so magical?¡±

    I turned around to meet Feng Qizhi¡¯s squinting eyes. As the nutcase touched his bandaged head, he asked, ¡°Where am I? That was my sword, right? Why was it given away?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Who am I?¡± Feng Qizhi tilted his head, scanned my face, then retreated as if he saw a monster whilst instinctively reaching for his empty sash. On a second thought, he grabbed his sash as if it was a whip.

    You had to give it to him. He really was special¡­

    The confused nutcase appeared to recall the events leading to him ending up here. ¡°Y-you n¡­¡±

    ¡°Is something the matter, Sir?¡± I asked in a worried tone as I advanced. ¡°Sir, you are still recovering. You must take caution.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m recovering? I¡¯m still recover-¡­ What did you call me?¡±

    ¡°As I do not know your name, I can only refer to you as Sir. What happened was, I was drinking at a restaurant when an assassin suddenly attacked me. I am untrained, but I was lucky enough to have an adept passing bye to my aid. Regrettably, the assassin managed to escape. I was going to give chase, but I noticed you had passed out on the ground, so I hurriedly brought you back here to nurse you. Thankfully, your injuries are minor. I have bandaged your injuries, and you will soon be back to full health.¡±

    Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t space out. The man was on so high up on cloud nine that he muttered to himself, ¡°This idiot doesn¡¯t even know I tried to kill him! Thank heavens! Thank heavens! I¡¯d be in the tiger¡¯s den if he had another brain cell. I¡¯m not afraid of him, but it¡¯d be a sticky situation. How is someone so stupid even still alive.¡±

    If you had another brain cell, you¡¯d realise I was fooling you! You can¡¯t even remember how you were slept. Adept passing by? I whacked the lights out of your head, nimrod! If you had the eastern wind, you¡¯d have legged it, you dropkick.

    ¡°Based on your mutterings, can I safely assume your surname is Feng?¡±

    He started having nervous sweats and trembles.

    ¡°I think your name was Feng¡­ Xiangxiang?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah!¡± Feng Qizhi cared naught for the logic and reasons that led to the name. ¡°My name is Feng Xiangxiang, Xiang as in soaring. My mother did not want me to stand out in one go, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. This one is Ming Feizhen. It is a pleasure to meet you.¡±

    Despite him thinking he hid it well, I saw an obvious sly grin. He covered his mouth as he responded, ¡°Young Master Ming, it is a pleasure to meet you, too, hahaha. I have never heard of you. How do you keep such a low profile? Hahahaha.¡±

    Based on what I could tell, Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t achieve his level of prowess thanks to talent. I was willing to bet it was beaten into him from childhood.

    ¡°So¡­ you do not remember the assassin¡¯s appearance?¡±

    ¡°You are interested in the assassin?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, no! Who would? That is a filthy person. I have never heard of assassins. I am merely curious, haha, curious.¡±

    ¡°I did not. The assassin truly was despicable. He fled faster than a rat.¡±

    ¡°Who are you insulting?!¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, nothing, nothing.¡± Feng Qizhi wiped his forehead, then smiled to himself as if he just managed to sessfully y it off.

    You don¡¯t seriously think you fooled me, do you?!

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you chase the assassin?¡±

    ¡°I was nning to, but we at Liu Shan Men always prioritise the people, and think for the people. How could I ignore a dashing man as you?¡±

    The cleaner outside turned his back to us as if listening to my im was sickening. Even Zha Pi, who passed the door, shepherded his subordinates along, whispering, ¡°Stay away. Head Constable Ming is fooling him. Don¡¯t get in his way.¡± Only Feng Qizhi had tears welling up in his eyes.

    ¡°You truly are a man with a good heart.¡±

    Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s given up on killing me already. Did I finish my task ahead of time? Man, I wouldn¡¯t have asked the Emperor¡¯s Entourage trio toe over if it was this easy. That was my lunch money, damn it.

    Feng Qizhi wiped his ears, then questioned, ¡°The people from before were¡­? Why did they take m-, cough, cough, cough, the assassin¡¯s sword?¡±

    ¡°Oh, they are friends from Emperor¡¯s Entourage.¡±

    ¡°Emp-Emperor¡¯s Entourage?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, they are agents in Emperor¡¯s Entourage. I can count on them to identify the assassin in no time at all.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡±

    Feng Qizhi: Damn it, there¡¯s no way out of this now. Won¡¯t they realise I¡¯m the owner of the sword as soon as I leave?

    Reading Feng Qizhi¡¯s expression, I jumped on the opportunity to say, ¡°It looks like you have rested sufficiently. I think it would be best if you returned home now so as to avoid worrying them.¡±

    ¡°N-no, I can¡¯t!¡± stuttered Feng Qizhi, waving his hands frantically in front of his ghastly-pale face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Eh? Why can¡¯t I see? Young Master Ming, I think my vision has beenpromised after I was hit over the head. I think I still need more time to recover.¡±

    I feigned shock. ¡°Oh, I see. Let¡¯s do this: you rest. I will have you escorted to an inn.¡±

    ¡°Ow! My feet suddenly hurt. I can¡¯t move them. I have a critical internal injury¡­ Uh, Brother Ming, do you know martial arts?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all.¡±

    ¡°Ow! It¡¯s a terrible internal injury! I can¡¯t move! If I move, I¡¯ll die from qi deviation. Brother Ming, I think I need to stay nearby.¡±

    ¡°Could it also be the work of the assassin?¡¯

    Feng Qizhi joyously nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, it must be.¡±

    ¡°How audacious of him, hurting a good citizen! Rest assured, Brother Feng. Since the assassin is responsible, you can say we have gone through life and death together. Nurse your injuries here at Liu Shan Men. I will obtain medications for you and anything else. You can stay until you are recovered. Consider Liu Shan Men your home.¡±

    Feng Qizhi, tearfully filled with some guilt, expressed, ¡°Brother Ming, your knowledge knows no bounds. You¡­ You¡­ I shall say no more!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee!¡±

    Once I got Feng Qizhi to settle in, I exited and shut the door behind me. Blue Prince¡¯s assassination plot was basically history. In a matter of days, the assassination should¡¯ve spread to every corner of the capital, and Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t dare to set foot outside. Therefore, nobody would me neither of them for it. Long-story short, I was the victim no matter who you asked. You couldn¡¯t prohibit me from reporting the assassination when I was nearly assassinated, right? Thus, I avoided a confrontation, and I effectively sent Blue Prince a warning, so the matter was settled for the meantime. As for Feng Qizhi, he could go water the flowers with Sir Sui. He had the good looks, so Sir Sui wouldn¡¯t have rejected him.

    I went for a casual stroll while waiting for the news to ferment and serve its intended purpose. Subsequently, I went to see His Majesty. I could visit him whenever I wanted without a summon since I had his token.

    I told His Majesty my thoughts on his request. I was going to keep it to myself for some time before telling him, but Boss said I could just tell it to him straight and that he might¡¯ve actually preferred so. If I was lucky, he might¡¯ve even given me some means of dealing with his troublesome sons. To my surprise, he was even happier than I expected.

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing, hahaha! As long as you are fine with it, it matters not if they are a disciple of Mount Daluo. It is your character and wisdom that I value, not your background. Were you expecting me to have you teach them martial arts? It¡¯s not as if I don¡¯t know what your martial arts level is, hahaha.¡±

    Boss sure knew His Majesty well.

    ¡°I know whether or not Mount Daluo will support a Prince. Perhaps you can¡¯t call the shots since you aren¡¯t patriarch, either. Having said that, Hero Lian promised a number of things in ourst conversation, so I am awaiting his good news. It¡¯s natural you don¡¯t know the details since you have always been with me. Of course, your life would be easier if Mount Daluo backed you. I am just d you have agreed. With your mentorship, I feel assured about my son¡¯s future. You have helped me take another problem off my table. You truly are a blessing to the country and a pir of the nation.¡±

    ¡°You tter your subject, Your Majesty. It is praise too high for him to ept.¡±

    ¡°There you go being humble again!¡± His Majesty gave me a smile. ¡°The ministers ought to learn a thing or two from you when ites to humbleness. Do you want to know about this year¡¯s imperial exam? Hahaha, you have amazed me.¡±

    ¡­ Huh? Imperial exam?

    ¡°The imperial exam! Duke Ming, you performed, hahahahahaha.¡±

    Come on. Don¡¯t do this. I¡¯m dying over here. Why six ¡°ha¡±s specifically?

    ¡°The imperial court has its own regtions I need to respect, so I cannot divulge the results just yet, or I would never hear the end of it from Secretary Leng.¡±

    The mere mention of Secretary Leng was enough to dissuade me from pursuing the results of my exam. Judging from His Majesty¡¯s reaction, though, I must¡¯ve done okay. He wouldn¡¯t beughing if I embarrassed him, right? Plus, I copied He Shi¡¯s paper¡­ and didn¡¯t make any writing mistakes.

    ¡°Is this the reason for you visit today?¡±

    Seeing His Majesty trying to fight an urge to smile prompted me to fearfully bow my head. ¡°Your subject is not sure what you are referring to. He dares not speak.¡±

    ¡°But you dare to hide it from me? Hahaha, Dugu just came by. I apologise on his behalf.¡± Although heughed, the pause in His Majesty¡¯s speech and the shape of his brows indicated he was sort of angry. ¡°Feng Qizhi is Lan¡¯er¡¯s subordinate. Lan¡¯er has always known where boundaries are, so it¡¯s unlikely for him to dispatch an assassin. Even if he did send one, he wouldn¡¯t have sent one with mental issues. Don¡¯t take it too heart. Feng Qizhi is not a bad swordsman, though. Did you get hurt?¡±

    I bowed. ¡°You can rest assured, Your Majesty. Your subject is fine.¡±

    ¡°I heard he escaped with injuries. Did you hurt him using a hidden weapon?¡±

    ¡°Your subject is terrified.¡±

    ¡°Panic? Why?¡±

    ¡°Feng Qizhi is apparently a scion of Feng n. Your subject dares not make an enemy out of them.¡±

    ¡°Since when were you ever afraid of making enemies? Stop acting! You are correct, however. I rely on Feng n for many things. The fact that you aren¡¯t stirring their pot is proof that I am right to entrust my son to you.¡±

    ¡°It is not that your subject is afraid, but it is a situation of trouble knocking on his doors. Have you ounted for security in the capital at the moment? Who would try assassinating an official under the current circumstances unless they have someone backing them? Without a n to avoid problems, your subject would have trouble fulfilling his undertakings.¡±

    ¡°You are worried about future assassinations?¡±

    ¡°That is indeed your subject¡¯s apprehension. Please think about it. He was nearly assassinated as soon as he took up the role of mentoring a Prince. He dares not make baseless usations because there might not be any foul y. Howbeit, as long as there is, how many lives does your subject have to fulfil his undertaking? Luck was on his side this time, but he would not be able to speak to you again if luck is not on his side next time. Furthermore, Feng Qizhi escaped. Your subject has no clue what to do. Please save your subject. Alternatively, please take back your directive.¡±

    ¡°You just agreed to my request!¡± Once he calmed down, His Majesty stroked his beard whilst deliberating, then muttered, ¡°They are now grown adults around your age. Perhaps they are not satisfied with my arrangements. If you cannot teach the way you want to and need to, then that would not achieve the goal I hope for. It would be a waste of talent if I have you mentor them without letting you do so as you see fit. Okay. Duke Ming, step up.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Honestly speaking, I merely jumped on the opportunity His Majesty presented, never expecting anything in return, but since he was offering something, I had to find out how much money he was willing to cough up!

    I took a few steps forward, but His Majesty still had his head down in deep thought. He hesitated for a moment before shifting his gaze to the leftmost yellow scroll. He pulled one out and start writing a wall of text.

    I flicked up a thumb. ¡°Your Majesty, your handwriting is manly.¡±

    The proud Emperor set his brush down, blew the ink dry and tossed it to me. ¡°Done! Since you¡¯re worried my sons will give you grief, I shall save you!¡±

    I opened it up to find that it was an imperial edict! He officially gave me permission to take a Prince on as a student.

    ¡°The next time someone tries to give you grief, show them this. If anyone still tries to harm you, I¡¯ll send the three offices after them.¡±

    I quickly stuffed it into my shirt. It was the best thing I had picked up since entering the capital.

    Let¡¯s see which Prince still dares to pick a bone with me now.

    ¡°Your subject has heard you!¡±

    Every problem I had vanished into thin air. I grew taller. My bones hardened.

    ¡°Your Subject just has one question he hopes you would answer honestly.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Your subject is a Prince¡¯s teacher, correct?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°He can hit them and scold them?¡±

    ¡°You may.¡±

    ¡°Should they not obey their teacher?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Up to you.¡±

    That¡¯s what I needed from you!

    ¡°Your subject can ept the task, then. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±

    I bade farewell and left. I needed to carefully analyse the Princes to decide who to pick. If a fool decided to send an assassin after me, I¡¯d make sure he regretted it.

    Long after I was gone, standing in the pce alone, Emperor Yuansheng uttered, ¡°But it¡¯s not just the six of them who need a teacher. Another one of them also needs a teacher.¡±

    As I briskly headed to the exit of the imperial pce, I heard familiar steps hurriedly closing in. I was just walking fast since running was prohibited in the imperial pce, so it was odd for someone to dare to run.

    ¡°Shifu!¡±

    A kid¡¯s voice with some courage and naughtiness, the type of kid who¡¯d like to call randoms his dad. Don¡¯t tell me¡­

    As soon as I turned around, a tiger cub I recognised lunged at me.

    ¡°Catch this, Shifu!¡±

    ¡°Lord Zi?!¡±

    My moment of hesitation allowed him to get inside arm¡¯s reach. Seizing the initiative must¡¯ve been a new skill he learnt. I knew kids grew fast, but he changed more than I expected. He was taller and looked tanner than he used to. However, he still had the aura of an innocent kid. Still, I mercilessly caught him by the leg and held him upside down.

    ¡°That was amazing, Shifu! Can you teach me how you did that?!¡±

    ¡°It seems you still like challenging people to fights as always.¡±

    ¡°Mind your manners!¡±

    She was as fast as her sweet voice. She saved Sir Zi from my grasp and adjusted his attire. It only dawned on me that I hadn¡¯t seen her in a long time when I watched her. Though she seemed a little worn out, she was as pretty as I remembered.

    ¡°Eunuch Bai, it¡¯s been a long time!¡±

    Even though I smiled, she scowled.

    ¡°Hmph! You have no manners treating Lord Zi like that!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I was just ying with him. We¡¯re friends, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°When did I be your friend?¡± Bai Lian couldn¡¯t maintain her straight face for long beforeughing. ¡°Have you been well?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 32

    Tianjin¡¯s Closest Prince is the Colour of the Sky

    After teaching him the three techniques just twice, Lord Zi was able to perform them with respectable power. He enjoyed it even though he was just shadow boxing. He was plenty qualified to be a sessor.

    He¡¯s been calling me Shifu all this time¡­ How about I use this edict on him?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to hold back on using the edict for as long as possible as I needed it for protection.

    ¡°Lord Zi is d you¡¯re willing to teach him martial arts.¡±

    General Manager Bai and I sat next to each other, unsure what to say since it had been a while, until Lord Zi¡¯s training gave her a prompt to start a conversation.

    ¡°He would¡¯ve called me ¡®Shifu¡¯ so many times for nothing otherwise, right?¡±

    ¡°When are you going to do something about your arrogance?¡±

    I stroked my chin as if I had a beard. ¡°That punch was too low. Don¡¯t ck on details.¡±

    General Manager Bai nearly raised her hand at me, while Lord Zi responded in earnest, making it impossible not tough.

    ¡°You seem to be in high spirits despite the capital being in uproar and you getting kidnapped. I guess everything worked out in the end?¡±

    That was an easy topic to get me talking. It wasn¡¯t as if we never saw each other in between, but we were busy ever since travelling to Jiangnan with His Majesty, so there was plenty to talk about. We were sitting at a small teahouse outside the imperial court, so I wasn¡¯t worried about not being able to leave. Strangely, the two of them didn¡¯t seem pressed for time, either. I could understand Lord Zi preferring to have fun outside the pce, not to mention how rich his family was, but General Manager Bai was a eunuch. Of course, she might¡¯ve just returned to the capital and had no arrangements in ce yet. It wasmon for servants to opt to wait outside the pce when they travelled with their master. It was odd in General Manager Bai¡¯s case because she had a strong sense of duty and took pride in serving the imperial family. I just didn¡¯t ask as I was enjoying my momentous story-telling session.

    I exaggerated my peril in the underground pce ten folds and my highlights twenty folds. The enemies contributed thirty more times than they actually did. It got to a point where even I worried lightning would strike me down, yet General Manager Bai listened to me with a smile the entire time, never interrupting besides the few illogical things I said that prompted her to say, ¡°You certainly know how to blow your own trumpet.¡± We finished several teapots, and Lord Zi learned another six techniques and had moved on to contemting how to connect them.

    One reason I told such a long story was because it¡¯d been ages since we caught up, so I wanted to have a good catch up. The other reason was to avoid another silence between us. Conversation required two engaged individuals, but she was the type who seldom spoke about herself, always putting others first. If you were asking me, she definitely didn¡¯t hate conversation. More than likely, she was lonely considering she didn¡¯t have many friends in the imperial pce, and Lord Zi was still a child. She wouldn¡¯t talk about herself if I didn¡¯t tell her everything about myself first.

    ¡°You and Lord Zi are practically glued together. You left the capital together and returned together?¡±

    Although General Manager Bai looked ufortable speaking about herself for a moment, she got over it and smiled. ¡°Yes. We just returned to the pce not long ago, and we just had an audience with His Majesty and Brilliant Consort. I cannot be absent for too long considering the workload in the pce.¡±

    It sounded to me as though General Manager Bai deliberately emphasised ¡°in the pce¡±, but that made me wonder why she was staying outside the pce. I didn¡¯t press her, nheless, since she didn¡¯t sound willing to talk about it.

    ¡°If there was something important, would you dare to ask?¡±

    ¡°Why not? You just have to pick what to answer.¡±

    General Manager Bai gave me a re. Whenever she blinked her big eyes, she¡¯d inadvertentlye off as beautiful. Though Boss had aid back and gruff personality, she had a sweet appearance. Princess Hongzhuang was the true heroine. Lass Yu only appeared tough thanks to her height. In reality, she was pure, but she was undeniably pretty. Young Shiyi was universally acimed as the epitome of perfection even in the eyes of the pickiest people. General Manager Bai was 30% na?ve and 70% charming. Her hand-sized face and big eyes could bring men to their knees without her trying. She had an innate ability to make men want to protect her with her appearance alone. If we were talking about born charming, General Manager Bai took the crown. Had she not met with Brilliant Consort, she probably would¡¯ve suffered as a woman.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. Just researching. Where were we?¡±

    General Manager Bai looked at me as if I was a weird before continuing, ¡°I went home.¡±

    ¡°You have family in Luoyang?¡±

    General Manager Baiughed. ¡°When did I ever say I have family in Luoyang? I never said I went to Luoyang, either. I went to Tianjin.¡±

    Tianjin and Beiping were neighbours. It was a half-a-day journey to reach Tianjin from the capital. It was surprising since she had the ent of someone from the south, yet her family was located in the north.

    ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t you¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I entered the imperial pce from childhood. My family perished in a famine during my childhood. I encountered Brilliant Consort Her Majesty while fleeing, and she took me in until now. However, my hometown is in Tianjin. I apanied Lord Zi to Luoyang, so I made a trip back while I was there to visit Shifu, as well.¡±

    I was under the assumption that General Manager Bai learnt her martial arts from the imperial pce rather than someone outside.

    ¡°My shifu taught me while visiting the capital but doesn¡¯t reside in the capital.¡±

    Smiling, I asked, ¡°I still don¡¯t know who you shifu is. Do you mind sharing the name of your great shifu?¡±

    ¡°He is great, but he doesn¡¯t like outsiders who he is. He refers to himself as Daoist Yin so I¡¯ve called him Shifu Yin. Hmm? What¡¯s the matter? Why do you look unwell?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 33

    The Story of Daoist Yin¡¯s Fall

    Daoism and Buddhism hadpeted for supremacy for as long as the martial world had existed. They had both had terms at the top. Even though other sects had produced disciples who rose to fame or dominated a field, no one had yet to steal their thunder. Were Daoism and Buddhism toe together, they¡¯d have made up the majority of the martial world.

    At the top of Daoism in the current generation was the sect that had stood out from their establishment ¨C Wudang. They had famous disciplines and outstanding members throughout their history, but Daoism never equalled Wudang. Before Wudang¡¯s rise, several schools of Daoism had existed for centuries, many of which were eager to prove themselves superior to Wudang. Prior to Wudang, there were four schools of Daoism that were considered the leaders of Daoism.

    Mount Guanfen¡¯s Lotus Sanctuary, Mount Longhu¡¯s Sage Manor, Luyi¡¯s Ziji Pce, Xiandu¡¯s Transmission tform had still remained the pirs of Daoism teachings. Lotus Sanctuary messed up due to carelessness and fell from their prosperous days. Ziji Pce and Sage Manor exhausted themselves over the course of their prolongedpetition. Still, their status in the martial world never changed even when Wudang rose.

    When I was ying Daoist and running around on Mount Wudang with Chicken Yun, I often heard daoists conversing about the teachings of Daoism, so I had aplete map of the martial world. Due to my training in Tai Chi, I was always eager to visit the four sects and see what their elites were capable of. Never did anyone mention Daoist Yin, and you¡¯d never find his name in any forest, shrine, building, or written record. I doubted even Wudang knew about him. I was one of the few people who knew him because there was a Daoist on Mount Daluo ¨C Uncle Wushan.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Daoist Yin was the name Uncle Wushan used when he travel-. Let me restart because that¡¯d be insulting Grandmaster. Daoist Yin was the name Uncle Wushan used when he harmed the human r-. Let me restart because that¡¯d make him sound as powerful as Shifu. Daoist Yin was the name Uncle Wushan used when he sought vengeance against the human realm.

    Although Uncle Wushan gave off the vibe of a master monk who could sit as still as a rock, he had some years in his youth where he was off his rocker, especially those few years. I believe it was the few years following me starting to grasp Yijin Jing and ending his manhood. Following his realisation, he cried at heaven and cried with his head in his hands all the time. To fight his depression, he¡¯d leave the mountain to drink, gamble, watch ys, eat into the middle of night and cry when he passed a brothel. Drowning his woes in alcohol and then waking up in another city wasmonce. As well, he¡¯d pick fights wherever he went.

    Aside from drinking, Uncle Wushan picked fights ¨C fight to the death type ¨C whether it was to quell his sorrow or get revenge on the world. Those days, he was at every fight regardless of where they were held. As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, he fought dirty when he didn¡¯t need to. After agreeing to start on three, he¡¯d poke their eyes, trip them, or choke them on the count of one. He single-handedly ruined tournaments of all manner. People would be having respectable duels when a slovenly-dressed drunk Daoist would descend from the sky, spew a bunch of illegible words and then start fighting regardless if it was one on one or himself against a group. When he lost, he¡¯d roll around on the ground as a bloody punching bag whilst eating a beating. When he won, he¡¯d keep challenging people, disregarding the purpose of the gathering, event, tournament or whatever it happened to be. Ignoring all the martial arts tournaments, he won twenty-plus tournaments for husband selections, which resulted in twenty-plusdies not being able to get married. He wasn¡¯t afraid of death, so he challenged people out of his league. Unexpectedly, he kept improving as a result of surviving all the fights. When Uncle Wushan finally sobered up a little and realised Mount Daluo had a reputation to protect, he started going by Daoist Yin to continue his ways.

    In his prime, Uncle Wushan went to the Western Regions to challenge Ximen Chuideng. He was sent back to Mount Daluo in a donkey cart. In his worst days, he challenged chickens. Due to him being severely injured to begin with and forgetting he didn¡¯t have a beak, they beat him into a bloody mess, too. He was close to home that time, though, so he returned to the mountain on his own.

    It wasn¡¯t all bad news, though. Thanks to Uncle Wushan¡¯s rampage, he inadvertently sabotaged a fair number of crooks¡¯ ns and destroyed a number of criminals¡¯ dens.

    Those days, Mount Daluo was a household name, but we still remained a mysterious sect since nobody was active in the pugilistic world. Grandmaster was always snoring. Shifu was always courting women. Whenever Shifu hit someone with intention, he¡¯d basically kill them. Those who survived took it as an honour and would spread their legacy everywhere they want. As a result, Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation took a hit. That was why Uncle Wushan deserved to be credited with establishing Mount Daluo¡¯s reputation in Beijiang. That being said, our reputation wasn¡¯t stable until Second and Sixth were active.

    At one point, Shifu tied up Uncle Wushan and dragged him back to the mountain for him to calm down. After several years of training and levelling up, Uncle Wushan left the mountain again.

    Although General Manager Bai¡¯s description of Daoist Yin wasn¡¯t too detailed and she had only seen his true appearance a few times, everything she mentioned added up. I couldn¡¯t imagine there being a second Daoist Yin with the same skill level and characteristics, but I couldn¡¯t understand why he would teach her martial arts. Moreover, I never saw her perform any skills with Mount Daluo roots. Sure, I never learnt Mount Daluo¡¯s martial arts, but I had seen plenty of the skills. My Night Net Book was the culmination of countless nights of burning the midnight oil to copy my predecessors¡¯ ssics to barelye up with.

    Putting aside Bai Lian¡¯s techniques, although she was flowery in execution and not exceptional inbat, her internal discipline¡¯s mental cultivation did have the sophistication I¡¯d expect from my uncle. My question was, when did hee up with the discipline and why I had never heard about it, especially since the internal discipline¡¯s principles had no connection to Mount Daluo¡¯s.

    Uncle Wushan was a branch member of Mount Daluo. Therefore, he was far more restricted in what he could learnpared to me. Without permission from the patriarch, we weren¡¯t permitted to teach outsiders martial arts. Their creations had to be recorded into the sect¡¯s records. ¡°We¡± included even me.

    Yijin Jing and Tai Chi weren¡¯t Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines, while Ancient King String was my own research. Though I did teach Tang Ye my Ancient King¡¯s mental cultivation, I didn¡¯t teach him the full skillset, so it was arguably only just giving him advice. Only ¡°sh¡± and ¡°Night Steps¡±, which I taught Su Xiao, fell into the realm of things I needed to get approval on first. I was allowed to start teaching my sessor ahead of time in order for them to seed me; however, I still needed to report it to the patriarch in person. If Shifu didn¡¯t approve, then I¡¯d have to erase the skills from Shifu or beg him to let me. Bai Lian¡¯s situation was different.

    Bai Lian started learning from Uncle Wushan many years ago in the capacity of an official disciple. Uncle Wushan had returned to the mountain many times during that time, yet I never heard anything about him taking in a disciple from anyone. Either Uncle Wushan hid the fact, or Shifu knew about it but didn¡¯t mention it to me. My gut told me there was more to it than what met the eye. I just didn¡¯t believe Uncle Wushan would betray Mount Daluo, so I couldn¡¯t figure out why he¡¯d do this.

    ¡°You sound like you know my shifu or something.¡±

    I stared into Bai Lian¡¯s eyes for a while before making up my mind to tell her the truth. Even though it was a sect secret, on ount of her safety, I determined that hiding it would be riskier to her. Shifu cared for the sect policies as much as I cared for waking up in the morning ¨C none at all. However, he was equally extreme in executing outsiders who learnt out knowledge without permission. In the event that Uncle Wushan taught her behind Shifu¡¯s back, I had no way of predicting what he¡¯d do to Bai Lian.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it counts as knowing him, but¡­ Let me be honest with you.¡±

    I described Uncle Wushan¡¯s appearance and all his feats, his habits, everything taking an interim in the middle to teach Lord Zi another nine techniques so that he was upied. Of course, I gave her the full history of Daoist Yin¡¯s origins, as well. It went without saying that she was incredibly shocked. She always thought her shifu was a modest recluse with no special interests, and she never questioned the origins of her skills.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen¡­ I think¡­ that is my shifu.¡±

    Glossary

    Ziji Pce ¨C Ziji is the name of a star and the Jade Emperor¡¯s pce.

 Book 15: Chapter 34

    How Can Somewhere Without Joy Be Better than the Imperial Household?

    Bai Lian sounded sure and believed my deduction was reasonable. ¡°Shifu did mention he had no other disciples, but he had a decently-skilled, sly, unscrupulous, and unreliable nephew,¡± she said before giving me a nce and carefully asking, ¡°What¡­ do you think?¡±

    Don¡¯t say it out loud if you¡¯re worried about my feelings! What¡¯s with that ¡°I just happened to find the right answer and what to brag about it¡± look?! Is that what you think of me?! Don¡¯t act innocent! You got more and more into it as you spoke about it!

    ¡°That¡¯s too little information to tell, right?¡±

    Bai Lian wagged her small hand and then calmly, surely, and smugly, replied, ¡°He also said his nephew is ugly.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay, that¡¯s not my uncle.¡±

    ¡°Eh? He also mentioned he has a senior who¡¯s incredibly handsome, heads and shoulders above anyone else in martial arts, unbelievably smart, incredibly popr with women, and rich. He also said his senior travels a lot, and is smooth and slick. Doesn¡¯t that sound like your shifu?¡±

    ¡°Stop! Stop digging! That¡¯s called irrefutable evidence, okay?! What did my appearance have anything to do with it?! How did my shifu note to mind first when you know so many details! Why did ¡®an ugly nephew¡¯e to mind first?! That wasn¡¯t a deduction; I was the first person you thought of when you thought about ugly, wasn¡¯t I?!¡±

    ¡°Why would I have thought of you first when there are thousands upon thousands of ugly people in the world? The two traits were ugly and knew martial arts. I wouldn¡¯t have thought of you if I didn¡¯tbine them.¡±

    ¡°You still shouldn¡¯t have thought of me if youbined them! By your logic, I¡¯m the ugliest freak in the martial world, aren¡¯t I?!¡±

    Don¡¯t act like you just realised it! You might as well outright nod!

    ¡°Mm, mm, your description matches my shifu in every way, especially him aiding people even when he is indifferent to all affairs. He also mentioned he used to be a fiery character but calmed down as he aged, eventually bing the man he is now.¡±

    She¡¯s acting like she forgot about all the insults directed at me. Is disparaging me as natural as breathing to her, and so confirmation is needless? Or would it be more urate to say hitting me would be more natural to her?

    ¡°Why are you spacing out when you¡¯re the one who asked me to think?¡± Bai Lian clocked me over the head.

    I knew it. She wanted to hit me.

    ¡°If you¡¯re truly my uncle¡¯s disciple, doesn¡¯t that make me¡­¡±

    Bai Lian froze for a second, then curled her lips when she caught up to my thoughts. ¡°You¡¯re not my senior brother! I refuse!¡±

    What¡¯s this? Do I have myself a tsundere junior sister all of a sudden?

    Mount Daluo had very few female disciples. Though we had branch female disciples, we weren¡¯t exactly close. The closest we were was addressing each other by name. I always thought it was uncharacteristic of Shifu to not have any female disciples besides Xia¡¯er, but I eventually understood it would¡¯ve been too hard tomit crimes of indecency under my shiniangs¡¯ watchful eyes. Of course, they could¡¯ve forbade him from taking on female disciples, as well.

    Xia¡¯er was basically a younger sister to me. Young Shiyi was the only other girl I took care of, so I never had any female juniors call me ¡°Senior Brother¡±. Moreover, Bai Lian¡¯s voice was sweet, so I was really curious how it¡¯d feel.

    ¡°I refuse!¡± Bai Lian pre-emptively struck before I could even say anything. ¡°Are you some sort of pervert?! You want to hear me call you¡­ I refuse! Lord Zi, we are leaving!¡±

    I wanted to talk a while longer, but it was gettingte.

    Uncle Wushan was the most simr to Shifu in his generation ¨C in the sense that he always surprised you with his decisions. It was unlikely he would hide his disciple from Shifu considering how much he respected Shifu. Moreover, what he taught Bai Lian couldn¡¯t have been something he spontaneously created; it was clear that it was bespoke. I had a suspicion that not even Uncle Wushan himself fully grasped what he taught her.

    I had a feeling that Bai Lian¡¯s internal discipline¡¯s mental cultivation was familiar, but I couldn¡¯t form a skeleton of it. My only option was to ask Uncle Wushang myself when I saw him again. It was just that several weird things that cropped up recently all involved Mount Daluo, which made me feel uneasy. The moon and stars in the north were hard to see, making me feel even more uneasy.

    ¡°Shifu! I¡¯m done training!¡± Lord Zi came over to bid me farewell.

    Lord Zi was drenched in sweat. After all, he assiduously trained the entire time I conversed with Bai Lian. Bai Lian wanted to change his clothes for him, but the kid, with red cheeks, shook his head and proimed he was old enough to change by himself and forbade her from looking.

    ¡°Shifu, I have to go now. I will visit you again.¡±

    Imitating the respectable teachers out there, I nodded. ¡°Remember what you practiced today?¡±

    ¡°I do! I am just not very fluid yet. I will show you my progress next time!¡±

    You don¡¯t need to show me. I won¡¯t even remember them by then.

    ¡°Lord Zi, it is cold at night. Drape this on.¡±

    Since Bai Lian didn¡¯t strip him, Zizi obeyed. ¡°Shifu, when will I get to see you again?¡±

    ¡°If you want to see me, juste to Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°Shifu!¡±

    ¡°Zizi!¡±

    ¡°This is preposterous. You think anyone can be a Prince¡¯s teacher? If you¡¯re not worried His Majesty will punish you, agree a few more times.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t thoughtlessly agree.¡± I took out the imperial decree I had in my shirt and waved it around in front of Bai Lian.

    ¡°His Majesty is instating you as a Prince¡¯s teacher?!¡± Bai Lian lowered the decree. ¡°What can you teach? Besides having somewhat decent internal energy, what else can you teach?¡± she asked, then pointed to Lord Zi.

    Lord Zi didn¡¯t like what he heard, but he didn¡¯t want to argue with his favourite sister, so he pouted his lips, inwardly promising himself to practice diligently and show her how good his shifu was.

    I couldn¡¯t be bothered arguing, either, so I smiled it off. ¡°His Majesty is willing to trust me, though. What can I do?¡±

    ¡°You better tread carefully. None of the Princes are people you want to be on the bad side of.¡±

    Bai Lian¡¯s knitted brows indicated she knew about the Princes¡¯ ways. I should¡¯ve expected as much from the general manager of the inner pce.

    ¡°I¡¯m still alive. Rx.¡±

    The assassin is still alive, too.

    After I filled Bai Lian in on Blue Princes¡¯ assassination attempt, she eximed, ¡°Feng Qizhi?! He¡¯s one of Feng n¡¯s best swordsmen. Are you all right?¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s one of their best, then may heaven have mercy on them. He¡¯s just an overgrown idiot. He was easy work.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    By Bai Lian¡¯s standards, we had through a crisis together. Therefore, she was familiar with my ways and level.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking that¡¯ll be enough to deal with them. They don¡¯t necessarily have to hire someone famous. What if they unknown faces?¡±

    Uh, I think I killed a few of them?

    ¡°What if they hire a group to attack you in waves?¡±

    Wawa turned one into her maid. Uncle Huang gave earfuls to a group of them.

    ¡°What if they poison your food or some other voodoo methods?¡±

    Oh, I know to be wary about that! I¡¯ve quit tangyuan!

    ¡°There¡¯s also League of Assassins.¡±

    Nah, I¡¯m more professional than they are. One of them is stuck with fermented vegetables right now. He won¡¯t be a threat.

    ¡°What if a highly-skilled adeptes for you?¡±

    That¡¯s why I recruited one to take care of administrative tasks for me. I think I can return to work soon.

    ¡°You¡¯re walking a risky tightrope!¡±

    I beg to differ.

    ¡°How about this.¡± Bai Lian pushed Zizi over to me. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take Lord Zi as your student. Once you have settled on a Prince, the other Princes won¡¯t try to assassinate you anymore.¡±

    I already considered that. Zizi would be a lot less trouble than the other Princes. He was smart and pure. In addition, he was the son of a friend. I just didn¡¯t want to use the decree so soon when it was my life insurance, so I refused with a smile.

    ¡°Shifu! Why don¡¯t you want me?!¡±

    ¡°Do I need a decree to teach you martial arts? Just report in.¡±

    ¡°You have to keep your promise! You have to teach me!¡±

    ¡°I will. I will. Juste and ask for me.¡±

    Bai Lian, still worried to death for me, kept her brows together.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. I¡¯ll hang out with you two another d-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Bai Lian paused to think, then dered, ¡°I have an idea!¡±

    I¡­ have a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°We¡¯ll¡­ move in to Liu Shan Men with you!¡±

    ¡­ I knew my intuition was right!

 Book 15: Chapter 35

    King Qingxiang of Chun/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hello, everyone. We will be staying at Liu Shan Men from today. Ie from a humble background, so please pardon me if I do not know any better,¡± expressed Bai Lian.

    Everyone present went from wondering why someone from the imperial pce was here, to, ¡°It is us who needs to ask for your pardon, General Manager Bai.¡± Sir Sui was in charge of arranging Bai Lian and Zizi¡¯s lodging. He wasn¡¯t a servant in the imperial court, but he was the most familiar with regtions and a veteran, so he was most apt for the job. Zizi was introduced as the young master of an affluent family, but nobody at Liu Shan Men was stupid enough to not realise he had to be nobility or rted to the imperial family. They just had to observe how General Manager Bai treated him to notice that. As such, they notified Sir Sui so that he could make arrangements.

    ¡°Sir Sui is one of the most respected eunuchs among eunuchs. You have no idea how many eunuchs in the pce look up to him. It¡¯s great that he¡¯s handling our lodging. What are you worried about?¡± Bai Lian cheerfully inspected her sparkling-clean ce with Zizi. ¡°Lord Zi, we will be staying here tonight.¡±

    ¡°Yay! Shifu, let¡¯s drink tonight!¡±

    ¡°No you will not! Lord Zi, your mother stressed that you cannot drink. You should be washing up and heading to bed at this hour!¡±

    Only I was unable to mentallye around.

    General Manager Bai¡­ is staying?

    Bai Lian moved in before I could weigh the pros and cons of her moving in. I appreciated her concern, but there was just something that made me uneasy. My primary question was, it wasn¡¯t rare for her and Zizi to stay the night outside the pce, but was it truly okay for them not to return to the imperial pce?

    ¡°Hey! You better not let Lord Zi drink alcohol!¡± warned Bai Lian, catching Zizi as he tried to escape.

    I stiffly replied, ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t. Having said that¡­¡±

    ¡°Having said that what?¡±

    Zizi continued putting up a strong resistance despite virtually being subdued.

    ¡°Are you serious about staying here?¡±

    My question distracted Bai Lian enough for her to lose her grip, allowing Zizi to escape. Following a sigh and re at me, she answered, ¡°We can protect you from assassins if while we¡¯re here. You should be thankful.¡±

    Except¡­ you¡¯re nowhere near my room. Whatever assassin thates after me would¡¯ve had enough time to roast me and sell me off by the time you arrived¡­

    ¡°Why are you so wishy washy? We need to sleep. Shut the door.¡±

    Sheesh. Is there a need to be so aggressive? I¡¯ll shut the door now.

    I shut the door, then turned around to say, ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°I meant for you to shut the door on your way out!¡±

    ¡°But I still have a question.¡±

    Bai Lian suddenly looked nervous.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t going to stay at Liu Shan Men tonight, where were you going to stay?¡±

    ¡°W-we¡­¡±

    ¡°An inn!¡± interjected Zizi.

    I pulled my brows together as I looked back to Bai Lian. ¡°Lord Zi¡¯s grandparents are the richest family. Why would you stay at an inn?¡±

    ¡°Fine, since you¡¯ve found out¡­ There are numerous reasons. Lord Zi and I currently have nowhere to go home to, and we don¡¯t have much money on us. Had we not run into you today, we probably would¡¯ve had to make do at an abandoned shrine outside the city.¡±

    Now I¡¯m even more lost!

    Zizi was Brilliant Consort¡¯s precious son. She¡¯d be able to provide him with a life of luxury for three years if she mindlessly sold a few pieces of jewellery. Damn, she could sell the flowers at her entrance for a fat sum. Additionally, the officials in the capital would¡¯ve had to have been ignorant to have not tried to befriend Bai Lian if she disclosed her identity.

    ¡°I can¡¯t divulge the reasons as it pertains to the imperial family¡¯s prestige and secrets. Can you just not ask, and let us stay for a few days? Don¡¯t tell anyone why we¡¯re here. Just tell them I¡¯m helping you fend off assassins.¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we friends?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that. It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t run Liu Shan Men. I have to exin the situation to my superior.¡±

    Bai Lian smirked for some reason. ¡°If Shen Yiren has something to say, tell her toe talk to me and not make things hard for you. Others may fear her, but I don¡¯t.¡±

    No, Boss is considerate. Plus, she¡¯s about to leave soon. I¡¯m talking about Song Ou¡­

    ¡°Looking for me? I¡¯d like to hear what you have to say.¡±

    Not only was I surprised to hear the sweet voice from several courtyards away, but even Bai Lian was notably taken aback. Boss¡¯ progress in her internal discipline had continued to improve, especially after her fights against Divine Realm opponents. Her utilisation of her internal energy had improved thanks to the experiences; it wasn¡¯t something that could be taught. The fact that she could use Voice Transmission and hear us over such a long distance was proof that she had improved by multiple folds. When she entered the room, she was akin to a sharp sword heading straight for its target. Her aura alone was enough to shake up her opponent.

    Bai Lian smiled.

    Boss looked to Zizi. ¡°It is a pleasure to see you, Lord Zi.¡±

    ¡°O-oh, hello,¡± responded Zizi, after rposing himself.

    Had Boss not held back, Boss¡¯ smile could¡¯ve inflicted an internal injury on Zizi due to the discrepancy in levels.

    ¡°General Manager Bai.¡± Boss turned to Bai Lian with a smile, but there were obvious figurative fires in her eyes. ¡°It has been a long time. I had no idea you were our guest.¡±

    ¡°It has been a long time, indeed. I have missed you, so I thought it was time to pay you a visit.¡±

    They both were smiles, but I could see a big white rabbit and a white fox behind them locked in a contest. However, instead of sensing danger, I thought it was kind of cute¡­

 Book 15: Chapter 36

    There is Lian and Yiren

    As everyone knew, the fox was mightier than the rabbit, but that didn¡¯t necessarily hold true if it was a huge rabbit. I saw a huge white rabbit facing off against a seductive white fox. The rabbit munched away at a carrot swiftly; the white fox aerated its cheeks. They looked ready topete until the cuter one was decisively decided.

    ¡°¡­ Feizhen, exin,¡± demanded Boss.

    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bully Ming Feizhen. I¡¯m his friend. If you have a bone to pick, pick it with me.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if I was just seeing things, but I saw Boss¡¯ pupils dte as though she was about to fly off the handle.

    Wait. Boss is usually the one protecting. With General Manager Bai protecting me all of a sudden, not only am I not moved, but isn¡¯t she overstepping her boundaries as a guest?

    ¡°Can you not make your subordinate¡¯s life hard so thoughtlessly? Being second inmand at Liu Shan Men doesn¡¯t excuse bullying others with your authority?¡±

    ¡°This is your friend?¡±

    Me: ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Ming Feizhen told me how hard life had been in recent months, and how unreasonable his superior is. I see that he told no lies. Vice-captain Shen, His Majesty reallocated you as punishment for your attitude, yet it seems you are making the same mistake again.¡±

    ¡°You said that?¡±

    ¡°Of course he did. I swear it.¡±

    I could see mes in Boss¡¯ eyes.

    I never said that! I only said the journey to Nanjiang was rough! The superior I mentioned was Fangzhang, not you, Boss!

    ¡°Government offices are not a ce for personal catch ups. If you think having a quick chat with a friend here on my turf is against the rules, you¡¯re in the wrong ce.¡± When I thought Boss was about to lose it and pull out her inkstone, she responded with a graceful smile. ¡°As for Feizhen¡­¡±

    Boss, still smiling, ced a hand on my neck and pulled me down to her height. She caressed my head with affection I had never seen before and said, ¡°This is my subordinate. I will appreciate him. Even if I don¡¯t, behind our doors, what we do is our business. An outsider has no cementing. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, General Manager Bai?¡±

    Cheeks red, Zizi covered his eyes and cried, ¡°Yah, yah, yah¡­¡±

    General Manager Bai was ready to explode. I was pretty sure Boss said what she said and did what she did because she was able to explode, too. I supposed that was the result of inheriting thebinations of her parents¡¯ personalities, especially the calmness and rationality of her father. She wouldn¡¯t have done what she did in the presence of anyone else. Myint was that she didn¡¯t ount for my blood pressure. Not only could I smell her, but I was close to making contact with her mountains.

    My nose! My nose!

    General Manager Bai mped her teeth together, then eximed, ¡°Ming Feizhen,e here! Exin this to me.¡±

    As soon as I went to move, Boss pulled me back.

    ¡°Feizhen, stay.¡± Boss emphasised ¡°Feizhen¡± to indicate how close we were. ¡°You don¡¯t need to listen to outsiders.¡±

    General Manager Bai was close to losing her mind after being addressed as an outsider constantly. Hence, she made a decision she was bound to regret. ¡°Senior¡­ Brother Ming!¡± she shouted with apletely red face. ¡°Come here, Senior Brother Ming!¡±

    I took three steps towards General Manager Bai without realising it and would¡¯ve kept going had Boss not tugged me back.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Boss grabbed my ear, snapping me out of my daze. ¡°What senior brother? What are you two ying¡­?¡±

    It¡¯s not what you look! Don¡¯t look at me with spite! We¡¯re not roleying anything!

    General Manager Bai pushed her chest out. ¡°My shifu is connected to Mount Daluo. Ming Feizhen is my senior brother. What do you want?¡±

    Boss gave me a frown that read, ¡°You never told me anything about this.¡±

    I gave a, ¡°I only just found out today,¡± look back to Boss.

    General Manager Bai simpered. ¡°Ming Feizhen is my senior brother. Lord Zi calls him shifu. The only outsider in this room is you.¡±

    Seemingly having yet toe to terms with our rtionship, Boss nced back and forth between us. I felt as if I was being called a cheater¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re at Liu Shan Men, so I have the right to call the shots. What will you do if I refuse to let you stay here?¡±

    ¡°You can neglect me, but would you dare to boot Lord Zi out, too?¡±

    Boss smiled. ¡°I would arrange for lodging at an inn for Lord Zi, but I am sure His Majesty wouldn¡¯t like that if I did that considering the current situation.¡±

    General Manager Bai looked as if she just got checked on a chess board. ¡°¡­ So you knew?¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯d give you time of the day otherwise? Were it not for the importance of this matter, I couldn¡¯t give a toss about you.¡±

    General Manager Bai emphasised the reason she had no money and had to stay outside the imperial pce with Zizi was a secret of the imperial pce, so it wasn¡¯t strange for Boss to know about it. However, I was curious what the secret was. They say you have to use money if you have money and leverage your status if you have status, after all.

    Boss peered out the window, then looked at the tired kid. ¡°¡­ Normally, I wouldn¡¯t be able to let you stay at Liu Shan Men even if you wanted to, but it¡¯ste. We¡¯ll discuss how to proceed nextter.¡± When she turned to leave, she called, ¡°Feizhen, we¡¯re leaving.¡±

    General Manager Bai red at Boss¡¯ back as if she wanted to stick a knife in there, then made eye contact with me and cooled off. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was recalling what she called me, but her face turned red again.

    Once we reached Boss¡¯ room, she loudly set her sword onto the table and took a seat. She stared straight at me, who didn¡¯t dare to sit, and questioned, ¡°You¡­ going to exin?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 37

    His Majesty¡¯s Orders Can¡¯t be Defied

    I never thought Uncle Huang came to the same conclusion as I did while he was recovering in the underground pce.

    ¡°All this old one can do with all the time on his hands is mull over these things. If he still knew less than you, then he lived his life in vain.¡± Uncle Huang, seemingly reading my mind, chuckled, and then turned to Boss Shen. ¡°Fiends¡¯ Genesis stressed us. The White Princes benefited. Is there still anything that isn¡¯t obvious?¡±

    Boss was smart ¨C just a tad less than me. She had a hard think, then punched me, went back to thinking and exhaled. ¡°It is hard to ept. I never thought all of our struggles against Jiang Chen were just a front to so much more.¡±

    Uncle Huang coldly said, ¡°Opposing the imperial court is courting death. Fiends¡¯ Genesis suffered, while the White Princes gained all that there was to gain. If they were not colluding, would someone as shrewd as Gongsun Chu be willing to work for another? Fiends¡¯ Genesis are fools; their trust in someone as ruthless and shrewd as him will be their own undoing.¡±

    Uncle Huang fell asleep a whileter as we continued talking, but he didn¡¯t forget to stress that we had to find out the truth before he sumbed to his fatigue. After shutting the door gently behind us, Boss and I could see the dilemmas we were both facing. There weren¡¯t many among the White Princes who had what it took to kill Elder Yu, but no names came to mind. They were all wielded authority and physical might that could almostpare to Shaolin¡¯s abbot. If they killed the head of Confucianism, they¡¯d cause a huge stir.

    Uncle Huang would¡¯ve used someone if Confucians were okay with falsely using people. The culprit undoubtedly left too little evidence, or Yan Shisan would¡¯ve already found out who it was.

    ¡°Are we really going to pick up this case?¡±

    Walking beside me, Boss bobbed her head. ¡°Not us, though, but me.¡±

    ¡°Did I just get fired?¡±

    ¡°Do you have time for it? The sun ising up.¡±

    The two of us cast our gaze to the horizon, where we saw the first rays of sunlight and sighed in synchrony, except I lowered my head afterwards to steal a nce of Boss¡¯ face. Perhaps the angle I saw her face from was even more mesmerising than her beauty, making me reactively lower my head again.

    ¡°Another day has passed by.¡± Boss looked towards me. ¡°The academy idol contestmences tomorrow. Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s daybreak¡­¡±

    Of course¡­ not. I wasn¡¯t preparing for the idol contest, and I had things I still needed to wrap up. I heaved a big breath.

    ¡°Something stressing you out?¡±

    ¡°Nah, just some shameless military guy who¡¯s bloody strong is making life hard for me.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Boss patted my head. ¡°Don¡¯t call people shameless when you¡¯re no better.¡±

    I was speechless, not because I couldn¡¯t think of aeback but because I recalled that night at the inn.

    ¡°¡­ You best make sure you¡¯re in a spot to say that before you say it.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°Ahem, Boss, head back and catch some sleep. I need to pay His Majesty a visit.¡±

    Boss was visibly somewhat peeved I took a ¡°natural¡± step back, but my second sentence distracted her. ¡°You¡¯re going into the pce at this hour?¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I took out a golden¡­ piece of wood from my shirt. ¡°Yes!¡±

    ***

    ¡°Idiot! Moron! Fool! Brainless¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Why did you wake me at this hour?¡±

    Even though His Majesty had his finger pointed at me, it was too early in the morning for him to find the words to insult me with.

    I apologetically cupped my hands in salute. ¡°Your subject apologies for waking you up, but your subject has an urgent report to make.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t justify having someone pull me out of bed! To make matters worse, you had Wang Tushui go ask Her Majesty go to Brilliant Consort¡¯s pce to wake me. You really want to see me miserable, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Nobody else would dare to go, though.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t just-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor have shown up.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± His Majesty leaned his face that resembled the aftermath of a maniac cat¡¯s attack closer and gestured with his hands. ¡°Come closer to speak.¡±

    I jogged over straight away despite not knowing why we had to be so close when the only other person in the pce besides us was Eunuch Wang.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look! This sets the atmosphere!¡± chided His Majesty. ¡°So, what did she say?¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, she said, as long as¡­¡±

    And so, I doubled Zuo Suniang¡¯s demands ¨C especially when it came to how many people she wanted to recruit and how much money she needed. Don¡¯t get it twisted now. I wasn¡¯t trying to make things difficult for Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor; I just wanted His Majesty to not have an excessively positive impression of them. That was my insurance policy in case they came after me in the future. Moreover, His Majesty wouldn¡¯t ept her ridiculous terms, so why not raise the bar to give him room? In that way, he¡¯d still be able to satisfy her demands even if he shaved off 50%.

    You can call me Master Negotiator Ming.

    ¡°Approved.¡± His Majesty nodded. ¡°Is that it?¡±

    Wh-what did His Majesty just say? Why are you being so generous?! Pay me back my three hundred thousand, then! You have money to renovate their manor but not pay me for going to war for you?! Is this surnameism?! I can call you ¡°Dad¡±, too! I¡¯m your son-inw, after all!

    ¡°They had to suffer unjust punishments. Li ncks men in the family. We muste together in the future, so we cannot lose Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor¡¯s support.¡±

    ¡­ And what about me? Now there¡¯s a fat extra sum.

    ¡°All that said, it¡¯s not enough to earn her trust. Go tell her that, not only do I agree to her terms, but I will also double them!¡±

    ¡°Huh?! Four times?!¡±

    ¡°What? Double is twice. Where did you learn your maths from?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no, you see¡­ your subject was stupefied.¡±

    Doesn¡¯t this mean¡­ I¡¯ve just earned a huge sum?

    ¡°As long as she¡¯s willing to tell me where the secret path is, her demands are trivial.¡±

    ¡°What secret path?¡±

    His Majesty looked at me as if I was a moron. ¡°What sort of question is that? How can I trust them if I don¡¯t have jurisdiction over the secret passage?¡±

    Oh¡­ I see you haven¡¯t woken up yet. You want their secret passage? I promised not to ask for it.

    ¡°No matter what you have to do, find out where it is.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡­ Your Majesty, do you remember I have to attend the exams? How can you order me around like this? Since you¡¯re forcing my hand, I¡¯ll have to ept the generous extra sum!

 Book 15: Chapter 38

    Past Joys Found in the Present

    I watched Zizi rack his brains for an answer, which brought to my attention that he didn¡¯t share a single trait with me. He had been sheltered for the thirteen years of life he had been alive, which wasn¡¯t a privilege I had. ordingly, he was likely to take a different path to me in the future even if he learnt the same things.

    Zizi peered into the ether, while General Manager Bai tensely watched him simrly to a mother worrying her son would answer his exam question wrong.

    ¡°I do not think so. Mother told me that lots of things could be achieved with money, but money would be as valuable as rocks if we were somewhere without many people. It is always people who are responsible for doing things, not money. The same goes for martial arts. As Xiao said, using martial arts for bad intents is unjust, and using martial arts for good will is just.¡±

    General Manager Bai¡¯s raised shoulders finally descended.

    I turned to Tang Ye. ¡°What¡¯s your opinion?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I think¡­ it¡¯s hard to distinguish. I¡¯ve met many just and unjust people in the martial world¡­ I¡¯ve seen swordsmen on the side of justicemitting murder without batting an eye, and I¡¯ve evil people using poison, yet they had benevolence in their hearts. Whether one is good or evil is hard enough to distinguish, let alone martial arts.¡±

    I smiled as with the aura of a deity. ¡°My shifu asked me same question back then. I replied, ¡®There¡¯s no such thing as good or evil martial arts disciplines. Even if there are, aren¡¯t they created by man? Are the disciplines evil, or are people evil?¡¯¡±

    Two young men and one Su Xiao started to brood.

    Don¡¯t think about it so hard. He posed the question to me when I was seven. The only thing on my mind at the time was what time we were going to eat.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to face the questionter again for sure, so just consider it homework. I¡¯ll listen to your answers in the future. Dismissed.¡±

    Once the three went off on their own ways to do their martial arts, I went off to the side to dry my forehead.

    How was I supposed to know the three of them were so clever?! Forget young Zizi not knowing being worldly-wise, but Su Xiao and Tang Ye were trying to embarrass me. One of them never forgot what he heard, while another had a good memory and vast knowledge. Why the hell did they have to know so much? You think it was easy for me to fabricate educational content? God damn.

    I¡¯m never teaching sses again, or I¡¯ll be exposed.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to take Lord Zi as your disciple?¡±

    Boss appeared by my side and watched General Manager Bai apany Lord Zi walk away, shadow boxing as he walked.

    ¡°Zizi isn¡¯t bad. I¡¯m still considering. His Majesty didn¡¯t set a deadline. Whether or not I can take him on, though, he¡¯s definitely going to stay at Liu Shan Men.¡± Before Boss could ask why, I leaned my head in to her hear and whispered.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ let¡¯s let Lord Zi stay for a while. We won¡¯t be in the capital for much longer, though. What do you think?¡±

    I flipped my hands over. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do something, or his safety will be at risk.¡±

    Boss smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve taught him martial arts, yet you still refuse to take him on as your official disciple. You¡¯re putting on too many airs.¡±

    ¡°I only taught foundational knowledge for him to learn whatever he wantster, but there¡¯s no Mount Daluo knowledge in there. At most, if you really want to reach, there¡¯s only the top of the tip of my shifu¡¯s knowledge.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even know the top of the tip¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to ask,¡± Boss turned to face me, ¡°why can¡¯t you use any of Mount Daluo¡¯s skills?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t ask that all of a sudden! You¡¯re making me awkward and didn¡¯t give me time toe up with a lie! Me promising not to lie to you isn¡¯t a license to catch me off guard like this! Shifu refused to teach me and told me I wouldn¡¯t be able to learn them. What could I have done?! Don¡¯t go! I¡¯m being serious!¡±

    Later in the day, I took Zizi out for a stroll. General Manager Bai only agreed to not apany us after I told her I wanted to see if he qualified to be my disciple.

    ¡°Shifu, where are we going?¡±

    I had a think before responding, ¡°Beating up bad guys. Interested?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Zizi gradually warmed up his arms and beamed. ¡°I can¡¯t stand bullies. Mother told me that I have to learn martial arts so that I can put bad people in their ce.¡±

    Knowing Brilliant Consort, I could imagine how she looked teaching Zizi. The imperial family demanded all their children to practice martial arts regardless of gender for health purposes and to protect themselves. She was the only person who dared to tell her son, a Prince, to go and see that justice was honoured. She really was fearless.

    Zizi was thirteen this year, so his mother couldn¡¯t have changed much from when Ist saw her. Zizi, on the other hand, grew noticeably taller in the six months I hadn¡¯t seen him. Although he was still evidently a kid, he had shed the image of an ignorant child. He¡¯d probably have been as tall as an adult in another two years. He used to have such soft features that he could¡¯ve passed off as a girl, but he asionally looked manly now. Time truly was a mysterious thing. On second thought, I realised that not only time but events could¡¯ve been the catalyst for his change.

    ¡°You¡¯ve grown quite a bit after your trip to Luoyang, huh?¡±

    Zizi flinched.

    I was right? Did he get bullied there or something? No wonder why his aura had changed, except I couldn¡¯t tell why until now.

    ¡°You got bullied?¡±

    Despite being tense, Zizi didn¡¯t sound angry or sad. Instead, he looked embarrassed as he coyly answered, ¡°I¡­ met a few elder girls who fooled me into a ce for washing and stripped me¡­¡±

    That¡¯s not the bullying I was thinking off! Kid, it¡¯s still too early for you! I mean, I¡¯ve heard kids of the imperial family learn about this stuff sooner than the average kid, but it¡¯s still too soon for you! I thought you were just hung upside down and assaulted! I didn¡¯t realise you were forced to graduate into adulthood already!

 Book 15: Chapter 39

    A Stroll through the Entire City and Gift of Goodbyes

    ¡°Shifu, am I an embarrassment?¡±

    Embarrassment? Kid, there¡¯d be a line from the north pole to the south pole if they were offered the same opportunity. If the girls were good looking, there¡¯d be an army of men who want to chop you up out of jealousy, too.

    Cheeks red, Zizi borated, ¡°I know boys shouldn¡¯t let girls bully them, but they forced me into the tub, and I could not move.¡±

    Okay, show off, bragging about how they had to do all the moving now, are we?

    ¡°That is why I gave them a beating once I could rotate.¡±

    You what?

    Zizi¡¯s spirits suddenly rose.

    ¡°Like a mighty warrior, I sent them flying out with two whipping kicks, cracking their skulls. Hmph, I am no pushover!¡±

    Zizi went on to borate the angle of his kicks, how fast he delivered them, and how much impact they produced, then went on to recount getting dressed and chasing them across streets to continue. Finally, he humbly asked, ¡°Shifu, is there anything I should have paid special attention to?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Go lighter next time.¡±

    ¡°Understood. They were really weak, though. They were crying after my first kick.¡±

    Then, kick lighter! Is this what they mean by achieving higher realms once one can abandon their human desires? I don¡¯t think learning to be a dangerous fighter is something you should be concerned about. Your mother should be worried about you being able to find someone who¡¯d ept your hand in marriage, you woman beater.

    We strolled around aimlessly, chatting about things we thought were interesting, although he did most of the talking. The Prince who liked to run about had more of a penchant for causing trouble than I anticipated. I heard he had sneaked out of the imperial pce to y no less than twenty times and had gotten into squabbles¡­ and fist fights. He was obviously happy when he won, but he never dobbed on the victor if he lost. Once he grew older, Li n was likely going to have another elite fighter¡­ or troublemaker.

    We headed to the end of an uncrowded street, then left the residential distract some distance behind us. Even though it was midday, there weren¡¯t many people passing by. Once I had an idea, I blurted, ¡°Did you know the majority of the techniques I taught you are mindlessly made up?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Zizi replied as though he knew from the very beginning. ¡°When you teach me, you always spend a while thinking, and your teachings don¡¯t correspond from lesson to lesson. Every time I ask you questions, your answer is not the same.¡±

    I was that mindless about it? You¡¯re pretty talented, too, if you could remember everything I said when I can¡¯t¡­

    ¡°Why do you train so passionately, then?¡±

    ¡°Because you are truly good. The skills you teach me work. If you teach me something different each time, I get to learn more techniques. You originally said you would teach me three techniques, but then you taught me six. You said you would teach me twelve techniques yesterday, but you ended up teaching me twenty-five!¡±

    I made up that much? Damn it. I can¡¯t even recall one. How am I supposed to respond to his questions in the future?

    ¡°Shall I teach you some more techniques, then?¡±

    Zizi¡¯s smile turned into hesitation, and then he shook his head. ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Father said anymore would be biting off more than I could chew. Sister Lian also criticised me for not mastering the current techniques I have learnt and should not learn more. Shifu, the skills you taught me are really effective.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I was even more curious what I taught. ¡°Did they actually work inbat?¡±

    ¡°Yes! They work really well.¡±

    Zizi told me he sparred with a few female constables this morning and won seven matches straight until he lost to the eighth constable. It sounded as though his fear of girls was magnified after the loss, but that was a topic for another time. Anyhow, the matches enriched his experience inbat.

    I had seen Zizi¡¯s skills. His foundation wasn¡¯t exactly solid; however, nobody would¡¯ve really fought him for real. In addition, he hadn¡¯t learnt any advanced internal disciplines, so his strength wasn¡¯t up to scratch. It went without saying that he hadn¡¯t progressed in an internal discipline, either. I couldn¡¯t teach him my internal discipline unless I was willing to be the world¡¯s public enemy. The only people who could learn it were people who were hard to kill ¨C like Second or Lass Yu. Thest category was someone simr to Su Xiao. After all, Su Xiao would¡¯ve been everyone¡¯s target since he had knowledge of Shaolin and Wudang¡¯s treasures. Considering Zizi¡¯s identity, his best option for progressing in his martial arts quest was to steadily advance. I didn¡¯t know how to go slow and steady, so my only option was to teach him a steady shortcut. I already had an internal discipline in mind to teach him, but I had yet to start tracking it down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone close see you use what I taught you.¡±

    Zizi deployed a nod and smile. ¡°I will be secretive with it. Not even Sister Lian and Mother will see. Even if they do see, I will not tell them you taught me.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I didn¡¯t expect that response, especially considering I didn¡¯t even providing an exnation. I assumed he picked up on something during our interactions and didn¡¯t want to put me in a dilemma.

    Knowing how smart his father and mother were, I should¡¯ve expected him to be smart and kind, as well.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s see if you¡¯re as smart as you im.¡± I halted in my tracks.

    Had I not stopped, the person walking by from my side would¡¯ve crashed into me. Due to me stopping, however, he missed his step. As a result of his intentions being exposed, he reactively turned to a big man drinking his tea, only to receive a re.

    I sped my hand behind my back, looked at Zizi and questioned, ¡°There¡¯s an opportunity for you to fight right now. That guy, the man by the teahouse, the one hiding on the tree, and the man by the corner of the wall are reinforcements for when the situation gets out of hand, or they¡¯ll aid in escape. Whatever the case, it¡¯s a fight they seek. You think you can beat them?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± replied, Zizi, not even sparing them a nce.

    ¡°Good to hear.¡± I didn¡¯t care if Zizi¡¯s answer was genuine or not as it didn¡¯t change what I had to do. ¡°Should you win, I¡¯ll teach you proper martial arts. I give you my word.¡±

    ¡°All right!¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 40

    A Boat of Gold that¡¯s Unfortunately in the Wrong Hands

    I walked off after I said what I had to say even though thest thing I heard was the sound of metal sliding out of its sheath. There was something else that required my attention. It was the first time I gave something my full attention since recovering my internal energy, but this genuinely deserved my full attention. This was the only ce that I had any uncertainty about.

    There was an extremely long line outside the small sharp called ¡°Four-Five¡°. I silently waited with everyone else eagerly waiting in line. The aroma wafting out from inside was mesmerising.

    They marinated their beef in oil mixed with Sichuan peppercorns and other spices for an hour before adding more spices. They steamed the pastry before they fried it. When you bit into the yellow, crispy pastry, the juicy beef filling would burst in your mouth. As it cooled down, you¡¯d be hit with a different taste. Every bite provided a different taste, but every bite was a heavenly treat. They were a new shop, but they had to limit their ¡°Four-Five Fragrant Cake¡± had to one per customer a day. Unlike the people who cried about missing out, though, I had a n to get around it. After I finished my first one, I licked my fingers clean and then lined up a second time.

    Remember this: a thoughtless taste, a detailed taste, and a thorough taste were three different things that provided three different tastes. A thoughtless taste was wolfing it down. It was addicting, but you didn¡¯t get to savour the nuances in the taste. A detailed taste was stopping after a taste, spending double the time needed to eat the meal; as long as you were satisfied, it was a joyous experience. A thorough taste was when you inherited the true culinary spirit, truly savouring and appreciating the intricacies of a dish. People liked to argue over which method was superior, and they had their logical arguments, but they only got to one taste. Only he who knew all three tastes was truly superior, though.

    As I was enjoying my second cake, someone suddenly asked me, ¡°May this one ask if you are Duke Ming?¡°

    With grease around my lips, I dashingly responded, ¡°You are?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He suddenly looked doubtful of his judgement. ¡°If you are not Duke Ming, it would be best for you not to pose as him.¡±

    ¡°Of course nobody could.¡± I took another bite, fulfilling all the debts I owed myself. ¡°Only someone as great as I am deserving of being Duke. Who are you?¡±

    ¡°This one nobody worth mentioning. His master has invited you to join him.¡±

    One nce and I could tell he was an errand boy. His appearance and martial arts skills were passable, but the fact that he bowed so lowed to me was proof that he was just a lowly errand boy.

    ¡°Who is your master?¡±

    ¡°He is a descendant of Luoyang¡¯s Feng n.¡±

    Thankfully, all the walking around today wasn¡¯t for naught. No outsiders were aware that I hid Feng Qizhi at Liu Shan Men. Considering his identity, it was expected that someone woulde searching for him. Blue Prince was probably d to see the moron leave, so he wouldn¡¯t dispatch someone, but Feng n wouldn¡¯t abandon one of their most talented swordsmen so readily. It took an enormous amount of money to raise him, so losing him would¡¯ve meant losing twenty-plus years of investment. The fact that they were wandering the streets in search of me was evidence that they couldn¡¯t find him. It was the perfect scenario to me. Zizi got to practice, while I had someone to order around.

    ¡°Master is waiting for you.¡±

    Before that¡­

    ¡°Line up for me first. Let¡¯s get another two cakes.¡±

    ***

    Although there were plenty of boats on Qinhuai River, it was my first time seeing and being on such an opulent one. It was so shiny that it hurt to look at. I had to cover my eyes with the cover the servant passed me to ease the difort.

    ¡°Is your master¡­ always so mboyant?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Even the wealthiest young masters wouldn¡¯t embellish their ships interior, yet this guy iid gold into the exterior to the point that he might¡¯ve just built it out of golden. It was impossible to look straight at when the sunlight reflected off it. Even the boatman in the neighbouring boat had to cover avert his gaze and hurriedly paddle away. Some people fell into the water as they were too distracted with admiring the ship. I probably would¡¯ve fallen in, too, if someone wasn¡¯t leading me. Most importantly, I couldn¡¯t hold back my tears. I had to toil day and night for a month for a paltry sry, yet this guy invited me to tea on a boat iid with gold!

    Bloody rich people!

    Everywhere I set my gaze on inside, there were gems. I had never been anywhere so¡­ dazzling. When we reached the guest room, I saw the owner sitting in the centre. Not only did I admire hisposure, but I even admired his eyes! The guy mercilessly adorned a golden silk robe. All the damn shine in the interior was blinding. Only once I sat down at the table did I see he was wearing Western sunsses. No wonder why he wasn¡¯t bothered.

    ¡°Feng Shanshan?¡±

    ¡°How dare you mock my young master!¡± a servant thundered.

    I couldn¡¯t tell you where the servant was because of all the damn illumination. All I heard wasughter from the golden room.

    ¡°Hahahaha, don¡¯t mind it. Don¡¯t be so jumpy, will you? Think about your monthly one thousand taels sry. Will you feel better without it? Always prioritise money.¡±

    Although the twenty-seven-year-old was embellished in jewellery and gold from head to toe, it was hard to hate him after seeing his smile.

    ¡°I am Feng Jiutian. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Brother Ming.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 41

    Feng Shan Jiutian is Present, Unfortunately

    Someone, or some people, swiftly covered the surroundings in ck cloth, so I finally managed to open my eyes properly. To be honest, brightness and darkness weren¡¯t that impactful to me. I could see tiny insects hundreds of metres away at night, and I could urately count the number of aerial leaves in the bright sunlight, but there was no need to unt those skills everywhere I went.

    Shifu stressed it when I was younger, emphasising that I had to hide those skills more than ever if I was around the richest people in the world. I wasn¡¯t aware of Feng Jiutian¡¯s personality, but nobody trying to top the imperial exam would be someone ambitionless, right? Moreover, hispanions were visibly veterans at what they did. Considering the colluding-in-secret setting I was in, I reasoned it was best to be cautious.

    One thing I couldn¡¯t get off my mind was if Feng Jiutian could actually see in such darkness from behind his sunnies¡­

    Feng Jiutian opened his fan and grinned. ¡°Brother Ming, this isn¡¯t our first meeting, is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m over here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Guess he can¡¯t see me. What does he mean this isn¡¯t our first meeting? Does he know I knocked him out at the exam venue? I¡¯m sure I was stealthy in my execution. If he knows about it, then he¡¯s a genius.

    ¡°Uh, when did we meet before today?¡±

    ¡°Haha, at the exam venue.¡±

    He really remembers?

    I squinted. ¡°Your memory is quite impressive.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Feng Jiutian folded up his fan and gently tapped the table. ¡°On the day you entered the venue, with your retinue apanying you, you shouted at the examiner as I would have done. I brought a dozenpanions with me that day, as well, and thought it was still not sufficient to assert my dominance, but I foolishly gave up since I did not want to disrespect His Majesty. After I saw you, I went home to bring morepanions with me on my entrance. Unfortunately, due to the abrupt decision, I did not get to introduce myself to you.¡±

    ¡­ So, you don¡¯t remember, and you¡¯re an idiot. I have a feeling I¡¯m not going to click with this guy. I need to fool him and make a dash.

    ¡°May I ask what you wished to see me for?¡±

    ¡°Let us set that aside for the meantime. I discovered a new eatery that makes some impressive food. I hear you embody the culinary spirit, as well, so I have to try it with you. Serve it up.¡°

    ¡°Young Master Feng, although we have never crossed paths prior¡­ you are my brother today!¡±

    A servant served up three big tes of cakes.

    Four-Five¡¯s cakes?! This guy must be plotting something! As if I¡¯d fall for such an obvious ploy¡­ but let me have five first. Let¡¯s see how you conspire against me if there are none left!

    Poison, you say? What¡¯s that?

    Feng Jiutian let me dig in without showing any signs of reservations.

    ¡°Take your time, Brother Ming. I will speak to you as you try them.¡±

    Feng Jiutian certainly didn¡¯t disappoint as the scion of a merchant family. It wasn¡¯t annoying to listen to him over the sound of my chewing. After myst bite, I rubbed my belly and shook my head.

    ¡°What do you think, Brother Ming?¡±

    What do I think?

    I flicked up a thumb.

    Feng Jiutian beamed. ¡°You are on board?¡±

    ¡°They were great.¡±

    Have you any idea how long it¡¯d have taken me to line up for three tes¡¯ worth? That was not to mention they were still warm, and the steam hadn¡¯t softened the pastry too much. Not only was it fresh, but the fact that they were still warm meant the delivery man had to be incredibly fast on his feet.

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing. I don¡¯t know the owner; however, I sponsored his startup in that location and will only be sharing 50% of the profits going forward.¡±

    I licked the grease around my lips, savoured it and then expressed, ¡°Brother Feng, you are definitely my friend. Mention me whenever you¡¯re out and about. There¡¯s not a soul alive who doesn¡¯t recognise me.¡±

    And nobody my shifu doesn¡¯t owe a debt to, too.

    Maybe Feng Jiutian would¡¯ve even paid off the debts for me if he was in a good mood!

    ¡°My pleasure!¡± Feng Jiutian mmed the table. ¡°I have nothing besides a lot of money. I have been needing a friend willing to help me spend it all, or it would be a burden. Not only do I wish we were friends, but I wish were brothers.¡±

    ¡°We are brothers!¡± I took a swing of twenty-year-aged nv¡¯er hong wine.

    ¡°What do you think about what I mentioned before, Big Bro?¡±

    Feng Jiutian was the real deal. See how he won me over on first attempt? Question was, could he pull it off a second time? Why would I turn down another three tes?

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll release Feng Qizhi.¡±

    ¡°That is only a trivial matter. I am not referring to that.¡±

    Is there another debt between us? You didn¡¯t know I swapped your exam paper, right? Don¡¯t suddenly recall things!

    ¡°Qizhi is an adult now, so it¡¯s fair for him to have his own goals. I can¡¯t stand in his way. I am close with Brother Huangshu, however, so I have to pass on a message for him. He asked me to tell you in person that, if you are willing to ept him, he would be willing to set aside his military duties toe scatter your ashes. Do not me him for not warning you prior when you die, he added.¡±

    ¡°Uh, Brother Huangshu is?¡±

    ¡°His Highness Yellow Prince.¡±

    ¡°Oooh, His Highness Yellow Prince.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! He doesn¡¯t like being addressed as such, though, so he goes by Huangshu.¡±

    Damn, just like your elder brother, huh? He¡¯s Chengkong, and you¡¯re Huangshu. That¡¯s brave of you to use the same title as your brother to make a fool out of yourself. And you want to duel me? How hard can it be to be a rich daddy¡¯s boy? Why is it that none of you can do it?

    ¡°I have passed on the message as requested. I will leave it in your hands now, Big Bro. I will be turning a blind eye.¡±

    ¡°Fret not. I will take care of it. With that said, I still have something I need to attend to, so I will get going.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. However, I have also booked a dance performance to entertain us. All of them are famous on Qinhuai River. Although it¡¯s somewhat uncouth, would it interest you, Big Bro?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Who cares about all that rouge, powder and colour?¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. We have ten jugs of wine, as well, which are three of Jinling¡¯s top ten. Nothing impressive, really.¡±

    ¡°Nothing impressive? They¡¯re straight trash.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. Dongpo¡¯s head chef is in the back. Tell him to shut down the kitchen, as well.¡±

    Never even heard of no Dongpo. Don¡¯t get in daddy¡¯s way.

    I rubbed my belly, burped, and took a silk handkerchief with me. By the time I met up with Zizi, the sun was setting.

    Glossary

    Chengkong and Huangshu joke ¨C There¡¯s an extra prefix in the name that can be tranted as ¡°Emperor¡± if you recall from Orange Prince¡¯s rebellion, where he referred to himself as Emperor Chengkong. Mind you, the prefix can be tranted a number of ways. It¡¯s just Ming Feizhen is choosing to define the prefix Yellow Prince uses to also be ¡°Emperor¡±, hence the rebel joke.

 Book 15: Chapter 42

    Ticking Clock

    Not only had Dongpo maintained their standard for braised pork shoulders since thest time I ate there ¨C which was a long time ago ¨C their chef had levelled up. Brother Feng really did have good taste.

    Unsurprisingly, Zizi wasn¡¯t where I left him by the time I returned. Nevertheless, I managed to find the bloodstained kid underneath a pagoda tree nearby. He couldn¡¯t have gone far when he had three opponents, after all. You would¡¯ve thought he was dead if it wasn¡¯t for his chest rising and falling. I had a rough guess what transpired based on the circumstantial evidence around. I could tell which direction his opponents fled based off the footprints on the ground, and based off the disordered patterns, it was clear who was scared off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I crouched down and eyed Zizi. ¡°You¡¯re actually bleeding.¡±

    Zizi wasn¡¯t bathing in his own blood, but his clothes were dyed in blood, and he had no less than twenty wounds on him. He had been cut by swords, shed by broadswords, scratched by darts and stabbed with daggers, not to mention the numerous bruises. Even if you added up all the injuries that he had suffered in his thirteen years of life, they probably couldn¡¯t match the injuries he suffered today alone. Had he lost, it probably would¡¯ve been hisst time getting hurt, too.

    The calf wound indicated Zizi fought a swordsman with his legs, rushing in to take out the swordsman before they could group up. The scratch on his neck and hands were the result of dodging a dart, catching another and throwing it back all whilst fighting the broadsword wielder. When the other two teamed up, they managed to slice his shoulders, but he was able to beat them to strike their qimens, taking away their power before his head rolled. The wound on his thigh that he was still bleeding from was a consequence of swiftly dodging a sword thrust aimed at his leg tendon. In other words, he was able to remain calm enough to make rational decisions while fighting four opponents. However, he walked his back straight into a punch as a result of the evasion, which was likely the cause behind the blood around his lips. All his wounds proved that he used an injured body to win his first life-and-death fight.

    I wasn¡¯t sure if I was meant to be d or troubled ¨C or both. My test was designed to make him fail. The four of them weren¡¯t advanced internal practitioners, but they were legitimate threats in the underworld. Their experience with life-and-death fights on top of that should¡¯ve given them an unfair advantage against Zizi. I wanted him to fail so that he would quit dreaming of setting foot into the pugilistic world. After all, it wasn¡¯t a world fit for spoiled and weak Princes. No amount of wealth and manpower could protect you forever in the pugilistic world. He was the son of an old friend and likeable, so I didn¡¯t want him to be a flower nted in the wrong ce. He was supposed to give up and obediently stick to General Manager Bai for the next twelve months, and then go home and ept his Prince title next year. I was nning to teach him an internal discipline to cultivate a healthy body, and we¡¯d be out of each other¡¯s paths. He¡¯d leave me alone, and I wouldn¡¯t have let him call me ¡°Shifu¡± for nothing. That was my goal in bringing him along today, but I was also hoping for the other oue, a path that not even I could predict. The probability was tiny; however, it had happened. He truly outdid himself.

    I couldn¡¯t help smiling to myself. I don¡¯t know how they did it, but life would¡¯ve been unfair if Li n didn¡¯t rule.

    After I finished talking to myself, Zizi immediately lifted his head. Whether or not it was because he was sensitive, he was able to instantly enter a state of focus. He truly inherited the bloodline of the man who fought alongside my grandmaster. Zizi was highly alert at first, but he switched once he realised it was me. Instead of relief, there was confusion. He surveyed the surroundings before believing I had returned.

    ¡°¡­ Shifu!¡± It took Zizi a moment to spot the silk handkerchief, smell or alcohol and braised pork shoulders in soy sauce. ¡°Shifu!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I covered Zizi¡¯s head with the handkerchief, then found a big rock to sit down on.

    Zizi pulled off the handkerchief, threw it aside and then grimaced due to the pain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t throw it away. I still have a use for it.¡±

    Zizi jumped to his feet. ¡°Wh-why?!¡±

    ¡°Why what?¡±

    The angry kid lowered his head. ¡°Y-you left me behind alone.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me you could beat them?¡±

    ¡°I thought you would be around, but you ran away¡­¡± Zizi, feeling the pain, looked around for a spot next to me to sit, but there was no such thing, so he had to stay standing. ¡°Besides, they were looking for you¡­ yet you had me fight them off.¡±

    I pointed to the ground, indicating he could sit. Once he sat down, I said, ¡°I left, didn¡¯t I, and pretty fast at that?¡±

    When Zizi reacted angrily, I smiled and asked, ¡°If they were after me, shouldn¡¯t they have chased me when I walked off? Why do you think they stayed to fight you?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 43

    Confronting Justice

    I didn¡¯t know how detailed he was in his thinking, but I never would¡¯ve believed that he was someone who did a lot of deep thinking. After all, he thoughtlessly called me ¡°Dad¡±. However, he immediately held his breath after hearing what I said and looked around as though he could sense the danger. Most importantly, he got his priorities straight ¨C checking for danger first and foremost.

    ¡°You were not their target¡­ I was their target, right from the very beginning.¡±

    Just because it was a mumble, it didn¡¯t mean Zizi carelessly spoke his mind. The way I heard it, it was a query, except that it was asked indirectly. Hence, I didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°But¡­ they wanted to harm me? Why?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°You¡¯re smarter than I gave you credit for. I don¡¯t care what you experienced anymore, but this is fine. Had it not been for your realisation, I wouldn¡¯t be able to teach you even if you won.¡±

    Based on Zizi¡¯s reaction, he seemed to expect that from me. Though he was still na?ve, he was certainly smart. His gaze told me he could look beyond today.

    ¡°Whatever you want to ask, think it through before you ask.¡±

    ¡°Shifu, why did they try to kill me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know myself.¡±

    ¡°I do not know them, so it is unlikely they have a grudge against me.¡±

    ¡°You may not recognise them; however, is it so hard to fathom that there are people who want to harm you?¡± I proceeded to point out what Zizi had noticed but refused to face. ¡°Your mother is His Majesty¡¯s favourite. Your mother¡¯s side of the family is the wealthiest family in the Central in. You are the youngest and weakest among the Princes. What makes you think you can¡¯t be a victim?¡±

    Every word I said took some colour out of Zizi¡¯s face. Being born into the imperial family didn¡¯t guarantee anyone¡¯s safety. In fact, he was constantly in danger every second of his life just as he was in the fight, except he had an equal opportunity to protect himself from the threats, but it was eternal.

    His Majesty¡¯s training stripped Zizi of most of his protection, leaving him to walk the border alone. He had always lived under his parents¡¯ shelter, didn¡¯t understand how the world worked and even less about its inhabitants. Although he had plenty of opportunities to get a glimpse of the outside world through the cracks that popped up. The air from outside might¡¯ve been fresh, but it didn¡¯t mean he could ept it, particrly the painful parts.

    ¡°I noticed them early on, and I knew they were targeting you. I could¡¯ve stopped them and even taken them out without you being aware, but I deliberately left you behind alone.¡±

    Zizi, upset, blurted, ¡°Why?¡±

    I scared the boy on the cusp of tears with my stare, not giving him a chance to be dependent on me. ¡°Think for yourself. Don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±

    Subsequent to some brooding, Zizi replied, ¡°You wanted me to face them alone¡­ No, you wanted me to realise my predicament¡­ And you want to see if I am able to handle the challenge, as well as test if I am qualified.¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t respond, Zizi lowered his head to muse, but no more ideas came to mind, so he questioned, ¡°Am I right?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°If you were an ordinary boy, this would¡¯ve only been a detrimental lesson for you. Fighting can¡¯t make up for training. Although they¡¯re closely tied, seeing too much blood will make more judgement murky. If the enemy isn¡¯t ruthless enough, fighting them won¡¯t develop your martial spirit. If you learn to be too ruthless, your mother will probably be first to put you in your ce. Unfortunately, you¡¯re a Prince.¡± With one hand on my chin, I took out a wine cbash from my sash and had a drink. ¡°You¡¯re a Prince and a future lord of a city, and you have ambitious brothers. I must warn you that, if you can¡¯t even handle four thugs, you should stop dreaming of living peacefully as a Prince while you¡¯re ahead. You can either go to Luoyang and plead your maternal grandparents, or go back and beg your father to let you live your life out as a rich rtive of the imperial family. There¡¯s nothing to be ashamed about.¡±

    It didn¡¯t look as though being a rich rtive of the imperial family was a thought that never crossed Zizi¡¯s mind.

    ¡°My brothers want to harm me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. How am I meant to know that much when I¡¯m an outsider?¡±

    Zizi lowered his head again, then tried to find a new train of thought.

    ¡°Could my maternal grandpa have offended one, and they are trying to harm me in retaliation?¡±

    ¡°Have you offended your brothers? Why do you think they want to harm you?¡±

    Anger flitted across Zizi¡¯s face. ¡°They want to kidnap me because I am young and weak. They want to threaten Father and Mother or Grandpa with my life.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re mad about being underestimated?¡±

    ¡°No. I am still young. As long as I train hard, I will beat them into submission in a matter of time. If they kidnap me, though¡­ Mother would be worried sick.¡±

    ¡°Would I harm you?¡±

    Zizi raised his head in surprise, blinked, then queried, ¡°You¡­ want to harm me, Shifu?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think I would?¡±

    ¡°No. Why?¡±

    ¡°I just abandoned you once. Do you have a bad memory?¡±

    ¡°You did not abandon me. You were testing me before teaching me martial arts.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I paused to think, then rhetorically asked, ¡°You know it¡¯s not easy to reach the level you¡¯re thinking of, right?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    General Manager Bai and Brilliant Consort probably would¡¯ve chased me down if I answered the question, and I had nothing to gain. Howbeit, if I didn¡¯t tell him¡­ He never had any intention of fooling me. Despite the potential problems it brought me, I had to respect the young warrior.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°General Manager Bai says you¡¯re only thirteen, so you shouldn¡¯t listen to this and that. I say you¡¯re already thirteen; it¡¯s toote for you. Zizi, you¡¯ve been too sheltered. You don¡¯t know how corrupt people truly are and don¡¯t realise your own value.

    ¡°Your brothers don¡¯t need to get their own hands dirty to harm you. They just need to publicise the fact that you¡¯re living as amoner for a year. Do you know how many eyes watched you as soon as you were no the streets? Usually, you have General Manager Bai apanying you, and the capital is not a ce low-level viins can survive. As soon as you¡¯re alone, however, a few street thugs would be enough to kidnap you, and you wouldn¡¯t even know who the mastermind is or how they did it after the fact.¡±

    Zizi bit down on his lip. He had seen the fact, but he averted his gaze, refusing to face it. When he was finally forced to confront it, he subconsciously chose to pretend it wasn¡¯t happening. Perhaps the pain of being sliced and stabbed still wasn¡¯t enough to convince him. Reality was a bitter pill to swallow; it wasn¡¯t easy to recover from once you saw it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get depressed yet. What I¡¯m about to tell you next will probably hurt even more. Do you know that you won¡¯t achieve anything in martial arts at your current rate?¡±

    As Zizi, in shock, tried to ask for a reason, I smiled and stopped him.

    ¡°A physically tough body is the most important criterion for learning martial arts. As a Prince, your mother wanted to aid you in building a foundation, but she resorted to drugs. She¡¯s fed you valuable food, supplements and the sort from when you were a child regardless of cost. Unfortunately, besides making you healthy, have you ever excelled?

    ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea. I¡¯m not saying her approach is bad. If you were from a martial arts family with a strong and long lineage that specialised in body strengthening, or you were inherently strong mentally, were taught earnestly, and you trained earnestly, you¡¯d be elite in a dozen years. Most families can¡¯t tick all those boxes. To put it into perspective, not even Luo Sword Manor could. From what I know, Tang n, Shaolin, my fourth brother, and Valley of Viins are the only ones to have seeded to any meaningful extent using that approach. You hail from a family of merchants. Your family doesn¡¯t have some supreme discipline. Why are you taking supplements to forge your body? You¡¯ve wasted thirteen years of life. What have the drugs and supplements done? What have you achieved?¡±

    Zizi was stupefied. He never thought there was anything wrong with what he was doing, and he never realised when he started would determine how far he could go.

    ¡°You¡¯re thirteen now. Even though you started developing your physique from childhood, without a discipline to support it, it was aplete waste of time. Unless a miracle happens, your limit isn¡¯t too far from you. If you continue without any change and you don¡¯t start training for another year or two, I¡¯d be praising if you didn¡¯t lose to second-rate fighters. The rest is self-exnatory.¡±

    Zizi was as white as a sheet.

    ¡°Good thing you¡¯ve got a good personality.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Wha! Cough, cough, cough, what are you doing, Shifu?!¡±

    I forced Zizi to have a drink of alcohol while he was down, nobly saving him from depression.

    ¡°Potential isn¡¯t just brains, photographic memories, learning faster, and ingenious ideas aren¡¯t the best talents. People who pursue speed of progressck patience. They want to jump a thousand miles in the blink of an eye. Thing is, that¡¯s not how learning martial arts works. When you need to wait, you must wait. You can¡¯t go faster even if you desire it. Brains can¡¯t make up for character. There¡¯s a reason plenty of exemry military officers throughout history fail to be the elite among the elite fighters.¡±

    Watching Zizi ruminate over the perspective, I asked, ¡°Let me ask again: do you think I would harm you?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 44

    Oveing Injustice and Returning to the Path of Justice

    If Tang Ye heard what I just told Zizi, he would¡¯ve let it fall on deaf ears until he hit a wall and had to find an alternative route. Or, he would¡¯ve had to cry himself a river. In short, he would¡¯ve tried to find his own solution.

    If Su Xiao heard it, he¡¯d have assumed I was lying to him, and I¡¯d have to coax him into training.

    Boss would¡¯ve instantly given up any desire to reach an elite status and searched for something else to work on.

    Young Shiyi would¡¯ve dly quit and told me to wait on her no differently to a servant waiting on an Empress. She would¡¯ve used it as a reason to y instead of train.

    ¡°No! You saved me!¡± asserted Zizi.

    More than likely, Zizi was used to asking for help, and this wasn¡¯t going to be thest time, either. While trusting someone after being betrayed was likely a product of one¡¯s environment, it was probably in their blood for the most part. His mother was virtually the same as him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that you don¡¯t have a bad character?¡±

    Zizi beamed despite not understanding, but he did understand that I was willing to lend him a hand. He seemed to have a lot more confidence in me than I thought. A whileter, he realised something wasn¡¯t adding up.

    ¡°Shifu, what did you mean?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I said your character isn¡¯t bad because you¡¯re not bloodthirsty, but you¡¯re also not painfully merciful. It¡¯s admirable to be good at fighting but not bloodthirsty.¡±

    I patted Zizi¡¯s shoulders that had grown wider and stronger. His shoulder strength was a lot more consistentpared to when I first returned. His open wounds had stopped bleeding, and his internal injuries had entered recovery mode. I treated his wounds while conversing with him. Before he realised it, he had escaped danger, and the severity of his injuries had reduced considerably.

    ¡°I told you that men make martial arts. Men have character. That¡¯s why picking a discipline that aligns with your character is paramount. You may not have heard about it, but there plenty of people who just train and train without understanding the what, how, why, when, and principles, ignoring their errors. You can have two people learning the same discipline, but rates of progress won¡¯t be the same. These are the reasons only a select few are able to truly be the cream of the crop.¡±

    I was much younger than Zizi when Shifu said those words to me. He clobbered me several times because I paid no attention to him. The harsher he was, the more I ignored him. The more I ignored him, the harsher he was¡­ Every time, he¡¯d use a different discipline to beat me while saying the disciplines didn¡¯t suit his character. When he said a certain discipline suited him, he¡¯d still beat the daylights out of me. You could say I personally learnt to understand the teaching in the flesh.

    I caressed the confused kid¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re kind at heart, which enables you to learn a lot of disciplines. That¡¯s something many can¡¯t say about themselves.¡±

    ¡°Kind?¡±

    I pointed to the marks on the ground. ¡°You had at least three chances to kill your opponents, but you never tried to, which dragged the fight out. You didn¡¯t need to suffer injuries as bad as you did. That is kindness. My shifu split martial artists¡¯ personalities into nine categories. ¡®Kind¡¯ is the fifth one, and it¡¯s one that equips with the ability to learn the majority of disciplines.¡±

    Zizi vividly remembered the fight as his opponents fought back ferociously every time he spared them.

    ¡°I was not strong enough, so I would have had to hit their vitals if I wanted to drop them. Otherwise, I would not fear them even in a rematch.¡±

    ¡°Sparing your opponents when you¡¯re strong enough is the equivalent of inviting yourself into hell.¡±

    Zizi went red in the face. ¡°What should I do, Shifu?¡±

    I picked up two rocks. ¡°I¡¯ll throw these. You punch them.¡±

    I threw a rock at Zizi¡¯s face right after I finished speaking, forcing him to swing his fist in panic, knocking the rock away.

    ¡°Here¡¯s another.¡±

    I threw the rock vertically. Zizi watched the rock slowly descend and smashed it into tiny fragments once it was within range.

    ¡°What was the point of that, Shifu?¡±

    ¡°Ask yourself.¡± I got up and walked over to the spot he fought. ¡°You beat two people with punches here. This was key to your victory.¡±

    Zizi followed me over. ¡°Uhm, this was the spot.¡±

    ¡°You threw two simultaneous punches and could¡¯ve defeated two of them at once, so why couldn¡¯t you drop one when you only had to focus on one punch? Where did theck of strength conclusione from?¡±

    ¡°When I threw the two punches, I had spent ages charging up, but I had no time to charge up when they attacked me at once, so my punches were weak, like the first rock¡­ Oh. Shifu, are you saying that, if you can read them and charge up, you will have an advantage and have stronger attacks?¡±

    ¡°In terms of offence and defence principles, you¡¯re not wrong. However, you¡¯re not fighting rocks. Most of the time, you¡¯ll be dealing with situations simr to the first rock, except they¡¯ll be faster and less predictable. How would you charge up?¡±

    ¡°What do I do, then?¡±

    ¡°What if you could use all your might in one breath?¡±

    ¡°You could have all your power behind every strike, which would make it hard for your opponent to fend off! Shifu, are you going to teach me martial arts?!¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I can¡¯t do that myself.¡±

    Zizi gave me a look of disappointment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get down yet. I can¡¯t, but it doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t know how to. To be honest, I don¡¯t know what the result of using it will be since I had to put together the mental cultivation. In saying that, this is the creation of someone you can respect. Any ordinary person who tries to learn it would go crazy, and you stand to gain nothing from learning it. That said, there aren¡¯t many people who can master this discipline. I think I¡¯m the person who hase closest to mastering it besides its creator.¡±

    ¡°Can I be an adept if I learn it?¡±

    ¡°The creator is among the top two greatest martial artists. He wasn¡¯t much older than you when he came up with it, and he went on to create countless more, paving his own way to the top. I don¡¯t think you can replicate his sess.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 45

    Zizi was so thrilled that he didn¡¯t seem hear the part about not being able to replicate the results.

    ¡°So I will be an adept once I master it?¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­ Normally speaking, if you can master it and work hard, you might be able to match your second sister once you¡¯re over thirty. To reach your eldest brother¡¯s level, you¡¯ll require luck.¡±

    Zizi showed doubt.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Shifu, why are you teaching me this when I am already running sote? I want to be stronger. Second Sister is not even thirty yet, yet I can only match her once I am thirty? That is not very impressive.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t want to learn it?¡±

    Zizi shook his head.

    ¡°Fine by me. It¡¯s only considered one of the Three Fists Five Palms disciplines. Even your father only obtained a portion of it. If you don¡¯t want to learn it, th-¡±

    ¡°I will learn it!¡± As an inheritor of his bloodline¡¯s shamelessness, Zizi jumped up and grabbed my arm. ¡°But if it is so amazing, why do you speak so badly of it?¡±

    ¡°Listen carefully: didn¡¯t I say, ¡®normally speaking¡¯? Frankly, it¡¯s not easy to master the discipline. I¡¯vee across two practitioners. Both of them did well, but their results are limited, and they haven¡¯t maximised it. They¡¯ve also done a lot of things that don¡¯t suit the discipline.¡±

    Although Shifu never taught me Pure Yang One Qi, he had boasted about it. Therefore, I had personally heard how it was meant to be when utilised properly. If he didn¡¯t overexaggerate, then Zhao Tiankui and Yuan Kou¡¯s method of training it was wrong.

    ¡°In order to teach it to you, I¡¯ve considered where they went wrong. Firstly, they weren¡¯t kids when they started learning it, so their yang qi wasn¡¯t pure. Secondly, they practiced other disciplines beforehand, so their true qi was already mixed. ordingly, their gains were limited even if they could get any. Third, despite its categorisation of Three Fists Five Fists, it¡¯s not a boxing discipline. It was only categorised as so because an astounding boxer was the one who poprised it. Its nature is an internal discipline¡¯s mental cultivation that can be applied to any technique, armed or unarmed. Because they treated it as a boxing discipline to learn, they went down a different path. It¡¯d be a pain for them to walk back and restart.¡±

    ¡°So, as long as I avoid those mistakes, I will not have any obstacles, right?¡±

    ¡°I did say you were smart.¡±

    ¡°Teach me, Shifu!¡±

    ¡°Does it look like I have a manual on me?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°But I have a talking manual.¡±

    ¡°A talking manual?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    I smiled, then yelled, ¡°Come down.¡±

    A big man glided down from the tree trunk beside us,nding without making a sound.

    ¡°I have been waiting for ages, Sir!¡± Yuan Kou kept his volume within the bounds of respectful and didn¡¯t stand too close to us.

    ¡°H-he is¡­¡± stuttered Zizi.

    I smiled. ¡°You really think I left you alone? If anything happened, your mother would shred me.¡±

    I pointed to the shady-looking man rubbing his hands together. ¡°He¡¯s a constable at Liu Shan Men who¡¯s okay at martial arts.¡±

    Zizi widened his eyes. Could you me him? Nobody would¡¯ve believed Yuan Kou was a constable if they looked at his face. Plus, his silentnding was impressive to Zizi.

    ¡°Don¡¯t judge him by his appearance. As smart as you are, I can¡¯t guarantee you could reach his level in five years.¡±

    Yuan Kou griped, ¡°Sir, you fooled me so badly. Since you knew I went wrong early on, why did you not mention anything? Since it is not a boxing discipline, what point was there in learning boxing from General Zhao?¡±

    After losing to Zhao Tiankui, Yuan Kou frequently discussed martial arts with the former. While their martial arts origins were different, both of them practiced Pure Yang One Qi, so they were able to mutually help the other. Yuan Kou was quite smug about it until he just heard what I told Zizi.

    ¡°Zhao Tiankui was born to be a boxer. His boxing is fine, but I practiced palm techniques from childhood. I have no idea how tedious it is going to be to make up for it now that I have learnt boxing.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t call you here to hear you winge. Start reciting the theory already,¡± I demanded.

    Yuan Kou recited the mental cultivation he learnt. I nodded throughout and then pulled Zizi aside to exin it to him. After several rounds of repeating the process, Zizi had a general grasp on it and was able to recite it himself. While Zizi sat on the ground to practice it, Yuan Kou and I stood guard far away.

    ¡°Sir, you had me fooled again. He is a Prince?¡±

    I had my reasons for having Yuan Kou protect Zizi. Yuan Kou was the only one among my new recruits who wanted to enter the imperial court¡¯s employment for wealth and status. Therefore, it was no surprise he bit the bait when I told him about Zizi¡¯s importance. In addition to being able to hold his own in fights, he was also clever. He was bound to establish himself as long as he was given time and opportunities. Unfortunately, his background was shrouded in mystery, and the perverted organisation kept him at arms¡¯ length, and they must¡¯ve have had good reason for doing so. He wouldn¡¯t try anything funny in my presence, but that wasn¡¯t guaranteed once I turned my back, so this was my test for him. Additionally, he was the only person who knew Pure Yang One Qi¡¯s mental cultivation, so being able to pry that from him was another challenge in and of itself. He was only valuable to me if he could pass both tests.

    ¡°Sir.¡± Smiling with disappointment, Yuan Kou said, ¡°You are too distrustful of me. I even brought you the manual. This is the version I learnt.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Tiankui brought it, too.¡± I waved the other part of the manual in Yuan Kou¡¯s face.

    ¡°¡­ How dare he try to cut in line!¡±

    Zhao Tiankui didn¡¯t have theplete version, either. I had tobine Yuan Kou and Zhao Tiankui¡¯s versions, my understanding of Shifu and his stories about the discipline, plus the contents of Mount Daluo¡¯s old manuals that I had read, to make it moreplete. That¡¯s why the version Zizi learnt was half my creation.

    After one round of practice, Zizimented, ¡°This is really hard.¡± He scratched his head as he asked me, ¡°Who was the person who created this? This is really hard¡­. Do I know his name?¡±

    ¡°You may not know what he has done, but there is one important thing. Twenty-nine years ago, he picked up an orphan and raised said orphan, including teaching him martial arts.¡±

    ¡°And after that?¡°

    ¡°After that, you call the orphan ¡®shifu¡¯.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 46

    It was just Zizi and I under the pagoda tree after I told Yuan Kou to leave. Zizi felt refreshed after running three rounds of the mental cultivation and was continuing. Before we knew it, night had fallen. While I was waiting, I finally finished reading Pure Yang One Qi.

    Initially, I just wanted Yuan Kou and Zhao Tiankui¡¯s versions to summarise into a version I could teach Zizi. That way, Zizi wouldn¡¯t have called me shifu for nothing. After seeing him beat the four men, however, I felt it would¡¯ve been a waste to not teach him, giving me an itch to teach him some more. Even if I didn¡¯t teach him, his mother would ask someone to teach him in the future, and he¡¯d still go somewhere. Of course, his brothers still wouldn¡¯t spare him. What harm was there in showing some generosity to the young Prince who was bound to suffer plenty in the future? Besides, it wasn¡¯t illegal to teach him some martial arts even if I didn¡¯t n on taking him on as my disciple. To that end, I tried to edit Pure Yang One Qi.

    Ibed through both versions, picking out every single mistake. Once I was done, I let out a long exhale and solemnly set them down beside me. My shifu truly was a genius. I didn¡¯t understand squat. Forget the contents that resembled gobbledygook for a moment. Why did they have to practice upside down? Why, in summer, did they have to wear sixyers of clothing and train under a nket? Why, in winter, did they have to bury themselves naked in snow to train their qi? The author was clearly trying to prank readers.

    I was stupefied from the first pages to thest pages. There wasn¡¯t a singlemonality between the two manuals. They were twopletely different books! From what I saw, their execution was virtually identical, and their internal energy attributes were the product of the same discipline. Although their gains were different, they weren¡¯t as drastically different as the manuals. How in the world did they learn something so simr when there was basically not a single identical page in the manuals? I finally understood why Shifu didn¡¯t let me learn it back then. Forget practicing it. I couldn¡¯t even understand what I read.

    The moment I opened them, I felt as if I was sitting in an exam room. I never did the homework Shifu set me. The subject lines themselves were iprehensible to me.

    How the heck did those two gruff guys understand it? Doesn¡¯t this mean that I¡¯m even¡­ stop, stop, there must be something amiss. I need to re-read.

    I opened the two manuals again, turned to the second page, stared for a long while and¡­ nearly fell asleep.

    ¡°Shifu, does this mean that I should continue practicing the next part?¡± Zizi asked whilst pointing at the second page.

    ¡°It means for you to¡­¡±

    Hell as if I knew. I was going to fool him first to buy myself a few days¡¯ time, only to realise something.

    ¡°You can understand this?¡±

    ¡°It says that the practitioner should push on and not stop, does it not? It says that here, as well.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t these two different books?¡±

    ¡°What are you saying, Shifu? They are saying the same thing.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Zizi, who teaches you to read and write?¡±

    ¡°Principal Huang and Prime Minister Li.¡±

    No wonder! Doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯re levels above m-, you rival me?

    I tapped Zizi¡¯s chest with the manuals. ¡°You¡¯re right. Keep training. You¡¯re winning.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Lord Zi!¡± General Manager Bai looked as if her soul left her body when she saw a mane back instead of a boy. As she held him in her arms, she asked him what happened.

    Zizi was on the cusp of crying when I patted him on the shoulder to signal he had to keep it a secret and to not cry. His growth was evident. He didn¡¯t cry.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s all thanks to me. You¡¯re wee. No need for thanks.¡±

    Zizi and I were given warm wees as expected. However, General Manager Bai dotingly sent him to be treated, while she chased me down¡­ with a de!

    ¡°Why are you angry with me when I taught him cool stuff that would make his ancestors proud?!¡±

    ¡°Look at his wounds!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just twenty-odd injuries. They¡¯re medals of honour for men.¡±

    ¡°Let me give you some medals of honour, then! Don¡¯t move!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    I finally understood her sentiments. Medals of honour needed to be earned in a certain way, and this wasn¡¯t one of them.

    After receiving a beating, I managed to make some time to visit Feng Qizhi. I couldn¡¯t mistreat my Brother Feng¡¯s cousin now, right? Before I even knocked, I saw Sir Suie out with his head hung down and shout, ¡°He is hopeless!¡±

    Feng Qizhi soon came out afterwards carrying a flower pot and shaking his head. When he saw me, though, he warmly greeted me. ¡°Brother Ming, Sir Sui really does have unique knowledge on cultivating flowers.¡±

    I think you¡¯re the one who¡¯s unique. You¡¯re the first person to make Sir Sui give up on someone.

    ¡°I feel inspired after spending some time learning about flowers from him. I have blended it into my swordy and vice versa. One begets two. Two begets three. Three begets all things.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why you shed up his flowerbed like this?¡±

    ¡°What do you think? Artistic?¡±

    Keep it up. I¡¯ll go ask Brother Feng forpensation.

    Feng Qizhi staying at Liu Shan Men saved me the trouble of worrying about him doing stupid things, and I couldn¡¯t be bothered with him. Since Brother Feng didn¡¯tin, I had no reason to.

    I made my way to Daren Academy, where I had an appointment. As always, he beamed and skipped over when he saw me.

    ¡°Big Brother Ming!¡±

    For quite some time now, I had been intermittently teaching Su Xiao some martial arts, and he had grown rapidly. He didn¡¯t need me to teach him to begin with, but¡­

    I caressed Su Xiao¡¯s small head and asked, ¡°Do you still remember what I taught you?¡±

    ¡°I do!¡±

    ¡°Get started, then.¡±

    Su Xiao repeated back what I taught him while I listened in with a smile. As time quietly flowed by, the negative feelings welled up inside me gradually disappeared.

 Book 15: Chapter 47

    Tainted Goods

    Nobody dared to be out on the streetste at night, yet there was someone singing as if he was high, but his volume gradually reduced until it was inaudible. When the street was finally silent again, a wine jug loudly broke! Nobody uttered a word, but someone stumbled onto the broken fragments, reducing them to dust. The high-pitched sound of the jug pieces shattering wasn¡¯t anyhow worth mentioningpared to the smell of alcohol and bitterness of defeat emanating from him.

    He risked his life for the city when arsonists threatened to put it in jeopardy, yet he lost everything only a few dayster. People used to say, ¡°Lions will be tamed when the dog is beaten.¡± Nobody was more heartless than monarchs. Not long ago, he was entrusted with an important role, and now he had been kicked off his horse.

    I fulfilled my duty to the country loyally, sacrificed my youth, and offered my blood, sweat, and tears, yet all of you only remember me being on His Majesty and me not personally going to your aid. I didn¡¯t want to abandon you, either. I went to save the citizens, didn¡¯t I? I trusted the wrong people, put my faith in the wrong people. This is a widow falling for a yboy. This is dumping ady after you have your fun.

    Long Zaitian hammered the ground heavily with his fist. Subsequently, he pointed to heaven and verbally sted heaven for doing him dirty. Had anyone from the imperial court overheard him, he would¡¯ve written his own death sentence, but how could he have reasonably bottled it up when he was angry, upset, and drunk? The next time he opened his mouth, he saw his alcohol and dinner a second time. The next sounds that broke the silence on the street were the burbling sounds from him snoring in his own vomit. He wasn¡¯t a hero who had turned into an antagonist. He was a wronged small dragon.

    After heroically saving the citizens, taking down viins and turning his back on the officials, Long Zaitian was demoted to guard of the military camp outside the capital¡¯s outskirts. People in the capital closed their doors on him and told others to keep their distance from him. People were livid they were foolish enough to lick his boots and send him gifts when he was promoted. All of that was for nothing. He had witnessed the warmth and coldness of people, but he never thought people could switch so fast. In just a matter of days he went from the centre of attention to the ostracised one.

    It would¡¯ve been inurate to say that Long Zaitian didn¡¯t achieve anything while he was in his prime. At the very least, the patrol guards who saw their erstwhile superior sleeping in his own vomit didn¡¯t kick him awake ¨C whether it was out of pity, respect or disgust. Squad after squad ignored him and continued their patrols.

    When he woke up at daylight and smelt himself, Long Zaitian chucked up again. Since there was no way he could get the stench off him, he discarded his upper body¡¯s attire and relied on walls to support himself on his feet to the camp.

    Despite his personal predicament, Long Zaitian hadn¡¯t forgotten he was a Qilin Guard. No matter what condition he was in, he couldn¡¯t stain the Qilin Guards¡¯ name. He was among the first group of people to exit the capital in the morning.

    Given Long Zaitian¡¯s training, sleeping outdoors on the ground didn¡¯t leave any detriments, and he was able to gradually pick up his pace.

    ¡°Dragon, you didn¡¯t listen to me at all, did you? The waters of government employment are deeper than you can swim in. You can¡¯t do that just for a title, can you?¡°

    No! That¡¯s what Songtard Ou said.

    The thought of Song Ou was enough to inme Long Zaitian. Ming Feizhen was hideous to look at, but the imperial court didn¡¯t employ him for nothing. He could¡¯ve disgusted people to death if necessary. If necessary, you could¡¯ve made him a pin cushion. What about Song Ou, though? He couldn¡¯t be counted on. Was Song Chi someone who could be trusted? So, the useless one couldn¡¯t be used, and the useful one couldn¡¯t be used, either.

    Song Ou¡¯s recent rise created a number of rifts in the Bird-Dragon Alliance, which was why Long Zaitian had been wanting to thrash Song Ou. It was unbing to have been motivated out of jealousy, but Long Zaitian held himself back since he saw it as a vition of their alliance. It was sad enough that the imperial court trusted the idiot, but it was even sadder that they trusted Song Ou over him.

    I¡¯m done. I¡¯m turning into an antagonist.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Long Zaitian schemed numerous ways to get back at all those who did him wrong before he was first to arrive at the camp. There was obviously no wee party for a gate guard captain.

    The barrack at the capital¡¯s outskirts predominately consisted of new recruits from across thend, and virtually none of them were even from the capital; the person who disrespectfully shooed off Long Zaitian wasn¡¯t even from the capital. Hardly anyone there recognised Long Zaitian. His new superior dismissively brushed him off after hearing his background. Honestly, though, it was less embarrassing than having people recognise him while he was standing guard.

    With four subordinates under him, Long Zaitian truly was the standard gate guard. Not only were they untrained inbat, even their appearances resembled cooks. However, when he saw his ninth subordinate, he fossilised.

    Long Zaitian¡¯s ninth subordinate had a pretty handsome appearance despite his unkempt hair, and an aura that was different to the others, primarily because Long Zaitian recognised him,

    ¡°Your Highness Orange Prince?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 48

    Meeting with Evil Thanks to the Flow

    Orange Prince was born and raised privileged, and he was too proud to be beneath anyone, so he deemed the citizens¡¯ world as undeserving of his grace, which was contrary to his brothers. For that reason, not many people recognised the rebellious Prince of legends. Orange Prince, however, recognised the officer he once enthusiastically tried to recruit, only to be backstabbed by during his revolt. Despite the bad blood between them, though, Orange Prince took one nce at Long Zaitian before walking off with his group.

    Had Orange Prince¡¯s appearance changed, Long Zaitian wouldn¡¯t have recognised him.

    ¡°Hey, you¡­¡± The dirty captain called to the new recruit who walked off. Long Zaitian¡¯s aura dipped as soon as the new recruit turned back and red at him. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Li Chengzhi.¡±

    He really is¡­

    The other eight troops stared at their captain in confusion. A few of them even suspected the new captain was trying to make life difficult for the good-looking new guy. It wasn¡¯t odd for none of them to recognise Orange Prince when the Princes¡¯ names were seldom mentioned outside of the imperial pce, not to mention none of them were residents of the capital.

    Long Zaitian had a suspicion he didn¡¯t dare to pursue straight away. Therefore, he spent the next ten days watching, gathering supportive evidence and analysing. Waking up early for training and carrying out daily duties were a walk in the park for him; they were virtually only an appetiserpared to his usual routine. The majority of his focus was fixated on Li Chengzhi.

    Li Chengzhi fulfilled the same duties as the other soldiers, but he was clearly not used to the food, didn¡¯t have the same endurance in training, and wasn¡¯t as proficient as the others in the kitchen. He was alwaysst to rise in the morning, and people would easilyp him five times during their runs. Every job was challenging for him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Long Zaitian helped Li Chengzhi with tasks that were too demanding for him, such as letting him have a few extra serves of the side dishes instead of having straight porridge. He didn¡¯t provide Li Chengzhi with a private toilet, but he¡¯d give Li Chengzhi two extra sheets of paper, and simr other gestures. He continued to help and monitor Li Chengzhi until he was certain that he wasn¡¯t an imposter or someone posing as Li Chengzhi for a sinister plot. He wasn¡¯t sure if Li Chengzhi was deliberately assigned to his squad, or if someone assigned him to the squad with a specific intention in mind, either. He wasn¡¯t convinced their meeting was a coincidence.

    One afternoon, Long Zaitian finally approached Li Chengzhi. ¡°Are you really Li Chengzhi?¡±

    Li Chengzhi stopped filling his water pouch and looked at Long Zaitian out the corner of his eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you hate this?¡±

    Long Zaitian only knew one person with a condescending gaze that was annoying enough for him to have an urge to belt them.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯m right.¡± Long Zaitian inhaled, then bowed. ¡°Long Zaitian pays his respects, Your Highness.¡±

    Li Chengzhi snickered. ¡°Not even going to kneel now, yet you have the shame to call me ¡®Your Highness¡¯?¡±

    Following his exile, Li Chengzhi didn¡¯t receive any assistance from his mother as she feared her interventions would cost him his life. Still, he was Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s son. Even if the highest-ranking officials weren¡¯t willing to associate with him anymore, there were still ambitious people, such as ignorant merchants, assuming that Li Chengzhi would eventually be restored to glory since he wasn¡¯t executed for treason, so he¡¯d repay them for looking out for him when he was down in the dumps once he was back up. Rather than adding value to someone who was already in a good position, it was a better investment to help someone in need. A Prince would struggle to find genuinepanions regardless of whether he was doing well or bad, but there was an opportunity at the moment. If it was possible to openly butter him up, the merchants would¡¯ve lined up from the northern doors to the southern doors daily.

    Li Chengzhi never turned anyone or their gifts away, but he never remembered any names. He was aware that it was difficult to tirelessly support someone who was going to struggle for a prolonged period. Without his father having to say a word, a few warnings from others would¡¯ve been sufficient to deter his supporters away in an instant. He knew his father wouldn¡¯t forgive him, but carrying on as he was forever wasn¡¯t his style. His sentence stated he couldn¡¯t start a business, covet fame or glory, but serving as a soldier wasn¡¯t off limits. In hopes of having soldiers at hismand, he offered his services to the barrack outside the capital.

    ¡°Due to your sentence, this one cannot salute you formally. Once you have recognised your mistakes, His Majesty will forgive you and count on you once again.¡±

    ¡°Mistakes?¡± Li Chengzhi cracked a smile. ¡°From the dawn of man, the winner takes all, and the loser gets nothing. What mistake is there? I merely trusted the wrong people. If I had adepts on my side, I wouldn¡¯t be in this state, and you¡¯d be on your knees before me. Don¡¯t fret. There¡¯s no need to butter me up. You think I resent you? Defeat is normal in war. Didn¡¯t you lose your ce and end up here? I¡¯m not as disappointing as you are, drowning my woes in alcohol and earnestly guarding a gate. You think I need your advice?¡±

    Li Chengzhi walked off after he said what he had to say.

    That was Long Zaitian¡¯s first time meeting the real Li Chengzhi. Despite being brushed off, he was ted because he had a realisation. He wasn¡¯t demoted, and His Majesty didn¡¯t give up on him. His Majesty had entrusted him with a daunting and secret mission!

 Book 15: Chapter 49

    After Many Twists and Turns, Orange Prince¡¯s Next Big Move

    Every day, Long Zaitian would wake up early, train, and guard the gate, all whilst keeping watch over his ¡°mission¡¯s target¡±. As long as he was still breathing, he could go to sleep peacefully, and it was a good day.

    There was no chance a Prince would show up in a military camp willy-nilly. Even if he was a stripped Prince, you couldn¡¯t see him just because you wanted to. The camp was also huge; there were plenty of small squads. Coincidentally, Long Zaitian was assigned to the camp, coincidentally assigned captain of the team, and Li Chengzhi was coincidentally at the same camp and coincidentally assigned to the same squad. If it was possible for all of it to be coincidences, Long Zaitian was willing to eat all the boots in the camp.

    Long Zaitian ced his limited focus on the task of searching for His Majesty¡¯s ¡°informants¡±, believing that Li Chengzhi couldn¡¯t possibly have just been left to his own devices without anyone on surveince to report back. That was why he spent every day searching for someone who might¡¯ve had a small notebook for notes or anyone acting suspicious. He scanned everyone he came across from head to toe, went through their belongingste at night, and even stirred swills three times to see if any of His Majesty¡¯s informants were hiding within. He didn¡¯t find an informant, but he made a name for himself in the camp. The fact that he reported in on his first day shirtless made him even more memorable. s, nothing changed. Besides being cursed at and called a sicko daily, everything appeared peaceful.

    Long Zaitian was in good spirits. Notwithstanding nobody approaching him, he had confidence and joy. He firmly believed that, one day, His Majesty would reveal his hidden mastern to him. He genuinely believed he was kicked out and asked to start from scratch; he genuinely believed he was the chosen one. He was the only man capable enough to protect a Prince. He could already see himself being awarded and rewarded at the front of the shiny golden throne. He could hear himself being dered a loyal and dependable talent of the country. He would then humbly and passionately tell His Majesty, ¡°It is your subject¡¯s honour to serve you!¡±

    After a month passed, Long Zaitian started to feel suffocated as nothing had happened. Hence, he nned to return to their squad¡¯s tent to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Li Chengzhi after lunch today. He nned to limit interactions with his client. Of course, part of the reason was because Li Chengzhi avoided him after hearing the rumours about him around the cap. However, Long Zaitian avoided even crossing Li Chengzhi¡¯s path during work. It had been almost an entire month since they had interacted besides Long Zaitian¡¯s one-sided surveince from afar.

    Their tent was no longer as messy and stinky as it once was. It was now neat, organised, and had a refreshing fragrance you wouldn¡¯t expect to smell at any army barrack. Long Zaitian almost didn¡¯t recognise it. There was only a single bed, a short table, and more rows of neatly arranged books that you¡¯d expect to see in a militarymander¡¯s room. To add to his confusion, there was someone who was meant to be on patrol reading at the table.

    ¡°¡­ Your Highness?¡±

    Identifying Long Zaitian by his voice, Li Chengzhi turned away without sparing a nce and continued reading.

    Only after inquiring with others did Long Zaitian that Li Chengzhi had grown fed up with soldier life three days ago. Li Chengzhi somehow managed to tame his eight colleagues into obeying him to the point that they moved out, leaving just one bed. He even managed to somehow obtain a desk, stool, and military books from a Commandment. The fragrance came from the fragrance pouches by the bed and on the desk. At bedtime, the other eight would go to their night posts and take turns sleeping. When it came to reporting to their superior, they were training their bodies and spirits; it had nothing to do with li Chengzhi. Due to their squad¡¯s good performance and Long Zaitian¡¯s lousy reputation, their superior was more than happy to minimise interactions with them, so he let them off the hook. Meanwhile, Li Chengzhi spent all day reading military books in his tent and arranging formations. Although it was unclear what soldiers he was arranging or what formations he was arranging, he resembled a militarymander far more than the new general ced in charge of the barracks.

    Long Zaitian fell onto his bottom and cursed reflexively. Despite being stripped of his Prince status, despite having no resources in reach, and despite nobody recognising him as a Prince, it was unbelievable for him to still be able tomand people. Long Zaitian couldn¡¯t fathom what Li Chengzhi could¡¯ve done to achieve that.

    Li Chengzhi chuckled to himself as he stared into space.

    ¡°Why are youughing, Your Highness?¡± Long Zaitian asked with his hands in salute.

    ¡°What can be achieved if one I¡¯m aggrieved here all day? Iughed because I¡¯vee up with a good n. Why aren¡¯t youughing? Aren¡¯t you happy I¡¯m happy?¡±

    Long Zaitian was overjoyed. Up until now, he only knew Li Chengzhi as an unreasonable, failure of a son who was an ipetent insurgent. He never knew Li Chengzhi could manifest aspirations after his long fall from grace.

    His Majesty must¡¯ve sent me here for this!

    Long Zaitianughed alongside Li Chengzhi. Howbeit, the positive vibes didn¡¯tst for long for the reason that a ruckus outside caught Long Zaitian¡¯s attention. It was clear to the ears that there was violence taking in the barracks. Since Li Chengzhi was in the tent, Long Zaitian didn¡¯t dare to leave the Prince unattended.

    ¡°What¡¯s causing all themotion?¡± It didn¡¯t take long for Long Zaitian to answer his own question based on what he heard.

    A number of soldiers in the barracks had initiated a revolt.

    A riot in an army barrack? A riot in a newly established army barrack?

    Long Zaitian looked to Li Chengzhi, who was smiling.

    What¡­ the hell happened?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Book 15: Chapter 50

    Dazed Guest Wees Dawn

    I spent the next month cooped up resting andbing through the manuals, which saw me eventuallybine the two Pure Yang One Qi manuals into six. Yes, six¡­ Don¡¯t ask me howe I ended up with more. It wasn¡¯t my wish.

    On ount of the gravity of a mistake, and to justify all the meridian damage, blood I coughed, and times I suffered qi deviation as part of my daily childhood, I decided to seek opinions of reliable individuals. Thus, I interviewed Boss, Tang Ye, General Manager Bai, and Su Xiao, whom I didn¡¯t want to admit knew more Chinese characters than I did. Unexpectedly, the four of them reacted simrly ¨C frowning,belling itplicated, folding their arms to think, walking off with the manuals, thening back a few dayster with a new copy of their interpretation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Boss opined that, although there were a number of profound views and innovative methods, there were too many horsefeathers. There were virtually three sentences of nonsense for every half a sentence of genuine knowledge; the more she read, the more riled up she was. By the time she got to thetter half, it was basically nonsense and actual knowledge all mixed together. To quell her rage, she took it out on innocent me with her inkstone. She decisively deleted over half of a manual, removing the parts she believed were designed to mess with the reader. As such, there was only the first to third chapters of the mental cultivation left, so it was impossible to practice even half of the discipline.

    Tang Ye came back with notes five times thicker than the two manualsbined after referencing all of his knowledge base. Had he not told me that wrapping yourself up in nkets to train in summer was to ward off bad spirits and mastery would ward off flies as one of Kongdong Sect¡¯s mental cultivations imed, I¡¯d have believed him. After giving me the stack, he told me to wait for his sixth notebook, so he had been locked up in his room since.

    I thought General Manager Bai would have had something valuable to offer since she learnt from my uncle, but she justined that Zizi would just go wrong learning it. Instead of pointing out what to learn, she pointed out an endless list of things he couldn¡¯t learn.

    Su Xiao told me the yang qi gathering method wasn¡¯t correct based on his experience, and then he gave me a bunch of weird descriptions that I never encountered when learning Yijin Jing.

    That was how I ended up with four more copies.

    All I could do was reflect on Shifu¡¯s personality and experiences,bine them with my own experience and analyse it. It was a more painful process than taking Shifu¡¯s tests back home ¨C if they weren¡¯t questions on chess or medicine.

    The person who found a solution to the problem was thest person I expected ¨C Zizi. He really was talented. As I wasmenting when I was in yet another rush, Zizi had already started on the first chapter. After the first day he had ess to the manual, he read through it himself, asked me questions when he needed rification and then secretly refined his qi. In less than a month, he hadpleted the opening chapter and started on the first chapter. Not only was he able to spot themon denominators between the two manuals, but he was also able to exin the principles to me and even exin why the principles were what they were, and it actually all made sense.

    ¡°Shifu, we are not meant to actually wrap ourselves in a nket in summer. It is a method for implementing the movement manoeuvres. Otherwise, it would not match up with the movement manoeuvres in the sessive chapters. Burying ourselves in ice in winter does not mean that literally; it actually refers to a defensive mode. Although there are no defensive techniques in the manual, fundamental defensive basics are covered. I believe this is an altered rewriting to make it easier to understand.¡±

    This is easier to understand? You people consider this easy?!

    Tang Ye,e here for a beating! What the hell was that nonsense about warding off mosquitoes and evil?!

    Zizi didn¡¯t have any basic training in an internal discipline, yet he was able toprehend all of that purely from reading the text. If he was able to glean so much from a fragmented version, I couldn¡¯t imagine how far he¡¯d go with the original version from Shifu.

    But, you know who was the smartest? Me. Yeah, me. I told Zizi to practice on his own!

    On this sunny noon, save for some supposed riot in a barrack that forced Boss to rush out the door, no trouble came knocking. I was going to drink with Ol¡¯ Cai from the kitchen before I headed out for work, you know, chatting with Ol¡¯ Xu from across the road. Of course, it was a necessary chat to follow up on a case. Thest time we went to a chicken fight together, he lost, but he suspected foul y, so we were supposed to look into it today. That was when Zizi came up to me and told me, ¡°Shifu, I do not understand this part.¡±

    Zizi had no idea I didn¡¯t even understand the preliminary chapter! However, he looked at me with puppy eyes.

    ¡°Shifu, this part says, ¡®Without the six extremities variations¡­¡¯¡±

    h, h, h.

    ¡°Mm.¡± I ran my eyes over the text, nodded and asked, ¡°What do you think it means?¡±

    ¡°I think it means¡­¡±

    h, h, h.

    ¡°Exactly, especially this part. You must control it well.¡±

    ¡°But how do I collect so much pure yang qi?¡±

    That section was all about pure yang qi? All the qi, supplement, loss and red in there made me think it was a recipe for congee with dried red dates.

    Thankfully, there was a standard answer for such questions.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you need to train.¡±

    ¡°I will¡­ but I need to constantly umte yang qi for a year, and each sessive time, it must be more potent yang qi than thest. How do I do that¡­?¡±

    Hmm¡­ I think I know the answer to that!

 Book 15: Chapter 51

    A Note Left Behind in the Brush and Branch

    Shifu had boasted about innumerable things throughout his life, some of which were so far-fetched that I couldn¡¯t even find the motivation to expose. Some of them should¡¯ve been ssified as lecherous delusions. Honestly, I was worried about his mental health.

    Shifu once solemnly told me he had a treasure collection hidden on the other side of the ocean that he was waiting for someone to uncover and subsequently usher in a new era. Apparently, only fiends hiding in the realm of mankind and shared the same lifestyle could share the same fate as men of this world. I truly worried he was telling stories without legal licenses. He was dead serious about his stories and even stressed that I had to listen to all the details. The only thoughts I had after hearing them were wanting to sleep and beat the snot out of him. He was only spared because I couldn¡¯t beat him.

    Oh, he also imed Third Shiniang is a Princess. He imed to have ridden the wind,nded atop a city wall on a New Year¡¯s Eve night that rained flowers and, in the presences of thousands of witnesses, kidnapped her, creating a blissful marriage. When did it ever rain flowers on New Year¡¯s Eve?! As well, wasn¡¯t she the youngest daughter of a wealthy family? Although I felt that her mannerisms, aura and appearance were all too great for that identity, there were plenty of unimaginable things out there. Maybe she just happened to be the youngest daughter of a wealthy family who was literate, could y musical instruments, and was beautiful.

    I digressed.

    Anyway, I was supposed to talk about one of his brags about his childhood.

    Shifu had been on the mountain for a few years by then. Not only did Grandmaster never teach him anything, Grandmaster virtually didn¡¯t even speak to him all those years, only forbidding him from leaving the mountain peak. No matter what sort of stunts Shifu pulled, Grandmaster ignored him. When he was close to escaping, Grandmaster would beat him up and then dump him back at the top of the mountain. As a result of some nerve going awry, Shifu started challenging all the disciples on the mountain when he was around fifteen years old.

    Though Shifu was Grandmaster¡¯s sole disciple, there were a lot of Mount Daluo disciples once you ounted for branch disciples, as well. Shifu¡¯s brag took ce prior to my birth, at a time when there were more branch elders and disciples than now. Branch disciples were permitted to learn Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines, but they couldn¡¯t receive direct instruction from the sect¡¯s patriarch. As such, branch disciples inevitably progressed slower than direct disciples.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The roots of Mount Daluo¡¯s disciplines didn¡¯t actually derive from Grandmaster. While it was true that he was one of Mount Daluo¡¯s strongest patriarchs in its history, the majority of his skills were self-creations, most of which didn¡¯t have sequels. It was unlikely for there to be a second Hero Shenzhou in the next few centuries. Hence, he contributed to Mount Daluo¡¯s future less than the branch members did.

    Grandmaster left the sect to its own devices, which was probably how he had been running it (if you could call it that) for a long time ¨C long enough for there to be significant effects of factions within the sect splitting off into more groups. Due to him leaving the sect to its own devices for more than seventy years, the branch disciples had continued to essentially build a second Mount Daluo through assiduous efforts and discipline.

    Based on my own reading of Mount Daluo¡¯s history in thest few centuries, the branch members had never been so strong before. Back in the day, the majority of them only managed to learn ¡°Star Palms¡±, yet more and more branch disciples were now learning Cast-off and Empty Palms, many of whom were as promising as Uncle Wushan.

    During the period that the sessor spot was vacant, the branch members took it upon themselves to pass down knowledge, train diligently, and were capable enough to bepetitive if they left the mountain. They split into three factions, each having their own knowledge to pass on. They viewed other factions as rivals to fuel their motivation. Despite their sess, though, they never dared to im themselves as authentic Mount Daluo disciples. For as long as Grandmaster was alive, they wouldn¡¯t ever dare to call themselves authentic disciples even if they were ten times as strong as they had grown to.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to understand the logic. Grandmaster didn¡¯t bother with them because he was confident that he could deal with them if they tried to usurp power. That said, they didn¡¯t lose hope as human life was limited. Once Grandmaster left the world, they¡¯d be able to seize power ¨C at least they strongly believed that. They thought the exact same thing about Shifu when he was initially brought to the mountain, too, until that fateful day.

    On a sunny day, the elders were watching their disciplespete at the training zone. The winner of the tournament was granted permission to train at Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall for a year, which was a dreame true for any Mount Daluo disciple. A disciple considered the most hopeful next patriarch just defeated seven of his fellow disciples when someone said, ¡°What on earth is this embarrassing contest?¡±

    The young disciple hailed as a prodigy was livid, but he maintained a courteous front whilst inwardly deciding he¡¯d cut the insolent guy down. To the surprise of many, Shifu actually stepped into the arena when the prodigy invited him. To add insult to injury, Shifu casually snapped off a tree branch, jumped into the ring and virtually crippled his opponent. Despite delivering a crushing defeat to an adted foe, Shifu just nkly said, ¡°Next.¡±

    Shifu beat one person after the next. ording to him, had Grandmaster not intervened, he would¡¯ve smashed the branch elders, as well. The part that had me scoff at was him iming that hested twenty-three exchanges against Grandmaster before he was subdued. A child being able to force Grandmaster into intervening and thensting twenty-three exchanges? Come on now. As ridiculous as it sounded, however, when Zizi shared his view of the manual¡¯s contents, I had an undeniable feeling that Shifu was actually telling the truth.

    ¡°What was the original text?¡±

    Based off the bells and whistles in the text and Zizi¡¯s professional interpretation, I recalled a line Shifu told me after a bunch of drinks: ¡°Elite beginner yang qi is developed throughbat.¡± Putting two and two together, I finally realised that Shifu didn¡¯t challenge all the disciples because he was a battle monger. He challenged them in order to master Pure Yang One Qi!

 Book 15: Chapter 52

    Don¡¯t Dwell on Past Achievements

    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone,¡± Shifu said with a smile as he drank alcohol and munched on meat. ¡°None of the weaklings were worth my time.¡±

    Shifu detailed every single match enough to easily visualise.

    The three factions that the branch members formed during the period Grandmaster disregarded sect affairs were ¡°Sword Sanctuary¡±, ¡°Hall of Gods¡±, and ¡°Asura Path¡±. On ount of Mount Daluo¡¯s long history, they managed to learn a plethora of disciplines, but they were unable to match those who returned from self-study in Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall. Since it was impossible for them to achieve mastery of every discipline, they chose to focus on particr elements.

    Sword Sanctuary focused solely on developing their swordy, sorting out numerous lost swordys in the process. Although Grandmaster¡¯s ¡°Ultimate Swordy¡± rendered their decades of toiling for naught and became a trauma they couldn¡¯t shed, nobody would¡¯ve taken Mount Daluo serious when it came to swordy before Grandmaster developed Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Styles Manual. Sword Sanctuary would¡¯ve beenpetitive up against the likes of Mount Hua, Kunlun and other sects that predominately focused on swordy.

    Hall of Gods focused on internal disciplines and palm techniques ¨C primarily using Moon Weaver Palms, Empty Palms, and other Mount Daluo palm disciplines as their foundation. Their internal discipline was based off Cast-off and an assortment of other disciplines. Their n was to start on internal disciplines and raise a disciple who excelled in both internal and external disciplines.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Asura Path didn¡¯t have any preference for what disciplines they learnt as long as it was practical. Their members chose to train in dangerous terrain on the mountain, spar without holding back, and would fight until someone was bloody. That was why, despite not leaving any new knowledge behind, they were the best atbining everything among the three factions.

    The first person Shifu beat with a tree branch was Lu Duanming, a member of Sword Sanctuary. Owing to his swordy level and decent level in his internal discipline, he was considered as one of the top candidates for seeding Grandmaster. The reason for the ¡°Ming¡± part in his name was toter change his surname to the ¡°Ming¡± reserved for patriarchs, which would make it easier for everyone to get used to calling him Ming Luduan. Had Shifu lost that day, the current patriarch of Mount Daluo would probably have been Ming Luduan.

    Based on Shifu¡¯s description, Lu Duanming wasn¡¯t weak; he could¡¯ve very well rivalled the current Lian Zhuiyue. Even though he never had the benefit of learning Grandmaster¡¯s Daluo¡¯s Five Divine Manuals or any other Mount Daluo ssics, he wasn¡¯t a pushover even now, yet Shifu beat him using a tree branch and in less than ten exchanges. Shifu¡¯s sessive opponents didn¡¯t fare any better.

    The only way you¡¯d be able to beat someone with a tree branch was if the gap between your levels was enormous, or you knew what wasing and had a counter prepared. I believed Shifu could¡¯ve remembered all the weaknesses of branch disciples considering his talent and the fact that he had ess to all books on the mountain for years prior. Still, counters only applied to technique. Someone well-versed in an internal discipline from Hall of Gods should¡¯ve given him trouble since there would¡¯ve been a physical strength difference even if Shifu was more technically sound, let alone members of Asura Path, whom were experienced at adapting as the situation required.

    Shifu didn¡¯t beat them based purely from superior knowledge and scouting reports. It was his creation of Pure Yang One Qi that empowered him to be sessful against them.

    ¡°I see.¡± I picked up the two manuals and flipped through them through new lenses. Once I put together what Shifu told me with my knowledge, it finally clicked for me. Following an exhale, I remarked, ¡°I finally understand how this discipline works.¡±

    ¡°Shifu, what is the matter?¡° queried Zizi.

    Nobody who read the two manuals ever understood it as it was meant to be understood, not the two who practiced ording to it, not the four who read it after I asked them, not the head of Confucianism, not even the talented Zizi. By extension, I finally understood why Young Shiyi was the only person who was able to learn Shifu¡¯s ¡°Heavenly Net Sacred Records¡± discipline. No ¡°normal¡± people could understand them.

    The two manuals conveyed the same things notwithstanding them appearing nowhere remotely simr. No matter which manual you followed, you should¡¯ve achieved the same results. You could say that it was basically having Shifu teach you personally as people would still get it wrong even if he did personally teach it to them ¨C which wasn¡¯t to say that it was impossible to learn correctly. Shifu¡¯s mind just worked too differently to the normal man.

    I heaved a big breath. Having Zizi continue down his current path of learning Pure Yang One Qi would only get him past Zhao Tiankui and Yuan Kou by a smidge; he wouldn¡¯t have been able to crush all three branch factions in a short year as Shifu did.

    ¡°What is the matter, Shifu? That was a big sigh.¡±

    As I stared at the inquisitive boy, it dawned on me that¡­ it was likely impossible for him to replicate Shifu¡¯s sess. For all I knew, there was probably only one freak of nature of that calibre in Mount Daluo¡¯s history. Nheless, achieving 30% of what Shifu achieved would¡¯ve been plenty.

    ¡°I have good news.¡± I smiled. ¡°I finally understand these two manuals in their entirety.¡±

    What I couldn¡¯tprehend was different to what the others couldn¡¯tprehend. I didn¡¯t read internal disciplines¡¯ manuals through the lens of a student. Instead, I read them from the perspective of the end product and reverse engineered how to get there. Since I had learnt numerous internal disciplines, I didn¡¯t need to learn every single one. I just needed to read it once, circte true qi a few cycles, and I¡¯d be able to formte a rough idea of the system.

    Normal manuals would focus on the learning process, while less than 10% of the contents would be dedicated to the end result. In contrast, Pure Yang One Qi¡¯s original text used a huge chunk of bizarre content to describe the end result of mastering it. Themon denominators in the two manuals that didn¡¯t seem remotely rted were the degree of innovation and bizarre descriptions. From my perspective, the descriptions resembled qi deviation more than awesomeness following mastery. That was what baffled me.

 Book 15: Chapter 53

    Book 15: Chapter 53

    Compared to me, Boss and the others easily discovered that the descriptions were the internal turmoils of an internal discipline practitioner. They didn¡¯t think it was weird since they all had the same experience in their own training. The manuals just made them weirder than what they were used to as Shifu was the one who wrote them, which wasn¡¯t to say it was out of character for him. Su Xiao was the only individual to point out a different view due his own journey in martial arts. He did suspect he suffered qi deviation once, after all. Nheless, at the end of the day, the manuals still described what should¡¯ve been qi deviation, and that realisation made it all click for me.

    Once I realised that, what perspective the manuals tried to describe and their training methods were self-exnatory. The bizarre realms described weren¡¯t just descriptions but also authentic training methods, except it wasn¡¯t obvious if you read it expecting a tutorial.

    Shifu was right. The pure yang qi Zizi asked about had to be developed in realbat. It sounded simple enough: keep fighting and keep winning. If the qi was a de, then the sharper the de, the more dangerous the wielder was. Every victory would elevate the practitioner¡¯s confidence another notch. In other words, as long as they kept fighting, their pure yang qi would grow more potent, which promised more strength. Therefore, as long as one kept fighting stronger and stronger opponents and triumphing, their progress was infinite. Needless to say, it was impossible for progress to be smooth sailing, but the gains were already far crazier than any other discipline could promise; it was deserving of being hailed as a supreme discipline. Of course, there had to be a drawback. Every method of growing stronger was a fair trade.

    ¡°Pure Yang One Qi¡± wasn¡¯t a discipline an orthodox sect would promote considering the growth rate. Shifu was able to go frompletely untrained to being top dog at Mount Daluo within mere years thanks to his extremely unorthodox method and leveraging something all martial artists avoided ¨C qi deviation. Both books wanted the practitioner to force themselves into qi deviation in order to develop pure yang qi that exceeded their body¡¯s tolerance capacity.

    I forgot Shifu mentioned that he didn¡¯t research how to train or fighting techniques during his first few years at Vast Sea Submerged Pearl Hall. Instead, he read all the warnings. He tried everything the manuals stated he wasn¡¯t supposed to with total disregard for his safety. As a result, not only did he experience all sorts of qi deviation experiences, but he also became familiar with them. When learning internal disciplines, experiencing qi deviation was amon urrence for anyone who tried to take shortcuts because the energy exceeded their tolerance. In turn, their energy would grow harder to control. It went without saying that the process was unimaginably painful, not to mention the risk of losing all progress ¨C and potentially your life. That was why orthodox sects eschewed such methods to the point of enforcing stiptions to avoid them. When they ran into barriers that were dangerous to ovee, they¡¯d have elites around to protect them. For that reason, orthodox sects¡¯ internal disciplines focused principally on calming their minds even though it came at the cost of slower progress. Any signs of entering qi deviation would¡¯ve been considered an advanced discipline.

    Upon suffering qi deviation, the body would produce energy beyond one¡¯s capacity. Unless it was brought under control, it¡¯d be energy that could¡¯ve caused harm to the person in question at any moment in time.

    Shifu chose to trigger qi deviation in himself in the midst ofbat so that he could utilise the energy that was beyond his control. Every time the unbridled energy hit his opponent, they¡¯d take damage, while his meridians were improved, so it was a two-in-one endeavour. This was what he meant where the manual told the reader to nurture their yang qi inbat. Having the opponent bear the brunt of qi deviation¡¯s consequences while he benefited. That really was a ssic Shifu strategy I should¡¯ve expected.

    As clever as the method was, though, it wasn¡¯t something anyone could use. After all, the death of dying in the heat of battle to one¡¯s own energy from qi deviation was a very real risk. Shifu hurriedly challenged everyone on the mountain as he knew that, as soon as he stopped to rest, he¡¯d very likely have been forced to fight using iplete pure yang qi. Had anyone figured out the method he was using, they¡¯d just have had to buy time to mess him over. Owing to the learning method, the discipline was named Pure Yang One Qi.

    ¡°One Qi¡± referred to utilising all of one¡¯s strength ¡°in one breath¡± since ¡°qi¡± could¡¯ve meant a gas, qi, or breath. It didn¡¯t just mean using energy more than one could¡¯ve under normal conditions, allowing them to move faster than one thought possible. Due to the high-speed assault, the opponent would¡¯ve been stuck defending one attack after the next, taking away the possibility of the opponent buying time. Hence, Shifu would go all out every single time right out the gate to defeat them with his new energy before they had a chance to get ready. The remaining energy would be reabsorbed to supplement his foundations.

    The training method was extremely risky, which was why it had the ¡°Pure¡± word in its name. The only way to quell berserk qi as much as possible was to reach a pure, still state, where one could control the mass of energy. As ridiculous as it sounded, Shifu seeded andunched himself onto his undefeated journey.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Since Shifu had energy that he couldn¡¯t reign in after his rampage, it sounded possible for him to havested thirty-two exchanges against Grandmaster. Grandmaster should¡¯ve been able to subdue Shifu faster than that, so it was likely he willingly went along for a while, probably to help Shifu coalesce the enormous volume of true qi. Had Grandmaster not stepped in, Shifu probably would¡¯ve perished that day.

    ¡°Zizi, listen carefully: from today onwards, you¡¯re going to have to fight.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 54

    Book 15: Chapter 54

    Willow leaves danced beside the que.

    A Prince was not somebody to be disrespected.

    Despite not officially taking Zizi as my disciple, despite me not having any money, I was an adult. How could an adult deprive a kid when he was acting as the kid¡¯s guardian? Hence, we had to pick a secluded spot. I even bought two chicken drumsticks, 2.5 kilograms of beef, a pork thigh, and three jugs of wine to the spot. I let him carry all of it so that he wouldn¡¯t feel bad about it. Once we arrived at our spot, I dug in. If I identally ate all of it, it was no biggie. Zizi still had money. You needed to respect the imperial family. Giving a Prince money was implying he was poor, man.

    Whilst giving me a back massage, Zizi queried, ¡°Shifu, who are they?¡±

    ¡°People after you.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The reason we dined in a wild forest while the sun was still up was to wait for five folks to show themselves. They tailed us from the moment we left the capital. I had time to eat half a grilled chicken and one pork thigh before the unarmed quintet showed up with weapons.

    ¡°Why the surprise? If we were anyter, they¡¯d likely have called it a day. You think everyone is willing toe out to die on such a hot day?¡±

    I spent two days synthesising the two manuals into one. The manuals weren¡¯t actually a problem. As a said previously, the end result was the same regardless of which manual one followed ¨C as long as they could fathom my shifu¡¯s madness and go along with it. Those two factors were unquestionably challenges for honest-to-a-fault Zizi. For that reason, I split it into ¡°training¡± and ¡°realbat¡± sections. I had him focus most of his time on refining his qi to prepare for uing real fights, which was when he¡¯d truly be practicing the discipline.

    If the discipline was too hard andplicated for Zizi, he could¡¯ve sought out aid from his maternal grandparents. They would¡¯ve been more than happy to provide him with manuals to learn. Regrettably, he had started on a path of no return because it was more than a month toote by the time I understood the manuals.

    Pure Yang One Qi required the practitioner to progress as fast as possible. As it was supposed to be developed in actualbat, the remaining sections on collecting and refining qi were written expressly. Although it required the practitioner to be smarter than the average person by far, it was easy to get the gist of. At least, Zizi had already understood the essentials and had most of the qiponents down pact.

    Owing to myte discovery, Zizi had already nted the seeds for qi deviation in his qi cirction methodology. Thus, he still ran the risk of qi deviation even if he picked up another discipler in life. If he couldn¡¯t learn to control it, then the consequences would be even more dire. Erasing all of his training wasn¡¯t an option due to his weak foundation and young age. Deleting his progress would¡¯ve been adding another barrier to his progress in the future. While I could¡¯ve facilitated him in nurturing essence with my own energy so that he could build a new foundation, it was too troublesome. Further, I preferred to not ¡°nt progress¡± if possible. He had a knack for martial arts, so I didn¡¯t want to let it go to waste. An ordinary person would¡¯ve hesitated and contemted if they ran into the same scenario, but I was different.

    I immediately shared my new understanding with Zizi. He instantly understood what had to be done once I gave him a few warnings. Instead of treading cautiously, slowly and hesitantly, he pushed himself to enter a qi deviation state. s, he couldn¡¯t have beaten up all of Mount Daluo¡¯s disciples in a matter of years and forced Grandmaster into intervening. Even if he could¡¯ve reached the same level as Shifu then, he couldn¡¯t have had the same mindset and fluid mindset Shifu had back then, which were the two most vital ingredients.

    Shifu had the ability to alter a technique due to circumstances, his opponent, or even a single word. If he and someone else were to learn the exact same skills, he¡¯d be more deadly than them with the skills. That was a product of talent alone; it was impossible to mimic. Moreover, he had plenty of people stronger than him around to fight. As aforementioned, his approach was extremely risky and borderline insane. Luckily, Zizi didn¡¯t have to imitate Shifu¡¯s process to the T. As long as he continued fighting and winning, he was fine.

    Zizi instinctively tensed up as he watched the five strangers encroach upon us.

    The elder armed with a bronze whip offered me a cordial smile. ¡°Brother, are you implying you deliberately showed up to lure us out?¡±

    The skinny gnome had an ugly face, yet he liked to smile. Even an idiot would¡¯ve realised he should¡¯ve been vignt around the old guy.

    ¡°This is embarrassing.¡± The elder scratched his head. ¡°You lured us out to catch us all at once? You believe you can take us all on?¡±

    I asked Zizi, ¡°You¡¯ve been training for a month. You know how to fight now?¡±

    Zizi froze as he reflected on all his training for the past month. He had been training daily, but he stopped short in sparring, so he wasn¡¯t sure if he had progressed.

    ¡°You won¡¯t get better staying cooped up in your room training, and it won¡¯t earn you respect from your enemies. They won¡¯t even think you¡¯re worthy of dispatching someone decent to deal with you.¡± Ignoring the five strangers cursing and roaring, I questioned, ¡°Answer me this: is fighting avoidable?¡±

    Zizi cast his gaze from the five of them to the ground, stopped to think, then raised his head once he was ready. ¡°Yes, but I do not want to.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Had you said, ¡®It is best to avoid conflict where possible,¡¯ I¡¯d have knocked you out, taken you back, and erased your training. People who want to avoid conflict aren¡¯t cut for the discipline.¡±

    When Grandmaster asked posed the question to Shifu back then, Shifu replied, ¡°Why the hell should I avoid them? I want to see how tough they are.¡± That was what convinced Grandmaster that Shifu was the sort of man who wanted to see the world burn, or he wouldn¡¯t be satisfied, and deemed it necessary to kidnap him back to Mount Daluo.

    ¡°As a Prince, avoiding conflict was impossible from the moment you were born. Pure Yang One Qi is the same. Once you stop training, your own energy will torment you endlessly. Choosing to engage in conflict is a path of no return. Are you sure you want to step onto it?¡±

    Zizi marched to the forefront and proudly smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you crooks are made of.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 38August 28, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

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 Book 15: Chapter 55

    Book 15: Chapter 55

    Though his gaze was cast in front of him, Li Zizis eyes were nk. His yang qi flow switched between normal and in reverse. The only thing worth praising was that his warm qi made their way to his limbs to provide a boost. Typically, itd take years for someone refining their qi to have their qi flow in the same manner, so it was ridiculous for someone to achieve the feat in less than two months.

    Li Zizi was confident his shifu was right. If he couldnt defeat the five, then he had no right to wield the power. Little did he know that his shifu withheld critical information from him. While the five were unacquainted and didnt seem to have any strategy to their advance, all of them assumed positions to stop their prey from escaping an encirclement. The one route they left open was dangerous trap for any nave fool. The five of them werent small-time thugs or bums in the martial world.

    Tong Chuan, the leader of the group, was a violent criminal in the underworld with a long list of crimes to his name. He used his heavy bronze whip as a disguise for his notoriously violent reputation. The fact that the other four he wasnt acquainted with were willing to ept him as their leader made a point. Even though he stood right at the rear of the group, his hostility was uncoverable.

    The big-bellied man armed with an executioner broadsword was a bandit from the desert in the northwest. Though his skills were limited, he was fearless and possessed incredible brute strength.

    Peng Caiji, a broadsword wielder who chose to hang his weapon from his sash, was once a disciple of Liuzhous Longcheng Sect until he turned to viiny. Though his amble to the left-hand side was devoid of threat, he never loosened his grip on his weapon. He was the first one among the five to focus on Ming Feizhen instead of Li Zizi.

    The bronze-cudgel wielder and the whip user were long-time allies of Tong Chuan.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The fact that the five of them hid their weapons outside of the city meant that they had the confidence to eliminate their target bare handed in the city if it was necessary. Had they approached Li Zizi a month ago, the best he couldve achieved was fighting the weakest member to a draw, let alone surviving against five of them. Today, he walked over to them.

    Tong Chuan and Peng Jicai were wary of Ming Feizhen at first nce, not to mention he also stated he was waiting for them. As a veteran, Tong Chuan let his allies go ahead whilst he monitored from behind and prepared himself to intervene were it needed. He didnt expect the weak kid to march forward on his own.

    Before they knew it, Li Zizi passed by one person, two people all the way to Tong Chuan. By the time Tong Chuan noticed, it was toote to dodge the punch aimed at his chest. Following an eye-twitching bone break and the scene of a body zooming through the air, thenky elder smashed into a tree in the distance, bing fragments of his onceplete self.

    Li Zizi exhaled as white smoke coiled around his skull. Upon recovering self-awareness, he found himself confused over what transpired. Following a whirlwind of emotions surging up, he haphazardly crouched down to evade a de swung at his neck. He barely evaded the next eight swings also aimed at his head. Had it been a month ago, he wouldve been caught, yet he managed to speedily evade death by a hairs breadth every time today.

    Peng Caijis Marrowglue Broadswordy was an advanced discipline belonging to Longcheng Sect. The constant barrage of attacks aimed at vitals was where the discipline derived its name from. He timed it right as Tong Chuan fell, never expecting Li Zizi to dodge the first attack, let alone the next eight. Although Peng Jicai didnt train his eyes through his discipline, the design of the techniques allowed him to stay on his opponents head, reducing their room to manoeuvre until their death was inevitable. He exceeded the speed at which he could execute his techniques while maintaining a visual on his target, so he was shocked Li Zizi could still dodge. It was impossible to predict Li Zizis next move since the previous movement didnt give a hint as to what was next. It wasnt a demonstration of physical prowess but a qi cirction method that was beyond Peng Caijisprehension.

    After dodging all the attacks, Li Zizi felt his heart ache as if his heart would explode. The pain reminded him of a warning his shifu gave: Pure Yang One Qi is not designed for protracted battles. After the first breath of pure yang qi was depleted, the practitioner woulde under attack. Now, he was paying for using that first breath.

    Suddenly, Li Zizi suffered vertigo, loss of vision, loss of hearing, and even loss of control over his body. It was his first time experiencing helplessness in the heat of battle. He tried to summon qi and collect pure yang qi, but it only locked up his true qi flow even further, restricting his movements more.

    Paraplegia was only one sign of qi deviation and far from the most serious symptoms. Li Zizi expended all his qi in his first punch, and then he emptied out his qi source when he used Pure Yang One Qis mobility techniques to evade the strikes. Had he not scared the other four after his surprising victory against Tong Chuan, hed already be a corpse. Peng Caiji was the only person who was brave enough to jump in first, but even he hesitated once all his attacks were given the slip.

    Rather than experience fear after witnessing Tong Chuans death, the big man felt even more motivated to fight. He raised his executioner broadsword overhead and swung for Li Zizis head. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 53September 14, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

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    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 12 Ch. 70April 25, 2022In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 56

    Book 15: Chapter 56

    <em>ng!</em> The big mans broadsword soared into the ether, while his arm swelled up. Though he screamed out pain and anger, he didnt dare to advance again.

    The three assants cast their gazes to the spot on the ground where they heard something drop softly. They were all cognisant that the object was what disarmed their ally and saved Li Zizis life. It bounced twice on the ground before lying t against the ground. They all shifted their gaze from the copper coin to Ming Feizhen in synchrony, only to receive an angry re. They quickly noticed that Ming Feizhen had a stone in his hand that he was about to throw but was beaten to the punch.

    Everyone who knew Duke Ming knew that he saw food as important as alcohol, alcohol as important as money, and money as important food. Asking him to throw a copper coin to stop an attack was tantamount to demanding him to dig out a bone of his to throw. Besides, he was Duke Ming. Who were they? Why would he use money to resolve something he couldve resolved with a stone?

    There was only one person left who couldve disarmed the big man  Li Zizi. When he was about to perish, the first thing that came to mind wasnt whether or not his shifu would assist him. Instead, he recalled the lesson on having to remain calm whilst using Pure Yang One Qi from the manual. He promptly calmed himself and tried to circte qi through his body. After he discovered he was only able to mobilise his right hand and wrist, he decided to ce his faith in a coin he had in his hand as a backup n before he engaged them. Pinpointing his assant by their qi, he flicked the coin at the spot where he sensed the densest qi, which happened to be the broadsword.

    The disarmed man only had his brute strength going for him as abatant, but his arm strength was enough to match, even win, martial artists who had undertaken training in an internal discipline. His most dangerous trait, though, was his reckless and fearless style of fighting; he was willing to sacrifice a limb to catch his target. All that being said, he wasnt all brawn and no brains. The fact that his weapon weighing over a dozen kilograms was sent sky high and that his arm was numb when his opponent was just anky kid was rming, and he knew what that rm meant.

    Li Zizis body felt supple again once he expelled the rampaging yang qi in him with the flick, allowing him to vanish from their sight before they knew it. He was light and nimble, so as soon as he reduced his height and moved with the support of pure yang qi, he was akin to a high-velocity arrow out of an encirclement. Li Zizi looked rxed once he escaped; it was as though he was never in danger.

    Crafty little brat! brayed Peng Caiji, advancing on Li Zizi.

    Peng Caiji knew Li Zizi didnt just pull some voodoo trick, but Tong Chuans demise left the chain ofmand broken, so Peng Caiji jumped into the leaders boots before their group fell apart. Moreover, he noticed that Li Zizi didnt seem able to use the dangerous skills at will, so he assumed it was safe to attack  and possibly seize victory  as long as he measured their distance appropriately.

    The other two advanced, as well, before Peng Caijis de could reach Li Zizi, and even the big man fetched his weapon to surround Li Zizi.

    Li Zizi didnt fear them; he feared Pure Yang One Qi. The repercussions of using the pure yang qi acted as fast as he could collect true qi, not to mention there were different sorts of repercussions that he couldnt predict the timing of. To even survive using the discipline in realbat was worth celebrating, but Li Zizi was different. Instead of worrying about the problems with the discipline, he was focused on figuring out how to employ it.

    When Ming Feizhen told Li Zizi he was a benevolent character, he didnt mention that benevolence was the trait of a ruler.

    Li Zizis hands made their way to the shoulders of the whip user using the same movements as before, yet the whip user was still shocked and unable to react in time. Likewise, Li Zizi was surprised with his own legs speed. s, moving at that speed exhausted all his energy, making it impossible to mount an effective attack. The both of them were stunned and stumped when Li Zizi stopped there with a grip as weak as a mosquitonding on its target. Nheless, the whip user freaked out, assuming Li Zizi could inflict the same sort of damage on him as he did to Tong Chuan as soon as he willed it. Li Zizi also knew he was lucky that his opponent misunderstood the situation.

    Luckily for Li Zizi this time, he didnt expend an excessive amount of pure yang qi. He used 120% power when he took out Tong Chuan, but he only used up to 80% to move into position this time after experience the consequences of going too far. Learning that the volume he reserved wasnt sufficient for a second attack was valuable experience for him.

    Li Zizis internal energy, or more precisely, his pure yang true qi, was one factor he needed to grasp. At one point, he thought Pure Yang One Qi empowered one to utilise maximum power at will after listening to Yuan Kou, allowing one to st the enemy before they could peak. Now that he used it in realbat, it urred to him that it wasnt how it worked. Despite the qiing from within him, Li Zizi felt that the true qi came from an external source. After all, he could tell his own internal energy wasnt potent enough to put away Tong Chuan in one punch. However, the not-so-potent internal energy umted extremely fast all of a sudden into a massive volume that not even he couldprehend, and it peaked when he struck. After impact, it disappeared. When he moulded energy again, it filled his body again.

    As the manual stated, Infinity is wherever there is creation. Creation is betweenplete destruction. Every time he expended all his energy, new energy would be formed at the end, and the process would repeat infinitely. Hence, despite different paths, the process developed his unique internal discipline foundation.

    The second thing he learnt through this battle was usage. Pure yang true qis infinite production was predicated on an unstable foundation. To be more specific, Li Zizi wasnt at a level where he could collect and disperse it at will yet, so there was an element of randomness, rendering it impossible for him to know when he would recover true qi.

    The first time Li Zizi failed was due to his recovery speed being too fast. The second time he failed was due to his recovery being slower than he anticipated. Under those circumstances, he was far off from being able to apply it to realbat. Nevertheless, he understood why his shifu brought him here.

    From thest two exchanges, Li Zizi learnt that his actions influenced the rate of pure yang true qi collection and dispersion. He wouldnt have learnt that if he just practiced behind closed doors.

    The pure yang true qi umted rapidly. It had to be used, but it couldnt be fully used up. Once it was used up in one sitting, the new pure yang qi required qi recalibration, or he wouldve lost control faster than normal. It was advantageous to be able to put everything into one blow at will, but it was a suicidal strategy when going up against multiple opponents. Therefore, leaving about 10% to 20% in reserve became a golden rule for himself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As Li Zizi celebrated his new progress inwardly, he felt a cold breeze close in on his shoulder. He rotated his body to dodge, but he felt sluggishpared to before. In the spur of the moment, he drove his foot into the whip users chest, using the impact to rebound away, but his right sleeve was left with a hole from Peng Caijis sneak attack.

    Li Zizi was sure he obliged with all the teachings in the manual, yet he felt that his pure yang true qi was recovering painfully slowly. Heunched himself away the same time just then as before, yet he nearly lost his arm. In other words, keeping energy in reserve gave him a backup option, but the trade-off was slower recovery of pure yang true qi. If there was a perfect analogy, it wouldve been that Pure Yang One Qi was a de that Li Zizi could hold, but it wasnt one he could control well enough to aim yet. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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 Book 15: Chapter 57

    Book 15: Chapter 57

    As soon as he gained his footing, Li Zizi heard a bronze cudgel and executioner broadsword slicing through the air towards his lower back and left hamstring. Although it wasnt a swift dodge, he did manage to get out of the way just in time. His foes possessed more strength than they needed to kill him, but theycked the dexterity to catch him; they werent fast enough to even deal debilitating damage at his level. Howbeit, he couldnt go farther away because of Peng Caijis presence. The sunlight reflected off Peng Caijis de hampered Li Zizis vision, while Peng Caiji himself would strike akin to a calctive snake.

    Since Li Zizi couldnt control his pure yang true qi at will, Peng Caiji wouldnt miss an opportunity when the former ovemitted. Once that happened, Li Zizi wouldnt have any time to cycle his qi, and trying to rue new pure yang true qi whilst dealing with Peng Caiji was too risky. Keeping up a defensive effort meant utilising true qi at a slow rate, which went against the nature of Pure Yang One Qi. As a consequence, he could feel himself burning up inside, which was amon symptom of qi deviation.

    As he continued staying out of harms way, Li Zizi recalled Ming Feizhen mentioning his shifu managed to break weapons and drop people with just a tree branch as a young boy. Li Zizi believed that the true version of Pure Yang One Qi shouldve produced power output of that magnitude.

    Shifu, I do not have a weapon.

    The man eating a grilled drumstick under a tree responded, True Catch.

    Ming Feizhen threw Li Zizi an ordinary tree branch thatnded atop Li Zizis head without the former needing to look up. Li Zizi assumed he forgot about the weapon part because he was foolish, not because his shifu wanted to make it more challenging for him, so he dly epted it until he discovered it was a tree branch no longer than a palm and no shorter than a toothpick; it was too light to even scratch an itch.

    Li Zizi cast his gaze to Ming Feizhen, who had started a fire, and was using the original tree branch Li Zizis branch came from to roast some potatoes. Li Zizi, though livid, shifted out of Peng Caijis de trajectory. He didnt want to try dismantling it a second time after his first taste of it. While the discipline wasnt powerful on its own, the fact that it allowed Peng Caiji to stick to his target, especially when he was cunning, was what made it truly dangerous.

    As soon as Li Zizi saw an upward curve at the corner of Peng Caijis lips, he knew he was in for trouble. Li Zizis foot slipped from underneath him as Peng Caiji pulled him in with the vacuum his swing generated. The moment Li Zizis lost his bnce, the whip user coiled his whip around Li Zizis left ankle and pulled it tight, effectively immobilising Li Zizi. Wasting no time at all, the other three charged in.

    Li Zizi had previously learnt martial arts under different instructors in the capital and Luoyang. Unfortunately, due to his mother doting on him, she lost it every time he grazed his knee or had any other minor injury. Nobody ever gave him the simtion of a real fight unless they were a massive jerk of some sort. As such, he never advanced to a high level, but he was never terrible, either. His fundamental techniques were solid, but no feasible skills came to mind when he was immobilised and cornered. Thus, he fell back on the boxing techniques he learntst month.

    Once Li Zizi started countering, the three attackers suddenly started struggling. They had never seen anyone box in a remotely simr way. As he had never used it inbat himself, not even Li Zizi knew what to expect. His base looked unsteady, and his punches seemed weak, yet the three of them were unable to predict what to expect next. There didnt seem to be a structure to his style of fighting. Some of his punches appeared to be a waste of energy, but ignoring them wouldve allowed Li Zizi to throw another two punches.

    Li Zizi suddenly uncorked a palm strike. The three of them retreated a step each upon feeling a wave of heat from Li Zizis hand. Their retreat gave him the opportunity to slice the whip restricting his right leg. Before they could make another move, he sted the big man with a flying sidekick, then spun around and chopped at the back of Peng Caijis head. Peng Caiji was some distance away, so he didnt expect an attack aimed at him. As a result, he barely moved his head out of the way. Since Peng Caiji moved out of the way, Li Zizis attacknded on the forehead of the cudgel wielder, who was standing where Peng Caiji was,pletely unbncing the cudgel wielder who stumbled backwards.

    The strikes all looked mindless and somewhat clumsy, yet there was a sense of liberation. It was toote for Peng Caiji to regret his decision, however. It was toote to run now. He clenched his teeth and asked, Impressive discipline. Which sect is it from?

    None. Li Zizi got into his stance.

    Peng Caiji knew Li Zizi was trying to hide a secret, but he didnt know that Li Zizi wasnt trying to hide the sects name as the discipline didnt even exist two months ago. After all, the discipline was Ming Feizhens thoughtless mish-mash of ideas to entertain the boy. Ming Feizhen just went back to link up the disconnected parts to systemise it. It was a discipline created without much thought and taught without much thought. Thus, it was named, Mindless Twenty-five Techniques. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 58September 20, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 55September 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 56September 18, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 58

    Book 15: Chapter 58

    Mindless 25 Techniques was so profound that it was no easier to master than Pure Yang One Qi. Li Zizi had a knack for refining pure yang qi; the more he read and studied, the more he grasped it; the more challenging a puzzle was, the more he relished it. Learning Pure Yang One Qi boosted his confidence significantly, and he learnt it with exuberance. Although he learnt it fast, his results came from his start. In contrast, Mindless 25 Techniques was extremely difficult.

    Mindless 25 Techniques didnt have anything inmon with any boxing skills Li Zizi had previously learnt. It was wrong to go light, but it was also wrong to strike heavily. It was wrong to go fast, but it was also wrong to go slow. The discipline seemed unable to make up its mind, and there were parts that were hard for him to confidently im he understood them, yet there was an indescribable element that drew him to it.

    Li Zizi was able to learn Pure Yang One Qi on his own, but he needed to pose questions regarding Mindless 25 Techniques daily. Every day, hed ask Ming Feizhen for the theory, the names of the techniques, and every detail he could think of. Ming Feizhen tried to avoid the questions as best as he could, but he was intercepted when he just finished stealing food from the kitchen. With no other option left, he had to ask for brush, ink, and paper. After deliberating for a long time, Hanlin Academician Ming wrote the following names:

    Point East. Strike West.

    Look South. Red.

    Summer nt. Autumn Harvest.

    Round and Moist Midwinter.

    Randomness.

    Falling Water.

    Nonsense.

    Foot Bridge.

    Sess is Emptiness.

    Failure is Grogginess.

    The World is Vague.

    Say Hello to Your Ancestors.

    Not a single line made sense to anyone. Unfortunately, thest line Say Hello to Your Ancestors was wasted calligraphy skills because the entire text was nonsensical. It was impressive enough for Li Zizi to be distracted for a while.

    Shifu, are there not only twenty-four techniques here? What about thest one?

    Whatever floats your boat. Hanlin Academician Ming tossed aside his brush and hurried off to the kitchen.

    Hence, thest technique was named, Whatever Floats Your Boat.

    His shifu put zero effort into the names, yet Li Zizi treated the scroll of text as a treasure. As if the calligraphy had a soul, thebination of text and calligraphy inspired new thoughts, and Li Zizi went on to believe it was not only the technique names, but also the theory of the discipline. He found enlightenment in the text and became intoxicated in practice.

    What Li Zizi gleaned was pure coincidence. Besides Ancient King String, Hanlin Academician Ming didnt create many skills, and he wasnt a creative genius, either. The boxing techniques were Ming Feizhens random creations, but because he was busy speaking to Bai Lian when he came up with them, he took a shortcut and based them off his own martial arts training, essentially teaching Li Zizi the summarised version of his own style of fighting.

    The twenty-five techniques werent just punching techniques. They also consisted of kicks, palm techniques, w techniques and finger techniques. On its own, it wasnt a profound discipline by any mains. Had it not been for his three years living as a recluse, which gave him the time to create Seven King Strings out of all his experiences, Ming Feizhen wouldnt have been able to create anything nearly as impressive. When he wrote the names, he had specific techniques in mind and summarised his knowledge again, so he essentially upgraded the discipline once again. Otherwise, Li Zizi wouldnt have been able to derive any real skills from Ming Feizhens random hand gestures.

    Ming Feizhen was never a stickler for structure in his striking techniques, nor did he ever invest much effort into them, so his basics were never nice on the eyes. Having said that, he was excellent at adapting on the fly, and the twenty-five techniques helped to achieve that. As nothing was set in stone, Li Zizi was free to adapt every technique as he saw fit.

    Li Zizi caught the big man on the chest with Point East, spun around and beat one opponent with Strike West, used Look South to take the trios bnce and draw them in, then tagged the whip users left shoulder with Red. As awkward and unimpressive in speed as his execution was, he was able to send his target back and with a mouthful of blood. He himself didnt expect the techniques to be so effective. The more he used it, the more it fitted like a glove to him.

    Using Randomness, Li Zizi glued his palm to the t surface of Peng Caijis broadsword and redirected the de, disrupting Peng Caijis ability to strike what he wanted to strike. The two techniques of Randomness came from Tai Chi. Although it wasnt as sophisticated, the principle of sticking and redirecting limbs and weapons remained the same across all disciplines.

    Aware that he wouldntst long against three opponents, Li Zizi thrust his hand forward, palming Peng Caijis de back into his chest. He allowed Peng Caiji to forcibly resist the force whilst adding a horizontal force from right to left, forcing the de through Peng Caijis arm!

    Though he managed to amputate Peng Caiji, the side effects of Pure Yang One Qi had Li Zizis head spinning again. Ever since he staredbining Mindless 25 Techniques and Pure Yang One Qi together, he didnt suffer the side effects. He realised toote that, every time he finished executing a technique, the new energy created for the next movement was faster than his imagination. In other words, every strike was 100% power, and 100% speed. He genuinely felt close to invincible.

    Li Zizi had defeated three opponents, but one remained. The big man had lost his weapon somewhere in the forest far away. His arm was a reck, and he was hurt badly elsewhere, too, but he was hellbent on killing the young Prince. Despite his rage, however, he didnt dare to take another step closer to Li Zizi.

    All of a sudden, a branch sprouted from the big mans forehead. Li Zizi thought the branch he stashed in his sash wouldnte in handy, yet it really was an effective weapon.

    Li Zizi, still holding his throwing pose, heaved heavy breaths. He wanted to turn around and tell his mentor sitting on the wall that he had seeded, but his body no longer supported his endeavour.

    That took a little too long.

    Li Zizi felt a warmth akin to a father coil around him as his vision ckened.

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Mindless 25 Techniques  The text Ming Feizhen wrote actually rhymes, which probably factored in his name choices. I attempted to make it rhyme, but I couldnt do it while keeping the trantion still correct. Maybe there is someone who can, but that person isnt going to be me.

    As for the total number of names not adding up to 25, this is due to them counting two characters as one technique (see Point East. Strike West.). However, some of them are linked, so the only way to do that would be to split words like Randomness into Random and Ness, which doesnt quite work in English without turning it into somethingpletely iprehensible. For this reason, I have to do some rewriting in the text, such as Randomness being rewritten as two techniques. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 57September 19, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 56September 18, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 55September 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 59

    A Fragrance Nobody Wants to Miss

    There were parts that were bloody, parts that were weing; there parts that were innovative, parts that were weird; there were parts that could bebined, yet none of which could be exined oncebined. The majority of the content in the dream was absurd, yet the most memorable scene was him and his mother at his mother pce, where she sat underneath a sycamore tree, watching him with a smile. His mother¡¯s gaze was warming and reassuring, like her hands when she caressed his head, but there were moments where she looked forlorn.

    Li Zizi knew there was something on his mother mind. He didn¡¯t want to see her sad, but he didn¡¯t know what the cause of her sorrow was. For as long as he could remember, there had always been rumours in the imperial pce that he wasn¡¯t his father¡¯s biological son, which put him in a dilemma. His parents assured him time and time again that they were merely fabricated ims, but he was never fully convinced. He believed he was unquestionably his mother¡¯s biological son, but he wasn¡¯t convinced he was his father¡¯s biological son as his father was sometimes distant and sometimes affable. His lineage was the only reason he could assume troubled his mother. As someone with a good head on his shoulders, Li Zizi couldn¡¯t stop himself from theorising whenever he faced problems. That was why he never dared to ask his mother what bothered her despite wanting to ask until they returned Luoyang this year.

    The trip to Luoyang this year was a meaningful one for Li Zizi since he met someone who told him something that was hard to ept, but it was the catalyst for his quick maturation. Back when he was younger, he epted all of his father¡¯s test, even going as far as directly asking his shifu to train him. No matter how tall his shifu¡¯s order was, he was determined to follow through for he believed it was the price of growing up. Even though his shifu wasn¡¯t his father, he believed his shifu was one of the most formidable people alive. By extension, his harshmands must have had their purpose.

    Suddenly, the world shook, followed by a strong stench of blood permeating, then decaying flesh and blood mixing together, all of which were mmed into his mouth. The disgust woke him violently from his dreams. Upon waking, he chucked up all over the floor.

    Ming Feizhen, staring at alcohol, passed Li Zizi a wet towel and water.

    ¡°Shifu?!¡±

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°I kept vomiting for longer than a month after the first time I killed.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Thank you.¡± Zizi epted the towel to wipe himself, took a few breaths to clear his mind, then asserted, ¡°I will not go soft. I can do it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen eyed the young Prince before finally confirming that thetter was rightfully the scion of a monarch. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t enough for Zizi to be used tomitting murder yet, but Ming Feizhen had confidence that Zizi would be able to kill a second time without hesitation.

    In all fairness, Li Zizi was plenty cold in the way he killed the enemy with a tree branch through the forehead. While it wasn¡¯t a sophisticated kill, his method of was hardly sentimental. At the very least, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t see much softness in the decision. After all, it was a rare trait for a thirteen-year-old boy. Despite growing up gilded, he knew that he had to kill when his life was at risk if he wanted to survive. That natural instinct ssified him as a natural-born warrior.

    Ming Feizhen said Li Zizi was the ¡°kind¡± type of martial artist, never expecting the characteristic to not be an obstacle to thetter¡¯s decision making.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s rhetorical question roused Li Zizi¡¯s motivation to recover as fast as possible so that he could impress his shifu, oblivious to his shifu¡¯sck of motivation. Ming Feizhen inwardly shook his head formitting murder wasn¡¯t a necessary wall to climb, at least not yet for the boy. Were it possible, Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve preferred for the boy to have never needed to get over it. Ming Feizhen and Ming Huayu had already crossed to the other side.

    Ming Huayu¡¯s apathetic personality was in his blood. Deaths were just another name on a sheet of paper in his eyes. He certainly could see cruelty, ruthlessness, and blood, but he didn¡¯t care. In contrast, Ming Feizhen was theplete opposite. It wasn¡¯t anythingplicated; he simply found it ufortable to take another life. If he had a choice, he would¡¯ve preferred to abstain from killing. Though life often didn¡¯t pan out as he wished, Ming Feizhen still held onto the hope that he¡¯d be able to raise a warrior who didn¡¯t revel in bloodshed.

    ¡°You asked me for a weapon, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Li Zizi exuberantly raised his head. ¡°I remember you said that ¡®Pure Yang One Qi¡¯ is even more formidable when used in conjunction with a weapon.¡±

    Indeed, utilising a weapon was more preferable in Li Zizi¡¯s case due to his small stature. He was quite confident he could¡¯ve defeated the quintet faster if he had a broadsword.

    ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve taught you everything I can teach you. This is thest thing.¡±

    Ming Feizhen gave Li Zizi a short broadsword that could¡¯ve arguably been categorised as a dagger, but the weight immediately told Li Zizi that it wasn¡¯t a thin de. The was shorter than the typical dagger, and the hilt was too short to be held with a full hand, so it was closer to a throwing dagger.

    ¡°Ages are the Border?¡±

    ¡°This is no ordinary de. Although it¡¯s impressively sharp, I hope you remember its name.¡±

    Li Zizi bobbed his head. ¡°What is its name?¡±

    ¡°Useless.¡±

    Li Zizi scratched his head. ¡°Does that not make it useless?¡±

    ¡°Just like the branch. At the surface level, it appears useless, but it can save your life when you need it most. I want you to remember to never be arrogant and to never disregard human life. When you reach a point where the world you canmand the world, remember when you were useless.¡±

    Li Zizi muttered the name to himself several times, then replied, ¡°Understood. Your disciple will bear it in mind!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not my disciple.¡± Ming Feizhen gently patted Li Zizi on the head. ¡°I don¡¯t mind you calling me shifu, but my shifu has to give permission before you can be my disciple. We orthodox sects have policies.¡±

    By the time the duo made it back to Liu Shan Men, it waste at night. Perhaps only General Manager Bai was the only person still awake out of anxiety. To their surprise, it looked as if Liu Shan Men was in another dimension on the other side of the world. Ming Feizhen reactively blurted, ¡°Why the heck is it as bright as day?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Ming! Zizi!¡± Su Xiao waved before he rushed over to the duo.

    Ming Feizhen thought Su Xiao had matured a lottely, but Su Xiao was still the old Su Xiao whenever push came to shove. ¡°Xiao, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°The imperial exam results have been released!¡±

    ¡°The imperial exam results?¡±

    Face red, Su Xiao responded, ¡°Yes! I wrote down a copy. Take a look!¡±

    Ming Feizhen only now realised he had forgotten about it. Still, it wasn¡¯t worth the entire office staying upte at night for¡­ until he skimmed over the results. Hanlin Academician Ming ced second. For second ce to be a member of Liu Shan Men, all the excitement was justified. That being said, nobody seemed excited to see Ming Feizhen when he returned, so Ming Feizhen took a closer look at the rankings and discovered two noteworthy things.

    ¡°¡­ Where¡¯s He Shi?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen found even Feng Shanshan on the ranking, yet He Shi¡¯s name was nowhere to be seen. Considering he ced second after copying He Shi¡¯s paper, He Shi should¡¯ve ced first, yet He Shi wasn¡¯t even in third ce. Instead, Wu Dayong was in third ce!

    Liu Yuan, behavingpletely out of character, patted Ming Feizhen on the shoulder in a friendly manner. ¡°Hahaha, Ming Feizhen, never saw thating from you. Sucks that you still came up short against out new top schr.¡±

    Liu Yuan sounded as though he wasplimenting Ming Feizhen, yet he derided Ming Feizhen using the new top schr at the same time, so Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t figure out what Liu Yuan was ying it.

    ¡°I was worried for a while, but nobody is shining brighter than Liu Shan Men now. In one fell swoop, Liu Shan Men has be famous and produced two stars.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled his brows together. ¡°Where did the ¡®two¡¯e from?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you check out who first ce is.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked at the paper again. ¡°Shen Shurong?¡±

    At first, Ming Feizhen had no clue who that was, but a momentter, it sounded familiar. A secondter, he remembered he heard it from Shen Yiren before.

    ¡°Young Master Kuang?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 60

    Book 15: Chapter 60

    Liu Shan Men had been in a celebratory mood ever since the imperial exams results were announced. Liu Shan Men hadnt had any luck in martial arts even though Shen Yiren had invested efforts into raising the level ofbatpetence.

    In times of peace, Liu Shan Men was able to maintain its stance as one of the three offices, but His Majesty counted on the Qilin Guards and Emperors Entourage when push came to shove. Though Liu Shan Men contributed considerably in the recent debacle, they hadnt convinced His Majesty that theyd be a mighty force in battle. That was the pain impetus for Shen Yiren seeking improvement outside the capital. His Majesty gave her a hand in that regard to ensure she had legitimate grounds to leave without rousing dissatisfaction from their rivals. She just never expected to suddenly have the big achievement.

    The capital was in uproar after learning Liu Shan Men took home the two top spots in the imperial exams. Some people had started wondering if Liu Shan Men nned to abandon advancing in the military aspect and pushing for more involvement in civil politics. While some of the ignorant had starting inquiring how to excel as a civil servant, second ce was wondering what led to such a tragic oue.

    So much happened that night that the imperial exam was virtuallyst in order of importance. Rather than fret over the cings, Ming Feizhen was more concerned about missing a brick he needed to repair at the time.

    Ming Feizhen had no idea Shen Kuang partook in the exams. Shen Kuang most likely went dressed as a guy Wasnt he a guy to begin with? Anyway, Ming Feizhen figured Shen Kuang mustve dressed himself differently to usual, which wouldve exined why Ming Feizhen didnt recognise him. With that said, it had nothing to do with the fact that Shen Kuang was surprisingly an uber-talented schr. While Feng Shanshan was no longer in the top few, Feng Shanshan still ced, which meant that he was quite capable even without resorting to cheating. Even so, it was unthinkable for Wu Dayong to ce third no matter what mental gymnastics Ming Feizhen tried if He Shi couldnt even make it into the top three.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Because he couldnt figure out who he gave He Shis paper to, Ming Feizhen dropped by Daren Academy. It was easy for him to sneak in since there werent any elites who couldve detected him present. Upon infiltrating He Shis room, he found Wu Dayong also sitting there with his chin in his hand and staring into the distance with He Shi. After the duo spent ages staring into the ck ether, they sighed and voiced in unison, Why?

    Maybe because of me.

    The two jolted when they heard Ming Feizhens voice behind them. He sat down between them and told them to hush, sniffed the teapot to check it was fresh, then poured himself a cup.

    Rx. I, too, am here to get to the bottom of this.

    It was hard for them to suddenly rx when someone suddenly crept up on them.

    Wu Dayong eximed, Why do you walk without making a sound?!

    Id be busted if I made sounds, no? Ming Feizhen had a drink, then calmed himself. Why are you two cooped up here instead of out celebrating?

    He Shi wagged his hand, then rubbed his temples. Celebrate what? All the questions on my mind? We had the same paper. Someone ced second. He then dropped onto the table and continued, Yet I didnt even ce. Does that make sense?

    Ming Feizhen wanted to figure out the reason for that himself. He Shi wrote his paper. There was no way He Shi was just purely uneducated, so the only possible exnation was that Ming Feizhen mixed up the papers on thest day.

    Ahaha, well, new problems arise daily. Some just arentprehensible. Dayong, why arent you celebrating? Shouldnt your family be holding a massive celebration considering your achievement?

    Wu Dayong lifelessly answered, M-my mother certainly is happy. My dad told me theres no need to ce so high; he wants me to be modest, but he seems happy, as well. Its just

    Its just you dont look to happy, Ming Feizhen patted his former ssmate who was showing signs of guilt. Speak your mind so that we can brainstorm ideas. Youll be a salted fish if you bottle it up for too long.

    Wu Dayong sighed. It wasnt my true capacity.

    You surpassed yourself?

    Wu Dayong shook his head. The truth is, I didnt know how to answer thest few questions. I wasnt sure I could finish my paper as the hours flew by. For some reason, I fell asleep on thest day. After I woke up, I couldnt remember anything, including what I was nning to write. I was going to pray to heaven for help when a few sheets of paper came into view in my peripherals. The papers had all the answers. I thought heaven pitied me, so I copied them.

    You copied an exam paper that appeared out of nowhere?

    Yes.

    Ming Feizhen pped his eyelids because he finally realised what happened. Wu Dayong pped his eyelids because he was still confounded. He Shi pped his eyelids, then red at Ming Feizhen.

    Why would you copy an exam paper that appeared out of thing air?! Theres no such thing as heaven supplying you with an answer paper, Ming Feizhen reproached.

    I didnt believe it, either, but I randomly fell asleep that night, and hours had gone by when I woke up. Thats not normal, either, so I assumed it was heavens blessings.

    <em>That sounds logical I think I finally know where it went wrong.</em>

    After ensuring his paper was secure, Ming Feizhen forgot to take care of everyone elses papers. After he made a mess of them while fixing the wall, He Shis papernded in Wu Dayongs room.

    I remember I put He Shis paper Where was your room?

    I was Ying Yangs neighbour.

    Ying Yang was He Shis courtesy name.

    <em>This is all my handiwork!</em>

    Ming Feizhen filled the two in on what led to the results.

    Understood. To their surprise, He Shi was the calmest despite being the one affected the most.

    What do you understand?

    I understand why I didnt make the cut. Thats enough for me. He Shi exhaled at the ether. I was only bewildered over this matter. Now I dont have to sulk about it anymore. You dont have to give me those looks, do you?

    Ming Feizhen and Wu Dayong exchanged eye contact.

    You sure dont take things to heart.

    To tell the truth, I was d I wasnt on the list. As a matter of fact, Im d Im not part of the celebrations. He Shi stretched his arms over head. I was never too keen on bing a civil servant. I had contemted whether or not to sit the exam before I even sat it. Given the state of the current imperial court, I dont believe bing a civil servant is the best path to realising my ambitions. Even if I win, Ill be dispatched to a distant ce for a few years as the old fart stated. For all I know, I may never climb any higher. Id argue Im better off now. Youve already passed on my views. If theyre willing to earnestly consider them, Im satisfied. If I were to try implementing them myself, Id probably be devoured, which isnt my wish.

    Ming Feizhen and Wu Dayong nodded.

    Ying Yang, how about you be my assistant? suggested Wu Dayong.

    Your assistant?

    Ive thought it through. Your talent shouldnt be stashed away and wasted. I cant achieve anything significant. I dont know what to do even if I be a civil servant. You dont like to stand out, while my skin is thick. Even if you dont help me, we can consult each other. That way, well always have each others back. Besides, I used your paper to ce, so the privileges should rightfully be yours.

    He Shi was taken aback. The offer was quite alluring. He was nning to hide himself in Blue Princes shadow whilst carrying out his ambition, after all. Compared to serving under a Prince, assisting at Wu Dayongs side was a wiser choice by far. They were about the same age, ssmates, and Wu Dayong had little ie, all of which provided ample opportunities for He Shi to practice fulfilling his ambition. Moreover, since Wu Dayongs prize was supposed to belong to He Shi, they both had dirt to use on each other, so there was no concern of backstabbing. Still, it was a surprise to learn that Wu Dayong didnt care for the glory.

    I could consider that.

    Although he was left out, Ming Feizhen didnt interrupt them as he found it interesting. Instead, hed sporadically opine in order to facilitate their ning to fruition. They had gone through pots and pots of tea, and reached a high point of a joyous atmosphere when Wu Dayong suddenly asked, Youve been considered a schr for as long as I remember, and they were right in their assessment. If you only wrote one paper, you would have won first ce, huh?

    He Shi shook his head. My two papers were actually simr. Not even I could decide which one was superior. Its quite possible His Majesty thinks highly enough of Ming Feizhen to still ce him. Even if I was lucky, I wouldve ced second. If not, I wouldve ced third. I dont dare say I had a chance at first ce.

    He Shi said to Ming Feizhen, Your new winner from Liu Shan Men is truly capable. I met him at a few schr meetings. He sports different appearances each time, presumably to avoid being recognised. Nobody has ever been his match, including myself. I heard he is not well known, which I am guessing is because he doesnt want to promote himself. Seeing as he took the exam, I suppose he has shed the mental weights holding him down and is ready to showcase his abilities. I genuinely hope to befriend him if the opportunity presents itself.

    Ming Feizhen haplessly smiled. Well see.

    What does that mean? Is he in danger?

    There are hardly any people in the capital who can hurt him or would dare to hurt him. Besides, nothing good wille out of hurting him. Im just saying that not being in danger doesnt necessarily mean hell be able to enter the imperial courts employment.

    Neither Wu Dayong nor He Shi understood.

    Ming Feizhen wagged a hand. He has to get past one person before thats even possible.

    ***

    At the same time at Liu Shan Men.

    What were you thinking?! It was hard to imagine Shen Yiren could still stay seated in a graceful posture considering her tone. She exhaled to calm herself, then red at her younger brother sitting opposite her, who was as cool as a cucumber.

    Shen Yiren always considered her brother a sensible kid; she couldnt even recall ever getting so mad at him.

    Shen Kuang had always hidden in his sisters shadow, trying to not stand out and only existing as an inferior copy of her. While she had to bear with more stress than him, she was also able to bathe in more glory. He always believed that she deserved the glory, contrary to her opinion.

    Perhaps not even Shen Yiren herself was aware of her major transformation. Since returning from Nanjiang, Emperors Entourage had designated her as a target they had to maintain surveince on and justified an assassination of.

    Shen Kuang felt cold at his temples. Shen Yiren maintained a frosty demeanour notwithstanding having calmed down.

    Ive been nning and strategizing to revive Liu Shan Men and Shen n. You are a scion of Shen n. Why didnt you notify me you were going to take the exams?

    Would I have been permitted to participate if I notified you?

    Youre in the right now?

    Shen Kuang didnt avert his gaze even though his sister was intimidating. He didnte off as intimidating, but he wasnt shaken. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 13 Ch. 211January 23, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 13 Ch. 209January 20, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 1 Ch. 36June 10, 2017In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 61

    Forging Golden Hairpin Together

    ¡°So you knew I wouldn¡¯t approve, yet you still went behind my back. This is your present for your busy sister who doesn¡¯t have time for you? Has Shen n¡¯s teachings been dumped, or do my words no longer hold weight?¡±

    ¡°¡­ There is no rule in the family against participating in the imperial exams.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! If you truly believe you¡¯re in the right, why did you hide it from me? You should¡¯ve been prepared from the moment you decided to go behind my back. You think I¡¯ll pretend it never happened because you can argue the semantics?¡± For every ounce of anger in Shen Yiren¡¯s voice, there was disappointment, which was extremely rare when she spoke to her brother.

    Shen Kuang lowered his head with grace. Silence filled the room again. Shen Yiren rushed back and summoned Shen Kuang to her room after the imperial exam results were released, but they hadn¡¯t exchanged many words despite how long they had been there.

    ¡°Come with me into the imperial pce tomorrow to acknowledge your folly to His Majesty, and then plead him to give you an official post at Liu Shan Men.¡± When her brother raised his head, Shen Yiren raised her hand to stop him. ¡°Begging won¡¯t change my mind. Should you refuse, I¡¯ll knock you out, shove you in a bag, and carry you into the pce. It¡¯s a strategy that¡¯s never failed me.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing to say about you treating me as a naughty child, but that will do Shen n¡¯s reputations no favour. It would be best for you to think about that.¡±

    ¡°If a scion of a martial arts family abandons the martial world to be a civil servant and that does Shen n¡¯s reputation a favour, I¡¯ll start studying from tomorrow and take an exam.¡±

    ¡°If you are a serious, I will go shop for books.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll clobber you with the books!¡± Shen Yiren was almost ready to break a table leg and then her brother¡¯s skull to see what part up there made them different.

    Shen Kuang scuttled back a few steps. ¡°Calm down first. Aren¡¯t you curious why I took the exam?¡±

    Shen Yiren had somewhat cooled off after ranting, and her threat to knock Shen Kuang out was nothing more than an attempt to make him speak the truth. It just didn¡¯t unfold how she wished.

    ¡°I have always obeyed you; however, I made a decision without your approval this time. Do you not think I have my reasonable reasons?¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t intend to tell me.¡±

    Shen Kuang¡¯s surprise muted him.

    Staring straight into her brother¡¯s eyes, Shen Yiren sighed. ¡°You n to give me the same story you n to give outsiders and then leave me with another to prevent me from digging deeper. If you have so much time on your hands, why don¡¯t you help me sign some documents. His Majesty can¡¯t tell apart our handwriting anyway. He¡¯s always praised the documents you worked on. Kuang, I know you¡¯re smart, but don¡¯t waste it on me.¡±

    Thinking about the saying how twins were connected in thoughts, Shen Kuang couldn¡¯t help smiling. Although he had never felt as though they had shared thoughts or sensations before, she was always able to see through his fibs effortlessly. Since their parents¡¯ passing, he hadn¡¯t lied, so he thought she wouldn¡¯t see through his lie if he finally told one after being honest all the time.

    Shen Yiren sighed again. ¡°I used to worry that you couldn¡¯t form your own decision. This time, though, you went overboard. Do you realise Shen n¡¯s future is in your hands? Why, then, would you sit the imperial exams? Dad excelled in both literacy and martial arts, yet not even he was able to pursue both simultaneously. Had it not been for his friendship with Uncle, we wouldn¡¯t have the privileges we enjoy right now. Have you considered the ramifications of joining the imperial court¡¯s employment?¡±

    ¡°I have and know. The imperial court is a battlefield of wits. Even with His Majesty¡¯s protection, a misstep could result in Shen n¡¯s demise.¡±

    It would¡¯ve been inconceivable for the siblings to have survived in the capital and maintained their family¡¯s glory had it not been for His Majesty¡¯s support. Because the three offices were considered independent entities of the imperial court, were limited, and had clear-set boundaries, they were never considered major threats. A number of civil servant factions had begun to view the three offices as enemies for various reasons. Liu Shan Men was unlikely to be dragged into their fighting. If a member of Shen n was to serve the imperial court, howbeit, then they were basically shouting that they nned to dominate both martial and civil servant roles. Wang Muren had to announce that he was an individual entity separate from Wang and Xie ns ¨C effectively saying that Dark Robe Brotherhood¡¯s leader was one just for show. If Shen Kuang didn¡¯t follow suit, then Shen n would¡¯ve lost the ability to head Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°The fact that you know that shows that you have self-awareness. What makes you think you can step into the imperial court? Do you remember why I told you to feign weak, meek, and talentless when I know how smart you are? You¡¯ve forgotten, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I remember.¡±

    ¡°Clearly not! Do you know how many eyes are on you? Who did I tell you to avoid? Who?!¡±

    ¡°The Qilin Guards.¡±

    ¡°Wang Muren immediately ransacked Liu Shan Men after Dad¡¯s passing and Shifu Shisan went missing, and he did it righteously and legitimately. I can¡¯t even hate him for it. Once he has his attention on you, getting out with just one missing limb would be considered a safe retreat.¡±

    Shen Kuang inhaled. ¡°¡­ I have my ways.¡±

    Shen Yiren clenched her teeth. ¡°You fool. What ways? You have a way to deal with the strongest man in the imperial court? You and Ibined haven¡¯t inherited a half of Dad¡¯s martial prowess. I¡¯m an idiot and weak. You don¡¯t have an interest in martial arts. Dad wasn¡¯t Wang Muren¡¯s match. How are you going to stop him?¡±

    Shen Yiren had done everything in her power to depict Shen Kuang as someone incapable and drew all attention onto herself, particrly her marriage, to protect her brother. Notwithstanding them having never discussed it, Shen Kuang knew what he had to do in the shadows ¨C wait for an opportunity. She evidently did a brilliant job considering Wang Muren had only ever paid attention to her and never Shen Kuang. She was ready to step down when the time was ripe for her brother who had been preparing for years to step up.

    ¡°Yet you¡­¡±

    Shen Kuang chose an inappropriate time and ce to disy hispetence, wasting Shen Yiren¡¯s years of effort. He knew this conversation was inevitable when he made the decision, but he still went ahead.

    Shen Yiren decided she¡¯d belt her brother if he tried to give her another lousy exnation.

    ¡°Has it ever crossed your mind? In what way am I qualified to take over the Liu Shan Men you built up?¡±

    Shen Yiren¡¯s rage turned to guilt. She never wondered if her brother would be able to seed her when she went about raising Liu Shan Men with her vour. In her vision, her brother was going to just take the reins from her smoothly once he was ready to reveal his abilities, and nobody would¡¯ve objected. The problem was that her vision only existed in an ideal world where nothing could¡¯ve gotten in the way. The female constables reported directly to her. Liu Yuan, Tang Ye, Su Xiao, andpany wouldn¡¯t just start taking orders from Shen Kuang all of a sudden, let alone help him build up Liu Shan Men. Then there were also the people doing the work in the shadows, such as Wawa.

    ¡°Song Ou is the example of what will happen to me if you pass me the reins.¡±

    Shen Kuang¡¯s calm tone sent chills down Shen Yiren¡¯s spine.

    ¡°Th-that won¡¯t happen. You¡¯re different. You¡¯re bett-¡±

    ¡°I do believe I can do better, but I will not produce the best Liu Shan Men, no?¡±

    Shen Yiren had made up her mind long ago; however, it wasn¡¯t a reality that saddened her, so she had avoided confronting the problem. The moment she passed over the reins and walked away from her post would be her lowest moment. Never once had anyone been able to easily walk away from a dream.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I don¡¯t think you did anything wrong. You built Liu Shan Men up, so it should rightfully be yours. Yours. Not mine or anyone else.¡±

    Shen Yiren finally understood what her brother was thinking when he made the decision. Though it was heartwarming, she still shook her head and firmly stated, ¡°You are Shen n¡¯s sole sessor. There is no room for debating this.¡±

    Shen Kuang also shook his head. ¡°You value Liu Shan Men more than anyone else. There is no one better than you to head Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a woman and engaged.¡±

    ¡°Song Ou is not up to scratch to lead.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want.¡± Shen Yiren had her back up against the proverbial wall because she never expected the conversation to take this turn. ¡°Song n¡¯s support is the best support we can obtain. More or less will backfire. Without them, we won¡¯t even have a foothold in the capital.¡±

    ¡°What sort of support is worth sacrificing my sister? If our parents were still alive, they¡¯d also oppose your decision, but we only have each other now, don¡¯t we? Your goal isn¡¯t to protect Liu Shan Men but to protect the best Liu Shan Men.¡±

    ¡°Kuang¡­¡±

    ¡°We are different in many ways, but there is one regard in which we are simr¡­ simr to the point that it¡¯sical. You never considered yourself¡­ Neither have I.¡±

    ***

    General Manager Bai tried futilely to eavesdrop on the siblings¡¯ conversation on the peaceful night, so she turned to ask me, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to step in?¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    Why would I when I heard their conversation? Honestly, I thought Shen Kuang was very much like his father after hearing his take.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Subsequent to thinking it through for herself, General Manager Bai bobbed her head. ¡°You¡¯re right. A man can¡¯t be pulled back once he¡¯s made up his mind no matter how meek he may look. The only way to stop him now is to behead him.¡±

    I bobbed my head back. ¡°So his neck is the problem.¡±

    What a troublesome neck.

    General Manager Bai stared at me for a long while before saying, ¡°I haven¡¯t congratted you yet on your cing.¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just an empty reputation.¡± I meant that. ¡°You haven¡¯t been assaulting me anymore these days.¡±

    General Manager Bai raised her fist at me. ¡°Were it not for Lord Zi¡¯s benefit, I would¡¯veid you out.¡±

    Recalling Zizi¡¯s injuries and fatigue when he returned, General Manager Bai continued, ¡°Brilliant Consort has always worried that Lord Zi is too soft, but her worries are unfounded. He is very energetic; he¡¯s just kind, not soft. If he is ever bullied, I¡¯d be worried for his bully instead.¡±

    Of course, that included Zizi beating five big men.

    ¡°No wonder why you sound experienced.¡±

    General Manager Bai smiled. ¡°He¡¯s changed quite considerably since he started learning from you, too.¡±

    ¡°A bit too much.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    I touched my chin as I reflected on Zizi¡¯s recent transformation. ¡°What exactly happened when you went to Luoyang?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 62

    A Beautiful Face Underneath the Light

    The candles in the study, where Qian Diaojin waited for His Majesty to finish, were burningte at night. Qian Diaojin, also known as Deaddust, was a member of Emperor¡¯s Entourage and rank ten on the Seventeen Hidden Dragons¡¯ ranking. As his qinggong was among the greatest among the three offices, he was frequently tasked with delivering urgent information to battle zones, which was why some people called him the ¡°Official Pigeon¡±. He always ryed secret information, and this time was no different.

    Upon finishing the report Qian Diaojin submitted, His Majesty set aside the document and, wearing a sarcastic smile, remarked, ¡°Still ying games in this situation. If this is how you want to y, I shall entertain you.¡±

    While the report was brief and only conveyed the most vital bits of information, it took a while to read since it was a collection of reports from multiple sources in Suzhou. Although His Majesty predicted Cold Mountain Temple would resist, it still angered him to learn what Liaoliao was trying.

    Cold Mountain Temple needed to be taken out no matter how challenging it was, and the imperial court unanimously agreed that Liaoliao¡¯s actions provided them with the best opportunity for His Majesty to proceed. Dispatching Yi Ya for the job was His Majesty being lenient. Had he assigned one of The Ultimate Three to the job, then that was basically forcing Cold Mountain Temple to revolt or die, which would¡¯ve only made the imperial court¡¯s sessive steps more difficult. Based on the current state, trying to dismantle Cold Mountain Temple was the equivalent of walking bare feet in Jiangnan¡¯s martial artsmunity; it was extremely risky. Yi Ya was the best candidate for the job, in His Majesty¡¯s opinion, and the order given was only to deport Liaoliao, not to attack Cold Mountain Temple.

    It went without saying that it wasn¡¯t simple to deport the representative of monks and nuns worldwide. Nevertheless, the youth of few words with an impressive track record brought along officials from the Ministry of Justice. Cold Mountain Temple couldn¡¯t make any excuses as Yi Ya patiently abided by all policies. Hence, riots and the sort were avoided, although the process was consequently more time consuming. They were supposed to be on the road back to the capital yesterday, only for the citizens of Suzhou to somehow catch wind of Liaoliao¡¯s deportation and spontaneously form a human wall at the front of Cold Mountain Temple the night before.

    In the eyes of Suzhou¡¯sizens, the shackled monk sitting outside the doors of Cold Mountain Temple was a noble monk adorned in ordinary clothing donated medicine, practiced medicine, shared Buddhism¡¯s wisdom, and did immeasurable good for the world. In order to protect the temple and the monks of the temple, he shackled himself and was willing to follow the tyrannical imperial court¡¯spdog to the capital. For all they knew, the benevolent monk might¡¯ve been executed before he was even granted an audience with His Majesty, so it was too dangerous to let him go.

    By the time Yi Ya heard about it and arrived on the scene, there were already dozens of thousands of citizens gathered at the temple, and more people continued to flock there as he waited. They had been standing off for almost two days by the time the report reached His Majesty.

    ¡°Clever. I was wondering what the point of shackling himself was when he had pushed all the me onto Xun Feng. I now know why.¡±

    Qian Diaojin smirked. ¡°Among Liaoliao¡¯s remaining three disciples, Mian Hua, the next temple head, is experienced and steady. Dou Jiu is a renowned swordsman and the strongest among his siblings. Considering Ru Xing¡¯s astuteness, this n is most likely his brainchild.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll separate his brain from his skull.¡± His Majesty wrote something on a sheet of paper, then threw it to Qian Diaojin. ¡°Put his name on the list. Should an opportunity present itself, end him.¡±

    Qian Diaojin froze for a moment when the ¡°list¡± was mentioned, but it didn¡¯t stop him from putting the secret edict in his sash. ¡°This is for Commander Yi, as well?¡±

    ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°Please forgive your subject. He was merely mumbling to himself.¡±

    Staring at the agent in his twenties, His Majesty asked, ¡°You usually speak your mind. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Qin Diaojin held his hands up in salute. ¡°Your subject apologies. It is just that your subject wonders if you are trusting the Qilin Guards too much.¡±

    Though he was aware of the friction between Emperor¡¯s Entourage and the Qilin Guards, His Majesty chose to just answer with a smile. ¡°If you can¡¯t trust someone, don¡¯t employ them. If you¡¯re going to employ them, trust them. I trusted Commander Yi with this job. If he is forced to kill Venerable Monk, I¡¯ll shoulder the me for him. Should Her Majesty Empress Dowager find fault with him, I will protect him.¡±

    ¡°Your subject understands.¡±

    After borating on the mission, His Majesty sent Qian Diaojin off to Suzhou. He returned to reading a few more documents when he recalled he had forgotten something, so he had Eunuch Wang summon the guest.

    Despite how busy he was, His Majesty showed concerned for Huang Yuzao when thetter entered. ¡°You have yet to recover Brother Yuzao. Why don¡¯t you take a few more days off?¡±

    Huang Yuzao smiled. ¡°This old one wished to see you sooner. Please forgive him for the abrupt visit.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I personally gave the order to permit you free entry into the imperial pce. Nobody should stop you. Come take a seat, Brother Yuzao.¡±

    For thest two decades, Huang Yuzao was both a teacher and a friend to His Majesty. Even though it was dark and His Majesty forbade any entries or exits, Huang Yuzao didn¡¯t dare to take the privilege lightly. The only times he requested an audience at night were during emergencies, so his im that he wanted to ¡°see him sooner¡± wasn¡¯t actually true.

    While His Majesty offered Huang Yuzao a seat, Eunuch Wang had the maids serve up two cups of aromatic tea.

    ¡°You gained a lot from this special exam, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I was hoping Ming Feizhen would be able to stir the pot and help uncover some true talent. I didn¡¯t expect him to achieve his level of sess. Now that he¡¯s exposed them, they should behave from now. I wish I could uproot all of those corrupt men, but Ming Feizhen has helped me vent this time with his warning.¡±

    As someone who sent plenty of his students to the imperial court, Huang Yuzao was privy to the corruption behind the scenes, which was why he was one of the people who pushed for Ming Feizhen¡¯s participation. Had it not been for his rmendation, His Majesty wouldn¡¯t have had so much faith in Ming Feizhen. Both Huang Yuzao and His Majesty were d there was no corruption involved this time.

    ¡°Did you see Duke Ming¡¯s paper?¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, of course I did. He was on the mark with everything. As if he could¡¯ve written that. That said, he is Ming Huayu¡¯s disciple. He flouts customs and rules just like his teacher, but there are so many talented odd people in the martial world that it¡¯s nothing to be surprised about, hahaha.¡±

    Frankly, Huang Yuzao was on edge until he heard His Majesty didn¡¯t mind Ming Feizhen¡¯s cheating.

    ¡°It¡¯s truly a pity He Shi was unable to make it. You must be disappointed a student you have invested so much into failed to ce. I read his paper. While it isn¡¯t poor by any means, he didn¡¯t really stand out this time.¡±

    Huang Yuzao smiled it off. ¡°Everyone has their own wishes. This old one does not consider it a pity for Ying Yang does not wish to ce first. There is no need for you to view it as a pity, either. Just let him take the path he deems right.¡±

    Notwithstanding his confusion, His Majesty decided not to inquire any further since Huang Yuzao must¡¯ve had his reasons for believing so.

    ¡°What ns do you have for Vice-captain Shen¡¯s brother, Your Majesty?¡±

    His Majesty set down his cup and smiled. ¡°You have finally gotten to the main topic, Brother Yuzao. I thought you were here to discuss Shen Kuang¡¯s matter.¡±

    ¡°A scion of a martial arts family has made a ssh as a schr. He has never stood out, and yet he has leapt to the top in one leap. What is your opinion, Your Majesty.¡±

    His Majesty stopped to think, then pped himself on the thigh and exhaled. ¡°I¡¯m d Brother Shen has such a capable son. Shen n has hope!¡±

    If there was anything worth celebrating for His Majesty in recent events, it was Shen Kuang¡¯s achievement. His Majesty doted on Shen Yiren more than her brother; however, he didn¡¯t ignore neglect Shen Kuang. He merely didn¡¯t assist too much because he believed that a man needed to build himself with his own hands, and to avoid raising a leech, not because he was worried about criticism. When he read Shen Kuang¡¯s paper, he had a vision of Shen Wuzheng saying the very words to him. That prompted him to immediately give Shen Kuang first ce.

    ¡°There is one thing this old one is not sure if he should mention or not.¡±

    His Majesty switched to a stern expression. ¡°You have realised it, as well?¡±

    Huang Yuzao nodded. ¡°Emperor¡¯s Entourage and the Qilin Guards have been unable to surpass each other. Although the Qilin Guards have a mighty force, they have to protect the border, so they have remained at an impasse. Neither of them is happy about the other, but there is a hole between them to act as a cushion, which has been the catalyst for the peace. Now that Shen n¡¯s siblings are rising, the bnce has been broken. Qian Diaojin, who just left, does not think highly of the Qilin Guards and has been butting heads with them recently. If we went back to the status quo two years ago, he would not dare to affront them. The battlefield between the three offices has already been set up; they were only missing a fire. Shen Kuang¡¯s achievement has lifted the lid. It is very likely he will be a target now.¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 63

    Clear the Laurel Blossoms in Front of the Pce First

    His Majesty smiled haplessly. ¡°Do you know Yiren requested an audience with me straight away? I believe you already know what she is after without me having to say it.¡±

    ¡°It is only normal for siblings to be protective of each other. Considering Vice-captain Shen¡¯s intellect, there is no way she could not perceive what this foolish old one could.¡±

    ¡°I am in dilemma.¡± His Majesty heaved a big breath. Every time he recalled Shen Kuang¡¯s paper, Shen Yiren¡¯s pleas also appeared in his mind. ¡°As you have noticed, the Qilin Guards are dominant in thendscape at the moment. It is not what I wish to see, but I do not have any means to stop it. Emperor¡¯s Entourage cannot openlypete due to the nature of their existence, but their dissatisfaction is no secret. Liu Shan Men was supposed to be down and out for the count, but Yiren¡¯s constant achievements as ofte have pushed them back towards the surface. Emperor¡¯s Entourage would not miss such an opportune opportunity to light a fuse. Kuang is making himself a target by standing out at this point in time. The Qilin Guards are known for being action takers. I am worried he cannot endure the hardship.¡±

    Huang Yuzao jovially stroked his beard. ¡°If there is anything Grand Commander Wang would not dare to do, that would be to oppose you.¡±

    His Majesty shook his head. ¡°Baima respects me, and I feel the same way. The Ultimate Three are the imperial court¡¯s pirs; they cannot sacrifice their reputation. The only way to protect Kuang is to approve of Yiren¡¯s request and let her Kuang serve peacefully without any achievements. I cannot allow him to pick a bone with Baima. It is a delicate bncing act. Howbeit, would this not waste Kuang¡¯s talent?¡±

    ¡°You truly have it hard.¡±

    After a think, His Majesty sighed. ¡°Kuang is as talented as Brother Shen when he was young. Plus, as he is a descendant of Shen n, I can trust him. There truly is not a second civil servant who I could pick over him, but if he cannot survive the power struggle of the three offices¡­¡±

    ¡°Considering Baima¡¯s respect for you, it is unlikely he would personally act.¡±

    ¡°Baima is no muscle-bound fool. He only needs to insinuate, and countless people will fight for an opportunity to be his de. There is no doubt he will not cross my bottom line, but Kuang will still be in for it. We have yet to even ount for Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s naughty agents. They are bingwless under the pretext of working for me.¡±

    ¡°If it is not Baima personally acting, then deterrence will suffice.¡±

    ¡°Until you realise who you need to deter.¡±

    It only just urred to His Majesty that Huang Yuzao was beside himself. Huang Yuzao never beat around the bush, not even when teaching, yet he had only been speaking at a formality level since his arrival. Rather than say they were in a teacher-student rtionship, it would¡¯ve been more urate to say it was a conversation between gentlemen.

    ¡°What insight did you have for me, Brother Yuzao?¡±

    ¡°A demanding request that this old one hopes you would approve.¡±

    For someone who never had any requests to suddenly state that he had a ¡°demanding¡± request warranted His Majesty to treat the matter with earnest.

    ¡°You need not be so distant, Brother Yuzao. On ount of your contributions to the nation alone, even twenty requests would be reasonable¡­ Since your residential quarters at Daren Academy are currently being repaired, how about I find another plot ofnd for Daren Academy to build on and donate?¡±

    Huang Yuzaoughed as he wagged his hand. ¡°A roof over one¡¯s head and enough food to eat is more than enough. There is no need to get fancy. How much room could this old body possibly use up? What would a useless old man want all the luxuries for? The students of Daren Academy are already enjoying plenty more than necessary thanks to your generosity. There is no need to waste precious resources on expanding an alreadyrge academy.¡±

    His Majesty praised Huang Yuzao for his modesty.

    ¡°After this crisis, this old one has lost all his martial arts training. He only wants to use the remainder of his pitiful life to nurture the next generation¡¯s talent. If he had one wish, it would be to avenge his mentor¡¯s unfair death so that he could rest in peace.¡±

    His Majesty saluted Huang Yuzao with both hands. ¡°Every soul can sympathise with your sentiment.¡±

    ¡°As you already know, this old one is not just a teacher at Daren Academy but also carrying the name of Confucianism.¡±

    His Majesty let out a hearty smile. ¡°How could I forget your revered reputation?¡±

    ¡°You jape, Your Majesty. It is unbing to continue holding the title as a defenceless old man. Thus, he wishes to select a sessor.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ He Kanyu is more thanpetent. What troubles you?¡±

    ¡°Kanyu has a great personality. Unfortunately, he is not the best candidate.¡±

    His Majesty stopped himself from voicing his first thought, but before he could voice his second thought, Huang Yuzao borated, ¡°Vice-captain Shen sent a request to have an audience with you, while her brother visited this old one.¡± He held his hands in a cupped-fist salute and added, ¡°Please allow this old one to take him on as a closed-door disciple to inherit leadership of Confucianism.¡±

    ***

    No matter how I surveyed her face, I couldn¡¯t find any answers or hints from General Manager Bai¡¯s face. Instead, she gave me an adorable frown.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Though General Manager Bai didn¡¯t remember anything, or anything within her scope that she deemed noteworthy, she still shared their experiences in Luoyang with me as she respected my opinion.

    As General Manager Bai said, nothing particrly stood out to me.

    ¡°All that said, I do feel that Lord Zi is somewhat odd. Before returning to the capital, he started having an incredible motivation to learn martial arts. He has always liked martial arts, but his interest in it randomly rose before we returned. Ah¡­ Maybe it was¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I visited my shifu on the way, right? Lord Zi stayed at Feng Estate without me during my absence. If something happened during my absence, then¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±

    I felt I was finally making headway. That was the only window that Zizi could¡¯ve experienced something that spurred him on.

    ¡°You make it seem really serious, like a stronger interest in martial arts isn¡¯t all of it. What makes you think so?¡±

    I had to think before I could choose the right words. ¡°I¡¯ve had Zizi fight a variety of pugilistic world failures recently.¡±

    I had to finish when I noticed a bloodthirsty re on me. General Manager Bai never approved of me having Zizi fight, but she had to force herself to turn a blind eye to it for his future¡¯s sake. Mentioning it to her face was just asking for it, though my next sentence stopped her.

    ¡°He¡­ just killed someone today.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    General Manager Bai jumped straight to her feet and red at me. Taking a Prince out to fight was crossing the line, and letting him be injured from head to toe was unforgivable, but none of those caused psychological traumas.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s his first time killing someone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s nonsense. Why would Lord Zi¡­¡±

    ¡°He calmed down too fast, and he showed no signs of acute stress. I initially thought it was his character, but that wasn¡¯t what he exhibited. He was sad, but he tried to numb himself. That¡¯s a far too experienced resolution for someone who killed for the first time. Among the skills I taught him, many are basics of Mount Daluo¡¯s beginner skills.¡±

    Thatst part was a lie since I never learnt any of Mount Daluo¡¯s basics to aplete status, either.

    ¡°Thest knife throw was only half of my teaching, though, while the other half was his own creation. The mental cultivation came from me, but the execution was his own creation.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t prove anything¡­ Why would Lord Zi learn to throw knives, though?¡± General Manager Bai finally understood what I was implying.

    Throwing knives and using hidden projectiles were two different things, so their development system was also different. There were innumerable families that taught the usage of hidden projectiles in every direction, but the majority of renowned families that excelled in hidden projectiles were predominately located in the southwest or northeast.

    I wasn¡¯t convinced Zizi learnt to use hidden projectiles. Hisprehension of hidden weapons would¡¯ve made you think he was born unable to use them. In my several tests, I noticed that, although he had talent for hand-to-handbat and internal disciplines, he was a dunce with weapons. He was barely any better than me with a sword. If he went up against a proper swordsman, he¡¯d have been punctured dozens of times before he managed to pull off one technique. It made sense based off how unlikely it was that his mother would¡¯ve let him touch real weapons; he only yed with wooden versions of ded weapons. General Manager Bai told me he was proficient in all weapons, but my tests revealed he unlikely even knew their names, let alone was proficient with them. How, then, was he able to turn ¡°Whatever Floats Your Boat¡± into a throwing knife technique?

    In order to master a skill without a teacher, diligence and a solid foundation were prerequisites. I never taught him how to throw knives, and I wasn¡¯t well-versed in the art, either, yet he was able to use my mental cultivation to create a throwing skill. Evidently, I couldn¡¯t have been the source. In other words¡­

    ¡°I taught him finger flicks, yet he turned it into knife throwing. You would know that it¡¯s not a skill that you can learn without a teacher, let alone something you could nail in a matter of days. Moreover, his technique was crisp. If my eyes don¡¯t deceive me, it¡¯s a method used in Shuzhong.¡±

    Shuzhong and the northeast were home topetent knife throwers. I immediately recognised the source of Zizi¡¯s technique when I saw it.

    ¡°When did Zizie into contact with Tang n?¡±

 Book 15: Chapter 64

    Book 15: Chapter 64

    I rose the next morning at daybreak. I was strongly confident in my conjecture that Zizi hade into contact with Tang n, and Tang ns member specifically timed their visit when General Manager Bai was apanying him, so it was no coincidence. It wasnt an urgent matter, although General Manager Bai didnt have any information on it, because teaching him how to throw knives did him no harm. While Tang n was only a step away from being viins, they were one step away still. I was the one who had urgent business.

    Today was my first time attending court since cing in the imperial exams. In the past, I only went when His Majesty summoned me. This time, I was obligated. Even my new robes for attending court were delivered to Liu Shan Men for me. Myint was that I had barely gotten any sleep when Su Xiao woke me up.

    On my way out, someone called out to me.

    Oh, Brother Xiang, it has been a while. I hope you have been doing well. Let us speakter for I need to be on my way now.

    Feng Qizhi had been frequently pestering me recently, asking me when he could leave  probably because he had grown sick of Liu Shan Men after staying for two months. I didnt care when he left, but I entertained even when I had to go today out of habit.

    Brother Ming, please take my advice.

    Brother Feng, I need to attend morning court.

    It will only take a moment. Brother Ming, a crisis is on its way.

    Brother Feng, do you know today is my first day officially attending court? Even my uniform is new. The real crisis will be me beingte.

    Feng Qizhi gazed at the sky to check the time. Morning court is at a set time. You will be fine as long as you are there at quarter to eight. What is the rush?

    <em>Quarter to eight?</em>

    I looked up at the sky.

    <em>Its not even six yet. Why did Xiao wake me up so early?</em>

    Fine, Ill give you a moment before I go back to sleep for a while.

    I need some sleep, too.

    Didnt you just say a crisis is imminent?

    Ah, right. Feng Qizhi switched to a terrified look. Brother Ming, a crisis is on its way!

    <em>Youre going to stress me until Im sick with this attitude of yours.</em>

    What exactly is it? You have Sir Sui learn to dance nude?

    No. However, I have a tough secret to tell before that.

    A tough secret to tell? You had Liu Yuan learn to dance nude?

    No! Why do members of Liu Shan Men like to dance naked so much?!

    <em>No, its just the two of them.</em>

    What is it, then?

    Feng Qizhi fiddled for a good while before saying, I was sent to assassinate you. The assassin at Eight Deities was actually me.

    What?! Youre the assassin?! This is how you treat me when I treat you as a buddy?! I Im furious! Im angry! Wayayaya!

    Feng Qizhi went pale. After a long silence and lots more fidgeting, he quietly mumbled, I was unaware you were such a great man. Had I known you were so nice, I would not have betrayed you even if I had a de up against my neck.

    Really?

    Really!

    Hmph, you think this is enough for me to forgive you?

    Of course not, but I am willing to do anything I can to make it up to you.

    Ill take your word for now. You arrange a feast at Dongpo tomorrow, and then we can discusspensation once youve shown youre genuinely sorry.

    Thank you for giving me a chance to turn over a new leaf.

    Never push a fool to far, or you might not get your free meal.

    So what exactly did you want to tell me?

    Oh, I forgot. I have a strong rival who haspeted against me for half a year, and we have agreed to have a duel to the death in the capital.

    <em>Well, have a good death, then. How is it my problem?</em>

    My sly, cunning, and ruthless rival may harm people around me if I do not go.

    <em>Then, go</em>n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    I have been held up, but I am grateful for your friendship.

    Uhm, uhm, so the date of your duel ising up, and you must go, correct?

    <em>Bug off as soon as you can. Youve been freeloading here for two months. Im starting to feel sorry for Boss.</em>

    I-I suddenly remembered during my midnight snackst night that we were supposed to have our duel on the 1st August.

    Isnt it the 4th today?

    Yes, so I missed it

    Recalling he mentioned that his opponent might harm people around him, I felt I was on to something fun.

    You dont mean to suggest that they might harm Liu Shan Mens members, do you?

    Feng Qizhi flicked up a thumb. You are so smart, Brother Ming!

    <em>Shut up! Go fight your own fight! How are we even close to you? Are you trying to drag us down with you?</em>

    I was going to have a go at Feng Qizhi when I heard, Big Brother Ming! from Su Xiao. He shouted, Why are you still here? Didnt I tell you to head off for court ages ago?!

    Im only exchanging a few words with him. I wont bete.

    Vice-captain departed an hour ago! Youre supposed to be waiting outside the pce doors at seven, yet youre still here at this hour

    I turned to Feng Qizhi. I thought you said morning court is at quarter to eight.

    Th-thats what it said in the book, replied Feng Qizhi.

    What book did you read? queried Su Xiao.

    Cyan Luans Elegance.

    Thats a book from the previous dynasty.

    All three of us fell silent for a while until the two of them had a cosmic moment and remarked in unison, Oh!

    <em>Shut up! Im going to bete again, you dimwit!</em>

    His Majesty looked as cool as a cucumber at Jinluan Pce. Nobody beneath the golden steps dared to utter a word.

    Song Ou, sweaty, expressed, Your subject apologises.

    Shen Yiren: Your subject is ashamed.

    Shen Kuang also had his head lowered. Your subject is deeply sorry.

    Your Majesty, your subject iste. I finally arrived. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 14 Ch. 77April 26, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 65

    Book 15: Chapter 65

    I was the only member among the four members of Liu Shan Men with his head up.

    Who let him in? Who permitted him to enterte? thundered His Majesty.

    Your Majesty, it is not their fault. Does your subject not have a golden token toe and go without notification? They let your subject through as soon as they saw it.

    Before the angry monarch could order the confiscation of my token, I held my hands up in a salute and conveyed, Congrattions, Your Majesty.

    His Majesty stopped mid motion, then frowned. What is the congrattion for?

    Would you permit your subject to exin?

    His Majesty looked to his confounded vassals, then grumbled, St-st-step forward to speak.

    His Majesty was genuinely angry; listen to him stutter. I jogged towards him, looked around to warn everyone not to eavesdrop, then, with a serious expression and soft voice, inquired, Have you had breakfast, Your Majesty.

    Cut the nonsense. Exin the congrattion.

    Hehe, nothing. I was just worried you felt embarrassed after losing your temper and would confiscate my token, so I wanted to give you an olive branch.

    You give me an olive branch?! Am I at fault? Return to your line. Ill have you punished for insolence.

    Hey, hey, hey, this is called beating the cook after you have had your meal. You did not speak this way when you asked your subject toplete a task. You were so courteous then.

    I was courteous, but did youplete the task? His Majesty paused for a second, then asked, Have you taken one of my sons on as a pupil?

    No.

    Then what are you wasting my breath for?

    It will be soon. Your subject is nearly done thinking about it. Please grant him a few more days.

    Pointing at me, His Majesty ranted, Ming Feizhen, I dont like scolding you, but can you not be punctual for once? Is it so hard to attend court?

    <em>I was on time! Your wifes nephew was the one who made mete. How is it my fault? me your rtive.</em>

    Following another short rant and on ount of my sincere apology, His Majesty, now calm, waved his hand and sonorously instructed, On ount of your performance for the task, I will pretend this didnt happen. Return to your spot.

    Thank you, Your Majesty.

    His Majesty was evidently in a good mood today since he spared me so readily and then returned to hosting morning court as if he never flipped out. Once he summarised recent not-so-important matters, he moved on to the main topic, which, of course, was crowning the outstanding examinees of the imperial exams. He was going to personally see those who ced and were waiting outside a bitter. Shen Kuang, myself and Wu Dayong were to be conferred our new ranks in court as we were the top three performers. Suffice to say, from the perspective of some people, it was His Majesty personally conferring us the titles rather than the imperial court.

    Wu Dayong was conferred a seventh rank county magistrate post and dispatched to Yanshi County. As long as he didnt offend his superior, or His Majesty and his family, then he wouldve soon returned to the capital once he built up a resume. Likewise, I was also conferred a magistrate post, except I was granted a fifth rank.

    Eunuch Wang loudly and clearly voiced, Ming Feizhen demonstrated great talent and contributed many achievements. He shall hereby be conferred the rank of county magistrate of Luoyang. In consideration of his obligations at Liu Shan Men, his head constable rank shall be reced with Official Ming of Liu Shan Men. Thus, his task will be to recruit members and assist in managing the bureau.

    Your subject is most grateful! I performed such a perfect salute that not even Boss could tell me off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Although dispatching me to Luoyang was a handsome reward, it was tantly obvious that he wanted me to be in close contact with his son. All I could do was feign ignorance. Official Ming of Liu Shan Men sounded nice, but following my deep analysis, I was still ranked lower than Boss. Additionally, my jobs were the same as what I was currently doing. Liu Shan Men still paid my sry, so I didnt get a raise, either.

    <em>Well-yed, Your Majesty, giving out a promotion without costing yourself a single coin.</em>

    Unlike with Wu Dayong and yours truly, when it was Shen Kuangs turn, His Majesty personally gave the speech. Shu Rong, you have proven yourself the most outstanding schr. Principal Huang wishes to take you under his wing as his closed-door pupil. What say you?

    The offer immediately garnered reactions from everyone. Despite his circumstances, Uncle Huang was still respected and the head of Confucianism. Since he had yet to name his sessor, being his closed-door pupil meant having a big chance of being the next person to lead Confucianism. That said, nobody was as surprised as Boss for she realised how independent her brother was. The offer was probably the best strategy for them at the moment.

    His Majesty was overjoyed to hear Shen Kuang ept the offer. As for whether he stays in the capital or not, I shall make an exception and let Shu Rong decide for himself. You can choose to stay here and help me, or you can explore the world beyond the capital as the other two will.

    His Majesty both tested Shen Kuang and protected him. More than likely, he was worried Shen Kuang would be in a dilemma if he chose wrong, so he put the right to pick in Shen Kuangsp.

    Please allow your subject to contemte it for a few days.

    His Majesty fiddled with his beard, then nodded. Indeed, it is a tough decision. Take your time.

    With that, His Majesty led the court back to national affairs. I had heard about the morning court procedure before. Since I made a mistake before, I decided to raise my hand straight away.

    Your Majesty, as your subject arrivedte, he is willing to speak first.

    But I havent asked anything yet.

    Your subject will answer everything in his capacity without withholding anything.

    Boss stepped on my heel.

    ???

    I nced to my right to see Boss grouch through her clenched teeth, You think were ying around here?! Whats the point of speaking first?

    I am trying to make you look good.

    Boss was about to pinch me when His Majesty voiced, It is a rare asion for Duke Ming to take the initiative to bravely speak first. I dont want to get in your way of doing your part for the nation, either. Where did we leave offst meeting?

    Someone replied, We left off at Hanlin Academys Academician Lin reporting the militarys Attendant Gentleman.

    His Majesty wagged his hand. L-lets move on from that. Anything else?

    A general stepped out. Cavalry General also reported Ministry of Rites Attendant Gentleman Zhang.

    His Majesty pushed aside one matter after another because it was just case after case of the civil servants and military members reporting each other. The Imperial Censor couldnt even step in with the pace they sted each other.

    An elder suggested, Your Majesty, we cannot just leave so many matters unresolved. How about we seek a neutral partys opinion?

    His Majesty was relieved to hear an alternative line for a change. Preceptor Jiang, who do you suggest I listen to?

    The new second ce in the imperial exams. Did he not offer to help you? Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 14 Ch. 23February 22, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

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    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 12 Ch. 18March 4, 2022In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 66

    Book 15: Chapter 66

    State Preceptor Jiang gave me an affable smile, but I caught the brief mocking smirk.

    <em>You have an issue with me, huh?</em>

    Boss whispered, He is State Preceptor Jiang, one of the leaders of the civil servants faction. They have always disliked the three offices overseeing the martial world. He is the toughest to deal with, so hes not someone you can thoughtlessly deal with.

    Rest easy, Boss. Exchanging eye contact with State Preceptor Jiang, I quietly said, Thoughtlessly dealing with people is my specialty.

    Im telling you not to!

    I didnt recognise who the old man was, but I genuinely wanted to speak because I had nearly forgotten everything He Shi told me. I had yet to show my face since bing an official. How could I waste a prime opportunity to show what I was made of? Besides, I happened to be prepared for the subject.

    <em>You picked the fight, so dont cry now.</em>

    I cleared my throat twice prior to responding, You tter this one. He would not dare to speak thoughtlessly in His Majesty and your presence when he is crude and shallow in knowledge. He dares not ept your praise for him as someone with knowledge as vast as the ocean, haha. You praise this one so highly that is sounds as though you epted bribes from him.

    Before he could make sense of the words I put in his mouth, I nearly made him gasp blood with myst line.

    When did this old one say you possesses kn-, epted br-, <em>cough, cough</em>.

    Please, take your time, State Preceptor Jiang. No money, no money, no gold, and no silver. This one said, as though.

    State Preceptor Jiangs colleague had to help him control his coughing so that he could barely yell back, Theres no as though!

    So, no as though, but did?

    No!

    I ignored the red-faced elder and turned my attention to His Majesty. Your Majesty, all these problems boil down to both factions marginalising each other. Is there anyone here who disagrees with this perspective?

    They probably already realised it, but nobody wouldve dared to acknowledge they were trying to kick someone else down in His Majestys presence. Their facial reactions told me I hit the nail on the head. He Shi was right when he said that the imperial court was just arguing about the same things over and over again.

    In your subjects opinion, both factions do not appreciate the fact that the other cannot do what they can do and therefore have formed factions to go about their own things. ordingly, there is no end to the disagreements.

    His Majesty wagged his hand. I have heard your opinion on the matter. Let us move on to another topic.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    <em>What do you mean youve heard my opinion? I never shared it.</em>

    Having quelled his cough, State Preceptor Jiang said, Duke Ming must have a solution if he has such insight. This old one is all ears.

    I saluted the elder who went along with me with both hands. This one appreciates your praise. The money was well spent. Before he gasped blood for real, I continued, In your subjects opinion, military officials can study literature, while civil servants can learn martial arts. Combining both skillsets is the solution to the problem.

    The pce went so silent that I almost assumed they had their upoints sealed, but the only people who I believed couldve performed the feat were Shaolins Abott and Grandmaster.

    Insolence!

    That is treason!

    Are you starting a rebellion?!

    Guards, apprehend this traitor!

    Is there anyone who will work with this old one to arrest this scum?

    <em>Uh were my choice of words wrong?</em>

    Even Boss looked at me in disbelief for a moment before bowing her head and pleading, Your Majesty, Ming Feizhen is new to court. He spoke out of ignorance. He did not mean to challenge your authority.

    For as long as I had known Fangzh-, I mean His Majesty, I had never seen him look so serious.

    The other officials used me, too, all of which was basically the same thing in different words. All the talk about skinning me, boiling me raw, skewering me, grilling me and what have you made me a little hungry. As serious as His Majesty looked, he paid nobody any heed. Instead, he mmed his desk and dered, Dismissed!

    Eunuch Wang announced court was dismissed, prompting the attendees to promptly kneel down and bid His Majesty goodbye in spite of their existing rage.

    His Majesty whipped his sleeve, took a few steps, then looked over his shoulder and told me, Get over here!

    I pointed to myself in confusion. His Majesty didnt wait for me, so Eunuch Wang urged me to hurry along. What could I have done besides follow His Majesty? I was treated to a variety of shifty malicious smiles on my way. One elder even had his nose turned up as he stroked his beard, so I tripped him before I hurried along.

    Leading me, Eunuch Wang quietly warned, Duke Ming, you must take caution.

    Could you please enlighten this one, Eunuch Wang?

    The person you just tripped was Duke Gong, one of the leaders of the civil servants faction.

    Another leader? Tsk, tsk, take one down, and they tumble like an avnche.

    Eunuch Wang smiled. A true hero truly knows no fear. As expected, this one was not wrong about you.

    <em>No, you are wrong. I am not the sort of person you think I am.</em>

    Once we reached the neighbouring pce, His Majesty had everyone step outside, leaving just Eunuch Wang to wait on him. Next, he turned to me and grouched, Ming Feizhen, you really keep me busy.

    Your Majesty, you did not employ your subject to keep you un-busy. Is this not all for the sake of solving a problem and reducing the pains of the people? After shutting down His Majesty, I conveyed, Thank you for saving your subjects life. Had you not pretended to lose your temper back there and saved your subject, those elders would have had your subject skinned alive.

    Skinning you alive wouldve been merciful. His Majesty finally smiled subtly. In your defence, your understanding and quick reaction was helpful. Had I not pretended to lose my temper, I wouldnt have been able to get you out. With that said, your suggestion While it was written in your paper, its not something you can say aloud. Did you know that I had Hanlin Academy keep your response to themselves so that your cing wouldnt be confiscated? Otherwise, you would be locked up right now.

    <em>Huh?</em>

    Is it a contemptible method?

    To my surprise, His Majesty nodded. Do you know that someone already tried to reconcile between the two factions?

    They failed?

    His Majesty shook his head. It was sessful, sessful enough to usher in a long period of peace, which allowed the imperial court to build up arge base ofpetent personnel.

    I was even more puzzled than before.

    Because its a strategy implemented in the previous dynasty.

    The previous dynasty?

    His Majesty gave a few shoulder pats. Im sure your mistake was purely a result of ignorance. The previous dynasty wanted everyone to be well-versed in both categories. Its said that officials werent divided into two categories centuries ago as everyone was capable in both fields. As such, there were never situations where military officials would disrespect civil servants or vice versa. I hoped to replicate it when I heard about it as a child. s

    So, our dynasty has this conflict because we cannot employ the same policy as the previous dynasty?

    Precisely. Since the establishment of our dynasty, we have made it a point to erase all traces of the previous dynasty, even how we employed people. For generations, we have had people argue that the crossover between the two factions was the source of thest dynastys problems. Martial artists were well-read, while people with authority had military influence. Thus, the strong started to harbour bigger and bigger ambitions until they coveted the throne. Its unfair to say the erstwhile dynasty was weak, but they werent weak, either. Thats what makes it hard.

    Do you agree with their take?

    If I did, your head would be crooked right now. Youre right. Ive also considered it in the past. Thepetition between the two factions has only continued to ramp up. Perhaps having them crossover will fill the rifts. The former dynastys mistake was in choosing to trust the wrong people, not the crossover system itself. If the system was the issue, howe theysted eight hundred years when rulers were ever changing? The problem is that not everyone can see this nuance.

    If you agree, then those officials were really insensible. Why did nobody praise the great idea? Your subject shall go make them wise up. Results are promised.

    You? Youre going to beat them in a debate? Really? You make it sound simple, but is this truly something you can rush through? Putting aside the reasoning, theres still the implementation. If you lock the martial artists in a room and force them to read, theyll dig up your ancestors graves. If you tell schrs to learn martial arts, they would beg you to put them out of their misery. Moreover, what do you expect from a group of old men who are going to only be able to walk for a few more years? What do you expect from their followers who object? You just witnessed a very mild version yourself.

    <em>Damn, and I kept adting He Shis method. I bet he knew all these details and deliberately used me to test the waters for him. Just you wait, He Shi.</em>

    For you to have that insight without knowing about the former dynasty is praiseworthy. Its not impossible to implement the strategy. Howbeit, not this way. They were able to maintain their rule for eight centuries as they were blessed with a mighty military, vast knowledge, and many liberties. Few dynasties have ever replicated their sess. A hundred years ago, the reigns to the world changed hands because Tianfeng ns time was up. That said, though there were a number of tyrannical rulers in their era, the rest were quite wise, and they were supported by loyal vassals. They did fall from grace, but they, too, offered value insight.

    Tianfeng n?

    His Majesty immediately realised he had a slip of the tongue, but he still exined, The public ims that thest dynastys Empress family carried the Tianfeng surname, but thats not true. Tianfeng is the surname of the previous imperial family.

    There was nobody who couldve obfuscated information of thest dynasty than the man before me. Of course, the censorship was likelypleted from the first generation of Li Dynasty. It was in my best interests to not let him know that I wanted to know more about his family history.

    Your subject shall remember everything you have said. He shall write it out eight times as a way of keeping himself ountable.

    Head on back. I still have other business to attend to. Oh, by the way, Zizi has been with you for thest two months, correct?

    I offered up a cupped-fist salute. Uh, yes. He is doing very well at Liu Shan Men. He turns in early and rises early, washes his hands, eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner on time, and stays away from crowded ces to avoid catching any illnesses.

    Enough, enough, go. Send Zizi my greetings. I cant visit him for a year. Tell him his parents miss him, and tell him to take care of himself.

    Your subject swears the message will be delivered.

    Eunuch Wang silently escorted me out of the pce. I searched my database for a conversation starter, but he asked out of the blue, How is Eunuch Bai doing at Liu Shan Men?

    <em>I guess there are still some friendships in the imperial pce.</em>

    Fine, I guess? General Manager Bai does not put on airs despite his status and leads a simple life, so the location probably does not matter.

    That is true. Eunuch Bai truly has a tough fate. After only serving in the capacity of General Manager Bai, Eunuch Bai has been exiled from the imperial pce.

    General Manager Bai was demoted?

    Eunuch Wang gave me the same look of shock that I gave him. You are not aware, Duke Ming? He checked for potential eavesdroppers, then softly told me, This one thought you were merely used to referring to Eunuch Bai as General Manager Bai. Eunuch Bai has been demoted this time and instated as Lord Zis personal eunuch. Eunuch Bai no longer has any role in the imperial pce.

    <em>No wonder why she was acting all weird this time.</em>

    Do you know why? Did he offend His Majesty?

    Whatever do you mean? His Majesty would not mete out such harsh punishment for a minor transgression.

    That was true. Considering all I had done to him, from giving him a nickname he didnt ask for and shooting him with a shuttle, he was very forgiving. After all, I was never penalised.

    What was the reason, then?

    It is said Eunuch Bai crossed Brilliant Consort.

    I couldnt make sense of it even once we reached the exit. I bade Eunuch Wang farewell, then headed back to Liu Shan Men.

    <em>Something isnt adding up. Doesnt Brilliant Consort support Bai Lian? If there truly is some grudge between them, then it makes no sense to entrust her son to Bai Lian.</em>

    You are Ming Feizhen? I heard some maiden call from behind.

    <em>Where do I remember this happening before?</em>

    I turned my head. Perhaps not.

    Upon seeing the maiden probably and her gold sword apanying her sky-blue warrior robe, I blurted, What a pretty chick.

    Chick? Im your aunt!

    <em>Hmm? Did Young Shiyi adopt a nephew?</em> Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 2 Ch. 10September 2, 2017In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 13 Ch. 170December 6, 2022In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 14 Ch. 02January 28, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 67

    Book 15: Chapter 67

    Besides having long legs, the rest of her appearance would make any man do triple takes. The maiden adorned herself in simple garments for ease of moment, yet it seemed tailored for her body. It wasnt restrictive to move in, and it wasnt too loose that one would think it was a waste of her body lines. There were plenty ofdies who carried swords as ornaments in the pugilistic world, but they also carried a hostile aura due to the nature of living in that world. For instance, people would be wary of Lass Yu instead of enamoured if they saw her with her sword. If the daughter of a wealthy family were to walk around with a sword, she mightve exuded grace, but she would be without the valiant aura of a heroine and be considered a moving flower instead. Boss only managed to bnce out her aggression thanks to Yujing. In contrast, this maiden probably around twenty was able to exude grace and charm with every minute action.

    It was self-evident that her sword on her sash was no ordinary sword. Aside from its unique metal vibe, the flying phoenix on the hilt was no shabby phoenix added for decoration. Everything about its exterior suggested that the sheathed part was excellent for cutting and stabbing. The contrast between her grace and her swords venomous appearance gave her a unique charm.

    Are you Ming Feizhen?

    Oh, no. I admit I stole several nces at her, but I wasnt stupid.

    She eyed me from head to toe a few times. Youre not Ming Feizhen? she asked with a frown.

    I frowned and asked, Who is Ming Feizhen?

    She suddenly found herself lost for words. She sounded confident in herself before asking the question, so my answer seemed to throw her off.

    Youre done with me now, right?

    Yes.

    Bye.

    I hurried to the end of the street, turned the corner and then raced back to Liu Shan Men.

    Why was I running? She was clearly trouble. What sort of ordinary person would block me at the imperial pce entrance? See no evil. Speak no evil. That applied even if they were beautiful.

    Recently, I had recovered my martial arts, been promoted, and struck it rich. I was on a lucky trajectory. His Majesty even asked me to teach a Prince. Zizi asked me to be his shifu, as well. I was making aeback from the worst situation, and I was hoping it would continue. For a beautiful maiden to suddenly hit on me was an omen, and continuing my streak of good luck required me to escape her.

    Duke Ming! Duke Ming!

    Without even needing eyes behind my head, I identified it was Tie Hanyi calling out to me. He was a friend to me, really, but his timing was bad because I was pretending to not be Ming Feizhen, so I couldnt respond to him. Instead, I picked up my pace.

    Hey! Duke Ming! Head Constable Ming! Duke Ming Feizhen! Just-ced-on-the-imperial-exams Liu Shan Mens Duke Ming Feizhen!

    <em>Can you lower your voice?! Are you in cahoots with that chick?!</em>

    I summoned qi to expediently turn a corner. I had only shaken Tie Hanyi off when someone else behind me hollered, Ming Feizhen, I was looking for you.

    <em>Get lost, Long Zaitian!</em>

    Im not Ming Feizhen.

    I thought Long Zaitian would get the message and buzz off, but he chased after me!

    Youre the ugliest person here. If youre not Ming Feizhen, who is?! Hey! This is important! Stop! This is serious!

    <em>You want to speak to me about something serious? Even if thats true, can you choose another time?!</em>

    Ming Feizhen! Stop! Did you eat rabbit crap or something? How are you so fast?! Ming Feizhen from Mount Daluo who joined Liu Shan Mens Ming Feizhen, stop!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thanks to Tie Hanyi joining in, as well, if people on the streets didnt recognise me before, they now did!

    <em>What the hell is with you people?!</em>

    Thankfully, I was able to shake the two off thanks to my familiarity with the terrain, judgement and excellent escape skills. I had chosen to travel down a side street to sneak back to Liu Shan Men when two big men blocked my way. Despite them looking gruff, they both wore cordial smiles.

    Please wait, Duke Ming. My master wishes to see you.

    <em>He can see the back of my foot! Not even the Jade Emperor can stop me today!</em>

    Who is your master?

    Luoyangs Young Master Feng.

    <em>Oh, my buddy and brother.</em>

    What does he want?

    To share a meal.

    <em>I guess this is my fate today.</em>

    Please lead the way. I shall risk my neck to see him if that is what it takes.

    This time, our meeting spot was a new restaurant that had yet to officially open for business. I heard the boss of this Emerald Screen ce was wealthy businessman who was eyeing even the entertainment industry, which was why this restaurant offered great food and beauties. Rich young masters had already flocked to it before it was even officially open. I had no clue it was my buddy, Feng Shanshan, who was the owner.

    Feng Shanshan was still as friendly asst time, serving tea and speaking freely. I wolfed down everything in sight, burped, then flicked up a thumb.

    I appreciate it, Brother Ming. You agree?!

    I nodded as I swallowed my mouthful. Delicious!

    Brother Shanshan waited for me to finish eating and washing it down with alcohol prior to asking, Brother Ming, what I just said

    What did you say?

    Thus, Brother Shanshan calmly repeated what he said for me. I nearly saw my food a second time after I heard him out.

    What?! You captured Demon Sects holy maiden?! Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 68

    Book 15: Chapter 68

    ording to Feng Jiutian, in the month that I was coaching Zizi and procrastinating while I was it, a number of things happened around the capital. Firstly, Demon Sect resurfaced, and someone important among them had arrived. Two months prior, Emperors Entourages agents noticed signs unidentified people of the martial world gathering, but they didnt carry out arge-scale annihtion for an unknown reason. However, it was probably safe to assume Emperors Entourage ssified the people as threats no more dangerous than street thugs.

    The group that convened illegally was called Yizhen Dream or something. Their name was supposed to sound poetic I think? The members came from all over thend and groups, and their purposes were unknown. Emperors Entourage likely designated them as targets to watch out for because they popped up when Fiends Genesis was rampaging in the city, which was understandable given the circumstances. What was odd was that there were faces theyd never seen near the capital, and they couldnt find any records of those individuals across the Central in. There was no need to think. Anyone who was able to avoid detection from Emperors Entourage in the Central in and then suddenly show up in the capital had pulled some strings. It went without saying, then, that they were no ordinary folks.

    Emperors Entourage tailed the group, but they were careful to not prematurely alert the target for some time. It wasnt until they found some strands of blonde hair at a gathering did they finally have a clue and theorised the target was from the Western Regions based on the hair. It took another two months of digging did they find out the hair belonged to a member of Demon Sect, and said member was in their records  Elise. They swiftly apprehended the maiden who was drawing something without hurting her.

    I didnt question Emperors Entouragesbat abilities Okay, I admit I didnt think too highly of them. Based off Dugu and Tie Hanyis levels, Id never have believed you if you told me they couldve captured her without any sacrifices. Her Skywind Nine Forms was nothing to scoff at. Dugu had the ability to beat her, but it shouldnt have been such a lopsided victory. Plus, it made no sense to me for someone of her status to have been alone without any guards in the capital. Nevertheless, as long as I knew where she was held, I figured it couldnt have been too hard to break her out. Emperors Entourage werent ruthless, so she was probably safe and sound.

    With my brows together, I said, Youve said a lot, but I dont see how this has anything to do with me.

    Feng Jiutian responded, Oh, she was captured, but they have to transport her to prison, right? I hijacked the escort.

    You took the imperial courts captive from them?

    <em>You did my job already?!</em>

    No, I would never do something so tasteless. I hate nothing more than the crude thing known as violence. My vastwork of friends helped me.

    <em>Yourwork is vast enough to even handle something of that magnitude? Emperors Entourage, Emperors Entourage, you call yourselves His Majestysst line of defence, yet someone managed to rescue a prisoner from your very hands.</em>

    I would never dare to befriend Emperors Entourages agents. However, I had some friends among the escort. A little bit of maniption was all it took to force the transport escort to go where I wanted it to.

    I finally knew why Tie Hanyi was looking for me urgently. Emperors Entourage needed Liu Shan Mens help in finding out who attacked their escort. Since they most definitely heard about Boss sour mood following Shen Kuangs cing and heard about my promotion, they came to me, who was now basically second inmand at Liu Shan Men.

    What brings you to me, then, Brother Feng?

    Haha, there you go asking the obvious again, Brother Ming. As I have stressed, I seek friends. The more friends one has, the more options he has. He pped his hands, prompting someone to bring up a big brocade box.

    While the box was square, thin and t, its dimensions were generous. Another man opened the box, took out a scroll and slowly unrolled it for my viewing. As the painter used the Western Regions method of painting, which was trying to replicate the real version as close as possible, it was basically a painting of me that hadnt been coloured in yet.

    <em>Elise painted me?</em>

    Who is this? I took the painting to scrutinise, turning it portrait,ndscape, upside down, and diagonal. Brother Feng, Im confused now.

    Feng Jiutian smiled as he continued looking at me as if hed been constipated for days. Brother Ming, let us not beat around the bush. You and her are acquainted. He blinked a few times, then added, Or perhaps, former lovers.

    I set down the painting and firmly replied, Brother, there are some things that should not be joked about. She is a wanted criminal. Your brother here is Official Ming of Liu Shan Men, a constable whose job is to arrest criminals, not court criminals. No matter how pretty she may be, you think I would harbour feelings for her?

    So this painting

    Just a painting. Is it my fault she has a crush on me? Is being handsome a vition of thew? Dont make a mistake thats so easily avoidable.

    Feng Jiutian spent a while studying me, then finally nodded. In that case there is no point keeping her alive. Lets just execute her.

    Impulsiveness is the witch.

    It is the demon.

    The witches first, or who would give birth to the demon? She drew me, right? That proves she has strong feelings for me. You see, as men, we should cherish women and be considerate towards them. You want to pluck a flower when it blooms for the most beautiful flower, right? Every grain of rice is hard work, right? Since she had the thought, j-j-just leave it to me.

    Feng Jiutian smiled smugly. You have finally admitted to it, Brother Ming, hahaha. As he fanned himself, he continued, Ever since I found the painting, I knew she was special. Since you are interested in her and we are friends, she is all yours.

    I finally stopped shovelling food into my mouth and looked at Feng Jiutian in a manner I had never before. I couldve smooched his food and stuff without batting an eye. Of course, if he pulled out receipts on me, then I had to acknowledge it, but he wouldnt have demanded repayments for any of those things. However, letting me rescue Elise wasnt something I could just pretend didnt happen.

    Brother Shanshan, I cant just ept your good will for nothing. Whatever it is you need help with, how about telling your brother about it?

    I appreciate it, Big Bro.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was my first time seeing Feng Jiutian wear a serious look  although he was still smiling. This time, I saw his work mode.

    I want you to bring someone to me.

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Yizhen Alliance and Yizhen Dream  Another homophone joke. The pronunciations, except for thest character in Chinese, are identical. Its another one of those situations where you mistake a character for another because you dont have context. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 69

    Book 15: Chapter 69

    Feng Jiutians request didnt sound hard to fulfil, but it wasnt simple to actually carry out. The solo notorious robber he wanted me to apprehend used the nickname Ride the Wind in the Rain, which was basically a way of saying, To profit in troubled times. This Bu Xusan person was also on Liu Shan Mens wanted list. If you thought Bu Xusan was a real name, you were an idiot. Itd take a one-of-a-kind idiot thief to use divulge their real name.

    Bu Xusan supposedly had a respectable level of martial arts and qinggongpetence, but his thievery skills were good enough to even steal from Red Princes home. Although Red Prince was a decent fighter, Chu Yinghua told me he was seldom home due to his hobby of travelling and being a hero. How true was that? I had no clue. If it was true, though, then it wasnt too difficult to steal from Red Princes abode. After all, even stupid burrs waited for home owners to leave before they broke in, let alone a Princes home. Having said that, I had to give credit where it was due. Bu Xusan had to have had balls of steel to steal from a Prince. Had it not been for the achievement, he wouldnt have ended up Liu Shan Mens wanted list as he nevermitted any other heinous deeds.

    Security issues were a grey area that the three offices handled. As long as the matter wasnt too serious, and losses werent too damaging, the three offices handballed the cases to each other. Low-level thieves were hard to trace down since there was little information on them, and theyd be virtually invisible as long as theyid low. Therefore, nobody wanted to risk wasting their time for small-time thieves.

    Did Bu Xusan cross you, Brother Feng?

    For thest two months since he knew me, Feng Jiutian had been trying everything to get closer to me. The fact that he was even willing to get his hands on Elise cemented the fact that he wasnt going to spare any opportunities of convincing me to help him. If there was nothing to gain or lose, he wouldnt have gone so far. Moreover, I was only a constable of Liu Shan Men when he first approached me, so I couldnt figure out what he saw in me.

    Haha, there is no enmity between us. I have only cared for one thing  making friends  and my favourite types of friends are those involved in the pugilistic world. Whatever jewellery, luxury good, toy, or whatever it is they desire, they can help themselves to it. I consider it but offering a free meal. Bu Xusan, however, crossed the line because he stole my family heirloom  Nirvana Bloodmarrow.

    For a second, I was lost for words when I heard the name. It wasnt a jade item, but an amber-ish bloodstone supposedly produced from condensed blood from a phoenix. Due to phoenixes being a creature of legends and seldom seen, its value was extremely high. That being said, Mount Daluo saw it differently.

    Nirvana was the name of one of Six Evils. Its might was only slightly inferior to Pangu, but it possessed the ability to revive itself infinitely. Hence, not even a dragon couldve exterminated it, which records from long ago proved. Nirvana was the only entity that could rival Pangu. The only thing worth celebrating was that they were too proud to form a group or reside with another creature. Other than that, it was the issue of fiery wings ruining the thick miasma when flying. They didnt reproduce. They didnt have an army, and so they didnt sacrifice too many lives.

    Pangu had nine sons, while Nirvana had five siblings. Though Nirvanas siblings were far weaker than itself, all five of them were fiercer than Pangus sons. The only saving grace for the five siblings opponents were that the former five couldnt endlessly return from the dead.

    Nirvana was the most acknowledged beast among Six Evils. Nirvana didnt enjoy feasting on human beings, but its siblings loved snacking on humans. The five siblings emitted an incredible amount of miasma and raised wild beasts. Nirvana typically became a threat when its siblings were attacked. Aside from those acts of retaliation, it preferred to iste itself from the realm of man.

    As Nirvana rarely took lives when it appeared and due to its appearance that gave off the vibe of the sun transforming, it was a sight to behold. Consequently, a number of people worshipped it. As Nirvana liked to travel around, it was sighted plenty of times, which led to many legends speaking of its beauty being left behind. When its feathersnded in the world below, people treated it as a rare treasure and rightfully so because its feathers could be used to forge top-of-the-line weapons. Its saliva was worth an incredible amount of money once it was converted into zed fire pearls. When Nirvana bathed somewhere, the vegetation in the vicinity became wood as tough as iron. The benefits they provided was the reason that phoenixes had arge following of supporters in the human realm.

    The states in Nanjiang were examples of people who worshipped phoenixes. The divine bird they worshipped was suspected to be Nirvana from long ago. Mount Daluo didntment on the debate; we probably didnt share the same opinion. That was why I couldnt confirm if they were the same entity or not if questioned.

    Owing to the facts that Nirvana had ample support, performed very few bad acts, and was immortal, exterminating it became an impossible task. Predecessors had sealed it to prevent it showing up again, but that was only a temporary solution due to jerks undoing the seals.

    In the opinion of many, a trapped evil beast was just the worlds sceptre. In the previous dynasty, there was a group of morons who removed the seal. Nheless, Nirvana wentpletely missing not long after that and still hadnt been heard of now.

    Nirvana Bloodmarrows uniqueness was attributed to its source. Besides Nirvanas ability to revive itself, its healing abilities also put Pangus to shame. Pangu cornered me numerous times thanks to its healing ability. Thankfully, it decided to prioritise sleep in the end. The difficulty of injuring Pangu enough was secondary to ousting it. I never wanted to have to fight it again ever after feeling the exhaustion of trying to fight it endlessly. Never again. If Nirvanas recovery was even superior, then it was easy to imagine how tough it wouldve been to make it bleed. By extension, you could imagine its mes wouldve erased any blood it spilt virtually instantaneously, so how hard would it have been to collect a fist-sized amount of blood for the jade item? The only way that was possible was that Nirvana and Pangu squared off, and Pangu mustve consumed human flesh prior, meaning it mustve been in a berserk state.

    Not only did the piece of jade contain Nirvanas blood, but it probably had Pangus blood mixed in there, as well. Considering the blood was drawn in battle, the violence of the blood was self-exnatory. It was said that the item could not only restore bones and flesh, but it also granted an armour power. I didnt buy the ims.

    Restoring blood and flesh of the living and dead is a lie, but as long as one is still alive, cing this on their chest will give them a chance of resuscitation, stated Feng Jiutian.

    I nodded.

    I heard that cing this inside the head of someone who has had their skull sliced open can preserve their life.

    Is said person still alive? I asked.

    He is my uncle.

    Feng Qizhis dad?

    Wearing a hapless smile, Feng Jiutian bobbed his head.

    <em>No wonder why Feng Qizhi isnt right in the hard. The aggressive qi in the blood mustve burnt some cells. </em>

    Never thoughtlessly ce something associated with Six Evils in any body. See how Feng Qizhi inherited something he shouldnt have?N?v(el)B\\jnn

    <em>Will my kid be a glutton if traits are hereditary?</em>

    Nevertheless, proof of Nirvana Bloodmarrows potency was just proven. It was more valuable than the Nine Dragons Fire Jade that I stashed. For the aforementioned reasons, Nivarana Bloodmarrow was among the Ten Greatest Treasures.

    Nirvana Bloodmarrow wasnt special to just Mount Daluo in terms of its significance but also in the research of Six Evils. It wasnt something the nation shouldve ignored, either.

    From what I know, its the previous dynastys national treasure, right?

    The former dynasty had birds as their symbol, and the phoenix happened to be the greatest among birds, so it was considered the greatest symbol. Feng n happened to be a merchant family that nobody could overlook in the former dynasty, so the Feng (phoenix) surname was no coincidence.

    Over a century ago, Nirvana Bloodmarrow was stored in the imperial city. It was said that many Emperors benefited from it. After the downfall of the dynasty, Tianfeng ns survivors came to leech from Mount Daluo, while Nirvana Bloodmarrow ended up in the pugilistic world, eventually ending up in Feng ns possession today. Feng Jiutians im that it was a family heirloom wasnt a im corroborated in the wider world. It was understandable for them to not make it public they had their hands on it.

    Correct. Feng Jiutian started to look ufortable. It is an important item and the erstwhile dynastys antique. Feng n and the imperial court work closely together, so there is no disagreement. The only concern is that if somebody sees it and gets their hands on it.

    That exined why Feng Jiutian acted with haste and was willing to risk the consequences of rescuing Elise to obtain my assistance. While Feng ns businesses were booming, their risks were also massive. Brilliant Consort would inevitably have had enemies inside the imperial pce, while the rest of the family outside would have others eyeing their assets. People were justcking justification to hound them. Now, they had the opportunity to use Feng n of supporting the previous dynasty, nning an insurgence, and they had a surname that was easy to fabricate a story off. His Majesty didnt need to believe the usations. Merely suspecting Feng n ever so slightly was enough for suspicion to spiral into fear of Feng n utilising their assets for a revolt. It was particrly easier to fan that me now that His Majesty was trying tounch a war on the White Princes. Gold and Silver Sect, for one, were probably dying for Feng n to fall from grace, which wouldve granted them the chance to offer up a maiden so that they could rece Feng n.

    <em>Ah, thats why Jin Zhaoying is staying in the capital and has been encouraged to get closer to His Majesty. Thankfully, His Majesty hasnt fallen for her, or this would be awkward as hell. If Jin Zhaoying was married to His Majesty, Jingan would likely give up on Jin Zhaoying, right? Man, thats one way to disgust someone. There really is something new every day.</em>

    Retrieving it is not the most important matter. No matter how rare it is, it is still only an object at the end of the day, and it is just a business transaction no matter how much it is worth. What is most important is not letting Bu Xusan disclose where he obtained it from. If people find out that it is at my ce, my family will likely face a disaster. Not even Brilliant Consort would be able to help.

    For a n as influential and big as Feng n, losing His Majestys trust was more dangerous than losing a jade item.

    So, in summary?

    Feng Jiutian earnestly answered, Should you help me retrieve it, the least I can do is gift it to you as an expression of gratitude.

    Id be lying if I said his sincerity and the allure of the reward didnt sway me, but there was one thing I still wanted to know.

    When did Bu Xusan steal it?

    It has been three months.

    Three months? Its likely there are more people who know than those who dont.

    That is not a concern. Feng Jiutian smiled. Aside from the fact that Bu Xusan is a loner, ording to my knowledge, there is already a buyer. Besides avoiding trouble by admitting he stole it, there is no reason for him to tell anyone else he has the item when there is a buyer.

    Someone hired him to steal from you?

    It would be much simpler if that was the case since I couldve sought out the buyer instead of Bu Xusan. Bu Xusan only searches for buyers after he steals goods. He has picked the capital as the meeting ce this time. As you are aware, Fiends Genesis went on a rampage two months ago, so security in the capital is tight. No matter how skilled Bu Xusan may be, sneaking into the capital toplete a transaction is not a risk he could shoulder. He is likely in the capital now, but the buyer I have eyes on seems hesitant to meet up with Bu Xusan in case there is more trouble in the capital.

    If you know who the buyer is, why are you still trying to capture Bu Xusan. Why not just buy it from the buyer after he purchases it? Surely he wouldnt refuse Feng n. If you feel its a loss financially, you could make it back when you sell it. Alternatively, you could work together with him and send your own men as his recement, then grab the thief and retrieve the item on the day of the exchange.

    I had considered that.

    If Feng Jiutian already thought of it, then he didnt carry it out because it wasnt viable.

    The buyer is far, far away. It would take around a dozen days just to reach him, and I cannot wait for him.

    You cant wait? Didnt you say you werent worried Bu Xusan wouldnt spread the word?

    Feng Jiutian sighed. I am not worried about Bu Xusan spreading the word. I am worried about the venom inside Nirvana Bloodmarrow.

    Venom?

    Yes. Though it did heal my third uncle, he constantly suffered phases of madness. Whenever he lost his mind, his strength would jump several folds out of the blue, and he would indiscriminately hurt everyone in sight. He chose to be a monk, only for him to lose his mind and kill dozens of people at the temple. My father paid the temple hush money to keep the matter a secret, but the government still arrested my third uncle. My third uncle went mad and escaped their clutches. In the end, Divine Constable Yan Shisan killed him before Qizhi was two. The item can save lives, but it can also drive them to madness.

    I couldnt reveal that the problem was a product of Pangu and Nirvanas fight. Phoenix blood had an aggressive attribute to begin with. Humans couldve considered it holy all they wanted, but it didnt change the fact that Six Evils were evil. Consuming their power without purifying it first was just nting seeds for trouble. Feng Qizhi and the innocent people his father killed were pitiable.

    Feng Jiutian heaved a heavy breath.  My third uncle is not the only case of that madness. Others have had different experiences. The mostmon oue has been people who cant neutralise poison slowly sumbing to the venom and perishing.

    So your concern is that Bu Xusan wont survive for much longer.

    Exactly. If he dies before he can sell it, by the time his body is found, who knows who would have gotten their hands on the item. If they dig deeper, they may eventually find out Feng ns involvement.

    I agreed with his assessment, but my query wasnt answered. Looking Feng Jiutian dead in the eyes, I asked, This is a serious matter, and there are plenty of people after the item. Although the buyer isnt present, I dont think hes after it for treating a cough or something. There is an overflowing abundance of wealthy and influential people in the capital, so theres no concern in times of finding a new buyer. A huge number of people will be involved, and all of them have affluent backgrounds. Why do you think I can help you?

    Feng Jiutian looked left, right, outside the window, and under the table, then gave me a smile. I do not believe there is anything Jiangnans Face-pping King Night Fortress master cannot resolve.

    <em>So thats how you found out about me! I mustve been referred. So you were ready from day one. Whoever says Feng n has no talent is blind. Did you hear the mans evaluation of me?</em>

    If thats how youre going to y it, then Ill tell you

    So you ran away so fast to drink here in secret. The maiden with the sword I came across on the street rocked up and cut me off before I could switch to my boss mode.

    <em>Tie Hanyi and Long Zaitian, how did she outdo you two? You two embarrassments might as well hand in your resignation letters now.</em>

    Wearing a courteous smile, I acknowledged her with a nod.

    Hahaha, wee, Miss Ling. Feng Jiutian stood up and said, Allow me to do the honours. Brother Ming, this is Mount Lu Sword Sanctuarys Interim Patriarchs only daughter, Ling Jin, Miss Ling. I requested Miss Lings aid with this job. Miss Ling, this is Mount Daluos senior disciple, a man soaring up the ranks in the imperial court, the man who ced second on the recent imperial exams, a man who is as mighty as he is wise, Ming Feizhen.

    Ling Jin looked at me with an ambivalent expression. Ming Feizhen? You said you werent Ming Feizhen before.

    I offered a propitious salute. I have been busy recently, and strangers have constantly been trying to seek my attention. As I did not know if you were hostile or friendly, I did not dare to identify myself. I beg your pardon.

    The maiden ranked among the Seven Jade Goddesses and rank three on Pink and Red Reflection was the target of lust of many men. It was said that she rivalled Song ns Song Yanluo, which was where the Jialuo Goddesses moniker came from.

    It is an honour to meet Goddess Ling. I have wished to meet you for a long time. Please, have a seat. I shall personally select a few dishes from the kitchen for you and some wine. Brother Feng, please apany me.

    Ling Jin gave Feng Jiutian a smirk, then sat down casually. She seemed to be in a better mood  perhaps thanks to my ttery. Of course, it wasnt enough. She was only going to be satisfied once she marginalised me after I served up the dishes and wine. I was more than happy to let a beautifuldy vent on me, but I was busy.

    Brother Ming, are you leaving?

    Do I have a choice?

    Did you not wish to meet her for a long time?

    And Ive met her, no? Theres no reason to see her for life.

    As I went to leave, Feng Jiutian grabbed my sleeve. Um, about my request.

    I got you. Dont worry! I sped out of the building.

    <em>I got you loud and clear. Dont worry. I will not do fulfil the request for you.</em>

    <strong>Trivia</strong>

    The majority of the titles going forward in this volume are lines from real poems written centuries ago. Why is the author using them? I dont know. The majority of them have no connection to the content of the chapter. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 81October 17, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 76October 11, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life  Vol. 15 Ch. 84October 20, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 70

    Book 15: Chapter 70

    <em>I¡¯ll hole up at Liu Shan Men for three days. I¡¯d like to see what Feng Shanshan can do about that.</em>

    I suddenly had something to lose if I took on the job, and the risk was oddly high. I was happily clocking in and out of Liu Shan Men, sleeping and waking when it was natural, eating until I had mouth cramps, training a Prince, messing around with Eunuch Bai, and collecting a paycheque. Why would I go and give myself trouble? Yes, there was a lot to be made, but Gongsun Chu¡¯s collection in the underground pce was already in my pocket. If I was still greedy at this point, even heaven wouldn¡¯t let me off the hook.

    Yes, Nirvana Bloodmarrow would¡¯ve been worth researching for Mount Daluo, but there was no need to help Feng Shanshan. What? I was letting my sect down? Since when did Mount Daluo have to negotiate if we wanted something? It was only a question of when. What reason was there to rush? You think it could¡¯ve grown legs or wings or something?

    I didn¡¯t expect to run into an uninvited guest at the end of my detour route back to Liu Shan Men.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, you have fast feet.¡±

    ¡°Miss Ling?¡±

    With an expression as still as water, Ling Jin rubbed her sword hilt with her hand.

    ¡°Hahaha, Miss Ling, can this one help you with something?¡±

    ring, Ling Jin rhetorically asked, ¡°Why are you here when you said you were going to grab some wine and dishes?¡±¡°Well¡­ grabbing wine and dishes doesn¡¯t get in the way of going home. Liu Shan Men¡¯s wine and food are famous for their great taste.¡±

    Ling Jin watched my feet as though she was going to puncture me if I so much as moved them. ¡°I¡¯ll stab you if you dare to budge.¡±

    The fact that she gave a feeling of having surveince on all my movements showed that she was more advanced in her internal discipline than Ling Mabi, meaning that her Flying Thrust was at a higher level than her cousin.

    Among the Seven Jade Goddesses, Jin Zhaoying didn¡¯t know martial arts, nor did the one from Cold Mountain Temple. Bai Yumo didn¡¯t have many chances to fight. Most people would¡¯ve avoided confronting Princess Hongzhuang considering she was a Princess. Therefore, there were only three others who could¡¯ve made a name for themselves in the realm of martial arts. I wasn¡¯t too sure about Luo Ming¡¯s daughter, but if Jialuo Goddesses were close in level, then the two of them were among the best in the current generation of Seven Champion White Princes.

    ¡°What is this about, Miss Ling?¡±

    Ling Jin had a piercing gaze, almost as if she could see through and to the end oue. ¡°Young Master Feng said we would be colleagues. I don¡¯t want to have a rough patch between us, but I can¡¯t forgive you for continuing to humiliate me time and time again.¡±

    I scratch my head. ¡°How did I humiliate you?¡±

    ¡°How dare you deny it!¡±

    ¡°Whether this one is denying it or not depends on perspective. From your perspective, this one is denying it. From his perspective, you are the one constantly harassing him. We never knew each other before today, correct?¡±

    ¡°So what if you¡¯re correct? Today, I¡­¡±

    ¡°Exactly. If you saw an armed individual who was obviously stronger than yourself by thirty to fifty times blocking your way, would your first reaction not be to flee?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ You¡­¡±

    I managed to switch Ling Jin¡¯s focus from vignce to deep thinking.

    ¡°Miss Ling, how could this one afford to make an enemy out of you when you are the superior fighter? Would you not have no alternative but to run away when you do not know who your opponent is? Besides, it would sully your reputation if word got out that you were clinging to a single man as outstanding as myself?¡±

    ¡°Who are you saying is clinging to you?!¡±

    ¡°So, you will no longer cling to this one?¡±

    ¡°Who would?¡±

    ¡°Please leave, then.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡±

    As soon as she turned around, I hurriedly pushed the door and went in.

    <em>Pray that you never run into liars, or you¡¯ll be left with nothing, Missy.</em>

    ¡°Hey, wait!¡±

    ¡°Let us not wait anymore. Pleasee by again tomorrow early in the morning.¡± I shut the door on Ling Jin, keeping herints away.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As soon as I spun around, I saw four angry pairs of gazes on me. Boss had her sword in hand. Eunuch Bai had meat rocks for hands. Wawa had her teeth clenched, and Su Meow had my back blocked.

    ¡°Are the four of you going out for a midnight snack?¡±

    Besides Wawa, who looked unsure, the other three continued ring at me.

    Boss responded, ¡°Eat, my foot!¡±

    ¡°True, true, it is too early for a midnight snack. So, are you four going out for dinner?¡±

    ¡°No. Actually, I have business with you.¡±

    Ling Jin suddenly felt tame.

    ¡°May I ask what you four need me for?¡®

    Boss crossed her arms and smiled. ¡°You werete for morning court.¡±

    <em>That wasn¡¯t my fault! me Feng Xiangxiang!</em>

    Eunuch Bai locked her brows. ¡°Lord Zi is bed ridden after fighting, and the physician said he would have to stay in bed for three days. What did you promise me?!¡±

    <em>Huh? He lost as soon as I left him alone for a day? Fighting is like gambling, though. It¡¯s normal to win some and lose some. You can¡¯t win all the time unless you¡¯re my shifu. Besides, he had to cheat to win, too. It¡¯s not good for him to learn to y dirty at such a young age.</em>

    Wawa grouched, ¡°You tricked me into working for months now, yet I haven¡¯t received a penny, while you¡¯ve beenining you¡¯re broke and asking to put it on your tab instead. You just ced in the imperial exams! How are you broke when you¡¯re an official?!¡±

    <em>About that¡­</em>

    I cleared my throat, pretended to view the scenery and looked over my shoulder. Attack the weakest link first, right?

    ¡°Xiao.¡±

    Su Xiao smiled. ¡°Big Brother Ming, who is that outside? How did you humiliate her?¡±

    I pped my eyes, then turned back. ¡°Boss, I waste because¡­¡±

    Boss held up a stop sign with her hand. ¡°That can wait. I also want to hear how you humiliated her.¡±

    ¡°General Manager Bai, Zizi fighting is¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait. Humiliated her? Did you force a kiss on another girl?¡±

    ¡°What is this about forcing a kiss on a girl?¡± Boss blushed as she red at me.

    ¡°How did you know?¡± Eunuch Bai also blushed.

    ¡°Y-you told her?¡±

    Boss and Eunuch Bai looked at each other, both believing the other knew some secret that they didn¡¯t know about.

    Su Xiao didn¡¯t understand the conversation, but the part about forcing a kiss on a girl didn¡¯t escape him.

    ¡°So, you forced a kiss on the girl outside, Big Brother Ming?¡±

    Wawa suddenly lost interest in her sry. She stuffed a toothpick into her mouth and remarked, ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s a public welfare thing?¡±

    ¡­ I opened the door and rushed out the door without a moment of hesitation.

    <em>I-I give up!</em>

    I grabbed the hand Ling Jialian had up as she contemted knocking and said, ¡°Ming Feizhen is at your surface. Let¡¯s find a ce to chat.¡±

    All I knew was that four people were yelling from behind, ¡°Stop right there!¡± as I bolted off. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 1 Ch. 20May 21, 2017In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 71

    Book 15: Chapter 71

    From Mount Lu Sword Sanctuarys perspective, Ling Jin was an important individual who couldve swayed the power bnce. They had enough female disciples to warrant the creation of Cloud Sanctuary and Frost Sanctuary, two branches for solely female disciples. Due to the natural strength difference between men and women, swordswomen favoured a style that emphasised flexibility and dexterity over rigid power. The two branches were dedicated to perfecting and teaching the style better suited to swordswomen. From early morning, one could hear them rigorously training. The sight of them strolling on the mountain in spring to view the flowers was a distraction for the guys who were supposed to be training. Perhaps two of the most prominent swordswomen from them among their many female disciples at present were Her Majesty and Patriarch Mings wife. Howbeit, there werent many who reached Ling Jins level.

    Ling Yaoshi had a son and daughter. His son, Ling Ruoyun, was indifferent to fame and wealth, and he was quite the quiet character. Among those in his age bracket, he was rather skilled with the sword. In contrast to her brother, Ling Jin was notorious for being wilful and overbearing due to being spoiled, always giving her seniors a hard time.

    Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary could handle one wilfuldy. No matter how overbearing she was, she was still easier to handle than thest generations second eldest daughter. The difference was that she had an unbelievable aptitude for swordy, and she was obsessed with it. It wasnt surprising Her Majesty was spoiled, but not even Ming Huayus wife couldvepared to Ling Jin when the former wasnt yet married. If one ignored Ling Jins hubris, shed be among Mount Lu Sword Sanctuarys top three prodigies.

    From childhood, Ling Jin was fonder of swordy than her elder brother by far. At just the tender age of nine, she had started learning Flying Thrust, which was sooner than any of her predecessors. Notwithstanding her talent, the n didnt consider her a potential leader. Defeating her elder brother at twelve years of age didnt earn her praise. Ling Hanzhong, who currently headed the n, didnt celebrate his granddaughters achievements. He viewed her as a tool for marriage, or rather a tool to reap the benefits of a strategic marriage, such as he did with his daughter  Her Majesty. The more skilled she was, the harder it was to find a suitor. What value did that bring to the n? To circumvent her being unsuitable for marriage, Ling Hanzhong forbade her from continuing to train.

    Ling Hanzhongs decision waster proven to be utterly foolish, and the n as a whole was still paying for his foley. It went without saying that Ling Jin was unhappy about the ban, but she couldnt go against the order. That was the onlymand she bent to. Thanks to her father, she wasnt just impulsively and blindly overbearing, though.

    Ling Jin proved that a true prodigy was hard to stop and didnt need help. Even Ling Hanzhongs seal wasnt enough to shackle her. Though she couldnt hold a sword, the matches on the mountains, in the forests, by the creeks, and every manual at home continued to raise her level for the next three years.

    Following Ling Hanzhongs crushing defeat in Hangzhou, Ling Yaoshi reced the former as the ns leader. Under Ling Yaoshis lead, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary returned to being a n that held the sword above all else. Ling Yaoshi united the n, doing away with the hierarchal ss system that prevented members frommunicating with each other, and the seven branches were able to open their doors to everyone again. All disciples were allowed to ess the manuals previously only essible to those with special privileges.

    The hierarchal system between disciples that Ling Yaoshi instated consisted of stages, but they were no longer based on aplishments, status, or family. Everything was to facilitate their standards of swordy. Three stages made up one level. There were disciples in charge of testing those wishing to advance. Gradings were possible anytime and anywhere. As long as they could win against their tester, they had the right to advance to the next stage. Once they reached the ninth stage, annually, they had one chance to challenge their branch leader. If they won, they would rece the reigning branch leader. Likewise, every branch leader had the right to challenge the interim patriarch.

    The individual to make a name for herself once the new policies were implemented was none other than the prodigy who was shackled for three years. Ling Jin showed up at the third stage disciples testing ground and, to everyones exasperation, defeated the tester in neen exchanges. Many teachers were ecstatic to finally find a prodigy among them flourish, while her junior and senior sisters crowded around her to congratte her. Meanwhile, she stood as still as a statue for a long while. When she left the arena, she still held onto her sword because it was the first time she was able to hold a sword in three years.The three years ban didnt render her depressed. Instead, it gave her time to study, analyse and contrive counters to every technique she had learnt and seen. She had mentally rehearsed the techniques she used in the duel thousands upon thousands of times prior. When she finally drew the sword, it dawned on her that the feeling of having a sword in hand was totally different.

    The year after, Ling Jin defeated the tester in the sixth stage arena in nine techniques. When she turned eighteen in the third year of the new policies, the tester in the ninth stage arena onlysted two exchanges. Once she cracked the ninth stage, she conquered the leader of Cloud Sanctuary and became its new leader.

    Ling Jins rise motivated other disciples to train harder, but it also created a new problem for the n. It wasnt her intention; however, the pugilistic world started topare her to the new generation of heroines, such as Song ns Song Yanluo. Among swordswomen in Jiangnan, the one in Hangzhou was the one who she had to challenge. Hence, she, like her brother, journeyed to the outside world to further her training for the inevitable duel. Suffice to say, Ling Yaoshi, as her father, had another reason for sending her away. If she continued training tirelessly at home, then there really wasnt going to be anyone who dared to marry her. Instead, letting some affluent young masters see her mightve changed that trajectory. s, Ling Yaoshis n failed miserably.

    Unlike her brother, Ling Jin only had one thing on her mind during her travels  swordy improvements. Although shed draw her sword to protect the innocent, her priority always was seeking a challenge. That was a daunting task considering the level of mastery she had achieved. Nevertheless, she never lost heart. After all, there was still plenty to learn from every single opponent when martial arts were a vast subject. Regardless of affiliation, there was nobody she didnt dare to challenge. The orthodox sects seniors didnt mind her rudeness on ount of her father, but the unorthodox factions didnt care about rules and operated in the shadows, so they were even harder to find.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Meeting Feng Qizhi was pure coincidence, not that Ling Jin couldve avoided the fate. She considered the meeting a blessing for she finally found an opponent worthy of her time. The returns she got from coincidence after coincidence finally gave her an improved opponent. One year prior, she hid herself among a group of kidnapped women to search for a worthy challenger whilst teaching the kidnappers a lesson. The bandits werent enough for a warm-up, but she bumped into Feng Qizhi when he came to the captives rescue.

    It all started with Feng Qizhi reading aloud a painfully long andme script about protecting the world, which made the banditsugh uncontrobly. It wouldve gone on for even longer had Ling Jin not drawn her sword.

    Feng Qizhi was the only one who managed to escape bing part of the raining blood and flesh. His n was to read his script, tell the bandits they were wrong, then rescue the captives.

    Ling Jin expected to cut down everyone without much effort until she discovered that Feng Qizhi was more formidable than his appearance suggested. While he was nowhere as clever as her, their skills with a sword were extremely close. It was her first time finding such a different opponent, so she refused to miss the opportunity to test her mettle. In contrast, Feng Qizhi begged for her to let him off the hook because she fought with no regard for her life. Of course, she refused, so they decided to have a proper fight in August.

    Everything went smoothly until Feng Qizhi suddenly disappeared. Thest person who he came into contact with was a guy named Ming Feizhen. Ling Jin managed to track down Ming Feizhen. Unfortunately, that led her to the beginning of a perpetual loop of missed-the-date duels.

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Title  In ancient times, they used bowls made from jade to store ice, which they would then extract in summer for cooling. The sight of dew about to melt on a jade bowl is a way of describing a beautiful woman. Why is dew on a jade bowl considered a sight to behold? You think I can afford a jade bowl to experiment and tell you? I havent even bought Klees skin. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial Kings Retired Life (Manhua)  003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 72

    Book 15: Chapter 72

    ¡°There you have it.¡± Sitting at Happy Chain Camp Inn, Ming Feizhen recounted how he got acquainted with Feng Jiutian. ¡°If you have some sort of grudge with Brother Shanshan, please keep me out of it. At most, we are only two individuals who¡¯ve shared a few meals together.¡±

    Because Ling Jin confronted Ming Feizhen at the entrance to the imperial pce before he even met Feng Jiutian and because of her willingness to help thetter, Ming Feizhen reasoned that she wanted him to assist her in getting revenge on Feng Jiutian.

    ¡°There is no enmity between Brother Feng and I. As a matter of fact, I agreed to help him apprehend the burr because I have a request for him.¡±

    Given Feng Jiutian¡¯swork, more people would¡¯ve had requests for him than otherwise. Ming Feizhen initially didn¡¯t want to sign on to the job; however, he reasoned that it would¡¯ve been more troublesome to find Elise on his own, not to mention that Feng Jiutian might¡¯ve harmed her if he refused.

    ¡°So, may I ask what I can help you with, Miss Ling?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that much. I¡¯ll let you know when the time is right. All you need to do is cooperate with me.¡±

    Ling Jin was ready for Ming Feizhen to m the table and get in her face at that point as practically every martial artist she ever insulted reacted that way.

    ¡°Sure,¡± replied Ming Feizhen, smiling.

    Little did Ling Jin know that Ming Feizhen thought, <em>I¡¯d agree to ten requests if I can just eat without doing anything</em>. Ling Jin thought Ming Feizhen saw through her deliberate provocation. For as long as she had been in the pugilistic world, she had been paired up withpanions she looked down on, which eventually resulted in them being a burden or internal conflict. She typically had to drop her ally on their back for them to know their ce. She thought Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t someone she could count on, but he was surprisingly tolerant. She never actually wanted to make his life difficult since they had no bad blood between them. Unfortunately for him, he was a disciple of Mount Daluo.Mount Daluo was considered a sacred ce for any martial artist. Therefore, harbouring a desire to fight them was normal. For all Ling Jin knew at that point, Ming Feizhen might¡¯ve been an even more worthy opponent than Feng Qizhi, hence the provocation. As a descendant of Mount Daluo Sword Sanctuary, she knew more than martial artists from other ns on ssic information.

    Had it not been for Lian Zhuiyue¡¯s activity, Mount Daluo would¡¯ve been a borderline mythical existence. Prominent ns, however, knew more than average folks, such as fight results that weren¡¯t widespread, such as how incredible Hero Shenzhou was, such as Night Fortress being Mount Daluo¡¯s Jiangnan branch. Growing up on a variety of martial arts stories, Ling Jin was always eager to duke it out with a disciple of Mount Daluo. As for the negative reputation Mount Daluo had for the twenty-plus years that had basically turned them into a profane term itself, the younger generation weren¡¯t aware of it.

    Aside from talking about capturing the thief, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t show any interest in weapons or martial arts. He treated everything besides talking about food as if they were a waste of his breath. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was privy to stories about martial arts, he would¡¯ve been considered a non-martial artist.

    Ling Jin had never dealt with azy man who had no respect for the world and carried himself with no care for mannerisms. He disyed no traits that suggested he was a disciple of Mount Daluo, so she suspected he might¡¯ve been someone who hid his true nature and skills well.

    ¡°Miss Ling, there is one thing worth mentioning,¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly said in a serious tone.

    Hiding her excitement at the prospect of Ming Feizhen finally showing his ¡°true¡± self, Ling Jin queried, ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°Did you bring money?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Loan me some.¡±

    ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°Twenty tales, thank you.¡±

    Ling Jin watched Ming Feizhen walk off with her pouch of money that was now less twenty taels, unaware that the money had vanished from her life forever. For some reason, though, she instinctively raised her voice. ¡°Stop.¡±

    Ming Feizhen turned around to meet a maiden with a determined gaze and sword in her hand. Although there was uncertainty in her eyes, it didn¡¯t impact her attack speed or ability.

    ¡°You¡¯re Mount Daluo¡¯s Patriarch Ming¡¯s disciple?¡±

    ¡°You are not going to ask me for proof, are you?¡±

    ¡°I can tell.¡±

    As a gust of wind rose, Ling Jin flitted across and stopped the tip of her side right at Ming Feizhen¡¯s jugr. The thirdyer of Flying Thrust, used well, would¡¯ve been enough to pierce through a boulder, so it was overkill to use on someone one met for the first time. That went to show how much respect she had for Mount Daluo. Regrettably, the oue left her depressingly disappointed.

    Ling Jin performed the thrust the same as always, seizing victory before her opponent could react. She predicted numerous counters and purposely left a generous amount of room for Ming Feizhen to counter. As long as he was truly elite, he would¡¯ve been able to react and defend himself. Seeing as he failed to, her test determined that he wasn¡¯t impressive.

    After a long silence in front of the customers, Ling Jin sheathed her sword, but her anger and disappointment remained on her visage.

    ¡°Keep your wits about you tomorrow. Don¡¯t get in my way.¡± Ling Jin left without waiting for a response.

    Ming Feizhen stayed in his spot for a while before folding his arms and mumbling, ¡°Is she on her period? What¡¯s with the feisty attitude? Man, respect to these affluent families, working even when you¡¯re on your period. No wonder why you¡¯re all rich. Respect. Time to go home and sleep.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 105January 20, 2024In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 94November 13, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 99December 4, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 73

    Book 15: Chapter 73

    Early the next morning, Ling Jin stood in the courtyard and peered into the cloudy heavens. Training outdoors early in the morning was a habit for her, but there was no outdoor training ground avable in the capital. Therefore, she meditated in her room throughout the night and then headed out at her usual training time in the morning for visualisation practice using her unique method.

    Ling Jin¡¯s visualisation method of training was born out of a desire to train when she was forbidden from touching swords. Having had three years to refine it, she was able to remain in training mode no matter how many distractions were around her ¨C or even if she was in the middle of a conversation ¨C as long as the sky was the same sky she saw on Mount Lu.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    After gazing for a long while, Ling Jialing¡¯s sheathed sword started releasing cold energy. The leaves in her vicinity as if she was a drawn de scaring them away. As the intervals between her breaths lengthened, her spirit felt more pronounced.

    While Ling Jin saw several breakthroughs in her swordy during her journey, she had teaued for thest six months. She was aware that her swordy¡¯s form had be more consolidated, and her internal energy had increased in potency, but she was unable to move forward in her realm. She knew that breaking through would grant her exponential growth, but she also knew that her evolution would cease forever if she couldn¡¯t ascend. For that reason, she struggled to find a worthy opponent. Assuming Feng Qizhi could help push her over the wall, she epted Feng Jiutian¡¯s request so that she could have Feng Jiutian and Ming Feizhen force Feng Qizhi ¡°out of hiding¡±.

    As Ling Jin let her thoughts distract her, she lost the concentration of qi in her limbs, but her spirit increased in purity. She continued breathing in the rxed state for a while. When she regained awareness, she was in an unstable illusion, one that she felt she¡¯d escape if she used even the slightest ounce of strength. This was a world that she had never stepped in to. She felt as though she had been thrust into a natural loop. The profound sensation aligned with her Mount Lu swordy.

    For the first time ever, Ling Jin was able to sense things she had never sensed before thanks to her senses being heightened. The flowers and foliage in the courtyard swayed in a systemised manner, not because of the breeze but because of someone¡¯s movements, just as her breaths could subtly move the leaves.

    <em>It¡¯s someone strong!</em>

    Ling Jin snapped out of her dreamy state. The presence of the adept watching her upied all of her attention before the new thoughts were able to leave a trace behind. As she was virtually unable to control her body straight away, she was in a precarious situation. She instinctively vaulted up onto the roof of the second floor,nding clumsily. Following her intuition, she located the spot the adeptst was and then forced herself to decisively remove the tile to peer down.

    There were no traces of the adept, just Ming Feizhen sound asleep below. She suddenly felt a chill down her back, bringing to her attention the fact that her shirt was actually soaked. She dallied for a brief moment before returning to her room.¡°Good morning, Miss.¡± Ming Feizhen rubbed his sore shoulders and greeted Ling Jin when he met herter. ¡°Happy Chain Camp Inn isn¡¯t among the best inns in the capital, but I love staying here the most because their beds have the perfect softness. I¡¯ve slept on Liu Shan Men¡¯s bed for so long that I¡¯m almost not sued to sleeping on good beds.¡±

    If Ling Jin didn¡¯t consider Ming Feizhen a waste of time to kill, she would¡¯ve killed him ten times already. Rather than say she was angry with him, it would¡¯ve been more correct to say she was disillusioned.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°To catch the thief.¡±

    Noticing they were heading to Shuntian Bureau, Ming Feizhen frowned.

    ¡°You have something to say?¡±

    ¡°No. It is just that this trip will be for nothing.¡±

    Ling Jin condescendingly red at Ming Feizhen. Not long after, they did waste their afternoon as Ming Feizhen said they would. They spent all afternoon waiting in line due to lots of people reporting crimes, only to find out that Shuntian Bureau didn¡¯t have any records on Bu Xusan. Hence, she stopped arguing and followed Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°What is this ce?¡± questioned Ling Jin.

    ¡°The biggest pub in the capital, on the surface.¡±

    ¡°On the surface?¡±

    ¡°While it is true that it is the biggest pub, they also conduct underground trades and the short. There¡¯s no way to stop business deals even if it¡¯s the capital, let alone stopping people with ambitions. You¡¯ll usually find some surprising information in these sorts of ces, so it¡¯s a must-visit if it¡¯s information you want.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ can be useful, huh?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°Head on over there. There are some people from the martial world there. Those skilled martial artists are more suited for you. I will go ask the waiter and some others for information.¡±

    While Ling Jin went off in the direct Ming Feizhen suggested, he went and sat down at a table. ¡°Brother Tie, do you have any information on this?¡± he asked after giving a summary.

    Tie Hanyi smiled. ¡°We did have some information on Bu Xusan, but we have lost track of him. His fast and crafty kind¡­¡±

    Emperor¡¯s Entourage handled major national problems. The headquarters in the capital, in particr, split half their members for handling the imperial court¡¯s jobs, while the other half handled jobs rted to the martial world. They wouldn¡¯t have dealt with robbers unless the robber really caused a fiasco. Ming Feizhen knew this beforehand, so he only asked Tie Hanyi to get a general picture.

    ¡°How long ago did youst hear about him?¡±

    ¡°More than three months ago.¡±

    ¡°More than three months ago¡­ So, basically, you¡¯ve lost all hints.¡±

    ¡°Your just reminded me. Brother Ming, I would like to ask for your help in tracking down the witch from Demon Sect. I have good news.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about the assassin after you.¡±

    ¡°Oooh.¡±

    ¡°It was Yellow Prince.¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Shuntian Bureau ¨C I¡¯m changing it from Shuntian Prefecture because the author is using it in a different capacity to Shuntian Prefecture. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 74

    Book 15: Chapter 74

    ¡°Wait.¡± Tie Hanyi¡¯s statement stopped Ming Feizhen¡¯s train of thought. ¡°Yellow Prince?¡±

    Both of them pinched their brows. Ming Feizhen suddenly raising his voice frightened Tie Hanyi for a second.

    ¡°Your surprise is understandable. I don¡¯t know how he has a grudge deep enough to send an assassin after you when he is far away on the frontlines. The strangest thing is that Feng Qizhi, who has always been His Highness Blue Prince¡¯s subordinate, is working for His Highness Yellow Prince this time.¡±

    Ming Feizhen thought all that was left in regards to the assassination was baiting Emperor¡¯s Entourage into tracking down Feng Qizhi to stop Feng Qizhi¡¯s dispatcher. He didn¡¯t expect Emperor¡¯s Entourage to find a different oue to his initial assumption. Since Feng Qizhi epted Blue Prince¡¯s mission to carry out the situation and promised Yellow Prince he would assassinate Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen was left unsure who was after his life¡­ or if both Princes were after him. Afterbing through the information, Ming Feizhen felt he had be part of a murder scene, and his tingling detective senses warned him that there was a major homicide conspiracy behind the scenes.

    ¡°Brother Tie, would you be able to tell me where you learnt that from?¡±

    Tie Hanyi slightly tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t really tell you that.¡±

    ¡°What are you here for if you can¡¯t tell me? Take it as a debt I owe you. I will ensure you are repaid in the future. Tianhu won¡¯t have a reason to give you guys a hard time now. I¡¯ll have him apologise to you. Remember, he still owes me a manure hair wash.¡±

    Tie Hanyi wagged his hand. ¡°I have even more unimaginable details for you once you can find the witch from Demon Sect. I will tell you my source and how the full background story. Right now, though, I apologise.¡±

    Tie Hanyi was average at fighting, but he was a fantastic employee who specialised in riding waves and keeping secrets. He got up to leave, but he turned back to add, ¡°Last thing. You should honestly stop flirting with new girls on ount of your status now. Girls from Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, in particr, are hard to shake off.¡±Ming Feizhen repeatedly thanked Tie Hanyi for the advice. He got the message about making sure to eat his fill.

    Ming Feizhen hoped to ask Tie Hanyi if thetter knew anything about Bu Xusan¡¯s whereabouts. Instead of resolving one problem, however, he added another problem to his table. Now he had to be wary of Yellow Prince, too.

    Ming Feizhen yawned as he found Miss Ling standing still. He surprised himself when he was able to gently pat her on the shoulder. He used just enough strength to prompt her to dodge, yet she didn¡¯t even react once he had on her shoulder. It took her a while before she looked over her shoulder, only to then turn back as if there was something she couldn¡¯t miss, so Ming Feizhen followed her line of sight.

    The pub was usually busy, but it was quiet today as everyone was standing around one table. It was easy for Ming Feizhen to see over the crowd thanks to his height.

    Seated on one side of the table was a tall and muscr man. His veins were bulging up to the surface of his temples, while his visible shoulder veins extended to his chest. He had a big executioner de beside him, befitting his appearance. Notwithstanding all the alcohol around, the smell of blood from it still reeked.

    Seated opposite him was an elder with an appearance as ordinary as his old tattered attire. If it wasn¡¯t for his sporadic blinks, one would¡¯ve thought he was fossilised.

    Not long after Ming Feizhen started watching, the muscr manughed and picked up a big, juicy piece of mouth with his chopsticks to wolf down. As he munched away, he raised a thumb and asked, ¡°We have been at this for fourteen hours, yet you have not budged. To be frank, it is unlikely anything will change even if we continue for another fourteen hours. Are you sure you want to continue wasting your time?¡±

    The elder, despite having a low and raspy voice, had such a high-pitched voice that gave the impression he hadn¡¯t spoken in a long time. ¡°You are the one who is impressive, sparing this old man from stress. This old one does not have much longer in this world. There is no wasted time when he is just living each day as ites.¡±

    ¡°In that case, how about you back down first and spare me?¡±

    The elder smiled. ¡°This old one cannot back down.¡±

    Continuing to eat without looking at the elder, the muscr man questioned, ¡°My family left behind the people and items. It is firste first serve in the pugilistic world. Is there anything unclear about that?¡±

    ¡°It sounds like you are ignorant of the principles of banditry. It is every man who sees it has a share. Why would this old one be an exception?¡±

    The muscr man mmed the table. ¡°Are you saying you want to see my skills?¡±

    The elder wiped the table for the man but didn¡¯t wipe away his smile. ¡°This old one merely wishes to negotiate with you.¡±

    Nobody else made a sound.

    When the muscr man mmed the table, he plunged the chopsticks into the table as if the pair was part of the table. When the elder wiped the table, he somehow drew the chopsticks out of the table and slid them back to the muscr man.

    It was a simple matter to smash a timber table apart once an internal discipline practitioner reached a certain strength threshold. To plunge the chopsticks in without the table breaking any extra millimetre or sending them through, however, was a demonstration that the individual could also control their output at will. To be able to extract the chopsticks from the table without any obvious signs of it taking ce was another demonstration of extreme fluidity.

    Ling Jin remarked to Ming Feizhen, ¡°You really aren¡¯t useless¡­¡±

    ¡°I never was.¡±

    ¡°We were right toe here.¡± Ling Jin probably wasn¡¯t even sure that she was speaking to Ming Feizhen because she was fixated on the two at the table. ¡°Those two¡­ are elites.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen folded his arms.

    <em>Elites? Where?</em> Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 7 Ch. 76January 29, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 14 Ch. 02January 28, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 75

    Book 15: Chapter 75

    Neither of them acquiesced, giving the onlookers and urge to back off. Despite the muscr man¡¯s firm stare, it wasn¡¯t just overwhelming might, which was why he was able to hold it for so long. However, the elder held his affable gaze against the muscr man¡¯s firm gaze without averting his gaze once. It was as if the elder was able to deflect the domineering aura away from himself. As they were both quite advanced in their internal disciplines, people who were too far from their levels had to back off to escape the oppressive vibe that made them ufortable. It was only a matter of time before it was just Ling Jin and Ming Feizhen who were still standing in their original spots.

    Ling Jin was too fixated on the contest to notice that she had started drawing attention herself. Ming Feizhen had grabbed two jars of wine at some point to start hydrating; he, too, didn¡¯t realise the crowd had backed off for a while. Without a crowd to distract the owners, wouldn¡¯t he have had to pay? Nevertheless, since he even paid his lodging fee with someone else¡¯s money, he figured it wouldn¡¯t be an issue if he pinched a third jar.

    ¡°They might fight here,¡± remarked Ling Jin. ¡°We need to evacuate the crowd.¡±

    ¡°Evacuate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he¡± ¨C Ling Jin pointed to the muscr man ¨C ¡°is incredibly strong. It¡¯ll only take mere seconds before everything in his vicinity starts being smashed apart if he fights. Given how many pirs and rails are here, there¡¯ll be a lot of casualties when the roof copses. We need to evacuate the crowd now.¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder. ¡°The two of us are supposed to evacuate that many people? What are we going to shout? Fire?¡±

    ¡°No. Fear is the best tool.¡± Ling Jin drew her sword and shouted, ¡°Get lost if you don¡¯t want to die!¡±

    Unfortunately, Ling Jin¡¯s shout didn¡¯t serve her intended purpose. Instead, she received all their cold res. Fights in the capital where shady people gathered couldn¡¯t have been moremon, let alone it being a pretty girl who drew a sword on them. As it failed, she clicked her tongue and then inhaled to let out an internal-energy enhanced belt, but Ming Feizhen¡¯s hand suddenly touching her shoulder stopped her.

    ¡°What?¡±¡°There are things that are better than fear.¡± Ming Feizhen told the crowd, ¡°If you gentlemen leave now, you probably won¡¯t have to pay the bill.¡±

    Before the owner could yell out, the crowd had already bolted as if there was a mountain of money to be found outside. There was no greater motivation for vagrants than freebies. As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, more than half of the pub¡¯s alcohol was taken, too. Ling Jin was rendered speechless.

    A wind billowed the furniture. The muscr man and elder had released the energy they had been building up, snapping a pir. Had the crowd not dispersed, the flying furniture and energy st really would¡¯ve caused casualties.

    Having finished his alcohol, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°Miss Ling, are we watching them out of curiosity? I am going to find a seat if we are.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Didn¡¯t you hear their conversation? The man with the dragon tattoo said he caught a thief with a treasure on him yesterday, but the elder is trying to get a cut since he spotted them.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wrinkled his face. ¡°They mentioned that in the presence of a huge crowd?¡±

    ¡°I deduced it from their conversation. Don¡¯t you think the person they mentioned is the person we¡¯re looking for?¡±

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his face. ¡°How are you so sure they were talking about Bu Xusan?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any better clues at the moment. Why not check out who they caught? Wouldn¡¯t that be better than nothing?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Ming Feizhen found himself a seat as he said he would. ¡°We¡¯re pretty lucky, then.¡±

    As she was eager toplete themission and have her duel with Feng Qizhi, Ling Jin ordered, ¡°Follow my instructions.¡±

    The muscr man and elder had almost reached their internal energy peaks. When they heard a loud shout, their beards blew into their faces, prompting them to back off more than ten metres each and crack the floor beneath them in the process. The two charged at each other again in spite of the thick veil of dust they kicked up. While they were roaring, stomping and breaking things, Ming Feizhen, seated in the middle, kept yawning, making it impossible to tell if one was meant to feel on the edge of their seat or not.

    Both men uncorked a palm strike each once they were done feeling each other out, determined to settle the fight in the next exchange. The energy they could feel radiating from the other told them that it¡¯d be extremely difficult to cancel their attacks once they shed, meaning that injury ¨C or even death ¨C was highly possible. It was toote to regret, though; pulling their punches at that juncture wasmitting suicide.

    Like a bolt of lightning, a silver de suddenly flitted in between them. Their attacks went off their intended trajectories and opened new holes in the opposite walls.

    Ling Jin determined the two of them to be stronger than she could¡¯ve handled alone in a contest of exchange. Therefore, she jumped in when an opening presented itself, striking a bnce between three forces to then divert their attacks. Had she failed to bnce the three forces out, their attacks would¡¯ve sted her into her grave.

    Although they were surprised a young girl was able to save them, neither of them let down their guard as they still viewed each other as an enemy.

    Standing in between the two and wearing a smile, Ling Jin offered a propitious salute. ¡°This one was very impressed with your strength. Would you be willing to ept this one as a friend?¡±

    The fact that she neither mentioned their dispute or that she saved their life was a gesture of protecting their reputations, so they had to ept the olive branch no matter how they felt.

    Reciprocating the salute, they conveyed, ¡°The pleasure is ours. We appreciate you saving our lives.¡±

    Following a brief courtesy chat, Ling Jin said, ¡°Would you allow this one to hear your dispute to give a fair opinion?¡±

    The two men smiled and replied in unison, ¡°No need!¡±

    Having expected that response, Ling Jin immediately responded, ¡°It appears you deem this one unworthy of judging. This one has a friend at Liu Shan Men. Let us go see if they are willing to intervene.¡±

    Although Liu Shan Men still wasn¡¯t worth much elsewhere, they were now heavyweights in the capital. Plus, they served the same body as the Qilin Guards and Emperor¡¯s Entourage. Who could¡¯ve known if the other two offices would also want a piece of them once Liu Shan Men got involved? Hence, the two of them were quick to kindly turn down the offer.

    The elder chuckled. ¡°It is us whocks the astuteness to recognise greatness. If this old one is not wrong, you practice the swordy of a reputable n in Jiangnan.¡±

    ¡°You are most discerning, elder. This one does not like to tell falsehoods. She and her friend came here with a goal in mind. It sounds as though the person mentioned in your conversation is the same person we are looking for. Would either of you happen to know someone by the name of Bu Xusan?¡±

    It was a sound strategy to cut to the chase.

    The muscr man jumped to his feet. ¡°You want a piece of the loot, too? None of you scare me. You two can¡¯t beat me even if you work together.¡±

    The muscr man wanted to fight the elder fair and square, so he didn¡¯t use his weapon before; however, he wasn¡¯t going to fight both opponents unarmed.

    Even though his opponent armed himself, the elder chortled without any tension. ¡°You really are a fiery man. She only asked for an individual, not a spoil. Why are you so petty? At least hear her out first.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t surprising for the elder to not be concerned when it wasn¡¯t him who was being robbed. At most, he¡¯d only walk away with less. Plus, Ling Jin would¡¯ve been a pivotal helper in the fight considering her skill.

    ¡°You sure make it sound simple. There¡¯s already a ten-thousand-taels bounty for a head, and a live person would be worth even more. Miss, pardon me, but I cannot tell you anything.¡±

    The muscr man basically admitted to knowing. Ling Jin put it together with the dialogue she heard prior to paint herself the full picture.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°This one is most definitely interested in sparring you. Bu Xusan serves her no purpose, so you can have the head if you wish.¡±

    ¡°Why are youpromising so easily, Miss? The two of us can dominate him,¡± opined the elder.

    Ling Jin was the only one who smiled. ¡°This one does not need Bu Xusan. She only wishes to ask him a question. Why make life hard for someone else? You are also getting on with age, elder. Material wealth is not evesting.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, didn¡¯t expect that, did you, old man? She wants to take my side. I would have to submit if you two teamed up, but what about if her and I teamed up? Would you dare to stand your ground?¡±

    While they could¡¯ve subdued the muscr man together, neither of them knew how much manpower he had nor where he hid Bu Xusan. ordingly, it would¡¯ve been painfully challenging to find Bu Xusan. In contrast, working with him would¡¯ve removed those challenges.

    The elder waited for the muscr man to finishughing before questioning, ¡°You have hidden the loot and him at Nine Heavens in Nancheng and n to smuggle them out tonight. You think this old one didn¡¯t know that?¡±

    The muscr man turned and fled without another word. The elder, wearing a smirk, gave chase. Given the elder already knew where the loot and Bu Xusan were, the only reason he could¡¯ve been here in the east was to lure the muscr man away. Ling Jin pursued them once she came to the realisation, but she stopped once she remembered she had apanion.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, are youing or not?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was already nowhere to be seen. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 76

    Book 15: Chapter 76

    Before reaching Nine Heavens, Ling Jin figured out what the situation was based off the conversation between Lian Hua and Elder Fu Dalong. Both of them had legitimate businesses, but they both had a degree of influence in the underworld, too. As a scion of Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary, she knew their kind well.

    The Seven Champion White Princes didn¡¯t permit any traces of unorthodox sects in their territories, sparing no unorthodox sect members who dared to cross them. There were only two types who were exceptions. The first type was the type who blended in almost perfectly, such as League of Assassins¡¯ assassins. The second type, which were incredibly rare, were the types that were too powerful for the Seven Champion White Princes to justify spending their time on, such as Divine Moon Cult.

    Jiangnan was always a flourishing destination, so anyone who wanted to have a sessful career in the pugilistic world inevitably had to set foot in there. Consequently, besides the mostmonly seen folks of the pugilistic world, the majority of people striving for an enriched career in the pugilistic world were people who shed their affiliations and blended in with the so-called local vagrants.

    Vagrants, oftentimes considered people walking the tightrope betweenwful and uwful, were ssified as the grey, whereas the orthodox sects were white and unorthodox sects were ck. Vagrants were able to switch to any colour in any ce as circumstances necessitated.

    Bandits whomitted murder in cold blood at night could¡¯ve been the nicest people when the sun was out. One could legitimately say that they took the mantle of being antagonists who taught the newbies and kids of Jiangnan how to be ¡°unorthodox¡±. Due to them being everywhere and being able to adapt on the go, they also filled the void of criminals who weren¡¯t without any order.

    The majority of Jiangnan¡¯s gangs were at the mercy of the Seven Champion White Princes; however, they weren¡¯t limited to just Jiangnan. Whatever criminals did outside of Jiangnan, they virtually did, as well. The only difference was that the criminals in Jiangnan manufactured excusable excuses before they carried out their deeds.

    Including the criminals in the capital, the vagrants in Jiangnan had two faces ¨C a legitimate worker earning his keep during the day and aplete contrast at night. Rather than say ¡°pure white¡±, it was more appropriate to say that it was difficult to distinguish between ck and white since even their own kind in the capital were unlikely to be able to urately identify another. As a matter of fact, they probably had reached a point where they couldn¡¯t tell if the day version or night version of them was the real version of them.

    Ling Jin knew what they were capable of thanks to her background. The fact that they could¡¯ve asserted their influence in the capital proved that they had connections on both sides of thew. If luck was on her side, it was possible to capture Bu Xusan before Feng Jiutian did.

    Lian Hua had an abundance of informants in the capital and often used his underground connections, so he immediately set out to search for Bu Xusan as soon as he heard how much Bu Xusan was worth.Bu Xusan, who lodged at an inn, was spotted leaving and captured on the spot. Though he had subordinates apanying him, Lian Hua personally confronted Bu Xusan to be safe. Surprisingly, whether it was due to injury or illness, Bu Xusan was subdued in only a few exchanges. Ling Jin heard Bu Xusan wasn¡¯t a very formidable fighter, and she had personally witnessed Lian Hua¡¯s abilities, so if qinggong differences weren¡¯t ounted for, then Xu Busan wouldn¡¯t have been Lian Hua¡¯s match in a fair one-on-one fight.

    Fu Dalong was from another gang that seldom crossed paths with Lian Hua. Fu Dalong was also after the bounty on Bu Xusan¡¯s head. Regrettably, he was a step toote. Luckily, he saw what transpired, which was why he called Lian Hua to the pub for a negotiation. At the same time they met up, Fu Dalong instructed his subordinates to keep tabs on Bu Xusan and to steal Bu Xusan if the meeting went longer than the designated time.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the three trained individuals to reach Nine Heavens. They found the ce eerily silent. There wasn¡¯t even a footstep in earshot, let alone shouting and fighting. Concerned, Lian Hua leaped inside to find bodies strewn all over the ground. There were his subordinates and Fu Dalong¡¯s, but Bu Xusan was nowhere in sight.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for this!¡±

    When Fu Dalong arrived inside, Lian Hua flew into a fit of rage and swung his de at the former.

    <em>ng!</em>

    ¡°Miss, what is the meaning of this? Are you with this old scumbag?¡±

    Having blocked Lian Hua¡¯s attack for Fu Dalong, Ling Jin scoffed, ¡°If this was Elder Fu¡¯s work, he must have been in quite some mood.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°One person is responsible for all the casualties here. If Elder Fu was responsible, why did he attack even his own subordinates?¡±

    Lian Hua checked around and confirmed to himself that Ling Jin was right. Everyone was dropped using strong palm strikes delivered at an incredible speed. If Fu Dalong¡¯s subordinates were able to take Bu Xusan, then why did Fu Dalong¡¯s men take up almost half of the space?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Old man, you¡¯re the cause of this. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know anything. Who did you ask for help?¡±

    Fu Dalong used his internal energy to wake one of his subordinates.

    ¡°Big Bro, y-you are finally here!¡±

    Fu Dalong sent his younger brother on the job to ensure the mission¡¯s sess, never expecting his brother to be destroyed.

    ¡°Cut the crap. What happened? Who hurt you? ¡­ We aren¡¯t enemies with Lian n anymore. Just tell me.¡±

    After a big inhale, Fu Dalong¡¯s brother answered, ¡°It was Bu Xusan. He¡­ took out everyone here.¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap!¡± thundered Lian Hua, grabbing Fu Dalong¡¯s brother¡¯spel. ¡°Bu Xusan is a weakling. I singlehandedly crushed him when I captured him!¡±

    Fu Dalong pulled Lian Hua¡¯s grip off. ¡°He¡¯s this old one¡¯s biological younger brother. He wouldn¡¯t lie. You shouldn¡¯t vent on someone injured, Boss Lian.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and my brothers aren¡¯t hurt?¡±

    ¡°There really is no cure for stupidity,¡± slighted Ling Jin.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I said you¡¯re stupid,¡± repeated Ling Jin. ¡°If not, did you hear me say anything else?¡±

    ¡°Shut your hole,dy. How am I¡­¡± Lian Hua stopped himself when he realised that asking how he was stupid insinuated he was stupid to begin with.

    ¡°How are you stupid?¡± Ling Jin shook her head in disappointment. ¡°You¡¯ve been wary of Elder Fu and me, so you want to kick us out to then ask your brothers instead of saving them first. At the same time, you suspect Elder Fu of being responsible for this, so you can¡¯t let him leave. The internal conflict triggered you, so you want to fight him as a means of venting. You can¡¯t beat him without repercussions, though. Even if you did win, you wouldn¡¯t be able to revive your brothers or heal them, let alone re-capture Bu Xusan. Aren¡¯t you stupid if all you¡¯re thinking about in this situation is how to win an unwinnable fight?¡±

    Face beet red, Lian Hua responded, ¡°What do mean I can¡¯t win?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s assume you can beat Elder Fu. What if I join in?¡±

    Ling Jin¡¯s gaze suddenly turning into a piercing gaze sent a chill down Lian Hua¡¯s spine, prompting him to instinctively back off three steps and assume abat stance with his weapon. Once he settled, he realised that she never drew her sword. Being able to express a threat on par with a sword attack was a sign of being extremely advanced.

    Ling Jin frigidly told Fu Dalong¡¯s brother, ¡°If you told a single lie, I¡¯ll massacre your entire family.¡±

    Ling Jin learnt to deliver threats so threateningly from other criminals she encountered in the past.

    Fu Dalong was furious over the threat, but his brother responded, ¡°When we arrived, there was nobody outside any longer. We thought it was strange, but we heard someone here shout, ¡®Men!¡¯. We were worried that somebody had beaten us to the punch, so we stormed in, but there was only Bu Xusan here. I don¡¯t know if he was possessed or something, but he didn¡¯t seem to hear anyone and struck unbelievably fast¡­ I saw him move once, and then several of our brothers wen¡¯t down. Then I¡­ passed out.¡±

    Lian Hua couldn¡¯t say anything after hearing that.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t trust him, you can summon a doctor to check them all.¡±

    Ling Jin sounded bored, and rightfully so, because her original n to meet Bu Xusan, fight Lian Hua and Fu Dalong, then fight Feng Qizhi had just been ruined. s, Bu Xusan was missing, and Lian Hua and Fu Dalong were no longer in any head space to fight optimally. What was there for her to feel motivated about? She was just cold at this point, but hermanding tone that she usually spoke with came out as an order for them.

    After thinking it through, Lian Hua realised his brothers¡¯ wellbeing was the priority and went to fetch a doctor.

    Realising he underestimated Ling Jin, Fu Dalong queried, ¡°You want to see Bu Xusan, yet you are not interested in the bounty. What is it that you are after?¡±

    ¡°Simple. I have epted amission to kill him.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Is Zizi gone?¡± Ming Feizhen went looking for Zizi at Liu Shan Men while Shen Yiren was out during the day.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who told him to train?¡± grumbled Bai Lian.

    ¡°No. I didn¡¯t tell him to run around these next two days. He¡¯s injured, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but he healed unbelievably fast. As soon as he was able to stand, he left again.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Unknown pill really is effective¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you mumbling about?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I was going to take him out to expand his horizons, but I guess that¡¯s not happening today. I¡¯m going out for a stroll. Tell him to stay put and wait for me if hees back.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 77

    Book 15: Chapter 77

    Compared to his ¡°shifu¡±, Zizi had been experiencing atypical days ¨C if consuming unknown pills counted. The first time he smelt one, he was terrified. His shifu assured him that it had been tested on humans and guaranteed it was safe, but none of that assurance meant anything when his shifu wore a thick mask and used iron gloves when he delivered the pill. Moreover, the entire set of items was extracted from underground.

    It was said that unknown pill was the reason his shifu was feared. Despite questioning the safety of the pills, though, Zizi¡¯s desire to be as strong as his shifu was stronger than his fear. For the sake of obtaining the strength to protect his mother, he consumed the pill without hesitation. Only moments after consuming the pill, he saw thete Empress Dowager¡¯s cordial smile and friendly gesture. Luckily, his shifu saved him. He was touched when he saw his shifu¡¯srge silhouette and heard, ¡°I knew this untested dosage was too strong. Thank heavens he didn¡¯t croak on me.¡± Besides feeling touched, he also learnt how scary hostility felt.

    From then on, besides training, taking on life-and-death matches his shifu asionally took him to, his scariest challenge was figuring out how to consume unknown pills. At first, he pinched his nose so that he wouldn¡¯t pass out once he held one. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t enough to stop the taste that permeated inside his entire body once it came into contact with saliva. He had met Monkey King, Guan Yu, Buddha, and more legendary individuals after consuming the pills. Themon denominator in all the encounters was that he wouldn¡¯t have met them if he was alive. Even if he split the pills into smaller parts to consume, the effect didn¡¯t weaken. Hence, he decided he needed to just bite the pill and consume the pills in one shot. As a result, Zizi consumed an astounding number of unknown pills within a month. Compared to the version first concocted in the underground pce, the ones Zizi confirmed were a new and improved version.

    The life and death pill that was given to Tang Ye costed far more ingredients than before, so there weren¡¯t enough ingredients for a second one yet ¨C not that there was likely to be another Tang Ye willing to consume it. Ming Feizhen, therefore, turned his attention to upgrading the ordinary unknown pills. They were effective, but the stench was even worse than the ones handed out in the underground pce, yet Zizi managed to consume them for a month straight, leading to Ming Feizhen mistakenly wondering if Zizi liked them.

    Zizi discovered that he recovered from fatigue and pain exponentially faster subsequent to consuming unknown pills; even his internal energy upgraded noticeably faster. The mental demons he had to battle with while practicing Pure Yang One Qi also reduced considerably.

    Unknown pill didn¡¯t have the ability to get rid of mental demons; however, its smell and taste was so effective at making one alert that it was hard to not be aware of illusions. Plus, it was easier to progress when focus was sustained for longer. Zizi thought that the smell scared his demons off.

    After a month, Zizi was able to consume the pill without throwing up and only needed fifteen minutes to ovee the nausea. If Huang Yuzao knew about it, he¡¯d have let His Majesty know how much perseverance he had and how adaptable he was, and nobody would¡¯ve argued otherwise.

    Being the great mentor he was, Ming Feizhen took out two unknown pills from the same porcin bottle to reward the young Prince. ¡°Consume this one in the morning and this one at night. Of course, you can consume them in the reverse order if you prefer. They¡¯re the same thing.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±Zizi left Liu Shan Men in high spirits again today to seek out an opponent. He had lost to the same opponent every day in devastating fashion, but he¡¯d return the next day after spending the previous night analysing and seeking ways to counter. Yesterday, he was given a bunch of bruises on his face, but he was back for another round.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m here! ¡­ If you don¡¯te out, I¡¯m going in!¡±

    A boy with skin as white as a sheet stepped out faster than his appearance suggested was possible, but his breathing rhythm was noticeably abnormal. If it wasn¡¯t for the devilish vibe from him, the boy only three years older than Zizi would¡¯ve been the walking definition of a pretty boy. In a raspy voice, he disparaged, ¡°You want another beating, dummy?¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of you? If you¡¯re afraid, you can surrender now before I get started.¡±

    ¡°Me, scared of you?! You¡¯re calling me a coward when you¡¯re the one who ran off with his face rearranged? Come closer if you dare!¡±

    ¡°Would I be here if I didn¡¯t dare to? I already dismantled those shabby techniques of yours.¡±

    ¡°All right, tough guy, I¡¯ll make sure you leave as a corpse today.¡±

    ¡°Bring it on!¡±

    Zizi lunged forward and started off with Mindless Twenty-five Techniques, the set of techniques he didn¡¯t have anyone to practice on before. Although he couldn¡¯t beat the boy, their fights helped him polish the techniques, so he never lost motivation to further evolve them.

    The boy was able toe up with a new technique every time he ran out of defensive techniques. While he did fight violently, he spared Zizi¡¯s life whenever he was able to deliver the final blow. He was superior enough to ovee the surprise element of Pure Yang One Qi.

    Whenever they fought, it went for two to four hours. They had to deal with real injuries and fought for real, but both of them felt more joy from the fighting than anything else. Of course, Zizi also enjoyed the learning process of polishing his Pure Yang One Qi and Mindless Twenty-five Techniques. Whenever Zizi couldn¡¯t activate Pure Yang One Qi and almost entered qi deviation, the boy would stop and wait whilst chiding Zizi about things that inspired new ideas that helped Zizi mitigate the issues.

    Due to the nature of Pure Yang One Qi not being suited for protracted battles, Zizi should¡¯ve been shut out before four hours passed. Thanks to his prolonged consumption of unknown pills, however, that time limit was no longer an issue. Fatigue and pain also didn¡¯t feel as debilitating as in the past. Rather than hurting due to injuries, injuries spurred on his fighting spirit, forcing his opponent to retaliate more vigorously, which resulted in Zizi getting hurt worser and worser.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The first time the boy beat the blood out of Zizi¡¯s mouth, he was shocked. On the other hand, Zizi refused to quit. Instead, he goaded his opponent into fighting more ruthlessly. When the boy tried to kick him, Zizi was able to jump out of the way and recalibrate his breathing despite him still bleeding. Since Zizi wouldn¡¯t go down no matter what, the boy kept upping the ante. The boy was surprised when Zizi would return the next day without any damage and even have new techniques to counter the techniques he previously had no answer to.

    After having six techniques from yesterday dismantled, the boy simpered. ¡°Asking for adults¡¯ advice, you¡¯re shameless!¡±

    ¡°When did I ever ask for help from adults? I haven¡¯t even told Shifu about these fights. You¡¯d already be dead if he found out.¡±

    ¡°Who gives a toss about your shifu. How could you dismantle my Soulstealing Six Sword Techniques if an adult didn¡¯t help you?¡±

    Zizi smiled. ¡°That¡¯s an arrogant name for something that¡¯s useless. It took me only one night toe up with counters. You should rename it to something more befitting.¡±

    ¡°Befitting what?¡±

    ¡°How useless it is, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°All right, you asked for it!¡±

    The next time the youth attacked using his fingers as a recement for a sword, there were signs of a gale starting up each time he swung his arm alongside heat energy. Zizi didn¡¯tprehend how difficult it was to pull it off. Nheless, it wasn¡¯t half as scary as unknown pills, so he wasn¡¯t intimidated.

    Like yesterday, Zizi lost again today and was covered in new wounds.

    With some beads of sweat on his forehead, the smiling boy asked, ¡°ept defeat yet? I won again.¡±

    Zizi aerated his cheeks. ¡°No. Far from it. You used new techniques again.¡±

    ¡°Not my fault I can. Howe you refuse to ept defeat? Hahaha. How¡¯s your progress with the knife throwing techniques I taught you?¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C PrologueApril 2, 2017In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 4 Ch. 29June 20, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 53September 14, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 78

    Book 15: Chapter 78

    ¡°What? You forgot what I taught you in Luoyang?¡± Since Zizi didn¡¯t respond, the boy added, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about if you forgot. Beg me, and I¡¯ll teach you again.¡±

    Zizi¡¯s injuries were lightpared to previous times; it only took him a few breaths to catch his breath. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill again.¡±

    ¡°Coward. It¡¯s been ages, yet you still whine about it.¡±

    Zizi wore on a straight face. ¡°It has nothing to do with cowardice. If he wasn¡¯t a bad guy, I wouldn¡¯t have attacked him. If he didn¡¯t try to kill you, I wouldn¡¯t have identally killed him.¡±

    Though neither of the two who met in Luoyang and went through a lot together wanted to admit it, they mutually considered each other close friends. The boy didn¡¯t like to interact with outsiders, keeping either to himself or interacting with people in the pugilistic world. After he heard someone young had recently arrived in the capital and done so well for himself that there was a bounty on his head that nobody could im, the boy thought of Zizi, so he dropped in to the capital in search of Zizi. Their friendship blossomed from an exchange of blows. When they met, they¡¯d only exchange a few words before they started throwing hands.

    ¡°Hahaha, I like that about you, or I wouldn¡¯t have epted you when I¡¯m a loner or came here to visit you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your approval.¡± Zizi was fond of debating with the boy who liked to aim for one¡¯s figurative jugr. ¡°If I can¡¯t beat you after all the times you¡¯ve beat me, how can I call myself a man? You won¡¯t be able to find me once I beat you.¡±

    The boy pulled his brows together. ¡°Those are your words, not mine! I¡¯ll leave now, and you can forget about seeing me ever again.¡±

    Zizi, surprised that the boy would get angry over his casual remark, grabbed his friend. ¡°Hey, hey, hey, why are you so petty? I was joking?¡± He took out an object from his sash and said, ¡°Take a look at this.¡±The owner of the vtile temperament was the type to charge head first into things over a single word or to kill someone over a single word. The object turned his sour mood around in the opposite direction. ¡°You forged a throwing knife?! Let me see!¡±

    He knew that Zizi¡¯s weaponry skills were ordinary and that his only strength was the boxing discipline he had recently learnt. The throwing knife skills were the skills the boy imparted, which showed that Zizi had diligently practiced the skills despiteining about them being violent.

    Scrutinising the knife he took off Zizi, the boy expressed, ¡°Wow, this is awesome. Where did you get it from? This is better than gold. You could buy over a dozen mansions in the capital to pay for the materials and craftsmanship. Where did you steal it from? Why wasn¡¯t I invited?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®steal¡¯? Shifu gave it to me. I didn¡¯t know it¡¯s worth so much¡­ That¡¯s unlike Shifu.¡± Zizi rubbed his chin.

    Twirling the knife around his hand and between his fingers, the boyplimented, ¡°This really is an awesome knife. Your shifu treats you well.¡± The boy was a fan of ded weapons, and he had knowledge in forging weapons, so he couldn¡¯t get sick of ying with the knife.

    Zizi was happy to see his friend like the knife. As a Prince, nobody in the pce dared to befriend him as a friend. As there was a big age gap between him and his brothers, his brothers treated him as thin air. Bai Lian and his shifu were nice to him, but there was also a big age gap between them, so he felt lonely. To have a friend around his age was something worth celebrating for him. He was always happy to see the boy; winning and losing was secondary. Being able to have verbal contests and talk about topics they were both passionate about was an experience he never had prior.

    ¡°You can have the knife.¡±

    The boy froze for a second, then smirked. ¡°You suffer because of your mouth. I¡¯m not going to act polite just because you want to act generous. Mine now.¡± The boy spun around and took off metres away with the knife, shing a corner of his white pearls as he showed his empty hands. ¡°Your shifu is going to punish you for losing the knife. It¡¯s toote to ask for it back now.¡±

    Truthfully, the boy just wanted to see Zizi lose hisposure.

    Zizi nodded brightly. ¡°Mm, take it.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m really going to take it.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. I said I was giving it to you.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re not worried about your shifu scolding you?¡±

    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t mind something so trivial. Even if he does scold me, so be it. I¡¯ll just have to bear with it. If I wasn¡¯t aware you like throwing knives, then I can live with it, but I can¡¯t deprive you when I do know the fact, or I wouldn¡¯t be a friend, right?¡±

    The boy stared at Zizi until moist crystals formed in the corners of his eyes for some reason. It was the first time Zizi saw that side of him.

    ¡°Why are you¡­¡±

    The boy wiped his tears before Zizi got to finish and then walked up to Zizi. By the time they were close again, the boy looked smug again.

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ve yed with so many weapons that I could never finish listing! I don¡¯t need this scrap iron. Here!¡± The boy threw the knife, sending it straight back into Zizi¡¯s sash without scratching thetter, and then sat down.

    Knowing his friend¡¯s character, Zizi sat down, too.

    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t cry.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It doesn¡¯t count if it doesn¡¯t leave your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t see anything if anything spilt, so it doesn¡¯t count.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± As Zizi¡¯s unofficial martial arts instructor, it would¡¯ve been embarrassing to cry in front of his unofficial disciple. ¡°When I cr-, didn¡¯t cry, I was reminded of father and elder brother.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not nice to you?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. I¡¯m the son of a concubine, so my elder brothers have always bullied me, and my father has never cared about me. My father has always forbade me from this and that. If I cried, it was my problem. If Iughed, it was my joy. I had to obey him in every facet. Nobody ever thought about sharing nice things with me.¡±

    Zizi didn¡¯t expect to hear his friend sound emotional when thetter seemed to look down on everyone. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if they don¡¯t trust you well. We need to treat ourselves well.¡±

    ¡°You have a father and brothers who aren¡¯t nice to you, too?¡±

    ¡°My father¡­ doesn¡¯t treat me badly. My elder brothers, however, see me as a bud that needs to be nipped, viewing me as some sort ofpetitor for their inheritance.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you often wandered about alone in Luoyang?¡±

    Zizi went red in the face. ¡°I just wanted some peace and quiet.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get arrogant. I didn¡¯t use any throwing knife techniques in our fight. I¡¯ve been improving significantly. I can take you out on first go now.¡±

    ¡°Try me! I¡¯lly you out!¡± Of course, Zizi wasn¡¯t going to actually fight when he was bruised and battered. ¡°I¡¯ll give you today to rest and prepare for tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d say that. If you can¡¯t fight, have an extra day off. You aren¡¯t much to begin with, so you¡¯ll be useless if you cripple something.¡± The boy sat back down and stretched out before lying back. ¡°Your boxing discipline is bizarre. It looks mindless, but you keep pulling out new techniques. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. You¡¯ll have more techniques than me at the current rate, and I¡¯ll have to stop pulling punches.¡±

    ¡°So I¡¯ll be able to beat you?¡±

    ¡°You wish. It¡¯s good enough to beat some street thugs, but you¡¯ll be begging for your life against someone truly skilled. Beggars Sect¡¯s Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms consists of only eighteen palm techniques that are enough to obliterate your endless vault of techniques.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that amazing?¡±

    ¡°Anything part of the Three Fists Five Palms are. That said, my dad said Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms is no longer as revered as it formerly was, mainly because of how difficult it is to master it. Despite how many skilled leaders they¡¯ve had, none of them have truly reached the apex of the discipline, bringing down its reputation. Once upon a time, it was considered on par with Shaolin¡¯s Yijin Jing and Marrow Cleansing.¡±

    Ziziughed hysterically at his friend imitating his father¡¯s tone. Once Zizi was done, the boy asserted, ¡°One day, I¡¯ll be aplished in my own right. My father will no longer be able to boss me around. I want the world to respect me.¡±

    Zizi sighed. ¡°I just want to live a peaceful life and be able to protect my mother from harm.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 57September 19, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 38August 28, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 79

    Book 15: Chapter 79

    Zizi sighed.

    ¡°How can you think like that? Zi, how old are you now?¡±

    ¡°My nominal age is fourteen.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re thirteen?¡± The boy crossed his legs and grabbed onto them. ¡°You¡¯re like an old man in a kid¡¯s body. Although you¡¯re a terrible martial artist at the moment, there¡¯s hope. How are you supposed to protect your mother when you¡¯re so soft? How about adventuring with me and making our mark? It¡¯s far better than strictly walking between the lines.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t strictly walk between the lines, do I?¡±

    Despite the diverse personalities of the seven Princes, walking between the lines was one trait that none of them embodied. Thirteen-year-old Zizi believed in a constable at Liu Shan Men to teach him martial arts and mindlessly befriended people in the pugilistic world. Not even the other Princes went so off the rails as kids. In saying that, Zizi would¡¯ve been considered a greenhornpared to scions of martial arts families.

    ¡°Are my skills really that lousy?¡±

    ¡°Lousy isn¡¯t exactly the right word. It¡¯s more that¡­ you use them poorly.¡±

    The boy mimicked one of Zizi¡¯s techniques, switching swiftly between finger spears and punches on one hand, recreating their fight earlier. Not only was he able to replicate Zizi¡¯s power, pace of y, but even the essence. Zizi was always proud of himself for being able toe up with counters overnight, and the two often liked to debate it. Only now did Zizi learn the boy remembered everything he saw and could virtually learn the mental cultivation just through watching. In other words, the boy had always been holding back.Zizi pped. ¡°How did you do that?!¡±

    ¡°This is nothing.¡± The boy flipped a hand over and switched to a new technique from Zizi¡¯s discipline that not even thetter had seen or utilised before.

    ¡°I never thought of those techniques, but they seem to be my techniques. How did you perform them?¡±

    The boy retracted his arms and crossed them again. Smiling, he replied, ¡°This discipline of yours focuses primarily on being impulsive. Your techniques are alive and evolving, so why can¡¯t you be as flexible? I can deduce dozens of your techniques based on your mindset alone.¡±

    Zizi mulled over it for a while before realising the importance of those words. ¡°How do you know my mental cultivation?¡±

    ¡°Well, guess you¡¯re not incorrigibly stupid if you thought of that now. It¡¯s weird to you, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s my n¡¯s copy technique that allows us to dissect someone¡¯s techniques and copy them. We deduce the essence of their mental cultivation inbat and then make a copy for ourselves to deduce and replicate.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you can learn every discipline in existence.¡±

    ¡°As if. Plus, I don¡¯t seed every time. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that impressive, while my father and brother treat it as some sort of sacred treasure. If you run into an elite who you can¡¯t copy properly, using this discipline will be your undoing.¡±

    ¡°So how¡­¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Check this out.¡±

    Zizi found himself on his back by the time he heard ¡°out¡±. When he sprung up, he had red hand mark on his forehead. ¡°What the heck?! You sneak attacked me!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you defend?¡±

    ¡°How can I defend against something so fast?¡±

    ¡°My point exactly. If yin qi was added to it, it¡¯d be even harder to detect the strike. What good is it if you can copy a technique when the original user is faster and stronger than you can keep up with? If you¡¯re outmatched, you should be trying to escape, not copying techniques.¡±

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s impressive. You¡¯ll be ableprehend whatever dirty tricks people try, so they won¡¯t be able to catch you unprepared.¡±

    ¡°Praise me more.¡± The boy always appreciated adtion. At most, his ego would pull his chin upwards by the third word of praise. The fact that someone who refused to surrender to him before praised him made it even a bigger ego stroke.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The boy quickly recovered and sighed. ¡°Still, I¡¯m likely far from your shifu.¡±

    While the boy was able to replicate Zizi¡¯s techniques, itcked the casual intent it required, so it wasn¡¯t as speedy.

    ¡°I¡¯m able to copy your techniques because you haven¡¯t achieved mastery and are clumsy. That¡¯s the best I can do with my copy. If your shifu was to use the same techniques, it¡¯d probably be too sophisticated for me to copy.¡±

    ¡°Is the gap really that big?¡±

    ¡°Any true elite would have their mental cultivationmitted to heart. Like I said, the intent behind your disciple is to be casual, which, simply put, is to be shameless. It¡¯s indifference to circumstances; it contains moments where youmit fully to offence. It looks like a mess, but it embodies the spirit of doing whatever you want. How powerful does someone need to be to be able to do as they please, when they please, and how they please? If your shifu has achieved that state, I can¡¯t match him.¡±

    Zizi nodded in agreement. While Zizi wasn¡¯t sure why his shifu didn¡¯t want to reveal his true skills, it wasn¡¯t an umon trait for adepts in the martial world, so Zizi didn¡¯t think it was bizarre.

    ¡°Your personality doesn¡¯t match this discipline. It¡¯s working for you now, but you¡¯ll need a disciple more suited for your character if you want to advance to higher levels.¡±

    Just as Zizi went to voice his agreement, the boy physically hushed him. Zizi did as he was told, but he grew annoyed since he didn¡¯t hear anything. Eventually, he picked up on footsteps in the distance before a dozen-plus people passed by.

    The boy simpered. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching them for a few days. The way they behave sneakily tells me they¡¯re up to no good.¡±

    Zizi thought it was unbelievable until a certain individual came into view. ¡°S-Second Brother?¡±

    Zizi¡¯s second brother was none other than the individual best known as Orange Prince.

    ¡°Your second brother? Which one?¡± The boy followed Zizi¡¯s finger, then sneered. ¡°He looks good, but his face tells me he¡¯s a backstabber.¡±

    Sweating, Zizi cleared his throat. ¡°My second brother shouldn¡¯t be in the capital.¡±

    Once the group vanished, the boy said, ¡°Let¡¯s tail them.¡±

    After he had a think, Zizi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯ste. I need to head home.¡±

    ¡°So what if you don¡¯t go home? It¡¯s suffocating in the capital. Why would you pass up a rare opportunity to have some fun? Let¡¯s go already.¡± The boy bolted off.

    Chasing after his friend, Zizi cried in a low voice, ¡°Bu, wait up!¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Pace of y ¨C It¡¯s a term I borrow from baseball. It¡¯s a concept that refers to the interval between action. To draw the parallel withbat, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Sean O Mally are excellent at this. Both of them check the clock during rounds to decide if they want to push the pace or slow the pace, whether it¡¯s through disposition feints, holding, breaking their opponent¡¯s base and so forth. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 80

    Book 15: Chapter 80Sorry! This entire content is hidden since it is only for my backers at Patreon. Why not take this chance to be my Patron? To view this content, you must be a member of <b>Wu Jizun''s Patreon at $1 </b> or more Unlock with Patreon Already a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to ess this content.

 Book 15: Chapter 81

    Book 15: Chapter 81

    Fu Dalong held his hands up in a propitious salute. ¡°Do you have any proof that Bu Xusan is nearby?¡°

    Ming Feizhen responded, ¡°You are a wise man, Elder, but you need to do something about yourziness. Do you need proof for a few steps?¡±

    Fu Dalong had no response, while Lian Hua cracked up.

    ¡°Old man, your paranoia has finally met its match. Hey, punk, can you really find Bu Xusan?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°You are quite the man yourself, Boss Lian. Judging from how calm you are, life must be so great that the bounty is not worth your time.¡±

    Lian Hua was about to fly off the handle, but Fu Dalong stopped him and asked, ¡°Brother Ming, do you really have a clue?¡±

    ¡°Whether I have a clue or not, and whether or not he is nearby can be determined in just a short walk. What is the point of these questions?¡± Ming Feizhen headed to the backyard.

    Ling Jin¡¯s braingged for a moment before she followed after Ming Feizhen.

    Lian Hua: ¡°Fine. He¡¯s gone anyway, so the bounty is gone. Might as well make the trip with you.¡±Fu Dalong followed along without ament.

    Walking besides Ming Feizhen and in front of the other two, Ling Jin queried, ¡°Do you really have a clue?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Are you just taking us for a stroll?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I have a preference for surrounding and then conquering. That¡¯s why I checked out the surroundings when I first arrived. There¡¯s nothing worth further examination.¡±

    ¡°Bu Xusan is known for his qinggong. Isn¡¯t it normal that he didn¡¯t leave any traces?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Under normal circumstances, yes, but we are not under normal circumstances.¡± Lowering his voice, Ming Feizhen added, ¡°Have you forgotten what condition Bu Xusan is in?¡±

    Ling Jin stopped to think, then eximed, ¡°He¡¯s been poisoned?¡±

    ¡°He is trying to flee whilst injured and poisoned, yet he is supposed to jump over the walls like always without anyone catching on. Boss Lian could¡¯ve caught him or ignored him. To be sure, I checked the injuries of the injured personnel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡­¡±

    Ling Jin changed her opinion of Ming Feizhen, who showed no career-driven attitude, desire to train, or any trait of being adept. She now believed he established himself at Liu Shan Men as apetent detective. In saying that, her standards for martial artists were high, so that was just a ¡°wow¡± level.

    ¡°They were injured by a sword, not palm strikes.¡±

    ¡°A sword?¡± The mere mention of the word ¡°sword¡± was enough to get Ling Jin¡¯s attention. ¡°Is he good at swordy?¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded after thinking about it. ¡°To use just one¡¯s fingers as a sword and cut internally without damaging the target¡¯s skin, creating the impression that the target merely suffered internal injuries is indicative of a first-rate swordsman.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nobody could¡¯ve been certain what Ling Jin¡¯s ¡°okay¡± or her excitement signified for her, but it was pretty much certain that Bu Xusan was going to have an unfortunate experience.

    ¡°Rx. Have you forgotten why I checked their injuries?¡±

    ¡°Oh, true. What did you find?¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s minor, every single one of them have been poisoned.¡±

    ¡°So Xu Busan is poisoned. We were right¡­ By the way, where were you? Also, how did you find us?¡±

    In a loud voice, Ming Feizhen suddenly said, ¡°He¡¯s hurt bad. He won¡¯t be able to go too far.¡±

    Lian Hua grouched, ¡°You¡¯ve been turning and turning. This is a residential zone. You believe he¡¯d hide here? He left long ago. Where is he?¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked over his shoulder at Lian Hua and chortled. ¡°What can you do even if you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll rip him apart with my hands when I find him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure Elder Fu would let you have your way. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d capture Bu Xusan first.¡±

    ¡°Mind what you say! Say what you want, but don¡¯t drag this old one down. Brother Ming, we have been walking for a long time. Where is Bu Xusan?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?!¡± thundered Lian Hua. ¡°You¡¯re saying you don¡¯t know after all this walking?!¡±

    Fu Dalong started to look mad, too. Ling Jin nked out.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t. You need to ask him,¡± he said as he pulled open the door to a resident¡¯s home.

    Due to the element of surprise, the person on the other door immediately entered a vignt state and disyed aggression. The brief reaction was a sign to the three that they had found the right spot.

    ¡°So you were hiding here! Let¡¯s see where you can run to now!¡± shouted Lian Hua.

    The fact that there was no light in the house was a sign that he wanted to deceive people into thinking there was nobody home. There was no telling if the blood stains on the clothing of the person with their hair covering their face at the table belonged to him or someone else. As soon as he saw the four intruders, he let out a shrill.

    ¡°What¡¯s his problem?¡± questioned Ling Jin, gripping her sword. ¡°Lian Hua, is he Bu Xusan? Was this how he was when you caught him?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ is, but when I caught him, he was more¡­ like a human.¡±

    As opposed to standing on a stool, Bu Xusan crouched atop it. When he opened his mouth, his teeth were was sharp as some beast¡¯s.

    ¡°The jade piece is that poisonous?¡± muttered Ling Jin.

    Smiling, Ming Feizhen warned, ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted. Finding him and winning are two different things.¡±

    Following a roar, Lian Hua was stered to the opposite wall before he could react, while Bu Xusan, with blood on the tips of his teeth, reced him where he stood a split second ago.

    Fu Dalong made a move straight away afterwards. Fu Dalong was a specialist at countering, yet he was out of breath in less than twenty exchanges against his younger opponent who only used one hand against him. Bu Xusanughed hysterically, then uncorked a palm strike. Despite Fu Dalong shielding himself with both arms, he still went reeling over ten metres.

    Bu Xusan subsequently turned his attention to Ling Jin and Ming Feizhen. This time, though, Bu Xusan experienced a different feeling. For a moment, he felt he was the prey. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 80October 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 97November 22, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 76October 11, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 82

    Book 15: Chapter 82

    Ling Jin thrust towards Bu Xusan¡¯s throat without hesitation. Thenky thief ducked under her sword with his arms mped down by his side. As she learnt her martial arts underneath a waterfall, her Flying Thrust was different to others and was her most polished skill. Before her sword made contact, she had fired a drizzle of sword qi from it, reducing her target¡¯s movement options.

    Due to the effects of the poison, Bu Xusan was able to contort his body beyond human limits to dodge the barrage of sword qi and main thrust. As soon as he was out of danger, he sprung at her with his w-like fingers, generating a vacuum that could cutparably to a burst of des if the borders were touched. Ling Jin held her breath as she froze in ce.

    ¡°Tang n¡¯s Dark Sword Prison?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dead!¡± Bu Xusan charged towards Ming Feizhen for calling out his swordy origin with more aggression than he charged at Ling Jin with. Every inch of the floor beneath him split as he crossed it.

    ¡°Perfect timing!¡± From a not-eight not-nail stance, Ming Feizhen shifted two steps forward, two steps back,terally, and then slipped to the side. At the same time, he took out a banana from his shirt and stabbed at the sword prison that passed by. The sword prison cleanly peeled the banana peel without shaving any of the banana itself.

    ¡°As expected.¡±

    Compared to Bai Ju¡¯s tornadoes, Bu Xusan¡¯s was child¡¯s y. However, if Ming Feizhen stabbed Bai Ju¡¯s tornado with a banana, he¡¯d lose half of his banana, and it¡¯d look hideous. Bai Ju actually copped a few beatings over those, which motivated him to improve his control of his true qi in order to peel bananas properly for Lord San Shen.

    After taking a bite out of his banana, Ming Feizhen shut his eyes and praised, ¡°You¡¯re the best banana peeler I¡¯ve ever met!¡±

    For a moment Bu Xusan was stupefied.¡°Is this the right time for eating a banana?! Back off!¡± Ling Jin yelled.

    Ling Jin fell back on her best skill since she had no alternative for dismantling Dark Sword Prison on the spot. Even though ten des sliced her as her sword grazed against the border of Bu Xusan¡¯s sword prison, she was able to force her de through and reach for Bu Xusan¡¯s skull.

    The man with hair covering his face roared as he grabbed a random chair to smash into Ling Jin¡¯s sword. The impact that induced nausea prompted her to disengage. Bu Xusan threw the shattered chair to the ground, then roared again as he cracked the ground with his head, creating a veil of dust. As he was unable to control the tremendous power inside him, his eyes turned golden.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen, get back!¡± warned Ling Jin.

    ¡°Sure, I was hungry anyway. I¡¯m going to go buy a cake. Let me know once you¡¯re done.¡± Ming Feizhen walked off without a care for all the sounds behind him.

    As a man of his word, Ming Feizhen bought twenty cakes from a hawker on the street to eat then and there. He was mid-thought when he started looking around and then tried to run, only for someone to grab his shoulder.

    ¡°What are you running for? Would I eat you or something?¡°

    Ming Feizhen sighed. ¡°If you did, I¡¯d arrest you to get you off my back. Long Zaitian, aren¡¯t you supposed to be at the barrack outside the capital? What are you back in the capital for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing something while I¡¯m providing a debrief, happy?¡±

    ¡°Okay, take your time. I won¡¯t get in your way.¡±

    ¡°Get back! I¡¯m looking for you to do it. I¡¯ve made a reservation at the restaurant¡¯s VIP spot. Follow me.¡±

    ¡°Sure, you¡¯re paying even if I¡¯m eating des.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. Let¡¯s go, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°After you, Brother Long.¡±

    Once the wine and two tes of peanuts were served up, Long Zaitian instantly got to talking. After hearing him out, Ming Feizhen was so speechless that he nearly forgot to swallow the peanuts.

    ¡°Brother Cheng¡­ is revolting again?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. There¡¯s no proof that His H-, he is responsible. I just can¡¯t deal with him. It¡¯s been less than two months since he joined the barrack, yet there have already been three revolts in that timespan.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nearly lost his liquor. ¡°We just received word yesterday that there have been two riots. There¡¯s a third one already?¡±

    ¡°Today was fine. There was a small riot before the first one, but it wasn¡¯t reported because it ended without any consequences.¡±

    ¡°What consequence was there supposed to be?¡±

    ¡°All the month¡¯s rations being burnt.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t help sting alcohol from his mouth this time. ¡°That¡¯s not enough to report?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t!¡± Subsequently, Long Zaitian softened his volume. ¡°That¡¯s the death penalty. If the superiors find out, how many people will lose their heads? The general is having a headache over preparing supplies at the moment. He¡¯ll even have to sell all his assets if that¡¯s what it takes to cover for the losses. The soldiers starving is thest of his concerns.¡±

    ¡°Never knew you were so reasonable.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be. Problem is, His H-, he is in the barrack and is involved with this.¡±

    ¡°So you can¡¯t file a report because you need to protect him. He¡¯s amoner, though. What are you fretting for? Oh, you¡¯re worried about Her Majesty, yeah? Wait, you¡¯re not just concerned about dragging him down; you¡¯re basically sheltering him. Didn¡¯t you sell him out? Oh, I get it. He joined the barrack, and His Majesty dispatched you there. In other words, His Majesty is entrusting him to you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty clever, huh? Like me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t insult me. Get to the point. What do you want.¡±

    Long Zaitian had a drink before responding, ¡°I only turned to you because I have no choice. Sending me to the barrack is like sending a man among men to the castration room.¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap. Get to the point, bbermouth.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Long Zaitian let out a big exhale. ¡°I was once one of the most handsome men alive, the guardian beside the dragon. A momentarypse of judgement caused me to drown a dragon¡­ and nted the seeds of destruction. Thankfully, His Majesty was willing to continue trusting me. How could I let down such a great man? The man in the barrack, however, is not one man I can report. It has only been a short time, yet there has been a plethora of problems. If I continue getting involved, my whole family may be exterminated, while he¡¯ll still beughing. How can I let His Majesty down, though?¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why you came to me?¡±

    ¡°I thought of you.¡± Long Zaitian draped his arm over Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Brother Ming, I know you¡¯re a man who cherishes the brotherhood, are handsome, and most importantly, it was Liu Shan Men who foiled his ns.¡±

    ¡°Stop. You were just a good spy.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so modest. My point is, His Majesty entrusted him to me, not you. You won¡¯t help him, so how about¡­¡±

    ¡°Put him in his ce?¡±

    ¡°Sh!¡± Long Zaitian frantically looked around. ¡°No. Just help me stop him for a while. You¡¯re a professional at this.¡±

    ¡°¡­ He is a Prince at the end of the day. Going after him is¡­¡±

    Who in their right mind would want the trouble? So, of course Long Zaitian was ready to handle objections.

    ¡°As long as you agree to lend a hand, I promise to never bother Miss Shen again.¡±

    ¡°Your words, not mine! No going back on your word!¡±

    ¡°A man¡¯s word!¡±

    ¡°Is worth pork shoulders!¡±

    Ming Feizhen and Long Zaitian: ¡°Deal!¡±

    The two of them continued chatting away, sharing information to help Ming Feizhen. Long Zaitian proved himself to be a truly elite brown noser.

    Out of nowhere, Ming Feizhen frowned and remarked, ¡°Oh damn.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I think I forgot something¡­ I was in the middle of a fight. Brother Long, stay in touch. I¡¯m going to get moving first.¡±

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re leaving? I will pay the bill. Hey, slow down. Hey! Hey! ¡­ How did he know I was going to dine and dash? He truly is adept at shamelessness. Looks like this deal is worth it.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Tsk, tsk¡­ How sad¡­¡± Ming Feizhen could tell what the oue was based on the fact that the proud swordswoman was lying unconscious on the ground, battered, cut, and breathing faintly. ¡°Hey, you dead?¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t tap her awake. Her internal injuries were bad, but not fatal. The most troubling part was that she was also poisoned now ¨C quite heavily, too. More than likely, she forced Bu Xusan¡¯s hand with her extraordinary swordy. If Ming Feizhen left her there, her death was inevitable.

    Ming Feizhen hoisted Ling Jin onto his shoulder, causing her skin in certain ces to be revealed due to her the new holes in her clothing, so he threw a coat over her. As he headed to an inn, he remarked, ¡°Now this development is getting more and more interesting. Don¡¯t let me down now.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 7.5 Ch. 11March 2, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 83November 29, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 83

    Book 15: Chapter 83

    From the moment Ming Feizhen caught the smell, he knew Six Evils¡¯ blood was involved. The blood of any of the six cmitous beasts was more than something people could handle. Bu Xusan had Nirvana¡¯s power in him. Ming Feizhen sensed a simr presence in Nanjiang¡¯s unique wood, but it was nowhere as prominent as what Bu Xusan exuded. That was why he rushed back to the scene. He could¡¯ve let Bu Xusan escape, but he couldn¡¯t afford to let Ling Jin escape, not because he had a thing for her or something, but because she had quite the amount of poison on her, and the poison acted as a tracking tool.

    The time Mount Daluo spent wrestling with the Fengpeng and Colossal Chaofeng granted them more knowledge than anyone else on Six Evils. Howbeit, the dragon and phoenix were shrouded in mystery even for them. Thetest record of Pangu¡¯s power before Ming Feizhen¡¯s fight dated back to Mount Daluo¡¯s first generation, when their ancestors had yet to peak. Because Mount Daluo fought Pangu in a group setting back then, there wasn¡¯t a lot of reliable and urate information from them besides knowing of Pangu¡¯s pridefulness,ziness, andck of desire to kill despite enjoyingbat. The rest was on the border of fiction, yet they were still considered the authority on Pangu.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s fight against Pangu was a breakthrough in knowledge as he expanded their knowledge on Pangu and confirmed, corrected ¨C as well as ruled out ¨C what Mount Daluo¡¯s ancestors recorded. That was the reason Ming Suwen had to personally return to Mount Daluo and pass on the new knowledge.

    As for Nirvana, Mount Daluo never knew much besides its self-healing capacity, self-resurrection ability, and that it had shown itself a few times throughout the course of history. Setting up Nirvana and Pangu to fight each other, causing Nirvana to be immobilised was a clever strategy. Howbeit, the details of Nirvana¡¯sbat and reproductive abilities were a mystery. The one thing Ming Feizhen knew without a shadow of doubt was that anyone or anything that could¡¯ve rivalled Pangu in a one-on-one contest was a monster. Hence, he needed more information on Nirvana.

    Ling Jin had just enough of Nirvana¡¯s poison in her for analysis. The difficulty of preserving of it came down to two things: the drug it was stored in and directly storing it.

    Ming Huayu made the liquid drug after studying the Fengpeng inside Ming Feizhen and then dumped it in his disciple¡¯sp since he found it a hassle. Therefore, Ming Feizhen was able to concoct it perfectly even with his eyes shut.

    A hot mist swirled up from the wooden tub once the liquid drug was poured in. Directly storing it meant that it needed to be transferred to the drug without clothing soaking up any of it once it was expelled, or they¡¯d lose some of it.

    It didn¡¯t matter how scary it looked to Ming Feizhen, who was determined to find out more about Nirvana.

    ***Water crashed down onto the boulders, sshing in every direction. The contrast between a water dragon descending and the small droplets akin to drizzle hitting her face was a sound that Ling Jin was fond of.

    The days of training her swordy were some of Ling Jin¡¯s favourite days for human rtionships were simple back then. She became acquainted with a number of respectable female warriors in the pugilistic world, and the otherdies of the Seven Jade Goddesses were all respectable in their own rights, but no moment was as awkward as the moment she woke up.

    Suffering a defeat at Bu Xusan¡¯s hands didn¡¯t bother Ling Jin. As long as she lived to fight another day, she had the opportunity to right her wrongs. If it were up to her, she would¡¯ve started reviewing the match as soon as shee to. Unfortunately, it was hard to do so from Ming Feizhen¡¯s shoulder in public. He had her draped over one shoulder, his hand across her bottom, and he was walking in public as if he was parading he caught a woman. As someone who cared for her reputation, Ling Jin wasn¡¯t going to reveal that she had woken up.

    Ling Jin¡¯s n was to quickly find a ce to recover once she returned to her room, but she discovered that she ended up in Ming Feizhen¡¯s room. If he harboured ill will towards her, she was going to retaliate straight away. Instead, though, he was busy with other stuff as soon as they returned to his room at the inn, and he never spared her a nce. A whileter, she picked up the scent of a medicine, which she assumed was to treat her wounds. She felt apologetic for suspecting him, but that made it harder for her to reveal she was awake, lest he realise that she was awake by the time they were on the streets. In regards to that predicament of hers, she nned to take it to the grave. Consequently, waiting for him to leave was her only option.

    Out of nowhere, Ming Feizhen started unbuttoning her, almost getting himself kicked in the nutsack. Ling Jin inwardly told herself that he was removing her clothing so that he could nurse her wounds, so she shouldn¡¯t have faulted him. Next thing she knew, her outer garment was tossed aside, and her inner garment was pulled below her shoulders with no sign of stopping.

    ¡°Ming Feizhen.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stopped and cast his gaze up to the eyes of the beauty on the bed.

    ¡°¡­ Why are you stripping me?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I can exin.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ am¡­ trying to conduct an experiment.¡±

    ¡°What sort?¡±

    Since he couldn¡¯t mention Nirvana, Ming Feizhen racked his brains to answer, ¡°Well, um¡­ It has to do with reproduction, the next generation, blood¡­¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 81October 17, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 84October 20, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 75October 10, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 84

    Book 15: Chapter 84

    ¡°You could¡¯ve just told me I needed to soak in the tub to heal my wounds. Why did you have to say all that nonsense¡­¡± Ling Jin, submerged in the tub on the other side of the screen, spoke softer and softer for each sessive word.

    ¡°Right¡­¡± With battle scars on his face, Ming Feizhen mumbled, ¡°How should I have known you were going to wake up then? I was put on the spot.¡±

    Ming Feizhen actually had a proper exnation in mind, but very advanced internal discipline progress was required to extract the poison, and he had no ns to show her too much of his skills. As a result, he couldn¡¯te up with anything on the spot. He realised toote that he could¡¯ve just told her the drug expelled the poison.

    The inn they were at wasn¡¯t high end by any means, so it was natural for the tub to be small. In order to collect all of the poison, Artisan Ming stole three tubs from other rooms, then pulled them apart to onerge enough for Ling Jin to straighten her legs simr to the bathtubs he had enjoyed in the Western Regions. Since she was able to assume a rxing posture, Ling Jin shut her eyes and rx. Little did she know the true magic to her treatment was the celestial spider silk that Ming Feizhen used to drain out the poison from her body whilst nursing her wounds. Regrettably, he wasn¡¯t able to even collect 30% of his original estimation since she preferred to remove her clothing.

    ¡°Was Bu Xusan good?¡±

    Ling Jin opened her eyes quickly. ¡°How dare you ask me that after walking off?! Where did you go? I told you to back off, so you ran off?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a gentleman, so I¡¯m a man of my word.¡±

    ¡°Gentleman, my foot!¡±

    ¡°I had faith in your abilities, did I not?¡±¡°Uh, but I¡­¡±

    ¡°You are undefeated in Jiangnan. I have always respected your abilities. Staying behind would be insulting your abilities.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ Bu Xusan is strong, too.¡±

    ¡°Would you have lost had he not resorted to poison?¡±

    ¡°Mm! But¡­¡±

    ¡°You need not be modest. Regardless of when and where, I would never believe Bu Xusan could defeat you no matter who said so.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Thank you.¡± Ling Jin dipped herself down lower, leaving just the top half of her face above the surface as she blew bubbles.

    ¡°Miss Ling, you have not answered the question. Is Bu Xusan good? What techniques did he use?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t use any techniques¡­ besides the Dark Sword Prison you pointed out. Besides that, he was just fast. He appears proficient in swordy. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t seem to care for it due to the poison. As you saw, the poison seems to distort the victim; even his eye colour was different. When he couldn¡¯t defeat me, his eyes turned dim, and then he started roaring. His fingers became sharp like¡­ ws. I couldn¡¯t cut his fingers, and I started feeling dizzy. While I was feeling dizzy, he became significantly faster, and I eventually sumbed.¡±

    ¡°His eyes turned dim?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± There was still lingering fear when Ling Jin recalled the fight. ¡°It seemed like a signal for change. He had a sudden substantial power boost, and his body transformed. I don¡¯t know if the poison took control of him.¡± Seeing Ming Feizhen look serious for the first time, she asked, ¡°Ming Feizhen, did you notice, too?¡±

    ¡°Notice what?¡±

    ¡°That Lian Hua and Fu Dalong are suspicious.¡±

    Ming Feizhen titled his head. ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t have just gotten to know each other. I was observing them the whole time. Now that I think about it, the two of them were holding back when they got involved. They couldn¡¯t have made it look so convincing if they weren¡¯t familiar with each other¡¯s abilities, yet they pretended to barely know each other at the pub. Perhaps they were trying to lure us when they fought at the pub.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what I said? As if it¡¯d be so simple to find a trail. Hey, hey, you listening?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You heard why I fought Lian Hua. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s fishy? All I did was tell him to bring a doctor. Even if I wasn¡¯t too nice about it, he had no qualms leaving his brothers to suffer while he fought me. Fu Dalong watched from the sidelines when he is supposed to have a grudge with Lian Hua. Although he appeared to be neutral, he was waiting for an opportunity to work with Lian Hua to take me down. He made his move when you arrived because he was unsure how dangerous you were and was afraid you would ruin their ns.¡±

    Ling Jin wasn¡¯t shrewd; she drew those conclusions simply from reflecting on the fights she had.

    ¡°Do you remember what Lian Hua said? He said, ¡®I¡¯m going to capture you and¡­ something.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Uh, ride you.¡±

    ¡°I know that!¡± Cheeks rosy, Ling Jin continued, ¡°He made up a reason on the spot since you messed up their ns so that my fight didn¡¯t look out of ce. Unluckily for them, I¡¯ve realised their ploy. I haven¡¯t known Lian Hua for long, but he doesn¡¯t strike me as a lecher, yet he pretended to be lusting after me. That was when I started to suspect something wasn¡¯t right, but I didn¡¯t realise they were the odd ones untilter. The two of them aren¡¯t weak; I wouldn¡¯t have an easy time beating either of them in a one-on-one match, so it makes no sense for Bu Xusan to have incapacitated them in one strike when Isted so long.¡±

    Ming Feizhen gave an apuse. ¡°Wonderful.¡±

    ¡°You agree?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re finally putting things together.¡±

    ¡°You knew it?¡± Though Ling Jin¡¯s intuition told her that Ming Feizhen had noticed something, she didn¡¯t believe he knew everything.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°Only you¡¯d believe someone would fight you to save his brothers. Lian Hua is a properly trained man; he¡¯s not someone who would go down in one of those blows and not be able to get up. If that was true, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to block one palm attack. The old fox called for a truce as soon as he noticed you had a chance to escape in case you saw through their ruse. Why would someone so shrewd throw himself in the line of attack to protect you when he saw Bu Xusan? It¡¯s as clear as day that they¡¯re in cahoots in Bu Xusan and after us.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 09 Ch. 150February 13, 2021In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 72October 6, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 85

    He encountered people from more than ten different groups along the way. Although he never interacted with any of them for long, he gained something out of each encounter. Theposure and the upward curve he wore on the corner of his lips was the best proof.

    Li Zizi never knew his second brother was a master with words, especially when thetter never made any attempts to hide his condescending attitude towards who he spoke to. Li Zizi always considered his second brother as a stranger he never knew. From memory, Li Chengzhi was snobbish even towards his elder brother since his mother was the Empress, and he firmly believed he was going to seed his father. Strangely, nobody ever disliked his haughty attitude; instead, they had an unbelievable amount of faith in him. Li Zizi didn¡¯t even know when his brother initially nned to revolt.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Among all the Princes, Emperor Yuansheng doted on Li Chengzhi more than any of the other Princes. After all, besides Red Prince, who had to stay in the capital in order to fulfil the duty of state proctor, all the other Princes were sent off to their fiefs, while Li Chengzhi had the privilege of staying in the capital. Li Zizi wasn¡¯t convinced that Emperor Yuansheng did so in order to supervise the two eldest Princes. Almost nobody knew that Li Zizi was there when his father ordered Li Chengzhi to stay in the capital, so he saw how d his father was to keep his second brother in the capital.

    Li Zizi wasn¡¯t privy to how much power could be gained from a promotion to official Prince. He only knew his father and brother, which was why he could tell that his father didn¡¯t keep Li Chengzhi in the capital for some lofty goal but simply because he wanted to take care of his son.

    Li Zizi could see the resentment hidden in his brother¡¯s mind as he watched his brother speak to the unkind folks. It pained him and it lit¡­ a fire in him. The pardon Li Chengzhi was granted didn¡¯t teach him what his parents wished for him to learn. Anyone who was watching what he was doing would¡¯ve immediately discerned that he wasn¡¯t nning anything beneficial for anyone besides himself. Quite frankly, Li Zizi was annoyed that his brother didn¡¯t learn anything when Her Majesty knelt in front of His Majesty for ages to save his life.

    ¡°Calm down.¡± Bu gently rubbed Li Zizi¡¯s head with his cold hand that carried a unique scent, calming thetter down.

    Li Chengzhi wrapped up his conversation and continued on his way with, ¡°I¡¯ll show you,¡± written all over his smug face. It wasn¡¯t clear who he was targeting, but they certainly weren¡¯t going to appreciate whatever he was nning to offer them.

    Perhaps Li Chengzhi never changed. He wholeheartedly believed that he was going to be the next Emperor, and he always insisted on getting whatever he wanted. Therefore, if he wasn¡¯t going to be given the throne, then he was going to take it. He failed in his attempt, but he was still alive, so he had to try again. Maybe by some definition, he truly was an important character.

    ¡°Your brother is linking up with some real folks.¡±¡°What?¡±

    Bu grabbed his head and smiled. ¡°You know, in just a few sentences, he managed to mobilise 40% of the criminals in the capital. If he was a criminal in the pugilistic world, he¡¯d be able to build a big empire. If he wasn¡¯t your brother, I¡¯d want him as my strategist.¡±

    ¡°What do you reckon he is aiming for?¡±

    Bu swiped his nose. ¡°We¡¯ll find out if we tail them, won¡¯t we?¡±

    Li Zizi agreed, but he couldn¡¯t understand why the nose swipe was necessary. They only just started moving when Bu stopped, prompting Li Zizi to query, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Bu looked over his shoulder and reversed a nod. Li Zizi followed the direction Bu pointed to see six hooded individuals standing amongst the crowded street. They should¡¯ve stuck out like a sore thumb considering they were attired in ck, had their faces hidden, weapons strapped to their sashes, and had an incredibly strong stench of blood on them, yet nobody seemed to notice their existence.

    ¡°Who¡­ are they?¡±

    ¡°Just some enemies,¡± Bu answered with a shrug. He stepped forward and, wearing a smile, voiced, ¡°You¡¯ve finally caught up. I was about to give up on waiting. Feng n is supposed to be rich, isn¡¯t it? Is it so hard to find some decent assassins?¡±

    Getting the silent treatment, Bu nodded and said, ¡°So I guess even Night Sparrow is about the money. Had I known you were all about the money, I¡¯d have paid you to kill Feng Jiutian to save him and I the trouble.¡±

    The ¡°Night Sparrow¡± utterance prompted one of them to shoot hostility as real as sharp as a real de at Bu. As Li Zizi had never heard of attacking someone through a dominant aura alone, he hurriedly guarded himself. As he had progressed somewhat through Pure Yang One Qi, he was highly sensitive to qi flow, resulting him in subconsciously firing a re back. As if they exchanged real blows, the aggression both sides fired virtually shed in the air. One of the six immediately took a small step back. The six assassins were taken aback by Li Zizi¡¯s level.

    ¡°Know what¡¯s good for you,¡± warned Bu. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Bu grabbed Li Zizi by the arm and ran. The crowd made it an ideal location to shake off pursuers, and Bu was the best runner Li Zizi knew. Thus, they were able to shake off the six in no time at all.

    ¡°What was that about?¡¯ asked Li Zizi, once they were safe.

    ¡°What sort of question is that?¡± Though he was reproachful, Bu was evidently pleased. ¡°You pitted your auras against each other. They didn¡¯t expect you to be able to give 100% on your first move. Like momentum, aura is meant to be built up gradually. I bet he¡¯s hurt pretty bad after his small nudge resulted in a titanic push, hahaha. I wasn¡¯t nning to shake their hands or anything, so this is perfect. Now that we¡¯re proper enemies, we can have some real fun.¡±

    Li Zizi couldn¡¯t help smiling when his friend was happy, but their appearances still bothered him. ¡°Bu, did you steal from someone?¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 57September 19, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 56September 18, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 86October 23, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 86

    Book 15: Chapter 86

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Bu¡¯s tone made it sound as if Li Zizi asked a stupid question.

    ¡°No wonder why you¡¯re being chased. Also, did you mention Feng Jiutian?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I stole from him. Why? You think I¡¯m a thief and don¡¯t want to be associated with me. Am I right? Go on your way, then. I don¡¯t need your care even if I die.¡±

    Feng Jiutian was Li Zizi¡¯s cousin. How could Li Zizi not frown when his friend and cousin were enemies?

    ¡°Drop the nonsense. You should return what you stole. The fact that he¡¯s hired formidable assassins proves that it¡¯s important to him. Return what you stole.¡±

    Bu pulled a zany face. ¡°Why should I? The more upset he gets, the happier I get. If you speak up for him, you¡¯re wronging me, so why would I return it? Kill me if you can.¡±

    Bu couldn¡¯t be reasoned with when he wanted to reason. When he refused to reason, he rejected all reason. Zizi knew better than to try arguing with a wall, so he conveyed with a smile, ¡°Who are you talking to? You know I dislike violence more than anything. Besides, when did I ever say I was siding with him? I¡¯m worried for your safety. How about this: you return his belonging. Should he refuse to let it go, I¡¯ll speak to him. Surely he would consider it water under the bridge on my ount.¡±

    Bu couldn¡¯t find it in him to continuing being angry when his friend spoke so cordially and backed him in every sentence. Smiling once again, he pinched Li Zizi¡¯s face, rubbed it and then kneaded it. ¡°You friends with Feng Jiutian? Why would he let it go just because you speak up? Your face nicer to the hands than others or something?¡±

    Li Zizi removed Bu¡¯s face from his hands, and then they engaged in a friendly hand wrestling match. As Li Zizi hadn¡¯t learnt much in that department, he paid particr attention to his proficient friend to learn. Instead ofying on the pressure as usual, Bu entertained Li Zizi for a dozen exchanges before abruptly stopping.¡°Zi, do you really not want me stealing from him?¡±

    ¡°Not just him, but everyone else, too. If you steal, people will consider you a thief and curse you. What happens to you if they want me to join in on cursing and capturing you?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of them? The only thing I¡¯m scared of is that they¡¯re too chicken toe for me.¡± Bu wore back on his usual stubborn and confident visage.

    ¡°Even if they don¡¯t arrest you, I¡¯d be ufortable if I heard people criticising you.¡±

    Looking hesitant again, Bu asked in a low voice, ¡°What would you do if you heard them?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll have to at least give them a beating.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m captured?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to your rescue, of course.¡±

    Bu pped his eyelids a few times before he beamed again, grabbed Li Zizi¡¯s hand and enthused, ¡°Really? You woulde to my rescue?¡±

    ¡°Of course. With that said¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Bu¡¯s smile became stiff. ¡°You got cold feet?¡±

    ¡°No. I was trying to say that, if you¡¯re in the wrong, I can¡¯t righteously stand up for you. I¡¯ll have to fight with one hand covering my face when I go to your rescue. That will inconvenience me.¡±

    Bu¡¯s mood changed for the better right away. ¡°Just inconvenience you? Rescuing someone with just one hand is just asking to be killed. Since you¡¯re nice to me, I¡¯ll reciprocate the favour. I won¡¯t let anyone kill you.¡±

    Bu got up and dered, ¡°I don¡¯t need it anymore. I¡¯ll return it.¡±

    Li Zizi jumped to his feet in joy. ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°When did I say I was returning it today? He at least needs to track me down so that I can personally return it to him. I only said I¡¯d return it, not that I¡¯d return it for free.¡± Noticing Li Zizi staring at him, Bu swiped his nose again. ¡°I went through so much to steal it, so I deserve to have some fun with it for a few days. Besides, are we just going to stop tailing your second brother? If you won¡¯t let me have my fun, what am I supposed to do?¡±

    Li Zizi scratched the back of his head. ¡°We don¡¯t know where my second brother has gone, though.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, finding someone is simple. However, you better think it through before you decide to continue tailing him because we don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take. Plus, I still have assassins on me. Night Sparrow aren¡¯t pushovers.¡±

    ¡°I know them. They¡¯re Yingfeng¡¯s subordinates. ck Sparrow didn¡¯t seem to be among the six of them.¡±

    ¡°If he was there, we wouldn¡¯t have escaped so easily. ck Sparrow specialises in tailing and assassination, and he almost exclusively carries out dirty work for the imperial court. His subordinates also specialise in the same fields. Since Feng Jiutian has hired his crew, we can¡¯t be careless. You mentally ready? We might be gone for a few days once we go.¡±

    Li Zizi had gotten used to leaving Liu Shan Men daily as ofte, but he never stayed out overnight. Therefore, he was hesitant upon hearing he¡¯d have to be out for days. However, his father wanted to test him in the world outside the walls, and he didn¡¯t want to leave his friend. Bu never stayed in one spot for long, while he himself was a Prince, so who could¡¯ve known for sure how long their friendship could¡¯vested. Hence, every day together was a gift. It was Li Zizi¡¯s first time experiencing these emotions. Although Bu looked indifferent to Li Zizi¡¯s choice, there was a tinge of anticipation in his eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m usually out and about. It¡¯s just a few days; should be fine.¡±

    Bu pped. ¡°That¡¯s more like it. We¡¯ve barely had any time to catch up. Why go separate ways so soon?¡± Once he realised what he implied, Bu corrected, ¡°I don¡¯t care if we go our separate ways, though.¡± Worried that his friend would be upset about that, he subsequently asked, ¡°Because you¡¯ll still be back even if you leave today, right?¡±

    Li Zizi deployed a firm nod and smile. ¡°Of course!¡±

    Bu cleared his throat. ¡°Be it main streets or alleys, neither is safe anymore now that I¡¯ve ran into ck Sparrow. I¡¯ll show you a way to sneak out of the city.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving the city?¡±

    ¡°What else? Where do you think your second brother went? Didn¡¯t you hear his conversation with the criminal leaders? He arranged a meeting with them outside the city to kill someone called Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Bu jolted at the sudden loud voice. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re against them killing, too.¡±

    ¡°Of course I am! Ming Feizhen is my shifu!¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 94November 13, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 85October 21, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 99December 4, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 87

    Book 15: Chapter 87

    Ling Jin would¡¯ve stolen every man¡¯s heart at Nine Heavens at night if it wasn¡¯t for her emotionless visage. She had the appearance and nonchnt attitude to charm any man, yet her sword at her sash stole the limelight. As contradictory as it sounded, it was her silent character that broke the silence of the venue. They could all sense that she was ready to draw her weapon at the drop of a hat.

    The first person to draw his sword on Ling Jin wasn¡¯t the first to go down; many had already gone down prior. The sounds of her victims dropping didn¡¯t ruin her rhythmic steps. She continued until the floor was covered in men, taking them all out without needing to unsheathe her sword.

    Once she inspected the entire interior, Ling Jin returned to the spot she started at. ¡°Answer me: who were the people who lodged here? Where have they gone?¡±

    Resistance followed fear, which preceded a silver sh in the night. Ling Jin wasn¡¯t a bloodthirsty individual. She would¡¯ve preferred to have carried a wooden sword in the pugilistic world if there wasn¡¯t a stiption for her to carry her signature sword as Cloud Sanctuary¡¯s master. Wooden swords were lighter, and carrying a wooden sword would¡¯ve eliminated a lot of avoidable problems. She wasn¡¯t limited by the material of her sword because anyone who had mastered Flying Thrust was capable of inflicting harm with just a tree branch using it. She couldn¡¯t stand the smell of blood. Every time she cut someone, she felt she couldn¡¯t wash the blood off, which would bother her nose for days. The second concern she had regarding bloodshed was growing ustomed to it.

    Ling Jin didn¡¯t agree with the ideology that swordy was about inflicting harm despite the majority believing the two were part and parcel; they saw swordy as a means to determining who was superior. In reality, there were no absolutes in swordy just as there were no absolutes in any other part of life. For her, swordy was a bank to save her from drowning in the ocean. If bloodshed was inevitable, she hoped to minimise the amount she had to shed. This was one of those inevitable circumstances. She hade to terms with the fact that she was going to have to make choices she didn¡¯t want to make in the pugilistic world, but she no longer wished to revise the lesson.

    Although she drew her sword slowly, there was no hesitation. A hesitant swordsman ¨C or swordswoman ¨C wasn¡¯t going to earn anyone¡¯s respect. Using ¡®Servant Yao¡¯, Ling Jin increased the fear collected in the silent night.

    ***

    It took Ling Jin no longer than fifteen minutes from her arrival to do what she had to do and leave. She didn¡¯t seem rushed, but she was extremely fast.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s medical skills deserved adtion. The majority of her problem was the poisoning, so once it was resolved, the injuries left to recovery from were as minor as those suffered from a trip. Although Bu Xusan and Ling Jin engaged in a physical war, it was the poison on him that defeated her, so he only needed to open a small wound for that purpose. By extension, she felt she recovered from the moment she dipped into Ming Feizhen¡¯s tub.Once Ling Jin recovered, she waited for a nightfall to leave the inn without saying a word. She was afraid that Ming Feizhen would pick up on her shorings andck of experience in the pugilistic world, which was why she minimised the number of words she said to him. She knew she was to me for looking down on him and letting his warning fall on deaf ears. After reflecting on herself, she determined that what she had to do was regain control of the situation herself.

    After her defeat ¨C not immediately afterwards but while she conversed with Ming Feizhen in the tub ¨C she felt she was at a fork in the road as the conversation highlighted the reason foring up short. It was her first time fighting Bu Xusan, and she wasn¡¯t privy to the situation in the capital, so it was arrogant of her to assume that he wasn¡¯t her match, and it was equally arrogant for her to assume that she could use everyone she came across whilst believing she couldn¡¯t have been part of someone else¡¯s n. Had she just invested a little more time, those blunders could¡¯ve been avoided. Arrogance was reserved only for the strongest, yet she had sphemed it when she was far from being undefeatable.

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have an exceptional appearance and was abysmal as abatant, yet he was able to make it out safe everywhere he went with her every time. He was able to calmly analyse situations, and enemy plots failed to harm him. For someone who didn¡¯t excel as abatant to survive in a world where might made right, luck alone wouldn¡¯t have cut it; the ability to stay calm and vignt at all times was crucial. Ling Jin saw it as careless on her part since he could achieve that.

    <em>I appreciate it, Ming Feizhen, although your martial arts skills are abysmal. </em>

    Ling Jin wasn¡¯t after a home to return to at night, a soft bed, warm nkets, and a personal physician. The path she sought was one that led to higher realms of swordy, notcency.

    Nine Heavens was one of Lian Hua¡¯s bases. When Ling Jin arrived yesterday, there were a number of residents and Lian Hua¡¯s so-called brothers¡¯ family members. She remembered there being people knitting clothing, breastfeeding kids, children learning to read, walk and so forth, creating the impression that it was a residential area that had existed for a long time and was flourishing. After yesterday¡¯s experience, she questioned the authenticity of what she saw. When she returned tonight, there were only twenty-odd aggressive-looking man, and that was all. Had she not had her suspicions, she might¡¯ve mistaken that there was a massive missing people case on her hands.

    Lian Hua was a fake name, and his background was fabricated. Based on the testimonies she pried out from her victims, Lian Hua suddenly showed up not long ago and rented out several buildings at Nine Heavens. Criminals wanted to make use of him, but they couldn¡¯t beat him. Fu Dalong was only known at Nine Heavens. Nobody knew where they came from or how they recruited their group of members who were willing to risk their lives and could fight decently.

    Unknown folks who suddenly showed up earned the ire of gangs the most. After all, not paying respect to the other gangs and the head of the area was disrespecting the unwritten rules of the underworld. Lian Hua and Fu Dalong disappeared into thin air before they were even established names. The two of them didn¡¯t leave any traces behind when they vanishedst night. Perhaps nobody would¡¯ve even remembered them in two weeks¡¯ time or what they did. Only someone who aimed to hit and run would¡¯ve behaved in that manner.

    <em>How much danger were we in¡­?</em>

    There was a barely-noticeable shake in Ling Jin¡¯s sword.

    <em>Damn it. He predicted everything perfectly.</em>

    Since she couldn¡¯t find the answers she sought at Nine Heavens, Ling Jin departed.

    While Ming Feizhen and Ling Jin had simr deductions regarding Lian Hua and Fu Dalong¡¯s identities, their approaches for continuing the case differed. Ming Feizhen opined that the best course of action was to sit and wait for the fish to bite the bait, while Ling Jin asserted that striking out was the best course of action. Both of them had their own sound reasons, but time didn¡¯t wait for anyone.

    Feng Jiutian¡¯s request was for them to wrap up before Nirvana¡¯s blood and marrow were publicised, and the jade piece ended up in someone else¡¯s hands. The fact that Bu Xusan now had two helpers meant that the gravity of the situation was graver than their initial evaluation. Considering Lian Hua and Fu Dalong¡¯sbat prowess, in addition to their shrewdness, it seemed extremely unlikely they were Bu Xusan¡¯s assistants. If they were his assistants, it made no sense for them to let Bu Xusan get poisoned and still let him fight. Ling Jin not only witnessed the transformation that the poison triggered, but she also experienced its threat to her life for herself. Lian Hua and Fu Dalong were waiting for Bu Xusan to perish so that they could obtain Nirvana¡¯s blood and marrow. Until then, they were going to help him deal with enemies. At least, this hypothesis made sense. Consequently, Ling Jin wanted to move right away.

    Nobody could¡¯ve been sure how much longer Bu Xusan had to live. If they couldn¡¯t retrieve Nirvana¡¯s blood and marrow before Bu Xusan perished to the poison, they would¡¯ve failed to fulfil hismission, which meant that the duel with Feng Qizhi would be pushed back to an unknown date. Of course, she didn¡¯t want Lian Hua and Fu Dalong to get their hands on the item, either.

    The underworld in the capital wasn¡¯t without a leader. Though she was inexperienced, she was aware that the underworld existed on the edge of order and chaos. No matter how big and powerful it was, an order created out of nothing would have had chinks in it. Any order with a dark side to it would¡¯ve created another void and darkness, thereby creating a new chink. A small rift in the world would eventually expand into a massive rift over time, and said rift would lose order and no longer obey the darkness. ordingly, it would¡¯ve been a truly free and tight zone.

    The ¡°rift¡± zone wasn¡¯t leaderless. If there were a thousand people, there were a thousand leaders. If there was one individual, there was one leader. Everyone was their own boss. Otherwise, the underworld wouldn¡¯t have existed in the capital. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t have been a constant influx of folks from the pugilistic world sneaking into the capital. Ling Jin knew of one underworld, and that was enough for her purpose because it was one of the most notorious underworlds.

    After searching for over two hours, the ce Ling Jin was searching for popped up in front of her, though she didn¡¯t know how she found it. She was sure she had already gone by the street; however, she didn¡¯t see this particr store when she passed by before. She didn¡¯t even need to enter to sense the mysterious aura surrounding it based on the store name written in gold on the que ¨C Strange Goods Store.

    The store was seemingly erased from memory and then restored. The uncanny way it popped on Ling Jin¡¯s radar made her heart race. The brightly-lit interior visible from the window was almost daring everyone in ck garments toe in and explore. Even though she was the one out and about at night, she didn¡¯t feel she was more daring than the store; it was intimidating enough for her to almost miss the two couplets on either side of the entrance.

    The couplet on the left read, ¡°Useful things don¡¯t leave.¡±

    The couplet on the right read, ¡°Valuables don¡¯t enter.¡±

    It was understandable for a business to not want useful things to leave, but it made no sense for them to not want valuables to enter their doors.

    As Ling Jin reached for the door, a memory of her father mentioning the store came to mind. The capital was an assembly point for royalty and the incredibly wealthy. By extension, rare treasures and valuables were found in the capital; one could argue that there was everything one could ask for. Thus, while there were plenty of valuables in the capital, the best and rarest stuff likely belonged to the wealthiest or royalty already. Whenever there was the rare asion that something wasn¡¯t, it¡¯d quickly be a hot topic.

    Strange Good Store sold ordinary goods, yet people shopped with them notwithstanding the shop¡¯s opening hours and locations not being fixed. Having the fortune of shopping with them was considered a blessing. Ling Jin¡¯s father stressed that she should¡¯ve sought them out if she ran into trouble as they might¡¯ve been able to inspire an idea, and he taught her how to locate the store, too. As he sounded serious about it, shemitted it to memory. Tonight, she learnt that her father wasn¡¯t joking about them.

    Upon pushing the doors open, mes of light blew through, making it feel as if she was stepping into a different world. For a moment, her head was spinning, and her heart raced. Afte taking three breaths to rpose herself, she discovered that, contrary to expectations, it was unlike a shop in every way. There were no mountains of glowing goods or an ocean of customers. There was but only a shopkeeper, a maid, a short counter, and the number of goods in the small store were all visible without having to turn one¡¯s head.

    The shopkeeper could¡¯ve been anywhere from twenty to forty-plus years of age, but his beard suggested that he wasn¡¯t young. In contrast to his good looks, his eyes appeared devoid of life as he irresponsibly blew out a breath of smoke after taking a puff out of his tobo pipe.

    ¡°Next.¡±

    After one person jovially left once they finished their purpose, thest customer stepped up to the counter.

    ¡°What are you looking to purchase?¡± queried the shopkeeper, in an emotionless voice that suggested he was tired.

    The customer in brocade garments shouted, ¡°I¡¯m leaving!¡±

    ¡°Next.¡±

    ¡°Why are you leaving already?¡± the maid standing by the side inquired in a soft voice. She was only twenty-eight years old, but she looked trustworthy.

    The customer, in an upset and angry tone, replied, ¡°I have gone through so much to find your shop, yet this is all you amount to¡­¡±

    It was hard to me him for feeling defrauded when the legends didn¡¯t live up to expectations, not to mention if he spent money and time.

    ¡°If there is anything you seek, why not ask?¡± responded the maid.

    Inmed, the customer ignored her appearance and eximed, ¡°Your store ims to supply anything demanded. Is that true?¡± When he made eye contact with the shopkeeper, he immediately averted his gaze.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I asked?¡± stressed the shopkeeper. ¡°What do you wish to purchase?¡±

    ¡°I want¡­¡± shaking, the customer said, ¡°a marriage certificate.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°What?¡± blurted the maid.

    ¡°A marriage certificate,¡± the customer answered in a louder voice. ¡°I want to buy a marriage certificate. My wife¡­ my wife has been stolen¡­ Her father epted my betrothal gifts and betrothed her to me. She has been living diagonally from me at Eight Corners for a year, yet her father epted Supernumerary Zhao¡¯s marriage proposal and refused to let me marry her. I couldn¡¯t officialise our marriage before that due to me being too busy. I never expected her father to ckmail me. I have been told she will be betrothed to Supernumerary Zhao as his concubine. I want that marriage certificate of his. Can you get it for me?¡±

    Ling Jin frowned, not because it was a difficult request but because of how troublesome it was. It wasn¡¯t difficult for someone in the pugilistic world to interfere with an ordinary couple¡¯s marriage; they just literally had to roll up to the door with weapons and a hand out. In this case, they had to dispatch someone to obtain the marriage certificate, which would take no less than an hour. A marriage certificate wasn¡¯t anything rare, but it wasn¡¯t something that the store would¡¯ve had in stock.

    The shopkeeper had another puff before saying, ¡°There are only things that we can sell or not; there¡¯s never a question on if we can obtain the goods or not.¡±

    The shopkeeper took another few puffs, then ced down a sheet on the counter.

    The customer looked as if he struck gold. ¡°H-how did you obtain it?¡±

    Ling Jin focused as much qi as possible to her eyes to discover that the sheet of paper was the marriage certificate in question. She couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. The shopkeeper never even left his spot, after all.

    ¡°How much do you intend to pay for this?¡± The shopkeeper still sounded annoyed and sleepy despite the customer¡¯s joy.

    ¡°As long as I can pay, I will. Please name a price.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± The shopkeeper fumbled with the abacus seemingly mindlessly, then replied, ¡°Ten coins.¡±

    The customer was overjoyed to hear such a low price. Once he paid, he was out the door. Strange Goods Store was likely the only shop in existence that could make a customer so happy for a transaction of ten coins.

    Ling Jin stepped towards the counter. ¡°It couldn¡¯t have been easy to obtain that marriage certificate, could it? Although I don¡¯t know how you knew what he came for, it couldn¡¯t have been easy to prepare ahead of time. Isn¡¯t ten coins for happiness too cheap?¡±

    The shopkeeper nced at Ling Jin, had another puff, then asked, ¡°Is that what you seek?¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 72October 6, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 80October 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 71October 5, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 88

    Book 15: Chapter 88

    Ling Jin set a string of coins onto the table. ¡°No, just asking to put my mind at ease.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more than what it¡¯s worth.¡± The shopkeeper took the coins, then provided change before exining, ¡°We only conduct transactions without a desire for profit or connections. We will ept whatever the customer deems the goods to be worth.¡±

    ¡°How do you make money, then?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a new question.¡±

    Ling Jin felt it was stupid to continue wasting money for answers, so she was going to ce her request when she realised something. ¡°Why did you only charge ten coins for the marriage certificate?¡±

    ¡°The certificate won¡¯t get him back his wife.¡±

    Ling Jin finally understood what happened. No matter what sorcery they were capable of, they could only obtain the marriage certificate; it didn¡¯t change the reality of the situation. The bride¡¯s father only needed to write another marriage certificate to continue imposing his will.

    ¡°A marriage certificate is but only scrap paper. If he wants to get back his wife, he needs a marriage certificate written by his father-inw, but such a certificate doesn¡¯t exist, so we can¡¯t sell it.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell him that?¡±¡°We only carry out business transactions, selling what people want to them. If he wants a wife, we could sell him a method to win back his wife, but he asked for a marriage certificate, so we sold him exactly that.¡±

    Ling Jin felt as if she was suddenly standing in a vortex where she couldn¡¯t let her guard down for a second.

    ¡°What are you looking to purchase?¡±

    Noticing the shopkeeper stare into Ling Jin¡¯s eyes, the maid pointed out, ¡°Shopkeeper, you¡¯re scaring customers again,¡± as she took his pipe from him.

    ¡°Hey! You expect me to go a whole night without smoking?¡±

    The maid smiled. ¡°The rule is not to smoke in the presence of female customers, right?¡±

    It was the first time the shopkeeper showed a human side to him as he leaned onto the counter and groaned. ¡°Fine, fine, what is it that you want to buy?¡±

    Their interaction reminded Ling Jin of her interactions with her father back on Mount Lu. Following an exhale, she answered, ¡°I¡¯m looking for two people, Lian Hua and Fu Dalong. They might be fake names, but that¡¯s all I know.¡±

    ¡°How much do you intend to pay?¡±

    ¡°Name a price.¡±

    ¡°Ten gold. Can ept paper notes as an alternative.¡±

    Ten gold taels wasn¡¯trge sum to Ling Jin; however, she didn¡¯t have that much on her at the moment. She couldn¡¯t have shamelessly told Feng Jiutian that she got yed and was now seeking underground intel, so she needed a loan from him. If she reached out for Ming Feizhen, it was more likely that she¡¯d have ended up paying for his lodging and food instead of receiving money. On ount of the man who left in a great mood, she decided to ce her sword on the counter.

    ¡°Can I pawn this? I wille back for itter.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The shopkeeper passed the sword to the maid, who jogged off to grab something. ¡°The sword needs to be appraised. You will be paid the difference if it is worth more than the cost of the information.¡±

    The maid soon returned with a sheet of paper and a ck box. The shopkeeper read aloud the contents of the sheet: ¡°Mount Lu¡¯s Servant Yao, worth 550 gold. You will be paid 540 gold topensate for the difference.¡±

    ¡°No need. I will bring ten gold back to retrieve the sword.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    The shopkeeper gave the maid some instructions, and then she took it away. Most probably, the ck box contained the 540 gold. Despite the weight of the box, the maid was able to hold it as if it was weightless and walk without making a sound.

    The shopkeeper passed Ling Jin a sheet. ¡°The answer you seek is here.¡±

    ***

    Strange Goods Store provided Ling Jin with a vague address. It wasn¡¯t specific as people in the pugilistic world technically referred to such a location as a ¡°territory¡±.

    Qinghe Warehouse used to be a government warehouse used to store spare rations until a few decades ago. Following its abandonment, a group used it as their base, effectively establishing the Qinghe Warehouse band. The group predominately worked as couriers and sold ingredients for medicine and so forth. As long as a business ensured their ingredients were of eptable quality, there was never a need to worry about ie due to how often expensive forms and herbs were prescribed. Therefore, Qinghe Warehouse were able to turn a profit without engaging in any shady business. All established gangs in the capital operated a legal business that was profitable enough to cover their shady business. They needed to follow this form for their survival.

    After establishing their presence, Qinghe Warehouse changed the usage of the warehouse into a warehouse for storing herbs, and it was now theirrgest warehouse. As it was located at the outskirts of the capital, all products imported into the capital had to go by the warehouse, which was why it was the most heavily guarded warehouse. There were easily more than eighty armed guards at a nce outside, so it was safe to assume there were equally, if not more, guards inside.

    Since Ling Jin pawned Servant Yao, she only had an ordinary sword that she pinched from a wealthy family on the way over. If there were a few elites among the guards, then her n was doomed to fail even if Lian Hua and Fu Dalong didn¡¯t show up. As challenging over a hundred enemies with the ordinary sword was courting death, she knew she couldn¡¯t just barge in. Never leaving a trace was something she learnt from a young age.

    Qinghe Warehouse was known to the public as an herb warehouse, so they couldn¡¯t let overbearing, gruff, aggressive-looking men there in case the government inspected their ce. As such, they assigned thirty-odd folks who didn¡¯t resemble criminals as workers, including a dozen-odddies.

    It took Ling Jin a while to find ady with her simr physique to knock out and switch ces with ¨C on top of smearing some stuff on her face to aid her disguise. Once she had her disguise, she grew bolder. She delved even deeper in once she after infiltrating six checkpoints without being detected.

    A group of men spotted the corner of Ling Jin¡¯s clothing and called, ¡°Hey, what are you doing here?¡±

    Ling Jin stopped in her tracks, turned around and stuttered, ¡°I-I am looking for the restroom.¡±

    A man frowned. ¡°Is she someone Sun Momo brought here? That would exin her not knowing her way around.¡±

    ¡°Hey, did Sun Momo introduce you?¡±

    Ling Jin nodded since she didn¡¯t have a better solution.

    ¡°Thought so. Look at her body; she can¡¯t be one of the kitchen girls.¡±

    ¡°But why would one of Sun Momo¡¯s girls be here?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t she just tell you she¡¯s looking for the restroom? Miss, looking for the restroom, right? We¡¯ll show you the way.¡±

    Ling Jin reluctantly nodded. As she followed them, she heard them gradually breathing harder and showing no signs of letting her run away. She thought they saw through her fibs when the man leading the way suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around and licked his lips.

    ¡°There¡¯s finally a real girl in this damn ce. Since you¡¯ve alreadye all the way here, don¡¯t be in a hurry to leave. Hehehe, you weren¡¯t looking for the restroom but for a man, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    All three men who led her to the dark spot were grinning. Before they could make a sound, though, they were allid out.

    ¡°If I wasn¡¯t in a hurry, I¡¯d give the three of you hell.¡±

    Ling Jin strongly despised men who bullied women, so she showed them no mercy. Even if they could wake from theira, the stabs to their qi meridians meant they¡¯d have challenges just walking.

    Seeing as she had been detected once, Ling Jin resumed her infiltration with more caution ¨C moving slower, listening for details, and only moving once she confirmed she wouldn¡¯t be detected. The problem was that the warehouse was sorge that they could¡¯ve built forty rooms inside and still have left over space, yet there were no clues as to where Lian Hua and Fu Dalong could¡¯ve been.

    Whilst she was hiding in the darkness, Ling Jin heard a conversation start. She looked over to see a group of men escorting ady in her sixties with a boulder for a belly and face caked in makeup. Her catwalk just made her even more unbearable. She tossed some silver taels to the leader of the group.

    The man smiled and expressed, ¡°Thank you, Sun Momo.¡±

    Sun Momo snorted and then stepped into a storeroom whilst the men formed a formation around the exterior. As she searched for ways to get a closer look, Ling jin spotted a vent. Following some internal nning, she flicked a stone in a direction where there was nobody. The group of men looked in its direction, giving her a window to zip up onto the ceiling of the storeroom before they could turn back, andnd silently.

    Upon cing her face eye closer to the vent, she saw around twenty young girls locked up inside the hay floor. Sun Momo mercilessly cursed at the girls, reproaching them for refusing to prostitute themselves for money and only giving in after they had been abused.

    <em>They publicly trade herbs, but they¡¯re involved in human trafficking, too!</em>

    Assuming Lian Hua was with Qinghe Warehouse, Ling Jin was even more incensed.

    Half of the men left with Sun Momo. Ling Jin jumped down and moved in the opposite direction to increase the distance between them. Once there was nobody around, she started to think about what to do. She went to the warehouse to find Lian Hua and Fu Dalong. She couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to the innocent girls. s, it would¡¯ve been virtually impossible to rescue them on her own, let alone when Lian Hua and Fu Dalong were around. Thus, her only option was to seek help. Returning to the capital to seek Liu Shan Men¡¯s assistance was the best choice. Once she left, though, there was no telling what the captives would¡¯ve been subjected to. Additionally, Lian Hua and Fu Dalong might¡¯ve left the warehouse during that window.

    <em>Someone¡¯s here!</em>

    As soon as she sensed someone entered her space, Ling Jin reactively jumped out and thrust at them, but a needle fired from a shuttle hit the tip of her fingers, prompting her to back tuck andnd silently. She wanted to avoid alerting the guards if it was possible.

    One of the boys who saw Ling Jin was shocked, while the other was indifferent. Ling Jin was able to pick up on their presence thanks to Mount Lu¡¯s mental cultivation, which was superior to other sects¡¯ mental cultivation in the senses department. Plus, her sword spirit was pure. Had she not made the first move, they would¡¯ve caught her.

    Ling Jin flitted back towards them uponnding, using her hands as swords to thrust at them simultaneously. The smaller one blocked it using an extremely fast palm strike that almost caught her on the face, while the bigger boy glued to her fingers aimed at him, hampering her from attacking hispanion. Thankfully, she was fast to react, using Flying Thrust¡¯s sword qi to force them into a retreat strategy.

    ¡°Who are you? Why are you following in the footsteps of these criminals at such young ages?¡±

    Seeing Bu¡¯s ambiguous expression gave Ling Jin chills.

    ¡°Bu, she¡¯s not going to harm us,¡± Li Zizi assured.

    ¡°You surrender as soon as you run into pretty girls? Where¡¯s your spine?¡± responded Bu.

    ¡°She deliberately suppressed her voice and the sounds of her movements to avoid alerting the people here. That means she¡¯s not with them.¡± Li Zizi said, ¡°Hi, Miss. These people are trying to harm my shifu. We are here to look into what they are plotting. We are seeing these people for the first time today. We are not aware of their crimes.¡±

    Ling Jin thought positively of Li Zizi due to his attitude.

    ¡°Why are you exining that to her? Hey, who are you,dy? What are you here for?¡±

    Ling Jin cleared her throat. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business¡­ Who is your shifu?¡±

    ¡°My shifu¡¯s name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Ming Feizhen¡¯s disciple?¡± Ling Jin had to eye Li Zizi to check if her eyes were ying games with her.

    Li Zizi was equally surprised, but he put two and two together quite quickly. ¡°Oh, Shiniang?¡±

    ¡°Go to hell! Who are you calling your shiniang?!¡±

    Bu: ¡°She¡¯s your shifu¡¯s wife?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± eximed Ling Jin.

    Zizi: ¡°Concubine?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll kill you two, you know?¡±

    <strong>Trantorment:</strong> Twisted Metal Calypso vibes anyone? No? I¡¯m revealing my age? Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 72October 6, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 80October 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 73October 7, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 89

    Book 15: Chapter 89

    ¡°I¡¯m amazed you¡¯re Ming Feizhen¡¯s disciple¡­¡±

    Li Zizi not only had a likeable appearance, great manners, and spoke with grace as well as courtesy, but he also had a childish tone that made him easy to like. Having said that, it was the palm strike he performed to stop Ling Jin before that impressed her the most as he surpassed what she was capable of at his age. She suddenly realised that she didn¡¯t know Ming Feizhen very well besides his affiliation with Liu Shan Men and Mount Daluo. The hard thing to ept wasn¡¯t that Ming Feizhen could teach well, but that he was always giving surprises.

    It was one thing to have an Emei disciple specialise in swordy and fight simrly to a Shaolin disciple, but it was nowhere as surprising because it was rare for someone not well-versed in martial arts to know so much about the pugilistic world, be indifferent to people, yet be extremely proficient as a doctor, and speak absolute tripe, yet predict things as if he had foresight. Just when she thought that was the extent of his abilities, out came a talented boy iming to be his disciple. Plus, Ming Feizhen was still young, yet he had a disciple? All of a sudden, she started questioning if the depths of his abilities were just so deep that she couldn¡¯t discern them. No matter how she scoured her memories, though, the only images Ming Feizhen built for himself was a jerk who abandon her in a fight, a glutton, a guy who was always sleeping, a jerk who swindled her for food. The only strength she could think of was his medical skills.

    ¡°My shifu is a great man,¡± Li Zizi confidently stated.

    ¡°His shifu is really skilled,¡± Bu added.

    Honestly, Ling Jin was expecting to hear, ¡°It¡¯d be a privilege to be his concubine,¡± after all the praise they piled on Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°I told you: I¡¯m not his¡­¡±

    ¡°Who are you, then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m his¡­ friend?¡± After she introduced herself, Ling Jin realised there was no need to introduce herself through Ming Feizhen, so she reintroduced herself without mentioning him.¡°My shifu¡¯s friend?¡± Li Zizi scrutinised Ling Jin, then mumbled, ¡°Sister Lian is going to be very busy.¡±

    Ling Jin asked Bu, ¡°And you are¡­?¡±

    Cracking a grin, Bu pulled Zizi over to his side and hugged his head, cing his chin atop it. ¡°Me? I¡¯m whoever you think I am.¡±

    Ling Jin: <em>Do kids these days¡­ all bend that way?</em>

    ¡°Bu, stop ying!¡±

    Bu shouted, ¡°You pushed me again! Push me again, and I¡¯ll smash you!¡±

    ¡°Sh!¡± Ling Jin held her finger to her lips.

    Not long after the trio took cover, a team of patrol guards closed in with orderly steps that were nigh inaudible.

    ¡°None of them deserve to be spared.¡± Ling Jin asked, ¡°I was thinking about calling for reinforcements, but I think the two of you will be enough. Would you two be willing to work with me to destroy this den of crooks?¡±

    The boys raised their hands in support as they weren¡¯t willing to miss a thrill.

    ¡°I¡¯ll rescue the captives while you two cause a ruckus to draw their attention. Do not take risks. If you run into a dangerous foe, run away. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Why would we run?¡± Bu smirked.

    Ling Jin had only ever seen that sort of cold expression on her foes¡¯ swords before; she never imagined a young boy could look so violent despite his attractive appearance.

    ¡°What dangers could there be? It¡¯s just simple sabotage. We¡¯lle for you. Now that you¡¯re on the team. I won¡¯t let you suffer alone.¡±

    Ling Jin smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t feel like you¡¯ve got the short end of the stick. You¡¯re the main stars. I¡¯d be able to rescue them faster than you, don¡¯t you reckon?¡±

    ¡°How much time do you need?¡±

    ¡°There are over a hundred people here.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t be easier.¡± Bu, wearing a grin, gazed towards the warehouse that was alight. ¡°Nothing easier than arson, is there?¡±

    Ling Jin¡¯s stiff smile reflected off the mes. As the members rushed to extinguish the fire, an escape route for the captives became avable. mes rose and spread, fusing together to be an ocean of mes. Even if the idea of arson flourished in her mind, she couldn¡¯t have acted on it so quickly. After all, the consequences weren¡¯t minor. Equally impressive was that there were no casualties as a consequence. Moreover, Bu knew where mmables were and the spots where nobody was at. It was self-evident that Bu had easilymitted arson dozens of times, if not over a hundred times. If the aforementioned points weren¡¯t convincing, then his rxed attitude and smile were undeniable evidence. Even though she was older, a sense of fear of Bu formed in Ling Jin¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Zi, take an inhale. There¡¯s snow ginseng over there. If you inhale it, it¡¯ll increase your internal energy potency by at least five years.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Li Zizi immediately started inhaling with all his might.

    Despite choking several times due to the smoke, Li Zizi didn¡¯t give up. Meanwhile, his friend encouraged him to inhale more.

    Ling Jin found her prior concerns to beughable, but she needed to make her move, too. Besides agreeing to arson to punish the evildoers, she wanted to use it as a means of forcing Lian Hua and Fu Dalong to show themselves. It was normal to flee if there was a fire; however, an elite martial artist would¡¯ve gone to the scene of the fire to find out what exactly happened if they suspected it was a trap.

    Ling Jin¡¯s assumption was partially correct. Her target did inspect the scene, but he was far faster than she imagined. While she was leading the innocent girls towards the main path, Bu was enjoying Li Zizi¡¯s suffering as a result of his prank. After burning for about fifteen minutes, the fire was no longer safe to stay within its range, forcing Bu to drag Li Zizi out of range. Since Li Zizi had no sweat and was instead steaming from his skull and looked lifeless, he had to instantly sit down and focus on controlling his qi flow for a breakthrough.

    Bu was aware that Li Zizi¡¯s method of mobilising qi was considerably faster than the average method, but he didn¡¯t expect his friend to just sit down in the dangerous zone of a fire to circte qi. His only option, then, was to stand guard for his friend. Just a short whileter, Li Zizi exhaled a breath, releasing the smell of smoke from his mouth. When he opened his eyes, Li Zizi felt as refreshed as if he just had a great night of sleep.

    As Pure Yang One Qi used qi deviation as its foundation, everything about replenishment for it was atypical. For example, he recovered using Ming Feizhen¡¯s unknown pills. As another example, he inhaled herbs. While he didn¡¯t gain five years¡¯ worth of progress overnight as Bu imed he would, he did ascend to the next level. Bu didn¡¯t expect his prank to actually have a positive oue, so he regretted not inhaling, too.

    ¡°d to see you¡¯re back. We havepany.¡±

    Li Zizi jumped to his feet and checked around. ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Who cares? I¡¯m not in the best mood. Whoever it is, let¡¯s just smash him.¡±

    As much as Li Zizi liked martial arts, he didn¡¯t like picking fights. In this case, he sawbat as the only option because Qinghe Warehouse was a group of criminals.

    The two who arrived were simr to the two boys waiting, except they pointed at Bu straight away and thundered, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    Bu yawned. ¡°You two are here, too,pdog one andpdog two? How you been?¡±

    The older two scoffed.

    ¡°Now I know where the sudden fire came from. Qinghe Warehouse will settle this score with you. This old one has a different score to settle with you. Where is it?¡± Fu Dalong questioned.

    ¡°What? Something missing? Better search carefully, then, especially if it¡¯s valuable. Don¡¯t be careless, old man.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to show him courtesy. Elder, let me put him in his ce!¡± voiced Lian Hua, raising his hands to generate gales.

    As soon as the boys vaulted up, the ground beneath them cracked as the wind whistled. Due to the distance between the two teams, Lian Hua was still a threat without needing to aim precisely. Despite pulling a puking expression, Bu took out a cotton bag from his shirt and shook out the valuable herbs within. Whilst shoving the herbs into Li Zizi¡¯s arms, he used his other hand to shield them from the flying stones using the cloth.

    Following Ling Hua¡¯s next big punch, the two boys felt the oxygen avable to them was sucked away. Right after, a qi st akin to an iron pir flew towards them. The qi st took form before the loud boom was heard from itsunch. The incoherent sequence often made it difficult for Lian Hua¡¯s opponents to know what they were supposed to block first, making an avoidable attack unavoidable due to the hesitation incited.

    Li Zizi might not have been able to dodge the attack even if he ran at full Pure Yang One Qi at his full capacity, and he had no idea how to dodge the attack. Suddenly, a hard kick to his shoulder from Bu sent him rolling across the ground, saving him from the st. Bu used Li Zizi¡¯s shoulder as aunch pad to ascend higher into the air, saving himself.

    Lian Hua nned to continue advancing until he felt a chill at the back of his neck. He didn¡¯t know how Bu managed tounch himself behind him when he was already airborne, but the weapon nged against his neck, and that was the end of the assassination attempt.

    Bu clicked his tongue.

    ¡°You came knocking, so don¡¯t expect to leave in one piece.¡±

    Lian Hua uncorked a punch at Bu¡¯s cheek. Before Bu¡¯s hair could drop back down as the punch passed by his face, Lian Hua had thrown a kick. Bu twisted at his hips, turning away from the kick. The sound of another boom rang out where Bu was a moment ago.

    Conditioning the body didn¡¯t just grant superior resistance to damage, but it also paid dividends in an offensive capacity. After all, even if one¡¯s technique was shabby, just the threat of being able to do more damage put extra pressure on the opponent. Lian Hua didn¡¯t use any sophisticated strikes or feints, yet Li Zizi saw Bu do nothing besides defend and retreat. Hence, Li Zizi got up to go to Bu¡¯s aid, but a chill down his spine prompted him to roll out of the way.

    ¡°Pretty good reflexes,¡± remarked Fu Dalong. ¡°Why don¡¯t you y with me?¡±

    There seemed to be no counter to Fu Dalong¡¯s sticky style, and the difficulty was doubled since Li Zizi couldn¡¯t take his mind off his friend in the distance. Unlike Lian Hua, Fu Dalong appeared to be going through superfluous movements, but every movement was actually aimed at robbing the opponent¡¯s offensive abilities. The greater the sense of urgency that he created, the more he could lead his opponent by the nose.

    ¡°Get lost!¡±

    The de left a trail of blood as it sliced Fu Dalong and flew towards Lian Hua. Fu Dalong didn¡¯t nearly lose his arm because he was careless but because he never expected Li Zizi to throw a weapon so fast and thus wasn¡¯t ready. Even more surprising was that the knife was able to continue flying towards Lian Hua after cutting him.

    ¡°Who is this boy¡¯s teacher?¡±

    Lian Hua caught a glimpse of Bu smiling despite being on the back foot, making Lian Hua believe that Bu was crazy if not idiotic. ¡°Hand it over,¡± demanded Lian Hua, still keeping up the same pressure.

    ¡°How do you know if I have it?¡° casually responded Bu.

    ¡°You never let valuables pass you by, and you never let valuables leave you possession. How do you expect people to not know.¡±

    ¡°You know me pretty well, except it¡¯s pointless knowledge. Why did it take you so long to find me.¡± Bu front flipped, his back barely clearing Lian Hua¡¯s muscr arm.

    ¡°All you¡¯re doing is dodging. If you keep this up, you¡¯re going to die.¡±

    ¡°How do you know if I¡¯m just dodging? Have I really not countered?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re annoying me!¡±

    Lian Hua knew Bu was ying mind games with him, so he made his move. When he raised his right arm again, nheless, it was so numb that he couldn¡¯t circte qi through it. He had spent over two decades conditioning his body. He had encountered opponents superior to him, but it was the first time he was disabled without have ever been struck. Immediately after feeling a light tap on his arm, he absorbed seven kicks flush on his face.

    Body conditioning and Iron Body weren¡¯t the same thing. Thetter relied on qi, while the former was conditioning the body. Despite not feeling any pain, it was humiliating to let someone climb up your arm andnd seven kicks, yet not be able to defend a single one.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to get away with that!¡±

    ¡°Watch your back.¡±

    ¡°You watch out for yourself!¡±

    Lian Hua spun around when he felt a cold breeze on his neck, using his raised arm meant for attack to shield himself. The sound of Li Zizi¡¯s knife bouncing off Lian Hua¡¯s arm and reeling upwards made Lian Hua¡¯s ears ring. After stumbling five steps, Lian Hua discovered he had a small graze on his arm.

    Li Zizi¡¯s knife was just an ordinary one, which meant that it was sheer power that opened the wound. Li Zizi looked as if he had all of his energy zapped from his body, but another two kicks to the face from Bu sent Lian Hua stumbling back a few steps again.

    ¡°Run!¡± Bu grabbed Li Zizi and bolted for it.

    ¡°Wh-what did I just do?¡± Li Zizi mncholically questioned as he followed Bu.

    ¡°You did some slicing, but you didn¡¯t kill anyone. Rx. We need to get out first.¡±

    Lian Hua and Fu Dalong reacted too slow, so there was a gap they couldn¡¯t close. After chasing the two boys for a little longer, they spotted Ling Jin.

    ¡°Miss Lan, run!¡± cried Li Zizi.

    Ling Jin joined the boys on the run. ¡°Who¡¯s chasing you?¡±

    Bu grinned. ¡°Lapdogs. Miss Lan, have you finished evacuating the captives?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you searching for someone?¡± inquired Li Zizi.

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s unlikely I¡¯ll be able to find them in these circumstances.¡±

    Bu responded, ¡°You¡¯ll have an opportunity to find them soon enough. Let¡¯s find somewhere to rest and catch our breath first.¡±

    The trio vaulted up to the trees and start leaping from one to the next to avoid pursuers. Li Zizi was particrly thrilled since it was his first time experiencing it. They stopped once they were certain that nobody was on their tails.

    ¡°Okay, can you two tell me who was pursuing you yet?¡±

    Bu just maintained a smile, while Li Zizi described them as best as he could. Ling Jin heard a thunder p in her head after she figured out it was the two who she pawned her sword for. Now that they likely escaped, she had no way of getting her sword back.

    ¡°Miss Lan, don¡¯t be so depressed now. We lost one, but there¡¯s still one more way.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Do you know where we are?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Where?¡± Ling Jin looked up to find that there were lots of people entering and leaving.

    ¡°This is Panshan Valley, the territory of a family of hunters.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ That was¡­¡± Ling Jin only caught the back view of someone, but she instantly recognised who it was for they had spent a lot of time together in the pugilistic world. ¡°Sister Yumo?¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 7 Ch. 80February 3, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 11.5 Ch. 51January 6, 2022In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 90

    Book 15: Chapter 90

    Although the hunting family was a famous family, they weren¡¯t actually a single family but a big group of hunters. Furthermore, rather than earning a living as hunters, they actually operated a hunting facility. The facility was incredibly profitable in the capital, where the imperial family, nobles and the wealthy gathered.

    The imperial family naturally selected their own forest as their hunting ground, but aside from Li n¡¯sst Emperor, none of them were fans of extravagance, and Emperor Yuansheng took it to a new extreme. The erstwhile Emperor expanded their hunting grounds to segregate into smaller grounds to sell, resulting in the size of their hunting grounds shrinking. They only used their hunting grounds a few times annually, but it cost them an exorbitant amount to maintain the enormous grounds, yet nobody was even allowed toy their eyes on it, so it was a waste of money. For the reason that he disliked wasting resources in that manner, Emperor Yuansheng hosted six hunting events each year and waited until it was time to hunt to have the grounds prepared. While they used the same grounds as before, the grounds were sold, so they just rented it instead.

    Since the imperial family no longer owned the hunting grounds, the grounds eventually ended up in the hands of the people. Skilled hunters from various ces around the world and tamers formed a union of sorts to purchase the hunting grounds, and they sessfully built it into a highly profitable business over thest two decades. As the majority of them were originally folks of the pugilistic world, epting others from the pugilistic world into their n was part of their job. Panshan Valley was one such hunting facility.

    Strictly speaking, Panshan Valley wasn¡¯t ssified as an orthodox sect, so it wasn¡¯t a ce orthodox sects would¡¯ve chosen a sojourning spot. Thus, seeing Bai Yumo there unnerved Ling Jin. As a swordswoman, training her recognition abilities was necessary, so she could¡¯ve identified Bai Yumo even if she only saw Bai Yumo¡¯s skeleton. Howbeit, Ling Jin sensed an atypical vibe from Bai Yumo; besides having a familiar appearance, it wouldn¡¯t have been far fetched to say that Bai Yumo¡¯s interior had been swapped out. Nobody could¡¯ve changed so much no matter what they experienced. It was Ling Jin¡¯s first time questioning her own judgement.

    ¡°Who is she? She¡¯s pretty?¡± mumbled Bu, watching Bai Yumo.

    ¡°How do you know each other?¡± Li Zizi pped his eyelids. ¡°How did you know she¡¯s a girl without seeing her face?¡±

    Ling Jin¡¯s father praised her for having an aptitude for swordy that rivalled her brother¡¯s. Her honed senses from swordy training were part of the reason she recognised Bai Yumo, but it was her friendship with Bai Yumo that was the primary reason she recognised Bai Yumo. On the other hand, Bu wasn¡¯t supposed to have known Bai Yumo, yet he managed to identify her as a girl.

    Bu answered his friend¡¯s query with just a smile. Ling Jin was going to inquire further until the sound of a fight interrupted her. Regardless of the reason for Bai Yumo¡¯s transformation, she was still Ling Jin¡¯s friend. Therefore, Ling Jin dove down into the valley.

    Li Zizi and Bu followed after Ling Jin, but they were careful. After all, they could¡¯ve walked into traps without realising it when they were in the turf of hunters. Plus, if Ling Jin was caught, then they needed to be avable to rescue her, right? However, before they could enter, someone zipped out so fast that Li Zizi only saw a silhouette. Still, they hurried in as the fight inside was still ongoing.The young man fighting Ling Jin wasn¡¯t disadvantaged despite fighting her bare handed. Simrly to Bu¡¯s style, except more power-focused than technique-focused, he used a diverse range of techniques. ¡°Move!¡± he shouted as he uncorked a zing palm strike.

    Ling Jin thrust at the scorching hand aimed towards her.

    ¡°¡­ Flying Thrust?¡°

    ¡°Stop! Stop! You¡¯re on the same side!¡± Li Zizi yelled from behind.

    Bu raised an eyebrow as he muttered, ¡°Why is everyone rted to this guy? Is the girl who just ran out someone he knows, too?¡±

    Li Zizi bolted into the middle of the fight. ¡°Brother Tang, Miss Lan, stop, stop. We are all on the same side!¡±

    Tang Ye looked to Li Zizi, thought to himself, then looked back at Ling Jin before identifying her. ¡°You are Miss Ling?¡±

    Aside from Tang Ye¡¯s martial prowess being exceptionally surprising, Ling Jin was surprised that Li Zizi knew him, as well. Recognising her was nothing new as she was famous already.

    ¡°You are¡­¡±

    Tang Ye held his hands up in a palm-fist salute. ¡°Liu Shan Men¡¯s Tang Ye.¡±

    ¡°So you are the renowned Heaven Shocker.¡±

    Ling Jin had already heard of Tang Ye¡¯s exploits before entering the capital, but she didn¡¯t expect him to be so young. As Tang Ye was acquainted with Li Zizi and Ming Feizhen, it was logical for her to figuratively shake hands with him. Additionally, he was qualified to give her a challenge. Once she added his name to the list of people she wanted to have a duel with, she asked, ¡°May I ask why you attacked Sister Yumo? No matter how she offended you, you should not have attacked so violently. She has had a weak constitution from childhood. How could you attack a girl so viciously?¡±

    ¡°Miss Ling, have you not heard about what happened a few months ago?¡±

    ¡°What happened? I have been busy with apetitor recently, so I have not had time to visit my friend. Did something happen to Yumo?¡±

    Tang Ye filled Ling Jin in on the events and current situation. ¡°¡­ She is not Bai Yumo but Six des¡¯ Bronze Mask, a cold-blooded killer. I lost her in the ring. I must arrest her.¡±

    Ling Jin wasn¡¯t totally unaware of Bai Yumo¡¯s condition, but she had never seen it, and she never would¡¯ve imagined her friend was part of Six des. ¡°Where¡­ has she gone?¡±

    ¡°Nobody knows unless she is brought in.¡±

    Bu, who had been eyeing Tang Ye for a while, asked, ¡°You¡¯re a Tang, too?¡±

    ¡°Too?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Just asking.¡± Bu yed with his chin whilst keeping his gaze on Tang Ye as though he found something interesting, sporadically grinning to himself.

    Spotting his friend¡¯s prankster grin, Li Zizi pulled Bu aside to warn him against trying anything funny.

    Once she recollected herself, Ling Jin exined to Tang Ye the events that brought her to Panshan Valley and why she jumped him. ¡°¡­ We were unaware you were here. We would have saw you if you were chasing Bronze Mask.¡±

    ¡°You have no fault. I have staked out here for a day. I did not pursue her; I was waiting for her.¡±

    ¡°A day? You knew Bronze Mask woulde here?¡± Ling Jin used ¡°Bronze Mask¡± as the name because she didn¡¯t want to consider Bai Yumo and Bronze Mask as one and the same person.

    ¡°Indeed. I picked up a lead and deduced she woulde somewhere here, which was why I staked out here. Regrettably¡­¡±

    ¡°I apologise.¡±

    ¡°Pay it no mind. What brings you three here?¡±

    Li Zizi didn¡¯t want to reveal what his brother had been up to, so he answered, ¡°We discovered someone is trying to harm Shifu, and this is one of their bases, so we have been scoping out base by base.¡±

    ¡°Harm Big Bro?¡±

    The three of them thought they heard Tang Ye chuckle mockingly.

    ¡°The three of you have terrible luck,¡± continued Tang Ye.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Tang Ye took a few steps further in and then pointed outside. ¡°See?¡±

    The three of them followed Tang Ye further in to see that they were virtually at a ghost town in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Not only were the walls torn apart, but there were plenty of bloodstains on the ground.

    ¡°Is this¡­ someone¡¯s work?¡± Ling Jin questioned with a stupefied look.

    ¡°This is not the only ce in this shape,¡± stated Tang Ye. ¡°In the list I received, Bronze Mask¡¯s seven goal destinations are all in this shape. I¡¯ve beente every time.¡±

    ¡°The gang we are looking into also has seven bases!¡± informed Li Zizi.

    ¡°That¡¯s odd. I¡¯ve been on this case for days, yet I haven¡¯t seen any signs of assassins. Are you sure there are people among them trying to harm Big Bro?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What happened to the people here after?¡±

    Tang Ye shrugged. ¡°Since they were rendered homeless and had no one to turn to, they reported their woes to Liu Shan Men.¡±

    The sight of criminals sulking to Liu Shan Men might¡¯ve beenical, but Ling Jin couldn¡¯t find it in her tough. She recognised the immense beast-like power that must¡¯ve ravaged the base. She did see and experience it not too long ago at Nine Heavens, after all. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 10 Ch. 17March 11, 2021In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 09 Ch. 02August 3, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 7 Ch. 80February 3, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 91

    Book 15: Chapter 91

    Every breath was so heavy that it echoed in the spacious space. Although he sounded as if he was heaving hisst breaths, there was something about it that was abnormal. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t so odd considering his red, mutated, oversized limbs that looked as if they¡¯d been injected with strengthening enhancements. The chains as cold as their walls bouncing his voice off them were grounded deep in the ground to prevent him from blowing someone¡¯s head off with a swing of his arm, yet nobody felt secure when their gaze encountered his.

    Despite the aggression he exuded, there was a deep-seated sorrow in his eyes. Mayhap that sorrow was ironically enhanced because his face had been burnt so severely that it was too stiff to move. The devastated state of the room notwithstanding him being shackled made it seem as though he was determined toplete his mission to destroy everything in existence. His skin that was cracked and burnt red, as well as his contorted bones weren¡¯t a product of a mutation but torture.

    Judging from the shapes of his injuries on his limbs, stone-mill-sized tires were rolled over them, but there were also clear signs of him having been sliced using des. The arrows plunged into his scap, belly and legs were plunged in so deep that it was possible to pull them out. In spite of his condition, nheless, he seemed calm based on his breathing.

    The wounds insinuated that the person on the delivering end aimed to destroy him, yet barely any blood spilt from his revolting wounds, and there wasn¡¯t much blood on the ground, either. Every fifteen minutes, his breathing would grow a little louder, and the louder echoes gave the impression he was returning to a healthy status. Every fifteen minutes, the size of his wounds would shrink. His every breath was akin to a fire st, and the walls would¡¯ve burnt if it wasn¡¯t for these particr walls.

    Besides the location being deep underground and having airways, the chief reason the summer heat didn¡¯t reach the location was material of the fourrge walls. It was believed that ¡°ckice walls¡± were a product from Beihai¡¯s Clear Mirror Pce as only they possessed the matchless naturally cold material, ckice iron, and workmanship to ce it in ice gus¡¯ unique temperature-control rocks.

    Adding living organisms into weapons was a secret technique that Tang n employed, but it spread to the northern regions after Tang n split into two groups. Bright Mirror Pce made a frigid region their home, which enabled them to design new products that leveraged materials they wouldn¡¯t have otherwise obtained.

    Ice gus, which were a new creation of Bright Mirror Pce after arriving in Beihai, had the ability to indiscriminately emit cold qi and feasted on a specialty of Beihai ¨C skypine rocks. The gus usually hibernated, only waking once every few years. Although they had an enormous appetite, they only consumed a centimetre each time. ckice walls contained enough skypine rock for a gu to eat for six centuries.

    Including ice iron into the walls affixed the gus locations and their feeding locations. Bright Mirror Pce shut up their doubters when they sessfully included ice iron into the walls without ruining the ice iron attribute or thickening the walls, allowing them to synthesise the three materials. A wall made through that method could sustain its chill for a respectable amount of time in a desert, so it was reasonable for a film of ice to form on it when ced in the shade during summer.

    To no one¡¯s surprise, such an innovative creation was popr among socialites, nobility, and the such all the way in the south wanted to get their hands on a ckice wall for summer. The likes of even Tiezhen¡¯s monarch sent out an invite to Bright Mirror Pce and sent emissaries to try purchasing it, not for heat relief, but to unt their power. Even so, the majority of hopefuls never even had the privilege toy their eyes on a ckice wall.To begin with, ckice iron and skypine rocks costed an exorbitant amount, while ice gus required Bright Mirror Pce¡¯s patented nurturing method. Therefore, not even Bright Mirror Pce was able to produce a wall whenever they wanted. They had produced no more than twenty walls that truly qualified as ckice walls, which were either sold to extremely wealthy people or people in power. Of course, the buyers had immense luck, too. Emperor Yuansheng¡¯s father was the only person fortunate enough to purchase one wall for the imperial pce in their dynasty¡¯s era.

    The chill of the walls controlled the man¡¯s hot exhales, torturing him.

    ¡°Still hurt?¡± He sounded as if he was passing by and saw his shackled friend. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to rip all the antique paintings and calligraphy I ced in this room for you even if you didn¡¯t want to see them. Look at this: this is the only copy of Xu Xiexiu¡¯s hand-written scripture from the former dynasty. I ced this here to help you calm down, yet you¡¯re so violent.¡±

    Despite what he said, he picked up the burnt book with only four characters still legible and mumbled to himself, ¡°His handwriting really is a work of art. Twenty-thousand taels for it was reasonable,¡± then tossed it to the ground mindlessly.

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Release you? I can¡¯t do that. I sacrificed severalpetent men just to capture youst time. I¡¯m not suffering another loss. That¡¯s no way to do business.¡±

    Typically, people were incarcerated underground or in a body of water; ces one wouldn¡¯t be able to see sunlight. This ce resembled a graceful schr¡¯s room. For example, the short stringed instrument that was smashed into the shape of a wooden barrel was crafted by a respected artisan in Tiezhen.

    ¡°I have no intention of framing you. Think about how much money I¡¯ve invested in you. Would I ruin you? Well, I am rather generous with people I set up. I wouldn¡¯t get involved if they weren¡¯t worth my time and money, though, right?¡± He threw a scroll onto the ground and continued, ¡°These are worthless. What I spent on you is what¡¯s called invaluable,¡± he said whilst looking at the arrows in his captive.

    In the legs of the captive were ¡°qingluan blood arrows¡±, an ancient weapon that emitted an ominous aura no matter how many years past. Anyone who could afford them had enough money to use to stone someone to death with coins. The name of the arrows was based off the fact that the arrows werethered in qingluans¡¯ blood. In addition, there was a legend that imed anyone who came into contact with a qingluan¡¯s blood would die on the spot, so one of those arrows were lethal no matter where it hit. Those who weren¡¯t foolish enough to believe it was the power of a curse knew that it was due to venom. One arrow would¡¯ve gone for hundreds of thousands on the ck market, yet this person had dozens of them in his possession. In spite of all the wasted or ruin expensive items, Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t bat an eye.

    Feng Jiutian went over and, with one foot on the captive¡¯s face, used both hands to yank out an arrow, taking flesh, skin and bones along with it. The anaesthetic that was injected into the captive every hour prevented him fromshing out.

    Nodding as he scrutinised the old bloodstains on the arrow, Feng Jiutian remarked, ¡°You should suffer as much if you¡¯re going to have the honour of being stabbed with this arrow, you cursed phoenix.¡±

    Two men hurriedly entered the room to fetch the arrow from Feng Jiutian and urged him to return to the art area, where he was safe from the monster.

    ¡°Li Chengzhi wants to escape?¡± questioned Feng Jiutian, subsequent to hearing his subordinate¡¯s report.

    Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t mind losing all his investments in Li Chengzhi as there were bound to be losses somehow in one¡¯s business career, not to mention he, too, gained a number of privileges from Li Chengzhi. That being said, Feng Jiutian was curious how things would¡¯ve yed out had Li Chengzhi been sessful in his revolt. Since Li Chengzhi was finished, Feng Jiutian wanted to collect his interest.

    ¡°He¡¯s lived a life of glory for a little too long, though I have to give it to me for being able to incite more chaos at the barrack than I expected. Well, that just makes him less desirable, as well. Isn¡¯t this perfect? Who better than him to be a scapegoat? Tell the others that it¡¯s time for Chengkong to go. Also, clean up here and swap everything out for new stuff.¡±

    While Feng Jiutian¡¯s two subordinates were used to his wasteful nature, who were they to object?

    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s a waste to throw the scripture away. I¡¯ll take it. I¡¯ll see if I can find someone who can repair it. By the way, give him thest three qingluan arrows, too.¡±

    The captive widened his glowing eyes as Feng Jiutian¡¯s men plunged thest three arrows him, reacting as if two forces shed, tore him apart, and then he underwent a repair process. Every time a qingluan arrow was stabbed into him, the birth of the ¡°monster¡± came nearer.

    The ¡°monster¡± only had a lifespan of a few days, not because of its¡¯ host¡¯s lifespan or an ancient soul awakening, but an inherited aggression born from madness.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Feng Jiutian watched the ¡°monster¡± grow new skin from split skin, perish due to being unable to support itself and then revive until it found an equilibrium that allowed its life to persist. Subsequently, he said, ¡°You know, I could do anything I want in the Central in with the amount of money I invested in you, and it¡¯s also enough to get me off the hook for anything, including treason. Yet, you¡¯re a disappointment. This why everyone but I have abandoned. I¡¯m going to invest even more money in you. My argument is that, you¡¯re not useless; you just didn¡¯t have enough money invested in you. Qingluans¡¯ blood is venomous to everyone except for you, correct?¡±

    The captive was perfectly human before the arrows were plunged into his body, which triggered the mutation. Feng Jiutian was initially disappointed when he saw the captive crumble, but he changed his tune once he witnessed his captive¡¯s revival. From then on, he repeated the process of stabbing his captive with a qingluan blood arrow, extracting it, and then repeating the process.

    Ack of sanity didn¡¯t mean ack of pain. As a matter of fact, the pain only worsened for the captive each cycle. Although Nirvana and qingluans shared the same blood origins, they weren¡¯t able to synthesise perfectly. The mutual rejection of the two blood sources amplified the pain he suffered. He naturally resisted when it hurt, but the stronger he grew, the more it hurt. The freaky wounds on him were the product of his resistance. Additionally, Feng Jiutian discovered that, the more pain he was in, the more power he obtained. Once the captain roared in a deep and sonorous voice, Feng Jiutian knew he had reached the right intensity.

    Nirvana¡¯s blood and the qingluan blood¡¯s resistance to each other had maxed out, so the captive¡¯s life was at stake if it wasn¡¯t dealt with. Nirvana¡¯s unique ability had helped him survive until then, but even that had its limits. Therefore, Feng Jiutian needed to retrieve the piece of jade.

    ¡°Right, we need to retrieve the jade piece. You know what to do.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What do I do?¡± the captive asked in a raspy voice that echoed off the walls.

    Feng Jiutian knew he finally obtained the violent power. ¡°Kill Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Kill¡­ Ming Feizhen?¡±

    ¡°Kill Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°Kill Ming Feizhen¡­ Kill Ming Feizhen! Kill¡­ Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill Ming Feizhen! Kill Ming Feizhen!¡±

    Feng Jiutian smiled. ¡°Rx. I will prepare a proper stage for you.¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Qingluan ¨C A mythical phoenix-like bird. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 92

    Book 15: Chapter 92

    Li Chengzhi hadn¡¯t had a free moment in days. In just a few days¡¯ time, he had befriended numerous ouws and discussed big business with them. Needless to say, he was in great spirits. He never felt any fatigue despite repeating the same speech and convincing the ouws to join his cause over twenty times each day. To the contrary, he felt himself edging closer to his old peak. He could never get bored of acting mystical at a banquet and ordering people around while they addressed him as ¡°Your Highness¡°. Whenever they listened to his speeches, he felt his old self again.

    All the officers involved in the base¡¯s riot were executed. Though the upper echelon gave a strict order to not overdo it, over a dozen more soldiers were executed, as well, so while it wasn¡¯t a major acute problem, it did bring about a harmful consequence.

    Whether or not the turmoil in Jiangnan would¡¯ve been settled in one battle or a prolonged catastrophe likely hinged on the might of the imperial court¡¯s forces. The base outside the capital was meant to be part of the vanguard in the future war against the Seven Champion White Princes, and nobody expected one of the most important units to face a problem so soon. Putting aside the bad luck it suggested for a newly formed unit to be in trouble so soon, there was also the fact that their problems put a dent in the supporters¡¯ confidence. Perhaps the best way to describe the impact of the riot was that it was a dark cloud that nobody knew when it¡¯d leave.

    Secretary Lie, who was in charge of troop training, made a wise decision to start from the barrack outside the capital. Notwithstanding his appearance, he was trulypetent at managing soldiers. As a former soldier and part of the war for the throne, he had also participated in battles in Beijiang and the Western Regions. Not only was he adept at strategy, but he was also a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Even though battles were rare ever since Emperor Yuansheng ascended, he was part of every battle.

    Among the survivors who fought alongside Secretary Lie ¨C Lie Jingchan ¨C back then, only two remained in service. One of them had disabled legs, so he continued serving the imperial court in the capacity of an intelligence handler. The other oversaw Jinyong, but his boy-toy appearance ruined his career prospects. Among the three of them, Secretary Lie was the stalwart in training soldiers.

    Due to Secretary Lie¡¯s aplishments on the battlefield thirty years ago, he was granted an exception and promoted to vice-general. It was during his time in the post that he learnt how to train troops. After the fall of his leader and prior to Baima being stationed at Jinyong, it was Secretary Lie who defeated the enemies at the border. Before he entered the capital, he was hailed as thest star of the former monarch.

    Everybody knew that the secretary post didn¡¯t mesh with Lie Jingchan¡¯s personality, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that being granted the post was one of the most frustrating things in his life. He liked the empty view of nature, not the presence of shrewd men. He epted the role, though, because he wanted to serve, so he epted it in case it made His Majesty look bad.

    It was suffocating to argue in court and only be able to clobber a few people whilst patrolling barracks, so being able to enter the capital¡¯s barrack was a great beginning for Secretary Lie. Without His Majesty having to say a word, nobody in the barrack dared to mention the riot the moment Secretary Lie entered.

    Usually, none of Lie Jingchan¡¯s opponents in court weed him, yet not a soul in court celebrated when he didn¡¯t show up. Instead, the atmosphere was even tenser than when he was present. The mere fact that he had returned to an army barrack was enough to raise stress levels.Growing up in the capital, Li Chengzhi was familiar with Lie Jingchan¡¯s abilities. As a military-book fan, Li Chengzhi didn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to ask Lie Jingchan about military administration in the past, only to be utterly destroyed, prompting him to restart his learning journey. Although he hated Lie Jingchan, he respected the man for his skills. He knew that Lie Jingchan losing his temper was no joking matter, so he opted to be a legitimate deserter rather than stay and take risks. He didn¡¯t hold any citizenship and only managed to enter the barrack thanks to someone pulling some strings. He agreed to the arrangement in order to experience the life of a soldier, never expecting to learn as much as he did.

    Li Chengzhi had done plenty of persuading soldiers to revolt, and he improved his speech every time he convinced another, which was something he took pride in. However, it was unfair to me him for the riot in the barrack outside the capital. Yes, the riot was a notch severer due his intervention, but he wasn¡¯t the trigger. Someone had already bribed members of the barrack. s, he had no choice but to flee back to the capital and hang with his newpdogs.

    The wealthy bearded merchant sitting opposite Li Chengzhi was a horse raiser from Beijiang who spent the majority of his time in the capital. ¡°You need not fret. You can leave it to Big Beard. Should he do an unsatisfactory job, he shall down three drinks and entertain you with a dance.¡±

    In better circumstances, Li Chengzhi would¡¯ve heartilyughed and apuded.

    ¡°This is bad. This is bad,¡± muttered Li Chengzhi, probably for the fiftieth time. ¡°This is bad.¡±

    Big Beard grabbed his beard and jovially queried, ¡°What is bad, Young Master?¡±

    ¡°Everything,¡± shakily replied Li Chengzhi. ¡°My gut is telling me this is really bad.¡±

    ¡°Young Master,¡± called Big Beard, in his deep voice. ¡°It is but just one life. Even though Ming Feizhen is someone His Majesty personally conferred a rank to, he is still as mortal as anyone else. All of us are not working together for this. Why are you starting to have cold feet?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal to kill a constable, but he¡¯s no ordinary man. The warriors who¡¯ve agreed to join our cause have been disabled one after another. How long has it been? We¡¯ve already lost a third of our forces. An acquaintance of Ming Feizhen must¡¯ve found out about our n somehow and taken pre-emptive action. If this continues, you¡¯ll likely be a victim soon.¡±

    ¡°We could not ask for more.¡± Big Beard shed his fist. ¡°Once he shows up, Big Beard will personally apprehend him on your watch. You can do as you wish with him.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    <em>Moron, you think you can just do whatever you please with a key figure of the capital¡¯s Liu Shan Men? Why would I recruit so many people if it was so simple?</em>

    Caught in an awkward situation, Big Beard had two drinks as self-imposed punished and then showed himself out. Li Chengzhi didn¡¯t care for a side character¡¯s feelings, so he let Big Beard leave.

    Li Chengzhi had a suspicion that something was off from the moment he was persuaded to personally incite the revolt. After all, who would be conspicuous about a rebellion? Personally moving in the barrack was basically announcing his involvement to the imperial court; not even the most foolish person would¡¯ve brushed it off. He agreed to the suggestion as the person who advised it promised his safety. Based off his personal analysis, there wouldn¡¯t be any evidence pointing to him; only then did he agree. The chief reason for his agreement was to get revenge against his father. It was his way of saying to his father, ¡°I know you know I was responsible for it, but what can you do about it?¡± His naivety proved to be his own undoing.

    Vanity and arrogance blinded Li Chengzhi¡¯s judgement. Despite having witnessed an insurrection in the flesh once already, he still blindly believed he was safe a second time. However, pretending there were no holes in a boat that had to weather a storm didn¡¯t magically help it weather the storm or keep it from sinking. When reality smashed him in the face, he wanted to p himself twenty times for his foolishness.

    Li Chengzhi made the decision whilst barely knowing anything. Had he calmly analysed the situation, he would¡¯ve realised that the n had plenty of ws. Ignoring the evidence orck thereof, he was stupid to risk his life siding with rebels when he barely got away with his life for his own attempt at rebellion. Just the fact that he was mentioned in the involved parties would¡¯ve been enough ammunition for the historian to go after him. It was a miracle he was still alive after being set up.

    Li Chengzhi¡¯s self-evaluation was so high that he was picky even when qualifying his servants. Why, then, would he have been interested in talking to a bunch of stinky men? Whenever he needed to form rtionships with ouws, he had hisckeys handle it. Yes, he took issue with Liu Shan Men¡¯s attitude towards him, but he had no deep-seated hatred towards Ming Feizhen. Why would he have held a grudge against Ming Feizhen when Fu Xiang dropped him before the revolt even officiallymenced? He certainly wasn¡¯t on friendly terms with Ming Feizhen, but it didn¡¯t warrant forming a group to assassinate Ming Feizhen. Why was he even chosen as the head of the assassination operation when he couldn¡¯t fight, wasn¡¯t trained for assassinations, and his life was hanging by a thread? As the former creator of a huge mutiny plot, his experience told him that he had bitten off more than he could chew.

    The misfortunes of the ouws suddenly sparked a thought for Li Chengzhi.

    <em>Even if Ming Feizhen can ward them off, why has he not touched me? It¡¯s easier to deal with mepared to a bunch of dangerous ouws, isn¡¯t it? It doesn¡¯t make sense even if he¡¯s worried about me having guards since only Big Beard is protecting me. Who could it be if not Ming Feizhen?</em>

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait¡­ This is an inside job.¡±

    Were it not an inside job, there was no way not even a dozen groups working together couldn¡¯t create as much as a ripple. Plus, Li Chengzhi had to also be framed in order to prove themselves innocent. In other words, they admitted to colluding with him without carrying any severer crimes. He had done the same thing plenty of times in the past, so he knew what was happening. What was the severer crime? Killing a Prince.

    <em>I can¡¯t stay here.</em>

    Someone dressed in ck and covering their face suddenly showed up in front of Li Chengzhi with a broadsword.

    ¡°You¡¯re here to silence me?¡±

    ¡°What rebel deserves mercy?¡±

    Li Chengzhi bobbed his head. ¡°You n to kill me. Why?¡± He asked in a calm tone.

    The assassin swung for Li Chengzhi¡¯s head.

    ¡°I¡¯m speaking to you, you nimrod!¡± cried Li Chengzhi, dodging the swing that cleaved the table in two. Knowing that all the shouting wouldn¡¯t have achieved anything against an assassin who calmly watched him as if he was a bug, Li Chengzhi cooled his head and offered, ¡°I¡¯ll promise you benefits if you spare me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you rich and famous.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Only an idiot like you would drive off everyone His Majesty sends to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Long Zaitian? Father sent him here for me¡­?¡±

    ¡°The moment you started contacting the criminals, you sealed your fate. We only need your corpse. Why do you think we¡¯ve needed to keep you alive until now?¡±

    Never in his twenty-six years of life did Li Chengzhi imagine the person he¡¯d miss most in his situation would be the brash man with the ugly smile. Heughed aloud as he uncontrobly discharged sorrow from his eyes, then charged at the assassin.

    ¡°Fool.¡± The assassin sent Li Chengzhi to the ground with a stiff kick to the ribs.

    In spite of the immobilising pain, Li Chengzhi, staring at the de, questioned from the ground, ¡°Why¡­ don¡¯t you just finish me?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Li Chengzhi followed the assassin¡¯s line of sight to see someone who shouldn¡¯t have shown up.

    ¡°Because of me.¡±

    The despicable smile made Li Chengzhi forget about the pain he was suffering from. ¡°Big Beard?¡± After a few coughs, he said in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re working together.¡±

    All the pieces fell into ce faster than Li Chengzhi imagined possible. ¡°I should¡¯ve foreseen this. Who¡¯d brown nose me¡­?¡±

    Big Beard¡¯s cheeks jiggled as he cackled.

    ¡°You think I want to dance for you? You think I enjoy having youugh at me? Why do you think a real man would wait on the joke that you are?¡±

    Li Chengzhi questioned why he ever even thought Big Beard would¡¯ve treated him as an ally.

    ¡°I asked them to keep you alive so that I could personally kill you.¡±

    Following a brief silence, Li Chengzhi leapt at the assassin with hisst ounce of strength to snatch the weapon. ¡°I¡¯m not just going to roll over and die.¡±

    A kicknded flush on the side of Li Chengzhi¡¯s face, making him spurt blood as he went reeling out of the window. Even though he was bleeding profusely, he continued crawling for dear life.

    The assassin closed in without any urgency.

    ¡°Offer up your life to him.¡±

    <em>St! </em> Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 93

    Book 15: Chapter 93

    A sticky trail of scarlet liquid spilled onto the ground.

    ¡°Finally¡­ beheaded him?¡± remarked the assassin in ck, staring at the head on the ground and strangely feeling emotional.

    There was no reason to feel emotional about killing a weakling who couldn¡¯t appreciate his father¡¯sst act of mercy, and couldn¡¯t appreciate his guards. However, he was the scion of a monarch even though he had been stripped of his identity. To kill the son of a monarch who was bound to go down in history for his treason was reminder of how vtile life was.

    As he stared at Li Chengzhi¡¯s head, he recalled his master¡¯s warning. If the master of Night Fortress met his demise in the capital, then there was nobody to carry the me, which would only bring upon them unwanted consequences. A deal without capital was the hardest toplete; there had to be an investment for there to be a return. To kill someone of Night Fortress¡¯ master¡¯s standing required the sacrifice of another life beforehand to avoid futureplications. That said, Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t need to think for long or search for a victim as the best candidate showed presented himself to him ¨C Li Chengzhi ¨C and offered thest thing he had to offer. Without Feng Jiutian even having to motivate Li Chengzhi, Li Chengzhi was ready to charge ahead of the pack if he could¡¯ve irritated his father.

    Li Chengzhi¡¯s involvement in the riot not only threw a wrench in His Majesty¡¯s ns, but he also found Feng Jiutian a scapegoat ¨C which would¡¯ve been an officer ¨C and removed any reason for His Majesty to miss him. The three-for-the-price-of-one bargain kept Feng Jiutian up at night with joy when Li Chengzhi went onto the stage.

    Despite having fallen from grace, Li Chengzhi still wanted to harm Ming Feizhen, but that was impossible with the manpower at his disposal, and it sure wasn¡¯t going to go under the radar of Mount Daluo¡¯s monster who was virtually a god. Who could¡¯ve known for certain if harming Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve triggered his legendary grandmaster into action. Thankfully, Li Chengzhi offered himself up to shoulder all of the hatred if Mount Daluo ever wanted to avenge Ming Feizhen.

    The assassin wrapped up Li Chengzhi¡¯s head in a ck piece of cloth once he confirmed it was Li Chengzhi. With the head, there was evidence that Li Chengzhi tried to harm Ming Feizhen, only to have the tables turned on him. In the scenario that Ming Feizhen died in the capital, His Majesty would¡¯ve pulled out all the stops to find the culprit. If Ming Feizhen killed Li Chengzhi first, on the other hand, then there¡¯d be entertainment for everyone waiting to see His Majesty go at Mount Daluo. Amongst all the chaos, the cause of Ming Feizhen¡¯s death would¡¯ve been of the least importance. Everything was following the same course as the spark for the battle at Lawless Cliff six years ago.

    The assassin didn¡¯t need to personally burn Li Chengzhi¡¯s body since Big Beard was there, and he would¡¯ve done the best job of it. He gazed into the empty corridor, still unable to restore peace to his mind. The manor was cleared out long ago, so nobody would¡¯ve known about Li Chengzhi¡¯s final resistance. Even if Li Chengzhi was able to escape the courtyard, nothing would¡¯ve changed. When Li Chengzhi started resisting and was sent through the window, though, the assassin had a feeling that the situation had slipped out from his grip, so he didn¡¯t dally. He didn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t understand the source of the unease, but holding Li Chengzhi¡¯s head in his hand at longst was relieving.

    Big Beard finally caught up.When Li Chengzhi fled, he blindly fled, but he was able to roll and crawl his way through two courtyards of fake rockery.

    Hiding his unease behind his usual low voice, the assassin expressed, ¡°I apologise for not letting you personally finish him, Mr. Wansi.¡±

    Big Beard held his hands up in a propitious salute. ¡°You owe no apology, Mr. Gan. It is my honour to be your friend.¡±

    ncing at the corpse on the ground, the assassin smirked. ¡°We lowly grunts are not qualified to be your friend, Mr. Wansi.¡±

    Big Beard was smiling from ear to ear without any animosity, yet the assassin didn¡¯t dare to underestimate him for he felt he was under Big Beard¡¯s surveince ever since he showed up. The assassin couldn¡¯t see himself beating Big Beard if they were to throw hands with venom.

    Being granted the ¡°Feng¡± character in one¡¯s name in Feng n indicated that one had the same privileges as other Feng surname bearers. Mr. Gan, Gan Fengchi, was one who received that honour and qualified to represent Feng n. Anyone he was careful around was somebody who deserved to be respected.

    Behind Big Beard¡¯sical mannerisms was a name that demanded respected ¨C Wansi Leiting. During his time in Luocha, he was one of the seven generals called ¡°General Leiting¡±. Whatever wrong hemitted, it was enough for someone as mighty as him to be exiled, forcing him to take up banditry in the northern desert. Some years ago, Baima had his eyes on him. His force of seven thousand men was devastated, but he survived despite his injuries. Although he lost his subordinates, he gained more respect. There was no chance he disguised himself as a merchant in the Central n for some small-time ambition. The twenty-plus wealthy folks associated with criminals whom Li Chengzhi contacted were going to turn to Wansi following Li Chengzhi¡¯s downfall. Nheless, Feng n only had friends and no enemies.

    ¡°Mr. Wansi, please remember that this must be kept a secret.¡±

    Big Beard shook his head. ¡°I have entrusted my life to Young Master, so I serve only him. Please put in a good word for me, Mr. Gan.¡±

    ¡°I am not qualified to be your friend. Your friend is someone else. Young Master told me to pass on the following message: once the job isplete, nobody will obstruct your gang¡¯s business in the capital for the next three years. You are now his friend.¡±

    It was public knowledge that Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t fight to save his life, but everything went his way wherever he went thanks to his ¡°friends¡± across thends. From their perspective, Feng Jiutian¡¯s friends were just chess pieces, yet they had no issues with it as they had everything to gain and nothing to lose from being his ¡°friend¡±.

    ¡°Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!¡±

    After Gan Fengchi departed with Li Chengzhi¡¯s head, Wansi Leiting stared at the headless body on the ground for a long time, then cracked a smile. The man known as ¡°Wolf General¡± said, ¡°Orange Prince is no more. Report it to, Master.¡±

    A crow soared up and vanished into the night.

    ***

    On the same night.

    White smoke coiled up above a shrine while the roast potatoes spread their aroma. The group visited several of the gangs that Li Chengzhi mentioned after they left Panshan Valley. It wasn¡¯t just the seven gangs that reported to Liu Shan Men, but every gang Li Chengzhi connected with ended up being crushed.

    By the time they finished inspecting all of the ruins, it was too dark to return to the city, so they decided to search for a spot in the wild to sojourn. Unexpectedly, Tang Ye offered them a ce to spend the night and then led them to the abandoned shrine outside the capital. Though it had been abandoned for a long time, the wall was still intact, and the door was in good enough condition to keep the wind out. The trio watched on in surprise as Tang Ye grabbed several potatoes hidden behind the Buddha statue as if he knew they were there. They grabbed some stuff to make dinner and made do with it.

    Whilst eating a hot potato, Ling Jin queried, ¡°Brother Tang, you seem very familiar with this temple. Could it be a base of Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s a base I picked on the go. After I left the city and beat a tiger, it waste, so I stayed here.¡± Because they looked surprised, Tang Ye added, ¡°I spared the tiger. I don¡¯t like killing animals.¡±

    The trio exchanged looks. Tang Ye didn¡¯t say anything wrong, but something about what he said was weird to them, so they just ate in silence instead of asking, ¡°Your development direction at Liu Shan Men is kind of odd, don¡¯t you think?¡± Ling Jin, in particr, concluded that everyone at Liu Shan Men was odd.

    Upon remembering her mother¡¯s reminder, Ling Jin straightened her posture and ate with decorum.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you before,¡± remarked Tang Ye.

    As it wasn¡¯t clear who he was speaking to, Ling Jin went to answer when Bu responded, ¡°Yeah?¡± with a smile. Bu continued, ¡°Maybe you have a bad memory or have seen too many people and forgotten.¡±

    Tang Ye nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to have met everyone in the world, but you find it strange? You¡¯re testing me. You must¡¯ve seen me before.¡±

    ¡°My surname is Tang, Tang from Beihai¡¯s Clear Mirror Pce.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that side to have one like you. Looks like development over there is pretty good.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for you, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    As the tension rose between them, Li Zizi hurriedly waved around his potato as he cut in between them. ¡°Brother Tang, Bu is my friend.¡±

    Bu¡¯s expression softened for a split second before returning to his usual temperament with a small smile. Being as perceptive as she was, Ling Jin spotted the brief change from friendly to mischievous and back.

    When they were around the others, Tang Ye addressed Li Zizi inly as Zizi in order to hide the boy¡¯s identity.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I asked,¡± rified Tang Ye, returning to his potato.

    Bu, too, returned to chatting with Li Zizi with an arm over his friend¡¯s shoulder.

    Prim Ling Jin didn¡¯t understand what it was all about, but she thought the two of them engaged in an impressive conversation. She contemted if it was necessary to opine in some capacity, but she decided to just eat her potato silently in the end.

    Post-meal, Li Zizi furtively pulled Tang Ye aside to fill thetter in on what he¡¯d seen and gone through. Tang Ye was following up reports when he caught traces of Bronze Mask, which led him out of the city. He wasn¡¯t aware that Li Chengzhi was involved.

    ¡°Are you saying that Bu Xusan and Or-, your second brother are working together?¡±

    Li Zizi nodded. ¡°I suspect that my brother is linked to all the strange events.¡±

    Tang Ye stopped to think, then shook his head. ¡°If your bother is working with them to harm Big Bro, then they would be his allies, which begs the question: how do you exin the scenes we saw? If they are working together, why would he ruin his allies¡¯ homes? Of course, you were responsible for the damage at Hecang.¡±

    Li Zizi was keen to experience different things, but life in prison during his one-year test was not one experience he cared for.

    ¡°Sister Lan said that it could be the work of Bu Xusan because he is under the influence of some poison and unable to control himself.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Ling Jin joined the conversation after her meal. ¡°Bu Xusan consumed a poison rted to some sort of beast. Though the poison ruins his rationality, he gained incredible might. As you also saw, it¡¯s impossible for a martial artist to create that sort of damage.¡±

    ¡°Even if it does make him lose his mind, it shouldn¡¯t happen indiscriminately. There have been over a dozen locations that have been destroyed, which can only be deliberate. What does Bu Xusan gain from attacking the bases? You and Brother Ming are pursing him, so he should have an issue with Big Bro. That being the case, wouldn¡¯t it make more sense for him to ally with them? Why would he harm them instead? They may be ouws, but they do pay taxes. Since they have lodged a report at Liu Shan Men, this can¡¯t just be ignored,¡± replied Tang Ye, speaking from the perspective of Liu Shan Men¡¯s constable.

    The clues they had on hand were fragmented and hard to piece together. To make matters worse, they missed a key piece of the puzzle. ordingly, all the four could do was to clock off for the night.

    Bu and Li Zizi, being kids, stayed up almost all night, sleeping in sloppy postures when they finally went to bed. Ling Jin made sure to check her posture, but the fatigue hit so fast that she passed out before she was ready and ended up hanging a silver thread from her mouth. Tang Ye was the only one who didn¡¯t sleep whatsoever.

    Sleep and Tang Ye weren¡¯t on friendly terms. In the past, he slept the bare minimum so that he had more time for training. He only respected sleep once he reached a level of higher understanding. Regrettably, it was hard to undone the habit that he adhered to for so many years. When he could sleep in the wild, he wasn¡¯t able to sleep deeply as he had to maintain vignce. Thanks to that, he made his way out of the shrine as soon as he saw something flit past the window.

    Tang Ye didn¡¯t move a muscle whilst looking at Bronze Mask. Only once Bronze Mask took off did he follow her. Neither of them altered the distance between them during the journey. Bronze Mask suddenly stopped at a creek and seemingly teleported onto a rock by the creek. Tang Ye needed to two breaths in order tond three metres behind her.

    The only audible sound was the slow running water until Bronze Mask sighed and removed her mask. She was akin to the first film of ice at the end of autumn; even if left alone, she¡¯d have vanished from existence. She asked, ¡°Why are you always following me?¡±

    ¡°You deliberately led me to the locations, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m responsible?¡±

    ¡°I believe it wasn¡¯t you.¡±

    There was bloodlust in her eyes, but it gave the vibe that it¡¯d have hurt her, too, if she cut him, though it was fleeting. ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°So you were purposely leading me to the scenes. Why?¡±

    ¡°No reason. Say whatever else you have to say.¡±

    ¡°What do you want¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time to settle it.¡± Bronze Mask drew her long broadsword in a gorgeous motion that made Tang Ye question if he heard everything she said. ¡°I bet you aren¡¯t epting of the results of our unfinished match.¡±

    Tang Ye finally snapped back to reality. ¡°You want to fight me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ve been chasing me around, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Bronze Mask¡¯s de disappeared out of sight. Tang Ye had seen signs of a de iing, but he had never seen anyone able to make it look as if waves of des wereing. While it may have appeared that dodging was the only viable response, he knew that dodging was a fatal option.

    Ever since gaining the two contradictory energies, Tang Ye never stopped thinking how to avoid the shorings whilst maximising their potential, but none of his logical theories worked out the way he envisioned. All he gained in thest few months was experience in wielding them. He couldn¡¯t run them simultaneously, use them excessively, and couldn¡¯t just run one without a time limit. The only experience he had was trying to rein in his internal energy whilst gambling under the conditions avable. Nevertheless, had it not been for those experiences, the match wouldn¡¯t have gone past Bronze Mask¡¯s first attack.

    Using both arms simultaneously, heat energy on one hand and chilly energy on the other, Tang Ye palmed with both to reduce the force of Bronze Mask¡¯s swing. Despite how close they were to each other, she was able to attack in circr motions. Tang Ye had never seen anyone so technical with a broadsword; he was unable to counter even once. It was truly hard to believe that Bai Yumo and Bronze Mask could use the same weapon so differently.

    Bai Yumo¡¯sck of experience made it impossible for her to be sessful in realbat even though she had grasped the theory. Bronze Mask essentially disyed the ¡°how to¡±ponent of that knowledge. By extension, it was unlikely that Bai Yumo developed the physical architecture to utilise the knowledge, which exined why she wasn¡¯t able to maximise it unlike Bronze Mask.

    Tang Ye was unable to count how many shes he had blocked; it felt as if he had blocked hundreds of shes, yet it also felt as if he only blocked just one heavy swing because Bronze Mask connected every swing. One could only truly fathom how difficult it was to defend against her once they fought her in a one-on-one duel.

    Tang Ye: <em>Am I¡­ going to perish here?</em>

    As he scoured his brain for ideas to survive, Tang Ye recalled Ming Feizhen¡¯s sleazy smile.

    <em>I¡¯m going to need more than a thousand lives if I trust him.</em>

    ¡°Don¡¯tin about sneak attacks. Even in a fair fight, you¡¯re no match for me. Do you ept defeat now?¡±

    ¡°I never said I didn¡¯t.¡±

    Bronze Mask furrowed her brows, which was an even better look on her than her usual straight face. ¡°Why have you been tailing me, then?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been on my tail every single day.¡±

    <em>Now¡¯s my chance!</em>

    Tang Ye¡¯s inability to coordinate his internal energy was the reason he was inferior. He was sure he had a chance at winning in the technical department, though. As soon as Bronze Mask moved her de away, he used three solid flicks to push her de away so that he could subdue her with his left hand. Unfortunately, he underestimated her reaction speed.

    Bronze Mask couldn¡¯t pull her weapon back into position when Tang Ye had reduced their gap to only an arm¡¯s length. She, consequently, used both hands to grab his hands ¨C her left controlling his left and her right controlling his right. Though she managed to seize his hands, his forward momentum hadn¡¯t been erased. Unable to forgive his shameless sneak attack, she threw her head forwards towards his in attempt to headbutt him. However, she failed to ount for the fact that she was shorter than him.

    Two sets of lips ended up locked inbat while their owners were holding hands underneath the moonlight.

    After an unknown length of time past, Bronze Mask kicked Tang Ye into the creek. ¡°Y-you debauched jerk!¡±

    Bronze Mask spun around, then leapt onto a tree branch, only to then stop and warn, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Feng Jiutian.¡±

    Sitting in the water, Tang Ye pped his eyelids. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°He may look stupid, but do you think someone who can rule Luoyang¡¯s business union is stupid?¡±

    Tang Ye pped his eyelids again. ¡°Hmm?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°That¡¯s all I have to say.¡± With that, Bronze Mask took off.

    Tang Ye stayed in the same position for fifteen minutes before uttering, ¡°What just happened?¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 94

    Book 15: Chapter 94

    Tang Ye, sitting beside the creek, emitted smoke from his body as he used his Yang Blood True Qi to dry his clothes. Unlike the clear moon he gazed at, his mind was steeped in a mess of thoughts. For starters, there was what Mo Yubai said before she left.

    Why Feng Jiutian was mentioned was perplexing enough. Numerous inexinable urrences had taken ce recently, but the connection to each other was unclear. In saying that, Feng n seemed to be linked.

    Tang Ye was aware that Feng Jiutian had been interacting a lot with Ming Feizhen as ofte. His impression of Feng Jiutian was that of a cordial young man with a lot of money on his hands. Ming Feizhen had been eating out with Feng Jiutian often and returned drunk in a good mood. Tang Ye believed Ming Feizhen was capable enough to tell apart good people from the bad, so he couldn¡¯t understand why Ming Feizhen hung around Feng Jiutian. As thinking only spawned more questions, Tang Ye quit.

    Tang Ye was straighced, responsible, motivated, and had plenty of reasons to believe that the matter wasn¡¯t simple. After all, how could it have been simple when over a dozen big names in the underworld and a Prince were involved? He also believed Mo Yubai¡¯s statement that there was more than what met the eye in regards to Feng Jiutian. Nevertheless, thebined mess wasn¡¯t enough to disturb his peace when Ming Feizhen was the target.

    Assuming Ming Feizhen was wrong about Feng Jiutian, assuming the gravity of the matter was ten times what it was at present, Tang Ye saw no reason to worry if someone was trying to harm Ming Feizhen. He believed that it¡¯d take someone awfully stupid to try scheming against Ming Feizhen if they had ever seen Ming Feizhen fight seriously. If he could¡¯ve illustrated what he saw the situation as, he would¡¯ve drawn a group of people holding shovels, giving each other smirks, as they prepared to excavate a mountain. What could¡¯ve been scarier? Sure, there were plenty of idiots in the world, but surely Feng n wouldn¡¯t have chosen an idiot to lead the n, and Mo Yubai wouldn¡¯t have said what she said if he was an idiot, right? In any case, Tang Ye felt he only had to give his condolences to whoever it was who was picking a fight with Ming Feizhen.

    It was veryte by this point, and Tang Ye¡¯s clothes were nearly dry. He needed to sort out the conflicts in logic before he had time and energy for her. He was the sort of man who was able to set aside his feelings to take care of work before his personal matters first. Now that he hade to a conclusion for work, he moved on to Mo Yubai.

    <em>Did she show herself just to tell me that?</em>

    As someone who had reached an exceptional level in qinggong, not even Ye Yun was able to apprehend Mo Yubai using the formation he deployed, yet Tang Ye was able to stay on her tracks, which led to him suspecting something amiss long ago. However, he chose to tail her, and they aplished their own respective tasks without anymunication. That being said, the journey ended too soon.

    Tang Ye couldn¡¯t fathom why he wished the tailing missionsted for a while longer when he was a strong advocate of efficiency. He was not her match inbat or speed, and their sh would¡¯ve ended the same way as tonight no matter which day of the month it was. As he thought about it, he reactively touched his lips and froze.¡°Did she spread poison on her lips? Why were her lips so hot?¡±

    Tang Ye shook his head.

    <em>I need to stop thinking about it. I¡¯ve lost her once already. If I keep this up, I¡¯m going to run Liu Shan Men¡¯s reputation into the ground. </em>

    ¡°What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    Tang Ye looked down to discover that his clothing was burning, which was the result of him letting his mind roam.

    Still wondering how to exin why he resembled someone who had been lost in the wild for a while, Tang Ye arrived back at the shrine and overheard the conversation taking ce inside.

    ¡°Where do you think Brother Tang went?¡± questioned Li Zizi.

    ¡°Hehe, isn¡¯t it obvious? Where else could he have gone besides searching for the maskeddy? Didn¡¯t you see how pretty she is? He¡¯spletely besotted.¡±

    ¡°No way.¡± Ling Jin got up to join the conversation. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean he¡¯ll be my brother-inw? Wait, Sister Bai and I are sisters, but I should be calling her Sister Mo now, right? Ah, I¡¯m so confused how to address her now.¡±

    ¡°Stop speaking mindlessly, Bu. How do you even know that?¡±

    ¡°I have eyes. Don¡¯t you notice how he looks as if he¡¯s talking about dead people unless Bronze Mask is the subject? Whenever he talks about Bronze Mask, hees to life. If you¡¯re asking me, it¡¯s not a one-sided affair from his side, either.¡± Bu shrugged. ¡°Why else do you think Bronze Mask came here?¡±

    Ling Jin and Li Zizi: ¡°Ooooh!¡±

    Unable to stand listening to any more, Tang Ye opened the door, prompting the trio to stop talking straight away. Whatever spurred Tang Ye on, he walked in and sat down right in the centre.

    ¡°She¡­ dide to give me a warning.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I told you so!¡±

    ¡°You really are going to be my brother-inw?!¡±

    ¡°Brother Tang, she is a criminal! A wanted criminal! You are something else.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t you think that all of your experiences can be connected?¡± asked Tang Ye.

    They actually already had a suspicion that Bronze Mask, Orange Prince, and Bu Xusan were somehow all connected.

    ¡°Probably your shifu,¡± opined Bu. ¡°Themon factor in all of this is that your shifu is somehow involved with everyone. Even the monster you mentioned is targeting your shifu.¡±

    Ling Jin voiced, ¡°In that case, Bu Xusan¡¯s next target would be Ming Feizhen? We need to go protect him.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Li Zizi started to feel worried after hearing that, but the other two were as cool as cucumbers.

    ¡°Bu, this is my shifu we¡¯re talking about! Why aren¡¯t you concerned?¡±

    ¡°Why should I be? There¡¯s nothing more ridiculous than that, is there?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Bu pped his eyelids, then took out a shiny piece of jade from his shirt. ¡°Because I¡¯m Bu Xusan.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 105January 20, 2024In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 107January 28, 2024In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 41August 31, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 95

    The most charming sort of man in the world was a graceful warrior who rose early, brewed a pot of aromatic tea and read under the warm sun. The first ray of light would always hit the unmissable chest. A graceful man¡¯s morning started with grace.

    ¡°What the heck is this? What did Zha Pi even write? How is this a best seller?¡± After he sted the book, Ming Feizhen hummed, ¡°A youngdy lost her home a sixteen, then left the mountain to find a good father¡­¡±

    You could feel the elegance emanating from every fibre of his being and every movement he made.

    Ming Feizhen rose early due to being bored stiff, but instead of aromatic tea, he had crispy oven rolls, beef marinated in soy sauce, chicken skewers, puff pastry cake with sugar rose filling, honey tofu pickles, osmanthus cake and more. All of it was washed down with his collection of premium wine stashed under his bed. While his mouth was busy, he used his free hand to research things such as what new novels or new gossip was going around. The important activity upied him for a good while.

    Recently, Ming Feizhen had been spending all his time at the inn ever since Ling Jin left because she wasn¡¯t around. Needless to say, Shen Yiren visited once as she missed him. If he couldn¡¯t figure out she missed him dearly from the one-hundred-plus curse words she spat in his face, he wasn¡¯t qualified to be the head guardian of Rabbit Cult, after all. He chuckled as he pulled on his own ears and vowed to return within two days, inked three copies of guarantee and stamped them all.

    Should Shen Yiren not have been mad? She had to leave the capital soon, and she had no time to catch her breath in order to delegate all the work, yet her second-inmand waszing around at an inn. Had Ling Jin been around and Ming Feizhen lodged his spending as work expenses, she would¡¯ve pressed his hand to a table and cut his finger off to stamp the guarantee.

    After breakfast, Ming Feizhen finally had free time to lie down on hisfortable bed. Hezed there for a while before he took out the notice that His Majesty wanted to instate him as a Prince¡¯s teacher and that the chosen Prince couldn¡¯t object. Ever since it was handed to him, he¡¯d been dealing with oddities so frequently that he only got a day to himself every second day, ruining his mood.

    The choice of words in the decree proved that His Majesty carefully mulled over every word, inspiring Ming Feizhen to reflect on all the things that transpired in the year since he joined Liu Shan Men.

    He didn¡¯t expect to meet Su Xiao, Tang Ye, and Shen Yiren.He didn¡¯t expect his rtionship with Ming Suwen to undergo a change.

    He didn¡¯t expect to strike up a cordial rtionship with His Majesty.

    He didn¡¯t expect to virtually repeat his path in the imperial court. He had walked the same path at least three times in his life ¨C the path of soaring up thedder. Although it appeared as though he had plenty of leisure time whenever he did something, he never actually had many options. Even the people around him had transformed and done simr things.

    Although he was now Official Ming of Liu Shan Men, his tasks weren¡¯t much moreplex than the tasks that head constables tackled. In contrast, Ming Feizhen¡¯s status as Mount Daluo¡¯s senior disciple, his rank of Duke, and his position as a Prince¡¯s teacher were important enough to influence the trajectory of the world. In saying that, his rtionship with Shen n was undoubtedly the one aspect people feared most.

    Due to the Shen siblings extremely friendly rtionship with His Majesty, whoever could leverage the siblings would¡¯ve also had ess to an enormous amount of resources. The uninformed viewed Ming Feizhen as a conniving individual since he hailed from the most mysterious sect and wasn¡¯t trained in martial arts, yet he chose to join the weakest bureau among the three, going as far as brown nosing Shen Yiren, whom his majesty saw as his adopted daughter, in order to befriend the imperial family. Now, Ming Feizhen was showing his true colours in the form of brainwashing a Prince. Ming Feizhen was convinced that they had more ridiculous stories and that they¡¯d have been more sessful as authors. Whether he wanted to or not, as he rose in rank, his link to the imperial court and the most convoluted power struggle was tightened, turning him into an important character.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you people ever get tired?¡± Ming Feizhen mumbled before picking up Zha Pi¡¯s new book, ¡°Joyfully Discussing One Hundred Romps¡±, and gleefully flipping through it.

    Zha Pi¡¯s story told that of a muscr veteran hero courting women. At first, his habit of tirelessly emphasising he was a tough guy was annoying, but theedy was great. He studied the art of wooing women because women disliked him for being excessively muscr, which was amon pain point for many muscr martial artists. His story proved that he was quite observant and urate in his analyses of the men at Liu Shan Men, too.

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t killing time; he was waiting for someone, still. Waiting at an inn was easy. If he wanted to, he would¡¯ve been able to find a blind eye to lure you out from an ice cave on a snowy mountain if he wanted to. There was a right time to pull the cast on a trap. There was a point in time at which one had to spill blood in a life-and-death fight. It wasn¡¯t Ming Feizhen¡¯s smarts talking; it was experience talking. Someone would typically pay him a visit and spill the beans at this juncture, so he only had to wait. Only an idiot would run around searching for someone trying to avoid them. What was less stressful, searching for a needle in a haystack or eating in bed or something whilst waiting?

    Without reading three times a day, one shall not feast on meat. Cultivate on books and meat. Then read and eat meat. This is a true hero.

    <em>Knock, knock.</em>

    Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t surprised to have a visitor, but he did not expect her to be his visitor. The hoodeddy weed herself in the same way she insisted all her kneeling servants draped the hoodie on for her despite their adamant objection to her heading out in her ck garments.

    ¡°Never expected my first guest to be you,¡± Ming Feizhen remarked without needing to look just as she seemed to know who was on the other side of the door before entering.

    Despite having a thirteen-year-old son, she didn¡¯t look even close to thirty years old. That said, none of it could depict her from back then for she had grown more mature and stronger. If she was a de of grass before, she was now a big, strong flourishing tree. Ming Feizhen just needed a quick nce to identify all her changes.

    Brilliant Consort scrunched up her face. ¡°Howe you¡¯ve be so ugly?¡±

    Well, except for the fact that she was still easily shaken. Even Ming Feizhen was moved!

    ¡°What¡¯s it to you, hoe?¡±

    While her servants were incredibly displeased with Ming Feizhen¡¯s disrespectful attitude, Brilliant Consort wasn¡¯t too angry; she just wanted to stick a knife in him. Nevertheless, she suppressed her anger and took a seat and scrutinised the man sitting on his bed. The looks she had, the more she was able to reconstruct his white-haired appearance from years ago. ¡°It is you, after all.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nced over to the thirty-odd servants who silently shut the door. Needless to say, the people she had apany her were trusted elites who wouldn¡¯t leak anything or let anyone overhear them. Under such a tight guard, it was impossible for any viin to enact their original assassination ns. Whoever Ming Feizhen was waiting for wasn¡¯t going to show up now.

    Ming Feizhen was unsure how to react to thedy who still behaved as she used to. For some reason, she was involved in any unexpected event. She would use her brain before she acted on impulse, only to still act on impulse in the end ¨C the ssic Feng Huang.

    Ming Feizhen picked his ear. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Cut the act. You don¡¯t recognise me? Are you telling me all those people died for nothing? Why are you in the capital and even a duke? You didn¡¯t even pay me a visit? I¡¯ve heard the name ¡®Ming Feizhen¡¯ so many times that I¡¯m sick of it. I didn¡¯t know it was you, Ming¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t go by that name anymore. I¡¯m Ming Feizhen. Pleasure to meet you.¡±

    ¡°What the heck is this?!¡± Feng Huang pulled the teacup away from her mouth as if it was an emergency.

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°How can one not offer an old friend tea when they visit?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you recognise me now? What happened to the act? But this isn¡¯t tea¡­ What is this?! Did you eat chicken feet? What did you use this cup for?¡±

    Feeling a chill down his spine, Ming Feizhen took the cup from Feng Huang. ¡°Hoho, hoho, imported chicken grease tea from Nanjiang. You should be honoured you get to try this rare tea.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t expect Feng Huang to use the cup that he dumped chicken bones in. Had he known she would¡¯ve picked that specific cup, he would¡¯ve sour plum leftovers or something.

    ¡°You¡¯re the same as I remember, which goes to show that my decision to have you married was correct. I deserve credit for all you have now, don¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You, on the other hand, have changed considerably¡­ but how did you be so ugly? Does bing sleazye with men entering their middle ages?¡±

    Ming Feizhen rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m only twenty-nine, thirty-year-old aunty.¡±

    Even though she was furious, Feng Huang remembered that he¡­ wouldn¡¯t have made that expression in the past. While he was always picking verbal fights that she didn¡¯t mind responding to in kind in, but he usually only smirked or used an indifferent tone to insult her; it was uncharacteristic of him to be so expressive with his face. Now that she perused him a second time in detail, it dawned on her that he hadn¡¯t actually changed that much considering her son was now thirteen already and how stressful life in the pugilistic world was. Ming Feizhen always had the personality of a bully, but he used to bully people with a stern expression instead of wearing such exaggerated thug expressions.

    ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot.¡±

    ¡°And you haven¡¯t?¡± replied Ming Feizhen.

    Both of them found it quite unbelievable to meet again after so many years.

    Unlike Ming Feizhen, Feng Huang came knowing Ming Feizhen was here, and she came prepared. Subsequent to looking around, she asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Zizi?¡±

    ¡°Not here. Kids like to y, so he¡¯s probably gone off to y somewhere? I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Though Feng Huang was mad about Ming Feizhen¡¯s nonchnt reaction, she put it aside fast. ¡°That works out for the best. Ming Feizhen, let me make myself clear: I¡¯m not here to catch up with you. I won¡¯t let Zizi follow you.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I told you he¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t y the fool. You know that¡¯s not what I meant. I don¡¯t want you to take him as your disciple.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ming Feizhen had a feeling that Feng Huang woulde knocking if he actually took Li Zizi on as his disciple, but he didn¡¯t expect her toe knocking before he even took her son under his wing.

    ¡°If you have something to say, you cane see me. Whatever the case, I refuse to let you be Zizi¡¯s shifu.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nonchntly bobbed his head. ¡°Mm, mm, what do you want him to be? Emperor?¡±

    ¡°If that is His Majesty¡¯s wish, I will not dispute it. Before that, however, I want my son to live a safe and healthy life; it doesn¡¯t matter if he can¡¯t be an Emperor or even a Prince. All I want is for my son to be safe and sound.¡±

    ¡°Go buy insurance, then. Why are you telling me?¡±

    ¡°Ming Feizhen! I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking, but I will not allow you to lead my son into the bloody world¡­ You think I don¡¯t know you killed over a hundred warriors of the Three Rivers?¡± Feng Huang snapped in a shaky voice.

    That was the primary reason she rushed to stop Ming Feizhen as soon as she found out it was him despite not being confident it was the white-haired youth from back then. It was all conjecture from a portrait and his background as a Mount Daluo disciple. Even so, the conjecture was enough for her to deem the covert night trip necessary.

    Huang Feng knew the Ming Feizhen that his new friends and enemies didn¡¯t know. She still woke with a fright when she had shbacks of him ughtering all the warriors back then. She didn¡¯t want her son to tread the same violent path as him. No parent would ever wish for their children to. Ming Feizhen understood what she was getting at without her having to borate. That was just how it was between old friends ¨C even if they were friends who hadn¡¯t seen each other in years.

    ¡°Would you feel better if I told you that I never intended to take your son on as my disciple?¡±

    Feng Huang looked a little brighter instantly. She was mentally prepared to be enemies prior to arriving in order to protect her son. She never thought the process to go so smoothly. ¡°Wh-what do you mean by that? ¡­ Hey, what does that mean? What do you mean you ¡®never intended to¡¯? What¡¯s wrong with Zizi?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. ¡°You¡¯ve got it wrong. He has a good nature.¡±

    ¡°Of course. He¡¯s my son, after all.¡± Feng Huang raised her chin as if she was the one who received apliment. That was one her signature reaction whenever she was praised.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve found my sessor, so I don¡¯t consider it very possible.¡±

    Feng Huang was privy to the fact that Ming Feizhen spoke plenty of nonsense, but he was also a man of his word. ¡°Wait, what sessor? Do they have more talent than Zizi?¡±

    Ming Feizhen tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°Of course not. You think talent is gifted so generously? There¡¯s no guarantee you can find one like your son even if you conspicuously go around searching. He¡¯s as talented in literacy as he is in martial arts. Even if he wasn¡¯t born into the imperial family, he¡¯s more than qualified to climb to a rank just beneath royalty.¡±

    If someone wanted Feng Huang to be friendly, all they had to do was praise her son. Beaming, she responded, ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to go that far. You¡¯ll make him arrogant. Ah, but you¡¯re not allowed to take him as your disciple.¡±

    ¡°My chosen sessor isn¡¯t great in any aspect, especially when ites to being firm, which is terrible obstacle for a martial artist to excel. In saying that, unless he¡¯s protected by the Mount Daluo name, he¡¯ll probably die. Inparison, your Zizi will still go ces without being my sessor, so I have to make a choice between them.¡±

    Notwithstanding not knowing the details, Feng Huang was unable to hide her joy over hearing the praise for her son. ¡°Discovered how extraordinary my son is?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I duped your son into believing all the herbs and whatnot invested in him has ruined his potential to develop his internal energy in order to motivate him to train.¡±

    ¡°How could you say that? I consulted a lot of people before I dared to give Zizi supplements.¡±

    ¡°I bet. How else would you evolved his body into an ¡®Ascended Body¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You found out? I went through a lot to collect all the herbs. I¡¯m d all my years of investment haven¡¯t gone to waste.¡±

    ¡°People with that body type will improve unbelievably fast no matter what discipline they learn, and having a good head would amplify their results. Even if his internal energy isn¡¯t up to scratch, he has high chances of bing a prodigy in his age bracket within three years.¡±

    ¡°Why did you fool him, then? To make motivate him?¡±

    ¡°Because I genuinely don¡¯t intend to take him as my disciple.¡± Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°On ount of our friendship, I can¡¯t just watch him die, so I¡¯m just doing what I can.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s going to die? You¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve met his brothers. They¡¯ve matured. It¡¯s true that your Zizi has great potential, but are hispetitors going to wait for that future to be realised? They¡¯d kill him before he could.¡±

    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t dare! His Majesty wouldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to it.¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t stop them. He has the ability to, but his attention is divided. The Seven Champion White Princes have already upied too much of his capacity. Moreover, he hasn¡¯t named a sessor while he is at the pinnacle of his rule. There¡¯s nobody who can stop them. ept that this is how treacherous your son¡¯s future will be.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 72October 6, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 09 Ch. 150February 13, 2021In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 96

    Book 15: Chapter 96

    ¡°¡­ Wh-what are you suggesting? Who are you suspecting is trying to harm my son? Blue Prince? Green Prince? Their mother?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re even suspecting Secretary Leng? Also, why in the world would Prime Minister Li want to harm your son?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Anyone who I know can be a suspect.¡±

    ¡°Wow, every suspect is someone you¡¯re familiar with. Just how despised are you? You been making a lot of enemies in the imperial pce these years?¡±

    Feng Huang bashfully avoided the question. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. You¡¯re still as cryptic as you were back then. Do you already know something? Just tell me outright.¡±

    ¡°You still refuse to listen to people.¡± At the same time Ming Feizhen gave the same reaction as back then, he also flipped his hands over in the same fashion. ¡°If you still haven¡¯t gotten used to people trying to harm a Prince, you¡¯re being neglectful if you don¡¯t assign a hundred bodyguards to Zizi. There¡¯s no way anyone can keep count of the number of contests between his brothers growing up. If anything, the six of them who grew up together only hate each other¡¯s guts more with each passing year. Haven¡¯t you learnt anything from history?¡±

    Feng Huang mmed the table the same way she did back in the day. ¡°Great minds think alike. I¡¯ve been wanting to assign a thousand bodyguards for Zizi. It would be best to have three thousand elites staying by his side at all times. I even wrote a request to His Majesty.¡±

    Even though he knew the suggestion was rejected, Ming Feizhen still asked, ¡°He agreed?¡±

    Feng Huang pouted. ¡°He told me I was being ridiculous.¡±Ming Feizhen patted his chest. ¡°Thank heavens we have a wise ruler.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? He¡¯s so stingy. It¡¯s just bodyguards.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was sure he chewed out the stupid sentiment before, but he couldn¡¯t resist chiding, ¡°You think the military is an inn? ¡®Hey, I need a waiter,¡¯ and a waiteres? Besides, would you be able to feed three thousand elites?¡±

    ¡°If it is their wish, I can provide three times what they can eat.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rolled his eyes.

    Feng Huang cleared her throat. ¡°Get on topic. I know I¡¯m supposed to select some skilled bodyguards, but there aren¡¯t many trustworthy people these days. All of my n¡¯s adepts are assigned to family business tasks, while I can¡¯t search for adepts since I¡¯m stuck in the imperial pce.¡±

    Feng Huang stole a quick nce in Ming Feizhen¡¯s direction, then continued, ¡°I did consider you, but back then you¡­ Long-story short, you became so notorious that no one dared to mention your name, and people I sent in search of you couldn¡¯t find you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen wasforted to hear that he wasn¡¯t forgotten. It happened at a time when Zizi was still a kid walking with a wobble, so it was unlikely Feng Huang sent someone to search for him at that point in time. It was more likely that she sent scouts because she heard her old friend ran into some trouble and wanted to help him. She didn¡¯t send many scouts, but she used her and theirwork to search for him. s, they were unsessful. After that, Ming Feizhen vanished from the martial world for a while, so¡­

    ¡°Hey, since you¡¯re here, are you interested in themission?¡±

    Okay, maybe she was keen on asking him to bodyguard her son¡­

    ¡°Am I so easy? Money treats me as garbage. I treat money as life.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°An annual sry of fifty thousand taels, 1/6 of an acre of farming outside the capital, two hundred premium horses, and two mansions in the capital. On the day of the shifu-disciple ceremony, I will gift you an extra ten thousand gold taels.¡±

    ¡°I can start today. Where is the g-, ahem, don¡¯t go off track. Do you want to know who wants to harm Zizi or not?¡±

    Ming Feizhen bit the bait until he recalled he had Gongsun Chu¡¯s collection, although he was still living off Ling Jin¡­ To be fair, leeching off other people didn¡¯t make you poor.

    ¡°Who wants to harm him?¡±

    ¡°I had Zizi fight the people after him, and he floored them all.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Who fought them?¡±

    ¡°Zizi.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ming Feizhen! You let Zizi fight?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t just exclude thest half! He was the one whoid them out!¡±

    ¡°It sounds to me like you¡¯re the one who wants to beid out! You let people pick on Zizi when you know he¡¯s my son? What are you plotting?¡±

    The two of them went back for an hour on the same topic before Ming Feizhen was forced to change his testimony.

    ¡°We fought alongside each other.¡±

    Only after hearing that the mighty Ming Feizhen assisted her son did Feng Huang feel relieved. She knew he was full of nonsense most of the time, but she was aware of the nightmare he was to his opponents, so Zizi should¡¯ve been safe. Of course, he left out the part about Zizi getting hurt.

    ¡°The attackers didn¡¯t have any organisation and were average as fighters; you could¡¯ve made a case for them being a tad superior or a tad inferior to Zizi. Either way, they were a threat once there were many of them.¡±

    ¡°They¡­ were sent by the Princes?¡±

    ¡°No. Those thugs were like a band of gangsters trying their luck. If you really meant to assassinate someone, you¡¯d strike without hesitation. They were like fodder offering themselves up and leaving a plethora of traces after their attempts. If that was the way the Princes operated, you have nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Then who was it?¡±

    ¡°Who do you think?¡± Ming Feizhen stared straight into Feng Huang¡¯s eyes.

    Though Ming Feizhen¡¯s stare was intimidating, his question fossilised Feng Huang.

    ¡°Every single one of them move ordingly to Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s intel, but there¡¯s no end to them, and none of the people we fight off are punished. Instead, they receive payment.¡± Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°Figured it out yet?¡±

    ¡°¡­ His Majesty?¡±

    Seeing Feng Huang tremble, Ming Feizhen was about tofort her when she mmed the table as if it owed her money.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it!¡± Feng Huang threw the teapot, making Ming Feizhen feel sorry for Ling Jin. ¡°I married him at fourteen years old. He promised me heaven and earth for me to give birth, promising to take care of us forever, yet this is how he treats us after only some years? Hiring people to bully my son, are we? You¡¯re finished when I return to the pce.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Maybe His Majesty is doing it for the greater good, for his son to be strong-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t defend him! He has seven sons, but I only have one. I gave him such an adorable and handsome son, yet he is abusing his son.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not quite a fair statement. The other Princes were pretty decent looking when they were little, too.¡±

    Maybe except for Green Prince?

    ¡°Enough. He refuses to add some extra green onions to his noodles in the name of being frugal, but he has no problem hiring people to assault his son. I¡¯m going to pull every strand of his beard out of his face!¡±

    Ming Feizhen did feel apologetic to His Majesty; however, it was better His Majesty than himself, so what could he have done besides saying a prayer?

    ¡°Um, in any case, His Majesty did it for Zizi¡¯s sake. Zizi needs to be able to protect himself if he¡¯s to survive the treacherous path.¡±

    Comforted somewhat, Feng Huang questioned, ¡°So you really did teach Zizi some stuff?¡±

    ¡°Zizi is a rare talent toe by. Not only has he inherited Li n¡¯s military genes, but he¡¯s also fit and sharp. Then there¡¯s also the fact that you doused him with supplements for over ten years, plus my unknown pills.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s ¡®unknown pills¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Very unknown pills.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Feng Huang didn¡¯t understand, but since it was typical to not be able toprehend Ming Feizhen, she disregarded it and continued listening.

    ¡°Plus, I trained him enough to protect himself. He just has to watch out for traps and peacefully get through this year.¡±

    Feng Huang could¡¯ve assigned as many bodyguards to her son after he passed the one-year test, but he needed to survive the year first.

    ¡°In short, I only have one piece of advice for you during this year: follow Shen Yiren.¡±

    ¡°Shen Yiren? I¡¯m quite fond of her¡­ but why her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s about to be dispatched out of the capital, which is the best opportunity for Zizi. Additionally¡­¡± Ming Feizhen touched his nose. ¡°Following her is the same as following me.¡±

    Feng Huang cracked a grin and pointed at Ming Feizhen. ¡°I was wondering why Liu Shan Men was the talk of the capital. Now I get it.¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve got it wrong.¡±

    ¡°Take a look at yourself in the mirror. Maybe back then, but you¡¯re hideous now. Would she have the hots for you?¡±

    ¡°And didn¡¯t you fall for your husband?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my husband? He¡¯s the monarch of a country. Plus, he¡¯s cool.¡±

    The two of them went back and forth for a while on the topic until Ming Feizhen reeled it back in. ¡°I won¡¯t take Zizi as my disciple. If you want to protect him, have him stick to Shen Yiren. See you.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, you¡¯re kicking me out just like that?¡±

    ¡°What? You still have something else to say?¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s expression resembled the one he usually wore back then. Back then, Feng Huang would want to take cover whenever he red at her. It had taken her years to build the courage to not avert her gaze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so aggressive, okay? I just want to ask you¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Miss?¡±

    His hair was now ck instead of white, and his facial features had changed, but the tonality and form of address made him appear as the white-haired youth from back then.

    ¡°It¡¯s not something for you to concern yourself with.¡± Ming Feizhen lowered his head, hiding his eyes behind his ck curtain of hair. ¡°You worry about your son. I¡¯ll worry about myself.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ming Feizhen red at Feng Huang again.

    Already hiding behind a stool and turning her head away, Feng Huang eximed with shut eyes, ¡°Y-you don¡¯t scare me. Do you know who my husband is? D-d-don¡¯te closer!¡±

    By the time she rposed herself somewhat, Feng Huang had retreated to the door, prompting Ming Feizhen to sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯m still busy today, so leave me alone. See you.¡±

    Able to distinguish when Ming Feizhen was serious and when he was being a goof, she nodded, stood up and returned the stool to the floor. ¡°Okay. I usually can¡¯t leave the pce; I sneaked out today. If I need tomunicate with you again, I¡¯ll send someone.¡±

    When Feng Huang turned to pull open the door, she heard Ming Feizhen call, ¡°Wait.¡± She looked over her shoulder to see an amiable expression.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m d I got to see you again today.¡±

    Feng Huang managed to stop her tears before they broke out of their dams and then smiled. ¡°I¡¯m d¡­ to know you¡¯re still alive.¡±

    ***

    It was lunch time not long after Feng Huang left. Lunch was a meal that Ming Feizhen neverpromised on in any shape or form. Though the chef at the inn was good, as someone with power and money, he ordered the waiter to go buy two fried dough sticks to top off lunch.

    Feng Huang¡¯s visit and what she said had Ming Feizhen second guessing if it was all a dream; even the sadness he felt after she left was unexpected. From the moment he met her until now, she was an ident in every form.

    Ming Feizhen seldom had the chance to reminiscence on the time with Feng Huang back then, but hebed through every detail this time to the point that he didn¡¯t realise he had a guest at his door until they were at his door. It wasn¡¯t the waiter¡¯s footsteps, but he smelled fried dough sticks. He understood why his guest didn¡¯t knock, but his guest was thest person he wanted to see at the moment. After all, you¡¯d feel bad if you just finished screwing someone over, and then they visited you with a big smile, right?

    His Majesty, beaming, weed himself onto the stool Feng Huang sat on prior. ¡°Hohoho, Duke Ming, never expected me to be the one to deliver your fried dough sticks, did you?¡±

    ¡°Hohoho, never, never, your subject never expected it.¡±

    When His Majesty set the fried dough sticks onto the table, he noticed a teacup. ¡°Hoho, so you had a guest already in the morning. Who did you see?¡±

    Ming Feizhen wiped his forehead. ¡°Nobody. Your subject was merely trying to kill some time.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you are man who understands elegance. However, you have been having fun around the capital recently, have you not?¡±

    Ming Feizhen froze, while His Majesty knocked back two cups of tea.

    ¡°I woke up early today and sneaked out to visit a friend while Brilliant Consort was not around. I heard you were here, so I had to pay you a visit.¡±

    While inwardlyining that His Majesty could¡¯ve chosen to sneak out when someone who wasn¡¯t Brilliant Consort wasn¡¯t around, Ming Feizhen showed gratitude. ¡°Your magnanimity for your subject is as high as heaven, as wide as rivers, and as deep as the ocean.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho.¡± His Majesty set his teacup down. ¡°You¡­ have befriended Feng Jiutian, haven¡¯t you? Ling n¡¯s Ling Jin is also friendly with you now.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t surprising His Majesty knew about it. It just came off as strange that he deliberately brought the topic up whilst sounding as if they were things Ming Feizhen should¡¯ve ssified as taboos.

    ¡°If your subject iscking in any capacity, please enlighten him.¡±

    ¡°It is not that serious. Although Feng Jiutian is a rtive of the imperial family, it is fine for you two to be friends considering you both took the imperial exam. Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary is a White Prince, but they are part of the martial world just as Mount Daluo is, so it is normal to be acquainted. Would you agree? Mm, if there is something troubling, it would be you privately employing criminals and adding them to Liu Shan Men¡¯s ranks, having Mountain Monster develop a private intelligencework in the capital, and having a Prince brawl with people in the pugilistic world. Would you agree?¡±

    His Majesty tone made it sound as vague as if a big mistake wasmitted, but it also sounded as if it was a minor offence. The only certain thing was that His Majesty didn¡¯t visit Ming Feizhen for anything Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve liked. If it was somebody else instead of Ming Feizhen, they¡¯d likely have been pleading for mercy on their knees already.

    Even though His Majesty wasn¡¯t on the guest list today, Ming Feizhen knew His Majesty would eventually seek him out to speak about something. It was fine for His Majesty to visit today; it just meant that the individual Ming Feizhen was waiting for was likely going to go into hiding for the meantime.

    Ming Feizhen remained indifferent to His Majesty¡¯s intention to frame him whilst interrogating him.

    ¡°Your enigmatic and wise aura right now reminds your subject of a famous individual in history.¡±

    ¡°A monarch?¡±

    ¡°A matchless monarch.¡±

    ¡°A person of talent?¡±

    ¡°Talent not seen in millenniums.¡±

    ¡°A person whomands respect, excels in delegating wisely, and is adept in martial arts and literacy?¡±

    ¡°At the time, unequalled in all aforementioned fields.¡±

    His Majesty rubbed his hands and, with the smile of a triumphant general, asked, ¡°Who?¡±

    Ming Feizhen solemnly answered, ¡°Wu Zetian.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, Wu Z-, isn¡¯t that a woman? Ming Feizhen, can¡¯t you respect me for a change?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pouted. ¡°The art of monarchy is demanding. However, you and your subject got to know each other rather out of circumstances, so he is used to speaking his mind. What exactly are you here for? Just be frank.¡±

    Since his ruse had been ruined, His Majesty decided to just wrap it up. ¡°You taught Zizi martial arts, correct?¡±

    ¡°Uh, did Zizi tell you that?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, do I need to wait for him to tell me? Did you know that all those people were sent by me?¡± Because Ming Feizhen looked at His Majesty with pity as if there was a surprise waiting for him back at the imperial pce, His Majesty said, ¡°If it weren¡¯t on ount of Zizi¡¯s enormous improvement and you sessfully teaching him, I would have you severely punished for your audacity.¡±

    ¡°So, you have pardoned your subject?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a smart aleck. Duke Ming, I have never had any intention of forcing you to do anything; however, you must understand that a vassal has a duty to assist his ruler.¡±

    Ming Feizhen took out the scroll. ¡°Is your subject not carrying that out right now? Rx.¡±

    ¡°Except that you are taking a bit too long.¡± His Majesty adopted a serious demeanour, one of a ruler. ¡°I am looking to select a preceptor of state. Every Prince has a mentor. Every mentor must possess true skills, have the ability to teach them virtues and earn their respect. You are one of said mentors, Duke Ming.¡±

    Ming Feizhen held his hands up in salute. ¡°You tter your subject. Your subject does not possess any of those qualities.¡±

    ¡°I can judge that. Deciding whether something is of worthy value or not is not the task of a vassal. Let me ask you: do¡­ you intend to take Zizi as your disciple?¡±

    Ming Feizhen went silent.

    ¡°I knew it!¡± His Majesty hammered the table. ¡°You have no intention of taking him as a disciple as I suspected. Were all your promises just to entertain me?¡±

    ¡°No, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Duke Ming, I didn¡¯t give you the letter for you to unt it wherever you go. If you cannotplete the task, you are letting down a monarch¡¯s grace. Consider the consequences carefully. I can tolerate your unorthodox methods, but you must honour your promise to mentor a Prince. I cannotpromise when this concerns the Crown Prince seat.¡±

    It was obvious that His Majesty dispatched people to challenge Zizi for the sake of bringing Ming Feizhen and Zizi closer. Everything he did was to provide his son with a good mentor.

    ¡°I visited you since I came out to visit a friend.¡± His Majesty stood up and turned his back to Ming Feizhen. ¡°I demand an answer by the end of tomorrow. Else, you will have to suffer.¡±

    As soon as His Majesty opened the door and stepped out, a subordinate of his crept over and whispered in his hear. After hearing how Brilliant Consort was searching for him on the streets whilst questioning, ¡°Who did he ask to assault my son?¡± His Majesty¡¯s cheeks twitched uncontrobly before he narrowed his eyes and uttered, ¡°I will have to suffer¡­¡± and then raced off.

    Ming Feizhen gazed at the ceiling as he ruminated. He could¡¯ve made an exception and epted Li Zizi as his disciple. All things considered, he didn¡¯t see it as a bad thing. In saying that, taking Li Zizi on as a disciple meant that Ming Feizhen had to teach him more than martial arts. In other words, he would¡¯ve been weing himself into the midst of the battlefield. Taking Li Zizi as his disciple meant that Mount Daluo and Night Fortress were lending their support to Li Zizi. ordingly, whether he sessfully ascended the throne or ended up miserable, Mount Daluo and Night Fortress¡¯ fates would also be impacted. It was a path of no return.

    Ming Feizhen had run scenarios through his head multiple times, and no journey or oue earned a thumbs up. One day, he¡¯d have to hand-hold Li Zizi and teach the boy how to fight his brothers for sovereignty, which was something that Li Zizi was unlikely going to be willing to do. The art of monarchy was offering an olive branch before telling them you were offering them a de.

    Ming Feizhen took a bite of a fried dough stick, upset over the fact that he couldn¡¯t enjoy it in a good mood, though his sour mood didn¡¯tst long for new visitors distracted him. ¡°This is unexpected.¡±

    The two visitors arrived right after His Majesty arrived as if they were timing their arrival.

    ¡°Brother Lian, Elder Fu, how coincidental to run into you two here.¡±

    The duo showed up in the room without shutting the doors behind them, then briskly walked over to Ming Feizhen with big smiles.

    ¡°So you were here, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°You sure made us search high and low for you.¡±

    ¡°We are here to invite you. We do apologise for not notifying you ahead of time.¡±

    ¡°Please take a seat. Whatever it is you two wish to speak about, it is fine to take your time.¡±

    Once seated, Lian Hua said, ¡°We are inviting you with sincerity. Would you be willing to honour us?¡±

    Fu Dalong added, ¡°Unless you feel we are nefarious in our doings, there is nothing we cannot negotiate.¡±

    ¡°I would never, haha. Labelling Beggars Sect¡¯s eighth pouch elder and Shaolin¡¯s Arhat as ouws would be a terrible joke.¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Wu Zetian ¨C This is a very, very, very brief summary. She¡¯s an interesting figure if you want to do more reading on her. In short, she is the first and only female Emperor in Chinese history, founding and ruling as Emperor of the Wu Zhou dynasty of China. She was exceptional as a politician, was said to be an excellent judge of men, and was attractive. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 97

    Fu Dalong frowned and cried, ¡°What does that m-, Lian Hua, shut the doors! Shut the doors!¡±

    Lian Hua just stood in ce as stiffly as his face. The only sign of lifeing from him were his breaths.

    <em>When did he seal Lian Hua¡¯s major acupoints?!</em>

    As soon as Fu Dalong went to close the doors, he heard Lian Hua yell, ¡°Elder, shut the doors! Hey, what do you m-, Elder?¡±

    This time, Fu Dalong had been turned to stone.

    ¡°Wh-what sorcery was that?!¡± the two veterans of the pugilistic world shouted simultaneously upon being liberated.

    Ming Feizhen, watching the duo with amusement, kindly adjusted the stools for the duo who didn¡¯t know what to do. In a flick of his hand, the two stools spun to the back of their knees without as much as breeze generated. Warm external energy then made them go limp and forced them into the chairs. Next, the chairs moved them back to their original spots in the same position as they started, except in a totally different frame of mind. They no longer had any courage to even challenge the man who could control them without direct contact purely using his internal energy.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so tense. I don¡¯t offer tea to my enemies.¡± Smiling, Ming Feizhen poured the two a drink of tea each. ¡°Both Beggars Sect and Shaolin are sects I¡¯ve admired for the longest time. If I¡¯m not wrong, you are Elder Fu, Hundred Legs Snake, and you are one of the new Arhats, Shifu Lian Hua.¡±

    Neither Fu Dalong nor Lian Hua were established individuals in the pugilistic world. Fu Dalong was only promoted to an eight pouch elder because thest one passed away from illness, and Fu Dalong happened to be old enough and contributed enough. Lian Hua had worked as Bronzeman at Wooden Alley, which was an obstacle disciples had to pass to leave the temple, for ten years. His shifu allowed him to join the 18 Arhats Formation, allowing him to be one of the eighteen Arhats. Both of them had aplished a number of things, but they weren¡¯t famous. Therefore, they were taken aback when Ming Feizhen identified them.¡°There¡¯s no need to drop your jaws and eyes. I already identified your backgrounds in our first meeting. While you can fool people with your techniques, Beggars Sect¡¯s ¡®Snake Washer Hands¡¯ and Shaolin¡¯s ¡®Indestructible¡¯ can¡¯t fool people. There aren¡¯t many people who can even learn those disciplines. It shouldn¡¯t be surprising, then, that I could identify you after some further investigation.¡± Ming Feizhen proceeded to smugly share where he gained his information on them. ¡°Are you two going to deny it to the end?¡±

    ¡°Beggars Sect¡¯s Fu Dalong pays his respects.¡±

    ¡°Shaolin¡¯s Lianhua pays his respects.¡±

    The two reversed their personalities once they were no longer in character.

    ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s Ming Feizhen pays his respects.¡±

    The two of them were exasperated once again. The two of them exchanged eye contact, then lowered their heads.

    ¡°Forget it. We have no excuses. It is our fault for being foolish enough to fall for another¡¯s scheme.¡± Fu Dalong let out a long exhale. ¡°We will be upfront with you. This old man courted death for trying to challenge you. Please do not take it out on Beggars Sect. He will erase his training to apologise.¡±

    Before he could raise his hand, Ming Feizhen had stopped him again without direct contact.

    ¡°This old one is a fool. Please do not take your anger out on Beggars Sect.¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken, Elder Fu. Beggars Sect and Mount Daluo have been friends for two generations. Furthermore, your young master and I am brothers. How could I possibly see you as an enemy over a small misunderstanding?¡±

    Ming Feizhen executed a palm strike in the air, unsealing Lian Hua¡¯s acupoints. Lian Hua was a stubborn bull in the truest sense. After he heard Ming Feizhen was a disciple of Mount Daluo, Lian Hua started using his own qi to wreck his meridians and erase his training. If he wasn¡¯t stopped, he probably would¡¯ve taken his own life, too. Had Ming Feizhen not covertly blocked Lian Hua¡¯s meridians with his celestial spider silk, Lian Hua would¡¯ve perished while Ming Feizhen was conversing with Fu Dalong.

    Making eye contact with the confused monk, Ming Feizhen held his hands up in salute. ¡°Shifu Lian Hua, Abbott Kongxu is the most respected man in the martial world. It was he who showed me the right way when I was on a self-destructive path. No matter what you have done, it would be my honour to carry any burdens you have. Monks are taught to practice benevolence and tolerance. Please do not be too harsh on yourself.¡±

    Followingprehensive contemtion, Lian Hua softened his expression.

    Crying, Fu Dalong expressed, ¡°You put this old one to shame. It is so embarrassing to have been fooled by Feng Jiutian at this age.¡±

    As a man not too good at expressing himself with words, Lian Hua clenched his tooth and shook his head. ¡°Had it not been for your wisdom, we would have made a big mistake.¡±

    ¡°How did you know about the plot?¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°For starters, Feng Jiutian told me he desperately needed me to capture Bu Xusan, yet he has not urged me once since. When I first saw you two, I knew you deliberately showed up there to bait me in, which you yourselves reinforced when you tried to sneak attack me.¡±

    Fu Dalong conveyed with admiration, ¡°This old one had no idea you were aware we deliberately tried to catch you off guard.¡±

    ¡°Ever since I identified your backgrounds and saw your pretences, I knew that something was amiss. Your act that day was over the top. That was not because you arecking as martial artists but because it went against your wills.¡± Seeing them both breathe breaths of relief, Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°Based on my assessment, this is what I surmise: that day, you and Bu Xusan attacked me on his orders, but I didn¡¯t follow you to Nine Heavens with Miss Ling. Arhat Lian deliberately tried to provoke her and even went as far as using uncouthnguage before turning back to me. Your n was unexpectedly sabotaged when I came back as you tried to eliminate her. Elder Fu made a desperate attempt on my life due to the circumstances, but he failed. Therefore, he tried to reconcile with me.

    ¡°However, I took the reins and found Bu Xusan, who was preparing to catch me off guard. You went along with my tune and tried to take me out as a team of three. You two pretended to be hurt, but you were actually biding your time to catch me by surprise, not expecting me to abandon Miss Ling. As a result, you had no choice but to defeat her, disband your group of imposters and restart nning.¡±

    They thought the n was wless when they heard it, never expecting to face challenges every step of the way, especially with Ming Feizhen going off script every time. Hearing him recount the strategy brought to their attention numerous ws in the n.

    ¡°You are correct.¡± Lian Hua solemnly borated, ¡°Feng Jiutian fooled us into attacking you.¡±

    ¡°He must¡¯ve made me sound distasteful to spur you two on to attack me?¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± answered Lian Hua. ¡°He imed you were a shameless official, a bully in gambling, a debauched man, a dine and dasher. After hearing you were gambling while lodging at the inn and seeing you abandon Miss Ling, we believed Feng Jiutian¡¯s ims.¡±

    Ming Feizhen suddenly found himself lost for words. While Feng Jiutian¡¯s ims were exaggerated, those were things he had done before.

    Fu Dalong grouched, ¡°Now that I think about it, every ce you went to was provided by him, yet he imed you threatened him. How could he possibly care for small change considering Feng n¡¯s wealth? I cannot believe we fell for his crocodile tears.¡±

    ¡°How did you two get acquainted with Feng Jiutian? I find it hard to believe you were interested in his money. Even if I was worse than how he described me, I believe you would not be willing to do someone¡¯s dirty work.¡±

    Beggars Sect was the biggest sect in existence. Though their members were scattered all over thends,bined, they wererge enough to topple huge powerhouses, which was why nobody dared to underestimate them. Elders of the sect were respected, led carefree lives and virtually never had to spend money. Shaolin disciples were even less interested in luxury. Plus, neither of them seemed to be the viinous type.

    Fu Dalong sighed. ¡°Had it not been for Bu Xusan, we would not need to take risks.¡±

    ¡°Bu Xusan?¡±

    Fu Dalong smirked. ¡°Not the one we worked with to attack you, but the real Bu Xusan.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I do not follow.¡±

    ¡°Feng n had an escort job a few months ago that they made a big deal out of despite the modest pay. As Beggars Sect owes them a favour, this old one took on the job since he is heading close to retirement and has no reputation in the pugilistic world. Master Lian also joined for simr reasons.¡±

    Lian Hua bobbed his head. ¡°I owe Feng n a favour, too, so I joined in on the job.¡±

    ¡°We did not expect to run into a kid who kept trying to hinder our escort job. Notwithstanding his tender age, he was clever in both mind and with his hands. Before we realised it, he had pinched an item.¡±

    ¡°Would that kid be Bu Xusan, Elder?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It almost felt as if he had been training while he was in his mother¡¯s womb. As we lost what we were tasked with protecting, we had to agree to help Feng Jiutian with three things to make it up to him. You have already deduced what happened next. Everything we have done, including our invitation today is to bait you in. While it is not a deed to brag about, his description of you riled this old man up. Now that he thinks about it, it seems that Feng Jiutian has been setting us up from the moment it was lost to harm you.¡±

    Losing the product was an unexpected ident, but plotting everything subsequent to it around it was what made it believable. Had the target not been Ming Feizhen, it would¡¯ve likely seeded.

    ¡°I had no idea there were so many twists and turns. I was wondering why two people of your backgrounds would serve Feng Shanshan.¡±

    Fu Dalong and Lian Hua lowered their heads in shame.

    ¡°You two need not worry. If you truly want to make amends, I have a favour to ask of you.¡±

    The two responded, ¡°We are at your service.¡±

    ¡°You need not make it sound like that. My request is simple. Please take me to the banquet.¡±

    The two replied, ¡°We cannot do that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Fu Dalong exined, ¡°This old one does not know what designs Feng Jiutian has in mind, but none of his traps would be something to scoff at. This old one heard he has set up an inescapable trap to capture you. He has met the one posing as Bu Xusan, and he has morphed into something that can no longer be called human. While exterminating evil is important, the risks must be weighed out.¡±

    ¡°You are exceptionally strong, but two hands are hard to beat four. How about you bring your colleagues at Liu Shan Men? We can bring our brothers, as well.¡±

    ¡°The more convoluted, the better. If it is too straightforward, I wouldin about hisck of creativity,¡± asserted Ming Feizhen. However, he had trouble convincing them to take him to the banquet, but then he had an idea. ¡°It is reasonable for you to doubt my abilities. Test me.¡±

    They didn¡¯t dare to test Ming Feizhen when they knew he was stronger than them, not to mention the fact that he was a disciple of Mount Daluo.

    Ming Feizhen picked up a pair of chopsticks. ¡°You both disyed impressive skills that day. Allow me to provide you with some entertainment.¡±

    Ming Feizhen plunged the chopsticks into the table. The table remained as smooth as it originally was. Lian Hua already did that, so it wasn¡¯t miraculous by any means. Ming Feizhen then pulled the chopsticks out, which Fu Dalong already did, as well.

    Ming Feizhen ran his hand over the table surface and smiled. ¡°Please lead the way now.¡±

    The two of them were so shocked that words failed them. He did what they did, but they wouldn¡¯t have been able to retrieve the chopsticks from the table without bringing any of the table¡¯s timber along, yet Ming Feizhen restored the table to its original state with a simple swipe of his hand as though it was magic.

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Wooden Alley ¨C A ce Shaolin disciples train.

    Bronzeman ¨C They are considered formidable monks from Shaolin Temple. There¡¯s a very old movie on them if you¡¯re interested titled 18 Bronzemen. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 80October 16, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 76October 11, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 81October 17, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 98

    A crying child hid himself in a secluded corner of the wall, yet, perhaps due to him inheriting his parents¡¯ bad luck, he couldn¡¯t avoid judgement. Though nobody ever held any expectations for him, he wasn¡¯t useless. Misfortune had the ability to create worse misfortune. Therefore, he was useful in the capacity as a courier of bad luck. The conniving adults manipted him all his life, turning him into bait once again. At the end of the path of confusion was darkness. Being devoured at the end of that path was a release.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a touching story?¡± Feng Jiutian, with tears in his eyes, shut the book he was reading, wiped his eyes and heaved a big breath. ¡°I¡¯ve been reading this story since childhood; there are plenty more short stories within the story, but this is the one that moves me like none other no matter how many times I read it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still as sickening as I remember from the first time no matter how many times I hear it.¡± The man in ck sitting opposite Feng Jiutian picked up his cup for a drink.

    ¡°You hurt my feelings.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± The man pointed to monster less than twenty metres away from them. ¡°That¡¯s the ace up your sleeve?¡±

    Besides sporting a humanoid physique, his arms were triple the size of an adult¡¯s arms, while his legs resembled tree trunks. His striated muscles tore off the bones and then regrew at set intervals, growing visiblyrger following each cycle. The stench of blood came from himself, the animals he ripped apart to gnaw or bit straight into.

    ¡°It¡¯s disgusting to see that you can read in this environment. He has already surpassed his limit, hasn¡¯t he? I don¡¯t know where you got this idea of mutation, but he¡¯ll be unable to maintain human form in a few days¡¯ time.¡± He seemed to have a understand the monster¡¯s circumstances, but it was unclear why. ¡°It¡¯s much quicker to just stick a de in someone than spend so much time and money just to kill someone.¡±

    ¡°I know right. It must be awful to be unable to remain human, yet still be unable to die. I believe you know this best.¡± Feng Jiutian wasn¡¯t intimidated by the piercing gaze on him. ¡°I don¡¯t want it to suffer, either. I have never intended to humiliate it. I have also ensured he has had enough flesh to eat. It can¡¯t give up any opportunities to grow stronger when the battle is right around the corner, right?¡±

    The sarcastic tone andpleteck of emotion for the monster disgusted the man. He didn¡¯t take issue with Feng Jiutian¡¯s words or manners; it was Feng Jiutian¡¯s way of life that irked him. There was nothing weird about Feng Jiutian¡¯s decision considering what he stood to gain and his status, but he showed no hesitation in his deeds and had no problem pretending to care whilst being ruthlessly brutal in his actions without batting an eye. At some point in time, his principles and morals had been altered into what it was now. He was now able to shed tears and give a sad speech whilst stabbing someone through the heart; perhaps he might¡¯ve felt upset afterwards, but it wouldn¡¯t have had any bearing on when he chose to thrust the de through their heart. He was the type to firmly stick to his beliefs no matter what and would believe he was right in spite of him losing time and time again. He would say things he didn¡¯t mean ¨C though others might¡¯ve taken it to heart. In a way, he had mutated just as the monster had.Feng Jiutian wiped the blood off his face and courteously held his hands in a cupped-fist salute. ¡°If we can retrieve Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow, the mutation willst. Thank you in advance for assisting on this front.¡±

    ¡°You sought out Night Sparrow, yet you are seeking my assistance at the same time. Are you trying to make me sh with Shadow Phoenix? Feng Jiutian, when you will do something about your temperament?¡±

    Feng Jiutian smiled. ¡°Shadow Phoenix is His Majesty¡¯s personal bodyguard. As if he would leave His Majesty¡¯s side to do something. I know how much men you have lost.¡±

    ¡°I have already sent a search party. Combined with Night Sparrow¡¯s team, it has taken months, yet we still haven¡¯t found the kid. Are you certain he¡¯s in the capital?¡±

    ¡°Anyone who covets Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow would be aware that this is the perfect time to throw a big event, so they wouldn¡¯t leave. Moreover, Night Sparrow encountered him just a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°¡­ If he dares to show himself in the capital while Night Sparrow and my men are around, he will not leave in one piece.¡±

    ¡°He should be honoured to hear that from General Qu Ji.¡±

    General Qu Ji knocked back a drink, then threw the cup at the ground, littering the ground with porcin fragments. ¡°How much longer are you going to drag out this pointless topic? Why is he still not here? Or do you have so much free time on your hands that you wanted me to keep youpany?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to summon him. You know who I sent to deliver the message. It¡¯s reasonable for it to take them a while.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s arrogant of you to send the two of them?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. Those two will switch sides.¡±

    General Qu Ji narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°Mount Daluo, Beggars Sect, and Shaolin are like different limbs on the same body. The two of them work for me against their wishes. If they find out Ming Feizhen¡¯s identity, they¡¯re guaranteed to switch sides.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you send them on the job?¡±

    ¡°The goal of summoning someone is to summon them. As long as theye, what does it matter if the messenger switches sides?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Are you confident he wille?¡±

    Feng Jiutian shed a corner of his pearly whites. ¡°Of course. Everyone has confidence, especially when they¡¯re strong and rarely have any challengers. Wouldn¡¯t youe if you were in his shoes?¡± ?

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s your prejudice towards me speaking. Ask Uncle Chi if you don¡¯t believe me. Uncle Chi, would youe if you were in his shoes?¡±

    Gan Fengchi, Feng Jiutian¡¯s bodyguard, answered with a smile, ¡°If it was your invitation, this one would have to bring along dozens of elites even if he dared to ept your invitation.¡±

    ¡°You have learnt to be sleazy, Uncle Chi.¡±

    Gan Fengchi shook his head as he wagged a hand. ¡°With agees greater fear in the pugilistic world.¡±

    ¡°I bet he wille. He does not view me as any more threatening than an ant, if even that.¡± Feng Jiutian subsequently continued mumbling, ¡°Who do you think the master of Night Fortress is? South Ember Five Pces ims to be on par with the Seven Champion White Princes when they only consist of five sects. You think that¡¯s an easy im to make? There¡¯s bound to be plenty of bloodshed behind that, far more than what I am shedding now by thousands and tens of thousands of folds. You never hear Night Fortress¡¯ master killed so and so scores of people, but you hear of how respected he is. When Mount Lu tried to conquer Hangzhou, Night Fortress drove them off; Ming Feizhen was only twenty-three at the time. He¡¯s probably even scarier now.¡± Wearing the smile of someone thrilled, he added, ¡°The scarier he is, the sooner he will bite the bait. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I told you.¡± General Qu Ji paused for a moment, then stood up, making his metal armour rattle. ¡°You businesspeople make my stomach turn no matter how many times I see you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You¡¯re worried about your shifu, right?¡±

    Zizi was going to shake his head until Bu¡¯s gaze prompted him to bob his head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you find your shifu, then.¡± Bu dragged Zizi out from the corner of a street onto the busy main street, but he felt resistance again. ¡°How many times is this now?¡±

    Bu released his hold on Li Zizi¡¯s hand to poke thetter in the head as he reproached, ¡°You¡¯re concerned for your shifu, so why do you refuse to search for him with me? It¡¯s annoying watching you bottle up your concern. Say something¡­ Say something!¡±

    Despite his forehead turning red, Li Zizi kept his head down and lips sealed, so Bu stopped poking.

    ¡°Say something. Why do you keep acting as though I¡¯m bullying you?¡±

    Li Zizi nced up, then back down and sighed. ¡°I am worried about Shifu, but you¡¯re¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Are you criticising me? You despise me for being a thief, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Li Zizi initially went to nod, but he ended up timidly bobbing his head in the end.

    ¡°You want to catch these hands, Li Zizi?! I bring you back to the capital as a friend, and this is how you see me?¡±

    The duo sneaked back to the capital before daylight and sneaked back in once daylight broke. Bu carried Li Zizi off a kilometre while the two adults were asleep and then woke his friend up. Had Li Zizi not heard about Bu¡¯s involvementst night, he would¡¯ve appreciated Bu¡¯s aid.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it! They¡¯re guaranteed to send people after you for stealing something so important to them. If they find out, they¡¯ll capture us before we even save Shifu.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re jinxing me now?!¡± Bu pinched and rubbed Li Zizi¡¯s cheeks, only stopping once thetter surrendered. ¡°I appreciate you worrying about me, but I know how to take care of myself, so stop getting involved with that. Feng Jiutian isn¡¯t just any run-of-the-mill guy. I¡­ tsk. You a prophet or something?!¡±

    Li Zizi wasn confused until he noticed the busy street emptying out; in particr, people around them were gradually moving away from them. In no time at all, there was only the two of them left.

    Still remaining cool, Bu clicked his tongue again. ¡°Tsk, Night Sparrow is here.¡±

    The men in ck, including the individual Li Zizi had a brief sh with, fromst time emerged again. However, he didn¡¯t realise that Bu didn¡¯t say, ¡°Night Sparrow¡¯s members¡± but only, ¡°Night Sparrow¡±. A tall andnky maiden stood at the forefront of the group. This time, all four members showed up.

    ***

    ¡°This is the ce? That¡¯s a wealthy family for you,¡± remarked Ming Feizhen.

    Lian Hua and Fu Dalong exchanged eye contact before making up their minds. ¡°The two of us have decided to entrust our lives to you. Leave the vanguard t-¡±

    Ming Feizhen had already pushed open the main doors to the manor and started praising its architecture. He then looked over his shoulder and told the two, ¡°You two should turn around now.¡±

    ¡°We cannot do that,¡± the two replied.

    ¡°This is the devil¡¯s den. Nobody knows what sorts of traps have been set up inside. You cannot take the risk,¡± asserted Fu Dalong.

    ¡°You should not be impulsive,¡± urged Lian Hua.

    ¡°Rx. I am just going to have a word with him. By the way, I have something I need your help with.¡± Smiling, Ming Feizhen requested, ¡°Please send my greetings to Dongpo¡¯s boss and ask him to slow cook two braised pork shoulders in soy sauce. I will be visiting afterwards.¡±

    The sound of the doors closing behind Ming Feizhen felt akin to bars of legato thunderp in Lian Hua and Fu Dalong¡¯s minds.

    ¡°¡­ What do we do?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± After thinking it through, Lian Hua responded, ¡°Let¡¯s go buy pork shoulders.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The two were spot on. And the traps within would¡¯ve killed them instantly. For that reason, Ming Feizhen asked them to turn around.

    ¡°Man, he¡¯s ruthless,¡± Ming Feizhenmented upon seeing the dozens of tables of drool-inducing food and drinks.

    There were also servants serving up items for the dozens of socialites and nobles, some of which were people he had investigated previously or met in court before. Nobody noticed his arrival, though, as he traversed the manor using qinggong. After pinching a few dishes to eat on his way, he started exploring the property. It was a pretty edifice with everything expected in a rich family¡¯s mansion, but there was nothing special about it. Due to the guests and Feng Jiutian¡¯s own people being present simultaneously, it was impossible to discern who was who.

    Ming Feizhen licked his greasy fingers, then pulled over an official offering up a drink. Due to the official vanishing out of sight in front of them, the crowd freaked out. As for the official who saw pitch ck for a second, he only discovered he was in the same pose, spoke to nobody, wasn¡¯t in the garden anymore, and had his drink stolen, after the fact.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the entrance?¡± questioned Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Who are you? Wh-what entrance?¡± Before he could make sense of what happened, the official was already immobilised, so he couldn¡¯t even look up high enough to see Ming Feizhen¡¯s face.

    ¡°The entrance to the underground path.¡± Ming Feizhen yawned prior to crushing the cup in his grip. ¡°I¡¯m not a fan of drivel talk. This will be you in a moment if you don¡¯t talk.¡±

    The official was tasked with weing Ming Feizhen and leading him to the underground zone, including activating the contraptions to trap Ming Feizhen underground. He just never expected to be on the receiving end instead.

    ¡°So it is you, Duke Ming. Y-¡±

    ¡°You like to use your mouth for pointless reasons, huh?¡±

    The official felt his mouth shut solid. Next, he caught an overpowering smell invade his nose. Since he couldn¡¯t breathe through his mouth, he had no choice but to inhale the smell.

    ¡­ Ming Feizhen cast aside the official who had spilt everything and located entrance. Despite the bottomless passage being pitch ck, Ming Feizhen sauntered down without a moment of thought.

    ***

    Feng Jiutian always had two people beside him: Gan Fengchi and Liang Wusheng. Ming Feizhen often saw both big men. Unlike Gan Fenchi, who had served Feng n for dozens of years, Liang Wusheng climbed to his post through his own hands.

    Liang Wusheng learnt his ¡°Six Paths Prodigy Cudgel Art¡± from Luoyang¡¯s Liutong Sect and built his reputation around his mastery of the discipline. He was blessed with a great teacher from a young age, but he also dedicated himself to his training. As soon as he graduated, he started adventuring every corner of thend, improving himself over the next two decades through building experience. It was then that Feng n took notice of him and employed his services. Nevertheless, the primary reason Feng n valued him was his cautious personality; without it, Feng Jiutian wouldn¡¯t even have let him carry his shoes.

    ¡°Stay focused. He will be here any moment. As soon as we hear from the main doors, we will have to bebat ready immediately,¡± Liang Wusheng stressed for the dozenth time today, still sounding as serious as the first time he said those words. He lived by the refrain that a lifetime of cautiousness wasn¡¯t enough to counter a moment of carelessness. ¡°The main doors have opened.¡±

    Everyone rushed toward the same destination without a second wasted, with Liang Wusheng, armed with his signature Six-horned Ironwood, leading from the centre. It was erroneous to call their action interception as they were likely going to be disposing of corpses more than they fought.

    ¡°Once the doors open and someone enters, the contraptions within will activate.¡±

    There were arrows, poisonous liquids, scalding-hot metal, metalsced with poisonous spikes, and even huge boards that fired enormous sharpened logs. Liang Wusheng never felt sorry for any of the so-called adepts who perished to Feng Jiutian¡¯s traps, nor did he think it was a pity that they never had the chance to disy their abilities. His reasoning was simple: they were too arrogant for their own good. In his opinion, deciding on supremacy through martial prowess was silly.

    ¡°Stay quiet. If he truly makes it here, there¡¯ll likely only be a pool of blood remaining. We need to watch.¡±

    Those who followed Liang Wusheng didn¡¯t see the need for them to wait for the contraptions to activate, but they followed him because of his order. Every single time someone had tried to ovee the traps, they never made it across before bing a corpse. They had witnessed it so many times that even Liang Wusheng had grown numb to it, and he was sure history would repeat itself this time, too. Once the waiting time exceeded the typical wait, though, his numbness turned to vignce.

    ¡°Why isn¡¯t he entering the underground passage?¡±

    The only exnation for why the mechanisms were still dormant was that the person above didn¡¯t enter the passage. Although it wasn¡¯t the first time they encountered this sort of situation, the person assigned to the ground floor would¡¯ve tricked the target into descending or activate the floor trap to drop the target down. This time, however, there wasn¡¯t a sound from above.

    ¡°¡­ Did the door really open?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there is light shining in.¡±

    ¡°Where is he?¡± grouched Liang Wusheng.

    ¡°Behind you.¡±

    As his hairs stood erect, Liang Wusheng swung his cudgel in a horizontal arc. Despite them being in a small and narrow space, his cudgel just swung through thin air.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who¡¯s careless? What makes you think that nobody can reach here?¡±

    ¡°Show yourself!¡± No matter which way he turned, Liang Wusheng didn¡¯t see any traces of his opponent. ¡°H-how did you get here? Didn¡¯t the contraptions activate?¡±

    The man behind him replied, ¡°Activate contraptions? How far away were you? All I had to do was jump across? You people can¡¯t jump that far?¡±

    Ming Feizhen came face to face with Liang Wusheng. This time, Liang Wusheng performed his best swing since he could see his foe, but it was stopped dead in its tracks.

    ¡°You¡¯re good, but I don¡¯t have time to y with you.¡±

    Ming Feizhen snatched the cudgel from Liang Wusheng, then thrust at thetter¡¯s face in a crude fashion. Owing to Ming Feizhen¡¯s strike looking as amateurish as someone untrained, Liang Wusheng scoffed at it and felt ashamed for worrying a moment ago. Liang Wusheng only needed to deflect Ming Feizhen¡¯s arm upwards with his cudgel and then press down to counter, but he heard a ¡°ng¡±, and then the weight of his cudgel felt asymmetrical. He had yet to catch on to what happened when he saw himself holding two halves of his cudgel whilst his arms were still in motion.

    Ming Feizhen continued reaching forward after snapping the cudgel, grabbed Liang Wusheng by his cor and singlehandedly hoisted him off the ground. ¡°I¡¯m an advocate of manners. I came to attend a banquet, so I must see the host.¡± Smiling, he questioned, ¡°Where is your master?¡±

    ¡°His instructions were to lead you to him if you could get past the traps and me.¡±

    ¡°Nice to know he can think. Even if you refuse to speak, he won¡¯t be able to leave. Rather than waste manpower, why not just show me the way. Brother Liang, you saved yourself, hahaha.¡±

    Sweating, Liang Wusheng responded, ¡°Thank you. Thank you.¡±

    It only just urred to Liang Wusheng that the person he thought he was leeching off was actually a clever individual.

    Upon entering a spacious stone room, Liang Wusheng gestured for Ming Feizhen to head in. ¡°Please enter alone.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Not apanying me? More traps within?¡±

    ¡°The fact that you are able to attend the banquet proves that you are courageous and capable. You must already be aware of the answer without the question.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I like it. Although you were hostile, you brought a cudgel instead of a ded weapon, which goes to show you have honour. I shall not make life hard for you. I shall see you again.¡±

    As he watched Ming Feizhen amble in, Liang Wusheng had an urge to call out to Ming Feizhen; not because he wanted to give a warning but to exin he was a cudgel user to begin with¡­

    Entering the stone room felt the same as winter suddenly walking in. While he was trying to figure out how the room was so chilly when it was summer, Ming Feizhen spotted an elder. There was nothing in the area besides the old man and stone caskets.

    Smiling, the elder said, ¡°There have been few men who havee this far in the ten years I have served the young master. You are the only one so young to have made it this far. May I ask for a name?¡±

    ¡°My in name is Ming Feizhen.¡±

    ¡°in?¡± The elder frowned.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Smiling back, Ming Feizhen exined, ¡°As in as you.¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t crush you, I¡¯ll be bringing shame to myself!¡±

    ¡°You have a fierier temper, but based on your appearance, I do not see you being stronger than Brother Liang back there. How do you intend to crush me at your level?¡±

    ¡°Once you get past me, the door behind me will lead to the young mast-¡±

    ¡°This door?¡± Ming Feizhen, having zipped past the elder before the elder caught on, knocked on the stone door behind the elder whilst grinning. ¡°Is it your defeat if I open this door?¡±

    The elder¡¯s hands instantly turned mmy. Even if he didn¡¯t want to admit defeat at this point, he didn¡¯t have an alternative. Before he could speak, though, Ming Feizhen returned to his original spot.

    With both hands behind his back, Ming Feizhen conveyed, ¡°That was just a joke. I respect special people the most. Show me what you have. I will not interrupt you.¡±

    The elder took a step back to stand side by side with a stone casket. ¡°Your martial prowess is incredible, and you have a big heart. I am grateful to have the opportunity to disy my humble skills.¡±

    Somehow, the twenty-plus stone caskets moved. They started with small movements, and then the lids popped off violently, allowing each person within to sit up. They all had ghastly-white appearances, and, despite their different attire, it was self-evident that they were martial artists.

    ¡°Are those Valley of Viins¡¯ Combat Monsters?¡±

    Smiling confidently, the elder answered, ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°I had heard Valley of Viins could develop mindless and emotionless puppets that could keep fighting until they were killed, and they were nimble and strong. Word out there is that even capable warriors struggled to get them off.¡±

    Ming Feizhen heard soft breaths and heartbeats before the lids came off, but he was confounded as they didn¡¯t resemble symptoms of an ill patient. Therefore, it was quite a surprise for him to learn they were the old man¡¯s weapons.

    A Combat Monster leapt out from the casket, covering fifteen metres andnded on all fours on the ground. Ming Feizhen aimed a thoughtless palm strike at it, only for it to get straight back up.

    To produce a Combat Monster, they erased the person¡¯s self-awareness using abination of their proprietary drug and method. Although taming human beings into ves was considered evil, they weren¡¯t the only people to do so. The strength of a Combat Monster that simr methods couldn¡¯t replicate was the Combat Monsters¡¯ impervious nature to pain and fatigue. In addition, they were able toplete the process in mere days.

    ¡°These twenty-odd Combat Monsters are justmon folks that I have turned most recently. Are you, an orthodox sect disciple, ruthless enough to harm them? I¡¯m curious.¡±

    As the Combat Monster charged at Ming Feizhen again, thetter disappeared at the same time the Combat Monster¡¯s head levitated off its shoulders and a geyser of blood sprayed.

    ¡°You think too highly of me, Elder.¡± As he retracted his arm, Ming Feizhen zipped past the elder. ¡°I¡¯ll kill whoever tries to kill me. That¡¯s a rule of the pugilistic world that never changes no matter the setting. I am not so arrogant that I would try to change that. Besides, I didn¡¯t kill them; you did. I¡¯m not foolish enough to make that mistake.¡±

    Once someone was converted into a Combat Monster, there was no hope of restoring their original personality; all they had remaining was an instinct to kill. Keeping them lying in caskets was just a means of preserving theirbat energy because they¡¯d die in a few days regardless fromck of sustenance.

    ¡°So? You kill the innocent just as we do. What makes you any different? In all the years I¡¯ve been alive, the majority of heroes I came across just pretended to be against murder at first, but they won¡¯t hesitate to kill once they¡¯re surrounded. You people sicken me. Kill him!¡±

    The elder was aware that Ming Feizhen had no qualms killing people, yet he tried to catch Ming Feizhen off guard. It gave the impression that he was testing Ming Feizhen¡¯s resolve.

    ¡°I see,¡± Ming Feizhen muttered under his breath while every single one of their attacks. Then, in a louder voice, he asked, ¡°You want them to get close to me to trigger an explosion?¡±

    ¡°Blow him up!¡± The eldermanded upon being exposed.

    ¡°Kneel.¡±

    All the Combat Masters dropped to their knees as if they were before their ruler. Standing in the middle of them, Ming Feizhen looked over to the elder and said, ¡°I now understand how you¡¯re still alive when you suck at fighting. You killed all the heroes you encountered by blowing them up.¡±

    ¡°Get up! Get up! Kill him!¡±

    Try as they may, the Combat Masters couldn¡¯t rise.

    ¡°Besides using drugs, you people rely on thought to control them. Are you sure that your link with them is strong enough?¡±

    The Combat Monsters stopped shaking.

    ¡°Wait, wh-what are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you looking at me?!¡±

    ¡°Kill him.¡±

    Notwithstanding his best efforts, the elder¡¯s creations soon overran him.

    ¡°What goes aroundes around. I hope that¡¯s a lesson you¡¯ll remember if you reincarnate,¡± voiced Ming Feizhen, walking past the ripped corpse that couldn¡¯t hear him. ¡°Don¡¯t harm innocent people if you¡¯re going to try and make a living in the pugilistic world.¡±

    Once he opened thest door, Ming Feizhen learnt that all of the chilling sensation came from behind thest doors. Thest area was winter in the middle of summer. This one was and of snow. On one of the four odd walls, there was a gap asrge as a door to enter. The walls emitted a chill even colder than ice iron. As an avid reader of ck and White Reflection, it took him no time to figure out they were the walls that Bright Mirror Pce constructed.

    ¡°Brother Ming, you sure have made me wait for ages,¡± Feng Jiutian hollered from somewhere.

    ¡°Brother Feng, why did you make it so hard to see you if you were going to invite me?¡±

    ¡°While I am an exceptional strategist, I am no expert in fighting. If I were to stand face to face with you, your aura alone would be enough for my lower body to offend your nose. That would be inelegant, would it not?¡±

    Ming Feizhen pinpointed Feng Jiutian hiding behind the back of thest wall based on the direction of his voice. The fact that Feng Jiutian¡¯s voice could be heard from a neighbouring room meant that Feng Jiutian was speaking through a small hole for airflow.

    ¡°Are you just going to hide behind a wall after preparing so many surprises?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the kind words. I knew that the three tests would not be enough to challenge you. I have a bad habit of making sure both hands are prepared whenever I do something. As such, I have prepared a big surprise for you. If you can pass it, then¡­¡±

    mes suddenly burnt more intensely. A big entity doused in mes descended from above. Even though the walls were frigid, the entity wasparable to a fireball that could kill just by generating gales. Upon roaring, not even Feng Jiutian¡¯s voice was audible any longer.

    ¡°Kill! Ming Feizhen, kill¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m having a conversation here, you noisy moron!¡±

    <em>Smack!</em> Ming Feizhen sent the fire creature reeling into a wall that bounced off instantly due to the impact. Paying no heed to what he sent to the ground, he voiced, ¡°Sorry, Brother Feng, but I didn¡¯t catch thest part. What were you trying to tell me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ming Feizhen looked down to the creature on the ground. ¡°Eh? Ham, didn¡¯t I smack you once already? Why are you acting up again?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Please take a seat at the table, Brother Ming, for a few drinks with me.¡±

    ¡°You better honour your word. Serve up your surprise for me, then.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You may need to wait a moment.¡±

    While Ming Feizhen was waiting, ¡°Ham¡± got to its feet. It took Ming Feizhen a while to identify that the creature he just smacked wasn¡¯t the one he smacked around a few months ago but the ¡°Bu Xusan¡± he met not too long ago. Had he not met him prior and identified the unique venom of Nirvana, Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t have recognised him. It was obvious that he was transformed against his will based on the heals that couldn¡¯t heal or be erased in the short time frame.

    ¡°Brother Feng, do you need to go to such lengths to kill me?¡±

    ¡°What might you be talking about, Brother Ming?¡±

    Feng Jiutian¡¯s tone was that of an audience member watching an entertainment show.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about turning your cousin into this.¡± Pointing to the creature in front of him, Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°Feng Qizhi is part of Feng n at the end of the day. I can¡¯t believe you actually did this to him.¡±

    ¡°It would be better for you to worry about your safety, Brother Ming.¡±

    The creature roared as it rose up, shed its sharp ws, dted its green pupils, and spreads limbs to appearrger.

    <em>Smack!</em> The creature bounced off the wall again in the same fashion for a second time thanks to Ming Feizhen¡¯s kick.

    ¡°What safety?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Please worry about my cousin¡¯s safety. Please do not kill him.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 99

    ¡°You were looking for me, Cousin?¡±

    ¡°You want me to kill someone? I¡­ have never liked killing people. Can you not capture and torture him for twenty years? How about roasting his bum?¡±

    ¡°That makes it hard. I only kill nefarious viins, or even my broken brain would hurt.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Do you mean it?!¡±

    ¡°Are you really giving it to me. P-perhaps my father is qualified¡­ but it is our n¡¯s heirloom, is it not? Can I really have it?¡±

    ¡°Is he¡­ really such a threat to the martial world and our n?¡±

    ¡°Cousin, this is not what you told me. Ming Feizhen does not seem to be a bad guy at all. Why do you want him dead?¡±

    ¡°I resigned from my post under Blue Prince His Highness to help youplete the request. I want to help, but asking me to kill someone innocent is¡­¡±

    ¡°Cousin, what is the meaning of this? Wait, th-, stop! Aaaah!¡±The only person who could¡¯ve been the creature Ming Feizhen dropped repetitively was Feng Qizhi. From the start, Feng Jiutian designated Feng Qizhi as an irreceable piece in his equation. Feng Qizhi¡¯s father was the only one who consumed some of Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow, and nobody was able to replicate his results despite their wealth and attempts to replicate them. There was something special about Feng Qizhi¡¯s father that allowed his blood to mix with Nirvana¡¯s. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean he was able to endure the barrage of violence that constantly assaulted his mind until he lost his mind and went on a rampage. Although they managed to stop him, they did lose their precious test subject. Thankfully, he left his son to them.

    Feng Qizhi showed incredible aptitude from childhood; he ran fast, had plenty of strength and great vision. He was able to learn faster than other children with half of their effort and utilised his strength in a superior mannerpared to other children. Best of all, the violence of Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow didn¡¯t influence his mind too much. While his brain function was questionable, his personality was more robust than anyone else in Feng n. For instance, he believed in natural love between parents and children, which was basically an insane thought to other members of Feng n. Hence, Feng Jiutian was certain Feng Qizhi would bite the bait.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Giving Feng Qizhi the authority to use Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow was a gift that would¡¯ve sent him to bed with a smile. In saying that, even Feng Qizhi knew that it came at a cost, though he never expected the cost to be his mutation.

    Ming Feizhen could hear the sorrow in Feng Qizhi¡¯s howls even though he didn¡¯t know what thetter was sad about. It was initially hard to tell who the creature was, but it was impossible to see it as anyone else once he identified it was Feng Qizhi. Ming Feizhen saw Feng Qizhi as a child crying pain and misery out of his body.

    ¡°I have never had any grudges with you. Why are you going so far to kill me? Have I crossed you somehow without being aware?¡±

    Feng Jiutian chuckled. ¡°No grudges whatsoever, but there is someone who wants me to kill you, so I have to obey.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s a transaction?¡±

    ¡°Transactions take ce at every corner of the world. There is nothing in the world that cannot be achieved through transactions. If you think life is valueless, ask your friends from League of Assassins if I am wrong.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°I never said you¡¯re wrong. Why are you so eager to dispute it with me as if someone has contested your beliefs with you thousands of times before?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t expect you to be a debater, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°Quite to the contrary. I hate debating. Better to throw hands than words. You¡¯re right in that transactions are part of life everywhere in the world, but I¡¯m penniless and refuse to do business with you.¡± Ming Feizhen¡¯s expression changed. ¡°You know that fire is the best supplement for a phoenix to produce fire from its blood, but do you realise that these ckice walls reduce its abilities by more than 40%? I don¡¯t get it. Do you want to see him be beaten so badly?¡±

    ¡°How could I bear to see my cousin suffer. You are partially correct in that the walls reduce his abilities; however, he can still be active. Ice and fire neutralise each other, which is why the ckice walls are detrimental for him, but the phoenix blood provides him with a level of support.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pulled his brows together.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t understand yet because you should soon understand. Haven¡¯t you noticed the temperature in here continuing to drop?¡±

    Upon inhaling, Ming Feizhen confirmed Feng Jiutian was right. He didn¡¯t realise the temperature gradually dropped.

    ckice walls weren¡¯t ultra expensive just because it was a symbol of wealth and a means ofbatting the summer heat. Bright Mirror Pce forged weapons, so there was no need for them to produce products solely to entertain socialites. The true potential of the walls was expressed once the gus within were awoken thanks to their abilities to inflict harm through their icy venom.

    ¡°My cousin finished the preparations after he bounced off the wall twice. Brother Ming, can you still move?¡±

    Ming Feizhen took another breath, then smiled. ¡°It sure is cold. Your cousin isn¡¯t doing too well, either, though. He can¡¯t even stand up anymore. You don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to stand around and wait for him to recover, do you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not because there¡¯s also¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also me.¡± A man dressed in ck and protected under ayer of armour descended from above.

    Ming Feizhen scanned the man andplimented, ¡°Finally someone with some promise.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 100

    ¡°You all jump down from there, huh,¡± Ming Feizhen remarked as he gazed at the ceiling with curiosity.

    The ceiling was several metres above where Ming Feizhen stood, which indicated that anyone who survived the jump possessed incredible qinggong. Of course, jumping up there from below was an entirely different difficulty. Usually, only someone who could set aside their rationality and be awfully imaginative could¡¯ve made the jump as nobody operating based off predominatelymon sense would¡¯ve even thought of attempting it. A goal without a developed n to achieve it was just a goal devoid of strategy, not intelligence. However, the person who confronted Ming Feizhen vanished and then, from the ceiling, said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing there.¡±

    For a moment, there was the afterimage of a human silhouette that was reced with the undtion of his movement. Still, Ming Feizhen was still grinning in ce as though that was perfectly normal. The armoured man didn¡¯t cower just because Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t intimidated.

    ¡°There¡¯s nowhere for you to go even if you jump up. We¡¯ve been waiting there ahead of time to head down and meet you once you clear the three tests. Everything has been calcted. Feng Jiutian isn¡¯t there.¡±

    Ming Feizhen stroked his smooth chin. ¡°Did I say aloud my thoughts?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for the mouth to work if the eyes canmunicate.¡±

    Ming Feizhen was genuinely interested in Feng Jiutian¡¯sst test. The man in ck armour was definitely a warrior who¡¯d fought in real wars based on his gaze. What was interesting was that he was more taciturn that one would¡¯ve expected from a soldier. That being said, he didn¡¯t exude the vibe of an assassin, either. Perhaps the best way to describe his aura was that of someone who¡¯d seen so many deaths that he could stare at his own death indifferently, and he hadn¡¯t had sufficient time to adjust from the fatigue built up. With that said, the fatigue didn¡¯t appear to cause any detriments.

    The warrior drew his broadsword and held it to his side. On the battlefield, he drew his de and forged forward without any nning, as well. He had been too many ces and seen manynds in search of a goal that he couldn¡¯t reach in a lifetime. Breaks were just pit stops to reorganise. He didn¡¯t have and didn¡¯t choose to live periods of peace. If it wasn¡¯t a decision he proactively made, he wouldn¡¯t look so calm.

    ¡°Three rivers¡¯ Qu Ji.¡±¡°Beiping¡¯s Mingming.¡±

    The warrior dove down into the battlefield. ¡°I am not your match.¡±

    ¡°But you still insist on fighting.¡±

    ¡°It is a warrior¡¯s honour to cross swords with Night Fortress¡¯ master.¡±

    Ming Feizhen expected that response, and it didn¡¯t bother him whether it was genuine or not. Either way, he wouldn¡¯t decline.

    ¡°I wield a broadsword. How about you?¡°

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out once I retaliate.¡±

    Qu Ji created an afterimage of broadswords that resembled an open fan when he finally swung. Qu Ji impressed Ming Feizhen enough for thetter to feel convinced he should¡¯ve requested Qu Ji to teach Li Zizi. Qu Ji could¡¯ve lopped someone¡¯s head off painlessly. Yes, Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t have the knowledge to rank broadsword wielders, but he could distinguish between good and bad broadsword wielders.

    Despite Qu Ji¡¯s performance, his de still ran into an unmovable wall three inches from Ming Feizhen. When Qu Ji made contact, he instantly discerned what he ran into ¨C silk threads. Ming Feizhen was able to create an X-shaped using two strings and bound them to the ground without Qu Ji ever noticing until he ran into them. Putting aside the rarity of using threads as a weapon, even string masters in Fusang couldn¡¯t make a weapon out of such thin threads.

    ¡°You¡¯re the first,¡± Ming Feizhen praised with joy, ¡°to immediately figure it out on the first strike.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s Seven King Strings allowed him to make moves without telegraphing, leave no traces of his work and adapt as he saw fit. After finding inspiration from watching Fusang¡¯s string work, it took four years of experimentation during his retirement as a recluse to bring his thoughts into reality, which then took another three years of testing and tweaking to master. He hadn¡¯t disyed it to any reputable warrior in actualbat or built any reputation off it.

    One reason Ming Feizhen never disyed it was because he didn¡¯t want to under those circumstances and always fell back on his old skill set, resulting in him questioning what he went through three years of testing for. At the same time, though, he needed an opponent who could truly put it to the test as he was able to virtually finish every other fight with a single swipe of his threads, which was hardly a fight. So far, only Luo Ming, when he posed as Abels, and Pangu were able to bring out its true splendid nature.

    Ming Feizhen spread out his arms, and his hair started to flutter gently, while his silhouette started to blur as though he was sinking into water. ¡°Don¡¯t die too quickly on me now.¡±

    Water King String ¨C Gonggong¡¯s Thousand Fishes

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s simultaneous release of Night Net strings and qi strings threatened Qu Ji even though they merely resembled lively fishes. The true qi that permeated throughout the room zapped him of his strength and suffocated him. Each breath he took created a hallucination that he was drowning deeper and deeper underwater. The threads slow waves couldn¡¯t deal physical damage, but the mental psychological attack was amplified since they were in an enclosed room, meaning that the qi threads wouldn¡¯t leak. As a result, the effect would gradually intensify. It was a Ming Feizhen favourite in enclosed spaces. Thanks to the material of the walls, they made bouncing qi off them even more effective, which was the reason the sinking hallucination took effect sooner than usual. Within minutes, the target would¡¯ve struggled to stay standing and felt unweighted. However, the warrior didn¡¯t lose hisposure.

    Although the environment wasn¡¯t in his favour, the warrior was cognisant of the fact that only the ¡°fish¡± would¡¯ve dealt fatal damage. The threads were akin to fishes swiftly closing in on a target from every direction, so he lost his speed. That said, though he felt he was suspended in the air, his sword in the ground showed no signs of wobbling. His de sliced every fish that tried to touch him, effectively dispelling the illusion and returning the threads to the form of threads. To be able to break the form of the threads and their control solely through grazing the true qi as opposed to directly cutting the threads was a masterss on being flexible with a ded weapon.

    Grinning with more anticipation, Ming Feizhen uttered, ¡°Ancient King String ¨C Cushion.¡±

    Ming Feizhenunched three threads as stiff as spears towards Qu Ji, plunging them into without any obstructions in a destructive manner and creating three rifts in the ground. Not even the ground was able to dissipate all the force, resulting in the cracks stretching to the walls. s, it wasn¡¯t enough for Ming Feizhen to seize victory. Since Qu Ji barely moved away from the threads in the ground, it might¡¯ve given the impression that he barely evaded them, but it could¡¯ve also been the case that he was precise in judgement and movement. Either way, Ming Feizhen relished what he saw for Qu Ji wouldn¡¯t have been qualified to see the next act if he failed to survive the three threads.

    Ancient King Thread ¨C Zhurong¡¯s Fire.

    The room suddenly resembled a sunny noon. With the three threads in the ground at the epicentre, blinding light illuminated the room. Qu Ji instinctively lowered his head and kept his other senses at high output; however, he barely escaped his foe¡¯s attack that followed simultaneously. At the same time that the light inhibited his vision, a ruthless heatwave rose from the ground as if to rece the water he hallucinated himself in, and it rose to the ceiling within that split second. Still, the red pythons weren¡¯t able to break Qu Ji¡¯s mind.

    Qu Ji quickly discerned that Ming Feizhen lit up his qi threads that were spread out using true qi. The three threads he plugged into the ground were triggers to set the qi threads alight. Evidently, Ming Feizhen¡¯s prior moves were set ups to this end and as a countermeasure to the cold walls. Not only was the ground turned ck against its will, but even Feng Qizhi was enveloped in the mes. The damage would¡¯ve been far more significant if the walls didn¡¯t have a cold property.

    ¡°Yang Realm internal energy alone isn¡¯t enough to light up qi threads; rapid friction to create heat is alsopulsory, which ¡®Cushion¡¯ achieves. I assume you know what they rubbed against to create friction,¡± Ming Feizhen enlightened as if he read Qu Ji¡¯s mind.

    Qu Ji instantly recalled what obstructed his first attack. The three spear threads passed by where the two threads at the start were, fulfilling all the conditions for the fire. ¡°You are undoubtedly incredible to think of this countermeasure to the ckice walls.¡±

    ¡°You are the one who deserves praise. Though it¡¯s my first time using this in realbat, I can¡¯t believe I couldn¡¯t even finish one person.¡±

    It was Luo Sword Manor¡¯s titanic cauldron that inspired Ming Feizhen¡¯s strategy. While it was true that the ckice walls weakened the mes with its cold property, it was also true that the walls were greater at bouncing qi threads off than virtually any other wall. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t go all out. Nevertheless, it was clear that it wasn¡¯t a perfected strategy. Of course, he didn¡¯t consider Enlightenment as an option up his opponent¡¯s sleeve when he decided on the strategy.

    Unlike the typical me, a me produced out of true qi was difficult to extinguish. Even so, Qu Ji was able to create a safety zone around him with a swing of his blood. The ck glow he spawned roused Ming Feizhen¡¯s desire to fight even more.

    ¡°Any Edge Realm practitioner who can generate red, teal, or ck energy is tough to deal with, but you seem to have not consolidated your progress.¡±

    Eyes glowing the same colour as his de and disying the same toughness, Qu Ji slowly walked forwards, extinguishing the mes with his ck energy. Only theyer on the ground that was burnt the most had some golden tinge to it.

    In Edge Realm, red energy was a trait of sharpness, teal a trait of pration, and ck was a trait of consolidation. Ming Feizhen already witnessed Zero and de Demon¡¯s ck Enlightenments. Zero was able to consolidate his energy, but, unlike de Demon, Zero¡¯s didn¡¯t have a property that made gave the impression he melted the ground. There were several reasons for it. Notwithstanding the fact that Zero didn¡¯t specialise in wielding ded weapons, nobody was certain why Edge Realm warriors were special.

    Seemingly reading Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind, Qu Ji stated, ¡°I¡¯m not as skilled as you people. My Enlightenment is extremely draining.¡±

    Never once for a second did Qu Ji assume he was Ming Feizhen¡¯s match, but he wasn¡¯t afraid and never considered backing down.

    Ming Feizhen cast his gaze to thest ckice wall. ¡°I recall someone mentioning that the gus¡¯ cold venom would immobilise people and called it his ultimate strategy. That means you¡¯re buying time, correct?¡±

    Qu Ji paused for a moment, but then he surprisingly shook his head. ¡°No. I have a means of neutralising their venom. The four ckice walls don¡¯t slow me down. I am the ultimate strategy.¡±

    Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t think that was a joke; Qu Ji didn¡¯t have a sense of humour. Qu Ji didn¡¯t give the vibe of a money grubber, so Ming Feizhen struggled to figure out where Qu Ji came from and why he¡¯d serve Feng Jiutian.

    ¡°You should be aware of the gap between us.¡±

    ¡°I do. You¡¯re far stronger than I am, and you have time and experience on your side.¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is, you¡¯re going to defeat me using your Enlightenment?¡± Ming Feizhen looked at his fearless challenger in disbelief. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to kill you. I¡¯m not here for a contest; I¡¯m here for a vengeance. I must see Feng Shanshan, and I don¡¯t mind killing in order to achieve that goal. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°So if you¡¯re his ultimate card, I¡¯m going tough loudly.¡±

    ¡°Anything can happen until the final result actually happens.¡± Qu Ji never took his eyes off Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t work out what his foe cautiously advancing one step at a time was plotting. While it would¡¯ve been understandable tough at the pointless caution, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯tugh given Qu Ji¡¯s expression. As stupefying as it was to watch Qu Ji advance, it was puzzling to see him move in for a frontal attack when the gap between their levels was huge.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back this time,¡± stressed Ming Feizhen.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡±

    It took Ming Feizhen several seconds to identify what attack wasing when Qu Ji vanished, but he was surprised when he realised Qu Ji selected the least likely to seed option ¨C a frontal assault. While Qu Ji¡¯s movements were perceived to be swift, he wasn¡¯t fast enough to make Ming Feizhen lose track of him. To the contrary, Ming Feizhen saw a dull trajectory and clear movement that wasn¡¯t remotely interesting. Qu Ji¡¯s decision wasn¡¯t a mistake that Ming Feizhen thought the former would¡¯ve made.

    Qu Ji propelled himself forwards at a speed beyond his control as he focused all his energy into his feet. Going faster than what one could control didn¡¯t grant any extra power even though it increased the odds of making contact with the target. However, that would¡¯ve purely been a physical collision since his arms wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up.

    Ming Feizhen barely needed to shiftterally to make Qu Ji fly past, but he realised he was wrong when he saw that Qu Ji hadn¡¯t swung yet despite having gone past him. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened, and Ming Feizhen lost track of Qu Ji. Only at that point did Ming Feizhen realise Qu Ji made use of his threads.

    Ming Feizhen used the crossed threads in the ground to light a fire, while Qu Ji used the silk shield as a springboard to transfer the energy from his feet to his upper body, empowering him to execute a faster swing than he physically could alone. Qu Ji couldn¡¯t see Ming Feizhen due to himself moving faster than he could control, but Ming Feizhen also couldn¡¯t see Qu Ji for the first time.

    As vision was disabled, Qu Ji fell back on his own prior estimation and intuition to swing. The unique ability for his ck Enlightenment to condense allowed him to condense his form; else, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to finish his own gamble.

    By the time Ming Feizhen located Qu Ji, thetter was already at his side. He never believed Qu Ji had a means to win; even though he contemted what Qu Ji¡¯s strategies could¡¯ve been, he never gave it too much thought. Bouncing off his threads wasn¡¯t some innovative idea never thought of, so it would¡¯ve been easy to stop the improvised idea if he was careful. s, his own confidence hampered him. Due to his own hubris and constant guessing, his opponent was able to find his neck. Unfortunately, the feeling that transferred back to Qu Ji¡¯s body wasn¡¯t the feeling he desired.

    Autumn King Thread ¨C Empty Cicada Cocoon.

    The humanoid spider silk fell apart, crumpling to the ground. Meanwhile, Ming Feizhen watched his opponent with respect from close by. ¡°Empty Cicada Cocoon¡± was a technique he devised to avoid having to resist attacks head on, never expecting to resort to it against a warrior who hadn¡¯t even reached Divine Realm.

    Ming Feizhen raised a finger.

    Shadow King Thread ¨C Pangu.

    The many threads fused into a dragon head with all the details and then crashed into Qu Ji¡¯s back.

    ¡°This is the end.¡±

    Even though Qu Ji managed to move away to reduce the damage, it was certain that he suffered a serious internal injury. Plus, he exhausted all of his energy in thest attack on top of his expensive Enlightenment.

    Qu Ji crawled to his feet with blooding from his nose and mouth, as well as a puddle of his own blood on the ground. His heavy breaths proved he was significantly weakened.

    Ming Feizhen looked around to find that his mes had been extinguished, leaving just plumes of smoke, and that the temperature had dropped further. ¡°It¡¯s been rough on you to fight under these conditions.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I have my own way of handling it. It won¡¯t break me.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re out of ideas, show yourself.¡± Gazing at the wall, Ming Feizhen questioned, ¡°Or are you still counting on him?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was referring to Feng Qizhi, who just managed to get up again. Even though Ming Feizhen enveloped the room in mes before and burnt Feng Qizhi, Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t have any wounds. To the contrary, he had evolved even further. Perhaps it was owed to him growing ustomed to the environment, but he was even stronger than before. The only way to end the fight might¡¯ve been to shred Feng Qizhi.

    ¡°¡­ The gus are ineffective on you?¡± queried Qu Ji, in disbelief.

    The gus¡¯ venom was considerably more dangerous once they wokepared to when they just emitted cold venom in their slumber. Unless someone had pushed into advanced realms of their internal discipline focused on yang qi, then the cold would gradually weaken them. The debuff was particrly pronounced when people utilised their true qi. Without sufficient prior preparation, fighting under their influence was fatal. This proved Qu Ji was prepared; howbeit, it also puzzled Feng Jiutian.

    The cold venom¡¯s spread and the temperature were unrted, so the cold venom should¡¯ve impacted Ming Feizhen in spite of the mes raising the temperature, yet Ming Feizhen hadn¡¯t even sneezed.

    Ming Feizhen angled his head. ¡°The venom is worthless on me. Did you poison me? I hope you didn¡¯t because that¡¯d be a huge waste.¡±

    Feng Jiutian went silent.

    Ming Feizhen rubbed his hands together. ¡°If you don¡¯t show yourself, I¡¯ll have to find you myself.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Brother Ming, do you know who is after your life?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little toote to start passing me?¡±

    ¡°You misunderstand, Brother Mind. As you said, we have never had any grudges. Why should we harm each other? I am being forced against my will, as well.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re not going to tell me Yellow Prince ordered you toe after me, are you?¡±

    ¡°Eh? How did you know that?¡±

    ¡°Easy. Emperor¡¯s Entourage noticed Feng Qizhi and Yellow Prince¡¯s interactions. I was perplexed when they told me Yellow Prince was behind Feng Qizhi, but it all made sense once you got involved.¡± Ming Feizhen recoiled his celestial spider silk, thereby restoring his attire. ¡°You¡¯re with Yellow Prince. The only reason Feng Qizhi would connect with Yellow Prince is if it was on your orders.¡±

    Feng Jiutian pped. ¡°You really are a smart guy, Brother Ming. I cannot oppose themand of a Prince.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you?¡± Ming Feizhen smirked. ¡°It¡¯s already toote to push the me now. Yellow Prince just wants to circumvent me from being his shifu; he¡¯s not interested in taking my life. What you¡¯re doing has long gone beyond his intention andprehension. All you¡¯re doing now is trying to push the me on to him to escape. You don¡¯t give me enough credit, Brother Shanshan.¡±

    ¡°I would never! Didn¡¯t I tell you? You misunderstand me.¡±

    Ming Feizhen frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°It is absolutely true that Yellow Prince wishes for your death. I don¡¯t know the reason, but that is undeniable. That is why I tried to assassinate you.¡±

    Giving a nudge in the direction something was going to further his own agenda certainly was Feng Jiutian¡¯s style, so Ming Feizhen was somewhat convinced.

    ¡°There is one thing you have wrong, though. I am not telling you this to push the me onto someone else. I just want you to know why you have to die. It¡¯s time. Brother Zhi.¡±

    Feng Qizhi suddenly inhaled a huge breath of air and belted! Judging from his tone, his throat organs must¡¯ve been altered from a transformation. As he went up in mes, a pair of wings sprouted from his back. Had he had a few more years, he really might¡¯ve been able to grow wings. Today, however, he was going to be on his back before he saw Ming Feizhen uncork the punch into his gut.

    ¡°You¡¯re counting on this to defeat me?¡± Ming Feizhen questioned.

    ¡°Roar,¡± instructed Feng Jiutian.

    Ming Feizhen suddenly stumbled back a step. Out of nowhere, he felt dizzy, cked out for a moment and heard ringing in his ears, making his head hurt. It had been years since he felt his internal structures be jumbled ever since hepleted his training. It was the first time he had a feeling of finding a rival since Pangu.

    Ming Feizhen froze at the end of his punch. Feng Qizhi slowly slid down from Ming Feizhen¡¯s fist and dropped on the ground, unable to budge an inch.

    ¡°¡­ What is this?¡± Ming Feizhen opened his eyes.

    Feng Jiutian smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t know that a dragon¡¯s roar can summon winds and lightning, while a phoenix¡¯s roar can destroy human organs, when you¡¯re a disciple of Mount Daluo?¡±

    Ming Feizhen was aware of that, but Nirvana was supposed to be the only one capable of aforementioned roar. It never crossed his mind that Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t want Feng Qizhi to defeat him but to disable him. He was unaware that someone had sessfully recreated the roar. If it was their n¡¯s first time being able to call forth the roar, then Feng Jiutian wouldn¡¯t have been so familiar with how to get there, how long it took and how to get it out. In other words, Feng Qizhi wasn¡¯t the only experiment in recent times.

    ¡°So what if I can¡¯t move? You still have someone who can finish me?¡±

    It was the final room, and Ming Feizhen¡¯s ears told him there was nobody else left.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m out of men. Besides, it¡¯d take someone special to even do anything to you. Therefore, it¡¯s best to use a veteran. It¡¯s your chance now!¡±

    Without having to turn around, Ming Feizhen knew that the warrior on his knees, the warrior who had recovered somewhat, had re-enteredbat mode with more power than before. In other words, Qu Ji had reserved energy for this opportunity.

    ¡°He¡¯s right, but he missed out one thing.¡± Qu Ji emotionlessly marched forward without picking up his de. ¡°To be urate, I¡¯m not the me from just before. The phoenix¡¯s roar may be fearsome, but it¡¯s not almighty. Feng Qizhi was fine after the roar because he has qingluan blood in him and has undergone the brutal transformation process. A certain special poption get the short end of the stick once the phoenix roars the same way we are disadvantaged against you. No matter mighty you may be, you¡¯re still human. All you can do against truly special beings is bow down. There¡¯s one more thing he didn¡¯t tell you.¡± Qu Ji stopped before Ming Feizhen and raised his ck hand. ¡°Besides him, I¡¯ve also mutated.¡±

    Upon bringing his hand down on Ming Feizhen¡¯s skull, Qu Ji didn¡¯t hear bones crushing and brain parts sttering. He could see his fingers on Ming Feizhen¡¯s dome and feel his fingers were there; he confirmed he already gave it his all.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Eyes shing red, Ming Feizhen rhetorically questioned, ¡°This is how you took down Shen Wuzheng back then, too?¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Gonggong ¨C A Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpent.

    Zhurong ¨C A Chinese god of fire and of the south. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 09 Ch. 149February 12, 2021In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 101

    Arguably, Shen Wuzheng¡¯s demise was the biggest shock in the pugilistic world for the ten years prior and after. Given his status, the imperial court would¡¯ve strictly censored the news until there was a suitable time, lest the people panicked. Sadly, that was impossible when thousands of people witnessed a ze consume his home and saw his children escape from the mayhem. The ¡°upper echelon¡± didn¡¯t think the news was meant to be censored.

    His Majesty¡¯s n to personally hold a funeral for histe friend was met with vehement objections from officials until the silent Ye Yun made a bloody mess out of a protestor in court. Suffice to say, Ye Yun could¡¯ve killed the official even without a hu, but he mounted the official and silently bludgeoned him whilst fighting back his tears that mixed in with the blood sprayed. His Majesty handed out a trivial punishment of self-reflection to Ye Yun for his actions.

    On the day of the ceremony, it took His Majesty virtually all of his strength to stand. He showed no signs of pursuing the culprit, nor did he mention the consequences of Shen n¡¯s downfall on the imperial court. Upon returning to court soon after, he never mentioned a word of it. Nobody dared to ask him about it ever since; they universally knew that hisposure was just a pretence and asking him would¡¯ve been poking the bear.

    After nothing about it was brought up for years, it was assumed that it had passed. Little did they know how important it was to His Majesty and how capable he was. Without many being aware, he built himself up to force Ximen Chuideng into a decisive battle at Lawless Cliff a few yearster, practically erasing Divine Moon Cult from the Central in. The event brought Shen Wuzheng¡¯s passing back to the forefront for the majority again. It dawned on them at that point that His Majesty never got over his friend¡¯s death, and he never forgot about avenging his friend. For all they knew, he could¡¯ve made up his mind to destroy Demon Sect on the day of histe friend¡¯s funeral.

    Ming Feizhen felt lost when he caught wind of Shen Wuzheng¡¯s passing. Although they weren¡¯t close, Ming Feizhen asionally thought of Shen Wuzheng¡¯s smile and soothing voice. His impression of Shen Wuzheng was a schr ¨Cposed, and organised. Shen Wuzheng gave the impression of a man who had an answer for any problem; if it was a really tough one, he¡¯d talk you out of your pessimism and help you brainstorm together. Shen Wuzheng made for a great friend.

    While the thought of investigating Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death dide to Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind, Yan Shisan was still active at the time. Yan Shisan swore to find the culprit behind Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death, only to lead to Divine Moon Cult getting dragged in, destroyed, and even ruining himself. Most people stopped caring about Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death after Ximen Chuideng fell from power, with only a few people still pursuing the case, one of whom was Ming Feizhen.

    Divine Moon Cult and the imperial court were still enemies. The imperial court didn¡¯t care if Ximen Chuideng was responsible for Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death or not. Whatever the truth was, why did they have to care once Ximen Chuideng was gone? Divine Moon Cult was more focused on avenging Ximen Chuideng than caring about the reason behind Shen Wuzheng¡¯s demise.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Ming Feizhen was the exception as there was never a clear-cut exnation for Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death. Not even Yan Shisan was dead certain in his conclusion. Most importantly, the question of who killed Shen Wuzheng remained unanswered. Even though Shen Wuzheng wasn¡¯t on Yan Shisan¡¯s level, if Shen Wuzheng was still alive, Ming Feizhen was sure that he¡¯d have been one of The Ultimate Three.

    Shen Wuzheng wasn¡¯t Confucianism¡¯s Yu Sihe. He singlehandedly maintained the bnce between the three bureaus. He was ustomed to dealing with schemers, and he wouldn¡¯t have carelessly trusted someone, not even his closest friends, when he knew he was always living inside a tornado. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t even imagine his current self being able to take out the calm Shen Wuzheng without thetter even being able to send out onest piece of information in hisst moment. Why would someone as conspicuous as Ximen Chuideng, who loved being as mboyant as possible, have assassinated Shen Wuzheng instead of making sure the entire capital was watching on? There was only one person who could¡¯ve so one-sidedly defeated Shen Wuzheng, but Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t convinced Ming Huayu would¡¯ve done that, so that possibility was removed. As long as he removed the part about Shen Wuzheng being unable to leave behind any information, Ming Feizhen had new routes to explore.The ze not only burnt Shen n¡¯s corpses, but it also likely burnt any information Shen Wuzheng might¡¯ve left behind. Assuming that was the case, they didn¡¯t rely on martial prowess to overpower Shen Wuzheng. He could¡¯ve been immobilised and been rendered unable to escape the mes. To be absolutely sure no traces of their involvement remained, they set fire to the property. The theory narrowed the possibilities, but it also expanded them.

    There were only around a dozen people who could¡¯ve been strong enough to kill Shen Wuzheng. If they used schemes and traps, however, the number of suspects could¡¯ve been in the thousands. Therefore, the only alternative was to consider what could¡¯ve immobilised Shen Wuzheng. One possibility was a phoenix¡¯s roar, a conclusion that Ming Feizhen believed was most feasible after thorough deliberation.

    Poison and contraptions were unlikely. Even ignoring Shen Wuzheng¡¯s abilities, it would¡¯ve been harder to nt contraptions in his home than to have assassinated him. s, it was impossible to prove that the phoenix¡¯s roar was the cause.

    Mount Daluo was one of the ces closest to Six Evils, but Ming Feizhen truly didn¡¯t know much about the phoenix roar. Ming Huayu told him the bird in a cage sounded better, and Hero Shenzhou snored as loud as a phoenix. In the end, he didn¡¯t learn anything extrapared to prior. If there was nobody who could replicate the phoenix¡¯s roar, then the theory didn¡¯t hold up.

    Until today.

    ¡°.. What do you know?¡± Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t hide his unease. ¡°How much do you know about Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death? Why did you link it with the phoenix roar. Don¡¯t tell me y-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± thundered Qu Ji. ¡°He¡¯s not under the roar¡¯s control yet! Run f-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s toote to run,¡± Ming Feizhen dered.

    Ming Feizhen flicked a silver thread from his finger through to the other side of a ckice wall, pinning Feng Jiutian to said wall via thetter¡¯s shoulder.

    Autumn King String ¨C Moonlight.

    Qu Ji predicted Ming Feizhen would make a move, but he failed to see the process when Ming Feizhen did move. One thing he knew for certain at that point, though, was that Ming Feizhen was immune to the phoenix roar.

    Some warriors were able to still move a tad after hearing a phoenix roar. A Divine Realm warrior would¡¯ve been able to move for a short distance. If a warrior had learnt to summon all their life essence to amplify their power, then they had a chance of going down with their foe. Ming Feizhen was one such foe. That was why they tried to lull him into a false sense of security and acted out an interesting fight before letting the would-eventually-be-stronger-than-him Feng Qizhi deliver the final blow. Arrogance, immobilisation, and forgetting to dodge were supposed to turn the odds in their favour.

    ¡°Yeah, why?¡± Ming Feizhen gave them a smile as he performed shoulder circles. ¡°How bewildering. How did this happen when your opponent was overconfident,¡± he continued as he ambled forward.

    ¡°How are you¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let me down. Use your head. You have one, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Out of the blue, Qu Ji saw a colossal being that should¡¯ve only existed in fantasies. Immeasurable fear pervaded his body, weakening his w attack to the point that it bounced straight off his target. He stumbled back eight steps, yet he still couldn¡¯t find his footing. Besides perspiring profusely, his mutated right arm hurt bad.

    ¡°You saw it? If that¡¯s the case, you should understand now. It¡¯d be weird if it worked on me when it doesn¡¯t work on you, right?¡±

    Qu Ji saw a titanic tree that couldn¡¯t have existed in the realm of man, lightning between dense clouds that never ceased, a field of swords plunged into the ground, and a colossal crimson entity expressing an insatiable hunger. Though it onlysted for a split second, the disy was enough to mentally break the viewer. ?

    All Ming Feizhen did was smile to produce the freaky scene. ¡°I¡¯m a disciple of Mount Daluo, a disciple who inherited the ¡®Ming¡¯ surname. What makes you think mutations and I don¡¯t go in the same sentence?¡±

    With a wet back, Qu Ji mindlessly replied, ¡°Rubbish¡­ Daluo¡¯s chaofeng went extinct long ago. This is impossible¡­¡± He cut himself off and showed regret.

    ¡°So people do expose themselves through clumsy denials when they¡¯re freaked out. Guess the people before us didn¡¯t lie. Of course the chaofeng hasn¡¯t been mentioned at Mount Daluo, but it¡¯s not something the outside world knows. The fact that you know about it means that you¡¯re not an outsider. Which group are you with?¡±

    Qu Ji didn¡¯t answer. He was a reticent individual to begin with. Had the appearance of the Fengpeng not shaken him up, he wouldn¡¯t have said so much. He was chosen toplete this mission for his steel resolve.

    Eyes on Qu Ji¡¯s mutated arm, Ming Feizhen and questioned, ¡°Is your arm¡­ Garuda?¡±

    Qu Ji¡¯s mutated arm suddenly released a turbid smell before quickly reverting to a normal human arm. As a result, his injury returned, wobbling him again.

    ¡°The fact that you can control your transformation at will despite only transforming one arm goes to show that you people are veterans of creating ¡®mutants¡¯. Some idiots assume the blood of the beasts are the magic that they can use to mass produce warriors, ignorant to the reality that the blood isn¡¯t that useful unless the blood spilt in battle still maintains some of the original traces, which provides the most important piece of the puzzle.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just Ming Feizhen¡¯s immunity to the phoenix roar that astonished Qu Ji but also Ming Feizhen¡¯s knowledge, reason being that Mount Daluo didn¡¯t create mutants.

    ¡°Mm¡­ It should be called ¡®evil qi¡¯ or ¡®toxic qi¡¯. That¡¯s what transforms the human body and fuses with flesh and blood the most. It¡¯s just that the blood you have coincidentally contained arge volume of toxic qi, so you can transform. Feng n¡¯s creation is a demented product. It¡¯s clear they relied on their vast fortune to find a way; it¡¯s nothing legit. You must¡¯ve suffered plenty to perfect your transformation. I¡¯m sure there was a price to pay for it. How many died out of ten people? Six? Or seven?¡±

    Qu Ji gritted his teeth and hung his head down.

    ¡°Even though you survived, you must¡¯ve spent ages to master your control over it. You must be one of the few different warriors among your people. Who are you with, though? Sky Realm Pce wouldn¡¯t ept men. Beiyou people aren¡¯t so short. You¡¯re not with Hidden Flow, and your style is different to Six Meridians. You¡¯re with ¡®Ruins¡¯?¡± While Qu Ji was ready to ept death, Ming Feizhen just exhaled. ¡°This is really annoying to put up with. I now understand why Uncle Shen couldn¡¯t stand it. I can¡¯t imagine how grating on the ears it would be if it was Nirvana¡¯s roar.¡±

    Ming Feizhen patted his head as if he was trying to get water out of his ears. ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to talk, there¡¯s no point in me interrogating you. I¡¯ll spare you.¡±

    Autumn King Thread ¨C Moonlight and Cicada Wings Lightsplitter.

    Ming Feizhen split the thread that pierced Feng Jiutian¡¯s shoulder, leaving two thin trails on the wall. Ming Feizhen pressed his hands onto the wall and mumbled, ¡°It¡¯d be a pity to ruin something so valuable.¡±

    Ming Feizhen, using his bare hands, ripped an uneven big hole in the wall at the end of the two trails. ¡°Brother Shanshan, there¡¯s no need to kneel on ceremony,¡± he said as he stepped through the hole and into the final room. Looking at the panting Feng Jiutian, he jovially continued, ¡°You don¡¯t need to go as far as weing me on your knees.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent! I don¡¯t know the backstory behind Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death! I¡¯m innocent!¡±

    ¡°I believe you. You would¡¯ve only been around ten years old at the time. Life would be too unfair if you were able to kill Shen Wuzheng.¡±

    Although that took a weight off Feng Jiutian¡¯s chest, he was still worried for his life after all he did to Ming Feizhen.

    Ming Feizhen scanned the room, then heaved a breath.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°No food or alcohol. Is this any way to host a guest? What are people going to say about you?¡± While Feng Jiutian was busying searching for a response, Ming Feizhen added, ¡°Whatever. You¡¯ve treated me dozens of times. It¡¯s time I repay the favour for a change. Let¡¯s go. My treat this time.¡±

    Dongpo was empty. Even though the drinks and dishes were ready, Lian Hua and Fu Dalong chose to wait downstairs while Ming Feizhen and Feng Jiutian sat at the table. Ming Feizhen nearly wrecked the floorboards when he mindlessly dropped Feng Qizhi and Qu Ji, who he stuffed into sacks, on the ground.

    As soon as Ming Feizhen arrived, pork shoulders were served up instantly. Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t believe that they were ordered four hours ago, which was before Ming Feizhen had time to drop by. Ming Feizhen just stuffed his face while Feng Jiutian sat there in shock.

    ¡°Young Master!¡± Someone from Feng n finally came for Feng Jiutian after a while.

    ¡°Gan Fengchi?¡±

    ¡°You recognise me?¡± inquired Gan Fengchi.

    Ming Feizhen chuckled. ¡°You should recognise me, no? It¡¯s been a while. Your value keeps dropping, huh?¡±

    Gan Fengchi met Ming Feizhen in the past, but he didn¡¯t recognise Ming Feizhen until he heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s tone and attitude. ¡°Y-you¡¯re! Impossible¡­¡±

    ¡°Uncle Chi!¡±

    Palor, Gan Fengchi clenched his teeth and said, ¡°This one apologises for disturbing you,¡± before leaping off the second floor.

    Seeing hisst hope abandon him, Feng Jiutian exhaled. ¡°If even Uncle Chi is jumping out, then it can only mean you are truly dangerous. I lose. I lostpletely. Please tell me what you want.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want to be a man now?¡±

    Feng Jiutian smiled. ¡°No, but we are acquainted, so you wouldn¡¯t go as far as killing me, would you?¡±

    ¡°No. I told you already. I wanted to ask you something, but you kept avoiding me or stopping me. If you just sat down at the table with me, things wouldn¡¯t havee this far.¡±

    ¡°I had no idea I was so valuable to you. Had I known, I would¡¯ve epted your invitation from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my turn to make things hard for you. I can¡¯t out-debate you slimy businessmen.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    ¡°I feel the atmosphere in the capital is weird, so it¡¯s a good thing to have your type around. Your corrupt kind makes it possible to speak freely without reserve.¡±

    ¡°You truly know me best, Brother Ming. What is it that you wish to know? I will not withhold anything if I know the answer.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what do I want to know¡­? Just tell me one thing.¡± Wearing a stern expression, Ming Feizhen tapped on chopsticks. ¡°Tell me: who exactly incited ck Lotus Envoy to turn at Lawless Cliff and sneak attack Ximen Chuideng?¡±

    <strong>Glossary</strong>

    Hu ¨C A t scepter that was used as part of their uniform in court. Originally, they were used in court to record orders from Emperors, but it became a ceremonial instrument once paper gained widespread use. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 102

    The question that came out of left fieldpelled Feng Jiutian to first go silent before losing hisposure. Hisposure was a front built to hide his roused emotions. The extreme panic was also an act to eventually build a lie off. In order to convince the listener that he was honest, he had to create the impression that they sessfully forced him into spilling the truth.

    Feng Jiutian was weighing the pros and cons of being honest versus hiding the truth, and he concluded that the consequences of telling Ming Feizhen the truth were scarier. In contrast, that put Ming Feizhen¡¯s mind at ease for the reason that Feng Jiutian¡¯s act was a sign that he knew something. Unlike how he frantically cried innocence when Shen Wuzheng¡¯s death was mentioned, it was self-evident that Feng Jiutian knew something this time.

    Trying to look and sound apologetic, Feng Jiutian expressed, ¡°You are making it difficult for me, Brother Ming.¡±

    ¡°Go into detail. Your life rides on your answer.¡±

    Feng Jiutian finally started realising he was in a real pinch, but that also reminded him that, if he truly didn¡¯t know, then there was no dilemma. He didn¡¯t know what he didn¡¯t know, even if he was beaten to death; that simplified the situation.

    ¡°You can lead me on with lies, and I can leave you with an ugly corpse. It¡¯ll be fair on both of us.¡± Ming Feizhen was scary without having to pull any faces. ¡°Speak.¡±

    Feng Jiutian felt as if his determination was being dug out from him.

    It had been seven years since the battle and Ximen Chuideng vanished off the radar. Combined with time and wisdom from others, Ming Feizhen had stopped being hung up on the conflicts and his own stubbornness from back then. As for the definitions between good and bad, the regret of arrivingte, the regrets that couldn¡¯t be made up for, and his past self were left behind in the cottage on the mountain four years ago, leaving behind the current Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, there was one thing he couldn¡¯t let go of ¨C the reason behind Ximen Chuideng¡¯s defeat.

    Even today, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯tprehend how it was possible for Ximen Chuideng to have been defeated. At the time, the Seven Champion White Princes and various sects had formed an alliance. The Ultimate Three and Seventeen Hidden Dragons also participated in the skirmish. Hence, there was reasonable ground for Ximen Chuideng to lose; in fact, the fact that they put together that force to challenge Ximen Chuideng was praise for him. It was just that Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t figure out who defeated Ximen Chuideng. It was Ximen Chuideng, after all. Even if all the greats teamed up against Ximen Chuideng, Ming Feizhen still had to know who defeated Ximen Chuideng.Shaolin¡¯s Abott and Wudang¡¯s patriarch refused to recount the events of that day, but it was certain that the two of them stopped fighting after the first round. They refused to exin their reason for ceasing, so the wise Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t pry.

    Defeating Ximen Chuideng was the biggest ¡°bang¡± in the pugilistic world in thest twenty years among all fights. Compared to his defeat, every other fight was about as important as a back-alley brawl.

    Ming Feizhen dedicated some time at Night Fortress following the battle in order to protect his brethren from Dark Moon Faction. By the time he had adjusted his own mind and returned to the pugilistic world, many ounts of what happened in the battle had spread worldwide, making it impossible to track the original source. It was self-evident that someone had deliberately edited the important parts and withheld information in the version they wanted to spread. The choice of words used reeked of some conspiracy. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t tolerate such brazen mockery, but he couldn¡¯t find the person responsible. There were several suspects who could¡¯ve conspicuously made up the events, the biggest of which was the imperial court. They very well could¡¯ve spiced up their feats to polish their reputation.

    The battle at Lawless Cliff had virtually drawn to its end by the time Ming Feizhen arrived. Although he saw Ximen Chuideng fall off the cliff, he didn¡¯t see what led up to that moment. There were no two consistent testimonies among those involved. While he was still hungry for revenge, Ming Feizhen interrogated plenty of involved individuals, only to obtain sparse bits of information. Sword Demon and Blood Demon¡¯s corpses couldn¡¯t even be found. Several guardians fled or perished in battle. Besides those he could verify, everything else was ridiculous nonsense, such as de Demonmitting suicide on the battlefield.

    With the passage of time, the information was deliberately filtered even further to the point that people who were present at the time probably questioned the authenticity of their experiences. Thebination of personal experiences, their own imagination, and the distorted information left the majority of them with unreliable ounts. Evidently, the mastermind didn¡¯t want anyone to be able to find any traces of the truth. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t get over this.

    None of the adepts Ming Feizhen encountered when he arrived at Lawless Cliff were capable of beating Ximen Chuideng. Ming Feizhen was sure that some other adepts joined in since Shaolin¡¯s Abott and Wudang¡¯s patriarch withdrew. The individual had to be strong enough to have a ce in the fight and had to be someone he, or even possibly thebatants present, didn¡¯t see. Whoever it was, the imperial court tacitly agreed to and promised to cover for, or their identity couldn¡¯t have been protected so strictly.

    Given the trails ended there, drawing conclusions based off that scarce amount of information was legitimately blindly guessing. Nheless, a gathering of adepts or a mysterious adept weren¡¯t enough to bring Ximen Chuideng, a man who struck fear into people with his name alone, down. Trying to get to the bottom of the event based on the fabricated evidence would only be ying into the mastermind¡¯s n. Never was there a better example of impulsiveness being the devil.

    There was only one detail that Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t forget due to how deep of an impression it left on him ¨C an arm that was found on the ground and bathed in its owner¡¯s blood. He recognised who the arm belonged to the moment he saw it. Ximen Chuideng continued fighting to the bitter end after losing one of his arms. Had Dark Moon Faction¡¯s members not been present and needed his aid, Ming Feizhen likely would¡¯ve gone down fighting to the bitter end as Ximen Chuideng did. Even now, Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t ept that Ximen Chuideng would¡¯ve lost an arm to someone. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t surprising, but it wasn¡¯t something Ming Feizhen could readily ept as being possible.

    The weird part was that Ximen Chuideng¡¯s arm went missing afterwards. Of course, some wild animals could¡¯ve carried it off for a meal; however, the fact that so many traces of the battle had been erased after the fact was suspicious. Based on his knowledge of Shaolin¡¯s Abott and Wudang¡¯s patriarch, Ming Feizhen believed they would¡¯ve stopped fighting Ximen Chuideng once Ximen Chuideng lost his arm. Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t imagine anyone else there being capable of lopping Ximen Chuideng¡¯s arm off in a fair fight if those two didn¡¯t participate. Even if the others teamed up, there should¡¯ve been more casualties, or at least serious prices to pay, in order to have severed an arm. Strangely, there was never any mention of the sort.

    There were less than twenty particrly famous individuals who perished in the battle and countless others, but only two were worthy of a second nce. Neither of them would¡¯ve been close to Ximen Chuideng¡¯s level, though. In other words, Ximen Chuideng must¡¯ve lost his arm while fighting Shaolin¡¯s Abott and Wudang¡¯s patriarch, so it could¡¯ve been interpreted that Ximen Chuideng was handicapped during round one. To take it one step further, someone, during the first round, caught Ximen Chuideng off guard, and it couldn¡¯t have been an enemy. The only sort of person who would¡¯ve been able tond a sneak attack on Ximen Chuideng in battle was somebody he trusted.

    Ming Feizhen isted himself in the cottage in the bamboo forest tob through the information. Whether they were loyal or not, Ming Feizhen suspected the two faction leaders, the three great guardians he was closest to, the four guardians and the mysterious six ck lotuses since they were the ones Ximen Chuideng trusted. Be it the thorough leader of Bright Moon Faction, Blood Demon who looked to be rebellious, or the taciturn de Demon, everybody was a suspect. Even Zhuxing Wuchang, Wen Wudao, was suspected despite sacrificing himself in battle. Thing was, even if somebody controlled Wen Wudao¡¯s mind, Ximen Chuideng would¡¯ve been able to dodge the attack. He didn¡¯t categorise the four guardians as primary suspects as the four weren¡¯t really qualified to be ssified as adepts. Thest of thest suspects were the six ck lotuses.

    Frankly, Ming Feizhen would¡¯ve preferred to not suspect the six ck lotuses. Every member of Divine Moon Cult believed that the six were unshakably loyal. They had a pair of eyes, ears, a personality and backstory just as everyone else did, but they were more urately categorised as weapons passed down in the cult rather than human beings. Instead of being granted a post in the cult, they¡¯d be born at intervals underneath the sunlight. Each time, one of them would awaken their destiny as a ck lotus. They were tasked with experiencing human experiences before finally bringing back to the cult all the emotions that ¡°normal¡± humans went through. Therefore, not every cult leader had the privilege of meeting all six ck lotuses in their lifetime; as a matter of fact, it was rare.

    The stories of every ck lotus were recorded on paper. Because they were regarded as sacred beings even within the cult, people worshipped them. They didn¡¯t offer the cult leader loyalty but everything life offered. As bearers of god-given destinies, they didn¡¯t indulge in the entertainment that cult members did and nevermunicated with members unless necessary ¨C aside from when they had to listen to confessions. No matter who the cult follower was, the ck lotuses were obligated to hear the follower¡¯s confessions, guide the follower in question, and free them of their miseries. If such noble beings were suspects, then the entire human race was absolved of suspicion. Ming Feizhen didn¡¯t believe in destiny, however.

    As an orphan, Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve starved to death or been some wild animal¡¯s meal long ago, yet a man called ¡°The Demon King¡± adopted him, while he himself became Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen. To hell with destiny. How on Earth did six human beings be weapons instead of people? Besides, nobody understood them, so how did they suddenly get categorised?

    Although Ximen Chuideng did say that the ck lotuses were iparably loyal, the man had never spoken a negative word about anyone. He called people his sworn brother after a single meal with them, and that was the norm with him. Nobody could¡¯ve predicted the ck lotus¡¯ betrayal if they were to turn. Ming Feizhen¡¯s suspicions ended here. The rest had to be up to time to prove.

    After a few years went by, and news of others starteding up, Ming Feizhen was able to erase suspicions of numerous people, except for the ck lotus envoy. None of them left traces of their activity in the world. Unless they all perished at Lawless Cliff that fateful day, the only exnation was that they went into hiding. If they weren¡¯t hiding from orthodox sects trying to exterminate them¡­ they were hiding from people hunting down traitors. The odds of them meeting their demises in the battle were puny.

    Having sparred with one of the ck lotus envoys before, Ming Feizhen was surprised at how strong the envoy was. Assuming there were two of them at that level, then their skillbined with Ximen Chuideng¡¯s trust in them were sufficient for them to catch him by surprise.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± answered Feng Jiutian.

    Running into yet another wall blocking him from the truth, Ming Feizhen wanted to take a life.

    Detecting danger, Feng Jiutian hastily waved his hands in front of him. ¡°There are things that not even I can get to the bottom of. You know that ns as influential as Feng n have more secrets than stars in the sky. If I was privy to everything, I¡¯d be the patriarch, wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not telling the truth.¡±

    ¡°W-wait! Everything rted to Ximen Chuideng has be off-limits for us in thest seven years. I have my suspicions, and I can tell you what I know, but¡­ you have to exin why you suspect my n first.¡±

    ¡°Are you in any position to barter?¡±

    <em>Bang!</em> Feng Jiutian¡¯s head ended up stered to the table despite Ming Feizhen barely moving a finger.

    From the moment the interrogation began, Feng Jiutian never stopped running his brain at maximum capacity. He couldn¡¯tprehend why Mount Daluo¡¯s disciple, the strongest of his generation, would be interested in the battle Lawless Cliff and manage to correctly guess that the ck lotus envoys sneak attacked Ximen Chuideng. By extension, he knew that his chance of survival was hidden in his answer. Seeing as Ming Feizhen brought up the ck lotuses, he had to be acquainted with the cult. If he had a grudge, he wouldn¡¯t have cared about their holy maiden so much. If they weren¡¯t enemies, then they were friends.

    If there was something Feng Jiutian was undoubtedly proficient at, it was summarising people. He began reflecting and analysing on where he went wrong in his n right after his defeat. While he noticed plenty of errors on his part, the primary reason for his failure was hisck of knowledge on his foe. At the end of the day,peting against someone onecked knowledge on was hubristic and impulsive. The mere factors that Ming Feizhen was immune to the phoenix roar and had a friendly rtionship with Divine Moon Cult warranted altering the majority of his n. In saying that, trying to find out more about Ming Feizhen was impossible as thetter would¡¯ve seen through him.

    ¡°D-don¡¯t do this, Brother Ming. Demon Sect¡¯s holy maiden is in my hands.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Feng Jiutian raised his head as soon as he felt the pressure on his neck disappear, but what he saw next left shook him.

    ¡°Not anymore.¡±

    Elise, who supposed to be held captive outside of the capital, was looking down at Feng Jiutian with a vengeful smile. Now it made sense why Ming Feizhen fearlessly went to the estate.

    ¡°Brother Feng, you know, I love dining with you the most,¡± Ming Feizhen gave a smirk devoid of any friendliness, ¡°because you want to harm me. I love eating meals knowing that there¡¯s a conspiracy waiting for me afterwards since I don¡¯t have to worry about the bill. Anybody plotting something would never hesitate to invest that much. I love those sorts of free meals. Regrettably¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! I¡¯ll tell the truth!¡± Even though it was purely a wild guess that Ming Feizhen was going to kill him, Feng Jiutian decided to gamble on the guess. ¡°I do know some things, but it¡¯s only rted to your question. If you can tell me why you suspect my n, I may be able to provide you with more information.¡±

    The improvised idea gave Feng Jiutian a chance.

    ¡°I¡¯ve met everyone who participated in the battle at Lawless Cliff.¡±

    Feng Jiutian had no idea Ming Feizhen showed up at Lawless Cliff that day. From what he knew, Mount Daluo sat out on the battle. In other words, either the information he knew was erroneous, or¡­ Ming Feizhen went there as someone else.

    ¡°Feng n was involved. I don¡¯t have evidence to prove it, or it¡¯d be a miracle for your n to still exist. I once heard a wise man say that there is no deal without money involved. Money must be transferred in to aplish a big task. How much money do you need to kill Ximen Chuideng and incite the ck lotus envoys to revolt? The richest ns in the world are Gold and Silver Sect, Luoyang¡¯s Feng n and Mount Yulong¡¯s Nantai n. I¡¯ve investigated Gold and Silver Sect as well as interrogated Nantai n¡¯s patriarch. It has nothing to do with them, so it leaves just Feng n.¡±

    Feng Jiutian felt a surge of emotions from the short summary.

    As Yulong meant ¡°dragon rider¡±, it might¡¯ve seemed taboo. In reality, Li Dynasty¡¯s progenitor befriended the n in Yuzhou back then. Yulong actually meant ¡°horse riding¡± in this scenario, and they were biggest horse merchant business. Due to the necessity of arms and steeds in war, they maintained a friendly rtionship with the imperial family.

    Li ncked the resources to rebel. Luo n then provided them with arms, while Nantai n supplied them with as many steeds as they needed. Nantai¡¯s patriarch at the time was a clever man who excelled in business, and he was proven right when Li n¡¯s rebellion seeded. Had Nantai n not been unable to give birth to a girl to marry His Majesty, they might¡¯ve been inws by this point.

    Six years ago, the ruler of the underworld, Hua Feihua, robbed them broke. Their patriarch fell ill for years and loss his vigour, prompting Feng n to immediately reap the rewards of theirpetitor¡¯s circumstances and take control of the north¡¯s business sector. That was how Feng Jiutian gained respect in his n for reorganising the business sector.

    Owing to his involvement, Feng Jiutian instantly knew Ming Feizhen was right.

    Simpering, Ming Feizhen said, ¡°Four years ago, I promised two respected individuals to not spill blood over this matter, but you decided to pick a fight with me, so don¡¯t me me.¡±

    ¡°Wait! I get it. Give me a moment to think¡­ I don¡¯t want to talk about this because, as soon as someone finds out I let the cat out of the bag, my life will be in peril. I¡¯m afraid to die, so I cautiously select who I work with. I believe¡­ you¡¯re the better option.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to answer the question or not?¡±

    Feng Jiutian took a deep inhale. ¡°What I know is¡­ seven years ago, Feng n spent an enormous sum.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Your point? Isn¡¯t it normal for your n to spend money like it grows on trees?¡±

    Feng Jiutian shook his head, finally showing no fear. ¡°Brother Ming, you must bear in mind that we invest hundreds of thousands daily. If it was just any ordinary sum, I would¡¯ve forgotten about it already. Also, I¡¯m sure that wasn¡¯t the total. Not even I¡¯m certain what the total sum is. The only people who are in position to ask about are those above me. If they want to cook the books, they wouldn¡¯t leave a mistake for me to see. Put inly, the sum was toorge to cover up.¡±

    ¡°How much was it?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Seven million went missing.¡±

    Without even ounting for the undisclosed amount, that was enough to hire League of Assassins.

    ¡°There¡¯s more.¡±

    Feng Jiutian shook his head. ¡°The matter is strictly guarded even in the n. Just half a day after the matter, the record was erased. I¡¯ve never found any clues no matter what I tried. What¡¯s more¡­¡± Feng Jiutianughed with an undertone of self-mockery. ¡°Three yearster, I felt I was always under surveince. No matter where I go, who I see, or who I sleep with, I believe there is a pair of eyes on me. Moreover¡­ everyone who got involved with it has either passed away from illness, an ident, or age. Every one of them had a reason they couldn¡¯t speak. Mayhap I¡¯m still alive as I¡¯m the only sessor to the n, or mayhap¡­ I don¡¯t know enough.

    ¡°The following is pure conjecture from my part. I don¡¯t expect you to believe me, but it¡¯s an honest theory. Someone wanted to take down Divine Moon Cult¡¯s influence in the Central n. Considering how difficult it was, though, their only option was to drag the imperial court in. Since the imperial court wasn¡¯t confident it could seed, the mastermind proceeded to y dirty. Do you know how much of Divine Moon Cult¡¯s resources fell into my n¡¯s hands in the years following their downfall? Do you know howe our goods are transported so smoothly? It¡¯s because we chose the right party to align with.

    ¡°This goes to prove one point, and that is the conspiracy is one my n isn¡¯t in any position to get involved in. At most, we were their errand boys. We aren¡¯t even qualified to be part of the main team. You know, I wholeheartedly believe you could exterminate my n. Thing is, you gain nothing positive out of it even if you did. I can guarantee that not even my dad knows the inside story. He¡¯s puzzled as to how business has gone so smoothly for us in thest seven years. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t him he agreed to the deal and took the risk.¡±

    Ming Feizhen remembered Feng Jiutian¡¯s father as a useless old man unlike Martial Paragon. Even Feng Jiutian was more charismatic than his father.

    ¡°It¡¯s been some years since the battle.¡± Ming Feizhen paused to think before asking, ¡°Haven¡¯t you learnt anything new?¡±

    ¡°Good question.¡± Feng Jiutian smiled withposure for the first time in a while. ¡°You still remember the elder outside? The old guy you killed? I only took him in because he immediately offered his service to my n after the bizarre event. I¡¯ve always suspected that he was involved in the conspiracy.¡±

    ¡°Valley of Viins.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 72October 6, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 105January 20, 2024In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 94November 13, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 103

    The orthodox sects¡¯ faction provided figurative big trees to shelter the next generations, and the resources they provided made growth readily essible. The unorthodox sects¡¯ faction ruled independently, but they provided other unorthodox faction members with a sense of backing. Both factions had beenpeting against each other forever, though it had reached a stalemate in thest century until Divine Moon Cult¡¯s rise.

    With ack of bnce came an abundance of opportunity. It was only natural for every animal and whatever else woulde out to divide the body of a fallen titan. By extension, the power bnce gradually skewed in the orthodox sects¡¯ favour more and more over time following Demon Sect¡¯s fall.

    Nobody expected the vacancy left behind following Divine Moon Cult¡¯s fall would be so significant. Save for those who the orthodox eliminated, survivors of Divine Moon Cult took refuge with the three remaining unorthodox sects.

    League of Assassins never made any moves, and business carried on as usual. The only change was that they didn¡¯t have to kill Divine Moon Cult¡¯s members. They remained as dangerous as ever.

    Sky Realm Pce never showed up. They were basically off the radar ever since You Shili returned to Demon Realm. Not a soul alive thought for a second that they just weren¡¯t interested inpetition. If one looked close enough they¡¯d see traces of what was called ¡°sadclouds¡±, which was the image of a crying cloud that Sky Realm Pce liked to sew onto their garments.

    It was Valley of Viins that suddenly became active across thends after Divine Moon Cult¡¯s demise. No matter if it was an escortpany, a gang, or whatever other entity that recruited manpower, someone or some people from Valley of Viins would join. While their skills did their backgrounds justice, they never mentioned a word of their time in the valley as if a curse was ced on them. It didn¡¯t blow anyone¡¯s mind that some new faces start popping up, but the death of over two thousand bandits of Shanxi¡¯s biggest gang overnight was big news. When Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents were dispatched to investigate how a group that the imperial court couldn¡¯t stop in years was decimated overnight, they couldn¡¯t find anything besides a new rock tablet outside of the den that read, ¡°For good or evil, it is all evil. Hidden in Valley of Viins.¡±

    Thanks to the text on the tablet, Valley of Viins became a topic in everyone¡¯s mouth once again. Later on, the tablet would show up frequently across thends, and a group would be wiped out wherever the tablet was found. In the three following years, innumerable warriors from all sorts of backgrounds met their ends and earned a tablet for themselves, totalling five digits worth of bodies. As a result, Valley of Viins were on track to recing Divine Moon Cult.

    It was the second time Valley of Viins made such a big move. The first time was seven years ago, which was when they became acknowledged as one of the four great unorthodox groups in the unorthodox faction. Before then, they were considered a mythological existence.

    It was said that Valley of Viins was paradise, a ce where they only experienced spring all year round. There were no conflicts, no tall tales, and no oppression. They¡¯d toil when they sun came out and rest when the sun went down. Supposedly, it was such a great ce for the soul that nobody wanted to leave once they visited. Irrespective of your past, irrespective of your character, there was a ce there that you could call home in the valley, the utopia for viins. Anybody in their right mind would¡¯ve considered the ims as authentic as the underwater dragon kingdom.There weren¡¯t any universally unique characteristics that could be used to identify a member of Valley of Viins. Some had passion in their eyes; others sounded bright. In fact, plenty of them showed no signs of being viinous; ¡°insane¡± would¡¯ve been a more apt description.

    At the time, the world had known peace for decades, but the conflict between the orthodox and unorthodox factions was more intense than the present. Both factions had numerous mighty representatives, ingraining the period in history as one to remember. Kids under ten years of age would know all their stories; nobodypared them to myths. Nevertheless, everything changed when Wudang¡¯s Hong Yanzi returned to Mount Wudang resembling a beggar and incessantly mumbling, ¡°Valley of Viins, Valley of Viins, heh, hahaha.¡± That imnted ¡°Valley of Viins¡± into the martial world as if they were a curse.

    Hong Yanzi was arguably the second best, if not the best, Wudang swordsman and disyed potential for martial arts on par with his seniors. As a representative of Wudang in the pugilistic world, he was known for his upright character, vast knowledge, intellect and talent. If someone of his calibre could turn insane, then the culprit could¡¯ve turned anyone else insane. Due to the gravity of the situation, Wudang¡¯s elders restricting him to the back of the mountain, censored any pertinent information, and only discussed it among themselves. All the elders were in support of keeping Hong Yanzi¡¯s condition a secret, but their patriarch insisted that they couldn¡¯t withhold information for personal reasons if that meant putting the rest of the world at risk. On top of asserting they needed to warn others, he decided to pay Shaolin¡¯s Abott Wuchen to seek advice. The elders respectfully followed their orders.

    On the same day, the tablet with the text, ¡°For good or evil, it is all evil. Hidden in Valley of Viins,¡± was delivered to the foot of Mount Wudang, and Wudang¡¯s patriarch body was finally found the next morning.

    Following that incident, whenever the tablet appeared in the pugilistic world, if the leader of a group didn¡¯t die, it was someone as important as a sect patriarch dying. There was no discrimination in terms of location. Anyone who was trained in martial arts was a candidate to receive the stone tablet. The situation only escted, even targeting Divine Moon Cult¡¯s leader in the Central in.

    Demon of Demons had always been one to consider himself the ultimate authority and the greatest ever, so he even went in search of Valley of Viins when they announced he was their next target. Still, even he fled once they demolished him, and he only escaped because he managed to find refuge on a mountain with few buildings. Nobody dared to ever disparage his skills, but he was the first person to survive being hunted. By that point, every martial artist started worrying for their own lives.

    Shaolin¡¯s Abott Wuchen decided to set aside differences and lend a hand to Demon of Demons, intending tobine both factions¡¯ might to put an end to the massacre. Abott Wuchen assembled the various sects and, over eighteen days of discussion, selected the vanguards as well as hundreds to apany them. Supposedly, the hundreds of members were elites that Abott Wuchen personally picked out to circumvent any Valley of Viins¡¯ members infiltrating their ranks, so it took him ten days to form the final team. All the chosen members were elites in terms of martial prowess, intellect, and character.

    On the day they sallied forth, their lineup consisted of Abott Wuchen, the de King, Demon of Demons, and Ku Hai. There was no doubt that a lot of blood would be shed, corpses left strewn, and a triumphant return with Valley of Viins¡¯ heads on stakes as war trophies, but there¡¯d also be decorated graves afterwards tomemorate the warriors for their noble sacrifices. Even if their campaign ended in failure, they would¡¯ve met their demise with honour on the battlefield and then continued to serve nature in the capacity as noble spirits. If they failed, either their disciples or some respected elder would have survived to tell the tale.

    In the worst-case scenario, in the scenario that the heroes were annihted, the viins of Valley of Viins should have finally emerged and led a group the world had never seen before to sweep up the world into their reign of terror. In their final battle, they would face off against the imperial court, which would have created the opportunity for the rise of a new star, a new prodigy, or an elder leading a resistance force to do battle. In that case, the world would have had known despair.

    Strangely, nothing happened. Nobody knew anything. Everything after the meeting got shrouded in a veil of mystery. No news on the group that marched out was ever heard. Violence was an everyday urrence in the pugilistic world, but since when was there ever a fight that took the lives of that many warriors of that calibre? Thus, Valley of Viins became the worst nightmare for the martial world without anyone being able to exin what made them so fearsome.

    Though the stone tablets stopped showing up ever again, nobody was relieved. Nobody was hoping for the death toll to continue increasing; however, it also meant that there were no clues left. Even though it was as though the events and deaths never took ce, it was a fact that the people who disappeared and died once existed. s, nobody was ever able to find a speck of relevant information. Despite disappearing from the picture, Valley of Viins left an inerasable mark of fear.

    The next time the stone tablet showed up in the martial world thirty-two yearster, another wave of anarchy kicked off. Its return took the lives of two new bright stars. Although the two of them didn¡¯t get along, their lives were full of highlights. It was also the first time someone managed to infiltrate Valley of Viins <em>and</em> lived to tell the tale.

    It was said that there were ten top-dog viins in the valley, and the leader of the valley was qualified topete for the top spot in martial arts. When people dispatched teams to said valley, however, there was nothing aforementioned to be found.

    Once again, Valley of Viins managed to disappear from existence as if they were just an urban legend.

    ¡°¡­ All I can say is, Valley of Viins isn¡¯t innocent. I¡¯ve never stopped trying to pry information out of the old man. It was evident that he didn¡¯t know anything about the missing money. That said, he wouldn¡¯t have been kicked out of the valley if there wasn¡¯t trouble in the valley. I fed him hallucinogens every day, and he started having trouble distinguishing between reality and hallucinations. When he had too much to drink one night, he told me, ¡®You need not ask, Young Master. I will not tell you. Who would dare to divulge affairs in the valley, huh? Who?¡¯.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ¡°I asked him, ¡®I am not asking you about what happened in the valley. I asked why you left the valley when it is cosy. That is not an internal affair, is it?¡¯

    ¡°He spaced out and smiled, then answered, ¡®Master epted a deal¡­ to kill someone¡­ to kill someone¡­ We cannot stay in the valley any longer. Let us go¡­¡¯

    ¡°I hurriedly told him, ¡®You have had too much to drink.¡¯

    ¡°He grabbed my sleeve and raged, ¡®To kill! To kill! To kill!¡¯

    ¡°He then passed out soon after with a ghastly pale face. He didn¡¯t remember what happened after he woke up the next day, but I learnt another piece of information that increased the risk to my life.¡± ??

    Ming Feizhen scanned Feng Jiutian. ¡°You seem really bent on convincing me that Valley of Viins is involved.¡±

    ¡°Even if the missing sum wasn¡¯t enough to hire Valley of Viins¡¯ master, they are definitely involved. Besides, how many people in the world are able to hire him notwithstanding the number of years he¡¯s been ranked in ck Reflection? The portents of Valley of Viins¡¯ return are only bing more evident. Assuming they wait thirty-two years between intervals of bringing out the stone tablet, then the tablet should start appearing a year from now. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s all connected?¡± Feng Jiutian originally only spilt the beans to save his own hide, but he now couldn¡¯t stop himself spilling more as if he was trying to get it off his chest.

    ¡°You¡¯re implying that Valley of Viins¡¯ master wanted money for a future n?¡±

    ¡°There is one thing you said before that I can fully get behind. Everything in life requires money; the bigger the task, the more money needed. If it costs money to kill one Ximen Chuideng, how about two or three Ximen Chuidengs? How much would it cost to kill all the elites of the martial world?

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in miracles that fall out of the sky; everything has a root cause. Your martial prowess is inexinable. However, my inability to understand something doesn¡¯t mean that there is no exnation. It¡¯s merely a sign that I don¡¯t understand enough. You yourself or your teacher would know for sure. A group capable of wiping out killing Shaolin, Wudang, and Demon Sect can¡¯t be a mere myth. There has to be an enormouswork we¡¯re unaware of. Whether it¡¯s development of awork, an organisation, hiring muscle, or means of escape, all these preparations and resources require funds. To pull off the stone tablet and kills would require more money than my family spent, not less.¡±

    Ming Feizhen touched his chin. ¡°What do they gain from wiping out all martial elites?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t need to know. The most important lesson I learnt from doing business all these years is that, no matter what the item is, no matter how odd it is, there is a demand for it somewhere and for whatever reason. You may notprehend why they covet it, but there is unquestionably someone who desires it.¡±

    Ming Feizhen analysed everything he heard again, then nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve saved half of your life.¡±

    Feng Jiutian wiped his forehead. ¡°You finally believe me.¡±

    ¡°I believe what you said, not the entire story.¡±

    ¡°Can you borate?¡±

    ¡°Simple. If Valley of Viins¡¯ master was so capable, he wouldn¡¯t need people.¡± Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°They worked as a team and needed to bribe people into spying for them. Doesn¡¯t that make them a joke?¡±

    Feng Jiutian wasn¡¯t knowledgeable on Demon Sect, so he didn¡¯t care who took Ximen Chuideng¡¯s life. Valley of Viins was a nightmare he couldn¡¯t shake off, which was why they were the first thought that came to mind when Ming Feizhen asked about the battle at Lawless Cliff. As a matter of fact, he spoke before he even knew for certain if they were connected. In the scenario that Ming Feizhen was right, the money used to incite betrayal in Demon Sect and the sum Feng n used to hire Valley of Viins wasn¡¯t the same sum, which meant¡­

    ¡°I believe you in that I believe your n wasn¡¯t involved in it and hired Valley of Viins. That said, one transaction can only achieve one goal. I don¡¯t believe the mastermind was able to hire Valley of Viins¡¯ master and would spend even more money to achieve the same goal.¡±

    Ming Feizhen couldn¡¯t even be sure if there was one mastermind at the battle or multiple. If one of them was Valley of Viins¡¯ master, then Ming Feizhen was proud of Ximen Chuideng. After all, that¡¯d mean that Ximen Chuideng basically fought everybody worth fighting.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to miss, again.¡± Ming Feizhen got to his feet.

    Seeing as Feng n bribed Valley of Viins at that particr point in time, Valley of Viins was involved in the matter one way or another. Was searching for clues pertaining to Valley of Viins the best course of action? No. There was no reason to hate someone for fulfilling amission. It was the mastermind who needed to face the repercussions.

    ¡°Against this kind ofpetitor,¡± Ming Feizhen sighed, ¡°I have to give you credit for not breaking down.¡±

    Feng Jiutian bitterly smiled. He had to feign ignorance at all times for thest three years and show no interest without appearing so foolish that he¡¯d lose his standing in the n and the business world. Having spent six years telling endless lies had blurred the line for where ¡°normal people¡± lied.

    ¡°It¡¯s suffocating to live on a tightrope; I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever see another day. I¡¯m always searching for ¡®power¡¯, be it the imperial exams, the ckice walls, the qingluan blood arrows and so forth. I even¡­ wanted to recruit you.¡±

    ¡°That exins why you seemed more intent on capturing me than killing me.¡±

    Feng Jiutian shrugged. ¡°But I failed.¡±

    Ming Feizhen nodded. ¡°If you weren¡¯t this sort of character, I wouldn¡¯t be here speaking to you.¡±

    ¡°This sort being¡­?¡±

    ¡°Simply speaking, you¡¯re a bad guy.¡±

    ¡°You tter me. Bad peoplest. I must be bad if I want to live long.¡±

    ¡°But going as far as turning your cousin into that monstrosity is excessive.¡± Ming Feizhen tugged up a corner of his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t forget: I said you saved half of your life.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 6 Ch. 49July 3, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 104

    Book 15: Chapter 104

    Although he was born into the wealthiest family in the world and had a universally-adored father, that was a long time ago. He was a nk sheet of paper stuck on a battlefield of unfulfible ambitions, yet he failed to learn their unscrupulous ways and greed despite how many years he lived with them. In that regard, he was abnormally abnormal. He naively believed all the crooked lies he was fed. Even when he was unable to move and on the verge of losing himself, he still believed there¡¯d be a reunion.

    As he questioned where his father was, where he was, what time it was, and even his own identity, his mind was being subjected to destruction. He could feel an indiscriminate urge to wreak havoc taking over him, rousing a sense of joy in losing control. Notwithstanding his tattered consciousness, he was able to catch a glimpse of a vast primordial world.

    The mes on the ground reached the firmament. Huge luans shook thendscape with their cries. Everything he possessed broke, floated, fell and regenerated¡­ Every single time things reassembled, he felt he experienced death once more. He fought to survive for the reason that he didn¡¯t want to die as a monster. He was human¡­ just like every everyone else¡­. If he died, too, who would live to tell the truth.

    Everything he possessed broke, floated, fell and regenerated¡­ He was no match for the primordial beast. Every single time things reassembled, he felt he experienced death once more. He suspected every cycle would be hisst, but he managed to survive another round. The destructive sentiment had intensified to the point that he felt his own mind breaking, but he was still there, and he still insisted he wasn¡¯t a monster.

    ¡°Argh!¡± As he shouted, he felt fresh air enter his lungs. Instead of feeling stabbing pains, though, he felt revitalised. The assortment of smells stimting his olfactory system confused him even further. He felt awfully thirsty again, except without the mental stress. He had no clue how many times he¡¯d been subjected to the nausea from pain, but he could tell it was different this time. The thirst he experienced this time was a human desire to drink water. He wanted water, not blood.

    Upon opening his eyes, heid them upon a huge cloth tform, many pieces of flesh that had just been lopped off¡­ and someone¡­ It was too much for him to process at once, requiring him to spend a while to confirm he wasn¡¯t dreaming.

    Feng Qizhi felt he was a step away from a mental breakdown in the primordial world; every time the qingluan blood arrow was plunged into him, he truly did nearly cross to the other side. Fortunately, he managed to endure the madness that almost overruled him.

    Now that Feng Qizhi felt normal sensations again, the umted pain would¡¯ve had knocked him out if he didn¡¯t feel a calm and cool sensation seep into his body from his forehead. Whilst keeping a finger on Feng Qizhi¡¯s forehead to siphon energy, Ming Feizhen kept adding items to the table from beside Feng Qizhi.

    Smelling blood, Feng Qizhi uttered, ¡°¡­ I¡­¡±¡°Don¡¯t talk.¡±

    Feng Qizhi stopped moving on the cloth tform and shut his mouth as he was told. It took a whileter for him toe to terms with the fact that he ¨C Feng Qizhi, not the monster ¨C survived. He kept his mouth shut, but he couldn¡¯t stop surveying the surroundings with his eyes that weren¡¯t given instructions.

    What Feng Qizhi thought was a big cloth tform was actually four tables pushed together and then covered with a ck cloth. That was the reason he felt he was lying on an uneven surface. All around them were overdone chunks of meat. It was impossible to tell where the chunks came from or what body part they originally belonged to since the shapes didn¡¯t resemble human flesh. Someone else might¡¯ve been disgusted, but Feng Qizhi was curious. Had it not been for his painful neck and the risk of being reproached, he would¡¯ve taken a closer look. He noticed he was severely swollen and had innumerable wounds. Thankfully, his open wounds had been closed. He had no clue what was applied to the wounds, but the thinyer of whatever it was kept the wound cool and somewhat numb. He wasn¡¯t able to see his full body. Nheless, he confirmed one thing: he had restored his original appearance.

    ¡°Of course you¡¯re back to your original body. You think it¡¯s easy to mutate bones? I¡¯d like to see you find a way to transform your body that much in two weeks when it takes others over a decade of training.¡± Ming Feizhen threw away his thin gloves and then heaved a big breath. ¡°That being said, a failure to mutate brings with it its ownplications. Your body isn¡¯t prepared for the transformation. You weren¡¯t prepared from childhood, and you weren¡¯t provided with any specific training for it. You were fated to be a broken toy waiting to be discarded at the end. Put bluntly, you were screwed. Luckily for you, your determination is tougher than crap stuck to a toilet.¡±

    Feng Qizhi started toprehend what was being conveyed, giving rise to unbelievable joy since he thought he was doomed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate just yet. To put it optimistically, your body is full of holes. Putting it frankly, it¡¯d be reaching to say that you¡¯re as useful as a die. Were it not for the incredible healing properties of the phoenix blood, you¡¯d be more worthless than a piece of rag, and burying you in the garden would be considered polluting the garden. Since you inherited the phoenix blood, there¡¯s no means of expelling it. All that can be excreted is the qingluan blood and toxic qi that was triggered. There¡¯s a real risk of the mutation reactivating again. Remember¡­¡±

    Feng Qizhi didn¡¯t listen despite knowing what he was told was important. He just silently stared at Ming Feizhen whilst wondering why Ming Feizhen saved him when he tried to kill Ming Feizhen. He was unaware Ming Feizhen was an adept physician. Through his dry lips, he uttered, ¡°So¡­rry¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ming Feizhen hiked up a brow. ¡°Sorry? Oh, right. If apologising was effective, constables would be out of a job. You¡¯vemitted numerous crimes. It¡¯d cost you a handsome sum in court. I have an idea, though. Pawn me your sword as interest. Take care of yourself. I¡¯ll be needing you in the future. Don¡¯t drop dead on me until then.¡±

    Feng Qizhi peacefully shut his eyes. Those instructions were clear directions for him. He was the type to do whatever came to mind. Repaying an act of kindness was fair.

    ¡°By the way, didn¡¯t I tell you not to speak? You have some nerve.¡±

    Ming Feizhen rammed his fist into Feng Qizhi¡¯s face. Feng Qizhi rotated his head to the side and cried. He finally realised that he was too na?ve; it was going to be far harder than he imagined to serve at Ming Feizhen¡¯s side and repay the favour.

    ***

    ¡°Qizhi?¡±

    Four hours ago, Ming Feizhen wanted to tten Feng Jiutian¡¯s face more than he ever wanted to tten Feng Qizhi¡¯s face. In Feng Jiutian¡¯s defence, virtually anyone would¡¯ve reacted the same way if they heard Ming Feizhen¡¯s suggestion.

    While it was an undeniable fact that Feng Jiutian used Feng Qizhi, it didn¡¯t mean that he wanted his cousin to die. He had every intent to save his cousin if it was within his power, which was why he tried everything he could to capture Bu Xusan. The problem was that all his ns to save Feng Qizhi were predicated on being able to capture Bu Xusan, whom was still untraceable. There was no reason for Ming Feizhen to care for Feng Qizhi¡¯s wellbeing, though.

    Ming Feizhen, gaze on Feng Qizhi¡¯s thumping chest, said, ¡°The fact that he hasn¡¯t lost his form after using the phoenix roar indicates that he still has something he hasn¡¯t set down. He¡¯s exhausted virtually all of the toxic qi in him. His body is unable to withstand the challenging transformation, but the excessive stimtion from the qingluan¡¯s blood to the phoenix blood is preventing him from reverting to his original shape.¡±

    Instead of exining his reason for saving Feng Qizhi, Ming Feizhen started cutting up Feng Qizhi. ¡°The only way to save him is to store the amplified phoenix blood in a vessel.¡± Ming Feizhen suddenly turned back to Feng Jiutian, giving thetter a scare. ¡°Brother Shanshan, you can¡¯tpensate me with just some information. I can¡¯t consider you a friend unless I see you turn over a new leaf.¡±

    Feng Jiutian held his hands up in salute. ¡°You make a good point. What is it that I can do for you?¡±

    ¡°Simple.¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to Feng Jiutian. ¡°Save him.¡±

    Considering what Feng Jiutian did to his cousin, anyone would¡¯ve needed insurance before working with him.

    ¡°But Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow hasn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unnecessary. It¡¯s already toote to use it, anyway. What makes you think increasing the stimulus that has already exceeded his threshold would help him? Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow can support his bones so that he can be a truly mutated individual, but it can¡¯t save him in his current state.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡± Feng Jiutian grasped what was implied before he finished.

    ¡°The typical method won¡¯t work. As I said, his amplified phoenix blood needs to be restored to homeostasis and a vessel. If there¡¯s a vessel that can take the burden of half of the blood or more, I can separate the qingluan blood from the phoenix blood, which will reverse his transformation.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°You wish. His body has grown an incredible amount; even if the transformation is reversed, it¡¯s impossible to return him exactly to how he was. The excess flesh needs to be cut off whilst his body is reverting, or he¡¯ll die. Needless to say, if he loses the mental battle partway through, the violent sentience will take over, and he¡¯ll die, too.¡±

    Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t believe his ears. He had never heard of that possibility, but it sounded as though they¡¯d need several imperial surgeons for the operation. How many trustworthy doctors were around for them to save Feng Qizhi in his monstrous form, not to mention summoning all the doctors at once.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say he¡¯s hanging on by a thread and could die any moment? Are you nning to take your time assembling the team to save a dead man? I can handle it just fine on my own.¡±

    ¡°On¡­ your own?¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid, or are you feigning stupid?¡± Ming Feizhen gave Feng Jiutian a re that frightened thetter. ¡°Exchange half of your life with him. This is yourst chance.¡±

    ¡°Exchange?¡± It took a moment for Feng Jiutian to understand. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ the vessel?¡±

    ¡°Who else? Your cousin¡¯s phoenix blood is roiling, but it¡¯s only a matter of time before he dies without sufficient toxic qi and a body to utilise it. The only solution is to transport the blood into another living organism to transfer the violent sentience, thereby reducing the burden on him. The new host, however, needs to have a close blood rtionship with the original host. Feng Qizhi will lose a lot of blood for the procedure. Shouldn¡¯t you offer some of your blood if you¡¯re cousins?¡±

    Nobody understood the impact of toxic qi on the human better than Mount Daluo¡¯s members. Even Sky Realm Pce would agree with that. No matter if it was the records from the Mystical Era, the people who protected the records, or the people who wanted to make use of the knowledge for their own gains, nobody would argue with Mount Daluo¡¯s authority on the topic. Mount Daluo was home to the source of all menacing, toxic qi, or the sect wouldn¡¯t have existed.

    Even if one was to ignore the fact that Mount Daluo had two different beasts of different eras and birth rates to study, the miasma that carried the toxic qi at the rear mountain mutated the various beast races, which provided them with plenty of research subjects over a millennium. Had it not been for that knowledge, Ming Feizhen might not have survived as a child. For these reasons, Mount Daluo never had a shortage of subjects to examine for the influence of mutations despite never conducting human experiments. Of course, Ming Feizhen furthered their research when he became a victim, as well. By extension, Ming Feizhen was one of the top authorities on toxic qi considering he had been its victim and learnt to control it.

    ¡°The toxin has already spread too deeply, so it¡¯s impossible to restore his original appearance. This is the only option.¡±

    Feng Jiutian pped his eyelids, then looked around. ¡°Here?¡±

    ¡°What? Shy?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ You don¡¯t even have a medical kit on you¡­¡±

    ¡°Why is a medical kit necessary when I¡¯m here?¡±

    Only once he was set on a table with Feng Qizhi did Feng Jiutian start feeling it was really going to happen. ¡°Wait! Aren¡¯t you going to use any anaesthetics?!¡±

    ¡°Anaesthetics?¡± Ming Feizhenughed heartily. ¡°Of course I will. I promise you won¡¯t remember a thing.¡±

    By the time Feng Jiutian regained consciousness, Ming Feizhen was 90% done with the blood exchange process. Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t move, but he didn¡¯t feel odd in any manner. He didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea how Ming Feizhen was able toplete the blood exchange solely through a thin silk thread that connected him to Feng Qizhi. With that said, he was able to view Ming Feizhen proficiently slicing off Feng Qizhi¡¯s excess flesh whilst freezing the flesh or staunching bleeding. Not once did blood spray from Feng Qizhi¡¯s wounds. Ming Feizhen only needed to move his five fingers to revert Feng Qizhi back to normal.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ¡°You¡¯re up?¡± queried Ming Feizhen, still working at a lightning pace.

    ¡°¡­ That vial¡­ what was¡­¡± Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t remember anything after Ming Feizhen taking out a pill and feeding it to him.

    ¡°Anaesthetic.¡± Ming Feizhen smirked. ¡°I still have plenty if you want to snack on them.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, but no thanks.¡±

    Feng Jiutian thought it was a blessing to not remember the taste and scent of the so-called anaesthetic.

    As he watched Feng Qizhi gradually revert back to normal, it dawned on Feng Jiutian that they shared the same blood. Well, technically, he should¡¯ve housed more phoenix blood considering Ming Feizhen said they needed to reduce Feng Qizhi¡¯s phoenix blood to less than 50%. ¡°So, right now, I also have¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ What do you think?¡± Methodically taking care of Feng Qizhi¡¯s wounds, Ming Feizhen continued, ¡°Mutations are a tough beast to tackle. There¡¯s a price to be paid. Break a leg.¡±

    Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t know how to feel. After all, he racked his brains to use Feng Qizhi, only to end up in the same predicament. He wasn¡¯t bitter about it; to the contrary, he felt relieved. Perhaps a part of him didn¡¯t want to use people in the first ce. Perhaps suffering was what he truly sought from the beginning.

    ¡°Is your n¡¯s current generation the only one that knows this mutation method?¡±

    ¡°ording to my knowledge, only one generation knows, at least I¡¯ve never heard anything else besides Qizhi¡¯s father. Since you don¡¯t think highly of our method, wouldn¡¯t it make sense of us to only be one generation in?¡±

    ¡°True. Don¡¯t you have any records?¡±

    ¡°We do¡­ Are you implying that I need the knowledge to survive in the future?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m trying to pry information out of you.¡± Ming Feizhen used his free hand to ce a ss bottle on the table.

    Staring at the green liquid inside the bottle, ¡°Feng Jiutian asked, ¡°This is¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you blind? It¡¯s extremely valuable. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to force the toxic qi into the blood in the bottle? You want me to give you some or something? It¡¯s abination of qingluan blood and phoenix blood I drew. The both of you only have 30% of your original volume.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ can do this¡­?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯te up with the method.¡± Sounding lonely, Ming Feizhen uttered, ¡°Geniuses do exist.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Book 15: Chapter 105

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s assertion sent him back to the Western Regions. In the afternoon, he would smell an unidentifiable smell in a room where something was boiling. Every now and then, one of the pots being stirred sound no different to an explosion. He was always heard the stirrer mumbling stuff he didn¡¯t understand while keeping his brows together. Every time he removed the contents from the pot, Ming Feizhen would widen his mouth, while the other person would throw it away with discontent. It was the individual in question who inspired Ming Feizhen¡¯s method of separating the toxic qi. The procedure wasn¡¯t something Ming Feizhen could¡¯ve thought up when he barely knew anything about Six mastery of Spring Wind Rainy Night Art wasn¡¯t something anyone could hope to match.

    Noticing Feng Jiutian¡¯s gaze on him, Ming Feizhenmented with a smile. ¡°Not me. One day, you¡¯ll realise that some people were born on a higher level. No matter how underprivileged their starting point is, no matter how you try to stop them, they¡¯re bound to eventually shine. No matter how you try to stop them, you¡¯ll know hear about them in the end.¡±

    After all, the individual aforementioned did go frommoner to the leader of Divine Moon Cult. Still, he went missing at Lawless Cliff. There was no question that were was a logical exnation. Ming Feizhen just needed to have the patience to wait until the day he uncovered the truth.

    ¡°Because of that, I¡¯ve lost an arm,¡± Ming Feizhen said in a deep voice.

    ¡°Is¡­ he dead?¡±

    ¡°Even if he is, his death can¡¯t be in vain.¡±

    Feng Jiutian shut his eyes, knowing he wasn¡¯t supposed to pry further, and fell asleep for a while. Uponing to, he discovered Feng Qizhi had also woken up and was staring at him. Thest time they made eye contact with each other was when Feng Jiutian dragged his cousin into the secret chamber and triggered the mutation. It had only been days since then, but he didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°¡­ Brother Jiutian,¡± Feng Qizhi uttered in a raspy voice.

    Hearing the emotions in Feng Qizhi¡¯s voice, Feng Jiutian sighed. ¡°Brother Zhi.¡±¡°**** you, *****.¡±

    Tears formed in Feng Jiutian¡¯s eyes as sadness flourished in his heart. The reason Feng Qizhi seldom held grudges was due to the fact that he usually had his revenge the moment a grudge was formed. Hearing himself get cursed and threatened to be reduced to ashes had him worried for a second, though he celebrated inside at the same time. For Feng Jiutian, he felt he had broken out from a prison and didn¡¯t mind perishing at Feng Qizhi¡¯s hands. If nothing else, he wouldn¡¯t have to continue living every day in fear.

    Ming Feizhen, standing in between the two cousins, had finished up with the procedure, including sewing up Feng Qizhi¡¯s wounds. Although Feng Qizhi was no longer leaking blood, Ming Feizhen was drenched in cold sweat. Feng Jiutian wasn¡¯t trained in martial arts, while Feng Qizhi was asleep throughout the process, so neither of them were aware of how challenging the procedure was.

    Exchanging blood demanded immense qi strength. Ming Feizhen¡¯s medical skills were still a long shot from Ming Huayu¡¯s and Hero Shenzhou¡¯s. The process of exchanging blood wasn¡¯t a procedure that many in the world dared to attempt. Ming Feizhen,bining techniques utilised in the Western Regions in conjunction with Spring Wind Rainy Night Art¡¯s blood maniption and his proficiency in string maniption, drew the blood onto the string and then used his own internal energy to guide it along. In the process he had to manage the pace the blood travelled so as to keep their body in bnce without cutting off the supply for a single second. In addition, he had to simultaneously cut off Feng Qizhi¡¯s excess flesh. Luckily for Feng Qizhi, the flesh hadn¡¯t had time to fuse with his own flesh, or Feng Qizhi would¡¯ve suffered extra damage to the point that he was a lost cause. On top of all that, Ming Feizhen had to clean and close Feng Qizhi¡¯s wounds. Not only did that require extreme concentration and a high level of skill, but extreme patience was also needed. Nheless, just sweating and breathing heavily when he was able toplete those tasks while still having to separate the phoenix and qingluan bloods was an aplishment he had every right to brag about.

    ¡°Feng Xiangxiang, stay down. Get up, other guy. Come take a look at the principles you must obey for your survival.¡±

    It took Feng Jiutian a while to understand what was being implied. Though it was a struggle to get up, he didn¡¯t feel anything odd about his body besides weakness in his lips. When he suddenly coughed, however, he felt as if his throat was set alight. At the same time, he felt a second mind in his own mind. ¡°I-is this what they call an awakening?¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re just dehydrated and delusional.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Why the look of disappointment?¡±

    ¡°I just¡­ thought transforming is pretty cool.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For everyone¡¯s sake, Ming Feizhen prayed Feng n didn¡¯t try what they did for such a childish reason. He shook his head and then ced the ss bottle of qingluan blood in front of Feng Jiutian. ¡°In here is the qingluan blood you injected into Feng Qizhi. I¡¯m taking this with me for sure. I¡¯m just telling what you and your cousin must do in order to survive henceforward.¡±@@novelbin@@

    Ming Feizhen took out two vials from his shirt ¨C one containing a red liquid and one empty. He injected a small amount of the crimson and green liquids into the vial and then poured in wine. ¡°You and your cousin need to drink a drop of this daily.¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°None of your concern. This is the two types of blood in Feng Qizhi synthesised. I can¡¯t clear out all of the qingluan blood, so there¡¯s still residue in both of you, although it¡¯s a tiny amount, so the phoenix blood will naturally erase it. With that said, to prevent your bodies¡¯ homeostasis going out of bnce, I¡¯ve mixed in some phoenix blood as a suppressant.¡±

    As much as he wanted to ask why the scathing response was needed before an exnation was provided, Feng Jiutian just asked, ¡°Why did you have to add wine?¡±

    ¡°Good question, but I don¡¯t know the reason, either.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°Mount Daluo¡¯s records barely mention Nirvana. Whenever Nirvana is mentioned, alcohol is mentioned. Nirvana supposedly likes to drink alcohol. It was alcohol that triggered the fight between Nirvana and Pangu back then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± It sounded so ridiculous that Feng Jiutian thought offering alcohol and meat at shrines wasn¡¯t just a superstitious act anymore.

    Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°In any case, adding some alcohol will amplify the phoenix blood activity level, which assists in clearing out the qingluan blood. Listen, you rich snob with nothing better to do: the process of messing with your family¡¯s blood is significantly moreplex than Six Evils, so stop getting involved so much when you don¡¯t have what it takes, will you?¡±

    There was a difference between being told to not get involved and to not get involved so much, and Feng Jiutian could tell the difference. Anyone with a functioning brain would¡¯ve known better than to spill the secret of Six Evils to the public. Forget conspirers, even the imperial court wouldn¡¯t let leakers off easily. A secret that could¡¯ve put the entire world in jeopardy wasn¡¯t something for ordinary folks to y with.

    Mount Daluo was arguably the primary censorship enforcer, yet Ming Feizhen¡¯s attitude seemed to suggest that he tacitly granted Feng n permission to study Six Evils. Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t tell if Ming Feizhen was serious or not, but he felt asking for rification would¡¯ve been perceived as questioning an intent, so he just stared at Ming Feizhen in bewilderment.

    Ming Feizhen, with knitted brows, managed to understand Feng Jiutian¡¯s confusion before he lost his temper over the stare. ¡°You have the wrong idea. Mount Daluo doesn¡¯t care about you scum. There¡¯s never been a day where someone with power and money hasn¡¯t done something immoral. As long as it¡¯s not in our view, one extra problem is no big deal and too much for our full tes.¡±

    Ming Feizhen pointed to the dissected flesh on the table. ¡°There are too many people attempting mutations to stop. You think it¡¯s possible to kill everyone who knows about it? The majority of those who possess remains of Six Evils are up to no good. Selling the remains is considered a minor offence. Some morons try to produce weapons or drugs from them. The mostmon type of result achieved is what you achieved. They could¡¯ve lived easy-going lives, but no, they just had to ruin themselves and someone else with what sound like reasonable excuses. People have tried before you, and they ended up ruining their families. They haven¡¯t contributed anything to society besides creating another monster. Feng n has the conditions to go farther; however, you¡¯re still far from seeding. I can¡¯t be bothered wasting my time on a product that can¡¯t even qualify as a ¡®shell of its former self¡¯.¡±

    It was only a matter of time before Feng Jiutian had to pay the price for his experiment.

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t tamper with Six Evils,¡± casually added Ming Feizhen, although frigid. ¡°If you cross the line, someone wille for you ¨C them if not us.¡±

    Able to pick up on the two different tones, Feng Jiutian queried, ¡°Is there¡­ anything different between you and them?¡±

    ¡°Everyone dies versus a life worse than death.¡±

    It was tough to tell how different the two oues were. Feng Jiutian wasn¡¯t going to test the limits, nheless.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your n, was it?¡± questioned Ming Feizhen, condescendingly. ¡°If your n was able to recreate the phoenix roar, you wouldn¡¯t be so interested in Feng Qizhi and his father. Plus, who¡¯d shove Nirvana¡¯s bloodmarrow down someone¡¯s throat if they weren¡¯t out of ideas?¡±

    Indeed, Feng n didn¡¯t peacefully obtain a sessful mutator back then or obtain the phoenix roar for free. As Ming Feizhen pointed out, nobody would¡¯ve poured the extremely expensive bloodmarrow down their own nsman¡¯s throat if they had a choice. Due to the consequences they had to bear and their inability to replicate the result, Feng Qizhi was fortunate enough to still be alive. Feng Qizhi wasn¡¯t some raremodity they were raising for a task; he was just a rare card that they just couldn¡¯t ept binning.

    Feng Qizhi¡¯s phoenix roar was a shoddy replica that would¡¯ve only afforded a moment. While it was possible, it would¡¯ve been awfully difficult to have been sufficient to guarantee they could kill a Divine Realm warrior. Abels would¡¯ve been able to use his powerfield to shield himself without moving a limb if they tried on him. As long as a Divine Realm adept expanded their Enlightenment radius to its maximum capacity before they were in that sort pinch, they had plenty of opportunities to escape the crisis if they couldn¡¯t kill their foe. Feng Jiutian¡¯s logic made sense on paper, but it was full of holes regarding details he overlooked. The situation that Feng n was faced with back then was different. What they obtained and then lost must¡¯ve been invaluable to them.

    ¡°So, you are not going to pursue this line any further?¡± inquired Feng Jiutian.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I collect it?¡± Ming Feizhen pointed to the confused Feng Qizhi who was still warning his cousin to be careful when he went to the toilet. ¡°Why do I need your n when I have him? If there are any clues worth further research, he¡¯d be the go-to source. How much can you tell me about what happened back then even if I interrogated you? The fact that he carries phoenix blood tells us that his father was infected with it prior to his birth. How many years older are youpared to him? What the hell would you know?¡±

    As much as Feng Jiutian wanted to rebuke the insults, he didn¡¯t have any grounds to form a rebuttal.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯m as busy as can be at the moment, so now is not the best time for me to investigate this matter further. When I¡¯m ready to get back to it, even if you don¡¯t want to talk, hah.¡±

    For whatever reason, Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°hah¡± rendered Feng Jiutian aghast. Therefore, Feng Jiutian shook his head, inwardly warning himself to not be hung up on it. ¡°Uh, but are you not taking a break right now? What do you mean by as busy as can be?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s odd for me to bring you here for a meal?¡± Ming Feizhen slouched as he exhaled at the ceiling. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re always under surveince?¡±

    Feng Jiutian spent a moment thinking before he caught up with Ming Feizhen. ¡°Yes, but not always. At the very least, in recent years¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a good guess. Given your young age, there are lots of things that you don¡¯t have a say in. In saying that, you aren¡¯t free of secrets. In fact, you probably know some that you can¡¯t divulge, so putting you under surveince is justifiable. There¡¯s one thing I disagree with you on, however. I don¡¯t believe three years is long enough.¡± Ming Feizhen hiked up a corner of his lips. ¡°Let¡¯s suppose that you were forced to spill everything to me today. What would you say Gan Fengchi¡¯sst job would be in that case?¡±

    Numerous answers to mysteries Feng Jiutian couldn¡¯t figure out poured into his head. Gan Fengchi had been in charge of reporting his whereabouts all the time. On ount of Gan Fengchi¡¯s loyalty and reliability, Feng Jiutian didn¡¯t suspect anything when his father assigned Gan Fengchi as hispanion. Did he not surrender all information unconditionally to Gan Fengchi, though? Who else would¡¯ve been a better candidate to keep watch over him than someone always by his side?

    As hard as it was to ept, Feng Jiutian replied, ¡°Silence me¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one possibility.¡± Ming Feizhen supinated a hand. ¡°He may not go that far. That said, Gan Fengchi certainly monitored you excessively. Keep in mind, however, that it was Feng n who assigned him to you. I¡¯m talking about someone else.¡±

    ¡°And that is¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s been with you for three years and has been trying to find out if you truly know about what happened back then. He might not keep tabs on you every day, but what if you were plotting something dangerous that had an embedded risk of failure? I believe you¡¯d be put under surveince again. Moreover, if you fail to follow any n and get stuck in one spot, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll find a way to find out what you¡¯re doing and if you leaked anything.¡±

    Feng Jiutian instantly understood why Ming Feizhen needed to choose Dongpo.

    Ming Feizhen cracked a smile. ¡°The fish has taken the bait.¡±

    Ming Feizhen vanished out of view, apparently teleporting into the sky. Filtering out all unnecessary input to his eyes and ears, he sought out the one thing out of ce. He chose Dongpo because being up so high increased their visibility and conveyed, ¡°I¡¯m right here. Something is going on, you know? You¡¯re all about to be exposed, you know?¡± If someone wanted to see what was happening on Donpo¡¯s top floor, then they needed to position themselves up equally as high. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

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 Book 15: Chapter 106

    It was fleeting, but Ming Feizhen sensed someone spying on them just before; however, he didn¡¯t find the person hiding in the shadow when hended on a building far from Dongpo. The presence he picked up on was barely noticeable, but it seemed as though the individual didn¡¯t try to deliberately conceal their appearance. Instead, their presence just seemed to be that faint. Nobody on the radar resembled that presence, though. Suddenly, Ming Feizhen looked up to the peak of a tree to spot a silhouette rise from it.

    <em>ck crows¡­</em>

    The individual tied a thread to the feet of several alerted birds in order to bounce up. Every time Ming Feizhennded after a jump, he noticed the distance between them increased over a dozen metres. Thest ce hended was a residential zone one kilometre from Dongpo.

    As soon as he pushed the door open, Ming Feizhen reached in and aimed a palm strike at the individual¡¯s shoulder. Smiling, he asked, ¡°Did you enjoy peeking, brother?¡±

    Nobody else would¡¯ve smiled if they saw the individual inside, considering his height and muscr build, not to mention the violence he oozed from behind his mask. His mask was just a in iron mask that wouldn¡¯t even have scared a kid, but it gave off the vibe of a metal helmet of a deadly warrior on him. Despite not doing anything in particr, he was able to emanate violence, the type that would¡¯ve crushed the building with a single wave of his hand. Perhaps he was toorge for the building.

    He unleashed a palm strike at Ming Feizhen, which Ming Feizhen met with his own. No colourful energy sts or the sort were generated, yet the shockwave destroyed the building.

    Ming Feizhen was surprised the individual was able to produce that amount of force instantaneously without looking as if he was even trying. In contrast, Ming Feizhen went backwards notwithstanding the momentum he had from entering the building.

    Ever since leaving the bamboo forest, Ming Feizhen¡¯s biggest challenges were Pangu and Mr. An, but not even Mr. An seemed to have internal energy more potent than the foe before him. Ignoring the unique ability to control birds, Ming Feizhen never imagined he¡¯d encounter an adept of this level in the capital.

    Even though Ming Feizhen¡¯s strike sent the unperturbed man through multiple buildings, Ming Feizhen saw nothing to celebrate about. Instead, he felt apprehensive.<em>I fell for a trap.</em>

    Considering the man¡¯s level, he shouldn¡¯t have been sent reeling. The man simply used Ming Feizhen¡¯s strike as leverage tounch himself away and had no qualms wrecking the buildings in order to have the initiative if Ming Feizhen chased him down. Indeed, he managed to make Ming Feizhen hesitant for a second.

    Ming Feizhen pulled his hood down lower and then gave pursued the man, but he was unable to cut thetter off. The man was capable enough to hold his own against Ming Feizhen in a fair fight, so he had no reason to flee unless engaging Ming Feizhen wasn¡¯t part of the n. Ming Feizhen chose to not hold back. Therefore, if it was an intelligence-gathering contest, Ming Feizhen already gave up his advantage.@@novelbin@@

    Though his qingong ability was inferior to Ming Feizhen¡¯s, he was unpredictable since he had no qualms ploughing through structures to flee. Still, that wasn¡¯t an issue as long as Ming Feizhen boosted his auditory system. The problem was that the mayhem prompted the covert Emperor¡¯s Entourage agents in the capital to mobilise. Although Ming Feizhen and Feng Jiutian¡¯s matter could¡¯ve been hidden from the agents, it was impossible to hide the mayhem the man caused. In turn, they would¡¯ve found out Ming Feizhen was at Dongpo. They might not have spotted him exit Dongpo, but it was no self-evident that he managed to stealthily evade their surveince. To make matters moreplicated, they would undoubtedlyunch an in-depth investigation into what prompted the fiasco. If Ming Feizhen caught up to the man and engaged him, it would¡¯ve only been a matter of time before Ye Yun made an appearance.

    While Ming Feizhen was contemting how to deal with the dilemma, the man continued fleeing. Fortunately, Ming Feizhen had managed to prove two things. Firstly, Feng n didn¡¯t have the means to create a mutant. Secondly, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to hire Valley of Viins. Unfortunately, that rendered the link between Feng n and the two matters blurry. Not only was Feng n involved with something, but it also cost them the phoenix roar that they had just managed to reacquire.

    Some incredibly capable group was rigging strings behind the scenes to incite one major event after another, but they never showed themselves or left any traces pointing to them. Ming Feizhen suspected that whoever managed to keep a pulse on Feng Jiutian for three long years had to be part of said group. It was a surprise to run into one of the masterminds, though.

    It was certain that he hadn¡¯t been constantly keeping tabs on Feng Jiutian, which meant that he was given the task more recently in order to see what the rich young master was up to. Of course, they might have been nning to just give Feng n a ¡°pleasant¡± surprise, such as sending them the corpse of their sessor, as a warning to not cross a boundary. Most likely, they didn¡¯t expect to run into Ming Feizhen just as he didn¡¯t expect to run into them.

    All in all, nevertheless, Ming Feizhen was d that nothing bad had happened so far. If Emperor¡¯s Entourage found Elise at Dongpo, too, he would have had an even tougher time trying to justify himself. All he could conclude at this point was that the bugger was more conniving than he had seen thus far.

    Ming Feizhen rushed back to Dongpo before Emperor¡¯s Entourage¡¯s agents arrived, picked Elise up onto his shoulder in spite of her displeasure and left a crow with Feng Jiutian.

    ¡°Clean this ce up already. People areing. If they ask about me, cover for me. By the way, if the bird dies, I¡¯ll take your lives. Both of you,¡± Ming Feizhen threatened. Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 14 Ch. 02January 28, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 107

    Virtually immediately Ming Feizhen gave his instructions, there were people climbing up the seven floors of Dongpo as rhythmically as rainfall. The synchrony indicated they were thoroughly trained, so Feng Jiutian instantly discerned they were a group that mobilised in response to the ruckus. They wouldn¡¯t have been so conspicuous if they were looking to capture someone discreetly.

    Frankly, it was a tough task to shoo them off when Ming Feizhen gave him practically no time to prepare. There was an injured individual lying on the table, flesh and blood scattered around, and a guy who shouldn¡¯t have been revealed to the public stuffed in a sack underneath the table. In his ownp was a crow he had to keep alive. What sort of fib was he meant to tell when he was under heavy surveince? Thankfully, he was the sessor of Feng n, a man who had participated in many big events, gone face to face with fearsome people. Why not y it by ear?

    Feng Jiutian sat down, crossed his legs, picked up a wine pot and knocked back three drinks ¨C making one toast to the sun that hadn¡¯te out, the moon and one just for himself. He didn¡¯t acknowledge the agents as he knew that their superior would eventually show up, and that¡¯d be the person he¡¯d have to truly deal with.@@novelbin@@

    A cocky young man in his twenties arrived on the top floor moments after and started scanning the floor. ¡°Young Master Feng.¡±

    Although he had never met the cocky individual, Feng Jiutian wasn¡¯t surprised he was recognised. ¡°You all seem eager to brown nose me while I am drinking. Unfortunately, it is a little toote for that.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, not at all. Everyone knows that you are fond of making friends. There is nobody who is not proud about being your friend. If anything, I have been jealous. It is an honour to finally meet you. Let us share a drink.¡± Feng Jiutian immediately sensed piercing gazes on his back warning him that he was going to be in for it if he didn¡¯t wise up, but he leisurely filled up a cup to pass over. ¡°May I ask for your honourable name?¡±

    ¡°My surname is Qian. I would not dare im my name is worthy of being honourable as yours is.¡±

    That was enough for Feng Jiutian to identify the guy as Qian Daojin, one of the seventeen hidden dragons. While the vtile warrior¡¯sbat skills were unknown, he was respected for his qinggong.

    The agents all had different auras. Typically, they wouldn¡¯t carry visible weapons and opted for hidden ones since visible weapons would¡¯ve been a hindrance during their work operations. The fact that they carried their own specialised weapons gave away what their aura was ¨C hostility. From what Feng Jiutian knew, the agents were mainly obedient; he had never seen agents so bloodthirsty that they could¡¯ve been mistaken for Qilin Guards.¡°May I ask how me drinking here has gotten in your way?¡±

    Qian Diaojin raised a hand and shook his head with a smile. ¡°I am the one asking the questions, not you. We are working, not here for a bribe.¡±

    Qian Diaojin¡¯s unfriendly tone and attitude were unexpected since Feng Jiutian¡¯s kind was among the most popr in the capital. The Qilin Guards would not have given him that attitude.

    ¡°My favourite activity is making friends, but I pickpetent people with good character. Although it is our first meeting today, every word you say is exactly what I think.¡±

    ¡°What have I said that you agree with? I wonder if you are courageous enough to bear some consequences.¡±

    ¡°I have always been known for having the least courage. You can be forthright.¡± As he interacted with Qian Diaojin, Feng Jiutian never stopped analysing the situation.

    Feng Jiutian originally nned to subdue Ming Feizhen at the estate and then dump all the me for his actions on Orange Prince, essentially telling a tale of Ming Feizhen and Orange Prince fighting with each other and both dying in the process. Of course, the n did not pan out the way he foresaw it. It was perfectly normal for everyone to pay attention if they found out Ming Feizhen brought him to Dongpo and stayed for an entire. The question was, what was Qian Diaojin after?

    ¡°We rushed here after receiving a signal, and I had to run bloody damn fast. I don¡¯t know what to ask, either, but since you are here, I may as well ask: what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Drinking alcohol.¡±

    Qian Diaojin pped. ¡°I thought as much. You would not be eating dessert if you had a cup of alcohol in hand, right? That is all, but I was hoping to ask what the deal with all the blood and flesh on the ground is. Did you kill someone?¡±

    ¡°I would never dare. It was here before I arrived. Perhaps my cousin had a martial arts contest with someone and overdid it.¡±

    ¡°I understand. That must be what happened. It appears we were mistaken. Eh? What is the sack on the ground?¡±

    As soon as Qian Diaojin reached for the sack, Feng Jiutian called, ¡°Wait. He is my enemy. I had him captured and was just thinking about what to do with him when you arrived.¡±

    ¡°I see. I shall give him a thrashing to help you vent for a start.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Before Feng Jiutian could finish, Feng Qizhinded heavily, barelynding on his feet. Considering what he just woke up from, it was admirable he was even able to stand.

    ¡°I can see why you needed to warn me.¡± Qian Diaojin, taking the sack into his hands, giggled. ¡°You are going to be extra famous now. It has been entertaining watching you appear and disappear, as well as switch identities, recently. Do not die here. Life is boring and bitter. Nobody would want the world to be less some entertainment.¡±

    Despite Qian Diaojin having the sack in his possession now, Feng Jiutian smiled cordially. ¡°Did you know that Agent Dugu and I are friends?¡±

    Qian Diaojin was initially surprised Feng Jiutian was still calm, but he couldn¡¯t helpughing when he heard Feng Jiutian. ¡°I see. I see. You misunderstand. We are split between two camps. One of us serves His Majesty and acts as the face of our bureau. The other group serves our grandmander and are dirtbags. Tie Hanyi andpany are so concerned about our reputation that they do not dare to kill or apprehend people. As for us, I have already introduced us. We are dirtbags. We have no qualms getting our hands dirty. Therefore, if you think we will give way on ount of Dugu, you are sorely mistaken. We hate their group the most.¡±

    That exined why Feng Jiutian felt this group was starkly different to the Emperor¡¯s Entourage he knew. The internal split was known only to the group. Their reputation plummeted when Ye Yun took the reins as he was so ruthless in his approach that officialsined; even His Majesty had to step in and warn Ye Yun to rein himself in. To solve the problem, Ye Yun implemented the simple policy of splitting the bureau into two groups, assigning one group to himself, which adopted his extreme approach and carried out his assignments. Meanwhile, the other group yed the good guys and were duty-bound to guard His Majesty. His Majesty and Ye Yun¡¯s friends tried to persuade him out of it, but to no avail. Needless to say, people knew better than to provoke him when he of all people already made apromise. Emperor¡¯s Entourage continued carrying out their duties, except there was a new group that acted as the public representatives of the group.

    ¡°If you want me to be respectful, it¡¯s simple.¡± Qian Diaojin sat down and, in a quiet voice, said, ¡°Sneak into the imperial city, and take His Majesty¡¯s head. You can do whatever you want afterwards. I¡¯ll respect you if you¡¯re a monarch.¡± He then shook the sack and continued, ¡°Wow, this is quite heavy. What have you hidden inside that you cannot bear to part with?¡±

    ¡°It appears you assume I am a pushover, so you are showing your true nature. As someone who cherishes his friends, allow me to give you a warning.¡± Switching to a stern tone, Feng Jiutian warned, ¡°Do not shoot yourself in the foot.¡±

    A man showed up by the staircase with a group of warriors behind him. Gan Fengchi returned to Dongpo with reinforcements long ago and was only waiting for Feng Jiutian¡¯s orders. From the moment he saw Ming Feizhen, he knew that there was no way for them to get away scot-free; however, he could not just abandon Feng Jiutian, which was the reason he returned with reinforcements. Waiting downstairs was an expression of, ¡°Be prim and proper to avoid conflict.¡± Feng Jiutian knew what Gan Fengchi was up to, but it was no time for him to be fighting with hispanion.

    ¡°Should you dare to untie the sack, I guarantee your head will be inside there straight away,¡± threatened Feng Jiutian, smiling.

    ¡°Wow, that is scary. I am afraid of the dark.¡±

    ¡°How about we call it quits?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. It is just that I have a vice.¡±

    ¡°You are too modest. You have more than one vice.¡±

    ¡°You tter me. At most, two.¡± Giddily, Qian Diaojin added, ¡°I have always wanted to be an official because I love nothing more than promotions and money. That is a bad trait, is it not?¡±

    ¡°Those are not vices. Promotions and money are everyone¡¯s wishes. If those are your wishes, it will be easy. If you can help me out, I will repay the favour.¡±

    ¡°I cannot do that.¡± Qian Diaojin wagged his hand. ¡°My other vice is that I want to rely on myself to get promotions. Whenever I see an opportunity for a promotion, I refuse to let it slip.¡± He shook the sack before continuing, ¡°The leader of the rebels at the base outside the capital, Qu Ji, has been missing for some time. This sack is quite heavy. Do you reckon it has something to do with the traitorous general?¡± Still smiling, he whispered, ¡°Plus, you are suspected of kidnapping Demon Sect¡¯s holy maiden, so you should technically be arrested and interrogated. I am catching two birds with one stone.¡±

    ¡°Haha, do you have proof?¡±

    ¡°While it is true that we do not have evidence, we are notorious for arresting the wrong people. Worstes to worst, we will apologise a few dayster and praise you. I will then submit a letter of repentance to express my sincere apology. Only close friends receive one. Most of the time, we just put it down to the heavens looking down unkindly on talented people. We are prepared to frame people, you know? That said, I can tell that you cannot do anything about me right now.¡±

    ¡°Try me.¡±

    ¡°Usually I would not, but not taking advantage of someone in troubled waters is foolish.¡± Qian Diaojin cast his gaze towards Feng Qizhi, who was on the verge of copsing, whilst remaining vignt because both sides were ready to throw down, but then Qian Diaojin stared into the distance and frowned as he muttered, ¡°Grand Commander has summoned us. Let¡¯s move.¡±

    Qian Diaojin gave Feng Jiutian a smirk. ¡°I came to the wrong ce? Heh, Boss sure has a cool way of summoning us. I¡¯m going to do the same thing in the future. Let¡¯s move!¡±

    As Qian Diaojin headed off, Feng Jiutian asked, ¡°I heard you went to Suzhou to settle the matter concerning Cold Mountain Temple and have only just returned today. Has the matter been settled?¡±

    Without turning back, Qian Diaojin responded, ¡°If Feng n wants to stick their nose in even this, they will notst for long.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You have a decent subordinate. Ming Feizhen, arms folded, bobbed his head.

    Ming Feizhen was actually still at Dongpo. After all, unless he fled somewhere far with Elise, there was no ce that was absolutely safe when Emepror¡¯s Entourage was watching him, but he didn¡¯t have enough time to go that far. Hence, he jumped in from the fourth floor¡¯s partition. It turned out that the partition was a fake moving door. While the control contraption¡¯s location was a mystery, people didn¡¯t mistakenly touch the door since it was as tall as two men stacked on top of each other. Only once one entered would they find there was another hidden passage connecting the first floor all the way up to the seventh floor hidden by the corridor.

    Elise voiced, ¡°Lord San Sh-.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak,¡± Ming Feizhen sternlymanded. ¡°I won¡¯t ask why you¡¯re here yet. Right now, the situation isplicated. No matter who you see in a bit, keep your mouth shut.¡±

    Elise would not defy Ming Feizhen, but she couldn¡¯t resist charging at the person who came. ¡°You!¡±

    As soon as Elise tried to move, Ming Feizhen knocked her out.

    ¡°She¡¯s a good kid. She¡¯s just not too right up there.¡± Ming Feizhen set Elise on the ground and then turned to the man in the wheelchair.

    When Emperor¡¯s Entourage mobilised, Ming Feizhen was sure Ye Yun hadn¡¯t entered Dongpo, yet he was already here now.

    Ye Yun didn¡¯t bother with the girl affiliated with the group he hated the most. ¡°Don¡¯t care. Ximen is gone. The remnants aren¡¯t even worthy of being appetisers. You think you can sweep all this under the rug after the fiasco you caused?¡±

    Ming Feizhen knew he had to face reality since Ye Yun showed up. ¡°You know, I love eating here the most. The dishes are supreme delicacies. You don¡¯t need to strategize against me. Just open a restaurant like this, and I will eat myself into bankruptcy.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever paid for a meal?¡±

    Ming Feizhen harrumphed and then started praising the ceiling. ¡°By the way, since you¡¯re approaching me, aren¡¯t you breaking the agreement?¡±

    ¡°There are no witnesses, so no.¡±

    ¡°Nobody as good at corruption as government officials as always. I never would¡¯ve thought of that.¡±

    ¡°I could spend three days talking about the past with you, but you know that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. If you don¡¯t want to tell the truth, I¡¯ll use my own means of making you talk.¡±

    Despite the atmosphere turning tense, Ming Feizhen fearlessly nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve always been curious¡­ Is there a contraption on your wheelchair? This is the sixth floor, yet you¡¯re faster than me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t stare at me like that. If you have a question, ask away.¡±

    ¡°I must know everything about Gongsun Chu. Everything.¡±

    Ming Feizhen expected as much as soon as he saw Ye Yun, so he spilt the beans. ¡°Counsellor?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re calling a man who¡¯s lived for over a century a counsellor?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m a Hanlin Academician.¡±

    ¡°True.¡± Ye Yun nodded.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to pity me. I¡¯m not telling you all this for free. Seeing as this is an exchange of intel, you need to share something. By the way, how¡¯s Bai Yumo? My shiniang will have it out for me if I lose her.¡±

    ¡°In the capital. She ran into your friend from Clear Mirror Pce yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Tang Ye? He actually went to woo her? Wait a second¡­ Ah, little runt is trying to be my uncle?¡±

    The first time Ye Yun heard Ming Feizhen talk about ruining the country¡¯s personnel orining about his family, he despised it; however, he was reluctantly used to it by this point.

    ¡°Okay, now to the main topic. Why did you draw him out?¡± questioned Ye Yun, referring to the mysterious guest.

    ¡°You know him?¡±

    ¡°I know about everyone who enters the capital. He belongs to a mysterious organisation that we¡¯re suspecting is linked to Gongsun Chu. He most likely entered the capital to search for Gongsun Chu and to confiscate Gongsun Chu¡¯s privileges.¡±

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s silence was an indication that he knew something. Nevertheless, Ye Yun didn¡¯t pry since Ming Feizhen wouldn¡¯t have told him anyway. One term in their agreement to exchange information was that they couldn¡¯t force it out of each other. As a matter of fact, they were supposed to pretend they didn¡¯t know each other.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s he¡¯s escaped, all my arrangements have been trashed. He¡¯s escaping from the capital as we speak. It¡¯s impossible to track him without Gui Que.¡±

    ¡°Gui Que isn¡¯t around? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    Though Ming Feizhen saw Ye Yun smile, he could tell it was a devious smile.

    ¡°He¡¯s just asking to suffer. It¡¯s well-deserved for leaving his post without permission, though.¡± Switching to a serious mode, Ye Yun warned, ¡°You went overboard this time. I need to report a portion of it.¡±

    ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°Her.¡±

    Ming Feizhen knew Ye Yun referred to Elise. It was impossible to hide the matter from His Majesty when all of the agents knew about Feng Jiutian kidnapping her.

    ¡°If you want to protect Feng Jiutian, you need to be prepared.¡±

    ¡°I know where to toe the line.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°Are you still worried when Heavenly Dao Alliance universally guarantees I am not the enemy?¡±

    ¡°Would you feel assured if Divine Moon Cult¡¯s Lord San Shen was working at Liu Shan Men?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t, but you can.¡± Ming Feizhen shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t have any issues bossing Zero around, after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Ye Yun wheeled himself to the door and, with his back facing Ming Feizhen, asserted, ¡°If you weren¡¯t his disciple, I wouldn¡¯t have let you into the capital.¡±

    ¡°You know what I¡¯m capable of.¡±

    ¡°Zero and you shouldn¡¯t be in the capital. I let you two in to prove to you that you¡¯re wrong.¡±

    Ming Feizhen smiled. ¡°What¡¯s there toin about if one has the opportunity to work with ¡®Ying Long, even if in the capacity as enemies.¡±

    ¡°See you.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life Phone WallpapersMay 5, 2019In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 11.5 Ch. 51January 6, 2022In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 09 Ch. 150February 13, 2021In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 108

    Bu might¡¯ve opted for something else if he could choose again. He also might have regretted his decision in the future, but he went ahead with his first thought in the moment. Well, he actually regretted it immediately afterwards and even questioned his own sanity. However, he didn¡¯t want to filter it; watching the sword pierce him was nothing worth reliving. Therefore, he decided to just drop the memory since he lived by the adage that there was nothing worth regretting in life to begin with.

    A little earlier, when the two teams came face to face, it was clear which team had the overwhelming advantage. The enemy team already numbered more than twenty people and were continuing to increase as time passed, not to mention they had the ability to clear out a street. In contrast, the two of them were just kids.

    The Night Sparrow squad had Bu and Zizi encircled at the same time they cleared out the street; even the higher grounds had been upied. Bu set himself up for defeat from the moment he decided to underestimate them and returned to the capital. He didn¡¯t appear to care, though, until thedy bearing the ¡°Night Sparrow¡± alias showed up.

    Even up north, one would have been hard pressed to find a woman who was tall as a man and packing a physique notably more intimidating than a female warrior. It was impossible to not spot her in a crowd when she embodied every characteristic and feature that made her easy to remember, yet it was hard to remember her appearance when she showed up in a crowded ce.

    Li Zizi never took his attention off ck Sparrow since keeping tabs on the enemy leader was the wise thing to do in any confrontation. Howbeit, there was no distinct pattern to her movements. She advanced until she was only ten metres from the boys, yet Li Zizi nearly forgot the sound of her unique gait when she first appeared, and even her appearance was indistinct in his memories.

    She treaded extremely lightly, propelling herself forward after each brief moment of contact with the ground just as anyone would. In saying that, her footsteps were inaudible to Li Zizi. Her discipline enabled her to erase the sound of her footsteps at will, empowering her to give different impressions each time, making it difficult to remember her. Before Li Zizi couldment on her skill being the most desirable skill for an agent, he inhaled deeply and then heard, ¡°Hey, suck up your drool!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s drooling?!¡±

    Bu responded, ¡°What? You think she¡¯s pretty? She¡¯s old enough to be your aunt. How desperate are you? Or are you into older women? Ew!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t make things up! I was just looking at her¡­¡± Li Zizi stopped himself from saying that he was observing her skills in case people grew vignt of him.Bu looked around, then tracked his friend¡¯s line of sight to ck Sparrow. ¡°Melons?!¡±

    Bu yelled so loud that even Night Sparrow turned her body away a bit out of difort.

    ¡°Li Zizi, you¡¯re a sicko!¡±

    ¡°What are you saying?!¡±

    ¡°Okay, young sicko! No, young lecher!¡±

    As much as Li Zizi wanted to dispute the assertion, he neither had the words nor the idiocy to worry about it in their situation. Upon attempting to stop Bu, however, he saw a blur before him at the same time he heard a cry from the east followed by the west. Whilst everyone cast their gaze eastward, Li Zizi was the only person to look westward, where he saw someone roughly twenty metres away copse, but Bu was gone. Upon looking to a roof in the east, there was someone holding his gut and bellowing in pain. Though it was scary to think someone was able to fire a projectile so urately at a target a hundred metres away, he quickly recollected himself upon suspecting it might¡¯ve been a distraction. When he turned back to the west, nheless, Bu wasn¡¯t anywhere to be seen.

    As everyone else turned their attention to the west, the man being helped to his feet griped, ¡°¡­ That runt suddenly whacked me over the head¡­ I¡­¡±

    Being sneaky was one thing, but vanishing into thin air was preposterous. Yet, they heard a sh from the east, looked over and saw a ck and white silhouette exchanging blows atop a roof. The only things they saw clearly as the two moved were the flying dust and stones.

    Upon separating from Night Sparrow after thirty exchanges, Bu wore the grin of a hunter. Rather than them trapping him in with them, he gave the impression they were trapped in with him.

    The cold woman coldly stated in a deep and scary tone of anger, ¡°You¡¯ve already used this distraction strategy before.¡±

    ¡°Well, it worked, right? Listen to them.¡± Bu cupped his ear with one hand.

    Two more men dropped to the ground with heavy thuds without making a peep. Nobody was sure how they were even taken out, but Night Sparrow only showed more despise and then, in a low voice, questioned, ¡°What sort of vicious weapon are you using this time?¡± ??£Î?B¨¨?

    Simpering, Bu raised his hand to show four rocks. ¡°Don¡¯t you think I¡¯d be an embarrassment if I needed to use some convoluted contraption when ites to projectiles? Do you use pigeons to deliver messages as a tracer?¡±

    Night Sparrow pointed to the one who dropped first in the east. ¡°I dare you to say you took him out with a stone.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Bu chortled with a shrug. ¡°He was poisoned ages ago. It just happened to kick in then.¡±

    As soon as Night Sparrow¡¯s group surrounded them, Bu hit one person with a needle so small that not even the target realised it. He knew how long it took for the poison to work its magic, so he started an argument with Li Zizi to buy time. While everyone paid attention to the poisoned victim in the east, he dropped someone in the west before sneaking between them back to the other side. While their eyes were on the east, he had already returned from his trip west, giving the false impression that he escaped to the west, which made them look west when he was actually fleeing east. He would¡¯ve sessfully given them the slip if it wasn¡¯t for Night Sparrow.

    Despite getting distracted, she was able to promptly find clues on Bu¡¯s location. She was a dangerous opponent, particrly in her encirclement. For that reason, Bu tried to provoke her into losing herposure in order to avoid a fight. Unfortunately, she had a better grip on her emotions that he gave her credit for.

    ¡°¡­ You tried to escape on your own so that I would misunderstand you two aren¡¯t close, that he¡¯s someone you¡¯re willing to abandon any moment, correct? You care about him.¡±

    Somewhat blushing, Bu inwardly cursed, <em>I¡¯ll rip your mouth off your face!</em>

    It was too risky to leave Li Zizi behind now that Night Sparrow had seen through him, so Bu jumped back to his friend¡¯s side.

    Li Zizi was happy purely to see his friend unharmed, not that Bu ever thought Li Zizi would misunderstand him.

    ¡°Hey, young lecher, why didn¡¯t you escape when I created an opening?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m not a young lecher. I can¡¯t run on my own if I¡¯m not sure if you can escape. I can¡¯t abandon you, but I¡¯d be dishonourable if I escaped if you couldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same thing?¡±

    ¡°Is it? Whatever. I¡¯m determined to escape with you. Friends are supposed to look out for each other.¡±

    ¡°Lecher, you sure know how to pick your moments. You should p yourself for ogling her bosom before,¡± muttered Bu, under his breath. In a clearer voice, he said, ¡°Fine. Hey, feisty hoe, you heard him. My buddy doesn¡¯t want to leave. I¡¯m going to fight alongside him. What is it that you want?¡±

    ¡°Hand it over,¡± demanded Night Sparrow.

    ¡°Hehe, would you let me off the hook if I did?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask the obvious. You will be detained and punished.¡±

    Li Zizi was actually d to hear that because he was against Bu stealing in the first ce, and he had no objections to making Bu apologise. It was, however, self-evident that the group wasn¡¯t going to let it go so easily. If it was possible to return the item without anyone knowing, then there was no reason to suffer.

    ¡°Bu, let¡¯s tough this out and run when there¡¯s an opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure. My foot. You wasted the only opportunity I gave you. You might¡¯ve had a chance against someone else, but there¡¯s no way the hoe is letting us go now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why? Hmph, she has a ghost sparrow. Why do you think?¡±

    Virtually every kid in the capital knew of the ghost sparrow legends. They said it was a spiritual bird that acted as an envoy for Heibai Wuchang, two deities in folk religion. They imed that the bird would inform the duo of anyone performing misdeeds and that they could see even in the night, which would result in the two deities promptly visiting the person in question. Whenever Brilliant Consort used to tell the legend to her young son, she deliberately used a deep throaty voice to warn, ¡°They¡¯re here for you.¡± In response, he¡¯d yell and give her a fright as well as cause the maids toe rushing to his aid while he was rolling on the groundughing.

    Ghost sparrows weren¡¯t exactly the same as the legends depicted them, but they did have a unique ability to report someone¡¯s every action back to their master. They were a special breed of birds that were chosen among tens of thousands and then trained for the task. Some imed that the birds were not only able to report information, but their masters were also able to see through their bird¡¯s eyes.

    As he had heard of the legends, Li Zizi¡¯s options narrowed themselves down.

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Li Zizi stepped out in front of Bu, feeling that he was finally undertaking the moment his father intended for him to experience. In the pugilistic world, one was meant to meet enemies at their door with closed fists. If a friend was in danger, then the answer was even simpler. Smiling, Li Zizi charged forward. ¡°Let¡¯s fight then!¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"@@novelbin@@

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 109

    <em>Whack!</em>

    ¡°What was that for?¡±! cried Li Zizi.

    ¡°Do you really think you have a chance? I¡¯d like to see you try. I guess provocations don¡¯t tire you out when you¡¯re such an idiot.¡± While he was chiding Li Zizi, Bu switched ces with Li Zizi, taking up the vanguard post. ¡°Do you people really think I have a taboo against killing?¡±

    ¡°What goes aroundes around. It¡¯s fair,¡± answered Night Sparrow.

    ¡°You make it sound like you¡¯d dare to kill me.¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± rhetorically asked Night Sparrow.

    Since their leader made her intention to pursue violence loud and clear, her neen subordinates narrowed the encirclement. Maybe she did give amand that only her subordinates were aware of. In any case, they barely moved in terms of positioning, yet it felt as though they had tripled their numbers. Since Bu knew they leveraged height differences and positioning to create the visual illusion, Bu, unlike his amazed friend, knew an assault was iing.

    ¡°Careful. They¡¯re going to sneak attack us.¡±

    ¡°Argh!¡±Before Bu even finished, one of the neen members had dropped after attempting to catch them off guard. Bu looked over to see his friend at the end pose of a punch, except he had an expression that screamed, ¡°What just happened?!¡± There was no time to enlighten his friend, unfortunately, as the next attack was already imminent.

    Nine members wielding nine different weapons encroached upon Li Zizi from all sides; nobody paid any heed to Bu. Bu regretted his decision to attempt slipping away because it gave away the fact that he cared about Li Zizi, which the team didn¡¯t hesitate to capitalise on. Their strategy was to subdue Li Zizi as fast as possible, which would¡¯ve then given them time to decide if they were going to use Li Zizi or go with another option.

    Night Sparrow locked her piercing gaze onto Bu, ready to strike him down if he dared to make a move. There weren¡¯t many people who could¡¯ve zipped past neen others without him being able to get out of the way. In saying that, what made her most dangerous wasn¡¯t herbat prowess but the difficulty of tracking her. If she closed the gap and ¡°marked¡± her target, it would¡¯ve been extremely difficult to shake her team off down the road. Considering his own circumstances, he couldn¡¯t afford to fall prey to her. Thankfully, Li Zizi performed satisfactorily.

    To be candid, Li Zizi didn¡¯t know what happened either. His fighting spirit surged after making up his mind to fight his way out with Bu, which triggered a surge in his true qi that he had to st out, so he uncorked the punch on the person who tried to sneak up on him. By the time he snapped out of his daze, he was amidst a barrage of attacks.

    Although Bu was in the wrong, theft wasn¡¯t a crime severe enough to warrant the death penalty, not to mention that Bu was younger, and they outnumbered him. Hence, as an individual who hated injustice, Li Zizi was mad. Little did he know that they feared Bu many folds more than they feared him. It was impossible to identify all the weapons, let alone dodge that many, so he winged it and did what he could to evade, unknowingly doing exactly what his discipline needed him to do.

    As soon as he slipped to a left head slot, Li Zizi grabbed a broadsword whilstnding a kick to one man¡¯s gut. Next, he pushed the t side of a broadsword away, then vaulted out of the encirclement. It was then that the group deemed Li Zizi no less of a threat than Bu.

    Meanwhile, Li Zizi was perplexed over what he did as it felt as though it all urred without conscious effort. Unfortunately, he was unable toe up with a usible answer.

    Ming Feizhen¡¯s ¡°Mindless Twenty-five Techniques¡± included his own fundamentals, so in addition to requiring incredible internal energy, it required intellect and fast reactions. Most importantly, though, was the ability to not be mentally rigid. On top of the three big sects¡¯ techniques, the techniques included numerous techniques from League of Assassins and Divine Moon Cults¡¯ sybuses, equipping Li Zizi with an assortment of skills to get himself out of almost any pickle. The hard part was being flexible while under duress since it went against the grain of having to focus. It was precisely because Li Zizi didn¡¯t know what he was doing, however, that brought out the flow he needed. The technique he used to escape the encirclement was the first technique ¡°Point East. Strike West.¡± Of course, he only managed to execute it thanks to his Pure Yang True Qi roiling.

    Despite not understanding the mechanics, just knowing that his shifu didn¡¯t fool him was enough to motivate Li Zizi after escaping. Instead of running away, he sped back toward the group, unleashing ¡°Summer nt¡± fist in his left hand and ¡°Autumn Harvest¡± palm technique in his right hand. Even though they were heavy strikes, he had to pull them. It went against the grain in martial arts, yet when he entered their formation, he switched the techniques between his hands. The quick switch and change in technique resulted in a halberd wielder absorbing all the damage on his chest. Those who tried to rush to theirrade¡¯s aid couldn¡¯t form an attack due to ¡°Autumn Harvest¡±.

    ¡°Summer nt¡± and ¡°Autumn Harvest¡± contradicted each other, so Li Zizi didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea how to use them in the past. As he was performing them before, he felt that switching them just felt right, and he surprised himself when it was sessful.

    Li Zizi was always under the assumption that he was naturally strong, ignorant to how much his mother invested in his physical capacity so that he could master any discipline faster and recover from injuries faster than average. Ming Feizhen then fed him unknown pills and trained him in Pure Yang True Qi for a few months, as well as imparted ¡°Mindless Twenty-five Techniques,¡± so he improved by leaps and bounds since.

    After another win, Li Zizi¡¯s fighting spirit rose to new heights, speeding up his Pure Yang True Qi recovery. Charging back into the group, he used ¡°Round¡± and then ¡°Moist Winter¡±, going from flexible to a chilly series of palm techniques, allowing him to have a built-in defence to his offence.

    Although Li Zizi¡¯s creativity had them astonished, it didn¡¯t turn the tides of the war because whether or not the duo could escape depended on the oue between Bu and Night Sparrow. Bu knew the strengths and weaknesses between them, so he tried to avoid engagement, lest she figured out his ws. He had even less reason to rush since his friend had seized the upper hand.

    ¡°Yourpdogs don¡¯t impress,¡± insulted Bu.

    Night Sparrow showed no signs of losing her temper.

    ¡°You can drop the act. You¡¯re losing a subordinate every moment, while my chances of escape are increasing inversely. I know you¡¯re not as confident as you make it seem.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for you.¡±

    Bu inwardly cursed for he knew that she perceived him to be nothing more than a roaming warrior. It was true that a protracted fight didn¡¯t do him any favours.

    After losing another three subordinates, Night Sparrow drew a big ck spear befitting of her physique.

    ¡°That¡¯s Night Sparrow, the spear that spares none who see it. Watch out.¡±

    Though he deliberately provoked her into striking, Bu didn¡¯t expect her to swing with so much power that it was as if she spawned a wind wall all around. Watching the spear tip closely as his hair billowed in the wind, Bu suddenly shouted, ¡°Show yourself, you cowardly rat!¡± ?????£Â¦¥??

    Notwithstanding him using very little internal energy, Bu was able to precisely project his voice in a particr direction.

    Night Sparrow stopped her thrust five metres away from Bu and then slowly retreated, pulled her spear back, then looked to the roof in the northeast.

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re pretty good with ¡®Invisible Sword¡¯, kid.¡± The man had a voice akin to wooden tires grinding on concrete.

    Night Sparrow pulled her brows together. ¡°Ghost Cart.¡±

    Ghost Cart didn¡¯t even need three steps tond from the roof. While he wasn¡¯t as physically tall as Night Sparrow, he gave the impression that he was huge due to his hands and feet being almost twice asrge as the average human ¨C a sign that he was adept in external martial arts.

    ¡°What are you here for?¡± questioned Night Sparrow.

    ¡°Hehehe, I¡¯m here for the same reason you are.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m honoured.¡± Bu crossed his arms. ¡°Two of Yingfeng¡¯s four members here at once. I¡¯m truly curious how much Feng n paid you to have you wag your tails for them. I¡¯ll offer double their offer, deal?¡±@@novelbin@@ Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 85October 21, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 57September 19, 2023In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life ¨C Vol. 15 Ch. 108February 3, 2024In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

 Book 15: Chapter 110

    Book 15: Chapter 110

    Ghost Cart wiped his smile off his face. ¡°Bu Xusan, you have no respect for thew, so shut your trap. We have every justification in the world to apprehend you. We uphold thew, while you break it.¡±

    ¡°Impressive. Criminals really do milk it when they be officials,¡± scoffed Bu. He poked his tongue out and added, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that damn ghost sparrow, you two think you would¡¯ve found me? Why don¡¯t you go home and practice some more?¡±

    While the other two of The Ultimate Three were at the top of their own bureaus, Yingfeng was shrouded in veils upon veils of mystery since very few people had ever met him or heard about him. They didn¡¯t know his real name, his origins or appearance; even his gender was presumed. The only thing that was certain was that His Majesty trusted him enough to assign him as a personal bodyguard. Although he was originally a roving warrior and without a military force under him, he had four subordinates who he was able to count on ¨CYingfeng¡¯s Four Elites.

    The four of them were formerly criminals or big names in the pugilistic world before Yingfeng recruited them. Ghost Cart was a notorious pirate who gave the imperial court a severe headache until Yingfeng transported him to the capital overnight and instated him as a rank sixmandant before he even woke up.

    Yingfeng never bribed the four or promised them anything. If they were unwilling to obey him after he subdued them, he executed anyone who was a criminal, so the current four simply obeyed him because they didn¡¯t want to join their predecessors. Had those before them known better, the group would¡¯ve beenrger. s¡­ Nevertheless, none of that changed the fact that they were the best scouting and defence team since the start of Li Dynasty.

    Besides Yingfeng, Night Sparrow was the only one who was able to raise ghost sparrows, while Ghost Cart was abat specialist. Yingfeng¡¯s Four Elites polished their names on numerous missions that were ssified borderline impossible and literal suicide missions.

    When they weren¡¯t assigned missions, the four of them were on standby, such as at the moment. If a socialite or the imperial court were tomission them for an eptable reward, they would carry it out. It was something they enjoyed and something Yingfeng didn¡¯t forbid. Capturing Bu Xusan was one suchmission.

    While Ghost Cart¡¯s wicked aura had reduced significantly ever since turning over a new leaf, whenever he was eager to fight, he¡¯d crunch his knuckles loudly. ¡°Run if you can. If you can escape this time again, I¡¯ll call you ¡®dad¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Buzz off. I don¡¯t want a coward for a son.¡±¡°Well, I may not want a cripple as a son when you¡¯re paraplegic and pleading.¡± The short man shed his fangs, only for a ck spear to block his path after advancing one step.

    ¡°You¡¯re sticking your nose in my fight.¡± Night Sparrow red at Ghost Cart out of the corner of her eyes.

    ¡°You know that we can beat him if we work together¡­ right?¡± Ghost Cart questioned through his clenched teeth.

    ¡°All I know is that I¡¯m not working with you.¡± Night Sparrow stared straight at Bu. ¡°Especially with you.¡±

    Ghost Cart started breathing fast and heavily.

    ¡°Hahahaha, shameless people always go out without dignity.¡±

    ¡°You want to die so fast, kid?!¡±

    ¡°Can you two juste at me at once? I¡¯m all for threesomes.¡±

    ¡°You want to y, do you?¡± Ghost Cart ground his teeth, making metal-grinding sounds. ¡°I¡¯ll cripple your friend and thene back for you!¡±

    Bu knew that Night Sparrow let Ghost Cart zip off since it was what she wanted. If Ghost Cart took down Li Zizi, then Bu would have another headache, but shaking her off would not have been easy. While she wasn¡¯t able to create a tornado, merely raising her spear generated a vacuum that made it convincingly real that she could suck Bu into one.

    ¡°¡­ Why do I always have to run into this kind at these junctures?¡± grumbled Bu, before leaping away.

    Night Sparrow chased down Bu, spear leading the charge, which was exactly what Bu desired. He rebounded back towards the Night Sparrow at a higher velocity than he leapt away, oveing the wind vacuum she generated and then tried nting a kick on her shoulder. Night Sparrow promptly switched to defence, using her spear as a post to block. Bu mmed into the spear and then bounced vertically upwards before she could react.

    <em>Can¡¯t you use a lighter spear, damn it?</em>

    Night Sparrow wasn¡¯t just a spear specialist but a specialist at using the ancient spears that wererge and heavy. Modern spears were lighter, allowing the wielder to be nimble and link attacks. In contrast, therge and heavy spears were sturdy, and they were considered challenging to master, yet they were always respected because they could be used defensively as well as offensively. Considering the size ofrge spears, it was inevitable for a full ironrge spear to be heavy enough that people that they struck walls. It was a demanding weapon for the wielder needed arge build, arm strength and a solid foundation in Hard Realm.

    Arge spear in Night Sparrow¡¯s hands was akin to crashing violent waves. She swiftly switched to offence with ferociousness to kill on contact if her opponent wasn¡¯t careful, but the moment of carelessness never came. Bu kept dangerously close to the spear as he manoeuvred between her techniques; his performance made it clear why he dared to break into Feng n¡¯s property. They both knew that Bu had the advantage since he was dodging effortlessly, while Night Sparrow had to expend far more energy to swing her spear in addition to thinking.

    ¡°Your technique is okay, but your speed leaves a lot to be desired. I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re arrogant or stupid, wielding a fifty-kilo spear in close-quartersbat.¡±

    ¡°Shut your trap!¡±

    Upon drawing her spear back, Night Sparrow¡¯s retraction speed made it seem as if specks of dust were spawned along its trail. The speed of her retraction created sharp winds that could cut. All along, she wanted to draw Bu into the range where it¡¯d be too close to change for her to change directions so that she could execute ¡°Sparrow Sheds Its Feathers¡±.

    As a woman, Night Sparrow struggled to make a living amongst men, but she had her spear and speary that put her above the ordinary bandits of the far north. Following a decade of assiduous training, not only did she gain a fearsome physique, but even her mindset hardened, equipping her with all the attributes and skills she needed to make a name for herself in the harsh northern martial artsmunity. It all came crashing down, though, when Yingfeng subdued her in one exchange.

    There was no reason to be ashamed over suffering defeat at the hands of one of The Ultimate Three. In saying that, it made her confidence in her family¡¯s speary waver. Yingfeng promised to grant her one chance annually at challenging him as long as she fulfilled the duties that he assigned her. Subsequent to three unsessful attempts, she realised that hard work would never be enough to catch up to him. Fortunately, the experiences expanded her horizons, which she used to reorganise her speary, remove the excessive violence and learn to be slyer. Those changes finally put her among the first-rate warriors. ¡°Sparrow Sheds Its Feathers¡± was a technique Night Sparrow came up with to defeat Yingfeng this year.

    Even though Bu¡¯s carelessnessnded him in hot water against the invisible attack, he calmly lowered his arms to his sides and focused energy to his fingers, creating des that were able to sh with Night Sparrow¡¯s spear.

    Tang n¡¯s members only ever used Dark Sword Prison to capture people, making Bu one of the few ever to employ it as a defensive tool. Once his defensive structure wasplete, Bu attempted to snatch the spear.

    Night Sparrow swung her spear as a cudgel toward the sword prison with the aim of breaking the prison in one blow, only to end up bashing thin air. Instead, it was Bu who turned the tables andnded atop the spear after jumping up during her swing. She spotted a grin on the face of the boy who managed to remain atop her spear even at that speed. To her shock, he managed to pinch her cheek before she could react.

    ¡°Arrogant kid!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Bu hopped off the spear as Night Sparrow started another swing,nding safe and sound on the ground. ¡°You¡¯re good with a spear, hoe. You¡¯re good, and you¡¯re not a bad person, either. I¡¯ll let you off today. Get lost with your cronies.¡±

    Given Bu¡¯s proficiency with Dark Sword Prison, Night Sparrow would¡¯ve suffered serious damage even if she was able to resist an actual finger spear on her face had he meant to harm her just now.

    ¡°Who¡¯s letting who off?¡± Bu heard behind him.

    <em>Damn, couldn¡¯t make it in time as I thought.</em>

    Ghost Cart had Li Zizi¡¯s head pinned between the dirt and his foot and immobilised. He spat a big mouthful of saliva onto the ground that nearly bounced onto Li Zizi¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re not too shabby, huh?¡±

    In just a few exchanges, Li Zizi was relegated to barely holding on. Although his techniques surprised Ghost Cart, hisck of experience and strength weren¡¯t enough to overwhelm the veteran. It was Li Zizi¡¯s first time fighting someone truly elite and feeling the hopelessness of fighting someone far superior. The defeat enlightened him to the reason his father wanted him to experience life outside the pce walls. Some things needed to be personally experienced to understand. Regrettably, it wasn¡¯t possible to instantaneously convert the experience into power that could have turned the tables.

    ¡°Kid, you seriously thought you had a chance in an adult¡¯s fight at your level? Are you stupid or just sick of life?¡±

    Li Zizi raised his head as high as he could.

    ¡°My shifu¡­ could stomp you.¡±

    ¡°Your shifu? Who¡¯s your shifu?¡± Ghost Cart was going to mock the boy some more until he felt Li Zizi break free of his restraint, prompting him to hastily use half of his full power to keep Li Zizi pinned. Even though he was able to erase all of the true qi, he felt there was a chance it would happen again. ¡°¡­ Pure Yang One QI? How did you learn it?¡±

    Li Zizi knew better than to divulge information on the discipline.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll make you tell me.¡±

    ¡°Hey! What do you want?!¡± eximed Bu.

    Ghost Cart turned his head to Bu and sneered. ¡°What do you think? You¡¯re a thief, aren¡¯t you? Don¡¯t you know what we thieves do?¡±

    Though Li Zizi didn¡¯t groan aloud, his changing face colour was sufficient evidence that Ghost Cart was pressing down firmer.

    ¡°We¡¯re different to the Emperor¡¯s Entourage softies. We won¡¯t pull punches even if he¡¯s a Prince.¡±

    ¡°Ghost Cart!¡± warned Night Sparrow.

    ¡°Don¡¯t stop me, Night Sparrow.¡± Whether it was to see a rare moment of Night Sparrow panicking for a while longer or to get back at her for her cold attitude, Ghost Cart continued, ¡°You can feign ignorance if you want. It¡¯s their business if the people he¡¯s been beating want to feign ignorance, too, but don¡¯t you pretend you don¡¯t know he¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s seventh son, Li Zizi, when you have a ghost sparrow in your possession.¡±

    Li Zizi lost the motivation to struggle. He wanted to eventually confess to his friend one day, not to have someone else expose him.@@novelbin@@

    ¡°Bu Xusan, you¡¯re a lucky kid to have him for a friend.¡±

    Bu gyrated his lips, but before he could speak up, he heard, ¡°Shut up¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up?¡± Ghost Cart gazed down to the Prince in disbelief. ¡°Are you ordering me around right now? Sure is nice being a Prince. You get secret manuals whenever you want and all the supplements to enhance you. Imagine getting to choose whatever you want while the rest of the world has to fight for a piece. Even your little disguise is covered. You won¡¯t know when to quit until you see real weapons, will you? Unfortunately, you¡¯re wrong. Did you know that your old man already told all warriors of the imperial court that we don¡¯t have to hold back if we encounter you. I¡¯m happy to oblige, kiddo.¡±

    ¡°Shut up¡­¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you fearless because you knew that members of the imperial court wouldn¡¯t dare to harm you? Sadly, your friend thought you¡¯d fight alongside him. Little did he know that he was the only one ever in danger.¡±

    ¡°I told you to shut up!¡± Li Zizi¡¯s rage roused his true qi in his dantian, sting Ghost Cart¡¯s foot off his head with enough force to induce pain.

    ¡°Not bad, but too readable.¡±

    Ghost Cart reached to his sash with his right hand and, in a sh, pierced through Li Zizi¡¯s body with a sword. At least he was meant to. Ghost Cart never saw Bu move, yet Bu had managed to pull Li Zizi out of the way safely.

    Lying in his friend¡¯s arms stained with blood, Li Zizi shakily expressed, ¡°Bu¡­ Sorry¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    Li Zizi shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to hide it from you¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡±

    ¡°Idiot.¡± Bu held Li Zizi¡¯s hand and, in a gentle tone, responded, ¡°You think you¡¯re good at telling lies? I knew who you were from the first time we met.¡±

    ¡°Really? Can you really¡­ forgive me?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯re buddies. Why would I be angry over something so trivial? Besides¡­ you just got nipped. Why are you acting like you¡¯re on your deathbed?¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Li Zizi touched his oblique. It hurt, and he was bleeding. However, it really was just a cut. No matter how insane Ghost Cart was, surely he wouldn¡¯t have actually killed a Prince. ¡°I¡¯m d. I¡¯ll help you. W-¡±

    Bu put Li Zizi to sleep somehow and then provided basic first aid before getting up to confront the two assants again.

    ¡°That was the right choice. We wouldn¡¯t actually kill a Prince, nor do we want to go to the trouble of subduing him, but we won¡¯t hesitate to make him leave. If anything, you¡¯re the biggest disappointment.¡± Night Sparrow loudly rested her spear onto the ground. ¡°Is this all a disciple of Tang n amounts to? If that is so, you have no chance of escaping this time.¡±

    While she was waiting around, Night Sparrow realised that Bu didn¡¯t pinch her cheek because he was confident that he could dominate her. To the contrary, he barely maintained his bnce on top of her spear, so he had no leverage at his feet to deal critical damage.

    ¡°You people¡­¡± Bu exhaled solemnly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you learn to wise up?¡±

    Bu could tell from the numerous footsteps closing in that he¡¯d be captured if he dallied.

    ¡°I did the right thing,¡± Bu remarked as he looked at his friend. ¡°He won¡¯t have to see me kill now.¡±

    As soon as Bu took a step forward, Night Sparrow shouted, ¡°Stay alert! Everyone, stay alert! A moment of inattention can cost you your life! Since Tang n¡¯s patriarch went missing twenty years ago, she only trained one monster. Tang Ni is going to get serious now!¡±

    Shuntian Bureau¡¯s Sir Bao arrived with his forces about ten minutester to hear dead silence for nobody there was in any shape to respond to him. Damaged structures, dismembered corpses, broken weapons, and blood stains vandalised everything around. When asked to recount what he saw, his answer was a short, ¡°Definitely not the work of a human being.¡± Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!<ul data-sharing-events-added="true"><li>Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</li><li>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</li><li></li></ul>

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

    Martial King¡¯s Retired Life (Manhua) ¨C 003December 28, 2018In "Martial King''s Retired Life"

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